Currently a mile out from the town he called home, James was surrounded by six wolves. Three of them taking up his front and three at his back, forming an almost semi-circle on either side. Neither party were moving from their spot, almost rooted. The wolves were just snarling at him, low, deep vibrations assaulting his ears. James for his part had his arms out body slightly hunched, every muscle in his body tense and waiting for an attack that did not seem to be coming. This had been going on for several minutes, and James had just about enough of it. "Come on then you fucking mutts! Either come at me or get the fuck out of my way!"

His roaring voice was only met with more snarling, his anger and confusion growing a few more notches. Teetering on the edge, the only thing that had stopped him was a notification he had gotten a few minutes into his staring contest. "Inspect." Was muttered under his breath at the beast closest to his front.

Monster Wild Wolf

A gray furred species of wolf, best known for hunting in small packs of five to ten. These animals are usually scavengers or opportunistic predators, opting to shy away from any situation that may end up overwhelming them. Their strength lies in their speed and their numbers.

Level 11 Type [Beast] | [Normal] Rarity [Common]

Staring at the screen in disbelief, the only thing he had learned was that it was fast, it was common, and it was a level higher than him. "Useless.. damn thing wont even give me the health or damage. Show Status."

STATUS TITLES SKILLS NOTIFICATIONS WIKI Name James Harbor Race Human Age 19 Level 10 Status Points 0 Resource Pools Stamina 85% Fatigue 72% Health 120/120 Mana 41/51 HP/s 1.65 --- --- Stat Points Strength 5 Constitution 5 Dexterity 5 Intelligence 10 Wisdom 10 Willpower 10

"I doubt I could out run them, even with my new body." Glancing over his shoulders he took a look at the ones at his back, going through each of them with an inspect, getting 10, 11, 10. The front were 11, 12, 11. He was outnumbered, and out leveled. "Great..." His thoughts flicked to his storage, looking for something, anything, to deal with them. "Coin bag, wallet, ring, weird token things... black metal rod? The fuck?" He didn't remember getting that.

His hand came out in front, the metal rod appearing in his grasp, a window filling his vision after.

ITEM Mondura, Sin of the First

There will always be a first. First born. First breath. First love. First death. Mondura was around in the time before time. At least, the time before the System.

This object seeks out those bearing a fate entwined with firsts, said to feed on their body, mind, and soul.

Rarity [Rare] | [Unique] Durability ---/--- Special ????

As he finished reading he felt a burning sensation on his hand, shooting up to his wrist and wrapping around it as if a molten shackle had been applied. "What the fuck!" Trying to let go did nothing, his hand refused to open. The pain drove him to his knees. Thankfully the wolves did not seize the moment of weakness, rather, they backed off a few feet from him.

You have taken 5 [Burning Damage]

Your Skill [Pain Resistance] has leveled to [Pain Resistance II]

It refused to stop, and James was in no state to read windows, even if that window had reduced the pain by a bit, the pain continued past his skin, down deep into his bone rooting itself. When it felt like the inside of his wrist was melting his screams ratcheted up an octave higher. It took several minutes more for it to finally subside, and by the time it had the wolves were long gone, wanting no part in whatever the hell the weird human was up to. At some point he had ended up curled up in a fetal position. Again. "This.... this is becoming a habit... is this the systems goal? To drive you insane through pain? ... or is it just me?", the last part was choked out with a cough.

Moving into a seated position, he looked down and found that the metal rod had grown, it was easily as tall as his body at this point, and about the thickness of three fingers bunched together. He swung it around a few times, feeling that the weight was just right for him, like he could use it one or two handed. "It got bigger? What is it? A staff?" Looking closely at it triggered the window to pop back up in his vision, this time with a few more details.

ITEM Mondura, Sin of the First

There will always be a first. First born. First breath. First love. First death. Mondura was around in the time before time. At least, the time before the System.

This object seeks out those bearing a fate entwined with firsts, said to feed on their body, mind, and soul.

Mondura has chosen a new host, James Harbor.

Rarity [Epic] | [Unique] Durability ---/--- Damage 20 - 40 [Blunt] Special Drawing 10 [Mana] from Host

????

"... So more ominous stuff and this one takes my mana away. I guess the system really doesn't want me to try being a mage." A loud sigh slipped from his lips as he got to his feet, dusting the filthy pants he was wearing off in the process. "Well, at least those wolves finally fucked off." When he looked back down at he staff again he noticed that his wrist had a black band with a hollow circle on it. "And it tattooed me? What the shit?"

He was getting ready to toss the staff off into the woods when he got a sudden feeling of extreme nausea and paranoia, as if doing it would be his end. "... w-wooah... wait... I still need a weapon right? Wolves right?" He muttered a lie to himself, obviously trying to pass off the feeling as his instincts kicking in. "Yea.. a weapon. I'll just hold onto it until I get to town." That reaffirmation seemed to let his oncoming end abate, albeit, slowly. He took that as his cue and continued on towards the town.

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It took James about thirty-minutes to walk the last mile or so of distance to town, not that he would know, what, with lacking some form of time keeping device, as he passed the sign signifying his entry into the town proper his hand was raised up, the now six foot rod disappearing into his storage. He paused, waiting to see if the ominous feeling would return, and when it didn't he stopped thinking about it stepping up onto the sidewalk and beginning his way down the main street towards the few stores they had around.

The streets were quiet, not a car in sight. He could swear that as he passed a few door ways there were hushed whispers and the sound of blinds being closed. "Alison said the town was bad... but I don't actually see anyone around?" Musing aloud to himself he had come up to the only intersection and turned right. Finally he saw a bit of the mess she had mentioned. Two cars, both missing wheels, where positioned up on the sidewalk in-front of what had been Pop's Grocery Store. A large man, dressed up in a hoodie and jeans was sitting on the hood of one with a rifle of some sort. His eyes scanning the horizon, both left, and right.

When their eyes met, the man fixed his gaze on James, looking him up and down, hands tensing on his rifle for a moment before dropping him as a threat, beginning to look around again. James for his part just blinked, already far too used to this treatment than he would have liked and continued on, walking towards the man un-phased. "Hey! Is Pops open? I need to get some food." The reply wasn't even in words, just a head nodding back towards the doors which were wide open. Now that he was closer he could see that it was actually Pops son, Henry, which made a hell of a lot more sense than some random dude posted up out front.

"Hey James! Sorry about the mess, Leonards boys and their crew were causing all kinds'a issues so Henry thought it'd be best to set up something to keep the idiots from doing something stupid." Leonards boys... thats the second time I've heard that name today, am I supposed to give a shit who that is? James had lived in the town for years, but he was not exactly social. He communicated with who he had to. Pops, his son, the mailman Greg, the gas attendant Fred, and Macy over at the bar. The look on his face got a raised eyebrow from the salt and pepper haired man, "You alright there son?", James, brought out of his thoughts looked over at the man finally, noticing he was suited up in his usual butchers smock, hairy popeye-esque arms on full display.

"Yea, sorry pops, bit of a long day." Pops hearing this, took a closer look at James, hard to see at first on the black t-shirt, his brows shot up when he finally noticed the viscera and blood clinging to the young man, "You get into it with a wild animal? You're covered in it worse than my apron." Although uncommon it was not impossible to see a hunter or the odd person coming into the shop a little battered up looking for a first-aid kit or some cleaning supplies. "Yea, wolves, a whole pack of the damn things out in the woods, chased after me when I wrecked my car a few miles outta town." Not the truth... but not exactly a lie either.

James hand went for the back of his neck, rubbing at it as he continued to speak, "Im not banged up any, I had to hit one of them with a big rock a bunch of times to get the rest to scatter. Spent all that time walking back forgot I even had this stuff on me. I'll go get cleaned up and come back." He turned to head out of the store, only to be stopped short by the middle aged man. "Ah its fine its fine, Thomas comes in here all the time after huntin', isnt any different. Just go to the bathroom and wash up a bit and then do your shoppin' son, just be aware prices have gone up some due to the whole apocalypse business."

Surprise surprise... of course they have. He tried his best not to let the disdain show on his face, instead offering Pops a weak smile and headed towards the bathroom in the back, fully intending to get a least some of the blood and gore off him. It was when he closed the door and began washing that the world decided he had not had enough trouble for the day.