Daniel moved over to the wall, resting against it as he took in the screens. His arms were aching from swinging the table leg so hard, his body unused to the motion. He would have to train more in the future to prevent this from happening.
He figured he had unlocked the player status from killing the goblin. He willed away the notification windows before calling “Status” in his mind.
StatusName:Daniel FinnleyAge:20Race:HumanLevel:1Titles:ExorcistHealth:30/30Strength:14Vitality:12Agility:14Dexterity:15Intelligence:13Perception:11SkillsIdentifyStat Points:0
He grinned, seeing how his stats were allocated. If he assumed that the average person would have 10 points across the board, then he was above average. It made him feel good about himself.
Although he had an idea of what it would do, he wanted to confirm what his new skill did. Focusing on it, a new window popped up.
Identify (Beginner Lv. 1 - 0%)
Appraises item status.
Unknown items can be identified.
Entities can be evaluated.
Yep, just as he thought. It seems like it would allow him to check an item’s stats, and probably check an enemy's health as well.
Taking a look at the club the goblin had, Daniel tried to use Identify on it. Nothing happened, so he figured that it must be because it was too far. He decided it would be a good time to check its effective range, and slowly walked over to the club while repeatedly trying to use identify. It wasn’t until it was within grabbing distance that the skill finally worked.
Wooden Club
Shoddily made by a goblin, this club still has blood on it from past kills.
Damage: 8-12
+2 Strength
-1 Dexterity
Although he felt that the range was way too limited, he was pretty sure it would increase as his skill’s level increased. The notification window before said that this was a rare skill, so even though this ability was usually a standard in most games, that probably wasn’t the case here.
Wrenching the club out of the goblin’s hand, Daniel took a look back at where he came from. Some time during the battle, the bird had left. He was sure that it was still in the area though, watching.
For now, he would lie low and try to stay hidden, taking the opportunity to avoid fights when he could. Although he wasn't injured in the fight, he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to handle more than 1 goblin at a time.
Looking at the corpse, he decided he would try to identify it as well.
Lesser Goblin Corpse
The corpse of a goblin. From the way it was killed, it's apparent it was defeated by an amateur.
Its skin is tough and coarse.
Well, he didn't really expect much from it, though he had hoped there'd be something more useful.
Anyways, he had to get moving. It hadn’t been long since he woke up, but it would start to get dark fairly soon, and he didn't want to get caught outside of his dorm at night. He didn't know what the night might bring, but it was sure to be dangerous.
Shoes and socks off, he set off moving down the hallways, darting from room to room, avoiding goblin patrols along the way. This building was the general classroom building, and it was a lot cleaner than the building he had woken up in, the humanities building.
There was a lot of broken glass from mirrors, just as many bodies in the classrooms, but not as much debris. Whatever had wrecked the other building hadn't done the same here.
Just as he ducked into another classroom to avoid an incoming goblin patrol, he heard a ghastly wail. He flinched for a second, before realizing it was someone screaming. The noise was coming from just a few halls down.
If he was to go and help, he had to go quickly. But he hesitated, unsure if he could take the risk. The goblins were sure to hone in on the sound, and the person might already be dead by the time he got there.
He quickly weighed the cost and benefits, and decided he would at least check out the situation. If he could help, he would, but if the risk was too high he would back off. Quickly putting on his shoes, he raced down the halls, the screams getting louder and more distressed.
Turning a corner, Daniel made it just in time to see a guy get his head smashed by the wooden club of a goblin. There were at least 10 goblins surrounding him, and there was no way he would be able to deal with that.
He hoped the guy would at least get a swift, painless death, but that thought was quickly thrown to the side as the goblins surrounded him. Daniel winced as he saw blood and guts flying, the goblins competing for a piece of the body.
Backing off from the scene, he consoled himself by thinking that even if he made it in time, there was no way that he would have been able to help. There were too many goblins, and not enough him.
Taking off his shoes, he set back down the hallways, towards his dorm. He had only seen two patrols on the way, guessing that the rest were back there, preoccupied.
Making his way to the front door, he looked outside the building and saw the giant bird in the distance. Thankfully, it was faced away from him, heading towards the nearby mountains.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Nonetheless, he sprinted towards the nearby building, the cafeteria, since there were still monsters around. Not that he knew what other monsters there were besides the goblins, who seemed to be content with staying indoors, but still.
He moved through the cafeteria, hoping there were some people here, but unfortunately, there weren't. In fact, there wasn't anything here. Unlike the other buildings, this one seemed completely untouched. There weren't any bodies, debris, or anything out of the ordinary.
The hairs on his back stood up, the building seeming more and more creepy by the second. The shutters to the food stops were down, but the doors to all three dining areas were completely open. He had a bad feeling about moving through the building normally, so as quickly and silently as he could, he went towards the back of the cafeteria where the garden was.
As he was about to open the door to the garden, he heard the sound of something dripping behind him, and a soft, girlish giggling. He slammed into the door, which was thankfully unlocked, and turned around once he was out of immediate reach of the door. But as expected, he didn't see anything.
Daniel wasn't sure how he felt about not seeing what was being him. For now, he had the garden to navigate.
If what he had seen so far was anything to go by, this area was sure to be dangerous as well. He figured there'd be plant or insect-like creatures, and he was right.
The area was filled with huge creatures and plants. Giant, colorful flowers were abundant across the garden. In the distance, there was a gigantic praying mantis feasting on half of a caterpillar.
He could also see various beetles and other insects roaming the area, and other than the praying mantis and caterpillar, they all seemed to be getting along. Daniel felt like the garden had been filled with oxygen, allowing the flora and fauna to supersize.
From what he could remember, the tiny versions of these bugs were harmless. But seeing as they were now well over 6 feet tall and could probably eat him, it probably wasn’t a good idea to assume that was still the case.
Daniel suddenly heard burrowing next to him and jumped back, holding the club at the ready. Dirt was rapidly flung up as a gigantic...pillbug came out of the ground.
Although it seemed a bit laughable, he still held up his club just in case. It wouldn't be funny if it had suddenly developed carnivorous tendencies and attacked him.
Thankfully, it just looked at Daniel before crawling away. Looking at the carapace on its back, he briefly considered killing it and turning its shell into armor, but he decided he had higher priorities.
Although he was still tense and wary of his surroundings, he felt the atmosphere was still so much better than that of the cafeteria and other buildings. Especially the cafeteria.
In fact, it was extremely calming. The air smelt of jasmine, and...almonds? It was nice. Like, laying down in the grass and taking a short nap, nice.
As he walked through the garden, the feeling of wanting to nap grew progressively stronger. Logically, he knew this obviously wasn't the time or place for it, and he was trying to stay cautious, but he couldn't help but feel sleepy…
Noticing the incongruity, he paused a moment to check out his status.
StatusName:Daniel FinnleyAge:20Race:HumanLevel:1Titles:ExorcistStatus Effects:DrowsinessHealth:30/30Strength:14Vitality:12Agility:14Dexterity:15Intelligence:13Perception:11SkillsIdentifyStat Points:0
Seeing the new Status Effect row, Daniel knew that there was something in the air affecting him. His eyes were drooping, and it wouldn't be too much longer before he was too tired to move. Knowing what he had to do, he took a deep breath and slapped himself in the face, hard enough to leave a handprint.
The status window still open, he saw his health drop from thirty to twenty-nine. Regardless, the pain was enough to wake him up just enough to get him moving.
Closing the status window, he pulled his shirt over his mouth and nose, and he ran. Along the way, a few of the plants tried to spit at him, but he was moving fast enough that it didn't hit him.
After a few minutes of running, he had made it to his housing complex, but he didn't stop moving. Daniel booked it through the apartments, trying to keep his steps as light as possible. He was taking a risk with the noise, but with his apartment being so close, he couldn't help himself. The idea of making it to safety was too strong, and he was getting sleepier with every step.
Finally making it to his apartment, he ran up the stairs, fishing his keys out his pocket while doing so. With practice movements, he pulled his keyring out, flourishing them to the side to readjust their position.
Inserting his largest key into the lock, he moved into his living room, locking the door shut behind him as he went. Before he could do anything else, the drowsiness overtook him, and Daniel passed out on the floor.
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Author's Note: Thanks for reading! I personally feel like this chapter might be a little short, but whatever. It's meant to be a shaky introduction to the world around him, and I guess it suits that purpose just fine. The following chapters are fairly variable in length, as I'm not writing to reach a word count or whatever, but more like from scene to scene. The next chapter is kind of long, and I'll be posting it some time June 2nd.
Also, I'm still figuring out the whole table editor thing (it's a shame that Word tables don't translate well to bbcode), so if you have any suggestions to make them easier to read, I'd like to hear them!
Again, thanks for reading!