William held his gaze on the beast, their eyes locked on each other. Fortunately for William, it wasn’t charging straight at him. It was clearly assessing William before it attacked. He remembered something about lynxes from a few amazing British documentaries he had watched to sleep some nights; sometimes a lynx hunted with others. Not always though. He truly hoped this was a loner, otherwise he doubted he stood a chance. William held his buckler closer to his body now, obscuring more of his profile and firmly held his sword in a two handed grip pointing at the beast.
Seconds felt like minutes as the stare off continued, until finally, a caw from some bird in the canopy acted as a starting whistle as the lynx darted at William. It clawed at him, and he was able to block the blow with his buckler as he used Swift Thrust. He wasn’t fast enough, however, as the beast leaped back after the initial attack, making his strike hit the air.
William recovered quickly and cursed, “Fucking bullshit!”
The lynx charged in again and did the same thing. This time, William didn’t attack, but instead tried to assess what the beast was doing. It tried the same attack a couple more times over the next few moments, getting a little bit faster each time. William then inconveniently remembered that the jerkin he took was still folded up in his pack. He could have used it as extra protection.
“I guess I’m playing on hard mode then,” he muttered as the beast stepped back a little further than normal.
William expected a larger attack as the beast lined it’s horns up with him. Yep. Big charge coming his way.
As the beast barreled towards him, William turned his buckler to face the oncoming charge. As the two collided, he heard a snap, followed by a yelp, followed by a sharp pain in his arm. William screamed as he realized what had happened; the beast’s horn had gone through the buckler and straight into his arm. However, the other horn had, fortunately, broken off. As he grit his teeth, adrenaline coursing through him, he struggled in a weird tug of war as the beast tried to pull it’s head free. The horn had apparently gotten stuck in the buckler and his arm. He then saw that the beast was trying to claw at the buckler, clearly not understanding what the thing was. William took the opportunity with one hand now to use Swift Thrust again. His aim wasn’t great as their battle of strength continued, and he was only able to stab into the left front shoulder of the beast. The beast yelped again, clearly suffering from the blow. The urgency in the lynx heightened, and William could feel the horn start to loosen slightly. Time was running out. Nearly one minute passed as the pair struggled. William then attacked again, but this time overshot the head and pierced the right front shoulder of the beast, lodging the sword in deep. It was at that point the beast let out a roar from the pain as it thrashed it’s head left and right, now intent on breaking the horn off to escape.
A loud snap matching the one from earlier as he staggered forward slightly at the sudden shift in weight, as William felt the sword leave his grip. The lynx tried to flee then, but could only do a slow scrabble, as its front legs were clearly crippled. William winced from the pain in his arm, and slowly approached as the beast desperately struggled, now whining in pain. He drew his dagger and was about to stab it in the head but stopped. He used the opportunity to try something, hoping it would give him a new skill. He aimed the dagger at the beast’s head and threw it.
He missed.
“Smooth, William. Very smooth.”
He drew the other dagger and tried again. The second throw struck true and lodged itself in the back of the lynx’s head. It’s whines slowly faded into bestial gurgles. William decided the beast had suffered enough and picked up his first dagger, then jammed it down into the skull next to the first. With a final gurgle and wheeze, the beast died, blood pooling beneath it.
William sat down and was about to rip the horn out but realized that he didn’t have anything to stop the blood flow if he pulled it out. He would get Jane to heal it when he got back, he decided. William then decided to address the prompts he had just received.
{Ascension_Protocol}
You have slain: Beast – Horned Lynx – Level 7
Bonus EXP awarded for slaying a creature of higher Race level than you.
{Class: Fighter – Level 5 Reached}
Attribute points allocated, plus 5 unused points.
{Race: Human – Level 5 Reached}
Attribute points allocated, plus 5 unused points.
{Allocation:}
Would you like to Allocate Unused points (10) to attributes?
{Y/N}
{End}
He decided to choose Dexterity again for the two fighter points he had to assign, then put three points into each of Strength, Intelligence, and Vitality, with the last point going into Charisma. He decided to heal his anxiety one point at a time.
Bringing up his status changes he saw:
{Ascension_Protocol}
{Attribute Changes:}
Strength – 28 > 31
Dexterity – 28 > 30
Intelligence – 15 > 18
Wisdom – 16 > 18
Vitality – 20 > 23
Charisma – 10 > 11
{Resource Pool Changes:}
SP 280 > 310
MP 150 > 180
HP 200 > 230
{End}
William reviewed the changes for a moment and noticed that this time he had not received any SP reduction info. He remembered that the reductions couldn’t get any lower when he had checked last, so assumed that it wouldn’t list them again in that way. William also decided that the two points from the next fighter level he gained would be put into strength and he would alternate from there on.
William moved on to the second prompt with anticipation, as he had a good feeling at what it was:
{Ascension Protocol}
Through combat, you have picked up on the ability to turn small blades into ranged weaponry. [Skill learned – Dagger Toss]
{Dagger Toss – Through nimble fingers and dexterous aim, you throw a small blade at your enemy, dealing significant piercing damage, potentially crippling your foe if the attack lands in a vulnerable spot. [Cool-down – 10 Seconds][Cost – 40SP]}
{End}
It was significantly expensive in terms of SP, but he hoped that, as he levelled his Dexterity, the SP reductions would be kind to him. William did feel like he cheated a bit as he had used a slow moving, injured creature to cheat the skill. It worked though, and reaffirmed that he could potentially exploit the system in his favor more going forward.
William took a couple of moments to compose himself before removing the daggers from the beast, wiping them on his trouser leg before sheathing them again. He then moved onto the sword. Removing the sword was harder, but after some wiggling, he was successful. He wiped that off and sheathed it as well. Now he would head back. This time though, he potentially had meat to bring back with him. William wasted no time as he picked up the berry sack he made and tied the little bow at the top he'd made around the hilt of the sword, letting it dangle. He then used both his hands to try and lift the lynx. To his surprise, it was slightly lighter than the bandit, so he was able to carry it with little difficulty. However, on his way back he found that it took longer carrying the beast uphill, as carrying it rapidly drained his Stamina Points, which meant that he had to take multiple breaks along the way.
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It was looking close to late afternoon by the time he returned. William was pleased to see that people were working the little crop fields, including his father, and they even had tools; albeit slightly rusty tools. As he reached the bounds of the village, his father looked up from his work and saw William, bearing the dead lynx in his arms.
He rushed over to William, dropping his tools, “Son, what the hell happened?!”
William wasn’t feeling social.
“Went out, found some woodlands, got some berries, fought this horned lynx, got stabbed by it, killed it, brought it back,” William continued walking on as his father looked on after him, apparently unsure what to do.
He reached the well in the center of the village and dropped the lynx down. He then put the sack of berries down beside it. He spotted multiple people looking on with shock on their faces as he searched for Jane. Jane heard the commotion and peeked out from the same hut as the last time, and William believed that to be the one she was staying in then. Good to know for the future.
“William! Wh-What happened?!” She was visibly concerned, but William had just answered the same question for his father.
“I’ll tell you later, can you heal this please?” he said, still wincing.
William pushed the horn deeper into his arm through the buckler, grunting in pain. Once he could shift the buckler, he dropped it, emitting a loud metallic clang, then ripped the horn out, growling from the pain thrumming through his body. He saw blood start to pour out of his arm and then he thrust it in her direction. Her face of horror shifted to resolve in an instant, and she drew her staff. A blue glow quickly illuminated the tip of it as the light poured forth and washed over the wound. William was astonished as he saw the flesh knit back together and a new layer of skin form over where the wound had been.
“Amazing!” he said, shocked at seeing the magic at work.
He looked back at Jane and saw her face go from resolved, to cheerful. “I levelled up William! Apparently I got bonus EXP for healing someone of higher level!”
William was happy for her, and hoped that she would come to enjoy the levelling system, which he had enjoyed in so many games before.
“Congratulations, I’m proud of you,” he was surprised at his words.
They came to him naturally, and it wasn’t something he had thought he would say for a long time. He didn’t mind though, as seeing his sister’s face warm into a contented smile felt worth it.
William really wanted to have a nap and unwind from the social stuff he had to deal with throughout the day.
William stretched his arms and shoulders, letting out a gasp of relief. “I’m gonna go and take a nap. I brought back meat, so I’m sure someone here can salvage it.”
He pointed at the lynx with the horn still in his hand then continued, “Oh, and there’s berries in the cloth next to the beast, and apparently only a small handful is enough to fill someone up. Let me know if any meat is cooked and save me some. I’ll be in that shed.”
He gestured again with the horn in the direction of his shed.
He smiled at Jane who returned it and nodded to him. He then swiftly walked over to his shed and entered. William quickly pulled the bedroll out of his pack and unrolled it. He dropped his equipment in the corner in a rather ungracious manner before laying down face first on the bedroll. It had been a physically and mentally taxing day and he needed to recharge those batteries. It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep.
He woke to a knock on the shed door.
“Yeah?” he groaned groggily as he wiped his eyes.
He heard Jane reply, “Old Wallace knew how to skin and take meat from the beast you brought back. It’s cooking right now!”
“Okay, I’ll be there in a couple minutes, thanks,” he replied.
He heard Jane walk away and collected his gear. This time he put the jerkin on before he left the shed. He walked over and noticed that the day was in its twilight. He approached and found a small wood fire about five meters away from the well, and then spotted two more a similar distance away. It appeared that the villagers were split in three groups around their respective fires. William saw that several twigs stuck into the ground around the fire had skewers of meat on them, cooking in the flames.
William looked at the different fires and saw Steve, John, Allan, Leanne, Walter, and a few others gathered around the one on the far left, then the one nearest to him had his family, Jeff, Miss Jones, and two of Jane’s friends, Stacey and Jill? He couldn’t remember. He had only ever seen them come and go from his house with Jane occasionally. At the final fire he saw the rest of the villagers with Old Wallace telling some kind of story. He smiled a little at that. Everyone seemed to be adjusting to their reality slowly. William joined his family at the fire, sitting between his father and Jane. He didn’t speak first. He just smiled and stared into the flames for a while, letting the others continue their conversations.
The smell of the meat was pleasant, and when it looked slightly char, he pulled the stick out from the ground and took a bite of the meat. It was delicious. He didn’t think an overgrown cat would actually taste nice. It was a little gamy, but the nicest thing he had eaten so far.
As he finished the skewer, he heard Jane speak to him, “What should I put my points in?”
William eyed her with a slightly amused expression and chuckled a little before replying, “The same as before. When you reach level five focus a little bit more on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Vitality. Then every two or three levels after that, bump up your Dexterity a little.”
Jane nodded enthusiastically before pausing briefly at what William guessed was Jane allocating stat points.
William leaned back slightly, resting his hands behind him, enjoying the warmth of the fire.
He then heard Miss Jones speak up, “William, where did you get that...armor?”
William smiled again slightly at that, amused that she didn’t know it was a jerkin.
“It’s a leather jerkin, and I got it from the bandit I killed,” he said, completely nonchalantly as he gazed at the fire.
He felt the mood shift slightly more seriously then. He realized then that he had just reminded everyone of the bandit threat they faced. Oops.
He tried to salvage the mood, “Sorry, but don’t worry, we’ll win.”
Miss Jones didn’t reply, instead it was...Stacey? He really needed to figure out their names at some point. “How do you know they won’t win?” the tone laced with concern.
William made eye contact with her and she suddenly looked nervous. With a stoic expression he replied, “Because I won’t let them.”
There was no humor in his words, just conviction and willpower. Inside his mind he was confused as fuck. When did he ever have such conviction? Was it the Charisma stat? He had no clue. He didn’t question it further though, it was helping right now. He saw her face go from concern to comfort then. He was now further bewildered. He had just confidently affirmed reassurance to a girl. He had never done that. Yay for Charisma.
William returned his gaze to the fire. It seemed that normally, speaking while looking at something else made social stuff slightly easier for him.
His father spoke next, “Son, how are you so confident now? Over the past couple days you’ve changed from a shut-in to someone unafraid of deadly battles.”
William chuckled slightly at that, he wasn’t fearless. In fact, he was always afraid when he fought. He just refused to let it stop him.
He considered his words before replying and said, “Because I don’t want to die. We’re in a survival of the fittest situation now, Dad. I intend to survive for the long haul. I’ll beat any threat that comes my way and, be it a mountain of beasts or mountain of bandits that I stand atop of when the fighting is done, I’ll be there, unyielding and...victorious.”
His father smiled partially and replied, “I’m proud of the confidence you're developing, and even if the fact you are killing things is upsetting to me, I understand you have always done it protecting yourself. Just...don’t become a murdering monster, please?”
William appreciated and understood the sentiment. He didn’t want to become a monster.
Unfortunately, he didn’t appreciate what his mother then said, “This world has changed you William, you are becoming colder and it’s like I don’t know you any more.”
William let out a long sigh and lay back, using his pack as a head rest before replying, “Could you say you really knew me for the past decade and a bit? When did you make the time to do so?”
He wasn’t putting up with it. He wasn’t about to let his mum judge him when she still had an almost zealous belief in a non-existent god.
The words apparently did some emotional damage as she replied, “I’ve tried, every Sunday, you just haven’t tried to make the same effort.”
He laughed mirthlessly at that, “Every Sunday where you would try to drag me to church and I refused? I’m not a believer, why would I waste my time? Also, how could you truly get to know me in a church where we wouldn’t speak and only sung hymns when we were able to open our mouths?”
He saw, that she was about to speak up, but pressed on, trying to make his mother see sense, “I don’t think we’ll see eye to eye until you can put your religion to the side when speaking to me. Until that happens, all our conversations will end just like this.”
William didn’t get a response, just a huff then the sound of his mother leaving and entering the hut she was staying in. William felt a little guilty, mainly for how it might have upset his father at hearing their strained relations.
“I’m sorry, Dad, religion just...annoys me. I don’t care if others believe or not, but I refuse to be subject to it or judgement from zealous followers. I do mean it when I can’t see me and mum seeing eye to eye until we can talk without religion looming.”
His father looked at him, considering William’s words. “I think you may have been too harsh, Son. She loves you dearly, you know?”
He looked into his father’s eyes, “She hasn’t demonstrated it remotely for years, so I doubt it, but maybe she does. Religion is still in the way though. All she needs to do is speak to me without any religious drivel and we can make some headway.”
His father sighed, but nodded, “I’ll speak to her and try to remedy this. Remember, Son, a lot of us are believers too. Me included.”
“Yes, but you aren’t zealous about it. You don’t mention it to me. You speak to me normally. That’s all I want from Mum.”
He had nothing more to say on the subject, and instead lay there and stared back into the fire. He felt some of the others looking at him every now and again, but the others mostly spoke amongst themselves. William was honestly content to just lay by the fire and stare into the swirling flames.