After a while, Aya came back to Earth. ‘While these spells could work miracles in the future, I still live in the here and now. In a situation with a small supply of food and water. With no company and possible monsters around the corner.’ She reminded herself sternly. In no way or shape could she get complacent.

‘When I levelled, I saw that I got 2 free attribute points. Should I use them? Although, in the assessment room, I read that I could train my attributes, except for intelligence. So what is wise? Put the two points in intelligence or just save them for after I get some training in?’. She bit on one of her nails as she pondered what to do. It felt wasteful to not use the points, but she had a feeling that upping your attributes gets more difficult when you get stronger. Or at least, if the System followed even a token of logic. She was also hesitant to use the points on intelligence. So far, the messages had been less than useful. But how many points did she need to spend to get access to AISP’s advice? There were too many uncertainties to make an informed decision. So in the end, she decided to no use the points until she had more information.

Mentally checking the topic attribute points off her ‘need to think about’ list, she decided to take a peek at her Status Screen to see what changed.

Name

Ayzira Woodstone

Age

23

Gender

Female

Class

None -> Healer

Level

0 -> 1

Experience

0/100 -> 120/1.000

Titles

Survivor, Determined 1, An inquisitive mind 1

Afflictions

None

Attributes

Strength

5

Agility

6

Endurance

6

Intelligence

8

Willpower

8

Unassigned attribute points: 2

Skills

Organization level 1

Cleaning level 1

Stealth level 1

Spells

Minor heal level 1

Heal bones level 1

‘Seems the System added my spells and skills to the list. I wonder how those levels work… System Assist, explain the levelling system behind skills and spells.’.

Notice.

Spells and skills are classified according to the difficulty in mastery and your understanding of the skill or spell. Skills and spells can evolve into stronger and better versions. For example, Minor heal can only heal a limited among of injury. With time spent training and increased knowledge of the workings of the spell, it may evolve into Major heal.

The mastery is ranked as follows:

Novice: level 1 through 10

Apprentice: Level 11 through 20

Journeyman: Level 21 through 30

Expert: Level 31 through 50

Master: Level 51+

‘I’m not going to cut myself in order to level up my spells.’ she muttered to herself. ‘I’m not that insane… or desperate.’. She contemplated what she should do in regard to skills. Should I try out things I could already do, such as cooking or reading? Was that even a thing? Or should I focus first on trying to break into the surrounding apartments, to hoard useable things? And with any luck, I could find somebody else. I refuse to believe I’m alone in the building, even though it was a Monday when the shit hit the fan. Plenty of people do not work on a Monday morning… or early afternoon. She hoped that, if all else failed, people would have come back home as soon as possible. Unless there were a lot of monsters out there… Best not to think of that yet, she scolded herself mentally.

‘So, I have the key to Marybeth’s apartment, as well as Jack’s. And I know for certain that Jack’s not around since he’s supposed to be backpacking in Europe. That would also mean that he probably didn’t have any food in his apartment… but I can imagine he has some useful stuff laying around, since he was an outdoor enthusiast. And I know for sure that he does not have any pets, thank God for that. Unless his plants suddenly became man-eaters… but maybe they’ll remember the hand that watered them these past few weeks. That leaves me with the rest of the apartments though. Can’t say I know how to pick locks. Surely, it’s not as easy as sticking a pin in the doorknob and wiggle it around, right?’. Aya resolved to at least try it out. She doubted she could kick the doors in, even if she wanted to make that kind of noise. And she doubted that there was some master key laying around for anyone to steal.

Decisions made, she felt a little lighter. While it wasn’t perfect, she at least had a short-term plan. She would try to get some more sleep since it was still dark outside. In the morning (or when she woke up), she would eat some breakfast, get dressed and get ready to visit Marybeth’s and Jack’s place. With newfound hope, she blew out the candles, shucked of her robe and socks (because honestly, who wears socks in bed?) and crawled under the blankets. Minutes after her head touched the pillows, she was out.