Taking a step outside Alex was greeted by a most serene sight, a town with no residents, a town with no life. Alex felt a warm feeling surge in his chest, he felt pride. It took him a moment to snap out of his stupor but when he did he started walking towards where he assumed the village entrance was. The half-burnt and ravaged houses looked pleasant, the bright red stains dying the ground reminded him of his earlier battles.

Alex had actually gotten overwhelmed at one point, you could say he bit off more than he could chew. But thankfully that's what gave him his advantage. Alex glanced towards his right hand, he saw a long gash stretching up towards his shoulder. It wasn't that deep, but in some parts you could see tendons. The pain stung but it reminded Alex to not take people lightly. Some petty resistance had gotten him hurt.

He was worried about the wound, but oddly enough it didn't seem to be bleeding all that much. Knowing the wound didn't seem all that bad he left it exposed.

Alex felt reminiscent of his earlier childhood as he looked up towards the sky, the way the ash was falling towards the ground reminded him of something. Alex closed his eyes and took a deep breath, just ruminating in the feeling.

---

"Alex? Are you there?", "Yeah" Alex responded. A childish voice asked "Alex, do you ever wonder why life is so fragile?". Alex responded, "You could say it's the experience of life itself, you see, in order to live you need to 'live'.", the childish voice responded, coughing up some sticky liquid in the process, "I see".

"Alex? Do you wonder if we're alone in the universe?", the voice said as he looked up towards the starry night.

"I believe life is a plague, worming around, struggling, finding ways to survive. So no, I think life is everywhere you look."

"I see"

Alex craned his head to look up towards the stars, he felt tranquility in the moment as bright embers singed his skin.

"It's my turn to ask a question now." Alex said as he looked down at the rubble where a charred figure lay.

"Do you blame me?"

"How can I, you're the only friend I've ever had"

"I see" said Alex, a frown forming on his brow

Alex was feeling weak in his legs, he fell to the floor, he positioned himself so he could look into the eyes of the person next to him. Alex felt the passion to live in those eyes, the will to live. He thought they looked like pearls, iridescent in color and vibrant in depth.

"Are you afraid of death?" asked Alex

"Yes" replied the voice, this time sounding weaker than before.

"My turn" said the voice, "Do you think heaven and hell exist?"

"I believe those are constructs devised solely for the purpose of dealing with death. So no, I believe when you die, you die."

"I see" replied the voice while coughing up blood

Alex looked around to see carnage everywhere. Sirens were going off, buildings were on fire, people were screaming. A large rumble was felt all over, a crack formed that separated neighborhoods. Before Alex knew it, his family had perished, his real parents had actually died earlier in his life but he had an Aunt that took custody of him. He had a hard time fitting in, but thankfully he had a friend who tried his best to keep him company. Inside Alex was going insane, he felt despair as he knew he had been abandoned once again. But even then there was this side of him that took comfort in that. There was a side of him that relished in the pain, a side that finally accepted.

Alex started to laugh uncontrollably "HAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAH", "hhahahAHAHHAHAHHAHAHA". He stared up towards the sky once more and shouted as loud as he could "I SEE!", "HAHAHA HAHAHA".

When Alex lost his breath he finally calmed down, he looked next to him to see how his friend was doing but there was no life in his eyes. Rather a smile was on his face.

---

Alex unconsciously moved his hand towards his nape. If an outsider were to look where Alex had rubbed you'd be able to see burn marks covering the entirety of his back. As he opened his eyes you could see a hint of anger within them.

One could say Alex was never born to be ruthless and bloodthirsty, he surely had a grueling past. But if experience is what dictated behavior then we'd have more doctors, scientists, and just generally better people. After all, not many people have had a past as bad as Alex's.

Before Alex had realized he quickly reached the entrance of the town, a shabby sign was posted saying 'WEL_ OME TO PARA..R' he could see the dilapidation in its features. Alex recalled how the mother from earlier had said they were too poor to have a library in this village, it seemed this sign alone proved that. The poor state of the village sign had reminded him of the poor state he was in.

Alex figured in order to do accomplish his goals he'd need to look presentable, looking down however he was anything but. He was absolutely covered in grime and blood, there was also this very metallic and ashy smell coming off of him. Not to mention his clothes, they were in absolute rags, just barely hanging on, he even had scratches all over. He looked like a beggar practicing to be a zombie. Alex had a sense of style and this disgusted him.

Alex was worried for a moment that he didn't have any clothes to wear but he quickly remembered something. He looked down towards his waist and smiled; Alex was wearing a satchel. He always prepared some spare clothes to change into after he killed his victim but he couldn't do it this time as he was interrupted. Suddenly Alex fell to his knees as he had a realization, he would never be able to see his collection again! Alex had an absolutely marvelous collection, back on Earth he had all the heads he'd collected throughout the years displayed. Alex loved to stare at them, for him they were masterpieces worthy of overthrowing the likes of Michelangelo and Picasso.

Alex slammed his fists into the dirt as he felt true anger, he was absolutely pissed that he'd never see them again, for all he knew he was stuck here forever. He vowed to ruthlessly slaughter whoever was behind this.

Burning with a new goal Alex stood up and continued down the dirt path. Forget cleaning or changing clothes Alex couldn't wait to get his hands on that person. Cleaning up and changing clothes was literally the least of his worries. Alex was already walking at a brisk pace, but he'd figure he'd step up the speed. He burst into an all-out sprint out 35km an hour. Impressive considering he only did the bare minimum of endurance training, he wasn't the kind of killer to chase, rather he was the kind to kill quickly.

Sadly, he could only keep up that speed for around 10 minutes, after which he just walked fast. When he caught his breath however he just ran more. This continued for about two more cycles until he heard a ring > [STR] and [DEX] gained

.....

[ ATTRIBUTES ]

Alex Naverm | lvl-14 | 112-AP |

> Strength 16 [+]

> Dexterity 17 [+]

> Intelligence 20 [+]

> Perception 25[+]

> Talent 50 [NA]

.....

Alex realized that by doing things he could gain stats without spending them. He also wanted to see what would happen if he spent some points, up until now he has not needed to spend any but he figured he should see what they did. Quite frankly he felt a little skeptical, if it was this easy to improve then he would've been a god on Earth. He didn't think it could just magically improve himself.

.....

After he added points

[ ATTRIBUTES ]

Alex Naverm | lvl-14 | 85-AP |

> Strength 30 [+]

> Dexterity 30 [+]

> Intelligence 20 [+]

> Perception 25[+]

> Talent 50 [NA]

.....

Alex wasn't completely blind-sighted by his mission however, if he was he might've dumped everything into dexterity. Alex knew that to run you needed stamina, he also knew strength influenced stamina, so he figured a good rule of thumb was to keep strength and dexterity balanced in order to keep up with the increase of motor functionality. But this was assumed on several things, for one, his stamina consumption. Alex didn't notice this but he had several times more stamina than he had on Earth. Secondly, he assumed the benefits from both stats would be the same. But what were to happen if say dexterity had more of an impact on him than strength. Normally Alex would've thought of this but sadly he was still blind-sighted.

Alex immediately felt a difference, he felt a cool feeling spread throughout him. He also felt as if he was lighter than before. Oddly enough you could see more defined muscles on him. Alex wanted to see how big an impact adding stats had on him, he figured by doubling his stats he should see double the increase in speed.

However, as soon as Alex took a step to run he was sent careening into a nearby tree. He couldn't control his own speed.

Alex was hanging upside down on a branch, and as he looked towards the ground he thought 'fuck me'.

---