A large, dark room opened before me, the only light coming from the hole I'd just climbed through. I quickly opened my inventory and withdrew my hammer, remembering just in time to close my hand around its handle as it appeared. The darkness added a whole new layer of dread to the overly-real experience. An image of a swarm of desiccated warriors slipping out of the deep shadows and ripping me apart caused an involuntary step back. Surely, there wasn't something so worthwhile in a tutorial to justify braving the darkness?
"You goddamn asshole," I whispered, cursing Dev and taking a step forward. If this were any other game, I'd stroll into the darkness without a care. If I kept playing, I'd certainly have to endure worse than walking into a dark room to keep progressing.
I took a few steadying breaths that completely failed their job, gripped my hammer, and entered the room. It was dusty and dry compared to the hallways and room before, as if it had been sealed from the encroaching nature.
A dozen feet into the room, my sandaled foot stepped on an unstable stone, pitching my weight forward.
"Shit," I swore as I stumbled. Then my foot slammed into something hard and unyielding, a burning pain racking my big toe.
"Shit!" My voice boomed through the room. I nearly fell but was able to limp my way back to balance. I cursed myself as I scanned the darkness, desperately trying to see or hear any movement. Nothing. I let out a breath, the throbbing in my toe demanding attention.
"Seriously, dial back the pain, Dev. This is brutal."
I bent down and tenderly prodded my toe. It hurt, but it didn't seem broken. Ironically, the mundane debacle had greatly diminished the dread I felt. I nodded and kept walking in a sort of slow shuffle to keep from making the same mistake again.
After just a few seconds, I started to make out the outline of a door, light seeping in from its edge. Rushing the last few feet, I made it to the door and recklessly threw it open. I sighed in relief as light hit me. I looked back the way I'd come, but there wasn't anything worth examining. It had just been a dark and empty room after all. I shrugged and continued.
Like the areas before, broken stones were strewn about the floor of a long passage, light cascading through the gaps. The left side of the passage was a wall of thick vines.
I pushed the dense greenery apart, peering through. A lower passage ran below, the one I would have been on had I not gone through the caved-in door. I never would have seen this walkway from below. I was on a hidden alternate path.
A similar mob to the one I'd already killed stood in the middle of the corridor below. However, this one held a rusted shortsword and shield, a step up from the previous enemy. I could altogether bypass him now. I looked back at the strewn stones and shrugged. Why waste this opportunity?
I looked through the rubble until I found a stone chunk just about double the size of my fist. I picked it up and turned back to the vine wall. I paused, having an idea. I opened my inventory and deposited the stone. It took up one slot. I gathered a few more stones, adding them as well. They stacked on the first one, a small number in the bottom right corner indicating how many I held. The eleventh stone started a new stack next to the first.
"This is so cool."
I returned to overlook the passage below and pulled some of the vines down, giving me a good view. I took one of the stones from my inventory, aimed, and threw. The dessicated warrior was only about a dozen feet from me, but my throw sailed wide to the left, smashing against the floor with a loud crack. The mob turned and looked up at me.
I quickly took another stone out of my inventory and threw it. In my haste, I threw it too far.
"Calm down, Henry."
I took a deep breath and watched as the mob ambled toward me. I doubted it could climb up the wall to get to me, and even if it did, I could just drop a stone on it from above, a feat at which even I could succeed, but I was frustrated I'd missed such an easy throw, and I wanted to succeed at this. I'd only have one more chance before the only option was to drop the stone.
I withdrew a stone, dismissed the inventory interface so I could see, carefully took aim, and heaved the stone with a grunt.
It was perfect. The stone slammed right into the mob's face with a loud crunch. The mob crumpled, dropping its shield and sword with a clatter.
"Yes," I hissed, pumping my fist.
A pleasant ding sounded, accompanied by a smooth, feminine voice. "Skill acquired: heave."
I immediately opened my stats sheet and looked down to the skills section.
Skills 1
Heave - Level 1
I focused on the skill and a tooltip appeared. Throw heavy items… well.
"Helpful," I said, dismissing the interface. Still, I was ecstatic. I'd gained my first skill, and I had a stack of stones to make use of it. I picked up two more stones, placing them in my inventory to maintain a full stack of ten, and continued along the passage.
A few dozen feet later, the path terminated at a large boulder that had crashed through the ceiling. It blocked the way forward completely. A break in the vines and a broken railing on the left just before the boulder clearly indicated an easy way down to the path below.
I was obviously going to climb over the boulder.
The hole the boulder had made had also collapsed a part of the wall. I rose onto my toes and looked over the boulder and wall to the world outside. It was the first time I'd gotten a good glimpse of what lay beyond these walls, and it shocked me. A vast, sprawling jungle spread out a thousand feet below, rivers and lakes breaking the dense canopies covering the land.
"Whoa."
I stretched to look down and gasped. A sheer drop was all I could see—a massive cliff, hundreds of feet tall. I leaned away from the wall slowly. I never thought of myself as being particularly afraid of heights, but all I could think of was how long I'd have to think about falling while actually falling.
I looked back at the easy route behind me then grunted, turning back to my chosen path.
"Just get over the boulder, Henry."
I put my hammer in my inventory and studied the massive stone. It came up to the middle of my chest. If I were lighter, I probably could have pulled myself up and over, but I wasn't nearly strong enough to make an attempt. Somehow, I needed to get enough leverage to hoist myself up.
"Ah, shit." Looking at the rock, I thought I found a way. All it required was to push against the outside wall with my feet. The same wall that was on the edge of a stupidly high cliff. I looked longingly at the easy path down one more time, then positioned myself near the boulder. The large boulder was shaped so I could lean against it while still being able to push against the wall. I only needed to get a few feet up to push my ass onto the boulder and roll onto its top.
"If I fall, I fall. I'm sure I'll just respawn." I nodded. "I am sure I'll just respawn." I kept whispering the words as I positioned myself. I braced my right foot as high up the wall as possible. "I am sure I'll just respawn," I said one more time. I slowly picked up my left foot and placed it on the wall beside my right. I grimaced, waiting for the wall to collapse, but nothing happened. I scooted my butt up the rock behind me a few inches, then did the same with my right foot then my left. I kept at it until less than a minute later, my butt was entirely on the boulder.
I took a calming breath, trying not to think about the long fall just feet away. From my new vantage, the hole in the wall and ceiling dominated my view. I could see the sky, a massive mountain, and the lands far below. Any other time, I would have been awed at the vista, but the rock's slant toward the hole felt more dramatic now that I was atop it. The rock was also quite slick, likely polished smooth from decades of rainfall. The looming fall dominated my thoughts, but with sweaty palms, I navigated across the boulder, my sandals barely finding purchase on its surface. I had never wanted high-traction hiking boots more than I did right then. Although, to be fair, I'd never wanted them at all.
Midway across the boulder, a foot and palm slipped, and I slid a few inches toward the open air before friction halted me.
"Shit!" I hissed through clenched teeth as I sat perfectly still.
It took me multiple minutes to build up the nerve to shift my bodyweight, but with a prayer to the gods of respawn, I started scooting again. As I neared the edge, fear overcame my caution, and I pushed hard against the rock, rolling off the side and not caring about the five-foot fall to the floor below.
Something crunched, breaking my fall. Unlike all the movies where the person falling thinks they've broken a bone only to pull out a snapped twig, I knew I'd landed on something brittle and hard. I coughed some air back into my lungs, rolled, and got to my feet.
"Ha!" I'd landed on a desiccated warrior. I'd been incredibly lucky and missed the large sword its crumpled body still gripped. With the sound of thick, dry branches cracking, the desiccated corpse started to writhe. It swung its sword in weak, small circles a foot off the ground.
I raised my eyebrows, impressed with the mob's dedication as it desperately tried to crawl toward me. Its back had obviously been shattered, along with many of its ribs and both arms. It was pitiful. I pulled out my hammer, grateful for my size for the first time in a long time, and stepped forward.
I carefully placed my foot on the flat of the mob's sword, pinning it to the ground, and brought my hammer down on its back. With a crunch of bone, the useless flailing stopped, and a small blue light rose from the monster, zipping into my chest. A number appeared in the top right of my vision again, ticking up from 5 to 8.
That's right, this is the third mob I've killed.
In my excitement at getting my first skill, I'd entirely missed the gained fragments.
"You could have just called them souls," I called out. "It would have made it a lot easier to remember."
I bent down and touched the corpse. Its inventory opened, holding two items: a desiccated liver and four copper coins. I mentally commanded take all, and sure enough, both instantly moved to my inventory. I plucked the greatsword from the ground and placed it into my inventory as well.
I studied the dead mob, a question forming. I grimaced, then shrugged. This was all just in my head… or Dev's head… it was all just in someone or something's head.
I bent down and shifted the body of the mob until I could access the side of its armored leather vest. Trying not to gag, I undid two straps, both nearly falling apart at the slightest pressure, and pulled the rotten armor from the body. I opened my inventory and placed it inside. It worked. Focusing on the four-slot item, a tooltip appeared.
Rotten Leather Chestpiece - Junk
I looked down at the monster's body, an unfortunate idea forming. I blew out some air; this was going to be gross. I placed my hammer in my inventory and withdrew the sword. Aiming carefully, I swung my sword at the base of the monster's neck. I didn't quite hit where I aimed, but it was close enough. I swung again, severing the head from the body. It rolled a few inches before rocking to a stop. I stashed the sword and, keeping my inventory open, picked up the head and stashed it in my inventory as quickly as I could.
Again, it worked. I brought up the head's tooltip.
Desiccated Head
"I get that it was me who had the idea to test it, but this is a little fucked up, Dev."
I pulled my hammer from my inventory and closed it. My exploration of the tutorial and game mechanics was definitely entertaining, but I felt an urgency pushing me to quicken my pace. Any moment, Dev would pull me out of this game, and I'd be back to my normal, mundane life.