I stood at the doorway to the respawn room, the only passage in or out. There was no door, just a simple arch lined with crystal to indicate where I needed to go, almost like some kind of ‘exit’ sign.

Right beside the doorway, there was a hook with a simple brown robe hanging from it. This was not one of those comfortable bathrobes, but probably something closer to what medieval monks might have worn. And on the other side of the doorway was a table with four weapons spread out on it.

At the moment, I was buck-ass-naked, so I immediately grabbed the robe and put it on. It fit me surprisingly well. There were a pair of sandals on the floor beneath the robe so put those on as well. They were the perfect size for my feet.

Once I was dressed, I went to the table and looked at the available weapons. My choices were a dagger, a sword, a mace, and an axe. These were all basic one-handed weapons, simple with no frills or decorations, but they were all that I had to work with.

I was familiar with all of these weapons but not in expert in any. Of the ones available, the dagger appealed to me the most, though I wasn’t sure why. I carefully picked it up and examined the blade. It was a bit rough, but it would do. Then, since a dagger didn’t have much as much reach as the other weapons, I picked up the sword…or tried to. It remained stuck on the table as though welded to the spot. A quick check confirmed that the other weapons were the same way, completely unmovable.

“Let’s see if I’m right,” I mused, placing the dagger back where I’d found it before picking up the mace. The mace came up with no problem, though now the dagger remained fixed to the table. “Okay, so it looks like I can only take one.”

Now that I was both armed and dressed, it was time to leave. I clenched the mace firmly in my hand, then stepped through the doorway.

I emerged into a large cavern with walls and ceiling made of the same grey stone as the previous room. Veins of crystal ran through the walls and ceiling, continuing to provide enough light to see with, though it was a little darker.

“Where the hell am I?” I asked.

It was a rhetorical question, and not just because I was talking to myself. It was rhetorical because I also knew the answer, or at least, had a vague understanding. Every player that I’d asked, had told me that they’d respawned from a pool like the one I had, and that they were located inside of the Labyrinth, on a shallow level somewhere near an exit.

Of course, it was possible that some people respawned in deeper and more dangerous areas, but that none of them had ever made it out to talk about it. I was trying not to think about that possibility.

“Now I just need to find the exit and get out,” I said as I looked around.

There were creatures skittering along the cavern floor and coming right at me. I couldn’t tell what they were at first, not until a couple of them got close. Rats. Giant rats. They were about three feet long and had bony spikes jutting out of their backs.

This suddenly seemed like a good time to try out my new ability, ‘Invocation of Spite.’ I activated the ability by flipping a mental switch, then almost immediately screamed in pain. A surge of intense agony shot through my body, making me feel almost as though I had acid in my veins. It only lasted for a couple seconds though before all that pain flowed right back out of my body and into the palm of my hand. In my palm, I held a ball swirling red and black energy.

“EAT PAIN,” I snarled, mentally pushing the ball of energy away from me.

The little ball of pain shot out of my hand and flew a short distance until it hit the nearest rat. The monster dropped to the ground and spasmed, letting out a horrific shriek before abruptly going silent and motionless.

I stood there for several seconds, shaking a bit from what I’d just gone through. I’d expected some pain, but not like that. Not nearly like that.

‘Invocation of Spite’ was a dangerous ability, and not just for my enemies. I could fire a ball of primal energy that caused intense pain and damage to my target, but there was a price. An appropriate price, considering the ability’s name and who had given it. I had to channel that energy through my body, which meant that I felt a portion of it as well. If I wanted to use this power, I had to be willing to pay the price.

I was so distracted that I almost missed the second rat until it was right on me. I swung my mace at the last second, catching the monster in the side and knocking it away. However, the next rat lunged at me and bit my leg. I yelped at the sharp pain before slamming my mace down onto its head and crushing it.

More rats were coming at me so I couldn’t afford to be distracted. I ignored the pain in my leg where I’d been bitten and braced myself with the mace. At that moment, I wasn’t ready to use that ability again…not that I was able to. I could somehow sense that it had a cooldown, partly because of the amount of power that Avexis had allocated for me, and partly because my body simply wasn’t able to physically handle it again.

I swung my mace, hitting one rat and then another. I could feel their soft flesh smashing in and could even feel bones breaking. But unfortunately, there were more rats than I could easily deal with and more of them got through. I received two more bites and a few scratches before the current group of rats were finally dealt with.

When there was only one rat monster remaining, I braced myself to deal with the thing. It was about to charge at me, so all I had to do was manage one more good swing of my mace. Maybe two. However, I was already tired of these furry little bastards and wanted to dish out some real pain.

I took a deep breath to brace myself, then activated ‘Invocation of Spite’ again. Once again, the burning pain tore through my body before forming into a ball of energy in my hand. A moment later, that blast hit the monster, which let out a loud shriek before dying.

“No pain,” I whispered with a gasp. “No gain.”

Once again, my whole body was shaking from what I’d just put it through. I was already hurting from the bites and scratches, so I didn’t need that extra bit of punishment. But in spite of that, I still felt a strange sense of satisfaction…even exhilaration.

It had been years… No, it had been decades since I’d been healthy enough to move around like this. Hell, it felt amazing to just be able to walk without pain. I hadn’t been able to do that in several decades, not since a player had shattered my leg.

“Damn,” I exclaimed with a grin. “It feels good to be young and healthy.”

Being young and healthy again felt great, in spite of the aches and tiredness. I shook one of my arms, then switched the mace to that one and shook the other. Swinging that thing had gotten a bit rough towards the end, and now both of my arms hurt, in spite of having switched my mace between them in the middle of the fight.

“Strength,” I muttered. “I need more points in strength if I want to swing a mace around.”

I considered that for a moment, then opened my status screen and assigned my three free points. However, in spite of what I’d just said, I didn’t put any of them into strength. Instead, I assigned all three into vitality. Not only would vitality help with the aches and tiredness, but it would also toughen me up a bit so that I’d be able to handle ‘Invocation of Spite’ a little more easily.

As soon as I slotted those points, I immediately felt better. My vitality was now ten, my highest stat, and making me healthier and more energic than I’d ever been before in my life. I immediately caught my breath and was able to shake off some of rubber feeling in my arms, which convinced me that this had been the right choice.

“I’m a player now,” I reminded myself with a smirk. “I’ll be able to earn more points later on. This is only the beginning.”

---------

I stepped into a new cavern and looked around, immediately spotting several rodents of unusual size. Those giant rat monsters seemed to be everywhere, though at least, they were relatively easy to kill. I was able to one-shot most of them with a single ‘Invocation of Spite’ or a solid mace hit.

Before the rats could notice me, I stepped back into the tunnel that I’d just come out of and looked for something I could use. There wasn’t much there except rocks, which just happened to be what I needed. With a faint smile, I picked up a rock, gently tossed it up into the air a couple times to get a feel for its weight, then I threw it as hard as I could towards the nearest rat. My throw was lacking and the rock only made it halfway to my target, but it still managed to get the rat’s attention.

“Come to papa,” I said with an evil grin as I backed up further into the tunnel. “Or mama, I guess.”

The rat came charging at me, along with two more that had seen it running off. An ‘Invocation of Spite’ killed the first rat while my mace crushed the second one’s head. When the third came at me, I kicked it in the head, knocking it backward. When it lunged again, I was in a better position to hit it with my mace.

“Three down, a hundred to go,” I said with a nod of satisfaction.

Luring in a couple monsters at a time was a lot easier than having a dozen of them all swarm me at once. It was a strategy I would have to keep using.

I’d been wandering around for nearly two hours, but all I’d seen had been caverns and tunnels. And rats. Lots of rats. Fighting them had demonstrated the wisdom of placing extra points into vitality, since I suspected that without those extra points, I would have been too exhausted to continue. I’d also noticed a slight improvement in my ability to handle ‘Invocation of Spite’. I still felt the excruciating pain, but it didn’t seem to physically wipe me out quite as much afterwards.

Once I was ready, I attempted to lure in another group of rats, but I couldn’t throw a rock far enough to get their attention unless I went further into the cavern. I was hesitant to do that if I didn’t have to since I’d be out in the open and easier to swarm. I briefly considered trying to hit a rat with an ‘Invocation of Spite’, but I’d already learned that my accuracy with those attacks dropped significantly the further away I tried to hit. I’d already missed one target earlier, and there was almost nothing worse than paying the price in pain only to have it all go to waste.

I hadn’t had ‘Invocation of Spite’ for very long, but I’d already developed a passionate love/hate relationship with it. It seemed pretty powerful and had probably saved my life a couple times already, but the price… I shuddered at the very memory of how painful it was to use. Whoever had created that magic was a masochist. Or a sadist. Probably both.

That made me think of Avexis, the source of that particular ability. With her title as the goddess of spite and petty revenge, I realized that it would probably be a VERY bad idea to get on her bad side.

“Avexis,” I said aloud, not sure if she was somehow watching me or could hear me through the strange link we shared courtesy of that invocation. “Thank you for lending me your power.” I figured it couldn’t hurt to be polite, just in case.

After this, I turned my attention back to the giant rats. I moved further into the cavern and threw another rock. This time, it landed close enough to a rat to get its attention. It came at me, bringing more of its friends. But to my surprise, one of the charging rats was much larger than the others, nearly three times their size. The bony spikes on this monster’s back actually shimmered and glowed a little, resembling crystal from the cavern walls more than actual bones.

“Ah, crap,” I muttered with a grimace.

I hit the first rat in the head, feeling it die with a sickening crunch. I kicked the second rat in the side in order to get some more space, and then I backed up, swinging my mace in front of me. The plus-sized rat took its time coming at me, almost as though it didn’t think I was worth the effort of hurrying for.

“I’ve been saving a little something for you, big guy,” I announced as charged an ‘Invocation of Spite’.

The pain tore through my body and was quickly fired at the monster. I hit it dead on, causing the thing to freeze in place and shriek in pain. However, it didn’t drop dead as all the previous rats had. Instead, it snarled in rage and charged at me with a new aggression.

I hit the rat with my mace, feeling the impact run up my already aching arms, though that didn’t stop the monster. It bit into my shoulder, causing me to yelp in pain, though I was careful not to drop my mace. I couldn’t afford to be unarmed against this thing. I responded by kicking it, trying to do as much damage as I could while I fought loose.

“LET,” I commanded as I hit the rat alongside the head with my mace. “ME,” I kicked at it again. “GO!”

At this point, the monster let me go but it began circling me, looking to pounce again. It opened its mouth and revealed its bloody incisors, which it was clearly eager to bit me with again.

“I’ve killed bigger and nastier things than you,” I told the rat, not knowing or caring if it could actually understand me. I didn’t mention that I’d achieved that by using modern weapons, the kind I no longer had, and which wouldn’t even work inside the Labyrinth even if I did have them. “I’ll kill you too.”

When the rat came at me again, I stepped to the side to avoid its charge while swinging my mace as hard as I could. My mace smashed into the monster’s head, and this time, I felt something break. Half the rat’s head was sunken in and oozing, but it wasn’t down yet. I hit it two more times, turning what was left of its head into pulp. Then it finally stopped moving.

“About damn time,” I said, spitting onto the corpse.

Just then, I felt a pleasant warmth spread through my body. It only lasted for a second, but it had done something to me. I wasn’t quite sure what, but I somehow felt just a little stronger and more energized. Before I could really question this, another popup message appeared in front of me

YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 2

I blinked at that then opened my status screen. It looked almost the same as the last time I’d looked at it, except that it now said I was level 2 and that I had another free stat point. I immediately slotted that one into vitality since that stat had already been working so well for me. That, and because that one point also happened to push my vitality past the normal human range and into the beginning stages of what could be considered superhuman.

“That feels good,” I announced as my aches faded and my energy level increased again. “Better than a cup of coffee.”

I was about to turn my attention back to hunting rats when I suddenly heard some noise coming from the far side of the cavern. It sounded like movement, but not the skittering about of the rats. Instead, it sounded more like shuffling, clanging, and…talking.

My attention was now firmly locked onto the source of this sound, and I stared across the cavern, trying to see it. Then, I finally saw it. I finally saw them, a group of people emerging from another tunnel and stepping into the cavern.

I wasn’t alone.