My smashed meal from last night was better than this garbage, how does a hospital run out of non-vegetarian food. I push the meal aside, I look around my hospital room, It’s kind of plain. The television in the corner is playing the news. A pretty elf woman is talking about how there are more unstable fractures appearing, and people are going missing. They probably got caught in something similar to what I went through.

I haven’t told the nurses that I woke up yet, I take this rare moment of peace to go over my notifications.

[Congratulations User for Surviving a Harrowing Encounter!]

[Congratulations On Your New Titles!]

[Fell the Mighty F > Fell the Mighty E]

[You Gain the Title On the Edge]

[On the Edge B

Being able to stay on the edge of life and death for a long period is a commendable effort.

You have a 1% chance of not dying when struck by a finishing blow.

Affinity with Undead +5]

Sweet, a new title. The chance to not die is huge, but with my luck, I might as well not have gotten anything. It looks like. Fell the mighty now gives me even more experience against stronger leveled monsters. I check my [Status] to see how much exp that champion got me.

Name: Ellis Vincere. Race: Human

Nickname: The Last Winner.

Level: 16 300/2000

Class: Tamer (Rank D)

Titles: Proud Owner of a Rock, Fell the Mighty E, On the Edge B

Health Points 200/240

Mana Points 45/50

Armor Points: 0

~

Might: 30

Agility: 18

Vigor: 24 + 3

Mind: 10

Spirit: 36

Luck: 1

Unused: 30

~

Level 16? And what's with my health and spirit?

~

Traits:

Adaptable S

Humans are made to adapt.

Highly resistant to environmental damage.

Greatly speeds up the acquisition of Resistance stats.

Double Health Total.

Insane D:

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

Increased mental defenses.

~

WHAT IS THIS. An S-Rank skill… holy shit, this would be the happiest day of my life. Too bad, my insane trait WENT UP A RANK. I’m not crazy, my therapist says I’m perfectly normal considering my history.

~

Skills

Lexicon?

Scientific Insight+ A

Donkey Punch B lv2: (Level up!)

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: 30 minutes

Powerful Spirit C (Rank up!)

Gain two points into Spirit per Level up.

Hidden Effect: Prolongs slow and painful deaths for up to 10 seconds longer.

Heal Anything D, Empower D lv1, Companion E (½) lv1, Run E lv2, Throw E lv3

~

It’s cool that my only attacking skill leveled up, but why is [Powerful Spirit] worded in a way that makes it seem that it’s a downside. There are certain reasons why people would want a swift and easy death, only masochists would like to be tortured by pain for longer periods. I’m not a masochist, but I wouldn't want an easy death either.

I don’t have any of my equipment on me, the only thing I'm wearing is the issued hospital gown.

[Bluefield Hospital Gown

+25% health regeneration]

I look down at the gown, it looks unassuming. Pure white and sleeveless, it shows off my tattoos. I scramble to get off the bed, and I take off the hospital gown as I run into the bathroom. In the mirror is my normal self, platinum hair is disheveled, my eyes are both there (that's a good sign), and the cuts and bruises seem to have faded.

“Tattoos.” Some tattoos cover my entire body. Archaic runes and geometric patterns lay across my flesh in blue ink. They don't look that bad. It doesn't clutter my flesh and the overall design seems mostly symmetrical, there is a runic circle over my heart and my other pectoral has lines connecting the tattoos to my right arm to my torso.

Is this a by-product of a skill, or did a crazy tattoo artist break into my hospital room? I'm remembering seeing something about a blood seal being broken, maybe that has to do with it. Who would want to put a blood seal on me?

My mom is going to kill me if she sees these tattoos, shit.

I put the gown back on and climb into bed, the vegetarian meal I disregarded reminds me of that bone I picked up. I push a button on the side of my bed three times and wait there, listening to the ambient sounds of the television.

Two men rush into my room, one is dressed as a doctor and the other one is dressed as a government agent.

“How are you feeling Ellis, my name is Doctor R-” the man dressed as a doctor speaks out to me.

“Where are my things?” I interrupt him, Flash Gordon and my loot are more important than introductions.

Your personal effects are currently with your mother in the waiting room, she has been waiting for good news for over 7 hours now. I’m glad that I can give her some.”

“No need Doctor, I’ll go out myself. I go to stand up, but the man in the suit steps up.”

“I’m sorry, Ellis, but I cannot let you do that.” my eyes narrow at this intruder. He continues.

“Don’t be mistaken about my intentions, I need to ask you some questions about what happened yesterday.”

“My mother has been worrying about me, let me speak with her.”

The two men look at each other and and look back at me, the doctor speaks up.

“I’ll let her come here, but you should help the agent when your mother leaves.” He walks off.

The agent seems to feel awkward around me, I just sit in my bed and stare at him. He looks around and acts like the awkward tension in the air doesn’t exist. I’d bet he’d make small talk if it wasn’t for the particular dynamic we are in.

My mother enters the room, she spots me instantly and pulls me into a hug.

“Thank the Gods that you are fine! You don’t know how worried I got when I got a phone call saying that you entered into a fracture all by yourself, what is that institute teaching kids nowadays.” My mother half lectures me, half rants about failing school systems for a few minutes. She was one of the main contributors to why I went to Bluefield Institute instead of serving the army for just long enough for the benefits to outweigh the time spent, then going off into the wilderness with Flash Gordon.

“How did anyone know that I was sucked into that fracture?”

“Your friend, Andrew or something, saw you and reported it to the authorities, you should thank him when you get the chance.” I don't correct my mother, and not having the enforcer’s there with my mother would have been ideal. I could’ve made it to a healer or at least a good Samaritan before I bled out.

The suit clears his voice in a way that implies he is about to speak up.

“Hush, I’m making sure my son is alright.” my mother starts to inspect my face for marks, she also takes an extra look at my fingers, making sure they healed properly. She doesn’t seem to ask about the tattoos, either she is ignoring them on purpose, or I might be seeing things.

I’m not crazy, so my mother must realize that I don't want to talk about them and is expertly avoiding the topic.

The doctor manages to convince my mom that I needed rest to recuperate from any internal injuries I suffered. She hands me my bag. I thank her and immediately take out Flash Gordon from the bag.

“Ask your questions, Mr. Government guy, please keep the questions about the fracture incident.” I look at this guy, he’s only a bit older than I am, he is either excellent at his job or he is a newbie tasked with asking witness statements.

“First, I would like to apologize.” He bows. “I was the one who was supposed to watch that alleyway until we could move the fracture to a safe location.”

He is a super newbie.

Why would he tell me that, it’s not like I was looking for that information anyway, and it's not something you just randomly come across. I don’t answer him, but motion for him to go on.

“I saw a man that matched the description of a serial shoe stealer, the Sneaker Sneaker, so I went off to see if my suspicion were right, but that's when I heard-”

“I meant to go on with the questions.”

He coughs in embarrassment. “What led to you being in that alleyway in the first place?”

“A student named Arlug, and his two goons, chased me down. I ran there for safety.”

“That lines up, a student named Arlug reported that a fellow student got sucked into a fracture, he named you and gave us your mother’s number.”

A vein almost pops in my head. “He left his real name? Why did he have my mother's number?”

“He did leave that name, and for the reason he has your mom’s number, I have no idea.”

I calm myself down. Mom didn’t even know Arlug’s name, he probably got it from a 3rd party.

“What was it like inside the fracture?”

“No sun, only a moon. All the trees were dead, the trees are Nyx trees if that's important. The ground was made up of nothing but grave dirt and grave dust. Tombstones littered the area, and skeletons ranging from level 5 to 10 were roaming the lands.”

“Good, good. Anything else.”

“I came across a long brick wall, following it led me to a mausoleum where I found an underground arena and fought the boss.”

“What was the boss.”

[Lexicon] activates.

[Species: Skeleton Champion

Variant: N/A

Rank: C

This evolution branching off the common undead is available when a skeleton defeats 100 of its kind in a row. They are intelligent, but they typically have a low Mind stat.

The difference between a Skeleton Warrior and a Skeleton Champion is that Skeleton Champions are more proficient in 1v1s and gain buffs in locations where they already won many battles.

There are no additional weaknesses that standard skeletons have, but you can, in theory, use the pride of the skeleton champion against itself.]

I paraphrase the information listed in the Lexicon, the agent looks at me with bright eyes.

“You are smart, strong for your level, honest, and a family man. I like those qualities of yours.” He hands me a card with his number on it.

“I’m not gay.” I try to hand it back.

“That’s my agency’s number, if you flip it over, you can see the name.” I flip the card and it reads. [F.I.B hazard branch.]

“So you work for the Fracture Investigation Bureau, what's this hazard branch all about.” I’ve heard of the Fibs, I remember that their acronym is unfortunate for a government-run agency.

“As you seem to know, the F.I.B is an organization that is dedicated to all things fractures. The hazard branch is a specialized branch that specializes in fractures in especially dangerous environments, and I don't mean just the monsters. The fracture you came out of was filled with a deadly miasma, and you seem to be fine. I won’t push you for the specifics since I’m offering you a job, but-”

“You are offering a job?”

“What do you think the card was for? The job has a decent salary and since it’s a branch of the F.I.B’s you pay fewer taxes on it. There is free medicare for employees as long as the injuries are job-related. And there is health insurance for nonwork-related injuries.”

“Hmm”

“There is dental.”

“This sounds way too good to be the truth, what's the catch. How is loot distributed.”

He exhales and sits on the end of my hospital bed,” The catch is that we are a subdivision in the branch. What our team specifically does, is that we go and clear fractures that the scouts declared as too dangerous for normal users.”

He continues. “Our team is called the Meat Shields, we pave the way for future teams to be able to come in the fracture and harvest its bounty. All the loot we find belongs to us since we have the most dangerous jobs in the agency.”

He looks at me, ”I’m not going to lie, the mortality rate is the second-highest in the bureau and the injury rate is the highest. It’s a dangerous job, and we get well compensated with the loot we risk our lives for, we just have to report what the fracture holds to see the value it has.”

“One last thing Ellis, technically members of our team are not affiliated with the government, you can think of it as a sponsorship instead of direct hiring. I don’t know the exact reasons why, but I believe it has something to do with our team being able to take contracts from other guilds to do the same for them instead of the government.”

“I’m in, you had me at ‘not affiliated with the government.’”

“That's like the last thing I said, regardless, it’s great to have you aboard. My name is Agent Nelson, but you can call me Nelson.”

“What's your first name?”

“...Nelson.”

“What's your last name?”

“... … Nelson.”

“Why the fuck is your name, Nelson Nelson.”

“I was named after my grandfather, he is a chief of the main branch in the F.I.B after all.”

“So you are Nelson Nelson Jr.”

“No, I was named after his last name, which also happens to be the same last name.”

“I’m going to drop the topic, when can I start. I want to reach level 25 before the end of the week.” wait. Now that I think about it, I might have enough Spirit to try to tame that Feathered Boa, but I should do some more research.

“That's great! You will start as soon as you graduate.”

“Huh?”

“What, did you think we were going to hire a college student, you have been there for only one day?”

“... you could’ve said something sooner to not get my hopes up.”

His phone chips. “I have to go, I’ll see what I can do about the job. By the way, the doctor wanted to speak to you.”

Nelson Nelson leaves the room after that declaration, and the doctor that has been waiting all this time steps in.

‘Mr. Vincere, It is my recommendation that you stay here till the end of the day, in case of anything flares up. In the meantime, the F.I.B wanted to give you this.”

The doctor hands me a manila envelope. I skeptically open it since the agent just left, but what’s inside is nothing special.

It’s a piece of paper showing that all my hospital expenses are paid for. There is also a stack of cash inside with a note on it.

‘Please don't sue me, Ellis.” - Nelson

I count the bills, it's like 10,000 dollars. This is nothing compared to what you can make by going into a fracture,

The last thing in the manila envelope is my [Skeleton Gloves] with another note.

‘I got these fixed for you, please don’t sue me.”

[Skeleton Gloves

Black leather gloves with bones anatomically accurate as located on the dorsal surface of the hand.

Armor +5

Vigor +10

Equipment Skill Bone Shot.]

[Bone Shot]

Shoot a bullet-sized projectile that deals Spirit x2 damage.

Cost: Break a finger. 10/10]

Nice! I put them on and immediately feel a difference.

Health Points 300/340

That increases my health by 100 points. Holy shit. I quickly check my equipment.

My [Safety Goggles] are salvageable, not so much for my leather jacket, I’ll have to apologize to Val for ruining the gift she got me. It doesn’t matter what state the uniform is in, my foster father thought it was a stupid idea to buy the warranty on a set of clothing, but my mother paid for it herself. I check out my bio father’s blade.

Unwieldy Tanto A.

A blade forged specifically to draw the user’s blood, its long blade makes it harder to commit seppuku than a traditional tanto.

Damage. +10

Damage to self. +25

Equipment Skill: Sacrifice Health. Forged by Blood Bound by Blood.

Sacrifice Health A

The User damages himself with the blade, empowering his next attack.

Health to damage conversion: 1-1

Forged by Blood Bound by Blood A

The user can only own and use the blade if they share blood with the creator. The owner of the blade can store the sword in their blood without detriment to the owner. In this state, the sword will only be identified as normal blood. The owner can summon the blade or recreate it will their blood. (Recreating the blade will destroy the old one.)

Cost to summon/recreate: 10% of current Health.

[Set ownership as true]

[Y/N]

I know I fell on you before, but you didn't have to be the perfect sword for masochists. I silently select yes.

[Ownership Set!]

I check out the helmet and the bone.

[Champion’s Helmet C

The prized helmet of a champion holds the remnant mana from the now-dead creature.

Armor +15

Might + 10

Equipment Skill, Declare Challenge

Declare Challenge C

The user targets the challenger to a challenge, if the challenger accepts they will be compelled to complete the challenge until they are defeated or if they declare defeat.

The challenge must involve the User somehow.]

This is very useful, it's a bit bothersome to carry because of the horns, but it can be a powerful tool. After I look at this bone, I can figure out what Flash Gordon evolved into.