The next goblin I encountered had a sling. Fortunately I had a ranged attack so the fight was a simple series of repetitions.
Begin casting fireball, dodge rocks, throw fireball, repeat.
[Lvl. 1 Goblin defeated.]
[+25 EXP.]
[50/100 to Level 2.]
[You gain 5 Gold.]
I opened the store and looked at what I could use gold for. Basic items were cheap but they were only there for comfort. For example I could buy a pair of cloth shoes for 5 gold, but it didn't offer any stats. I was instead interested in the assortment of elixirs and pills.
The cheapest one was an Elixir of Cleansing.
It was a little shallow but the reason I wanted it was because it said that it cleansed impurities from the body and skin. I...
Hoped it was like a magical acne cream.
It was a whole 100G but I personally felt that it was worth it. At the rate I was going, I would need to kill 18 more goblins before I could afford it. The useful items were so expensive I almost wanted to throw up.
"Even in this world with enough money one can do anything."
This goblin I didn't bury, instead I just meditated to full mana and began walking again. After two more goblin fights I reached Level 2.
[Level Up!]
[1 Free Attribute Point!]
[Choose one random perk:
Quick Casting - Spells take 50% less time to cast.
Fast Learner - Skills gain 2x experience.
Burn Baby Burn - Fire damage causes the target to Burn, dealing 25% of the initial damage over 2 seconds.]
I felt the choice was simple. I chose Quick Casting because it would be directly beneficial in combat. The Burn perk was interesting but it would only deal 1 damage over two seconds. If I had more firepower I would consider it, but I chose the skill that would help the most in most situations.
I opened my status page and looked through the effects of each attribute.
Strength obviously made me stronger, and allowed for more damage to be dealt with physical weapons.
Constitution increased my HP, and increased my base defense. My skin would be harder and my resistance to internal injuries would be increased.
Agility would make me faster in all physical aspects and improved my dynamic vision. It slightly increased my flexibility but not by much.
Dexterity was important as it was related to how good I was with my movements, including hand and foot coordination, reaction time was also improved. My ability to judge distance and speed of targets was improved. A long list of benefits, however it didn't directly increase any damage.
Intelligence increased the damage I would deal with spells, max mana and improve cast time. Very simple dump stat that makes you deal more damage.
Wisdom was interesting, as it's description said it improved critical thinking and even problem solving skills. It increased mana regeneration rate and mana efficiency for spells.
Spirit was a healer related attribute, but it also gave an increase in damage against Undead or Demonic creatures. It increased the amount of healing I would receive or give. The description also said something about Spirit Arts but I didn't know what those were so I didn't even think about it.
Finally, the last three were most interesting.
Will would increase your resistance to mental skills and also improved your own mental strength. Used also to improve the effects of psychic skills. Again, I didn't have any psychic skills so that part was useless, but increasing my mental strength was a vague description so I was curious about it.
Luck was the epitome of vague though. [Increases luck.] That was the entire description, but because of how vague it was I thought it might be widely useful.
Charm appealed to me on a personal level but I felt that increasing it was not important right now. Making myself more attractive and alluring was not a combat skill. However it did increase the effects of mental skills and charms.
After looking at the different attributes I decided to increase my agility. I didn't know what I would face in the future but dodging attacks or repositioning would be the most important. It also paired better with my trait and would also help me in real life.
[Agility: 1-->2]
I meditated for a few minutes and got up again to continue along my way. So far I had defeated four goblins, but there wasn't a clear end in sight for me. I was beginning to worry when I encountered another Goblin.
This fight was a learning experience as with my improved casting time I could throw out fireballs after a second and a half. Before the Goblin with the spear could even come close, I had already threw a fireball, and was readying another. The goblin stabbed forward with it's spear but I deftly moved to the side.
It was at this moment that I realized how truly valuable agility was as a stat. I threw another fireball into it's face before dashing backwards. After creating distance I continued casting and the fight was very straight forward.
So far I had a lot of success fighting these goblins but if I fought something faster I would have trouble. My damage was really pathetic too. If an enemy had more health I wouldn't have enough mana to finish the fight.
With one final fireball the fight was ended, and so was the stage.
[Lvl. 1 Goblin defeated.]
[+25 EXP.]
[25/200 EXP to Level 3.]
[You gain 5 Gold.]
...
[Stage 1 complete. Moving to Stage 2.]
[Choose one of the following:
Wind Cutter - Costs 20 MP to send out a blade of wind that deals 10 DMG.
Airwalk Sneakers - A pair of shoes that allows for 1 step to be taken every ten seconds.
Leather Whip - Deals 5 DMG per hit.]
I chose the Wind Cutter spell because it was not only a boost to my damage but also it had no cast time. It was a temporary reward so it would only be used as a backup for now.
[You gain 25 Gold.]
I was now at 51 gold total, and was happy that I was almost halfway to the Elixir I wanted to buy. I stepped through the portal and when I made it to the other side I was in a desert. Immediately I was uncomfortable because of the scorching sun. I looked around but there was only hills of sand. No sign of shade at all.
Feeling miserable, I began walking forward to try and get out of here as soon as possible.
While walking I faintly felt a rumbling from the ground beneath me. I looked down but there wasn't any signs of disturbance on the top of the sand, so I thought I might have been worried for nothing.
However the moment I took a step forward a worm popped out of the sand and latched itself onto my leg. Instantly I cast Wind Cutter at the creature, and it was cut in half.
[Lvl. 1 Sand Leech defeated.]
[+10 EXP.]
[35/200 EXP to Level 3.]
[You gain 3 Gold.]
"Huh? A sand leech? The fuck is this thing?"
I reached down and picked up the creature. It had a mouthful of razor sharp teeth and the wound it created was profusely bleeding.
"It's not going to stop? Shit."
I took a look at my health and saw that I actually had to pay attention to my health on this stage. The goblin stage allowed me to just dodge their attacks so I didn't even bother looking at my health.
However I felt that bleeding would be a problem.
[HP: 95/100]
[HP: 94/100]
...
My health was dropping by 1 every couple seconds. In less than 200 seconds it would reach 0, and I knew it probably meant game over.
I began casting fireball and when it was finished I threw it at my wound. Instantly a searing pain erupted on my leg. I wanted to desperately pat out the flames but instead I let them fully sear my skin. When the flames dissipated I could see my leg had a small patch of leathery looking skin that now had burn scars on it. I looked at my health and was happy to see that the bleeding effect had stopped.
[HP: 87/100]
I didn't know if my health would recover, but I didn't feel like it would be that simple. Having handled that problem I went to sit down and meditate.
Only a minute had passed when several spots in the sand burst towards me.
One, two, three, FOUR sand leeches!
I casted fireball and was glad to find they had extremely low health. One fireball was enough to kill them. Finally I managed to kill all four of them.
[Lvl. 1 Sand Leech defeated.] (x4)
[+40 EXP.]
[75/200 EXP to Level 3.]
[You gain 12 Gold.]
[HP: 70/100]
I immediately cauterized my wounds again.
[HP: 44/100]
Panting I wiped the sweat from my brow. Even though it was painful I wanted to try and continue to challenge the stage. However these leeches were deadly.
"If my defense was higher would I still be struggling? I don't know.. This sucks, my mana is less than half and I can't meditate for too long otherwise they find me..."
Unsure of if it was safe, but not having a choice, I began meditating again. This time I was able to fully fill my mana. I came to the conclusion that I just had to run and do my best to dodge the leeches. With a deep breath I raised my head with determination and began sprinting.
Along the way leeches continued to latch onto me, and I would kill them as soon as I could. The leeches would only deal three damage when they bit me, but if I let them stay too long they would deal three damage every second instead of the one damage the bleed would deal.
Choosing the lesser of two evils I ran forward madly, however I really had no chance at completing this stage.
[HP: 0/100]
[You have died!]
[Death Penalty: Extremely low iron levels in your blood until you next enter the Trials.]
[Time until forced entry: 12 Days, 23 Hours, 59 Minutes.]
I then found myself looking up from my bed.
I sat up and immediately I was assaulted with light headedness followed by a headache. I sat still for a few minutes before I finally felt better.
"This shit is terrible... I feel like it's dangerous for me to move at all... But it's bearable. I need to start making some money."
I was going to make myself something to eat, since I had spent a little over four hours inside the trials, but I noticed there were more notifications from the system.
[Stages Complete: 1]
[Rewards:
One F-Rank Skill
Adjustable Screwdriver]
[New Record: Stage 1]
[Reward: Random item, 25 Gold.]
Even though getting bit by dozens of leeches was painful, it was starting to feel worth it when I looked at the rewards.
The adjustable screwdriver was just a screwdriver that changed it's size to fit the hand of the user best, changed the size and shape of the screwhead along with turn on it's own. I was surprised that I had gotten a reward that was directly helpful to my Basic Electronics skill, but I figured that the rewards I get are somewhat weighted to be related to my existing skills or traits.
Either way, I was glad to have the screwdriver, it would help me a lot tomorrow when I began scavenging parts from the junkyard.
Next I opened the random F-Rank skill.
[Pick one F-Rank skill:
Basic Mathematics - Increases the speed at which you can perform basic calculations. Allows completely understanding of basic math.
Basic Painting - Fundamental understanding of painting techniques and basic concepts. Improved artistic quality of paintings you produce.
Improved Eyesight - Grants perfect vision and prevents natural deterioration of eyesight.]
I didn't wear glasses, but my eyesight was not that bad yet. Since that was the case I decided to ignore the last choice.
"While math is important I don't see a world where being able to add or subtract instantly is important... I guess there is only one option."
Selecting Basic Painting caused a surge of information to fill my head. This time it felt much more profound because I had no information about painting to begin with, whereas I had some general knowledge of how electronics worked.
What happened was mystical.
It wasn't as if my world had suddenly filled with bright colors and beautiful designs, but I could definitely tell what was artistic.
Looking around my room I realized that with a bit of color and lighting the room could be transformed. While I was glad to have this new perspective on the world and colors, I felt a little down that the world I used to see was so dreary and empty.
Shaking off the negative outlook on things, I got to my final reward, the random item.
[Pick one item:
Deceptively Large Water Bottle - A normal water bottle, but it seems to hold a lot more water than could possibly fit inside. Not endless.
Tasty Pork Chop - A really good pork chop.
Lesser Artisan's Glasses - A good artisan has a keen eye for tools of their trade. These glasses allows the user to find things in any mess. Never lose anything again.]
The options were all not useful to me in combat so I chose the last option. At least the glasses could help me in my normal day to day life. The glasses themselves were just like normal glasses but they had clear lenses that didn't adjust eyesight at all. When I put them on, I tried thinking of finding a pencil, and surprisingly the outline of a few pencils appeared in my vision.
They even had name plates with their quality and descriptions.
[No. 2 Pencil - Lead - 68% Durability]
I picked up the pencil and then thought about finding a piece of paper. I soon grabbed one from a paper folder full of useless forms I kept over the years. It was incredible that it knew where a clean sheet of paper was even within the large stack of papers.
I decided to test out my painting skill a bit. Although I didn't have any painting supplies, a part of the skill included being able to accurately sketch and draw outlines.
I smiled as I had always imagined what it would be like to be able to create art, but I always lacked the talent or the drive to improve. However now I could at least sketch what I imagined in my head.
It was just a simple sketch of a man with a scratched out of obscured face staring at himself in a mirror. Even though I knew it was a representation of myself and how I hated the way I looked it was still soothing to be able to turn it into art.
"I'll get some painting tools when I have money... I think this could be incredibly therapeutic when dealing with the stress from the trials."
Even with the euphoria I began to experience with the influx of skills and items, I still had the main event.
I looked at my gold.
[Gold: 118]
This was the haul from today. I started with 1 EXP, then got 25 from the goblins, another 25 from clearing stage 1, then I killed a total of 14 sand leeches for 42 and finally got 25 gold for setting a new record.
Quickly I pulled up the store and bought the Elixir of Cleansing. It appeared in my inventory and I willed it into my hand. It was a beautiful piece of glasswork. It was a basic gem shape but there were glass accents that curved along the edges, and it had small metal legs that looked like stainless steel.
It was really a work of art.
I removed the cap gently and lifted the pinkish liquid into my mouth. It flowed smoothly down my throat and I swallowed passionately at the taste.
It tasted like the sweetest cotton candy while feeling smooth like ice cream. I was happy at the taste but the effects were instantaneous.
I felt as if there were a fire in my insides and then my skin began visibly bubbling. The pain was so much worse than when I had to cauterize my wounds in the trial, that I eventually passed out from the pain and my vision went dark.
****
When I woke up the first thing I noticed was the terrible smell coming from myself and my bed. Looking down I noticed there was a pile of oils and impurities from my body on the bed. Feeling disgusted I hurried into the bathroom and into the shower. After over twenty minutes of scrubbing my skin finally felt like it was clean, so I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower.
I walked to the mirror and ran my hand across so I could see the difference. Immediately I was elated. My skin was clear, no more acne or acne scars, and the same went for the rest of my body. It was only my skin being clean but I felt like I was in a new body.
When I got out of the bathroom I picked up my clothes and threw them into a trash bag. I was going to immediately head to the junkyard but the shower had made me dizzy, so I needed to eat before I could possibly do anything.
Thankfully I still had eggs and a single can of spam. After frying those two together I ate and then searched for a clean pair of clothes. There wasn't a washer dryer in my apartment unit so I could only pay to wash my clothes, which was a big reason why I didn't have many clean clothes.
I eventually found a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I didn't find socks so I would just have to wear my shoes barefoot, but that wasn't a huge problem. I then left the apartment. I made my way to the back staircase, since I wanted to avoid my landlord, and once I reached the street I sprinted off.
I lived in the populated City Z so there was a lot of junk in the junkyards. After a short trip on foot, I found myself at the nearest junkyard. The owner asked for a fee of $10, and I begrudgingly handed over the very last $10 I had to my name.
If things failed here I would not be able to feed myself tonight, so I went in praying it worked out. I walked around looking for the outer cases of useful electronics. I picked up three different cases. I picked up a DVD player, an old mobile music player, and a computer case.
From then I used my new glasses to find all the spare parts I needed.
The DVD player was missing the laser used to read the DVDs, but I found one from another DVD case. Then I found an unbent DVD tray and using my screwdriver I removed all the parts. I then installed them into the case I liked and started working on the music player. The music player was easy as I quickly found another music player that had a broken case but the circuit board inside was in perfect condition.
After switching them I turned it on and to my surprise it actually worked. I quickly found a charge that fit, and put it into my pocket.
Finally, the computer was a small pet project of mine, where I was mostly doing it so that I could upgrade my computer. I found the parts easily and although they weren't amazing they were better than my current ancient rig.
Even though the whole process only took a couple hours I was already suffering from the effects of low iron. I looked around until I found a backpack with enough space to put my new computer in, but I eventually found one that was only lightly worn down.
After leaving the junkyard I slowly walked home. On the way I stopped at a pawn shop. I sold both the music player and the DVD player for $50. While I was walking to a grocery store I realized I had completely forgotten about a basic function of the system.
I stepped into a nearby alley before taking the bag off my back. I summoned my inventory and imagined it going inside.
And it did.
The bag disappeared from my hands and was now visible in my inventory. I had a weight limit of 50 pounds of stuff, but the computer tower wasn't that heavy. I then continued on and soon ended up inside the grocery store. I picked up some more eggs and some frozen meals.
I know frozen foods are bad for my weight but I couldn't change my financial situation yet. I stuffed the eggs and meals into my inventory, before leaving to an art supplies store.
When I got to the store I picked out several paints and an assortment of canvases. While I was picking out brushes I heard a voice from behind me.
"Is that Draven the Piggy?!"
Turning around slowly I saw someone I wished to never see again:
My high school bully.