After spending some time cutting out the edible part of the cow, we proceed to exchange some of our loot with nearby people who had managed to assemble a large stash of wood. James then proceeded to teach us the Force Fist skill, it took Arthur and me most of the day to manage but we ended up succeeding, catching up to James and his level 3.
Charle Alewise - Level 3
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Mind - 10
Force - 10
Agility - 5
Spirit - 10
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5 remaining points to spend
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Skills (2)
"What do we do now ?" Arthur inquire
"I think we wait until we can enter a Realm again" I respond not too sure myself
"What happened to the world? Nobody seems to have any information" James natural worry-ness seems to kick in
"Look over there" I pointed toward the settlement that had formed into our old neighborhood a couple of wooden warehouses has been constructed since the beginning of this new life "People go on, they adapt, so should we! Those ring secrets must be discovered and the only way for the moment is to just dive in and learn as much as we can"
"We have level now, and skills, and characteristic points: this is a full-scale game with strange rules. During my two years in the Agility Realm, I didn't need to eat at all, I wasn't hungry, I drank from the river just because I wanted to but I am not even sure it was required, during this time I thought I was going to be in here until the end of time and when I finally come back to James and not even a second pass I realize this was just the beginning of this new world" That was one of the longest time I have heard Arthur talk, those two years change him.
I might be stuck into a Realm as well in the future, what will I do when that happens? Probably I will try to figure out the task day and night until I can go back to the real world but what if I can't succeed? I tap the ring and then on Mind
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You have met the criteria, would you like to enter the Mind Realm?
Yes / No
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"I am gonna enter the Mind Realm" I said with newfound conviction.
"Go for it, I am gonna wait a bit before entering any Realm I don't want to be stuck again" Arthur give me a resigned look before flashing a smile
The world shifted once more. I expected people to vanish as they have in the Spirit Realm and they did, only that the environment changed as well. I was in a white room, a light on my back displaying a big shadow of myself on the ground.
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You have entered the Mind Realm
Your Mind Realm is level 1
Anticipate the movement to evolve
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Another task with vague guidance... I quickly tap my ring to make sure I understood correctly.
Charle Alewise - Level 1
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Mind - 5
Force - 5
Agility - 5
Spirit - 10
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You are in your Mind Realm
Bend reality to your Mind to exit the Mind Realm
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Task - Anticipate the movement to evolve
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I sat down. Observing with attention my surrounding I made sure there was no door to the room I was in, I had approximately twenty-meter square to move around which wasn't much but not too small either as to make me feel claustrophobic. Where was the light coming from? It seems that whichever side of the room I chose to stand on, the light seems to always come from behind me. Wait a minute can I Spirit Jump or Force Fist while in a Realm? I quickly close my eyes and try to spirit jump outside of the room which causes me to hit myself hard on the wall. The good thing is I can Spirit Jump, but it seems that if I don't see where I want to go I can't pass through a wall. Force Fist had a similar effect as I hurt my hand while trying to break the white surrounding.
Despite those events, I didn't feel pain whatsoever, like any damage I would take while inside a Realm seems to not count at all. Was that why Arthur didn't need to eat during the two years he was in the Agility Realm? Will I spend two years in the Mind Realm? I couldn't help but wonder. Anticipate the movement to evolve... Movement of what? There isn't anything here except me. Was I supposed to anticipate my movement?
I Spirit Jump one meter away multiple times to occupy my spirit, I didn't seem to feel exhaustion like I was in the real world, with that many Spirit Jump I'm guessing I would be on the floor if I was outside a Realm.
I felt like sleeping, so I laid down and close my eyes, the pitch-black comfort of my sleep gave me strength, once awaken I stand, how long have I been here? The white room seems to have taken time with it. I started to focus on my shadow, raising an arm, then another, making shapes with my hand, birds, and such like when I was a kid. Maybe it's the shadow. Maybe I need to anticipate the movement of the shadow? But a shadow is just the reflection of my body through brightness.
Starting to make a clean movement with my arms I kept focusing on the shadow, while doing so I started thinking about my movement, just before doing one, I thought of the next. Repeating this exercise I was able to understand what reflection will the shadow provide for the movement I was going to make. Was that anticipating the movement? The task I was given, was I suppose to feel what movement will come in any situation? Just as I ask myself this question a window pop up
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Your Mind Realm evolved to level 2
You have evolved to level 4
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I was with Arthur and James again. Arthur eyes were me, his smile still here. It felt good to see.
"I'm back." I said making a smile on my own.
"How long were you gone?" James ask
"I don't know, a couple of days maybe... It was strange" Estimating the time in the Mind Realm seems complicated.
"Think you can teach us the skill?" When Arthur ask me that I tap my ring to know what was the skill details
Skills
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Spirit Jump - You can jump to an area fifty meters away
Force Fist - You can channel your inner strength to your fist
Mind Anticipation - You can anticipate the flow of movements
"No I don't think I can, it's too abstract" Anticipate the flow of movement... paying attention I saw that I knew what steps the different people around us were going to make.
I stand and walk around while eating a piece of meat we took from the cow, seeing movements in advance was quite the feat, it made me a bit dizzy, I spew on the floor to try and wave away the sick sensation. It was gonna take some time to adapt it seems.
"All those level three and more are to assemble in warehouse number one please" someone shouted from nearby, I looked at my brothers who stands and started walking toward the warehouse, I follow wondering what this was all about.
Arriving at the fortune house I noticed that not many people were there, we were dozens give or take, I positioned myself next to Arthur and James and waited to see what was going to happen. A man with sharp feature position himself in front of the group, waiting for silence before talking
"Hello everyone, my name is Marle Gotsky, I don't know much more than you about the situation worldwide but concerning everything in a 100 km radius, no sign of civilization remains except the population. If you are here that means you have entered those mysterious Realms that the ring everyone got allow us to visit. I have information for you. I am level 4 with a Mind Realm level 4, during the task of my last visit to my Realm I found out that there are other species than us in the world now, we may not be able to see them for now but we must understand that as we level up, so are they, and as our Realm level up so is our environment."
"What do you mean by our environment?" I ask
"I mean this area where we live, it's level two now and with a level upgrade everyone level three or higher can enter the Realm of Zone 265 which is this area"
"And what is in this Realm?" someone asks nervously
"I don't know for sure but I expect there will be a battle"