Moving slowly into the book store I keep my senses alert for any danger. So far nothing has appeared since my fight with the Minotaur, but I know to stay cautious.
The inside of the building is riddled with overturn displays and crushed sale objects which were probably the victims of the Minotaur’s appearance. Moving through the isles I steadily make my way towards the customer service area where the vending machines are located.
Since the bookstore sales its own overpriced food items there are no snack or drink machines. Instead there are two ATM machines and a quick access ‘test bank’ which allows for students to buy test sheets when they are in a hurry. Walking forward the store screen open up and I view the available wares.
System Letter – 3 Bronze Game Tokens
Contract – 5 Silver Game Tokens
Blank Skill Book – 1 Gold Game Token
There is no hesitation as I immediately purchase all the items. The five blank skill books were as expected a blank book to write skills in. However, my Analyze of the ten contracts and forty letters were the most intriguing.
MiscellaneousContractRankUncommonAffects
System document used to legally bind two or more individuals. (Terms and conditions determined by parties involved)
{Requires 20 points of Charisma or greater to activate}
MiscellaneousSystem LetterRankCommonAffects
Transmission of parchment contents to specified recipient. (One time use only)
I smile happily at realizing I have solved our communication issue. However, as I am storing the contents into my Inventory I hear a soft thud from behind the counter area. I immediately activate stealth and cautiously move towards the customer service desk.
With agile movements I slide over the counter top and quietly drop down. Glancing down I notice a pile of clothes and ponder if they were strewn here from the prior mayhem, but looking closer I notice an employee name tag. Out of curiosity I begin digging and notice some peculiarities about their condition. Although the clothes are largely undamaged it is odd to find that the entire wardrobe is present from undergarments to even body piercings.
Having seen enough death the last few days I have grown somewhat numb to this predicament. Yet what is truly unsettling… is the lack of blood on the clothes. While I am examining the clothes a strange fluttering noise comes from behind me. Dropping the clothes I whip my head around just in time to barely see something small fly behind a chair.
Not wishing to provoke anything I slowly stand up to move away. Before I am able to even step past the clothes another creature zooms beside me and hides in the shadows. With the second presence acknowledged, my skin starts to crawl as a bad premonition comes to the back of my mind. I turn to start crawling out but stop after finding myself face to face with a creature.
Crouched right in the middle of the counter is an extremely small figure. Thin dangly extremities hang from a small body as insect like wings protrude from the backside. A pair of overlarge black eyes occupies the majority of the tiny head. The only other noticeable feature found on this creature is an open mouth grinning with razor teeth poking out. Surprised by its’ appearance I hesitate on what to do which gives the vermin time to emit a high pitch screech into the air.
Alarmed I slash carelessly trying to kill, but the creature easily dodges and flies past my head. Turning around I am nearly petrified to find the back wall is brimming with similar creatures who are all staring hungrily at me.
Cursing loudly I scramble over the counter and make a mad dash for the exit just as the swarm comes flying. Running through the ruined building I struggle to avoid tripping as I am continuously attacked. I am vastly outnumbered. Using their sharp fangs as anchors the tiny vermin are slowly latching onto my body. And although I kill a few here and there, they are merely replaced by two more.
With anxious thoughts I struggle to fight off the swarm as my vision is soon being covered by a wall of fluttering pests. Seeing my chances of escape practically gone I quickly retrieve a lighter and aerosol can out of my Inventory.
Scorching heat soon permeates around me as I send bursts of fire towards the swarm.
Despite finally being able to fight back I struggle to stay focus as my flesh is slowly being eaten. Screaming in anguish I continue my fiery vengeance against the swarm. Only after removing one threat do I finally have a chance to focus on ripping the biters off my body. With their jaws refusing to release, I am forced to literally yank and tear my own flesh in order to remove them.
As the last one dies between my fingers I collapse onto the ground desperately choking down health potions. After the fifth bottle my bleeding ceases and I do a quick analyze of myself.
SpeciesHumanSexMaleStatus Affects
Anemia – Mild (-20% All Regenerations)
Lacerations (-30% Disease Resistance)
Paralysis – Weak (-15% Perception and Agility)
I scowl from seeing the ailments I am afflicted by, but what is truly surprising is the paralysis. Turing to look down at one of the dead creatures I wonder what they were.
SpeciesPixieSexAndrygonousStatus Affects
Deceased
Damn pixies… of all the creatures I have faced so far they were the most infuriating. Pulling up the Index I do a quick inquiry and find out that they are more similar to insects than other creatures based off of both anatomy and habits. But the most intriguing information is the details concerning their fangs. It seems they were the source of my paralysis. Luckily though it was a weak paralyzing agent for if it had been stronger I might not still be alive.
Closing the screen I look closely at the corpses for a moment and then turn to look at the empty health vials piled beside me. Shrugging my shoulders, I pull out some pliers figuring I could still be productive while waiting to recover.
Scavenging (Passive)Beginner Level 2 (0%)
This skill increases the odds of scavenged materials being in better condition and quality. Effectiveness is dependent on LCK.
After nearly filling a second bottle full of teeth I had been surprised by acquiring a new skill. Yet I am hardly excited about it. After all the trials I have been through I have yet to receive a combat skill, instead I get another bogus skill.
Disgusted with the results, I refuse to keep harvesting teeth. Checking my status again I pleasantly find that my HP has recovered enough and I also lost both the paralysis and laceration status affects. Feeling well enough to move I decide it is time to try and clean my wounds.
Moving towards the restrooms I pass the clothes section and pause to compare against my ragged and stained clothing… It might be time for a change of attire.
Twenty minutes later I finally step out of the restroom with both a clean body and fresh clothes ready to continue my exploration.
***
The next couple of hours are spent slowly weaving my way through campus scouting out the occasional building. Luckily, I have not faced another major threat after my encounter with the pixie swarm. However, moving into the admissions building I do encounter a few enhanced zombies who end up providing the necessary experience to reach level 12.
StatusNameJackRaceHumanLevel12 (1%)ClassRogueTitlesAutodidact---QuestsInventoryMapSystem Index-Health(186/210)Stamina(151/210)Mana(210/210)-Strength20Endurance20Perception22Agility22Intelligence50Wisdom30Charisma10Luck22Unallocated Points0-Resistances
Skills
Analyze (Active) – Beginner Level 6 (88%)
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Lock Picking (Passive) – Beginner Level 3 (4%)
Mana Sense (Passive) – Beginner Level 2 (19%)
Meditation (Active) – Beginner Level 3 (43%)
Night Vision (Passive) – Max
Scavenging (Passive) – Beginner Level 2 (0%)
Sneak (Active) – Beginner Level 4 (22%)
I decided to average out my Charisma, raised Wisdom by another 5 points and placed the last point into Luck. At first I had planned to ignore Charisma, but I cannot help expecting there to be a reward for reaching 20 in all eight attributes.
Finished assigning my points I switch over and pull up my map. Although I have traveled a lot of ground so far I have only uncovered roughly a fourth of the campus. Sighing at the darkened areas of my map I am forced to switch over to a printed map I picked up from earlier.
The campus is divided into roughly four sections. So far I have already searched the eastern sector which contains the majority of the lecture halls and department buildings. From this location I have two directions I can proceed to check out, Central or South.
Central is the largest sector which is collectively called the heart of the campus. This is the location of the residential dorms, cafeteria, library and activity centers. South on the other hand is considered the maintenance hub. All technical labs, IT control and custodial services are located here. The only exception is the old stadium which is being demolished to accommodate a massive parking garage.
The last section of the campus is the western sector and the newest of all developed areas. It contains only two landmarks, the new sports stadium and performing arts center.
Putting the map away I quickly decide on the residential area. I chose this route due to knowing the location of several vending machines and possible food stashes.
Half an hour later I stop in front of the cafeteria where I had hoped to check on supplies. But to add insult to my face I realize I was not the first to claim this area. Crawling around the perimeter I slowly raise my head up and cringe at the sight inside.
Rats
Somehow the mutated vermin have completely claimed the building as their den. Everything from the walls, ceiling and furniture have been chewed and shredded into making bedding for a frightening amount of newly born rodents. Besides the obvious increase in size it seems that their reproductive rates have been enhanced as well.
I sigh dejectedly realizing I will have to give up on getting any of the cafeteria’s food. Even if we were able to clear all the rodents out, we could not guarantee that it would not be contaminated.
Depressed I sullenly push on and head towards my next destination… the library.
Moving through the overgrown campus I begin noticing a lack of sound in the vicinity. Pausing I focus on my hearing but I am still unable to detect any noise. Troubled by this I begin feeling paranoid about being in the open and rush as quick as possible towards the library.
Reaching the main entrance, I calmly pull out my daggers and activate stealth as I creep inside. Other than the broken glass doors there seems to be little destruction… not even any bloodstains. However after closer inspection I soon notice something that is deeply unsettling. Weaved around the corners and from the ceiling are soft silken grey threads that can only be spider webbing.
I momentarily freeze. The most part of my life I have been a very rational person when it comes to dealing with fear. Yet, of all my phobias spiders have undoubtedly held the number one spot.
I struggle with rather to proceed or to turn coat and flee. Mulling over the options I silently curse my greed as I step further into the building.
Luckily my desired location is on the first floor saving me from having to travel through the stair wells. Moving down the hallway I stealthily maneuver around the webbing ever afraid of meeting its creator.
Turning into a small inlet at the end of the hallway I find my prize. Nestled in the small lounge are vending machines, five in total. Two drink machines, two food machines and finally another test bank machine.
A little disappointingly, I discover that the drink and food machines contain the same products as those previously purchased from. Due to my Inventory starting to reach capacity, I decide to only purchase the most crucial of items… namely the health potions.
After a short moment I store away the last potion and turn to feast upon the main course.
System Letter – 3 Bronze Game Tokens
Beginner Almanac of Herbal & Alchemic Ingredients – 1 Gold Game Tokens
Identify Skill Book – 5 Gold Game Token
I am over joyed from finding new items.
Quickly purchasing the almanac I glance through it to only find out there are no recipes. Instead the almanac goes through in detail about each plant from its description, necessary growing conditions and even their uses. Although the book does provide some great information, until we have ample supplies and time to do trial and error concoctions… it will be nothing but a simple book.
Skill BookIdentifyRankUncommonSkill Description
When activated searches the System Index to provide Name and Description of intended target.
{Requires 20 Wisdom or greater}
Hmm, reading the description of the ‘Identify’ skill book I am surprised at the similarity between it and my Analyze. The new skill would be useful in that I would save time from having to manually search the Index. But I feel that is the limit of the usefulness, at least for me. If I was to compare the two, then my Analyze is hands down more beneficial. After all besides learning the name, I can also check for status affects and other details.
Pondering for a moment I flip through the pages contemplating the time it would take to read. The book is the shortest skill book I have seen so far with only ten pages total…
Ah, why not?
Opening the book I speedily read through the contents.
Alert
Due to synergistic qualities between the skills ‘Identify’ and ‘Analyze’ the system is configuring the skill ‘Analyze’ to encompass both aspects and adjusting potency.
I am greatly shocked by this occurrence. Pulling up my status I quickly notice that the skill proficiency has increased by several levels. Curious to see the changes I pull out a health potion to re-analyze.
ConsumableHealth Potion (Lesser)Freshness90%RankCommonQualityAverage
Description
Lesser Health Potions are the lowest ranked health potions. They are capable of healing between 10-30 HP. This potion is of Average quality allowing it to effectively heal 20 HP.
I am momentarily shocked at the results. It seems my skill now has the capabilities of both. Also, either due to the synergy of the two skills or the increase in proficiency the details provided are astounding.
Quality… who knew that the potions had a quality rating?
Smiling gleefully I store everything away and decide to quickly leave before my luck runs out. Moving silently down the hallway I pause at the opening to the book shelves as a soft clicking noise is heard.
I turn to look through the doorway, but see nothing.
I fret for a moment swiveling my head between my two options. Leave or Investigate… Despite my better judgement I decide to investigate and while biting my lip I ruefully progress down the aisle.
After passing several shelves I start hearing more noises and carefully creep behind a wall of books. Peeking through the gap, I about piss myself at the sight of a massive eight legged monstrosity. The creature is crouched over a woven cocoon of some prey as its powerful fangs easily puncture through the shell. A disturbing sucking noise soon follows which causes me to nearly vomit. Pushing aside the nausea I decide to quickly analyze the creature and get the heck out.
RaceArachne MagnaSexFemaleLevel16
Status Affects
None
Description
Arachne Magna is a highly territorial species that lives in large communities. The species is capable of living in most terrains, but prefers dry dark areas. They are known for their jumping prowess and razor sharp chelicerae.
Shivering at reading the description I quickly close the screen ready to leave. However, just as I turn to leave I notice through the shelf gap that the spider is gone. A feeling of dread immediately encompasses me just as I start to feel a presence to my side.
Slowly turning my head in apprehensive terror I just barely catch a glimpse as the creature lunges towards me. Its heavy body slams into mine sending us careening into the book shelf. The wind is knocked out of me as our entwined bodies fall to the floor in the midst of tumbling books.
Landing on the ground my eyes open in horror as two moistened fangs slowly descend….