After freaking out about what had happened to me for what felt like hours, I decided to point in a random direction and head in it.
And after another good chunk of time, I just remembered the stupid deity words of I have a system, even if it is broken I can at least have a quick look, right?
"Status?"
"Stats"
"Up up and away"
"Shazam"
…
"Status." said with confidence
…
…
"OPEN UP ALREADY!" I said with immense anger
…
Do I have to think of opening it instead of a command?
A broken system screen appears in front of my eyes, like it is actively falling apart and not in a cool way either.
[Nmye ass]
[cssal onone]
[Lelve 0/0]
[Stats insignificant]
[Bloodline nothing]
[#(9p need higher rank and connection to acess]
[Map inopeotive]
[Skills]
None
[mission kill the demon lord/lady and save the world]
[starter pack basic equipment]
"M. My name is Scott Grimes, SCOTT GRIMES."
After shouting at my system for a bit, I decided to select the basic equipment and see what I got.
A subtle click sounds as I mentally press the basic equipment button, only for nothing to happen.
Click
Click
Click
Click
After doing this a few more times eventually something does come from it.
A compass
"A fucking compass, thanks," I said sarcastically.
The compass is a bronze colour, its bronze colour slightly faded along with cracked glass.
Flipping the compass around I see a small note stuck there.
Follow me if you want to die.
Flipping it back around I see it's pointing in the direction I was heading.
So following what the note said, I made a 180 and legged it in the opposite direction.
The direction Scott runs towards a large set of mountains can be seen covering the horizon.
[system message, you are heading towards the safe zone.]
[A safe zone was made by the system to assist the player/chosen one in their early stages of growth.]
[The safe zone can be entered or exited freely by the chosen one, while inside the safe zone, you will heal faster, get hungry less, need less sleep and have reduced ageing within the safe zone.]
[The safe zone will also grant the chosen one training partners to gain experience with but the training partners will not be able to go past grade 20 in strength.]
[In a safe zone you can also learn ever so slightly faster so training will be more effective.]
[Grades are the measurement of strength in the world, grade 20 is]
[shutting down video]
"Great, guess the tutorial's over."
Scott then continues to walk through the barren land for a couple more hours.
The sound of a broken bell plays.
[You have entered the safe zone]
"I… I got to the mountains faster than I thought. mmm strange."
As we see the base of the mountains seems to be a mile away or so.
Getting a closer look at the mountains and the surrounding area there seems to be a lot more life around these parts.
Grass and flowers are growing, along with some insects and small mammals.
The trees seem to no longer be burned husks of them selfs with sturdy bark and leaves.
Sadly I don't hear any birds, but the insects and wind make a pleasant noise, well it's a lot better than the howling winds from before anyway, seems the trees are acting as a wind brace or whatever it's called.
The smell of fresh dirt is also mixed into the air, along with the sulfur, at least it's better smelling now.
The only thing that would make this better would be getting rid of this migraine, it still hasn't gone away.
I should try to find some shelter soon as it seems the sun is sadly setting.
So I search around looking for a place to sleep, the trees, sadly I can't climb very well so that's not an option, and I'm too tall for the holes in the ground that reside below the trees.
I look for broken rocks or something to attempt to make a shelter with… sadly I didn't pay attention to making a shelter or maybe I could have attempted to make a teepee.
So I searched, and searched , it took about an hour, thankfully I did find a cave to try and sleep in.
"Better not be wolves in this place"
Searching the quickly darkening cave to see if there are any extra entrances, I didn't find any so, because of the encroaching darkness I chose to grab a bunch of leaves and stick to atleast get myself off the ground as my dad told me, "son, the ground saps heat like a mother fucker, only sleep on the floor when it is warm."
The sun rises and sadly I didn't get much sleep, this migraine still hasn't left me.
Groggily getting up I rub my eyes, getting rid of the blurry vision, I am sadly greeted with a message.
[ 20, rank 20 beings have been spawned for you to hunt… good luck… chosen one]
"Ahhh, shit I should probably get out of here right… ye that seems like a good choice."
Waking out of the cave I wander around looking for a way around the mountains if possible, as this place and hopefully the place behind it is full of life, if that's the case hopefully I can find a river and follow it… Wait.
I'll just look for a river instead that would be better than looking for a miracle cave that goes through the mountains.
The reason I chose to try to find a river is, people will build near rivers, so I have a 50/50 chance of hopefully walking the right direction of civilisation and being able to meet up with people so I can get those directions to, the school… mmm, maybe not.
I don't know why I should follow that deity's directions when he tried to kill me, there are others who can do that instead, I think I'll just go my own way and just live a nice and slow life.. ye that's a good idea.
Following a river seems to be a good idea though, so I'll do that for now, if I can find one that is.
Searching around the Forest for a while, I did find a couple of stale lakes and a couple of corpses of mammals, mainly dead deer, the problem was that the kills were fresh, so I needed to get out of here fast, the trees don't seem to be big enough to hide me and with no weapon I don't feel very confident in taking down monsters even if they are weak, witch is just a wild guesstimate but I doubt, even if broken. A safe zone will throw the strongest ranked creatures at someone who is exactly level 0.
I really hope so.
Still wandering around for a while I thankfully do find some fruit and berries.
Thankfully they seem to be the same as on earth so I can actully know what they are and that it's safe to eat, they seems to be apples and blackberrys… but just in case I'll take a small piece of the apple with my finger making sure I get a bit of the skin and flesh bit of the apple and rub it against my bottom lip, both parts, taking both apples and blackberrys.
I shove the apples in any pocket they fit it and hold the Berry's in my hands and I continue to walk around for about 20 minutes.
The reason I did this was to just check I ain't about to eat something poisonous and thankfully there was no reaction to the apples so I freely eat the apples, well let's hope it's not slow-acting poison or anything.
Finishing my apples and berries I start to hear the faint sound of running water, so i pick up the pace and speed walk towards said sound.
In all its glory a flowing river, finally I've been looking for what feels like hours, why was it so hard?
I quickly wash my face in the river for a quick refresher and take a small sip, the reason, that I don't accidentally inhale a leech or something.
Thump
Thump
I heard a dull thump nearby. I quickly stand up and look around to see what the cause of the noise was, but I don't see anything.
So I wait for a couple of seconds to see if the sound is made again.
Thump
Thump
Swish
Thump
I stand frozen, as what seems to be a small spike or needle was embedded into the tree I was next to..and right next to my eyes.
"Nope" I say as I shake my head fiercely
I turn to my right, the river is flowing in that direction and I sprint as fast as I can.
I didn't expect the quote on quote sparing partners to have ranged attacks, or have spikes, what kind of sparing partner has spikes!
Thump
Thump
Thump
Thankfully whatever it was has stormtrooper aim or I think I might be dead, those spikes are hitting the trees with quite a bit of force while also growing in size slightly.
I start to zig-zag across different trees, while also trying to bob and weave the best I can, still hearing the dull thumping sound getting ever so closer and closer.
I rush through the branches, said branches snapping as I charge through.
Some start to leave marks on my face and skin, but I don't have time to care about that right now.
As one of those spikes goes across my face a slight burning sensation seeps from my cheek, and a small amount of blood starts to drip.
I haven't been sprinting for very long. Still, I can feel my lungs start to ache, my breath becoming more and more haggard and sweat is piling on my body at a rapid pace, I can feel it clinging to my back as I sprint through the forest, doing my best not to trip on something stupid and fall into the river.
A couple more seconds of running and another spike just scrapes by my leg, ripping through my trouser leg with ease, and once more that slight burning sensation appears, this time it's from the top of my thigh.
My steps are loud and heavy, the grass and leaves being crushed under my shoes, and I go further and further.
Further and further still following this river, hoping I can find something for shelter and safety.
My lungs will soon be screaming for me to stop, to take a break, telling me I have ran far enough, but I know that's not true as I can still hear that damn dull thumping nearby, I swear I can feel it just barely missing my heel and foot.
I see a cave that the river is flowing through, maybe I can lose whatever's chasing me in the cave, this spike thrower better not have some bull night vision.
As I reach the cave entrance, I now see, there is no path, and it's just big enough for me to hunch through, with slight hesitation I jump into the river hoping to a better deity that the river is shallow here.
For my prayers and luck, it is, and I go as fast as I can in the slightly ankle-deep water with my back hunched, I go through this small ass cave.
Looking for offshoots, corners anything that can be used as a blind spot or an eye line breaker, as I have no idea how far back the creature/partner is, so I have no idea how much it can see.
Thankfully this cave bends and turns all over the place with multiple offshoots, I pick one going to the right, and just before I get to the corner I hear splashing from behind.
It caught up and I'm still in line of sight, in a narrow cave, no exit plan and no way to avoid its next spike thing.
So I did something stupid, I turned around, I should of just full sent it down that right passageway, dived, dark souls rolled anything, but no I turned around.
The 'partner' that is now facing me. A fucking mannequin, one of the smoothest ones I've ever seen, and it's almost blindingly white, with brown spikes coming from its hands and wrists.
I'm looking at the spikes coming from its hand for too long, as now I see, one is coming straight at me, I see it getting closer and closer, it's too fast for me to react to.
I, I can't dodge in time.
My flesh tears, as what I assumed to be similar to a porcupine's spike, rips through my shoulder, digging deep but not fully going through, I now know, it's made of stone.
It hurt, extremely, I screamed in pain for it had torn into my shoulder, I thought the adrenaline or whatever was meant to dull the pain in moments like this but it didn't I felt it all, the cold stone in my shoulder, I could feel it move and tear more of my shoulder as I fell against the rocky wall.
My arms scrape across, trying to grip onto something for balance.
My hands scratch across some slightly loose rocks.
I'm able to push myself up just enough to get back to a running-like motion down this passage.
I hear the splashing in the distance, it seems to be slow, it's not as fast for some reason.
Doing my best to power through the pain, making sure this stone spike stays in my shoulder I continue going down this slowly narrowing tunnel.
No, no no no, don't get narrower, don't get narrower I need to keep this speed up I don't want to be hit again, I don't want to feel that tearing sensation again.
The burning sensation is now all over my body, I can feel it on my hands, the scrapes and small lodged bits of rock there, the throbbing sensation through my shoulder is getting worse and worse, and the pain, it isn't going away.
I feel it, my heart, I can feel it beat, it feels like it's trying to escape my chest, no it definitely is, I swear if I look down I'll see the outline of it with how loud it is.
The offshoot is still getting smaller, I am now almost crawling, more of my body hits the ground as water seeps into my already wet clothes, weighing me down just that bit more,
But I see it, this offshoot goes left, I can see it, I'm also there.
Come on, you're almost there just past this corner, just past this corner come on.
Another splash hits my back as freezing water spreads across it, the partner missed their shot.
As I get to the corner I choose to do my best attempt at a dive forward from the crawl I'm in, won't be hit again, I'll make sure.
As I belly flop Into the water around this corner, the most horrid scraping sound can be heard as another stone spike smashes above me, scraping against the stone walls of the cave.
I crawl in the watery path In front of me, doing my best to look for a hiding spot or something but it's getting hard to see, I can barely see 10 feet in front of me.
I continue to crawl, now my arms and knees are screaming at me to stop as pain shoots through my entire body, especially my shoulder.
But I continue forward, I need to, I know my salvation is ahead of me, it has to be.
Splash
Splash
Splash
Splash
I crawl through the dark, doing my best to at least feel a place to hide, but there isn't one.
B-dm b-dm my heart, it's all I can hear right now, as I come to a sudden stop, all because I slam right into a wall I couldn't see, and I feel a warm sensation running down my face.
I quickly look left and right.
For the brief est of moment I see some light down the right path, so I go as fast a so can, that splashing is still going on behind me, it is still following.
The light now becomes brighter and brighter until the light is blinding me.
As I go forward I can now see that the cave opens up once more, becoming a giant open space.
I stand up and go as fast as I can, even if it's now just as fast as someone jogging, I go to the opening.
As I exit what I see stuns me in awe.
In the distance, I see a city, covered in ice and snow as if it's been in winter the entire time.
(An IA pic for some kind of reference)
But the forest surrounding the city and in front of me, there's no snow, no ice, it's not even that cold, and I'm covered in water and sweat.
I snap back to reality.
I run into the forest, thankfully that partner is slow in water for some reason.
As I go through the forest my vision blurs slightly, I see shadows, leaves and even trees move and shift, like they're alive.
The bushes in front of me also start shifting and moving all around, like they're being displaced.
This happens for only a second or two but after those seconds pass, the way in front of me has changed.
It now resembles a dirt path, the trees make a perfect archway along the path, all the bushes have moved to the side, blocking the sight of any animal that could be looking from the side.
"I, have I lost too much blood… no that isn't right I haven't bled that much, the stone spike is stopping the most dmaaged place from bleeding right now so… how.
I turn around to look at the path behind me, but it's gone, there's nothing except a forest behind me, like the cave didn't exist, but I'm still soaking wet from the water.
What happened, can I even trust the path In front of me?
After a few moments of debating, I suddenly feel a rush of fatigue, as I put my hands on my knees, and take a bunch of deep breaths, getting as much oxygen in me as possible.
Before falling over onto my back and just lying there on the ground resting for a while.
After a 30-minute break, I finally got up, my legs still screaming at me, but my lungs and heart had calmed down a lot.
I walk down the dirt path to wherever it takes me.
After a bit of time passes
The path has now become partly frozen and covered in snow, as I now stand in front of that frozen city.
I'm standing near the gates currently, just taking in the area, the slightly cold air, the smell of frost, and the utter quiet this place has, there are no sounds other than my own.
I'm still alone.
I've somehow found an abandoned city.
I take a look around at the houses closest to me, at the pages of writing on the walls of houses and along the street names.
They all say the same thing.
Come to the castle.
*******
Word count 3,244
Hello everyone, at the start of this chapter I was slightly struggling to come up with idea on were tk go and what will happen, and to get to my bare minimum word goal of 1000 words. then not long after I got to the first bit ware mc Scott, getting ambushed, I was suddenly able to write an additional 2000 more words :0.
I was hoping to have Scott encounter someone this chapter, someone I plan to become important and help are mc out though the story. But as you can see that didn't happen. So that will be happening in the next chapter when it get release.
Sorry about that :/ I didn't expect to write so much and not get to that bit.
Anyway I hope the character was to your liking and entertaining, I hope I can write the new character that will be appearing soon, well.
If you have an idea that you think will be a good story beat or just a theory on what could happen I would love to see it, always love seeing how people think, as it could possibly make for a better story.
Anyway have a great day/night everyone I'll see you all next time :D