Chapter 5
Henry.
The black vortex spat him out with force, sending him tumbling across damp grass. Water pooled beneath him, a final remnant of whatever ocean he had just been yanked from. Henry rolled onto his stomach, reaching for his pistol as he stayed low, breathing softly, ears straining for any immediate threats.
The surroundings were wrong.
A moment ago, it had been night. The mission had been clear: infill, extract, exfil. Now, the sun was overhead, casting light on a landscape that did not belong. A wide, open field stretched ahead, broken only by patches of trees and scattered bushes. No coastline. No familiar markers.
I'm not where I had been. This isn’t anywhere that makes sense. There is no logical reason for the abrupt transition, but logic doesn’t matter right now—survival does.
A sudden white filled his vision.
[Welcome, Henry.]
The words hung in the air, clear and absolute. His grip on his pistol tightened.
[You have been registered. Initialization complete.]
[System Notification] Trait: Student Adept, use old and new knowledge to combine and learn new skills with increased rate of growth.
Trait: Awareness: All senses are heightened objects, and living beings are perceived regardless of direction of view.
It's sterile, mechanical not a hallucination. Asses what can be confirmed as fact, and work from there. Whatever happened, I'm now part of something unfamilar. And this isn’t the first.
That last part wasn’t stated outright, but it was there, between the lines. Others had come before. Maybe not many, maybe not often—but it had happened.
Two facts solidified in his mind:
This is very far from where I had been, with no probable way back.
This will take every skill, every lesson, and every ounce of training to secure an advantage.
Slowly, methodically, I check my gear. It's still there—pistol, rifle, knives, rope, hook, ammo. Vest is soaked but intact, the ceramic plate a reassuring weight. The electronic tools likely would not be needed for their intended purpose. Wristwatch still ticked, but whether it meant anything in this place, can’t be sure.
First priority: survive.
Second: stay hidden and gather intel.
He exhaled slowly and began to move, staying low, scanning for the first place to disappear and observe. The game had changed. Now it was time to learn the rules.
If the system had assigned me traits, then it stood to reason that it would recognize skills too. Which meant I need to start practicing anything that might trigger a skill award.
Languages. That is an easy one. I know several fluently—French, German, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Latin. If I can confirm that the system acknowledges them, I’d have an edge.
Survival skills. Stealth, tracking, fieldcraft. I can use those naturally as I move.
Combat techniques. Hand-to-hand, marksmanship, blade work. Practicing the movements may be a way to get the system to recognize them.
Information gathering. Reading people, mapping terrain, recognizing social structures. That will take time, but it was crucial.
Slowly exhaling, I watch the horizon. One step at a time. First, confirm what the system would grant me. Then, make a plan.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Speaking softly in French. A few words, a short phrase. A white notification blinked into my vision.
[Language Acquired: French. Polyglot Skill Gained.]
Thought so, Polyglot this is going to be useful.
He moved on, whispering in German. Another notification.
[Language Acquired: German. Polyglot +1.]
One by one, he repeated the process. Russian. Chinese. Arabic. Latin.
Each time, the same result.
[Language Acquired: Russian. Polyglot +1.]
[Language Acquired: Chinese. Polyglot +1.]
[Language Acquired: Arabic. Polyglot +1.]
[Language Acquired: Latin. Polyglot +1.]
I needed more skills. I examined my boots, running my fingers along each material, identifying them one by one. Leather, rubber, reinforced stitching, memory foam insole. A notification appeared.
[Skill Learned: Appraise.]
That confirmed my theory. The system rewarded knowledge and identification. I turned my focus to the pebbles and stones scattered around the depression, muttering the mineral compositions I could recognize. Granite, limestone, quartz.
[Skill Learned: Identify Ore.]
[Identify Ore +1.]
I kept going, spotting subtle variations in stone texture, each one reinforcing the skill.
[Identify Ore +1.]
[Identify Ore +1.]
Encouraged, I shifted my attention to the sparse plant life. Low shrubs, wild grasses, a few twisted saplings. I identified what I could—edible roots, poisonous berries, medicinal herbs.
[Skill Learned: Identify Plants.]
[Identify Plants +1.]
[Identify Plants +1.]
A rustle drew my gaze to movement in the grass. A small animal—some kind of rodent—scurried through the brush. I tracked its movements, noting its behavior, its escape routes.
[Skill Learned: Tracking.]
[Tracking +1.]
[Tracking +1.]
I sat in my bolt hole and considered my weapons.
If the system was assigning skills for knowledge, maybe there was something to gain from my firearms.
I started by removing my rounds, counting each one, and listing the component parts. A quarter of the way through, a notification flashed into my vision.
[System Notification: Skill Received: Ordnance Specialist.]
I continued the process. Halfway through, another skill up. Three-quarters, another. By the time I was done, I had gained three skill ups in total.
Next, I disassembled my pistol and suppressor, softly naming each component and spring. The moment I reassembled it, another notification appeared.
[Skill Received: Ballistics Specialist.]
[Ballistics Specialist] +1
A second message followed almost immediately.
[Weapon Bound: This suppressed firearm is now attuned to the user and will not function for any other.]
I repeated the process with my rifle, receiving another skill up in Ballistics Specialist. When I finished, a final notification appeared.
[Skill Received: RELOAD. Once per day, used ammo casings will respawn at midnight. Lost spent ammo will not be recovered.]
As I'm contemplating what prior knowledge, I can shoehorn a skill out of, I notice several columns of smoke far in the distance clustered together.
In that direction, a small deer grazes on the verdant grass. I decide it's time to make my way toward people and grab some takeout on the way.
I begin softly crouch-walking my way toward the deer, using bushes and tall grass to maintain cover. Halfway there, I get the system notification:
[Skill Received: Sneak. Grants a small bonus to stealth. Increased damage while the target is unaware.]
I get two skill-ups to Sneak by the time I get mostly there. When the deer looks my way, my pistol is already in hand. I fire, taking it in the head before it notices me, killing it instantly.
[Ballistics Specialist +1.]
Taking everything, I think I may need—meat, sinew, bone, antlers, guts—I set off walking toward what looks to be a town from the clustered smoke plumes. Along the way, I am looking for a good camp spot near fresh water and appraising everything, changes in terrain, different species of trees, animal spore, and the density of the underbrush. Each observation sharpens my skills.
[Identify Plants +1.]
[Identify Ore +1.]
[Tracking +1.]
Finding a small stream flowing swiftly over a rocky bed through the woods, I make a campfire under the trees, cleaning and roasting the meat over the fire. While the meat slow-cooks, I gather thick saplings bent in a favorable way and sit down to carve a bow, using the sinew as a bowstring.
[Skill Learned: Woodworking.]
[Woodworking +1.]
I craft bone-tipped arrows, plucking feathers from an unlucky passing bird after a quick shot and saved shell.
[Woodworking +1.]
As I work, I begin to reflect on the prior twenty-four hours, my mission, and career, I guess all of including myself has been overcome by events OBE.
