--Andrew--
Andrew lay on his back staring at his hands, examining them with the sky as a backdrop. His hands were smooth and of uniform color. They were perfectly normal hands for a young man, the only problem is that they didn’t look like his hands at all. He had the wrinkled time ravaged hands of an old man... they should be more claw like but miraculously the hands he found himself were the hands of a young man. The strangest part was that he couldn’t bring himself to fret at the difference, all he could do was marvel. His body was young, his mind was clear. Andrew could remember agreeing to come to this strange place. His mind hadn’t been this lucid in… a long time. He couldn’t remember the last time his mind wasn’t being assaulted by pain that had plagued him for half of his life.
Achievement get: Cloud Gazer 1
Description: For spending several minutes contemplating simple things while gazing at the sky.
Stat: +1 mental stability.
Deciding that he didn’t necessarily want to be defined as someone who stood around and gazed at clouds he got to his feet and decided to go for a jog. He hadn’t exercised seriously since he was struck by a car in his 40s. Running felt good, he could feel his heart thudding in his chest and his blood seemed to sing in his veins. He broke into a run. The laughter that broke out of his lips came as naturally as breathing. He hadn’t felt this good in forever. He felt like he was a gazelle flying through the terrain or a falcon diving for the kill. The exhilaration of youthful movement flooded through him.
On instinct a half forgotten muscle memory from his teenage years floated to the surface and he lunged forward executing a forward roll that he executed thousands of times in college. Aikido 101, 102 and 103 had been some of his favorite classes. He was never that great at the arm locks and throws but he had loved learning to fall “correctly” as his Sensei had called it. As he rolled to his feet he was stopped in his tracks by a prompt.
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Achievement get: Tumbler 1
Description: For falling with style.
Stat: +1 Physical Balance
Stat: +1 Falling Defense
The prompt caused him to sit back down to resume his examination of his thoughts. The agreement he had accepted, it had mentioned that he could grow any way he wanted to and this world seemed to be built like some kind of game? If he could grow in any direction… then… Who did he want to be? He saw other people leaving the city carrying weapons. It seemed like it was a game that would require him to fight. He needed a plan. Again the question “Who do I want to be?” echoed in his mind A slow smile spread across his face “I need to make a plan.”
Andrew had been at it for what seemed like hours but he kept doggedly executing forward rolls. The joy of tumbling had worn off long ago. This had been a terrible idea and he regretted ever coming up with it. His arms were sore and his head swam with dizziness. Once he had walked around the city and found no obstructions that would prevent him from tumbling in a full circle all the way around town… that is what he had decided to do. He had been rolling and coming to his feet and then rolling over the other shoulder to his feet over and over and over, something that he hoped would be worthy of an achievement. He knew that in any fight footing was important, falling down in a fight tended to be what happened right before you lost. If he did fall, he didn’t want to stay down long. He had already gotten the Tumbler 2 & 3 achievement with the same rewards. Finally, he stood where he had started and received the pop up. In relief he immediately fell to the ground to quiet the dizziness spinning inside his head.
Achievement get: Rolling Around Town (Clockwise)
Description: You rolled all the way around the starting village.
Stat: +1 Speed to regain your footing
Stat: +1 Physical Balance
Stat: +1 Core Strength
Stat: +1 Impact Defense
Stat: +2 Falling Defense
The word “Clockwise” made him turn his head and look back the way he had come. Could he do it again the other way and double his gains? “Nope… that is enough of that…” He resumed looking up at the sky “I need a better plan.”