I'll away.
He was awake—but his eyelids hadn't gotten the message yet. He pushed, and pushed, until at last they creaked open.
And immediately shut them again as water splashed on top of his eyeballs.
Water was splashing everywhere on him, actually. He was soaked to the bone and more than a little cold.
"It started raining?" Rob sighed. "Is this some kind of cosmic joke?"
No one answered.
Rob brought up his Character Sheet, which thankfully he didn't need to have his eyes open to look at.
HP: 17 / 210
Stamina: 18 / 90
Status Effects: Bleeding (Minor)
His eyes were glued to the screen. Two simple letters and two simple numbers decided whether he would live or die.
He waited, every second lasting an eternity. Panic welled up within him when his HP ticked down, but it ticked back up shortly after, and then again after he waited a few minutes.
For every 1 HP lost to bleeding, he regenerated 2.
Approximately.
Another brain poke reminded him that Do Not Go Gently was off cooldown, and could be used again. He activated it a heartbeat later.
Good enough. Guess I beat the buzzer.
Wonder if hitting 0 is the end, though. Maybe I can go a bit below and be okay?
The core of his being told him in no uncertain terms that no, he wouldn't be.
HP wasn't just an abstract number; it was a representation of his body's ability to keep on going. If he hit 0, it was because he was dead.
Period.
He felt a chill, and it wasn't from the rain.
With laborious movements, he sat himself up and made his way towards the cave. Moving sucked and his arm still hurt like a bitch, but if he stayed out in the rain any longer, he would catch his death of cold.
Literally.
Would be embarrassing to survive a wolf attack and get finished off by the sniffles.
He glanced at where the wolf had fallen. In the time since he'd passed out, the wolf had somehow melted into a black sludge that was in the process of being washed away by the rain. It smelled like old rotten meat.
If Rob had the energy to gag, he would have.
Rob positioned himself inside the cave, right by the entrance, deep enough inside to shield himself from the rain but as far away from the shadowed interior as possible.
He leaned back against the wall, getting comfortable as best as he could with stone protrusions digging into his back, and resigned himself to a long period of waiting for his magical regeneration skill and 10 vague points of artificial hardiness he'd pumped into his body to do their thing.
Which was… definitely something to be examined in greater detail when he wasn't 90% dead.
Minutes passed. His hands got cold, so he shoved them into his pockets.
And felt a crinkle.
Rob pulled out the small scrap of parchment that had been stashed in his pocket, so thin that he'd never realized it was there. The note was waterlogged by the rain and stained with blood, but the two words written on it in flowery penmanship were just legible enough to read:
"Good luck."
—
Character Sheet
Name: Rob
Level: 2
Race: Human
Class: N/A
HP: 20 / 210
Stamina: 18 / 90
MP: 50 / 50
Status Effects: Bleeding (Minor), Morbid Realization
Strength: 13
Vitality: 21
Endurance: 9
Dexterity: 10
Perception: 9
Mind: 19
Magic: 5
Unspent Points: 0
Active Skills:
Identify (LV 2)
Recall (LV 1)
Do Not Go Gently (LV 1) (RARE)
Passive Skills:
Human Racial Bonus – Fast Learner
Speed Reading (LV 2)
Regeneration (LV 1)
Tough Skin (LV 1)
???
Active Skills (Details)
Name: Identify (LV 2)
Prerequisites: Mind 15, spend at least one year of your life specifically seeking out new knowledge.
Description: Imparts knowledge of the scanned object to the user.
Cooldown: N/A
Name: Recall (LV 1)
Prerequisites: Mind 15
Description: Activate to permanently remember any written or spoken words read/heard by the user within the last five minutes. Words committed to memory through Recall can be forgotten at-will at any time. Max 200 words stored.
Cooldown: 1 Hour
Name: Do Not Go Gently (LV 1) (RARE)
Prerequisites: Vitality 10, go through a near-death experience, and exhibit the unyielding will to survive.
Description: When HP falls below 25%, double Vitality and double the effectiveness of all defense and Vitality-based skills.
Duration: 1 Minute
Cooldown: 15 Minutes
Passive Skills (Details)
Name: Speed Reading (LV 2)
Prerequisites: Mind 15, read at least 10 lengthy books.
Description: Your personal reading speed is increased by 20% without a reduction in memory retention or comprehension.
Name: Regeneration (LV 1)
Prerequisite: Vitality 20
Description: Heals 10% of Max HP every hour.
Name: Tough Skin (LV 1)
Prerequisite: Vitality 20, take grievous physical damage at least once.
Description: Reduces physical damage incurred by 10%.
Name: ???
Prerequisites: Reach Level 99, and ???