I blinked in and out of consciousness as I felt my wounds flare with pain. I was stuck in a cellar in the middle of God knows where, and I was going to die. It hurt too much for me not to die. I struggled and squirmed in the black void as a shape, a twisted outline of madness seemed to materialize. I could still see the malice radiating off its figure, its aura affecting the trees, the birds, the wolves, all of it. Was it in me?  I thought as I looked at my body, now separate from me and lying on the cool forest floor. My blue apparition hovered delicately over my sleeping body when my body's head all at once turned to me. I was grinning, the malice from before shining through my now yellowed and crooked teeth. In an instant, the figure from before jumped out of my face as it screamed: 
WAKE UP!
My eyelids fluttered open as I looked at the cellar roof, panting as I tried sitting up. My body screamed in response, begging me to lie down. But I kept pushing, eventually managing to stand on my aching and shaking legs as I struggled to breathe. I wiped my brow to keep sweat out of my eyes, only to find my hand coated in a slick, grimy liquid.
"The hell is that?!" I yelled as I took a few steps back. 
The drop and sudden spike in adrenaline had me almost drop to the ground and I was unable to focus. My stomach grunted. I stared at my stomach. How the hell did it grunt? I was about to panic more but an unholy feeling, a cold shiver ran down my body as something else spoke in my head. 
DEVOUR…
I jumped in response to the voice, then looked frantically around the room hoping that the word I'd heard had come from somewhere else. The room seemed empty, save for tipped and empty barrels rotting silently in one of its corners. I searched across the abandoned and desolate area looking for the exit, and as I saw it I almost vomited. On the wall across me on the left was a large smear of neon blue that seemed to be applusing me. My legs shook as I moved away from the smear, the smell emanating from it growing too much for me. I gagged as I tried to get out. There was something in my mouth. Something sharp. I choked, tumbling forward and bumping into a barrel. It stung, but that didn’t matter. I was busy with the mass rising up my throat. I reached into my mouth, my fingers sliding into my body and closing on something. It was sharp but I could hold it. Pulling on it made my body shake. I had to get it out. My throat burned and my stomach churned as I pulled, the foreign object refusing to budge all the while. After one final tug,  the object loosened and I felt a tuft of fur.
 Fur? In my mouth? Did I swallow some of the creature's flesh? I found out soon as I saw the text pop back up mid tug:

$Ero/r: Action triggered Skill,   
Eor$r: Skill Mutating. 
New Skill Acquired Possession 
Er0-rr: Information Unknown
Price Effect Time: 2 Hour (s) 

Possession? What the hell does that mean? I realized too late to stop as I felt a leathery texture move up and out of my mouth. I glanced at the mass from my throat. The dog stared back as I let go, falling to the ground as the dog’s head weaved side to side. I could feel the head binding to my tongue to keep balance with navy blue viscous tissue. It tilted his head looking into my eyes.
“Feed, we hunger!” it bellowed as I felt my body quake. 
I lurched backward as the dog turned, looking around the room. Where it moved my body followed. I struggled against its movement but it was useless. The hound’s moves twisted and spun me as it looked for something. Its red glowing eye curled upon finding the blade that I had used. Now that I had a good look at it, I was shocked at how ornate it was. It was a broadsword, as the hilt was a strange like a weird medieval cosplay piece. The hilt had  a heavy guard made from a silver or something shiny engraving on the crossguard. On the pummel there was a circle with a symbol I did not recognize. The blade, or what was left of it, was about the length of a medium kitchen knife with a broken and jagged end. The dog's head started to fade as it turned at me, opening its jaws. 
“Pick it up, put it away.” It growled at me. 
“I can’t move my body,” I said, intimidated but annoyed. “How would I pick it up?”
“That is not my fault! You did this, you fool!” it replied with more rage than I expected.  It seems just as confused I was as it then became transparent the contenting point retracting.  
“Please take it with us, please,” It begged as it began to stretch and melt. 
The dog shot back into me with a force that had me double over crumbling to my knees. I coughed as I wondered what the fuck just happened?  I looked at the broken and worn dirty blade and grabbed it, putting it in my bag. Worst came to worst I could have it melted down. But before any of that, I needed out of this hole. I unsteadily rose to my feet and looked around, eventually limping back to the door I had busted down earlier. As I passed the shattered remains of the door, the trauma of what just happened caught up with me. I slumped against a nearby wall before passing out again. Today was not my day.

I dreamt of laughter. It was a chortle of laughter, one of malicious glee. I could see nothing but black space as something pulled me down into the abyss. I tried to scream but my voice was drowned out. Finally I landed hard on something cold and rigid. I howled from the pain, my own voice joining the maddening cacophony. I’d found the bottom, or at least one of them. I looked out across the void, seeing something glimmer just on the horizon. I stood, unsure of what to do: stay in the dark, or move to the horizon?
I struggled to stand up in the darkness. The inky void began to cling to my body as  I moved, slowly at first from the dark’s grasp. The dark’s grasp became violent as I moved further, it’s invisible tendrils now turning to hooks and barbs against my flesh.. I pulled and tore and screamed through the deep to the light. My walk turned into jog to finally a brutal burning sprint, fighting for every step of ground. The abyss shook as it started to become defined. A dark blue spiral danced alongside me with contoured screaming faces. Their mauled limbs came outstretched for me as I ran to the light. I was getting close. But the spiral was faster. I could see out of the corner of my eye as the first hand grabbed me. It felt like I was hit with a slab of ice as a chilling sensation ran down my shoulders and into my spine. But I had to reach it. More hands grabbed me as I beat and clawed back the spiral, every so often reaching out towards my salvation. My hand reached out one more time before everything went white as it seemed to consume me.
I blinked and I was still in the abyss, but the light was now in front of me. It was a small flame in a little bonfire. I was not alone either. A stranger tended to the flames with a stick, poking at the flame. They wore silver armor with tablin and all. Long flowing hair covered their face, but I could see their crimson left eye as it caught what little light came from the fire. I took care not to step on his shield to the right of him as I approached.
“So, my nightmare has a guest?” he asked with some humor whilst tending to the fire.
“What the hell is this place?” I asked as I looked at the man.
“ I would call it hell” he started, looking up for a brief moment to meet my eyes. “But hell would at least get to the point. Ever wondered what a necromancer does to a paladin?” His gaze moved back to the flame.
“Paladin? Like with swords and sorcery?” I scoffed and rolled my eyes. “This is some bullshit. You’re telling me you’re a fucking paladin? A ‘holy warrior?’” I ranted at the man, air quoting and all.
“Ah… you must be one of those fools pulled from another world. Would explain your strange abilities I suppose” he responds with a stiff chuckle. 
I took a step back.“That happens a lot? “ I asked with a raised eyebrow looking at the weathered figure.
“ It is not too common. Rare really, but it does happen. Some say that even some creatures across the realm were those dragged from other worlds.” The stranger leaned back, temporarily content with the fire. “‘Course, I didn’t have to do much digging to find human examples. The first Grand Inquisitor was a human from another world, if the archive’s correct. But the last other-worldly person on record was about a hundred years ago I think." 
I sighed. "Well, that’s something. Hey, you never really answered… do you know where we are?" I inquired, looking around the darkened void as I began to grasp my situation.
"You wouldn’t like the answer to that... Since you’re not of this world, should I explain some things you’d like to know?" He said while casting a friendly eye toward me.
"I guess? I just… this is insane. I’m not some anime protagonist or-or some badass hero! I didn’t do anything, I wasn’t anyone… just some jack-off slacker! . Why the fuck am I here!? Why was I picked?!”
I began to stop around the void angrily. “Why is it me, the fuck are skills, and what the hell was that forest from before?! It makes no sense- none of it does! I had a life- with people I cared about and that cared about me. And now it’s all- DAMN YOU!” I slammed my fists onto the ground and screamed into the void.
I was panicking. My emotions were getting the better of me, I was losing any sense of self. The void began to close in on me, but then I heard laughter. The other man was laughing, almost choking! He pulled the stick away from the fire and turned to me. As I looked at him I noticed the chains wrapped around him; no they where hooked into the man. They seemed coiling around the loose connection in between the armor like a chain on a chainsaw. The chains were far too brittle to be a metal, it was as if the void itself had connected from this man at the dying flame. Then there was his thick rope of golden blonde hair covering most of his facial features. However I could see a clear crimson eye peer out from the natural veil on his face, and the brutal outline of teeth. They looked like sharp tiny daggers and fangs piercing his lips.

“And here I thought you would be stoic and calm, always running through your enemies. No matter, at least you are… up front about your confusion. Listen up, “slacker,” I believe you were dragged here by your god, or some other powerful being. Whichever that may be, whatever dragged you here either hates you or is a hard father. In your case, I would guess it to be the latter.” 

The man, having grabbed my attention, sat back down and patted a spot of void next to him. I hesitantly sat down as he continued. “As to where we are, well… you are unconscious due to mana overuse. You were attacked by a Hell hound that nearly killed you, but then you tried to summon a creature stronger than what you could handle. It would have consumed you. But lucky for you, your mana ran out." He took a second to catch his breath.
"The hell… I didn't see any status or anything. How would I have known I was doing any of that?" I complained.
"There are different types of status checks, but it usually works as an extension of your senses. You seem to rely heavily on what you see, so let me ask this: have you looked into a mirror at all for at least five seconds?" He asked, turning back to the fire.
“No, I didn't,” I realized
.
"Mmm, I thought not. If your most relied upon sense is indeed sight, gazing into a mirror at yourself is a good stepping stone to summoning a status check. You're focusing on yourself in that moment, allowing you to... well, 'see yourself more clearly'." He chuckled at his own joke.

I frowned. "So, I need a mirror every time I want to do a status check? That's a pain in the ass."

The man waved a hand, the chains around him straining as he did. “That depends on your job, as some can lock you out of that. Usually you just need something that can show yourself. It's a type of training, in a sense. It is to teach you to think and visualize yourself. By then, you should be able to check on command."
“Now listen: everyone has points for health and an ability to use magic. All creatures have the ability to use magic as well, at least in this realm. That includes those brought in from another world there, often with new skills or abilities that then spread throughout our world. A job is a group of abilities or powers with set boundaries and triggers that can work together in some role. While jobs and levels intersect, there is one difference between them: levels are pure, physical, and have magical potential, while jobs are skills and talents and whatnot. A good example would be a knight: while most can learn some kind of defensive skill for themselves or others, the knight’s job is the best for a simple defender and basic physical attacker. Such a path grants its user the most use of these skills natural granting skills for protection. It has often affect your physical and defense stats with more physical attacks than the normal fighter. This then leads to the drawbacks of having a lower magical defense and low magic power or mana in general and leads to the magic knight class , infernal knight class, or any other path along one’s development. Do you understand so far?” The stranger spoke like a teacher, and I was his humble student.
“Why is that?” I interjected. “How come new stuff comes with the otherworlders? Would it not come from innovation or stuff? If this world gets new things from otherworlds, then is this place stagnant?“ 
The stranger leaned back in thought. “Now that such a matter is beyond my expertise. I am not sure anyone really knows why change only comes about by dragging an otherworlder kicking and screaming into our realm.”.”

 Kicking and screaming, I thought. You’ve got that right. And speaking of…
“Okay, you mentioned that hellhound earlier, how it attacked me and all. If that’s the case, is this place… actually hell or something ?” I probed an idea forming in a dark theory forming in my mind.
The stranger laughed heartily, almost doubling over. “Of our own design, perhaps! Hehah, no son. Nothing of the sort. We are asleep, in a sense. Our minds are drifting and weaving with that of the hellhound’s, and of his master’s. Remember when I mentioned necromancers earlier? Besides being outright corrupted by a Death Knight, a hellhound is used by a necromancer to corrupt and control a paladin’s soul. It’s a slow means of taking a man, but a hundred hounds could be made in the stead of a Death Knight. And neither are easy to make.”
I looked the stranger up and down, now realizing where the chains and his visage came from. “You’re… it took you. And now it’ll just turn you?”

The stranger’s mood stiffened as he turned to me, his one eye gazing into my soul. “Yes. Each kill the beast claims is another link to my chains and another tear at my soul. I admit I feared my fate was unavoidable-”
The carefully tended to fire all at once went out. I jumped to my feet in fear as the stranger sighed and slowly got to his feet.
 
“Well,” he said resignedly, “it would seem you’re waking up. And I was getting so used to the company-” His chains jerked violently as he fell to one knee. I heard a sickening pop as one of his arms was pulled out of its socket.”

I rushed to his side in a panic. “My God, what happened?! Are you alright?!”

The stranger winced, then looked to me and laughed weakly for a moment. I could tell he was hiding his pain. “It’s  alright son. Listen… I have been here for a very long time. I thought I was done for. But now you’re here. You can… you must get us out of here. You have little faith, but I know- I know you have the power to save us.” 
The chains pulled again, harder this time. "Wait! I still don’t feel prepared! What if I don’t remember this dream, what if I fail?! I don’t even know how long you’ll last…"
The stranger simply smiled. “I am Baldwin, a Commander of the Holy Order. A paladin!” The chains pulled one more time, bringing Baldwin to both his knees. “We don’t give in that easy…!” With that, the chains dragged Baldwin into the dark as he laughed his hearty laugh.
I slowly faded back into reality, finding myself in a dark forest and in pain. I gulped and coughed, deciding this time to find some sleep on my own terms. The void did not come back, nor did Baldwin. But that was fine.. I had enough dreams for now.