Ouch. That hurt. I lay unmoving, trying to fit together my fragmented memory of the last few minutes. I'd been running from something... Then there had been an orc. Very definitely an orc. No way I could have mistaken it for anything else from that close up. Frankly, I was lucky to survive that...

Wait just a moment... This was too familiar! I'd been through this before! It was a truck last time, which was certainly more traditional than an orc, but since that last world didn't have trucks in, I could see why it had to make do with what was available. Would there be another mum speaking to me in an alien language again? And what was with that orc, anyway? That was blatantly deliberate. At least the truck was... huh? Now that I thought about it, why had I been in the middle of the road? Didn't I...

"Looks like he's waking up."

"Peter!"

"Thank goodness!"

My train of thought interrupted by the voices, I opened my eyes to see my parents standing over me. Lucy and David, that is, rather than some new set. I had no idea how, but it looked like I'd somehow survived. Did reinforcements arrive in those last forty seconds? They shouldn't have been able to get there so quickly, and even if they did, they weren't healers.

"What...?"

Both parents were too torn up to answer, but I saw Richard step into view. "Angus and Warren found you in the forest, barely alive, fallen next to the orc you were fighting. They performed first aid and carried you here, but don't try to move. Among more lighter wounds than I can count, you have four broken ribs, a punctured lung, and your left arm is shattered."

I had no intention of trying to move. My body was telling me in no uncertain terms that it was broken, and would quite like to stay where it was, thank you very much. Unlike the first time around, this time I was very much still in pain. My side where I'd been slammed by the orc felt like it was on fire. "Thanks," was all I could manage.

"You're welcome. Now lay there and rest. I need to meditate to recover my mana, then I'll be back for another round of healing."

I watched Richard leave from the corner of my eye, unable to even turn my head. My parents were still there, sobbing. I wanted to reach out to them, but my arm wouldn't move. Even speaking was a strain. Nevertheless, I was alive. How? There was only one thing I could think of; the orc died, and I gained stats and levels while unconscious. I checked in with the System to see what I'd missed.

Strength increased by 2

Dexterity increased by 1

Endurance increased by 2

Skill [Enlarged Mana Pool] advanced to level 9

Skill [Mana Finesse] advanced to level 10

Skill [Minor Dexterity] advanced to level 10

Skill [Minor Endurance] advanced to level 9

Skill [Minor Endurance] advanced to level 10

Skill [Minor Slow] advanced to level 10

Skill [Weapon Proficiency: Staff] advanced to level 8

Skill [Weapon Proficiency: Staff] advanced to level 9

Skill [Enhanced Mana Recovery] advanced to level 5

Skill [Enlarged Stamina Pool] advanced to level 5

New title acquired: [Victorious Underdog]

New title acquired: [Skilled]

New title acquired: [Survivor]

Class [Apprentice Mage] advanced to level 10

Skill [Privacy] advanced to level 4

Well... That happened. I levelled everything. Even privacy, although given the way it was last in the list, that probably came from Richard trying to treat me, rather than the orc. I even got both of the titles I knew about, as well as one that I didn't. Three titles from a single fight! No intelligence or wisdom increases there, though. Even the System agreed that I wasn't exactly using my brain in that fight. But even that double endurance increase wouldn't have been sufficient to save my life; even if I hadn't lost any more health since the last time I'd looked, [Minor Endurance] expiring would have left me on zero. Maybe it was one of the two titles whose effects I didn't know?

[Victorious Underdog] - Through arrogance or circumstance, you ended up fighting alone against a foe far beyond you. Through skill or luck, you stand victorious. Size and regeneration of all pools boosted by 20%. (Rank 2)

[Skilled] - You have maxed out a large number of skills before reaching your second rank. Maximum skill level raised by 2. (Rank 2)

[Survivor] - Your health has dipped below zero, and yet somehow you still live. Classes unlock health enhancement skills of one rank higher than their own. (Rank 2)

Okay, so it was [Victorious Underdog] in addition to the endurance. Regardless, after that fight, I'd welcome both sources of boosted health with open arms. Boosted health regeneration sounded nice too. I wasn't sure how that one worked, though; my mana and stamina pools would regenerate in an hour, but there was no way that was true of health. And whatever speed it recovered, if I chopped off an arm, would it grow back, or would I end up on full health still missing the arm? It wasn't the sort of thing I wanted to experiment with.

I wasn't sure what to make of [Survivor], either. Hitting zero health should be fatal, so how had I survived? My best guess was that I got it for surviving on the temporary hit-points from [Minor Endurance], so while my base health had gone negative, my actual health stayed positive, but I wasn't in a fit state to think too deeply about it right now.

"That's enough weeping, you two."

Huh? Camus was here too?

"Peter, thank you for protecting Cluma."

"Yaah."

Umm... Come on, mouth. You managed words a minute ago. No, never mind. I'd obviously woken up too soon. Unconsciousness beckoned once more.

I woke up again later in the day. From the view through the window, it appeared to be late evening, just before sunset. The pain was much better, but my left arm was still numb and my health pool was still not full. Above all, I was hungry. Oh dammit, I'd missed Cluma's birthday party, and all of Clana's cooking! Assuming they did actually hold the party; I could see Cluma scuppering it and insisting on waiting for me.

My neck seemed to be mobile now, so I took a look around the room. Mum was lying on the bed next to me, and on a table between us was a cup of juice and a couple of sandwiches. I never did get around to inventing cling film over the past few years, so they were probably mildly stale, but in my famished state, I didn't care. I couldn't eat them laying down though, nor did I want to risk trying to drag myself upright without knowing the state of my ribs. "Mum?"

She stirred instantly. "Peter? You're awake again?"

"Hungry..."

"Of course, you haven't eaten anything all day. Here, let me help you sit up."

My mouth was still not working properly. How was I supposed to chew sandwiches like this? But I needed to check it was safe to sit up. "Ribs..."

"Don't worry, Richard has fixed you right up."

Good. With Mum's help, I managed to drag myself upright, then looked at the plate with trepidation. In that case... [Minor Strength], [Minor Dexterity], [Minor Endurance]! That did actually help a little, and I managed to get a few mouthfuls of sandwich down. Actually, I could switch to [Body Mage] now and get the next rank spells, couldn't I?

After considering it, I decided to wait until I'd recovered. I downed the juice instead, then, with another couple of casts of enhancement spells, managed to finish one sandwich. That would need to do for now. I lay back down and slipped into [Meditation] and then sleep.

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The next time I woke was the following morning, and I felt much better. I hadn't seen Richard around again, but I owed him as big a thanks as Angus and Warren. Speaking of whom, I saw Warren in the room with me this time. I dragged myself upright, managing to do it all on my own this time.

"Feeling better?"

"Much. Thanks for dragging me out of there."

"You're welcome. But you owe just as much thanks to Cluma for alerting us and Angus for tracking you. And with that said, what the hell were you doing, attacking an orc! You're supposed to be the intelligent one in the village."

"I didn't attack him. He attacked me. And I did try to run away, but he was faster and cornered me."

"Don't give me that," Warren snorted. "You could have evaded with [Far Step] for long enough for us to arrive. I swear that if you fought it just to attempt to get the [Victorious Underdog] title, I will do everything in my power to make sure the delvers' guild never accepts you. That behaviour is far too reckless and would just put your party in danger."

I slumped back down. Was there anyone who couldn't see straight through me? I bet if I directly contradicted him, the 'thou shalt not lie' brainwashing would take over and he would believe me, but that would be abusing it.

"The fight really was because he'd cornered me and I had no better choice. [Far Step] needs an uninterrupted path between me and my destination, so being surrounded by trees limited the range. I focused on his leg in an attempt to cripple him and create an opening for me to run, but he took out my arm and bashed my side in the process. I needed to use endurance boosting magic simply to stay upright by that point. I could have started to run, but as soon as my mana ran out, I would have been helpless. I swear that getting the title wasn't my primary goal."

He peered at me, not looking entirely convinced. I wasn't actually lying at all; at the time, I had thought I could run away, but by the time I'd broken the orc's leg, my ribs were already smashed. I was too full of adrenaline to notice at the time, but trying to flee may well have been a fatal mistake. My decision was the correct one, albeit one made for the wrong reasons.

If I was going to run, it should have been after my very first strike on his leg, instead of spinning and trying for the second blow. At the time, I hadn't known how much damage I'd done, and didn't think that first attack would slow him down at all; it wasn't until the orc started to charge me that it had been clear I'd injured him, and he was favouring the other leg. Hindsight was a wonderful thing...

"If you say so. Then I trust that you'll never go after that title again. I'll expect you to give a blow by blow account later, so make sure to prepare your excuses. But firstly and more importantly, explain how you encountered the orc."

Sheesh. What was with the inquisition before I'd even managed to eat properly... And why was he talking as if I didn't get the title? "Of course I won't go after the title again; I already have it from that fight, so why would I? Is there a higher ranked version or something?"

Warren developed a frown to add to his peer. "You didn't kill the orc alone, so you shouldn't have won the title. It was still alive when we arrived, and Angus slit its throat. If the System considered you 'victorious' before we arrived, then you're very lucky, but it needs to have its eyes checked; you were in a far worse condition than the orc. Now, please explain how you encountered it."

Weird, but I guess the title description didn't explicitly say the target had to be dead, regardless of what Freya had said. That was damn lucky; if the health boost had come later, it wouldn't have come in time before my magic ran out. "It came out of nowhere. Literally. I was watching the area with [Mana Sense] and I saw mana in the area gather together. A few seconds later, we heard the roar and started running. There were no sounds before that, and given the orc's size, he wasn't exactly silent while moving through the forest."

"And there were no signs at all before that? No abnormalities in mana density?"

"None. But I only have [Mana Sense] and not anything better, so it's possible there was something beyond my ability to see."

"Maybe, but [Mana Sense] is plenty good enough for knowing when you step into a mana field. Not that a mana field has ever been observed to produce a monster above level five. Even the lowest level orcs don't appear above floor eight of a dungeon, except as a floor boss, and even then not on the top few floors."

The conversation was interrupted by an earthquake from my stomach, and Warren was kind enough to let me eat the food that had been left out before continuing. He didn't look happy, though, and I didn't blame him. Monsters were not supposed to come out of nowhere like that. My thoughts went back to the words of Lord Reid when he had first insisted on guards being posted to our village. I could well believe that the orc was an attack on me personally. I could even rule out Cluma, given that Lord Reid had said 'him' and not 'her'.

"What happens next?"

"As soon as you're recovered, we're taking you to Dawnhold. Probably later today, if Richard permits it. The guild master will want to debrief you personally. We'll bring the corpse with us for investigation."

I blinked. I'd never been back to Dawnhold since my first disastrous trip, and now they wanted me to go today? I slumped back down into bed, but I could see their point. Besides, I didn't want to put the village in danger if there was another attack. But if the attacks were deliberate and targeted at me, they were seriously half-arsed. Slimes weren't a threat to anyone. The orc was, but why now, when I was on the cusp of breaking through to rank two? I'd been to the forest alone before. If an orc had come at me a year or two ago, I wouldn't have stood a chance. Even now, I wouldn't have survived had Cluma not been there to run for help.

That was an odd thought... An enemy at the lowest possible level needed to grant me a title had shown up at the very latest point at which I qualified to gain it, while I was accompanied by someone fast enough to run away and who would take very slightly longer to fetch reinforcements than I would take to fight the orc. Furthermore, I got the title even though, according to Freya and Warren, I wasn't entitled to it. That was... convenient. Suspiciously so. Something to discuss with the guild master, certainly.

In the meantime, since I was feeling a lot better and had some food in me, it was time to switch class.

Available classes:

[Apprentice Fighter] [Monk] [Carpenter] [Smith] [Body Mage] [Soul Mage] [Spatial Mage] [Temporal Mage] [Thaumaturgist]

I should consider taking [Apprentice Fighter] at some point if I was going to end up fighting solo like that. But for now, I'd stick to the plan.

Class changed to [Body Mage]

You are now rank two

I had five soul points to spend. I could grab all three spells, or one spell and a rank two skill.

Skills available for purchase:

1 point: [Basic Cooking] [Basic Tailoring] [Foraging] [Basic Farming] [Weapon Proficiency: Dagger] [Strength] [Dexterity] [Endurance]

4 points: [Enhanced Stamina Recovery] [Mana Perception] [Greater Mana Finesse]

Despite [Survivor], there weren't any skills there I wasn't expecting. Possibly it would kick in if I took [Apprentice Fighter]. Without distractions from that, I didn't need to alter my existing plan. I wanted to reach the point where I could spam spells continuously, and I already had a nice stack of mana regeneration bonuses, so cutting spell costs further would be valuable. If I hadn't had [Mana Finesse] I would have run out of mana without being able to cast the final [Minor Endurance] against the orc, and would have perished before getting my levels and titles.

ding

New skill acquired: [Strength]

New skill acquired: [Greater Mana Finesse]

Skill [Mana Finesse] consumed by superior skill [Greater Mana Finesse]

Huh? That was new.. [Appraisal] didn't cause me to lose [Inspection], nor did [Strength] remove [Minor Strength]. I hope that didn't mean my spells had got more expensive. A quick cast of [Strength] confirmed my reduction was now eleven percent, one percent above my level ten [Mana Finesse], so I hadn't lost anything.

Looking at my status, it seemed to have slightly reorganised itself. An effect of being rank two?

Name: Peter

Species: Human

Class: Body Mage (Level 1/21)

Class History: [Commoner] [Apprentice Mage]

Soul Points: 0

Health: 19/21

Stamina: 32/32

Mana: 41.26/50.16

Strength: 12

Dexterity: 14

Endurance: 13

Intelligence: 17

Wisdom: 15

Charisma: 14

Rank 1 Spells: [Minor Strength 10] [Far Step 10] [Minor Speed 10] [Minor Dexterity 10] [Minor Endurance 10] [Minor Intelligence 8] [Minor Wisdom 7] [Minor Charisma 8] [Far Reach 10] [Minor Slow 10]

Rank 2 Spells: [Strength 1]

Rank 1 Skills: [Inspection 10] [Mana Sense 10] [Meditation 10] [Enlarged Mana Pool 9] [Mana Control 8] [Privacy 4] [Weapon Proficiency: Staff 9] [Basic Carpentry 6] [Basic Smithing 4] [Enlarged Stamina Pool 5]

Rank 2 Skills: [Appraisal 6] [Enhanced Mana Recovery 5] [Greater Mana Finesse 1]

Traits: [Abnormal Soul] [Early Bloomer] [Researcher] [Xenophilia]

Titles: [Jack of All Trades] [Victorious Underdog] [Skilled] [Survivor]

My previous classes were displayed, and my level display now matched that of [Appraisal], showing the total level as well as that of the current class. My skills had been sorted by rank, and 'spells' had been separated out despite previously being considered as ordinary skills. Handy, given the number of skills I now had, but it would be nice if it sorted them by proper categories instead of just 'spells' and 'everything else'. Within a category, skills were currently listed in order of attainment. Still, better than nothing, and there was always rank three to look forward to.

With nothing else to do for now, I lay down and dozed.