《Elswynd》


 Prologue

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    The events of the prologue happen in the future.


    The sandy dust was blown away all around the road as the caravan kept moving at a steady pace. The scorching sun shined in the cloudless sky brightly as ever,making the horizon ahead of the caravan blurry from the heat.


    The forest surrounding the road was filled with vines and big trees that very handling the heat better than the men and the people locked in the carriages multiple small and big cages.


    "P-please I beg of you I need water¡­(cough)" After those words came out of the man¡¯s dry mouth a whip slashed at him from between the cages rusty iron bars, hitting him in the left side of his head causing blood to start spilling from above his ear.


    The man made no sound as he was hit by the slash due to the constant whipping he had endured and probably also due to the fact that his throat was too dry for a scream to escape out of it.


    "Come on you piece of shit¡­.It¡¯s only been like four days since we last wasted our water on you¡­.`people` The man holding the whip said to the locked up slave as he looked at him with utter disgust in his blue eyes.


    The slaves were either in steel shackles on the floor or chained to the cage so that their body was lifted of the cages floor and moving was impossible as both their handsand legs were shackled to the cage making the person assume an X pose with their body. Some of the people had mouth cags and cloth tied over their eyes.


    The birds were chirping and the slavers were laughing as they talked to each other and made fun of the slaves while keeping on with their moderate pace along the road.The slave caravan consisted of three big carts hauled by big white bison-like animals and two men in front riding horses.


    Each cart had four big cages that each had slaves of different races inside of them.On the cart that was behind all the others, there were three men keeping a lookout for their surroundings or at least that was what they were supposed to do.Instead, the men were playing cards and paying no attention to their surroundings only making sure that the animals did their job moving their cart along. The second cart also had three men who were sharpening their swords and spear as they insulted the captive slaves.


    One of these men was the leader of the group who could be distinguished from his arm tattoos and red bandana. Like the others, he was in very good shape and had a couple of scars decorating his body.The front-most cart had two men with bows who were on guard for anyone coming along the road.The two men riding their brown horses in front of the caravan had daggers and spears. All of the slavers mainly wore leather or light Iron armor. Some of the men had removed their armor due to the heat.


    Soon the caravan came to a halt and one of the men riding a horse in front yelled."Who goes there".


    On the horizon a figure had emerged from the woods. The man was wearing a black cloak covering his whole body and head. He continued to shrug and slowly turned back to walk back into the woods he came from,but then the two men riding horses dismounted and quickly ran up to him with their spears pointed at the man¡¯s neck.


    "Show us your face and state your business immediately!"


    The man unhooded himself and with the least interest showed his face to the two slavers. His face was ever so slightly tanned and he had blonde hair, green eyes and a five o¡¯clock shadow.After seeing his face the two men relaxed a bit realizing that he was just a human like them so they lowered their spears.


    "I¡¯m just a wandering druid"


    "Why the hell would a druid be wandering this far in the valley? the closest Rivertian village is far away? or are you perhaps a Falloian sympathizer?"


    "Could you stop asking needles questions and just let me be Im in a bit of a bad move to be dealing with bad mannered slavers."The druid spat the words out of his mouth and started walking towards the small forest path where he came from.


    But it seemed that the slaver¡¯s were not too fond of this as one of them yelled.


    "So you are a sympathizer!"While thrusting his spear at the druid¡¯s head from behind.


    In an instant, the man turned around and his right arm emerged from inside his cape deflecting the man''s spear,In the corner of his eye the druid saw a certain insignia on the slavers spear and quickly after that his composure changed completely.Then with the same hand, he used to block the spear he grabbed on to the slavers head making the long sharp nails in his glove dig into the man¡¯s head from multiple different places.


    The only thing the slaver could see was the druid¡¯s palm which had some kind of engravings on the flesh which began to glow in a blue color,as lightnings started shooting out of his palm and fingertips that were dug into the man¡¯s skull.The slaver''s head exploded as the lightning surged through his head to his body.


    Soon the only thing that was left of the man were destroyed organs and bones spread across the ground as the surge of lightning had also caused his whole body to explode from inside after the destruction of his head.The lightning which had killed the man attacking now surged towards the other slaver nearby but just asthe lightning was about to hit the slaver said.


    "Dispell"


    And with a swing of his silvery spear, he dispelled the surge of lightning magic.At this point, the rest of the slavers had realized what was going on and five other slavers were sent as reinforcements rushing towards the man to aid their brethren.Now that the other slavers were closer they could see the druid¡¯s right arm that was covered in runic and mana engravings.


    Before the backup could get to the lone slaver facing the druid the man lifted his arm making the engravings on his arms glow in green. Vines shot out of the ground launching the slaver in the air and grabbing him in the air to restrain him completely.


    "W-what kind of druid are you.."Were the last words to escape from the slavers mouth as the man closed his palm and the vines crushed the slaver''s body and retracted back into the ground leaving behind a crushed corpse and a bent spear.


    the druid pointed his arm towards the five slavers coming at him the engravings on his hand began to glow in a green light as he grasped his fist and pulled his arm upwards.


    Causing hundreds of thorny vines to shoot towards the fastly approaching slavers.


    Responding to the incoming vines two of the slavers started chanting at the same time after halting their charge."Earth wall (x2)"


    A two-layered earth wall formed and took on the multiple vines which upon hitting the wall slightly dug into the wall though they were had nowhere near the power to tear through it.After this, the 3 three other slavers jumped from behind the wall, high into the air and activated different abilities to start charging at the druid while still airborne.As the first slaver reached the man with his now glowing sword the man violently deflected his strike while avoiding the second slavers charge.


    But when the third slavers charge came to the slaver hit him in the stomach with a powerful punch sending him flying backward, as he was now in mid-air coughing blood the two slavers behind the three attackers launched different elemental spells at him.


    While Still mid-air the druid inhumanely twisted his body avoiding the spells as he again without chants made multiple stone pillars infused with lightning appear from under the slavers Impaling four of the slavers with a flick of his right hand.As the druid charged forwards to kill the slaver left alive his out stretching right hand was blocked by a sword of a man wearing a bandana.The other 3 slavers including their leader had shown up.


    "You sure are an interesting druid..He said while looking at him with crazed eyes while licking his lips.


    "I don¡¯t usually take human slaves but you''re just someone I definitely can¡¯t pass up on.


    Once again he licked his lips.The man launched himself backward away from the slavers by making a pillar of earth strike him for bellow with a flat surface sensing danger in the man that had blocked his attack.The druid then began chanting something mid-air, but just as he was about to finish his chant the slavers leader jumped in the air with insane speed and slammed the man down on the ground with the broad side of his sword.leaving a large crater on the ground.


    "f-fucking hell.."The druid whimpered while coughing blood.


    But the slavers were not going to let him catch a break as the remaining three slaver underlings shot arrows at him and one of them charged forward while their leader seemed to be getting ready for another flashy attack.The first arrow was easily dodged by the druid but it caused a large chunk of ground to evaporate as it hit near him. The second arrow was sliced in two by the druids finger clad in lightning. As the charging man had gotten close enough to the druid he thrust his sword towards the druid ripping the ground apart.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    The druid responded by jumping over the charging man and while over him he spun and kicked the man in his ribs sending him flying against the nearest tree, crushing him as he flew through it hitting a big rock.Then the leader of the slaves charged at him and heavily tried slashing at the druid, the druid barely caught his sword in the air with his right hand and the pressure from the blow was transferred to the ground causing huge cracks to appear on the surface.While still adding force to his blade the man tried to push the druid down with his blade.


    "I¡¯ve been wondering for a while but why aren¡¯t you using your left arm"


    "That¡¯s none of your fucking concern you piece of shit."


    "Wow wow now..this piece of shit has a name and its Hirken."The slaver responded while he threw his sword slightly in the air and punched the druid who easily blocked the blow and tried to go for a handlock,


    but as soon as he tried that an arrow flew at him which hit him in his side.


    As soon as that happened the Druid jumped away in pain. The druid then continued to pull the arrow out of the side of his body causing blood to start spilling from the wound.Luckily the arrow hadn¡¯t gone too deep. He then started levitating weapons of the dead slavers and formed a circle with them around the slavers that were still alive.The druid sent the weapons flying at them while drawing some kind of marks in the air with his right hands.


    While the slavers were busy dodging the flying weapons the druid had finished his hand movements and a large mark of some kind of animal had begun gloving in red in his arm.He then continued to bite through the marks in the air causing the area where the marks had been to send forth a large fiery wave in the shape of what seemed to be tigers head that was about to bite.


    Hirken managed to dodge this but the rest was consumed by the fiery gyllons head which closed its scorching mouth on contact with the slavers and reduced them to bloody smoldering corpses begging for mercy.While all of this violence was happening the slaves in their cages were watching in fear at the ongoing display of power.


    Though one of them, a woman with long black hair was paying almost no attention and was simply hanging in her cage from chains with her face looking at the cages floor.Though her gaze sometimes averted from the ground to see what was happening through her long bangs.Her body was littered with bruises, wounds, and scars from the constant whippings she had received from the slavers and possibly from someone else.The druid walked towards the two barely alive slavers and plunged his arm through one of the slaver''s body continuing to rip his heart out.


    ¡±May the gods not have mercy on your pitiful soul for I am death, bringer of chaos¡±


    And then he sunk his metal nails into the heart and threw it on the ground.


    "Ahhh I see so you have met the old man too.,"Hirken said as a response to the druid''s words.


    The woman who was watching this unlike the other slaves was not phased by this gruesome act and could feel a sense of dread and sadness from the druids lifeless eyes,which slowly raised their gaze from the corpses to confront Hirkens bloodshot maddened eyes.


    "Ahahah hahaha"Hirken begun launching maniacally for that was his last remaining comrade as the other slavers body had already stopped moving when the druid had gotten a hold of the other man¡¯s beating heart.


    Hirken charged at the druid flailing and striking at the druid who responded by blocking his blows with his metal nails clad in lightning.After this one-sided exchange of blows, Hirken backed off.


    "Fuck it you won¡¯t be a slave..instead I will show you what it means to defy me".


    The druid¡¯s eyes changed as he now was wary of what was to come and took a tiger stance lowering his body and bending his knees while forwarding his hand at Hirken ready for reacting to what was to come.Hirkens body started wavering and some sort of green liquid started pouring out of his hands to his blade and on the ground around him.


    As this was happening the druid couldn¡¯t attack as he was totally on his guard and did not know what to expect from his opponent.Suddenly Hirken swung his sword and the tens of liquid streams flew towards the druid. He barely evaded the streams of green liquid and saw them hit several trees causing them to start slowly corroding into nothingness.


    Another barrage of the corrosive liquid was sent towards the druid as Hirken thrust his sword forward. The druid responded by forwarding his hand towards the incoming liquid and the engravings in his arm began to glow in red. A flare shot out of his hand and exploded as it neared the liquid streams causing a huge smoke cloud to form.


    The druid launched himself through the smoke screen with an earth pillar and soon landed near Hirken. In response, Hirken yelled.


    "Hollow blade"


    And swung his sword at him causing the earth to tears under his swing. The druid did a flip to avoid the strike and as he was now only Inches away from Hirken he continued to strike at Hirkens throat and a single large mark on his arm began to glow as his arm turned into a gyllons arm. With this arm, he tore Hirkens throat out and kicked him in the stomach making Hirkens body collapse on the ground motionless amidst the rest of the dead slavers.


    But then suddenly Hirkens body begins to corrode into that green liquid and Hirken appears behind the druid.He kicks at the druid with his leg covered in a green liquid which is quickly blocked by the druids kick in response after the clash of kicks they both back up.


    "Huh¡­. I thought I got ya there?"Hirken said with a smirk on face."


    Before the Druid had approached Hirken from behind the smokescreen he had activated a greater elemental ward on his body and as Hirken kicked at him he forwarded the ward to his leg to negate the damage.Thought a part of his pants got corroded upon the contact and the elemental ward protecting him wore of.


    The druid sent forth a gust of electrified wind pushing Hirken away from him and after that, the druid started forming huge amounts of water on his body quickly turning it into many condensed layers of ice. After this, his whole body except his right arm and head were covered in tough layers of ice.


    He then charged forward avoiding the many streams of corrosive liquid launched at him. Some of the streams hit him but as they made contact with the ice it wasn¡¯t so easy to corrode as Hirken thought and the liquid did minimal damage before diminishing.As the Druid had once again gotten close to Hirken he stopped his charge to slide his right foot forward and at the same time, he made the condensed layers of ice melt from his leg forming a huge pond on the ground. The pond of water formed into an ice spike that shot out at Hirken.


    Hirken dodged the ice spike and was about to step sideways to swing at the druid when suddenly the druids right hand clad in lightning went through the ice spike,as his arm went through the ice spike it transformed back into water and formed a wall behind Hirken when he tried to back off to avoid the hand coming at him.The druids right hand grabbed on to Hirkens face and with all his might he threw Hirken with one hand at a nearby tree tearing out a chunk of his face and ripping of an eye.


    Then he continued to quickly rush towards the almost unconscious Hirken and struck his hand through his chest finishing him off.After this, with a slightly relaxed composure the druid began walking towards to carriages and when he reached them he concentrates and puts his hand forward channeling mana making his engravings glow in blue ashe forms wind blades that quickly cut open all the cages in the caravan.


    The black haired women watched him do this but then suddenly she felt and ood presence from where the man¡¯s left arm should be located under his cloak.The grim presence quickly overtakes the druid and he barely manages to cut some of the chains and shackles holding the slaves as he falls flat on the ground.A locket on his neck comes out of the cloak and falls next to the man¡¯s body. On the locket, there is an engraving of a wolf.


    Soon after he collapsed blood starts to pour out of the eye of the wolf in the locket.


    In the harsh condition somewhere in Elswynd there is a flower bed filled with ryctian roses.As the climate gets colder one by one the roses die to never rise again, corroding into the wind that sweeps past them only to be replaced by a new rose the next year.A rose in the middle like others of its kind slowly starts to darken and holes began to form in its blue petals halting after the rose has been deemed to be ready to be taken away by the wind.


    But unlike the others, the rose persists and stays there keeping its ugly form not accepting its destiny to corrode into the wind like the others.Years go by and new roses rise from the ground and in the end, they corrode into the wind like many others before them, but the one rose keeps persisting and In the end, is eaten by a beast only to realize it had all along been the beast.


    Authors note<input class="spoilerButton" type="button" value="Show">


    Thanks for reading!


    Comments are appreciated.


    Im sorry for any spelling mistakes as English isn''t my first language and I have ran into many problems while trying to get this prologue up so I''ve had to constantly rewrite and fix stuff.


    Ps: If you find spelling errors dm tome about them!

 Chapter 1

    Leon was strolling around in the park with his dog.


    The wind was gently blowing on my shirt as my footsteps made crackling sounds in the sand path I was walking on. When I had finished strolling around the huge park with my dog I decided it was time to go back home. As I walked back home through the central part of my town I noticed a parade coming my way.


    "Oh, yea its veterans day"I mumbled bitterly.


    As the parade got closer I could see a man in a military uniform he had short brown hair and glasses. He looked just like one of my comrades. I immediately froze on the spot.My dog Robert started acting to try to comfort me, but now all I could see in was the face of my friend covered in blood with half of his brain blown off. I collapsed on my knees and started getting distressed while an overwhelming amount of sweat was pouring from my forehead.


    As Robert went to lick my face and began pushing himself on to me while his different colored eyes were staring at me. I started softly patting him and began to calm down. People around me gave me weird glances as I rose up from the ground thinking that they should just mind their own goddamm business.


    My life isn¡¯t really that interesting. I am a 25 Yo veteran working as a Personal trainer with a salary of 40k a year. I had some really stubborn clients sometimes but usually, I got along with my clients quite alright.


    After I had gone to the store to buy some vegetables and some vodka from the liquor store I started heading back home.I didn¡¯t usually drink as when I came home from my 2nd tour I started heavily drinking and it became quite a problem, which I did overcome over time tho. After that, I decided to rarely drink and try not to go overboard.


    When I finally came home I first meditated in my backyard for about an hour and did full body training for about half an hour. Then I came back inside and poured a shot of vodka for myself, which I put on the living rooms glass table.


    Then I let Robert out on my backyard from where he had a viewing distance to me in case I had another PTSD attack. I continued to put on the tv and switch to the news channel.Nothing interesting was really happening on the news so I decided to down my shot without paying attention to the male reporter on the screen and went grab a beer.


    The reporter was now suddenly speaking in a serious voice.


    "In other news today in many states all over America and even in some other countries there have been reported cases of people gone missing in the past 2 days.What makes this interesting is at in all cases the person disappearing has left a deep hole behind them. Some have gone missing while inside their own house and some even while being surrounded by people.No one knows what could have caused this phenomenon and some people are believing that these were cases of alien abductions but for now, no one really knows for sure what has happened to the people that have gone missing."


    "Huh what a load of crap,"I said as I closed the tv.


    "I guess it¡¯s time for the daily maintenance now."


    I had lost my left forearm and hand in Iraq so I now had to do some maintenance on the prosthetic.I had gotten used to it pretty well, though the first month or so I had constant ghost pains on my ¡°forearm¡± and still have some occasional pains this day.


    The arm was made out of stainless steel and titanium I was even able to control it with my mind, as science had made some huge leaps with prosthetics in the years I was deployed. And I managed to become one of their test candidates for a forearm prosthetic.The prosthetic forearm was quite good looking it really looked like it was a part of my arm as it perfectly connected the upper arm.


    Even the fingers were less robotic looking nowadays and were quite smooth the whole prosthetic arm had an outer core made out of a mix of stainless steel and aluminum. Making it look even more like a real forearm.


    Joining the marines was a turning point in my life. I wasn¡¯t really good with dealing with a large group of people but slowly I warmed up to the merry bunch that became my family.Finally, I had found People like Luciano, John, and Dan who accepted me as a comrade, no not as a comrade...as a friend.I got over my depression thanks to them and the many other people in my platoon.


    I had finally accepted myself the way I was.To me, the Marines were my family who I had to take care of the way they took care of me, though I wasn¡¯t able to do that in the end¡­


    After I was done with my weekly maintenance I went back to my room to play MMORPGs with my friends online.


    (10 minutes later)


    " Goddammit these fking Minotaurs got aggroed to me!" Dan yelled


    "On it sarg!" John responded


    "John haven¡¯t I told you that you don¡¯t have address me as sarge in civil."Dan said while laughing.


    "Stop flirting you two! I`m going to take care of these fuckers with my Meteorite so cover me!"


    " Ooorah!!"


    I had known John since basic training, he was one crazy motherfucker who was always ready to fight. When he came back from deployment he got his hands on an m249 saw which was the gun he so loved using while deployed.John was the type of guy you would bring with you when the odds were totally against you and no one else was crazy enough to do the job at hand, It was truly a miracle that he hadn''t got wounded even once.Dan, on the other hand, was a calm guy. He had been on 3 deployments and had gotten shot in the buttocks twice.


    And so after 1h, we had completed the dungeon run.


    " argh, I guess I got fucked in the ass by the rng gods I didn¡¯t get any good drops."


    "Yeah me neither.."


    "Ha, I just got a new epic sword for my collection!" John bragged


    " Of for fuck''s sake John why do you always have to get the good stuff!"


    We all laughed. Then we started cracking shit jokes and talking about meaningless stuff. After a while, John left and probably went to jack off his m249.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    "Yeah, I guess I¡¯l be hitting the bar now see ya," Dan said.


    "Yeah see ya tomorrow man".


    I suddenly realized that I hadn¡¯t seen Robert come in since I let him out. I sensed something was wrong so I hurried to my backyard, but I couldn¡¯t find Robert, instead, there was a deep hole in the ground.


    all grass around the hole had also disappeared.


    "Fuck!"I tried to calm down.


    "There¡¯s no way Robert got taken by something unnatural yeah just a huge coincidence maybe he just dug a hole and ran somewhere."I didn¡¯t see Robert anywhere inside the house I even called for him a few times.I saw the slightly open fence gate and thought that Robert had gone into the forest where I sometimes walked him.


    Though why the hell would Robert a well-trained dog go into the forest without its owner.


    Thatis something Leon didn¡¯t have time to think about as he put on his coat and boots and started running to the forest hoping that by some miracle Robert had just decided to go walking on its own and that he could find him.


    ¡­¡­¡­..


    ¡­¡­¡­..


    I kept running hoping I could find any traces of Robert.I don¡¯t know for how long I had ran, all that was in my mind was the thought of not wanting to lose Robert. I just ran and ran amongst the birch trees, now having derailed from the original path in the woods following a small forest path that led to a small lake which we had visited many times with Robert.


    When I finally reached the lake I sensed something was not right, In my time in Afghanistan I had felt a similar and I knew this feeling all too well.It was as if someone or something was tracking me constantly keeping its eyes on me as I ran through the forest. Now that I think about it with my mind calmer I had had this feeling as soon as I entered the forest, I had originally not noticed this feeling as I was so fixated in finding Robert.


    But now I was sure I wasn¡¯t alone here, suddenly a Dark circle with weird engravings appeared below me and it started glowing.I also noticed a hefty amount of bubbles forming in the lake in front of me.


    I kept looking at the bubbles while trying to move away from the circle when suddenly the water started rising forming a vortex sucking me in the water as I helplessly tried to grab on to something to not get sucked in, but it was in vain as I had already been swallowed by the weird water vortex.


    It felt like my soul was being torn apart from my body. I started losing my consciousness soon after.


    I heard a voice calling to me from the dark depths of the void it was a faint voice¡­I could not quite make out what the voice was saying, but soon after I started feeling something warm as if something or someone was hugging me.


    Not once in my life had I felt this kind of warmth. Those were my last thoughts as I finally lost consciousness.


    I could see a silver coated wolf moving towards me. It had two different colored eyes one crimson red and the other blue as the sea. On its neck, the wolf had a locket of some sorts. I tried standing up to run away but I could not move even an inch of my body I couldn¡¯t even see my body only a very blurry version of what was supposed to be my body.


    The wolf that was now only meters away from me was slightly bigger than an adult grey wolf and its footsteps could not be heard, not even the leaves under its feet dared to make a sound as it walked closer to me. I closed my eyes hoping this was all a dream. Now it was only centimeters away from my face as I could feel its warm breath in my face. I could feel myself falling through a void again as I no longer couldn¡¯t see anything around me.


    I suddenly stopped falling and I found myself in a dark empty space where my body was still a blur. I could barely recognize my hands and could see a figure covered in light appear before me.While thinking if this was some sort of weird afterlife suddenly a being covered in light appeared before me and started speaking.


    "Welcome to Elswynd. I am in charge of your introduction to our world in which you are going to be reincarnated in."The being said in a feminine voice.


    (silence)


    Leon: What the fuck?


    "Hey, are you the one that took my dog! and what the hell are you talking about!"I yelled furiously.


    "This may be a bit of a shock to you but you amongst several other people were ¡°transported¡±. Though your case is a bit different from the others."


    "Okay then, so do you have something to do with disappearing of my dog?"I asked slightly agitated while being in a weird state of mind not knowing if I was really dead or not. I had a very surreal feeling that was hard to describe.


    "From what I have been told the reason your pet was summoned was due to a mistake in the summoning progress used by the demons. It is now in this world still alive except there are now some differences in this dog of yours, to put it simply it no longer is a mere dog. This dog of your has also somehow been able to avoid being corrupted by the demons and most likely has been able to escape them."


    "Fucking hell what do you mean by ¡°mistake by demons¡± and ¡°no longer a mere dog¡±?!" I said as my anger began to overflow and my blurry body began to heat up.


    The being realized this and with a wave of its hand, it made me calm without me being able to do anything about it.


    "Now now let me explain as you were being summoned your soul had such deep bond with the dog''s soul it was mistaken as a part of you and thus summoned.


    And about it no longer being a mere dog you will understand eventually as you two are bound by fate you will meet when the time is right even though it may take some time it is certain that you two will see each other again."


    "¡­..okay then, so what¡¯s this whole thing about being reincarnated to this world."


    "That¡¯s quite a long story but I will give you the simplified version,"


    "The demons created summoning magic to acquire good candidates from your world to corrupt them into their armies ranks, some forcibly and some were welcome to this idea of getting to kill humans and other races of people.When the gods realized the demons were summoning people it was already too late and almost all people that the demons planned on summoning were already summoned or in the progress of being summoned."


    "You were one of the souls meant to be forcibly corrupted to be one of their pawns. As such at the final moment when the demons were about to summon you the Goddess of nature used her might to take your soul away from the hands of the demons and reincarnate you to this world.You were killed in the progress as the demons were summoning you and the goddess of nature was trying to stop them from acquiring you, by taking your soul away from them to save you. Because of that, your soul was separated from your body."


    The being took a short pause as if it was thinking about something.


    "The goddess of nature does not wish you to fight against the demons but what you do here in this world with your new life is all up to you."


    "I still don¡¯t get why would she go through the trouble to save my soul if I¡¯m not even asked for anything in return?


    And why was I out of all people being `summoned by demons`?"


    "I''m sorry but both of those questions are ones that I do not have the answers for.


    Also, I find it hard to think that the goddess would reincarnate you to fight against the demons as I cannot see any major potential in you."


    "Well, thanks that¡¯s very encouraging of you to say."


    The angel didn''t have any reaction to my sassiness and just continued on.


    " All I can say is that think of this as a new life for you, an unlucky soul who deserves better than being summoned by the demons to be a pawn."


    "Well if you talk to this Nature goddess please send her my thanks, as I sure as hell don¡¯t want to become a pawn to be used by some demons with no goddamn manners.


    Fking hell at least buy me dinner first."I said with slight gratitude in my voice.


    "I sure will mortal.


    I took a slight pause before asking. "So what are you exactly?"


    "I guess you could call me a messenger of gods, an angel"


    "Alright."


    "You seem to be acting rather calm now."


    "Well, to be honest, I guess being mad isn¡¯t really going to help out in this situation As a god personally saved my soul and I probably am hallucinating all of this or this is just some crazy ass dream."


    (Not that I could feel angry at the moments as I still feel weird from the angel forcing me to calm down, also for some reason I feel like this angel is telling me the whole truth about this.


    Not that it matters as this is probably just a dream)


    "Now you will be receiving a new body as soon as I have taught a bit to you about this world and how things work around here.

 Chapter 2

    "So firstly our world is largely different from yours so many things you come across in Elswynd are vastly different. Our landscapes can be very different including our cultures etc."


    "So now let¡¯s start by connecting you to this worlds records. I will now begin the procedure by pressing my finger on where your forehead would be. This will not hurt and it will not take long so please bear with me."I could feel a gentle finger pressed on my forehead as some sort of light shock was transmitted to my soul.


    "Now then think about the concept of something like a record of your yourself showing different attributes you have."


    "I don¡¯t think I can materialize thoughts¡­ but here we go"


    Suddenly a Screen popped up in front of me


    Leon: Record


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Race preset stats</td>


    <td>Personal stats from previous life/world</td>


    <td>Current stats</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Strenght 7</td>


    <td>Strength 17</td>


    <td>Strenght 23</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Endurance 5</td>


    <td>Endurance 15</td>


    <td>Endurance 20</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Vitality 6</td>


    <td>Vitality 2 (due to race preset value this value has been decreased to 2 from 6)</td>


    <td>Vitality 8</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Agility 6</td>


    <td>Agility 14</td>


    <td>Agility 20</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Intelligence 7</td>


    <td>Intelligence 11</td>


    <td>Intelligence 18</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Wisdom 6</td>


    <td>Wisdom 20</td>


    <td>Wisdom 26</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Magical Attunement 1</td>


    <td>Magical Attunement 0</td>


    <td>Magical Attunement 1</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Focus 5</td>


    <td>Focus 20</td>


    <td>Focus 25</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Perception 5</td>


    <td>Perception 14</td>


    <td>Perception 19</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dexterity 7</td>


    <td>Dexterity 14</td>


    <td>Dexterity 21</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Charisma 5</td>


    <td>Charisma 10</td>


    <td>CHarisma 15</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "Wow this is an immersive and original dream"


    The being ignored my statement and continued speaking.


    "Now then let¡¯s start the explanation. What you see in front of you is your personal record, this record contains basic information about you such as your name, race, titles, stats etc. We have also evaluated your wisdom strength ect from your previous life and converted them into this world¡¯s stat values which will be merged with your status."


    "This kind of stat transportation isn¡¯t usually done but since your situation is a bit special we have done it by the order of the goddess."


    "Alright then please continue."


    "Now then I will begin explaining the contents of your record (status) screen and their functionalities. Now don¡¯t worry as you will be able to see this information at will from the status screen yourself in a more simplified version after we have finished this tutorial. Now first il explain the stats to you."


    Strength: Overall muscular strength. (Strength can be trained)


    Endurance: Increases overall physical durability and the body¡¯s resistance to Physical damage, also determines the amount of stamina one has.(Endurance can be trained)


    Agility: Affects the body¡¯s stretchability, speed and explosive power for example jumping. (Agility can be trained)


    Dexterity: Effects nimbleness and reflexes (Can be trained)


    Vitality: The scale in which one''s body naturally regenerates from damage and other physical conditions also effect¡¯s hp (Race bound. Only in rare cases is one able to raise Vitality)


    Intelligence: (Slightly boosts Overall intelligence) increases the power of spells and the ability to manipulate spells and magic overall.


    A high level of intelligence makes it easier to learn and decipher ancient languages.(Can be trained)


    Wisdom: Slightly boost overall outlook and insight on situations). Wisdom increases one''s mana pool and mana regeneration (Can be trained)


    Magical Attunement: One¡¯s ability to start manipulating mana to cast magic


    Magical Attunement is the key to magic so if one has a Magical attunement level of 0 there is no possibility to wield mana so spell casting is impossible and Attunement cannot be raised.(Training hard )


    Focus: Focus is needed for the proper execution of abilities and spells. Most low-level abilities and spells do not have a focus requirement. (Can be trained)


    Perception: The ability to hear, sense and see things. Perception is a good stat for a bowman or even to the common thief. At a High-level one can see the mana trails others living beings leave behind. (Can be trained)


    Charisma: Slightly effects actual charisma towards other people and animals.


    Charisma is a stat that classes like bard need as many of their songs require to have a good charisma rating and it overall effects their songs power. (Can be trained)


    "Also as you can see some of these stats say they can be ¡°trained¡± the difference in training a stat and getting stat points to boost your stats is that training is a more effective way for training some of these stats like strength. Obviously, the higher you train the stat the harder it becomes to further advance it with training, At that point the best way to acquire more stat points is¡­."


    "Are my stats strong?"I interrupted excitedly


    "Well your stats are definitely good for a human but I wouldn¡¯t say you are strong as you are right now. For example, the average strength of a swordsman wielding a Greatsword is around 20 and an apprentice mages intelligence usually rounds to above 20.So for a person like you who''s been a soldier in his former would your stats aren¡¯t really that surprising. Except your wisdom is quite good but I still wouldn¡¯t refer to them as strong in my standards."


    "Understood."I thought of asking what she meant about her standards but to be honest I just want to get this over with and wake up.


    "Now then continuing on training is not the only way to increase stats, stats can also be gained from acquiring titles. itles are awarded from different actions and feats, for example, slaying a Fire elemental or having vast knowledge over many different species of plants. Titles are permanent and cannot be removed."


    "There are also some more unorthodox ways to gain stats bonuses but that¡¯s something you will have to find out about yourself. Also when you class levels up points are distributed to certain stats. Also leveling up your own personal level sometimes grants unused stat points which you may distribute to your stats by yourself though this does not include attunement, as attunement need universal stat points for raising its level."


    "There are also stat points called universal stat points these are hard to come by and can be acquired from titles and some other things. The difference between universal stat points and normal stat points is that with universal stat points you can raise Vitality and Attunement while still being able to use them for other stats, and if you do so a stat like strength would gain 3points instead of 1.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    "Now then let¡¯s see what class you are. Your class helps you with for example becoming a stronger Swordsman, though not having the class swordsman doesn¡¯t mean you can¡¯t become good with a sword it only majorly boost your progress as a swordsman and makes it easier to acquire sword orientated skills.Your class will be determined by your soul and race. Certain races have a higher chance to become a certain class, for example, an elf is more likely to become a Mage than a swordsman."


    "Also you are not ¡°bound¡± to the class of your choice there are ways one can receive a new class while still being able to use the abilities of the previous class/classes."


    Acquiring class¡­¡­.Druid


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td> Class:         Druid       </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Gained spells: Lightning strike, Earth surge, Light heal</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Intelligence bonus +3</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Wisdom bonus +5</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Magical attunement bonus +3</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Skill:Herb identification. Able to identify herbs and get information on them.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Trait: Nature¡¯s ally. All wildlife are more welcoming to you and may even help you at times of distress. Grants the ability to talk to Nature spirits. (Bonus 1+ to all stats (Doesn¡¯t affect mana and stamina) when fighting in areas such as forest and swamps and other nature areas)


    A druid is able to use Storm, Earth, Water, Fire and Nature magic.  At Higher levels, most druids choose to specialize in 2-3 of those magic types


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Class Druid has been acquired Stat bonuses have now taken effect and all listed skills and trait have been granted....


    "Interesting not many humans are able to become druids as their soul is usually not compatible with the ways of being a druid. It is quite rare for a human to be able to become a druid. The druid class is mostly a support class that isn¡¯t really highly appreciated due to the fact that there are many other classes that are better at performing to jobs the Druid is meant for. it is like a jack of all trades magic caster in the mean that it can do many different things depending on how the user of the class wants to build the class."


    "While it does have offensive spells at lower levels there is not a huge variety to choose from so their role is mainly to support others."


    "Hmph shit luck I guess"


    If I really was going to be reincarnated and this isn¡¯t a dream being a druid probably isn¡¯t good if I have limited offensive capabilities.


    "Next we will be choosing a magic type for you. The type of magic one is able to use varies from person to person. Now I will be giving a selection to you off the types of magic your soul is compatible with."


    Physical Strengthening magic


    Spatial distortion magic magic


    "Well that¡¯s an awfully low amount of magic types,"I said somewhat disappointedly.


    "Hmm that sure is quite the low amount, but the fact that you have space magic available is quite uncommon although not rare amongst caster classes."


    "What? is it some kind of strong magic!"


    "Well it is extremely difficult to master, but I think you should go with it as physical strengthening isn¡¯t that useful for a druid."


    Said the being while not really answering my question.


    "Yeah, I guess so.,"I said as I previewed the Spatial distortion magic option


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>       Spatial distortion magic</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Inventory (passive)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Lower levitation</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Lower teleportation</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Instantly when I saw the teleportation magic I concentrated on it to view what its does


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Lower teleportation magic: This skill makes it possible to teleport small items from place to place in a 70 feet radius</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -Hmm I thought that it would be something like that as it said ¡°Lower¡±.


    Levitation magic was pretty self-explanatory and as it said lower it was probably very similar to the teleportation magic, also the inventory magic was probably something like in games where I could store items in a sort of an inventory but still out of curiosity I checked its information.


    <table style="max-width: 800px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Inventory magic (passive):Grants the user a passive magical inventory that can store a huge amount of items and things without any drawbacks (limit 2000 pound¡¯s, scales with Space magic level)</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "Yeah I''ll be taking this,"I said as I chose the Spatial distortion magic.


    Spatial distortion magic acquired


    Skills added


    "Now then it¡¯s time for your combat training."


    As the being waved its hand a spider chained on the ground appeared about 10 foot away from me.


    The spider was dark black and it had red stripes all over its body.


    "Okay, I will now grant you the skill Identify creature so you can inspect that spider''s record before attacking it. Simply think about ¡°inspecting¡± the spider''s record.


    Skill Identify added


    Slightly startled by the spider''s sudden appearance I focused and tried to use the Inspect skill soon enough a small screen came up"


    <table style="max-width: 900px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Cave spider Level 2 Info: A spider that dwells in dark caves waiting for its prey to ease up so it can jump on them and inject venom. Highest Stat Agility 10</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "As you can see the skill shows you the targets Level, information and also its most relevant stat. It is also possible to see all targets stats when the user is above the level of the target if one chooses to do so,also if your target is way above your level almost no information can be seen. This skill cannot be used on other people through a person can show his stats to another at will."


    "Now then try casting a lightning strike at it by focusing on the mana flowing inside your body and chanting the spell inside your head or verbally. You are probably not going to be able to cast the spell without chanting as that is rare amongst humans, but you are welcome to try it. Also as your attunement is so low pointing your hand at the target is a good way to use spells or any movements that would suit a spell as you attunement raises youl be able to simply flick your fingers to cast some spells. Or just chant them without any physical actions."


    I focused on trying to feel something like mana in my body, as I was focusing a bar could be visible to me that showed my mana amount


    Mana 1100/1100


    I then tried chanting the spell Lightning strike in my head as I pointed my right hand at the spider, and soon enough a lightning shot out of my hand killing the spider instantly when it connected with its target


    Exp rewarded (none due to the current state)


    "Wow you were able to cast the spell with chantless casting that¡¯s something you can be proud about you know. Also now that we know you can cast chantless spells you should know that not all spells can be cast without chanting verbally."


    "Oh ok and thanks I guess."


    I viewed my mana amount which had gone down to 1030/1100


    "Killing monsters awards you exp, to your personal level and/or class level. The amount of experience rewarded is based on the type of monster you kill and what its level is.The exp you gain can be directed to different levels in your case you can decide how you distribute it amongst your Personal level, Druid level, and Space magicafter you have left this introduction."


    "An important thing about the xp system is that while personal xp needs a certain amount of xp per level and only shows the need xp per each level class levels and magic school levels xp ¡°stack¡± always showing the total amount of xp accumulated and the remaining xp needed for the next level up."


    "Monster are divided into Grades based on their levels


    lvl 1-10 grade 1 lvl 11-20 grade 2 lvl 21-30 grade 3 lvl 31-50 grade 4 level 51-80 grade 5 there are a few more grades above but that isn¡¯t really important knowledge for the time being.


    An important thing to remember is that while fighting monsters the level of the creature you are fighting is not the only thing you should worry about. For example, a minotaur has way higher base stats then a goblin so a level 10 minotaur can easily fend off against 6 level 10 goblins"


    "This is all I have to teach to you the rest is up to you to find out about on by yourself or by receiving help from someone."


    "Now then your soul will be reborn to a 20-year-olds body all of your stats and choices you have made here will be transferred with you. Also when your body is created we will be taking in mind information from your previous record, which will affect your new body. For example, creating muscle memory of certain movements to your new body by taking in mind previous actions you have been able to do."


    "Sooooo, am I able to choose a new race in which I will be reborn or do I have any say about my new body?"


    "I''m sorry but you can¡¯t customize your new body, also your soul isn¡¯t compatible with any other race as you lived on earth where these races didn¡¯t exist."


    "Dammit¡­¡­..I really wanted to be something like an elf even if this is a dream."


    "Don¡¯t worry I¡¯m sure you will be somewhat pleased with your new human body and I assure you this isn¡¯t a dream."


    "Now then mortal it¡¯s time for us to part our ways."The angel said as it disappeared from in front of me.

 Chapter 3

    When I woke up I felt the grass on my face and a painful ache in my head. I slowly rose up and almost instantly after that fell against a nearby tree. I slowly looked around myself and I could see a lush forest filled with beautiful flowers and plants. The scent of the nearby flowers was so heavenly that I completely forgot the pain from my headache and my now slightly bleeding head.The soothing sound of birds chirping and the tree branches moving in the warm wind was the only thing I could hear in this peaceful forest.


    "Where the hell am I? it¡¯s so warm here?"


    To see if what had happened before was true and not some weird dream I tried viewing my record and soon I could see it


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Race: Human Name:Leon Level 1 0/100xp  Available universal stat points: 2  available stat points: 0</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Titles: Drifter </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Strenght 23       </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Endurance 20    Stamina 500/500 Stamina regen 0.10/sec</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Wisdom 31  Mana:1100/1100 Mana regen 0.15/sec</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Vitality 8                          </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Agility 20</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Intelligence 21</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Magical Attunement 4</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Focus 25</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Perception 19</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dexterity 20</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Charisma 15</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Skills: Identity, Herb identification lvl 1</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Druid Level 1 0/200xp Spells: Lightning strike, Earth surge, Light heal.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Spatial Distortion Level 1 0/8000xp Spells: Lower levitation, Lower teleportation, Inventory (passive)</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I squinted my eyes in sheer disbelief,I looked at my body and realized it definitely wasn¡¯t my old body.


    (Why me why me..?)


    Was all I could think about. I started panicking and my hands started shaking as I looked around myself.The trees were way larger than those in the forest near my house there is no way I¡¯m still in that forest. The trees had big leaves and their color was a darkish green not like the trees in the forest near my house. There were colourfull rocks too.


    "Fuck fuck calm down¡­.calm the fuck down¡­¡­"I started repeating to myself out loud as I tried to control my breathing that was now like an asthmatic kids breath when they had forgotten the time to come home and were frantically running back.


    After maybe around 15 minutes of calming myself I finally reached a somewhat clear state of mind.


    "Hmm, so I guess I really did reincarnate to another world orI''m just really high.


    I said while looking at my stats. Let¡¯s check this Title Drifter that I have gotten"


    Drifter (This title cannot be seen by anyone in any circumstances)


    Granted to those who have had his/her soul reborn to Elswynd


    2 Universal stat points granted.


    "So I was really reincarnated¡­.?" "No calm down don¡¯t dwell on that I thought as I began talking to myself trying to distract myself from the insanity of being in a situation like this."


    "Okay that¡¯s good I will probably spend those to raise my attunement."


    Now with a clear mind, I decided that rather than starting to think about the fact that I now had a new life in a different world and start reminiscing about my past life. I should first focus on survival and maybe find some local people to help me. Hell, I don¡¯t even know if they speak English here I thought.After doing that my first priority would be to find Robert as he also was somewhere in this who knows how big world.


    I decided to take a closer look at my levels


    "Hmm, my personal level only needs 100xp and my Druid level needs 200xp while my space magic needs a whapping 8000xp. I guess the angel wasn¡¯t lying when she said it¡¯s hard to raise, all though I don¡¯t know how much xp fighting a grade 1 monster would grant and how easy it¡¯s to find and kill said monster I¡¯m going to split the gained xp 40% to my personal level and 60% to my druid level as I really don¡¯t think raising space magic this early would be easy with the way I am right now." So I made the xp distribution that way in my record.


    "Now then time to spend those points on attunement"


    Attunement reached level 6 you are now easily able to control spells and even able to hit multiple targets with certain spells. Imbuing spell: Lightning strike into weapons is now possible.


    Then I presumed to look around if I could see the wolf that I had seen in my dream, but it was nowhere to be found.Tho on the ground near me there was a weapon which size was something between a short sword and a dagger.


    I then took the weapon on my hands


    Blade of Origin


    Enchantment???


    Grade/Artifact


    Info???"


    "Huh? well that''s a creative name."I said sarcastically and unsheathed it, the blade was beautiful tempered and was emitting a slight blue aura, the blades handle that was made of wood had a gem embedded in it. The gems color was a mix between blue and dark blue. The closest thing I knew that resembled this blade would probably be a Tanto sword.


    I had been the best knife fighter in my platoon and used to practice with all sorts of knives so using this would be quite easy for me.Also, I should have asked the angel about the wolf but I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me. Now that I think about it had different colored eyes so could it be possible¡­.


    "Ha no way,"I said while brushing the thought away.


    "Hm so that wolf wasn¡¯t a dream then, but how did it come to me before I had a physical body."


    As I remembered when I was with the angel and in that ¡°dream state ¡° I didn¡¯t have a body yet only a soul.I don¡¯t remember smoking but whatever I took must have been some high-quality stuff.


    "Aah well let¡¯s leave thinking for some other time."


    I rose up and put the ¡°Tanto¡± on my belt.I was wearing a green druid robe and a black leather belt no shoes, though handily enough I had gloves.Near me was a small puddle so I decided to go look at my own reflection trying to see what my new body looked like.I had short blonde hair to my bangs went a bit over my green eyes. My face was relatively smooth, I had a strong jawline and I was around 6 foot tall.


    Though it did somewhat resemble me when I was around 20 it sure wasn¡¯t my old body.The weird thing was that on my neck there was the same locket the wolf-like creature I saw in my ¡°dream¡± was wearing.The locket had on it ahead of a wolf-like creature, that was very similar to the creature in my dream. Quickly I tried opening it butno matter how hard I tried I couldn¡¯t open it.


    For now, I shrugged off my thought about the locket.


    I checked my left arm which still had the prosthetic forearm that resembled the one I had in my ¡°Previous life¡±.


    " Ohhh this is fucking bullshit I still have a prosthetic forearm..."Tho it was not really a problem as I was pretty used to the arm.


    I tried jumping and punching and it all felt really comfortable as if I had always had this body. I thought as my stomach grumbled.


    I started looking around if I could see anything that looked edible soon my gaze fell upon a green bush with red berries that had black spots on them. As I walked closer to the bush the delicious scent that they were emitting kept getting stronger. I picked a handful of the berries and was just about to eat them when suddenly a white bird dived from the tree branches above towards my hand and hit it making the berries fly away from my hand to the leafy ground.


    "damn bird¡­"


    I sighed as the bird landed on a tree branch only meters away from me. Now looking at the bird it had not taken even one of the berries from my hand as it collided with it.A minute passed and the bird was still staring at me with its green eyes.Could it be that the bird was trying to warn me from eating these berries? I thought as I unsheathed my Tanto a cut one of the berries that was close to me.


    I then picked up the now split berries and smelt it, as some kind of murky liquid inside it had now started to pour out of it. The smell was rotten and almost made me throw up.


    I used the skill herb identification on the berry.


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Kielberrie


    Grade: Rare


    Info: A reddish berry with black dots. Its outer ¡°shell¡± emits a wonderful scent to make any unsuspecting victim eat the berry that contains toxic liquid which first immobilizes the target on the spot and starts to slowly rot the victims body as the parent plant sucks the victims deteriorating body out of its life force and nutrients finally making the body decompose to make the Plants growth increase. Even creatures with high wisdom rating can easily succumb to its delicious smell.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Herb identification now level 3


    Well, that¡¯s an evil plant I thought as I stood up. But the interesting thing was that the bird had seemed to warm me from eating this, I wonder if it has something to do with Nature¡¯s Ally trait I received. I slightly bowed to the bird still sitting on the tree branch and could see it slightly nodding its head and chirping happily as it spread its wings and flew away.


    "If the bird knew that the berry was poisonous would that mean it had an even higher wisdom level than I did?" I thought to myself


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "Now then what am I supposed to eat?"


    I started walking through the forest in search of food. I came across many different berries but in the end, none of them weren¡¯t edible but I did manage to level up herb identification a couple of times. Also, I saw all kinds of wildlife including different colored birds and even what I thought to be a green rabbit which I planned on killing but then I thought that my lightning would probably be a bit overkill.


    After a while of searching for food in the forest, I finally found a new berry bush that I had not seen here before. I sat down near the bush on a rock and picked a berry and continued to cut it in half.


    New herb identified


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Blueberry


    Grade: Natural


    Info: An edible berry that¡¯s often eaten by all birds and small wildlife.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Herb identification now level 6


    I started eating most of the blueberries. Though obviously, it didn¡¯t fully satisfy my hunger. I decided to put some in my Inventory.Right after that, I heard multiple footsteps from some distance away behind me and I quickly ran behind a cluster of rocks. There was a small hole in the rock clusters from where I could barely see the direction from which the noise came from. I decided to wait for a while looking at the direction the sound came from, and after a while, I could see figures emerging from the woods.


    "Fuck goblins and a lot of them too I thought."


    There were 10 goblins that had emerged from the woods. I decided to use the Identify skill on all of them


    <table style="max-width: 520px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Goblin pikeman Level 3 Info: A low-level goblin who wields a pike. Highest stat strenght 7</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    All the goblins were around 3 foot high and had level ranging from 2-5 one of them being level 9 supposedly being their leader.


    The level 9 goblin was wielding a small sword and an iron shield.


    I was pretty sure they had been tracking me as they now we''re confused, probably because they lost track of me. One of the goblins started approaching the mossy rock formation which I was behind.


    "Fuck I guess I have to fight all of them."I thought as I jumped up and casted a lightning strike towards one of the goblins in the opening and simultaneously drew out my Tanto in reverse grip as I spun to slice the goblins neck that was now right in front of me.


    (Trait nature¡¯s ally activated all stats boosted by 1)


    Xp gained 50


    Xp gained 70


    I noticed the xp notices as both of the goblins died almost instantly, one from my lightning bolt almost disintegrating its body and the other that had had its head separated from its body while its neck was bursting with blood.I then continued on charging towards the rest of the now panicking goblins.An arrow flew at me which I easily dodged by doing a sidewards spin as I again struck a goblin with my blade. although the goblin was able to dodge my first blow I soon followed up with a low kick, and while it was off balance I continued to grapple onto him and slit its throat with my blade.


    Xp gained 50


    Now two of the seven remaining goblins were charging at me whilst thrusting their pikes towards me.I had tried imbuing my blade and prosthetic arm with the lightning strike earlier while searching for food, so I knew this was the perfect chance to use it. Also, it seems like I couldn¡¯t cast spells with my prosthetic arm, but I could imbue it with spells.


    I imbued my Tanto with lightning and with I single fluid motion cut through both of their pikes releasing the lightning strike on the two goblins which took more mana than I thought it would.Hell, I wasn¡¯t even sure if I could split the lightning into hitting two targets when I first got the thought of doing something like that.


    Mana 930/1100 remaining (Regen not active in battles)


    xp gained 80


    xp gained 80


    Personal level now 2


    3 unused stat points gained


    As I paid attention to the notices it was almost too late when I could see an arrow flying towards me. As I tried dodging it the arrow slightly grazed my cheek.


    "Fuck I have to stop paying attention to those notices for a while."


    I said while I wished that for now, I would only see level ups for the time being. Somehow that worked as I killed another goblin with a tiger palm strike crushing its windpipe and neck.


    I could no longer see the xp notice just a level up notice that I shrugged on keeping my mind and eyes on the battle.


    Druid level now 2


    +1 to intelligence


    Now there were only 4 goblins remaining, one wielding a dagger and two bowmen also their leader was still alive still not making its move. As I had not tried the spell earth surge yet I decided to cast it targeting the other bowman. soon enough an earth pillar about 4 feet long struck it from in front in a 45-degree angle sending it flying at the nearby tree. It hit the tree hard and made a painful expression as it fell down to the ground on its knees while coughing up blood and suffocating on its own blood.


    Mana 830/1100


    Now the 2 remaining low-level goblins started running away while their leader started angrily approaching me.


    "Huh come at me you ugly bastard."


    I said taunting the goblin without knowing if it understood. It seemed to work as it now charged towards me whilst yelling and swinging his sword at me.I was easily able to block its sword and continued to try to punch it with my right arm, but the goblin blocked my punch with its shield.


    "FUCK you motherfucker that hurt!"


    I said while switching my blade to my right hand taking a regular hammer grip.Instantly after that, I came up with the plan of trying to kill it with my prosthetic arm while it was imbued with lightning, so I planned to distract it with a slash from my tanto.The goblin made a grin as if it was proud of blocking my attack.I then tried to slash it with my blade.As expected it blocked my blade like I wished it to.


    I then imbued my prosthetic forearm with lightning and struck the helpless goblin''s body, my fist going straight through its stomach and chainmail while its body was electrified.It vomited blood on itself after I pulled my arm away that was covered in its dark red blood, and then it collapsed on the ground.


    "Well, this probably Isn¡¯t a dream as I felt pain while fighting."


    If the goblins had all attacked at me at the same time I¡¯m pretty sure I would have been done for. Thank god they seem to be dumb.


    I now inspected the amount of expI had gained from killing it.


    Xp gained 200


    Mana 760/1100


    Stamina 470/500


    I also realized that the fighting had made me lose a bit of stamina which means that stamina is consumed while fighting even if one doesn¡¯t use an ability that uses stamina.


    I picked up the goblin''s sword.


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Grude Goblin Sword


    Grade: Common


    Info: Made from crude goblin steel and has a leather grip.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    You were successfully able to inspect the sword.


    New skill gained Inspect lvl 1


    Ables, the user to Inspect items such as a sword, armor ect.


    "So there is an inspect skill in this world I thought as I put the sword into my inventory"


    I was just about to start collecting the rest of the items from the goblins corpses,


    But then suddenly I saw a tree flying towards me. I quickly rolled away from its path as it hit the ground.


    "Ohh what now I thought."


    I could see a huge creature some distance away from me as it came out of the woods tearing trees away from its path as its fiery eyes were fixated on me.


    I instantly used Identify on it but the situation was worse than I thought.


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Lower demon Level 50 Info??? Highest stat???</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "Fuck I can''t even see its stats and its level 50!."


    The demon was at least 10 foot tall standing on two feet that had huge claws. It had a huge tail and black body emitting a strange dark aura. It¡¯s arms also had claws at the end of its fingers, they were dripping fresh blood it had 2 horn on its forehead of which the other one was broken and bloody.


    Its body was covered in black scales that looked incredibly hard and had some scratches on them. What made this even scarier was the fact that the demons whole body was soaked in blood.


    The demon was now charging at me at an insane speed.


    I tried casting lightning bolt at it but it seemed only to make a very small dent on its huge body. It only seemed annoyed at the spell I cast as it had quickly closed the distance between us running with a devilish look on its face.


    "Fuck fuck fuck yelled in my mind" as I cast earth surge under my feet and used it to jump away from the path of the demon on to a thick tree branch


    After I had managed to catch my breath it halted its charge and brandished its huge bloody claws.


    Mana 690/1100


    I tried casting lightning strike on its eyes but it blocked the lightning with its arm, again taking very minimal damage to its scales. The demon now began charging at the tree I was at. I jumped out of it as its claws tore the tree from the center making splinters fly everywhere.


    "How am I supposed to beat this thing."I thought out loud as it pulled its claws apart from the torn tree. It again closes the distance fast as I was trying to run away, when it caught up to me it hit my left side making me fly off against a tree. My impact on the tree made some branches fall on me. I think I broke a few bones there I thought as the pain surged through my body and I coughed blood on the grass.


    "Fuck!"I said while spitting the blood on the ground. I stood up grabbing my tanto tightly as the demon again was closing in on me.Black dots began appearing in my vision as my sanity began wavering when I looked at the monster in front of me. It let out a terrific roar which made the ground vibrate.


    My ears were now bleeding and ringing violently.


    Soul trait Abyssal rage activated


    As the demon got closer I felt my consciousness sway as some kind of rage started boiling inside of me making all my nociceptors go numb.It felt like I was losing my mind as I could no longer feel pain and see clearly, then the only thing I was able to think about was killing the enemy. My body relaxed readying for an attack against the demon.In my head, I could hear my the screams of my former comrades and see flashes of people that were blown to bits their organs covering me as I stood watching.


    My mind went blank as I cast earth surge under myself boost jumping towards the charging demon I imbued my blade with lightning and twisted my body inhumanely as I spun slashing the demon all over its body damaging its scales and making it let out a roar from the pain I was causing it


    Mana 550/1100


    Stamina 360/500


    New Ability learned Air twist


    I was just about to lose consciousness but then the demon appeared in front of me slashing its claws at me and sending me to fly through multiple trees.I was covered in blood, my robe had been torn from the torso and I could see my chest and abs covered in blood and wounds inflicted by the demons monstrous strength. Somehow it didn¡¯t manage to kill me with that strike but I was unable to move. All I felt was an excruciating pain all over my body as I looked at the demon that was barely damaged and my own bleeding body.The demon now was calmly walking towards me sure of its victory. It let out a hellish victory scream that made the remaining few birds in the area fly away.


    Now standing in front of me with murderous intent in its eyes the demon brandished its claws.


    "Fucking monst-t-ter.."I spoke with no force behind my voice it was more of a pathetic squeal than a silent whisper.

 Chapter 4

    The demon looked into my eyes as it raised its right arm above my headand was about to finish me when suddenly the earth all around it shot out and entrapped its body. Then a huge wind wave came at its neck and decapitated it with ease.There now was a tall woman with pointy ears and golden hair in front of me. She had green eyes and a gentle smile, also her figure was something not to be ashamed of.


    She was definitely an elf.The Elf was wearing full nature green robes some golden decorations on them and a red amulet that had a golden chain.The elf continued to for some reason use my tanto to make a deep cut on her arm and let a lot of her blood drip in my chest and abs that were covered in bruises and deep wounds.I watched all of this helplessly as I was unable to even speak anymore.


    After the elf had finished pouring her blood on my wounds she ripped what was left of the robes on my torso exposing the rest of my abs and began wrapping my lower torso with some white bandage cloth.


    ¡°W..Why¡­..are you helping me.¡±I said with all the energy I could muster up.


    ¡°Shh you must rest now young one.¡±Said the Elf in a gentle loving voice and kissed my forehead as I finally passed out from the excruciating pain.


    ....


    ¡°Yo John how¡¯s it going with that m249 of yours? have you already proposed?¡± Edd said while trying not to laugh"


    ¡°Aaa fuck you man, you know we''re already on our honeymoon,¡±Said John while everyone burst into laughter.


    ¡°All right guys get your gear ready and Leon get your dick out of your hand we are soon in..¡±Dan''s sentence was cut short by a huge explosion at the back end of the convoy and a marine yelling


    ¡°Rpg 11 o¡¯clock¡±


    ¡°Fucking hell¡±said Luciano as we jumped out of our humwee and started returning fire wherever we saw muzzle flashes coming from.


    Another huge explosion could be seen as the car in front drove into an IED.


    ¡°FUCK Jack was in that humwee!!¡±Edd yelled as a bullet passed through his shin.


    After that everything became a blur,John was shooting furiously at the Isis fighters while the screams of civilians could be heard all around in the midst of the constant shooting and explosions.


    Next, to me, I could see a kid whose legs had been blown off by a grenade as he was screaming and crying for his mom, after that I could see my comrades dying one by one, I was covered in the blood of my comrades and enemies. It felt like the Ground was shaking as I fell down from a sudden explosion behind me.


    ¡°LUCIANOO¡± I screamed as I woke up covered in sweat.


    ¡°Fuck this nightmare again..¡±


    <table style="max-width: 700px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Trait Gained (Permanent)


    Elves blood


    Acquired when one has at least a liter of elf blood given to them.


    When given it has to have been out of the elves free will in a ritual. Increases lifespan and the body''s regeneration ability by 3 times.


    (The elves blood cannot be removed under normal circumstances to nullify its effect and the body will start to produce elf blood cells)</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Vitality 8 < Vitality 24


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Title Survivor gained


    Acquired by those who fought, lost and still somehow survived against a Demon.


    +2 Wisdom +3 Endurance</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°What the hell.¡±I said while still in pain from the wounds inflicted by the demon.


    All I could remember was that some demon attacked me and after that, it was all blurry until that elf woman saved me.Who now was nowhere to be seen like the demon''s body that seemed to have disappeared into thin air leaving only behind the damage it had caused.


    I checked my stats


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Race:Human Name:Leon Level 2 188/300xp                Available universal statpoints 0 Available stat points 3</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Strenght 23 (-8)        Mana 1300/1300Mana regen 0.15/sec </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Endurance 23 (-10) Stamina 650/650 (-200) Stamina regen 0.10/sec (-7/sec)       </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Vitality 24 (-9)          Titles: Drifter,Survivor.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Agility 20 (-10)           Traits:Elves blood</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Intelligence 22</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Wisdom 33</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Magical Attunement 6</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Focus 25 (-9)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Perception 19 (-6)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dexterity 20 (-8)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Charisma 15 (-5)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Skills: Identify, Herb identification lvl 6, Inspect lvl 1</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Druid level 2432/500xpSpells: Lightning strike, Earth surge, Light heal</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Space Magic lvl 10/8000xpSpells: Lower levitation, Lower teleportation, Inventory (passive)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Abilities; Air twist</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°When did I get an ability called Air twist???¡±I scratched my head thinking something must have happened while I was facing that demon.


    <table style="max-width: 700px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Air twist


    Ability


    While in the air one can twist their body inhumanly while simultaneously being able to either dodge incoming blows or deal blows to an enemy.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I would have tried the ability if I had the energy to do so.


    ¡°hmm, let''s check my wounds I thought as I unwrapped the bandage cloth from around my torso. The regen boost given be the elves bloodline had really helped as the wound weren¡¯t so deep anymore but still bleeding.¡±


    I guess it¡¯s time to try that light heal ability. I chanted the spell on my mind holding both of my hands over my wounds as I had seen healers do in movies and games.After around 4 minutes of using the healing ability, all my wounds had almost closed and only a bit of blood was coming out of the wounds.


    Mana 1000/1300


    I tried to use the healing ability on my broken ribs and it started easing the pain.Soon enough I could again turn my torso, the bones had been restored while still feeling pain in the area where they were broken and quick movements with my torso did still hurt.


    Mana 500/1300


    Most stat debuffs removed.


    Remaining debuffs -3 Strength -4 Endurance -3 Agility


    ¡°Wow as I thought fixing broken bones sure does take a lot of mana.¡±


    I tied the cloth bandage the elf had given me back over my wounds, there was a bit more cloth bandage left when If had covered my lower torso so I decided to also cover my upper torso with the rest of the cloth.. I was now standing up as I put my tanto into my still intact belt.


    Only the bottom half of my robes was still intact so I now didn¡¯t have anything else covering my upper body than these cloth bandages that were tied around my whole upper body except my arms.


    The bandages were bloodied up but it would have to do for now.The area around me was a total mess with fallen trees everywhere but the demons body and the goblins bodies had all disappeared.The elf woman probably took them. I kind of felt bitter because if she took the bodies then she had also taken the goblins bodies and their possible possessions. Though she did save my life so that¡¯s the least I could give in return to her.


    I used the unspent point to raise my intelligence to 25I remember acquiring the Inspect skill and tried inspecting my tanto as I couldn¡¯t see its stats when I got it.But still the result was the same as when I found it, I couldn¡¯t identify it and it only showed that its grade was Artifact like when I found it.


    I decided to Inspect my gear


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Druidic robes


    Grade-Uncommon


    Info: robes worn by many druids, and the torso part of the robes seems to have been torn away leaving only the bottom part.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Leather belt


    Grade-Common


    Info: A belt made out of leather</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Identify leveled up to 2


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Leather Gloves


    Grade-Common


    Info: Gloves made out of leather</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I decided to also inspect the bandage cloth


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Blood soaked magic bandage cloth


    Grade-Rare


    Info: Quality bandage cloth soaked by elven blood.


    Elven blood gives the cloth a regeneration helping effect regen doubled while wearing the cloth on a body part with a wound or other damage.


    Magic has caused the bandages to become tough and less easily damaged, protects against Magickal and physical damage.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Identify leveled up to 5


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.Identifying Rare gear has now become easier, also with a slight bonus to inspecting higher grade gear.


    "Hmm, so as ¡°my¡± blood had soaked the bandages the gained a regeneration buff."Also, it seemed to be magical, although I didn¡¯t know how well the resistance given by the cloth protected me against physical and magical damage. I might have to find out that later on.Also the fact that my blood could affect clothes was good to know and might be useful later on.I then stood up and went to take one of the many broken


    ¡°I wonder how Roberts doing,¡± I thought out loud as I used my tanto to make a walking stick for myself just in case anything happened.


    I then put the tanto in my inventory and grabbed the walking stick with my right hand and ate what I had left of the blueberries that I had gathered before.I was getting thirsty and hungry but it wasn¡¯t something I couldn¡¯t handle for the time being so I began walking through the forest as the colorful birds could be heard chirping again.The sun seemed to just start rising it seems that I had been sleeping for a day at least.After some walking, I came upon a goblin scout which I killed with my lightning strike instantly


    100 xp gained


    At the same time, I decided to check the amount of xp needed for lvl 3 druid and lvl 3 personal level


    Personal Level 2


    228/300 xp


    Druid Level 2


    492/500


    ¡°Dammit, I just need 8 more experience until I¡¯m level 3 I thought. ¡°


    Thinking that if a demon or something strong attacked me again I would like to have some kind of spell to use for running away as I didn¡¯t want to get my ass handed to me again.Around a minute passed and I decided to try out my levitation magic on the goblin scouts dagger.


    Using my mind and chanting the levitation spell I pictured moving the sword upwards and just like that it did have start levitating.Okay now then let''s try throwing the dagger at that tree with the levitation magic, but before that, I viewed my mana


    The mana seemed to be going down 1/sec, while I quickly took a glance at the Lower levitation spells info I now knew that the amount of mana used depends on the weight of the levitated object/objects.I continued to throw the dagger at a nearby tree with the levitation magic with all my might and it flew lightning fast into the tree and embedded its blade to the tree trunk.


    I then proceeded to try to use teleportation magic to teleport the dagger back to my hand.I focused on picturing the dagger appearing to my hand from the nearby tree''s trunk and it surprisingly worked with such a simple thought.


    Mana 1160/1300


    The teleportation magic cost 50 mana while the levitation cost 20 in total.I was able to figure out the weight of the dagger and tanto by putting them in my inventory and looking at the weight change.My tanto weighs around 3 pounds which is twice the amount of the goblins dagger which weighs 1.5 pounds. So the mana cost for levitation the tanto should be 2mana/sec.


    Now after my little experiment I looted the goblin''s body thoroughly.I found a silver coin with some weird markings and I took the goblins headband and put it on my head so my hair wouldn¡¯t get in front of my eyes, while still being visible from the top.The headband and dagger weren¡¯t really that interesting looking so I ignored looking at their information after I had identified them.I then threw the coin and dagger into my inventory.


    The rest of my negative stats had been already removed probably due to the elves blood that was now circulating in my body. So I decided to try the air twist.I didn¡¯t succeed on my first try and fell to the ground on my back.


    -Dammit..


    I then focused even more on what I thought the twist would look like in my mind and I used Earth surge thinking I should get more height to the jump.As I was ¡°flying¡± towards a tree in front of me I executed the air twist with my body avoiding the tree mid-air and doing a couple of spins as I landed on the ground 10 feet behind the tree on my feet.


    Stamina 550/650


    ¡°Nice now then let¡¯s try it while using the tanto.¡±


    It took me 4 more times but I was able to in the end and cut down a thick tree with the air twist while imbuing lightning to my blade. I was very exhausted with only 150/650 stamina left.


    "Hmm, I really need to find some meat and not just some berries,"I said as I began walking in the now sunny forest.


    It wasn¡¯t long until I managed to find an animal trail, or at least I thought it was an animal trail. There were huge footprints on the grass, still fresh as the grass was flattened.The footprints were large maybe a bears if they even existed here.I began silently following the trail as I took out my goblin sword and dagger, planning to throw them at my prey with levitation magic.


    After a while, I started hearing the sound of water flowing. The forest wasn¡¯t as dense as it was earlier and there was a small clearing near a river in front of me, also there was a rocky hill with a very small cave. The sound of the river flowing and the chirping of exotic birds made it seem so mystical.


    A beautiful melody of different birds singing seemed to be common here, but in the clearing, there was a large brown creature standing on four feet with a horn sticking out of its head.


    <table style="max-width: 600px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Khodra


    Level: 13


    Info: Khodra¡¯s are large creatures that eat both plants and animals, they mostly stick to plants because of their slow speed. The Khodras horn is a deadly weapon which is able to easily able to kill it¡¯s predators. Strongest stat strength 19.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I repositioned myself for a better view at the creatures head. as I slowly began levitating my sword and dagger I was now around 40 feet away from the khodra behind the tree line. I waited to for the khodra to raise its head so only after that I sent my weapons flying through the air instantly piercing the khodra¡¯s skull.


    Xp gained 180


    Personal level now 3


    2 unused stat point available


    I decided to use the points on my Intelligence


    Druid level now 3


    Now able to learn new spells from the druid classes spell list.


    +2 to Intelligence


    After I confirmed that the Khodra was dead by seeing the gained xp I went to check on its body. I tried moving its body to my inventoryCurrently, Inventory cannot hold bodies.I was quite disappointed seeing that notice, but the fact that it said ¡°Currently¡± made me feel a bit better.


    Luckily there was that small cave in a small rocky hill so I dragged its body to the cave because it was so heavy I couldn¡¯t carry it. After I had dragged its body inside the cave. I went to gather some branches to make a fireplace and some big plant leaves I could sit and possibly sleep on.


    I then began to dissect and disembowel its body with the goblin weapons after I had cleaned them in the river.After a long time, I was finally done with dissecting the huge body, and I was able to get its fur hide and meat for myself


    I had dissected animal corpses back when I sometimes went hunting with my kungfu teacher back when I was younger so this was something that wasn¡¯t really a difficult task for me, though it was time-consuming as the corpse was so big.I started a fire with the good old method of using rubbing some dry sticks together.


    When I got the fire started I put some meat on my goblin sword and propped it nicely towards the flame while remembering to turn it sometimes so the meat would cook more evenly.


    As I cooked the meat I decided to take a look at my new available druid skills by simply making a screen come forth showing me the class progress and current spells.After a while of looking at the limited new spell choices, I saw that there really weren¡¯t that many offensive spells mostly support spells and healing spells currently available for me. There also was a section for other spells that weren¡¯t class spells which had even less spells available currently.


    "Hmm Create water seems like a good choice considering my current situation."


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Create Water (cost 1 spell point)


    Use mana to create clean water 1L/20 mana.


    Wisdom requirement 30 Attunement requirement 2</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "Okay I¡¯l surely take that as I need it at the time being I thought as I rolled the meat on the blade."I went through all the other spells on my class spell tree but then I took a look at the other spell tree that was not my class tree. I viewed a spell called chain lightning I was quite happy that I had just barely met the requirements for it


    <table style="max-width: 900px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Chain lightning (cost 2 spell point)


    Unique spell (Only those who have the right affinity for storm magic/lightning spells can learn and use this spell )


    A more powerful version of the lightning strike that is also able to chain hit multiple targets or if certain conditions are met the spell is also able to be launched from multiple different body parts.


    Each Target costs 100 mana and the maximum of targets is 10.(Attunement needed for imbuing 8)


    Requirements 20 Intelligence, 30 Wisdom, 20 focus, Attunement 6, Lightning strike spell and prior manipulation of lightning strike spell.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°Huh a Unique spell!.... nice!¡­.¡±


    New spells acquired Chain lightning, Create water


    I cast create water above my mouth and drank at least a liter of water.After that, I continued to wait for the meat to cook.The Khodras meat tasted amazing. It was melting in my mouth quite nicely and the taste was beyond amazing it was as if there was a party going on in my taste buds. After I was done eating I was just about to place the rest of the food in my inventory when suddenly I heard a loud thump noise from outside the small cave.


    I jumped up immediately and drew out my tanto and started slowly walking out the cave, as I came out on my left I saw a hawk-like bird that looked a bit confused as it seemed to have just hit the rocky side of the cave. It had a wound on its wing that didn¡¯t look like it was caused by the crash against the side of the cave.Slightly fearfully the bird looked at me while tilting its head and covering its body with its wings.


    <table style="max-width: 200px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Roc


    Level:11


    Info:??


    Attribute Wind</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The stare down between me and the Roc went on for a solid minute. The rock had brown feathers and a sharp red beak, it was fairly large about the size of an adult bald eagle.Then after the staring, I continued to sheath my tanto and Quickly got a piece of the Khodra meat from the cave.When I came back the Roc was still there sitting but as soon as it saw the piece of meat in my hand its eyes lit up.


    I slowly presented the meat at the Roc by stretching my hand outwards with the meat.The Roc started coming toward me but then quickly fell down and let out a small squeak.I decided to go near it slowly and grabbed the Roc into my hand and to make it more comfortable I fed it the piece of meat before moving back into the cave.


    "Seems a bit weird that I can''t view its info but I could view the Khodras info and the khodras level was 13" I mumbled to myself.


    I laid the Roc down on the floor.It still had a slightly wary look in its eyes but that soon faded as I began healing its wing.There was also a wound on its leg which I also healed. After that, I have some more meat to the Roc before I placed the rest of the meat and bones from the khodra into my inventory.


    After taking an in-depth look at the inventory¡¯s info I got to know that things couldn¡¯t rot in the inventory. The weight of my inventory increased by about 200 pounds.I decided to use the khodra pelt to make a small sleeping place for the Roc who now had a slightly bloated belly and eyes that looked very tired as it struggled to keep awake.I placed the bird on the khodra pelt and petted it as after some time its eyes finally closed.


    ¡°I wonder how Dan and John are doing,¡± I thought as I was finally able to somewhat relax as I had secured food, shelter, and water."


    I don¡¯t know what this new life has in store for me, It¡¯s not like I hated my former life it was just rather dull.Robert and my friends were really the only things that kept me going. The thought of not getting to see and talk to Dan and John anymore brought tears to my eyes.They were the best friends I could ask for, they did have their flaws but I loved them for who they were.


    Every time I needed help they were there to support me and the other way around I always helped them they were to me like brothers.I didn¡¯t have a girlfriend or anything like that it was just me and Robert living our nice boring lives. Going out to hit the bar on rare occasions with Dan and John was fun as hell and right now I quite missed being with them, be it playing games online or just hanging out.


    ¡°I¡¯l probably never meet such great people again¡­¡± I sighed while some tears were still coming out of my eyes.


    "I wonder if the time flow in earth is different than here and they are already dead..No, I can¡¯t think like that, or at least not now.I can¡¯t become an emotional wreck while I still haven¡¯t made it out of this situation."


    And so to try to calm my mind I decided to start meditating.

 Chapter 5

    I put the fire out and sat down to start meditating.As I began meditating I could feel the mana inside of me flow through my body.It was a warm sensation if there was a thing such as Chi in my former world and I had felt it while meditating it would have probably felt like this.After a while, I could start to feel the mana in the air flowing around.My senses became sharper as I began focusing on the outer mana that wasn¡¯t mine.I could feel its warmth as I tried to gather the mana in the air around me.


    It was very difficult and took a lot of concentration but I was able to surround myself with the outer mana and the next thing I felt could only be described as reaching a state of enlightenment.The sound of the nearby river made this state feel even more mystical. As I continued on with my meditation the Roc came up to me and rested its forehead on my left arm.


    I could feel something transferring into my body and felt a slight bit of pain, soon the Roc stopped and flew away from the cave.I lost all sense of time as the feeling of enlightenment became stronger, growing inside of me.I kept focusing on trying to keep the mana around me and gather even more mana.The pebbles and other small rocks inside the small cave began to levitate slightly asI could hear the distant sounds of birds chirping and the trees humming in the wind, it was as if nature was singing a song for me.


    The nature¡¯s mana around me became stronger.It was becoming harder to concentrate on the mana that was now flowing outside became stronger and stronger, but I had to keep going.In all my years of meditation not once had I felt this kind of peace so I didn¡¯t want to lose it.


    I didn¡¯t feel tired or hungry even as the sun came down and the birds were no longer chirping, the wind had also calmed down to a slight breeze which could barely be felt.I started to hear the far-off sounds of what I thought was the howling of wolves.Soon enough a small green fox-like creature entered the cave I was in when it saw me it raised its ears and slowly started to approach me as if it was overcome by curiousness.


    The fox looked at me with its blue eyes as it almost instantly let its guard down.After a while, the fox fell asleep against my leg and soon after a few ¡°fox¡± cubs which were very small probably around one year old entered the cave, and then they too came to me and fell asleep next to their mother.


    I could feel the foxes mana presence near me and it made my connection to mana around me even stronger.Over the next five days of meditation, I had no need for food or sleep and was simply meditating all the time while sometimes giving khodra meat to the ¡°fox¡± family as their presence greatly helped with meditating even then I did not cease my meditation. I only instinctively let some of the khodras meat drop out of my inventory each time the ¡°foxes¡± came.


    The meditation had completely calmed my mind I was now one with nature.But then on the 6th days morning, I felt a new mana presence outside the cave.


    It was a monstrous presence and near it were the I could feel the presences of the ¡°fox¡± its two cubs outside the cave.At that moment my enlightenment state vanished.


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Title Enlightenment I acquired


    Given to those who have reached the first stage of enlightenment.


    +500 mana +200 stamina +10 focus +4 wisdom +4 intelligence +2 attunement.


    Now able to use mana gathered through meditation.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I stood up and came out from the cave. I directed all my gained exp to druid as I prepared for a very likely battle. In the clearing, there was the ¡°fox¡± mother and her cubs the mother seemed wounded.In front of her, there was a lion-like creature, its fur was engulfed in flames and it had 2 big red fangs.


    <table style="max-width: 600px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Brim fire Gylon


    Level 32


    Info: A rare Gylon that is engulfed in fire and can manipulate and create flames.


    Gylons are known for their fangs that can pierce even the hardest of metals and their claws that can rip apart its prey.


    A brim fire Gylon¡¯s fangs and claws are great conductors for flame and the Gylon can use its fangs to absorb any flame and use those flames to strengthen its own flame fur which protects it from almost all physical attack as it easily melts all projectiles and swords that come in contact with it.


    Strongest stat strength 38. Attribute Fire</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The Gylon was a bit bigger than an adult male lion though much scarier.I shot a lightning strike in front of it as it charged to attack the ¡°foxes¡±


    ¡°Hey, I''m your opponent!¡±I yelled I wanted to test my new found powers and I sure as hell wasn¡¯t going to let it kill those ¡°foxes¡± that had helped me with meditation.


    Its crimson eyes were now fixated on me it started rushing towards me at a great speed. "I have to defeat or I''ll never become stronger"


    As I launched myself into the air with earth surgeit saw me in the air and spat out a big fireball out of its mouth towards me.I used the massive amount of nature that I had acquired from my meditation session and created a great amount of water flooding the area and extinguishing the fireball. Meanwhile, the fox took its cubs and jumped on top of a grassy hill with great agility.The gylon wasn¡¯t really phased by the water as it did very minimal damage to it.With the area now flooded as I was about to land I again cast earth surge to launch me high in the air this time casting chain lightning at the Gylon.


    The Gylon barely dodged the lightning but It didn¡¯t need to hit him as now it hit the water that had flooded the area. The water conducted the lightning as planned and electrified the Gylon.It seemed to be in great pain as it let out a roar while spitting fire everywhere.Just as the flames that the gylon spit was about to hit me, I was still mid-air falling towards the ground I then used Air twist to dodge the flames and cast lightning strike at the gylon, this time directly hitting it.


    Just for a moment, it seemed paralyzed, But when I landed on the ground it used flames to boost its speed and instantly ran up to me and smashed me with its claws making me fly at least 90 foot away from it hitting my back against a bluish rock in the flooded area.A great pain jolted through my body. I most likely broke some bones but thanks to the Protective bandage cloth the damage had been greatly reduced. Still, it hurt like hell.


    ¡°Fuck!!!¡±


    It again rushed towards me boosting itself with flames and engulfing everything it could around it, as the gyllon charged towards me the flames seemed to evaporate the water around the gyllon making a path for it.This time I was prepared and jumped as high as I could while using Air twist and imbuing my tanto with lightning to hit the gyllon.I hit the gylon many times in its head and neck area making the gyllon roar from pain as it halted its movement trying to figure out what just happened.I landed behind the gyllon on the now almost completely dry land.That exchange of blows let both of us with severe bleeding.The gylon was now heavily breathing and so was I.


    I backed up from it by propelling myself away with earth surge.There was now a hefty amount of distance between us. As my eyes met with the gyllons eyes I could see respect in its eyes and behavior. I nodded to it expressing my respect.This was a respect shared between enemies we both acknowledged each other as we knew that the next strike was going to decide this battle.


    The gylon let out a mighty roar.(roar)


    ¡°OOOORAH!¡±I yelled back at it as we began charging towards each other.


    The gyllon seemed to create even stronger flames than before while it was rushing towards me. As we got closer I put away my tanto and this time imbuing my prosthetic arm with chain lightning and preparing to launch a tiger palm strike at it with all my might.It took a hefty 500 mana to imbue my arm with the chain lightning.The gylon redirected all of its flames to its fangs as they made contact with my palm.


    ¡®Cracking noises*


    We flew against each other my palm went through the gylons fangs and they shattered into many fiery pieces, mostparts of its fangs still had a hellishly hot flame in them as they hit my bare right arm.I went through the Gylons body as it exploded with the chain lightnings power.There was blood everywhere my face was covered in its blood and my arms were filled with its shattered fang pieces.


    -Fuuuuuuuuck IT BURRRNS!I yelled as I dove into the river.


    Flashes of memories begin to occur as I writhe in the water out of agony.Images of my friends and civilians burning flash before my eyes.I got out of the water as the burning had eased, gasping for air I laid next to the river bed.As I faced the sky looking at my rigorously shaking hands I began to calm down and slowly stood up, while still feeling the burning on my hand.


    Exp gained 3750


    Druid level 8 4333/4800xp


    Stat points gained Intelligence + 3 Wisdom +4


    New spells available


    While still in pain I used earth surge to launch myself to the hill the ¡°foxes¡± were atI began healing the mother fox that had a claw wound on her side.After that I began healing my bones and burns, the pain was excruciating it was as if my hands were still on fire. Meanwhile, the ¡°Foxes¡± just sat there and looked at me healing myself.Suddenly I could hear a voice in my head.


    ¡°Thank you young one for saving us.¡±I looked at the mother fox with my eyes widened as she glared at me while smiling and bowing.


    ¡°Was that you?!¡±


    The voice then said.¡°Yes im communicating with you through telepathy.¡±


    I used Inspect on the ¡°fox¡± mother and her children


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Singa Kitsune


    level 27


    Info:A mythical fox creature that is lightning fast and can use air magic.


    A kitsune is a very intelligent creature their lifespan can be as long as 300 years.


    In myths kitsunes are said to be able to speak with any creature in any language via telepathy or verbally.


    Strongest stats Agility and Perception 31. Attribute Wind.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Hakutori Kitsune


    level 7


    Info: A mythical fox creature that protects nature.


    A kitsune is a very intelligent creature their lifespan can be as long as 300 years.


    In myths, kitsunes are said to be able to speak with any creature in any language via telepathy or verbally..


    Strongest stats Agility and Wisdom 15. Attribute Nature.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Rusalka Kitsune


    level 4


    Info: A mythical fox creature that can use water magic


    A kitsune is a very intelligent creature their lifespan can be as long as 300 years.


    In myths, kitsunes are said to be able to speak with any creature in any language via telepathy or verbally..


    Strongest stats Intelligence and Focus 13. Attribute Water.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    What¡­. mythical creatures!? I thought as the Mother Kitsune continued its telepathy.


    ¡°As you have helped us in many ways in the past 6 days and even saved our lives. We would like to show our appreciation by becoming your familiars.¡±


    The Hakutori Kitsune looked at me shyly as all of this was happening, hiding behind her mother.


    ¡°Please mister let us join your side.¡± Said the Rusalka Kitsune looking at me with its glistening eyes.


    ¡°W-what become my familiars?¡±


    ¡°Yes your familiars,¡± said the mother kitsune.


    ¡°I''m afraid I don¡¯t know what a familiar is"


    ¡°Well then let me explain sir¡­¡±


    ¡°Leon and you don¡¯t have to call me sir¡±


    ¡°As you wish Leon now familiars are beings/creatures that have made a bond with someone they deem to be qualified as their master. Having a familiar allows you to use the familiar special ability in our case the ability to understand and speak all languages.¡±


    ¡°Most familiars can also aid their master in combat and other things like for example detecting illusions. Once the familiar contract has been made the master can summon their familiars using mana. After the contract the creature that you made the contact with transfers to space made for living using the master¡¯s mana or in some rare cases stamina.¡±


    ¡°The familiar contract can only be undone if both parties wish for it. Making a familiar contact does not grant you full control with your familiar as their own free will still exist.¡±


    ¡°Hmm making a contract with these kitsunes is tempting as I wouldn¡¯t need to learn new languages and the mother fox seems to be wise so she will probably be of use to me.¡±


    ¡°So how much mana does this contract cost¡±


    ¡°For us Kitsunes the mana cost is 800 each but as these are my children the mana cost doesn¡¯t increase. So contracting us is an 800 mana reduction from your current mana capacity.¡±


    800 mana wow that¡¯s a lot but seeing that my wisdom is now over 40 (Current Wisdom 41) each 1 new point in wisdom seems to give 150 more mana capacity now. But I think it is a reasonable price to pay for creatures that grant me the ability to speak and understand all languages, also I sure as hell don¡¯t mind the company.


    -So¡­..What in this for you and why me?


    ¡°The upsides for us would be that this contract creates a space for us to live in where we cannot be damaged and we can partially feed of the mana space creates, while you still need to occasionally feed us. If you don''t we will go into a weakened state.


    The reason I would want you as my master is that you seem to be a druid from what I can tell, and also you treated us well on top of saving our lives.¡±


    ¡°Us kitsune have it difficult surviving here as at low levels we are quite vulnerable and having a master who can protect us helps a lot.


    We stay in this forest as many humans and other creatures hunt us.¡±


    ¡°Ok that seems fair, but why are you hunted?¡±The mother kitsune slightly hesitated before it again said with telepathy


    ¡°As mythical creatures, many monsters can gain huge amounts of xp by killing and eating us humans and other races want to use for our fur and want the title that they would receive by killing us.¡±


    ¡°Oh so monsters also receive xp¡±


    ¡°Of course they do? every living being can acquire xp one way or another.The kitsune said with a slightly puzzled look.¡±


    ¡°Also you can choose to strengthen us by giving us the experience you gain or just have us fight for you as that way the xp is split amongst us .¡±


    ¡°I¡¯l explain why I¡¯m a bit uneducated about this kind of stuff to you later but how do we make this contract?¡±


    ¡°I will show you, but I must make sure are you willing to go through this contract¡±


    Unhesitantly I said, ¡°Yes I¡¯m willing.¡±


    The mother kitsune began walking toward me and told me to sit down as it pressed her forehead against mine.


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Spell learned


    Familiar contract


    Mana cost depends on contracted creature.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°Wow what did you do?¡±


    ¡°I just gave you the information needed for the spell."


    "Now then let¡¯s start the ritual.¡±The mother said as she and her cubs gathered around me.


    The cubs looked adorable as they shyly walked to me staying close to their mother on of them was on the left of her and the other was on the right. The mother was around the size of a wolf but its fur was green and its eyes were as blue as the sky.


    The cubs both also had green fur. The hakutori kitsune had doughy green eyes and the rusalka had ocean blue eyes probably reflecting their magic attributes.


    As the information of the ritual had been passed to me I knew what to do.


    I cut the tip of my finger open with my tanto and pressed my bloody finger against each of their foreheads, the cubs and the mother all gave me a warm smile to me as I did this.Then lastly I pressed the bloody fingertip on my own forehead symbolizing the connection between us that was about to form.I began pouring my mana towards the mother kitsune as she received it happily as it looked at its cubs patting them on their head with her paws.


    Mana now maximum now 1950/1950 (Previous maximum 2750)


    Familiar spell ritual complete 3 new familiars received.


    Familiar space created.


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Title Kitsune¡¯s master acquired


    Title owners speech can now be understood by all races of people and animals.


    The owner''s speech will be turned in to any language the user wishes it will be turned in to.


    The owner of this title is able to understand all languages and hear them as his language of choice.


    The owner can choose in which races or creatures language his speech will be translated to.


    (Does not grant the ability to understand ancient/runic languages)</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I patted the cubs on their heads as they were looking at me with their doughy eyes seemingly pleased with their current situation.


    After a while of patting them, I said:¡°Okay then I will be transferring you two to the space created for you as I have things to discuss with your mother.¡±


    The cubs looked at their mother as she nodded to them.


    (Rusalka)-Okay then mister!


    I then explained my situation to the mother kitsune and talked about some other stuff.I learned that one of the cubs the Hakutori Kitsune couldn¡¯t actually use her ability to talk to animals and people, she could only understand the languages she heard ect.


    ¡°Hmm so the demons summoned people from your world to use as their pawns for the war soon to come.¡±The kitsune said before continuing


    ¡°I believe your story Leon, as I did think that I sensed that there was something weird about you, but to be personally saved by the goddess of nature is really something.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I know and she didn¡¯t even ask for anything in return.¡±


    ¡°Hm she probably expects something from you, but it isn¡¯t totally unheard of that she would save someone¡¯s soul but to save a human¡¯s soul from another world... As for your dog, I¡¯m sorry but I have no idea where he could be.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­.I thought as much¡± I said while sighing heavily."


    ¡°What about elves can you tell me something about them as I met one.¡±


    ¡°Elves are a rare race that mostly lives in Isolation with their own kind so I do not know much about them.¡±


    ¡°They worship the goddess of nature and most of their people with battle classes are Druid¡¯s, Mage¡¯s, Thieves, Archer¡¯s ect they do tend to now fight with heavy weapons or heavy armor.


    Some Druid elves that are servants of the nature goddess tend to wander around nature not all of them are devoted nature goddess servants. Seeing one is extremely rare as they tend to never show themselves to people much less give their blood.


    "It is likely that the elf who saved you has something to do with the goddess of nature but it could be just a VERY rare case of a druid saving a human.¡±


    I noddedand after a short pause asked.


    ¡°That druid was able to easily kill a demon is that normal?¡±


    ¡°Yes killing a demon is ¡°normal¡± for a powerful person especially for a wandering elf that most likely has an advanced druid class.¡±


    ¡°So the way I currently do you think I could win against a lower demon?¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry, but no that is highly unlikely. A lower demon can easily be 3 times more powerful than the brim fire gylon you slew even if it is only around level 40. And from what I understand from your story is that that lower demon was probably around level 50 and near of becoming a full-fledged Demon.¡±


    "


    ¡°Yea¡­¡­..there is no way I could have become stronger than that demon in such a short time,"I said slightly depressed.


    ¡°Now now Leon the fact that you were able to reach the first stage of enlightenment in only 6 days in a great achievement."The kitsune said as she looked at me with her warm smile.¡±


    ¡°Oh is it now,¡± I asked as my mood had gotten a bit better after hearing that.


    ¡°To achieve the first stage of enlightenment one usually needs to meditate at least 3 weeks in an enlightenment meditation state and reaching that state can take a long time."


    We then continued to talk about all sorts of things, but that ended soon as I remembered


    ¡°Oh yea I have new spells available¡±


    (Each class level after level 3 gives 2 spell points/ability points)


    So I opened the new spell list and chose the following spells.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Storm push (Cost 1 spell point) (Druid spell tree)


    Info: Sends a wave of electrified wind at target/targets and sends them, flying backward Mana cost 100 (Can be imbued)


    Requirements Druid level 5, Wisdom 20, Intelligence 20 and attunement 4.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Brimfire flare (Cost 3 spell points) (Unique)


    Info:Shoots a hellishly hot flame missile that explodes dealing fire damage on a large area. Mana cost 600. (Attunement 10 required for imbuing)


    Requirements Druid level 8, Defeated 1/1 level 30 or higher enemy with a fire attribute. Intelligence 30 Wisdom 30 Focus 30 attunement 8</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Control water (Cost 1 spell point) (Passive) (Druid spell tree)


    Info: Now able to control water created with Create Water spell.


    Requirements Druid level 6 Wisdom 25 Intelligence 25 Focus 30 attunement 6 , Create water spell</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Elemental ward (Cost 1 spell point) (Druid spell tree)


    Info: Creates a ward around a target that grants mediocre resistance against all elemental magic damage.


    Requirements Druid level 3 Wisdom 20 Intelligence 10 attunement 4</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Entangle (cost 1 spell points) (Druid spell tree)


    Info: Target gets immobilized by roots and vines that shoot out of the ground. Requirements Druid level 3 Wisdom 15 intelligence 15 attunement 2</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Agility boost (cost 1 spell points) (Druid spell tree)


    Info: Boost targets agility by 10.


    Mana cost 300 duration 4 min.


    Requirements Druid level 6 wisdom 25 intelligence 20 attunement 6</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Natures embrace (cost 1 spell point) (Druid spell tree)


    Info: Cures status effects like momentary hearing/sight loss and grants a 30-second buff that restores stamina and mana 5/sec.


    Requirements Druid level 4 wisdom 20 intelligence 20 attunement 4</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Cure (cost 1 spell point) (Druid spell tree)


    Info: Cure is used for curing status effects like poisoning or different diseases.


    Mana cost depends on the status effect target is afflicted by.


    Requirements Druid level 5 Wisdom 30 Intelligence 30 focus 20 attunement 4</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Most of the available druid spells were either support spells or healing orientated spells as such there were not too many offensive spells I could choose from. One of the few offensive spells available was a fireball spell but since I could get the unique spell Brimfire flare available I decided I wouldn¡¯t need it.Okay, you can now go back to your cubs I have something to do for now.


    ¡°As you wish Leon.¡±


    And then she transferred to the familiar space.


    I then began dissecting what was left of the Gylon


    I acquired the Gylons bones, meat and its fur pelt that was in a rather good condition even though we fought so hard.


    The bones and fur seemed to be great materials only if I could find someone who could make me a cape out of the fur as then that fur cloak would probably have a full fire resistance.


    I put all the items in my inventory and summoned the mother kitsune.


    ¡°Do you know a way out of this forest that would lead to a village or someplace with population?¡±


    ¡°Yes I do know a village that is nearby it will only take us about 5 hours of walking¡±.


    ¡°So what kind of village is it?¡±


    ¡°It is a village mostly inhabited by Rabbit people and other races. According to my knowledge, there probably aren¡¯t any humans there.¡±


    ¡°All right then let¡¯s go!¡±


    As Leon and the Kitsune start walking towards their destination with the Kitsune leading Leon on a deep voice whispers to the Kitsune." How is he? "


    "He is in good condition and just reached the first state of enlightenment also he was able to kill the Gyllon... should I take care of him now"


    "No, like we saw with the Demon situation it seems that the elves are keeping an eye on him so it would be too risky, at least in the forest. For now, just make him completely trust you until I''ve figured out something"


    "Whatever you say old man" The kitsune let out a devilish grin


    ...


    And so the mother kitsune began leading me through the lush forest.


    The sun was shining and it was as if all nature was alive at this moment, the birds were chirping and the warm wind was calmly shaking the branches of the trees all around us.I could see many different animals running around us in pure bliss as they chased each other, playing in the grass and bushes like there was no care in the world.For some reason, there was no sign of khodra¡¯s or goblins or for that matter any hostile creatures after 2 hours of walking.


    I asked the Kitsune. "How come we haven¡¯t seen any monsters?"


    "Most low-level creatures won''t show up near us kitsune¡¯s as they fear our aura."


    "Umm, I can¡¯t sense any ¡°presence¡± from you?"


    "That is because we mythical creatures can create an aura that mostly scares away creatures with way lower level monsters that would otherwise be hostile against us at the moment most monsters under level 15 will avoid me but that isn¡¯t always the case."


    "This aura cannot be sensed by people in most cases."


    "Ohhh alright."


    Just as we had ended our conversation a rough wooden spear flew in front of the Kitsune sinking itself on the grassy ground.And after that 3 figures emerged from behind the tree in front of us.


    "2 level 13 goblins and a lvl 17 goblin I said after I had immediately Identified them."


    "Well this is rare," said the kitsune while chuckling.


    As I drew out my tanto from its sheath I asked:"Excuse me?"


    "Around here it¡¯s rather uncommon to come across grade 2 goblins."


    "Huh... don¡¯t worry I¡¯l kill them,"I said as I adjusted all my gained exp towards my personal level.


    The 2 level 13 goblins were wielding pikes and the level 17 goblin was wielding two daggers and wearing chainmail and had a devilish smile on its face with drool dripping from its mouth as it looked at the kitsune like if they were a delicious dish.


    "Leon there is no need for that I would like to show you that I am capable of holding my own against a few insignificant goblins."


    I hesitated but I sheathed my tanto and said."Fine show me what you can do."


    The Kitsune gave me a slight smile as it bolted towards the goblins with the fallen leaves on the ground being sent flying everywhere from where it had stood just a moment ago.One of them tried hitting her with a pike made out of iron but the kitsune dodged it whilst she was mid-air using air magic simultaneously to cut the goblins head off with what could be described as an air slash type of spell.


    Xp gained 150 (due to xp share)


    After that, the higher level goblin spun at the kitsune while slicing all around with its daggers. It definitely was an ability of some sort.But the kitsune responded with a flurry of air slashes nullifying its attack.Then the goblin with the pike tried to charge at her whilst the dagger-wielding goblin attacked, taking a saber hold of its daggers.With ease, the kitsune jumped out of the way using air magic.


    The pike-wielding goblin halted as it had almost pierced its comrade with his pike which was now almost touching the other goblins green chest. While they were still stunned of what had happened the kitsune finished the pike-wielding goblin by biting its neck as its fangs seemed to be infused with air magic.


    Xp gained 150 (due to xp share)


    Now the only opponent left was the dagger-wielding goblin.It let our a furious war cry as it once again activated its ability and started slashing towards the kitsune now with even more malice.As the kitsune dodged the blows one hit from the daggers grazed its fur and a slight wound was inflicted.But right after this, the kitsune ended the goblin with a counterattack of her own by slashing the goblins head off with air magic.


    Xp gained 200 (due to xp share)


    "Wow you really do move gracefully."


    I said as I began healing the Kitsunes who had immediately returned to my side.


    "Thank you Leon I am most welcome by your praise."


    After healing her I went and picked up the daggers and pikes, inspected them and put them in my inventory.


    Inspect now level 6.


    We decided to take a small break from walking and I summoned the kitsune cubs to eat some of the khodra meat which I still had left in my inventory.


    (Rusalka)-Mmm so good!


    They happily ate the meat I prepared for them.


    "Ohh I almost forgot to ask do you all have names?"


    "No Leon me and my children do not have names but if you would like to as our master you can name us."


    The mother kitsune said with a happy face as the cub''s eyes light up as they expected my answer.


    After a while of thinking, I decided on the names


    "Your name will be Ara.I said to the rusalka kitsune as I patted his head"


    "Okay!"Said Ara while looking at me with his blue eyes.


    "Your name will be Ivy."I said to the hakutori kitsune as I patted her head


    Both of them seemed to be pleased with their new names as they looked at me happily with their doughy eyes.


    "Then for the mother mothers name.."


    "Are you fine with the name Alizeh?"


    I asked her.


    "Yes I think that is a quite beautiful name."She said with a gentle smile on her face.


    After a while, Ara broke the silence "Can we call you dad now?"


    Ara and Ivy were excitedly looking at me waiting for an answer.I obviously wasn¡¯t really prepared for that so I was quite taken back by their words.I looked at Alizeh signaling for help but she just chuckled.


    "Well don¡¯t you have a real dad?"


    Alizeh now stopped laughing and spoke only to me with telepathy now as she said.


    -My husband....died before Ivy and Ara were born so they really never had a father. Only have they heard about him from me and other animals that had fathers..so if it¡¯s not too much to ask could you please let them treat you as their father at least for a while?


    I thought for a while. I could try to act as their father for now as they are my familiars.


    So I said to Ivy and Ara"Yes of course."


    With a warm smile on my face as the cubs ran up to me from their mother''s side and jumped on my lap to nuzzle me and so time passed as we played and laughed to our heart''s content.


    "I''m gonna catch ya!!"I yelled to Ivy, as I playfully chased her the leaves were sent flying all over the place meanwhile Alizeh and Ara were playing together under a big tree with some bunny-like creatures that had green fluffy ears and brown fur.


    "Eek!"Ivy let out a squeak as I caught her and rolled over continuing to tickle her fluffy fur.


    Ivy seemed to get very well along with me even though she was very shy towards the other animals. She wasn¡¯t as shy towards me and seemed to enjoy my presence.She clearly had it harder than her brother who could speak to the other animals and was probably way more liked by them for that reason.


    Ara, on the other hand, was very outgoing and quickly got along with the bunnies and they played to their heart¡¯s content.Soon after playing Ivy got tired and as I sat and let her rest on my lap the others continued playing. I petted Ivy that made an adorable face as she laid there on my lap.I was still slightly on guard if troubles were to arise for example another goblin attack or something like that.


    The Cubs eventually fell asleep and I returned them to the familiar space to sleep, meanwhile, I and Alizeh continued our journey towards the village.


    I asked Alizeh-While you were fighting against the goblins I noticed that you weren¡¯t chanting any spells? Does this mean you can use chantless magic like me


    "Well yes and no. I wasn¡¯t casting any spells I was simply manipulating the magic to create wind magic with my mind."


    "You can use magic without spell chanting? so do you have a passive spell that lets you manipulate magic or something?"


    "No. You yourself did this after your meditation with the natures mana by creating water."


    "Yeah but that was after I acquired that, ¡°enlightenment state I¡± title and I thought otherwise magic could only be used via spell chants?"


    "Oh I almost forgot that you were from another world."Said the fox as it gave a mischievous smile.


    "So the primary way to use magic is spell chanting. Spells can be acquired via classes etc but one can also use mana to create different magic without the need for a spell chant or a ¡°spell¡±. Manipulating your mana to create magic like wind blades usually takes a more mana then using spells that would have a similar outcome but manipulating mana gives one almost total control of mana making possible all sorts of different attacks etc. Although at a higher cost of mana.What the kind of mana manipulation results you can get depend on what type of spells your class or school of magic allows you to use. For example, you who are a druid can manipulate mana to create storm, earth, water, fire and nature magic."


    "The higher your attunement is the easier it is to manipulate mana and create magic, also as you mana manipulation skill gets higher you will be able to create better magic and at some point even create your own spells."


    "So how am I supposed to create for example a small flame by manipulating magic?"


    "Magic that is simple like that doesn¡¯t require much focus or attunement so you should be able to do it easily by concentrating on your mana and then trying to direct that mana to for example on top of your fingertip.


    And then trying to imagine a flame and the sensation of warmth."


    "Okay I¡¯l try it!"I said enthusiastically.


    I focused on directing the mana on my fingertip and imagining a small flame appearing. Thinking about the warmth a fire that size would create. And the flame did appear after around 5 minutes.


    Skill Mana manipulation lvl 1 acquired


    "Hell yea!"


    "Congratulations Leon you seem to be natural I was afraid of having to give you longer instructions."


    After that we continued our walk through the seemingly endless forest as we finally came across a road we could walk on. Meanwhile, I still didn¡¯t have shoes so I had to occasionallyheal my feet.


    "I really need shoes¡­" I mumbled to myself


    "Hey Leon now that you mentioned it the fact that you do look like some savage hermit druid."


    I took a look at myself.I was still wearing my bloodied bandage cloth, torn druid robes, gloves and a headband while I had a tanto strapped on my side and a walking stick on my hand.


    -Well, I guess I do look like some crazy hermit.I said while laughing with the fox.


    That being said as I had my prosthetic forearm I began to wonder if something like that was ¡°normal¡± around here and if anyone even knew what a prosthetic was so I asked Alizeh if she had seen any people with forearms or other parts of their body that are like my forearm (aka prosthetic).But she said that she hasn¡¯t seen many people before me so she didn¡¯t know if prosthetics existed here.Tho she did say that there were golems in this world that are made of iron steel etc and move by consuming mana or via some magic spell. So with that in mind, I think there is a chance that some sort of prosthetics could have been invented in this world.


    As we kept walking on the road we walked over a small hill and saw the landscape more clearly. There was a huge canyon mountain range up ahead, it was so massive that it reminded me of the grand canyon. Except in the canyon, there were huge forests with big trees with clearings in between different forest areas. Near the canyons edge in the distance there was a small village with what looked like about sixty houses.


    The forest and the road kept going all the way to the village before there was a visible clearing around the settlement. Probably cut down long ago for a better view of possible attack or movement in the road.A small wooden wall could be seen around the village.Most of the view was flat ground with forest but of course, then there was that huge canyon behind the village.


    We continued moving on the almost straight sand road towards the village when suddenly we were about halfway there we saw what looked like a carriage under attack.I had Alizeh go back to the familiar space as I used agility boost and earth surge to reach the site of conflict.As I closed In on the carriage I could see that there was an old man on the carriage and 3 humans in front of him.The 3 men were wearing cloth armor and all of them had long swords.


    Two of them had brown hair and one of them had long blonde hair.As I was still mid-air from the boost earth surge gave me I used Air twist while imbuing my tanto with lightning as I flew past them killing one of them with multiple strikes cutting his head and landing behind them as the two others were able to block my attacks.


    Xp gained 500


    Personal Level now 4


    Their focus was now on me instead of the old man.


    "What the hell are you doing!"Yelled the blonde man


    I just had to think of talking to them in their language and the ability the foxes ¡°gave¡± me worked.


    "And what are you doing robbing an old man?"


    The bandits didn¡¯t bother to answer me instead they simultaneously charged towards me. They charged side to side so I took a spinning side step and tried to slice the other bandits neck.He then took a step back and parried my blow with ease while the other bandit jumped over him and sliced towards my neck. I blocked the attack with my prosthetic forearm, after which he did a flip and landed behind me taking a plow stance aiming his sword at my chest as he was in the stance.I used earth surge to get some distance from them but as I launched myself away from them the bandit who had been behind me was able to slice at my leg inflicting a wound.


    "Goddammit"


    While mid-air I used entangle on the man making countless vines shoot out of the ground constricting his body. I then pulled out one of the goblin pikes I had and imbued it with lightning strike continuing to throw it at the man who had inflicted a wound on me. The man was got off guard by this so pike hit his throat making blood splatter and soon the man collapsed on the ground with a surprised look in his eyes as he tried to breathe.


    Xp gained 800


    Personal Level now 5


    Now the other bandit seemingly enraged by the fact that I had killed his comrades came at me as he yelled from the top of his lungs.


    "Impact!"


    And jumped up in the air before quickly coming down at my exact location.


    Due to my agility boost still being in effect I barely jumped out of the way as his sword hit the ground and made a large crater. I casted lightning strike at his arm but he Sliced the lightning diagonally with his silver sword with ease as he said.


    "Nullify"And the lightning disappeared into nothingness.


    We now had a slight distance from each other so I could slightly relax. I hadn¡¯t been able to lay so much as a finger on him since the battle started it was clear that he was more experienced than me so I was at a disadvantage.Again he charged toward me this time jumping high in the air as he threw daggers with serrated edges at me which I easily deflected with my tanto making the daggers fly of into the dense forest around us.But then he disappeared as I got blinded by the sunlight.


    "Fuck"


    He was no longer in the air so I instinctively turned around to see him charging at me from behind, slashing his silver sword at me as he again activated an ability."Bulls charge!"


    I was just able to block his sword with my tanto when his sword hit my tanto I was flown back some distance and ended up landing on my back.I quickly jumped up from the ground.


    "Still not dead huh"Said the bandit with a smug face while laughing and spinning his silver sword which flashed in the sunlight.


    I guess it¡¯s time to try that hellfire flare as our fight had taken us away from the carriage so the spell wouldn¡¯t damage the carriage and old man¡­. most likely.


    I checked my mana just in case that I for some reason didn¡¯t have enough


    "Perfect"I mumbled to myself as the bandit began charging at me once again.


    I chanted the spell in my head and pointed my right hand''s palm straight at the bandit and then a large fire missile flew out of my hand. As it made impact with the unsuspecting bandit who tried to use his nullify ability but the missile exploded into a fiery vortex instantly killing the bandit and leaving a small crater and burned ground behind. I then focused on extinguishing the magical flames with my mind. Which took a lot of concentration but soon after the flames had been extinguished.


    I had made a mistake by trying to challenge the enemy to a close-range battle a mistake I can¡¯t make anymore as it could easily cost my life in the future.


    Xp gained 1400


    Personal level now 6,306/1500xp needed for next level up


    Total 6 unlocated stat points left


    I went and picked up the silver sword he ha wielded.


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Raging silver sword


    Grade: Rare


    Info: A masterfully crafted silver sword with a cross guard made out of gold and a runic mark of rage, granting it great compatibility with all abilities that require raw power and strength. It also has a fuller made for mana and stamina imbuing.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Inspect now level 7


    I continued to put the sword in my void inventory and then I spent all the stat points on wisdom before going to the old man to see if everything was alright.


    Wisdom 47, Mana total now 2700/2700


    "Old man everything alright?"


    Taking a closer look at the man he had a long grey beard that slightly shook from the warm wind, short gray hair, black clothes, and amethyst colored eyes. If I had to guess he was a dwarf or at least half dwarf as there was something weird about him but I wasn¡¯t quite sure what.


    "Thank you, young man, for saving this old dwarfs life, for what do I owe for the pleasure of being saved by a human. The old man said as he for some reason went to pick up a piece of cloth from a bandits arm.


    "Umm excuse me but what do you mean by ¡°The pleasure of being saved by a human?"


    The Dwarf looked at me with intrigue as he took a short pause before asking. "You are not from around here are you?"


    "Umm yeah, I have lived most of my life in the woods as ahermit of sorts so I don¡¯t really know much about the outer world so to speak."


    "Aa I should have guessed as your clothing is a bit¡­.uhm..different."


    The dwarf said to me as he looked at me up and down.


    "Yea my clothes kinda got torn a while ago and I don¡¯t really have a place to go so.."


    "I see how about I show you to my house in the village it¡¯s the least I can do after you saved me"


    "Thanks."


    I climbed on the dwarfs wooden carriage and put my tanto back into my spacial inventory, then he patted his brown horse so it started to pull the carriage forward


    "So what is your name youngster?"


    "It¡¯s Leon how about yours sir?"


    "Ohh you don¡¯t have to call me sir, Leon,"Said the dwarf while laughing merrily as his grey beard shook.


    "And the name is Guld."


    "So Guld what does a dwarf around here do for work?"


    "Well I used to be Warrior back in the day but I''m a bit too old now so I don''t have the energy to go around killing monster etc so I¡¯m just living the rest of my days in peace with what I¡¯ve earned. Guld said with pride."


    "Oh so you were a warrior¡­.mind showing me your stats?" Hearing that he was a former warrior really spiked my interest in his stats as getting to know what an old Warriors stats look like should be good for future reference


    "Well sure since you did save me il show you my stats from my record but nothing else alright?"


    "Yup sounds good."


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Race: Dwarf Name:Guld level 48</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Strenght 56  </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Endurance 29 Stamina 2800/2800  Stamina regen  0.10/sec</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Wisdom 19 Mana 475/475 Mana regen 0.05/sec</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Agility 23</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Vitality 12</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Intelligence 20</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Magical Attunement 3</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Focus 39</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Perception 30</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dexterity 27</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Charisma 26</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    After taking a look at the stats and his level I started to wonder about something so I asked him


    "Umm sorry if I''m being rude but you are level 34 so shouldn¡¯t your stats be higher?"


    "Ohh so you don¡¯t even know something like that,"He said with a surprised face


    "Well, all people get ¡°debuff¡± traits as they get older which lower physical stats but not stats like Wisdom, Intelligence or Attunement.


    There are some cases in which you don¡¯t get this kind of debuff traits, for example, elves and people with elf blood don¡¯t get these traits as they grow older and some races even get buffs as they grow older."


    "Oh okay thanks for the info Guld"


    "No problem."


    I started using healing magic on my body in the carriage as we had been traveling for a while and my mana had somewhat restored to the point I was comfortable with, and Guld had given me something resembling a mana potion which rose my mana.


    The carriage shook as we continued down the road that had now turned slightly rockier


    "Ohh so you can even use healing magic! when I saw you fight I thought you were a Warlock but you must be a druid."The dwarf said while his eyes were wide and fixated on my prosthetic arm.


    "Well the man sure has keen eyes in more than one way"


    "Leon that arm of your¡¯s has me intrigued It looks so well made, did you make it yourself?"


    "Of this prosthetic of mine was made my father who knew a thing or two about blacksmithing."It was the best lie I could come up for the time being


    "Hmm, how does it work I don¡¯t see any magical engravings on it?"


    "I don¡¯t quite know myself, to be honest."


    "Aah alright then."The dwarf while his chin fell down and he let out a sigh


    A while later we were nearing the villages gates as we had reached the clearing around the village.


    "So..anything I should know before we reach the villages gates?"


    "Well our village isn¡¯t on the greatest terms with humans so you won¡¯t probably be getting a warm welcome but it should be fine since I''m with you."


    I sighed "That''s just great..."

 Chapter 6

    A guard on top of the wall yelled. "Halt!"


    He was at least 7 feet tall and had small horns on his head. He was wearing a full plate armor and a greatsword hanging from his back which both looked like they had been used a lot.


    "Guld who is that human with you!"


    "Ohh this is Leon he saved me from a couple of human bandits as I was making my way back to the village."


    The guard looks at me appraisingly and mumbles "why would Guld need saving" before clearing his throat


    "Well he sure doesn¡¯t look like a Rivertian¡­¡­" The guard said eyeing me up.


    "No worries Schal I''ll take responsibility if he were to do something."


    "Well, then I guess it¡¯s fine but I will keep my eyes on him just in case."


    "Thanks"


    "Ok, then you may proceed." AsSchal said that the wooden gates of the villages began opening.


    Behind the door, there was a stone road and 5 guards could be seen near the gate sitting on wooden stools laughing and sharpening their swords, spears and other weapons. 3 of them seemed to be the same race as Schal as they were also tall and had 2 horns on their heads.


    Two of them had some sort of Great axes made out of what looked like to be black steel and one of them had a greatsword that was probably made out of silver.The other 2 guards had furry ears and sharp looking eyes. They were both around 5 foot tall and had longswords and bows on their backs.All of them seemed to be men.As we passed them on the carriage they waved at Guld but frowned at me.


    "Umm Guld why are humans not well liked here ?"


    "Well it¡¯s been only about 5 years since the last conflict between the Rivertian nation and the Falloi nation which we are a part of, though our village is far from our capital."


    "Oh I see so there is there still some tensions between the nations?"


    Gulds tone changed to a more serious low voice "Well our nation¡¯s have really never been on great terms."


    "Why is that so?"


    The dwarf looked at me while squinting his eyes and raising his left eyebrow. "You sure don¡¯t know anything"


    "The Rivertian nation mostly consists of humans and our nation is more diverse though humans are not that common here. The Rivertians treat all most all other races as lower class them themselves so they have enslaved a lot of Rivertians and pretty much run slave trade everywhere where there are any slaves to be sold or owned. They often also take other races as slaves by force."


    "So why do the Rivertian humans think they are more superior than other races?"I asked while I looked at the village around us.


    Now that we had gotten further inside the village past the wooden walls and watchtowers.


    There were all sorts of people here those cat-like people, the ones with horns, bunny people, and a few dwarves. All the houses were primarily made out of wood and stone and looked like they were from the medieval ages except more solid looking. The houses weren¡¯t really close together but not that far away from each other either, except in the middle of the city seemed to be a bit tighter in the spacing between buildings. The village had some grass on the ground and the occasional tree in some houses yards.


    "Well I¡¯m not really in the mood to give you a whole history lecture but in a nutshell, Rivertian humans are being prideful and large in numbers thinking that they are way more civilized and well mannered than other races. Their infrastructure is also better than us, while humans as individuals may not be that strong compared to other races they outnumber as 10 to 1."


    And have huge varieties of people with different classes to fill all sorts of jobs.


    Meanwhile, they think of us other races with far greater natural physical and magical abilities to be battle hungry brutes who are only good for fighting and hard labor.


    We had reached the central area of the village, it had a medium sized marketplace thriving with people. All sorts of goods could be seen, from handcrafted items to tasteful looking fruits of various colors.I could hear people speaking in a few different languages which I was able to understand with my ability by just wishing to understand their speech.As we passed a few cute looking cat people Wearing leather clothes I could hear them whispering to each other in their language.


    When the woman got closer to the carriage her posture changed and she tensed up(Woman 1) "I-is that a h-h-human"


    (Woman 2) "Yes¡­¡­... though he is with Guld we should probably keep our distance from that human man."


    Well, that¡¯s a completely understandable way of thinking looking at the fact that humans seemed to have enslaved their people so I won¡¯t let it bother me I thought.It was around midday as the sun above was shining so brightly that even though I was inside the carriage covered by a small cloth roof I still got a little hot.Though it didn¡¯t seem to affect the other people here in any way.There were kids running around and playing with wooden swords near us yelling stuff at each other as their wooden swords made clanking noises when they hit.In the midst of this, there was a man playing a guitar like instrument, while calmly sitting on a rock.


    I decided to take off my bloody bandage cloth as it seemed to cause a little unrest in the villager''s eyes. I put the bandage cloth I was wearing In my inventory, now exposing my upper body which still had claw marks and some other scars from the time I fought that demon.I''m not sure if they will heal completely but it doesn¡¯t really matter as the scars are obviously no longer as big as the inflicted wounds back then.


    Thinking about the demon made chills run through my body. I still remembered its blood hungry eyes when it first laid its gaze on me.My hands were clenched as I thought about the Demon that almost took my life. If it weren¡¯t for that elf I wouldn¡¯t be alive anymore.A bunny woman was passing by our carriage. She was clearly looking at my body and when our gazes met and she saw my face the black haired bunny girl darted away towards the marketplace.


    "Well well well aren¡¯t you the ladies man said Guld as he looked back at me with a mischievous smile exposing his one missing tooth."


    I laughed with him.


    Then he continued to look at my scars with wide eyes."What kind of opponent did you receive those scars from?"


    "From one that almost took my life¡­"I said while looking away and gritting my teeth.


    With an understanding voice and a slight nod Guld said -Uhh I see..I¡¯m sorry we all do have things we don¡¯t wish to discuss."


    -No need to apologize Guld.


    The dwarf gave me a smile as the carriage stopped moving in front of an old house made mostly of stone unlike the other houses in the village. It was a relatively large house that had glass windows and a wooden roof.


    "So this is my place..mind helping me move the cargo inside?"


    As guld stretched out his arms he answered "Sure."


    Guld and I started carrying some big boxes inside his house.As we opened the door a female dwarf with red hair yelled.


    "Guld where have you been!"The dwarf crossed her hands


    "Aah sorry dear..you know me it sometimes takes longer to get the stuff I need."Said Guld as he and I put the boxes down on the wooden door and he scratched his hairy beard.


    Their house was pretty good looking there were a few fur rugs around the floor which looked like they were made out of khodra¡¯s fur. The walls were decorated with a few animals heads and a large spear was hanging above their stone furnace.They even had 2 couches made out of leather and fur both of them seemed well maintained.Guld¡¯s wife was wearing a light fur robe and a golden necklace. She looked like she was in her thirties.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    While slightly tilting her head and looking guld in the eyes she said"Whos this..umm human you¡¯ve brought along."


    She said seemingly not disturbed by my appearance.


    -Oh right, Namwo this man is Leon he saved me from some bandits while I was on my way here, and he didn¡¯t have a place to go so I thought he could stay with us for a while.


    And so after a while of chit chat and moving the old dwarves cargo inside Namwo began preparing a meal using the khodra meat provided by me.As Namwo was preparing the meat I and Guld sat on wooden chairs with comfortable fur patting drinking beer.As I had been through some shit here so I thought it would be okay to unwind with some bear, and also I wondered if the Elves blood affected my tolerance or anything like that so that¡¯s an excuse I could use for drinking.


    "So I¡¯ve been meaning to ask this Leon but are you perhaps a Space magic user?"


    "Yeah"


    "Ohh I knew it that¡¯s something right there young lad."He said as took a sip of his beer.


    "So it is unusual... then are there perhaps any other spells or items that could work like my inventory meaning you can store a lot of stuff in them?"


    "Yea, for example, there are magickal bags which can store quite a lot of stuff though nowhere near as much as space magic."


    This time I took a huge sip of my beer which left me with a foam mustache that I wiped away with my forearm. "Hey this is some great beer you have here and I see there are lots of stuff in your house made of leather and fur. Did one of you make all this or did you just buy it all?"


    The Dwarf let out a huge grin and said proudly. "Glad you like the beer, I brew it myself."


    "As for the leather and fur Namwo is quite good at leatherworking and that sort of stuff. So back in the day when I hunted a few beasts myself, I brought the fur and all other usable remains to Namwo here and she made some nice furniture out of them."


    "That¡¯s quite the handy wife you have there she cooks and she makes comfortable furniture to sit on while drinking, what else could a man want am I right."


    We laughed heavily and Namwo refilled our beer while smiling.


    "Soooo I must know how did you kill all these beast and animals while leaving their fur pelts in such good condition?"


    "That right there sonny is a secret"


    He said while winking at me.


    "Alrighty then...so if it¡¯s not too much to ask I found a rather nice fur pelt myself and was thinking if maybe your wife could help me with that."


    "Well you''ll have to ask that from her, but would you mind showing that pelt to this old warrior *burp*"


    "Sure"


    I laid the Brimfire gylon pelt on the ground before him and his eyes widened a bit as he grabbed it to further inspect it. Looking at it with intrigue in his eyes.


    "Well, aren¡¯t you something you managed to kill a Brimfire gylon may I ask you where you killed it at?"Guld said with a glint of worry in his eyes.


    "I killed it near a river in the forest?"


    "hmm¡­.that¡¯s weird usually these beasts stick to living in the canyon near our village, so we don¡¯t have to deal with them. Unless we go down to the canyon which we usually don¡¯t as there are so many Gyllons and Brimfire gyllons so surviving being down there for long requires a party of four or more experienced fighters not mentioning the underground ruins and other unexplored areas."


    The old man said while seeming to be deep in thought.


    "Well old man what about we think about that some other time and eat now as your wife seems to be done with preparing the food."


    "It seems so indeed *hig*"


    And so we started eating the delicious meal Namwo had prepared.There was thick broth to go with the khodra meat which made the meat melt wonderfully in my mouth.We shared some idle chit-chat as we ate and drank. Guld was already drinking his ninth mug of beer and was somewhat drunk so he became even more joyful and talkative. Meanwhile, I was drinking my seventh mug of beer. The alcohol didn¡¯t seem to have as big of an effect as back when I was drinking in my previous life, but it sure as hell made my mood better. I usually wasn¡¯t really good at talking to new people but for some reason, I really hit it off with Guld.


    It was now well over the afternoon and Namwo had accepted my proposal of making a cloak for me out of the Gyllon pelt.


    I and Guld continued drinking.


    Guld told me that he had a son that had moved away a long time ago to go join the Army and was doing great at the moment tho as a father he still worried about his son that was already 26.I learned from him that it was currently year 363 here and he shared all sorts of stories of himself when he was a young warrior.He also told me that he had lost his leg back in the day and had prosthetic which he showed to me. It seemed to work with some kind of magic as it had glowing runic scriptures which I couldn¡¯t understand.


    I too shared some of my limited stories like the fight with the goblins and my encounter with the Brimfire gyllon. Overall we were having a great time.When I went outside to take some fresh air I realized there were 2 moons in the sky on blue and the other one crimson red. it was a beautiful sight as no clouds could be seen only the vast night sky filled with stars and the two big moons that shined their moonlight down.I could feel a slight breeze of the wind on my face and my still shirtless body. Somewhere in the distance wolves could be heard howling at the moons, or at least I thought they were wolves.


    I went back inside and we continued chatting for a while but after Gulds fifteenth beer he said that he¡¯s sleepy and went to sleep with Namwo after showing me to my room. The room I was in was alright it had a nice bed obviously with a fur blanket and a pillow that probably had feathers inside of it or something of the sorts.There was also a big table and a nice Fur chair in which you could sit while looking out the large window at the night sky. I had also told them that I had a few familiars so they had provided some small thin fur sleeping blankets for them.


    So I summoned Sylviel and the cubs who were happy to sleep inside the same blanket as they almost instantly fell to sleep in each other warmth.Sylviel told me that while they could sleep in the familiar place they still preferred to sleep while they were summoned.


    I and Sylviel started talking about magic and stats and the sorts.


    I learned a lot of stuff from her, Including that combining spells was possible depending on your attunement and the used spells. And that if said spell combinations were used enough it would develop into a spell with its own chant making the spell a unique spell. Also, she told me of the most used ways to cast magic which were chanting spells, chantless spells, mana manipulation, sigils, rituals and runic and mana engraving.


    "So Sylviel...how do you know all this stuff?"


    ((((((Meanwhile))))))))


    Guld and Nawmo were in their big room laying on the bed and drinking.


    While the moonlight illuminated their room causing beautiful red and blue light effect that the couple was already used to after all these years together.


    "Guld you forgot you spear home again when you went out and a stranger had to "save you." "


    Namwo said playfully


    "Well dear you know me and he seems to be one great man reminds me of how I used to be when I was young¡­¡­"


    "Oh Guld"Said Nawmo while kissing Guld on the cheek.


    "Yeah I know¡­. this old dwarves adventure days are over.Guld said as he caressed Namwos hair with his muscular arms."


    "Also dear it was nice of you to be willing to make that cloak for Leon how¡¯s the progress going?"


    "Well that young man does remind me so much about our son, and the cape still needs some work it will probably be ready by tomorrow also shouldn¡¯t we have given him a shirt?"


    "Ohh yeah shit!"They bought laughed together as they were both drunk now that Namwo had also drank and Guld still had kept drinking.


    "So Guld did you get the parts you were looking for your new prosthetic leg?"


    "Aah yes I did get most of what I needed and I got some new pelts for you to work with."


    Guld reminiscend the time he had lost his leg.


    He was adventuring with group of mercenaries that were tasked with killing a wyrm that had been causing trouble.. It was a cruel fight which led to Guld losing his leg and the lives of some of the mercenaries that Guld wasn¡¯t luckily very familiar with.


    After that Guld stopped adventuring and went back to his wife to live a life of peace and quiet of course until they had a child Glanma that inherited his father¡¯s last name Warmane.He was relatively tall for a dwarf being 5.6ft tall and had bronze colored eyes.He too wielded a spear like his father and had inherited her mother¡¯s red hair.When he turned 20 he decided that he wanted to protect his homeland from the invading Riverians by joining the army.Guld was proud of his son who had finally become a great warrior.


    "So then dear goodnight."


    "Goodnight love"


    and so they went to sleep in the room illuminated with moonlight.


    ((((((Back to Leon and Sylviel))))))


    After I asked that Sylviel turned to look at the beautiful night sky through the window. She was gazing at the stars and moon for a while and then said to me


    "There once was a man. He was a strong and kind man one that had a great mind and many familiars with him. I was one of those many familiars, he was my former master. For a long time he took care of me and his countless other familiars and thought us all sorts of things, but one fateful day he made us all undo our contracts with him and a day after that he disappeared after telling us that he wants us to have great lives without him and that he has something important to do.All of us familiars went our own way after that."


    "Some of us were hunted down after that and some of us have survived to this day though we rarely keep in contact with each other."


    "I see¡­"


    After that Sylviel went to sleep next to her cubs.


    I laid down on the bed relaxed with my hand behind my head. Thinking about the day.After some time I finally fell asleep.


    After Leon fell asleep Sylviel got up and left the house turning invisible immediately, and climbed to the roof of the house with ease.


    A deep voice once again whispered to her "Anything interesting to report about"


    "Naah old man just that we reached the village now"


    "Good..good. I''ve managed to strike up a deal with some people that benefits both sides and I need you to do a few things for me to make this plan work with certainty...


    The moonlight up the surrounding area as "Sylviel" and the old man talked.

 Chapter 7

    My eyes blast open. I''m in an empty space. Whispers that make no sense echo everywhere, suddenly I hear a howling I know all too well.


    Roberts howl echoes for a while before fading into the endless whispers that get louder and louder, something is coming from afar. Moving in the darkness a figure appears and disappears, a scream of agony seemingly comes from every direction before fading to the sound of the endless whispers.


    The man disappears and something shines in front of me, the locket with the wolf engraving is on the dark ground before me. I try walking towards the locket and the whispers get louder but still don''t make any sense.I stumble and flashes of Robert appear after I regain my balance the locket is gone and the whispers stop. A devilish set of teeth shine in the darkness before me.


    A demon some distance from me holds Robert in his right arm and is about to kill him as I start running at the demon a set of dark hands grab me from behind...


    "DON¡äT THOUGH MY FKING DOG" I scream as I take a hold of something and press my tanto against its throat


    Slight sniffling ensues. Im currently pressing my tantos blade against Ivy''s small fragile throat, there is a scared look on Ivy''s face and a tear on her left eye. I put the tanto away quickly and embraced Ivy.


    "It''s okay It''s okay..I won''t hurt you I''m sorry" I said to Ivy in the most comforting voice I could muster up after a while both Ivy and I calm down and I tell her to go back near Sylviel but Ivy seems hesitant and acts like she wants to tell me something.


    I ignore her and lay her next to her mother and pat her head.


    I looked out of the window and I saw that the sun was just starting to rise. I decided to transfer the Kitsunes back into the Familiar space before exiting the room, Luckily It seems like neither Guld or Namwo had woken up to my yelling.


    I went outside of the house in their backyard to train and calm my mind. Guld and Namwo had a relatively large yard with a big brown tree in the middle with green leaves that were one by one gracefully falling to the ground. I focused on the area that surrounded me. I could feel the warm wind and the sensation in my feet as I stood on the grass.


    I started moving my body around, slowly making different fluid motions with my hands and feet after some time I had achieved a sort of freedom of mind, at that moment I opened my eyes and took a sharp 180 turn and started performing different kung fu drills and routines with explosive power.


    After a while of doing kungfu, I did a variety of box cutter kicks, kicking the leaves that were falling from the tree hitting each of the leaves with precision.As I landed from the successful flurry of box cutters I started the progress over again, going back to doing slow fluid motions and then performing kung fu drills and other martial arts drills.


    Soon after that, I continued on with my daily meditation.


    The only reason I did all this was not just due to the fact that I wanted to ¡°stay in good shape¡± or anything like that. It was to help me stay saner in this new environment that I had now arrived in.


    In a world with all sorts of dangers and things I don¡¯t know about, the most important thing is to try to keep your sanity and overall normal state of mind.By repeating my normal habits I would be able to more easily stay in a more peaceful state of mind.


    At the exact moment I was done with my meditation session conveniently Guld opened the houses back door dressed in light leather shorts and said to me.


    "Leon we got breakfast!"


    "Alrighty, then I''m coming!"


    I started walking back to the house. I had seen of Gulds upper body when he came to yell at me, The old dwarf sure had a good physique for his age and taking in account the fact that he probably drank a lot of beer. His body had many scars most likely from his adventuring days. Also, I caught a glimpse of his steel leg. That seemed to be in a bit of a bad shape having some visible dents and scratches on the surface.


    I sat on the table with Guld and Namwo.


    They or most likely just Namwo had prepared a colorful breakfast with all sorts of vegetables and different varieties of meat slices. Guld was drinking beer meanwhile I and Namwo had water.


    "So Leon what are you planning to do now?"


    "Well I think I would like to stay at this village for a while before continuing my journey and also getting to know the world a bit better as I really don¡¯t know much about anything"


    "Ahh, I see, well you are welcome to stay here with us for a while."


    "What might this journey you are talking about me?"


    "I guess I just want to get to know the world better and go on a bit of an adventure."


    Obviously, that really isn¡¯t my objective at the moment as I would like to find Robert as soon as possible then maybe a journey would be okay.


    "By the way, this is most likely a weird question I''m asking but what is this language we are speaking?"


    "Well that is a weird question but the language is Falloian it¡¯s our nations common language spoken by most people that live here."


    "Okay thanks, while I was living in nature and learned the language I was never told what the language was called."


    "So your parents were probably Falloians then?"


    "Well I¡¯m not sure but they were human and I would appreciate if we didn¡¯t really delve into my past as it¡¯s not something I¡¯m really comfortable talking about."


    I hadn¡¯ created a full backstory for myself and they seemed like people who wouldn¡¯t pressure me to talk about myself so they will probably be fine with that kind of answer.


    As Guld poured beer into his mug he said to me."What if we went for a walk around the village at about 12 o¡¯clock so I could show you around and maybe you would find something to do."


    "Yeah, that sounds fine."


    Like on earth they had the same way of measuring time here they also had 360 days in a year divided into 12 months. These months had around 30 days each but they weren¡¯t divided into weeks or anything like that, just months.


    The name of the village we were at was Selesk named by the first village leaders last name Selesksiar who died long ago while protecting the villagers.


    "Alright here is a cape for you to wear we will be leaving in about 2 hours."


    "Yeah thanks, old man."


    He had thrown me a green cape that matched my druid robes that I was wearing on my lower body. The cape had a hood and white strings to tie it on the front also it had armholes.


    I took the cape and went back into my room to put it and the bandages on, after that I went to lay on my bed and looked at the locket and tried to open it but to no result, it just wouldn''t budge.


    After a while of looking at the locket, I heard a whisper like the ones in my dreams I got startled and Immediately put the locket back into my inventory.


    Then I just spent some quality time in the room before it was time to leave.


    Our first destination was the villages general marketplace which we had gone by when I first arrived here. There were lots of people talking and bartering in the marketplace.The people were mostly unphased by my presence though I did catch some gazes from the locals and could hear them talking about me, obviously not in a kind manner as I was an outsider and a human.


    Guld showed me around different stalls selling things like leathers, fruits, clothing, tools, and jewelry.The merchants and most people in the market greeted Guld with smiles and polite greetings, on the other hand only a few smiled and greeted me but I guess it¡¯s better than nothing.


    The clothing people wore were rather colorful differing from shades of green, yellow, brown and sometimes even blue. The clothes were mostly different full body robes and coats though some people did wear shirts, silk pants ect.A few people had a golden lining on their clothes and they clearly carried themselves in a more dignified manner than the average villager I had seen in my short time here.


    There were some guards and what I think were adventures wearing light armor and carrying weapons like spears, swords, bows with them. What separated the Guards from the adventurers was a red insignia with a and arm grasping a greataxe.The guards were mostly Khorrans and Ratuus. Khorrans being the race with horns and Ratuus being the ones with cat ears. Occasionally I saw some of the people with bunny ears, they were called Tosians according to Guld.


    We continued our tour by going along a stone road. Along this road, there were different more established stores and services.


    Some children were playing in a small opening between two wooden stores running around in the grass and wrestling. Overall people here seemed to enjoy their life¡¯s, from what I had seen there really weren¡¯t any poor people here though some rascals tried stealing tools from a merchant in the marketplace earlier.


    As we walked along the road we came across an armory built from smooth stone and wood.


    "I was thinking about selling some goblin weapons I¡¯ve found do you think I could sell them there?"I asked while pointing at the big armory.


    "Yeah, sure we can go see if the owner Is interested in anything you have."


    And so we walked towards the large front door and opened it.


    Inside there was a large variety of different swords and weapons obviously there also was a good variety of different armors made from metals and leathers. Torches and windows were the primary light sources in the armory which had a few employees cleaning the place and checking the conditions of some of the weapons.


    In the back, there was a horned man wearing leather armor and spinning a dark black knife skillfully in his right hand as he talked to a customer who was apparently buying some gear from the store. The man¡¯s hair was grey and his eyes as black as the blade of the knife he was spinning. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Soon the transaction was over and the young customer with horns picked up the armor and axe he had purchased.As the man walked by me and Guld he hit his shoulder on mine and mumbled something under his breath about me.


    Unphased by this me and guld went to the store owner and started chatting with him about how much he could pay for the gear I was willing to sell to him.


    The man that had introduced himself as Jackal seemed rather uninterested by the goblin pikes and swords I showed to him and said something about giving me 4 silver and 5 copper for them. So I decided to pull out the Silversword which I had gotten from the bandits I slew. Immediately the old man¡¯s eyes widened as he began appraising the sword he seemed to use Inspect on it too.


    "Hmm this is a quite nice sword you have got here¡­..how about 7gold for this and the goblin weapons?"


    Earlier Guld had told me that 20 copper coins equaled 1 silver and 50 silver equaled 1 gold. I whispered to guld asking him if he thought this was a good deal and he agreed that it was certainly an ok deal for such a sword.


    "Yeah that sounds good we have a deal also could I get the money in 4 gold coins and 150 silver coins in separate pouches?"


    "Of course that¡¯s no problem, "He said obviously pleased by the transaction and further investigated the sword in front of him with appraising eyes.


    "Well, then Leon I think we should go now if you have no further business here."


    I thought for a while "Wait I think I do have something"


    Jackal raised his eyebrow as I pulled out my tanto out of my inventory and placed it on the table "Can you Identify this for me"


    "Yeah, I don''t think that will be a problem it will cost ya...15silver aight?"


    "It''s a deal"


    Jackal unseathed the tanto and let out a small gasp before returning back to his normal cool composure. After a while, he said he was done and showed me the information on the weapon.


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Blade of origin


    Grade-Artifact


    Enchantment-Mana flow


    Info: A masterfully crafted "short sword" that is made out of Tritin which makes the weapon great for imbuing and amplifying spells. This quality is further enhanced due to the enchantment Mana flow which makes the weapon an even better conduit for spells and raises its toughness so it can be imbued with even the best spells with out taking too much damage from the flow of mana. The handle is fitted with a lightning amplifying gems that can also be used as a small storage for mana capable of holding 400mana.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "Wow..so how good of a weapon do you think this is Jackal" "The fact that it said that it could handle high level spells sure was something but I''m, not the expert here so I definitely need his opinion in this."


    Jackal let out a wide grin "It sure as hell is a fine specimen not only is Tritin a good material for weapons that are used by spellcasters it also is overall highly durable and the blade is in spectacular condition, The gem on the handle isn''t really nothing too amazing but it suits a weapon like this well.


    The weapon easily earns the Grade Artifact"


    "Umm, to be honest, I have no idea how the grading system goes so do you mind explaining?"


    "Sure the grading system goes like thisCommon<uncommon<Rare<Epic<Artifact<Legendary<Chaotic<Divine<God. Items above Epic are difficult to come by with artifacts and Legendaries mostly being either crafted or looted from high-end dungeons. Items that are Chaotic or above are extremely hard to come by and can be only found in extremely dangerous areas, currently there are only 11 know God items and only 6 of them have a well-known owner"


    Jackal stretched his arms a bit and pulled out a small bag of gold from under his table "So mind selling that blade to me"


    "Naah Id rather keep it" I said while putting the tanto back into my inventory"


    With a disappointed look in his eyes, Jackal sighed and put the gold bag away "Well that''s truly shame"


    "Well goodbye, for now, Jackal" Guld and I said in unison while walking out of the door."


    "Come back if you have anything interesting to sell!"


    "Yea!"


    Guld and I chatted while we took a look at the other stores and what services they provided.


    "Jackal seemed rather fine with the fact that I was a human ?"


    Guld rubbed his beard and responded"Well Jackal is the type of man who doesn¡¯t really care about what race his clients are if they don¡¯t cause trouble and sell or buy good stuff in his shop, hell If a demon tribesman were to walk in to the village Jackal would welcome him with open arms to his shop.."


    "(Gurrrr)"A loud sound coming from Gulds stomach interrupts his speech.


    "ahah I guess I¡¯m still hungry,"Guld said while laughing merrily.


    "Well I¡¯m a bit hungry too so I guess we could go eat. It¡¯s my treat since I just got some cash."


    "Ohh boy you don¡¯t have to!"


    "Naah Guld I insist"


    "Weeeeeel if you insist and I know just the place to go to!"


    And so I and Guld walked around finally coming across the place Guld had in mind. A large restaurant/bar built mostly of stone. It had a big wooden terrace with a few families and other villagers eating and drinking. The large double front door was decorated with animal bones and some beautiful yellow etchings of food. As we took a step inside we were greeted with a happy atmosphere of people eating and talking.Most people here didn¡¯t seem to mind my presence as we came inside though there were some khorran and ratuu soldiers that looked at me down their noses as if they were inherently better than me.


    Guld and I chose a spot near a window and sat down on the wooden stools. In front of us, there was a dark wooden table and some metal utensils.Guld yelled for a waitress to take our order and soon enough a bunny woman came to us wearing a well-tailored brown leather dress and black shoes. Her pink bangs dangled in front of her eyes.


    "So Guld and ummmm.."


    "Leon"


    "uhm, So Guld and Leon what will you two be having?"She asked us with a smile while mainly looking at Guld


    "Well, I guess I''ll have the usual meat dish with 2 beers."


    "Alrighty then...and you Leon?"


    "Hmmm, I guess I''ll have the same as him except with 1 beer and a glass of water if that is possible."


    "Certainly..I''ll soon be back with your orders."


    And so the waitress with a rather plump bosom waddled of towards another table. As I and guld chatted it became painfully obvious that the soldiers that were eating were bothered by my presence here.


    I constantly caught them glaring at me with rather serious faces even Guld easily noticed this too and told me not to worry about it.


    "So how did you exactly meet Namwo"


    Guld looks out of the window with a happy face."Well long ago when I was an adventurer I came across a huge pack of monsters with my friends. It was a grueling fight that left many of us with serious wounds including me. I took a rather hard blow from one of the enemies which crushed some of my ribs. My friends carried me and the other badly wounded comrades around searching for help, as at the time our group didn¡¯t have a healer."


    "Traveling on the road we came across a caravan that was willing to take us to the next village for some cash. They also had a skilled priest traveling along them. One of the people who took care of me was Namwo. She and the priest took good care of our healing and treating our wounds.


    The priest said it was a miracle that my lung hadn¡¯t been punctured by the broken bones. The whole time Namwo took care of me and the other men. I quickly fell in love with her because of her kind personality. We also got along extremely well to the point that we shared a kiss after we parted our ways"


    "Later on I visited Namwo in her home village many times as we took a detour through there often. Soon we fell even deeper in love and got married. After that I continued adventuring for a while and then finally me and Namwo decided to move into this village to live the rest of our days together."


    "a bit cliche but still a better love story than twilight"


    I-Excuse me?Guld raised his hairy left eyebrow.


    "Ah, nothing...but yeah nice story."


    After a while of bantering the waitress brought the food which we began instantly devouring.


    "This is some good meat¡­. (munching)..is it some beasts meat¡­(munching)"


    "Yeah¡­(burp)"


    While we were happily eating minding our own business a few soldiers started approaching us looking proud of themselves.


    "I smell trouble¡­"Guld said while rolling his eyes.


    "You don¡¯t fucking say"I sighed while taking a huge mouthful of beer.


    There were 2 soldiers coming at us one was a tall khorran man probably around 6.4 tall. He had short brown hair and had a very muscular figure and was wearing light chainmail and padded leather pants.The other one was a Ratuu woman with yellow eyes that were fixated on me. She had a way more lean and small figure compared to the man. And was wearing full leather armor and had a knife strapped to her waist while the man, on the other hand, was unarmed.


    "Huh so how are you enjoying the food..human."


    The khoran mam was closer to me trying to intimidate me with his muscles as the female was some distance behind him leaning on a wooden pillar twirling her knife in her fingers.


    "Well, I would say its pre¡­."


    Before I could end my sentence the man took my plate and threw it at me. I easily deflected it and the plate fell on the table not getting on anyone¡¯s clothes.


    "Aww man, why did ya have to do that? that was some good food you know?"I said while letting out a slight grin expressing my amusement at the man.


    "Look here you piece of shit we don¡¯t like your (burp) kind here so you better get your ass out of here! "


    Now, most of the people in the restaurant had stopped eating and silently watched us from their seats. Most people either looked too scared to do anything or just didn¡¯t care.


    I let out a deep sigh. "Man there is no need to get rowdy we were just about to leave after a while anyway so could you leave us alone."


    Visibly annoyed by the fact that I sighed he says "I don¡¯t think you get it you should just get the fuck out of here right now." (burp)


    "Could we do this another time I''m really not in the mood for your threats."


    At that moment he visibly lost his cool and as I anticipating a punch I quickly stood up from the chair, By this point, he was just launching a clean left straight at me. I then took a step back and palmed his hand upwards continuing to grab and twist his arm inwards, after that I slid closer to him pushing my arm forward. With my arm now in front of his throat, I tied my hand around his neck and placed my foot behind his foot and started bending him down with my arm that was around his neck. I also cast Entangle at him as all of this was happening so he was now in a twisting headlock and trapped by vines that had grown out of the floor.


    I tried forcing him on the ground but as I was doing this his body started to glow with yellow light and with monstrous strength he began straightening his body up with a grin on his angry face. He was still slightly entangled by the vines although most of them had snapped due to his monstrous strength and the aura he was emitting which seemed to melt the vines.


    Right after that, he grabbed my neck with his free hand and instantly threw me across the room. I activated air twist and managed to perform a clean landing and avoid injury. Just as I had caught my breath and eyeballed the man someone quickly took me in a sleeper chokehold from behind and tried dragging me on to the ground.


    I put my hand behind my head taking a hold of the attackers head then continued to throw the female attacker over my shoulder.After I completed the throw the female attacker landed on the ground gracefully.


    As all this was happening a man started walking towards them which was not seen by any of the people fighting so they continued on.


    Leon began charging towards his opponent with his left arm imbued with lightning, his opponent did the same and charged at him while still glowing with yellow light. Just as the two men were about to meet in the middle and punch each other a man stepped in between them and pointed his left hand at Leon and his right arm at the khorran making both of them collapse under his sheer fighting spirit which formed cracks in the floor.


    Leon and the Khorran were both now laying on the floor. The khorran took a look at the man''s face as he continued emitting his monstrous fighting spirit and with a surprised face said.


    "sergeant???"

 Chapter 8

    As the Sergeant kept emitting his aura Guld stood up on started walking towards him, when Guld got closer he too started emitting an aura canceling the Sergeants aura..


    And said, "Keir I think that''s enough..".


    Keir looked stared into Guld eyes for a while as Lyon and the khorran man stood up from the floor and finally sighed and shrugged his shoulders before saying with a slightly more relaxed face.


    "hmph I guess so Guld"


    Then with a stern face, he said "Reki and Jasse leave this restaurant with your men" to the two who attacked Leon.


    Reki looked at Keir with a dumbfounded face.


    Seeing this Keir got slightly mad and yelled in a sharp tone "Immediately!".


    Reki and Jasse stumbled to their comrades before leaving the bar while cursing.


    "Fucking hell can''t I even eat in peace".


    .....


    After this had all went down and Keir had paid for the damages to the restaurant he asked me and Guld to join him at his table. Keir was a tall khorran with a strong jawline and even stronger looking muscles. He has a short black buzzcut and a golden earring.


    "Guld I apologize for the behavior of my men, Reki and Jasse are usually not that aggressive they both find it hard to handle their "personalities" while intoxicated".


    With a grin on Gulds face, he responded "Weeel..there is not really a reason to apologize to me Leon should be the person you want to apologize to".


    Keir looked at me up and down obviously trying to size me up.


    "I''m truly sorry Leon, nobody who is respected by Guld should be treated this way here by my men"


    "Wow these people sure have a high opinion of Guld".


    "I get that people here don''t like humans but you should try to control your men better not that I can''t handle myself".


    Keir seemed to not expect that answer and looked at me for a while before nodding with a slight smile on his face.


    We shared some idle chit chat and talked about why I was here while indulging in the good beer the restaurant served. People still gave me hostile glances and the sorts, but the company of both Guld and Keir really minimalized the number of glances and outright stares.


    "I''m really getting sick of the people in this village".


    "So Leon what are your plans for now," Keir asked while tapping his fingers on the table.


    "Hmm well I plan on getting a bit more information overall and I need to raise my level and stats before leaving this village on my adventure, also...."


    I took out the locket that I had gotten most likely from the wolf-like creature and put in on the table".


    "Do either of you have any idea what this is, I can''t seem to be able to open it".


    Keir took the locket in his big hand and tried opening it to no result "Yea it sure won''t open". Guld did the same but he couldn''t open the locket either.


    Keir cleared his throat "Well firstly if you want to raise your level and get more experience overall I am willing to take you to a nearby dungeon with some recruits as you seem to be able to handle yourself as you were able to kill some bandits and hold your own against Reki and Jasse. Obviously, If you decide to come to the dungeon I will be there with you and the recruits to ensure nothing happens. But for the locket, I have no idea what you should do".


    Guld once again took the locket in his hands and inspected it "Well the leader of our village might be able to help you with this locket situation of yours, and I just happen to have some urgent business with him so I can introduce you to him at the same time".


    "Alright Keir I appreciate the offer and I will be joining you and your recruits, but not right now as I would first like to visit the Leader first".


    Crossing his arms while nodding Keir responded "Yeah I completely understand, I can hold off on the "visit" to the dungeon for a while as to be honest the recruits are not ready for it yet and it would be better than they had someone like you making their team composition better".


    We sat and drank in the restaurant for about an hour after that conversation and Keir insisted on paying the bill but I managed to convince him to split the bill with me.


    Guld and I said bye to Keir as we stepped out of the restaurant and started walking towards the village leaders house which was on the west side of the village. On our way there we came across an old sickly Ratuu woman wearing green clothes and a yellow hat.


    "I will go help that woman," I said to Guld as I was planning on using cure to make her sickness go away.


    As I went towards the elderly woman Guld tried to stop him "Wait, Leon..aah too late"''


    I had reached the old woman and tried offering her help and forwarded my hand at the woman saying that I will heal her sickness. But the woman quickly slapped his hand away.


    The woman said in a cold tone "(Cough) I don''t need a humans (cough) help" and then she kept on walking onwards while coughing heavily and stumbling on her own feet.


    "I tried to warn you Leon as you now see the war has left scars in peoples minds and hearts," Guld said while sighing.


    "Fucking hell I was just trying to help.."  "Last time I''m going to help one of these goddamm people".


    "Don''t worry about it lets just keep going".


    We were walking across a park-like area that had a sand road and a lot of trees when I suddenly saw kids playing. The other kid was `stabbing` the other kid with a wooden sword who was lying on the playing paying dead.I started feeling convulsive and sweating heavily an image of a kid started flashing in front of me and I stopped moving onwards.


    (16 days before the ambush)


    "Get down rpg!!"


    I dove behind a building as Ak bullets hit the street and we opened fire. I kept shooting at a building where there was an Isis fighter shooting at Luciano who was pinned behind cover after a while the shooting died down we went to clear the building. On the floor near the window, the enemy laid on the ground choking on his own blood and grasping his Ak-47. A child soldier..probably only 12 years old laid there with bulletholes in his lungs.


    As I fell on my knees from the sight I could faintly hear...


    "IT WAS EITHER HIM OR US LEON"


    And a loud bang as someone shot the child to end his misery.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "FUCK fuck fuck no....no" I incoherently spoke as Guld watched my tremble and collapse on my knees. A tear fell from my left eye on to the ground Guld lowered to my level and asked


    "Whats wrong Leon!"


    I continued to take a hold of Guld and kept repeating "It should have been me, It should have been me" until I could no longer speak and was gasping for air. Guld grabbed me and held me by my shoulders he had seen my stare at the kid who was now gone.


    "Snap out of it Leon! the kid is fine" He kept repeating this for a while after around 5 minutes I had calmed down enough to stand up and continue walking"


    The whole way to the Leaders house Guld and I kept quiet


    Walking through the village we finally reach the leader''s big house made out of marble and wood. Guld led me through the big wooden double doors and as we took a step inside I laid my eyes on all sorts of sculptures of Khorrans, Ratuus, and Tosians wielding weapons. Most of the insides of the house were made out of wood and there was a fur carpet that went from the front door to a staircase right in front of us.


    Guld and I walked up the stairs as a few servants watched us from below. When we got up in front of us there was a big door that had golden sides and what Guld said to be a family crest with a griffin-like creature in the center of the door. As Guld opened the door we entered a well-lighted room with paintings and weapons decorating its walls and different relics and accessories inside class shelves. In the back end of the room, there was a large table and a Ratuu man sitting on a big fur chair.


    "Oh it''s you Guld, good to see you again old friend" The man''s eyes quickly wandered to me.


    "Long time no see Leader Satui, this is my friend Leon and we have some things to discuss with you".


    Satui looked at me while tilting his head slightly and rubbing his mustache and said "I see well any friend of Gulds is my friend even if they happen to be a human..so what brings you two here? and oh please both of you have a seat"


    Guld and I took a seat in 2 of the 4 fur chairs facing the desk.


    "Well, my business with you is a bit sensitive so Leon should talk to you first and then leave the room as I conduct my business is that acceptable?".


    "Sure, now Leon what is it that you want to know" Satui rose both of his eyebrows .


    I continued to take the locket out of my inventory and put in on the table "Well nobody seems to know what this is and It seems like it can''t be opened so I hoped that you might be able to tell me something about this".


    Satuis eyes slightly light up as he saw the necklace and picked it up for further inspection "Oh you know space magic and this sure is an interesting locket..may I ask you from where did you get this".


    "I don''t know I just kinda have always had it".


    My answer seemed to just fuel Satuis intrigue as he asked: "By any chance are you a druid or a shaman".


    "y-Yeah how did you know!"


    "I''ve seen my fair share of lockets and have quite the high Identify level but I can''t seem to be able to Identify this, meaning that it either is a class specific item or it has some sort of spell or curse on it. I can rule out spells and curses as it isn''t emitting any sort of abnormal aura at least not anything I can feel and the design does suggest it is either a druid or shaman item" .


    "Okay, so can you tell me anything else?"


    "Patience youngster...the creature on the locket looks like a wurgi its a wolf-like a creature except for almost twice the size of a wolf and usually has elemental or magical attributes and sometimes the colors of the wolfs eyes reflect its attributes.


    Sadly that''s about all I can tell you about this" Satui said while biting his fingernail.


    "Well thx for the info but do you know if there is any way to open it or something like that".


    Satui crossed his arms and now bit his finger "Well....there is someone who could tell you about it most likely.."


    "I see where might that person be," I asked excitedly.


    "Well that isn''t so simple..essentially you are looking for a tribe of druids/Shamas that are mostly elves and live in a forest some way from here...But the thing is you don''t simply visit them entering the forest they live in is difficult as animals protect the area and people who want to visit them usually never find them its like they control the whole forest and if they please the will reveal their location and let you meet them face to face." Satui grinned awkwardly.


    "Now if they don''t like you..despite being druids they don''t really like unwanted people entering their forest so an unwanted quest would probably get slaughtered fast by the animals or eaten alive".


    I straightened my back and flexed my neck "So the thing is I just have this feeling that I need to open the locket so do you know of any way possible that would allow me to go in there and you know..not get killed"


    "I admire your dedication but just the fact that you are a druid might not be enough to convince them not to let the animals kill you, to get in there you should either already have a good relationship with the tribe or be of elven blood just to get them to listen to your questions"


    "Weeell it just happens that I have the trait Elven blood would that suffice".


    Satui jumped back in his chair and rose up an eyebrow "W-w-what you have the Elven blood trait!!"


    "Umm Is it really that weird, I was saved by an elf and she gave me some of her blood"''


    Now both Guld and Sattui yelled in unison "What!!"


    Sattui completely dropped his formal composure "Umm yeah for you to have the trait is weird but to say you were first saved by an elf and then given blood...I''ve literally never heard of something like that happening in my whole lifetime"


    "No, it really did happen" I continued to show them the trait.


    Satui asked "Well you sure weren''t lying about the trait but I still find it hard to believe you were saved by an elf and given the blood..did she have any request for you"


    "Well no she quickly disappeared after she gave me the blood and I passed out".


    A silence in the room started after my statement which was finally broken by Sattui.


    "(a Cough) Sorry for being a bit rude about this, but if you have Elven blood I think it should be fine if you went tho you should go alone and I still wouldn''t recommend going but If that''s what you want to do I can give you a map later on showing you the location"


    "That would be great, thanks for your insight and help Satui".


    "No problem now I think its time for you to go back downstairs as I believe Guld had something to talk to me about".


    "Alright, Guld Il wait for you downstairs on the sofa".


    Guld nodded in response and I exited the room.


    "So guld what is it that you want to talk about".


    Guld took a piece of cloth out of his pocket that he had picked up when the bandits attacked.


    "Some humans attacked me on my way back to the village and Leon took care of them but as they laid there dead on the ground I noticed that one of them had this insignia on him".


    Satui took a look at the insignia and slammed his fist on the table "FUKING RIVERTIANS THIS EXPLAINS IT!".


    "Excuse me Satui?".


    "mhmh" Satui regained his composure "Last night a few patrolmen went missing in the village and left behind only their weapons with no visible marks of combat..except in one case a small trail of blood was found that a few of my men traced to the forest before the trail disappeared".


    "How many people know about this?" Guld asked as he crossed his arms.


    "Only the people that traced the blood trail and some higher up sergeants etc though they all have been told to keep quiet for the time being the fact that you were attacked by rivertians just before we lost 3 good men is obviously not a coincidence" Satui said as he gritted his teeth and pressed his fist on his chin.


    "They are trying to get intel about the village.." Guld responded in a disgusted voice.


    "Exactly..they must be preparing for an attack," Sattui said.


    "If I had to guess we maybe have a few weeks before an attack but we may not even have a week," Guld said as he rubbed his beard and tapped his leg against the floor.


    "Now Guld what I''m about to suggest will not get out to anyone in the village except Keir got it".


    "Understood"


    "The fact that 3 men went missing without a hitch most likely means that somebody in the village is working with them or they have some really highly trained thieves and assassins and they probably have some very high-level invisibility magic at least to be able to move 3 people to the treeline without the archers noticing. Now I''m going to ask you something are you absolutely 100% sure we can trust Leon even if he "saved" you from the bandits it could have just been a ploy to get him inside the village." Satui rigorously tapped his fingers on the table.


    "Hmm I think we can trust Leon he seems to not know anything about the outer world being a hermit and I don''t believe he has it in him to be a good enough actor to be able to fool me".


    " I understand Guld I believe you but if you have any suspicions that he is lying to you nobody would complain if you killed him"''.


    "If it comes to that I can take him out with ease but I still don''t believe he is a spy".


    "Yeah you are one of the strongest there is no doubt you wouldn''t be able to handle him, but if he isn''t the spy that brings another problem into our hands that would mean we wouldn''t have any other suspect".


    "I believe we can''t rule out beast etc even though it sounds unlikely the Rivertians may have a mythical familiar capable of taking our men without us noticing. In my opinion, it would be best to see if anything else happens and strengthen our defenses without the civilians noticing any big changes".


    Satuistarts smiling "And that''s one of the reasons I respect you Guld always sharp like the spear you used to wield back in the day".


    Guld puffs up his chest a bit "Thanks for the kind words Satui, also I believe we should set up a meeting between the higher-ups to discuss this situation".


    Satui answers while taking out a pipe and lighting it up "I agree with you 100% I will also be putting a message to the guards out that your orders should be obeyed although that might not be needed but just in case".


    And so the two kept discussing things and after some time, they parted and Guld and Leon exited the building.

 Chapter 9

    Guld had gotten the local map from Satui and gave it to me for inspection while explaining.


    "Our village is relatively near a sort of no man''s land which separates the Falloian nation from the rivertians the forest of the elves you are heading for is located in this ¡äno man''s land`. "


    "As you can see on the map some distance away from the elves forest there is a ¡älarge village`. That village has been long ago abandoned by both sides and was used as an outpost in the last war by both nations so it was a highly contested area. I don''t recommend going there as you are likely going to meet savages of different races there and you never know what their intentions are."


    "Ok got it, so I should go around the village then?"


    "Precisely"


    As I further inspected the map I thought now would be a good time to ask something from Guld.


    "Hey, Guld how come pretty much everyone trusts and respects you is there some sorta bigger reason or is it just because of your background as a warrior?


    "Well there are a few reasons why I think most people respect me obviously my past outside the village also is one of the reasons but believe it or not before I retired here I used to train some of the sergeants and the best guards here"


    "Wow the Old dwarf is probably even stronger than Keir then I guess I should stay on his good side."


    A few passersby waved at Guld as we walked towards the central village area aka the marketplace.


    "Also, believe it or not, I used to lead the troops in the last war and successfully retake this village from the rivertians it was a bloody battle but I was able to defeat their leader which lowered the enemy morale.


    "Now then Leon when are you planning on leaving to the forest of elves today?"


    "I''m thinking I''ll leave soon as probably gaining levels Isn''t going to help me survive in the forest as the hordes of strong animals and beasts could easily kill me anyway according to Satui."


    "In that case, we should visit an alchemist to buy potions for you immediately."


    And so we made haste to the alchemist''s store which was near the marketplace. On our way there we saw a trade caravan arrive in the city which lit up the action in the marketplace.


    When we were about to go in the big stone building guld stopped me at the front door


    "Leon I think it would be better if you stayed here outside while I handle the business, the owner... well she doesn''t like humans like the others..but her hatred for humans is a bit stronger," Guld said without making eye contact with me.


    "How come so," I asked


    Guld sighed "Her father was killed by humans and her mother..well she was taken as a slave and she just happened to have a ¡äWell endowed body` so I think you can figure out the rest by yourself."


    "Oh...I had no idea...In that case, Il stays outside but.." I handed Guld 2 gold coins.


    "Is this enough for some potions."


    Guld took the money and gave me a slight nod before entering the building.


    The streets were full of people making their way to the caravan, in the distance where the marketplace was at I could see people yelling on top of boxes and showing of different items and other being more orderly and stocking up on produce from the caravan. The caravaners were not so easily identifiable from the average marketgoer at least from this distance. While looking at the far away marketplace a pack of guards was passing by me and on the front of the pack, there was a familiar face who looked at me.


    "Ohh fuck isn''t that Reki," I thought as my body tensed up.


    As our ous met Reki stopped and said something to his accomplices before parting from them and heading towards me as the other went towards the marketplace while giving me looks.


    Reki stopped in front of me "Hello..Leon right?"


    In a dry voice, I responded: "Yea...what do you want?"


    Reki kicked the dirt a bit "I just came to say sorry about before I was intoxicated and I wasn''t myself" after saying that he bowed to me and a few passersby looked at Keir with disgusted expressions but Keir didn''t seem to care.


    I looked at Reki closely to try to figure out if he was lying to me or actually sincere "I understand there is no need bow, also I''m sorry I was a bit rude too so.."


    Reki raised his head "No! it''s my fault I was out of line, I can''t fully speak for Jasse but I think she too would like to apologize me and her both have some difficulties with controlling ourselves while intoxicated so our actions wary from our normal behaviors though I can''t say the same for the other guards I lead"


    I could hear sincerity in his voice and he had a serious look on his face which was only strengthened by the look in his eyes. I offered my hand to him and he shook it, Reki sure had a firm handshake.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "Now if we can let by gons by gons I would like to ask something from you, Leon."


    "Sure go ahead."


    "What class are you? you seemed to have some close quarters experience ontop of casting nature magic from what I remember"


    "I''m a druid and I''ve had some training in hand to hand combat, now what about you and that weird yellow glow of yours combined with that strength I wonder what class you are?"


    "Unlike most Khorrans is actually a Monk and I have specialized in body strengthening magic and skills from my monk tree, excuse me for questioning you but are you really a druid that''s kind of hard to believe coming from a human"


    I continued to show Reki that I was, in fact, a druid from my record and he nodded to me and let out a grin.


    "By the way Reki it seemed like you were highly intoxicated before how come you are perfectly fine now"


    "Well there are a few reasons to that, I''ve picked up some passive skills that get rid of toxins in my body faster and us Khorrans have stronger livers that burn alcohol faster from our bodies"


    "Ohh well that explains it"


    A slight silence falls and Rei and I are just looking at each other for a while.


    "So Leon what are you doing here in front of the alchemist''s shop, you know the owneris a Tosian who does not like humans at all right?" Rei said while shaking his arms


    "Yeah Guld told me that so that''s why he went inside and I staid outside waiting for him to buy potions."


    "Ohh so you are with Guld again are you planning on going somewhere?"


    "I would rather not tell that to a person who has attacked me, not to offend you but I don''t know you fully and I know that people here don''t like my kind."


    "Yea no offense taken I completely understand your point of view I hope we will get along in the future, but I have to go now to the marketplace to see that everything is going smoothly with the caravan"


    "Aight good luck."


    Reki nodded to me and started jogging towards the marketplace while some young women of all the races were staring at him infatuated, which was no wonder as the man sure was charismatic and had a nice physique.


    "Eeeh I''d tap that."


    Just as I lost sight of Reki guld came out of the building with two bags of potions.


    "I got your potions!"


    Guld showed me the insides of the bags the other one had 10 potions that guld told would each restore my mana by 600 and the other one had 6 potions that would restore my stamina by 600. After I put the bags into my inventory Guld took out 40 silver.


    "I got a discount from the owner due to helping her out back in the day so here''s the change Leon."


    "No guld you can keep the silver I insist," I said with a smile.


    A twinkle in Guld eyes could be seen as he said "Well don''t mind if d..I mean if you insist" and he put the coins in his pocket.


    "Is there anything else I should do before departing on my way ?"


    "Now that you mention Namwo may have your cape ready!"


    On the way to Guld house Guld was going on and on about how good of a tailor Namwo was and that she could even make an epic grade item from squirrel hides which I slightly questioned. Guld sure was one happy man when you talked to him about anything that had to do with her wife. Once we arrived at Gulds house Namwo presented me the cloak.


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Cloak of hellfire


    Grade:Legendary


    Enchantments: Heatsense, Temperaturecontrol


    Info: A masterfully tailored cloak made of abrimfiregylonsfur. The cloak is fully fire resistant and a cannot be damaged by regular weapons. The cloak has been enchanted with Heatsense and Temperature control giving the cloak the ability to detect thewearer''sbody heat and change the temperature of the cloak. The cloak can be imbued with fire magic which will be amplified by the capes fire attribute.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "I added a few enchantments to the cape that makes it better for traveling around as you are going on an adventure, later on, also If at any point you want more enchantments to the cape while you are here I am willing to do them but it will cost you."


    "Wow..this cape looks amazing and is amazing....Even though you didn''t want any money for this I just can''t accept it for free I don''t have much but I will give you 2 gold for the work"


    Namwo looked at Guld who was visible making "I told you he''s a good person face". Namwo accepted the money and gave me the cape. I took off the cape Guld had previously given me and put on the cape. The cape fitted me perfectly.


    It was around 4 pm when I was about to leave from the house to start heading towards the elf forest, Namwo and Guld had given me some food for the journey so I was pretty much ready to leave but then Guld hurried towards me.


    "Ohh I forgot Leon I have a few tricks to show you to make surviving and fighting some of the beast easier"


    "Well then show me," I said excitedly "I was going to be getting training from a great fighter this is going to be interesting"


    Guld and I went to his backyard to train. A few hours went by as Guld showed different creatures attack patterns and taught me a couple of tricks he had heard from adventurers and mercenaries back in the day. While doing this I learned a few ways to make this techniques and tricks work better by utilizing some of my spells In creative ways.


    Guld cameat me with insane speed, I was barely able to dodge his first punch but after that, he threw a fast and powerful left hook which connected sending me flying backward.


    "Fuck." I whimpered as a held my side on the ground. Guld had kept hammering me for a while now because I hadn''t figured out a way to dodge his attacks.


    "Think Leon Think! you need to find out a way to dodge my attacks use your magic or anything in you can."


    Another punch connected this time hitting my chin and almost knocking me out. I spat blood on the ground before standing up. I had tried reversing the effect of storm push by trying to use it and make the spell knock me back in a direction I wanted but to no success.


    This time Guld charged at me with an even greater intent to knock me the fuck out I once again managed to dodge his first punch and as his second punch came at me by some miracle I was able to propel my self away from him with Strom push as it did minimal damage to Guld on contact. As I was propelled backward Guld came at me and I used earth surge to launch myself in the air.


    "Guld I told you not to make that mistake now you''re going to pay," Guld said as he jumped high in the air readying to punch me.


    But then I propelled myself away with storm push again and landed back on the ground.


    "I think you are finally ready Leon," Guld said as he offered me his hand which I firmly shook with sweat dripping down my forehead and blood pouring out of my lip.


    After the training, I cleaned myself up and healed the injuries and Finally left Guld''s house to head towards the village gates. On my way to the gate, I could see the villagers looking at me but I had gotten used to it and couldn''t really give two shits about it unless they tried doing something to me, now that would be a different case. When I reached the gate to leave the village the guards opened the gate without a word from them and let their shoulders down in relief as I left the village.


    As I walked along the road I tried summoning Sylviel but I got no response from Sylviel and couldn''t summon her.


    "Huh well thats weird"


    I kept going along the road.

 Chapter 10

    While walking on the road I also tried summoning the other kitsunes. I managed to summon Ivy but Ara and Sylviel would not show up.


    I let Ivy walk next to me on the sand road and tried asking her if she knew where her brother and mother were but she just tilted her head and looked confused.


    "Hopefully nothing has happened to them," I thought as I picked Ivy up and put her on my shoulder where she stood comfortably on the cloak.


    The sun was still shining and It probably was quite hot outside still but thanks to the cloak being outside felt like being in room temperature except with a slight breeze that made me feel even more comfortable. The distance to the elf forest was probably about 2 days long and should not take longer unless I ran into trouble, at least that''s whatGuld told me earlier.


    I was now a rather long distance away from the village and could see it no more due to the heavy forest around me and due to going over a small hill earlier which overlooked the village. Suddenly I thought I heard footsteps from the behind me in the forest and jumped forward doing a 180 and pulling out my tanto. Ivy also got alert and hid inside my cloak.


    There was nothing to be seen in the tree line around and behind me.


    "Hmpf, must''ve been an animal or something" Ivy came out of my cloak and went back on my shoulder and I patted her head softly making her purr in happiness.


    As I looked at the map I thought of the Ruins that lied far ahead of me between me and the Elven forest, while training me Guld had told me that savages and tribes consisting of savages liked to hideout nearby the ruins and around it in the no mans land so I should be carefulwhile making my way to my destination.


    From what Guld knew the savages were people that consisted of many races of people that lived together in smallcommunities or in small groups due to either being outcast from their villages for their own reasons. The savages are not only Falloians there are also Rivertian savages and sometimes they even worked together in groups doing all sorts of things to survive.


    Meanwhile, after Leon had left the village an assembly was about to be held that included the village leader, guld, and a few generals excluding the rest of the village council that included wealthy traders that were elected to their positions democratically by the traders and shopkeepers of the village.


    In a well-lit underground hall with maps and a long table in the middle Guld was sitting on a fur chair chatting with Keir and Satui waiting for the other 2 generals arrival. Keir sat In the end of the table on a similarchair that the others were supposed to sit in, Guld was sitting on the left side of the table near Satui and Keir was sitting on the right sideopposite from Guld.


    Keir was the general of the main branch of Guards that were supposed to protect the villagers inside the village and do all sorts of guard jobs like guarding the walls, inner city, patrolling and sometimes going along with trade caravans. the guards numbered around 50 while the overall population of the village was around 500.


    Keir was a swordsman with the class specialization Brawler and wielded all kinds of weapons and he was often wearing some sort of armor but in this meeting, he was wearing a slightly more formal appearal that was made out of leather and fur and only had two short swords strapped to his legs.


    "So Keir did you send those scouts to tail Leon," Satui asked Keir who was sitting, arms crossed with a stiff face.


    While unfolding his arms and cracking his knuckles Keir answered "Yeah I sent two good men after him they should do their job well, I''ve had them tail people on occasions. Its a wonder they haven''t requested a transferred to be working in Osior`sgroup."


    "Do you really think it was necessary to send them to tail Leon" Guld asked while tapping the table slightly nervously.


    "Yes I believe it is, are you perhaps turning soft towards this Leon, Guld?"


    "Of course not Keir..I just think..."


    Keir was interrupted by a young woman who entered the room by slamming open the doors. The woman was a Tosian with silvery hair and a lean body and leather armor that had straps for arrows, knives and the sorts. It could be said that her rather beautiful pale face was ruined by a scar that ran from her neck to her lip and from there to under her right left eye.


    Her name was Fiel and she was the General of the "Guards" specialized on fighting against monsters and clearing dungeons for the safety of the village and to supply the villagers with tradable goods to ensure the village could afford to trade for food.


    Fiel was a Hunter with a rare class specialization, Blood archer. The group of "Guards" she led were called the Cleavers and they were a group about 40 men strong who were paid with the money taxed from the traders working under the village council. These traders mostly traded dungeon/beast/monster drop items.


    "Oh hello, Guld long time no see" Guld nodded and smiled in response to Fiel''s greeting.


    Kiel sat two seats from Guld on the left side of the table and stuck a knife on the wooden table where there were already many knife marks.


    She turned her gaze towards Keir. "Kier.."


    Keir responded, "Oh it''s you.." The two looked at each other coldly and Fiel continued to put her legs on top of the table while brandishing one of her many knives.


    "You two never change do you," Guld said with a slight grin on his face.


    The door creaked open and a man wearing very baggy harem pants and a long shirt that covered his very lean and muscular body filled with scars. The man took oh his hood that was apart of his shirt and revealed his face the man had cat ears and small horns his face was tanned and he had a sharp jawline and blue eyes. He was a halfbreed between a Khorran and a Ratuu. The mans name was Osior a Rogue with the class specialization Spell blade.


    Osior was the general of the small "Guard" group called the Bloodhoundsthere were only 10 members but they were all skilled in fighting other people like dangerouscriminals and high-value targets like generals not to even mention Osior`s skills in combat which were rumored to be even higher than Guld''s when he was in his prime.


    Osior sat on the right side of the table next to Keir only nodding in response to the greetings of everyone else in the room. His composure was relaxed with his hand tucked into his large pockets.


    "Well it''s been a while since I''ve seen Guld and his students in the same table.." Satui said


    "Oh for fuck''s sake just get to the point" Kiel spat the words out of her mouth while spinning a knife in her hand


    "HEY!..LISTEN HERE Y.." Keir was interrupted by Guld who told him to calm down.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    "Huh I guess someone is still mad about what happened to his brother"


    After those words came out of Fiel''s mouth in a mocking tone, Guld punched the table. "For the god''s sake will you two stop it already!!" The table shook as Gulds voice turned more monotone than usually and Fiel dropped her knife.


    A silence fell down in the room for a while.


    Satui broke the silence "Mhm, as I was saying you all have read the info I sent to you so you all know what we are doing here so I want to hear your opinions in the matter before we move along"


    "Well do what we''ve always done when they come well fking kill em!"


    "Okay now that we have gone over the crazy woman''s opinion I suggest doubling the nightly patrols for a while and that we will act like its just a drill for the soldiers so they don''t get too interested in what''s going on. Also, Il be informing the missing guard''s families that the men were assigned duties for a while outside the city at least for now.


    "So you''re just gonna lie to them you while knowingthat by now they are going to have all the information extracted from them and then either killed or turned into slaves for the goddamm humans" Fiel muttered.


    "Well do you have a better Idea?"


    "Ok, then Osior what do you think," Satui asked while sparks were flying between Fiel and Keir.


    Osior who had stayed silent the whole time finally spoke up


    "First of all, we should keep an eye more closely on the valley as the enemy may try to attack us from there even if it seems unlikely we never know what they have up their sleeves if they have someone as capable as the familiar or person that kidnapped the guards, I''m planning on taking a few men and going to the forest nearby and looking for any suspicious signs of enemy movement we will be living in the forest for a while and staying undetectable or at least that''s the plan if I get the clearance to initiate it"


    "Also, the rest of my men would be in your use Guld If you need them for anything. I also suggest that we start sharing fake intel and plans with each other through some of the familiars we have in use in the bloodhound group. "


    "It seems you have come far in the role of being a general" Guld said proudly while lighting a cigar and Osier gave a slight bow as a response.


    Everyone agreed with the ideas suggested by Osier and Kier and the conversation moved on.


    The conversations consisted of things such as increasing the amount of guard who overlooked the caravans and travelers who came through the village and coordination a joint exercise between all the guard groups as soon as possible. After some debate over the matter, the generals and Guld came to the conclusion that the attack would most likely come after 2 weeks but that wasn''t for sure.


    Also, the generals requested that Sattui spoke to the rest of the village council about acquiring more equipment for the guards and using excuses like the old gear is worn off, or any means to get them to acquire things like defensive runes, arrows, and consumables.


    As the meeting ended and some time passed Leon was setting up a camp in the forest while the sun was going down and the sky was clear while the two moons were rising to the sky from the horizon. Leon had used earth surge to move some ground out of a hill to create a small cave for himself which he was planning on covering with leaves and almost completely closing the entrance when he would go to sleep.


    ...


    I was finally don''t making the small cave for myself, well not it wasn''t really a cave more like a large hole that had some large logs to keep the holes "roof" from collapsing. I gathered some firewood and dry grass and decided to start a fire to prepare some food. Taking a look at the map I was a bit over a halfway of the journey to the forest and I was somewhat close to the ruins of that city Guld had warned me about.


    I realized I really didn''t have anything I could make a fire and I wasn''t going to go look for anything in the forest no more so I decided to try to use mana manipulation to start the fire. Soon I was able to set the firewood and grass on fire.


    While cooking khodra meat and some vegetables for myself and Ivy in a pot Namwo had given me, I looked out at the clear night sky which reminded me of something and I began reminiscing.


    0200, somewhere above the clouds.


    The C-130 was undergoing some slight turbulence before the hatch on the back opened and the sergeant yelled


    "What is our motto!!?"


    And all the Force recon marines yelled back in unison "Swift, Silent, Deadly" Before starting to jump out of the plane.


    "Fuck man I don''t think I can do this" Luciano said to Leon as more and more marines jumped out of the plane.


    "It''s about fucking time you get rid of that fear of heights isn''t this like the 3rd goddam time we''re doing this?!" Leon said to Luciano as they approached the back of the plane to jump.


    As Leon walked forwards while dragging Luciano with him he once again said to him "If you don''t jump I''m going down there and taking that bottle of Jack you hid in the barracks and drinking it in one go."


    "Goddamit I hate you," Luciano said as he smiled and hesitantly jumped out the plane while the drill sergeant was calling the two a bunch of pansies.


    As the two were falling the last of the marines in the plane jumped out. (Fast-forward) Leon, Luciano and the rest of the marines had made it into a forest and set camp under a clear night sky. They were sitting near in a circle while one of them took watch of their surroundings in case any drill instructor would pop out of the woodworks to yell to them.


    "Private Edd why is your footlocker unlocked! If there is one thing I hate in this world it''s AN UNLOCKED FOOTLOCKER!" Luciano yelled to Eddwhile imitating a certain drill sergeant. Luciano had been in basic with Edd when a similar situation occurred to Edd.


    Laughter ensued amongst the men and someone dropped their Mrefajita on to the ground (With a deep voice) "NOOOOOOO"


    0150, Kandahar


    Leon, Edd, John, and Luciano were eating their meals atop a hill they were keeping a lookout of the valley below with another 4-man fireteam.


    When Luciano was eating his Pork patty mrehe came up with a magnificent idea.


    "Guys, Guys what if we took the... Pork patty mres and left them out in the open with a different label, and unknowingly some Taliban will eat it and maybe notice maybe not, that he is eating fucking pork!"


    "Jesus Christ Luciano that''s sick.........I like it" Leon responded as the four men laughed while indulging in their mre''s.


    A grimmer memory came up as Leon reminisced about Luciano


    1600, Kandahar, Ambush


    "Fuck Jack was in that humvee!!" Edd yelled as a bullet passed through his shin.


    Luciano and John were firing at a two-story house in which a Taliban was preparing the fire his rpg. Bullets hit the walls of the house and soon midst all the chaos the Taliban was taken out but yet another humvee was taken out.


    Suddenly from behind a corner a Taliban jumped out and was about to take a shot at Dan as he was too slow to react, luckily Leon beat him to the punch and was able to shoot the Taliban with his Hk M27. This caused John to give an acknowledging nod to Leon before he jumped behind more sturdy cover to reload.


    Leon and Luciano ran forwards avoiding gunfire while Jonh gave suppressive fire. Once the two made it behind a building Leon started reloading while simultaneously signaling that he had spotted a sniper atop one of the roofs, when suddenly he heard a loud yell and a shotgun blast from his side.


    Luciano had shot a suicide bomber who had come out of one of the buildings nearby and was now about to jump on top of the bomber while yelling "GET THE FUCK DOWN LEON!!!"


    A loud explosion occurred after Luciano had managed to jump on top of the already dead bomber which caused parts of Luciano''s body parts and organs to splatter on the wall and on Leon who had dived on to the ground. A loud ringing sound overwhelmed Leon ears as he watched in shock at Luciano''s corpse.


    "Fuck!!" I yelled as I snapped out of the memory and threw my tanto at a wooden log, sinking the blade deep into the log.


    I was sweating heavily and having really bad ghost pains on my left arm, Ivy came to me trying to find out what was wrong as I looked at my own trembling hands and kept getting flashes of my hands covered in blood I could almost feel my hand being blown off.


    After a while, I managed to calm down and pull my tanto out of the wooden log after which I started eating the slightly burnt food with Ivy.


    A looming sense of guilt hung over in Leon''s mind as the night went on and he sat in a corner with his back against the wall and had his elbow propped up against his knees while having his hand covering his face as he thought about the day everything had gone to shit.


    As the night kept going and the moonswere high in the sky I went out and put down a defensive rune on the ground which guld had given me, the rune would immediately wake me up with some sort of magic frequency if someone got close enough to the cave and would release a small explosion.


    I then closed of the "cave" with earth surge and went to sleep on the ground without putting down anything I could sleep on.


    Meanwhile, as Leon fell asleep in the forest you could hear a flapping of wings and a man falling out of a tree with huge claw marks that covered his neck and chest. Soon after another noise of a man hitting the ground could be heard and the sound of big flapping wings quietened as the culprit flew away in the stary sky.

 Chapter 11

    As the sun started rising up so did Leon


    I woke up in the cave and quickly used earth surge to move the earth barrier away from the entrance of the cave and came out of the cave to hear the chirping of birds and humming of trees. I began removing the rune out of the ground and just as I was done, I could feel the earth trembling and instinctively propelled away using storm push with my hand.


    While I was airborne I saw a huge crack from on the ground and the earth shatter in a line to my previous position and huge rock spikes that formed from the crack on the earth that started from the edge of the treeline to the place I had placed to rune on.


    From behind a tree, a large goblin emerged wearing a staff and brown cloth around its waist.


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Hobgoblin shaman


    Level 35


    Info: A goblin shaman lives in solitude from other goblins. Hobgoblin shamans are known to use Poison, Earth, Nature and Illusion magic but are not limited to those magic types.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The hobgoblingrinned at me before tapping his staff on the ground and mumbling something. Multiple large vines shot out from the ground at me as I landed on the ground I replied to this attack by casting chain lightning and making it destroy all the vines coming at me.


    As the lightning destroyed the vines I tried forwarding the lightning at the hobgoblin but as I looked at the place it had stood at I could no longer see a Hobgoblin only a large cloud of mist.


    "Fuck" I took a fighting stance and pulled out my tanto and started scanning my surroundings.


    A silence had fallen and I could not see a trace of the goblin until simultaneously three goblin shamans that looked just like each other started walking towards me from different sides forming a triangular encirclement around me. Quickly I took out 3 short sharpened metal blades and shot them at the goblins using levitate the first goblin got hit in the throat by one of the blades and turned in to water the second and third goblins both blocked the blades with small earth walls so I pulled all the blades back and made them levitate around me.


    The goblins responded with some sort of mumbling I couldn''t make sense of before they shot out tiny balls of fire at me I took a step back and the first ball landed near me, I thought they had just missed terribly and started focusing on the other fireball when suddenly the ball of fire on the ground exploded and sent me flying backward.


    I flew back and hit the ground and bounced off back into the air by hitting my hand on the ground and casting storm push. This sent me flying sideways into the air causing the 2nd small fireball to go under me as I used Air twist to land on the ground safely.


    Luckily the fire did no damage to me thanks to my cloak.When the 2nd ball of fire exploded far behind me the shaman and his clone were already chanting something.


    To put a stop to this I cast entangle on the both of them but just as the other shaman gets trapped by the vines and one of my blades starts flying at it the other shaman pushes itself away with wind avoiding the vines that shoot out of the ground late due to the fact that I had to cast entangle twice. The entangled Shaman turns into water as a blade hits its chest.


    As the last shaman begins casting a charge at him by sending myself flying straight at him with earth surge. The goblin sends an earth wall at me which I continue to cut in half by slicing at the air sending a lightning strike in the form of a slice at it and simultaneously throw my tanto in the air and it disappears into my Inventory.


    I continued flying at the shaman and boost my speed with storm push and push some of the rock fragments away as I fly through them and imbue my prosthetic arm with lightning.


    As my prosthetic arm imbued in lightning gets closer and closer to the shamans face it lets out a scream before my fist hits its face and shatters it skull making blood and brain matter spill all over. I land on the ground behind the shaman''s body and take a deep breath


    "Phew" I sigh.


    Just then the shaman''s body behind Leon turns in to water.


    I feel a great jolt of pain as the earth under me collapses and a pillar of earth hits me in the back. I roll on the ground and cough blood while letting out the levitation spell from the blades. From the corner of my eye, I see a green liquid stream fly towards me and roll away and jump back up.


    Just as I began regaining my focus another stream partially hits my arm and I curse loudly. My vision blurs slightly as the shaman comes at me while throwing a dagger at me.


    "Huh right into my trap," I say as I deflect the dagger by drawing out my tanto and cast levitate on the blades on the ground and send them flying at the goblin from the side. 2 of the blades sink into the goblins skull and one hits him dead on the chest. The goblins let out a final squeal as it falls on the ground.


    Xp gained 3000


    Personal level now 8


    Xp needed for next level 6/2100


    Unlocated stat points: 4


    "I had actually not gotten badly hurt from the earth pillar hitting me from behind and decided to play hurt betting on the fact that the goblin would get cocky and charge to finish me so I ceased my levitation spell on purpose to make him think that I was..." My thoughts were stopped due to a strong sense of disorientation as I fell on my knees.


    I looked at the spot where the goblins weird liquid spell had hit me the spot had turned green and the veins around it were glowing in a green light. I quickly took out mana potions and drank two of them before starting to cast cure on the spot.


    After a while of healing the pain and disorientation went away and just a small fading green glow was left on my arm. I chugged down another mana potion after which didn''t honestly taste that good it was like drinking bad wine.


    Suddenly I saw a bush shake in the forest and heard a loud "Thump" sound from said bush. I looked at the bush and slowly rose up and with levitate pulled my blades of the carcass of the goblin and had them hower above me pointing at the bush.


    "For fuck''s sake what now.."I mumbled before yelling "Whoever or whatever is there you should come out now or these blades are going up your ass!"


    Soon after I yelled that two figures emerged from the bush.


    There was a tall horned woman with long black hair, green cloth clothing and two large two-sided battle axes strapped to her waist. She had silvery forearm guards and knee guards. The woman also had long chains around both of her wrists.


    The other person was a man about my size andhad a large crossbow in his right hand and his left hand behind the back of his head scratching his head. The man was wearing some sort of glistening green chainmail and a torn brown coat that had leaves stuck on it. The rest of his clothing was like the woman¡¯s green clothing.


    The woman started speaking as the two of them got closer to me "Nice fighting there fella, we''ve been trying to find and kill that shaman for a while now."


    "Yeah that goddamm shaman had managed to escape from us a few days ago with some food it stole," The man said in while sighing


    I looked at the two for a while and relaxed up a bit but I still didn''t drop my guard. "So...did the goblin take something else from you? as I don''t really see any other real reason you need to be searching for it"


    "Well, frankly that''s none of your fu..." The woman was interrupted by the man who reached and put his hand over her mouth.


    " (cough)...Well now that you mention it did take a particular item from us...a silver ring with a red garnet embedded to it" The man said as he tilted his head and looked at the goblins carcass.


    Seeing this I quickly backed up and cut off one of the goblins fingers and took off a silver ring that was almost stuck in the finger. While holding the ring I felt uncomfortable as I gazed into the glowing red garnet


    "So is this is it then," I said as I showed the ring to them from a slight distance as they had once again crept closer to me.


    "Precisely...now could you maybe sell that to us for a few coins..It''s really an insignificant ring but it has sentimental value to one of my friends so I would be willing to pay 20 silver for it" The man said as he took out a small bag out of his waist and jiggled it in his hand.


    "Hmm, they could be trying to fool me lets take a look,"I thought as I used inspect on the ring.


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Crimson Dawn


    Grade: ???


    A relic of past times. This ring emits a strange red glow from the garnet embedded into it..???</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The item could not be fully identified with the current skill level


    "Damm not high enough level..There are two of them and maybe more assuming this ring actually belongs to a "friend" of his. The two in front of me seems to know how to carry themselves..I think it''s better to just give the ring to them" Thinking that I looked at the man''s calm yet somehow fearsome eyes and threw to ring at him.


    "Here you can have it for free..." I said as the man easily caught the ring with some weird box.


    "Well thank you.....I suppose you.." The man''s sentence was caught short as a big dark ball appeared around 70 feet away from us on our left side.


    The ball was making weird screeching sounds as it suddenly burst open releasing a large explosion of darkness which we all managed to avoid be using different abilities to get away from the blast that destroyed all the trees and vegetation in its blast radius.


    "What the fuck was that!!" I yelled at the two who had drawn their weapons and were looking at the blast area.


    The blast of darkness hadn''t destroyed the ground but there was some sort of weird dark liquid that started forming on the ground and soon after began levitating upwards.


    "How the fuck are we supposed to do!!" The woman and man yelled in unison with their voices that showed no signs of fear.


    A figure emerged from the woods and stepped into the huge opening created by the blast. It was a terrifying abomination of what looked like a dryad if the dryad was half grim reaper. The other side of the creature was a wooden human like large body filled with weird black spots that looked as if they were slowly spreading and the other side of the body was made of bones and weird dark flesh that only partially covered the fore mentioned bones. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    The head of the creature had a crooked red smile on the right side and the left side was mangled and was closed. The creatures right eye was green but the place where the left eye should have been only had a hole with an odd red glow coming out of it. The creature had a ripped dark cape with a large hood that covered the top of the creatures head. On the right the creature was holding a long beautiful wooden staff..that had blood dripping from the weird long bone that was growing out of the staffs top left side pointing away from the creature.


    As I looked closer there was a path behind the creature that was filled with dead fauna and pieces of wood and pieces of flesh.


    <table style="max-width: 400px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Shrieker Dryad


    Level ???


    An abomination that is born when a wood dryad is corrupted. ???</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "What in....ohh fuck its a lvl74 shrieker" The woman said as she tightened her grip on her axes


    "Jesus fucking Christ"I guess il just have to believe them


    The weird liquid on the ground began forming taking different shapes. Soon tens of monsters had formed on the opening they all had bodies made of the weird black liquid that had solidified into scales. Their faces had hollow eyes and no mouths and their bodies still had some of the black liquid floating around them. I tried identifying them.


    Cannot identify creatures created by spells


    Just I read that notification a small screen pops up


    <table style="max-width: 270px">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>You have been Invited to a party consisting     of an Archer and a Barbarian


    Accept Yes/No</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I took a look at the two near me and the man gave a slight nod as I accepted the party invite


    Party joined Party consists of 3 people...Exp share activated


    The barbarian woman starts charging at the creatures that are about half her size. While running in one fluid motion the woman draws her axes and attaches them to the chains on her hands. As she gets closer to the creatures she emits a green light for a short while before boosting up close to one of the creatures and upper cuts it with her left axe splitting the creatures head in half and sending the body flying with an incredibly strong yet quick kick.


    After that two creatures were running some distance behind her back at the man. The woman spun around and threw her axes that were chained to her wrists with wide swings causing the axes to sweep the creatures heads away causing the black liquid inside them to start spilling all around their corpses.


    One of the creatures was now lunging at the woman from behind, as it got closer the woman dodged and the man fired his crossbow.


    "Piercing shot" He yelled as the crossbow bolt soon reached the creature and went straight through it leaving a massive hole on the creatures small body. Ceasing to stop its movement the bolt continued to pierce two more of the creatures before disintegrating in the air. ''


    "Huh I guess this is my cue," I said as I boosted myself with both hands using storm push at the action.


    As I soared through the air I saw the hundreds of creatures all around the opening and gripped my right-hands wrist with my left hand and cast Hellfire flare shooting it at a huge concentration of the creatures on the ground sending me flying a bit back in the air. The flare hit the ground and exploded causing tens of the nasty creatures to die in the inferno created by the spell. I landed on the ground and pulled out my tanto and took a defensive stance.


    "Hah fucking show off," the woman said in a cheerful tone as she charged deeper in the lines of the enemies and threw her axes at both of her sides as she began spinning.


    Her axes quickly killed tens of the creatures as she spun around one last time before retracting the axes into her hands then she took another spin and threw her axes so that they came down from the ground at the Shriker in the back.


    The shrieker madly swung its staff at the axes deflecting both of them after which the shrieker let out some sort of scream at the woman which made the air vibrate and pushed the woman back 10 feet. She was not bothered by this unlike me I almost fainted due to the scream which felt like it shook my whole being as I stumbled.


    The man was not bothered by this scream either and seemed energetic as ever as he leaped high into the air and aimed his crossbow downwards at the creatures still unharmed who were charging at me and the woman.


    "Hail of fire" As he yelled that Hundreds of arrows appeared out of thin air in the sky lit with fire and started raining piercing the creatures heads, legs, arms ect.


    The creatures squealed in agony as they were set on fire, Not all of the creatures died to this tho and some continued their charge towards me and the woman. The woman was hacking and slashing happily at the creatures and the liquid inside their bodies spilled out on her face as she grinned.


    Meanwhile, I spun around and imbued my prosthetic arm with lightning as I tore one of the creatures head of with the power from the spin I had boosted with storm push. I then lunged at the closest creature and slashed at its throat before It blocked my blade with its hand.


    I tried pulling my blade out of its hand but to no result just then the woman launched one of her axes at the creature killing it instantly after which she gave me a smile before continuing on with her massacre. I then continued frantically killing the creatures with my tanto and prosthetic arm before the Shrieker started moving, it moved fast and vines with thorns on the shot out of the ground impaling almost all of the leftover creatures. The man and woman managed to dodge them but I was not so lucky, as I jumped away and one of the thorns went through my leg.


    "Fuck...god dammit" I whimpered while biting my teeth on the ground.


    I stood up despite the pain and launched my 3 blades with levitation at the Shrieker which swung its staff causing a huge wave of fire to start coming down on us. The wave melted my blades and as I stood there in pain and In sheer disbelief of the size of the wave of the fire which was about 40 feet tall the man quickly sprinted at me and grabbed my hand before leaping up into the sky as did the woman.


    From the sky, we saw the wave sweeping through the carcasses of the creatures and into the forest setting trees on fire and disintegrating some of them upon impact. We landed in the ground that was still smoldering and filled with ashes.


    "That thing...I guess il have to use this then" The man said as he walked forward leaving us behind him.


    He took a wide stance and started glowing in green/yellow as he aimed his crossbow on his hip at the shrieker who was slowly approaching us with a grin on its face, well half of its face.


    "JUDGEMENT" The man roared from the top of his lungs as he fired his bow sending him flying backward.


    Circles appeared all around the shrieker in the air and started shooting out glowing arrows of varying sizes. The arrows impaled the shrieker and knocked him all around the place causing small holes to appear all over its body. Some of the arrows missed and hit the surrounding area causing huge craters to appear on the ground which were larger than anything I had been able to create with my magic.


    I looked in awe at this display of power. Delivering the final blow one last arrow hit the shriekers head from above and it went straight through its head and seemed to get stuck inside its body.


    "I...is.i-it over" The man managed to say as he collapsed on to his knees and leaned on to his crossbow which he held in front of himself.


    The shrieker stood in one place motionless for a while before its cranked its head and vomited some kind of liquid on to its self, then all of the arrows stuck into it fell off and it began regenerating. The shrieker charged at an incredible speed at the man, but just before its staff was about the pierce the mans head the woman''s axes blocked the now even bigger spike on the staff.


    As she blocked the staff with both of her axes the ground started filling with cracks and the woman was pushed downwards. Meanwhile, I had been healing my leg and chugged a few mana potions.


    "Get Durion away spellcaster!!" The woman said as she struggled to block and cut vines that were shooting out of the cracks on the ground.


    I ran up to the man and put my tanto away and lifted his heavy body up before launching us away from the woman with earth surge just then the woman jumped an spun in the air while glowing in green light before striking down with both of his axes at the shrieker.


    The shriekers head was smashed completely and the body fell down. But the woman didn''t stop there and was tensing her muscles looking like she was about to unleash a huge flurry of blows. Just then the body of the shrieker rose up and quickly grew another head before letting out a loud scream.


    While screaming fire and sonic waves visible to the naked eye came out of the shriekers mouth. The woman was hit by the fire and sonic waves and was pushed far back with her feet dragging on the ground causing huge tracks to form on the ground. The woman was burnt badly before she managed to activate some sort of illuminant green shield in front of her that guarded her against further damage. Meanwhile, I had handed a few stamina potions to the man named Durion.


    The shrieker stopped screaming and a silence fell on the battlefield. The shriekers face started melting and soon enough its head had no skin whatsoever and you could clearly see its deformed skull and deep eye holes, which now seemed to go on forever as the colors in its eye sockets had disappeared. Small smoke trails started coming out of its mouth as it began marching towards the woman who stood there firmly.


    The shrieker looked straight at the woman''s eyes and slowly she started to tremble, as the shrieker got closer even I and Durion started to tremble slightly.


    The shrieker continued its march, slowly but surely it closed the distance between it and the woman. Whatever small amount of fauna there was left on the ground died as the shrieker moved towards its target.


    The shrieker was now standing in front of the woman looking down on her, she had dropped her axes and was looking into the shriekers deep eye sockets as it grabbed the woman''s throat with one hand and lifted her up.


    The woman''s eyes had gone fully white and a tear was rolling down her cheek, while the shrieker opened its deformed mouth showing the dark abyss inside it. Its mouth was coming closer and closer to the woman''s head...


    (CRACKING NOICES)


    The shriekers arm got severed by a lightning strike. The woman fell on the ground and quickly came back to her senses and grabbed the axes and swung at the shrieker, it dodged the blows and baked up a bit. I was still trembling, I still had my arm forwarded at the shrieker.


    "W-What the....nice one man.." Durion managed to say to me.


    Suddenly for a moment, everything went black I felt a cold bony hand on my throat. "What had happened" I questioned myself as I looked into the shriekers eye sockets as it held me up. I could not take my eyes of its sockets but I''m sure I saw Durion and the woman in the corner of my eye on the ground breathing heavily and trembling, covered in blood they reminded me of those I fought with and those who died.


    My eyes were fixated on the shrieker everything was going hazy. It was as if somewhere in that void there was something glowing I felt my stomach twist and turn and my blood pressure rise.


    Its head got closer to mine and everything went black I had finally lost all senses.


    ...


    Once again I was in a dark space...


    I heard voices  YOU ARE WEAK,     WHY ARE YOU ALIVE,       WHY DID YOU SURVIVE,          YOU DONT DESERVE LIFE


    The voices were overwhelming me I laid there on the cold black ground, tears were flowing from my eyes. I felt something pull me up but I couldn''t turn my head to look at it as it held my head and forced me to look. In front of me, there were my comrades...dying over and over and over and over again..


    The face of the kid I killed for some reason I could see it so clearly now.


    Suddenly I fell and now in front of me I saw a man with pointy ears.. and elf it had to be.


    "What''s going on!!! who the fuck are you!"


    The elf looked at me without showing any emotion "You are not ready, do not come for us until you are ready"


    "What the fuck does that mean!!"


    "It seems we may have overestimated you, maybe you are not fit for this. You are not ready and truly one must wonder if such a man can be"


    "Hey what the fuck do you mean I want some answ.." Suddenly a huge pressure fell on my entire being and I was forced to bow.


    I managed to lift my head up and looked at the druid, but he was nowhere to be seen and in front of me there was that dammlocket. An eery atmosphere fell upon the dark space and the locket started opening. Suddenly I could see Ara and Ivy near a mountainside, I tried yelling to them but to no avail. I saw them walking forward towards a cave.


    For a second instead of Ivy I thought I saw some kind of black creature in her place. I ignored it, but what I couldn''t ignore were the fresh wound on their bodies. Suddenly a light beam came from behind them, which they managed to avoid by jumping out of the way. The beam hit the mountainside and formed cracks all along the mountainside.


    Some distance away from Ivy and are there where three people all wearing white clothing and two of them had silvery armor. A person who looked like a paladin charged at Ivy. I tried yelling and casting magic but nothing happened, and as Ivy avoided the paladins blade the other man in armor appeared behind her and sliced her in half.


    Ivy''s eyes opened wide as the blade cleanly sliced her body, Ara charged at the two men with a completely changed demeanor. I could feel an aura from her, it was as if she was a monster that was about to slaughter its prey.


    Her charge ended quickly as one of the men bolted forwards and grabbed her by the throat. The man continued to apply pressure to her throat until a popping sound ensued. Blood splatter all over the man''s face and armor, as he continued to smash Ara''s body against a large rock which caused the rock to be completely destroyed...


    ......


    ......


    "AAAAAAH!!!" I yelled as I came to my senses.


    I was in a small hut. There were bones and potions in the tent, next to me there were bloody bandages. I felt being watched and I turned my face to the left to see a man dressed in black leather, behind the man there were countless books and a staff made out of bones.


    Two of your familiars have died.