The sand and desolate trees slowly reveal themselves from the darkness that once covered them.
I slowly regain control of my breath, my panic attack fading.
Because of this I remembered the stupid deity words of giving a system, even if it is broken I can at least have a quick look, right?
"Status?"
"Stats"
"Up up and away"
"Shazam"
"Status." said with confidence
"OPEN UP ALREADY!"
…
Do I have to think of opening it instead of a command?
A broken system screen appears in front of my eyes, like it is actively falling apart and not in a cool way either.
[Nmye ass]
[cssal onone]
[Lelve 0/0]
[Stats insignificant]
[Bloodline nothing]
[#(9p need higher rank and connection to acess]
[Map inopeotive]
[Skills]
None
[mission kill the demon lord/lady and save the world]
[starter pack basic equipment]
"M. My name is Scott Grimes, SCOTT GRIMES."
After shouting at my system for a bit, I decided to select the basic equipment and see what I get.
A subtle click sounds as I mentally press the basic equipment button, only for nothing to happen.
A couple more clicks, and the item finally shows up.
A compass.
"A fucking compass, thanks," I said sarcastically.
The compass is a bronze colour, its colour slightly faded along with cracked glass.
Flipping the compass around I see a small note stuck there.
Follow me if you want to die.
Flipping it back around I see it's pointing in the direction I was looking.
So following what the note said, I made a 180 and legged it in the opposite direction.
[system message, you are heading towards the safe zone.]
[A safe zone was made by the system to assist the player/chosen one in their early stages of growth.]
[The safe zone can be entered or exited freely by the chosen one, while inside the safe zone, you will heal faster, get hungry less, need less sleep and have reduced ageing within the safe zone.]
[The safe zone will also grant the chosen one training partners to gain experience with but the training partners will not be able to go past grade 20 in strength.]
[Grades are-}
[shutting down]
"Great, guess the tutorial's over."
I didn't get any useful supplies!
Walking towards the safe zone is the best bet. Hopefully, it's near those mountains in the distance.
A couple of hours later.
The sound of a broken bell plays.
[You have entered the safe zone]
"I… I got to the mountains faster than I thought. mmm strange."
Taking a few steps forward, I collapse to the ground.
A soul-piercing pain rips through me. Moments later, a chilling throb radiates through my body, pulsing every few seconds.
Every throb feels like a small part of me breaks away.
It feels like hours pass, but really, only a few minutes go by.
Finally, I'm able to move again.
The pain still lingers, drastically lowering my movement.
I take a layer off, checking for any bites, scratches or holes anywhere on my body.
Sadly it was to no avail.
After a short rest, I force myself to move.
While moving, grass brushes across my shoes.
Further away, the trees are no longer burned husks. Instead, they're full of life, sturdy bark and leaves.
So I search around looking for a place to sleep, the trees, sadly I can't climb very well so that's not an option.
So I searched, it took about an hour, thankfully I found a cave to try and sleep in.
"Better not be wolves in this place"
Searching the quickly darkening cave to see if there were any extra entrances, I didn't find any.
As the darkness encroaches I chose to grab a bunch of leaves and stick to at least get myself off the ground.
***
The sun rises and sadly I didn't get much sleep, this migraine still hasn't left me.
Groggily getting up I rub my eyes, getting rid of the blurry vision, I am sadly greeted with a message.
[ 20, rank 20 partners/beings have been spawned for you to hunt… good luck… chosen one]
That, that's not right, if I'm in a safe zone, why did it summon stuff for me to 'hunt' without me asking?
It has to be that deity messing with stuff right?
Did it say 20, that's way too much the hell!
"Ahhh, shit I should probably get out of here right… Yeah, that seems like a good choice. This is definitely not a safe zone, whoever is telling me these things is lying to my face."
Let's look for a river and follow it, with that I might find some actual people to talk to and avoid fighting whatever these beings are alone.
Searching around, a few corpses of mammals started popping up, just left there, uneaten.
Something is hunting for sport and the kills are fresh, so one more reason to get out of here fast.
I start to hear the faint sound of running water, so I pick up the pace and speed walk towards said sound.
In all its glory a flowing river, finally I've been looking for what feels like hours, why was it so hard?
I quickly wash my face in the river for a quick refresher and a drink.
Thump
Thump
I heard a dull thump nearby. I quickly stand up and look around to see what the cause of the noise was, but I don't see anything.
So I wait for a couple of seconds to see if the sound is made again.
Thump
Thump
Swish
Thump
I stand frozen, as what seems to be a small spike or needle was embedded into the tree I was next to..and right next to my eyes.
"Nope", I say as I shake my head fiercely.
I turn to my right, the river is flowing in that direction and I sprint as fast as I can.
I didn't expect the sparring partners to have ranged attacks, that's not fair at all!
Thump
Thump
Thump
Thankfully whatever it was has stormtrooper aim or I think I'd be dead, those spikes are hitting the trees with quite a bit of force while also growing in size slightly.
I start to zig-zag across different trees, while also trying to bob and weave the best I can, still hearing the dull thumping sound getting ever so closer and closer.
I rush through the branches, they snap as I charge through.
Some start to leave marks on my face and skin, but I don't have time to care about that right now.
As one of those spikes goes across my face a slight burning sensation seeps from my cheek, and a small amount of blood starts to drip.
I quickly dab the small wound, causing it to sting further.
I haven't been sprinting for very long. Still, I can feel my lungs start to ache, my breath becoming more and more haggard and sweat is piling on my body at a rapid pace.
A couple more seconds of running and another spike just scrapes by my leg, ripping through my trouser leg with ease, and once more that slight burning sensation appears, this time it's from the top of my thigh.
Further and further still following this river, hoping I can find something for shelter and safety.
My lungs will soon be screaming for me to stop, to take a break, telling me I have run far enough, but I know that's not true as I can still hear that damn dull thumping nearby, I swear I can feel it just barely missing my heel.
It can't be toying with me, can it?
I see a cave that the river is flowing through, maybe I can lose whatever's chasing me in the cave, this spike thrower better not have night vision.
As I reach the cave entrance, I now see that there is no path, and it's just big enough for me to hunch through, with slight hesitation I jump into the river hoping to a better deity that the river is shallow here.
For my prayers and luck, it is, and I go as fast as I can in the slightly ankle-deep water with my back hunched, I go through this small cave.
Looking for offshoots, corners anything that can be used as a blind spot or an eye line breaker, as I have no idea how far back the creature is.
Thankfully this cave bends and turns all over the place with multiple offshoots, I pick one going to the right, and just before I get to the corner I hear splashing from behind.
It caught up and I'm still in line of sight, in a narrow cave, no exit plan and no way to avoid its next spike.
So I did something stupid, I turned around, I should have just full sent it down that right passageway, dived, dark souls rolled anything, but no I turned around.
The 'partner' that is now facing me. A fucking mannequin, one of the smoothest ones I've ever seen, and it's almost blindingly white, with brown spikes coming from its hands and wrists.
I'm looking at the spikes coming from its hand for too long, as now I see, one is coming straight at me.
It's too fast for me to react to.
My flesh tears, as what I assumed to be similar to a porcupine's spike, rips through my shoulder, digging deep but not fully going through, I now know, it's made of stone.
My pained scream echoes off the walls, replaying my pain like a recorder.
I swear the mannequin smiled at my pain.
I thought the adrenaline or whatever was meant to dull the pain in moments like this but it didn't, I felt it all, the cold stone in my shoulder, I could feel every small movement it made, grinding against the muscle on my arm, small fragments were breaking off, piercing the surrounding muscle.
From the momentum of the shot, I slam into the cave wall.
My hands scratch across the wall, stopping at some loose rocks.
I'm able to push myself up just enough to get back to a running-like motion down this passage.
I hear the splashing of its steps slow in the distance, it's not as fast for some reason.
No, no no no, don't get narrower, don't get narrower I need to keep this speed up I don't want to be hit again.
The offshoot is still getting smaller.
But I see it, this offshoot goes left.
Another splash hits my back as freezing water spreads across it, the partner missed their shot.
This thing is definitely toying with me, there's no way it missed me going only straight.
As I get to the corner I choose to do my best attempt at a dive forward from the crawl I'm in, won't be hit again, I'll make sure.
As I belly flop into the water around this corner, the most horrid scraping sound can be heard as another stone spike smashes above me.
I continue to crawl, now my arms and knees are screaming at me.
But I continue forward, I need to, I know my salvation is ahead of me, it has to be.
Splash
Splash
Splash
Splash
I quickly look left and right.
For the briefest moment, I see some light down the right path, so I go as fast as I can. The splashing is still going on behind me.
As I go forward I can now see that the cave opens up once more, becoming a giant open space.
I stand up and go as fast as I can, even if it's just as fast as someone jogging.
As I exit what I see stuns me in awe.
In the distance, I see a city, covered in ice and snow as if it's been in winter the entire time.
But the forest surrounding the city and in front of me, there's no snow, no ice, it's not even that cold, and I'm covered in water and sweat.
I snap back to reality.
I run into the forest, thankfully that partner is slow in water for some reason.
As I go through the forest my vision blurs slightly, I see shadows, leaves and even trees move and shift, like they're alive.
The bushes in front of me also start shifting and moving all around, like they're being displaced.
This happens for only a second or two but after those seconds pass, the way in front of me has changed.
It now resembles a dirt path, the trees make a perfect archway along the path, and all the bushes have moved to the side, blocking the sight of any animal that could be looking from the side.
"I, have I lost too much blood… no that isn't right I haven't bled that much, the stone spike is stopping the most damaged place from bleeding right now so… how.
I turn around to look at the path behind me, but it's gone, there's nothing except a forest behind me, as if the cave didn't exist, but I'm still soaking wet from the water.
What happened, can I even trust the path in front of me?
After a few moments of debating, I suddenly feel a rush of fatigue, as I put my hands on my knees, and take a bunch of deep breaths.
Before falling over onto my back and just lying there on the ground resting for a while.
After a 30-minute break, I finally got up.
I walk down the dirt path to wherever it takes me.
After a bit of time passes
The path has now become partly frozen and covered in snow, as I now stand in front of that frozen city.
I'm standing near the gates currently, just taking in the area, the slightly cold air, the smell of frost, and the utter quiet this place has, there are no sounds other than my own.
I'm still alone.
I take a look around at the houses closest to me, at the pages of writing on the walls of houses and along the street names.
They all say the same thing.
Come to the castle.
*******
Word count 2371
Hello everyone, at the start of this chapter I was slightly struggling to come up with idea on were tk go and what will happen, and to get to my bare minimum word goal of 1000 words. then not long after I got to the first bit ware mc Scott, getting ambushed, I was suddenly able to write an additional 2000 more words :0.
I was hoping to have Scott encounter someone this chapter, someone I plan to become important and help are mc out though the story. But as you can see that didn't happen. So that will be happening in the next chapter when it get release.
Sorry about that :/ I didn't expect to write so much and not get to that bit.
Anyway I hope the character was to your liking and entertaining, I hope I can write the new character that will be appearing soon, well.
If you have an idea that you think will be a good story beat or just a theory on what could happen I would love to see it, always love seeing how people think, as it could possibly make for a better story.
Anyway have a great day/night everyone I'll see you all next time :D