James jerked awake the way you do when you’ve dreamt of falling. Only, he wasn’t dreaming — it had been far too real to be a dream — and he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that he should never have woken again.
And yet.
He touched his chest, his legs, his face. He was alive. He was alive.
He paused, then stretched his hands out in front of them and flipped them over. He counted each of his fingers. Then counted them again.
Five on each hand. Ten total. Two completely whole, functional, never been blown up by switchgear, hands.
He looked down and made eye contact with his toes. No belly in the way. He patted the space where his gut used to be and found — abs? The fuck?
Never in his life had he worked out enough to have abs. A quick flex of his arms showed him he had bigger biceps, too, than ever before. He still looked like himself, as far as he could tell, but a younger, more muscular version.
Was this heaven?
He looked down again and snorted. His shirt and pants, though perfectly tailored, were made of some sort of homespun cotton fabric. He even had a short sword strapped to his side. It didn’t look to be anything special, but it was certainly more sword than he’d ever handled back home. The outfit would have blended perfectly in the crowd of a ren faire, and James somehow doubted that heaven was an elaborate Medieval Times.
Not to mention… he looked around. He was in a forest. Oak trees stretched higher than any he’d seen back home, and there was a thick layer of leaves outside of the circle that surrounded him.
James looked closer. He was surrounded by three interlocking circles. They were set into the ground, and they were inscribed with symbols he’d never seen before. The symbols glowed silver against the stern gray stone, and within the circle was only grass.
He reached slowly out to touch the stone. The air around him began to hum; the thick, unmistakable hum of a shit-ton of voltage. He jerked his hand back.
Definitely not heaven. Where could he be, then? Had he traveled in time? Or was he on a different planet? Dreaming?
A scream pierced the air. Before he could think about it, James was running. He leaped over the circles like they were nothing, and the hum only briefly touched his ears. Crossing the threshold felt like stepping through a veil, and then it was gone.
The trees were so large that the space between them was accommodatingly vast. James ran quickly. He’d heard that kind of scream before; it was pure terror.
He slowed when he started to make out the heavy breath of a large animal. He stepped lightly; he wanted to know what he was walking into before he charged in.
There, with its back to him, was a bear. The beast was large and fluffy brown. Its fur looked deceptively soft, and its thick claws dug into the bark of a near tree.
Soft sobbing came from above.
It took James a second to locate the source. A small girl, no more than ten years old, was crouched in the branches. How she’d ever gotten up that high, James couldn’t imagine, but somehow she had. She was safe from the bear, for now, but she was treed. Depending on the patience of the bear, she might never get down.
He weighed his options. The girl was defenseless. James had a short sword, but he didn’t really know how to use it.
He gritted his teeth. Hell of a time to learn. But what choice did he have? He couldn’t abandon a little girl to death by bear.
“Hey! Come pick on someone your own size.”
The bear turned. It growled, it’s lips curling over long teeth and black gums. It reared up onto its hind legs, and James flinched. It was easily twice as big as him. Still, he unsheathed his sword and hefted it, trying to get used to the new weight in his hand.
A bell rang. It sounded like the kind of bell you hear at the start of a boxing match, and the sound seemed to come from all around.
Time slowed. The girl froze in the tree. The bear snarled, and James could see it continuing to breathe, but it remained otherwise motionless.
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Welcome to Grimora! You are in COMBAT with a level 5 bear! (next)
James stared at the words, then reached out to touch them. His fingers passed through with barely a ripple, until he reached the word (next). That one felt solid, like rounded glass.
As soon as he touched it, the words disappeared. Three bars appeared at the bottom right of his vision, one red, one green, and one blue. Beside them, in small text, was a number 1, which he assumed was his own level.
These bars represent your HEALTH, STAMINA, and MANA points. Don’t run out! (next)
James tapped (next). It was surreal, but… it worked.
A red bar appeared over the bear. It flashed once but didn’t merit a text explanation.
Then his sword glowed brightly in his hand.
Use this to deal damage!
James waved at the text, but it didn’t budge. There was no next button. There was nothing to do, except… well… fight the bear.
He took a deep breath and adjusted his grip on the sword handle. Okay. He could do this. Fight a bear with a sword, no big deal. The thing wasn’t even moving.
Still, he approached cautiously. Just because the bear hadn’t moved since this… tutorial? …had started didn’t mean it wouldn’t.
The bear snarled but otherwise stayed in place. James hefted the sword, took a wide stance, and plunged it hard into the bear’s neck. There was a lot of resistance, but was able to cut through almost to the other side. The animal let out a pained noise but otherwise didn’t move.
ding! Critical hit!
When James pulled the sword back out, he was surprised to see that it wasn’t covered in blood. There wasn’t even a wound on the bear’s neck. If he didn’t know any better, he would think he hadn’t attacked at all.
The red health bar above the bear told a different story. The red coloring steadily bled away until the bar was 25% red and 75% gray.
Shit. That didn’t kill it?
Enemy turn.
Suddenly, James couldn’t move. He was trapped in a sort of stasis, and he realized why the bear had allowed him to approach: there wasn’t any other choice.
Fortunately, the bear didn’t draw it out like James had. It didn’t circle him or look for the best way to attack. It lunged without thought. It swiped a paw the size of James’s head straight across his chest. Claws dug deep furrows into his skin — and dear god in heaven, that hurt.
His health bar dipped dramatically. It was just a swipe — not even a critical hit like the one James had landed — but there was a big difference, he supposed, between level 1 and level 5.
Direct hit!
End ENEMY turn!
The bear settled back into its two-legged stance. Its nostrils flared and swayed comfortably, but otherwise didn’t move.
The pain in James’s chest faded. He looked down to see that his shirt was un-torn, and there was no blood from an attack that should have splayed his chest wide open.
Before he could think too long on that, a new bar appeared, this one looking more like a series of boxes towards the bottom of his vision. In one box, he saw a glass bottle filled with red liquid and stoppered with a cork. In the top right corner of the box, there was a small number 3.
Use a HP Potion to restore Health!
It didn’t seem like something he should be able to touch. The bottle was two-dimensional and cartoonish. Nevertheless, James reached out, grabbed the bottle, and pulled it into reality. As he did, the potion became three-dimensional and realistic, and the number in the box ticked down to 2.
He closed his eyes. “Good lord, I’m in a video game.”
At least that was better than being dead? Either way, he didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter. Besides, that little girl was still stuck in the tree. He’d have to save his existential crisis for later. Was he dead, was this even real or was he in a coma somewhere, etc etc… This wasn’t the time.
James uncorked the bottle and tossed it back. It tasted sweet, like ice cream that had been allowed to melt. As soon as he swallowed, his health bar ticked back up — but not all the way.
HP +25
He focused on the red bar, and a fraction appeared: 77/100. So, the health potions wouldn’t restore all his health. That was good to know.
Use this to deal damage!
Another helpful message appeared, along with a large diamond above his health bar. Each point showed a cartoonish elemental symbol: earth, air, water, and fire. At the center of the diamond was a blue circle, and when James focused on it he saw the word Mana Bolt.
He reached out to touch it, but his hand passed right through.
Okay… Magic worked differently. Maybe a verbal command? He probably only had one chance, like he had with the sword, and he didn’t want to waste it out of ignorance.
Feeling a little foolish, he pointed at the bear and said, “Mana Bolt.”
A pure white laser shot from his finger tip and into the bear’s chest. The animal’s health bar depleted completely, and the bear toppled over, lifeless.
James stared at his finger. What the hell?
Defeated lvl 5 Bear!
EXP +500
Level up!
Level up!
View STATUS to allocate stats and skill points!
Use a MP Potion to restore Mana!
James blinked at the onslaught of notifications. A new image appeared in his inventory, of a bottle filled with blue liquid and a 3 at the top right corner. Three MP potions, presumably.
He resisted the urge to top off his mana pool, which was dangerously low. If this was some kind of game, he knew enough that tutorial items were often really valuable and difficult to replenish. Just in case that was true, and in case there was a cheaper way to restore mana, he left it alone for now.
The next thing was… the Status sheet?
Before he could figure that out, the little girl came scrambling down the tree and barreled into him. For a brief, terrifying second he thought he might be thrown right back into combat, but then he realized that she was just hugging him.
“Thank you! Oh, thank you! You’re a hero!”
HERO class is now available. Accept?
