Chapter 3

Inside the hole are several humans mutilated and violated beyond recognition. But what made it worse was the pendant that lay next to one of the bodies.

It had a picture of a woman, a man, and a small boy. The man Eric recognizes as William, and the boy is the kid that was murdered next to the wagon.

Eric forces himself to check if anyone is still alive, but a quick scan only shows corpses. Eric quickly collects the goblin souls before heading for the exit, collecting a sixth from the first goblin he killed.

As soon as he stepped back outside he popped one in his mouth.

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Choose one skill and one trait:

Skills:

Quick Slash

Traits:

Enhanced Nose

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Eric presses on Quick Slash and Enhanced Nose and instantly he knows what they did. Quick Slash does just what it sounds like, making Eric slash quickly with his weapon or nails (That's what the goblins used the skill for) but it has to be a sharp weapon, or the skill won't work. Enhanced Nose explains itself.

Eric eats the rest of the souls and no screen pops up.

‘I guess I have all the skills that they do…’

Eric looks up at the sky. The two moons are still out, almost in the middle of the sky now.

‘I wanna find civilization’

Eric starts following the trail that he followed initially. Taking his time as he examines the beautiful scenery around him. He sees mushrooms that glow, flowers that suck in light, and even a few fairy-looking creatures that hide as he walks by.

Eric thinks about catching one but decides not from how fast he's seen them move. Eric picks a glowing mushroom off the ground and looks at it closely.

He examines it for a bit and just as he's about to put it down a golden star flies by and a screen appears next to the mushroom.

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Holy Mushroom-

Replenishes mana, unless you are an undead or demon spawn then deals holy damage.

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‘Hmmm… Status’

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Name: Eric Bird

Race: Modified Human

Level: 33

Stats: (+1 per lvl)

Strength- 55

Stamina- 55

Durability- 55

Dexterity- 54

Perception- 54

Will- 54

Intelligence- 54

Free Points: 0

Skills: (**- means something is new!)

Soul Eat (1 white soul=1 free point)

Fireball

*Inspect*

Traits:

Dark Vision

Titles:

Player

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As of right now, Erics is just going to have a balanced build. He bumps str, stam, and dur to 55 and the rest to 54.

‘This feeling could get addicting…’ Eric shudders as the feeling goes through his body.

But the snap of a branch attracts his attention. Eric spins around and sees… nothing. Eric can’t spot anything, no monsters or people. Even no fairies…

Eric hears the creek of a tree behind him and he spins around just in time to avoid a swinging branch. Eric pulls his sword out and points it at the living tree trying to kill him. The tree is around fifteen feet tall and 5 feet wide.

Eric watches as the tree wheels back its branch to swing at him.

‘It's like… it's in slow motion!’

Eric squints his eyes at the tree and a see-through panel appears.

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Willow Tree

Level: 27

Weak to holy and fire magic

“A willow tree is a tree brought to life by the Willow Forests ambient curse mana”

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Eric ducks out of the way again as the Willow Tree swings at him and counterattacks, slicing the branch off.

Eric continues to attack the tree stabbing it multiple times in its main body. His sword stabs into the tree with zero resistance surprising Eric a bit.

He backs off as it swings another branch at him and says:

“Fireball!”

The ball of flame forms in a single second and he launches it at the Willow Tree. It explodes on contact and lights the tree on fire.

“SCREEEEEEEEEEEE”

The tree lets out an ear-bursting screech that stuns Eric as it burns to death. Eric lets his guard down as the tree falls to the ground, unmoving and charred.

Then a thick branch wraps around his neck, lifting Eric off the ground. Another Willow Tree crawls forward with its roots when a line appears that opens up to several rows of teeth.

It pulls Eric toward its mouth as he tries to cast Fireball but another vine wraps around his arms squeezing them. Eric feels his arms break as he's shoved into its mouth. It chomps down on Eric's legs and as he’s forced to watch, unable to fight back.

Weird green liquids ooze all around him and he can feel it start melting his flesh.

Eric suddenly appears in the hallway. He collapses to his knees vomiting for the second time that day.

“W-what happened?”

“You died”

Eric's eyes instantly shoot up to see a skinny old man standing in front of him. He's dressed in all-black clothes and has a glowing green ring on his middle finger.

“W-who are y-you?” Eric stutters a bit as the feeling of being eaten alive is still prominent in his mind.

“My name is Jack” The old dude smiles at Eric “and you are Eric Bird. Born in universe 10M-65564738-88-PPL. When you were chosen you were five foot nine and one hundred and ninety pounds, but now you are six foot two and two hundred and twenty pounds.”

Eric stands up and looks down at the old man.

“Where am I? Why am I here? What did you mean by chosen? What’s a Player? Wh-” Eric suddenly can’t talk. He feels his face and his mouth is gone.

“One at a time, please.”

“Er yeah, sorry” Eric's mouth comes back. “Where am I?”

“You are in the System.”

“Uh, what's the System..?”

“It's where you are,” Jack smiles at him.

“... Why am I here?”

“Because you were chosen”

“Ok, why was I chosen?”

“You were lucky I guess. I choose randomly.”

“So you're the reason I’m here?”

“Pretty much”

“So are you like.. God?”

“I am a god, yes. Second strongest to be exact. Only second to the big man.”

“Wa-” Eric loses his mouth again.

“I’m just gonna tell you what you need to know. You are in the System. Made by me to help people like you. Before me, players didn’t even have a name! Back then, there weren’t redoes so I made the System. It's like a hub of sorts, for Players. You’ll figure it out eventually. Here, take this.” Jack throws a white ring at Eric.

Eric looks at Jack questionably.

“It’s a system ring. You can save and visit three worlds you’ve been to before, at least right now. Eventually, you won’t even need the ring to travel. You can also use it to enlist one servant who will accompany you for the rest of your journey. Their life force will be tied to yours, making them grow in power as you do.”

Eric examines the ring

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System ring

Crafted by Jack himself, this item officially makes you a player! Once put on it will be unable to be removed so choose the finger to put it on wisely. Can store up to 1,000 tons.

Saved Worlds: 0/3

Servants: 0/1

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