The morning dawned with a brilliant display of colors as the sun ascended in the sky. The trio gathered near a tree adorned with the enigmatic glowing symbols. Wayne began to sketch them in a small notebook, trying to decipher any patterns or meanings. The others stood guard, eyes scanning the perimeter for any signs of danger.
"These symbols are unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” Wayne said, his finger tracing the intricate lines.
Sarah leaned in, studying the symbols. "I've read about ancient languages and symbols. These almost look like runes you’d see from the Ancient Norse, but they also appear to have some futuristic aspects to them, it’s like someone took something from our past and changed it and craved them into this tree.” Sarah walked around the tree looking at all the glowing lines.
Thompson spoke up, "We should consider improving our combat skills. The creatures won't wait for us to figure this out. Training is crucial." He was still scanning the wood line.
Wayne looked up at him thoughtful, “I agree, I really need to learn how to use this pistol and honestly even the machete, I just swing it like a gorilla in a rave at this point.” He said chuckling as he envisioned it. Thompson laughed too before saying “This is a pretty big area, I could probably put together a small range to help you practice, but I don’t wanna waste too much ammo, who knows if we’ll find more anytime soon.” Wayne nodded and Thompson headed off to set up a training area. Sarah kept looking at the symbols so Wayne decided he would scout out the woods, see if he could find any more evidence of more evolved beast. Wayne ventured into the woods, the canopy above casting dappled patterns of light and shadow on the forest floor. Every step was a careful one, his senses heightened, attuned to the rustle of leaves and the snap of twigs. Living on the streets most of his life he had developed the ability to ignore the background noise of the city. When he first entered the woods, it was almost too quiet for him. But he soon learned the sounds of the woods, and which he could tune out. These woods though, had an eerie stillness, a sense of expectancy that made his skin prickle. As he moved deeper, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. He glanced back towards the meadow but saw only the distant glow of the symbols on the tree. The symbols... they seemed to pulsate with an otherworldly energy, a language of the unknown. A sudden feeling overcame Wayne as he stared at the symbols, a thought came to him from seemingly nowhere. He felt an urge of sorts and he pushed a through towards the symbols, it was a simple though, only one word ‘Knowledge’. There was a bright flash, in Wayne's eyes only, so sharp he fell back and grabbed his head. Pain shot though his brain and down his spine as knowledge was crammed into his mind. He was far enough away that Sarah hadn’t noticed yet. Wayne laid on the ground gripping his head as pain and knowledge pulsed though him. After a few minutes it stopped and he was able to sit up, though he was shaking, and his arms and legs felt very weak.
PROMPT:
Congratulations, you forced your mind to learn a new, foreign language. Ability unlocked “Coniferales Translation” Anytime you see this language you will immediately know the words. If it’s a word you haven’t learned yet you will need to study, it for a moment before it will be translated. Due to your Enlightened state this ability has evolved and will now translate any languages from Earth, “Tower of Babel”. If you find a language not from Earth you will need to study it, but even those languages will bend to your will.
Before he could dismiss that prompt a new one appeared.
PROMPT:
Congratulations, you have unlocked the abilities tab! For being the first person on earth to unlock an ability you have gained 75 experience points. Continue to grow Enlightened, but be warned, power draws power.
“What the fuck…” Wayne reached up and grabbed his head, it still hurt but was a dull ache compared to what he went through a few minutes ago. “I really hope this isn’t a trend… I don’t wanna have to deal with all this pain just to advance…” he sighed before getting up and heading back to Sarah. Sarah noticed Wayne approaching, his face contorted with pain and confusion. “Hey, are you alright?” she asked, concern etched across her features.
“I think so, I was looking back at the tree…”He trailed off as he looked over at the tree and saw that the symbols had stopped glowing. “Well that sucks.” Sarah following his gaze, gasped. “What happened?” She asked as she begin to examine the tree.
“That’s probably on me, I was looking at the symbols thinking about how we needed more knowledge and then well honestly I’m not sure what happened it’s like the symbols downloaded into my brain and gave me a new ability.” As he talked about it he pulled up the new tab.
Ability:
Tower of Babel You can understand all known languages of Earth, You can understand all known languages outside of Earth after studying them for a bit.
“Hm it’s called Tower of Babel, isn’t that the thing they were trying to build to the sky or something and it fell down and somehow created all the languages we speak now?” Wayne was a Christian, being from Georgia he was actually a southern Baptist, but he wasn’t the most religious person and really only remember small bits about his religion.
“Yeah they were trying to build a tower that reached into the sky, God thinking they were being blasphemous, building the tower to avoid a second flood, made everyone start speaking a different language, with them unable to understand each other the construction failed and they all separated.” Sarah shook her head and smiled at Wayne. “You continue to surprise me Wayne, I’m glad you found your way to my town.”
Wayne blushed slightly before replying “Me too.” He looked away, pretending he was interested in the symbols. Sarah chuckled and walked up beside him. “Hm it looks like this one means Understanding.” He said tracing his finger over a symbol, he pulled out his notebook and started writing the meaning beside the symbols he had drawn earlier. “Hm there seem to only be three, but they are repeating, ‘Understanding’, ‘Knowledge’, ‘Power’. Understanding and Knowledge seem like the same thing, but they are used almost as opposites here.” Wayne scratched his head, having a full understanding of a new language was amazing and terrifying all at the same time.
PROMPT:
You have found the source of the growth, All you have left to do is ensure no more beast have evolved. Continue along your path Enlightened, and good luck Survivor.
Sarah gasped slightly and Thompson came jogging over.
“So uh, what did I miss?” he said laughing slightly. “Did ya’ll figure out what these symbols mean?”
Wayne took a minute to explain what he had gone over with Sarah.
“So we can unlock abilities? That’s interesting, I wonder if we have to find places like this or if there are other ways to unlock them.” Thompson said looking around hopefully.
“I’m not sure, hopefully there are other, less painful, ways to unlock abilities.” Wayne said shaking his head as he recalled the pain. “I think once we clear out the evolved beast, we should head out though. I’ve still got a feeling pulling me North.”
“So… no need for the range then?” Thompson said a little defeated.
“I’m sorry man, I thought maybe we’d be here longer.” Wayne said placing his hand on Thompson shoulder.
Thompson sighed “It’s fine, I only rolled some logs out and placed them upright, nothing too intense. But we should explore the woods and see about finishing this quest.”
Sarah and Wayne nodded and they headed out. The trio ventured deeper into the woods, their senses sharp, and their nerves on edge. Tower of Babel, Wayne's newfound ability, remained a source of wonder and intrigue. As they moved through the underbrush, they kept their eyes peeled for any signs of evolved creatures. The eerie stillness of the woods made the hunt even more unnerving. Minutes turned to hours as they scoured the woods, adrenaline surging with every rustle of leaves and every distant creaking of branches. Wayne couldn't shake the feeling that the forest was holding its breath, as if anticipating a confrontation. Suddenly, Thompson signaled for everyone to halt.
"What is it?" Wayne whispered, his hand on his machete.
"I thought I heard something," Thompson replied, his eyes scanning the surroundings.
A tense silence enveloped them, broken only by the distant call of a bird. They waited, barely daring to breathe. Just as they were about to move forward, a low growl shattered the stillness, echoing through the woods. Suddenly, a creature lunged from the shadows, a twisted and ferocious form, its body a grotesque amalgamation of animal and something unrecognizable. Wayne dove to the side, Sarah dropped to the ground and Thompson fired three shots at the beast. One round impacted the beast in it’s shoulder, another hit it in the chest and the third missed. The beast let out a loud roar as it landed, then crumpled to the ground. Wayne and Sarah were quick to get back on their feet, the circled around the beast and finally got their first look at it. It appeared to have the body of a wolf, but instead of fur it was covered in moss, where its skin should have been it was thick wood. It looked like something straight out of a video game, or movie.
Thompson called out, “It’s called a Coniferales Wolf, it’s a though bastard, my shots only did a few points of damage. It’s almost like it has body armor.”
It only took a second for the wolf to get back on it’s feet, a slight limp but they could see the wound starting to heal, it was like the wood was re-growing before their eyes.
“We have to end this quickly, I think we’ll be better off using the machetes instead of bullets.” Thompson said, as he put his pistol away and took out his own machete. “Two of us should distract and the third moves in, we’ll go with me attacking first, then Sarah, then Wayne. We will keep this up until it is killed or god forbid it adapts.”
With the plan set Sarah and Wayne started making loud noises to draw it’s attention. The wolf turned around quickly and eyed them, letting out a growl that sounded like a wood chipper. Sarah and Wayne acted like they were going to attack it, causing it to lower and prepare, just as it lowered it self down Thompson rand up and slashed deep into is rear leg. The beast let out a loud howl and spun around quickly, too quickly and sent Thompson sprawling onto the ground, barely able to keep hold of his weapon. Just then Sarah rushed in and attacked the same leg, her blade cut in deeper and the wolf wasn’t able to turn as quickly this time. This gave Thompson enough time to jump to his feet and retreat slightly. Just as the wolf looked ready to attack Sarah, Wayne attacked, hitting the same leg and cutting the rest of the way through. The leg dropped to the ground, a sap like substance leaking from the wounds. The wolf snarled and tried to jump at Sarah but kicked off oddly and landed hard on it’s side. The group not giving it time to recover rushed and began slashing and stabbing the wolf over and over. It was over in a few minutes. Each of them covered in twigs, moss, and sap.
PROMPT: Congratulations, you have slain Coniferales Wolf (Evolved). You gain 10 experience points.
PROMPT: Quest updated, you have found and slain a Coniferales Wolf, ensure no more of his kind exist.
Wayne waved away the notifications and sat down panting hard. “Fuck that thing was scary, good thinking with your plan Thompson.”
Thompson smiled. “Thank you, it seems the system liked it too, I got an extra 5 experience points for developing ‘A plan of attack’.” He chuckled as he also sat down also. Sarah also joined them.
“Seems we have to search for anymore of these guys that might be around.” Wayne said, thinking about the quest.
“Wolfs do typically travel in a pack, but who knows how these evolved creatures work, Squirrels are not typical pack animals and yet we fought some yesterday.” Sarah said
Wayne was about to mention the wolfs name shared the same name as his ability before it but then he recalled the pain from last night as he was about to tell them about his change to race. ‘Better keep that to myself, the prompt said I only got one warning and I don’t wanna know what will happen to me next time.’ He thought to himself.
“Alright let’s get back out there, I’d like to try and finish this quest before tonight.” Wayne said standing up. The other followed.
The trio, battle-worn and covered in the remnants of their struggle with the Coniferales Wolf, pushed onward through the woods. They were keenly aware that they needed to ensure no more of these evolved creatures roamed the area. The adrenaline from the fight still pulsed through their veins, fueling their determination. As they ventured deeper into the forest, their senses on high alert, they suddenly heard a faint rustling in the underbrush. Thompson signaled for everyone to stop once again. The rustling grew louder and closer, and from the foliage emerged another Coniferales Wolf. This one seemed larger and more menacing than the previous, its eyes glinting with a feral intelligence. Fear surged through Wayne, memories of the earlier battle fresh in his mind. He knew they had to fight again, but this time the stakes were higher.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“Just like last time, one attacks two distract.” Thompson shouted, the wolf cocked his head to the side slightly before turning to face Thompson. When he did Sarah rushed forward and slashed its leg, the machete bit in deep but got stuck, the body of this wolf was much stronger. The wolf turned quickly, throwing Sarah several feet backwards. She hit the ground hard, wheezing and gasping for breath. Wayne let out a battle cry and rushed forward slashing up at the wolfs head, it bit into the neck of the beast, causing it to rear back and let out a loud roar that almost burst Wayens ear drums. He quicky jumped backwards as Thompson rushed attempting to slash the same leg Sarah had attacked. The wolf step back then lifted the leg with the machete in it and kicked back hard into Thompson, it’s claws dug in deep leaving deep slashes across his chest. He went flying back and hit the ground, unmoving. Sarah was back up, and rushed over to him, a quick glance showed he was still breathing, just knocked out. She grabbed his machete and rejoined the fight. Meanwhile, Wayne had moved in two more times and slashed at the wolfs neck, each time the blade cut deeper. The wolf hadn’t just been taking the attacks though, Wayne had quite a few deep cuts along his arms and a few less deep across his chest. While the wolf was distracted Sarah rushed up and slashed into the leg of the wolf close to her blade, she reached out grabbed it and pulled both back, able to free it this time.
The wolf was panting, clearly in pain now, it whirled, slower this time, and faced Sarah. Wayne rushed up attacking the leg that was injured. Waynes blade cut in but missed the spot Sarah had hit. The wolf jumped high into the air almost pulling Wayne with him, but the machete came out of the beast leg and Wayne was only lifted a few feet into the air, he still landed hard on his back, all the air expelled from his lungs. Wayne rolled away and gasped trying to get his breath as the wolf landed. They had done enough damage to it’s leg though and it collapsed. Sarah rushed forward swinging both weapons like a wild woman. She aimed for the neck where Wayne had been attacking and after 20 or so swings the head was severed from the body.
PROMPT:
Congratulations, you aided in the defeat of an Alpha Coniferales Wolf (Evolved). You gain 15 experience points.
Wayne was back on his feet, he ignored the prompt and rushed over to Thompson. He looked bad, his face was completely pale, blood pooled all around him. Wayne dropped his weapon and places his hands on Thompson chest trying to slow the bleeding. In his rush he didn’t notice that his hands were covered in the sap from the Coniferales Wolf as soon as the sap touched the blood and wounds it turned almost liquid and flowed into Thompson body. Before Waynes very eyes the wounds began to stitch themselves closed and the bleeding stopped. After only a few moments the wounds were healed, and Thompson was breathing normally.
“Holy shit…” Wayne said sitting back, panting. Sarah came rushing over just then.
“Is he dead?!” she said dropping down next to Thompson, after inspecting him she looked up at Wayne confused. “How? I saw his wounds when I grabbed his weapon, I thought for sure he was going to die.”
“The sap from the Coniferales Wolf has healing properties, dare I say even magical healing properties. I watched the wounds rapidly heal before my eyes. If we can we need to gather more of that sap for emergencies.”
PROMPT:
New Quest!!!!!
You have discovered a new resource, collect more and experiment to uncover all the hidden capabilities of the Coniferales Wolf Sap. Would you like to share this quest with your party? Yes, No
Warning: Rewards will be split evenly among the party members.
Wayne gave a mental assent and he saw Sarah accept the quest. “Guess even the system agrees we need this stuff.” Wayne sighed. “I’m sure that doesn’t mean anything ominous…” Wayne got up and headed over to the wolf. “I have no idea how we are going to collect any of this stuff, it’d be great if I had something to store it in, or some way of knowing how to even collect the sap, other then cutting the damn thing apart.” As Wayne inspected the wolf, he began to see the glowing of symbols. ‘Hm what is this?’ he thought as he took his machete and began to crave away the bark. After a minute the symbols were visible, he pulled out his notebook, drew the symbols then focused on them to learn their meaning. ‘Collect’, ‘Protect’, ‘Serve’, Wayne focused on the word Collect, and he felt it coming a moment before pain shot thought his brain and down his spine. Though this time it was slightly more bearable. He just gritted his teeth and waited it out. After only a few seconds he was rewarded with a prompt.
PROMPT:
Ability unlocked “Resource Collection” you can now acquire resources more easily from slain beast. Due to your Enlightened state this ability has evolved “Hand of Cassidy” you can now acquire resources from any enemy you, or your pray slay. Items and resources will appear in an easy to handle and store state.
‘Did…. Did I manifest this or, was this always something I could have found?’ Wayne thought about this for a moment but then decided that was a thought for another day, for now he need to figure out how to use his new ability.
PROMPT:
Would you like to collect resources from Alpha Coniferales Wolf (Evolved)? Yes, No
‘Yes.’ Wayne thought, then a bight blue light shown from within the wolfs body. The body disappeared and 10 bottles of sap, the size of coke can, were left. They were all filled and closed with a lid that twisted off. The bottles were clear and inside you could see the yellow/amber color of the sap. There were also two sharp claws and two sharp fangs beside the bottles. Wayne took them and put them all in his pack. Thompson gradually stirred, his eyes fluttering open. He groaned, feeling a dull ache all over his body. But to his surprise, the intense pain he had experienced moments ago was now replaced with a sore but bearable discomfort.
"What... what happened?" Thompson muttered, trying to sit up.
"Easy there, you took quite a hit," Sarah reassured him, helping him into a more comfortable position. "But you're okay now, thanks to this sap we found."
Wayne, holding the bottles of sap, chimed in, "It's like a miracle worker. We'll need to be careful not to waste it, but it could be a lifesaver."
Thompson looked at Wayne in gratitude. "Thanks, man. And thanks for saving my hide."
"No problem," Wayne grinned. "We look out for each other."
As Thompson regained his strength, they decided to rest in the area to allow him to recover fully. Wayne and Sarah took this opportunity to talk about the recent events.
"So, Wayne," Sarah began, "that ability of yours—'Hand of Cassidy' It's like you can spawn items from slain beast or something.”
Wayne scratched his head, considering her words. "Yeah, it does seem that way.” ‘No need to mention that I’m pretty sure I can do it to humans we kill too…” he thought to himself.
After a few hours of rest, Thompson felt strong enough to continue. They made their way back to the meadow. Something else caught their attention—a massive figure in the distance.
"Is that... a rabbit?" Sarah squinted.
Indeed, it was a rabbit, but not any ordinary rabbit. It stood at a towering four feet, its size and demeanor clearly marking it as an evolved creature. The trio braced themselves for another fight, their muscles tensed and adrenaline pumping. They launched into action, Wayne engaging first with his machete, Sarah using her machetes, and Thompson keeping a careful eye on the creature's movements. The fight was fierce, the Coniferales Rabbit using its size and strength to its advantage. However, they were experienced now, working together seamlessly. Each blow struck with precision, and the creature struggled to keep up with their onslaught. The rabbit was able to land a few scratches and bites but nothing too critical. After the fight with the intelligent wolf this fight was almost too easy, distract then attack, same as with the first wolf. After only a few minutes the fight was over.
PROMPT:
Congratulations, you've defeated the Coniferales Rabbit (Evolved). You gain 10 experience points.
Sarah and Thompson gasped as they leveled up. “I just hit level one!” they both shouted. “I have five stat points I can distribute.” Sarah said.
“Yeah I got five also.” Thompson added in.
“That’s what I got when I leveled up too.” Wayne mentioned, but he was already moving toward the rabbit to collect its resources. Sarah and Thompson distributed their points, Sarah spreading them evenly but choosing to add two into Wisdom and none into luck for now. Thompson added 2 into strength and two into defense and one into speed. As they did that Wayne reached the body of the rabbit.
PROMPT:
Would you like to collect resources from Coniferales Rabbit (Evolved)? Yes, No
‘Yes.’ The same blue light shone through the body of the rabbit and then it was gone, in it’s place were two large rabbit pelts and some meat. The meat was wrapped in paper like you would get if you bought meat from a butcher’s shop. `Hm this meat won’t last long we should probably cook it tonight.’ Wayne walked back to the group and showed off what he got.
“Is that packaged meat?” Sarah asked, looking over what he had received.
“It looks like it yea, we’ll have to cook it now so it doesn’t spoil.” With that his stomach rumbled. “Just in time it seems.” He chuckled as he sat the wrapped meat down on a log and begin setting up the fire pit. Sarah and Thompson helped and soon they had the meat roasting over the fire as they relaxed.
PROMPT:
Congratulations, you have completed a quest! You have slain all evolved creatures that resulted from the tree. You discovered the tree that aided I their evolution. You have a choice as you were the original quest receiver and your Enlightened state.
You can keep the majority of the experience for yourself.
You can spread it evenly.
You can give more to your party
You can take all of the experience.
You can receive none of the experience (it will be split evenly between your party members.)
What do you choose?
‘Hm that’s odd, the quest originally said it would be spread evenly, am I only getting this because I’m Enlightened or would I have gotten the regardless. “Hey did the quest change for ya’ll” Wayne asked.
“Nope still just says to slay the beast, find the reason they evolved.” Sarah said. And Thomspon nodded.
“That’s all it says?” Wayne asked curiously.
“Yeah it’s just those two lines.” Sarah answered.
‘Hm so it didn’t even tell them about the spilt experience, it seems like the system wants me to cheat them out of their share.’ As he was thinking this over Sarah spoke up.
“Why did it change for you?” she asked, shaking Wayne out of his thoughts.
“Huh? Oh yeah, it is completed I guess it’s just waiting on me to close the prompt to update for ya’ll.” With that Wayne made his choice, and a prompt appeared in all their vision.
PROMPT:
Congratulations you completed the quest ‘Meadow of the Fierce Guardians’ you gain 20 experience, base 60 – split evenly between party members.
PROMPT:
Congratulations you have leveled up! You gain five stat points to distribute, your survival odds have increased by 100% new survival odds are 0.4%
PROMPT:
Choosing to share the experience with your party shows your willingness to work with people again, your survivals odds increased to 1.4%
PROMPT:
Your survival odds have risen about 0% Good luck Survivor.
After being bombarded with all the prompts, Wayne decided it was time to check his Status
Status
Name Wayne Race Human (Enlightened) Level 2 {EXP 2/221} {5 points to distribute} Lifetime EXP 282 Strength 4 Wisdom 6 Speed 4 Defense 2 Luck 3 Survival Odds 1.4% Health 100/100 Stamina 100/100
‘Well might as well keep with an even distribution, no point in changing that up now.” And with that he split his points evenly. “Well since we finished the quest, and seeing as it’s getting close to night, let’s camp here tonight then tomorrow we can head back out. I don’t think there is anything left for us here.” Wayne said as he started to pull out his sleeping bag and setting up a spot to sleep. After a little bit longer the food was done cooking and they all ate, chatting some but mostly just enjoying some fresh cooked food, even if it was quite bland.
“We should still stick to our guard routine from last night.” Thompson said as he finished the last of his food. “I’ll take the first watch again.”
“Not tonight, you need to rest you took some pretty bad hits, I’ll take the first watch ya’ll get some rest.” Wayne said as he stood up and walked around a bit. “I’m not tired anyways.”
Before Thompson could argue Sarah placed her hand on his shoulder. “He’s right get some rest while you can, I’ll take the second shift.” After a moment Thompson nodded and headed over to his tent and crawled inside. Sarah looked at Wayne before nodding and doing the same. As Wayne stood there looking out at the woods a prompt appeared.
PROMPT:
A fourth enters the light.
‘What does that mean?’ He wounder but not letting it take too much of his attention right now. He was on guard and wouldn’t let anything happen to his friends because he was distracted.
Meanwhile...
Two people received a new prompt
PROMPT:
A fourth enters the light.
PROMPT:
A fourth enters the light.