Scratching his head in annoyance, Lucious kept surveying the city blocks.

It was a mess, really. Bodies littered the streets, a few limbs here a few heads there. Blood of all colors sprayed the stone blocks Lucious walked on, signs of a gruesome battle everywhere his wary eyes rested.

What a one-sided massacre. Those at the cafe had it easier, it seemed.

Still, this was ridiculously grim, to the ludicrous level. The smell of corpses filled the air, ravens, and flies already feasting upon the never-ending pile of cold flesh. It was also precarious how the battle inside and outside the streets concluded at the same instance.

There were, oddly enough, many survivors as Lucious walked by. All slumped, deranged, and sobbing, but still too many survivors. If those feral Ghouls had won the battle, and it sure hell seems like it, then everyone should be dead. Yet that was not the case.

Not wanting to sound like a senile man, Lucious tried to deny the Gods touch in this, but it was all too conspicuous. Gods loved their symbols; dove of peace, raven of death. In this case, this was a bath, a rebirth of sorts, Lucious suspected. Everyone was dyed in blood, purple and red, as well as the streets and buildings. The sky was unnaturally grim too, as if it was heeding the Gods call for a dark age to commence.

As Lucious was walking aimlessly, he grew further confidence in his suspicion. They were purposely kept alive, some of them at least.

And why would the Gods do that, if they did not have future plans in mind?

Plans within plans within plans, that’s how it’s always is. That’s how it should be. Get a grip on yourself.

The question was, however, was what to do? If today was the First Phase, then when is the next?

Glancing around him, Lucious could tell it wasn’t anytime soon. Too many people were beaten to exhaustion. A similar experience will break them--if not their bodies, then it will be their minds. There will be rest, a couple days at least.

Hesitantly, Lucious recalled the image of his Status Screen.

Lo and behold, it appeared, in all of its glory.

General Information

Attributes

Level

9

Name

Value

Name

Value

Species

Human

Strength

11 (+1)

Constitution

12 (+1)

Class

N/A

Dexterity

19 (+1)

Charisma

7(+2)

Profession

N/A

Agility

27(+5)

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Age

21

Endurance

17 (+1)

HP

32/143 (.57/Hour)

Intelligence

17 (+1)

STM

120/198 (+1.77/sec)

Wisdom

7 (+1)

Overall STM

310/968 (+1.88/sec)

At this time, Lucious could safely assume that these numbers quantified his abilities.

A Charisma rating of 9 made that painfully obvious. His Wisdom was not flattering, either, which he safely assumed originated from the choice of becoming a soldier.

The answer was--probably-- within the regeneration of his Health Points (HP). The next Phase should be after it’s full recovery, and the current would take about 7 days. Recalling the STM Break Debuff, however, he knew that that process would accelerate by 40% after 6 more hours. After that, it would take about half a week for a full recovery, which is a ridiculously good rate. His Stamina regeneration though was utterly stupendous. With a recovery of about 2 a second, Lucious would basically have to rest only a 120 seconds for a full recovery.

It was at this point that Lucious’s skepticism nudged him in the back.

That was too good. Endurance worked in two ways, short and long. It takes short endurance to maintain a sprint, and long endurance to repeatedly sprint, which brings Lucious to his next point: Overall STM. That was probably his long endurance. His body won’t recover after that, as his STM probably leeches off of it in a 1 to 1 ratio.

That made sense. These numbers have no doubt granted Lucious extra power, but its limits were evident. He was human, but with leeways.

Studying the rest of his attributes, Lucious deduced that his Constitution was multiplied by a value of 10, and that granted him his HP. The same goes for his Endurance, which should add up with the rest of his “Perks” and “Skills.” The equations used behind his Regeneration, however, was lost on him. The rest of the attributes were self-explanatory, though Lucious had no idea how good they were, compared to the rest of the populace. With a rough estimate, Lucious figured that his Strength was on the low side, while his Agility was on the very high side.

Math, we have a love-hate relationship, don't we? Finally pleased his parent’s expensive tutoring was paying off, Lucious dismissed the Screen.

Even though his STM was recovering at a ridiculous rate, his muscles were still sore and his body still battered. He walked with a limp, putting the majority of his weight on his left side. He needed rest, and he needed it fast. His wounds could open up anytime, and he had little to no faith in his rough bandage work. Regret welled up in his mind, jabbing at the back of his head. He should have taken more time before putting himself in the open, like this, with a very flashy coat that will no doubt fetch an ice price.

Pulling out one of the knives shooed off any attempts.

He was in no condition to fight, and fight he might have to. The city was in chaos, hollow-eyed men and women coming out to the streets, gaping at the horror their city has faced. In the manner of less than 15 short minutes, the world had turned on its head.

Already, the less fortunate were looting the more fortunate stores. Lucious was currently in the Second-District, a much improvement from the Third-District, but that by no means did it allude to an easy life.

Lucious noticed a slightly tall man had entered a jewelry store that four others had already entered. After a quick racket, only one came out, with extra red on his hands.

It was amazing, how quickly it began.

Seeing that had further convinced Lucious to make haste.

Thus, he limped with extra speed.

Everyone knew that few people survived the Gods games, and if an entire city has fallen to their board, then no doubt citizens would cease thinking of the long run, and only think of the current run.

It meant fires would rage, murder will be rampant, and any woman without an especially pointy knife will be raped.

Such is the Gods horror, their very presence brings corruption to life.

Lucious, in his current haggard condition, could not take any of that. His hope was that order would quickly be restored, though that had meant Lucious had to trust his government, which the thought of quickly cracked him up, bringing inwards laughter to his dry lungs.

A small room to sleep and defend himself, if needed, is what Lucious kept looking for.

Most of the law enforcement would probably be alive, as these Ghouls were no challenge to a trained soldier. The disorder and lack of communication though would probably ensue panic among the ranks and hinder the reaction armies reaction time, unless expertly handled of course, which Lucious assumed would happen. The commanders and captains generally knew what they were doing.

The law enforcement, however, would not be able to contain revolts of any kind. Lucious had seen more than one, and in all instances the law enforcement was there to only protect the richest citizens until the military reached.

A military base was just a couple hours away by horseback, which should keep the worst from happening.

The problem, however, laid in the First Phase’s nature. It wasn’t there to completely exterminate them, but rather to sort them out. A typical citizen is not expected to defend himself against Ghouls, so the difficulty curve should be quite low. The test here, Lucious once again, assumed, was that it wasn’t just whether you were able to fight, but whether you were able to survive.

The point is, and as his tutor once said, You can not test a shark’s worth by its ability to climb a tree, Kayn. Those we consider weak, are the same. Their Strength lies elsewhere, you just have to find it.

Which brought Lucious to the final point: How difficult would the First Phase be, for those whom are bred and molded for utter destruction?