Chapter 2: Death

Captain! She is starting to wake up, what are your orders?

Put the scanners to maximum, we have no idea what could be out there. Be prepared for anything.

Captain, feelers all over the body are reporting that it’s cold and the ground is hard rock.

Have the eyes opened yet?

No sir. But she has sat up and is holding her head. The feelers up there are reporting a headache.

Very well, open the eyes.

Aye-aye Captain!

Ow ow ow. My head hurts. Have you ever felt like there are little people in your head? Well, for me, it feels like those guys decided to jump around and bang giant drums.

How did she figure it out, Captain?

No idea Cadet.

I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.

My eyes open to soft lighting. I’m in a small cave lit only by a torch high on the wall. The entrance to the cave is impossible to see through, blocked by a snowstorm.

I stand up slowly, and look around the small cave, only the torch keeps me company.

I shiver as the cold hits me, my thin shirt doing little to stop the chill wind making its way through the cave. Thankfully, my hands are warm under the gloves, not even feeling the cold.

I walk over to the torch, and lift it out of the sconce it rests in. The warmth of the fire helps a little bit.

I stand there for a moment, considering my options. Then I turn to the entrance blocked by snow. Holding the torch in front of me, I step out into the snow.

I know, I know, not the smartest thing to do when I’m dressed only in a shirt. But this is a trial of some kind, right? I have to take risks, and I doubt I’ll do well staying in a cave with only one torch.

My gloves spread warmth through my body, barely keeping the cold from being deadly to my body. Still, my toes start to freeze in the snow. I can’t see much, the snow blocking me from seeing farther than a few feet.

A gust comes by, nearly blowing out my torch, but I manage to step in front of it, becoming a wind-break for the torch. That has the unfortunate side effect of making me even colder, but I manage to ignore it.

My meter of light is comforting, but I can hear sounds from all around me that start to freak me out.

Crunch

I swirl around, the torch somehow staying lit despite the quick movement. Nothing but falling snowflakes are behind me.

Creeeeeeak

I turn around again, but this time I catch a glimpse of a silhouette through the snow before it disappears. I let out a sigh or relief that I’m not going crazy.

Yeah. Right.

Another breath of wind blows by, but I’m not prepared for it this time, and my torch blows out.

The next thing I know, I am sent flying through the air, an empty feeling in the middle of my chest.

I try to get up, but fall back down into the snow.

With a surge of effort, I manage to sit up again, and feel the warmth of blood as it dribbles down onto my stomach. I look down, only to see a large hole in my chest right below my heart.

That’s not good.

Somehow, through the power of sheer adrenaline, I stand back up. The hole in my chest bleeds heavily, and I can’t breathe.

I see glowing out of the corner of my eye, and I lift my hand up to see the gloves and the wound in my chest emitting the same glow. In front of my eyes, the wound starts to close. Unfortunately, it’s stopped by a hand punching through my back.

I stare down at the fist now sticking out of my chest. It’s a large white fist with a line of gray fur traveling down each finger.

The creature pulls its hand out of my back, and I fall forward into the snow.

Then, with little fanfare, I bleed out into the snow and die.

Congratulations! You have suffered your first death!

Luckily for you, you are still in The Tutorial, so you get extra lives and get to keep your equipment!

You have (1) life left before you no longer qualify for a special prize, so tread carefully!

My eyes open wide as I take a deep breath, my gloved hands moving in front of my face defensively.

After a moment, I lower my hand and stare at the ceiling. The flickering of the torch lights up the ceiling of the rock cave.

Another deep breath, then I sit up.

What’s the first rule of war? Know your enemy and know yourself.

I went out there without any information like an idiot.

So… take a deep breath, and follow the first rule. What do I know about my enemy? They have five fingered hands and opposable thumbs. Can they use tools? Probably.

What else?

They didn’t attack me until the torch went out and they haven’t attacked me in this cave. Maybe they’re scared of fire? Or the torch is protecting me somehow?

Also the creature punched me in the chest, which means they’re about my size, but probably stockier considering it had enough strength to punch me through the chest.

What else?

What do I know about myself?

Rather, what do I not know about myself?

“Status.” The word echoes strangely in the cave.

General Info: Elena S. Trudeau

Age:16

Lvl: 1

Class: N/A

Mana: 80

Sponsor: N/A

Titles: Beta Tester, Crazy In A Good Way (Is that even possible?), Watched By The Gods

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Special conditions: Most Definitely Not-Normal

Physical Condition: Healthy

Physicality: Athletic 84%

Brilliance: Graduate 95%

Equipment: Gloves(unique)

Most of it makes sense I guess.

Still, I don’t know what the titles mean. “All-mighty system, can you tell me what the title Beta Tester means?”

Title: Beta Tester (Special)

Description: You are one of the five million people who have been given access to the system and world events. This includes exclusive events like The Tutorial. This title gives a bonus to all skill and stat growth.

“Makes sense I guess. So what does Crazy In A Good Way do?”

Title: Crazy In A Good Way (is that even possible?) (Unique)

Description: Pretty self explanatory. You gain resistance to all mental or psychic abilities, affects and spells. You also gain an increase to learning and progression of all mental and psychic abilities and spells.

Pretty self explanatory my ass. I read it through a second time and let out a breath of annoyance. “Wow, okay. So I just need to figure out how to; psychic abilities. Can’t be too hard.”

Things like magic do exist, apparently. The question is: how do I use it? If I call upon my vast knowledge of fantasy stories, there’s one simple answer and it makes me sigh yet again.

Meditation.

I’m not telling my mom about this. She would never stop gloating.

I sit down in a lotus position and close my eyes. My mother’s voice repeats itself as I remember her lessons with me when the voices got overwhelming.

Deep breath in through the nose, out through the mouth. In through the nose, out through the mouth.

Drown out all the voices in your head. Focus on your breathing until thought is but an idea somewhere in the distant recesses of your mind.

My nose itches, and I scratch it. I straighten my back while I’m at it, rearranging to get a little more comfortable on the hard stone floor.

Silencing my brain has never been easy, especially with all the voices that have their own opinions on the matter.

Thankfully, for once, they stay quiet, letting me slip into the depths of my own mind.

At the edge of my senses energy buzzes against my skin, endless and overwhelming in its magnitude.

Then it’s gone.

I curse and readjust my position again. I’m not letting it go like this.

I focus on my breath, breathing out all my thoughts and releasing them to the void. Time loses meaning as I let myself relax into existence.

I feel the energy again, unsure what to do with it. It just sits out there.

Ever so gently, I reach for it.

“Ouch!” I cry out as I'm zapped out of my meditation. I glare at nothing in particular. “Oh, you’re in for it now, nameless powerful force!”

The energy doesn’t respond, but I don’t care as I return to my meditation. Again and again, I reach for it, only for it to zap me every time.

Finally I enter that state again, and I can only hope that my annoyance somehow translates across my meditative state and that the energy knows I’m mad at it.

We sit at this impasse for a long moment, before I decide to take another approach. I let go of all my emotions and lay myself bare before the energy. I submit myself to it.

The energy floods my system. Pleasure fills me, slowly turning into a warm pulse that echoes through my body.

All my senses go dark.

Slowly, light returns to the world, filtering through my eyelids.

I open my eyes to see the ceiling of a now familiar cave.

I pick myself off the floor, and bounce lightly on my toes. I seem to be blacking out a lot lately, that can’t be good for my health.

Thankfully, my body seems to be in working order, so I turn my attention to a series of blue screens that have been begging for my attention.

Nice job! You have successfully gained the approval of mana!

Due to an influx of mana, you have been temporarily put to sleep. This is for your own safety.

Thanks to one of your titles, all mana inside your body is automatically converted to Psi. All Psi abilities will be temporarily unavailable until your body adjusts to its presence.

You have one hour left until the torch goes out.

Well that’s not good. I didn’t gain anything from losing consciousness, and on top of that, the last message doesn’t have a timer attached to it. I’m not sure when I received it.

I look down at my hands, feeling the soft texture of the gloves.

“[Identify Item: Gloves]”

Item: Gloves Of The Ancients

Owner: Elena S. Trudeau

Abilities: Volatile Looks, Indestructible, Heal, ???

Well that explains what that glowing light was when that creature tried to kill me.

With less than an hour before I lose my torch, I need to come up with some kind of plan.

I close my eyes.

I can’t go into that storm again. That thing will just kill me again.

No, I have to fight that thing on my own terms. On my own ground.

I smile wide.

Time to do something crazy. I reach out with my hand, eyes still closed. My hand wraps around the end of the torch, causing it to go out.

I open my eyes, the only light coming from the slight illumination of the hieroglyphs on my gloves.

I move to the wall at the entrance to the cave, hide the light of my gloves behind me and wait.

A creature shuffles into the cave.

I move my hands in front of me, illuminating the thing, but it doesn’t react.

It’s a large creature, easily six feet tall. It has long muscular arms that almost reach its ankles and a defined upper body covered in white fur. It’s unfortunately obvious that the thing is a male, as it isn’t wearing any clothes. It shuffles further into the cave, sniffing the air with a dog-like nose.

Sniffing?

The thing doesn’t seem to react to the light at all, but if it uses other senses, then I’m going to have to act quickly.

I move right behind the thing, my bare feet quiet on the rock ground.

“Boo!” I yell out, then crouch.

The creature swings its body around, those dangerously strong arms swinging right over my head.

Putting as much force into it as I can, I spring up and punch the creature in its neck. I feel its bones and cartilage break under the strike, my glove punching with more force than it has any right to.

It pulls its arm back, giving me just enough warning before its fist strikes towards my chest.

I grab the fist and use the force to spin around its arm and pull it to the ground. Again, the maneuver is easier than it should be, as my gloves seem to work with more force than they have any right to.

Then I step back and watch the thing choke, my first punch having caved in its neck. It flails its arms and legs wildly in pain and panic. I watch it slowly die in the cold and half-darkness.

It’s head turns towards me in its final moments, the whites of its eyes the only thing visible. Still, I see life in those eyes.

I wipe away tears as I refuse to look away from it in its final moments.

In the stories and books you read, they scroll over the taking of a life as if it was nothing. Normal even.

But as I see the life leave the creature’s eyes, I can’t help but apologize to it.

I do something I’ve never done before. I’m not a religious person, but still, I get on my knees, put my hands together and ask that whatever higher being exists out there takes this soul and gives it some peace.

I hear a dinging sound which I choose to ignore.

Unfortunately, the sound of shuffling is something I can’t ignore.

I stand up to greet the next creature that has decided to invade my small cave.

This one is the same as the last one, with white fur covering its entire body. This one seems to sense me right away and rushes towards me.

I don’t think as the thing draws its arm back. I prepare to block, but instinct has me duck and I listen to it.

The arm I wasn’t watching whooshes over my head.

Shit! Did that thing just use a feint?!

I don’t have time to dwell on it as I jump back and away from another punch.

The creature throws a third punch, and I spin around it to throw the same punch I threw on the first one. The creature’s neck crumbles under my fist and I jump away from its retaliation.

This one stumbles around before collapsing against the wall. It clutches its neck and struggles a slow death.

I do the same thing I did with the first one I killed.

I get on my knees and pray for it as it passes away.