Sharp pain shoots through him as the broken arm rubs against the wall as he braces against the wall for support. Ignoring the searing agony, he slings his shield and warpick over his back, gritting his teeth as he grabs the nearby torch to fend off the encroaching darkness. With every step, the broken bones in his arm grind against each other, as he hastily retreats to safety, determined to make it back to where he started despite the excruciating effort
Well that sucked.
“Hey Guinevere I feel like I am in a safe location. But my arm is broken and I have a coin in my pocket I think?”
With a heavy thud, he slumped against the rough cave wall and crumpled to the ground, his torch clattering beside him. Surprisingly, he didn't feel as much pain as he expected. The throbbing ache in his side was more akin to a scraped knee than a broken bone. Despite never having experienced a broken bone before, it didn't hurt nearly as bad as he thought it would. Maybe adrenaline was dulling the pain, or maybe the injury wasn't as severe as he initially feared. Either way, it gave him a sense of relief and reassurance in this dark, damp cave as a notification appeared in his vision.
You have reached Level 2. You have 6 points to assign. You can assign your stats in groups of three per level. Primary +3, Secondary +2, and Tertiary +1. You gain 5 attunement to your max attunement. You gain a Loot Crate Coin.
“You need to rest. When you sleep your healing factor increases dramatically. All of your bodily functions will be focused on repairing your arm. With a good night's rest your arm should be fully healed.” Marcus raised an eyebrow as she finished speaking.
“I can heal a broken arm in a few hours? Well, I guess I have to take your word for that. I did level up though so that’s something.” As he moused over his health was shocked to see that his health was still in the green.
Health: Light Green
“I should be fine here and I don’t think this torch is gonna burn out anytime soon. I can take a few minutes and assign points.” I want to be a warrior or knight so Strength and Constitution will probably be the most useful though I assume I also need Dexterity and Stamina to use them effectively. Lets keep Strength and Constitution at 1 and 2 then swap 3 between Dexterity and Stamina until I can figure out everything else. So he quick assigned stats before proceeding to the loot crate
STR: 8
DEX: 5
CON: 7
INT: 5
WIS: 5
STA: 6
“If you want to open the loot crate you need to hold the coin in your hand and yell out open.”
Looking down and holding the large golden coin in his hand he called out. “OPEN” and a large chest with the word Standard Loot Crate embolden on the front. As he pulled the large chest over to him it was FILLED with various TV dinner sized black boxes with various words on them. As he collected and separated them he had a total of;
15 Food
15 Beverage
1 Weapon
1 Equipment
1 Tool
6 Resource
Without prompting Guinevere’s voice appeared in his mind.
“Let’s start with the weapon and equipment boxes .Each weapon, equipment and tool boxes has an aspect that is randomly chosen. If you feel safe let's start now.”
Well he was as safe as he was gonna be.
He pulled out a TV dinner sized box with a weapon on it and held it in his hand before sitting down.
“Now say activate.”
He waited for about a minute by the torch light before mentally saying “activate.” In his vision in front of him was a small mass of what looked to be clouds in front of him before Guin spoke again.
“This weapon has the aspect of Water. Now imagine a weapon in your mind in great detail, try and incorporate what water could do when applied to the weapon. It won’t be perfect but make sure it's functional.”
Marcus paused, his brow furrowing in concentration, as he imagined the cloud-like mist swirling around his hand. He mused over the states of water: liquid, vapor, and solid ice. An idea began to take shape—a weapon, perhaps a mace or a spear, that could release a burst of ice-cold water with a swift motion. In his mind's eye, he struggled to visualize shooting powerful hydro beams or launching ice cannons, so he decided to focus on the simpler concept of hurling globs of water. He envisioned a traditional spear, much like the ones he'd seen in a historical adventure movie, hoping it would serve his purpose well.
Standard Spear of Bursting Water[Poorly Made]
Base Efficiency Bonus: 12%
Skill Tree: Field of Raining Spears
Base Ability: Splash
Name: Splash
Trigger: A Stab or Swipe along with mental activation
Energy Drain: Very Low
Description: Launch a glob of water based on your mastery and efficiency with Standard Spear of Bursting Water.
Attunement Slots: 40
As he looked at the weapon he smiled as he held the spear he had in his mind, only the spearhead seemed to always be wet no matter how many times he wiped it off. The weapon was a menacing sight, coated in a glossy black finish, but the blade was designed more for stabbing than slicing. The metal itself was thick and sturdy finish with a simple spearhead jutting out from one end. Its size rivaled that of a chef's knife. Though it lacked the finesse of a professional-made spear, it still would do the job.
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Would you like to Attune to Standard Spear of Bursting Water for 40/105 attunement slots?
Marcus smiled a devilish grin and nodded before He saw just below energy on his HUD was now
Marcus Washington
Level: 2 - 7 Kills till next level 3
Health: Light Green
Energy: Green
Attunement: 40/105
Skill Trees: Field of Raining Spears
As he focused on the Field of Raining Spears he saw it expand in his vision.
Field of Raining Spears
Base Ability: Splash
As his mind pulled away from that prompt, Guinevere’s voice appeared in his mind.
“The more you use an item the faster your mastery with the item will rise and the more skill levels you will gain with said item. I think for now you should try to make some equipment that might help you in this situation before you drain your torch too much?”
He thought about it before he pulled out the equipment box and activated it as it juxtaposed itself over his vision Guinevere spoke as he began to work.
Aspect of Telekinesis.
He spoke more to Guin as she broke down that Equipment basically counted as anything the user could wear that was not directly a physical weapon. While he had gear and armor what he did not have was an actual bag. Now he needed a large bag that could hold his loot and somehow incorporate Telekinesis. Maybe something like items stored inside are hard to remove without saying a command word by telekinetic force? So he decided to give it a shot and make a large duffle bag with all kinds of pockets and thought about telekinetic force holding down his items in place so they did not shift or move without his command.
Standard Bag of Forceful Protection[Poorly Made]Base Efficiency Bonus: 12%
Skill Tree: Guardian of the Forceful Vault
Base Ability: Telekinetic Deposit Box
Trigger: Placing an item and saying the command word
Energy Drain: None
Description: This item allows the user to place items inside and assign a command. As long as the force trying to remove the item is not stronger than the user’s wisdom the item will remain unmoved.
Attunement Slots: 40
As he completed the item and looked at it he smiled. It was a brown leather duffle bag with thick straps and several metal clasps. It had the symbol of a bank on the main clasp. While it would not win any awards, it was functional. He quickly attuned to the item making his attunement 80/105 before he started to gather the remaining loose gear into his duffle bag.
“It'll work,”
As he began to sling the boxes into the bag along with his extra torch and shortsword as he put the warpick on his belt and kept the spear in his hand along with his shield. As pulled out his torch and collapsed into a tight ball he pressed his back against the wall and the shield covering his torso and head as he quickly found his stomach rumble.
Let’s try out one of those Food and Beverage boxes.
With his good hand he held the open his waterskin and drank a bit before using some of it to wash his hands and his face. As he pulled out the Beverage box he imagined water as the box transformed into a black pitcher of what looked to be water.
As he took a sip, he smiled as the cold water hit the back of his throat soothing his previously dry throat and helping to calm his mind. After refilling his waterskin he pulled out a food box and smiled as he held it in his hand and thought of Homestyle meatloaf, mashed potatoes with brown gravy with collard greens. The box expanded a little bit before the lid opened up and the smell waffled to his nose.
It smelled like Sunday dinner at his grandma’s house. As he ate his food he thought of his grandparents and parents gathered around the table as he chased around his nephews who pretended to be dragons as he gathered them up on his arms and smiled…
Are they really gone?
His mind was filled with memories of home. Marcus did not come from wealth or great riches, his father was a mailman and his mother was a teacher. They did the best they could and raised him and his sister just fine. They taught him empathy and respect as civil servants about serving your community and doing the right thing.
What seemed cool and a fun thing at first, was beginning to turn sour fast as his head laid against the cold stone he whispered so low that he thought he was something only him and god could hear.
“So, is there a way to go home?”
He felt the presence of Guinevere press down around him like angel wings and wrap him close as he continued to sit down, alone in almost total darkness.
“No, you died on Earth. There is no going back at all.” As she said those words they hit him like a hammer as he thought about his little sister and his nephew and…
As he closed his eyes, attempting to calm himself and fend off the encroaching shadows of his mind, he sensed a tangible presence enveloping his shoulders from where his back pressed against the wall. Confusion flickered across his face as this unseen entity pulled him into a tighter embrace, wispy strands of what felt like loose hair brushing against his skin, clinging to his cheeks with a featherlight touch.
“What is this?” As the presence wrapped him up closer he felt another face pressed against face.
"You are not alone. I will stand by your side until your journey reaches its end. I swear it."
With a gentle yet unwavering smile, he closed his eyes, surrendering to sleep.
I am not alone, I can do this.
