Burgh

I was dry heaving on my hands and knees, I thought I was going to die. No one told me my first time would be so rough and heavy on my body.

Slowly and carefully, I get back to my feet and examine my surroundings. The ground is black and lifeless, and the only plants around are dead trees and bushes. It's dark out, the only light is the full moon slightly obscured by dark clouds. A light fog blankets the land.

Tombstones and grave markers dot the land for as far as the eye can see. I turn around and look for the exit to this sliver, but I see nothing but more dirt, trees, and graves.

“My first fragment is a giant graveyard in the middle of nowhere.” I pick up Flash Gordon, who was unceremoniously dropped when I transported through the sliver.

Leaving a fracture is difficult, the entrance may be in a different location from the exit. I didn't see the fracture I entered, there can be a few reasons for this. One, the fracture was tiny, and I missed it initially. Two, the fracture was invisible, it's exceedingly rare, but it can happen. Normally, fractured look like physical tears in space. Scientists have found a way to move the fractures using special mana-infused objects. The third way is the rarest, an object was holding a fracture inside it, and me touching the object caused me to go through it.

Hopefully, the exit is not hidden in any way, I don't know what to expect in this place. There could be no monsters or monsters that could kill me in one shot. If there are monsters, then they probably have a boss.

Something is moving around, it’s shambling around a good 20 yards (60 feet) away. Getting a little closer, I see its humanoid appearance. Dull white bones garbed in tattered rags and skin. It's slowly walking away from me. Should I try to kill it? I’m only level one, but such a slow and frail-looking skeleton should be fine to take out.

I try to sneak up on this [Skeleton], and everything works out perfectly until I get within 30 feet of the [Skeleton]. Out of nowhere it turns its skull in my general direction, its eyeless sockets stares at my crouched form, and it rushed at me.

Seeing the speed it launches itself at me, I realize this walking anatomy lesson has higher stats than I do and seeing the sudden awareness when I got within a certain range it probably has a [Sense Life] skill or equivalent.

It doesn't have a weapon, but monsters don't need them to tear apart cocky humans. Good thing it's a 2 v 1. I immediately hurl Flash Gordon as hard as I can at this skeleton's face.

Flash Gordon fractures the skeleton’s skull right before dropping to the ground, the monster doesn’t halter and claws at me with its bony fingers. I tried to roll to the side, but the quick skeleton grazes my side, causing me to tumble embarrassingly. On the ground, I kick the monster's ankle, it doesn't faze it, I’m forced to scramble to my feet. Blood starts dripping from my wound, pitter-pattering onto the black soil.

The skeleton turns to look at me, its next swing gets dodged as I back away instead of doing gymnastics. I grab my blade and swing it at the skeleton, hitting its collarbone, the blade is still covered in bandages, there’s not much to cut anyway.

My unarmed attack did nothing, the monster has more Armor than my Might stat. Luckily the skeleton is single-minded, it runs in a straight line at me, and attacks predictably. It's almost double my speed, so I have to get the timing right, or I’m in trouble.

Gripping the blade in two hands, I counter-attack by bringing the blade down from over my head. The force of the attack breaks the left collarbone of the skeleton. If this was a person, they would be greatly limited in attacking, but this undead doesn't seem to care. I was aiming for the head anyway.

This is getting me nowhere, I need to end this quicker, If another skeleton is attracted to the fight then it will be over for me.

I get backed up against a tree.

Fuck.

Instead of tanking this next attack like a mad man, I dodge to the side again and still get caught by the attack. It hurts, my eyes blurred from the pain, not only do the finger bones scrape my flesh away, the momentum the skeleton holds shakes my bones. I'm able to use this opportunity to grab Flash Gordon, who was waiting with bated breath for this opportunity. The skeleton wasn't prepared for what was coming next, I swing my tamed beast at his wretched skull.

CRUNCH

I activated [Donkey Punch] just in case, but it looks like it was overkill. The skeleton instantly goes limp as half of its head gets caved into itself.

[Level Up]

[Congratulations User!] Silent fireworks and confetti stream out of the floating text boxes that appear in front of me

Are systems supposed to congratulate me for everything? It happened to me last time. I check my [Status].

Name: Ellis Vincere. Race: Human

Nickname: The Last Winner.

Level: 2 25/150

Class: Tamer (Rank D)

Titles: Proud Owner of a Rock, Fell the Mighty F (New)

~

Health Points 21/35 (70%)

Mana Points 35/35

Armor Points 8 (Equipment)

~

Might: 5 > 8

Agility: 5 > 7

Vigor: 6 > 7

Mind: 7

Spirit: 5 > 6

Luck: 1 (Dictates Something)

Unused: 6 > 0

~

Traits:

Adaptable [Locked]

Insane E:

Things that affect the mind will have varied results, and not be considered normal. Skewed common sense.

~

Skills:

Companion E (½) lv1

A creature can be designated as a companion with their consent, or if they cannot resist. A companion is necessary for other Tamer skills to work.

Companions cannot have a higher Spirit stat than the Designator

Registered Companions: Flash Gordon.

Powerful Spirit D lv1

Gain one point into Spirit per Level up.

Inspect E lv1

Look at the [Status] of any companion. The low level requires that the other party must be willing.

Donkey Punch B lv1:

Also known as a sucker punch, this abrupt attack can cause immense damage to those who were not prepared for it. Critical Hits Ignore Armor

DMG = Might + Agility

Cool Down: 1 hour

~

Equipment:

Unknown Blade:

The abilities of the blade are sealed. A common way of unsealing an item is getting them appraised.

Damage + 5 (Damage is calculated as Might minus target armor)

Safety Glasses F:

Armor +1

Bluefield Institute Student Uniform C

Other properties of this clothing have been hidden by the manufacturers.

Armor +5

Blue Bull Leather Jacket E

Armor +2

~

I focus on [Fell the Mighty].

[Fell the Mighty

You defeated a creature at least 5x your level! From now on you will gain more experience based on the level difference between you and your victim. The title only functions against creatures higher leveled than you.]

After applying my new attribute points (I couldn’t put any into luck), I open the medic kit that I brought with me and start tending to my wounds. I don't see or hear anything approaching, I take a deep breath and calm myself down. My fight or flight response ends shortly after, causing me to feel a wave of fatigue.

I shake it off and stand up. I still have to find the exit.

My medical supplies consist of bandages, a few vials of disinfecting potion, and a few potions to stop bleeding. The potions are in bottles made of glass, the size of a bottle of eye drops. Inside are also a few pain pills, I’m not damaged to that extent, so I ignore them.

I almost forgot the most important rule inside a fragment, check for loot. I pull up the safety goggles to my forehead and turn the skeleton over onto its back.

It has nothing.

No remnants of crystallized mana, no weapons, and the body aren't even worth much at a glance. I pull the safety goggles back over my eyes.

I notice something floating over the skeleton, a tiny emblem of a purple book slowly fading away.

I remove my safety glasses and the emblem disappears. I quickly put it back on, and I see the tiny floating book again.

When I notice it was about to disappear completely, I impulsively reached out to touch it.

[Conditions Met!]

[Unsealing Safety Glasses F}

Bright light spills out of the glasses, I force my eyes closed to not be blinded by the seal breaking.

[Safety Glasses F > Learning Tool for my Son ?]

What kind of name is that? Did my father make these glasses for me? I focus on the equipment in my [Status]

[Learning Tool for my Son?

Happy 10th Birthday, son. I made this, so you can learn about creatures faster. Using a special technique I learned from studying skill books, I created a new skill for you. After you fill it out, I’ll give you an even bigger gift.]

[Congratulations on gaining the skill Lexicon? !]

[Congratulations on gaining the skill Scientific Insight A !]

[Scientific Insight A has merged with Inspect E !]

The light dies away, leaving only the notifications left. My father never gave me a birthday present before, He always said that he would get me something big for my 10th birthday, but when it rolled around he must have forgotten. I never asked him about it, since I didn’t want to seem needy.

Of course, he gave me a birthday present about learning too, that's just like him to prioritize knowledge over everything else. I wonder why he didn't let me go to school then… Let's check out these skills.

[Lexicon?

A man-made skill that requires the user to have a sense of discovery.

After the User kills or studies a creature, it will be recorded inside the Lexicon. The user can use the Lexicon to read about any creatures that are recorded inside the Lexicon. The Lexicon can be taken out and used as a normal book.]

[Scientific Insight+ A

When the user inspects the target (object, creature, ability, etc.) and the user has a fundamental understanding of the target, the target's information will be revealed. Information is based on combining past knowledge and experiences to gain accurate information.

Inspecting tamed creatures reveal additional information]

Holy shit!