A Record of Ash & Ruin: The Grieving Lands

Chapter 3: Struggle

Thediviners and the truth seers of the elves called for war against a small country far to the west, across the Untouched Sea, ruled by a mage-king they divined would bring about the end-times. The High King of the elves, acknowledging the words of the prophecy, sent his envoys to the realms of man and throughout the civilized lands.

- On the Cataclysm by an unknown Quassian Scholar circa 103 AC

I awoke still naked, sodden, and shivering. Teeth rattled in my skull as I futilely fought against the cold. My earlier joy at being transported to a new world had now mostly evaporated. This world was full of pain and suffering greater than anything I had known in the old world. My discomfort demanded that I look with my inner gaze to the notifications;

100 Experience gained New Skill: Power Strike (Lvl. 1) New Spells: Heal (lvl.1), Rust (lvl.1)

Level 2 attained - 3 unassigned attributes have been distributed automatically.

STATUS

Calling$%^& Level 2 Acolyte of Avaria Strength8 Dexterity8 Constitution9 Intelligence8 Wisdom8 Charisma8 Luck10

SKILLS & PROFICIENCIES

Pain Nullification (lvl.1) Power Strike (lvl.1)

SPELLS & MAGIC

Heal (lvl.1) Rust (lvl.1)

GIFTS

Curse of Entropy -20% all starting attributes.

Experience to next level 100/220

I scrambled closer to the tree, sitting against its hard trunk. Gathering myself, I closed my eyes and tried to draw a deep even breath. Gazing to the bottom left corner of my vision where my Health, Stamina and Mana were represented, I scanned my new status;

Health5/13 Stamina14/16 Mana4/6

My thoughts scattered as I realized my Health was just over a third, really more when I thought about it...no, just under half. This must be responsible for the stabbing pain that throbbed all over my body. Incomparable of course to the banquet of agony that I had gorged on previously. I noticed the irony that two of my randomly assigned points were allocated to Luck. This was my new reality it seemed. I was stuck in a cursed game that felt like a thousand other games I had played across my life.

I could not stifle a manic laugh that possessed my body. Great shakes filled me with pain as the madness tore through my being. My hysteria ceased abruptly when I realized my Health had dropped by one point. I was going to die here. Ripped across time and space to die to exposure under a tree in this unknown and alien world. I needed to think rationally before insanity overtook me again.

I needed to regain Health. My eyes darted, panic drove a manic scramble of my thoughts as I desperately sought something to save me from this predicament.

“Heal!” I desperately shouted, willing something, anything, to save me.

A pulling sensation shifted energy through my body, followed by a hint of soft warmth, then nothing. Echoes of absolutely nothing. It would appear that my spell had failed. I cried tears of frustration at the futility of it all. Magic was tantalizingly out of reach. "What can I do?" I puzzled to myself as despair began to rise again.

Unbidden returned memories of a mathematics lesson once long-forgotten. My mind reviewed the calculations involved with factoring, polynomials, and double-decked equations. I smiled brusquely; I was never good at mathematics but I was surprised about how much I was able to comprehend in my new mental state.

You have gained 1 Intelligence

The message floated across my vision. Incredulously I looked at my status, noticing that despite no change to my maximum Mana, I had increased a point of my available Mana to five. "What did this all mean?" I wondered to myself as another dull wave of pain hit me.

Shivering I rose on shaky legs, leaning against the tree to survey my surroundings. Under the tree lay the familiar sight of the dilapidated altar with the fallen statue of the goddess. Yet as he looked down at his feet he noticed something unfamiliar; a bundle of rough-spun cloth.

"The third person, I must be losing it..."

I gathered the bundle to myself and opened it. Inside was a coarse robe of a similar fabric to the cloth bundle. Hastily I scrambled to put the robes on my still shivering body, ignoring the itchy sensation that reminded me of sackcloth. Finally tying the robe closed, an immediate sense of security stirred me. A tear tracked down my face as the constant hum of vulnerability finally lessened, if only moderately.

I grit my teeth and forced myself to focus. The world I was in resembled a game, and I had played many games. There were rules and I needed to find and test every aspect out as soon as possible. I wanted to live, in defiance of all the suffering I had experienced. Hands still shaking, I whimpered in pain.

My available Mana had risen to five now from four. Perhaps I needed more Mana to cast the spell or was the earlier dull pain the result of a miscast? Some games I knew had a chance of spell failure, especially for novice magic users. Last time I had definitely felt something when I tried to cast Heal, and I refused to give up. “Heal!" I shouted out to the world, willing myself to be made whole. Once again I felt a power shift slowly and flow sluggishly through me, yet this time an unpleasant ripping sensation coursed through my insides. This was followed by a pleasant sensation of healing warmth. My Mana had bottomed out to zero, but my Health had increased by two points. I now had just about half of my Health.

Everything felt such a burden, my earlier enthusiasm was fleeing from me as I was assaulted by a painful attack on my mind. Stabbing needles beat against my brain as I wearily struggled back to the tree and sat. My breath began to slow. I fought against closing eyelids that weighed like a mountain, remembering a platitude from a previous life before they shut.

“The serenity to accept the things that you can not change,” I whispered as a troubled sleep came over me. How apt...

You have gained 1 Wisdom