Having an indestructible pant and a slope worth sliding; means you slide, and Tetsu slid down the massive mountain, heading deeper into the incubation grounds.
A tree was kind enough to stop him, by being present at the right place and time; between his legs.
He groaned and rolled over until the pain subsided. After reprimanding his stupidity, Tetsu found himself in a more ominous forest than before.
“Lack of humans sure let these trees blossom.” Tetsu pets the tree with a disheartened look. “Savour life until we return!”
He bows and enters the forest.
A constant eye over the status menu made Tetsu think he could exploit luck. The ‘stat’ never stood still and trying something daring or stupid when its number was at the highest helped him gain the advantage in any scenario.
Like the other mysteries surrounding his new reality, the stat luck held its own mysteries. Without the pants suppressing or overwhelming parts of his status, Tetsu did the math for once and found out the hidden numbers behind the stats.
Level-one Tetsu without the pants had a basic of four points, which was more than generous. If he stepped into this world with his old body, at least half of the stats would have been in the negative digits, but instead, he was gifted with a top athlete’s body.
At level four his stats grew four times over, which meant each level gave Tetsu an additional four points. The “I’d-rather-die-thanks,” pain originated because of the level up.
The system morphed the body to suit the stats better, which made Tetsu wonder if the shell held the weakest power among the three basic powers, or in the later stages, it would not hold any meaning as mana and the mind isolate themselves and live.
“Godhood,” Tetsu whispers with glowing eyes.
He and Kile made many theories of reaching godhood but always missed a component to test their theories out.
Kile bypassed the component, assuming the missing component as ‘X,’ like any math formula. An unknown entity that can be derived from solving the immortality equation.
Kile lost Tetsu at X!
More theories spun in their minds and every one of them involved being able to separate one’s consciousness from their body. This way they can learn and grow forever, truly unlocking every secret the universe has to offer.
Now, Tetsu even figured out the ‘X.’
Mana.
The system, being an entity that has reached godhood or beyond, can mold anybody to its will and offer powers beyond the confines of fantasy.
This theory made more sense, as acquiring some XP points can push your body to the next level.
Back on Earth, people used to train for years and maintained a strict regimen for a body like Tetsu’s, while he was offered it for free as some participation gift.
Medication, science, and reality took a big hit. Every concept had to be rewritten. Not that the previous documents have ironclad rules. Each year new textbooks disprove theories and make new ones. Hack or chance, Tetsu stepped into a new reality that offered components for a better future.
"Or I am in a mental hospital and me blabbing is making things worse?"
Tetsu shrugs and scrolls through his status screen. The stats made sense, and as an experiment, he dropped a point into the Flash stat. His go-to ‘Stat’ for a quick escape.
Each step carried him much further than before. A part of him wanted to dump all the accumulated sixteen points in Flash, but he had enough self-control to be wise.
As an experiment, he wanted to allocate one point to luck. In theory, if luck worked as in the movies, he didn’t have to fight anyone for the rest of his life.
This theory had many plot holes. For one, won’t everyone do the same thing? What happens when the same level of luck users face off? Is it back to strength and skill, or will they be swinging until they both call it quits?
Many factors affect luck. Tetsu fought—okay, ran, from the bullies in his hometown. The terrain adds luck to him because of the familiarity. Yet at times the bullies ‘By luck!’ stumbled onto him every time.
Their luck worked in spotting Tetsu, while Tetsu’s luck worked in pulling him out of the situation. You can say in the battle of luck, Tetsu won.
When Tetsu faced the boss imp for the first time, his luck took a swan dive to oblivion, yet he survived by skill. He only checked it before entering the fight, unable to multi-task with a constant eye on the screen. The pop-up notifications were already a tremendous step, and he did not want to push it with another screen.
Once he got out, his prayers worked and luck somehow spiked between the battle, escaping with the enemy’s skin in his teeth—quite literally.
The second round went smoothly with luck, maintaining a steady balance. These factors got him to the conclusion that location, intellect, chance, and a mysterious factor tampered with the Luck stat.
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A stupid experiment already settled in Tetsu’s mind and now... *Tetsu steps beside a tree trunk and locks eyes with a tiger oozing black mist.
...It is time to test out that theory.
SLASH!
Tetsu bends backward as a claw scratches the air where Tetsu’s chest was moments ago.
The worst part was that the damn tiger didn’t even move from its spot, yet it somehow transported its claw before Tetsu fully registered its presence. Pre-system Tetsu would have been long dead, still thinking about the cool black mist oozing out of the tiger.
The mist carried tiny white particles within it like the night sky carrying the stars. Heavier than air and lighter than mist, the black smoke moved with a will separate from the tiger.
A tiger with a bond.
You see, he is still admiring the darn mist.
Tetsu kept around the trees, limiting its reach and movement.
Prey had to save their energy.
The tiger used more power and broke the trunk with a slash. Tetsu, who had already expected the attack, moved in front and above the trunk as his body swirled around the trunk.
The movement was so ridiculous; the tiger stood back with bewilderment.
It broke the tree trunk, conjured a shadow-mist clone, and moved into three unique positions to flank him, but Tetsu now stood on top of the broken trunk and gaped back at the gaping tiger.
“The fuck! That’s so cool. Nice job.” He gave a thumbs-up to the real tiger amongst the fake.
The illusions break and the tiger’s mouth sags lower with confusion.
“Oh, common. That trick might work at night, but not during the day. I can see your shadow.” Tetsu points at a dark spot in the black mist. “See...” He smiles and checks his luck as it falls.
The sun tucks in for the night and Tetsu lets out a slew of bad words he never knew he learned.
“For fuck’s sake.”
The situation went from fuck-yeah to fuck-you in seconds.
Before the sunlight said its goodbyes, Tetsu did.
He threw a charcoal shard and hid in a pit that was dug with super scared—superhuman skills. The system even rewarded him with an upgrade.
“That’s what I am good at, thank you very much.”
Tetsu accepts the upgrade and settles beside the broken tree trunk. With the rune pulling Tetsu under the tree with minimal sound, the broken tree trunk acting as cover, and digging between the protruding stump and fallen trunk, proved a vital experiment.
Tetsu both praised and hated himself for thinking of it at such a critical movement.
[Ding! Skill upgrade. Earth Meld to Move terrain. Level: Warrior. Rarity: Common.]
Location, intellect, chance, and mysterious factor, which we shall call X.
Tenco Ten always kept an eye around to foresee any threat or dire circumstances heading Tetsu’s way.
It is the seventh style that Tetsu forgot about and which cost him a friend.
Tears roll down Tetsu’s eyes and he blinks to open his eyes far above the tree, peering down with unblurred eyes at the tiger, over the broken tree trunk.
He blinks again to see it from a lower angle. It sniffed the log but as Tetsu never used his hands or legs to crawl away; the scent was minimal.
The location must be more advantageous to a tiger. Yet with a constant eye on his surroundings, the way his skills work, his tendency to always have an escape route, and an eye over the Luck stat, Tetsu held the advantage of location.
Inside the luck parameters, location means who can utilize the location better. Here, Tetsu used it better than the tiger.
He used it to run, but that’s his choice.
Intellect wise also Tetsu won, as the tiger failed to locate him and got hunted itself by being too loud about its frustration.
“I wish they left me some meat.” Tetsu prayed to the mighty system.
The third factor, chance, also benefited him.
Tetsu had a rune already etched behind the trunk, required skills to dig efficiently, and a state of confusion that threw the tiger off its game.
Chance is a kind of luck but with factors that can be broken down, measured, and reused in other similar situations.
Now for the final, most interesting, and possibly still mysterious component; X.
The experiment to test free points, the highest-valued asset among hacks, was finally done with one point in Flash stat. This increased his speed as theorized.
To break into the next level, Tetsu had to train and push his body in six different aspects; Dex, Flex, Flash, Stamina, Rex, and Fort.
These were the aspects linked to the body at least, and theoretically, if Tetsu somehow pushes them with an additional four points, he should level up.
The four free points given as a bonus for every level-up can be for the ‘stats’ one struggles to improve or to pass the final threshold.
Testu categorized the above six as stats for the body and doubted if it was worth wasting such a supreme hack on something that he would have to shed to reach godhood.
The below three; Sense, Regen, and Tork under the influence of the mind, as senses are its territory.
Tork works faster when a mind is calm and slower when it’s worked up.
Regeneration also depends on a person’s mindset. A person with Alzheimer’s can forget he has the condition and live a happy life, while someone with Ulcer can die by overthinking the disease.
The last four; Will powers, perception, intellect, and luck were mysterious. They relate to the subconscious, and no, the second pillar, mind force, comes under conscious force. Yes, it does take suggestions from the subconscious mind, but both are separate entities altogether.
Tetsu assumed the subconscious as mana.
A mystery yet to be unraveled.
The final four fall under mana, and can turn the tides of battle on a whim.
Willpower isn’t just saying I will do it, but the person who does it despite the odds has willpower, and later it comes down to who faces what circumstance and what choice they pick to strengthen their willpower.
Perception varies from person to person, but which one is right?
Intellect can vary, yet which intellect to use where and who has more of said intellect matters, and at last, but not least, comes luck. The stat Tetsu has been experimenting and trying to figure out.
Body and mind can be trained, so Tetsu did not see any use in dumping free points on such futile stats.
The last column cannot be measured. Complex weaves, make it arduous to determine with every step the individual takes.
Even if they stayed still, dumping points in an ever-changing, unreliable stat is a fool’s gambit. Yet the X-factor comes into play here.
Tetsu had no clue as to what the fuck the last column of his status held. With that in mind, he waited for the first three aspects; location, intellect, and chance to fall in his laps, then while luck, the mysterious factor X, was about to slip away, he dumped a point into the Luck stat and tipped the scales back into his favor.
Tetsu dumped a point while throwing the smoke orb, and dashed under the tree, and the universe moved to heed his call.
The hastily thrown smoke orb struck its target square in the eyes, giving rise to more panic and disorienting the beast to a higher degree.
He hid in the best place possible for sure, but under the darkness of death and misfortune, the escape route, the spot under the trunk, shone with a dim light of hope and life.
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