“I will not sign them.” I stood my ground, even though the courage was newfound to me. It was coming from a place I did not think I owned.A hiss escaped Mancini's lips as he waved his hand.There began the second round of my assault, even more painful than the first. Blows to my head made me dizzy. Those to my side and stomach made me feel a crack in my rib that made me howl with pain, and one that struck my crotch made me want to pass out.“Get him up.” Mancini ordered.They were rough with doing this, and it was one mighty pulse of pain that hurt so much that I couldn't stand straight. Keeping my eyes open was becoming a Herculean task, as they were so swollen that it hurt to move my eyelids.“Why won't you sign them?” Debbie asked.It was unbelievable for me to hear her voice in this place. She was still here, watching them beat me up. It brought me a bit of shame.“I won't let them take you away from me.” I managed to say, despite the blood that filled my mouth and even went down

I had no body.All that was there was my essential organs neatly packed into some kind of clear, plastic casing moulded to be the perfect fit of a human's inside form. My heart sat in place within this casing, squeezing itself to pump blood, and I watched the movement of my lungs as they heaved up and down. Taking all of this in, I laid back and started to cry. “You don't have to be too hard on yourself. I have a solution for you.” The doctor said, standing so I could see him, and pointing his hand at the robotic-looking human frame with shiny metal.“Waterproof, strong, and connected to your brain and spinal cord, this frame will help you get a body. You will be able to use it to walk, eat, and carry out every basic human function that you would need to with your human body. It will also help you cover the burns on your face.”“And what am I to give in exchange for this?”“Yourself.” He replied, fixing his gaze on me.I'd been through one tricky interview already, and I wanted to b

I spun about, looking for the voice that spoke. It sounded like a woman's.“I am Maia, your System Guide and a part of your System and set to guide you to the Seal. Before you will appear a screen, your System Dashboard, to set you on the path you should go. Now, I will show you the details.”A holographic screen showed in mid air, and when I tried to touch it, it responded. On it were some statistics I could barely understand, but which I reckoned were connected to me, as my name and a small image of myself wearing the half mask were at the very top of the screen.Name: [Alexander]Level: 1Bronze Coins: 0/500. 0 used.Experience Points (XP): 0/10,000 Health Points (HP): 0/10,000Magic Points (MP): 0/10,000Strength: 5/10Intelligence: 4/10Agility: 1/10*Skill Section*Active Skills: NONEPassive Skills: NONESkill Cooldowns: NONE*Quest and Mission Log*Current Quests: NONECompleted Quests: NONE*Statistics and Analytics*Kill Count: 0/10Distance Travelled: 0/50 kmResources Gat

I pulled out my katana and gripped it hard with both my hands.They stood in the distance, as tall as seven feet to my measurement, with red blazes where I thought their eyes were supposed to be. They were large, looming figures, made of sand and with sand continuously pouring off their human-like forms. They also had what I thought were horns all over, and looked very much like walking desert lizards from where I stood.One of them stopped and yowled again, before rushing towards me. I ran towards it as well, cutting sideways with my weapon to attack. Alas, nothing met my surprise when I heard my katana ring upon the skin of the Sand Demon with an impact that was so hard it jarred through my entire metallic body and was felt by the rest of me.I pulled the katana away and rolled through the sand, while the demons followed after me. One held its hand open, and shot a gust of sand that missed me. I tried to get up as fast as I could, but another gust of sand hit me, knocking the katana

The sun was rising when I returned with the katana to where I'd been, and there I found the Sand Demons were waiting for me with a camel. I thought it was odd, seeing creatures made of sand standing with one that had blood running through it. I was quick to ask Maia where they found one as my curiosity was riled up. “The Sand Demons are lords of the desert. There is scarcely anything here that they do not know of, as they have roamed here for thousands of years, killing any desert traveller who they come across and who has not killed them.” Once again, I thought of killing the two Sand Demons to raise my points so that I would reach the bronze coins I need. Certainly, I had the stone heart, and they would let me kill them, since I had no reason to feel pity for them myself. They seem to be evil beings to travellers, after all. “Can they allow me to kill them if I have the stone heart?” I asked, slowly convincing myself to do the deed. “You said they'll let me do anything, right?”