Chapter 3

Alex exited the home that he was in. The home could only be described as a shack but it was enough to keep him safe from the elements. Once out in the elements, a cold wind blew on him and his body began to shiver to try to keep his body temperature up. Alex looked around he was on the outskirts of what appeared to be some sort of forest. The sun was just creeping out over the horizon. As the sun illuminated his surroundings more he could see that this was no ordinary forest. The trees were massive but something was off. There was no sound in it at all. No birds chirping. No animals or insects making noise. Alex could feel a strange sense of worry creeping up his spine but he had to find food and a forest must have some sort of edible life.

I will survive even if I have to eat bugs and dirt.

Alex walked towards the forest as soon as the sun gave me enough light to enter. As he walked, he found a long 2-meter stick lying on the ground a picked it up. It was heavy enough to do some damage if he struck something with it.

This will do as a decent enough weapon for right now.

Alex, who had taken the name Achilles, held the stick with both hands ready if anything were to come out. His body was on high alert. The cold of the day disappeared as the sun rose higher in the sky. Soon the temperature soared to what felt like 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Sweat poured off his body covering him in a sheen of moisture. His hands were sweaty causing him to have trouble gripping his makeshift staff. Alex's feet had developed some small cuts from all of the walking barefoot. This would have been difficult for another but he had endured much more difficult training during his time in the military. He remained unphased by this relatively minor inconvenience and continued on his trek to find food and water.

After about 2 hours of aimlessly walking through the woods, Achilles managed to come upon a lake in the forest. Before he went out to the water, he waited to see if anything was using this place as its hunting ground. From his survival training, he knew that there were many dangerous predators that lurked below the surface of the water. As he waited he looked around for something to put water in. Unfortunately, it would not be that easy. he shook his head in disappointment and continued to survey the lake.

After a few moments, the former soldier saw what looked to be a group of deer walking towards the lake but they were well much different from what he'd remembered on Earth. Instead of having antlers that opened up like branches of a tree, they had what appeared to be two metallic horns pointing out of their heads. In addition, their legs were more muscular and they looked about 1.5 times larger than a normal deer. Alex's stomach rumbled but with his wooden stick, he knew he had little chance to take one of them down.

To kill one of them I will need some sort of trap or something sharp that will kill them on the first hit like a spear. I better wait until they leave before I try to go and get water too. Don’t know if they are aggressive or not yet.

Alex waited as they slowly approached the edge of the lake. They seemed to be approaching with great caution.

What’s going on with them? Are they afraid of something?

GROOWWWWL!!!!

My stomach made a noise reminding me of its desire to be fed. I continued to watch as the deer began drinking from the lake. Their caution seemed unnecessary. Until suddenly a snake’s head came out from the lake and grabbed the throat of one of the large deer. The others scattered but the one that was bitten was done for. The large body that resembled an anaconda slowly coiled around the deer’s body squeezing the life out of its prey. It was a grizzly sight watching the massive snake constrict until the deer died. Then it bit the head off and removed it before swallowing its prey whole and disappearing back into the water.

I can’t go there and get water. Who knows if there are more of these things? I have to find another alternative to getting water. Right now maybe I can follow those deer and find a small one that I may be able to kill.

Alex began following the tracks that the deer left slowly following them through the woods. As he followed them, Alex noticed that he wasn’t the only one stalking the deer. There was some kind of humanoid creature that was only about 4 feet tall following alongside them. It had green skin and wore a pair of leather underwear like was wearing. In one of its hands, it had a short sword that looked to be about half a meter long. It seemed to be doing the same thing I was doing, hunting. He kept himself at a distance from the creature trying to keep in its blind spot. He also tried to use his survival skills to remain downwind so as to not tip the creature off if it had a superior sense of smell. He noticed that the diminutive green man was actually doing a pretty good job at tracking the deer-like animals. It stayed downwind as well and remained almost completely silent.

Once the deer stopped moving, the green humanoid inched closer and closer to the group of deer. It was preparing to strike. The deer started to show that they were on alert as maybe they had a sense of impending danger. The little green-skinned creature stopped moving. After several moments the deer went back to grazing on the grass beneath their feet oblivious to the two predators lurking close by. Once they were no longer on high alert, the little creature laid on its belly and began crawling towards its prey. Alex watched and moved in behind him.

If it can kill one of those deer I can sneak up and kill it then I’ll have a weapon and some food.

Alex continued to follow behind the little hunter. When it got within 5 meters of the deer it threw a rock at the largest of the deer. It hit right in front of the deer startling it. The deer looked around to see where the attack came from and could not find it. It turned back and forth showing its confusion.

Clever little bastard arent' you. That diversion shows that it has some level of intelligence.

This was all of the opportunity the little hunter needed. As soon as the deer had turned their backs to it, the little green humanoid rushed with surprising speed up to one of the deer and stabbed its blade straight into its neck forcing a large amount of blood to fall out. The large animal fell to the ground and tried to let out a whine but it only sounded like a gargle as the hunter’s blade pierced through its throat allowing blood to fill its throat muffling any sounds it could make.

A large buck charged the little green man but it dodged with surprising agility. Enraged the buck continued to charge over and over but each time its horns hit nothing but air as the agile little critter rolled out of the way or sidestepped its attacks. After a few moments, the buck gave up its attacks and ran off into the woods. The little man let out a scream and then pulled a small knife out of his bag and started cutting into the torso of the deer.

Well now that he is distracted and enjoying his success, it is time for me to attack.

Using the little hunter’s same tactic I crawled on the grass and got closer and closer. When I was close enough I jumped in the air and swung my makeshift staff down towards the little man. With a loud crunch, the end of my staff smashed into its head. The staff broke and my target fell on the ground bleeding from his head. Unfortunately, that did not kill it. It screamed in pain but managed to get its sword in its hands. It yelled out some words that I had no idea of but I imagine what it was saying as it readied its sword to attack.

“Come get some you little bastard!”, I yelled.

It charged Alex with its sword I stepped back and thrust the now jagged edge of my staff towards its head. The little thing dodged well and slashed at me. With the difference in height, it missed by a mile.

That sword is dangerous. I have to use my advantage in reach and keep my distance. I need to keep him at bay with some jabs and then find a way to take him off his feet or disarm him.

It rushed towards me again thrusting its sword straight at me. This time Alex sidestepped it and smashed the staff into its wrist causing it to wail in pain and drop its sword. Before it could think to do anything else Alex smashed the staff into its solar plexus knocking it back a meter or so.

Now that it was disarmed, the battle was all but won.

The little green man stood up and spit out some purple colored blood before opening its mouth in a smile. It showed rows of yellow teeth making it look like a shark before rushing to attack Alex again. This time it moved from side to side. It moved very quickly but with no weapons other than its teeth and claws the grizzled veteran's staff and training made him far superior to it. Alex thrust his staff several times but the goblin avoided all of his attacks and closed the distance between them. Alex thrust once more and it dodged to his right then jumped up towards his chest. Alex had no time to defend himself with his staff. Its small body slammed into Alex hard.

How did it create that much force with that small body?

The tackle knocked both the goblin and human to the ground. Alex let go of my staff as we fell to defend himself. It tried to strike at him with its vicious-looking claws but Alex managed to grab its wrists as it attacked. Unfortunately, he forgot that he wasn’t fighting a man, he was fighting something that was more of a monster. It opened its maw showing rows of triangular teeth before biting down on the former soldier's shoulder. Alex screamed out in pain. He quickly focused his mind and used its lack of balance to roll the creature over with Alex being in the more dominant position.

The creature's body was light like a child so Alex stood up as she tried to tear the creature who seemed to have the jaw strength of a pit bull, away from his shoulder. Blood was pouring down Alex's chest as the creature dug his teeth deeper into his flesh. With no other options, Alex jumped up and landed flat on his stomach crushing the creature beneath his entire 200 plus pound frame. The creature let out as gasp and it relaeased Alex.

I must have knocked the wind out of it. I need to finish this thing before it takes another chunk out of me.

Alex quickly moved into full mount with my knees on its little shoulders and began raining down the strongest punches that he could. Punch after punch landed on its skull. Each blow left its face more and more disfigured. Then he landed a blow and felt something in its head crack. It stopped moving for a moment but instead of leaving well enough alone, Alex made sure that it was dead. He stood up and stomped down on the now motionless little monster's head turning it into pulp. He fell back on his butt breathing heavily.

You have made your first kill. As promised you have been given 1 AP and 1 SP

Alex laughed loudly saying, “Did you see that! Whoever you are watching me! I’m not going to die that easily.”

After he caught his breath, Alex grabbed the little monster’s sword and knife as well as the bag it was carrying. In its bag, there was a skin that seemed to contain a liquid along with some leaves and a piece of rope. He took the knife it was using and went ahead and cut as much fur as I could from the deer's body. Alex also cut deep into its skull to take off its two large metallic-looking horns. Then he cut off 2 of the deer’s legs and tied them with the rope. Alex slung them over his healthy shoulder before running as fast as he could back in the direction of the lake. Once he got back to the lake he followed the marks that he had put on some of the trees to return to his shack.

Once Alex returned, he hung the meat inside above the fireplace allowing the blood to drip out. Next, he went out to gather some firewood and kindling. He placed a hand full of the kindling in the fireplace then returned outside and look for some stones to make a spark. When he finally returned with the stones the sun was beginning to set and the temperature was dropping. His body was still bleeding but it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. The wound was more of a flesh wound that anything life-threatening.

The morning was already cold so I need to get this fire started before I freeze to death and I need to cook these pieces of deer meat so that I some food to eat. I spent a lot of energy hunting the deer and fighting that goblin. I need to replensh so that I am capable of continuing my journey here.

Alex placed the kindling in the fireplace and began striking the rocks against each other creating sparks. He did it over and over and over and over. After what seemed like hours, hefinally saw some smoke coming from the kindling. He blew lightly on the area where is saw the smoke. Little by little the fire began to grow. Then he threw some of the firewood onto the small flame and watched it begin to burn. Next, he looked up at the deer meat and pulled it down. He used the sword to cut off the hoof then he pushed a long stick through it and stuck it on the rack above the fire. As the meat began to cook the aroma of food filled the small shack making his mouth water.

I seemed to have survived my first day. I have food, shelter, something to drink and now with this sword a weapon to defend myself with. Today was a good day. Now what can I use these ability and skill points for?

I opened my status menu up and I saw that there was a blinking arrow next to SP and AP. I selected AP first and then a list of available options came up.

Mana Manipulation

Ki Manipulation

Beast Taming

Summoning

Artificial Intelligence assistant

Hmm…. I like the idea of beast taming because having that large snake on my side would definitely be a benefit but I doubt it will be that easy. The other things that are available, I have no idea how to use them. I was never into games or anyting so I don't even know what mana is. I was never into meditation so ki is probably a no as well. I guess I’m going to go with the A.I. assistant. My commander used to tell me the most powerful weapon is the human mind and that A.I. would definitely help me.

Alex selected the A.I. and then a blue screen appeared before him asking me to confirm his choice and use 1 AP point to gain an A.I. assistant. He chose yes then pain exploded in hs head. He fell to his knees. Alex felt like something was digging into his brain with a rusty knife. The pain was intense. It was more than anything he had ever endured. He went so far as bang his hands on the floor while screaming at the top of his lungs. At the height of the pain, he prayed for the pain to stop but nothing changed. The pain continued. When the pain reached its peak it suddenly seemed to stop. Alex was lying flat on his stomach breathing heavily trying to get his composure bank. When he opened his eyes, a simple blue screen was in front of his eyes.

A.I. companion 001-A-0131 online. Neural link complete. Running data analysis

Host: Alexander Washington

Codename: Spartan

Please choose companion gender

He immediately chose female as he really didn’t want to hear a guy talking to him all the time.

“Master Spartan, I am is 001-A-0131. I am currently running diagnostics on your body please wait for scan results”, said a soft feminine voice.

“Please don’t call me Master. Please simply call me Spartan and I don’t want to call you with all of those numbers. From now I will call you Alice.”

“Acknowledged. Calculating…..physical diagnostic complete. Your body is operating at 78% of its peak condition due to injuries to your feet and shoulder as well as lacking sufficient nutrients within your body to help it heal the wounds. Recommendations: eat a meal and use deerskin to cover the wound.”

“Thanks for the advice, Alice. I was planning on eating before your installation in my head sent me into a world of pain I didn’t know existed. Alice, can you see my status and the Abilities as well as skills?”

“Yes, Spartan.”

“Excellent! Alice, run simulations on skills that I should acquire to match optimal combat and survival potential with having you as an A.I.”

“Affirmative Spartan.. processing… processing…. There is one skill that has a 95% compatibility with having an A.I. Obtaining this skill will optimize your growth and increase your chances of survival significantly. I will display it on one of the screens in front of you.”

Nanite Creation: This allows the user to create nanites within his/her blood stream. These tiny machines can be controlled by the user’s will or body an artificial intelligence. Nanites can be used for a multitude of things. They are as versatile as the user’s imagination.

“That does sound great. If it is based on my imagination then it is definitely going to be useful. I’ll take it.”

“I will select the upgrade for you Spartan.”

Nanite Creation accepted using one skill point.

My arm began to glow momentarily. After the light died down a screen gave me a notification.

You now currently had 10 nanites within your body.

“Spartan, nanites are miraculous machines that can affect you at the molecular level. We can use them to increase your speed, strength, reflexes, as well as your senses. In addition to the things I previously listed they can be used to help you heal from wounds at an increased rate. They will also be able to do what you will them to do.”

“Great. I will leave them to you for now. Continue making more as often as you can and send the ones I have now to begin healing the wound in my shoulder then go to my feet.”

“As you wish Spartan. Remember that the nanites need energy to function. They will draw that energy from your body so you will have to consume much more food than normal. As you increase the number of nanites within your body you will have to increase the food you eat proportionally.”

“Understood”, I said as I began eating the deer meat.

The meat isn’t bad. Alex would liked to have had some salt but he guessed it wasn't as bad as some of the MRE's he had eaten in the past. Once he was full, he needed to let those nanites go to work on his injuries and rest. He grabbed the fur from the deer and unrolled it. It was still a bit bloody but being a little bloody was better than being frozen. He laid the deer fur on the ground with the bloody side on the ground. He took a few more pieces of wood and stoked the fire before lying down and closing his eyes to rest for the night. As he lay there he could feel his shoulder wound itching.

I guess those nanites are really doing their job. Things are getting interesting. Tomorrow I need to find a way to keep food for more than a day and also find an alternative to eating just meat. I probably won’t be so lucky as to kill a deer every day. With Alice’s help, I should be able to find some other forms of nourishment as well as some kind of way to get water.

With all of his needs met for the day, Alex began to drift off until I was fast asleep for the night.

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Meanwhile, in a secluded room in the Washington, D.C. Super Maximum prison Eternia, a man in a lab coat was speaking to someone using a visual teleconference system.

“Dr. Samuels, this one is not half bad. He managed to stay away from the anaconda and avoid freezing to death. More than 50% of the inmates didn’t make it through those two obstacles”, said a well-dressed man.

“Well, Mr. Zhao I do try to provide you and your group with quality entertainment.”

“I want to keep tabs on this one. I believe he will go far”, said Mr. Zhao.

“Well, the betting odds on his survival in day 2 will be posted at midnight if you care to place a wager.”

“I will be doing so. By the way what level was the goblin he faced?”

“It was level 3.”

“Oh, he survived and beat an enemy that was clearly more powerful than he was. This man is indeed interesting.”

“I will speak with you tomorrow Mr. Zhao. Have a good evening.”

“You as well Dr. Samuels.”

The screen went blank and the doctor poured himself a glass of scotch. He sipped it and it burned on the way down his throat. Then he looked out of his office into the rows and rows of cylinders containing prisoners in suspended animation.

“Spartan huh? I guess I will keep an eye on you as well.”