《Crysolis》 War Never Changes Derek woke with a sudden jolt, looking around the classroom to find the source. A group of kids were laughing and pointing at him from the back corner. Another wadded up piece of paper came at him from the other side of the classroom, this time he didn¡¯t bother looking. Just about everyone looked down on him, along with all the other orphans. Orphans were looked upon as societal leaches, most of their parents had been killed during the war. Although world war three had just ended, much damage would remain. He and the others who had nothing to contribute to the community, were looked upon as little more than trash. The only thing keeping Derrek at school was his government funding. If it weren¡¯t for the government he¡¯d be homeless too, at the moment he was housed in a newly renovated hotel called the plexus. All veterans¡¯ kids were being given food and shelter as compensation for their parent¡¯s lives lost during war. That might not seem like a lot but many people were scrapping by on little to nothing. As a single child without any family, this was his only option. Most people that went to high school like him weren¡¯t as bad off as himself. Their parents businesses had flourished under war, producing excess for allied troops as well as our own. A lot of other middle and lower class citizens though, were made to do menial labor to support their households. Farming mostly, but you could work renovating factories back to civilian use as well. Population, inflation and robot productions had caused shortage of all other better paying jobs beyond waitressing to the point that jobs became almost like inheritance. Beggars were becoming more frequent too. The Larger cities like his, Sanfrancisco in California, had become common grounds to beggars especially. His school George Washington High School was always kicking them out so they couldn¡¯t bother others at class or lunchtime. He didn¡¯t necessarily agree with this, but he could understand. Kids were easily distracted and found ways to entertain themselves at any opportunity. Also, they would probably just bully the beggars and make fun of their poverty stricken lives. The thought was disgusting, but they had a point for keeping them out. Not to mention the rich thought themselves so much better than the poor that they had formed a segregation of sorts. There had always been a social stigma before the war started around 2191, now it had been given the perfect environment to flourish in, it was an almost unstoppable force. Mankind had taken a step backwards in his mind. Turning back to the board to revise what he¡¯d slept through, he knocked his work tablet onto the floor. Seeing as the robot teaching class was looking, to make sure the camera was witness, he leaned down and picked it up. If he wasn¡¯t careful, he could get beaten by the others again. He jotted down the last lesson and finished it in short order. While Trigonometry wasn¡¯t enjoyable, he was fast at it. He then got out his virt-net magazines and delved into game releases and dreamed about what it must be like. This was a common place item for the wealthy kids like the ones surrounding him. Most of them made fun of him for not affording a device and readily flaunted theirs when the chance came. He just couldn¡¯t afford the five grand for one of the cheapest models let alone the more comfortable, common models going around twenty grand. Most devices fit around the forehead slimly forming to your head, integrating with your neural network. Even if he didn¡¯t have enough for a device, he still liked to entertain the idea of buying one someday. He was swiftly brought from his reverie by the loud ringing of the bell. He waited until all the students had filed out and then waited a little longer to pack his things and exit. All the classes were held in a home room besides physical educations at the end of the day. He always skipped this so he could get home on time without getting mugged by the other kids. Almost all the others drove anyway, so the morning alleyways were usually safe. He lived about four blocks from the school, so the trip was pretty bearable. Entering the lobby, he checked in at the office and made for the common room to the left of the desk. Pushing through the heavy oak door, he found everyone watching some comedy so he sat down to watch dumb and dumber for an hour. He was just getting into the movie and forgetting his day when the ground shook and the 100 inch plasma television fell from the wall trapping a couple unfortunate teens underneath. While they were busy helping get the others out from underneath, the channel flicked over to a government broadcast.An air raid siren was wailing in the distance. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. They finished leaning the t.v. up against the wall as a video started up. Suddenly, a man wearing a ski mask flashed upon the screen. A garbled voice started slowly coming into focus. ¡±cccccccsheeeererer¡±. Ten seconds passed of the odd sound when a deep voice made its way out of the static. ¡°Ahaa! There we go, as you can tell citizens, this is not your government speaking to you. In fact, I¡¯m speaking to you from a random basement in Washington as we speak.¡± The voice had a heavy accent, though it was hard to tell what accent he had from the mask over his mouth and the static. ¡°Now, you may be wondering how this is possible. Well, as it turns out your country along with the rest of the world has terrible skills at coding. I broke through within a meager year, and that¡¯s everyone¡¯s. I know the world won¡¯t die off within this attack completely, otherwise it would be foolish. In a set amount of time though, some will be forced to their bunkers and other means of escape you see fit. You¡¯ll have approximately seven hours after this video ends, to make it to safety. Your welcome for the set time, I didn¡¯t have to do this. I only see fit to do so for the good people forced to give up their lives for a purge. Yes, you heard me right, I am Purging the world of its evils and current government. Next time man sets foot on topsoil, it will be a new age. One from which we will build a new, and build off those lessons learned and preserved from the past. The post nuclear world of the future will prove slow to heal though, so with that I am sorry. Most will not live to see that day without cryogenics. But fear not, for it is for the good of the world. With that, I bid farewell and the best of luck to all those with the purest of heart.¡± The video cut out with ample static and flashing colors, then a timer took up the middle of the screen though. Suddenly the desk employee burst into the room carrying a bugout bag. ¡°Everyone hurry! The Busses are arriving, only so many can fit! With that she dashed from the room after propping it open. Everyone stood in shocked silence, then they all started shoving their way to the Lobby door yelling and stampeding. All anyone could think about was themselves at that moment, they wanted to survive at all costs. They all rushed through the lobby at full tilt. He ran through the swinging outer doors so hard they almost broke his shoulder while causing a crack to run up the glass in a spider web. He had enough time to wonder how he¡¯d done such an act of sheer strength when he stopped dead in his tracks. Many Military issue busses were lining the curb from the military base a couple minutes downtown from them, But what really surprised him were the many monolithic rockets shooting into the sky in the distance. They must have been huge at this distance, and there were at least a dozen he could see in any one direction. He hadn¡¯t thought the government had that many missiles on the coast. They were all headed for orbit, to distribute themselves across the globe. He broke from his trance, and ran to a mob making his way to the front of a bus and again somehow made his way to the front. Just as he boarded the last vacant seat in the front crammed three deep, the bus pulled away and didn¡¯t stop for anything, including people. His stomach churned as they rammed cars out of the way. He looked back and realized the busses also had regular citizens onboard. Some richly dressed while others more or less average. Also, some military men and women made up the last three or four rows. He couldn¡¯t help but think about the people left on the sidewalk. Some would make it to other busses, but what of the others? It was likely that they were as good as dead. He still held out hope the crisis would cease and all would go back to normal, but even he had seen the nukes launched. Even if some places gained back control of their nukes by the time the nukes were still in orbit, the amount of warheads he¡¯d just seen were enough to cover every land mass ten times over, and that was only the ones he could see. Normally the earth would¡¯ve been uninhabitable on the normal coverage estimates, but the amount of damage that was inevitable, was immeasurably times more devastating than before. Only the deepest silos would survive. (Authors Note: Sorry for the short chapter and abrupt story, the story will continue character development more later in the next few chapters. Also, the chapters will most likely get longer. Thanks for reading!) A light in the Darkness As they passed by some fields, he watched as a space exploration vessel took flight and failed to finish takeoff. The wind had picked up and flung it east of his bus, which was heading north. The result was a white flash and an explosion that rocked the bus. Everyone Screamed and yelled, by the time it was over, the bus was full of crying and a faint light filled the bus from a distant inferno. The Rocket had killed many most likely and the city was ablaze in a flame many times stronger than normal or necessary to finish its duties of burning the city. Odds were, it would burn up until the nuclear disaster wiped his temporary home off the face of the earth. He hadn¡¯t really lived there very long, really only a couple years, he still felt remorse for leaving all those other people. He was only eighteen though so he figured, a healthy young man might be better use than an elderly person in a bunker for work. He flat refused to admit the robots would do almost everything though and that there were countless infants left to die. The thoughts struck home and he bust out crying with the rest of the others. The only ones who held strong were the driver and the military people onboard. He figured they must have seen much death at war, and were now trying to stay strong for the others onboard. The exception of the driver. If Derrek had paid enough attention during the rest of the drive he¡¯d have realized the bumps in the road were gun shots and people running in front of the bus, not just cars. The driver had tears streaming down his face past his riot mask and helmet. After a short thirty minute drive they pulled out front of a large hill with many fences and razor wires spread about out front. The military base was bustling with activity, but what drew his attention the most was the gaping hole in the ground in the middle of the hill. The bus literally drove up to the entrance and stopped at a line surrounding the hole. He looked back to find the bus missing the rubber from one wheel he could see and the other was flat and punctured in multiple places. Thankfully he didn¡¯t notice the front painted a second shade of red in a layer of drying blood and oil. They all departed and made their way around to the line. While waiting, he took the time to look into the chasm. To his relief, it stopped a mere hundred feet down at a series of gigantic elevators stationed around the center numbered one through twelve. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. He figured he would be entering one, generally indicated by the massive amounts of random looking people being shoved in then lowered down. He thought they must be bunkers so he was elated at the thought of surviving. Then another wave of grief and guilt over-road him and he moped his way to the front of the line after a couple hours waiting on some concrete paths. He finally stepped forward and found himself at the front of the line confronted by a military looking official. The man didn¡¯t even ask him anything, he just grasped Derrek¡¯s hand and pressed his thumb to a scanner. Not even a moment passed and a green light showed on its top. His one wise word before departing was ¡°Go!¡± He was then roughly shoved forward and handed off to the line for elevator eleven without a word. He was wondering what the difference between the bunkers was when he realized that while some had strictly infants and parents, others had single looking people. One had poor men and woman and the rest were all wealthy looking people coming down from a different lift. Realization came over him and he looked at his group. They were all teens wearing the same style rough clothing, they were all orphans. His line was considerably longer too. He was shoved forward once again from the line behind him and he made his way into the elevator with another large batch of kids. They started the decent, passing other elevators on their way up, stopping every now and then for others to load above them. It was almost like riding a Ferris wheel, except more rough and they were in a box covered in rebar. As he made the descent the visibility dropped to near nothing for over a ten minutes. Then a faint blue light made its way out of the darkness below, and grew with intensity until they reached the bottom another ten minutes later. Crystalis The Blue light grew until he was standing on a platform made of steel with a Vault door so large you could drive a car through it in both directions. There, an official stood out front holding a baton and tablet. He stood in front a metal zigzagging waiting line. Without waiting to see if they were paying attention he started talking in a loud gravelly voice indicating many packages of cigarettes had passed through his lungs in the past. ¡°A¡¯ight, ya runts! This¡¯ what¡¯s gonna happen! You gonna line up good and orderly fast now, as I speak¡­ Go on as I said!¡± Everyone started moving towards the metal rails immediately, himself ending up in somewhere in the back half. ¡°Ok now listen closely, we don¡¯t want to have to repeat this more times than necessary. What you¡¯re going to do is a series of physical tests, and then receive a series of shots. This will keep you healthy during your stay in cryostasis in the game you choose. Your health now translates into the game so try your hardest! You will not get two tries ever. Once in, you¡¯ll either die over time or be released at the end of stasis. You may think to change games once you reach a certain status in-game so don¡¯t suck! You may change any after that time but progress is deleted so be aware! Ok, that¡¯s enough. Once in the pod you¡¯re on your own. You will all have a personal, self-repairing robot to aid your cell when needed so worry not. Commence the test!¡± The Line started forward rapidly and they were led through the large doors into the hangar sized room inside. Courses were scattered everywhere, he started by doing pull-ups, pushups, crunches, a timed lap of a quarter mile, then he did a reflex test. A bag swung past his head multiple times at increasing sped until it bounced off harmlessly in the end when he couldn¡¯t dodge it. He was then led to a scary old lady in a white room smelling of antiseptic. He was forced to strip down and lay on a table where he was scanned by a machine. Another screen by the nurse showed his vitals and a picture of a light blonde boy of seventeen and a half, Five foot eight, deep blue eyes, fare white skin with a slight tan along the arms and legs, and a somewhat masculine but otherwise average face with a set jaw line and a straight nose. He had hardly enough time to feel embarrassed before a series of needles entered is arm buttocks, and neck all at the same time by the nurse and a robot he hadn¡¯t noticed before. Rubbing his newly acquired punctures, he made his way out faster than before, still in the nude, from the previous room to another line. Embarrassed as he was, he was thankful to escape the old lady. ¡°You! Ya you, over here and form a new line! He was brusquely followed by a few others as he made for the mentioned zone. He was then led to another room so deep he couldn¡¯t see the back or bottom. He couldn¡¯t believe what it was filled with. Rails ran everywhere, and intersected in the center along the platform he was on. Lines of Cryopods were already there awaiting its new occupants. The previous group was already zipping off and being stacked by robotic arms mounted upon the rail. There must have been thousands lining the walls. Derrek stepped up to a man wearing a white biohazard suit to protect him from the chemicals filling the chambers. Hoses ran down the length of the walkway and exited into the walls. As he was observing this, the man surprised him. ¡°Come on, we don¡¯t have all day!¡± He was pushed forward and around, he was just turning around when the nukes hit. The world stayed unchanged, but a deep rumbling shook everyone and everything. Thankfully nothing fell apart, He was still paralyzed by the deaths of the world above him when he was pushed into a hard memory cushion and a series of hoses were plunged deep into his arms, legs, neck, and chest. He was just turning unconscious from the drugs when a needle plunged into the back of his head from the head rest and he fell into darkness. If he were watching, he would¡¯ve been mortified, and screamed like the others while this happened and a glass case slid over his body. A Liquid then filled the inside and held him firm in its pressurized grip. He was then transported away by rail to some deep recess in the cavern. A Quick beeping noise brought him to his sense. He still couldn¡¯t see or sense anything though, the beeping seemed to emanate from everywhere at once then slowly mad its way in front of him. It then sped up until it came into the crispest, best noise quality possible, then stopped. Then it went from the lowest pitch possible all the way to the highest pitch possible all the way as loud as he could hear. This process took a few minutes, then he continued on in silence and darkness for over another five minutes. Then the lights came, a dull grey at first, then a whole show of lights sped past. Every color imaginable, it all flew by too fast to comprehend until it suddenly stopped. Then his other senses awoke, it started as an awareness, then it bloomed into a steady stream of pain until he thought death had taken hold of him itself, but soon it abated and a pleasantness unlike anything else passed over him followed by a sense of peace, happiness, and relaxation. Once this was over, a sea of data and numbers blossomed out from below him somehow and pushed him forward at a great speed until a light appeared in the growing distance. It came fast and he was suddenly launched into a brilliant blue-lit room. He was instantly at peace and felt somehow like he knew he was in a womb, he was aware, but had no body or form. He just was, almost like a spirit waiting to manifest a form. Then the round room lit up with a red pulsing series of letters and a notification box invaded his ¡®home¡¯ as he was already calling it. At first he wanted to ignore it but his human part of mind soon took over and he was too curious to ignore it. Turning back to it he somehow knew how to call it back. It read simply ¡°which game would you like to play?¡± It was followed by a few choices including (Crysolis, Neverland, Civil-life, and Spectral Space) He hadn¡¯t really played any of them in or out of virt net, though he had an idea what they all were, so he picked the first one. (You¡¯ve picked Crysolus, Would you like to choose this game to play? Warning, you are in full immersion mode, this game contains adult content, are you sure you would like to play? ~ (Yes or No) He clicked yes and filled in his in-game name afterward. He was lucky and just got to use his real name (Derrek).When he was done a few prompts floated into his peripheral and he focused on them to bring them closer. (Please choose race.) (Full immersion activated) (Crisis mode active). (Warning, you will start randomly in the world with random race, attributes, skills, and equipment. You will retain all general looks of your real body, no matter the race.) (Entering Game world ~Crysolis~) ¡°Welcome to Crysolis¡± He Started falling from the sky and proudly, his first words in this brave new lands were ¡°Ahhhhhhhh, I¡¯m gonna freaking dieeeeee!¡± Then he proceeded to fall to the ground. He was just thinking the game had glitched on him when he turned from a nose dive and stood upright and then proceeded to land lightly on is feet in a grassy meadow between two large oaks. He then fell to his knees and retched up everything his new body held in its stomach. A pop up appeared soon after (Warning, You are dehydrated, fatigued, and hungry. Find shelter before night and sate your needs or you will die. Have a great Game!) So that¡¯s nice, he was already dieing from his own stupidity. Groaning he lay back against the tree and closed his eyes, the wind ruffled his short blonde hair. He was just getting his senses back under control when he looked at himself. He was Human! It was unbelievable, He¡¯d read that most worlds had over a dozen playable characters. He was just trying to think of how to recall his stats when they appeared. He vaguely recalled from one of his magazines that full immersion was controlled by thoughts. He could store his money this way and view items in a storage device by concentrating on it. If you died, half your gold dropped along with your gear. You could retrieve your items at a graveyard after 24 hours, but if you also made it back to your death site, you could collect everything back from your old body. That is if nobody else decided to take it all. You could of course store items physically in this world, but if you had enough room and access, why not save room and safety by keeping them in another pocket dimension of sorts. Most people transferred money in-game to help them along with a backup plan or with better gear, but since this was the first time he¡¯d played he was penniless. As long as you had patience though, you would be fine. He supposed this would be easier if he was in an actual town or city. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.Returning from his memories, he scanned the rest of his stats. Taking in the menu before him he seemed to have pretty average stats. He guessed everyone started with around 3-4 in most stats. He had a solid 5 in everything but intelligence, which was at 6. His Page looked a lot like this. Status Name: Derrek Level (1) EXP: 0/100 Current points Available: 0 Bonus points (gear): 0 Strength: 5 Endurance: 5 Intelligence: 6 Toughness: 5 Luck: 5 Skills Skill points Available(0) ~Mapping (while observing the environment around you, you create maps of terrain from memory) Level (1) ~Dagger mastery, Level (1) ~Fire starting, (using flint) Level (1) ~Mana manipulation (warning: must discover talents or be taught by another mage) Level (0) If he recalled right, you could gain more skills from tomes, or from trained masters in cities. That didn¡¯t seem like it was possible at the moment though, seeing as he was plopped in the middle of nowhere. He didn¡¯t even have a bind point in a city yet. Once, he found civilization he could seek out a binding stone, that way he would only spawn there until he changed his bind point to a more permanent place. Once he was done trying to read his abilities, he exited the menu. Taking a look around himself, the area seemed pretty devoid of life. He went to take a step forward when another message popped up before him. *Warning* You have started in the random mode, You will receive a random starting package! ~You have received~ -1x worn clothe boots -1x worn loin clothes and Pants -1x used, broad bronze dagger -1x used (fire starter) flint and steel rod -1x small water skin -1x loaf of damp bread -1x uncharted map ~ Enjoy The Game! ~ ~ All Items Have Been Equipped! ~ He closed the box and immediately felt the weight of the new items on his back. He felt a moment of brief embarrassment in his foolishness for not remembering his nudity. He was forced to cringe at the bramble he was headed towards. Pulling the dagger from his belt, he inspected it. There were indeed multiple nicks and wear marks along the handle and blade. It was simple, but he supposed it would be effective enough, having an 8 inch blade. His fire-starter and the waterskin hung around his neck while the bread was stuffed in his left pocket. The clothes weren¡¯t as bad as he first thought, even if a little itchy they were better than some he was forced to where in the past. He wished the dice would¡¯ve rolled in the favor of a shirt too though. Looking about, the sun was getting close to setting now and he hadn¡¯t even moved more than a few feet since he¡¯d arrived. Kicking himself, he quickly jogged over to the tree line. He noticed the branches sway uncharacteristically above him. For the most part the forest was made up of rich, green shrubbery and ferns littering the ground here and there. The trees themselves were mostly oak with some pine trees here and there. As he was looking around, the thick foliage above him shuddered for a moment before settling. He hastened his steps a little more after that. After another five minutes the trees above him shuddered for a moment again, spooking him into walking faster yet to the point he was practically jogging. He spotted another clearing coming up just ahead and made his way towards a field of tall green grass. Before he could quite make it to the open though, a monolithic sized cat dropped from the trees above him landing a dozen yards to his left! It was about the size of a Harley motorcycle, except it looked a lot faster. He recognized it as a Sabretooth tiger, though it looked different, the thing was a dark gold color with splotches of green speckled over its back running to its slim tail. The thing had a plush green belly the color of the forest around them. It was no wonder he couldn¡¯t spot the beast. The scary end was pointed at him, staring daggers much befitting the dagger sized fangs sticking out from its upper jaw. I almost pissed myself as I took a step away from it. This must have been a mistake because the thing immediately jumped towards me. I hastily fumbled for my dagger in my belt as I flung myself to the right of the attack. Getting up from the dirt, I turned back the beasty. I pretty much knew my death was inevitable as the tiger jumped at me again, this time faster than before. Rolling forward and to the left I made an attempt to slip in an attack as my dagger slashed across the things lower hind quarters. Immediately blood started flowing as a bar appeared above the beast with a name tag calling the beast a forest sabretooth tiger. (-20)(230/250) My face paled yet another shade. I was still kind of surprised I got another hit in on the tiger when it whipped around to confront him on the spot. It slashed out with a set of wicked curved claws. They raked across my torso and my health bar appeared with a number beneath it. (-45)(55/100) (Bleed: -5/30 seconds) The beast immediately went for another slash but unfortunately for it, the force of the first blow blew me back twenty yards where I skidded to a halt on my face. Somehow I still had my dagger and I stood up. Unfortunately, I immediately bent over in pain as the searing wounds in my chest gushed blood in torrents. Some of my intestines were trying to escape from my upper belly. I almost passed out from the pain, but I held on and stood straight as the lion charged at me bounding the short distance in a mere moment. In a valiant move I simply stood my ground as it jumped in the air to come down on me. Pulling my dagger up and in front of me with both hands at an angle straight up, hoping against hope the pain would end soon. Then the lion started its descent, maw agape ready to rip into his skull, claws outstretched to surround its enemy from jumping away. Suddenly I felt pressure in my hands as I had forgotten the dagger caught up in the majestic power of this death machine. Suddenly blood was everywhere gushing into his eyes and mouth. Some windows popped up but he couldn¡¯t see them. The tiger¡¯s maw came down fully open around his head. The teeth scraping along his head as he entered the beasts death trap. The full weight of the beast atop him was excruciating as it dug its claws into his sides. Smoke Finally he woke up. Vaguely recalling passing out after the claws ripped into his sides, he was now in a darkness waiting to respawn. He felt extremely groggy, the pain still seemed to dig into him. In fact he felt like he was even cold, like a dead body. The stickiness of his blood seemed to pull at his skin. He could almost feel the pressure of the cat above him even now¡­ Wait, that¡¯s weird. He tried moving around unconsciously and felt a stinging pain over most of his body including his forehead. Opening his eyes he saw something that terrified him. Staring down the throat of the sabretooth, his dagger stared him in the face. The bronze edge now coated in a rusty red blood. The tip pressed against his forehead he finally came around to his senses, he was alive somehow, the tiger was dead, and now he was staring down his own blade trapped under at least a few hundred pounds of beast. The blinking boxes in the corner of his vision finally came into focus as he glanced over at them. This is what they read. ~(Critical hit-230 Deadly)~ (Congratulations, you are the first person to kill a Forest Sabretooth Tiger at level 1. Bonus to experience x2, new title ¡°Wild Man¡±: +10% damage to wild animals, +10% critical chance against wild animals. Warning, this title will automatically be equipped to your name bar. To change title you may visit a shaman.) That was interesting but how did he actually survive that attack? Not to mention shouldn¡¯t he have bled out during the time he was out? Reading through the next messages he was surprised to find his body was actually mostly saved by the tiger. The claws almost did him in bringing him down to 10 Health, but since they didn¡¯t pull out, he was saved from their bleed. His chest was covered by the tiger and the soft green underbelly actually stopped the bleeding after before he could completely bleed out. This alone would have been enough to surprise him, but the most surprising bit was when the he read the last couple of messages. (Level up x5,) (Level 6: 570/600 exp.) (Blood of Forest Sabretooth absorbed in battle) (Blood accepted by body) (Blood restored 100/100 HP) (Blood fusion with Forest Sabretooth tiger Successful, would you like to accept mutation?) (Yes or No) I was kind of at a loss what to do, I mean the forums and magazines never really said much about the content of the games beyond the main themes. This was a complete new thing he hadn¡¯t even heard of before. Should he do it though? What if he couldn¡¯t do some of the stuff he could¡¯ve before, or what if¡­? What if it could help him? Considering he had some stat points, he could now become stronger. But he was still stuck in but fuck nowhere underneath a giant cat¡­ He sat for over an hour staring at his own dagger before he pressed yes. Maybe it could help him from starving trapped here. Immediately then his vision went white with pain, his whole body stung including his insides. Then his bones seemed to grind against each other as they shifted around slowly, as if they weren¡¯t sure where to go. Suddenly they moved rapidly as he felt his body shuffling around under the big-cat. In the end the pain became too great and he passed out again. ¡­ .. . Finally, his head buzzing he came around after the process was over and the pin subsided. At this point he wasn¡¯t sure how long he was stuck under the cat, but he was sure it must be close to morning the following day of arriving in the world of Crysolis. Derrek moaned as he rolled over¡­ wait rolled over? Opening his eyes he was met with a nice cloudy sky above him. He must of flailed around a lot when he passed out because he was a full ten feet from the Sabretooth. Looking around himself he was surprised to see the small area round the fight was practically painted in blood. Himself included he was coated in blood. Finally the moment of horror could not be delayed any longer. He looked down at himself ¡­ He knew there were changes to his body, but still he was surprised at the scene. His hair was now a shimmering gold like the tigers was, fortunately he didn¡¯t get too much green color. Besides his normal body hair his arms, legs, part chest and belly, legs, and neck had slightly more hair varying in amounts. His ears were slightly pointed and reminded him of the cats, though they were still human-looking. He supposed he could still be mistaken for a human if he didn¡¯t strip down completely. His back had the most green, having a stripe down his spine, and along his should blades. Compared to these changes though, they could be considered minor. His eyes were now a bright almost fluorescent green, his nails came to slight points (of which he could ¡°summon¡± more almost half an inch of claw from his fingers), his whole body was laced with twice as much muscle as before making him look faster and more powerful. He checked his pants and even junior was marginally larger. He figured his height overall must be around 6 feet now and his hips and shoulders mere slightly pulled forward now, so he could move smoother. His palms were even slightly padded now too, though they just seemed extremely calloused but still with a lot of feeling. His feet were a little smaller but wider. Where he would¡¯ve worn tens before now he would fit a seven, and they were wider almost a full inch. The nails on his feet were also the same as his hands too. His chest was slightly bowed outwards now too while keeping his width. This all combined, he could easily walk on all four now with surprising ease. The most astonishing change he thought though were the 3 ? foot tail and his teeth. He could move the tail freely and his teeth were all sharper, except the molars. His canines were so long though, they struck the bottom of his gums. His jaw also seemed to open wider slightly allowing him to open his mouth properly. As he observed himself in a pool close by he could only think one thing. How was he going to hid e his tail in public? Would he be ridiculed? He was almost sure there were no Sabre-Man races and the cat-like races were more cat-like. Somehow he knew the Sabretooth was more a ferocious looking creature with more strength. The cat-like races he remembered were called Fellen, and had much smaller frames and mostly had hair completely coving them. Their faces were also more cat-like, where he was pretty much the same beyond the eyes ears and teeth. Which he was sure they didn¡¯t have the teeth a sabretooth. Surprisingly they weren¡¯t that noticeable and he was pretty sure they would gain abilities and grow like he was a real person¡­ thingy. This is actually the prompt he got when he first woke up. Pulling it up again looked at it. ~(Forest Sabretooth Tiger blood has successfully altered body)~ ~(With this new body your race has stayed human, since this is a mutation of your former self. Beware, others may take offence to your image. You have gained many accessory body enhancements that which will all grow and evolve. Your current sabretooth side is considered a simple kitten of what it can and will be. This is now your basic body, though other attributes in the future depending on season and conditions may be hidden from view.)~ ~(Congratulations on discovering a new mutation, you are the first person to discover this. +500 EXP.)~ ~(Level up x1)~ ~(Level (7) 470/700)~ ~(System reminder-You have 30skill points to spend, don¡¯t forget to use them)~ So ya, basically he looked pretty badass, and he wasn¡¯t sure how people would react or even if they¡¯d notice much. Maybe he could play off being a Fellin? Well¡­I suppose I have to find some sort of civilization first. With that he walked over to the dead big cat and tried moving it. Of course it barely moved when he nudged it. He was looking at its hide and meat especially, since his loaf of bread was thoroughly soaked in blood and dirt. Somehow the map in his back pocket stayed safe in its thin tube of wood. His dagger was jammed hard into the neck of the sabretooth, probably stuck in the bone. He had no choice actually, he would have to use some of his points for strength. Not wanting to unbalance myself though I distributed points to all of the categories the way he saw fit. Status Name: Derrek "Wild Man" Level (7) 470/700 Current points: 0 Bonus points: 0 Strength: 15 Endurance: 15 Intelligence: 11 Toughness: 10 Luck: 5 Points available: 0 Level (7) 470/700 I tried pulling the blade from the throat again and with a grunt I put my foot to its side and wrenched it out with the sound of bone hissing across the blade. The blade was surprisingly ok, it had a deep gouge down the sides in the middle. Other than that though the cutting edge was still sharp. Kneeling down next to the big cat, it was about eight feet long now that the body was sprawled out relaxed. Its bowels had already emptied themselves so he tried pushing the cat the last 30 yards to the edge of the field. I pulled it by its uncharacteristically long tail, and hind legs. The going was slow, and he heard animals and birds every now and again scaring him. Finally they made it into the clearing and what he saw took his breath away. A mammoth herd was grazing across a moderately sized flat connecting to other flats through paths cutting through the tree lines. Countless birds and even some sort of larger Deer mingled across the plain. Above and to the sides there were massive hills and cliffs forming arches here and there. Greenery grew everywhere, obviously summer was in full swing right now. The hills led up to random terraces above and below them about two layers being below him and countless above. The arches themselves were full of life and he could clearly see some sort of larger animals flying near the tops of the mountains. Waterfalls dotted here and there, and unknown sources fed a few large rivers he could see. Most importantly he could spot a couple of specks in the distance emitting smoke. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.These were of course villages he presumed of sorts. From what he knew of this game, Crysolis was a world developing from the stone-age by intelligent AI with some Moderators and Admins help. The worlds gods were still mostly tribal he though from his last magazine, but he figured the resources and life would be plentiful. Something that was almost nonexistent on earth anymore. It had seemed like the world with the most attention, flexibility, and since it was his new world for his foreseeable future until he chose another world at some point it had seemed like the best choice. He could literally build his own world if he liked, or he could help others he agreed with. Which was practically the same. Looking at the obviously sculpted works of art around him, he was glad of his choice, even if it had almost killed him. He would make a new start, and a new world for those who couldn¡¯t make it here like him. This reminded him, and what about the other Orphans he knew? Should he search them out? The world expanded more the more people logged onto the servers, so it would be arduous and hard to find them all. But maybe if he stayed somewhere long enough others he knew would hear about him and search him out? For that to work, he had to first learn to support himself before he even tried to support anyone else. Pulling out his map and a small chunk of charcoal from the tube, he started mapping the area he knew and saw. Somehow the system took over and added some color here and there, and the view was of course from above. He assumed this is because it just mapped the amount of area he could see. The areas he visited were more detailed though, so there were still advantages to adventuring around. Observing the Mammoths they seemed to have a few babies with them. They were ran around their elders playfully jumping making funny little ¡®blet¡¯ noises. Finally the map was done. The map included markers for distance and showed a cluster of houses for the villages. This excited him, but he noticed they were actually quite a distance away. Also, he was two tiers higher than them so he needed to locate ways up and down. He liked this area, so he had already decided this would be a better place than some others he¡¯d seen in pictures to settle. At least somewhere in the area would be nice. It was already obvious the wildlife was varied, and there were plenty of trees, grasses, water, and most importantly trade! But first, he turned to the Sabretooth. He had to deal with the animal behind him, and maybe process the meat and hide. He had great ideas and plans if he could kill a couple more of these beasts, though he would only need the one for right now. WARNIG! MINOR GORE AND WHAT SOME MIGHT CONSIDER DISTURBING ACTS ARE ABOUT TO UNFOLD! As I turned it onto its back like he saw in the hunting shows, I started the arduous task of gutting the animal. I noticed the tiger was female as when I cut around her milk glands they were completely full. A sudden wave of nausea and guilt washed over himself. ¡°Why couldn¡¯t I just die?¡± Then again, I would¡¯ve just spawned in the same spot, and gotten killed again trying to leave the area most likely. Large cats were highly territorial he recalled, hopefully the male would leave the area since the female was gone. Anyway, he finished cutting the ¡®zipper¡¯ up to the chest cavity revealing the guts inside along with the now dead or dieing newborns inside her uterus. I delicately cut and removed this area to take a look inside to see how close they were to birth. They were a spitting image of their parent, only about the size of a small dog. I was observing the half a dozen or so kits when one of them suddenly squirmed a little. I was so shocked I just stared at it for a moment. Then I lunged forward and stuck my hand in its mouth trying to remove the fluids it was in, when this didn¡¯t do it I held it by the hind quarters trying to get the liquid out shaking it lightly. Suddenly the kit started mewling as a huge stream of gunk dislodged somewhere in its throat. I quickly cut its umbilical and held it close to my chest in case it needed warmth. Then another started squirming, then another two. I quickly did the same thing to all of them. I was holding them all when one started going limp and kept coughing, another was breathing hard. I had no idea what to do so I just held them up and swung them again. More liquid came out but soon after they both died, both were smaller so must have been less developed. The other two were still dead, laying on the ground where I had put all of them after extraction. When the third survivor started doing the same, tears were streaking down my face in torrents. It went much the same, after that the first one I had retrieved was the only one left. I held It tight for a while just staring at it. It seemed this one was stable, but only time could tell. When it started nudging me I lifted up one of the teats from the mother now secluded from the body and the kit fed hungrily for a few minutes eating half of this one small sack full. There were six in total, so if he could keep it cool, the kit had a little while left. After the kit fell asleep I put the football sized thing aside in some flat grass with the milk. After recovering from the shock of what just happened, Derrek back to work. He set the heart and, liver along with some of the guts to one side along with the bladder. Nothing would go to waste, he did after all need tools and anything he could trade or build with would be a great contribution to his survival before the coming winter. Finally he was left with the main body of the cat so he cut a hind quarter off it, skinning it as he went to keep the pelt whole. Then he went in search for some fire wood returning a few minutes later with an armload of semi damp and dry grass. Starting with some resin covered branches and grass, he started the slow task of using the shoddy flit and steel. It was a surprisingly new design, but it was still of poor quality. Having grown up during a war, he was taught some basic survival and watched some videos online incase the United States were ever invaded. After a few minutes of sparks and repositioning twigs, a wisp of smoke meandered from the grass. Unfortunately it went out so he continued until it happened again, then blew on it lightly until a small flame appeared. It immediately ate up the small grass and twigs so he set some branches on top. After a little longer, the fire was the size of a camp fire. Sitting out in the open on the edge of the trees, he fed the fire until he felt it was safe to leave again for more supplies. Meandering close to the camp he found some low hanging branches that were fairly straight with a lot of branches shooting off here and again cutting them with his knife. Picking six of these, Derrek headed back to camp gathering regular wood for the fire itself. Arriving back at camp the kit was up so he fed it again until it was full and simply cuddled up in the grass again. Taking the branches I collected, I set up a pyramid above the fire using the crooks in the branches to hold itself in place. Then, I put the other straight branches and cut the extra branches off. Cutting large steak sized slabs of meat I skewered them and hung them along the branches sticking out of the pyramid. After the whole quarter was set smoke/cooking over the fire I set up three more fires in a line doing the same for the rest of the meat. The front shoulders were smaller, so any other bodily meat fit on those skewers. I saved the tenderloins and back straps for real meals and set about wrapping them in huge oak leaves. I tied those shut with some long tendons in the leg bones leading to the ankle. I just roasted it for a moment so it was dry enough to work. I sat back holding the kit while observing the carcass and hide. I needed tools, but what kind? Another knife maybe, and a sword or bow would be nice? Or maybe some constructions tools? There was definitely enough material to work with, but what to use¡­ I walked over to the still furry skull. I looked at the obvious daggers sticking from the mouth, but I was at a loss what to do about retrieving them. Grabbing a couple rocks I tried smacking them lose. This got me thinking and after a few minutes I remembered. One time I saw a hunter remove elk teeth using this method with a knife. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it!¡± I quickly picked up the bronze dagger and pointed it at the base of a fang. The tool was much smaller, but that didn¡¯t matter. I then picked up a flat sided rock and pounded the dagger in as far as it could go. Then I wiggled it lose and did the same on all the sides. Finally, I took the rock and smacked at the base of the fang until after a while I felt something give. With one final smack it finally came lose. I was so excited I cut myself causing 2 points of damage to myself before I started into the other fang. It went much fast the second time. In the end I was holding a bulky head about two feet long and one and a half wide with two fangs about a foot and a quarter long. I immediately sat back after the hard work and checked the meet before returning to think some more. Reading an article about the American Indians I recalled them using the brains for tanning, but the skull was so thick it would take a long time to get into it. Then I remembered the system assist for the map making. What if you could create skills to help with tanning and processing? I grabbed the huge hide and pulled it over near the skull, hold his knife in one hand and hide in other he was hoping for some sort of message unfortunately nothing happened. I immediate went back to sit but I had left my dagger on the skull. Suddenly I tripped and fell landing in front of the things skull again. I was staring in its mouth once again, but before I could get up I noticed something odd about the back of the mouth. He had cut the skull off the carcass to work with it, but there was a section of the mouth that seemed to call to him. There was almost an itch in his fingers to begin working. Taking my dagger, I cut into the roof of the mouth and immediately set to work removing the flesh from the inside of the mouth. After a while the system seemed to take over again, just like the mapping skill and he heard a *Tring, as he worked. After a while the skull seemed completely devoid of any hair or flesh. The jaw finally came lose allowing him to work easier, not that he was doing much but watching. Washing it in a stream close to camp and returned to work except he grabbed a sharp long rock and started to saw at the top of the mouth cavity. When he broke through the nasal cavity, then into the brains he set the skull aside and spread the hide out. After that he started scraping and cutting lose any fat, veins or blood clinging to the pelt. Afterwards, still in the trance he spread the brains out on the skin and uttered a few guttural words naturally. Another *Tring! Could be heard. Suddenly there were a couple of flashes. When his eye-sight returned he received a few messages. ~You have discovered the skill ¡®Tan¡¯~ ~You have gained 100 experience (570/700)~ ~You have created 1x heavy Sabretooth pelt, may be use in crafting many items.~ ~You have created 1x Clean Sabretooth Skull (Crafting Item)~ Holding the skull he looked at it skeptically, it wasn¡¯t the lightest, though he supposed it wasn¡¯t too bad now. He was wondering how to develop it further when he glimpsed the sun setting again. He set the skull aside before he stoked the fire and settled in with the kitten nestled on his chest under the pelt.