The New World

Chapter 5: A Destroyer of Bats

I put yet another point into endurance, leaving me with just over twenty seven. A set of perks appeared right after,

Perk Selection. Choose One.

[Unstoppable(endurance over 25) – Your endurance is incredible. +5 health regen, +50 to stamina regen, +5 total health and stamina gained per point in endurance, another 1/10th of your endurance is converted into willpower.]

[Willful(Willpower of at least 10) – Your willpower is good. Doubles mana regeneration.]

[Fledgling(Reach level 5) – You’ve just started learning. +10% to experience.]

[Beginner(Reach level 10) – Now you know a little. You can step out of the tutorial zone now.]

Unstoppable was exactly what I hoped it would be – awe inspiring. When I selected the perk, I gained over a hundred health and stamina from it. Days of sprinting would be nothing for me now. That meant that the stamina gained from endurance was useless now as well, but the other bonuses more than compensated for the difference.

One of those benefits came from Agony. The aura’s irritation lessened until I hardly noticed it. Instead of applying this constant pressure, it turned into a slight malaise. I reveled in that comfort, feeling good for the first time in a while. After a few moments of enjoying the extra energy, I checked out my skill trees.

| III Determinator(Have Tireless, unyielding, unrelenting, and unstoppable perks unlocked by level 20, Endurance of 25 or more, willpower of 15 or more)[0/500] |

I jogged away from the other bats before glancing at my tree points. I needed twelve to finish Ancient. I ramped up Agony until it matched my health regen, making several bats in the cavern fly away. To keep them coming back, I pissed them off at this point before ramping up the aura. Otherwise they just flew away.

Regardless, I trained a few hours, shifting my weight and firing my fists. My hands shifted in my eyes with professional speed now, faster than I could keep up with them. Combine that with all the movement, and my other skills developed as well.

Pushing hard until I got my points, I sat down dripping sweat and having twelve points to my name. I finished the tree.

You are one of the few to leave a lasting mark on this world. In that regard, you are living history, so make your actions echo across time. +20 health, mana, and stamina. +20% to exp and skill gain.

Opening a textbook, I gained a quick level up in mathematics, investing in the next Determinator tree. Now I couldn’t lose it once I leveled over twenty, which would be happening real soon.

Standing up, I went through the motions once more. I threw a rock towards another bat, and it dashed towards me with the same charge as the others. However, when it entered agony’s enlarged aura, it cringed, causing it to crash hard. I dashed in, hitting the beast as it struggled with focusing under the onslaught of pain. Within fifteen minutes, it died.

Underleveled bonus active. Level up! 1 levels gained!

I quickly put another point into endurance before tossing another stone at a different bat. I dodged, weaved, and kited the bat to death within ten or so minutes. It died fast.

Underleveled bonus active. Level up! 1 levels gained!

Another point into endurance and I killed another bat in ten minutes. Then another and another and another. The bats fell like flies. Flies with huge teeth, and ugly, ugly faces. Like I mean horrifically ugly.

Regardless, I gained level after level, putting all my points into endurance. Over several hours I gained experience until I reached level twenty five. At that point, it took four or five bats just to level up. In a word, my leveling leveled off. It didn’t matter though. I’d keep going. I put my points in endurance and checked out my perk list.

Perk Selection. Choose One.

[Unbounded(Endurance over 30) – Your endurance is without end. Movement impairing effects, poisons, curses, and radiation are 75% as effective. Add 2 health, stamina, stamina regen and .2 health regen per gained level, halved sleep and sustenance requirements, and lifespan doubled.]

[Willful(Willpower of at least 10) – Your willpower is good. Doubles mana regeneration.]

[Headstrong(Willpower of at least 15) – Your willpower is admirable. Willpower adds extra internal motivation per point. +1 mana regen.]

[Fledgling(Reach level 5) – You’ve just started learning. +10% to experience.]

[Beginner(Reach level 10) – Now you know a little. You can step out of the tutorial zone now.]

I had to admit, Headstrong interested me, but my choice remained obvious. Unbounded didn’t show quite as many numerical advantages as the previous endurance perks, but it held a lot of intangible benefits. Lessening the requirements on food and sleep alone made the perk worth it, especially considering I was starving.

So, I selected it along with the finalize button. The change radiated through me as sinews, muscle, and bone altered. The shift proved more slight and subtle when compared with my previous perk, but the rush still arrived all the same. The individual level-ups had stopped giving me an enormous surge of strength a while back, however.

At least, until I began investing in other attributes. Once I had another five points of endurance, I’d see if I got access to another perk like Unbounded. If not, then constitution would be my next main attribute. It only required a point or two of investment at this point to test. Just as well, the bonuses for those attributes synergized amazingly well since damage resistance increased my total effective health.

Even if constitution only added a measly one percent damage resistance per point, the perks would help mitigate that small increase. If I could get my damage resistance high enough, I could amplify Agony up to absurd extremes. My entire setup revolved around Agony in fact. I couldn’t imagine being able to kill the bats without it. Not yet, at least.

Even though it hurt like hell, it already saved my life. With that pain tearing at my mind, I got back to killing bats. One bat. Two bats. Three bats. I discovered my punches sped the process up, though marginally. The main difference came from leveling my skills in each battle. The ensuing struggle, the pounding adrenaline, the sheer danger, those factors culminated in surging urgency. That urgency pushed my skills forward.

Several hours later, I reached level twenty seven. The level gain slowed down after I hit twenty five. When I’d checked it out, I found out it would take a ridiculous amount of exp for one level. I finally hit a wall, one that took well over an hour of grinding for a single level.

Still, killing them devolved from a traumatic undertaking to a mundane habit. Even if they hit me, I could take four or five of their head-on charges before death. My health pool became massive. Despite that durability, I stayed sharp. Instead of being eaten, I feared starvation more than anything. Without Unbounded, my hunger might’ve even robbed me of my tenacity by then.

But I continued until I needed rest. Finding my cove, I slept and woke up the next day. Most mornings, I stayed groggy until a couple hours passed. This time, I powered through that early haze with ease. The extra willpower really paid off when it came to stuff like that.

Without missing a beat, I hopped back on the bat-killing train yet again. Two hours later, I reached level twenty-eight, putting a point into constitution. After selecting finalize, the narrator’s voice rang out once more.

I’d almost forgotten it existed.

‘And their fists shattered against my skin, for I was living stone.’

Unlike endurance, constitution changed more than numbers on a screen. My body condensed and hardened as if I became closer to a rock. By comparison, endurance came with a…A rubbery sensation? It was as if I were harder to pull apart, my flesh stretching more. Constitution developed me in a different manner entirely.

It turned soft meat into moving stone, my sinews and skin becoming like metal. Combine that with my Pugilist skill reaching forty four, and I noticed a dramatic increase in the hardness of my hands.

And so did the bats.

I reached level twenty nine later, putting another point in constitution, further crystallizing my hands. Now I hadn’t planned on investing in constitution, but the attribute did more for Agony than endurance. In fact, it helped more than willpower thanks to the Fighter trees I considered useless earlier.

Another couple hours of grinding out the bats later, I finally gained another level. I put another point into constitution and opened the perk menu once more.

[Willful(Willpower over 10) – Your willpower is good. Doubles mana regeneration.]

[Headstrong(Willpower over 15) – Your willpower is admirable. Willpower doubles internal motivation per point.]

[Fledgling(Reach level 5) – You’ve just started learning. +10% to experience.]

[Beginner(Reach level 10) – Now you know a little. You can step out of the tutorial zone now.]

Headstrong seemed pretty good, so I selected it. In a synaptic burst, my motivation sparked out in a flood. Whatever I wanted to do, I could. My body became an engine of my will, a device for my cause, and my cause was killing the hell out of those bats.

So, I went about my business. In order to level, dozens of bats had to die. Fortunately, Agony became a force by level thirty-two as I hit eleven constitution. I had over seven hundred health, 1.3 health regen a second, over sixteen willpower, and 13% damage resistance. Agony stacked up to over a whopping one hundred damage a minute. I could kill a level thirty five bat in seven minutes even if I held back my fists.

During that time, Agony took on a different utility aside from damage. Within its aura, I controlled the bats. They howled out in, well, agony when they got in its enormous radius. Even with this increased speed of about five minutes per bat, I could only manage about one level every two hours or so. That didn’t bother me anymore, however.

Before, I dragged my feet at the prospect. By then, the willpower helped keep me focused. I hungered like a wolf in winter. I hadn’t spoken to someone in over seven days, and that loneliness grated me by now. I was filthy. Despite all of that, I kept an unreasonable and unwavering faith in my escape.

Even while trapped in this god forsaken, endless cave, I would be fine. My will never wavered, my motivation like steel. I had all the confidence in the world that I would crush the bats and get the hell out of there. And crush bats I did. By level thirty-four I piled their corpses near me. Bats kept coming to cannibalize their kin. I exterminated them as they swooped down.

I no longer made attempts at keeping quiet. I even fought them when they entered their swarming frenzies. In fact, that became my preferred time to attack. It was easier to get many fighting me at once. The bats wouldn’t approach me unless I attacked them first with a rock or fist. It made the farming process safer than expected.

Though, it was strange they never dogpiled me in a vast throng. I inspected and searched for them in the meantime, but I never found any reason for that. I chalked it up to the dungeon’s influence on them.

Either way, by the time I got sleepy, I killed at least a hundred bats, finally reaching level thirty-five. I put another point in constitution, leaving me with just over thirteen. It was enough for the first perk gained from the attribute.

[Willful(Willpower of at least 10) – Your willpower is good. Doubles mana regeneration.]

[Tough(Constitution of at least 10) – Your constitution is good. Adds +0.5% damage reduction per point in constitution.]

[Fledgling(Reach level 5) – You’ve just started learning. +10% to experience.]

[Beginner(Reach level 10) – Now you know a little. You can step out of the tutorial zone now.]

The Tough perk didn’t double the attributes bonus like the endurance perks had, but with the Fighter trees’ multipliers, my damage resistance started adding up. It mounted to 21% damage reduction now. Putting the perk into action, I finalized my decision.

My bones condensed, matter siphoning into them from an unseen place. My hands turned into thickened, callused hunks, more for fighting than dexterous work by now. I winced as even my organs and blood thickened, my heart pulsing with greater strength to keep my blood moving. The changes faded, and I grabbed a rock nearby to test out that sensation.

The rock felt…soft. Well, softer. Tossing it at a different bat, the beast charged me. I side stepped but with some struggle. Slicing a quick hook into the bat’s side, its stony flesh bent under my knuckle’s force. They proved softer as well.

The killing continued. I kept drinking out of the glowing, cyan pools, so I wasn’t thirsty. I dreamed of eating the bats multiple times, but I never did. They looked disgusting, and Agony left them looking like gelatin after I killed them. Not exactly the most appetizing meal, even for a starving man. Hell, they made me sick if I stared too long.

They wouldn’t make for a meal. So, for the first time since I entered this god forsaken cave, I planned on exploring. From my backpack, I got several clear plastic bags. I filled them with the glowing cyan water, giving me some makeshift light. I wanted a couple extra just in case, and I stuffed them into my pack. It was time to venture out.

I finally moved away from my little cove of rocks. By now I defecated and pissed enough in a nearby pool that it turned murky brown. I had to slip my cheeks into the pool of water so it didn’t make a sound. Otherwise, it would’ve made the ‘plop of doom’ as I called it.

The bats would’ve swarmed me then. Probably. Knowing I needed water, I used the same pool over and over again since I didn’t want to ruin all my water sources. It was an animalistic, disgusting process, but I did it to survive…And to not make a plop sound.

But alas, the poor plopless pool was behind me as I trekked down BloodHollow. Passing many stalactites, multiple bats assaulted me. I dispatched them over fifteen minutes, being careful of my positioning. The closer to a wall I was, the easier the fights were. They couldn’t come at me from multiple directions then.

With that handled, I walked out into the dimly lit caverns with little bags of water as my guides. The cave changed from before, warping until it lacked any semblance of its previous self. It was nothing like I remembered when Micheal and I first came here. Thinking of another person, my throat burned for a second.

Man, I missed the guy. Kelsey too. Loneliness burned in my chest before I dismissed it. I had to move on. The stalactites formed sharp points like teeth. The ridges of the walls molded into twisted, warped faces. Any insects near me curled up and died. These bugs died from agony, not the cave itself. Finding a grotesque centipede, I stared at it before a bing sound rang out in my ears.

Skill lvl! [Pain Tolerance | Level 86]

I smacked my forehead. I’d forgotten to distribute my skill points into Determinator. Before doing so, I checked out my skills, spotting a few new ones.

Pain Tolerance lvl 86, Desperation lvl 37, Ava Maria lvl 7, Death’s Dance lvl 51, Dodging lvl 28, Pugilist lvl 44, Physical Fitness lvl 21, Focus lvl 27, Scorn lvl 52, Sneak lvl 13, History lvl 7, Biology lvl 9, Mathematics lvl 11, Patience lvl 5, Throwing lvl 13, Momentum lvl 8, BloodHollow Bat Slayer lvl 16, Coarsened Hands lvl 11 | 446 total – 336 spent |

Momentum | Level 8 – To attack with momentum is to take risks. In each of your blows carries the weight of death for this reason, both your own and your opponents. You choose to fight this way out of courage, not your ignorance. Plus 8% to weight and power when using momentum for attacking.

BloodHollow Bat Slayer | Level 16 | Note: Initiation Skill – Initiation Skill Limit: 1/3 | – You’ve murdered many of their kind. They become easier to kill. +16% damage to BloodHollow Bats.

Coarsened Knuckles | Level 11 – Weapons are often made of metal. You need no weapon, for your knuckles are like steel. +11% damage with your bare fists.

These skills explained why I’d been killing the bats in under five minutes. Agony dealt at least three damage a second with all my damage buffs and active skills. It made the killing process smooth, like slitting a throat with a knife. Just as well, all the fist fighting I committed to early on paid dividends now, even if the start was a bit rocky.

Having stockpiled for a while, I put over a hundred points into the third Determinator tree. It rewarded me with a notification at the one hundred point mark.

To determine is to make definite. Your will determines whatever you choose to be. +10% willpower, +10% endurance.

I did a little fist pump, jumping for joy. The extra attributes were always welcome, coming with the usual, accompanying rush. They synergized well with my current build too, and if I invested in this tree for several hundred more points, I’d gain crazy levels of endurance and willpower.

Taking a moment to think, I rested my hand over the Agony debuff marker. Without this aura, my build wouldn’t function at all. I’d be a useless blob, one that could take a hit, sure, but I’d be eaten alive by all kinds of enemies. This strange skill mentioned an error when I first selected it, and that seemed normal at the time. I mean, I spawned in this dungeon because of a glitch as well.

But, my build fit together a little too well. Once I got out of this hellhole, I resolved myself to figure this out. With that in mind, I redoubled my efforts of pulverising the bats with punches as they died to my aura. Traveling the entire time, I gained a level, and I placed a point in constitution. After another long distance, I reach another set of glowing pools.

Approaching them, the pools glowed a soft crimson, the water shimmering rosy pink. Blending into this red glow, an enormous bear rested beside the pool. Its fur reflected the pool’s light, each strand of hair like a spine. Its barrel chest rose up and down slowly as it breathed. Red mist piled out of it’s pitch black nostrils.

As I got closer, I analyzed the bear and discovered something about its level. As I did, my blood froze.

BloodHollow Bear | Level 75 – An enormous, terrifying creature. Fight with caution as it’s red aura and monstrous strength are very effective tools when it comes to dismembering adventurers.

Adventurers like you.

Holding my breath, I snuck backwards. This abomination exceeded my level, and the last thing I wanted was another fight to the death. I prefered beating bats up instead. Taking a few steps away, I got some distance from the animal. Its misty breath no longer shimmered out nearby, its form a distant and horrifying memory instead of a pressing nightmare.

A bat from above squealed out. My jaw went slack as I turned towards the huge bear. It stayed asleep before I glared at the bat above. Its left wing bled before it fell down. An idea popping in my head, I charged towards the bat’s fall. I caught the white, pale creature, my legs buckling under its heft.

A cold sweat poured from my brow, and I turned to the bear again. It rumbled, getting closer to awakening. The bat in my arms scrambled for an escape, but I squeezed it with all my strength. Not having very much of that from starvation, loneliness, and perhaps a poor attribute distribution, the white bat bellowed.

Frustration mounted in my chest before I ran over towards a stalagmite nearby. Picking the bat up, I smashed its open mount into the stony pillar, gouging the rock into its throat. It gurgled before I wrapped my arm around the roof of its mouth.

Using my arms like ropes, I pressed one knee against the bat’s jaw. The bat’s mouth shut, the creature no longer able to breath. It fought me tooth and nail, scrambling for air. I held it down until my knuckles turned white and my teeth hurt. My arms popped, along with my fingers and hands. Vibrant splashes of pain radiated from my joints.

But I held firm.

The bat pushed and pulled. I tightened and constricted. Two minutes passed before the pale animal’s breath ceased, life leaving its disgusting body. I kept my own breathing shallow, despite sweat pouring down my pits. I turned around, and the giant bear stayed asleep. I stopped the worst case scenario but just barely.

Taking a sigh of relief, another bat crashed into the ground beside me. The bear’s eyes popped open before it stood tall. It opened its maw, and it roared forth with enough force that the ground quaked under my feet. A stream of cold sweat poured down my forehead in an instant, activating Desperation.

The stat boost was nice and all, but I needed more than a few attributes. At that moment, the behemoth scraped its claws on the cave’s ground. A barrage of sparks ignited from the monster’s claws as they dragged on the cavern floor. The red mist expanded around it, making its silhouette even bigger.

Its eyes met mine, and we matched our gazes for a few seconds. The bear roared like thunder once more before charging towards me. Picking up the bat, I tossed it away from me as a lure. Once it left my arms, I sprinted behind a stalagmite before the sounds of the bear’s stomps grew loud in my ears.

Time slowed down as my mortality proclaimed itself, howling out in my mind. I could die. No, I was probably going to die. My fragility, my lack of training for this situation, even my loneliness, it spurred in my chest like fire and poison and pain. Adrenaline spiked in my mind as thoughts of death and being eaten loomed in my head.

The bear approached me, and Agony only made it madder. I leaped out from behind the stalactite I used for cover. The pillar exploded, powdered rock spraying over me. Splatters of stone bit into my skin, like a heavy, sharp rain. From the dust cloud, the bear charged forward, far faster than the bats. Far faster than me.

I froze in place, panicking. I gave my face a slap, the crisp pain waking me up. I stepped sideways, and the wind from its charge pushed me away. The air alone lifted me. I flopped onto the ground, busting a lip before peering up. I looked for anything to hide behind. Nothing stuck out.

The bear jolted towards me, speeding like a cannonball. Like a thousand tiny fires, sparks danced off its claws as they cut into the stone floor. Those paws pulled it along, making its charge fast and furious. It reached me, and unlike the bats, it learned from last time.

As I sidestepped, the bear reached out a paw. A large gash cut into my stomach, reaching my entrails. I winced, expecting an unbearable torture. Pain roared out to me, but it did not thunder in a deafening boom; it merely shouted in anger. It passed over me in a vivid flash, and I gasped out blood from my mouth.

I swallowed the thick red pooling in my throat. Standing there, I inspected my HUD. My health fell by a third from that slap of its claws. In each of its paws, the bear commanded immense power. My eyes locked in on those paws as the bear turned towards me. The giant reared onto its back legs before smashing them into the ground.

Like cars crashing, the paws impact echoed into the distance. It left smashed stone in its wake, and a haunting mist radiated from it like evaporating blood. I stared it down, my breath honing in. From my thoughts, every consideration faded away. I focused like a laser onto the situation.

This titan outran me with ease, but that was while charging. That meant escape wasn’t an option now that it found me. Panicking gained me nothing, and neither did fearing the beast. Before I could plan out any actions, the bear sprinted up again. Reacting instead of thinking, I feinted to the right before dodging to my left.

The bear reached out in the wrong direction, blazing past me in a red blur. It smelled of iron, a bloody incarnation. Its miss gave me time to think. As the bear curved back for its next charge, my mind illuminated me with my only way out.

Agony. I needed Agony to kill this thing.

Instead of charging, the bear eyed me for a moment. It walked up, forcing me back. We danced like this until my back pressed against the cavern’s wall. The bear walled me in, and its eyes carried a menacing intelligence. I grimaced at the creature.

Scorn Active!

It gave me the boost I needed. The bear got within a swipe’s distance, and it slashed diagonally towards my right. I leaned into that direction, twisting on the balls of my feet. Using the turning force, I slammed my fist into the bear.

My fist met its hide, and bones broke in my hand. My eyes watered. Hard. Jagged. Terror. This abomination was hard as a brick wall. The bear swiped again, and I bent towards his strike, dodging underneath its arm. The claws cut my hair while I pushed off my feet.

Another heavy strike slammed into the monster’s side. Another bone in my hand snapped before the bear headbutted forward. I sidestepped before lunging forward while turning my heels and dragging my fist behind me.

The bear cracked the stone wall behind me. As it pulled its face from the rock, my punch collided with its nose. For the first time, it stumbled back. Tears matted its eyes, more as a reaction than from actual pain. I lunged forward, building force in my fist.

My hand impacted into its nose once more, and my bones crushed. Something in my wrist snapped. The fractures in the back of my hand radiated out to the knuckles down. Without the system, I’d never recover from this kind of damage to my hand. I’d never even pick up a pencil and use it, let alone fight with finesse.

But that’s just it; the new system let me regenerate, so I abused that fact. The bear winced from my punch, taking another step back. I growled at it while pounding my chest with my wrist,

“You wanna fight? Then let’s fight. Come on.”

Its eyes narrowed, but so did mine. This wasn’t my first time dealing with conflict. I’d fought plenty of times before this system came about. I’d boxed since I was eleven, day in and day out after school. I was never the brightest kid, but I could take a punch pretty well. Enough to be a professional in time, according to my coach.

He told me that years ago. Since then, I honed my fists into weapons. The Pugilist skill only accentuated what I already had, so I unleashed my real potential now. All the extra stats and skills didn’t hurt either.

But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. My knees betrayed me, wobbling for a flash. I took a breath, fresh fear racing up my spine. Taking a deep breath, I let out a primal growl. It wasn’t for the bear. It was for me. I needed to pull myself together. I raised my hands. Now wasn’t the time for fear. I pushed it down while the bear rubbed its nose. It stood and glowered down with rage in its eyes.

The red aura became a fog, like a mist of crimson. When it touched me, my skin burned. I stepped back out of its range. The bear barreled at me but I sidestepped again. The bear swiped at my legs, expecting me to duck like before. Instead, I jumped. The bear’s paw crushed the rock wall behind me, covering us in a cloud of dust once more. As it settled, he and I stared at one another.

This was going to be a long fight.

************************************

My wrist was a lumpy mush. Every breath was fire in my lungs. My blood turned to acid and my arms were bars of lead at my sides. I’d mauled the monstrosity so many times. Like me, it refused to die. The bear no longer owned a nose. I replaced it with a bloody pile of mash that rested on its face. The eyes were next. That was where I broke several of my fingers poking it till it went blind. The bear’s missing ears explained what I did next. I couldn’t take that sense entirely, however.

It could still hear, but without its other senses, it fumbled around weakly. I tossed rocks around the room, keeping it running around in agony’s range. Of course, I stopped fighting the damn thing thirty minutes ago after disabling its senses, but I couldn’t stop agony’s damage. If I did, the red mist would restore the bear’s wounds.

It happened once already. There’s nothing more demoralizing than watching your work go to waste. Especially when that work involved tearing off a giant bear’s nose.

Without its usually keen senses, the bear fumbled in a dark abyss of pain. I cranked agony up as much as it could go without killing me. Even without any regeneration of my wounds, I had to kill this thing. I wouldn’t die here. People were waiting on me. They might need me too. I’d find Micheal and Kesley and get somewhere safe once I got out of this cave. This evil, demonic, diabolical, insane cavern.

First things first, this bear needed to die. The bear’s movements had slowed quite a bit, to a crawl almost. With a renewed resolve, I sprinted towards it, gaining a skill.

Skill Unlocked! Sprinting | Level 1 – To sprint is to devote yourself to a course of action. It requires force but decisiveness as well. In this manner, one cannot move quickly without direction. You’ve learned this well.

I bent low and smashed the bear’s pulpy nose as it fell down from the pain. Like a brute, I smashed my limbs into its eyes, ears, and nose again and again. I faced demons, and in fighting them, I became one. Blood covered my hands. Whether it was my own or the bear’s, it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore.

I crushed and crumbled. I maimed and murdered. I ripped and rived. I pounded. I punched until it’s face was red porridge, just like my hands and arms and feet. I’d win. I had to. There was no other option.

Level Up! Four levels gained!

It was the four hardest levels of my life. I placed all four points into constitution, giving me over seventeen in the attribute. The perk selection came up once more,

[Willful(Willpower of at least 10) – Your willpower is good. Doubles mana regeneration.]

[Dense(Constitution of at least 15) – Your constitution is admirable. Adds another 0.5% to damage reduction per point in constitution.]

[Fledgling(Reach level 5) – You’ve just started learning. +10% to experience.]

[Beginner(Reach level 10) – Now you know a little. You can step out of the tutorial zone now.]

Well, Dense wasn’t anything special, but I selected it before slouching beside the bear. Despite my abject exhaustion, I selected finalize. I didn’t want a bat killing me while I was vulnerable, and so, my body changed once more.

Starving to death and thirsty, my body still filled out as my height and frame bolstered in size. No food flooded my body. Instead, a liquid, palpable energy arrived from a far off place. It gave me warmth, energy, and a strange density. My skin became like wood instead of playdough, and I raised a hand. Well, what was left of my hand.

Over the next ten minutes, it came back together before my eyes. Ominous and unnatural, I thanked the system for making me into something that could fight these monsters. At the same time, I hadn’t eaten in three days, I fought day in and day out, and I lived in darkness now. It was this dungeon that caused it, along with this mysterious Schema.

It was both my ticket to this hellhole and my ticket out, so I analyzed my status. My damage resistance reached all the way up to 38%. It felt like my skin covered bark now instead of muscle. My heart felt like it pumped syrup instead of blood. It was weird yet awe-inspiring at the same time. It made me wonder if this was how superman felt, being the whole man of steel thing.

I was getting there. A prick hurt my head, so I shut down Agony. Taking a moment, I let my mind wander. It had been a long time since I had the aura off, several days at least. Even though the discomfort was slight, it became a painful norm. Within minutes, all the broken bones, ruptured skin, and spilled blood restored itself.

I swallowed, clearing a thick gunk in my throat. It tasted of iron. Finding myself rejuvenated, I shook my head at how durable I really was. Near death one minute then restored the next. It was wild. I squeezed a hand, dwelling on how much easier this journey would’ve been with a hammer or knife. A simple tool like that would’ve made a world of difference.

Instead, I turned my body into a weapon. A gun would’ve been the best possible tool, but I never owned one. I didn’t think I’d ever need them. Turning my fist for inspection, several new scars shrunk in my vision, the scrapes turning back into smooth, untouched skin. Fighting like this kept me alive. Wanting to stay that way, I opened every menu in my status and searched the menus.

Skill Unlocked! Heavy Hands | Level 1 – Some weigh their decisions. Others choose to weigh their odds. With your life on the line, you choose to put weight in your fists instead. +1% to fist weight while striking.

Unique skill unlocked! Heavy Hands, Coarsened Knuckles, Momentum, Dodging, and Pugilist fuse into one skill | Lumbering Brute | Half of points below one hundred in each skill are rewarded from skill fusion.

I checked it out.

Lumbering Brute | Level 3 – You ground your feet and trade blows against any foe. This puts your life on a thin line, one you tread willingly. Points in this skill enhance this style of fighting.

This new skill explained how I began fighting one on one with the bear. Without it, I might’ve been eaten alive. I shivered at the thought before rereading the rest of the details. A touch of deductive reasoning later, and I verified my assumption that level one hundred was the maximum amount for a skill.

I just cross referenced the previous listings of my skill totals, and the math checked out. With that settled, I invested all the extra skill points into the Determinator tree. Two notifications rang out.

To be determined is to be definite. Define yourself. Make your aims and ambitions like stone. Give your unstoppable will a purpose, and let it go and crush that which stands in its way. +10% endurance. +10% willpower.

Do not squander these gifts you’ve earned. Push beyond your limits, shatter walls in your way, and become a golem of your ambition. +10% endurance. +10% willpower.

I stared down at the notifications before a wave of unrelenting hunger soared up my stomach. I gawked at the dead bear before my desire took over. I found a rock nearby, smashed out one of the bear’s teeth, and used that tooth to gut its hide. Steaming entrails spilled out, and it didn’t smell as acrid as you’d imagine.

It smelled good. Hunger did that to the mind. Once you passed a certain threshold, starvation consumed all higher level functions. It turned people into beasts, myself included. Engulfed by that hunger, I tore out chunks of meat and devoured the beast.

It was disgusting, raw, and gamey bear meat. Despite knowing what it was, it might as well have been a five star buffet to me. I cherished the fullness, an exhausting sense of weakness leaving me. I wiped blood from my chin, a deep sense of satisfaction ebbing within me. I survived. I would escape this place.

Once full, I simply sat in place for an hour or two after that. I stared forward with a blank mind. I didn’t do anything. Once my stomach emptied, I feasted on another portion of the raw meat before a wave of fatigue passed over me. Using my arm as a pillow, I layed on the hard floor.

Taking a deep breath, I activated Agony with the discomfort coming back in waves. Cave bats echoed in the distance, but I couldn’t remain awake. A creeping cricket jumped somewhere near me. It died instantly. Before passing out, I blinked a few times. For some reason, my throat burned.

I shook a bit, shaking in place for a second. It was like I had a hot coal in my throat, fiery and scorching. My eyes fogged over, both of them burning too. I blinked, pooling tears falling from my eyes. They crawled across my face while I wondered where this sadness came from.

I just survived. I won. I wasn’t dead. Why was I crying? It didn’t make sense. I swallowed, the bear’s flavor still there. A wave of disgust passed over me, not for the raw flesh’s flavor but for myself. Images of the bears and bats filled my mind, and they overwhelmed me. I sat by myself until my crying turned to weeping. Tortured sobs gave way to sleep, but I still cloaked myself in Agony for protection.

Whether it was the skill or my own agony, I still don’t know.