Welcome to the Mana System, test yourself, grow, and strive to survive. Diligence is rewarded, cowardice is not.

I blinked, it was extremely weird, the feeling of suddenly changing. Feeling stronger, more alert, and suddenly having knowledge shoved into my brain that wasn't there before. Giving the staff a quick twirl test it felt natural in my hands if a bit on the light side. That was good; at least, it wasn't too heavy or unwieldy to swing around.

It also appeared that the system didn't reward you with being a wallflower. I would need to get my hands dirty and possibly risk my life if I wanted the rewards granted by the Mana System. I guess it was better than being a cubicle jockey for a company that didn't care about you. At least this was based only on my merit.

Focusing my mind I thought inventory. A screen popped up with two tabs, equipment, and storage. In the equipment slots, I had my clothes my shoes, and my staff. I focused on the staff.

Crafted Ironwood staff

Quality: Low

Damage: 12-24 bludgeoning, x2 critical damage

Cool, I guess, although, I didn't have anything to compare it to so I wasn't sure if this was good or bad. Next, I looked at my clothes.

Flannel shirt + hoodie

Quality: Average

Armor: 1

Provides moderate warmth

Jeans

Quality: Average

Armor: 1

Durable denim pants, agility reduced by -1

Hiking boots

Quality: Average

Armor: 2

Reduces penalty to movement speed on treacherous surfaces by 30%

Baseball cap

Quality: Low

Armor: 0

Provides a boost to perception of +1, unless you wear it wrong

Again not much to go on other than my clothes and boots provided armor. Was this cumulative or only based on the location? It was unfortunate that my pants reduced my agility but not surprising. Jeans weren't exactly the easiest to move in.

I tried visualizing a silhouette with slots for clothing and armor values based on location. I was a bit surprised when the window changed to show this view. I noted the 2 armor in my foot location and one in my torso. Swapping over to the storage tab I saw it included everything in my backpack but not the backpack. Then I tried selecting one of the energy bars from storage and it appeared in my hand from a black tunnel.

"Hmm, so does this work in reverse?"

I thought storage and a hole opened up in the space in front of me. I shoved my hand in and let go of the bar. After I pulled my hand out the hole disappeared. I would need everything I could carry since my car wouldn't start, and my phone appeared to be completely dead. Even my cheap watch no longer worked.

Now that I knew the pack was full I looked around for something to stuff in it to see if it could hold more if I used the inventory instead. I found a fist-sized rock that would fit my needs. When I tried to put it in the storage it was denied and I got a message saying the storage was full. Then I took the backpack off and tried accessing my storage again. It consisted of only my keys, phone, and wallet.

So modifiable storage based on the pack, I guess that makes sense. Now by this point, most people would be lost, confused, or afraid. To me, this whole Mana System was just another project. Working in I.T. you got used to upper management dumping new software products on you because they had to have them. Even though the company's network couldn't support it and the infrastructure wasn't available for it.

Not like you could complain about it. Anyone that would listen to you complain couldn't do anything about it and those that could do something about it didn't want to hear it. You just buckled down and figured it out. That was one of the reasons I went straight for the documentation. How else can you learn how something works that you have never seen or used before? No, this was just a normal if a slightly larger project that I needed to figure my way through.

The area around me had increased animal sounds and growls in the distance. The trees around me didn't look any different. I wonder if the flora and fauna changes had something to do with proximity to intelligent life, I guess I would find out.

Instead of theorizing, I needed to get moving but I wanted to test out my skills first. It would be terribly embarrassing if I ended up getting attacked and couldn't even perform a spell, not like I could use the excuse 'That's never happened to me before,' although, that didn't work with my ex-girlfriend so I probably shouldn't even consider it an option here.

I stood with my backpack off. Now my class of Mantra Enchanter sounded like I might need to vocalize my spells. I wonder if I could activate them any other way? 'No time like now to test it,' I thought, as I tried activating Minor Wind Walk by thinking about the spell..., and nothing happened.

So spells, at least mine weren't activated by thought. Next, I tried just saying the name of the spell. Nothing happened. 'Ok,' I thought, searching the information that seemed to be shoved into my mind from the System. It appeared my spells had to have vocal component tied to them. While not ideal at least it wasn't somatic, I didn't want to be waving my hands about like a lunatic.

Preparing myself I cast Minor Wind Walk the way it was intended, the mystical words seeming to flow effortlessly from my lips like a whisper on the wind.

It was odd feeling some unknown substance drain from my body, I assumed it was the mana draining away as the spell activated, or at least I hoped so. As the spell activated my feet felt lighter and nimbler.

Next, I tested my Shield spell since it had the quickest cooldown of my non-healing spells. I wanted to see if I could cast my spells quieter just in case I needed to remain hidden from enemies.

I whispered the word of power associated with the spell and made me feel 'safe', was all I could think as the spell took effect. What I wasn't expecting was the white glow as the spell formed around me. At least it faded after a few seconds. So not an ideal test case for remaining hidden. I decided to try miming the words with my Rejuvenate spell to see if that would do anything.

A chime sounded in my head accompanied by a notification.

Background skill learned: Silent casting 100 X.P.

Well, that was unexpected but a nice little bonus. A passive skill and XP just for trying something new, I would have to find new things to unlock extra skills and free XP. Last I tested Giant's Strength, feeling power flood through my body, but it somehow felt muted casting it silently. I looked at the icon noticing that it wasn't the full five minutes the spell was supposed to have. Good to know that silently casting spells might have an adverse effect. I would make sure to cast them properly unless I needed to be stealthy.

I could cast my Area of Denial skill in a minute but decided to hold off since the cooldown was so long that I didn't want to waste it. For one I only had a total of 280 mana. With a mana recharge rate of 26 a minute, I could keep my agility buff active permanently and my strength buff active 5 out of every 6 minutes. This essentially gave me 4 extra stat points at level one along with a damage reduction of 10% I should be pretty hard to take down.

I could hear the animal noises getting closer and decided to make a quick escape from the area before I became some monsters lunch. I had a 3-mile hike ahead of me to get to the campgrounds office. I hoped there was someone there this early in the morning and that they were ok.

Hitching up the backpack I headed down the trail, it was the most direct route, as opposed to the blacktop road that meandered through the forest. Setting out at a slight jog, which I found effortless, even after 10 minutes I barely felt the exertion.

I rounded a rock outcrop and had to jump to the side as a pitbull sized chipmunk tried to rip my throat out. Out of pure instinct, I whipped my staff around and cracked the thing in the spine as it flew past me. The creature gave a pitiful squeal as it tried to stand, its back legs not working. That didn't stop it from trying to bite out at me though. I spun the staff and smashed it across the head. I could see the damage notices in my vision but I ignored them for now. It wasn't dead yet. I swung down with an overhead smash and saw the XP message pop up.

I checked my surroundings for any more monsters before I quickly rearranged my notifications to the side. I needed them out of the way for now so they couldn't distract me mid-fight. When I was in a safer spot I would adjust them more. Remembering the help section mentioning something about loot, I touched the dead Diremunk and thought loot.

A window did popup but it said no lootable items. The looted body remained, I figured the System provided an opportunity for people with more skill to harvest the rest. I didn't have the time to skin this beast so I took my hatchet and cut it open, spilling blood and entrails around the path. I made sure to clean my hatchet off, leaving the body for the other creatures that seemed to be tracking me. I could hear the noises in the forest, they sounded closer than ever. Hopefully, the smell of fresh blood would appeal more to whatever was tracking me.

After gutting the animal I vacated the area as fast as possible, re-casting my buffs on the move. I noticed that even if I had a buff active, the timer only reset if I cast it again. 'No double buffing my attributes,' I thought sadly.

I made it to the office 30 minutes later huffing and puffing. I would have arrived sooner but I detoured around the sounds of two large beasts going at it near the trail. I didn't get close enough to tell what they were and that was probably for the best. While the squirrel had been easy enough to kill I decided to play it safe until I got a better handle on what was happening around me.

I was crouched at the edge of the forest looking towards the office; there was a large clearing with the mobile home that acted as the park office on the far side of the clearing. Something felt off to me though so I scanned the clearing. I could see a truck sticking out on the backside of the building. Of course, no lights were on in the building and I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary from this side. I decided to circle the building until I had a better view of the front door. I skirted around the clearing, trying to stay quiet and remain hidden behind the trees as well as I was able to.

I didn't have to go far before I saw the open truck door and the blood. Whatever had caused the mess wasn't in sight. I'm not sure what the person was thinking of heading for the vehicle. It was a newer truck so it definitely wouldn't run after the system went live. Perhaps they were caught in the open or they didn't realize the truck wouldn't run.

Despite my misgivings, I needed to see if there was anything useful for my survival here. The smell of excrement and blood hit me as I got closer. I had to stop and try not to lose my breakfast as it wafted over me. It wasn't like I was squeamish about dead bodies or blood but the smell was unexpected.

Having identified my family's bodies and attended funerals over the years I thought I was prepared to handle death up close. None of that really prepared me for the amount of blood and viscera a human body could produce. I looked away from the corpse as the smell hit me again. This time I was unable to hold back and vomited out a stream into the grass.

After wiping my mouth clean I continued approaching the macabre scene, making sure to recast any of my buffs that were off cooldown as quietly as I could. I wanted all my abilities to last as long as possible if whatever killed the man was still lurking about. It wouldn't do to be caught unaware without them active.

Passing the body and trying not to step on any of the remains, I made my way to the building. I kept my head on a swivel and tried to be as quiet as possible, being hyper-aware was mentally draining. It was awkward moving around with the giant backpack on but I wasn't leaving my supplies behind. There was no telling if I would need to make a break for it or if I could find any more supplies soon.

Nothing jumped out at me as I made it to the truck. The office door was closed and when I tested the handle I found it still locked.

Sighing, I looked over at the corpse realizing what I had to do next. I went over to what was left of the body and tried looting it. Luckily the system made it so all I had to do was touch a part of the body and not dig through a dead man's pockets. I touched the least blood-soaked piece of clothing. This time I got a list of items in a system window.

Boots

Hat

9mm pistol

Holster

2 extra magazines of ammo

Keys

The descriptions were very generic, I wasn't sure why. I selected the gun, holster, and ammo equipping them right away. I also took the keys hoping one would be for the office. I looked down at the man; his eyes locked in abject terror and closed them for the final time.

"Sorry, man, you can rest now," I said, in a quick prayer.

The Mana system, I'm just going to call it the System from now on asked me if I wanted to make the gun my primary weapon. I choose no. It let me set it as a secondary weapon. I checked its stats.

Glock 9mm pistol

15+1 round capacity

Fiber Optic sight +1 to accuracy

Damage: 10-16 piercing

Now I knew how to shoot guns, I had grown up in a small town and hunted when I was younger, although I was rusty. It had been almost two decades since I shot a gun. I didn't personally own any guns as I stopped hunting after my family's death and never felt the need for personal protection. I guess my opinion on that might change now.

I wasn't even sure if I could use the weapon properly as I didn't have a skill for guns like I did with my staff but couldn't hurt to keep it. Just as I was finishing up I heard a noise coming from the backside of the building. I stood up my staff at the ready.

Around the corner came a bear. This wasn't your ordinary Yogi; it was seven feet tall looking like a small elephant more than a bear. The other difference was that it was steel grey, as it brushed against the building I could see sparks from the tin siding and chunks of the tin getting ripped out.

I inadvertently let out a whispered, "Fuck."

The bear turned his head towards the sound and instantly spotted me. I was nowhere near fast enough to outrun a bear. The beast gave out a bellow and charged me.

I screamed, "Area of Denial," hoping it would be enough to activate the one ability I hadn't had time to test, the spell not being on my normal roster for my class.

The bear slammed against an invisible barrier and my heart skipped a beat until I realized it had been stopped. Without wasting any more time I swung down with all my strength cracking the momentarily confused beast across the nose. It roared back in rage and tried to claw at the barrier, sending sparks of light shooting outward with each huge swipe. All the while I kept swinging and jabbing him with my staff, trying to target any sensitive spot I could get to. My barrier giving me a false sense of invincibility as I wailed on the beast repeatedly.

I did a poor job of keeping track of my spell timer and got hit with a backswing I wasn't expecting. The blow knocked me into the truck five feet away. I coughed out a bit of blood as the air was driven from my lungs, my shirt shredded from the bear's metallic fur. The fur leaving nasty scratches across my torso and right arm. The pain seemed to be slightly muted. I wasn't sure if that was due to my skills or some change from the System. Perhaps it was a combination of the two. I knew I had to get up, to fight or this was the end for me.

I will be the first to say, a metal bear hits like a fucking truck. While the blow was painful I recovered quickly enough to roll under the bear as he dropped down, trying to flatten me with his stomping attack. The adrenaline pumping through my veins making everything seem to slow, while my System enhanced stats allowing me to avoid a strike that would have crushed me flat.

While rolling away I frantically cast Rejuvenate and jabbed my staff into his sensitive bits. He, because it was definitely a he, no mistaking those dirty danglers, let out a groaning roar and reflexively kicked out with his rear foot. This sent me tumbling along the ground behind him and I heard a pop as one or more of my ribs gave way. My tumble across the ground left me bruised and sore, my side aching from the broken ribs. Luckily my Rejuvenate was taking care of the damage, the bruises, and soreness, allowing me to continue the fight. I wobbled to my feet even as my spell reset my broken ribs, causing me to stumble momentarily.

The beast turned and stood on his back legs. Now a 7-foot tall bear standing on his back legs is a truly terrifying sight; at over 14 feet tall it towered over even the building. I sprinted around to the other side of the truck as fast as my injured body could take me before it gave chase. The beast swiped at the rear of the truck missing me by mere inches and tearing through the metal of the bed like tissue paper, with its six-inch-long razor-sharp claws, imparting enough force to send the back end of the truck sliding sideways. If I got hit with one of those paws and not just a glancing blow, I was done for.

I forced my beleaguered body to pick up the pace, racing to the front of the truck as the beast came around the back. The bear didn't seem to have all its faculties about it as it seemed unsure of its movements. I think this was the only reason I still stood. I madly looked around for an advantage, deciding to jump on the hood to gain some height.

This feat of acrobatics would have been a struggle for me prior to the System, with my enhanced capabilities thanks to the system it came relatively easy or it would have if I wasn't injured. The beast swiped for me on the hood as I attempted to stand. His massive paw missing me by inches as I slipped and fell to the opposite side, its massive paw slamming through the windshield. Twisting my body around as I fell, managed to hit the beast cracking the bear in the ear with the end of my staff.

The beast staggered back from my blow to this sensitive spot, as I landed on the ground I got to my feet and did a full roundhouse swing. It was one of the basic moves imparted on me from the System as I choose my class. My staff extended as far out as I could while maintaining my grip on the wood, hoping that it would impart more force with the blow. The resounding impact sent the beast to the ground, I could see its dislocated jaw from where my staff struck home.

Blood dripped from the stunned beast's nose and mouth, it was down but not out yet. Staggering forward, all but spent I pulled out the pistol and put it up against the unconscious creature's eye and pulled the trigger 3 times until I got the death message. I decided not to risk a possible angrier bear waking up.

"Fucking hell," I exhaled panting, my hands on my knees, my whole body shaking from the adrenaline coursing through my system. I leaned against the truck and slid to the ground dropping my staff just to avoid falling over from the frantic exertion. Despite the life or death situation, I found I enjoyed the rush of the battle.

Deciding this was as good a time as any I took a look at the popup message that was blinking angrily in my face.

Congratulations you have reached level 2

I looked at my stats noticing my health and mana went up a little bit.

'Must be a modifier increase,' I thought.

I now had 294 mana instead of the 280 I started with and 252 hit points instead of the 220 from level 1. Well, it would be 252 if I was fully healed. Looking at my health I had around 70 hit points remaining and my Rejuvenate was on cool down.

"Fuck, that was too close."

I decided then and there to bump up my endurance with my remaining points, I needed to increase overall HP. I took a look at the 3 remaining points I had saved from character creation, glad that the system didn't automatically assign them like everything else and placed them all into Endurance bringing it up to 15. This made Endurance now my highest stat and I couldn't care less. That change brought my total HP to 315. I cast rejuvenate when it came off cooldown watching my health tick up to 120.

Thinking back, I did recall the documentation saying injuries would heal faster but it never specified how much faster. I could only hope that a higher endurance would help with that speedy healing. While waiting, I kept an eye out for more predators, finally, my hp ticked up a point. It took 4 minutes, Not exactly speedy but significantly faster than pre-system levels. Casting Rejuvenate again brought my health up to 171. This made me feel secure enough to loot the corpse and continue on my way. This time I got 2 items.

Dire Iron Bear Claws

Dire Iron Bear Teeth

While the System only rewarded me with the teeth and claws, the body remained just like the squirrel. I pulled out my hatchet to try and skin the beast but try as I might it wouldn't pierce the thick hide. I took a step back to examine the creature; I realized none of my strikes had torn flesh. I shuddered to think what might have happened to me if I only had a stabbing or slashing weapon in this encounter instead of the ability to bludgeon and break bones with my staff.

It was too bad I couldn't skin the beast its fur would make great armor. As for the teeth and claws, it looked like they were crafting items from the description on them. So they might come in handy later, if I decided to pick up crafting. I had to remove a few items from my bag just to store those small things.

I would have preferred to stick around and rest after that hard-fought battle. Maybe take stock of everything that was happening, but a niggling thought in the back of my mind told me that would be a bad idea. There was one last task I wanted to do before leaving.

Stepping onto the porch I unlocked the front door to the office, using the bloody key I found on the poor dead man. Cracking it open a little, I used the end of my staff to push it the rest of the way open. After waiting a few seconds with no monsters jumping out at me, I entered the dark building, staff at the ready.