《Curse of Eitr》 prologue 1 Where am I? CHAPTER 1 In a white empty space a single small light blue ball of fire was floating aimlessly until it heard a voice coming from all directions. "Oh good you''re back, that was sooner than expected." The voice was feminine, soft and was strangely comforting to the little flame. "You''re probably wondering where you are aren''t you little one?" The flame didn''t respond or more like it couldn''t because it didn''t know how to. The only thing the flame did know was that the voice gave it comfort. "Ah, my mistake, I forgot to give you your memories." Suddenly the flame was barraged by a torrent of images, images of a city with buildings touching the sky, of a lone tree on top of a hill in a green meadow being blown in the wind, images of countless names and faces, of friends, of family, and others but one name stood out from the rest like it was calling to the flame. "Well? Can you tell me your name?" The voice asked. "A-Alisdair, my name is Alisdair" The flame responded shakily "That''s right, it is." The flame, Alisdair, was confused after hearing that "If you knew my name then why did you ask? Who are you? And w-where am I?¡± "To answer your first and second questions, it was to see if you remembered who you were and I am what you would call a God, and I¡¯m sure you can guess your third." "A-am I dead?" Alisdair asked dreading the answer to come "Yes." "H-how?" "R-reasons..." Alisdair became suspicious after listening the voices response "...Did you kill me?" "...A little." Alisdair exploded in rage after hearing that "HOW DO YOU KILL SOMEONE A LITTLE?!?!" "It was an accident!¡± ¡°HOW DOES A GOD ACCIDENTLY KILL SOMEONE!?!?¡± ¡°Quite easily actually! We aren¡¯t all knowing so cut me some slack okay!¡± Alisdair calmed down after noticing the change in the voices persona ¡°So how did I die?¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.¡°A Meteor.¡± In his mind Alisdair face palmed ¡°Don¡¯t worry I promise to make it up to you¡± ¡°How?¡± Alisdair asked dubiously ¡°Reincarnation of course.¡± ¡°Really? So I can go back home?¡± ¡°Huh, you¡¯re not shocked? Reincarnation is a debated topic back on your planet isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Look you, if I get shocked about every time you say something like that I¡¯d probably die. But that¡¯s not important, what is important is taking me back home.¡± ¡°¡­Did you just call me ¡®you¡¯?¡± For some reason Alisdair felt indescribable fear hearing the voice say this. ¡°W-well you never gave me your name¡­¡± Said Alisdair as he shook in fear. ¡°Then listen close ¡®cause I¡®m only gonna say this once. MY NAME IS MEDEINA GODDESS OF FORESTS, TREES, AND ANIMALS, MY SACRED ANIMAL IS THE HARE, and married to no one so I¡¯m single¡­¡± Though initially it started out grand Alisdair thought that it somewhat turned into what a person would post on a dating website which calmed him down considerably, by forcing him to hold in his laughter. ¡°Well nice to meet you Medeina can you please take me home?¡± ¡°¡­No¡± Alisdair froze as he heard that. ¡°What.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t take you home because you have no home to go back to.¡± This time Alisdair couldn¡¯t comprehend what she said. ¡°What?¡± sigh ¡°Because I¡¯m a nature goddess I could only use the meteor when it had some nature on it, that nature was a seed for a very aggressive growing type of plant that stayed dormant for centuries after your death but once it sprouted it spread over the entire planet in a matter of months due to the ideal conditions.¡± It took a while before Alisdair could process what Medeina explained. ¡°Why has it been so long¡± ¡°Because reincarnation takes a while.¡± ¡°But I haven¡¯t been reincarnated yet.¡± ¡°¡­You have, you just don¡¯t remember it¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because you were a mushroom.¡± Chapter 2 New Body From now on I will be writing characters thought '' in this way'' (unsealed colt) from now on example: '' I wish senpai will notice me.'' (generic japanese school girl A) Enjoy the chapter and give me any feedback good or bad so I know what to change/not change. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CHAPTER 2 After dropping the bombshell that was Alisdairs previous life Medeina decided to show herself in the form of a white hare with brown spots along its back and jade eyes. After a long while of the light blue flame that was Alisdair and the small hare that was the goddess Medeina staring at each other, Alisdair finally broke the silence. ¡°I have so many questions for you. First why was I a mushroom? Second why do I not remember it? And third why are you a rabbit?¡± ¡®God I¡¯m exhausted, wait can I even get exhausted without a body? Come to think about it how do I even think without a brain, man this just keeps getting weirder and weirder.¡¯ (Alisdair) ¡°HEY! I am a hare not a rabbit!¡± ¡®Is she pouting? How to rabbits pout?¡¯ (Alisdair) ¡°Anyway I made you a mushroom by mistake¡­¡± ¡®This rabbit is kinda cute now that I think about it, wait, did she just say it was a mistake?¡¯ (Alisdair) ¡°Did you just say it was a mistake?¡± ¡°Rrrgh SHUT UP! It was my first time okay! It was embarrassing!¡± ¡°So I can¡¯t remember it cause you were embarrassed?¡± ¡®Now she¡¯s blushing, how does a rabbit do that?¡¯ (Alisdair) ¡°A-anyway, what world do you want to go to?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know a fun one I guess?¡± ¡°Geez thanks for narrowing down the list.¡± ¡®I¡¯m gonna pretend I didn¡¯t hear her just now¡¯ (Alisdair) ¡°Oh, I know! I know a good one!¡± Suddenly Alisdair felt disorientated and slightly sick as he could feel the space distorting. ¡°W-what was that?¡± ¡°Dimension hopping, but that¡¯s not important, quick think ¡®status¡¯ in your head!" ¡®Why is she so excited? Well here goes nothing ¡®status¡¯.¡¯ (Alisdair) ¡°Wooah!¡± Alisdair jumped as a blue panel appeared in front of him. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Name: Alisdair Race: Soul Age: 18 Level: 1 STR - - DEX - - AGI - - MAG 4 INT 12 WIL 10 VIT - - LUK 6 Effects: 0 Stat pts: 0 Titles: 0 Skills: 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¡°Now let¡¯s get started shall we?¡± Medeina said while hopping around. ¡°First I¡¯ll tell you what you can be in your next life, you can be any tree, plant or animal that is found in the forest.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t be human?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡®Shit I don¡¯t want to be a plant, wait, that status screen looked like a games¡¯ (Alisdair) ¡°Is this a fantasy world by any chance?¡± ¡°By your worlds standard it is.¡± ¡°Can I be an elf?¡± ¡° ¡¯Kay but give me a second I gotta ask the elf god first.¡± ¡®There¡¯s an elf god?¡¯ (Alisdair) ¡° He says you can, now lets do this.¡± Suddenly a dangerous green liquid with a similar coloured miasma rising appeared in front of Alisdair. ¡°W-what is this?¡± ¡®It looks dangerous¡¯ (Alisdair) ¡°It¡¯s eitr the origin of all living things. All you need to do is dive in.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not so sure about that.¡± Alisdair said with a nervous voice as he looked into the eitr. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine~¡± Said the goddess as she pushed Alisdair into the substance. ¡°W-wait NO! Y-you¡¯re a terrible goddess!¡± ¡°Teehee you said that last time too~¡± ¡®I swear if rabbits could grin she would be right now.¡¯ Alisdair thought as he fell into the eitr. ¡®Ugh, where am I?¡¯ (Alisdair) Alisdair looked around, finding himself in a dim cave with rays of light shining through some cracks to reveal roots as thick as a leg growing into the sides of the cave as well as a white jade eyed hare with brown spots on its back staring at Alisdair. ¡°Medeina what are you doing?¡± Alisdair asked curiously ¡°Admiring the view¡± Medeina responded nonchalantly It was then that Alisdair looked down and noticed he was naked. ¡°Where are my clothes!?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t have any but if you really want some look behind you.¡± As Alisdair turned around he saw some clothes and something else. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Medeina, why is there a skeleton in those clothes¡­¡± ¡°Because an elf died in those clothes, but if you don¡¯t want to put them on that¡¯s fine~ by me.¡± She said as she continued staring at Alisdairs new body. ¡®Well it¡¯s better than nothing¡¯ Alisdair thought as the started to strip the skeleton of its clothes and proceeded to put them on, the clothes consisted of a light brown tattered sleeveless shirt with a tailcoat, a pair of equally tattered dark brown pants, boots the same colour as the pants, a thick leather belt with several pouches containing multiple withered plants and some copper coins about the size of a bottle cap. ¡®Now that I¡¯m dressed let¡¯s check my status¡¯ (Alisdair) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Name: Alisdair Race: Primal Elf Age: 18 Level: 12 STR 18 DEX 20 AGI 30 (+4) MAG 34 (+5) INT 12 WIL 14 VIT 16 LUC 6 Effects: 2 Stat pts: 55 Titles: 0 Skills: 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¡®My race has changed from soul to primal elf, what is a primal elf anyway? I hope it¡¯s nothing bad, hmm it seems I have physical stats now but why is my AGI so high? And why is there a +4 next to it, same with my MAG, there are stat pts now too, as well as 2 effects? Better ask Medeina what this all means.¡¯ (Alisdair) ¡°Hey Medeina, what¡¯s a primal elf?¡± Alisdair asked dismissing the status screen. ¡°Primal? Well they¡¯re sort of like the second generation of elves the ones after the progenitors. In other words they¡¯re quite powerful.¡± Medeina hopped onto Alisdairs shoulder. ¡°Another thing about them is that they can use primal magic, hence the name, which is way more powerful than normal magic but much less precise, I don¡¯t know anything more about them other than that though¡± ¡°That¡¯s plenty, thanks rabbit.¡± ¡°Asshole¡± ¡°Anyway why are you here Medeina? Shouldn¡¯t you be in that white space?¡± ¡°...I fell¡­¡± ¡°You¡­ fell?¡± ¡°Yeah when I pushed you into the eitr I fell in as well. And now I can¡¯t get back.¡± ¡®She¡¯s sulking, and looks kinda pitiful, maybe I should give her a hug.'' (Alisdair) Alisdair picked Medeina up off of his shoulder and embraced her. ¡°Huh!?! W-what are you doing!?!¡± The flustered Medeina struggled for a short while until she realised she couldn¡¯t fight back against Alisdairs strength and gave into the hug. ¡°Shhh, Its gonna be alright little rabbit.¡± Suddenly Medeina sunk her teeth into Alisdairs jugular. ¡°I¡¯m a Hare, asshole.¡± ¡°Oww, what¡¯s the difference!?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a big difference and I¡¯d bet you said it on purpose!¡± ¡®Well she¡¯s got me there.¡¯ (Alisdair) ¡°I still have some questions though, like why are there plus numbers next to my AGI and MAG, why are those two stats so high, and what does effects: 2 mean?¡± Alisdair asked as he ripped part of his tailcoat off to stem the blood from his neck. ¡°Your agility and magic are that high because of your race most likely, as for your other questions try thinking ¡®effects¡¯ when you have your status open.¡± ¡®Status, effects¡¯ (Alisdair) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Effects: Current effects Forest Road, One with Nature Forrest Road Due to your elven blood you can travel through forests easily. +15% AGI in forests One with Nature Due to your elven blood and your aptitude with magic you can tap into the mana of the trees +15% MAG in forests +10% effectiveness with nature magic - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Wow¡± Alisdair said as he removed the cloth from his neck. ¡®These effects are pretty good I think, hmm, is that +10% effectiveness with nature magic permanent? It doesn¡¯t specify that.¡¯ (Alisdair) ¡°Well? You¡¯ve been looking for a while, what does it say?¡± Medeina asked impatiently. ¡°I have the effects Forest Road and One with Nature, I think they¡¯re racial traits, you know like in video games.¡± ¡°Most likely they sound quite elf like.¡± ¡°Yeah anyway it says I have an aptitude with magic as well as a 10% increase in the effectiveness of nature magic.¡± ¡°Nature? That¡¯s the only magic I know so that works out well. Lets start now, follow me outside.¡± Alisdair followed Medeina through the cave and outside covering his eyes to the sudden change in brightness when he opened them what he saw was the sun high in the sky and a small clearing about 40 meters in diameter in a circle surrounded by trees in every direction and covered in green knee high grass with a small running through the side opposite to Alisdair and the meter high rocky outcrop he was standing on he turned around and saw the cave entrance which was about 2 meters high in a small rocky 5 meter hill with a large tree growing on top of it. ¡®Well now I know where the roots in the cave came from, hmm, what¡¯s that?¡¯ (Alisdair) What caught Alisdairs attention was a small puddle that showed his reflection. His new face had well-spaced deep-set emerald eyes, scruffy blonde hair, slightly long and pointy ears, a refined nose, average lips and over all smooth fair skin. ¡®So that¡¯s why Medeina said she was admiring the view earlier, I look good!¡¯ (Alisdair) chapter 3 Bandits CHAPTER 3 While Alisdair was admiring his new body, Medeina called out to him from the middle of the clearing where she was sitting on a rock ¡°What are you looking at? Hurry up and get over here!¡± ¡°I¡¯m coming, I¡¯m coming¡± ¡®What¡¯s her problem? Is she still mad about me calling her rabbit?¡¯ (Alisdair) As Alisdair was sitting down Medeina started explaining how to use magic. ¡°First you need to find yourself a comfortable position, now, close your eyes and try to focus your mind inwards. Try to feel the flow of mana going through you, see where it converges and accumulates that is your mana pool until you can draw upon it and materialize it we won¡¯t go any further.¡± Alisdair did as he was told and sat with his legs crossed and tried to feel the mana going through him. At first he couldn¡¯t feel anything no matter how hard he tried, he started to give up until he heard the nearby stream of water flowing and used the image of a river to find the mana flow, and he did, at first it was a small trickle tangled in a never-ending web of other flows just as small but they never touched or connected. Eventually the stream that he was following grew from a trickle to a stream, and then from a stream to a river, that lead to an intersection of other rivers of similar size all flowing into a lake of mana ¡®this is it, this is my mana pool¡¯ Alisdair thought as he marvelled at the sight of it, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn¡¯t control it, as he was trying again for the umpteenth time he heard a low rumble all around him, Alisdair quickly opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings nervously, the only difference he saw was that the sun had nearly set. ¡°That was your stomach.¡± Medeina said when she noticed Alisdairs nervous expression. ¡°Ah.¡± Alisdair looked down embarrassed while scratching his cheek, as he was looking down he noticed a pile of fruits and berries on the ground in front of him. ¡°Did you get these Medeina?¡± Alisdair asked hopefully ¡°Of course what kind of teacher can¡¯t give her student the proper nourishment needed?¡± ¡®Teacher huh, I hope I don¡¯t have to call her master.¡¯ (Alisdair) ¡°And because I am you teacher you shall now call me master!¡± Medeina exclaimed happily ¡®Damn I think I jinxed it.¡¯ (Alisdair) ¡°Anyway eat up and get some rest we will continue your lessons tomorrow.¡± ¡°Yes Master Rabbit.¡± Alisdair said cheekily. ¡°¡­Hey Alisdair, do not, provoke me got it?¡± Medeina said with a glare that sent shivers down Alisdairs spine. ¡®Ah, right she may look like a fuzzy fur ball but she¡¯s still a god, and a scary one at that.¡¯ (Alisdair) That night Alisdair retired to the cave and slept fitfully with a certain ball of fluff curled up in a ball on his chest. The next morning Alisdair decided to drag the skeleton out of the cave and bury it at the edge if the clearing which took him till about midday. He then decided to ask Medeina about the world he was now residing in. ¡°Hey Medeina, can you see an items status in this world?¡± ¡°No, the status window is restricted to intelligent beings only.¡± ¡°So beasts don¡¯t have one then?¡± ¡°They do, they just can¡¯t use it, that¡¯s what I mean by restricted, besides you can only level up by gaining experience from beings with a status window by either killing, subduing, taming et cetera.¡± ¡°What about undead? There are undead right?¡± ¡°Undead do exist and they also give experience if that answers your question.¡± ¡°It does thanks.¡± ¡°Good now onto your training!¡± Over the course of the next two weeks Alisdair continued his training with Medeina learning how to control his mana pool and how to control small tree roots, eventually gaining the skills mana manipulation and nature magic at level 3 and 5 novice respectively. Currently Alisdair was sitting in the same position with his eyes open controlling two small tree roots with a thickness roughly somewhere between a golf ball and tennis ball and about half a meter long, he was making them spiral around each other the same way one would make a rope, trying to rise his mana manipulation and nature magic, as he was doing this he recalled the conversation he had with Medeina when he gained his first skill, mana manipulation. ¡°Ah¡± -Alisdair ¡°What is it?¡± -Medeina ¡°I gained a skill, Mana manipulation.¡± ¨CAlisdair ¡°Great now we can start on nature magic.¡± ¨CMedeina ¡°Yeah, but I forgot to ask you about skill points the other day.¡± ¨CAlisdair ¡°Hmm? Don¡¯t worry about that for now, save them for later you never know when they will come in handy.¡± ¨CMedeina As Alisdair was reminiscing he heard the rustle of bushes to his left past the stream, he turned his head and saw a figure of a person aiming a loaded crossbow at him! ¡®OH SHIT!¡¯ (Alisdair) As the figure released the bolt Alisdair jerked his head dodging a fatal wound but he wasn¡¯t unscathed as the cut into his cheek causing him to lose his focus of the vines. The figure, noticing that he missed readied another bolt. ¡®As if I¡¯ll let you!¡¯ (Alisdair) You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. While the figure was reloading Alisdair charged towards him but as he reached the stream three other figures appeared, one was a small potbellied man with a scowl on his face, in his hand was what looked to be a lumber axe and he was wearing some sort of fur armour. Another was an averaged sized man with a blank face wielding a rusty iron sword, he was wearing a leather chest piece with a shirt and pants underneath. The last new-comer was a chunky woman with a chubby face while wearing a long sleeve shirt, pants and a robe while holding what looked wooden staff. ¡°Hold yer¡¯ horses Rick don¡¯t waste yer¡¯ ammo, der¡¯s only one o¡¯ dem we can ¡®andle it¡± ¨C Axe wielding one ¡°Gotcha boss¡± ¨C Rick The one with the crossbow named Rick then put his crossbow down, and walked out of the shadows with a knife. Rick had a rat like face and wore similar attire to the one with the blank face except he wore a fur hat. ¡°Heeh, its an elf, haven¡¯t seen on o¡¯ those in a long time, what ¡®bout you Ken?¡± ¨C Rick ¡°Mm¡± Ken/blank faced one replied with a crooked grin. ¡°Creepy bastard¡± ¨C Rick ¡°Don¡¯t be mean Rick, we are in the presence of a stranger, and first impressions are important you know~. Now mister elf let big sister Sheila take good~ care of you~.¡± The woman, Sheila, said while licking her lips with a red face and with desire in her eyes. ¡°N-no thanks.¡± ¨C Alisdair ¡®Damn! I¡¯m in trouble, but I only need to last until Medeina gets back from getting food¡­ ¡® (Alisdair) ¡°Now that¡¯s just too bad now isn¡¯t it darling?¡± ¨CSheila ¡°That it is, but too bad for you that weren¡¯t a question. GET ¡®IM¡± ¨CBoss At their bosses demands the bandits charged towards Alisdair, their order went from left to right, Boss, Rick, Ken, Sheila. ¡®Not good, I can¡¯t be surrounded or I¡¯m dead, okay think, the boss is most likely the strongest so do I take him out first? That Rick guy is probably the weakest of the bunch so now or never.¡± (Alisdair) As the bandits were about to completely cross the 2 meter stream Alisdair jumped towards the boss and planted his knee into the boss unsuspecting face, with a spurt of blood from his nose the boss fell onto his backside as Alisdair was landing. When Alisdair landed in the knee high body of water downstream of the other bandits he reached out grabbing Ricks shirt and pulled him towards himself causing him to flop face first into the stream. Quickly Alisdair made his way to the opposite bank from where he jumped. Only when Alisdair made it onto the opposite bank did the bandits fully process what had just happened with varying reactions. ¡°Aahn~ he¡¯s a fighter, they¡¯re the most fun to break¡± Sheila said while drooling ¡°¡­¡± Ken had a scary look on his face ¡°Ahh damn it now my clothes are wet and heavy, this sucks.¡± Rick said dejectedly ¡°...I¡¯M GONNA KILL YA YE POINTY EARED BASTARD!¡± Boss yelled seething with hatred for the elf in front of him Needless to say the bosses reaction was the most violent. ¡®I was hoping to knock at least one out¡¯ Alisdair complained to himself. ¡°You alright boss?¡± Rick asked still upset about his clothes. ¡°NO! THAT BASTARD¡¯S FIST IS LIKE A HAMMER!¡± The boss replied angrily. ¡°He can hit me like a hammer anytime.¡± Sheila interrupted. ¡°SHUT THE FUCK UP WHORE!¡± Boss retorted tired of Sheilas antics. The bandits then made their way towards the bank Alisdair was on as he backed away towards the forest. ¡®There¡¯s no way they¡¯ll be able to chase me in the forest, but I can¡¯t run away from my problems forever in this new world I¡¯ll have to face them eventually.¡¯ (Alisdair) The Bandits made it just past the bank and were encroaching upon Alisdair when he charged again this time towards Sheila. ¡°Aahn~ faster~¡± ¨CSheila ¡®I think I¡¯m gonna be sick¡¯ (Alisdair) When Alisdair was in range of Sheilas staff she swung it horizontally to his left shoulder, which Alisdair quickly dodged by extending his stride and leaning forward which made it go over his head. However her swing didn¡¯t stop and continued towards her allies, Ken was fast enough to duck however Rick wasn¡¯t and the impact knocked him unconscious, it did not reach the boss. As Sheila was looking in Ricks direction with a shocked looked on her face Alisdair punched her in the temple with a left hook rendering her unconscious also. As she was falling Ken rushed Alisdair aiming for his heart as he thrust his sword. Because of his momentum all Alisdair could do was keep pushing forward. Ken missed his intended target however he did get Alisdairs right shoulder, pushing all the way through his flesh and bone coming out the other side. ¡°AARGH¡± As Alisdair shouted the Boss joined the fray and swung his axe towards Alisdairs left side. Ss it started to crush and cut his ribcage, clenching his teeth Alisdair used his one good arm to stop it from going any further. Ken then mercilessly yanked his sword out of Alisdairs shoulder causing him more agony causing Alisdair to start losing his consciousness. As he was closing his eyes with his final sight being Ken raising his sword for the final blow he heard an incredibly furious yet beautiful voice. ¡°WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU¡¯RE DOING TO MY STUDENT!¡±