I stumbled out of the treeline with the monument a ways to the left. My left hand gingerly held on to the handful of leaves and berries I’d pulled from the bush in my departure, the arm as closed as I could make it with how much my arm was throbbing. The bite was a ghastly thing I was currently ignoring, much like the blood on the outside of my hands.

My other arm was holding on to the ankle of the macaque I had thrown over my shoulder, its weight somewhere between negligible and mildly noticeable as I struggled towards what I had started thinking of as my base. It took me an agonizing amount of time to shuffle back, between my wounds and my loot. Eventually, as the sun was about to set, I arrived at the monument.

Not wanting to contaminate my charge with the sand that permeated my surroundings, I laid it against the broader base of the monument. I wasn’t sure if that was sacrilegious, considering the source of the message seemed to be some sort of all-powerful entity, but I’d rather apologize for some sort of blasphemy than have to deal with sand. I was ignoring that my eventual plans for this creature were… not pleasant.

Why couldn’t I have had my first encounter with a rabbit, or something less… tool-using?

I placed my handful of berries and leaves onto the stone next to it. My Survival Lore seemed to indicate that the leaves were edible, too, though they might not taste very good. Some whisper of memory informed me that that was typical for “good for you green things”, so I left them as-is.

With my charge stored for now, such as it was, I made my way towards the water. For the first time, I didn’t stop at the edge and keep going, til my whole body up to my neck was submerged. To my surprise, I didn’t feel the sting of salt I’d expected, though since I hadn’t smelled it either, maybe that shouldn’t have been a surprise? The fact that this was fresh water and yet still had waves was something I noted and stored away. I was too tired, hurt, and mentally overwhelmed to deal with it at the moment.

I stood in the water, letting in wash over me in wave after wave as my arm throbbed and my tears started to fall. The cycling of the waves, in and out, soothed me as I began to process what had just happened.

The sudden and brutal fight had floored me. Though I had emerged victorious, I had almost died.

To a monkey.

A monkey almost killed me.

What did I think I was doing? I, a perfectly average person - by the very definition of the term.

Hell, the monkey punched better than I did. If it weren’t for the fact that I seemed better able to absorb the damage, I’d be dead. If that monkey had struck one more time, I’d be dead. If that final blow had been less damaging, I’d be dead. I’d have Bargained away an entire life, whatever it might have been, for less than a day’s worth of naked adventure.

That would not stand. There had to be something else I could do.

At the same time, I had just killed something - if not someone. I was trying to stay away from the subject of sentience at the moment. That was an issue I wasn’t ready to handle.

My near death experience and relative inadequacy rankled. Was this really what I had Bargained away? Something kept telling me that I was missing something - that there was something I’d overlooked.

I pulled up my Status.

Status

Name: ???

Age: 18

Heredity: Human

Soul Level: 1

Essence: 150/1000

Favoured Class: ???

Classes:

Human Paragon 1

AC 10, touch 10, flat-footed 10

hp 9 (1/9)

Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +2

Speed 30ft.

Melee weapon Unarmed Strike +0 (1d3)

Size: Medium (Bipedal); Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Base Atk +0; Grp +0

Str: 10 (0)

Dex: 10 (0)

Con: 10 (0)

Int: 10 (0)

Wis: 10 (0)

Cha: 10 (0)

Traits: Able Learner, Educated

Feats: 0/3

Skills (Favoured - *) (10/10):

* Acrobatics - 1

Appraisal

Arcane Energy Lore

Arcane Energy Manipulation

* Athletics - 1

* Autohypnosis - 2

Bluff

* Concentration - 2

Crafting (+)

Cryptology

Diplomacy

Divine Energy Lore

Divine Energy Manipulation

Escape Artist

Handle Animal

Healing

Intimidation

Investigation

Ki Lore

Ki Manipulation

* Knowledge (+)

System - 1

Linguistics

Martial Lore

Mechanical Lore

Mechanical Manipulation

Natural Energy Lore

Natural Energy Manipulation

* Perception - 1

Profession (+)

Psionic Energy Lore

Psionic Energy Manipulation

Sense Motive

Sleight of Hand

* Stealth - 1

* Survival Lore - 2

Abilities:

Unbound (Legendary)

Adaptive Learning (7/10)

Equipment:

Mask of the Unbound

I let my thoughts quickly pass over the status, acknowledging the increased Essence and wincing at the low HP. They quickly stopped at a glaring hole in my Status.

Feats: (0/3)

0 out of 3 seemed bad, and something below the surface told me this was bad. But what exactly were feats? I went searching through my mask.

The result soon came up.

Feat: A talent or technique that has been developed, gifted, or uncovered that gives the user a special ability. Where all heredity and class might be equal, feats provide distinction.

I could feel the anger building, til I roared in frustration before wincing at the way that made my wounds sing in pain. Had I seriously gone venturing out without selecting ANY feats? What was I doing? I was already naked and unarmed, but in my eagerness to fill my stomach and start my adventure I had glossed over an incredibly important aspect of my new being.

Still, there was nothing I could do about that now. I sent my awareness deeper into feats and was quickly overwhelmed by thousands of options.I quickly learned that most of these, like classes, I simply did not qualify for. Even trying to limit this to ones I qualified for left me with hundreds of options.

I had to think over my options and my current state. I was horribly wounded, I had almost died fighting a monkey of all things. I had no weapons, no armor, and needed to improve. I triggered my mask and tried to filter the results that would make me more resilient to damage. A number of entries required a certain amount of exposure to specific effects, but only three met my requirements.

Endurance: Your body is better able to withstand the burden of sustained effort gain a +4 on Athletics checks, and a +2 on Fortitude checks against negative effects of your environment or opponents on your body (gravity, suffocation, blunt trauma or discomfort).

Toughness: Your body is significantly tougher than others who share your heredity and training. +3 Base HP and +1 per Soul Level.

Survivor: You thrive in places and situations others find unbearable. +2 to Survival Lore and +2 to Fortitude checks.

While they all seemed appealing, Endurance and Survivor seemed more like long-term investments. They’d add to my Fortitude (currently 0) and improve one of my skills. None of that would improve my chance of surviving if someone bit me or punched me in the head. I chose Toughness without much thought.

You have chosen Toughness as a Feat.

+4 HP.

I could feel a rush of some unknown energy flowing into my body as the sensation of… tightness flowed across my skin. I’m sure I was no larger than I was before, but it felt like my skin - as well as the rest of me - was more dense, somehow. That immediately brought me from 1/9 to 5/13 - significantly better. Encouraged by the approach, I decided to look at my options again. I sent another request, more specifically about the ability to take a blow and keep going, into the pool of feats available to me. Surprisingly, I found a very good candidate, one I hadn’t qualified for before.

Dauntless: From the beginning, where others fall, you stand and keep going. +5 Base HP and +1 HP per Soul Level.

Requirements: Soul Level 1, Toughness

I grinned. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and if I hadn’t chosen Toughness as my first feat, I would have missed this entirely. This would lend me an additional +2 HP per Soul Level, something that would only improve as time went by. Also, for the moment, it would give me an additional 6 HP, bringing me from 5/13 to 11/19. I eagerly picked it up.

You have chosen Dauntless as a Feat.

+6 HP.

I felt the rush of energy, this time finding that it reinforced my awareness than my actual skin. The faint shaking I had barely noticed at the edge of my vision had faded away, and my wounds felt less important than they had prior. My arm still stung, my bones still ached, but it seemed less crucial. I was alive, and my heart beat, and I would face down new challenges as they came. Of course, to do so, I would have to be better prepared. Remembering how much more impactful each of the monkey’s blows had been than mine, and noting that I was:

1) still lacking any form of equipment

2) worse at punching than an actual monkey

I sent my thoughts into looking for available options to improve that situation. A number of options were shown but unavailable, but only one met my needs.

Savage Unarmed Strike: You know better ways to fight using your natural body, through example or experience. You use every part of you to wound and injure your opponents, regardless of civility. Any part of your body can be used to inflict an unarmed strike, and the minimum damage is increased to 1-4 of the appropriate type.

Requirements: Have fought and barely survived unarmed, have experienced or witnessed savage attacks by an opponent of similar form.

The requirements struck me. This was only available because the macaque and I had been so similar? To be fair, the only reason I had survived was because I started mirroring their blows. I suppose it made sense, but it was hard to reconcile. I had tried to approach things peacefully at the beginning, but not very hard. Was that my fault?

Of course not! No one made that monkey attack me. I had only taken a handful of berries, there were plenty left. There was no reason to beat me or attempt to kill me. When attacked, I defended myself, and finished the fight. Would I do it again? Absolutely. I had given up everything for this life, and I would do everything in my power to keep it.

With that wave of determination, and the rush of power and awareness that came with selecting my final feat, I waded out of the water. The eddies had washed my body clean, though the bruises hadn’t gone away. The influx of new HP seemed to have had positive effects on my wounds, though, as the bite on my arm had already begun to scab over, and the dull throbbing of my bruised bones had lessened somewhat. I made my way over to the beach-side face of the monolith, sat down with my back against the stone, and after one more Status check, attempted to sleep for the first time in my new life.

Status

Name: ???

Age: 18

Heredity: Human

Soul Level: 1

Essence: 150/1000

Favoured Class: ???

Classes:

Human Paragon 1

AC 10, touch 10, flat-footed 10

hp 19 (11/19)

Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +2

Speed 30ft.

Melee weapon Savage Unarmed Strike +0 (1d4)

Size: Medium (Bipedal); Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Base Atk +0; Grp +0

Str: 10 (0)

Dex: 10 (0)

Con: 10 (0)

Int: 10 (0)

Wis: 10 (0)

Cha: 10 (0)

Traits: Able Learner, Educated

Feats: Toughness, Dauntless, Savage Unarmed Strike 3/3

Skills (Favoured - *) (12/12):

* Acrobatics - 1

Appraisal

Arcane Energy Lore

Arcane Energy Manipulation

* Athletics - 1

* Autohypnosis - 2

Bluff

* Concentration - 2

Crafting (+)

Cryptology

Diplomacy

Divine Energy Lore

Divine Energy Manipulation

Escape Artist

Handle Animal

Healing

Intimidation

Investigation

Ki Lore

Ki Manipulation

* Knowledge (+)

System - 1

Linguistics

Martial Lore

Mechanical Lore

Mechanical Manipulation

Natural Energy Lore

Natural Energy Manipulation

* Perception - 1

Profession (+)

Psionic Energy Lore

Psionic Energy Manipulation

Sense Motive

Sleight of Hand

* Stealth - 1

* Survival Lore - 2

* System Lore - 1

* System Manipulation - 1

Abilities:

Unbound (Legendary)

Adaptive Learning (9/10)

Equipment:

Mask of the Unbound