He knew he shouldn't have asked. No, he was certain that engaging in any kind of conversation with this unhinged, murderous girl was a terrible mistake. The rational part of him wanted to get the hell away from her as fast as possible. He was a stranger, and strangers weren't welcomed in most communities—especially if killing one of their elderly was the first thing they did upon arrival.
In the end, he remained. His curiosity triumphed over his anxiety, and he halted a few inches below the girl, staring up at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.
The girl had stopped too. Turning her back against the wall, she rested her hands behind her dark bluish hair and gazed ahead at the sky. He risked a glance at her small feet. He found her entire weight supported on her heels. Her heels which were somehow digging into the wall, as if they sprouted directly from it.
Rob shuddered, imagining himself trying the same stunt and not lasting a second before gloriously plummeting down to his doom.
"A Prime," she repeated unhurriedly, fully confident now that he wasn't going anywhere soon. "You know, like a person from another world. They happen to come to the Wall from time to time, just like you did, didn't you?"
He saw the hook, the sinker, and the damn entire fishing rod, and he bit the bait anyway.
"Yes—I mean—no," he stammered, eagerness and desperation bleeding into his voice. "I think I did come from another world. But the thing is, I don't know how or why I was brought here. Do you… perhaps know something about that? Given that you seem to have met others like me before, Primes, as you call us?"
"Who, me? Hanging out with otherworlders? Nooo, never met one before." She winked. "You could say you are my first."
"Well… you must know something. Can you just tell me what you know?" Rob said, his voice disappointed yet pleading.
The girl finally tore her gaze away from the sky and looked down at him with her alluring hazel eyes, that unsettling grin creeping back onto her face.
"Maybe I know something. Maybe I know nothing. And I definitely can tell."
She descended a few steps until she was eye to eye with him.
"But… why should I tell you?"
She held his gaze and he held hers. He was the one to break first. He looked away, far at the azure sky with its massive, drifting white clouds. Staying silent for a moment, he finally asked:
"What do you want? I have no money, if you even use that here anyway."
"You didn't follow me for the man I killed. And I doubt you're here just to talk. So out with it."
"A clever boy, I see. Good. That will make things much easier between us," the girl said, regaining her leisurely, relaxed demeanor.
He let her mocking remark soundlessly bounce off him, paying it no mind. He simply listened, a feeling of unexplainable emotion rising in his chest.
"I'm Azura," she said, pointing a finger at her small chest, "and I want you to help me ascend."
Rob tilted his head, wondering if he had heard her right.
"Help you… ascend?" he echoed.
"Sorry, I don't exactly know the whereabouts of the stairs to heaven. And I'm pretty sure I wasn't born with wings to carry you into the sky."
Azura blinked twice, puzzled as though he was the one spouting nonsense here.
"Stairs to what? And carry me? Glad that you offered, of course, but no thank you. I don't know you, and I don't let strangers touch me," she said at last.
"Wait, what the fuck—you mean you don't let strangers touch you? Is this the problem here? What about wings and flying? That’s okay in your books?" he half-shouted at her.
Then he caught himself, took a slow breath, and added more calmly:
"Sorry. Sorry. I shouldn't have said that aloud," he paused, "uh, probably that too."
Giving his mouthy, talkative version a sucker punch to the teeth in his mind, Rob closed his eyes for a moment.
"Could you graciously explain how exactly I can help you ascend?" he asked after collecting part of his mind together.
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Azura stared at him for a long, uncomprehending moment, and then a look of realization dawned on her.
"Oh yeah, you probably don't know. Being a Prime and that," she said, slapping her small forehead in mock anger.
Rob inwardly winced. The mad girl was only one hand away from falling down to god knows where. He looked at her hand that was still glued to her face and wondered if this was how all the natives here lived.
"Exactly?" he just confirmed his ignorance and didn't try to warn or caution her.
"Yes, yes," she remarked, giving his shoulder a light smack. "Just listen."
"Let me give you the basics. I don't know where you came from or what your life was like before, and it doesn't matter. What you need to know is this: the Wall is dangerous. Spitting-monsters-and-world-ending-catastrophes kind of dangerous. And of course, the deadliest of all—people."
With every word, his eyes widened further and farther. He was only a few sentences into these so-called "basics," and already it felt like everything he'd experienced so far was just the Wall's warm-up.
"That's why most people don't climb," Azura went on. "They settle down somewhere. They find some relatively safe corner and try to carve out a life, despite the many drawbacks. Those people are called settlers. They make up the majority here on the lower levels."
Her tone sharpened as she reached that part. Rob half-expected her to spit to the side in disgust.
Thankfully, she didn't. Instead, her voice regained its usual carelessness as she continued.
"On the other side, you have the movers." She sniffed. "Risers, who are single-minded fools obsessed with climbing higher. Wanderers, a miserable, lost bunch who've clearly never heard the word 'destination' before, wanting—as they claim—to explore the wonders of the Wall."
"Still, despite the differences in goals and motives between movers and settlers, both agree on one thing: you can't remain alone," she huffed, and with a tone edged with challenge, she commented, "at least not while you're as weak as an ant."
"Settlers try not to split up, always clustering together like the cowardly sheep they are."
This time, she actually spat, and he couldn't help but crack up a little. Something about seeing such a small girl pull off such a rough gesture amused him more than it should've.
"I need people to travel upward with me—and I already have a group," she said with a sigh. "But the thing is, we have a flaw. We're missing a pathfinder."
He frowned. "Then why—"
"Then why you?" Azura cut in. "Honestly, someone like you would be the worst companion to add to our team, worse than going alone, even. You know nothing about this world. You just arrived, and you're scared, confused, probably still in denial about the whole thing. And, most importantly, you have next to no survival experience nor any fighting skills."
Rob's frown deepened. He didn't like the sound of that. Didn't like it at all.
"And for reasons that aren't important for now," she continued, her voice leveling out, "my group is limited in movement. But you, as a Prime, have no such restriction. Your mobility would be much more flexible than ours. Which means you can—"
"Which means I can be your risk tester," he cut her off this time, "one who could help you avoid all the monsters, the disasters, and the ambushes by stumbling at them first and escaping to inform you."
As soon as he finished speaking, he resumed descending, the conversation ending for him.
"I have to admire your honesty. No, really, that's quite bold and overconfident. But why do you believe that I might even consider something like that?"
He was disgusted. And that wasn't because she was a manipulative, opportunistic piece of trash trying to take advantage of a newcomer like him, though that was disgusting too. But because what was even more audacious and sickening was how she started telling him about all the dangers and horrors of her world and still expected him to agree to be her sacrificial lamb.
That was so unbelievable and laughable that he just assumed people weren't so bright over here.
Azura didn't give up. "Don't be a fool," she said, chasing him down. "You have to ascend, and you would die if you ascend alone. No amount of risk is steeper than a questionless death."
"I could just become a settler," he responded, entertaining her just for a little more.
She snorted in disdain, then shot back.
"You experienced yourself how approaching those scum went. They will kill you 9 times out of 10, and believe me, they have a good reason to."
She flicked her hair out of her face and continued.
"Plus, even if you proved too troublesome to be provoked, you would still sleep fearing knives in the dark. It isn't for you, not in the Deads. You saw how they lived—like animals, and maybe worse. And worse yet, they have accepted it, and they would behave like the animals they became."
He paused just for a moment and then resumed going down. Yet he still couldn't remove the image that sprang into his mind.
Because as much as he wanted to deny it, her words affected him deeply. The dead looks, the aggressive response as if an animal defending its territory, and most revolting of all, the corpse-like state they were in—simply the painting of people who live to die.
And Rob would never be a part of such life. He would snap before too long, and he didn't want to imagine what he could become.
"Still, your offer isn't any better," he eventually replied.
"And how did you know, genius? You didn't even listen to a word of it," she responded, her voice gaining an edge of frustration.
"No need. I can easily guess how it will go."
"You know nothing, fool," Azura shouted, her frustration and anger boiling to the surface.
He kept moving, not deigning to give even a modicum of a response. He was just thankful that she didn't attempt to follow him. For a moment, he stupidly feared that she might kill him because he didn't agree to join her insane crew. Well, she did say that she was going to kill a man for just not liking him, so his fears weren't baseless after all.
Azura visibly tried to gather her emotions. Then she followed him, keeping a small distance between them.
"Listen—I get it. I sound like I'm taking advantage of you, deceiving you. But you know nothing about our world. Believe me, I'm actually helping you. No one would even consider talking to you, and I wouldn't have to either. If I wanted something from you, I wouldn't have to lie. I could kill you and take it, or force you. But I didn't. I'm talking to you nicely, aren't I?"
"Why are you going faster? Wait—just wait. You shouldn't go down there. It's dangerous. Seriously dangerous. Just stop, please."
He didn't stop, of course. In fact, he went even faster.
She ended up stopping first. A pained, stranded look crossed her face. Then, she fumed, shot Rob a glare from above, and climbed back up.
"Insane people?" Rob said, panting. "I have been kidnapped into a crazy world with insane people."
CAN A HEALER SURVIVE THE APOCALYPSE... ALONE?
?
Fantasy LitRPG Adventure Psychological Progression
When Matt's vacation was cut short, he didn't expect the end of the world to be the reason, but that was exactly what happened when the system made itself known, integrating Earth into the multiverse. Yet his misfortunes didn't end there, as he discovered that not only had he been separated from his friends, he had also been rejected from the tutorial.
An endless desert, a strange country, and a class he never asked for, are some of what Matt has to contend with as he attempts to navigate this new system and his new reality. It's a fight for survival, but also a new beginning, one he had long wished for. Will he be able to survive in isolation until his friends and the rest of humanity has returned to Earth, or will the hardships of this new reality break him first?
Witness the start of a new LitRPG, where Matt and his friends, now separated by the vastness of the multiverse, fight to make a name for themselves, to achieve a dream they've long held, and most importantly, to survive.
?? What to expect
- Weak MC healing his way to the top
- Fun dialogue
- Comedic elements
- Psychological elements
- High stakes
- A logical stat system
* A Tale of Survival & Revenge *