Alex laid in his bed, browsing over the System Shop. The Soul Disciple Modifier was vague in its description and it appeared that the upgrades to the Modifier were just as unhelpful.

Soul Adept

9,000xp

Soul Journeyman

30,000xp

Soul Master

100,000xp

Soul Sage

500,000xp

Soul Ascendant

1,000,000xp

Soul Adept: Understanding the steps needed to condense your Soul has brought you further down the path of understanding. WARNING! This is not an Evolution based Modifier and you must have Soul Adept and successfully condensed your Soul to the Third Tier before purchasing Soul Journeyman.

Alex almost cursed himself when he realized the amount of work he was going to have to put into his Soul Disciple Modifier. Not only did he have to accrue enough experience points, he had to learn how to condense his Soul and do it a number of times. He let out a sigh of futility. While several Modifiers seem to offer instant rewards at higher cost, he had hope that the work he would put into this would be worth far more in the long run.

Letting the screen fade away, he sat up and looked over his new room. Jeffrey had made sure that each person had their own space to rest and relax. Well, to relax as much as one could, given the situation they had found themselves in. It was much nicer than his dorm room. Elegant even. Alex had never seen a room that looked so rich and yet so comforting. Aside from the oddity that his room had no window, the no rent, free meals and a hot shower made this place a dream come true, if not for the whole kidnapping and possible death scenario.

After Ty’s outburst, accusing the System of being racist alien bastards, Jeffrey explained the rules of the Bellevue Hotel.

First, there was no fighting at the Bellevue. This was a safe haven for all players and harsh penalties would be given to any who broke the peace.

Second, training facilities were free for all guests of the Bellevue Hotel. There was a full gym underground, along with several pools, obstacle courses, a library and even specialized training rooms that would allow you to practice your martial and magical prowess. The training rooms were magical and thus, more than perfect for individual or group training. They also only allowed the room to be in use for one hour for each session, requiring the person or persons to leave the room and re-enter. This would help cut down on people trying to monopolize the space.

Apparently, you could level up most of your attributes by good old-fashioned training. Though, the training for Vitality was a bit of a dick punch considering you had to be hurt in order to level that specific attribute. Jeffrey assured everyone that the machine that helped with Vitality training was perfectly safe. Alex almost pissed himself when he saw the monstrous looking devise.

Third, there were several hidden Accomplishments and Deeds that people could attain. The System would reward those in a number of different ways. You could receive experience points, upgrades to your armor or weapons or even receive special rewards from the System Shop.

Alex was definitely excited about this but he also didn’t want to rush out and start trying to level. There was a very real chance he could get killed. Danny and Ty had agreed to meet up at the training facility before dinner to learn a little more about their abilities and maybe gain a few attribute points.

The rotary phone by his bed rang loudly and Alex picked up the receiver.

“Alex’s delusional nightmare. How may I help you?”

Danny let out a quiet snort on the other end of the line.

“I’m about to head down to the training room.” She laughed.

“I’ll meet you there.” Alex said quickly. He dialed Ty’s number and told him to meet him and Danny and then raced out of his room.

He had to take the stairs as there were no elevators in the hotel. Jogging down the carpeted steps, he wondered if Ty was really okay. The reason they hadn’t headed straight down to the training room before was because Ty was a little depressed about becoming a four-foot-tall red panda. Alex and Danny had tried to console him but he needed some time by himself and to be honest, Alex did too. There was a lot riding on this and he needed to plan out what direction he would be going when he started purchasing more Modifiers from the System Shop.

He still hadn’t examined his dual hand guns and when his hands accidently brushed up against the matte black grips, he would involuntarily shudder while jerking his hands away. He needed to get ahold of this fear if he had any hopes of survival.

Jumping down the last few steps, he pulled open the door to see Danny and Ty already waiting for him. They were dressed in matching workout clothes that looked like they were pulled from a science fiction movie.

“Where did you get the clothes?” Alex asked, but as he stepped through the doorway, his gear disappeared, replaced by the same clothes they were wearing.

The skin tight white and grey outfit wasn’t exactly the most fashionable of apparel and skin tight clothing was not something Alex was use to wearing. Still, it was cool that it just appeared on him.

“That’s handy!” Alex said, looking down at the workout suit. At least it wasn’t uncomfortable.

“I’m not one for spandex but this isn’t too shabby.” Alex laughed.

Danny smirked, rolling her eyes while Ty bounced side to side, shadow boxing.

“How are you feeling, Ty?” Alex asked, noting the change in mood for the red panda.

“I’m actually great, man!” Ty said. “At first, I was down, you know? But then I realized that a smaller target is actually a good thing! Less likely to be spotted or hit!”

“Nice!” Alex said, fist bumping the red panda.

“So, what should we work on?” Danny asked, looking at the gym. There was lots of equipment available and they only had a few hours before dinner.

“Let’s try leveling each one of our attributes at least once.” Alex said. “We can start with Strength.”

Heading over to the squat rack, Alex threw on a forty-five-pound weight on each side for a decent warm up.

“Wait.” Danny said. “What’s everyone’s Strength at, we can compare it to how much we can lift. I’m at four.”

“Six, here.” Alex said.

“Eight!” Shouted Ty, celebrating with a little dance.

Alex shook his head but was smiling none the less.

“So, your main stats are Dexterity and Strength?” Alex asked.

“Yep.” Answered Ty. “But it’s all pretty close. Ten in Dexterity, eight in Strength, seven in Vitality and Agility.”

Alex whistled but abruptly realized that Ty had suspiciously left out two of the attributes. Danny noticed as well.

“And your Wisdom and Intellect?” She asked.

Ty looked down and mumbled.

“What?” Alex asked.

“Two and three! Okay?!” Ty huffed.

“Well, that explains the Lycanthropic Curse.” Danny said. Alex did his best to keep a straight face.

“Whatever!” Ty said. “Let’s get to lifting!”

They each warmed up with a set but apparently none of them needed it. At three reps, Alex found his max weight was two hundred and five pounds. Danny came in at one hundred and fifty-five pounds and Ty blew them both away with three hundred pounds even.

They kept working out for an hour before they received their attribute point.

Congratulations! Due to your hard work, you have received +1 to Strength!

“That was intense!” Ty said, sitting down on the ground.

“The gain was good but it doesn’t seem like working out constantly will be as conducive to actually going out and earning xp.” Danny said while wiping the sweat off of her forehead.

“We still have a few hours before dinner.” Alex said, standing up. “Let’s see what else we can get done today.”

Congratulations! Due to your hard work, you have received +1 to Agility!

Congratulations! Due to your hard work, you have received +1 to Dexterity!

Congratulations! Due to your hard work, you have received +1 to Vitality!

Alex groaned as they finally walked up to the massive dining room where meals were served. They had spent four hours training but the Vitality training was painful.

“Fuck Vitality!” Danny grumbled. “Vitality can kiss my ass!”

“Preach on, girlfriend.” Ty said, dragging himself up the stairs behind Alex.

“Yeah, maybe we just work on our dodge abilities.” Alex said, opening the door to the massive dining room.

The place looked like a five-star restaurant. Well, Alex assumed it did since he had never been in one himself. The place was richly decorated, with miniature crystal chandeliers above each table. The glasses and silverware were beautiful, with gold and silver patterns weaving throughout each piece and there was even classical music being played but Alex couldn’t tell where it was coming from.

There were already several people sitting at various tables but it seemed that no one had tried to separate themselves from the group yet, which was heartening to see. Alex knew the normal gamer mentality was to attain and horde wealth and power as quickly as you could but there was no reason to compete with each other. Everyone here needed to cooperate, share information and get stronger together. If they didn’t, they could very well doom the Human Race.

Alex, Danny and Ty took an empty table near three other full tables. Alex noticed a few people look up and give them a friendly wave or nod which he was happy to return. When they sat down, a screen appeared before them. It looked like a fancy menu, but there was plenty of normal food as well, including a chili burger with garlic fries. Alex stomach rumbled just thinking about it.

“I swear, if either of you order something that makes you stink for the next two hours, I will shove my staff where the sun doesn’t shine.” Danny said, glaring at the two of them. “We still have to level Wisdom and Intellect after dinner.”

Alex smiled. “We just worked out for four hours straight. We should stink to high hell but I don’t smell anything.”

Danny looked at herself and then back up in surprise.

“You’re right! I take back my previous warning.”

Alex and Ty sighed and ordered their food. Their meal appeared in front of them, steam rolling off their plates and smells that made their mouths water. They were all hungry considering the amount of work they had done. A short Indian man leaned over from the nearest table towards them.

“Did you say you are leveling all your attributes?”

They looked over to see that the other tables occupants were staring at them as well. Alex quickly wiped his mouth with a very expensive looking cloth napkin and held out his hand.

“Hi, I’m Alex.”

“Oh, apologies. I’m Rishi.” The Indian man stated, shaking Alex’s hand.

“To answer your question, yes, we are leveling each attribute once, just to understand the way our stats affect us.”

Rishi and a few others nodded. “It is a good plan. No matter how many of us were gamers before, it is very different when you can actually feel your attributes. It may lead to insight that we might need to survive.”

Alex agreed wholeheartedly. A man with short blonde hair and a thick German accent spoke up.

“How do your guns work? Most of us have swords and shields or various other medieval type weapons. You might have an edge in combat.”

Alex winced. “I actually haven’t looked at my guns yet. I use to do competition shooting but something happened and I haven’t touched one since I was fifteen.”

There were a few looks of surprise and a few people grumbled annoyingly but the German just nodded.

“I’m sorry to hear that, but sooner or later you will need those guns to save your life, or maybe even one of us.”

Alex nodded. “I will be working on it, believe me. My name is Alex, by the way.”

“Toby.” The man said, shaking Alex’s hand. “Good luck to you. We might need you sooner rather than later.”

There was a little more conversation but once dinner was finished, the trio headed down to the library, one floor above the Training floors.

Congratulations! Due to your hard work, you have received +1 to Intellect!

Congratulations! Due to your hard work, you have received +1 to Wisdom!

They each called it a night and Ty and Danny went upstairs to their rooms. Alex waited until they were out of sight before slipping back down stairs. He went into the individual training rooms, feeling more nervous than he had in a long time.

The training room was completely white but as soon as Alex stepped inside, the room seemed to understand what he wanted. Suddenly, he was on a familiar shooting range he and his father used to go to. Target silhouettes were lined up at five, ten, twenty and thirty meter intervals. The sun was shining down on him and he could feel the heat of the afternoon sun and the gentle breeze blowing in from the ocean. It was surreal.

Stepping towards the shooting line, Alex looked down at his handguns. His hand started shaking as he reached for the grip. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the gun and pulled it out of its holster, setting it on the table before him.

He let out a long breath and forced himself to keep breathing. He looked over the gun from where it lay, not bothering to touch it again just yet. It didn’t look like any manufactured gun he had ever seen. The steel was matte black with dark red accents that matched his armor. He focused on the gun and the description appeared.

Basic Soul Handgun (One of Two): This gun doesn’t shoot your typical bullets. Instead, each bullet is created with a piece of your Soul. You won’t need to reload but you definitely don’t want to run out! Upgrades available in the System Shop!

Due to your low Soul Stat, your Soul bullets will only reach a range of five meters before dissipating. Condensing your Soul will increase the power of your bullets. With each stage reached of your condensed Soul, your bullets power will greatly increase and may have a number of effects.

That was a complete shock to Alex. Five meters was laughable. It would put him directly in harm’s way.

Stop complaining, Alex!

Before he could even think about that, he needed to be able to shoot. Picking up the gun, he aimed it at the closest target. He felt his pulse quicken and his hand started to shake as he looked down the sights. Before he could even pull the trigger, he was pulled into a memory he had done his best to forget. The sound of a shot rang out and suddenly, and Alex was watched as his friend Michael fell to the ground. The image was exactly as he remembered and he felt bile at the back of his throat.

Alex dropped the gun on the table and fell to his hands and knees, gasping for breath. He felt the tears slip free as he stared at the ground. Why was this memory so…detailed? He could almost smell the gunpowder.

He didn’t know how long he stayed there but a warm hand touched his shoulder and he quickly turned to see Danny kneeling next to him, the artificial sunlight filtering through her red hair.

“I knew you would come down here.” She said quietly. “I could see it in your eyes all day, ever since we started training.”

“How did you get in here?” Alex asked. The rooms could be set for individual use and he was sure he had done just that.

“You didn’t lock the door, idiot.” Danny said, smiling at him. “You don’t have to do this alone; you know. We are a team. Supposed to support each other or some such.”

Alex wiped his eyes and stood up. Oddly, he didn’t feel embarrassed at being caught crying. He was more relieved than anything to see her here.

“My friend, Michael, died at a shooting competition.” Alex said, staring at the targets. “When we were fifteen, we entered an all valley shoot out. I had won it the previous year and we were competing with each other to see who would win the following year.” Alex felt the smile touch his lips as the memory unfolded. “He said he was gonna kick my ass in the competition and the ask Jeannie out that same day.

“He didn’t check his gun before he started firing. It was a stupid mistake. He was just all nerves and it must have slipped his mind. The barrel of his gun still had the tip of a cleaning rod stuck inside. When he pulled the trigger, the bullet hit the rod, ruptured the barrel and a piece of steel instantly killed him. He was dead before he hit the ground.”

“Do you think about him a lot?” Danny asked.

Alex shook his head. “I don’t think I have thought about him since then. I think I made myself forget. I didn’t want to remember losing my best friend. I just threw him away, buried him deep so I wouldn’t have to face it. I’m…I’m a horrible friend.”

“No, you’re not.” Danny said, pushing up to his side. “It was a tragic accident and you didn’t want to face it. You are only Human, Alex. Super Heroes belong in the movies. No one could go what you went through and come out clean on the other side.”

Alex looked at Danny. Her cheeks were wet with tears and she was staring off into the distance, remembering something only she could see.

“You too?” He asked.

She nodded. “My Parents. Died in a car accident while driving me to school. I think I refused riding in a car for three years after that. When I moved in with my Grandparents, they were what held me together.

“Then one day, my Grandpa said that they couldn’t get their medication in town. They told me they had both lost their licenses and asked if I wouldn’t mind getting mine so I could drive them to the pharmacy.” She laughed, wiping away her tears. “Those bastards! They were faking it the whole time. When I got my license, they told me the truth. I was so mad at them at first. I grabbed my Grandpa’s keys and drove off. When I returned, he was just sitting on the porch, smiling at me.”

“Sounds like an amazing family.” Alex said.

“Yeah, and now, they are counting on us to save the world. Even if they don’t know it. Now stop being a pussy and start shooting.”

Alex laughed. “Looks like your Grandparents awesome genetics didn’t pass down to you.”

Danny laughed and smacked his arm.

“Talk is cheap. Now shoot.”

Picking up his dropped handgun, Alex looked at the five-meter silhouette. Before he could think about it, he let his instincts take over. Years of practice. Muscle memory so ingrained that he could never hope to forget the steps. With one smooth motion, he pointed and fired.

I missed.

Danny looked at the target, noticing nothing had happened.

“Were you aiming at another target, per chance?” She asked wryly.

Alex stared at the target, wondering how the hell he could have missed. He might not have shot a gun in nine years but this wasn’t exactly a hard target. Even if he was rusty, he still should have hit the target somewhere.

Lifting his gun again, he took aim and fired.

“Still nothing.” Alex said, somewhat confused.

“Well, we definitely heard the shot so there are bullets in there.” Danny stated.

Alex almost face palmed the gun into his forehead.

“The bullets!” Alex exclaimed. “The bullets are made from the Soul stat.”

He checked his Status page and sure enough, his Soul Points were still sat at 100.

“But we heard the gun go off.” Danny said, staring at the gun in his hand.

Alex shrugged. “I don’t know. Let me try again.”

Taking aim, he tried to will his Soul into the gun. To his surprise, he felt the snapping connection between the gun in his hand and his own Soul. As strange of a feeling as it was, it didn’t hurt. Sighting the target, he shot again.

A glowing blue light flew at the silhouette and a perfect hole appeared dead center in the targets head. Alex winced as he felt his Soul Points lower. Somehow, he knew that one shot equaled one Soul Point. He waited patiently for his Soul to recover. It took twenty seconds for a single Soul Point to regenerate.

“That’s going to be a problem.” Alex said after he shared his discovery with Danny.

She could only nod, furrowing her brow. “You get one hundred shots, or actually, ninety-nine shots since you die if your Soul goes down to zero. You can only hit targets at five meters so far and you only recharge one Soul Stat every twenty seconds.

“We can only hope that you do good enough damage to not to use up your Soul. As long as you’re in range, I doubt you would miss. You hit that target perfectly.”

“Ah, but the target wasn’t moving and neither was I.” Alex stated. “I’m going to have to ninja it up to avoid taking hits, especially when I have to be so close to hit it.”

As if reading his very thoughts, the training room transformed again. The range faded away, turning into what looked like a parkour’s wet dream, with several targets moving back and forth.

A clear booth appeared next to Danny and she jumped in.

“I believe this is for my safety.” She said, eying Alex.

Rolling his eyes but giving her a grin, he moved to the starting line. He still carried the one handgun in his hand, the other safely in its holster. He had never shot two guns at once before and figured one would be enough for now. A buzzer sounded and Alex ran forward. He headed for a ramp and shot the first target that popped up, blocking his path. Then, he dove to the right, onto another platform. Popping back up after the roll, he shot two targets that popped up, flanking him.

He couldn’t believe how light he felt and how well he was moving. Every jump and roll felt perfect and he never once felt that he would trip or lose his balance. He wondered if this was what all those parkour junkies felt like.

Flipping off the wall, he saw two more targets below and behind him, moving side to side. He shot at both while in mid flip and then landed on a wobbling platform. Feeling how the platform moved while he ran, he didn’t feel the need to hesitate as his feet landed lightly and perfectly, maintaining his balance and speed. At the end of the platform, a target popped up and started flying towards him. He shot the target and then he jumped off the platform, grabbing a metal rail that was higher up.

He swung his body up with his momentum and cleared the rail to end up standing on several poles that were placed in the ground at varying heights and distances apart. He started jumping from pole to pole and targets started popping up left, right and behind him.

He could feel that he was starting to reach the limit of his abilities but he kept pushing forward. He felt the wide smile on his lips as the thrill of his newly discovered attributes rushed through him. He moved from one obstacle to the next and it felt as if he had finally been set free. This is what he always wished he could do when he and his mother raced through the obstacle courses. His mother would have loved this, aside from the shooting.

He pulled out his second gun on reflex as he was shooting ahead when suddenly another target rushed him from the left. He was surprised that he even hit the target. It felt almost natural which Alex knew wasn’t possible. He had never been ambidextrous and shooting with his weak hand should have been far more difficult.

He could see the hole he had made in the targets head and started shouting for joy when he finally lost his balance and fell. Seven feet of empty air equated to a second of shock before his back slammed into the ground and the air was pushed out of his lungs. He methodically holstered his weapons and wheezed as he tried to sit up.

“That was amazing!” Danny said as she ran up to him. “Except for that part at the end. That was embarrassing, like epic cringe.”

“Thanks…. a lot...” Alex gasped.

She helped him sit up and a screen popped up before them, showing his results. Danny was happy to read the results allowed.

“You have completed seventy-five percent of the course. Out of forty-six shots, you only hit forty targets and only twenty-five of those were kill shots. Which means you left twenty-one monsters alive. Your pretty much dead.”

Alex threw himself back on the ground. “If that was anything like a real course back home, that would be an impressive showing.”

“Ha!” Danny shouted. “First time through the course and you ran like a gun toting ninja. I say you did more than a little good.”

“Still, I figure we all need to go through these training rooms.” Alex said. “I want to go out and start leveling but the fact is, I don’t want to die just because I wasn’t prepared.”

Danny nodded. “First thing after breakfast, we will all practice in the training room. We need to spread the word around about how good these training rooms actually are! Make sure they get some practice in too. If there’s a line waiting, we can do some more attribute training until the rooms free up again.”

“Sounds good to me.” Alex said. “But now, I’m taking a shower and getting to bed.”

“Ditto. I will see you in the morning.”

Alex called after Danny as she started to leave. “Danny!”

She turned around just before opening the door. “Yeah?”

“Thanks.” Alex said. “For helping out.”

She smiled brightly at him and it made him feel like a damn teenager again. He did his best to ignore his heart that had started pounding in his chest.

“Anytime.” She said with a smile. She turned and left, leaving Alex alone. Sighing, he got up and realized he had a notification waiting for him.

Congratulations! You have taken the first steps in conquering your fears! For this Accomplishment, you have received twenty Soul Points!

Alex stared at the notification in amazement. He had completed his first Hidden Accomplishment and his Soul Points were up to 120. He would make sure to share this with everyone at breakfast but first, he wanted to check his stats again. Focusing on his wristband, his stats appeared before him.

Name: Alex Donner

Age: 24

Race: Human

Level: 0

EXP: 0/100

Class: Soul Survivor

Soul: 120

HP: 105

MP: 80

Vitality: 7

Strength: 7

Agility: 10(15)

Dexterity: 10(15)

Wisdom: 4

Intelligence: 6

Climbing the stairs to his room, he took a long shower, his muscles protesting with all the work he had put them through. Surprisingly, he was hungry again and ate one of his MRE’s before finally hitting the sack.

Maybe his body needed the extra calorie intake considering how much he grew in a single day? It seemed likely and he would need to make sure he didn’t miss any meals going forward. Closing his eyes, he drifted into a dreamless sleep.