Chapter 4: (Revised) (2/2)
Randidly opened his mouth in pained shock, and water flooded his throat. Still, drowning was the least of his worries. His muscles and flesh were eroding. He opened his eyes to see if the wound looked as bad as it felt. The corrosion weakening the tendons of his hand was like taffy being pulled until, snap! The hole continued to deepen.
When his bone became visible, panic joined the water to strangle him. He was going to die today.
But just as his anxiety began to build up momentum, his stubbornness constricted his mind and squeezed out the distracting thoughts. Pain became the sharp prod to move himself forward. Randidly snapped back to focus. I will survive. But I need to know how bad this is first.
He first gulped down a mouthful of water and pressed his lips tightly shut. His brow furrowing underwater, Randidly checked his Status. His Health had sunk to 10, and then it ticked down to 9, and 8. Frantically, he opened his Path screen and dumped the 6 points he’d gotten on the trip into P. Def. Before he could switch back, he noticed another notification but ignored it.
He moved back to his Status screen, pouring all 6 points into End to buoy his Health upward.
His Health rose by 30—no, it was more.
Randidly blinked. Wait, why was it not 30, but 44? Not that I’m complaining about the extra buffer…
Still, the trial hadn’t yet passed. Randidly returned to his intense monitoring of his Health, pushing his head past the surface of the water to gulp down several breaths. The boosted number continued to tick down, but it was slowing in its descent until it stabilized at 12 Health. Randidly dragged his waterlogged body out of the pool and pressed his face against the grass. He sucked in a delicious, still living breath.
Turns out the extra 14 Health I received mattered quite a lot. He dragged himself around and slumped onto his back. Now he considered the notifications he’d previously ignored.
He located the notification that likely saved his life. Turned out he’d thrown PP so frantically into the Path, he finished it.
Congratulations! You have completed the “P. Def Path”! +2 to all P. Def Stats, +1 P. Def point per Level.
Congratulations! You have learned the Skill Iron Skin Level 1.
Randidly couldn’t muster a smile at earning another new active Skill. The determined part of himself took over, and he began plotting new ways to train these abilities. He idly scanned the rest of the skipped notifications.
Congratulations! Your Skill Acid Resistance has grown to Level 5!
Congratulations! Your Skill Poison Resistance has grown to Level 5!
Congratulations! Your Skill Acid Resistance has grown to Level 6!
The healing pool has cleansed your body. You are no longer poisoned. Health will no longer decrease.
Congratulations! Your Skill Acid Resistance has grown to Level 7!
Sighing, Randidly lifted his head, just to drop it back against the grass-covered floor. The ghost of the pain from the acid still hung over him. That had been too close. He wasn’t yet ready to antagonize any lifeform in this place. The worst part was, he had only been splashed by a tiny drop. Even so little an amount ripped a hole in his hand, eating his flesh, and eventually poisoning him.
If it wasn’t for this healing pool…
Shivering, Randidly once more recognized the unassuming specter of death waiting behind him for a fatal mistake.
Yet the stubbornness taking residence in his spine refused to take this lying down. Randidly leveraged himself onto his elbow, grinning. He survived. And as such, he benefited immensely. Not only had he finished the P. Def Path, but he now had 4 more PP to spend on the next Path.
That didn’t even include the new Skill, Iron Skin, and all the PP he could earn from it to push himself along other Paths. Perhaps the Skill would even give him an edge against the frog’s acid vomit.
However, no matter how useful Randidly’s arrogant stubbornness was in the Safe Room, he’d learned his lesson about attacking monsters. Based on how quickly his Acid Resistance Skill Leveled compared to his hours of grinding Physical Fitness, Randidly doubted withstanding a direct blow from the acid would be possible, Skill or no.
Randidly put the 4 PP into the M. Supp Path. As expected, he received two freely distributable Stats and two M. Supp Stats.
Randidly see-sawed between his options, eventually adding both to Control, hoping it would increase the accuracy of his Mana Bolt. At the very least, with the boost of two, he’d gain a better idea of Control’s effects, because it hadn’t changed his Health, Stamina, Mana, or Regenerations.
For the two distributable Stats, Randidly was once again torn. He already experienced a huge boost in survivability with the End increase, but he was beginning to believe the Health he was accumulating was just a drop in the bucket. A direct attack would kill him several times over, even with 10 more End.
Decision made, one point went into Agi, and one into Per. Hopefully, he would have a little bit more of an edge avoiding the vomit next time. Sighing at his still growling stomach, Randidly reviewed his Stats.
Randidly Ghosthound
Class: ---
Level: N/A
Health(/R per hour): 12/98 (34.5)
Mana(/R per hour): 12/22 (9.25)
Stam(/R per min): 5/52 (14)
Vit: 9
End: 14
Str: 3
Agi: 9
Perception: 5
Reaction: 5
Resistance: 5
Willpower: 5
Intelligence: 5
Wisdom: 3
Control: 4
Focus: 3
Paths:Newbie 7/7 | P. Def 10/10 | M. Supp 4/10 | Risk Taker
Skills:Running Lvl 5 | Physical Fitness Lvl 3 | Sneak Lvl 2 | Farming Lvl 3 | Mana Bolt Lvl 2 | Heavy Blow Lvl 2 | Acid Resistance Lvl 4 | Poison Resistance Lvl 4 | Sprinting Lvl 2 | Iron Skin Lvl 1
“Too close…” he muttered, shifting himself into a sitting position. For now, he ignored his hunger. His life was much more important than going without a meal for a few hours. Logically, he understood the human body could survive a day or two without food, so long as he had plentiful water.
Plus, Randidly was tired. He needed to rest and steady his nerve before he returned to the outside world.
Randidly pressed his eyes shut and felt the strange automatic lights switch off as he did so. One thing at a time. First, I need to recover. I can think about the rest later.