Hell's Glitch (initial draft)

2:5 The High Plain

Sam was once again face to face with the Soul Barrier which blocked access to the high plain. He'd made all the necessary preparations that he could for the fight and now he was nearly ready to go forward. He focused on his breathing, putting as many negative thoughts out of his mind as he could. He put aside the fact that he was still a complete newbie with the new system along with the fact that he was going into another boss fight completely blind. The only thing he still worried about was the strength of his next enemy. The Little Barneys give him a hard enough time and they were most likely the easiest enemy he was going to face.

Get it together, Nagai. This thing can't kill you the first time, only if you're a revenant.

Once he was sure he'd buried his doubts, he took a final breath and walked through the mist. He clutched both his sword and shield tightly when he saw a giant man or woman wearing armor on the other side of the plain. Besides the giant's size, its massive pillar of a sword and ornate winged helm also caught Sam's attention. Luckily, the giant didn't seem to yet notice him, so Sam stood there for a few moments just examining the area. His opponent was lying in front of a large campfire twirling its sword in the air. Sam followed the creature's movements and saw that it was actually tracing the clouds overhead. He almost didn't want to bother the peaceful looking creature, but he didn't really have much of a choice.

He placed his larger and more cumbersome rucksack on the ground near the entrance before taking a step forward and catching the attention of the giant. It jumped to its feet with surprising quickness and rested its sword, what Sam guessed might have been a giant Claymore or something similar, on its shoulder. It wasn't completely armored as Sam had originally thought, but wore only a helmet, greaves, gauntlets, along with a tattered brown tunic and leggings. The only piece of its armor that wasn't rusted or dented was its helmet which looked valuable. Sam's body tensed once the giant pointed its sword in his direction.

"Finally, another one of you has come! Another evil assassin."

Sam was taken aback by the giant's voice. He'd expected a more bass filled tone, instead it sounded like a little kid...a really big little kid.

"WAIT!" Sam yelled before this escalated even further. The giant seemed temporarily confused. "I'm not here to kill you."

"Like I'd believe that. You're evil."

"I'm not lying! Just please listen to me. I just want to go to the valley down below."

The chances of logic working here was not very high. Sam hoped that maybe this new build of the game would allow him to reason with at least some of the enemies now. Hopefully he could avoid battles entirely this way.

"I am The Greatest Knight Adventurer Ever and I will slay all evil with my legendary blade! You don't stand a chance against me, cowardly fool. I'm the son of a legendary Griphon knight. Now die!"

Of course...

Sam lifted his shield as soon as the giant kid broke into a run, screaming with sword overhead. Sam lowered his shield and starting running forward once he saw the giant go airborne. The giant came down with a wild swing of his blade. Sam ducked under the giant's feet and avoided the rest of its body by leaping forward. He felt a massive crash behind him and scrambled to his feet. As soon as he recovered he saw the blade of the giant's double-edged sword coming right at him. The blade caught him cleanly across the chest and ribs in a wicked underhanded arc that sent him flying to halfway across the rocky plain. Sam hit the ground dazed and numb. He looked down and saw his insides through the wide bloody slash on his torso. His armor had absorbed much of the impact and that was probably the only reason he was still alive. He willed himself to his feet despite blurred vision and an intense desire to just rest and reached for the flask at his hip. He took a long swig of Soul Fire before he bled out completely.