Not daring to take any risks, Zac stepped forward and, with a baseball swing, planted the axe in the torso, hoping to hit vital organs and the lungs. A sickening thud sounded, and more blood streamed out. The beast barely moved anymore, and just weak whimpers could be heard. Zac didn’t dare stop and kept swinging the hatchet over and over until he himself fell to the ground heaving.
His body felt a burst of warmth, likely caused by the strenuous activity, and by now the whole left side of the monster was a maze of grisly wounds. Its movements had come to a complete stop, and no more roars or whimpers escaped its maw. The head was still between the two halves of the boulder, along with its front two paws. The arms were mangled from the reckless charge into the rock and the subsequent desperate attempts to rip itself free.
While Zac had no idea about the resilience or tricks of a demonling, it looked deader than dead. He sat up and caught his breath. Slowly calming down, he was reminded of the stark reality. He was hurt. Really hurt. By now, he must have appeared to be a homicidal maniac, almost covered in blood from head to toe, and it was impossible to tell which was his and which was the monster’s.
It already seemed impossible he was still alive with the amount of blood he had lost, and if nothing was done, he definitely would not make it to tomorrow. Rising to his feet with a groan, he started staggering back toward the camp. He thought about shouting for help again but immediately discarded the idea. He didn’t want to lure another monster to the camp by mistake.
Last time the trip between the boulder and the camp took half a minute. This time he dragged his body forward for what felt like an eternity until he once again came upon the ransacked and chaotic campsite. The camper was still standing next to the car but was now dented in places. The cooler they had brought had been knocked over, the water and beers spilled around.
Not having the energy to care about the mess, he moved toward the camper. Its door was wide open. They had actually brought a decent first aid kit with them when traveling, lucky for him. He felt he should probably get to a hospital, but unless someone drove him, he doubted he would make it. At least he could disinfect, tape, and bandage the wounds here. That would hopefully allow him to return to civilization to get properly patched up.
For the first time since he came back, Zac realized there was no blood or body parts in the camp. Though he hadn’t dared think about it at the time, he subconsciously worried the demonling killed the others.
If they had been attacked, there should have been some blood at least, as Zac had little confidence in the four being able to fend off that beast and flee. The axe in his possession had been the only real tool that could be used as a weapon in the camp, apart from some small kitchen knives. And even with that, he had only survived with great luck and some quick thinking. His improved physique had helped immensely, but that alone would not have been enough against that monstrosity. That beast had been both faster and stronger than a bear, and unless his friends had gotten the same type of strengthening as him, they would just be food rather than an adversary for it.
He surreptitiously glanced around as he neared the camper. The car stood empty, and no sound came out of the camper either.
“Guys, are you there? Hannah?” he croaked in a subdued voice, still scared a scream would attract more monsters.
Nobody answered. Only silence.
4
Alone
Zac had an ominous feeling and prepared to search for tracks or signs of where his friends had gone. However, a dizzy spell reminded him of the most pressing issue. Almost falling, he went to the car and brought out the small green box with the first aid kit from the trunk.
He then limped to the camper and hesitantly entered. The interior was completely empty, with no signs of either friend or foe. Scared that the smell of blood would attract more monsters, he firmly closed the camper’s door behind himself. Luckily, it was one of the few spots that hadn’t been dented by the demonling’s rampage. Zac finally slouched down on the sofa, not caring that the blood would stain the fabric.
He put the box on the small dining table, opened it, and grabbed the small bottle of surgical spirit. By this time his face was drenched in sweat from the pain, and his hands were already shaking. Putting all the things he needed next to him, he started to prepare for his treatment.
Slowly and gingerly, he took off his shirt and pants. Luckily, the blood was still wet and hadn’t had time to coagulate and stick to his wounds. Still, the pain was a hundred times worse than ripping off a Band-Aid.
The beast’s claws had raked a long gash on his waist, and three additional but slightly smaller ones on his left thigh. There was finally the last wound on his right calf. While the injuries looked ghastly, it actually did not seem as bad as he feared. The cuts seemed clean and straight, and the bleeding had slowed to a trickle. He could only hope that meant he was getting better, and not that he was running out of blood.
Knowing what came next, he almost whimpered when grabbing a water bottle and a gauze swab. He carefully poured the water over the wound at his waist to clean out the blood and dirt, and the agony almost made him pass out. Gritting his teeth and blinking away tears, he then grabbed the alcohol solution and poured some in the gashes. The wound didn’t look inflamed, but he didn’t dare skip this part, even though it felt like he was being ripped in two from the alcohol.
His face was like a beet by now, sweat pouring down and veins throbbing out on his forehead. Finally, he took some surgical tape and taped the wound together, and then wrapped some bandages a few rounds around his waist.
The first part down, Zac sat panting for a while. He closed his eyes, and a wave of exhaustion hit him like a truck. However, there were still wounds to treat, so he slapped his face to rouse himself again.
Zac performed the same procedures on his legs, and by the time he was done, his face had gone from red to a ghastly white. His hands were shaking so bad that he could barely grip the water bottle when he downed the last of its contents in a few big gulps. He was so weak, he barely managed to make it to the bed in the back, and as soon as he hit the pillow, he passed out even though the suns floated high in the sky.
The suns were still shining brightly through the window when Zac woke up. Was there no longer any night now that there was an additional sun up in the sky?
He stretched a bit and found out that, while far from healed, he did feel much better than he had before. His bandages were red with blood but not wet, so the bleeding seemed to have stopped. He also didn’t feel that intense pulsing agony anymore as it was replaced by a lesser throbbing pain. He still had problems keeping weight on his left leg, though, and almost fell when moving toward the fridge.
The second thing he noticed when waking up, besides his wounds improving, was a fiendish hunger as if he hadn’t eaten for weeks.
He ambled to the fridge and found out it didn’t work anymore. Some food was already starting to spoil. The monster had probably broken something while smashing against the mobile home. He picked up a few sausages they’d prepared yesterday before they ran out of firewood and a couple of slices of bread. Then Zac virtually inhaled the food like a starving bear, washing it all down with a bottle of water.
The others still hadn’t returned. Zac feared they had either fled without looking back or were… dead. Both scenarios were grim, though the possibility of the second left a sour taste in his mouth. He took out his phone from his pocket, but it was mangled and bloodied beyond redemption, likely from one of his tumbles.
Luckily, they had prepared an emergency phone in the camper in case something went wrong, and he opened a cupboard and took it out. The phone was in working order, but it had no reception. This was weird since they’d had a decent signal yesterday. Even if they were camping and enjoying the wilderness, they wouldn’t stop at a spot with no reception, as no one was ready to go a whole day without surfing on their smartphones.
He also noticed from the time that three whole days, not one, had pas
sed since the world had gone mad. He truly had blacked out hard after tending his wounds. The date only further reduced the chances of his travel mates and Hannah coming back. At least it also probably meant that the monsters kept to their territories and didn’t wander around as much as he feared. He wasn’t sure he would be able to handle another of those demon dogs at the moment, even with knowing their weaknesses from the last fight.
With food settled and not having any pressing issues, he started to take account of what had happened, and what to do from here. The absurdity of the situation finally hit him, and Zac spaced out with glazed eyes, unsure of how to proceed.
A distant roar brought him back to reality. This was no time to slack off. He was by no means safe, in the middle of the forest surrounded by crazy monsters. And that glowing pillar still shone in the distance, reminding him that more monsters might come.
Perhaps the pillar was a portal to hell or something similar, and demons could keep flooding through from their infernal plane. Or was this an alien invasion? The monsters could be something like Zergs in a popular computer game he’d played back in the day.
Then he finally remembered the weird robotic voice he’d heard earlier, and the confusing things it said before it started its crooked gambling scheme that almost cost him his life.
“Welcome to the Multiverse…” he mumbled. If the TV shows and comic books he had devoured throughout the years were any indicators, a Multiverse was a connection between multiple planets, galaxies, and even dimensions.
If the voice was to be believed, Earth had been introduced to some larger System, and due to this, there were suddenly demons roaming the forests. But that didn’t mean that only demons were around. What about other monsters or races? Would he suddenly meet elves jumping around in the trees, shooting arrows at him with pinpoint accuracy?
The voice also said it had initiated incursions. It seemed reasonable that the huge pillar in the distance was the incursion, which would mean he probably wasn’t too far off with his demon-portal theory. And when it spawned in the forest, the demons came with it.
But that meant that the monsters wouldn’t necessarily spawn next to it, as one had already been in the camp when he came back. It was hard to tell the distance to the huge pillar, but it should take hours on foot to get there. And something called a herald had spawned right on top of Zac, resulting in the largest emotional roller coaster in his life.
Lastly, he had gotten stronger for some reason with all these changes. Both his speed and power saw noticeable improvements from whatever the weird voice did. It almost felt like he had gotten a power-up like in some video game, which made sense after having seen the floating windows in the dark dimension. He still didn’t understand why the prompts were designed to look like an old-school RPG.
Was it his mind desperately trying to make sense of an insane situation and adjusting reality for him?
Fantasy monsters, magical portals, and gamelike elements. If some parts of the world were turned into an RPG, did other elements get introduced as well? At least there was no health bar, and the demon had no description or text above its head either. In fact, the only time he had seen any true game elements was when he was in the black space the voice brought him to.
He tried to notice anything in the periphery of his vision, but there was nothing there apart from the vision of the now somewhat bloody and grimy trailer. Tyler’s parents will probably be pretty pissed off when they see the state of their camper, he thought with a smirk.
If they’re even still alive, he then realized somberly. If the world was turned to shit at his location, what about the rest of the planet? Would it be safer or even more messed up? What about his hometown?
Thoughts of his father and younger sister surfaced, and a sense of urgency appeared. If this was a global problem, nowhere was safe. Zac had no idea what was going on, but he would have to figure that out on the way.
He needed to get back home.
5
Stranded
Driven by a newfound sense of purpose, Zac immediately packed a backpack with food that wouldn’t spoil easily and some other necessities, and then made a beeline for the SUV. If a slow shuffle where every step felt like walking on fire could be called a beeline.
He opened the door, relieved that no one had been paranoid enough to lock the car in the middle of nowhere. The electric keys were lying on the driver’s seat. With no time to spare, he placed the backpack on the front passenger seat and pressed the button to start the car. A spectacular absence of sound greeted him. The car had no reaction, even after pressing the key increasingly hard accompanied by angry swearing. The focused power of his will had no impact either. The dashboard remained dim and the motor didn’t give so much as a whimper in response.
So, the car was broken as well. Or not broken, but out of battery, he surmised after noticing a black smartphone plugged into the outlet in the car. The car had been on when the world turned to shit, and by now the battery had died. Freaking Tyler.
It was a weird feeling returning to the camper with his backpack. He felt somehow robbed of his momentum. If the car battery was broken, he was pretty much stuck in the middle of nowhere, at least for now. Either he had to somehow fix the car with his nonexistent knowledge of vehicles, or he had to get back to the nearest town by foot, which was about eighty kilometers away.
Eighty kilometers would take the better part of a day when conditions were good, but with hurt legs and monsters likely lurking in the woods, it was suicide. There was no way he would try that in his current condition. His only option was to wait where he was in order to heal up, and maybe someone would even come and rescue him. Like the military or the police.
To be honest, he didn’t hold high hopes of a rescue. First of all, no one really knew he was here. Even if someone did, he was afraid that these changes would have disrupted law and order to the point they couldn’t be bothered about a single straggler stuck deep in a demon forest.
He would have to save himself, and for that he needed to recover and figure out a way to get back to civilization.
“If this stupid System could help out a little and tell me what to do, that would be great,” Zac mumbled, lost as to what to do now.
Active Quests:
Unlimited Potential (Normal): Reach level 25. Reward: Unlock Class System. (16/25)
Dynamic Quests:
Demon Slayer (Normal): Kill 10 denizens with demonic alignment, each at least ten levels above you. Reward: +3% All Attributes when fighting enemies of demonic alignment. (2/10) [Note: Only one Slayer title can be attained.]
Off with their heads (Unique): Kill the four heralds and the general of incursion within 3 months. Reward: 10 E-Grade Nexus Crystals, E-Grade equipment, unique building depending on performance. (1/5)
Incursion Master (Unique): Close or conquer incursion and protect base from denizens of other alignments for 3 months. Reward: 5 E-Grade Nexus Crystals, outpost upgraded to town, status upgraded to Lord. (0/3)
A screen flashed in his view just like when he had been transported to the blackness earlier. Zac froze for a second before even registering what was happening. So, there was more to this System and Multiverse as he’d suspected.
The screen slowly hovered in front of him and even moved with him when he turned his head.
It seemed the System could give out quests that would grant different advantages and power-ups. What Zac first took note of was that there were two types of quests, active quests and dynamic quests. From looking at the contents, it seemed that active quests were normal quests that you either automatically got or received from quest givers or something.
Wait, would NPCs spawn around the world, with yellow exclamation points above their heads, giving out quests? Zac’s gut feeling said no.
The other type of quest was dynamic quests. All the quests were related to the demons and the red pillar. By now, he was pretty certain the red pillar in the distance was, in fact, the incursion mentioned by the
System.
He also noticed that there was a rarity or difficulty in front of each quest. He currently had two types, normal and unique. Normal was pretty straightforward and seemed like normal grinding quests in video games. “Kill x number of y…” or “collect ten ores,” which would reward some experience and gold.
In this case, there was no gold, but the unique quests did reward him with something called Nexus Crystals, which might be a currency. The other rewards were a bit more unclear.
He could somewhat guess what the Class System meant. He would probably get to choose Warrior, Magician (if magic was now real, which actually felt like a very real possibility) or something, and get buffs pertinent to that class.
The demon-slaying quest’s reward was also somewhat straightforward, although +3% stats did not seem very strong. However, it was better than nothing, and anything that would help him deal with these weird monsters that had popped up was more than welcome.
The last rewards he had no idea what they meant. Upgrade outpost to town? What outpost? And why would he want a town in the middle of nowhere surrounded by monsters? As that quest somehow seemed the hardest to complete, he felt there was something more to it, but couldn’t figure out what. As for the benefits of being a Lord of Monstertown or a unique building, he did not have the slightest idea.
“Why is there no explanation of things?” Zac grumbled. “There should be a Tutorial or something.”
[User does not qualify for teleportation to Tutorial protocol. Please explore the System of the Multiverse yourself,] a robotic voice echoed in his head.
Defiance of the Fall: A LitRPG Adventure Page 3