Lazarus woke up to a rat nibbling on his sleeve. With a yell, he flung it away from him. Breathing heavily, he gathered in his surroundings.
He was in a cave. It had glowing blue crystals, stalactites hanging from the ceiling and he could hear rats skittering around in the darkness. He didn't seem to be in any danger for now.
He focused his attention on several blue screens in front of him.
Welcome to the world of Zara!
Due to unforeseen circumstances, you have been transported to the Blood-Soaked Caverns(Lvl. 25-100)
Your body has not yet been baptized by mana.
Accept a class to proceed?
Class unlocked!
You have met the requirements for the class Survivor:
No class, More than 20 near-death experiences, Strength exceeds 10, Constitution exceeds 10, Endurance exceeds 10, Luck exceeds 20.
The Survivor is not one that only lived due to luck. The Survivor hones his body to survive (un)fortuitous encounters. A close-quarters fighter who relies on strength of the body, regeneration, and their strong bonds with both Life and Death to survive and thrive in the most difficult encounters.
Would you like to change to this class? (Bonuses and status unlocked after acceptance)
Lazarus was floored. He had read lit-RPG stories like this in the past and wished he could go somewhere similar. But he had never thought he'd end up here despite his dreams to the contrast. Lazarus thought about the screens in front of him.
It seemed that he'd been transported to the world of Zara. He guessed that “unforeseen circumstances” were the weird purple clouds that had been in the sky. Lazarus rubbed the side of his head as he remembered the bright nauseating flash that had supposedly brought him here. He remembered very little. He recalled the lightning had been pitch black with odd white edges that seemed to leak into the darkness of the center. This was only a glimpse so he couldn't be sure.
Recalling himself to the present moment, Lazarus moved on to the window of the class he'd unlocked. This class seemed to personify his whole life. He had always thought himself lucky and now it was confirmed. According to the class, ten in any stat seemed to be better than average and worthy of recognition. Then again he had no idea if this was considered a very common class or not. He could guess by inference that he'd be having a late start considering he'd never been baptized by mana. Lazarus contemplated whether 20 near-death experiences were common for anyone. Pushing the thought to the back of his mind he decided that he should lay out the facts instead of thinking so hard.
He was alone in a Level 25-100 dungeon called the Blood-Soaked Caverns. He had no idea how to get a better class even if he could. He had no help. Assuming he wasn't even level 1, then the lowest level for this dungeon seemed to be 25 times higher than his. Knowing his luck, he would encounter something he couldn't beat. Logically, he had no choice, but to select it.
Bracing himself, he sat cross-legged on the floor of the cave and accepted his class.
New class: Survivor
STR + 15
CON + 15
END + 15
DEX + 10
WILL + 10
INT + 5
CHA + 5
LCK + 20
Body density, hardness, and weight increased by 100%
Natural regeneration increased to 1% of the total.
Life and Death Magic is improved by 100%
Obtained Class Skills:
Active: Ruin- Infuse blows with death mana. Add decay effect to the target.
Category: Death Magic
Active: Restoration- Restore the body with life mana.
Category: Life Magic
Active: Survivor’s Stand- You stand with the intention to survive, increasing your Constitution, Strength, and Endurance by 40%[80% after bonuses]
Category: Aura- Life Magic
Passive: Survivor's Body- Your body has stood on the edge of death many times. 50%[100%] improvement to natural regeneration. Can survive with zero health for 1 second. Improves with skill level.
Category: Life and Death Magic
Passive: The Art of Survival- You instinctively know the art of survival. 75%[150%] boost to damage when fighting to kill. Steals 1 year of longevity per kill.
Category: Death Magic
Before he had a chance to read the prompts, his body felt like it was lit up from the inside. He sat like a rock only able to twitch as it felt like acid was being poured into his gut and through his blood vessels. Another equally painful situation occurring was the crackling of bones as he felt them getting thicker and denser. He felt his frame expanding as it seemed his shoulders grew broader and strips of muscle were added to his frame. His head ached and his spine burned.
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After minutes, maybe even hours, had passed, Lazarus came out of the pain. He felt amazing. Any old injuries he had were healed. His body felt stronger. He clenched his hands and they were more like vice grips than fingers now. He stood and realized he was maybe an inch or two taller than before and he felt a hell of a lot heavier. His feet were pressing into the dirt ground like he was wearing cleats. He also felt a lot more limber than he did before. He was able to grasp his hands behind his back and touch his palms to the floor.
He stood and felt much more powerful than he'd ever been. He remembered that his status was enabled so he tried to activate it by thinking 'status'.
Lazarus Gallows Health 260/260 1% per min Survivor 1 Mana 110/110 Class 2 Stamina 260/260 490 lbs 6’ 5" Stats Resistances* Titles* Perks* Skills
Lazarus looked at his status. It all seemed pretty generic to him. He had played several games that had similar status's as this one. He wanted to know about his stats though so as he focused on it they came up.
Strength 29 Intelligence 11 Constitution 30 Willpower 20 Endurance 26 Luck 49 Dexterity 19 Charisma 14
It irked him that his intelligence was so low compared to his other stats, but at least the rest of him was strong. Lazarus was also annoyed at the extremely high luck stat. He sighed at the thought of all the situations he would inevitably end up in. Moving on he thought to close the stats and it did. He decide that he would move on to the next thing he wished to focus on, the skills.
Survivor Class Skills Active Passive Ruin Tier 1: Level 1 Survivor's Body Tier 1: Level 1 Restoration Tier 1: Level 1 The Art of Survival Tier 1: Level 1 Survivor's Stand Tier 1: Level 1
He noticed that he had no other skills besides his class skills. He wondered if he could obtain other skills. He aimed for the constant throughout all video games, Identify.
He focused very hard on a nearby rat until he heard it. Ding!
Cave Rat
Level ??
You have learned
Identify Level 1
Lazarus slowly backed away from the rat as he realized that it had a high level. He assumed it was around the lowest level of this dungeons occupants, so Level 25. He backed away to go to a small rock alcove that was hidden near his head. He sat cross-legged in there as he went over the remainder of his status. He moved onto resistances.
Resistances Pain Tier 1 Level 1
That made sense to him. He had started to notice a slight decrease in pain near the end of his transformation. He moved on to look at his Perks.
You've unlocked(Choose 1):
Forceful(Strength over 25)- Grants General Skill: Musculature
Tough(Constitution over 25)- Grants General Skill: Ascetic
Vigorous(Endurance over 25)- Grants General Skill: Vigor
Baffling(Luck over 25)- Grants General Skill: Daredevil
Lazarus thought carefully about his options. He had no idea whether he'd get a chance to choose another perk. For all he knew, you could only choose one attribute and end up stuck with it. He decided to go through what each offered to him. Forceful granted him a skill called Musculature. Lazarus's best guess was that it made him stronger. Next was Tough and the skill Ascetic. He remembered ascetics back on earth were people who fasted for long periods and denied themselves the pleasures of the flesh. He decided this one needed to be considered because he had no idea of the animals in this cave were even edible to him. The next perk, Vigorous, he thought was likely just more health. The last one for Luck he didn't want to deal with just yet, so he finalized his selection and chose Tough.
Nothing really changed, so he decided to go to his skill panel and checked to see what the skill did.
Ascetic Tier 1 Level 1-
Lessens the basic requirements for living.
Lazarus grinned. He'd been right. Now he hopefully wouldn't have to worry about any food shortages or at least not be in danger right away. Now that he gotten perks out of the way, he moved on to see what title he had unlocked.
Congratulations! You've earned the Title:
World Walker
Requirements: Level 0, Survived open void
Effect: Doubles stat gain per level,???,???
Lazarus whooped in joy. Then he shut up, quickly realizing that it was not the smartest idea to cheer in a dangerous dungeon. His joy would not be abated however, so he pumped his fist and gave a silent cheer. It seemed that he had found the advantage that would allow him to survive in this world.
He gathered himself in preparation for what he needed to do. Lazarus got up and walked towards the nearest rat. It was time to earn his first level.