Chapter 2

"Ahh, refreshing"

Dan crouched in front of a river and folded his hands into a bowl-form to drink. Big trees surrounded him plus the shadows covered everything except the river up. In addition to the environment, a sunbeam shone on the water. Therefore it was like if mother nature highlighted the place as something beautiful.

He was somewhere deep in the forest. Because of his long walking trip, he hadn't found anything special. All that he had picked, were some sticks, blackberries but in a star-form, and sharp thin rocks.

Up through the sky, Dan recognized that it would get dark soon since the sun slowly went down.

"Fuuu~ Alright, what do we have here? Sticks, maybe I could grab some leaves and make a fire with it. Now, I've got some berries and rocks... Are these even berries in the first place? It looks like one, although it's shaped like a star. But first of all, it would be better if I make a weapon first. Sharp thin rocks plus sticks equal a spear. A spear that I can use against unwanted intruders. Primitive option, but it's still something." Dan thought out loud.

All of a sudden, the wind slithered through the trees, leaving Dan chilled. At this moment he knew he didn't have much time anymore.

"Okay, okay, how do I start? The longest stick and the sharp thin rocks..." Dan continued while having a lot of thoughts of how to craft the best possible outcome of his DIY-spear.

[Crafting]

Do you wish to craft a "Wooden Spear" with the ingredients on your hands?

[YES] [NO]

Suddenly an attention window popped up in front of him. The trigger was his attempt to adjust the height ratio between stick and rock.

"So it does come with a crafting feature? All I need is a combination of compatible ingredients. Probably a thicker stick plus a rock would craft to a stone ax? Anyways I'll go for yes, of course!" Dan shouted in fascination.

The two ingredients suddenly dissolved into blue undefinable pieces, directing towards up to the sky. A bright light appeared, transforming the ingredients into one.

[Crafting]

"Wooden Spear" has been crafted successfully.

Loading information...

Done...!

The stone blade got wrapped around the ending of the wooden stick with a sort of cloth. It was enough to pierce through skins.

Wooden Spear [Common]

Quality: F

Type: Spear

Crafted by the user with a poor choice of set

"Spears were weapons used to keep the enemy at a distance. As its weapon, it would be very beneficial to use this for stabbing fishes in the water. Speaking of killing, the durability of the poorly crafted weapon wouldn't last much longer, I suppose." Dan thought it over carefully to make the most of the weapon.

"Anyways, with a great beginning comes with a great end." He motivates himself.

After his cheer-up, his stomach instantly caused sounds, implying that his stomach needed nutrition sooner or later.

"Damn, time goes by really fast. I don't know if I should eat these suspicious berries. Berries? Whatever. Should I go for it?"

His instincts were activated automatically. It was natural to be very careful about what to eat beforehand. Especially in a world quite apart from any conceptions and reality.

"Ugh... guess I have to do it then."

He grabbed a handful of star berries in his hands from his pocket and forcefully shoved it into his mouth. Upon chewing the insides from the berries, an unpleasant smell had released inside his mouth. Not to mention the unique but nasty taste Dan had to suffer from.

"Kah-!" Before spitting out the berries due to their taste, he immediately swallowed the content. But what he had swallowed, nearly caused him to puke everything out.

"Right, for now, my appetite is ruined. I'll take it as a chance to start right off with hunting, I suppose." Dan told himself with a sigh after the end.

By eating these disgusting berries, he had gained a temporary sense of boost as compensation. No, it wasn't compensation, it was the actual effect of the berries. These star berries, which Dan described them, were actually called Meryx. They were rare and often used by the one who was preparing themselves for the hunt. Since the boost wasn't that much, only the tribes were mainly collecting them.

Dan stood up and walked to the nearest forest part he could have found. From the start, he took a quick glance to the left and the right, making sure that no possible threats could attack him from behind.

After doing so, he went deep into the forest. Sticks on the ground were rustling, the leaves were swirling around in the shimmering swarm of trees. A cold shower of the crying wind caught Dan's skin to the bones. For someone who only wore a plain t-shirt, it was only understandable.

While exploring the world and searching the food, suddenly a howl sounded like it belonged to a wolf from his behind echoed through mother nature. Bass-boosted howl which was enough to blast your eardrums off within close distance wrecked Dan's mentality. Who would have fought against an unknown something whose origin you didn't know of? Nevertheless, Dan turned around while holding the spear horizontally in the direction of the howl. Sweat dripped off from his forehead, he couldn't feel his hands properly due to his slippery spear that had been caused by his waterfall-like hands. People like Dan without any experience been made from before had either two-way-outs. First, they let their bodies influence by the fear itself or their will, their desire, and their mind will surpass emotions and let them fight to the bitter end.

Finally, the one who was responsible for the sign of animosity made his entrance. Tree branches and their leaves were rustling, nearly falling apart from the tree. What appeared in front of Dan's eyes was a monstrous wolf beast, about 2 times taller than Dan, with an aura that could be compared to 100 criminals pointing a gun at you. That was genuine fear and despair.

His white but yellow-lined fur revealed his angel-like supremacy.

Growling and going for a combat stance at four legs, the wolf prepared for the battle.

[Light Wolf - Level 26]

"A-a, I mean I can see his level and its name? Light Wolf? Well, it does look like one. A Level 26? Isn't that too much for me? Can I handle this?

Ahh... then dear me, I beg you to please lend all of your powers. Even the slightest percentage of my strength shall not be left out. I have lost my opportunity to turn my life into something better and I shouldn't let this second chance be taken out by an aggressive beast. It was brutal enough to get killed before even confessing to my cr-, to Nina. This isn't your battle, gods of whatever. This is my battle. My battle to prove myself that I am not a weak guy."

A battle cry left out of Dan's will. It was a truly menacing one, he let it out with all his force. The light wolf, who originally stood in front of him, charged at him either.

Dan made sure that the edge of the spear would hit him. He remembered what he told himself earlier: A spear is a weapon that is only focused on keeping enemies at long distances. With the correct use, even the weakest weapon would turn everybody's life into a crucial situation.

Right after they almost faced each other, he stabbed the wolf's left eye, this caused the wolf to let out a gigantic roar suffering from massive pain. The blood vessel was wounded by his attack. In addition to that blood splashed out from the eye of the wolf.

Immediately Dan crouched and rolled to his right in order to prevent getting hit by the wolf. At the same time, the wolf tried to hit him with his right razorblade-like claws. One attack went to the left, which Dan dodged.

He then tried a ground attack but failed. Dan dodged again by rolling in the other direction. After the dodge, he stood up by an instant. This time he focused on his jaw. By piercing through his jaw multiple times, he had the opportunity to stun him for a short period of time. The wolf's face averted to the opposite direction because of his pain automatically. Thus an opening for his right eye developed of this situation. The end was near. Without any hesitation, Dan pierced the spear in the wolf's eye and rotated his spear to cause extra blood loss. A rain of blood poured out of his eye, it covered Dan from head to shoulders with a rotten smell of red fluid. But that wasn't half of his problem. With all his might, he stabbed every part he could see at the closest range possible. At the end after countless stabs without giving it a rough thought, the wolf passed out by his wounds. Last of all Dan dropped down to the ground with a satisfied smile while breathing rashly over and over again. Eventually, his will and mindset were superior to anything else. Of course the berries he had eaten before helped him by a little. Still, if he fought longer, he wouldn't have defeated the wolf due to his current stamina. Besides, his spear was almost broken.

[Level Up]

You've reached the next level!

Level: 1 -> 17

As a reward, 34 skill points, the skill "Eye Of The Phantom" and 42500 Karma has been given to the user.

[Achievement]

You've received an achievement: Hope dies last

Garyu - The master of the divine dark fists favored your reason to live.

As a bonus, you've gained +2 strength +1 agility.

"Woww, gawh-... amazing. 34 skill points and a skill? So I've reached the 17th level. 34 divided to 17 equals 2. It means by every level, you'll get 2 skill points. What belongs to skill, I think you'll get one skill at every 10th level but I am not quite sure. My efforts paid off. Or is this what you call "plot armor"? Just kidding, why should I have it if I am not worth being called a protagonist. I shouldn't have read too many fantasy novels, ahh I miss them. By the way, what's karma?"

As always, Dan talked to himself out of loneliness.

"System help, karma!"

"

Karma - A currency for the shop.

Earn it through leveling up - each level gains you 2500 Karma

or

Earn it through awakening your magic to a higher tier

There are 6 tiers: Novice, Mid-Tier, High-Tier, Prime-Tier, Omega-Tier, God-Tier

- beginning tier gains you 10500 Karma at the start, multiplicated every time by 2x on each higher tier

or

Earn it through reaching max level in any stats - each max leveled up stats gains you 100000 Karma

Vitality (max. 300)

Agility (max. 200)

Stamina (max. 200)

Strength (max. 200)

Sense (max. 200)

Magic (max. 200)

Skill (max. 200)

"

"Right, karma is also an important factor for me too. Perhaps, in the shop will be some helpful items for me to buy. I have a long way to go. I'll max level up my stats with all my possibilities." Dan thought out loud, he was surely motivated to keep getting stronger.

"System open!"

{Profile}[Skills][Magic][Titles][Achievements][Quests][Inventory][Shop]

Da Yin – 17 – Level 17 – Class: Dominator

Title: Novice

Mana: 472/472

Vitality: 1 [+]

Agility: 2 [+]

Stamina: 1 [+]

Strength: 3 [+]

Sense: 2 [+]

Magic: 3 [+]

Skill: 1 [+]

Remaining skill points: 34

"Now, here comes the picky part. On which stat should I focus on more or less? Vitality - to not get hurt easily by enemies? Agility - to get faster? Strength - get stronger to deal more damage? And perhaps strength can be useful in other situations too. Magic and Skill - speaking of magic, can I even use it? Well, I'll try it out later.

For now, it may be better if I put 5 skill points on vitality, 6 on sense, 5 on skill, 6 on magic, 6 on stamina, 6 on strength. Right? Keeping it balance for now since I have much to discover. Even though I don't know how to use magic, it will surely be a great future-proof decision to do so."

Dan decided to keep it slow and calm first. He then pressed the +-buttons on which he wanted to add his skill points.

{Profile}[Skills][Magic][Titles][Achievements][Quests][Inventory][Shop]

Da Yin – 17 – Level 17 – Class: Dominator

Title: Novice

Mana: 472/472

Vitality: 6

Agility: 2

Stamina: 7

Strength: 9

Sense: 8

Magic: 9

Skill: 6

Remaining skill points: 0

"Somehow I feel much better than before, it is because I've leveled up my stats?"

Little did he know that it wasn't because of stats precisely, the cause of him feeling unwell before, were thanks to the berries. For him, the taste was nearly unbearable, it was comparable to the cactus he had eaten back in his childhood. A very bitter taste sensation. Vitality didn't only affect the durability of the body but also the overall condition plus the immune system.

"Now, I have got a skill, right? Why not test it out? Oh, not to forget I also have to check out the inventory, shop, magic, and the skills tab." Dan stood up and opened the skill tab by clicking on [Skills]"

[Profile]{Skills}[Magic][Titles][Achievements][Quests][Inventory][Shop]

>Eye Of The Phantom [Rare]

Quality: C+

Type: Passive

Cooldown: 60s

Mana cost: every 5s -20MP

Let you possess the evil spirit of a shadow phantom to observe from the third perspective within 300m of one's own body.

While possessing the phantom, you are limited to everything but moving your phantom.

"Evil spirits? Who determines what's evil or what's not? It's me, who decides it!"

"Basically, I can free roam around the place but with a 300m range but I have to activate the skill first? Seems logical. Thanks to my friend who once told me that there are two differences between passive and active skills. Passive skills are skills that needed the user's activation first, it often comes with a cooldown after activation. Active skills are skills that don't need the user's confirmation, it is always active like the name says, simply put. Technically I can improve all my skills by raising my skill stat. This goes for magic too, I suppose." Dan gave it a clear thought on the system, it seemed like he got used to the system even more.

"How do I use the skill? Do I have to say "Eye Of The Phantom" o-" By accident he immediately used his skill. Upon activation, blue orbs surrounded him. It was the sign of the skill preparing his soul to be transferred into the phantom. A complex process in the truest sense of the word. After the preparation, he was drawn into the phantom with all his consciousness.

"Woah!" Dan was amazed. The phantom hovered in front of his body. Through his glasses, he could recognize that the shape of the phantom was one of a person but without legs. Even though it was slightly transparent, you could still recognize the clothes of the phantom. Gray overused rags and gray hood - both from wool. Its eyes were shining water blue.

"300m distance is maximum for now. For tour express, it may be helpful. I have to know if there is anyone else in this forest. Apparently, I can control this phantom, so the best way is to take full advantage of it."

So the spirit floated up through the sky, leaving ghost orbs behind it. What Dan could see, was an overview of the forest. A magnificent view. Looking around left, right, front and behind, nevertheless he couldn't find anything in particular. Only the army of the trees covered in shadows was the only thing he could see, still, the view was worth watching.

"Thanks to the skill, it is a lot safer to travel in places like this shadowy forest for sure. Now it's time to check out the other tabs." Dan couldn't wait to get deeper into the other tabs. To deactivate a skill, the user had to wish it deeply in his mind in order to stop the skill. After Dan had done it, he instantly returned back to his actual body.

"System open, shop!"

[Profile][Skills][Magic][Titles][Achievements][Quests][Inventory]{Shop}

>Weapons

| Goliaths Club [Club]

| Thief Dagger [Dagger]

| Slave Whip [Whip]

| Wooden Crossbow [Crossbow]

| Oldschool Reaper [Reaper] *

| .....

>Armor

| Iron Chestplate [Chestplate]

| Destructive Oni [Mask] *

| Maos Golden Gauntlet [Gauntlet]

| Joker Sign [Shoes]

| Darkside Cloak [Cloak] *

|.....

>Potions

| Bloodlust [Potion]

| Brave Of Lion [Potion]

| Rabbits Stubbornness [Potion]

| Holy Water [Potion]

| Old Man's Bait [Potion]

|.....

>Skills

| Japanese Martial Arts Style [Skills]

| Chinese Martial Arts Style [Skills]

| Soulbound [Skills] *

| Mind Observation [Skills]

| Jet To The West [Skills]

|.....

>Miscellaneous

| Uncle Jenkins' Fishing Rod [Misc]

| Mystery Book [Misc]

| Enchanted Rope [Misc]

| Compass [Misc]

| Mystery Egg [Misc]

|.....

"That's what I call a collection. It's even scrollable too, so it means there are much more. This system is even recommending me some stuff, it's highlighted with a star. Not bad, system. I'll go check the prices later, now I have to continue with the inventory tab."

The star highlighted items were items that were related to the summoning element and necromancy. Think of it as compatibility between yin and yang. Both harmonized each other.

[Profile][Skills][Magic][Titles][Achievements][Quests]{Inventory}[Shop]

>N/A

Inventory Slots: 0/500

"I have that much storage space? Come to think of it, I can use this very well for my journey. That makes exploring even better." Dan glanced at the inventory slots and laughed.

"Now for the most interesting part... Magic! I have to use Magic as soon as possible!" Dan continued by clicking on the [Magic] tab.

[Profile][Skills]{Magic}[Titles][Achievements][Quests][Inventory][Shop]

>Necromancy

Tier: Novice

Level: 0/100

XP till level up: 100

>Abilities

Shadow Resurrection [Lvl:1]

>Summoning

Tier: Novice

Level: 0/100

XP till level up: 100

>Abilities

Awakening Of The Demon Dogs [Lvl:1]

"Shadow Resurrection - probably a skill where I have to put souls of dead living beings as my shadow soldier.

Awakening Of The Demon Dogs - maybe it's a skill where I summon a lot of demon dogs from out of nowhere to make them fight off my enemies.

Both are very useful and overpowered abilities if you think about it. Count in my class benefits and my shadow soldiers or whatever should be a frightening power. But I don't know much about magic yet... perhaps the system can help me out?"

"System help, magic!"

"

Magic - an ancient supernatural art that many people still practice today in this world. The law of science would be ignored and broken due to its effects of magic.

Not all human have a magic element, but these who have a magic element can only possess one magic element. Rarely two or more. Apart from the player being an exception, a lot of people are trying to find ways of being able to possess more than one magic element for everyone.

In order to cast spells, mana(points) must be used. Mana is the spiritual energy that everyone has whether the amount is low or high, that varies from person to person.

By casting spells, the spirit will be weakened, thus users have to meditate immediately after long battles to keep the spirit in the right balance.

Mana is divided into three categories:

Mana-Control

By concentrating on the flow of your mana which flows through every section of your body, you let the mana be with you, not the mana be you.

Mana-control can be improved by meditating and properly concentrating on the flow.

Not having proper mana control can lead to fatal situations, especially when casting big spells or multiple spells at the same time.

Mana-Control is the first important category.

Mana-Concentration

Different from mana-control, mana-concentration is a factor for the potency of a spell.

Mana-concentration can be improved by meditating and focusing on building up mana to superior mana.

There are two different uses of the concentration:

External concentration - a process where the user releases their inner mana outside of their body. The user will be outlined by the mana. This can be used as magical armor for example or an enhancement of a spell.

Internal concentration - a process where the user releases their inner mana to develop into a much superior form of mana. In this way, the user's physical power will be reinforced.

Mana-Concentration is the second important category.

Mana-Efficiency

Mana-Efficiency determines how much mana(points) will be used and decides one's spirit power.

It is often trained much by masters to cast as many spells as possible in battle.

Depending on how well you train mana-efficiency, it comes with great protection against losing your control over your mind and other possibilities -> spirit power

There are 18 magic elements which are:

Lightning, Fire, Shadow, Summoning, Demon, Earth, Chaos, Wind, Water, Light, Ice, Sound, Psychic, Poison, Healing, Plants, Necromancy, Beast

There are 6 tiers: Novice (up to 100th level), Mid-Tier (up to 250th level), High-Tier (up to 500th level), Prime-Tier (up to 2500th level), Omega-Tier (up to 5000th level), God-Tier

Every magic spell can be leveled up until level 10.

Gain XP for awakening to the next tier from meditating on your soul and your mana.

Gain XP for magic spells from collecting souls from living beings [player-based] or consistently meditating by concentrating your mana on the spell you want to improve on.

Magic spells can be learned through scrolls or tier-awakening. By awakening a tier, the user will automatically gain one magic spell to his corresponding magic element.

"

After reading the long information, Dan wiped off his sweats from his face. Birds were chirping and flying to their nest, an owl was hooting around the area, the wind was blowing the leaves away. He realized it was nearly getting dark already.

"Magic, huh? Can't wait to test it out."