“Wha… Why’s my throat so parched up?’ As this thought went through his head, the white flame that was descending towards him picked up paced. Shatter Glass’s mind was not working properly as his thought process was low even considering the 3 points in intelligence he had, his mind was already filled with stones and if not for his player template, he would have already been dead. Hence the only thing in his mind was that the game will start while he ignores the impending doom.

As for Reich, he only needed to maintain this spell formation for 3 minutes tops and the dead in the ditch will turn into dust. But what he didn’t considered was the bad and revolting smell from the ditch.

The bodies have been here for a long time, even after they were purified with fire in earlier days. The blackish remains were still present to be decomposed in natural way and the damp-humid atmosphere in the deep ditch didn’t help much. The bad odor that every one was suffering from came from natural Sulphur and ammonia the ditch produced.

And purification fire was also a kind of fire and it made it combust.

‘Snakes… why are they flying so fast?’ The snakes that Glass noticed were nothing more than gaseous ribbons that caught fire due to their height. This tendril of fire followed the gaseous ribbon and moved toward the bodies of the diseased.

“Something’s not right…” Before Reich can react, a huge blast shook the ground making the spell formation to break and the ditch to collapse on itself.  The shockwave from the blast was strong enough to cause some of the horses to topple in fear and the birds that were sleeping in trees to cry away and fled from the scene.

For a while Reich couldn’t understand what happened, all he knew was that he felt some slight disturbance in the ditch as his conscious was connected to the white flame.

“Sir the ditch … It collapsed.” Javed spoke while his feet were still shivering, the shockwave has terrorized not only him but the guards behind them were even more scared, some of them were sitting on the ground and breathing heavily to calm themselves down.

“I know that the ditch collapsed… nothing we can do anymore.” Reich replied as he stared at Javed. “There was something highly combustible inside the ditch that those priests ignored just like that poor guy.” Reich answered to sate the curiosity of his subordinates. He was already going to write an expansive report concerning the blatant negligent from the church’s side, adding this incident will only be an icing on the cake.
“Our job was to return the dead back to the mother earth’s womb. Hence our job is finished in some sense.” After this Reich ordered the guards to check the fringe of the blast area to see if the land was stable or not before he used a spell to harden the collapsed ground so that no further accidents happen.

“Everyone… our work is done here let’s go.” Even though the blast has terrorized the guards a lot, but they still followed Reich’s order in a simulated manner.

As the group started to move away. Javed silently prayed for the dead and the pitiful man in the ditch before he got on the horse and followed after the carriage.

****

[-18 damage]
[+20 damage nullified due to <Jade Crystallization> condition]
[Remaining health:5]
[Player is in critical state]
[All stats -60%]

“Whaa??” Sirens were going off in Glass’s mind, the sudden blast has caused his already slow mind to get disoriented and his body to suffer a brunt. He sensed as if he just collided with a truck and fell in water.

In this underground water vein, Glass was floating up and down trying to take in as much air as he can. Besides him there were also bits and pieces of bodies floating in this underground river as the completed bodies already drowned in the water stream. If not for his still “functioning” lungs he would have also become part of these bodies.

‘This is dangerous… I will die if I collid with the river bank.’ Glass feared and was wide awake. The crystal stones in his brain didn’t stop his mind from gaining clarity after suffering from the strong stream of water. Few minutes ago, he was asking for water but now he is in the danger of being drowned to death. Fate plays weird games sometimes.

’Is this really a game??.....’ This question thundered in his conscious. He can feel an acute danger and dread in this underground cave. He couldn’t see properly and his limbs didn’t have any strength left so navigating in this strong stream was also impossible. This kind of realism can kill somebody just through shear terror and attaching some half dead guy to it was nothing more than homicide.

‘Am I really in a game or….’ Glass stopped thinking he moved his head toward his stats window and understood how dangerous his current situation was. And then there was that last mission and notification.

<Warning: Due to clash between the Player and Native template. The right to resurrect has been deleted.>

<Compulsory Quest: Live for more than 10 days>
You are infected with an unknown disease that causes complete crystallization of blood in the body and this disease may take your life if you don’t deal with it soon enough. Survive this fatal disease.

Quest clearing conditions:
1: Cure yourself from the unknow disease
2: Survive the crystallization
3: Find the cure for the unknown disease

Time Limit: 10days
Failure to complete the quest: Death

‘Death…. If this really is just a game, then from this message I can determine that should I die, I will lose the chance to play this game and also the chance extend my remaining life to x6 or this is not a game an me dying means its game over forever.’ Glass was considered smart from an early age, he also matured faster than most due to his circumstances. These same circumstances were responsible for his drinking habit. But now as his mind was sobered, Glass thought that the realism in this game was too good to be true. The present technology in the world is incapable of creating such a thing.

’I shouldn’t take any chance.’ Glass knew what his priorities need be. He tried to move his limbs but they didn’t listen to his order, his vitality was all time low and he was also suffering from critical condition.

‘Wait a minute!’  In this dangerous situation when Glass was trying his hardest to find a way, a bulb lit up in Glass’s mind.

FSP(Free Stat Points): 5

‘Put 4 points into Constitution!!’.  Suddenly Glass felt a warm energy flow through his body mending the broken bones and pushing out the crystal stones that were impeding blood-flow inside his body. The white bandages that were washed up in the water stream became red once again and some even broke due to the crystals that were thrown out of Glass’s body.

And this one instant Glass cried in pain while water entered his mouth. The broken nerves were reconnected once again and his sense of pain was restored that for his present self was a huge shock as the pain assaulted his mind suddenly. Even in the running water to which there was no end, Glass’s body squirmed and winched for a minute.

After Glass adapted to the pain, he looked over his stats.

[Critical status removed]
[Necrosis status removed]

Name: Shatter Glass
Species: Human/Crystallization
Class: None
Level:0
Health: 45[140]
Stamina: 58[145/165]
Auxiliary Energy: 0[Not awakened]

Stats:-
Str:1 Dex:3 Cons:5 Int:3 Wis:2 Spr:1

Skills:-
None

Status:-
<Jade Crystallization><Gene Degeneration>

Exp: 0
PP(Potential Points): 5
FSP(Free Stat Points): 1

‘I am not out of danger at the moment… I need to get out of this river as fast as I could.’ All Glass did at the moment was extend the time he could endure this river. He was not out of danger yet. But due to his current health, his limb movement and eyesight has been restored somewhat.

Glass maneuvered and tried to reach the bank of the river. But all his labor was for nothing as he tried to reach a rock that was sticking out, he slipped up. ‘Shit!!... my timing was off.’ But he didn’t feel down yet, Glass waited for the next opportunity and grabbed it with all his might.

But again, his hand slipped.

‘No… my grip isn’t strong enough!’ Glass’s stamina was not unlimited, the feeble existence he was maintaining is the result of his boosted stamina. If not for it he would have already drowned after getting tired.

His reason for going against the flow and stop moving was to get some time to rest and restore his stamina so that he can reach the place wherever this river was flowing. Glass was not stupid, he can feel that the air flowing through the water vein is fresh in nature and moving in fast speed. Which meant that there was an exit to this water ride and he needed to be alive when this river takes him out of this underground water vein.

‘Fuck… let’s use the remaining stat point too…’ And without further ado, Glass placed his remaining stat point into strength. But to his surprise not only his strength increases by a small margin, his health and stamina also experienced a small boost after a mild warm energy flowed through his body.

Name: Shatter Glass
Species: Human/Crystallization
Class: None
Level:0
Health: 55[145]
Stamina: 65[155/165]
Auxiliary Energy: 0[Not awakened]

Stats:-
Str:2 Dex:3 Cons:5 Int:3 Wis:2 Spr:1

The next time a rock came that was sticking out of the wall, he gripped it with all his might. But unlike last 2 times, he succeeded.

“Now… let’s see where this river takes me.”

*****

“Are you sure he is dealt with?” In a small room decorated with mystical aesthetics.  A young woman questioned her butler. The woman had tanned skin and sleek body while her hair was tied into a giant knot behind her head, but her face had mild worry in it.

“Hmm… heard that an ‘accident’ occurred and the whole ditch blew up.” The young butler answered with a slight smile on his face. He was very well versed in these kinds of jobs and doing a job for his missus was nothing new.

“*sigh… I am still worried, if that Shaman just delayed his arrival by 5 more days… I wouldn’t had to get my hands dirty personally. The problem would have sort itself by then. But what happens now? We don’t know if we left any clues?”

“Missus don’t need to worry. No one will be suspicious of you. And even if that shaman comes, he won’t have the body of the dead to communicate to.” The butler consoled in a calm manner. He has done these sorts of things for this girl’s father multiple times.

Hearing her butler’s answer, the girl calmed down. ‘You shouldn’t have come in my way brother.”

This girl’s name was Refiesa Shanark famous as the storm wielder of Shanark and also considered the most beautiful daughter of Lord of Shanark and Shatter Glass’s blood sister.

*****

“Hmm… This is not outside.” Glass commented as he looked around in the cavern that the river brought him to. This cavern was not unlit unlike the rest of the river. The cavern’s wall was covered in an algae that was glowing in the dark, though insignificant in small quantities, but this algae was covering the whole cavern giving it a mystical beauty.

“The water is still flowing at the same speed, but the fresh air stops here… There must be a place from where the air is escaping.” Glass contemplated as he noticed that the air in the cave was not damp and there was no weird pressure in it. He concluded that there must be an exit here, but where. He can’t tell in such an unlit area.

“Well there are at least roots. These can satiate my hunger for the moment.” Glass thought as he ripped out the roots that were sticking to the wall. These roots belonged to the trees on the surface and them being here also meant that Glass was not that far away from the land. There was a chance for escape.

“Either this is a game or some huge conspiracy… I don’t know. All I know that I need to survive and don’t find the truth by my death. And…”

<Time left till Beta players arrive: 3Y:8M:3D>

“I also need to wait for my friends… if they arrive. I may get some answers then.”

 

 

[I suck at naming my chapter... have mercy ]