Lazarus woke up. He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. It was clear that he'd made a major mistake. Lazarus remembered the overpowering urge from the day before. He'd been irrational to the point of suicidal. Hell, he'd charged straight toward that bear and he had actually died. He’d been at zero health. He was literal connected by just pieces of muscle and flesh at one point. It was clear that Lazarus had to focus on some seats a little more than others. He felt that the biggest issue came from the sudden accumulation of stats and specifically from that skill Daredevil. Speaking of that skill, He checked to see if it had leveled. It certainly did.

Daredevil Tier 1: Level 10- Suicidal actions are more likely to have a favorable result

Lazarus wasn't surprised, knowing his luck this may end up being one of his fastest leveling skills. Lazarus moved on to look at the rest of his status. He had leveled Pain Resistance to Level 9. Most of his skills had leveled up including some of his General Skills. He had leveled up 16 times! That meant he had 160 stats to distribute! Lazarus couldn't help but feel that suicidal actions had the greatest rewards.

Lazarus once again chose to allocate his stats before he checked on his perks. He put 25 each in Strength, Constitution, and Endurance. Then because he refused to have the same thing happen to him this time he put 75 points into Willpower! Lazarus refused to allow himself to be so reckless and stupid again. Most of all though he refused to not be in control again. He didn't want to be taken over like that again. If he did stupid things he demanded that it be his choice, not some stupid skill’s Lazarus had only just got here and he didn't want to die just yet. He finished by allocating 6 points to Dexterity and 4 to Intelligence.

Lazarus looked at his available perks.

Perks Unlocked(Choose 3):

Forceful(Strength over 25)- Grants General Skill: Musculature

Overwhelming(Strength over 50)- Doubles carrying capacity, double chance to maim, If strength exceeds opponent then directly halve their health upon blow

Strong(Strength over 100)- 1 Strength per level. 100 Perks limited to 4. (+2 World Walker effect)

Hulking(Constitution over 75)- Grants additional 2 lbs of size per point of Constitution from this point on. Distributes weight over an area. Controllable.

Titanic(Constitution over 100)- 1 Constitution per level. 100 perks limited to 4.(+2 World Walker effect)

Vigorous(Endurance over 25)- Grants General Skill: Vigor

Tireless(Endurance over 75)- Allows you to use Health in exchange of stamina when at zero

Endless(Endurance over 100)- 1 Endurance per level. 100 Perk limited to 4.(+2 World Walker effect)

Nimble(Dexterity over 25)- Grants General Skill: Acrobatics

Swift(Dexterity over 50)- Doubles reflexes and balance.

Smart(Intelligence over 25)- Grants General Skill: Learning

Stubborn(Willpower over 25)- Grants General Skill: Meditation

Hardened(Willpower over 50)- Halves mana costs. Doubles Effect of mana.

Headstrong(Willpower over 75)-Increases mana purity per level. Increase mana regeneration by 200%.

Willful(Willpower over 100)- 1 Willpower per level. 100 Perks limited to 4.(+2 World Walker effect)

Lazarus chose based on his needs. He felt that taking damage was something he excelled at, so he chose Titanic, Endless, and Willful. His choices were logical to him. He never wanted to lose control and he wanted to survive. At the same time, mathematically getting these perks as soon as possible was the best choice in the long term. Now that he didn't have a bear waiting him out, he didn't have to be so selective in his choices. He would only be losing around two stats in Strength if he was careful with his leveling.

Lazarus looked back at his status to see if he’d missed anything and realized that he had a new title.

Congratulations!You have earned the Title: Monster Hunter I

Requirement: Kill monster 25 levels above

Effects: +25% experience, +25% damage

It seemed to be a chain of titles. As he killed things further above his level then the faster he would end up leveling, but the higher he leveled the more experience was needed. He put off the conundrum and looked to the new class skill he seemed to gain every ten levels.

Passive: Life and Death Manipulation Tier 1: Level 1- Enables the control of Life and Death.

Category: Life and Death Magic

The skill couldn't be as overpowered as he thought it was, right? He looked around with his Eyes of Life and Death and saw a still rotting rat. He saw death mana still in the flesh. He looked at the death mana and focused. He tried to move it around and to his delight it did. Then he tried to see if he could make it rot faster. To his astonishment, he saw the rat decompose at a speed visible to the naked eye before it fell apart and became nutrients. He noticed, a living seed underneath the former rat and he attempted to urge it to grow using the rat as fuel. The seed visibly split roots slowly spreading out into the nutrients. It absorbed the flesh and grew taller before running out of nutrients. Lazarus tried to see how far he could push it. He walked up to the plant and touched it. He tried to accelerate its growth. To his shock he did just that. Restoration flowed into the plant. It went through it's full life cycle before producing seeds and withering away becoming dust. Lazarus stared at he hands. He had just forced something through it's whole life. He had the sense that at any time he could have sent a pulse of Ruin and brought its life to a quick end. He saw that the skill had leveled 8 times! Apparently, this was an effective leveling method, screwing with life.

Lazarus finalized his status. Pain hit him. It was akin to being hit by a truck. He'd know. It happened before. He felt it as his muscles grew a little bigger and his shoulders broadened noticeably. He felt himself getting heavier as his skin became closer to stone than flesh. The largest change was in his mentality however. His mind became a steel trap. The pain faded as he regained full control of his body. Lazarus felt amazing. It felt as if he could do whatever he wanted. It wasn't the feeling of invincibility that Luck had brought, but rather a feeling of assurance that whatever he wanted to do. He would do it to the best of his ability. Another thing he noticed was that the mana pool inside him felt odd. It was almost as if it became more responsive? He looked inside himself and realized that the sphere had become less cloudy and he could see a swirling maelstrom of gold and black, Life and Death. It was ever shifting, one moment the gold would transition to black and the next it was back. The mana was still responsive to his will however. He noticed that messing with the plants felt similar to manipulating his mana. He guessed that it was likely the same skill at work as well. He retracted his focus to what was around him. He could tell that he had grown a little taller and broader, but it wasn't as drastic as before. Likely because as he grew larger, then it took a lot more weight and size to increase his height. For instance, the weight difference between someone who was 6 foot and someone who was 6'5" was a lot more than 50 lbs usually. Plus he had to consider how broad he was now. An extra inch on him now was hundreds of pounds. Especially with how dense he was.

Lazarus suddenly realized that he had never tried to analyze certain portions of his status. Now that he had thought of it he wondered what exactly his stats did.

Stats:

Strength(STR)- increases carrying weight, maximum speed, and physical power

Constitution(CON)- increases the hardness, density, and weight of the body,

Endurance(END)- increases the totals of Stamina and health

Dexterity(DEX)- increases coordination, flexibility, and reflexes

Intelligence(INT)- Increases memory, critical thinking, and total mana pool

Willpower(WILL)- affects mana purity and concentration, mental resilience, and Internal motivation

Charisma(CHA)- increases attractiveness, persuasion, and decreases prices at shops

Luck(LCK)-Increases money found, odds in your favor, and the chance of rare events

Lazarus examined the page for a moment before nodding. It had been as he originally speculated. Except for mana purity, which he assumed to be what he had seen in his mana pool. He had guessed most of this.

Lazarus dismissed the screen and set out. He was hoping to explore some of the forest before nightfall. From the look of the sky had about 2 hours left. He had slept late into the afternoon. Perfectly acceptable considering the fight he had the night before. He moved out of the cave and into the sunlight.

Lazarus breathed in the fresh spring air and walked into the shaded foliage.

Lazarus had been walking for about 15 minutes when he ran into the boar.

Forest Boar

Level 52

Lazarus ducked behind a tree. He thought about the situation and decided that he would use this boar to get up to the two levels he needed for his strength perk.

Lazarus exposed himself to the boar. It charged him and he stepped aside before bringing interlocked fists down on the boars neck. He heard a crack and the boar went down. It had been a surprisingly simple victory. He thought level 52 monsters would be much stronger than that. Lazarus nodded to himself as he thought. His bulk shifting from side to side as he considered what the stats of a standard level 50 would be. Considering that he received double stat points, they received 5. This boar should have around 250 total stats. He compared it to himself. He had 568 stats total. In that way he must be comparable to someone at around level 100. He checked and saw that he had luckily only leveled twice. He threw the stats into one throwaway and 1 useful place, 11 in Charisma and 9 in Intelligence. He put it into charisma mainly for the available perk. He also selected Strong. He finalized his stats and felt a sharpening of his mind and a ticklish feeling on his face. He rubbed his face and notice that old acne scars had disappeared and he was feeling impurities that seeped out of his face. He guessed that his face was likely very smooth by now. He rubbed the rest of the impurities off with a broad leaf and checked his newest skill.

Active:Form of Life and Death Tier 1: Level 1- Transformation into a Warrior of Life and Death. Grants mana penetration quality to attacks with body. Increases Constitution and Strength by 5% per minute up to 50%[100%] in combat.

Lazarus was curious as to what this skill did. He willed it to activate and suddenly he was clad in golden armor with pitch-black lining. He checked his mana pool and noticed that the skill had taken 750 mana. Lazarus realized that this skill was something he had to implement in the beginning of a fight. He wondered how long it lasted. As he waited he observed the design of the armor. The armor was right. It was similar to spandex over some areas that required flexibility while others like his shins were layered over with hard golden plates. The armor had black lining around every plate and the tight-fitting portions were black as well. He looked through the Eyes of Life and Death and saw that there were small wisps of death mana that were almost invisible layered throughout the armor. If someone punched him in this state then their fists may begin to rot.

The armor lasted for about 7 and a half minutes before it faded into his skin. As he waited he had been walking back to his cave. Lazarus arrived at the blank wall and walked right through. Once he was inside he laid down and fell asleep for his second night in this world.

Lazarus Gallows Health 1000/1000 5% per min Survivor 40 Mana 819/819 3% per min Class 2 Stamina 1000/1000 5% per min 1190 lbs 6’9” Stats Resistances Titles Perks Skills Resistances Pain Tier 1 Level 10 Blood Magic Tier 1 Level 6 STR 100 INT 63 CON 102 WILL 102 END 102 CHA 25 DEX 50 LCK 50 Survivor Class Skills Active Passive Ruin Tier 1: Level 10 Survivor's Body Tier 1: Level 11 Restoration Tier 1: Level 15 The Art Of Survival Tier 1: Level 11 Survivor's Stand Tier 1: Level 8 Awareness Tier 1: Level 4 Eyes of Life & Death Tier 1: Level 8 Life & Death Manipulation Tier 1: Level 9 Form of Life & Death Tier 1: Level 2 General Skills Identify Tier 1: Level 3 Daredevil Tier 1: Level 10 Ascetic Tier 1: Level 4 Mana Pool Tier 1: Level 3