The staircase seemed empty and I grabbed the railings as I walked down. If I had a calm outer appearance, it was a facade. Inside, my body was screaming at me. Sweat covered my back and hands, my legs felt like mush. I reached the bottom at record pace: if they kept records for the longest taken to descend.

The exit was a single doorway that had a glass panel just above the door handle. Wire mesh zigzagged inside the glass. I pushed my face up against it and stared out. The area the doorway exited into was quite awkward. There was a large bush immediately to the left that completely obscured the view. My hand grasped the door handle and I browsed the fireball skill again.

I held out my other hand and stared at my palm. Fireball! That single word ran through my mind. A peculiar feeling flowed through my body and into my hand. After a second of time, a ball of fire the size of a tennis ball calmly floated there. So it was real.

There had been a doubt in the back of my mind up until that moment. Skills? Who could believe such bullshit? The reality in front of my face left me with no choice but to accept it. My hand grasping the door handle pulled down and the door opened with a click.

The sunlight caused me to squint as I poked my head out and around the door. I could easily see the varied monsters in the distance. They moved in packs around the school grounds and seemed to stay to certain regions. From the looks of it, only the ghouls and zombies roamed more widely. I looked back down at the fireball still sitting in my palm. Without much effort it stuck to my hand like glue. I was hesitant to walk past the bush in fear of what might be just around the corner.

A lone ghoul that was wandering aimlessly happened to venture very close to the dormitory. This could be my chance! I made a rough estimate of the distance. I hope this is less than six meters…I flung out my hand. The fireball left the grasp of my fingers and flew through the air.

Time slowed as I watched hopefully. The fireball soared through the air before landing directly on the ghoul’s chest. Almost immediately, flame began to break out over its body. Its head jerked every which way before hungrily staring in my direction. The fire burned faster and hotter as it fumbled towards me.

It managed to move a dozen feet before falling to the ground. Smoke billowed out through its skin as its chest smoldered. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air and I couldn’t help but gag.

Congratulations! You have reached Level Two. As a reward for leveling up, you have been granted three stat points!

Level up? Stat points? As soon as I thought of stat points a window became available to me.

Current EXP: 20/200 LEVEL: 2

HP: 90/90 MP: 16/20

STR: 5

AGI: 5

DEX: 5

VIT: 5

INT: 5

Available: 3

I looked over the window briefly before making a general assumption of what each stat point did. Judging from my MP, I could only use fireball another four times today, after that I would have no real way to defend myself. Should I put it into intelligence? My experience with RPGs told me intelligence was for spell casters. It was a no brainer but I still found myself being hesitant. I’ll just use one point for now. I put a single point into INT to test the waters.

The one point in INT gave me an immediate 3 MP boost: nearly the cost of a Fireball. I badly wanted to add the other two to INT as well. Being able to cast more fireballs would be incredibly beneficial. The only issue was how long I’d be using this skill. I decided to hold out on using the rest for now until I learned more.

I scanned the grounds for another ghoul before working up the courage to walk a few feet outside. My heart dropped when I walked past the bush that obscured my view and could see the reality of the situation. As far as the eye could see, even past the school parking lot and beyond, were monsters.

The bit of hope that the situation was isolated to only the school disappeared. The cars in the distance were back to back on the highway and showed no signs of moving. It took only a moment to shake off the shock, it really wasn’t that unexpected. Someone would have come to help if it was just the school.

My next target was in clear view: a zombie just one-hundred feet away or so. I glanced around and confirmed the coast was clear. As long as I didn’t walk away from this side-door, there shouldn’t be adds. Since it was out of range of Fireball, I did my best to attract its attention by waving.

After what felt like dozens of minutes, the zombie noticed my presence and moved towards me. Its mouth opened and closed repeatedly while letting out moaning sounds. The stench hit me before it was even in range of throwing a fireball.

Just like before, it only took a thought to summon that burning ball of flame into my hand. I tossed it out in haste. Shit! My luck wasn’t quite as good as last time. The blazing ball of fire sizzled past the zombie and missed it by a hair’s breadth. The spent magical ball landed on the green grass and began to burn.

I was of a mind to run but decided against it. The zombie was moving quite slowly and I had a few seconds to summon another fireball. It would be problematic if it blocked the door and trapped me inside.

Luckily, the fireball I tossed out this time connected with it cleanly. Its dried and rotted flesh began to disintegrate within the flames. It fell much faster than the ghoul did. When its corpse disappeared, a shabby pair of shoes floated in the air. They constantly twirled in circles and nothing about them seemed extraordinary.

I did a double take of the area and after making sure nothing would latch onto me, I rushed over and grabbed the shoes. As soon as I had them in my hand I sprinted back and disappeared into the staircase. Once inside, I took a better look.

Swift Shoes: Movement Speed +3%

They’re just a pair of crappy shoes.

Well huh. It didn’t seem like they were something I could actually wear. The size wouldn’t quite fit on my feet. A prompt appeared immediately after thinking of equipping them.

Would you like to Equip Swift Shoes?

But of course I would! The shoes vanished into thin air and I immediately looked down at my feet. There was nothing there? I did a circle and looked around me.

Gear. Equips. Equipment. A window appeared and I could finally see where the shoes had gone. It was immediately obvious there were several more slots for equipment besides shoes. Just with a quick glance showed me that the basics were all there. Helmet, body armor, gloves, shield, weapon, there were even slots for what appeared to be rings and amulets.

There was no longer any doubt in my mind. I was playing an RPG. There were skills, levels, equipments and monsters. If it wasn’t then what was it? Had God gotten bored and decided he needed some enjoyment at our expense?

I walked around the bottom of the staircase but really couldn’t feel any difference. Three-percent really wasn’t that much. I pushed it to the back of my mind and opened my stats window.

Current EXP: 80/200 LEVEL: 2

HP: 90/90 MP: 8/20

STR: 5

AGI: 5

DEX: 5

VIT: 5

INT: 6

Available: 2

From the looks of it, the zombie had given me 60 EXP. I had enough MP to cast two more fireballs and needed another 120 EXP to level. I thought back to when I obtained Fireball, mastery was mentioned.

Skills. Sure enough, another window appeared in front of me. Fireball was the only skill on the entire list.

Fireball LV. 1 30/100

I had cast fireball three times and gained 30 EXP. Seven more times and I get to see what happens. I didn’t have enough MP remaining to cast that often, it would need to wait till my mana recharged, which would be when? Hopefully, not a whole day was needed.

I spotted a lone ghoul wandering aimlessly between packs of kobolds and goblins. Its pathing looked completely random, and yet it didn’t stray far enough from the other mobs for me to pull it. I didn’t know enough to feel confident walking farther out.

I was lacking critical information. If monsters had an aggro radius then I’d be in big trouble. Being cautious was my best course of action. I decided to wait.

After what felt like forty-five minutes, the ghoul moved away from the surrounding packs and more towards my direction. It was too far away for Fireball and I worried it would wander back and out of reach.

I glanced at the bushes to my side and towards their roots. The ground was a mix of dirt and stone. I scooped one up and tossed it towards the ghoul. It was a solid miss. The stone pebble didn’t even land within a couple of feet. I hadn’t thrown a ball or any object for a long time. I dug out a few more.

After the fifth throw I managed to pelt it directly in the back. There was a thud that told me the ghoul wasn’t nearly as soft or fragile as the zombie was. There was some real substance under its decaying skin. It rushed in my direction.

Something else that was immediately apparent was the difference between zombies and ghouls. I had never pulled a ghoul from so far, and it built up quite a good amount of speed with the extra distance available to it. It was outside of my expectations.

A fireball surged into my hand and I found myself sweating. Not from the heat of my missile, but because I only had one shot. The ghoul would be upon me if I missed. I might not even be able to make it into the staircase at that point.

I tossed out the fireball and it flew a beautiful arc. My timing was nearly perfect. It hit directly into the ghouls chest right as he came into my casting range. The fire burned hotter than ever before as the ghoul rushed at me. Its added speed encouraged the fire to flare up and completely engulf it. It collapsed into a heap of charcoal just a few feet in front of me.

Unfortunately, there was no item or floating skill book above it. I looked down at my hand for a moment as the ghoul corpse despawned. The fireball I just cast didn’t feel nearly as smooth as my earlier casts. I chalked it up to being low on MP.

Congratulations! You have reached level three. As a reward for leveling up, you have been granted three stat points!

That very welcome message greeted me once the ghoul’s body disappeared. I quickly opened my stat window.

Current EXP: 0/400 LEVEL: 3

HP: 120/120 MP: 4/27

STR: 5

AGI: 5

DEX: 5

VIT: 5

INT: 6

Available: 5

I made a mental comparison with my previous stats. The level up provided me with 30 HP and 4 MP. None of my six stats gained any points at all. God sure was stingy. One level up had provided me with a lot less benefits than I expected. I checked my skill window and confirmed that Fireball was now 50/100 EXP.

I wondered how long it will take me to get my MP back? It surely couldn’t be that I would need potions for that? I shivered just thinking about it.

My stomach grumbled but there was zero chance I could make it to the cafeteria. There was no guarantee the cafeteria was even safe. It was quite possible people had opened the doors and ghouls and goblins now lurked within. I turned and headed back up the stairs.

My hand grasped the doorknob of my room and gave it a turn. It stopped halfway and clicked, the door was locked.

I knocked, “Open up, it’s me.” I could hear the bed squeak and then shuffling footsteps. The lock clicked and the door opened.

“I didn’t expect you to come back,” she confessed.

“I still need a place to sleep.”

She nodded her head and then hopped back onto the Slob’s bed. I noticed she’d found some clothes: jeans and a grey jumper. I plopped backwards and fell onto my own sheets. I looked at the alarm on my head stand. It was surprisingly seven p.m. I didn’t feel as if I spent that long outside.

I hadn’t done any strenuous activity but I felt thoroughly exhausted. There was a pounding in my head that just wouldn’t go away and my mind felt foggy. That, plus the lack of food, was overwhelming.

I turned to Veronica. She was still plastered to her phone screen, long brown hair forming a screen around it. “Anything new?” I asked. I had already stopped checking my phone. She was growing distant and reclusive. I had to push her now or she would never see the light.

“No…” Her voice was crestfallen.

“You know how I said it felt like we were playing a game?” I paused. “You looked at me like I was a bit crazy…”

“Mhmm.” She admitted it.

“Can you think the word stats?” I asked.

“Huh?” Her green eyes went round as saucers. “What? What is this?”

“What’s it say?” I was incredibly interested. All my stats were 5. Was I just average or did everyone start the same?

“It says I’m level One. All my stats are Five.”

“Do you understand now? This isn’t a joke. We have to act like we are in an RPG.” I could see the turmoil on her face.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Come with me later and try to level up.” She reluctantly nodded her head. “I need to rest just now though, casting spells wears you out.”

When I opened my eyes again it was early morning. The red numbers of my alarm blurred as little dots floated in my vision. It was seven in the morning. I opened my stats and checked my MP. In twelve hours of sleep I had recovered all of my MP. That was good news.

Sun shone through the blinds of my window and illuminated the room in a low amber glow. I turned on my side and could see Veronica was fast asleep on Slob’s bed.

My hands vigorously rubbed my face as I leaned over the side of my bed and stood. “Hey.” I whispered. It was an odd thing to do because I was trying to wake her, but I didn’t want to startle her. I reached out and pushed against her shoulder. She was startled anyway.

“We should start now.” I urged.

Veronica rubbed her eyes before rolling over. Her feet dangled above the floor and her head drooped. She let out a huge yawn, “Alright.” I was expecting some resistance but it seemed she understood the severity of our current situation.

I grasped the door handle tightly and carefully before opening the door to make as little noise as possible. I poked my head out and then looked back at Veronica. The coast was clear.

Old faithful provided us with a bit of water for the day. It was only a matter of time until running water and electricity would be a thing of the past.

There was a bubbling excitement growing inside of me that I couldn’t quite understand. Am I excited to go outside? To level? We met in the hallway and headed down the staircase towards the side door. I double checked my MP and confirmed it was 27/27.

The difference between yesterday was immediately apparent at a glance. The size of the packs of goblins and kobolds was bigger than yesterday. There were even more ghouls and zombies roaming the school grounds.

I noticed something peculiar as well. The goblins were up to the same old, but the kobolds were working on something. I had pushed them both to the back of my mind, as they weren’t something I could hunt yet.

There was a particularly interesting looking kobold. It didn’t wield an axe or sword, or even a bow. It was holding a staff larger than its own body. The tip had the skulls of small rodents dangling around it. The wood was crooked and turned in odd shapes.

It looked like any other kobold except its fur. Its fur was a bit worn, as if time had taken a toll on it. I could tell it was more rugged, like an old dog. There were symbolic markings on its face that I couldn’t make head nor tail of.

The positioning of this kobold was no coincidence. It was located dead center in the middle of many packs and well protected from any outside attacks. The kobold warriors, as I called them, paid careful attention to it.

The leader-type occasionally let out yelps and yips in response to which the kobolds around would turn and shift positions. I couldn’t be sure what it was, but it was definitely out of the ordinary. It gave me a very ominous feeling.

“What should I do?” Veronica asked from behind. I must have been standing there for a dozen seconds without moving or saying a word. Her voice brought me back to reality.

“For now I just want you to pay attention. As soon as we can get a combat skill for you we can start working together. It’s too risky for you to help with nothing.”

She nodded her head in relief. Regardless of the situation I wouldn’t ask her to throw her body at these things.

While the zombies and ghouls were a bit scarcer than the other monsters, I figured they were worth waiting for, as I knew I could handle them. They also roamed alone and didn’t group up like the goblins or kobolds. It took just thirty seconds to find my first victim.

Summoning the fireball went smoothly. It seemed my thoughts flowed a bit better when I had full MP. The Ghoul caught the fireball like a football and continued running in my direction. The expected didn’t happen, it didn’t fall and smolder. What? I panicked and threw out a second fireball. The monster caught the second as well, but this time it burned for a brief moment and then collapsed on the sidewalk just in front of me.

Veronica was carefully watching from behind and I did my best to hide my surprise. I needed to look strong and confident. If I wavered, the confidence she had built up to come out and assist might crumble as well.

Phew! I wiped the sweat from my brow and leaned over. That was completely unexpected. Just yesterday fireball one-shot every monster I hit with it. The ghoul in front of me despawned and a beautiful book floated in its place.

A new skill? I didn’t hesitate to grab it and flip the cover.

Book of Inspection LV. 1

Cast time: Instant

MP Cost: 2

Distance: 4 Meters

I looked towards Veronica who was staring at me expectantly, “Take a look.” I passed her the book. She took it in her hand and then flipped the front cover. “What do you think? It doesn’t seem like a damaging ability.” I said. Inspection sounded like it was meant to provide information.

“You’re right.” She paused. I could see there was a bit of disappointment in her voice. “You should learn it.” She handed it back to me.

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t want to be using it and wasting time passing on anything I learn to you. Assuming it allows you to learn something about gear, or even better, the monsters, wouldn’t it be simpler if you had it?” She made a great point. I flipped the cover once again.

Do you wish to learn Inspect LV. 1?

Yes! A new skill was added to my skill window, I looked at the skill description.

Inspect: Allows a player to see the stat and properties of certain monsters. Restrictions apply.

Inspect huh…It was a non-combat ability as we expected. The information it offered to provide sounded incredibly useful. It cost half a fireball to use which hurt me a little bit. Especially considering it might take two fireballs to kill a monster. I checked my own stat window and noticed that the ghoul today gave me 70 EXP instead of 60.

Current EXP: 70/400 LEVEL: 3

HP: 120/120 MP: 19/27

STR: 5

AGI: 5

DEX: 5

VIT: 5

INT: 6

Available: 5

If the monsters were going to be getting stronger every day, I needed to increase my power immediately. It was time to use the stat points I had received for leveling. If I didn’t use them I’d be able to kill another two monsters today max.

Intelligence! Without a thought, I put all 5 available points into my intelligence.

Current EXP: 70/400 LEVEL: 3

HP: 120/120 MP: 34/42

STR: 5

AGI: 5

DEX: 5

VIT: 5

INT: 11

Available: 0

The benefits were immediately obvious. The 5 extra points in intelligence added 15 MP to my maximum. I also felt a clarity that made my thinking just a bit smoother. I needed to cast another three fireballs before my mastery would improve. I was expectant of the benefits it would provide.

Despite there being more ghouls and zombies to hunt, isolating targets became even more difficult. The added movement from the kobold packs often had them intertwining and crossing each other’s paths.

If this was an RPG, then mob training was a very real possibility. If I made a bad pull I could end up grabbing two or even three packs of kobolds and goblins. The only outcome from that would be death: definitely a painful one.

I knew for sure monsters had an aggro radius. The kobolds and goblins were in clear sight and it wasn’t as if I was hiding myself. They could absolutely see me. They just didn’t come to attack me. I didn’t know what dictated that distance, but for now, they were ignoring me.

The one benefit from all of this was that zombies and ghouls definitely didn’t have any set pathing or zone they stayed in. They wandered randomly and freely. I just needed a way to get the attention of one and get it out of that mess.

I caught myself looking at Veronica and then shook my head. I wasn’t going to have her do anything risky. There was suddenly a strong gust of wind that caused me to shiver. An idea popped into my head.

We were standing upwind from all of these mobs and if zombie movies had taught me anything, their sense of smell was impeccable.

“Wait for me in the staircase.” I ushered Veronica back inside. “I need to grab something.” I didn’t wait for a response and rushed up the stairs. I moved like a phantom back to our room and then slithered across the floor.

My hand scraped and rummaged under Slob’s bed until I felt the crusty fabric. It was a dirty sock that absolutely reeked… of something. I didn’t even want to hold it in my hand but it was the best I could come up with. My own clothing wasn’t this bad.

Veronica gave me a baffled look when I returned with the sock in my hand. I only shook my head. I really didn’t want to go into detail about this sock.

Once outside I rummaged through the bushes once again and dug out a few stones before shoving them inside. I tossed it directly out in front of us and into the grass where it landed with a thud.

You might think this wouldn’t be enough, but you would be underestimating the smell of this sock. The smell emanating from it at arm’s length was enough to make my hair stand. It took everything I had to not dry heave.

It was a waiting game that I was fully expecting to win. I knew Veronica was itching to know what I was up to, but I kept her in suspense. For some reason I felt incredibly proud of my plan. Everything would be clear once the bait started to work.

As expected, it didn’t take long before a target appeared. It was a zombie. It was the closest undead to us and I paid careful attention. At first it was moving without purpose, but that changed. It quickly picked up Slob’s scent and moved towards the sock curiously.

Once it was near the sock it was easy pickings. It hobbled over the area and stuck around. It was drawn to that human stench and had no intention of leaving. I lit up a fireball and tossed it out. The zombie had no idea what was coming.

My fireball drew a beautiful arc before landing upon its shoulder. Before the zombie could even turn in our direction its upper body was already burning. Its mouth opened and the bottom half of its jaw fell to the floor.

I prepped another fireball and was ready to throw it out when the zombie collapsed. Relief washed over me. I didn’t have to spend a second fireball and the threat was eliminated. Despite the ease, my adrenaline was pumping. I felt high.

I took a moment to consider the reasons for finishing it in one cast. First, it was a zombie and not a ghoul. They could have different stats. Second, I had just raised my INT stat significantly and maybe my spell was stronger. The answer was most likely one of those two.

I looked at the smoldering corpse in expectation and triggered my new skill.

Inspect!

Target needs to be alive.

Well shit. That complicated things quite a bit. The four-meter range on the spell was a very short distance and one I wasn’t at all comfortable with yet. I couldn’t exactly pull with Fireball from a safe distance and then cast Inspect.

A moment of brain storming brought a solution. I’d Inspect the next monster that I could isolate and Fireball it right after. I’d then hide in the safety of the stairwell until it burned up. The only issue was, I needed to inch forward until I could cast inspect.

“What was on that sock?” Veronica asked curiously.

“Uhh… let’s not talk about it.” I mumbled.

The sock continued to work wonders as any zombie or ghoul that wandered directly downwind was captivated by its stench. The pressure of making a risky pull was completely gone. We only needed to wait, that was the safest play.

I looked back at Veronica, “You should hold the doorway open for me. This might be dangerous.”

“What are you going to do?” She didn’t hesitate to retreat into the stairwell and hold the door open.

“The range on Inspect is too short.” I complained. She understood what I was getting at. I started inching forward while trying to cast Inspect. My forehead was dripping with sweat. Twelve feet never felt so short before in my life. The worst outcome happened: the zombie aggroed me before I was in range.

I made a split second decision and didn’t turn to run immediately. I stood my ground and kept casting.

Inspect!

A wave of information was passed directly to me. That was my cue to run.

Ragged Zombie LEVEL: 2 UNDEAD

HP: 210 MP: 1

STR: 10

AGI: 1

DEX: 2

VIT: 8

INT: 0

A Ragged Zombie. It’s dry and rotted skin makes it susceptible to fire.

I summoned a fireball into my hand while jetting towards the staircase. This feeling of being alive was impossible to describe. It made me feel bold. My body was telling me to run. I turned around anyway and tossed the fireball out.

The Ragged Zombie was definitely much slower than me. I made considerable distance in those few moments and managed to reach a respectable range. It didn’t continue running at us much longer before collapsing.

The Ragged Zombie turned into a pile of ash before despawning. Similar to the ghoul before, it gave me another 70 EXP. A beautiful looking sword, or maybe it was a rapier, floated above where its corpse used to be. The weapon didn’t have a sharp edge, just an extremely pointed tip. There was a curved and intricate guard resting just above the handle.

I walked over and looked at it.

Inferior Rapier.

A rapier made from unremarkable material. It only seems to be good at piercing.

I picked it up by the handle.

Would you like to equip Inferior Rapier?

No. It remained in my hand and I walked back to the staircase where Veronica was looking on curiously. “What do you think?” I asked her.

“This…you want me to use this?” she asked.

I handed her the Inferior Rapier, “It’s your decision to make. I won’t force you to fight close combat.”

She took it in her hand and swung it around in the stairwell. It had no edge and yet she was swinging it like a longsword. There was a constant sound of displaced wind as she whipped the air.

“Calm down, calm down.” I panicked. She had almost lashed me with it.

“Sorry, I got a bit carried away.” Veronica chuckled. “It’s surprisingly fun to use.”

“Read the description first.”

“Oh… so I’m not supposed to swing it?” She put her hand along the metal. “I see… it doesn’t have a sharp edge.” She started to poke here and there with it. “I’ll think about it.” I nodded my head in relief.

I finally had a moment to think about Inspect. I’d definitely gained useful information. If nothing at all, it let me know this new world at least followed logical conclusions. The zombie was weak to fire. It made sense.

My growling stomach echoed through the stairwell. My hunger gave me heartburn that was so strong I felt dizzy. The temptation to travel to the cafeteria grew stronger and stronger. Not yet! It was too soon.

I looked back at Veronica who was stabbing here and there. She had already worked up quite a sweat. “Can you hold the door for me again?” She nodded without a word and I walked back outside.

There was a lone ghoul bent over biting and gnawing at the now mostly destroyed sock. This was going to be the real test. The ghouls looked sturdier and of course were more agile than zombies. I had experienced firsthand just how fast they could get if given the chance.

I didn’t want to move away from the staircase more than I had to. Throwing rocks was a better option. I also needed to modify my strategy. I’d delay throwing my fireball till a hit was sure. Hopefully, I could then cast Inspect before it burned up.

I managed to hit the ghoul on my first throw of a stone. My throw had definitely improved significantly. I let it reach about halfway before tossing out a fireball. Once I saw my missile land I moved back to the staircase.

Inspect!

Ragged Ghoul LEVEL: 2 UNDEAD

HP: 280 MP: 1

STR: 8

AGI: 1

DEX: 2

VIT: 10

INT: 0

A Ragged Ghoul. Its saw-like teeth and lanky limbs hold surprising power.

I watched hopefully from safety as the ghoul burned. It felt like a dozen seconds passed before the flames went out. Shit! The ghoul remained outside the staircase door and didn’t collapse into a heap of ash.

I was now locked inside as the monster battered against the door and rubbed its face into the glass pane. Green goop eventually obscured it from view. From the last two battles, I could calculate that my fireball must do somewhere between 211 and 279 damage.

I paused for a moment and considered getting the bat from upstairs. I checked my skills page.

Fireball LV 1. 90/100.

The temptation to see the result of my mastery increase trumped that idea as a fireball appeared in my palm once again. I pulled the handle of the door down. The door opened outward so no matter how hard the Ghoul pushed and shoved it could not get in

“Wai—” Veronica started to back away in a hurry.

I pressed my foot against the door and kicked out hard, sending it swinging open and the ghoul flying backwards and onto the ground. It shuffled to get back up.

A fireball soared out and landed on its body before setting it ablaze. Its struggle lasted only a brief second before it ceased moving.

Congratulations! Fireball has reached level two!

Nice! I opened my skill window and selected Fireball before looking at the skill details.

Fireball LV. 2

Cast time: 2 Seconds

MP Cost: 5

Distance: 7 Meters

The cast-time DOUBLED? I suddenly felt that I had made a mistake. The cast-time had increased from 1 second to 2 seconds. The chance that fireball did twice as much damage as before seemed slim. If that was the case, I had just lost DPS.

My gaze hovered on my DEX stat as I thought of previous games I had played. Not all games allowed you to allocate your stats… but for a good many that did, DEX affected cast speed.

If that was the case, DEX was just as important as INT. That wasn’t as obvious while fighting one monster at a time, but once I needed to cast multiple times per fight? My attention turned towards the numerous packs in the distance and the problem was obvious. It wouldn’t be long before I did need to cast multiple times.

What was also immediately obvious, the fireball in my palm was bigger and burned brighter than before. It has to be stronger, right? There was no way it wasn’t. The first zombie I hit with the new fireball burned up in half the time it took for the level 1 version of the spell and confirmed my thoughts. Zombies and ghouls were now both one-shot targets again.

The body of a ghoul burned with incredible heat just a few feet in front of me. Despite it despawning, the putrid smell of burnt flesh still lingered in the air. A beautiful sight took its place. A bracelet that glowed brightly hovered in the air while spinning in circles.

Bracelet of Intelligence: INT +2

A bracelet of fine craftsmanship, you feel yourself getting smarter by just wearing it.

Equip!

The bracelet disappeared and I checked my equipment tab. Sure enough, it was there. Without realizing it I found myself addicted to killing monsters. The high I got from the possible skill book or equipment drop captivated me. I opened my stats page.

Current EXP: 350/400 LEVEL: 3

HP: 120/120 MP: 15/48

STR: 5

AGI: 5

DEX: 5

VIT: 5

INT: 11 +2

Available: 0

One more monster and I would level up. I checked the information on Fireball as well.

Fireball LV 2. 30/450.

It would be a few more days before I could level it up again.

Veronica was still stabbing away in the stairwell. It seemed more and more likely she was going to accept the Inferior Rapier. I mentioned nothing about monsters or fighting and just let her practice. There was no reason to increase the pressure on her.