David awoke with a grumble. His entire body was sore and ached from every slight movement he made, but as he recalled the daring escape he had made, he started grinning, and laughing.
“I really got away from that thing?” He looked at his hands. “I did!”
After spending a few minutes celebrating, he calmed down.
What kind of a creature was that anyway? A gorilla with a bull’s head. Did some mad scientist splice some genes together, and then put me in here as a test subject? Or am I really in another world?
Feeling a bit unsettled from his thoughts, he chose to examine the room.
There wasn’t much for decoration. A nice looking lamp that had long fallen into disuse. It didn’t affect his examination though because of a light built into the floor, which shone bright enough to illuminate the various furnishings.
A leather chair and desk formed a complete pair, complementing each other in a very 19th century capitalistic type of design. David gave the desk a knock and lifted his eyebrows.
“Solid, this is good wood.”
Aside from a layer of dust, there were also a few stacks of papers littered about the surface of the table. Also on the desk, was a white metal card, with a couple lines inscripted on it. And on the other side was a map, with a bright red line leading somewhere.
General manager
Vernathy Aceak
“I guess this Vernathy works here. Must have a pretty good life, lounging here, whilst the rest of the people are out there, doing… whatever they were doing.”
Without anything in the room to attract his attention, he looked at the paperwork with a grimace, before shaking his head and sitting down.
---
A few hours later, David finally put down the last sheet and stretched his back out.
From what he had read, Vernathy was in charge of grade-F metal production for a large portion of a corporation called the Flashforge Smithery. Within each of the containers outside were different types of metals that would be infused with a magical substance called essence and then carried to the appropriate location for them to be forged into weapons and armour.
Daivd wasn’t too sure what the essence actually was. Though from some inference, he guessed that it was a form of energy.
He had also found a series of personal letters that told him a bit more about the man.
Vernathy was a distant relative of a famous smith, and had been able to use that connection to finagle his way into an easy job, away from the struggles of menial labour. However, it hadn’t been enough to get him out of the outer residential districts. Despite that, he saved his money and purchased an essence gathering manual, which he had been using to try and become strong enough to land a spot within the inner residential district, where he would become the lackey of the aforementioned smith and have a relaxing life.
For some reason though, his plan had been halted before it could finish. Without any other information after the final letter, he could only guess that it had something to do with that gorilla. Maybe a whole troop of them had taken over the entire facility.
Regardless, the man had an enviable life in comparison to the other workers.
A pang of hunger broke him out of his musing, and with it he was also reminded of his thirst. It must’ve been nearly a full day since he last had anything to eat or drink. Up until now, other things had occupied his attention.
Looking around again, he reconfirmed that there was nothing else in the room that could help him fend away his needs.
Nothing else in the room could interest him anymore, so he felt it was time to leave, and go search for food, water and people.
He urged himself to leave, but there were a few things holding him back. For a start, there was no door anymore. No amount of knocking, scraping or searching could find any sort of handle or hinge to exit with. Which meant he was essentially imprisoned.
Then there was also the issue of the gorilla outside.
Maybe it had left to go looking for some other prey, but David wasn’t willing to bet on that. The thing had looked hungry, and it didn’t appear as if it would leave some perfectly good food to go search for something that didn’t even exist.
From David’s perspective, he and the creature were the only two living things in the city. It could be biding it’s time outside, waiting for him to leave, where it would pounce upon him.
He wasn’t sure if he had recovered enough to make another getaway if that happened.
Nevertheless, he still felt that it was best that he got going. Just like his grandma always told him.
“It’s not good to sit in yesterday’s stew!” Although it didn’t make much sense, David felt the sentiment was applicable here.
First, he would have to find a way to get out. Thankfully, David already had a sneaking suspicion about the way out.
He returned to the table and picked up Vernathy’s card that he had looked at earlier, specifically at the map.“Wherever this leads to should be related to him. Maybe his home? And if it opens this door like I’m hoping, then it should let me get in wherever it is that it goes.”
David had guessed that the metallic card also functioned as a keycard. After all, it made sense that the worker should be able to get into his office.
Unknowingly holding his breath in expectation, David went to where the door should be, and swiped the card against the wall.
As the metal rippled out from the point of contact, and the shape of a door materialized into existence, he exhaled.
Okay, it works. Now I just have to hope the gorilla is gone.
He pushed the door open just a crack, and peered out.
Bright streams of light rushed into the room, and forced him to squint. He wondered if daytime had come in the facility. He would be glad if it had, artificial light was starting to irritate him.
Although this was likely artificial as well, it certainly seemed real.
Once his eyes adjusted, he could see that the coast was clear, so he started opening it carefully.
Until it came to a stop, about halfway open.
At the same time, a familiar odor entered his nose. He tensed up, anc clenched his fists, not daring to move the door an inch.
It felt like he was in a standoff with the beast, any movement and it would attack him.
For a few seconds, the only sound was his ragged breathing, as he tried to stay calm. Respite was given when the gorilla started snoring.
David shut his eyes and unclenched his fists, whilst relief flushed through him. He would have to stay quiet, but a sleeping gorilla was much safer than a hunting gorilla.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Being careful not to bump the door, David squeezed through the gap, and laid his eyes upon the sleeping body of the beast, where the bull’s eyes were seamlessly shut.
He closed the door behind him and watched as the metal once again transformed into a wall.
Without any shoes, it was easy to stay light on his feet and, following the map, he turned the corner.
With luck there wouldn’t be any other monsters around, but David didn’t put any faith in that. If there was one then there would be more. It couldn’t survive just off nothing.
Before he went to follow the card’s route, he wanted to see if he could get a weapon.
According to Vernathy’s reports, the containers in this huge area were all filled with heavy, metal ingots. Not perfect for his purposes, but if it came to it, at least he would be able to hit an attacker over the head a few times.
After he travelled far enough away from the gorilla to feel safe, he took his card and slid it against one of the containers.
The entire front wall of the container pulled into the walls like a curtain being drawn, and within a sparkling pile of metal bars could be seen, stacked from floor to ceiling.
He searched for a moment to find a few crevices within the orderly stacked metal. After he found some, he climbed up, and retrieved a bar from the top, where the weight of others wasn’t weighing it down.
He let it fall to the ground, and jumped down himself.
The bar was about double the size of his hand, and had a considerable heft to it. David guessed it was about five kilos. Good enough for his purposes.
If the gorilla came again, then he’d be able to give it a few good bashes in a confrontation.
He opened a few more containers, but they all had similar inventory, accurate to his information.
Armed and alert, David followed the map to residential district P.
So far his travels had been safe, without a hint of anybody, or anything.
However, it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay vigilant, as the call of his stomach grew stronger. It wasn’t an issue for the moment, as no problems faced him on the rest of his journey, while he made his way to a nondescript tower, where the map finished its route.
I guess Vernathy lives here.
Just like he had done previously, he waved his arm to open the door. A while before, he had tried to open doors to other towers, but there was no response, which caused him to worry. However, it seemed it wouldn’t be a problem this time.
On the inside, the decorations were remarkably different. The dull repetitive, silvery metal couldn’t be seen anywhere. Instead, the floor was carpeted in red, and the walls had varnished wooden planks, creating a quaint, homey feel.
The map had changed to show an indoor view of the building, and thankfully, Vernathy’s residence was only a few floors up. Maybe a perk of his position. David was just glad he didn’t have to climb the whole building.
He made his way to the man's home, and using his keycard with an actual machine, unlocked the door.
“Hello?”
“Is anybody home?”
After a few seconds of silence, he let himself in.
It was a small apartment, just enough for one to live in.
The living room, kitchen, and bedroom had been put together into one room, with low, natural divisions, distinguishing the different spaces from each other. As for the bathroom, that was in a corner, walled off.
In terms of style, he was pleased. The man had taste, and David felt like he had stepped into an old Victorian home, of course with all the modern amenities a civilised person would need. Some of which he had gone without for a while.
The familiar scent of pine and oak hung about in the air, and saved the apartment air from feeling stagnant.
In the kitchen area, he was met with marble countertops, a stove and an oven.
Wait. Stoves and an oven? Where?
He searched each crevice and still couldn’t find them, even worse, there was no refrigerator, and thus no food.
“What would you need a kitchen for then?” David laughed, trying to ease the disappointment his search had brought about.
Moving on to the bedroom, his dismay was alleviated when he discovered the wardrobe. No longer did he have to suffer in pajamas.
The only issue was a severe lack of maneuverable clothing. All that Vernathy owned were suits.
How classy.
Nevertheless, it was better than what he had, so he picked out a plain blue set.
Before he put it on, he looked up, as a thought flashed through his head. Then he sniffed his armpits, and a grimace was painted upon his face.
“Shower first.”
A couple of hours later, he had settled into the apartment. Though he hadn’t been relaxing.
On the table in front of him, was a small grey safe, which he had found underneath the bed. After using the keycard, he was able to start entering codes to fully unlock it. However he wasn’t Vernathy, so he had thus far been fruitlessly going through many different words and phrases he recalled from the letters sent to the man.
Finally, he succeeded with the word “cashmere”. Not too surprising, considering his obvious obsession with suits.
Within, there was only a jade green sheet of paper.
Doubting that a simple sheet of paper would be kept in a safe, he picked it up to see if there was anything special about it.
Just as he assumed, it was unique.
When he picked it up a rush of warmth flushed into him, and he felt a small electric shock.
E-Grade essence gathering method discovered.
The screen had returned, distracting as ever.
It was a simple message, but alongside it, David felt a sensation he had never experienced before.
“What? What is this?”
An instinctual understanding of the method had been imprinted into him. Even though he hadn’t even taken a look at what was written on the sheet yet, he already knew what was on it.
And if his newfound knowledge was to be trusted, then it was amazing beyond belief.
The sheet told of the existence of essence within all matter, something he had already learnt. However it went on to describe a way in which the essence could be absorbed and cycled through the body to directly transform it into strength and power. Once the physical limit had been reached, the energy could instead gather and then be used to level up by using the system’s assistance, thus breaking past the barriers of the human race.
Even though it sounded like nonsense, David felt deep within his bones that it was true, almost as if an external factor was confirming its validity beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Unable to hold back his curiosity, he sat cross legged on the couch and began following the prescribed breathing patterns, hand gestures and incantations. Unfortunately, it seemed like he only had the knowledge, and the actual work had to be carried out by himself.
It was extremely difficult to match all the extensive actions at the same time, yet he couldn’t stop once he started. Time crawled to a stop as he existed only in his head, endlessly repeating the different steps. When he made a mistake, he doggedly focused on it, until success was achieved 100 percent of the time.
Like this, he gradually made his way through the whole method, until eventually, hours after he had first begun, the first wisp of essence flowed through him. It circulated through his body, nourishing each individual cell like a gentle mother’s embrace.
Furthermore, his tiredness began to fade, as well as his feelings of hunger and thirst.
Now that David had tasted his first triumph, he couldn’t stop.
Again and again and again. Numerous wisps of energy flowed through his body, repairing damage, and causing a visible growth in his muscles. It would have shocked any onlooker, as he was already incredibly lean and muscular. Growing even more was unthinkable.
He was addicted, he wanted to continue forever. But he couldn’t.
After one last wisp, smaller than the rest ran through his body, no more came. Despite attempting to continue for longer, no more attempts worked.
Eventually impatience won, and he gave up on continuing, opening his eyes once more.
Conscious sense of his body returned.
He felt like a god.
His soreness had vanished. He could move his arms with precision and balance unlike what he could before, and after doing a few exercises he had never managed, he confirmed his new strength.
Then he noticed another window that must’ve been there the entire time he had been getting used to his body again.
Strength +2
Agility +1
Endurance +2
Sense +3
“These are stats?”
David opened his stats screen.
Level - 1
Strength - 9
Agility - 9
Endurance - 9
Sense - 9
Available points - 0
“They improved, and it matches up to the new power in my body.”
“All of those screens were true. Then, am I really not on Earth anymore? I didn’t really believe I was still there, but, doesn’t this confirm it? Where could I be then?”
He considered the question for a moment, before realising that he had no clues to give him an answer, so to avoid going crazy with his lack of information, he returned his attention to his meditation.
He felt a faint sensation of energy within his body, which he understood to be essence. Yet, despite the fact that he had been absorbing it from the air for a relatively long time now, he couldn’t sense any at all around him. Perhaps that was why he had stopped producing wisps of essence.
However there was one small piece that was pulling at him, urging the essence within to go towards it.
He already knew what it had to be.
Back in the kitchen, where the metal bar had been set aside, the essence inside was calling to him, and just the same, he was calling to it.
So, a faint idea materialized in his head, and he took the ingot and returned to meditation.