Arthur lay on the grass of the Safe Zone, his eyes fixed on the endless blue sky above. The weight in his chest felt unbearable and his mind replayed the moment over and over again. Eric rushing ahead, the exit, the finish line finally within sight and just out of reach. Then suddenly, the dark shadows swooping down, Eric's cries, a wet squelch and cracking of bone before deafening silence.
Things had gone well up until that point and Arthur had for a single moment allowed himself to entertain the idea that they would succeed. That they were one step closer to making it out of this hellish existence.
He should have known it was too good to be true.
The Giant Rats had been fast and agile but through teamwork, desperation and perseverance, they had managed to overcome them. Whereas before, Arthur had barely been able to escape with his life against four. With the help of a man he had known for less than an hour, Arthur had managed to defeat them.
They had then pushed on, nearly beating another four.
It was then things had gone so bad.
Bursting from the carcasses of the Giant Rats, came a swarm of rats that rushed to devour them both. At that point, it had been pure chaos and pandemonium, Arthur felt the feeling he had felt when first entering the Floor.
Death.
It was looming and present.
Breathing down his neck.
Yet that feeling had dissipated for only a moment.
A sweet, relieving moment when he had seen the portal in the distance.
The reward for all their blood, sweat and tears.
Freedom.
Only for Arthur to helplessly watch as it was stripped away from Eric in an instant. 'Why did I run backwards?' Arthur questioned himself furiously, hand grasping at the roots of his hair as his anger at himself reached a boiling point. 'I should have run forwards. The portal was right there. Eric's death wouldn't have been meaningless. But I was a fucking coward!'
"Fucking coward!" Arthur cursed himself. 'If only you had been quicker, maybe you could have helped him.'
Releasing the iron-tight grip on his hair, Arthur shook his head and collapsed back onto the ground. Desperate for distraction, Arthur waved his hand to summon the system's notifications again, the glowing screens reappearing suddenly before his eyes in a big mass.
CONGRATULATIONS!
DUE TO PUSHING YOUR AGILITY TO ITS LIMITS, YOUR DEXTERITY HAS INCREASED BY 1 (6 → 7).
DUE TO ENDURING IMMENSE PAIN AND PUSHING YOUR STAMINA TO ITS LIMITS, YOUR ENDURANCE HAS INCREASED BY 2 (7 → 9).
DUE TO BEING HYPER-AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS, YOUR WISDOM HAS INCREASED BY 1 (6 → 7).
Though they were rewards, once more he found them to be bitter and meaningless. More like a means to rub his own weakness and failure in his face. He dismissed the notification with a wave of his hand, looking upon the second screen that appeared.
CONGRATULATIONS!
DUE TO REPEATED ACTIONS, YOU HAVE UNLOCKED THE PASSIVE SKILL: SWORDSMANSHIP (BASIC).
DUE TO FULFILLING CERTAIN CONDITIONS, YOU HAVE UNLOCKED THE ACTIVE SKILL: BLADE FLURRY.
DUE TO FULFILLING CERTAIN CONDITIONS, YOU HAVE UNLOCKED THE ACTIVE SKILL: SHIELD BASH.
'Skills?' Arthur thought to himself. 'I really am in a game.'
If any doubts had still been in his mind, those thoughts had disappeared but now more questions filled his mind. Why did whoever or whatever bring him here, give him a gamer-like system? Was this meant to serve a purpose? Was any of this for a purpose?
Once more, Arthur shook his head, swiping at the notifications to distract himself.
CONGRATULATIONS!
YOU GAINED 125 EXP FOR KILLING 5 GIANT RATS.
YOU GAINED 17 EXP FOR KILLING 17 SPLINTERLINGS.
YOU GAINED A TOTAL OF 142 EXP.
The distinction between rats and Giant Rats was something Arthur hadn't really noticed when the notifications popped up, mostly still in shock due to what had happened. But now his mind focused on it, having already known that there was a difference between the rats that swarmed them and the Giant Rats they had faced. Yet the question came to him, what were the rats doing inside the bodies of Giant Rats? How did that even work? Where inside the Giant Rat were they hiding?
Even so, he didn't have the answer, but he did know where to find it.
Or hoped so.
Pulling up his profile, he took a moment just to look over it.
PROFILE
NAME: Arthur Hale
LEVEL: 2 (42/200 EXP)
HEALTH: 190/190.
MANA: 80/80
STATS:
- Strength: 8
- Dexterity: 7
- Endurance: 9
- Intelligence: 8
- Wisdom: 7
- Luck: 5
STAT POINTS: 5
He didn't stay on there for long, looking to the over tabs near the top next to PROFILE. There was INVENTORY, SKILLS, and at the very end was INFORMATION. Out of the four tabs, only the inventory one was greyed out, mostly because Arthur didn't have anything to store in there and only recently had skills become available to him.
However, skipping over skills momentarily, he clicked on the INFORMATION tab and looked upon the two entries there.
NAME: Giant Rat
EXP: 25 EXP
INFORMATION: Unlike the common rats found in the world, these predators are formed as a result of exposure to dense magical energy causing various rats to merge together into what becomes a Giant Rat. They are common predators found in surrounding forests, having been driven from local towns and villages. As a result, they have further evolved into more aggressive predators than their ordinary counterparts. Possessing sharp claws and an enhanced sense of smell, they are deadly predators. Typically found in packs, they pose a significant threat to unarmed or inexperienced individuals. Upon being killed that magic that had caused the various rats to form a Giant Rat comes undone. The rats released from this form into a RAT SWARM.
Arthur paused as he read the information that appeared, his gaze focusing on the few changes that had appeared. The original information on the Giant Rat had said that they were simply rats that had been mutated by various rats being forcibly merged. Very different compared to the original exploration.
"And what's a Rat Swarm?" Arthur wondered, looking at the greyed-out name at the end. He imagined the Rat Swarm was the horde of rats that had nearly killed him and Eric to begin with, it didn't take a genius to figure that out. But all the same, what was a Rat Swarm? 'I guess if I want to know I'll have to kill one. But does that mean I have to kill the entire swarm?'
Arthur then looked down at the second entry.
NAME: Splinterlings
EXP: 1 EXP
INFORMATION: Common sewer rats are found in local villages and sewers of vast castles that spawn from the bodies of the corpses of Giant Rats.
It was quite anticlimactic compared to the entry on the Giant Rat, but then again they were just ordinary rats. He didn't really need to know much more than that. The only thing that had made them dangerous was that they came in a Rat Swarm.
Arthur then tapped on the SKILLS tab.
There he saw the three skills currently listed in a basic format.
PASSIVE SKILLS:
- SWORDSMANSHIP (BASIC)
- DESCRIPTION: Click to expand
- MANA COST: None
- PROFICIENCY: 1%
ACTIVE SKILLS:
BLADE FLURRY
- DESCRIPTION: Click to expand
- MANA COST: 10 MP
- PROFICIENCY: 1%
SHIELD BASH
- DESCRIPTION: Click to expand
- MANA COST: 8 MP
- PROFICIENCY: 1%
Arthur took a moment to look over the information, taking into account the information he had at the time being. "Proficiency?" He muttered. "I wonder what happens when it reaches one hundred?" He didn't expect an answer nor did he get one.
But then he took into account the mana cost.
The passive skill didn't cost him anything which was good. Even then, the active skills only cost a small amount, ten and eight respectively. Considering his current mana pool he could afford to use both skills quite a few times.
He was quite lucky in that regard.
"Let's have a look and see what they do." He told himself, clicking to expand on Swordsmanship (Basic).
Swordsmanship (Basic):
This skill represents the foundational expertise with swords and other bladed weapons, granting basic knowledge on stances, blocks and attack patterns. It enhances the user's ability to handle bladed weapons, improving precision, balance and fluidity in combat. It also increases the overall effectiveness of all attacks with a bladed weapon, making strikes faster and more accurate. Additionally, the skills provides a boost to all damage dealt and reduces stamina consumption during combat while wielding swords and bladed weapons.
- Proficiency - 1%.
- Mana Cost - N/A.
- +10% Damage with all sword-based attacks.
- +10% Attack Speed with all sword-based attacks.
'Not bad.' Arthur thought to himself. He had never wielded a sword before and had simply swung it around wildly in whatever direction the Giant Rats and rats where coming from. There had been no form or technique to it whatsoever. Having a skill that could actually give him some form of control would definitely boost his chances of survival, not that he was in any rush to return to the First Floor any time soon.
He then clicked on his first active skill.
Blade Flurry.
This skill when active unleashes a randomised attack pattern with a sword or bladed weapon upon a selected target.
- Proficiency - 1%.
- Mana Cost - 10MP.
It was a very short description, jarringly so, but Arthur supposed considering it was the first skill he had gotten, it wouldn't be all that powerful. Even so, it felt comforting to know he had an offensive-based skill he could use.
It was the second skill though that intrigued him the most.
Shield Bash.
Deliver a powerful shield strike to a selected target with a chance of inflicting debuff Stun upon enemies.
- Proficiency - 1%.
- Mana Cost - 8MP.
- +5% chance of inflicting debuff, Stun.
Arthur closed the screen and glanced at the portal. "What would it be like to actually try these out?" he wondered aloud. The thought of stepping back into the forest made his stomach twist. "Not yet."
-X-
The next few days passed in a haze of restlessness. The Safe Zone provided everything he needed physically, but mentally, the isolation weighed on him. He found himself staring at the portal more often, wondering what lay beyond. One day, in order to try and distract himself he stood up and tried activating one of his active skills, Blade Flurry.
He even said the name out loud a few times, quietly at first until screaming it out like he had seen characters in Anmie do. Embarrassingly, nothing had happened and moments later a blue screen had appeared before him.
SKILL ACTIVIATION FAILED. NO WEAPON EQUIPPED. TO USE THE ACTIVE SKILL: BLADE FLURRY, PLEASE EQUIP A WEAPON.
It was nice to know.
Would have been nicer to know that beforehand.
However, he at least knew that so long as he didn't have a sword or shield, he couldn't use either of his active skills. Not that he had any weapons to equip, he needed to clear the First Floor before he gained a weapon.
The reminder only fueled his frustration. "How am I supposed to get stronger if I can't even practice?" Arthur then thought back to how he unlocked the skills—through repeated actions or fulfilling certain conditions. "Maybe I don't need a sword to train." He wondered.
Arthur then thought back to the stat increases he'd earned, dexterity, endurance and wisdom, even intelligence as well. Those had come not from fighting monsters, but from pushing himself to his limits or gaining new understanding.
His eyes widened as realization struck. "These stats aren't static. They reflect who I was before the tower—my natural abilities. But just like back home, you can get faster, stronger, and smarter through training."
The system seemed to respond to his revelation.
CONGRATULATIONS!
BY UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANICS OF THE SYSTEM, YOUR INTELLIGENCE HAS INCREASED BY 1 (8 → 9).
Arthur chuckled softly, a faint smile tugging at his lips. It was a small victory, but in the Safe Zone's stifling stillness, it felt monumental.
Arthur dismissed the notification and stood, stretching his arms. "If I've got nothing else to do, I might as well train." He didn't know much about exercise, though he had kept in shape it hadn't really been anything to do with working out or going to the gym, simply due to his time as a manual labourer and a bit of rugby on the weekends.
So, Arthur decided on a very simple exercise routine consisting of running laps around the lake, followed by squats, lunges, pushups and a few other exercises. Hopefully, at some point, he would be able to increase his stats through this. If he did, that was good news and if not, well, it was better than sitting around doing nothing like he had been in the Safe Zone.
"If I can get stronger here," he thought, "then maybe next time… I won't run."
Arthur's gaze drifted to the portal once more, the shimmering energy beckoning him like a siren's call.
Not yet.
But at some point, he would go back.
Arthur refused to be trapped in this Tower forever.
More importantly, he refused to runaway like a coward again.