Chapter 2: ???? Exp (Patreon)

Zed laid down for a while, basking in the absence of pain. His body had unfurled itself and the breeze was cold against his bloodied skin. He didn’t know much concerning what had happened but he knew one thing: he needed to get clean.

Groaning and hungry, he staggered back up to his feet, fatigued.

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• Specie: Human (Mana blessed).
• Category: 1/3.
• Rank: Beta (category 1).
• Exp to category 2: ??????????/??????????

Skills

Titles

Attributes

• [Equilibrium] (Physical, mana).
• [Regenerate] (Physical, mana).
• [Hypersensitivity] (Physical, mana).
• [Bone density] (Physical)

Affiliations

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• ?????????
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• ?????????

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He had an addition to his specie now. He hoped whatever mana blessed was that he was still human. He kind of liked being human. As for his new attribute, he pulled it up.

[Bone density] (physical)

• Due to excessive instances of [Raw mana] you have      absorbed more [Mana] than is required and it has seeped in your bone and      taken root. You are now more mana than human.

He read it once more, then dismissed it.

More mana than human, he mused, then shrugged. As long as I’m still human.

He pushed himself to a sitting position and leaned his back against one of the many trees that surrounded him, scrolling back up to the notifications he had not seen.

• Sentient consciousness is being preserved.
• You are eroding.
• You have lost [Physical construct].
• You have lost [Military knife (common)].
• You are losing [Pocket memory (incomplete)].
• [Pocket memory (incomplete)] is bound to Sentient      consciousness.
• You have retained [Pocket memory (incomplete)].

He looked at his raised hands in barely concealed skepticism. He knew they were physical constructs. He looked back at the notification. But it says I’ve lost physical construct.

He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be excited that he got to keep the pocket memory. For one thing, it meant he could find out who he was. For another, what if he didn’t like who he was?

As compared to who I am, now? He didn’t think it really mattered. He was nobody right now, unknown and unnamed. I guess there’s nowhere else to go but up.

So he chose excitement. Then he scrolled up. Perhaps something in the notification would explain how he still has a physical construct when he already lost his physical construct.

• Sentient consciousness is being preserved in [Mana      surge].
• Sentient consciousness has absorbed [Raw mana].
• Sentient consciousness has homogenized with [Raw mana].
• You have obtained [Innate mana].
• You are Awakening.
• Issues detected: [Physical structure] is needed for      Awakening.
• Cannot detect [Physical structure].
• Excess [Raw mana] is being converted to [Physical      structure].
• Conversion complete.
• You have attained optimum [Physical structure].
• You have obtained attribute [Regenerate].
• You have obtained attribute [Equilibrium].
• You have obtained attribute [Hypersensitivity].
• You have Awakened.

Zed looked at his hands again. “I can’t understand half these things but I guess that explains why I still have you even after you allegedly eroded.”

He went back to what was slowly becoming a boring task of reading.

• You have consumed [Mana surge].
• [Mana surge] has dissipated.
• You have exited high density mana zone.
• You have entered a zone with low mana density.
• Mana recovery is now at 5%
• Stamina recovery is now at 8%
• Health recovery is now at 4%

Zed peered at the notification in shock. He read the recovery figures again. The difference was massive. He’d gone from three digits to single digits, just like that. Seeing the difference made him reconsider the concept of being safe. If his recovery was this low, then he needed to make sure he didn’t need to recover anything.

“So, first,” he got back up and found his footing stable. “Let’s get out of here.”

New Quest: [This is not a Safe Zone]

A sudden eruption of mana activity has been detected from this part of the woods. All creatures with mana sensitivity are drawn to this location. Find a way out before it is too late.

• Objective: Find a [Safe Zone] 0/1.
• Reward: [Food (meat, raw)].
• You have 1 pending quest objective.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Zed gasped in shock. He pushed himself from the tree, picked any direction and walked.

Soon his steps picked up, his pace increasing.

[Safe zone] (location)

A geographical location with [ambient mana] and very limited or no hostile non-sentient species.

“Yes, yes. I got it,” he grumbled.

Zed passed a few trees, took another turn and found himself in a new section of the woods with trees he realized bore fruits.

Distracted by the sight of fruits, his steps slowed as he took them in. Each one varied in color, each tree bearing different fruits.

He was still staring when he heard a sound. He crouched low and walked slowly, hoping to reduce the sounds of his steps.

The sound came again. It was of something snapping, something being stepped on. Zed hurried forward as quickly as he could while remaining quiet.

When the sound came again, it was a low rumbled growl this time, a sound he knew he could not make. And it was terrifyingly close.

• Objective: Find a safe zone 0/1.

Yeah, yeah, he thought, his head on a swivel, watching for movement. And whose fault is it I have hostile things coming here.

“Hey, there, Zed, would you like to advance?” he mocked in a tiny, petulant voice. “That’s what you’d sound like if you had a voice. Stupid thing. Go ahead, tell him to advance.” He rounded a tree and hid on one side when he heard the growl from a different direction. “But no,” he whispered. “Don’t tell him there are animals in the area that would like to eat him.”

He peeked out from his cover and saw nothing. Where exactly is it, anyway?

He looked left, then right. There was nothing but trees everywhere, brown and green, some with flowery colors mingled in between.

He crouched low, prepared himself with a deep breath, and darted behind another tree for cover. I swear if I get out of here I’m breaking up with that damned thing.

Behind him, he felt the soft caress of something soft. It reminded him of the grass where he’d woken up. a gentle touch became rough against his skin and it felt like sitting on one of the roots around the forest.

Something settled in his gut and his mind whispered, fuck.

He pushed himself off the tree, turning as he created a distance between himself and it. Something sharp cut through the air, taking a swipe at him. It dug into the skin of his chest, and pain flared as his skin tore.

He hit the ground and rolled backwards before getting to his feet. The pain in his chest flared in a blinding white and he struggled to remain on his feet. There was a touch of surprise to how he’d gotten back up, only remembering the pain and when he’d hit the ground. He got an explanation as warm blood dripped from the tear in his chest.

Attribute: [Equilibrium] (Physical, mana)

• You have bathed in the stasis of a mana surge and now      understand the concept of stability.
• Increased resistance to stun effects and knockback.

Yeah, so much for equilibrium.

He didn’t dwell on it, and while he was beginning to realize the notifications did nothing to truly hinder his sight, he still swiped it away.

He stared at the tree he was attacked from, easing farther away from it with gentle steps. Its color was similar with most of the trees around but it was not the same. It was somehow darker where it was brown and lighter where it was green. He was still staring, taking slow steps back when a part of it moved.

It dislodged itself from the rest of it and a creature climbed down. When it stood separated from the tree, he saw it clearly. It stood on four limbs with claws of brown and green. They looked blunt but contemporary experience told him they were not. It had two sharp eyes that looked like slits with yellow pupils that track every step he made. It drooled from its mouth and had fangs as long as his finger and ears that refused to stop twitching.

It also looked malnourished and starved.

Then it was gone.

It blurred through the air, pouncing on Zed before he could move. He staggered back, catching its two front limbs in both hands, before going down from the sheer weight of the thing. His back struck the ground but he’d already braced for the impact and took it with less pain than the cut across his chest.

The beast snarled at him, fangs snapping towards his head as he held it back and struggled for leverage. He turned it to the side and the claw of its lower limb took purchase in one of his legs. He heard the sound of his skin tear before he felt it and gasped in pain.

“This can’t be happening,” he cried, still struggling to throw the beast to the side. “I can’t die like this… I still don’t know my own name!”

He roared the last part, heaving against the animal and rolled it to the side. It fell off him and he realized they’d been struggling on an elevated ground.

He scrambled to his feet quickly, trying to buy more time than the one he already had now and limped away from the edge.

He heard the growl again as he limped. It was only a matter of time because his body adjusted to the pain and his slow limp became a hurried one.

Behind him the growl rose and he felt the monster leap back up. For its size it landed too quietly, like a stone dropped from a high altitude instead of something as tall as him and significantly larger.

He picked up the pace, spotting a massive tree far ahead as the beast sprinted after him. He weaved past a tree, spun around another one, scaled over an overgrown root and put his back into his escape.

Behind him the creature bypassed it all without the slightest delay and was gaining on him. He spotted the massive tree just within reach with the beast a few feet behind him and ran head first into it.

The creature leapt after him, covering the remaining space between them, and he dived to the side at the last second. The girth of the tree was wider than two grown men lying beside each other from crown to feet and his calculations were thrown off greatly, perhaps by panic or something else, he didn’t know.

As he dived sideways, his legs struck the tree and he was thrown off kilter. He felt his body fight to align itself in the air, his attribute forcing itself to balance him. It failed, and he hit the ground with a thud that knocked the wind out of him.

The creature, however, went straight into the tree. It struck it with enough force that it shuddered and some of its leaves shook free, and for a while all was silent save the weak panting of human and beast.

Zed pulled himself back up to his feet and staggered towards the creature. He had intended to lie and wait a while longer, to catch his breath. But if the beast was still alive, then he doubted it would allow him conclude his quest and find a safe zone.

So he went to the beast in faltered steps and throbbing leg muscles, stained in blood from multiple cuts. He found the beast on the ground, head bent to one side, its body trembling with fast coming breaths. One of its front limbs hung at an angle he considered wrong and he assumed it was broken. The blood flowing from the side of the beast’s head assured him it was stunned, most likely severely damaged.

“Good,” he muttered, then bent down, hands on bent knees in support of himself as he caught his breath. “I swear I’m not getting rewarded enough for this.”

The creature let out a low growl and he jumped back in fear.

He watched it cautiously again before noticing a large piece of wood sticking out from its side. Well, I guess the tree wasn’t the only help I had. Must have happened when I threw it.

It growled again but remained unmoving and Zed nodded. “I guess that’s my cue.”

He stepped up to it, stood over it, and bent down. He adjusted its head—he was now realizing was larger than he’d thought—carefully and slipped an arm around it.

Like this, he muttered, dragging broken memories and buried thoughts to bear. He clasped the hand in the crook of his elbow and tightened the grip. That seems about right.

Then he squeezed.

The moment he applied pressure, the beast growled again. His hold tightened and he increased the pressure. The creature’s growl slowly slipped into a pained whine then a pathetic whimper.

“Curious, right?” he forced out through gritted teeth. “What I said was,” he squeezed harder, “I’m. Not. Getting. Rewarded. Enough. For. This.”

He heard the snap of something breaking and the creature’s head lolled to the side. Zed slipped his arm out from around it and got up.

• You have defeated [Mutated Tiger].
• You have gained 8 Exp.

“Of course I have.” He let out a haggard breath, then laid down beside the tree. “I might not have a name,” he said with a smile, “but you can call me Samson. Also,” he peered at the figures, “isn’t that a bit small for something that did this to me?”

Less than a minute after, he heard a growl very similar to the beast that was supposed to be dead. Then another.

• Quest objective: Find a safe zone 0/1.

The smile fell from his face.

“You have got to be shitting me.”