Chapter Four - The Numbers, Timothy

Jaricko studied the floating script in his vision and tried to make sense of it. He had read numerous fantasy books and was surprised he hadn’t made a connection to his current events. Between the failing technology, the floating words, and the sudden appearance of a second celestial body, it was a wonder that Jaricko thought anything else could be happening.

“You guys don’t have giant spiders in Montana, right?” Jaricko questioned Jack. The larger man shook his head and Jaricko heaved a sigh of relief.

So this isn’t a normal Monday then.

Status

Name: Jaricko Peterson – Tier 0 Human [0/20]

Class: Locked – Essence Required [0/10,000]

Profession: Locked - Essence Require [0/1,000]

Attributes

Tier 0 Mind – Rank 1 [0/50] (+)

Tier 0 Body – Rank 1 [0/50] (+)

Tier 0 Fortitude - Rank 1 [0/50] (+)

Tier 0 Spirit – Rank 1 [0/50] (+)

Tier 0 Capacity - Rank 1 [0/50] (+)

Essence: 32

Fae [0/3]

Jaricko wasn’t familiar with this type of prompt. He was accustomed to the DND setup, with the classic strength, intelligence, and such modifiers. He could make some estimated guesses on what mind, body, fortitude, spirit, and capacity meant but he was a bit frazzled at the moment.

The giant spider, which Jaricko now understood was called a juvenile mountain forest arachnid, was starting to emit a strange smell. He wrinkled his nose in displeasure and moved away from the charred husk.

The others must have realized the bus was a lost cause and they slowly streamed out of the vehicle. A few of the braver souls ventured towards the body of the spider, examining it. Jaricko garnered a few questionable looks but he didn’t care. Something was incredibly wrong.

A giant eye in the sky? A spider the size of a car crawling out of the woods? A system-like prompt appearing in his vision? Technology not working like it was supposed to?

Jaricko diagnosed the world with a system apocalypse. Timothy seemed to agree with him.

“You’re saying after you killed that…thing, you were granted access to the system?” He asked Jaricko. The other boy bobbed in agreement and tried to show him the words that floated across his screen. No matter how he envisioned it, the status sheet was completely private. Everyone was seeing the words in their own vision, but they weren’t actually there.

“It is the same for me,” Jack added. The man was busy wiping drops of green blood off the metal pole. He placed it back into the fire and stared at the tendrils of flames, brooding.

It seemed at some point the trio had been forgotten and the freshman resumed their chaotic arguing. Everyone was confused, and it seemed no one had any experience with dealing with emergencies of this sort. Clair and the upperclassmen could be seen talking with each other near the bus. The rest of the students were a bundle of emotions. Some were crying openly while others had shell-shocked expressions.

Jaricko reasoned that being stranded deep in the mountains while being cut off from the modern world, especially during this potentially cataclysmic event, was affecting some more than others. Jaricko hadn't stopped to truly think about what was happening back in civilization, but he could imagine it.

Mom, Dad, Brock, please stay safe.

Jaricko bit the inside of his lip, contemplating what he was supposed to do.

“Well, this camping trip is a bust.” At some point, Tatum had gotten the gash across his chest bandaged. The front of his shirt was soaked with dark crusted crimson blood and he winced with every movement. He took a seat next to the fire that the group had claimed and raised his hands towards the warmth.

“How are you feeling?” Jack asked. His eyes were empathic and he seemed genuinely concerned for Tatum’s wellbeing.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“I’m...fine, the spider only barely nicked me. It seemed more curious than anything.” Tatum grimaced and shook his head. Jaricko hadn’t known the boy for too long, but he could tell the experience had rattled him. The excited and jubilant person was subdued. The group filled him in on the current events, but Tatum didn’t seem to care. He continued to stare up at the sky, blinking only occasionally.

Jaricko gave a quick glance at his surroundings. People had returned to their respective campfires, taking comfort in the preassigned groups. A few seemed to have retreated back into the cabins, seeking shelter behind the thick log walls.

As the young man sat by the campfire, the crackling flames casting flickering shadows across his face, he couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. The night was unusually still, and the darkness beyond the circle of light seemed to stretch endlessly into the woods.

As he gazed into the shadows, he thought he saw movement, a rustling of leaves, or a shadowy figure lurking just beyond the trees. Goosebumps prickled his skin, and he clenched his fist in response.

Jaricko’s heart raced with fear. He listened to the sounds of the night, the eerie hooting of an owl, the rustling of leaves, and the howling of a distant wolf. He wondered what else had changed. What lurked in the darkness of the night.

“Any clue on what the numbers mean?” Jaricko asked Timothy. At some point, he had gotten a small stick and transcribed what Jaricko had told him the status sheet looked like. The boy shrugged his shoulders.

“Can’t say for certain. It’s obvious that essence is some form of experience.”

“Like the experience in games?” Jack added.

“Exactly. The fact that you both got some after killing the spider provides evidence of that. In games, there’s always a reward for killing monsters. How much essence did you say you got, Jack?”

“Twelve,” Jack replied. His chiseled features were locked in a neutral frown.

“You probably got less because Jaricko dealt more damage. Or was the main reason that the spider died. This is pure guesswork for the moment,” Timothy sighed and rubbed his eyes behind his glasses.

“That’s still missing thirty-four essence that neither of us got,” Jaricko commented. He was almost sure that no one else had tried to harm the spider while Jack and himself were fighting it. That ruled out the missing essence from being ‘kill stolen’ from them. The term was used to refer to the act of taking away a kill in games right when it was about to die, doing a minimal amount of work for the maximum benefit.

“It may be a quirk of the system that we find ourselves under. A tax for the eye in the sky? Maybe the essence gets released back into nature? There’s no way to know.” The mousey boy threw up his hands in helplessness.

“I’m going to try to add some essence to one of the attributes and see if that does anything,” Jaricko stated. No one stopped him so he pressed the small (+) next to the attribute. He watched as body slowly trickled upwards. He suddenly stopped when it reached [32/50]. He waited for something to happen. Nothing did.

Jaricko shook his head.

“I don’t have enough to fill it up, which I think is what has to happen before anything changes.”

“Which one did you choose?” Tatum looked on curiously.

“Body. I figured that’d be the most noticeable.”

“Try doing a push-up or something?”

Jaricko felt a bit awkward but relented under the interested stares. He only managed to do twenty or so before he felt too tired to continue. He wiped the small amount of sweat on his brow with his sleeve and sat back on the log.

“That’s around what I’m used to,” Jaricko informed the group. The rest returned to their silence. Jaricko heard footsteps to his right and looked over. He saw Blake walking back towards them, stomping the grass along the way. His expression was a mask of rage.

He huffed as he dropped down onto a stump next to Timothy. The other boy raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Blake hissed. The man’s groomed hair had been tousled at some point, and it appeared like there was a slap mark on the side of his face. A red welt was forming upon his pale skin.

“Uh, nothing.” Timothy looked away and back down at the ground where the status sheet had been drawn. Blake followed his gaze and narrowed his eyes.

“What’s that? We’re stranded in the woods and you’re playing in the dirt? Did you even graduate middle school,” Blake scathingly said. Timothy jumped like he had been struck. Jaricko moved to step in, but he was beaten to it.

“Apologize,” Jack demanded. The man towered over the sitting form of Blake. The slightly shorter man stood up and looked at Jack.

“Or what? Gonna tattle on me to the counselors? If you didn’t notice, they’re currently panicking. I doubt they’d care if one person got their feelings hurt,” Blake replied acidly.

“I care.” Jack shot back. While Blake was taller than the rest of the group, minus Jack, he also had zero visible muscle. He seemed like a long sapling in the middle of a field. Jack was easily twice the width of Blake and had the strength his body granted him. The other man scowled and stepped away barely, intimated by Jack’s confidence.

He shot a look over at Timothy, who appeared almost ready to bolt. He grimaced and a look of shame crossed his features.

“I-I’m sorry, Tim. I lashed out. I’m just afraid.” Blake sat back down on the stump and pressed his face into his hands. His body shuddered slightly and faint sobs could be heard. Jack patted the young man’s back and returned to his seat. Jaricko gave the man a nod of appreciation.

“What was Clair talking about with the others?” Jaricko questioned. Blake took a moment to wipe away the tears in his eyes and took a quivering breath. He sniffled before talking.

“Just how the bus wouldn’t start and they couldn’t contact anyone. The emergency radio isn’t working either, which worries them since it should work in case of an EMP. Then there was the whole spider thing that they thought was a bear and now everyone is lost and confused.” Blake explained, his voice sounding tight and on the verge of another outbreak of tears.

Jaricko saw Timothy scrunch up his face at Blake’s words.

“So we are trapped up here,” he remarked. An uneasy silence spread out among them.

“How far away is the nearest town?” Tatum asked. His voice was quiet and his eyes were vacant.

“At least fifty miles away,” Jack answered, “And that was just a small village. We're seventy miles from the nearest big city. But that’s seventy miles through mountains and forests. Along with whatever else is out there.” He stared into the shadows of the forest and Jaricko felt like they had gotten closer.

He pointed that out to the others.

“They have. The forest is growing,” Jack replied.