Epoch of Desolation

[Bestowed Reward(s)]

+7 Experience Points (Assignable).

[Proceed to assign?]…

As requested, the Plexus brought forth the message Rain had chosen to put aside in the heat of his moment of thirst after his defeat of the Coyotes. It was a message that was now seeming to leave a sweet tinge on his tongue. After all, it served as a testament to his survival in the face of death, it was only right that he was smiling as he was now.

However, as the curious little rascal that he was, he began to wonder about how the Experience Points were assigned.

The wharf rat had given him two Experience Points, but now three Coyotes had given him seven.

‘Seven’ was not a whole number, so dividing it by three was not going to produce something tangible enough to work with. Putting two and two together, that meant he had received more Experience Points from one Coyote compared to the rest.

Going with that, he knew which Coyote had given him the bulk of his Experience Points.

Honestly, not even because I want to just avoid wasting my time seeking answers, but this train of thought makes sense. I killed a Coyote without any external help, so I received three Experience Points from it. As for the other two, J was involved in their deaths, with I only delivering the final blow, therefore I received only two Experience Points each from them, while J probably received the remainder.

Well, it’s only natural that it got rewarded too. After all, its life had been on the line as well.

Rain exhaled as he arrived at a satisfactory conclusion, then answered the message the Plexus had asked him with: Proceed.

Old words shimmered and warped, and new but familiar words appeared—a whole section of them.

[Attributes]

Strength: 006.

Speed: 014 (Boosted).

Agility: 007.

Perception: 005.

Durability: 007.

Stamina: 005.

Experience Points: 07.

Considering all the thinking he had done at the hospital during his first process of assigning his Experience Points, Rain knew that his current hesitation was something he was not glad to welcome. He was considering heaving half of his points into something else beside his Durability, but…

No. That will definitely be a mistake.

His battle with the Coyotes had gone so smoothly because of his Durability and Speed. The Durability had enabled him to withstand the pains his body had been waddling within along with the maddening bite that had torn into his shoulder, while his Speed had helped him get past the defenses of the mutated animals.

Judging from the sequences he had used in that battle, it was obvious what his strengths were.

His current Speed was seemingly able to break a distance of at most five steps in an instant with a short burst, and Rain believed that that was well enough to tip him into a winning favor if he encountered any mutated beast on similar levels as those Coyotes.

Also, it was not like he was going to be seeking out something extraordinarily strong. If he ever encountered such he would just run. How much his Speed would help with that though he was not quite sure. Short bursts and long distance running weren’t comparable after all.

I’ll just have to test that out with J sometime soon.

His Durability, on the other hand, was not at a point he was in any way pleased with. If he was to give a definitive value on how much he could withstand, he would say being stabbed in his abdomen five times in quick succession.

Of course, this was just based on his own intuition on how his body felt to him. To actually quantify, he would have to test that theory out, but he was not willing to put himself in any danger. He could die doing that.

All in all, it was obvious what Attribute needed his fullest attention now. It was the one that would enable him to withstand more pain.

The Plexus was listening; and as soon as it felt that Rain had made his choice, a new message replaced the Attributes Interface.

[Assign 07 Experience Points to Durability?]

Assign, Rain answered without delay.

An invisible wave of a mixture of distinct warm and cool energies swept over his psyche then, causing him to moan in pleasure as he leaned backward on the wooden chair he was sitting on.

This feeling, he couldn’t get enough of it.

[Attributes]

Strength: 006.

Speed: 014 (Boosted).

Agility: 007.

Perception: 005.

Durability: 014.

Stamina: 005.

Experience Points: 00.

Rain studied his Attributes Interface while his mind played a tape of the sort of things he had seen, which included the state the world was in.

He was exponentially weak, that much was obvious. And it almost made him think that maybe he should just focus every atom of his being on raising his Attribute points as much as possible; after all, he wouldn’t be able to survive in this ruined world if he was not strong enough, right?

But to do that he would have to put a hold, or better still, cancel his current plans and begin an expedition to hunt down mutated beasts as a means of farming the Experience Points they would provide him.

That was not something he wanted to do, though.

He was fine sneaking about, hiding from the beasts with just enough power to protect himself from any that wills it upon itself to attack him. He was fine with that. Besides, it was not like he was seeking the thrills that came with hunting. All he wanted was to find his family and regain his memories…

Something sparked inside Rain’s head then, causing his breath to hitch for a moment before he sighed.

If the cities all over earth were in the same manner as his current location—which he’d recalled the initial messages of the Plexus had referred to as Edinburgh—then finding his family and memories wouldn’t put an end to his journey, would it? He would still need a safe place to call home; a place free from the threats of the mutated beasts roaming the earth—at least the bloodlusted ones.

That said, though… Rain turned his gaze towards the despondent atmosphere shrouding the street outside the restaurant… I’m yet to see a single human besides myself, even the mutated birds and animals are of a scant number, how am I supposed to find such a place?

In all honesty, he felt that was a far-fetched dream.

A safe haven, huh? When he thought of the uncanny things he had experienced in the short span of his awakening he almost scoffed at the notion.

But he knew better than to do that.

He was going to find his family, regain his memories, and he sure as hell was not planning on wandering this ruin earth had become for all eternity.

If there was no such place then he would create it from scratch with his own two hands. Brick by brick he would raise walls high enough to keep him, his family, and his Companion safe.

Something nudged Rain’s thigh at that moment, snapping him from his rather enthusiastic thoughts.

It was J.

The large, lean cat still had the same incredulous look it always had, but this time it seemed as though it had something to say.

“What is it?” Rain asked. “Do you want me to pet you and congratulate you for not resting and instead moving around with your injured body?” he added in a tone filled with sarcasm. “I won’t do that just so you know.”

###

Minutes later, he was doing just that. No. He was doing much more, hugging the yellow furred cat.

J’s sudden appearance had been to lead Rain to a storage room at the back where a rather fascinating thing was lodged.

Maybe the cat bore some sort of telepathic powers, Rain couldn’t know. What he did know, though, was that his Companion had taken him right to one of the most important things he had been hoping to see while on his journey; a thing that had made up the bulk of his curiosity way before he’d pulled up the Plexus Interface:

A pod.