[Crude Tourniquet] = Twine (Any, 0.3-0.6m) + Stick (Any, 0.1m)
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Jay peeled away the plastic wrapping. Techno continued to blast through his wireless headphones as he opened the cardboard box, exposing the prize within.
Hmm… Smaller than I thought. Jay could probably fit the whole device in his fist. The camera wasn’t much different from the one he’d been using until now, and the surrounding ring light didn’t add much bulk. If anything, the clamp was the biggest part, and it wasn’t even as thick as his thumb.
Was this webcam really the thing that’d save his streaming career?
Jay shook his head. He couldn’t think negatively. Not after what went down.
He’d dropped out of school and quit his job to make it big as a streamer. Everything had gone according to plan for a while, too. Even though his friends barely helped and his family disapproved, the viewers still flooded in.
But then a large company decided they didn’t like his commentary and used copyright claims as an excuse to shut him down. It took six months to get his account back, and his early momentum had never been replaced.
What a joke.
This webcam would bring it all back, though. All the best streamers used this same brand, so of course Jay would see it turn around the second he got the chance.
He just had to put in a little more time. That was all.
Definitely.
Jay reached the crosswalk. His techno hit a louder beat, and the giant red hand in the traffic signal turned into a little white man. He took a step forth.
And a truck horn roared nearby…
* * *
Distant seagulls cawed as sunlight poured over the beach.
“Ugh!” Jay groaned, rubbing his eyes to keep the sudden burning sensation out. Everywhere ached and his head was on fire. He’d never been drunk before, but he imagined this felt like the hangover he’d always heard about.
With a sigh, Jay opened his eyes a beat, only to get sucked into another of Annwyn’s unimaginable sights.
Thunder bellowed from a chaotic sky. Crests flecked with foam crashed into one another as they fought against a tumultuous dissonance above. Hail cascaded into the nearby ocean, reverberating out like shrapnel. Lightning flickered into life, exploding onto waves with each crack.
And yet, as the storm raged on, a calm breeze kissed Jay’s skin. The hail might have been falling less than a hundred feet offshore, but his spot was utterly free.
He looked straight up and gawked. Though the sky was clear and blue directly above where he sat, dark reddish clouds formed just off the coast, spewing forth an unending fury. As if two photographs had been glued together, the unreal hurricane’s boundary could have been cut with a knife.
Storm, then clear sky. Sky, then storm.
Jay rubbed his eyes again. How am I still here? He’d been stuck in this hallucination for too long now. Hell, he’d even passed out from trauma… Inside a dream. Why wouldn’t he wake up already? Hours had come and gone the night before, and now he’d not only been knocked unconscious in his own head, but woken back up in the exact same place.
Since when did dreams abide by this many logical rules? This was starting to become too real. Not just the pain, but the smells, the tastes, the light, the temperature.
And yet, an impossible storm still raged before him, with its scarlet clouds and devastating waves, only to dissipate before it ever got near the shoreline.
How could that be possible?
Again, Jay tried to think of how this all came about. He couldn’t quite put the pieces together but had a vague sense of what came before first waking up. Going to the electronics store… Walking down the street… Seeing a truck barreling for him…
But then what?
Only nothing but a blank, vacuous space.
Jay looked to his side and gasped. Even if he couldn’t remember how this nightmare started, nothing could ever get him to forget the dead monster by his side.
His crude spear punctured its chest, now clear to see in the light of the day. The coyote monster’s skin was made of bark, vines ran along its torso, and moss formed patches in place of fur. Its wooden teeth leaked a black oil tinted green that pooled into the pale sand beneath. Thankfully, none of that infernal green light still glowed from its eyelids, along with the magical force that controlled it.
The coyote looked so authentic and yet fantastic at the same time. Like a monster pulled from a nightmare and made as a prop for a movie set.
Jay buried his face in his palm. Clearly, this had to all be fake. Just his mind playing tricks on him after getting sick or something, and it would only be a matter of time before he woke up for real.
There was no other explanation. None that made sense, anyway.
So why did Jay feel it would be a bad idea to stop playing this game?
He inched away from the corpse, wincing from his arm and leg pain. Only those two limbs still hurt, right where the wounds remained untreated. The rest of the scratches and bite marks were now healed completely. Dried blood clung to places where those gashes had once been.
And the Guide sat by his side, still open by his side. He glanced at the Updates page where the wind had blown the pages and saw a new set of entries, as if the fucking thing had been live-tweeting the finale of his fight.
Oh, no! Your Vitality has dropped below 20%, Expatriate. Treat any Wounds or Afflictions you have sustained before you die. Don’t forget to rest afterward!
Congratulations! You have crafted your first real weapon, Expatriate. Your enemies will surely quake in terror now! Craft stronger weapons to become even more powerful.
Spears unlocked.
New recipe available.
Congratulations! You have defeated your first spawn of Natura! Rest up and prepare to fight some more tomorrow!
His headache got a degree worse. A lot of good that information did him during the fight! This would be easier as a voice in my head. Though he wasn’t sure if that would be more or less annoying.
The Stats page gave a more detailed breakdown.
Name: Jay Reis (Primal Age)
Vitality – 5/20 (Wounded+2)
Hunger – 37/72
Thirst – 10/24
Fatigue – 48/48
Sanity – 70/100
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Main Crafts: Armor Crafting 0, Base Building 0, Tool Crafting 0, Medicine 0, Weapon Crafting 0.
Weapon Crafts: Spears 0.
Not great, though it was good to see more stuff unlocked. Stats-wise, other than his fatigue, everything else had dropped since last he checked and matched the growling pang in his stomach and dryness of his tongue. Even his sanity got dinged, though he blamed the fucking demon that jumped him for that. This hallucination bullshit was going way too far!
His sanity dropped another point, right in front of his eyes.
Jay rubbed his scalp. He needed a break from this stupid character sheet.
First things first. Deal with these wounds. Now that Jay had time, he could do the craft he’d missed last night. He went to the Crafting section and found it again, under Medicine.
Crude tourniquets.
They were easy enough to make, especially when pulling the cloth from his torn shirt and more sticks to his side. He surmised that his three wounds came from the injuries that hadn’t healed, with the two most severe chunks in his arm, and the other in his knees. Everything else had already disappeared.
He finished crafting the tourniquets. The Guide buzzed in response, but he ignored the update. It was probably just another unlock, anyway.
The moment he wrapped the tourniquets around his open wounds, his body grew at ease. Like a piece of molten metal dipped into cold water, the pain dissipated, replaced by dull throbs.
He checked the Guide. There we go.
Vitality – 5/20 (Wounded+2 (Treated+2))
But then another form of agony flared up. His chest groaned with starvation, and the air got caught in a dry throat. He hadn’t realized just how hungry and thirsty he’d been. Too distracted by all the pain from his injuries.
Can’t get a break. One problem might have been solved, but now he had another pair that hurt just as much.
Jay studied the inland forest. He’d spent enough time on this beach already. It was time to move on.
He grabbed the Guide and went on his way.
* * *
Palm trees swayed in a gentle breeze, tropical birds chirped in the background, and Jay Reis wiped the perspiration from his brow.
He’d been wandering around these trees for ages now, with a couple more crude spears added to his arsenal, along with a knife and a replacement axe tucked into his cargo shorts. The spears were a nice addition. Weapons apparently had their own sub-crafts to level up and gave him the option to make “stone” variants that were more complex.
He’d even noticed an interesting feature on the spear he’d crafted in that final phase of the fight.
[Crude Spear] (Reinforced+2) – A basic spear made from a stick and a stone. This [Crude Spear] has been modified for added durability.
Not only could he make gear using a variety of stuff, but the quality factor improved based on the materials involved. His cloth T-shirt made for a vastly superior alternative to blades of grass and could be pulled right from his body. An easy win.
But his thirst had since fallen into the red when he started wandering around, and his hunger wouldn’t be too far behind at this rate. There’s gotta be some water around here, somewhere.
He brushed some more leaves aside. Moss-covered stone formed a ring within an open copse. Emerald reeds swayed about, reflected against the surface between the rocks. The pond remained calm aside from a tiny disturbance from where a brook trickled in.
Jay licked his lips at the sight. His throat burned. As he drew near, he caught his tired face staring back, but the water was clean and clear, like liquid glass cast down from the heavens.
His fingers cupped only a small amount as a test, but the moment the water touched his lips, he thought of nothing else. One fistful after the next, he guzzled the sweet elixir down. His throat lightened as the water rolled through before spreading cool tendrils inside his limbs. Oh, what a pleasant turn of events this had become.
Buzz.
His heart skipped a beat. The Guide lay beside, ready to give him more news. Somehow, he had a feeling it wouldn’t be great.
Congratulations! You’ve just acquired your first Affliction, Expatriate. Afflictions affect your Stats negatively until they go away, and more severe Afflictions will stack over time if left untreated. Make sure to eat and drink from clean sources!
Sure enough, though drinking from the pond had capped his thirst, Jay had gained a “Parasite” tag next to the hunger part. Already, his stomach growled angrily in response.
This is starting to get real unfair. He glared at the offending pond before taking his leave.
Now that Jay was starving more than before, he went to find anything that looked the least bit edible. More time passed before he reached his next challenge.
Two bushes stood in front. Unlike the other vegetation he’d seen, the leaves on these two carried a distinctive dark hue that popped out from the rest of the tropical environment, and their branches burst with berries. Crimson red shone out from one, while the other was tinted in pale green.
A clear trap. One of these berries would somehow make his life more miserable. Probably through poison.
He plucked a handful of each, his mouth salivating. The red berries looked plump and sweet, with a waxy skin that shimmered in the morning sun. The green berries were pale and dull, and the texture varied from piece to piece. Some were bloated and leaking, while the others were hard as a rock.
He studied the red berries again. Too obvious. They were definitely trying to fool him with this one. With the utmost skepticism, he pressed the tip of his tongue against them.
Absolutely delicious! His tongue exploded with a rich and robust flavor, and it took everything to keep from gorging at once. A couple seconds went unopposed, but nothing happened to his Stats, positive or negative.
He looked at the green berries again with a shrug. Worth a shot. His cheeks pinched tight the second his tongue reached the nearest one. They tasted bitter and rough, like a piece of wood dipped in tar. The sensation raced into his throat and chest before finally roaring to the base of his stomach. It groaned in sudden pain.
Buzz.
Oh, no! You’ve just been poisoned, Expatriate. Poisons are another Affliction that will affect your Stats in various ways. Always be sure to investigate the quality of your food before eating it!
Of course that would happen after the tiniest taste. Why not!? Upon further investigation, this Affliction decreased his total vitality by three points and his hunger cap by ten. It also hurt like a bitch. Jay clasped his chest and rested against a nearby boulder.
The red berries didn’t look half as appealing with the poison coursing through his veins, but his hunger value was nosediving because of the parasite, and he’d finally found a source of food that wasn’t trying to kill him. He forced the red berries down his throat, bite after bite until none were left. His hunger leveled out where its maximum had been reduced.
Jay sprawled onto the ground once finished. His stomach was bloated and burning, and he needed to keep busy.
Another thought came to mind. He quickly opened the Guide and flipped to the Rules. One stood out from the rest.
5) Cooperation between Expatriates will be punished.
Was he alone out here?
“Hello!” he wailed. “Anyone else out there!?”
No response.
“Hello!? A fellow Expatriate here… Whatever that is. Not looking to group up. Just need some answers!”
Nothing.
Figured that he’d get a solo run. Jay didn’t have many friends in the real world, so he shouldn’t have been surprised that his imagination would leave him alone. I should get a refund after this.
The sun continued to beat down without mercy. Jay removed his T-shirt to let his body breathe.
Only to gasp for air against a sudden wave of heat, now feeling stuck in a sauna. It was like the moment Jay took off his shirt, the temperature skyrocketed another twenty degrees.
Buzz.
Congratulations! You’ve become affected by your first Condition, Expatriate. Conditions come from Annwyn’s hostile environment and unpredictable Voidstorm weather events. Wear superior clothing options to protect yourself.
There are “Conditions” to worry about too!? Without his T-shirt equipped, he’d gained the “Sweltering” Condition that affected his thirst Stat negatively. Thankfully, it looked like Conditions were easier to reverse than Wounds or Afflictions. He went back to normal the second he put his shirt back on.
Parasites, poisons, and now excruciating heat. When was he going to actually enjoy this game?
The sun continued to inch up the horizon.
Again, Jay thought of the trauma inflicted from the night before. He rubbed his wounds with a grimace. The last thing he needed was to go through that shitshow a second time.
So that was a part of Natura, he considered. The rules of the game were simple enough. He’d been brought into this environment and had to survive against this Natura force whenever it attacked. But Annwyn had a million possible traps that would make his life difficult if he didn’t try to figure out how it all worked.
The Guide sat by his side where he’d been avoiding it unless necessary, with all the information he could use to resolve this crisis. If Jay wanted to have any chance of not repeating last night’s debacle, it would be through learning the Crafting tree, along with everything that came with it. With his Stats now fixed, he had no time to waste.
Jay clenched his fist. This day would not be lost.