When I got my vision back, I was back at the base of the mountain in the middle of the raging blizzard.
The cold bit at my skin as I stared vacantly for a while at the snow-covered, rocky monstrosity before me. Then it erupted:
"Monsters with acidic blood!? Are you for real!? Which sadistic motherfucker created this fucking nightmare?" I yelled out into the empty air with my heart filled with fury. After five minutes of yelling, I began coughing up my insides due to the cold. Probably for the best, as the Nightmare Spell's voice rang in my head as usual - which, reminded me that I got a memory before I died to those fucking bastards.
"How did Sunny summon his runes again? Some thing about focusing on your status or something...." From nowhere, shimmering runes began appearing infront of his eyes. The first thing that came into my mind as soon as I saw them was: "The fuck...?"
********
Name: William
True Name: -
Rank: Aspirant
Soul Core: Dormant
Memories: -
Echoes: -
Attributes: [Fateless], [Eidetic Kinesthetic], [Adaptive]
[Fateless] attribute description: "You are an anomaly in the weave of Fate - like a drop of oil in a lake. The strings of Fate have no hold over you. Be it either a curse or a blessing, only one thing is clear... only you are truly free to make your own fate."
[Eidetic Kinesthesia] attribute description: "You have the ability to memorize and mimic any form of movement as soon as you lay eyes on it."
[Adaptive] attribute description: "Humanity has always been able to survive due to their wit and adaptive nature. You, however, take that concept to another level."
Aspect: [Lost Soul]
Aspect Description: [A lost soul is someone who has been kidnapped from their original plane of existence by unknown means. A stranger in strange lands, most lost souls do not live for long.]
******
The shimmering runes answered some of my questions while making room for a whole lot more.
The [Fateless] is not Sunny's [Fated] but it can be its relative since it's downright messing with me.
The [Eidetic Kinesthesia] is pretty clear and on the point. I always had a knack for physical activities but I never attributed that to any type of photographic memory. Imagine going into the MMA scene with this. However, there is a slight problem, I am all alone here so the attribute is of no use right now.
Finally, the [Adaptive] attribute may be the most dubious of them all. Like, what does this include? Body? Mind? Both? Do I get used to things faster or does it involve some for of growth?
Too many questions and no answers.
Moreover, my aspect doesn't fill me with optimism either. Is this what Sunny felt when he first discovered his aspect?
It feels like shit, not gonna lie.
Also, I didn't fail to notice that the memory I got from smashing that Fetid Imp's head is not recorded here. So, it is safe to assume anything I get in a run is removed as soon as I die and... wake up? Respawn?
Sighing in exasperation, I dismissed the runes just in time for my bony buddies to wake up from their own slumbers. Similar to the previous run, I collected the leather armor, gloves, and black sword using the same method as before. Moreover, this time I also snatched two old daggers from one of the archers before it could pierce me with its arrows and began my ascent for the sixth time.
My climb, as usual, became easier than the previous time resulting in me nearing the hunting ground of the Fetid Imps faster. I'm not planning to enter that death trap again; no, not after having acid melt my face off.
Thus, if I can't go around the mountain path, the only path I can take is up the side. Raising my head, I observed the craggy mountain side reaching up to the dark sky. It is not going to be an easy climb - not by a long shot - but it's still better than being ravaged by a horde of acid-blooded, winged gremlins.
After taking a deep breathe, I gripped the first crevice and began scaling the mountain. The climb was slow and grueling especially with the blizzard increasing in intensity with elevation. Thankfully, my leather gloves helped stave off the worst of the cold but the same couldn't be said for my legs but there isn't much I can do in that regard. I just kept on climbing up, praying to whatever entity listening that I don't fall to my death again.
Krchk! that was the sound of the same entity laughing at me as the crevice I just grabbed broke off the mountain side causing me to lose balance and fall off.
The wind whistled in my ears as I was on my way to kiss the ground violently and soon enough, I felt my body slamming onto the hard ground before everything went black.
.
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.
.
After five more attempts, I finally finished climbing past the Fetid Imp hunting grounds. A large field of snow and rocks greeted me as soon as I got past the slope of the mountain side.
Having already died in four different ways before reaching here, I was not keen to get surprised by any monster. At the far end of the field, there was something akin to a open passageway made of ice that looked like some sort of archway.
Seeing no other path for advancing, I brandished my black sword in both hands as I carefully walked across the snowy field. It seems that my attempts to familiarize myself with the sword had been effective since the sword's weight felt somewhat familiar in my hands. Probably the [Adaptive] attribute doing its thing.
The crunching of the snow beneath my feet and the howling of the wind were the only sounds that could be heard in the field.
"It's quiet, far too quiet for my liking....," I muttered with vigilance. The field was big enough to contain about four football fields. Seconds stretched to minutes and minutes into hours as I trekked across the snow-covered expanse. I had a bad feeling deep in my gut throughout the whole march.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently that made me to almost lose my footing. Thankfully, after several times dying due to falling off balance, I learned to maintain my center of gravity the hard way.
Soon enough, the sound of rocks cracking could be heard throughout the field. From the wall of the mountain at the far end of the field, the mountain side erupted violently causing rocks to fly everywhere and from the hole emerged a monster of the likes of which I have never seen in my life.
"What in the goddamned hell is that!"
It was gargantuan in size, its body coiling around the whole field thrice over before fully emerging from the hole in the mountain side; its body consisting entirely of spiky vertebral bones with sharp, bony lance like appendages connected to it in regular intervals. The top of its head is made of an amalgamation of skulls with the biggest,horned one having a pair of brightly glowing red lights shining in its eye sockets along with a maw of razor, sharp teeth.
(Image)
"Skrieeeeeeeeeeeeee!" the giant bone centipede screeched its ear-peircing cry before training its glowing red eyes on me. The sword in my hand looked no different from a blade of grass when compared to the sheer size of the undead monstrosity. I ran as fast as I could towards the archway in hopes of somehow reaching there before becoming dinne for the monster.
However, that seemed to be for naught as the bone centipede moved faster than its size would suggest and simply slammed against me. Effectively crushing me under sharp rows of rib like protrusions. Then, everything went black.