Alex awoke from his slumber. Not quite rested, but not as tired as the night before. He yawned and rubbed the grit out of his eyes. The teenager shivered, while his blanket had dried a bit, it was still damp. Luckily it was a pretty good one and would have cost tens of dollars. He had loot…he had borrowed it from a survival shop and right now, he was happy he had done so. Who knows how the system handled a cold. Could he still get one? Alex wasn’t sure and not keen to try.

Soon he had opened the knot and climbed back down. Alex hung up the blanket to dry, grabbed his spear, jogged to the river and got his morning ablutions done. Soon he stood in front of another tree and thought about his resolve to train. Without any real plan, he gripped his weapon tight, and stabbed at the poor trunk.

The trunk wasn’t intimidated and stayed where it stood. Soon Alex had marked it more than once, but its inability to dodge made the training somewhat useless. Of course the teenager learned how to better grab his weapon, so he wouldn’t lose it if he hit something unexpected. But all in all, he could have gotten the rooster if it had stayed still.

But Alex was a creative youth. If the system hadn’t happened, he would have either become an engineer or something of similar scope. He got the rope, wrapped one end around his hips and the other around a small branch that lay around. He hung the contraption upon another branch so that every time he took a step forward to stab at his branch, it dipped down and with every successful hit, it swung around, making it much harder to get another strike in.

Soon the teenager was jumping back and forth, hitting, swiping and stabbing the branch. It swung in every conceivable direction. With a bellow, Alex struck the branch. The rope coiled around the tree and before Alex could move or even react, his target knocked against his head. Alex cried out and touched the struck spot. Fortunately he wasn’t bleeding, but he could feel an egg building.

He knew he was finished with training for today, dismantled his creation and went to the small brook to clean the sweat and grime that had build up. Soon the teenager was sitting in the rivulet, happily splashing about. The water was pleasantly warm and Alex savoured the feeling.

Back at the orphans camp, they didn’t have free flowing water. They had to collect it from the river and that was a dangerous undertaking, as it held huge fish and possibly more. So they mostly used water for cooking and the sole bathtub was for everyone. If you were unlucky, you were the or one of the last to use it, and only got dirty water. Alex didn’t bath often, as he was mostly on looting trips and came back late.

A snarling sound scared him from his exuberance and the teenager quickly looked for his weapons. He couldn’t find them and his panic grew. But then, a blinking light, a few meters away steered his gaze to the tip of his spear. He jumped up and ran for his weapon. There was no time to don his gear. His undergarments had to be enough.

A dog, at least as high as his navel, stood a dozen meters away, lips raised. It’s long, yellow teeth were clearly visible and Alex gulped. He slowly took a step back, then a second. The dog growled. Alex cursed his inattentiveness. He knew he should have learned by now.

He levelled his spear, hoping his earlier training was enough to kill the animal, if it attacked. Step by step, Alex distanced himself from the dog. It continued to growl and took a few steps forward. Alex conjured his [shadowclone] and that saved possibly his life, as a sudden bellow in his back made him turn. A second dog had snuck up and were just a few steps away. It had jumped forward, but one clone had interposed itself between Alex and the dog.

Instead of the teenager, the dog locked jaws around the clone. Alex still turning, gave the command ‘protect me’, and hoped, that his second clone would hold back the second dog. He ran at the nearer animal, and drove his spear at it. The dog, hopping and tugging at the first clone, could dodge the first strike.

Relentlessly Alex pulled the spear back and with a step forward, swiped at the beast. The second strike hit its target and the dog yowled, but didn’t release the clone. Instead Alex’ shadowclone drove his free fist and his knees in every part they could hit. Alex used the time and took a few steps to the side, so that he could look at both dogs at once.

The second dog had its jaws upon the upper arm of his clone and they struggled on the floor. The clone kicked at the dog, but it seemed useless. Alex, not sure how to react, yelled and ran at the first dog. It was busy mangling his first clone, so it noticed the running teenager too late and Alex pushed his spear into the dog. His speed and weight enough to bury it deep in the dog.

Alex tried to pull his weapon back, but it was stuck. He grabbed to his hip, pulling the dagger, but he wore no belt, no sheath and no dagger. The teenager grew panicky, but before it could root him, he remembered his [shadowweapon] and conjured the misty dagger.

He jumped at the dog, that lay whimpering on the forest floor. Alex noticed the iron smell of blood, mixed with pine needles and wet moss, before his mind snapped back to the moment and he drove the dagger again and again at the helpless animal. “That’s what you get! Fucking Dogs, I love you, why do you do this,” he cried out. Soon the twitching stopped and Alex stood up again, just as the second dog landed with its fore-paw against his chest and drove him to the floor again.

The teenager instinctively raised his arm to his neck, protecting it against the snapping dog. It bit down and burrowed its teeth, deep in his arm. Alex cried out, but his adrenaline wouldn’t let him register the pain.

Angry, he conjured the dagger again, as he had lost it seconds before, but nothing happened. The dog tore at his arm and the wounds deepened. Full of rage, Alex grabbed the Animals throat and squeezed. At first, the beast didn’t react, but soon it’s eyes were bulging. The teenager pulled his mangled arm to the side, the dog still locked firm. He knew, what he did would be worse for his arm, but Alex didn’t care. He wanted to end that animal.

Soon, he could hover above the dog. It wouldn’t let go, so Alex pushed his arm deeper into the maw, with the other, he was pummelling its head. It’s legs were scratching his naked skin, but Alex couldn’t feel anything. The red flimmer in front of his eyes and his rage, keeping the pain away. Alex kneed the dog whenever possible and had switched from hitting the animal with his fist to leaning on its throat. Soon its kicks got weaker and weaker, the growling and yowling grew quieter and went to a whimpering, but the teenager didn’t care. It was kill or be killed in this new world. He couldn’t make the mistake and let it go.

He wasn’t sure if an animal would react that way, but he knew, a human would get their friends and take revenge. So Alex was merciless and soon enough, a new message plopped up.

You have slain: Feral Dog (Lvl 4)

You have slain: Feral Dog (Lvl 5)

You have earned 12 coins.

You have earned 900 unrefined Essence.

Alex waved the message away, and a huge splatter of blood painted his surroundings. “Aaah, fuck! That…Fuck!” Alex scrambled for his clothing, and cut a sleeve off. He held one end with his teeth and with his free hand, bound the wound tight. The scraps on his legs weren’t that deep and Alex knew from his fight with the chickens, that they would heal sooner or later. But he mustn’t lose more blood. The teenager was already a bit woozy.

Alex held the bound arm in the water, in the hope that it would cool the throbbing wound. He remembered his [shadowcloak] and that it would probably would help his healing, but the Skill wouldn’t appear. ‘Ah right, I’m probably out of magicka…I need to do something about that!’ With his free hand, Alex grabbed the rest of his stuff and made his way back to his tree. Right now he needed rest and food. Silently the teenager hoped, that the wound wouldn’t get inflamed.

From his time as rambunctious youth, he knew all the horror stories about, inflammation and poisoned blood. Their caretaker had told them what could happen if they didn’t report an injury.

At the time, it had helped many young boys, as they were patched up, got a knock upon their heads, a tiny task, they had to do as punishment. But all in all, no festering or weeping wounds had to be reported in their orphanage.

Alex soon sat with his back against the tree. He was clothed again, his injured arm not really helpful, as he struggled and jumped about to get his trousers on. If he didn’t hurt so much, he would have probably laughed. If his friends were here, they would have too, but they’d helped afterwards. The teenager sobbed silently. ‘Enough. No time for tears. Refine the essence, bite through the pain and get stronger, so you won’t get hurt again!’ Alex told himself.

He closed his eyes and regarded his essence paths. They were thicker than before. Probably because he had more unrefined essence in his system, than ever before. Alex wondered how much more he could hold at one time, but soon discarded that thought and went to work.

Eight strands of Essence made a whooping 600 refined Essence. And combined with his leftover, that he forgot to allocate yesterday, he had 783 refined Essence. ‘Right, I need more magicka. If I had the dagger before, I could’ve ended it earlier, easier and with less of an arm made out of minced meat.’ Alex pushed 200 essence into his level, but against his expectations, he didn’t get a level. ‘Did I misunderstand Gatex? Why am I not level 2 yet?’ Annoyed, Alex put another 200 into his level, but again, nothing happened. ‘Do I have to sleep, like in my RPGs?’

At his wits end, the teenager shoved the rest of his refined Essence to his status. Suddenly a new system message appeared.

Congratulation, you have gained Level 2.

You have earned +2 Dex, +2 Agi, +1 Str and +2 Free Attributes.

Alex suddenly remembered, that he had never asked, which attribute did what. Slowly and carefully, he put one of his free points into Intelligence, and looked at his status.

Name: Alex Braff

Essence: Shadow (M)

Class: Shadowblade

Level: 2

Coins: 24

Attributes:

Free: 1

Constitution: 5

Strength: 6

Dexterity: 7

Agility: 8

Intelligence: 5

Willpower: 4

Health: 54

Stamina: 56

Magicka: 53

Another system message asked for confirmation, but Alex declined, and tried the same with Willpower. His Magicka dropped to 44, so he decided to put both points in Intelligence. If he had more Magicka, he could summon his weapon more often and keep the cloak for longer. And that helped him with his healing. Maybe he could get a general healing skill from the shop, but the teenager wasn’t sure if he would ever earn that much. It must cost at least a thousand coins.

His new status looked much better.

Constitution: 5

Strength: 6

Dexterity: 7

Agility: 8

Intelligence: 6

Willpower: 4

Health: 54

Stamina: 56

Magicka: 63

Maybe soon enough he would be strong enough to stand against Jones. But first and foremost, he needed more training, stronger skills and higher Attributes. He finally cast [shadowcloak] and the Skill manifested. Alex sighed, and waited for the throbbing wound to calm down. At least so much, that he could use the arm again. He still needed a better shelter.

A few hours later, the morning had gone and it was around midday, Alex stood again. He still could feel his arm burning, but at least it didn’t hurt that much when he accidentally moved, or touched it. The teenager grabbed his gear, put the dagger in its sheath around his belt, clamped the spear under his good arm, and slung the backpack on. He decided to follow the brook deeper into the forest. If he didn’t find a hole or cave, at least he wouldn’t lose access to the water. His stomach growled, but Alex refused to eat dog.

Even if those two were hateful and evil beasts, he still liked them and if he didn’t have to, he wouldn’t touch Dogmeat. Who knew, what stupid things that would do…