Chapter 5: Experience Points

  Time Remaining; 717 Days, 6 Hours, 33 Minutes…

  The leaves brushed up against the scales on his forearms as Ghirzu pushed against the large bush in front of him. While his claws held back the annoying prickly bush, his eyes stayed glued to the floor, looking diligently and carefully for… well Ghirzu wasn’t entirely sure.

  His uncle had brought him along and said it was a “searching mission”, which Ghirzu was excited about because he was a really good searcher. Out of all the Kobolds in the village, he was the best searcher they had.

  It was tough when you didn’t know what you were searching for though. He was only told to look. That was what Doudra had told him anyway.

  “Powerful surge was in this direction, so Chieftain has us looking around. Just look for anything out of the ordinary.” Doudra had said, just before she and the other members of the searching party had left through the village gates.

  He didn’t know what that meant. Finding things that were ‘wardinary’. Wards were magic stuff, he was pretty sure of that, and Ghirzu didn’t know magic. But Doudra was the boss, so whatever she said, Ghirzu would do.

  Now he was out in the forest, looking for magic stuff that out in the ‘wardinary!

  So far he had found many promising things that he was sure his uncle and Doudra would like. He had many cool rocks in his pouch by now, he was certain those would be wanted. He also found a big looking claw to a beast that must have fallen off when it was scratching a tree. It was three times bigger than Ghirzu’s own claw anyway.

  By now it had been a couple hours, and he had to return back to the team so Doudra can look through everything they had found. Ghirzu was positive he would get extra rat at dinner today. He had found many cool rocks after all.

  ***

  Figuring out the ins and outs of a video game system was always an intriguing and exciting task for Alex back in his home world. The numbers crunch and the power building of RPG's was a rush, and he always liked finding the optimal character builds. The time and effort put in were always rewarded with a sense of accomplishment and pride.

  At the current moment though, Alex was sitting frozen, his hand poised in the air as if about to tap on an invisible surface. He was hesitating, badly. Uncertainty crept into his mind and soul like a strangling vine wrapping around his very being.

  Fear, he knew it to be fear.

  Back home the character-building process, the stats and spells screens, all of it was exactly that. It was a game. But here, right now, Alex knew this wasn't "just" some game. This may feel like a video game or computer program from back home, but this wasn’t Alex’s home world. This was something else entirely.

  Whatever this system may be, it was very real. As real as he was. As real as the log he sat under, and the taste of the deer meat that still clung to the roof of his mouth from the dinner he had cooked an hour earlier. As real as the sorrow that swept the world when Danny Devito died in 2051.

  Okay maybe not that real, that was a seriously dark day.

  "Damn it," Alex grumbled. He dropped his hand and let out a sigh of frustration, "I can't make a mistake here. They always say small mistakes in a build can be fixed later, but that isn't always true. Setting the foundations for your build can ripple out for your entire play-through."

  Play-through, he snorted and shook his head. He was still thinking in terms of back home. There wasn't a play-through. The play-through here, being his actual life, Alex knew that. If he died, he wouldn't get to try again with a "new character".

  He couldn't be sure what choice he wanted to make after figuring out the basics of the experience system from Sylvaris. Once Alex left the area where he had met the elf, he returned to the makeshift camp he had created for himself and got to work fulfilling his human needs first. Creating a fire, cleaning and preparing the deer he had killed, and getting a meal made for himself. Once he got his fire going and while the deer had cooked over the flames, he got to poking and prodding at his character screen to learn more about the experience system.

  And oh did he figure some things out.

  First of all, he couldn't just pour experience into whatever he wanted and get a result. Trying to mentally or physically prod the "spells" section for the screen had gotten him nothing at all. Just a jarring noise in his mind that he had assumed meant an error message.

  The same went for ‘Skills’ and ‘Abilities’. It appeared he would have to unlock those or fill them through some other means. Most likely learning the skills directly, or a spellbook of some kind? Alex still wasn't certain about that. So he had moved on to other parts of the screen instead.

  His attempts at clicking on his "core" had treated him to an interesting new message though. When he mentally poked at that line and had tried to "move" his experience there -which was how Alex assumed the process worked- he had gotten the same mental blaring noise, but also a new screen.

  Well, that's new. Un-designated? Element? Further attempts at finding out more had produced no results, and Alex had to give up on it at the current time.

  Lastly, he had gone to his attributes, or his "stats" as most games back home had called them. Alex guessed they played the same sort of role here as they did in his home world. He further surmised that what they did was very much linked to the way they had worked back on Earth as well.

  Strength would be my physical power, how much weight I can lift, how powerful my physical blows would be.

  Alex held his spear in his hand, squeezing it over and over but found no change in his this body's literal strength to his normal body. He was forced to believe this body was either his real one from back home, or such a complete recreation that he couldn't tell the difference. Either way, there was no change to how strong he was here.

  Agility, then, would be how fast I move. How quickly I run, my dexterity in actions and combat. His imagination had him dodging sword blows, and dancing through strikes from many enemies that surrounded him, bringing a smile to his face. Certainly, agility is the way to go. Right?

  The last physical attribute was Vitality though. Would this one be how much damage I could endure? Or how much blood I had? Alex could believe it was akin to his constitution or endurance. He was used to those stats in the video games he played, but he moved on.

  The non-physical attributes -as Alex decided to call them- were Wisdom, Intelligence, and Willpower. He knew the literal definitions of these but had no idea how they translated into the system and his build.

  Maybe my spellcasting power or abilities? I haven't gotten any of those yet, so how useful would these attributes be for me really?

  So, Alex was at an impasse. He knew he wanted magic, and spells, to be a wizard or mage using his powers to alter the world and strike down his foes. It was a dream anyone from his old world would have in his situation.

  Let alone, being the only true means that Alex could think of that would eventually let them get back home. Either through teleportation, or some kind of magical realm hopping. He held out hope that would be an option down the line. If the damn system didn’t wipe them out before that.

  Alex had to be realistic for now though. No amount of "wisdom" or "willpower" was going to improve his day-to-day right now. He couldn't take down a deer, or a badger with the laconic phrase of a witty sage by pumping up his intelligence stat. He needed strength, and agility to match these animals in the forest around him. That would help him most right now, but would it be his best play for the long game?

  Alex was stuck here in the forest currently pondering over that question. Thanks to Sylvaris, he now had information that could take him to civilization. Where he wouldn't necessarily need to hunt random animals for food. Where learning magic was a possibility, and putting his experience into strength was going to be of potentially no help to him.

  "Damn, is there really no newbie handbook on this stuff? Please?" He shouted into the air in front of him, hoping against hope some new screen would appear in his vision.

  Nothing came.

  He was on his own and basically had to trust his intuition and knowledge from his home world. He could figure out the nitty-gritty specifics at a later time, but he had to make a decision now. Everything in him told him that just sitting around with his experience unspent wouldn't be the optimal choice. Improvement to his stats could possibly put him in an advantageous position for tomorrow, and that advantage could let him kill two deer tomorrow, or three. Letting him spend even more experience, and letting his progression basically just snowball from there.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  He didn't know how realistic of an idea that was, it was at the very least partially true. He couldn't horde his experience points, that was a done deal. He just had to make the best decision he could with the information he had.

  Stalling out was exactly what the system quest had told him not do either. It wanted him to perform legendary feats and mythical tasks to prove himself. He doubted there was an achievement for legendary procrastinator.

  Adam would have made a choice by now. He said to himself. Alex’s brother never seemed to hesitate, even when they were kids. Alex remembered his twin brother even going on to the high diving board at the public pool before even using the lower board at all. It had been shocking to the eight-year-old-Alex at the time. He remembered his brother walking out on the board, seemingly twenty feet in the air with not single ounce of fear or worry on his face.

  It was the sheer level of confidence and determination that Adam had modeled for Alex their entire lives. So why couldn’t Alex mimic that now?

  I’m just not as good as him. He thought. This system chose the wrong brother, the wrong guy. Adam would have taken this place by the balls days ago. He gritted his teeth as he thought this. Alex knew this kind of thinking was ridiculous, but it still pressed on him. Adam would have been able to protect and guide the team. He wouldn’t have run away. He’d have a plan and begin to get everyone home safe with confidence and calm. There was no doubt at all in Alex’s mind.

  Alex’s memory as a kid, of that day at the pool proved that even more.

  ***

  He stood off to the side of the public pool with his eyes wide in worry. Alex’s eyes bounced between his brother up on the high diving board, and the water down below. It seemed like such a vast gap, the diving board so high up.

  Alex’s father was sitting on a pool-chair behind him, also looking up at Adam. His father’s face showed concern, and a bit of fear seeing his young sun up there as well.

  “Careful Adam,” His father shouted, “That’s pretty far up.”

  Adam looked to the side at their father, a small smile on his face. He didn’t seem worried in the slightest. “I got this dad. Watch my dive, okay.”

  Alex saw his brother dive cleanly into the water and swim back to the pool edge within the span of a few seconds. It all happened so fast and Alex was blown away. It was not something Alex could have pushed himself to do.

  “Wow bro, that was crazy.” Alex had said as Adam pulled himself from the water. “I couldn’t do that, but you weren’t afraid at all!”

  Adam looked at him with a raised brow for a moment and shook his head. “Of course I was afraid.” He smiled at Alex and gave him a punch on the shoulder.

  “You were?” Alex looked at his brother even more shocked now. “Then why go up there if you’re afraid?”

  “Let me teach you something big bro.” Adam wiggled his eyebrows at Alex comically as he spoke. “If you’re afraid, take a breath and then just make that jump. Simple as that.”

  Alex rolled his eyes, and chuckled. “Just because mom said I’m nine minutes older doesn’t mean I’m the big brother.” He whined. Adam was always saying that, and Alex found it weird.

  “Sure it does. And as the little brother here, it means I get to annoy you and get away with it.” Suddenly, Adam stepped forward shoved Alex over the side of the pool. Alex fell into the water with a shout, Adam laughing over his screams of anger.

  ***

  Alex blinked, mentally pushing the memory away. He had other things to be worried about right now. He went back over the stat options with an irritated scowl on his face.

  Strength would be great, if he was fighting head-on with his enemies, exchanging blows with swords and armor. Alex was not in that situation. He was currently a rogue hunter, stalking the denizens of the forest and taking them out when the opportunity showed itself.

  His time in MMA also gave him the experience to know strength was not everything. He needed the ability to move quickly and strike hard. Kickboxing taught him that. He also needed the dexterity to maneuver his opponent if they were stronger than him. Jiujitsu had taught him that too. So strength overall, wasn't his biggest priority.

  Agility would be his best place to invest. He made his decision.

  Alex took a deep breath… and went for it.

  He mentally poked at the attribute on his status screen and willed his experience points to move there. What happened was not quite what Alex thought the action would result in. The experience points didn't shift from one part of his screen to another as just untethered objective data. Instead, he felt a strange ethereal link from his experience pool, something that felt like it was actually inside his body like an aura both attached to him and also radiating around him.

  He felt this energy begin sinking further inside his physical form. It was the feeling of slowly warming up after being out in the cold, but it also it wasn't. The feeling of a foot slowly waking up after it had fallen asleep from sitting on it too long, yet it was completely different from that as well. Basically it was that fucked up feeling of having deja vu, but it was scary and comforting at the same time.

  A tingle traveled from his feet and toes, up through his legs, entered his torso, and up his neck. It was a sensation like none other. Alex couldn't describe it if he tried, but he felt it.

  The experience pool displayed on his screen changed, the number ticking down by one.

  Alex smiled, relieved that he had figured out how to do it. The worry of sitting with an ever-growing pool of experience points in his status screen as he drudged along, ignorant in this world, faded away from his mind.

  As the second went by, and the tingle in his body did not fade, a new worry started to surface instead. Especially as Alex realized that the screen in front of him showed his experience points continued to drop.

  Oh shit! Alex felt the sensation in his body grow, and he quickly panicked. He mentally tried to shut down the connection between his body and the aura he felt. It responded to him, like a new instinctual sense that Alex suddenly remembered he had. The Aura contracted to his will, pulling from his body and ending the warmth running through his form.

  The tingle faded out completely a few seconds later. Alex could feel that warmth still. That energy suffusing into his body, his muscles, skin, and various tissues like it was feeding and nurturing all of his cells at once.

  He let the feeling wash over him and closed his eyes. It was a strange experience. Once the feeling was gone, Alex reopened his eyes and brought up his status to see what had changed.

  His experience had gone down by six, and the number shown by his Agility attribute had gone up by three percent. Was that the ratio then? One percent for two experience? Alex doubted that would hold true for all his stats though. Agility was already at a base two for him. His vitality and strength were at the base of one. Would he get more of an increase for each experience point in those stats?

  Alex's instincts told him yes. He didn't know the difference in the ratio though, only that there would be one.

  He took a few more minutes to think things over and decided he needed to try a couple more experiments. Spending a point or two of his experience to figure out more information was a trade he was willing to make. Information was power, it was the truest form of power that Alex ever understood. More than strength, more than steel, knowledge was power.

  So he started putting a few points into his other physical stats. He started with vitality, before moving on to strength, seeing what difference there were. He discovered the same sensation of energy entering his body each time, which he welcomed.

  The numbers moved almost as Alex had guessed they would. Each point of experience moved his strength or vitality up by one percent. Each increase was also felt by Alex in his body. Like he had gone to the gym and skipped all the rest and recovery time. His muscles grew ever so slightly more taut and defined, and his breathing came easier.

  It was like magic. It probably really is magic. He thought.

  He then moved on to the non-physical stats. While Alex knew these wouldn't help him right now, he wanted to know what they did and figured he could get some kind of insight by feeling what the energy did to his body.

  This part was more interesting to Alex. Increasing his willpower created a hot tingle at the nape of his neck, just below his skull. Unlike the physical stats, which moved across his whole body, the energy focused here when he increased his willpower.

  Intelligence was similar, but the energy coalesced at a point inside his brain, or his mind maybe? Again, Alex wasn't certain, he only felt the vague intensity of energy in a spot inside his head. It lingered there, before slowly fading.

  Wisdom was the most confusing of them all. The energy almost appeared to converge on the same spot as when he increased his intelligence. Instead of staying in his head at that location though, once it got there, Alex felt it seemingly vanish. It built up and then disappeared like it found a hole inside his brain and just leaked out. It was a bizarre feeling and one that Alex decided not to think about.

  Once he was done with his experiments, he pondered over everything he learned. With the sensations he had felt, he only had very rudimentary guesses at what the non-physical stats did, and decided not to spend time on them for now.

  He ultimately decided agility was indeed where he should put his focus, followed by vitality. He wasn't a brute trying to clobber the animals around him to death. He was throwing his spear and being as stealthy as he could. Agility was going to help him the most here. When he failed to get a lethal strike out the gate, or spooked an animal then Alex was going to have to chase it down and he felt vitality was going to help him in that regard. So he chose to make that his secondary priority.

  Having made his choices, Alex spent the rest of his points. Putting most into agility and then into vitality in nearly a two-to-one ratio. At least for now, that was how he would do things. New information might make him adjust that somewhat.

  He looked at his new status screen.

  He relaxed his body and took a deep breath once everything was done. He felt the flood of energy in his tissues dying down and washing away, completing its work.

  Alex looked at his legs, hands and arms, trying to spot the difference he felt in them. He wasn't exactly stronger, his muscles weren't bigger or able to lift more. Instead, he knew there was a qualitative difference in the muscles and tendons of his body.

  Again, it wasn't a huge change, barely noticeable if Alex had gained this change over weeks or months. Since it only took a few seconds though, Alex felt the shift. He knew he could stretch just a bit further than before. Breath just a small amount deeper. His heart beating just slightly stronger.

  "Interesting," He smiled and picked up the remains of his dinner. He found himself hungry again.

  Hungry for calories.

  Hungry for experience points.