"Ugh... My head! What happened?"
I looked around and saw that I was inside of some sort of cave.
'Last thing I remembered was... Right. I tried to jump headfirst off a bridge. Well... Not try, I did, but then I somehow ended up here.'
Checking my body I found that I was perfectly fine except for my splitting headache.
'But why am I not dead? How did I end up in a cave?'
I had a lot of questions, but no one to answer them. So I stood up and was about to take a step forward to begin searching for clues when something appeared in my eyes.
[Welcome to the Trials of Ascension!]
[Deemed worthy, you have been invited to become a Player, and the style that fits you best is Rogue-Like!]
[This stage is the tutorial. It will give you a taste of what you will be doing from now on.]
[Note: If you die here, you won't die in real life, but there are penalties.]
'Am I still asleep? I must have fallen asleep while playing a game or reading, because this is just like something from a fantasy.'
Crediting it to the stress from being given an eviction notice, and the desire to escape from reality, I decided to just enjoy the delusion my brain created for me.
I closed the messages that filled my view, realizing I could navigate it with my mind, and inspected everything I could.
Since there was no one around I decided to talk to myself. Not like it mattered either way, but as a self soothing tool in this unfamiliar situation.
"I even have a health bar and what looks like a mana bar, hah! It really is just like a game.. In that case... Status!"
A new screen popped up in my vision and it was a typical video game character screen.
[Draven Franz]
[Class: N/A]
[Level: 1]
[HP: 100/100]
[MP: 0/0]
[Stats:
Strength - 1
Constitution - 1
Agility - 1
Dexterity - 1
Intelligence - 1
Wisdom - 1
Spirit - 1
Will - 1
Luck - 1
Charm - 1
]
[Traits: None]
[Skills: None]
It seemed I was as weak as possible, but that was understandable as most rogue-like games were where you started as weak as possible, the purpose was to grow gradually over time.
I closed my status opting to instead explore the other features. There was a skills page, a store and even an inventory. Surprised by all this I spent another ten minutes enjoying myself as I explored the menus.
"This is probably the most interesting game I have seen so far. It's amazing what your brain can do when you are sleeping. I don't think there is anything else I can learn without moving forward. I wonder what I have to do-"
I had only taken a few steps when a creature appeared in front of me. It fell from the high ceiling and landed directly before me a few steps away.
"It's a slime? Is that a slime?"
I leaned forward to get a better look but no matter what it looked like a simple slime you would see in a tutorial. I reached down and tried to touch it.
However it suddenly stretched and wrapped itself around my hand. At first I thought it felt nice and weird. That all changed in a second as I then felt a burning sensation all over my hand, and I began to panic.
"OH FUCK IT'S ACIDIC! FUCK YOU GET OFF ME."
I began trying to grab the slime but it slipped out of my hands. I then realized I wouldn't be able to grab it, so I desperately tried anything I could. Slamming my hand on the floor or the walls didn't work. Out of frustration I threw an empty punch at the slime.
[You dealt 1 DMG!]
With tears in my eyes I realized what I needed to do. With renewed vigor I began punching rapidly at the slime.
[You deal 1 DMG!]
[You deal 1 DMG!]
[You deal 1 DMG!]
[You deal 1 DMG!]
[You deal 1 DMG!]
[You deal 1 DMG!]
[You deal 1 DMG!]
[You deal 1 DMG!]
With one final punch I screamed out.
"DIE!"
[You deal 1 DMG!]
...
[Lvl. 0 Slime defeated.]
[Gained 1 Gold.]
Panting I swiped away the annoying messages and gingerly held my hand that looked like a leather glove that had been left in a fire.
"Ah. It hurts so much."
It was now that I realized that there was no way this way a dream, as the pain should have woken me up, but that made me even more confused.
"Then the messages before were the truth... How.. How do I go back?"
'Wait... Do I even want to go back?'
About to be evicted, no family, no real friends, and no valuable skills.
My life has nothing going for it, so why should I even want to go back, when there was nothing good about it?
As I had these thoughts I began to think about how the only thing I ever enjoyed were video games. I liked to read but even then I liked reading about stories with RPG elements, or systems.
"The things in the shop... If they're real and affect real life, then I could be someone... Someone successful. Someone that people look at and want to talk to..."
Wiping the snot from my nose I stood up and looked ahead. While I was lost in my thoughts just now I had lost the feeling in my hand and the pain was no longer unbearable. Instead it felt as if my hand was numb.
"Let's just keep going.."
I walked forward again, with vigilance this time, and watched my surroundings carefully. However I could have done nothing to prepare myself for what happened next.
"You will die, and I will offer your skull to the Great God Kalatoa!"
'That's-That's a fucking ORC?!'
A giant mass of muscle stood across from me and brandished it's crude axe. Although it looked like a poorly made stone axe, with it's muscles it could split me in half with a rolling pin, so I didn't feel any better.
I got ready to dodge any attacks but before I noticed it the axe was already in my face.
It was now that I confirmed that this wasn't a dream. I felt my skull break and be crushed from the impact of the axe. My nose was broken and I felt the stone axe head penetrate my brain. I didn't know why I didn't die immediately, or if this is what people felt in their last moments, but I wanted it to end.
A jolt was sent through my entire body, forcing it to go limp, before rushing back to my head. It was then that my vision went dark.
[Tutorial complete!]
[Death is inevitable... For some.]
[You have been resurrected at the last place you slept.]
[You have to enter the Trials again at least once within the next week.]
[Reward for completing tutorial:
1 F-Rank Trait
1 F-Rank Skill
Class Available for Selection
]
I looked down at my hand and noticed that I still had the hideous burns on my skin. I touched it gently before noticing I had another message in my view.
[Death penalty: Scars stay present until you enter the trials again.]
I made an unhappy expression and went to the bathroom. I was back in my own apartment so I quickly made my way in the dark to the bathroom. Once I turned on the light I saw another hideous axe wound on my face. Going from the top left of my head, through my nose, and ending just above my lips.
"I can't go out like this... So it's forcing me go back... But not right now. I.. I need to calm down and sort things out in my mind."
Although the wound on my face was bad I don't think the damage carried to my brain, so at least I could still move. I then took a moment to touch my face gently. Even though I had acne peppered on my face, a large nose, and greasy black hair that covered my eyes I still disliked the scars.
I looked down at my large tummy and thick thighs with displeasure. The amount of details I disliked about myself were only added to. I turned off the light listlessly and slowly made my way to the kitchen. I refilled a kettle before setting it on the now hot stove top. I made myself a bowl of ramen and sat down to eat it at my desk.
While I waited for it to cool down I began to browse the internet for information on the Trials of Ascension. Of course, I found nothing but I figured I should at least try. After that I looked for any information about people waking up in places they didn't recognize and fighting fantasy creatures was also a dead end.
I discovered there were a large number of people who would go on the internet and just lie. Since there was nothing to be found online I decided to look at the rewards from earlier.
[Pick one F-Rank Skill:
Basic Cooking - Allows basic understanding of flavor and a minor improvement to the taste of dishes you create.
Basic Sewing - Allows basic understanding of sewing and a minor improvement to artistic creativity of things you make.
Basic Electronics - Allows basic understanding of electronics and a minor improvement to the speed at which you understand new electronics.]
"..."
Staring blankly at the skills I could choose I began to feel that I had the worst luck in the world. A large part of the rogue-like theme was that there were a lot of elements left to chance. I was painfully reminded that I had really bad luck
Sighing I decided to pick [Basic Electronics]. The other two skills would require me to invest a lot of time to make a living off of, but this one would be immediately helpful in making some money. I would visit the junkyard sometime this week and scavenge for parts.
I knew how to put together old DVD players so that was what I planned to do to make some money for now. I could also offer to fix phones later on but I didn't have the money to buy replacement parts yet.
Then I summoned the choices for the F-Rank traits.
[Pick one F-Rank Trait:
Gourmet - You receive buffs depending on the type and quality of foods you eat. However you will be disgusted by food that is poorly made.
Quick Reflexes - React faster.
Flexible - Improved flexibility.]
"If I had picked the cooking skill I would have been able to pair it nicely with Gourmet, but I guess its too late to think about that. Being flexible is nice but it's also something I can just improve over time, so the choice is obvious to me."
After picking the Quick Reflexes trait I went to my class selection which was my final reward.
[Classes can be changed freely outside of the trials, but only one may be chosen inside.]
[Advanced, Hidden and Evolved classes will be available later.]
[Choose your first class:
Warrior - Someone who fights with their bodies.
Archer - Uses ranged weapons to whittle down enemies.
Mage - Wields magic to unleash a range of spells.
Priest - A spellcaster who can heal or cast an array of buffs.
Rogue - A stealthy fighter who uses deception and quick moves to fight.]
Not feeling confident about my body, and having an honest fear of fighting close up, I decided I wanted to choose a ranged class. While Priests probably had a ranged spell, I didn't have any allies currently so I felt the healing would be moot if I couldn't kill anything.
"Archer or Mage? Rogues might even have some ranged options but I don't want to take that risk when I am just starting. I've never used a bow before so I guess that leaves me with one choice."
[Mage class unlocked!]
[Lesser Fireball Lvl. 1 learned.]
[Meditation Lvl. 1 learned.]
[While Mage class is active Mage skills are 1.5x more likely to appear.]
Going to the skills tab I learned that it would take 100 casts of fireball to level it up, and I would need to recover 1,000 mana with meditation to level it up.
It seems that grinding skill levels would be painstakingly long. Although everything felt new and interesting, I was too exhausted mentally to continue thinking, so I decided to finish my ramen noodles and go to sleep.
The noodles were cold and soggy but I didn't care. I devoured them quickly and went to sleep. I had a hard time sleeping because my nose didn't allow me to breathe naturally, but eventually I fell asleep breathing through my mouth.
I would have to attempt the trials again tomorrow, since I don't think I could do this for another day.
****
*GASP*
"Huff... Huff... Shit I thought I was going to die."
I woke up in a panic because I had started choking on my spit and couldn't breathe properly. Calming myself I began to breathe slowly to lower my heartrate. When I was done I decided to shower briefly before making myself a bowl of cereal, only to find out that I had no milk, so I had a bowl of dry cereal.
It was while I was looking at a spoonful of cereal with no milk that I felt that my life was really disappointing.
"I don't have anything better to do with my life, and can it really get any worse than this?"
As I finished the bowl of cereal I put the empty bowl on my nearby desk and opened my menu. There was a new tab labelled [Trials]. After I opened it up I saw that I had no previous record, and that there were different options of trials I could go into that were currently locked.
[Trial of Body]
[Would you like to enter now?]
[Yes/No]
I took a deep breath and selected the yes option. Immediately after I did a large portal appeared in the doorway and I stood up to walk through it. The moment I stepped through I found myself no longer in my apartment.
Beautiful green trees that looked like evergreens, birds chirping and crunchy grass beneath my feet. Looking down I realized I forgot to put on shoes, and that would bother me deeply. Too late to do anything about it though.
I looked down and noticed my hand had reverted back to normal. Smiling, I inhaled a deep breath through my nose and smoothly let out a deep sigh. My wounds had been healed and I was glad to be able to be at my best condition.
I checked my surroundings but didn't see anything so I decided to begin walking forward through the forest. Thankfully there was a naturally formed path, which I felt was deliberately placed, and allowed for a clear line of sight.
After a minute of walking I encountered my first enemy.
It began with rustling from behind a tree as a small green creature stepped out.
'A goblin? It has a wooden spear. Probably the best weapon a small creature could have. It's good for keeping a distance while also being able to pressure me. I should try out magic.'
I glanced at my mana bar.
[MP: 100/100]
Lesser Fireball costs 10 MP to cast, so I could cast it 10 times, however there was a three second cast time. Figuring that I needed to keep my distance, I began casting the spell, and I began stepping backwards slowly. I felt a mysterious force channel through my body as small flickers of fire gathered in my right palm.
"Grrlgah gruh!"
The goblin then dashed towards me and stabbed out with the spear. I saw it coming, but my brain froze, then my latest talent kicked in. Moving swiftly to the side I took a step to just barely dodge the spear. Surprised by my own movement I quickly grabbed the spear.
The goblin and I had an awkward game of tug of war.
"Ghjilk! Ghjilk!"
"FUCK YOU I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SAYING!"
"GHJILK!"
"NO!"
I felt my mana stop moving and a small ball of fire had appeared in my hand. I then threw the ball into the goblin's face.
[You deal 5 DMG!]
There was a small splash of flames as the goblin was severely burned. I noticed the burns had reached one of the goblin's eyes and I knew it couldn't possibly see from it anymore. The goblin released the spear to swat the flames from its face but I used that moment to yank the spear completely from it's grasp.
Unsure of what to do with it I struck forward and hit the goblin in the nose. Probably broken now, blood gushed out as the goblin's head flew back from the force, I followed up with a kick to the goblin's chest. It fell to it's butt and I began casting another fireball.
The goblin scrambled to it's feet and charged at me desperately. I panicked and simply held the spear sideways in front of me, trying to keep the goblin away, but that led to me getting several deep scratches on my arms.
Another fireball was ready so I dropped the spear and threw it directly into the goblin's face. This time it let out an intense scream and I used this chance to kick it off of me. I rolled to the side and began casting another fireball immediately.
[You deal 5 DMG!]
However I realized that I was panicking for nothing. The goblin ahead of me was wildly swinging around it's claws desperately trying to catch me. However I quietly stood up and took small steps backwards. From there it was a slow one sided fight.
[You deal 5 DMG!]
[You deal 5 DMG!]
I was about to throw another fireball but I stopped as I listened to the goblin begin whimpering. It sobbed and although I couldn't understand what it was saying I knew it was begging for it's life.
My eyes were filled with pity as I watched the goblin fall to the ground and say incomprehensible words. I closed my eyes and grit my teeth.
"I'm sorry."
I was trying to make an apology to the goblin, but the moment it heard my voice it lunged in my direction. [Quick Reflexes] activated and I threw the fireball the moment I saw it start to lunge.
[You deal 5 DMG!]
...
[Lvl. 1 Goblin defeated.]
[+25 EXP.]
[25/100 EXP to Level 2.]
[You gain 5 Gold.]
The forest had plunged into an unsettling silence. Although I had just fought for my life again, the wind was rustling leave and birds were chirping, no one would know that a life was ended just now.
Except I knew. I felt the weight of killing something for the first time. Although I killed a slime yesterday it was different when the form was less fantasy. Even more so that the goblin could talk, cry and even beg for mercy.
I don't know why, but I dragged the corpse of the goblin to the side of the path. I began covering it with leaves and any big branches I could find. After about twenty minutes it was finally covered and I gave a small prayer.
"I hope you live peacefully in your next life..."
It was silly and pointless, but I felt a little better after doing it. I then took a moment to use [Meditation] and recover the mana I had lost. Meditating recovered 1 MP per 10 seconds. Almost 10 minutes later I had fully recovered my mana and my scratches had began to scab over.
I took a deep breath and stood up from my spot. Looking around I was curious about the conditions to encounter enemies. If they were randomly wandering it might mean I would run into more than one at a time, and if that were true I didn't want to be going without an escape plan.
I grabbed the spear that was I had leaning against a tree nearby and began walking forward. I didn't know what was ahead of me but I was accepting this new reality more.