(8) Nurture The Seedling That Makes A King

"Ngh!?" Owen opened his eyes in an unfamiliar area.

He was inside a cave with one human sized exit that illuminated the place. Owen found himself to be sitting on a smooth stone throne. He currently wore pants and a shirt made of stitched goatskin. His shoes were made of various animal skin to pad his soles.

"Where am I…?" Owen's thought rang in his mind.

Owen sat like a king on the throne in the midst of the damp rocks around him.

He tried to stand up, but he found out that he couldn't.

"Huh? The hell?" Owen struggled to move, but he couldn't even lift his finger to half of a millimeter. "I can't move!"

Suddenly, as his body grew accustomed to the new environment, a painful pricking sensation assaulted him all over his body, making him wince in pain. But comparing this to Heva'Oern eating out chunks of his throat, it wasn't even worth comparing.

"Why? Why? Why? Why does this have to happen the moment I wake up?! Did I do something deserving of this punishment? If I am, why is that so? If anyone hears me, at least tell me what I did wrong!" Owen began lashing out. He absolutely hated this feeling of being restrained.

However, as he was fuming over his current situation, a flat opaque panel made of dark blue stone with gilded corners floated in front of him, containing information of his current status.

==========

---[Status]---

[Name: Ivory11]

[Class: Warrior]

[Health: 1/25]

[Soul Energy: 1/10]

[Energy: -8,319/20]

[Hunger State: Starving]

[Thirst State: Dehydrated]

[Body State: Crippled]

[EXP: 0/100]

--[Crystal Paths]---

[Earthen Darkstone Crystal Path + 25% Total Defense Multiplier]

[Pure Spirit Crystal Path + 25% Total Soul Energy Reserves]

[Heartgem Crystal Path + 25% Total Health Points]

[Sharpsteel Crystal Path + 25% Bladed Weapon Damage]

[Shattering Spirit Essence Crystal Path + 25% Total Magic Damage]

[Debuffs:]

Paralysis-10, Pain-10, Poisoning-10, Bleeding-10, Lowered Experience Gain-10, Lustful-10, Drowning-10, Blindness-10, Drunk-10, Received Damage Amplification-10, Armor Vulnerability-10, Hunger-10, Thirst-10, Stamina Drain-10, Soul Energy Drain-10, Decognition-10, Weakness-10, Slowness-10, Unluckiness-10, Fatigue-10, Lessened Reflexes-10, Defenseless-10, Uncharismatic-10, Magic Vulnerability-10, Lowered Block Rate-10, Heaviness-10, Soul Injury-10, Burning-10, Freezing-10, Acid Melt-10, Electrocuted-10, Confusion-10, Exposure-10, Infection-10, Undead Rot-10, Lowered Block Rate-10, Lowered Critical Rate-10, Projectile Magnetism-10, Absolute Unaffectability-10.

==========

(All debuffs had 9 hours and 59 minutes of duration.)

Owen: "..."

The stat panel appeared because when Owen said 'Is that so' it contained the sound 'status' within it. Prompting the stat panel to appear in front of him.

When Owen saw his current status, his first thought was, 'Have I been gaming for too long to hallucinate crap like this?'

He only managed to generate this one thought after taking 15 minutes thanks to the [Decognition] debuff which lowers the affected entity's cognitive abilities.

But with all of these debuffs, Owen wondered why he wasn't dead. By doing some inspections, he saw the [Absolute Unaffectability] at the bottom of the debuff list.

It was represented by two firmly chained hands. The left hand was holding a skull and the right hand held a heart.

The debuff [Absolute Unaffectability] prevents any physical buff or debuff from working. However, if [Absolute Unaffectability] was level 5, it wouldn't be able to affect buffs or debuffs that are level 6 and above.

[Decognition] is a debuff that affects the cognition. The mind is linked to the soul, making it a spiritual debuff. The debuff [Pain] bypasses [Absolute Unaffectability] by default despite being a physical debuff.

Owen saw that whatever was happening to him has a logical reasoning to why it works that way. Of course, it was reasonable if you find an otherworldly entity eating your throat normal, a mass comatose incident that left over a hundred people spiritually drained normal, and game mechanics that melded with real life normal as well.

In his mind, Owen experimented.

"Inventory?" This thought was formulated after 7 minutes.

After he said so, another panel opened.

It had 9 empty slots and 1 occupied slot. A total of 10 inventory slots.

The occupied slot contained a strange item. But the stranger it is, the more chances Owen could escape this predicament.

It was an amulet made with black and bloody string, sharp teeth, and a red lustrous crystal in the middle, emitting a sinister aura.

Owen focused on the amulet and an info box popped up.

==========

[Level 99, Demonic Amulet (Epic) - Used to contain a demon's soul. If the demon wishes to leave, they would've done so in a heartbeat.

Note: This amulet has a consumable effect. (-5,000 durability when consumed.)

(Effect) Demonic Aura-10

(1) If the affected character is a non-dark type class, they will take 75% damage of their total health every 30 seconds. If the character is not a dark type class, +75% healing of their total health every 30 seconds.

(2) Character will attract nearby demons with a level 1,000 detection.

(3) If the affected character is a dark type class, +500% Soul Energy Capacity, +750% Magic Damage. If the character is not a dark type class, -750% Soul Energy Capacity, -1,000% Magic Damage, +50% Physical Damage Taken, +50% Mental Damage Taken, +50% Magic Damage Taken.

Duration: 5 hours.

Additional Effects: +50% Magic Cast Speed. (Only available for dark type classes.)

Durability: 5,000/5,000

Use? Yes / No ]

==========

Owen's eyes sparkled with delight the moment he saw this.

He now knew where he was.

"Garden Of The Gods! It's when I was trying to see if the secret class was real or not!" Memories began resurfacing inside Owen's mind.

Back when Garden Of The Gods was still popular, Owen played the game nonstop and tried out unorthodox builds to test his skills.

That was when on an online forum, he discovered a post talking about a secret class that can only be gotten through the level 1 class change.

The level 1 class change pertains to the feature that if you revert your character back to level 1, by completing a specific task, you can change your class.

For the mage, it was to learn a level 1 magic spell. For the warrior, it would be to kill 50 creatures. And for the assassin, it was to kill 10 creatures without being seen.

And for the rumored secret class, it was to get 40 debuffs at the same time.

Of course, Owen happily turned his level 182 Warrior back to level 1 for the class change. But midway, Owen saw that many users were complaining and said that the secret class was fake.

So, feeling disappointed that the rumor was fake and that he reverted all his progress to nothing, Owen left GOTG and moved on to the next 'big thing' at the time.

Unbeknownst to all of them. The level of the debuffs must be 10 or above to change into the secret special class. Unfortunately, this information didn't reach Owen as well.

He gave up too impulsively and lost interest.

But that was all in the past.

Right now, Owen stared at the amulet with a single thought in mind.

"Let's see if this secret class is real or not…" Owen used the amulet by selecting 'Yes' on the confirmation panel.

*Whoosh*

Dark energy gushed out from the amulet as it crumbled apart, forming a silhouette of a shadowy figure wearing a goat's skull and a dark hood made of bearskin. His skeletal hands were holding a crooked staff and the skull emitted a red glow from the goat's eye sockets.

The silhouette growled deeply, broke down into dark mist, and entered Owen's body.

[Added debuff: Demonic Aura-10]

*Vhoom..*

==========

[Achievement Unlocked: Seeker Of Secrets]

[Unlocked Class: Debuff Knight]

(Class Ability: Health And Ailment Inversion) - All debuffs will act as buffs, and buffs will act as debuffs.

Special effects of equipment and weapons will be affected by the class ability. Only ordinary effects of equipment and weapons will remain unaffected.

Complete destruction of the brain and heart will instantly kill the character. Complete blood loss will also kill the character after 5 seconds of no replenishment.]

==========

(Buff) Increased Experience Gain-8

(1) Experience gained is increased by 230%

Duration: Until the character reaches level 10.

(Class Ability Activated)

(1) Experience gained is decreased by 230%.]

==========

Owen revealed a smile filled with complex emotions.

"So that's a problem." Owen didn't like seeing the buff.

It was a buff given to anyone after a class change since it was cruel to make someone revert to level 1 only to regain the lost levels once again.

After the class change was done, all of the debuffs previously dragging him down like kilograms of steel tied to his body felt like they suddenly turned to feathers.

He stood up from the throne and dusted off the tiny rocks on his arms, back, legs and hands.

Now that Owen knew that he was in the Garden Of The Gods, he was already thinking of numerous builds he could use with the Debuff Knight class.

Owen stood in his spot and said, "Character Status."

The status panel appeared before him. However, this braindead idiot didn't know that all he had to say was 'status' for it to pop out.

No folks, I am not going to acknowledge it as an honest mistake. Owen is an idiot for not realizing that. You cannot change my mind.

Anyway, as Owen called out the Status panel, his stats already changed.

==========

---[Status]---

[Name: Ivory11]

[Class: Debuff Knight]

[Health: 5/20]

[Soul Energy: 5/10]

[Energy: 5/20]

[Hunger State: Hungry]

[Thirst State: Thirsty]

[Body State: Below Optimal]

[EXP: 0/100]

"!" New notification

[Reveal Crystal Paths?]

==========

When Owen saw the notification, he immediately interacted with it.

A dark stone panel appeared before him and a multicolored crystal ball began to break apart and reveal two crystals.

"Ahh.. I was expecting to get something higher." Owen sighed as he watched two crystals appear in front of him.

[Your class has the Crimson Crystal Path and the Jade Mountain Crystal Path]

Owen rechecked his status and saw that it was now updated.

==========

---[Status]---

[Name: Ivory11]

[Class: Debuff Knight]

[Health: 5/23]

[Soul Energy: 5/10]

[Energy: 5/23]

[Hunger State: Hungry]

[Thirst State: Thirsty]

[Body State: Below Optimal]

[EXP: 0/100]

---[Crystal Paths]---

[Crimson Crystal Path + 25% Total Damage Multiplier]

[Jade Mountain Crystal Path + 25% Total Fortitude Multiplier]

==========

"This class didn't have at least six or five crystals. Those would've been real nice to have." Owen shook his head. "It wouldn't be much of a hassle if I try hard enough though…"

"But I guess it will suffice despite only having two adjacent pathways to the skill tree." Owen remained optimistic despite this setback.

I know what some of you are probably asking.

What the hell are crystal paths?

Well, crystal paths are what differs a class from each other. Every crystal path is predetermined.

They give buffs and multipliers to certain attributes like how speed crystal paths would be for archers and assassins while endurance type crystal paths would be for barbarians and knights.

Fewer crystal paths in a class means that the class has more growth potential.

A good example of this would be the [Emperor] class with one crystal path for charisma. It was an OP class to be fair. It didn't need extra crystal paths to strengthen it further.

It may look like fewer crystal paths equals a stronger class, and you would be right. But it also means that progressing with that class would be harder.

Owen was satisfied with what he saw.

Right now, he wanted to know what other words trigger the panels to appear.

He then said, "Allotment?"

Nothing happened…

"Skills?" Owen tried again.

Nothing happened…

"Attribute Points?" Owen guessed once more.

After that, a panel appeared in front of Owen.

==========

---[Attributes]---

[Strength - 5]

[Speed - 2]

[Defense - 4]

[Intelligence - 2]

[Fortitude - 3 + (0.75)]

[Detection - 2]

[Luck - 2]

==========

"So to make these game screens appear, I have to say character status, inventory and attribute points." As Owen thought in his mind, the inventory panel and the status panel appeared.

"..."

Owen closed the panels after accidentally opening them.

"I should be careful talking about stuff like these… Is there a settings menu or something?" Owen said casually to himself.

Funnily enough, a settings menu magically appeared before him.

==========

---[Settings]---

[Music - 0%]

[SFX - 100%]

[HUD - Off]

[Keywords - Default]

==========

Owen scratched his head. "I wasn't trying to do anything but alright. It's here and I have to deal with it."

He then inspected the limited setting options.

"I'm glad the HUD is turned off, I don't want anything to hinder my vision. Music is distracting, I don't think I want that… But keywords? Let's see what that does." Owen reached his finger forward to touch it, only to find out that he cannot touch the panels.

Like a ghost, the panel was untouchable.

"Oh? So what, do I have to use my mind?" Owen tried to select the button by focusing on it. And unsurprisingly, it worked.

==========

---[Set Keywords]---

[Status - Status Screen]

[Inventory - Inventory Screen]

[Attribute - Attributes Screen]

[Equipment/Armor - Armor and Equipment Screen]

[Appear Using Thoughts - On]

[Appear Using Speech - On]

[Appear By Sound Implication - On]

[Edit Keywords]

==========

The moment he saw that he could turn off the panels to appear when he talks out loud, he turned it off without hesitation.

However, he didn't understand what 'Appear By Sound Implication' meant, so he toggled the question mark button next to it.

'Screens will appear by just uttering words that sounds similar to the selected keywo-'

The moment Owen's eyes grazed upon the text, he turned the setting off. Now, if he said 'Is that so' right now, it wouldn't make the Status Screen appear in front of him like it did before.

"Hmmm… so far I think it's good enough… Or maybe not?" Owen wanted to close the settings panel, but felt that something was wrong.

He paid attention to this feeling.

He then looked at the keywords that make the panels appear, and that's when he realized what the problem was.

"Oh that's why I feel that something was off." Owen went ahead and edited the keywords to make it more convenient for him.

"There we go." Owen was satisfied with the new settings.

==========

---[Set Keywords]---

[1 - Status Screen]

[2 - Inventory Screen]

[3 - Attributes Screen]

[4 - Armor and Equipment Screen]

[Appear Using Thoughts - On]

[Appear Using Speech - Off]

[Appear By Sound Implication - Off

[Edit Keywords]

==========

Owen closed the settings panel.

"Okay, let's test this out… 1, 2, 3, 4." Owen called out a series of numbers in his mind to make the panels appear before him. And the moment they appeared, he tested how fast he could close them as well.

"Very responsive." Owen looked at the inventory panel that had just appeared in front of him before closing it.

"Hmm… Now that's settled, I think it's about time I leave this place…" Owen turned around and looked at the cave's opening.

He walked towards the exit with one thought in his mind. 'Wait, do I still remember the map?"

When he got out of the cave, he found himself in the middle of the forest. Tall pine trees surrounded him, giving the area quite an imposing atmosphere.

It didn't help that it was nighttime at the moment. It was difficult to see because of the dim light from the moon that was currently obstructed by clouds.

However at this moment, Owen felt his stomach rumble.

He was hungry.

"Don't tell me that I'm going to die here…" Owen began to wander around the forest to look for anything edible.

But because there was barely any light, he couldn't see much at all. "I need food… but pinecones aren't really edible, are they?" Owen kicked the pinecone lying near his feet.

He moved on and continued walking around the place.

Sure, there wasn't anything too notable that he saw. After all, most of them were rough boulders, trees leaking tree sap coming from those that had very rough barks.

Owen didn't know where to go. But in his mind, he knew that the best case scenario was to leave the forest entirely.

1 hour later…

Owen's stomach began to slowly feel more and more uncomfortable. He placed his hand over his stomach.

Feeling that he needed to rest, Owen sat down and leaned next to a tree.

"Hehh- What am I doing? I don't know how to survive in the wild…" The realization of his terrible predicament began to sink in for Owen.

He looked up at the sky as his eyes observed the beautiful stars. They all twinkled at the night sky, but despite being so familiar, they were also foreign.

None of these stars formed constellations that could be seen from earth.

Up until now, Owen still wished that he was dreaming. Maybe, just maybe this entire thing wasn't real and that it was similar to that nightmare he had back then.

However, a panel blocked his vision as he

stargazed.

*Vhoom..*

==========

(Debuff) Thirst-1

(1) Weakens vision, movement speed, agility, cognition and hearing by 5%.

(2) Continuously drains the character's water reserves at a rate of 2% per minute.

Duration: Until the thirst bar is filled by half.

(Class Ability Activated)

(1) Strengthens vision, movement speed, agility, cognition and hearing by 5%.

(2) Continuously replenishes the character's water reserves at a rate of 2% per minute.]

==========

*Vhoom..*

==========

(Debuff) Hunger-1

(1) Weakens energy regeneration, health regeneration, strength, endurance and vitality by 5%

(2) Continuously drains the character's essential nutrients at a rate of 2% per minute.

Duration: Until the hunger bar is filled by half.

(Class Ability Activated)

(1) Strengthens energy regeneration, health regeneration, strength, endurance and vitality by 5%

(2) Continuously replenishes the character's essential nutrients at a rate of 2% per minute.]

==========

"..."

Owen stared at the panels for a moment before closing them.

He was then beginning to feel the soothing sensation of being hungry and thirsty in reverse. He even felt more energized than usual.

It was as if he was eating warm soup that filled his stomach. Even though he didn't eat anything, his very cells became invigorated.

He stood up and stretched his back.

Owen felt relieved. Turns out that it wasn't his time to go out yet.

"That was a close call, food doesn't seem to be necessary to begin with…." Owen was slightly annoyed at the fact that he spent a lot of time walking around uselessly. "I worried for nothing all this time."

"If I didn't have the Debuff Knight class, I'd be dead by now… I guess it came quite handy." Owen realized just how lucky he was.

However at this moment, Owen heard a faint wolf howl.

He grew in alarm.

"… I think it's better if I get out of here. Even if I don't need food or water anymore, I still need to find a way to survive." His senses were telling him that he was in danger.

And to avoid dying as much as possible, he ran away from the source of the sound.

Since he was human, even his energy reserves fell as he ran. Giving him the [Fatigue] debuff as well.

*Vhoom..*

==========

(Debuff) Fatigue-1

(1) Prevents energy regeneration

(2) Slows any type of movement by 7%

Duration: Until the energy bar is filled by half. Condition (1) will only persist if the character does not rest.

(Class Ability Activated)

(1) Continuous energy regeneration

(2) Speeds up any type of movement by 7%]

==========

And of course, he felt a tad bit more energetic than usual.

However, this also made him realize the implications of his class.

"Wait, will the [Fatigue] debuff get stronger and give me more energy in return as I tire myself out?" Owen spoke in his mind.

It's not impossible, so this was logical to think about.

Of course, this wasn't bad news. The implications of this could mean that Owen had infinite stamina! So that means endurance would be a useless sub-stat to level up!

Not only that, without the need to eat or drink, Owen could continue to travel large distances without stopping.

As he was running, the clouds slowly started to clear out, illuminating the forest just a little bit. But it was also enough to light up the blood on Owen's arms.

"Wait, what..? When did I get blood on myself?" Owen stopped and inspected himself. There was dried blood all over his clothes and arms.

Looking around, the liquid on the trees that he assumed to be tree sap turned out to be blood!

And the reason why the trees appeared to be so rough, it turned out that they were made by large claw marks.

*Awoooooo!*

Owen heard the wolf howl again not too far away from him.

Owen's heart froze for a moment. "Don't tell me that I-" His fear was brought to reality as he realized his situation.

"- ran into a wolf this early into the game."

He remembered it all too well.

There's a reason why low level forest wolves, despite being quite a basic opponent in the game, were dubbed by the community of GOTG as 'Run Killers.'

And from the shadows, he could see the silhouette of a gray wolf that was at least 1 meter in height and 1.7 meters in length.

It was devouring a deer's carcass like a savage. The wolf was busy eating until its ears stood up.

Owen's heart began to pound.

The wolf then dropped the deer from its mouth and turned around. It looked at Owen as it licked its nose. It was looking at prey.

Owen could barely see it except for its eyes that reflected the moonlight.