Keeping his ears peeled, John made his way to the edge of the garage lot. It was accessed by a small alleyway that ran between two houses, nestled behind the back gardens of a full block of residential buildings, isolating it from the road. He crept along that alley until he reached the end, then pressed himself to the fence and peered around the corner.
Given the stress he’d been under while being chased by a monster, he hadn’t paid much attention to his route down here. Sounds of the bedlam that had befallen London still drifted on the air, but this neighbourhood was quiet as the grave. John swallowed, his stomach roiling as it occurred to him that that simile might be all too apt.
Peering closer, he saw many of the houses on this street had their front doors caved in. More windows were smashed than intact, even on the upper floors. Red stains seemed to be everywhere, spattering across grass, pavement, gravel, walls, windows.
There were no bodies, though, human or otherwise. That was notable. Whatever these monsters were here for and wherever the hell they’d come from, he was fairly confident they weren’t content with non-lethal methods. There was always the possibility that they’d just killed the people in their homes and moved on, but the bloodstains refuted that theory.
One likely possibility was they were carrying the corpses off, for whatever reason. Or, of course, they were eating them.
Grimacing, John made his way back into the garage lot. He gave the eyeball monster’s corpse a wide berth, lest he give in to the temptation to stomp the little fucker’s body to mush and ruin his boots. It stunk like rotten meat, and seemed to be decaying far faster than a fresh cadaver was typically supposed to. He eyed it with disgust as he passed it by.
The garage he’d looted the nine iron from was still open. He went inside, found the light switch, then closed the door behind him once he’d confirmed he wasn’t going to be shutting himself away in the dark. In another time, doing so would have brought him comfort. Now, he didn’t want to be surrounded by shadows.
Picking his way past all the old junk to the leather armchair that had been stored away at the back of the unit for what had to be decades, John took a seat, shuffled around a bit until he was comfortable, laced his fingers beneath his chin, then focused on that haptic mental sensation that always accompanied the Aura notifications. The information had been implanted in his brain, and recalling it was as simple as thought. Though it had changed slightly:
Increase Vitality (Level 0 -> Level 1): 100 Aura
Increase Strength (Level 0 -> Level 1): 100 Aura
Increase Agility (Level 0 -> Level 1): 100 Aura
Increase Mind (Level 0 -> Level 1): 100 Aura
Increase Arcane (Level 0 -> Level 1): 100 Aura
Increase Talent (Level 0 -> Level 1): 100 Aura
Unlock Spells: 1000 Aura
Unlock Skills: 1000 Aura
Unlock Inventory: 10000 Aura
Current Aura: 900
With a moment of relative calm afforded to him, John took the time to properly assess what he was seeing. There were no complicated interactions to be had with the interface, no tutorial or special tooltips or hidden screens. All he could do was focus his attention on one of the options, and there would be a mental trigger, the psychic equivalent to “Are you sure?”.
To his bewilderment, he’d apparently managed to gain over 2000 Aura in the course of that confrontation, putting him firmly in the green. Everything he’d said had felt incredibly lame. Confidence had never been his strong suit, and he was sure his voice must have wavered or broke at least a few times when he was throwing out those braggadacious quips.
But he supposed he had defeated the monster in single combat, even if it was relatively weak. The blood on its spider legs suggested others hadn’t done so well. So even if his banter hadn’t been the smoothest, he’d at least backed it up. That probably counted for something.
John shook his head. It didn’t really matter. The most important thing was, he had Aura, and there were options to spend it on. The problem was, he couldn’t find any explanations for any of it. The names of the upgrades and unlocks he could purchase weren’t exactly mysteries in and of themselves, but it would’ve been nice to know the specifics before he spent his hard-earned Aura.
But right now, would any of them be a waste? While they weren’t crystal clear, they were hardly opaque either, for the most part. Vitality would probably work on his cardio, fitness, and recovery. Strength was the most self-evident of the lot. Agility probably led to better reaction times. Mind was one of the more nebulous ones, but he expected it would translate to mental resilience or faster thought speed.
Arcane and Talent were the most uncertain of the lot, but his working theory based on context was that they’d govern what he was able to do with Spells and Skills once those were unlocked. Like, if this thing let him Cast Fireball, higher Arcane would yield a more powerful or efficient spell. Same for skills.
Inventory went without saying. Anyone who had even the slightest experience with video games could figure that one out, and the high price only confirmed it for him. The ability to store things in a pocket dimension—or whatever form the mechanic took—would be absolutely invaluable. Kinda overpowered, even. Hence: 10,000 Aura. If he played a bunch of fights like he had with the eyeball monster, it wouldn’t take long to accumulate that much, but he’d need to be spending Aura on other things at the same time; he couldn’t count on every battle going as well for him as that last one had.
Exactly what he’d need to spend it on remained to be seen. First, he needed to confirm what it all did. With 900 Aura available and no guarantee he’d be able to keep it all, he figured his best bet for now was to test each of the six upgrade options.
Deciding to go through the list in the order it was presented, he first directed 100 Aura into Vitality. It was as easy as thought, and the effect was immediate.
Vitality Level 0 -> Level 1!
-100 Aura
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Energy flooded his body like he’d just taken the world’s most powerful adrenaline shot. It rushed through him, and he felt it physically scour away the scant areas of flab he’d accumulated in his years of largely sedentary lifestyle. It was like the god of ecstasy had reached phantom hands into his body and given his soul a massage.
That wasn’t at all as pleasant as it sounded. Involuntarily feeling one’s spine straighten, muscles tighten, lungs inflate, among other things, was a singularly unique experience.
It passed in a flash, and he was left breathing easier, feeling lighter. He was hardly learned in the ways of health and fitness, but he felt like he’d just jumped from couch potato to one of those guys who participated in ‘fun runs’ and had a bunch of active hobbies.
The urge to check it out couldn’t be denied, and he found himself on his feet before he could even process it. He did a few jumping jacks, push-ups, and sit-ups and found them remarkably easy. There’d been a few occasions where a spurt of motivation had pushed him into trying to get fit, for a while letting him feel like he was on top of the world, could do anything, and he’d finally escape the rut that had only been getting deeper and deeper since he’d graduated sixth form, but the strain of it all quickly sent him plunging back down to reality every time.
So he could forgive himself for feeling a bit giddy at suddenly finding himself in better shape than he could ever remember himself being in, and all it had cost was 100 Aura.
After that success, he could hardly increase his Strength fast enough.
Strength Level 0 -> Level 1!
-100 Aura
The sensation this time was similar in nature but vastly different in execution. Energy surged through him once more, but this time it focused much more heavily on his muscles. Biceps, triceps, lats, delts, traps, pecs, abs, then down through his legs and back up again, flowing in a cycle, round and round his body.
If there was one aspect that was exactly the same as Vitality, it was the sheer discomfort of feeling his body undergo rapid change. He gritted his teeth as his muscles grew, everything else shifting to accommodate them. It was like he was going through a thousand workouts in the span of seconds. The ache was agonising.
But when he was done, the difference was again obvious. He hadn’t ballooned to the proportions of a bodybuilder, but the bulk he’d packed on was significant enough that he could physically feel the difference the moment he moved. His mind was unused to finding rounded biceps when he bent his elbow. Stretching his arms above him immediately highlighted the increased size of his torso. He wasn’t huge by any means. More like someone who’d been going to the gym regularly for a year or so, he guessed.
Still, that was an impressive improvement for the cost of 100 Aura and a few seconds. Lifting the couch to test it out, he found it wasn’t an easy feat, but he was sure he wouldn’t have been able to do it at all thirty seconds ago.
Agility came next.
Agility Level 0 -> Level 1!
-100 Aura
The physical changes weren’t so stark this time. Only a brief burst of energy hit him, targeting muscle groups with surgical precision, and even briefly rummaging around in his brain, which was an alarming feeling while it lasted. It was done much faster than the other two, but the effects were just as obvious. They were kind of unpleasant, though.
Being able to bend his fingers back, touch his toes, lick his elbow, and so on, weren’t anywhere near as exciting as the increases in fitness and strength he’d just received, but he could see how they could be helpful in future.
If the improvements had ended there, he would’ve seriously considered treating Agility as a dump stat. But he felt a subtle change as he moved. There was an extra grace to his movements that hadn’t been there before, a smoothness. Moreover, small movements around him seemed more obvious, now. A fly buzzing around the fluorescent lamp lighting the garage unit appeared… not slower, necessarily. It was whim who’d changed, after all.
On a whim, he fished out a bouncy ball from one of the storage boxes and lobbed it at the wall directly in front of him. It came ricocheting back, aiming right for his face at rapid speed.
He snatched it out of the air with the reflexes of a cat, and he smirked. It wasn’t only the fact he’d been able to react, but the accuracy of the throw. Aiming correctly for his own head had come easily, even with the bounce.
With that established, he increased Mind.
Mind Level 0 -> Level 1!
-100 Aura
This change was easily the fastest of all by far. There was only a brief flash of energy, all contained in one spot: his brain. It was like lightning had just struck his mind, and somehow it had zapped extra neurons into his grey matter.
Explaining the sudden ability to think faster was no simple matter. He wasn’t smarter, necessarily. It was kind of like bullet time. He could consider a problem fast enough that the world genuinely seemed to slow down, if only a little bit. Focusing his attention on the fly still buzzing around the light, he could track its movements not just through reflexes, but through actual awareness.
It wasn’t a massive upgrade. The fly’s wings still blurred, and it would occasionally move too fast for his eyes to track. But the ability still impressed him, and he found himself wondering how it would look at higher levels.
Arcane and Talent ended up matching his expectations, or perhaps lack thereof.
Arcane Level 0 -> Level 1!
Talent Level 0 -> Level 1!
-100 Aura
-100 Aura
There was obvious change. The energy that thrummed through his body attested to that. But afterwards, the energy kind of… lingered. Arcane created a sphere of inert power that rested just below his navel, while Talent pooled within his skull, taking on the approximate shape of his brain. Both stayed inactive once they were created. No amount of mental poking and prodding got them to do anything.
But he was pretty sure they were going to do exactly what he expected them to now. The issue was he had no way of confirming it at present, not with only 300 Aura available. Unlocking Spells and Skills cost a whole 1000 each. Curiosity burned inside him, and he found himself back on the armchair, sulking at the interface.
Increase Vitality (Level 1 -> Level 2): 200 Aura
Increase Strength (Level 1 -> Level 2): 200 Aura
Increase Agility (Level 1 -> Level 2): 200 Aura
Increase Mind (Level 1 -> Level 2): 200 Aura
Increase Arcane (Level 1 -> Level 2): 200 Aura
Increase Talent (Level 1 -> Level 2): 200 Aura
Unlock Spells: 1000 Aura
Unlock Skills: 1000 Aura
Unlock Inventory: 10000 Aura
Current Aura: 300
The upgrades had gone up in price too, but he’d been expecting that. The only question was how much they’d continue to rise, and how much Aura he’d have to gather to keep them growing. Would they go up by 100 at a time, or were they going to keep doubling? The former would be preferable, but he suspected it would end up being more like the latter, judging by how it had deemed Inventory worth 10,000; that suggested who- or what-ever had created this Aura system recognised the value of what he was getting.
John frowned. Curiosity wasn’t the only reason he wanted to know how Spells and Skills worked, and how they interacted with Arcane and Talent. The first four aspects of the interface all had their appeals, but he couldn’t properly theorise what the best path forward for survival was with incomplete information. It would be horribly vexing if he pumped all his Aura into those four, only to later find out Spells and Skills were crazy OP.
Heaving a sigh, John rose to his feet. There was no other choice, no matter how he looked at it.
He was going to have to farm Aura.
