Andius was still angry at the treatment from those other players by the time the portal reappeared. He wasn’t looking forward to going back out there, when he knew that all that was waiting for him was pain and a slow death, but he didn’t have a whole lot of choice since the portal was already trying to suck him in. With a shaky breath, Andius again stepped through the threshold.

This time it was night when he stepped through the portal, and he found himself standing in the middle of a small crater, less burnt parts of the crater showed the outlines of two human figures, and with a grin Andius realized they must have been caught in the explosion. The pain came back as it always did, but it took a few seconds longer than before, the gains of his new skills must have been preventing it from happening to quickly.

Almost immediately Andius doubled over in pain, his skills mitigated the damage and pain associated, but he had just gone hours without experiencing the soul crushing pain, and wasn’t used to it at first. “I swear, when I find those guys, I’m going to give them a piece of their own medicine!” His anger was flowing back again, his gear was gone, his character was broken, and he was trapped in the game world until he resolved it.

“Why do you seek vengeance?” A wispy voice asked, it’s direction impossible to discern. “Why not simply ignore them, avoid them and not risk future failure?” He couldn’t tell if the voice was male or female, but the sound of it chilled him to the bone regardless.

He actually gave the question some thought, why did he want to get them back so badly? He had never gone out of his way before to get revenge, so why was this time different? Then it came to him, he looked up and tried to find the source of the voice, saying, “Because, they’re going to do that to other people! I hate people who think that just because they have a little bit more power than someone, they can bully and abuse them to get what they want!” He was fuming, his memory of the interaction with the other players upset him even more than his pain from the mana destroying his body, “They’re the worst kind of people!”

There was a long and pregnant silence before the voice eventually spoke up again, “And if you were given the power to punish them, what would you do once they’ve been dealt with?” This question actually shook Andius a bit. He wasn’t sure why, but the voice’s words seemed to resonate with him on a deep level, bringing a sense of both calm and dread with every word.

Andius didn’t reply right away because he didn’t know the answer. He thought on it for a moment, and realized he didn’t know what he would do, and so spoke once again. “I’m not sure honestly. I’d want to just have a peaceful life of adventuring. I wouldn’t go out of my way to find more people like them, but i wouldn’t bully others or do nothing while groups like them did.” Again another long silence followed. Andius didn’t like it, the time he was wasting here was time he could have used making progress towards town for treatment.

Eventually, shadows began to gather at one of the edges of the crater, slowly forming into a vaguely humanoid shape and looking down at Andius. “You have experienced Agony, many lives and deaths in a torturous way. And yet you do not fall, with every rebirth you have moved farther and farther away from this place, I assume with hopes of finding treatment.” The being paused for a moment, as if letting their throat rest. “I am afraid no human treatment would suffice in your affliction.” Another dramatic pause, it did that a lot Andius noted, and he wasn’t sure it was because talking was tiring, or it was intentionally trying to waste his time. “Yet I may be able to offer you a solution.”

Those words immediately made Andius’ eyes go wide with hope, and he almost started to move towards the creature before his suspicion forced him to stop. Why was he going to trust this thing when people from his own world had just drive a sword through his back? “How?” He asked simply, not wanting to get himself into another situation where he would be abused.

The being seemed to actually approve of this, as it nodded a few times and said, “I will be blunt. Enter a pact with me, and I shall place a seal on all but one of your mana channels. As a result, your mana will be aligned with my natural element, meaning you will be able to cast spells from that domain.” It’s voice was getting weaker, more distant by every passing moment, so Andius knew he didn’t have long to come to a decision, or he may miss this opportunity.

“What would you get out of this pact, and why did you come to-” He groaned in pain as he felt some of his skin start to dissolve away again, the nerved being burnt by raw magic. “to me, instead of the less crippled players in this world?” Andius asked. He wanted to be free of this pain to be certain, but he wasn’t about to trust a demon or whatever this thing was, unless he knew it wasn’t going to bite him in the ass later.

The being floated down to the crater, coming to a stop only a few feet away from Andius, “I will gain power from your connection to me. I cannot exist in this world for long without making pacts, and I currently have none. I will not enslave you, the rules do not allow it… I simply would ask that you do what you can to forward my element in the world.” At this point it’s voice was hardly a whisper, and Andius could see the shadows starting to disperse. “As for why I came to you, you are the first with the ideals I seek, and enough power to sustain me.”

There was another short pause, Andius taking in it’s words with a frown and debating from one option to another. After he had thought over his options, he nodded and said, “Fine, I accept the conditions, I will make a pact with you.” No sooner than the words came out of his mouth, did the strain of the mana against him lessen. It was only the smallest amount, but he could feel the power actually being pulled out of him. It didn’t stop the power from destroying his body, but the pressure was already feeling better.

The being immediately became far more solid, the shadows now looking like a slick oily substance crawling over a wispy humanoid figure. “Good, I will seal your mana channels now, but before that, I will draw most of it out of you, and impart you with a gift.” Now it’s voice was deep and booming, the power in the words alone forcing Andius to his knees on pure instinct. A few moments later, all of the pressure against Andius body stopped, he felt almost empty now, and a headache pounded against his senses, but it was nothing compared to the pain he had been in, and a massive sigh of relief escaped his lips.

Some things fell to the ground, new gear by the looks of it, all black and silk-like, and only a moment after that, he felt certain parts of his body constrict, as if chains had been wrapped around something inside of his body. “T-this…. I feel… better. Like even better than before I fell into the water!” he exclaimed, immediately happy about the results of the pact, and willing to do whatever he needed to to keep these thing sealed.

“Mana well. That’s what you fell into.” The voice replied, sounding amused. “Liquid mana is some of the purest in existence, and you absorbed almost all of the excess mana in this region. Ordinarily, anyone who did so would simply explode and release it back into the world, but you come back after every death, and the mana is replaced in your body… Interesting…” The voice sighed and shook it’s head, before looking at Andius and frowning, “Throw away that vambrace, it’s worthless compared to what I am giving you.”

Andius almost did as the being asked, but shook his head and said, “Actually… I would like to keep it, as a reminder.” The being seemed amused, and with a wave of it’s hand, the bracer transformed, turning a dark black color and a large violet gem formed in it’s center, something akin to veins running from it to the edge of the bracer. The transformation startled Andius, and he nearly ripped it off.

Laughter came from the being, a sound so deep and powerful that Andius worried for a moment that he had made a mistake. “Very well, I had planned to give you a ring to focus your powers, but that bracer has a stronger atunement to you than this old thing.” The voice turned to lead, and started to flow away, “Find these bloody blades, destroy them. I will not tolerate bigots abusing their power and thinking themselves righteous in this world. Any whom you encounter that abuse their abilities and oppress others, destroy. Collect the knowledge of this world and present it to one of the alters at any church, and convert shrines to me when you can. These are all your tasks while bonded with me, and completing any one of them will reward the both of us.” With that, the shadows dispersed entirely, and Andius was once again alone with his thoughts.

Happy was too weak of a word to describe how Andius felt at the moment. He had finally solved the issue that was literally torturing him, he had new gear, and apparently had access to magic now! Then he blinked and looked around in a panic, asking, “Wait, who are you and what kind of magic can I use!?”

He hadn’t been expecting a response since it had already left, but surprisingly it’s voice rang out once again. “I am simply a lesser shadow elemental, you may call me Umbris.”

——————

Congratulations! You have formed a pact with Lesser Shadow Elemental, Umbris. As part of your pact, you raw mana has been converted to shadow mana, giving you a strong affinity for shadow magic, and the inability to use light magic. Continue to serve the interests of you patron to gain more benefits!

——————

Congratulations! You have gained inborn magic and as such have become a sorcerer. Sorcerers governing attribute is Charisma, as this magic is an inborn ability. As your original mana was raw, you have increased affinity for all magic, and have gained the ability to use exotic magic should you find any!

——————

Title gained, Reborn: One way or another, you have died over and over again, returning to the world weaker every time but never giving up. Due to your tenacity you find the way forward even easier than before. You now gain experience 10% faster than the average.

——————

Andius whistled appreciatively when he saw all of those notifications, absolutely shocked by the recent turn of events that had resulted in him making an ally, gaining magic, and getting a title! He set about getting all of his new gear on, checking their stats as he did. The gear was almost a perfect carbon copy of his old gear, with two exceptions. The cloak and the Bracer he now wore had effects on them, which were both interesting in their own right.

——————

Midnight Cloak

Durability: 50/50

Rarity: Unique

A hooded cloak made of pure shadow, which hides it’s wearer from the light!

Value:???(Object is not appraised)

While the hood is drawn and the user is not moving, it is nearly impossible to see the wearer so long as they are completely covered in shadow.

——————

Shadowheart Bracer

Durability: 100/100

Rarity: Unique

A regular bracer that has been enhanced with raw shadow mana. A black amethyst has been placed in it’s center which beats like a heart

Value:???(Object is not appraised)

The gem in this bracer acts as a focus for dark magic. While wearing this item, a sorcerer or warlock may cast shadow magic through it. Contains basic spell ‘Shadow Manipulation’

———————

“These items are insane…” Andius muttered softly to himself, touching the gem on his bracer. A notification popped up asking if he wanted to learn the spell, and he selected yes. Immediately information flooded into his brain about how the magic worked, and how he could cast it.

——————

Spell Manipulate shadows: Level 1

A started spell in the dark magic school, this spell is the foundation for mages to develop their own spells, but has limited functionality in combat.

Control X(1)+Y(12) square feet of shadows freely for the duration, where X is the level of this spell and Y is half your charisma rounded up.

Cost: Z mana per second, where Z is the number of square feet you are controlling.

——————

With a grin, Andius immediately tried his new spell, pulling the shadows in around him and causing them to swirl like smoke in the area. This was the full area he was able to control at once, and a headache made him lose concentration quickly. Still, it was rather impressive, and he could see his mana climbing slowly to replace what he had spent.

After waiting a moment, he tried again, calling his own shadow and pulling it up around one of his daggers, the inky substance coating it and clinging to it dangerously. “This is pretty awesome, it’s practically effortless! No wonder magic is so rare!… Oh yeah.” Finally remembering that he had been logged in for a very long time, he decided it was time to log out.

With a mental flex Andius’ menu popped open, but try as he might, there was no log out button there at all. “What the…. Log out!” Nothing happened. He just stood there dumbfounded, the log out button had vanished!? He knew that couldn’t be right, so he kept searching for the button in all of his menus, but none of them held the option to log out of the game! “Okay, this is a bug, got it…. Admins! I’m stuck in the game! Can someone force me out?”

He waited for a moment, but no response came. He was stuck here. Dread washed over Andius, but he took a deep breath to steady himself. Maybe if he could find another player, they could tell him what was going on, and how to log out. With that idea in mind, he started to follow the main road again, noticing footprint leading into the shrubbery. These probably belonged to the players who had killed him, they were experienced enough in the game, maybe they could help? Even if they couldn’t… he had a score to settle. Andius changed course and started to follow the footsteps, leaving the main path and wandering into the dark forest.