5. A long Night

Seth woke up with his body aching all over.

He had been too focused on leveling his skills that he hadn't noticed his bodies pains.

"Status?"

Name: Seth Smith

Title: "Faster than the Thought"

Level:1

Exp: 60%

Race: Ori Huma

Sex:Male

Age:23

Class: Spirit Blacksmith (Unique)

Affiliation: None

Health: 975/1000

Mana:100 (INTx10)

Strength:11

Dexterity:15

Agility: 12

Intelligence:10

Willpower:10

Endurance:13

Personality:7

Luck:15

Free AP(Attribute points):10

Defense:

Physical : 89 (ENDx3 +50ClassBonus)

Magical :45 (2xWIL +25ClassBonus)

Fire Resistance :50%

Skill Window :

Calm Reaction(passive) lv.1

Blacksmith(Beginner) lv.5(8%)

Blacksmith´s Eyes lv.1

Smelting(Beginner) lv.6(75%)

Blueprint(Beginner) lv.2

Weapon Mastery(Beginner) lv.1

Spirit Smithy lv.1

Spirit Capture lv.1

Had some of his attributes increased? Oh yeah... Some memories floated up. He had ignored the notifications at that time. Something about "attribute +1 thanks to intense training"

Wait, why had his HP decreased? His sore muscles screamed as he got off his bed. Oh, maybe that's why...his slow thought remembered the tutorial, it explained that the HP showed the whole health, not just obvious injuries, that's why there are a lot from the start.

Hmm, why was he even awake? It was still dark outside.

As tired as he was, he should have slept until noon. Seth squinted into the direction of his alarm clock, but it laid dead in the corner of the room.

"My first victim of the apocalypse. A gruesome murder scene of broken parts and limp hands."

His wandering thoughts were interrupted by noises outside on the street.

He had been too occupied yesterday and the outside was very quiet. Seth had forgotten to check whether other people had the guts to leave their homes and run around outside. Maybe he should at least check his neighbors?

He looked around for his smartphone, which told him that it was 4 am. Who would be so crazy to go out at this time?

Seth tottered to his bedroom window and looked outside. He could barely see the contours of the same scene from yesterday, a city widely overgrown by nature. A shiver ran down his spine as he looked at the familiar unfamiliar scenery.

He listened attentively. He heard grunts and growling calls of deep voices speaking in a foreign language. Concentrating on where the sounds came from, he could make out the shapes of creatures walking through the high grass. He estimated the high grass to be about 1.5 m tall and it barely reached the giants hips. They would easily tower above 3 m in height, and they looked almost as wide.

Earlier they sounded aggressive and motivated, it reminded him of a band of brothers in war movies. But something had changed, they suddenly became hectic and their calls sounded more anxious and hurried. They made a beeline towards a building as it happened.

Seth saw as they started vanishing! The first was silent and then started the screams when they realized what was happening to them.

Now he was wide awake and his heart turned cold. Rumbling and hysteric screams echoed between the canyons of concrete and steel. A shiver ran down his spine. He watched as all the left over figures started running, but it didn't save them. They, too, vanished into the high grass as if the earth itself had swallowed them!

What could make something of that size disappear in a moment?! Seth retreated from the window and sat on the ground holding his head.

The system had shown him pictures of portals, so he had expected foreign creatures to appear. But what kind of creature came through, that could just...hunt things like these ogre-sized creatures?

He took a few deep breaths to calm down.

Whatever it was, it was outside. He was safe for now, as long as he didn't leave..maybe. It's not like he could do anything about it for now. He cast a last glance outside the window where everything was quiet again and went into the kitchen after calming down.

A productive day starts with a greasy meal! He fried the meat he had left with some noddles left from yesterday and filled his stomach to the brim. Living the rationing life!

It seemed that the system really boosted the recovery of fatigue, since he felt quite refreshed after just a few hours of sleep and a hearty meal. This felt almost like a healing factor! Seth laughed to himself.

He checked and it was still dark outside, should he start forging? Or should he check on his neighbors? It wouldn't hurt, maybe they even knew something important?

It was just going down the hallway, but he decided not to leave his home unprepared. Who knew what could happen? He stuffed all the iron he had made yesterday into his inventory, together with his water and food. Seth equipped himself with the best gear he had found so far. A thick leather jacked that increased his defense a little, sturdy leather boots and the cane of his grandfather.

Seth hadn't really expected this, but do not underestimate a walking stick! <Blacksmith's Eyes> told him it was his best weapon!

<Old Cane

Common

Damage: 10-17

Durability: 22/25

An old strolling stick made of a sturdy piece of oak fitted with a heavy brass knob. Can cause stagger and knockout with a critical hit. >

All geared up he first probed the situation in the hallways with the peephole. Still, no blood and gore covering the white walls of the hallway or the tiles of the floor. As he opened the door and wanted to step out a message popped up in front of him.

<You are about to leave the safe zone. Once you have left the safe zone, it will dissolve and you can NOT return. Are you sure you wish to leave the safe zone? Y/N>

Seth hesitated. "Nope nope nope...", he chose N and stepped back into his apartment. It wasn't really that important to check on his neighbors now, right? Yeah. He was still good on food and water anyways. Seth totally lacked the preparation he wanted, before he left guaranteed safety behind once and for all. He put the jacket and the cane beside the door and went back to the living room where he summoned the Spirit Smithy. Grinding it was! Time to turn this mediocre iron into knives.

He would use the arduous work to push those unsettling thoughts aside!

After making dozens of knives and small stuff like arrow heads yesterday, Seth felt ready to try the free creation. He wanted to see the difference and how far he could go without the direct help of the system.

He followed the same steps and movements that were already ingrained into him yesterday, he started with making a throwing knife. It was harder to estimate the temperature and he often missed the right spots when forging the iron. But this actually felt better! It was HIM, Seth, creating something, without outside help. he also got a much better feeling of where to hit and how strong.

Working like this for the first time ignited a flame in his heart. He had still felt a little conflicted about getting a crafting class until now, but now Seth felt a passion growing within him. He really wanted to grow his class and skils, not just for survival.

After managing to forge the rough shape and quenching it successfully in the barrel, Seth ground it into a sharp knife barely resembling the throwing knife from the blueprint.

<Ding! You have successfully created an item without guidance. Dex +1>

Surprised by the announcement he checked the knife with his <Blacksmith´s Eyes>, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. It was a little worse than the last ones he did with the systems help.

< Low-quality Throwing Knife

Common

Damage: 2-4

Durability:5/5

A recognizable throwing knife by an aspiring Blacksmith. When you throw it, you might even hurt someone else but yourself. >

Still, a lot better than his first try with the system! And he did it all alone. the real surprise hit Seth when he checked his skills. he had actually gained a lot more proficiency for this throwing knife! It was almost double as much as for the ones he made with blueprints!

Time went by as he tried doing the other weapons he had tried, like arrow heads and daggers. No matter what he made Free Creation gave him double the points on average!

This was great, considering that the skill needed more and more experience to level up. Seth decided to choose a more complex blueprint now! He would use the blueprint to get a feeling for the process and then try doing it in Free Creation. Seth chose a long hunting knife. It had a long blade and looked similar to a Bowie knife. It was more complicated and had more parts he needed to make. The blade, a handguard, a pommel and a wooden handle! It was a lot more exhausting than the simple thing he did befor, even with the guidance.

In the end, after several hours of work, he failed twice out of three attempts. But Seth still gained huge amounts of proficiency! He had leveled straight up to lv.6 in one go!

Plopping down on a chair that had survived his material gathering, Seth took out a water bottle from the inventory and started drinking in big gulps. He choked when he looked out the window. The outside was still immersed in twilight. He looked at his phone, 12 pm.

What was going on?!