As I neared the oasis, the lavender flowers began to dot my surroundings, and the density of trees, shrubs, and other flora began to appear more apparent. My memories felt somewhat hazy, and I was finding it hard to recall certain events, especially those of my military career. Could this have been a side effect of the procedure?
A salty breeze swept across the meadow before brushing against my skin. From the minute details that I could remember, I knew this meant there was no doubt a coastline not too far from here. Right now, I had more pressing concerns to deal with, like finding a clean water supply and something to eat, if that existed at all in this world.
Though the spines of the trees were plenty, there was still enough space between them to notice sunlight reflecting off a body of water toward me. It looked like a small lake but resembled more of an oasis if anything with much plant life surrounding it. I would need to check it out later, but first, I wanted to inspect these lavender flowers. I walked closer to one of the flower buds and extended my hand to pluck it but was thrown off balance when an option popped up on the HUD.
[Scan Item]
Okay. Let’s see what happens when you press it. To my surprise, I just had to think about the command when the system began scanning as if it read my mind or something. Interesting! A circular loading bar appeared and filled in as the scan was completed, shortly followed by another couple of notifications.
[New Skill Gained. Herbalism Level 0]
[You scanned Lavender: +10XP]
The orb on my wrist began to glow again, indicating something had changed in the menu.
Profile
Inventory
Map
Lo and behold, a new tab had been added titled [
<<
Skills
Herbalism Level 0
10/50XP
Upon hovering my eyes over the name of the skill, a description appeared.
[Herbalism has many uses within other skills such as alchemy, cooking, and crafting. Scan herbs, plants, and other items to level up. Some items cannot be scanned until you gain the relevant skill.]
That’s awesome! I backed out of the menu to see if I could keep scanning it repeatedly, as I wondered if I could milk this thing for some easy XP… but then abandoned my XP farming idea when I saw the option had been replaced by something else.
[Collect]
It doesn’t take a genius to know what I did next, and that was to press it... with my mind. Holy crap! It vanished into thin air leaving only the naked stalk flapping in the breeze. “Now that… was cool,” I mumbled when another notification appeared.
[New Skill Gained. Foraging Level 0]
[You collected Lavender: +1XP]
<<
Skills
Herbalism Level 0
10/50XP
Foraging Level 0
1/50XP
[Foraging herbs, plants, crafting materials, and other items scattered throughout the world will grant experience to level up this skill.]
It wasn’t the best of descriptions but from what I assumed, they would get better as the system adapted and learned. Now, from what I knew about the system it was designed by a team of scientists along with some of the most advanced AIs on Earth. Was this system being controlled by an actual AI? Another thing that’s bugging me is this world even real and if so am I only able to access it with this system?
That was all Glen had told me moments before the procedure… he was supposed to get in contact with me once here but that was yet to happen. I sighed, another question that lingered in my mind was, how was all this affecting my profile? With that I backed out of the menu and pressed Profile.
<<
Profile
Level: 0
11/100 XP
HP: 100/100
SP: 99/100
MP: 100/100
Head: None
?
Torso: Cotton Tunic 99%
?
Arms: None
?
Legs: Cotton Pants 99%
?
Feet: Cloth Shoes 99%
?
Accessories:
None
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
From what I could tell so far, the XP gained through my skills directly added towards my main level. For now, I would need to carry on gaining experience this way in order to level up, unless I discovered other more lucrative ways of doing it. Maybe combat would provide more experience, but right now there was no way to tell. The thought of levelling up and getting stronger actually got my blood flowing and it felt great to have realistic goals in life once more rather than just waiting around for the reaper’s visit to come take my soul, as I did on that deathbed back on Earth.
With new excitement in my heart, I did what anyone would have and ran around like a madman collecting as many flowers as I could with a creepy grin on my face. With it being a crafting ingredient, I felt it was something I could use… or sell once I began meeting other people here. Are there other people here?
[You collected Lavender (12): +12XP Gained]
The notifications were rather repetitive, but after a certain amount they collated together into one. The process seemed very efficient as I didn’t have to physically do anything apart from pressing the command. That was when I felt an uneasy feeling take over me; it felt like my energy had dropped off a cliff. I felt short of breath as if I had gone on a short sprint. It hit me like a ton of bricks. “What the heck is going on here?” I blurted, gasping for air.
I opened my profile tab to further investigate this new development. That’s when I realized, every command I had completed using the system had a cost associated with it. My stamina bar had dropped down to 87/100 from just collecting a few damn flowers. Damn it! Now I had something else to worry about, the stupid system had charged me for its convenience. I could have just collected these silly flowers with my bare hands all day long without breaking a sweat. Well... maybe not in my old man state back on Earth... but still, it was bloody expensive.
With that in mind, I decided to be more reserved with my foraging spree from now on, only collecting a few items here and there in case I would need them later in a feeble attempt to conserve stamina. At least from what I knew so far, the system wasn’t charging me to walk, so I decided to stroll around the area to get a lay of the land.
The oasis, as I decided to call it, lay in the centre. Upon closer inspection, the water appeared crystal clear except for the few freshwater fish that had made it their home. Near the very bottom, on opposite ends, there were two holes, one where the water flowed in and another where it appeared to get sucked out. Where it came from and where it went, I had no idea. But it did resemble something of a recycling system that, in essence, ensured the water stayed clean.
Excellent! I thought, before cupping my hands. It was time to test if it was drinkable. I took a small sip. Surprisingly, it tasted better than normal water, so I gulped down more of it until my belly was full. Every second that passed, I felt a nice rush of energy flow throughout my body as I could feel myself slowly regenerating. After, I double-checked my stats. My stamina had already begun to increase in number, shooting up before my eyes. I waited for the bar to hit a hundred percent before closing the menu and continuing my reconnaissance.
The ground around the oasis was covered in grass, about a knee’s length taller than what carpeted the meadow where I first woke up, or shall I say spawned, as this felt more like an actual video game than real life. In addition to the tall grass, a wide variety of shrubs and bushes scattered the ground between the trees. Also nestled between the trees were old tree trunks and differently sized rocks. How did these rocks get here? I had no idea, but they were there and upon scanning them only the smaller ones were able to be collected which was the same with the tree trunks. I could definitely put them to good use later on when building a camp.
Stolen story; please report.
[You collected Softwood (6): +6XP Gained]
[You collected Hardwood (3): +3XP Gained]
[You collected Stone (3): +3XP Gained]
Watching these things vanish into thin air was fun and had gotten kind of addictive. I felt like a child playing with the window switch in my parents’ car. Yes, I was that kind of kid… besides this younger body had revitalised the inner child in me. It was strange as the years of experience seemed to have vanished. I sure was acting like… a kid. Could this be another side effect of the system?
Now back on topic. I had to be careful, so I kept an eye on my stamina points to avoid exerting myself too much. It was rather annoying but it’s what I had to do until I built enough confidence not to keep checking it. “Couldn’t they have just added this to the HUD as was normal with most RPGs?” I scoffed out loud. Maybe they’ll add that feature at a later date.
After a closer look at the bushes, I made a wonderful discovery. Some of them contained Raspberries and Blueberries, some of which looked ripe and ready for eating. I picked the best ones and stuffed them in my inventory, once again smiling every time they dissipated.
[You collected Raspberry (6): +6XP]
[You collected Blueberry (4): +4XP]
Great! With water and… some food ticked off the list I made my way to a small clearing I noticed earlier a short distance southwest of the oasis. I wondered if the berries were going to be enough to sustain me or was hunger just like it was back on earth. I definitely needed some rest after that; my stamina was getting low from all this system magic. I would go back to the oasis later on to drink more water to refill my stamina but first I needed to check my stats and inventory.
The sun began to hang low in the sky and the gentle breeze from earlier had become colder. The smaller trees and bushes did a great job of softening the wind. Sitting upon a tree trunk on the ground, I began to wonder, what’s it going to be like during the night? Will there be creatures that come out to hunt at night? Do creatures even exist here? Are there animals? I sure as hell hadn’t seen any apart from the occasional bird swooping down from the tops of the trees for some berries, but that was after I had discovered them.
I didn’t have the mind nor energy to think about the laws of this world. With night time looming, my goal was to find somewhere to build a camp or at the bare minimum some sort of shelter. And with that, I opened the menu once more and clicked on the map tab.
Holy crap! The quality was pretty decent and on top of that it gave me a bird’s-eye view of the local area. “Not bad at all,” I muttered to myself before noticing I myself was nowhere to be found on the map. I sighed, thinking back to the “maybe this is one of the features that will be added later on” moment.
Now then, about building a shelter. How on Earth do I go about doing this without tools? Will the system let me just place items and hope they connect? Pondering the question, I opened my inventory to see what I had collected so far.
<<
Inventory
?
Survival Kit
Lavender (12)
Softwood (6)
Hardwood (3)
Stone (3)
Raspberry (6)
Blueberry (4)
Capacity:22.22/250
Hold on a second. I still had the survival kit. In all the excitement of this new world and wandering about, I had forgotten about it. Well, I guess better late than never to check it out and see if it could shed some light on my situation. I clicked on the survival kit when the menu closed, and a notification appeared in its place.
Survival Kit
The Survival Kit can only be used once. After all items have been collected from its storage the container will become a regular Storage Chest Level 1.
Would you like to proceed?
“A single-use item, huh… It’s now or never, so yes, I would like to proceed.” As soon as I pressed yes. A holographic chest appeared in front of me on the ground. It was large enough to contain quite a few items and looked like it was made from decent materials. Another option also appeared.
[Place Here]
I moved the hologram just under the tree I was sitting next to and pressed the option. And just like that, a chest materialized in front of my eyes. It had been constructed of wood and had a metal casing around vital areas reinforcing its structure. The wood had been slightly stained green, more than likely signifying its role as survival-related. I moved closer to it, causing another option to appear.
[Open Survival Kit]
Without another thought I activated the option.
<<
Survival Kit
Crafting Hammer Level 0 (1)
Flint and Steel 100% (1)
Health Potion Level 0 (3)
Stamina Potion Level 0 (3)
Magic Potion Level 0 (3)
Leather Flask 0% Level 0 (1)
MRE (5)
Capacity: 7.5/10
“A loot screen… now that’s what I’m talking about.” I grinned before tinkering around. Just clicking on the items and the thought of transferring them did the trick. Once everything was in my inventory, I backed out of the menu.
The Survival Kit gleamed in a light blue aura before transforming itself into a simpler iteration of itself, [Storage Chest Level 1]. The action hadn’t given any notifications, but upon checking my inventory, the items had indeed transferred over within an instant without charging me for using the action. Awesome! Then I tried to open the storage chest; that’s when my happiness withered away. A notification had stopped me in my tracks.
[You currently lack the required level to use this item. You must be Level 1.]
“Haha, very funny.” I stuck my middle finger up towards the chest. “Screw you, system.”
It was correct in its scrutiny; I was, in fact, still at level 0. Annoyed, I checked my profile tab to see how much more experience I would need to level up.
<<
Profile
Level: 0
45/100 XP
HP: 100/100
SP: 78/100
MP: 100/100
Head: None
?
Torso: Cotton Tunic 99%
?
Arms: None
?
Legs: Cotton Pants 99%
?
Feet: Cloth Shoes 99%
?
Accessories:
None
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
I needed 55 more XP to level up and in turn be able to use these Level 1 Items. It was annoying but I would need to leave that for tomorrow; the blanket of evening had begun to unroll, and an uneasy feeling settled in my gut. The kind you get when you’re in a new place and you don’t know what dangers to expect. I backed out of the menu and opened my inventory once more.
<<
Inventory
?
Lavender (12)
Softwood (6)
Hardwood (3)
Stone (3)
Raspberry (6)
Blueberry (4)
Crafting Hammer Level 0 (1)
Flint and Steel 100% (1)
Health Potion Level 0 (3)
Stamina Potion Level 0 (3)
Magic Potion Level 0 (3)
Leather Flask 0% Level 0 (1)
MRE (5)
Capacity:19.72/250
The item that stood out the most was the [Crafting Hammer Level 0].
[A hammer enchanted with construction magic and self-repair. All items crafted using its built-in crafting menu will either use health, stamina, or magic points, depending on the nature of the item crafted.]
Amazing! This should solve my inability to build things. I wasn’t exactly the DIY type, unless it was military related, so for now, this should suffice as the system would do all the hard work for me. Before jumping the gun and praising the system, I should actually test this out before having to eat my words. Crafting test version 1.0, here I come.
I equipped the hammer, which obviously, had to appear out of thin air, and in typical system fashion, the handle landed directly in the palm of my unsuspecting hand... I dropped it. Damn thing appeared so fast I couldn’t react in time. It would take a few more attempts for me to get used to this whole item summoning thing, but it was rather cool. Imagine all the other cool things I could summon within a millisecond. “Fun times ahead I guess,” I jested with myself.
I gave the hammer a quick inspection before picking it back up. It was constructed from wood and looked exactly like the ones used by carpenters back on Earth. All in all, it was normal-looking, that was, until I picked it up. A blue aura emanated from its surface and small particles of glowing dust flew from it like sparks from a wood fire. This was followed by a command that appeared on my HUD.
[Open Crafting Menu]
Upon activating, it a crafting menu appeared.
Campfire
Stone x5
Softwood x2
Stamina: 10
Basic Shelter
Softwood x5
Hardwood x2
Stamina: 20
A [Campfire] and a [Basic Shelter] … there were more options, but they appeared to be locked by the system, most likely due to the fact my level was zero. From what I had in my inventory I met the requirements to build a basic shelter but lacked enough stone for the campfire. Not really a problem as there was plenty available in the surrounding area, I just needed to collect it.
I selected the [Basic Shelter] when another holographic outline appeared. This time it resembled a small structure built from planks of wood, held up by more wood from one end so there was enough space for someone to lie beneath it. The HUD allowed me to move it around and change its orientation. The placement had to be on a flat surface as whenever I had gone over a stone or bump in the ground, the image turned red and the option to place it vanished. I also couldn’t place it too close to the trees as there appeared to be some clipping resulting in more red warnings. “Got it, system. You don’t want me to build in dumb spots,” I mumbled.
After finding a decent space, I hit the [Craft] command and it materialized out of the holographic overlay, exactly like the survival kit had done earlier.
[New Skill Gained. Crafting Level 0]
[Crafting has been used by countless civilisations since the dawn of time. This skill allows you to build basic structures. Upgrading this skill unlocks bigger and better things to construct. Warning: Crafting items may consume HP, SP or MP, please see crafting requirements for more information.]
[You crafted a Basic Shelter: +25XP Gained]
Nice! That was a nice chunk of experience toward the next level. With it starting to get chilly, I really needed that campfire. I didn't want to freeze to death, so I ran around to gather what I needed before darkness consumed the area.
[You collected Softwood (1): +1XP Gained]
[You collected Stone (2): +2XP Gained]
And with that, I once more clicked the crafting menu and crafted the campfire.
[You crafted a Campfire: +25XP Gained]
[Crafting skill is now Level 1]
It materialized unlit, so I guessed that’s where the [Flint and Steel] came into play. I pressed the option to ignite it and it came to life. Funnily enough, it reduced the [Flint and Steel] by 1%, leaving me with 99 more uses. In addition to this, I also gained a level in my [Crafting] skill, but I was feeling a bit tired both physically and mentally. I decided to leave it be for now and made my way to the shelter. I lay beneath it after checking its sturdiness. A small bar appeared next to it reading 100%. From my experience, I knew this was its current condition and when it hit zero it would more than likely be broken. Before nodding off, I gave my profile a once over.
<<
Profile
Level: 0
98/100 XP
HP: 100/100
SP: 48/100
MP: 100/100
Head: None
Primary Weapon: Crafting Hammer Level 0
Torso: Cotton Tunic 99%
?
Arms: None
?
Legs: Cotton Pants 99%
?
Feet: Cloth Shoes 99%
?
Accessories:
None
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
With 2 XP left to level up, I set that as my goal for tomorrow and drifted away.