《A Bloody Game》 Prologue. * Bloooiii* *Bloooiii* *Bloooiii* *Fump* "God, I hate this game," muttered Erik Hunter as he tapped his phone to start another round. Flappy Birdmay have been a shit game, but it did its job well, namely being a mindless time wasterand keeping him away from thoughts of how he could just call this quits and go home. It''s not like anyone would''ve stopped him either. He could just get up out of his seat, walk to the elevated, and take the T, and- "Erik? Come on down to room 9 dear, the doctor will see you soon." Anurse called, breaking him out of his daydream of escape. Looking up he saw it was Jannet, a nice blonde woman who''s been working here for as long as he remembers. She seemed to be getting on in years, he could see streaks of silver in her hair, and faint wrinkle lines around her eyes. Crows feet Erik believe was the term. Wonder how her kid is doing? He hasn''t seen the little bugger since last Christmas. "Ok, thanks Jannet, how''s Tommy? I haven''t seen him in a while, it''s almost his birthday, right? Make sure to invite me, I''ll show up if I make it after today!" Prattling off every topic of small talk thathe could think as they walked down the hall. Normally Erik wasn''t this talkative, guess you could say it was nervous energy. "Of course you''re invited Erik, don''t talk like that, you''ll be fine. I''m sure Tommy can''t wait to see you get better and play soccer with him again."The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "I hope everything will turn out alright" She tried to reassure himwith her words, but he wasn''t convinced. They made a detour to the nearest bathroom so that he could change into a hospital gown. Soon after Erikwent into the room and dumped hisstuff onto a chair. She hooked him up to an IV and gave some general anesthesia, but her words kept ringing inside his head. It sounded empty in his ears, like those practiced linesyou say to a patient to comfort them before their deaths ''I''m sure you''ll make a full recovery''. After all, he had done his research, looked up the statistics, his surgery had such a high mortality rate that people died more often than not. Thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder that is characterized by less oxygen-carrying protein and low red blood cells in the body than normal. He hashad it interrupt hislife ever since he was born. Being prone to illness and infection because healso had a low white blood cell count and the fact that he had a central line, a tube stuck in his chest to deliver medication directly into him. It was pathetic. Not being able to run for more than a minute, always running out of breath even doing simple tasks, eating pills like candy just to make sure he didn''t keel over. The only time hedidn''t feel helpless being the first few days after he gets his tri-weekly blood transfusion, maybe a whole week if he forced food down histhroat. It was disgusting. Erik was a parasite living off other people. From his parent''s money, from the goodwill of his friends, and from other''s blood like a leech. He was practically living in the damn hospital half the time. Needing frequent blood transfusions, and all manners of regular check-ups, he knew every single doctor and nurse here and the layout of the entire building. He could navigate his way around blind if he had too. Most just chose to live with their ailment than risk everything, but Erik was sick of it. Sick of being a burden, sick of being unable to help himself,to be a prisoner in hisown body. After all, if he can''t be the captain he''d rather burn down the ship than watch as it rots away drifting amidst the ocean. That''s why he came here today, to bet it all in the hopes that he''ll finally be rid of this curse once and for all. "Don''t worry dear, everything will change once you wake up" Her distorted words were the last thing Erik heard as the medicine fully kicked in. If only they both knew just how right she was. Awakening: A New World Something suddenly woke him up. It was quite a strange sensation as he didn''t feel the tiniest bit tired or lethargic. He has undergone multiple surgeries before, but never has he woken up so...Aware. He felt completely clear minded and it was actually a bit off-putting, not even when he was awake during the day did he feel like this, especially so considering it was a drug-induced sleep. Looking around the room and judging by the dull grey walls, and the fact that he had woken up at all, he must be in one of the recovery ward deeper in the hospital. He remembered hearing about it when his doctor had given him the rundown on what to expect after his bone marrow transplant. He was expected to stay in the hospital for a few weeks so they could monitor his condition. Slowly getting up he felt a sharp sting on his arm and found that he was hooked to an IV giving him blood. Hopefully, that''ll be the last time. Erik slowly got up and made his way to the bathroom. He faintly recalled being told to ask the nurse for help if he needed anything, and that he shouldn''t be moving around for a day or two after the operation, but he felt perfectly fine. Also, he hardly could bring himself to ask for help to use the bathroom. Thankfully the machine infusing him with blood was on an IV stand which had wheels. He washed his hands after finishing his business and looked in the mirror. With short messy black hair, the white of his eyes and skin having a yellow tint, a skinny frame, and sickly green veins that bulge beneath his skin, Erik Hunter did not paint a pretty picture. Pulling his hospital gown down allowed him to see him to see his chest, marked by scars from previous surgeries, and a big white patch near where his heart was. They removed his central venous catheter. For a moment Erik just stood in front of the mirror and stared at where it was supposed to be. It has been in him for well over a decade now. Sure, there were previous instances when it was taken out, but those were mostly because of complications occurring or him volunteering himself for experimental treatments. Those moments of reprieve never lasted long. Reality struck him with all the subtlety of a brick to the face. His vision blurred as tears stung at his eyes. It didn''t fully occur to him before now, but he was free. For once in his life, he was finally free. No more appointments, no more pity, no gagging down pills. He was finally like everyone else, normal. Wiping his eyes on his sleeves he went to change into some pants and put on his shoes. Now that he was actually awake and the high of the situation was over he felt extremely hungry. According to his phone, he has been out for a day and a half, and while they probably gave him nutrients and fluid through his IV, nothing beats warm food. Strolling his way through the familiar halls he went into the kitchen stock and microwaved himself some off-brand chicken noodle soup. For some reason he felt really cold, he couldn''t help but shiver every few minutes. You would think that such a prestigious facility would be able to afford to turn on the heat. Grabbing a tray he placed his now hot soup and a few bottles of water on it before heading back through the lobby to his room. Finding a nurse he managed to borrow a laptop and charger to bring back to the room. After all, he had just woken up and it was doubtful that sleep would find him anytime soon. Successfully navigating his way back, he placed the tray on the table and started his late dinner. It was terrible. Everything from the chicken to the noodles, to the soup itself, seemed to have been drowned in salt. It tasted of salt water and old fast food fryer oil. He could hardly wait to get out of here. Erik finishing his lackluster dinner and went online on the laptop to do some light reading, checking for the newest updates to his favorite mangas, web novels, and fanfics. Unfortunately, after a while, he found that he couldn''t bring himself to focus no matter how hard he tried. He kept shivering, his skin rippling into gooseflesh, and his heart started to race ever so slightly. He went anxious, but he didn''t know why. Maybe he was going stir crazy? Perhaps it was because of the dark? He turned on the light in his room. Grabbing his phone told him it was 11:50. Just shy of midnight. It wouldn''t be right for him to call his friends and wake them up just because he had too much energy at an ungodly hour of the night. Reading required too much brain power, so he decided to just stroll through his Facebook and look at memes. Liking some, and saving others for later, the minutes ticked by. However, his sense of dread didn''t disappear, rather it seemed to intensify. He right foot kept tapping the floor and he noticed that the "memes" folder he made now had 136 new saves. subconsciously he turned to look at the clock again 11:56. It was almost time. For what? He hadn''t the faintest idea besides a vague sense that something was coming. As much as he felt scared he was at the point of welcoming it. Anything would to be better than this constant feeling of impending doom, right? If he knew what it was then he could plan on it, come up with ideas on how to deal with the situation, the threat, but this invisible feeling of danger hounding him was eating at his sanity. Even a random terrorist attack right now would be preferable! 11:57 he felt like pulling his hair out, the seconds dragged on to what felt like hours. 11:58 he could barely keep himself from screaming, it felt like the walls were closing in on him and he couldn''t breathe. A detached part of his mind wondered if this was what a panic attack felt like. 11:59 he took a deep breath in and held it in for a small eternity. 12:00 Midnight exactly. The sun has long since gone down and the moon reigned high in the sky. He waited. Waited with bated breath for...something. He peeked his head out the door and into the hallways, locked his door and looked out the window to the streets for anything odd. For aliens kidnapping hobos, suspicious men in long coats, and monsters stalking the night. Yet, nothing did. Letting out a long sigh he rubbed his eyes. Feeling cold sweat on his brows he went to wash his face. Feeling refreshed he left the bathroom and turned off the lights. Suddenly, he felt a small draft. His blood thundered in his chest and rushed to his ears. Something was wrong. His senses were screaming at him to stay alert. His eyes subtly roamed around the room seeking all the information his eyes could get. His room had special air filters to lower the chance of infections and was well insulated from the outside. His brain was racing through possibilities. He had made sure to close and lock the door to his room after he peeked outside. He was on the 6th floor and closed his windows tight. There was no possible way anyone could''ve opened his window. He was alone in his room. He turned on the lights and as if a mirage the feeling disappeared. Perhaps he would''ve believed it to be all in his mind too, were it not for the fact that his window was ever so slightly cracked open. "Hello?" No response. He waited. His room wasn''t big so with the exception of the bathroom he just left he could see pass every corner of it. There was absolutely nothing here, not even a mouse. His heart gradually slowed back down and his tense muscles started to loosen up with the lack of a visible threat. Deciding he couldn''t just stand there all day, he went to turn off the lights and close the window. As he went to close it, he saw something strange. A blurred silhouette. At first, he thought it was merely a faint reflection of the room from the window, but as he walked closer to the window the image persisted with him every inch of the way. He sneaked a glance behind him while pretending to yawn, but nothing was there. His lips thinned to a harsh line. What the hell is that? His mind raced furiously even as he kept up his ignorant charade. It even moved when he intentionally slowed a step. He didn''t know what it was, but one thing was for sure. He was not alone. Keeping his face neutral he continued walking towards the window while putting up a casual front. He kept in mind the location of the shadow. It seemed to be avoiding what small rays of light leaks through the window. It walked past his laptop, not noticing that it was emitting a small amount of light from being charged in. The light had barely touched it, but it''s toe seemed...more solid? He saw it was a cloudy and vaguely humanoid creature, but when the light touched it seemed to have a clearer outline. Perhaps that was its weakness? Whatever it was didn''t show up when he had turned on the light. For a brief moment he considered turning around and sprinting to the light switch, but it was too late. The thing was already positioned behind him. He tightened his grip on the medical stand as the creature approached him.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Just as he closed the window, it pounced! But Erik was ready for the beast. As soon as he saw it crouch down to jump he had already started to swing his stand like an oversized baseball bat. Timing his swing with every fiber of his being he managed to hit it right as it entered the moonlight. With a loud crack, he sent the shadow slamming into the wall. Not willing to give up the advantage of his surprise attack Erik quickly ran towards it and slammed down his pole. The top part of it containing the device for the transfusion broke off and slid into the bathroom until it''s momentum was stopped by the toilet. His IV was forcefully yanked and splattered blood over him when it went flying away. Seeing the shadow dazed Erik ran to flip on the light. Slowly the shadowy mist surrounding the being started to coalesce into a clear shape. It was vague humanoid if merely for the fact that it was bipedal and had opposable thumbs. It stood around 4 feet tall, a slight hunch to it''s back, with long arms with thick forearms. Its hand seemed almost metallic with no finger joints, just sharp claws. The rest of it was full of rough grey skin and a murky rusty brown, like a blood covered naked molerat had been left to dry in the sun. It had five beady red eyes around the edge of its head, each the size of an egg. In the center of its head was a gaping mouth full of needle-like teeth which took up half of its face. It was a thing of nightmares. The monster blinked it''s many eyes at him before it charged with fury. All pretenses of stealth out the window. Without the addition to the top, he couldn''t build enough momentum to do enough damage to pin it down again. Hoping for the best Erik went for a horizontal strike. It used it''s right arm to knock away his improvised weapon before slicing down at him with its other arm. He did his best to tilt to the side but still got a deepcut across his arm. Voided of the extra reach of the pole, he couldn''t effectively attack the monster anymore and it seemed to knew it too. It started being even more aggressive with wide and wild swings as he tried his best to dodge. Minutes gone by, he has had to make use of the tables, jumping over the chairs, even rolling under the bed, but he was running out of options. Throwing things doesn''t seem to be able to damage it. Luckily it seemed to enjoy toying around with him, but how long will that last? This wasn''t looking good at all. He had just lost his weapon and the monster hardly looks like it''s fazed. He was getting tired. His body wasn''t in any condition for so much physical activity so soon after surgery and with how deep the cut is he was losing blood fast. He needed to put an end to this soon and treat the cutor else even if he beats it he''ll end up bleeding out. Deciding to take a desperate gamble he slowly maneuvered them so that the creature was facing him with it''s back to the bathroom entrance. Then with a loud shout, Erik did something incredible stupid. He ran and tackled the monster into the bathroom and surprisingly he wasn''t skewered by it! The suddenly shout and attack by what it had presumed to be a easy kill had startled it enough that it gave Erik the oppertunity to pull of his suicidal rush. After all, Erik wasn''t content to be prey waiting to be slaughtered. He was a raised better than that. A Hunter doesn''t just roll over and die, they fight to survive, they fight to win. They rolled around in the bathroom before he managed to throw it into the shower. With the more narrow space, it couldn''t make full use of it''s long arms and claws. Pinningit down on it''s stomach with one of it''s arms behind it''s back, Erik started to punch the back of its skull with all his strength. It was like punching a brick wall. His knuckles started bleeding, and he was sure something in his hand fractured, but he didn''t stop, couldn''t stop. He kept smashing down with reckless abandon. Suddenly the creature buckled and dislocated it''s own shoulder. Using it''s newfound leverage it managed to toss him off it. This was it. Erik was out of steam. His right arm was pretty much out of comission with it''s fractures and torn muscles. At some point, the bandages from his central line and his operation must''ve gotten ripped off because he was covered in blood. There was a cut on his forehead from when the creature was flailing when he pinned it. He could barely see, hear, smell, or taste anything at this point thanks to hitting his head on the sink just now and blood running down his face. He swallowed the gunk in his mouth. A mix of blood, mucus, and likely a small piece of the monster for when he was desperate clawing and biting at it in an attempt to harm it in anyway. The creature stood up without a sound and popped it''s arm back into place. It didn''t even flinch. Did he even manage to hurt it at all this entire time? How troublesome. Judging by the fact nobody came to help him even with all the racket he has been making it was safe to assume this wasn''t an isolated incident. Not that it matters anymore. With all the blood he has lost, he doubted he would make it even if someone came to help him right now.He wouldn''t last more than a minute. Erik was tired. He tried his best. He did pretty well for an anemic kid being ambushed by a monster if he did say so himself. It''s ok for him to sleep now right? He was so cold, and sleepy. He earned himself a nap surely? He wonders where he''ll end up? He was no saint but he wasn''t evil, so maybe he''ll luck himself into heaven? Or maybe his destination would be down under? It didn''t matter at this point. At least it''ll be warm in hell. Anything was better than this cold. He closed his eyelids. Just for a little bit. Just to rest his eyes. Right as he was about to give up and let go he remembered what his grandfather told him, words he has lived by all his life. Hunters don''t go without a fight We go down swinging, and take them down with us. It''d be quite embrassing to meet his grandfather if he didn''t at least take the head of this son of a bitch with him to present to him. His eyes snapped open right as the creature was in mid jump. Grabbing the nearest thing to him, the blood transfusion machine, he swung with his only good arm. Thankfully, while the creature seemed to be supernaturally durable and strong, it''s small stature coupled with it''s relatively light weight and the fact it was mid air allowed his blow to slam it into the corner next to the toilet. With his second wind he shoved the thing''s arm and head into the toilet. Lifting the machine above his head he smashed it into the creature. Again and again the sound of metal meeting flesh and the roar of a madman echoed in the bathroom. Blood pour all over Erik and into his mouth. He was completely dripped with it as the blood bag in the machine had burst. The toilet was overflowing, creating a red puddle as the blood has also soaked into it. He didn''t know how long he had been at it, but he find himself woken out of his mad frenzy when the machine fell out of his hands. He was too tire to maintain a proper grip on it to keep it from bouncing from the rebound of his blow. The creature had stopped struggling. He wasn''t sure if it had either drowned, or if it was all the blows to it''s neck. One thing for sure was it wasn''t healing and it was a mangled mess. He laid limply on the wet ground. He did it! He had won! Now if only he could stop bleeding. He wonders if there was such a thing as Fate or God. If there was, then surely they had a sick sense of humor. He has just won a fight to the death and now he was going to die from not having enough blood in him...While surrounded by his blood and a machine to tranfuse blood. If only he could still use that blood.
Congratulations on Passing Tutorial - |Night Assault|
"What the fuck?" He was too tired and busy dying to question the blue screen floating infront of his eyes Achievement: First Blood! Calculating Reward... Bonus to Reward for First Tutorial challenge! Calculating Personalized Reward Based Upon Player''s Style and History Warning!!! Player: Erik Hunter in Danger of Death Tutorial Protection Protocol Activated Calculating Most Suitable Reward to Save Player... Reward Determined Congratulations, you have met the certain parameters to unlock a Rare Class: Blood mage -Kill an enemy using your blood -Ingest enemy blood -Bathein the blood of your slain enemy -Aqcuire 100 liter of blood from another
Name: Erik Hunter Level: 1 Class: Blood Mage
DEX: 10 INT: 11 VIT: 7
STR: 11 AGI: 12 END: 5
Title: N/A Health: 8/100 Mana: 110/110
Regen 0.2/Min 0.61/Min
{Universal Recipient} Lv. 1- Allows the conversionof blood, regardless of origin, Health or Manafor the user. Current conversion: 10 HP per pint or 5 Mana. (Basic Blood Manipulation) Lv. 1- Allows the user to manipulate blood with limited control. (Blood Letting) Lv. 1- A curse mainlyapplied to weapons and open wounds. Thiscursehas the effect of causing wounds to bleed more profusely and for longer periods of time. Erik had barely finished looking at his status screen before he passed out.After he had blacked out the system had activated its automatic response in order to save his life. Directly controlling him and his abilities, it boosted to a level that he was far from reaching as it gathered all the blood in the room. Tendrils of crimson wrapped around him into a cocoon, slowly infusing him with blood and life. When he woke up it''ll be a to a changed world. One that will be forged in the flames of war and tempered by adversity. A world where the strong thrive and the weak die.A New World. Awakening: A Baptism of Blood Erik woke up. He almost wishes he hadn''t. He was trapped inside a sphere of red liquid he could barely see through. There was a thin membrane with veins growing around it like vines crawling up a long-abandoned house. It pulsed to a steady rhythm and with each beat pure agony rushed through him. His fingers twitched as the force of the blood flowing into him was too much. Every vein and capillary was forcefully expanded to accommodate the raging river within. He couldn''t scream, the thick ooze clogged his throat. He couldn''t hear, the torrent of blood sounded like the marching of an army. He couldn''tthink, he felt like he''d gone fifty rounds with Chuck Norris! He didn''t know where he was, nor how he got here, but all he knew was one thing. One overwhelmingneed that consumed his entire being. Out. He had to get out. NOW. OUT..! OUT..! OUT! Like a man possessed Erik struggled within his confines and he chanted that singular mantra. He clawed his way inch by inch to the surface of the membrane. Grabbing it with his hands he tore it open and it burst like a water balloon. He cough and gagged on the fluid still within his chest. It was disgusting. He was disgusting. Drenched in blood like a wet cat, on his hands and knees as he puked, and tears running down his eyes. A fist sized chunk of congealed blood and mucus splattered on the floor as he finally cleared his esophagus. It tasted like death. As if someone had shoved a piece of rancid raw meat in his mouth in his sleep and duck taped it shut. Rot and the bitter tang of iron filled his mouth. His throat burned and it hurted to talk from all the dried blood caked in the back. He stayed in that position just breathing in the relief of still being alive. Finally deciding that he had calmed down enough he stood up and looked around. He was still in the bathroom of the hospital, and the creature''s corpse was still in the toilet head first. He found the remains of his fleshy prison and couldn''t suppress a shiver going down his spine. That kind of pain was maddening. As if he was a balloon waiting to pop. His veins didn''t feel like they were a part of him anymore, no, they were more like worms wiggling their way around inside of him. The remnants of the cocoon was like some twisted attempt of a human womb. "Welp, that''s another issue for my therapist" If that was how babies felt like being born than it was a mercy that nobody remembered the process of their birth. We had enough maniacs running around as is without every child being traumatized by that. Erik checked the small window panel of his door leading to the hallway for anymore of the creature. Once he was sure there was none roaming around he gently ran the shower, setting it to gentle drip down as to avoid making too much noise. Changing into a new outfit he decided to take stock of his situation. [ ! ] Seeing ahovering Icon in the side of his vision Erik finally gathered himself. Quietly walking to grab his phone he checked the time. 3:07 AM It''s been 3 hours since the System started and yet he could''ve easily died 4 times over. From the close encounter with the monster, from the risk of infect with his wounds, and from blood lost. At least he can''t ever claim to die from boredom anymore it seems. Checking his arm and abdomin he saw smooth skin with a slight pinkish hue. It felt tender and slightly itchy as if an old cut with the scab falling off.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Feeling a tingle in the back of his mind he refocused back on the System. A mental nudge was all it required apparently as it soon opened with his thought. A bit concerning in what it implied, but he was hardly in any room to complain. Shadow Beast(New Born) Defeated! Tutorial Double EXP Event in process... 200 EXP Awarded! 2 Soul Points Collected!
Shadow Beast (New Born)
A recently born Shadow Beast. Considered pests in most worlds these creature roam between worlds traveling through the void of darkness. They are an unique species in that their members all acquire different forms independent of their birthgivers. A Semi- Corporal being it hides within the dark. Exposure to light can force it to temporarily take a solid form. Once a member of the species is pregnant they seek out a strong creature to laid their eggs in its shadow. The newborn shadow beast will adopt a similar form to said creature inheriting it''s strength and few of it''s weaknesses. Taking a few years to leave its infantile stage, this particular shadow beast belongs to a tribe thatchosen to take part in the System as part of the Introduction phrase to integrate native species of [Earth]. Fresh out of the womb and suffering defects at birth before being transported, it is barely cognitive and with poormotor control. Shadow Beasts hardly qualifyas a threat, easily dispatched by most children in integrated worlds. Threat Level: Very Low
Erik Hunter was never one to turn away from a challenge. Coming from a long line of woodsmen he has hunted with his family in the woods ever since he was a kid. Being bullied from childhood because of his strange look and sickly demeaner he picked up some martial arts for self defense. Living in one of the more poor district in his city he was never too far from the occasional gang or thugs. He even relished in the random fight or sparring every now and then. The rush was addicting no matter how rare the opportunity came. Yet, as he was reading the message, it took all his might to not collapse back onto his knees. Shadow Beast.New Born. New Born. He almost died to an infant. That thing was barely a handful of minutes old and he almost died. His shoulder started shaking as his hands covered his face. Whether it was cries or laughter that echoed within the blood soaked room, even he didn''t know. If all the information was correct he had almost been killed by the equivalent of aretarded infantile offspringof some type of galactic rodent. A Pest. Something so weak that it barely was worth even mentioning as a threat by the System. It was used as fodder for a mere Introduction, part of a Tutorial of sorts to help us get used to the System. Something that even goddamn KIDS were expected to handle with ease. It was by sheer luck that he had even survived it. If he hadn''t been paying attention, if he didn''t notice the ambush, he wouldn''t died without knowing what even killed him! What the fuck was this? What kind of ridiculous game has humanity and himbeen dragged into if this was the weakest thing they could throw at them? Someone took the difficulty lever, skipped passed the normal and hard mode, and ramped it pass Hell straight up into Nightmare. If the outside was anywhere near this than he can''t even begin to imagine the maddness it was enduring. It must be an absolute blood bath.The world as we knew it had ended, for before creation must come destruction. From the ashes, a new world shall be born. It was truly, A Baptism of Blood. Awakening: A Bloody Path Recovering from his episode of hysteria, Erik picked up his phone to check up on his family and friends. No luck. Dialing 911 offered similar results. Facebook, Google, and Youtube all seemed to be offline. He didn''t know if this was a localized event because of where he was at,or if the system had suppressed global communications, or god forbid some being had interfered with their satellites themselves. That last part made him broke out into a cold sweat. Images of colossal dragons flying above or Cthulu-esque creatures roaming space. He grabbed that thought in a choke hold and slammed it into the deepest darkest corner of his mind, locking it in a cell and throwing away the keys, for that path leads only to madness and ruins. Scrolling through the System Notifications he came to a few conclusions. First of all, the fact that the Shadow Beast was in his room was not because he was incredibly unlucky. It was a transported there as a method to weed out the weak and ''Unworthy'' of the native species. It also wasn''t because of somemiracle that all the noise the fight had made and the scent of blood didn''t attract another one. The Tutorial was designed to be confined within a certain set of rules that helped to keep ''Players'' Alive. It seems that was why he was still alive. The Protection Protocol was triggered after he had completed his task in killing the monster and saved his life. His fell under the 1vs1 category so to speak. The Shadow Beast would be confined to the room or area it was assigned to unless someone let it out or attacked it. These would yield more Exp and would be much safer than random encounters in the wild. It seemed as if the System was encouraging him to seek out the rest and go above and beyond his tasks. High risk, high rewards as they say, and Erik wouldbe lying through his teeth if he said he wasn''t tempted. After all, this was the apocalypse and he''ll be damned if he didn''t grab every single scrap of power he could get his hands on. If the first reward was anything to go by, the System was generous in its Rewards during the Tutorial and for those who were brave enough to grab opportunities that come by. Secondly, the Protection he had in keeping other monsters unaware of his presence would wear off exactly at 12 hours after the start of the Tutorial before the next Phrase starts. This would be terminated early if he were to attack a monster or interfere in another''s Tutorial. Which brought him to his third conclusion. The way his Tutorial was named was a bit too specific, Tutorial -Night Assault.Itimplied the existence of different branches of Tutorials and a grace period to heal and most likely prepare for his next tasks. This was a mere taste of what was to come, an Introduction as the Shadow Beast''s page had so graciously told him. Finally, Soul Points were a type of currency that was utilized by the System. It hinted at containing all manners of things from the mundane to the fantastical. Things straight out of Sci-Fi and fantasy novels! It was too bad he couldn''t get too many specifics out of it. Apparently, he had yet to unlock the Shop Function and thus wasn''t privy to that information. Something he needed to rectify ASAP. A growl from his stomach startled him out of his thought process. Although the System recovered his health and healed his wounds he was still quite drained physically and mentally. He decided to take advantage of his invisibility to scope out the area and grab some food. Thankful for small mercies in the fact that his phone and earbuds survived the conflict he played some heavy rock and strolled down the halls. There were the occasional splatters of blood here and there, but there were no actual bodies to be found. He could see no signs of actual conflict. If he didn''t know better he would have thought that some new intern had tripped and dropped a blood pack or perhaps an energic child accidentally pulled their IV out running through the halls. Although if he looked carefully he could see the haze of the Shadow Beasts in dark corners of the hall. It seems as if this branch of the hospital had undergone a similar Tutorial as him. They were assassinatedbefore they even know what was going on. Checking the rooms lead to mixed results. Some of them were empty and others were similar at first glance...If were it not for the dull red orbs under the bed. It seems that despite them having little resemblance to each other, their creepy eyes were a constant. Singing along to the song Erik went behind the front desk and... Liberateda backpack. Ok, so he was looting the probable, almost certain, dead. It''s not like they could use it anymore and he needed to prepare. Going to the staff room right behind it he opened the mini fridge and helped himself to someone''s lunch of ham and cheese. It wasn''t the best, but man did he loved cheese. In fact, he loved most forms of dairy. It was just so good! Though considering the crisis humanity was facing this might be one of the last few days he could enjoy dairy products once the electricity ran out and there were no more farmers. What a sad world it''ll be without ice cream. While leisurely enjoying his pilfered goods, Erik decided to practice his skills. Rummaging around he found a small fruit knife and a thumbtack. He poked himself on his index finger with the tack and watched as slowly a bead of blood appeared. It was a strange sensation. He felt more attuned to it. There was a feeling as if it was still a part of him even if it had left his body. Like how a hand being moved away from your body does not make any less yours. He did not need to see it too know where it was, there was a special innate sense in his spatial awareness for it. Focusing his mind he lifted the orb up an inch above his palm. It shined in the fluorescent light as if a floating ruby, splendid in its glimmer. He stared in a trance, spending minutes playingwith the boundaries of his newfound ability, like a child unwrapping a toy at Christmas. He had a large grin on his face as he made fly around and dance between his fingers, he changed its shape from triangles to crude turtles, and race it around. He felt his fatigue disappear messed around.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. He was absorbed in the simple joy of magic that he didn''t notice the skill had was now Lv. 3. Shaking his head he attempted what he saw the System did before he passed out. Focusing his mind he tried to get the blood back into him. He failed. Never one to give up easily Erik tried again. And again...and again.. Sweat coursed through his brows. It has been mere minutes and yet the mental strain was starting to get to him. It felt liketrying to write a college essay using pen and paper...While being a new double amputee without either of your arms from the elbow down. He could sort of interact with the pen with his new nubs, but nowhere proficient enough to accomplish his task. His head was pounding and it felt hot as if he had a fever, but he finally did it! Ordering the blood to harden and scab over his wound was sealed. Sure, his fingertip was also covered in a thin layer of dried blood, but it got the job done! Skill Lv. Up Get! Proud of his efforts paying off he decided to test Blood Letting. He grabbed some bandages just in case. His smile fell off his face as he thought of how to test his next ability. Using the fruit knife Erikgave himself two small cuts. One with the curse on and one without side by side. Then he waited. Observing the results he finally used the curse on his wound that was cut normally. Then the one dealt by the knife when the curse was applied. He also applied the curse to the Tack then poked his other finger. Any single factor he could think of, he tested, after all this was the only real tools he had to survive. It wouldn''t do to run around with a weapon he couldn''t use nor understand. He wasn''t someShonen Jump protagonist. Great as his friends were, there was the simple fact that they weren''t here. Hell, he didn''t even know if they were still alive to miraculously show up and save him. His family was pretty average outside of being hunters. He didn''t have a hidden secret bloodline waiting to awaken. He didn''t have an OP cheat to carry him through his stupidity. As generousas the Tutorial was in saving him, and however game-like this world has become, he sincerely doubted there was a respawn waiting for him if he fucked up. And he didn''t want to test that theory. He had figured some ''Rules'' to his powers. Blood Manipulation had more ''soft'' rules than Blood Letting it seemed. If he used more mana and focus he could bend the rules slightly. He did not know how far he could take this as last time he tried he suffered a nosebleed and a pounding headache that got increasingly more painful. He was too scared to find out what would happen if he persisted. Regardless, these factors seem to dictate how much mana and focus it requires. 1.Volume 2.Distance 3. Age 4. Amount 5. Speed So far he could control a maximum amount of 18 fl oz. Just a bit more than the average water bottle. Erik discovered this when he was testing if he could control other''s blood. While he could use human blood with limited control, he couldn''t use the Shadow Beast''s at all. There was no way of knowing for now if it was because of his low skill level or if what flowed within it simply wasn''t blood or too alien for his current abilities. On the bright side, he figured out a few tricks. If he used the same blood type as himself than it was much easier to control. Perhaps because the familiarity to his own helped his focus. Also if the mixed his own blood with other people''s than it helped the skill recognize it as his own thanks to the similarity he presumes. He couldn''t seem to get it to leave much pass 10 ft away in any direction. When he went back to his room and tried he found that he had a lot more difficulty trying to interact with his blood from when the trial started. It wasn''t impossible, but highly more difficult than fresh blood. He estimates that more than 5 hours was a lost cause. He could split his blood into 3 ''separate'' units in the form of orbs or the like, but any more taxed his focus too much to be of use. In orb form it''s speed and impact was like being splashed with a cup of water, and if he enlonged it then it could move twice as fast! ... Which was still ended up at an unimpressive of being barely faster than a Super Soaker water gun. So much for copying anime characters with blood projectiles, oh and he had to rule out weapons made of blood too. Blood was frankly too brittle and weak. He could control it''s traits to a limited factor, but no matter how much blood he condensed it didn''t work out. Sure, it looked cool when the Hero made a sword of blood and deflected bullets and sliced through buildings, but reality rarely turns out how we wished it too... Although with this nonsensical System being a factor and his manipulation skill level currently so low and only at the Basic version, perhaps once he leveled it up or acquired the higher version he could pull it off. Suppressing his inner Weeb he thought about his options. On one hand he could attempt to find his parents in the unlikely scenario they survived and his friends. On the other, he could hold up here and prepare himself for the next phase of the tutorial. Thoughts raced through his headas he considered the outcomes of both. He was in the middle of Boston and his house was miles away. He doubted the streets would be clear and the subway is certainly shut down. Plus his invisibility only applied to monsters of his own Tutorial type. Sure they were locked in their rooms or standing mindlessly in the halls, but that didn''t mean other types couldn''t roam around, and what of the people outside? People who were in groups? Would it be a group battle? Or would they get something big enough and mean enough to wipe everyone out? What if there was random monster spawns already out and about? In most games he had played the tutorial took you to an isolated throwaway map or a ridged and limited path where you HAD to follow along with its script. This fell in neither of those categories. This was a goddamn open world sandbox. There was no ''safe zone''. Even if he didn''t meet any random monsters, he only had 7 hours to traverse a dozen miles of wrecked terrain home during mid-apocalypse before the next Phrase of the Tutorial started,and if it was another encounter he''d be fucked. Dropped the soap in prison with a tramp stamp fucked. Yeah... He wasn''t Rambo, there was no way he''d survive such a reckless move. His mind made up Erik got up to prepare. He diligently walked through the halls and every room gathering blood into a bucket he took from the janitor closet. Carefully doing so to go unnoticed by the Shadow Beasts, which thankfully he managed thanks to the System making them seem to ignore anything he did. He even sang and tap danced right next to one when he went into the room to search only to be completely ignored. It didn''t even seem to notice the door was opened. He pillaged a bunch of phones, chargers, food, water, change of clothes, and even a lighter. He threw away the packet of cigarettes he found lying next to it. Really, some people had no manners at all, smoking in a hospital, especially with so many patients in delicate health. For shame! Oh well, at least the man had style as he managed to pick up a new well fitting leather jacket. Sure it wasn''t armor per se, but it was tough and durable and should help him in the upcoming fight. Not that he planned to get close enough to it for that, after all, he didn''t play fair, he played towin.He''ll farm everything here and get enough power so that he could survive the trip home and check up on everyone. Whatever strange creatures were invading this world, whether they be monsters, demons, or gods better pray they don''t stand in his way. This Hunter is on the prowland he''s going to carve ABloody Path. Two Roads Diverged: The Road Not Taken Alexander Oakley was currently doing some late night shopping to buy a present for a dear friend who would be staying in the hospital for the next couple of weeks. They were childhood friends and he wanted to be there for him, unfortunately his part time job and college classes kept his schedule packed. Figuring that his friend would be bored while being confined to bed rest, he would get him some books. Fantasy and mythology has always been one of their favorites. He had just finished his purchases and went to a get a late dinner, when he had gotten a text from said friend. [243, suck it ] -E [You''re such a fucking loser lol]-A [So, I heard you went shopping, I hope you brought enough peanut butter to go with all that Jelly you have. #Git Gud]-E [Can''t tell if it''s all the drugs they probably have you on, or the lack of sleep, but you''re 1000% times more annoying right.]-A [Also, fuck you, that game is trash and takes no skills -_-"]-A [Nah, whatever they gave me wore off hours ago, I''m just naturally this awesome, also is that why your high score is only 27? Trolololol scrub]- E [Whatever, I still kick your ass in Smash. Its getting late I''ll ttyl. Try and get some rest you big nerd]-A [Aww, Love you too <333goodnight]-E I had just finished texting him when everything went wrong. I wasn''t sure who started it, whether they were a man or woman, but a suddenly scream broke out, and before long it was joined by dozens more. A symphony of chaos reverberated throughout the mall. From the balcony of the fourth floor I glanced up and had to take a moment to comprehend what I was seeing, that my eyes weren''t playing tricks on me, because what I saw was a goddamned Orc straight out of a sterotypical fantasy work. It was green and by the gods was it mean. It was 7''5 even with it''s slightly slouched position, large bulging muscle that made it look as if it ate bowls of steroid tablets and muscle milk for breakfast. Large tusk stuck out the side of it''s mouths with red patterns all over it''s body like tribal tattoos. It was holding a large club that was thicker than a man''s waist. It let loose a roar loud enough to ring my ears even on the third floor. It then slammed it''s tree truck of a club onto the ground and creating a small crater. What followed was pandemonium. Never before was Alex so disgusted in his life than he was at this very moment. He has never been much of a believer in religion despite growing up in a Catholic household, but he would imagine that the scene infront of him currently was an adequate depiction of Hell itself. People ran in hysteria, pushing and shoving, even trampling each other to escape the beast. Ironically enough, it was the people themselves who were caught up in their panic that caused the most death. That wasn''t to say that the Orc was just sitting there idly, oh no, it had killed quite some people, but it was a monster and that was in its nature. Seeing his fellow men abandoning each other hurted. It might''ve been useless, but people didn''t even attempt to subdue the beast, to rally up and work together. They were more than willing to cast aside their fellow humans to escape. He was shakened out of his trance when he hear a kid''s cry. Alex was an idiot. An absolute dumbass of the highest degree. He should''ve ran away from the monster like everyone else, call the police and leave the rescuing to the professional. It was the smart choice. Which was why he was running up the fucking stairs and towards the monster. Trying to be discrete as a 6''3man could be he grabbed the kid can hauled ass. He covered the kid''s mouth to stop him from crying and was hiding in the nearby Macy and praying the monster didn''t see them. Suddenly he felt something wet lick his palm. "GAH! What the fuck?" "Please help my mommy mister! She got hurt by the monster! Please!" God fucking damnit. The kid was starting to hyperventilate, I had to calm him down somehow. Peeking out from the corner of the entrance he could see the kid''s momnow. Unconscious and laying on the floor like a sack of potatoes with her dark hair covering her face. Thankfully the monster wasn''t looking his way, it seemed to be raiding the food court across the other side. Giving the kid a hug I turned him to face me. "Calm down kid, everything will be alright. What is your name? I''m Alexander Oakly, but you can just call me Alex." "I''m Richard, Rivera" "Well Richard, you just sit here and wait for me to come back with your mom, Ok? Don''t worry I''m a doctor!" In training at least, not that I had any plans to tell him that. Afterall, the poor kid was probably traumatized after all this, although he might not be the only one. "Come now, no more tears, wouldn''t want your mom to worry after she wakes up now would we?" Richard shakes his eye, wiping his eyes on his sleeves and thinned his lips in a look of determination. Giving his head another pat Alex began to crawl to the fallen woman. By this point the fourth floor was entirely abandoned, although there were still plenty of background noise of marching footsteps and screaming to serve as white noise to mask his moment thankfully. Every little bit counted considering he was risking his life. He managed to retrieve her back to the store where the kid proceed to glomp the life out of her. "Why isn''t mommy waking up Alex? Is she going to be alright? She''s bleeding everywhere! You have to save her Doc! She''s the only family I have left, you just gotta save her!" "It''s fine Ricky, it''s just some scrapes, she''ll take up soonand the police will come and get you back home in no time!" Alex exclaimed with a sense of cheer and confidence he didn''t truly felt. The wounds were bad, really really bad, she had sharpels of stone and glass stuck in her from when the monster was slamming his stick everywhere and smashing things apart and her arm was bent the wrong way. Seems she got luck and didn''t suffer a direct hit, but still ended up going through a store''s glass display. Likely had a concussion too. Frankly, she looked like roadkill in the making. Then there was the matter with the police showing up and the question of if they could even manage to kill this thing. Where did it come from? How did it get here? Why was it even here in the first place? Why now? All these thoughts raced through his mind as he carried her to the back of the store. Going behind one of the counters he managed to find a pair of scissors. Grabbing some nearby thingsto get some makeshift medical supplies,he took a deep breath as he prepared himself to treat her wounds. He sent the kid on watch for help out on the balcony, there was no chance the monster would see him there and he wouldn''t have to see the full extent of the damages it did to his mom. There was no time to wait for help that may or may not arrive. Washing his hands with a bottle of hand sanitizer he found on the counter, Alex emptied out his thoughts as he hyped himself up to prefer emergency treatment. Taking the pair of scissors he cut away her dress, taking special care for her broken arm, and accessed the wounds. He imagine this was what someone would look like if they picked a fight with a blender. She was littered with small cuts everywhere, but that wasn''t a cause for concern as they barely bled, the real issue was the 4 large shards of glass sticking out of her. One in her side, and one on her upper right shoulder two and bicep. He grabbed the needle he found and heated it up with the lighter.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. When it was red hot he decided to let it cool before pouring it with the hand sanitizer. He hoped with the double sterilization he could reduce any complications that would most certainly occur after his impromptu surgery. Using a piece of clean cloth he gently cleaned her the area around her side before removing the shard. He had to work fast as it started to bleed immediately. Taking his prepared needle he proceeded to stitch up the wound. Alex didn''t have suture threads so he had to make due with normal ones. After what felt like hours of intense concentration he finally finished her side. It wasn''t the best job ever with the lack of specialized tools, but it would have to do until he could get her to a hospital with an actual doctor. Getting into his flow he managed to finish her shoulder in half the time. It was her bicep that slumpted him and made him almost grab his hair and shout in frustration. The glass pieces were near her brachial artery. If he didn''t remove it then he couldn''t patch it up and stop the bleeding, if he fucked up then he''d have to tell the kid he just become an orphan. Even if he successfully removed it, how was he supposed to stitch it close? The two pieces was not clean cut and had intersected at a perpendicular angle making it infintely more difficult. His hands started shaking as he thought of the consequences of his failure. Biting his lips he wondered if he could just carry the woman and run down to the garage and drive her to a hospital. The monster didn''t seem interested in them. Surely he should leave this to the experienced? His eyes wandered before a glint of light beamed into his eyes. It was the lighter. His father''s lighter. A memento his father left him. The one man he looked up too the most. The man who died to save others. It woke him up like a slap to the face. What the FUCK was he thinking? Was he really about to give up? No, he refused to give up. Wasn''t this what his trainning was for? To save people? He wasn''t going to run away like a little bitch when the going got tough. He couldn''t freeze up! The mere fact that he even entertained the idea of not trying his best to save a dying woman just so he could push the responsibility to someone else was appalling. Worst yet, it was a disgrace to his father''s memory. He took one final glance at the lighter before a firm look took over his eyes. It''s pointless on pondering about what would happen if he failed, because hesimplywon''t. Thanks Pops His hands steadied with his heart and he went to work. Deciding to take a different approach he started sterilizing and heating up the scissors. Stitching simply wouldn''t work in this situations. He had to cauterize it. The blades had ever so slightly gained a tint of red when he stopped. He stuffed a scarf in her mouth to make sure she didn''t bite her tounge, before cleaning the wound as best as he could he removed the glass and started. With short 1-2 second burst he repeated tapped the hot metal to her arm, shearing the flesh close. She woke up mid way, thankfully her screams were muffed by the scarf and Richard was nearby to calm his mother down and explain the situation. She was in no position to move so carefully got her to laid down in the dressing room benches with some jackets as a blanket to keep her warm. The poor woman was shivering like a wet cat, but at least her condition was stable enough now that there wasn''t much worry that she would kneel over on us. I got Richard to keep an eye on the monster for me while I went to save more people. We worked a simple system of using hand signals and vibrant shirts. Fingers to show how many stores away the Orc was, red meant danger, green was safe. Simple, but effective. And it was damn well the most dangerous game of Red Light Green Light he''s ever heard of. They had managed to save two dozen people. There were some close calls and moments were the monster was so close he''d have to hide for long periods of time, but he rescued most of the people on his level. Although they weren''t all in good condition. Some were merely unconscious. Others were already dead or wouldn''t make it past the next hour it seemed. Regardless he patched them up as best as he could and made sure they were as comfortable as they could be. It was the most he could do, but at least their bodies would remain intact for their families and not destroyed by that monster. It was after an hour of hard work he had he managed to reach the final person. A middle aged man with a rather round build and greying hair. He was stuck under some rubble and had passed out. A glance at Richard showed him raising 3 fingers and a green shirt. He had around 15 minutes before the monster came around. He worked as quickly and quietly as he could. The man regained consciousness and helped dig himself out making everything much easier and faster. It was almost done, this was the last man, they could finally all escape and say goodbye to this nightmare. It was when he just walked out the store that he saw something that made his blood freeze within his veins. The green was replaced with a blood red. He immediately stopped and was planning to sneak back in the store when the man continued forward and they bumped into a display that crashed onto the floor. It was in this moment that he knew. He fucked up. And judging by the echoing roar that quickly followed, he was about to be fucked up. He roughly shoved the man back into a corner of the store out of sight, ignoring his pained moan, and ran. He Hauled Ass like it''s never been hauled before! Thank God that his reaction was quick, giving him a large head start. Alexander Oakley considered himself to be pretty damn fit. Working out and practicing multiple martial arts from a young age gave him a strong body. One could even say his physical abilities and fitness was exceptional even! However that didn''t seem to be helping him much in his current situation. He was drained physically, mentally, and emotionally. The strain and stress of carrying men and women repeated back and forth with his life on the line and performing emergency first aid and surgeries, knowing their life and death depended on him, had taken a lot out of him. He couldn''t keep up his pace for long, and if it wasn''t for the fact that he had a head start and the creature was so far away when it saw him he would already be dead. He had to think of something quick. Dodging into one of the store and use the surrounding obstacles to slow it down? No, it could smash it''s way through and he doubted even the walls could slow it down much. Hide somewhere it couldn''t reach like one of the ornaments from the ceiling? No, there''s no guarantee it could hold his weight and the Orc would probably just throw a fucking bench at him and knock him down. Running away wasn''t an option, neither was hiding. Guess there was only one option left open to him. Fight. His mind made up, he slowed to a stop with his back facing the glass balcony, and faced the beast. It was like staring down an incoming train. This was probably the stupidest thing he''s ever done, right after trusting Chris with his phone unlocked and logged into facebook. The best case scenario if he messed up even a little bit would still end up with him being crippled for life. He took a deep breath before getting ready. His eyes homed in on the beast as everything seemed to slow down in his vision. He felt strangely calm, there was no fear or hesitation, no need to wonder the consequences of it he didn''t pull it off, after he just won''t fail. Right Pops? He mentally counted down as the distance between him and the green beast shrunk. 5. 150 feet left. 4. It seemed to have abandoned it''s club somewhere. All the better for his plan. 3. 100 feet, he could now see it''s bloodshot eyes, more crimson than white. 2. Alex lowered his stance as he braced himself. 1. It swung it''s left arm at him and attempted to pulverize him. Key word here being attempted. 0. He stepped in close to the Orc with his right foot near it''s left. Hooking his right arm under it''s left armpit and around it''s thick neck, he pivoted on his foot and took a step with his other leg so that he was facing the balcony. With a small heave he tossed the monster through it and launched it off the fourth floor. It was a bastardized Judo hips toss. The Orc''s sheer weight and momentum ensured that it crashed hard impaled through the chest by metal racks. It struggled for a while, but even it''s immense vitality couldn''t save it from blood lost and the physical trauma of the fall. It worked? Holy fucking shit it worked! He couldn''t believe he pulled that off! "FUCK YEAH!" He screamed himself hoarse and laughed like a kid on drugs. Now that the monster was dead he could get those people and himself some proper medical attention. Who knows, maybe he''ll get a highscore of 244 and rub it in that smug prick''s face. Some bed rest sounds great about now, he has had enough exercise for the rest of the year, thank you very much. When others frozen in fearhe dived in the danger zone to save anyone he could. When others hid like rats he sneaked pass the monster to retrieve the injuried behind enemy lines. When others ran he marched forward.He stepped up to the challenge. And while he may be bruised and tired, looking back at the people hiding in the Macy''s and knowing that they were alright, and it was because of him. He felt good. He did something great today. And it seemed as if the System agreed because it was at that moment the Orc breathed it''s last and he got a whole bunch of notifications. He was given a choice. It would most likely determine his future or lack thereof. Any smart man would''ve taken the second option. He took the first without hesitation. After all Alexander Oakley was never a smart man. Two roads diverged, he took the one less travelled by, and that made all the difference. The Road Not Taken. Awakening: The Game Begins The sun was starting to shine overhead. It was 6:37 A.M. He had spent the last three and a half hours observing the monsters. Their positions, their movement patterns, anything and everything he could discern would give him the edge he needed to win. "Know thy enemy and know thyself, and you need not fear a thousand battles," Erik muttered to himself as he finally finished his last preparation. He did his best to explore his newfound abilities, and there was only so much he could learn from watching and following the beasts, especially such an alien and bizarre species. He sure hoped that he wouldn''t have to test out how literal the last part was. He walked into one of the rooms containing a Shadow Beast. His right hand holding a knife with a blade the length of his palm and in his left was a wooden buckler. He had to dismantle a stool, carve a handle out of a kid''s building blocks, and use a copious amount of glue and duck tape, but he made a decent enough shield in his opinion. The fact that it looked like an amateur''s first attempt at L.A.R.P and belonged in the garbage was irrelevant and something he pointedly chose to ignore. Hey, if it works, it works. His experiments with the corpse of the first monster showed that while it was very resistant to blunt force trauma, he had no problem cutting or piercing it. Its skin was almost rubbery in a sense, able to stretch and absorb impact well enough, but once there was a tear it was all too easy to shred. Their eyes were like glass orbs and were easy enough to smash. They did not weight much and from testing their joints have a smaller range of motion that would be expected from a humanoid creature. Recalling his battle with it seemed to imply that they rely on ambushes with pounces and charges being their main method of attack, almost like a bull. He didn''t notice it earlier because of how small his room was and his surprise of the situation, but it was now obvious to him while thinking calmly. In a one on one direct confrontation, it wasn''t too much of a threat even to the average man. Their attacks simple-minded and easily predicted and their range short. Sure they had surprising strength and durability, but only in comparison to their size and lightweight. If it wasn''t for the shock of their appearance then they might as well be a child or street thug with a pocket knife in terms of danger. Which is why he chose to only equip himself with a small and relatively lightweight shield and knife. The proper tools for the proper prey. While he could''ve used another pole or made a spear to give himself more range and safety, it would''ve wasted a lot of energy and time he didn''t have to spare. After all, who uses an elephant gun to hunt a deer? His target wasn''t much different from the first of their kind he had met. Same short stature, same blade-like claws, and same shining red eyes. He wasn''t sure if it was because they all came from the same batch so to speak or because they were in their infancy and had yet had time to develop their individuality as he had read from their profile. Whatever the case, he was immensely thankful as this simplified everything. Afterall he could hardly waste a week to observing and formulating a battle plan against a hundred monster, each with different random mutations, who might pull out some magical bullshit out of their ass to fry his ass. Erik took a deep breath and cleared his mind of wandering thoughts. He bounced on his feet lightly a few times before he charged the creature. His shield in front of him as he smashed it into the torso of the creature, knocking the wind out of it, and pinned it to the wall. His dagger was held in a reverse grip as he stabbed it into its neck, cutting deep into the flesh and angled so that it would slip past the collarbone and behind the sternum, piercing its major heart. It couldn''t do much more than gasp in pain and confusion before I had already stabbed it another two times on both sides of its pelvis area where it had two lesser hearts. I stepped back and watched for a moment as it fell.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. It was dead before it touched the ground. 200 Exp Awarded! Deciding to take a quick breather and look through his status one more time, Erik noticed something surprising
Name: Erik Hunter Level: 1 Class: Blood Mage
DEX: 10 INT: 11 VIT: 8
STR: 11(0.2) AGI: 12 END: 6(0.5)
Title: N/A Health: 100/100 Mana: 110/110
Regen 0.2/Min 0.61/Min
His Stats went up without him leveling up or putting any points in it. Sure, it was a mere 1.5 in Endurance, 0.2 Strength, and a 1 in Vitality, but considering how low his stats were they were a relatively decent bonus. He was confused on why his Health and Regen rates didn''t change though. What else could they effect with names like that? Deciding it was overdue from some closer inspection he read through the description of each stats more closely. It basically boiled down to this according to his understanding. Dexterity increases control of the body and hand-eye coordination. Strength was pretty straightforward, it increases the body''s muscle power, and slightly improve your bones and tendons. Intelligence was a bit of a surprise, it didn''t make you smarter per se, but rather increases your capacity to retain information, cognitive processing speed, increase your mana pool, and a minor reflex and senses enhancement as a side effect. Mostly visual and audio. Agility increases your reflexes, flexibility, and movement speeds. Vitality it seems did, in fact, improve your HP and regen, along with resistance to diseases and toxins, although the last parts seemed like an indirect effect. It seems the reason why he didn''t gain any more max HP was because "Humans" started out with 100 minimum regardless of what their actual HP was at the moment the tutorial started. It was a special effect to ensure everyone had a fair shot at least passing the first stage. This temporary buff ensured he wouldn''t see any actual gain until he went past 10. HisStats were improving probably because of his recent surgery and recovery. 10 was the average for a decently fit specimen of his species it would seem. Considering his condition even with his ailment, he guessed his STR would end up at 12 and his VIT and END would gain another point or two. Finally was Endurance. It improved his stamina and his body''s durability along with a minor improvement to the efficiency in which his body stored and uses energy. Reading through all the overly long description of his status page lead to an amazing discovery. He could earn stats through methods other than leveling up! Exercising, mental training, buffs! His venue for gaining more power drastically expanded! The best part was the System seemed to imply there was no actual upper limit to how many "Free" points he could get. The human body had a limit. No matter how people try to deny it, that was a fact. We can only remember so many things, hence the invention of written language, we can only survive in a certain range of temperatures, hence we made clothing, and we could only lift so much. Our limits were hard-wired into our genetics. A certain frame can only fit so much muscle, our bones can only handle so much weight, but with this System, there is no such limit. An old man can gain as much STR as the current Mr. Olympia! An anorexic girl could outrun a horse! Erik wondered how the System actually improved their bodies and the mechanics behind it, but alas he had a job to complete and so little time. After his discovery, whenever he took a breather from his killing spree, he started to work on mapping out a workout routine. The plan was to get as much stats from working out and training as he could before he started using the ones he would gain from level up. He was already level 5 after clearing out this section of the hospital, but the Exp requirement was rapidly increasing. Because of the double Exp event during the Tutorial, he was gaining 200 per Shadow Beast, but he went from needing 1000 to 11,000 Exp to level up. He was close to level 6 now considering it only took him a minute or two to finish one off. His progress was slowing to a crawl and he would to either find stronger preys or a more efficient way to kill these little buggers off. Who knows, maybe he''ll gain a Title or achievement from all this "Erik, The Shadow Beast Slayer!"... sounds really cool before you remember that these were basically vermin. Oh well, if he was going to be a gloried exterminator he''d be the goddamn best one the galaxy has ever seen. He sure hopes it didn''t need him to kill a thousand of them to unlock if it existed.