(14,814) Steps 1-3 (Patreon)

A/N: I asked one of your member and have been convinced to post this. You may kowtow before me 14 times for my generosity.

“Xan, are you coming?” My friend, Josh, anxiously calls out from the door.

“Of course,” I reply with a wide grin, stepping up beside him. “I wouldn't miss this for the world.”

The two of us are headed to the coast on a “special training mission” with our track team. At least, that's how the coach had sold it to the faculty. In reality, we'd probably just run around on the beach and hang out all week.

Josh had swung by to make sure I get to school on time, since he knows my history with being late. It's not my fault school starts at such an unreasonable hour. If the education system was going to try to shape me into the perfect little factory worker, they could at least do it when I was fully awake.

We have an uneventful, if a bit cold, jog to the school, and make it just in time for the bell to ring. We rush through the hall and check in with Mr. Pennin, our Language Arts teacher– seriously, who wants to do English that early in the morning?– and make our way through the winding hallways to the back of the school. The bus is already running when we arrive, and we’re the last students on, having made it just in time.

“Alright guys,” the track coach instructs with a grin, “I know we're all excited, but I told the principal that this was a training mission, so we've gotta do at least a little running.” A few of the least industrious members– especially my fellow throwers– groan, but Mr. Justin just rolls his eyes.

“Anyways, make sure you're all on good behavior for David. He's being very generous with his time this week, so treat him with respect and don't forget to thank him!” He sits, ignoring the chorus of at least a dozen thank you’s.

With that over and done with, I slip on my headphones and turn on an audiobook to help distract my mind. Josh had already done the same before Mr. Justin even stood up, so I don't feel particularly bad about shutting him out.

I close my eyes and drift into oblivion for a time…

BEEEEEEP!

I throw my headphones off and rub at my ears. Had they malfunctioned? But they’re brand new! I swear, if I got scammed I'm gonna– BEEEEEEEEEP!

Now I’m looking around– finding everyone else on the bus doing the same, with even the bus driver having slowed to a crawl. Though that might have had more to do with the huge pileup ahead of us. Had everyone heard that noise?

Blue flashes at me from the corner of my eye, and I look around, finding nothing. I move to stand up, only to find that I… can’t.

A rumbling sound comes from just ahead, and a tear opens in the Earth. Suddenly, our bus is falling into a pit, aiming to be impaled on the largest stalactite I've ever seen. Stalagmite? Ugh, not the time for this!

Once again I try to move, but I’m paralyzed, my body completely limp. Some incredibly manly screams echo around me, but I find myself incapable of joining in.

We fall down, down, and just as we’re about to crash into the spike…

[Transporting User: Xan Kim to The Steps.]

[Good luck, Inheritor.]

I fall on my face, and blue fills my vision.

Name: Xan Kim

Title: [Successor of 14,814 Steps (1)] (Upgradeable)

Level: 0 (/1)

Class: N/A

Might: 1 (6)

Mobility: 1 (7)

Mind: 1 (5)

Magic: 1 (6)

Traits: [Inheritance], [Succession]

Powers: N/A

Skills: N/A

…Huh? What’s this nerd crap?

[The First Step: Escape Him]

What?

I rise to my feet, finding myself no longer paralyzed. Even so, I felt… weak. My body was slow to respond to my mind, I moved at a snail's pace, everything felt more difficult, and I just felt lesser.

Examining my surroundings, I found myself in an orchard. I also found “Him.”

[Doctor | Level 1]

The first thought that crosses my mind is, am I in a horror movie? Before me stood a bloodsoaked plague doctor, holding a huge saw in one hand and a scalpel in the other, both incredibly rusted and coated in congealed blood.

He takes a single, slow step forward, and I run for it.

Even with as frail as I’d become, I’m still in Track, and I quickly reach the end of the row, finding myself at a turn. I ran down the next, and was faced with two choices: left or right?

With no time to deliberate, I took the right turn, cursing whoever decided to design this orchard like a maze. When I turn, I find the Doctor at the end of the row. He’s still walking, but somehow he’s kept pace with me.

A few more right turns and I’m at a dead end. I sprint back the way I'd come, but the Doctor turns the corner just then and I have to dive out of the way of an overhead swipe. I land face-first in a pile of suspiciously perfect apples, quickly turning to find the strange Doctor readying another chop.

I barely manage to crawl out of the way of the strike, but the Doctor doesn't falter, instead creeping forward and preparing another.

Terror fills me. Am I seriously going to die like this? The stalactite would have at least gotten me in the news! At the very last moment, grasping around for something, anything, I do the only thing I can think of: I chuck an apple at his forehead.

*POP*

To my surprise, his head… vanishes. The space where the apple would have struck him is simply reduced to atoms.

[Quest Complete!]

An apple a day really does keep the Doctor away!

Please choose a reward.

1. Trait: [Tough]
2. Power: [Self-Healing]
3. Skill: [Healthy Living]

I stare open-mouthed at the corpse that had frozen in time, then the screen in my vision.

“I'm going insane,” I mutter to myself, “There's no other explanation. My bus fell into that sinkhole and I'm in the hospital. This is all a hallucination, caused by the drugs they put me on.”

Sadly, saying that doesn't make the images go away, so instead I focus on my choices, something that might give me some sort of control.

[Tough]: Your flesh hardens in response to light compression and damage. Your body simply shrugs off minor injuries. Never stub your toe again!

I've been called tough before, but I'm pretty sure that's not what they meant…

[Self-Healing]: Never suffer permanent disfigurement from scars again! Drain your Magic in order to recover from injuries that may otherwise become permanent or leave lasting damage.

A couple guys who used to be on the team could probably use that to heal their old injuries.

[Healthy Living]: Eat your veggies! Your Matrices gain a slight percentage boost based on how healthy your recent actions have been.

Matrices? Oh, M, like Might and Magic and stuff? Wait, so it'll make me stronger, faster, and smarter based on how healthy I eat and whether or not I work out? …Isn't that already how that works though?

I poke at the [Self-Healing] option, and more screens pop up.

[Transporting User: Xan Kim to The Second Step.]

Name: Xan Kim

Title: [Successor of 14,814 Steps (2)] (Upgradeable)

Level: 0 (/2)

Class: N/A

Might: 2 (6)

Mobility: 2 (7)

Mind: 2 (5)

Magic: 2 (6)

Traits: [Inheritance], [Succession]

Powers: [Self-Healing] Level 1

Skills: N/A

Darkness engulfs me, and then I’m once more somewhere else.

This time I find myself looking up at a sky filled with lights and metal skyscrapers in every direction. Colorful shapes streak across the sky, and as one passes closer to me, I see that they’re cars. Well, not quite. They’re really more like sci-fi fighter jets, the type used in space.

I was in a park, and–

[The Second Step: Save the Cat]

…Can you even call it a cat when it's clearly made of solid metal?

The dumb “cat” is lodged between the base of two tree branches. How it got there was a mystery to me, but the objective is clear.

Not taking the time to second guess myself or think over what the heck had just happened in that stupid maze, I immediately get to climbing.

The last time I climbed a tree was back in fourth grade, so I'm a bit rusty, but my physicality is vastly superior to what it was back then. At least… it should have been. I’m much stronger than I was in that maze, but I'm still incredibly weak.

Still, I manage to clamber my way up the tree, and reach out to pull the cat off the tree… and it leaps down like nothing happened. Apparently, it didn't particularly feel like being “saved.”

[Quest Complete!]

Many of the people who will want your help will simply be choosing not to help themselves.

Please choose a reward:

1. Trait: [Soft Landing]
2. Power: [Unkillable]
3. Skill: [Climbing]

…Seriously?

Time once more seems to have stopped, so I drop from the tree and catch up with the metal cat. It looks oddly smug, so I kick it, which does more to hurt me than the robot. Maybe I should've paid more attention to the toe-stubbing immunity?

I use [Self-Healing] on my foot and arms, which were scratched up from my climbing endeavors. I feel a sort of energy flow out of my heart and into the rest of my body as if by instinct, and watch as my small cuts and scrapes vanish. The Power makes me feel drained, but I think it was worth it.

[Soft Landing]: Have you ever broken a leg falling from a rooftop? No more! With this Trait, you'll always land on your feet, and your downward drag will be increased massively, reducing the speed at which you fall drastically.

[Unkillable]: Okay, well, maybe not unkillable, but it'll certainly look that way! Drain your Magic to ignore the effects of your wounds, potentially preventing the loss of your limbs or delaying your death. At least, until you run out of Magic.

[Climbing]: Hee hee, hoo hoo! You're adept at climbing. Trees, rocks, mountains, you'll always be able to find and reach the next ledge.

I haven't really been seriously hurt yet, but at the same time, I don't see myself needing to climb very often. I also don't plan on falling off high places a whole lot.

Also, [Unkillable] just seems to work really well with [Self-Healing]. If I can just choose to not die, then heal myself, it'll be pretty hard for something like that Doctor to kill me.

I poke that one, and a familiar scene plays out.

[Transporting User: Xan Kim to The Third Step.]

Name: Xan Kim

Title: [Successor of 14,814 Steps (3)] (Upgradeable)

Level: 0 (/3)

Class: N/A

Might: 3 (6)

Mobility: 3 (7)

Mind: 3 (5)

Magic: 3 (6)

Traits: [Inheritance], [Succession]

Powers: [Self-Healing] Level 1, [Unkillable] Level 1

Skills: N/A

I'm staring at the back of a man's head now. He's bald, and it's so shiny I'm pretty confident that he greases his pate.

“Hehe, we're gonna have fun with you.”

[The Third Step: Save the Girl]

“Hhurgh!” The bald man moans, falling to his knees. My foot follows him to the ground. The two other men, and the girl between them, stare at me in shock. Getting kicked in the balls really sucks, and I can tell that these two do not want to follow in their friend's footsteps.

“Who's next?” I growl, staring down the smaller of the two. He flinches, looks at his companions, and runs off. The other merely clicks his tongue and throws the girl to the alley wall by the hair.

He whips out a knife, and I stare at it.

Maybe this hadn't been a good idea after all? Why was I even doing these quests? I could have just left, walked away and not given it a second thought.

My thoughts are cut short as the reprobate swings at me with his knife. He's clearly got no technique, but to be fair, neither do I. Furthermore, I'm still weaker than I should be.

I try to dodge the blow, but he manages to slice open my side. I grunt in pain, but my reactions are still on point, and I grapple his overextended arm and wrest the blade from him. [Unkillable] kicks in and my pain fades away, leaving only a sharp focus and determination.

He wriggles out of my grasp, but then I'm there with the knife, cutting into his left shoulder. I don't penetrate nearly as far as I felt I should have been able to, but it's enough to weaken him.

He grabs me with his other arm, but I stab again, this time closer to his neck.

The brute's hand jerks away as he coughs wetly. I take another look at his neck, realizing that I hadn't just stabbed closer to his throat: I’d bit right into it.

Luckily, a mixture between Criminal Minds and my recollection of my Anatomy teacher’s rants come to mind, reminding me that slit throats aren't always fatal, so long as they don't cut the trachea or carotid arteries. I don't worry too much. He's in pain, but he deserves that much. If he gets out of here, he'll live. If not, that's more his fault than mine.

He falls to his knees, but I know I'm not done yet. The baldie I floored at the start of the fight is shakily rising to his legs. His eyes are filled with vitriol, a rage that suddenly vanishes when I point my knife at him.

He runs away.

Coward.

I turn on [Self-Healing] and move to the girl's side. After checking on her to make sure she's relatively uninjured, I offer her a hand. Her eyes catch on the knife, and she flinches away from me.

Then time stops.

[Quest Complete!]

Heroes are rarely called such until they've washed the blood from their hands.

+1 to all Matrices.

+1 Level.

[Improvised Fighting] Skill

Everything fades again, but the image of the fear in her eyes doesn’t leave me, even as I’m whisked away.

A/N: More will follow soon.