...What?
"Hello?"
I was taken by surprised by the voice and stopped munching on these delicious morsels, and I started listening closer.
"Hello?"
Barley even a whisper, something inside of my soul spoke to me. I knew who they were I just... Didn't know?
Feeling the presence inside of my core, I attempted to nudge it a little bit with my mana.
Buzz...
The almost electric buzz resonated, and I felt the voice, my skill [Bite] Resonate.
"Where am I?"
I could feel it through the invisible connection of my soul. The confusion of a newly born, just trying to understand where they are.
I Almost gave a fuck.
"Please..."
...Ok maybe I give a fuck!
I opened my overfilled mouth for the first time in the while to not crunch on a bottle.
"Uhss, Highh?"
My speech was more slurred than I meant for it to be. These teeth are making me loose charisma! I sound like a character from Lilo and Stitch!
"... Father?"
What? who the fuck is this guy talking about?! I don't have any kids!
I speak again, trying to not cut my gums.
"Uhsss, Nohho"
I sat down on the cold sand and started slightly shivering. I was to invested in this little fucker that just drop the lore drop outta nowhere!
"I'm Hungry!"
The small voice did its best to scream but It barley even made me flinch. How the duck do I feed a skill?
"Mana!"
Mana Addict also seemed to scream at me as [Bite] demanded for mana. Stop encouraging this kind of behavior to a child Mana Addict!
I crunched up a bottle, and sent it towards [Bite] inside of my soul space or whatever its called.
"MORE!"
Mana Addict just kept on encouraging this little devourer! Back to the grind...
As I was feeding [Bite] I started to feel a little weaker as I kept on stacking up mana poisoning, and I was pumping less mana into my body.
----------------------------------------
After about 2 hours I noticed that some of the Bottlers where starting to run away frantically. Why are you running? Don't you want my gamer blood?
before I could grab another bottle to much on, the RIPP-ed themselves off of my body, and retreated into the ground. Ow.
The initial pain that tore me to shreds before was barley even a problem after the hours of being torn up by these little assholes. This {curse of Pain} hasn't really shown what it does up to now. I don't think I'm feeling more pain?
Wisps of blue colored the almost dead black sky that I could not see before because of the worm orgy that was occurring on top of me before.
Patter.
Patter.
Patter.
Soft foot steps stood some distance away from me. I turned towards the way that the sound came from, but nothing was there. If there was anything then I would be able to see it because these dunes are relatively flat. Huh, must've been the w-
Shink. Almost entirely silently a blade silently whistled out of the air, and [pain resistance] is telling me it was directly into one of my arteries.
[3/162 Hp]
Sharp pain exploded from my neck, and who ever just shot me with this dart must have poisoned it because green blood was SPLERT-ing out of me neck at astonishing speeds.
That's not good!
Out of instinct, I pumped all of my mana into my body.
Every last drop.
[0/91 Mp]
My head THUMP-s into the sand, and a tall fellow where traditional Arabic desert ware was standing above me before I could jump up to rock this asshole world.
"Of what faction are you!"
The voice of this guy was high pitched and a little snobby. I try to speak without slurring or stuttering to much.
"Uhgg, Noghgne?"
He grabs my ankle, and I expect pain but none comes. I see his eyebrows tighten, clearly annoyed.
"Speak up! Unless you want me to take the information forcefully! What I injected into you wasn't some cheap poison!"
Does this guy have too scream? What ever.
How do I convince him I know nothing? Should I just li-
"Don't think about lying to me! I can see it on your face!"
Was I really that obvious?!
"Igh rellye dohnt knoiw!"
His eyebrows tighten more, he grabs an orb out of his pocket and starts dragging me like a ragdoll, While speaking in a language I don't understand.
I struggle, but basically all the strength that was previously inside of my body was drained from me! I try to hit him in the shin and the back of his knee, but he doesn't even react to it.
You asked for this!
I Take my face out of the sand, and start to rise myself to his Achilles heel.
CHOMP!
[74/85 Sp]
I swallow the flesh that I could get, and spit out the dark fabric of his low hanging skirt.
Blueish blood squirts all over my face and into the sand below. The man finally lets go of me, and screams in a high pitched voice.
"AHHH! You little creature! My father shall have you Terminated Immediately!"
I attempt to sprint away from him to gain some distance, but he closes the distance faster, equipping a razor sharp knife from a small fanny pack.
[68/ 85 Sp]
SHINK!
The slice cuts into my arm despite me trying to move out of the way. Why do my arm have input lag!?
Green blood squirts out of my wound, and covers this tall prick.
"EEEWW!-"
He is briefly distracted, and I land a [Bite] on his extended arm, making him drop the knife in pain.
[54/ 85 Sp]
SPLERTT!
More blueish blood squirts into my gullet, so I just swallow it. [Bite] resonates slightly, and I feel my already large canines become to large for me too keep in my mouth!
Tasting the blood again, something clicks within me, and suddenly my mouth explodes in flavors that I almost can't describe. It taste like... Key lime pie with a spark of cinnamon and... Paprika!
I slowly lick my face, and my attempt to intimidate him while also tasting his blood succeeds, as he starts backing up, I can now clearly see the fear in his eyes, and I feel a chaotic and wild resonance between [Pain resistance] and [Bite].
You have discovered a fundamental law of skills! Rewarding...
You have gained the Skill {Predator} (Tier 1)
You have unlocked the Tier system!
I feel a presence settle into my core between [Bite] and [Pain resistance], something darker, something... Familiar.
A beast held within a cage of morals and other useless human feelings paced back and forth, waiting to either to be set free... Or to break out its self.
Blood rushes to my head, Red covers my vision. I'm botta fuck this pleb the fuck up!
I run on all fours, ignoring the joints in my body that don't like the fact that I am bending them in the wrong direction.
[142/164 Hp] When did my max Hp raise?
He doesn't even get to scream before I begin to grind his spine with my teeth.
KRUNCH!
With relative ease, I snap his neck.
[32/ 85 Sp]
CRACK!
He lays on the ground, and his blood SPLERT-s out of his neck with a water pressure that makes hotel managers Jealous. Huffing in exhaustion, I look to his body.
Did I just... Kill him?!
I felt a wave of guilt... Or I would have if I was a bitch!
I don't fucking care if he is dead, imma just loot his corps and find the closest town now that I know there is civilization!
I walk up to his body, but I almost feel like I see a small twitch from his ar-
SHINK!
Another dagger from his pack fly's into my neck, blood SPERT-s all over the ground.
[12/164 Hp]
I'm outta mana!
I pass out while seeing him with his smug face, like I never dug into his neck with my jaws.
----------------------------------------
Hazy lines of red grainy texture covered me. Fuck!
I started fucking bugging because I couldn't breathe, It was like the sac that I woke up in all over again! The cold stone in my back felt unfamiliar of how I remember it, but maybe my lack of my anti-crazy pills is starting to affect me
I reached up my arms but they are restrained with painfully tight rope, then felt the canines digging into my jaw. Fuck it! Imma just [Bite] my way outta here!
RIPPP!
I rip through the grainy bag, and see 2 people wearing blood red Armor and light green Robes respectively, The look on their face would make it seem that they just saw some bum ass guy rip through a bag with obesely large teeth.... Wait.
They just ignore me after that and speak in a langue that I can't understand, then the shorter one in Armor walked up to me and I could clearly see his hairy body, even with the armor covering him.
"If you want you lawyer kid, Now is the time to call them."
There are lawyers in this world? Danm, what the fuck did they do to have to create a whole legal system?!
"Ughgh, Igh Downt havee ohne."
The taller one in the green robes walks up to me, and I feel [Mana sight] telling me that something was observing me and It attempts to fight back the presence. That's not very nice of them!
The Bear person in the armor briefly speaks to the guy in the robes, then turns back to me with a serious face.
"Alright kid, I have a proposition for you. You can leave behind any jail time for attacking a noble... If you agree to Bind one of your skills. I can even hook you up with some education! How's that sound buddy?"
... Why is this guy treating me like a kid?! Also, Why would I willingly Bind my skills?!
The one in robes speaks with a calm and mother like voice.
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"I can promise you, that you would rather just bind one of your skills then rot in Peditaura for the rest of your mana stage."
... I don't know what Peditaura is, but it does not sound good! I don't want to loose my skills! But that offer about Education does sound pretty good...
BANG!
The door to the front of this Cobble stone room is slammed open with a loud sound, as a large burly but cubby figure with lots of shiny treasures crounding his figure.
"That Boy DARED to Touch My Child! That CREATURE Does not get a choice!"
His voice is only slightly lower pitched than who ever his bitch ass kid is, and he gets ushered out of the room by 2 human guards that were standing outside of the room while screaming obscenity's that I could not understand.
I would scream 'Yea, walk away!' but I don't know if I would be Decapitated for insulting a noble, so I bit my tonged (Literally). Mhhm, Sweet!
I refocus on the yogi bear impersonator, and give the only answer I can properly give.
*Nod head
He smiles, and the tall lady in the robes grabs a searing iron out of her non existent pocket...Oh No!
Tissss...
Very quickly the searing iron sears my flesh, and I can see the mark of a... Nordic rune?
The resonation between [Pain resistance] and [Bite] stops suddenly, and my teeth slightly retract, no longer digging into my jaw too much. finally!
Along with the retraction, I feel a sinking feeling in my soul, and I see a change in the system
[162/162 Hp]
I never even figured out what it does...
The Bear dude speaks up again.
"Thank god you accepted kid! Them nobles sure are cranky when it comes to their children! Alright, since this never had to brought to court, I welcome you to Dragon Staff!"
He picked me up off of the floor, and slung me over his shoulders with ease while walking out of the room, into a large hall area with a portal in the middle. A large sign on the celling for some reason states 'Police station' in multiple languages. The walls were lined with large prison cells, to ones that couldn't fit my arm! They got portal assisted law enforcement? this world might be more advanced than earth!
We step into the portal, and a system window jump scares me.
[0/162 Hp]
What?
Pain flays me like a bone racked fish, and I feel the blood pour out of my body, as my matter slowly disappears.
I hear buzzing as the grey matter of my brain melts out of my eye sockets soup in a cracked boul. the pain stops as my central nervous system shut down.
All I feel is uncomfortable nothingness.
unfathomably Silence.
Itchy eyes that you cannot scratch with digging out your eyes.
So I do that.
[Pain resistance]lv.1!
The cage of flesh tightens, trying to kill its innocent murderer. The murderer does not understand, for he is blinded by his GREED. The pain feels insurmountable, but The Killer of the giant does not feel.
Resonance returns to my core, [Pain resistance] Evolves, even more than [Bite], This is deeper.
Deeper than a resonance.
Deeper than my soul.
Deeper th-
I am metrically reformed, and I don't relies that I am screaming until Mr. bear looks at me funny.
I dump all of my mana into my body, being puppet-ted by mana Addict for a few seconds until I can finally ignore the sound behind my brain with the help of my greatest fear.
People?!
I am inside of a large array of these some what Nordic runes on the ground and celling, and I am still being carried like a sac of potato's. He rushes into a side room so quickly that I feel slightly sick. Or maybe it was dying and coming back that was making sick?
He takes me behind a privacy screen that is inside the corner of the room, while throwing some dirty cloths.
"Its not much, but its better than being entirely naked kid!"
Looking down, I relies that I was booty but naked the entire time! Those kids out there could see my slightly tanned skinny ass !
Mr. Bear speaks again.
"Don't be too embarrassed kid. It will only effect you for the rest of your school life! much better than what happened to me as a youngster..."
I grab the cleanest, least maggot ridden clothing, and get out of the privacy screen.
He signals me to follow him, and I comply with a simple nod.
----------------------------------------
After the lengthy tour and the many shots and medications that I had to take, I wasn't the happiest camper around. Did we really have to do a full tour of the men's Bath hall?
I was handed a map by him, and he slowly walked away and into the portal. (How the fuck did the other people who walked through not throw up?!)
"I hope I don't see you during work hours kid! Remember to not try to call apon any sealed skills, unless you want unbearable pain at least..."
... What the fuck did they hot iron onto my shoulder?! How can they legally do this to a minor?! (guess they weren't so socially advance after all...)
The final bell rung, as I recalled that the Bear guy, that I never got the name of, told me that all non-noble students were given free Housing in return for doing work for the School. Thankfully, I could just rot in my room for now and not worry about it for the meantime.
While walking over to my newly own dorm, I finally started taking all of it in. From where it all started when I was killed on the toilet by some freaky ass sword, to the red desolate, to unlocking my first skill in the fight with the wolfs, to the grinding I did against those sand bottles, to the mana Addict that I became, and the mana poison that is making me weaker and weaker without pumping more mana into my body (I should probably fix that.) To fucking that tall prick up, all the way to now. and honestly,
I feel underwhelmed, WHY IS THERE NO LEVELING SYSTEM!
Leveling system unlocked!
Check your status.
... IT WAS THAT SIMPLE?!?
"Status"
Name: [Johnny 'xxMASTERGRINDERxx' Wilson]
Title: [Claustrophobia]
Race: Human Male (Stage 0)
*Level: 0 [0% to level 1]
Mana Stage: [Stage 0]
Condition: [85/ 85] (End x 10 x Will) (Regen End / 5 / Min)
Health: [162/162 =108+ 54] (Vit x 10 x Will) (Regen Vit / 5 / Min)
Mana: [91/91] (Int x 10 x Wis) (Regen Wis/ 3 / Min)
Stats:
Physicals:
[Strength: 1
[Dexterity: 2
[Endurance: 5
[Vitality: 6
Mentals:
[Intelligence: 7
[Wisdom: 3
[Willpower: 8
Soul:
[Luck: 2
[Divinity: {PAIN} (Cursed)
[Empathy: 1
Skills:
Base Tier:
*[Pain resistance] Lv.1 (Tier 0)
*[Bite] Lv.2 (Tier 0)
*Beginner Tier
*{predator} Lv.0 (Tier 1) BINDED
Spells: None
...Class system?
...
Yea I was pushing my luck.
... Mast-
Mastery system unlocked!
Check your status.
Name: [Johnny 'xxMASTERGRINDERxx' Wilson]
Title: [Claustrophobia]
Race: Human Male (Stage 0)
Level: 0 [0% to level 1]
Mana Stage: [Stage 0]
Condition: [85/ 85] (End x 10 x Will) (Regen End / 5 / Min)
Health: [162/162 =108+ 54] (Vit x 10 x Will) (Regen Vit / 5 / Min)
Mana: [91/91] (Int x 10 x Wis) (Regen Wis/ 3 / Min)
Stats:
Physicals:
[Strength: 1
[Dexterity: 2
[Endurance: 5
[Vitality: 6
Mentals:
[Intelligence: 7
[Wisdom: 3
[Willpower: 8
Soul:
[Luck: 2
[Divinity: {PAIN} (Cursed)
[Empathy: 1
*Mastery:
None
Skills:
Base Tier:
[Pain resistance] Lv.1 (Tier 0)
[Bite] Lv.2 (Tier 0)
Beginner Tier
{predator} Lv.0 (Tier 1) BINDED
Spells: None
YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
I started speed walking to my dorm, not really paying attention to the things in front of me but I do manage to stop myself from running into the building that was clearly the dorm rooms.
Yep, I totally knew that, and its not because of the missive sign that says 'Dorms"!
I just walk inside because of the lack of privacy to the lobby of this non-noble housing , and walk up stares to the left of me to, and head to the first floor with actual dorms.
On the way down some winding hallways I see a training center, a weight room, and a... Torture room disguised as some kind of resistance building room~!
"Can I help you!"
Some invisible woman complains at me as she walks by me, most likely trying to give me a stank face I couldn't see for obvious reasons. That could be annoying!
Finally arriving at my dorm, I see a cramped and dark room. The ventilation seemed nearly none existent, and I'm pretty sure I would suffocate if enough dust built up...*Sigh not like I have another option other than sleeping outside!... actually that doesn't sound so bad.
I open the door the rest of the way, and throw all of my imaginary stuff into the room while I looked for a bathroom to take a shit in before I jumped out of the window.
Stumbling to the bathroom, I open the door to see a face I did not recognize. My scars still remained, but they seemed even more apparent everywhere, and I looked somewhat like somebody that actually goes outside, but I'm... sickly? I activate [mana sight], and can see the mana inside of my body decaying along with my muscles and organs. That is seriously a problem!
I dump all of my mana into my body, and I feel a wave of strength flood me, stronger than ever, I inflate like a balloon and I look much healthier, but with [mana sight] I can see some kind of fluctuation trying to burst out of my cells like a virus trying to lysis.
Deciding to do the right thing and not hold this off for now, I sit in a lotus position and focus on my body with mana sight. The new and improved [Pain Resistance] is telling me what the mana is trying to do to my body, and [mana sight] is allowing me to blurrily see the mana exploding inside of me, so all I gotta do is control the mana, or somehow make my body strong enough to handle the constant damage.
[Mana sigh]t scoured my nearly empty mana 'pool' and gave me a suggestion.
'Make the way you supply mana more efficient.'
There were many ways that I could achieve this. I could somehow compress my mana pool to make more concentrated mana, or I could take the regular protagonist method, where I create a mana core or something.
Of coarse, I a god gamer, already have an Idea.
With my pain resistance making it easier to ignore the lack of mana in my mana pool, I could just keep on drawing from it with no drawback except for a mild migraine, so I will combine these 2 ideas to create something that would give me a better way of dealing with both mana poisoning, and buffing my body at the same time.
I will call it, the Grinder method!
first you must take you mana pool within your soul, and very slowly push it over your body, then you need to compress this 'mana organ' down to your central nervous system. I believe this is the best method because if you ever need more control for some reason, you could keep compressing mana until the efficiency is good enough for you!
This was simple on paper, but it would take not messing up, because I can imagine that bursting your soul might cause problems, and it would be like trying to spread your circulatory system across every cell in your body manually.
for now I will do a the first step of this plan and learn to control mana well enough to not burst my mana pool.
I visualized my mana pool, and [mana sight] showed it to me. I attempted to carefully pick it up with my mind hand, but I can't get a grasp on it.
What to do?
... Mabey use my mana to manipulate my mana pool?
I collect mana in the relative shape of a hand, but it just falls apart.
I try again, this time trying to focus harder on the shape I was trying to create. This one last longer, but just falls apart. One more try.
I try again, feeling a resonance within my soul, and I push something. Willpower clamps down on my mana, and Wisdom moves my mana, and intelligence increases how well my mana effects the envoirment.
I move the mana with my Wisdom, Willpower clamps down on the spots where I want to put the mana, and Intelligence moves my mana pool, and very carefully with the maximum amount of concentration I could find within me. The process is excruciating as it feels like my organs are being rearranged by a blender, but [Pain Resistance] shut that shit up, while Mana Addict finally does something useful for once, guiding my mana hands to not go any further than my body.
For pushing past you limits and doing what no sane individual would do you have gained WILL +1
Suddenly in a second of weakness after gaining the stat point, I lose concentration for a second, and a small tear appears inside of my mana pool. I feel a sharp pain that pain resistance couldn't block out, and my mana pool starts slowly sewing its self up without any direction from me. Strange, but I will take it!
I continue to patch up the wound in it the best I could, and my mana slowly healed the spot.
----------------------------------------
SPLERT!
The only thing that breaks me out of my concentration is the SPLAT-ting of dark black blood expelling out of every pour inside of my body, just as I had finish spreading my mana pool without completely shattering my soul. God! That was like working on a piece of glass with a hammer! my strategy's are so advanced, not even I, the creator, can keep up with them!
I was holding my mana pool with a mana brace that was... Wobbly at its best, but It would have to do to keep my mana pool together!
Looking at the system screen, I see a system log as I was getting ready for a long night of no rest trying to keep my mana intact
You have reached the first stage of Mana: Expansion.
Your max mana has improved tremendously!
...
You have been deemed worth of choosing your progression trough proving that You can improve, and that you have unlocked the leveling feature!
You have 3 options...
Class system:
This option unlocks classes, which will give you certain stats and skills determined by you level and the class you chose like getting an active skill at level 10 of warrior class
This also includes sub classes, and occupation class.
*This can be unlocked later.
Aspect system:
This option will enable you to choose aspects such as turning Vitality into Toughness or turning Dexterity into Agility
This also allows you to gain and upgrade/Aspect bonus stats
*This can be unlocked later.
Perk system:
This option allows you to gain perks at certain stat milestones like at 10 Dexterity you would get the Nimble perk
This makes it easier to gain stats through training and Hardship {Combos with Humanity adapts}
*This can NOT be gained later!
The class system made me want to click it immediately, but I withheld myself using my newly gained willpower, and I looked at my options first, thinking of Pros and Cons.
Class system
Pro:
Stats for leveling up
Occupation classes mean I don't have to fight for experience
Give me skills at certain milestones
Cons:
This has no use without leveling
I don't know if the class that I get will give me good stats
I am forced to specialize into whatever I choose
Aspect system
Pro:
Would give me extra stats
Would let me gain extra stats
Would let me upgrade my stats
Allows for moderate customization in my build
Con:
I don't know anything about my stats
I don't know if there are down sides to to much of one stat compared to another
I don't know how to upgrade these stats
Perk system
Pro:
Lets me level stats faster
Will give me a little information on my Blessing
Will give me goals to work towards
Will give me significant power ups between leveling stats
High amounts of customization
Cons:
*Kinda a pro. Can't be gotten later.
All that I had to see that can't be gotten later to chose the perk system. It was my main priority after the class system, but It will do for now~
I checked my status while I hopped in the porcelain standing shower to wipe all of the shit that I threw up off of me. The texture was that of glass floating in water, and the substance was sticky like tar. How the fuck did this come out of my body!? and what I this stuff?!
Name: [Johnny 'xxMASTERGRINDERxx' Wilson]
Title: [Claustrophobia]
Race: Human Male (Stage 0)
Level: 0 [0% to level 1]
Mana Stage: [Stage 1] (Expansion)
Condition: [85/ 85] (End x 10 x Will) (Regen End / 5 / Min)
Health: [171/171 =114+ 57] (Vit x 10 x Will) (Regen Vit / 5 / Min)
Mana: [665/665] (Int x *50 x Wis) (Regen Wis/ 3 / Min)
Stats:
Physicals:
[Strength: 1
[Dexterity: 2
[Endurance: 5
[Vitality: 6
Mentals:
[Intelligence: 7
[Wisdom: 3
[Willpower: 9
Soul:
[Luck: 2
[Divinity: {PAIN} (Cursed)
[Empathy: 1
*Perks: None
Mastery:
Mana Mastery: Lv.1
Skills:
Base Tier:
[Pain resistance] Lv.1 (Tier 0)
[Bite] Lv.2 (Tier 0)
Beginner Tier
{predator} Lv.0 (Tier 1) BINDED
Spells: None
... Just one level of mana mastery after doing all of that?!?
I pondered like the fucking genius I was as I scrubbed myself vigorously with a school provided scrubber that I would throw away after this. If I could level up willpower one more time, maybe RNJesus will bless me with something to deal with my complete lack of resource stat regeneration (A resource stat is a stat like mana, health, and stamina) compared to my large pool of said stats! Now how do you level up Willpower? it should be easier than before, but how easy and when would I be awarded one?
Perhaps I need to push myself mental, just as I did just a while ago? I mean I guess I could just concentrate mana then lock it in pl-
WILL+1
The system didn't give its usual spiel about about how I eared it, but I heard a ding and saw the newest update on system log.
You have unlocked the level 10 milestone for Willpower!
Iron Will:
Mana is 2x easier to lock into place.
Your mental structures are 2x stronger and harder to break .
*Evolvable
The First ability wasn't to exciting, but with the second and last sentences interested me because they opened many implications, like that mental magic does exist, and that these can evolve to do more!
I step out of the shower and put on another pair of boxers I found in a drawer while looking around. I found a school uniform that I can only imagine was for me. I walked up to the window, and saw a large tree right next to the thin window and jumped out, onto one of the many strong looking branches on this behemoth of a tree.
I law my head on my arms, and focus on my mana cast for the rest of the night
----------------------------------------
End of Chapter 2