《Core Die》


 Chapter 1 - Four Sides

    I was honestly questioning my own sanity. How could I not? I must be so high right now, I thought, but then again I didn''t remember getting high, either. Was I so high that I could even remember getting high? Is that even possible? I don''t know about you, but I would probably consider that an achievement.


    Okay, back track. I should probably start from the beginning.


    It was a clear sunny day, and I was enjoying the fresh afternoon at the park, eating lunch at a bench. I''d ordered a meatball sub and was just now unwrapping it as I sat at the bench, listening to the birds singing.


    Why was I at the park, you ask? Oh, so I can''t just enjoy a nice day at the park?


    . . .


    Okay, fine. I had an appointment with your friendly neighborhood drug dealer. Had a real need for some weed. A hankering for some of that devil''s lettuce. It would be a fateful encounter that would change my life for probably a week or so. I burn through that shit pretty fast, for real.


    So I was sitting on the bench, eating my meatball sub, waiting to meet up with my dealer. When I noticed this absolutely sus looking guy walking towards me, I had honestly no clue that I would actually be having a fateful encounter that would change my life forever.


    My first thought was like, hey, maybe it''s my drug dealer?


    Nope.


    Thinking back, I''d never seen good old Tommy wearing a hooded trench coat. Or sunnies. Or a mask.


    Next thing I know, the hairs on the back of my neck rose. Not exactly sure what it was, but something about this guy really just rustled the jimmies. Glancing around, I also just happened to notice there was absolutely nobody else in my general vicinity ¨C or out of it, for that matter.


    I was completely alone with no one in sight except for a weird guy approaching me rapidly.


    Okay, okay maybe I''m just being paranoid? Well, that''s the general assumption, yes. However, I must state that, once he pulled out the two kukri shaped, big ass knives from his coat, you can bet I Usain bolted the fuck outta there, meatball sub in hand.


    Gotta eat fresh. And yes, you''re damn right I was tempted to take a bite while sprinting for my life. If only I was so skilled, but alas it is not to be. The munch will have to wait until I''m safe, as I absolutely cannot risk dropping even one precious meatball.


    I looked back, and the guy was gaining on me. He was even doing a Naruto run and everything, what a fucking weeb. You''d never think that you''d almost piss yourself seeing something like that, but guess again, leg''s wet palms are sweaty.


    I was on the street now, coming out of the park. "Help! Fuck, fuck, fuck! Help me!" I yelled out as I passed some people. They just looked at me strangely, making no move at all. Did they not see the guy chasing me? I wondered.


    I ran out onto the road, trying to put some cars between us. I almost got hit, myself. The car slid to halt, honking loudly and making my ears ring. It was literally a foot from hitting me, but I just kept running.


    Just as I got to the curb, I looked back to see the car lurch forward ¨C right into the trenchcoat asshole, sending him rolling like twenty feet along the road. Yep, he was dead, for sure. Phew.


    The passenger door opened, and a young guy with a side shave was leaning over. "Get in!" he shouted.


    When I saw the asshole starting to rise, bitch I didn''t hesitate. I practically dived into the car, holding my meatball sub close to my chest. I wasn''t even belted in when the car launched off, running over the trenchcoat guy with a bump, bump. My door wasn''t even shut. I reached out, slamming it closed. Then buckled up, of course, breathing fast.


    "Holy shit!" My heart was racing, and I couldn''t stop shaking. The only thing running through my mind was What the fuck? "Did you kill him?" I asked.


    "No way," the guy replied, scoffing. "He''s got dice. A little something like that won''t do shit."


    Dice? "What?" I was obviously and completely confused right now.


    "Yep, dice. Shit, don''t tell me¡­ you''re a new Arter?"


    Okay, now I was just annoyed. "I don''t know, what are you even talking about?"


    "Well, welcome to the shitshow dude. You picked up a die, and heard that voice ring in your head, now you''re part of the game, where people kill each other for more dice. That about summing it up?"


    "Uhh¡­" I took a bite out of my meatball sub, swallowed. It seemed like an appropriate thing to do before I replied. "I didn''t pick up any dice¡­"


    The guy''s eyes widened. "The fuck¨C what do you mean, no dice?" He leaned back in his seat. "No, that''s not right¡­"


    I took another bite out of my sub as the guy slowed down at a set of traffic lights, and he looked at me, narrowing his eyes.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    I swallowed, and suddenly started choking.


    "Ah, that explains it. Hey, not in the car!"


    I somehow managed to cough up the meatball only after I''d opened the door of the car. A four sided, green die went click, clack out onto the road, amongst chunks of meatball. How the hell did that get into my sub? I thought as I continued to cough onto the road.


    "Yo, quick, pick that up before the light goes green."


    [Core Die (d4) obtained]


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    "Okay, so¡­ let me just, repeat back what you said to me." The man who''d introduced himself as Lan had been telling me basically¡­ everything that had just happened.


    "Yeah, go ahead," Lan said.


    "Uh, right. So. Call the police, and I''ll probably get arrested for a false report. Try and defend myself, and I''ll get murdered. Get murdered, even in broad daylight, with dozens of witnesses, and they''ll probably just chalk it up to a horrible, instantaneous heart attack?"


    "Yep, that about sums it up."


    I sighed. Basically, only we could see the guy chasing me, and even if I got stabbed, it wouldn''t leave any actual wounds. Why? Lan just shrugged when I asked. But it would kill me, that was certain, and apparently I had no means to defend myself.


    "So what do I do then?"


    Lan gave me a toothy grin as we came to a stop and the car petered out. "Simple. We give you a means to defend yourself!"


    We''d pulled into a driveway, in a street off the main road into town ¨C he didn''t live far away at all. We walked up a set of stairs to an outer balcony, where Lan lived on the second floor. He grabbed out his keys and unlocked the door.


    The first thing I noted when I followed him inside was that the place was quite minimal. A small desk for a laptop, a small TV sitting on the carpet, a gaming console beside it, across from a small couch. You could see into a small kitchen. Cozy.


    "In my room," Lan said, and I followed. He promptly opened the wardrobe, but instead of clothes, there was a massive array of weaponry. No guns or anything, but damn. Baseball bats, swords, hatchets, katana, warhammers, there was even a shield or two. Like, seriously, you name it, it was there. How he managed to fit that many weapons in there, I''ll never know.


    I briefly wondered what it would look like, seeing this guy carrying various weapons into his apartment every now and then.


    "Means to defend yourself," he said. "You still have that die, right?"


    "Yeah," I mumbled, reaching forward and picking up a pair of nun-chucks.


    "Right. So, normally just running at a player with a normal weapon wouldn''t do shit. However! You can choose one of these, and put your die into it. It will then become an Artifact, and you''ll be able to defend yourself."


    That was some wack shit, in more ways than one if I may say so myself. I wasn''t about to argue with his logic, however. I had no idea how any of this worked. "Does it matter what I pick?" I asked.


    "Well yeah, I guess. But I''ve found that you''re just best picking the weapon that vibes with you the most. Try a sword, give it a swing, then try something else. Whatever feels right will probably be the most beneficial."


    "Probably?"


    "Hey, I''m no expert. But I can at least tell you that I''ve ¨C once ¨C tried to make suggestions, which undoubtedly influenced what that guy picked, only for that guy to then go ahead and die against a weaker opponent. Yeah, I''m not about to make that mistake again."


    I nodded, picking up a sword. "Fair enough." I did what he suggested, gave it a swing, but it didn''t feel right. I put it down, and tried a different sword. It was a bit better, but still no dice.


    I tried all the swords first, and then the spear. I tried a shield, then it occurred to me. "Wait, so can I only pick one?"


    "Yep."


    "So how come that crazy guy had two knives?"


    Lan smiled. "You''ll see. Anything you''re leaning towards?"


    I shook my head. "I don''t know."


    "Keep going then."


    Hammer, mace, ax. I kept trying. There was even a double sided halberd which I thought was pretty freaking awesome, but as soon as I picked it up I was scared I was gonna cut myself with the other side. I quickly discarded the idea.


    I picked up a staff. Could I use magic, maybe? I was about to ask Lan, but then I saw it. A gauntlet with thick steel plating around the knuckles and on the back of the hand, that continued halfway up the forearm. I gasped, put it on, and marveled at how¡­ awesome it was.


    "Looks like you''ve found it," Lan said.


    I was pulled out of my stupor. "Really? But it''s just a gauntlet. Can''t I use it with something else?"


    "It''s up to you. But no, you won''t be able to use it with anything else. Even if you brought it into a fight with an actual Artifact, it would give you no practical advantage."


    "That¡­ doesn''t make sense, but I''ll just take your word for it. So it''s either the gauntlet, or something else?"


    "That''s right."


    I looked back into the wardrobe, but I think my mind was already decided. Still, it wouldn''t hurt to be prudent. "What if there''s a better suited weapon?"


    "I can''t help you with that," Lan said bluntly. "All I know is that if you don''t pick something, and run into that guy again, you''ll be screwed. I need to run you through the basics and everything too, so no, you can''t just hold on to the gauntlet. I''m not gonna risk it, so you''re picking something today."


    Gauntlet it is, then. I grabbed the little pyramid shaped die out of my pocket ¨C which, may I add, did not smell like bile ¨C and touched it to the gauntlet. It clinked against one of the steel plates, and then I heard the familiar voice in my head that sounded similar to my own.


    [Infuse Core Die into object?]


    Yes.


    [Processing¡­]


    The die flashed blue, and struck into the gauntlet.


    [Complete. Please assign a user ID for the Artifact]


    It was at this point I realized. How could I have forgotten? Something so important to me, and I''d completely overlooked it, probably due to just the general craziness that was today. I still don''t forgive myself for losing such an important item.


    "Wait! What happened to my meatball sub!?"


    [Name accepted. User ID set: Meatball]


    "Wait, no, I¨C"


    Lan started laughing.

 Chapter 2.1 - Three Lessons

    It took a while for Lan''s laughing to die down. "Damn," he said, stifling another chuckle. "Looks like you''re stuck with Meatball there."


    "What, you mean I can''t make another Artifact?"


    Lan shook his head, and I groaned. But then I remembered the guy that chased me. "Then how come that guy had two?"


    "Like I said, you''ll see. In fact, I''ll show you; I need to run you through the basics. Let''s go."


    I was starting to feel tired as we walked out of his room and then out of the apartment, then down into the parking lot. I chalked it up to the crazy events of the day.


    "Now, lesson number one," he held up a finger. "When you have your Artifact unveiled, only other arters can see you. Arters are what we call other people with artifacts by the way, in case that wasn''t obvious."


    He drew a rod from his sleeve. "This is my Artifact, Acharon." The small, thirty-centimeter long rod suddenly extruded out at both ends, and then a wicked looking green flame burst out from each tip. He spun the staff, green flames making a circle before slamming one end into the ground. A scythe shaped blade sprung out from the end, while simultaneously covering Lan in a shroud of shadow. The shadow solidified, and Lan now looked like a grim reaper with armor. From underneath his hood, two green flames burst out from where his eyes were. They were all that were visible under his hood.


    "Damn," I said.


    "Acharon gives me incognito, thanks to the hood." Even his voice was a slightly deeper, hoarser pitch. "Yours won''t, not straight away. I''d advise wearing a mask or something at first, similar to what that asshole was wearing."


    Just as fast as Lan had gone all grim reaper mode, did it fade off into wisps of shadow as the scythe ¨C Acharon ¨C folded back up into a rod. Lan gave it a little twirl and then it just¡­ disappeared. Must have put it back up his sleeve.


    "Second lesson!" He held up another finger now. "That was called unveiling. I can be holding the rod, but it won''t turn me invisible to the average person. When you focus your will into your Artifact, you can either unveil or cloak it. You may not have realized it, but your Meatball there is currently unveiled."


    I nodded, and then¡­ I tried, but I didn''t know what he meant by ''focusing my will'' on it. Lan shook his head as I looked at the gauntlet, catching my attention again.


    "Don''t worry, you''ll get it eventually. For now, just focus all your attention on it and try saying ''cloak.''"


    I looked back at the gauntlet. "Cloak."


    That seemed to do the trick, and for some reason, my body felt¡­ lighter. The steel plates twisted and retracted, and before I knew it, I was just wearing a normal, leather glove. It was kinda weird as it was just one glove, so I started to take it off.


    "Hold up," Lan said, holding up his hand. "Now it''s time for lesson number three." His empty palm folded two fingers as he spread out three of his digits. He smirked before saying, "Always be prepared."


    Lan didn''t even pull out his rod this time. He suddenly rushed at me and crossed the distance faster than what I thought would be possible. The blade of his Acharon was coming towards my neck before I could even think to do anything, and instinct took over.


    Or in other words, I shat myself. Not literally. Okay fine, maybe a little.


    My arms came up uselessly, but Acharon stopped short before actually cutting into me. He changed back into normal Lan as he stepped back. "Unless you can put that gauntlet on real fast like, I''d recommend keeping it on. Now, Unveil."


    I was shaking as Lan continued walking away from me, but I looked at the gauntlet. He stopped about thirty feet away. I focused on the glove and then said, "Unveil."


    The sense of heaviness returned as plating extended around my knuckles, and both my arms slumped. Lan noticed. "You''ll be starting to feel the fatigue now. At first, you won''t be able to have your Artifact unveiled for too long, but as you level up, your transformation time will increase. Now, square up."If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Lan pulled his rod out again, except this time instead of it turning into a scythe, it unfolded into more a sickle. He didn''t go grim reaper mode this time either, but green flames still erupted from his eyes.


    "Partial unveil," he said simply. He held up the sickle, and looked at it appreciatively. "Artifacts are always changing as you level up, and sometimes they''ll even extend to other parts. Mine gives me armor. Some give extra offense in the form of new weapons or skills.


    "Moving on. While you have your Artifact out, it''s boosting your overall physical and mental capabilities. This, in turn, will eventually make you burn out. You can go at max effort until then, but once you gas out, your transformation will fail and your Artifact will automatically Cloak, becoming useless. Do not gas out, ever, or you''re dead.


    "Now, without further adieu¡­" Lan suddenly threw his sickle at me. I jumped out of the way, and it missed me by a good distance. Lan was still holding his hand out, however. "Might want to keep an eye on that," he said.


    The sickle suddenly cut me through the side as it returned to Lan, and I twinged with pain as blood suddenly poured out of my hip to splatter on the ground. [You lost 7 hit points] I heard in my head, but honestly I was just trying not to puke as I watched my blood slowly stop leaking out onto the parking lot.


    "What the hell man!" I croaked out, looking up at Lan. I could still feel the blood soaking into my clothes, the pain of the cut sending fresh spikes throughout my side, though it was rapidly subsiding.


    "Inspect your wound," Lan said.


    I did just that, lifting up the shirt and seeing a deep gash across my side. It was bad, but¡­ I swear, didn''t it cut me like, way deeper than that? Just as I was looking at it, the cut was closing before my eyes which subsequently widened.


    "When you get hit by an Artifact, you''re not taking a wound in the traditional sense. I''ve heard that you''re taking damage on a more core level, which I feel is accurate. The pain is sudden, but quickly abates, though the damage is still there. You''ll get used to it ¨C well. You''ll have to, really."


    "So I took a little damage¡­ I heard it in my head, but didn''t quite catch it. What exactly was damaged? Is it repairable?"


    Lan scoffed. "If it didn''t regenerate, I never would''ve even considered cutting you. Think of it as an initiation, really. If you reacted like this when you got cut by someone actually trying to kill you, you''d be dead. Now? You know what to expect. Next time, you have to keep moving, no matter how bad the pain is."


    I nodded.


    "How many hit points do you have left? I don''t want to overdo it, but I''d prefer to get you a little bit more used to taking hits, if I can."


    I just stared at Lan, a rising sickness coming up in my gut. I''m sure it showed on my face, because he smiled. Then, he drew his arm back. Well, shit. He knew full well how many hit points I had left, the bastard.


    I was ready, and I moved out of the way when the sickle came flying at me this time. I kept my eyes on the weapon this time as it circled around and came back at me. I dodged just in time.


    Then Lan kicked me.


    The kick itself didn''t hurt ¨C well, not much anyway ¨C but it put me right back into the path of the sickle. I hadn''t even seen him get near me¡­ he was just there. The sickle slashed clean through my collarbone this time and I fell to the ground, my arm inoperable. [You lost 5 hit points] I screamed out in pain, but this time, I got back up. I launched off the ground with Meatball, bringing it up as I turned to Lan.


    He was already in my face.


    "Good," he said with a smile, leaning in close. I swung at him in anger, but he easily leaned back from the strike, still with a smug-ass smile.


    "That fucking hurt, you know," I said, panting.


    "Believe me; I know. So, hit points?"


    I rolled my shoulder a few times as the pain abated. "How do I check?"


    "Oh right, of course! I''m an idiot. You need to bring up your stats. It''s simple. You can just say ''Attributes'' while focusing inwards. When I first started, it helped to close my eyes."


    "Attributes."


    I immediately noticed as a hologram burst out in front of me, right from my gauntlet ¨C from the spot my Core Die was embedded in, to be exact.


    The hologram showed an outline of myself with the Artifact around my wrist. A half filled bar was displayed above my head, with the words "HP" next to it. Another bar was in the top right, "FP," and another to the left, "SP."


    I assumed HP would be hit points, but had no idea what FP (which was notably depleting) and SP were.


    HP: 13 / 25


    FP: 10 / 25


    SP: 17 / 23


    I relayed the information to Lan and he smiled. Not good.


    "Well then, looks like you can go for one more!"


    Acharon was hurled at me unmercilessly.

 Chapter 2.2 - Three Lessons

    [You lost 4 hit points]


    At least I lasted a bit longer this time. Or at least, it felt like I did, I thought. I was clutching the area where a moment ago, my arm had been severed, hissing. "Shit, shit, fuck. That one really hurt. Oh god, I think- I think I''m gonna-"


    I puked.


    Lan patted me on the back as I coughed and spluttered, his Artifact nowhere in sight. "Good job, man. You did good, seriously."


    My head was throbbing like mad, and I felt like a goddamn corpse. "Thanks," I said. Strangely enough, even though my arm was completely cut through, it remained attached. Still hurt like a bitch.


    "Let''s get inside, get you a drink."


    He shouldered me up, and as we made our way back to the apartment, he said, "Might want to Unveil, by the way. You''ll feel better, trust me."


    I looked at the steel plated gauntlet and said, "Unveil," and it returned to its more normal, leather glove style. I immediately felt fine as my head stopped throbbing, and Lan let me go. "What¡­?"


    "Your FP was getting low. Focus points. You need them to maintain your Artifact while it''s unveiled."


    "Right so¡­ hit points, focus points¡­ what''s SP, then?"


    "Skill points. You need them to attack, dodge, block¡­ and use skills."


    We reached the apartment and walked inside. "Skills? Do I have any?"


    "No. I don''t think so. I didn''t get my first skill until third level, anyway."


    A little silence passed between us before I asked: "So what now?"


    Lan shrugged. "We wait until you recover some FP first, then get back out onto the lot. Best way to level is to keep fighting, so that''s what we''ll do."


    I tensed up at that, going white at the prospect of taking another hit.


    Lan chuckled. "Don''t worry, I''ll go easier on you. No more hits, yeah? It does take a while for HP to recover, especially at your level. Though, the lower your HP while fighting, the more XP you''ll gain while in combat. Remember that."


    "Uhh¡­ XP? Okay¡­"


    "Right, you''re not a gamer. XP is what you need to level up."


    "Got it."


    In honesty, I didn''t really get it. Sure, it made sense I guess. But¡­ why? What was the point of all this? I sat down on one of the chairs by the small, round table just out of the lounge area, and was left to stew in my thoughts while Lan went to get me a drink. I didn''t even notice when he asked me if I wanted anything in particular.


    When the cup of water was planted on the table in front of me, I looked up. "I''ve got other drinks if you want, but you should at least drink water anyway."


    "Thanks."


    It took around maybe an hour before my FP was back to full. In the meantime, Lan booted up his console and showed me some of the games he had, which didn''t really interest me until he showed me some of the fighting games. Now those were cool.


    There was this one where you could fly around, hit your opponent into rocks ¨C breaking the rocks ¨C only for the enemy to come flying right back at you while you barraged them with energy blasts. Others were simpler like where you were looking at the characters from the side, but I quickly found playing it was way more complex. Not to mention the time it took for me to figure out all the buttons and combos.


    And then it was back to it. When I activated Meatball, I felt its power run up my arm and through my body, and readied myself.


    He upheld his promise even when I was going all out, and didn''t cut me again. Instead he used Acharon in its rod form ¨C that is to say, cloaked. I still got hit of course, but the pain was superficial and there were no damage notifications. I also didn''t have to worry about having it thrown at me.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    It felt pretty bad though. I was faster than Lan since he was relying purely on his own strength, yet I was still nowhere near a match. He landed me on my ass every damn time.


    I did find out, however, that any damage I took while I had my Artifact activated didn''t affect my actual body. In fact, being hit with anything that wasn''t an Artifact did nothing.


    "Yep," Lan said. "You could get shot point blank with a shotgun and it would do nothing, unless said shotgun is an Artifact, of course. Cloaked Artifacts also hurt, but don''t actually do anything, in terms of hit points."


    I kept swinging at him while he talked, which he could apparently do with no effort while dodging each strike. Jerk.


    I found out that I could fight for roughly five minutes or so before I ran out of SP, if I paced myself. Going all out could gas me in only a minute. I''d never pant or break a sweat, but I could definitely tell once I''d run out of SP. It felt like I was submerged in water, the very air resisting me, and gravity itself was trying to weight me down.


    Lan made me deal with it when I burned out too fast. Even punished me for it. I may not have been taking any actual damage, but it still hurt to get hit¡­


    I also found out I could cloak to save FP while waiting for SP to recover. Handy.


    In the end, I still hadn''t managed to land a hit on him. Besides that, I was starting to feel my head throbbing. FP must be low now, I thought. I was even starting to breathe harder. When I quickly checked, I had about 7 points left.


    "How long have we been going?" I asked.


    "Almost twenty minutes. We can take a break now if you need to?"


    "A little bit more."


    We kept at it for about another three minutes, pacing myself. At that point, it was like my head was being repeatedly hit with a hammer. My final attack was a wild swing that overbalanced me, and I stumbled before almost crashing into the ground. I landed on one knee, panting heavily, Meatball slamming the ground for stability.


    "Okay, you''re done. Cloak your Artifact before you pass out."


    "That''s possible?" I asked, panting, and then to Meatball I said, "Cloak," in an undertone. The Artifact deactivated as Lan answered.


    "If you run out of FP, you''re Artifact will dissipate. Which also means you''ll be almost completely defenseless. But, you can push through it. It does suck, though. You''ll probably have to do that eventually, but no reason to go through it if you don''t have to."


    Well, that was nice to know.


    "How long will it take for me to recover all my FP?"


    Lan shrugged. "Around an hour, I think. It depends."


    "Right." What it depended on, I obviously didn''t know, but I was struggling with all this information as it was and so, naturally, didn''t feel like asking any further. I planted my ass down right there in the parking lot.


    Even though I was feeling lighter after cloaking my Artifact, I still felt tired.


    "Do you have a phone?" Lan asked as he sat down beside me. The afternoon sun was feeling nice on the cold, slightly windy day.


    "Yeah, but it''s pretty old. Why?" I''d gotten it years ago and was way overdue for an upgrade, but being short on cash, I didn''t have much hope of that anytime soon.


    "You can use it to check your stats. It''s a pretty recent feature, but at least you don''t have to be discreet when you bring up those attributes. I mean, people can''t see your sheet, but at least it won''t look like you''re staring off into nothing constantly, you know?"


    "Uh¡­ sure. Wait, what? Recent feature?"


    "Oh, yeah. Every now and then, the game ''updates.'' Last update was a few years back, I think. Anyway, just hold your phone up to your gauntlet, say Resonate and boom. Done." He finished with a smile.


    I did just that, kinda feeling like a dumbass and almost positive he was yanking my chain, but sure enough when I said the word my phone went black and a white loading bar appeared.


    When it was done, a screen appeared showing me my stats, in a bit more detail too.


    Artifact: Meatball, 1st Level


    Slots: [4]


    XP: 44 / 50


    HP: 9 / 25


    FP: 3 / 25


    SP: 11 / 23


    STR: 10 | AGI: 12 | ACC: 9


    CON: 5 | END: 5 | VIT: 3


    I was close to leveling up, but¡­ I was finding it hard to even care. "What''s the point of this?" I asked Lan while staring at the phone, barely knowing what I was looking at.


    He cocked his head, raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"


    "I mean¡­ this game. Why do we have to fight? Why do I have to level up?"


    Lan shook his head. "I know. Simple answer is greed, I think. You kill someone, you get their dice. More dice¡­" he shrugged, "more power. If you stay at first level, you''ll die."


    Power. Makes sense, I thought. For a minute or so, there was silence until I lay down on the hard ground. "I should probably go home."


    Lan nodded. "Let''s get you leveled first, then I''ll give you a lift back, yeah?"


    Roughly half an hour of idle chat later, I stood back up. My FP wasn''t completely full, but I figured it would be enough. Both Lan and I took positions across from one another.


    "Unveil."

 Chapter 3 - Two Levels

    "So how come you didn''t just kill me then? You could''ve gotten away with it and taken my die."


    We had been talking about the game while Lan drove, and had just hit the street where my house was when I asked the question.


    Lan shrugged as he straightened the steering wheel. "Sure, I could. But it just don''t sit right with me." He sniffed as we pulled into my driveway. "I might be greedy, but I''m not an asshole. Well, I try not to be anyway."


    I nodded, opening the door. "Thanks for the ride anyway. You''ve done a lot for me today, I guess." I scratched my head, feeling uncomfortable. I didn''t like debts, and I definitely owed more than one to Lan. Shit, it''s only been a day, too¡­


    When I''d hopped out of the car, I leaned in before I closed the door. "Uh¡­ if there''s anything I can help you with, let me know?" I said, feeling kinda awkward.


    Lan smiled. "Oh, don''t worry, I''ll figure something out. I''ll hit you up."


    We''d already traded contacts, so there''d be no problems there. I nodded again. "I''ll see you around, then."


    "Catch ya," he said as I closed the door, giving a brief wave.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    As Lan watched his new friend disappear through the doorway, he pulled the car into reverse.


    The figure wearing a hooded trench coat and mask sat up from where he was concealed, and sat down in the passenger''s seat.


    "Well, that went well," he said in his usual light tone as Lan pulled out of the driveway, not even looking back.


    "It always goes well."


    "Indeed," the figure replied as he pulled the two knives from his coat and clasped them together. "You could''ve eased on the pedal when you hit me, though." As the knives clinked together, they transformed into a purple and black jesters hat. The clothes around the man started to disintegrate into nothing, to reveal the albino man.


    He plopped the jester''s hat on his head. His Artifact.


    Lan shrugged, something he did a lot. "I just went with the flow. Had to make it seem believable, yeah? Besides, you hurt my car more than anything."


    Trickster giggled. "Oopsies. I guess I should''ve jumped out of the way a little, but what can I say¡­" he flashed a devious smile as he leaned back.


    In Lan''s own voice, Trickster said: "Had to make it seem believable, yeah?"


    It was rather uncanny hearing his own voice spoken back to him, and he didn''t like it. With one hand still on the wheel, his scythe flashed out at Trickster.


    It cut through the empty back seat, though it didn''t leave any tears, the weapon being metaphysical and all. The scythe quickly disappeared again as a high pitched, cackling laugh erupted from a little bobblehead of a jester in the backseat.


    "Fucking asshole¡­"


    Just as he pulled into his own driveway, his phone buzzed.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    As soon as I walked inside the house, my thoughts of what I should do now that I''d leveled up were completely interrupted by the smell of something pleasant cooking in the kitchen. I closed the door behind me quietly, not wanting to announce my presence.


    When I heard my sister humming away in the kitchen, I sighed in relief. Sure, the chances of it being my dad were slim, but I''d rather avoid an unpleasant encounter if I can help it.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "Smells good," I said as I walked into the kitchen.


    Lyndis looked up and smiled. "Oh, hey, you''re back late. What''d you get up to today?"


    "Oh, not much," I lied. It''s usually what I said though, so it came out pretty easily. "Just the usual."


    "Right," she said as she continued preparing the food. "Well, dad will be home soon. I noticed you left your bong lying around in your room, so you might just want to do something about that."


    "Ah fuck," I sighed, turning right back around into the hallway. I went into my room, finding my most prized possession sitting next to my bed, then proceeding to stash it under said bed.


    As I picked it up, however, there was a small clinking sound of something on glass. There was something inside the bong.


    "What the fuck?" I tipped it and out came a green, four sided die. A Core Die. How the hell did that get in there?


    Okay, maybe it was just a normal die? Surely these things didn''t just magically appear out of thin air. Right?


    I tapped the surely normal die onto my gauntlet.


    [Maximum Core Dice limit has been reached. Please Level Up to apply another Die.]


    Right, I''d better do that.


    . . .


    WAIT, SO IT IS A CORE DIE!? WHAT THE FUCK!?


    Well anyway, I''d gained enough XP to level up, but hadn''t actually leveled up yet. Apparently you had to do it manually, so therefore I had over 50 XP at the moment.


    I had the option of putting a single point into either STR, AGI or ACC ¨C which Lan had told me were Strength, Agility and Accuracy, respectively.


    I stashed the bong away and pulled my phone out as I sat down on the bed, pressing the app that let me check my stats. The three main stats had a little plus icon next to each. Once I increased one, my level up would be applied.


    I pressed on the plus icon next to STR, increasing it to 11. My XP decreased by 50 points and the total needed to get to 3rd level increased to 100.


    So it would take me double the time to level up, I guess.


    When the level up was applied, I noticed my HP, FP and SP had all increased a little too.


    [Discovered ability: Meatball Legend]


    Oh?


    There was now a new ''Skills & Abilities'' tab on my stat sheet, so naturally I had to check that out right away. I quickly found the ability (my only one) and tapped on it, which granted me a broader description.


    <ul>


    <li>Meatball Legend</li>


    </ul>


    Due to the unique circumstances the Core Die of this Artifact was obtained, it can now be fed Meatballs. The Artifact would really like to try a meatball sub, in particular.


    Er¡­ what?


    Well, this was weird. The Artifact was a gauntlet¡­ How the hell is it meant to eat a meatball?


    I shrugged. I mean, it''s whatever you know? Seems like a bit of a useless ability, considering Lan had a skill that let him boomerang his sickle. Not to mention he could probably do that with it in full scythe mode, too¡­ yikes.


    Come to think of it, how come he didn''t just fight me in full grim reaper mode? Oh right, I have his number. I can text him my question!


    I texted him my question.


    He didn''t reply back straight away, of course. That would be completely unreasonable of me to put that expectation on him. I''m not his girlfriend or anything.


    I slid my phone away and came out into the kitchen again. Looked like Lyndis almost had food ready. It smelled good; it was just a beef stew with some mixed vegetables and potatoes, but she must have added seasoning too.


    I was practically salivating, and she smiled at me. "It''ll be ready soon, just needs a bit more. Mind getting some bowls and spoons?"


    I''d just put the bowls on the table when I saw lights flash across the window.


    "Well, that''s my queue I guess."


    "Hm?"


    Our shoulders touched as I started filling my bowl. "Dad''s home. I''ll eat in my room."


    "Again?" Lyndis frowned.


    I didn''t reply, just started walking back to my room.


    Just as I closed the door behind me, my phone buzzed.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Artifact: Meatball, 2nd Level


    Slots: [4] [4]


    XP: 10 / 100


    HP: 30


    FP: 30


    SP: 26


    STR: 11 | AGI: 12 | ACC: 9


    CON: 5 | END: 5 | VIT: 3

 Chapter 4 - One Skill

    I''d woken up early this morning ¨C well, for me anyway. 10am is early, right? It''s still morning, after all. I picked up the dirty bowl I''d left on my desk last night, to take it out into the kitchen. Dad wouldn''t be around this "late" in the morning¡­ probably gone to work.


    Before I left my room however, the photo on my mirror of me with my older brother Raph caught my eye. I pulled it from the frame, and just stared at it for a moment. At him.


    Damnit.


    Memories of my last conversation with him were coming back, of Raph smiling. I blinked; I had to shake them away. I put the picture back in the frame before leaving my room.


    I saw Lyndis sitting outside, reading a book. Nice weather to do that, I guess. I discarded my bowl in the sink, then pulled out my phone. Lan had told me the night before that the reason he''d used ¨C what he called ¨C partial unveil was so he could limit the amount of damage he did while attacking.


    He explained further, saying that the actual reason you''d want to do something like this is to conserve FP. "While using a weaker state of your Artifact, your consumption can decrease greatly," he had said. "Of course, you just have to deal with decreased damage. Which is mostly useful when training." I read over the text again now, and I think I was starting to get it¡­


    Just kidding, I''m hopeless with this shit.


    Like why would you want to do less damage to an opponent? You should totally go all out 100% of the time! Surely nothing bad could happen. I mean, I''m no expert but¡­


    Ding!


    Oh, he texted me just as I was about to text him.


    "I''m outside."


    . . .


    What!?


    "Dude I''m not even dressed yet! Why did you come over without warning?" I furiously messaged back.


    "Okay, hurry up and get ready then. I''m waiting."


    I huffed. "It''ll take me some time to get ready. You should''ve warned me bro, this is on you. You can wait."


    I threw the phone onto the bed and rushed into the bathroom to clean up, before throwing my bed clothes off and getting some fresh ones.


    When I was all ready, I left through the front door. Lan was standing there¡­ no car.


    "You... walked here?" I asked, incredulous.


    He grinned. "I can travel faster with Acharon than I can drive, so I use it for shorter distances."


    "Right. So um¡­ why are you here?"


    He raised an eyebrow. "To train, of course. You can''t relax until you''re at least 5th level. I reckon we could get you halfway through 3rd by the end of today."


    I wilted at that. So he had a long day planned for me¡­ Damn. This is gonna suck.


    I sighed. "Alright, come in then. I haven''t eaten yet."


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    When we finished eating (a regrettably light meal), Lan said we should go for a jog to somewhere more secluded since Lyndis was around. She didn''t even notice us, entranced by her book as she was, but I agreed. It''d be weird if she suddenly saw us both just disappear from existence.


    Before we left, I grabbed a hooded jacket and covered my face with a scarf, taking up Lan''s advice the previous day to find something to hide my identity. I tied my hair up underneath the hood, and then we were off.


    My house was secluded as it was, so it didn''t take long to find an area amongst the trees that would prevent us from being seen. Upside to wearing the scarf around my face was my nose and lips didn''t get cold, but my eyes still stung as we ran through frigid air.


    After this, we both unveiled¡­ and my training began anew.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Lan decided to extend the training outside of just being unveiled, however, and I wanted to die. Lan really wasn''t a good teacher. He kinda just made me fight, but didn''t actually teach me anything. Get back up, keep going, unveil, dodge... etcetera.


    It was roughly an hour when my FP was recharged, so we went back into unveil mode. I charged as soon as my gauntlet''s steel sprung out, swerved as the sickle came flying at me. Midway through the first fight, I''d learned to rely more on my hearing to dodge Acharon as it came back, while I kept my eyes on Lan. It obviously wasn''t the best plan, as it failed a few times.


    This time however, I successfully weaved under it when I heard it getting closer. Lan''s grin faltered as he caught the sickle, and I rushed forward, scoring a hook right in his surprised-pikachu face (hey, I might not have much money, but I know my memes) that made the dice in my gauntlet jitter around.


    [You did 8 damage]


    Nice!


    The victory was short-lived.


    Lan immediately retaliated. Naturally, I thought a hit like that would at least daze him for a bit ¨C but he swung right around and spinning back-fisted my smug ass. I''m not gonna tell you how much damage it did¡­


    After a few more hours of this, I pulled my hair tie out, letting hair fall loose around my shoulders as I panted hard. Cloaking helped, but my heart was still beating fast afterwards.


    "The fatigue will affect you even while cloaked, after a while. It''s a sign your FP is getting real low. Might''ve even waned a bit."


    "Waned?" I was still panting. "What does that¡­ even mean?"


    "It means your max FP will have decreased a little bit. It happens after repeated Artifact use, but it''s a good way to train your Endurance stat."


    "...Wait, I can train my stats?" Lan had told me I got a point to spend every level, and a point for secondary stats every 4th level, but this was news to me.


    So I guess that was the point of the extra training. I grimaced.


    "Well, yeah. I mean¡­ you should be close to gaining a point in constitution. Let''s test it!"


    "Wait! Unv-"


    I raised my hand, but before I could say ''unveil'' I was already being sliced in half by Acharon in sickle mode. It tore me right through, hip to hip, out my back. An explosion of blood splattered on the ground as Acharon landed back in Lan''s grasp.


    There was nothing I could do against that, even if I had the willpower of a fucking monk; I fell on my face a groaned in pain, feeling warmth under my cheek.


    [Critical hit! You lost 13 hit points]


    [CON has increased by 1 point]


    Didn''t take me long to realize that warmth was from lying in a pool of my own blood. Jesus fuck, dude¡­


    And that damage! No wonder it hurt so much. I eventually sat up as my wound ¨C and all the blood ¨C dissipated.


    "Ouch, that looked like it hurt¡­" Lan said.


    "Yeah, it fucking did man."


    "Sorry. You gain a point in constitution?"


    Notifications had sounded off in my head that something had happened, but I was in so much pain that I obviously didn''t catch them. There was obviously no question as to what they were, however, so I answered; "I think so."


    I mean, I was sure, but I could''ve been wrong still, you know? I don''t wanna sound like a dumbass.


    I cloaked my Artifact and pulled out my phone. I hadn''t closed the app since I''d last used it, so my stats were the first thing I saw after unlocking.


    My CON had indeed increased by a single point. "It did. Oh! I have over 100 XP now, too."


    I immediately put the point into STR to level up. Last time, an empty slot had appeared in the gauntlet when I leveled¡­ but that was only while it was unveiled. While cloaked, the slots couldn''t be seen.


    More importantly, I landed my first hit on Lan! Granted, it took me like a few hours and he was only partially unveiled, but still! It was my first hit ever, and it felt good to finally get a little payback. Seeing the dice roll in my gauntlet and the notification in my head telling me the damage was just an added bonus.


    [Learned Skill: Rippler]


    Okay, forget everything I just said. This is way more important! My first skill!


    I gasped ¨C to which Lan raised an eyebrow ¨C and switched to the Skills & Abilities tab and found the skill right there at the top.


    <ul>


    <li>Rippler</li>


    </ul>


    Channel energy into Artifact, then disperse it.


    . . .


    THAT LITERALLY TELLS ME NOTHING!?


    Okay, it tells me a little bit, but¡­


    I sighed.


    Lan picked up on it. "What''s up?"


    "Well, I got a skill, I guess? It''s called Rippler, but it doesn''t really say much else."


    Lan rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment. Then he shrugged. "I actually can''t help you. Every new skill I get usually works completely differently from all the others."


    I sighed again. So I had a skill but couldn''t use it. And like I thought, Lan is useless when it comes to actually teaching...


    I mean sure, he was helping me level up, but that was all really. Not like I couldn''t do that in my own time.


    I wanted to know more. My life might have actually depended on it.


    I noticed as Lan sprung Acharon into it''s full form, going grim reaper mode. His voice came out deep and hoarse. "Anyway, let''s go get something to eat, yeah?"


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Artifact: Meatball, 3rd Level


    Slots: [4] [4] [+]


    XP: 24 / 300


    HP: 25 / 38


    FP: 5 / 35


    SP: 15 / 29


    STR: 12 | AGI: 12 | ACC: 9


    CON: 6 | END: 5 | VIT: 3

 Chapter 5 - Aberration

    Lan wasn''t kidding when he said he could travel faster with Acharon than he could with his car. Not to mention his skill allowed him to easily take me with him.


    I sat on the scythe like a witch on a broomstick as it flew behind him. Apparently it only cost him SP to recall his Artifact or control it mid flight, so as long as he ran slightly faster than it could return to him, it wasn''t costing him extra.


    It was costing me my mental state, though. Lan weaved amongst the trees as the scythe tried to get back into his hands, and I had to duck as a branch almost beheaded me.


    Okay, I''m exaggerating. Sure, a branch won''t hurt me, since it''s not an Artifa-


    FUCK!


    My world was suddenly spinning as I tumbled along the ground, and Lan caught Acharon as he skidded to a stop. A branch had come out of nowhere while I''d been stuck in my own thoughts, and now I was extremely dizzy.


    "Ouch," said Lan, rather insincerely. "Come on, let''s keep going." He gave me the scythe again and I took it.


    "...okay, just ugh... give me a sec..." Everything was still spinning. "Okay, I think I''m good now." I stood up, and then took a step forward and crashed into the wall.


    The wall? Oh. That''s actually the ground. My brain is still shook.


    Lan snickered as he watched me fall over. "Just hold on and... try to keep your head down, yeah?"


    We cleared the forest by the first minute, and after ten, we hit town. We quickly found a nice little alleyway, hidden from prying eyes, and cloaked our Artifacts. My whole body ached when we did, and I hoped we didn''t have to walk too far.


    Turns out we were pretty close to a 7-Eleven, so that was the optimal choice for the hungry Lan and I. When we walked in, we saw a rather emaciated, homeless looking man sitting on the floor in the drinks section, staring intently into the refrigerators. This was weird, but it was made even weirder by the fact he was eating yogurt out of a plastic bag. With a... yep, that''s a fork. What the hell?


    Lan seemingly didn''t notice as we walked inside, past the clerks at the register. One of them was obviously newer, and was being shown how the system worked by the other.


    We both got something simple to eat, Lan getting a pie while I got a wrap. Too bad there was nothing with meatballs¡­


    As we went to pay for our stuff, one of the guys at the cash register suddenly put his hand up, looking past me. "Wait!"


    When I looked around, I saw the emaciated looking dude walking right out of the store, holding a bunch of packets in his arms. All of them hotdogs. That''s a lot of hotdogs, I thought.


    "Oh, don''t worry man," the supervisor said. "That''s Georgie. Real weirdo. Sometimes he pays, sometimes he doesn''t¡­ but when he does, he always puts way too much money down. We just let him¡­" The man trailed off as he saw us approach the counter. "Oh, sorry. Just those two?" he asked, referring to the food.


    After paying, we made our way out of the store. Just as we got to the door, the emaciated man whose apparent name was Georgie, came running back into the store, bowling past us and almost knocking me over, almost tripping himself as he retreated into the store. His skeletal eyes were wide in fear.


    He bumped into one of the shelves as he ran down an aisle, knocking various things off of it. And then he was gone.


    I looked at Lan, who looked at me, and we both wore expressions equally bewildered. What is up with that guy?


    I tore my gaze away from Lan, for it to settle on the thing that was outside.


    A discarded plastic bag of yogurt and about a dozen packets of hotdogs lay before a twisted humanoid monstrosity, its body blackened as though it was completely charred. It twitched as it shuffled towards us, packets of hotdogs bursting open as it mindlessly stepped on them.


    One of its human-like, red-tinged eyes opened, swiveling around before locking on us.


    And then it screamed.


    I gasped, and Lan immediately jumped back at the intense, high-pitched squeal, dropping our food. "What the hell is that!?" I asked, half exclaiming.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "I don''t know!"


    The automatic door closed as I backed up, out of the sensor range. Behind the window pane, the monster''s head tilted. Kinda like how a curious dog would, except more twitchy and way less cute.


    It seemed to cautiously move towards the door, its one open eye frantically spasming as though it were constantly having a seizure on and off.


    "What are you guys talking about?"


    I slowly looked over to the clerks. One''s forehead was wrinkled, while the other one looked genuinely surprised with wide eyes.


    "They can''t see it," I said in an undertone.


    "Unveil yourself," Lan said to me. When I looked at him, he was already changed.


    "What about¡­" I looked at the clerks, who were now wearing wildly different expressions from a moment ago. I''d probably have the same reaction if I just saw some guy disappear.


    "Don''t worry about them," Lan said, voice distorted. "Worry about this thing."


    The sliding door opened, and the clawed hand of the monster grasped onto the doorframe, which splintered in its grip.


    "Hide!" I yelled out at the two staff. I squared up as the black, twisted thing took another step forward.


    "Unveil."


    I almost pissed myself when it suddenly lunged at me before my gauntlet was even fully formed. I leaned back, avoiding its claw while crashing into a shelf and knocking even more things off as I stumbled into the aisle.


    Pain pulsed through my head. Shit! My FP was still low. Only 7 points.


    Acharon sweeped around, cleaving through the twisted, burnt-wood looking-ass motherfucker, and I bet it did a ton of damage, but I didn''t see it. I did see a spray of pure black blood splatter on the ground, though. For some reason, I thought the cut would kill it in one shot. Apparently Lan did too, because his greenflame eyes were wide. He looked at me as he blocked a swipe from the creature, which knocked him back. "Run!"


    I didn''t think twice as I turned around and bounded down the aisle with enhanced speed. If Lan couldn''t kill it in a single hit, it could probably do that to me.


    I heard Lan grunt behind me, and then a massive crash. When I looked back, he was in the wall. Oh fuck¡­ you gotta be kid-


    My thoughts stopped in their tracks when the creature''s eye turned to me.


    Fuck!


    I ducked behind a shelf just as the thing cleared the aisle in a single step, swiping the area I''d just been standing.


    My worries about my FP were gone. I seriously didn''t think I''d be having to worry about running out when this thing could definitely kill me before then.


    I ran down the opposite aisle, back towards the door. I needed to get the fuck out of the shop. I passed by the register, and the idiots behind it were just staring around at the destruction, dumbfounded and half crouched behind the counter.


    I looked back down the aisle as I skidded around the edge. The creature shuffled from around the corner, its eye locking back onto me again.


    I seriously could not run fast enough. The thing was coming towards me though, and there was no getting away this time. I spun and managed to deflect its first swipe, but there was nothing I could do as it twisted for a second.


    Acharon flashed in front of me. It reaped through the monsters arm before it could hit me, and the limb was sent flying.


    Lan had thrown it.


    And then it screamed, it''s mouth tearing open like tar, black oil bubbling inside it. I was closer this time.


    [You took 2 damage]


    I heard nothing else as my vision shook, everything shook, my ears. My fucking ears. I definitely felt them bleeding.


    And then Lan. He was next to me. He tackled me. Everything spun. I landed prone, by the door. I saw Acharon returned to Lans hand. He fluidly cut through the burnt twisted thing, opening a cut in its stomach, creating another spray of black blood which, this time, landed on the younger employee.


    Who, in turn, started screaming as the oil colored liquid started to sizzle away at his flesh. The other guy screamed, and attempted to make a break for it.


    Lan was pushed back again as he blocked another swipe, just as the clerk ran past. The shriveled things claw passed through the clerks neck and head like it was nothing as it threw wide at Lan.


    The clerk''s head had been sliced into three separate chunks, which fell to the ground in a mess of gore along with his body.


    Lan was still fighting the thing, trying to push it back, but I was world''s away.


    All I could do was watch. They were so fast. I didn''t know what to do. I looked at my FP, it had gone down to 6.


    It had only been a minute. I got up. I still felt dazed as I turned around. I ran through the door, breaking through it before it could open.


    I saw Georgie, crouched down by his ruined hotdogs. He was staring at them intently.


    Wait, how did he see that monster?


    The question came to me for a moment before I suddenly decided that I didn''t care.


    It then occurred to me that if Lan died, I would be completely fucked. I darted over to the emaciated man looking at his ruined hotdogs, my heart in my throat as I put my hand on his shoulder. "You should probably get out of here," I said.


    Georgie raised his head suddenly, then nodded. "I was going to eat these hotdogs. Maybe cuddle a few."


    I didn''t think much of what he''d said, just started running away. It didn''t occur to me until a few moments later that he was able to see me while I was unveiled.


    Well, I guess that explains things.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Artifact: Meatball, 3rd Level


    XP: 28 / 300


    HP: 24 / 38


    FP: 6 / 35


    SP: 9 / 29