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Book 1 - Chapter 1 - Part 9
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Alexandros opens his eyes to the sound of footsteps. He is groggy, and it takes him a moment to remember where he is, but as soon as he does, his body freezes with terror. He knew falling asleep was bad, but he hadn’t counted on them finding him so early. His heart thumps so hard inside his chest that he is surprised the soldiers can’t hear it.
Did they find me? He thinks to himself. Alexandros struggles to keep his breathing low and steady, especially with the tears building behind his eyes. He hopes they will leave soon, but to his dismay, one of them walks right up and throws the foliage to the side, exposing him.
“Hey, I found that kid you were looking for!” the soldier shouts as he points right at Alexandros.
More of the soldiers rush forward, and as his instincts kick in, Alexandros draws his newly acquired sword and manages to block the first attack before it can hit him. He jumps forward between the guards and rolls out of the way of their attacks. Once he has the chance, he spins back to his feet and tightens his grip on his sword. While he doesn’t believe he is ready for a fight like this, he has no choice. For the first time, Alexandros knows what he needs and is ready for help.
As the soldiers attack him, he manages to block the first few attacks before one of them manages to slice open his leg.
-10 HP
Now that he is down to 50 HP, he knows he needs to find a way to keep from being hit again. With no way to regain his HP, he is well aware of his danger. Letting his instincts take over, Alexandros launches himself toward one of the soldiers and slashes his sword toward his chest at an angle. Much to his surprise, the attack lands, and the soldier falls to the ground.
Critical Attack! +80 damage to the soldier
Looking around the room, he realizes he can see everyone’s stats and skills. Most soldiers only had 75 health, though he finds a few who have more. He isn’t sure how long he will be able to last against all of them, but he does his best to remain focused.
When another soldier comes rushing at him, he dips to the side and slashes his sword toward the soldier’s back. The soldier shouts out in pain before falling to the ground.
+70 damage to the soldier
Realizing the soldier still has a little health left, Alexandros quickly turns and drives his sword through the man’s chest.
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+50 damage
As the soldier breathes his last, Alexandros turns around to find that at least another dozen soldiers are coming for him. Even though he has been doing well so far, he knows it is only a matter of time before he runs out of stamina. He brings up his stats and looks through them to find what he needs the most.
Stats
Health:
60/143
Mana:
101
Stamina:
5/101
Agility:
50
Endurance:
61
Strength:
120
Wisdom:
50
Charisma:
25
Luck:
27
Intelligence:
80
Alexandros isn’t very pleased with his health bar and knows he needs to find a way to get more health before all the soldiers tear him apart. Closing out his stats, he sees one of the soldiers running right for him in an attempt to take his head. He manages to duck out of the way at the last moment and drives his sword through the chest of another soldier, who falls to the ground with a thud.
+60 damage to the soldier
He pulls his blade free and realizes there is no way he can take on all these soldiers alone. After taking out three of them, he is exhausted and decides the best thing to do is run. Shoving his sword back into place, he bolts through two soldiers who struggle to catch him and hold him back.
Alexandros spins and manages to break free from their grip. With his stamina so low, he is finding it difficult to run for long periods and is worried he won’t be able to get away. He doesn’t look back as he runs and focuses on the path ahead. While he can still hear the sound of their footsteps behind him, they seem to be getting further and further away.
Eventually, he turns left to try and throw them off and runs as far as his legs can carry him. When he can no longer hear the soldiers, he finally stops and collapses beside a massive tree. His breathing is heavy, and he isn’t sure how much longer he can go on with how little stamina and health he has.
Normally to refill his stamina, Alexandros would sleep it off, only this time, he realizes it is too dangerous for him to sleep. Even though he is tired, he knows if he falls asleep, he risks being caught. Last time he got lucky and managed to bring a few soldiers down, but had the rest of them shown up any sooner, he knew he’d be dead.
Once he can finally catch his breath, he pulls himself back to his feet and continues walking through the forest. Even though he no longer hears the soldiers, he knows better than to let his guard down. He is determined to turn it around no matter how difficult things become.