Chapter 7: Level Four
When Simon bolted upright from his bed he was covered in a cold sweat, and thought he was going to be sick. “Goblins aren’t supposed to be this hard,” he yelled, to no one in particular, balling up his fists in rage. “They’re level one monsters!”
It was all he could do not to throw a fit, but he forced himself to calm down. Raging like this didn’t help anyone. What he needed to do was put the armor back on and go down… He couldn’t even finish the thought. There was no way he could go back down in the pit right now. Even if that was the point of the game, there was nothing that said he had to do it right now. Simon studied himself in the mirror wondering if his stubble had gotten longer or the bags under his eyes had gotten deeper.
Were physical changes carrying over from each attempt, or was it just his imagination? Had the body he was in been in this simulation for only a moment, or had it been here for days since he left the temple of Helades? These were weighty questions that Simon didn’t feel like exploring further, so instead he said, “Mirror - show me my character sheet,” trying to find something - anything to distract himself from the horrible memory of being eaten alive by a pack of goblins. It hadn’t been quite as painful as the spikes, but it was far more revolting.
Name: Simon Jackoby
Level: 3
Deaths: 5
Experience Points: -4025
Skills: Archery [Very Poor], Armor (light) [Very Poor], Athletics [Very Poor], Cook [Very Poor], Craft [Very Poor], Deception [Very Poor], Escape [Very Poor], Investigate [Very Poor], Maces [Very Poor], Ride [Very Poor], Search [Very Poor], Sneak [Very Poor], Spears [Very Poor], Spell Casting [None], Steal [Very Poor], Swimming [Very Poor], and Swords [Poor].
“Well - that’s progress at least,” Simon said to himself, happy to see that at least he was a higher level now, despite the fact that his experience points kept getting more negative. He briefly wondered where his skill points were going if none of his skills were going up, but decided not to ask the mirror. It didn’t seem to know anything anyway, so what would be the point? Instead he got up and drank some wine while he tried to decide what he could do better next time. Certainly now that he knew the right way, drowning wouldn’t be a problem at least, but how should he deal with the goblins?