Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Fortunately, Ethan managed to grab his backpack at the last moment and bring it with him. As he sat on the floor, he opened it to look for his tablet, but whether it was the tablet, the phone, or the watch, none of them was working.

‘’Ani, what’s my name?’’ he probed with a thoughtful frown.

‘Ethan Walker.’

‘’What do you suggest I should do in this situation?’’

‘Command unclear.’

‘’Can you locate the ship or the other biochips?’’

‘No, they are not in the 10.000 miles radius.’

Or dead already, he thought as his frown got deepened.  ‘’What kind of abilities do you have available at the moment?’’

‘Analyze, calculate, and memory transfer.’

‘’No simulations?’’

‘Insufficient data.’

Great… Ani lost its self-identity and became a supercomputer. At least it’s not blacked-out like the other electronics. Likely because the biochip is entirely organic and takes its resources from my body. Then, what the hell happened to Ani? Some kind of EMP attack? There is no way something like that could end Ani, he mused to himself, but it led to nowhere.

For this mission, thanks to VR, their entourage went through many challenges in different environments. They had quite a few backup plans for unique scenarios but in none of them did they think that something would happen to Ani. 

Initially, they were supposed to divide their scout teams into small groups of 4-5 people and drop them off from the ship separately, with thousands of miles of distance between each group. This was to allow them to cover a large area while they were still able to communicate with each other through their biochips. 

Everyone on the ship had a specialty that would only shine more when they were together with their small group. According to Ethan’s deal with Ani, if he wished for it, he was able to leave the group and explore this world alone but only after helping his small group to gather around with others as their captain. Nothing bound this deal but Ethan’s word, and that was enough for Ani as it was already aware of what his promise was worth.

The problem was that Ani was gone, and he didn’t even know who his teammates were or their current location, for that matter. Among the 500, he only spent time with his three friends and even now, he was only worried about their safety, well, except his own. Stuck in an abandoned village and surrounded by giant monsters, his situation wasn’t looking good. 

Shaking his head from the distant thoughts, Ethan focused on the most important, survival. Inside his bag, he found his daggers but no guns. For protection, Ani was going to distribute guns and suits before they set out. Now, all he got was his custom-made daggers, nothing fancy, probably not even a good metal. After four years of playing with daggers, he kinda found them comforting and requested Ani to copy them back on Earth.

Besides that, the bag also contained some water and rations that were enough for a week, a medical kit, ropes, a lighter, two white t-shirts, and some now worthless electronics. Let alone the batteries, even the ones with solar power didn’t work.

Ethan knew in these circumstances there wasn’t much he could do. It was obvious that there was something in the temple and he planned to check it out, but there was no way he could kill that giant lizard with his knives. Even if he somehow managed to injure its thick hide, at best, it would only tickle the beast.

He stood up and started to investigate the house. The place was dusty and there was a smell of mold in the air, but the furniture still held up pretty well after so long. The design of the house was somewhat similar to houses on earth at the start of civilization. There were two big rooms and a kitchen where a family of four could live.

Ethan carefully walked around the smelly rug and reached the rusty couch before feeling it with his hand in wonder. The civilization of this world is eerily similar to ours. There are countless factors guiding the path of human society, and without getting influenced by each other, I don’t see any other way to this happen.

It didn’t take long for him to find a switch that allowed him to open the storage unit of the couch. His eyes shone when he saw the prize. Books! Many were moldy but most of their letters were readable. ‘Ani, start analyzing the language and translate it as best as possible.’

After flipping the pages of seven books, Ani barely understood a few words but this was a good start. What he needed most right now was information. No, it was probably a machine gun, but the information was definitely in the top five. 

Scouring the house, he didn’t find any other book or anything else helpful. Without any other choice, Ethan made up his mind to explore the other homes. There were many dangers outside but staying here and doing nothing was never an option. After ensuring that the street was empty, with utmost awareness and caution, he left the house with his daggers in his hands.

The giant lizard and the golden bird were at the center of the town, whereas Ethan’s position was toward the edge of the village. Although this wasn’t enough to drop his guard as he didn’t expect this place to lack any other dangerous beings. 

It was still mid-noon, so he stuck close to the buildings and tried not to make any noise. Still, against the sand color walls, his black pants and white shirt stood out too much for his liking. What made him more uncomfortable was the quietness of this place. The only noise available in the town was the moving doors and windows, orchestrated by the hot wind blowing.

Nevertheless, he deeply appreciated the silence after hearing a loud hissing sound that made him shiver all over. He turned to look for the creature but it was too far away. Curious, he delayed his entry to the next house and instead climbed to its roof once again. There, he saw two magnificent creatures fighting at the other corner of the town.

One of them was a feline creature, it seemed just a bit bigger than the panthers of the earth, while the owner of the hissing sound was impossible to go unnoticed. It was a huge snake with wings. Like Ethan, the feline monster was standing on top of a one-story building. The snake was on the ground and even so looked down at the other. 

Ethan watched the confrontation as he held his breath. How did I miss this one? Did it arrive in town recently? He saw that the other creatures were also getting close to the scene but none of them was making a move. They just observed it with mild interest. A duel, perhaps? I feel like I’m missing something important.

The snake started the fight and tried to bite his foe but the other was too agile. It evaded the attacks easily and even gave some scars with its claw. Understanding the difficulty of catching its prey, the snake opened its wings and carried its giant body over the building, surrounding its enemy completely.

Now, whenever the feline dodged, another part of the snake blocked its way, trying to grab it by wrapping it around. The snake’s wings were still open because it used them to balance itself and even to change its momentum abruptly. 

The injuries the feline gave looked shallow. While the snake’s mouth wasn’t big enough to swallow the feline whole, it still looked deadly. When the feline got stuck by its tail momentarily, the snake made its move to bite. 

Just before the contact, the feline's claw hit the fang of the snake, removing it from its mouth and throwing it a few blocks away. 

Ethan’s eyes widened by the show and he once again got tense with the angry cry of the snake. The skin of the azure snake started to turn pitch black, but before Ethan understood what was happening, the feline jumped on its head and started to tear apart its flesh with its claw. He noticed that the claw was glowing with a red hue, and these strikes weren’t like any other it had used before. What the actual fuck? What kind of strength is that?

Before long, the head of the snake had torn apart from its body. The feline bit the bloody mess and dragged it along slowly. The spectators lost their interest and returned to their territories as well. 

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Ethan stayed on the roof for a little longer and tried to digest what he had just witnessed. These predators were out of his league. He had to stay low and leave this place as soon as possible. I stand no chance against either of them. They were way too fast. Also, what was the matter with that glowing claw?

After glimpsing the fight between these creatures, he started to think that even a machine gun would be futile against them. Looking at the abandoned village filled with nightmare materials, Ethan’s speculations about the natives got only worse. Perhaps, the people of this world couldn’t have fought against these monsters and came to Earth in search of an alternative home. And the reason they stopped coming is… they’ve lost?

He really hoped this wasn’t the case because no matter how much he liked adventures, his purpose for coming here was to find his place in this life with like-minded people. If all this world had to offer were abnormal monsters, he would’ve rather considered this venture as a failure and returned to Earth, eventually. Of course, he had to stay alive before even considering the possibility of returning.  

Exhaling a long breath, I should get the information before the assumptions, he thought. Ethan quietly climbed down from the roof, and only after entering the house did he relax. The interior was similar to the other place but the furniture was in a worse condition. He took a mental note to leave the houses with broken windows and doors to the last.

As there were no bookshelves or chests, he went for the couch once again but before he had the time to open it, he realized two pairs of red eyes were watching him behind the sofa. The moment he realized them, two black rats who were bigger than the cats of the Earth, attacked him in a frenzy. 

He dodged the first one but the second one managed to injure his leg with its claw. The one he dodged jumped again but this time, Ethan unsheathed his dagger and stabbed it to its head. He kneeled and slashed his other dagger at the other one. It squealed as blood splashed out but still charged at him. Throwing himself backward, he timed the rat's position and cut its head off before even falling to the ground. 

As Ethan sat on his ass, bleeding and breathing heavily, he felt some kind of energy pouring into his being. The energy was completely in his control, ready for commands. He knew what this was. He played enough games to guess what this was. Stats! he thought, but still asked for a second opinion. ‘Ani, do you know what is this energy that came from the rats?’

‘Some kind of life essence. Apparently, you could convert it to your needs.’ 

So that’s how these monsters get so powerful! Licking his lips, ‘Show me my status like at the start of the VR games and convert this life essence to bonus stats,’ he urged.

Status: Level 1

Health: 62/70

Mana: 140/140

Stamina: 55/60

Vitality: 7

Strength: 9

Endurance: 6

Agility: 11

Intellect: 14

Perception: 5

*Available stats: 10

‘Awesome. Wait, why is there no wisdom?’

‘It’s not possible to convert this energy to mana regeneration. The intellect stat is related to your mana pool as well as your calculating abilities. But more data is needed for regeneration.’

‘Hmm, more data is more books for now and hopefully more ugly rats that would give me more exp,’ he said, mostly to himself. 

‘’Command unclear.’’ 

Ethan sighed and shook his head. ‘’Don't worry, Ani. I’ll figure out what happened to you and bring you back if it's possible.’’ 

It was very odd for him to see Ani like this. For almost a decade, it became his companion, sometimes a psychiatrist, sometimes a friend who joked back, or just a listener to his nuisances. Suddenly finding himself all alone was terrifying, thankfully there were other things to keep his thoughts occupied.

This is getting interesting. Although I played many RPG games, the ones where you could be a superhuman weren’t my favorites. But it's completely different when it's fucking real. What kind of existence would I become at the higher levels?

Impatiently, he distributed his stats among vitality, endurance, and agility for now and instantly felt the difference. There was no physical difference but he felt that his bones became denser, his movements became more fluent, and he felt a tad healthier. It was like getting the reward of months of workout in the gym, instantly, for only killing two big rats. If there were no limits to progress, Ethan was already able to see this becoming a new addiction for him.

Back on Earth, many VR games gave similar feelings with every level up. Numerous people struggled hard to get strong and enjoyed superhuman abilities. Ethan also liked to play those; throwing fireballs everywhere or destroying a building with sheer physical strength was always fun. But he never understood the people who spent enormous time and effort on those games. After all, it was virtual. 

Instead, he used his obsession with self-progression for something he could own, skills, techniques, sharp instinct, decision making, or just observation. Whatever he could hone, he did it with a mad attitude. That was why he spent most of his time in training, while the game he played most frequently had one rule, every player had to play with their actual bodies.   

Alas, the human body has its limitations; his gains from pushing himself to his limits started to get lower and lower until he had to stop training himself just for the joy of it and did it just to stay in the form. 

What this world was offering was priceless. Ethan felt like finding his favorite toy after so long.

With newfound confidence, he cleaned and bandaged the wound on his leg. It was quite shallow but better to be prepared. After he was done, he checked the rats to see if there was any core or something like that but there was none. He stopped just before leaving the house and gave one last order, ‘Ani, put three bars for my health, mana, and stamina to the upper left corner without hindering my vision.’ 

Ethan opened the door to a more game-like world, one that he was familiar with and good at it. He had no intention to mess with the big shots but he was sure that there were some he could prey on. As he stepped outside, the subtle upward quirk on his mouth was revealing that he was in a good mood.

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