"Is this really how it has to end." Grayson slowed. He'd made it out with his life, but the cost? "After all I went through, I'm still going to die in the end." The adrenaline evaporated in his veins. The fatigue was catching up to him. He'd abused his body far more than he should have been capable.To survive, he faced a swarm of giant blood-sucking insects, escaped a war between flying monsters, and faced a giant pterodactyl bird himself and won. The cost though? His muscles ached, half the skin on his body was burnt, and he couldn't feel his legs. Blood tracked in his footsteps."I really should stop doing that," Grayson said deliriously. He still didn't feel safe, though. In his ears, he still heard the distant chittering and screeching. The battle was dying down. Whether it was the Krivels or Virodrakes, he knew all that blood he'd been trailing would lead them straight to him—that is if the blood loss didn't get to him first.[System Notifcation]Virodrake slain! 250 XP awarded!Level up! You have reached level 9!"Looks like that bastard got what was coming to him. Too bad I wasn't there to see the face he made before he got himself killed," Grayson muttered softly to himself. He looked down at the arm he'd been clutching his stomach with. It was completely covered in deep red crimson. The smell of iron coming from it."It doesn't hurt that bad." At this point, he just wanted to crawl into a hole and sleep. The bag he'd long forgotten weighed heavily on his shoulders—the bag!All that running had made him completely forget that he was carrying a bag with him. He reached for his back as fast as he could only to see it was completely torn apart. The strings that held it up were barely dangling for dear life. "Fuck, where are those bandaids."Most of the belongings had either fallen out or were covered in Krivel acid. Besides a few rations that were sealed in plastic or canned almost everything was unusable.At least I know that Krivel Acid isn't that effective against plastic.Grayson sighed, unzipping the final pouch where he'd kept his medical supplies."I should have expected it." The bandaids we had brought had mostly been covered in acid and were completely usable."At least I've got some pills, my head is killing me," Grayson sighed, as he popped a few pain-relieving pills into his mouth. Immediately he felt a certain amount of relief, but his body was too badly damaged for it to make a huge difference. It did not stop him from bleeding out, nor did it stop most of the pain, but that small amount of relief did help him calm his mind a bit.He continued searching for the rest of his medical supplies, which he found were mostly useless. He either didn't have the skills to use them, or they wouldn't help him whatsoever.He did spot a small glass vile, with a drop or two of crimson liquid."The healing potion! Too bad I don't have more of it." Grayson grabbed the bottle and opened it.It should help a little bit.As he was about to drip it onto his wounds, he heard trees rustling. It wasn't close but it sure as hell was getting closer to his general "The blood must have attracted something or it's those damn Krivel's and Virodrakes," he groaned. Quickily, Grayson shoved all his belongings into his bag making sure they weren't in danger of falling out.He attempted to run but a massive sense of vertigo hit him like a punch and caused him to stumble to the ground. Grayson pulled himself together and ever so slowly moved at a crawl. The small respite he'd found was gone. At the very least he needed to find somewhere he could hide. Behind him, the sounds grew louder, and he moaned as he heard the familiar sounds. Chittering, of course, was chittering. The Krivels would not give up on him not now. It must be the group that had finished off the Virodrake.He looked around and saw he had two options. This forest had been suspicious from the get-go. In front of him, he saw two directions that were creepily bisected. To his left was more of the normal forest, but to his left was the same forest, with one keen difference. It was covered in fog. That wasn't the weird thing though it was the tingling sensation he got when he looked in its direction.Left or right. Either pray I can outrun—more correctly out walk those damned Krivels by going left and staying the hell away from whatever's going on the right.Or I can again pray, hope either the insect bastards, avoid the fog, or lose my trial in that mysterious fog.He didn't need to consider his options much because he'd already made in decision. "I've survived until now by making gambles, and I don't plan on stopping today."Grayson pressed his way into the thick haze. Whatever this creepy fog was, he hoped it wouldn't do him in. As he advanced the creepy feeling in his gut grew. Grayson looked back one more time, but he knew it was too late to change his mind now. The Krivels were onto him. He took one big breath of air and gulped down the last two drops of the healing potion before throwing the bottle away. "Let's do this," he said to himself.Grayson tried keeping a vigilant eye on his surroundings but his mind was too fatigued for any actual work. His body was growing cold. The healing potion he'd taken had given him a tiny bit of energy, but it wasn't helping with his wound. It looked like it had stopped leaking, but he was too far gone, for that to mean anything.His legs struggled to move. He'd only been walking, ever so slowly, but just htat simple motion was enough to cause him to breathe heavily.I should be dead. It should be impossible for the human body to survive all this.Name: Grayson AlderwoodTitle: N/ARace: HumanClass: N/ALevel: 4>9Stats Points:
Fortitude: 8>17Agility: 7>23Strength: 6>12Intelligence: 17>24Mana: 13>21
Skills:[Firefly]Summons controllable fireflies that explode on impact, dealing area-of-effect damage.Talents:[Fast Adaptation] (Humanity Exclusive)Humans adjust quickly to changing environments, allowing for more stable performance in unfamiliar conditions.That should explain some of it, my durability and other stats have increased wildly as I continued to level up, but this shouldn't be enough to explain it. Maybe a hidden stat, like regeneration, Past Echo? No, it can't be that the skill doesn't exist anymore. It must just be that all the leveling has allowed me to push my body beyond its limits, or I'm underestimating the power of the healing potion.His thoughts were suddenly caught off guard as he noticed the air was cold. His body temperature had dropped significantly, but a chill gave him goosebumps as the wind blew by. The air was damp, and cool, with an unfamiliar scent. Grayson tried to brush it off but something felt wrong. If he knew anything about the stories he'd read, it was that fog was an omen.A light clicked in his head which he did not like. "Where the hell are the Krivel's?" he said shakily. They should have caught up to him minutes ago. He couldn't even hear the sound of their obnoxious chittering.The forest was silent, besides the sound of the bone-chilling wind blowing about. Something was wrong and Grayson knew it.Maybe I should head back? Maybe he had lost the Krivel and now going the other way was safe. Grayson turned around, only to be greeted with a massive amount of fog."That way's the way back right?" he said to himself hoping for some confirmation from his body. Nothing happened. His alert bells were ringing in his mind that he needed to get out of where he was currently. He left in the opposite direction of where he was previously going.Time drifted on, one minute blending into the next. "I should've returned by now," he muttered under his breath. He shoved the thought that he might have been lost down his throat. Now that the Krivel wasn't gone and he was stressing out he decided to sit down and take a break. He broke apart of protein bar. He sat against a tree thinking about everything that happened until now. After finishing his quick break, he tried to stand back up and leave, but he found his body refused to give in. Now that he had some proper rest, his body wasn't willing to let it be only this much. So Grayson sat. He thought about the mysteries of the System, how his body hadn't completely rolled over and died, his new stats when he would get a class, and new skills. All he wanted to do was not think about the fog in front of him and what it meant. His eyes looked at the trees in the distance and the impenetrable fog behind them.Grayson sighed, "I've had enough rest, I really need to get out of here."Then he did the same thing he was good at, and that was putting one foot in front of the other. Grayson, then rested after growing fatigued. He repeated this process over and over until the sun visibly dipped in the sky a bit. "Damnit!" Grayson yelled as he threw an empty can of food to the ground."I've been trying to get out of this forest for so long and yet I've made no progress." The scene in front of him was the exact same he'd seen time and time again, trees and an impenetrable fog behind it.The only thing that changed it was the day was growing darker.He knew he couldn't do anything else so Grayson walked. He tried marking trees to see if he was under a weird illusion, but no matter where he went he would never find the same tree. Eventually, he just gave in to the idea that the forest he'd stumbled into was just a normal forest, and he was an idiot who didn't know how to navigate across it.Time flew by, the sun dipped more. There was still visible light but it was growing fainter with each passing hour."Is that the exit!" Grayson yelled. He ignored the warning signals from his body and started running toward a patch of trees. Beyond it he didn't see the normal fog he normally knew of. He ran as fast as he could and made it only to stop in his tracks. Beyond the trees was indeed something different but it wasn't an exit he was looking for. It was a small clearing with some ruins at the center."And it gets worse. Can't get anything good can I" he groaned stomping his feet.Still, he didn't turn around and look for another way. This might be the only way out of here. He looked at the ruins and steeled himself. He began walking toward the center where he saw the ruins, he crouched making his way slowly, even though he was right in the open.In a world like this, who knows what could happen? I'm not going to be the one to find out.Grayson stood amongst the ruin of something he could not make out. He was sure this wasn't something that belonged here. First, it was made of cobblestone, and second, it looked like the ruins of one of those castles in Europe except on a much smaller scale.He would have known what this place was if it had come from his city.The thing that really sold him was a strange circle inscribed on one of the floors and a tablet written in words that didn't come from any language on Earth.What the hell? Grayson approached the tablet, wiping away at the dust on it trying to get a better look at it. When he did though unexpectedly the letters started growing. His blood that had been smeared onto the tablet began to glow."Shit." He began to run. "I'm not staying for whatever this is." The ground below him started to shake.[System Notification - ERROR]Warning! You have entered a Dungeon Area. Proceed with caution.System is attempting to retrieve additional information...Loading...Warning: Environmental Anomaly DetectedDungeon Classification: [ERROR - DATA INCOMPLETE] [System Diagnostic]Area Analysis: UnstableAnomalous energy levels detected.Monsters: [Unknown]Escape Routes: [Undefined]*That's not good.* Grayson turned around and began running for the forest, but it was already too late. The ground beneath him began crumpling faster than he could run. The last thing he heard before he fell into the gaping pit beneath his feet was the system notification.[System Notifcation]Congratulations! You are the first of humanity to enter a dungeon.Dungeon Name: Twilight Grove - Rank GoldA domain caught between realms, where shadows and whispers dwell. Tread carefully, as this land observes you...You have been awarded 700 XP.Caution! Dungeon Level Recommendation: 25 (Average)Minimum recommended entry level for survival is 20. Suggested party size: 5 members.Warning: Solo entry is strongly discouraged. Survival chances are significantly diminished.