Scott rushed through the jungle. He avoided his decoy lean-to, and he batted unfamiliar flora out of his way. With his gaze nearly kept to the canopy, he selected another large tree to climb.

  The bark felt smooth, and his fingertips stuck to the trunk. He pulled his fingertips from the trunk, and he felt that it was like pulling apart old and weathered velcro. His entire hand stuck to the tree in the same manner.

  Scott climbed, and he found the task easier. His wounds smarted, and he grimaced under the pain until he reached the nest of branches he’d had his eye on. If he curled himself just right, he could get some deep sleep. Oh, what a fucking day.

  However tired Scott felt in his body, he could not get himself to sleep. His stomach grumbled continuously, he gulped his dry throat, and his thoughts raced. What potions did he acquire? They were in corked glass bottles, two of them were filled with mud-purple liquid, two of them were filled with moss-green liquid. When he asked the system, he received no reply. He hoped they were the fortification potions he was after. Someone at level forty-eight would surely carry fortification potions for stat points. Right?

  Chewing his lip, Scott attempted to allocate a stat point to strength.

  Requirement met.

  Fortify body to continue.

  Scott couldn’t help himself from bolting up. The sudden movement, with all his wounds, made him wince.

  “Two of these potions are body foritifcation.”

  The other two, if they were fortifications, had to either be of mind or of soul. The system had said nothing of wisdom requiring fortification. Mind fortification paired with intelligence, soul fortification had to pair with constitution, and body fortification paired with strength and dexterity.

  Scott asked the system the same question of strength that he asked of wisdom.

  The strength statistic has a variable which ranges from 0 up. Improved strength is acquired by pushing the body past its limits.

  Allocating a stat point to strength grants 1 hour to the individual to break their current limit of strength. After 1 hour, the individual’s new limit of strength becomes their average strength.

  Body fortifications must be taken to permanently protect the body when breaking limits.

  Dexterity turned out to be similar; the limits applied to speed, flexibility, and agility.

  And what of intelligence?

  The intelligence statistic has a variable which ranges from 0 up. Intelligence is collected scholastic knowledge.

  Allocating a stat point to intelligence gives the individual access to the Noble language for the duration of one written work. Whatever the subject, upon reading completion, the entire work and its effect is absorbed by the individual as knowledge and is realized in its purpose of effect.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  The Noble language is not permitted to be learned or remembered.

  And of constitution? Was his inference correct?

  The constitution statistic has a variable which ranges from 0 up.

  Allocating a stat point to constitution enforces the individual’s ability to endure and survive negative effects such as hunger, thirst, exhaustion, disease, poison, etc.

  Allocating a stat point to constitution requires soul fortification.

  Scott knew there was a way to learn what the remaining two potions were.

  Unable to allocate stat point to constitution.

  Soul fortification required.

  Scott grinned. So they were mind fortification potions. If they were fortification potions to begin with, at least. And if they were, then the Lynal’s base had to have Noble works. Spells? Scrolls? Books?

  Could he trace Carree’s footsteps? How long would his comrades tolerate his absence? They wouldn’t form a search party of one, and Scott knew he couldn’t take down a conscious man by himself. What should he do? Ah, sleep first.

  Scott awoke in the morning. He found that he’d slept so deeply, he hadn’t moved an inch. He was sore, and his wounds were starting to scab. He couldn’t see all of them, but he felt relieved that none seemed infected.

  A pervasive wind flooded the jungle. Scott shimmied down, trekked through the jungle to the beach, and he devoured a giant clam for 2 xp and a full belly. He sprinted for the stream where he drank his fill.

  Sated, Scott wandered through the jungle. He knew he would be assigning a stat point, but wondered whether it should be first to strength or dexterity.

  He considered the terrain, his first real fight with an unconscious humanoid, his strengths, his weaknesses, and what he could likely expect from Carree’s companions.

  But which two potions were body fortifications?

  His chance of imbibing the correct potion was fifty percent. And if he imbibed the mind fortification potion, would its effect stall until he came across a noble work? The system didn’t say when he should read something or finish reading.

  Scott popped the cork from the potion of tinkling mud-purple liquid. He tipped the glass to his lips, and he drank all of it.

  He attempted to allocate one stat point.

  Stat point has been allocated to dexterity.

  1 hour remaining to push your limits of dexterity.

  0:59.

  Scott bolted for the nearest tree. He gripped the branches, and he pulled himself up as fast as he could. He had to ignore his wounds. As he climbed, he observed that he felt different. He likened the feeling to giving his body caffeine as opposed to his mind. He felt more supple than ever; more limber, more elastic. Before he knew it, he was at the top. Shimming down was far easier than before, and when he hit the jungle floor, forty-five minutes remained on his timer.

  Scott sprinted through the jungle. He leapt over fallen trees, raced away from a flood of beetles, and he climbed and descended tree after tree.

  As his timer hit zero, Scott stumbled to a halt. He panted, hands on his knees, while sweat dripped from his brow. All his muscles felt sore.

  All of a sudden, Scott felt the soreness melt out from his muscles. His muscles felt warm and toned, and he couldn’t help but flex his muscles to test them.

  “So, so strange.”

  He climbed another tree to test himself. Instead of taking ten to fifteen minutes to climb to the top and back down, he did it in five.

  Scott’s stat sheet:

  Level 17

  Experience 00,984/50,000

  Stat points 15

  Strength 10

  Wisdom 0

  Intelligence 1

  Dexterity 6

  Constitution 4

  Abilities:

  Lesser Audial: Hearing radius increased by 10%, hearing sensitivity increased by 10%, 10% improved stereo imaging.

  Lootist: Some items are made available to loot from deceased.

  Tree pads: 10% improved grip and adhesion when climbing. Affects hands and feet.

  Inventory 07/10

  Awesome branch

  Dagger

  2 potions

  1 body fortification potion

  Damp cloak