“Let's do this thing!” Frank shouted and cast Mana Shield, a semitransparent, light-blue bubble surrounded him.

Grasping his spear with both hands, Frank advanced. The Young Goblin Bully scowled and whipped its flail at the approaching human. Instead of retreating to dodge the attack, Frank held the spear horizontally, using its shaft to block the blow. The huge iron ball of the flail impacted into the spear, snapping it in half and continued forward, crashing into Frank's chest.

His arms wrapped around the ball, though even he wasn't sure if it happened because he wanted to hold onto the weapon, or because his chest caved in, the rest of his body folding around it. The impact knocked the air out of him, his vision immodestly going black, as both his R mana and HP slid down to zero. Yet, he held onto the ball, unwilling to let go even when he was yanked forward, falling to the ground.

Laying face down, he barely retained consciousness, his thoughts becoming sluggish. Somewhere in the background of his consciousness, his mind registered that the Goblin Bully had stopped trying to retrieve its weapon. Memories began to flash in front of him. Of his travels after retirement, of his work, his friends and the things he did, then it moved on to his college years, his teens, and early childhood.

Am I dead? He wondered, smiling at the fleeting memories. A wheezing noise from below him seemed to indicate the answer was no. Sometime later, Frank realized that the noise was coming from him. It were his crushed lungs that were making the wheezing noise, as they contracted and expanded, trying to supply him with oxygen.

Fucking goblins, a half-conscious thought crossed his mind. He continued to hang between life and death, unable to tell how much time had passed. He might have lost consciousness at some point, but he couldn't tell. Slowly, his consciousness slipped away.

“Hey, you still alive?”

A distant voice asked, and Frank himself rolled onto his back. His shirt was opened, causing him to grimace as the textile pulled at his skin.

“I got to say, you are one crazy old man, though I am glad you're still alive,” the same voice said. “Looks like your HP is at zero. Try to activate Meditation if you can, it will double your HP regeneration, which will hopefully be enough to heal you before you die. Good luck.”

Who was that... Meditation? Ugh, why do I feel like I got run over by a truck? Frank thought, trying to figure out what was happening. His head was heavy, his mind sluggish. It felt like waking up after falling asleep on a couch instead of the usual bed, as he felt at a complete loss as to where he was or how he got here.

He tried to move his hand, but couldn't even tell if anything happened. His eyes opened, yet his sight was filled with so many black and bright splashes as if he was looking at the Sun, that he couldn't even see anything. An annoying, wheezing sound filled his ears. I already feel like shit, why the fuck is someone doing... whatever the fuck is making that noise, he grimaced mentally. Wait, wheezing noise? That sounds... ah, that's right! The System thing, and the goblins. I thought that was a dream. Then, I got hit by that big bastard... but didn't die... damn, everything hurts, he winced as the pain moved to the front of his mind.

Now that he remembered what happened, he also understood what the voice told him. Trying his best to ignore the pain, he activated Meditation. Time passed, and slowly his senses returned. He could hear people talking, some excitedly, others crying. Opening his eyes, the blue sky greeted him, as well as Amy's face peering down at him.

“You had me so worried,” she said as a smile broke out on her face.

“Yea... it was a dumb move,” Frank said in a weak voice. Is she getting emotionally attached to me, as a substitute for being unable to help her parents? He wondered absentmindedly while looking at her.

“Still, your bravery meant that no one died... on this side,” her expression turned solemn. “I'll be sure to keep some mana in reserve from now on, for such types of encounters,” she added.

“That's definitely better than using my own body to stop an attack,” he chuckled, a raspy sound coming from his chest. “Looks like I need a few more minutes.”

“OK. The Marshall is calling everyone over, I'll go check what's going on, you just stay over here,” she said after turning to look in a certain direction.

After Amy left, Frank glanced at his stats: his stamina and both types of mana were at full, but his HP remained at zero, all of it getting used immediately to heal the damage he sustained. Unwilling to let his resources go unused, even in such circumstances, he cast Mana Shield, then lifted his hand and sent a Lightning Bolt into the sky. Feeling a wave of tiredness wash over him, he closed his eyes and continued to use Meditation.

***

Frank opened his eyes and looked at his chest. Although it was covered in blood, he felt fine, running his hands over his body, he confirmed that nothing was out of place. Getting to his knees, he scanned his surroundings – there were groups of people standing around chatting, while others were meditating, or attacking the air with weapons looted from the goblins. Amy was also sitting nearby, her eyes closed.

“Hey, what did I miss?” Frank asked after tapping her on the shoulder.

“Oh, you are finally awake,” she said after opening her eyes and looking at him. “We lost seven people in that fight, most of them to one of the Goblin Bullies. Also, the Marshall asked us to form groups of six, one of whom should take the Healing grid. Come, I'll introduce you to our group,” she added as she got up and waved for him to follow.

“How long was I out?”

“About twenty minutes, I think,” she replied, making a gesture to indicate she wasn't certain.

After walking a few dozen yards, they came upon a group of four. To his annoyance, Frank saw that the skinny suit-wearing guy in glasses, and his overweight partner were both there. The other two were the bald man with a beer-belly and his wife. Amy waved to them as they approached.

“Everyone, let me introduce the last member of our group, this is Frank,” she said gesturing towards him.

He greeted them as well, then they began to introduce themselves. The bald man was named Bill, the woman, indeed his wife, Margaret, the skinny guy was Kevin, and the fat one was Hank. The introductions over, Frank got to the important part.

“You might've already shared this, but can you tell me what you've focused your attributes on and any relevant skills?” He asked.

“Straight to the point, huh?” Bill chuckled. “I went with Strength and Quickness, with a bit in Endurance and Constitution. Was using boxing to fight, but now I'm changing to this,” he lifted a one-handed axe. “Margaret is going to complete the Healing grid, hopefully, that will give her a healing spell of some kind. Though she needs to gain ten more skill levels to do it.” The woman nodded at his words.

“I ugh, I put all my points into Constitution,” Hank said, seemingly embarrassed at his choice, “I figured more HP means better chances of surviving.”

“I went for a mix of Dexterity and Strength, which might've been a mistake,” Kevin said, pushing his glasses up his nose bridge.

“I see. I've put all my points into Vitality. By the way, increased Vitality makes you feel younger, and after adding ten points to it, I even got a system notification that I've regained some of the power of my youth, gaining a few physical attributes. Could be useful for you two,” Frank explained gesturing at Bill and Margaret.

“Are you saying I am old?” Margaret huffed in jest, her arms on her hips.

“Really? Now that's good info. See, what did I tell you, he might be old but he's far from useless,” Bill said in a booming voice.

“Hmm, the timer for the monster spawns is gone. Does it mean that no attack is incoming?” Frank asked, moving on to a new subject.

“We aren't sure. The Marshall told us to use this time to gain skill levels and complete Grids, for the time being. If every group can have a healer or two, then our survival will increase drastically,” Kevin explained.

“Alright then. I wonder if sparring would increase skill levels faster than attacking air, or lead to gaining new skills,” Frank wondered.

“Want to give it a try? I could work on my defenses,” Bill offered.

“Mm, let me look through my notifications first, I'll get back to you in five.” Nodding to everyone, he moved a few yards away and sat down on the ground.

Looking through all the notifications might take a while, Frank thought as he remembered all the pop-ups he had dismissed during the battle. A Lightning Bolt and Mana Shield later, he began to sift through the messages.

For being one of the first 10,000 people in your zone to kill a monster, the Front Pack grid has become available.

You have learned a skill: One-handed Sword Mastery level 1: Like the heroes of legend, you have chosen to use a one-handed sword. Of course, it offers terrible reach, the slashes leave you wide open for a counter, and stabbing is a horrible idea in a world with HP, all which makes it a terrible weapon, though in line with the quality of your other choices. This skill improves your handling of one-handed swords, your attacks and defenses are sharper.

What the fuck? It went from being somewhat snarky to just outright insulting... Amy's descriptions seemed fine, but I should ask the others, Frank thought, feeling lost at the System's strange hostility toward his choices.

You have learned a skill: Spear Mastery level 1: Boasting long reach, excellent defense, and high damage, the spear is a devastating weapon in the hands of someone with high skills and attributes. You possess neither one, and just like you easily took the weapon from a goblin, so it can be taken from you. This skill improves your ability to handle spears, your attacks and defenses are more coordinated.

You have learned a new skill: Pain Tolerance level 1: Being able to ignore pain is the first step on the path of a warrior. Whereas before, a painful experience would cause you to reevaluate your actions, you can now ignore the pain and keep doing the same dumb thing. This skill improves your ability to cope with pain.

You have learned a skill: Unshakable Focus level 1: Being able to maintain focus even as everyone around you panics, is invaluable on the battlefield. It can also get you killed, depending on the size of the monster that caused everyone else to panic. This skill improves your ability to remain focused regardless of your surroundings.

For having your HP hit zero, yet managing to survive, the Die Hard grid has become available.

In addition to those notifications, many of Frank's new and old skills have improved: Both weapon masteries increased to level 3, as did Pain Tolerance, Mana Shield and Lightning Bolt increased by 2 levels, Fitness and Meditation went up by 3, and finally, Unshakable Focus got to level 4. All in all the short battle brought Frank a whooping 23 Grid Points. He opened the Skills tab of the profile and regarded his skills.

Skills: Punching 4; Telekinesis 2; Fitness 5; Mana Shield 4, Lightning Bolt 3; Meditation 4; Sword Mastery 3; Spear Mastery 3; Pain Tolerance 3: Unshakable Focus 4;

Feeling pretty satisfied with his progress, he switched to the Grids tab. His hopes were instantly dashed, a frown forming on his face as he took in the information about the two newest additions. The Front Pack grid contained 25 nodes, with only every fourth node giving rewards. The Die Hard grid was even worse, requiring 50 points, and only giving rewards every five nodes.

The higher tiered grids take more points to complete while giving fewer rewards, at least fewer attributes. But, I still need plenty of Vitality, not to mention my other Attributes are all baseline, Frank thought as he caressed his chin. To get more attributes I need more skill levels, and to get those I need to train, which requires resources. Then, I should increase my regeneration. But, doing so will make me weak, for the time being, since battles don't last long enough for regeneration to matter. And our group is already weak, because of these two, he grimaced thinking of Hank and Kevin. Decisions, decisions. But, let's finish Trailblazer first if I get a powerful ability as a reward it could change everything. Not wasting any more time on, he added 13 points and completed the grid, which got him 6 attribute points as well as two notifications.

Congratulations on completing the Trailblazer grid. As a reward, you can select a rare quality weapon of your choice.

For completing the Trailblazer grid, the Taking the Lead grid has become available.

From where the Trailblazer left off, the new grid appeared. Just like Die Hard, it required 50 points to complete, similarly providing rewards every fifth node. Frank sighed at the multitude of choices he now had for his remaining 10 GP. Weapon first, he thought. Focusing on the weapon reward, he felt the familiar question on his mind, though this time it wasn't a simple yes or no. Frank thought of a sword and held its image in his mind, soon the question in his mind changed to the usual affirm or deny.

It looks like I can choose any weapon I want, Frank mused after a bit of experimenting, but what do I want? Two-handed weapons are too slow, and I need a hand to cast spells, which also eliminates shields. One-handed swords, axes, and maces are too heavy and slow. Spears... I don't have the attributes to make them work, and if I focus on boosting regeneration, that lack of attributes won't change any time soon. In the end, it's best to go with what I know, huh?

An image of a rapier appeared in his mind, and he almost affirmed it, but something made him hesitate. Although he had trained in rapier fencing for over a decade in his youth, the snarky description of his One-handed Sword Mastery skill floated in his mind. Stabbing is a horrible idea in a world with HP. Indeed, normally sinking the point of a rapier into an opponent would be fine, since the damage would either kill them or slow down their reaction significantly. However, in this world it would just cause you to be in range of an opponent, your weapon stuck inside of them. That's no good.

Frank grimaced in annoyance and considered what qualities he wanted from his weapon. One-handed, light, easily maneuverable, decent damage, ability to keep numerous foes from advancing, ideally something I know how to use. Eyes closed, he focused on the requirements. Slowly, an image of a weapon surfaced in his imagination. He smiled and affirmed.

Opening his eyes, he found the weapon he chose laying on the ground next to him. Picking it up, he examined it. A simple saber, some four feet long, the sharp side had a slight curve backwards, but it was still possible to stab with it. The small guard protected the handle, which was made out of tough leather, with twisted wires wrapped around it, for improved grasp. It felt surprisingly light in Frank's hand. Focusing on it for a few seconds, brought up a notification.

Trailblazer's Saber, +1 Dexterity, +1 Quickness, +1 Perception

Filled with excitement, he stood up and took a few swings. He smiled at the sensation, then laughed joyously. Although he was better with a rapier, he had used a sport saber before and had a good understanding of how to handle it. There was something satisfying in hearing the saber rush through the air with a whooshing sound. Then the blade blurred as he engaged his wrist, giving it that extra bit of acceleration. With this weapon, I should be able to forgo increasing my physical attributes, Frank mused, as he ignored the curious looks some of his group gave him. Then a thought struck him. Turning to look at Bill he shouted.

“Hey Bill, did you complete the Fighter grid? What does it give you?” He yelled, walking toward the bald man.

“Yeah. It gives an active skill called Power Attack, which greatly increases damage, the cost is 5 stamina though,” Bill responded, stopping his training. “So, you ready to spar, old man? Those moves looked pretty impressive.”

“Sure, just give me a minute,” Frank smiled, eager to test himself against the younger and much stronger man.

He still had 10 GP to spend. Looking at his choices, he narrowed it down to two. The Fighter would boost his physical attributes and give him the Power Attack skill, and it only cost 15 GP. Front Pack would provide six attribute points, and what looked like a choice between a physical and magical skill, going by the symbol in the last node. It did require 25 GP, but that also meant it was of a higher tier, and one needed to be in the first 10,000 in the zone to kill a monster to unlock this grid.

After some thought, he chose to go with the latter option. Putting 10 GP into it gave him two attribute points, bringing his total to eight. Switching to his Attributes tab, Frank steeled his mind and decided to go all-in with the idea of boosting regeneration. After adding a point to both types of magic, just so he had enough mana to last more than a single spell, he split the remaining six points evenly between Endurance and Focus. Then he looked at his attributes.

Strength: 2

Dexterity: 2 (+1)

Quickness: 2 (+1)

Perception: 1 (+1)

Constitution: 1

Vitality: 11

Endurance: 5

Destructive Magic Affinity: 2

Restorative Magic Affinity: 2

Focus: 5

Control: 2

Willpower: 3

HP: 48/48 (60/hour)

Stamina: 30/30 (105/hour)

D Mana: 20/20 (25/hour)

R Mana: 20/20 (30/hour)

The stamina regeneration looked especially impressive. Now, time for some training, Frank thought as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation.