Welcome to Ultralife! Ultralife is a video game-like world where those who are the strongest rule. The buildings, academics, techniques, all of it is nothing that you’ve ever seen before. A world with no limits. A world where you can be whoever you want to be.

  That is, of course, if you’re strong enough.

  The sun poured in through the windows, marking the beginning of my day. I lifted up and stretched my arms, yawning—slipping on my slippers as I made my way down the creaky stairs.

  “We really gotta fix those stairs,” I said as I rubbed my eyes.

  “Do you have money to fix them?” Mom quipped, flipping the pancakes in the air before catching them in the pan.

  “No but one day, I will,” I responded.

  “I’m sure you will, son,” Dad said from behind his newspaper, “remind me again—what’s your talent tree look like?”

  I lowered my head.

  In the world of Ultralife, everyone has what we call “Talent Trees”. The more you level up, the more talent tree points you get. The amount of talent tree points corresponds with the amount of experience that you get (2 levels is 2 talent tree points, so on and so forth)with some of the bosses giving you special skills that aren’t even available on the skill tree. Your skill tree is dependent on the type of class you chose to become, with skills becoming available to help you progress on your route. Assassins get stealth skills and vital strike skills as well, healers get healing, you get it.

  However… My Talent Tree only has one skill. Determination. Everyone else had trees that extended with glowing pathways, forging their paths to becoming even stronger and I don’t have anything—All I have is this stupid ‘Determination’ skill and I haven’t figured out what it is or what it does either.

  “Uh,” I scratched my head nervously, “it’s…still empty…”

  He sighed before returning back to his paper.

  My skill wasn’t even heard of by the village elder. My mom was supportive, harsh but she stood by me even if dad didn’t.

  My dad was disappointed—he’s been wishing someone in our family could make it. They could get us out of here and have a life that we’d be proud of. But even by your average standards, I’m weak.

  In this world. In Ultralife—how am I supposed to survive in a world revolved around combat, quests, and leveling up when my Talent Tree looks like a barren twig?

  As I got lost in my thoughts while holding my honey toast, a floating glowing scroll appeared above my head. I groaned as shimmering words began scribbling onto the golden parchment,

  [The workers are in trouble! Head to the mines and rescue the workers inside!] The words read.

  This was a normal occurrence. We would get assigned random quests and would have to complete them. Obviously, the list of the quest’s details were plastered onto the scroll along with the potential loot and the difficulty.

  With this one’s difficulty being 4 ?? out of 5.

  My sister, Mira, shot her head up from the floating holographic screen in front of her, her favorite influence ‘Kilyen Faezerious’, a famous elf who participated in the raid of the Flame Dragon was on the display.

  God, usually you’d be jealous of their fame but my mouth drooled about the potential loot that they got.

  “A quest? What is it?” She ran over and tried to peek.

  “I have to rescue the miners out of the mines,” I sighed, swallowing the honey toast in one gulp. She stared at me, blankly.

  “What the hell was that?”

  “What was what?”

  “YOU DIDN’T EVEN CHEW!” She put her hand over her mouth, acting like she was going to vomit.

  “Maybe the loot will be worth something this time,” she snickered while pointing at the rusty knife that sat on the mantle. A souvenir from the previous quest.

  “It’d be nice if I didn’t lose a boot this time,” I grabbed my weapon from the cabinet in the living room. A simple steel dagger that had no special qualities.

  “Yeah, we know you couldn’t afford to buy any more,” she chuckled.

  I grabbed the scroll and shoved it into my pack. I turned around and waved to Mira, hopefully not for the last time. This dagger… I flipped it in my hand, reminiscing about the quests we cleared together. Not because I fought well but because I ran fast.

  The day starts early for everyone as the clock on the wall barely struck 8 am. Adventurers gathered outside in the markets, shopping for gear and talking to the citizens of our village. A group of large adventurers, clad in armor walked past my door—their armor shimmering faintly with enchantments. A bard sat on the edge of the fountain, playing a melody that brightened the spirits of locals. A rogue made its way along the rooftops, the grappling hook glowing faintly.

  “Ah, hello, Orion!” The local baker shouted across the street, a bag of flour hauled over his shoulder.

  “Hello, Jorra,” I walked over to him.

  “What brings you out here so early?” He immediately knew after asking, “Quest?”

  “Yep. Some of the locals may be in danger so I need to get to the mines before something happens,” I answered.

  “Well, good luck. Watch out for those copper trolls—they’re nasty.”

  “Great,” I muttered before waving him goodbye and leaving towards the gate.

  I trudged past a group of rowdy adventurers, all of their armor shimmering and their weapons glowing on their backs and waists. A large board saying “Arena Championship—Registration Open!” on the adventurer’s board where guilds usually recruited for group quests or locals put requests on it.

  I paused and stared at the notice.

  Arena Championship… My mind went to another world. One where I stood might and victorious over the fallen enemies of the arena who dared to challenge me. Alas, that’s a world far far away. Probably lifetimes away.

  Legends are made—or broken, in the arena. Only the best of the best compete in the Arena Championship.

  I stood there for a second and shook my head. This quest is one thing but fighting with the best in front of THAT crowd? Yeah, no. I’m crazy but not that crazy.

  Not yet, at least.

  I arrived at the mines after traveling through the fields with a man in dirty overalls and a helmet with a flashlight standing there—clipboard in hand. He peeked up from his clipboard and stared at me.

  “Can I help you?” He asked.

  “I got a quest to help the miners inside,” I explained.

  “Nothing out of the ordinary has happened—”

  BOOM

  A loud explosion shook the ground where we stood, rocks blasting out of the cave.

  I stared at him, he gave me a nod. I ran inside—my hand grabbing my dagger and gripping it tight.

  The crystals on the wall had been plucked dry by the people inside but it was unclear how far they had made it to. I dashed around the maze-like cave for what felt like hours with no sign of them.

  “WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?!” I shouted for the millionth time. Not actually but it sure as hell felt like it.

  I heard a loud collection of mumbles from the right side of the mine. I couldn’t understand but it sounded like the workers so I ran towards it.

  A wall made of rock and bright cobalt blue crystals blocked me off from them.

  “Shit.” I mumbled to myself.

  I noticed a draft of air from the ventilation shaft off to the right. I closed my eyes and held my hands together,

  “Please let me get out of this alive,” I whispered before going into the shaft.

  I navigated my way along the shaft, the tight fit restricting my movements along with the jagged rocks digging into my side. The flashlight in my hand danced off the damp walls casting long shadows that caused the shaft to feel more claustrophobic than it already was.

  I moved along down the darkness. Each move was a calculated effort—one hand gripping my knife, one bracing along the cold, uneven rock. The air was heavy, the metallic tang of the crystals embedded in the walls. A distant rumble shook the tunnel, causing dirt and pebbles to rain on me.

  “Just a bit further,” I mumbled as I dragged myself further.

  The shaft sloped upward, and as I climbed, I spotted a faint light. It was too dim to be the sun so it was probably the lantern lighting up the room. I rushed to the light where it was blocked by a rusty metal grate. Relief had filled my mind but was quickly replaced by dread, I still had to find a way to free the miners. I grabbed the grate and pulled it off—easily. This must’ve been here for a long time. I slowly lowered myself into the room. The smell of gunpowder intoxicated my nose. I looked around to see barrels and stacks of dynamite and other explosives.

  “This’ll do nicely,” I said. I walked over to the barrel and lifted it up and out of the room and into the ventilation shaft. I grabbed some dynamite and stuffed it into my pocket—just in case.

  “I have to be extremely careful with this,” I spoke softly, not knowing if my voice will cause any more of those earthquakes. I held onto the barrel as I slowly brought it back to the blocked off entrance. The amount of power will have to be balanced, I need to place it perfectly and detonate it at the perfect position so it doesn’t bring the rest of the mine down onto us.

  I had finally made it back to the wall where I slowly lowered the barrel. My hands trembled as it bumped against the grooves and crystals on the wall, none of them accidentally exploding it. Their muffled voices’ grew closer as I put the barrel down.

  “Get back!” I shouted to them, but trying to keep it as low as I can with them still hearing me, “I’m going to blow this open!”

  A faint response came from them but I couldn’t understand it followed by shuffling—most likely them moving as far away as possible. I grabbed a cloth from the ground which was luckily right by a small puddle of oil. Lucky me. I slowly cut a small hole into the barrel with my dagger and placed the cloth with oil in.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  “Okay, what now—” I thought to myself.

  I grabbed the barrel off of the ground, placing it into a crevice for maximum impact. My dagger wasn’t good for battle but its tip worked perfectly to score a groove into a nearby rock. Sparks flew as I struck the crystals that lined the crack, finally igniting the hastily crafted fuse I had created.

  I sprinted back into the shaft, heart pounding as the flame danced down the fuse. The flame grew brighter, lighting up the dimly lit walls.

  “Come on,” I muttered as the flame made it down the entirety of the wick.

  BOOM

  The explosion rang throughout the mine, roaring like a thunderclap. Rocks flew past me, shaking the entire mine and pelting the walls behind me. Regardless of me being all the way back here, I was sent flying further back by the explosion. My ears were ringing. The overpowering smell of gunpowder filled my nose as I squinted my eyes trying to see past the haze of smoke. The smoke and dust finally settled as my flashlight spotted a few haggard figures walking towards me.

  “You did it!” One gruffly said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

  I nodded. A flush of relief washed over me as I coughed, “Let’s get out of here.”

  I walked with the miners behind me, two of their shoulders’ draped over me. A faint rumble from the part of the mine they were in shook the ground, rocks jumping up and down on the cave floor. I stopped and looked back towards the sound.

  “You guys go on ahead,” I handed the two over to the other miners and walked to the source of the sound.

  “That wasn’t so bad, definitely not 4 skull difficulty,” I thought to myself.

  As if on cue, the golden scroll shot out of my bag and opened in front of my face. The old worlds erased—being replaced by new shimmering ones.

  [You have freed the miners! Yay! However—There is a much bigger threat! The Miniboss: Glimmerjaw has a special artifact that can really mess up Oriafield! Retrieve it without alerting him!]

  I snatched the scroll out of the air and stuffed it back into the bag.

  “Artifact?” My eyes lit up, “but how am I supposed to steal from a miniboss?” I groaned as I walked back into the mine where I had freed them.

  Why did I have to free them? Why me? There’s much more qualified people out there—hell, even in this town, that could’ve gotten this quest. But it gave it to me.

  I advanced into the deeper sections of the mine—which were eerily quiet. I’m not even sure I can take on this Glimmerjaw or whatever.

  Nothing had been touched back here. All of the crystals were intact and there was no equipment back here. No pickaxes, explosives—nothing. I pressed forward, my instincts screaming at me to go back.

  The rewards were too great to just turn back though. My survival vs my greed, my greed will always win.

  CRUNCH

  My head swiveled to the loud snap. My eyes widened as I lifted my head up. To spot a Behemoth that stood to the mine’s ceiling. The blue mammoth stood up, eating a handful of crystals without a care in the world. The miners had disturbed it by mining here, taking away its food supply so it felt the need to lash out. I get that they were in the wrong so I turned away. I began to walk away.

  An earth shattering roar rumbled the mine as a large chunk of crystal landed next to me.

  The giant blue creature stood even higher, the titanic crystals spiking out of its back digging into the rock on the roof before ripping through it entirely. The ceiling gave out and collapsed onto the two of us. I ran out of proximity from the debris as the creature stood there—not moving an inch. The earth shook violently as the rocks crashed onto the ground, a fog of smoke covering the area that had once been pitch black. Light from the sun illuminated the area, the smoke finally clearing.

  [QUEST CHANGE! DANGER! DANGER!] The scroll once again erupted from my backpack and changed right before my eyes.

  [You have found Glimmerjaw, adventurer! And he’s angry! You disturbed him during his feast, he now has his eyes set on YOU as his prey! Survive!

  QUEST LEVEL: 5 ??

  MISSION OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE! ELIMINATE GLIMMERJAW!]

  “I DIDN’T EVEN DO ANYTHING YET! FUCK!” My trembling hands wrapped around the hilt of my dagger. My breathing quickened as I finally got a good look at the guy. The purple fur around his head and shoulders were covered in the crystals from the mine. The crystals lost their shine due to the dust from the rocks falling on him but otherwise he was unaffected by the sudden collapse of the cave overhead. The purple fur was also on his wrists with the same crystals, these ones still shining brightly.

  He roared once again, causing me to wobble as I tried to maintain my composure. He licked his tusk as he locked eyes with me. His eyes were cerulean, a complete reflection of the crystals he had been consuming until now. His—ahem—private area was covered by a pair of trunks that were made of black fur—in the form of a loincloth, a really thick loincloth.

  “Stop,” I looked down at my hands, which were trembling in fear.

  [NOTICE: YOU HAVE BEEN INFLICTED WITH FEAR!

  Attack: - 30%

  Speed: - 20%

  Composure: - 40%]

  The holographic red rectangular box flashed at me in the format of blocky text. The

  edges glowed in a carmine shade.

  I’ve never felt this way before— Am I actually able to defeat this thing? Is this really a miniboss? Well, I guess even if I were to die, it wouldn’t mean a damn thing to anyone else.

  I smacked my hands against my face.

  I can’t die.

  Not here.

  I dashed forward, my trusty dagger in tow. I hopped onto the falling rocks, bouncing from one to the next, trying to get to his head.

  If I’m at his head then maybe he won’t be able to reach his hands to reach me.

  I continued jumping from one rock to the other as the behemoth stood there, his eyes never leaving me. Even with this fear effect, I was still fast. The one thing that had never betrayed me in a quest was my speed. A speed I had developed from running away from danger.

  “GOTCHA!” I yelled as I jumped over the last rock, my knife held high into the air—aiming for his eye.

  Glimmerjaw swiftly lifted up his hand and backhanded me out of the air. I landed into the wall with a sickening crunch, the smoke and debris blasting from underneath me. My mind flashed to a memory. One of when I was crying. When I was a child, when I was lost and afraid—when I got stuck outside in the forest during a thunderstorm. Jorra,you met him earlier, the baker. He, a few other adventurers, and my mom came out to find me hiding in a nearby cave, crying my eyes out. I reached for my mother, being cradled in her arms when I thought all was lost.

  I coughed up the blood that had pooled in my mouth onto the ground as I laid back into the human shaped hole near the bottom of the cave wall.

  “I wanna go home…” my voice was barely a whisper. All of this was for who? Myself? These people wouldn’t do the same thing if it was for me. No. It is for myself. Everyone’s doubting me and I will become the strongest.

  I tightened my fingers around the dagger’s handle, my knuckles turning white.

  “Stay back,” a woman in stainless divine robes pushed me back onto the ground. The staff in her hand, the intricate and beautiful design shaped from rare Privet wood— a 1% drop from the Forest Guardian: Kedis. Her face was doll-like, her skin shining underneath the sunlight. Her eyes were a gorgeous chocolate brown as she stared at me with a look of disgust and pity.

  “Fuck you,” I stood up, pushing my body to its limit to just stand on two legs, “that loot is mine.”

  She sighed.

  “VINE PRISON!” Vines sprouted from the dirt, each one wrapping around me in a cage-like structure. I looked in awe as it manifested before me.

  I struck it with my dagger. My dagger bounced off it aimlessly.

  “LET ME OUT OF HERE!” I screamed at her.

  “Be a good boy and behave,” she turned to face Glimmerjaw, “I am your opponent now.”

  The gem on top of her staff was undoubtedly Lazolite, a scarce gem found in Twilrod Hollow that had unparalleled mana capacity. What I was looking at was a marvel of a staff created by precious materials and the utmost care.

  “STARFIRE BLITZ!” A colossal magic circle appeared on the end of her staff—pointed at Glimmerjaw. Mana built up in the jewel as it prepared to release the charged spell. The fire turned from a bright colorless, white shade of color to a fiery swirling vortex of white-hot flame raging inside like a storm. The flames shot out in a cone, the outside being a tangerine flame while the ball of fire inside burned a vermillion red. Twinkles of light shimmered from the beam as it barrelled its way towards Glimmerjaw.

  “RAUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” He opened his mouth and roaredGlimmerjaw suddenly lowered his hands onto the ground, dashing forward on all fours. The fire burned more brilliantly as it got closer.

  BOOM

  An explosion rattled the bare cave to its bones, threatening even more destruction than what had already occurred. The dust had blocked our path to Glimmerjaw but the smug look on the woman’s face told all what we needed to know. She whipped her hair over her shoulder and walked towards me.

  “What was that about loot?” She bent down on one knee and smiled sardonically at me.

  I stared into her eyes. The threat of my loot. MY LOOT—being stolen pissed me off more than it should’ve. There wasn’t much I could’ve done, she was way too powerful for me to try and take it from her. She laughed, her laugh taunting and pompous before she released the Vine Prison spell.

  This was how all of the powerful adventurers were. They took advantage of the weak and stole what was rightfully ours, granted I might not have been able to defeat it but it’s the principle of the matter.

  Wait.

  “Now be a good boy and fetch my items,” she said, although I had completely drained her out. I scrambled through my bag, wrapping my hands around the scroll. I rolled it open.

  [You have found Glimmerjaw, adventurer! And he’s angry! You disturbed him during his feast, he now has his eyes set on YOU as his prey! Survive!

  QUEST LEVEL: 5 ??

  MISSION OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE! ELIMINATE GLIMMERJAW!”]

  “IT ISN’T OVER! HE’S NOT DEAD!” I shouted, tackling her out of the way.

  She grunted as I pushed onto the ground. A gigantic crystal zipped through the air, ripping through the wall it had pierced behind us.

  “What—” All of the color, or whatever there was, drained from her face. The fear symbol appeared next to her name.

  The fear symbol was a small head with a terrified expression, its hands up on its face; holding it.

  “NO,” I slapped her across the face.

  “EXCUSE YOU—”

  “No, you don’t get to panic now! Not when we’re this close to dying!” I jabbed a finger at her.

  “Yeah, because I’m strong,” she shrugged.

  Are you fucking serious? This thing just nearly took off her head and she’s still bragging.

  I slapped my hand across my forehead.

  “We need to work together,” I told her.

  “Yeah? How exactly is a weakling like you going to help me?” She crossed her arms and stared at me.

  “I have an idea but you need to trust me,” I pleaded to her.

  “I don’t trust you. I won’t help you. Stay out of my way,” she got up and grabbed her staff off of the ground.

  We’re in life threatening danger and she still decides that she’s too good to work with a weakling.

  This is why I hate adventurers.

  I twirled the dagger in my hand, its edge gleaming faintly in the dim light, and dashed forward. With a burst of speed, I leaped onto Glimmerjaw’s massive arm. He roared in fury, his muscles tensing beneath me as he began thrashing wildly, his enormous arms swinging to dislodge me. The sudden jolt almost sent me flying, but I clenched my teeth and dug the dagger deep into his flesh, using it as an anchor.

  The sharp sting of the impact rattled through my arms, but I held on with every ounce of strength I had. Glimmerjaw shook harder, his monstrous movements turning chaotic as he swung me up and down like a ragdoll. My stomach churned violently, bile rising in my throat as the world became a nauseating blur of motion.

  I can’t… My mind started slipping, knowing it’ll be easier to just let go and give up. If I let her take over.

  I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to hang on. I refused to let her be the reason I failed. My knuckles were aching but I fought through the pain, holding on even if I didn’t want to. I glanced at my pocket, where the dynamite I’d tucked away earlier waited.

  “MOON BEAM!” A small glowing crescent moon—basking in the otherworldly luminesce that it emitted. She lifted her staff to face Glimmerjaw, the moon moving too. The moon began to build up more mana, its radiant shine growing more brilliant. Once it had built up enough mana, the spell beamed forward like a divine missile locking onto its target.

  I held on as the radiant beam struck true to Glimmerjaw’s face. He roared in anguish as he held onto his face.

  This was my chance.

  I waved to her, smiling as I made my way up his arm and underneath his chin. I hopped up onto his mouth and grabbed the dynamite from my pocket.

  “I need a light!” I shouted to her.“I need a light!” I yelled, holding up the dynamite. Her eyes widened in realization before she summoned a quick fireball, igniting the fuse with precision.

  I threw it into his mouth and down his throat before jumping back down onto his arm and running behind a large boulder.

  Glimmerjaw looked forward with an expression of surprise on his face. He licked his lips and gagged a little—like he had eaten something bad before his eyes grew wide.

  THWOOM!

  His neck expanded and shrunk back as the dynamite exploded inside, a plume of smoke coming out of his mouth.

  He staggered backwards, as if he might collapse. Then he set his foot into the ground, a loud stomp reverberating throughout the mine. He balanced himself to stay upright.

  “There’s no way,” I stared at him, my eyes looking at the looming threat of his fist flying down towards my hiding spot.

  “MOVE, DUMBASS!” The woman yelled but it landed on deaf ears. No matter how fast I was, there was no dodging this.

  His fist landed in front of the boulder, breaking the ground beneath me—sending me and the rocks flying into the wall. I landed with a sickening CRUNCH in the wall.

  Even the adventurer stared at me with worry. She didn’t even know me or even like me for that matter and she worried about me. At least, at that moment.

  The world was black. My vision was gone, the metallic taste in my mouth was overpowering my other senses as I could hear mumbling. Ah, she must be fighting him again. The words echoed throughout the silence in my head as my breath hitched, the blood gurgling in my mouth. I couldn’t breathe. Mom, I’m sorry. Dad, I’m sorry. Mira, I’m sorry. Your son and your brother was a disappointment to the end.

  I closed my eyes, my breath stopping completely.

  No! I can’t die here! A gasp escaped my mouth as I struggled to breathe once more. The second chance at life I had been given.

  I can’t fall. I will NOT fall.

  A searing heat enveloped my chest, flooding my body with raw energy. A golden aura appeared around me. The dazzling glow of the gold shined throughout the cave, making the sunlight look dim in comparison before settling back down. The light worked its way down my body, healing most of the damage that had been dealt in the fight—knitting them together in imperfect, jagged lines like stitches.

  My hands stopped trembling, my body numbing the pain.

  [SKILL ACTIVATED: DETERMINATION! You are determined to live—nothing will stop you from staying alive for 1 full minute. In this state, you’re able to use a simple healing spell and your stats are boosted by 300%! Take down your foe, adventurer!]

  I dug my nails into the ground, willing myself up. Nothing will stop me from getting this bastard. Every moment felt impossible but I did it anyway.

  “What is this…?” The woman’s mouth was covered by her robed hand, covering her initial shock.

  I looked at my hands and turned them around, looking at the light emitting from my palms and the back of my hands. I heard her words but I didn’t answer. I couldn’t answer. My mind was focused on one thing—Glimmerjaw. He roared and lunged forward.

  I bent my knees and lunged at him in response. I darted to the side, evading his blow faster than I’d ever moved before. This golden glow must be the reason. He swung in the air with his massive claws as I narrowly dodged everyone.

  The heat in my chest simmered hotter. I will not fall.

  I jumped over the following slash and dug my dagger into his arm. I scaled my way up by taking it out and jabbing it into his, over and over. The dagger pushed further than it had previously, Glimmerjaw roaring in pain. His roar was like music to my ears as I scaled his massive form, each strike of my dagger punctuated by the strength of Determination.

  “Fuck!” The woman mumbled before preparing another spell, “DEMONIC SPIKE!”

  An eerie, dark spell shot out of the Lazlite gem and struck Glimmerjaw dead center. It was all I needed. His head was reeling from the spell. I sprinted up the majority of its body in an instant, leaping over. I was in the air above his head. The glowing aura shined brightly as I gripped the dagger with two hands. I brought the dagger down with all of my strength and the strength of Determination. The blade glimmered like a beacon. Glimmerjaw roared, the blade lodged into the center of his skull, reaching desperately for it before disappearing into smoke.

  I fell down from the air, crashing into the ground. A small crater formed beneath me, smoke and dust from the dirt everywhere. The golden aura flickered before disappearing.

  Silence.

  The woman in divine robes walked over and stood over me. I laughed as I tried to sneak a peek. She kicked a rock into my side. I held my ribs as my body felt like I had been hit by a building.

  “This shouldn’t be possible, how did you take it down?” She whispered, talking to herself. Her gaze was filled with awe and wonder. A little bit of fear there too.

  “How are you alive?” She asked.

  I didn’t have the strength to answer as I closed my eyes.