Soul of Blades - Chapter 5: Decoding the System (Patreon)

A few minutes earlier.

Alex Ironwood was tired, exhausted even, but he was calm. His every breath seared through his lungs. Trees towered around him, the verdant canopy filtering sunlight into dappled fragments that lit his path. Unfamiliar calls from unseen creatures played in the background constantly, an eerie harmony of beasts calling to his steps.

His heightened senses caught every sound, every distant creature. A consequence of his new world ‘Pyra’, he supposed.

He shifted his gaze towards his destination, barely visible in the distance. The giant portal of swirling energy beckoned him, shining hints of untold power. The draw was magnetic, irresistible.

Alex walked. he continued his journey through the dense jungle, his eyes remaining fixed on the gargantuan archway and the pulsating portal that awaited him. The canopy of leaves overhead obscured his view, teasing him with fleeting glimpses of the alien- no, the magical spectacle. The anticipation fuelled his steps, his heart lost its calm and began to beat with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.

His mind flashed back to the harrowing confrontation with the horned wolves. He saw their bodies again, remembered their growls, the heat of the battle. He felt the adrenaline rush, the thrill of life and death hanging by a thread. The prospect of survival, of honing his martial art—Kendo—and evolving it into something unimaginable, ignited a fire of determination within him. Battle, even one of life and death, held a sweetness, a concoction of emotions more exhilarating than any championship or competition he had ever experienced. There was a smile on his face. It felt… right.

It wasn't like the championships, the controlled environments, the defined rules. This was different, more real. More pure. It was what the blade had been made for; Life and death. The stakes couldn't be higher.

But he also remembered the pain. The cruel reminder of reality. This was no mere kendo match, and the price for failure was more than a mere loss of honour. It was death, permanent and final.

As he continued his path, an idea sparked in his mind, a plan forming. A log, a jagged stone, a rudimentary sword of sorts. It was crude, yet, it could provide an edge, a means of survival.

Taking a moment, Alex said, "status". And there it was, a screen hovering mid-air, showing him his stats, levels, locked classes and feats. It was straight out of a game, but here, it was life.

In the middle of the air, a glowing screen materialised.

[Name: Alex Ironwood

Level: 3

Race: Human - Rank F

Primary Class: Locked

Sub-class: Locked

Strength: 27 (19)

Dexterity: 27 (19)

Endurance: 25 (18)

Intelligence: 31(22)

Wisdom: 25 (18)

Feats: First Encounter, Pioneer,

Skills:

Dao:

Unassigned stat points: 15]

And there it was. His status, as real as the jungle surrounding him. Alex stared at the translucent screen, a thrill running down his spine. The numbers stood out, seemingly bolstered by his feats. And judging by the numbers, he assumed ten stats was the peak of humanity, if that was so, then he had already gone far beyond that. It was game-like, yet so real.

He contemplated the meaning of each. Endurance, he surmised, probably related to his stamina and recovery, intelligence and wisdom hinting towards magic. The numbers in brackets must have been his base stats, and the boost - a direct result of his feats. That’s it, he thought, feats are the key to power here.

A realization hit him. If he wanted to survive this world, he needed to understand these elements. They were his strengths, his advantages. He recalled the monster battles. Every victory strengthened him, every skill gained made him stronger. It was like levelling up in a video game, only that the stakes were real.

His mind went back to the notifications he’d received after the wolf pack had been defeated;

[You have defeated level 1 Horned Jungle Wolves x3 - additional experience points due to the level difference]

[You have defeated level 2 Horned Jungle Wolves x2 - additional experience points due to the level difference]

[You have defeated level 4 Horned Jungle Wolf Alpha - additional experience points due to the level difference]

[Gained Legendary Feat: "Pioneer" First incursion dungeon kill in inductee world - All stats +5. All stats +20% + 1 Minor healing potion]

[Level 0 > Level 3]

[15 unassigned stats - Speak or think ‘Status’ to allocate pending stats]

It was a hefty gain.

15 stats for 3 levels. That was 5 levels per stat. A 40% increase to his strength stat should be 26.6, but his stat sheet showed 27. That meant the system rounded up stats, a good thing in his opinion. With his feats, he had a total of 103 stats. If you took away what he assumed was the human baseline of 50 stats. Then it meant he had the stats of someone at level 17, and that was before he added the fifteen free stats. He wanted to save them, and put some thought into how they were allocated, but once he added those stats, he would have the stats of someone at level 20. Alex stood still in shock as he made the calculations.

Maybe he wasn’t so screwed after all.

But why did I get the credit for the plant's kills? I only beat one wolf myself… Was it because I contributed by throwing rocks? Or because I used the plant as a trap? Or both? That must’ve meant any experience he received had been reduced or shared between him and the plant. Experience based on damage contribution seemed sensible to him, and likely. Unless there was some sort of ‘killing blow’ bias. He wondered what would happen if he tricked someone into falling off a cliff, would he get experience for that too? And what if he did it in a way where they met their end while he was making an alibi fifty miles away… would he still get the experience? Or would it be greatly diminished? But then again…if nobody else was involved in the act, wouldn’t he just get all of the experience instead of sharing it? There was still the possibility that he wouldn’t get any experience at all if he didn’t directly cause some form of damage to them. Like he’d done with the wolves.

Either way, he couldn’t be sure. He would need to test it the first chance he got.

Alex considered the notifications. He continued to try to glean any scrap of meaning or clue he could, to both his situation and whatever was behind it all. It was his only clue, after all. It was the only form of intelligent communication he had had since he had—well, since he had died.

First, it told him the beasts were called ‘Horned Jungle Wolves.’ They were higher level than he was. If there's a system to identify these creatures and assign levels, then it implies a level of sophistication. Data gathering, analysis. There might be a living entity or entities behind all this. Could be long-dead architects of this twisted system or even a single creator. Alex’s musings were causing him growing concern. As an atheist, he didn't much like the idea of a god. After all, any significantly powerful being would be a god to a caveman. He’d always thought of it as a simple way of viewing the world. Too simple, in fact. But with everything he’d seen so far, he was growing more and more open to the idea. The capabilities of this system were somewhat 'godlike.' It was undeniable. He shuddered to think of an even further intelligence behind it.

Alright, enough of that. He brushed those thoughts aside, right now, they weren't helpful. But what is immediately useful here? There was one piece of information, one hint he had gained from the notifications that was helpful. Very helpful, in fact.

It was the feats. He had gained one for being the first to enter the dungeon. Then another for being the first in the world to kill in a dungeon. Why two separate ones for what's essentially a single achievement? When he thought about it, it seemed redundant. Wouldn't the first to enter also be the first to defeat something in the dungeon?

A lightbulb moment hit him. Unless... dungeons aren't meant to be tackled solo, and I'm not supposed to be alone.These feats would make sense if a team were involved. In a group, the first to enter isn't necessarily the first to make a kill. It made sense. If dungeons were meant to be tackled by teams of people, then in a group of four, or five, or ten, the feats would be shared.

Hell, they’d probably race each other to get them.

But that fact  made one thing abundantly clear: Alex was alone in a hostile environment meant for a team to combat. He was vastly outnumbered, and death lurked around every corner. He gulped, his throat tightening at the thought. There could be no more room for errors, even with his inflated stats. Moving forward, it was likely he’d be constantly outnumbered. He would have to be more cautious.

With a mental nudge, the status screen closed, as he thought back to one of the earliest notifications he’d recieved, it had said: “Your induction to mana will last 365 planetary revolutions before your new imperial masters arrive.”

What did ‘new imperial masters’ mean? Alex clenched his fists, that was a chilling line, and it suggested there would be no negotiation, no freedom. He imagined Earth facing the same countdown, his home possibly undergoing the same transformation. He was resolved. If earth was facing the same countdown, he needed to gain strength before their arrival.

He needed to grow stronger, fast.

Alex's eyes widened. The stats! Of course, he'd gotten stat points when he reached level 3. But in the rush of everything, he'd forgotten to allocate them.

"Status." the holographic screen popped back up. He tried speaking his command, but nothing happened. A mental push later, one point was allocated to strength. [Confirm?] Okay, first trial run. He thought. Let's see what one point does. A brief nod, and a warmth enveloped, originating from his heart and ending at his fingertips. He knew then, somehow, that he was just a little bit stronger.

Now that he knew what he was doing, he allocated 6 points to Strength, 4 points to endurance, and 5 to Intelligence. Bringing them up both up to the thirties. He had 5 free points remaining, and was struggling to decide between dexterity and intelligence.

Intelligence or Dexterity?

Well, speed isn't everything, what if I met something faster than me? What then? I need to be smart about this. Dexterity would increase my speed, sure, but what's the point if I can't process what I'm seeing and reacting to? If my brain can’t keep up? It made sense to him. Ever since he'd woken up in this dungeon, his mind had felt improved. He had felt as if he could grasp everything more clearly. Even as the wolves chased him and the world blurred by, he’d been able to see and react to small details he never would have even seen in his old life. His mind was impossibly sharp, and the feeling had increased with every feat gained. Of all the stats he had, Intelligence seemed the most likely to be responsible.

Although In some ways, Dexterity was better. As a martial artist, he was tempted to focus on his physical stats; strength, dexterity, and endurance. It seemed as though his rebirth and subsequent feats had boosted and evened out his physical capabilities. It was probably why he felt so good ever since he had awoken in this dungeon. But of all of them, dexterity seemed like the one stat that would improve his overall speed; the movements of his limbs. Being able to move twice as fast seemed like an immense advantage, but with low Intelligence, he wouldn't be able to dodge anything too fast for his mind to comprehend. So, while he could move fast with high dexterity, his inability to process the movements of a faster enemy could be his downfall; he would be easily overpowered by any being with much higher stats—higher Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence.

The first battle with the wolf had driven home the importance of mental speed. With his slowed perception, it had felt like had been able to enter ‘flow state’ at will. Flow state was a mental state of deep concentration athletes of all kinds sometimes experienced. It was a state where time seemed to vanish, enhancing one's performance to unprecedented levels, and allowing them to break records. During that first battle he’d felt as though the ‘Flow state’ had been his playground. He’d been able to instantly adapt, transitioning between styles and inventing blended moves effortlessly. All due to having higher intelligence than he’d ever experienced before. The feeling would probably fade as he grew used to his higher intelligence levels, but it was pretty addictive.

On the other hand, low Dexterity would mean he would potentially be able to see an attack coming but be far too slow to avoid it. It was a tricky choice. Should I pump points into Dexterity instead? Quicker attacks, faster movements...

But there was another benefit to intelligence he’d been considering, it was something that had been on his mind ever since he’d seen his status appear. It could potentially give him a much larger mana pool. There's got to be some resource at play here, for all of the changes… for everything. Mana, energy, whatever it is, could be crucial. And out of all of the stats, it’s either intelligence or wisdom that does it. Maybe even both. He had not seen any evidence of mana, but he had a hunch. The system had left him clues. He’d witnessed a ‘potion’ appearing out of thin air, the first beasts' glowing red eyes, and the largest clue of all; his status's ‘skills’ section. He’d bet on either mana or some form of energy being needed to gain or use skills, and being responsible for the phenomena that allowed these strange events to happen. Not to mention it probably being crucial to making it out of here in one piece. After all, he was alone, and the dungeon was intended for a group, or parties of people with similar levels to the beasts he’d faced and barely survived against. He would need every tool available to him to survive this harsh environment.

So intelligence it was.

He would use power and reaction speed to survive this ordeal. They would be crucial. With conviction he willed his status sheet to pour his 5 free stats into intelligence, bringing strength, endurance and intelligence into the thirties. He’d be strong enough to fight any beast below level twenty, and would not tire easily, he hoped. He felt a warm revitalising strength surge through him at his confirmation, and briefly faltered in his next step. He would have to brace for that next time.

[Strength: 35 (25)

Dexterity: 27 (19)

Endurance: 31 (22)

Intelligence: 38 (27)

Wisdom: 25 (18)

Unassigned stat points: 0]

With that done, Alex felt marginally more secure. But it didn't change the reality that he was alone on this alien island, with nothing but his wits to rely on.

With a new sense of purpose, he continued his journey towards the portal. The archway was now within his sight, looming overhead, a majestic mystery. The swirling energy inside was captivating, mesmerizing, promising power and possibly, the secrets of magic.

His anticipation was high as he approached the portal, the energy around him thrumming with power as his fingers raced the surface of the portal. His heart pounded uncontrollably in excitement, a wild rhythm against the calmness of the jungle.

As he reached out, the energy engulfed his hand, a gentle yet insistent pull that tingled up his arm. Alex felt a barrier beneath the magic, something solid, yet invisible. A notification pinged, another message from the system.

Alex's hand trembled as he prepared to receive the message, his breath caught in his throat. What would the system reveal? His suspense grew, a crescendo of uncertainty. The words hung in the air, and the contents surprised Alex, and filled him with growing concern.

[Quest sub-system granted]

[Access to next floor unavailable; complete quest to proceed to next floor]