1 The One
"What is LOVE!! What is LOVE, baby don't hurt me , don't hurt me, no more"
I have no idea who made the song but it has been stuck in my head for days.
Food delivery is always so boring, enticing food you can't eat, unsatisfactory pay, and shitty, entitled customers. At least in New York.
Selling pizza only pays so much, so DoorDash was a better alternative, still shitty at times but better than working for a boss.
I jumped off the curb and started weaving through traffic.
"HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING"
"Sorry guy, got places to be" I yelled back
New York hospitality was a nuanced language that was often misinterpreted but effective. I had two deliveries before I would be satisfied enough to go eat lunch. It would be the only way to earn enough to eat. I had a roommate but I don't want to rely on him for food as well as a place to live"
...
"Who orders TacoBell at 11:50pm?"
Not judging but Taco Bell on Tuesday night seems like a cry for help. What sucks even worse was it was across Central Park. If only his roommate didn't need the apartment, he wouldn't be so bored and resort to working. How did he get college girls to come over to the crib in the middle of the week?
I wasn't scared of Central Park, I'm a fit black male in my twenties. Central Park at night was just creepy. Looming shadows and trees don't make for a comforting site. The green grass and jungle gym equipment did not look as harmless in the dark. Just a hiding place for the monsters under my bed or in the closet.
Keeping my head straight, I kept on pedaling with a brisk pace. Not too fast but faster than a jog. I looked at the exit of the park, ready to swerve through taxis until everything went black…
… …
[IT HAS BEGUN]
[YOU ARE TRAPPED IN A LABRINTH INSTANCE]
[DEFEAT THE SCORNED QUEEN OF THORNS TO LEAVE OR FIND AN EXIT]
[REALITY IS CREATED THROUGH THOSE WITH THE WILL TO CHANGE IT]
[GOOD LUCK]
The floating words stunned me, I can't believe it… my life has become a superhero story. The elation came quick but faded just as quick when I read the words over. I was trapped in a labrinth instance with the only options being killing a thorn queen or finding an exit. The problem was that I was in a random forest surrounded by a shrubbery wall that was at least 40 ft tall. It was like an Attack on Titan wall that was made with bushes.
The massive hedges surrounded me from every side. There was about a football field of space between me and the walls but the grandeur of the hedge made it seem less. The first thing I did was check my pockets. I had no phone, or backpack, just my keys with a small 4in pocket knife.
I looked at the landscape and found only small trees with no animals. No squirrels, no birds not even an insect, it was weird but no as weird as floating words telling me things. Considering this is a labyrinth instance, this is probably a safe zone or sorts. I look to my left and see where the labyrinth continues.
Considering I am in a dungeon the best course of action would be to get a weapon or form of protection. The problem is that I can't break or find a stick to use as a spear. It's probably cause I'm incompetent, I grew up in the concrete jungle my whole life, there weren't any wilderness seminars being taught in Brooklyn when I was a kid.
With that disappointing knowledge, I steadily walked toward the labyrinth entrance. I saw nothing to be scared of so I somewhat confidently kept walking into the unknown. As long as I don't make any turns I can just turn around at the first sign of trouble.
It took 10 min of slow careful walking before I met the first sign of trouble.
A brown rabbit hopped out the wall from… somewhere. There was no rustling or warning, it just hopped out and started rushing at me. I did what every sane human should do… I ran.
It had weird purple paws and was faster than it looked. I just kept running. Luckily I ride a bike for a living, so I am in great shape, the rabbit was gaining but I was going to reach the sanctuary soon.
I kept running but soon I met a wall, a quite literal wall. There was an invisible wal blocking me from going back to the safest place in the labyrinth.
[UNAVAILABLE WHILE IN COMBAT]
I turned around and whipped out my pocket knife. It was only a rabbit, if I couldn't survive this I couldn't survive anything.
The rabbit tried to tackle me but I didn't budge. I pushed it back but my forearms started to feel fuzzy. I didn't lose all feeling but it was 50 percent gone. It was like hitting your funny bone but without the pain. I looked at its paws and saw it glow a bit and I realized that I wasn't in Kansas anymore.
This wasn't an ordinary rabbit that abided by the laws of Earth. Ordinary rabbit don't attack random people. They run and try to avoid them. Ordinary rabbits definitely don't have glowing purple paws that numb enemies on contact.
I shake my arms and wait for the rabbit to attack again. It jumps in for a tackle again and this time I'm ready, but the rabbit is unordinarily quick. It dodged my swipe mid air and landed a paw on my left shoulder. The same numbing feeling attacks my arm. I can't lift up my arm with any confidence. A three year old can push it away.
It is then the rabbit attacks again, there is no hunger or fury on its face, just a look of duty. Like cleaning it self or defecating. It is its face that scares me the most because this life and death battle seems like nothing to my opponent. For the next few seconds, I quickly got slower and slower. I dodged some paw strikes but by the end of a minute, I was struggling to stand.
The rabbit got faster and faster, I just needed him to slow down a bit so I could get him. My death seemed closer and closer as the rodent kept playing with me. I am down on one knee as the rabbit stands in front of me. For the first time, I see the rabbit's teeth, as it smiles at me and jets for me.
Only one thing flashes through my mind
[REALITY IS CREATED THROUGH THOSE WITH THE WILL TO CHANGE IT]
Will I really die here? Alone, away from home? I never even got to say goodbye to my grandma
NO!NO!NO!
I can't go out like this!
The concrete jungle is still a jungle, I clawed my way through life to be what I am today. I just need to SURVIVE.
This is a crazy new world , I don't know how to create fireballs or earth spike but I need to slow the rabbit down. How do I decrease velocity of an already moving object?!
I cast my doubts to the wind as I will the rabbit to go slower.
"I can't stop you but you WILL, SLOW. THE. FUCK. DOWN!" I yell with the most passion I have ever had for anything in my life.
Almost instantaneously, the rodent looked like it was wearing ten pound weights. It stopped in disbelief and looked at me before running at me again, this time all it took was calm phrase
"You will crawl to me" I croaked
My voice was sore and my body was slowly get back under my control.
The rabbit kept trying to move toward me at a snail pace dragging itself on the ground. Still intent on killing me, I took the confidence and life out of its eyes with my pocket knife.
[Paralyrabbit defeated experience gained]
[RAZA POTENTATE TITLE GAINED]
[CLASS GAINED]
[Open status for more information]
The notifications were a nice surprise for the events of the day. I let out a deep breath and headed toward the safe zone. This time there was no invisible wall. I went next to a tree and looked for the status, the notification mentioned. All I took was my mental voice asking, for it to appear.
[Orwell Rod Jacobs]
[Class: Kinetic Energy Circuit]
[Title: Raza Potentate]
[Stat Focus: Ability Potency]
Skills:
KE Siphon Lvl.1
KE Saturation Lvl.1
It's been a while since I have seen my name, and yes, my dad loved George Orwell. It was normal in Kindergarten and elementary school, but in high school when people actually knew who he was, there was light bullying. So now I go by Rod, my middle name.
The next thing that stood out to me was my class. I thought most classes were Mage or Tank, but I guess my class is Kinetic Energy Circuit. There seems to be a lot of potential in my class.
Something called the stat focus stood out to me. Ability potency probably meant that my abilities were more powerful. But why aren't the stats shown like in RPG's? All it shows are the two skills which probably translates to me siphoning Kinetic Energy and saturating something with it.
When I slowed the rabbit down it didn't feel like I was telekinetically holding the rabbit down or pulling it back. It felt like I was sucking something out of it. And if I am a Kinetic Energy Circuit, that means…
"LETS GOOOO I AM OP!!!!"
I am shaking with excitement at the implication my power brings. I can take kinetic energy from people, which is huge! Literally everything has kinetic energy which means I can slow everything down. The only problem was that whatever I used to make the rabbit slow down, was completely empty.
I need to take a break before I can test out and train my power.
…..
I took a nap under the tree for a couple hours, all I dreamt about were superhuman strength clashing in Times Square. Destroying buildings and cars like plastic toys. It was an awesome dream, but I ended up waking up in a cold sweat. Life will never be the same.
What was I doing? Why was I not hungry or thirsty? Why was it the perfect temperature?
This place felt more like a training ground than a dungeon.
I got up and walked to a tree with large leaves. I ripped a leaf from the branch and let it fall. It started falling at a decent pace, I didn't need my hands but they helped make my ability work better.
Slowly the leaf started falling slower and slower. I couldn't make the leaf completely stop in mid air but they now fell twice as slow.
"This is so freaking awesome" I muttered under my breath
Then I found a twig and threw up into the air. I was able to slow it down but not nearly as much as the leaf. If I were eyeballing it I'd say probably 20% but it wasn't a life or death battle so theory I could probably slow it down by 50% if my life depended on it.
"I guess mass affects the way I alter the velocity of the object. Which means as of now I can't really change mass, only velocity." I thought out loud
Whatever reservoir of energy I used, had only 40% left in the tank. Which meant that the best way to train, would be sparingly. One thing I learned from every superhero story ever told was that power comes from control. And if I am gonna survive this training labrinth, then I need to leave the novice stages of my power.
