From the moment he exited the cave, Tilly's world became one of exhaustion and pain. He sprinted through the surrounding creatures taking advantage of their momentary confusion to push, hack, and dodge past any in his way. His recent increases in Dexterity allowed him to survive the manic sprint through his surrounding foes, but he certainly didn't get away unscathed.
He dodged, ducked, dipped, dived, and dodged, avoiding getting pinned down or tangled. But every movement brought with it a new wound or near-death miss.
You suffer 3% damage from a slashing attack.
You suffer 7% damage from a crushing blow.
You suffer 2% damage from a piercing attack…
By the time he had broken through the gauntlet of tooth and claw, he was gasping in a wobbling sprint, barely propped up by his Endurance and Dexterity. His body was covered in bloody gashes and bruises.
Warning, you have been inflicted with the debuff Minor Bleeding. (-1.2% per minute.)
Warning, your debuff Minor Exhaustion has been upgraded to Moderate Exhaustion. (-20% Endurance, Dexterity, and Intelligence for 10 hours. )
Health: 65% (-.2% per minute)
The notifications came and went, and some part of Tilly dimly recognized that despite the discomfort with his new body, he should be able to keep moving as long as he didn't damage either of his legs too badly.
The combination of snarls, snaps, and growls that followed his mad retreat mixed into an audiological soup that ultimately shouted the same thing.
“As soon as we catch you, we will rend your flesh from bone.”
Not that Tilly needed the encouragement. He continued to push his injured body, his lopsided gait staying just ahead of the furious pursuit until he reached the stream that had guided him up the mountain. He jumped into the shallow path and started making his way down the slope squeezing every bit of juice out of his newly enhanced body as possible.
Many of the smaller infected had less of a problem keeping up once he was moving over rougher terrain and he had to bat away or dislodge several infected squirrel and bird-like creatures. While they didn't do much to slow his momentum, they threw themselves at his legs and face to try and slow him down, or trip him so that the other hobbled creatures could catch him.
He exhaustedly fended them off as he focused almost all his remaining energy on moving as fast as possible down the mountain without breaking something important. He half jumped half climbed down the first small waterfall, narrowly avoiding the grasping claws and teeth of his pursuers. The infected animals hesitated only a second before jumping down after him with little to no regard for their own bodies.
He heard several jarring cracks and whimpers as he stumbled through his landing, turning his own ankle in the impact. Unfortunately, he could hear even more unimpeded splashes of pursuit behind him as he kept up his best speed downhill. New body or not, the near-death encounter, and now the injured flight down the mountain had ground his reserves to nothing, and a deep burning began to set into his lungs on top of the pain shooting through his body from multiple injuries.
The wounds that covered his body continued to burn like lines of fire in the wind, slowly being covered in his salty sweat, introducing a new ecstasy of pain. His whole left side felt like a bruise at this point, and he was losing the ability to take a deep breath as something in his ribs grated painfully.
Then he felt something click into place, and his breathing became slightly less difficult. He quickly threw up his most recent notification, shooting it a glance as he splashed down the stream in the low light of the evening.
Congratulations! You are now level 5. 9000 experience until the next level.
You have earned 5 stat points to distribute plus 2 points in Endurance and 1 in Dexterity from the class Son of Flame.
Tilly didn't let the surprise distract him and he quickly spread his new stat points out distributing them to the places he needed them most. He put 2 points in Constitution to mitigate the loss from bleeding, one in Endurance and two in Dexterity on top of the automatic point allocations that came with his class. In his desperation he even found he was able to assign the points without pulling up the screen, willing them to the right places and feeling his body respond with a rush of endorphins and adrenaline.
He felt something snap at the back of his coat, attempting to rip it free. Tilly blindly swung one of his hatchets back and knocked the attacker loose before turning to throw both his hatchets at his closest pursuers, missing one, but nailing the other in the head. Spinning to throw while on the run was something that was just on the edge of his ability, even with all the recent dumping he had done in Dexterity.
The distraction of a successful attack pulled his attention from the route just long enough that he didn't notice the next drop-off down the stream. He ran straight off the edge falling and rolling down the mountain for 20-30 feet, hitting every rock in the stream bed.
You suffer 10% damage from falling.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
You suffer 7% damage from a crushing blow to the chest.
You suffer 3% damage from straining your ankle.
Health: 45%
Tilly groaned as he stumbled to his feet, and grinned manically as he heard several more of his pursuers miss the same drop and land badly. The crunch of their bones resounded in a symphony of vindication.
He struggled forward for a few more stumbling steps before croaking out a yell and forcing his body back into an asymmetrical jog. His ligaments and muscles strained at the continued pace through all the abuse, and knives of pain plunged deeper as he poured everything he had into continuing his all-or-nothing flight.
After several gasping minutes, he looked back and was surprised to see that he had put some distance between himself and the much-diminished crowd of infected forest pursuers. If they had not already been weakened by infection, they probably would have never let him escape. There was no way he should have been able to stay ahead of animals in their natural habitat, but Tilly had begun to notice a pattern with how the Corruption affected the body of its host. Their ferocity increased, even as the physical vessel was weakened and drained of life.
While they were still very much deadly, their movements were all characterized by a sort of twitchy ferocity, reminding Tilly of some of the more intense zombie movies he had seen. This difference showed in the shambling run they used to pursue him, instead of the more natural animalistic movements that they probably normally had.
That didn't mean he was out of the woods yet, he was barely moving faster than a shuffling jog himself, and he had no clue how long his pursuers would be able to go at this pace. It had become a war of attrition. They would catch him if he stopped or passed out, and it would all be over.
'I just have to keep going'
His journey down the mountain became a never-ending slog of gasping breath, soaked leather, and wounds that didn't seem to be healing. At least the pain had dulled to a deep ache the longer he stumble ran down the mountain.
His legs were lead, every breath sent a knife deeper into his chest, but he couldn't stop. The disjointed rhythm of his shuffling gait clashed with the harsh regular sound of his shallow breaths as his mind narrowed down to a singular focus.
Keep moving
The snarls and splashes continued after him, constantly pushing him to keep moving. At some point, he dropped both his weapons, as the drive to take another step gained precedence over all other worries. Time faded, and even his reason for running was ground out of his mind, one exhausted step after another.
The excruciating chase went on until the stream deepened enough that he could no longer cross it without wading up to his waist. The sound of his pursuit had fallen far behind as the terrain became even more difficult, but things like strategy or hiding had slipped from Tilly's exhaustion-addled mind.
Warning, your debuff Moderate Exhaustion has been upgraded to Major Exhaustion. (-50% Endurance, Dexterity, and Intelligence for 10 hours.)
At this point, his legs had turned to stone, and every step was a monumental act of will. His mind had been reduced to simple, stubborn self-talk, descending into an exhaustion-induced fugue.
“Just another step.”
He didn't notice as the horizon above the tree line began to lighten with dawn's glow and he missed it as the stream connected with the river. He just kept moving until he was up to his chest in water and started treading water. Some deep-seated instinct prioritized air and kept him kicking even as he struggled to stay conscious. His new reality became one of slowly waving arms and occasionally kicking feet, his light armor proving to be slightly buoyant.
The light brightened the surrounding forest, and if he had the presence of mind to take it in, he would have seen a healthier and more populated temperate valley. The birds could be heard greeting the morning and some deer watched from the shore as he passed by, his stubbornness as much a part of his survival as any conviction.
The river current had carried him along a fair distance when his path was intersected by a large line of logs floating along the middle of the river. He numbly pulled himself up on two logs floating side by side and let the sweet soundless embrace of unconsciousness take him.
Jonathan Luke Tillman
Level: 5(9000 Experience to next level)
Display Name: Tilly
Race: Human
Class: Son of Flame
Titles: Harbinger
Health: 45% (+1.2% per minute)
Mana: 87% (+.8% per minute)
Status Effects:
-Major Exhaustion -50% Endurance, Dexterity, and Intelligence for 10 hours. (5 hours remaining)
-Minor Bleeding - 1% to Health per minute.
-Unconscious - You are not alert or oriented to your surroundings. Lasts until well rested or you receive medical intervention.
Stats:
Constitution: 12
Endurance: 20 (12)
Dexterity: 20 (12)
Strength: 10
Wisdom: 8
Intelligence: 8(4)
Items
Origin’s primitive stone hatchets: +10% to Dexterity. (Legendary, growth type)
+Imbued Ability Recall.
Origin’s primitive leather armor: +10% to Endurance. (Legendary, growth type)
Skills:
-Forestcraft level 10
-Identify level 16
-Cooking level 12
-Beginner Hatchett level 9
-Animal Processing level 9
-Stealth level 6
-Herb Lore Level 2
-Ax Throwing Level 7
Abilities:
-None.