Kyoku was, once again, sitting down. After the hard fought battle, even if his body didn't feel tired, his mind did. A few minutes later, he noticed something particularly important.

"Where in Gaia's name is the Bloody Blade?" - Kyoku asked himself, finally noticing that the supposed drop was nowhere to be seen. Thinking about it more carefully, didn't games have an inventory?. - "Do I... have an inventory?"

Kyoku felt extremely elated when he saw the 5x6 inventory screen that appeared in front of him, with the Bloody Blade in one of the slots. To say that having an inventory was useful would be an understatement, since inventories allowed people to carry a determined amount of items in stacks. His was of 5 columns and 6 rows, meaning he had a total of 30 slots to be filled with items which, depending on the amount of items allowed in a stack, could number in the hundreds or even the thousands. In and of itself, it was an incredible boost in effectivity. And that wasn't the only thing his Inventory had in store for him.

Achievement Unlocked: Where do you carry all that?

Requirements: Use the Inventory for the first time

Rewards:

- Inventory Slots increase by 5 every 10 levels

(up to Lv. 100)

- Item Quality unlocked

Achievement Unlocked: The precious wil be ours...

Requirements: Aquire your first Uncommom item

Rewards:

- CHA +2

- Chances of enemies dropping Uncommon items increased permanently by 5%

"Now, Item Quality is something I'm really interested in" - Kyoku said as he checked the Broken Handle, only to see it was of Poor quality. Then, focusing on the Inventory, the 'weapon' disappeared. In his hands, as a replacement, appeared the Bloody Blade. - "Let's see what you can do..."

Bloody Blade (Uncommon):

The blade was part of the front 'leg' of a Needler. In spite of its appearance, it is extremely sharp and can cut even through bone.

Now you really do look like a horror movie serial killer. You're like Myers, but with a big ass blade.

Damage: 8-12 + (AGI / DMG)

Crit. Chance: 1.5% (+0.15)

Crit. Damage: 1.5x

Status Effect: 10% chance to inflict Bleed (+1 DMG/s for 10 seconds)

Without having to think about it twice, Kyoku knew that the Bloody Blade was the better weapon. If by chance he hit a critical 12, he would be making around 20 DMG. Even ignoring that, the fact that the damage cap of the Broken Handle -with a critical hit- was just a regular hit for the Bloody Blade made it a lot better. And he didn't even want to take Bleed into the equation, since that meant he would deal +10 DMG if it procced.[1]

Deciding that he had spent enough time goofing around in the central wagon of the train, Kyoku stood up and continued his trip forwards. Thanks to the Bloody Blade, the Nurses fell almost always in one hit, with the random critical adding some spice to the usually white damage indicator.

"This enemies are... less than entertaining" - Kyoku complained after he slayed his eigth Nurse in the tenth wagon, getting a level-up in the process. He knew that complaining about having easy to kill enemies was stupid, even more so in his current situation, but he still did -the last eight Nurses had given him only 5 XP each-. That was when, from the door to the next compartment, three Needlers appeared. - "As they say... when you invite trouble, it's usually quick to accept"

Kyoku didn't have time to slash at any of the Needlers, while dodging itself had become a nigh impossible task. He was making use of every possible thing he had at hand to avoid being hit, which included jumping against a wall, hanging from the roof and throwing broken seats at the creatures that were out for his soul.

He had no idea as to why they had marked him as their prey. Hell, he didn't even know why he had been trapped inside such a disgusting barrier full of... satanic symbols all over the place, with his only plausible theories being that Gaia willed it so or he was just collateral damage. Either way, his only goal was to survive the train.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"God. Fucking. Damnit!" - Kyoku yelled when he finally found an opening to slash the joint of the Needler closest to him. Alas, his assessment of the situation was off, which earned him a slash to the shoulder. - "Fuck!"

Having lost 15 HP, Kyoku still took the fight calmly. The Level-up had restored his HP back to 150, so he was still above a hundred. Nevertheless, he didn't want to risk more of his precious HP, since he didn't know what kind of danger could await him further in the train. As far as he knew -and as stupid as it sounded-, there could be a 'Boss' monster at the forefront. As such, he did what he thought smartest.

While dodging, he summoned his Status Board and put 3 Stat Points in AGI, pushing it all the way to 25 Points. The 2 SP remaining where spent on VIT, bringing it to 22. Thankful for the extra 10 HP, Kyoku dismissed the pop-ups in front of him and focused entirely on the fight.

His body felt easier to move to an extent he had nevel felt before. The change was substantial even when compared to the progressive jump from his original AGI to the 22 he had a few seconds ago. It was as if a weight that held his body in place had suddenly been removed, and the different paths he could move through were now clear in his eyes.

Following the best route possible, he jumped over a Needler and slashed at what seemed to be its weakest point: the shoulder. The hit was so accurate that it did a perfect 21 of critical damage. With one of its rear legs rendered useless, the monster had no option but to take the slash Kyoku proffered to its head, effectively ending it. The remaining Needlers tried to jump at him, but his new motor skills made him as hard to catch as a fish in the water.

With a flowing movement, Kyoku hit the Needler he had already slashed once. He made sure to hit it on the same joint as before, but it was, unfortunately, not enough to kill the creature.

"At least... I can avoid getting hit by you fuckers" - Kyoku said as he jumped above a horizontal slash and blocked a vertical one. Rolling backwards to recover some ground, he stared at the most active threat. - "But you're not enough to get rid of me now"

*

"That goddamn kid! Why doesn't he just die!" - said the man with the blood red robe. His eyes, of which only the sclera could be seen, were bloodshot. - "I will make sure you die... I will collect your soul for our Lord!"

Behind the man, a huge figure could be seen standing. It looked like a bodybuilder, but it wore a butcher's leather apron, mostly soaked in blood. The left side of its face was covered by metal sheets, much like its left shoulder, whereas the right side was deformed and bloodied. Where its ear should be, a pitch black hole was present, as if an infinite expanse of darkness was the only thing inside the creature.

"Go, my precious creation..." - said the cultist as he opened a portal towards the train. Stifling a sickly laugh - and failing in doing so-, he relished in his future success. - "You'll see... I will collect every soul there is to feed my Lord..."

And as his words died out, a roar of uncontrolled, sickly laughter exploded in the room.

*

Kyoku had just finished beating the last Needler of the trio, earning himself a good 65 XP points. Now that the fight was finally over, he could check the pop-ups that he had previously ignored.

Achievement Unlocked: You're getting there, slowly.

Requirements: Have a Stat reach 25 Points

Rewards:

- All Stats +1

- 1 Skill Point

Achievement Unlocked: Ka-chow!

Requirements: Have Agility reach 25 Points

Rewards:

- Agility Drift

- Hastened Steps

"So... is it just me or am I getting way too many Achievements?" - Kyoku asked to no one in particular. He proceeded to focus on the two apparent skills he had gotten. - "Let's see what you two can do..."

Agility Drift (Lv. 1): Passive

Aids the body in movement, allowing for softer, quicker and more flexible maneuvers. It also shows the easiest, safest and quickest path available. Increases the total speed of the user by a small margin.

Hastened Steps (Lv. 1): Active

Cost: 15 MP per step + 1 MP every 10 meters (32.8 feet)

Focuses mana on the soles of the feet, propelling the user with enough speed to disappear in untrained eyes.

Upon the realization that he now had a very useful way to spend his MP, Kyoku decided to at least get his INT Stat to higher numbers so he would have more Mana to abuse Hastened Steps. If the description was accurate, anyone in his Level range would be unable to see him move, at least properly. Combined with Agility Drift, they were the literal perfect combination for movement.

Amazing skills aside, he also had a Skill Point, something he didn't doubt for even a second and put it into Agility Drift. Wether that was the right choice or Hastened Steps was more useful -or even one of his other skills- was arguable, but Kyoku felt like Agility Drift was his biggest trump card currently. So long as he was able to apply his other skills around it, he would be untouchable.

"Well..." - Kyoku said once he was done checking his Status Board. He had Stats that he thought were probably above any other Level 3 out there, all thanks to Gaia and her generosity with Achievements and rewards for random actions or thought lines. There was only one thing left for him to do. - "Pushing forwards it is"