As Axel kept running, he saw that the shadows he chased were no longer there, their faint rustles were gone, he asked himself, "How did they disappear?", his naive nature lead him to his unfortunate demise. One by one, the shadows revealed their location, cornering every exit, Axel tried to think of a way he can get out of this dire situation his naive nature put him in, yet everything he thought of wouldn't work. The thieves, who were covered in a black robe with a symbol of a snake strapped to their suit, replied "You should learn how to back off things you know you can't do.", Axel didn't reply, he stood there, just thinking of a way to escape or fight back.
...
...
...
Nothing came to his mind, nothing can let him escape. He bit his finger in desperation, but he knew he wasn't going to win. So he stopped and accepted his fate.
...
The thieves attacked him in sync, blood spilled and cuts deepened further and further into his skin, he was losing his consciousness, his blood spilled over the floor, he fell, bathed in his blood, asking nothing but one question, "Is this... The end?"
His vision blackened, then the skies darkened, a lightning bolt appeared from the sky, "KRACK!", the thunder echoed through the forest, a voice spoke, "Hey, stay with me, your going to be all right."
...
-About a day after the encounter.-
"Agh... My head hurts... Wait, where am I?", Axel immediately asked after he woke up, he looked around, there was a small table porched next to his bed, it was a small room, there was a vase and a letter placed neatly on the table, "I'll be back soon, just sit tight!
Warmest regards, Roya."
Axel asked himself if he really was given another chance, he didn't exactly know the consequences of dying in this world, as the man who put him here was very vague. There was a tray with food and water in it, Axel reached for the tray but he felt a surge of pain overwhelm him, "Man, I got beat up bad...", he fought through the pain to grab the tray, he started eating when he heard a loud explosion in the background, Axel tried his best to get up, "Who's there?", he asked.
"Oh, you are up!", a voice spoke back, Axel couldn't quite place his finger on how the figure looked, "Oh how rude of me, I am Darius, knight of the seventh archangel.", the man replied, "Uh, I'm Axel, a pleasure to meet you.", Axel replied, "Don't be intimidated by the title, it's given naturally to us players.", Darius replied, "Uh, what?", Axel asked, "Oh, you must be new. Uh, so when we are sent here, we are given a title and a race to blend in with the world, Roya brought you here, we saw that you were covered in wounds and were on the verge of death, our healer came in, she is Fay, she healed you but she knew you sustained so much damage that you had to rest at our place.", Darius replied, "But what was that loud explosion?", Axel asked while trying to fight through the pain, "Oh that was our ballistic expert, Noah, he made a breakthrough and wanted to test out his new explosive, sorry if he startled you though.", Darius explained further, "Where did Roya go?", Axel asked, "She said she had some unfinished business, but don't worry, she can handle herself.", Darius explained, "How long has she been gone?", Axel asked worriedly, "1 maybe 2 hours, don't worry, she always comes back.", Darius replied, "Since I'm new to this, can I ask what happens if you die?", Axel asked, "...", Darius went silent, "I-i don't really know, we wanted to see what happened but anyone we assumed died never came back...", Darius replied, "So I can just assume that there is no respawn? Wonderful...", Axel replied, "Well, if you need help with anything, just contact me.", Darius replied while walking away.
"So I really only have one chance, let's hope I don't waste it...", Axel thought to himself.
-Until Next Time-