Gulcasa could now finally see, see the world before him and smell; an awful smell. “What is that awful smell?” He said out loud. The aroma of the hospice was intoxicatingly foul, how did he not smell it earlier--when he first woke? Blood, vomit, sweat and other unmentionables were drowning his senses from its foulness.

Gulcasa roamed his new sight around his surroundings, the smell of death and sight of agony was what only greeted him. Understanding now why his nose was sensitive to the toxic odors, he silently cursed at his high Perception. Gulcasa wished that the Blood Status came with some form of instructions. ‘Maybe they have?’ He thought. There might have been some sort of schooling for the nobility to understand what the Blood Status actually do, and what the Old Imperium words truly translate.

Ignoring the plethora of smells that was seeping into his nostrils, Gulcasa scrutinize the scene before him.

“Drrrrrr.”

Gulcasa swivels his head to the sound. It was a man heavily bandaged from top to bottom, asleep. Gulcasa froze down into amazement, his eyes dilated, he saw the man in a new light. He could see the particles of dust, snorting out from the man’s pinkish nose, and count the strains of hair on the man’s heavily bearded chin. The wrinkles near the man’s closed eyes were like broken crevasses of a rugged mountain slope.

Gulcasa jostled back from the plethora of information he had gathered from just his sight alone. Luckily for him, his wrist was strapped onto the cot, confining him from falling off onto the grassy ground. Gulcasa irritated by the feel of tight leather on his wrist, jostling the straps--with that action, an idea sparked his thoughts.

The Strength on his Blood Status had a mathematical equivalent to Twelve. If Gulcasa add up a few more decimals, maybe he could break through the leather straps. The Idea was practical to him, ‘It worked with my sight’ he thought. So logic would dictate that it should work with his strength. But would it have hidden consequences like Perception and his sensitive sense of smell?

“I’ll never know, I don’t try.” Gulcasa said, convincing himself to act. Like before, summoning the thought of blood, was easy, especially when the metallic smell was so prevalent in the hospice.

{User: ⊪ ⊫ ⊯ ⋥ 001… Host Corruption}

{Class Rank: ⊪ ⊫ ⊯ ⋥ 001}

{Strength: 12 +}{Constitution: 11 +}{Dexterity: 12 +}{Intelligence: 15 +}{Perception: 40 +}

{Stat Points: 41 +}

The alien letters continued to write down into Gulcasa’s peripheral sight, he was reading it as it quickly prints. Gulcasa paused at the last line, the Blood Status, Stat Points had decreased in decimal. Before it was Seventy-Three, but now it’s Forty-One. What could have caused such an alteration, he wondered. Reading up, Gulcasa spotted his Perception at a large decimal of Forty.

‘Could that be the cause?’ He wondered.

Number figuring both the decimal changes, he surmised that when he increased his Perception by a focused digit, the decimals on the Stat Points decreased by the equivalent amount. Having an understanding of basic mathematics and common hearsay logic, Gulcasa surmised that this would also work and have an effect on the other stats on the Blood Status with their digits.

Having garnered too much information with his newfound sight, he judged that a normal person would not have seen so much in perspective. Besides the reeking odors making him breathe with his mouth, would be too much for anyone; he reflects.

Like before, Gulcasa focused on his Perception, to decrease to a reasonable sum. Twenty, he agreed upon. Not too much, but just enough to be able to normally see. Gulcasa did not know the average decimal for which all people can normally see, but Twenty would be an estimated guess he surmised. Thinking about it further, the idea of doing this, was so bizarre, he reflected. Altering his body to what he intends. Gulcasa pondering thoughts were placed at the back of his mind, he needed to alter his Perception to get rid of the odorous smell.

{Perception: 20 +}

“Huzzah!” Gulcasa said out loud to no applause. The smell that was destroying his faculties were finally gone, well not gone per-say, but less intolerable. Gulcasa experimenting--checked out the scene before him, once again with his new and altered sight.

“Perfect.” He described. The information Gulcasa garnered from his altered sight, was not too much but just enough to be viable for everyday use. Gulcasa spotted a fly on a used bandage near a basin of water, a table away from him. Before he could have counted the number of pupils on the fly’s head, but now it blurred slightly when he dilated his focus onto it. Gulcasa senses felt quadrupled before, but now it felt like just right for the moment. Besides, if he wanted to increase it, he could just do it; he reflected.

Gulcasa felt unnerved again, at the thought of altering his body through the machinations of the Blood Status; on a whim. Pondering, Gulcasa instinctively tried to scratch his stubble but was jostled by the straps that were still confining his wrist onto the cot. He cursed himself for a fool. Distracted by the miracles of his vision, he forgot the reason why he summoned his Blood Status in the first place. To get out of this dastardly confinement. Gulcasa currently felt the bad best he could be, he did not shake to a stupor;like before, besides no arms were missing or anything of the sort. Now is the perfect time to experiment. Gulcasa focused his thoughts on the Old Imperium word for Strength on the Blood Status, adding to the mathematical decimal attached to the same line. Cautious this time, Gulcasa experimented just by adding, one at a time.

{Strength: 20 +}

Gulcasa’s muscles began to extrude and flex out from his body, tearing and building new muscles fibers into his flesh. Holding a scream through gritting his teeth, Gulcasa withstood the surprising pain that came from his action. His tolerance of pain was at the breaking point when his muscles fibers began to overlap on each other, as it defined his body further into an athletic form.

After the pain, the indescribable pain, Gulcasa slump down into the cot from the constant sweat he had recently accumulated. Breathing raggedly, he tried to sit up from his form. The excruciating pain was what only greeted him from the action. His muscles felt sore, sorer than the early days when he was conscripted and doing long practice marches with his brother. Recalling his brother Raicer, and how would wait for him to catch his breath during those long marches. Made Gulcasa grit his teeth in resolve from the pain.

Slumping and sweating on the cot, Medicas Doctor Radolf Almata came walking past. Noticing Gulcasa’s sweat form, the doctor approached the prone man.

“Did you have a seizure again?” The Medicas said, putting his hand on Gulcasa’s sweaty forehead to measure his temperature.

Honest, Gulcasa responded with a negative.

“Interesting. What could be the cause of such a reaction?” Radolf pondered out loud.

“I don’t know, my muscles…Just-” Gulcasa breathing heavily with sore muscles all around him, replied. A thought crossed his mind at that instance, ‘If I say I’m still sick--Than I’ll be confined here further.’

“--It’s nothing, I just, I just panicked, tis all.” Gulcasa half lied.

Radolf removed his hand off Gulcasa after his response. “Odd, you were heating up a minute ago, and then you drop back to normal,” Radolf said, puzzled.

“See, I’m fine, tis nothing.” Gulcasa said, his tongue instinctively going to the common folk jargon. Radolf suspicious of Gulcasa did not reply but nodded once to his words.

“If you say so, Young lad.”

Radolf, scrutinizing Gulcasa, as he laid on the cot. The old man took a long sigh of defeat than turn to leave.

“Doctor!” Gulcasa halted the fair Medicas who about to leave him confined to his cot.

“Would you mind?” Gulcasa barely lifting his arms from the straps that were confining his wrist with a slight jostle.

“Oh.” The Medicas step up to Gulcasa and began to unstrap the straps that were confining him. “Let me get you out of these.” He comfortably said.

Relieved, Gulcasa let the man do his work.

After the Doctor, unstrapped the straps that were confining him. The Doctor gave him a pitcher of water so Gulcasa could sip upon. Sitting up, Gulcasa gingerly with sore muscles, poured the stale liquid down his throat. Cursing himself for being such a fool, instead of experimenting with his body, he could have just called the fair Medicas over to unlatch the straps that were confining him.

“Bloody Blood Status.” Gulcasa muttered.

As the Doctor was about to leave Gulcasa alone, he paused at Gulcasa muttered a curse. The Doctor bewilderingly froze up to the words. Mechanically turning to face Gulcasa, Radolf face was hungry with obsessive curiosity.

“Lad, did you say Blood Status?”

Gulcasa cursing himself for a fool, admitted to the fair Medicas.

“Yes, Doctor…” Gulcasa nervously said, unnerved by the Doctor’s focused attention.

“Are you by chance, gifted with that infamous trait?” The Doctor, downplaying his question, asked.

Suspicious, yet no other way to explain it; Gulcasa answered truthfully. “Yes..”

“Are you sure?” Radolf’s intense stare, made Gulcasa paused for the briefest of moments.

Gulcasa nod his head in the positive, no words to say in front of the intense curiosity Radolf was showing him.

Radolf, staring at him for an uncomfortable amount of seconds, then checked his person. The Doctor took out a notebook and began paging through it.

“Lacea, Lacea...” The crazy Medicas kept saying to himself as he page through his notebook.

Pausing at a page, he read out loud. “Raicer Lacea, Bastard-born.”

Annoyed at what the Medicas was doing, Gulcasa asked. “Why are you looking up my brother, and how do you know he is a bastard?”

Radolf was scrutinizing the page, turning to the next than repeating back to the page where his brother was on.

“Your name is not on here,” Radolf said to Gulcasa and to himself.

“Why would it?” Annoyed at the Medicas, Gulcasa replied snippily.

“All Noble Bloodlines should have been recorded onto military medical documents.”

“But I’m not a noble.” Gulcasa stupidly answered. Of course, he wasn’t a noble, the idea of being one of those pompous individuals sent disgust spiraling through his insides.

“Your Brother is dotted in here, but not you,” Radolf said, a bit peeved.

“If I had known…” Radolf muttered a whisper under his breath.

Gulcasa surprised by how loud the Doctor whispered, went aback. The Doctor seems irregular to him.

“So your mother begot two bastards?” Radolf callously said.

This fair Doctor isn’t all that fair now. Gulcasa Annoyed answered with a “No.”

Radolf scoffed at the reply. “Lad, You were not documented into the military files of being Bastard-born.”

“--So?”

“That means, I have to interview you and examine you, and your stats.” The Doctor unemotionally said. Gulcasa puzzled and annoyed at the Doctor, scrunch back away from the old man. The Medicas was kind and gentle before, now he sounds calculated and cruel.

‘What changed him?’ Gulcasa pondered.

The Medicas took out a syringe from one of his many pockets. He brandishes the medical appliance, like a man ready to commit murder. Gulcasa pushed himself as far as he gingerly could away from the Insane Doctor. His muscles felt still sore, and he surmises standing would give him indescribable pain, but he would do it, just to get away from this man and his sharp needle.

“I’m just going to take a sample. Tis all.” Radolf ruthlessly said.

A panicked shout and scream came from a distance aways from the two individuals. A buxom woman wearing a white apron rushed towards the Medicas from the direction of the shouting.

“Medicas Doctor Almata! Over-Captain Canton is convulsing!” The nurse said to the distracted Doctor.

Gulcasa saw the Doctor’s annoyance on his face, the doctor then callously turn to the near-hyperventilating nurse. “Fine, take me to the Over-Captain,” Radolf said, unfazed.

Turning back to Gulcasa, who was huddled at the pillow of his cot, the Doctor said. “You stay here, I’m not done with you.”

The cruel intent under voice was apparent to Gulcasa. Shocked and surprised, he watched the bipolar Medicas walk away from him.

‘I need to leave this place!’