He wanted to hold onto his Attribute Points and make a decision on what to do with them when he had more information, but the very real threats that he would face down in the catacombs persuaded him to invest in his survival now instead of when it was too late. Looking over his Status, he found a way to summon descriptions for each of the Attributes and read over them.
[Strength
Governs Raw Force and Explosive Power, as well as Carry Weight]
[Dexterity
Governs Physical Control and Reflexes, as well as Balance]
[Vitality
Governs HP and HP Regeneration, as well as Ailment Resistance]
[Endurance
Governs Stamina and Stamina Regeneration, as well as Damage Resistance]
[Intelligence
Governs Memory and Mental Attack, as well as Thought Speed]
[Willpower
Governs Discipline and Mental Resistance, as well as Energy Control]
As he had previously thought, he would not be assigning points to either of the mental attributes for fear of what it might do to him, but he studied the physical ones intently for any hints as to what he should invest in.
He figured that Strength would be the key to his survival as hitting harder (and abs) wouldn’t hurt him, just his enemies. The next priority on the list was Dexterity. That Attribute had shown its value in his last encounter by virtue of his reactions and control over his movements, without his coordination he would be dead. Lastly, a small investment into Vitality would be good for keeping him alive if he did get hit, and would help his recovery of injuries between battles. Endurance would be nice, but he didn’t currently have the luxury of splitting his points into it so he ended up putting 5 points into Strength, 4 into Dexterity, and a lone point into Vitality.
Happy, he selected confirm and immediately started spasming from the changes. His muscles swelled one by one across his body before condensing back down again to more dense muscle fibres that made him feel unstoppable. His blood ran hit through his veins and his nerves screamed as they were lit on fire. He endured the painful upgrade until it was done, and felt a profound sense of relief when it faded. Still, now that the pain was gone, he felt amazing. His body coursed with power and he felt his poise shift to one that carried his weight much easier. The axe in his hand felt lighter and more like an extension of his arm than before. After getting used to the changes, he opened his Status to check.
[
Name: Liam Karr
Race: Human (Earth)
Path: None
Class: None
Titles: None
Level: 2
HP: 52/120
Stamina: 38/130
Strength: 17
Dexterity: 14
Vitality: 12
Endurance: 13
Intelligence: 15
Willpower: 17
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
Free Attributes: 0
Traits:
None
Skills:
Analyse I
Undead Lore I
Hafted I
Powers:
None
]
Everything except his Level and point allocation had remained the same, though his current HP had increased by 10 points along with his max, but yet it told a completely different story to the one the System had scanned at the beginning of it all. If he ignored the life threatening danger and monstrous undead he had encountered, he would be feeling pretty proud of himself, but as it stood he still had to suppress his doubts and fears about this whole situation to maintain a grip on ‘reality’. Maybe he was going crazy? But so what, would he let himself be killed by an undead because he was debating if he was having a mental break or not? The answer was, of course, no. He could worry about his sanity later, now he had to rest and explore.
He walked a bit to just around the corner that the [Lesser Zombies] had come from and sat in one of the less dusty areas of the floor, leaning back against the sloped wall and settling in. Still, he kept his eyes and ears open and looking for threats, in case anything down here was quiet enough to sneak up on him. To keep himself from falling asleep, or from spiralling into his thoughts, he watched his Stamina and Health tick upwards and even timed them.
After an hour, he had a pretty accurate idea of how fast he recovered, 12 HP per hour and 26 Stamina per minute whilst he was sat down. He had noticed on his walk that if he exceeded a certain level of exertion then his Stamina Regeneration would cancel out completely and he would have to shoulder the cost of whatever activity he was doing with his Stamina Pool. On the flip side, if he kept his physical exertion low then whatever he did would just slow from his regeneration and if he sat or did nothing at all then it would speed up.
Once his Stamina was topped up and his HP sat at the relatively healthy level of [70/120], Liam stood up to start exploring. The only question was, which direction? Either he could head towards where the [Lesser Zombies] had come from and whatever that entailed, or away. The former option ran the risk of delivering himself to Ander Phyris before he was ready to take him on, if he was the one who had raised and sent them down the passageway, or it could lead to more of the predictable enemies that he could farm for Levels. The other option provided even more uncertainty as he had no information at all to go on for it. He had been forced in here less than 2 hours ago and had been in 2 life or undeath battles so he knew almost nothing about his surroundings.
The only things he did know were what the System prompts had showed him. He knew that for him to escape these catacombs alive he had just over 46 hours to find and kill a [Lich], or who knows what could happen to him? With that in mind, he picked the path the zombies had come from in the hopes that he could find more Undead to slay and Level Up. He hoped that the lich would be busy with his ritual, considering it took 48 hours to cast, and that only his minions would be hunting him down. It was a risk he would have to take when going the other way was risking the chance of giving him nothing in such a time-critical situation.
Decided, he set off down the passageway, taking light steps to avoid making sound and keeping a low profile. He wasn't sure if it would help considering what he was up against, but there was little harm in trying. He snuck along until he heard the sounds of combat echoing from up ahead. Grunts echoed off the walls and something struck stone as he hurried closer.
He turned a bend to see 4 deformed humanoids and a red skeleton facing off against a being not dissimilar to the spectre that had almost claimed his life on the surface. It was an inky black, a hole in reality that seemed to devour any of the skeleton's blue light that touched it. It took the shape of a human, but it's arms extended into twin scythes instead of hands. No features graced it's blank face and yet it could still clearly see as it glided out the way of the undeads' attacks. It floated an inch above the ground and the piles of skeleton bones that littered it. There must've been at least half a dozen skeletons worth of remains that had been robbed of their unlife by this being. Liam analysed it and all he got in return was [Unknown], so instead he turned his attention to the new types of undead.
[Lesser Ghoul, Level 5]
[98/140]
[Lesser Ghoul, Level 5]
[123/140]
[Lesser Ghoul, Level 6]
[22/150]
[Lesser Ghoul, Level 4]
[109/130]
[Unknown Lesser Skeleton, Level 7]
[91/110]
[Lesser Ghoul
Undead Lore I: An undead created by a dark ritual that converts the living. These creatures are instilled with immense fear, from the process of their creation, that makes them lash out at any none Ghoul they see. Their claws secrete a paralytic venom which they inflict on their victims and then retreat in order to come back later and finish the job.
Experience: None
Threat: Unknown]
[Lesser Skeleton
Undead Lore I: Reanimated bones that can create their own weapons through the use of [Lesser Skeletal Armament]. The weapons they create are similar to the ones they used in life. Their animation draws from a pool of magic that sustains their whole being, and as such they have no critical points but are instead slain if enough damage accumulates everywhere.
Experience: Weak to blunt trauma and easily displaced due to their lightweight nature. When slain, the blue light in their skull disapates.
Threat: Low]
Armed with this information, he moved to take advantage of the battle to gain something for himself. Hefting his axe, he snuck towards the fight and waited for the right moment to strike.