Plan in Motion

[Equip] (Active)

Skill Type: Unique

Skill Rank: Beginner

Skill Level: 1

Skill Experience: 5.43%

Effects:

Enables user to equip items. Items are granted stat bonuses. Weapon bonuses are only applicable to the skill owner. Consumable items may vary.

(???)

(???)

Available Sub-skills:

Identification

Demerits:

You cannot use mana.

After looking over at the new status screen for my skill, I focused in on the sub-skills section.

I was surprised to find I had gained a new sub skill to this troublesome Unique skill. Going by it’s name, I could fairly guess as to what its capabilities were, but just to be sure, I checked the new skill’s status.

[Identification!]

I called out in my mind.

ding!

In the next instant a new screen blinked into life in front of me.

[Identification] (Active)

Skill Type: Rare

Skill Rank: Beginner

Skill Level: 1

Skill Experience: 10.30%

Effects:

Enables the user to view relevant information on the target.

It was a simple skill, one I don’t necessarily run into too often in real mmos, but I figured such a skill when applied in this situation would be a life saver. Right now, everything was basically a giant question mark.

I was in a cave with no light, left to wander in the darkness. This ability would be sort of like a small match. It might not have a lot of impact, but nevertheless, [Identification] sounded useful.

I figured this ability ties closely with [Equip] as it lets me view the status screens of objects like that boxcutter.

I closed the blue screen with a thought and moved towards the back of the room. I decided that for the remainder of the the 1 hour and 30 minutes, I would use and play with my new sub-skill.

While Cielle continued to watch over her sister, I carefully inspected all the miscellaneous objects I could find. It was surprisingly easy to use my new skill. Just like how status works, I merely had to think [identify!] or [identification!] and the relevant information would pop up in front of me.

I continued to do this for a while as I looked over the various windows of information that popped up.

Mechanical Pencil

A tool used for writing.

Damage: 1-4

+2 wisdom

+1 strength

Special Effects:

(???)

Durability: 7/8

Backpack

An old, worn out bag. It can be used to store objects.

+2 hp

-4 Agility

Special Effects:

(???)

Durability: 2/10

Granola Bar

Food for the weary.

Recovers 20 stamina.

I identified all the various objects I could find.

I was surprised to find that there was also a status screen for granola bars, although I quickly connected this to the bit about consumables that was written down on the [Equip]’s status. Also since Granola Bars restored 20 stamina, this brought an idea to my mind. If food could restore stamina, maybe there was something out there that could restore hp.

Maybe I didn't need to find potions and the like. Maybe simple medicine could have effects similar to this granola bar. I was both excited and depressed at this new theory. If I was right, then there was hope for Cielle’s sister, but on the other hand, this just made getting to the infirmary even more important.

As I looked over the information, one thing that caught my eye was the label under special effects. While the special effects portion was riddled in question marks, the section itself was new. There had been no special effects section when I found the boxcutters.

I could only guess and ponder as to what might be under those question marks, but I figured with more practice, and when I unlocked more information regarding my skill, they would reveal themselves in time. So I didn’t really worry about it too much.

Like this, I continued to identify various items in the room.

After I had identified a majority of the objects in the room, I brought up [identification]’s status screen once more.

[Identification] (Active)

Skill Type: Rare

Skill Rank: Beginner

Skill Level: 1

Skill Experience: 64.98%

Effects:

Enables the user to view relevant information on the target.

I smiled delightfully.

Like I inferred, identifying all those items did increase my skill experience. Although the growth was a bit too slow for my taste, but no matter, that just meant I had to identify even more items.

Time passed by and before I knew it, my leg was as good as knew. I cautiously moved it around, and once I was satisfied with the healing, I said goodbye to Cielle and the sleeping Hina and prepared to set off.

I brought with me a granola bar, and the boxcutter. The granola bar was incase I ran out of stamina, and the boxcutter was for protection. I would have liked a better weapon, but there really wasn’t anything with a stronger damage than that flimsy knife.

Before I left, I did try to find some sort of armour, like, maybe clothing or the like, but there wasn’t anything like that.

Although I did find something nice.

Worn out Sneakers

An old pair of used footwear. It emits a mysterious smell.

+6 (2) Agility

+2 (2) Dexterity

Familiarity: 2

Special Effects:

(???)

Durability: 4/12

These were the sneakers I had on me.

I was surprised to find that my old shoes gave off such bonuses, since I didn’t feel anything substantially different when I had them on earlier. Although I later attributed this to the fact that they weren’t identified then.

I figured I had to identify the item for me to reap its bonuses. And as if to test this theory, I wore my sneakers once more, this time after they were properly identified.

Immediately I felt a bit lighter on my feet.

I did some practice kicks, feeding off my old knowledge of martial arts. My kicks were good, and much faster than anything I could perform in the past 3 years.

I smiled to myself. It felt nice to be able to kick well again. My body had almost forgotten that sensation of familiar movement. This was only possible thanks to the stat bonuses. I could feel more power in my kicks, which I attributed to the +3 in strength thanks to the boxcutter. It seems like the bonuses applied to my whole body, and not just the hand holding onto the boxcutter.

Similarly, the agility bonuses I could feel in my faster movement speed.

While all these bonuses weren’t substantially significant, it still felt good to have.

Before doing anything else, I brought up my status screen to check my stats.

Status WindowNameHide MayoAge17RaceHumanLevel2GenderMaleTitlesPioneerHealth110/110(10)Health Regen.0.005 / SecMana

(unavailable)110(10)Mana Regen.0.01 / SecStamina100(10)Stamina Regen.0.05 / Sec-Strength8(13)Agility12(20)Vitality7(10)Dexterity10(14)Intelligence11(10)Wisdom11(10)Leadership0(10)Luck0(10)-SkillsEquip (Active)

Identification (Active)Current Status Effect(s)n/aUnallocated Points0

I smiled at myself again. The added bonuses from both the boxcutter and the sneakers had added themselves nicely to my stat distribution.

After a bit more practice, I finally refocused myself.

First, I identified the other articles of clothing on me, but disappointingly, they didn't give any stat bonuses.

Next, since I’ve already confirmed the effects of these stat bonuses, I pondered a bit about the Familiarity portion of the status screen. Earlier, [Equip] didn’t say anything about familiarity, but after looking at it a bit, I figured familiarity was a good thing.

It added extra points to the stats that the object upgraded, so I was happy with that. Although I was left to question what familiarity depended on, but that was for another time; now I needed to get going.

After saying my final goodbyes, I cautiously left the room.

I opened and closed the door as quietly as I could, and stood alone in the hallway.

I looked left and then right, nobody was insight, although that didn’t cause me to become reckless. I knelt down besides the pile of corpses and waited a for a few more minutes.

Once I was satisfied that no monsters were secretly roaming the halls, I proceeded to walk down the hallway.

Right now i had two options; to go down to the infirmary or to go hunt monsters.

I wasn’t nearly stupid nor confident enough to think that I could survive what lay ahead of me. I’d be an idiot to think I’d make it to the infirmary safely, especially with all the monsters roaming around. For all I know, something scarier than a minotaur could be guarding the place.

If a midboss type monster was down there…

I shook away these needless worries. Bottom line, I wasn’t ready to explore the school.

The level gap between me and the monsters were too great, and their were too many unknowns. I should at least try to increase my level before I try anything stupid.

And to do that, I was planning on monopolizing the first spawn point I had come across.

In most rpgs, goblins were considered weak monsters, so I hoped that logic applied here.

I’d increase my level by slaying a few goblins. The plan was simple, but it still posed some danger. Plus I still had a bit of trauma from my first encounter… but I’ll set aside those things for now.

What’s important is for me to get stronger.

After 15 minutes of quiet tiptoeing, I finally arrived at the restrooms.

Luckily, this particular section of the school was pretty far away from the rest of the building, so I can hope that nothing else wanders through here while I was busy dealing with the goblins.

I gulped, and knelt down besides the corner of a wall. For now, I had to observe. I wasn’t the reckless type of guy who just randomly leapt at the face of danger. I was a wimp. I firmly gripped the boxcutter in my hand while I made sure my shoelaces were properly tied.

In contrast to the rest of the hallway, the men’s bathroom was really rowdy. You could here reverberating laughter and inhuman squeals coming from behind the door. From all the various noises and voices coming through, I could guess that there were at least 10 goblins congregating in that cramped restroom. Although why they didn’t exactly leave like the minotaurs, I didn’t really know.

Maybe they were the type to attack in waves, since they were pretty small and weak, it would make sense to capitalize on their numbers.

While I continued to observe, a small green goblin left the restroom.

It was ugly, and vigilant. It had a dagger sized sword in its hand.

I squinted hard at the creature. It wasn’t that I could see it, but I wanted to see the small status screen that floated above its head.

Goblin Scout - Lv. 6

Hp: 30/30

Surprisingly, the information that floated above its head displayed more facts than my first encounter. It showed the level and its hp!

I connected this to [identification]. Identification probably boosted the type of info I could perceive from monsters. If it was like this, then this just brought up [identification]’s standing even more. I guess it isn’t a rare skill for nothing…

Well, that aside, if I could now see more in depth information about a monster, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume I could do the same thing to players. Especially while I’m in this dungeon, since players were technically treated as any other monster.

I brought my attention back to the ugly green thing that was currently wandering the hallway. Given that it was a scout, I could venture to assume it was going to walk in my direction. It would have been pointless otherwise to keep a scout constrained to such a small location.

As the goblin got closer to my location, I tucked myself behind the wall.

I breathed in and out, and tried my best to calm my restless mind. I noticed that my left arm was shaking and that the once injured leg was throbbing, despite the injury having healed already.

I calmed down, and focused in on the squelching noise the goblin made. I could hear the monster getting closer and closer.

I resolved myself to my sneak attack. I would strike first, kicking the goblin off its feet and slitting its throat clean open before it could attract any help.

I waited for what felt like eternity until I finally saw the goblin’s large nose from behind the wall.

Immediately, I monopolized the extra boost in agility I had, and leapt into action.

Before the goblin could react, I kicked it’s feet from underneath, and watched it topple to the floor, stomach faced towards the ceiling.

I was careless, as it shot out with its sword while it fell. The blade grazed my arm, but other than that I was fine. I ignored the pain and continued onward.

Following up, I immediately jumped down on it and pinned the thing down. I made sure to restrain its restless arms with my two knees while my hand rocketed out and slashed at its throat.

The boxcutter met slight resistance, but with a bit of effort, it cut through the collection of veins and muscle.

The creature could only manage a weak ugyaa, before it lost its ability to speak.

Unfortunately though, it wasn’t dead yet. I flashed a brief glance at its status screen, and frowned when I discovered it still had seven health points left.

I was disappointed that no fatal blow like last time, had landed on the creature.

The goblin struggled for a bit, before I resolved myself for what was to come next.

Gripping the boxcutter firmly in hand, I gulped down my morals and plunged the bladed edge deep within its eye socket.

I made sure to twist and prod at what I assumed was its brain. A bit of blood squirted out due to my twisting.

The creature wriggled fiercely for a moment before it eventually stopped moving altogether. It lay limp, with my bloody boxcutter firmly wedged in its eye socket.

I sighed out a shaky laughter, before I moved my self away from the new corpse and slumped down on the tiled floor.

After recollecting myself, I checked my status screen and was disappointed to find I was still level two, although I did expect that. I figured it wasn’t going to be easy to rise in level.

Once I had calmed myself down, I pocketed the goblin’s short sword. I used [identify] to check its stats.

Goblin Short Sword

A weapon made for goblins. It has a short reach and is incompatible with humans.

Damage: 12-16

+5 Agility

+3 strength

+1 Dexterity

Durability: 9-15

I smiled.

It was definitely better than the boxcutter I was using right now.

While it may have been a little short on reach, it still had better potential than that box cutter.

I quickly grabbed the weapon, and immediately, I could feel my body getting lighter. The +5 in agility was really useful.

I swung around the sword a bit, testing the waters. I never had any experience with swords and the like, so I could only picture how lame I looked slashing around with this sword.

After getting somewhat used to the weapon, I knelt down behind the wall once more. I prepped myself and focused.

Right now, it was time to farm.

Author's note: Well, since this is a new story, there are still a bunch of what ifs and things I haven't completely thought out yet. One of those things is the name T.T For some reason, I don't like it... maybe that's just me though.

If any of you have suggestions on a new name or anything else about the story, please tell me, I'm open to anything. And if you like the story so far, comment, favorite, follow, rate, etc. This is new, so it needs a little boost right now. Thanks.