STATUS SCREEN

{Stamina exhaustion} You have over-exhausted your body until your stamina regens to a neural/positive value; all actions will expend twice as much energy. {Health Exhaustion}

Health is at critically low levels; please heal or find cover and rest until the mending process is completed.

{Qi Exhaustion}

Full depletion of Qi and bodily reserves, Qi regeneration, halved until physical reserves are replenished.

{Bleeding} Server bleeding from multiple parts of the body Jack Talbot Race: Human Level: 0 EXP: 50/100 Health: 192.5/192.5 Stamina: 154.83/154.83 QI: 154.83/154.83

QI Efficiency 11% Stats Base Total Modifier Strength 11 12.1

0

10%

Constitution 12 13.2

0

10%

Agility 10 11

0

10%

Intelligence 13 13

0

0%

Wisdom 7 11.33

4.33

0%

Health regen 12.65 Per Min 12.65 Per Min

0

0%

Stamina regen 12.1 Per Min 12.1 Per Min

0

0%

Qi Regen: 11.91 Per Min 13.10 Per Min

0

10%

New Skills Acquired Skills Level Description Effect

Cooldown/Cost

{Corrupted Qi manipulation} 1

Through instinctual use, you have used the corrupted variation of Qi

{The body has a will to exist through destruction or creation}

Increase Str, Agi, Con by 10%

Increase Qi Efficiency by 10%

Increase Qi Regen by 10%

(1% increase per level)

N/A

{Corrupted Qi Augmentation} 1 Imbuing your internal corrupted Qi into your body allowed you to exceed your normal capabilities

5% increase to all physical attributes

1% Qi Efficiency

(1% increase per level)

4.45 Qi per sec

{Fist Mastery} 1 N/A

5% Increase in fist damage

(1% increase per level)

N/A

{Running Mastery} 2 N/A

6% decrease in stamina usage while running

(1% increase per level)

Variable Stamina

New Traits Acquired Skills Description Effect {Will To Live} You've shown the tenacity to glimpse at death's door and return

+1 STR,CON,DEX,INT,WIS

{Determination} At all odds, you are determined to survive or die trying.

+2 STR, CON

Ok, that's a clearly creepy message from any game I've played. The corrupted version is either an evil version or has insane drawbacks. This still doesn't explain how I survived, Even with Qi's use now with {Corrupted Qi Augmentation} & {Severe Bleeding}. I should have died. Well, just like my mother always said, never look a gifted horse in the mouth.

I've probably only been out for 2 hrs, guessing from the sun's setting, it's around late afternoons. I'm lucky something didn't pick up my scent and see where the food was. All I can see was plains and trees, no city anywhere; the chances of this happening again is high if this is how the local ecosystem works; up higher, I'm guessing is where the bad shit lives. Too much thinking, I'm starving, and there are 2 "fresh" meals right here. Good thing mom made me go to boy scouts to get me out of the house. I gathered the materials and started the fire; the increase in stamina and regen helped immensely. Using the thinnest rock I could find, I started grinding it up against a nearby small boulder. The edge was barely sharp enough to cut the pelt, but I managed. Using three rocks, one as flat as possible, another two supports it, acting as a makeshift table. I then started a fire underneath the flat rock. I threw the meat on the hot plate watching as it sizzled in the afternoon glow.

The taste wasn't so bad, a mixture of chicken and venison with slight honey sweetness. Not knowing if this just nature's seasoning or what, but goddamn, it was good.

STATUS SCREEN New Skills Acquired Skills Level Description Effect

Cooldown/Cost

{Cooking} 1

N/A

Increase STR, CON, AGI by 3 points when consuming any cooked food for 3hr's.

Additional effects vary off ingredients

8hr's Cooldown

{Butchering} 1 N/A

Increase the quality of all butchered meat

N/A

{Gathering} 1 N/A

Increase the perception of usable materials in the users perceive radius

N/A

{Skinning} 1 N/A

Increase the quality of all skinned pelts

N/A

Min Requirement for {Survivalism} Skills Description Effect

{Cooking}, {Skinning}, {Butchering} {Gathering} combined into 1 skill set

{Survivalism} The art of surviving off the land all exp from the 4 core foundations will contribute to this skill. {Cooking}, {Skinning}, {Butchering} {Gathering}

{Skill Set} that's unique. I wonder how many skills are part of a bigger group and, if possible, are self-made skills a thing. This can quickly become a complicated mess; just imagine martial arts. Would one {Fist Mastery} from one martial group transfer equally to another, and what if their techniques are complete opposites? Will I have separate {Fist Mastery} levels or {Martial group} levels? I need to know as soon as possible if skills are a dynamic or static value if this world is flexible or rigid in what is allowed to happen in it. Rules are the most crucial part of any game, and right now, I'm not even sure death is permanent. Not gonna test that one any time soon, though.

{Cooking} is a pretty useful skill with the 8hr cooldown going off the 3 meals a day rule. I wonder if lowering that cooldown is possible to have a more constant buff source. If I'm going to survive, I need to slay the dragons, save the princess, and discover my own village, the average joe hero's tale, with a slight chuckle to myself.

I tested the new limitations of my body. As I activated {Qi Augmentation}, my body felt lighter and more durable. I could feel my muscles bulge. I could see damn near entirely was the most fantastic aspect, I'm guessing, 2 times better than before. Which isn't much, but I'm at least on par with normal vision now. Before I knew it, I felt drained and could feel the vitality I had just been shown to disappear instantly. Letting my Qi empty was not a good idea. I could feel my body tense up slightly as all the excess energy it stored was used up in the pesky 37 seconds I had activated. Using mental math, I figured out the time duration and how long it would take to regen. Let's just say corrupted Qi is NOT an upgrade. With only a 37-sec max duration but 30 mins to fully regen my Qi. It's almost a 10:1 conversion of whatever fuels my body with Qi, and I know damn well this skill has to be trash tier to operate like this.

Finally filled back up, I decided to keep walking even though I'm honestly scared to go anywhere. I know that being around this much blood and body parts is just not a good idea. I grabbed the pelts and wrapped them around my waist, and started my jog with 2 broken off horns Acquired from the corpse of the [horned rabbits]. The man didn't start with iron but with sticks and bones.

As I jogged, I scanned the areas using {Qi Augmentation} to increase visual acuity. Using it sparingly, I was able to stay ¾ full the entire way. It wasn't until night was about the fall that I saw a flickering of light. To be honest, I had to do a double-take with the skill activated to know what I was seeing was real. I increased my speed, not caring for the stamina cost, and ran with all my might towards the light. Going full throttle made me lose my balance. The extra power output my legs were capable of made me realize that my previous speed wasn't even pushing myself. I could probably give Usain Bolt a run for his money. Even that gave me a small laugh realizing even now. He would 100% mop me.

The closer I got to the flickering light, then I realized it was a lantern attached to a signpost. It had 3 arrows, pointing towards my direction, the opposite of me, then the last to the right. This is definitely a medieval level world. The language is unreadable to me; guessing this was the wildlands of this area, I let lady luck decide my fate. Tossing a horn into the air, which way will I go right or forward. Hitting the ground, it landed towards the right; giving it no second thought, I ran at my full speed. I needed to meet people, and staying out here would make me go crazy. It was close to 30 mins before again; another lantern was spotted with only one arrow. I followed it too. With a small village in the distance, I felt relief for the love of God until I could hear the vast screams emitting from the village. With the distinct smell of smoke, I could tell something wasn't right here.

Middle Age Man POV:

MONSTERS ARE ATTACKING! GET TO SAFETY! NOTIFY THE GUARDS!.

The middle-aged man ran through the village, warning all he could. The wild howl of one of the elemental hounds made a shiver crawl up his spine. He had to get to his wife and kids, get them to the safehouses. They couldn't die. He wouldn't let them with adrenaline coursing through his veins and the determination of father ingrained on his face. He ran with all his might activating every skill at his disposal to increase his speed. Everyone he passed was told, and as word spread throughout the village, chaos erupted; no sense of planning was involved in the shambling of the distraught villagers. You could hear the screams of children, men, and women alike as some were burned to a crisp. In contrast, others chilled to sub-freezing levels with the slightest touch leading towards the entire person shattering. The worst was the electrocuted still alive but convulsing at unbelievable rates foaming from the mouth as their eyes lost focus and rolled towards upwards, almost stretching them from their sockets.

He couldn't stop to help those he cared for, those called his friends, comrades, people who trusted him. Who he has persuaded to help claim this land, create this village and watch it prosper. This dream that he poured his all into has turned into a nightmare that he had no control in. People he's known for years of his life were slain left and right, but the tears coursed down his face did not stop or slow him. But resolved him to have the fate of them not to be the same for his family. As he passed the corner heading to his home, he could see the carnage didn't spread this far yet... He rammed his front door frantically, looking for his wife Emila and his daughter Emily. What he spotted made him proud of the 2 women he cared so deeply for. His wife had the kitchen table laid on its side with the top facing the door crouching behind with her daily kitchen knife in hand. Even Emily, his 8-year-old baby girl, had one standing by her mother's side. He ran towards them and embraced them both; telling them how much he loved them was one of the many things running through his mind. But his body acted on it by grabbing Emily and picking her up, not caring about her soaking wet dress and dragging his wife by the arm.

"We're going to the Northwest safe house. Everything is going to be safe there." As I pulled my wife in closer, I told her in my calmest voice I could muster. "The village is being attacked by elemental hounds right now Just keep running and don't, for the love of Eloes DO NOT STOP."

Using all he had to scan the surrounding area, whispering into his little girl's ear. "It's all gonna be okay. Don't worry, daddies gonna protect you." Those words were spoken with each passing breath; it became his mantra, his chosen path, his reality. The closer he got to the safe house, the bloodier the carnage became; the gore and visceral thrown apart throughout the street almost made him vomit out everything he had from the last two years. He saw what he saw in front of the town, a safe house freezing him in his tracks, making Emilia slam into his rigid back full force. Even then, he did not move. What he saw was a [Ghoul Hound] with a body that was a half-decayed mess with rotting meat hanging from what showed to be it's rib cage, through the bones you could seat a shriveled up heart circulating not blood but some white puss substances. With some dripping from the holes spread through its body.

It was an abomination on all sentient races to bring back the dead. In his mind, he knew the village was done with, and to survive was to escape. The closest exit he could think of was the Northwest exit leading towards the Great Plains. Being bombarded with questions from my panicked wife and soft moans of my daughter as she rested her head on my chest. His mind raced; he needed to make sure they survived; he would die trying. His heart was resolved, and his mind clear. He turned towards his two girls.

He turned to his wife, "I love you, Emila, I always will in this life and the next" before she could respond, I cut her off and continued, with the resolve I knew had no chance of wavering from for this had to be done. "Promise me that no matter what happens from here on out, Protect Emily, Be Safe, and Live A Happy Life Love."

Looking at his daughter, "Emily, I'll be right behind you and mommy, okay." "Listen to her and just keep running," As I moved her head so that we locked eyes. "I love you! Be a good girl and grow up big and strong. Can you do that for me?"

Emily POV:

My eyes stung the more I rubbed the tears away, but they wouldn't stop; they just kept flowing. What he said doesn't make sense; why is he saying he'll be right back? Why is the village being attacked? Where's Hobart and Aliana? Mid Thought, my dad asked me again. "Can you do this?" Looking at him, thinking back to what he asked me, Being a good girl and growing up big and strong? With no thought, I shook my nodded my head. Words failing to escape my mouth.

Middle Age Man POV:

Handing Emily over to Emila, he told her the plan to be, with that their fates were set. "I love you both," he whispered in the crazed world that now was his new home. As my wife and daughter ran towards the exit, I shouted with all my might to attract the hound. Picking up a metal rod broken apart from one of the destroyed stalls. The beast did a low growl staring at the man who dared challenge him.

He did not wait; he knew the beast was startled, and this was the time to attack with no hesitation. Rushing towards it, he crashed into the beast. Using the rod, he jammed it straight into the beast's decaying skull, Hoping to destroy the brain to end this foul beast's existence. Even as he struggled to bash it in, the beast wailed against his body. First, his midsection, then his legs. Using all the force possible, he needed to do something. He let go of the rod and, with his bare hands, grabbed unto the head of the furious snapping beast and activated every skill he had acquired over the decades of farming and wildlife handling, using them in perfect unison with each other. {Grappling},{Fist Mastery}(Leg Mastery}{Qi Augmentation}, {Beastual Endurance}{Beastual Strength} {Beastual Vitality}.{Beastual Dexterity}. He lifted the creature's head and repeatedly slammed it over and over again. Each time he was bitten, the flesh was torn apart, burning as the puss spread infected the open wounds. He did not stop; he did not care. For his life was forfeit, he had only one goal, and that was to kill this unholy beast. As the bloodlust and rage devoured him, the strength of his attacks increased. The beast squirmed for the second time in its life. It would meet death finally and go back to nothingness and which it deserves.

"You Will Fucking Die!!!" I shouted these words to the heavens above with the last of my Qi. I forced it stretched it from my being's very bowels of my being to reach and strengthen every fiber of muscle I possessed. I could feel my muscles stretch, ligaments tear, and joints pop from the overexertion, but I did not care for only death will consume this beast. The beast skull succumbed to the extreme pressure it was withstanding, with a crack and the beast squirms ceased.

Emila, Emily. Be Safe. I'll see you again. Just one more time, would I like to see my two girls smile. Those would be his final words as he succumbed to the [poison] and [decay] that spread throughout his system from the ghoul infected bites.

Emilia POV:

We have to keep running. I know your feet hurt, but we can stop once we get to Algasta and meet up with Uncle Jeremiah.

My feet were bare and bloodied each step. I could feel my skin peel and be pierced by the sharp jagged rocks below. But all I think about was the nightmare my world has become... I activated {Qi Augmentation} and picked up Emily running was still slightly tricky even with the skill activated. This pack must have come from Seathra Forest, but how did they get so close. How could no one see them sooner?

As the speed of her thoughts increased, so did her legs. She reached the gates, and she thought she saw a naked man running towards her in the corner of her eye.