Broken Anomaly

Goblin +10 experience.

Eric and Alex were the first to get the message as the goblin that Eric had stabbed in the neck died. Ignoring the window and looking past it, they finished off the remaining goblin.

Stella and Marcus also got a system message as they finished off their goblins. Marcus lifted the weight that had just crushed a goblin’s skull and walked toward the first goblin, the one who had been near the wall to begin with, and dropped it on its head.

Everyone got a message this time.

Goblin +5 experience.

All four of them collapsed as soon as they got the last message, announcing the death of the last goblin. They just sat for a moment, processing everything that had just occurred.

In less than a minute, they ended five lives, and none of them felt particularly bad about it. Granted, they were monsters, but they were alive before, and now they weren’t.

“I got a point in vitality,” Marcus said, breaking the silence.

Everyone turned to look at Marcus, staring at him intently. Their expressions were a mix of interest and disbelief but Marcus himself couldn’t distinguish.

“What? Did you guys not get anything?” he added, his head turning with curiosity

Before the silence became awkward, Alex spoke, breaking the silence. “That proves it,” he began, his voice calm and playful. “We’re different now. We’re sitting near the corpses of monsters we just killed like it’s nothing.”

He let out sigh, letting his head hang. “And I’m more interested in what Marcus just said,” he added, in a tone more calm than what the content of what he just said suggested.

“Right?” Eric asked, glancing at the other three. “I thought it was just me.”

“Same,” Stella said, looking at something in the air. “How much experience do you guys have?” she asked, shifting the topic.

Eric was already bringing up his window before she finished asking the question.

Experience 25/100

“Twenty-five,” he answered simply.

“Just as I thought,” Stella began, putting her window away. “Each goblin gives twenty points of experience,” she said, then pointed at Eric. “You’re gonna need to kill four on your own. Is it possible?”

Eric replayed the entire fight in his head and started to analyze what he had done. If he was being completely honest with himself, the goblins were weak. He had expected a stronger response from them and was more cautious than he actually needed to be.

He nodded and answered. “It should be possible,” he said. “If there’s five goblins in the next room, I should be able to clear it alone.”

Alex and Marcus glanced at each other. They both knew why someone needed to kill four goblins on their own; it was the level up. They had no problem letting someone else take the experience.

What dumbfounded them was Eric and Stella’s readiness to do what was needed. It wasn’t the first time they saw something like this, but there was a difference between the readiness they’d always shown and being able to stab a living creature without hesitation.

“Need anything?” Stella asked.

Eric turned, his eyes landing on a wooden mop that was resting on the metal cabinet. “Not really,” he said, grabbing the mop, tilting it slightly and then stomping above the mop head. “Just this. Let’s go.”

Everyone got up and left the room, returning to the hallway and looking at the remaining rooms. The two remaining rooms only had windows near the ceiling. They were too far to reach, observing them, Eric had an idea.

“Maybe if I stand on Alex’s shoulders?” he asked, a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

They all turned to him, eyebrows raised in unison, their expression saying all that needed to be said.

“Taking that as a no,” he said with a light shrug.

Stella approached an opening on the wall. She saw that the trees had increased in number as they slowly encroached on the building. She also saw some of the canine monsters fighting over some of the corpses that were around. Alex appeared beside her, phone in hand.

“Still no signal?” she asked.

“No,” Alex replied, putting his phone back into his pocket.

“It’s the electricity,” Eric said, his tone informative. “The land sort of grew, but only the buildings remained intact. Everything else, like the power lines, was destroyed.”

“Wouldn’t cell towers have generators?” Stella asked, with a slight frown and turning to Marcus.

“I don’t know,” Marcus said with a shrug.

“Would they even be considered buildings?” Eric began, rubbing his temple. “Would they all have generators? There’s too much we don’t know,” he added and then tapped his temple with a bit of force. “Focus.”

Alex took a deep breath and gathered himself. “How are we doing this?” he asked.

“We’ll just block the door and help if he needs it. And, please, avoid touching the goblins,” Stella said, her voice was firm but even she wasn’t completely sure of what would happen.

Everyone nodded in response and got ready. They went toward the door; Alex grabbed the door handle with his left hand and rested his left shoulder on the door. Eric held the wooden stick with both hands, ready to thrust. Stella and Marcus were both behind Eric, ready to enter after him.

Alex checked that everyone was in position and started to count down from three. Before he reached zero, he lifted his shoulder a bit from the door, turned the handle, and when he reached zero, slammed the door inwards. Alex didn’t feel the door hit anything and let it go.

Eric looked inside and saw that in the middle of the room was a group of five goblins, all huddled together. The goblins seemed identical in terms of appearance and equipment, or lack thereof, the one difference being that the armed goblin had a small white axe instead of a knife.

Eric rushed toward the armed goblin; they had just turned their heads to the door in surprise by the time he was right in front of them. The goblin tried to dodge, but he still managed to land the strike. The tip of the wooden stick managed to stab the armed goblin on its side. When Eric felt his attack connect, he kept running until he hit the wall.

The goblin struggled the whole way, hitting the stick with its small axe, managing to chip it enough that the hit against the wall broke it and made Eric fumble forward. As the goblin landed on the ground, it managed to land a strike on Eric’s left hip. It was a pain he had never felt before. I wish I was Marcus right now, he thought.

As soon as the goblin landed, Eric tried to knee it in the head but was unsuccessful as the goblin was too tall. The goblin’s head was slightly higher than Eric’s hip, so his knee hit it in its chest.

However, the impact was enough to stagger it and allow Eric to grab the knife from his pocket and stab it repeatedly. When the goblin finally fell, it dropped its axe. Eric quickly grabbed it and turned around, ready to run and fight the rest of the goblins.

Goblin +20 experience.

What Eric saw as he turned around was much better than he had expected. To the right, Alex was holding two goblins back while using the barbell as a sort of spear, even though its tip was blunt.

On the left, Stella and Marcus were in a ready stance while the goblins kept eyeing their weapons. The goblins seemed to be in a stunned state because of what just occurred to what Eric assumed was their leader—the stabbing, not its death, he didn’t think they knew about its death yet.

He ran toward the right, lifting the small axe high. With all his strength, he swung the small axe down towards the closest goblin, killing it instantly. When the axe was free from the goblin’s skull, he swung it at the second one. The goblin managed to dodge the first swing, only to stumble backwards and be hit by the second and dying to the third swing.

Goblin +20 experience.

Goblin +20 experience.

Eric turned towards the couple and did the same thing to their goblins. The first goblin he attacked was already injured, having a pair of scissors sticking out of its right arm, killing it only granted Eric half of the experience points. It was only after he killed the last goblin that he heard a sound he hadn’t heard before.

Goblin +10 experience.

Goblin +20 experience.

Level up!

You have gained 5 stat points.

You have gained 2 free stat points.

You have gained 1 skill point.

“Seven total stat points. Two of which are free according to the message,” Eric said, for everyone to hear. “Plus, one skill point, let me check the first stat point notification.”

You have 5 stat points. They have been allotted to your most used stats.

Eric Aguilar

Rank F

Level 2

Experience 115/225

Stats

Vitality 6

Endurance 13

Strength 6

Dexterity 7

Constitution 5

Agility 5

Perception 6

Charisma 5

Intelligence 6

Wisdom 3

Stat points 2

Skill points 1

Skills -

Concepts -

Titles -

Magic -

“According to the system, the stats go to whatever you use the most.” Eric began to think about the actions he had taken up until this point. “I ran, fought and used weapons, so my endurance, agility, strength and dexterity increased.” Eric said, explaining what he saw. “Two new categories get added showing available stat and skill points. Now let me check what skills I have available.”

Choose a skill

Axe mastery. Spear mastery. Knife mastery. Amplification. Dash. Inspect.

As Eric concentrated on the skill points a new window appeared. He saw six skills at the top of the window and many others below them. He first thought that the six skills were his only options, but he soon saw that he could also choose the ones from the list underneath. The ones on top must be related to my actions, Eric thought as he turned his attention to the six recommended skills and focused on each one.

Axe mastery: Master the art of the axe. Create a foundation that will chop down the pinnacle.

Spear mastery: Master the art of the spear. Create a foundation that will pierce through the pinnacle.

Knife mastery: Master the art of the knife. Create a foundation that will slice the pinnacle.

Amplification: Temporarily boosts your strength and endurance.

Dash: Temporarily boosts your endurance and agility.

Inspect: See information of the world.

Mastery skills are good, but I’m not sure enough about any of the weapons I’ve used so far. Amplification and Dash seem useful, but are they the best for right now? I want Inspect but it’s mostly for the fantasy, Eric thought to himself as he looked through entire list of skills. Eventually finding one that caught his interest.

Mental Focus: Increase ability to analyze.

The reason this skill had caught his interest was because it could help with one of his biggest flaws, if not the biggest: his impulsiveness.

If his friends had not wanted to fight the goblins, he would have done so alone. If Alex hadn’t called to him from within the gym, he would have fought the beast that blocked his path, maybe even fighting the big one that Alex said was behind him.

If this skill could help him make better decisions, even after he had already made a bad one, it would be worth it. Before selecting it, he told the rest of the group what he saw, leaving out the skill he had chosen.

“First of all, don’t get Inspect. Doesn’t suit you,” Stella said.

“You also have to consider that this is real life and not a game.” Marcus added, as he considered his next words. “Realistically, we could probably kill a level twenty if we ram something through its eye and not get back a notification that says ‘immune.’”

“How do we unlock magic?” Alex asked, disrupting the previous topic. “If the skills are based on what you do… how would someone get something like fireball and, more specifically, stone armor?” Alex asked, slightly downcast as he gazed at his hands.

“I already have a skill I want,” Eric said, ignoring the suggestions, Alex’s question and selecting Mental Focus.

When he confirmed his selection, he felt burning pain as hot, viscous air rushed into his body from every direction. It lasted only a second, and he could no longer feel the pain or the viscous air, but he knew it was there, lightly coursing through his body.

You have acquired the skill: Mental Focus level 1.

The pain had taken him out for a second; when he came to, he saw that everyone was looking at him. He ignored them and opened his status screen to see that under his name was a new category:

Mana: 100/100

“I know how to get mana,” he said to the others. He also realized that he instinctively knew how to activate this new skill. He wanted to try it but stopped himself, as he didn’t want to risk mana not recovering on its own or it recovering too slowly.

“Hey!" Alex’s voice cut through his thoughts. He crouched in front of Eric, his eyes wide with concern. “What happened? Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Eric answered with some discomfort. “It was just mana entering my body. Burns a bit.”

“Didn’t get Inspect, right?” Stella asked, her eyes narrowed in his direction.

“No,” Eric replied, getting up. “You guys ready?”

--------------------

The three survivors stood in front of the box in complete silence, as it had refused to respond to the ring. The desperation of the three had almost become tangible, yearning for the box to react. Now they just stood still, waiting for a new window to appear.

Their current theory was that the box needed mana to function, and there was currently none in this world. They waited patiently through the tremors. When suddenly, they also began to hear noises that they didn’t recognize from outside the husk.

“Impossible,” the ringbearer exclaimed, snapping his head toward the entrance.

“Calm down,” the left companion told them.

“We’ve come far, be patient,” the right companion added.

Habitats incorporated.

Applying further adjustments.

Please hold.