Dullahans and Tablets Read online

  “That is your life bar, HP if you will, or at least the remainder of it,” she explained. “And the reason it’s filling up is because you’re getting healed.”

  “Healed… how?” he squinted.

  “You have a Heal Skill called Healing Seal.” she explained.

  “Right… and what does that do exactly?”

  “It heals a little bit over time if the Seal is intact. When activated it heals for a greater amount in one go, but at the cost of the passive healing.”

  “Okay… and how do I activate it exactly?”

  “Open your hand and imagine the Seal there in your palm and imagine that you crush it as you close your hand,” Levi explained. “Try it.”

  “Okay.” Hyde fastened the Status Tablet to his pants and held up his open hand. He exhaled slowly and then inhaled, imagining the Seal there, then as his fingers curled back to close, the Seal actually appeared and then crumbled underneath his fingers.

  The feeling of becoming lighter and lighter quickly amplified. The aching in his muscles and wounds vanished as the injuries healed. What followed was a feeling he hadn’t experienced before. It somehow felt like the nose-sprays that eased stuffed nostrils. His breaths were unhindered and free. He couldn’t quite lay a finger on it, but after a few seconds, the feeling disappeared.

  “Wow,” he whispered.

  “Yeah, the first time is always something else.” Levi smiled. “Also, look at your HP bar now.”

  He did and noticed that it was filled. Completely topped off. “It’s full now—hey—what happens if its emptied?”

  “You die.”

  Her solemn words sank in.

  “Oh okay,” he said, feeling the gravity of what she said. “Why did it go down in the first place?”

  “Because you got hit by an arrow.”

  “Right!” He reached for his back where he’d been hit but there was nothing. Not even a tender wound. No blood, no pain, nothing. It was like he hadn’t even been hit. There was absolutely nothing to show for it.

  “What the hell, there’s no arrow—and it doesn’t hurt either,” he said, shocked.

  “You healed it.” Levi said.

  “I what?”

  “You activated the Healing Seal and as a result you healed yourself.”

  “How does that work—how is that even possible?”

  “As I said, we’re in the hereafter,” Levi began. “It works here.”

  “But we can die?”

  “Think of it more like a second chance, rather than actual heaven,” she explained. “Here, no one falls sick and injuries such as those can be healed just like you did—with some exceptions of course.”

  “A second chance?” he murmured. “Does that mean I’m—” he paused for a moment trying to remember everything he possibly could, before his encounter with the giant spiders. Despite his efforts, he realised there was nothing, not a single memory remained intact. Everything was blurred and distorted. All of it… gone.

  “C’mon, I’ll show you around,” Levi said, snapping him back to reality.

  However, he remained still as he watched her take the first few steps across the open field.

  Does that mean I—I died? He thought.

  “Are you coming?” She looked over her shoulder. Her words grounded him once again.

  “Oh… yeah,” he said, pushing out the sinister thought from his head.

  They walked across the field, enjoying the sweeping breeze swaying the leaves, their hair and their clothes alike. A soft tune played in their ears as they made their way across the blades of grass.

  “What’s that sound?” Hyde asked, looking around trying to find a source, but there was none.

  “Adventurer’s Homecoming,” she replied.

  “What?”

  “That’s the name of the song.”

  “And where is it coming from?”

  “From inside your ears,” she explained. “Imagine invisible headphones,” she made a gesture, covering her ears.

  “Okay—why am I hearing this?”

  “It’s part of the soundtrack system.”

  “Soundtrack system?”

  “Think of it like a sort of playlist to your life.”

  “A playlist to my—” he began. “Come to think of it, I heard something similar when we were in that cave.”

  “It plays when something of interest takes place, such as a discovery or a powerful emotion,” she explained.

  “So what you’re telling me is that, when we were running away from those spiders, a tune was played to reflect the situation and my emotions?”

  “That is exactly right.”

  “Can you hear it too?”

  “Yep.”

  “Do we hear the same thing?”

  “Not necessarily,” she explained. “Even if we’re both in the same situation, our perspectives will differ and thus our emotions too, resulting in a different reflection.”

  “Okay, okay, I think I’m starting to get this—”

  “We’re here,” she began. “This is Genesis,” she said presenting the small city.

  The layout and buildings resembled a small, ideal, metropolis. The architecture followed a unique design, as though they were all composed with the same vision in mind, to form an iconic city. A huge wall stood enclosing the urban structures. Among them, Hyde saw people walking here and there. Some talking, some not, some willed, some weren’t—there were so many of all kinds of calibers.

  Something about seeing them was comforting. Although Levi was with him, for some reason seeing a crowd like that reminded him of something. It was the only thing that agreed with the reality he was normally accustomed to. However, any memories, he might have had, tied to that reality were naught.

  “This way, Hyde!” Levi said, pulling him along into the urban enclosure.

  “Where are we going?” he asked, trying his best to keep up with her.

  “To the market,” she replied, turning the next corner.

  Market? He thought, wondering why they would possibly need to go to the market. But the thought was soon overwritten by the many buildings and people. He followed her beyond the buildings and into a highway of stores.

  “This is the shopping district!” she explained.

  “Wow.” He stopped in his tracks and let it all sink in. Something about it was familiar, but somehow, it was different. He couldn’t recall anything, but it still eased him.

  There were so many lights and so many people, all with different emotions on their faces. Some happy, some sad, some disappointed, some hopeful, but what they all had in common was the weaponry they carried and the armor they wore.

  “Every city has one,” Levi added.

  “What?” he shook his head.

  “A shopping district, every city has one,” she explained. “This is where adventurers from far and wide come to resupply and buy new gear!”

  “Adventurers?”

  “Yeah, like you.”

  “Like me?”

  “You’re an adventurer.”

  “I am—” he began slowly. “What do adventurers do exactly?”

  “They fight to survive.”

  “Survive?”

  “Yeah, if you don’t, you die, silly,” she smiled.

  “I die?” he whispered. “Don’t people have jobs?”

  “That is their job.”

  “Don’t people go to schools?”

  “There aren’t any.”

  “So what you’re telling me is that we need to fight to survive?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Fight what exactly?”

  “Monsters.”

  “Monsters?”

  “More precisely things like those spiders or goblins.”

  “We fight them?”

  “Yep.”

  “All of these people here—they fight them?”

  “Yep,” she replied. “C’mon, let’s get you a weapon, we’re burning daylight!” She grabbed him by the hand and dragged hi
m all around the district from shop to shop, all of which sold weapons, armor, supplies or things Hyde couldn’t quite wrap his head around, until they found a shop that had items in their budget.

  “So, what interests you?” she asked, stopping in front of a cheapish weapons shop.

  “I don’t know—this maybe,” he replied, not really present in the moment as he was far too concerned with the new truths she had laid upon him only moments ago.

  “A longsword?”

  “I guess.”

  “Okay, we’ll take this one,” she said to the shop clerk.

  “Sure thing!” the man said, and just like that they’d purchased it.

  It was a longsword with no discerning features or anything to make it unique. Because of its plainness, however, Levi asked for a tag as well.

  “This is for you,” she handed Hyde the blade.

  “Oh, thanks,” he said a little bit surprised as he accepted it. It disappeared into thin air, leaving only behind a few sparks as he did. He unhooked his Status Tablet, and sure enough the sword had appeared in one of the slots in the inventory grid.

  “C’mon, let’s go take it out for a spin,” Levi said, grabbing his hand and dragging him outside of the city in a heartbeat.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To fight some monsters!”

  CHAPTER 2

  “How the hell did you talk me into this!” Hyde screamed, standing before a goblin with his sword in hand.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine,” Levi said, cheering him on from a distance.

  “Easy for you to say!”

  “Just try and attack it.”

  “If I do that, I might kill it.”

  “That’s kinda the point.”

  “I can’t do that!”

  “Then you’re just going to have to let it kill you,” she shrugged.

  The small goblin, jumped about, staying on its toes, preparing to take down its armed foe. With sharp dark eyes it gazed at him, watching his iron blade tightly gripped between his sweaty hands. However, just as his grip loosened—which was only for a moment—the goblin realised its advantage and sprung into action.

  It dashed at him throwing its arm in hope that its sharp claw would make contact. Fortunately for it, it did. It grazed Hyde’s arm as he tried to sidestep the attack. Now, as he groaned in pain, the goblin advanced.

  Another attack came, more pain followed and beads of blood were drawn.

  “Hang in there,” Levi said, sending an Orb of Light slowly flying towards the injured boy.

  Damn. Hyde backed up and without realising the Orb of Light detonated against his back. Its light covered him and within the next second, his wounds closed, the blood disappeared, and the pain was gone.

  The red container at the top right of his peripheral was filled to the brim again.

  “What was that?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder.

  “Magic,” she smiled.

  “Magic?”

  “You survive this and I’ll tell you all about it.”

  “Survive this—” he turned back, giving the goblin his full attention. But now something was different, somewhere inside him clicked. It was like he wasn’t afraid anymore. “Let’s do this.”

  He approached the goblin with steady feet and iron nerves, until the moment it launched another attack, identical to the first. In a single breath, Hyde pivoted his foot, put power into his grip and swung his sword. It only took one strike to inflict a mortal wound onto the small goblin. Its flesh was severed open and blood spewed from the gaping red smile, but instead of simply laying still and dying, the goblin exploded into dark crystal dust that was soon carried off by the breeze.

  All that remained of the goblin was one of its claws.

  “I did it!” Hyde screamed, jumping in glee.

  Something about the entire situation seemed unreal and strange, as though it wasn’t part of reality. And the goblin’s death, didn’t weigh down on his conscious or affect him at all. Maybe it was the crystal dust explosion that left no body behind for him to mourn or connect death to. Or maybe it was the fact that everything else seemed so distant and part of some weird make-believe world.

  “Well done, Hyde!” Levi said, approaching him from her hiding spot.

  “That wasn’t too bad actually,” he smiled, reaching down to pick up the small claw, but as soon as he touched it, it disappeared, leaving behind tiny sparks.

  “I agree,” she said. “Now for your reward, I’ll tell you about magic.”

  They sat down a little bit closer to the city where there were less monsters.

  “The system is broken up into two parts, Martial and Magic,” she began. “The first, is simple. It is basically swinging a sword or shooting a bow. All of this naturally requires Stamina. However, the second isn’t all that it seems, it requires more or less the same Stamina, but with some exceptions. To cast a spell, a chant may be required, some composed of many words, some with just the one. What these words do is allow the caster to interact and bend the world using their will. Think of it like asking someone for a favour, it’s pretty much the same thing, but with the world.”

  “Oh okay, seems simple enough. Wait, does that mean I can learn magic too?”

  “Of course you can! Just not right now.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you’re a Dragoon.”

  “A what?”

  “A Dragoon.”

  “And what is that?”

  “A Dragoon is one of the eight classes that adventurers fall into.”

  “Okay, what are you?”

  “I’m a Sentinel.”

  “And what does a Sentinel do exactly?”

  “Sentinels specialises in supportive, light magic to heal and empower allies.”

  “O—kay, what do Dragoons specialise in?”

  “Dragoons are part of the frontline, they’re versatile and masters of martial skills.”

  “Okay, is it possible for me to change?”

  “Of course, you can see all of the possible choices in the Status Tablet.”

  “Do you think I should change?”

  “Oh, it’s really up to you.”

  “Mmm, I’ll stay as a Dragoon for now then.”

  “So do you want to continue hunting?” Levi stood, holding her hand out to him.

  Hyde looked up, stunned by the golden sky silhouetting her.

  “Are you coming?” She tilted her head gently to one side.

  “Oh yeah, let’s continue for a bit more,” he said, taking her hand.

  Together, they walked further away from the city into the forest, and soon found themselves faced against a pair of goblins. With his sword in hand he engaged them, with Levi standing back, ready to administer medical attention in case he was injured.

  For some reason, Hyde was confident in his sword skills. It wasn’t like he’d ever wielded a sword before, but even so he carried it as though it was an extension of his arm.

  The two goblins attacked from separate angles, putting him in a bad situation as he was forced to flee both strikes, which he unfortunately was incapable of doing, and therefore was subject to the pain of having claws dig into his skin. However, the shallow cuts didn’t stop him as he was quickly healed by Levi.

  He stood his ground and fought of the goblins, with a single strike to each of them, they fell to his blade, vanishing with dark crystal dust and leaving only behind a small fang and horn in the place where they had stood.

  “I feel like I’m getting better at this,” Hyde smiled as they walked to find other goblins roaming the forests and fields.

  “I think so too,” Levi replied.

  “Hey, what’s that?” he asked, noticing the small white cloth she was holding.

  “Oh, this is a tag.”

  “A tag?”

  “It’s what you use to name a weapon,” she explained. “I got it from the shopkeeper when we bought that,” she pointed at his longsword.

  “Oh right,” he
said, looking down at it.

  “It didn’t look particularly special so I thought, ‘why not give it a name?’,” she smiled. “It was a good idea, but now I’m struggling. Know any good names?”

  “Me? Oh no, none at all,” he shook his head.

  “Okay, I’ll try to come up with something.”

  The next foe they faced was a larger goblin armed with a one-handed sword. Without a shred of doubt, Hyde stepped up to the challenge. He met the armed beast and quickly traded blows. Sparks flickered as their blades clashed. They danced across the soil, imposing their strength and ferocity onto the other, trying to force their foe to yield.

  Hyde withstood a few cuts and bruises, but his opponent wasn’t so lucky. After a few strikes, the beast died, leaving behind more dust than the smaller goblins as well as its weapon and some loot.

  Hyde claimed the new sword, adding it to his inventory, along with the other items left.

  “We’re really far off from the city now, it looks so small from here,” he said, looking over his shoulder at the city.

  “Yeah, you’ve come a long way since our close call, this morning.” Levi smiled.

  “You’re right, I think I’m starting to get a good handle on—” he began. “Oh right… This morning—what the hell was that?”

  “What was what?” she cocked her head to the right.

  “This morning! We were running away from goblins.”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  “And I got an arrow to the back… what the hell are we doing?”

  “Making a living.”

  “Oh—wait minute! What kind of living is this?”

  “Adventuring.”

  “That’s not what I mean. What kind of place makes people kill monsters?”

  “Eden.”

  “Yeah, but… what happened to—” The name of his country was completely gone. His tongue had forgotten the word. That’s strange. I could have sworn it was…

  “Hyde?”

  “Forget it. Tell me this, why don’t the goblins leave any corpses behind?”

  “Well, they need to go somewhere in order to respawn.”

  “Respawn?”

  “Come back to life,” she smiled.

  “Come back to life?” he paused. Does that mean—he bit his lip before he could utter the words, probably because he wasn’t sure he dared to know the answer. “Okay, one last question.”