The goblin shaman raises its staff high and slams it into the ground with a resonant crack.
"Silence! The ritual begins now!"
I lie helpless, my body broken, limbs hanging limply off the altar's edges. I can't even summon the strength to twitch. My bones scream with every breath, but I am powerless to move, my fate sealed on this bloodstained stone.
The goblins form a circle around the altar, marching clockwise just beyond the perimeter of the mind-breaking banners. Their chants begin in a guttural, archaic tongue that grates on my ears the same way those banners stab at my vision.
The shaman weaves between them in a twisted dance, raising and lowering his staff, barking out the same alien phrases. I don't understand the words, but the intent is clear: I am the offering.
This is a sacrifice, my life and soul in exchange for some dark blessing to empower this cursed tribe.
I attempt to roll off the platform, panic surging, but invisible restraints hold me down. A magical barrier. Whether it's the shaman's spell or the ritual itself, I'm caged, immobile, and utterly vulnerable.
Still chanting, the shaman approaches, rusted dagger in hand. Without hesitation, he slices lengthwise down my right wrist. The pain is sharp, but manageable. I hear the soft patter of blood dripping onto stone.
He continues dancing and chanting, carving new cuts with ritualistic precision, across my arm, my legs, each slash aimed at a major artery. I'm bleeding out slowly, but for now, I am still alive.
He finally stops beside my head.
I close my eyes and try to whisper a prayer, not for my life, but for my soul. Death has always been part of the job. We all knew the risks when we entered the gates. But this? To have my soul bartered away to some unknown entity? That terror is new.
The shaman's foul stench assaults me as he leans in. His blade rests cold against my throat. I welcome the growing numbness from blood loss. If nothing else, it dulls my senses.
Around us, the goblins go still. Their chanting stops.
The shaman lifts his staff again and begins reciting something truly horrifying and malevolent.
"Jiak ukacrifice avhiuk limiavun beaumn avo avhe mubullat goduk! maausan hiuk boneuk ukeeduk avhe fuavure ro avhe goblinuk, hiuk gijak avhe eavernal ukpring!"
The words claw their way into my brain. My ears bleed from the sheer wrongness of the sounds.
And then, without warning, he draws the blade across my throat.
My breath catches. Heat pours from the wound, my vision tunnels. The last thing I see is the shaman smiling triumphantly.
Darkness closes in.
No flashes of memory. No grand realization. Just black.
[Ascension Ritual Success — System Upgrade in Progress… 5%... 25%... 72%... 90%... Upgrade Complete]
[7-Pillar System Successfully Installed]
Wait...what? A reawakening?
I thought I was dead. Isn't this the afterlife?
[Retained: Martial Pillar – Twin Short Spears]
[Unlocked: Arcane Pillar – Earth Golem Creation – 0/5]
[Retained Skill: Item Box]
[Genoforge Pillar – Requirements Not Met]
[Harem Pillar – Requirements Not Met]
[Smithing Pillar – Requirements Not Met]
[Domain Pillar – Requirements Not Met]
[Warden Pillar – Requirements Not Met]
[Corporal Reformation Underway…]
Pain. Real, searing, nerve-tearing pain erupts through every fiber of my being.
It starts as an itch in my fingers and toes, but rapidly escalates. My nerves are on fire. It feels like I'm being reforged in agony, as if my entire body is burning from the inside out.
Then, just as suddenly, it ends.
I inhale sharply and open my eyes.
Same cavern ceiling. Same stone altar. But everything is different. My body is whole. My limbs are strong. The injuries? Gone. The pain? Gone. I feel… alive. Stronger. Sharper. Energized like never before.
The goblins stare at me, slack-jawed in stunned silence. They saw me die. Bleed out. But here I am, very much alive.
I can't waste this moment.
Placing my palm on the altar, I whisper the first incantation that comes to mind, the one my newly awakened system revealed.
"[Earth Golem Creation]."
The cavern rumbles. From the soil around the altar, five humanoid figures rise, stone bodies shaped like mannequins, broad-shouldered and faceless, crafted from the earth itself.
I sit up, healed and invigorated. The goblins still haven't moved.
"Kill them," I order.
The stone golems obey instantly, wading into the shocked crowd. Their heavy fists smash into flesh and bone, sending goblins flying, bones crunching like twigs.
[Slain - Goblin lvl 5 - +15exp]
Defeating enemies with my golems gives me experience? How convenient!
As chaos erupts, I summon my spears back from where they were discarded. They fly to my hands with satisfying weight.
Before the goblins can regroup, I leap into them, cutting through bodies with ruthless efficiency. One, two, five, each goblin I pass falls, dismembered and dying.
The goblins scream and scatter, but it's too late. Against stone golems and a re-awakened warrior, they are outmatched and outclassed.
[Slain - Goblin lvl 5 - +15exp]
[Slain - Goblin lvl 5 - ....
Only one threat remains.
The shaman.
I spot the telltale mushroom-shaped hat and twisted staff disappearing toward the tunnel exit.
Coward.
I raise one spear and take aim. It feels... different. Lighter, faster, more powerful. I release.
The weapon whistles through the air like a cannonball and tears through the shaman's torso, punching a gaping hole through its chest.
The creature stumbles, shock and confusion etched into its twisted features. It turns, looking for me.
Thud.
My second spear slams into its skull, shattering it in a spray of bone and brain matter.
The greenskin menace collapses, twitching once before going still.
Silence falls over the cavern.
The ritual succeeded, but not in the way the goblins intended.
I died. And yet, I returned stronger than ever before.
Reawakened!