Chapter 9

Alex picked up a chair and sat it down in front of his captive. He sat down in front of the goblin and began pouring water from one of his skins on its head. The water ran into its open mouth and nose. It woke up with a start gagging on the water. It began snarling and saying things. The women cowered on the wall while Alex began to poke and prod at the goblin with his sword.

“I ask a question. You talk. You no talk I hurt you”, Alex said in the goblin dialect or as best he could with the language only being a little over 40% translated.

The goblin simply growled at him and tried to free itself. To prove the seriousness of his threat Alex grabbed the hatchet from near the wood pile. He walked back slowly swinging the axe up and down. He could see the threat was already working. Its eyes were already following the movements of the axe as he swung it from side to side. When he reached his target Alex took it by the wrist of one of its arms and raised the axe. He dropped the axe down and separated its hand from it wrist. The goblin screamed out in agony as its hand was removed. Then Alex grabbed a burning log from the fire and used it to cauterize its wound. The screaming continued until it passed out from the pain.

“Is that really necessary?”, asked Eve.

“Are you questioning me?"

"I... I meant no disrespect. I'm just asking is that necessary? Couldn't you get the information you need another way?"

"I have no idea of how many of these things there are. I have been ambushed by their scouts several times. I want them gone before they sneak up and kill more do to any other humans what they were doing to you. We need information about his group. Do you want those things to find out where we are and do the same thing to you again?”, Alex said sternly.

The two women shuddered at the thought of being raped again.

“Well could you at least make it quick? I mean starting with its hand is a bit sadistic. Just start with every male’s pride and joy”, said Bella as she began braiding her long blonde hair.

Alex smiled a bit and said, “You have a point. I’ll talk to it and you do the honors. I know you won’t have any problems removing his genitals.”

With a sadistic smile she replied, “Absolutely not. Actually I’m still looking forward to it as a bit of pay back.”

Alex turned back to the goblin as Bella picked up the shortsword that was lying on the table.

“You talk or woman turn you into woman.”

The goblin’s eyes got large and it wriggled trying to cover his manhood with its remaining hand. Alex knew it got the point.

“How many in your home?”

“Many goblin in home.”

“How many?”

“Many.”

Does this mean they don’t count in numbers or does many mean something specific.

“What weapons do you have?”

“We have sticks with points and sticks with no points”

These things really are stupid. They don’t know any names of the weapons. I guess sticks with points are spears, axes, arrows and those without points are clubs and maybe staffs. I won’t get much more out of this thing because they can’t really verbalize what I need to know.

“I don’t need you anymore so I think I will give my friend here a bit of payback. Your turn Bella."

She twirled the sword one time, "This is for what you little bastards did to me!"

Bella walked closer to the goblin. It began sobbing while holding its genitals. Alex's overwhelming strength pinned its arm behind its head. It tried to defend itself by kicking but that wouldn't work either. Bella just hacked its legs until they were no longer usable before she grabbed his shaft and spit in the goblin's face. Tears ran down its eyes before pain erupted from its loins following Bella hacking off its dick and balls. Alex let the creature go while it screamed out in agony.

"Now time for you to die!”

Alex took the hatchet and smashed it into its skull killing it instantly.

“That was pretty dramatic and really messy. Did you at least learn anything useful?”, asked Eve.

“Nothing other than they are stupid. and based on its idea there are a lot of them in the cave.”

“How did you learn to speak that language?”, asked Bella.

“I got an ability when I killed something for the first time and it helps me with some things.”

“Oh, you mean that blue screen that appeared?”, asked Eve.

“Yes. Wait you mean you never used the ability or skill points?”

“No, as soon as I made my first kill, I was knocked out and captured”, said Eve.

“Well say the word ‘status’ and then try to purchase a skill and ability.”

Both women nodded and walked off into different corners of the wall and sat down. Their eyes seemed to be focused on something in front of them. Alex wasn’t able to see their stats but he could see that they were feverishly going through them and looking for upgrades. he cut the goblin into pieces before burning its head and torso. Once he finished he took its limbs outside and used the pieces to set his traps. Once the traps were set he climbed the tree and sat down to wait for some unsuspecting prey.

Well since I’ll be up here for a while I should try and get a handle on having ki as an energy source. Alice did say as I increased my skill in using it, I would increase my combat abilities.

Alex closed his eyes and began to focus on the place where he found the energy came from. It took a while but once he calmed his mind he was able to find it. The energy was very small but it felt calm and powerful. He tried to bring some of it out but as soon as it began to move, he felt some powerful resistance. He tried again and it moved a little farther but ultimately the resistance started again and he couldn't move it. Not one to be defeated he tried over and over and over but the farthest he could get it to move was from my lower abdomen to his abdominal muscles. Alex couldn’t get it to go to his arms or legs.

Well, at least I was able to tap into it. I will practice doing this for a while each day until I can get some control over it.

“Spartan I have detected movement approaching.”

“Thank you Alice. Identify it?”

“It will take some time as it is not within range of your sight.”

“Let’s wait until it gets closer then.”

Alex continued to wait in the tree as the sun began to lower over the horizon. Patience was something that he had learned a great deal about in the military. he often had to sit still in the same place for hours even days when waiting on a target. Here it was different. In the military, he had a high powered rifle capable of firing rounds from over 1500 meters out. Now, he had to fight his opponents with a primitive bow or in close combat. Alex began trying to slow his breathing down to calm myself. As his body relaxed, Alice activated his thermal vision. The creature came closer and he saw that there was something larger than the rats coming towards the pieces of goblins that he had left out.

The thermal image showed something big. It was about 3 meters long and about 1.5 meters tall. This was definitely no rat or bunny. This was a real predator. As it got closer he had Alice switch back to normal vision and then he was able to see it. It was a large cat with striped fur like a tiger but its canine teeth were protruding from its mouth making them about 40 cm long.

It can’t be?! Is that the animal that went extinct on Earth millions of years ago? The apex predator. The sabertooth tiger? I really have to get a good stab at that thing with my blade or it will probably kill me.

Alex slowed his breathing as much as he could as it began biting at the leg of the dead goblin. Its jaws were massive and a cold shiver ran down my spine.

I have to cripple this thing with my first attack!

Alex slowly unsheathed his sword and readied myself to ambush his prey. It was totally unaware of his presence. He grabbed his sword with both hands and jumped down onto it. Alex plunged his sword deep down through its torso. The beast let out a sickening whimper as his near 300lbs of weight forced it to the ground. Alex heard several snaps and cracks which he assumed were its ribs or parts of its spine. It tried to shake itself free from his blade but each movement only tore open its wound even more. After about 30 seconds that seemed like an eternity, the beast stopped moving.

Congratulations you have reached level 5. You have 1 point to allocate to your physical or mental stats.

Congratulations on reaching level 5 you now have access to crafting and gathering skills. Please choose one from each of the following categories: Gathering

Skinning: Ability to remove the skin from animal automatically converting it into leather.

Herbalism: Gathering plant materials to use in potions, poisons, and other alchemic endeavors.

Mining: Use a pickaxe to gather minerals such as iron, silver, and mithril from caves and ore veins.

Butchering: Ability to gather the usable parts of prey and process them for cooking.

Crafting:

Carpentry: The ability to create useful items from wood.

Cooking: Using materials to create food that is not only tasty but can temporarily improve stats as well as increase recovery from injury and recovery of energy.

Leatherworking: Ability to create wearable equipment from leather including armor and clothing.

Blacksmithing: Ability to create equipment from metals including weapons and armor.

Alchemy: The ability to combine ingredients to make various potions including healing, poisons, and temporary increases to speed.

Alex really wanted to have some crafting ability and right now leather working seemed to be the best along with skinning. He really needed some clothes so he could stop walking around in these leather underwear and provide the ladies with a little bit of modesty.

“Alice, I think I would like to go with leatherworking and skinning. What do you think?”

“I believe that is the best course of action for now. As you are the strongest in your group it may be a while for them to reach level 5 so I would suggest getting the most beneficial skill and ability. Currently, those are leatherworking and skinning.”

“Ok.”

Do wish to learn skinning?

Yes

Information began to pour into his head rapidly. Alex could see the places to insert a blade in order to get the skin to come off cleanly. It was amazing how the information flowed into his mind. Next Alex chose leatherworking.

Do wish to learn leatherworking?

Yes

Patterns for various equipment including, boots, bracers, pants, and shirts flowed into his head relentlessly. Each time Alex thought it was over more information poured into his brain. Alex's body began sweating as his mind was straining to keep up with all of the material pouring into his head. This continued on for a few more moments before finally coming to a close. Alex looked down at the corpse of the saber tooth tiger and noticed that there were now dotted lines on its body.

“Alice what is this?”

“With your new skill, I was able to unlock a method of skinning to give you a visual reference of what path you should use to skin the beast. Trace the dotted line with your blade and it should help you skin the monster and gain some valuable leather.”

Alex turned the tiger over onto its back and he saw the dotted line go straight down the middle of its body. There were also lines around the base of its neck and the base of each leg where they met the torso. He quickly began cutting into the beast’s skin. It took a lot of effort as his knife wasn’t the sharpest tool to work with but with the strength provided to him by his improved physique it still didn’t take him too long. Little by little the giant feline’s skin was removed one piece at a time. First the torso came off followed by each of the legs. In the end, it was a completely skinless bloody mess. Alex rolled the skin up and then took his sword and began cutting away the limbs for food. Next, he carried his entire hall back inside the shack.

“What the?!”, Eve yelled out as I came in the house carrying two bloody legs on my shoulder.

“Oh yeah I was outside checking my traps when this big monster came along and I killed it.”

“You killed it with what?”, asked Bella.

“My sword”, I replied.

Both of their eyes were awestruck seeing me pick up this amount of weight and carry it like it was nothing.

“Spartan, I purchased an ability called mana manipulation and the skill called elemental magic. I wasn’t able to do very much except summon a spike that comes from the ground. I call it, earth spike.”

“That seems pretty handy. Do you think you can aim it for a decent distance?”

“Ummm… I’m not sure and based on what I have done so far I don’t think I can do it more than a handful of times.”

“Still it is not a bad skill to have but I suggest you keep practicing.”

Eve nodded and smiled a bit.

“Do you want me to help with the cooking?”

What’s with her she is suddenly being helpful? Does she think she will get on my good side with this? Is she trying to get me to lower my guard? I’ll have to keep an eye on her.

“Yes, please grab one of the large logs I cut earlier and place it on the fire. Now, what about you Bella?”

“I have a bit of skill with a spear but I was intrigued by the beast tamer ability so that is what I chose. I also picked the skill of spear mastery. Both of these together should help me be a formidable fighter.”

“This is true but you have to get a beast to tame correct?”

“Yes and currently I think I can only tame something weaker because I am only level 2.”

“Ok. Well I’m going out to get the rest of the saber tooth tiger for dinner. Tomorrow morning, I’m traveling to the water fall to get some water and clean this blood off me. You are welcome to come with me and see if you can tame something once we find a beast in the open.”

“That is fine by me. I’ll wait for you two to cook. I’m going out to practice with my spear.”

“Practice is definitely a good thing. I’ll let you know when the food is ready.”

Bella walked out and Eve placed a skewer through two of the legs. She gently placed them above the fire and began turning them. Alex watched as she diligently accomplished her task. He sat down on the ground and unraveled the skin from the tiger and noticed that there was no hair on it. It was actually already cured and ready to be worked into something. Alex dared not to ask as with his new knowledge of leatherworking there was a long arduous process to creating leather. He immediately took the edges of some of the more tattered pieces and began cutting strips in order to make strings. Once the strings were complete, he wrapped his lower body in a piece of the torso and then cut it so that he had something to work with.

Once Alex had the piece cut he tried to eyeball how long his legs were as well as the inseam so he could begin to make a pair of pants. As he cut and recut the piece the shape of the pants started to take shape. It was tough going at first but little by little he was able to get them completed. Alex quickly tried them on. The fit was awful but they were pants that covered his legs from the environment. Alex took a long piece of scrap and cut some small holes in the pants to let it pass through like belt loops. Once he finished he moved the piece through the pants and tied it in the front. They were nothing spectacular but he had some clothes now. While he worked he had lost track of time but soon the smell of meat cooking brought him back to his senses.

Eve finished cooking the legs and yelled, “Food is ready!”

Bella burst into the house with her body glistening from sweat. Alex had to quickly avert my eyes from her body as he did not want to make her uncomfortable with him staring. She came in and walked up to Eve who was standing at the table cutting some of the meat away from the bone. The each member of their new group grabbed what they wanted leaving nothing but the bones. Each of them gorged themselves until they were completely stuffed. Alex laid on the rug while the two women laid against the wall. The warmth of the fire and a full stomach helped all three of them quickly fall asleep.

“This piece of crap continues to live and now he has even rescued two more people. He is starting to cost me a lot of money”, said Dr. Samuels.

His assistant, Adam Chambers, a medical student from the Famed Johns Hopkins University was standing by monitoring the vitals of various prisoners.

“There have only been a handful of prisoners to reach level 10 and this bastard is already half way there. He is also the first to actually rescue to other inmates. I have to find a way to kill him or he will end up bankrupting my operation, Adam.”

“It appears so sir. Why don’t you give him something to break up his happy little group?”, said Adam.

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe offering the other two people that are with him some kind of incentives like points or an increase in level for killing him or maiming him.”

“Hmm… not a bad plan but the two that are with him now could not kill him with all of the nanites coursing through his body. No I will need someone or something stronger than him. Now how can I get him there? He is too cautious to jump into something haphazardly so what shall I do?”

Just then a man entered into the monitoring station within the prison.

“Oh ho what’s this Dr. Samuels? If I didn’t know better I would swear I just overheard you trying to plot the death of one of my game’s contestants. That couldn’t be right could it?”, asked Mr. Zhao.

“No, no, no that is not it Mr. Zhao”, Dr. Samuels said cowardly. “I was just trying to see how we could entice people to bet for his death rather than his survival.”

“Well, that is simple. We just need to raise the odds that he will die. People will bet even on a long shot. If the odds of him surviving are no longer profitable, people will stop betting on him to survive. This is basis of gambling. Now about his survival, I want you to give him a reward for surviving each week that he continues to live. This contestant has caught my intrigue.”

“Yes Mr. Zhao. What shall I reward him with?”

“Give him access to the system money and allow him access to his home and the improvements that can be bought.”

“He that seems like a lot for surviving only a week, Mr. Zhao.”

“Well he has bested the most difficult situations some of which players would not go near even until they were double his level. I think he has earned it plus once he has access to the upgrades his home will no longer be a safe zone where monsters cannot attack.”

“Yes I don’t think he has figured that part out yet considering that he went out to fight the zombies that showed up”, said Dr. Samuels.

“Farewell Dr. and remember not to do anything sneaky or underhanded to influence the outcome of the game and this contestant”, said Mr. Zhao with a cold look in his eyes.

With that, Mr. Zhao walked out of the room leaving Dr. Samuels and his assistant to finish their work.