Where is my mana bar? Ray wondered as he studied his status. Didn’t I have one before?

Name: Ray Delano

Stats

Value

Level: 5

STR

20

HP: 223/460

AGI

10

Total EXP/Percentage to Next Level: 925 / [13%]

INT

10

Stat Point Available: 10

It seems that my mana bar number got infused into my HP bar number. Ray pointed out to himself. Is that good?

Ray was sitting in his dirty, blood-soaked wreck of a car. He had moved all the goblin bodies and dumped them out into the wilderness. He’d also refreshed himself with the water bottles that had survived the crash; Ray always kept a pack of water in the trunk.

Now Ray was wondering what to do next. His wounds were not bad anymore, halfway healed and on the mend. He felt healthier than before, no doubt a result of the strange question he answered.

It had changed his body completely, reinvigorating him.

The question now was, does he call the police here or not? If he took off both licence plates from his car, would they still be able to identify it and track it back to him?

What if... Ray thought hard about the possibility of becoming a lab guinea pig. He thought about all the different outcomes that could arise from alerting the authorities. It didn’t seem worth it. It would just complicate matters further. What could the police do to help him at this point?

Ray realized he needed the next few days to prepare for what was to come. He couldn’t waste time at a police station answering questions.

At this point, it was almost 11:00 pm. There would likely be no traffic on the backroads, especially with where the car ended up. He’d be extremely lucky if someone found his car before dawn.

Now the question became: Who does he call?

Ray’s phone was almost out of battery at this point. He wasn’t sure when it would automatically turn off, like old phones do.

Scrolling through his contacts quickly, Ray decided to call Arnold. His friend lived a ten minute drive away from his house, probably totaling to twenty-five minutes away from his current location. He pressed a button to initiate the call.

Ray waited for three rings, then recalled that Arnold had some trouble at his place before. The guy would usually always say his goodbyes before leaving discord. Maybe he had something similar happen to him. He ended up leaving a text telling Arnold to come pick him up.

The next one on the list would’ve been his dad, had his dad not been on a business trip. Ray guessed that he could call his mom. It was necessary at this point. She would freak out, but he’d just have to deal with it.

Ray had crashed his car, fought with mythical creatures, and almost died a few times that night. He started calling his mom, holding his phone to his ear as it rang.

As he waited for his mom to pick up, he saw movement once more. His eyes had long adjusted to the darkness of the night. The moon had illuminated just enough for him to make out figures creeping around. Ray thought he heard more goblin noises among the sounds of the night. Though it could have just been his imagination.

His mom picked up.

“Ray? Are you almost home? How is Mrs. Lufrin?” His mom asked.

“Hey mom,” Ray was distracted. He was keeping a careful watch over his surroundings, his senses pushed to the maximum. There was no way he was going to be caught off guard once more. “I’ll be a little late getting home tonight. There was this town hall thing I escorted Mrs. Lufrin to.”

“Oh, alright then dear,” his mom replied. “Drive safe then.”

“Love you mom,” Ray tried to wrap up the call. There was no doubt about it anymore. He ended the call then turned off his phone, trying to conserve what little battery he had left.

There was something out there.

Ray was feeling better. His HP had regenerated to half, and everything was looking up. He saved his stat points for the next encounter. His eyes continuously scanned his surroundings for new threats.

Ray had a sudden thought. What if there were more than just goblins out there tonight? What if he was in over his head. It seemed arrogant to think that he alone could deal with anything the aliens threw at him.

But Ray was feeling confident. He had overcome his fears and won the fight to the death. He had also leveled up and gained extra stat, making him feel as if he had completely changed. His body didn’t hurt much anymore, any puny goblin that came along would no longer threaten him physically.

He saw a flicker of movement from the corner of his eye. Ray turned to see a goblin coming out of the brush, rushing straight at him with fast movements and a weapon.

It was an easy fight. He got up out of the wreckage with a swift fluid motion and met the goblin in combat. Ray had waited until it got a little closer before reacting to its desperate lunge. He dodged to the side and then pushed it, using its momentum to send it falling. Then, he took his club from its resting spot on the side of the car and used it to smash down on the fallen goblin.

Ray grimaced. He had miscalculated. The fresh green blood blotted onto his clothes once more, making him feel dissatisfied with his performance.

I have to learn to fight better.

He had taken karate classes when he was younger, making him above average in terms of physical strength. The system had taken his traits and defaulted them all to 10, though. Ray wasn’t sure how that was measured. He also figured that the goblins had traits less than 10, making them easy to deal with on a one-to-one basis but deadlier in a group fight.

He’d almost died when he went up against five at once.

The death cry of the goblin had attracted more goblins, though. Ray was out of options. The only thing he could do now was focus on the fight ahead of him. He could only try his best. What happened in the end was no longer up to him.

The next goblin came up faster and angrier than the last. Ray guessed that it was angry at how he had handled its friend. But, he didn’t speak goblin.

It only lasted a few moves before Ray kicked it off to the side. He had avoided splattering its blood this time. His increased strength had made it easier to deal with the goblins, easily throwing them around as if they were paperweights.

Ray grinned as he saw three approach together slowly. It was hard to see in the darkness, but Ray could tell they wanted his blood. It was too bad he wanted theirs now too. It was like free EXP was being delivered straight to him, arousing his bloodlust.

Though, something was strange this time. They were too slow, different from the goblins that came before. Ray realized that they were calmer and wearing equipment as they came closer into his vision. Were those wands? His smile receded as he saw a hulking giant of a goblin follow them into view.

Oh shit.