《The Godly Games》 Ch.1 Let the games begin ¡°Sarge we need you¡­Sergeant Carpenter..? SARGE!!¡± Luke finally hopped out of bed, trying not to scowl. He hadn¡¯t actually been sleeping, he was just hoping to be left alone. An irresponsible move, especially from a staff sergeant but Luke wouldn¡¯t care if he lost his position. He didn¡¯t care about anything these days. He tried smiling at the brunette who was at the door. She just frowned and turned around. He probably shouldn¡¯t have given her a fake smile. Emma hated that sort of thing, especially from him. As Luke followed her through the corridor, he wondered if a career change would make him happier. Probably not, it¡¯s getting worse he thought. A year ago, he may have been depressed but it didn¡¯t feel so absolute back then. Nowadays, he just felt sad all the time. Well, maybe not all the time. Luke had various hobbies like martial arts and hunting but they didn¡¯t fix the problem, not really. He might enjoy himself in the moment but whenever he wasn¡¯t distracted, he always felt empty inside. All of a sudden, Emma stopped walking and turned to look at him. ¡°I know you stopped going to therapy¡­¡± she began. Luke sighed, wondering when she would stop trying to help him. Emma may have good intentions but she just didn¡¯t know when to give up. He prepared himself for a long lecture but what happened next was something else entirely. Luke didn¡¯t understand it, he could barely even describe it. It felt good and bad at the same time, and it was more than just a physical feeling. It felt like there was a current coursing through his body and soul, like he had fifty senses instead of five. Before he could ask Emma if she felt it too, Luke could no longer see her. To be exact, he could no longer see anything. There was just a sudden flash of light before he lost both sight and hearing. When his senses finally returned, Luke found himself laying on the ground. He flicked a beetle off his shoulder as he sat up and looked around. For a few seconds, he just sat there in a state of confusion as he realized that he was somehow out of the base and in a forest glade. When he did get up, Luke was hit by a wave of dizziness that had him drop to his knees and puke. A second wave almost made him fall face first into his own vomit but luckily, he resisted. Was I poisoned? he thought, looking at the black bile. Obviously he¡¯d needed to get something out of his system. He was a lot more clearheaded and energetic after that. Despite puking his guts out, Luke felt quite refreshed. It wasn¡¯t just that he was refreshed, he was unusually clean. His mouth didn¡¯t taste of vomit, his hair felt softer and silkier, even the dirt under his fingernails had disappeared. Of course, that was hardly the only strange thing about his current situation. Not only was he in the middle of a forest, he was now wearing some type of medieval garb, something that looked like it came straight out of a fantasy game. Black leather boots, black pants made of a coarse fabric and a white full sleeve t-shirt that resembled a polo but had strings lacing the top instead of buttons. Over the shirt, was a sleeveless jacket made of dark brown silk. Strangest of all was the sword attached to his belt. The hilt and scabbard were made of brown leather and when he unsheathed the weapon, a wickedly sharp blade was revealed. Despite the absurdity of the situation, Luke couldn¡¯t help but smile. He wasn¡¯t exactly a master swordsman, but even he could tell that this sword was special. It looked rather ordinary but something about the blade made him feel like he could split a mountain in half. If this is some kind of lucid dream then it¡¯s a good one thought Luke as he tried out a few moves with the sword. Sadly, he seemed to have jinxed it. As soon as he¡¯d finished the thought, he heard a voice that turned his ¡°good dream¡± into a nightmare. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Sergeant Carpenter? Where are we? What¡¯s going on?!¡± whined the blonde haired wuss (Luke didn¡¯t want to call him a man). Without waiting for a reply, he continued to ramble on about how he¡¯d seen a monster whilst trying to hold back his tears. He must have seen a moose or something thought Luke in annoyance. If it were up to him, the ¡°soldier¡± in front of him would have been discharged long ago but that was unlikely to ever happen. Johnny Holt benefited from a strange type of nepotism. He was from a very influential family but their connections didn¡¯t help him get undeserved promotions, it just made sure he didn¡¯t face the consequences of his incompetence. ¡°You just saw an animal. Calm down¡± said Luke and walked into the woods, hoping that Johnny wouldn¡¯t follow. As usual, he didn¡¯t get what he wanted. Luke decided to just keep walking and try to forget about Johnny. It turned out to be rather easy, as he was distracted by a far more important matter. The longer he walked, the more Luke was convinced of the fact that this wasn¡¯t simply going on inside his head. He didn¡¯t think his mind could conjure up the strange sensations he felt when he was taken out of the base or the exhilaration he felt when he held the sword. He didn¡¯t know what was going on but he knew it was real. ¡°Sir, there are footprints here¡± said Johnny, interrupting his thoughts. Indeed, there were two sets of footprints going in the same direction they were. Luke and Johnny nodded at each other and continued walking, albeit quieter and with a brisker pace. A minute later, the source of the footprints were revealed. A man and woman, wearing the same kind of clothes as Luke and Johnny but unlike them, they were both carrying spears. Soon after that, two annoyed men and a slightly sympathetic lady were waiting for Johnny to stop panicking (It had gotten a lot worse when he found out that Frank and Emma were also unable to explain what was going on) ¡°Private¡± said Luke when Johnny finally calmed down. ¡°Yes sir¡± replied both Frank and Johnny. ¡°Competent Private¡± clarified Luke, looking at Frank. ¡°None of us know what¡¯s going on but we¡¯re probably not the only ones here. We¡¯ll split up into duos and try to find others. You and Private Holt will partner up. Meet us back here in two hours¡± Frank paled at the cruel order and tried to object but Luke and Emma were already hurrying away. An hour later, the two of them were trudging through the woods, trying to find any trace of other people. By now, the sun was starting to go down. Luke was wondering if they should turn around before it got dark when he sensed that Emma was about to break the silence. To his surprise, he didn¡¯t dread it this time. ¡°I think Frank is actually the best at tolerating Johnny¡± she said. ¡°He¡¯s tough as nails¡± agreed Luke, surprising her with a response that wasn¡¯t a simple grunt. ¡°So why did you get a sword?¡± asked Emma, eager to continue the conversation. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s a great sword though¡± said Luke with a grin, making her stumble in surprise. ¡°Didn¡¯t know you could still do that¡± she muttered. ¡°Frank had a spear as well. So Holt is the only one who didn¡¯t get a weapon¡­why would that be?¡± wondered Luke aloud, mainly to change the topic before things got too emotional. ¡°Don¡¯t overthink it, he probably got one and forgot to pick it up¡± Luke was about to reply when he noticed the silence. The woods were too quiet, there were no longer any birds chirping or cicadas buzzing. He felt uneasy, a sense of danger was growing. Emma picked up on it too, and the two of them started to scan their surroundings. Luke unsheathed his sword and strained his senses, trying to hear something that would let him know what was happening. Emma shifted uncomfortably behind him but Luke remained as still as a rock, patiently waiting and listening, until he heard the faintest of sounds behind him. Instantly, he leapt to the side and a second later, a small figure landed where he had just been standing. It didn¡¯t stay put for long and quickly leapt towards Emma. Luckily, the slight delay was enough to allow Luke¡¯s sword to connect with the creature in midair. Emma let out a startled yelp when the two halves of the animal landed in front of her. It appeared to be a feline of some sort. It looked like a small leopard or jaguar but had fangs like a sabretooth. Whatever it was, Luke wasn¡¯t concerned with that right now. As he wiped away the drops of blood on his face, he couldn¡¯t believe how good he felt. Luke knew Emma was saying something but he couldn¡¯t hear her. All he could focus on was the euphoria he was in. He felt like he was more. More substantial, more capable, more powerful¡­ it was like the energy within that cat had been transferred to him. He wanted to remain in this state for hours, but he was soon brought out of it by a loud ring. As Luke came back to the real world, his focus shifted to the strange screen that was now floating in front of him. *A monster has been slain* *Luke Carpenter is now the Champion* *Let the games begin...* Ch.2 The third village As soon as the screen flashed out of his vision, Luke realized that his surroundings had changed. Emma was still next to him but that was the only thing that had stayed the same. He was now within a campsite of sorts, with dozens of cozy looking wooden cabins. Luke spotted several familiar faces, it appeared that a big chunk of his platoon had found themselves in this strange settlement. Before he could spend too long looking around, he once again heard a loud ring. *Welcome to your new home* *The Games have begun, you have nine days to grow your strength before the first trial.* *Be swift, but wary* Luke digested this information with relative calm. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Johnny was about to have a meltdown but the floating text in front of him changed and quickly drew his attention back to it. STATUS Name: Luke Carpenter Race: Human (Lesser) Level: 0 Rank: 0 Class: N/A Health: 100% Stamina: 89% Mana Reserves: 100% Free points: 0 Skill points: 0 STATS Strength: 18 Agility: 17 Toughness: 13 Stamina: 20 Vitality: 11 Perception: 18 Soul: 16 Spirit: 13 SKILLS [Unarmed Combat (Lvl.16)]- One does not need a weapon if they can truly harvest the power within their body¡­You currently possess moderate skill in unarmed combat [Swordsmanship (Lvl.14)]- The sword can split oceans when used by a Master but fail to cut wood when used by a novice¡­You currently possess moderate skill in swordsmanship [Stealth (Lvl.10)]- A foe that is strong from ahead may be weak from behind¡­ You currently possess moderate skill in stealth [Tracking (Lvl.8)]-Great opportunities come to those who look for them¡­You currently possess basic skill in tracking ABILITIES Active: [Analyze (Lvl.1)]- A crucial ability for those who intend to survive their battles, [Analyze] allows you to focus on any object or being and attempt to discern information about them, such as their stats or level. Passive: [Allspeak]- A gift to adventurers who roam far and wide, [Allspeak] allows you to speak and understand all languages, except the tongues that have a power of their own. TITLES [Champion of the third village]- A title granted to the very best of the third village, the champion. The effects of this title will be revealed as the games progress. [Outworlder]- A title granted to those who are not of this world, to those who were brought here by unknown forces for mysterious reasons¡­ It grants its wielder the abilities [Analyze] and [Allspeak]. Have we transmigrated into a fantasy world? thought Luke when he was done reading. He wondered why he was so calm and accepting about this, he felt like he should be in denial. But soon, he understood why. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Denial was the first stage of grief¡­ and he wasn¡¯t experiencing grief. Quite the opposite, he was thrilled by the prospect of living a completely different life in a world of magic and fantasy. After all, he had nothing to lose and a lot to gain. Luke willed the screen in front of him to disappear and looked around. The things he read warranted a lot more thought, especially the part about being champion and the implied existence of other settlements but he wanted to see how the others were doing first. A lot of them were still staring blankly into space, confirming his suspicion that the strange screens could only be seen by the person to whom it was relevant. He saw all sorts of reactions to the information like panic, disbelief and even laughter. Luke didn¡¯t blame the others for their strange reactions. They had just been sucked out of their relatively normal lives and thrust into a world that seemed to function like a fantasy video game or tabletop RPG. Luke was probably the only one who was ready to accept this new reality. That was to be expected, he was the only one who wanted this. He was the only one who wanted to be in this new world, because of what it represented¡­ Hope thought Luke. A new world that was entirely unlike his old one brought hope for him to finally be happy. It brought hope for him to have a life that he truly found meaningful. A hope that waned slightly when everyone else started crowding around him, bombarding him with all sorts of annoying questions. ¡°Stop, stop, STOP!¡± shouted Luke after a few seconds of chaotic questioning. ¡°Why do you think I have an answer to any of this?¡± he asked in exasperation after they quietened down. ¡°The Lieutenant isn¡¯t here¡­you¡¯re the platoon sergeant, who else do we go to?¡± asked Emma. ¡°None of that matters right now, Emma. We¡¯re clearly not in our old world anymore¡± said Luke. ¡°What? You think we were just dropped into a different planet?¡± asked a private with a nervous laugh. ¡°And what¡¯s your theory on what¡¯s going on?¡± countered Luke, to which the bald man had no response. ¡°I know this may be confusing but we cannot afford to act like this isn¡¯t real. There could be danger coming and we need to be ready for it.¡± said Luke. ¡°How do we prepare, sir?¡± asked a black haired man. Luke smiled slightly as he turned to look at him. He could always count on Matt to be rational. ¡°I assume you all saw the floating screens?¡± began Luke, to which several people nodded. ¡°This world appears to function like some RPG games from back on earth. There are lots of fantasy elements here like our weapons and clothing and on top of that, the screen showed me things like ¡°Class¡± and ¡°Level¡±. I think we can assume that like in those games, we level up by killing monsters.¡± Luke paused for a few seconds, waiting for someone to disagree or add something. When no one did, he decided to just end his little speech without talking about the other villages that may exist. He certainly didn¡¯t want to cause even more panic and chaos right now. ¡°Nine days from now, some sort of trial is set to begin so we should try and get as strong as possible before that. But for now, I say we just check out these cabins and head to bed early. We shouldn¡¯t be out in the woods at night, not yet at least.¡± ¡°What happened to the rest of the platoon?¡± asked Emma right as he was about to walk away. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡± said Luke and almost turned around to leave before he decided to not be a dick and say a few more words. ¡°We can hope that they weren¡¯t brought here. But it¡¯s also possible that they encountered some danger in the woods. Either way, now is not the time to think about this. Our focus should be on surviving the upcoming trial, after that we can try to find some clues on what actually happened¡± said Luke. With that, he left the crowd behind and walked towards the largest cabin in the village. There was a bronze plaque on its door with the word ¡°Champion¡± on it. Right before he went in, Luke turned around and took one last look at his comrades, noting the somber mood. The cabin was as simple on the inside as it was on the outside. There were six windows in total, two on every wall except one. The white bed was on the smaller side but it looked comfortable enough and he was happy to see that there was a fireplace, which had two armchairs and a small table in front of it. Luke was expecting to have to use some sort of outhouse but the door on the windowless wall actually led to a bathroom. When he stepped inside, he could instantly see that the bathroom was a lot nicer than the rest of the house. He eagerly walked over to the sink with a large mirror in front of it and washed his hands and face, finally getting rid of the last traces of blood. After a thorough rinse, Luke dried his hands on a soft white towel and looked into the Mirror. Back in his teens, he had hated how normal he looked. He was black haired and brown eyed with a face that was neither handsome nor ugly, just easy to forget. Even when it came to his height, Luke was just slightly above average but not tall. Since then, he¡¯d gotten rather fit which made him stand out a lot more. Though at this point, he wasn¡¯t really concerned with his appearance. He absentmindedly stared at his reflection for a few more seconds before coming to a sudden realization. Where¡¯s the Goddamn toilet? thought a frustrated Luke. He hadn¡¯t noticed it at first but the bathroom only had a sink and shower. As he looked around, he also realized that while there was soap and shampoo on the shower rack, the bathroom didn¡¯t come with a toothbrush or toothpaste. Luke stared at the shower rack for a few more seconds before letting out a sigh and leaving the bathroom. We get a rain shower and fireplace but need to shit in the woods... I guess I shouldn¡¯t be too surprised after everything else that¡¯s happened today he thought as he sat down by the fire. Indeed, today had been a strange day but today had also been a good day. As he sat there, with the fire crackling merrily in front of him, Luke felt at peace. That sense of emptiness, the fear that he would die without having lived a meaningful life, it was all gone. Right now, the hope within him was too strong to allow any of that. Despite knowing that there was danger coming, Luke was more excited than afraid. Mundanity was what he hated most, and from everything he¡¯d experienced of this new world, it was anything but. Luke could feel how depressing the mood was outside, he knew people were probably talking about whether they would see their families again or wondering if the rest of the platoon was truly dead. He knew they were in pain but here in his cabin, things were good. This trial...it should be interesting Ch.3 Lucas and Matthew Inside a darkened room, a naked man slept peacefully on his bed. If Luke hadn¡¯t shut the curtains before he went to bed, he may have been aroused by rays of sunshine. Unfortunately, his day started with violent knocking at his door. Luke jumped out of bed and hurried to put his clothes on. He decided to leave the brown jacket and just wear his pants and shirt before opening the door. ¡°Morning¡± said Luke. ¡°Good morning¡± muttered Matt. ¡°Didn¡¯t sleep well?¡± asked Luke. ¡°I did, but I could really use a coffee¡± said Matt with a shrug. ¡°The champion¡¯s cabin doesn¡¯t come with an espresso machine if that¡¯s why you¡¯re here¡± said Luke. ¡°That was one reason but I also wanted to talk about how we¡¯re going to level up. We¡¯d probably be in less danger if we do it in groups rather than alone¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re taking this seriously. How are the others doing? I assume most of you spent a few hours talking about this last night?¡± asked Luke. ¡°Well, most of us agree that we ought to treat this as our new reality, strange as it is. Surprisingly, Johnny came around rather quickly and even helped convince some of the others¡± ¡°Maybe he¡¯s taken a ¡°new world, new me¡± resolution¡± said Luke, hoping it lasted. ¡°So what should we do about the monsters?¡± asked Matt. ¡°We¡¯ll be swift but wary¡± said Luke, remembering the message he¡¯d gotten when he was transported to the village. ¡°Don¡¯t try to be Gandalf, what does that even mean?¡± asked Matt in annoyance. ¡°It means we need to balance safety and efficiency. Obviously, moving in large groups and attacking the weakest monsters is safest, but I doubt it will be efficient. In most video games, you gain little to no experience from doing stuff like that so it¡¯s probably the same here. We need to take on some risk to be strong enough for the trial¡± replied Luke. Matt nodded in agreement and for a few seconds, the two of them went quiet as they thought about how to proceed. ¡°I saw that most of us got spears but do we have any archers?¡± asked Luke, breaking the silence. ¡°Jim and Mary got bows, but Mary¡¯s not particularly skilled with it¡± said Matt. ¡°They¡¯ll probably be in less danger than the close combat fighters. Having some sort of long range attack would be nice¡± said Luke. ¡°Maybe this world has magic! Imagine shooting fireballs at goblins and kobolds!¡± cried Matt, with a sudden burst of energy. ¡°I forgot you were a fantasy nerd¡± sighed Luke. ¡°Oh don¡¯t act like you don¡¯t want magic, everyone does¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care¡± said Luke, lying through his teeth. Matt stared back at him, clearly not buying it, which prompted Luke to change the subject before his deception was revealed. ¡°Anyway, I think we should start by fighting some really weak monsters¡± said Luke. ¡°Should we do that right now? I think we¡¯re also supposed to eat what we hunt, there¡¯s no food here¡± said Matt with a groan. ¡°But are you hungry, or even thirsty for that matter?¡± ¡°Um, no?¡± said Matt, with a confused expression. ¡°Neither am I, but we should be. It¡¯s not just that, yesterday I was annoyed to see that there was no toothbrush here but even though I¡¯ve just woken up my breath feels fine¡± said Luke. ¡°So our bodies were altered by whatever brought us here¡± muttered Matt. ¡°I¡¯d assume so but that¡¯s not important right now. We¡¯ve only got a few days to prepare for the trial, so to answer your question from earlier, we should indeed start hunting right now¡± said Luke. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Matt agreed and Luke went back inside to get his sword. When he returned, Matt was holding a foot long dagger which Luke didn¡¯t even realize he had on him. ¡°Seriously?¡± ¡°Oh don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re a knife hater¡± said Matt indignantly. ¡°Everyone¡¯s a knife hater, it¡¯s the dumbest weapon¡± retorted Luke. ¡°I¡¯ll have you know that I¡¯m a level 22 knife wielder, the monsters stand no chance against me¡± said Matt. ¡°Don¡¯t jinx it¡± replied Luke as he and Matt started to walk towards the tree line. Soon, they were out of sight of the cabins. ¡°Should we have gotten the others to come with us?¡± asked Matt. ¡°I feel like they¡¯d sooner stab themselves with their spears than kill a monster¡± said Luke. ¡°Mean but true¡± agreed Matt. For the next ten minutes, the two of them walked around without seeing anything unusual. Along the way, they made conversation and Luke enjoyed it quite a bit. It wasn¡¯t like the old days, when his depression made him want to do nothing except sit around and feel sad. Eventually, they found a ¡°monster¡±. Matt saw it first, pointing towards a small snake on the grass with a questioning look. Luke shrugged and decided to give it a shot. He stepped forward and casually sliced the serpent in half which instantly prompted a familiar ring. *You have slain [Grassviper (Lvl.1)], 10 EXP earned* *You¡¯ve reached Level 1, +1 to all stats, +1 free point* Once again, Luke felt as if the energy within the snake was now his. However, while it was certainly a pleasant sensation, it didn¡¯t feel nearly as good as the first time. To be honest, Luke was grateful for the fact, he didn¡¯t want to end up addicted to killing. ¡°Did it work?¡± asked Matt. ¡°Yeah, I levelled up. You get a ¡°+1 to all stats¡± and a free point to assign. Speaking of which, I should do that now¡± he replied, willing his status to be shown to him. STATUS Name: Luke Carpenter Race: Human (Lesser) Level: 1 Rank: 0 Class: N/A Health: 100% Stamina: 96% Mana Reserves: 100% Free points: 1 Skill points: 0 STATS Strength: 19 Agility: 18 Toughness: 14 Stamina: 21 Vitality: 12 Perception: 19 Soul: 17 Spirit: 14 Luke decided to just assign his free point to strength and bring it to twenty. After he willed the screen away, he saw Matt staring at him curiously. ¡°Do you feel stronger?¡± he asked. ¡°Maybe a little bit¡± said Luke. ¡°I can¡¯t believe a small snake is all we need to level up¡± said Matt, looking oddly disappointed. ¡°You might need a bit more. I¡¯d already killed a monster before so that might have helped¡± replied Luke. ¡°Oh yeah, I saw something about that. The system said you were the champion after that¡± said Matt. ¡°The system?¡± ¡°Yeah that¡¯s what the screens and stuff come from, it¡¯s called the system¡± he said. ¡°How on earth do you know that?¡± asked Luke. ¡°I asked it¡± said Matt, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. ¡°Try it¡± he encouraged after seeing Luke¡¯s disbelief. What are you? thought Luke, feeling rather stupid as he did so. *I am everything¡­from the earth to the stars, I bind the universe together* *I have many names but most mortals call me the system* ¡°It¡¯s pretty dramatic¡± commented Luke. *Fuck you* Luke stared at the message for a few seconds before he decided not to start a fight with the so called system. ¡°Let¡¯s find a monster for you to kill¡± he said, looking at Matt. As it turned out, their village was apparently located in the most lifeless area there was. The two men walked for hours without finding anything worth killing. Along the way, Matt had squished a beetle to see if it had some effect but as expected, it gave him no exp. ¡°We should head back, we¡¯ll try again later.¡± said Luke after they¡¯d walked so far that they¡¯d reached a crystal blue lake. ¡°Alright¡± said Matt miserably. ¡°The water looks nice¡± he added after a few seconds. ¡°You cannot be this stupid¡­¡± said Luke, rubbing his temples. ¡°What?! We¡¯ve been walking for hours and it¡¯s hot as balls out here, let¡¯s have a swim!¡± cried Matt. ¡°Yeah that sounds great, let¡¯s swim straight into some fish monster¡¯s mouth!¡± ¡°¡­Point taken¡± Although they agreed not to swim, they did stand there for a few minutes, enjoying the cool breeze. The water did look very inviting but Luke couldn¡¯t even imagine what sort of creatures dwelled within. ¡°Do you think fishing would give us exp?¡± asked Matt. ¡°Probably, but I doubt we¡¯ll catch a big one. Here¡¯s what we should focus on for now¡­¡± said Luke. He turned to look at Matt, intending to elaborate but that¡¯s when he noticed something on a nearby tree. Hanging from one of the lower branches, was a small creature with brown fur. It looked like a cross between a sloth and a monkey and had a tiny horn on its forehead. Matt followed his gaze and grinned when he noticed the creature. Without hesitation, he walked over to it with his dagger raised high. As it turned out, he probably should have hesitated. As soon as Matt got close to the strange animal, it spit out a black blob at him. He leaped back in shock, and just in time too. The dark liquid splashed on the grass where he¡¯d been standing and started to dissolve it. ¡°I¡¯m glad we didn¡¯t have to find out what lived in the lake¡± said Luke after a few seconds of stunned silence. ¡°I guess I owe you for that¡­but what do we do about this thing?¡± asked Matt. ¡°Throw a rock at it¡± said Luke. ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably got a limited range on that acid attack. Just throw rocks at it until its dead¡± said Luke. And so, Matt started stoning the creature. Luckily, it resembled a sloth in more ways than one and was too slow to escape. Eventually, the bloodied animal stopped moving. As soon as it did, Matt started to sway slightly with a stupid smile on his face. Luke grimaced at the comical scene. He may have laughed at it if not for the implication¡­ There¡¯s no way I looked like that after I killed the cat he thought. *You did* Ch.4 Night Hunter Luke didn¡¯t like having to repeat himself, especially for simple matters. Yet here he was, for the third time, explaining to the crowd in front of him that some risk was necessary. ¡°I¡¯m telling you, we can¡¯t just move at a snail¡¯s pace. Matt and I spent half the day trying to kill monsters and we only levelled up once. At this rate, we¡¯ll be sitting ducks when the trial happens¡± ¡°It just seems stupid to be in the woods at night¡± said a petite blonde woman. ¡°Not as stupid as dying in the trial because we weren¡¯t strong enough, Mary¡± said Matt. ¡°How do we even know that there¡¯ll be more monsters at night?¡± asked Emma. ¡°It just makes sense¡± said Matt. ¡°In Minecraft, the monsters only come out at night¡± added Johnny, which everyone ignored. ¡°He has a point¡± said Luke, feeling the need to defend a fellow Minecraft fan. ¡°I agree¡± said Jim, piping up after a long period of silence. ¡°Me too¡± said Matt. ¡°You¡¯re all out of your mind¡± cried Emma. ¡°Jim, Luke and I will go into the woods and hunt monsters whether you like it or not¡± declared Matt. ¡°Let¡¯s go¡± said Luke, seizing the opportunity to escape the annoying arguments and level up instead. The three of them walked into the woods, leaving the speechless crowd behind them. They faced no trouble navigating their surroundings under the brightness of the moon but before they¡¯d taken even a dozen steps, someone came up behind them. ¡°I¡¯m coming too¡± said Johnny. ¡°You don¡¯t even have a weapon, you were the only one who didn¡¯t get one¡± said Luke. He wasn¡¯t opposed to giving Johnny a chance to turn over a new leaf and leave his lazy ways behind him but he didn¡¯t want to be the one who had to protect him. ¡°What are you talking about? I did get a weapon¡± said Johnny, holding up his fists and revealing two pairs of brass knuckles on them. ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry I said knives were the dumbest weapon¡± said Luke, turning to Matt. ¡°It¡¯s fine, now I understand how you felt when you saw the dagger¡± he replied. ¡°These are perfect! I¡¯m a good boxer and these make me even deadlier¡± claimed Johnny. Luke and Matt just fixed a disbelieving stare on his scrawny figure. Luke was about to tell him to go back when Jim spoke up. ¡°He¡¯s telling the truth, he¡¯s actually pretty good. Plus, we¡¯re hunting the weaker monsters¡± ¡°Fine, just be careful¡± conceded Luke. He could trust Jim to know how skilled Johnny was. Jim was the only one who got along well with Johnny, though that was because he got along well with everyone. Jim¡¯s probably going to do the best tonight he thought as they got deeper into the woods. Just an hour ago, Luke had found out that Jim was a tournament winning archer. The man was an enigma. He used to be a highly paid model which wasn¡¯t surprising given his good looks, the blonde hair and piercing blue eyes only added to his charm. He seemed to have it all yet he¡¯d left it all behind and joined the army for reasons he never revealed. Luke decided to just make another addition to his list of weird facts about Jim and keep walking. A few minutes later, their theory on monsters coming out at night was proven right. They heard it first, a faint digging sound emanating from dozens of feet away. When the four men approached the clearing it was coming from, they saw a large black boar digging at the base of a tree. It continued digging frantically, not noticing them. The four of them watched silently, not sure if they should attack. They now knew that seemingly harmless creatures could have strange powers in this world. Suddenly, Luke recalled that they¡¯d been given an ability called ¡°analyze¡±. He instinctively knew how to use it, narrowing his eyes as he focused on the creature in front of him. [???-Lvl.8] ¡°I just used analyze on it, its level 8¡± he whispered. ¡°I don¡¯t know if we can handle that¡± said Matt, he wouldn¡¯t forget the acid attack anytime soon. ¡°I think we should do it, I can definitely hit its spine¡± said Jim. ¡°Let¡¯s do it¡± agreed Luke after Matt and Johnny nodded hesitantly. Luke and Matt readied their weapons before giving Jim the okay. He quietly drew an arrow from his quiver and took aim for a few seconds, before letting it fly straight towards the beast¡¯s back. It let out a loud snort and turned around, swaying slightly but still standing. The arrow didn¡¯t appear to have caused fatal damage. Jim hurriedly reached for another arrow right before the boar charged towards them. The second arrow hit the monster¡¯s shoulder but again, it didn¡¯t appear to do much and only caused it to slow down for a second. Jim drew another arrow from his quiver but Luke knew he wouldn¡¯t have enough time to shoot. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. He ran forward, drawing the boar¡¯s attention to him. It charged towards him with increased speed but Luke was able to sidestep in the nick of time. The boar ran past him, unable to change directions quickly, and that¡¯s when he beheaded the troublesome beast. *You have slain [Goldenboned Boar (Lvl.8)], 550 EXP earned* *Bonus EXP earned for slaying an enemy of a higher level * *You have reached level 4, stats allocated, free points earned* *Gained title [Night hunter]* *Gained ability [Dark vision]* Luke grinned at the notifications from the system. Unlike the last time he levelled up, he could feel a significant change. Not only did he feel stronger, quicker and more durable, even his thoughts seemed to flow a bit faster. Status he thought, excited to see the changes. STATUS Name: Luke Carpenter Race: Human (Lesser) Level: 4 Rank: 0 Class: N/A Health: 100% Stamina: 97% Mana Reserves: 99% Free points: 3 Skill points: 0 STATS Strength: 23 Agility: 21 Toughness: 17 Stamina: 24 Vitality: 15 Perception: 22 Soul: 20 Spirit: 17 SKILLS [Unarmed Combat (Lvl.16)]- One does not need a weapon if they can truly harvest the power within their body¡­You currently possess moderate skill in unarmed combat [Swordsmanship (Lvl.14)]- The sword can split oceans when used by a Master but fail to cut wood when used by a novice¡­You currently possess moderate skill in swordsmanship [Stealth (Lvl.10)]- A foe that is strong from ahead may be weak from behind¡­ You currently possess moderate skill in stealth [Tracking (Lvl.8)]-Great opportunities come to those who look for them¡­You currently possess basic skill in tracking ABILITIES Active: [Analyze (Lvl.1)]- A crucial ability for those who intend to survive their battles, [Analyze] allows you to focus on any object or being and attempt to discern information about them, such as their stats or level. [Dark vision]- An ability that all adventurers must possess, [Dark vision] allows you to see perfectly in the dark, even when there is no light whatsoever. Passive: [All speak]- A gift to adventurers who roam far and wide, [All speak] allows you to speak and understand all languages, except the tongues that have a power of their own. TITLES [Champion of the third village]- A title granted to the very best of the third village, the champion. The effects of this title will be revealed as the games progress. [Outworlder]- A title granted to those who are not of this world, to those who were brought here by unknown forces for mysterious reasons¡­ It grants its wielder the abilities [Analyse] and [Allspeak]. [Night Hunter]- A title granted to those who have slain a monster in the darkness, a sign of great courage and perhaps poor judgement¡­Grants the ability [Dark vision] ¡°You okay Sarge?¡± asked Jim. ¡°Yeah, I got to level 4¡± said Luke happily. ¡°I levelled up too, I¡¯m level 2 now¡± said Jim. ¡°But you weren¡¯t even the one who killed it¡± protested Johnny, annoyed that he was the only one who was still Level 0. ¡°I think you get some exp if you injure the target¡± said Matt. ¡°Did you get the title?¡± asked Luke, turning to Jim. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You get it for killing a monster in the dark, it gives you some kind of night vision¡± said Luke as he tried out the new ability. It wasn¡¯t as drastic of a change as he expected, he could still tell that it was dark but he could now see things just as clearly as he could in the day. I guess it¡¯ll have more of an effect in places that are completely dark he thought. ¡°I didn¡¯t receive a title. I guess you have to be the one to finish it off¡± said Jim. ¡°Well I want night vision too, let¡¯s keep hunting!¡± declared Matt, excited at the prospect of gaining a cool ability. ¡°Just a second¡± said Luke as he pulled up his status and assigned all of his free points to toughness. As soon as he did, he could feel a small change in his body. His bones were a little bit sturdier and his flesh felt less prone to tear. I wanna be as hard to kill as possible he thought. After that, they continued to search for monsters. Thanks to his [Dark vision] ability, Luke was able to spot some tracks on the ground. They were small and weirdly shaped, and seemed to belong to a short two-legged creature. ¡°Follow me¡± said Luke. The other three fell in line behind him, trying to be as quiet as possible. They followed the tracks for a few minutes until they were led to a large tree. They scanned the branches for a while until Jim spotted something. ¡°It¡¯s over there¡± he said, pointing towards one of the higher branches where a furry creature was trying to hide. When Luke saw it, he received a notification from the system. *Your skill in [Tracking] has reached level 9* This one could come in handy he thought, making a mental note to invest some time into the tracking skill. ¡°So how about I shoot it down and then Matt or Johnny can go finish it off?¡± offered Jim. ¡°I think if you do most of the work then you deserve the kill¡± said Johnny. ¡°Yeah, go for it¡± said Matt. Jim nodded and drew an arrow from his quiver. A few seconds later, the creature crashed to the ground with the arrow embedded in its eye. It looked like a monkey of some sort but had very short arms and red fur. ¡°I¡¯ve caught up to you Sarge¡± said Jim with a grin. ¡°Yeah yeah, can we get a move on? Johnny and I need to level up too¡± said Matt. Luke was about to agree when he felt a slight headache coming on. Just as he was about to suggest that they head back, he recalled something he¡¯d seen earlier. Status he thought. STATUS Name: Luke Carpenter Race: Human (Lesser) Level: 4 Rank: 0 Class: N/A Health: 100% Stamina: 91% Mana Reserves: 31% Free points: 0 Skill points: 0 So using an active ability drains your mana he realized and turned off his [Dark vision]. ¡°Alright let¡¯s get you two levelled up and then head back as soon as possible. We shouldn¡¯t spend too long out here¡± said Luke. They were all in agreement about that and so, they went back to looking for monsters. Luckily or unluckily, they didn¡¯t find any more large creatures. In fact, it took an hour of assaulting small critters before Matt and Johnny had both reached level 3. ¡°I really think we should go back now¡± said Jim after Johnny was done beating a rabbit to death. ¡°It¡¯d be best if we all got to level 5. If we all get a decent power boost then we can work together to take down a stronger monster¡± said Matt. They continued to argue about whether they should stay or leave for the next minute. Luke and Johnny just stayed silent, enjoying the show as it devolved from a rational debate into childish name calling. Suddenly, Luke felt a chill down his spine. Johnny shivered slightly as Matt and Jim faltered in the midst of their argument. They stayed frozen in place for a few seconds and soon, they heard wingbeats. Luke fought against every instinct telling him not to and craned his neck to look up. As soon as he saw it, he started to shake with fear. He¡¯d never felt such fear, a fear that felt wrong in so many ways. He wanted to look away, he wanted to tear his eyes away from the massive wings and horned head but he couldn¡¯t. He stood there, staring unblinkingly at the black dragon until he could no longer see it. For the next minute, it was dead silent until Matt finally spoke in a shaky voice. ¡°I think we should go back¡± Ch.5 Acceptance ¡°¡­Sarge this is definitely enough¡± ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ve collected a thousand or so¡± ¡°You¡¯re not even gonna use half of this!¡± Luke finally stopped what he was doing and turned around. Jim, Matt and Johnny stared back at him with annoyance. Each of them held a large pile of sticks in their hands, the result of spending a full hour gathering them. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m sorry¡± said Luke, dropping his own pile of sticks. ¡°You¡¯re so over the top man¡± complained Matt. ¡°I don¡¯t even think this will work the way you think it will¡± said Jim. ¡°It will. My sword is unnaturally sharp, it can probably cut stone¡± said Luke. ¡°So we just toss these sticks at you?¡± asked Johnny. ¡°Yep, toss them at me, around me and over me, the whole package¡± said Luke as he unsheathed his sword and got into a comfortable stance. And so, it began. Sticks flew towards him from every direction and Luke jumped, ran and ducked so that he could slice them apart with his sword. Like he said, his sword was able to cut through the sticks with ease. After forty minutes of cutting sticks apart (and a lot of failure to do so), Luke finally received a notification from the system. *Your skill in [Swordsmanship] has reached level 15* ¡°It worked!¡± he cried. ¡°I¡¯m just glad we can stop throwing sticks around like a bunch of apes¡± muttered Matt. Luke may have made a snarky retort but he was currently in a state of introspection. He realized that he could feel a small increase in his swordsmanship skill even though he¡¯d trained for less than an hour. Luke didn¡¯t know why he hadn¡¯t felt the same thing yesterday with his tracking skill but he supposed he could have just failed to notice it with everything that was going on. ¡°I think the system lets us improve faster, I already feel like a better swordsman¡± said Luke. ¡°I guess Jim¡¯s gonna be a godlike archer soon¡± said Johnny with a laugh. ¡°Hold on, I just thought of something¡­What do we do when Jim runs out of arrows?¡± asked Matt. ¡°I have infinite arrows¡± said Jim casually. ¡°What the fuck?!¡± ¡°The quiver has some sort of enchantment on it, whenever I remove an arrow, a new one appears to replace it¡± he explained. ¡°And you never thought to mention that you have an enchanted quiver?!¡± exclaimed Matt, deeply insulted that any form of magic be hidden from him. ¡°I was afraid you¡¯d steal it, being the nerd that you are¡± replied Jim. ¡°That¡¯s a fair point¡± said Luke and Johnny at the same time. ¡°I hate all of you¡± muttered Matt. He walked off grumpily, heading towards the village. The other three chuckled and followed him. When the cabins became visible, they noticed that everyone was outside, milling about and chatting with each other. ¡°They could level up instead of fucking around¡± muttered Johnny. ¡°We truly live in a strange world when Johnny is more sensible than most of the platoon¡± said Luke thoughtfully. Right as he did, Emma noticed them and walked over. ¡°Where did you go?¡± she asked, frowning. ¡°We were training. Instead of wondering what we¡¯re up to, you should be preparing for the trial. None of you have leveled up even once¡± said Luke. ¡°Easy for you to say! We don¡¯t even know where to begin!¡± she shouted, drawing the other¡¯s attention. Very soon, a crowd had formed around them just like it had last night. Though today, they all seemed to be in a foul mood. ¡°We¡¯re completely clueless on what to do! And instead of helping us, our sergeant just goes off into the woods with his pals!¡± said a lanky man. ¡°Your sergeant tried to help you, you just ignored him¡± said Matt, crossing his arms. ¡°Oh forgive us for not wanting to risk it all to hunt monsters in the middle of the night!¡± exclaimed another man. As soon as Luke heard that, he started laughing. It wasn¡¯t a happy laugh, it was a laugh of frustration and disappointment. ¡°You¡¯ve been taking risks for years, Andrew. Taking a risk doesn¡¯t scare you nearly as much as accepting reality does¡± he said. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°You all say that you¡¯ve accepted your fate but you haven¡¯t. You want to believe that this all just a dream. That¡¯s the real reason you won¡¯t hunt monsters or go into the woods. You don¡¯t want to step out of the village because this place is your echo chamber!¡± ¡°I think you all realize that if you fully immerse yourself in this world, you¡¯ll no longer be able to believe it isn¡¯t real.¡± With that, he walked towards his cabin. Johnny, Matt and Jim followed him until they were right in front of the cabin, which was when Luke finally turned around to acknowledge them. ¡°Why are you still here?¡± he asked with furrowed brows. ¡°Well, we definitely didn¡¯t want to stay there¡± said Jim. ¡°I thought they might beat us up¡± admitted Johnny. ¡°Yeah, you didn¡¯t have to expose them like that¡± said Matt, wiping an imaginary bead of sweat off his forehead. ¡°Annoying as they are, I don¡¯t want them dead. I just hope being blunt about it would get them to do what¡¯s right and survive the trial¡± replied Luke as he opened the door. They all poured into the cabin and shut the door. Luke rolled his eyes at Johnny when he peeked out of the window as though he was expecting a riot to begin. ¡°So can we do what I suggested yesterday?¡± asked Matt, plopping down on an armchair. ¡°You mean work together to take down a stronger monster?¡± asked Luke. ¡°Yeah¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­yesterday we got a glimpse of what strong monsters are like¡± said Johnny, with an involuntary shiver. ¡°Well we can¡¯t let that terrify us into doing nothing¡± said Jim. ¡°Jim is right. We¡¯re obviously going to target something far weaker than a dragon so we ought to be fine¡± said Luke. ¡°But I do think we should level up once more, just in case we get some special perk for reaching level five.¡± he continued. ¡°How about we try and get that done now? Maybe if we pick a different direction there¡¯ll be a decent amount of monsters even in the day¡± said Matt. ¡°Worth a try¡± agreed Luke. Jim and Johnny nodded and so they all stood up and headed towards the door. Right as Luke was about to throw it open, Matt stopped him. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The others might come talk to us about what you said, it¡¯s gonna be awkward¡± said Matt. ¡°Oh you¡¯re being ridiculous!¡± cried Luke. ¡°He has a point¡± muttered Jim. ¡°Let¡¯s make a run for it, we¡¯ll get to the woods before they can intercept us¡± suggested Johnny. ¡°There¡¯s no way in hell we¡¯re doing that¡± said Luke, rubbing his temples. Half an hour later, they were all trudging through the woods. Every few seconds, Luke sent a sharp glare to one of the other three. ¡°Looks can¡¯t kill, stop trying¡± muttered Johnny. ¡°I suppose you think that was terribly clever¡± said Luke. ¡°It was funny¡± whined Matt. ¡°Yes, it was very funny when you three shouted ¡°Sergeant Carpenter is here, come confront him¡± and then ran off into the woods¡± said Luke with a scowl. ¡°We needed a distraction, Sarge! As our leader, you should be the sacrifice!¡± claimed Jim. ¡°I¡¯ll sacrifice you to the next monster we see¡± shouted Luke. Just like that, Luke proved to the world that manifestation was real. A second after his proclamation, they came face to face with the largest bear he¡¯d ever seen. For a tense few seconds, nothing happened. The black furred bear stared at them with eyes that seemed too intelligent for a beast and just as Luke felt that they¡¯d be able to retreat, it stood on its hind legs and let out a fierce roar. A second later, it swiped at them with its massive paw. Luke was able to intercept the strike with his sword, drawing blood but not causing any real damage. It reared back, ready to strike again, but an arrow to the throat served as an effective distraction. Amazingly, it didn¡¯t seem to be a serious injury for the hulking beast. Luckily, it did at least give them some time to retreat backwards. Jim was able to send another arrow flying towards it, hitting the bear¡¯s snout. Taking a good opportunity, Luke swung at the distracted creature, intending to behead it. Unfortunately, it was able to dodge most of the attack and Luke¡¯s sword struck its shoulder instead of its neck. The enraged bear let out an unnaturally loud roar, momentarily dazing Luke which allowed it to smash him to the ground. The harsh impact knocked the wind out of him, he couldn¡¯t even scream as a paw descended to finish him off. But before it could, a dagger flew towards it and the monster had to raise its paw to avoid being struck. Luke had just enough time to roll away from the second attempt before the beast was once again distracted by an arrow to the throat. At last, its injuries seemed to mean something and the bear turned around and fled but it didn¡¯t get too far. Matt quickly picked up his dagger and threw it at the bear once more. The arrow struck its leg and elicited a harsh roar. Pressing their advantage, Jim let even more arrows fly until the monster collapsed. As Luke sat up, rubbing his bruised chest, he was treated to a strange scene. Johnny ran up to the fallen bear which was still grunting in pain, ripped the dagger out of its leg and began to repeatedly stab it. It howled furiously as the stabbing escalated but of course, it eventually went silent. *You have helped slay [Irontooth Bear (Lvl.13)], 1400 EXP earned* *You have reached level 8, stats allocated, free points earned* After the trauma he¡¯d just experienced, Luke decided to split his free points between toughness and vitality. Status he thought. STATUS Name: Luke Carpenter Race: Human (Lesser) Level: 8 Rank: 0 Class: N/A Health: 88% Stamina: 87% Mana Reserves: 100% Free points: 0 Skill points: 0 STATS Strength: 27 Agility: 25 Toughness: 26 Stamina: 28 Vitality: 21 Perception: 26 Soul: 24 Spirit: 21 Luke let out a satisfied laugh at his new stats. There wasn¡¯t a single one below twenty anymore. He took one last look at the screen before willing it away. Soon after, Matt reclaimed his dagger and plopped down next to him. ¡°I thought you were a goner¡± he said. ¡°Me too. A giant bear paw is definitely scarier than bullets¡± said Luke. Jim and Johnny soon joined them on the ground, having reached a silent agreement to sit there until Luke felt okay. Thanks to his increased vitality, it didn¡¯t take long for that to happen. He soon stood up and stretched his arms. I think I can see a little better he noted. Unlike the other stats, perception didn¡¯t seem to cause significant changes. Even after rising by eight points, there was just a slight increase. ¡°You ready to head back?¡± asked Jim as he and the others stood up. ¡°Yeah¡± As they walked back, Luke remembered that he was still mad at them, much to their chagrin. After throwing a few more insults their way, he finally mentioned something more meaningful. ¡°I got to level 8, what about you guys?¡± ¡°I also got to level 8¡± said Jim ¡°Six¡± said Matt. ¡°Five¡± muttered Johnny sadly. ¡°Well you ought to be grateful for that! All you did was attack an already dying bear¡± said Luke with a laugh. ¡°And with my dagger¡± added Matt. ¡°I¡¯m starting to think my weapon isn¡¯t that great after all¡± admitted Johnny. ¡°Just stick it through. A few more level ups and you¡¯ll have superhuman strength behind your punches¡± advised Luke. ¡°You still haven¡¯t told us what happened with the others after we ran away¡± said Jim as they neared the village. ¡°You¡¯ll know when you get there¡± said Luke, making the others roll their eyes. But when they entered the village, which was now completely empty, they realized what he meant. Luke turned to the other three with a small smile and spoke. ¡°They accepted the truth¡± Ch.6 Dungeon? Luke ducked, easily avoiding the clumsy blow. An impressed whistle rang out from the observers as he weaved around Johnny, dodging most of the punches. Their spar may have started out more evenly but Johnny was very quick to tire. As Johnny fell for one of his feints, Luke finished him off with a roundhouse kick, making him fall to the ground. A second later, he looked up at Luke with a weirdly happy expression. ¡°Unarmed combat got to level 13!¡± he exclaimed. ¡°That¡¯s good but you have some serious weaknesses to work on¡± said Luke as he helped him up. ¡°I think you need to learn how to kick, even if you mostly use punches¡± said Jim, walking up to them with Matt in tow. ¡°Having more reach may come in handy¡± agreed Johnny. ¡°I can teach you some Muay Thai, or maybe you learn kickboxing from Matt¡± said Luke. ¡°That¡¯ll be good. Now if only we could just level up¡± sighed Johnny. Luke nodded in agreement. It had been five days since the rest of the platoon had accepted reality, and in those five days he had slain over a dozen monsters and helped kill many more. Yet it all led to a disappointing result. STATUS Name: Luke Carpenter Race: Human (Lesser) Level: 9 Rank: 0 Class: N/A Health: 100% Stamina: 71% Mana Reserves: 100% Free points: 0 Skill points: 0 STATS Strength: 28 Agility: 26 Toughness: 28 Stamina: 29 Vitality: 22 Perception: 27 Soul: 25 Spirit: 22 SKILLS [Unarmed Combat (Lvl.21)]- One does not need a weapon if they can truly harvest the power within their body¡­You currently possess moderate skill in unarmed combat [Swordsmanship (Lvl.22)]- The sword can split oceans when used by a Master but fail to cut wood when used by a novice¡­You currently possess moderate skill in swordsmanship [Stealth (Lvl.12)]- A foe that is strong from ahead may be weak from behind¡­ You currently possess moderate skill in stealth [Tracking (Lvl.14)]-Great opportunities come to those who look for them¡­You currently possess moderate skill in tracking At least my skills improved a lot thought Luke, trying not to focus on the fact that he¡¯d only levelled up once. ¡°Is there even a point in us going hunting today¡± muttered Matt. ¡°What are you saying? We can¡¯t just give up¡± said Jim. ¡°I know, it¡¯s just frustrating to risk your life and see no results¡± he said, to which they were all in agreement. ¡°Look on the bright side¡± said Luke. ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a high chance that something special happens when he hit level 10, that¡¯s why it¡¯s been such a grind¡± he said. ¡°You better be right. If level 10 is no different than the rest, I¡¯ll jump off a cliff¡± said Matt. ¡°Oh no, what would we do without our knife wielder?¡± joked Jim. ¡°I don¡¯t know, we¡¯d have to find someone with an actually good weapon¡± cried Luke. ¡°Maybe something that has more than a foot of reach?¡± suggested Johnny. ¡°Pot¡­kettle¡­black¡± grumbled Matt, walking towards his cabin. ¡°You¡¯re not allowed to be mad after what you pulled last week!¡± shouted Luke. ¡°It worked out, didn¡¯t it?¡± he called back. ¡°It really did¡± commented Emma, appearing out of thin air next to him. ¡°Indeed¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t get scared this time¡± she muttered sadly. ¡°Your level 30 stealth no longer surprises me¡± said Luke. ¡°I still can¡¯t believe you spent so much time levelling stealth¡± said Jim, shaking his head. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°I regret nothing, it¡¯s been very fun!¡± she declared. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯re the lowest level out of all of us¡± said Johnny, looking genuinely concerned. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m getting to level 8 by the end of the day¡± said Emma. ¡°And what makes you think you can do that?¡± asked Luke. ¡°Because you¡¯re going to help me¡± she said sweetly. ¡°Try and make me¡± he said with a laugh. An hour later, the two of them were standing in front of an enormous tree. Emma turned to him with a smug smile and spoke. ¡°You still haven¡¯t admitted that I¡¯m the most persuasive woman you know¡± ¡°Being able to cry at will is not something to be proud of¡± muttered Luke. ¡°It is, but why did you bring me here?¡± asked Emma. ¡°There¡¯s a bunch of suicidal monkeys here¡± said Luke. ¡°What the hell is a suicidal monkey?¡± she asked with furrowed brows. ¡°Exactly what it sounds like¡± replied Luke as he picked up a rock. He tossed it at the tree as hard as he could, and as soon as it hit, a cacophony of loud screeches went off. Emma watched in shock as over a dozen small monkeys started to climb down from the tree and charge towards them. ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there, be ready¡± said Luke, drawing his sword. She nodded and pointed her spear to the approaching crowd. Like always, these creatures were entirely unfazed by the two of them slaying their kin with ease. They just kept attacking, and of course, they just kept dying. In just a minute, they¡¯d slain every last monkey that had come down from the tree. Luke sighed at the disappointing notification from the system. *You have slain 6 [Grazian ape], 820 EXP earned* ¡°I levelled up¡± said Emma when he looked towards her. ¡°Good, let¡¯s do it again. This time I¡¯m not helping you¡± said Luke, bending down to pick up another rock. ¡°There¡¯s more of them?!¡± she cried. ¡°This tree is taller than some mountains, I¡¯m pretty sure there¡¯s a million monkeys up there¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯ll save me if I¡¯m about to die, right?¡± asked Emma. ¡°¡­Yes¡± said Luke after considering it for a few seconds. ¡°Wow¡± Luke ignored her expression of ¡°I feel so betrayed¡± and chucked the rock at the tree, prompting another wave of suicidal monkeys. Once that batch had all died, they simply restarted the process of throwing rocks to summon apes and eventually, Emma reached level 8. Keen to level up himself, Luke demanded that they leave at once and started walking back to the village. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you didn¡¯t let me take a break¡± she complained on the way back. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s this hard to reach level ten. I really wanna get there¡± he muttered. Emma fell silent for a few seconds before looking at him with a peculiar expression. ¡°You actually like this place, don¡¯t you?¡± she asked. ¡°I¡¯ve told you this before¡± he said. ¡°I thought you were just saying that to be optimistic or something. Try and get people to have a bit more hope¡± she said. ¡°They should absolutely have more hope. This world is a thousand times better than our old one¡± said Luke, with a genuine smile. ¡°You only say that because you never tried to have a positive outlook back then. You were so insistent on not caring about anything¡± she said sadly. ¡°You could be right but it¡¯s just as possible that I was doomed to be unhappy in that kind of environment¡± said Luke. ¡°Either way, that ship has sailed. Maybe you should take your own advice and have a positive outlook on this world¡± he continued. ¡°I suppose freaking people out with my stealth is pretty fun¡± she admitted after a bit of thought. ¡°That¡¯s the spirit¡± said Luke. The two of them kept chatting until they reached the village but as soon as they did, Luke ran off to Jim¡¯s cabin, leaving Emma to grumble about his lack of manners. ¡°It¡¯s not locked!¡± called a voice from inside when Luke knocked on the door. When he went inside, he saw the reason why no one could come to the door. Just because he saw it, however, didn¡¯t mean he understood why Jim, Matt and Johnny were all sitting on the floor holding hands. ¡°Are you doing a ritual?¡± asked Luke. ¡°Matt thought he could use magic¡± replied Jim, rolling his eyes. ¡°I thought it would let me feel their emotions!¡± whined Matt. ¡°There is something seriously wrong with you¡± stated Luke. Everyone nodded in agreement, including Matt. After the three stooges stood up following their failed experiment, Jim turned to Luke with an excited smile. ¡°We had a brilliant idea while you were away!¡± he said. ¡°Oh yeah¡± agreed Matt. ¡°No, it¡¯s actually a stupid idea¡± said Johnny flatly. ¡°I hate that I¡¯m starting to trust Johnny more than you two¡± said Luke, with a deadpan expression. ¡°You know that cave we found two days ago?¡± asked Matt, ignoring his earlier statement. ¡°I already hate where this is going¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so quick to assume, Sarge. Just because it looks dark and scary doesn¡¯t mean a deadly monster lives there¡± said Jim. ¡°First of all, there is definitely some sort of eldritch horror living there. Secondly, if there¡¯s no monster then it¡¯s just an empty cave which is useless¡± said Luke. ¡°No, what it could be is a dungeon!¡± said Matt. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You know, the typical fantasy dungeon. You go in, you fight monsters and you can get a bunch of loot and treasure¡± said Jim. ¡°There¡¯s no way that the first cave we find just happens to be a dungeon¡± sighed Luke. ¡°No harm in checking it out¡± said Matt. ¡°Yeah there is! What if we get eaten by whatever lives in that cave?¡± cried Johnny. ¡°I agree¡± said Luke. ¡°Look, we don¡¯t know how dangerous the trial will be or how much of a power up level 10 actually is, but I have a gut feeling that level 10 is what we need to survive¡± said Matt. ¡°You also had a gut feeling that holding hands lets you use magic¡± retorted Luke but he too had that strange belief that level 10 was crucial to their success. ¡°Fine, we¡¯ll go check it out¡± he muttered. ¡°You guys suck¡± said Johnny as they all headed towards the door. ¡°Shut up man, you use brass knuckles¡± said Jim. ¡°If that shithole is actually a dungeon I¡¯ll eat my shoe¡± muttered Johnny. Half an hour later, they were all stood in front of the cave. Luke was already starting to regret his decision as he stared into the entrance of the cave, feeling a sense of danger. It just looked menacing, the entrance was long and narrow. It was shaped like the blade of a sword, which felt rather ominous. ¡°So how do we go about this?¡± asked Matt, having lost quite a bit of gusto now that he was actually in front of the dreary cave. ¡°¡­throw a rock at it¡± said Luke after a few seconds. ¡°Why is that your solution for everything?¡± muttered Matt. ¡°We¡¯ll throw rocks into the cave, while Jim shoots arrows into it. If something actually lives in it, we¡¯ll have a better chance of escape if we make it come out instead of entering its lair¡± explained Luke. ¡°So we do this for a while and if nothing comes out, we¡¯ll go in?¡± asked Johnny. ¡°Yeah, this is the least risky way¡± said Luke. The other three were in agreement and so, Jim started to shoot arrows into the cave while Luke, Matt and Johnny gathered rocks. As it turned out, they didn¡¯t need the extra ammo. Jim had only shot two arrows into the cave before something slithered out of the narrow opening. Of course, the entrance was only narrow when compared to its height, and so what came out had a width of several feet. The green scaled serpent hissed furiously, opening its jaw wide and revealing massive fangs. Luke felt a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu as he saw the horns on its head, it reminded him of the dragon that had terrified him last week. ¡°Run!¡± cried Jim, turning around and fleeing as fast as he could. Luke, Matt and Johnny did the same thing. None of them wanted to fight this gargantuan beast, all of a sudden, level ten didn¡¯t seem that important. Luckily, the monster chasing them was not a fast one. Thanks to their levelled up physiques, they were running at extreme speeds and soon, the serpent started to fall behind. Luke smiled, sure that they¡¯d be able to escape. But once again, the world was keen to show them that monsters could have the strangest of powers. Luke suddenly heard a loud sound behind him, he considered looking back to find out what it was but he didn¡¯t have to. The ground in front of them split open, dirt and rocks flying everywhere as their assailant burst out of the earth. The serpent had tunnelled through the ground with absurd speed and now, it was keen to have its revenge. We are so screwed thought Luke. Ch.7 What a weirdo Luke raised his sword, knowing they had no choice but to fight the serpent. It hadn¡¯t even fully raised itself out of the ground before it let out a hiss and struck out towards Johnny with its maw wide open. Luke ignored the alarming strike, trusting Johnny to take care of himself. He ran forward and sliced at the snake¡¯s body but for the first time, his sword failed him and only left a shallow cut. Luke didn¡¯t dare make another attempt and quickly stepped back. Johnny had been able to dodge the snake¡¯s attack thanks to the training over the last few days but he was soon targeted once more. For the next minute, Luke, Matt and Jim all tried their best to damage the serpent or at least distract it but it was drawn to Johnny like a moth to a flame. ¡°He¡¯s gonna slip up eventually!¡± screamed a frustrated Matt. Jim didn¡¯t say anything, he was entirely focused on firing arrows, hoping it would have some effect. Luke stayed silent as well, but he was deep in thought. The only reason it¡¯s struggling to kill Johnny is because its movement is restricted. So why won¡¯t it fully draw itself out of the ground? ¡°When it gives chase, you two follow and keep trying to distract it!¡± shouted Luke. ¡°What?!¡± cried Matt. ¡°Johnny, stop trying to stay near us. Run!¡± shouted Luke. As soon as he heard that, Johnny immediately bolted away as fast as he could. Matt and Jim understood what he meant and followed his instructions as well. The serpent continued to strike at Johnny without fully exiting the ground for as long as it could, deepening Luke¡¯s suspicion. Finally, it could no longer reach its target and had to draw itself out of the ground. Time seemed to slow down for Luke as more and more of the serpent¡¯s body was revealed. He desperately scanned its figure, searching for something that stood out. At last, it fully came out of the ground, revealing the golden orb at the tip of its tail. This has to work he prayed before he swung at the orange sized ball. The second it was hit, the orb burst apart like a balloon. A horrid screech erupted from the creature as it crashed to the ground and thrashed about like a fish out of the water. A few seconds later, its struggle ended and it stopped moving. Luke let out a laugh, a laugh of immense relief. Jim cheered and Matt threw his weapon aside to clap his hands in joy. Luke was about to check on Johnny when at last, a long awaited set of notifications arrived. *You have slain [Horned Serpent (Lvl.2)], 49,000 EXP earned* *You have reached level 10, stats allocated, free point earned* *Classes available, choose now?* After waiting this long, Luke didn¡¯t even think about it before he agreed aloud. ¡°YES!¡± What he didn¡¯t expect was that instead of a new screen appearing, a strange mist started to form around him. As the white mist rose, the last thing Luke saw before he was completely enveloped by it was Johnny running up to the serpent¡¯s corpse and sticking his head into its mouth. Typical Johnny, being a weirdo thought Luke with a sigh. A second later, he was no longer in the forest. Luke shook his head, feeling a bit dazed as he looked around. He was now in a room that reminded him of a psych ward. It was sickeningly white, white walls, white floors and a white ceiling. However, there was something far more interesting in the room that drew his attention away from the lack of color. Luke felt a little creeped out as he walked towards the three clones of himself that were standing a few feet away from him. The one on the left was wearing a full set of shiny armor and holding a sword that looked even better than his current weapon. The one in the middle was shirtless and barefoot but aside from that, looked exactly like his current self. Lastly, the one on the right was wearing a black hooded robe and carrying a shorter sword. Luke stared at the blank faced clones, looking into their empty eyes and feeling more and more creeped out. He didn¡¯t know what he was supposed to do, he just hoped they wouldn¡¯t come to life and attack him. Out of curiosity, Luke poked the clone on the left to see if it was just an illusion and that¡¯s when something finally happened. Class: Swordsman Class type: Warrior Class tier: Rank 1, Special class Description: There is a certain simplicity in slicing, cutting and stabbing your way to victory but be warned, perfectly handling a sword is anything but simple. Requirements: [Swordsmanship (Lvl.20)], all stats above 15, strength and agility above 20. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Stats granted: +5 to all stats, +8 vitality and stamina, +10 strength and toughness, +12 agility. Skills granted: N/A Abilities granted: [Cut (Lvl.1)]- The quintessential ability of a swordsman, [Cut] does exactly what you think it does and when trained to a high level, it can cut through more than just the physical. Luke grinned at the information, he knew right then and there that he¡¯d probably choose this one but of course, he still wanted to check out the others. He poked the clone in the middle and instantly, the screen in front of him changed. Class: Brawler Class type: Warrior Class tier: Rank 1, Special class Description: Sometimes it¡¯s best to get down and dirty with your opponent. Why use weapons and armor when your body is stronger than any such trinket? Requirements: [Unarmed combat (Lvl.20)], all stats above 15, toughness above 20. Stats granted: +5 to all stats, +10 stamina, agility and strength, +15 toughness Skills granted: N/A Abilities granted: [Heavy strike (Lvl.1)]- The quintessential ability of a brawler, [Heavy strike] is proof that sometimes crushing weight outclasses cutting power. A true brawler can flatten mountains with this simple yet effective ability. Perfect for Johnny but he doesn¡¯t qualify thought Luke, making a mental note to make Johnny practice his unarmed combat more. Luke poked the last figure, now even more sure that he¡¯d pick swordsman. Class: Rogue Class type: Rogue Class tier: Rank 1, Basic class Description: Fighting fair? Who came up with such a stupid idea? A clever man knows that shadows and deception are his best friends in this cruel world. Requirements: [Stealth (Lvl.10)], all stats above 10. Stats granted: +3 to all stats, + 5 agility and perception. Skills granted: N/A Abilities granted: [Cloak (Lvl.1)]- Stealth taken to the extreme, [Cloak] allows its user to become so unnoticeable that at the higher levels, you could tap dance in front of someone and they¡¯d still be completely oblivious to your presence. This one kinda sucks thought Luke, though he supposed that was to be expected from a basic class without stringent requirements. He removed his hand from his clone¡¯s face and as soon as he did, he received a notification from the system. *Would you like to choose [Swordsman] as your class?* Yes thought Luke. *Acquired class [Swordsman]* *Requirements met, you have reached rank 1* *Gained title [Ranker]* As the notifications flashed out of his vision, Luke almost fell down from the massive surge of power he was experiencing. Nothing he¡¯d felt while levelling up had come close to what he felt now, the increase in his stats was incredible. Status he thought excitedly. STATUS Name: Luke Carpenter Race: Human (Lesser) Level: 10 Rank: 1 Class: Swordsman Health: 100% Stamina: 89% Mana Reserves: 100% Free points: 1 Skill points: 0 STATS Strength: 48 Agility: 48 Toughness: 48 Stamina: 47 Vitality: 40 Perception: 42 Soul: 40 Spirit: 37 SKILLS [Unarmed Combat (Lvl.21)]- One does not need a weapon if they can truly harvest the power within their body¡­You currently possess moderate skill in unarmed combat [Swordsmanship (Lvl.22)]- The sword can split oceans when used by a Master but fail to cut wood when used by a novice¡­You currently possess moderate skill in swordsmanship [Stealth (Lvl.12)]- A foe that is strong from ahead may be weak from behind¡­ You currently possess moderate skill in stealth [Tracking (Lvl.14)]-Great opportunities come to those who look for them¡­You currently possess basic skill in tracking ABILITIES Active: [Analyze (Lvl.1)]- A crucial ability for those who intend to survive their battles, [Analyze] allows you to focus on any object or being and attempt to discern information about them, such as their stats or level. [Dark vision]- An ability that all adventurers must possess, [Dark vision] allows you to see perfectly in the dark, even when there is no light whatsoever. [Cut (Lvl.1)]- The quintessential ability of a swordsman, [Cut] does exactly what you think it does and when trained to a high level it can cut through more than just the physical. Passive: [All speak]- A gift to adventurers who roam far and wide, [All speak] allows you to speak and understand all languages, except the tongues that have a power of their own. TITLES [Champion of the third village]- A title granted to the very best of the third village, the champion. The effects of this title will be revealed as the games progress. [Outworlder]- A title granted to those who are not of this world, to those who were brought here by unknown forces for mysterious reasons¡­ It grants its wielder the abilities [Analyse] and [Allspeak]. [Night Hunter]- A title granted to those who have slain a monster in the darkness, a sign of great courage and perhaps poor judgement¡­Grants the ability [Dark vision] [Ranker]- A title granted to those who have truly stepped on the path to power, those who have acquired a class and are ready to pursue even greater goals¡­+10 to all stats. Luke grinned at the changes, he had a very strong and perhaps delusional feeling that he could beat the horned serpent with ease now. He may have spent a few hours fantasizing about slaying dragons and splitting mountains apart with his new strength if not for the fact that he saw his surroundings start to spin. Soon, Luke was out of the ¡°psych ward¡± and back in the forest. He didn¡¯t see Johnny but he spotted Matt and Jim a couple dozen feet away and so he walked over to ask if they¡¯d levelled up. ¡°I am now a badass assassin!¡± bragged Matt, answering Luke¡¯s question before he even asked. ¡°And I am an even more badass archer!¡± declared Jim. ¡°Where is Johnny?¡± asked Luke, trying to distract Jim and Matt before they started bickering about who was more badass. ¡°Who knows? We at least know he¡¯s alive, I saw him do some degenerate shit with that thing¡± said Jim nodding towards the serpent¡¯s corpse. ¡°He¡¯s always been fascinated by reptiles¡± muttered Matt. ¡°I know, I just didn¡¯t think he was that into them¡± said Luke, with an involuntary shiver. ¡°Should we just go back? I think he realized he¡¯s a freak and ran back to the village out of shame¡± said Jim. ¡°We¡¯ll wait a few more minutes¡± said Luke, even though he wholeheartedly believed Jim¡¯s theory. A few minutes quickly passed and just when they were about to leave, they heard some strange squelching noises coming from the serpent¡¯s corpse. Instantly, they became serious and drew their weapons, ready to fight¡­Johnny? Luke could barely recognize the man that crawled out of the snake¡¯s mouth. It wasn¡¯t just that he was covered in blood, aside from a few defining characteristics, Johnny looked like a completely different person. ¡°Well guys, don¡¯t I look cool?¡± he asked with a casual smile, making Matt and Jim sputter. Luke narrowed his eyes as he took in the changes. He noted the pale skin and waist length hair, coupled with a figure that was even more slender than before. After that, he answered the question. ¡°No, you look like a femboy¡± Ch.8 The last day It was a chilly morning when all 26 residents of the third village had gathered in front of the champion¡¯s cabin. Luke was addressing the crowd with Matt, Jim and the newly transformed Johnny standing behind him. ¡°Is there anyone under level 8?¡± he called. ¡°Yes, sorry¡± muttered Mary. ¡°Emma, take her to the big tree and get her to level 8 as soon as possible¡± said Luke. ¡°Will do¡± she said, being serious for once. ¡°Come find me as soon as you¡¯re done, I think we can get you another level in archery¡± added Jim, looking at Mary. ¡°This is the eight day so the trial might start at midnight. I want you all to be prepared for that possibility so take a short nap in the evening if you think you need one¡± continued Luke. ¡°Will we all be together for the trial?¡± asked Frank. ¡°Probably. We have no way of knowing for sure but our resident nerd seems to think the trial will be a beast tide, just a bunch of monsters attacking the village¡± said Luke. ¡°I guarantee you that will be the case¡± said Matt. ¡°Your last guarantee turned Johnny into Jenny, so we¡¯ll take that with a grain of salt¡± said Luke. ¡°I do not look like a girl¡­¡± muttered Johnny. ¡°Everyone has [Dark vision] and trained their weapon skill to at least level 10 right?¡± asked Jim, ignoring Johnny¡¯s protest. ¡°We have two level nines but I think that¡¯s fine¡± replied Andrew. ¡°It is. Now listen very carefully, this is the most important part¡± began Luke. ¡°I do think Matt¡¯s theory is very probable. It just seems like the most straightforward way to go about it. So we should plan for the possibility of monsters swarming the village¡± ¡°We¡¯ll put Jim and Mary on top of my cabin to shoot down monsters. Matt, Johnny and I will be the only ones roaming around, taking out the stronger monsters. Everyone else will form a wall of spears around the cabin and do their best to stop monsters from breaking through and toppling the cabin.¡± ¡°Jim will be shooting down the stronger monsters and the ones who are further away. Mary, I want you to focus on supporting the spearmen on the ground, pay attention to the ground and whenever you see someone struggling against a monster, try to kill or distract it with your arrows.¡± Luke looked around as he came to the end of his speech, noting the apprehension in the air. He wondered if there was something wrong with him. Why wasn¡¯t he worried about the trial? Why didn¡¯t he feel any fear? Why was he just excited about the potential rewards that might follow? ¡°Any questions?¡± he asked but no one had any. ¡°Alright then, prepare in whatever way seems best to you but don¡¯t exhaust yourself before the trial¡± warned Luke. He watched everyone walk off for a few seconds before turning to the three men behind him. ¡°You still didn¡¯t tell us how much your stats increased after your transformation¡± said Luke, looking at Johnny. ¡°I think I can show you¡± he replied. ¡°What do you me-¡± Luke was cut off as a screen flashed into existence in front of him. STATUS Name: Johnny Holt Race: Human (Lesser) Level: 10 Rank: 1 Class: Warrior Bloodline: Lesser Dragon Health: 100% Stamina: 99% Mana Reserves: 100% Free points: 0 Skill points: 0 STATS Strength: 50 Agility: 43 Toughness: 56 Stamina: 40 Vitality: 44 Perception: 43 Soul: 34 Spirit: 30 ¡°Well that¡¯s an interesting feature of the system¡± muttered Luke as he scanned Johnny¡¯s status. ¡°Your stats are unreasonable man¡± complained Jim. ¡°Hold on, all this happened from a ¡°lesser dragon¡± bloodline? It wasn¡¯t even regular strength!¡± exclaimed Matt. ¡°A lesser bloodline? That¡¯s kinda lame¡± joked Luke. ¡°What type of bloodline do you have?¡± asked Johnny. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s still weird that you just crawled into that thing and started eating its flesh¡± said Jim with a nauseated expression. ¡°I couldn¡¯t resist, as soon as it was dead some sort of compulsion came over me. It felt like I was hypnotized, it¡¯s actually kinda scary¡± muttered Johnny. ¡°Wait, if you eat something with a bloodline you get that bloodline?¡± asked Matt, looking at Johnny and licking his lips. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Don¡¯t be weird, Matt. But I think you¡¯re right, that¡¯s why the snake was so focused on attacking Johnny¡± said Luke. ¡°That makes no sense, Johnny only got the bloodline after he ate parts of the horned serpent¡± said Matt. ¡°Not true, I think I always had it. The system said I ¡°awakened¡± it not that I acquired it. That¡¯s probably why I felt such an urge to consume that thing¡¯s flesh, I subconsciously knew it would strengthen my bloodline¡± explained Johnny. ¡°You¡¯re a lucky bastard, but is it worth looking like a girl?¡± asked Jim. ¡°First of all, I don¡¯t look like a girl. Secondly, these are worth everything¡± said Johnny, raising his hand up as his fingernails grew longer and sharper until they were half a foot long. ¡°It was cool the first time you did it¡± muttered Luke. ¡°It¡¯s still cool¡± he replied. ¡°It¡¯s still cool¡± admitted Luke. ¡°What exactly are we doing today? Try and level up?¡± asked Matt. ¡°I don¡¯t think so, we killed a few monsters yesterday and didn¡¯t level up so it¡¯s probably going to be harder from now¡± said Luke. ¡°We should go to that cliffside a few miles away and try to level up the abilities we got from our class¡± he suggested. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s probably the best move¡± said Jim. ¡°I think Johnny and I should stay here, we don¡¯t really benefit from that environment¡± said Matt, to which Johnny nodded. Luke and Jim shrugged and bid them farewell. A minute later, they were walking through the woods, hearing the birds chirp as golden rays lit up the forest. It was a beautiful morning and Luke hoped that was a good omen. When they reached the cliffside, they split up without a word and started training. They were both determined to make some progress before the trial. Luke made sure he was a good distance away from Jim to avoid distracting him before drawing his sword. He let out a deep breath, got into the right stance and activated [Cut]. It still felt so surreal, even though he¡¯d used it multiple times yesterday. Luke felt every part of his body adjust itself into the perfect position as he swung his sword at the wall of stone in front of him. A deep gash was left on the cliffside, the damage was astounding. Luke knew that he would die instantly if he was hit by such an attack but that pleased him. There was something exciting about having this sort of power and already, he wanted more of it. Soon, my sword will be able to split the entire cliff apart he promised himself. An hour later, the cliffside was unrecognizable, covered in cracks, scratches and gashes. Luke had yet to gain even a single level in [Cut] so he finally decided to try something different. Luke got into the right stance and took a deep breath, but instead of activating [Cut] he tried to replicate how he felt when he used it. For the next few minutes, he adjusted his stance, posture and breathing to try and make it exactly like it was when he used [Cut]. Eventually, he felt like he was as close as he would get and swung at the cliffside. Luke frowned at the far smaller gash that was left on the rock. He looked at it for a while, trying to see if it was at least better than usual but he really couldn¡¯t tell. Guess I¡¯ll try again he thought, and that¡¯s what he did for the next half hour. There was something particularly exhausting about trying to execute the perfect swing. It was both mentally and physically fatiguing. At last, Luke just sat on the ground and stared at the destruction he¡¯d caused on the cliffside. He¡¯d made no noticeable progress, at this point he was sure he wouldn¡¯t make an improvement before the trial. Luke closed his eyes for a while until he heard a voice behind him. ¡°Either your ability is really good or you have something against cliffs¡± remarked Jim. ¡°Your stealth is getting better¡± ¡°Thanks, I took pointers from Emma¡± said Jim as he nocked an arrow. He shot it at the cliffside, aiming above Luke¡¯s damage and watched it embed itself into the stone. ¡°Not as much damage as yours¡± he said regretfully. ¡°You get to be a safe distance away¡± said Luke with an annoyed expression. ¡°True, I¡¯m the only one who has yet to have a near death experience¡± admitted Jim. ¡°Mana infusion is a really cool ability though¡± said Luke enviously. ¡°It¡¯s not an ability, it¡¯s a skill¡± replied Jim. Luke shot up at once, forgetting all his frustration and grabbed Jim¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Does that mean I can learn it?!¡± he cried. ¡°Erm¡­maybe?¡± said Jim, weirded out. Luke nodded and stared at Jim expectantly. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Can you teach me?¡± asked Luke. ¡°I suppose I can try. Would be interesting¡­rather scientific actually¡± said Jim thoughtfully. ¡°Oh don¡¯t be so over the top, what do you know about science?¡± asked Luke with a laugh. ¡°I¡¯m actually an amateur scientist, I had a whole lab set up in my house¡± said Jim. ¡°¡­Archer, model and also a scientist. What exactly made you want to do all these things, Jim?¡± asked Luke curiously. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about mana infusion¡± said Jim hurriedly, making an obvious attempt to change the topic. Luke had made many such attempts with Emma back in the day, so he decided to just go along with it. ¡°I understand mana infusion as the ability to channel my mana through something else to make it stronger. I mainly use it on my arrows but it seems to work on anything so you should be able to enhance your sword with it¡± continued Jim. ¡°So how do I use it?¡± asked Luke. ¡°Try getting a sense of how mana moves within you¡± suggested Jim. ¡°I suppose I could try using one of my abilities¡± said Luke. He placed both his hands over his eyes to create darkness before activating [Dark vision]. He figured it would be easier to notice the flow of mana when he was standing still without any other distractions. He turned the ability one and off a few times, not really feeling anything. Luke tried deepening his focus until eventually, he could feel a strange tingling sensation behind his eyes. He felt like there was something pooling behind his eyes and enhancing them but he wasn¡¯t sure where it was coming from. ¡°I think I felt something behind my eyes¡± said Luke after he moved his hands away. ¡°Really? Can you feel that even now?¡± asked Jim curiously. ¡°I¡¯ll try¡± said Luke before he closed his eyes and tried to focus again. Jim waited patiently as Luke spent a few minutes trying to sense the same thing he felt earlier. It took around ten minutes before Luke was able to feel it once more but this time, it wasn¡¯t just behind his eyes, he could feel it within every fibre of his being. ¡°I feel it¡± he muttered. ¡°Try moving it towards your fingertips¡± said Jim but Luke was already doing it. There seemed to be some sort of blockage in his body. The process was slow, weird and a little bit painful but as Luke kept trying to move the energy within him, it started to flow a little better until at last, it began pooling at his fingertips. Trying not to lose focus, Luke started to bend down to grab his sword. Luckily, Jim was there to do it for him. Luke grasped the hilt tightly and tried to push the energy pooling at his fingertips into the blade. He was expecting a painstaking process like before but the sword didn¡¯t appear to have the blockages his body did. As soon as he tried pushing his mana into the blade, a notification appeared. *You have acquired [Mana infusion (lvl.1)]* *One skill point earned* ¡°Did something happen?¡± asked Jim, noting Luke¡¯s grin. ¡°I got the skill. I also got a skill point, though I¡¯m not sure what that does¡± he replied. ¡°So learning new skills gets you skill points¡­¡± said Jim thoughtfully. Luke saw that Jim was deep in thought so he left him alone and opened up his status. He didn¡¯t know for sure what a skill point did but he assumed it was like a free point that levelled up skills instead of stats. Luke tried assigning the point to mana infusion but it produced a strange result. *Invalid* Can you not use it on the skill that earned you the point? he wondered. Luke tried assigning it to stealth instead and this time, it worked. *Your skill in [Stealth] has reached level 13* Luke smiled at the message, this had just opened up brand new possibilities. He turned to Jim, only to find that the man had walked away and was now staring intently at one of his arrows. Luke decided to let him do his thing and make another attempt to level up [Cut]. He approached the cliffside and got into the right stance before infusing mana into his sword. A few seconds later, Luke felt like he¡¯d reached his limit and couldn¡¯t add any more mana to the blade. Here goes nothing he thought as he activated [Cut]. Nothing turned out to be quite remarkable. The deepest gash by far was formed on the rock, the damage was nearly twice that of the second deepest. *Your ability [Cut] has reached level 2* ¡°YES!¡± cheered Luke and Jim at the same time. They looked at each other with surprise before bursting out into laughter at the strange coincidence. Luke was about to call out to him and ask what he was so happy about, but before he could, another notification flashed into existence. *Be warned, Champion* *The first trial will begin in 12 hours* *If the village falls, so will you* Ch.9 The first wave ¡°Alright, everyone whose spear skill is at level 15 or higher, come forward¡± said Luke. ¡°Each of the skilled spearmen should be between two people who aren¡¯t as good as you so you can help them out if the need arises¡± he said, looking at the eight people who¡¯d stepped forward. ¡°How far apart do we need to be?¡± asked Emma. ¡°Use your own judgement. Be close enough to help them if you need to but not so close that it interferes with your movement¡± said Luke. ¡°How much longer do you think we have?!¡± called Jim from the roof of the champion¡¯s cabin. ¡°Less than an hour¡± Luke called back as he walked away from the cabin and towards Matt and Johnny. They were unusually solemn as they stood at the edge of the woods and scanned the treeline for any signs of the upcoming threat. Matt turned around when Luke approached but looked past him instead of at him. ¡°How many of them will survive?¡± he muttered, looking at the spearmen around the cabin. ¡°As many as we can save.¡± replied Luke. ¡°I think we¡¯re being too pessimistic. It¡¯s called a trial, not a massacre and that implies a level of fairness¡± said Johnny, forcing a smile. ¡°I think you¡¯re right. We have four rankers, I don¡¯t see how we could have done any better¡± agreed Luke. ¡°Yeah¡± murmured Matt without any real conviction. ¡°C¡¯mon Matt, instead of worrying about the trial, let¡¯s hope for good things after¡± said Luke. ¡°Yeah, we might get magic as our reward¡± said Johnny. Matt smirked slightly and was about to reply but before he could, they heard the dreaded warning from Jim. It was just three words yet they sent a chill down everyone¡¯s spine. ¡°I see them!!¡± Luke and Matt readied their weapons, Johnny extended his claws and the three of them waited, looking around for any sign of the monsters. They heard it first, the many howls filled the air before Luke saw the wolves charging towards them. *The trial has begun* *This is only the beginning, survive till dawn to earn your reward* Luke willed the screen away, he didn¡¯t even have time to ponder the contents of the message before the wolves were upon them. Strangely, he found himself having to chase after the beasts as they avoided the three rankers and made a beeline for the weaker spearmen. As the monsters poured out from every direction, the three rankers moved about and killed them with ease but there were just too many of them. Several wolves were able to make it past the rankers on the ground and avoid Jim¡¯s arrows until they reached the champion¡¯s cabin. Luke didn¡¯t look back, he could only hope that Mary and the spearmen could handle it. Right now, his focus was on the much larger wolf he¡¯d spotted. It was a darker shade of grey and had blue eyes, the other wolves gave it a wide berth. By now, Luke had wandered far away from Matt and Johnny but he wasn¡¯t too concerned. The beast looked strong but he felt like he could handle it alone. He used analyse on it just to be sure and his suspicions were confirmed. [??? (Lvl.10)] Without any more hesitation, Luke charged the dark wolf as he infused his sword with mana. The creature watched him calmly, as though he was holding a twig instead of a sword. It didn¡¯t even let out a growl as he approached but as soon as he was within a few feet of it, a fierce roar was released. This shit again thought Luke with a wince. It was an unnaturally loud roar, just like he¡¯d experienced with the bear he fought a few days ago. Luckily, it didn¡¯t daze him like it did back then thanks to his higher stats. The roar turned out to be a rather stupid thing for the wolf to do as an arrow crashed into the monster¡¯s side. Jim had been alerted by the loud sound and gifted Luke a valuable distraction. Luke used [Cut] on the wolf as fast as he could, hoping to behead it while it was distracted. Unfortunately, the arrow didn¡¯t stop it from reacting and the beast ducked down to avoid the blow. Luke¡¯s sword passed over its head but was able to cut the tip off its ear. He didn¡¯t have any time to celebrate the small success as the wolf pounced towards him without hesitation. Luke leaped back, avoiding getting his throat ripped out but the beast was able to claim a portion of his shoulder. Luke groaned in pain but got into a defensive stance at once. The monster looked at him hungrily, with his blood dripping out of its mouth. A second arrow whizzed past Luke but the wolf was able to dodge it. Out of the corner of his eye, Luke saw Matt start to run towards him but the beast wasn¡¯t about to let him have back up. It let out another roar and pounced at him. In that moment, he felt a strange sensation. Something made him ignore his urge to use [Cut] or sidestep and had him step forward instead. A limit seemed to have been broken, Luke was able to infuse more mana than ever into his sword as he thrust it towards the wolf¡¯s throat. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. He winced as sharp claws dug into his arms but the blood that the beast drew was nothing compared to the red fountain that had been unleashed onto him. Luke¡¯s upper body was covered in blood but that couldn¡¯t wipe the smile off his face as he drew his sword out of the beast¡¯s throat and let its body collapse in front of him. That might have been a level up but I haven¡¯t gotten a single notification from the system since the trial began thought Luke but he quickly forgot about it as Matt reached him. ¡°What the fuck?! We need to get you into a cabin or something!¡± he shouted. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, most of the blood isn¡¯t mine. It did get a bit off my shoulder though¡± said Luke regretfully. ¡°Can you still fight?¡± asked Matt. ¡°Not as well but yes¡± affirmed Luke. The two of them didn¡¯t speak any longer and continued to hunt down the wolves. Luke still didn¡¯t face any difficulty in cutting the regular sized wolves apart. A few minutes later, another ¡°special wolf¡± appeared but Matt and Johnny were able to make quick work of it by double teaming it. Eventually, the number of wolves trickled down until Jim shot down the last one which prompted a loud cheer from behind Luke. He turned to look at the spearmen, glad to see that none of them had died but he knew that the trial was not over yet. Indeed, as he thought that, a message appeared from the system. *The first wave has ended, the second will commence in an hour¡¯s time* As soon as that text flashed out of his vision, Luke¡¯s pain and fatigue disappeared with it. He touched his shoulder in shock but it was as good as new. Even his clothes were free of blood and looked brand new but Luke had already observed their self-cleaning properties before. *You have slain [Greater Direwolf (Lvl.10)], 24,000 EXP earned* *You have slain 38 [Direwolf], 9950 EXP earned* *Your skill in [Mana infusion] has reached level 2* *Your skill in [Swordsmanship] has reached level 23* *EXP will be held until the end of the trial* Well that¡¯s unfortunate thought Luke as he read the last line of the new notifications. ¡°Why can¡¯t we just level up!¡± complained Johnny, coming up behind him. ¡°We¡¯ll get all the exp at the end of the trial. Though, it would be nice to level up now¡± said Luke as they walked towards the champion¡¯s cabin. ¡°We might not need to level up. If the next wave is on the same level as this one then we might actually have no casualties¡± said Johnny. ¡°This one only had two monsters that required a ranker to take care of them so that might be true¡± muttered Luke, though he doubted the next wave would be as easy. ¡°Three actually, Jim and I took out one of the big wolves at the same time you did¡± said Johnny. ¡°By the way, did Jim tell you abo-¡± Luke was cut off as Emma ran up to him and threw her arms around him for the first time in years. He hugged her back in an awkward fashion, having forgotten how to embrace people after his years of loneliness. ¡°Oi, I almost died too¡± said Johnny. ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯re weird¡± retorted Emma as she stepped back from Luke. ¡°She has a point. I wouldn¡¯t hug a reptile obsessed femboy either¡± said Luke with a laugh. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t hug anyone because you don¡¯t have feelings¡± muttered Johnny. ¡°That¡¯s the truest thing you¡¯ve ever said!¡± called Jim from the roof. ¡°Why are you still up there?¡± asked Luke. ¡°Because Mary¡¯s being a baby¡± replied Jim. ¡°I can¡¯t jump, it¡¯s too far!¡± she whined. ¡°You¡¯re level 8, it¡¯ll be fine¡± said Luke, right before he entered his cabin. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure she wanted you to catch her¡± said Emma. Luke didn¡¯t know what to make of that so he ignored it and shut the door. He wanted a quick shower before the next wave started so he stripped naked and entered the bathroom. Soon, the hot water was gently washing away the sweat and dirt that remained on his body. As the water flowed, Luke fell into a meditative state. He¡¯d been practicing this in the shower for the last week under Jim¡¯s advice. Today though, he was unusually distracted. He kept thinking about the strange sensation he¡¯d felt in the fight, the feeling that some limit had been broken in his body. Without even meaning to, Luke started to sense the flow of mana within his body. He could feel it far better than before, and he realized that his suspicion had been correct. The strange blockages he¡¯d felt the first time were greatly reduced and in a way, his mana felt more potent. When he came out of his focused state, Luke turned off the water and was about to dry himself off but something stopped him. He looked at his right palm, seeing the small bit of water on it and felt the urge to try something. Luke shut his eyes and sensed his mana once more. He drew the mana from within him and sent a portion of it to his right palm. It started to pool underneath his skin and eventually, Luke released it into the water on top of his palm. He didn¡¯t know what he was expecting, but the sensation of both hot and cold that he felt was truly bizarre. Luke withdrew the mana from his palm and spread it throughout his body but as soon as he did, he felt a freezing cold pierce his entire being. In a panic, Luke pushed all his mana outwards and released it from every inch of his body which seemed to fix the problem. But when he opened his eyes, the first thing that caught his attention wasn¡¯t the notification from the system but the fact that he was somehow bone dry. Luke turned to the screen in front of him, hoping it would explain what had just happened. *Your skill in [Mana infusion] has reached level 3* *Gained ability [Mana shield (Lvl.1)]* Is this what I think it is?! he thought, he couldn¡¯t believe his luck! Luke burst out of the bathroom and almost ran out of the cabin before he remembered he was naked. He clothed himself in record speed before throwing the door open and calling out to Matt, who was standing nearby. ¡°What? Did you see a ghost?¡± asked Matt. ¡°I got the mana shield ability!¡± said Luke. ¡°Is that what I think it is?!¡± exclaimed Matt. ¡°I haven¡¯t tried it yet but it definitely is!¡± declared Luke. ¡°Alright then, give it a shot¡± said Matt. Luke activated the ability and once again, he felt his mana being pushed out. However, this time it didn¡¯t leave his body like it did before and simply pooled under his skin, creating a barrier of sorts. ¡°Alright, punch me as hard as you can¡± said Luke confidently. Matt didn¡¯t need to be told twice and socked him right in the face but it felt like a light pat. ¡°You punch like a girl¡± said Luke with a grin. ¡°Screw you and your abilities¡± muttered Matt. ¡°I guess I won¡¯t be teaching you how to get the ability¡± said Luke. ¡°I take it back, you are my lord and saviour!¡± declared Matt loudly. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± asked Jim as he came over. ¡°I got the mana shield ability¡± said Luke. ¡°Is that what I think it is?!¡± ¡°Yep. You guys don¡¯t even need to fight in the next wave, I¡¯ll handle it¡± bragged Luke, having forgotten the importance of keeping his mouth shut. Right as he said that, a notification appeared. *The second wave will commence in 5 minutes* ¡°Alright, I think I¡¯ll head to bed, have fun handling it yourself¡± said Jim with a grin. ¡°¡­¡± Ch.10 A fiery death ¡°Any second now¡­¡± muttered Matt. Luke and Johnny didn¡¯t respond, they were very familiar with Matt¡¯s impatience. Luke looked back at the others who were back in formation around the cabin. Raising his head, he saw Jim scanning the horizon and Mary staring at him with a weird smile. Was Emma not kidding? he wondered. Either way, he couldn¡¯t be bothered about such things right now. He was cautiously optimistic about the second wave now that he had the [Mana shield] ability but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to believe there would be no casualties. Suddenly, Johnny tensed up next to him. Soon afterwards, Luke heard it as well¡­and then he felt it. The ground started to shake and rumble, Mary almost fell off the roof before Jim steadied her. Luke unsheathed his sword and activated [Mana shield]. A few seconds later, the monsters of the second wave were revealed. ¡°We¡¯re fucked¡± said Johnny. Luke couldn¡¯t help but agree as he laid his eyes upon the black bull charging towards them. Its head was over ten feet off the ground and its red eyes looked stereotypically evil. It was so eye-catching that Luke didn¡¯t even notice the dozen smaller bulls that accompanied it before they were almost upon them. Like last time, the weaker bulls didn¡¯t engage the rankers and went straight towards the spearmen. This time however, the three rankers couldn¡¯t even chase them down because of the threat from the black bull that had stopped in front of them. It let out a snort as it eyed the three rankers but for some reason, it didn¡¯t move to attack. Luke was planning to use [Cut] on the monster¡¯s legs but before he could, he saw something insane. Jim¡¯s arrows failing to cause significant damage was nothing new but Luke had never seen a monster open its mouth and swallow an arrow whole. That¡¯s one way to dodge an attack he thought. Luke didn¡¯t wait around any longer and charged towards the bull¡¯s legs, knowing that was the safest place to attack. Unfortunately, the creature seemed to realize that too and opened its mouth to reveal an orange light emerging from its throat. Luke didn¡¯t know what it was but he had a pretty good guess so he ran to the side, getting out from directly in front of the bull before a stream of fire erupted from its mouth. Perhaps it was acquiring [Mana shield] that did it, but something made him unusually brave today. Luke didn¡¯t hesitate for even a second before running past the fiery attack and slicing at the monster¡¯s leg. His [Cut] was stronger than ever after his level ups in swordsmanship and mana infusion, the bull¡¯s leg was cut so deep that he could see the bone. The creature let out the ugliest cry Luke had ever heard, a grotesque mix between a moo and roar. He ran past the bull and it turned around to follow him, just as he expected. Luke dodged a second stream of fire and right as he did, he heard the bull release another ugly cry. Its decision to turn its back on the cabin had caused two of Jim¡¯s arrows to strike its back. Before the creature could react to that, Johnny had leapt up to its upper thigh and left ten deep claw marks on it. Luke almost felt bad for the bull when he saw Matt spawn out of nowhere with his [Cloak] ability and stab the creature right where Luke had cut it. Luckily, the creature wiped away any pity he had by almost burning him alive with the largest stream of fire yet. ¡°Sarge, turn right and make it chase you!¡± shouted Jim from the cabin roof. Luke instantly understood what Jim was planning, though he wasn¡¯t keen to have a fire breathing bull chase him. Still, if it worked then their victory was guaranteed so Luke reluctantly followed Jim¡¯s instructions. As soon as Luke turned right and started to run, the bull released another one of its grotesque noises and followed him. He wasn¡¯t as lucky as he was before and the fourth burst of fire singed his forearms as he leapt to avoid it. Luke winced in pain from the burns. If it weren¡¯t for [Mana shield], they¡¯d be far worse. Though not as bad as the bull¡¯s plight because Jim¡¯s plan had worked. The ground shook as several tons of weight crashed on to the dirt. Like they hoped, Jim¡¯s arrow had struck the leg that Luke and Matt had injured, finally rendering it useless. Even more arrows rained down on the creature as it struggled to stand up. Matt and Johnny ran up from behind it and started to attack it with all they had but in just a few seconds, the bull was back on its feet. It swayed slightly as it faced Luke, looking more like a porcupine than a bull thanks to the arrows covering it. Luke felt a chill down his spine as the beast opened its mouth. The familiar orange light illuminated its throat but it was taking longer than usual. Luke reactivated [Mana shield] as he ran to the side as fast as he could but he didn¡¯t realize that he wasn¡¯t the monster¡¯s target. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. The bull turned to the champion¡¯s cabin where Jim, Mary and the spearmen had managed to kill each of the smaller bulls. Luke¡¯s heart dropped to his stomach as he saw the creature release its attack. It was like a sea of fire, the extent of the bull¡¯s attack was greater than ever before. The spearmen tried to move away but many of them were caught in the flames and Luke saw at least three people fully engulfed by them. The monster crashed to the ground after its final attack but no one spared it a second glance. Matt, Luke and Johnny rushed to the burning cabin. Jim grabbed Mary and jumped down right before they reached. There was a miserable panic as the people who weren¡¯t burned took off their shirts and tried to smother the flames of those who had caught on fire. The whole time, they tried not to look at the three charred corpses that were right in front of the burning cabin. There were seven people in total who were burned. The others were in a panic on what to do as they stood around the groaning victims but Luke remembered what had happened at the end of the last trial. He ran over to the black bull, infusing mana into his sword as he did. The creature was already near death, staring at Luke with empty eyes as he used [Cut] on the bull¡¯s neck. The deep gash that appeared still didn¡¯t kill it and Luke needed to repeat the move before he received the notification he wanted to see. *The trial has ended, the village remains standing* Luke turned around at once, looking over at those who were burned. Like he hoped, they started to sit up, finding their injuries fully healed. Luke let out a relieved laugh but it caught in his throat as he saw the blackened corpses. The system seemed to sense his troubled emotions and offered a distraction. *You have slain [Obsidian Bull (Lvl.22)], 89,000 EXP earned* *Previously earned EXP granted* *You have reached level 11, +2 to all stats, 4 free points earned* *You have reached level 12, stats allocated, free points earned* Luke wished he could celebrate the increase in his power but his focus once again returned to the charred corpses. He didn¡¯t even know who they were, yet he took a twisted comfort in seeing that everyone he knew well was alright. For the next few minutes, everyone stood around the champion¡¯s cabin, watching it burn. Eventually, Jim walked up to him with a solemn expression and spoke. ¡°It was Frank, Sean and Andrew¡± he said. ¡°We didn¡¯t do enough. We need to be better prepared for the next trial¡± muttered Luke. ¡°We were prepared for this one¡­These trials are designed to kill us¡± retorted Jim. ¡°Does that mean we shouldn¡¯t try?¡± Jim just let out a deep sigh and didn¡¯t answer. Luke felt like he should say something, not just to Jim but to everyone, to try and give them a way forward. Luckily or unluckily, something else came up to distract him. *Requirements met, village upgrade will commence in 5¡­4¡­3¡­* As soon as the number went down to zero, Luke felt himself be picked up and thrown back several dozen feet. Right before he crashed into a tree, things slowed down and he was gently placed on to the ground. Looking around, Luke saw that everyone else was also thrown out of the village. Before they could do anything else, the ground started to shake for the second time that day and everyone watched in awe as the entire village sunk into the earth. When the tallest building disappeared fully into the ground, there was a brief silence. Soon after, the ground shook again as new structures started to rise from the earth. A minute later, all the commotion had ended and there was a brand new village in front of them. Luke was the first to walk up to the twenty foot stone wall that now surrounded the village. As he reached the massive door made of wood and iron, it opened by itself and let him into the new and improved third village. *Calculating contributions¡­ Titles taken into consideration¡­ 1800 Game Points awarded* What the hell is a game point? thought Luke, even though he had a few guesses. He noticed the others enter the village behind him but he was focused on taking in the changes. The most important change was the fact that the place was now truly a village and not a bunch of cabins grouped together. Aside from the wall, there was now a gravel road serving as a pathway between the various buildings. Speaking of buildings, the wooden cabins were gone, they were replaced with stereotypical fantasy houses with blue tiled roofs, white walls and wooden beams on the outside. Like in the old village, the largest house had a bronze plaque on the door with the word ¡°Champion¡± on it. Luke noted the fact but didn¡¯t move towards his new residence, something else had caught his attention. Right next to the champion¡¯s house was a strange set up. It was a small red tent with a wooden table in front of it, the sort of thing you would find in certain marketplaces. The strangest part was the small cat sitting atop the table. As Luke walked towards it, the light grey cat stood up and meowed at him. He stopped in front of the cat, brown eyes meeting blue and they silently stared at each other for a few seconds. ¡°This is so weird¡± muttered Luke. ¡°You¡¯re weird!¡± retorted the cat, with the voice of a little girl. ¡°Of course it talks¡± sighed Luke, not even a little bit surprised. ¡°I¡¯m not an it, my name is Maya!!¡± complained the cat. ¡°You¡¯re a cat! Why do you need a name!¡± exclaimed Luke. ¡°Do you wanna use the shop or not?¡± asked Maya. ¡°Is that what the game points are for?¡± asked Matt, coming up behind Luke. ¡°You¡¯re not gonna question the talking cat?¡± asked Luke, to which Matt shrugged. ¡°The game points can be used to purchase many things in the store¡± said Maya, ignoring Luke. ¡°Like what?¡± asked Matt and Luke at the same time. ¡°Alcoholic beverages, food, weapons and pretty much everything else you could want¡± said Maya. ¡°How do we access the shop?¡± asked Luke. ¡°Just say the word¡± said Maya. ¡°Shop¡± said Luke and a screen popped up in front of him. SHOP Categories: Food and Beverages Weapons and Armor Skill totems Potions and Pills Clothing and Accessories Miscellaneous Why would there be a clothing and accessories category thought Luke. He looked up from the screen and glanced at Matt, only to find him wearing a purple bowler hat. Of course thought Luke. Ch.11 A stupid promise ¡°¡­and we just sat there, smoking our cigars instead of worrying about it¡± finished Daniel. ¡°Does anyone have another story they wanna share?¡± asked Luke, his face illuminated by the flickering bonfire in front of him. A few seconds passed with no one stepping up so he nodded and stood up. ¡°Sean, Frank and Andrew died in battle like the brave soldiers they were. Tonight, we drink to their honor!¡± said Luke, raising the bottle of beer he¡¯d purchased from the shop. The others raised their bottles as well before they drank. As the survivors sat in silence around the small fire they¡¯d created, the sun started to rise. When Luke was hit by the light of dawn, a small smile appeared on his face. ¡°Isn¡¯t that symbolic? The light has returned and we should mourn no longer. We¡¯re all upset and afraid but there¡¯s still hope that things will be different in the next trial. There¡¯s always hope, the only right move is to work even harder from now on¡± he said. ¡°Sarge is right, Sean would want us to have hope and I think Frank and Andrew would too¡± said Matt, tossing the purple hat into the fire. It turned out that he¡¯d only bought that because of an inside joke he had with Sean. Luke nodded and walked away from the fire with Matt in tow. The others weren¡¯t quite so quick to move on and that was perfectly fine. The two of them approached the shop and Matt poked the sleeping cat awake. ¡°Why are all of you so mean!¡± she complained. ¡°Because our friends just died¡± said Matt. ¡°So? I wasn¡¯t the one who killed them!¡± ¡°Shop¡± interjected Luke, knowing Matt and Maya would start a long argument if left unattended. SHOP Categories: Food and Beverages Weapons and Armour Skill totems Potions and Pills Clothing and Accessories Miscellaneous I didn¡¯t check out anything but food and beverages last time thought Luke. He and Matt had agreed that the first thing to do was to honor their fallen comrades. Now that he could properly explore the shop, he decided to start with weapons and armor. Weapons and Armor Those were the only swords available, everything else was other weapons and various types of armor which Luke wasn¡¯t too interested in. He did want the magesteel sword but decided to check out the other categories first. Skill totems ¡°One of the skills you can buy is magic¡± said Luke offhandedly, glancing at Matt. ¡°REALLY?!¡± exclaimed the nerd but Luke went back to browsing the shop. Potions and Pills Luke willed the screen away and looked at the cat in front of him. ¡°The category says ¡°potions and pills¡±, why are there only potions available?¡± he asked. ¡°More items will be available when you upgrade the shop¡± said Maya. ¡°How do we do that?¡± asked Luke. ¡°Now that you¡¯ve unlocked game points you¡¯ll earn more by killing monsters and completing trials so just accumulate 10,000 game points to upgrade the shop¡± she explained. Luke nodded and called for the shop to return. He had been left with 1780 game points after buying the beers and as he made his purchases, it went down to a measly 200. As he exited the shop, several things appeared on the wooden table in front of him. The magesteel sword was slightly longer than his current weapon and had a hilt and scabbard made of black leather. Luke assumed that the clear discs that were stacked on top of each other were the skill totems. He¡¯d also bought 4 health potions and a greater health potion but he couldn¡¯t tell the difference between the five vials of red liquid. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Can you take your stuff? Apparently I can¡¯t buy magic until there¡¯s nothing on the table¡± said Matt as Luke stared at the vials in confusion. ¡°Alright, just a second¡± he muttered as he picked up the magesteel sword. As Luke moved to put the small potion vials in his pockets, he noticed something strange about the discs and looked at Maya. ¡°I only bought three skills but there¡¯s four skill totems here¡± he said. ¡°The first one is an ability totem, not a skill totem. It¡¯s given out for free when you make a purchase over a 100 GP¡± said Maya. Luke picked it up to examine it but as soon as he did, it cracked in half and he received a notification from the system. *Gained ability [Inventory (Lvl.1)]* That¡¯s a bit on the nose he thought. The video game themes extended further than he realized. Luke focused on the description just to be sure that it was what he thought it was. [Inventory (Lvl.1)]- Pockets? Bags? Don¡¯t be ridiculous¡­ [Inventory] allows you to place any soulless object in a separate dimension where the flow of time is very slow. Brilliant thought Luke, he would gladly forgive the stupid name for such a useful ability. He noticed Matt stare at him impatiently so he grabbed the potion vials, instinctively knowing how to send them to his inventory and picked up all the other skill totems. *You have acquired [Spiritual sense (Lvl.1)]* *You have acquired [Breath control (Lvl.1)] *You have acquired [Basic magic (Lvl.1)] With that, Luke all but ran to his new house, excited to try out these skills. He threw the door open to find a proper living room unlike the studio set up that he had in the last house. If he was to describe this place in a single word it would be ¡°homely¡±. Luke smiled as he stepped on to the soft white rug that lay on the dark wood floor. He heard the door shut behind him as he looked around the living room, admiring the maroon coloured leather armchairs and sofas that were arranged in front of the fireplace. The white walls had four windows in total, two each on the parallel walls that didn¡¯t have the door or fireplace on them. Luke went up the wooden staircase which directly led to his new bedroom. There was nothing special about it, the floors, walls and layout of the windows were identical to the living room. Though unlike the old cabin, this bedroom had a white king sized bed as well as a bookshelf next to it. The door next to the shelf lead to his bathroom which was identical to the one he had in the old cabin, though he certainly couldn¡¯t complain about that. Let¡¯s get started thought Luke as he sat on the bed. Nice as his new home was, he wanted to actually do what he¡¯d said to the others. Luke knew they could have done better in the last trial and he was going to do everything in his power to create a better outcome for the next danger they faced. Now, how do I actually use magic? thought Luke in confusion. The [Basic magic] skill hadn¡¯t suddenly given him the ability to make things float or turn people into toads, he didn¡¯t really know what to do. Luke decided to just sense his mana to see if there was a change. At first, he didn¡¯t feel anything but after a few seconds, he noticed that his mana felt more ¡°independent¡±. Luke released it from his body and when he did, he could suddenly see all around him. So this is spiritual sense he thought. It wasn¡¯t really that he could ¡°see¡± per se, Luke just had a vague sense of his surroundings, something he assumed would get clearer with practice. Still, this wasn¡¯t [Basic magic] so he tried something different. Instead of releasing the mana from all of his body, Luke tried getting it to pool under the skin of his palms like he did before he infused it into his sword. To his surprise, the mana didn¡¯t pool under the skin like it usually did and just shot out of his hand, closing the bathroom door with its force. This new development both excited and worried Luke. The potential for a long range attack was very welcome but Luke didn¡¯t want to lose the ability to infuse his weapons with mana. He tried to pool mana under his palms once more, being more careful this time. To his relief, the mana started to pool under his palms once more. Luke realized that earlier, there had been a sort of natural resistance against mana leaving his body, especially in large quantities. Now though, that resistance had disappeared and he could release his mana with ease. Luke almost released the mana he¡¯d accumulated under his palm but decided to play it safe and not risk damaging his new home. He stopped accumulating his mana under his palms and let things return to normal as he walked over to the window. I better not break my leg he thought before opening the window and jumping out. Luckily, Luke didn¡¯t break his leg, his new stats left him just fine. He ignored the weird stares he got from some of the others and walked towards a nearby tree, causing mana to pool under his palms as he did. When he was a couple feet away from its trunk, Luke released all the mana he accumulated and it shot towards the tree. A loud crash echoed through the village, the tree was almost split in half, it looked like it had been shot with a cannon. *Acquired spell type: Mana projectile* *Your skill in [Mana infusion] has reached level 4* At this rate [Mana infusion] will be at level 50 next week thought Luke with a satisfied grin. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed others approach to see what the commotion was about but Luke¡¯s focus was on the change in how his status was presented. STATUS Name: Luke Carpenter Race: Human (Lesser) Level: 12 Rank: 1 Class: Swordsman Health: 100% Stamina: 98% Mana Reserves: 90% Free points: 9 Skill points: 0 STATS Strength: 52 Agility: 52 Toughness: 52 Stamina: 51 Vitality: 44 Perception: 46 Soul: 44 Spirit: 41 SKILLS [Unarmed combat (Lvl.21)] [Swordsmanship (Lvl.23)] [Stealth (Lvl.13)] [Tracking (Lvl.14)] [Mana infusion (Lvl.4)] SPELL TYPES [Mana projectile (Lvl.1)] ABILITIES Active: [Analyse (Lvl.1)] [Dark vision] [Cut (Lvl.2)] [Mana shield (Lvl.1)] [Inventory (Lvl.1)] Passive: [All speak] TITLES [Champion of the third village] [Outworlder] [Night Hunter] [Ranker] It appeared that the system had taken it upon itself to tidy up his cluttered status. The elaborations hadn¡¯t disappeared though, as Luke focused on the new addition to his status, its explanation was revealed. SPELL TYPES [Mana projectile (Lvl.1)]- The simplest type of spell that involves hurling regular mana at your target¡­You currently possess basic skill in this type of magic. ¡°Deforestation is bad, you know¡± heard Luke, making him will his status away and look towards Matt. ¡°Please teach me how you did that¡± he continued, going in a completely different direction. ¡°Learn mana infusion first, you noob¡± said Luke with a laugh. ¡°You¡¯re too old to be using slang, Sarge¡± said Johnny from the side. ¡°32 is young!¡± protested Luke. ¡°Do we go hunting today?¡± interjected Jim. ¡°Really? We can¡¯t get a bloody break?¡± complained Johnny. ¡°No¡± said Luke, firmly. The others turned to him in surprise, he hadn¡¯t used such a commanding tone since they¡¯d arrived in the new world. ¡°We can¡¯t afford to take a break. The upgraded village and the shop open up new possibilities to gain power, but that doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s all daisies and sunshine. We¡¯ve been given these tools because the next trial will be far worse than this one was¡± continued Luke, making the mood darker at once. Jim, Matt and Johnny looked at him with sadness in their eyes. But it was the others who were listening that looked truly miserable. Luke could feel the despair emanating from the non-rankers and something about it made him snap. He¡¯d always prided himself on being rational but the hopelessness he felt from everyone was truly unbearable. It was so unbearable that it made him make the stupidest promise he¡¯d ever made. ¡°It¡¯ll be far worse but it doesn¡¯t matter! I swear to you that no one else will die!¡± Ch.12 Stupid games, stupid prizes Luke had never enjoyed hiking but he especially hated hiking through rainforests. He swatted a comically large mosquito away and turned to the three other rankers. They¡¯d travelled so far from the village that they¡¯d reached some kind of tropical terrain. ¡°We probably have twenty diseases at this point!¡± complained Matt as he flicked a purple insect off his forearm. ¡°You should have learned how to use [Mana shield]¡± said Luke and Jim at the same time. The other two scowled, Jim was the only one who¡¯d been able to learn [Mana shield] from Luke thanks to him already knowing [Mana infusion]. ¡°Cheer up, we¡¯re almost there¡± said Jim, looking at the map he¡¯d bought from the shop. ¡°Yeah, we can go to a real dungeon instead of getting eaten by a snake¡± commented Luke. Matt and Johnny just mumbled some obscenities at them and continued to swat the bugs away. As they continued the hike, Jim picked up his pace to match Luke¡¯s, leaving the other two a few feet behind. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so hard on yourself, you know¡± he said. ¡°I do. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes¡± muttered Luke. ¡°It was a pretty stupid thing to promise¡± agreed Jim. ¡°But so what? It did make them feel better¡± he continued. ¡°They¡¯ll feel even better if it comes true¡± said Luke. ¡°You can¡¯t make it come true by yourself.¡± replied Jim. ¡°You may not consider yourself our leader anymore but we do. The best thing you could do for the others is to help them become strong enough to take care of themselves¡± he finished. ¡°I guess I¡¯m not the only one who makes people feel better by saying stupid things¡± said Luke with a laugh. The rest of the hike was far better for Luke, fear and worry did not weigh down on him anymore. That was good because fear and worry was the last thing he needed before he went into the cave they¡¯d just arrived at. ¡°Everyone ready?¡± he asked. ¡°I bet you 50 game points that there are goblins in there¡± said Matt. ¡°You¡¯ve been wrong about pretty much everything since we got here so I¡¯ll take that bet¡± said Luke. All four of them stepped into the cave in sync and as soon as they did, an unexpected notification arrived. *Entered Dungeon [The Goblin¡¯s Den (Lvl.10+)]* ¡°This doesn¡¯t meant there are literally goblins in here, it could be a metaphor¡± said Luke, responding to Matt¡¯s smug smile. ¡°Do we wait here or go deeper?¡± asked Johnny. Luke looked around, not seeing any threats in front of him. The place looked like a typical cave with no special structures to be found. He stared into the dark corridor ahead for a few seconds before he decided there was no point in waiting. ¡°Let¡¯s go but be careful¡± he said, activating [Dark vision]. The ¡°corridor¡± was wide enough for all of them to walk side by side and as they did that, Luke heard footsteps approaching them. As the pitter-patter sound drew closer, Luke started to accumulate mana under his palm. A second later, a tiny creature was revealed. He didn¡¯t know what he was expecting but it certainly wasn¡¯t scaly brown skin and a pig¡¯s snout for a nose. Luke shot a blast of mana at the ugly goblin, which seemed to have the same effect as throwing a bowling bowl at someone would. *You have slain [Rust Goblin (Lvl.6)], 290 EXP gained* Luke ignored the meagre EXP gain and stared at the goblin¡¯s bloodied corpse. Despite seeing what had happened to the tree earlier, he hadn¡¯t expected the mana blasts to be so effective. ¡°I really need to learn that¡± muttered Matt. ¡°You have [Basic magic], it should be easy for you. Maybe you don¡¯t have magical talent?¡± suggested Johnny, causing a horrified expression to appear on Matt¡¯s face. Suddenly, Jim shot an arrow into the distance and a loud cry rang out but there wasn¡¯t just one goblin there. Seconds later, a dozen green skinned goblins charged at them. Luke was strangely happy to know that not all goblins had pig snouts. These new goblins were more durable than the last one, a single mana blast wasn¡¯t enough to take them out. Still, they posed little threat to four rankers and a few seconds was enough to slay every last one of them. *You have slain 4 [Common Goblin], 1950 EXP gained* ¡°They¡¯re way too weak¡± complained Matt as he kicked one of the corpses. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, more are on their way¡± said Jim. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°What do your elf eyes see, Legolas?¡± joked Luke, Jim had put way too many points into perception. ¡°Frost demons, apparently¡± he replied. Luke was about to ask for clarification when he saw the new goblins himself. Their white skin and long blue nails did look winter themed. Weird as they looked, they were very capable. Luke was surprised to see them dodge his mana blasts and avoid Jim¡¯s arrows with ease as they ran towards the four. Luke readied his magesteel sword, infusing it with mana as he waited for the goblins. Two of them leapt straight at him with their jaws wide open, revealing serrated blue teeth. He used [Cut] to behead one of them but the other was able to get a chunk out of his forearm. Luke kicked the creature as hard as he could, fueled by rage and pain. While it was dazed from the attack, he stabbed it through the heart. The others were still fighting so Luke used his mana blasts to help them out and soon, all the goblins were dead. *You have helped slay 3 [Snow Goblin], 2090 EXP gained* *You have slain 2 [Snow Goblin], 12,000 EXP gained* *You have reached level 13, stats allocated, free points earned* ¡°Do you see any more goblins, Jim?¡± asked Luke as he drank the health potion he¡¯d summoned from his inventory. ¡°No, we should move further into the cave¡± he replied. Luke decided that now would be a good time to use the free points he¡¯d saved up, he didn¡¯t want to run into some goblin overlord and not be ready. He pulled up his revised status with a satisfied smirk. STATUS Name: Luke Carpenter Race: Human (Lesser) Level: 13 Rank: 1 Class: Swordsman Health: 100% Stamina: 84% Mana Reserves: 57% Free points: 0 Skill points: 0 STATS Strength: 55 Agility: 55 Toughness: 60 Stamina: 53 Vitality: 51 Perception: 48 Soul: 46 Spirit: 43 Am I investing too heavily into toughness and vitality? wondered Luke, but he decided that few things were worth more than not dying. ¡°Something wrong?¡± asked Jim. ¡°What? No, I was just assigning some free points¡± said Luke. ¡°You levelled up from these poor sods?!¡± exclaimed Matt. ¡°I¡¯d imagine most of it was from the fire breathing bull¡± replied Luke as they continued on their way. For the next few minutes, they kept walking deeper and deeper into the cave without any obstruction. Not even a single goblin attacked and they were starting to get a little bored when suddenly, a loud roar echoed through the cave. Running up to them, was an absurdly large goblin. To be more accurate, it wasn¡¯t running so much as it was making long jumps towards them. Luke had to use [Analyse] on it just to be sure that it was actually a goblin and not a giant. [Hobgoblin (Lvl.16)] The green monster stopped in front of them, beating its chest like a gorilla. It was by far the ugliest creature Luke had ever seen thanks to its fat gut, bloodshot eyes and a face that looked like it was meticulously designed to be as unattractive as possible. Taking advantage of the hobgoblins attempt to intimidate them, Luke and Jim attacked it but both the mana blast and the arrow failed to do any serious damage. The monster let out a gurgling sound and charged at them, waving its arms wildly. The sheer recklessness with which it ran allowed Luke to use [Cut] on its enormous belly, creating a deep gash. He ducked to avoid its giant fist and sliced at its thigh, making it roar in pain. As Luke retreated, he noticed several arrows on the monster¡¯s chest. Jim¡¯s getting faster and faster he thought. The monster continued charging here and there, failing to hurt even one of them. The four rankers fell into a routine of sorts. Luke would slice at the hobgoblin with his sword, Matt used [Cloak] to sneak attack it and while it was distracted, Johnny would claw at the creature. The whole time, Jim would pepper it with arrows. It really wasn¡¯t a strong monster, all it had was durability but that was sure to run out. A few minutes later, exactly that happened and the hobgoblin crashed to the ground. Luke grinned at the good news from the system. *You have helped slay [Hobgoblin (Lvl.16)], 21,000 EXP earned* *Your skill in [Swordsmanship] has reached level 24* *Your ability [Cut] has reached level 3* ¡°I reached level 12!¡± announced Johnny happily. ¡°I think this creature is a warning to us that durability isn¡¯t everything¡± muttered Jim, causing a sheepish expression to appear on Luke¡¯s face. ¡°Hold on, isn¡¯t that loot?!¡± cried Matt. The other three followed his gaze to a wooden chest that had appeared out of nowhere. They walked over to it with great anticipation. When they were all stood in front of it, an interesting notification was produced. *First chamber of the [Goblin¡¯s Den] has been conquered* ¡°So this was the easiest part?¡± wondered Luke aloud but the others were focused on the loot. Matt opened the chest, revealing five vials of clear liquid, two books wrapped in red leather and a small fruit which looked like a shrivelled up apple. They stared at the objects for a while, having no idea what to make of them until Luke remembered [Analyse]. It was his first time using it on non-living things and it produced far more information than usual. [Minor Strengthening Potion]- A simple potion that raises each of a person¡¯s stats by 1 point, a person can only use ten of these before they lose effect. [Ironfruit]- A relatively common fruit that can raise a person¡¯s strength and toughness by 5 points, a person can only use three of these before they lose effect. [Mana bolt spellbook]- A spellbook that teaches [Mana bolt], a more refined version of blasting your mana at a target. ¡°Use Analyse on the items¡± Luke told the others as he read the information he was given. ¡°I want to take one potion and one spellbook, is that okay?¡± he asked after a few seconds. ¡°I just want the Ironfruit since I focus on strength and toughness¡± said Johnny. ¡°Then I¡¯ll take the other potions. Assuming Matt wants the remaining spellbook?¡± said Jim. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡± he muttered, much to everyone¡¯s surprise. ¡°Look at what you¡¯ve done¡± said Jim, throwing an accusing glare at Johnny. ¡°Hey, I was just kidding about his lack of talent. I didn¡¯t think he¡¯d actually believe it¡± said Johnny. ¡°I want magic but what if I really can¡¯t use it?¡± questioned Matt. ¡°Jim and I have something to confess¡± began Luke with a weird expression. ¡°We gave you the wrong instructions on how to use mana just to mess with you¡± admitted Jim. ¡°I hate you both so much¡± muttered Matt as he picked up a spellbook. Luke chuckled as he put the other spellbook in his inventory. He picked up one of the strengthening potions and chugged it down, enjoying the citrusy flavour. *+1 to all stats* After that, Luke and Matt waited for Johnny to finish his fruit and for Jim to consume his share of the potions. A few seconds later, they were all looking towards the rest of the dungeon. Coming to a silent agreement, the four of them walked deeper into the dungeon. *Entered second chamber of [The Goblin¡¯s Den], chamber level- (Lvl.12+)]* ¡°We¡¯ll all reach level 15 by the time we¡¯re done with this place!¡± declared Luke. ¡°What did I tell you about stupid promises?¡± chided Jim. ¡°¡­let¡¯s settle for level 14¡± Ch.13 Goblin blood ¡°Maybe the second chamber is just a prank¡± muttered Matt. ¡°How are you this impatient? It hasn¡¯t even been five minutes!¡± exclaimed Jim. ¡°Hold on, I think I hear something¡± said Luke, alerting Jim to use his eagle eyes. ¡°Two monsters, I think they¡¯re hobgoblins¡± he said. Indeed they were hobgoblins but they were smaller and a lighter shade of green than the last one they¡¯d fought. To make up for their smaller size, these two were somehow even uglier than the previous one! I really hate looking at their faces thought Luke as he readied a mana blast. He couldn¡¯t help but grimace at the sight of them. A nose that was too big, eyes that were too small, upper lip far thicker than the lower one and shriveled up skin covered in warts. Indeed, the best word to describe their looks was ¡®insulting¡¯. Luke released his mana blast at the hobgoblin that was closest to him. As expected, it didn¡¯t do any real damage but damage hadn¡¯t been his intention. He had aimed for the legs to make it trip and his plan had worked. Luke ran up to the monster as it crashed to the ground and used [Cut] on its neck. Of course, the wretched creature¡¯s durability ensured that it was just a deep cut and not a fatal wound. When the hobgoblin got up, Matt appeared next to it and stabbed its thigh, making it howl in frustration as he retreated. Meanwhile, Luke and Johnny were ganging up on the other monster while Jim supported them with arrows. As one of Jim¡¯s arrows pierced the monster¡¯s eyes, Luke took advantage of its distraction to leap into the air and use [Cut] on its neck. Just die already he thought in frustration. Even his [Cut] hadn¡¯t fully beheaded the hobgoblin. Still, the attack had been enough to render it harmless so Luke was able to finish it off quite easily. A few seconds later, the other hobgoblin died as well under the combined attack of four rankers. *You have helped slay [Hobgoblin (Lvl.13)], 12,500 EXP earned* *You have slain [Hobgoblin (Lvl.14)], 29,000 EXP earned* ¡°I¡¯ll be very annoyed if we have to fight another one of these ugly fellows¡± commented Johnny. ¡°Not everything can be as beautiful as you, my lady¡± said Luke. ¡°Skin so fair, lips so soft, you are the epitome of femininity¡± added Jim with a laugh. ¡°Maybe the bloodline wasn¡¯t worth it¡± muttered Johnny. ¡°Let¡¯s keep moving, I think I¡¯m close to a level up¡± interrupted Matt excitedly. Luckily for Matt and his impatient soul, it only took a minute for their next foe to be revealed. Or rather, their next foes, a great many of them. For some reason, hundreds of tiny goblins charging at them scared Luke far more than two giant hobgoblins did. He tried pushing even more energy into his [Mana shield] though he didn¡¯t know if it had any effect. "Should we run?¡± asked Matt with a gulp, changing his tune entirely. ¡°Too late¡± said Luke as he shot a mana blast into the crowd. That alone was enough to kill several of the little creatures but the others were entirely unfazed by their deaths. Soon, all four of them were surrounded by the tiny goblins. Jim, Matt and Johnny abandoned their usual method of attack and just stomped on and kicked the goblins. Luke was better off thanks to his [Cut] and mana blasts but he too was struggling. A few minutes later, half the goblins were dead but the four rankers looked horrible. Matt and Johnny were covered in bites and scratches. Thanks to [Mana shield], Jim and Luke were better off but even they had several bruises and cuts on them. Above all else, the four were trying to protect their eyes and face from the attackers. It took another five minutes before most of the creatures were dead. Finally, Luke kicked the last of them to death, having ran out of mana. *You have helped slay 49 [Tunnel Goblin], 9000 EXP earned* *You have slain 196 [Tunnel Goblin], 36,000 EXP earned* Luke sighed in relief, the last ten minutes had been hellish. He pulled another health potion out of his inventory and chugged it down. As his wounds closed up, he turned to Matt. ¡°Do you have a spirit potion?¡± he asked. ¡°Yeah. I levelled up by the way¡± said Matt as he handed Luke a vial of blue liquid. ¡°Cheers¡± said Luke and downed the potion. ¡°So we¡¯ve all reached level 13?¡± asked Jim. ¡°Unfortunately not¡± muttered Johnny. ¡°You should hunt more reptiles. Doesn¡¯t improving your bloodline give you EXP?¡± asked Luke. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s as simple as just hunting reptiles¡± said Johnny with a laugh. The four of them sat around for a few more minutes, drinking health potions and resting up before they continued going deeper. It was the longest walk yet, taking fifteen minutes before they came across a large opening. ¡°It¡¯s some sort of arena¡± said Luke as he looked around the circular room they¡¯d arrived at. There was a corridor on the other side of the room and they waited in front of it, not sure if they should enter. Not entering was indeed the right move as a few seconds later, a roar erupted from it and a large goblin charged out. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. It wasn¡¯t like the hobgoblins, standing around six feet tall instead of being a giant. Its skin was a deep red instead of the typical green and free of wrinkles and warts. Even its face was less ugly than the hobgoblins, though it certainly wasn¡¯t beautiful. As it charged at them, the goblin extended its claws in a similar fashion to Johnny except for the fact that its claws were glowing orange, like molten metal. Luke could only assume it was some sort of fire attack as he raised his sword to block the goblin¡¯s swipe. Without missing a beat, it continued swiping at him. Luke desperately blocked the attacks, every strike was so fast yet he could feel immense strength behind them. Jim shot several arrows at the creature but it somehow dodged all of them while continuing to attack Luke. Matt tried to sneak attack the monster but it was able to avoid even that. Luckily, the attempt was enough to make it turn its focus away from Luke and towards Matt. As soon as he was free, Luke shot a mana blast at the goblin and finally, it took some damage. It didn¡¯t do much to hurt the creature but it was clear to everyone that the red goblin wasn¡¯t as durable as a hobgoblin. That one attack was enough to make it retreat by several feet and eye them cautiously. Jim and Luke released a flurry of arrows and mana blasts at it but again, it dodged them all with ease. Suddenly, it ran towards Johnny with incredible speed but unfortunately for the goblin, it had picked the worst possible target. Ever since he had awakened his bloodline, Johnny had displayed absurdly quick reflexes and today, he put them to good use. He ducked under the goblin¡¯s fiery claw and sliced at its gut, making it roar in pain. As Johnny retreated, Luke and Jim took advantage of the monster¡¯s injury to attack it with their long range attacks. The mana blast and arrow forced it to the ground and Luke ran over to it with a big smile on his face. It was in a vulnerable state, a single [Cut] would be enough to behead it. Luke raised his sword, ready to end the creature but things are never that simple. Right before the sword struck the goblin, Luke was flung back by an invisible force. He landed several feet away with a groan. It wasn¡¯t the crash landing that hurt him, it was the heat that came with the repulsive force. His skin was red and sweaty, as though he¡¯d been covered in hot steam. Luke got up at the same time the monster did and they met each other¡¯s gaze. The goblin was panting heavily as it bled from its gut. Jim shot another arrow at it but now that it wasn¡¯t distracted, it dodged it easily. ¡°Let¡¯s double team it¡± said Luke, looking at Matt. ¡°I¡¯ll cover you if you need to retreat¡± added Jim. The two of them nodded and charged towards the creature, prompting a flurry of attacks from it. Unlike last time, Luke wasn¡¯t overwhelmed by the speed and power of the monster¡¯s attack thanks to Matt¡¯s presence. Matt let Luke take the lead and simply played defense. However, if the goblin started to get the upper hand, Matt would throw out an attack, not to do damage but simply to distract it. Jim and Johnny stood by, ready to help but didn¡¯t want to force the creature to retreat. Thanks to Matt¡¯s help, Luke was finally able to counter the goblin¡¯s insane reflexes and land a strike on its shoulder. The creature shrieked and swiped at him furiously with its other hand. Luke leaped back but not before the burning claw left its mark on him. As Luke roared in pain, Jim started shooting arrows at the goblin and forced it to retreat. It ran back a dozen feet, hissing as it clutched its bleeding shoulder. Luke summoned a health potion and drank it hurriedly, letting out a sigh of relief as it soothed the burns on his chest. It was lucky that the cut was quite shallow but the extreme heat of the goblin¡¯s claws made it very painful. ¡°The claw swipes won¡¯t be as fast as before¡± said Matt. ¡°We should all attack at once¡± suggested Johnny. ¡°Let¡¯s tire it out a bit¡± muttered Luke. The whole time they¡¯d been talking, Jim hadn¡¯t stopped firing arrows at the goblin. Luke joined in and started shooting mana blasts at it, forcing the monster to dance around desperately. With its injuries this severe, it didn¡¯t want to come close to any of them and just kept dodging. ¡°Let¡¯s go¡± said Luke after a few minutes of this. He, Matt and Johnny all charged towards the creature and started to assault it. As expected, the furious claw swipes were no longer as fast as before and soon enough, all three of them had drawn blood. In a panic, the goblin retreated even further back but when it did, Jim¡¯s arrow struck its chest. Pressing their advantage, Luke used [Cut] with the hope that the repulsive force wouldn¡¯t be used again. Indeed it wasn¡¯t, the creature was now too injured to do anything. Luke beheaded the goblin, the unusually warm blood that splashed on his face couldn¡¯t wipe his smile away. *You have slain [Fire Goblin (Lvl.23)], 68,000 EXP earned* *You have reached level 14, stats allocated, free points earned* *Your skill in [Swordsmanship] has reached level 25* I would have been shocked if swordsmanship didn¡¯t level up after all this thought Luke. He was still in disbelief that he¡¯d been able to block all those attacks. He turned to the others, only to find that they were all looking at the wooden chest that had appeared behind him. *Second chamber of the [Goblin¡¯s Den] has been conquered* Luke ignored the message and eagerly opened the chest. The contents of this chest were far more impressive than the last one. Ten vials of clear liquid, a larger vial of red liquid, three clear discs and two golden rings. Luke activated [Analyse] with anticipation. [Minor Strengthening Potion]- A simple potion that raises each of a person¡¯s stats by 1 point, a person can only use ten of these before they lose effect. [Purified Fire Goblin Blood]- As creatures with a ¡°Sun Giant¡± bloodline, the purified blood of a fire goblin can raise your stats slightly and give you the ability to use fire magic. [Ability totem]- An ability totem that grants the ability [Danger sense] [Ring of invisibility]- An enchanted item that grants its wielder invisibility when mana is infused into it. ¡°All I want is the goblin blood¡± said Luke. The others nodded in agreement, including Matt. Luke looked at him with a puzzled expression so he answered the unasked question. ¡°I love magic but I¡¯m not drinking goblin blood for it¡± said Matt with a disgusted expression. Luke shrugged and grabbed the vial. As soon as he¡¯d gulped down the potion, he felt a powerful heat rise up in him. Luke blocked out the conversation going on next to him as he fell into a bizarre trance. A few seconds later, he was shaken out of it by a notification. *+3 to all stats* *Acquired spell type: Fire magic* Luke grinned and pulled up his status. STATUS Name: Luke Carpenter Race: Human (Lesser) Level: 14 Rank: 1 Class: Swordsman Health: 91% Stamina: 69% Mana Reserves: 21% Free points: 4 Skill points: 0 STATS Strength: 59 Agility: 59 Toughness: 64 Stamina: 57 Vitality: 55 Perception: 52 Soul: 50 Spirit: 47 Luke split his free points between strength and agility before turning to the others. They¡¯d already finished deciding who¡¯d get what so he simply waited for them to consume their strengthening potions. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to show Emma that I¡¯m stealthier than her¡± said Johnny, showing Luke his new ring. ¡°Don¡¯t do that, stealth is all she has¡± replied Luke with a laugh. ¡°Do we head back to the village or keep going?¡± asked Matt. ¡°We should head back¡± said Luke but he still went over to the corridor that lead to the next chamber. As he poked his foot in, he got the information he was looking for. *Entered third chamber of [The Goblin¡¯s Den], chamber level- (Lvl.15+)]* ¡°We need to be level 15 before we come back¡± said Luke. ¡°I guess we can hunt monsters around the village¡± replied Jim. ¡°The first thing you two are doing is teach me the real way to use mana¡± said Matt with a scowl. ¡°Dammit¡± Ch.14 Change To simply fling a large amount of mana at your target is a waste. Like any other projectile, the shape of your mana plays a huge role in its effectiveness. There are several effective shapes but the easiest to achieve would be a rod (10 to 14 inches long) with a pointed tip, like a spear. Luke looked up from the text, thinking about what he¡¯d read. The fact that he had to use [Allspeak] to understand the strange language meant that reading it was unusually tiring. He looked around for a while before going back to reading. A common mistake that people make is trying to shape their mana under their palms just before releasing it. While this is possible and actually produces a better result, it requires a bit of skill to do correctly. But if you¡¯re reading this spellbook, then skill is the last thing you have. Luke sighed, even the spellbooks were insulting him. The better way to do it is to start the process before it reaches your palms. Accumulate a small amount of mana in your wrist area. Do the same thing in your shoulder but with significantly more mana. Then, push the two forces towards each other. The higher quantity of mana in your shoulder will defeat the mana in your wrist area but the resistance will naturally shape it like a sharp rod. Luke read the paragraph a second time before shutting the book and standing up. He looked around, trying to pick a target. Luke noticed the village wall as he did, he didn¡¯t realize he was so close to it. Here goes nothing he thought as he faced a sturdy looking tree. Following the instructions from the book, he created two opposing forces of mana in his right arm. A few seconds later, he pushed them towards each other and felt a bizarre sensation. Before he could wonder about it, he felt a powerful force leave his body and crash into the tree ahead. It wasn¡¯t a sweeping force like the mana blasts, it was focused and strong, leaving a hole in the tree trunk. Luke grinned at the damage, this was an attack that was almost as powerful as his [Cut]. Unfortunately, it had a far higher mana cost so Luke couldn¡¯t use it as much. I should start investing in the soul and spirit stats he thought as he walked back to the village. By now, the sun was going down. They¡¯d only returned from the dungeon a few hours ago but Luke couldn¡¯t wait to learn [Mana bolt]. The large doors to the village opened up and he could immediately smell meat cooking. The others had set up a fire in the middle of the village and were spit-roasting several chickens with it. Matt walked up to him, clearly intoxicated and offered him a bottle of beer. ¡°What¡¯s the occasion?¡± asked Luke, after he¡¯d taken a sip. ¡°Emma¡¯s a ranker now¡± said Matt. ¡°What class did she choose?¡± asked Luke, he wasn¡¯t particularly surprised by the information. ¡°Didn¡¯t ask, I just took the opportunity to get drunk¡± said Matt with a laugh. ¡°I¡¯m a rogue¡­¡± whispered Emma from right behind him. ¡°Stop trying to scare me, it doesn¡¯t work¡± muttered Luke but she¡¯d already disappeared. He and Matt walked over to where Jim and Johnny were standing and the four of them talked for a while. Luke paused for a second to look over at the others, he was glad to see that the mood was much better than it was in the morning. ¡°So did you learn that spell?¡± asked Jim. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s really good¡± said Luke. ¡°I should get to doing that¡± muttered Matt. ¡°Did you at least learn [Mana infusion] and [Mana shield]?¡± asked Luke. ¡°Yes to both¡± he replied proudly. ¡°Can we buy another map to a dungeon?¡± asked Johnny, all of a sudden. ¡°You wanna go at this hour?¡± said Luke with a scowl. ¡°No, I just want to know if there¡¯s another one available. It¡¯ll be easier to get to level 15 that way¡± he said. ¡°May as well¡± agreed Matt. ¡°Don¡¯t bother, you only get one map. You need to upgrade the shop for another¡± called Maya from a few feet away. The four of them let out a collective groan. Hunting monsters around the village was always a pain in the ass. Luckily, it was right then that the meat finished cooking, giving them something to be happy about. It¡¯s just like the beer thought Luke as he went in for a second bite of the drumstick. It was literally just plain chicken cooked over a fire but everything from the shop was unusually tasty. The bread and butter on the side completed the meal, it was simple but delicious. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°How much do these cost?¡± asked Luke, looking at the now empty paper plate he was holding. ¡°You get a hundred of them for a single game point¡± said Jim. He was about to keep talking but something made him go silent. Jim just smirked slightly and walked away, leaving Luke in a confused state until he heard a timid voice behind him. ¡°Hi Luke¡± stammered Mary, it was the first time she hadn¡¯t called him sergeant. ¡°Hello, Mary¡± answered Luke cautiously, not sure if he should entertain whatever this was. ¡°Uh, do you like chicken or are you a fish type of guy?¡± she asked, shifting awkwardly. ¡°Are you okay?¡± asked Luke, wondering if she¡¯d hit her head during the trial. ¡°W-what? Yes, of course!¡± ¡°Alright then, I prefer chicken¡± he said. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Well, it was nice talking to you¡± said Luke and hurried away to his house. ¡°Hold up¡± he heard Emma say, right before he was about to go in. ¡°What?¡± asked Luke. ¡°She may have fucked that up but you should give her a chance¡± said Emma. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what she wants but I can¡¯t waste time on this type of stuff¡± replied Luke. ¡°Love is not a waste of time, Luke¡± retorted Emma. ¡°Mary¡¯s only awkward cus she¡¯s never done this type of stuff before¡± she continued. ¡°She¡¯s never been in a relationship?¡± ¡°Nope. She hasn¡¯t even had her first kiss. Poor girl¡¯s convinced she¡¯s ugly¡± said Emma. Luke looked over at the blonde haired girl. She was short and skinny, certainly not model material though there was nothing wrong with her. Her facial features were quite plain but she did have pale, unblemished skin. ¡°She¡¯s far from it¡± said Luke. ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean I want to date her¡± he added, seeing Emma¡¯s big smile. ¡°Just promise me that you won¡¯t force yourself to not love her¡± she said. ¡°No¡± said Luke unceremoniously. He went inside and saw Emma sigh with annoyance as he shut the door. He wasn¡¯t interested in having a girlfriend and he especially wasn¡¯t interested in it right now. Right now, all he wanted was another drink. Luke plopped down on the sofa and grabbed the bottle of whiskey on the coffee table. This was way too expensive he thought as he poured it into an equally expensive glass. As he sipped the fine whiskey, Luke couldn¡¯t help but think about his last relationship, if you could even call it that. 12 years ago¡­ ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me? How could you just go and do something like this?¡± cried the black haired woman. ¡°Why do you care so much, Lisa?¡± muttered Luke. ¡°Why do I care that you went and joined the army?!¡± she exclaimed. Luke sighed, he could tell that she was about to cry. Indeed, tears started rolling down her cheeks soon after. Luke didn¡¯t feel anything as he saw her weep, she cried a lot these days, it wasn¡¯t an unusual occurrence by any means. ¡°I needed a change¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s not the problem! You never tell me anything, you never talk to me!¡± said Lisa, wiping her tears away. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Do you even care about me?!¡± she cried. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°W-well, do you?¡± she stammered with a note of desperation in her tone. ¡°I don¡¯t think I care about anything¡± muttered Luke. Back in the present Luke poured himself another glass, he just wanted to forget the painful past. The way he¡¯d shattered Lisa¡¯s heart still haunted him. Everything from before he¡¯d enlisted haunted him, his emotionlessness had been on a completely different level back then. I¡¯m not like that anymore thought Luke, trying to convince himself of it. But was he really? Even when he promised to let no one else die, he didn¡¯t know if that was out of love or because he felt like he¡¯d failed in his duties. The doubt rose up in him and he reached for the bottle once more. A few minutes later, he poured himself another glass. A while after that, he had his fifth glass and an hour later, Luke was blacked out on the couch. ¡°luke¡­luke?...LUKE!¡± Luke shot up, awakened by the shouts and knocks on the door. He groaned as he stood up and walked towards the door. Unsurprisingly, he had a hangover but a rather mild one considering the circumstances. Luke opened the door to find Johnny, Matt and Jim which was to be expected. What he didn¡¯t expect was for Emma to be with them. ¡°It¡¯s almost noon, you¡¯re usually an early bird¡± said Jim suspiciously. ¡°I stayed up thinking¡± said Luke as he shifted slightly to try and hide the empty bottle behind him. ¡°Well, can we go hunting?¡± asked Matt. ¡°I¡¯ll be ready soon but why is Emma here?¡± asked Luke. ¡°I thought she could tag along. Do you think she needs to level up more?¡± asked Jim. ¡°No, it should be fine. I¡¯ll be ready in twenty minutes¡± muttered Luke and closed the door. He let out a sigh as he walked up the stairs. Last night¡¯s mental breakdown was unbecoming of him, he shouldn¡¯t have dug up old memories. Shaking his head, Luke stepped into the bathroom to have a hot shower. Ten minutes later, he was in front of the shop, drinking the cup of coffee he¡¯d bought. The others were there too, watching Emma pet the cat. Maya purred in satisfaction which seemed a little weird to Luke. ¡°Why do you enjoy being pet if you¡¯re sentient?¡± he asked. ¡°You enjoy hugs, don¡¯t you?¡± retorted Maya. ¡°Wrong person to ask, Maya. Luke has no emotions¡± joked Matt. It stung a little more than usual after what happened yesterday. Emma noticed him flinch slightly so Luke tried playing it off as a sign of sleepiness. ¡°You done with the coffee?¡± asked Jim. ¡°Yep, let¡¯s go¡± affirmed Luke, eager to leave before Emma confronted him. The five of them walked out of the village before picking up their pace and moving with a light jog, a light jog with which they moved faster than regular people could run. Luke lagged a few feet behind the others, he didn¡¯t want to talk right now. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t get his wish. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± asked Emma as she matched his pace. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bullshit me. You woke up looking miserable and I saw the way you flinched at what Matt said¡± she said, trying to keep her voice low. ¡°I just didn¡¯t sleep right¡± lied Luke. ¡°You know people care about you, right?¡± she said after a few seconds of silence. ¡°What?¡± ¡°People care about you. I care about you. Jim, Matt and Johnny care about you. The rest of the platoon cares about you too, at least a little bit¡± she said. ¡°The reason we care about you is because we understand you. Even though you don¡¯t show it, we know that you care about us too. So if you ever need help, we¡¯re here for you¡± finished Emma. With that, she picked up her pace and left him behind. He watched the four people in front of him, thinking about what she¡¯d just said. He looked at the trees as they passed by, the autumn season was changing the color of the leaves. One of the red leaves flew in front of Luke and he grabbed it out of the air. He looked at the once green leaf in his hand and smiled. Things have changed he thought. Ch.15 Warmth ¡°Are we in hell?¡± asked Emma ¡°Don¡¯t be rude, this place is awesome¡± protested Johnny. Luke was fully in agreement with Johnny but he had to admit that the dark woods in front of them made a bad first impression. It looked like it was plucked out of a cheesy horror movie, the trees were dead and rotting, the grass was brown and there was always a dark cloud above it. ¡°Are you sure we won¡¯t get possessed by demons?¡± muttered Emma as they walked into the woods. ¡°It¡¯s only happened to us once so we should be fine¡± said Luke. ¡°It was really scary though¡± said Matt with an involuntary shiver. ¡°I already regret this¡± sighed Emma. ¡°On the bright side, there¡¯s a million zombies in here so we¡¯ll definitely level up¡± said Jim. ¡°Yeah, the last time we were here our levels were too low but now we¡¯ll kill a lot¡± agreed Luke. As they walked deeper into the woods, the zombies they spoke of appeared. The good thing about zombies was that they always give you ample time to react. Luke heard the moans and groans before they even came in to sight. ¡°All yours, Emma¡± he said. ¡°Gee thanks¡± she said sarcastically before running up to the five zombies. ¡°Isn¡¯t it weird that a Rogue uses a spear¡± commented Matt. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯d expect her to use a knife coated in poison or something¡± agreed Johnny. ¡°It¡¯s certainly a unique choice¡± said Jim. ¡°You¡¯re all being too nice, she¡¯s just a moron¡± said Luke. Said moron was frowning as she came back, holding her bloody spear. ¡°It¡¯s very little EXP¡± she complained. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there are stronger undead in the woods¡± said Jim. ¡°Yep, some of them are as ugly as you¡± said Matt. ¡°You wanna face a real weapon, knife boy?¡± asked Emma with a scowl. ¡°Oh no, the spear wielding rogue is angry¡± said Johnny with a laugh. ¡°Did you guys just invite me so you¡¯d have someone to bully?!¡± ¡°Yes¡± said Jim, Matt and Johnny in sync. Luke urged them to keep moving, he really wanted to reach level 15 by the end of the day. They walked for a few more minutes, occasionally killing a zombie here and there until at last, a more worthy foe appeared. [Undead Troll (Lvl.12)] *Your ability [Analyze] has reached level 2* Finally thought Luke. [Analyze] had been at level 1 for way too long, though he supposed he hadn¡¯t really used it much. Before he could spend too long thinking about [Analyze], the ten foot tall creature was almost upon them. Everyone scrunched up their noses as it approached, the grey rotting flesh smelled worse than it looked. Emma looked like she¡¯d puke at the sight of the disgusting creature but now that Luke had seen the hobgoblins, an undead troll looked kinda cute. Jim was the first to attack and like always, his arrows didn¡¯t do much. As Jim nocked another arrow, Luke shot a mana bolt at the monster. The troll released a hollow cry as it clutched its heavily bleeding gut. ¡°I¡¯m so much better than the rest of you¡± declared Luke smugly as they all retreated. His smug smile was soon wiped off his face when one of Jim¡¯s arrows struck the troll¡¯s chest and went straight through it, prompting another hollow cry. ¡°What the hell?!¡± ¡°Supercharged arrows, Luke. When in doubt, use even more mana¡± answered Jim with a grin. ¡°Can I borrow a spirit potion, though?¡± he continued. ¡°¡­¡± In the time they¡¯d been bragging to each other, the other three had already finished off the monster. Luke sighed at the disappointing amount of EXP. *You have helped slay [Undead troll (Lvl.12)], 2400 EXP received* ¡°Do you think we receive less EXP for killing things under our level?¡± asked Jim. ¡°Definitely¡± muttered Luke. The five of them continued their journey, taking out any zombies they ran into with ease. Soon enough, they reached a part of the woods that Luke had never been to before. Everyone stopped before the field of white flowers, feeling a sense of foreboding. ¡°I don¡¯t think we should keep going¡± said Emma. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Let¡¯s not be too hasty¡± said Luke, even though he felt the same urge. ¡°It¡¯s cold¡± murmured Johnny as he rubbed his hands together. ¡°This could be magic, maybe something¡¯s trying to scare us away¡± said Jim. ¡°Seems like it. The only question is if it¡¯s weak or just can¡¯t be bothered to fight¡± said Luke. They waited at the edge of the field for a while, none of them dared to step inside. As time went on, the oppressive feeling of fear grew stronger and stronger. Luke was about to suggest that they leave when all of a sudden, Johnny used his claws to cut himself. His blood was split on the ground and as soon as it touched the earth, a strong warmth spread out from it. Luke felt a hot gust of wind hit him, destroying the frosty fear that had crept up on him. The others looked at Johnny in shock and he grinned. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that would actually work¡± he said with a laugh. ¡°What the hell does your bloodline actually do?¡± asked Matt. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I just felt like something inside me was fighting against the cold¡± said Johnny. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go check this place out.¡± said Luke. They stepped into the field, looking around cautiously as they did so. A few seconds later, the sense of fear returned but this time, Luke was able to shake it off. In fact, he received a surprising notification for doing so. *+5 to soul, +3 to spirit* *Gained Ability [Spiritual shield]* Luke focused on the ability, to see if it was what he thought it was. [Spiritual Shield (Lvl.1)]- A mighty body may resist a thousand cuts but a weak soul will still doom you¡­ [Spiritual shield] allows you to resist attacks and intrusions of your mind and soul. ¡°Did you guys get the ability?¡± asked Emma before Luke could do the same. They had all received it so they just nodded and kept walking. For the next ten minutes, the five of them searched the field without seeing anything unusual. Luke let out a sigh of frustration, he was just about done with this when suddenly, a thought struck him. Maybe we¡¯re going about this the wrong way he thought and activated [Spiritual sense]. His mana spread out, giving him a vague sense of his surroundings. The more he spread it out, the less clear his perception got. Things got duller and duller but eventually, something came into his ¡°vision¡± that was extremely clear. Luke gasped as he felt the entity watching them, it was dozens of feet away but its malice was palpable. The shadowy figure turned to look at him, sending a chill down his spine. Before he could do anything else, it shot out towards him, flying at an incredible speed. Luke used [Cut] on the figure but unsurprisingly, his sword passed through it and did no damage. The ghostly entity extended its arm through Luke¡¯s chest, making him shiver uncontrollably. It felt like he¡¯d been stabbed by an icicle. The phantom removed its appendage and was ready to stab him again but Luke shot a mana bolt at it and this time, his attack was effective. The strange creature flew back just as the others ran over to him. ¡°It¡¯s here, you have to use spiritual sense¡± he said, trying to shake off the cold. Jim and Matt both activated [Spiritual sense] and shocked expressions appeared on their faces. Unfortunately, Emma and Johnny didn¡¯t have the skill and just looked around confusedly. ¡°You two should leave the field¡± said Luke. The two of them obliged reluctantly, they weren¡¯t happy about it but they saw the folly in fighting an enemy they couldn¡¯t perceive. ¡°Physical attacks don¡¯t work on it¡± said Luke as he observed the erratic movements of the phantom. ¡°I haven¡¯t learned [Mana bolt] yet but I can blast my mana at it¡± said Jim. ¡°Can you do the same, Matt?¡± asked Luke. ¡°Even better. I learned [Mana bolt] today morning¡± said Matt with a grin. Luke nodded and the three of them started walking towards the shadowy creature. As they got close, it stopped its strange movements and flew straight at them. Luke, Matt and Jim each shot a blast of mana at the phantom but it dodged all of them. The figure was now right in front of them and extended its arm towards Matt but luckily, Luke was able to hit it with a mana bolt. ¡°That was close¡± muttered Matt as the phantom flew back a few feet. Once again, it started moving about erratically. Luke, Matt and Jim watched it cautiously as it started to spin like a top. Luke charged up another mana bolt but before he could release it, the creature stopped spinning and shot into the ground. As soon as it entered the earth, Luke could no longer perceive it. He finally decided that this thing was more trouble than it was worth and said as much. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s just go¡± agreed Matt. The three of them walked over to Emma and Johnny and gave them the rundown of what had happened. As they talked about whether they should keep hunting or return to the village, the ground started to shake. Luke turned towards the field, where a large sinkhole had appeared in its center. He had a bad feeling as he watched it get bigger and indeed, he was right to. A second later, a massive creature burst out of the ground. Fuck around and find out, Luke. You really need to stop fucking around he thought to himself. The thirty foot tall giant let out a ghastly wail. Its voice alone dropped the temperature to zero, Luke once again felt cold and scared. He took deep breaths, repeating in his head that the fear was just an illusion. Luke was the first to recover and so, he was the first to attack. He shot a mana bolt at the creature¡¯s leg but it only left a scratch on its scaly black skin. The giant was covered in such scales everywhere except its face, a face that was completely empty with no eyes, mouth or nose. ¡°Jim, shoot at its face!¡± shouted Luke, startling Jim out of his fear. A few seconds later, an arrow struck the lower half of the giant¡¯s face, making it release another horrid cry. Even in its weakest spot, the arrow didn¡¯t do much. Their only saving grace was the fact that the dark giant was abysmally slow. It had burst out of the earth half a minute ago, yet it was only a few feet closer to them. Still, that didn¡¯t mean it was harmless. The creature raised its arms in the air before abruptly bringing them down. As soon as it did, a crushing weight descended on its five opponents. It wasn¡¯t a physical force, just a horrible sea of sadness. Luke fell to his knees with a gasp but he was doing far better than the rest. Matt, Johnny and Jim were shaking and shivering. Emma, who had the lowest stats, started sobbing uncontrollably. As the creature drew closer and closer, Luke knew he had to do something. Once it reached them, their deaths were guaranteed but even that thought didn¡¯t give him the strength to rise. He felt like a mountain of grief, hatred and fear was pressing down on him. Happiness, love, warmth thought Luke. He tried desperately to think of those things to fight the sadness. As he thought about warmth, about campfires, pizza ovens and fireplaces, he felt something within him. The more he thought about warmth, the more he felt like there was a fire burning inside of him. Luke could feel its heat, he could feel the tongues of flame warm up his body. The fire seemed to grow, it went from a spark to an inferno. The warmth and light washed over Luke, giving him the strength to stand up. The dreadful giant was now just a dozen feet ahead. Luke didn¡¯t know if there was any hope left but he wouldn¡¯t go down without a fight. He stepped forward and used every last bit of mana he had to shoot a mana bolt at the creature¡¯s face. But it wasn¡¯t a mana bolt, far from it. What shot out of Luke¡¯s hand wasn¡¯t an invisible rod of mana, it was a mighty sword of fire. The brilliant light flew towards the giant¡¯s face and struck true. There was no scream, no struggle, no final attack. As soon as Luke¡¯s fire hit the creature, it burst apart, turning into a cloud of ashes and smoke. With its death, the crushing sadness disappeared. The others were brought out of their miserable states and started talking at Luke but he wasn¡¯t paying any attention to them. He wasn¡¯t paying any attention to the many notifications from the system either. All he could focus on was the small fire floating on top of his finger, it was no bigger than a candle flame but it could hold all of his attention. There was just something about it that brought Luke an immense amount of joy. Ch.16 A real beauty Luke winced slightly as the staff struck his shoulder. Jim certainly wasn¡¯t going easy on him but that was exactly what Luke wanted. Jim continued striking him with the wooden staff as he riled up his mana and tried to control it better. Whenever the staff was about to connect, Luke tried pushing his mana towards that point. He was really just attempting to control his [Mana shield] better, so he could send more mana to the place where he was about to take damage. This continued for a few minutes with varying levels of success but eventually, Luke got the notification he was hoping for. *Your ability [Mana shield] has reached level 8* ¡°I did it!¡± he cried. ¡°Finally¡­I was starting to think you¡¯re just a masochist¡± muttered Jim as he threw the staff away. ¡°You¡¯re definitely not hot enough to awaken those desires in me¡± said Luke with a laugh. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to tell Mary¡± he replied, chuckling. Luke rolled his eyes, he¡¯d been hearing these sort of comments for the whole week. Seven days ago he¡¯d destroyed a literal ghost but his thank you was just endless coercion to get together with Mary. Jim and Emma seemed especially invested in his love life. After Jim walked off, Luke looked over his status. STATUS Name: Luke Carpenter Race: Human (Lesser) Level: 15 Rank: 1 Class: Swordsman Health: 98% Stamina: 89% Mana Reserves: 72% Free points: 0 Skill points: 0 STATS Strength: 63 Agility: 63 Toughness: 70 Stamina: 59 Vitality: 57 Perception: 54 Soul: 57 Spirit: 52 SKILLS [Unarmed combat (Lvl.23)] [Swordsmanship (Lvl.28)] [Stealth (Lvl.21)] [Tracking (Lvl.19)] [Mana infusion (Lvl.10)] [Spiritual sense (Lvl.4)] [Breath control (Lvl.2)] [Basic magic (Lvl.5)] SPELL TYPES [Mana projectile (Lvl.4)] [Fire magic (Lvl.2)] ABILITIES Active: [Analyse (Lvl.3)] [Dark vision] [Cut (Lvl.6)] [Mana shield (Lvl.8)] [Inventory (Lvl.1)] Passive: [All speak] TITLES [Champion of the third village] [Outworlder] [Night Hunter] [Ranker] Lot of improvements in skills and abilities thought Luke with satisfaction. Unfortunately, that was all that improved. Luke hadn¡¯t managed to level up in the last week, he just hoped Johnny would get to level 15 by the end of the day so they could all go back to the goblin¡¯s den. He decided that it was pretty much guaranteed to happen so he went over to the shop to prepare in advance. After he stocked up on health and spirit potions, Luke turned to leave but Maya pawed at him. ¡°What?¡± he asked. ¡°I have a very important announcement to make!¡± she declared. ¡°¡­Alright¡± ¡°You have to call everyone¡± whined Maya. ¡°EVERYONE GET OVER HERE, THE CAT WANTS TO TALK TO YOU!¡± called Luke, his high stats making him louder than most microphones would. Soon, everyone who was still in the village gathered in front of the shop, looking at Maya curiously. ¡°Eight days ago, the first trial ended but that wasn¡¯t the end of the games. The date for the second trial has just been confirmed, it will begin at dawn, nine days from now¡± said Maya, instantly souring the mood. ¡°Just been confirmed? Who confirmed it?¡± asked Luke. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°The gods and goddesses, of course¡± said Maya casually. ¡°There are gods?!¡± exclaimed Emma. ¡°Yes, there are gods but I won¡¯t answer any questions about the gods or the next trial. You¡¯ll have to wait for the second trial to end before you get your answers¡± said Maya. As soon as she said that, the crowd erupted into talks and questions. Some of them tried getting Maya to elaborate but she stayed silent just like she said she would. Luke could tell that a panic was setting in so he intervened. ¡°Alright, calm down. We already knew there would be more trials, that¡¯s why we¡¯ve spent the last week preparing for them. Now that we have a date, we¡¯ll take our training sessions up a notch and work on tactics more over the next nine days. Just stop worrying, that helps no one¡± he said. The others did indeed calm down and they did so very quickly. Luke was pleasantly surprised, he hadn¡¯t expected the training over the last week to raise their confidence so much. A while later, they had all dispersed, leaving him alone with the cat. ¡°Stop right there¡± she said, right as he was about to leave. ¡°What now?¡± ¡°I¡¯m bored so you have to entertain me¡± demanded Maya. ¡°I¡¯ll stay if you tell me about the other villages¡± decided Luke. ¡°Why do you want to know about them?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°It¡¯s important. Are there only two others or more? Are they allies or enemies? I need to plan for these things¡± muttered Luke. ¡°You¡¯re the first to ask me about the other villages¡± she said thoughtfully. ¡°I¡¯m the only one who knows¡± replied Luke. ¡°So how exactly do the other villages relate to us?¡± he continued. ¡°Well I can¡¯t give you any details but they¡¯re not intended to be your enemies¡± said Maya. Her saying that they weren¡¯t ¡°intended to be¡± enemies and not that they weren¡¯t enemies put Luke on edge. He tried questioning her a bit more but she just gave him a bunch of non-answers. A few minutes later, she shifted the conversation to the best way to cook fish, something they were both very passionate about. ¡°You have to deep fry it, a nice fish and chips is the way to go¡± insisted Luke. ¡°That¡¯s too simple. A pan seared salmon and roasted vegetables is a true dinner¡± said Maya. ¡°Uh, what are you doing?¡± interjected Johnny as he and Matt came up to them. ¡°Maya thinks fish and chips isn¡¯t as good as pan seared salmon¡± said Luke. ¡°Cats do have smaller brains¡± said Matt, making Maya meow in protest. ¡°No, I¡¯m with her on this¡± said Johnny. ¡°Wait, did you reach level 15?¡± asked Luke, before it turned into a four way battle. ¡°Yup¡± answered Johnny proudly. ¡°Almost got me killed along the way¡± muttered Matt. ¡°Well, let¡¯s not waste any time. We¡¯ll get Jim and then we¡¯re off to the dungeon¡± said Luke. ¡°You didn¡¯t even say bye!¡± he heard Maya say as the three of them walked to Jim¡¯s house. Luke shook his head, he would never say bye to someone that didn¡¯t respect fish and chips. Ignoring the cat¡¯s curses, the three of them collected Jim and set off to the goblin¡¯s den. Two hours later, the four of them were stood in front of the third chamber. Making their way through the first two chambers had been an easy task, even the fire goblin wasn¡¯t that much of a challenge anymore. ¡°We don¡¯t get rewards this time either?!¡± whined Matt after the new fire goblin had died. ¡°Well, it would be really stupid if we got rewards for enemies we¡¯d already killed¡± muttered Jim. ¡°Cheer up Matt, great rewards await us in the next chamber¡± said Luke. ¡°Or a painful death¡± added Johnny. ¡°Woah¡± said Jim with a surprised expression. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m in a horrible mood today¡± muttered Johnny as they walked towards the third chamber. ¡°As they say, the solution to a bad mood is levelling up!¡± declared Luke. ¡°No one says that, Luke¡± ¡°They do now¡± he retorted, right before he entered the dark corridor. *Entered third chamber of [The Goblin¡¯s Den], chamber level- (Lvl.15+)]* Unlike in the other two chambers, the four explorers were attacked almost immediately. Luke was just glad the strange creature crawling around and biting at their legs hadn¡¯t taken a chunk out of his foot when he¡¯d previously stuck it in. ¡°This thing is definitely possessed by Satan!¡± screamed Matt as he kicked it away. Luke threw a mana bolt at the strange goblin but it did absolutely nothing to it. It may look weak with its skinny figure and shriveled up skin but it was apparently indestructible. Dozens of attacks struck it but it shook them off with ease. The good thing was that the creature¡¯s madness made it so that it wasn¡¯t really focused on attacking them. More than once, it stopped crawling about and started to smash its own head into the ground. Luke finally decided to use his strongest attack. He strengthened his ¡°inner fire¡± as he liked to call it before releasing its power as a bolt of mana. The bright flash of fire sailed through the air, striking the goblin in the head and making it scream loudly. Why did I not get any EXP? thought Luke as he saw it drop dead just from that. He waited a few seconds and still got no notification, making him sigh in frustration. ¡°Maybe I should have drank the goblin blood¡± muttered Matt, kicking the shriveled up corpse. ¡°My fire isn¡¯t usually this powerful, it just works well against demonic stuff¡± explained Luke. ¡°We don¡¯t know for sure that demons exist¡± interjected Johnny. ¡°That thing was crawling around and frothing at the mouth. Demons definitely exist¡± said Jim. ¡°Alright whatever, let¡¯s going¡± said Luke. Much to his annoyance, Jim and Johnny continued their debate about the existence of demons as they walked deeper into the chamber. He could only hope that they were still paying attention to their surroundings. Luckily, they didn¡¯t encounter anymore ¡°demonic entities¡±. Twenty minutes later, they came to a circular arena that looked identical to the one in the second chamber. The four prepared themselves as they stared into the dark corridor and Luke did a little more than that. It feels kinda like that dark entity did he thought, recoiling slightly as he deactivated his spiritual sense. A second later, the creature he sensed charged out of the darkness. Luke had vaguely sensed the way it looked but seeing it for real still shocked him. The goblin that had just appeared was the opposite of all the other ones he¡¯d seen. While the other goblins were brutish and disgusting, this one was beautiful, in every sense of the word. Her skin was still green but it looked unbelievably smooth and soft. Long white hair, bright red lips and a stunning black dress draped over her perfect figure, it almost made Luke wonder if she was one of the goddesses that Maya talked about. Unfortunately, she soon shattered that holy image by twisting her face into a horrible expression and hissing like a rabid animal. The goblin raised her hands and black lightning shot out of her fingertips, racing towards her opponents. Great, we have to fight a sith lord thought Luke sarcastically. He didn¡¯t have much trouble dodging the attack but the goblin kept shooting more lightning towards them. For the next few minutes, she kept up the stream of lightning, not allowing anyone to get close to her. ¡°How much mana does she have!¡± cried Matt. ¡°Just try and distract her!¡± Jim called back as he tried to nock an arrow. The other three nodded and they all charged towards the goblin from different directions. They ducked, sidestepped and jumped desperately to avoid her lightning fast attacks (literally). The whole time, she didn¡¯t let Jim off the hook and shot attacks at him too. Luckily, she wasn¡¯t able to overwhelm him thanks to other three and a few seconds later, Jim was able to release a supercharged arrow at her. At last, she stopped her assault to deal with the new threat. Just before the arrow struck her, the goblin raised her hands. The mana Jim used to supercharge the arrow went to waste and simply bounced off an invisible wall created by the goblin. Taking no pity on her shocked opponents, she resumed her attack at once. The four of them ran around, desperately avoiding the lightning. Luke almost got struck a few times but soon, it stopped being so overwhelming. She¡¯s getting slower thought Luke, glad to see that the goblin did not, in fact, have infinite mana. Motivated by this fact, the four challengers continued their attempts to close the distance with renewed vigor. As the battle continued, the gap between her lightning attacks grew larger and larger. Jim had been able to shoot two more arrows at her but unfortunately, she blocked them with the invisible shield. Still, the time it took for her to deal with the last arrow was enough for Luke to get within a few feet of the goblin. His sword was already infused with a great amount of mana and he used [Cut] with high expectations. Those expectations were soon shattered when the goblin simply raised her hands to bring back the invisible shield. Luke felt like he¡¯d struck an unbreakable wall, he was beyond shocked by the strength of the barrier. She didn¡¯t give him any time to react before releasing another stream of black lightning at him. Luke was thrown back over a dozen feet, crashing into the stone floor. The others took a quick look at him to make sure he wasn¡¯t dead and kept attacking the goblin. Luke winced as he stood up, the black lightning felt more like a splash of corrosive acid than hot lightning. As he looked towards the others, he saw that the goblin was no longer throwing out lightning and was just hiding in her shield. The other three attacked her with all they had but nothing cracked the force field. Luke figured she couldn¡¯t keep it up forever so he charged up a mana bolt just to contribute to her downfall. The invisible rod shot towards the goblin¡¯s shield and Luke watched on uninterestedly. He knew it would just bounce off the shield but a second later, a high pitched scream rang out. Everyone watched in shock as the goblin¡¯s gut started bleeding from the mana bolt. So your shield doesn¡¯t work on magic¡­time to burn, bitch thought Luke with a grin.