I’ve been jogging for over an hour now and still nothing aside from the sounds of explosions in the distance and the wind. The explosions are slowly getting closer, but I think I’ll make it to the mountain before their firing pattern catches up. On the off chance they keep firing in the relatively straight path they are using now I think I’ll turn off near the base of the mountain and go up and over in a different area. The sun has reached its apex, so I know it’s sometime around noon. It’s been a chaotic day, I can’t wait to finally get somewhere safe.

I keep my pace, slowly but surely getting closer to the mountains, maybe two hours ish before I get there. The frequency of rocks, hills, and other indicators of rocky terrain are slowly increasing the closer I get. I’ve managed to adjust my speed so that I’m just short of draining my stamina. My legs are still sore but I’ll manage, stopping to rest would be a fatal mistake, even if everything seems peaceful for now. Unfortunately, my little journey is interrupted by a growl from off to my right. Looking over I see a wolf with gray fur with white streaks running along next to me. Oh for fucks sake not this shit again.

Grey Mountain Wolf (Level: 20)

The wolf rapidly closes in between the trees, then jumps for me once it gets close enough. I throw my arm up to keep it from biting my neck. It latches onto my arm and knocks me over, sending us both into a tumble. The whole time the wolf stays latched on, thrashing about desperately in an attempt to rip my arm to shreds. I thrash about trying to get out of its grip until we finally stop. The wolf is on top, letting go of my arm, it tries to take another bite at my neck. This time I’m ready and punch it in the snout as hard as I can once it lets go. Its head snaps to the side with a yelp as I follow up by kicking it as hard as I can to get it off of me. The wolf stumbles back and I’m able to get onto my knees before it lunges at me again. This time I’m ready and bring both my hands down on its head mid lunge, smashing it into the ground with a satisfying crack. Its head hits the floor and bounces leaving the creature dazed for a moment. At that moment I slam it in the side of the head again. That blow finally puts it down, and it collapses.

Defeated: Grey Mountain Wolf (Level: 20)

+60 EXP

Yea, fucking die you fuzzy little bitch. What you get for trying to fucking eat me, ah damn it my arm fucking hurts like hell. I look over to my left arm and it’s messed up pretty good, dripping amber blood. I can still move it, but damn it fucking hurts. Good thing I have healing magic.

Health: 577/650 (784)

I select the heal spell and start to work on my left arm using my right. instantly the pain dulls out and the skin starts to regrow. Hmm, I wonder if I have to use my hand to cast this? I stop my casting for a moment, then start it up again, this time focusing on casting the spell with my foot. To my surprise it works, and my foot starts to glow green. Cool, I deactivate the spell and ponder for a moment. Does it have to be a limb actually? It would be nice if I could just heal myself without having to free a limb, it might save my life in a fight. Well the healing activated where I wanted it to, so what happens if I will it to happen to the part that’s injured, or my whole body? Welp, time to experiment some more! I reactivate the healing spell, this time trying to target my wounded arm. To my glee it works, and my arm starts to slowly heal up. I stop the spell again, I have one more thing to try. I reactivate it again, this time targeting my whole body. It sort of works, I can feel it working but it is slower than a directed heal. Hmm, I wonder if this might be better for multiple injuries, assuming it heals at the same rate regardless of injury count.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

After a few moments I deactivate the spell again, then turn it on and direct it at my arm. I keep the spell on for a bit until my arm feels fully healed, and my health shows I’m at max.

Health: 784/650 (784)

Mana: 2873/2598 (3248)

Stamina: 868/663 (868)

Oh I like this, I feel like a juggernaut, unfortunately lizard dude would still probably paste me across the forest in one swing but I can dream. I’ve been standing around too long unfortunately, so I get back to jogging towards the mountains. At Least I learned some new things on my temporary stop.

It’s slow going, not much happening for the next thirty minutes. In Fact it’s a little too much of nothing happening, there’s no more explosions going on. Now either they swapped to some sort of silent round, which I doubt but you never know in this world, or they stopped firing. I don’t like any of the prospective reasons. Then I hear it, the low rumble in the distance, barely audible. More explosions maybe? No, too quiet and constant, this is something else. I turn and take off into a run towards the mountains, about double my pace from before. I don’t plan on sticking around to find out what they are trying next, because I’m not going to like it. I continue through the forest, but slowly the low rumble in the distance gets louder and louder as my anxiety also builds. Eventually the sound becomes deafening and I can feel the vibrations of whatever it is running through the ground. Then it just stopped, silence once again overtook the forest. I stopped my run, half out of stamina to listen for any noise, but heard nothing.

Stamina: 438/663 (868)

I wait for a minute to see if anything will show itself, but nothing. The source of the rumble couldn’t have been very far off, so the fact I can’t see or hear anything now is concerning. I turn back towards the mountain and continue at a light jog. The good news, I’m maybe only thirty minutes away from the mountain at this point. The bad news, my stamina is at half and I don’t know what the hell was making that commotion.

Finally I make it to the base of the mountain thirty minutes later. The trees abrupt stop and in front of me is a slope covered in rocks, boulders, and no particularly discernible path up. Well, not unexpected. I start to walk around a little and scout a good path up, the large rocks provide lots of visual cover, but unfortunately will make climbing a bit like going through a maze. I finish plotting my route, having to cross over the face multiple times but it will work. I take my first step up onto the rocks, then the sound of a war horn blares behind me.