When I woke up, I wasn't lying down on the stained pull-out bed. My back was pushed against a cold stone floor and there seemed to be a blue skylight above me, a vast difference to the peeling roof of the studio apartment. Surprisingly, the hangover I was expecting never came and I quickly sat up. I found myself in a wide circular room, the only source of light being the ocean-like light streaming in from the glass.
"What the-" before I could give voice to the rest of my thoughts, a cobalt-blue screen appeared in front of me. I was taken aback before reading the message on the screen.
[Hey Shein, your probably really fucking confused right now huh? Sorry, I couldn't explain things clearly earlier but I didn't want to risk it. Your currently in a situation like one of the books you used to read a couple of years back. Please believe me when I say I didn't want you to be here, you're just too damn talented. I gave you some bonuses where ever i could.
Don't die!
Raz]
'What the fuck is going on?' The screen in front of me changed, showing me a different screen. It was about the size of a laptop screen, with 5 tabs, 4 of which were greyed out. The first tab said 'PROFILE'. I tapped on the screen.
[Profile:
Name: Shein Claire
Age: 23
Strength: 12
Agility: 13
Endurance: 12
Spirit: 14
Stat points: 0
Constitution: Pup
- Increases strength and speed by 2 points
'Just a pup']
'What does all of this mean!?' The amount of information getting dumped on me had me dazed. Fortunately, the screen displayed info about each stat.
[Strength: The amount of force produced by the muscles
Agility: The control and improvement of accelerating, decelerating, and stabilization. Also improves reflexes and reaction time.
Endurance: The flexibility and resilience of the body, the body's recovery rate.
Spirit: Brain processing speed, memorization ability, control of spirit, rate of spirit recovery, and amount of spirit.
Constitution: The unique traits of your body, grow as you grow. The average number of starting stats is 10]
'My constitution isn't bad.' After processing all the information, I came to that conclusion. The screen stayed in the top left of my vision, annoying the shit out of me. I got on my feet and started looking around the room.
'Shouldn't I get a quest or something?' The system, seeming to hear me, increased in size. One of the other tabs unlocked, 'QUESTS'.
Under the tab, a question was displayed.
[Which starter weapon do you choose?]
Sword Dagger
Spear Bow
I fell into thought.
'Bow's need training so that's off the list. Same with swords and spears. Wouldn't a dagger be the easiest?' I thought some more before refuting my reasoning.
'No, if I used a dagger I'd need to get incredibly close. A spear may be hard to use but it would be less demanding compared to a dagger.' I steeled my mind and decided.
[You picked: Spear]
The blue light at the center of the room brightened until it turned into a blinding light, forcing me to close my eyes. When I opened them, a 2-meter long spear was lying next to a 2-meter tall scarecrow.
I approached the center of the room and grabbed the spear. I was alarmed by the weight which I expected to be 10 kg turned out to be no more than 2 tops. The entire spear seemed to be made of a teal metal that I had never seen before.
[Spirit spear (Tier 1):
- A spear made using 100% spirit steel. It can conduct spirit very well, increasing the piercing
and cutting power
- Attack: 20
Requirements:12 strength, 15 spirit]
The spear's blade was conical, seemingly designed for piercing instead of cutting. The screen popped up in front of me again. I stopped admiring the spear to read the message.
[Quest: Train! (Part 1)
Perform 1000 thrusts (0/1000)
Perform 1000 slashes (0/1000)
Reward: Spirit circulation skill, 4 stat points]
'1000..? How the fuck am I supposed to do 2000 attacks without dying of exhaustion!?' I complained to the system as I got to the proper range of the dummy.
'I'll try to do a thrust first.' Once I decided mentally, a blue piece of light was placed on the dummy's head, throat, shoulders, heart, and stomach. I started to think of the most appropriate stance to take to thrust a spear. After I settled on a proper stance, I took action.
I stuck my left foot in front of me, my right supporting my weight. I stretched my left hand closer to the end of the spear and had my right hand holding the middle of it. The rest of the spear, which was about .50 meters, was under my armpit. I took in a deep breath before stepping out with my left foot. I pushed the spear out with my right hand, using the left to guide it. Although I missed my goal of the heart, I hit my stomach.
[Ping!]
[Please tighten center of gravity]
The system surprised me for the umpteenth time, giving advice on my form after my attack.
'It's kinda like a game...' with the game-like interface and timely tips of the dummy, the situation I was in resembled a game quite a bit. I felt a fire burn in my heart as I paid heed to the system's advice and attacked again.
***
[Ping!] [Ping!] [Ping!]
"Phew." A sigh emerged from my mouth after the hours of exercise. I took a sip of water from the metal thermos that came from the ceiling after the first hour of thrusts.
Whenever I was close to running out, it would refill. It was the same story for the box of MREs that came down with the thermos.
'I should be done by now, no?' Drenched with sweat, I checked the quest screen
[Quest: Train! (Part 1)
Perform 1000 thrusts (1006/1000)
Perform 1000 slashes (998/1000)
Reward: Spirit circulation skill, 4 stat points]
'Might as well get it done' I picked up the spear and went up to the dummy. Standing before it, the blue nieces of light changed locations to the head, sides of the throat, under the armpits, and the sides of the stomach.
I stood casually, my right arm in front of me. My hand held the spear, about 1 third from the spear blade. I swiped twice, the first at the dummy's right side and the second at the throat.
The system left me one message.
[Perfect]