Nathan sits staring at the photo of him and his family, thinking of better days away from this place as the past few days had not been kind. The picture is just before he had gone off to live on his own, his older brother Richard was back from college on break but he was soon headed back to their parents thought it seemed like the best time to take a photo before the boys went off and their younger sister was the only kid left in the house.

The picture shows Robert Nathan’s dad on the left and in the back with his best smile, dark brown hair, square jaw, and brown eyes. Robert has his left arm wrapped around Mary Nathan’s mom with her loving smile that light up the room her long blond hair and deep blue eyes that you could sink into if you looked too long and her delicate rounded face. Nathan’s parents were both getting on in years in their mid-forties, and Robert is starting to show it with his bulging beer belly. Time had been more kind to Mary she still looks in her thirties and she always teased Robert about him looking so much older than her, it was all in good fun and they had a loving marriage.

To the left and just in front of Robert is Richard with Robert’s right hand on his shoulder Richard looked the spitting image of his dad Robert with slight influences from his mother. He is fit at twenty-five and by some standards even handsome with his dark brown hair and brown expressive eyes.

In the middle is Nathan with his short shaggy brown hair slim but toned build and piercing deep blue eyes that came from his mom. In fact, he looked more like his mom, he did not get his brother and dads square jaw which at times he was a bit miffed about as it seemed Richard got all the girls and Nathan just could not get a break. Nathan had not had any long-lasting relationship with anyone the longest he had gone was four week with one girl in high school which ended the moment she went off to college, she going to one on the other side of the country made it hard to stay in a relationship and had told him so the day she moved. Nathan had not been very pleased about that and had moped around the house for days before his mom had a talk with him and his dad kicked him out and told him to go to college that they were paying for, he had missed a few days and needed to get off his ass or so his dad had said.

To the right of Nathan is his sister Susan or Susie as she likes to be called thinking that Susan was a bit too old for her. Susie was the opposite of her brother Richard and looked very little like her father she is the spitting image of her mother with her blond hair and blue eyes. Being three years younger than Nathan she was a little bit spoiled growing up with her father giving her almost anything she wanted and her mother having to rain in on some of the more wild ideas she came up with. Richard loved his little baby sister thinking she is just a little angel that he needs to protect, Nathan, on the other hand, thinks she is a brat with no limits, he still loved her sure and if any guy messed with her he would be there to defend her but otherwise he thinks she is just annoying.

Nathan sighed “I miss them all, even my damn brat of a sister. The thought of never seeing them again . . .” nothing more needed to be said, the emotions of sadness, despair, and a hint of homesickness overwhelmed Nathan.

Nathan dried his eyes on his sleeve got up and walked to the door, opening it he stepped back into the darkness once more.

__________

Having sorted through his bag and wallet Nathan lifted the torch out in front of him as he opened the door into the dark cave for the first time. He could not see far into the darkness and what he could make out was distorted by the orange glow from the torch. The light twisted and turned as it seemed to retreat into the darkness, it was better than nothing Nathan thought as he waved the torch around and picked a direction. With a wall about twenty feet in front of him and passages leading off to the left and right he looked into the gloom and headed down the tunnel to the right.

The echoes of Nathan's first few steps scared him shitless, think that something was behind him he wiped the torch around to stare into the darkness waiting for a monster to come out. After a minute of heavy breathing with nothing to show for it, he continued walking and every so often taking a glance behind him to make sure nothing was sneaking up on him form the dark.

‘Feel like a damn fool for being scared of my own footsteps’ he thought to himself with shame.

Nathan flinched with every step he took at the sounds of his footsteps echoing back, hoping it would not alert something that he was there. Walking for about ten minutes give or take, his focus starts to drift as he looks at the cave around him.

The cave is dark but wide with loose rocks crunching underfoot. Nathan looked up to try and see the ceiling but the light from the torch faded before it could reach it. The air was cool but not cold so that was a blessing. Nathan trudged on as he hugged the left wall looking for any passageways as he watched the shadows dance on the wall making him think of all the horrors that could be in this place, from demons to ghosts, his mind wandered thinking of all the bad things that could be out to get him. These thoughts did little to help his state of mind and his nerves were starting to fray from the constant worry and dread of the place.

At first, he thought his steps were just echoing more until the sound got louder after a minute of walking. He stopped dead in his tracks heart racing with his hands trembling as he waited for the noise to approach. Before long the rumbling got so loud it was hard to think straight, a creature the size of a dog then burst into the torchlight. It seemed to just materialize out of the darkness as it came barreling towards him with it mouth wide showing off its many white pointed teeth ready to rip Nathan in half.

Thinking fast Nathan barrel rolled to the left dropping his torch on the way, coming to stop in a crouch. Nathans dropped torch lit up the area and showed the creature in its full glory. The lizard by Nathans best guess had rough sand colored scales with spikes coming out here and there and some wicked looking ones coming out the back of its head, with its long tail covered with long sharp looking spikes. The creature in question that had come to a stop about twenty feet from Nathan turned around and growled at him, staring at Nathan with its beady black eyes it scraped at the floor with its feet for claws.

Nathan stared at the lizard as it looked back at him when Nathan got a popup.

[New Skill Learned: Inspect]

With Nathan’s attention drawn away the creature took the moment to attack. Cursing himself for getting distracted he had to roll out of the creatures way once more. It was getting wise to his tricks and as he rolled away the lizard swiped its tail at Nathan as it passed. The spikes on the tail scraped Nathan's back going flesh deep Nathan screamed out in pain as he tumbled to the floor, the pain was unbearable. As Nathans mind reeled in pain the creature waited a moment to make sure the thing in front of it had no other tricks before it pounced on Nathan. Spots dotting his vision Nathan saw the creature pounce and did the best thing he could think of and brought he pocket knife to bear, the lizard thinking it was going for the kill did not notice the weapon in time and impaled itself on the weapon.

The pocket knife pierced through the lizard's soft underbelly into its heart, the lizard reeled in shock from the attack as it backed off it scraped Nathans arm with its claws leaving a deep gash. The lizard pulled away in a daze as blood poured from its underbelly the knife catering to the floor. Nathan took that chance to use his one good arm and legs to pull himself away from the creature. Pain laced down his back and arm as he watched the lizard thrash in its death throes as it bleeds out from the fatal wound.

Looking down at his left arm Nathan grimaced ‘its claws must have nicked an artery cause my blood is just pouring out’ Nathan thought as he tried to think of a way to stop the bleeding. ‘God I am going to die to the first creature I meet, how lame am I!’ “Hahahahahaha” Nathan coughs uncontrollably for a few seconds then glances at the lizard. It is on its final breaths, wheezing the lizard glares at Nathan with hatred in its eyes. Not long after the lizard takes its last breath and dies while its killer Nathan bleeds out on the cold cave floor.

[Horned Desert Lizard Killed]

[No Class To Impart Experience To]

[Please Choose A Class]

Nathan is shocked to see the messages but pleased at the same time ‘now only if there is some class that will save my ass from bleeding out’ he thinks as he looks down at his arm again. It is not a pretty sight the flesh is all twisted and flayed at the edges as his blood pours out of the wound then down onto the floor where it is starting to make a nice sized pool that is soaking into his clothes. Nathan turns his focus back onto the screen in front of him.

[Class Selection]

[Warrior]

[Mage]

[Archer]

[Labourer]

Nathan scanned through the list with haste and picked Mage as that had the best chance of saving him at the moment. Plus a mage, who did not want to be a mage, and wield amazing magical powers! ‘Hopefully, there is healing magic I can use to fix my arm and back’ Nathan thought to himself with hope, but life is never perfect.

[Choose Element]

[Fire]

[Water]

[Earth]

[Air]

“Four! Only four bloody elements! What the hell, where is the healing magic I need damn screen give me healing magic!” enraged he started a hacking cough by the end of his rant.

Calming down he thought to himself ‘Fuck what am I supposed to do now?’

‘I could pick water that sometimes has healing related properties. Though I would not bet my life on it, and I am betting my life on it so no! Then what? I don’t think Earth and Air are going to help seal up this gash.’ Then Nathan thought of something that would save him but it would be painful and not fun at all. He could sear the wound shut with fire.

“Hahahaha” he chuckled really not wanting to do it but not having much choice in the matter, or just bleed out there are the floor and die. ‘I am already starting to feel faint and the edges of my vision are getting clouded or is that just the darkness?’ he thought to himself.

Making his decision he taps Fire as his vision get filled with popups and his head throbs with pain.

[You Have Chosen The Fire Element]

[Now Imparting Relevant Skills]

[Fire Affinity]

[Mana Sense]

[Mana Channeling]

[Spell Creation]

[Class Changed To Mage]

[Class Level Up]

[Class Changed To Fire Mage]

Nathan’s mind burned with pain as information on how to use the skills are drilled into his mind. As the pain fades from his mind pain shoots up through his arm as he realizes he had been holding his head with it, the fact he could move it at all surprised Nathan, with how mangled it looked. Now there is blood running down his back and soaked into his hair.

Haste was of the essence as his head holding left him drained of all energy. Nathan felt he had not long before he fainted from shock. It had been only around a minute since the lizard had died when Nathan brought up his good hand palm up in front of his face. He had a vague sense of what he needed to do, he knew he could make a spell to create fire but he did not have the time for that, so he just went for the crude method. He willed the fire to appear above his hand, as the fire surged to life above his palm Nathan realized how taxing it was, he did not know how long he could hold the fire for. Nathan grimaced as he looked at this arm thinking of how much this it was going to hurt. He hesitated for a second then with haste he brought the fire to his arm and started to sear the wound shut down the length of his arm.

‘I thought the pain from the wound is bad but this is excruciating!’ mind muddled by pain and having to keep the fire going he slowly burns his wound shut, as the fire passes over the wound he can see the blackened and scarred skin left behind. The moment he is done with his gruesome work his mind goes blank the fire blinks out and he collapses onto the cave floor.