[https://i.imgur.com/lr8eWmn.png]

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{User: ⊪ ⊫ ⊯ ⋥ 001… Host Corruption}

{Class Rank: ⊪ ⊫ ⊯ ⋥ 001}

{Strength: 12 +}{Constitution: 11 +}{Dexterity: 12 +} {Intelligence: 15 +}{Perception: 8 +}

{Stat Points: 73 +}

‘What on Regis?’ Gulcasa thought as the alien letters and numbers stood out in red silhouettes in contrast to his hazy vision of the hospice he was currently staying. An unknown panic seeps within Gulcasa fraying thoughts.

“What’s going on?” He said. Gulcasa waved his hand in front of his face, trying to wave off the apparition before him. The alien letters continued to partly block his peripheral vision. Not working, Gulcasa could not fathom what and why was this happening to him. He just wanted it to go away, he wanted everything to go away at this point.

The alien stats began to suddenly dissipate. They grudgingly faded away from Gulcasa’s peripherals, as he sat there frozen on his cot; staring at his stilted hand. An eerie idea passed his fraying thoughts.

‘Did the Medicas do something to me?’

Gulcasa nervously breathing, tried to calm his panicked nerves by rubbing his brows. Calming his thoughts, he stepped back from his illogical fears by considering and estimating. Gulcasa was not gifted by physical means like his brother Raicer; but he was gifted tremendous curiosity, leading him into the path of books. Gulcasa somewhat had to admit though, he would have been gifted with his brother’s talents, But beggars can’t be choosers and it was the only path he could have gone because of his disability of being near-distance. Someone who could only see as far as their arm can reach out from their body; outside that boundary--everything was a blur.

Having calmed himself, he finally realized what the anomaly within his eyes was. It was the infamous gift of the Blood Status. Gulcasa knew what this was because his brother, had the same gift. Gulcasa recalled years a-back when Raicer told him of it. He knew his brother was different to him, but when that moment came, he knew how. Raicer was his half-brother. Apparently, their mother when she was a young lady, she was a maid working in a noble estate Gulcasa couldn’t remember the name of.

In the few years she worked under the nobility, she had gotten pregnant with one of lord’s son. Their mother, having bad prospects, was left disgraced from the manor. But she did manage to find somewhat of a comfortable life after she had met Gulcasa’s sire. Gulcasa sighed at the image of his mother and father, together with his half-brother Raicer. The memory of his family sent down a warm feeling into his stomach. He missed them as much as anything he could have missed.

Gulcasa recall the memory of his stern father, who grew up as a guard of a noble household. Leaving his position with their mother, he became a guard of Artuwel, in which they had lived during Gulcasa’s and Raicer’s childhood. Their father even though not of his blood, loved his adopted son Raicer, like his own son. Gulcasa recalled his father being so proud with Raicer when he gained an officership at the town’s militia guards. He recalled being envious of his brother’s accomplishments, while he was mostly at their home, head in his books. Recalling the reason why memories of his upbringing at the forefront of his thoughts, he focused back to the infamous Blood Status, and any knowledge of it.

It was half a decade back when he was living in his tenth year and his brother on his fourteenth.

“Why do you have the Blood Status, Rai?” The young Gulcasa said to his older brother. “It’s...because…I’m not--” His brother was hesitant.

“You’re not?”

“--I’m not your real brother.” Raicer finally said.

“You’re silly.” He childishly voiced out to his older brother.

“I’m not!” Raicer crossed both his arms at Gulcasa. Gulcasa recalled his brother had watery eyes at that moment.

“You’re so silly. If you’re not my real brother-- then how are you here?” He smugly said. Gulcasa recalled how his little young self thought that his brother was pulling off another prank. Recalling the plethora of childish pranks Raicer would do to him during his childhood. Gulcasa smirked at his gullible younger self. But this time, this was not one of them. His older brother huffed out a sigh within his memories.

“I’m a noble’s bastard... Gully.” Raicer said to him.

“What’s a noble’s bastard?” He recalled asking.

“It means I’m not your brother.” His brother stated. His brother’s voice was slightly frail, Gulcasa recalled when he said it.

Gulcasa began to sadden at the specific memory, that he recalled back. With what he knew and understood now, having an older perspective looking back. He now understood how hard it was for his brother to say those words to him, and what the words actually were. A boy trying to tell his younger brother who he loved, that they were not fully related.

Now with the insight of his past, Gulcasa nitpick the discussion he had with his brother, back then. He recalled asking his brother further about the Blood Status, of how it would appear in his brother’s eyes. Gulcasa contemplate the thinking of blood, in which the blood status had taken its name from. As such as is, the Blood status began to print into his peripheral vision, again.

{User: ⊪ ⊫ ⊯ ⋥ 001… Host Corruption}

{Class Rank: ⊪ ⊫ ⊯ ⋥ 001}

{Strength: 12 +}{Constitution: 11 +}{Dexterity: 12 +} {Intelligence: 15 +}{Perception: 8 +}

{Stat Points: 73 +}

Gulcasa startled back, holding a curse within his lips. Knowing they would appear, it still felt alien to Gulcasa, but he pressed on to understand what was before him. His musing of blood may have prompted in summoning the infamous Blood Status, he surmised. The text would appear like curtains falling into his vision. Gulcasa counted to ten and then analyzed the alien words and letters, more clearly.

The alien letters and symbols were familiar to Gulcasa, they were written in old Imperium from the triumvirate era. The old Imperium language was considered the most common language within the continent of Trifecta. The old Imperium language was old, three millennia old and with that age, the language altered and changed across the continent but primarily stayed prevalent in diction and speech between the three countries that were once--part of the Triumvirate Empire.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

The alien text had Imperial mathematical symbols that qualify what each digit represents. Judging from what Gulcasa can surmise from the name of the Blood Status, and what he could see of the text before him. That the Blood Status showed the status of the individual who held the strange alien gift. ‘Strength…’ Gulcasa read in old Imperium. After the word, there were mathematical digits which were currently equated to twelve. There was an odd symbol after the twelve--It was the plus symbol, which seems to be a function to add digits into the stat. ‘Add what?’ Gulcasa wondered. Dismissing his inquest, he continued reading down the list.

‘Constitution, eleven?’ Gulcasa surmises that the word Strength and Constitution were the specific titles for each mathematical digit that followed after. The word and number were related with one another on the same line. Judging from this, Strength had a larger number than Constitution which was below it on the list. Gulcasa knew what the old Imperium word Strength was, it was might, brawn and power from could surmise in his thoughts. So Constitution would be health, vitality or endurance--Gulcasa surmises.

Below that, was Dexterity, with Twelve as it a digit. Gulcasa recalled a dictionary book he had his head caved in during the daylight season Summerfest in his childhood. His memory was not perfect, but he could recall what the old imperium word was. It was proficiency with faculty and aptness. The Twelve of Dexterity was similar to the Strength on the list. The old imperium word and digits were symbolizing and equating something but what?

Candlelight sparked his thoughts with the obvious answer. The Blood Status was equating him, his body, his mind, and his entirety. It was now so obvious to him. Gulcasa cursed himself for a fool. “A fool for the moment.” He snickered out loud. Now understanding what the blood status was. Gulcasa read further.

Intelligence was rated Fifteen, which should have been a surprise to Gulcasa with how slow it took him to finally understand what the Blood Status actually was. “I guess reading all those books did help me, a bit.” He smarmily said. Gulcasa was no genius, but at least he had something going for him; he sighed to himself.

“Perception, Eight.” Gulcasa grunted. No mystery there, he thought. Of course, his perception would be in the low digits. What would be in the low digits, Gulcasa wondered. After a moment, he took a long retrospective look of himself and the Blood Status before him. His Strength was Twelve. He was never strong, to begin with, but after two years of being conscripted into the military, he did gain a few muscles and mass to be considered at least average for an adult.

So from what Gulcasa can extrapolate with that information, he garnered from the Blood Status was that anything below the Tenth digit was below average. From the two extremes of his Intelligence which was his highest attribute, and Perception, which was his lowest. Shoulders slumping at his status, Gulcasa rested back onto the pillow of his cot with his hands on the back of his head. Looking up into the blurry roof before him, with only the symbols of the Blood Status, as the most visible objects in his nearsighted vision; Gulcasa tried to fathom it all--not for the first time. At this point, he wondered why he had attained such an odd ability, sure his brother had it, but he was not fully related to his brother. His brother was a noble’s bastard, whilst he was born from a soldier from common stock. Taking another deep sigh, he read his stats again through his mind, he paused at the last line.

{Stat Points: 73 +}

‘Stat Points?’ Gulcasa wondered, ‘What this line... represent? Seventy-three?’ Gulcasa halted his breathing at the large figure. Like the others on the Blood Status, the plus mathematical symbol was present. Gulcasa did the common figures during his early schooling in the town funded chapel school of Artuwel. Scanning the Blood Status again, Gulcasa wondered the origin and the reason for its existence. “The question of the three millennia...” Gulcasa muttered under his breath.

The alien stats began to slowly disappear when Gulcasa focus was distracted by the sound of approaching footsteps. Radolf Altmata hurriedly walks past him to a fidgeting figure a few hazy cots to the left of him. Noticing the Blood Status absences, he focuses back on the alien feature in his eyes back to the forefront. Like before the alien stats began to print down like dotted prints down into his peripheral vision.

‘If I focus on it, it will appear?’ Gulcasa reasoned, glancing at the strange anomaly. He wondered if the Plus symbol would react to his focus, besides the Plus was a mathematical action to digits, when doing a mathematical equation, so logic would say that the symbol would represent an action. But the question would be…There are multiple Plus symbols in the Blood Status List. Gulcasa wondered which one should he focus upon?

“Perception…” Gulcasa murmured, as he read through the old Imperium words. Excitement roiled into his stomach at the thought of his low Perception increasing, giving him actual sight. Without any hesitation, Gulcasa focus on the mathematical symbol of Plus, intently.

{Perception: 81}

Gulcasa’s Perception skyrocketed in digits when he focused his intent into the stat, and with that blinding white light encompassed his vision. The intensity of the shadowed light of the hospice glared Gulcasa now sensitive vision into blinding white.

“Arggh!” Gulcasa yelp out loud panicked at the blindness of his vision. It was all too bright. He felt his eyes searing by the heat of the rays, and the full whiteness of the midday. It was all too bright. Gulcasa mind was elsewhere from the Blood Status, the searing light burns through his sensitive pupils. Thinking back with no other recourse, Gulcasa with pain irritating him, he focused on his Perception to lower. One by one the digits of his Perception began to decrease in decimals. Within the few irritated seconds, he was in white, his white vision began to spot colors past the haze of white.

{Perception: 40}

Gulcasa could now see more clearly than he had his whole entire young life. He could see the strains of the fabrics of the hospice tent roof. Eyes roaming at the weaving cotton patterns dyed by the bleach white with spots of brown, red and yellow haphazard into the fabric. Sitting up from his stupored amazement, Gulcasa scoped the hospice before him with delight at the range of his sight. A crawling realization sparked through his excitement, the realization that he was not half-blind any longer...