[Name]Sebastian (Ǎ̸ͅḷ̷̆ê̴͕̳x̷͎̪̎ ̵̭͗͐S̸̞̒̉m̴̝̙̈͠i̶̟͖͐t̷͔̣͗̌h̷̝͘͝)
Out of everything, the first thing I couldn't avert my eyes from was the name, along with the strings of distorted characters after it.
I tried to focus, and while the characters themselves did not become any clearer, I managed to make them out.
Alex Smith. That was my name. But.. why was it like this? And who was Sebastian?
A sense of dread started creeping in, taking seed in the already fertile soil, but I forced myself to read farther down.
---
[Attributes]:
Strength: 13
Agility: 12
Endurance: 12
Intelligence: 13
Awareness: 19
Charisma: 9
---
This appeared to be a panel of attributes, like you'd see in a video game.
I knew what each word meant, although I had no way of knowing what the practical implications would be.
I couldn't help but notice one of the attributes, Awareness, was significantly higher than the rest.
Also, for some unexplained reason, I knew that "normal" attributes would be 10, although I didn't even have a point of reference for what "normal" was.
Before thinking any more of it, my focus shifted farther down. As it did, I noticed that rather than my eyes moving down, it was actually the words moving up, as if shifting themselves at my will.
Regardless, what appeared next was:
---
[Skills]:
[Charge Thrust] - Lv2 (73/100)
[Arc Slash] - Lv1 (14/100)
---
I had no idea what those skills meant. What would [Charge Thrust] do?
The moment I thought about it, I suddenly realized I knew exactly how it would go.
Like memory ingrained deep in the muscles by hours upon hours of repetition, I could imagine exactly how my legs would slightly bend, my calves and arms would tense up, bringing my weapon closer to my right shoulder while pointing forward, and my body would shoot forward, as would my sword.
I also knew the strength of this thrust would be significantly higher than simply running forward and thrusting my sword.
'Wait, why am I already thinking of it as my sword? Never mind, forget about this for now.'
As the momentary sensation faded, I felt my heart skip a beat – the translucent words had disappeared, as if they never existed in the first place, and I was staring into the darkness again.
This was the only clue as to what's going on, and after a momentary lapse of concentration, it was gone!
I tried desperately to recall the previous feeling, and… to my relief, the text re-appeared the moment my thoughts focused on the feeling once more.
---
[Abilities]:
[Stamina Burst] - Lv2
---
This time, perhaps regaining some measure of calmness, I simply probed my mind for what the ability would do.
[Stamina Burst] would, unsurprisingly, provide a temporary boost of energy – which would be paid back shortly after, with interest.
Next were...
---
[Traits]:
---
There were three traits. As each one came into my focus, I instinctively reached for its details. Surprisingly, those details were slightly more structured than the previous ones.
---
[Sword Proficiency (Minor)]:
Agility +1.
Strength +1.
Damage with swords increased by 5%.
---
This one was pretty straight forward, even if the number itself was vague. Swords swing harder, swords stab faster. Pretty simple.
The next one, however...
--
[The Self]:
Awareness +1.
You can perceive your own soul.
--
The description was extremely vague, however, as I focused on it, the invisible strings of light that comprised everything in my vision shimmered slightly.
Alright, so that was the reason I could see all of this.
As I was thinking, the next trait already caught my eye, and as it did, the temporary sense of calmness was disrupted yet again.
--
[He Who Gazed Into The Abyss]:
Awareness +8.
Any abilities and effects targeting the soul below a certain threshold are nullified.
Double resistance against any abilities and effects targeting the soul.
Any abilities and effects targeting the soul, which were nullified or resisted, shall activate [Glimmers Of The Abyss] on their source.
--
The final trait was abnormally complex. The attribute bonus seemed to be massive, too.
But the name... Why did it have this name?
Despite what appeared to be a massive boon, looking at this trait filled me with an overwhelming sense of dread.
'No, most of what I've seen so far had something to do with swords and fighting. It probably has nothing to do with me. Actually, all of this has nothing to do with me. The way this text appears and moves when I want it to, this is really just a very lucid dream. I'm sure I'll wake up soon.'
Gathering my willpower, doing my best to shake off the ominous feeling, I forced myself to avert my gaze – or rather, move onto the next section, which I somehow knew would be the final one.
---
[Conditions (Soul)]:
---
As I looked at the title, my feeling of unease grew. Even more so – because this section was not empty.
̷̟͓͙́̃̌͌̈́̀F̵͓̈́̇̈́͐͋̈́͘p̴̨̨̪̰͚̺̋͌̄̔͜͝ȩ̷̢̭̯̥̲̪͛̿̔̀͒͝T̴̨͕̄͊͑̂̕͝ ̵̛̙̖͓̀̃̅̈͗͠s̴̼̳͕͍͍̑͛̅͌̑̈́͝ - u̴͉͎̱͑͛̄́̄͝T̷̡̛̬̪͙͉̫̋͒͐͆͝ ̵̙̞̫͉͎̱͂̄̃k̵̓̄̓̏͆͜ę̴̣̦͋U̶͕͂̆̌ḯ̸̧̧̛͖̩̯̞̅͊̅̕͠ ̴̫̭̥̗̿̇͊͊͌͊͋ͅK̴͖̳̳̰̾̉̂̽͐̔͘ś̴̹̙͉̼̌̾̐͊d̵̨̗̦͗̾̐̑̈́j̶̺̈́̐͐͠s̵̼͓͓̜̕e̶̤̥̩͍̗̓̽̀̚ͅ,̶̢̬̟̻͍̻̘̈́͋ ̷̟͓͙́̃̌͌̈́̀F̵͓̈́̇̈́͐͋̈́͘p̴̨̨̪̰͚̺̋͌̄̔͜͝ȩ̷̢̭̯̥̲̪͛̿̔̀͒͝T̴̨͕̄͊͑̂̕͝ ̵̛̙̖͓̀̃̅̈͗͠s̴̼̳͕͍͍̑͛̅͌̑̈́͝H̵̢̥̮̗͇̘̑͊̊͠͠a̸̼͔̞̥̤̔l̸̘͕̞̩̼̬͊͋Ę̷̝̖̠͕̽͒̕ ̵̼̂̒͗̿̎͠
The first line was completely illegible. No matter how hard I tried, it was impossible to make out. No, rather, it almost felt as if the letters shifted and phased, following some incomprehensible rhythm.
'Yeah, this is just another of those lucid dream quirks. Let's not dwell on it.'
Finally, at the very end, was another line, solemn and simple.
[Soul Contamination] - Your soul shall be corroded in 1047 days.
***
"Ha, Ha, Ha -"
My whole body was now drenched in sweat. My rapid breaths seemed to match the ever so quick thumps in my chest.
'Yeah, I fucking hate lucid dreams. I think this is enough. I probably fell asleep on my sofa reading again. I'll just wake up soon.'
As the floating text already disappeared, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, letting the blackness envelop my vision once more.
I could still feel the cold from the stone floor, slowly seeping in.
'Probably turned in my sleep and fell to the floor. God, why did I have to fall asleep on that sofa? When I wake up, I'm gonna be sore as hell.'
Second after second passed.
I could still feel my heart beating heavily, only marginally slower than before, but at least my breath seems to have stabilized.
It was only a matter of time until this dream would end. It was!
'Now that I think about it, this really looked like one of those boring ass RPG stat screens. A terrible one, with vague descriptions, too. Strange, why would I see it in a dream? Haven't played one of those for a while. Maybe this is a sign – I really should stop wasting my time on this stuff. Yeah, once I wake up, I'm gonna finally clean up the place. And get back to sending resumes, seriously this time.'
As my thoughts wondered, a few more dozen seconds passed. But the dank, slightly mossy smell of the cave did not recede. My fingers, which were still gripping the sword hilt (probably the leg of my living room table, which I grabbed while turning in my sleep), began to ache.
I slowly opened my eyes. The stone wall, barely visible in the darkness, greeted my sight once again.
'Alright, this is really enough. Time to wake up.'
I raised my left hand and pitched my cheek. The pain was sharp and distinct.
'This is where I wake up.'
My fingers, rigid and tense, pressed even harder.
I felt a bit of warm liquid tickle down, and the faint scent of iron hit my nostrils.
The tightness in my chest reached a new level, as if my heart was being squeezed by a gorilla.
My head felt light, and a sense of nausea threatened to overwhelm my stomach.
"Wake up. Why can't I wake up?"
As I mumbled those words, I suddenly heard a faint sound in the distance.
It was the dry rattle of pebbles, grinding against feet.
Without realizing it, my grip around the sword hilt tightened again.
The absolute dread I felt hadn't completely disappeared, but now, with adrenaline added into the mix, I felt my head clear up to some extent, even as every muscle in my body was still stiff as rock.
Slowly, using the sword as support, I stood up again, turning my head towards the direction of the sound.
It seemed the cave I was sitting in was a dead end, a dozen meters long and a few meters wide, with a single exit connecting to a different cave.
The sound, as well as the faint light illuminating my surroundings, came from that exit.
As I turned my head -
slamp
I distinctly heard the sound of skin meeting the damp cave stone, in what could only be a step. Then another slow step.
The steps slowly grew closer, as my heart felt it could leap out of my chest at any moment.
I looked around – no other opening came into sight. An opportunity to avoid an encounter - with whatever it was that was coming - wasn't in the cards.
I looked down at the sword I've been using as support. Adjusting my hold on the grip with both hands, I raised it.
To my surprise, not only did the longsword feel light, but my body shifted into some kind of stance, as if guided by endless hours of training, ingrained into its muscles.
It was then that the source of the sound finally made its way to the opening.