“Shit, Shit, SHIT!”
Brak reached back and grabbed at where he felt the pain, grasping firmly around something thin, scaly, and wriggling. He rose to one knee and flung the thing, which could now see was a brownish yellow snake of some kind, back towards the tombstone, which it struck with a weak thud before falling back into the golden grass.
I quickly slithered into the grass, but just before he lost sight of it, he caught a glimpse of another blue translucent box floating above it’s head.
Brown Prairie Snake (Juvenile) HP: ???/???
Some other blue boxes seemed to be doing something in his peripheral vision, but he brushed them off. I’ll look at those when I get a moment.
Well that’s something at least. Was it already hurt, or did I damage it when I threw it?
He looked around the area, trying to spot the creature before it could attack him again.
I really need a weapon, oh right! The dagger.
The moment he thought about wanting the dagger, it immediately materialized into his hand.
Well that’s handy.
No sooner did the thought cross his mind than a brown flash erupted from the grass to his right. Without thinking, he dove to his left and swung the crude stone blade in a wide arc towards where he saw the movement, the dull edge pushing aside a few blades of grass, but otherwise hitting nothing but air.
He winced in pain as his left shoulder bashed into a rock on the ground, but he managed to continue with his momentum and roll himself to his feet, somewhat awkwardly. It always looks so easy in movies.
I’ve got to get out of this grass, I’ll never be able to see this thing in here.
He started running towards the tombstone he had spotted that was further from the woods. Hopefully there would be some clearer ground along the way, and if not, he could always climb on top of it and get above the grass.
He ran about 20 feet before giving up on that idea. I guess that SPD stat translates directly into my movement, which means I’m slower than snail shit right now.
He stopped and crouched low, holding his dagger out in front of him and listening to the grass. Where are you, you little bastard?
A faint rustling caught his attention, followed shortly by that vicious little brown streak, darting up towards his face. This time he managed a more controlled swing, and felt the dull edge of the blade slam into the creature’s scaly hide. His victory was short lived, however, as the blow knocked the snake only slightly off trajectory, and it sank it’s fangs into his left shoulder instead.
“Goddammit!” Brak shouted, dropping the dagger at his feet and grabbing the snake in his right hand, gripping it close to it’s head and ripping it free from his shoulder. The snake hissed and tried to wriggle free from his grip, as Brak pressed its head towards the ground, reaching about awkwardly with his off-hand for the dagger.
He found the blade and gripped it in his left hand, pain shooting from his shoulder as he moved the arm about.
“You just couldn’t let it alone, could you.”
The snake hissed in response, and Brak began bringing the blade down awkwardly on the snake’s head point first, nearly slicing his own hand open in the process. The dull blade didn’t even pierce the skin, but after three strikes or so, the sheer blunt force of it drove the life out of the snake, and it went limp on the ground.
Brak held onto the snake for a moment to make sure it was dead, then released it and sat down on the ground beside it, rubbing his aching shoulder and trying to ignore the pain in the back of his leg.
I sure hope that thing wasn’t poisonous. He thought, then he remembered the other boxes he had seen. He turned his attention to the one in the top left corner of his peripheral vision.
Brak Iznutri HP: 1/10
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“Holy shit, I’m almost dead?” His body ached, but he certainly didn’t feel like he was on death's door. He turned his attention to the other box that he had seen moving, this one center left. There were a lot of messages, so he scrolled to the top and started reading.
Achievement Obtained: Welcome to Xion. {Common}
The first one’s always free.
Reward: None.
Achievement Obtained: Schrödinger’s Tombstone {Common}
You have discovered your own grave!
Reward: Existential dread.
So I’ve already been here before, and died. So those words were a warning, from me to myself? Alright, my head’s already starting to hurt. He continued reading.
Brown Prairie Snake struck you for 4 piercing damage! You are in combat.
Brown Prairie Snake took 1 crushing damage from Brak Iznutri’s Tombstone!
Achievement Obtained: Improvise! {Uncommon}
Anything is a weapon if you try hard enough.
Reward: Improvisation skill unlocked.
You’ve taken 1 crushing damage from falling!
Health ≤ 50%
Brown Prairie Snake struck you for 4 piercing damage!
Health ≤ 10%
Brown Prairie Snake took 1 crushing damage from Stone Dagger.
Brown Prairie Snake took 1 crushing damage from Stone Dagger.
Achievement Obtained: Switch Hitter {Uncommon}
Chirality is for chumps, why limit yourself?
Reward: Ambidexterity skill unlocked
Brown Prairie Snake took 1 crushing damage from Stone Dagger.
Brown Prairie Snake took 1 crushing damage from Stone Dagger. Brown Prairie Snake was defeated. You have gained 3 Potential!
Achievement Obtained: First Blood {Common}
You have defeated your first enemy in the world of Xion, well done!
Reward: Title [Prefix] - Rookie Adventurer (STR +1, INT +1, DEX +1, CHA +1) {Common}
Achievement Obtained: The Brink {Rare}
You survived a battle with 1 HP remaining. You are either very stupid or very brave.
Reward: Title [Suffix] - The Fortunate (+1 to all primary stats) {Rare}
Passive Skill - Defy Death (If your HP is reduced to ≤ 0, it is instead reduced to 1. 48hr cooldown) {Rare}
Healing Draught (Minor) x1 {Common}
Brak stared at the plethora of information before him, trying to process it all at once.
Well if I’m at 1 HP, I’d better use this Healing Draught. He opened up his inventory and inspected the item.
Healing Draught (Minor) - Restores 200 HP instantly upon consumption.
200 for a minor potion? Then why is my max HP so damn low?
He hated the idea of wasting so much potential healing, but he couldn’t exactly sit around at 1 HP. He summoned the draught from his inventory into his hand. It was a small glass vial that fit between his extended thumb and forefinger, filled with an iridescent red liquid that shimmered in the sunlight. He downed the bottle in one swallow.
You have recovered 19 HP.
19? I thought my max was 10. Maybe some of those titles I got modified my HP somehow, I really need to figure out what all this crap means.
Brak brought his status sheet back up.
Name: Rookie Adventurer Brak Iznutri, the Fortunate Class: Unguided Race: Xato Level: 1 (3/90) HP: 20/20 MP: 0/0 Attributes: STR 3 INT 3 FORT 2 WILL 2 DEX 3 CHA 3 SPD 2 CHM 2
Huh, maybe my Fortitude determines my HP? I suppose that makes sense. And the prefix and suffix titles, I can probably only have one of each of those equipped at a time. It seems like gaining those will be useful, especially early on.
He was beginning to suspect he was exceptionally weak, based on the strength of the healing draught and the fact that his life had doubled from a single point FORT increase.
Odd though, I don’t see any sort of potential stat.
He glanced over the sheet again, and then the number next to his level caught his eye.
Level: 1 (3/90)
He focused his attention on that box, and another smaller box appeared beneath it.
Level: 1
Current Potential: 3
Potential for Next Level: 90 [10 (Base) x 3 (Xort) x 3 (Unguided)]
He stared at it, dumbfounded.
So potential is like experience, and I don’t gain 9x as much per level, I need 9x as normal to gain a level?!
He tried to do some quick math in his head, but for some reason it seemed very difficult for him.
Maybe because of my INT stat?
He used his dagger to clear some of the grass away, then wrote the problem out in the dirt.
90 Potential / 3 Potential per Snake = 30 Snakes.
30? He had barely been able to kill one!
He threw his dagger down in front of him, scattering the marks he had made.
“This is some bullshit.”