Arn blocked some, and Joshua missed a few, but Joshua had trained his agility for years, and Arn was 6’4” and 240 pounds – only slightly harder to hit than your average barn. As the rocks kept coming, Arn fell into a sort of daze. He still heard Joshua’s voice, but it no longer had meaning. Only two things were real: the rocks, and the pain. Individually, most of the rocks hurt only briefly, but after two full buckets, every movement sent searing spikes of pain through Arn. Still, as the daze descended and sank into his perception, Arn began to block somewhat more frequently, and the pain became almost manageable.

CONGRATULATIONS! Pain Resistance has reached level 2! You will now feel less pain when injured.

The skill level, and the end of the second bucket, penetrated Arn’s numbness to a degree, offering a glimmer of encouragement. As Joshua gathered up rocks, Arn used the pause to reflect. I can get through thi… A rock struck Arn in the mouth, knocking him down and causing him to black out for a second. He came too, spitting teeth and blood and looked up to see Joshua grinning wildly, the bucket on its side, empty. “Got to always be ready Arn. Don’t worry, I’ll teach…” Arn exploded forwards, crossing the twenty-five feet in seconds. Although he was gaping like a fish with his mouth wide open, Joshua dodged to the right just as Arn arrived. Arn shifted his feet and lunged, getting his hands around Joshua’s waist and bringing him down.

CONGRATULATIONS! Dexterity has reached 6!

With Arn distracted by the attribute gain, Joshua recovered from having 240 pounds fall on top of him. “Arn, Arn, I just don’t feel the same big guy. I’m sure the ladies will love the whole dripping blood all over them bit, but its not really my thing. Get your big ass off me!”

While physically slow, Arn was mentally quick due to the years of training intelligence. “I’m … I’m so sorry!!! I thought I could resist, that there was no need to tell the Elder. BUT IM SO HUNGRY. I NEED FLESH!” Arn widened his mouth and showed his teeth, “I am going to be a great hero. Your sacrifice will be remember…” Joshua, screamed, bucked, rolled, got to his feet and bolted towards the village.

Arn’s hysterical laughter was interrupted. “What in the Endless Hells just happened?” asked Liara, the Village’s trainer. Liara was a large woman, a retired soldier, who spoke loudly and greatly intimidated all of the village’s youth under her charge, and more than a few of the adults.

Unsure how much she had seen, Arn decided on honesty. “Joshua threw a rock at me during a break, so I tackled him and told him that my class required flesh to level. He ran back to the village screaming like a gir…like a banshee.” Liara exploded with booming laughter that went on and on; while the earthquake like sound was remarkable enough on its own, Arn was mesmerized by her heaving chest – Liara might be intimidating to most, but to Arn she was the only properly sized woman in the village.

“Epic, truly epic. Well, I can’t say he didn’t deserve it. For that. And generally. And you are being punished enough already, your face looks like ground meat. But we may as well get on with it. GET YOUR ASS OFF THE GROUND AND RUN AROUND THE FIELDS UNTIL I TELL YOU TO STOP!”

For the first time in what felt like forever, Arn ran. Arn felt no chest pain and was thrilled to be jogging free and easy. “YOU CALL THAT RUNNING! YOU’VE GOT 12 CONSTITUTION FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. MOVE!!!” After the “encouragement,” Liara blew past him. While Liara rapidly disappeared, Arn continued picking up the pace, enjoying the sensation of wind on his face. He felt the pain of his slowly regenerating injuries and the cramping discomfort of running at speed, but it got no worse, and he lost himself in the rhythm of his footfalls until Liara startled him.

“HELLS, I LAPPED YOU. WITH 12 CONSTITUTION, IF YOU WANT POINTS FROM TRAINING, YOU HAVE TO WORK TWICE AS HARD! Here, take these, run with them on your shoulders!” With that, she handed Arn 2 two foot logs and again blew past him shouting, “PICK UP THE DAMN PACE. IF YOU DON’T FINISH THE NEXT LAP BEFORE I CATCH YOU ITS BACK TO THE ROCKS!”

Arn grit his teeth and accelerated as much as he could. His chest began heaving, his side felt like it was on fire, and with every step his injuries sizzled as though branded with a cattle iron. He pushed through the agony. With three hundred yards to go, Arn again heard Liara’s booming voice “I PASS YOU, I’M THROWING THE ROCKS MYSELF. MOVE!” Arn ignored the blood dripping in his eye, the agony in his chest and somehow found another gear. I’m going to make it! Pushed beyond limits, his chest seized, his feet stuttered, and the ground rose up to meet Arn before he realized he was falling.

“Pathetic. Truly pathetic. The thought of what your face is going to look like after I’m done throwing rocks is making me sick. I’ll make you a deal since I want to eat my lunch before grinding your face to paste makes me lose my appetite. Leave the two smaller logs for now. See that larger log over there? Pick it up with two hands, with your feet planted, legs straight, raise it to your chest, and then push it over your head like this! Easy! I want you to do that 200 times. If you drop it, you start again. If you stop to rest for a damn second, then I guess I have to postpone my lunch and we’ll head back to the rocks.”

While watching Liara lift the log was truly a joy, Arn couldn’t help but be a bit terrified by its size and girth – it was a good 5 feet long and 6 inches around, and obviously ironwood, which he knew was ridiculously heavy. As he tried to copy Liara’s motions, he felt his seldom-used muscles protest, rip and tear. Agony gripped him within just a few repetitions, but he reached inside and found the will to continue.

The rest of day passed in a blur of pain and blood punctuated by sporadic announcements:

CONGRATULATIONS! Strength has reached level 5!

CONGRATULATIONS! Pain resistance has reached level 3!

CONGRATULATIONS! Strength has reached level 6!

CONGRATULATIONS! You have unlocked the Block skill. Block has reached level 1.

CONGRATULATIONS! You have unlocked the Dodge skill. Dodge has reached level 1.

Arn: Level Two Revenant

Attributes:

Constitution: 12

Dexterity 6 (+1)

Strength: 6 (+2)

Intelligence: 9

Will: 8

Charisma: 4

Skills:

Block (1)

Dodge (1)

Pain Resistance (3) (+2)

1 undistributed skill point

Achievements:

Survivor

Tasty!