“Do you feel like coming over tonight and playing?”

I looked up at the sound of Cat’s voice. Light brown eyes beamed expectantly at me under a fringe of dyed-copper bangs.

“Uh,” I said. I was anxious about involving myself in friendship with people from an Improv class.

“Uh…? Uh, what, Vale?” Paul said, his pale hand slapping my shoulder. “Look, it’ll be fun. It’s just like class but more engaging. Plus, you get to do badass stuff you can’t do anywhere else.”

“Yeah, it’s like the world’s best video game!” Cat agreed, nodding. In her sleeveless band tee, the muscles of her lean, dark arms were highlighted.

“And Cat doesn’t even like video games!” Paul continued, showing the crooked gap between his front teeth as he smiled.

“Fuck you, Paul, I love video games. I just don’t like your shitty, first-person dick sucking simulations.” Cat said.

“That sounds exactly like something someone who hates video games would say.” Paul retorted.

“Get back to me when you get to Tier Seven in Ages of Valora,” Cat started again, “oh wait, that’s right. You couldn’t even get to Tier Three without my help.”

She clasped her hands together in a mocking fashion and tilted her head to the side with lips protruding and eyes tightly closed. When she spoke, she had a comically high and squeaky baby voice.

“Oh, pwease, Cat! Can yew help me get Wacoon Gwade Awmor?” She batted her eyelashes in my direction.

“It wasn’t Racoon Grade Armor…” Paul said, then shrugged. “That’s a pretty spot-on impression of me, though.”

Cat cackled and slapped his shoulder.

“I’ve been practicing.”

“Yeah, because you’re obsessed with me!” Paul cracked and dodged a swipe from Cat.

“Obsessed in the same fashion as a sniper watching their target. I’m just waiting for that one clean shot to take your cocky ass down,” she said.

“Uhm,” I said, and the two seemed to realize I was there suddenly.

“Oh yeah!” Paul said and smiled again, “wanna go play?”

“Sure,” I said, “but I reserve the right to bail at a moment’s notice.”

“That’s fair,” Paul said.

“But, you won’t,” Cat said, a mischievous look on her face. “Everyone gets hooked their first time.”

———————

My eyes fluttered open.

All around me was an empty expanse of dark nothing, dimly backlit from some incorporeal source. Wherever I turned my head, it was the same, as though the starless and moonless night had ensnared me and left me adrift.

I’d been dreaming. I knew that, but I couldn’t quite recall what. It was fuzzy shapes and half-recollections, but there had been something familiar about it.

Was I talking to people I knew?

My mind was a volatile mess. I tried to grasp the memory of the dream, but it faded from me, and I was left dealing with the problems before me.

I strained my eyes and peered into the depths of the void. From here, I was sure I could see into eternity. There was no perceptible end to it, and that caused a wave of strange elation. I was caught in an unmoving, ethereal-yet-temperate majesty.

“Incredible,” I said, but my words sounded muted and wrong as if they had no resonance. I tried to wave my hands in front of me but found that they weren’t there.

I raised my voice and called out, trying to move any part of my body. I was still utterly calm, despite the unusual nature of my predicament. Though I felt as though I was moving my limbs, there wasn’t any sign of them.

I looked down. I was met with more of the infinite void. My body wasn’t there. Just gone.

What the hell is going on?

Was I consciousness without a physical form? How had this happened, and how long had I been here? Glimmers of imagery sprang up in my memory, and I recalled the chaos of the hallway combat and the massive Fomorian warrior.

Donnagal from Malicious Intent. He must have killed me.

“Mother. Fucker.” I stated.

How had he killed me? Unless Kellmen had lied to me, this didn't make sense. How long was I supposed to be like this?

I recalled at the river, Stratholm telling me that death was awful the first time around.

Well, this definitely sucks. Points to him, I guess.

My thoughts returned to my problematic situation. I knew that I would need to try and do something to escape.

But what?

I attempted to propel myself forward, but I just stayed put in the hanging abyss. At least, I thought I hadn’t moved. It was impossible to tell. I was resigned to a numb stasis. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed. Ages, maybe?

My mind wandered, and I passed into a cold trance as my eyes had nothing to focus on. I caught myself slipping off, as though my brain was slowly powering down.

Then, a sobering message appeared, prompting me back into awareness.

You have died!

Obviously, dipshit.

I’d never wanted so badly for something to have a face to stab. The prompt hung in the air for a few quiet moments and then dispersed, and another arose.

Welcome to the Death Interlude! This is a player’s waiting space before being Respawned and returning to the world! Now then, let’s check your Respawn Time!

The cavalier way the message was composed set my teeth on edge. Then the next message appeared and spiked my heart rate further into the red.

Time before Respawn is 23h 59m!

I HAVE TO WAIT A WHOLE DAY?!

I was furious. What sort of ridiculous bullshit was this universe built on? Kellmen had mentioned only having to wait six hours, but this was four times as long! I’d go insane with nothing other than my anxiety to keep me company. Every second spent here was another second lost in searching for Lina!

Another message cropped up.

Upon completion of the Death Interlude, you will be whisked back to your determined Respawn Location! Players will have five minutes of invulnerability upon re-entering the world. They will not be able to physically interact with players, NPCs, or objects during that time! You may utilize this brief reprieve to relax, use the restroom or even just reflect on your mistakes. Or ruminate over how you ended up dying in the first place, and try to stave off existential dread!

This fucking guy.

All in all, though, I was happy to have an idea of what was going on. I waited for around as the message hung in front of my vision, assuming that another was hot on its heels.

Respawn location is set to [NOT FOUND]!

You have not yet set a Respawn Location! Players without a confirmed Sanctuary will be Respawned at their [Spirit Node]!

Learn more about [Spirit Node]?

Yes / No

I couldn’t select it like usual, so I just said ‘yes’ aloud, and the Menu populated with information.

[Spirit Node]

When a player dies, a Spirit Node is created wherever they have fallen. This acts as an anchor and is useful for when the player is Dungeoneering or Raiding. A Spirit Node will exist until a player is either revived or their Death Interlude expires.

To set a new Respawn Location, you must use your Home Stone and marry it to a location. This will become your Sanctuary.

Well, that’s unfortunate.

I didn’t have a Home Stone, nor did I know how to get one. I had figured that anything I’d need to know I would learn from Kellmen—a fact that I was excited about. But now I was taking a dirt nap in this world’s equivalent of the afterlife.

Lina.

Again I felt the intense pain of her loss, and my anxiety began anew. My brain was an expert at spiking panic into itself out of nowhere. I was convinced it was a conspiracy against me, by me. Even dead, I couldn’t escape this feeling!

Another message popped up.

Player tension is entirely normal in this situation. Breathing in slow and measured intervals has been known to help, as well as distractions that take away focus from the source of anxiety.

Would you like access to the Death Interlude Builder’s Inventory [DIBI]?

Yes / No

Builder’s Inventory?

I tentatively agreed, and a new Menu emerged.

Several square swatches of bright color materialized, each with a neatly printed label beneath them. The first was a green-spectrum thumbnail called [Deep Forest], which was filled with trees and plant life. The thumbnail that followed was a bright blue and white square labeled [Day Sky]. It depicted a morning sky with puffy clouds dotting its surface and a hint of sunlight over the horizon. After that was [Night Sky], then [Underwater], [Subterranean Cave], [Quiet Desert]—the list went on. They seemed to be environments.

I began mentally selecting some of them to see what would happen.

My first choice was [Deep Forest].

Instantly, I was surrounded by lush overgrowth as a dense canopy appeared overhead. Tall, healthy trees spanned as far as I could see, and vibrant grass covered the ground. The titter of birds and the drone of insects filled the air, while the fresh scent of pine hit me so immediately I was momentarily overwhelmed.

How was this so detailed?

I had still been debating if this was a game world or if it was a world with game rules. In that moment I was sure—this was the latter. No technological advancements I’d ever heard of could replicate this level of articulation.

Would you like to select [Deep Forest]?

Yes / No

I didn’t want to. Not yet.

One by one, I filtered through the various options and tested them for at least a minute. Floating through the sky, or atop a sand dune in the heat of the sun, even deep in the jungle-- I found that in each environment, the conditions were normal. Still my body operated as if I was just a tourist. I was able to move freely and breathe easy—even underwater. I found that particularly enjoyable.

I eventually settled on an environment called [Cosmic], essentially floating in space, just on the cusp of the planetary atmosphere of a foreign world. The stars and galaxies in my direct line of sight were beautiful clusters of vivid light.

Not far from the crest of my invisible perch were two moons.

The lunar satellites were very near one another in a formation that I assumed was unrealistic. One was blue, and the other closer to the color of the moon I was used to. I drank it all in before turning my attention to the strange planet below me.

It was almost an even split of land and sea from my vantage point. Both the scope and closeness to the event of the planet were awe-inspiring, and I felt tiny and insignificant from its majesty. It was as though I was in the presence of some lone and ancient god.

Was this how the first astronauts had felt?

I examined what I could of the terrain on this world, trying to spot something recognizable, but none of the landmasses were familiar. They were all enormous and covered with vast forestation and high mountain peaks. As I levitated calmly, I admired the beauty of it.

Would you like to select [Cosmic]?

Yes / No

I affirmed and heard a chiming chord. The next message appeared.

Would you like access to your Player Menu?

Yes / No

Sure.

I would need to be as knowledgeable as possible about myself for when I returned. I didn’t know what I would be getting myself into. Finally, I could dive into my stats and figure out what exactly I would need to advance.

I was met by the same screen as in the room at the Anvilhead. My paper doll display seemed to be the default view, the little Vale stood before me. Though, I noticed it was transparent now.

An unfortunate side effect of being smashed into infinity with a hammer.

Looking over my attributes, there was a little notifier blinking at me from the right-hand side. It was a badge of some kind. I selected it mentally, and a message appeared.

All attributes are based on their composition at the time of death and may not reflect any additional or subtracted qualities post-death.

I wonder what that means, exactly?

I scrolled through the Menu.

Vitals

HP: 50/50

Fey: 30/30

Stamina: 100/100

Experience: 338/500 to Level 2

Attributes

Might: 1

Agility: 5

Endurance: 1

Resonance: 3

Intellect: 4

Charisma: 2

Offense

Attack: 2

Speed: 5

Damage Per Second: 2

Critical %: 1.00

Fey Attack: 3

Defense

Evasion %: 7

Health Regeneration: 0

Shield: 0

Fey Defense: 5

My Speed and Evasion Percentage had gone up! My Speed had initially been three and my Evasion at four. Now my Speed was at five, and my Evasion was a whopping seven.

How in the hell did that happen?

Other than that, there didn’t seem to be any other changes to my overall statistics.

Wait.

I had almost missed it. My Critical Percentage had gone up from point-oh-two to a full percent! That was a dramatic difference, but what had caused it, I wondered. I would need to scrutinize the stats carefully because that still seemed low. It wasn't likely that I’d ever be able to land another debilitating blow on any enemies again at that value.

How lucky had I been to make that critical hit before when fighting Stratholm?

I was more than half-way to Level Two as well.

Huzzah! Progress!

I selected another option from my menu wheel.

Skills

I wanted to be sure I knew the full spectrum of talents I could focus on. I opened it, and a surprisingly small pool sat in front of me. I was disappointed as I’d assumed there’d be more options.

COMBAT

Two-Handed

-Blunt Weapon - Level 1 [230/300 EXP to Level 2]

NON-COMBAT

Sleight of Hand - Level 1 [110/300 EXP to Level 2]

Sneak - Level 1 [120/300 EXP to Level 2]

Medicine - Level 1 [130/300 EXP to Level 2]

Cooking [T] - Level 2 [310/500 to Level 3]

Survival - Level 1 [120/300 EXP to Level 2]

Teetotaler - Level 1 [100/300 EXP to Level 2]

A paltry amount. With a sigh, I perused the bottom of the screen.

7/100 Skills Unlocked

A hundred skills? I couldn’t believe there were that many to unlock. I couldn’t see any indication of other skills yet undiscovered, not even greyed out. It seemed I wouldn’t know what they were until I activated them.

Well, guess I’ll just have to try my hand at everything I can.

I noticed something strange—next to Cooking was a little symbol. I selected it in my mind.

This is a Trained Skill. This means that any use of this Skill nets additional Experience Points, allowing this Skill to Level Up faster. Each Player selects a Trained Skill during their Avatar Creation. You may not change this. The ability to choose additional Trained Skills becomes available at higher Levels. Until then, you’ll just have to be happy with your choice!

I still had to figure out what system flaw had forced me into having Cooking be the Skill most relevant to my development. Maybe I’d get some use out of it, who knew? If I ever got attacked again, perhaps I could dazzle them with a plate of spaghetti while I dusted off into the sunset?

Yes, that’s it. I’ll be the Manicotti Mauler, master of culinary combat.

As I looked over my Skills, I couldn’t help but feel a little deflated. I had a long way to go to get to the level of the others in the Beatdown Brigade. That made me pause.

What had happened after I died? I hope everyone got out safe. I hope Anubis isn’t too upset that I got myself obliterated.

There was definitely plenty of time to sit and mope, but I knew I needed to continue learning as much about my new body as possible. Like one of those puberty videos from Health class.

You may notice some changes.

Check.

I still had no idea how we were attacked while resting at an Inn. From what I had learned from Kellmen, that seemed pretty unlikely, if not impossible.

Something’s fishy.

I reined myself in and moved to another tab on the Menu.

Inventory

This was the same as the one that had opened when I was cooking the Sungecko. It was, unfortunately, as empty as my hopes and dreams. Save for the Shattered Wood and my common clothes, nothing else was there. I had taken most of it off before bed.

Well shit, so much for that. No wonder I had been one-hitter-quitter’d.

I checked the Junk tab and was relieved to find that the Walky Whip was still in my posession.

That's good.

There was also a new object in this section. It was unlabled, but I recocgnized it instantly.

The ring.

I tried selecting it, but I received an error message.

This Item is not formatted. Please select a different item and try again later.

Well, that’s annoying.

I cycled through the empty screens for a moment, getting bored. I closed the Menu and let my immaterial form relax to the point that I was softly floating above the planet.

“What should I do now?”

With a chirp, a message responded.

Would you like to access Combat Training?

Sister, you must be reading my diary.

“Yes,” I said.

I waited. Nothing happened.

“Hello?” I said. “Anyone there?”

There was another ten seconds of silence, and then I heard a sound like a great machine igniting. The clamor grew until it was overwhelmingly close, and I wished that I ears and arms to cover them. The mechanical noise was joined by an angelic choir of harps and flutes, and my vision was filled with orbs of light. They floated in front of me and swirled around my body. The music and the whir of the mechanical cacophony began to pulse in rhythm.

“What’s going on!?” I shouted, my muted voice drowned out by the intensity of the other sounds.

Finally, a message appeared.

You are being Resurrected! Prepare to return to life!

Hell yeah!

My arms materialized in front of me, green flesh mottled with darker green leafy patterns that traveled all the way down their length and to my fingertips. The rest of my body began corporealize as well as the orbs around me started to brighten. It was as though my pupils had dilated fully as my surroundings exploded with light. I tried to cover my eyes, but the blazing fury of the orbs’ radiance still reached my sight behind closed lids, and I began to worry.

Then it was black.

However, the afterimage of the brightness lingered. If I was honest, it was a terrible feature to add into this universe.

My eyes hurt, so I kept them closed. As I waited for them to adjust, I tried to focus on my other senses. The first thing I noticed was the smell. Mildewy dampness punched my nostrils, and I crinkled my nose. It was similar to an old basement scent. I could also smell the distinct aroma of sulfur. I could hear the sputter of a torch, and beyond that, a gentle drumming.

Rain.

I’d been afraid for a moment that I had been transported to a cellar or somewhere else underground, but this alleviated my anxiety. I had to be near the outside. A soft breeze swept passed me, mild and pleasant against the heat of my flesh.

I was sitting on a hard surface. I ran my fingers over it gingerly, trying to discern its make up. Rough fibers prickled against my skin.

Wood.

“Well, that’s good,” I said aloud. My voice was not longer muted like it had been before, but it cracked, and I was suddenly very thirsty.

My voice must have roused someone because I heard the shuffle of wood against wood as a chair moved across the floor, and the thick fall of boots approached me. I opened my eyes, but the blotch of blindness remained. I could just make out the shape of the torch in the room, flickering ominously dim in the corner, but I couldn’t see who it was.

“So, you’re finally alive,” said an unfamiliar voice. His statement dripped of condescension.

Uh-oh

“Who’s there?” I asked. I still couldn’t see who they were but their form was slowly coming into view. They were big.

“Ah, yes,” the voice responded, “it would probably be your first Resurrection, wouldn’t it?”

I began to respond, but the voice cut me off.

“It sure does take a long time to do the Magick on a first-timer. ‘Course it’s my first time performing a revive as well.”

“Will you answer the question?” I demanded, getting irritated. “This is very disorienting.”

The man chuckled venomously, and I began to get nervous.

“Halec,” the man said as his shape moved closer so that his face was near mine, “I’m the one who revived you.”

“Where am I?” I asked. The blindness was starting to fade, and I could see him more clearly. Shaggy red hair. A dark grey face. His eyes were pink where the whites should be, and the irises were two boiling red rubies. Two squat horns protruded from his forehead. He grinned wide, and I could see the fangs behind his lips.

Fomorian.

“Why you’re home, Vale,” Halec said, standing up straight. I could see the rest of the room we were in was small and made of timber. In the corner opposite the torch were some gardening tools and dusty crates. I appeared to be in some sort of shed.

“Home?” I asked, “what are you talking about?”

Halec chuckled and pointed his chin to the window. Through it, I could see the night sky, and the rain falling in thick sheets, collecting on its sill. A few hundred feet away, I could see the misty grey outline of a large building. Lights were on in the windows.

“You’re mistaken,” I said, “I don’t know this place.” I attempted to stand, but I wasn’t able to budge. I looked down at my legs. There was a cluster of dark energy fastening me to the floor.

“Oh, you will learn to know this place, Vale,” he said, nodding. His eyes seemed a bit crazed, and I prepared to defend myself.

“This is your new home. That’s the Guild Hall.”

I shook my head.

“Whose Guild Hall?”

But I already knew. Dread overtook me, and I tried to pull my legs up again to no avail. I wasn’t stupid. There was only one place that would employ such a creep to Resurrect me.

“Why, Malicious Intent’s, of course,” Halec said.