Through intense training, your strength has risen by 1 point.

Why did I get this now and not yesterday, was Jack’s first thought as he woke. Did my strength increase from carrying the boar and the stag back to town? The implications from the message window permeated throughout his head, washing his tiredness away. If I can get stronger through exercise, then I need to train.

Before he could train however, he had to take care of breakfast. He hadn’t killed any rats overnight and had to dip into his dwindling funds to purchase vegetables from Islar. The rats were either afraid to venture into the cellar, or he killed them all. Either way, Islar seemed pleased with the arrangement. Jack was better than a tabby cat for her. Not only did he kill all of the rodents, which ate her produce, but he didn’t leave them on her doorstep.

Once he was full and took care of business, he rushed out of town. He had decided the best way to train up his agility was to sprint through the woods. Trees rushed past him with incredible speed as he expertly jumped over fallen logs, avoiding roots and holes. He grinned widely as he enjoyed the exhilarating athleticism his body now allowed him.

The morning was spent alternating between sprinting and resting to catch his breath. Although he enjoyed the increased speed and coordination this new world granted him, doing nothing but running was getting boring. How long is this going to take? he wondered. Will I get a point immediately, or do I need to sleep first ? These questions plagued Jack as he continued to run back and forth through the woods.

Lost in thought while jumping over a log, Jack almost landed on two wolves sleeping on the other side. Rolling forward, he barely caught himself while maintaining his grip on his spear. Growling filled the quiet forest air as the wolves stood to confront their invader. Time seemed to stop as he inspected them.

Grey Wolf

Level 4

Health 50/50

Thank God they are only level 4. Relief flooded through him as he realized death was not guaranteed. Shit! How do I handle two of them! He desperately searched for a way out. With bared teeth and tense bodies, the wolves coiled to leap at him.

Jack thrust his spear forward deep into the left wolf’s chest, stealing the initiative. He pulled back, but the barbed tip was stuck. Leaping forward the right wolf latched onto Jack’s leg as he tugged on his spear.

The wolf thrashed its head left and right, sending sharp pains up into his thigh with each jerk. He kicked out, trying to dislodge the wolf, anything to free his leg. The wolf only clamped tighter.

Forced to drop his spear, he grabbed his knife. He wildly stabbed down into the wolf’s eye resulting in a sharp yelp. The wolf’s pain spurred Jack on. Die! Die! He stabbed relentlessly at its eyes until the jaw finally went slack, releasing his leg.

Off balance from the sudden release, he awkwardly fell on his butt. Sharp pain shot through his left forearm as the first wolf latched onto it. Rolling his body to the side, he was able to yank his bloody arm out of the wolf’s mouth.

Now free, he backpedaled desperately to escape the angry wolf. The wolf paused, panting, its shoulders dipping as if under a weight. It stumbled forward and Jack could see blood pouring from the wide hole in its chest. The wolf must have ripped out the barbed spear and now it is bleeding out, he thought.

Jack ran and placed a tree between the remaining wolf playing for time. Where is my spear? Jack desperately searched with one eye on the wolf. There it is, he lunged toward it, nearly stumbling from his injury.

With his spear firmly in hand, he turned to the charging wolf and braced himself. The wolf leapt through the air like a missle. Jack thrust forward when the wolf was in range, burying his spear deeper into the open wound. He shoved the wolf back with his greater mass.

*Slurp* He heard a sucking sound as he pulled back with all of his strength to free the spear. He stumbled backward. The wolf drunkenly moved forward and fell on its side. Dead.

Finally.

Jack sank to the ground gasping in exhaustion and pain.

Checking his status, Jack saw that he was at 68 out of 100 total health. Why did I do that? He thought berating himself. Why did I blindly run through the woods? He vowed to never put himself in such a precarious position.

He opened his waiting messages and skipped through the combat to the important updates.

...

A grey wolf has died.

You receive 80 experience.

You have gained a level!

You receive a free attribute point to place.

...

A grey wolf has died.

You receive 80 experience.

Level 4! was Jack’s first thought when he read through the messages, my spearwork has gotten better! Jack placed his free attribute point into agility again before he could change his mind. Maybe if I was a bit faster, I could have dodged everything, he thought as he doubled down on his decision. He checked his status in satisfaction and smiled with gritted teeth through the pain.

Name: Jack Herring

Race: Human

Level: 4

Experience: 80/800

Health: 68/100

Strength: 8

Agility: 12

Vitality: 10

Intelligence: 12

Skills:

Inspect level 1

Haggle level 2

Fire Starting level 1

Butchering level 2

Cooking level 1

Woodworking level 1

Spears level 3

Boons:

Polyglot

Contestant

He now had 80 out of 800 experience until level 5, and his agility was 12, the same as his intelligence. Now that his adrenaline was gone, Jack’s body screamed in agony. He dragged his broken body toward a tree and sat with his back safely against the trunk. He held his left arm tight with his right hand, while putting pressure on his leg to stop the bleeding. With this world’s accelerated healing, he would not bleed out, but that didn’t make it any less painful. Hours passed in pain, keeping watch for any predators attracted by the smell of fresh blood.

He was reminded of the intense headaches he had during the last days of his previous life. In this life however, he had no pain killers to dull his pain. I need to find out if health potions exist, he suddenly thought. Although he never saw any in the village, it was a small village and it was possible they did not have a potion maker in their tiny population.

By that afternoon, Jack felt well enough to drag the wolves back to town. His health had recovered to 82 out of 100. While he was still gravely injured, he couldn’t just sit there. Thick scabs had formed over his wounds and the pain had transformed from sharp and stinging to deep itch. It still hurt to walk or move his shoulder, but he didn’t have any other option. I am NOT sleeping out in the woods tonight.

Jack tied each end of the rope around a wolf and grabbed the middle. As he pushed forward he had a wolf on each side dragging behind him. This is going to suck, he thought as he started his trek.

Even though the combined weight was much lighter than the stag had been, dragging two animals was even more of a pain. The wolves constantly caught on logs and branches requiring continuous sidetracking around obstacles.

The sun was setting behind him as he finally made his way into town. While the trip out had only taken a couple of hours, the return had taken much longer. He couldn’t just collapse in the cellar, he had to sell his kill.

He once again haggled for the best prices. However, after visiting a third shop he decided to cut his haggling short. All of the butchers wanted to buy a single wolf, none of them wanted both. I don’t care how much I get, I'm tired, Jack thought as he took the next offer. He sold the first wolf for 4 silver, and after dragging the last back to the previous butcher, got 3 silver and 15 copper for the second. He was sure if he had spent the next hour dragging his kills around town and taking offers he could have gotten more, but he was hungry and tired. It would have to be enough.

I’m starving.

The fragrant aroma of stew and pork filled the air as he stepped into the packed pub. Jack’s mouth had started watering as soon as he entered and he was impatient to eat supper. His stomach rumbled in protest from all of the healing his body had gone through.

After grabbing a bowl of stew from the pub owner, he glanced around the room for an open table. He noticed his old hunting group laughing and drinking ale along the back wall.

“Is this seat taken?” he asked after making his way toward their table.

“No, have a seat.” Makir gestured to the empty spot next to him as Leb added, “We were wondering where you went off to.”

“I’ve been hunting.” Jack said.

“What group did you join?” asked Heb, “I didn’t think any hunting groups but ours had spots open.”

“I didn’t join a group, I hunted alone.”

Heb shook his head in disappointment adding, “I thought I taught you better... You can’t be so impatient to get high level. You’ll never get there if you don’t play it safe.” After pausing Hem added, “Well, how did it go, did you at least get level 3 out of it?”

“Actually, I am level 4 now.” he said quietly.

Shocked faces stared back at him.

“Now you HAVE to tell us what happened!” Makir shouted.

Jack began telling his friends about the adventures he had since they had parted the day before. They laughed when he told them about his plan to sprint and raise his agility, and winced when he told them about the wolves savaging his leg and arm. When he was mostly through his story, recounting the pain of dragging the wolves back to town, he noticed that the others at nearby tables were quietly listening as well.

Everyone likes a good story.

Shaking his head in disbelief Hem said, “You got lucky boy, real lucky.”

Jack began asking the questions that had plagued him throughout the day, “So, why did I get a point in strength overnight, and how come I haven’t gotten one for agility yet?”

“You gotta rest to get stronger. You get your strength and agility in the morning when you wake up. But this one time, I got a point in vitality during the day. This was right after I got half my skin torn off though.” He took a deep drink of his ale and chucked at himself. “I don’t know anyone that was stupid enough to waste a point in intelligence though.” Hem laughed and took another swig of ale.

After the great gulp he added, “See, 10 is the average for all attributes. The lowest strength I’ve seen was 7 and that kid was lazy. The highest strength I’ve seen without throwing points in was 12. The same goes for agility and vitality. Also, the lower your points, the faster you can train them up. Say you had 7 agility, you could probably raise it to 8 in a single day of sprinting around town. You may look the fool, but won’t be tripping on any angry puppies doing it.” he glanced my way as he set his tankard down with a thud. “Then it may take a week before you hit 9. Hitting 10 takes much longer. I don’t know how long it would take if you trained non-stop, maybe a month? Anyways, once you get to 10, it would take months to get higher. It's so much easier to just put a point in it when you gain a level.”

Well shit, Jack’s enthusiasm at training to raise his stats plummeted when he realized how long it would take. Ugh! So much wasted time. With 11 agility, he had not only wasted his time, but also endangered his life. As Hem said, he truly had been lucky. While he had Hem answering his questions, he asked his next, “Do healing potions exist?

“Sure, they exist if you have the coin. I actually have one in my pack for emergencies. Although, I haven’t used one in years. They are too expensive to use for every little stubbed toe, it's better to save the coin for another ale.” he gestured at the bartender with his empty tankard.

“Where can I get some?” Jack asked excitedly.

“Well, we don’t have an alchemist here in Rivertown, but Stonehold does. It’s a lot bigger, and about three days downriver. Sometimes we head out that way and stock up on supplies we can’t get here.”

“How much do they heal for?” Jack asked as the bartender refilled Hem’s ale.

Hem took a deep drink before replying, wiping the foam from his lips. “Most minor ones will heal for around 10 health, depending on the quality. The lesser and major potions heal for more, no one can afford those.”

“How expensive are the minor potions?” Jack asked.

“I got my last one for 9 and a half silver. I personally didn’t see the point, but my wife nagged me every day until I got one. It was worth the silver though, to stop the nagging!” Hem laughed as he clinked mugs together with his friends.

“So Jack, are you going to join us in the morning?”

“Sorry, I think I am going to spend some time training around town. My strength is only 8 and I want to raise it for free instead of putting a point into it. Maybe after I’ll join you.” Jack added.

“Well, staying around town is smarter than running through the woods blindly!” Hem said enthusiastically.

They spent the rest of the night in celebration, enjoying the good food and ale.