Kai woke and began to scream. He then realized he wasn’t in pain anymore. He collapsed back on the bed. “What a fucked up dream.” He sighed and then realized the roof above his head wasn’t his bedroom, it was cloth of some type. The bed was harder than his bed, more like a stone block or a piece of wood. He looked around and a man stood over him.

“Welcome to New Earth. Glad you didn’t die. As your crash course was a little more intense-”

“Where is Emily? What’s going on? How am I alive? Where’s Em? Who are you? And how the hell am I still alive?” Kai started blurting out questions not really certain which was the most important to him as they all meant something to him. “What is this thing blinking in my vision?”

The man sighed. “If you just shut the fuck up I’ll answer your questions. If you hadn’t slept through the introduction I wouldn’t need to do this.” The man stared at Kai and waited.

Kai gulped and nodded.

“Good. As I was saying. Welcome to New Earth. Glad you didn’t die.” The speech sounded memorized Kai noted. “You should notice a blinking notification in the bottom corner of your vision. Don’t access it yet.” He noticed the look on Kai’s face glaze over. “Damn it. I said don’t access it.”

Status:

Kai Jameson

Class: ---

Level: N/A

Health(/R per hour): 33 (16.75)

Mana(/R per hour): 17 (6.75)

Stam(/R per min): 19 (9)

Vitality: 4

Endurance: 3

Strength: 3

Agility: 4

Perception: 3

Reaction: 3

Resistance: 2

Willpower: 2

Intelligence: 3

Wisdom: 1

Control: 1

Focus: 1

Path Points: 6

Paths: Newbie, Protector

Skills: Gun Mastery Lvl. 3, Physical Fitness Lvl. 3, Sword Mastery Lvl. 2, Acid Resistance Lvl. 2

“Go ahead and close your status for a moment as I give you a brief intro. It’s worth it.” He saw attention return to Kai’s eyes and continued. “First, I am Jarrick leader of Squad 27. The guy who put the dagger in that Dweller and saved your life.” A smirk crossed the man’s face and Kai nodded his appreciation.

“Thank you,” Kai got out.

"Shut it. I’m not telling you to brag or get your thanks. It’s why we were sent. It’s been about eighteen months or so since the System came and fucked us. It’s like a game now as you’ve noticed but it’s also not like a game because there is no respawn. You still only get one life. There are some other fucked up things about it but you can read the pamphlet for more information. If you’re interested in learning how to be the best, come to Donnyton, we are always recruiting. We leave in the morning to go home and escort those who wish to come.” With that the man nodded and stepped outside the tent.

Kai looked around the tent and had no idea what to say or do. “Well fuck.” Yup, that about summed up what he was thinking. “Guy didn’t even let me ask a question, like what the hell a path is.”

A young woman about five foot eight with auburn hair to her shoulders stepped into the tent. “Thankfully that’s something I can partially answer.” Emily smiled at him. “Thanks for saving me back there. I’d be dead without you.” She moved towards the cot he was on and sat next to him. “They have this pamphlet and there was a short seminar about stats and paths and skills.” She waved a small packet of papers at him. Her eyes refused to meet his.

“Thanks Em. So you going to this Donnyton place?”

“What? You wake up after nearly dying. Learn the world is like a game. I tell you thanks and you don’t even ask how I am?” She stood up from the bed and threw the packet of papers at him. “I’m fine by the way. Thanks for asking. And yes I’m going to Donnyton, those people are just so strong I can’t even really wrap my head around it. Get off your ass you’ve lazed around long enough.” She exited the tent without looking back.

“Shit.” Kai grabbed the packet of papers and scanned through it. Looked like Paths helped increase stats before one got a Class, sometimes the Paths led to new skills, interesting. Well, life would certainly never be dull again Kai thought. He got up out of the bed and looked around for a new shirt as his old one had been eaten by that monster’s acid. He found a shirt to replace the old one and his gun and holster had been beside the bed.

Kai stepped out of the tent and didn’t see Emily’s auburn hair anywhere. He did see a cookfire with something on a spit that roasted over the fire. He walked over to the group, “Uh, hi. I’m Kai. I’m kinda new around here. Where could I maybe get some food?” He eyed the whatever it was over the fire.

The group chuckled and one stood up. “I’m Garrett and you’re welcome to join us as there is plenty to go around. Welcome to New Earth.” The man started to carve the creature and pass meat out to everyone who just grabbed it. From nowhere the man produced a place that he placed some of the meat on and handed the plate to Kai. “I’ll need the plate back but it’s probably too hot for you to just grab it like us.”

Kai nodded and sat on a log in the group. “Thanks. So are you guys a squad from Donnyton?” He touched the meat and winced, immediately he stuck his finger in his mouth.

More laughter from the group. “No we’re just a small group from Franksburg that wanted to take part in the rescue. How do you know about Donnyton squads already?”

“Had a great introduction to the world. Apparently one of their squad leaders saved my life from a level 8 Dweller that had spit some acid on me. Missed the whole introduction and I’m a little lost on everything.”

The group nodded understanding. “Well you were one of the lucky ones. At least you didn’t see what the Ghosthound did when he arrived. Well, I’m sure you’ve noticed the status screen and weird messages. Right?” Kai nodded and the man continued. “So as you do things you can learn or level skills. Sometimes your actions, or random events, will unlock a path for you to put points into. Before getting a class that’s really the only way to get strong is those paths so I’d really recommend learning about some of the good ones out there. Depending on what you want to do now of course. You can craft and never really fight. Lots of folks doing that too. Franksburg is the place to be at though because its got the most people and where the real innovations are happening.”

Kai thanked the man and ate the meal in silence. So Donnyton or Franksburg. He could of course go to one and always head for the other if he didn’t like it. “Know where I can sleep for the night?” The man nodded and lead Kai to a large tent that had rows of cots in it. “Thanks.” Kai shook the man’s hand, before letting go the man looked Kai in the eye and wished him good luck.