In the dead of the night, a furious battle was raging in the lightless expanse of the Wyvern Woods.
CLANG! CLANG!
The sound of steel striking bone resounded in its depth; echoing a harrowing visage.
CLACK! CLACK!
CLANG! CLANG!
In a morbid scene of carnage, an endless horde of skeleton besieged a lonesome figure. This figure wore clothing akin to rags which were dyed in blood. He had countless wounds all over his body but still moved with chilling precision. He moved without wasting any movements, calmly slaughtering all the skeletons that dared approach him.
He was like a torrent of steel, cutting down everything in his path with a somewhat crude but enlightened form of combat. The figured moved forward, paving a path out of the horde, using a brutal combination of swordplay and hand-to-hand combat to dispatch his dreadful foes.
Yet, even as the figure cleverly slaughtered his enemies, he wasn't left unscathed. In fact, as he progressed further, he began to gain more and more grave wounds.
A torn lip, a fractured ring finger, a damaged ear, and a partly severed arm were just a few to speak of. The human was in a world of indescribable pain, using every willpower he could muster to keep himself from collapsing to the ground and dying of blood loss.
To make things worse, he was straining himself to the limit and as a result his muscles were being consumed by a mounting lethargy, only a matter of time before the encroaching weakness finally catches up to him.
His ebony skin was riddled with dried wounds and his black hair was stained with dried blood. He was one mistake away from instant death.
But yet, he fought.
He fought with stalwart determination, refusing to break under the immense pressure.
For hours, the fearsome slaughter continued, showing no signs of stopping. The hordes of skeleton didn't seem to be thinning either.
In fact, they seemed to be growing fiercer, as if, disturbed by the fact that the lonesome figure wasn't dead yet.
The lonesome figure, himself, had long stopped advancing. He was now simply standing in a single position while fighting off the murderous skeletons, the hours of strain was slowly catching up to him.
CLANG! CLANG!
The figure swung his blade, aiming to decapitate a skeleton but missed. Without wavering, he simply twisted his body and lunged forward before...
Punching the skull of the skeleton.
His punch generated so much force that his fist simply went through causing the skull to scatter into thousands of shards. Without pause, he spun on one foot and deflected a skeleton's weapon, using his uchigatana to twist it downwards before turning his blade up and slicing upwards, like the legendary technique, Tsubame Gaeshi.
The blade moved up at high speeds before biting into the bone of the assaulting skeleton and then shattering it completely.
Without even a moment of respite, he was already upon his next opponent, decapitating the monster as swiftly as the last. He fought endlessly, mixing several martial arts together in a flux motion all for the sole purpose of reaping the souls of the skeleton horde. It was like he had finally culminated everything he had learned about swordplay and cemented it in his bones.
More hours passed and finally, the light of dawn tore the veil of the night.
"ARGH!"
A pained scream escaped the human's lips as a skeleton finally managed to land an unholy blow on him, taking out a rough chunk of his flesh. Blood spewed forth from his mouth as his eyes seemed to lose the light of life. Tears streamed down his cheeks as the burden of imaginable pain finally settled on him; the enlightened state of clarity wavering as he finally reached his limit.
Yes...that's true.
Alex could no longer fight.
The light in the eyes of the skeletons' seemed to shimmer with dark glee as their enemy finally gave up, his silver blade falling to the soil. They rushed towards him, eager to give him the gift of death.
But it was in that moment that, the rays of sunshine pierced the field and chased away the eerie fog. Following that, the skeletons suddenly froze and then...
TINK!
Dropped their weapons.
Each skeleton's weapon fell to the ground as the rays of sunrise broke the night's embrace. They lingered, staring at the sun listlessly before walking back and stopping under their respective trees then suddenly, they, as well as their weapons, vanished as if they never existed.
...
As the first ray of sunlight caressed me in its radiant embrace, I crashed to the ground.
Shit...if I pass out now...I'll die...
Even with that alarming thought, I couldn't do anymore.
I had long broken past the threshold of my body and now I was going to suffer for it.
Ah...
With that last thought, my eyelids closed leaving me in darkness as the last embers of consciousness left.
[You are in critical condition.]
[HP: 7/100]
[EXP: 203/100]
[Would you like to level up?]
[Host is unable to issue command.]
[Overriding command module...]
[Leveling Up...]
WHOOSH!
...
CHIRP! CHIRP!
Once again, I awoke to the sounds of chirping birds.
Birds...
My eyelids fluttered open and my gaze rested on a familiar yellow and blue stripped bird.
A sparrow...
"Hmm...I fell asleep, huh...", I lingered for a moment and then sat up.
But...for how long...?
That thought slowly wandered out of my mind when my gaze lingered on the peaceful expanse of the lea, I had found myself in.
How beautiful...
Indeed, this meadow was beautiful; colorful and vibrant, brimming with life and vitality.
Light gales fondled the blades of grass and then caressed my cheeks. A peaceful smile made its way to my face as I muttered, "It's good to be alive..."
Just as I said that, I noticed something odd.
"Huh?", I brought my hand to my right eye and discovered; the right side of my view was no longer black.
"Wait! What?!", I exclaimed and then stared at my right hand; it had no calluses or cuts.
Bewildered, I looked all over my body and touched my face.
"Am healed!"
There were no damages nor gruesome injuries on body; everything was back to its original state-no...in fact, I looked better than before.
"But...how?", I mumbled in a confused tone, before I finally had an epiphany.
"I leveled up!"
My eyes widened in realization and I rose to my feet before looking up at the sky.
The world looks sharper...
"I... really did level up..."
Stats!
[Name:] Alex
[Title:]???
[Level:] 3
[EXP:] 3/100
[Skills:] Oversaturation, Memory Palace, Echolocation, Art of Learning, Ambidexterity, Martial Arts, Anti-Lip Sync, Invisibility, Manipulation, Technical Knowledge (depreciated), Pickpocket, Panoramic Vision, Dexterity
[Aliases:] The Mastermind, The Fool
[Debuffs:] Partial Hearing, Myopic Vision, Anti-Lip Sync, Rizzless
[HP:] 100/100
[Achievements:] Flash of Power, Combat Novice, Death March
"What in tarnation?!", I exclaimed, nearly falling to the ground.
Level 3?! How?!
In turned out that I hadn't just leveled up but jumped two levels as well.
"This is amazing...haha...just how many skeletons did I kill...?", I asked no one in particular as I brought a hand to my face, barely being able to control my excitement, "Damn...wasn't I just Level One yesterday...?"
Just as I was staring at the interface, something caught my eye.
[Achievements:] Flash of Power, Combat Novice, Death March
Once I focused on it, the interface changed.
[You have completed the Achievement – Flash of Power.]
[Would you like to collect your rewards?]
[You have completed the Achievement – Combat Novice.]
[Would you like to collect your rewards?]
[You have completed the Achievement – Death March.]
[Would you like to collect your rewards?]
Achievements?! This game has achievements?!
"Hahaha!", I let out a hearty laugh as I clutched my stomach with my hands.
I looked at the interface and then said, "Yes to all."
[Rewards accepted.]
[Rewards accepted.]
[Rewards accepted.]
Following that, the interface changed again.
[Achievement Unlocked – Flash of Power.]
[You have gained 30 EXP.]
[Achievement Unlocked – Combat Novice.]
[You have gained 20 EXP.]
[You have gained Skill Upgrade: Battle Arts.]
[Achievement Unlocked – Death March.]
[You have gained an Epic Skill: Resistance.]
[You have gained a Rare Skill: Fear Inducement.]
[You have gained a new alias – Skeleton Horror.]
"Woah!", I exclaimed in awe.
How did I unlock all these achievements?!
[Achievement:] Flash of Power: Land a critical hit.
Land a critical hit...?
At that thought, the memory of the system resounding when I bashed a skeleton's skull open with my bare knuckles came to mind, "Oh...I didn't even realize..."
So, this game...has critical hits, huh...
[Achievement:] Combat Novice: Master the 'Martial Arts' skill.
Hehehe...I really outdid myself with this one...
A smug smile made its way to my face.
Back in the real world, I trained myself every day. Learning several martial arts with just my phone and a few books. Due to this method of training, I didn't make much progress and it seemed like I would never make a breakthrough.
Turns out that I just needed to fight a couple of skeletons to death...
I grimaced at the sarcasm of that thought.
[Achievement:] Death March: Overpower a group of entities.
I stared at it with an incredulous expression.
This achievement basically sums up everything...
"I really did survive..."
PLIP!
A single tear strolled down my cheek and fell to the ground.
"Huh? Am I crying?"
More tears rolled and felt to the ground with a plip.
It's strange...I had fought just for several hours but I felt like my whole life was just one big pain game...
Humans are strange creatures after all...we remember the bad things that happened to us more vividly than the good...
I smiled as I finally came to the realization that I was out of the dark.
"Ah...it's good to be alive..."
I stretched out my hand and uttered a command.
Inventory Open.
A weave of sparks and following that a bottle of glass.
[Equipped Item:] Glass Bottle
I immediately tore off the cap and threw it away before greedily drinking the water, making sure not to waste even a single drop.
I drunk until the bottle was empty before dismissing it.
I lingered for a moment, just simply taking in the expanse of the Wyvern Woods.
"What's...that?"
There seemed to be a strange spot before me. In front of me was a huge mountain chain so tall that trying to even think of climbing it was not even a debate.
"Is... that...a cave?"
Indeed, at the center of the mountain chain was a huge jagged hole; a cavern.
It seemed out of place compared to the rest of the serene scenery of the Wyvern Woods, as if, some otherworldly beast had struck the mountain chain with a tremendous blow.
I coughed.
Dunno...about that serene though...
Seems like you're able to joke...
You-ha...can't believe am saying this but am glad you're here...
My inner voice shrugged and said, wow...take a look at you...
I raised an eyebrow, What?
You...might now have a slightly better chance of getting a woman to bed.
My mouth twitched.
Hehe...you think?
Remember I said slightly better.
Alright, shut up!
Haha! Well...I guess I'll be frank too...am glad you're alive...I mean if you had died where would I have fucked my hoes...
My eyes widened in realization.
Woah...you're a tsundere!
What?! How dare you call me a tsundere?!, my inner voice roared at the outrageous allegation, ordering me to take it back. I simply laughed.
After a while, my inner voice spoke.
So, are you going in there...?
Not like, I have a choice...though...I can't turn back...
Ok...get going then.
Don't rush me...
I turned to the dark hole in the distance then spawned something into existence.
[Equipped Item:] Leather Map
"Yup...this is definitely it...X marks the spot."
I thought of immediately stepping forward but hesitated, "No... not yet...I just got out of hell...I need to rest."
With that, I plopped down to the ground with a sigh.