The group set off at a fast pace for the first hour, after which Mark checked his map to make sure that they were still headed the way he wanted to go. He was glad to see that the red dot was no longer seemingly glued to the edge of the map. Now that it was within reach, Mark estimated that it was just over five miles from their current location. He called a short halt and made sure everyone was still fine.
He was surprised to see that everyone was somewhat out of breath, even his soldiers looked a bit tired. It was the first time they had shown any humanity, despite outward appearances. Noami and Mike looked worse though and had immediately sat down and pulled out some water bottles. Since it looked like it would be a few minutes before they set off again, Mark walked over to Arlo since he seemed to be in around the same shape as his soldiers.
"Good job keeping pace," Mark said by way of greeting, gesturing to Naomi and Mike.
"It was quite the pace you set, but thanks. You must have pretty impressive endurance to set a pace like that." Arlo replied.
"Have you fought any of those wolves before?" Mark asked, hoping to learn a little more about how dangerous of a forest they were in.
"No, I'm glad you showed up when you did. I don't think I could have handled them otherwise."
"Don't sell yourself short, that was pretty impressive accuracy. I'll be honest, I'm trying to gather people together to increase our chances of survival hopefully and I could use someone who can handle a gun." Hoping that his high charisma was good for something, Mark wanted to start recruiting people to, at the very least, fill out his requirement for subordinates so that he could field more soldiers.
"It wasn't all me. I think I got lucky and started with a rifleman skill at level five. I've never even held a gun before yesterday." Mark was surprised at how forthcoming Arlo was with his skills. It wasn't something Mark would have mentioned.
"Well if you're looking for someplace to belong, I would be glad to have you," Mark offered.
"Yeah, where do I sign up," Arlo joked. It may have sounded like a joke, but there was some sincerity to his statement, as his gear started changing. Where before was a flat brown, Arlo's uniform began to change. It started at the top where the camouflage pattern that Mark and his soldiers wore, and his simple backpack was changed into a rucksack. As it moved down, he gained a bulletproof vest like the one Mark wore, and three spare magazines appeared in the pouches on the front.
"What the hell?" Arlo muttered, but Mark was just as stunned.
Mark immediately opened his notifications to see if anything had shown up that would explain it.
[Land Navigation Lvl 1 -> 2]
[Leadership Lvl 2 -> Lvl 3]
[Rifleman Lvl 3 -> Lvl 4]
[Identify Lvl 2 -> Lvl 3]
[Wolf Lvl 3 Slain. x15 Basic RES]
[Wolf Lvl 2 (4) Slain. x50 Basic RES]
[Commander Lvl 2 -> Lvl 3]
[Arlo Rollins recruited. 1/2 Subordinate slots filled]
[Skill Learned Recruiting (Tier 0; Level 1)]
"It looks like it's a function of my class. Honestly, I didn't know I could do it." Mark had known that he would need to fill the subordinate positions from when he selected the class, but until now, hadn't known how he would do. Though, this result was unexpected.
"Well as long as it isn't for life I'm not too bothered," Arlo nervously joked and awkwardly paused before continuing, "I was planning on joining people anyways. That's when you found the three of us. I had just met them. We didn't know each other before all of this."
"Let me see if I can do anything about it," Mark said and focused on the recruitment notification, willing it to show more information.
[Arlo Rollins added to the command structure. 1/2 of current Subordinate slots are filled. Select the length of the term.] *Note: Once set, cannot be changed. Requires the agreement of the recruit.
"So it looks like I can set the length of your term, as it calls it. I also don't want to conscript someone for a lifetime, so how does three months sound? It's the length of time humanity has until we either "become spacefaring again", whatever that means, or Earth is open to the universe."
"Yeah, that sounds good. Oh, I just got a prompt showing that a recruitment offer is pending. I'll accept it now."
[Arlo Rollins - Soldier Level 2 added to the command structure. Term: 3 Months (89:23:59:46 Remaining)]
"Welcome to the party, I guess. I'd like to get moving soon though, it looks like we can reach the point today. Before you ask, I don't know what's there, but I don't feel like it would be marked on our map for no reason," in a louder voice, Mark asked everyone else, "Is everyone ready?"
His soldiers immediately stood up and got into formation, with Arlo not much further behind. Naomi and Mike dragged themselves to their feet a minute later and took their normal position at the rear of the formation.
This time, Mark set a slower pace, but enough that they should reach the point by early evening. His estimate was not wholly accurate as it was hard to judge the time of day through the thick canopy high above them. As he walked, he observed his team closely. He saw that they maintained vigilance the whole way, the last man on his left even was checking behind them, both for threats and to make sure that Mike and Naomi were behind them.
He also noticed that even though Naomi had taken a class called pilot, she hadn't even started with any kind of vehicle. It seemed like a scam to play the game where it was sci-fi themed, and to contrast it with his current situation where he was stranded in a forest with no city, or spaceship, in sight. It further seemed like a joke when he thought about the gear that he started with. He had a gun that was commonplace, as far as armies go, and the rest of his equipment practically screamed modern military and not sci-fi weaponry.
Unable to do anything about it at the moment, Mark could only continue in silence. He still couldn't explain his draw towards this unknown gal of the red dot. He still wasn't sure what he would find there, but a voice in the back of his head told him that something was waiting there for him.
As they traveled, Mark checked his map every fifteen minutes and found that they were making good progress. Even though it was a much slower pace than he would want, Mark estimated they were traveling close to five miles per hour. While traveling, Mark also realized that he could gain experience with Identify by identifying his soldiers, and traveling companions. All of his soldiers simply had [Soldier] as a tag, but when he used Identify on Arlo something odd happened.
"What the hell?" Arlo said and looked at Mark.
"What?" Mark responded.
"What did you do to me?" Arlo asked.
"I used Identify on you. I didn't think it would do anything."
"It was a weird sensation. It felt like you were breathing down my neck. And somehow I knew it was you. Also, what do you mean you 'used Identify' on me? Is that a skill?"
"Yeah, I got it after I focused on some wolves that attacked us."
"Here, let me try." After a moment, Mark felt a weird prickling sensation on the back of his neck. He also knew that it had come from Arlo, but also couldn't explain how.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
"Woah. That's weird."
"It's cool, but it didn't tell me much. It just said commander above your head. Try it again on me. I want to familiarize myself with it in case someone uses it on me in the future."
Mark complied and focused on Arlo again. This time it said [Soldier G-Tier].
"It changed!" Mark exclaimed. "I think it leveled up from the last time I used it. This time it said soldier, g-tier. Let me check my notifications." Mark checked his notifications and saw that it had leveled up to level three.
"About how many things did you identify before it leveled up?"
"Well, Mine is at level three, but it went to two once I identified the first five wolves that attacked us. It hit level three after the five wolves we killed plus my soldiers and you. It wasn't until level three that it told me the tier thing."
"I used it on you and the soldiers as well, but it wasn't enough to level it up. I'd use it on Mike and Naomi, but I don't want to set them off. They look pretty shaken as it is right now. We can just keep going, but I'm definitely going to use it on the next animal we come across." With that, they kept moving.
At about two miles from his goal, the trees became smaller and more undergrowth populated his path. They were forced to pull into a smaller formation as the visibility was reduced. Mark continued to check his map and saw that a large river was coming up. Luckily, they were headed for a ford as best as he could tell, though he was getting better at reading the map.
When they passed inside the one-mile point, Mark could just make out the river through the trees, but his focus was immediately drawn to the person stepping out of some bushes roughly twenty yards away. It was a man that looked to be in his thirties and he had his hands up in an unarmed gesture. He then put his finger to his lips in the sign for silence. Mark gave the hand sign for cover to his soldiers and sent Arlo back to Mike and Naomi to keep them quiet, and approached the man.
Once Mark was close, the man slowly approached, not wanting to give Mark a reason to shoot him.
"Stay quiet, there's some kind of bear by the river up there. He already killed someone I was traveling with," He whispered.
"Where?" Mark replied, matching his low voice. The man pointed to the ford that Mark was looking for. In front of it was what looked like a grizzly bear, not fifty yards from where he stood. Mark motioned his team, including Arlo, forward and pointed out the bear to them. Before Mark could do anything else, a wave of tiredness washed over Mark and the bear roared.
Mark shook his head to clear the tiredness but saw that his team was unable to do the same. He watched on helplessly as his team members dropped to the ground unconscious. He turned his head and saw that the bear was sprinting straight for him. It had closed nearly the full distance in seconds.
Mark couldn't do anything but drop his gun and meet the bear in a contest of strength. Everything slowed down, and the bear reared back to sink its claws into Mark. To his, and the bear's, surprise, he caught its arms mid-swing. Mark didn't know what to do for a moment. He had expected to die, but at least would go down fighting. He could only attribute it to his high strength. Wanting to test what he could do, Mark threw the bear off of him and swung a haymaker right into the thing's snout.
For the second time in as many seconds, Mark was utterly surprised at his strength. As the blow connected, the bear's face nearly exploded with blood splattering Mark and the leaves beneath him. The bear was not dead, though. Without pause, Mark threw a follow-up punch to what was left of the bear's face, and blood, bone, and brain matter went flying. It felt like most of it splattered against Mark as he instantly retched, emptying his stomach of the meager meal he had for breakfast.
Mark checked his notifications to see what that thing was and try to figure out how it had rendered his entire team unconscious.
[Psi-Bear Lvl 10 (F-Tier) Slain. x100 Basic RES]
Mark was completely stunned. He knew that there were psionic abilities people could gain, it was even a class that Mark had passed over to choose the commander class. It was not something that he thought would appear in the wildlife. He was also amazed that he could so easily kill something that should have been so far above his level. That was when he remembered a crucial thing from the game that he had forgotten. Stat points gains represented nearly exponential growth. He recalled that in the game, the human average for Strength was a measly four. With his seventeen in Strength, he was beyond what could ever be attained by a human, but he needed to keep in mind that he was no longer a human.
The brutality of it set in for Mark. Up until now, he had almost treated everything like a videogame. Go here, shoot that, reach this objective. Faced with the reality that he had just punched a bear to death, and that it had exploded in viscera, emphasized the consequences of everything he was doing. He had even assumed responsibility for a few people. He didn't know what he was doing, it was all an act.
Mark then decided that he would have to get stronger. Things like that bear were surely only the beginning, and he saw how easily it had incapacitated everyone else. If it weren't for his monstrous stats, they all would be dead. Mark knew that some would throw themselves into danger like himself, and he would search those people out, as they would help him protect those that could not handle the intensity of battle. He would not waste the gifts he had been given to him. With his new mindset sorted out, Mark noticed that his soldiers were waking up.
He could only assume that they inherited some portion of his stats since they were the first to wake up, with everyone else following half an hour later. As soon as Mike saw the state of the bear and the gore that Mark was covered in, he immediately passed out again. Naomi looked a little pale, but Arlo was handling it the best.
"What happened?" Arlo asked nervously.
Mark sighed and answered honestly, "I punched the bear to death."
"Run that by me again?"
"I punched the bear to death. His mental attack didn't knock me out."
". . .But to do that, you'd have to be insanely strong. And why not just use your gun?"
"Yeah, about that. I said my skin was like this due to a skin condition, but that's not the truth. I got to a high level in the Tutorial and I got to choose an advanced race as my starting race. It's also how I got the commander class."
"I kind of figured as much. No offense, but you're not the best liar. Well, I guess we're lucky you're here. The last thing I saw was that it was a psi-bear."
"About that, you should be more careful with what you Identify. It seems like it can set off some more intelligent of the wildlife."
"Yeah, I won't be making that mistake again. Are you okay? You look pretty shaken up from the fight."
"I'm fine. I've got it all sorted in my head now. We'll get moving soon. I'm just gonna go change my clothes."
Mike had woken up during their conversation, but as Mark moved away he heard Mike approach Arlo.
"What is up with that guy?" Mike said in a hushed voice.
"I don't know, but he's pretty strong. You can see what he did to that bear." Arlo responded in a clipped voice, sounding ashamed at talking behind Mark's back.
"It seems like bullshit to me. No way he punched a bear to death. A fucking bear, man. I don't know what happened but I don't trust him. We oughta get outta here while we can."
"We probably shouldn't. He seems nice. Plus we can truly feel safe around him. You saw those wolves earlier today. We would have been dead if it wasn't for him."
"Sure, sure, but we don't even know what he wants. We're headed toward this red dot he keeps on about. What if he's just marching us toward our death."
"I saw his map. The thing is from the system. It moves with us and there's no way a paper map should be able to do that. If he wanted to kill us, why save us from the wolves? He could have just let them kill us if he wanted us dead for some reason."
"Fine. But I'm gonna have to see more out of him before I trust him like you do."
As Mark changed, he was a bit curious about why Arlo appeared to trust him so much. It seemed odd for someone he just met to support him like that, but maybe Arlo better recognized how close to death they were.
Mark chose to keep his eavesdropping to himself and instead focused on reaching his goal. First, he had to figure out who this man was that had tried to warn them about the bear. He was just waking up as Mark returned from changing.
"I'm alive?" He said, almost rhetorically.
"Yes, I killed the bear." Mark replied.
"I thought that was it for me. I saw the same happen to someone else as the tried to get some water from the river, but I couldn't warn them in time."
"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm just glad we could put an end to it. I'm Mark. What's your name?"
"I'm Cyrus. I've been trying to figure out what's been going on. I woke up in this forest two days ago and have had to hunt for food since then."
"Did you not get some kind of prompt to choose a class?" Arlo asked.
"I think so, but I wanted to be a hunter. I thought it was some kind of dream."
"What did it give you? I didn't know there were options other than the starting five," Arlo followed up, barely containing his curiosity.
"I don't have a class. I just have a profession. It says hunter, and it's helped me find all kinds of small game."
"Wow. I didn't know picking a profession was possible. I just assumed we had to find those on our own."
Arlo continued to ask a plethora of questions, but Cyrus didn't know much more. Mark was willing to let it run its course in the hope that he learned something as well, but hunter was not a profession he was interested in. He didn't know what he would try to get, but hunter was most likely a more single-person type of profession. Once Arlo had exhausted himself, Mark extended the offer to join them as he made his way to his destination. Cyrus politely declined, as he was currently searching for his wife. Mark bid him farewell and organized his soldiers once more.
Crossing the river turned out to be much easier than Mark figured it would be. The ford was only ankle depth, but upstream and downstream it reached depths of nearly ten feet. It resulted in some wet boots, but they were close to his objective and could dry their boots there.
Across the stream, there were much fewer trees and only tall grass that reached up to their knees covered the ground. After another ten minutes of walking, Mark could see a nearly five-yard-tall stone pillar just 100 yards from where they stood. Barely containing his excitement, Mark willed himself to maintain a casual pace.
It only took another five minutes to reach the base of the pillar. It was undoubtedly man-made, or possibly system-made, but completely unadorned. Mark pressed his hand to it and received a system prompt.
[Pillar of Civilization]
Do you wish to claim this Pillar of Civilization? Cost: 100 Basic Resources
Mark had found no other use for the resources he collected from his kills, so he thought "yes".