The Soul Keeper

I looked at the dead creatures around us. They were indeed still here. After a moment's hesitation, I kneeled next to one and carefully touched its fur. It was soft, but dirty. I could see some leaves stuck in it, as well as drops of water and blood. There were even some traces of dirt.

"I don't think they will." I said as I stood up. Erik sighed as everyone else grumbled about quality of life and inconveniences.

I looked at the other corpses, then at my clothes. My black robes had some dirt and dried blood on them. I ran my finger through my hair, it felt… normal. I looked at the corpses again. How had OTHERWORLD made everything so detailed?

"Kai?" Erik called my name. "Are you ok?"

I nodded. I felt uneasy. I approached the camp and sat down with the others.

"Let's check the box we got and everything else." Vincent said as I took the clothes from my inventory. "I'll use one of the tents to change." I mumbled and quickly hurried off there. I was never comfortable with robes – they reminded me of not quite so pleasant memories.

I took off my robes and put on the clothes the winged guy had given me. They really were simple clothes. After wearing my new getup, I stopped to check the inside of the tent. I was looking a place – any place that looked or felt like a game. That seemed unnatural. Virtual.

I ran my finger through the thick cloth of the tent, touched the moist dirt. I puffed at my hand, only to be amazed how real my warm breath felt. I could see why OTHERWORLD was considered the leading company.

I left the tent to see Samantha and Alina entering the other tent. I shot a questioning look at Erik, who quietly answered. "They'll change too." He stood up to enter the tent I just left. "We should all do that, actually." He mumbled as the cloth flap closed after him.

I sat down by the Kestler brothers. They were both staring at two large wooden boxes.

"I expected treasure." Vincent finally said. Joshua nodded as he reached into the box and grabbed a really long rope. "I don't think we'll ever use this. Or the hammer. Or anything else in there."

I chuckled. "You never know." I pointed at the setting sun. "What do we do now?"

"Wait for Erik. Probably spend the night here." Vincent shrugged. "It's probably not a good idea to be walking around when it gets dark."

I nodded. With creatures such as these out there, I wouldn't want to be out there during the night either. I got up again and sighed. "Hey, Vincent. Was there a knife in the box?"

"Yeah, why?" He pointed at a rather sharp knife.

It was good enough for my purposes. "I'll get rid of the corpses." I said. I didn't want them to start decomposing just by our camp. Besides, there was something else I wanted to check too.

"They'll go away eventually." Joshua said with a yawn. "This is a game, remember?"

"Sure. But they're still here. I'm not asking you to do anything. I'll take care of it." I summoned my own box and took the knife out.

"Whatever." Joshua grumbled and opened his status panel. Vincent just sighed and shrugged.

I approached the farthest corpse and touched its fur. "Sorry about this." I whispered before making a clean cut along the creature's stomach all the way to its lower lip. The smell of blood was intense. I carefully lifted its skin. The muscles were… realistic to say the least. I could see the blood oozing from the damaged veins. The body was getting cold and it was getting more difficult to move its legs.

I quickly cleaned the knife on the fur of the creature and got up. I had to take these corpses away from the camp before the smell of death set in. I grabbed the first one by its hind legs and started dragging it away from camp.

They were heavy and by the time I was done, I was out of breath. I sank onto the ground. I needed a little rest. Beads of sweat dropped from my forehead. I looked up as a calm breeze shuffled the leaves.

I looked at the small pile of corpses. I could smell the blood from here. And if I could, so could any predators.

I tried to tell myself that this is a game, that I didn't need to go to this extent; but I just couldn't bring myself to not take this seriously. It didn't feel like a virtual world. With a tired sigh, I got up and looked around. Was there anything I could use as a shovel?

After a few minutes of searching, I found a wide, broken branch. It wasn't perfect but it would do. Right before I started digging, I thought of giving 'Fallen Grace' a try. I summoned the interface and touched the skill. My mana decreased by twenty as the shadows that had previously entered my chest suddenly burst forth. The coldness I had been feeling had disappeared. The creature's shadows – their souls – circled me for a short moment before dissolving into my legs. Almost immediately, I felt power rushing into me.

Grabbing my makeshift shovel, I started digging a hole. The moist, fresh earth was easy to move, making my job take much less time and effort than I expected. After what seemed like half an hour, I already had a deep enough hole. I quickly rolled all ten corpses inside, then covered up the hole with dirt and dead leaves.

"I hate this…" I mumbled. I felt nauseous. The stench of death lingered around me. I slowly walked back to the camp. The scratches on my hands hurt as did my legs. This body wasn't made to do any heavy lifting like that. I still couldn't wrap my head around why I was given this avatar. But more importantly, I couldn't understand how this was a virtual world.

"Hey Kai." Samantha waved at me from the camp. "I'm glad you're back in one piece…" She hesitated. "The others went to gather some firewood. Are you ok? You look a bit pale."

I laughed. "Pale is one way to put it." I pointed at my long white hair and pale skin. "I'm fine. I got rid of the corpses so I'm a bit tired." I looked around. I wanted to wash the dirt away. "Is there a water source around here?"

She nodded. "I found a river. Follow me." She led me through a patch of greenery to a small stream. Grateful, I washed away the sweat and dirt. The cool water touching my skin felt incredible. I stared on my reflection for a short while.

"I can't believe this isn't real." I whispered as I dipped my fingers into the flowing stream, watching the water bend around them. "How did they even achieve such realism?"

She shrugged. "I don't know but it's amazing." She smiled. "Now do you understand why we wanted you to join us?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Samantha." I rose to my feet and gestured her to lead the way back. "It's really amazing." I mumbled as we passed through the bushes.

When we came back to the campsite, Erik was already back. He was standing there, motionless. He looked a bit pale. Worried, I rushed over with Samantha in tow.

"Erik, what's wrong?"

He stared at me wordless for a moment before summoning his interface. He looked it over – every panel, every single piece of text. "Kai." He said as his bright blue eyes met mine. "There's no logout button."