System Log:

You have killed Diamond-Back Wolf (Earth), Beast Initiate Level 5.

You have received 85% cycle experience.

Current Progress: Third Cycle of Qi Channeller- Initiate, 55%.

You have killed Diamond- Back Wolf (Earth), Beast Initiate Level 5 x 2.

You have received 100% cycle experience.

Current Progress: Fourth Cycle of Qi Channeller- Initiate, 55%

You have looted cultivator Charles Miller (Deceased).

You have received the following:

150 TP (Diamond-Back Wolves) + 70 TP (Charles Miller).

[No items have been found in Charles Miller’s Possession. System issued items cannot be looted, only those earned by a player through combat, drops or looting other cultivators can be looted.]

Congratulations, you have received an uncommon drop for killing a Diamond Back Wolf two levels above your own:

Wolf’s Legacy Chest Artefact (F-)

Durability: 100/100

Description: Crafted from the hide of a Diamond-Back Wolf, this artefact chest piece provides robust protection against all physical attacks. This artefact also possesses a resistance against Qi based attacks, however every physical and/or qi based attack will reduce the artefact’s durability. Durability can be repaired at the citadel or through the use of specialised tools.

Jack pressed the equip button, a thin crystalline half-vested layer manifested above his warrior attire- much akin to the covering on the wolves that gave him so much trouble before he finally managed to vanquish them. He first hand knew how good it was, having tanked multiple hits from his sword artefact despite him not holding any punches back.

STATUS

Name: Jack Smith

Affiliation: -

Age: 22 Years

Cultivation Cycle[?]/ Level: 4 (55%)

Race [?]: Human (F-)

Cultivation Stage [?]: Qi Channeler- Initiate (Current race limitation:???)

Innate Talent [?]: Not discovered.

Cultivation Manual[?]: -

Class: Basic Swordsman [Defensive]

Skills: Qi Shield (Basic), Inspect.

Primary weapon: F minus one handed sword.

Secondary weapon: -

Artefacts (New!): Wolf Legacy’s Chest Artefact (F-)

Feats: -

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[Not Unlocked]

Statistics:

Physical: 2+2= 4

Sensory: 2+2= 4

Thought Processing: 2.5+ 2= 4.5

Qi (Pool) [?]: 7/13.

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Jack could see that his physical body was starting to change: his muscles were compressing with each successive upgrade, but their tensile strength seemed to improve: he could lift quite impressive weights by this point, he’d wager. But more than that, his senses had expanded: sneaking up on him would be more difficult now.

He put his new found strength to work, already half-way through the digging process. It was an increased risk, granted, but something told Jack if he didn’t do this at the very least, it was hard to describe but it felt as if he would lose a part of himself, a very important part at that, forever.

So he drove his sword into the soil, tearing out chunks of grass, soil and plants in one clean motion, and then repeating the process until a makeshift grave was ready- a shoddy job pulled over in minutes, but it was the intention that matters.

His face solemn, Jack walked over to the man’s corpse, picking it up with caution and gently laying him down. Carrying over fresh flowers he’d plucked earlier, he laid them at his chest and then offered him a respectful bow.

“Go with dignity, Charles Miller. If you have any family outside, and if by some miracle I survive- then I will not forget this debt,” Jack felt overwhelmed with emotion, even though he barely knew the man. Humanity was the foundation of civilization,and Jack would not abandon it so easily.

Jack covered up the open grave with soil, and then left the area- leaving behind one large rock with the words ‘Here lies Charles Miller. Beware of Sam,” scratched onto it with Jack’s sword, in case the other two members of the group came looking. It was cryptic, but planting the seed of doubt was enough.

Jack whistled lightly, and Luna came trotting out from the shrubbery. Both man and cat receded deeper into the forest and moments later there was nowhere near the clearing except a few dead wolves and a headstone.

The World Announcement feature has been unlocked.

Please select a [Pseudonym] to protect your identity (Recommended). Note that you will be able to contact blood relatives at the citadel unless they block you. Please select your Pseudonym in a safe area.

“A pseudonym, huh?” Jack wondered why, who was he supposed to hide his identity from. Civilization had disappeared overnight, would the government still have a record of its citizens? Seemed implausible.If his name was going to be announced, was there anyone who he cared enough about to give them a hint? His family, of course, but the system seemed to have that covered. His last ex had been together with him for six months before the relationship just fizzled out, and last he heard she had a new boyfriend. He was only twenty two, so it wasn’t serious to begin with. His college mates? Funnily enough, he’d lost touch with most of them a year after graduation, besides a few courtesy calls here and there.So basically, he was free to choose any name he wanted.

What should he go for? Something misleading? Confusing? Short? He didn’t exactly have the free time to decide, so he just went with his gut feeling: his core directive, the reason why he’d lasted this long, and his objective:

Survivor.

To serve as a reminder for what he had done, and what he might have to do in the future. The apocalypse might have come knocking on his doorstep, but Jack would wither through it and reunite with his parents. It was a reminder to keep on going, no matter what this hellish world threw at him, and no matter how unfair it was.

Would you like to confirm Survivor as your Pseudonym?

Yes.

Confirmed. World Announcements Activated.

Cultivator ‘John America’ has unlocked Tier 1 Talent: Ember.

Cultivator ‘Y’all seein’ this?’ has unlocked Tier 1 Talent: Frost.

Cultivator ‘Chyou’ has unlocked Tier 1 Talent: Hardening.

Cultivator ‘Miguel_1987’ has unlocked Tier 1 Talent: Voice Projection.

Cultivator ‘Monica Jones’ Husband (912) 823-5532’ has unlocked Tier 1 Talent: Animal Communication.

Cultivator ‘Entropy’ has unlocked Tier 1 Talent: Flash.

Cultivator ‘Alien_Chicks_DM’ has unlocked Tier 1 Talent: Shadow.

Cultivator ‘Professional Killer’ has unlocked Tier 1 Talent: Flare.

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‘Well, this is certainly bad,’ Jack muttered. Ember and Frost seemed self explanatory, but the idea of some homicidal woman like Sam running around chucking flames at people was downright terrifying: especially while his own talent had not yet manifested. The system seemed to consider talents Tier 2 and above valuable, but all he saw was a growing list of Tier 1 talents being received by cultivators. Jack did not know how potent these talents were, but he wouldn’t make any assumptions right now.

According to the system description, an innate talent was a piece of the divine power that manifested in everyone differently. The system stated that the power that was bestowed came from the power of the divinity, but it was regulated by the law of the world, so even the system did not know which power was going to be bestowed in advance. Long story short, what Jack understood was that an Innate power is 100% luck, and it might awaken for some early on in their cultivation journey, but never for others.

Jack had picked a different direction from Sam, but in the end he supposed all roads lead to the citadel eventually.

Jack had been on foot for a while now, and the sun had already set: replaced by an artificial light source that was almost identical, except not being able to see the friendly gas giant in the sky made Earth feel a little…. unfamiliar. The sky was clear, but the tall trees in the forest obscured his vision to see the horizon, and the moon had been obscured, because Jack couldn’t find any trace of it.

Jack scanned his surroundings for any enemies, but after a minute he couldn’t hear or sense anything off. Deciding that now was as good a time as any, with his new physical sensory stats Jack decided to scale the tree as high as he safely could, in order to get a glimpse of the citadel and if possible, any nearby landmarks or cover that stood out.

At about twenty metres, Jack still couldn’t see past the bushes and was just about to climb higher, when his danger sense, given to him by the sensory stat, started going haywire. A close twang of a bow echoed out, followed by another. Jack did not expect ranged attacks, but his eyesight was good enough to get a glimpse of two short projectiles in motion.

Jack jumped to the ground the next instant, but it was too late. One arrow clashed against his armor, causing sparks to fly in the air before it fell to the ground harmlessly, while the second caught him in his sword arm, causing Jack to let out a painful yelp, followed by a “Fuck!”.

This was the first time Jack had taken a real injury, and it felt like a huge nail had been hammered into his right arm. He landed on the ground the next second, and were it not for his sensory stat he would have twisted his leg, badly. Two more arrows fired from a different direction, and Jack didn’t have any cover to rely on. This time his danger sense gave him a general idea of where the firing was coming from, so he threw himself in the opposite direction.

The problem was that, while Jack was fast, arrows happened to be faster. Most of his body was safely in cover, but the second arrow ended up grazing his right leg, eliciting another painful scream. His hands were shaky, but Jack managed to pull out a healing pill from his pocket and swallowed it. His cat jumped down from the tree the next instant, thankfully completely fine.

The blood loss seemed to immediately start slowing down, much to Jack’s relief- but that didn’t change the fact that the only thing that was keeping him safe was a tree, and he could be flanked at any moment. Jack heard an approaching set of footsteps behind him, and he counted, two, three, four, five… fuck.

Jack grabbed the arrow stuck in his arm and pulled it out, wincing in pain. Then, without caring anymore, he immediately pulled out the one in his leg. The increase in blood loss Jack was expecting didn’t come, it seemed that ‘physical’ did make him more resilient to damage after all.

Hoisting Luna with his right hand, and putting his left arm behind his head and projecting as qi- shield, Jack broke into the fastest sprint of his life- this was real, and death was mere metres away.

He sprinted for the next tree in his line of sight, and the firing squad behind him reacted promptly: four sets of arrows were let loose against him, in unison this time.

Jack’s speed now far dwarfed his previous record as a normal human- he felt like he was running at olympic level speeds, cutting through the wind with each large stride he took. He took in far more information with each breath than usual, sight, sound, smell- and almost could feel the enemy arrows cutting through the air. Strafing behind cover right in time, Jack felt some relief as the four arrows impaled the ground behind him.

He continued to run without looking back, in a zig-zag manner between the forest trees, trying to maintain his balance in the process. Every fibre of Jack’s being was focused on evasion, so much so that he was no longer particularly concerned about which direction he was going in. But his pursuers were consistently keeping pace with him, and from the footsteps he could hear, they were gaining on him. He may be operating at peak human capacity, but humans could hardly compare against the top predators on Earth in speed, let alone alien physiologies.

Jack felt another volley was fired, but this time Jack was too far away from the nearest tree to take cover. He felt a response from his Qi Shield, as an arrow landed on its surface causing sparks to fly off before it fell to the ground harmlessly. If Jack hadn’t positioned a shield guarding his neck, he would be either dying or dead. A second arrow gazed past his left arm, while the other two were narrowly off target.

He glanced back for less than a second, but couldn’t make out his adversaries in that small window. Minutes passed, as Jack kept running blindly- paranoia creeping up on his nerves. A marksman that cannot be seen is the most frightening type of marksman.He realised that he was hyperventilating from the panic as he jumped over a small log, when a roar from his right side awoke him from his musings.

“Oh fuck!” Jack screamed as he tilted his neck to see the threat, only to be met with a much larger cousin of the Twilight Boar he’d slain earlier. He barely had enough time to put a qi shield to guard him, but the resilient shield that had saved his life so many times before failed him this time

A cry of heart-rending agony was let out by Jack, as his Qi shield completely shattered upon contact with the Twilight Boar’s horns. The small, sharp and lethal horn had completely pierced through his left hand, and gone on to passing through his lower abdomen- shearing through his artefact after a small struggle .. Blood flowed from Jack’s orifices like a flowing tap, and Jack was starting to feel the effects of the blood loss.

Jack knew his story would probably end here, but all he wanted to know at that moment was if Luna was okay. He craned his neck to look down, to see a perfectly unharmed cat looking at him with what seemed like sorrow in her beady eyes. The horn had missed her by a hairs length, barely at that. It was a genuine miracle, and on the verge of death that realisation gave Jack such a high, that it was akin to a magical power. He feared no man, he feared no eldritch horrors and he feared not the divine.

He grinned, with a maniacal gleam in his eyes. Using the strength in his right hand, he lightly tossed Luna away, knowing she would escape well. Cats were part predators, hopefully they understood when a man was done.

Turning around to face the red furred, pitch-black eyed mutant, Jack did something very unexpected- he spat the mouthful of blood he felt pooling up his throat, aiming right at the Twilight Boar’s eyes.

A whine rang out from the wronged animal, causing it to drive deeper into the wood and forced Jack to cough out another mouthful of blood.

He just grinned again, for a dead man had no need to concern himself with any further wounds.

“You see motherfucker…” Jack spoke with a hoarse, feeble voice, as he pulled out his sword and drove it into the boar’s eye with one fluid motion, causing the boar to whine loudly as it backed up, hoisting Jack in the air along with him. “....We call that a….” Pulling out his sword, he impaled the boar in the other eye without any mercy as deep as he could, his sword embedded through its eye and hopefully its brain..The boar just started shaking even more violently, trying to get rid of Jack, while twang of an arrow echoed out in the backdrop On the verge of death, his senses were the sharpest they had ever been, but try as he might he could no longer conjure a Qi shield. “.... Miracle,” Jack broke out into a mad laugh in between coughs, and raised his right arm up. Time seemed to pause for Jack, just for an instant, as he clenched his fist tightly whilst testing the very limits of his sensory abilities and danger sense, catching the arrow right in its centre mass before it impaled him in the throat.

“….Where I come from,” Jack broke out into a violent cough as he finally concluded the sentence, snapping the arrow in half by clenching his fist, and the boar who was equally struggling on the verge of death finally managed to get rid of him. The next thing Jack knew he was flying in the air, for what was easily dozens of metres. He’d seen the ferocious leg muscles of a twilight boar first hand, but this was still impressive.

Jack rolled across the forest terrain, tasting a mixture of blood, soil and grass. It took all the effort he had left, now that the bravado was wearing off, to get back face-up especially when he’d lost all feeling in his left arm.

Jack felt more blood rising up from his throat, and felt like cursing at the system. Little good that armor did him, the boar had rammed clean through the protection it offered. Though Jack should have known, three swings of his sword in killing the Diamond-Back Wolves wouldn’t match one sharp pierce from a monster that could literally send him flying with leg strength alone… maybe it had mitigated some of the damage?

You have leveled up. You have reached Level 5.

Jack broke into tears, realizing that his frenzy from blood loss and resignation had indeed created a miracle. The Blue flames had healed him from a minor cut when he had leveled up before, so he figured a portion of his wounds might be healed. For him, the holy flames were like water offered to a man dying of thirst, the pain that tore at him with every breath, the gaping hole in his lower abdomen, the ounces of blood he’d lost and his non functional arm- it was all being repaired, his blood loss replenished, wound closed and his arm healed.

You have discovered a World Boss: Earth Orc Titan: Recommended Level: 24. Rewards based on current level: F+ to E- Grade Equipment. Rare Qi Skills. Feat: Titan Slayer: +10 Free Stats. 100,000 TP. ???+

Recommended Course of Action: Do not engage or approach at any cost.

Alert: You are approaching the territory of the Earth Orc Titan. Immediate retret is recommended!

Alert: You are approaching the territory of the Earth Orc Titan. Immediate retreat is recommended!

Alert: You are approaching the territory of the Earth Orc Titan. Immediate retreat is recommended!

Alert: You are approaching the territory of the Earth Orc Titan. Please retreat immediately. This is the last warning.

Alert: You have entered the detection range of the Earth Orc Titan.