Lair by Carl Stubblefield (recommended reading TXT) 📕

all the way… whoa, that’s so intense,” Gus moaned as the leveling rapture faded. “I wouldn’t give it up, but man, that would kill me with the distraction if I were mid-battle,” he mumbled. He was glad the system postponed things until he checked his logs. That safeguard had probably saved his life.

He dropped his woven clothes in the corner of the immense shower, turned on the taps and stood there. Finally, level five… normal clothes, here I come! Warm water rushed over him, almost feeling like it was washing through him, flushing away the fatigue and soreness. He lathered up from a soap dispenser on the wall and did a cursory wash; he had removed most of the gross bits in the ocean after the battle. Despite that, he still spent an embarrassing amount of time in the shower, while he tried to think of the best way to spend his ten stat points.

Agility definitely needed a boost, so he dropped three points there, bringing him to eleven. His muscles vibrated slightly, as if he were shivering, for ten seconds. When they stopped, Gus could tell no other noticeable change.

Next, four points went into strength for a total of twelve. This resulted in a tightness in his whole body, as if every muscle were clenching. It didn’t quite hurt, but it was close. Soon the sensation passed. His body looked harder; he watched in amazement as his skin became taut. He looked more streamlined and condensed, but he didn’t notice that he had bulked up anywhere.

Perception was next with two points. This must have passed some threshold, because his eyes began to burn and itch. He closed them and rubbed at his eyelids while tears welled up. A sharp tinnitus hit at the same time, like an icepick to the ears. Gus fell to his knees, clutching his head as water poured over him.

Gradually, both faded and as he blinked his eyes clear, he noticed a new tab labeled filters at the top of the display. He gasped, shaking away the water and shampoo that had run into his eyes.

When he had caught his breath, he checked out the changes. Accessing the tabs, he could isolate infrared and ultraviolet spectrums. After playing around with seeing how the world looked through the filters, he went back to default settings, allowing some time for him to get used to his usual way of seeing the world. A similar tab allowed him to extend his auditory range, or amplify sounds too quiet to be heard normally.

The last point went into constitution, bringing it to ten, and while no untoward side effects happened, his MP, HP, and stamina bars increased by twenty apiece.

Still distracted, Gus dried off and donned one of the robes hanging there, almost on autopilot. Finding a lone remote on a bedside table, he managed to open the curtains and take a look outside. The impressive view from the balcony overlooked Atlantis Beach and a fair stretch of the coastline beyond. A warm wind blew in, causing the curtains to undulate with the gentle rhythmic gusts.

Gus stood silently, listening to the crash of the waves below. The sound of the surf was so relaxing, he decided to leave the balcony door open when he slept. He stared, mesmerized by the rhythm of the waves. He didn’t know how long he just stood there, feeling the water’s hypnotic pull. Finally, he tore himself away and crawled into bed. He smiled as the mattress first conformed to his shape then began pulsating, massaging his back. He didn’t recall that feature last night, but he was so tired and had fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Gus closed his weary eyes and slept.

When he awoke, the room was dark. The only illumination was the starry, moonless sky that sparkled without the effects of light pollution. He wondered if his increased perception played a role in the majestic expanse of stars on display. In the past, Gus usually had the habit of sleeping in whenever possible, but right now he felt wide awake and restless—like he had drank three or four energy drinks. He doubted he could fall back asleep even if he wanted. It was a welcome change; he had felt so tired and sleep deprived in the past couple days.

Finally, he had hit level five, so he was now able to wear some real clothes. While his homemade outfit had worked well enough, having some more reliable clothes that covered him completely would give him a little more confidence and peace of mind when it came to fighting against Dark Nth.

He made his way down to the uniforms, and found a suit that gave +1 to constitution and provided +25% reduction against melee attacks. The outfit was gray, with black sleeves. A golden lion with wings and a tail was emblazoned on the back of the outfit, a feature he hadn’t noticed before. Suitably badass, he thought, nodding in appreciation. A quick change into the spandex-like jumpsuit and he evaluated the fit. The stretchy material was comfortable and appeared to conform to his movements. It managed to be breathable and it didn’t impede his range of motion as he twisted and tried out the feel of it. He found some matching boots, also gray, completing the ensemble. He checked his stats again to see where everything had ended up.

Gus Vannett

Level 5

Agility: 11

Constitution: 9 (8+1)

Charisma: 8

Strength: 12

Perception: 16

Intelligence: 11

Luck: 6

HP: 160

MP: 120

Stamina: 160

The change in clothes had shuffled his stats a tiny bit; he had lost one point from luck by losing the kilt, but gained another in constitution. Not a bad trade-off, especially since his homemade outfit was falling apart and torn up from his struggles with the zombies.

Gus was eager to visit the training arena and improve his fighting skills, not to mention seeing what these stat boosts did for his ability to fight. He asked Nick to show him the way and he was off to