[Inferior Light Bush Axe]
A relatively lightweight weapon designed as a landscaping implement. It can slay a demon, but it is not of good quality.
Type: Sword
Attack + 4
Defense + 2
Value: 4
Rage Skill: Power Cleave LV 1 – [14 Stamina] | Cool Down: None | Increase Attack Power 50% on next strike.
[--]
He sat silently while staring at the bush axe rotating in his mind's eye for a while. He would have probably stayed there for a while still if nature did not decide to call.
After using the bathroom, a thought occurred to him. If he could check the status of system items, and even his own status, what about the bastards outside?
Scott rushed to his front door and peeped out of his peep hole in an attempt to see if he could do the same with something else. The sight of a ghoul was milling around directly outside his door like it had nothing better to do than hang out near his porch step unnerved him greatly for a moment. The thing did not seem to know that he was just a few feet away, but the sheer closeness of the beast was unsettling.
He fought down his rising panic and took a deep breath. Once he was ready to focus, he tried to see if he could learn anything about his rotting neighbor. As things turned out, even when he looked through the peep hole he was able to receive information just by looking at the hideous thing for a few seconds.
[Demon]
Lesser Ghoul
Level: 1
Species: Undead
[—]
Scott quickly retreated from the door. The information acquired was unsurprising. The shark-toothed ghoul, rather the lesser ghoul was only a low-level monster. Even though its stats were not shown, they were probably designed similar to his own.
He glanced down at his bush axe then back to his door. He thought about it for a moment. If this was like a game then those attributes meant something, and the term level would mean something as well.
The murder-minded moment passed after he realized the truth of his situation once more. His stats felt like they were quite low. If life was some sort of game now, then he needed to pay attention to that sort of thing. What was the likelihood that he would be able to beat the ghoul outside with enough speed and efficiency to completely avoid detection by its friends? The chances were low, too low. He needed to learn more first.
Scott slowly backed away from the door. When he felt like he was at a safe distance he quietly considered his options. What he needed to know was his actual ability to deal damage and survive. Fighting now took place one turn at a time. What could he do other than trade blows with the rotting bastard outside?
After a brief moment of reflection he realized that there had to be a screen for his skills since the ring's information mentioned them. He tilted his head to the side then slowly asked the air, "Show skills?"
Just as before, a blue screen flared into life. Scott eagerly searched its information.
[Available Skills]
Burning Soul
Blade Weapon Competency
Summon Weapon: Long-Handled Sword
Unarmed Combat Competency
[—]
It was a highly limited set of skills, but it was something! He was also interested by the fact that he was granted an unarmed combat competency skill. "Wonder if the white stone did that?" He decided that it was probably a skill everyone acquired, a natural weapon.
If the world really did become a game-like existence, then he would need to increase his stats to survive. The skills he gained would need to be put to the test as well.
Scott was not sure that unarmed combat competency development would be a good idea at the moment. His bush axe offered a far greater reach than his fist. Even before using his skills, though, he would need to try and increase his attributes.
"Man, I can't believe I am doing this shit..." he muttered. The situation could not be real, and yet it seemed to be. He dropped to the floor and began to perform push-ups. According to what he read, heavy training of an attribute could increase stats. Further, increased attributes lead to better development once he gained a level.
The information itself proved vague, but it hinted at the possibility that early stat development was vital in the long run. Though, there were also hints that the speed of his growth would taper off quickly after a short burst of upgrades during initial training.
After he performed his eighth push-up, his arms began to feel like they were made of lead. It became difficult to perform another push-up. He persevered, however, and continued to do so another four times. He now felt like something was trying to crush him as it became incredibly difficult to push his body up. After his fifteenth push-up he felt too exhausted to continue, but he tried to force himself to do so anyway. He managed one final push up, and upon doing so he felt pain rack his body. He gasped in surprise then collapsed to the ground.
"The hell was that?" he asked surprised. He checked his stats and noticed that not only was his stamina depleted, but he lost a hit point.
A tense moment passed as he continually checked his status. How long would it take to recover? After roughly one minute he had his answer. He regained both one hit point and one stamina point. He immediately felt better both physically and psychologically after the points returned.
After another minute passed he regained more stamina, his hit points were already healed. This time he received two points of stamina, and felt significantly better. The third minute passed and another point of stamina returned to him. He watched as his stamina returned to him over the course of a few minutes, every other minute restored two points.
"Regenerates fast at least..." he said thoughtfully in a quiet voice. He blinked in surprise, however, when his stamina points regenerated one more time and he was left with fourteen instead of thirteen. His hit points even increased to two. A helpful window informed him of the truth.
[Status-Up!]
Through rigorous training, you have increased your potential!
Stamina +11
Hit Points + 1
[--]
"Already?" Sure, his stats felt like they were quite low, but this level of growth was ridiculous.
He set about to repeat the process since he knew stamina and hit points would be vital. The more he had, the less often he would become too tired to move. He was able to perform a few more push-ups this time, but it did not take long to reach the point of exhaustion. He pushed past the pain and lost two of his precious hit points before he collapsed.
Time passed as he rested, eventually a new screen appeared to show him what he earned through hard training.
[Status-Up!]
Through rigorous training, you have increased your potential!
Stamina Points +1
Hit Points +1
[--]
"Not bad at all. My stamina is already thirteen times what it was before." It took several minutes longer to replenish his stamina after the last round, but it did not matter as he gained another stamina point and hit point. He had nothing in the world but time, so he set about training in earnest. Scott repeated the push-up training process again and received another point of stamina. There was no hit point increase.
After the next round of training, Scott decided to get up and seek out a way to increase another stat while his stamina regenerated. He did not want to train with Burning Soul as he could not easily replace his house if he set it on fire. He opted to grab a few of his text books. He could study while he waited for his stamina to replenish.
Scott took his time walking to his bedroom, lantern in hand, to grab his books. He did not want to risk losing stamina while moving around. Once in his bedroom he settled down onto his bed and tried his best to read by lantern light.
Time passed, hours in fact, while Scott worked out and studied. He lost track of the number of times that he performed push-ups but he found a welcome message appeared after a while.
[Status-Up!]
Through rig
orous training, you have increased your potential!
Vitality +1
[--]
Excited, he checked to see how the increase changed his other stats. A slow frown spread across his lips as he took stock of his situation.
"A single stat point didn't change much." he remarked in annoyance. In fact, other than vitality increasing nothing had changed. While the stats that he increased through changing to did serious increases, they were not modified by the vitality increase in any way.
He went to get something to eat and drink then started to train once more. He wanted to become as strong as he could become before his food and water came close to running out. After another half hour his intellect increased, proving that studying did work. A few hours later his strength increased as well.
Over time, his stats leap frogged each other. By the time that the daylight hours came to an end he had increased several stats by a significant amount.
[Status]
Scott Keen
Age: 20
Level: 1
[HP: 5][15/15]
[MP: 0[1][21/21]
[SP: 26][36/36]
COMBAT
[Attack: 1] | [Arcane Attack: 0[1][5]
[Defense: 1] | [Arcane Defense: 0[1][3]
[Evasion: 1] | [Arcane Evasion: 0[1][2]
ABILITIES
[Strength: 2] | [Agility: 1] | [Vitality: 3]
[Durability: 1] | [Reflexes: 1] | [Arcane: 0][1]
[Intellect: 3] | [Charisma: 1] | [Luck: 1]
MANEUVERING
[Speed: 1]
[Counter: 1]
[Movement: 1]
[Jump: 1]
[Load: 10]
[—]
With the exception of his stamina, his stats barely increased through training. His primary attributes, such as strength, did not seem to do anything but make it more difficult to increase stamina or hit points. It became obvious that when those stats increased it required more repetitions of push-ups to increase his stamina. What purpose increasing his attributes served was beyond him if that was the only purpose. Unless the developments after a level-up were substantially different with a single point increase, actual physical training would be a waste of time after a while.
The only real bonus he could see was that vitality did seem to directly relate to how fast hit points and stamina were restored. Strength seemed to play a part in stamina regeneration as well. He now regenerated four stamina points per minute. Hit point regeneration waffled between three to four points per minute.
After dinner, he checked his peepholes, and then he opted to get some rest for the night. His stamina was long since replenished completely, but he still felt a strong desire to rest. The events of the day had taken their toll on him. The meat in his refrigerator was no longer completely safe to eat, he was certain. The odor was still minimal, but he would have to be rid of it in the morning or never open his fridge again. The freezer might give him another day, at most.
Scott thought of the things that his grandmother taught him about keeping food during power outages. Nothing in the fridge or freezer would be likely to kill him if he ate it tomorrow morning, but there was a chance that he would get sick. A refrigerator, at most, could keep meat for about a day. Cooked food might last a little longer, but it was already close to half a day since the power went out.
His eyes closed gently as he continued to think of his food situation. Cooked food in an unplugged freezer, maybe two or three days max. There was a little canned food left, not much. Thankfully there was plenty of water for the moment. If he rationed everything that he had carefully, he might have a week at most.
Of course, his that bit of math did not include the fact that he had arbitrarily limited stamina. For all he knew, he could starve to death in a single day if he did not eat regularly.
Scott's eyebrows pressed tightly together as he realized the depths of his predicament. He could not wait until his food ran out. If he did not make an effort to get more supplies soon, he would not be strong enough to even try.
Once he fell asleep, he fell hard. Despite his stamina stat, sleep came readily and he spent the night in exhausted dreamless slumber.
He slept well into the night, though it was impossible to tell how long. Refreshed completely, he set about training again. It was a lengthy process now. He had to completely exhaust himself and rest three times for each single point increase to stamina. It averaged out to around a two point increase per hour of constant training at first, but it became more difficult over time. By morning he had earned less than ten additional stamina points. However, he had performed thousands of push-ups, and spent hours studying his books.
"This won't work much longer," he said at last, sweat pouring from his body. Push-ups were no longer a reasonably viable source of developing stamina unless he could spend hours on end doing nothing but working out. Though, he did manage to acquire another point of strength near the end of his training.
Scott checked the water then smiled. It was still working. One cold shower later, he was refreshed and ready to make a few changes.
He vocally expressed his concerns so that he could hear them clearly. "There's meat going, or gone, bad in my fridge. I only have enough food for a week at most with extreme rationing, and I won't get much stronger just by working out."
It was obvious that his body no longer worked like it did before the change. He felt no great strain on his muscles despite working them heavily. If anything he packed a few weeks of dedicated physical training into a single day's worth of exercise, yet he healed completely once his hit points recovered.
Concerned about the state of the world around him, he went to peak out his peepholes. There was only one of the ghouls in sight anywhere. Scott closed his eyes and considered carefully. Was he ready to try fighting one of the things for real, or would his food supply last long enough for him to become amazing?
There was only so much that he could do to train inside his house, and his growth speed had slowed greatly. Decision made, he went and looked through his closet in search of a few things that might be useful.
A long-sleeved shirt and a thick winter coat were not armor, but they might help. He switched out to a set of work boots that he used to wear when doing landscaping and house repairs for people. The last new addition was his winter riding gloves. They were thicker than the ones that he wore during the rest of the year. Even a scooter could cause windburn or weather related injuries if the rider did not wear appropriate clothing.
Bundled up for a winter war, he summoned out his bush axe then nodded. It was time to assess the area and his chances of survival. He was tired of sitting around. Hopefully this was not all an elaborate joke just to screw with him and he could actually fight the things outside his home.
Scott went to the back door and peeked out the peep hole there. He saw nothing. He went to the front door. The slacker ghoul from before was still hanging out. Nothing else was in sight. It would be a worthy first battle, or last one, depending on what happened.
He quietly unbarred the door. He eyed the monster through the peep hole and waited for it to sluggishly turn away. It took a few minutes, but it was the only chance at surprise that he would have.
When the monster turned, Scott quietly opened the door then rushed out. He noticed a bright green light flare outward from his position just as the monster started to turn back toward him with a low-growl.
"Scott Keen versus Ghoul Slacker! Fight-o!" exclaimed the announcer voice for the first time in a while. The customary electronic dance music intermixed with an electric guitar began to play in the background.
The ghoul froze in place and did nothing as Scott took two full steps to reach it. The bush axe lanced out and slammed into its face with solid force. A bright red number three flared above its head, signaling the loss of three hit points.
It was driven back slightly giving Scott enough room to whip his weapon around in a bid to strike again. However, it was not meant to be. He froze
in place.
The monstrous existence growled low under its breath then righted itself. Scott panted a little, one of the few actions he could take. Movement returned to him just as the monster launched its attack. He was barely able to lean back a little as the beast whipped its talons through the air in a brutal display of power that tore through Scott's winter jacket with ease and gouged several deep cuts into his chest. A bright red number five flared above his head.
"Shit!" snarled Scott as he felt intense pain lance throughout his body. The monster froze in place after its attack. It was now Scott's turn to move. He whirled his blade around in a heavy arc and attempted to slam it down atop the thing's skull with all the strength he could muster.
The lesser ghoul became mobile at the last second. It slipped sideways, almost as though it anticipated the maneuver. A chunk of its hideous flesh was torn off along with its ear, but it was little more than cosmetic damage. The real damage was done to the rotting meat of its shoulder, as the blade carved into it with a sickening thud. Three more of its hit points were lost forever.
The beast lunged forward to try and grab Scott, but the blade was still in the monster's shoulder. Instinctively Scott leaned with the attack and used his weapon to fend of the beast while throwing it off-balance. No damage was taken in the exchange, not even the monster took damage despite the rough handling. However, the blade came free.
Earth Tactics Advance: Volume 1 Page 5
