《World Shift》 Chapter 0 - Prologue Daniel Finnley was asleep the day the world fell apart. The first to notice were the scientists in the National Radio Quiet Zone, the earliest traces coming in the form of a low buzzing. An unknown beat pulsed in the background of the radio systems in the laboratories, accentuating the buzzing. While the scientists took note of this, they wrote it off as some tourist turning on their cell phone or iPod in the nearby town, despite the fact that it was illegal to do so, lest it interfere with the highly sensitive equipment. The next sign was something that couldn¡¯t be so easily ignored. Those using the high-powered telescopes noticed a sort of ripple in space, slowly closing in on them from the far reaches. With a hint of both excitement and fear of the unknown in their voices, they quickly made calls to the higher-ups to let them know of the phenomenon. According to their calculations, at the rate the ripple was approaching, it would only take a few hours before it would reach the Earth. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The government immediately ushered a gag order, as this sort of event could easily induce panic. Unfortunately, thrilled by the discovery, a scientist had already notified his family, who immediately told everybody else they knew through the use of a certain social media network. It quickly caught the attention of several prominent news stations, and in the end, the government was unable to repress the news. Whether the people believed it or not, whether they were afraid or nervous, in the end, none of it would soon matter. None of them could imagine the changes that would be wrought on their world. Daniel Finnley was asleep in a janitor¡¯s closet the day the world fell apart. Chapter 1 - Waking Up Taking a deep stretch, Daniel slowly rose to a sitting position, still half-asleep. Smacking his lips, he slowly opened his dark brown eyes, accentuated by the dark bags underneath them. Ruffling his black, unkempt hair a bit, he takes a look at the clock nearby and frowns. The clock reads 4:07 p.m., which is much later than when he intended to wake up. Getting up, he pulls out his earplugs and swiftly tucks away the blanket and pillow he had just been using, accustomed to the movement. He had made friends with one of the janitors, Derek, and he had let him nap here in-between classes. In fact, Derek was supposed to wake him up from his nap at 12, when his lunch break started. Maybe something urgent came up, Derek normally wouldn''t forget to wake him. He''d question him later, when he got the chance. Giving a fleeting thought to the class he had missed, Asian Cultural Studies, he grabbed his backpack and started moving towards the door. It was fine that he had missed the class, he studied well enough on his own and aced all the tests. He really only went to the class to talk to a cute girl in there, Lynn. His thoughts were interrupted when he found he couldn¡¯t open the door. It wasn''t that he couldn''t turn it, but rather, the door seemed jammed from the outside. Frowning once again, he started knocking on the door, yelling loudly, ¡°Hello? Is anybody there? Can someone open this door?¡± He realized there was something strangely...unnatural about the building. He couldn¡¯t hear anything. Where there was usually the bustle of people, talking and unrestrained laughter in the hallways, there was now...silence. His mind quickly reeling through several different possibilities, he landed on one possibility: That there was a shooter in the building, and they had either gathered everyone in one room, or everyone was hiding in their separate rooms or have possibly already been evacuated. Sitting his mind on that situation, he pulled out his phone and quickly tried to pull up the local news for his university. All he found was that neither the wifi, mobile data, nor regular cell reception was running, which would have freaked out the average college student, but Daniel thought little of the inconvenience. The situation that could cause this was far more worrying than being unable to check Instagram. Opening the small window near the top of the ceiling, he tossed his bag through before pulling himself up and out. He had been practicing parkour for a few years now, and he was fairly proud that his skills sometimes came in handy at times like this. Climbing out, he didn¡¯t expect to the campus grounds like this. The thick trees that once decorated the campus grounds were uprooted, some dozens of feet away from where they once stood, others trampled or even broken in half. He stood there for a minute, mouth slightly agape, trying to make sense of the destruction. Deciding he didn¡¯t want to be found by whatever caused that, he entered through the open window of a nearby classroom. He immediately regretted his decision, falling to his knees and vomiting at what he saw. Corpses littered the floor, the bodies mangled, torn apart, limbs crushed. The bodies were fresh, probably not more than a few hours old. The iron stench of blood overpowered his nose, and he continued to dry heave well after he had emptied his stomach. Still shaking, he wondered if there was anybody here he knew. He somehow found the strength to stand up again, and cautiously walked around the room, checking the faces that hadn¡¯t been completely torn apart. He came across just one person he knew, their body still, and their hand forever frozen in their attempts to claw the door open. ¡°Joshua¡±, he sighed. Joshua was one of Daniel¡¯s close friends at college, his former suitemate, and one of his ¡°family¡± members here. They would mostly play games together, talk about girls, and generally shoot the shit. Joshua wasn''t particularly good with the ladies, probably because he came off as an unsocial anime addict - which he was, but Daniel still had hopes for him. His mind flashed to the conversation he had with his ¡°family¡± about who would survive the longest in an apocalypse. With a bitter laugh, he remembered how they had all, including Joshua, agreed that Joshua would die first. He started to reminisce a bit, almost losing himself in his thoughts, before he realized that it wasn''t the time for that. He closed Joshua¡¯s eyes, surveyed the room, and got to work.
After arranging all the intact bodies in rows and covering them up with whatever he could find around the room. He closed his eyes and said a quick prayer, hoping they find peace in the afterlife. Truth be told, Daniel didn''t really know why he did this; he wasn''t even religious. But he felt compelled to. And to his surprise, he was rewarded for it. A blue notification popped up in front of him, its white borders glowing. It floated in front of him, but stayed in the same position relative to where he was looking. ¡°Uhhh?¡± he said aloud in utter confusion.
New title achieved: Exorcist! For being one of the first five people to remove the spirits from the bodies of the departed, a new title has been awarded. Bonuses: 15% extra damage to the undead 50% Fear resistance against undead Can more easily send spirits to the afterlife Due to player status lock, bonuses are unavailable.
His mouth once again went agape at this notification. His brain went into overdrive, quickly analyzing what this meant. First, due to the notification itself, and the mention of the word player, it was highly likely that the world had become some sort of video game like thing. He had a fair amount of experience with video games, and it seemed like that might be the case. What that had actually meant though, he was unsure of. Was his body in the real world, and his mind here? Was this actually the real world? What happens if I die here? Unfortunately, those questions couldn¡¯t be answered at the moment. He had no way of knowing, and no desire to experiment at the cost of his life. Second, the notification mentioned a player status lock. Was this restriction on everybody, or just him? And if so, how could he get rid of it? Unfortunately, those questions couldn¡¯t be answered at the moment either. Third, how did he unlock the title? He had prayed for the corpses, but he didn''t remember seeing any spirits. Unbeknownst to him, a few spirits had floated up and out of some of the bodies while his eyes were closed in prayer. The simple act of the sincere prayer and care for the bodies was enough for some of the spirits to find rest. In any case, it was getting more and more clear that the immediate area was dangerous and that he didn''t have anywhere near enough information to analyze the situation. All he could gleam from the bodies was that the carnage didn''t seem like something a human could pull off. But what?
Metal table leg in his hand, Daniel peeked out into the hallway. Although the place was a mess, he didn''t see anything moving, nor could he see any bodies. He did, however, notice that one of the support pillars had fallen against the supply closet door, jamming it. Even if he did have ear plugs in, he was still surprised that he slept like a rock through all this. Taking care not to step on any fallen nails or trip over any of the debris, he moved through the hallway. Looking through the classroom windows, he just saw more gore and desecrated bodies. He briefly considered also giving those bodies a service as well, but he felt he had taken up too much time already. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Turning the corner, he immediately noticed three small, green, humanoid creatures wearing dirty loincloths and holding wooden clubs. He immediately jumped back around the corner. Thankfully, their backs were turned, so they hadn''t yet noticed him. The first thing that came to mind was that these creatures were goblins. Usually slaughter for the beginners of any game. But in reality, the wooden clubs they were holding looked like they could deal some serious damage if he wasn''t careful. Although he did have a rudimentary first-aid kit in his backpack (in case of emergencies), it wasn''t a cure-all. It could only do so much, and it''s not like he had any health pots to heal him if he got hurt. He decided that he wouldn''t try to fight the goblins unless he absolutely had to. Daniel didn''t know how strong they were, and without any more information, he had to play it safe. He only had one life in this world, after all. His first destination would be his dorm. It wasn''t too far away, and he had some supplies and tools that would be of help in this situation. The dorm was also a fairly defensible location, styled kind of like an apartment. His was on the second floor of one of the buildings, and the steps could probably be destroyed if he had the right tools, or at the very least, blocked off. It probably wouldn''t be much in the face of whatever tore those trees apart, but it would hopefully be enough for those goblins. He took off his backpack, removing any non-essential items like his notebooks and papers. It might be worth it to use a notebook to start documenting any important information, but that was more of a tertiary concern at the moment. He wanted to be as light as possible, but he still needed his backpack to grab any supplies he could find. He then took off his shoes and socks and placed them in his backpack. He would have to be extra careful of where he stepped now, but at least his footsteps would be silent. Once again, Daniel set off, stepping clear of the occasional broken glass and diving into classrooms to avoid patrolling goblins. He wasn''t sure if they were just wandering, or if they had actually set up a perimeter. It seemed more like the latter, but he wasn''t certain. After navigating the insides of the building for awhile, he stepped out, scanning the immediate area for any dangers. Seeing none, he took a moment to put on his shoes, and then immediately sprinted to the next building. It was a bit of a distance away, and he didn''t want to get caught out in the open. Midway through his run, he heard a huge squawking above him and immediately kicked his speed up a notch. ¡°Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck¡± ran through his mind as he dashed towards the next building. A gigantic shadow dwarfed him, and he took a split second to turn around and found an orange bird the size of a bus flying at him. ¡°Fuuuuuuccckkkkkk!¡± he yelled as he dove through the open front door into the building, scrambling to get away just as giant raptor claws forced themselves into the opening, reaching out at him. He was far enough away that the claws couldn''t reach him, and he took a moment to catch his breath, watching the claws attempt to grab at him in vain. Behind him, he heard an unfamiliar sound. ¡°Rrreerr, chik chik chik¡±. Turning around, he saw a lone goblin dashing at him, club at the ready. He couldn''t go back, because the bird was still there, so he had no choice but to fight. Forcing himself on his feet, head still pounding from the exhaustion of the run, he readied his table leg, quickly analyzing the monster in front of him. He couldn''t block the club with the table leg, in all likeliness the impact would destroy the table leg, leaving him weaponless. He could try deflecting it, but he had little confidence in that. He was only trained in fencing, having had joined the fencing club in his school, but he had only been going a few months. That experience wouldn''t help him much here. He would try to aim for its club-wielding arm, and if he failed that, he would try to cripple its legs. Waiting for the goblin to come closer, his body was shaking, adrenaline coursing through his body. He unsuccessfully tried to force his body to still, but since he couldn''t manage that, he just hoped he wouldn''t drop his weapon or trip over himself at an inopportune time. He wasn''t afraid of killing, he had already figured he might have to. He was just naturally afraid of dying. As it neared, the goblin yelled a guttural noise at him, almost as if it was laughing, and it swung its club down. Stepping to the side, Daniel dodged the club and swung his weapon in a backhanded manner, aiming for the goblin¡¯s arm. Unfortunately, he was too slow, and the goblin was able to block the attack. It chittered some more at him, and he was definitely sure it was laughing at him now. Taking a step back, he readjusted his position before the goblin stepped forward,taking a lofty swing at his side. Stepping to the left, the swing missed him, and he took the opportunity to swing his own weapon at the goblin. Unable to block in time, the goblin took a hefty blow to its side as it yelped in pain. Not wanting to let it get its bearings, Daniel swung once more, hooking it behind the knee and causing it to fall on its back. Before it could get up, Daniel immediately started raining blows on its legs in hopes of crippling it before it could get up. At this point, the shaking had already stopped, although in the heat of battle, he was unaware of it. Its legs broken, it was crying out in pain as it vainly made attempts to swing its club at him. He pitied it a bit, seeing as it too, was scared to die. But he wasn''t the type to show mercy. He stepped on its right arm, effectively pinning down the club, and swung down the table leg repeatedly at its head. He wasn''t sure if the first swing would kill it, and if he paused to check after the first, he felt like he might throw up. He had killed animals before when he was hunting, but it¡¯s a completely different story when you''re killing with your hands. After he felt he had swung enough, he stopped to take a look at his handiwork. Its face was caved in, and its legs were bent at awkward angles. He grimaced, as the scene before him was not a pretty sight. Glancing at the table leg in his hand, he tossed it to the side, as it was now bent beyond repair. A ding rung in his head as several blue notification windows suddenly appeared before him.
Congratulations on your first kill! Player status unlocked! For killing your first monster, your status has been changed from NPC to Player! The status window is now unlocked. Player information is now unlocked.
Reward for player unlocking! Rare Skill: Identify
Daniel stood there, surprised, mouth slightly agape once more. Chapter 2 - A New Environment Daniel moved over to the wall, resting against it as he took in the screens. His arms were aching from swinging the table leg so hard, his body unused to the motion. He would have to train more in the future to prevent this from happening. He figured he had unlocked the player status from killing the goblin. He willed away the notification windows before calling ¡°Status¡± in his mind.
Status
Name:Daniel Finnley
Age:20
Race:Human
Level:1
Titles:Exorcist
Health:30/30
Strength:14
Vitality:12
Agility:14
Dexterity:15
Intelligence:13
Perception:11
Skills
Identify
Stat Points:0
He grinned, seeing how his stats were allocated. If he assumed that the average person would have 10 points across the board, then he was above average. It made him feel good about himself. Although he had an idea of what it would do, he wanted to confirm what his new skill did. Focusing on it, a new window popped up.
Identify (Beginner Lv. 1 - 0%) Appraises item status. Unknown items can be identified. Entities can be evaluated.
Yep, just as he thought. It seems like it would allow him to check an item¡¯s stats, and probably check an enemy''s health as well. Taking a look at the club the goblin had, Daniel tried to use Identify on it. Nothing happened, so he figured that it must be because it was too far. He decided it would be a good time to check its effective range, and slowly walked over to the club while repeatedly trying to use identify. It wasn¡¯t until it was within grabbing distance that the skill finally worked.
Wooden Club Shoddily made by a goblin, this club still has blood on it from past kills. Damage: 8-12 +2 Strength -1 Dexterity
Although he felt that the range was way too limited, he was pretty sure it would increase as his skill¡¯s level increased. The notification window before said that this was a rare skill, so even though this ability was usually a standard in most games, that probably wasn¡¯t the case here. Wrenching the club out of the goblin¡¯s hand, Daniel took a look back at where he came from. Some time during the battle, the bird had left. He was sure that it was still in the area though, watching. For now, he would lie low and try to stay hidden, taking the opportunity to avoid fights when he could. Although he wasn''t injured in the fight, he was pretty sure he wouldn''t be able to handle more than 1 goblin at a time. Looking at the corpse, he decided he would try to identify it as well.
Lesser Goblin Corpse The corpse of a goblin. From the way it was killed, it''s apparent it was defeated by an amateur. Its skin is tough and coarse.
Well, he didn''t really expect much from it, though he had hoped there''d be something more useful. Anyways, he had to get moving. It hadn¡¯t been long since he woke up, but it would start to get dark fairly soon, and he didn''t want to get caught outside of his dorm at night. He didn''t know what the night might bring, but it was sure to be dangerous. Shoes and socks off, he set off moving down the hallways, darting from room to room, avoiding goblin patrols along the way. This building was the general classroom building, and it was a lot cleaner than the building he had woken up in, the humanities building. There was a lot of broken glass from mirrors, just as many bodies in the classrooms, but not as much debris. Whatever had wrecked the other building hadn''t done the same here. Just as he ducked into another classroom to avoid an incoming goblin patrol, he heard a ghastly wail. He flinched for a second, before realizing it was someone screaming. The noise was coming from just a few halls down. If he was to go and help, he had to go quickly. But he hesitated, unsure if he could take the risk. The goblins were sure to hone in on the sound, and the person might already be dead by the time he got there. He quickly weighed the cost and benefits, and decided he would at least check out the situation. If he could help, he would, but if the risk was too high he would back off. Quickly putting on his shoes, he raced down the halls, the screams getting louder and more distressed. Turning a corner, Daniel made it just in time to see a guy get his head smashed by the wooden club of a goblin. There were at least 10 goblins surrounding him, and there was no way he would be able to deal with that. He hoped the guy would at least get a swift, painless death, but that thought was quickly thrown to the side as the goblins surrounded him. Daniel winced as he saw blood and guts flying, the goblins competing for a piece of the body. Backing off from the scene, he consoled himself by thinking that even if he made it in time, there was no way that he would have been able to help. There were too many goblins, and not enough him. Taking off his shoes, he set back down the hallways, towards his dorm. He had only seen two patrols on the way, guessing that the rest were back there, preoccupied. Making his way to the front door, he looked outside the building and saw the giant bird in the distance. Thankfully, it was faced away from him, heading towards the nearby mountains. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Nonetheless, he sprinted towards the nearby building, the cafeteria, since there were still monsters around. Not that he knew what other monsters there were besides the goblins, who seemed to be content with staying indoors, but still. He moved through the cafeteria, hoping there were some people here, but unfortunately, there weren''t. In fact, there wasn''t anything here. Unlike the other buildings, this one seemed completely untouched. There weren''t any bodies, debris, or anything out of the ordinary. The hairs on his back stood up, the building seeming more and more creepy by the second. The shutters to the food stops were down, but the doors to all three dining areas were completely open. He had a bad feeling about moving through the building normally, so as quickly and silently as he could, he went towards the back of the cafeteria where the garden was. As he was about to open the door to the garden, he heard the sound of something dripping behind him, and a soft, girlish giggling. He slammed into the door, which was thankfully unlocked, and turned around once he was out of immediate reach of the door. But as expected, he didn''t see anything. Daniel wasn''t sure how he felt about not seeing what was being him. For now, he had the garden to navigate. If what he had seen so far was anything to go by, this area was sure to be dangerous as well. He figured there''d be plant or insect-like creatures, and he was right. The area was filled with huge creatures and plants. Giant, colorful flowers were abundant across the garden. In the distance, there was a gigantic praying mantis feasting on half of a caterpillar. He could also see various beetles and other insects roaming the area, and other than the praying mantis and caterpillar, they all seemed to be getting along. Daniel felt like the garden had been filled with oxygen, allowing the flora and fauna to supersize. From what he could remember, the tiny versions of these bugs were harmless. But seeing as they were now well over 6 feet tall and could probably eat him, it probably wasn¡¯t a good idea to assume that was still the case. Daniel suddenly heard burrowing next to him and jumped back, holding the club at the ready. Dirt was rapidly flung up as a gigantic...pillbug came out of the ground. Although it seemed a bit laughable, he still held up his club just in case. It wouldn''t be funny if it had suddenly developed carnivorous tendencies and attacked him. Thankfully, it just looked at Daniel before crawling away. Looking at the carapace on its back, he briefly considered killing it and turning its shell into armor, but he decided he had higher priorities. Although he was still tense and wary of his surroundings, he felt the atmosphere was still so much better than that of the cafeteria and other buildings. Especially the cafeteria. In fact, it was extremely calming. The air smelt of jasmine, and...almonds? It was nice. Like, laying down in the grass and taking a short nap, nice. As he walked through the garden, the feeling of wanting to nap grew progressively stronger. Logically, he knew this obviously wasn''t the time or place for it, and he was trying to stay cautious, but he couldn''t help but feel sleepy¡­ Noticing the incongruity, he paused a moment to check out his status.
Status
Name:Daniel Finnley
Age:20
Race:Human
Level:1
Titles:Exorcist
Status Effects:Drowsiness
Health:30/30
Strength:14
Vitality:12
Agility:14
Dexterity:15
Intelligence:13
Perception:11
Skills
Identify
Stat Points:0
Seeing the new Status Effect row, Daniel knew that there was something in the air affecting him. His eyes were drooping, and it wouldn''t be too much longer before he was too tired to move. Knowing what he had to do, he took a deep breath and slapped himself in the face, hard enough to leave a handprint. The status window still open, he saw his health drop from thirty to twenty-nine. Regardless, the pain was enough to wake him up just enough to get him moving. Closing the status window, he pulled his shirt over his mouth and nose, and he ran. Along the way, a few of the plants tried to spit at him, but he was moving fast enough that it didn''t hit him. After a few minutes of running, he had made it to his housing complex, but he didn''t stop moving. Daniel booked it through the apartments, trying to keep his steps as light as possible. He was taking a risk with the noise, but with his apartment being so close, he couldn''t help himself. The idea of making it to safety was too strong, and he was getting sleepier with every step. Finally making it to his apartment, he ran up the stairs, fishing his keys out his pocket while doing so. With practice movements, he pulled his keyring out, flourishing them to the side to readjust their position. Inserting his largest key into the lock, he moved into his living room, locking the door shut behind him as he went. Before he could do anything else, the drowsiness overtook him, and Daniel passed out on the floor.
Author''s Note: Thanks for reading! I personally feel like this chapter might be a little short, but whatever. It''s meant to be a shaky introduction to the world around him, and I guess it suits that purpose just fine. The following chapters are fairly variable in length, as I''m not writing to reach a word count or whatever, but more like from scene to scene. The next chapter is kind of long, and I''ll be posting it some time June 2nd. Also, I''m still figuring out the whole table editor thing (it''s a shame that Word tables don''t translate well to bbcode), so if you have any suggestions to make them easier to read, I''d like to hear them! Again, thanks for reading! Chapter 3 - Taking Action Daniel woke up in a panic, clutching his club. All he saw was black, and it took him a second to remember he had passed out in his living room. It was already night, so the room was pitch dark. He fumbled for a bit trying to reach for the wall light, which was thankfully still working. Surveying his living room, it still looked exactly the same as when he left earlier that morning. The coffee table was still littered with half-drank sodas and some leftover fries. Maps of different continents were plastered on the walls. One of his flatmates had put that up, thinking it was cool. Daniel didn''t really care for it, but he was almost never in the living room to begin with, so it didn''t matter much to him. He held his breath and closely listened for movement in the other rooms, but heard nothing. Taking the chance, Daniel tentatively called out his flatmates¡¯ names. ¡°Philip? Louie? Eric? You guys there?¡± He was met with silence, and he figured that they must have all been out when the event started. Hoping there wouldn''t be any nasty surprises waiting for him, he entered his room and turned on the light. His room was as he had left it. The air smelled musty and definitively of boy, with a hint of the cherry air freshener he had been trying to use. His walls were devoid of decorations, save for a wooden balsa bridge he had made for an engineering project and a few post-apocalyptic posters. His bedsheets were a mess, and his desk had papers full of math equations scattered all over it. Behind his desk was a small bookshelf, with a few books, notebooks, unused journals and a small fan on top. Brushing the papers to the side, he booted up the laptop that had been hidden underneath and tried to access the Internet, to no avail. Even before the event, the wifi at his university was pretty shoddy, so he wasn''t sure if it was the school''s fault or the event¡¯s fault. Shutting down his laptop, he decided he would take inventory of his supplies. From his desk, he pulled out a few first aid kits, a roll of duct tape, a pair of handcuffs he had once used for a prank, a set of three throwing knives with their own sheath, a lighter, a couple pocket knives, a knife sharpener, and a Swiss army knife. Moving towards his bed, he pulled out a guitar bag, placing it on top of the bed, as well as a crowbar and a box of MRE¡¯s his brother had given him. Opening the guitar bag, he took out his trusty .22 pellet rifle and several cases of hunting pellets. Many of the items he had here were fairly illegal to have on campus, but Daniel and his ¡°family¡± frequently went on outdoor trips, and he didn''t want to leave his gear at their places. He pulled a hefty backpack from his closet as well. Daniel was a bit of a disaster-prepper, not as bad as the people on that Prepper show, but living in California, the chance of a huge earthquake happening eventually was fairly high, so he wanted to be prepared just in case. This backpack was essentially his emergency kit, having enough supplies and then some to last him a few days. Included in it was a more extensive first aid kit, rain gear, fire implements, a big tanto knife, a water filter, wool clothes, food, flashlights, a sleeping bag, and other items useful for survival. It would definitely come in handy. Grabbing another belt from his closet, he strapped his throwing knives and tanto knife onto it. He then cocked the pellet rifle, placing one of his hunting pellets into it, and then placed a few more in a pellet loader he had. One well placed shot with this would be enough to take down a goblin...hopefully. Since he had so many items on hand, he decided to grind his Identify skill. After going through about half the lot, he heard the ding, followed by the pop-up of a notification window.
Identify (Beginner Lv. 2 - 2%) Appraises item status. Unknown items can be identified. Entities can be evaluated.
Daniel was satisfied that it didn''t take that long to level up in the beginning. After identifying all of his items, he found he only had a few items worth noting:
Tanto Knife A cold steel blade. The handle is wrapped in electrical tape. Damage: 9-14 +3 Strength +2 Agility
Silent Cat Pellet Rifle A .22 caliber break-barrel pellet rifle with a 4x32 scope. Has a sling ghetto rigged to it with a liberal amount of duct tape. Built-in baffle at the end of the barrel for attempted silencing. Holds 1 pellet at a time. Fairly accurate. Damage: 18-24 +3 Perception
Hexton Crowbar A useful tool for breaking down doors, windows, and other methods of entry. Forged from hex bar stock. 18 inches across. Painted black and red. Difficult to break. Has rust and corrosion resistance. Damage: 10-12 +2 Dexterity
For now, his main method of attack would be to use the pellet rifle to try and one-shot kill any enemies, and failing that, switch to dual wielding the crowbar and tanto knife. The crowbar he would use primarily for defending, and the knife would be for getting up close and personal. He would keep the goblin¡¯s club here, leaving it just in case it had some other use. It wasn''t a terrible weapon, it was just a bit too unwieldy for him and came with a stat detriment he could do without. He opened up his Status while holding the crowbar, wanting to see if the stat bonuses showed up there.
Status
Name:Daniel Finnley
Age:20
Race:Human
Level:1
Titles:Exorcist
Status Effects:Drowsiness
Health:30/30
Strength:14
Vitality:12
Agility:14
Dexterity:15
Intelligence:13
Perception:11
Skills
Identify
Stat Points:0
That was a negative, though it was nice to see the drowsiness status effect had disappeared. That sort of status confirmation was good to have. Now that he had that settled, his mind started wandering. Unless this event was localized, it was unlikely he would ever see his parents or younger sister ever again. Daniel was across the state, 8 hours by car, weeks away if he had to walk. His sister, Jess, had just started college. She was a brat, annoying at times, but he still loved her. But if the event happened around her too, there was a slim chance she''d stay alive for long. He didn''t want to admit it, but she had a strong tendency to freeze up and break down in times of stress. Jess had a weak will, and Daniel was afraid for her. He hoped her boyfriend would be able to take care of her, and in Daniel¡¯s mind, he was forced to pass off the reigns. He knew his parents wouldn''t be able to make it. They were old, and although his mom had the capabilities of a quick-witted leader, and demonstrated it in her position as a bank manager and fraud specialist, neither she nor his father had the strength. Daniel and his sister were born late, so his parents were pushing their early 60¡¯s. Unless they somehow miraculously found both weapons and a good group, they wouldn''t last long. His mind moved back to the image of the guy in the hallway, being torn apart by the goblins and their mad frenzy, only this time, he imagined it happening to his parents. With a whimper and a tear, he laid down on his bed, pushing his face into his pillow and wept. He continued to cry, thinking of his family, and eventually fell asleep again. Daniel woke up hours later, the morning light shining behind his white curtains, giving the room a soft, orange glow. His throat was parched, and lurching off his bed, he moved over to the closet, grabbing a water bottle from his water bottle case. He only had about a dozen or so left, and it wouldn''t last him too long. He needed to get more water. He wasn''t sure if the school''s water filtration system was still working, and frankly, he didn''t trust it much in the first place. However, there was a river running around the back end of the school, so if he could secure that, he was good on water. His MRE¡¯s would last him a little under two weeks if he ate one a day. They were the 2400 calorie kind, and although they didn''t taste great, they did the job. However, it did make Daniel feel uncomfortable, as he would like to obtain a bit more food security. Until he figured out how to deal with the giggling ghost, the cafeteria was off limits. That meant that, for now, he would have to scour the other cafe and check out the vending machines. Luckily, there were a few vending machine extremely close by. His priorities would be in this order: First, gathering information. Information is power, and without it, he would be at a clear disadvantage against the event. The more information he had, the better. Second, food, water, hygiene. He would have to figure out how to handle bathroom needs, as he couldn''t use his toilet anymore; although it would be nasty, it was an emergency water supply. Third, his own personal strength. He needed to get better at fighting, and only knowing fencing wasn¡¯t going to cut it. He didn''t have a rapier, and fencing techniques didn''t translate too well to non-piercing weapons. Not to mention, the formal competition style he had been taught was fairly useless in anywhere but a small hallway. He also wanted to level up and hopefully increase his stats. He didn''t have an experience bar like in most RPGS, not to mention he wasn''t 100% certain whether just killing mobs would level him up. He needed more information. Fourth, his base¡¯s security. Although he was on the second floor, there were still other apartments attached to his, separated only by a wall. He would need to block off not only his staircase, but also the other staircases, as well as clear out the other apartments. There were a few garbage container units around he could use for barricading the stairs, the nearest one being right in front of his apartment. Lastly, survivors. He wasn''t sure how long he could last by himself, mentally and emotionally. He was fine being by himself for awhile, but loneliness would set in eventually. He also needed somebody to watch his back while he was fighting, as well as take watch. Until he could do that, he would have to risk sleeping. It would probably be a good idea to set alarm traps as well. The people that were highest on his priority list were the rest of his ¡°family¡±. Although he had already found Joshua, he wanted to find the others. Unlike Joshua, they had skills that would be extremely useful to the situation. Jonathan had great charisma, and would be great at negotiations and handling people. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Alex was a...chemist, and would probably know how to manufacture some useful items. He was also great with a pistol, having constantly competed in competitions, and he had a .308 rifle in his apartment, off campus. Logan was an amazing marksman, bagging bucks every hunting season. He was also an engineer, and he could probably build some useful items. Daniel himself had a plethora of survival information, and whatever he didn''t know, he had a few survival books on his shelf that he could learn from. For now, he would try to clear the immediate area. He could save his building for later, when he was more comfortable with close-quarters combat. He also didn''t know what was in the other rooms, and he didn''t want to get attacked by something he wouldn''t be able to handle. Daniel put on his outdoors jacket, which he used whenever he went camping or hunting. It has multiple pockets, was durable, and the sleeves could come off if needed. His normal shoes were replaced by some military boots he had been given as a gift. He had actually forgotten to identify these yesterday, and took the time to do so now.
Combat Boots Surplus combat boots used by the United States¡¯ Navy. Partially covered in a layer of dust, slightly worn. The toe is inset with steel. Damage: 4-7 +2 Vitality -2 Agility
Although its stats would cancel out the bonus he gained from the tanto knife, he didn''t mind the tradeoff. He would rather be slower than accidentally roll an ankle anyways. Under his pants, he had equipped the kinds of shin guards used for soccer, which were lightweight, felt nonexistent, and were fairly durable. Daniel then wore the belt that held his knives over his shirt and pocketed a Swiss army knife, a flashlight, his keys, a small mirror, a tin case of pellets, and the handcuffs. He also slipped a water bottle into his back left pocket and wore a black bandana over his neck, which he could move over his mouth and nose if necessary. On his hands were a pair of black, hard-knuckled, half-fingered tactical gloves. Once he was done with that, Daniel grabbed a carabiner from his backpack, putting it on the left belt loop of his pants, passing the crowbar in it. It would hold it for now, though he would like to get something more stable. He then wore his backpack, which had a first aid kit, water bottle, and MRE in it. Once that was on, he shouldered his rifle, which had the pellet loader velcro-taped to the side, and was ready to go. Although he had a lot of gear on him, it couldn''t be helped. The only things that really impeded his movement were the crowbar and rifle anyways, and he could toss those to the side if he really had to. Now that he was all geared up, he stepped outside. His destination: the nearby vending machines. The moment he stepped outside, he immediately noticed two goblins between him and the vending machine room. However, they hadn''t noticed him yet as they were slowly lumbering away from him. Walking down the steps, he took the pellet rifle off his back and double-checked that it had a pellet in it. At the bottom of the steps, Daniel took a quick look around, checking for any more goblins. Not seeing any in sight, he held his rifle up, eyeing down a goblin in the sights. He could''ve sworn he saw extremely tiny hairs on the backs of their heads, and wondered if that was the effect of the Perception bonus or just his rifle scope. He would need to test how much the stat bonuses affected him. Although it was a bit dangerous, as he could notify and unseen dangers of his existence and base, he thought he could afford the risk. He wanted to see how well the rifle did against a goblin, as well as test how well they could hear his rifle when he used subsonic pellets. Flicking off the safety, he held the rifle up, his right index finger just touching the trigger. As soon as he felt he was ready, he squeezed the trigger. Bang! A blue notification window popped up in front of him.
Critical Hit!
Although it didn''t notify Daniel how much damage that did, he still grinned, and he willed the window away in time to see a goblin slump over, dead on the floor. The second goblin howled, outraged that its comrade died. It turned around, immediately seeking out and finding Daniel. He wasn''t too surprised, as he wasn''t testing to see if that goblin had heard the sound, but if others in the area did. The goblin rushed at him, dirty loincloth fluttering between its legs. Daniel judged he didn''t have time to reload another pellet and set his gun down against the staircase railing. His torso started shaking, as if his heart was cold and needed warming. This happened a lot whenever he first started playing a new shooter, but he would eventually get over it. It wasn''t a problem when he was shooting at people, just when he couldn''t see anybody or was about to shoot someone. Hopefully, he''d get over this pretty soon. His hands unsteady, he fumbled a bit while reaching for his tanto knife and crowbar, the seconds stretching as he did. He managed to get them in time to take a few steps forward and met the goblin head on. Swinging his crowbar, steel met wood as Daniel¡¯s weapon blocked the goblin¡¯s club. His arm numbed from the impact, and he nearly dropped the crowbar but somehow managed to keep his grip. His opponent''s weapon momentarily occupied, he decided to kick out at the goblin, wanting to knock it down for a coup de grace. However, he misjudged the distance, missing the kick. As he stepped down, the goblin grinned a nasty smile at him, crooked fangs bared. It headbutted Daniel, knocking him back and making him see stars. He managed to stay on his feet and almost checked out his status, but decided against it. A momentary distraction could prove fatal. The goblin howled again, its screeching voice piercing Daniel''s ears. Moving forward, it swung its club down, and Daniel managed to sweep the club to the side. Stepping in, Daniel stabbed his knife into the goblin, aiming for its neck, but missed and hit its shoulder. Before he could dislodge it, the goblin swung out with his club, hitting him on the arm. Since Daniel was so close, it didn''t do too much damage to him, but his arm was probably bruised. He backed off, pulling out one of his throwing knives. The goblin looked at its shoulder, but doesn''t take the knife out, instead opting to flare its nostrils and give out an angry cry. It rushed him once more, but this time Daniel threw the knife at its face. He was hoping the blade would lodge itself in its eyes, but he wasn''t particularly skilled with the weapon. As expected, the knife harmlessly bounced off its face, the handle just glancing off its forehead before clattering to the floor. However, it did cause the goblin to stop mid-rush and close its eyes. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Daniel bashed the crowbar at the goblin¡¯s hand, causing it to cry in pain and drop its club. He then kicked the club away and then stepped forward, turning around and performing a spinning back kick on it. Although his technique was sloppy, it did the job and knocked it on its back, knocking the wind out of it. Pulling out a second throwing knife, he closed in on the goblin, kneeling on its chest and swiftly stabbed it in the throat. He sighed, slightly tired from the fight. He returned all his knives to their proper places before scanning his surroundings. He was lucky, as this fight didn''t attract any others to the area. He had almost forgotten about the gigantic bird as well and immediately checked the skies as well, but saw nothing. He was lucky, extremely lucky, and careless. Although this mistake was fine right now, it could get him killed in the future. Moving back to the staircase, he picked up his pellet rifle again, taking the time to load another pellet in it. If his plan didn''t work, he was planning on bottlenecking the goblins at the staircase. Since it did in fact work, he moved out only to improve his combat experience. This, he didn''t have enough, as clearly demonstrated by his bruised arm and aching head.
Status
Name:Daniel Finnley
Age:20
Race:Human
Level:1
Titles:Exorcist
Status Effects:Bruised Right Arm
Health:28/30
Strength:14
Vitality:12
Agility:14
Dexterity:15
Intelligence:13
Perception:11
Skills
Identify
Stat Points:0
Well, he''ll deal with the pain. It''s not like his movement was hampered. He did wish he had some soothing muscle ointment, but then thought better of it. It wasn''t a big deal, and he couldn''t be wasting his medical supplies on little things like this. Shaking his head, he remembered that he had the Identify skill and forgot to use it during the fight. If he had a clear head, he might have remembered, but it was a bit difficult with all the adrenaline muddling his thoughts. Not to mention, he was preoccupied with trying not to get battered by the club. Checking the goblin corpses, he didn''t find anything useful. He was hoping a useful item might appear like it did in video games, but nothing so far. Daniel didn''t want to rule out the possibility, as that sort of thing would would be a major boon. He would need to do more ¡°testing¡± to be certain. Making his way over to the vending machine room, the door was locked shut. Luckily, he had a crowbar with him. Wedging the crowbar in between the door and its frame, he pried the door open. The automatic lights went on as Daniel entered the room, sensing his movement. As soon as the lights went on, he was surprised at what he saw. He knew he shouldn¡¯t keep being surprised at every little thing, but it would take him more exposure before he got used to the event. In front of him, there were three vending machines, holding drinks, snacks, and actual meals respectively. However, to the left side of the room, where the wall was once plastered with posters of school events, there was now a door. It was sage green, with little royal purple tendrils swirling out from the center. It wasn''t a design he recognized, and he was sure it wasn''t something school-affiliated. The door knob was less fancy, just matte black in color, almost blending in with the green of the door. Daniel walked up to the door, pressing his ear against it, but could hear nothing beyond it. It was flush with the floor, so there was no chance to look underneath it. His curiosity piqued, he pushed the issue of food aside and readied his crowbar. He wasn''t sure what was beyond it, but he had a hint of an idea of what it could hold. Still, with danger lurking behind every corner, he had to be careful. Turning the doorknob with his free hand, he opened it to find a swirling mass of white light behind it. Taking a deep breath, he unsheathed his tanto knife and stepped through. Chapter 4 - Information is Expensive Although Daniel had only just told himself to stop being so surprised, he couldn''t help it. The place he had entered was just so breathtakingly...dull. Daniel was in a small room, probably not more than 10 feet across each side. The floor, walls, and ceiling were paneled with mahogany wood, and a few feet in front of him was a counter, about waist-high. The area was well-lit, bathed in a red light but there was no source in the room to be seen. In fact, there was nothing else in the room except for a man, stood behind the counter. He was unremarkable, wearing a grey tee shirt tucked into the waistband of his work jeans. His hair was a short, cropped black, his jawline cut, with high cheekbones and a snubby nose. The man¡¯s arms were crossed, and he wore a professional smile. As Daniel entered the room, he was greeted with a ¡°Hello!¡± by the man, whose face was ambiguous enough to be between the ages of twenty and fifty. Daniel hadn''t expected the voice, jovial as it was, and tensed a little, still on guard. ¡°What is this place?¡± Daniel asked the man, weapons still at the ready. ¡°A place of business, one in which you can put your weapons away. Call me the Shopkeep¡±, he replied. ¡°Alright, Shopkeep¡±, Daniel said as he dropped the crowbar in its carabiner and placed the knife back in its sheath, just enough so that he could still quickly pull it out if necessary. ¡°I''ve got a few questions for you. First, what''s happened to the world? Second, what are you doing here? And third, what are you selling?¡± ¡°I am unable to answer your first question. As for your second, you answered it partially in your third question. I''m here to sell goods. Step right up, and I''ll show them to you¡±, the Shopkeep said, his professional smile never leaving his face. Daniel stood there in thought for a bit, while still maintaining his caution against the Shopkeep. He hadn¡¯t said he couldn''t or didn''t know the answers, just that he was unable to speak them. ¡°Is the information about what had happened for sale?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, that type of information is not for sale.¡± Which meant that there were other types of information for sale. Like, about the monsters that roamed. ¡°Last two questions. Where are your goods, and have you seen any others besides me?¡± ¡°I will show you my wares, if you would just step up. And you are the first person to enter this shop of mine.¡± The situation almost screamed that it was a trap. Daniel was curious what the Shopkeep had to offer, but he could also just as well be luring him into a trap. He couldn''t trust the Shopkeep, nor this room. He felt like an idiot for walking in so recklessly. But he couldn''t very well just walk away. The Shopkeep hadn''t openly shown hostility yet, but if Daniel pissed him off, he wasn''t sure what he would do. Although the Shopkeep seemed weak, he probably had some strong cards up his sleeve. For now, it was best to play along. Daniel said to him, ¡°I''m just curious, don''t shops usually openly display their goods, to entice the buyers?¡± ¡°That might be the case for a normal shop, but that would be useless here. This shop uses the System to display and sell goods. And I know you''re feeling apprehensive, it''s apparent down to every inch of your body language and with each word you speak. But there is no need to be here, I can guarantee no harm will come to you within this space¡±, the Shopkeep replied. Although Daniel felt nothing of that guarantee, he was curious about the term the Shopkeep used. ¡°The System?¡± Although he might have started feeling weary of the questions, the Shopkeeper continued to answer them, his expression unchanging. ¡°That by which controls your status, notifies you of your accomplishments, and shows you what you learn through Identification.¡± Unless there was some easy way to tell of another person''s skills, Daniel was sure now that the Shopkeep could easily kill him if he wanted to. Giving in, Daniel lowered his weapons and stepped forward. If the Shopkeep wanted to kill him, there probably wasn''t much he could do against him. ¡°Show me what you''ve got.¡± ¡°Gladly¡±, the Shopkeep said, as the blue notification window popped up in Daniel''s eyes.
Shop - Weapons - Armor - Tools - Health - Miscellaneous
Daniel found he could peruse a section just by focusing on it. The first thing he went through was the weapons list, and there was a variety of them, ranging from simple knives to rocket launchers, but they all cost a currency he had never heard of before. ¡°What''s a parth?¡± ¡°Parth is the currency by which all items are now exchanged for.¡± Though the answer was a trite obvious, Daniel thought he''d give him more information. The man answers only the questions Daniel had asked of him, never elaborating further. ¡°And how do I get Parths? Can I exchange USD for it?¡± The Shopkeep heartily laughed and said, ¡°That currency holds no ground here. I will exchange Parths for useful items.¡± ¡°And what constitutes a useful item?¡± ¡°Weapons, armor, tools, food, medicine, and useful monster materials.¡± Daniel''s ears perked at this last bit. ¡°Monster materials such as?¡± The Shopkeep¡¯s professional smile instantly turned into a wolfish grin as he replied. ¡°You''ll have to pay for that information.¡± Daniel tensed for a second, the atmosphere threatening to turn, but soon the Shopkeep¡¯s professional smile returned. He acted like Daniel had never even reached for his knife, choosing to completely ignore the action. Lowering the crowbar back down into its makeshift holster, Daniel started checking the miscellaneous section, rhetorically asking, ¡°The miscellaneous section, yeah?¡± As if reading his intentions, the Shopkeep didn''t respond, his expression unmoving. After scrolling through the list, which included extremely useful items he wanted but could not afford, such as the Super Toilet and M113 armored personnel carrier, he found what he was probably looking for. A book entitled ¡°Terandine: On The Parts Of Monsters¡±, the title reminiscent of a work by a certain famous philosopher. It would cost him 20 Parths, which was fairly cheap, if he was to guesstimate using the values of the other items he had seen. Wanting to double check, Daniel asked the Shopkeep, ¡°Is this the book I''m looking for?¡±, certain the Shopkeep knew exactly what he had been looking at. ¡°That it is. As free info, for being the first person to enter my shop, I''ll let you know that that book contains only rudimentary knowledge about bestial lesser creatures. Information on higher beings and other groups of creatures would be found in other books, or sometimes not at all.¡± That was fairly useful knowledge, though he probably would have learned that anyways once he bought and read the book. Wishing the Shopkeep had instead given him something more useful, like a weapon, Daniel asked, ¡°How much of a deduction would it be if I was to bring you a corpse whole?¡± The Shopkeep answered, ¡°That would depend on the corpse. For example, a whole Lesser Goblin corpse would only fetch you 2 Parths.¡± Nodding, Daniel said, ¡°Give me a minute.¡± After about two minutes, Daniel re-entered the room, dragging two dead Goblins behind him. As soon as he hefted the bodies onto the counter, he remembered something, and asked, ¡°Do you mind if I take the cloths?¡± This time, the Shopkeep¡¯s expression slightly broke, his eyes clearly amused, though his smile had stayed the same. ¡°No, you may keep them if you wish.¡± Pulling out a throwing knife, Daniel quickly cut off the loincloths and nodded to the Shopkeep. The bodies disappeared, followed by the Shopkeep holding out a hand, hints of gold glinting between his fingers. Daniel held his hand out underneath, and as the misshapen coins dropped into them, a blue notification window popped up.
4 Parths received.
This was the most unceremonious notification window he had ever gotten, and assuming where those coins would go, he opened his Status.
Status
Name:Daniel Finnley
Age:20
Race:Human
Level:1
Titles:Exorcist
Status Effects:Bruised Right Arm
Health:29/30
Strength:14
Vitality:12
Agility:14
Dexterity:15
Intelligence:13
Perception:11
Skills
Identify
Stat Points:0
Parths:4
As he thought, there was a new row depicting his currency. Daniel was now sure that the Status window held a lot of other secrets, to be later unlocked. He also noted that his health had gone up slightly, although the recovery rate was questionable. He thanked the Shopkeep, who replied ¡°Pleasure doing business with you¡±, arms once again crossed, and Daniel exited the room. Daniel tapped his crowbar against the glass of the vending machine, the loin cloths wrapped around the end. Although it wouldn''t muffle the sound of the glass shattering, it would at least lessen the volume of the initial smash. As he slowly put more force into his taps, the glass started breaking with a crack, before it finally broke and a fair amount of glass shattered and hit the floor. Crash! Daniel winced at the sound, the noise echoing in the enclosed space. Putting down his crowbar, he leaned it against the vending machine, preparing it on the chance that monsters would come looking for a fight. Daniel put down his backpack, opening up the two main pockets. He then swiftly started pulling out as many of the waters and sodas as he could, tossing them into his backpack. If he was chased away from here because of the noise, Daniel wanted to at least be able to bring some of the essentials. The miscellaneous list had an item that would completely solve the thirst problem, but for now, it was well out of his reach. After he filled his pack, he quickly exited the vending machine room with just a few seconds to spare. To his right, a group of three goblins were coming at him, probably to investigate the noise. The one in front had peculiar, horn-like bumps on the top of its head, but Daniel didn''t really have the time to be curious at the moment. He immediately booked it, running away from the goblins, in the direction of his room. However, instead of leading them to his base of operations, he ran around the perimeter of the building he was currently at. Daniel needed the Parths, but he knew he would probably get brutalized if he tried to fight the group head-on. He doesn''t have the battle experience nor the idiotic confidence to fight them at the moment. He could try to reduce their numbers with his rifle, but that horned goblin worried him. If the others were Lesser Goblins, then that one was probably a higher being. In which case, it was probably stronger than Lesser Goblins, and he already had enough trouble with those. So, the safest choice was to lose them. The series of dorm buildings immediately around him was collectively known as the Hilltop, for reasons unknown, as it was nowhere close to a hill. In clockwise order, starting from the building Daniel was currently at, the buildings were known as Golden, Fallen, Faerie, and Trinity. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Golden was a freshman dorm, while Fallen and Faerie were for second years. Trinity was for the honor students of either, and was also known as the Try-Hard building. Daniel¡¯s ID card didn''t allow him access to any of these buildings, so he could only run around the outside for now. He would have to either pilfer an ID card off a body and hope it worked for one of the buildings, or smash his way in through the glass windows or doors, which he would rather not do. It was dangerous, and he didn''t want to accidentally stir a hornet¡¯s nest. Since the goblins were the size of children, Daniel easily outpaced them. After the first lap around the building, he had made it out of sight of the goblins and he sprinted towards his room, but instead of running up the stairs, he hid behind the large garbage container unit in front of his building. He had chosen to hide instead of rushing for the door, because while he had left the goblins¡¯ sight, they weren''t actually too far behind him. Daniel wouldn''t be able to run up the stairs and unlock his door quickly enough for them not to notice him. His door had the kind of lock that took two full turns to unlock, and the circumstances didn''t allow him enough time to do that. He slowed his breath, in order to both make it harder for creatures to hear him and to allow him to better hear his surroundings. Peeking around the corner of the garbage container unit, he watched the now-angry trio of goblins as they turned the corner of Golden and entered his field of view. Daniel could hear their angry chittering, and he smirked, happy they had lost him. The next moment, that expression was immediately wiped from his face as the horned goblin made loud, screeching noises that pierced through the air. ¡°Fuck¡±, Daniel whispered under his breath. The damned thing was probably calling reinforcements. Regretting that he didn''t try taking care of the goblins to begin with, he had to make a choice. He could try to distract the goblins and make a break for his door, but if they saw him on the way up the stairs, his base would be compromised and eventually broken into, regardless of the reinforcements he could try to make to the door. Even if they couldn''t get in, it would be a siege, one which he would eventually lose. He could also try to drag the garbage container unit in front of the stairs and break the wheel bearings, effectively making a barrier and blocking off the stairs from normal use. Although the lip of the container was a foot or so higher than the goblins¡¯ heads, Daniel didn''t know how strong their climbing abilities were. The process would also make a hell of a lot of noise, and they would know where he lived, but if it worked, the goblins wouldn''t be able to get to his door. He could then more-or-less safely pick off the goblins with his rifle from the top of the stairs. It was a gamble, one that Daniel didn''t really have a lot of time to ponder. Making his decision, he quickly grabbed several rocks from nearby and checked that the garbage container unit''s wheels were unlocked. Daniel then threw the rocks at various windows on the first floor of Golden, each farther away than the last, startling the goblin trio in the process. Each rock was thrown with a space of a few seconds between them, giving the goblins enough time to investigate the first rock before moving onto the next. Luckily, they were stupid enough to immediately investigate each subsequent noise. If they weren''t, he would have stopped after the third rock and just tried to sneak to his room. As soon as he threw the last rock, he immediately grabbed the garbage container and pulled it towards his room. Daniel kept up the momentum of the container as he moved around towards the back of it, pushing it towards his stairs as he went. As soon as he felt and heard the container slam against the steps, he pulled out his crowbar and smashed the back two wheel bearings as hard as he could. Smash! He broke the first one easily enough, but was only able to dent the second one. He didn''t have time for another swing, as he could hear the goblins screeching at him from behind. Tossing the crowbar up the stairs, he pulled himself up onto the garbage container, which he found was empty on the inside, and jumped to the stairs. As soon as he landed, he stumbled backward, unused to both landing jumps in boots and doing parkour with all the extra weight on him. He nearly fell down the stairs, but his quick reflexes saved him, and he managed to grab the staircase railing and hold himself up. Swearing, he ran to the top of the stairs, grabbing his crowbar on the way before setting it down again at the top. As he reached the top of the stairs, he pulled out his key and fit in the door lock, only taking the time to turn it once. He¡¯d didn''t have enough time to turn it again, since the goblins were already at the garbage container. Daniel kept an eye on the goblins as they screeched and aggressively waved their clubs at him from behind the garbage container. He pulled out his rifle and shot as the horned Goblin started climbing over the lid of the garbage container unit. Bang! His rifle shook in his hands with the shot, the smell of lead reaching his nostrils. The critical hit window appeared for a second before he immediately willed it away. The goblin, dazed but not out, only halted momentarily, crying in anger before continuing his climb into the dumpster. Daniel grimaced, swearing as he set the butt of the rifle on his thigh, cocked it, and loaded a pellet into it before snapping it back to its original position. This had taken up several more seconds than he would have liked, and the horned goblin was already almost out of the garbage container. One of the Lesser Goblins had started climbing into the bin, while the last one was still waving its club at him and screeching. Daniel waited for the Goblin to stabilize its position at the bottom of the stairs before taking the next shot. Bang! He feared that the goblin wouldn''t go down like this, and he willed away another critical hit window. He would need to learn how to get rid of these, or at least not have it in the center of his vision; it was extremely distracting. Thankfully, after he willed away the notification, he saw the goblin slump down against the garbage container, its left eye a splattered mess of blood and bits. Unfortunately, the second goblin was already trying to climb out of the garbage container, and he didn''t have time to load another pellet in. Utilizing the staircase railing, Daniel moved down a large amount of steps at once, jumping off the steps while holding onto the rails to stabilize himself. At the end of his first bound, the Lesser Goblin was trying to reposition itself, having just climbed out of the garbage container and landed on its former companion. Daniel pushed off the staircase hard, using the railings to make sure he didn''t fall on his back, and at the end of his second bound his feet slammed into the shoulders of the goblin, pushing it back into the garbage container and causing it to fall on the horned goblin¡¯s body. It wailed as Daniel pulled out his tanto knife, stepped on its chest, and stabbed it through its left eye socket, plunging the blade down to its guard. Before he knew it, the last Lesser Goblin was on him, jumping on his back and screeching in his ears before biting his shoulder. ¡°Oww!¡± he screamed, startled from the pain, and slipped off the corpse of the goblin he had just killed. He fell backwards, landing on the goblin, who took the brunt of the force and let go of his shoulder, stunned. Daniel immediately flipped over and put his weight against his elbow as he slammed down into the goblin¡¯s neck. He was met with a sickening crunch and a critical hit window as he destroyed its throat. He got up off the steps, panting and wincing in pain. He looked at his shoulder, and while the goblin hadn¡¯t ripped off much flesh, it did bore some holes in him. He¡¯d have to treat it later. Pulling out the tanto knife from the corpse he had killed earlier, he made his way up to the top of the stairs. There, he loaded his pellet rifle and decided to wait. In the immediate area around his apartment, there laid a grand total eighteen Lesser Goblins and three of those horned goblins. After the first fight, the rest were easy pickings, although the horned goblins took two pellets each to the head, which was both bothersome and worrying. He quickly got used to speed loading his rifle during the extended battle, taking less than four seconds between each shot. He also made sure his pellet pen was fully loaded during the lulls. Daniel had waited about ten minutes since the last group came, so he was sure there were no more reinforcements. It would be a bother to drag all those bodies to the Shopkeep, but he didn''t have much of a choice. He wished he didn''t have to break the wheels of the garbage container; it would be much easier if he could just cart the bodies over to the Shopkeep. Since there was finally time, he also decided to check out his status.
Status
Name:Daniel Finnley
Age:20
Race:Human
Level:1
Titles:Exorcist
Status Effects:Bruised Right Arm, Punctured Left Shoulder
Health:27/30
Strength:14
Vitality:12
Agility:14
Dexterity:15
Intelligence:13
Perception:11
Skills
Identify
Stat Points:0
Parths:4
(Author''s Note: Not sure why the table is doing this, will figure out later) His health had dropped down to ninety percent. Daniel wasn''t really sure whether that meant he took a lot of damage or not. As this was an important aspect to his survival, he would have to make plans later to inspect how exactly his Health coincided with the actual damage dealt to him. He also wanted to level himself up, but either he was doing something wrong, or it just took a large amount of kills to do so. He would ask the Shopkeep about it; it would cost him Parths, but it¡¯d likely be worth every single one. But right now, before anything else, he needed to do some treatment on his shoulder. After pulling out his first aid kit from his backpack, he grabbed an antiseptic spray and took off his shirt. Clenching his teeth, he sprayed his bitten shoulder. The pain felt like a dozen needles were stabbing into him, and he couldn¡¯t help but let loose a scream from his lips. ¡°Aaggghh!¡± Working through the pain, he pulled out a healing creme and one of the larger bandage patches, which he messily applied to his shoulder. It would work for now. Hopefully, it wouldn¡¯t get infected. He didn¡¯t have any antibiotics, and even though he was sure he could buy it from the Shopkeep, he¡¯d rather have it not get infected in the first place. Sighing, he decided to work his Identification skill. Now that it was level 2, the range was slightly higher, but not enough to really be useful in the middle of battle. He would rather get a hold of an enemy''s information before the battle, and he decided he couldn''t really be bothered to remember to use the skill in the heat of it.
Lesser Horned Goblin The corpse of a lesser horned goblin. It is said that when this type of goblin further evolves, it will become a demon.
Well, the description didn''t seem worrying at all. After identifying all the bodies, his skill was at 58%, so unfortunately, it would take another twenty-one Lesser Goblin corpses to increase the skill¡¯s level. Grinding was a bother. Once that was done, he sighed, and trudged back up the staircase to drink, eat, and rest. The fight took a toll on him, and he needed a break. Book shopping could come later.
Author''s Note: Posted this in a rush, will fix the tables/sizing later. Thanks for reading! This is the longest chapter of the ones I''ve written so far, let me know if it was too much at once, still figuring out pacing and whatnot.