He submerged himself into the water. It was warm, and he shivered in delight. All the blood and grime was washed off his skin after a good scrubbing. It felt good to be clean, again. He felt far more human than the last four months combined. Now, if only there were fishes he could catch in the flowing river. There wasn't. Any, that is. There wasn't even a thriving ecosystem in the waters. Only bare rock and limestone.

It was only through luck that he managed to find a hot spring in this lawless land. Jor groaned with pleasure. Maybe there was a volcano underneath all... this. No wonder, then. This place was about as alive as the undead.

Jor sighed, then checked his stats.

It was odd. He could raise each of his stats through effort and training, but it was difficult. And the more stat you gain, the more difficult it is to achieve another stat gain of the same attribute.

And as for leveling, that was a completely different beast altogether. Reaching a level had taken him months, and only gained him a net five point gain. The five points was not nothing, but it wasn't anything important, either. At least, as far as he understood it. It can still be used to augment any one of his stats, but it still bothered him that even gaining a level was so... unsatisfying.

What was important to understand was, where did all of his stats he had gained, gone? Had they merged when he accessed the next level? It seemed like the most possible explanation. Losing any of his stats because of a level achievement seemed underhanded, and unnecessarily cruel. It would have served more as a detriment then the pursuit of a goal.

Even so, he still had 5 points to distribute, but Jor was hesitant. So, Jor did what he did best: procrastinate. Killing the undead seemed easier than thinking of his future. And no doubt, these points meant something. It had to.

Jor flopped onto his back, floating on top of the water. He watched the dark ceiling with contempt, the dagger-like stalactites seemingly aimed at his heart.

He needed to get stronger. Though the skeletons didn't seem like much of a threat, their sheer numbers could easily overwhelm him. The zombies were fewer in numbers, thankfully. But, they were all the deadlier for it. Their strength and speed granted them an overwhelming ability to dog his steps regardless of how far, or how fast he ran, and their flesh serves itself well as armour. They were terrible fighters, though, and their reflexes were slow. Which, ultimately, allowed him to put them down one by one, even when he faced ten to one odds.

His thoughts wandered off. The thought of family and friends he left behind was like a knife in the ribs. It just kept twisting and twisting. There were many regrets he wished he could undo. It was one of the reasons why he hated the quiet. The silence made him contemplate his past, of his actions and doubts. Music helped with that, as did games or the school and his part-time job.

Every weekend, Jor and his friends would steal his dad's alcohol and buy some joints. They'd go to the park, in the dead of night, and they had fun. Nostalgia was the key to their happiness, and fucking up a part of their experience. A sort of therapeutic moment in his life. Their lives, he supposed.

If he wanted to get back, he needed to be stronger, faster. Better. Jor popped up his stats screen.

Jörmungandr Shesha

Level 2 - +5

Class - N/A Strength - 7 - 4% Endurance - 8 - 80% Intelligence - 6 - 2%

Willpower - 15 - 35% Vitality - 29 - 11% Racial Trait - The Heart of the Phoenix

In the past four months, he had managed to gain quite the acclimated stats, mostly for his endurance, willpower, and vitality. The max number of stats he could earn per stat would be thirty. He knew this because Jor gained thirty stat point in vitality almost unnaturally fast, before he gained level two. Going past it, and getting thirty one was impossible. He assumed it was the same for the rest of his stats.

Unfortunately, he couldn't achieve the same amount for the rest of his stats before he leveled up. So, what did leveling up achieve, other than gain him extra stat points that would only limit it? Jor decided to test his theory, only because his vitality stat was so high, and was a point away from being completed.

Jörmungandr Shesha

Level 2 - +3

Class - N/A Strength - 7 - 4% Endurance - 8 - 80% Intelligence - 6 - 2%

Willpower - 15 - 35% Vitality - 30 - --% +1 Racial Trait - The Heart of the Phoenix

Jor was surprised, but not overly so. The fact that he could get past the limit was ecstatic. But, what would happen if he leveled? The stat was positioned beside the percent symbol may acclimate in the future levels gained, so that gave him hope. Then, what about the other stats that he hadn't completed? Again, Jor decided to test his theory and put a point in strength.

Jörmungandr Shesha

Level 2 - +2

Class - N/A Strength - 8 - 0% Endurance - 8 - 80% Intelligence - 6 - 2%

Willpower - 15 - 35% Vitality - 30 - --% +1 Racial Trait - The Heart of the Phoenix

That... was interesting. The percent gained was lost, and doesn't seem to accumulate as it did in vitality. A little disheartening, but he'd survive. He had two more points. Best left it saved for the future. He needed to train, then. He needed those stats, and badly. The only way to survive was to maximize his stats at every turn before leveling. But the most important question loomed. How the hell does one level? There wasn't any experience points bar to notify him that he was close to a level up, as it does normally in games.

Jor needed to stop thinking the stats as some sort of game. This was the reality. His reality. It took him months to achieve another level, and even gaining stats was time-consuming. The chances of his survival were dimming. If he had luck for a stat, it would be in the negative.

If Jor wanted to survive, he would need to do a lot more than just hunt the weaker ones. He needed to go after the stronger undead. He had to kill the things that roam in the dark. The things that haunt in the dark, like a spider in the corner of his eye. The horror in the dark, a manifestation of fear itself.

Jor needed to go after the monsters that hunt the undead for sport. He was probably going to die.

Eventually, he fell into the arms of Morpheus. Nightmares waited for him.