Name: Aaron Price Faction: Humanity Race: Lvl 2 Human | 0% Class: N/A Hp: 220/220 Sp: 210/210 Mp: 130/130 Strength: 9 Dexterity: 13 Agility: 10 Constitution: 10 Endurance: 9 Perception: 7 Intelligence: 15 Magic: 1 Stat Points: 1 System Credits: 14

Aaron stared at the blue screen, trying to figure out what the numbers meant. It seemed that his stats ranged around ten, with magic and intelligence being the only outliers. He was average in most areas in his life, so he felt confident assuming that having 10 points in a stat was average for a human male. Next, Aaron focused on the Constitution stat and tried to understand what having 10 points in it really meant. He knew the dictionary definition of the word, put simply, it referred to the body's physical resistances, most often to pathogens, but in this case, he assumed that the system was referring to a more physical kind of defense. “Hey John, how many points do you have in Hp and Constitution?”

“13 for Constitution and 230 for Hp. Why?”

Aaron hummed in thought. The numbers almost worked out to a perfect 1:20 ratio, but they didn’t, so he had to be missing something. “What about your level?”

“I’m still level 1, what’s this all about?”

Aaron chuckled. “That confirms it... I’m an objectively better human than you,”

“Hey listen here smart guy, you may be a higher level but I’m an objectively more constitutional human than you,” John trailed off at the end, realizing he wasn’t making any sense. “Err, what I meant is that my constitution is probably higher than yours, that has to count for something!”

Aaron ignored the rest of John’s rambling as he went back to focusing on how Hp values were calculated. Base level must play some role in Hp calculation. If Hp is affected the same way by level that it is affected by the constitution stat, namely giving 10 hp per level… No, that still wouldn’t be right, he’d have exactly 100 Hp left unaccounted for. The roundness of the number led him to believe that he wasn’t on the wrong track, just that he was missing something. Aaron played with the numbers for a bit longer, realizing he had hit a dead end, he checked if the Mp stat was calculated the same way.

“If I use the same logic for Mp, giving 20 mp for my levels and 10 for my magic stat,” Aaron mumbled to himself, his eyes glazed over. There would still be 100 points left unaccounted for. It’s possible that the System gives everything a base hp of 100. In any case, it wouldn’t make sense for a baby to be born with 0 hp, on the sole account of its weak constitution.

Aaron paused and scratched at his hair. But that also doesn’t make sense. There’s no way the average adult would only be twice as tough as a newborn. Maybe Hp points are worth different amounts for different people. What does Hp represent? Do you die if you reach 0 Hp? If that is the case, there could be situations where repeated superficial damage would be enough to kill someone. Aaron's thoughts spiraled faster and faster, beginning to give him a headache.

“If getting poked in the hand with a pencil did 1 hp of damage, under the system’s rules would getting poked in the hand enough times kill you? I’m gonna need a notebook to keep track of all this,” Aaron mumbled to himself and began walking into his house.

“Aaron where the hell are you going?” John’s eyes flashed in understanding, “You weren't listening?”

“Oh sorry, I forgot you were there. Don't get mad though, I figured out how base stats such as Hp and Mp are calculated,” Aaron said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

“That's not as important as what I was just saying. I created a whole scientific argument, using my stat points and level to prove I am better than you.”

Aaron shrugged. “You’ll have to tell me about it sometime.”

“Yeah, well, I’m gonna say it again. Not only do I have a higher constitution but I also…”

John was cut off by his Dad coughing. “That’s enough of that, we have an apocalypse to prepare for. Come with me John,” he said, then walked a couple of feet to the house next door. “Good luck, Aaron. If you need anything you know where to find us.” He chuckled as he closed the door.

Aaron sighed, he had gotten so caught up in trying to figure out how the system worked that he forgot what type of situation he was in. Aaron walked through the front door and felt the cool air of the air conditioner blow into his face. Huh, the electricity still works. That’s surprising, considering how torn up the town looked when he drove through it. With all these earthquakes it was only a matter of time, till a power line fell.

Aaron peaked in the pantry and saw it was mostly full. It should be able to last them a few weeks. Food wouldn’t be a problem, initially, but water would be. Due to the lack of rain in California, they would have no easy way to get water once the power shut off.

“Mom, are you in here,” Aaron asked? She hummed in response.

Aaron’s mom stared out the window with a new pair of glasses on her face. “I didn’t realize the world looked like this now. Aaron, you're not grounded.”

Aaron laughed. “Thanks, Mom.” He paused for a moment looking out the window. “What should we do?”

“I’m going to cook all the meat I can while we still have power. You should check on your sister, make sure she’s alright. Other than that I’m not sure, maybe there will be some information on the t.v. or radio.”

Aaron moved to go check on his sister before stopping, “Do we have a lot of cooking pots?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I’m gonna fill them up with water.”

“Good idea. We also have a water cooler and some other things you can fill up while you're at it.” She hugged Aaron tightly before moving to fiddle with the fridge.

Aaron spent the next hour lugging pots and other containers around the house, filling them with water. He also filled both bath tubes to the brim with water. Though he hoped that things wouldn’t get to the point where they would have to drink bath water for survival. To cap off his little project, he draped a sheet over both bathtubs, careful not to let any of it dip into the water. Thankfully, the cooking pots were much smaller, so he was able to shove them into dark cabinets in the kitchen. He wasn’t sure how fast water evaporated, but he didn’t want to take any chances.

Aaron walked into the living room and wiped the sweat from his brow, filling pots with water was hard work. Added on top of the strain of running away from monsters earlier in the day, he felt like he was ready to collapse. Aaron flopped down on the couch and turned on the tv.

“Aaron come over here,” His mother called.

“Thanks, Mom, interrupt me right as I sit down, you couldn’t have said anything earlier,” Aaron said under his breath? He muted the tv with a groan and forced himself to his feet. Aaron slowly walked over to his mother.

The kitchen was a mess, evidence of a maniac cooking spree surrounded him. Pans were flipped over and packaging littered the counter.

“What,” Aaron said plainly

“Did the graveyard always look like that?”

Aaron peered out the window and looked at the graveyard. He had to squint his eyes to see it clearly because it was almost 3 miles away. Long rows of wooden crosses littered a gentle rolling hill, with the occasional stone cross mixed in. The setting sun reflected off the mist that condensed in the area, creating small flashes of light. Aaron stared at a familiar wooden cross in the right corner of the graveyard for a long minute. He sighed. “It looks normal to me, maybe they renovated it a bit.”