Status screen

  With hurried motions, Kato scrambled down the thick trunk that had carried him up. ‘There must be a way out!’ He ran towards the massive corpse, darting past the splinters and cracked spears littering the ground.

  The doorway on its back was cracked and split open. It wasn’t glowing, and on the other side lay more wreckage, the remnants of his hours of preparations. ‘There could still be something left.’

  He hopped up onto the boar’s body. It was still warm. He put a hand through the door. Nothing happened. His body followed. The door flashed silver, the number nine appeared, then a line struck through it.

  Kato landed on the other side of the boar. ‘That’s not good.’ He glanced back. The cracks widened. The doorway splintered and then disintegrated. Kato’s hope sank. “At least there’s a steady supply of food,” he muttered, kicking the boar’s stomach.

  “It’s even cut up a bit already.” Kato tried to comfort himself, but it fell short. There was no good way to look at this. He had lost the door, and with it, his way out.

  Kato walked away, head low. ‘At the very least my perception has gotten better,’ he thought. A few days ago, there was no way he would have been able to tap into his senses like that. Now they were more than instincts. They were tools.

  That was cool, he supposed. He returned to the clear pool. Thankfully, this one hadn’t been polluted by a monster’s blood. “Small miracles.” Kato traced a circle over his chest. “Small miracles indeed.”

  Kato stared into the clear water. A giant snake in a shroud of blood stared back at him. He blinked. This time a familiar face looked back, his own. His black hair had grown long and shaggy. Grime and dried blood covered him.

  Learning from his past mistakes, Kato ripped some fresh grass from the ground and began cleaning himself. He wouldn’t dirty this pool. After a quick scrub down, he stripped to his underclothes and slid into the water. Water had always made him feel calm. He really needed that right now.

  He swam deeper into the crisp blue water. “Ahh,” he gasped, bubbles rushing from his mouth. His leg had struck something hard. He spun in the water, leaving a flurry of ripples in his wake. “Ahh,” another cloud of bubbles spilt from his lips as his shoulder smacked against something invisible.

  He reached a hand out. The invisible object felt suspiciously wet. Kato narrowed his eyes, squinting through the depths. ‘Is that wood?’ The second the thought formed, the pool lit up in a bright cascade of light.

  Startled, Kato swam up and dragged himself back to the bank. Panting, he stood as water cascaded off his body.

  He turned. A door had appeared within the water, and it was glowing.

  A smirk crossed his features. ‘Looks like I've not been beaten yet.’ He pulled his clothes back on and grabbed his sword. After all, what guy walks around without a shirt and acts like that’s normal?

  He glanced back at the pool. It was a way out, but he had things to do first. Kato returned to the boar and kicked it. Then spat on the corpse. “Screw you. There was no need for any of this.” He gestured at the carnage around him: dried blood, torn earth and shattered spears.

  The boar’s vacuous, unblinking eyes stared back.

  “Yeah. Yeah. You’re dead. I get it, ok. Jeez.” Kato raked a hand back through his wet hair. He looked down. He probably should be more respectful. It was dead after all. It didn’t need a lecture. Resisting the urge to keep talking, he turned and walked back to the pool.

  Shaking off the nerves, he dove in. His clothes and sword dragged him down fast.

  He pulled on the door. It opened wide. For some reason the water wasn’t pulled through. Just one of the many perks of magical doors, apparently. Kato swam through. As he passed the frame, the number twelve lit up in silver.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Ugh.” Kato flopped out horizontally onto a stone floor, spluttering, arms still mid-stroke.

  “What are you doing?” Patchy was standing over him.

  “What?” Kato blinked. “Where did you come from?”

  “This is my office.”

  “Oh.”

  Kato looked around. He was back in the reception room where the evaluation had started.

  “So…” Patchy coughed awkwardly. “Sorry about earlier. I didn’t know you were… so sick. I was just having a laugh.”

  Kato pushed himself upright. Water dripped to the floor. ‘So, the door doesn’t let water through unless it’s to keep me soaked? No, yeah, that makes sense.’ He shook himself off like a dog. Water flew everywhere. “What are you talking about, Patchy?”

  “You don’t know? Oh. Oh dear.” Patchy’s little gremlin face twisted into a look of contrition. “Here it’s better if I just show you. Although… you really should have noticed. These are the worst results I've ever seen.” Patchy passed Kato a note:

  STATUS SHEET (Approximate from testing due to non-compliance.)

  Name: Katolla

  Race: Unknown

  Class: Unknown

  Attributes:

  Strength: 8

  Agility: 14

  Constitution: 7

  Intelligence: 12

  Will: 18?

  Perception: 12

  Skills: Unknown

  Traits: Unknown

  Kato examined the list. ‘So this is what the numbers were for,’ he mused, nodding sagely. ‘Is this good? Bad?’ Kato recalled Ignis’s reaction and now Patchy’s. ‘It’s probably bad.’

  Patchy looked at him, concerned. “We have doctors in the church,” he offered sympathetically. “But…” he trailed off, then climbed onto his curved desk and gently patted Kato’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t get your hopes up. This is one of the worst degradations I've ever seen. And even if it wasn’t…” he trailed off again. “This distribution.” He shook his head, miserably. “Why is your will nearly triple your constitution?”

  Kato felt the need to respond. It was more like two and a half, but he didn’t. Kato glanced at the list again before laying it on the desk. “I'm not sick. I feel fine.”

  Patchy wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. “You’re so brave.”

  Kato’s eyes narrowed on the furry little monstrosity. “Thanks.”

  “No. Thank you.”

  Kato sighed. “Why are you thanking me?”

  “You’re just such a big inspiration, champ.” A furred hand knocked against Kato’s shoulder.

  Kato gritted his teeth. He was seething. ‘Who does this guy think he is? I’m the pinnacle of health.’ Wilfully ignoring, the past few days Kato stared at Patchy venomously.

  “I appreciate that,” Kato said flatly. “Can I leave?”

  “Oh.” Patchy’s upper lip trembled. He hugged Kato’s arm. “I’ll miss you, buddy.”

  Kato pried the gremlin off him. “We just met, and I am definitely not your buddy.”

  Patchy wiped another imaginary tear. “That’s the spirit, champ.”

  “Stop calling me champ. I'm fine. I don’t know you, and it’s weird. You’re weird. How do I leave?”

  Wordlessly, Patchy pointed to a door on the wall. “Good luck, buddy.”

  Kato walked towards it. “We are not buddies. You bit me the first time we met. If I am sick, it’s probably because I caught something from you, you mongrel.”

  Patchy watched Kato with teary eyes. “I know you don’t mean that.”

  “I do. I definitely do.” Kato opened the door and stepped through. ‘Were they mocking me?’ Kato grimly thought of his prior interactions with the creature. ‘They were definitely mocking me.’ He sighed.

  Kato stepped into a short corridor that led to another door. He pushed it open.

  A slightly portly woman with short brown hair and a stern, matronly expression strode up to him.

  “Here. Take.” She thrust a bundle of cloth into his arms.

  Kato looked at her confused.

  Her piercing blue eyes met his. “Wear.”

  Seeing no reason to argue, Kato unfolded the clothes. ‘Grey robes.’ He slipped them on. “Thanks,” he muttered as his head popped through the top, but she was already gone.

  ‘At least she didn’t bite me.’

  He looked around. He stood on a balcony, overlooking a vast room. To his side, there was a rack of similar robes.

  He stepped forward, approaching the ornate bannister that lined the edge. A small gap in the balusters revealed a winding staircase.

  Below, hundreds of people moved, talking, laughing. All of them wore robes, most in varying shades of grey, but there were a few he spotted in blue or red.

  Kato stood still at the edge of it all, watching. ‘This is new. Weird new,’ he thought as he watched people carrying scrolls and trays move forward with great purpose. ‘Isn’t this supposed to be a church?’

  He placed a hand on the railing. It was cool to the touch. He tightened his grip. ‘They may look like people, but they’re not.’ His thoughts flashed back to Styx and Kray. He had proof.

  A voice broke him out of his rising blood lust. “Ahh, Katolla! Glad I caught you?”

  ‘Who?’ Kato turned. ‘Oh, right, that’s what I called myself.’

  A man was walking towards him. He wore grey robes trimmed in dark red and frayed at the edges. His eyes were sharp and aware, but a pacifying smile softened his expression.

  “Name’s Jerry,” he said, thrusting out a hand. “I’m here to show you around.”

  Kato took the offered hand, matching the man’s while quietly burying his thoughts deep.

  Chapter 1

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