《The Conclave》 Chapter 1- the beginning of the end Begin assimilation ¡­¡­. World Earth has now been integrated into the conclave¡­¡­. Begin injection of primordial source matter¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ Timeline for total integration with the primordial source matter ¡­¡­ 2 earth years Earth Nobody really understood how it happened but everyone remembers the day of red. This was the point where the laws of science changed on a fundamental level and our imaginations became reality. This sounds enigmatic but it was far from that, on this day earth lost 1/5th of its total population. It took till the 4th month for things to somewhat stabilize but at that point we had lost 2/5th of the humans on earth. The day of Red Maximus Blacklight was your average sophomore trying to weather through the ups and downs of college, Tests, papers, projects, relationships, parties and all the things that come with it. He was just finishing from physics class when he heard a voice as clear as day in his head, it said Planet Earth has now been introduced to The Conclave Beginning integration of level 0 primordial source matter Restructuring will commence in 2 earth minutes Good luck Looking around to see if he was hearing things he realized he wasn¡¯t, it seems like everyone had heard it some people looked terrified some laughed thinking it was a joke while others just completely ignored it. Maximus however was different he could hear the chill emanating from the otherworldly voice and he knew things were about to change. He looked at his watch and calculated how much time he had left before the so called ¡°integration¡± was established, realizing he had just a little more than a minute he ran to the only place on campus he would be safe at. If he was being honest it was also the place most likely to be deserted at this early point in time. He knew that the janitor¡¯s closet was usually unoccupied and unlocked at this point in time. Throughout his short stay in college Maximus had always come to this secluded area to de-stress and clear his thoughts and on some occasions even to hide from his problems. With the impending ¡®apocalypse¡¯ this was a place he felt a measure of security at considering the current state of things. Bolting down the hall all that was on his mind was how much time he had left. As he started bounding up the stairs two at a time he checked his watch yet again to see how much time he had left. He had just under a minute left to get to the closet. As he got up the stairs and turned the corner he bumped into someone. Not caring to see who he was he yelled ¡°sorry!!¡± before continuing to the closet. As he ran he heard a feminine voice screaming ¡°what the fuck?! Hey!! You, stop right there do you hear me!!? How do just bump into someone and not even check to see if they are all right!! Idiot!¡± Ignoring the voice he continued running. He knew he was cutting it close. Getting to the door was all that was running through his mind. As he got to the door he swung it wide open before slamming it shut. Checking his watch he saw he made just on time with a few seconds to spare. As the countdown finished the first thing max felt was pain. Unimaginable pain coursed through his vein, marrow, lungs all the way through to his heart if he had to describe what it felt like it would be like scorching hot lava and subzero level ice were both flowing through his body. Whatever that voice was it most definitely was a pervert. To subvert people to this kind of pain was down right scandalous. Through the whole pain, he aimed not to black out but as time went on he found this harder and harder to accomplish, the pain was simply mind numbing. He grit his teeth as black blood flowed out of every opening on his body. Max was at the threshold at this point, there was only so much pain a human could withstand before they lost consciousness. Finally, the pain reached his brain and he blacked out. After waking up he found that the hoodie he was wearing was covered with blood that was just beginning to dry up so he estimated he must have been out for about 3-4 hours at least. He looked like he had been dunked in a vat of blood and tossed out like a piece of used cloth, it was a good thing he left his phone at home today. As his consciousness started to come back in more effect he found that things were different¡­¡­..to be more specific, he was different, sounds were a lot sharper, smells were a lot more potent, everything he looked at looked like he was viewing things through Technicolor, colors were a lot brighter and sharper. He could even feel the texture of the clothes he was wearing; he could taste the metallic tang of blood in the air as well. At this point he knew things were different, maybe this is what they meant when they said the synchronization with the primordial source matter. Realizing the mess he was in he opened his backpack and changed into his gym clothes, however as he took of all his clothes he realized that he felt a lot stronger and also a lot more agile. This was definitely new; even though he worked out occasionally he knew that he had never felt like this before. He took a moment to look at the parts of himself that he could see, other than look a lot trimmer there was nothing else no raging hard abs or bulging muscles. Finally, satisfied with his inspection he donned his gym wear which was basically track pants, a dri-fit shirt and a pair of trainers along with new socks. He noticed that upon putting all this on he felt a lot more encumbered and uncomfortable. He almost had the urge to strip and go around naked but he quickly diminished that thought ¡°people already think I¡¯m a weirdo no need to prove them wrong¡± he said out loud to himself giggling at the thought of that. Although he didn¡¯t mind what people thought about him he wasn¡¯t about to justify their misgivings about him. Now that he was fully clothed he decided that it was about time he started making sense of the situation he was in. max had always had a logical mind that had been tempered through a lot of hardships he had faced in his life and although he still made some he was smart enough to learn how to remain calm in a crisis. From what he deduced, it seemed like earth had been injected with some strange substance from a species unknown to them. This was either going to be the greatest genocide or the biggest practical joke, with that though crossing his mind he immediately erased it. For one, he was still alive and even the pain he felt seemed to have left without leaving behind any damage. He felt sharper and better than he had ever felt in his entire life. This all seemed very strange, what was this primordial source matter and what effect did it have on the rest of the world? He realized that these were the most important question to him right now, because If he couldn¡¯t figure out what was going on, he was pretty sure he was about to be surprised in a very unpleasant manner.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. So first things first what is this primordial source energy? Was it referring to the energy which existed during the time of creation and if it was how did him synchronizing with it cause these changes in his body and mentality and what other changes had occurred that he didn¡¯t know of? With these thoughts roaming in his mind he sat down and started to perceive the atmosphere around him. At first he felt something was different about it. There seemed to be some strange silk like energy flowing through the air around him. He tried to reach for it but it simply passed through his fingers and only a slight amount flew into his body. The small amount that flew into his body flowed through the blood channels and went through it straight to his heart. He noticed that in the process of this about 80% of it was diffused into his blood and muscle and the remaining 20% coagulated in his heart forming a tiny seed the size of a grain of sand although it was small he could feel it. The moment it was fully formed he noticed he realized what this energy was ¡°so it turns out that this is mana¡± as he said this he inhaled deeply causing a few tiny ribbons of this energy to flow into him increasing the size of the seed in his heart. As the size of the seed increased he realized that his thoughts became much sharper and he seemed to be able to slightly multitask, thinking two things at the same time. With this realization he zoned out entering into a meditative trance. It wasn¡¯t until much later that he realized that he could no longer draw in any more energy, breaking him out of the meditative trance. At this point the seed in his heart had grown to the size of a jawbreaker. He tried to sense for that silk like ribbon in the air and realized that it was no longer there. It seemed to have blended into the very air he was breathing. At this point he heard the strange voice again in his head. The atmospheric synchronization is now complete¡­¡­.. According to knowledge perceived by the individual the tutorial shall be tailor suited to your own understanding¡­¡­.. Welcome to the conclave the primordial source matter or ¡®MANA¡¯ as you have perceived it to be is the origin of all creation at the beginning it existed and even though some of your on this star do not perceive it, it was already here before our interjection. Mana is in everything and is all around you, with the increased flow of it in your star the sciences are no longer as you knew them to be. Enjoy!! ¡­¡­please note this is only phase one of synchronization, phase two will begin in 1 earth year¡­¡­. be prepared. ¡°What does it mean by the laws of science has been changed?¡± max thought, after a while he comes up with nothing and his mind begins to wander. He daydreams about flying through the sky, and now that the laws of physics has been changed maybe that is possible. With this thought in mind he snaps out of his daydream and notices that he is halfway off the floor. Just before he starts to panic he falls, slightly bruising himself, however at this moment he is donning a sheepish yet tired smile ¡°so that¡¯s what they mean!!! If that¡¯s the case then that means that magic is possible¡± he screams out loud to himself ¡°okay, okay, okay, calm down max we need to think about this situation logically. How did we achieve flight?¡± with this question on his mind he focuses his mind to think of the previous state he was in before the flight. Trying to emulate that he imagines himself flying, he imagines the air particles lifting him up and as he does this he feels himself being slowly lifted off the floor. With this success he feels a feeling of accomplishment but quickly tapers it down focusing on the task at hand, however as he reaches the height he was previously at he feels a huge dizzy spell before yet again passing out. ¡°I really need to stop this fainting act.¡± He said sighing ¡°if my guesses are correct I guess I am not strong enough or I don¡¯t have adequate control over mana to fly through the air.¡± he thinks to himself ¡°either that or I don¡¯t have enough ¡­..Mana¡­wait, is that why that seed in my heart is there?¡± with this thought in mind he enters into a meditative state to sense the seed, but to his disappointment it was still the same size as he last left it. ¡°I guess that¡¯s not the answer. It must have to do with the fact that I am influencing the mana around me and thus ¡­¡­¡­..i need better control¡± he said to himself ¡°but how do I achieve that?¡± he thought. There were so many ways that he could accomplish that but he needed the most efficient way. Max wasn¡¯t the most athletic or most talented person you could meet but he had a sharp mind and a high capacity to be rational, after the synchronization that sharpness just increased causing him to deduce things a lot quicker than normal. Feeling like he was getting somewhere he decided to see if he could change the flow of the air around him. Sitting down again in concentration he focused for a while and tried to feel the direction in which the air in the closet was flowing (air conditioning has a flow of air in a room just for those who would like to argue ;) ). Once that was established he imagined it going the other way and to his surprise it actually worked. He continued to play with the flow of the air around him for the next 1 hour before finally feeling a feeling of faintness befall him. As he felt this he immediately stopped, he was tired of fainting all the time. Taking a break to recover his strength he discovered that he was starving, in all honesty it made sense other than the light breakfast he had in the morning there was nothing else. Steeling himself to brace the chaos that had ensued outside of his little comfort shanty, he slowly opened the door. It seemed that there wasn¡¯t anyone around, but then where was everyone from the way it looked outside it seems to be just approaching evening. At this time people are still usually crawling around going to their last classes of the day. Looking around max realized that most people must either be hiding or they must have fled the building in panic to find their loved ones to make sure that they were okay. At that thought an unpleasant memory floats its way into his head, at which point he quickly banishes it away to the depths of his mind. Now is not the time for those thoughts. Max makes his way down the hall leading to the stairs; the only thing occupying his mind at this moment was food. As he heads down the stairs he starts to hear a light scratching noise. From the sound of it, it was most likely not a rat. It sounded bigger. As he slowly heads down, the noise starts to increase; he hears a loud squeaking noise accompanied by an intense scratching peeking his head around the corner he takes a look. The only thing max could think of to compare with the creature was a mish mash of a rat and a big dog. Oh and did he forget to mention that there were two tails swishing back and forth behind the monstrosity of an animal. Slowly and carefully he pulls his head back. He could feel his heart racing in his chest, pounding like a runaway train. Fear flooded his system, he realized that the synchronization didn¡¯t just happen to humans only, but to everything on the planet. This brought a chill to his heart. This meant that there was about to a bloodbath. If a rat had mutated into that thing out there then he didn¡¯t even want to know what other more ferocious creatures had morphed into. He knew he needed a weapon, but truly what weapon could he use to fight against something like that!! I mean for crying out loud this was a school not a weapons cache were he could walk into and pick up anything and it would be an effective weapon against that monster. He racked his brain thinking about all the possible option he knew in the school that he could use. It hit him; there was a fire axe that was kept in a glass cabinet upstairs close to the janitors¡¯ closet he just passed. Creeping back up the stairs, making sure to keep his steps light he finally got upstairs and sprinted to the axe. This was going to be his lifeline. Seeing the axe brought immense amount of relief to him. He tried releasing the latch only to find out that it was locked and from the looks of the lock there was going to be no way around getting this axe quietly. Wrapping his fist in his shirt he punched through the glass, after clearing the glass he reached in and grabbed the axe. Now he felt more secure as he tested the swing and weight of the axe he heard the most terrifying sound he could hear at this moment. The ¡®Drat¡¯ (mixture between dog and rat), as he had decided to call the monstrosity, was scurrying up the stairs all the while emitting piercing loud screeches. The day just kept getting better and better. Chapter 2- Reality Check Chapter 2 Shit! Shit! Shit!!! Shit!!!!!!!!! Was the only thought going through max¡¯s head at this point as he ran away from the Drat all the while looking for a way to ditch the monstrosity. As he ran down the hall way he found himself at the end of the hall with nowhere to go. Looking around he notices two doors on both sides of him. He checks the first only to be met with a locked door. Panicking he tries the other door praying to God that it is open and as luck would have it the door is actually open. At this point the Drat is just a few feet behind him as he dashes into the door the rat zips past barely missing him. Turning around the rat starts to charge toward the classroom he is in. max looks on in fear the only thing running through his mind at this point is that he needed to get away from this thing. Rushing to the door he barely makes it there just right as the Drat reaches. He slams the door and as luck would have it the drat gets its head stuck between the door. The force from the door disorients the drat putting it in a state of confusion. Seeing such a golden opportunity in front of him max does not hesitate to takes advantage of it. He swings the axe right down on the exposed drat head splitting it open. As he does this, blue-ish red blood splashes all over him with a bit of brain matter. At this point all the adrenaline pumping through him is thoroughly expended and he slumps onto the floor. Before he can register what had just happened that eerie voice sounds out in his mind again. Congratulations on getting access to the conclave. Remember this is not a game; there is no regeneration of health point healing the most severe of injuries. If you are injured and it is life threatening you had better fix it or face death. This is the Clave and the weak are not welcome. For being in the top 100,000 you shall be rewarded with 4 gifts Firstly you shall gain more Primordial Source Energy Secondly you shall gain the ability to look into yourself and know how far you have come. To put it in terms you can understand, a status screen has been granted to you. Thirdly due to showing exceptional bravery you shall gain a partial understanding into controlling the Primordial Source Energy. This as well as some basic maneuvers shall be granted onto you. Finally as your fourth gift you may request for any item that you can think of. As long as it matches your achievement it shall be granted to you. Remember, everything is precious¡­¡­.now¡­¡­state what item you want¡­¡­¡­. As max sat there he started running through everything that was going on right now. First thing that would be useful in this situation would be information so he asks ¡°I just wanted to be sure but, if my request does not match my achievement then what happens to my request?¡± and the voice answers saying You shall still have your request, however, after failing to ask for something worthy of your achievement in 5 attempts you shall be given something at random by the Clave. So choose wisely. After saying that it leaves max to ponder on his choices, a short while later after thinking for a while he says ¡°I would like to gain information on what is going on. More specifically how this synchronization has affected everything and what is the plan of the Conclave.¡± You are not worthy of such knowledge. 4 more tries remaining choose wisely. Hearing this reply max was not put out by the voices sentiment. He knew that request was a wild gamble but it was worth the try. Thinking yet again he tried to realize what else could keep him alive in this situation. ¡°I would like a weapon that enables me to kill anything without getting damaged or destroyed¡± You are not worth of such power. 3 more tries remaining choose wisely. Hearing this, max realized that this reward was not a freebie. He had to think about all he had done and what would be a worthy gift to give anyone in his position. As he sat there thinking all the fatigue and hunger hit him all at once. He realized that he still needed to go get food, and then it hit him. ¡°I would like a bag that allows me to store massive amounts of materials without increasing the weight of the bag.¡± He said out loud to the voice while saying a prayer in his heart. Wise choice however due to the level of your achievement you shall only be granted a bag with a space of 50 cubic acres. Good luck. With a sigh of relief he relaxed all the nerves he didn¡¯t know had been tightened due to the pressure, but before he could get the chance to relax the voice returned saying Commencing reward giving in 5¡­¡­ 4¡­¡­ Hearing this max thought to himself, this shit is going to hurt I can just feel it. 3¡­¡­ 2¡­¡­ Gritting his teeth max prepared for the worst. 1¡­¡­. At this point the pain that flooded max was something he could never have prepared for. It felt like he was drowning and being electrocuted at the same time. His body was wracked with pain as he screamed a loud anguished shout to the atmosphere. The pain was unimaginable, it felt like electric ants were crawling and biting on his whole body but most prominently on his brain and heart. Unable to withstand the growing pain he blacked out yet again. The first thing Max feels which to be honest was what actually woke him up in the first place was hunger. The kind of hunger that makes you feel like you can eat a mansion and have room for two more. Gasping for breath as he drags himself into a sitting position, he rests his back against a table. Sitting upright now he takes the time to remember what he was granted. Looking in front of him is the smashed head of the Drat he had killed and just beside it was a backpack. He knew that although he was in a rush, there was no bag right next to the smashed head of the Drat. Thinking back to because the blackout he remembers his gift. The bag must be the reward he asked for. Managing to stand up he goes straight to the bag and starts examining it. Looking at it from the outside it looked like your everyday backpack with no difference whatsoever. Seeing nothing wrong with the bag he proceeds to open it and see what was so special about the bag. Looking inside all he sees is darkness. Now this was not darkness caused by a lack of light but like darkness, the absence of light. Feeling very creeped out and excited at the same time he reaches his hand inside and he could feel that the bag was¡­..This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Empty. Well that was to be expected however the unexpected thing was that he knew that there was an endless amount of space in this small back pack of his. Feeling the grumbling of his stomach yet again he saddles his backpack, taking one last look at the Drat, he opens the door. Looking outside the door he checked to see if there were any more creatures lurking outside and thankfully there was none. Feeling emboldened by his hunger max starts to head for the kiosk down on the first floor. Hefting his new backpack and axe he proceeds to go down the stairs. The building he was in had a total of 4 floors with the janitor¡¯s closet being on the third. As he heads down, he tries to pay attention to any sound resembling that of a Drat or anything unknown. Thankfully there is none. With adrenaline coursing through his veins he dashes down the stairs with as much finesse as a one legged man trying to dance ballet. Upon reaching the first floor he stops to scan the first floor, after waiting for a while and seeing nothing, he gently tiptoes to the counter of the kiosk. Throwing caution to the wind he leaps over the counter, the sight of food clouding his better judgment. It isn¡¯t until he leaps over the counter that he hears a low growl from behind him. Scared to look behind him but knowing he must face the inevitable truth of what is behind him, he slowly turns around to come face to fang of a Drat. Instincts kicking in he leaps backwards using his arm as a shield, trying to protect his head from being chomped like a piece of cabbage. The Drat however cares not for his plight and gladly sinks its fang into his arm. The juicy blood flowing through its mouth incentives it to drag for more. As its fangs sinks into max¡¯s arm a feminine scream is released as well as the axe in his hand, with pain as his motivation he proceeds to throw punch after punch against the creature. Landing a lucky hit on its eyes max gets a moment of reprieve. Clutching his arm and edging backwards he looks around with darting eyes looking for his axe. Spotting it a couple of meters behind him, he scrambles towards it knowing at this point it is his only lifeline. Shaking off its disorientation the Drat notices its prey scrambling away motivated by the promise of more blood and the chance of meat, it lunges forward clamping its maws against the succulent legs of its unsuspecting victim. With the axe just within reach max feels a sense of relief which is quickly replaced by a pain he is beginning to know all too well now. As the pain starts to course through him, he reaches forth with a profound sense of willpower he reaches for the axe. Finally with axe in hand he begins an uncoordinated wallop on the creature, his axe ripping through its skin and finding blood. As the life rushes out of its eyes, its grip slackens on max¡¯s calf but this does not stop his wild butchering. Blood flies everywhere as he screams and bashes the head of the Drat. Even as the energy it possesses rushes into him he remains oblivious. It isn¡¯t for a while before he stops, breaking down into tears. Uncontrollable shaking racks his entire body as the full reality of his situation dawns upon him. This was no video game, his life was at risk. There was no extra life, death was as it had always been a finality. Finally regaining control of his emotions, he is overcome by a wave of nausea and lightheadedness due to the lack of blood and the adrenaline crash. Looking at his hand and leg, he inspects the severity of the wounds he received. Looking at it all he sees are some deep puncture wounds. If he was being honest he expected the damage to be more severe. Remembering the message passed along by the system he is thankful that the injury isn¡¯t as drastic as he thinks it is since there is no automatic health regeneration. Pulled out of his inspection by a deep growl he smiles self depreciatively and looks down at his stomach. He never knew hunger could feel like this. Mustering the strength he has he tentatively stands on his good leg, putting as little pressure on the injured leg as possible. He rips a part of his shirt and uses it as a makeshift gauze. Hobbling towards the food display all max can think about is the hunger that besets him, it is due to this hunger that he doesn¡¯t notice a shadow on the floor until he steps on it tripping and falling down again. Looking to see what caused his trip he realizes it is a human leg¡­¡­¡­¡­.a detached, feminine, human leg with ends looking like it was gnawed upon by sharks. Realizing that this must have been the cashier that worked down here, he is mortified. He knew her, she was one of the few people who he genuinely cared about even if their relationship was only to the level of small talk and business transactions. Her name was Becky, she was plump and had a roundish shaped face. In max¡¯s perspective she was a nurturer, someone who cared about all the people that came in here regardless of how fucked up they were and now she was gone. He feels his stomach heaving but with nothing left inside him he dry heaves, feeling his emotions about to lose control he starts to take deep calming breaths. Settling down, max feels a sense of justice in killing the drat here, picking up the leg he puts it inside the backpack promising to at least give her a burial even if all that is left of her is just a leg. After finally gaining control he heads to the food display, without even thinking of what he wanted he reaches out and picks a sandwich which he immediately begins to devour. His tummy filling like a black hole, he feels an insatiable hunger and proceeds to each sandwich after sandwich. He never knew food could taste this good. This continues for a while until he feels a measure of fullness at which point he stops. Noticing that there is still a huge amount of food left he stores it all in his backpack. With the way things were now, having the bare necessities like, food and water would be very important and since he had a way to store it, it would be foolish of him to not do as such. After his successful raid of the food display he proceeds to do the same thing to the rest of the kiosk. Upon finishing his task he sits down resting his hand and leg. Taking a Gatorade from his bag to cool off from the extraneous work, considering the difficulty of raiding while being slightly indisposed, he downs half the content in one chug. Upon doing so he is filled with a burst of energy. The pain from his leg and hand reduced significantly and his mind felt thoroughly refreshed. ¡°What the hell??¡± max says out loud, it seemed like the Gatorade had somehow rejuvenated him. The system was correct when it said there was a no health regen system however it seemed like there were items that aided the body in recovering faster. This knowledge excites him. It seemed like there would be ways to recover quicker and he seems to have found one. Looking out through the window, he notices that it is still late at night, he needed somewhere to hunker down for the night. It seemed like normal rodents had been mutated into new weird versions of themselves and most of these critters were things that came out at night. With this thought in mind he decides to find somewhere to hunker down for the night. Testing his legs they feel much better but he can tell that it will need some more time, time that he didn¡¯t have at the moment before they were back to their full functioning capabilities so the stairs were out of the option. He remembered that there was a nurse¡¯s office on the ground floor he was on. ¡°The nurses office has a bed, a pretty sturdy door pluuussss¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.there are medical supplies!!! It seems my choice has been made for me¡± max thinks to himself ¡°might as well head over there, if I remember correctly it was down the hall from here¡± with a plan finally in mind max starts to head to the nurses office with thoughts of rest and a safe place to really process all that had been happening, tomorrow was going to be yet another long day, max could feel it. The introduction had basically overturned the way the world was going to work. ¡°Don¡¯t worry max, just like every other problem you have ever faced, you handle them one at a time¡± he says to himself with a grim expression on his face. chapter 3: Survivors After a long night of rest max wakes up looking around. He almost believes the whole experience was a dream until he sees his bag at the corner, he plops back on the bed and starts thinking through everything that had happened to him so far. ¡°I guess this is the new reality then¡± max thought to himself, he looks down at his legs and notices that it had healed entirely. Thinking how he had been granted a way to view his body so far he starts to notice the somewhat game like elements induced and propositioned by the weird voice. Thinking to himself ¡°status¡± a blue screen pops up in his vision.
Name Maximus Blacklight Age 19
Class none Mana 100/100
Status healthy Level 3
Strength 5 Agility 7
Constitution 10 Dexterity 6
Intelligence 9 Charisma 5
Wisdom 8 Willpower 8
luck 5 Points remaining 15
It seemed that that rush of energy he felt when he killed the Drats was him leveling up. It seemed that this system used a level up based system. Thinking about all this he starts to wonder why he originally didn¡¯t have access to the system prior to killing the Drat and if he only got access then why was he level 3 and not two. Thinking along this path he finds no answer to his questions, deciding to analyze this later when he is better equipped with more information, he puts it behind him and finally takes stock of the nurses¡¯ office. Looking at all the furniture¡¯s he stacked against the door the night before he feels a measure of relief. Going through the cabinets and cupboards in the nurses¡¯ office he began to ransack any and every drug he can possibly find and stuff it into his bag. After an hour of searching he comes to the conclusion that he must have cleared out the office. Pulling out a pill of ibuprofen he pops it and immediately feels a lot sturdier, if that could be put into words. The effects didn¡¯t end there however, he also felt a little lighter on his feet. It seemed that pain killers increased his agility and constitution, pulling up his status screen he checks to see what truly the effects of the pill was.
Name Maximus Blacklight Age 19
Class none Mana 100/100
Status healthy Level 3
Strength 5 (+5) 01:20:30 Agility 7 (+3) 01:20:30
Constitution 10 (+5) 01:20:30 Dexterity 6
Intelligence 9 Charisma 5This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Wisdom 8 Willpower 8 (+3) 01:20:30
luck 5 Points remaining 15
It seemed like not only was he sturdier now but he was also stronger and a little faster. Noticing the timer he realizes that this was a temporary buff. He looked at the bottom corner of the screen and sees the unassigned attribute points and according to his calculation it seemed he got 5 attribute points per level. Tempted to spend it all at this point in time he decides against it. He had a feeling there would be a time where he would need to use them and although they seemed like a lot now he decided to hold back until he could get more information. With all this done he felt a lot more confident than he actually looked, he decided now was a good a time as any to go out and figure out what had happened to the rest of the world. Sticking his head out of the nurses¡¯ office he looks left and right trying to listen for any unwanted guest, hearing none he begins to crawl out of his hidey hole. This would be his new safe house, it was fortified enough and it had a bed. Making his way down the corridor he is startled when he hears a piercing feminine sounding scream from up in the second floor. Realizing that there may be more survivors he is faced with a choice should he intervene and save them or should he leave them to their fate. This was no longer the world he knew, he had gotten lucky in his fight against the drat¡¯s he¡¯d fought and even those fights weren¡¯t without bodily harm. Rushing forward to save them while it may seem chivalrous was in fact just feeding himself over to the wolves. What if the enemies this time were not drats but other creatures that were more dangerous than the drats, what then? As he stops there contemplating the choices he hears another scream and decides to go take a look and see what the situation looked like and if by chance he could help them he would but if he couldn¡¯t he was not putting his life at risk just to play hero to a damsel in distress. Peering down the corridor he sees an open door and hears the scuffle and the agonizing cries and screams of people, it sounded like a mix between male and females. Crawling quietly he makes his way over to the room and darts a quick look inside, he sees three Drats attacking a group of five ¡­..Sorry make that four because it seemed like one of them was already way past the point of saving as one of the Drats had one of the survivors throat in is bloody maws. The one with the prey in its mouth proceeded to drag the body back towards the door while the other two are snarling at the scared survivors. The survivors are comprised of 2 boys and 2 girls as well as the dead guys in the Drats mouth. The Drat with their dead friend in its mouth proceeded to rip into the carcass all the while keeping an eye on the other survivors. As max watched the morbid sight he starts becoming overcome by fear. He hides by the corner as he contemplates the moral dilemma he had found himself in. He could run and save his life but he would live with the knowledge that he had left these students to die. He had the ability to provide them with a chance no matter how small it was of survival or live with the thought that he was a murderer by omission. Now the question was to save or not to save. He took one more look inside and sees that two of the boys and one girls had pissed themselves while the last one was in a daze. Meanwhile the three drats are ripping their friend from limb to limb all the while keeping their attention focused on their prey. At this point he finds himself moving, charging to the nearest drat axe raised high. With a silent rush, he picks the Drat closest to him and buries his axe into its skull splitting it almost instantly. Flowing with adrenaline and anger he finds that the force and the anger at which he struck the drat caused his axe to be buried deeply into its skull. He is rewarded for his enthusiastic swing with brain matter and blood all over his face and top. It seems he had landed a critical hit because the monster was as dead as dead could be. With this action the other drats are drawn away from their prey feeling a new threat. They abandon the body and jump backwards while keeping a cautious attitude towards this new threat. With this break he attempts to dislodge the axe from his first victims head with little success. Seeing that he is stuck one of the drats attack to catch him by surprise. Forgoing the axe for defense he dodges to the side, which causes the drat to collide with the axe handle loosening it a bit. Noticing this max rushes the creature and kicks it. With its balance being off from its previous attack, the drat finds itself skidding across the floor. At this moment the second drat, noticing its companions failed attack feels it has a better chance now that their prey is being distracted and lunges for him. Noticing the now loose axe and the new attacker charging him he dives towards the axe. The two drats regain their bearing and both launch brand new attacks at him one going for his calves and the other jumping higher. He notices that unlike before, now that he was paying attention he had enough time to see both attack paths and make a conscious decision. He jumps to side, successfully evading both attacks and putting him at an optimal position to attack. He swings his axe and the one nearest to him is sent flying by the baseball swing. He realizes this must be some of the effects of the temporary buff of ibuprofen. The drat collides with the far wall causing it to be disoriented. At this point the other drat had rebalanced and launched itself towards his head. He turns around using the momentum behind his previous strike to slash at the head of the flying drat. With his boosted strength and the added momentum the power behing the strike is enough to split the head of the drat down to its midsection. Left with only one monster max begins to feel less pressure. He sees a possibility of saving his fellow students. Surging with confidence he flings the split drat and faces the last remaining drat. This drat however is more cautious it realizes that this new prey was more than its match. Feeling overconfident max charges the drat swinging his axe wildly. Seeing an opening in his uncoordinated attack it strikes for his axe wielding arm and manages to lock its jaws on maxs¡¯ wrist causing him to drop the weapon. After disabling him the drat jumps back and cautiously watches max sizing him up waiting for him to mess up again. Feeling an immense amount of pain max¡¯s concentration wavers and fear begins to settle in. He realizes that his axe is now behind the drat and with the realization that he is defenseless against this monstrosity he begins to back away from the monster as it stalks him. ¡®Shit, my wrist is out of commission, the axe is behind this bloody monster and these useless students will be no help whatsoever. So much for playing the hero¡¯ he thinks to himself. As he edges backwards he fails to notice the corpse of on the drats he had previously killed and stumbles over it. Noticing yet another opportunity the drat lunges for his neck going for the kill strike. Out of the blue an axe is buried in the head of the drat instantly killing it. The momentum pushes it and as max falls the dead drat with the axe in its skull lands on him. For a while everyone is dumbfounded, they turn to see who had attacked the monster. To their surprise they find the least likely suspect standing there looking stupefied. This scenario wouldn¡¯t be too shocking if it was either of the boys or even the girl who looked like an athlete. What stupefied them was the fact that behind the axe was the smallest girl you could possibly imagine standing at a height of 5¡¯2 and looking like she weighed maybe about 45kg. She had long brunette hair and was wearing high waist denims, a hoodie and a pair of converses. She had the girl next door vibe to her. Although she looked quite disheveled it couldn¡¯t hide her cuteness. As she stands there panting and crying all she can say is ¡°I¡¯m so sorry I didn¡¯t mean to do it, I don¡¯t know my body just moved, I¡¯m so sorry, I¡¯m so sorry, I¡¯m so sorry, I¡¯m so sorry¡­.¡± Midway through her rambling she jumps in fright. Max realizes that she must have been initiated into the system and says to her ¡°I¡¯m guessing you just got a notification stating that you just gained access to the system right?¡± to which she nods her head. ¡°Well what does it say? What number are you and do you gain any rewards?¡± She focuses on the blank air in front of her reading the notification before saying ¡°i-it s-ssays I am number 1,056,201 on earth to gain access and I¡¯ve been rewarded with a s-status screen, as well as a random reward of my choosing.¡± Noticing the difference between her rewards and his he keeps the information to himself and tells her that she can ask for pretty much anything save a few vital things like information and overpowered weapons. ¡®It seems like I was probably one of the few people who got mana and extra things¡¯ he thinks to himself. He notices the room had gotten quiet, this breaks him out of his silent introspection. Looking around he notices the survivors looking at him, with an awkward cough he says ¡°my name is max, I was a comp science major second year what about y¡¯all?¡± the first boy introduces himself to be Gregory a political science major in his senior year. Greg, as he liked to be called was Caucasian, had light green eyes blonde hair and looked like your average gym buff, he was also one of the guys who wet himself so he looked embarrassed. The second guy however tried to pretend he hadn¡¯t just pissed himself, he introduced himself as terry. Now terry to me looked like he had a macho complex because all he said was his name. He was about 6 foot 4 in height, was bald, and athletic in build he must have been a swimmer or a runner. The way he looked at me suggested that he was going to be trouble, the girl who ended up killing the drat introduced herself as Aliya she was a psychology major in her sophomore year just like me, so like, yay!! The last girl introduced herself as Evett but with a ¡®y¡¯ so I guess Yvett? I guess as long as I don¡¯t have to write it I should be fine. She was a cheerleader studying Chemical engineering. That in itself really shocked me because she didn¡¯t come off like the brainy sort. She had strawberry blonde hair deep blue eyes and assets in all the right places to say I wasn¡¯t tempted by her figure would have been an understatement of the year but you know dead carcasses and all tend to kill extra thoughts like that. After our introduction I turn to look at Aliya and ask her what she decided to pick with her gift and she start to think about it for a moment before all of a sudden a book appears in her hand. I am curious but I hold myself from asking what she got and waiting for her to tell us. She seems shocked at the sight of the book just being there like it always had at first she eventually lets us know she chose a book of how to cast spells. Hearing her comment I can¡¯t help but mentally face palm. ¡®Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! You ACTUALLY have mana and you chose a storage bag *sigh* what a waste of a gift¡¯ She goes on to study the book. With the initial introductions out of the way he reaches into his storage backpack and shares some of the food he had raided to the joy of the entire group apparently they had been stuck there for a day and they hadn¡¯t had anything to eat yet. The guy that died was somebody they didn¡¯t know who ended up stuck in the same room with them. After the had had the chance to eat and relax they decided to take stock of the situation, after a couple of ideas they decided to stick together till they found a better place with better security and from there make new plans. Although everyone was worried about their families they realized they wouldn¡¯t be any help to any of them if they went there now without any experience or understanding of the situation or even worse if they ended up dead.