Hollow Henry

The world shuddered violently, and he felt his island rock. Entering his Temple this time wasn't like the first. It hurt, and he felt like his insides had been purged to empty by the fires of hell. That might be a little bit dramatic, but it was a very present thought on his mind as he clutched at his sides and fell to his knees. The last thing he saw before his face crashed into the dirt, was the guard he'd stolen away. She was standing with the Goblin's dagger pointed in his direction. He tried to tell her not to worry, but only managed a gurgle.

A shiver of cold ran over him, feeling almost reliving, right before he faded into unconsciousness.

He was expecting to find himself in the respawn screen, but he woke up instead. He didn't dream or turn his attention away to any menus, he just slept. He had vague memories of stirring in his unconscious state, and feeling a prodding in his ribs where the goblin had stabbed him. When he checked himself over, he found that his armour shirt was gone, and he had a bandage wrapped around his chest.

The guard was sitting on a stone by a fire. He wasn't sure where she'd gotten the wood, but he was glad for its warmth. His Temple Realm could use some heating, even a little insulation would go a long way. He considered that it might be a good idea to build himself a little shelter there, but there were bigger fish to fry. His HUD was practically screaming at him to check his notifications. It felt like it might be a chore at that point, but he knew he had to check them. The best time to do so would be before he had to talk to the guard. He felt weird about the idea of starting off into space while she could see him, he already felt crazy enough checking a HUD in a world that so clearly wasn't a game.

ALERT:

You have discovered a Goblin camp. As a Demai you have an automatic negative disposition to the Goblin and Ulrock races. You get a +5% damage bonus when in combat with these races.

ALERT:

You have initiated combat with an enemy race. You deal and take +5% damage when in combat with an enemy race.

COMBAT:

You have slain *5 T1 Goblins. You have gained *500[E]

ACHIEVEMENT:

You have mercilessly killed several members of a race moments after being informed of your unconscious racial bias. Congratulations! You are a shameless racist.

REWARD:

Title unlock: “Racist” - grants +15% damage dealt against races historically combative towards the *Demai/Human race.

ALERT:

You are bleeding out! Your health is below 50%

ALERT:

You have contracted *Goblin Sickness. You suffer a -15% deficit to your health until this is cured.

COMBAT:

You have slain *1 T3 Goblins. You have gained *500[E]

ALERT:

You have stopped gaining essence from the atmosphere. You gained a total of *73[E]

ALERT:

Your DiHexan pool is below 30%. Exceeding your pool's limit can cause physical harm and spirit shock.

ALERT:

Your DiHexan pool has been depleted. Any further use of DiHexan will result in physical harm and spirit shock.

ALERT:

You have exceeded your DiHexan pool’s limit. Your essence will be used in place of [DiH]

Warning! You do not have the necessary skills to accomplish a smooth conversion.

ALERT:

You have spirit shock. You have lost -10% of your essence on top of what was spent in the conversion.

ALERT:

You have spent *220[E]

COMBAT:

Combat has ended. You have gained *3400[E] for participating in this battle.

Congratulations! Due to the difference in tier to your opponent, your battle essence is increased by the amount of the gap. You have gained +200% battle essence.

Your contribution to the battle was 40%. For this you gain an additional +40% battle essence.

Your total essence for this battle is *14,280[E]

ALERT:

Due to your actions, your stats have been modified.

Perception: +2

Dexterity: +1

Endurance: +2

Creativity: +1

Essence: 23,796[E]

DiHexan: 0 / 80

Apparently it had been quite the battle. He wasn't expecting such a large amount of essence, but then again he wasn't even expecting he would survive. His new achievement felt a little unnecessary. How was he supposed to know he was a racist, the HUD really should have made more of an effort to warn him. The title would be useful, but he wasn’t sure if there'd ever be a good place to wear it.

He took in all of the information and considered his next move. The spirit shock was good to know about. In an emergency he would still be able to use his skills, even if he runs out of DiH. It was just going to hurt like a mule kick every time apparently. The guard was wearing heavy looking armour. It was plates of steel made to look like scales that layered over each other in the colours of the kingdom. It was an impressive sight for what was apparently generic guard armour. The problem he had was that it looked remarkably heavy. There's a chance he could have saved them both without spending so much essence if she was wearing something lighter.

“Why are you wearing that armour?” He groaned with a somewhat absent mind.

She paused from her efforts to stoke the fire, and looked over her shoulder at him. She was still wearing the helmet, so he couldn't make anything of her features.

“Where in The Hollows are we?” She asked eventually, not giving away any emotion in her tone.

“I'm not sure if we are in The Hollows,” he said groggily, pulling himself to a sit. His ribs ached, but whatever she had done seemed to be helping a bit with the pain. “I think we're in, well… me I suppose.”

She turned to him, and took off her helmet to meet his eyes.

“I beg your pardon?” She asked, incredulous.

Henry tried not to show his shock.

When he'd realised the guard was a woman, he hadn't thought twice about how to speak to her. Once she showed her face and he realised she was an attractive woman however, his mind turned to shit. It's an affliction suffered by many men, and it's not their fault. Her sapphire blue eyes and cascading raven wave of hair had stumped him immediately. He tried his best to play off his unwanted musing to address her concerns, but he was pretty sure she noticed his moment of admiration.

“This is my Temple Realm,” he said, gesturing around. “At least, that's what I'm told.”

She looked around at the clouds and emptiness sceptically.

“I'm sure it is,” she sighed with a hint of disbelief. “Can you let me out then. I've run out of food waiting for your dumb arse to wake up.”

That felt a little hostile. He understood that she was confused, but he just saved her from Goblins and falling rocks. He thought she'd be a little more grateful.

“How could you have run out of food already?” He asked back, feeling a little argumentative.

“I've been watching you sleep for nearly 2 days!” She snapped. “I don't even know you and I still wrapped you up. Do you even know how much food you can hide in this armour? Because it's not much!” She started to turn red in the face.

“2 days?” Henry asked sheepishly.

He wasn't even sure his Temple Realm had days at all, so she must have been keeping track somehow.

“You’re out of kindling and bandages too,” she said, slumping back onto her seat. “Thank you for saving me,” she grumbled through clenched teeth. “But I think we're even now.”

He touched his ribs and felt the sting of the wound. Whatever she had done had more than likely saved his life. He supposed they were even if that was the case. Her request still caused him concern though.

“I uh… I'm not sure if we can get out of here as easily as we got in.”

She blinked at him, clearly growing angry again.

“Say that again please, but without pissing me off.”

He held up his hands in a gesture of apology.

“I didn't say I can't get us out, just that it's not going to be easy.”

“Explain,” she demanded.

“I'm out of magic. If I get us out of here now, I don't know how bad the spirit shock will be.” He explained the problem to her like he actually knew what he was talking about.

“If I can find a way to regenerate some DiHexan, I can probably get us out.”

He hadn't noticed until then, but he didn’t seem to regenerate DiHexan at all while he was in his Temple. If she was right about how long they'd been there, he should have at least a few points.

“I noticed that,” she complained. “None of my gear is recharging. I'm just glad there's nothing here that wants to eat me.” She raised an eyebrow at him with suspicion. “At least I don't think anything wants to eat me.”

“I'm not going to eat you,” he scoffed. “Why would you even say something like that?”

“Well I don't know you,” she said, throwing her hands in the air. “For all I know, you could be a cannibal pervert that took me here to have your way and eat me.”

He blinked at her in disbelief.

“Where the hell does your mind go?”

“A girl needs to be cautious,” she defended. “And you have that cannibal-pervert look about you already.”

He slumped his shoulders. As far as his experiences with beautiful women went, this one was pretty run of the mill. It was the first time he'd been accused of cannibalism though, so the curiosity of cultures prevailed even here.

“Why do you put cannibal first?” He asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. “Actually, never mind. I don't want to know. I'm going to put my cannibal mind to work on finding us a way out of here without spirit shock. You just sit here and keep using up all my stuff.” He finished his declaration by pointing at his backpack on the ground. Its contents were spread about, some of which having obviously been used.

“Sounds like a plan,” she said, kicking her feet up and looking at the fire.

He had an idea.

In most games that he played, levelling up came with some bonuses. So far, whatever system governed his HUD had shown that it operated in much the same way as any other RPG. He knew that his DiHexan pool would increase when he levelled up, but he wasn’t certain if it would refill. It would be a bit of a gamble, since it would be more useful to keep his essence if he had to face spirit shock again. If he could regenerate his DiHexan though, he would have a much easier time getting them free. He had a good store of essence, so he pulled up his levelling screen, and dedicated the necessary 2000[E] to get to level 2.

He felt a wash of warmth run through his body as the clouds of essence around him rushed in. For the tiniest of moments, he felt entirely invincible. His muscles quivered with pleasure as they grew stronger, and his senses sharpened, showing him more of the world he stood in. Taking in a deep breath, he felt a drained and lethargic part of his soul breath with him, filling itself with the magic it so desperately craved. When the experience was over, he felt clean and light, and could tell innately that he had improved beyond his previous limits.

The sensation was intoxicating, and he wanted more. If that's what levelling up felt like, he swore to himself that he'd do it as frequently as possible. He pulled up his character sheet, and immediately smiled at what he saw. Then without any further hesitation, he went for 1 more round. Once he was level 3, he smiled even wider at his stats. He wasn't sure what the average was for players, but he felt damn good about how his numbers had grown.

The Henry:

Race: Demisis

Age: 32

Level: 3

Tier: 1

Essence: 17,590

Health: 104%

Stamina: 104%

DiHexan: 141 / 141

Strength: 55

Dexterity: 53

Perception: 65

Endurance: 61

Creativity: 67

Core Powers:

True Temple

Powers:

N/A

Skills:

Retreat to Temple

Hyper Focus