The Savage Garden

*RING* *RING *RING*

Frey woke to the sound of his alarm just the same as any other day.

"Ugh!" He swatted at his alarm in contempt.

The alarm ceased. After a quick glance at his phone, "9:00am" it read, Frey rolled into a comfortable position to begin his staring contest with the ceiling. After two minutes of contemplation, Frey was finally ready to go about his day.

Coffee! His cravings demanded.

Frey had stopped drinking "real" coffee due to a caffeine sensitivity, he since began drinking decaf, not only because he liked the flavour but because in his opinion nothing quite matched the vibe of a cup of coffee while he tended to his garden.

Frey opened his bedroom door, slid his feet through his slippers and began his journey.

"aaaahhhaaa!" With a yawn Frey walked down his hallway to the kitchen.

He began making his morning coffee, staring out the ranch slider in anticipation.

As the jug came to a boil Frey readied his mug, three teaspoons of coffee and one of sugar. He combined the ingredients to make the perfect cup.

He then began walking to the ranch slider, his slippers dragging in his lethargy.

He slid the doors open, to be greeted by the cool mountain air in which he lived.

Early spring was a cool time of year on Mount Tamborine, any Australian would kill to live there.

Frey only being lucky enough to do so due to his late grandmother. When she passed she left the place to him as he was the only one not acting like a vulture waiting for her eventual death.

His mother her only child, and Freys two sisters were vicious, they attempted to dispute his Grandmothers will, although, after many court proceedings they lost. They had received a monetary pay out while Frey was given the entirety of her two acre property on Mount Tamborine.

Thanks Nana! Frey thought to himself, he had only been on the property since February, it now being September it hadn't been long at all.

Frey walked into his greenhouse and began perusing his plants, displayed on a plethora of two metre high shelving units.

"Now that is a sexy pitcher." Frey muttered to himself.

Frey had a particular obsession with carnivorous plants, the particular specimen he was busy admiring was Nepenthes mollis, one of his favourite and rarest plants in his collection. The vine had long lance-like leaves leading into a tendril that was topped with an ornate cup that peaked with a striped opening, the pitcher, its alternating stripes of burgundy and yellow served to draw insects in, as if it were a flower. Only for them to be eaten and digested by this predatory plant.

Frey quite liked the idea of a plant turning the tables on insects, with his other plants they were prey to grasshoppers, leaf miners and all kinds of others insects, but these plants, they turned the tables, they fought back. He admired natures perseverance and the evolutionary strides these plants had made. He was bullied a lot during high-school due to being a late bloomer, and this particular idea of evolving into something that wouldn't take shit from its greatest enemies was inspiring to him, he too wished he could "evolve".

*slurp*

As he took a big sip of his coffee he continued to take stock of his collection, he had perfectly organised his plants to their respective genus'. He glanced over his Drosera, or sundews, such easy growers he never really spends too much time on them. He continues on past his Pinguicula, his Heliamphora and his tropical Vaccinium, belonging to the same family as blueberries.

*eeeeee* As he continued on he swore he began to hear faint high pitched whistle.

What is that? He thought to himself, It might be the extraction fan, I'll have a look later. He concluded, brushing it off as nothing serious.

*EeeeEeee* Progressively though as Frey went through his collection the sound seemed to climb in volume and seemed to radiate peaking and plateauing.

"Ok, that fan might be seriously busted!" He said out loud in annoyance.

As he reached his Monstera deliciosa "Thai Constellation", he paused to admire its huge leaves peppered with holes and cream specks of variegation. It truly deserves its name. He thought.

*EEeeEEee* Suddenly the sounds volume and tempo rose to almost unbearable levels.

"Holy fuck! That is obnoxious!" He said covering one ear with a hand while the other held his almost empty coffee cup.

He began to make his way to turn off the extraction fan. Thinking that would put a stop to the noise.

*EEEEEEEEE!* The sound didn't even allow Frey three steps before it reached its climax.

"AHHhhh FUCK!" Frey dropped his mug, shattering it on the floor. He clasped his hands over both ears in defence of the assault ravaging him. The sound continued, his hands doing nothing to alleviate the pain, it was almost as if the sound wasn't coming from outside but from within his own mind.

"AHHHARGHH!" He squeezed his own skull as hard as he could attempting to alleviate the pain. Blood began to run from his nose, his ears and his eyes.

What the actual fuck! Am I dying? He thought to himself.

*EEEEEEEEE!* With his vision clouded by blood and his hands occupied with his ears, he attempted to drag himself out the greenhouse slinking across the floor.

His attempt was made frivolous when his body gave in to the pain and he began to writhe in agony, he convulsed, his hands no longer covering his ears, his mind no longer in control of his body. He was a slave to his pain, his agony. He began to vomit, blood, MORE blood.

Not a single comprehensible thought existed within Freys mind, his mind and body focussed purely on the assault that bombarded them.

With a sudden jerk his limp body shot upwards, levitating, his fingers popping and cracking, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and after a few short moments.

*THUD!* His body returned to the ground. Unconscious. The sound of gurgling blood coming from his motionless body.

__________________________________

*GASP* Frey's eyes opened wide, his mouth greeted by the taste or iron, he was on the floor, the daylight no longer illuminating his greenhouse. The only visible light being the small lamps scattered around on the walls, set to turn on at 7:00pm.

Frey sat up, clasping his right side in reaction to the pain. He sat there, dazed out of his mind for a couple of minutes, looking himself up and down. He realised he was covered in his own blood, accompanied by a pulsing headache, aches in his bones and muscles that felt like he had just completed a sixteen-hour gym session.

"What… just.. happened?" Frey asked aloud, knowing full well there would be no answer.

After a few short moments his vision was obscured.

"What the…" he cut himself short as he read.

_______________________

< INITIALISING >

1%…5%…13%…26%…50%

What the hell is this? 

72%…87%…99%..100%

< CONGRATULATIONS!!! >

< YOU HAVE SURVIVED THE [UPDATE] >

< NEW [FEATURES] HAVE BEEN UNLOCKED >

< YOU HAVE UNLOCKED [STATUS] >

< YOU HAVE UNLOCKED [SETTINGS] >

< YOU HAVE UNLOCKED [QUESTS] >

_________________________

Was the sugar I used actually ketamine? What the actual fuck is this? What do you mean status?

As if on cue a screen appeared in front of Frey, like a hologram, floating seamlessly.

_______________________

Status

Name: Frey Farrow

Race: Human

Faction: None

Classes: 0/3

Professions: 0/10

Level: 0

Experience Points: 0/100

Health Points: 100/100

Mana Points: N/A

Stamina: 25/150

Stats

Agility: 10

Strength: 10

Vitality: 10

Toughness: 7

Intelligence: 13

Wisdom: 12

Perception: 12

Spirit: 16

________________________

Woah!… It's… like a game.

Ok, I'm seriously tripping right now. This can't be real.

The pain Frey experienced said otherwise, the blood all around him only worked to illuminate the reality of the situation.

Frey focused his mind on "Classes" and again the screen responded with a distortion.

_____________________

< YOU CURRENTLY HAVE NO [CLASSES] >

Classes Available: NONE

______________________

You gotta be kidding me, this is a pretty shit game. Aren't you meant to choose your class when you first start? Where are they goddammit!?

What about professions?

___________________________

< YOU CURRENTLY HAVE NO [PROFESSIONS] >

Professions Available: NONE

_______________________

Ok! I've been scammed, if this is a dream, it's shit and if it's reality it's even shittier.

Let's take a look at these stats. I've got have at least something good.

____________________________

Stats

Agility: 10

Dexterity: 8

Strength: 10

Endurance: 15

Vitality: 10

Toughness: 7

Intelligence: 13

Wisdom: 12

Perception: 12

Spirit: 16

_______________________

Ok, ok, I have no idea what's good or bad, I have literally no reference point. I'm gonna assume double digits is good, if not just to make myself less depressed. That makes sense… I hope. Now, what do these mean.

_______________________

Agility

Representing the individuals ability to perform feats of acrobatics, stealth, athletics and evasion. The higher the agility the higher the likelihood of succeeding in agility based tasks and feats such as jumping, climbing, balancing and many more. Agility amplifies ones mind muscle connection allowing for swifter movements. This stat is viable for all Classes and Professions.

Synergistic Stats: Dexterity, Strength, Endurance, Perception

Dexterity

Representing the individuals finesse, accuracy and fine motor control. The higher the dexterity the higher the likelihood of succeeding in dexterity based tasks and feats such as crafting, weapon wielding, sleight of hand and many more. Dexterity amplifies ones ability to act with precision allowing for control. This stat is valuable for almost all classes and professions.

Synergistic Stats: Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Perception

Strength

Representing the individuals overall output of force, this stat is highly versatile. Strength can be used in a plethora of ways, most notably to increase the damage output towards enemies and to increase an individuals movement speed. Strength is valuable for all classes and professions and will prove to be an essential for survival.

Synergistic Stats: Vitality, Toughness, Spirit, Dexterity, Agility, Endurance

Endurance

Representing the individuals overall resistance to exertion this stat is important for classes and professions focussing on physicality. Some Classes forbid the use of mana points, utilising stamina points instead, in these instances Endurance is essential.

Synergistic Stats: Toughness, Strength, Agility, Spirit

Vitality

Representing the individuals overall health points, Vitality is essential for all classes and professions as this increases survivability and decreases likelihood of death. Some classes and professions will use health points as fuel for skills and abilities, in these cases it is even more relevant for the individual to have higher vitality.

Synergistic Stats: Strength, Toughness

Toughness

Representing the individuals ability to withstand attacks, poisons and illnesses, toughness is essential for all classes and professions. Professions such as Alchemist which have a higher risk of receiving a poison status effect are in particular need of this stat.

Synergistic Stats: Strength, Endurance, Vitality

Intelligence

Representing the individuals ability to think logically, conceptualise and for abstraction. Intelligence is viable for all Mana usage based classes and professions seeing as this stat also has a direct influence on one's ability to control mana freely.

Synergistic Stats: Wisdom, Dexterity, Perception

Wisdom

Representing the individuals ability to understand and apply knowledge. Wisdom is a valuable stat primarily for those specialising in mana usage and crafting. Classes such as Mage would most benefit from this stat seeing as the level of Wisdom directly correlates to the quantity of ones mana points.

Synergistic Stats: Intelligence, Perception, Spirit

Perception

Representing the individuals ability of sight, smell, hearing and overall awareness. Perception is highly valuable for those choosing the Hunter or Scout class as this stat directly influences ones likelihood to sense prey or an enemy early.

Synergistic Stats: Intelligence, Wisdom, Agility, Dexterity

Spirit

Representing the individuals ability to persevere and to withstand assaults on the mind and soul. This stat is essential for Warriors and Monks as it directly influences their viability in combat, or for Monks specifically, in creating wards.

Synergistic Stats: Wisdom, Perception, Intelligence, Strength, Endurance

__________________________

HOLY! That.. is a lot!

Frey having been sitting on the floor for the past fifteen minutes in awe of what he was seeing decided to finally struggle his way up onto his feet.

He looked ragged, his ears, nose and cheeks having dried crusty darkened blood coating them. His slippers had vanished nowhere to be seen, he must of lost them in his struggle. His pyjamas caked in blood he felt filthy, the blood had even managed to cake itself into his short dirty blonde hair glueing it together.

"I need a shower." He muttered to himself.

He decided to hobble his way out of the greenhouse into his house, he grabbed a towel out of his cupboard and turned the hot water on.

As he entered the shower he let out a sigh, the hot water swept over his body, relieving all his aches and pains. Upon inspection he realised he had no wounds to his body, not a single one.

Hmm I don't know what happened to my body, but I think… I'm fine.

After twenty minutes in the boiling hot shower, Frey decided it was time to get out.

He dried himself, dropped his towel and shuffled to his room butt naked.

Upon entry he fell face first into his king single, he was out like a light.

_____________________________

Frey woke to the sound of rustling coming from the yard.

Fuck me, that was a weird one, never had a dream like that.

*Rustle* *Rustle*

Frey heard the sounds once again.

Goddamn it!

Frey bounced out of bed, not even bothering to put some clothes on. He strode to the ranch slider in annoyance, once outside he saw his greenhouse door had been left opened.

"SHIT!" he yelled, grabbing a metal shovel that was left beside the entry way as he rushed over. The rustling only getting louder.

It's probably just a possum. He thought to himself, although the tight grasp on the shovel revealed his skepticism.

As he entered his greenhouse he was greeted by something grotesque, a bipedal humanoid grasshopper, its mandibles bigger than kitchen knives, a metre or so tall but still frightening to look at.

"What the fuck are you?" Frey asked out of utter confusion.

Without even waiting for an answer Freys eyes darted to what the grasshopper held in its claws.

His favourite plant, his Nepenthes mollis lay there in its arms, more accurately the remains of it.

"Oi! You little cunt, the fuck have you done?"

*Chit* *Chit* the insect responded.

In a blind rage Frey ran at the mutated insect. Shovel in hand. Using the flat of the shovel he swung at the monsters head. As it made impact the creature was knocked sideways, a vibration ran up the length of the shovel reaching Freys arms creating cringe inducing sensation.

As he was distracted the insect leapt using it's enlarged hind legs, moving so fast Frey couldn't even react, it tackled him to the ground.

Only just managing to place the shovel between himself and the creatures mandibles. It clamped down on to the shovel creating indents.

*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*

The creature landed three strong kicks to Freys soft human body, creating lacerations all over his stomach.

Jesus! This thing has some power.

The creature didn't weigh much, in Frey's estimations only thirty kilos or so. Using this to his advantage Frey pushed the creature off of him, pulling its mandibles free from the shovel. It landed clumsily on its back.

To monopolise on the moment Frey leapt to his feet, he pinned the grasshopper, pressing the shovel against the separation in its exoskeleton connecting its head to the body. With a high jump Frey landed with a foot on each side of the shovel.

*Crrrack* The grasshoppers exoskeleton popped and buckled under Freys weight.

*EEEP* *EEEEP* The creature let out cries of pain as green blood oozed from the newly opened wound.

Once again Frey jumps, and again, and again, until finally the shovel passes all the way through beheading the grasshopper.

*Huff* *HUFF* *Huff*

"That'll teach ya, ya little green cunt." Frey let out accompanied by a rocket of spit towards the corpse.

< Orthopteran (Level 2) has been slain >

< 75 EXPERIENCE POINTS GAINED >

< BONUS >

< ADDITIONAL 40% EXPERIENCE REWARDED DUE TO DIFFERENCE IN LEVEL >

< TOTAL >

< 105 EXPERIENCE POINTS GAINED >

What.. is happening? Experience? I just killed some kind of mutant and I get experience?

< NECESSARY EXPERIENCE REACHED >

< WOULD YOU LIKE TO COMMENCE LEVEL UP? >

Uuuhmm, yess…?

A Jolt ran down Freys spine.

"AHHHHH!"

With a scream he buckled, collapsing to the floor for the second time in two days, although this time, he was completely naked.

Here we go again! He thought before passing out.