Chapter 2
As he wandered through the Forrest, with no sense of direction, but he guessed he was walking west with the now full risen sun shining on his back, his mind was whirling with questions and wild thoughts. “Is this really happening? Where am I? Where is everyone else? Is this only happening to me? He couldn’t imagine that every single Human was living through the same Situation right now. How would they handle themselves?” Then, a rustle of leaves on his right side shook him out of his revelry. Something was moving in the dense underbrush not even five Meters away from him. Erik became very still. He mentally prepared himself. “Is this another Dog? Something else?” He raised his Sword and Shield. All his earlier excitement about the Weapons had left him after his Fight. Instead of enjoying himself wearing them, he now threaded raising them. But still, he was ready, as ready as a College Student in a hostile new World with Age old Weapons could be anyways. As he waited for whatever was in the Forrest to come at him, he took in all the other sounds. Distant Bird chirping, the wind blowing through the Trees and… Erik spun around as a stick cracked behind him. He only had time to take a quick glance before he was faced with another wild Animal. This time it didn’t resemble a Dog. It seemed closer to a Deer he guessed. It was nearly as tall as he was with small green Antlers sprouting from its Head.
Green Leaf Stag
Level: 2
The little blue Box appeared above its Head. It looked at Erik with something close to intelligence shining in its small dark eyes. Behind it, another Deer came into sight, this one without Antlers.
Green Leaf Hind
Level: 1
Erik slowly backed away, his Heart pounding in his Chest, he was not confident at all in fighting a freaking Hind or Stag or whatever the difference was. The bigger one started to walk in his direction, throwing glances at its Partner and lowering its Antlers toward Erik. “Oh shit!”, Erik turned around and began to ran. He had no idea if these Animals were going to follow him but he was not ready to find out if his Shield could handle the Antlers. Cracking Sticks and loud Grunts echoed in the Woods behind him. His Mind raced as he sprinted through bushes and low hanging foliage, the noises behind him closing in every second. He kept running, if he stopped they would catch him in seconds, he was sure about that and he didn’t want to find out if they were just curious or hostile towards him.
He then reached a small clearing in the dense Woods. A small Pond was lying there, with no ripple going through its smooth and clear surface. Next to it, a two Meter tall Pillar was spouting from the Earth, giving off a slight blue glow. Behind him a crashing sound rang through the Air. As he turned around, Erik saw that the two Animals had crashed into an invisible barrier at the edge of the clearing. The smaller one lay there, with its neck twisted in an unnatural angle, only a hoof still twitching. Erik turned to the Stag, it was still standing but swaying a little from side to side, trying to stand upright, blood dripped from its head where the antlers had cracked its own skull. It bleated weakly at Erik, stomping its hoof as they locked eyes. Confused, Erik could just stand there. “How the hell did that happen?” he asked no one in particular. He mustered the swaying Stag, its eyes half closed, struggling to stay standing with blood still streaming from the small wounds in its head. Slowly its legs gave out under it and it collapsed at the edge of the clearing. A pang of guilt and sympathy shot through Erik. He saw that this animal was doomed, and though it had tried to kill him he couldn’t help but feel sorry for it. It was only an animal after all. He would put this Stag out of its misery, even though he recoiled at the thought of killing again. But the pained sounds and bleary looks the Deer gave him was enough for me him to feel pity with this helpless animal. It was dying anyways and Erik was not cruel enough to let it suffer for no reason. With unsure steps he began walking towards it, the resolve in his mind strengthening his decision.
As he reached the wounded animal they locked eyes again, this time the roles were reversed. Fear was all to evident in the Stags eyes as it looked up at him and pure resolve was shining through his own. He raised his bloody sword, he didn’t even had thought about cleaning it after the Dog Battle, other things had been on his mind. He closed his eyes as he plunged his sword deep into the Stags Chest, ending its suffering once and for all. As he looked up again trying to avert his look from the dead animal, a new blue box had appeared again in the bottom right corner of his vision. He turned around towards the pond. He couldn’t stand the sight of even more blood and violence that he had caused. It was to much for him at this Point. He needed to get his thoughts away from all the Carnage, that was lying behind him. As he walked away he opened the Box, feeling sick to his stomach.
-Congratulations-
Level Up
Erik frowned. He leveled up from killing a wounded animal? That didn’t seem right. He felt bad about getting rewarded for senseless killing. Erik had never killed anything bigger than mosquitoes in his life, but in the last few hours he had killed three animals and was responsible to a degree for the death of a fourth. What was happening to his Life, how could it all go sideways so fast? “This is messed up”, he declared more to himself than anything else. But what did that even mean. Did this imply he had to go around this Forrest and slaughtering its Animals to level up? These thoughts was all he could think about as he neared the Pillar still standing in the middle of the clearing. He paused and looked up at it. With his 1,75 Meters, Erik was never a tall person so the sight of the towering glowing Pillar in front of him made him stand there for a few moments. Then he reached out a Hand to touch it.
-Safe Zone discovered-
Congratulations, you found a Safe Zone. This Zone will be active for 6 Earth Days and 21 Hours before dissolving. No hostile Lifeforms to the native Human Population will be able to enter for this set Time.
These Pillars function as a guiding Hand for newly integrated Worlds. Basic Information will be accessible when touching them.
Your Planet was assimilated into the wider Cosmos by the System. After scanning it, changes were made resulting in the Earth being altered. It is now 2.5 Times larger than before, with new Lifeforms roaming the surface and Energy Levels rising for the first Year. This change in Energy Level will result in the Wildlife becoming stronger and more fierce the more Time goes by.
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As you have seen by your Status Screen you now possess six different Attributes, each resembling a different aspect of your Body and Mind. With each Level up you will gain a set amount of Points, which you can distribute as you see fit. When reaching a certain Level, different System Options will become available. Each Point in a certain Statistic will increase your corresponding Psychical or Mental Attribute, so you will need to choose carefully. After every 10 Levels, more Information will be available when touching a Guiding Pillar.
Erik took a Step back. “Safe Zone? Is that what happened to the deer? Did they get stopped by whatever is protecting this Place?” He tried to estimate the Area of the clearing. “Maybe 8 by 8 Meters?” So not the biggest Space but it seemed to be save. He went to a different spot of the clearing so he wouldn't see the dead Deer laying there. He reached out his Hand to try and feel for a kind of Barrier but just as he had entered with no Problems he wasn't feeling anything. How did this work? He wasn't able to think of a solution to his questions so he turned around for the time being and finally relaxed his mind and muscles after hours of thinking and being on edge.
His Sword dropped to the ground and so did he. He was exhausted. Thirst and Hunger started to creep up in his stomach. He took off his Backpack. This whole time he didn’t think about opening it, just carrying it along on his back. He poured the contents on the floor. A small bottle, maybe fitting around 500ml of Liquid, a pot, a blanket and a small knife were arranged in front of him. He also spotted a flint stone in between them. “So, at least I got something to take Water with me and also a blanket for the night.” Erik looked up at the sky. The sun was shining from above, looking like noon already. He lost all track of time while wandering around and escaping from the Deer. The weather was warm, no trace of the starting autumn which had started the last few weeks. Acknowledging his thirst, he made his way to the small Pond. It was maybe 2 Meters wide and its Water seemed to scream Erik´s Name. He greedily started to drink from it, quenching his thirst. The Water was almost heavenly send. Clean and cold it ran down his throat, making him sigh in relief. After he had his fill he went back to his Belongings and opened his Status Screen.
STATUS
Name: Erik Haert
Age: 24
Allegiance: Earth-43I
Progression Stage: 0
Level: 2
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 6
Constitution: 6
Mental Strength: 6
Mental Speed: 8
Luck: 6
Free Points: 2
Achievements: The Reaper (Be the first Human to kill a hostile Entity on your new Planet- +3Strength +1 every other Stat)
First Kill (Kill a hostile Entity- +1 Strength)
Skills:
He looked at it, finally spotting the Free Points he had accumulated by his two level ups.
He thought about the Information he had gathered from the Pillar. Earth had been changed. It was not the World he knew anymore. It felt surreal. He was here, fighting for his Life in this Forrest with strange and aggressive creatures. As he inspected his Status Screen his Mind turned to the attributes and achievements. What did the Pillar say? They resembled a certain aspect of him? As he thought this, new information popped up on his screen.
-Attributes-
Strength: Your physical Prowess
Dexterity: Your Agility and Movement
Constitution: Your Bodies Endurance, Resistance and Regeneration
Mental Strength: Your Mental Fortitude
Mental Speed: Your Minds ability to understand and process Information
Luck:???
Questions marks? He understood the meaning of all the other Attributes, they were similar to games to had played before. But Luck? Why was there no Description, what did it mean? He knew what Luck meant in his old Life, finding money laying on the ground or for some people even winning the Lottery. But now? How could Luck be a factor in this new World. Did it mean he would stumble across buried Treasures or just that he would find a safe Space at the right time? Erik didn’t know, but there was no point in overthinking this.
He turned to the other Attributes. If he remembered correctly his starting points in the white Room were different from the points he had now. Why was that? His eyes fell on the Achievements Tab in his Status Screen.
Achievements: The Reaper (Be the first Human to kill a hostile Entity on your new Planet- +3Strength +1 every other Stat)
First Kill (Kill a hostile Entity- +1 Strength)
So that is were his extra points came from. The realization hit Erik like a Truck. He wasn't the only one experiencing this Change. There had to be more like him if he understood the wording correctly. The first one, not the only one. Even though the Names of the Achievements were grim, he realized that the increased Statistics could have played a role in his surviving of the Deer. He felt stronger than he did ever before now that he focused on it. But were these increases following some rule? Was he now twice as strong as before or was it some kind of percentage gain. He couldn’t tell sitting there alone on the grass and he wouldn't find out if he kept sitting.
He remembered the two free points he had. What should he do with them? The System had told him, that he could distribute them as he wanted. But what did he want? What would help him in his current Situation? He didn’t know. Before he should allocate them he needed to find out what he would do in the next few Days. He needed a Plan, then he would know what do to with his points. With this thought fixed in his Mind, he stood up and started to think.