Chapter 4 – Testing?
(Hayden)
I decide that trying to gain some stats now is pretty good idea, considering it’s a nice room with lots of sunlight coming in, though the only downside is that there is a dead body there. I mean I have lots of food, water and there’s also a toilet here so I basically don’t have to leave for a while.
So I start working out, going through my usual no gym, no equipment routine. Well I upped it my routine a little. 50 push ups, 30 sec rest, 15 jumping push ups, 30 sec rest, 15 wide push ups, rest, 15 close grip push up, lastly 10 burpees and that’s a set. Obviously I did more sets once I realized I could go for more.
I did at least 5 sets before running out of breath and what do you know, the red light is flashing. I look at the edge of my vision and I hear
*Ding*
You have almost run out of stamina
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You have gain 3 strength, 2 agility and 1 vitality
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Status WindowName:HaydenAlignment:NeutralLevel:5Class:-Race:HumanGender:MaleTitles The Second, Fighter, Survivor-Health:180 / 180Health Regen:0.018 / SecMana:120 / 120Mana Regen:0.16 / SecStamina:25 / 180Stamina Regen:0.018 / Sec-Strenght:16Agility:21Vitality:18Intelligence:12Wisdom:16Leadership:5Luck:15- Physical Resistances1%-Elemental ResistancesFire:1%Water:1%Wind:1%Earth:1%Light:1%Darkness:1%Unused stat points60
“yes…hah…hah..”I said that in a tired voice, trying to steady my breath. The system really changed our bodies to totally incorporate the system. What I mean by that is the measurement of the system, one moment you’re full of strength and stamina but once it hits like critical levels, you’re nearly dying. This is dangerous but lifesaving at the same time. I also couldn’t help but notice that vitality increases both health and stamina as well as the regens of both. It also seems like the system also incorporates some sort of immediate health and stamina when you upgrade the stat. What I mean by that is, I now have 25 stamina out of 180 which means, and I guess, that I had 15 stamina after I had done the exercise. This means that adding vitality immediately gives you 10 health and stamina. Since vitality is also full this proves it. I also felt an immediate relief, like it was easier to breath after the stats notification pop up. Like an instant stamina booster. I felt a lot stronger and faster than before and it was an instantaneous effect after the notification pop up. With this I can conclude that, stats only show an effect after you look at the notification not when you hear it ding.
I’m not sure what the exact amount 1 stat point in strength and agility gives since I have no way to measure it. However, I don’t actually need an exact amount, do I? I mean regardless of how much a single stat point does in strength and agility, it just makes me stronger, does it improve anything else, yes maybe but I’m already going to be improving it so it doesn’t really matter. The same is for intelligence and wisdom. From what I can see, intelligence improves your intelligence (I mean isn’t it obvious?) and it also increases your max mana pool. In accordance to that, wisdom makes you wise and also increase your mana regen by about 0.01 per stat in it. That is superb regen when compared to my health and stamina regen. I think sometime later when I train, during my rest phase I can probably read like books, hopefully it’ll help increase my mental facilities.
Oh dear.
I think I might have forgotten something that might be crucial to my survival. Usually in games, when you kill mobs, don’t they drop loot? Well while I was eating to get my stamina up, something (and it’s incredible that this happened twice already), flash in my eye. I could have sworn it was from the dead imp’s corpse. So I went over to see what it was and boy what a surprise. Loot! I can’t believe it, 2 lucky things happened in a row because of a glare, first the cellar and now this loot? Luck much? I have to be more careful I mean I don’t think it’s possible I’ll receive this sunlight glare luck more than twice.
Damn I can’t believe I made a fatal gamer mistake.
I mean I totally meant to forget it…. so that I could have a big surprise later.
Yes. Yes! A big surprise and what a big surprise this is for me!
….......
Don’t tell anyone. Please
What I found was a ring, and a book. It was sort of placed on the imps body, I don’t think I noticed it before because of all the blood and stuff (also because I was avoiding the body as much as I can). Or could it be it just appeared? Like after a few seconds? Does it also only appear on the body? Or can it appear anywhere near the body since the body doesn’t look like it’s going to disappear?
I have to check this out later.
The ring looks actually really shiny, like a metal ring but it has inscription around it, sort of like the ‘One Ring’ from Lord of the Rings’, only the words look sort of mesmerising and when I look closer at it I noticed that the words are actually moving. I wonder what it is? Shouldn’t the system be able to tell me this? Like an identify skill or something like in games?
Identify?
“Identify”
“Identify this item”
“Identify this ring?”
Help? Guide?
Then I noticed a flashing yellow on the edge of my vision, this time it’s on the right top instead of the usual red flashing on the left top.
*Ding*
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Noir RingThis ring is inscribe with the ??????? ???? which gives it the power to open an interdimensional space. This ring cannot be destroyed
Holy shit. Interdimensional space? With just this ring? Isn’t it like those interspatial rings I read in those xianxia novels?
How do I use it though?
I ponder a little while more, while examining every inch of the ring before putting it on the index finger of my left hand.
Then it happened, a sudden wave of heat travelled from my finger straight through my body to my head. It felt powerful, like and energy flowing in my veins, all the way to my head. I feel normal though nothing changed. Nothing changed except that I now have knowledge pertaining to how to operate this ring, as well as its interdimensional portal parameters. It is really intriguing, I mean regardless of how magical or amazing the system, blue screen, monsters and so on, this was different, this felt very different. I don’t know how to explain it, it’s just something at the back of my mind, it’s as if a new gate of knowledge which had been shut tightly has just been loosen, not so much that I can open it but close….. almost within my grasps.
Anyway, since I can’t grasp it, I will try again another time. There’s another item I’m thoroughly interested, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s what I think it is. I pick up the mysterious looking book which has a logo of a skull with blood pouring out of its orifice in the middle of it.
*Ding*
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Blood Control Skill BookThis book has the knowledge of the demon art ‘blood control’
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Do you wish to learn it?
“Why, yes I would. Don’t mind if I do”
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You have learned Blood Control
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Blood Control Level 1You don’t bleed unless you want too.
Holy shit, this was the skill the imp used. He was probably controlling his blood that’s why he didn’t bleed, but he was so stupid, could it be he used it on instinct and was actually brain dead already from my chop? That would explain why it just kept getting up and pouncing at me. But seriously this skill is cheat and it’s only lv 1. Doesn’t this means skill can evolve? Or at least this one can. Hahaha this means I won’t ever bleed this can prove real useful. I mean think about it, bleeding is a real common way to die, if let’s say my stomach gets cut open, I’ll probably die by bleeding. But now it’s different I won’t ever bleed. In this world, this skill can definitely give me an edge.
Oh right, I haven’t look into a mirror since the change. I went into the toilet here, oh and if you ask why I didn’t shower in this bathroom? It’s because it was too small, I prefer a big bathrooms.
Yes I’m spoilt.
And oh boy what a surprise. I grew like taller, I think, I hope. I mean last time I check my height I’m around 150, I really hope I’m 155 now. In the mirror I see a boy, yes you heard me, a boy (I don’t look like a man, sigh even though I’m nearly 23) with dark black hair, face sharper looking than before, still look like a teenager though, not a typical chinese face, piercing eyes ( I heard I look scary when I’m angry, yes I look like a scary short man/boy), slightly thick eyebrows, normal black coloured looking eyes? I’m not sure how do you describe my eyes, definitely not squinty and also I definitely do not have the stereotypical Chinese face that people seem to think that all Chinese have (or is that what only I think…. Forget about it, no stereotypes). Right enough about my face, what about my body?
Holy shit, I have an eight pack. I mean I used to have 4 packs but 8? That’s wolf boy level. And my arms, they’re huge, well at least to me. It grew like maybe two inches? Anyway, I look buff but it doesn’t look too weird on my body. My build right now looks like someone who has real explosive power. I also think this is mostly due to the change and not the stats. I mean the stats did improve it a little but not much I think. I can check when I start increasing my stats more.
Anyway, I continued my training for a few hours, before deciding it’s probably time for me to leave. Oh yeah and before I leave, I take another look at my beautiful body.
Admiring it.
Haha crap I’m getting super vain. Before I forget to mention, the imps stopped knocking at the door about an hour or 2 ago. I didn’t bother, they probably can’t touch me now.
Okay, I know I sound cocky but seriously I used to spar with people lots of times, both in kendo and my hand to hand combat training. I know that probably won’t help much with monsters but sometimes I feel you have to be a little confident in yourself. Maybe I’m a little too confident right now but wait till you see my stats.
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Status WindowName:HaydenAlignment:NeutralLevel:5Class:-Race:HumanGender:MaleTitles The Second, Fighter, Survivor-Health:220 / 220Health Regen:0.022 / SecMana:120 / 120Mana Regen:0.16 / SecStamina:220 / 220Stamina Regen:0.022 / Sec-Strenght:26Agility:32Vitality:22Intelligence:12Wisdom:16Leadership:5Luck:15- Physical Resistances1%-Elemental ResistancesFire:1%Water:1%Wind:1%Earth:1%Light:1%Darkness:1%Unused stat points60
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
I opened the door.... and well what do you know, no imps. So I slowly while being alert walk out of the house. By the way, I sort of have a few chocolate bars in my pocket now, just in case you know? I stroll out of the house like I own the world and what I see outside shocked me. 20 plus imps all staring at me, growling and speaking that weird latin language I heard before. So I didn’t lose my cool, I slowly dropped my duffle bag at the front of the door and still continued walking as if I owned the place. I’m holding the machete by the way and the broken baseball bat.
Fuck I knew it.
20 damn this is going to be tough. I thought it’ll only be a couple. I’ll just see if I can get through this.
So I continued walking while slowly adjusting my grip to the most optimal position for fighting. As I walk, I carefully observe the imps with my eyes, looking for the strongest while coming up with plans. It seems being an elite imp means being the boss because I don’t actually see any elites among these guys. These guys look all the same, weaker but they look equally as fast as the one before, they look lighter and look like they can maneuverer a little more easily than dead imp. I also still can’t see their levels yet. How much higher are their levels from me?
Before I move on, I must tell you the stats I got will play a major role in my ability to fight now. I tested dual wielding both the machete and the broken bat before and the results were miraculous. I could now use the weapons as though I was using 2 hands, when in reality I’m using only one hand. This means effectively my strength and speed has both doubled, well a rough estimation at least.
As I got closer, the imps seem restless but they do not move. I stopped moving once they were under my range of attack. I looked at them while they looked at me. We both didn’t move for like 5 seconds which I felt like was way longer. And then I struck.
I immediately stab both the broken bat and the machete into 2 imps that were right in front of me. They immediately died. How I know that? Blood had spluttered out from them immediately. I pulled out my machete which immediately caused a massive pool of blood shooting out from the imp’s head like water fountain, and procced to slash at the imp to the right of the 2 I just killed. I left the bat in there because right now it’ll do more harm than good especially since it’s broken. Why? Because I ain’t ambidextrous, I tried to train my left hand so it’ll be as good as my right before but it didn’t work, it could be because I injured it when I was training young or I was born like this. I did a slash at the throat and another slash to the eyes, both cut deeply into the imp. The only skill/technique I used here was how I held my machete, the way I kept my back straight and the relax posture I was using, the rest was all instinct. Before the imps could react I was already on my 4th victim, the imp on the left, I did okuri ashi with a far faster pace than I could before and a kendo leap at the end followed by a trust with my machete at the eyes of the 4th imp. My machete easily went through the imp’s eyes and then the head, as if I was stabbing through a seriously soft butter with an extremely hot knife. I was actually really surprise I could cut and stab through them so easily however I knew better than becoming overconfident, so I shall stick to my plan. After stabbing the 4th imp I kicked that imp with a front leg kick which sent that imp flying until it slammed into the other imps.
At which point I’ve already retreated backwards with okuri ashi, just until I passed the front door. It was here I’m thinking of making a stand. Now that the imps are down to only 14, I hope I’ll be able to deal with them, especially with the door way interfering with them.
Some of the imps had gotten over the shock earlier and had chased after me while I was retreating. They were at the door when I had fully retreated into the house which ultimately led to their deaths as I did cuts to their heads the moment they passed the door way. So from this moment on I’ve gotten rid of 7 imps.
Now they are all alert and angry, all of them started rushing towards me. Got damn I don’t think I’ll come out unscratched from this one. They look utter terrifying, coming at you at speeds faster than a human can run. I however managed to keep my wits calm and my body alert. As soon as one passes through the doorway, I’ll cut them down. 3 imps came at me at the same time one from the top, one mid and one at the bottom. This is actually perfect for a strike that we always do in kendo, joge buri. Usually this is a practice swing but I’m going to apply it here. I put both hands on my machete, left hand near the end of the handle and right hand on the top near the blade, I breathe in and swung straight down.
“HA!”
My machete slice straight down through all the 3 imps. 10 down, 10 more to go until I saw more imps coming from the neighbourhood houses and my mood dropped. The imps kept coming and I kept cutting through them like bugs. Swing my machete down, the next one dies, swing it from the side, I split an imp into 2. I just kept swinging, up, down, left, right, middle.
Blood was everywhere, it was like someone exploded into pieces here. Guts of imps everywhere, brain on the hallway, bodies on the floor. I wasn’t that bothered by the blood but more so the smell, it was disgusting and really stinks. I kept killing the imps. Until there was about 3 left, not including the 3 that are flying over from one of the houses.
The 3 in front of the house right now look terrified, they look so afraid. Ah so I was right about the elite being brain dead, they clearly don’t seem as stupid as the elite. I mean when I was fighting them earlier, they used some tactics coming at me at the same time, at different rhythm and angles. I kind of felt bad for them, but I know it’s only them or me. There’s no mercy in a life and death battle but at least I can show them a little compassion and make it quick for them.
Before the 3 from the houses could join the group in front of me, I moved. This time I won’t be the one defending, I’ll be the one coming for them. I rush in front of them and did a leap strike at the imp closest to me. The other 2 imps were definitely shocked because they didn’t think I was actually going to come at them. The other 2 imps only recovered from the shock after the imp I cut was split into 2. I moved and did a horizontal slash aiming for both the 2 imps’ throat before they could actually manage to strike at me. I succeeded considering the 2 imps were only holding their arms out nearly touching my face before crumbling on the floor.
The last 3 imps arrived just as the 2 imps completely fell on the floor with their blood splattering over the lawn. Needless to say they died quickly too. I actually felt I was getting better at sword fighting, my strokes felt sharper, my movement smoother, and I have this fighter’s instinct that I can’t really explain. It’s the instinct of when to block, where to strike, how my opponents are going to move, how they’ll react to my every move. It’s actually quite fascinating. I mean I had a fighter’s instinct from my training but it wasn’t as profound as it is now. I would have won a lot of competitions with this instinct. I guess that title had something to do with it.
Well overall that felt exiting, I mean not the killing but the winning. The feeling after a great battle, it’s amazing, as if everything you did in your life didn’t matter but now. This feeling of fighting to live and wining, it’s like you are alive. Then you have the rewards
*DING*
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+2 levels.You have killed more than 20 monsters without adding any stats even though you have unused stats. You’re title ‘Fighter’ has been upgraded to ‘Natural Fighter’You have unlocked the achievement ‘One against Many’
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Title ‘Natural Fighter’You are a fighter by birth. You learn fighting skills 3x faster than an average joe and have a superior fighter’s instinct
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Achievement ‘One against Many’You have defeated more than 20 monsters in a single fight. You have bonus of 1% in both physical and elemental resistance when fighting against 3 or more opponents.
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You have been awarded 2 strength point, 2 vitality point, 1 wisdom point and 1 agility point
*Whistle* Wow that’s some good rewards. I really could use more titles and achievements. Looks like not adding any stats rocks.
So I would like to say I came out untouched out of that battle…. But then I would be lying. So I got a few cuts on my arms and legs, but nothing too serious. Especially after the notification they began closing up a little.
I look around to see the aftermath of my fight and wow that’s a mess. My stamina’s not that low, it’s around 50+, so I’m not in real danger, I’ll just eat slow…. There’s like lots of bodies and body parts everywhere excluding everything else but the blood, the scenery is already pretty gruesome. There are definitely more than 20 bodies here. I hope there’s loot! Haha I can’t believe I can eat while looking at this gruesome scene. I guess it’s because this all looks so surreal, like I’m in a dream or something.
So I scavenge through the bodies or parts of the imps and found a few loot. Well actually gold to be precise. I mean while I was fighting I happen to notice that loot forms 1 or 2 seconds after the body or body parts of the monster or imps to be precise, stop moving. This means that I definitely can’t take loot while on the run or fighting unless I bring along the dead body and it also means loot can be prone to thievery. I certainly don’t want anybody to steal my loot. Only I can steal other’s loot.
HAHA, WHY? Because I’m the chosen one. Plebeian’s must bow before me and give me their loot. It is for my wellbeing and they should be grateful for me accepting their offering.
Well anyway so I found a total of 20 gold coins. I don’t really know what they’re for but hopefully I can find out soon.
Wait.
Isn’t there stores where you can use gold? I mean in games usually you can buy equipment, skills, and items using stores. So shouldn’t that be the same here?
Open store
*DING*
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Growth perk detected, perk equipment’s are now unlocked
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Store
Training wrist bands 30 g
Training ankle bands - 50g
Training chest vest - 150g
Training waist band - 80g
Training weights – 200g
Training sword – 200 g
Training knife – 150 g
Training axe – 220 g
Training spear – 220 g
Training gear set– 500 g (First buy only)
Restricting vest – 1000g
…
Holy shit! I can’t believe I was right. This will make training even easier. I just have to find more gold. Sigh money really makes a difference. It’s also a shame that its perk locked, I wonder what the other perks are? Can we unlock them? Anyway my plan from now is to get that training gear set.
*DING*
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For being one of the first ones to open store you have receive a bonus 200 g and a 50% discount for 1 buy.
Holy shit I better go hunt for more imps then. I gotta make most out of this right?
So I threw the 20 golds into the noir ring space portal thing. What’s that? You want to know how the portal looks like?
Well it looks like a hole in space actually appear, kind of spherical actually, 3 dimensional. It’s totally white inside, that’s what it looks like from here at least. I wouldn’t dare put my head in it, I’m sort of paranoid my head would come off or something.
Anyway while I was looking for more imps, I’ve decided that I’ll probably stay in this area and train while sleeping in the cellar at night until I’m completely confident I can face and run away from most monsters.