《Evocatus》 Prologue ¡°Finally¡­¡± An old man who looks around 70 years old stands in front of a crystal capsule, his right hand pressed against the cover of the capsule. ¡°This damn world¡­¡± There was no one else inside the room, the old man talked to himself. Sometimes anger in his face, yet it changed to tenderness when he looked towards the figure inside the capsule. ¡°I¡¯m so tired of this damn world¡± ¡°How are people supposed to live in these conditions?¡± ¡°My poor girl¡­¡± The most beautiful woman you would ever see lays unconscious inside the capsule. Her image so dazzling than it is impossible to look at her for more than a few seconds, but if you did look at her, you would notice that such perfection wasn¡¯t possible for a human. ¡°You just couldn¡¯t handle the injustice¡± ¡°It¡¯s all their fault¡± ¡°These damned humans¡± ¡°I know, not all of them are bad but most of them are not good¡± ¡°You would tell me to forgive them¡± ¡°I can¡¯t¡± ¡°Not only are they destroying the world¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°They take for granted the ownership of everything that their eyes can see¡± ¡°I have to do it¡± ¡°I know you will give them a chance¡± ¡°Maybe they can survive¡± ¡°If they are worthy¡­¡± The old man puts his hand over a button outside the capsule. A bright light surges through the room and spreads all over the world. ¡°HAHAHAHAHAHA¡± ¡°THEY WILL PAY¡± The laughter can be heard all over the world, yet no person was conscious at that moment. The sound of a mad laughing man slowly disappeared. The old man collapsed on the floor, his eyes filled with hate before his last breath. On that day every person on the planet collapsed where they stood. Mysteriously a ring appeared on one of the fingers of each person. Men and women, young and old, everyone was blessed or was it a curse. Who knows? The only thing certain is that the world has changed and humanity will need to change it. Chapter 1 ¡°Ugh¡­¡± As I open my eyes the blinding light from the sun forces me to cover my face with my hands. Why am I on the ground? My head hurts. Slowly my eyes adapt and I take a look around me. The sky looks more colorful than normal. I¡¯m laying on the ground in front of my cabin. I¡¯m guessing that I fainted, that¡¯s weird, I was feeling perfectly normal just before fainting. It¡¯s been a while since the last time I went down to the city, maybe I should get a medical checkup. What a bother. Let¡¯s just wait a couple of days, if it happens again I will go to the city to get checked. Yeah, that¡¯s a good idea. I get up from the ground. Inside my cabin I take a look at the clock in my laptop. [15:04] It¡¯s been a little more than three hours since I passed out. My aunt should have seen me laying on the ground. She¡¯s always here a 13:30 to get me for lunch. Did something happen? I should go take a look at the farm. When I¡¯m about to open the door I notice a ring in my hand. Weird¡­ I don¡¯t remember wearing a ring. As I take a closer look the word [EVOCATUS] is engraved on the top. I¡¯m certain I didn¡¯t have this ring before. What? I can¡¯t take it off. It¡¯s stuck on my finger. I stand there trying to get it off my finger around ten minutes. What the hell is with this ring? I walk to my laptop and do a quick search for [stuck ring removal] The first link is [6 Ways to Remove a Stuck Ring] Method one is moving the ring around until it¡¯s removed, nope, tried that one already. Method two, use a lubricant. Maybe I can ask my aunt for something to get it removed. I¡¯ll do that. Then it comes to my mind the word engraved on the ring. I wonder what it means. I type [Evocatus]. A retired soldier from the roman army who is summoned to come back? Evocatus is the latin word for summoned. ¡°Evocatus¡­ uh?¡± Suddenly a book appeared in front of me. At first look it gives an ancient kind of feeling. On the cover inscribed the same word from the ring [EVOCATUS]. But what it¡¯s more shocking is the fact that the book is floating there, right on top of my hand. How is it doing that? Magic? Am I still unconscious and having a dream? This doesn¡¯t feel like a dream. The back of my head still hurts, enough for me to realize that I¡¯m awake. Then I decide to open the book and take a look.
Gabriel Hess ¨C Level 1
What the f? Why is my name on the book? Level 1? This is too strange. Also there are some numbers and what I would recognize as stats from a game. Then I get to the later half of the page.
Skills:None
After that the rest of the page is empty. Somehow I feel offended by the book. I might be a social outcast, but I¡¯m quite confident on my carving skills. On the next page there is a drawing of a knife. Written below the drawing
Simple knife ¨C Level 1
Description: a usually sharp blade attached to a handle that is used for cutting or as a weapon
Skills available:None
All the other pages on the book are empty. I returned to the page of the knife. Why is there only this knife on the book? ¡°Simple knife¡­¡± Just as I muttered the name, I felt something different on my body. There it was, on my belt a simple knife sheath was attached and inside was the exact same knife drawn on the book. I took it out and held it. There is something different about this knife, it doesn¡¯t feel like any other knife I¡¯ve ever held. I can¡¯t really tell what¡¯s different, but I know it is. *Whoosh* Neat. The sound as I slash the knife through the air feels great. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. I try for a few minutes, somehow it feels right, it¡¯s like this knife was made to be held by me. The book is still floating next to me. ¡°Evocatus¡± And just like that it disappeared. Yet the knife is right there on its sheath. I repeat the process, making the book appear and disappear. After that, I make the knife appear and disappear. It¡¯s quite simple. With the book opened you just have to say the name of the knife and it will appear, repeat the name and it disappears. ¡°WAAAAAAAAAAAAA¡± That is my cousin. She sounds desperate. I leave my cabin and run towards the sound of the little girl crying in desperation. From my cabin to the farm takes around twenty minutes walking. It doesn¡¯t take long for me to arrive near Annie, who is running in my direction crying. What the hell is that? A kid sized humanoid creature with a rat head is pursuing my cousin. As they get closer I notice the ratman is wielding what looks like a short sword, traces of blood left over it. What is going on here? If it wasn¡¯t for little Annie I would turn around and run away. I can¡¯t leave her. The knife is still on its sheath. I take it out. My body is trembling. I¡¯ve never been much of a fighter. I¡¯d rather talk it out or run away when talking doesn¡¯t work. My little cousin arrives and hides behind me. The ratman stops and screams something pointing its short sword towards me. I don¡¯t understand. What is this creature? Is it intelligent? It looks fierce. Suddenly it swings the short sword. I¡¯m too slow and with Annie behind me I can¡¯t avoid it. I barely manage to block its attack with my knife. Even though it¡¯s about 140 cms tall, its strength is nothing to joke about. Annie notices she is bothering my movement and backs up a few steps. My arm is trembling. Can I fight this? Can I win? Do I have to kill it? Can I? I¡¯m not confident about this. Damn it. Then I focus on the remains of blood over the sword. The little girl wasn¡¯t bleeding. Is it from my uncle? My aunt? I feel rage taking over my mind as I swing the knife towards the creature. It blocks my attack. Then I notice both my knife and its sword are around the same length. My arms are longer. I have a reach advantage. Little by little de ratman backs up as I swing my knife. It can only try to dodge or block, I give the creature no chance to counter. My attacks get fiercer as I get confidence. ¡°AHHHH¡± Pain. Blood. My stomach is bleeding. It is just a scratch, yet it hurts too much. The ratman gets the upper hand and gets more aggressive. I dodge the attacks as they come. I can¡¯t remember the last time my heartbeat was this fast. Is it fear? No¡­ Somehow I¡¯m excited. It¡¯s been too long since the last time I felt this alive. The pain, the fear, every swing of my knife. ¡°DIE¡± I shout loud, some sort of war cry. It surprises the creature as I start running towards it while holding my knife with both hands. The knife enters from below its head. It doesn¡¯t gets the chance to react. The impulse from my running makes me fall on top of its dead body. Blood spurting from its neck. Disgusting thing. I vomit. Is it really dead? Afraid it will attack me I back up as I watch the corpse, it doesn¡¯t move. I killed a living creature. Did I really take a life? Tears fall from my eyes. There was no other choice. It was it or me. The sobbing girl behind me takes away my guilty thoughts. I turn around and see the girl crouching holding her knees while crying. ¡°Annie?¡± She looks at me with tears and snot on her face. Then she runs towards me and hugs my waist, a desolate cry filled with sadness. I don¡¯t need to ask what happened to her parents to know I will never talk to them again. Chapter 2 Soon she got tired of crying and passed out in my arms. Poor girl, she is only 7 years old. Besides, I can¡¯t seem to understand what¡¯s going on right now. What was that creature? Are there others? I doubt my uncle would have been killed by just one. I turn around to take a look at the corpse while carrying Annie in my arms. Strange¡­ It isn¡¯t there. Did it just disappear when I was looking after Annie? There is blood on the ground and¡­ what is that? A piece of paper, similar to the pages from [Evocatus]. Somehow I manage to pick it up while holding the little girl, not an easy task. And poof¡­ as soon as the page got near the ring it vanished. Let¡¯s calm down. First, let¡¯s go back to my cabin. I really hope it¡¯s safer inside. Once there I leave Annie on top of my bed, she is asleep, probably too traumatized by the things she has seen today. I take out the book and check. As expected. Some of the contents have changed and new pages have been added. Page one has my level and status. Gabriel Hess - Level 2 Experience: 0% Health: 90% - Magic Power: 0 Skills: none Now that I take a closer look, I remember the ratman scratched me. That¡¯s 10% of my health uh¡­ And I leveled up? Page two has the info on my knife. Simple Knife Level 2 - Experience: 0% Type: Weapon Description: a usually sharp blade attached to a handle that is used for cutting or as a weapon. Skills available: Backstab Level 1 ¨C Proficiency 0% Increases chance of critical hit when attacking from behind. Ugh¡­ So the knife also gets experience? I don¡¯t understand this. There is a skill available, I wonder how that works. For the third page is completely new information. Short Sword Level 1 ¨C Experience 0% Type: Weapon Description: this weapon is a smaller version of the longsword but longer than a dagger, having many of the same parts including a generally double-edged blade, cross-guard, grip, and pommel. Skills available: none The drawing of the short sword reminds of the weapon the ratman used. I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s the piece of paper the creature left behind after its corpse disappeared. When I summon the sword, a different sheath appears hanging on the left side of my belt, the knife is on the right side. I take the sword from its sheath. It¡¯s around 15 cms longer than my knife, it¡¯s a little bit heavier too. After waving it around for a couple of minutes I put the sword back on its sheath. Then I take a look to the last page on the book. Log: Y1D1 Killed Ordinary Ratman lvl3 ¨C Acquired Short Sword lvl1 This doesn¡¯t make any sense. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in and breathe out¡­ Okay, I¡¯m calmer now. It was a level 3 creature, so no wonder I got a whole level by killing it. What worries me the most is the fact that this was just an ¡®ordinary¡¯ ratman, meaning there are others not so ordinary. There is a lot of information I have to process. First, let¡¯s try calling the police. I pick up my phone, no signal¡­ How about internet? This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. No internet either. The phone I can understand, we are on a rural area and the connection may fail. But I made sure the internet would be always connected, a dedicated satellital connection, after all I need to use the web for my job. What to do? We should leave these place and go to the city. If I¡¯m not wrong, there is a police station a few kilometers from here. Maybe I will find some help there. I can¡¯t do that. My aunt and uncle. I have to retrieve their corpses and bury them, I can¡¯t abandon to those creatures. Does that mean I have to fight again? The excitement from the previous battle comes to my mind, I felt alive back there. Can I take another life? Yes, I can. I have to. If I don¡¯t recover their corpses I won¡¯t be able to forgive myself. What should I do with Annie? I could just leave her sleeping, I doubt she will wake up soon. Is it safe here? The walls from my cabin are pretty sturdy, my room is soundproofed. It should be safe enough. But checking the surrounding area to make sure it¡¯s safe before going to the farm won¡¯t hurt. What else should I prepare before leaving? I¡¯m not hungry even though I left my breakfast over the ratman corpse. A couple of bottles with water won¡¯t hurt. I grab my backpack and put some water bottles inside. Nothing else comes to mind. With my sword on one hand and the knife on the other I leave the cabin. Walking for a few minutes I take a look around the surrounding area, there is no danger close as far as I can tell. Once I¡¯m sure the place is safe I turn towards the farm. Time passes slowly as I walk, I¡¯m trying to be careful, always prepared for a sudden movement. Yet the lack of sounds on the way there makes me nervous. As I get closer my courage begins to fade little by little. I¡¯m no longer certain that I can fight one of those creatures again, much less win. What if there are too many for me to defeat? Or worse¡­ there might be something far more dangerous than a ratman. I don¡¯t even know how to wield my sword and knife. Yes, I¡¯m afraid. I could die you know. Little Annie would be all alone on this world, no family left to take care of her. ¡°Aaaagh¡± Who are you trying to convince? You can¡¯t turn back now. I know I¡¯m a coward. There are infinite reasons for me to turn around and hide on my cabin, flee from the mountain and let someone else take care of this matter. But I just can¡¯t leave their corpses to those creatures. My parents would never forgive me, after their death it was my uncle and his family who took care of me. So grow a pair and go get them. Sounds of footsteps bring me back from my thoughts. I swiftly hide behind a tree. Two ratman are walking towards the direction of the cabin. My body freezes as they pass near my position. _______________________________________________________________________________ I can''t seem to make the tables work, I''ll edit that later. Please let me know if you find any mistakes, thanks! Chapter 3 Tired, gasping for air I take a look at the two corpses turning into a cyan colored ball of light, which is absorbed by the ring on my hand. Somehow I did it. I beat them¡­ ¡°HAHAHAHAHA¡± You are dead and I am alive, it was either you or me. I no longer have doubts in my mind, these creatures had to die. My body still shivers, I feel the pain produced by the wounds the ratmen made while we were fighting. Backstab was essential for me to survive. When the ratmen passed by my side and left their back open to my knife, my arm moved on its own, critically injuring one of the two creatures. For the first time I felt something different in my body, I was more powerful than before and the effect from backstab only made it more noticeable. After that fighting the other ratman was easy, I just had to use the longer reach to my advantage. I got some minor wounds, nothing to worry about. On the ground there are no pages left behind this time, is it up to luck? There is a newfound feeling of power within my body. Checking the book confirms my suspicion, I leveled up again, I¡¯m now level 3. Will I get even stronger if I keep leveling up? The thought of killing more ratmen crosses my mind, then I notice how I needed to kill two of them to level up this time. How many do I have to kill for the next level? As I¡¯m focused on my thoughts of getting stronger I arrive near the farm. The scene I find there shocks me. The land is covered by the corpses of the animals from my uncle¡¯s farm. Two ratmen eating from the remains of a cow. A sigh of relief escapes from my mouth. I expected to find larger numbers of these creatures near the farm. No time to be relieved, there could be more of them around, scouting the area. Should I attack now? I could sneak from behind while they are eating. It feels like they don¡¯t even care to be on guard. Are they that confident on themselves or just plain stupid? Oh¡­ I no longer feel afraid before facing these creatures. No, I can¡¯t get overconfident. Fear will keep me alive. With a knife in my left and the sword on my right I approach stealthily towards the two ratmen. Step by step the fear creeps up my mind, I don¡¯t let it get ahold of me I try to embrace the fear and use it to my advantage. Both creatures are too immersed on eating, they don¡¯t notice my presence behind them. Swiftly I grab one of them and stab my knife through its throat, I feel its life vanishing in my arms. The other one only realizes the danger when its companion falls to the ground. Not fast enough to pick its weapon as I deal a blow with my sword on its right arm. A miserable cry of pain emerges from the ratman. It¡¯s defenseless against my attacks, it takes no more than 30 seconds for the creature to take its last breath. And then I hear it. A guttural cry of anger coming from inside the building of the farm. Any thoughts of facing whatever made that sound are denied from my mind. I run for my life in fear of the unknown enemy behind. When I regain focus I¡¯m outside the cabin, trembling in fear. Just remembering the sound makes my soul shiver. What was that? It doesn¡¯t matter, I can¡¯t fight something like that. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.I go inside the cabin, once inside I try to regain composure. Shit. Once I¡¯m calm enough I realize that my weapons are no longer in my possession. When I started running away in fear I must have dropped them. ¡°Evocatus¡± With the book floating in front of me I check my current status Gabriel Hess ¨C Level 3 Experience: 50% Health: 72% Magic Power: 0 Skills: none ¡°Simple knife, Short Sword¡± Both sheaths disappear from my body, and then I recall them. Yes, both weapons are back. One less thing to worry about. I don¡¯t understand the logic behind this book, but I¡¯m glad it works this way. As I go back to the first page of the book, I notice the health went up to 73%. A simple conclusion is that my body heals slowly. Five minutes go by until the percentage increases again. One percent every five minutes, twelve per hour. Looks like I¡¯m going to be fully healed in about two hours. Then I make a guess about the experience I have received until now to level up. The first ratman I killed was enough for me to get a whole level, 100% experience. The next two gave me another level, 50% of experience? And the last two only gave me 50% between both of them, meaning I received 25% per ratman. Two more for me to reach level 4. I wonder how strong is the creature back there in the farm. At least I¡¯m sure that I can¡¯t fight it on my current level. Looking the information of my weapons I realize they both have leveled up. Simple Knife Level 3 - Experience: 0% Type: Weapon Description: a usually sharp blade attached to a handle that is used for cutting or as a weapon. Skills available: Backstab Level 1 ¨C Proficiency 50% Increases chance of critical hit when attacking from behind. Short Sword Level 2 ¨C Experience 0% Type: Weapon Description: this weapon is a smaller version of the longsword but longer than a dagger, having many of the same parts including a generally double-edged blade, cross-guard, grip, and pommel. Skills available: Bash Level 1 ¨C Proficiency 0% Amplifies the strength of the next attack to 125%, stamina is consumed when using this skill. There is a new skill on my sword. I bring out my sword and feel my strength flowing towards my next strike. An explosive sound emerges from the slash of my sword. I¡¯m not sure how I know the way to use the skill, it just feels natural like the knowledge was always there. My body feels somewhat drained, the consumption from [Bash] isn¡¯t small. Sitting on a chair trying to recover my health and stamina I try to decide my next steps. Should I leave with Annie? Should I try to level up more until I¡¯m strong enough to fight the creature on the farm? I don¡¯t even know if there are more ratmen around for me to kill. Footsteps outside the cabin put me on alert. Both sword and knife are firmly held within my hands. Through the window I see four ratmen walking towards the cabin. _______________________________________________________________________________ Please let me know if you find any mistakes, thanks! Also if you could let me know what you think of the story so far, I''m not sure if the chapters are too short, I''ve been aiming at around 1000 words pers chapter. Chapter 4 I wake up to find my head on top of the steering wheel of my car, I find some blood on my head. What happened? The last thing I remember was driving my car on the way to my grandmother¡¯s place. My car crashed into a tree near the road. I take off the seat belt, pick up my phone and get out of the car. [16:12] How long was I unconscious? It¡¯s been more than 3 hours. I know this is a rural area and not many people drive through here, but someone should have noticed my car. Even better, I check my phone and find that there is no signal. Definitively not my day. Murphy¡¯s law? What should I do now? I could wait here, surely someone has to pass through here at some point. But that could take hours, I don¡¯t like leaving things to chance. Was there some building near here? There was an entrance to some sort of farm if my memory isn¡¯t wrong. Lucky enough I decided to wear comfortable clothes and footwear today, I can¡¯t imagine walking through this mountain wearing a dress and high heels. A sigh of frustration leaves my mouth as I begin walking through the road, hoping I¡¯m going in the right direction. Why did this happen today? I had a show tonight. It was supposed to be a quick visit to check on my granny and then go back to the city. Anyway, I doubt I could dance tonight, the wound on my head must look awful. At least I don¡¯t feel like there was much blood loss. What is that on my hand? I don¡¯t remember having such a ring. ¡°Evo¡­ catus?¡± *Poof* For a minute I remain stupefied. My eyes must have popped out. How did a book appear out of thin air? This day has been horrible so far¡­ it can¡¯t get worse, right? But I have this ominous feeling, once I open that book something is going to happen. ¡°Come on, this is ridiculous.¡± I force myself to take a look at the book. Monica Bossler ¨C Level 1 Experience: 0% Health: 58% Magic Power: 0 Skills: none With an eyebrow raised I read the first page once again. Am I going crazy here? Why is my name on the book? Level? Health? Magic Power? What in the lord¡¯s name is going on? I don¡¯t know exactly how long I stood there on the road staring at that page. Finally I turn the page and check the rest of the content in the book. The drawing of a knife is the only thing I find, all the other pages are blank. Not knowing what to do about the book I keep walking, the book floating in front of me following my every step. What to do? I can¡¯t just go around with a floating book in front of me. I have never really cared about people looking at me, I¡¯m used to it¡­ but this is different. Let¡¯s think this through, why did the book appear? The ring? I read the engraving. ¡°Evocatus was it?¡± *poof* It was that easy huh? ¡°Take a look at my new magic trick, the disappearing book!¡± I laugh at myself while playing around with the damn thing. This situation irritates me. Most of the time I am a pretty calm person, but not only am I having a horrible day, no¡­ I hate when I can¡¯t understand something, can someone tell why is there a magic book appearing from a ring that I don¡¯t even remember having before? And yes, I tried to take off the ring, so far it seems an impossible task. Somehow I arrived to entrance of a farm or something like that. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. There is a road paved with a sign next to it. [Hess Farm] At least I may be able to find a phone and get someone to come pick me up. Looks like the farm is farther than expected. The road goes on and on it seems interminable. I am hungry and frustrated. *shuffle* Suddenly a horrible creature emerges from the bushes. It looks like some sort of mouse, closer to a rat maybe. Except that this monster is standing on two feet, around 140 cms tall, wearing some rags over its body and pointing some sort of dagger at me. The anger takes control over my body and I kick the creature, don¡¯t underestimate a kick from a professional dancer. It flies a few meters from my kick, at the very least looks like it hurts. Besides, the creature dropped the dagger when I kicked. ¡°Not so scary now¡± I run towards the creature and kick and kick and kick¡­ At some point it collapsed on the ground, unconscious. ¡°What the hell is this?¡± I grab the dagger on the floor and proceed to stab the creature¡¯s head. Once I¡¯m sure it¡¯s dead, I let myself fall to the ground as I watch the body of the monster disappearing, a ball of light flying to the ring on my finger. The dagger on my hand becomes a piece of paper to be absorbed by the ring seconds later. Inside the book I find myself with new information, it looks like now I¡¯m level 2. What does that mean? No idea. There are two new pages with some content on them. Simple Dagger Level 1 ¨C Experience 0% Type: Weapon Description: A dagger is a short killing weapon designed to stab only. It is double edged, tapered to a sharp point and a straight edge. Skills available: none There is also a log, it says I killed an [Ordinary Ratman Level 3] and that I obtained the dagger. Okay¡­ I¡¯ve decided, I¡¯m not going to bother trying to understand what is going on. Focus on finding another person and getting a phone, disgusting monsters should be dealt by the police or whoever is in charge of dealing with such creatures. So I keep walking up the mountain road, my guard up just in case another rat appears. Around fifteen minutes later I finally find a human being. A man wielding some sort of sword on his hand slashing towards a ratman. There are four monsters trying to kill him. The man uses his longer reach to kick one of the rats, then swings the sword towards the closest of them. ¡°Careful!¡± I shout as I realize one of the rats is going to stab him. He doesn¡¯t seem to hear me, but one of the rat does. It turns around and runs in my direction. The man doesn¡¯t miss the opportunity and lands a blow from behind with a knife. The rat cries in pain as it falls to the ground, the side of its stomach bleeding. After that the fight lasts no longer than a minute, the man has some wounds on his body, a bit of blood covering his clothes. He stares at me as if just noticing my existence. I stare into his deep green eyes, my gaze going from his handsome face to his well built body. ¡°Hello?¡± As the corpses of the ratmen disappear, the image of him surrounded by lights floating in his direction is imprinted deep into my mind. _______________________________________________________________________________ Please let me know if you find any mistakes, thanks! I''m not sure about the different point of view, I''m going back to Gabriel on the next chapter. Chapter 5 In front of me stands a beautiful young woman, around 20 years old I¡¯d say. Why is she looking at me like that? ¡°Hello?¡± Then I take a look down and realize my clothes are covered in the ratmen¡¯s blood. No wonder she is shocked. She blinks her eyes and tilts her head a little to the side. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Monica.¡± Her voice is pleasant to the ears, complementing her pretty face. Even though she is wearing plain clothes you can tell there is a stunning figure hiding beneath. ¡°Gabriel.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry you had to see that, I don¡¯t know where these rats came from.¡± Oh¡­ she is smiling, that¡¯s good right? It¡¯s been ages since the last time I talked to a girl besides my family. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it Gabriel, I can tell something strange is going on and it isn¡¯t just those disgusting creatures.¡± There is a familiar ring on her finger, so I¡¯m not the only one. But she isn¡¯t carrying any weapon with her, I guess she hasn¡¯t figured out how it works yet. ¡°I see you have a ring too.¡± I show her my ring, she seems surprised. ¡°Evocatus¡± The book appears in front of me. She doesn¡¯t seems surprised by the sudden appearance of the book. ¡°Good, I thought I was going crazy when a magic book appeared from this ring. Evocatus.¡± Her book is similar to mine, floating in front of us. ¡°Let talk inside, I¡¯m not sure how safe it is out here.¡± I point towards the cabin behind me. On the ground there are a couple of papers, I almost forgot about that. With my ring I absorb the two pages I¡¯ll check the book later. ¡°Are those useful? I got one when I killed one of those rats on the way here.¡± She did kill one, I take a look at her and don¡¯t see any wounds, a little cut in her head. ¡°Did the rat hit your head?¡± Her hand touches the wound. ¡°It wasn¡¯t the rat, my car crashed into a tree.¡± Lucky her, she could easily have died from something like that. I hold the door of the cabin open for her. ¡°Make yourself comfortable, sit anywhere you like.¡± Monica takes a seat on the couch, I grab a chair and pull it closer to her. ¡°Do you have a phone I could use?¡± ¡°I do, but there is no signal. Internet is gone too.¡± A contemplative expression on her face. I wait for her to talk. ¡°Can you take me to the city? I saw a truck out there.¡± How do I tell her that I never learnt how to drive? Besides, I don¡¯t even have the keys¡­ A few seconds of awkward silence. ¡°It¡¯s okay, you don¡¯t have to¡­¡± She looks disappointed. ¡°It¡¯s not that. I don¡¯t have the keys, they are at the farm.¡± Her face brightens. Then she realizes there is a reason why I can¡¯t go there. ¡°There are monsters over there, right?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± We can ignore my lack of driving skills for the time being. ¡°Not just ratmen, there is something far more terrifying.¡± Her eyebrow raises. ¡°What is it?¡± My eyes wanders through the room. I have not even seen the creature, I just ran away as soon as I heard it. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. The problem is, how do I tell her that without sounding like a total wuss? ¡°I have not seen it.¡± She blinks her eyes at me trying to understand what I mean. With a hand on my head, an awkward expression on my face I look at her. ¡°I only heard its roar¡­ it was enough for me to know that I don¡¯t stand a chance against it.¡± ¡°I see.¡± What is in her mind right now? She seems to be thinking about something. Maybe she wants to take a look at the creature. Meanwhile I summon the book and take a look to see what I acquired. There are two new pages on the book. Two daggers, exactly the same on each page. The only difference is that on top of the second page it reads [Trading item], yet the rest it¡¯s exactly the same as the other dagger. If I¡¯m not wrong I got two pages from the previous battle, my guess is both were daggers, one for me to use and the other to trade. Simple Dagger Level 1 ¨C Experience 0% Type: Weapon Description: A dagger is a short killing weapon designed to stab only. It is double edged, tapered to a sharp point and a straight edge. Skills available: none I guess it¡¯s better than the knife. ¡°Simple dagger.¡± Its sheath replaces the one my knife was into. Looks like I can¡¯t have both of them at the same time, maybe I if store the short sword¡­ I make a few tries and that¡¯s it. Two weapons are the limit I can carry on my body. Monica stares at me, astonished, her mouth wide open. ¡°How did you do that?¡± I see, she didn¡¯t know about the weapons. ¡°How do I explain this? You can bring them out from the book¡­ just say the name of the weapon out loud and that¡¯s it.¡± She tries a couple of times, both knife and dagger appearing their sheaths attached to her waist. Didn¡¯t she kill one of the ratman before? ¡°How did you kill the ratman without a weapon?¡± She tilts her head looking at me as if I asked the dumbest question ever. ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? I kicked the rat until it collapsed.¡± I picture what looks like a beautiful frail girl kicking a rat over and over until it collapses, for some reason in my mind she is smiling while killing the creature. Well, that¡¯s a scary thought. Look at her blinking those big beautiful eyes, while looking like the most innocent girl in the world. Mental note: Do not anger her. ¡°What am I supposed to do?¡± For the first time I notice how frail she truly is, uncertainty in her voice, her body shivering. Somehow she is managed to keep calm until now, but meeting someone else has allowed for that control to collapse. Tears run down through her face. Now I ask myself, what am I supposed to do with her? I stand up from the chair and go hug her. ¡°Everything is going to be okay¡­¡± For the time being looks like I¡¯m going to have to take care of three people. Annie, Monica and me. _______________________________________________________________________________ Please let me know if you find any mistakes, thanks! Chapter 6 After a few minutes in the bathroom, it would be impossible to tell Monica had been crying in my arms before. A smile on her face and completely different attitude, if I didn¡¯t knew she was in there I would probably think she is a different person. ¡°Sorry about that.¡± I noticed it before, but she truly is a beautiful woman. Long black hair, pale skin, big charming eyes and alluring lips. Wait¡­ did she just use lipstick? I¡¯m quite sure her lips have a more intense red at this moment. Let¡¯s not think about it. Yeah, much better. ¡°What do you plan on doing?¡± I have this strange feeling, even though I know there is danger back in the farm for some reason I need to go there. ¡°The farm, I plan to go to the farm.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say there is a monster over there, and it is a really scary one.¡± That I know, what should I do about that? I can always go ahead and kill more ratmen, I know for sure I¡¯ve gotten stronger with every level. The thing is¡­ how many ratmen are there in the area? And a bigger worry, how strong is that creature in the farm? ¡°I¡­¡± Her voice soft, barely audible. ¡°I think the best choice is for us to remain together.¡± Her gaze focused on me waiting for an answer. My heart starts beating faster as she stares at me. I¡¯m no good around women, somehow I had forgotten about that due to the monsters and strange things happening, but the truth is that I have no confidence when talking to a female. ¡°Uhm¡­¡± ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°The thing is¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s going to be dangerous¡­ going to the farm I mean.¡± I hope she understood what I just said, I could barely hear my own voice. ¡°Isn¡¯t it more dangerous to go alone?¡± She has a point, it would be good to know someone has my back. Her eyes blinking while smiling at me. Looks like I can¡¯t leave her alone. ¡°You are right I suppose.¡± ¡°My plan was to go look for ratmen around the area and kill them to level up.¡± Tilting her head with a confused expression on her face I think she didn¡¯t notice the effects of the book and increasing levels. ¡°I¡¯m level 4, with every increase in level I feel much stronger than before¡­ so I was thinking that it¡¯s better to get as strong as possible before facing whatever it¡¯s at the farm.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t notice that, I¡¯m level 2¡­ I only killed one of them.¡± I see¡­ still, that¡¯s better than nothing. At least I know she isn¡¯t afraid of killing the ratmen. Just as we were talking her stomach makes a grumbling noise. She looks at me her face red from embarrassment. ¡°How about we eat something while deciding our next move?¡± After that I left towards the kitchen, not much of a kitchen though. I tend to eat at the farm so I don¡¯t usually have food on the fridge. There are some instantaneous soups, a frozen pizza and lots of snacks. Pizza it is¡­ who doesn¡¯t like pizza? I put it inside the microwave oven, a few minutes later and it¡¯s ready. First time I¡¯m having someone else eating at my place. Feels kind of weird. ¡°Do you prefer orange juice or coke?¡± ¡°Orange juice is okay.¡± I bring the pizza over to the table, a couple of glasses and a bottle of orange juice. As we eat she tells me about the weapons in her book. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. A knife and a dagger, both level 1. Now I¡¯m sure you need to actually deal the killing blow with the weapon for them to level up. I explain my thoughts on the book, skills and weapons to her. Also, I got to try the transfer of the extra dagger from before. It¡¯s kinda funny how the page can be detached from the book and hand it to someone else. ¡°Thank you for the food.¡± I feel more relaxed after having something to eat, Monica seems like a nice girl and it¡¯s comfortable to be around her. Which is sort of strange for me, after all I¡¯m not even comfortable with myself. Before leaving the cabin I checked on Annie, the poor girl was still unconscious and it didn¡¯t seem like she would wake up any time soon. Monica and me are checking around the area looking for ratmen to kill. I hope to find one by itself, I want to take a look at Monica fighting. I have to make certain she is capable of defending herself. At least she seems confident. ¡°So, how old are you?¡± She asks me while we walk. ¡°I¡¯m 27, you?¡± ¡°25.¡± What? ¡°Are you serious? I thought you were at most 20.¡± A giggling sound made me take a look at her. ¡°It¡¯s not the first time, when I was 24 an employee at the movie theater asked for my ID, he didn¡¯t believe I was over 18, it was quite embarrassing.¡± Somehow I find myself laughing often when I¡¯m talking to her. ¡°Over there.¡± Her finger points in the direction of a ratman. Looks like it is by itself. There are no patterns to their movements so far, sometimes there are two or three, it¡¯s completely random. The creature doesn¡¯t realize our presence. ¡°Can you get it? I would like to see your fighting style.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± She nods her head at me and then runs towards the monster. ¡°Wow.¡± She¡¯s fast, way faster than me. Her steps are nimble and precise, no wasted movements. In the blink of an eye she is kicking the rat¡¯s head sending it flying through the air until it smashes into a tree. The ratman doesn¡¯t get a chance to react before Monica arrives with another kick. Does she know some sort of martial art? Her kick are way too efficient and her form is really good. I¡¯m no expert, but at least I can tell that much from her attacks. When the ratman collapses on the ground unconscious, Monica takes out her dagger and stabs deep into its head, killing the creature. The whole battle took no longer than 30 seconds, probably less. She turns around and smiles at me like nothing happened. Scary one this girl. ¡°Do you practice some sort of martial art?¡± With a hand on her chin she thinks for a moment before answering. ¡°I¡¯m a professional dancer¡­¡± Now I get it. That¡¯s why she has such a nice body, yes, her clothes aren¡¯t very revealing¡­ but I can tell she has curves in all the right places. ¡°Also, I¡¯ve learnt a thing or two about taekwondo.¡± Then she sends a kick in my direction, stopping a second before reaching my head. The sweat trickled down my face. Mental note: Do not check her out, she knows. _______________________________________________________________________________ Please let me know if you find any mistakes, thanks! Chapter 7 Two ratmen corpses turn into balls of light before our eyes, while the one remaining tries to run away through the trees. I catch up to the creature and use my knife to stab it from behind. It collapses on the ground almost instantly, now that I¡¯m level 4 the rats can¡¯t take a hit from the power of backstabbing. So far Monica and me have found 8 ratmen, all of them killed by us. We have split the kills in half, I¡¯ve killed 4 including the one laying in front of me. As the corpse disappears I bring out my book and check my current status. Gabriel Hess ¨C Level 4 Experience: 60% Health: 46% Magic Power: 0 Skills: Backstab Level 2 ¨C Proficiency 0% Increases chance of critical hit when attacking from behind. Bash Level 2 ¨C Proficiency 20% Amplifies the strength of the next attack to 125%, stamina is consumed when using this skill. Important facts we¡¯ve learnt during this time, skills are permanently learnt once proficiency reach 100% during level 1, allowing its use with any of the weapons in our possession. Taking a look at the information of my knife it¡¯s possible to see that backstab is no longer listed as an available skill. Simple Knife Level 3 - Experience: 50% Type: Weapon Description: a usually sharp blade attached to a handle that is used for cutting or as a weapon. Skills available: none The same happened to the short sword, it no longer has the information of Bash. Short Sword Level 4 ¨C Experience 0% Type: Weapon Description: this weapon is a smaller version of the longsword but longer than a dagger, having many of the same parts including a generally double-edged blade, cross-guard, grip, and pommel. Skills available: none I haven¡¯t used the dagger yet, as I needed to keep using my previous weapons to be able to use their skills, which it¡¯s no longer a restriction. I decide it¡¯s time to switch my knife and start using the dagger. Monica has only been using the dagger so far and it has a very useful skill. [Throw] is used as a ranged attack, it increases the accuracy when using the dagger as a throwing weapon. By Monica explanation, the accuracy increases a lot. She tried throwing her knife as an example and it hit nowhere near its target, meanwhile using the dagger on the same target had a completely different result. Its accuracy depends on the distance to the target, if thrown within a two meters range the skill works with almost a 100% rate of accuracy. My goal for now is to get my dagger to level 2 so I can use that skill. We have also confirmed that for the weapon or skill to gain experience, it needs to be used when killing the enemy. I suppose the proficiency doesn¡¯t represent how ¡°proficient¡± you are at using the skill, instead it reflects how many enemies have been killed while using that skill. Monica has already reached level 3, given the current information we have noticed that a Level 3 ratman gives 25% of experience to her, while they only give me a mere 10%. Which means I¡¯ve yet to level up, it has become a lot slower since I reached level 4. I¡¯m hoping to reach level 5 before heading to the farm, more than that seems impossible when taking into consideration our current speed. For the time being we are taking a short break, our current health is below 50% and we don¡¯t want to take needless risks. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Don¡¯t you think this is too easy?¡± Monica looks at me, I think she doesn¡¯t get my question. ¡°I mean, there are monsters, floating books and who knows what else¡­ yet here we are hunting ratmen as if it was the natural thing to do.¡± I pause for a second. Yes, I¡¯ve really adapted too easily to this situation. It is strange, it feels strange. I know for certain that this isn¡¯t the way I would normally react. I should be freaking out, hiding in the cabin waiting for help, any time before today that¡¯s what I would be doing. Yet, why am I so calm and composed right now? There is a voice inside my head telling me not to worry about it, it feels like that same voice is trying to guide me. ¡°I know I¡¯m going to sound crazy¡­ but¡­ I feel like there is something or someone guiding my actions¡­ sounds crazy right?¡± Looking at her smile makes me feel comfortable, even though normally I¡¯d be too nervous to even speak to her. ¡°You aren¡¯t wrong¡­ I feel it too.¡± ¡°Really? I¡¯m trying to make sense of this situation, but I just can¡¯t, it¡¯s driving me crazy.¡± I sigh. Where am I supposed to get answers to all the questions plaguing my head. She takes my hand and stares deep into my eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t think too much about it, we should remain focused on our current goal.¡± Her voice soothing my soul, helping me get rid of all the worrisome thoughts. ¡°You are right. We should get moving.¡± We start looking for more of those monsters. After walking for a few minutes we find ourselves observing the battle between 6 ratmen and a different kind of monster. It is some sort of humanoid bird, its head is completely birdlike, yet its body looks somewhat human both torso and legs, the biggest difference beside its beak is instead of having arms it has wings. The birdman flies through the air while attacking the ratmen faster than they are able to react. Then it grabs one of them with its bird like feet and takes it before leaving the area. The rest of the rats stay there looking perplexed by what just happened. One of them is bigger than the ones I¡¯m used to battle, at least 15 cms taller and more muscular, it has a different kind of presence, a more imposing presence. We¡¯ve never taken on 5 of them before, I¡¯m not even sure we could do it if they were just the regular ones, but there is a bigger one too. ¡°Should we fight?¡± ¡°I can take down one of them by backstabbing it, you will have to try and kill one by throwing your dagger¡­ then I will take on the bigger one while you distract the other two, what do you think?¡± ¡°I trust your judgement, but are you sure you can take the oversized rat?¡± How could I be sure? I¡¯ve never fought one of those before, but there is no way I¡¯m going to hide behind her. ¡°It should be fine¡­ It¡¯s still shorter than me!¡± ¡°Fine, I will try to finish quickly so I can help you take on that one.¡± We position ourselves right behind them, hiding next to some trees. ¡°Now.¡± Monica throws her dagger while I jump towards the closest ratman stabbing its throat from behind. _______________________________________________________________________________ Please let me know if you find any mistakes, thanks!