Dante couldn’t go any longer. Putting down the shovel, he sat on the step and reached down to grab the waterskin Svōl, his digging companion, had shared with him. Midway reaching down a spasm ran down his back and he groaned. He knuckled the spot. His shirt was soaked through and through with sweat.
The tremors ceased and he finished grabbing hold of the water skin, taking a sip of tepid water. Alongside him, Svōl continued digging and seemed no worse for wear considering that they had been at this for many hours. Occasionally a woman would come to collect the dirt and leave them a new, empty cart. He had not gotten a chance to get her name, but aside from that the two of them were alone.
Svōl was a machine, seeming no worse for wear, and was still moving at the same speed when they began. Svōl had easily completed thrice the amount of work that he had. He gave Dante a confused look, saw his diminished state, shrugged, and then considered working. Svōl was quickly becoming his favorite person in the new world. He didn’t seem to dislike Dante and what must have been his strange ways, even sharing the water skin and some small bits of bread with him. After exchanging their names, a comfortable silence reigned between them. Most importantly, he had not tried to push or shove Dante.
There was one area that he did accel over Svōl. Cleanliness. To be fair to the man, it was because of [Warding Flesh]. The ability refused to let any dust, water, or mud stick to him. It all just wicked off of him, though his sweat remained for some reason. It was almost enough to endear him to the ability. Svōl on the other hand, smelled like he had been in these trenches for a while.
As he caught his breath watching the man work, he wondered just how high that man's [Menial Labor] skill was. Or endurance, he still had no idea how any of that worked. Dante was certain that he was different now, even when he was in construction he had not been able to work without rest for hours. He wasn’t at a superhuman level like Svōl, but peak human wasn’t that far off.
Especially considering that the means to achieve that is currently in my hands. Dante opened his [Status].
Name: Dante Embry
Race: Human
Class: Unclassed
Level: 2
Attributes
Alacrity 9 [+]
Endurance 14 (17) [+]
Charisma 6 [+]
Fortitude 15 [+]
Cognition 13 [+]
Perception 9 [+]
Constitution 15 [+]
Strength 7 [+]
Dexterity 12 Willpower 14 [+]
Skills
Brawl (Common)
2 Deception (Common)
1 Lock Picking (Uncommon)
4 Logic (Rare)
4 Menial Labor (Common)
4 Sleight of Hand (Uncommon)
1 Stealth (Uncommon)
2
Abilities
Chameleon (Rare)
2 Sharpen Senses (Uncommon)
3 Split Second Reaction (Rare)
3 Warding Flesh (Unique)
4
Traits
Fickle Fate (Unique)
MAX Human Tenacity (Racial)
4
While Dante had been toiling away, he had been considering how to distribute his stats. His top priority was still to find which stat did and if they could improve naturally. Though so far strength hadn’t increased yet, but he was probably being impatient. In an optimal world, he would try to determine if all of them improved through work. This was not an optimal world.
First, I should establish a baseline. Dante picked up the shovel again and tested its edge, finding it dull. This is going to hurt a little. He balanced it on its haft, tipped it towards him, and it let go. The shovel impacted against his forearm, blade first, and … bounced off leaving no mark. There was a mild spike of pain, but not as much as he was expecting.
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Huh?
Dante pulled back his fist and struck the shovel lightly, then again when there was no pain. It smarted a bit, but he had hit it with some force. I guess I had missed it with all the crazy shit happening, but I am strong now. About to stronger.
+1 to Fortitude.
Immediately his skin flared with heat and an intense itching began deep in his bones. Caught off guard, he spasmed and just about stayed in his seat. Thankfully the sensation was brief and was soon replaced with a feeling like his entire body had fallen asleep. Dante grimaced as he unflexed his sore muscles. That had not done him any favors.
Well, I certainly felt that one. So that’s what increasing an attribute is like when you have a body? Dante was very grateful that he had only chosen to do one at a time. He cast a look at Svōl and was relieved that the man seemed unbothered. A little perturbed too, as Dante felt like he would help someone who looked like they were having a seizure. Perhaps it’s a common occurrence?
Well, let’s see if it was worth it.
He pinched his skin and was shocked when there was immediate pain. Wait a second. Dante repeated the shovel test and once again there was hardly any pain. If he wasn’t wrong there was less pain this time around. Dante walked over to the yet still buried portion of the trench, shaped his palm into a blade, and pressed it into a relatively solid clump of dirt. His fingers penetrated the earth with barely any discomfort.
Withdrawing his hand, he inspected his unharmed fingers. If I am not wrong, fortitude reinforces all parts of my body. That is why the environment doesn’t hurt me where as the pinch does. Because my nails are becoming stronger at the same rate as my skin. Dante sat back down on the shelf and assumed a thinker pose. This means that if I level the stat high enough, then my body could become a weapon. Monk style. That was quite an appealing image, punching through steel while arrows ricocheted off him.
Ok, moving on to the next stat. Let’s try Perception. Pretty sure that you can’t train yourself to be more perceptive and I need to upgrade that one anyway. As for the testing … Dante focused on the great bulwark that constantly shown above. That would do, he always seemed to find another detail every time he looked at it.
Here’s to hoping it’s not as bad.
+1 to Perception.
Pain arched up every single nerve. Lights became blinding, noises overwhelming, and the feel of his clothes was agonizing. When he came to and the world wasn’t so overwhelming, he realized that he had fallen limp against the wall. Right, all senses are connected to perception. Including pain. Good to know.
Are all of these attributes going to inflict some fresh new hell on me?
Regardless, it was worth it. Dante turned his eyes to the heavens and found everything was just a little clearer. In the magical tapestry above, he could now discern that even smaller threads often broke off from the pillars to form delicate patterns. It was as if he had been wearing out of focus glasses his entire life and had just taken them off.
Is this how most people see the world?
He had only leveled it up to 10, which was the average. It wasn’t just sight, even the air tasted richer though still ladened with the battlefield stench. The rhythmic booms in the background sounded louder and he heard new depths to the sound. Like a strange THRUMM that followed every instance for a few seconds. Compared to fortitude, it was almost intoxicating. Like seeing an entire new world. It truly felt superhuman.
Dante was eager to move to the next one, which was cognition. On Earth it was well documented that, once you were an adult, you could not increase your natural intelligence. Perhaps that rule wouldn’t be so ironclad in this world. It had taken some time to decide how to measure this, but he had settled on seeing if how many numbers he memorized changed. He remembered that one from the time he had taken an IQ test.
So he scratched a random sequence of ten numbers in the dirt, gave himself a chance to memorize, marveled at his new senses a bit more, and then checked to see how many he remembered. After doing this a few times, it seemed like he averaged about six correct. Alright, let’s do this.
+1 to Cognition.
Contrary to his expectations, there was no pain. Instead, his head grew fuzzy and he lost focus on … well just about everything. He could only relate it to being very drunk. It was not an altogether unpleasant sensation. After it had passed, he didn’t feel any different.
So far, I like that one the most. Though, perhaps it was the most subtle change yet. Time to see if I do better at that little test of mine.
Dante scratched out the old numbers and wrote himself some new ones, then memorized them. After a couple more rounds, he found that his new score was seven. While that was an improvement, Dante couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. He wasn’t sure if it was due to the attribute increase or if he simply got better at the test. Compared to the other stats the change was much less noticeable. Perhaps I will notice some more improvements later?
Dante shrugged and went to move on to the next attribute … but found that he couldn't. He was out of attribute points. That was fast! I only got three this time. What happened to the nine from before? Apparently, that had been a one time bonus or the like.
Feeling a little ripped off, he grabbed the shovel and stood up. I can’t leave Svōl to finish this by himself. I need at least one friend here. Truthfully, there wasn’t too much left to do. When he had sat down there was about a third left and now it was closer to a quarter. Still, might as well help him finish. Dante let the shovel bite into the soil and began working.
As Dante hastened to finish the job, one thing quickly became apparent. He was still very tired. Something is wrong here. I rested for a long time and yet it hardly helped. It’s not been that long since I have done physical labor, so I know for a fact that I should have recovered more. I am missing something here.
He did his best to think on the subject but an answer had not presented itself to him by the time they finished. When the last shovelful disappeared into the cart, Dante followed Svōl’s lead and took a seat once again. Before he had a chance to engage him in conversation, Svōl was sound asleep.
That is incredible. We are in the middle of a battlefield and he fell asleep. Just like that. Dante had heard stories of soldiers in the United States military doing the same but had never quite believed it. While Dante was physically exhausted, his mind was moving too fast to consider doing the same.
Dante had spent enough time in his head and the only other people that he could talk to was a pair of soldiers a couple dozen yards away who looked busy. Even as he watched, one of them stepped up, and an icicle about a yard long formed in the palm of his hand. So quickly he nearly missed it, extended his hand, fired the icicle, and stepped down.
What is he firing at?
For all that Dante had nearly died at their hands twice, he had not even caught a glimpse of the enemy. Maybe with his new senses, he could catch a glimpse. It would just be a peek. Climbing to his feet, he raised his head to one of the holes in the ramparts.
The battlefield was still the devastated wasteland that he remembered, but he was able to see farther due to there being no rain or fog. Dante looked past the cratered landscape and the abandoned trenches to see a series of hills in the distance. On the crest of those hills were a series of enormous blocks that would put those in Stonehenge to shame. He thought he also spotted a few spires in the distance.
Something about the entire arrangement bugged him. It was far too regular. Dante squinted his eyes, trying to take in the scene as a whole, and came to a sudden realization. Wait a second, that isn’t a hill. It’s a massive earthen wall!
The scale of the entire thing nearly put the barrier to shame. I guess that the other side’s achievements are comparable. It makes sense, they appear to winning.
A glint in the distance caught his eye and he focused on it. It was far too bright to be anything natural and reminded him of how a diamond might catch the light. Whatever it is, it must either be enormous or pointed directly at —
Something grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him down so hard he went sprawled to the floor. Dante landed on his back and all breath wooshed out of him. From this position, he had a perfect view of the quivering shaft of a spear that was embedded in the wall of the trench right above him. His cheek felt wet and when he reached a hand up to touch it, it came away bloody.
Fuck. That’s three times now.