After blacking out on the arena floor Alex remembered only pieces. There were flashes of Janet, her looking down at him with anger, or maybe concern, her talking to an overweight person in a lunch lady uniform, her giving his hand a slight squeeze as his body began to warm. At the time, through the haze that was his thoughts, Alex didn’t realize he couldn’t feel anything, but as more of the warm sensation spread throughout his body, he felt only pain.
When Alex next awoke it was to darkness. He had no clue how much time had passed, his mind having trouble processing details. Trying, and failing to grasp hold of the slippery thoughts, he felt a touch on his arm. The sensation brought back the echoes of pain, some primal remembering through the confusion. Alex wanted to scream, something, anything to make the agony stop, but for some reason he couldn’t. After another set of taps somewhere in the darkness, the ache began to fade. By the third, almost impatient feeling set, Alex gained enough sense of self to realize his eyes were closed. Struggling to remember how, he opened them, blinking a few times to adjust to the light, his action cutting off the fourth set of taps midway.
Pupils dilating Alex made out the figure of Grave in the dim light, their face showing both impatience and concern. He distantly registered that the golem was in their human form, and knew there was a reason they shouldn’t, though he couldn’t remember what it was. Grave began to sign to Alex and after failing to understand what they were trying to say a couple of times, he spoke.
“Sor-” Alex immediately cut off in a fit of coughing. His throat was extremely dry, to the point that words neared painful, but Grave was his friend and he wanted to understand what she meant. Starting again Alex gave the golem what he thought to be a slight smile.
“Sorry, Grave,” he rasped. “My minds a little all over the place, I’m not sure what you want.”
The golem looked behind themselves nervously, and while Alex hadn’t heard anything, he marveled at their complex emotions. Snapping to get his attention, Grave tapped on Alex then pointed toward their hand, as if telling him to focus. Then they began to spell, and Alex did his best to fight the endless amount of wandering thoughts his brain seemed to want to supply him with.
“C.A.D.” He had blinked, though it must have been for longer than a moment, because he knew that wasn’t a word. Unless it was?
“Can you do that again? I think I missed something.” For the first time since awakening Alex was sure of something as he saw a look of exasperation on the silver-haired golem’s face. Grave put up four fingers, and it took Alex a few guesses until he realized they meant four letters. When he voiced his understanding Grave began to sign the word again. Alex saw the golem’s first sign, “C,” but his brain quickly noted he had only missed one letter and began to attempt to figure it out.
‘Cahd, no. Cawd, that doesn’t sound right. Cab, oh cab that must be it.’ The tapping returned, though this time Alex was happy he knew what Grave wanted. Leaving him surprised when he told them as much, and they didn’t seem pleased. Grave looked somewhere behind themself again, and Alex was still unsure why. This time when they began to spell again, Grave made sure Alex was paying attention, and he realized they did not want him to hail them a cab. They wanted a card, and even through the confusion, he knew which one. Trying, and failing to open his inventory, Alex attempted to retrieve the card for Grave. Somewhere in the murk of addled thoughts that was his consciousness, Alex was unsure if he should give them the card, though the doubt was washed away by another set of urgent taps.
On his fifth attempt Alex managed to create a small portal, the doorway to darkness dropping the sleek card on his chest. It was light, though the action still sent odd, slightly painful, sensations though his body. Grave didn’t hesitate for a moment, grabbing the card, and something off his hand, the latter sending a lance of pain up his arm. Grave only remained for another moment, giving Alex a brief smile as he felt the vibration of something large moving against stone, before he lost consciousness once more.
The third time Alex awoke he had a firmer grasp on his thoughts. He opened his eyes to the same dim room and thoughts of Grave came back slowly. A bit of panic wormed its way into his brain, though as he saw the ring back on his finger, he was unsure if the incident had happened at all. The events from earlier had been hazy, like a dream, but something told him it was real. Looking around the room appeared the area appeared to be empty, and, after a moment of thought, he infused mana into his sensory skill. An action he quickly came to regret.
As the active state of Sixth Sense spread throughout him, a few things occurred at once. The first was something synonymous to the vibration of every nerve in his entire body. Alex didn’t know what caused it but the initial burst of pain was so intense he nearly blacked out on the spot. The second thing was the skill’s seeming failure to trigger fully. Even through all the pain Sixth Sense still functioned, it was more focused on amplifying touch than anything else, but Alex could still fell himself entering that state of flow from earlier. Except now, it felt incomplete, or perhaps broken in some way.
Parsing through the issue was harder than it should have been, but the skill compensated for his missing hearing so well it was difficult to notice the sense was absent. Alex began to panic, thoughts of further disadvantages in this hellish place springing to mind. He felt his heart racing; the blood pumping past unworking ears overtaking the silence. Alex was stuck like that for a minute, air only coming in ragged gasps as he realized that even if he’d survived this fight, the next one would take him out for sure. Then the tears came, and with them memories of better times, or at least better people to brave them with.
It hadn’t been even a week ago when he’d been sitting next to Travis in a similar position, though the situation was less dire. Or when Mike and Jayla had gotten into that big fight and Alex was the one trying to cheer them up. There were hundreds of memories like those, when it had seemed like the end of the world, but someone had been there to show him it wasn’t. He’d taken it for granted, not only his friends, but his family too, and now he was the only one around. If he ever wanted to show how grateful he was Alex knew he’d need to make it out of there and that thought let him take his first full breath in over a minute. It was slow, and his heart was still racing, but it was progress.
He continued to lay still, even after he’d managed to calm down a bit, the lingering emotions making it difficult to focus on anything. Eventually the pain returned, and Alex realized he’d forgotten to deactivate the skill. Though as his mind further cleared, it made him consider how he could feel at all, he was pretty sure the damned monkey had shattered his back, and with it his spinal cord. Alex managed to smile, even as a few tears continued to fall, there was hope in that. If his back could be healed by some magic, maybe he wouldn’t be so broken after all. He likely just needed the money to pay for it, and if he guessed correctly…
Alex’s initial search of his surroundings had confirmed the nearby space was empty, unless something could bypass his skill that was. He had noticed multiple magical items littering the large room he was in but ignored them as he cut the skill off in a moment of realization, he hadn’t needed to do any of this. It was more disorientating, now that he knew his hearing was gone, but the absence of pain that accompanied it was much more welcome.
Sending the smallest amount of mana he could manage, the brief action causing him discomfort, Alex checked the contents of his ring. Sighing in relief at the mentally projected mix of silver, gold, and platinum he closed his eyes and let himself relax on the uncomfortable bed. He’d remembered Grave saying they couldn’t use spatial devices, and was a bit confused how they’d managed to get his earnings but pushed that information to the back of his mind for the moment. Instead, letting the excitement of his new wealth wash over him.
Alex knew he wouldn’t be able to securely transfer the money to his inventory yet, but for the moment he was happy just to know his funds were with him. Though when he thought back to the earlier bet Alex realized it was more money than there should have been. The bookie had said if Alex won, his bet of 250 gold would see a 150% increase, which should have come to a total of 625 gold. Though, as he counted the ten platinum, the pile of gold still untouched, he realized that was not what happened. Another worry began to form at the thought of Grave framing him for something but a second, more reasonable idea rose to the surface. Alex was pretty sure the fight he’d been in was one of those the bookie had mentioned, a special occasion where the bets had to be reevaluated. Since he’d been in the arena, no one had been able to pull his bet out, leaving him with different odds and a different payout.
Even though he’d won, that final attack of the beast, and the pain that followed still sent shivers down his aching spine. Some earlier panic turned to anger and, though he had no clue how, Alex promised himself he’d pay whoever set that up back. Knowing he was getting ahead of himself, when he’d just been crying not ten minutes ago, Alex focused on back on the money. It being outside his inventory, ripe for stealing when it was essentially his only advantage at the moment, was too unsettling and he decided to take a risk. Raising the blanket over his head, any movement feeling odd in his partially broken body, Alex slowly began to transfer the coins. It was rather easy as he just created a portal to his inventory and dropped the money in, however the discomfort from using mana was still present and going too fast would have caused the coins to collide in midair.
Task done, and a minor migraine forming, Alex was unsure what to do next until he remembered the slew of prompts that had been cut short after the Silver-Backed Initiate used tail whip. Starting from the beginning, Alex went over his newly quantified progress.
***
Your skill [Sixth Sense] has advanced to Level Two.
Your skill [Sixth Sense] has advanced to Level Three.
Your skill [Sixth Sense] has advanced to Level Four.
…
Your skill [Sixth Sense] has advanced to Level Six.
Warning your health is critically low.
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You have defeated Silver Backed Initiate (Level 27). Bonus experience awarded for killing an Enemy above your level. Experience reduced due to partial contribution.
Congratulations, you have advanced to Level Two.
Attribute Points Granted. Allocate Free (1) Point(s)
Congratulations you have advanced to Level Three.
Attribute Points Granted. Allocate Free (1) Point(s)
Congratulations you have advanced to Level Four.
Attribute Points Granted. Allocate Free (1) Point(s)
…
Congratulations, you have advanced to Level Seven.
Attribute Points Granted. Allocate Free (1) Point(s)
Quest Complete: Tutorial Subquest 1.1: Silver Backed Slayer
Reward: Skill - Silent Strike (Rare)
Reward: Item Upgrade Sigil x1
Reward: Silver Backed Scarf
For losing nearly 100% of your health in a single blow, but surviving, you have been awarded:
Fortitude
For defeating an entity more than twenty levels above yourself you have received the following:
200 silver coins
For killing an entity one grade higher than yourself in single combat as your first kill you have been awarded the achievement:
Murder I (Reward decreased due to damaged target)
For repeatedly dealing damage to an enemy without being hit you have been awarded the achievement:
Untouchable
You have been offered class: Warrior
Accept (Y/N)
You have been offered class: Assassin
Accept (Y/N)
***
It was a lot to digest, and thankfully the information only showed up in the form of visual prompts giving him plenty of time to read each one. The levels in Sixth Sense were great since he was sure he would have died fighting the oversized monkey without the skill, but Alex was fine with waiting until he felt better to really test it out. The line about his lost health was an unfortunate reminder, but the money, quest rewards, and extra stats would more than make up for it… as long as he fully healed. Deciding to focus on what he could control for the moment Alex opened his status screen, and what he saw surprised him.
***
General
Name: Alexander Omar Hunter
Race: Human, F
Age: 21
Level: 7
Grade: F
Classes: (Primary), (Secondary), (Tertiary), (Quaternary), (Quinary)
Achievements: Adaptable, Deathwish, Bloodthirsty, Warden, Murder I, Untouchable
Health: 57/346
Mana: 327/327
Stamina: 356/356
Attributes
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 13
Endurance: 10
Wisdom: 12
Intelligence: 10
Willpower: 8
Luck: 6
Charisma: 6
Fortitude: 0
Free Points: 6
***
Alex wasn’t sure how they translated to real life but based on the numbers alone he was over twice as powerful in almost every way. That was odd because if his old stats were average, now he should have felt superhuman, which he didn’t. It wasn’t the best time to check his physical stats, but his brain didn’t feel like a supercomputer, just clearer. His thoughts were more concise, every one holding more meaning than he was used to. Oh, there it was. The feeling made him think of Locke’s theory on substance, a quick jump in topic something his attention span had made him accustomed to, though the vividness in which Alex recalled the paper was not.
It couldn’t have been that long ago, maybe six months, Alex had stayed up reading Wikipedia articles after watching a Kurzgesagt video on strange stars. He didn’t know how he’d gotten from there to Locke, late night browsing too enigmatic for even his new abilities, though he could remember the paper. The parts that had stood out to him were clear as if he’d just read them, and Alex gasped at the mental image. He had heard of people photographic or eidetic memories, wished he’d had one often, but this more intense than he had imagined, and he was still relatively weak. If this continued, he'd eventually be able to recall memories as if he was experiencing them in real time.
Trying not to let the future distract him from the present, Alex reread the increases. It was unfortunate Fortitude had missed out but getting a point per level in every other stat was still amazing. He had to remind himself that it was likely everyone had the same increase per level, if not more, still the sudden rise had him grinning ear to ear.
Putting wayward thoughts of acing some post system science classes to the side, Alex moved on to the next thing that stood out to him, his rise in health. Well, it was more of a theoretical rise as he clearly wasn’t topped off at the moment, but it was nonetheless semi-assuring. While the abilities and magic were incredible, the idea of being able to see a number that, when it hits zero means you die, was extremely uncomfortable. The higher that number got the better. Still he couldn’t figure out why his stamina and mana were max, even having recouped the points he used a few of minutes ago, while his health remained low. Deciding he’d circle back to it in the future, since the reason was likely hidden deep in his system menus if he hadn't seen it by now, Alex got moved on to his quest rewards.
***
Skill
Name: Silent Strike
Rating: Rare
Grade: F
Level: 1
Mode: Active
Resource Cost: (80) Stamina
Description: Silent Strike, Holy Strike. Silence is the language of the wise and the music of the strong. It hides just beneath the surface, concealing secrets and hidden dangers. Though in your case silence is found behind your enemies back. Once activated, Silent Strike grants 8 seconds of reduced audio and enhanced movement speed, allowing for quick, decisive strikes, leaving the target no time to react. Damage increased when attacking an unsuspecting enemy. Skill ability correlates to Dexterity and Strength.
Item
Name: Item Upgrade Sigil
Rarity: Transcendent
Grade: F
Description: Use a single token to upgrade a single F grade item to transcendent. Three tokens will be required to evolve an E grade item. One Grade upgrade per sigil, further use will only alter skills properties, not rarity. No item higher than E grade may be upgraded. Sigil will be consumed upon use.
Item
Name: Silver-Backed Scarf
Rarity: Uncommon
Grade: F
Description: For the newly initiated, the forests of Endor can be a ruthless place, as shown by the death of the adolescent simian whose fur was used to for this scarf. Part of their power is now your power. Grants plus one to Strength, Endurance, and Willpower when worn in its correct style. Adds one additional point to aforementioned stats if worn with appropriate attire.
***
The skill was demanding, and with his old stats he’d have only been able to activate it once without the ability to do much else that required stamina, but now it had real combat potential. He wasn’t sure cooldowns existed, but the skill didn’t mention one; with enough points in Strength, he could potentially one shot anything that didn’t see him coming. Alex guessed he’d need to raise his endurance if he wanted to use the skill regularly during a battle, though that seemed like it was an intentional drawback.
The items we’re a doubled edged sword to Alex. The token was amazing in theory but ultimately useless. He hadn’t inspected all the items he currently owned, but Alex doubted anything from Earth would have a higher rating than Common, if rated at all. Both of his weapons were also the lowest rating leaving only the scarf as a viable option, though really it wasn’t. The description listed it as needing to be worn “in the proper style,” which to Alex meant, around his neck as a scarf. Even ignoring the potential choking hazard for anyone smart enough to grab onto the offered handholds, keeping a scarf properly styled in the heat of battle seemed like a difficult task. The additional stat points were tempting, but Alex left it in his inventory for the moment.
Scrolling past the achievements, since they still didn’t offer any explanation, Alex moved on to the last two prompts.
***
Class
Name: Warrior
Rating: Common
Grade: F
Description: The first to enter the fray, and the last to leave. One who embraces their destiny of conflict, making it their very reason for existence. A warrior is both a master of combat and a symbol of strength, inspiring their allies to push forward, even in the face of near certain defeat; always ready to give their life to protect them. This class grants proficiency in both heavy weapons and armor, with additional bonus damage granted once a weapon specialization is chosen. Grants two attribute points to Strength, one to Endurance, and one to Dexterity per level.
Class
Name: Assassin
Rating: Common
Grade: F
Description: Heavy is the head that wears the crown, light is the dagger that kills them. An assassin is a master in the art of stealth and deception, striking fear into their targets hearts from the shadows. Using their abilities to infiltrate, scout, and eliminate targets, assassins are recognized as one of the most dangerous melee combatants, though also the most fragile. This class grants proficiency in the use of short blades and daggers, as well as potential for traps, poisons, and ranged weapons. Grants two attribute points to Dexterity, one to Strength, and one to Intelligence per level.
***
‘The Butcher and the Brute,’ Alex thought to himself as he reread the prompts. Being offered the classes were fascinating but also unfortunate. From the stat bonuses alone, it was clear that classes were a massive increase in power. Just a Common rated one gave him as many stats as a level did for his base attributes; but that was the crux of the issue, the classes were only Common. Alex knew he might have dreamed a little big when he expected himself to be offered at least a rare class, but when he thought back to what he’d done fighting the monkey, he felt he deserved better than Common. Not wanting to let wishes overtake reality Alex forced himself to study the choices without bias, he could pick five classes after all.
Warrior seemed boring if he had to be honest. Alex had played the tank a few times, though he’d never truly enjoyed it, and the class read exactly like that. In real life he knew it would be similar. Sure, he had people he loved, and if he could, Alex would be happy to help protect them in whatever crazy world he returned to after the tutorial; but giving his life in a set of heavy plate armor seemed far from his ideal route.
Assassin made sense, though it was still underwhelming. Sixth Sense had allowed him to gain an understanding of his body and surroundings that were unmatched, enabling him the ability to do things he didn’t know his body could. His method of attack, combined with his nearly flawless victory was all very assassin like, and Alex could see the class being enjoyable except for a few main points. The rating was the base issue but beyond that he was unsure how often he really wanted to be close to his target. Massive fur lined monsters were one thing, no matter what the scarf’s description labeled them, but killing things and potentially people in such short range made him very uncomfortable.
Still the class seemed ideal for his newest skill; it would allow him to put more points into endurance, potentially making him a one-shotting machine. Sighing after another few minutes of study Alex let the prompts fade. Due to the increase in stats he’d need to pick at least one before his next level, but for the moment he had time. Laying down for another few minutes Alex began to rise, the vibrations from the bed frame cluing him in to their creaking. He wasn’t sure how, but he knew he’d need to get some healing soon, even while he rested the timer ticked away, every second closer to the tutorials end.
It took considerable effort, but Alex managed to swing his legs over the side of the bed just in time to kick the side of another person, this one looking nowhere near as friendly or patient as Grave.