Tim stared into the clear water that was flowing past him and could see fish swim by here and there. For the most part they looked like normal fish though there were a few small ones that seemed different from the rest. They had scales that shone like gold when the light hit them just right. "These must be creatures" Tim thought to himself looking down. He aimed at one and shot down with the spear but missed the fish completely.
"I take it you're not familiar with spear fishing. To be honest with you I'm quite bad at it myself. I've tried a few times, even under the guidance of others but I just never seemed to get a hang of refraction. Just because that's where you see the fish, doesn't mean that's where the fish is." Chong explained this to Tim in between bites of the mouse. "Also, since you're just starting off, don't even think of going after the Gold Scale Fish. They are just typical creatures but their focus is their speed. You'd need a Wave Force of at least 5 to be fast enough to hit them."
"What's a Wave Force?" asked Tim as he slammed the spear back into the water, this time coming up with a small flat fish.He was disappointed to not hear a voice in his head as he killed the fish. He thought that this must be a normal animal and not a creature and wondered what the difference between them could be.
"Your Wave Force is the amount of energy that you can produce in a burst. When we get to town we can test out where you started at. A Wave Force of 1 is a very fit person who has never eaten any meat from a creature. Most people tend to be around .50-.75 when they first get here. As you eat more and more creature meat and gain Life Points…" in the middle of the explanation there was another splashing sound as Tim once again pulled in another fish and threw it on the side. "Hey you're pretty good at that, maybe if I keep you around I won't have to worry about going hungry ever!" While joking about this he let out a big laugh.
"I have no reason to not spend my time in your company and I am definitely grateful for the information you have given me. If that's the way this works out I couldn't complain. I shouldn't be too much longer here, do you mind getting the fire rolling again? Oh, and you said something about Life Points?" The idea behind what Life Points are has been rolling around in Tim's head since he first ate the Life Mango and got a Primordial point and a Yin one.
Splash! Another fish was impaled and thrown off to the side.
"Life Points are gained by eating creature meat and can be used to boost your own body," Chong stated this while he got up and collected some sticks along the nearby woods. "When you eat creature meat you are given up to two types of Life points. There are Type Points and Attribute Points. Type points come from what type, or level, a creature is. There are Typical, Advanced, Unique, and Primordial. Each one is stronger than the previous. If you come across a Primordial Creature I would highly suggest you start praying since you're beyond the chance to run."
"So that Field Mouse was the lowest level? Well that at least makes sense why I was able to do something about it. Although even taking care of it seemed more luck than anything." As Tim said the word "luck" the spear went down for the 5th time that morning and pulled in a fourth fish.
"I ended up getting a typical point while I ate that mouse, how many did you get?"
"Six in total I think."
"You think or you know?"
"Well I counted six, so I guess I know."
"Hold out your arm and say 'Status' like you're telling someone to show you something," Chong then demonstrated what he was telling Tim to do, but Tim didn't see anything happen so didn't quite understand what was going on.
"Why? So you can get me to look like a madman?"
"Why would I lie to you? Well you don't know me yet so there's an untold number of reasons I could want to lie to you but ask yourself this, why would I lie to you about something you can verify BEFORE the fish have even been cooked?" Chong emphasized his point by skewering one of the fish and placing it over the fire.
Tim mulled it over for a brief moment and decided there was nothing to lose if he tried. Holding out his hands he said out loud to no one, "status please!" when he said this a screen appeared in his vision. In the language of the Sen Kingdom he read
"Tim Felix, age 16, Planet origin: Turzik
Life points:
Type:
-Primordial 0
-Unique 0
-Advanced 0
-Typical 6
Attribute:
-Fire 0
-Water 0
-Earth 0
-Wind 0
-Yin 0
-Yang 0
-Lightning 0
-Metal 0
-Sound 0
Soul skills and items: None"
Tim looked at his status sheet and couldn't help asking himself "What's a planet?" but he figured that was the least important thing at the moment. He knew he heard the voice telling him he had a Primordial and a Yin point, but why weren't they showing up. Maybe it was because he ate it on the other side of the door. Tim didn't know why but he knew he would find out eventually so all he said about his status screen was, "Six typical points like I thought. Thank you."
"So at six typical points that would average you an increase of about .06 after you soak." Chong finished placing the rest of the fish around the fire to cook. He sat down on a nearby rock and began stroking his beard. "A Wave Force of 1 would give your punches the force of a rather large adult man standing on top of something. Each typical point increases your wave force by about one one-hundredth of a point."
"You said something about soaking, what did you mean by that?" Tim sat down on another nearby rock watching the fish cook.
"There are natural springs all over the place here that well up from deep underground. When those who recently got Life Points soak in these pools the Life Points begin reacting with the body and boost its strength. It's wise to do this often as if there is too much change in a short period of time, people have been known to pass out in the water. No one has ever been reported to die in the pools though, but it's still something you might want to be cautious of."
"What are you at if I may ask?"
"Well as a merchant more than a fighter I haven't put any effort into training my body so the only boosts I have come from meat. Those who push their bodies and train in skills such as combat arts can raise their Wave Forces even higher. Though, to answer your question, I'm sitting around a 2.7. I have long since maxed out on my typical points and filled up half my advanced and have 2 unique points."
Tim sat there a moment taking in all the information that he had just received while watching the flames lick the sides of the fish. He came out of it when the smell started hitting his nose telling him that they were ready to be eaten. Chong reached out and grabbed the one closest to him and took a bite out of it. "Here's what's going on, I'm headed to a town another day down this river and I believe it would benefit you to come with me. I will let you borrow the spear until we get there if you hunt for our food. If you get lucky you might even get a few more life points before we get to Lohan where they have a spring."
"Well if I had not run into you I would have followed the river anyways and this lets me use a better weapon to hunt with than a knife. I don't see why not."