《Reborn》 Death and Rebirth The moonlight entering my room through the window was the only thing illuminating my room. It was around 9 pm. My mother and father had not returned from work and my younger brother, Yahiro, was hanging out with his girlfriend. I was kind of jealous of Yahiro. He had everything that I wanted. My parents loved him more than me, he was handsome and had better grades too. I wish I was at least as smart as him. Suddenly a deep raspy mechanical voice said, sounding as if two or more voices were speaking together. Skill:[Sage¡¯s Wisdom]acquired. ¡°What the¡­¡± I said sitting up from my bed. I looked around to see if anyone was there. But seeing no one, I told myself it must¡¯ve been one of the neighbours watching TV on high volume and went back to my thoughts. Though I envied Yahiro, I liked him a lot. He and I were always on the same page and got along really well. But sometimes I wish I could just take everything from him. I heard the same mechanical voice. Skill:[Steal]acquired. This time, I ignored the voice instead of giving it any attention. Though I made a mental note of complaining to the neighbour¡¯s landlord about his total disregard of the phrase¡®peace and quiet¡¯. I did try to act like him sometimes, ate like him, walked like him, even tried talking like him but never got the same confidence as him. Skill:[Mimicry]acquired. Skill[Mimicry]and[Steal]combined. New Skill:[Reap]acquired. Skill:[Unyielding]acquired. Suddenly, I felt the temperature increase and I started sweating. Thinking it was due to the hot summer and global warming combined, I ignored it. But the temperature kept rising and it felt as if I was in an oven and could smell the faint wisp of smoke. Skill:[Heat Resistance]acquired. I leapt out of my bed to get some cold water from the fridge. But when I opened my door a cloud of black smoke washed over my face and began choking me. I instinctively took a step back from the smoke. I looked, dumbfounded at the smoke entering my room as I coughed violently. Fire! I crouched down and peeked out the hallway. True enough, a wall of fire was burning intensely out in the hallway and was slowly moving towards my room. In a frenzy, I got up and closed the door shut. But smoke still entered through the narrow slits in the door.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Panic and fear surged through my body as I thought of something to do, something to save my life. But I couldn¡¯t even move my body. My legs were glued to the ground and stood there as I watched the fire slowly burned my once white door into a black useless piece of shrivelled wood. I helplessly watched the fire blaze violently and engulf my entire room as a lump formed in my throat. ¡°Help me,¡± I said, my voice barely a whisper. Even I couldn¡¯t hear myself over the crackling of fire that loomed around me. The fire stung my flesh, burning and reeling my skin off as I let out a scream. My throat paining from my sudden outburst. But I couldn¡¯t bear the excruciating pain from the surge of heat. Skill:[Pain Nullification]acquired. Skill:[Rapid Healing]acquired I mentally cursed the neighbour who was watching the TV. Couldn¡¯t he see that my house was on fire, couldn¡¯t he hear my voice? As I burned alive I thought of everyone I knew. Will anyone miss me when I¡¯m gone? Would my parents mourn for me? Would my brother cry for the loss of his elder brother? I already knew the answer, and it was no. No one would miss me. Sure some would mourn my death, but only to keep face. My parents for most of my life avoided me. Even I wouldn¡¯t want a son who was ugly, dumb and completely useless. They might even be slightly happy. I just hoped that Yahiro would be at least a bit sad. I could even see my grave that none visited. The poorly made gravestone for a boy that was never liked. It would say ¡®Here lies Hirai Tomokazu. A not so beloved son and brother¡¯. I couldn¡¯t help feel my heart growing cold at the thought. Skill:[Cold Resistance]acquired. Skill[Heat Resistance]and[Cold Resistance]combined. New Skill:[Thermal Fluctuation Resistance]acquired. I smiled after hearing the voice. If that skill was real I could use it right now. As the fire slowly crept up my body, I felt the life leave my body. Blood dripped from my open wounds and boiled as soon as it hit the ground. I fell on the ground and accepted my faith. As the fire engulfed me I had only one regret, not living my life to the fullest. I slowly exhaled my breath and let death take me. Character Died. --- Initializing Reincarnation. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around me. I was suspended in space. In the distance, stars twinkled brightly. Though it was space I could breathe normally. I tried moving, but my body didn¡¯t comply. It felt as if my muscles had turned to stone. I then heard the voice again, but this time it seemed like an echo now and more clearly. Processing. I tried muttering but no sound came through my throat. I couldn¡¯t even open my mouth. Then suddenly there were multiple flickers of bright light. I could feel something slowly crawl over my body. It felt like a thick liquid, like some type of oil may be even tar. But when it reached my eyes, I didn¡¯t see anything. Whatever it was, it was most likely transparent. Then it hit me like a rock. Wasn¡¯t I dying a moment ago? If I had died just seconds ago did that mean, I was in the afterlife? If that was the case and I truly was in heaven, then I was beyond disappointed. I thought that that heaven was a type of never-ending open field and what I wished would appear out of thin air. But if this was all heaven had to offer than it had dashed all my hopes of wishing for trilling life. Suddenly there was a blinding light and I had to close my eyes to protect myself from going blind. Then next time I opened my eyes, I saw hazy brown grains and felt wet dirt touching my cheek. Having restored my power to move, I used my hands to lift my upper body before getting up entirely. I felt a bit dizzy and my eyesight was fuzzy for some reason. As the seconds passed my eyesight returned and I saw that I was somewhat higher above the ground than I should be. Then I realized it was because I was taller than before somehow and was wearing a sort of tunic and long leather pants. I looked around my surroundings and saw I was in the middle of a forest. I was standing on a very small clearing surrounded by dense trees on all sides. I then heard the same deep voice again. Reincarnation complete. Welcome to Igdis. Idgis ¡°What?¡± I said in a voice I couldn¡¯t recognize, ¡°Where am I?¡± The same voice echoed everywhere. Igdis. A world among the quadrillions of worlds similar to Earth during the 18th century. Even though the voice said everything I needed, I was still so very confused. Wasn¡¯t I in space a minute ago, and wasn¡¯t I being burned alive before that? I asked the next logical thing in mind, ¡°Who are you?¡± I am Machina, an AI created to help you survive in this world. Ok, now things were getting more confusing. Why was an AI helping me? Why was I here? As if the voice could read my mind it spoke. You have been chosen randomly among 5.6 googols of sentient living organisms to be reborn with a set of desired skills after an untimely accident. ¡°Like a lottery?¡± Correct. ¡°And who conducted this lottery?¡± The being that you may call God. ¡°So, correct me if I¡¯m wrong, I have been to reborn in an unknown world with abilities that I do not yet know of, all because of a lottery conducted by the All-Mighty God.¡± Correct. ¡°Why?¡± There was no response. I stood there awkwardly listening to nothing but the blowing wind and the rustling of leaves. ¡°You don¡¯t know the answer, do you?¡± The voice said, sounding somewhat embarrassed. I¡¯m afraid not. I let out a heavy sigh as I covered my face to hide my most probably flushed face and thought of the whole situation. It felt to so dumb every time I remember what I just said. I was in the middle of a forest, in the middle of¡­ I looked up above me, and saw through a small gap between the tree branches, the violet sky¡­ It¡¯s evening and I¡¯m talking to a voice that was most probably in my head. Is all this just a dream or am I going insane? Analysing mental state¡­ Analyse complete. Character in a state of Panic, Confusion and Dilemma. Requested to take a few breaths. Yeah, no shit I¡¯m panicking! This thing is telling me that I just died and was reincarnated in a different world like in an anime or manga. Any normal human being would freak out. But as the seconds passed, I stopped thinking about it all as if it was a normal thing, surprising me greatly. Skill: [Unyielding] Protects one¡¯s mind from mental attack, manipulation and negative emotional stress while greatly increasing potent of positive emotions such as bravery and confidence. After hearing the explanation of this¡­ skill, I was amazed. If this thing could help me keep a clear mind in the worst of situation, it would help me in case of any danger. Then I realized that I had heard this thing before. The voice said this before I had died. So I most probably had gotten other skills too. ¡°What are the other skills I have?¡± A type of blue screen appeared out of thin air in front of me. I tried to see exactly where the screen was, even face-palmed myself, but even with my eyes closed or in complete darkness the screen was still visible. So I assumed the screen was being projected directly into my visual nervous system. After realising how stupid I must seem, I concentrated on the writings on the screen instead. I had five more skills besides [Unyielding] and something called level. Level: 1 Skill: [Sage¡¯s Wisdom] Greatly increases intelligence and the level of understanding. Also enables the user to analyse any skill with ease and gain skill points faster. Skill: [Reap] Lets the user copy the form and skills of any given target. May require to kill the target if the target is not willing to share their skills. [Active] Skill: [Thermal Fluctuation Resistance] Protects the user from severe heat and cold. Skill: [Pain Nullification] Cancels out the amount of pain registered by the user. Skill: [Rapid Healing] Increases the rate of healing so that deep cuts and busies heal in a matter of seconds and removes fatigue and poison effects. Skill points: 10 After reading all my skills, I was beyond impressed. I had a skill that gave me knowledge, one that protected my mind, two protecting my body, one in case I got hurt and one to get the skills of others. Though it did bother me that I didn¡¯t have any offensive skill to use against any attacker. Though I figured I would get one soon enough. What surprised me the most was that the whole thing seemed more like a game than actual reality. It would¡¯ve been more believable if I was told that I was trapped in a video game. I noticed that there were tiny slots beneath each skill, 10 to be exact. ¡°What are these slots?¡± These slots tell you which level a particular skill is. The level of skills determines their effectiveness. You can increase the level by investing skill points. Skill points can be gained by gaining levels, acquiring skills and completing accomplishments. One can gain levels by killing monsters. It is advisable to level as quickly as possible as the skills may determine your chances of survival in your new world. These skill points seemed vital. So instead of investing everything right now, I decided to wait and use it when I needed it. ¡°The skill [Reap] said something called active at the end. What those that mean?¡± Skills are divided into two types. Active and Passive. Passive skills are skills that act like innate characteristics like most of your skills. But active skills need to be activated by performing certain actions, thinking about that action or by speaking the skill¡¯s name itself out loud. ¡°I see¡± After mentally trying a few times to make the screen go away, I succeed. I asked, curious about my height and change of voice, ¡°Why do I sound and feel different?¡± Inter-world Migration of a body can be problematic at times and there are chances of total annihilation. So Inter-world Migration of an ether was performed since an ether is more malleable and can slip through the cracks of reality more easily. So with a readymade body in this world, your ether was brought from your previous world. ¡°And what is an ¡®ether¡¯?¡± What you may call a soul. It was a lot to take in. So basically my soul was brought here through a process called ¡®Inter-world Migration¡¯ and put in this new body. Though I couldn¡¯t see myself right now, I at least knew I was tall and a bit more mature than I was back on Earth, so that¡¯s a start. ¡°So what do I do now?¡± I asked. I had no idea what to do. In games, similar to this type of aspects, one would have to save a princess or kill a demon lord terrorizing the world or something. It is up to you. You have been granted another chance. You may use it however you see fit.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. So I can do whatever I wanted. It made me somewhat happy. I was always told to do something every day in my life. Now that I was given freedom of choice, I didn¡¯t know what to do. So the first thing I thought of doing was to find a way out of this disconcerting forest and know more of where I was. The sky was completely dark, and the only light that allowed me to even see anything were the bright shining stars and the two full moon, one smaller than the other. Those two moons were going to be a constant reminder that I wasn¡¯t in Earth anymore. I started walking in a fixed direction. Minutes turned to hours and I couldn¡¯t see any signs of life except for the occasional hooting of owls and the fleeting shadows of small animals as they ran away from me. I would have normally jumped by seeing even one of those shadows, thinking it was a ghost. But I kept my senses firm because of [Unyielding]. --- After walking for 5 hours straight, I heard the sound of multiple low growls. I stopped short before walking toward the sound with a crouching position. Through the gaps between a few shrubs, I saw three grey wolves as large as a small car, were feasting on what looked like a human corpse. I could hear their crunching of bones and the disgusting sound of flesh being torn and eaten. I would have normally thrown up at the sight of entrails being eaten like this. Though I had never seen these things before, Machina knew exactly what it was. Dire wolves: Elite wolves that have evolved through the absorption of naturally present Magnicites. They are fast, strong and extremely dangerous in packs. I gulped after hearing Machina. If these things were as dangerous as it said then I was in no state of fighting them. So I slowly backed away and decided to go around. Skill: [Stealth] acquired. Skill: [Stealth] Reduces the amount of noise created when creeping away or towards a target. [Active] I instantly invested two skill points into [Stealth] by tapping the skill on the screen twice. My steps became quieter and I became more aware of my surroundings too. I felt like Batman. Suddenly there was a movement to the right of where the wolves were. Two of the bigger wolves, aware of the disturbance ran after whatever it was in hope of more food perhaps, leaving the third smaller wolf as he ideally chewed on the meat like a greedy child. I was glad that I had less trouble to deal with now. But as soon as I silently started celebrating, I accidentally stepped on a twig which snapped under the pressure of my weight. The third wolves heard the noise and raised its head, before growling at me as it slowly approached me. Fuck. Before I knew it, the wolf came at me with tremendous speed before jumping at me. I barely had time to jump away to the side. But the wolf had good instincts and tried attacking me with its right paw. It partially succeeded too. Its sharp claws dug into my skin like butter. Though blood gushed out of my wound and shreds of flesh hung from my forearm I knew I was lucky that I even had an arm or worse died where I stood. I had expected to scream from the pain, but I only let out a loud yelp when the wolf cut me. I thanked God and my skill [Pain Nullification] which I knew helped a great deal. I didn¡¯t have much time to recover. As the wolf landed effortlessly on its feet it made another charge towards me. This time, I feinted by making it look like I was moving to the left before moving right, thus fooling it into attacking the wrong way. As I moved a bright light hit my eye as if the moonlight was being reflected off something. I saw, beside the corpses hidden by the tall grass, a long dagger. As soon I knew I was in the clear from the wolf, I made a mad dash towards the dagger. When I was only a few feet away, I knew the wolf was coming after me. I buckled my knees and slid the rest of the way. I turned to see the wolf already in the air and only inches from me. I held out my arm and peeled my eyes open so wide, that I was afraid it would pop out. The wolf came with its mouth open, its sharp inches long teeth, bare and shining dimly in the moonlight. But instead of meeting flesh, its mouth met my dagger. The dagger went right through the flesh inside its mouth and ripped right through its head. Blood sprouted everywhere before a river of blood ran down my arm. I was so dazed, I didn¡¯t even register the voice of Machina. Do you wish to [Reap]? ¡°Yes,¡± my voice barely a whisper. I felt a rush of energy that disappeared as fast as it came. [Reap] successful Skill: [Enhanced Sense] acquired. As soon as I heard that, I retracted my arm, creating a disgusting squishy sound before jumping to my feet. I thought I was going to throw up, but I realized I wasn¡¯t even slightly disgusted or concerned about what I had just done. I was rather calm and that scared me. If a skill based on emotions could do this on its initial level, I shuddered at the thought of what an attack skill at its highest level could do. I wanted to throw the dagger away, but I knew now survival depended on it. I rubbed the blood of the dagger with my tunic and looked at my skill to get my mind away from the mess I had made. Skill: [Enhanced Senses] Improves the users five senses, letting them see further, hear better and be more sensitive. The skill did exactly as it did. I could see the tiny insects dancing in the distances between leaves, hear their soft, continuous buzzing more clearly, smell and taste the iron of blood and the faint wisp of wildflowers mixed in the air and feel a drop of sweat roll down my neck that I previously didn¡¯t realize was there. I couldn¡¯t help but smile. Now I could sense danger, so it shouldn¡¯t be long till I got an attack-oriented skill. But for now, I needed to avoid danger at all costs. But I couldn¡¯t help but think. How did the wolf not sense me? Like last time, Machina answered my question. The Dire wolf was young and still new to the skill. The skill [Stealth] also helped mask your presence from its skill. So I most likely killed the young of the wolves that ran after that prey. I felt a bit bad, but the feeling quickly went away. If I felt bad for animals like these, I wasn¡¯t going to live long. It tried to kill me anyway, so it got what was coming to it, where I killed it instead. I knew the two other wolves wouldn¡¯t be back for a while though I wouldn¡¯t want to try my luck against two more of those, not to mention bigger. I searched through the entrails of the human corpse to see if he or she had anything useful I could use. After a minute of searching through the tall grasses and not throwing up, I found a small backpack lying a few feet away from the body. I swung it over my shoulders and wanted to leave, when my eyes, fell on the wolf¡¯s lifeless body. Its fur, looking silky and lustrous. I did not doubt that they were soft as well and would make for good clothing. I could maybe even sell it for some money as well if I didn¡¯t have any use for it. I took my chance and with my dagger in hand hastily skinned the wolf all the while repeating the phrase, ¡®Survival of the fittest¡¯ in my mind. In within 20 minutes, I was done and received another notification from Machina. Skill: [Hunter] acquired. Skill: [Hunter] Increases the speed and efficiency of tracking, killing and skinning of wild animals. [Active] With the wolf¡¯s skin in hand, I ran away as I felt a bit proud of myself for taking my time in skinning the wolf. I touched the grey glossy fur and felt the softness but not the warmth. The skill [Thermal Fluctuation Resistance] must¡¯ve taken my sense of warmth somewhat. It did make me a bit sad as the skin, in the end, it would do nothing for me but make me feel comfortable and maybe look stylish if not barbaric. After running for 10 to 15 minutes, I stopped. I was out of breath and need to take a second to regain my stamina. My arm was almost fully healed thanks to [Rapid Healing] but was still smeared with now dried blood. I opened my screen to check my skills once more but was surprised to see something else. Congratulations! You have levelled up to 7. 14 skill points gained. Accomplishment achieved. Kill your first monster [2 skill points gained] Kill a monster above 10 levels than you [5 skill points gained] Level up for the first time [5 skill points gained] Reach level 5 [5 skill points gained] Gain a skill [2 skill points gained] Invest in a skill for the first time [1 skill points gained] Total skill points: 42 I was dumbfounded after reading the text. I had gained so many skill points just by doing a few things. I read it over and over again to see if I wasn¡¯t reading it wrong. I was now level 7. That was a huge boost by killing just one wolf. But wasn¡¯t too excited when I read that the wolf was 10 levels or more above me. The reason I was able to kill it was of pure luck. I invested 5 points in [Enhanced Sense] so that I knew I wasn¡¯t running right into an unknown beast¡¯s jaw head first. Right after investing, I could feel my area of perception increase drastically and my sensitivity of each sense sharpen. I wanted to increase the levels of my other skills, but that would be a waste if I didn¡¯t use a specific skill too much. I opened my backpack to see what I was carrying. There were a few rations, a set of extra clothes, some bandages, a handful of unknown herbs, a big pouch filled with 50 shiny gold coins, a deep blue crystal the size of my fist called a ¡®Magicite crystal¡¯ according to Machina, another dagger but this one smaller than the other, two rolled-up papers tied with a red thread and a bunch of digging apparatus. At the bottom, I found a piece of metal with engravings on it bigger than a dog tag. Though I knew it wasn¡¯t a language I knew, I was somehow able to read what was written on it. It must¡¯ve been my intelligent boost and vast knowledge base from [Sage¡¯s Wisdom]. The engraving said ¡®Garth Nix¡¯. Though I didn¡¯t know who this Garth Nix was, I silently prayed for his soul and hoped that he was in peace where ever he was now. Because I may live longer now because of his belongings. I was holding the wolf¡¯s skin the whole time I was running. Since there was enough space in the bag, I carefully rolled the skin before stuffing it into the bag. Though the skin had no holes or the fur no patches, anyone could say that it was skinned by an absolute amateur, not to mention the underside of the skin still needed to be dried. I unrolled one of the papers and inspected it. The paper was coarse in touch and had turned yellowish with age. There was a drawing that took most of the space on the page with various strange writing scattered all over it. It took me a second to realize that it was a map. I breathed a sigh of relief at the thought of finding my way out of this forest. But the map seemed to cover a larger area rather than the place where I was, making it difficult to find the right way. I opened the second parchment and like the first one, it was also a map. But instead of showing a huge area, it only showed dense trees, lakes and a few roads. I smiled as I came to realize that it was the map of the surrounding area. The man, Garth must¡¯ve come here searching for something, only to meet his demise. I silently prayed for the peace of his soul again and thanked him for unintentionally saving my life. There was a bright red dot glowing at the far left of the map. I tried rubbing the dot to see if it was some colour or mark, but it didn¡¯t smudge. As I continued rubbing the mark with my finger Machina answered my query. This is a Map of Being. It shows the current position of the holder. I smiled, happy to know that I wasn¡¯t going to roam the whole forest until I find some type of landmark to get out of this menacing forest. After moving a few time in multiple directions, I understood the ways and started walking towards the nearest settlement that was drawn on the map with a few houses clubbed together which was southeast of my direction. The name under it read Fallkirk. Fallrik After walking for a good 3 hours, I could see the sky turn black to blue. The sun would be out soon and I saw the vague outlines of a few houses at the distant. Relived at thought of meeting actual people after long hours of solitude, I made a mad dash towards the silhouettes. As I entered the town, I met with an odd sight. I had initially thought to see people walking around, greeting each other in the early morning. But I could see no people. I knocked at a few building that looked like houses, only to find no responses. Some of the doors to the buildings were left wide open. I called out in the air but no one responded to my cries. I had entered a ghost town. My hopes for meeting people who would help me understand where I was, was crushed by the old empty town. As the sky became brighter gradually, I could see motes flying in the air. Every building was covered by a blanket of dust. No one has entered this place for years. I took out the map to see if I was in the right place. I scanned the whole map only to find the dot right between the clusters of houses I had selected to visit. I was in the right place, but it seemed everyone in the down had left for some unknown reasons. The sound of heavy footsteps made me lookup. I put the map away before running towards the sound. Right around a tall building, a tall hooded man was standing with his head down. I was at first ecstatic, but my enthusiasm was quickly replaced with a sense of danger. If the whole town was empty, why was he here? ¡°Hello?¡± I said, so softly that I was afraid he couldn¡¯t hear. ¡°My, what do we have here? A little human?¡± The way the man spoke made me anxious. Since he referred to me as a human, I knew he wasn¡¯t one. The man looked up at me, and I saw a pair of bright yellow eyes shine even though it was dark. His pale skin, clear even in the darkness. Vampyr: Creatures of the night that feed on the blood of other living beings. They are strong, fast and really hard to kill. Their body must first be purified with fire and holy water before they can be attacked with melee weapons. Liable to disintegration under sunlight. I felt a load slowly weigh me down as I visualized myself to be this things dinner. The vampyr spoke to me, his voice sounding like the hiss of a snake, ¡°It has been over 50 years since I have found such a scrumptious meal. All the town¡¯s folks had fled after I had killed most of them.¡± So that was the reason the town was empty. The folks who were living here didn¡¯t leave suddenly, they fled for their lives from this monster. I looked around frantically to find a way out. In the distance, I saw a construct with a large dome and a cross with a star sign in the middle. Imaging to be this world¡¯s version a church, I ran towards it, full speed, hoping to find holy water that may save my life. But when I was only just a few meters away from the entrance of the church, the vampyr appeared in front of me from a screen of black mist. With my blade in hand, I tried thrusting it into the vampyr¡¯s neck. When my dagger touched his skin the blade made a clack and vibrated making the blade sing. It was as if I had attacked a wall. I took a step back, trying to understand what had just happened. But the vampyr didn¡¯t wait and hit me so hard in the stomach, sending me flying straight and breaking right through a wooden door. I rolled on the dusty floor inside the building before coming to a stop after hitting a brick wall. As I laid on the floor, my whole body aching, blood trickling down my skin from several bruises and cuts, I thought of my death back on earth. I told myself I wasn¡¯t going to die here and tried standing only to fall back down. I most likely had a fracture in my leg as I felt as if someone had hit it with a sledgehammer and when I tried to move and had a few broken ribs as it hurt me even as I bleed. Even with [Rapid Healing] I knew it was going to take some time to heal, but I had none. ¡°Machina, can you put¡­ 8 points¡­ in [Rapid Healing]?¡± Confirm. I felt a burning sensation in my chest that slowly got bigger and spread throughout my body. Machina had thankfully done what I had asked her. I could feel my wounds closing and my broken bones reforming rapidly. After a few seconds, I tried standing again and succeed this time, though I still felt an ache in my leg. I wanted to wait until it was fully healed, but I didn¡¯t have time. The vampyr had entered the house through the broken door. He smiled at me, revealing two large canines. As I struggled to breathe, I noticed a cloud of white smoke hindering my sight ever so slightly. But when I took in the scent of the powder, I realized it was flour. I looked around to see several piles and a few sacks of white flour around me. At the far corner of the room there was an old-looking brick oven and beside the oven, a table with a few baking instruments littering the top. The vampyr had thrown me into the town¡¯s bakery. I touched a heap of flour beside me. It was very finely ground. Instantly I had an idea. Picking up a metal poker that was lying beside me, I mentally told Machina to place 5 points in [Thermal Fluctuation] and 5 in [Pain Nullification]. I looked at the vampyr and returned his smile before striking the poker and my dagger together, creating a small spark. Within the next second, a huge explosion was created by the finely ground flour. The boom of the explosion had ruptured my ears, and I could only hear a sharp sound within. The smoke created by the explosion had blocked my sight. I waited until the smoke cleared. When it did, I looked around me and saw the walls, ceiling and everything else in the room had been obliterated to splinters, rubbles and ash. There were several holes in the wall, allowing the morning sunlight to enter. It was after I walked out of the house did my hearing returned and felt growing pain in my arm. I looked down and saw, I was missing my left forearm. It was completely pulverized in the explosion. Only chucks of flesh and the end of the bone can be seen. And the wound wasn¡¯t even healing. I realized that [Rapid Healing] only healed cuts and wounds. It didn¡¯t replace entire limps. But I wasn¡¯t going to give up and live this new life I was given with 1 arm. So I invested two more points in the skill, filling up all the slots. Skill:[Rapid Healing] evolved to [Regeneration] Skill: [Regeneration] Heals wounds and completely replaces damaged organs and limbs and even grows new ones if lost. Removes fatigue and poison effects. Slowly but surely, I saw my muscles and tissues growing back. They twisted, joined and separated, creating a disgusting dance of flesh. In about two minutes or so, my arm had fully regrown. I flexed my arm and moved my fingers to see if it had actually grown and not some illusion, and sure enough, it was real. I was so relieved and surprised at the same time. If I hadn¡¯t invested the last 2 points, I might¡¯ve never known that skills could evolve and have ended up living life with only one arm. A dull sound made me look away from my arm. Within arm¡¯s length, the vampyr was trying to crawl away. It¡¯s once pale skin had turned reddish black. It looked hideous as if a moving mass of burnt flesh. With my dagger still in hand and the blade only slightly dulled, I bent down and thrust the blade deep into the vampyr¡¯s back. My dagger met no resistance this time and it cut clean through. And unlike last time, I knew what I needed to do. In a low voice, I said, ¡°Reap.¡± Like last time, I felt warmth throughout my body only for a second. The vampyr, exhaling one final time, died. Skill: [Diamond Skin] acquired. Increases the density, durability and hardness of the user¡¯s skin Skill: [Herculean Strength] acquired. Greatly increases the user¡¯s strength. Skill: [Shadow Walk] acquired. Enables the user to travel a certain distance with great speed by tuning their body into a cloud of mist. During this form, the user is impervious to attacks. Beware: You can only travel in a straight line. Current Distance: 5 meters. [Active] The skills I had gained, were very impressive, to say the least. [Shadow Walk] seemed to be the skill the vampyr used to close the gap between us. And the two other skill explained why he was invulnerable to my dagger and was able to send me crashing through a solid wooden door. I opened my screen to see if I had any accomplishments and sure enough, there were. Congratulations! You have levelled up to 16. 18 skill points gained. Accomplishment achieved. Kill your first rare monster [5 skill points gained] Kill a monster above 30 levels than you [15 skill points gained] Reach level 10 [5 skill points gained] Reach level 15 [5 skill points gained] Gain a rare skill [4 skill points gained] Evolve a skill for the first time [5 skill points gained] Total skill points: 79 Excited by my new found skills, I wanted to try it out immediately. But since [Diamond Skin] and [Herculean Strength] seemed to be passive skills that I knew what they did, I decided to try [Shadow Walk] since it was something no one would be able to do in my previous world, after making sure the vampyr was dead and moving a few feet away from it just to be safe. I focused on the point where I wanted to travel which was within the 5 meters away I guess. For the first few tries I called out the skill¡¯s name out loud but nothing happened. But after the fifth try, I felt the whole world closing on me as if someone was squeezing my surroundings. And then in only a second, I was standing where I wanted to. I was overjoyed by my achievement and punched up in the air and jumped around a few times. After the effect of the adrenaline subsided, I got to more practical problems in hand. I looked back at the vampyr¡¯s corpse. As the sun rose higher in the sky, smoke was rising from it and the body was slowly contorting into a mush. I understood the vampyr¡¯s physiology better as I watched the mush blacken and shrivel into ash. The description was accurate. Even the corpse of the vampyr turned to ash in the sunlight. Looking one last time at the vampyr¡¯s body that had now turned completely to dust and was being carried away by the morning breeze, I walked away to seek shelter in one of the abandoned houses. I entered a small dusty brick house. The air was heavy as if it hadn¡¯t moved for centuries. After finding the living room and opening the closed windows to let the morning light and air to enter, I pulled a chair to a table and once again opened the forest map. The dot still showed that I was currently in the small collection of houses, a little lower to the right than my previous position. I had travel for maybe 9 miles before reaching this town. The next town, Bellmoral was further southeast near the end of the forest. With some mental calculation, I estimated that it would take me at least a week, more if I take rest somewhere in between. With my new skill [Shadow Walk] the time should decrease if I levelled it up a few times. So with my next destination set, I moved on to something else. Resources. And that resource being anything useful or that could deal damage. Because, from what I have seen so far, everything in this world may be vicious and bloodthirsty. So I took my time and searched the whole town, from the houses to the larges structure that most likely served as the town hall. It took me till late afternoon before I finished. I had found about 250 gold coins curtsey of the town¡¯s bank, some band-aids, preserved herbs and red liquid in glass containers that Machina said were portions that healed grave wounds instantly from what seemed like a pharmacy, some books on Igdis and its history along with a book with the basic and advanced uses of Magicite from the town¡¯s library and a pair of old and slightly rusty long swords and metal stakes. No food though, which I had expected since no one was in town for 50 years. I hadn¡¯t had breakfast or lunch. So I greedily ate two of the rations. While searching the town, I had found a broken and dusty mirror which I had used to see my reflection. Honestly, I was surprised by my new looks. I was tall, lean, well-toned and a moderately handsome face. I was relieved to find out that I wasn¡¯t ugly or anything.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. As I ate, I spoke to Machina, this time out loud, with my full of dried beef jerky, ¡°Machina, you talked about something called ¡®Magicite¡¯. What is that?¡± Magicite is the naturally occurring particles that can be used to perform and assist in array spells and rituals. ¡°And the crystal I found in Garth¡¯s bag?¡± A condensed and rare form of the Magicite. The crystal can be used to create various Magicite imbued swords or used in advanced and complicated rituals. Though I didn¡¯t quite understand, or the use of ¡®spells¡¯ and whatnot, I did get the overall meaning. This Magicite was a type of medium that allowed these unexplainable things I saw in the past days like the wolves and that vampyr. I hoped to get a further understanding of all these in the future after reading the books. After the meal, I focused on other matters, which was the investment of the skill points. I had got my first attack and defensive skill. They were vital if I got attacked by some other stronger creature. I may not even have time to invest as I could very well be dead. So I invested 5 in [Herculean Strength] and 5 in [Diamond Skin] for combat and defence, 5 in [Shadow Walk] in case I needed to evade an attack, 8 in [Regeneration] if my limbs get torn in battle and to regrow it quickly, 5 in [Stealth] and 3 in [Enhanced Senses] as I wanted to avoid fighting as much as possible, thus fully levelling it up. But to my demise, it didn¡¯t evolve. I guess not all skills can evolve. I was left with 46 skill points. I wanted to invest them in my other skills, but I decided to do it later, as some of the skills may not be as useful as I imagined. The sun was still up but would probably set in a few more hours. So, I decided to seek shelter here. Better to stay in a safe area than in a place with unknown monsters lurking inside. Since there was light, I took the opportunity to read books. With the help of [Sage¡¯s Wisdom], I quickly finished the history books. The world I was in was Igdis, as I was told by Machina. It¡¯s quite similar to 18th century Europe. Magicite is said to have existed as long as time itself. After men had claimed the topmost position of stature in the world, monsters started attacking them, threating to overthrow man from its chair. They were almost successful as well, about a century ago during ¡®The Great War¡¯ which was a full-on scale of man vs. monsters. Half the world¡¯s population of man had died. But mankind held its own with the help of other ¡®races¡¯ and are still recovering from its major loss. The history of this world was pretty dark grim. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to live back on earth if things were like this. No man wants to live their life knowing only battle and death. With a heavy sigh, I closed the book and sat still for a minute, trying to ward away the sad and pitiful thoughts. But even after, I still couldn¡¯t get what I had read out of my head. Like in my world, people here have seen the gruesome side of war. But they didn¡¯t fight for land. They fought for life itself. And that can be even scarier. Wanting to stop thinking all of this, I opened the book on Magicite. I read the introduction swiftly. It said talked about the things that Machina already told me. It said that Magicite was a gift granted by the Supreme God. It holds the power to shift reality according to the bender¡¯s will. Magicite was mainly used as a mean of weapon against the monster terrorizing the nation. But when I got to actual spells, I couldn¡¯t understand a thing. It took me a minute of raking my head did I understand why. My skill [Sage¡¯s Wisdom] allowed me to read simpler things faster and complicated things more clearly. That was the reason I completed the history book in just 2 hours. With that in mind, I placed 3 points into the skill and read the book again. The texts began to make some sense to me. Pleased with the results, I invested 5 more into the point. The text became clearer and easier to read. The book talked about honing the Magicite and making them do what I wanted. It was like performing telekinesis on something to make it do other things. In about an hour, I finished the book thanks to [Sage¡¯s Wisdom]. Using what I know, I wanted to try and manipulate Magicite. The first and simplest of the things written in the book was using the Magicite to create fire. Unable to just sit and waste the day while I could enlarge my arsenal and prepare myself for any unforeseen danger, I went outside the house I was in, afraid that I may burn the house down and in turn, the whole town. I stood in the empty road outside the house and took a few deep breathes to calm my nerve. It was early evening. In two to three hours, the sun would set. So I needed to do whatever I wanted quickly. I opened my palm and focused. I tried feeling the Magicite around my hand. After much concentration and time, I felt it. Smaller and finer than sand, specks of what felt like raw power dancing ideally in the air, never stopping. Skill: [Magicite Sense] acquired. Enables a person to sense Magicite in their surroundings more clearly. I stopped my training and smiled as a drop of sweat rolled down my nose before dripping off the bridge of my nose. I placed 5 points into my new skill and tried again. This time, I sensed the Magicite better. It appeared as a speck of light to me. It helped me focus better. I forced the Magicite surrounding my hand to gather at a single point. It felt as if I was trying to push a wall rather then pushing a speck. But I kept trying. And slowly, my effort gave fruit. The specks started moving slowly and created a single large speck right in the middle of my palm. Skill: [Magicite Manipulation] acquired. Let¡¯s a person move the mythical Magicite and do as the bender wishes. [Active] Unable to hold the speck any longer, I released it and the speck quickly disintegrated to smaller specks and scurried away in every direction. I stood there panting as if I had run a marathon. My chest burned and my body shook. I sat down and steadied my breathing. I invested a whole 9 points into [Magicite Manipulation]. Even though it might seem rash, I needed to learn to use Magicite as soon as possible. After the ache in my chest subsided, I tried again. This time, making the speck became way too easy. I tried making a ball of Magicite and slowly the speck grew in size until it was as big as a tennis ball. Even then, I felt nothing. No ache or pain. Manipulating it felt like second nature now. After making the ball dissipate, I focused again. Instead of a ball, I tried making the Magicite make the oxygen in the air vibrate until it combusted. After a few tries, I felt the air near my hand get a bit warm but not too noticeable. In a few seconds, there was a spark in my hand that grew into a dancing flame. Skill: [Fire Manipulation] acquired. Let a person create and control fire. [Active] I tried making the flame into an orb with the help of the Magicite around. The flame¡¯s crown decreased slowly until it and the flame took a spherical shape. When it was finally over and the flame had become a swirling orb of orange and yellow with occasional solar flare exploding on the surface I got a weird notification Spell: [Fireball] acquired. I wanted to stop the flame, but it seemed like a waste. So instead of letting the fireball die out, I tossed it upwards with all my strength. The ball travelled with such speed that I was dumbfounded by my strength. The ball moved upwards until it disappeared in the clouds. I kept staring at the sky, thinking that the fireball will come back again like a falling star. But when it didn¡¯t, I focused on other things, like the weird notification. Instead of skill, Machina said I had gained a spell. I opened my screen and found a few accomplishments. Accomplishment achieved. Gain an elemental manipulation skill [2 skill points gained] Gain your first spell [5 skill points gained] Total skill points: 28 I asked Machina, ¡°Machina, are skills different from spells?¡± Yes. While spells require Magicite to function, skills do not. Spells depend on skills. Without a manipulation skill, one cannot use a spell. I nodded at Machina¡¯s explanation. I tried once again to form the fire. Within a few seconds, the fire formed. Instead of making it into a ball, I tried making the flame thin and long. When the fire was as thin as rope and looked as if a jet of fire was burning from a hole in my hand, I tried grabbing it. Not actually, grabbing it per se, just as if I was holding an actual rope. Then with a flick of my wrist, I tried to move the fire. I had to focus, but not as much as I needed when initially creating my flame. I just need to will it to move and act like a rope, correcting its movement from time to time. As the flame moved, it created a wave similar to when someone moves a long rope from one end. When the wave reached the end, it created a sharp crack, as if I had whipped a whip. Making it longer, I tried again, this time faster. The whip-like fire, did it again, creating a louder and sharper crack in the air. I looked around for few minutes to see if I could use anything as a target and saw a few rotting logs piled up in a corner under an open shed. I carried the logs and lining them up with sufficient spacing in between so that all the logs don¡¯t set on fire at once, with the help of my [Herculean Strength]. I stood about 20 to 25 feet away before creating a fireball, aiming at the centre of the middle log and hurling the blazing thing at it. The fire hit the log dead centre. The fireball created a small explosion on impact, leaving a huge charred area on the long. A few small flames were burning on the log. Focusing on it, I will it to burn hotter and brighter. After failing multiple times, I tried making it bigger and failed as well. I got closer to it and tried again. I could see the fire increase in size slowly, but I knew I wasn¡¯t able to make it hotter. I got closer and kept trying. The closer I got, the more control I had on the fire, but the temperature of the fire increased due to the gain of extra fuel to burn, not because of my doing. After I was about 10 feet away from the log, my control ceased to increase and I understood that this was the radius at which my control was the best. I willed the fire and the fire engulfed the whole log. I realized why I wasn¡¯t able to make the fire burn. My [Fire Manipulation] skill level was lower than needed. So I wasn¡¯t able to make it burn brighter or make I bigger from such a large distance. With that in mind, I placed 2 points in the skill and tried again. My control had improved somewhat and my range also increased. But I still couldn¡¯t control the temperature. I placed 3 more points and did it again. This time, I felt it. The smallest of flame didn¡¯t require growing bigger to burn brighter. I could control its intensity while maintaining its size. I created the whip-like fire again. Increasing its intensity to the best I can, causing parts of it to burn a shade of blue, I whipped it, sending the end of the whip to hit the centre of a log. The whip had made a diagonal charred line across the log. With a jerk of my arm, I made the whip surround the entire middle of the log before pulling towards me. But instead of the whole log flying towards me, the whip burnt right through the log, splitting it in half and lighting both parts on fire. Spell: [Fire Whip] acquired. I did the [Fire Whip] again to another log. Again like before, the log split into two like before. Next, while wrapping the whip around the third log, I tried forcing the fire not to burn, but to pull it towards like an actual whip. After much concentration I was able to hurl the log towards me, the log flying with considerable speed. I narrowly dodged the log as it flew past me and rolled on the ground a few times before hitting the wall of a house. Shit. I quickly recovered my bearings. On shaky legs, I got up and cursed myself for being so rash and stupid. After experimenting a few things I got a bunch of spells in my arsenal. [Fire wall] which allowed me to make a wall around me and make it act like a shield. [Flamethrow] which made me into a walking flamethrower and [Fire Colum] which was exactly as it sounded like. Concentrating on the Magicite surrounding a target and making them burn which made the area around the target be set ablaze. After the last spell, I concentrated on something else. In the book, it was stated that all things in existence had Magicite in them. So I focused on the last log standing. I felt the Magicite idly circulating the log, mingling with each other in a never-ending dance. I concentrated on them and instead of the air, made the wood itself to be set ablaze. Instantly, as if possessed by a spirit like one of those horror movies I loved to watch late at night, the wood exploded before burning with bright hues of blue, orange and yellow flames. Rare spell: [Combustion] acquired. I stopped experimenting as the sun was about to set. The sky had turned orange with a bit of yellow, red and violet in the mix. Moring bird started returning to their nests while owls and other creatures of the night awake. Howls and hoots started sounding around me. Though I had increased my arsenal, I didn¡¯t want to take my chance and engage in combat right away, risking my life in the process. Though, it would help if I had more combat experience. I walked into the house I was before and walked up a flight of stairs before entering a very dusty bedroom. Throwing open the windows to let the fresh cool night breeze to enter, and beating the mattress and pillow to fluff them up and remove the blanket of dust covering while restraining my newfound strength, I laid on the bed and looked out the window. The two moons, the bigger one yellow while the smaller one had a reddish hue, surrounded by countless of bright twinkling stars as if someone had thrown diamonds on a black cloth. The stars in my old world couldn¡¯t be seen so clearly as here because of decades of smog and pollution. Even though countless monsters were roaming this world, ready to sink their teeth in me, I didn¡¯t want to go back to my world. Where everything was¡­ dull. I could be killed. But knew I was dying in my old world. Not in health, but of spirit. No one cared about what I did or didn¡¯t. I remember when I went to an amusement park with my family once. I was holding my mother¡¯s hand, while Yahiro held both my mother and father¡¯s hand. Suddenly a passer-by bumped into me and my grip on my mother¡¯s hand loosened. I called out to my mother and father but they just kept on walking, looking like the happy family that they were. I was later picked up by them from the announcement centre almost two hours later. I knew then and there that my parents didn¡¯t love me. But¡­ I still hoped. Like a child¡¯s dream of meeting Santa. A fool¡¯s dream, I thought to myself. ¡°Machina?¡± I said, my voice soft. If I didn¡¯t have much self-control, my voice might have shaken. Yes? ¡°Thank you. For everything,¡± I said sincerely, before closing my eyes. After a brief moment, Machina spoke, her voice losing her normal mechanical tone and sounding somewhat sympathetic. Your welcome, Hirai. Skills I had woken at the crack of dawn and started my journey after having a breakfast consisting of a single ration. I had 7 left, enough if I skipped either lunch or dinner. I chose the latter as I need the energy to walk, not sleep. So with that in mind, I departed on my journey. I briskly walked through the terrain which was littered with various obstacles ranging from small dips and crevices to low branches and even falling rocks down steep hills. After stopping under a tree at mid-afternoon for lunch and cover from the blazing sun, I decided to start running as it would take me even more time than I estimated if I went at my current pace. So with that in mind, I ran at a slow but still considerable speed. I rolled under semi fallen trees, jumped over large puddles and swung or wall jumped off of thick low branches and tree stumps to avoid large boulders between my path. After running for 5 miles without tiring Machina announced for the first time today. Skill: [Sprint] acquired. Skill: [Sprint] Increases the speed while reduces stamina consumption while running. Skill: [Parkour] acquired Skill: [Parkour] Improves mobility and control when manoeuvring through obstacles while running. Skill [Sprint] and [Parkour] combined. New Skill: [Weaving] acquired Skill: [Weaving] Greatly increase speed mobility and control while reducing stamina consumption considerably when running through obstacles or manoeuvring through attacks without decreasing momentum. I felt the increase in my speed and fluid movement when I vaulted or jumped over obstacles. Satisfied with the skill, I invested 5 more points into the point and kept on running. I stopped for the day when I reached what seemed like hunting shed. The shed was empty and a bit of dirt littered the floor while cobwebs hung in the corner, suggesting the shed had not been used in a while. There were a spear lying in the corner and a few arrows resting on selves. I didn¡¯t touch the spear as I had no basic training in using a spear and also the spear looked too old and fragile. While the arrows were practically useless as I didn¡¯t have a bow. Sweeping the floor of dirt with the rag of clothes I previously had, I sat in a corner of the room and leaned on the wall before shutting my eyes. Sleep took over in a few minutes. The next morning I woke up early before starting my journey again. But while running and hopping through the forest I realized something else when Machina spoke. Skill: [Weaving] levelled up. As I jumped over a large rock I asked Machina, ¡°Machina, what do you mean by level up?¡± When once uses a skill over a set limit of time, you automatically grasp the skill better and level up. As skill levels up more and more, it becomes increasingly difficult to reach the next level. ¡°S-so I have been wasting most of my skill points?¡± I asked, shocked, as I stopped dead in my tracks. I could¡¯ve been training some of the skills to a certain degree before levelling them up. I could¡¯ve used some of the skill points on skills that would¡¯ve meant a life or death situation for me. No. In the world of Idgis, the survival of the fittest is common. It is more so in the forest of Notlis, the place where you stand now. So it was wise of you to quickly increase your skill as to increase your odds of survival. You previous two victories were mostly due to luck and your quick thinking. You may not be so lucky in your next battle. Reluctantly, I nodded and continued running. While running, I had an idea. Coming to an abrupt stop, I started focusing on the Magicite around me and tried to move the wind around me. I felt a shift in the air. Not much, like someone breathing on my skin, but enough. I focused more and the shift in the air became more apparent. Like the spell I read in the book I got form Fallkirk, I tried making the air form a thin blade-like structure before propelling it forward like a bullet. A tree that was in my way seemed to cut in half suddenly out of nowhere. The tree creaked and groaned because of its own weight before falling on the ground. Before it even touched the ground, I concentrated on the Magicite coursing in the earth and tried making them move. The earth obliged though begrudgingly and shifted. Concentrating even harder, I made the earth burst out and created the structure wanted to make. Instantly, half a dozen of spikes made of rock, dirt and granite emerged from the ground and pierced the falling tree in multiple places. Skill: [Wind Manipulation] acquired. Let a person create and control the wind. [Active] Spell: [Wind Blade] acquired. Skill: [Earth Manipulation] acquired. Let a person control the earth. [Active] Spell: [Ground Spikes] acquired. There was a lot of creaking and snapping which subsided after a minute. After marvelling at the destruction that I didn¡¯t intend to cause, I vaulting over the broken tree and spikes and continued forward. Mentally noting to myself to cut only the branches, vines and fern to avoid too much damage to the forest, I continued on while experimenting along the way.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. --- I took shelter on top of a huge tree that was secluded from most trees to prevent any jungle cats from jumping from adjacent trees and attacking me in the middle of the night. Are there even any jungle cats in this world? I thought to myself. After making sure I was safe from any enemies did my shoulders finally droop and I checked my skill¡¯s screen. Skill: [Water Manipulation] acquired. Lets a person create and control water. [Active] Skill: [Shadow Manipulation] acquired. Let a person create and control the shadows. [Active] Skill: [Throwing] acquired. Increases the speed, power and accuracy while propelling an object slightly. [Active] Skill: [Knife Work] acquired. Refines the uses of knives, daggers and short swords while in combat. [Active] Skill: [Psychokinesis] acquired. Allows the user to manipulate and control the physical world using surrounding Magicite. [Active] Skill: [Cooking] acquired. Increases the user¡¯s culinary skills along with the flavours of the food. Also helps to memorize recipes. Spell: [Blizzard] acquired. Spell: [Vacuum Sphere] acquired. Spell: [Earthquake] acquired. Spell: [Land Slide] acquired. Spell: [Earth Wall] acquired. Spell: [Ice Needle] acquired. Spell: [Shadow Merge] acquired. Skill: [Weaving] levelled up 2 times. Skill: [Fire Manipulation] levelled up. Skill: [Wind Manipulation] levelled up 3 times. Skill: [Water Manipulation] levelled up 2 times. Skill: [Earth Manipulation] levelled up 2 times. Skill: [Shadow Manipulation] levelled up 4 times. Skill: [Knife Work] levelled up 5 times. Skill: [Throwing] levelled up 2 times. Skill: [Psychokinesis] levelled up 3 times. Skill: [Reap] levelled up 2 times. Skill: [Unyielding] levelled up 2 times. Skill: [Stealth] levelled up. Skill: [Hunter] levelled up 2 times. Skill: [Magicite Sense] levelled up. Skill: [Diamond Skin] levelled up. Congratulations! You have levelled up to 33. 34 skill points gained. Accomplishment achieved. Hunt a wild animal [2 skill points gained] Fight against a dozen opponents at once [5 skill points gained] Fight 5 pack of monsters [10 skill points gained] Gain the 4 basic elemental manipulation skill [5 skill points gained] Gain the forbidden elemental manipulation skill [10 skill points gained] Acquire more than 20 skills [10 skill points gained] Total skill points: 104 I was astonished by the lists and achievements. It had taken me a whole lot of experimentation, practice and actual combat in getting all my new skills. And it seemed like stopping in my travels and taking my time in all this had actually paid off really good. 104 skill points? I asked myself, totally blown away. I could increase all most all my skill level to 8 or maybe even 9. But that could be useless and even unnecessary. Closing my skill¡¯s screen, I took out a ration pack and silently ate it. My bag had gotten heavier, although slightly but still noticeable. I had rolled up skins of two fat wild rabbits along with their still fresh half-eaten carcases. I had hunted them during the afternoon when the sun was at its highest and grilled parts of them after marinating them with a few wild herbs. I had to run after those rabbits relentlessly and throw my long dagger at them at regular intervals, which they effortlessly dodged. After what had to be my 73rd throw did I hit one and when I thought I had to let go off the other one, it stumbled into a small pit and was unable to get out. I also had to fight over dozens or so goblins. They were short, about half my height, had disgusting green blistered skin, pointy ears and nose and yellow eyes. But they were unexpectedly fast. One would try to distract me while another would attack me from behind and try to cut me. Their strategy was mainly to wear down their enemies before striking the killing blow. But with [Regeneration] it was practically impossible for them. I ended up killing them one by one although it took about a whole hour as they kept dodging most of my melee attacks and I wanted to develop [Knife Work]. But [Reap] turned out to be useless as I got nothing from them even after using them on every single one of them, even the ones that tried to run away after I killed most of their friends. I faced off similar ambushes although smaller. The only things that I did get from the corpses were a pile of crude knives and hunting daggers, along with a few copper and silver coins But among all the skills and achievements, the forbidden elemental manipulation, which I knew meant [Shadow Manipulation], intrigued me the most. While using [Shadow Walk], I sensed something with [Magicite Sense]. Something¡­ off. Like an itch, you can¡¯t seem to reach no matter how hard you try. Using [Magicite Manipulation], I tried reaching to whatever it was and when I did, I felt just for an instance, a cold chill running down my spine even though I had [Thermal Fluctuation Resistance] at level 6. Then right after that, I got [Shadow Manipulation]. Now I felt¡­ different when I stood under dark shadows of the forest. Somewhat better. As if the sun had been irritating my skin and the shadow provided some cool relief. And besides that, I could also shape the shadows with my will. Like they were made of something malleable. I could enlarge, reduce and even mould the shape however I wished. But I couldn¡¯t use it as a weapon. Not yet. I got the spell [Shadow Merge] by pure luck. I was idling under a shade and got too carried away by the way it felt and out of nowhere, I got the spell. I didn¡¯t know what it did until Machina said that it was a spell that camouflaged me when I was under a shadow. I had almost finished my meal of dried meat and some type of bread when I heard movement on the branches atop of me. Dropping my leftovers, I sat up straight and looked up at the commotion with a dagger in hand. A woman wearing, what seemed like a dress made of extremely fine silk the way glittered, was sitting gracefully on top of a branch a foot above me. She had long blonde hair and was one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. I would have been entranced by her beauty if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that she had sneaked up on me even though my perception was so high because of [Enhanced Senses]. Machina spoke out of nowhere, justifying my anxiousness. Dryad: Tree spirits that are the caretakers of specific regions of a forest. They will remove any individual who may or have caused damage to their forest. Often through aggressive and violent means. Oh shit. Encounter Panic surged through my body until [Unyielding] kicked in. At first, I sought out the fastest exit while contemplating the speed at which she had appeared. She could very likely catch up to me within seconds even with my current speed. If it came down to combat, I was still a bit inexperienced. And something told me the dryad would be difficult to take down even with my new found strength. As I was weighing each of my options, the dryad spoke, startling me, ¡°You don¡¯t need to be so defensive. I¡¯m not going to harm you if you don¡¯t attack first.¡± I at first considered not listening to her. Everything and anything in this place seemed to want to kill me. Even the rabbits, which were now dead and half of them inside my stomach, seemed to snarl at me before seeming to realize that they weren¡¯t a match for me. But then I thought about it. The other monsters didn¡¯t actually converse with me. Even the gangs of goblin, though showed some type of sentience as they used weapons and wore clothes made of some fur, conversed on what seemed like groans and grunts. They seemed more akin to insane people they kept in asylums with their irrational laughter and strange comical behaviour. But this lady seemed to have common sense. At least more so than the goblins. She could be trying to lower my guard so that she can strike me down when I least expect it. Even so, I gave her the benefit of doubt and lowered my weapon slightly, enough to show her that I wasn¡¯t going to be a threat to her but not enough to not get the dagger up in time to defend myself. As if sensing my motive she said with a smile, ¡°Smart. Not at all like the other humans who drop their weapons as if I were no more than an ordinary woman.¡± I chuckled, earning myself an even broader smile, as I said, ¡°Well, any man would be fawning over a pretty lady. Especially one with beauty such as yours.¡± ¡°My, what a charmer. But you don¡¯t seem to have been mesmerised by my beauty as you claim others would.¡± ¡°Well,¡± I said looking into her emerald eyes that seemed to glow in the moonlight, ¡°I¡¯m no mere man. And you definitely aren¡¯t a lady.¡± Though her smile remained her eyes became dead serious as she looked me from head to toe, assessing me. ¡°My name is Ambrosis. Queen of the local dryads and Supreme Caretaker of the forest Notlis.¡± ¡°Local?¡± I asked, raising one of my eyebrows. ¡°I do not govern the dryads in other forests scattered all over the realm. Only the dryads living here fall under my domain.¡± ¡°I see.¡± These dryads seem to have hereditary system among them. As I was contemplating whether the goblins, though single-minded, had something similar, she asked, ¡°What name do you go by?¡± I blinked, as the question registered. ¡°Forgive me, I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn¡¯t introduce myself. You can call me Hirai.¡± The woman stiffened at the name. Those emerald eyes that were full of mischief a second ago was replaced by something else. Something ancient. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± I asked. ¡°Your name. It¡¯s in the form of the Ayoni.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Ayoni?¡± ¡°Yes. A language that was claimed to have been spoken by the gods themselves millennia ago. Long forgotten by most races.¡± ¡°What does it mean?¡± Ambrosis remained silent for a long time that I thought of repeating my question. Her eyes shone with ancient wisdom as if she was looking through me and trying to understand what exactly I am. She finally spoke a few seconds later, her tone grave, ¡°The Nameless.¡± I stood still as her words sank into me for a few seconds before my shoulder shuddered and I convulsed with laughter. It took me a few minutes to calm my nerves, my gut aching before I faced the woman. Her smile now gone, stern face not bulging even after I gave her an apologetic smile. ¡°This is no laughing matter. Your name¡­¡± she started. But before she could say more, I interjected and said firmly, ¡°Was given to me by my parents. They did not know Ayoni, and did not name me after something as stupid as that. I¡¯m not nameless. My name is Hirai.¡± The dryad looked at me, perhaps debating on whether to argue with me but instead breathed a sigh and said, ¡°Alright. Your parents may have named you unknowingly.¡± I nodded in affirmation. But there were still two things lingering in my mind. ¡°Why did you seem startled when you heard my name?¡± She looked into my eyes, her posture the utter definition of graceful calm, ¡°Your name, being in Ayoni¡­ it surprised me a bit.¡± ¡°I see. One more question, why exactly are you here?¡± Ambrosis blinked as if stunned before she gave an embarrassed laugh. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. In all this talking, I forgot to tell you why I was here. You have been trapezing through the forest and damaging everything in your path. Most of the other dryads desired to eliminate you.¡± My face drained of all blood and I thought my heart had just stopped beating. I unconsciously gripped my dagger so tight that my knuckles became bone white. The move didn¡¯t go unnoticed by Ambrosis. ¡°Do not worry,¡± she said, offering a friendly smile, ¡°I have persuaded the dryads. They won¡¯t harm you. But I suggest you avoid wrecking the forest further. Nature has a way of healing itself. But if keep going the way you are going, it¡¯s going to take nature a long time to recover from your damage.¡± I gave a nod and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I was just¡­ trying to get stronger.¡± She gave me an understanding series of nod and said, ¡°The world is not a pretty place. You have to fight to survive and fight even harder to protect what you love. So I understand.¡± Suddenly I realized something and asked, ¡°Why? Why help me at all? It seems an awful lot of work just for a guy you didn¡¯t even know about a few seconds ago. Wouldn¡¯t it be easier to just send someone to kill me? Or kill me yourself if that¡¯s what you want?¡± Though I was infinitely grateful to her for not killing me when I just recently got a second life, I was still a bit apprehensive. Human beings are greedy pieces of shit. They have no end of want. And are outright hostile when someone damages what is theirs. Even if it was accidental. They would want something of equal value in return. Although this being in front of me was technically not human, there was still a catch. I asked, narrowing my eyes, ¡°What is it that you want?¡± Ambrosis¡¯s smile turned slightly frightful, broad enough to show bone-white teeth, though not aggressive. ¡°I have only one question,¡± she said, showing a single pale slender finger, ¡°You could answer it, or not if you want to.¡± I gave a nod. She put down the finger, a satisfied look on her face, and asked, ¡°Where did you come from?¡± I blinked, the only sign of surprise I allowed to show on my face. She continued, ¡°You suddenly appeared in the far north of the forest. Not one of the dryads were aware of your presence before that. At first, we thought you were some rouge mage fleeing from the capital or some other town. But you didn¡¯t seem to have any knowledge on Magicite before Fallrik. So, where did you come from?¡± I at first pondered on telling her some sort of lie. Though I quickly reconsidered. She could see through the lie and may change her decision on letting me go unharmed. But I couldn¡¯t tell her the truth either. Even as I recalled everything that Machina had previously told me, it still sounded stupid. ¡°I want to tell you,¡± I started, ¡°But you wouldn¡¯t believe me even if I told you.¡± She thought about what I said for a very agonizing second and thankfully said, ¡°I understand. I won¡¯t press you on this matter further.¡± The wind picked up and leaves rustled. I was dumbfounded when I saw that her body was slowly turning into petals and was being carried away by the wind. She continued, ¡°You can keep practising your skills, but remember not to damage the forest too much. With that, I take my leave.¡± In a few seconds, her body completely turned into pink flower petals. She gave me a wink before her face too altered and was carried away by the gust of wind. I kept staring at the branch where the dryad was sitting. Nothing remained of her there, as if I was just hallucinating.