Fight. Level. Survive.

Although now dormant, hundreds of years ago, the Gods were a huge part of everyday life: five greater Gods and ten Minor.

After millennia of peace, the ten minor Gods turned on their greater counterparts and, for their actions, were cursed to spend the rest of their immortal lives as demons. The demons and Gods fought for decades, causing destruction and mayhem never before known to the world.

The Gods looked upon the world they had created and wept, for it was now a land of horror and torment for all who lived there. As no immortal can truly die, they knew the only way for them to defeat the demons was for them to curse all Immortals to eternal slumber. Sacrificing their consciousness and trusting the inhabitants of the world to rebuild, they slept.

- Except from 'The G word' Chapter 2: The Great Fall.

Chapter 19 - Flashbang and Mason is gone

Mason took out his trunk and stepped into one of the empty rooms, making a mental note to buy some furniture as soon as he was back in town. Closing the lid behind him, he noticed that the entire room was well-lit but couldn’t identify the source of the light. Sitting on the floor, he looked at the most recent notifications he had gotten.

Notification 1/2

Quest Update! Exterminate Exterminate!

Objective: You have been tasked with clearing out a cave full of giant stone-eater spiders, good luck! Those things fucking suck! - Complete

Reward – Turn bodies in to the quest giver to receive the reward.

Notification 2/2

Quest Update! Kill the Monster, save the girl. Except there is no girl. Shut up.

Objective: A Monster has infiltrated this cave and taken over command of its denizens. Kill the Monster, and then probably kill the denizens too, but that’s another quest. - Complete

Reward – Magic KFC Box

Mason, of course, Immediately identified the Magic KFC Box.

Item - Magic KFC Box (Unique)

Once a day, this box can be used to order one KFC meal. Meals can be one set box meal plus a drink.

“Fuck yeah!” Mason exclaimed, ordering a Mini fillet box meal with a coke.

It had only been a few days, but Mason was glad he had access to at least one of his guilty pleasures. He also really looked forward to telling Mayry about it.

Moving on, he identified something he definitely did not plan on using right away.

Item - Baggie of Crack (Rare)

Using this consumable item will produce one of several effects.

1. Increase your strength tenfold while decreasing your intelligence the same amount for an amount of time between one minute and two hours.

2. Immediately leave you with a single health point.

3. Get you really fucking high.

“Okay, I won’t be using that anytime soon,”

Item - Wish Bone (Rare)

Breaking this while concentrating on a stat will either increase it or decrease it by 5 points.

Mason sat, munching on some chicken, trying to figure out which of his stat would benefit the most from an extra 5 points but also which would be least crippling if it took a -5-point hit.

Checking his menu, he saw he had 14 free points to spend. At first, he thought that didn’t seem right, but assuming he got three points for hitting levels 9, 11 and 12, maybe reaching level 10 netting him an extra few points as a reward for getting to a milestone.

He decided to use the wishbone on his Resilience stat. Being tougher couldn’t hurt, and if it decreased, he could sacrifice 5 of his 14 free points to the cause.

Concentrating, he broke the bone. He smiled as he got the notification telling him he got the +5. Maybe his luck had finally turned! Probably not.

Before spending his points, he wanted to identify the feathers and the iron beak and check out his new Skill Selection.

Item - Chicken Feathers (uncommon)

Used in rituals.

“Used in rituals?” Asked the air, curious about the unusually short description.

Item - Crack Hen’s Iron Beak (Rare)

A weapon worn on a hand to add piercing damage to your punches. Allows you to punch through anything weaker than iron.

“Oo sweet, looks super fucking weird but sounds pretty strong.”

“Now, on to the skills!”

There were three new options as well as the old skills he hadn’t gone with.

Level 10 skill selection available.

Available skills:

Martial Arts (Basic) - You’ll know kung fu.

Passive Effect: You’ll get the knowledge and the muscle memory of someone who understands the basics of several martial arts. Scales with Agility.

Random Summon (Advanced) - Call forth a random creature from the cosmos and have them join you in battle.

Active Effect: Once a day, summon a random creature from a random time and place to fight for you. Summon time 5 minutes + 30 seconds for each point of intelligence. Scales with intelligence.

Healing (Basic) - Love hurts, and so does healing.

Active Effect: Drain your own HP to heal another. You will temporarily feel the pain of what you are healing. Scales with vitality.

“Hmm, I think I might need a second opinion…, It would be awesome to know kung fu. A random summons sounds like it could be totally OP, but if someone is ever injured and I can’t help, I know I’ll regret not choosing healing. I think I’ll wait to see what Mayry thinks.”

So, 14 free points to spend, he considered. Opening his current character sheet.

Name: Mason Hughes

Level: 12

Current XP: 2951 / 3000

Race: Human

Class: N/A

Health Points (HP): 270

Mana Points (MP): 255

Stamina: (SP): 185

Stats

Strength: 25

Agility: 15

Endurance: 16

Vitality: 17

Resilience: 14 (+1)

Intelligence: 31

Perception: 18

Willpower: 15

Free points: 14

Skills:

Identify (Basic), Magic Missile - INT (Advanced), Emotional Wreck - PER (Basic), Camouflage - PER (Basic)

Base Skills:

Universal Translator, Inventory (Advanced)

Current Quest:

One quest or the 'Other.' There are others in this world who come from another place. Find out more.

He wanted to up his perception to 25 as it would rank up two of his skills. He also figured it was helping him aim his bow allowing him to hit his target without an ounce of training. That would leave 7 points he would save until he decided which skill to go with.

Putting the points into perception, he got the notifications he was expecting.

Notification 1/2

Your Perception stat has reached 25.

Your skill Emotional Wreck (Basic) has been upgraded to Emotional Outburst (Advanced).

Emotional Outburst (Advanced)

Active Effect: The more emotional you are, the more damage your strikes will deal. When active strikes will now inflict your emotions onto a target. Scales with Perception.

Notification 2/2

Your Perception stat has reached 25.

Your skill Camouflage (Basic) has been upgraded to Lesser Invisibility (Advanced)

Lesser invisibility (Advanced) Become one with your environment and become unseen to your enemies.

Active Effect: You blend into your surroundings, invisible to all but those with magical perception. Attacking an enemy while undetected will deal even more damage. Scales with Perception.

“Wow.” He felt like he was finally getting somewhere.

With the levels and the skill increase, he felt more confident. He was developing a habit of nearly dying every five minutes; just once he would like to be able to face a threat head-on and win without luck being the deciding factor.

Standing up, he decided to head back to town. He wanted to tell Mayry everything and get her opinion on which skill to choose.

Exiting his trunk, he eyed the entrance to the now non-existent cave. Grimacing, he commented, “I don’t think Viv will be collecting any ingredients here anytime soon.”

Before setting off to Sparksford, he activated his new Invisibility skill and looked at his hand. Where before he could see a vague outline, now he saw nothing, even shaking them in the air didn’t make the invisibility any less effective.

Deactivating the skill for now, he returned the trunk to his inventory.

He started off at a light jog in the direction of town, slowly gaining speed until he was at a full sprint. Agility had only a few additional points since his trip to the cave, but he was still shocked at how fast he was going. With nothing to compare himself to, it was difficult to guess, but at a push, he would say he was going around 20 to 25 miles per hour.

Probably not quite as fast as a gold medalist Olympic sprinter, but certainly far faster than he had ever run on earth; plus, he maintained the speed for almost the whole time it took him to reach the town. He did note that he needed to figure out how they told time in this world, as he hadn’t seen a single clock or watch the entire time he had been there.

Slowing as he approached the gate, he heard a voice shout, “I see him!” Just before he felt his ring vibrate.

Green fire shot at him from somewhere atop the wall. Cursing, Mason activated his invisibility and dived out of the way.

Amazed by Malika’s brashness in attacking him in such an open and public way. Assuming it was just Malika and a lackey of his who were after him, he ran faster towards the town, hoping the town’s guards would put an end to anything the poncey Elf tried to start.

If it was an option, he wanted to avoid a fight. Mason talked big but doubted he could actually take the top hunter in a 1v1 fight yet.

Arriving at the main gate, he deactivated his Invisibility so the guards would let him in. To his shock, in addition to the regular guards manning the gate, Malika also stood there with a smug look on his face.

Glowing green fireballs hovering above his hands, he called out, “I’m surprised you would show your face here after what you did, Marvin, was it?”

Rolling his eyes, Mason shouted back, “I know you know my name is Mason; now tell me what I supposedly did before I tell Santa one of his Elves is being a dick.”

Ignoring the Santa comment, Malika stepped forward along with the guard. “Where is Mayry? She was last seen with you, and her father is very worried about her.”

The scowl on Mason’s face dropped, “She’s missing? Since when?” How long had he been in the caves? It couldn’t have been more than a day or two.

“She was last seen two and a half days ago, talking to you, then moments later, you were seen running away from the town in quite the hurry. You will need to come with me for questioning, of course.” The predatory smile on his leaked pure arrogance, making it clear to Mason that if he did go with the Elf, he would be dead before the suns set.

*DING*

Mandatory Quest Received! Mayry Mayry, wherefore art thou Mayry?

Quest Objective - Mayry has gone missing, and you are the prime suspect. Find her and clear your name.

Reward - You get to see Mayry again and will no longer be a wanted criminal.

“Fuck”, Mason had hoped this was all some bollocks that Malika had concocted, but if he’d gotten a quest, Mayry must really be in trouble.

“Yes, indeed, fuck. Now are you going to come with us, or do I get to do this the fun way?”

Mason put his hands into the air as if to surrender. He called out one last time to Malika. “Okay! Fine, I’ll come with you, but first, catch!”

Mason pulled one of the magical flash grenades out of his inventory and tossed it at Malika; instincts taking over, he caught it.

The whole world seemed to explode with sound and light. Even Mason, standing a few feet away, was momentarily stunned.

Regaining his sense first, he activated invisibility and ran.