======
[Name: Bandit Emperor]
[Race: Human(?)]
[Sex: Male(?)]
[Lv: 1 (Exp: 2/200)]
[Class: None]
[Attributes: STR 11, DEX 8, CON 10, INT 8, WLL 9, SPR 6]
[Talents: Possession Lv1]
[Skills: None]
======
Looking at his stats and feeling the slight increase in his strength left SV immensely pleased. He could feel his fatigue had been alleviated somewhat, a testament to his increased constitution, no doubt. He could finally stop the tedious grind. Looking at the horde that was reduced to about twenty in number, he decided to call it quits.
His original plan was to continue hunting them all once he had leveled up by making use of the Fractured Spirit's possession ability. Once they failed the SPR check, they would be annihilated. But, unfortunately, he was met with another barrier.
Not all the Fractured Spirits provided the same Exp. In fact, he had killed three that gave 4 Exp. This meant that it was very likely they had an SPR higher than 6. Of course, he wasn't sure, but for a creature named Fractured Spirit, it was very likely an SPR-based creature, so his guess was very reasonable.
An SPR higher than 6 meant that direct engagement had a chance of capsizing in the gutter. While he still didn't know how severe the death penalty would be, he didn't want to risk losing his hard-earned level. It wasn't worth it. Even if he eliminated all of them by some luck, they would only provide him with 60-odd Exp, not even enough to level up once if his level dropped.
However, he still wanted to know what was going to happen if both the attacker and defender had the same SPR value. And while he couldn't discern the difference between a 3-Exp Fractured Spirit and a 4-Exp one, he knew two 3-Exp ones. One of them was the Fractured Spirit inhabiting his corpse from his first death, and the other was the one he tried to possess. Both had an SPR of 6 which he could capitalize on.
As for the rest, he would simply smash them and leave them here. He would come back when his SPR was higher to gain free Exp. Anyway, it wasn't like they could go anywhere, and if they somehow perished, it didn't matter. He wasn't greedy for their measly Exp.
He grabbed the rocks and fractured tombstones lying around and started hurling them toward the horde. The hail of rocks hit the approaching 20-odd corpses in various places. Ribs were broken and legs were twisted. The crawlers that emerged had their heads broken into pieces one by one. The fearsome march was whittled down until there was only a female corpse left. She had emerged unscathed from the barrage of rocks.
There was no other reason that he left her behind than his need for a vessel to possess. As for why it had to be her specifically and not his old body. Well, he sought novelty. He was already intimately familiar with his body; what was the point of adding another layer?
SV approached the corpse and activated his possession talent. As his gaseous form drifted into her, a system notification flashed.
[Possession has been initiated.]
He once again found himself looking out through new eyes, in a body that didn't respond to him. Then, a strange feeling came. It wasn't the pain that he was accustomed to, but a rejection of sorts that wanted to expel him. He immediately resisted, trying to attack the source instead. As he did, the long-awaited SPR check finally arrived.
[SPR check has been initiated. 6=6. Check delegated. WLL check has been initiated. 3<9. Check passed. Possession successful.]
As the words passed, SV felt his control over the corpse growing. In a matter of seconds, he had gained control over the corpse.
[You have slain a Fractured Spirit. Exp +3]
A grin tried to etch itself on his lips, but they were unresponsive. SV frowned, or he tried to, but no creases were formed.
He tried to move but could only do so stiffly. His body felt incredibly awkward. Each movement came with a lot of effort, as if he were moving through dense fluid.
'So this is why they were so stiff,' he came to realize. He looked at his hands, both skinny and bloody; nails had long since broken off. He tried pinching his arm a couple of times, but felt nothing at all, if anything, he accidently broke away a few pieces of dead skin.
No sensation. No nerves. No feelings. He was in control of a flesh puppet. Whether that would be the case if he managed to take control of a living being, he didn't know, but it would probably be the same. He still remembered how the Fractured Spirit who possessed him had been moving stiffly in his body afterwards.
Well, no matter. It wasn't all downsides. Right now, not to mention that his thirst was gone, even his need for breathing had disappeared. Whether he had infinite stamina, he didn't know, but he felt that it was very likely.
He summoned his profile.
======
[Name: Bandit Emperor(Jessica Eiralyth)]
[Race: Human(?)(Human)]
[Sex: Male(?)(Female)]
[Lv: 1 (Exp: 5/200)(0)]
[Class: None]
[Attributes: STR 11(5), DEX 8(6), CON 10(4), INT 8(2), WLL 9, SPR 6]
[Talents: Possession Lv1]
[Skills: None]
======
Immediately, he understood that the values between the parentheses belonged to the body he possessed. Aside from his possession talent that was on cooldown, there were several curious observations.
One, his WLL and SPR remained the same, proving that they were related to the soul possessing the body.
Two, in a similar vein, the class, talent and skills didn't seem to be inherited. Of course, it might also be that this body had none, so it remained to be seen.
Third and most importantly was the matter of the two question marks next to his race and sex. If previously he guessed that they were related to his identity as a clone, then now he wasn't so sure anymore. Did it mean that, as part of the game's lore, he was an otherworldly being roaming this world by possessing a physical body? Did the other players have the same question marks? Well, no matter.
On a side note, this body's stats were shit.
He brushed off the hair in his vision and moved stiffly towards where his old body was lying. He touched it, and without surprises, a red light immediately drilled into his glabella.
[You have been possessed.]
He immediately felt a foreign invasion in his body, and he directed his will to resist. As he did, the expected system notification flashed in his eyes.
[SPR check has been initiated. 6=6. Check delegated. WLL check has been initiated. 9>3. Check passed. Possession failed.]
He could feel the invasion waning away.
[You have slain a Fractured Spirit. Exp +3]
He looked at his smashed old body and opened his mouth to speak some cringe lines, but what came out was some gibberish noise. He was speechless for a moment before deciding to spare the world his embarrassing act.
He stiffly made his way towards the gate and looked at the two sconces. He looked around for some sort of mechanism but didn't find any.
Was he supposed to find some hidden peace in the graveyard or something? But there was nothing there. Unless they expected him to dig all the graves.
He then turned to the two sconces. He felt that there must be some secret there. After all, with how realistic this game was, they wouldn't just put some light for these corpses, would they? He approached one, rolled up his sleeve lest it catch fire, and inserted his hand into the flame to see if he could find something.
The heat did not register in him at all as his hand touched the base of the sconce. He groped around for a bit. Although he didn't feel anything from his hand, or any part of his body for that matter, the obstruction in the movement would be transmitted back to him if it hit anything.
After a few seconds of blind object mapping, he brought his hand out. The hand was dark, but SV felt that he could still control it.
For completeness's sake, he explored the other sconce as well. Predictably, he came out empty but dark-handed.
Looking at the gate in front of him, he stiffly pressed his middle and ring fingers against his palm. No sooner had he done that than a gaseous fog came out of the corpse's body and solidified into SV's form. The female corpse dropped to the ground.
SV looked at the corpse, and a thought occurred to him. Could he possess a dead body? Unfortunately, his possession ability was on cooldown; otherwise, he would've liked to try it.
Actually, he wasn't out of options. He could carry her corpse and drop it on top of one of the Fractured Spirits lying in their dead bodies. If they could possess it, then he probably could too. But that would take away the only usable corpse around, if it was still usable.
He shook his head and started experimenting with the gate. Throwing rocks, setting it on fire. Mud, blood, whatever he could find. Seeing no hope, he lay on the ground, looking at the dark night in the sky. The silver full moon shone brightly, and a cluster of stars lit up the sky. A dazzling scene not available in his modern city. Save for a few scattered clouds, the sky was clear, allowing for an incredible nighttime view.
Having cleared up his thoughts, he stood up and looked at the gate, then at the surrounding walls. He looked at the walls, stunned in silence. He suddenly smacked his forehead.
"I'm an idiot," he said as he approached the wall near the gate. All around him, the walls of the graveyard were about 4 meters tall. SV was 1.91 meters, and with a good jump and the reach of his hand, he could easily reach 3 meters. So, all he needed was a platform that was one meter high.
The solution was right in front of him, but he was so focused on the gate that he remained oblivious. He immediately started working. He piled up whatever rocks, tombstones, and corpses were lying nearby and built a shaky platform that reached his hips. He stomped it a few times to make sure it was stable before he took some distance.
'Here goes nothing.' He rushed towards the pile, jumping when he reached near it, and used it and his momentum to jump higher. His hands managed to grab the edge of the wall, and with his superior strength, he easily scaled up.
Standing atop the wall, what greeted him was a barren land and the sight of lamps that illuminated huts in the distance, which he assumed were from a village. There was a road connecting the graveyard to the village. He immediately identified his next destination.
Turning to take a last look at the graveyard, he climbed down the wall so that he was hanging from his hands. As he crossed the threshold of the wall, he felt himself crossing some barrier. SV was curious but didn't have the ability to query further.
He pushed himself slightly off the wall to avoid scraping his knees and let go of his hands, thus dropping to the ground.
As he landed, the long-awaited notification flashed in his eyes.
[Your 'Quest: Escape Tipeb Graveyard' has been completed. Exp +100]
A grin couldn't help but form on his lips. He was finally out of this shithole. He turned to look at the gate to see if there was a way to open it from outside. There was a keyhole from this side. He made note of the size of the hole before he took his first step towards the village.
A small step for a clone, a giant leap for him.