Ch. 2 Xora

Kaz was still getting used to his new form. His chest was covered in some kind of black liquid. He wiped most of it off and noticed a sizeable long scar across his chest. "What happened to me?" He started to walk away from his starting spot when he thought back to his last moments. "I was fighting Derik, and then I passed out, and now I'm here. Did I die?"

"Correct."

Startled by the voice that came out of nowhere, Kaz looked around but saw no one. "Who are you?" He said out loud, his voice carrying a small squeaky tone to it.

"I am Xora; your tutorial system." The voice continued with a robotic voice. "I will assist you with getting used to your new life. You have been given a second chance to live, so please don't squander it."

"What am I supposed to do?" Kaz asked as he continued to look around.

"Call forth your menu."

"My what?" Kaz was even more confused now. What did it mean by menu, like in a game?"

"A menu is a simple page that displays current stats and information about you."

"How do I call it?"

"How do you call anything? By the name, of course."

Looking confused, he immediately called out the menu; a screen popped up, displaying a bunch of random information. It looked eerily similar to a video game character sheet.

NAME- Kaz Stromberg

RACE- Kobold

STRENGTH- 2

DEXTERITY- 6

CONSTITUTION- 2

BODY- 1

INTELLIGENCE- 5

EGO- 5

PRESENCE- 6

BEAUTY- 0

RECOVERY- 1

SIZE- 2

POINTS- 0

SKILLS

- Language- Draconic Lv 1

FEATS

- Humanoid Intelligence- Surprisingly smart for a kobold+3 Intelligence

- Kobold Heritage- Ugly, weak, small, stupid, and evil, but fast. -3 Strength, +1 Dexterity, -3 Constitution, Dark vision, 4 Body, -3 Intelligence, +1 Presence, -5 Beauty, -3 Size.

- Weapon Familiarity simple weapons- Can use basic weapons with some measure of skill

- Dark Vision- As a member of the Underdark you can see in the dark

REVIEW- A weak, ugly, and pathetic excuse for a sentient creature.

Kaz was confused about why the review was so rude to him. He might be a kobold, which from what he remembered from video games were usually first level encounters. Thinking about it now, he wondered what kind of world this was that he found himself. Was he going to have to defend himself from attacks? Were kobolds welcomed in this world, or were they seen as monsters?

"How do I turn it off?"

"Swipe your hand down while thinking about it to remove it and swipe up while thinking about it to open it. Or use the verbal commands." Xora replied

He swiped his hand down, making the menu disappeared. He continued down the tunnel following the faint light in the distance and stopped in horror. Bodies of kobolds littered the tunnel and open spaces. Small ones, presumably children, were not saved from this slaughter. What happened here? Whatever it was, it looked like it just happened. If whatever did this is still around, he would need to either hide or fight.

Looking down at the kobold's wounds, he noticed that some had similar markings that he has on his chest. It seems like they were slashed to death. Some had burn marks all over their body, and a few had their heads bashed in. If he had to guess it was a band of adventurers, all the signs pointed to a party of players like in his MMORPGs, but this time it was real. These kobolds aren't respawning anytime soon, and he concluded that if he died, it would be the same.

Nimbly dodging the bodies on the ground, Kaz continued to follow the light. As he got closer, he saw a few kobolds with weapons and armor dead on the ground. "If I am going to encounter a party, I might as well equip myself properly." Looking through the gear, he grabbed a small sword and crossbow. He decided to leave the armor since it looked damaged and bloodied. Giving the sword a few swings, he found that he had some proficiency with it. It slid smoothly in his grip. He checked the crossbow and found that he could easily manipulate the contraption, but it did take some effort to pull the string back to load it. He would keep that in mind for when he needs to use it.

Looking back to find the light, he noticed it disappeared. Running down the hall, he came to a fork in the tunnel. On the left, he saw the light again slowly drifting away to the right. He saw more bodies. Why was he so fascinated with this light? For some reason, he had an understanding of the tunnels, and he knew that the direction the fire was going was towards the exit. "Those must be the adventurers that killed everyone. I should probably not engage with them right now. He slowed his movement and asked the voice a question.

"Am I in a game right now?"

"Information unknown."

"Will I die if killed, or will I respawn?"

"Information unknown."

"For a tutorial system, you sure aren't helpful."

Xora did not respond. Kaz had one more question.

"If I face those adventurers now, do I stand a chance?"

Suddenly a screen popped up in front of him with the word mission on it.

"What's this?"

"Missions are acquired to help build up your understanding of the world and to strengthen you. Missions reward you with many things, such as character points and items. Failing missions results in a decrease in stats and abilities."

Kaz pulled up his menu again to check it out and was a little worried about his low body stat. "What happens when my stats reach zero?"

"If any score reaches zero, you will lose functions associated with that stat."

That was very unnerving to hear. With only a 1 in body, Kaz had to make sure that he stayed up, or he could potentially lose his life. Looking at the mission screen, he clicked the open button.

Mission- Avenge your fallen allies

Kill Ashley the Cleric x 1

Kill Windson the Mage x 1

Kill Doran the Fighter x 1

Reward- (5 character points)

Defeat- (- 1 Body)

Just like that, his first mission was a life or death one. What was the system thinking? If he fights those three who slaughtered the entire cave of kobolds, he would surely die. But if he declined the mission, his body would hit zero, and he would become pretty much comatose.