Alexander found himself in total darkness. He knew where he was. In the seconds before his death, his brain must have done this. It took him to a place he dreaded he would ever remember.

He walked for what seemed like an eternity, trudging on towards the fate he knew was in his path. Eventually, he found it– the locket.

"No... not you... you were just a dream. You were a fable I told myself. You are not real." He spoke softly as he picked it up.

Tell yourself whatever you want... The locket muttered back as the chain started to writhe. A loud thumping followed suit, and it got louder and faster by the second. Alexander shed a single tear. He knew he had no other choice.

"Fine. You can be free." A laugh echoed in sync with the rhythmic beating as a crimson red flowed out from the locket. The world seemed so funny now, like one big joke.

Alexander awoke and saw the lion mere inches away from his face. Time was still slow and things were blurry, but now he was no longer trembling. He saw Kate on the roof just now noticing what was going on, but it was too late. But Alexander didn’t care. He wanted this now.

Time sped up back to normal and Alexander dodged right. The lion fell to the ground as Alexander jumped over its back and grappled its throat, squeezing as hard as humanly possible. The lion reared up and tried to roar, struggling as hard as it could, but Alexander's grip was solid.

Seconds passed as the beast lost more and more of its fight. And soon enough, it fell to the ground dead. As Alexander let go, he noticed claw marks all over his forearms, but he didn't care.

He methodically walked over to the head of the beast, and with a grim smile, he grabbed the lower jaw, placed his foot on the temple, and ripped it away.

The three melee fighters had noticed the commotion behind them, but they were too busy to look back to see if their compatriot had died. They were not too busy, however, to notice Alexander barbarically yawp and sprint towards the other lions.

For a moment, time slowed as they saw Alexander run past them, leap into the air, and bring down a jaw on one of the lions in front of them. The beast, bewildered, fell down as Alexander used the teeth of the jaw to slit its throat.

A sickening laugh echoed through the snow-topped peak as Alexander then ran at the next lion. First, the melee fighters only bore witness to his berserker fury, struggling to keep up with the pure carnage. But then, with a rallying cry from Peter, they followed suit.

Bones broke, blood pooled, and cries of pain and fury were made in the ensuing madness. Alexander cut, slashed, stomped, and wrangled the lions, killing another. The three fighters kept at his flanks while prodding the other lions.

Alexander was in the middle of finishing off a second when a lion leaped up and bit down on his chest. But he did not waiver; he only grinned. He wriggled his hand free and scratched at its eyes, ripping out one of them. And while the beast writhed, it held firm, so he bore his hand into the socket and dug deep enough to put it to rest.

The visceral battle continued, with arrows streaming from the roof and the other fighters at his back. Alexander continued to bash, break, and beat down all the beasts in his path until there were none. And after the counter went to zero, and the last of the life crept out of the enemy, Alexander suddenly became dizzy.

The world shot back into him, and sensations flooded his mind. He saw the majestic sky, and he could feel the frostbite creeping up his toes. The cold drilled into him, made his skin crack, and made his eyes water. The sun shimmered down onto the snow before him, and it reflected back onto his body. After a moment of this shock, Alexander collapsed, the blood-loss getting to him.

-----

Alexander awoke with pain shuddering through his system. The world was now dull and lifeless around him, the gray concrete of the building seeming to suck out the life of this world.

"Hey man." A voice spoke out slowly and cautiously. He laboriously sat up, wincing at the millions of nerves screaming at him. What was one voice turned into nine faces. Brandon had spoken up, Alexander now realized.

"What's up?" Alexander checked his display. The clock now showed a countdown of fifteen hours, and the enemy was now three Yetis.

"Just checking up on you, you've been out for nine hours." Brandon continued, seeming to probe Alexander's sanity.

"You passed out shortly after your..." Peter struggled for a second to find the words.

"Your fucking mental break." Jade sliced in. "You went apeshit for like 5 minutes all screaming and laughing. Are you on drugs?" Jade moved up to him, staring.

"What?" Alexander coughed. "I didn't–"

"Please, we know he wasn't on anything." Sarah scoffed. "We searched you after your episode. And just by doing some basic tests with our limited resources, we know he wasn't on anything. We went over this."

"Right, right. Just, we want to know what happened." Brandon slowly took back the conversation. "You're lucky you're alive, those wounds cost us a fortune to fix up. And you still might be out of commission."

"I–" Alexander struggled for words. Silence filled the air like the smell of sour milk. "I just started fighting, I guess. I just knew I had to do something and joined in."

Brandon rolled his eyes. "Well I've got a new nickname for you. Berserker. Probably like your ancestors or something." Alexander chuckled, but the memories of what he saw started to seep in. He knew he could not go back. He gulped with worry, for he knew the path he was on.

"At least he can fight." Peter chimed in.

"And thanks to the advanced technologies available to us here, I think I can fix you up again." Sarah added with a hesitant smirk.

"I'm sorry." Steven added. He had been in a corner, absorbed in thought. "I saw the ambush, and I just couldn't risk losing our shield generator." Silence again.

"It's fine..." Alexander added. "I understand, the trade of my life for the generator wasn't a good idea. Besides, it isn’t over after we die here." Alexander brushed it off. He felt a bit angry, but ultimately he understood.

"Well, the good news is that we got it stable. It should be fine, all things considered." Steven continued.

"Alright, we got time, and thanks to Berserker over there none of our defenses got tested by the lions." Brandon started. "And during the time you were asleep, we rested a bit and fortified. I'm not sure what else we can do now, so just spend your time leveling up, getting new gear, and most importantly, resting." A scattering of nods responded, and everyone went to their own area in the building. Sarah stayed behind, however.

"Listen, you need to stay in that bed for at least another few hours. Before you woke up, I gave you some more meds, which might make you feel funny. You should heal fast, though, so we'll just see how you are before the next attack." Sarah took a second to review some numbers on a datapad. "Also, just note, you are doped up on morphine right now. I advise against getting addicted to that, even in-game."

"Noted." Alexander said with a questioning head tilt. And with that, Sarah left, going over to Steven. Alexander took a deep breath and laid back. Wait a second... levels. Alexander finally noticed the several messages waiting in his inbox. He opened it and looked through each one.

You killed five mountain lions, x10 level up! x100 credits.

Bonus experience for leveling up ten or more times in one encounter, x5 level up!

You killed a lion with another's jawbone! You've been awarded the title of MOUNTAIN MAN.

You showed strength and bravery on the battlefield, increasing some of your stats +10 STR, +5 DEX, +10 CON, and +20 WIL.

Alexander looked at the message, unsure of what to think. Then another message popped up, this time right in front of him. It was an administrator.

Would you like to undergo a tutorial on stats and levels? YES/ NO?

Alexander clicked yes. The administrator started talking.

As you know, levels 1-100 of your stats are the percentiles your species live in. Everything after 100 is only achievable in the game.

You start at level zero in the game. With your recent encounter, you leveled up 15 times. You are now level fifteen. When you level up, you earn points to either spend on your stats or skills. For the first ten levels, you get ten points for each level. For the next ninety, you get five. For level one-hundred-and-one through two-hundred, you get two, then everything beyond is one. At certain milestones, you may be granted additional points. Currently, you have seventy five points to spend.

You can level up your stats by working on them instead of spending points earned by leveling. For example, you can improve your strength by exercising or your dexterity by daily stretching. At first, you may increase these stats by a lot, but over time your yield will decrease.

Skills are unlocked by using points. I recommend starting with the ‘general’ tab, as they are basic skills you can acquire to create a diverse skillset. Many tabs are skill trees focused on your class. There are technically an infinite number of classes, but the major ones are Fighter, Rogue, Mage, Bard, Paladin, Hunter, and Machinist. You will get your class when you complete the tutorial. At a certain level, you will also gain a subclass. There are an infinite number of those too, but each class has a few major ones.

Skills are sorted into two sets: abilities and feats. Abilities are skills that you actively use, such as martial arts or sniping, while feats are skills that you passively use or are simply part of your character.

Abilities start at the title initiate, then go to intermediate, adept, master, then very rarely zenith.

Feats start at basic, then go to advanced, extraordinary, indomitable, then very rarely unimaginable.

Certain items will grant you bonuses for your stats, and most items in the game require certain amounts of varying stats. Some items are even level restricted. Do you have any questions?

Alexander paused, taking in the new information. No thing came to his mind, so he shook his head no and the window went away.

Alexander looked at his stats.

Strength (STR) 45 +0

Dexterity (DEX) 22 +0

Constitution (CON) 30 +0

Intelligence (INT) 57 +0

Wisdom (WIS) 18 +0

Charisma (CHA) 5 +0

Willpower (WIL) 33 +0

Perception (PER) 28 +0

He moved around a bit, despite the pain, and indeed felt stronger. It was... strange. Ever since he joined the game, he felt like he was at the peak of his life, with everything at maximum. But now that feeling had increased, and he felt stronger than ever before. His muscles even looked more defined.

Alexander took a second more of admiring himself, then switched over to the ‘skills’ tab. Immediately, he was bombarded by options, so he took the advice of the administrator and went over to the general tab.

He took a look and saw an interconnected web of skills. They all traced back to each other in some way, and most of them were blocked off. Near the center, there were a few main skills, some of them being abilities while others were feats.

Martial Arts Initiate – Cost: 50

You start on the path of learning how to fight melee style. This perks allows the user to better understand how to fight, and provides a basic understanding of key principles with martial arts. It also enables the user to have a very limited understanding of weapons, allowing quicker learning of those skills.

Willpower – Cost: 20

By taking this feat, the user is able to use their willpower more extensively, allowing them to overcome obstacles they thought they otherwise couldn't. It also increases your resistance to charming spells and similar magical effects. By taking this feat, you can also upgrade it by overcoming impossible odds.

Breathing Techniques – Cost: 100

This feat allows the user to understand the power of breathing. It can quell fear, control body temperature, increase strength for short bursts, and do other amazing things. It allows for a basic understanding of using one's breath for different purposes, letting the user grow these into solidified practices.

Resistance – Cost: 100

This feat allows the user to have a basic resistance to outside effects like temperature or wind. it is not impervious, but it does increase one's ability to withstand the elements.

Alexander looked at them, thinking. He didn't have enough for all the ones he wanted, so after doing some poor mental math, he chose to take Martial Arts Initiate and Willpower. He decided to keep the extra five for any future upgrades. And with a tired brain, he went back into a deep slumber.