Once again, Kal came back to consciousness after passing out when he was transported.
‘Holy shit, the Shop is sentient! And it knows about my past. And when it says it knows everything, does it mean it knows the future? Yeah, I need to remember this for the next time I meet Shop. I guess it’s a good thing that a few of the major dungeons on the other continents gives you access to it. I should be somewhere in Kantto right now. Actually, on that point, I might get to visit shop if I complete the unbeaten dungeon on Kantto. There were some rumours in the past that completing that dungeon automatically lets you travel to Kantto if some of the old texts are to be believed. I’ll figure that out later, as well as where I am. Seeing as the immediate area seems safe, I’ve got a few notifications I have to get through.’
Title Received
King of the Hill
You have tamed beasts before receiving the skill, taming. That, along with your bloodline, makes you the King of the Hill
Receive Taming skill at 25% skill proficiency
‘Well, I never expected that to happen. And I’m almost certain that has nothing to do with my inactive Demon bloodline. This means that whatever my unknown bloodline is, it’s pretty damn tyrannical. The 25% bonus means that I can hit 45% using the skill increase pills. This will save me a hell of a lot of time. And give me more experience. Let’s take a look at the skill then.’
Taming – 25%
You can tame beasts by using this skill on it. For this to work, it has to be mutually accepted, or the beast must be forced into it. For the beast to be forcefully tamed, it must not be sentient. The probability of the taming succeeding depends on the skill percentage of the taming skill. The percentage of experience lost to your beasts when fighting together also depends on the skill percentage.
Probability of taming succeeding: +20% (80% of proficiency)
Experience loss to beast: -30% (-40%+(proficiency*40%))
‘That’s good. The 20% bonus for taming will be pretty useful and will get to 80% when my taming maxes out. Also, the experience that my beast gains out of my share is only 30% right now. It’ll be good when it hits 0 as then my beast will basically be given free experience and I’ll be getting all my experience. I should probably get the identify skill next.’
After saying this, Kal started look around his surroundings. He was in a large clearing, around 1km across, that was surrounded by trees. Looking further, he could determine that he was almost definitely in a forest as he could see the tops of trees for miles on end, the tallest of which could easily be 2 to 3km high. Looking behind him he could see a pond that was around 50 metres at its widest. Past the forest, on the skyline, he could just make out the shape of 3 large mountains. A look of shock appeared on Kal’s face.
‘No way, I know my luck is now ridiculously high, but this? This is massive! Last time, there were no known otherworlders who were transported to here in the last 700 years. And the one who was ended up ruling this continent for almost 70 years. I’m pretty sure that some of the kingdoms have people stationed to kill any otherworlders that come out of this place as otherwise, it doesn’t make sense that people never come out of here. Either that, or the fact that the monsters in the middle of this forest are pretty high level for a newcomer probably kills them. For me though, this is fucking Christmas. Aha, lots of experience, and probably a few chests where I can get hold of some money. I’ll need some when I get to civilisation.’
Walking over to the lake, Kal took a moment to look at himself. He stood at around 6ft in height, lean but with defined muscles. His face was what would be considered attractive, with no blemishes or scars. Looking at him, he could be a typical university student that is seen anywhere in the world. That is, until you looked in his eyes. He had one eye where the iris and pupil were purely black, while the other iris was a dark crimson with the pupil being a dark blue that made you think of the depths of the ocean. They were the eyes of someone who had seen the world. One who had lived through atrocities that most couldn’t imagine. His hair was currently cut pretty close. The sides and back were short and the top was long enough to fall till the middle of his forehead. From a distance, his hair could be mistaken for a dark brown, but on closer inspection, it could be seen that the individual hairs were a mixture of black, crimson and a very dark blue. The colours themselves seemed to match his eyes and added a sense of mystery that was portrayed when one looked at him.
He was wearing a light armour that hugged his body like it had been made for him. The armour was currently black. It was something that he had chosen while he was with Shop. It looked pretty average but, with the injection of mana, he could control the colour. It was also at a grade which would protect him from a lot of the lower level monsters, thus increasing the level of the monsters he could take on. A very useful advantage seeing as he does not personally know the area too well. On his back, a sheathed sword could be seen. Once again, it looked very practical and not flashy. His left hip held a long dagger, around 30cm in length, that looked like it was a matching item with the sword.
Around his waist, there was a nondescript belt. Even though it looked like the plainest part of his attire, it was, instead, potentially the most important thing he currently owned. It was a space belt that contained everything else that he had bought from Shop. Having spent 70,000 KP on it, it had 1,000 cubic metres of space in it, and it was also bound by blood to him. Meaning that it could not be opened by others unless they had his permission. Also, it made it possible for him to know the location of the belt at all times. These precautions meant that he could always keep anything in the belt safe.
‘If the past is anything to go by, I would have got another 8 inches taller if I was purely human, now that I’m a mix of human, demon and god knows what, I could easily hit 7 to 8ft like some of the other natives. Other than my eyes, my face is still the same. I guess it’ll mature a bit more over the next few years and then my aging will effectively stop. It’s pretty cool how as your overall level increases, so does your life span.’
Following this, Kal started to focus on one of the plants near his feet and started to actively channel slight bits of mana towards his eyes. Suddenly, a blue screen appeared in his vision.
Grass
This is just regular grass. It can be found in most places on the continent. Has no special abilities. You can use it to feed horses.
Skill Gained
Identify – 0.001%
This skill will allow you to identify items, objects, beasts and people. The success rate depends on the skill proficiency and your personal level.
Skill Gained
Mana Manipulation – 0.001%
This skill makes manipulating mana in its purest form easier for you.
‘Good. Now I’ll gain back a few more of my combat skills.’
Following this, Kal entered a martial arts stance and started practicing barehanded combat, then a sword kata, a kata using both sword and dagger, just using the dagger, practicing rolling and getting back up…
2 hours later
As his body dripped with sweat, Kal stood there with a pleased grin. He had gained 20 more skills and his skills list looked like the following.
Skills
Taming
25%
Identify
0.001%
Mana Manipulation
0.001%
Unarmed Combat
12.5%
Sword Mastery
2.5%
Dual Handed Combat
1.5%
Armed Combat
3%
Dagger Mastery
2%
Evasive Manoeuvres
5%
Tricking
4.5%
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Free Running
7%
Throwing
11%
Jumping
4%
Running
6%
Footwork
7%
Body Control
5.5%
‘I’ll wait to use the skill increase pills until I’ve got the skills up to 40% as until then, they are not too hard to increase by myself. Boosting them from 40% to 60% will help me in the long run as it’s pretty rare for someone to have skills at around 60% below level 100. Also, remembering the books from my previous life, there is the hidden class (profession) activation criteria. Reaching level 20 before gaining a class artificially will allow you to pick a suitable class from a list, but reaching level 20 without any of the stat boosts given from classes or my bloodlines will be pretty hard. Especially as the demon bloodline is locked and the other one is completely inaccessible right now. Being human only helps when you have a class. Well, it’ll be a challenge. Time to take a look at my status anyway.’
Name
Kallok Glaur Thanatos
Level
1
Race
Human/???/Demon(inactive)
Age
18
Profession
-
Title (Active)
The Progenitor
Health
230/230
Mana
840/840
Strength
40
Agility
49
Vitality
23
Intelligence
84
Wisdom
56
Mana Regen
28 (per min)
Charisma
62
Luck
130
Free Attribute Points
0
Beasts
2
Skills
15
Titles
4
‘Wow, I would have only had these stats at some high levels last time. But then again, we only managed to kill beasts by working in massive groups. I’ve got to go solo this time. Good thing I’ve still got the experience from last time.’
Kal then pulled out a tent from his storage (Dragos: sounds better than tent from his belt :’) ) and erected it around 50 metres from the pond. Having set this up, he walked over to one of the smallest trees in the surroundings and using an axe, he chopped it down.
‘I’m so glad I bought the adventurers pack from Shop, this will save me a lot of the hassle of having to get the tools and equipment to survive in the wild.’
After building a camp that he could use as his base for the foreseeable future, Kal then started to stretch.
‘I need to go out and hunt something for dinner tonight. I can also start to use some of these skills. On that note, I should probably get some magical skills sorted in the future. It would increase my arsenal, but, right now, I just want a proper fight.’
Saying such, Kal walked into the woods.
As he moved through the woods, his footsteps were barely noticeable, even with all the twigs and leaves that were on the floor. He had a way of moving where he would just avoid any item that could make noise, while at the same time, sticking to the shadows like a trained thief. Looking at him move, one would never guess that he had a class of Knight throughout the whole of his previous life.
‘It seems like all my training in espionage and woodland manoeuvres are still with me. It also feels kind of weird having to think everything, seeing as I’ve been speaking to myself for quite a long time now. Need to stop doing that as otherwise people will look at me like I’m crazy, and I’ll potentially scare away my prey. Or not, I see a boar!’
About 20 metres upwind of Kal, a medium size boar could be seen. Using identify, the following information was given.
King Woodland Boar
Health: ???
Level: 5
The woodland boar is a common boar found in the woodlands throughout Aloda. This boar on the other hand, is a King of its species. It has higher stats in every category as its counterpart. Be warned, they are much faster and more ferocious than you would expect. You are advised to fight them with a party of 4 to 5 people who are at least 2 levels above the boar.
Your Identify skill proficiency is too low for more information.
‘Now I understand why this place is not the easiest to get out of. I’ve never heard of a King species outside any under level 70 area. I’ve never heard of a King species of such a low level in the first place. But, this should be a good fight for me. And not too risky.’
Pulling out the dagger, Kal crouched and slowly advanced towards the boar, making sure to move as silently as possible. When he was behind the last area of cover before the boar could see him, he set himself and prepared to make a throw. While the boar slowly moved around searching for food, its head swung into an angle within which Kal could hit. As soon as the boras left eye was in the position he wanted, Kal suddenly unwound like a coiled spring with his dagger flying straight towards the boar.
Perfect hit.
The boar was struck in the eye, but the blade barely penetrated further into the head. The muscle and bone surrounding the eye did its job and stopped the dagger entering the brain to score an instant kill.
Roaring in pain the boar swung round to see Kal standing up to face it head on, armed with just his sword. The blade of his sword was a dark grey and wholly unremarkable. That is, until you knew the metal used was more expensive per gram than pure gold. It was a good conductor of mana, while at the same time being very strong and perfect for making weapons.
The boar started to charge at Kal, moving a faster than the average human could react to, the boar covered the 10 metres to Kal in around 0.7 seconds. It was a good thing, then, that Kal was not average. By the time the boar had reached Kal, he had taken two steps to his right, towards the side the boar was blinded, released his sword with his left hand and used it to rip his dagger back out of the boar. While he was doing this, he swung his hips, so he was facing the boars flank, and slashed the back of its hind leg with the sword, effectively severing the tendon. This would slow the boar down and make the fight a lot easier.
As the boar turned, Kal could see that its good eye had turned completely red and it was mad with rage. Unfortunately, Kal knew that even in its rage, the same tactic wouldn’t be very effective any more. Instead, as the boar charged at him again, he used his jumping skill to go directly over the boar and drag his sword the length of its body. The sword met with a bit of resistance but using his strength, Kal forced it through.
Bleeding like crazy, the boar unsteadily turned to face Kal again. They both knew that this would be the last act that the boar would do in its life. Facing the boar directly, Kal raised his sword and waited.
The boar charged towards him again, noticeably slower than before. Even though it was slower, it would still be next to impossible for an average human to fully escape its charge. Timing it perfectly, Kal took one step diagonally forward and right, and proceeded to swing his sword up from under the boar’s head, lodging the blade part way into the boar’s spine, having already bisected its throat.
The boar collapsed and within moments had perished. Taking out sword, Kal proceeded to wipe it down, along with his dagger, and sheath them. Taking out a hook from his storage, he hung the bear up by its hind legs and drained it of its blood. While it was draining, he gutted the boar and buried the entrails in a small hole he dug. Then he pulled out a skinning knife and skinned the boar. After all, the hide of a strong beast could always be sold for money.
Once the boar was fully blooded and skinned, he cut it into manageable portions and stored it within his storage. Due to the time slowing ability of the belt, the meat would stay good for a long time. Finishing all of this, he packed up and headed back to his camp.
‘Phew, I’m back. That was a good hunt. Just like before, it seems like a good habit to only check my notifications when I’m in a safe area or when it may make a difference in a fight. It’s really good that whoever created the system that makes the notifications, has made it so the system can determine those notifications from the others. Anyway, I’ll start getting dinner ready first. I’m fucking starving. I haven’t eaten in over half a year as you don’t need food in the god space.’
He then used a bit of mana to create a flame in the middle of the stack of wood he had created before he headed out to hunt. Getting out an iron skewer, he stuck it through a part of the boar’s flank and roasted it over the open fire. Turning it regularly, he went through his notifications as it cooked.
Skill Gained
Stealth – 3%
As this skill increases, you are less likely to be spotted by the enemy. Be warned, even at 100% you are not totally unnoticeable and that many actions that interact with objects or people will cause your chances of discovery to be much higher.
You have killed a level 5 King Woodland Boar.
120 experience gained
150 exp gain with title effects
Level Up – Level 2 reached
Title Gained
King Killer
You have killed a King beast. You have the power to topple thrones. Even the mightiest of beasts will feel fear in front of you when this title is active. Be warned, if you are weaker than the beast, it may kill you just because you aggravated it.
Title Gained
Reaper
You have sent the souls of countless people into the abyss that is known as death. Due to your relationship with Thanatos, you know gain more experience if you kill someone with a soul.
+5% exp gain (soul necessary)
‘Well, it seems like all the souls I killed in my last life carried over. It took me a very long time to get this last time, but this will also speed up my levelling.’
Skill Gained
Skinning – 1%
As this skill increases, the quality of the material gained will also increase. Be warned, even at 100% you are not going to get the best grade of material. It will depend on your focus and knowledge of the process of skinning
Skill Gained
Fire Magic – 0.5%
As this skill increases, your ability to use fire attribute magic will increase. It will reduce the mana cost and casting time of fire type skills at higher proficiencies.
Skill Gained
Cooking – 1%
As this skill increases, you will be able to make better tasting food. Once this skill is maximised, a further skill will be gained that will allow status effects to be added to your cooking.
‘Nice. This means that I’ll be able to slowly start to get closer to my choice of profession. It’s just a shame that I don’t even get any free attribute points from my titles. Time to eat.’
After devouring the meat, Kal got ready to get to sleep. He made sure that a barrier was drawn around the outside of his camp as an early warning system in case of any intruders.
‘It’s a shame that it’s impossible to gain the warding skill before my mana manipulation becomes 50%. It would save me a bunch of effort.’
Saying such, Kal almost immediately fell asleep. An ability perfected in his time as a knight.
Unknown to him, in the distance, a beast was slowly travelling on a course that would eventually intersect with his camp. Luckily for him, this would not be happening too soon. After all, he is just a level 2 otherworlder with no chosen profession.