Night came, and with it a full moon. The dark was no place for weak humans, scaled beasts prowled the night tall and horrible. They were called Draccons, in the stories they were a group of mages rebelling against the nobles. For their folly the gods punished them and stripped them of their forms. Humanoid and devoid of anything resembling rational thought. They hunted anyone caught outside at night.

Weaker monsters hid in their dens and the strong roared their defiance when the Darccons drew near. One such powerful monster was Stan. Markus stood out in the night, shivering against the chimera’s side. His Pa didn’t know he snuck out. Stan began pacing around him keeping a protective circle around him. The Chimera looked nervous.

“I have to see what real power is.” Stan’s lion head growled. “This isn’t a mistake. They don’t come this close because your stronger right. Show me.” Markus said. Stan’s snake head hissed a loud warning.

A hunting pack of Draccons were getting closer. Now that he could see the dust cloud from their approach, he was having second thoughts. Stan leapt up on his back legs letting out a long, loud roar.

Markus stumbled back and fell on his butt from Stan’s sudden movement. The dust cloud had turned and began heading for another farm on the edge of Northwind Forest. “What did that teach me?” Markus asked no one.

“It taught you to not go looking for trouble.” The old man looked down on him with blood shot eyes. “I thought a Snagger got past Stan and took you in your sleep. There weren’t any signs of struggle. Your Ma thinks I got up for a long piss.”

“You’re not going to ask why I did it?” Markus asked shocked. His pa snorted.

“Boy you're twelve doesn’t take a team of investigators to figure you out. Every boy starts where you’re at. What do I need to invest in to make myself unstoppable?” Markus nodded. “Like every boy you made the stupid mistake of not going to your pa.” Markus deflated and heard Stan’s laughing chuffs. The goat head opened its mouth and guffawed at him. Spit covered his face.

He wiped it away. “I guess I deserve that for stressing Stan out.” His pa nodded. Markus could see the wheels in his Pa’s head turning.

“Alright, I’ll give you the best advice I can give you. Invest in everything.” Markus couldn’t have heard his Pa right.

The winter fairies swirled around covering the ground with moss. Stan snatched one in his mouth and swallowed the fairy down. The others shrieked and scattered.

“But the heroes in the stories all put their points in strength or something.” Markus said.

“Boy, you needed advice and I gave it to you. You can decide if you want to put all your points in strength or not. But if you ever run into anyone stronger, what’s your back up going to be.” His Pa said. “I’m heading back, if I don’t your Ma will think I have bladder stones.” Pa said with a chuckle.

His Pa went back in the house leaving him out in the cold with a fairy chasing Stan. He had 9 points when you withheld the Noble’s point tax. Tapping the air, a blue screen shimmered into view. On it was his stats and a buyer’s page.

Markus could purchase an endless number of skills and abilities. Though when he exited puberty what he bought would be locked. He couldn’t branch out more, but he could increase what he had.

1point stats

Stats – Increase known physical limits by 1% per point. If you can lift 100kilograms without a point in Strength, then with one you can lift 101kilos, with 200, you can life 300kilos.

Strength – Increase muscle mass and physical prowess. Strength minus body mass equals net running speed.

Agility – Increase the reaction time of muscles. Agility decreases the time needed to reach top speed. The more strength the more agility is required to move quickly.

Dexterity – Precise movements often weakened by those with high agility. Dexterity allows control over strength.

Endurance – Increase the amount of time you can maintain peak physical and mental performance.

Vitality – Increase the quality of your body.

Intelligence – For mages it increases the number of spells they can use a day without mental exhaustion. When not casting spells it increases mana capacity, memory retention, and memory recall.

Willpower – For those who wish to battle the Eldritch. Willpower increases mental resistance to madness and morale loss.

Three Points Abilities

Abilities – Powers that humans can’t obtain without points. Purchasing these abilites unlocks the skills involved with them. All users have different potential abilities. The cheaper the ability the more Intune the user is.

Psychic – Allows the user to learn telepathy, telekinesis, and Eldritch arts.

Ice – Allows the user to learn freeze, shape, and Ice arts.

Light – Allows the user to learn Pillar, Chain, and Light arts

Dark – Allows the user to learn tentacles, eyes, and Dark arts

Markus had no idea how he had so many abilities he was attuned with. So, he bought six of the stats leaving agility out. He felt his muscles bulk up slightly. Then he bought Psychic. Something wet started dripping down his lip. He touched it and saw blood. He pushed his hand against his bleeding nose and felt blood drip down his eyes. His heart began to race hammering against his chest. He needed Pa. Pa would know what to do.

Blackness overtook him and he felt something warm curl around him.