As I get close I see Renise Sitting with knees to her chest and her head down, so I decide to make my presence known. “Hey Renise, I got something for you!”I yell and she looks up in surprise.(By the gods is she pale)

“Oh, you're back, did you find everythi-….Jon, how did you get that armor?”

I give her a smug look and shrug nonchalantly. “What, this old thing? Yeah, I just found it on some old man and beat the spirit of an ancient dragon king in single combat in order to wear it without meeting the level requirements… No big deal really”

She gives me a skeptical look, scoffs, and rolls her eyes in clear disbelief. “Okay, Jon, whatever you say. Now how about those potions?”(I don’t get it, does she really think you would just let herself be worn by someone like me?){She better not.} I take the bag and withdraw the potion from before. “Will this work?” I hand her the jar. After a quick inspection she nods, “Yes this should be fine.”

After taking a swig she immediately begins to look better, as color returns to her face.

“Okay, let's give it a few minutes to really set in, then I can help you loot some more bodies.” [Renise]

“Okay, in that case, let's talk about our plan of action for now.”[me]

“Alright, what do you want to know?” [Renise]

“You said earlier that you need my help to get back to your kingdom right? So tell me where you're from, the direction, and maybe tell me a bit about why you decided that teaming up with a scavenger like me sounded like a good idea in the first place.”[me]

She scoffs at that last part gives me all the details about how she hails from a kingdom to the south called Orbine.(According to Renise the capital would be a three-day trek from here.) A beautiful and large kingdom that is under the rule of Queen Margaret. (Apparently her husband had died several years ago but she remained in power due to her eldest son being too young to take the throne for himself.) We also happened to be in the country of Virmise, a large country ran by the Cromine kingdom that has been under siege by the human king and his forces.

Unfortunately, after finishing her explanation she tries to ask about my history. “So Jon, tell me a bit more about yourself.”[Renise]

“What do you want to know?”[me]

“Tell me how a mercenary has medical knowledge.”[Renise] (She Knows!!)

“Well...{tell her that such a dangerous profession demands some medical skill.} Don't you think that such a profession requires at least some medical knowledge?”(Thanks, Krowola){Well I did promise to keep you safe}

Renise narrows her eyes suspiciously “Yes well, be that as it may, it doesn’t explain how you're totally unharmed from the explosion earlier.”(Geez, you’ed think she would be more grateful for me helping her.) “Oh, that? I just have crazy high stats due to my insane awesomeness” Now she’s straight up glaring at me. “Show. Me. Them. Now”(I can show others my states?){Yes, and there are two ways to do this. The first is to simply register at an adventurer's guild. The second is to pull up your stat screen and click your name to bring up the option to show it publicly, but this fact isn’t known to many people other than the upper class}” Ok I’d love to but I don’t know where the nearest adventurer's guild is.”

Suddenly her face shifts into a look of embarrassed surprise “Oh, sorry I was so caught up in the moment that I forgot that most commoners don’t know about sharing their stat screens.(Did this bitch just call me a commoner?) {Well you are.}(So what? It’s still rude as hell.)Renise cuts our argument short by quickly continuing. “Any way just pull up your state screen, select your name and then select the make public option so that I can see it using analysis.”

I do as she says, and I can’t help but grin as I see for the first time my new level eight stats.

----------

Name:Jon Sizlash

Age:20

level:8

Health:360/360 regen .01/sec

Class:None

Mana:360/360 regen .1/sec

Stamina:376/376 regen .1/sec

Title(s):The Chosen, dragon tamer

Stats:

Strength: 47

intelligence: 45

Agility: 45

Wisdom:45

Dexterity: 45

Endurance:47

vitality:47

Stat points:39

Skills:

Super Hero Landing:Level 3 0%

magic reinforcement:Level 2 0%

magic missile:Level 1 0%

sprint lariat:Level 2 0%

soul manipulation:Level 1 30%

Acid immunity:Max

Acidic breath:level 1 0/10 ON

Equip:Level 2 0%

Identify:Level 1 0%

Equipment:

Black Dragon Armor set

Fang of the Black Dragon Sword

Her jaw drops and her eyes become impossibly wide. Her face outlined by her halo of blond hair is one of pure shock. She shakily stands up, points at me and starts to stutter,“But...How… And you!...Just...WHAT ARE YOU?!?!” (I think I may have broken her)

I put my hand on her shoulders in an attempt to calm her down. “Renise, listen I know it’s a lot to take in right now but I suppose the cats out of the bag now so calm down and I will try to explain.”

Renise gives a worried look, takes a deep breath, and does a 180 with her personality as she becomes serious again. “Fine but you better not leave anything out” she sits back down and motions for me to begin.

Throughout my story she is a typhoon of emotion, she cries when I tell her of my death and gives me a hug. (Somehow despite still being covered in dirt from my fall, she still smells like peaches) She shows incredible interest when I recite my meeting with the god of entertainment and is stoic when I mention my landing. But she returns to an excited demeanor when I mention my fight with Krowola.

“So you were telling the truth when you said you beat up the guardian of that armor?” She exclaims while pointing at my armor.

I’m about to reply when an old bearded man in a purple cloak climbs out of a particularly high mountain of corpses and coughs loudly to grab our attention.(How did I not notice that?) Renise and I both jump to our feet on guard, ready for whatever this creep has to offer.

“Well young man, that certainly was an impressive story but I’m afraid that if it’s true I can’t let you live.” [Beard Guy]

The old man raises his hands and suddenly I feel a tugging at my soul as the shadows of all the corpses around us are dragged into a rather large sphere between his outstretched hands. “I really am sorry young man but in the name of ultimate equality, I cannot let you live” Suddenly the ball of shadow explodes into a million little arrows. I turn to Renise and tackle her to the ground as arrows whiz by, but I still feel several arrows bounce off my armor.

After the brief hail of arrows I look down at a very embarrassed and angry Renise. “Remove your hand before I do.”I look down to find my right hand cupping her breast. Out of instinct, I squeeze gently before realizing that I like my hand and jump back to my feet in surprise. (B cup? no… more like C cup)

I jump to my feet but before I can apologize the magic man starts to monologue. “Alright boy, now it’s time to meet your doom at the hands of my undead army."

With that, all the bodies that were struck with the arrows start to shudder as the arrows sink into the body's and surround them with an ominous aura. “Now my pets, kill him but leave the girl, we can question her at our leisure later, at that Renise takes a nervous step back.

I withdraw my blade and grip the hilt with both hands. (Hey Krowola, what's going on?) {Well it looks like the man in front of us is a necromancer and he has resurrected many of the men you have killed} (Care to explain how I beat him then?) {There are two ways to do that; either kill/disable every corpse he sends your way until he tires to the point that he can no longer produce any more soldiers, or you could use you soul manipulation to drag him inside the astral plane where I can kill him. Unfortunately, you have neither the time or the skill for the later. So I do not like your odds, because even with your stats and my armor you are but a man facing an unending undead army that cannot tire.}

I shift into a wild grin. And start running towards the nearest zombies. “Hah, You idiot, do you even know what I am?! I’m a goddamn doctor, I’ve spent most of my life studying the human body and how many ways it can be destroyed, so do you really think a couple dozen deadites beat me?!?!”

I swing my blade in a wide unpracticed ark and decapitate two at once.(It may be a tad bigger than a scalpel but it’s so light and well balanced I think I can do this) {indeed he has quite the tasty soul} I kick one of the zombies in the chest and it rockets into the rest behind itself toppling them like dominoes.(so what's that supposed to mean?){It means that unlike most necromancers who simply infuse magic into the bones of the deceased. This man bonds a sliver of his own soul which not only helps control the speed of decomposition but also makes them stronger, faster, and easier to control. However my soul runs through both this armor and the blade, and that gives me just enough power to not only sever the fragile connection between soul and zombie but also to absorb that piece of his soul and eat it.} I stab another three walkers through their abdomens and sever their vertebrae. (So does that mean that I can just stab them instead of constantly destroying the brain?) {Yup}(Cool) I start slashing randomly and get an idea from an old looney toons character.

I take my blade and hold it out in front of me as the undead stumble forward hungrily with milky eyes and grey peeling skin. "RAAAAAGH!!!! (magical reinforcement!) I take my sword and start spinning myself like a helicopter blade (WEEEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEEE!!!!!!) heads start rolling as I get faster and faster to the point where dust blood and guts begin to be swept into my whirlwind of death.

The wind whips up small stones around me as my vision blurs and I have to close my eyes lest I get dizzy. Soon I hear screaming from the senior citizen "Wha-what the hell is this?"

My feet start to lose grip on the ground I feel the air slash my face with small amounts of dirt and I hear my sword whistle through the wind.

(hey Krowola, can you tell me whats going on?) {well you are currently reaching several meters into the air while devastating all the monsters near you...also your girlfriend is freaking out and trying to run away} (She's not my girlfriend and her reaction is expected, but what about the old geezer?) {Well right now he is suffering the usual physical effects of having your soul being torn apart bit by bit in a swirling tornado of hate and pain.} (So it's safe to say i'm winning?) {yes sir but I have one question} (And what would that be?)

{How do we stop spinning?}.... shit

(um...Turn off magical reinforcement... shit, still spinning........Ummm what if I sheath my sword.. okay, aaaaaaand there!) slowly I begin my descent. until I realize my spinning kept me in the so-called "eye of the storm" and now I've been thrown headfirst towards the not so friendly neighborhood necromancer (Okay I can look super cool if I can land kick on- wait is he having a stroke or a seizure?) With that thought in mind I slam into the old farts stomach with my head.

“OOF!!”[The man that reminds me of a raisin]

We are both thrown to the ground and I soon pin him down on his back. My hands pin his arms down and my legs straddle his chest. “So you old curmudgeon, what is the human kings' goal?”

“To bring equality to all races by making them all king. His goal is to rid the taboos of so-called black magic and the hunting of all sentient life be they a goblin or an orc.” He responds with a visible look of pride.

“Okay that sounds great and all but how will he enforce these laws? How does he plan to upheave centuries of status quo? Do you seriously expect centuries of prejudice to disappear just like that? Especially after provoking war for his so-called peace? ” The bag of wrinkles shrugs his shoulders.

“Why should I care? I just want to practice my craft in peace without being thrown out of every town that discovers my secret. So what if I need the occasional sacrifice for one of my experiments? That's what criminals are for.”

“What?” I can’t comprehend what I was hearing, does this guy really think any crime deserves that kind of punishment? Now don’t get me wrong I can vaguely see the reasoning behind the equality for all sentients, but it seems childish to assume that the creatures that actually consume humans and similar species for nutrients would be able to adapt to a peaceful life of cohabitation.

(Hey Krowola what do you think?) {I think it’s a good cause but trying to preach of peace while providing war is simply idiotic.} (good answer)

“I’m sorry sir but I simply can’t lose my chance to see my family again, and if that means I have to end this war, so be it” The aged necromancer sighs dejectedly and closes his eyes. “Well that’s too bad son, I really thought you could have been a potential sympathizer, but nonetheless I understand your position.” He opens his eyes sadly and starts to cry as he coughs up a small amount of blood and spits it into my eye.(Fuck!) I let go of his wrists and wipe my eyes. “So let me give you a small parting gift, Donum mortuorum!!!”

I feel his hand press against the right side of my face as a numbing sensation spreads from his hand. Before I can react it my makes my eye goes completely dark and loses all feeling…. But my eye is still open.

It is at this moment his hand falls to the ground and he releases his death rattle.

His body has already rotted to the point where I could mistake him for a corpse several decades old

I stand staring sadly at a poor oppressed old man who had genuinely earned my sympathy to a certain extent.

I stare with my one good eye until hearing the sound of steps behind me.

“Hey Jon, are you okay, is it over?”

I turn around crying as Renise covers her mouth with her hands.

She sharply sucks air in an audible gasp.

Her expression is one of pure unadulterated terror.

“Hey Renise, tell me honestly, how bad is it?”

Her shoulder sink as she releases a shaky breath that destroys my heart

 “Oh Jon.”