Jack woke up to the sound of rustling leaves and a stench like a combination of a farm and a zoo wafting over him. Based on his internal clock, which is less than accurate but all he has at the moment, he figured he was out for about an hour. His senses were on high alert, at least that's the only way he could describe the current feeling washing over his body. It was a tingling sensation that felt like he was at the top of a roller coaster about to plunge into a drop, but there was a certain ephemeral quality to the feeling, almost like a sixth sense.
Almost confirming his newfound sense of danger, a prompt similar to when he opened his inventory appeared; however, the prompt was more natural looking, surrounded by branches and leaves.
[ The Stick™ advises its attuned to face danger ]
[ Quest: Face dangerous foes: 0/? ]
[ Reward: Further Attunement ]
Jack stared, knowing something was off. His stick was apparently sentient, or something like it, and in line with his feeling, there likely was something lurking around. He really needed to figure out more about what was going on, and he guessed he'd only get that by finding people or "increasing his attunement". In any case, he needed to survive to make that happen, so he decided to proceed with caution and try to find this so called foe.
- - -
It didn't take long for Jack to find the source of the foul smell, after jumping into a nearby patch of bushes, all of which were interestingly a bright fuchsia color, he saw the beast. It looked like Dr. Frankenstein got his hands on a Hyena and a Lion, but was the size of a small dog. As soon as Jack locked eyes on the beast, a new notification appeared from his... stick.
[ The Stick™ offers to teach a skill: "Eyes of the Forest" ]
[ Do you accept? Y/N ]
A bit perplexed by the continual video game references, Jack wondered mostly why the stick decided to start talking now if it could have before. He also pondered whether he should accept.
[ The Stick™ explains that it had to take in more Magical Energy ]
[ Do you accept? ]
"Great, it can read my mind.", he thought. With everything going on, this revelation didn't shock Jack as much as he thought it would, but it was still a bit creepy that it could hear everything he thought about, even this. Despite all this, he didn't really have much else to rely on in this insane place he found himself in, and he noticed the monster was sniffing around and beginning to move ever closer to his position at this point. He decided to say "Screw It", and affirmed the stick in its offer to teach him the skill, not knowing what that meant but hoping it would help.
- - -
Suddenly, a rushing feeling, different to the feeling of wind or the waves in the ocean, washed over Jack. This feeling tickled a similar sense to the one he felt when he awoke this morning. Suddenly, he was surrounded by a dense forest, hearing birds chirping and could feel every single leaf falling around him. It was like he became one with the entire forest, or more accurately like he had become a part of a larger system of an ever expanding network of trees. Information passed by him, through the roots of the trees and the air around him.
Jack returned to his bush in the woods, no time seeming to have passed. He felt a feeling, the experience he just had being condensed into a pressure behind his eyes. He knew instinctively what he could do now, and glanced at the beast in front of him. A new window appeared before him, similarly styled to the one the stick produced, noticeably different were the roots around the window.
[ Crocotta: Demon beast of the forest. ]
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[ Weakpoint: Hind Legs ]
"Hell yeah, nothing offensive but this might come in handy", he thought excitedly. The only problem Jack had now was how to attack the monster, or if he would. A demon beast didn't sound like a normal Tuesday for him. Despite all the weird shit going on, he was just a regular dude from Kansas.
- - -
After careful deliberation, and realizing that the beast was getting ever closer, Jack decided he didn't have much of a choice not to fight this thing. If he wasn't hiding in a bush he would likely have already been attacked, and clearly the Crocotta had already gotten his scent. Stick in hand, he decided it was do or die. He reminisced about his family, having just moved out six months ago. With all the crazy shit over the last day he hadn't even thought about the fact he didn't know if or when he could see them again, and now he might make it never again.
Jack wanted to make this a bit more in his favor, and employed a tactic he often used in games to bait mobs away. Jack picked up a rock nearby and chucked it away from him and the beast to try and get its attention. He was worried that the Crocotta might be smart enough to look for the origin as opposed to where the rock landed, but thankfully it sprinted towards the location the rock landed instead.
"It's now or never..." Jack thought, and jumped out of the bush brandishing his stick. Following the advice of his nature filled eyes, he swung directly for the hind legs of the monster. Shockingly, the stick was lighter than he thought and quite easy to swing, and as it struck the legs of the beast it also seemed to pack a bit of a punch. He was starting to wonder just how magical this stick was.
The Crocotta yelped in pain as it stumbled around clearly in pain from the amateur bashing. Thankfully, his new skill didn't lie and the stick actually wasn't as useless a pick as he thought it would be. Unfortunately, the fight was not over and Jack ran in and smacked his enemy again, this time in the head. This strike didn't go without issue as the beast was not surprised this time, and it lashed out with its maw. Taken aback, Jack did not land as powerful a strike as he hoped, and actually ended up with a freshly bleeding wound on his right arm, though it didn't get a full bite out of him thankfully.
"Shi-----t, that hurts.", he stammered, the danger set in for real now that he shed blood. This was definitely no dream and he needed to end this quickly. Rushing forward again, this time swinging the stick more like a baseball bat than a sword, he went for the side of the monsters head. This time, being more careful and with a more definite swing, Jack was hit it before it was able to retaliate again. The thing fell over, the strike seeming to at least knock it out. Thankfully it looks like things do have brains here, and a concussive blow to the head did in fact make a difference.
Finishing the Crocotta off was a gruesome task, but he knew he had to do it to complete the quest given by his companion, as it didn't change as he brought the menu up in front of himself. After a gruesome few minutes of bashing, the quest changed.
[ Quest: Face dangerous foes: 1/? ]
[ Reward: Further Attunement ]
As the monster died, Jack felt the stick he had used as a club heat up a bit in his hands, and another message appeared before him.
[ Attunement increased to 0.2, due to low levels of Magical Energy in attuned, levels must be synchronized. ]
The heat from the stick spread into his hands, similar to when he gained his skill, and rushed all throughout his body. He felt rejuvenated and the wound in his arm quickly healed. The prompt changed further.
[ Magic levels stabilized, Increased Attunement awards further insights. ]
[ Jack Adams: Human, Loyal Customer ]
[ Barren ]
[ Title: The one with the Stick™ ]
[ Str: 2 | Agil: 2 | Int: 2 | Frtn: 2 | Con: 2 | Att: 0.2 ]
[ Level: 1 ]
[ Unassigned Magic Energy: 5 ]
[ Further attunement needed to access more information. ]
"Unassigned Magic Energy, and I have a level?" Jack thought out loud. As he did, he figured the unassigned energy surely had something to do with his stats, based on the countless games he was used to playing. He also noticed each of his stats had increased by one point, which must account for the rejuvenated feeling he felt at the moment. It was like he downed five cans of energy drinks all at the same time. The feeling was amazing, and he decided this stick might just be his key to surviving and maybe even getting the hell back home. After trying different mental commands for a minute, he was able to figure out how to assign the unassigned energy. By imagining the energy flowing from the unassigned portion of the menu to a stat, it increased. In this case, he opted for his Con first, as he wanted to make sure that any beasts he couldn't beat would have a hard time immediately ending his life. He put one more into Con and the rest into Str as he figured it was his best bet at the moment to make sure he could.
[ Str: 5 | Agil: 2 | Int: 2 | Frtn: 2 | Con: 4 | Att: 0.2 ]
Jack felt the same heat he did before from the stick, this time from deep in his stomach, spreading to the rest of his body. It felt amazing, and after it settled he picked up a rock and threw it. While he played baseball a long time ago, he was by no means athletic, but one would not believe it when the rock flew at quite a speed at the nearest tree, actually knocking a lot of bark off the tree.
"I think I might be able to do this"