Chapter 005

Respawning

[[[ You are dead. Click to Respawn ]]]

The pain had blissfully faded along with everything else. She was back in the terrible void. This time the prompt she stared at was much less welcoming. I died?

While Lilith floated in the void, trying to avoid thinking about the pain, she tentatively touched her face but everything felt smooth. Looking down, she saw her wrist was fine as well.

Fighting back the urge to lose herself to panic she focused on collecting herself. What the hell just happened? She wondered. Responding to her thoughts a new Window appeared. This one was labelled ‘Log’ and detailed all of the messages she had received in the game so far.

I only hit the Street Mutt for 2 points and it hit me for 3 and then 5? Both Criticals? I only have 4 hit points! How the fuck is this fair? She screamed at the void. Looking at her last quest, she notice it said ‘Restart Tutorial Section’ as the penalty for failure. Was she going to have to fight the dog again? She did not want to feel that pain again.

After several minutes, the pressure from the endless void caused her to push past her fear and hesitation. She steeled herself for the coming fight, when she felt ready she touched Respawn.

[[[

Welcome back Adventurer! Death in Dark Realms is not the end for immortals such as yourself! However, death is not without its cost!

Each death will strip you of 1 full level. All non-soulbound items and money you are carrying will be left on your corpse. The next time you see the Goblin that killed you, you can expect he will be using your sword against you!

Smart adventurers will take advantage of the various banks and vaults spread around the world to store their money and items.

After each death you will respawn at your last bind point. New adventurers are initially bound where they enter the world, but various places of power offer the ability to change your bind point.

Especially gruesome deaths can leave permanent scars on your character. Most can be removed by visiting highly skilled healers. However some traumatic experiences may leave scars that can never be fully removed.

Note: All death penalties and scars are waived while in the tutorial.

]]]

As the window closed, she was once again facing the growling dog. It slowly began advancing towards her. Looking at the crates she saw the rusty dagger sticking out of the crate. Cursing her low strength, she again wiggled the dagger free and turned to face the dog once more. With a large growl, the dog charged her!

Remembering the last battle, Lilith waited until the last moment and dodged to the side. The dog slammed head first into the crates and stunned itself. Not wasting time Lilith stepped forward and drove the dagger into the dog's ribs as fast as she could.

[[[ You hit the Street Mutt for 3 points of damage. ]]]

[[[ You hit the Street Mutt for 2 point of damage. ]]]

[[[ You hit the Street Mutt for 2 point of damage. ]]]

[[[

Congratulations! You have gained the Small Blades sub-skill Flurry (Rank 1/100). You can now perform several weak attacks in rapid succession. This skill is most effective against distracted or incapacitated enemies. This skill grows with continued use or training. Increased skill ranks will increase the number of attacks as well as the damage dealt.

Note: Subskills can not increase beyond their base skill. To raise this skill, you must first raise Small Blades.

]]]

The dagger opened several deep wounds on the side of the dog. Blood started welling out of the cuts and stained the dogs mangy fur a dark red. Noticing the tell tale shake of the dog's head, Lilith jumped away, causing the dog's sudden attack to miss.

[[[

Congratulations! You have advanced the skill Dodge (Rank 2/100). Your chance to completely avoid a single attack has increased slightly.

]]]

Trying to capitalize on the animals weakened state, she went to finish him. Unfortunately she rushed her attack and missed her swing when the dog suddenly charged her. They collided and both ended up on the ground. The dog’s teeth caught her thigh and gasped in pain.

[[[ The Street Mutt hits you for 2 points of damage. ]]]

Screw this! She thought. Lilith jumped up and sprinted towards the dead end where she spawned. She could hear the dog scrambling to his feet and giving chase. With a quick glance behind her, she ran straight at the wall. At the last moment she dodged to the side and grinned as the dog slammed head first into the wall, stunning himself again.

Stepping forward she jammed her dagger into the dog’s throat, giving it a few vicious jerks for good measure. Blood immediately started gushing out of the jagged wound.

[[[

You hit the Street Mutt for 6 points of damage. Critical Hit! The Street Mutt is Silenced. The Street Mutt is Bleeding.

]]]

[[[ The Street Mutt has died! ]]]

[[[

Congratulations! You have completed the Quest: Fight for your life!

You have gained the Small Blades sub-skill Execute (Rank 1/100). You can now attempt a devastating attack against a single opponent. This skill is only effective against distracted or incapacitated enemies. This skill grows with continued use or training. Increased skill ranks will increase the chance of a critical attacks as well as the damage dealt.

Note: Subskills can not increase beyond their base skill. To raise this skill, you must first raise Small Blades.

]]]

Sighing with relief Lilith leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. As the adrenaline from the fight drained out of her, she realized how tired she was. Her limbs felt heavy and she was short of breath.

[[[

Warning: You are low on Stamina! Using active skills like Dodge, Sprint and Execute; will drain your stamina. As your stamina lowers you will move and react slower, until you eventually drop from exhaustion. Make sure to take time between encounters to rest and refill your stamina bar.

]]]

After reading the prompt, Lilith noticed something flashing in the corner of her vision. Focusing on that area, she could see 3 bars. Red for health, blue for mana and yellow for stamina. The health bar was missing 25% from the dog’s bite. The mana bar was at 100% because she had no idea how to use magic yet but the yellow bar only had 25% remaining and was flashing somewhat urgently.

Lilith sat down and crossed her legs. Watching the bars she could see the yellow one slowly start to refill. Surprisingly the red bar also started to refill by itself. Looking down at her leg, she could see the ripped cloth with blood stains where the dog had bitten her, but the wounds were slowly closing. It seems this system allows her to regain health outside of combat. Not walking around with an infected dog bite on her leg was a huge relief to Lilith.

[[[

You have slain your first foe in Dark Realms! While you recover from the battle let's learn about looting corpses.

In Dark Realms each entity (creature or humanoid) has its own items and will only drop what it is carrying. No magic armor stuffed inside forest wolves. If you kill a goblin who was using an unusual sword, you can loot that sword from his corpse. If you kill an animal, you will have to learn and use various skills to harvest hide or other ingredients from it.

Defeated enemies will leave a corpse on the ground. To loot the corpse you must walk up and interact with it. For humanoids you simply pick up dropped weapons, remove their armor and search their pouches and bags.

For beasts you will need to equip a bladed weapons and attempt to skin or remove various body parts manually. The success of these actions will depend on your skill level.

]]]

So no magic loot boxes? Lilith looked at the bloody corpse of the dog with disgust. To get new items she would have to search, or worse, carve up dead bodies? The realism of this place was insane. Looking closely she could see muscle and exposed bone where her attacks had shredded the dog's ribs.

[[[

New Quest: Pound of Flesh!

Dark Realms has many crafting and gathering skills available. Some can be learned only with special training, but many can be discovered and grown through use!

You have killed an animal and see no reason to waste the resources. Use your dagger to try and recover something from the dead Street Mutt.

Reward for Success:

New Skill

Possible Food or Crafting Resource

]]]

Lilith was still holding the dagger, so she got up and approached the corpse. With a shaky hand she stabbed her dagger into the side of the dog's body. She waited for several seconds and when nothing happened, she sighed and began sawing the blade back and forth.

It required more effort than she thought it would. After carving about 6 inches her blade struck something inside the body and a foul smelling dark liquid began seeping from the wound. The smell was awful and she had to turn her head and vomit.

Fuck this, she thought. Getting up she walked away from the corpse and headed to the crates blocking the alley. Maybe she could tip them over and get out of this alley. Before she could get close to the boxes, she felt reality shift again and she was back in front of the dogs corpse.

She sat down heavily and with a petulant sigh decided she would just sit here and do nothing. Whoever was running this place would have to come talk to her eventually. Her resolve lasted almost an hour before boredom and anxiety drove her to action.

With a disgusted groan she started hacking into the dog’s side again, reaching with her left hand she grabbed a hunk of flesh and pulled it tight. Taking the dagger she sawed at the chunk of flesh until it came free in her hand.

[[[

Congratulations! You have completed the Quest: Pound of Flesh!

You have gained the skill Butchery (Rank 1/100). You can now attempt to harvest hide, meat and useful body parts from dead creatures.

You have gained the item ‘Tainted Hound Meat’. Due to manner this meat was harvested it has been tainted and may cause illness if consumed.

Note: Please note that performing certain actions on the corpses of humanoid creatures is considered an evil act and will lower your reputation if you are observed.

]]]

Lilith was mentally exhausted. She tossed the meat aside and leaned against the wall. Staring at her hands she studied her delicate fingers. A bit too long and now covered in blood and bits of gore.

How did she get here? What is going on? She felt like she had been in this tutorial for days, but it was likely only a couple of hours. Her mind was reeling from everything that had been thrown at her.

Once again she wondered at the mental effects of this place. Her reactions seemed out of place to her. It was like she had two pasts to draw on. One a sheltered American teenager and another a streetwise half-elven peasant. And while she never considered herself stupid, her thoughts and decisions were undeniably faster.

As if sensing her mental distress, the system presented Lilith with the one thing that could break her out of her spiral into panic.