Chapter 14: Path To Growth

Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Path To Growth

The bone fire was low, little crackles from time to time.

Victor curled tighter into himself against the hut wall.

His arms wrapped around his knees, as he did his best impression of a person who’d passed out from exhaustion. In truth, sleep was the last thing on his mind.

A lot of things had happened today.

He had been brought to a new world. Swallowed by a beast. Killed the beast. And then killed a person for the first time, several of them really.

When he closed his eyes he still saw that first kill. The child begging with his one good eye for help.

The thought made Victor curl deeper into himself and the desire to cry could no longer be pushed back.

A well of emotions burst forth as tears fell from his eyes.

He had been through some uneasy times in his life, but he was still human. And he missed home.

Thinking of home, his mind remembered his Status and he wiped his eyes.

He willed his status screen open, low and angled.

STATUS]

Name: Victor Language

Race: Barbarian (Southern Bloodline)

Level: 1— Newly Awakened

Title: "Air Balloon" (Locked — cannot be removed)

VITALS

HP: 101/101

Stamina: 111/251

XP: 18

SKILLS

- Barbarian Battle Sense (Passive) — Lv.2

- Story Lore (Passive) — Lv. 100

- Berserker’s Instinct — Lv.1

- [In Game Skin synchronization — 5%]

CONQUEST POINTS: 10

[Earned through combat against the Encroaching Darkness]

Log Out: Locked.

Battle Sense had leveled.

He hadn’t even noticed when it happened. But this was as a result of his battling with the insects.

It was always easy to climb the early levels.

He tapped the skill, half out of curiosity, and half out of the old habit of a person who used to spend his evenings reading patch notes of a game he enjoyed.

The stat expanded.

Barbarian Battle Sense (Passive) — Lv.2: Grants subconscious reaction to imminent lethal threats. Efficiency and reaction window scale with level.

Just as he expected. That explained the roll and dodge he was able to perform back then, why he was able to dive mid air to save Kiki’s life, and why it became easier for him the more he battled.

Before this, Victor could not even kill a fly. Honestly, it was a bit exciting to be able to move his body as freely as he could. Though that excitement was not enough to want to make him stay here.

Still, it did make him curious about another skill. Berserker’s Instinct.

He was yet to know how to trigger it, but there was no doubt that the opportunity might present itself if he stuck around long enough.

This made him excited for a bit. He caught himself, shaking his head vigorously. The memory of all he had seen today was still fresh and scaring.

There is no way in hell am I staying here. I’ll leave the first chance I get.

He nodded at this resolve of his.

Again, his curiosity was drawn to something else in his stats.

In the real world, he would spend hours doing analysis on his vitals. If he was not mistaken, there was more beyond just HP, STAMINA, XP.

He tapped on it.

The panel bloomed outward into something denser.

VITALS ( EXPANDED)

-Muscle Density: 41% [Locked beyond Tier 1]

-Bone Strength: 38% [Locked beyond Tier 1]

-Dexterity: 22% [Locked beyond Tier 1] ℴ

-Pain Tolerance: 19% [Locked beyond Tier 1]

-Regeneration: 12% [Locked beyond Tier 1]

-Reflex Conditioning: 30% [Locked beyond Tier 1]

-Agility: 10% [Locked beyond Tier 1]

It turned out that he was right after all. There were other stats under vitals like blood condition. But these were grayed out. Vitals carried all information about his body.

Clearly, the game was designed such that it allowed the player track the most minute change in their in-game bodies. This way, a detailed direction in character’s development was possible.

For example, if Victor concentrated more on Bone strength and muscle density, it would naturally increase his defense, but in turn affect reflex conditioning or agility.

Meaning that a balance needed to be maintained. Of course, that balance was in relation to the kind of character he was trying to build.

He ruffled his hair.

I am not staying here! I am not staying here!!

He reminded himself again and again. But old habits were hard die. He already began sorting the stats as would be necessary for growth.

There were three warrior paths that sat visible beneath the vitals, each requiring a different Tier-1 unlock to access:

The first was the Path of the Broken Wall: This one was of pure durability, HP and Bone Strength scaling. To put it in lay terms, it was the kind of build that would let a man stand in front of something with incredible attack power, and simply not fall down.

Of course, he would be sacrificing much speed for this path. He might even become very slow with how dense he would become, but nothing killed a Broken Wall build easily.

It was the best defense if the character was going on the path of a more defensive fighter.

The second was the Path of the Red Current: This path was, speed and Dexterity-focused. It was built around chaining attacks before an enemy could recover. Basically, it was trading defense for tempo. One could say it was High skill ceiling, high risk if you ever got caught flat-footed.

Victor had taken this path a lot of times. Even when he used other skins, especially the Elven skin.

Then again, skin blessing for each specie was an actual thing. Meaning that even if he used this path with his babarian skin, it would not be as incredible as an elf. In most cases, not even comparable.

Meaning that it was not advisable. Then again, future opportunities may spell otherwise.

Victor was not in a hurry or anything. Just letting his habits do their thing.

The third Path is called The Path of the Hollow Hunger : This one was the strange one, but honestly well suited for a Babarian. It was built around Pain Tolerance and Regeneration feeding into each other.

To explain in simpler terms, it was the kind of path where a fighter got stronger the longer a battle dragged on and the more damage they absorbed.

Victor remembered it being unpopular in the game. Nobody wanted to build a character around getting hurt on purpose because how attacks came was never controlled, and in turn one could end up in the line of fire either overestimating their abilities or underestimating the opponent’s offensive ability.

However, for a weird reason he could not understand, Victor was leaning toward the third.

Or maybe it was just his barbarian nature stirring him towards that path...