Chapter 3: Resolve

After what felt like an eternity, the kid mustered the strength to get out of his hiding place. His once lively attitude had been replaced by emptiness, his look resembling a lifeless sack of bones. His mind was completely shattered.

Suddenly, two unsettling occurrences unfolded simultaneously. A howl was heard in the silence, echoing omniously through the darkness, while a faint glimmer of blood caught his eye— a mark staining his left hand.

Despite the eerie howl and the sight before him, Malte paid little heed to the blood on his hand or the distant threat lurking beyond the walls of his home.

As he wandered through the dark rooms, he stumbled upon the lifeless forms of his beloved family. Staring at them for some time, he thought, something brightly lit in his murky eyes.

'..Do their sacrifices really mean nothing to me? Am I really going to simply give up and kill myself in this shitty apartment? Will I let that drunk piece of garbage run away, turning into whatever abomination that was, after torturing us the whole life?'

For a moment, the darkness threatened to embrace him, to swallow him whole. But then, with a dark determination burning in his eyes, he straightened his shoulders, lifted his chin, and proclaimed.

"..no. Of course not. I won't give up. I will not give up, and I will properly avenge them, no matter the cost."

In that moment, Malte made a decision—a decision to honor the memories of his loved ones by living a life of purpose and fulfillment. He would no longer let tragedies that had befallen him bound him. Instead, he would forge his own path, creating a future that was worthy of their sacrifice.

Calming down his mind, he decided that his first goal would be to confront Jack and kill him. Thinking of the man made his mind clouded with anger, and the monster was currently mindlessly walking through the kitchen, not noticing him. Yet. However, knowing that recklessness would only lead to further tragedy, he knew he needed a plan. 

First things first, Malte decided to investigate the mysterious mark on his hand. He went to the bathroom and thought of washing the dry blood off. Making sure that the door behind him was closed, he ran the water and began to scrub his hand. 

Out of nowhere, he felt a strange sensation that spread from his fingertips. Interested, he turned the water off and touched his hand. To his surprise, a shimmering screen materialized before him.

At the top of the screen, a greeting welcomed him, followed by a small narrative. Basically, it spoke of a world plunged into chaos by the sudden appearance of the monstrous creatures, Dreadspawns, and how those bestowed this gift were humanity's last hope for survival. 

Disinterested in the prospect of becoming a valiant hero or savior, Malte focused solely on the next line, which caught his attention.

[You are blessed with a Shaft.]

'Am I trapped in a video game or something?'

After reading the message, Malte's mind raced with questions. What did it mean to be "blessed with a Shaft"? And what was this newfound ability capable of?

As if to answer his curiosity, the screen suddenly cleared, leaving a brief description.

[General Description:

Shaft: Mimicry ↓

Shaft Stats: 12 ↓

Shaft's Mastery: 0/5 ↓

Shaft Evaluation: V ↓

Personal Description:

Abilities Copied: 0/20 ↓]

First thing Malte thought after seeing the screen was,

'This looks straight out of a video game.'

Despite having never played one before, he heard that most of them had this default power to manifest a status screen, showing the players their profile.

Noticing the downward button near his Shaft's name, he clicked on it and something popped up right under it.

[Shaft: Mimicry ↑

Allows the user to identify and copy the abilities of other Shafts.]

'Well, the ability sounds pretty dope.'

The ability to basically copy and paste seemed pretty busted at first glance, as you could seemingly choose any abilities which could complement with each other.

Problem was, apart from his family's corpses and the Dreadspawn outside, he was the only Shifter around, meaning that his Shaft was currently useless.

'Whatever, I'll think of something later.'

Closing his Shaft's ability information, Malte opened the second entry.

[Shaft Stats: 12 ↑

Strengh: 1 (influences physical might and attack power.)

Agility: 1 (influences movement speed and precision.)

Endurance: 1 (influences stamina and recovery rate.)

Wisdom: 4 (influences mental resilience and willpower.)

Deception: 5 (influences charisma and feinting.)

Strengh, Agility and Endurance are your main stats. They define your overall combat prowess and effectiveness. The main stats can be honed through specific activities and training, or simply through pushing yourself to your limit.

Wisdom and Deception are your secondary stats. They impact on your decision-making abilities and strategy planning, composing your mind. They aren't directly affected by physical training. Instead, they are enhanced through increasing your Shaft's Mastery and other means.

The highest amount of points you can have depends on your Shaft's Evaluation. Currently, the highest amount of points you can have is 75.]

'..this is literally a video game.'

Shaking his head, he quitely sighed. Seeing how his strengh, agility and endurance were all at 1 point, he couldn't help but feel dejected. Those 3 stats seemed like the most important ones, and thought that atleast 2 points in each of them would be great, as increasing them didn't sound easy at all.

Wisdom and deception were excellent on their own, but Malte doubted that unbending willpower and charisma could help him as much as the other 3 stats could at the moment.

Noticing the last phrase, he had a limited amount of points, so he would have to be very careful of how he distributed them in the future. He also noted how this stat screen seemed quite important, as it was connected with the Shaft's Mastery and Evaluation.

One thing he questioned was how much a single point could change things, and he wondered how he could adjust to all of this without anxiously panicking, like he would in the past.

'Probably the 4 Wisdom points in action, I guess.'

Finishing his thoughts, Malte proceeded to open the Shaft's Mastery description.

[Shaft's Mastery: 0/5 ↑

Ability 0: Identify (CD: 15s.)

The ability sends an undetectable sphere around the user up to 5 meters, which allows the user to detect and discern Shafts. 

Ability 1: Copy [Unlock]

Ability 2: Imprint (Locked)

Ability 3: Mirror (Locked)

Ability 4: Fuse (Locked)

Ability 5: Resonate (Locked)

The Shift's Mastery essentially acts as an inventory of all of your skills. The highest level of Mastery is 5, and the higher the Mastery, the stronger the next ability is.

Each level of Mastery increases your Wisdom's and Deception's stats.

Currently, all of your skills are locked. In order to unlock them and upgrade your Mastery level, you have to fullfill various requirements or complete specific tasks.]