Death After Death Ch. 123-124 (Patreon)

Ch. 123 - Routine

What should I have done differently? That was Simon’s first thought when he felt himself return to life on his lumpy bed in the cabin before he even opened his eyes. 

It had been a great run. In many ways it had been his best run ever, but the ending left him feeling unsatisfied, not to mention that he could feel that he’d become soft and weak all over again. 

During his most recent run, he’d spent the better part of a year in the Pit that time. He’d become strong and capable. By turns he’d been a hero, a hermit, and a healer. He’d almost become a serial killer. 

Now he was just… Simon, which was simply disappointing. 

But before he got to the business of living, and even before he talked to the mirror to record everything before he forgot and became just plain Simon once more, he reflected on whether or not he should have done anything differently, and eventually, even though he’d met such a tragic end, he decided that he’d done everything he could. 

Once that was done, he got up, rekindled the fire in the hearth, and immediately started cooking his sausages while he had a long conversation with the mirror about everything he’d done. Once he’d eaten and told it every last detail about the plague, the shipwreck and spider city, he finally asked, “Show me which levels are currently accessible.”

‘Level 1 - Rats in the root cellar
Level 4 - Skeletons in a crypt
Level 6 - Zombies in an inn
Level 10 - Fire elementals in Ionar
Level 13 - A demon in a church
Level 23 - The Sea Seraph
Level 25 - Black swarmer on a farm
Level 27 - Centaurs near Crowvar
Level 28 - Poisoned Oasis
Level 29 - Cultists in a village
Level 31 - Dragon in the mountains’

“So, 20 levels down, wait, I thought it was 19?” he said to himself, as he started counting the levels off on his fingers. 

“Ohhhhhh,” he said finally, “I forgot the trap level. I guess I’m broke now.” He would miss that easy source of gold, but he would not miss the bats, not even a little bit. 

“6 levels, out of 20… so of all the levels I’ve completed, I did like a third of those on this run?” he said, chatting with himself. The mirror started to answer the question, but Simon ignored it. “That’s fan-fucking-tastic. So, 20 down, 79 levels to go.”

He nodded at that as he looked down at himself. “79 levels to the bottom of the pit, and 79 pounds to lose. We could make this a reality show, it would need a catchier title, though.” Simon sighed with the hint of a smile still on his face. “Okay, maybe not 79. That’s a little much.”

After that, he got up and got moving. First, he decided to go get fresh water from the river to save the wine. Then, instead of going fishing because he was sick to death of eating fish, he went to chop wood so that he could start building up at least a little stamina while he tried to decide what to do next. 

The most obvious choices were dealing with level 4 and level 6. At this point he was almost completely sure that if he took off the skeleton knight’s breastplate he’d find that strange obsidian heart, and while he’d study it of course, he wasn’t sure he wanted to destroy it just yet because when it came time to try his hand at that fire elemental again, he was pretty sure he was going to want that icy sword. 

“Even if it is bringing a sword to a bazooka fight,” he grunted as he brought the axe down again, hard. 

Of course, the question answered itself. If he wasn’t going to take out the skeleton knight level just yet, then he was going to be headed to Schwarzenbruck again, whether he liked it or not. 

“I mean, I could try to finally figure out what the deal is with level 2 and the rats, or try to hike out of here again,” he said to himself as he finally took a rest break in the shade of a nearby tree. “Or maybe I could just wait around here and see who trashes the place before level 2 happens.”

Waiting around here forever wasn’t really an option as far as he was concerned because, eventually, he was going to run out of food. He also didn't really like the idea of going on a hike for no reason and trying to find civilization from here because even after he found it, he’d still have to hike all the way back. 

“At least it would get me in shape,” he said, trying to look on the brightside. 

In the end, his thoughts drifted back to level 2. What could the purpose of that be? To kill the rats? He’d done that. To take the food with him? He’d done that, too. 

A frequently occurring theme in the pit was disease, and rats were pretty tied in to that, generally. Could they be diseased somehow? 

He was no expert, but he knew that they could have fleas that transmitted nasty stuff like the bubonic plague, and they could also bite and give you rabies, but weren’t there a couple diseases that were spread by inhaling their shit, or was that cats? He couldn’t remember, but afterward, he decided that he should probably just burn the whole thing down, just to be safe. 

“Not the cabin, though,” he corrected himself. “The goblins probably do that eventually, and they did it once with me in it, so that’s not enough. I would have to fill the basement with fire without burning myself too badly in the process.”

That was doable, though, wasn’t it? Especially if he tossed some firewood down there beforehand. Maybe it wasn’t even their shit, he decided after he got up and started cutting wood again. Maybe it was their little rat babies in their little rat nest. He had no idea. He just knew that he wanted to complete it so that he could keep moving forward. 

At this point, as far as he was concerned, every level left uncompleted was one more chance for the Goddess’s plan and, by extension, the Goddess herself to fuck with him. Didn’t kill the rats on level two? Sorry, all the plague levels have changed. Do it again. Skeletons still alive? Well, then, I guess you have to fight the Peloponnesian war all over again. 

“What the hell even is a Peloponnesian,” he asked himself. He had no answers, though. It was just a funny word he’d learned in high school at this point, and high school was a distant memory after everything he’d been through.

Simon spent the rest of his daylight sweating and working, though even he knew he was mostly just looking for anything to do that didn’t involve thinking about meeting with Freya again. In principle, he was okay with the idea, but in reality, he was more than a little concerned about what would happen to his mental state if he saw her hanging around with new friends or, worse, a new man.

So, after all that was done, he took a mercifully quick dip in the cold stream, and then he went back to his cabin and barred the door for the night to avoid any unexpected guests. Once that was done he sat down with his favorite least favorite meal of bread, cheese, and wine and looked to the mirror. 

“Alright, mirror, let's see my character sheet,” he said with a mouthful of bread. “Let’s see what damage I did to myself this run.”

‘Name: Simon Jackoby
Level: 31
Deaths: 39
Experience Points: -912,358

Skills: Agriculture [Below Average], Archery [Average], Armor (light) [Great], Armor (heavy) [Below Average], Armor (medium) [Average], Athletics [Average], Baking [Poor], Cook [Above Average], Craft [Average], Deception [Average], Escape [Poor], Fishing [Above Average], Healing [Above Average], Investigate [Good], Maces [Average], Ride [Average], Search [Average], Sneak [Above Average], Spears [Average], Spell Casting [Good], Steal [Poor], Swimming [Above Average], and Swords [Great].

Words of Power: Gervuul (greater) Meiren (fire) Aufvarum (minor) Hyakk (healing) Vrazig (lightning) Dnarth (distant) Oonbetit (force) Zyvon (transfer) Gelthic (ice) Karesh (protection) Uuvellum (boundary) Barom (light) Delzam (cure)’

His character sheet appeared on the screen in small glowing blue letters like always, and he studied them for several minutes before he said anything else. He’d definitely taken a big bite out of his negative experience points last run. 

He couldn’t recall the previous number, but it had to be at least thirty or forty thousand. So he just needed like 30 more runs like that, and he’d be back in the positives. 

The thing was, he wasn’t certain that he’d still be here in thirty more runs. Even if he just cleared three levels at a shot going forward, he’d be done before then. 

“Wouldn’t that be ironic,” he said to himself. “I beat the pit, but I don’t have the experience to become a human again, so she makes me a damn Koala anyway.”

He laughed at that, and made a note that he should probably take things a little slower and spend more time helping people so he could get his experience situation handled in the near future. Would that work? Probably. He probably could have solved the problem by just spending the rest of his life healing people in Abrese. 

He wasn’t sure if he would have enjoyed that or not, ultimately, but there was no denying it would have been a good deed and would have done wonder’s for his experience or karma or whatever it was. As he laid back on his bed and folded his arms under his head, he said quietly to himself, “Maybe I should just, settle down somewhere for a while. You know, kill a king, rule a kingdom marry a nice princess, whatever.”

He laughed at that, of course, but he probably could have found some noble’s daughter to marry after he’d ended the ghosts plaguing Darndelle. There was a good reason he didn’t, though. Once he put down roots, it would be a lot harder to keep going, and what could be sadder than living the same life over and over again, trying to reclaim what he’d lost? 

No, he was going to have to find some way to spend some downtime between levels without proposing to the first girl who looked at him. He wasn’t sure he could cope with the idea of running around the world on the lookout for his kids and grandkids. That could get weird pretty quick, and there was no telling how just that one detail could screw up future levels. 

Those were the thoughts that Simon fell asleep to, but he found no answers, not even in his dreams.

Ch. 124 - Side Quests

The next morning, Simon started to get ready for his trip into the pit, but as he cinched up his armor, he changed his mind and decided that there was no way he could let Freya see him like this. It was exactly the same feeling he’d had when he’d decided not to go to his 10-year class reunion a couple of years, well… a couple dozen lifetimes ago now.

Then, it had been more about having nothing to show for himself, but now it was simply because he didn’t like the look of himself in the mirror. “This is exactly who how she’s always seen you, Simon,” he told himself as he stood there, bulging out of his armor in unsightly places. “That’s not important. It’s not like you’re going to hook up with her or anything.”

The words were true. He was, in fact, not going to hook up with her or anything. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure if he could, even if she’d been interested in him. Because she’s not my Freya. 

He sighed, conflicted about what to do next. Some part of him wanted to hike into the woods, go climb a mountain, and wrestle with a bear or something, while the rest of him just told him to get over it and start this run already. He knew from very recent experience that living a meager life off the land for half a year would be enough to transform him from more than a little overweight to dangerously underweight, so if he just did that for two or three months, he’d probably reach peak, Simon.

At this point, he really didn’t mind when he died and lost his gold or his weapons. Even his beloved backpack was replaceable, but being forced back into the physique? It was definitely the worst part of the experience and, ironically, the biggest motivator to avoid needless deaths. After a few weeks or months of saving people and killing monsters, he started to feel like a hero, but until then, when he was like this, it just felt like he was faking it again. 

The mood persisted. So, Simon went outside and hacked down enough tall grass to bundle together into something resembling an archery target so he could practice because he was definitely slipping where arrows were concerned. It wasn’t hard. It was like thatching a roof; they didn’t need to hold back the rain. He just needed to weave thick sections together so that he could stop an arrow.

He could have just shot them at a tree of course, but there would be no way to get those arrows back. Since this would his first run in a long time without a ready source of cash, he imagined he’d be hunting more than usual, which meant saving and reusing arrows where he could. 

He loosed arrow after arrow at the target for the next few hours, doing pretty good and only losing a couple to the tall grass while he contemplated everything. I can’t complete the pit unless I finish the early levels so that they don’t screw the later levels up and reset them, but I can’t get much in the way of supplies unless I keep the early levels right where they are. I guess I finally unlocked hard mode. 

He laughed at that, but truthfully, he still didn’t understand why anyone hadn’t completed the pit by now. It was awful and confusing but not that hard. He’d been a complete idiot for the longest time and managed to complete the first couple of floors by accident. Now that he was methodically trying to understand and finish them, they were dropping like flies. 

“What if there’s something too complicated for me to figure out, though? It’s not like she gives me any instructions,” he asked himself as he let his last arrow fly and then went to retrieve them. 

That was true. Some levels were hard physically, like the volcano level. Being expected to beat a giant fire elemental on its own turf was a little challenging, as he already knew. Others, though, like the Sea Seraph, were harder in a different way. He simply didn’t know what he was supposed to do to stop the plague? Did she just want him to sink the ship? Because that wasn’t going to happen. 

He wandered in circles the rest of the day as he wrestled with those thoughts, and it was only when he was starting to get hungry in the evening that he finally decided to go to Schwarzenbruck to get a bite. Paying that was another matter entirely, but he was sure he could find something with a little cold on it in the skeleton knight’s crypt. 

Simon took the time to toss down a dozen pieces of firewood before he descended into the basement. That made the giant rats a little harder to fight, and one of the little bastards managed to bite him for the first time in who knew how long, but in the end, they were all still going to die, and he was going to burn their nest down to see if that did the trick. 

One that fire was going good, and he had a few potatoes tucked in his sack in case he didn’t find a way to get something better, he left the burning room behind and descended into the skeleton crypt. 

There, he beat the undead warriors effortlessly. Out of shape or not, nothing that moved this slowly could compete with him anymore, and he felt vaguely embarrassed that this knight had the highest kill count on him of any monster in the place. “I guess that makes you my nemesis,” Simon grunted. “Not for long, though. Another level or two, and I’ll crush that ugly black heart in your chest, and you and your friends will never come back to life again!”

With his final word, he beheaded the knight, sending its skull clattering away to the far side of the room. When that was done, Simon sat down on the stone sarcophagus for a break, and once he’d caught his breath, he moved to the knight's corpse and took off the breastplate one rotting leather strap at a time. 

There, glimmering darkly in its ribcage, was what he’d been looking for. It was the source of whatever magic powered the undead. He probably could have sat there for days and studied it, but he was hungry and at the moment he didn’t have a mirror. So, instead he put the chest plate back where he found it, and vowed to look again next time when he was feeling more focused. 

Once that mystery was solved, he started ransacking the room for precious metals. He found a few silver religious amulets that looked to be made of silver and one gold ring. He used a word of earth to transform them into something resembling coins, and then, hoping that would be enough, he filled his purse, grabbed the key, and opened the gate. Then, with a deep breath, he returned to the inn and shut the door behind him. 

Inside, there were once again no zombies. This time, he didn’t see Freya either, which he counted as a good thing. So, he went up to the innkeeper and bought himself a meal and room for the night. The man looked at his coin-shaped silver skeptically and even bit it before he took it as payment. When he gave Simon his change, he could see that the man had short-changed him by several coppers, but considering it was basically counterfeit, he didn’t complain. He’d get some real cash soon enough, even if he had to go shake down bandits for their drinking money. 

Sitting in the common room long enough to loosen up, he eventually learned plenty. For starters, he learned that the situation was basically identical to last time, which was good news for him. The city was fine; there were no necromancers or zombies to speak of, but trade from across the black bridge had ground to a halt, and no one could say why, so the mercenaries he’d seen Freya in the company of last time were going to check it out. 

They were apparently went by the name The Butcher’s Bill, which struck him as more than a little ostentatious, but he didn’t complain about it. Why would he, he was going to have to sign up with him. It took him a few hours and a few drinks to end up at a table with a couple of them, and though they seemed more than a little skeptical at his stories of goblin and centaur slaying, they laughed along with his jokes. 

“No offenssse Sssimon,” an older man named Garth slurred, “But ye ssseem a little soft to have done much killing.”

“I’m hard enough to take any man here,” he said with a smile. “Maybe any two if I wasn’t pullin’ my punchesss enough to avoid hurting anyone.” Simon was slurring his words a touch too, though he’d been playing up his drunkenness for just this moment, and could easily dismiss it with a whispered word if her needed to.

“Big words from a fat man,” Hodge laughed. 

“Well, itss only braggin’ if ya can’t back 'em up,” Simon laughed, slapping Garth on the back. 

Everyone laughed, but he could see a couple of the men felt a little insulted at the boast. That was good. Simon just hoped they felt insulted enough. Sadly, it wasn’t. Garth, probably thinking he was looking out for Simon tried to change the topic to their up coming journey north, but Simon was determined not to let it go.

Instead, he fished out his single, thin, almost gold coin and said, “I’d wager this against any man that thinks they can take me.”

That did it. Suddenly, there were bets and discussions, and Hodge decided that he was going to be the one to beat some humility into Simon. He wasn’t a bad choice since he was a head taller and a few inches broader, but Simon wasn’t concerned. Garth again tried to intervene as they moved out into the stable yard and insisted they find wooden weapons or stick to fists, but neither man was interested in that. 

“It’s hard to tessst real ssstrength without sssteel..” Simon said, making the other men laughed. They thought he was a fool who was about to pay for the privilege of getting beaten down, and maybe once upon a time, he would have been, but between Hodge’s drunkenness and his overconfidence, Simon wasn’t the least bit concerned. 

The fight that followed was furious and brief. Simon attacked wildly a few times after he cured his drunkenness to seem entirely off balance, and then when his opponent pressed that advantage, he suddenly found that Simon was no longer there. He hadn’t parried. He’d seen the well telegraphed blow coming and side stepped it. 

Suddenly he wasn’t in front of Hodge, he was beside him, and he was coming around hard with the flat of his blade at the back of the man’s skull. Given that Hodge was already delivering a strong blow, the momentum was on Simon’s side, and that was enough send the other man tumbling to the ground.

After that, all that was left to do was whirl around and place his boot on his fallen opponent's ass and deliver a mocking salute with his sword to the other assembled men that had been watching the fight. It was clear by their shocked expressions that they’d expected any outcome, but this and that was enough to make him smile. 

“If you need one more for your trip up north, you know who to call,” he said, stooping over and helping Hodge to his feet. The man looked annoyed, but not murderously so, and Simon didn’t think he’d have to watch his back while he slept that night. Still, just to be on the safe side, he wedged his dagger into the door jamb as he always did after he got to his room and undressed, wondering whether or not his plan had worked.