Thump.
The heavy body of a white fur rabbit hit the wooden floor of the tree hollow.
Dustin wiped a smear of yellow blood from his cheek. He dropped his aching body onto the hard wood and crossed his legs. He had spent the entire afternoon crouching in the brush and stabbing passive herbivores. It was tedious work.
"Finally reached the first milestone," Dustin said to the empty air.
He looked at the small pile of dry moss and dead twigs resting in the corner of his dark cave.
"And now I have to rub these stupid sticks together again for hours to ignite a fire," Dustin complained tiredly. "This stupid system does not even come with basic survival features."
Ding.
A bright blue holographic screen flickered to life in front of his face. Dustin sat up and read the glowing text.
[ Level 4 ]
[ Physical Strength: 15 ]
[ Vitality: 14 ]
[ Agility: 23 ]
[ Stamina: 14 ]
[ Perception: 25 ]
[ Bonus Stat Points: +6 ]
Dustin read the numbers. His physical strength was decent. His agility was very high. His gas tank was still his biggest weakness. A stamina score of fourteen meant he could fight for a short duration before his lungs gave out.
"I should put the bonus stat points accordingly," Dustin muttered to himself.
He tapped the digital screen. He moved three points directly into perception. He dumped two points into stamina. He placed the final single point into vitality.
The holographic text updated immediately.
[ Level 4 ]
[ Physical Strength: 15 ]
[ Vitality: 15 ]
[ Agility: 23 ]
[ Stamina: 16 ]
[ Perception: 28 ]
He focused his mind. His invisible spherical radar pushed outward. It expanded past the old boundary and locked firmly into place at twenty eight meters. The expanded early warning system felt incredibly secure.
'Now the special skill,' Dustin thought internally while opening the system message section.
A golden notification box blinked on the screen. He tapped it.
[ 1st Milestone Reached ]
[ Choose one of the two skills as your bonus skill: ]
[ 1. Burst Step: Allows user to sprint at five times normal speed for five seconds. Costs 3x stamina while active. ]
[ 2. Silent Steps: Allows user to walk silently without making any sound. Undetectable by others of the same or slightly higher levels for a few seconds. Costs 2x stamina while active. User cannot use perception while using this skill. ]
Dustin stared at the green text. He dragged a dirty hand down his face.
"This is really annoying to choose one between two things when you want both," Dustin sighed.
He analyzed the options. Burst Step was a great escape tool.
"I really want to increase my speed," Dustin reasoned aloud. "But the stamina cost is too much. Even if I have sixteen points in stamina now that is still low for now. I may increase it by leveling up but still."
Multiplying his stamina drain by three meant he would run fast for five seconds and then collapse in the dirt. He shifted his attention to the second option.
"And the silent steps is also very good for my rogue class," Dustin continued. "I have to get close while attacking. But not using my perception is still a little problem. Oh man."
Using Silent Steps meant his twenty eight meter mental radar would shut down. He would be deaf and blind to his surroundings beyond his normal eyesight.
He minimized the skill window and opened his personal inventory. He noticed a new item box sitting in his digital storage. He tapped the icon.
Clink.
Two brand new daggers materialized and dropped heavily into his palms. The blades were forged from clean steel. The handles were wrapped in tight black leather.
"And I got these two new cool daggers," Dustin said while inspecting the sharp edges. "Okay not cool but still much better than those last ones."
He slid the new steel daggers into the waistband of his torn pajama pants. He brought the skill selection window back up.
'I wonder what rewards I will get on the next milestone,' Dustin thought while moving his index finger back and forth between the two glowing options.
He did this for another ten minutes. He calculated his odds. He preferred to avoid danger entirely rather than run away from it.
Dustin tapped the second option.
[ Skill Acquired: Silent Steps ]
The golden window vanished. A cold sensation washed over his legs and settled deep into his muscles.
He decided to test it immediately. He activated the skill.
Pop.
His twenty eight meter perception bubble vanished from his mind. The sudden absence of the mental radar was highly disorienting. He felt blind. He took a step forward. His bare foot hit the hard wooden floor.
There was zero sound.
He took another step. He tapped his foot hard against the bark. Silence. The system magic completely absorbed the physical noise of his movement. He deactivated the skill. The mental radar instantly rushed back into his head. His stamina bar had already dipped slightly just from those few seconds of use.
He stood up. He walked over to the pile of dry moss. He picked up his fire starting sticks.
"Stupid sticks," Dustin cursed softly as he began rubbing the wood together.
Miles away in the dense center of the tutorial zone a different situation was unfolding.
The Survivors Place was loud. The camp now contained twenty five rough wooden cabins. A thick wall made of sharpened logs surrounded the settlement. Heavy fires burned near the wooden gates. People were shouting and moving supplies.
Inside the largest cabin Andrew sat at a wooden table. His heavy iron broadsword rested against the wall. He stared blankly at his own dirty hands.
Creak.
The wooden door opened. A tall man with greying hair stepped inside. His name was Gareth.
"Do not think too much about that," Gareth spoke calmly. "You cannot do anything about that now Andrew."
Andrew rubbed his face. "I led them out there. A Level 40 beast tore them apart while I ordered a retreat. We lost seven men."
Gareth walked over to the table and rested his hands on the rough wood. He offered cold facts instead of empty sympathy.
"Now that we have both combined our groups and made this The Survivors Place we now have one hundred and seventy eight people to take care of," Gareth stated. "We should focus here first. What happened happened."
Andrew looked up. The crushing weight of leadership was highly visible in his tired eyes.
"We should focus on developing ourselves and preparing for any danger coming and survive this horror," Gareth spoke again. "We need more food. We need clean water. We have civilians who cannot fight. We have to assign strict guard rotations."
Andrew took a slow breath. He reached out and grabbed the hilt of his iron broadsword. He stood up from the wooden chair.
"You are right," Andrew said quietly. "Set the guard rotations. Double the watch on the south wall. Nobody leaves the gates until morning."