Liam kept the strategy of going in and striking as much as he could before having to back out. He missed more than he was able to land. After a few attempts he started to feel out of breath. He was panting as he was trying to keep out of danger.
He looked at his stamina bar and saw he had close to twenty-five percent left in it. “I think I have enough to go in to do more damage and back out before it gets too dangerously low.” He thought as he rushed in again.
His first strike came down to hit the head of the skeleton. As his weapon struck a dark purple light rushed out and Liam flew backwards. He hit the wall hard and slide down on his butt. As he sat there, he saw both his health bar and stamina bar blink red. There was a sliver left in them. A warm liquid slowly ran down Liam’s head and over his left eye.
“Ouch!” he croaked as he tried moving his arm causing pain to shoot up through his arm and down his chest as he clicked on the green vial.
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“Would you like to use Weak Health potion? Yes No?”
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He clicked yes and watched the vial appear in his hand. He struggled to pop the cork off causing more waves of pain to ricochet throughout his muscles and bones. After three attempts, he just brought it to his mouth and gripped it with his teeth, yanking it off. He gagged as the horrible tasting concoction slid down his throat.
“God! What ingredients did they use to make it taste so horrible?” Liam complained as his health raised to a little over twenty-five percent.
He looked at the yellow vial in his inventory. He grimaced as he clicked it and accepted it. He coughed after chugging it down. “That was even worse!”
As his stamina went back up, he then realized he was too focused on non-important things and looked back at the skeleton.
It was standing there shaking violently as black orbs started to appear in the air around it.
“That doesn’t look good,” Liam said with horror.
A loud fanfare rang through Liam’s head causing him to wince.
A message suddenly appeared.
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“Congratulations! You have received Level 1 in Weapon Skills – Daggers! The additional negative 15% to successful hits from not having any skill levels in Daggers has been lifted.”
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Another Fanfare rang causing Liam to squint his eyes and bring his hands over his head.
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“Congratulations! Intelligence Sub-Stat Perception has reached level 10. You can now see Health and Mana pools when assessing creatures.”
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“As appreciative as it is. I wish there was a volume control on these sounds,” Liam said as the pain in his head died out. He then looked at the Skeleton and stared at it.
After a moment, a window appeared.
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“Church of %$#^%$ Undead Priest. 8/75 HP 50/200 MP.”
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“Looks like a couple of good hits will do the trick,” Liam said as he tried to get back up.
A hum started to buzz in the air as he stood up. He looked to see where it was coming from then quickly jumped to his left to dodge beams that shot at the spot he once was.
“Jesus!” Liam shouted as he stayed low to the ground. He stared at the orbs and saw them charge up again. “Op, time to go!” Liam scurried to his feet and began to run away. He opened his inventory again and clicked on the yellow vial and drank it as fast as he could to replenish the draining stamina.
He forced himself not to upchuck the liquid as it ran down his throat. He then jumped to dodge a beam that shot at his feet. As he landed, he saw two more charge up and shoot at him. He tried jumping again and arched his body into a spin to dodge the beam that shot at his feet and his head.
As he landed, he threw his Crude Dagger at the skeleton and watched it fly far to the right.
Embarrassed, Liam said as he pulled out his other Crude Dagger, “Good thing no one saw that.”
He jumped again to his left and aimed for the skeleton’s head. “Please don’t miss!” He shouted as he brought his arm back and flung the dagger forward.
He watched as it hit the forehead of the creature and bounce up in the air. “What! That was a hit! That should have ki,” Liam started to complain before the dagger fell back down and collided with the top part of the skull again.
The dark purple orbs suddenly fizzled out into puffs of smoke as the skeleton crumbled.
Shocked and amazed, Liam stared at the pile of bones. Too stun to speak, he just stood there with his mouth a gapped. “How…why…wha…Huh?” Liam finally said while still trying to process what had happened.
A fanfare sang loudly in his mind bringing his attention to a notification message.
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“Congratulations! You have received Level 1 in Weapon Skills – Throwing Weapons! All Negative restrictions from not having any skill levels in Throwing Weapons have been lifted.”
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Liam stared at the message. He then shrugged and said matter-of-factly, “Well I guess that checks out.”
Pain ached as he made the gesture. His adrenaline was slowly dying down from just standing there.
“God, I thought I was in perfect shape before, but this world has really changed my perspective on body health.”
Liam grabbed a thin piece of wood that splintered off from one of the broken pew and walked over to the pile of bones. He stared at it as he stopped in front of it and said, “I wonder how loot works here.”
He looked around to see if a chest would appear. Nothing. He looked at his inventory and noticed nothing went in it after the fight. He poked the pile with the piece of wood and stated in a faint voice, “Come on…do something.”
A couple of notification messages suddenly appeared in front of Liam as multiple sounds blared in his mind, causing him to flail his arms backwards. As he did this, the piece of wood flew out of his hand and hit the wall behind him.
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“Congratulations! You have defeated Church of %$#^%$ Undead Priest.”
“Would you like to loot Church of %$#^%$ Undead Priest? Yes No?”
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“Well, that answers that question.” Liam muttered with a small smile. “Yes, I would.”
“Items have been sent to your inventory.”
“Well, that’s convenient,” Liam said approvingly.
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“Starting class is now Unlock. Please wait as your starting class and abilities process.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
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Liam felt something build up inside of him. “This doesn’t feel too ba…ah!” Liam started to say until he saw a ghostly figure floating above the pile of bones suddenly manifest.
Its cloak looked to be made of black and ghastly green shadowy smoke. The inside of the hood was too dark to see any features. Crimson orbs suddenly brightened where the eyes would have been.
The air became heavy as an indescribable raging aura washed over Liam causing his body to freeze. Panic crept up within Liam as the specter rushed forward and engulfed him.
Pain beyond any Liam has ever felt filled him to the core as screams and furious roars rang in his ears. His muscles tightened as he felt his body vibrate with a familiar uncontrollable emotion. He gritted his teeth as he tried fighting the invasive attack, but it was too much for him to manage.
He watched as his stamina bar rushed to depletion and his health bar slowly drained. His vision darkened the closer his stamina emptied. Before he fell unconscious an unknown, yet familiar primal roar rang in his ears.
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Liam slowly stirred as his consciousness returned. He opened his eyes slowly to see his vision blurred. After blinking four times, it cleared up to show he was lying on his stomach. As he moved his arms closer to his sides, his bones creaked, and a soreness ached in every fiber and muscle in him.
“Why do I feel like I was hit by a bus?” Liam groaned as he managed to push himself to lay on his back. He then moved his arm as slowly as he could and placed it across his face covering his eyes. His breathing was labored as he took in as much air as he could. He could feel his heart thumping hard against his chest. “If this is what it feels like to get a class then I hope this is the only time I have to go through this.”
After his breathing calmed down, a thought suddenly popped in his head causing him to widen his eyes, throw his arm down and race to his feet. He swiftly scanned the area to try and find that mysterious creature. It wasn’t there.
He looked around a few more times before he was satisfied and stated, “I don’t think it’s still around. But I swear if that thing Scooby Doos me, I will not only scream but I will punch it and run away.” He brought his arms down to sides as he let his guard relax a bit.
A blaring alarm-like sound startled Liam into jumping and flailing his arms.
“What the…!”
A bright red message screen appeared in front of him.
“Jesus! I almost had a heart attack!” Liam complained as he placed a hand over his heart trying to slow it down. After he calmed down, he looked at the message.
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“Warning! During the unlocking attempts on classes a couple of anomalies surfaced. Reconfigured class one to allow progression to happen. Second class has been sealed due to tampering. Class one: ????? has been reconfigured to Crafter. Second Class 3rr0r Corrupted will be sealed. You must find a way to cleanse the anomalies within you to unlock your full potential.”
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Liam stared disbelievingly at the screen. After reading and re-reading and re-reading it, he let out an irritated and anger exclaim, “You’ve got to be kidding me! A Crafter! A freaking Crafter! I mean yes, I loved crafting since it helped me when the world went to crap, but how is having Crafter as a class going to help me when anyone can do crafting!” He kicked the closest piece of rubble as hard as he could.
He took a deep breath in and said, “Let’s see what abilities I was able to get. Maybe it’ll be more helpful than I think.” He then pulled up his character screen.
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Character Sheet General Information Character Name: Liam Health Pool 125/125 Race: ????? Mana Pool 125/125 Bloodline: ????? Stamina Pool 110/110 Zodiac Gemini Age: 22 Class: Crafter Level 2 Secondary Class 3rr0r Corrupted (Sealed) Faith and Blessings Patron or Matron Deity N/A Deity Description: N/A Deity Blessings: N/A Attributes Available Category Points Used 0 Body 39 0 Mind 34 0 Spirit 39 Crafter Physical Skills Skill None Skill Cost N/A Skill Type N/A Skill Description N/A Skill None Skill Cost N/A Skill Type N/A Skill Description N/A Magical Abilities Ability None Ability Cost N/A Skill Type N/A Ability Description N/A Ability None Ability Cost N/A Skill Type N/A Ability Description N/A Non-Combat Abilities 3rr0r Corrupted (Sealed) Physical Skills Skill None Skill Cost N/A Skill Type N/A Skill Description N/A Skill None Skill Cost N/A Skill Type N/A Skill Description N/A Magical Abilities Ability ???????? Ability Cost ????? Skill Type ???? Ability Description ???????? Ability None Ability Cost N/A Skill Type N/A Ability Description N/A Non-Combat Abilities
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Liam’s mouth gapped open. “Where…where are they? Did I not get any abilities?” Liam questioned as he stared at the screen. He then noticed a new screen name Non-Combat Abilities and clicked it open.
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Crafter Non-Combat Abilities Ability Harvest Ability Level 1 Skill Type Instant Ability Description Can harvest and identify materials easier. At low levels you can harvest one item at a time. Ability Mobile Crafter Ability Level 1 Skill Type Instant Ability Description Able to craft or Forge items anywhere as long as tools needed are present. Negates need of Forges, alchemy lab, etc. Ability Item Understandance Ability Level 1 Skill Type Instant Ability Description Gives you a better understanding of items that are craftable by using them.
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“Non-combat…,” Liam said sounding exasperated. He then threw his hands into the air and continued. “I have a non-combat class with non-combat abilities!” He crouched down and placed a hand over his face.
After a few minutes of crouching in silence he stated as he was working that wheel in his mind, “It stated that I needed to cleanse the anomalies found. One of those three might know how.”
He got up, let out a long sigh, and stated sounding hopeful, “That’s what I need to do first when I get out of here. They’ve lived here longer than any of us so they might know.”
As he said that a faint whisper echoed, in fragments, in the back of his mind, “Use…Caution…”
Liam looked around. “Am I hearing things?”
He thought about what the voice said. He had to agree that he should use caution whenever asking questions. One of the few things he did after Earth went to hell these past couple of years was grow cautious towards people. It was a habit that helped him survive. A good habit since almost everyone in that world lost their morals and common sense.
He then thought about the look Nalia gave him when he said classes. That look alone told him he had something not normal. He needed to figure out why he had two classes on top of why these things happened.
After giving it some thought he decided that he would try to find some trust worthy people and gain information through them. He wont out right trust Adva, Phorge, and Nalia, but he’ll test them out. See what they have to say, confirm it through others, and see if they have any nefarious intentions.
He looked back at his abilities and gave another sigh, “As disappointing as this is, I’ll have to make do with what I’ve got. Just because I have a Crafter class doesn’t mean I can’t fight. I’ll just have to practice harder.” He dismissed the screen and looked at the pile of bones.
He walked over to it and grabbed a bone. As he looked at it a green message screen appeared.
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“Bone of Undead Priest. Uncommon Crafting Component. You can use this as a crafting component with other crafting components to make a better item. Would you like to harvest Bone of Undead Priest? Yes No?”
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“Huh. I’ll have to see if those who craft without the class can see this too or not,” Liam muttered as he clicked yes.
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“4 Bones of Undead Priest have been sent to your inventory.”
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“I’ll also have to see what I can use these for. Once when I get back and settle for the day, I’ll have to see what spoils I got too. Now where is the exit?”
The door Liam had entered through, opened with a swirling black portal inside the frame.
“Exit stage right I guess,” Liam said as he walked towards it.