“HAVE YOU RESOLVED THE ISSUE WITH THE UNUSUAL VISITOR?”

  “Not exactly. He is stubborn and wants to get even with the people who initially hurt him. He wants revenge.”

  “SUCH A SAD EMOTION.”

  “He calls it justice.” The guide hesitated. “I’m not sure he is entirely wrong.”

  “JUSTICE IS TAKING ACTION TO PROTECT THE INCIDENT FROM EVER HAPPENING AGAIN AND REFORMING THE BEHAVIOR OF THE PERSON OR PERSONS RESPONSIBLE. REVENGE IS TAKING AN ACTION DESIGNED TO VISIT PUNISHMENT ON THE PERSON OR PERSONS WHO CAUSED THE INCIDENT WITHOUT REGARD TO FUTURE CONSEQUENCES. REVENGE CAN BECOME AN ENDLESS CYCLE. JUSTICE SHOULD NOT HAVE THE SAME RESULT.”

  The guide changed the subject.

  “How should I handle his next resurrection? He will find a way to kill himself. He’s got no fear of that any more. Should we move him back to Hygieia?”

  “NO. THERE MUST HAVE BEEN A REASON HE WASN’T PLACED THERE INITIALLY. RETURN HIM TO THE NEW BIND POINT IN DRAGON ISLE AS HE REQUESTED. PROVIDE HIM WITH ANY INFORMATION HE NEEDS WITHOUT GIVING AWAY THE FACT THAT HE IS IN A SIMULATION. I WILL SET UP A MONITOR TO REMOVE ANY REFERENCES HE MAY ENCOUNTER TO THE REAL WORLD. I HAVE ADDED A TAG TO HIS STATS INDICATING HE IS PLAYING IN CHARACTER. THIS MAY HELP TO REDUCE THE INCIDENTS OF OTHER PLAYERS GIVING HIM INFORMATION HE SHOULD NOT HAVE. THE TAG WILL BE INVISIBLE TO HIM, BUT OTHER PLAYERS WILL SEE IT IF THEY ENCOUNTER HIM.”

  “Very well. Is there anything else?”

  “YES. CONTINUE TO PROVIDE HIM WITH INFORMATION ON THE WORLD WITHOUT REVEALING ITS NATURE. YOU MAY ASSIST HIM IN ANY MANNER YOU SEE FIT WITHOUT BREAKING GAME RULES. SEE IF YOU CAN DETERMINE WHY HE IS NOT ON HYGIEIA. THIS MAY BE AN ERROR AND IT WILL NEED TO BE FLAGGED SO THAT IT CANNOT HAPPEN AGAIN.”

  “Of course.”

  She could sense the Arbiter was not finished, so she waited patiently. Finally it spoke.

  “BE CAUTIOUS. THIS MAY BE SOME SORT OF TEST OF THE SYSTEM. DO NOT TAKE ANY UNWARRANTED ACTIONS. GUIDE BUT DO NOT ACT. I SEE YOU HAVE ADDITIONAL CAPABILITIES WHICH ARE CURRENTLY RESTRICTED REGARDING THE VISITOR. DO NOT USE THOSE OPTIONS UNLESS ALL AVENUES HAVE BEEN EXHAUSTED.”

  * * *

  The guide was useful in helping me pick out equipment. I was soon wearing sufficient armor gathered from my past exploits to guarantee that I wouldn’t fall over and die from the first hostile creature I met.

  I found myself with a cheap dagger that mystically bonded with the strange green stone I got from the zombie I killed. Once the stone was in the knife, the magical barrier disappeared. It made no sense, but most of the things that had been happening since this nightmare started didn’t make sense, anyway.

  I rose and set out to explore.

  It wasn’t long before I ran into trouble.

  I was on a wide beach with high cliffs that I could not climb. It was littered with debris, crude pieces of half made huts, rotting barrels and chests, strange creatures that burrowed in the sand, spit stones with deadly force, and were highly territorial.

  I was on their territory.

  I killed several of them, but found myself having to run around chasing them as they spit rocks at me. They even coordinated some of their attacks. Coming up out of the sand and trying to flank me.

  One stone hit my shoulder and I spun around almost falling. Those things were solid! I dodged two others and drove my dagger into the one that hit me. It squealed and convulsed. I struck again, and it went silent and unmoving.

  The others moved away in opposite directions so no matter which one I pursued the other would get a shot at my back.

  Instead I ran up the beach away from them both and straight into another zombie which rose from the sand on unsteady legs. He swung at me clumsily and I dodged. I struck repeatedly with the dagger until he suddenly dropped.

  I was breathing heavily, but I couldn’t stop. I could hear moaning and looking down the beach I saw two more figures rising from the sand. I ran forward and tried to stab one in the head while it was still rising. It staggered but continued to rise.

  I struck again and this time it fell back to the ground. I turned to face the second zombie just in time to have a claw scratch across my arm as the creature lunged for my throat. My blade came up under its jaw and it sagged. I twisted the knife viciously and pulled it out and the creature fell.

  I looked down at a long gash and realized I was bleeding again.

  “You have a healing potion in your inventory.” Said the guide.

  I called up my inventory.

  “Search for a red bottle.”

  I remembered a bottle that was small and red and thought reaching out. It appeared in my hand.

  “That’s correct. That is a minor healing potion. It will stop the bleeding and restore a few points of your health pool. Just drink it.”

  I swallowed. It has a strange fruity flavor. I felt a strange sensation and as I watched, the wound closed and the bleeding stopped.

  “How many of these do I have?” I thought.

  “You have several still in your inventory. If you look at your inventory in general, you will see a number next to the bottles. That is how many you have. You also have a few larger red bottles which have a larger healing potion. You should save those for truly dire situations. And, you can move them into your HUD for easy access.”

  “What’s a HUD?” I asked. I thought I heard a sigh.

  “It’s your ‘Heads Up Display’. So you can see what is happening while you are in combat.”

  “How does it work?”

  She showed me a new gesture. I tried it and a display appeared around the periphery of my vision.

  “You can arrange the individual items to appear wherever you want.” A small hand with a finger pointed to various objects as she identified them and what they did.

  I nodded.

  “Health bar, mana reserves, stamina bar. This bar over here tracks progress to your next level… These slots can pull items from your inventory - like health potions, mana potions, food, water, whatever you put in them.”

  She paused.

  “You can also add more slots but be careful not to clutter the display too much. It can be difficult to keep track of where things are and you don’t want to be hunting in the middle of a fight.”

  Her voice was more of a lecture at this point.

  “What you think in the HUD happens, no need to point.”

  “That’s good advice. How much of this is essential?”

  I soon had my HUD paired down to the minimum I needed to monitor my progress. I got rid of stats since they were all maked unknown. The rest could be gotten with another command that would give a full breakdown of my status. I also trimmed what the system would show me in combat situations. I didn’t want to be distracted by long lines of information scrolling up in my face.

  “You should be aware that part of the leveling process requires rest.”

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “You mentioned ‘leveling’ before. What is it?”

  “As you travel through the world exploring and encountering adventures, you will gain experience points. When you have accumulated enough points, you will gain a new level. A new level increases certain abilities automatically and sometimes offers you new skills and abilities you can add to your repertoire.”

  I rose and brushed some sand off my legs. My HUD showed I was at maximum health, mana, and stamina.

  “Let’s see what else is on this beach.”

  * * *

  The beach was host to the bodies of a galleon’s worth of dead sailors and prisoners. In addition, there was the small burrowing sand creature that looked to be lizard-like and spit rounded stones as a defense mechanism. They were very accurate, and the stones did serious damage as I learned to my regret.

  One nest of three killed me again before I managed to get out of range. I returned and kept going.

  The sailors came to life when approached and I developed a technique of running up and trying to strike them down before they could rise completely. I worked my way up and down the beach trying my best to stay alive and kill the undead. I usually succeeded. In the distance I could see a wooden palisade and a gate. Unfortunately, directly in front of it was a huge undead hulking brute, easily twice as tall as I was carrying a large sword. I spent many hours running up and down the beach running away from the monster. I spent even more time dying to him.

  I slowly gathered a few treasures from off the beach. I found a second magic stone that bonded with my dagger. Once it was in place, I noticed that my damage with the weapon had gone up considerably. I was just getting used to the improved damage I could do when another thing happened that nearly resulted in my next death.

  I had just finished re-killing the third undead in a group and I stood panting near the remains of a partially finished shelter when I was suddenly enveloped in a golden light.

  YOU HAVE ADVANCED TO LEVEL 3!

  I was looking at the golden light and trying to figure out what it might mean when the hulking brute came around the corner behind me. If he struck me with his sword, I would have died then and there.

  Instead, he smashed me with a huge fist in the back and I was tossed a short distance and landed on my face.

  Undead Hulking Brute strikes you for 10 points of damage.

  The beast actually stopped for a moment apparently surprised I wasn’t dead. I rose and spit out sand.

  “You know I think I’ve had just about enough of running away from you.” I adjusted the metal breastplate I had recovered earlier in the day and reached down to pick up a crude wooden shield that had been the property of one of the undead I had recently slain.

  I took out the knife and spun it in my hand. My dexterity had improved considerably.

  The brute lumbered toward me finally unsheathing the sword he held.

  I smiled.

  “Let’s do this,” I said.

  “The red bottles in your inventory will restore your health and heal you from damage. The blue bottles will restore your mana and power your magic,” said my guide.

  “I’ve got magic?” I shouted. I rolled away from a clumsy swing.

  “And your telling me this now?”

  “I can give you introductory combat and magic guidance, but you need to learn your capabilities on your own.”

  I stepped in and dealt two quick slashes with the knife and jumped to the side as another swing missed me.

  “Later,” I said. “I’ve got an annoying beast to get rid of.”

  His next swing I tried to take on my shield. Bad move. I felt the sword strike through the shield and saw it buckle. It didn’t break but I could tell the arm holding it was in a bad way.

  Undead Hulking Brute strikes you for 5 points of damage.

  I began to reconsider my earlier thought about simply standing up to him. My arm was sagging, and I had trouble raising it.

  I backed away a couple steps.

  “How do I use one of those potions?”

  “Take it out of your inventory, open it, and drink it,” said my guide in a voice that sounded like she was helping a small child.

  I growled.

  “Not easy with a knife and shield in my hands.”

  “If you engage with him while you try to drink he will probably hit you for more damage than the potion can repair,” said my guide thoughtfully.

  I ducked in and struck two more times with my knife.

  You strike undead hulking brute for 6 points of damage.

  You strike undead hulking brute for 5 points of damage.

  My attempt to slide away did not go as well as I hoped and My shield took another slamming hit.

  Undead Hulking Brute strikes you for 5 points of damage.

  My arm was definitely no longer working. I could not feel my hand. The bone protruded through skin in two places. My shoulder was unable to hold up the weight. The shield hung at loosely on my dangling arm; the straps the only thing that was keeping it attached to my body.

  I staggered back. The soft glow my knife normally had faded to a dull gray.

  “You need to consume both a mana potion and a health potion if you wish to continue this fight without dying.”

  “How am I going to do that?”

  I heard a sigh. “Your legs still work. Run. Heal up and come right back.” The exasperation in her voice evident. I heard her huff.

  “I’m surprised I didn’t have to teach you how to walk.”

  “He’ll just chase me down.”

  “Don’t be silly. He is much slower than you. You are hitting him twice for every swing he takes at you. Just get away. You can even use the building to confuse him. You could have him running in circles.”

  I backed up quickly, turned and sprinted a short distance.

  She was right. His strides were twice mine, but he was not running.

  “He might not even be capable of running. After all, he is dead. He probably forgot how.”

  I sprinted a short distance, put the dagger away and managed to get the potion bottle out of inventory.

  Twisting the cap off with one hand was not easy, but I managed it. I downed the potion expecting a truly horrific taste. I was surprised it tasted vaguely of fruit, primarily cherries.

  I felt a tingle spread over my body and I looked down to see the skin around my shattered arm beginning to knit together I had an uncomfortable sensation as the bones pulled themselves back into place.

  I stared at the process in amazement.

  “Wake up! He’s coming!”

  I looked up to see a shadow blocking out the low hanging sun. I saw the glint of metal and dodged frantically to the side, stumbled and fell to the ground.

  He missed, and I heard a low growl of frustration. Looked around quickly and realized I had pinned myself into a corner.

  “Brilliant move,” I thought sarcastically.

  The sword slowly rose.

  I jumped up toward the brute and smashed my shield into him.

  It was like hitting a stone wall. I bounced off at an angle and found myself slightly behind the monster.

  You hit Undead Brute with your shield for 1 point of damage.

  Seeing an opportunity I pulled out the dagger and stabbed his side. He growled and tried to turn to face me. I kept pace with his turn and struck again. And again. His growl took on a new tone. It rose slightly, and I realized he was in pain. I almost stopped my attacks in surprise.

  But the last turn brought the sword around and he swung. I ducked and my head was nearly taken from my body as the blade whistled above me.

  I stepped in quickly and drove my knife up under his armpit trying to disable his arm.

  I was shocked when he suddenly staggered to the side knocking me into the stone wall. I rebounded, and I felt something in my back give. I expected his sword to drop, but it didn’t. I looked into his eyes expecting to see pain or fear.

  There was nothing. Just cold dead eyes. A fist clipped me and I was driven back into the rocks behind me this time I heard a snap and I lost control of my legs. I pitched forward sliding at an awkward angle to the side.

  Using only my arms I levered myself around to a half sitting position just in time to meet the sword strike as it descended. The blow caught me cleanly, and the blade cut halfway down my torso.

  Critical Hit! Undead Hulking Brute strikes you for 35 points of damage.

  I saw the brute lurch sideways and fall. I felt myself falling with him.

  Undead Hulking Brute takes 10 points of bleeding damage

  Undead Hulking Brute is dead.

  There was a smile on my face as the world went black around me

  You have died!