Purgatory: The Devil's Game

by M. A. Carlson

  “No, the trainers will know,” the old man promised then faded away as if he had never been there in the first place.

  “Creepy old dude,” I mumbled, resuming my retreat from that place.

  Chapter 3 – Welcome to Sin City

  I blinked as I stepped out into daylight. It was a severe contrast from the din of the . . . of Purgatory. When my eyes adjusted, I was looking down on what I could only call a . . . town? It looked old, older than even medieval. There were people moving through crowded streets. I saw what looked like street stalls, covered by canvas tarps, selling goods, though I couldn’t see what those goods were from my current vantage point. I saw what looked like larger compounds spread to either side of the street, each one sporting a large open courtyard where I could see more people moving about. There were more buildings radiating out from that central road, but I could see even less of them.

  “Hey, keep moving,” someone barked from behind me and shoved me forward. “You’re blocking the exit.”

  I regained my balance quickly and turned to snap at . . . a large brutish man in thick spiked armor carrying a giant hammer over one shoulder. “Apologies,” I quickly changed my tone. “I guess I’m new here.”

  The man snorted and shouldered past me. He was followed a moment later by a lithe woman in green with a bow across her back, a quiver hanging from one hip, and a short sword from the other. It was about then their weaponry finally registered. Were there no guns? Nothing modern? I looked back at the city and felt fear run through me. Not only was I going to be forced to fight for my soul, but I was also going to be doing it with ancient weaponry.

  Everyone might daydream about fighting with a katana or charging into a battle with a giant ax every now and then. But to be involved in such a real endeavor . . . that was less than ideal.

  All this was pushed from my thoughts when someone else spoke up from behind me with an accent I couldn’t exactly place. It could have been Australian, maybe English. “Hey, mate, stop standing around. You look new. Someone less scrupulous will take advantage of you if you don’t get moving.”

  I looked to the source of the voice. It was a young man, kind of thin and gangly. He didn’t look like much with his freckles and sandy brown hair. Realizing I was staring, I quickly said, “Right, sorry.”

  I started down the stairs again and the young man followed right behind me, introducing himself, “Name’s Billy.”

  “Victor,” I replied, glancing back at the man then back to the stairs in front of me. The old man’s warning about dying out here flashed through my head. The last thing I needed to do was fall off these stairs and die.

  “How’d your assessment go?” Billy asked. “It’s been so long since mine I barely remember it. Is that old man still a bastard?”

  “A bit,” I replied. “The assessment went okay.”

  “That’s good. Any idea what weapon proficiency you’re going to go after?” Billy asked, jabbering on. “Personally, I like my dagger. I prefer speed, move quickly to attack, and then get out of the way of the counter. You got a good speed score?”

  “It’s okay,” I answered vaguely.

  Billy kept on talking. “You look like more of a Strength guy to me. Probably do well with sword and shield, maybe a mace and shield. If you know how to swing a baseball bat, the mace and shield might be the way to start. But you gotta do shield first. You only get one Body proficiency to start. Got to be smart about it.”

  I nodded. It was an interesting idea. I did have a decent Constitution and Strength. And I did know how to swing a bat. From what I gathered from Billy’s chattering, you could only learn one Body proficiency to start, like the shield or mace. I could learn the shield and still pick up a bat to swing around, or mace as it appeared to be in my case.

  “But you gotta do you,” Billy said. “Honestly, it doesn’t really matter what weapon you take to start out. The first floor of Purgatory is typically easy to clear. Then again, I don’t know what your Purgatory is, it might be harder, you never know.”

  I nodded.

  “Me, I got imps on my first floor. Speedy little blighters, but one quick stab and they go down,” Billy continued. “It’s even easier when they can’t see you coming. I got a Stealth ability for my Soul proficiency. Do you got a strong Soul?”

  I shrugged. I didn’t want to tell this guy too much. Something about him made me uneasy. And he talked to much.

  “I tell you, if I could do it all over again, I’d have gotten a guide. Really useful, them. They know all kinds of stuff. They can tell you about the demons you face inside. They know all kinds of things about Purgatory. Ah, but too late for that,” Billy lamented. “Would have been a real help when I started out?”

  Starting out with a guide sounded good to my ears. I was a stranger in a strange land. Finding someone or something to show me the ropes would be a huge advantage.

  “Where would I get one of these . . . guides?” I asked, trying and failing to hide my interest.

  I felt Billy wrap and arm around my shoulder. “I know the place. Happy to show you the way . . . for a price.”

  And there it was. I knew this guy’s friendliness was too good to be true. “Now, I know you’re new and you don’t have anything to give me just yet, but I can show you the way . . . on credit. You’re good for it, right?”

  I nodded. I could at least hear him out. “How much?”

  “Oh, nothing much, let’s say a hundred tiny crystals. You could get that much in a day of work inside Purgatory, no problem,” Billy assured me.

  I wished I knew what crystals were. I assumed they were some sort of currency. But, if it was as easy as he said, why not? “Alright, that’s fair.”

  Billy smiled too widely, revealing yellow and rotting teeth. His face was pockmarked and dirty, not freckled like I thought I first saw him. His hair was cut unevenly as if it was done with a dull knife. Did he always look like that? I don’t remember him looking like that when I first met him near the exit. Why did looking at him suddenly make my skin crawl?

  “Deal’s a deal. 100-Tiny Crystals in exchange for taking you to get a Divine Guide,” Billy said, holding out a hand for me to shake.

  I shook the hand then suddenly felt sick and jerked away from him. “What was that?” Why had I agreed to that? What was I thinking?

  “That was a deal being made,” Billy said with a crooked grin. “Deals are sacred here. You don’t ever want to break a deal . . . the punishment . . . ooh, not good,” he finished with a shake of his head.

  How did he do that? I didn’t want to shake his hand and yet . . . I just did. I really didn’t want to follow this man to this guide summoner or whatever he called it. “You know what, you don’t need to show me the way. I’ll just ask around.”

  “Ah, but then I would be breaking our deal. No, I’m going to show you the way and you’re going to pay me,” Billy threatened menacingly. Suddenly, I saw my red health bar dip ‘59/60’ and felt a poke in my side. “And if you try anything funny with me, well, you won’t be the last condemned man I’ve slipped a dagger into. And don’t forget, out here, death is final.”

  I swallowed and glared at the cutthroat. I should have known there would be this type in Purgatory. This was a place where people were sent to fight for their own souls. It should have been obvious to me that some of them would lose that fight.

  “Fine, show me the way,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “My pleasure,” Billy said, moving his hand from my shoulder to the back of my neck where he gripped down tighter, his fingernails digging into the skin. He guided me down the main thoroughfare, the dagger still poking into my ribs.

  As we walked, I got a few looks of pity, but no one stepped up to help. Either people were afraid of Billy or maybe Billy worked for someone they were afraid of. Or worse, they just felt like this was something I had brought upon myself.

  “You see, Vic,” Billy whispered into my ear, his foul-smelling breath wafting toward my nose and maki
ng me want to gag. “Immortality has it’s perks. I can do all those things I couldn’t do while I was alive. All those things I was afraid to do. See, while others see this place as Purgatory, I see this place as paradise.”

  “Can I ask you something?” I requested, still gritting my teeth.

  “Certainly, ask away,” Billy offered smugly. I could feel how much he was enjoying this.

  “To be sent here, to Purgatory, there must have been something redeeming about you, right? So why become like this?” I asked.

  Billy chuckled. “Redeeming quality, eh? No idea. You’ll learn soon enough, surviving this place is about the best you can hope for. No one ever gets out of Purgatory.”

  Billy sounded jaded to me. I wondered just how long he’d been in this place. He pushed me along, taking a point of my health every now and then to remind me he could kill me on a whim. Eventually he turned us down a side street, then another until I was utterly lost in the maze that was the Sinner’s City.

  Billy suddenly stopped and shoved me forward, slicing the back of my leg at the same time, my health dropped all the way down to ‘13/60’ from that one attack.

  The pain was intense, and my leg couldn’t support my weight after the attack. I fell to the ground and tried to put pressure on the wound as it started bleeding away HP. “What was that for?” I snarled.

  “Here we are, Vic my boy. Just go on inside and they’ll take good care of you.” Billy said, pointing his dagger at the door to my left. “As for that, just something to remember me by. Now, I’ve completed my end of our bargain. You have one week to pay me my crystals. After that, you’ll be punished. And after you’ve been punished,” he paused to grin wickedly, “I’ll come looking for you. Oh, and Vic, welcome to Sin City.” He cackled as he started walking away.

  “Where will I find you?” I called after him, but he didn’t answer. I had a feeling I was completely screwed. Even if I got the crystals, if I couldn’t find him to pay him then I’d be punished and who knew what that looked like. Worse, he’d come after me.

  I kept pressure on my wound, hoping to slow the bleeding. It seemed to work. Instead of losing an HP every second, I was losing one every ten seconds. It would be a close thing for my regeneration to kick in.

  2/60 . . .

  10/60 . . .

  I breathed a sigh of relief but continued to apply pressure to the wound. It was still bleeding. It didn’t stop until my HP ticked up to ‘34/60’.

  I promised myself, I would pay that man back and then I would pay him back.

  I laid on my back a little longer while my HP continued to recover. I finally glanced over at the door of the building Billy led me to. It was as old as the rest of the city. It appeared to be built of wood, plastered with mud. The door was more of a sheet of tattered cloth than anything else. Above the door was a simple wooden plank with wings engraved on it.

  Part of me wondered if getting a guide was the right decision. For all I knew, it was another trick by Billy. Problem was, I really did need a guide. I had been taken advantage of far too easily in the first minutes I was in the Sinner’s City. I needed someone trustworthy. Hopefully, this guide would be just that.

  Back on my feet, I stepped gingerly, not trusting my leg to fully support my weight. At least, not for the first few steps. I put more and more weight on the leg with each additional step, just testing it out. It took a minute before I was confident it would support me safely.

  I took a breath and approached the open doorway and knocked on the door frame. I wasn’t sure what else I could do without a door.

  “Enter,” replied a surprisingly young voice.

  I entered, unsure of what to expect. I certainly didn’t expect to see a little brown-haired girl sitting on a stool behind a counter that spanned the length of the shop. “Um, I heard this is the place to get a guide,” I said lamely.

  The little girl looked at me in surprise. Almost excitedly, she asked, “You want a guide?”

  I nodded.

  The little girl looked me over. “You qualify . . . are you certain you want a guide?”

  “Yeah,” I answered with a bit of a sigh. “I’m a bit lost and someone already took advantage of me. I’m afraid if I don’t get some help, I won’t make it.”

  The little girl visibly seemed to deflate at my answer and asked, “Billy brought you, huh?”

  “Uh, yeah,” I replied.

  The little girl sighed, then said, “I am afraid you may have been tricked again.”

  “Are you saying the guide won’t help me?” I asked.

  “Oh, no, not at all. It will certainly be helpful to you,” she replied. “It’s just that . . . it cannot fight. It cannot participate in the fight. It can only . . . advise you.”

  “That’s kind of the point,” I said. I was a little disappointed to hear that it wouldn’t be able to fight, but the advice was more helpful to me right now.

  “It’s just . . . most prefer to get some kind of Soul combat ability,” she said.

  “Ah, now I understand. Uh, let me ask you. Soul combat abilities, they probably take a lot of spirit energy to use, right?” I questioned.

  “Not too bad, maybe 5 SE per use,” she replied.

  “I have 10 SE total. A combat ability probably won’t do me much good,” I said. I knew a combat or healing ability would certainly help me. But with so little SE, that helpfulness would be limited. “Now, if the guide can tell me the weakness of whatever I’m fighting, that would probably serve me better, no?”

  The little girl seemed surprised. “But . . . none of you ever take a guide.”

  “Are you trying to talk yourself out of giving me a guide?” I asked, wondering if the little girl understood what she was doing.

  “Oh!” she exclaimed, her eyes widening. “No, no, of course not. I am just . . . overjoyed!”

  “Good, so, how does this work?” I asked.

  “Wait right here, I know just the guide,” the girl said excitedly, seeming to hop off her stool, the top of her head now the only thing visible behind the shoddy wooden counter. She rushed a few steps then vanished as if she went down on her knees. “Where is it?” I heard her mumble then exclaim a minute later, “Aha, got it!” That was then followed by a yelp of pain and the counter shaking. She came up rubbing the back of her head. “Ow, ow, ow, ow,” she complained as she moved back toward her stool, a little slower than before.

  I saw a scroll flop on to the counter before she climbed back up on to her stool. As soon as she sat, she rubbed at the back of her head again, wincing.

  “You, okay?” I asked.

  “I’m fine,” she replied. She kicked the counter then groused, “Stupid counter.”

  “Is this it?” I asked, pointing at the scroll.

  She nodded. “Yep. This is a Soul proficiency for call divine guide.”

  I picked it up and unfurled it. It looked like gibberish to me.

  “You need to add it to your Scroll of Body and Soul,” she explained, seeing I was making no progress.

  “Thanks,” I said, then stated, “Open Inventory.” I was once again instantly greeted by the grid of sixteen squares, only one of which had something on it. I touched it and the scroll appeared in my hand again. “Uh, how do I . . . add it?”

  “It’s easy, just unfurl both scrolls then place your Scroll of Body and Soul over the top of the Call Divine Guide Scroll,” she instructed.

  “Thanks . . . again,” I said, unfurling my Scroll of Body and Soul and laying it on top of the new scroll. There was a bright flash of light, and my scroll had a second page bound along the top edge, kind of like a note pad but made of ancient vellum instead of paper.

  You can roll up the top scroll and review the new scroll.

  I nodded again.

  Call Divine Guide

  Level: 1

  Experience to Next Level: 10,000

  SE Cost: 10

  Call a Divine Guide to assist you on your journey through Purgatory. Divine Guide is incorporea
l and invisible to all but the Caller.

  Using all my SE to call on my guide was a steep price to pay. Then again, what else was I going to do with my tiny SE pool. If I thought the price to call on my guide was high, it was nothing compared to the extraordinarily steep price to level it up. Compared to the 100 points of experience it would cost me to add a stat point, this was insanity. “Why does it cost so much to level up?”

  The girl perked up excitedly. “He can level up. I knew I picked you a good one. You are so lucky!”

  “Yeah, lucky,” I said. I knew that to be true . . . sort of. My Fortune was one of my highest stats. I didn’t know exactly what Luck did, but I had a 0.01% rating. That was a one in ten thousand chance of something . . . happening for me . . . I think. I really hoped that was how it worked. More, I hoped that something was a good something and not a random something. I would need to figure out how the formula for my stats worked sooner rather than later. I needed to grow and gain experience, especially if I ever wanted to get past Purgatory.

  I put my scroll back into my inventory then said, “Close Inventory,” making the grid vanish.

  “Congratulations, again, this is very exciting,” the girl said. “Would you mind waiting until you have enough SE recovered to call your guide? I would like to see who answers.”

  “Sure,” I said, smiling at the little girl. She was a sweet kid.

  Five minutes later I was ready . . . and had no idea what to do. I looked to the kid for help, “Uh, how do I call my guide?”

  “Oh, just say the name of the proficiency,” she answered.

  I nodded then swallowed nervously. “Call Divine Guide.”

  I didn’t immediately see anything. Then there was a spark glowing in the air. It quickly changed into a small flame before growing until it was about three inches in diameter. The flame shifted and changed until two eyes, a nose, and a mouth formed on the surface of the fireball. The ball of flame took a sudden breath, growing slightly, then deflating as it exhaled before the eyes opened . . . and glared at me.