3 Chapter 3: Quest! And Rats?
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[ «Quest¹» ‹Inventory› ‹Messages› ]
>----
[ Quest: First Kill. ]
[ Difficulty: F+ ]
[ Objective: Kill a monster. ]
[ Description: Serus isn't the cosy world you're used to; here, you must struggle for everything: food, clothing and territory. A war takes care of all of life's necessities. Make your first kill and become a bonafide citizen of Serus. ]
[ Rewards: A black T-shirt, loosers, and a pair of athletic shoes. ]
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Damian looked at the quest window with ambivalence. On the one hand, his rational self thought of everything as an illusion, while his adventurous self told him to accept all of these unrealistic situations as his new reality.
Damian wasn't sure whether he should be excited about hunting a monster or afraid.
*Phew!*
"There's no need to think too hard about it. I need clothes, besides the quest only mentions killing a monster. Even a monster-worm counts as a monster." Looking down at his naked body Damian felt the need to cover it.
He wasn't a monkey in the woods; he was a human, and as a social creature who had spent his entire life covering his body in clothes, he felt uncomfortable and awkward without them.
"Now what to do with the stats?" Damian reopened his status and checked his stats, which read 5.
[ Stats: 5 ]
Then he looked down at his attributes...
>--
[ Strength: 6 + ]
[ Agility: 7 + ]
[ Stamina: 5 + ]
[ Vitality: 6 + ]
[ Mana: 18 + ]
[ Spirit: 0 ]
>--
The "+" sign in front of the attributes indicated the stat's use. Damian could add the stats to any attribute with the "+" sign, which left Spirit and increase it.
'Now where should I add my stats?' Damian held his chin, pondering where to invest his stats.
'Strength. That's exactly what I need to damage monsters. If things got bad, Agility would come in handy. But what good is all of this if I don't have Stamina? Since I don't have any medicine, Vitality is a must.' Damian was perplexed as to where to invest after reviewing the first four options.
'My mana is already high; if I add two more, it will reach 20, at which point some skills may be unlocked.' When he lowered his gaze to Mana, his heart thumped with excitement at the prospect of learning a magical skill, 'No, no, no. What on earth am I thinking? My number one priority is survival.' but his rationality reminded him of his primary concern, which was survival.
It was simple to assess the status of a protagonist via the mobile screen. You just think of his pondering over something as insignificance as where to invest the stats, as a waste of time. But being thrown in the shoes of the protagonist was an entirely different experience... And Damian understood that very well.
"Ahh! Screw it, let's aim for 10 in all attributes and 20 in mana." After his 'very rational and deep thinking', Damian finally made a decision.
With a 'very clear mind' he swung his finger with full force to the "+" against strength, and...
*Thud!* Landed face-first on the ground.
'So embarrassing, how can I forget that touch does not affect the status?' Burring his face in the grass, Damian was unwilling to raise his head. But regardless of how reluctant he was, he had to get up.
"Ahem!" Clearing his throat in embarrassment, Damian looked around, once again making sure no one was around.
This time he imagined his strength increased by one and...
*Ding!*
[ Strength: 7 + ]
It worked! 'Time to get stronger.' Damian moved to the other attributes.
.
.
.
.
>--
[ Strength: 7 ]
[ Agility: 7 ]
[ Stamina: 7 ]
[ Vitality: 7 ]
[ Mana: 19 ]
[ Spirit: 0 ]
>--
Damian nodded in satisfaction as he examined his new stats.
Standing up, Damian did a little run and threw some punches, but there was no difference other than the awkwardness of doing these while naked.
'How come there isn't any difference? Is it so little that I can't detect it?' Before Damian could express his displeasure...
*Cough!* *Cough!*
He fell to his knees, coughing loudly. Damian's heart felt so hot that he wondered if the fluid pumping through it was magma rather than blood. His veins followed his heart, burning at the same temperature.
He wanted to scream, but the pain was so intense that even drawing a breath was difficult, let alone expressing his pain in form of a scream.
From the top of his head to the tip of his toe every muscle of Damian's body clenched up as if trying to squeeze something out of them.
*Cough!*
After minutes of agonising torment that felt like years to Damian, salvation arrived in the form of a black material coughed out.
Damian shifted his weight and fell to the ground, turning around to face the rising sun he panted heavily.
*Pant!* *Pant!*
The morning breeze passed through Damian's sweltering body, cooling it. Damian closed his eyes as he felt the breeze, indulging himself in the beautiful sensation. His body's temperature restored to normal in an instant, as if the wind had some sort of cooling effect.
Taking deep breaths, Damian felt something new. The air entering his nostril and travelling to his lungs via his windpipe infused him with new vitality.
'What is this feeling? It feels...' Right now Damian was experiencing the feeling one would have on a winter day after blowing and cleaning the blocked nose and inhaling the fresh air of the morning. 'So refreshing.'
Damian turned his head, looking at the black liquid he had coughed out, and the moment he did... he looked the other way.
'Was something so stinky in my body?' Knowing that something like this was no longer a part of him made Damian feel even better.
Getting up, Damian repeated the tests, but unlike before, he felt the differences this time.
His blows were more powerful, his legs sprung with more force, propelling him higher, his body was more flexible, and his reactions were quicker. His body showed no signs of weariness even after minutes of the test. It was brimming with vitality.
'Oh! This sensation is fantastic... If increasing my stats to seven makes such a difference, how would it feel to reach those hundreds or thousands even?' Damian clenched his feasts with glee, he was so ecstatic right now that he was willing to jump at any monster to see what would happen when he levelled up.
*Phew!*
"Let's take it easy." Damian inhaled deeply, attempting to calm his racing heart. 'This sensation is far too addictive... but I have to keep my cool; I can't let my excitement get the best of me.'
"Let's head east," Damian said as he took another deep breath and proceeded to the direction the sun had risen.
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.
.
.
Walking through the woods, Damian snapped a low limb from a tree, thinking of using it as his weapon, though it wouldn't help much if the forest's occupants were as strong as the lioness.
Since he was walking in the forest naked, Damian took his every step carefully, ducking, jumping, bypassing. He did everything he could to avoid any scratches.
Though the vegetation appeared to be the same as what he was used to, he wasn't sure if the sharp branches or thorny shrubs were plant monsters seeking to infect his body with parasites. And he wasn't willing to take any chances that could result in infection, poisoning, paralysis, and, eventually, death.
Damian kept his eyes and ears open the entire time, looking for any creature in the forest that might he could classify as a monster.
Unfortunately, despite searching for hours, he had yet to spot a single insect, let alone a monster.
Carefully avoiding a thorny shrub, just as Damian was becoming irritated...
*Squeak! * *Squeak! *
He heard squeaks of low volume. Following the sound, he was on high alert as he tightened his grasp on the stick.
*Squeak! Squeak!*
As the sounds got louder, Damian's steps became slower. He was strolling at a snail's pace, careful not to make a sound.
Halting in front of a tree, he hid behind it, peeking ahead...
Four rat-like creatures with a body size of a dog were fighting among each other, or rather, three of them were attacking the smallest of the group
The dog-sized rats had black eyes and large brown hairs that stood up like needles. Their tails, which were as long as their bodies, slid across the ground as they moved around, biting and scratching at the tiniest rat.
The rat in the middle of the attack was cornered from all sides. Its body was covered in fresh cuts and bites, dying its needle-like hairs blood red as it attacked back.
*Squeeeeak!*
Before Damian could observe any further, he heard a high-pitched squeak behind him.
All the rats had their eyes on Damian, as he, in midst of the glares, turned around and realised...
There weren't four rats, but rather five, with the fifth and most likely the leader standing behind him.
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Stop! Wait a moment!
Before scrolling down, take a breather and imagine yourself in shoes of Damian, with the following attributes:-
[ Strength: 6 + ]
[ Agility: 7 + ]
[ Stamina: 5 + ]
[ Vitality: 6 + ]
[ Mana: 18 + ]
[ Spirit: 0 ]
With 5 stats available.
How much and where would you invest them?
