Shit!
Shit!
Shit!!!
Shit!!!!!!!!!
Was the only thought going through max's head at this point as he ran away from the Drat all the while looking for a way to ditch the monstrosity. As he ran down the hall way he found himself at the end of the hall with nowhere to go. Looking around he notices two doors on both sides of him. He checks the first only to be met with a locked door. Panicking he tries the other door praying to God that it is open and as luck would have it the door is actually open. At this point the Drat is just a few feet behind him as he dashes into the door the rat zips past barely missing him. Turning around the rat starts to charge toward the classroom he is in. max looks on in fear the only thing running through his mind at this point is that he needed to get away from this thing. Rushing to the door he barely makes it there just right as the Drat reaches. He slams the door and as luck would have it the drat gets its head stuck between the door. The force from the door disorients the drat putting it in a state of confusion. Seeing such a golden opportunity in front of him max does not hesitate to takes advantage of it. He swings the axe right down on the exposed drat head splitting it open. As he does this, blue-ish red blood splashes all over him with a bit of brain matter. At this point all the adrenaline pumping through him is thoroughly expended and he slumps onto the floor. Before he can register what had just happened that eerie voice sounds out in his mind again.
[Congratulations on getting access to the conclave.]
[Remember this is not a game; there is no regeneration of health point. Healing the most severe of injuries is possible however but not the way you think. If you are injured and it is life threatening you had better fix it or face death.]
[This is the Clave and the weak are not welcome.]
[For being in the top 100,000 you shall be rewarded with 4 gifts]
[Firstly you shall gain more Primordial Source Energy]
[Secondly you shall gain the ability to look into yourself and know how far you have come. To put it in terms you can understand, a status screen has been granted to you.]
[Thirdly due to showing exceptional bravery you shall gain a partial understanding into controlling the aspect of Primordial Source Energy you have come to understand, 'Mana' . This as well as some basic maneuvers shall be granted onto you.]
[Finally as your fourth gift you may request for any item that you can think of. As long as it matches your achievement it shall be granted to you.]
[Remember, everything is precious....now...state what item you want...….]
As max sat there he started running through everything that was going on right now. First thing that would be useful in this situation would be information so he asks "I just wanted to be sure but, if my request does not match my achievement then what happens to my request?" and the voice answers saying
[You shall still have your request, however, after failing to ask for something worthy of your achievement in 5 attempts you shall be given something at random by the Clave. So choose wisely.]
After saying that it leaves max to ponder on his choices, a short while later after thinking for a while he says "I would like to gain information on what is going on. More specifically how this synchronization has affected everything and what is the plan of the Conclave."
[You are not worthy of such knowledge. 4 more tries remaining choose wisely.]
Hearing this reply max was not put out by the voices sentiment. He knew that request was a wild gamble but it was worth the try. Thinking yet again he tried to realize what else could keep him alive in this situation. "I would like a weapon that enables me to kill anything without getting damaged or destroyed"
[You are not worthy of such power. 3 more tries remaining choose wisely.]
Hearing this, max realized that this reward was not a freebie. He had to think about all he had done and what would be a worthy gift to give anyone in his position. As he sat there thinking all the fatigue and hunger hit him all at once. He realized that he still needed to go get food, and then it hit him. "I would like a bag that allows me to store massive amounts of materials without increasing the weight of the bag." He said out loud to the voice while saying a prayer in his heart.
[Wise choice however due to the level of your achievement you shall only be granted a bag with a space of 50 cubic acres. Good luck.]
With a sigh of relief he relaxed all the nerves he didn't know had been tightened due to the pressure, but before he could get the chance to relax the voice returned saying
[Commencing reward giving in.. ]
[5...]
[4...]
Hearing this max thought to himself, 'oh fuck'
[3...]
'This shit is going to hurt I can just feel it.'
[2...]
Gritting his teeth max prepared for the worst.
[1....]
At this point the pain that flooded max was something he could never have prepared for. It felt like he was drowning and being electrocuted at the same time. His body was wracked with pain as he screamed a loud anguished shout to the atmosphere. The pain was unimaginable, it felt like electric ants were crawling and biting on his whole body but most prominently on his brain and heart. Unable to withstand the growing pain he blacked out yet again.
The first thing Max felt, which to be honest was what actually woke him up in the first place was hunger. The kind of hunger that makes you feel like you can eat a mansion and have room for two more. Gasping for breath as he drags himself into a sitting position, he rests his back against a table. Sitting upright now he takes the time to remember what he was granted. Looking in front of him is the smashed head of the Drat he had killed and just beside it was a backpack. He knew that although he was in a rush, there was no bag right next to the smashed head of the Drat. Thinking back to because the blackout he remembers his gift. The bag must be the reward he asked for. Managing to stand up he goes straight to the bag and starts examining it. Looking at it from the outside it looked like your everyday backpack with no difference whatsoever. Seeing nothing wrong with the bag he proceeds to open it and see what was so special about the bag. Looking inside all he sees is darkness. Now this was not darkness caused by a lack of light but like darkness, the absence of light. Feeling very creeped out and excited at the same time he reaches his hand inside and he could feel that the bag was…..
Empty.
Well that was to be expected however the unexpected thing was that he knew that there was an endless amount of space in this small back pack of his. Feeling the grumbling of his stomach yet again he saddles his backpack, taking one last look at the Drat, he opens the door. Looking outside the door he checked to see if there were any more creatures lurking outside and thankfully there was none. Feeling emboldened by his hunger max starts to head for the kiosk down on the first floor. Hefting his new backpack and axe he proceeds to go down the stairs. The building he was in had a total of 4 floors with the janitor's closet being on the third.
As he heads down, he tries to pay attention to any sound resembling that of a Drat or anything unknown. Thankfully there is none. With adrenaline coursing through his veins he dashes down the stairs with as much finesse as a one legged man trying to dance ballet. Upon reaching the first floor he stops to scan the first floor, after waiting for a while and seeing nothing, he gently tiptoes to the counter of the kiosk. Throwing caution to the wind he leaps over the counter, the sight of food clouding his better judgment. It isn't until he leaps over the counter that he hears a low growl from behind him.
Scared to look behind him but knowing he must face the inevitable truth of what was behind him, he slowly turns around to come face to fang of a Drat. Instincts kicking in he leaps backwards using his arm as a shield, trying to protect his head from being chomped like a piece of cabbage. The Drat however cares not for his plight and gladly sinks its fang into his arm. The juicy blood flowing through its mouth incentivizes it to drag for more. As its fangs sinks into max's arm he lets lose a feminine scream as well as the axe in his hand, with pain as his motivation he proceeds to throw punch after punch against the creature. Landing a lucky hit on its eyes max gets a moment of peace. Clutching his arm and edging backwards he looks around with darting eyes looking for his axe. Spotting it a couple of meters behind him, he scrambles towards it knowing at this point it is his only lifeline. Shaking off its disorientation the Drat notices its prey scrambling away motivated by the promise of more blood and the chance at meat as well as the pain it is currently enduring, it lunges forward clamping its maws against the succulent legs of its unsuspecting victim. With the axe just within reach max feels a sense of relief which is quickly replaced by a pain he is beginning to know all too well now. As the pain hits him, he screams and lunges forth with a profound sense of willpower he reaches for the axe. Finally with the axe in hand he begins an uncoordinated wallop on the creature, his axe ripping through its skin and finding blood. As the life rushes out of its eyes, its grip slackens on max's calf but this does not stop his wild butchering. Blood flies everywhere as he screams and bashes the head of the Drat. Without its death registering in his mind he starts crying but does not stop laying strike after strike upon its dead lifeless corpse. When he finally stops, uncontrollable shaking racks his entire body as the full reality of his situation dawns upon him. This was no video game, his life was at risk. There was no extra life, death was as it had always been, a finality.
Finally regaining control of his emotions, he is overcome by a wave of nausea and lightheadedness due to the lack of blood and the adrenaline crash. Looking at his hand and legs he inspects the severity of the wound he received. Looking at it, all he sees are some deep puncture wounds. If he was being honest he expected the damage to be more severe. Remembering the message passed along by the system he is thankful that the injury isn't as drastic as he thinks it is since there is no automatic health regeneration. Pulled out of his inspection by a deep growl he smiles self depreciatively and looks down at his stomach. He never knew hunger could feel like this. Mustering the strength he has he tentatively stands on his good leg, putting as little pressure on the injured leg as possible. He rips a part of his shirt and uses it as a makeshift gauze. Hobbling towards the food display all max can think about is the hunger that besets him, it is due to this hunger that he doesn't notice a shadow on the floor until he steps on it tripping and falling down again. Looking to see what caused his trip he realizes it is a human leg....a detached, feminine, human leg looking like it was gnawed upon by sharks. Realizing that this must have been the cashier that worked down here, he is mortified. He knew her, she was one of the few people who he genuinely cared about even if their relationship was only to the level of small talk and business transactions. Her name was Becky, she was plump and had a roundish shaped face. In max's perspective she was a nurturer, someone who cared about all the people that came in here regardless of how fucked up they were and now she was gone. He feels his stomach heaving but with nothing left inside him he dry heaves, feeling his emotions about to lose control he starts to take deep calming breaths.
Settling down, max feels a sense of justice in killing the drat here, picking up the leg he puts it inside the backpack promising to at least give her a burial even if all that is left of her is just a leg. After finally gaining control he heads to the food display, without even thinking of what he wanted he reaches out and picks a sandwich which he immediately begins to devour. His tummy filling like a black hole, he feels an insatiable hunger and proceeds to each sandwich after sandwich. He never knew food could taste this good. This continues for a while until he feels a measure of fullness at which point he stops. Noticing that there is still a huge amount of food left he stores it all in his backpack. With the way things were now, having the bare necessities like, food and water would be very important and since he had a way to store it, it would be foolish of him to not do as such.
After his successful raid of the food display he proceeds to do the same thing to the rest of the kiosk. Upon finishing his task he sits down resting his hand and leg. Taking a Gatorade from his bag to cool off from the extraneous work, considering the difficulty of raiding while being slightly indisposed, he downs half the content in one chug. Upon doing so he is filled with a burst of energy. The pain from his leg and hand reduced significantly and his mind felt thoroughly refreshed.
"What the hell??" he says out loud, it seemed like the Gatorade had somehow rejuvenated him, not like the kind were you feel a slight boost but like getting hit with a super sugar rush type feeling. The system was correct when it said there was a no health regen system however it seemed like there were items that aided the body in recovering faster. This knowledge excited him. It seems like there would be ways to recover quicker and he seems to have found one.
Looking out through the window, he notices that it is still late at night, he needed somewhere to hunker down for the night. It seemed like normal rodents had been mutated into new weird versions of themselves and most of these critters were things that came out at night. With this thought in mind he decides to find somewhere to hunker down for the night. Testing his legs they feel much better but he can tell that it will need some more time, time that he didn't have at the moment before they were back to their full functioning capabilities so the stairs were out of the option.
Remembering the nurses' office on the floor he was one he proceeds to head over. "The nurses office has a bed, a pretty sturdy door pluuussss...….there are medical supplies!!! It seems my choice has been made for me" he thinks to himself "might as well head over there, if I remember correctly it was down the hall from here" with a plan finally in mind he picks up the pace to head to the nurses office. With thoughts of rest and a safe place to really process all that had been happening, he thinks about the next day. Tomorrow was going to be yet another long day, he could feel it. The initialization had basically overturned the way the world was going to work.
"Don't worry max, just like every other problem you have ever faced, you handle them one at a time" he says to himself with a grim expression on his face.