Ch.3: The Fall

Reality hit him like a slap in the face, one minute he was nothing in a void soup next he existed in the material world. As he opens his eyes a blast of color hit him, accompanied with a cacophony of sounds and smells. The feeling of the dirt between his toes, and the sun on his back. How he'd missed them. "I wonder where I am?" He spoke out loud to himself, taking a moment to enjoy the sounds of his own voice again. The landscape around him was barren and lifeless. Rocky hills and mountains met with dead looking flatlands all doted with dry desert foliage. After getting his bearings a bit and admiring the shabby sackcloth pants and shirt he wore, he noted the large wooden shield and tiny silver ring that lay at his feet. "I guess this is my starting equipment, but how do I check it's stats?" No sooner had those words left his mouth, the word {MEDITATE} appeared in the bottom left corner of his vision. "Hmm, seems that's where I get updates from and the only way to get to my menu is to meditate? I've never done that before but alright I guess". After briefly looking around to make sure the coast was clear. He sat down chuckling to himself "this is the starting area, there are never enemies in the starting area pfffff hahaha". With that he crossed his legs with the shield in his lap and the ring in his pocket and closed his eyes. After several moments of focusing on the blackness like he had before, 3 small circles began to appear similar to ones he'd seen previously. **Bingo** he thought. The one on the right was brown with the outline of a bag on it. He focused on it and the word INVENTORY appeared, the middle one was blue with a red book in the center that read SPELLS AND ABILITIES and the one to the left was tan colors with a small check list in the center that read STATS. He clicked the stats one first, as was his custom when playing a new RPG, figure out what your stats mean.

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NAME: Lorean Shell

LEVEL: 1

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RACE: Dwarf

~ PRIMARY CLASS: Defender LVL.1

~ SUBCLASSES: none

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- ATTRIBUTES -

• Strength ~ 9

• Endurance ~ 10

• Vitality ~ 14

• Dexterity ~ 6

• Charisma ~ 7

• Intellect ~ 7

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**Wait that's not my name, my name is...** his heart sank in his chest as those words rung in his head like a gong. "So those corrupted memories of the old world will be reworked.."

though his eyes where closed he could feel the tears drip down his cheeks, "I can't remember my own name" he said through panicked breaths. "I can't remember ANYTHING, what was my old life like?!" His cries echos across the landscape. Though the reality was sinking in, that his past life was now non existent. This didn't bother him as much as he thought it should. Every time he tried to recall his old life, all he could remember was sadness and rage, so much rage. With finality he spoke allowed "Guess my name is Lorean Shell from now on". Figuring it's best not to think about it to much, he continued to scroll through his stats. **Basic RPG stuff here, based on my build it looks like I'll be min - maxing Vitality and Endurance**. He skipped the SPELLS AND ABILITIES section and went straight to the INVENTORY section. When Lorean Clicked open the page he was greeted with a small image of himself, wearing the sackcloth shirt and pants he had started out with and the shield he had picked up off the ground. **Well it really seems I am shorter, and my hair got redder as well**. Ounce he had finished admiring his bored shouldered, rust-red haired, 5 foot nothing self, he began focusing on the shield strapped to his large left forearm and a small page opened up.

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MEDIUM WOODEN SHIELD

"A trusty wooden shield goes a long way".

~ COMMON ~

• Weight - medium

• Armor Rating - 15

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After doing the same with the rest of his gear and seeing that the cloths he wore offered no protection, he happened soon the storage section and saw the only option was POCKETS, and inside was the little right he had picked up earlier. Lorean was about to click on it when he felt a blazing sensation in his chest, the sharp searing sensation sent lighting bolts down his spine. Then it happened again in his stomach, panic began to take hold of him as he fumbled to get out of the menu and that's when he felt the hands clasp around his throat and begin to squeeze. Finally he was able to open his eyes again, Lorean was greeted by a 2 disgusting browny green creatures that grinned a toothy jagged smile back at him. **Shit, Shit, Shit, fucking goblins?!** panicked thoughts raced through his head, he raised his right arm just in time to block the goblins 3rd dagger strike. Unfortunately the dagger went straight through his arm that he blocked with. He would have screamed in pain but the second goblin had his shield arm pinned was choking the life out him. His consciousness began to fade as his vision grew dark, "NOT LIKE THIS" he bellowed in pain as he death rolled to the right knocking the goblin off his side. He scrambled to his feet, tears streaming down his cheek, and right arm clutching his gut as think warm blood seeped through his fingers and poured out of the deep gash in his chest. "N-n-not like thisss" he's stutterd struggling to hold his shield up, as he swayed back and forth slowly backing up so as not to let the goblins surround him again. That's when the third one flew at him from his blind spot with another dagger. He narrowly managed to lift the shield in time, the goblin landed on the shield like some deranged monkey, it's dagger missing his face but not his ear. The blade tore through the flesh of his ear like a wet paper bag. Lorean howled in pain as the impact of the goblins blitz attack sent Lorean staggering backwards, and that's when he found the edge of the cliff. The loose rocks at the edge gave way under his feet and he plummeted. Lorean felt the weightlessness of falling followed briefly by the crunch of the impact with the ground and then nothing.

When he awoke he was ounce again surrounded by the only blackness of the void soup from before and like before he could feel nothing this time as well. Except he wasn't alone right off the bat this time, to accompany him where the huge blood red letters YOU HAVE DIED.