Interestingly enough, Health wasn’t just how physically healthy I was. It was actually a numerical value for how much damage the mana embedded in my body would actually absorb, defraying damage done to me. It wouldn’t stop instant death if I had a pick shoved through my brain, but it would actually reduce the force of the pick as it impacted me if I had a large enough Health pool. Of course, that used up some of the embedded mana, reducing my ‘Health’ at a more drastic rate. Such a strange thing, especially since this embedded mana was completely different from the mana that I could use for spells. As I fight off another yawn, I turn to poking at more information about the things I saw on the Status screen.
Class skills were special skills, abilities that relied on Mana to produce their effects. They generally broke the law of physics, the amount dependent upon the skill itself. Some of the common examples make me think of action movies and anime - the ability to generate fire from my hands or get an armor-plated body seemed just cool.
Spells, on the other hand, were just that, magical spells that used Mana to cast. The distinction between what was considered a skill and what a spell seemed a bit arbitrary to me, but perhaps it would clarify when I actually get either one of them.
And Perks, well, perks were things you gained for completing special quests or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time it seemed. Small or large advantages over your everyday non-perked person.
Now we had numbers, points to say who we are, what we are, what we’re good or bad at supposedly. Would it have mattered when I was younger, to be able to point to a screen to say ‘I’m not who you think I am’, or would it have been the same? If my life had been governed before by this System, would I have tried to raise my Charisma or perhaps trained more to be stronger? Would I have failed less because I would have focused on things that I was good at already? Or would it not have mattered?
I sigh, rubbing at my eyes. There’s so much left to read, so much left to learn about this strange new world. I want to read more but I can’t fight off the exhaustion any longer, my eyes drifting shut.
Chapter 3
Congratulations. You survived an entire day! You humans really are an excellent bunch. Only 60% of you died yesterday. We are impressed. Have a cookie. And some experience. Remember, monster spawning will increase over the next week.
“60%” I shut my eyes as my mind attempt to grasp the meaning of that number. 60% - over 4 billion dead. 60% - 6 in 10 people I’ve ever met are dead. 6 in 10… that means, my family is dead since I’m alive. That last thought makes my breath catch, a yawning chasm of pain opening up. I’ve been avoiding thinking of them, of what this System means for the world but with this announcement, grief and rage and regret building. That chasm of pain and mixed emotions widens for a moment before it gets bunched away and put aside, compartmentalized. I don’t have time to deal with this now, I have things to do, my own life to keep alive.
“You know, crying is considered real manly in Kraska cultures. Of course, they’re sort of like your earth crocodiles,” Ali floats above me, watching me deal with my thoughts before he waves the notification away. “Let’s go boy-o.”
“Give me a moment,“ I mutter.
“You aren’t really going to cry are you?” Ali asks, spinning completely upside down in boredom.
“No, no I’m not,” I state that confidently. I can feel the grief if I focus but it, like most of my other emotions are muted, like a heavy blanket thrown over a speaker. It’s there, just hard to access. Enough for me to function, at least mostly. I can tell though, even now, the grief is mixing with that rolling sea of anger that I live in.
Anger…
“Ali, find me something to kill,” I state dispassionately as I stand up and heft my bag. “Find me a lot of things to kill.”
Ali for once doesn’t give me lip, just doing as I requested.
“It’s dead,” Ali speaks placatingly to me as I give the Ground Squirrel one last stab. I might have gone a bit overboard there – the animal is pretty much in pieces. Thank the gods the Loot function doesn’t take into account the body of the creature, giving my prize without the rather nasty stab wounds.
“Ali, how do I get a better weapon?” I stare at my knife and the creature. Thank the gods I indulged my inner child when I picked it up and got a Bowie. Truthfully, it was way too much of a knife for camping but I had been on a Rambo kick when I bought it. Now, it’s my one and only weapon. Well, that and a can of bear spray.
“System Shop. That’ll be in a System generated safe haven, which currently is only in Whitehorse itself. You’ll need to sell your Loot to get it though, unless you get some System Credits which only sentients carry,” Ali continues to explain. “Still need to work out your feelings?”
“Let’s get out of here,” I shake head my head, the rage finally settled. I’m not sure what it says about me, that I took out my feelings on these creatures, but for now, I’m just going to ignore dwelling on that. It’s mid-morning already and I’ve only managed to make a couple of kills so far. Hunting is getting more and more dangerous as even Earth creatures mutate at an increasing rate, out-leveling me and my pitiful knife.
“Alright boy-o, same deal as yesterday,” Ali waves his hand down the path and I follow his directions.
Knife held out before me, I jump and swing downwards, the QSM deactivating at the last second as I plunge the knife into the Snowshoe Hare’s head. I hope I hit something important since the hare is now the size of a horse but much broader. It rears its head and only a hastily grabbed piece of fur keeps me on it as I repeatedly plunge the blade into the back of its head and neck.
A minute later, sufficient damage is done for the hare to fall over dead. A few moments ago, it finally managed to get me off its back by slamming itself into a nearby pine tree, breaking my shoulder and loosening my grip. As I lie on the ground, whimpering in pain I can’t help but wonder why Ali was so insistent I fight the Hare. I give mouth to my thoughts while I heal, pulling myself to sit at the base of the tree and pull another chocolate bar out of my pack. Thank god I always over-packed on the chocolate.
“Hare? I thought it was a Rabbit,” Ali frowns, floating above the creature. “Damn. And here I wanted to say ‘Nothing’s up, Rabbit.’ “
“Down!”
I drop to the ground and am smashed to the side as the creature hits my backpack. I roll, coming up and face-to-face with a rabid ball of fluff with way too many teeth. I stab the walking stick in its maw, the creature biting down on the metal pole automatically. I keep shoving, pinning the creature to the ground as it begins to choke.
“Move!”
I jump, releasing the pole as another of the fluff monsters attacks me from the side, too focused as I am on killing the first. I lash out with my knife, cutting at the scratchy fur as I stumble backwards, desperately waving my weapon at it.
“To your right,” Ali calls out and I look right, backhanding the third Tribble monster. The blow catches it and sends it spinning away, tumbling down the hill. The second monster takes my brief distraction as a sign to bite my leg and I scream in pain, stabbing down with my knife again and again till it releases me.
I push off, hobbling to where the first fluff monster continues to gag and cough and I kill it by stomping on the creature, repeatedly doing so till it stops moving.