Chapters 5-6 (Early Versions)

Chapter 5 - Testing Theories

Although humans were short-lived in comparison to the elder race, they were as numerous as the trees in the forest and were almost as ferocious as the barbaric orcs of the Long Hills. The League and the Old Empire ceased their endemic wars, united with the promise of gifts of powerful elven artifacts and mithril bullion.

- On the Cataclysm by an unknown Quassian Scholar circa 103 AC


Looking at the night sky I saw a veritable ocean of stars shimmering down like a bright tapestry, with a single large moon as an ephemeral counterpoint to their shining light. For all of its beauty, however, something was wrong.  Though no student of astrology, I could not see a single familiar constellation or guiding star. This emphasized an unexpected feeling of homesickness and loneliness that only compounded my misery.

The plan was to stay awake for the rest of the night to keep watch on the pond below. However this intent shattered when faced with the cruel reality of my tired body. Exhausted, my eyes felt like lead as the exertions of the battle rush left me cold and shivering. Slowly and inexorably, like the turning of seasons, I closed my eyes and faded into a troubled sleep.

I slowly awoke as morning sunlight played across my eyes between the bows of the tree. Rushing then to panicked wakefulness, I looked around with wild eyes searching for threats. There was nothing but an endless sea of grass as far as the eye could see under a cloudless sky. Sometime in the night my robe had dried out, and I was at least no longer shivering. The warm sun shone down on me as I attempted to gather myself toward some semblance of calm.

The rough lesson I had learned so far was that this was a world that taught in pain and suffering. Those that did not stand up to muster would die.  Checking my notifications it seemed that I had gained another point of Constitution. I hypothesized that this was the reason both my maximum Health and my Stamina had increased. Perhaps there was a threshold where increasing my basic attributes improved my Health, Stamina, and Mana?

Muttering to myself, I swore to increase my Constitution as often as I could.  I simply did not want to feel the awful pain anymore. Checking the rest of my stats I noted I had gained a new skill 'Rest,' which was at level one. It appeared I could gain skills from the most innocuous of things. I registered that my Health was just under the maximum and my Mana was now full. I needed to know more about the world I was in. I needed more data. It was time to experiment.


STATUS
Calling: $%^& Level 2 Acolyte of Avaria
Strength: 9
Dexterity: 9
Constitution: 10
Intelligence: 9
Wisdom: 9
Charisma: 8
Luck: 10


SKILLS & PROFICIENCIES
Pain Nullification  (lvl.1)
Power Strike (lvl.1)
Endure (lvl.1)
Stealth (lvl.1)
Rest (lvl.1)


SPELLS & MAGIC
Heal (lvl.1)
Rust (lvl.1)
Identify (lvl.1)


GIFTS
Curse of Entropy -20% all starting attributes.

Experience to next level 110/220

Health: 13/14
Stamina: 19/19
Mana: 6/6

I analyzed my current status. If this was a game, apart from the horrible start, I was in a satisfactory position. I had likely completed one of the early stages of a gruelling ‘tutorial.’

My cautious nature willed me to cast Heal to top off my Health, but the curious gamer inside of me wanted to experiment with my new spell Identify.

With a slight spring to my step, I made my way around the tree to look down to where the mudskippers were. Finding a medium-sized specimen with my eyes on the far side of the pond, I uttered "Identify,” willing its secrets to become mine. Undergoing the now-familiar sensation of shifting and pulling as my Mana was channeled from within my body, coursing through it. But this time it abruptly funneled outwards towards my chosen creature.

Bibsis (lvl.1)
Health 8/8

"Bibsis," I muttered to myself. I fought the frustration of being unable to see all of its relevant stats, such as Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution.  Drawing a deep breath I attempted to calm myself. It was probably physically weaker than I was, but I had no idea if it had spells or any other special abilities. However at least I now knew the name, Health, and relative level of the creatures I faced. This further reinforced my working hypothesis that this area was some sort of 'tutorial' zone.

My Mana had dropped a single point with the spell, and I decided to cast it four more times for confirmation. As I continued to apply the spell to different targets, I felt a growing pressure in my head. On the fourth cast, I was swamped with a dazed feeling, not unlike the second time I had used Heal.  Blessedly this time it did not feature the knife stabbing-like pain. Nor did I succumb to weary exhaustion as when my Mana had bottomed out to zero. In my estimation, and to my great relief, all of the creatures that I was casting my spell upon were only level one Bibsis. If I had been stuck in a high-level area, my future would be well and truly bleak.

I decided to take a small break from my experimentation. Leaving my scavenged weapons by the shrine, I relieved myself a little way down the hill on the opposite side of the pond. As I walked back up to the tree and altar, I determined that the next skill to test would be 'Power Strike.’

Arriving, I drew a few deep breaths preparing myself. Once again picking up the half-spear in a loose grip, I practiced jabbing at the air in front of me.  Finally, I shouted “Power Strike!” while stabbing forward with all of my limited might. Nothing.  Nonplussed, I continued to attack the air while shouting "Power Strike!"  After a few minutes of wasted effort, with my stamina bar drained to around half, I threw down my half-spear. In half frustration, I landed a punch at the tree, screaming “Power Strike!!” to the wind. My left fist flew at a great speed, drawing a portion of my body along with it. Chips of bark flew outwards at the point of impact as something in my poorly angled wrist snapped. Screaming once again as I cradled my wrist to my chest with my good hand, I curled up into a fetal ball on the ground. Blood was running down my knuckles, a vivid crimson contrast against my skin.  The pain was a visceral reminder of the harsh reality of this world. I bled in this world, just like in the other.

After what seemed like another eternity, I summoned the will to lean against the tree. I drew shallow breaths through gritted teeth as I half-screamed against the pain. Closing my eyes I recited the births and deaths of long-dead leaders, battles that changed my home country, the coming and going of ages, rebellions, and revolutions; a mnemonic tool to help stave off the agony. Although the world was game-like in nature, certain things most definitely were not. Here instead of controlling a character with a mouse and keyboard, I was well and truly in the ‘game.’ I could now feel my character’s pain through my every stupid mistake. Though this world presented itself like a game, the real ramifications of my choices meant that I could not throw all reason out of the window.

You have gained 1 intelligence

I laughed wryly between the waves of pain. Closing my eyes I decided to take what rest I could to raise my Mana, whimpering forlornly all the while.

I spent the rest of the morning and the better part of the afternoon casting Heal when I could, determined to bring myself back to full Health. My maximum Mana had risen by one point, I theorized likely due to the recent increase in my Intelligence. When my Health was around eleven or twelve I felt my wrist snap back into place with a painful crunch, then to be soothed by the remaining aura of my healing spell. Finally, sometime in the late afternoon, I was back to full Health.

A self-inflicted injury that would have taken at least a month and half to heal in my other life was fully rectified here in about half a day.

"Magic...I wield magic..."

Preposterous, I thought to myself, half denying my situation. The pain, if anything, reminded me that this was all too horribly real. Yet for all this, I could not help but wonder at the miracles I had performed.  “Magic...” I whispered in a hushed reverent tone. In a different life, I had once read that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”  Were nano-bots or some other super technology responsible for the ‘Magic’ and this game-like world? Were my struggles entertainment for some interstellar audience? Perturbed by these questions, I brushed them quickly from my mind. Survival was my only imminent concern. I refused to die.

The first pangs of hunger hit me as the sun dipped ever lower in the sky. I waited for my Mana to reach full again before picking up the two halves of the broken primitive spear. Absently I considered casting Identify on my weapons, but thought better of it as it was painfully obvious what I held in my hands. My ominous Rust spell was also perhaps worth experimenting with at a later time; I could not see anything in my local environs that would precipitate its use.

I needed all my resources to do what I planned to do next. I needed to grow, and growing in this world meant killing.




Chapter 6 - Hunt & Harvest

The berry of the Galebush is sweet and nutritious, drawing in fauna and adventurers alike. However, unless thoroughly cooked the seed will sprout within a few hours spontaneously from within, causing an almost certain and gruesome death. This is likely a mechanism to provide the new seedling with fertilizer for the next part of its life cycle. Should the being somehow survive the ‘sprouting’ then they will slowly turn into a volatile and strange chimera of plant and animal. One such creature was the infamous Sun Bear of the Duskdown Forest who terrorised the local territories for many years before a group of Knight Penitents put it down.

- Monsters of the Mortal Realms by K. D. Fidditch


My twin weapons in hand, I crept down the hill towards the pond with a furtiveness I never knew I possessed. Walking along the edges of my feet, heel to toe, I mused how the newly acquired Stealth skill was clearly bearing fruit. Crouching slightly forward with my weight evenly spread, I instinctively knew how to bend my knees just enough to absorb as much of the sound as possible.

Edging ever closer, I slithered across close to the shore of the pond on my belly. Hiding behind some shallow rushes on the shore, I decided to stake out the scene I saw before me.

Across on the opposite shore, the amphibious Bibsis relaxed under the late afternoon sky, occasionally making musical gurgling noises. I observed that the school of Bibsis consisted of larger creatures the size of a big breed of the dog, along with smaller juvenile specimens. I waited, forcing each drawn breath to be slow and even, thinking of a plan. Some of the juveniles were currently playing in the shallows close to the shore. I needed to surprise one of them, kill it, then retreat back to the relative safety of the shrine.

I waited patiently in position, trusting my Stealth skill to hide me from the monsters. After an indeterminable length of time, I grew impatient, picking up a scattering of fine sand and throwing it a short distance from my place of hiding at the surface of the water. Two adult Bibsis broke away from the main school, swimming lazily to investigate where I threw the sand.  Gurgle-chirping to each other before diving below the surface and swimming to look for the source of the disturbance.

After a minute or two, one of the creatures swam back to the main school with a babble. The remaining monster was the size of a large hound and it beached itself on the shore, rolling onto its side while closing its googly eyes in contented relaxation. Perfect, I thought to myself, time to use one of my skills in a combat situation.

I rushed out of my position to assault the monster. Instead of casting Power Strike by shouting it loudly, I invoked it with my mental voice. Targeting the basking Bibsis, I struck out with the half spear in my left hand to place it through its flapping gills. There was a moment of resistance as I felt my Stamina drain by ten points, before a driving sensation, different to the spell reaction, traveled through my body and along my arm to guide my weapon to its fated target.

The stone spearhead passed cleanly through the gills and into its brain matter, bypassing the cartilage of its skull with a squelching noise. For good measure, I struck its stilling body along its length with the blunt other half of the spear from my right, scattering wet muddy brown scales across the shore. Hastily I ripped out my half-spear from its cranium, scanning my surroundings for incoming Bibsis, but none approached. I was gratified with a notification of the monster’s death granting me another ten experience points. A critical hit I assumed, which meant I could execute perhaps eight damage with my current attributes and equipment.

A dark liquid was rapidly congealing on the shore underneath the fish’s head. Blood thick like tar now stained the sands. Quickly I heaved and tried to drag the creature from the edge of the pond. Struggling, I soon realized the impossibility of such a task.

Cutting near the tail end of the fish, I used the spear’s blade edge like a butchery tool. Piercing first then sawing across, avoiding bone and cartilage, taking great pieces out of the beast. I grabbed a chunk each with both hands, spear halves tucked into my armpits, as I hurried at a fast pace back up the hill to the relative safety of the altar, my Stamina drained.

Once there I dropped my weapons and ravenously tore into the chunks of flesh like an animal. I barely registered the taste at first, such was my hunger, raw flesh chewy to my tongue. My stomach finally began to settle as I ate the second piece of monster flesh. It was then I noticed that it had a slightly slimy texture, yet one accompanied by a distinctly rich flavor. I imagined that this would be like eating a frog raw, which almost caused me to throw up the rest of my savage meal.

Finishing off the last piece, blood congealing down the front of my robe, I crept down again to the rest of the carcass with more practiced ease.  Crouching over the remains of the creature I began to clumsily butcher a few more chunks, then ran back up the hill to place the fresh meat upon the altar. On my third run, I stopped to drink some of the cool water from the pond, washing as best as I could the slimy congealed blood from my hands.

I repeated this ambush tactic repeatedly through the night, hoping to farm experience and gain new skills. Times beyond counting I had clumsily attracted too many of the creatures and was forced to rush back up the altar, dodging and weaving in a crazy zigzag pattern. Still, I was occasionally hit by an errant solid water ball and I had to pause to heal myself to restore the damage of bruised flesh and broken bones.

Occasionally I would cast Identify after inflicting a solid hit, trying to gauge how much damage I was mounting with my blows. It seemed I was doing between four to six damage with my half-spear, and a rather weak one to two with my impromptu club. Perhaps I was taking penalties for dual-wielding or not being proficient with my equipped weapons? Still pondering the mechanics of my new world, I finally submitted to sleep as rosy-fingered dawn broke through the sky.

Upon waking I cleared my weary eyes and then scarfed down a few bites of Bibsis flesh. Cautiously I made my way down to the pond to drink from its waters. Checking to be sure I was at full Health and Stamina, I repeated the tactics of the previous day. During the warm early afternoon, I was struck by two water balls in quick succession. Oddly with the first, I felt no pain, while the second hit me with all the agony of a fast-pitched ball. A pattern began to form in my mind as I tried to piece together some of the game’s logic.  Resting and healing myself to full Health, I purposefully endured two water ball attacks without attempting to dodge. It would almost be my downfall.

The first shot hit me in the stomach, rapidly knocking out over half of my Stamina. Then the next struck, rattling my brain inside my skull. Concussed and disorientated, I somehow made it back up to the altar. Quickly I cast another Heal spell, helping to clear my head and hopefully a potential brain injury.

My dangerous experiment did however prove one thing; I would feel no pain with the first hit IF I was at maximum Health. Finally, I had an explanation for my mysterious skill, 'Pain Nullification.' I had to remind myself that this was not some form of invulnerability, as I could clearly still take damage from attacks. Nonetheless, anything that reduced the pain from this horrible world was sorely welcome. Leaning against the comforting security of the tree, I decided to take stock of the situation and reviewed my current gains.


STATUS
Calling: $%^& Level 2 Acolyte of Avaria
Strength: 9
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 12
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 9
Charisma: 8
Luck: 11


SKILLS & PROFICIENCIES
Pain Nullification  (lvl.1)
Power Strike (lvl.1)
Endure (lvl.1)
Stealth (lvl.1)
Rest (lvl.1)
Backstab (lvl.1)
Dodge (lvl.1)
Polearms (lvl.1)

SPELLS & MAGIC
Heal (lvl.1)
Rust (lvl.1)
Identify (lvl.1)


GIFTS
Curse of Entropy -20% all starting attributes.

Experience to next level 170/220

Health: 16/16
Stamina: 21/21
Mana: 7/7

A day and a half of a consistent loop of receiving damage and healing myself had increased my constitution by another two points, increasing both my maximum Stamina and Health. My Dexterity had also climbed to ten somewhere along the line, and I noticed that my average damage with my half-spear was increasing by one point. I confirmed this by casting Identify after a good hit on one of the monsters. I had not gained any Wisdom or Intelligence, likely due to relying almost exclusively on physical attacks rather than magic.

Interestingly I had also picked up three new skills. Two of the more mysterious, 'Dodge' and 'Backstab,' were at level one like all of my beginner skills. I deduced that I had gained Dodge by evading the innumerable water balls that had been spat my way. Backstab could be due to my success in surprise attacks against the Bibsis. I assumed it was this skill that was responsible for the occasional spikes of one or two damage points I achieved against the overgrown fish when I was able to catch them by surprise. Logically my third new skill, 'Polearms,' was obtained from the extensive and exclusive use of my scavenged spear. Thank heavens I was an avid gamer in the old world. Without that skill set, I would have little frame of reference for this absurd experience. Shrugging internally, I spotted that I had also mysteriously gained an extra point of Luck. I only had hazy ideas about how that attribute would affect my situation.

Circumstances were certainly not perfect, not by a long haul, but they were definitely improving. I felt a glimmer of consolation that I was beginning to understand the world I was in. It was satisfying working out some of the rules that I had to play by. There was no internet or Wikis here with easy answers, yet for all this, I was enthusiastic about tomorrow. In this world, self-improvement was a more tangible notion compared to my old life.  Experiences and skills were broken down into numbers and I was fed solid feedback showing when I had gained in my abilities. Huddling cold against the tree, I decided to rest despite being at full Health, Stamina, and Mana, as I was at the limit of my mental endurance.

Tomorrow was another day and I had five more monsters to slay to attain level three.