Back to The Bucket
Xavier found himself awakening to a splash of cold water once more. His previous 'accomplishment' didn't mean he could sleep in it seemed.
"Boy your gonna get a face full of water until your up every morning. We don't have time for the sun to rise. Hurry and go fetch some water." Bran said in a devilish tone once more.
The thoughts of his kindness the night before seemed to be erased from Xaviers mind as he sat up and grabbed the bucket once more. He found himself walking through the forest once more. On the way to the Creek. To fetch water.
'Another day of pain it seems' He thought to himself as he stretched his body. It was sore but not as much as he had expected.
He found himself moving at a faster pace then before but still not fast enough for it to matter apparently because he still took around 50 minutes to get to the creek and about an hour and 20 minutes to get back home. Though that was enough for him to be able to get a big more water in the bucket. An improvement.
<You have gained 20 XP for finishing 1 round of Body Training>
'Well I guess I'll be able to bring a full bucket one day.' He thought to himself as he drank some water and began his treck back and forth between the creek and the house. Each time became harder and harder as he pushed his body further and further.
The System seemed to reward him for pushing his body further. And each time he went back and forth it would increase the amount of XP he would get and then reset the next morning. First it was 20 XP and then it was 60 XP. The next time it was 80 XP. After one day of focusing on going back and forth he almost had enough XP to level up to level 3.
'Progress'
---
It took him an entire month before something changed in his simple regime. He would wake up early and he would work until it started to get dark. Then he would go and scavenge for food in the forest finding many types of berries and mushrooms that tasted of flavors he had never tasted before and some that were incredibly similar.
But the thing that brought him out of this daily regime was a system notification that he almost brushed off before he finally read it.
<User has met the requirements to begin his path down the Path of The Warrior. Would you like to start?>
<Yes or No?>
It seemed simple. A Path. A direction in which he would focus and that path just happened to be the Path of The Warrior. Strengthening his body perhaps? Most definitely.
"Yes" He said simply waiting for further notifications.
<...>
<...>
<Status Updated. Please look at status for more information.>
"Status Open" He said patiently.
---
<The Immortals System>
User: Xavier Styles
Age: 18
LV: 7 (220/700)
HP: 70/70
SP: 7/7
MP: 7/7
LifeSpan: 50 Years.
---
Stats:
Strength: 7
Speed: 7
Constitution: 7
Intelligence: 7
Wisdom: 7
Charm: 7
Immortality: 7
Stat Points: 0
---
Classes:
Warrior
Level: Body Forging
Grade: Entry Level
Requirements to increase grade: Get a Constitution of 15.
<You may now train and gain stat points.>
---
Abilities:
Legacy Skill: Reaper's Scythe LV: MAX
Gardeners Love: LV: 1 (0/100)
---
Quests: Tutorial Quest (1/4)
Increase your lifespan by 500 years by any method.
Reward: Unlock Inventory (10 Slots)
Time Remaining: 11 Months
---
'...' Xavier searched through the list and only found the simple addition of a class. The class of a warrior at that. And it seemed by Training he would be able to gain stat points by training them. Which was... amazing. But it made since. How could training not make you stronger?
"I'm making progress. I can now keep most of the water inside the bucket. If I can get to level 8 I should be able to get it back to the shack while having a full bucket." Xavier said with confidence.
He then continued onwards with his training. The only thing that was sad was that he could only push himself so far each day no matter how hard he tried. His body would give up on him if he overworked himself.
After his third trip he checked and found out that he had gained one point in each of his physical stats from the exercise he was doing.
He felt the energy flood through his body as he felt faster and stronger than before.
"Now this... Is Progress." He said out loud as he continued his exercise.
That night after working himself to the bone and eating a small meal he started to notice something different about his body. It was strange. He was eating less and less. He was less and less hungry every single day.
He wasn't sure why but he felt grateful that he could put more time into training. But it wasn't just that. He was also sleeping less. He didn't need to rest 8 hours as he did previously now 6 hours was fine and he could wake up easily. Before he knew it he was waking up before Bran.
He also realized that his energy recovered faster than before. After resting for thirty minutes he would recover most of his stamina, even the system said so as it labled the bar full.
While he was deep in thought the system seemed to answer him.
<It is the effect of the Immortality Stat. The higher it is the more you ascend from being a normal person. You will recover faster. It is only natural for someone who is going to be immortal. It also decreases the time and penalty of self resurrection. >
"Self Resurrection... What is that?" Xavier said confused.
<After you die you have a chance to resurrect and that chance increases over time. For instance when you are first killed you will have a 0.00001% chance of resurrecting. But over time that number will increase. Every second the chance of activation will be triggered and depending on your luck and the chance of resurrecting depends on if you get resurrected. But of course you will always resurrect unless your Immortality Stat becomes Zero. Then you will die for good.>
<No immortal dies easy after all.>
"So I can die.... And come back." Xavier said out loud as he pondered. "Immortal.... I guess I'm really going to be one someday."
<Not unless you finish your Tutorial Quest!>
"What do you mean?" Xavier asked in a confused tone.
<If you don't finish the Tutorial Quest you will lose access to System Privileges so make sure to finish the quest.>
"..." Xavier said nothing as he realized he hadn't increased his lifespan whatsoever since he had received the system.
It wasn't that he hadn't thought about it before but it was actually the fact that everything in the forest was just too scary to kill and steal their life.
'I guess I should start trying to hunt.... I still have 11 months though so I'm not in a huge rush at least.' Xavier thought to himself as he put the matters into the back of his mind and once more continued to haul the bucket back and forth.
---
He came back to the house after another week. He was about to toss the water out of the bucket once more before noticing something. It was full.
'It's full...?' Xavier thought to himself as he became confused. What seemed like an impossible task a month ago became reality. His trip took him less than thirty minutes in total and the bucket was full.
He found himself knocking on the door with pride. The door opened up quickly as Bran looked at him with a grouchy look.
"What do you want? Shouldn't you be fetching water...." Bran said before noticing the bucket in Xaviers hands. It was full.
"Wait.... It should have at least taken you a year to be able to fill the bucket.... Wait... Are you already a Warrior?!" Bran asked with a voice of concern.
"Yes... Is that a problem..." Xavier asked.
Bran Proceeded to face palm. "Yes it's a big one. I was planning on teaching you the Path of The Mage.... And here you are. A Warrior. I won't be able to teach you much now..."
"What do you mean? Wasn't this rigorous training to make me stronger and into a warrior." Xavier asked with anxiety starting to creep into his voice.
"No. It was supposed to be an impossible task. A task that would get you angry. Angry enough to subconsciously use your mana. Then build it up the angrier you got. Then when it broke you would have controlled the water using brute force mana. Then you would have brought it back with mana. Not brute force." He said with a voice filled with sadness.