FVR
Chapter Six.
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The light which had consumed his shadow had bathed over him with a sea of exhaustion. He lay on the ground, arms out stretched beside him as his lungs gasped for breath, his heart still pounding in his chest.
It's over, he thought, thankful.
His head turned to the side to look for Fluffy, who hobbled over - a little worse for wear, but still breathing.
"Fluffy," Joel said with a smile, "you saved my life."
Fluffy tenderly meowed and nestled himself into Joel's neck, his soft fur tickling Joel's nose. "Thank you," he whispered softly, is voice weak, but his words heavy.
Fluffy had granted him a moment longer without pain, and words were not enough to express his gratitude. Notifications flashed at the top of Joel's vision. His swollen eyes painfully read each one, careful to not miss any this time. Finally! He thought, as several features unlocked all at once. He felt like laughing, but his fat lip and brushed face asked otherwise.
The two of them lay together as their consciousnesses faded and Joel's muscles relaxed into the ground; relief had found him, but a sense of dread remained. How long can I continue to get lucky? Joel thought as his mind went blank and he drifted off to sleep.
***
He woke up gradually, unsure of how much time had passed, then suddenly, all at once. A stinging sensation in his eyes made him wince as he tried to open them, and a deep, painful breath filled his lungs with air. His less swollen eye fluttered open, while the other remained tightly shut.
Energy slowly returned to his aching muscles and he held out a rigid, shaking hand - his fingers moving stiffly.
Slowly and painfully, he clenched a fist. As the air tingled on his raw, split knuckles, he couldn't help but feel a bit stronger. This unfamiliar pain on the surface of his body felt different from the invisible agony that had tormented him before. Although it hurt, it felt less intrusive, less corrosive. He was still sore, bloodied, and bruised, but a new reassurance filled his body.
I did it...
As the fight echoed in his mind, Joel remembered the weight of each punch, and how it felt to be hit in return.
Strange, he thought. I didn't think of home. I just... kept wanting to fight.
With tender arms, he lifted himself into a sitting position. Fluffy, nestled by Joel's leg, woke with a yawn and a stretch as Joel shifted.
"Hey," Joel said, reaching out to pick up Fluffy with both hands. He cradled the cat against his chest. "I'm glad to see you're alright."
"Meow," Fluffy replied, purring happily as they cuddled.
So then. Joel's thoughts were filled with curiosity, what first?
"HUD."
Several things filled his vision, but his slightly open swollen left eye obstructed half of it. When he closed it fully, however, the HUD transferred over to his right eye.
Interesting, he thought, the system corrects itself based on the capabilities of the user, perhaps?
In the top left corner of his vision, his name was displayed alongside a blue bar. Beneath the blue bar was a character silhouette with a cloud hovering above it. Blue? Not red? And what's this symbol? When he held a finger over it, it read: mana pool: 0/0.
Is that like my health? But it's 0? He touched the character silhouette, keeping a hand on Fluffy as he caressed his fur. The silhouette read: exhaustion.
So that's a status? I guess I am pretty shattered.
To the top right was the time until the next wave, 19.41.32. 19.41.31. 19.41.30.
Looks like I only managed a few hours' sleep. That explains the exhaustion.
To the bottom left sat a button that when pressed opened up into several tabs, he pressed the silhouette of a man. A panel with his name, level, and stats opened up about ten inches in front of him, taking up the size of his hand. Two bars were empty: Class and Title, and another bar showed eighteen unspent stat points.
《Joel Bailey》《Level: 2. XP: 8/250》《Class:》《Skill points: 18》
《Title:》
《Mana Capacity: 0/0》
《Strength: 10》
《Magic Power: 0》
《Agility: 5》
《Perception: 0》
《Physical Defence: 1+2》
《Elemental Defence: 1》
《Critical Chance: 0%》
《Critical Damage: 50%》
《Status Resistance: 0%》
Joel turned his head and moved his eyes, but the panel stayed at the centre of his vision.
"HUD," he said again, and everything disappeared. Okay, good, it works like I hoped.
He called the HUD back up and navigated to the character page.
I want to survive, so defence seems sensible. But... if I put too much into physical defence I'll be too vulnerable to elemental, plus, I won't be able to attack very hard. However, if I put too much into strength, I'll essentially become a glass cannon, which might work well in a group, but as a solo player, that seems like suicide. I also don't know what mana capacity does, he rubbed his temple as he thought, this is a pain.
He placed a finger over critical chance, 100% critical chance would be a pretty solid choice. How much does it go up with each stat point? Pressing critical chance didn't do anything, but pressing critical damage showed a +5% and a confirmation button beside a cancel button. Okay, so I can't manually increase my critical chance. I guess that makes sense.
He clicked on each stat individually.
Mana Capacity +10. Strength +1. Magic Power +1. Agility +1. Perception +1. Physical Defence +1. Elemental Defence +1. Critical Chance and Status Resistance didn't allow him to increase them with stat points.
Looks like I get the most back for each point spent on my mana capacity, but I've no idea what it does. Picturing future fights in his mind, he found himself drawn to agility. If I can move so fast that enemies can't hit me, I'd be invincible, right? The thought didn't last long, however, before he realized how weak he would have to be to completely focus on agility.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
He studied the last two parts of the panel and clicked on Titles.
《First Blood》《First Level》《Sole Group Survivor》《Conqueror of Shadows》《Friend of Vulpine Felis》
They're all different colors, which probably means different rarity, or specific means of attaining them? The Sole Group Survivor is red... Does that mean it's rare? He clicked it and then clicked confirm.
The Character Page now showed Sole Group Survivor as his title. I wonder is this means anything? He paused for a moment, then returned to the title page and selected Friend of Vulpine Felis. That's better, he smiled, gently stroking Fluffy as he rested, but still feeling none the wiser about what the colors meant. He went back and clicked Class this time, showing an empty panel.
《Class:》
I guess this comes later? His mind wondered to the possible classes that had the most mobility. Rogue. Scout. What else might there be? Gunner? Archer? They tend to be fast classes. Archer might be good too, that way I can keep my distance. I wonder what this game offers? He clicked back to the main HUD, I'll look at the skill points later, he thought, still unsure of how to spend them.
The button on his lower left also showed a piece of armor, a pouch, and a book. Equipment and inventory? What's the third? He clicked on it, revealing a skill page with zero active or passive skills.
《Skill Page:》
《Active Skills:》
《Passive Skills: Endurance: Beginner. Proficiency: 1.1/100》
Okay. He paused and sighed slightly, only seeing one passive skill felt somewhat demoralizing. Endurance, proficiency one point one out of one hundred? I guess that explains why I was so tired after running for only a minute. Proficiency must be how you master skills on this game? Without any real information to go on, he clicked back and clicked the piece of armor.
《Equipment:》
《Head:》
《Torso: White Shirt: +1 Physical Defence》
《Arms:》
《Hands:》
《Legs: Brown Trousers: +1 Physical Defence》
《Feet: Worn Shoes: +0》
Okay, yeah, this is where I'm getting that +2. So the other stats are the ones I increase, and equipment stats are additive.
Finally, he clicked on Inventory.
《Inventory:》
《Beginner Weapon Choice》
《1 x Cleansing Strike》
Beginner Weapon Choice? And a Cleansing Strike? He clicked the former which displayed a message:
〘Pick one level-one weapon out of the following choices: Long Sword. Short Sword. Broadsword. Spear. Dagger. Long Bow. Short Bow〙
The broadsword was huge, he thought as he recalled the girl who fought the ogre. Bows need arrows, and I have no idea how to get them. A long sword might be good, but they can also be heavy. Spears can be great, but they're clunky, and difficult to use. I think it has to be a dagger or short sword. Something I can easily swing and carry, that won't get me into trouble. He clicked on the short sword and clicked confirm, and a short sword replaced the Beginner Weapon Choice icon in his inventory. He clicked on it.
〘Equip Or withdraw?〙
I wonder what the difference is? He clicked equip and the sword materialized at his side, holstered onto a belt that appeared around his hip. He removed his other hand from Fluffy, who seemed unfazed by the sudden appearance of the sword.
The scabbard had been crafted from leather, its skin weathered by time and use. The hilt of the blade appeared plain and simple, feeling smooth to the touch, while the handle seemed well-worn.
Joel drew the blade slightly, revealing a glint of its sharp edge as it caught the light. This is real, huh. I'm really going to have to fight again? He paused for a moment and bit the inside of his lip.
He looked back to his inventory, now with only one item in it, when clicked on, it read:
〘Cleansing Strike. A supreme burst of flame that will instantly clear any wave of monsters〙
Holy shit! He laughed out loud, I'm definitely keeping hold of that!
Joel returned to the HUD. He studied his vision, and found it to be a lot less cluttered than he imagined. The buttons to everything being on the left is annoying. Can I move it? He clicked around the tab but nothing happened. He tried scrolling across it with his fingers, drawing inwards as if stroking the head of Fluffy, and the tab flickered slightly, then appeared at his fingertips. Oh shit! He moved the tab to the centre of his vision, then let go. It acted as before, staying put in the centre of his vision when he moved his eyes or head. Let's see... in VR you can pin things in place, so that they stay there even if you move your head. He drew his fingers over the tab again, then looked for a way to pin it in place. He poked various areas, before double tapping it in the upper-right most corner, "ah!" He exclaimed, "that's it!"
Okay, well, I'll have to put this how I want it for battles, as I don't want to be stabbed while looking for the button for a potion or something. For now... He moved it over to his right side, where it felt more natural, then left it unpinned. He exhaled loudly through his nose at a job well done, and turned off the HUD. His head ached from his exhaustion and his right eye felt strained. I need to heal myself, he thought, remembering the potions he had placed at the entrance. Oh for fucks sake, he cursed his poor memory.
"Alright, Fluff ball," Joel said with a smile, "let's get you healed up." I only have one healing potion left, but Fluffy deserves it more than me. Besides, this kind of pain is... bearable. While not entirely sure if he believed that, he walked over to the potions and decided that it felt as true as he could mean it to be.
Okay, the green one was a healing potion, right? "Here," he said, reaching down to Fluffy with the potion in his hand.
Fluffy shook his head, meowed softly, then rubbed his face against Joel's leg as he purred. "You want me to have it? Fluffy..." he kneeled down and stroked Fluffy's back. He pulled out the cork and held it outstretched in his hand. "Let's have half each, eh?"
"Meooow," he replied with his fluffy tail waving behind him.
Joel slowly poured a bit of the fluid into Fluffy's mouth, bit, by bit, his rough tongue lapped it up. When half remained, Joel stopped and finished the bottle.
To his surprise, his body hadn't fully healed. The rawness on his knuckles had scabbed over but remained scratched and sore. His fat lip had improved but still hurt slightly when pressed. Finally, his swollen eye had reduced enough to open about eighty percent, though it continued to throb.
Is this because I had half? Or was it a weak potion?
He looked down to Fluffy, who had fully healed and had returned to his boisterous and energetic self.
That's good, he thought, I'm glad you're okay.
Joel picked up the blue potion, opened his inventory, and placed it inside. It appeared just as the short sword had done before.
"We should get going," he looked up to the stairway where his shadow clone had emerged. The door stood large, still unopen, maybe I'll meet others on the other side? He hoped.
He took a few steps forward, but as his foot touched the first stair, he realized Fluffy had not moved.
"What's up?" He asked.
Fluffy sat in a quiet resolve, then walked to the initial door they came from. "You want us to go back?"
"Meow," he replied, softly.
"You're going back... aren't you?" Joel took a deep breath as a tear formed in his eyes, betraying the earlier resolve he had fought for. The swollen eye stung with the pain, but he managed to ignore it.
"You don't want me to see you disappear..." He paused, hanging his head low with a hand on his face - covering his eyes. He reflected back on his life and the few friends he had had. "I was always too late to understand others before. I used to say the wrong thing, or be overly critical without realizing it," he removed his hand to look at Fluffy, but he couldn't bring himself to look directly at him. "Whenever I noticed what I had done, it was too late. And I was always too worried to apologize, or embarrassed, I don't know..." He tried to find the words to explain, but a reflection on the past always made him feel unsure of himself, like it could have all been so simple, but he always overthought it.
Fluffy softly meowed as he sat resolutely on the opposite side of the chamber. The light from the brazier sat directly above, tinting him in a shade of darkness. The light had created a tranquil boundary between the two of them, separated by a ribbon of shadow.
"Why is it," Joel cried, "that when I finally find someone I can understand... they have to leave me!?" Tears stung his eyes as they ran down his bruised cheeks. It hurt him to rub them, but it hurt him more to know that he had to say goodbye to his friend. I've never had to say goodbye before... What do I say? The room seemed to shrink around him, suffocating Joel with the weight of every unspoken word.
With a twinkle in his eye, Fluffy meowed a few final times. His voice was gentle, stirring up memories of the brief hours they had shared. Though not words, Joel understood his meows. They were like the warmth of the sun or the breeze from atop an oak tree; they filtered through the space between them, connecting them with an invisible caress. "See you around," they seemed to say.
Joel took a deep breath, steadying himself. He nodded, forcing a smile.
Turning to the stairs, he began to ascend, his heart heavy with sorrow. Tears blurred his vision, trailing down his cheeks in a silent stream. As they fell, they washed away the years of dirt that had obscured the floor for so long.
He didn't need to look back to know that Fluffy watched him go. His thoughts drifted to his parents, remembering how he could always feel their gaze on his back.
"See you around," Joel whispered delicately.
He opened the door and walked through, alone.