My car was parked in the driveway. We had a lot of stuff in the garage, so we always left our cars out. Unlocking it, I quickly put the staff in the back, having to play around with the angle to make it fit. Before getting in, I took a moment to look around the neighborhood.

The dogs had calmed down and were now silent. All the houses on our street were dark thanks to the power outage, but I could see faint light made by torches and phones moving about through the windows of some places. There were a few people out in their front yards too, most likely checking to see if there was any damage. In the dark it was hard to judge the state of the area. Hopefully, the effects of the quake were minimal.

I got into my car and started driving slowly towards the park. I wanted to make up for the time I had taken getting ready, but with all the streetlights out, I didn’t want to get into an accident and take even longer to arrive.

When I got to the end of the street, I slowed even further and stopped in the middle of the road. The forest was in front of me, the tall trees merely dark shadows against the night sky. I put my high beams on and stared intently into the woods. The clearing was a fair distance away, on the other side of the park, but I thought I might be able to see something.

After a minute, I gave up and turned right onto the street that ran along the forest. I kept half an eye out for anything unusual as I continued towards the main road, but still didn’t notice anything odd.

Once at the main road, I saw the streetlights were all still on and everything seemed normal. I hadn’t spotted any damage so far, thank goodness. Not too long later, I left the main road and entered the park. I couldn’t believe that I had just been here the night before. So much had happened that it seemed like much longer.

Parking as close to the open field as I could, I took the time to send a short message to Mum to let her know I was ok. If she couldn’t get in touch with me, she would probably panic. I left my phone in the car and got out, grabbing my staff and locking the car behind me. I didn’t want the phone to get damaged if there was a fight. Plus, I had magic now to help me see in the dark forest, so I didn’t need it.

I had recovered enough mana to use Analyze on my weapon, so before heading off I checked out what I was working with.

Wooden Staff

Damage: 10

Durability: 50 / 50

Enchantment: none

It’s pretty basic, but still, much better than the cricket bat! I thought. I was feeling a little more confident now that I knew I could inflict a decent amount of damage. If only I had time to work out how to get it enchanted. I added that to the long list of things I wanted to look into more.

I made my way out of the carpark and walked slowly towards the tree line, holding the staff horizontal to the ground in my right hand. My destination was the spot where I had entered the forest before. I took a wide approach, walking on the open field to avoid getting too close to the trees for as long as possible.

My eyes were darting everywhere, trying to catch sight of anything out of the ordinary. With just the moonlight to see by, though, it was difficult to make out much. I didn’t want to cast my light spell yet to avoid drawing attention to myself.

When I was about 20 meters from the edge of the forest, a little off to my right a figure stepped out onto the path that ran along the boundary. I immediately stopped. I was surprised and a little relieved because even though they were shrouded in shadows, the shape was definitely that of a person. My mind had conjured images of twisted horrors, so it was almost a comfort to see a human.

There was no doubt in my mind, though, that this person was related to the quest to investigate the breach. The odds of a local being in this area at this time of night were almost zero. Also, this person seemed really pale. Unnaturally so. They stood out even in the darkness. Really hoping I could resolve this without fighting, I kept my staff low and raised my left hand. With any luck, they would take it as a friendly gesture.

I didn’t doubt they could see me. For one thing, the light was better out here in the open. I’m sure I was pretty easy to spot. And for another, I swear I could feel them looking at me. A shiver ran down my spine.

The figure took a step towards me. I moved the staff up and gripped it in both hands, just in case. It might be taken as an aggressive move, but I didn’t want to be caught out. My palms were sweaty thanks to how scared I was. I tightened my grip on the staff, afraid it would slip out of my hands. I held it diagonally in front of me with my hands spaced out, having seen someone hold it like that on TV once.

I wanted to call out and ask if they needed help, but I couldn’t get enough moisture in my mouth to speak. As the person took another step, I noticed a strange clacking noise. It was almost like billiard balls softly hitting each other. I stayed where I was, not seeing any reason to approach them. The figure suddenly broke into a run, surprising me. As it got closer and passed through a patch of moonlight, I got a clear look at it. Pale indeed! It was a damn skeleton!

I started backpedaling in fear, unable to help myself as it charged at me. I knew I should turn around and run away at full speed, but I couldn’t tear my eyes off of it. The sight of this thing straight out of a horror movie was too much of a shock. That lasted right up until it crashed into me. My backward momentum made it impossible to stay up and I went down hard, with the skeleton on top of me.

You have taken 3 points of damage.

The notification appeared in the middle of my view, between me and the skeleton on top of me. Being unable to see what the skeleton was about to do turned my fear into full-blown panic.

I mentally dismissed the screen just in time to see a bony fist heading for my face. I tried to wriggle out of the way, but there wasn’t enough time. I did manage to knudge the blow off course, so it hit the side of my forehead instead of dead center.

You have taken 4 points of damage.

“Stop it with the damn notifications!” I yelled, scared and pissed off. I’d never been punched in the face before. It hurt a lot more than TV shows made it look. I could feel blood running down the side of my head. Its sharp knuckles must have split the skin.

The screen blocking my view disappeared immediately. I’d let go of my staff to try and soften the contact with the ground when I went down, but I could feel it lying across my chest, held down by the skeleton’s body. I grabbed hold of it and pushed it up with my right hand, hoping to dislodge the bony bastard enough to get out from under it.

It worked better than I expected. The skeleton tumbled off to my left in a clatter of bones, apparently not weighing that much. In my fear I hadn’t noticed that fact when it was on top of me.

I quickly rolled to my right, keeping one hand on the staff and pushing myself up with the other. I ran away a few steps and then turned back around, once more holding the weapon across my body with both hands.

The skeleton was still getting back to its feet. It didn’t seem able to move that quickly. I had a bit of time to sort out this interface problem. It would take too long to work things out for myself, so I gave Cax the responsibility.

“Don’t let any screens pop up when I’m fighting. I can’t afford to be blinded like that,” I hurriedly told him. I wanted some way to keep track of my vitals, though. “Can you show me my health and mana somehow without blocking my sight?”

“How’s this?”

Two small bars appeared in the lower right of my vision, one red and the other blue. They were barely noticeable, but when my eyes shifted to them, they became solid and numbers appeared on them. The red bar had a small greyed out section and showed 113. The blue one was only about a quarter full. I hadn’t regenerated much mana since leaving the dungeon.

I nodded once. “Perfect.”

My attention shifted back to the skeleton, which was now back on its feet and running towards me again. Now that my mind wasn’t clouded with fear, I realized it wasn’t much of a run. More like power walking speed. If I could keep my head, I should be able to stop it from getting close to me again.

I shifted my right hand down the staff until it was touching my left hand, and when the skeleton was in range, I swung at it. I was pretty sure using a staff as a bat was bad form, but it got the job done. It whacked into the side of the skeleton and sent it staggering away.

“Quick! Use Analyze on it,” Cax urged me.

Staring intently at the skeleton, I activated the ability and noticed a very small part of my blue bar disappear. When my mana returned with the information it had collected, a screen popped up. This one was much smaller than usual. Also, it was in the bottom of my view, so I was still able to keep an eye on my surroundings. It stayed transparent until I focused on it. Nice one, Cax.

Skeleton

Level: 1

Health: 44 / 50

I quickly read it and then dismissed it. Suddenly another red bar appeared floating just above the skeleton’s head. It had a small portion greyed out. A quick glance at it and the number 44 flashed. The skeleton’s health bar! I sent a thought of appreciation to Cax while marveling at what the interface was capable of. Then I moved towards the skeleton as it came back in close to me.

Still holding my staff like a bat, I swung it at the front of its legs. Its bony limbs were unable to withstand the force of my blow and they were knocked back, making it fall face forward onto the ground.

I stepped back a little and raised my weapon high. I swung it down as hard as I could onto its head, and a large chunk of its health bar disappeared. I could make out some cracks on its skull as I pulled my staff back and repeated the swing. This time some bone fragments actually broke off.

There was now just a tiny sliver of its health remaining. Amazingly, the creature was still trying to push itself up. One final swing and the back of its head cracked and caved in. The unmoving body and the sudden lack of a health bar let me know it was dead. A faint warmth flared in my chest for half a second. I was so overwhelmed by what had just happened that I barely noticed it.

I planted my staff on the ground and wrapped both hands around it near the top, leaning on it and breathing heavily. I don’t know why I was so out of breath. The fight had only lasted a couple of minutes at most. Since I had never been in a fight before in my life, I wasn’t sure if this was a normal reaction.

Taking my weight off my staff, I leaned it against my shoulder and shook out my hands. They were a bit sore. The vibrations from hitting bone had been stronger than I thought. Now that I didn’t have a death grip on my weapon, my hands began trembling. I couldn’t stop them.

As brief as the encounter had been, that was the most violent experience of my entire life. My mind flashed back to the skeleton crashing into me and the pain as it hit my face. The feeling of panic that I couldn’t stop it. My breathing became even more out of control.

Several small boxes suddenly appeared along the left side of my vision, distracting me. They had numbers on them.

“These are the notifications I kept back while you were fighting,” Cax told me gently. “The numbers represent the order they appeared. Take a moment to go through them and give yourself a chance to calm down.”

“Thanks mate,” I thought appreciatively, too out of breath to speak. I eagerly focused on the first box, glad to push the thoughts of the fight to the back of my mind. I was happy to see the screen that appeared stayed in the lower part of my vision just like during the fight. Before reading it, I looked all around and made sure nothing was near.

The first several screens simply contained information on the damage I had done to the skeleton. I was confused as I quickly read over the information. The damage numbers were all different. My staff’s information said it could do 10 points of damage, but there were a couple for less than that and even a few for 15 points of damage.

I didn’t like the idea of just standing around out here, but if I had to fight again, it was important I understood how this worked. I really hoped it would be if and not when, but I didn’t think this one skeleton was the end of it. “Help me out here, Cax.”

“Are you sure now is the best time for this?” he asked, concerned.

“Yes,” I replied firmly. “It will help keep me focused and it might be useful to know the reason for the differences.”

“I understand. I’ll be brief,” he replied. Despite saying that, his voice took on his professor’s tone, making me doubt he would keep it short. I kept looking around as he continued, making sure nothing was approaching.

“The damage listed for a weapon is simply its maximum potential. That is the most damage the material can inflict without breaking. The magic that goes into a weapon when it is made regulates this. It reduces the durability rather than having the weapon fail completely.

The amount of damage actually inflicted will vary. It depends on various factors such as the target’s defenses and the power you put into the attack. There is also a special situation where if you hit a target’s weak spot at full power, the damage done will be increased by 50%. It’s known as a critical hit. Actually, based on the fact you targeted the skeleton’s head several times, I thought you already knew about that.”

I was a little surprised by his comment. “Isn’t the head the weak spot of everything? It seemed like a no-brainer.”

Now that I understood the reason for the range of values, I dismissed all the damage notifications. There was only one more box waiting for my attention. Opening it, I found out I had received 15xp for killing the skeleton. Wow! That was a lot more than I had expected based on the measly amounts I got for using my two unique abilities.

“When you kill something, a large part of the energy it contains is converted into experience. Living things contain much more energy than inanimate objects, which is why you got more from the skeleton than from the books you absorbed. That sensation you felt after defeating the skeleton wasn’t just your imagination. That was its energy entering you.”

It made sense now why Cax said many people on his world were adventurers. Going out and killing things was a great way to get good amounts of experience quickly. I didn’t think I was cut out for it, though. My heart was still beating quickly even now, and the memory of being punched came back to mind again, making me wince.

“You did well for your first fight, Dean,” Cax told me encouragingly. “Yes, you froze at the start, but after that you handled yourself well. Give yourself some credit.”

His words and the feeling of support he sent made me feel better. I reached up to touch the area where I’d been hit. There was still a little blood coming out of the cut and it was throbbing. I checked and saw I was only missing 6 health points. I had already naturally regenerated one point while I stood here talking to Cax. I didn’t have that much mana at the moment, and I didn’t want to waste it healing such a small amount of missing health. I decided to just put up with the pain until my improved physiology healed it naturally.

Looking at the dark forest in front of me, I was almost certain that this wouldn’t be the last time I got hurt tonight. These intruders had proven themselves to be hostile, and the area closer to the breach surely had more of them.

I briefly considered leaving right now and coming back with help, but who would believe me if I told them I was attacked by a skeleton? I could show them the body in front of me, but they would probably just think it was someone who had been killed and buried in the forest. They might even look at me as a suspect, and I didn’t need that kind of scrutiny.

I looked down at the body, considering what to do. I squinted my eyes in confusion. Had the punch rattled my brain? I could see a very soft glow around the body. It was multi-colored, reminding me of how the light changed when it hit Mum’s cheap crystal windchimes in the front of the house. I hadn’t noticed it before because I was so focused on keeping an eye out for anything else approaching me.

“Do I have a brain injury, or is there something going on with the body?” I asked Cax.

“You are fine,” he assured me. I got a sense of excitement from him. “And you are going to like this. Touch the body and activate your Loot ability.”

Loot?! Oh, yeah! Despite the serious situation I was in, I couldn’t help smiling a little. I crouched down and put my hand on the skeleton’s bony arm, and then concentrated on using the ability. The glow around the body faded and was replaced by a shimmer next to it that soon resolved into a small vial filled with a red liquid. I picked it up and looked at it closely in the dim light. It reminded me of those small glass tubes we used in science class back in high school, but this one had a cork stopper. This time I remembered to use Analyze without needing to be told, regretting the loss of the 5 mana but recognizing the need.

Health Potion

Restores 20 health.

“Very nice!” I exclaimed. Even if I ran out of mana, I still had a way to heal myself. I put the vial in my pocket, not having anywhere better to store it.

“What was that glow around the body?” I asked Cax.

“It was the remaining energy the body had. The majority was transformed into experience for you, a little went back into the environment, and the rest was used to generate the loot.”

“Even with all the things I have seen and done, I can’t believe loot is actually a real thing,” I said, struggling to get my head around it.

“It’s believed to be the World Spirit’s way of encouraging adventurers to go out and take care of monsters and other problems. That’s also probably why loot seems to be tailored to each person to a certain extent. When you activate the ability, your mana connects to the energy that generates the loot. That way, you won’t receive a spell scroll for Heal ten times off ten different bodies since you already know the spell.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound very rewarding. Is that why I got the health potion, then? Because I’m injured?” I asked him.

“Quite possibly.”

I stood back up. Experiencing these magical aspects of my new life had done wonders to settle me down. Yes, there were some bad things about this situation, but I couldn’t let myself forget all the good ones. I looked at the dark forest, trying to imagine what was waiting for me in there.

I really didn’t want to go in there, but nothing had changed. I was still the only one who was aware of the problem. It was up to me to see what was going on. Hopefully, there were just some more skeletons in there. If I could knock them down, they actually weren’t that much of a threat. I decided to go in slowly and stick to my original plan of running away at the first sign of something I couldn’t handle.

I focused on the ground in front of me and cast my light spell. A white orb came into existence, floating just above the grass and shining brightly. I willed it to move up and behind my head slightly, so I wouldn’t be looking directly at it, and mentally set it to keep that position as I moved.

I now had a circle of light surrounding me, pushing out 5 meters in all directions. My night vision was completely ruined, so I wouldn’t be able to see anything outside of the circle. But 5 meters should be enough time to react to something once it entered the light before it got close enough to attack me.

I tightened my grip on my staff and took a deep breath, then started walking towards the edge of the forest.