Talia floated in nothingness. All around her, endless black stretched into eternity. It was peaceful – or it would have been, had she not been tethered to reality by a thin strand of green light that ran from the center of her chest, flowing off into the distance. The connection was taut, stretched to its limits and tormenting her with awareness. Intuitively, she knew that if she could somehow sever that connection, she could finally know peace.

But it was not to be.

No matter how much she tugged, no matter how many times she railed against it, the tether remained strong, unhindered by her efforts. And just out of reach, barely visible in the distance, was her destination. A pinprick of white light, it was the promise of an end to her torturous existence. It pulled at her, an eternal force as constant as time itself. If she could only get to it, if she could manage to secure her freedom, she knew she would finally, at long last, find the tranquility that a true death would offer.

And inside, she seethed, knowing that it had been denied her.

For Talia knew what had happened to her. She knew all about her mother’s betrayal. That tendril of green light brought with it an awareness of what was going on back in the corporeal world. She heard. She saw. She felt. Each time the enslaved alchemist pumped her body full of noxious chemicals, every time that hateful lich had carved glyphs into her body, subjecting her to the roiling pain of forced existence – she felt it all. But as agonizing as it was, it paled in comparison to what she’d heard.

Her mother hadn’t simply betrayed her. Instead, Lady Constance had raised her as a sacrifice, fattening her up so she could be offered up to the ritual that would bring Talia’s father back to life. Everything made sense, now. The forced skills, the refusal to let her evolve her race, the distance her mother had always maintained between them. It was all an effort to achieve a goal. Talia had never been anything but a means to an end.

And now, there was nothing she could do about it.

However, with interminable slowness, the tether had stretched, letting her drift closer and closer to the light that she knew would be her salvation. Time had no meaning. Distance was ephemeral. But that connection, it wouldn’t last forever. Eventually, she would break free and have her peace. Eventually, she would be saved the agony of hanging between life and death in the endless abyss. She only had to endure, to wait – which, not coincidently, was her only option. So, Talia sank deep within her own mind, hoping for the day when she could leave everything behind.

Despite being capable of hearing everything happening around her body, she paid little attention to the new arrivals. Nor did she notice when the pull of the tether grew strong enough to pull her further away from that enticing light. However, she couldn’t fail to notice when, at last, she was yanked back into the living world.

Talia’s eyes flew open, darting around in panic. In the abyss, all sensation had been muted and distant. But now? Now, she felt everything. The glaring and familiar light of the laboratory stabbed through her eyes, the light rustle of moving air scraped against her skin, and a cacophony of sounds – from the brutish voices of humans to the skittering of insects – assailed her ears. It was all so overwhelming, and Talia’s mind very nearly broke under the unrelenting sensory assault.

“Dear God,” came the all too familiar voice of the hulking alchemist. He loomed over her, his thick dreadlocks obscuring parts of his heavily bearded face. “It worked. It actually worked!”

“Why is she shaking like that?” came a woman’s voice. Talia’s eyes flicked in that direction, taking in a slender, blonde woman holding a blue bow. She had a silvery arrow nocked, but the bow hadn’t been drawn. “And what’s going on with her skin? Was she always so –”

“I have no goddamn idea!” shouted the bigger man, panic evident in his tone. “This is all new territory for me!”

“Everybody calm down!” cut in another voice. Talia chose to focus on him – a man in rust-red plate armor that didn’t appear to have been made from metal. Instead, it looked like nothing so much as an overgrown insect’s carapace. His head lacked a helmet, which let Talia see that he was young – maybe no older than her – but he sported a thick beard of his own. Adding to the façade of age and brutality were a pair of eyes that looked as if they’d seen more than their share of hardship. He leaned over her, saying, “Are you okay? How do you feel?”

Was she? It was a question Talia was in no position to answer. Out of habit, she summoned her stat sheet:

Name

Talia Nightingale

Class

n/a

Level

15

Race

Awakened Revenant [Human] (G)

Alignment

Unchosen

Achievements

Progenitor, Bane of Goblins I, The Brink of Death, Slayer of Undead, Mostly Dead, Abyssal Fortitude, Rebirth, Undead

Strength

89

Agility

117

Dexterity

92

Endurance

116

Vitality

0

Intelligence

79

Wisdom

79

Unassigned Attribute Points

23

Talia’s eyes went wide as she took in the changes of her stats. She bit her lip, terrified of what she saw. Everything was different. Everything was wrong. But her eyes were drawn to one change in particular. Her race had changed from human to awakened revenant. Despite knowing that she wouldn’t like what she saw, Talia couldn’t stop herself from focusing on that designation.

Awakened Revenant [Human] (G) – An undead creature who was once human, the revenant [human] is a stronger, less fragile version of the more common zombie. Like all undead, it holds no life energy, so it is incapable of healing even the slightest of injuries. However, unlike its less evolved cousins, it can replenish its body via the consumption of other creature’s hearts. The awakened versions of revenants are sapient and may retain memories and some characteristics from their previous life. +20 to All Physical Stats. Reallocation of Vitality.

“I…I’m undead,” Talia whispered in a breath of a voice that was barely audible. Everything about the description was troubling, but she had no idea how to cope with the fact that she had become an undead monster.

“That explains a lot,” said the man leaning over her. He reached out to grip her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. You’re safe, now.”

Through the cascade of sensory overload, the man’s words pushed past her roiling emotions. “Okay? You think this is going to be okay?” she hissed, grabbing his wrist and twisting. He went with it, lest the bones break. “I’m a monster! How is this going to be okay?!”

The moment of surprise passed, and the man pushed against her grip. Slowly, he overpowered it with overwhelming strength. Talia had experienced that before – both on the rare occasions when her mother had deigned to train her and in the few instances when Master Silas had needed to put her in her place. Talia had no idea what the man’s strength stat was, but it clearly surpassed hers by a fair amount. However, he didn’t push it. Instead, he only reasserted control.

“Please don’t do that,” he said in a surprisingly gentle voice. In the background, Talia was vaguely aware of the other two – the blonde woman and the alchemist – arguing about something. She ignored it, completely fixated on the incredibly strong man before her. “Take a second, okay? I know how overwhelming these kinds of things can be. Just…focus on what’s changed. Focus on your skills. That helped me.”

Talia wanted to argue that there was no way the man had experienced anything close to what she was experiencing. However, she forced herself to remember that the majority of people in the Radiant Isles had been reborn into a new world, with no idea what was going on, and with barely a hint of guidance. And judging by this man’s eyes, Talia got the feeling that his transition into this world hadn’t been a smooth one.

So, without a word, she took his advice and focused on her stats. Remembering the description of her new race, Talia was surprised to see that she had twenty-three free attribute points. It didn’t take her long to reason that the points she’d had allocated into vitality had been refunded. So, before she did anything else, she spent those points. Eleven went to strength, eight to dexterity, and four to endurance. She’d always preferred even numbers, so looking at her stat sheet and seeing an even one hundred to strength and dexterity, with one-hundred and twenty in endurance was oddly soothing.

Drilling down into her new race, she discovered that she would get an additional five to all stats each time she leveled. With the exception of vitality, of course. It seemed destined to remain at zero. Talia suppressed a shudder when she considered her racial description’s assertion that, in order to heal, she would be forced to prey on others and consume their hearts.

Pushing that thought aside, Talia next focused on the handful of new titles she had acquired.

The Brink of Death – You have spent more than a continuous week barely clinging to life. +5 Endurance.

That made sense. Though she was only barely conscious, she remembered the process that had preceded her death. Apparently, the Framework thought that a notable achievement and had rewarded her with five points in endurance. Once, that would’ve seen her jumping for joy, but the memory of her insides being eroded by those chemicals sent chills up her spine.

Mostly Dead – You have died, but you did not pass through the veil. +15 Endurance, +5 Intelligence, +5 Wisdom

Reading that achievement’s description brought the memory of the abyss back. Instead of the comforting eternity of blackness, she now saw it for what it was. Nothing. A void that her soul never should have survived, which brought her to the next achievement.

Abyssal Fortitude – You have retained your sanity while enveloped in the endless Abyss between life and death. + 25 Endurance

Talia had no idea whether or not that was due to something inherent within her, or if it was the influence of the tether that had tied her to corporeal world, but she knew – maybe she had always known – that she shouldn’t have been so at peace in that environment.

Rebirth – Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, you have been resurrected – a wholly uncommon occurrence in the lower planes. +10 to All Stats (except vitality)

It was a valuable title, and in any other circumstance, Talia would have been ecstatic. However, knowing what it had taken to achieve such huge gains made any celebration impossible.

Awakened Unliving – Any creature can rise as one of the unliving, but few will ever taste true sapience after doing so. Even in the higher planes, it is an achievement worth noting. + 15 to Physical Stats (Strength, Agility, Dexterity, and Endurance).

Unliving. Undead. Whatever the Framework called it, it meant the same thing. She was a monster, regardless of whether or not she was “awakened.” Even if she could somehow hide it, she would always know.

“You’re not a monster, you know,” came a feminine voice, which somehow cut through her thoughts. Talia refocused to see that the blonde woman had replaced the armored man. “I can prove it, too.”

“Yeah?” asked Talia, her voice scratchy. Whether it was due to her transformation into one of the unliving or if it was because of a lack of use, she didn’t know. “How?”

“You have a name,” the woman said. “Talia Nightingale. Level fifteen. That’s what I see when I inspect you.”

“And?”

“Monsters don’t look like that, right?” the other woman said. She still held her bow, but the silvery arrow had disappeared. “When we inspect them, we see whatever they are. Like a troll warrior. Some of them are named, but it’s always followed by something else, right? Like, so-and-so, the monster king or whatever. You just have a name.”

A name. The woman had a point. Talia had never encountered a named monster – those were usually elites or worse. But her education hadn’t been lacking in that regard, and she could find no flaws in the archer’s logic – as much as her self-pity wanted her to.

“Mine’s Abby, by the way,” the woman said. “My name, I mean. That big lug over there is Zeke. And the even bigger lug is Tucker. I can’t tell you about him, but Zeke is a good person. He’s the one who brought you back.”

“Is he…a lich? Or a necromancer? How did he –”

“Most of it was already set up,” the armored man said. He’d obviously heard the whole conversation from where he’d been speaking to Tucker, but he’d ignored them until now. “I just fiddled with some runes.”

“Oh.”

“Do you want to get out of that thing?” asked Abby. “I can get you some clothes, too…”

“W-what…”

That’s when Talia realized that she was entirely naked, her modesty only marginally maintained by the straps holding her in place within the open cylindrical tube. Immediately, she felt completely exposed.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Abby said. “Zeke? You mind?”

Then, to everyone else’s surprise, a satchel appeared in the man’s hands. He handed it over to Abby, saying, “Tucker and I will go upstairs while you two figure it out.”

“How did you do that?” came Tucker’s stunned voice. “Do you have a spatial skill? I’ve never seen –”

“I’ll tell you about it upstairs,” Zeke said, grabbing the big man’s arm and tugging him to the door. After a few seconds, the two were out of the room. Zeke called back, saying, “Pudge, make sure nothing happens to them.”

Just then, Talia noticed a giant ball of brown fur only a few feet away. Then, she saw a pair of eyes. A snout. An open mouth that contained wickedly sharp teeth, between which were hunks of zombified flesh. She let out a yelp of surprise.

“Don’t mind Pudge,” Abby said. “He’s a big softy.”

“P-pudge?”

“Zeke’s companion,” Abby explained. “Supposed to be a dire bear, but most of the time, he acts like a giant puppy.” The bear huffed. “Oh, shut up. You know you do.” Then, to Talia, she said, “Let’s get you out of that.”

With Abby’s help, Talia extricated herself from the container, and she dressed in what were obviously Abby’s clothes. The other woman was much taller and slimmer than her, but even ill-fitting clothes were better than nothing. While she dressed, Talia couldn’t help but notice that her skin had taken on deathly pale complexion. If she looked closely, she could see faint, green veins coursing beneath her skin.

In addition to the physical transformation she’d undergone, Talia was surprised to discover just how good she felt. Usually, a person’s gains were gradual. A few points here or there. But Talia’s stat allocation had undergone a complete transformation that saw her physical attributes almost doubled. So, she felt the differences with every movement. Despite the knots of anxiety in her stomach, she felt strong. She felt powerful, like she could punch through a brick wall. Talia flexed her hand, clenching her fist.

As if she knew precisely what Talia was thinking, Abby asked, “You got stronger, huh? Any other changes?”

“I…I don’t know,” Talia admitted. “Let me check.” She opened up her skill list, and her jaw dropped at the changes. “Oh…”

“What?” asked Abby.

“It’s not –”

Just then, the tower shuddered with a giant impact, which was followed by Zeke’s voice. “You two finished? Because we’ve got a situation up here!”