The Origin Warden

chapter 8 : Attributes

Attributes : [ Physical ] [ Spiritual ]

This section looked simple but Jack discovered more by coincidence when he was exploring the system interface. The attributes [ Physical ] and [ Spiritual ] were merely an outer appearance or rather an outer shell for the real attributes.

With a thought from his mind the interface displaying most of his information vanished and revealed a new interface.

Physical : [ Strength : 6 ] [ Agility : 8 ]

[ Stamina : 7 ]

Spiritual : [ Mind : 7 ] [ Spirit : 9 ]

“Oh the numbers changed from the last time I checked them. Maybe this is because of the rank evolution from Dormant to Rooted”

Jack muttered surprised by the changes that occurred to the attribute numbers. Previously strength and agility only had 5 points and stamina had six points, then there was spirit which rose from 5 to 9. The only attribute that remained the same was mind.

Jack’s initial desire was to raise everything to 10 points and if you asked him why this exact arrangement, he would honestly answer that he had no idea at all, it just seemed logical.

His mind even did the math and calculated the distribution. Fortunately that one sane brain cell in his head won and he backed away from this decision.

“Tsk, I’m confused now...”

He grumbled with a frown unable to make a final decision on how to distribute the points even though it seemed like a simple matter!.

“Strength seems like a worthy investment ummm, alright, agility is also a good option, should I put 5 points into each of them... maybe only three points into each and put the rest into stamina, wait, if I think carefully about it stamina seems like it possesses many properties unlike the other attributes...”

“If I haven’t turned into a zombie, investing in stamina seems logical since it includes the body’s healing ability”

He placed his hand on his hair and rubbed it continuously as if he were grinding his brain into making a final decision and stopping the overcomplication of things.

“Whatever...”

Afraid he might change his mind Jack hurriedly distributed the points according to the decision he made after thinking hard enough to exhaust his brain cells. Distributing points was not difficult for him, the system responded to any mental command.

The numbers displayed before his attributes quickly changed. Jack felt a strange exhilaration sweep through his body then disappear just as quickly. The feeling was intoxicating despite its short duration.

Physical : [ Strength : 8 ] [ Agility : 8 ]

[ Stamina : 12 ]

Spiritual : [ Mind : 7 ] [ Spirit : 9 ]

He cast a short glance at the interface before his eyes before dismissing it.

He intended to summon his status and inspect the items section because he had noticed new things appearing, but suddenly an incomprehensible sluggishness swept through his body.

His eyes became blurry and he could barely keep his eyelids open. Slowly darkness covered his consciousness. He did not even have the energy to arrange a single thought before losing consciousness completely.

Jack dreamed that he had become a trampoline and children were jumping on him and the worst part was that he was aware of it and could feel every stretch.

Every time a child jumped he felt his ribs sink inward then return to their place like rubber.

“He needs artificial respiration”

“He needs blood”

“Mom...”

“He needs antibiotics”

“Gina...”

And the worst part was that those voices were not coming from outside, they were appearing directly inside his head, as if someone were whispering inside his brain while the children continued jumping on him mercilessly.

“Jump jump jump...”

Suddenly one of the children stomped on his eyes, even though he did not have them.

But the pain was real and involuntarily he tried entering a state of panic until he felt something surrounding his mouth and the frightened voice of a woman entered his ears.

“Be quiet, please be quiet or you’ll get us killed”

“Haaah, kill you!? How can I kill anyone?, I’m just a weak helpless trampoline”

Jack muttered unconsciously. Fortunately the sound was muffled because of Sylvie’s hand over his mouth pressing so hard that breathing became difficult for him.

And perhaps the lack of oxygen helped him regain some of his consciousness. Purely instinctively he began resisting violently thinking that something was trying to suffocate him.

“Stop!, please, stop...”

Sylvie said in as low a voice as possible while keeping her hand over Jack’s mouth and pressing her body against his to pin him in place.

What made the situation worse was the loud banging coming from the metal door which had already started showing signs of denting. Whatever was on the other side seemed angered by the small family and the stranger with them.

“No... breath... can’t... breathe... can’t breathe”

Jack regained some of his consciousness but felt it fading just as quickly due to the lack of oxygen reaching his brain.

He raised his arm with difficulty and struck Sylvie’s back with a hand that carried no strength. It looked as though he was patting a small child instead of fighting for his life.

But that simple movement from him was enough to pull Sylvie out of the panic state that had seized her after negative thoughts flooded her mind about the fate of her children if that thing trying to smash the door entered.

She quickly removed her hand from his mouth and retreated backward, all color having vanished from her face due to the stress she experienced during the last hours.

She crawled toward Gina who was hugging her trembling little brother. She tried standing up but her legs betrayed her and refused to move. Sitting before the children with her back facing them Sylvie pulled the pistol from her pocket and aimed it toward the door.

Meanwhile Jack lay on his back breathing heavily.

With his trembling hand he began violently checking his body. He placed his other hand on his face before muttering in a hollow voice.

“Ah... I’m not a zombie, so why was someone trying to kill me just now?”

He turned his head to the side and stared at the identity of the culprit with the help of the sunrise light coming through the small window, but when he saw she was aiming a pistol at him his eyes widened and he immediately raised both hands above himself and said with difficulty because his throat felt extremely dry.

“Ah, ma’am, I think there’s a misunderstanding, why are you trying to kill me?”

Upon hearing this Sylvie exploded in anger while shaking the pistol in her hand and pointing toward the door behind him.

“Not you you stupid idiot...”

“Can’t you hear the sound of that thing hitting the door, damn you!, all of this is because of you, are you even a man how could you not endure a few stitches!”

“Fuck!”

Jack cursed then rolled his body closer to Sylvie. Between the monster behind the door and the crazy woman aiming a pistol at him of course Jack chose the latter.

Any sane person like him would choose the same thing.