Aaron was scared.
He had had withdrawals before, but had always dulled them with a different concoction of drugs and alcohol.
Right here this would not be possible.
Aaron guessed that the linko leaves could be used as an alternative, but this wasn’t a way for him to solve his problems in the short run.
He didn’t know where to get them, how to prepare them and how to smoke them.
He also didn’t know what kind of changes they would cause to his body, mind or psyche.
So he decided to turn a new leaf.
No longer would he try to cover up his existing problems with more drugs.
He was going sober.
--
The first day wasn’t bad.
He had nothing to smoke, and rather than the usual ale he chose an alternative of herbal tea.
He remembered a question that someone had once asked a professor after a lecture.
“How can I speed up nicotine withdrawal?”
This question had been asked by a student who was thinking about throwing smoking forever.
The professor who had once been a smoker shared his personal experience and knowledge.
“Keep your mouth busy with gum, hard candy, or crunchy (healthy) food. Use nicotine replacement therapy, like gum, lozenges, or the patch. Go for a walk or do some quick exercises whenever a craving hits.”
“The first three days are going to be the hardest, with the third peaking the discomfort scale. Withdrawal symptoms usually peak after a few days and then decrease over a period of a few weeks. After this time, the body has expelled most of the nicotine, and the withdrawal effects are mainly psychological. Understanding nicotine withdrawal symptoms can help people manage while they quit smoking.”
“Everyone sit down, I’ll be taking an extra ten minutes of your time, the students that stay will get extra credit.”
Most of the students sat down.
“When someone uses a nicotine product, such as a cigarette, their body absorbs the nicotine through the lining of the nose, mouth, and lungs. From these locations, it enters the bloodstream. When nicotine reaches the brain, it activates areas involved in feelings of pleasure and reward. It also boosts the levels of a chemical called dopamine.”
“Using nicotine for an extended period leads to changes in the balance of chemical messengers in the brain. When a person stops using nicotine quickly, they disrupt this chemical balance. This can lead to the person experiencing physical and psychological side effects, such as cravings and low mood. I have experienced all of this personally so I can confirm these hypothesis. Experts describe this disruption of brain chemicals as nicotine addiction, and it is part of the reason why people find it so difficult to reduce or quit smoking.”
“Now onto the most noticeable part of your journey to quitting. The symptoms. The symptoms of nicotine withdrawal are both physical and psychological.The physical side effects only last for a few days while the nicotine leaves the body, but the psychological side effects can continue for much longer. Although it may feel unpleasant, nicotine withdrawal, for the most part, has no associated health risks.”
“The psychological symptoms of nicotine withdrawal include: a strong desire or craving for nicotine, irritability or frustration, low mood, difficulty concentrating, anxiety and mood swings.”
“People may also experience the following physical symptoms of nicotine withdrawal: headaches, sweating, restlessness, tremors, difficulty sleeping, waking at night, increased appetite, abdominal cramps, digestive issues, including constipation or even vomiting.”
“That is all for the symptoms now onto a time line, remember to jot this down.”
All of the students hastily took out pen’s and paper, they knew that anything this professor told them to write down would be on their midterms.
“Each person will experience nicotine withdrawal differently . Some individuals experience only mild symptoms for a few days, whereas others may have intense cravings and symptoms that last several weeks. Withdrawal symptoms appear four to twenty four hours after someone smokes their last cigarette. The symptoms peak about three days after quitting and then gradually subside over the following three to four weeks. About two hours after smoking a cigarette, the body will have cleared about half of the nicotine. The level gradually decreases over the next few days until it can no longer affect the body.”
The professor smiled while looking at the terrified faces of his students.
“But don’t worry it isn’t all bad, alongside all of these withdrawal symptoms, people will also begin to notice positive changes. These may include:a n improved sense of smell and taste, less coughing, and easier breathing, particularly when exercising.”
Aaron put his hand up, the professor nodded at him to ask his question. “How long does nicotine withdrawal last?”
“Great question, remember to write this down. Nicotine withdrawal symptoms typically begin four to twenty four hours following a person’s last cigarette and peak after around three days. Most people experience mild to moderate nicotine withdrawal symptoms that gradually lessen over several weeks. However, some people continue to have cravings for cigarettes months or even years after quitting. If a person visits a place where they used to smoke or spends time with friends who still smoke, they may experience a stronger craving.”
“To summarise. A person may find nicotine withdrawal symptoms uncomfortable and feel overwhelmed at times, particularly in the first week after quitting. Some people return to smoking because of this or are afraid of trying to quit. However, many people successfully overcome the challenges of nicotine withdrawal to achieve the multiple health benefits of quitting. It is important not to give up, as it can take a few tries before a person kicks the habit for good. End of lecture, see you guys tomorrow.”
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Aaron’s memory was a lot stronger than before his reincarnation.
This must be the effect of higher intelligence. I had a good memory back in the day but neglecting it’s training had made me lose my touch.
--
Sobriety day one went extremely well for Aaron, other than experiencing jitters that fucked with his combat with the slimes and the cravings he got by walking by the entrance of the Guild Hall it was all fine and dandy.
He grasped that potions could be used as a way to successfully eliminate his cravings.
Day two wasn’t any better than day one, Aaron would say it was worse, his harvesting speed was cut in half by the constant jitters and nausea.
Yet some effects were clearly visible, when he had gone to wash himself and his threadbare clothes in the stream outside of the village as per usual he had noticed that his grey skin had become even darker, he looked alike to a chimney sweep from the Victorian era. After he started scrubbing down his skin with a rag and fresh water he was joyfully surprised, the black sludge smelt like old cigarettes.
This must be the effect of me constantly taking potions, although their effects on me are halved, due to their not being a system of immunity tot their effects my continuous intake is slowly healing my body getting rid of impurities. Nice.
Day three was hell.
Aaron woke up.
Walked out of the Guild and threw up like he had never thrown up before.
Shit, the professor did say day three was going to be bad but I didn’t know it was going to be this bad, fuuuck.
Tears were running down his face as he tried to steer himself towards the stream, the pain was awful, but not too much for the determined Aaron, he had experienced a death and visited hell so in comparison this was nothing.
But I’m not fucking comparing it to that, I’m comparing this to how it was with only the pain of my broken body, and this hurts like hell.
After throwing up six more times there was not much left inside Aaron to emit out of his stomach. His throat and nostrils burned like dragon fire, his vision barely able to discern colour. Luckily he had already made it into the stream.
The cool fresh water was like and angles kiss on his body, after he had cleaned himself off with his limited motor functions he greedily gulped down mouthful after mouthful.
He threw up again, this time the vomits contents was mostly water, but his insides were completely worn out from the constant actions of puking.
Aaron fell face first into the water. It’s cold embrace alleviating his pain. He stopped moving.
I could end it all here, just not get up now, drown, end this pain filled life. I’m a failure, I haven't done anything useful in my life, in the state that I am in now you could say that I am barely alive. Does this life even have any sense.
Images of his little sister’s and his parents smiling faces blurred past his vision.
He smiled.
Then an image of the crashed car on the news and his sister on that hospital bed appeared.
No, no, no I can’t.
Aaron surfaced gasping for air. He pulled out a potion and dunked it down.
Soft sobbing invaded the cool morning air.
Aaron you absolute bastard, you fucking want to kill yourself after getting another chance! THEY DIDN’T FUCKING GET ONE YOU SELFISH SHIT!
Aaron was slamming his fists into a tree, their power was filled with aggression and passion, if one looked at what was happening and knew of his stats they would be bewildered. The imprints that his fists left were like a cave painting covered with red paint.
He collapsed onto the floor after 20 minutes of going all Minecraft on the tree. His body had understood his intent and subconsciously activated his skill unarmed strike.
PING
-Skill advancement-
-Unarmed Strike I (uncommon)->Unarmed Strike III (uncommon)-
--
Aaron woke up by the same tree, it was already mid day and the sun was beating down on him warming up his cold and stiff muscles. The black sludge had returned along with a good serving of sweat from his impromptu tree beating. He glanced at the tree and was amazed.
What the fuck…
He looked down at his hands, then the pain hit him, they were completely disfigured and covered in blood, bones were sticking out of his muscles.
Yet compared to the tree this was nothing, while his arms were covered in splinters the trees total height now reached only up to his chest.
This hadn’t been a standing twig but rather a tree that Aaron could get his arms around.
Was that… me.
Aaron was amazed, this is just the beginning where his power was extremely limited, how strong would he be if he trained?
I’ve so got this!
He clapped his hands together, then realised his mistake.
“AAAAAA FUUUCK!”
More blood fell down at his feet mixing with splinters and old blood alike.
He quickly fumbled for a potion. Holding it with his wrists that were relatively unscathed and uncorking it with his mouth. The spinach tasting juice felt like vanilla ice cream as it flowed down his throat.
Aaron glanced down at his HP.
-HP: 15/70-
Whoa fuck, if the sun didn’t wake me I would have certainly died, ok no more going unconscious it’s too uncertain.
Seeing that his health was barely ticking up Aaron dunked down two more potions in quick succession.
And promptly fell unconscious from the pain of his hands instantly reconstructing.
--
Shit.
Aaron quickly washed himself of all of the accumulated impurities.
Well hurting myself and healing with potions seems like a great way to quickly get rid of impurities.
PING
-Passive acquired-
-Fists of steel I (uncommon)-
Fists of steel I (uncommon)
You have opened up the path of the fist. Your fist are harder, your unarmed strikes with your fists deal more damage and make you take less damage.
+0.1 endurance, +0.1 strength +5 HP
I see, I see, so damaging myself is like an extremely painful but fast way to upgrade my body, with my higher pain threshold I can use this to my advantage, most normal people wouldn’t want to get hurt as that is a natural human instinct.
I just have to practice self harm away from society, or they might ostracise me more than they do already.
--
Day three’s harvest came to an end as Aaron made his way back to the Guild Hall.
Although the speed of his harvesting hadn’t improved he had taken part in combat a lot more frequently.
His strategy had been this.
Whenever he got any cravings or the jitter were getting too bad for him to harvest the flowers he took out his frustrations on slimes, taking on many at once.
He would constantly change his style of fighting.
One group was finished with kicks.
Another with well timed punches.
He had also tried just charging them taking damage in the process.
Just before he headed back he had met his last group of adversaries.
There were six slimes in total. Since he had already analysed their jump trajectory he had thought up of a plan.
Baseball.
Although his staff wasn’t exactly the same parameters as a regulation baseball bat it’s shape was similar even though it was too big.
--