Chapter 4: Prove Your Worth

  Jack stood alone among the flowers, wondering what to do now. “Be the toad and survive,” Jack said. “What kind of tutorial was that? I barely know anything.” He took a deep breath. Jasper mentioned that this space would exist for twenty-four hours or until he left, so he wasn’t being rushed out right away. He still had some time to think.

  He flipped through his menu System again. It was mostly lacking, but he imagined it would fill out as he discovered more and grew stronger but there were two aspects he wanted to verify. Looking at the experience section, he focused on it hoping to get more information.

  *Experience: 0%*

  So not much information given…again. Jack thought with a sigh.

  Jack wasn’t sure if it would require a lot of experience or little, but it gave him an immediate goal outside the vague ‘survive’ that Jasper left him with, and he would just need to watch to see how fast his experience increased.

  The next aspect he wanted to investigate was the spell he was given. It didn’t take Jack long to find the section that had his spell information. Heal was the only one listed and no amount of focus allowed him to bring up any more information on it.

  Tentatively, Jack focused on the spell and said the word “Heal”. Immediately, he felt a tickling sensation form in the palm of his hands, but otherwise nothing else happened.

  “Maybe I need something to use it on,” Jack muttered. looking at his hand which had returned to feeling normal once again. “I will table that for now.”

  “Alright, not much else to do I suppose. other than pick a direction,” Jack said looking around. “Trees, trees and yep more trees, but I suppose forward is as good as any right now.”

  With that decision, Jack started walking towards the trees directly in front of him. It didn’t take long until he was standing at the tree line. Stepping past the flowers and into the jungle, a couple of events happened at once. The first thing that Jack noticed was a sudden increase in heat and humidity that hit Jack like a wave, causing him to start sweating, immediately. The next was the sound of the animals and insects that filled his ears. Thinking about it, Jack realized other than Jasper talking, this was the first sound he had heard from this world.

  Jack didn’t have more than a moment to take all this in before the System messages started appearing in front of him.

  “A little warning would have been nice,” Jack called out to nothing. “Stupid toad.” With a thought, Jack moved the messages aside as Jasper had shown him how to do, so they weren’t blocking his vision anymore. With that done, he started opening the different messages.

  *Congratulations on completing the Tutorial!*

  +1 Wis./Int.

  *Welcome to the Great Game*

  Fight, Survive, Prove your species’ worth.

  *Quest: First Steps*

  -Find a food source

  -Find a water source

  -Find basic shelter

  Reward: Experience, Simple clothes

  *Quest: Learning the System*

  -Gain three skills

  Reward: Experience, Simple Bag

  *Species Quest: Prove your Worth (Countdown – 6 years)*

  -Reach Personal level 50

  -Get at least one skill to the rank of Master

  -Create and maintain one settlement of city rank or higher

  -Establish at least one alliance with another enlightened species

  -Pass the Mortal limit in at least one Cultivation Path.

  Reward: Species trait gift, Experience, Lordship, Acceptance into the System.

  “He did say that I would get the requirements for acceptance upon leaving,” Jack said, rereading the Species Quest requirements, multiple times. “But that doesn’t seem simple. The first two requirements might be difficult but are probably doable. The last three… I’m not sure if they will be very simple.” Closing the species quest for the time being, Jack focused on the two other quests he was given. “Suppose I should start with these then. Learn three skills and find food, water, and shelter. I would have needed to do that anyways.”

  Looking back at the clearing of flowers he had come from; Jack was in for another shock.The clearing was gone. Instead, where the clearing had been was now filled in with more lush forest. “Wasn’t kidding about not being able to come back,” Jack whistled.

  Starting off through the jungle, Jack pulled up his stat window as he walked through the maze of trees, looking over the different statistics and how they related to his abilitities. Jack knew about the stats from some of the reading material PATCH had provided. Strength represented his ability to physically lift, move, and hit things. Dexterity represented his body’s agility, reflexes, coordination, and fine motor skills. Constitution had a direct impact on Jack’s health, resistance, and recovery abilities. Intelligence had to do with Jack’s memory, mana manipulation, and appeared to have a direct impact on learning new skills. Wisdom, according to the System, dealt with cultivation growth, understanding, mana, and mental resistance. Charisma had to do with Jack’s ability to interact with others, mental resistance, and, to a very small extent, physical appearance. Perception was another straightforward one, in that it only dealt with Jack’s various senses. Luck appeared to only interact with the System, but he wasn’t sure what would mean exactly.

  While all of Jack’s stats seemed low to him, his Strength right now was the lowest, at a startling two. While he may not have been the most athletic individual, Jack never considered himself weak, certainly not a two. He would need to work on finding a way to increase these stats once he had the chance.

  Resting on a large boulder he finished climbing on top of. “I’ll have to work on that later,” he said. “Need to survive first. There must be a source of water somewhere around here.” Wiping sweat off his forehead, Jack got back up and started trekking once again. It wasn’t long before he heard running water. Carefully, Jack hurried towards the sound. He passed by several strange animals that took note of him as he went, but he tried to keep a large distance between him and them. Now was not the time to give in to curiosity and go exploring or provoking any of the strange and wild animals.

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  As Jack got closer to the source of the sound of water, the number of strange creatures Jack came across increased, causing Jack to slow his approach. He was giving the animals a wide berth. Eventually, he stumbled onto a small dirt beach on the side of what appeared to be either a creek or stream. Jack had barely crashed onto the ground when a System window popped up again.

  +1 Con./Wis.

  “That was faster than I would have thought,” Jack said. “Still, I understand why Constitution would increase, but why did Wisdom?” Jack waited for a second to see if anything would come up to explain, but of course the System was silent once again. “Guess I will have to figure it out through trial and error.” Jack sighed.

  Grabbing several handfuls of water to quench his thirst, Jack got up once again. “Okay, I think this counts as a source of water. Need food and someplace to sleep.” Looking back at the water, Jack peered into the clear liquid. He could see several fish-like creatures swimming within. “Fishing might work.”

  Wading into the water, Jack tried to catch the fish with his hands as he had seen others do, but after several failed attempts and the fish slipping through his hands, he waded back out of the water. “That’s not working for me. Need to try this a different way.”

  Looking around the immediate area, Jack was able to find several fallen branches and rocks in the area. Grabbing one of the branches that was the straightest he could find and still free of decay, it didn’t take Jack long to find a rock that would fit his purpose. He made a split at the end of the branch using the rock and then wedged the rock into the crack. Using a thin plant vine, he found growing nearby as rope he securely tied the rock to the branch. When it was done, the makeshift spear Jack created measured just under two meters long, and while not the best crafting, he was hopeful that it would be adequate for fishing, at least.

  *Skill gained: Improvised Crafting (Beginner)*

  Craft using unconventional/raw materials.

  Finished products may result in negative stats. using this method

  *Item created: Spear (Makeshift/Crude)*

  Quality: Trash

  Jack examined his work. It was the first skill he had acquired. Jasper had mentioned acquiring skills was important and Jack had a quest for getting three, but finally acquiring one felt underwhelming. “May result in negative stats using unconventional materials. So, it is still better to craft using properly designed materials then. Is there a point in bringing this skill up, or does it make it slightly less crappy? But I guess one skill down, need two more.”

  Wading out into the water with his new spear, he stood very still and waited. It wasn’t long before the fish started coming closer to him. Slowly, he took aim, focusing on one that was moving the slowest. With a speed that Jack could only think came from desperation, he launched his spear at the fish and…he missed.

  The fish-like creatures all scattered away, and Jack was forced to start over. Four more attempts and Jack finally landed on his mark, spearing the fish through the center.

  With an excited “Whoop!” Jack pulled the fish out of the water and was greeted with another System window, and a tingly sensation in his chest. Quickly, Jack checked his notifications.

  *Experience: 0.1% to next level*

  *Skill gained: Fishing (Beginner)*

  The art of catching creatures that lurk underwater.

  Increased chance of catching fish your level or below.

  Jack waved the screen away. While it was nice knowing that his attempts to fish in the future would be easier, he wasn’t sure how that would work. Was the System assisting him because of the skill? Or was there something else happening that would make it easier? Right now, he was only interested in the fish that he had caught.

  Jack wasn’t an expert by any means, the fish looked alien to him. With three eyes, no fins and two tentacle-like tails, it didn’t appear very appetizing either. But a growl from Jack’s stomach left little to argue with.

  Gathering some dried branches and leaves, Jack set to making a campfire. Grabbing some nearby rocks, Jack started to hit them together to create sparks. It worked very well, creating a large number of blue sparks that landed on the pile of leaves he had piled up, they caught fire in moments.

  “Blue sparks?” Jack muttered. “Should I be worried about that? What kind of rocks are these?” Looking at the rock he had used as a spearhead, it appeared like the others, but Jack couldn’t see anything unusual about them.

  “Problem for a different day,” Jack muttered. “Survival first. I can wonder about the weird rocks when I am in a safer state.”

  Being an alien fish, he wasn’t sure how much he needed to cook it, he wasn’t sure how much to cook a normal fish, but with enough time and heat he was sure it would be alright. Cooking the fish didn’t make it look more appetizing as it did when he caught it, but his hunger got the better of him and scarfed it down quickly. It didn’t taste bad. The closest Jack could get to describing it was a mix of salmon and eel.

  *Skill acquired: Cooking (Beginner)*

  Embark on the path of the Culinary Arts.

  Decrease chance to cause food poisoning when preparing meals

  *Quest Completed: Learning the System*

  Gain three skills: 3 of 3

  Reward: Experience increase, Simple Bag

  More of that tingly energy rushed into his chest, this time noticeably more intense. At the same time, a bag, much like an old leather shoulder bag, appeared on the ground. Picking it up and putting it on, it fitted Jack perfectly. “Well,” Jack said. “That’s neat. Probably should have completed that other one first. Having this on me just reminds me I’m completely naked still. It almost makes it worse.”

  But before trying to complete the other quest, he wanted to check something.

  Experience: 41.03% to next level

  The energy that flowed into his chest had to be experience, and as a result of just one of his quests completing, he was already almost halfway to his first level-up. Now determined to finish the ‘First Steps’ quest, Jack looked around for something that he could use as a shelter or turn into one. He didn’t find much nearby, but he was hesitant to go too far away. At least he was certain he could continue to get food and water from this spot, but he had recently acquired a skill that might help.

  “Improvised Crafting. Let’s see what I can do with that,” Jack said.

  He located an area near the stream that was mostly blocked off from sight and started piling branches between the trees. He used more of the vine-like plant to help hold several of the branches in place, creating a fence-like wall between the trees. Once the wall was several feet tall, Jack took the longer branches he could find and started laying them across the top of the wall. It was a slow process and several times the wall Jack was working on collapsed. Eventually he had a solid structure in place, and it appeared to be holding together.

  Next came the easy part. Piling twigs, and dirt along the walls and ceiling. Jack had never gone camping before and he wasn’t sure if it would work at all, but it was all he could think to do for the time being. By the time he was done, it looked more like a beaver’s dam than it did a normal shelter, with only a small opening for Jack to enter and leave on one side. But it must have been enough because immediately Jack felt more experience flowing into him and more notifications from the System appeared.

  *Skill gained: Construction (Beginner)*

  The Path of creating long lasting structures…eventually.

  Increase to durability of structures created

  *Quest Complete: First Steps*

  Find a source of Food, Water, and shelter – Completed

  Reward: experience gained, Simple clothes

  *Skill gained: Survival (Beginner)*

  You have proven capable of a basic level of surviving without the help

  of others.

  Increased sense of locating sources of food and water

  Jack glanced around for the quest reward to appear like the last time, only this time nothing appeared. Instead, the bag Jack was still wearing suddenly felt heavier. Reaching in, Jack found a full set of clothes neatly folded waiting for him. Excited, Jack rushed to pull the clothes on. The quest reward mentioned simple, and these were nothing special, but they were warm, and Jack felt a tiny bit more at ease now that he was wearing something.

  It was starting to get dark, and exhaustion hit Jack like a wave at seeing the sun start to set. Dousing the fire, Jack crawled into his Beaver Den and went to sleep.