Chapter 3: Equipment and Training

Thomas washed his face with his wash cloth to wake himself up. The warmth of the cloth felt so good. If he was to be thankful for anything of the recent events, was never having to wake up at six in the morning to get ready for his job. He stared at himself in the mirror and only now realized the physical changes to his body.

In retrospect, using his fat to give himself an extra ten points was worth it. He didn't remember the pain he faced to lose it. Initially, losing the fat just left him lean, without any muscle definition. After he earned an extra thirty points to Strength, his body changed to be muscular, but not bulky. Thomas flexed to see his newfound muscles react.

'Looking good,' he thought.

Examining his body made him realize that he looked too different than what he did yesterday. Even if he wore baggy clothes, his face had lost its plumpness. These changes would definitely raise suspicion from anyone who knew him. To ensure that no one questioned his sudden weight loss, Tom used Disguise to change his body back to what it was before. All he had to do was think of the form he wanted while calling out the spell.

Watching the spell in action was discomforting, to say the least. Tom watched as his weight returned to him. His muscles smoothed out and his stomach grew. Thomas' face plumped back up and his neck widened. He was disgusted to see the change.

Tom touched his stomach to realize that disguise was more than an illusion, it actually change his body. He had his pot belly back!

"Dispel!" Tom said in a panic, without thought.

His appearance returned back to its original form, giving him relief at how easy it was to get rid of his disguise. He touched his stomach and found it back to its muscular form. Tom was impressed at how thorough the spell was at changing a person's appearance.

"Disguise."

Tom needed to ensure that he kept an eye on how long he was in his disguise. According to the skill description, the time limit is one hour. He added a timer on his phone to go off fifty minutes after he casted the spell. He needed to keep this up while he was at work long enough to quit his job.

Keeping up the spell would be very easy for him. The spell cost only ten Mana to activate and his Mana Regen rate was 4.5 per minute. This meant he recovered from his Disguise spell after two minutes. He could keep his disguise going all day.

VVVVVV

For every person Tom ran into at work, he used his Identify skill to increase its level. Tom found that every person he ran into was all level zero since none of them were connected to the SYSTEM. Each of their stats, while varied, were a small fraction of his own. Tom found himself unable to find anyone with a Stat that was above ten.

'So anyone with stats between 3 and 9 is considered average,' he concluded

Through his own Identify skill, he could see buffs and debuffs that people experienced. Seeing problems people faced in private made Tom feel guilty for using his Identify skill. Some people had debuffs such as addictions or diseases.

Interestingly enough, some people had buffs and debuffs from drugs. Tom was able to learn that caffeine had a buff that improves max Stamina and Stamina Regen, but had a recoil debuff of temporarily decreasing a person's max Stamina after their buff's timer ran out.

This was how Tom passed the time until his boss was available to talk to him quitting. His Identify skill reached Beginner Level 4 and Disguise spell reached Beginner Level 3 by the time he could talk to his boss.

The talk could have gone better. Roger, Tom's boss, was very upset over the fact that Tom was outright quitting instead of giving him two weeks' notice. Roger especially didn't like that Tom didn't give him an excuse outside of "personal reasons".

Regardless of what happened, what's done is done. Thomas was officially unemployed and free to train and prepare for his first quest. He didn't know how long he had until his first quest, so he needed to make every minute count.

The first thing on his agenda was to get equipment to help him. The cloak that he received was great, but he needed to get more armour to boost his stats. Tom wanted to use equipment for the time being to boost his stats so he could figure out the most optimal way to use his unallocated stat points. For now, he was sure he would go towards a magical warrior route, but he needed to see the effects of leveling up on his base stats.

With the panic that followed yesterday's attack, the roads were packed with motorists. They were going from store to store buying water and food along with other survival gear. Despite the panic, Thomas was surprised that there wasn't more chaos or even fights. Stores were busy, but that was all they were. Police were still out in force to ensure that order and civility was maintained.

Tom made his way to the local sports store to look for protective gear. On the plus side, when everyone thinks the world on the verge of an apocalypse, no one runs to a sports store for supplies.

It was quiet in the store. Tom made his way over to the extreme sports area where he saw the items he was looking for: dirt bike gear. He picked up a pair of black motocross gloves. There was a hard plastic section that stretched over the knuckles.

'Identify.'

Ravager's MotoX GlovesRankDDurability20/20Damage Resistance+1%Element ResistanceNoneEffects+1 StrengthSize XL. A well made, but mass-produced pair of motocross gloves. They are meant to protect the wearer's hands from injury resulted from falling off their dirt bike.

'Hmm. Maybe I should shop around more.'

Tom continued using Identify to read information on each set of gloves available. In that time, his Identify skill leveled up two times to Beginner Level 7. Each pair of gloves he came across had more or less the same stats and durability as the first pair he found. The biggest difference between any of them is whether they had the Strength buff or not.

'First pair of gloves then.'

NoticeYour continuous and excessive use of Identify has increased your Perception by 1.

'So I can increase my individual Stats through actions. Good to know!'

"Can I help you with anything?" the store attendant asked him. He was an older man in his forties.

"Ah, yeah," Thomas said. "I'm getting into extreme sports and I'm looking to get gear. I've found a good pair of gloves but I need to find a protective vest for the torso and knee and shin guards."

"Alright then. Over here we have our selection of torso armour."

The attendant point to a wall with a dozen racks with torso armour hanging from them.

"The good thing about these armours is that they cover your chest, back and arms. This will protect you from falls in any direction." The man picked up a torso armour from one of the racks and said, "Have a look at this one."

Golem's ArmourRankDDurability25/25Damage Resistance+3%Element ResistanceNoneEffects-5 AgilitySize XL. A stiff chest of carbon plastic armour. Increased armour but decreased Agility as a result of the poor placement of the plastic pads.

The man noticed Tom's cringe look on his face.

"Something wrong?"

"This armour is too stiff and would only result in decreasing my maneuverability."

Thomas went over torso armour after armour, using his Identify to find one that suited his purpose. Most of them had similar Debuffs to Agility. After going through them one by one, he found a one that didn't have the Debuff.

Revenant Chest ArmourRankBDurability50/50Damage Resistance+5%Element Resistance+2% FireEffects+1 AgilitySize XL. A flexible and lightweight torso armour made from carbon fiber. It provides superior protection compared to other tough motocross armour without affecting the wearer's Agility. Due to the carbon fiber make, it is resistant to fire.

'Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.'

"This is perfect," Tom declared. He examined the armour with affection. It was navy blue in colour. It had flexible protective pads on the arms and chest.

"You sure? I'll be honest, it's quite expensive."

Tom glanced at the price tag and saw it cost over a thousand dollars.

"The district office is trying to push this brand but not many people are interested in it due to the high price tag. It has been gathering dust in our store."

"It's fine," Tom said plainly. "For what I have planned, I need the best."

Those words made the attendant's eyes light up. "If that is the case, the company that makes this torso armour actually has more products. We just keep it in the back."

"Bring it out then," Tom encouraged him.

The attendant moved quickly through the "Employee's Only" door. While he was gone, Tom used Identify to check out everything else in the area. Most of the gear in the area had the same stats, more or less. With his Intelligence stat, Tom was able to remember any item that stood out from the rest.

By the time the attendant returned, Tom had identified at least half the items in the store. The man had brought out the leg guards and gloves.

"Have a look at these," the attendant said.

Tom picked up the gloves. It had the same flexible protective pads that the chest armour had but these pads covered the knuckles and the top of the joints of the glove.

'Identify.'

Revenant Grip GlovesRankBDurability40/40Damage Resistance+4%Element Resistance+2% FireEffects+2 StrengthSize XL. Lightweight gloves made from carbon fiber. It provides superior protection compared to other tough motocross armour without affecting the wearer's dexterity. Due to the carbon fibre make, it is resistant to fire.

Tom looked at the leg armour. They covered the knees, shins and lower thighs. Like the torso armour, the pads were hard, but flexible.

Revenant Leg GuardsRankBDurability45/45Damage Resistance+4%Element Resistance+2% FireEffects+2 AgilitySize XL. Lightweight leg guards made from carbon fiber. It provides superior protection compared to other tough motocross armour without affecting the wearer's Agility. Due to the carbon fiber make, it is resistant to fire.

"These are perfect," Tom said. "I'll take it all."

"Great!" the man said. "Now do you need a helmet?"

"I actually have one at my place," Tom lied.

"Alright, let's get this all to the register."

NoticePersuasion has reached Beginner Level 2.

'That was a super easy way to increase that skill level.'

Tom followed him to the front register to process everything. With everything put together, it easily exceeded a couple thousand dollars.

"Thank you for everything."

"No problem, kid. If you ever need anything else..."

"I'll definitely keep this place in mind."

Tom went back to his station wagon, popped the trunk and placed his items in the trunk. After shutting the trunk door, Tom pulled out his cellphone and made a call.

"Royal Elizabeth Hospital's Volunteer Resource, Premal speaking. How may I help you?"

"I've noticed on your site that you're looking for volunteers."

VVVVV

Michael Forest sat at his desk in the oval office, waiting for the arrival of the liaison from the CIA. The President was a man in his mid-seventies but had a youthful energy to his personality. Forest was filling out paperwork when his phone beeped. He pressed the speaker button to hear his secretary.

"Mister President," his secretary chimed in over the speakerphone. "Rick Baker from the CIA has arrived."

"Show him in," Forest replied.

Forest placed his pen back into its holder and looked up from his desk to see his door opened by his secretary. Baker walked in with a folder filled with a small stack of papers.

"Mister President," Baker nodded towards him.

"Please sit down, Baker," he said while gesturing towards one of the chairs in front of his desk.

Rick sat down and handed over his folder to Forest. "This is all the information we managed to gather on the event that occurred two days ago. I'm afraid it's not much."

Forest grabbed the folder and opened it up. He took out his glasses and placed them on his face to read the report. Forest had the ability to speed read, so going over the major points of the report took little time. "People are afraid, Mister Baker. Not just in our country, but all around the world. They want answers. I want answers. Do we know anything other than we had dozens of monster attacks around the world? Like where the monsters came from?"

"I'm afraid not, sir," Baker replied. "We were able to confirm ninety-nine specific locations that were attacked by monsters. What's interesting is the eye-witness reports."

"Yeah?"

"All of them have several specific elements in common. In each case, an individual in the area started seeing things before the monsters appeared. The individuals claimed to have seen a blue screen appear and send them messages. These blue screens even gave warning that monsters were about to appear."

"Blue screens?"

"That's how they described it. If it was just in a few of the cases, we would have simply believed that they suffered a psychotic episode, or that the witnesses made it up. The fact that each of the ninety-nine cases had one individual who saw these blue screens means there must be truth here. Also many individuals who saw the blue screens were soldiers, doctors, cops and firefighters. We've looked into each of them. None of them had a history of mental health issues. There's too much coincidence here. We were even able to decipher what the message was thanks to these eyewitness reports."

"And the message?"

"The blue screen stated that a 'system' was activating and that the individual and ninety-nine others have been chosen to participate in a test. They were to kill a monster. If they passed, they would gain access to the 'system' one year before anyone else. It then followed with a ten second countdown for the monster to spawn."

"Wait a minute," the President interrupted. "You said 'the individual and ninety-nine others'."

"Yes."

"But we only have ninety-nine confirmed attack sites."

"That's right."

"That means there is one other site unaccounted for."

Baker nodded. "While it's possible we just haven't found it yet, there's another possibility. The one hundredth person passed the test. And they have access to this 'system' that the blue screens mentioned."

"Do we even know what this 'system' is?"

"No, sir."

Forest clasped his hands together and rested his head on his hands. "What about the monsters?"

"In every recorded case, the monsters appeared in a bright white light. After about ten minutes, they disappeared in the same white light. No samples or specimens were gathered by us or anyone else."

Forest placed his hands and his desk and said, "'We are all to gain access to the 'system' in one year.' I don't like this. I don't like this at all. The monsters are gone, but my gut says things are about to get far worse. Baker. If this person exists, they need to be found. Our only hope for answers lies with them."

VVVVV

Tom had it all worked out. For six days of the week, he would train his skills, whether it be his melee or magic. One day a week, he would translate the two books he was given by Kara and volunteer at the hospital.

Early on that day, Tom managed to translate twenty pages of the book. He didn't realize how hard it would be to translate anything. He couldn't translate it straight as the language of Xoth had many different rules for their language. Tom had to translate and then interpret the language so it could be understood in English. On the plus side, Tom earned some points towards Intelligence and Wisdom from translating.

The hospital was desperate for volunteers. So desperate that they allowed Thomas to do his three hour shift the next day after he visited for the interview. Apparently with the monster attack, a majority of the volunteers had left. This worked out in Thomas' favour as he would be given less supervision.

The duty they gave Tom was going from room to room to gather laundry and blankets to place in bags so the linen services could take care of it. This allowed him to visit patients all over the hospital. The first room he went to belonged to a middle-aged man.

'Identify.'

StatusNameRupert BernsteinLevel0Experience-/-Class-RaceHumanAlignmentNeutralCurrencyCanadian$112,354.12TitleNoneBuffs--DebuffsCardiovascular Disease-10 Max Health and Stamina, -0.0001 HP/sec, Death ImminentHealth30/40Health Regeneration/min0.00001Mana0Mana Regeneration/min0Stamina30/30Stamina Regeneration/min0.00001Fame0Infamy0Strength3Intelligence7Wisdom6Perception8Endurance5Vitality6Agility3Luck2Unallocated Points-

'Found my first human subject.'

Tom went to work on the bed next to the man to change the sheets. While removing the sheets, he stretched while pointing his hand towards the man.

'Purify.' Spells like Heal and Purify did not have any visual effect. Tom was able to test as much the morning before on himself and a woodland animal that had a cold.

NoticePurify has reached Beginner Level 2.

"Hmm," the man grunted.

"Something the matter?" Tom asked.

"Uh, no, it's just I'm suddenly feeling... More energetic. And my head is clear for the first time in a while."

"That's good to hear," Tom said to make small talk. 'Identify.'

StatusNameRupert BernsteinLevel0Experience-/-Class-RaceHumanAlignmentNeutralCurrencyCanadian$111,826.72TitleNoneBuffs--Debuffs--Health30/50Health Regeneration/min0.00001Mana0Mana Regeneration/min0Stamina30/40Stamina Regeneration/min0.00001Fame0Infamy0Strength3Intelligence7Wisdom6Perception8Endurance5Vitality6Agility3Luck2Unallocated Points-

Tom left the room with his cart of linen and went into the next room. Inside, there was a little girl who was reading a book.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Thomas, a volunteer here. I'm just here to gather old linen from the bed next to you."

"Oh, okay."

'Identify.'

StatusNameTheresa SullivanLevel0Experience-/-Class-RaceHumanAlignmentGoodCurrencyCanadian$6.34TitleNoneBuffs--DebuffsRSV-5 Max Stamina (3 days)Health10/10Health Regeneration/min0.00001Mana0Mana Regeneration/min0Stamina5/5Stamina Regeneration/min0.00001Fame0Infamy0Strength2Intelligence2Wisdom1Perception2Endurance2Vitality2Agility2Luck2Unallocated Points-

'Eh, nothing serious, but might as well cure it. Purify.'

StatusNameTheresa SullivanLevel0Experience-/-Class-RaceHumanAlignmentGoodCurrencyCanadian$6.34TitleNoneBuffs--Debuffs--Health10/10Health Regeneration/min0.00001Mana0Mana Regeneration/min0Stamina5/10Stamina Regeneration/min0.00001Fame0Infamy0Strength2Intelligence2Wisdom1Perception2Endurance2Vitality2Agility2Luck2Unallocated Points-

Tom finished placing the bed linen in his cart and was on his way to more rooms.

'Purify Information.'

PurifyTypeActivateMana Required20RankCLevelBeginner 2 (89%)You are able to cure diseases, toxicity, and dispel curses. Increasing this skill's level will allow you to cure higher level diseases, curses and toxins.

Tom smiled at his own genius for finding a way to grind his Purify skill. He continued going from room to room, using his ability in secret.

VVVVV

After his shift was over at the hospital, Tom made his way to a camping supply store. With the initial bustle of panicked people buying supplies gone, Tom could shop unmolested. The camping store itself was more or less empty of stock. Worried, Tom quickly made his way to where the backpacks are displayed. He released a sigh of relief when he saw a decent selection of backpacks still around.

'Inventory Information.'

InventoryItems are stored within this space thanks to magic. It can be expanded by increasing your Strength or buying a pack. You can equip items from your inventory automatically by saying or thinking "Equip [Item]". If the equipment replaces what you are currently wearing, the replaced item will automatically be stored in your inventory. Note: Only one pack at a time can be used to increase your Inventory space. If a new pack is placed in your Inventory, the old pack is ejected.

'Well fuck,' Tom cursed in his mind. He was hoping to buy as many backpacks as he could to increase his Inventory immensely. 'One backpack it is then. Identify.'

Eagle Extreme BackpackRankCSlot Increase15Its name contains the word "extreme" so that means it's better, right?

'It's... Okay... Next. Identify.'

Wild Dingo BackpackRankCSlot Increase10Aren't all Dingoes wild?

'These names are so bad even the SYSTEM is calling them out.'

Legacy Of Legend BackpackRankDSlot Increase5It's a pack of packs.

Wally's Outback BackpackRankDSlot Increase5It's a bad backpack, mate.

'They just keep getting worse. Just one backpack! That is all I'm asking for!'

Wanderer's PackRankBSlot Increase30The creator of this pack designed this backpack to carry everything a person could need to go trekking. It's reliable and has a lot of storage space.

'Oh... This will do.'

VVVVV

"Just one last stop," Tom mumbled to himself. "Just one more goddamn stop."

Walking from the camping store was nothing short of a test of his patience and manners. The sidewalk between the store and his final stop was filled with nothing but people pandering everything from religion to survivalist programs. Each and every one of them aggressively pushed what they were advertising to the point where they might as well been shoving their brochures in his face.

Tom started out polite but, as he moved forward, grew more and more irritated. He declined their offers vehemently. Tom noticed that his Persuasion skill experience increased every time he declined their offers. Seeing this happening made him think of possibly using these peddlers to grind his Persuasion skill.

'Not worth it.'

Regardless, Tom had finally reach the last store he needed to go to. A fitness centre. The building contained several businesses such as a fitness book store, a gym and self-defense classes.

Tom entered the centre and heard music from the gym. He scanned the inside of the building and saw the store that sold books and equipment. Tom entered the store and went directly to the self-defense section. There was a wide variety of martial arts books.

Tom picked up the books one after another. He wanted to diversify his fighting styles so he could adapt to different conditions on the battlefield. Krav Maga, MCMAP, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Savate, Sambo, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Karate, Aikido. Since the books stayed even after using his Book Learning skill, Tom could get a wide variety of skills without spending a cent.

As soon as he learned from the last book, a special notification window appeared.

NoticeDue to learning many different martial art skills, you can fuse them all into one powerful skill. Would you like to do this?

Tom gave this question some thought before responding. He reasoned this would make leveling his close-combat skills easier while keeping his variant fighting style.

'Yes.'

NoticeCongratulations. All of your martial arts skills have fused to create the "Mixed Martial Artist" skill. By creating a new skill, you have increased all of your stats by 3.

'Mixed Martial Artist Information.'

Mixed Martial ArtistTypePassiveRankSLevelBeginner 1 (0%)You refused to restrict yourself to one discipline of martial arts. By learning many arts, you have turned your body into a weapon.

"Can I help you with anything, sir?"

Tom closed the window and looked up at the attendant. She had a confused look on her face.

'I've been standing still, staring at this shelf for several minutes, haven't I,' he thought.

"I was just browsing some of the books here," Tom answered. "Um, do you have weighted clothing? Like vests or wrist weights?"

"We do right over there," she answered with a smile. The saleswoman waved for him to follow her to the rack with weighted vests, wrist weights and ankle weights. "Are you looking for anything specific weight-wise?"

"I need the heaviest ones you have."

"Well we have this adjustable weighted vest that goes up to one hundred pounds. Though you should start at a lower weight or you could injure..." She trailed off as she watched Tom pick up the one hundred pound vest with one hand. "Oh..."

Tom saw an unusual look cross her face briefly. 'Was that excitement?'

"I'll be okay," Tom assured her. "And the wrist and ankle weights?"

"Twenty pounds each."

"Great. I'll take it all."

The saleswoman scanned the items and processed the transaction. As soon as he saw the word "Approved" appear, he immediately put on all of the weights. Tom jogged in place for a couple of seconds and walked out of the store, leaving behind a very shocked woman.

It was Thomas' hope that by wearing weights, he could increase his Strength without using his unallocated points. Reaching his car, Tom got his answer.

NoticeCongratulations. By wearing weights in your everyday life, your body has gotten stronger. Your Strength has increased by 1.

NoticeCongratulations. By coming up with a new method to increasing your Strength stat, you have earned 1 stat point towards Intelligence and Wisdom.

VVVVV

On Xoth...

A roar was heard echoing from the mountain range to the north. Reia opened the door to her home. She saw storm clouds starting to form over the mountain range. The clouds had a red and purple tinge to them. They were as unnatural as storm clouds could get.

Reia lived together with her two sisters in the city of Skysign, the largest city on the continent. They grew up together in the orphanage, and only a couple years ago, moved out to buy a home with the money they pooled together. While they were each born to different parents, they were raised as best friends and sisters.

"Reia, did you hear that?" Tala called out. She was reading her newest spell book with great interest.

"I'm pretty sure the whole city heard it, sis," Reia replied. "There seems to be storm clouds forming above the mountain range. They don't look right. I'm going to check it out."

"Reia, leave it be," Tala sighed while not looking up from her book. "It's just a storm."

"Something's wrong with it," Reia said while picking up her spear. "I have a bad feeling about it."

"All the more reason to leave it be," Sylmae chimed in as she exited her room. "I know you want to become a city guard, but rushing off into the unknown while you're level 2 is a good way to get yourself killed. You have a good job as a blacksmith. You should take pride in that."

"I don't level up from making weapons, Syl," Reia countered. "If I want to be a guard someday, I need to reach level 5. That requires me to kill monsters or complete quests."

Reia held up her personally made spear. The staff portion of the spear was as long as she was tall. The spear blade was a narrow triangle shape. It was lightweight and Reia took pride in her first spear creation.

"Don't worry, you two," she assured them as she rushed out the door. "If there's anything too dangerous, I can always fly right out of there. Bye."

Before Syl or Tala could attempt to stop her, Reia spread her wings and flew off.

"Kara damn it!" Syl cursed as she stopped at the door.

VVVVV

Thunder roared over Tom's house. He counted the storm as a blessing since now he could practice his lightning magic without raising the suspicion of his neighbours. It hadn't started raining yet so it made the situation even better.

First, Thomas cast Lightning Enchant on his sword before placing in on a nearby bench. The spell lasted for two minutes, so Tom could recast the spell after practising the first round of Lightning Strikes. At the current time, his Mana Regen rate was roughly five a minute. Lightning Strike used twenty per use. Lightning Enchant used twenty-five per use. He could fully recover from a Lightning Strike after four minutes, and Lightning Enchant after five minutes. With his Mana reserve at four hundred, he could use Lightning Strike twenty times before running out of Mana.

Tom set up several targets on a dead log. Each target was a large rock. He made sure that there was nothing that could catch on fire behind the log, just in case he missed.

Tom walked about fifteen feet away from the log before turning around to face his targets.

"Lightning Strike," he called out while pointing his hand at his first target. This time, he was ready for what the spell did. His arm jerked back slightly as the lightning bolt fired forth and destroyed the target he set up.

"Holy shit!" he muttered.

The spell was more powerful than he realized and it was also extremely accurate. He took aim and fired off several more lightning bolts, destroying each of his targets.

NoticeLightning Strike has reached Beginner Level 2.

Tom enchanted his sword again and then set up the next round of targets. As he destroyed his targets, Tom thought about his level. Even after gaining more skills and levelling them, he is still at level one without any experience.

'Can you only level up by killing things and doing quests?'

It was the theory that made the most sense at the time. Skill and character experience had to be treated as two completely separate systems.

'Experience Information?' he attempted to see if the SYSTEM had his answers.

ExperienceExperience is split into two categories: Skill and Level. Skill experience can be gained by using the skill or learning information related to the skill. Level experience can only be gained by killing monsters or people, or by completing quests.

'Note to self: Ask the SYSTEM before coming up with theories.'

While Tom got his answer, he was left with another question. 'What qualifies as a quest? Quest Information.'

QuestA quest is a mission that is created by: a higher power, a person of authority, or a recognized organization. The SYSTEM will analyze the quest and give it a rank of difficulty, a time limit, experience and consequences of failure. The one who created the quest is responsible for the monetary or item reward.

'Okay, that makes sense. Can't have some average Joe constantly creating tasks for people to do to grind their level.'

In this time, Tom was able to do two rounds of Lightning Strike. His skill reached Beginner Level 4.

'Maybe I should give Lightning Shield a try. Could be useful.'

At this point, Tom hadn't tried Lightning Shield yet. He moved himself away from anything that could possible be hit by the shield in case it had a radius to it.

'Lightning Shield!'

Electricity surrounded Tom's body. He examined his arms and saw a glow of blue electricity course over his skin. 'This is pretty cool.' Tom touched the grass on the ground to see if he damaged anything that touched him. The blades of glass brushed against his skin and showed no signs of damage.

'So Lightning Shield only reacts to direct attack. I could grind this when I'm doing my Strength and Endurance training.'

Tom discovered two ways to increase his Endurance skill. The first method was to dunk his hands in either ice cold or extremely hot water and hold them there. He took minor damage but it worked. The other method was jogging through the fields and pushing through the pain he felt in his legs. On both occasions, increasing his Endurance required him to endure pain. Thanks to both these methods, his Endurance increased by seven points.

After learning how Lightning Shield acted, Tom was ready to return to his attack magic training. Before he could dispel his shield, he heard a loud roar and saw a bright white light. He then blacked out.

Time passed before Tom could opened his eyes. He tried to move his limbs but found himself unable to move. Tom's breathing shuddered and was shallow.

'What the hell happened?'

[table=#800000]50 Damage[/table]

[table=#800000]WarningYou were struck by lightning. The debuff "Shocked" has been applied to you for two minutes. In this time you will not be able to move.[/table]

NoticeLightning Shield has reached Beginner Level 6.

Tom stared at the window before him. 'Is this because I called the god of my universe a lazy fuck?'

-------------

StatusNameThomas "Tom" EverettLevel1Experience0/100Class-RaceHumanAlignmentGoodCurrencyCanadian$10,694,734.98Xoth0 platinum 0 gold 0 silver 0 copperTitleClever One, Determined, Giant Slayer, Vaccinated, One Of The First, Sole SurvivorBuffsAgent of Kara2x experienceBestiary of Xoth+10% damage towards the creatures of XothBrief History of Xoth+10% persuasion chance and friendliness towards the inhabitants of XothDebuffs--Health420Health Regeneration/min3.5Mana400Mana Regeneration/min5.3Stamina490Stamina Regeneration/min3.8Fame200Infamy0Strength43Intelligence40Wisdom53Perception31Endurance49Vitality35Agility38Luck44Unallocated Points30

ResistancesPhysical30%Disease50%Fire30%Plant30%Ice30%Earth30%Lightning30%Water30%Wind30%Spirit30%Light30%Darkness30%

SkillsIdentifyIntermediate Level 2PersuasionBeginner Level 4Language ComprehensionMaster Level 10Book LearningMaster Level 10TeacherBeginner Level 1NonchalantMaster Level 10Lightning StrikeBeginner Level 4Lightning EnchantBeginner Level 1Lightning ShieldBeginner Level 1HealBeginner Level 1PurifyBeginner Level 10Sword SkillBeginner Level 1DisguiseBeginner Level 6PrayerMaster Level 10Hero's CallMaster Level 10Fast TravelMaster Level 10Loot CollectorBeginner Level 1Magical RepairBeginner Level 1TacticianBeginner Level 1CookBeginner Level 1Mixed Martial ArtistBeginner Level 1