Stab. Climb. Stab. Climb. He fell into a rhythm while simultaneously making sure he didn't get complacent. The cliffside could loosen in the wrong way at any moment, and he needed to be prepared for when that happened. At some point he gained a point in Strength, then a point in Endurance and a few Passive Skills from reaching the Endurance 10 milestone, including the first level in Climbing and something called Deep Breathing, and while all that probably helped he just did not have the mental capacity to care.
Could have been twenty minutes. Could have been twenty years. He couldn't tell the difference, but however long it took, he made it. Cresting over the top of the cliff gave him the most thrillingly relief-filled moment of his entire life. He plodded along a good bit away from the dreaded edge, the entire upper half of his body aching like it was on fire, and checked to make sure he was safe from any ambushing rodents before collapsing into a pile of limbs and sweat.
For your fast reaction times bailing you out of a very poor decision, you have been granted 1 Dext—
Not now, Rob thought as he tiredly dismissed the message. Character Sheet.
HP: 182 / 270
Stamina: 6 / 100
He wouldn't have died if he'd hit 0 Stamina. Not in the same way as if he'd hit 0 HP. But he wouldn't have been able to hold onto the side of the cliff anymore, and the end result would be the same.
A single-digit number away from death. For the second time.
He almost considered leaving the area and putting as much distance between himself and his newest trauma as he could. But, well, he was here now, and he might as well see what the view looked like. For some strange reason, he hadn't managed to get a good look while falling off and nearly joining the squirrel as a pancaked mess at the bottom of the gorge.
After his Stamina had ticked up to a reasonable amount, Rob turned himself around and peered out over the horizon.
And gasped.
Endless trees stretched out as far as the eye could see. The treetop canopies eventually transitioned from varying hues of blue into rainbow colors that glittered in the sun. Flights of birds the size of pterodactyls flew around, snapping at each other playfully with extended, fang-tipped overbites. The ground shook slightly as a volcano in the middle of the forest nonchalantly spat up several globules of magma before going back to sleep; the local fauna going about their business like it was a regular occurrence.
It should have been depressing. More trees, more animals that might want to kill him, and no town or village or city in sight. But it was just so...interesting. Amazing. Beautiful.
Jason would have loved to see this.
...They all would have loved to see this.
Rob sat down. The darkness, the wolf, the poison food, the frenzied squirrel, the fall – everything he'd been taking in stride and trying to look past caught up with him all at once and slammed into him like a truck. The memories rattled around in his brain, insisting at him to accept what he already knew, shouting louder and louder until he couldn't repress the truth any longer.
He'd left everyone behind.
My parents have no idea where I am, he thought. It's been almost two days. People don't usually turn up after being missing for that long. Then two days will become a week, and a month, and they'll give up hope, and life will never be the same for them again. They'll forever be parents that outlived their only child. Jason will be able to tell them what happened, maybe try and persuade them that I'm still alive somewhere out there, but will they believe him?
Will he believe himself? Jason was there. He saw me get taken. He knows I pushed him out of the way. But 'kidnapped by a magic chain' isn't going to be accepted as an excuse by society at large. There were other people there, other witnesses, but they might fool themselves into thinking they were imagining things. Easier than accepting a dark portal out of nowhere. Especially since Jason is the only one who stuck around long enough to see the chain pull me inside. Will he go through therapy, be gently convinced that he had invented a fantasy to comfort himself, then go through life wondering what happened to his best friend?
That still might be better than sticking to his guns about what transpired. If I hadn't been taken, he would have. Will he blame himself?
Stew in the guilt every night before drifting off into restless sleep?
Or just...forget me, and get a new best friend?
Will I ever see any of them again? What if I don't? What if I do? How long will it take? Will I still be the same person I am now by then?
The tears weren't stopping. He sobbed, and heaved, and cried.
RARE Passive Skill Gained!
Name: Melancholy Resistance
Prerequisite: Experience a deep-seated, soul-crushing sadness.
Description: Allows you to get back on your feet more quickly.
Rob reached inside himself. The instinct in the back of his mind wasn't prodding him this time. He figured it out on his own. His new skill was sitting on the Character Sheet, Melancholy Resistance already working to push back the wave of grief welling up within.
He deactivated it.
The grief crashed into him like a tsunami, and he let it.
This was...important. He didn't want to subdue this feeling. To lose his opportunity to grieve.
The people he'd left behind deserved no less.
—
Changes
Level 2 → 3
Strength 12 → 13
Vitality 21 → 27
Endurance 9 → 10
Dexterity 10 → 11
Perception 9 → 10
Learned: Foraging (LV 1)
Learned: Hunting (LV 1)
Learned: Poison Resistance (LV 1)
Learned: Swordsmanship (LV 1)
Learned: Climbing (LV 2) - learned during cliff climb
Name: Climbing (LV 2)
Prerequisite: Endurance 10, Dexterity 10, climb up harsh terrain for at least five feet, climb terrain without pre-made handholds or footholds.
Description: Tap into your latent monkey DNA to get better at climbing.
Learned: Deep Breathing (LV 1) - learned during cliff climb
Name: Deep Breathing (LV 1)
Prerequisite: Endurance 10, breathe heavily numerous times in a 24-hour period.
Description: Air is life. Every deep breath or two normal breaths you take restores 1 Stamina.