Exhausted Fredrick collapsed on the side of the glass powder road, making sure to not hit it with his bare hands, but instead lay next to it staring up into the canopy as his heart and lungs worked overtime.
He couldn’t claim to be in great shape, but once he got going, running could be quite fun.
Hearing the buzz of notifications also helped tremendously with motivation.
That, and a literal curse, details.
He took out his source of buzzing, his phone, which somehow rematerialized whenever he reached for it.
Like last time, it unfortunately melted into nothing and showed him his Status screen instead again.
‘I suppose my true phone is gone, shame, wonder if I could had called somebody with it’
Still, he couldn’t complain about getting superpowers instead:
You’ve exhausted your stamina, but pushed further:
+1 “Stamina”, You’ve gained 10 exp!
As it turned out, his stamina usage didn’t correlate entirely with how exhausted he was, as he was perfectly able to keep running after it had hid 0.
He did think he could feel a slight increase in how quickly he lost breath after that, as well as a minor decrease in his speed, but for all he knew it could have been placebo. It probably wasn’t, but it could have been.
If he was honest it felt a bit like running with the wind in his back, a wind he only noticed once it was gone.
You have a need, a need for speed, and you have shown effort in satisfying it:
+1 “Agility”, You’ve gained 100 exp!
Level up! 1 → 2
+ 10 Mystical Resource points
+ 1 Empowerments Points
You’ve exhausted your stamina, but pushed further:
+2 “Stamina”, You’ve gained 20 exp!
Level 2: 30/300 exp
it was quite tempting to put more points into Agility, having experienced its effect and all that.
He did kind of want to save them for later, but maybe something would change and he would regret it. Usually, in fiction there were Milestones when leveling up, all he had to do was level up until he hit one, and to do that he had to gain experience, and to do that he could gain Stats.
‘Actually, hold on, does that mean?...’
You’ve increased your “Agility” by 1!
“Agility” 2 → 3
Empowerment Points: 2 → 1
‘Worth a shot I suppose’
Using points didn’t give him experience.
While slightly bad for his progress, that wasn’t his concern right now.
He needed a plan of action.
‘I could also take a nap, this is quite comfortable, unless’
He took out his "Phone" again
Curse of the Lotus : 1
No, assuming that the value was an approximation of its strength, it hadn’t grown. He had multiplied his distance by quite an amount since last time he had felt it, so that wasn’t it.
Still, he should do something else than napping, with an annoyed huff he got up from position. Even if unmanipulated, he probably shouldn’t do something that evil curses would be happy about him doing.
He had to secure food, shelter, and water. Going back to his spawn-point did cross his mind, but he dismissed that for multiple reasons. Mainly Paranoia. Having no sense of the local geography he determined his best action was to simply continue forth hoping to find something on the way.
That, and look ahead from a high vantage point.
It was time to search for a good tree he could climb, there had to be at least one good tree to climb in this forest.
----------------------------------------
It took a bit longer than anticipated to find. Even if every tree was unique, they still largely followed the same idea of having their canopy high up in the air, and very few branches beneath it. It left a feeling of openness beneath the branches, at the cost of no obviously climbable tree.
You’ve recuperated some of your stamina x2! The restoration process allows for greater expenditure next time:
+2 Stamina! +20 exp
It took a few hours actually.
‘Finally an branch in an actual reasonable height’
A small detour off the road, and he stood next to a pale yellow tree. It’s trunk stood straight up, random singular branches stood out from it in 90 degree angles, gradually becoming longer and more clustered the further up they vent until it resulted in an almost perfectly Circular canopy at the top, it's only leaves blooming up there in a light green shade, letting an surprising amount of sunlight through.
‘The message said this world was created by our collective understanding of how it should be, but I'm quite sure nobody believes trees should look like this, so what gives?’
He looked at the lowest branch, which was about a few inches above his head, contemplating it for exactly 3 seconds, then casually attempted a standing jump as high as he could, while trying to pull it beneath him with his hands.
With unexpected ease he got it under him, he barely had to pull himself up. The experience left him dumbfounded for a moment.
‘Oh, that is what 3 Agility does, huh? Makes sense’
Agility meant faster limb movement, which meant he could propel himself upwards with greater velocity, which in turn meant it had a very direct impact on his jump height.
He had estimated his jump to be roughly 60 cm, or slightly more than one third of his full height. Instead he cleared about 75 to 80 cm. The difference didn’t sound that impressive until one accounted for the fact that it was just barely enough of a difference for him to put his center of mass above the branch.
‘That was about…30% higher? 10% per agility point? Yeah, right, is OtherWorld really that lazy with its numerical increase? It could of course always be something weird like a 9.3% or 11.2% increase per point, that makes mo…’
CRACK, the sound almost echoed through the otherwise quiet forest.
‘Was that me?’
Another CRACK was heard, followed by the sound of a surprised Fredrick landing hard and flat on the ground. Right on top of the broken branch.
“Ooooooffffff…” He groaned.
He spent a solid minute replacing all the air that had been knocked out of him, then he slowly and painfully turned himself around and got up.
‘it might leave some bruises, but nothings broken, I think’
No, the real hurt, in his opinion, came from the loss of a climbable tree.
‘At least i got a decent stick from it’
He picked up the former branch, now promoted to stick., fittingly it reached straight to about his shoulder height.
“AWOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo……” The sound of a wolf howl.
His grip tightened, his mind suddenly cold with fear.
‘shit’ That sound was way too close for comfort.
With hasty steps he started moving away, he couldn’t remember the details, but he was pretty sure running would only encourage any wolves to hunt him more.
That and he hoped to stay unnoticed like that. Although a little more speed couldn’t hurt in this situation:
You’ve increased your “Agility” by 1!
“Agility” 3 → 4
Empowerment Points: 1 → 0
“ooOOOoooooo” That one sounded different, and from the direction he was moving in.
yet he could not spot it.
He turned 90 degrees toward the glass-road, trying to hold his fear at bay.
‘Maybe they heard the sound of me falling? What are the chances of this being a coincidence and they’re NOT after me? shit, shit, shit, Wolves don’t hunt humans, so what gives? Dogs are humanity's best friend, them being dog-adjacent makes them..our 2nd best friend? Maybe it's a misunderstanding and we can be pals’
He stopped.
A third wolf had appeared on the glass-road, right in front of him. Its teeths shown in a snarl. Its feets slowly moving towards him in careful steps. The eyes did not portray any friendly intent at all.
Frederick could only assume that the two other wolves he had heard were behind him, on both his sides. It didn’t leave any perceived good escape route to him. He felt he likely needed some confirmation of the other wolves' location, but at the same time he couldn’t really take the eyes of the one he saw in front of him.
His grip tightened to an uncomfortable degree around the stick. ‘Don’t run, Don’t run’
With enormous mental effort he angled his movement and field of view to allow him keep an eye on the wolf he saw, and also look in a direction he suspected one of the others would be in.
Startled, he found that it had nearly sneaked into pouncing distance.
‘Screw not running, time to bolt!’
You’ve increased your Max Stamina by 10!
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Stamina 13/15 → 18/25
Resource points 20 → 10
You’ve Increased your Max Adrenalin by 10!
Adrenalin 9/10 → 14/20
Resource points 10 → 0
He barely registered how only half of his resource points turned into the actually immediately useful resource. All he focused on was setting into a dead-sprint away from there.
“HOOOWWWWLLL!” Beyond all the panic he felt, a cold dread settled into his bones. He fell to his knees as a sensation of hopelessness engulfed him, it was as if his strength had left him, gone with the rapidly depleting echo of the Howl.
‘No!, I know this feeling!’
You’ve displayed an unwillingness to give in to the wolves "Howl of Despair!
+1 Self-determination! +100 exp!
lvl 2 (150/300)
just as he heard the sound of a leaping wolf, he shook free from it, and rolled to the side. Not a moment later the wolf landed where he had just been.It quickly recovered, and went for him again.
WHACK! a well timed hit to its snout stopped its momentum flat. It winced with pain, and it was bleeding from its snout.
Fredrick arms and hands were shaken with pain: His battle-stick, now blood covered, had a broken tip.
Had it been only this one wolf then perhaps he would have stayed his ground, but it had backup, and he wasn’t so delusional as to think he could take 3 of them on at once.
So he did not, but ran instead.
“HOOOOWWLLL” Another howl nearly brought him to his knees, but he kept running.
He wasn’t falling for the same trick twice.
Adrenalin courses through your veins! x2! Should you survive, more will be available next time.
+2 Adrenalin! + 20 exp.
You are using your stamina, yet you’re asking for more, and so it shall be granted.
+1 Stamina +10 exp
lvl 2 (180/300)
Throughout the “Fight”, although flight was a more apt description of the event, Frederick did his utmost in keeping them away.
He diped. He dived, He dodged. Repeatedly he had hit them with his stick, and repeatedly he had run away afterwards. Getting surrounded was a death sentence in his mind. His speed was sufficient to keep them on one side of him, yet it was not enough to shake them.
‘Dammit, I thought predators were supposed to give up on hard prey, am I really the best they got?’ He thought, his fear had slowly morphed into a sort of desperate frustration as the flight had no end. It was even getting dark!
You crave Adrenalin, yet your veins now run empty. Pray you get the opportunity to fill them with more.
+1 Adrenalin! +10 exp
lvl 2 (190/300)
Stamina 3/26
Adrenalin 0/23
Having Adrenalin effectively double his stats, by acting as another simultaneous appliance of stamina, made a huge difference, which was why running out of it was quite noticeable. The effect was so immediate he almost fell right there and then.
‘Fine, if this is how it ends…’
He recovered from his near-stumble, and got up in an upright position. With an so-far uncharacteristically slow movement he turned around to face the wolves for one more time. Pointy stick in hand.
The Red Lotus of Blissful Surrender lays roots deeper into your spirit.
+1 “Curse of the Lotus”. You’ve gained 100 exp!
lvl 2 (290/300)
The sheer absurdity made him chuckle, then laugh out hysterically with tears. What good did that do him?
The Wolves, weary of this unexpected change in his behavior, slowly circled him. None of them were yet willingly to attack him first, he had hit them a few too many times with his stick by this point.
‘I can only hope for something after dead, with current events that might be possible’
He had already given up. After such a long struggle he had accepted death to be upon him.
Wait.. Given up? Accepted death!? Was this the lotus speaking for him!?
‘If I am to die, I'm not going to die having a damn flower won over my mind, I WON'T!
No, he resolved to take at least one of those damn neanderthal-dogs with him.
In his mind he upgraded his stick into a spear. It was a weapon worthy of a warriors last stand, or so he hoped, as he put his will behind it.
Although his limps screamed in exhaustion, as the wolves moved for the killing blow, he barely managed to dodge two of them. It was the third one, the one who he had heard howl originally, he focused his spear on. With both his hands he thrusts right towards its heart.
For a moment the evening light of the sinking sun was accompanied by that of lightning and the sound of thunder.
The sound of his makeshift stick breaking, and the last gasp from the wolf, was entirely overshadowed.
What followed was silence. A strange feeling of something infused the air, as a life passed away.
You’ve wielded your sorcery, and bend the rules of Earth, may you continue to do so in the future.
+1 Mana! +10 exp
Mana 1/11
level up! 2 → 3
+10 mystical Resource points
+1 Empowerments Points
You’ve slain Wolf (Alpha)lvl 4! some of its strengths aligns with yours
its “Pack Authority” Empowerment aligns itself with your “Self-determination”
+1 Self-determination! +100 exp
Your “Self-determination”s has become slightly influenced.
It’s "Pursuit Tenacity” Resource aligns itself with your “Stamina”
+10 Stamina! +100 exp
Your “Stamina” Has become slightly influenced.
its spirit whisks away, yet some of what remains may be used by those who witnessed its passing.
+10 Resource points! +100 exp
+1 Empowerment point +100 exp
Your spirit has been has colored by this event.
level up! 3 → 4
+10 mystical Resource points
+1 Empowerments Points
‘That changes things’
He fell on his knee, the exhaustion had reached both his body and mind. The death of the leader left the remaining two wolves cautious.
It left him precious seconds to calculate his next actions. Could he, with the Points he had just gotten, beat two Wolves?
His spear had been broken, what remained was useless. He was barehanded, he was exhausted, and he couldn’t tell if he could replicate his magic in any way.
Honestly, the kill had likely been more so a result of hitting the heart, rather than any of the lightning had summoned.
The window of time given to him closed in fast. Their confidence slowly returned.
‘I can’t beat them, but…’
You’ve increased your “Agility” by 3!
“Agility” 4 → 7
Empowerment Points: 3 → 0
You’ve increased your Max Stamina by 15!
Stamina 6/36 → 13/51
Resource points 30→15
You’ve Increased your Max Adrenalin by 15!
Adrenalin 0/23 → 8/38
Resource points 15→0
…but he could run again.
Wind and trees flew past him as he set in the fastest sprint he could manage at that point. His chasers followed suit.
With his increased Agility "the fastest sprint he could manage" was faster than anything he had ever run before. A moment of clarity left him with the surrealist realization that he was outpacing two wolves in full sprint.
Nice to know, but that wasn’t his plan.
Spotting a good tree he adjusted his course slightly. Then, in full sprint, he leapt towards it.
7 Agility meant approximately a 70% increase in his jump height. With his Adrenalin helping him, it was a 140% increase. The actual, non-mystical, adrenalin didn’t hurt either.
His calculations had been more instinctual than mathematical, but they had been right: He could jump very high now.
Crashing through twigs and branches he solidly landed inside the canopy of one of the lower trees.
Ignoring the additional cuts and bruises he had gotten from that stunt he immediately crawled a few meters higher up, where he could find a comfortable resting position. Only then did he relax.
The Wolves, unable to follow up that high, prowled around the tree. Whatever mystical enhancements they enjoyed, it didn’t help them with this task.
A chuckle left Fredricks lips. Then it evolved into full-blown laughter.
He laid there, in the hard branches of a tree. Exhausted, bruised, battered, Hungry, thirsty and plain tired. Drained for everything he had.
Yet he laughed, to his heart's content.
The sun had just gone down, nothing but the moon, stars, and those weird lamp-post trees illuminated the night for him.
In that moment, it had been the most interesting and exhilarating day he had ever had. The catharsis of unexpected survival was one hell of a drug.