I stood tall, muscles tensed, and ready for battle. I inhaled deeply, steadying my nerves before charging into the fray. I had always thought of myself as a warrior. From a young age, I trained myself in various martial arts - Muay Thai, karate, capoeira - imitating every move I had ever seen.
I always had a passion for the combat arts. When I was a kid I begged my mom to enroll me in martial arts classes, but she couldn't afford it with six other siblings to take care of. When I was finally old enough to work, I used my hard-earned money to join an MMA gym. Every moment spent mimicking moves as a child had not been in vain, as I quickly discovered my natural talent for fighting.
My coach constantly asked me to go pro and make it a career. But fighting for money was just not something I was interested in, I yearned for real combat. A true test of skill like warriors of old. With no rules, regulations, or officials to separate the combatants. I often wondered how I would perform in such an environment. Would I have the mettle to survive and thrive in such a life?
Despite my combat prowess, I was not a troublemaker. In fact, I rarely engaged in fights while growing up, unless someone initiated an attack I just stood tall staring opponents down menacingly with little words. This usually detered and frightened them enough to leave well enough alone, unless they were in a group and tried to jump me. Which never worked out the way they thought it would.
I never could help but feel helpless and conflicted about my abilities in a world where "strength" was supposedly valued but using real skill to defend yourself or put an enemy down, landed you in jail. Now, with the world overrun by monsters, I intended to gain real combat experience and put all of my skills to use.
With a determined look in my eyes, I was ready for the looming fight. 'I won't let this power go to waste,' I declared to myself, my inner voice strong and resolute.
***
The first Coqui dashed towards me, its tongue lashing out like a whip. My instincts kicked in and I swiftly dodged to the right. Then countered by charging towards the Coqui, my muscles coiled with energy.
I didn't immediately strike at the weak spot I had discovered earlier. No, Instead, I wanted to test this new strength and power. With a powerful punch to the Coqui's side, I sent it flying through the air. It landed with a thud, struggling to regain its footing. I chased after it, my mind focused on activating the skill.
I concentrated on the name of the skill, feeling a surge of power within me, it was like a rabid beast within trying to escape. But it wasn't enough. I needed to push harder. With determination, I spoke the skill's name out loud as I swung at the Coqui. "Shock Strike!" My fist crackled with red lightning, striking the Coqui with such force that it burst open like a water balloon, raining blood and gore around me.
A notification sounded in the back of my mind, indicating I had gained two experience points for defeating the monster. I couldn't contain my excitement as I yelled to Etu, who was busy fending off another Coqui's tongue attack. "Say the skill name out loud to activate it!" I called out.
Etu nodded and activated his skill. "Fireball!" He shouted, thrusting his hands towards the Coqui. An orb of fire materialized in front of him and blasted towards the monster. It hit its mark, engulfing the Coqui in flames crippling it and quickly burning it to the ground.
But our victory was short-lived yet again as more Coquis began to appear all around us, surrounding the group. The chaos and panic escalated, but this time, a few more people joined in the fight.
A large man swung rocks in both hands smashing monster heads left and right. A young woman fought with skill expertly using the space around her to block monsters from overrunning her. The mother and daughter from earlier were surrounded by a pile of large rocks they used for throwing. It seemed that I was not the only one who suspected more monsters would soon show up because the two had obviously stock-piled rocks in preparation.
***
After a time the battle ended and only a few remained standing. Myself, Etu, and a young woman were the only survivors of the large group that had woken up in the cave earlier today.
The monsters had slaughtered most of them, some had escaped to the far corners of the cave, and others were trampled in the chaos. The third person in the group was the young lady who fought with skill, also in her twenties, of average height, well proportioned, with a medium brown complexion, long black hair, and deep brown eyes.
She and other combatants had not undergone the galvanization process during the fight, as the UIP seemed to have an intuitive sense not to allow it during battle. It's a shame that it didn't, it might have made a difference if people were empowered during the fight. Maybe more would have survived.
For the first time in a long time, I began feeling weak and hopeless. Maybe if I were stronger and had more real-world fighting experience I could have saved others. Although I was a great fighter by all accounts, this was not a sport with rules and a referee in a ring to stop the violence from boiling over. It was a real life and death struggle where anything could and did happen. I had begun to understand just how much I misjudged the gore and savagery of such a life.
Though mine and Etu's skills were amazing, they were new to us. Our bodies and minds hadn't yet entirely gotten used to them. We also had very few resources to fuel the skills and they quickly ran dry. Still, we did the best we could to optimize their use. But it was barely enough to keep ourselves alive.
The only reason we were able to help keep the additional survivor safe was that she was smart enough to fight back-to-back with us. When the fighting ended she doubled over in pain, vomited and a purplish phantom flame enveloped her body for a mere second. Myself and Etu waited patiently as she went through the galvanization process. When she finally sat up, her body was trembling from the traumatic experiences.
Etu was also visibly shaken pacing back and forth while watching every shadow, as any normal person would be. I, on the other hand, was outwardly calm and collected as my serious and quiet demeanor always made me seem. Inside I felt a deep sense of sorrow for the loss of life, but some time ago I had to learn to suppress my deep empathy for others lest I get swallowed up in other people's pain. "Are you going to be okay?" I asked, offering a hand to help her up.
"I'll get there," she replied, her voice shaky. "It's just going to take some getting used to… to all of this blood, death, and violence… Thank you." Her eyes were teary and filled with fear.
"I'm Achak, that's my UIP designation," I introduced myself trying to keep her and Etu from dwelling on the insanity of the situation.
"UIP?" she asked, confused.
"Unit Interface Protocol," answered Etu. "My designation is Etu."
The young woman nodded, her eyes fixed on her status screen. "Any special reason for using the designations?"
"Not in particular, for me, it just feels like a fresh start, and renaming myself has been on my mind for some time," I answered and Etu simply nodded absentmindedly.
"I guess I'll also go with my designation then, for now. It's Neytiri." We all exchanged introductions, our voices low and our bodies tense. Despite the polite conversation, the air was thick with tension and the smell of death. This was not a meeting under normal circumstances, and the setting of the cave only added to the somber and eerie atmosphere.
[Designation: Neytiri Health: 200/200 Mana: 20/20
Level: 1 (24/100)
Soul: Mature
Race: Human
Genus: None
Species: None
Affinity: Refuge
Strength: 4
Constitution: 6
Endurance: 8
Agility: 8
Dexterity: 8
Wisdom: 10
Free Points: 4
Skills: Minor Healing]
We had been fighting for hours, and the stench of death hung thickly in the air. Blood, organs, and body parts littered the area, while the once-clear lake now appeared murky and contaminated.
I had always struggled with my serious and introverted nature as it often led to misunderstandings with others. Due to this, I had come up with a signature sentence to explain myself whenever I found myself in a prolonged social situation. "Just so you know," I said, "I'm a quiet person. If I don't talk much, it's not personal. It's just who I am."
"Thank you," Etu and Neytiri replied not paying me much attention as we began walking the cave.
In reality, my explanation was unnecessary. The situation called for silence and vigilance, as we searched for a way out of the cave. After circling the area, we finally stumbled upon a tunnel. Unsure if it was an exit, we decided to rest before moving forward.
The fighting and adrenaline had taken a toll on us, and we were all hungry with no food source or way to make a lasting fire. The only source of water we had found was now contaminated with blood and gore.
My thoughts turned to my stats and skills as we rested. "Status," I called out. I heard Etu explain to Neytiri that it was how to call up the interface.
"How, do you dismiss it?" She asked.
It made me realize that we had done it automatically when the fight began. Curious and thankful for her question I dismissed mine with a thought and then tried recalling it with a thought. To my relief it worked, I would rather not have to speak out loud to the interface and feel like a crazy person having a full-blown conversation with themselves out loud since each interface seemed to only be visible to the person it belonged to.
I looked over to inform Etu of the discovery but it seemed he had already figured it out and was in the middle of explaining it to Neytiri. I turned back to my interface and began studying it closer.
'Interesting,' I thought to myself. 'So this UI rewards us points per level but doesn't automatically assign them. I wonder if there is a way to make it automatic?' I had gained a level and saw that my previously four free points had become eight but none of my stats had changed.
As I gazed at the interface in front of me, I couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. My eyes scanned the screen, taking in the different attributes and their corresponding numbers. My heart raced with anticipation as I thought about how each of these numbers would affect my experiences in this new world.
Without hesitation, I reached out to touch the screen, eager to take control and see what it all meant and how to navigate it. But before my finger could even make contact, the number for strength suddenly increased on its own. Another wave of realization washed over me as I noticed I didn't even have to physically touch the screen to make changes, or maybe even to activate the skills. 'This will require some testing,' I thought.
As I felt the effects of the increase in strength, it was like my body had been jolted into overdrive. My heart raced and my joints ached, but just as quickly as it had come, the feeling disappeared. Curiosity sparked within me as I wondered what the other stats would feel like.
With a deep breath, I decided to try increasing each attribute one at a time. Both agility and dexterity produced a similar feeling to strength. Endurance and constitution, however, produced a refreshing feeling, as if I had just woken up and taken a nice long shower.
I also noticed that my health went up by ten points each time I added a point to both constitution and endurance. With only one more attribute to check I added a point into wisdom and watched as my essence increased by two points. However, there was no physical sensation this time.
Quickly I clicked on each stat to see if I could get a more in-depth explanation as to what each did.
[Strength - Impacts muscular strength and physical damage dealt.
[Constitution - Impacts physical durability and continuous damage received. Affects overall health.
[Endurance - Impacts sustainability of high exertion movement. Affects overall health.
[Agility - Impacts overall mobility speed.
[Dexterity - Impacts fine motor skills.
[Wisdom - Impacts high brain function, and resource availability and recovery.
Before moving on, I realized that I had leveled up and turned to the new skill I had received with it.
[Augment - Adds two points to all physical attributes for one minute.]
As I continued to explore the interface, I wondered what my soul rank meant and clicked on it.
[Soul ranks: Young; Adolescent; Adult; Mature; Ancient]
I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at having the highest rank of soul. But at the same time, I couldn't help but wonder what it actually meant. What did soul ranks signify in this new world? Was it a measure of power? A ranking system for potential? A division of maturity levels? I wondered.
We began discussing and comparing some of the information amongst each other and surprisingly enough, we found that regardless of our starting attribute levels we all started with two hundred health and twenty energy.