Grayson Graham Geithner, simply known as Gray or Mr. Graham, was a man by the age of 35. He was formed in History and had a job at a high-school as a history teacher as well as a second job as a researcher. He was also gay, worked out, ate healthy... And he hoped- Hoped to live a long and happy life.
But it was only a dream.
One day, the world started to burn. It began as a single flint and sparkle, until the world was set ablaze by a red sun. He felt his skin melt, he felt the pain of his body being consumed, he was conscious but in pain- Until he wasn't conscious.
He was back. It was weird... His eyes found his phone and there was the date: 01/01/2005. Meaning he has 10 years until the whole burns? If that was real, of course, but something told him it was. He ignored this weird feeling inside his guts, he was back 10 years which meant he was 25, which meant he was on his prime! "Really... I should just go back to sleeping naked." It's always best, because he feels more comfortable sleeping naked anyway! He felt the weird feeling again, but this time a headache filled his mind as a blue floating window appeared in front of his vision:
[Ressurection Successful.
??? 0% > ??? 3%
Due to your increase in ???, you received the skill [Perceive lvl 1]!
[Perceive lvl 1: You can see it, you can feel it. It's around you!]
+5 to your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Willpower stats.]
It was weird, he could feel it all around him, he could see it, he perceived it- Whatever it was. He didn't know what it was, he only knew he could feel it, and it had a transparent color, it was all around him, it couldn't be touched by his fingers because they passed through it as if it was invisible. Was it air? He waved his hand quickly to see if it would move, but it didn't... So he did the only thing he could do in this situation: Ignored it. 'Better not to mess with this for now... I still need to eat.' He indeed needed to eat, even though he felt really comfortable on his birthsuit in his apartment- he looked out of the window before going to the bathroom to do his business, washed his hands before he went to make a sandwich for himself. He wondered, for a second, if the Red Sun was something from his imagination when a cold feeling spread through his mind, he froze because of what he saw ahead of him-
A black mass that looked like a little child.
[Perceive lvl 1 Used!]
[Infant Weak Shadow Thing lvl 1: A black mass of shadow, peered through dimensions, extremely weak to magic, thaumaturgy, spiritual or otherwise energy based attacks but immune to physical attacks. They are neutral creatures when young, once they grow, they start to hunt.]
Thankfully the one he found was as small as a 5 year old child, but the look that thing gave him was unnerving! It was like a small human, but made of shadows, with two small white dots for eyes and white teeth inside a gaping open mouth: "Shit." He grasped the lighter, because the description said this thing was 'extremely weak' to every form of energy based attacks, meaning heat as well because heat is an energy! "Should i-" He had no choice, because from behind the door another one appeared, this one was taller and bigger than the small shadow, it turned to look at him before it opened its mouth and let out a hollow and silent scream of agony- The creature didn't come forward, because he was on the light side of the kitchen, while it was on the room where the light couldn't touch it.
[Perceive lvl 1 Used!]
[Adult Weak Shadowthing lvl 6: A black mass of shadow that has taken the form of a humanoid creature! This being is aggressive towards who see it, hunting them down. Adult Shadowthings acquire the fatal weakness to every single type of light]
Good to know then, he has to kill this thing because he saw it, and he's sure he won't be able to live with himself if he knows theres a shadow monster on his guest bedroom! "And you too little bitch." He turned to the kid one, since y'know, a kid grows and becomes vengeful of the ones who killed their parents... Everyone knows orphans become the protagonist, because they already have a sad backstory for them, that brings much potential- They're parents dead? If yes, who killed then, if no, how did they end up an "orphan" and how to use this as a plot twist like making the protagonist and the villain brothers of the same mother or something like that. "I should kill the child first." The child's the weakest, and you should get rid of the weakest first, right? Anyway, the adult has the weakness for light, if he kills the child he can grab a flashlight and shine it on the thing and it should die. He approached the little thing and tried to touch it, his hand phased through it but it turned to look at him, so he pushed his hand with the lighter inside the little thing and lit it up.
The reaction was instantaneous- The shadow thing screeched loudly and bursted into embers, before vanishing. Heat is energy, and even the weakest of energies is lethal against these things it seems. 'So... Monsters are real, so the red sun must also be real, so i returned to the past... Great.' He felt himself panicking, if everything was real and not a product of his imagination...
Is everyone going to die?
[New Scenario Started: Cleaning is Very important!
Objective: Clean your apartment of every single Shadowthing!
1/5
Rewards: ???]
Oh shit, there were five on his apartment?
-Scene Cut-
The flashlight helped him killing the Shadowthing on his guest bedroom, but what he didn't expect was that these things had the ability of turning the light off! He vividly remembers going to his bathroom when the light of the bathroom went out and one of the Shadowthings came crawling out of the mirror and killed him by impaling its tendril inside his chest, making a gaping hole where his heart was.
And then he woke up.
This time, the message was:
[Ressurection Successful!
You received the skill [Fear Resistance lvl 1]
[Fear Resistance: Decreases the effect fear has on you by 10%]
Your [Fear Resistance] skill has been added to your [Resistances].
+2 Wisdom]
He was afraid- He can admit to such thing, he was afraid of those shadow things, because they can fucking turn the light out! "Fuck fuck fuck." He sobbed, he cried, because he was human and was afriad of the dark- This came from him being locked on the basement as a kid by his older sister, who did it as a prank at first until she couldn't open the door anymore, Gray thought it was a product of his childish mind but he vividly remembers a large creature grabbing him before pushing him down on the ground and leaving him there.
On the ground.
He woke up on his bed, and never spoke of what he saw to no one. He doesn't even remember completely what he saw down there, he just knows it was scary, big, with more than four legs, and with various eyes! His parents never spoke of this again, he remembers his sister was punished by what she did to him, but she never mentioned what happened and when he asked anyone if it really happened, no one confirmed his thoughts. "Fuck." He cursed and punched the bed angrily, he continued to punch the bed repeatedly until his hand started to hurt, so he stopped and wiped his tears as he looked at the window, the sun was setting after he finished having his little mental breakdown. He grasped the flashlight he had and turned on the lights of his home, walking around shivering a little in fear... But then he saw the shadows moving around him, creeping and slithering, like hands ready to grasp his ankle.
Fucking bitch- The pain hit him right where his wrist was, he dropped the flashlight because of the pain and the strength of the hit, because even though his hand phased through their bodies their bodies can hit him, they can control their tangibly, they can shape their limbs at will- He turned down to look at his wrist, there wasn't a hand anymore. "ARGH!" He cried in pain, his hand was cut off, and in front of him stood a 8ft tall shadow figure similar to a humanoid with tentacles all around its body, he counted five at least, it was the same one that killed him from the mirror because a familiar screen appeared:
[Perceive lvl 1 Used!]
[Shadowthing lvl 1:
A more mature and stronger version of a normal and weak Shadowthing, this version is stronger after spending more time outside of its home dimension and eating other weaker Shadowthings. With the ability to freely shape its body, a Shadowthing can make weapons out of its own body! Receives a small resistance to light.
A Shadowthing is one of the weakest of the children of Secrecy.]
"Well... Fuck." Those were Gray's last words, before one of the tendrils slashed his head right off- His last thought was: 'Well, this didn't hurt as much.' He counted down his deaths after he woke up with a pain on his neck- He died from the Red sun ten years in the future, he died impaled by the Shadowthing, and now with his head cut off by the Shadowthing. Three deaths, and he hasn't learned much...
Well, he knows monsters are real, he knows there's something everywhere and that he can see and feel it, and he knows he can see the Shadowthings and he knows he gets these status things... Wait, Status?
-x-
[Status:
Name: Gray Graham Geithner
Age: 25 (35)
Lvl: 01
Race: Human
Titles: None
Perks: None
Stats:
Strength: 8
Endurance: 7
Speed: 7
Vitality: 8
Dexterity: 5
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 17
Willpower: 15
Skills: [Perceive lvl 1]
Resistances: [Fear Resistance lvl 1]
-x-
'Huh.' This gives him more information about his own power, even though he is pretty much a normal human man. He should've gone to eat by now so he can then put on some clothes and go to work, but he's pretty sure getting rid of Shadowthings is more important than going to fucking work at a high-school right now! 'I think its time to take this seriously...' Flashlights, candles, lighters, and more were bought from the store, he started hunting them as soon as he got home! He set candles around and used more than one flashlight to Illuminate the four bedroom apartment he lived in. Flashlights were important, candles were kinda dangerous to be lit but they were kinda of a last resort thing y'know? He didn't like feeling hopeless, so there's where the candle comes in.
A light in the darkness.
"Pffft..." Only after he started hunting the Shadowthings did he notice the irony of what he just did- he was a hot history teacher, he taught uninterested teens about the fall of the Roman empire and got ogled by a bunch of horny teenagers! He flirted awkwardly with the new small boytoy english teacher and got called slurs occasionally by the math teacher who was a salty bitch that got cheated on by her husband who came out as bisexual to her and now she thinks every man is a whore- He was a normal, regular man until the red sun came, and now he's hunting a monster infestation on his old apartment of 10 years ago? Wait... That's why he doesn't remember seeing shadow figures, there were rumors here and there about people seeing shadow figures around this region, but he never saw them for the whole year he lived here before he moved out with his first boyfriend.
Ah, he was so stupid when he was young, wasn't he? Moving in with a guy you like after 1 month of dating... But now he's fighting a shadow monster with a flashlight and a lighter, and also with some fear and a bunch of stupidity! He can just move out! But then again, that scenario promised a reward for cleaning this place, and he doesn't have anything to loose...
What guarantees that there aren't any more monsters out there? Nothing.
Also, he can feel and see "it", this energy all around now, and that must be like the Mist from the Percy Jackson books? It feels almost like it, because others don't perceive it, and he can. He tried to control it, move it, change it, but it just was there... Like water in the air. "Oh shit." He had a flashlight that pointed backwards too, this one was to make sure nothing attacked him from behind as he repeatedly walked around his apartment to get rid of these Shadowthings. The normal weak ones were easy to deal, but once it came to the one who had tentacles it was harder because he was smart enough to hide in the shadows of furniture or even Gray's own shadow and stay there, not leaving until he shines a light there.
Normally it took a second of exposure for the shadows to die, but the tentacle Shadowthing took a whole ass minute of full exposure to light to kill it, he had to trap it in a single shadow without shadows using the candles to Illuminate shadows in specific places while using the flashlight to scare the Shadowthing away into the specific shadow he wanted to trap it in. Thankfully it wasn't as smart as he thought and it got trapped there, unable to leave and he let the flashlight burn it away to nothing! And once he did:
[Scenario Completed!
Reward:
Shadow Manipulation lvl 1]
[Shadow Manipulation lvl 1: You have limited control over the shadows around you, capable of bending, twisting, changing, and shaping them to your will and usage!]
[Congratulations, you've completed your first Scenario!]
[Double reward ensued... Calculating reward...]
[Reward:
??? is increased by 5%!]
[??? is above 5%, a new skill is given:
??? Manipulation lvl 1: You can manipulate, shape, and use ??? all around you at will! It may cause you mental fatigue, this skill is also influenced by your Int, Will, and Wis stats]