The summer heat wasn’t very harsh, after getting some more points into vitality. I found that it actually took quite a bit to get me to sweat, compared to when I had first come here, but I had the System to thank for that.
STATUS
Name: Luna Maret
Age: 15
Race: Human
Mana: 160/160
CLASSES
Class 1: Calamity Amnesiac (Rare) (Lvl 16)
- Skill Recall (Lvl 13)
- Heightened Learning (Lvl 14)
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
Class 2: [Locked]
Class 3: [Locked]
STATS
Strength: 16
Dexterity: 151 (208)
Speed: 46
Vitality: 46
Perception: 46
Mana: 16
Magic Power: 16
Free Stats: 0
COMBAT SKILLS
- Archery (Level 18)
GENERAL SKILLS
- Identify (Lvl 7)
- Perfect Memory (Lvl 3)
- Wisdom (Lvl 3)
- Focus (Lvl 2)
- Dextrous Body (Lvl 15)
ACHIEVEMENTS
- Cheater of Death: You have been allowed a second chance at life, at the expense of your personal memories. Over time, they will slowly come back, but there is no going back. You will never be the same again. At the same time, this opportunity gives you the chance to become your ideal self. Use it wisely.
- Archer: You have learned of the powers that a bow can bring. Rather than relying on your own skill to fire arrows at your enemies, rely on a Skill instead! (Granted Skill: Archery)
Thanks to Cyril and his limited knowledge about the System (that was still much greater than my own), I knew that every 30 points put into a physical stat would just about double your base capabilities. For instance, I was now about one and a half times faster than I would have been without the system. And almost seven times more dextrous, which I was having a ton of fun with. I could climb up trees with ease, and almost never needed to worry about falling off once I was up.
I’d been hunting daily, for the most part. I targeted smaller animals that were tasty and in abundance. Honestly, that just meant that we ate a lot of rabbit… On the bright side, I’d gotten some levels for it all. Compared to the 6 that I had gotten in one night by helping to kill a wolf, 9 levels in four months wasn’t very good, but it was progress that I was proud of regardless. Plus, I didn’t really need to level up, as much as I just wanted to mess around with more stats. And leveling up wasn’t worth depleting the nearby rabbit population.
On the other hand, a lot of my Skills were leveling up at a satisfying pace, the highest of which was Archery. That Skill had quite a few things going for it, though. To start, it was being helped along by both of my Class Skills. Each of them, in one way or another, contributed to making me better with a bow. Skill Recall wasn’t supposed to help with actual System Skills, but apparently, being a good archer with actual skill also gave the Archery Skill some good experience. And the more I learned how to shoot, the higher my Class Skills leveled as well. It all felt a bit too easy, but it wasn’t like I was going to complain about that. I’d gotten a late start in life, technically, so I’d much rather have it this way, than have to level my Skills at a much slower pace like most people.
My other fastest-leveling Skill was Dextrous Body. That one actually got experience whenever I put a free stat into dexterity, which solidified it as one of my better Skills. If things kept up like that, I’d be hitting targets with perfect precision from my bow’s maximum range soon enough. For that matter, I was pretty close to being able to do that already. I was going to need a better bow soon enough.
Perfect Memory hadn’t leveled since the day I got it, but it had quickly become a huge part of my daily life, as well as easily being my favorite Skill. I never had to worry about getting myself lost, and could go anywhere I wished while I was hunting. It was especially useful if an arrow of mine missed, and I needed to give chase. I could just follow, and worry about keeping track of where I was later. I wasn’t sure how people were supposed to level the Skill otherwise, but I knew that the only reason I hadn’t was because I also hadn’t seen any more dreams of my past life, as I was starting to call it.
But, honestly, I was thankful for that. The past Luna had been a soldier. Now, I only killed animals to eat, and never hunted more than what was needed. The thought of killing an actual person was… I wasn’t too sure, honestly. I was still trying to figure out what I thought was good and bad. I knew I didn’t like the idea of anyone being hurt, but just because I didn’t like something didn’t make it bad. I didn’t like the wolves that hurt Cyril, but that didn’t make them bad. They were trying to survive, just like anyone else.
For the most part, my other Skills were also left behind in terms of leveling. I’d never gotten rid of Focus, because I just didn’t know what to take instead. There were plenty of suitable options, but all of them just felt so lackluster compared to Perfect Memory and Dextrous Body. I supposed that was because they were granted, though. Granted General Skills were always stronger than normal General Skills, because you had to accomplish something in order to get them in the first place. Normal General Skills were available to everyone.
Wisdom especially wasn’t doing me much good. Its impact was minimal, and I was also considering dropping it for something else, since it wouldn’t be useful to me any time soon. Not that I especially needed a Skill that was useful right at this moment, but there was no telling when Wisdom would turn into the Skill that I thought it would, if it ever would. That could take years, if not decades. It just wasn’t worth the effort. But that meant I needed to figure out what Skill would be better. For now though, I was going to continue taking my time with it. Rushing might only make things worse.
All in all, it was good work for only a few months.
I returned home with a dead rabbit in hand. My arrow cleanly embedded itself into the animal’s skull, making sure the rabbit didn’t have to suffer much. Cyril was probably still out on the farm, doing whatever farmers did, since it was still only noon. I never really asked him about his daily duties, but in my defense, it was incredibly boring work. Lise was probably inside, so I went in to find her. I’d started a habit of helping her cook, so that I could contribute a bit more around here. Cyril and Lise were insistent that a steady stream of meat was more than enough, but I didn’t agree. After everything they’d done for me so far, just a bit of hunting wasn’t nearly enough to repay the favor, even if they didn’t think that way.
To my surprise, Lise wasn’t in her sewing room, but I did hear her nearby. Not only that, but there was a pair of voices that I didn’t recognize either. As quietly as I could, I walked over, until I came to a closed door. I came just in time to hear Cyril speak.
“We understand that war is coming, but we don’t have anyone to send! Lise and I are too old to fight, we’d just be getting in the way. Hell, I’m already starting to get stat reductions!”
“We aren’t here for you, though. We’re here for the girl,” one of the voices I didn’t recognize said. Was he talking about me?
“What… What girl? Lise and I only ever had a son!” Cyril protested.
“The one that likes to hunt in the forest nearby. The one that comes back here every night.” Yup. They were definitely talking about me. “Archers are hard to train, Cyril. We could make good use of her.”
“We really don’t know who you’re talking about,” Lise said. I could only barely hear her, as she spoke in an actual whisper for the first time since I’d met her.
I heard the sound of something being knocked over. “Don’t lie to us!” The other unrecognizable voice shouted. “Lying to officers of the army is a punishable offense! You wouldn’t want to spend the rest of your miserable lives in jail, would you?”
“Now now, Silas. We’re taking their daughter away to war. How else would you expect them to react?”
The stranger, Silas, didn’t say anything after that. I did make out the sound of what was probably him picking up his chair off the floor.
“Anyway, I understand you don’t want to lose the girl. Not after losing your son as well. Unfortunately, I’m only doing my job. She’ll have to come with us.” I shuddered. His tone was firm, as if he was expecting them to just agree to it all. Like there wasn’t any other choice in all this. Though, from the sounds of it, there weren’t.
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Silence. No one said a word, and even I could feel the tension in the room, despite the lack of me actually being inside it.
“Girl, why don’t you come inside?” The stranger whose name I didn’t know said, clearly having realized that I was eavesdropping.
“Luna! Run!” Cyril yelled.
I was going to do just that, until Silas spoke up again. “Helping a deserter of the army is punishable by death. If you don’t want your parents to die, I’d suggest you come in and have a talk with us.” I could already tell I hated Silas. He was clearly enjoying this… Whatever this all was. I was almost entirely sure they were trying to make me a soldier, but I wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t like I’d be a good one, with my low level.
Regardless, I opened the door and stepped inside. I could immediately tell who was who. Silas was tall and young. Didn’t look like he was much older than I was, actually. He wore a fancy uniform, though it wasn’t quite as adorned by medals as the other man’s. He was older, seemingly as old as Cyril, with distinctly graying hair.
“They’re not my parents,” I immediately said, hoping that that would take some of the pressure off of Cyril and Lise.
“We don’t care. We need soldiers, and you’re either a citizen, or a refugee. Either way, you’ll join us, or all three of you will be severely punished.” I didn’t like the older man very much either.
“Well, what kind of punishment?” I asked.
“At the least, life in prison for each of you. At the worst, death. Refusing to aid the army is a very serious crime, and isn’t taken lightly.”
Well that hardly seemed fair. These two just came around and decided they wanted to completely change my life. And now, my only options were life in prison, death, or fighting in some stupid war. Naturally, I detested all of those options. Before answering though, I made sure to Identify both of the strangers.
(Officer - Level ???)
(Warrior - Level ??)
Well, they were clearly a higher level than I was, but that was to be expected. The older man was the stronger of the two, and apparently much stronger, if the three marks were anything to go off of. There really wasn’t anything in the forest that I couldn’t identify, so this was a first for me. Well, Cyril and Lise had similar marks come up, but that was different, because I never really needed to use the Skill on them.
Either way, I doubted running was an option. And while I didn’t like either of them, I didn’t want to hurt the two strangers either. Not unless my life was in danger.
“Fine,” I reluctantly started. “I’ll go. Just promise to leave Cyril and Lise alone.” There was no way I was going to let the two people who showed me so much kindness be harmed for my sake. Even if it meant I’d have to join some stupid army.
“Great!” The older man said, clearly satisfied. “We’ll head out tomorrow. Cyril, Lise. We’ll be borrowing a couple beds until then.”
Cyril didn’t speak. He stood up, and unsheathed a sword that I hadn’t even realized he was carrying until now. “Leave Luna alone.”
“You don’t want to do that, Cyril. Drop your weapon, and you’ll be let off with a light punishment.” The older man didn’t move so much as an inch, as if he was relaxed even while someone pointed a sword at him.
“No. I can’t let you take her. She’s only level 16! She’d be dead within days!”
“The army does everything it can to keep its soldiers alive.”
“And yet our son is still dead,” Cyril spat.
“Have it your way then. If you’re so intent on attacking me, then feel free to throw your life away.”
Cyril looked at me, cold resolve on his face. “Luna, listen to me. You need to run away, as fast as you can.”
As much as I wanted to stay, and as much as I wanted to protect Cyril, I knew I wasn’t of any use here. Cyril was going to fight them. Even if I told him not to, he was going to do this anyway. The least I could do was make sure his efforts weren’t in vain. That I didn’t have to become a soldier this time too.
And so, as tears began to fall down my face, I threw the rabbit at the officer, and ran. Even as I heard the clash of metal against metal, I kept running. I could only hope Cyril would make it out okay, or that Lise could make it out if he didn’t.
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The old farmer slouched over as he was skewered by Victor’s blade. He’d actually put up a decent fight, but that was only because Silas had been commanded not to join in.
It wasn’t until the lifeless body fell to the floor that Victor turned to Silas. “What are you waiting for? Get her.”
“Oh, right,” Silas remembered. She was why they were even here in the first place. “But what about the other woman?”
“Who cares,” Victor shrugged. “We’ll need to inform the army about what happened, and take Luna to them as soon as possible. Now go, before she actually gets away.”
Silas saluted, and ran out of the farmhouse. The girl couldn’t have been able to get very far. When he got outside, he was just in time to see her running into the nearby forest. The trees would provide cover, but not enough. Not when Silas was so much faster. He ran after her, making up the distance in just a few seconds..
The confusing part was that she was nowhere in sight. She wasn’t quick enough to get away, which meant she was hiding. Annoying, but Silas understood why. Still, she wouldn’t be getting away. Not without a powerful stealth Skill, which he was sure she didn’t have.
“Hide if you want, girl. I’ll find you soon enough.”
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For the first time, I was filled with rage. As much as I wanted to convince myself otherwise, the fact that I was seeing Silas meant that Cyril was either dead, or in a lot of trouble. And as much as I knew I should still have kept running when I saw him, part of me wanted to stay and fight. A dormant part of me that I didn’t even realize was there. A part of me that hadn’t needed to come out until now. A part of me that wanted blood and revenge.
That part of me had led to climbing up a tree, and waiting for SIlas to come. I was just barely able to make it atop a branch when he came speeding through. Without thinking much about it, I unslung my bow from around my shoulder, and nocked an arrow. Silas wasn’t looking up. He didn’t know I was above him. He didn’t know that I was lining up a shot at the back of his head, ready to kill.
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Silas at least had to acknowledge that the girl was good at hiding. He couldn’t see or hear her anywhere. He was really beginning to regret not having more stat points put into perception. It didn’t matter though. Regardless, there were no doubts that she’d be found eventually. She was surely stuck in the same spot, and wouldn’t be able to leave without making too much noise. Silas would find her.
He turned to check a bush, and felt something sharp pierce the skin of his head immediately after. It stopped at his skull, but he hadn’t been expecting an attack. The force of the blow, weak as it was, had been enough to knock him over, since it had been completely unexpected. Before he could react, three more projectiles crashed against the back of his head. They each pierced his skin again. The first two of the three fell off, but the third had apparently been enough to get through his enhanced bone.
He stood up quickly, and turned around. Silas needed to stop this, and soon. The girl shouldn’t have had nearly enough stats to be able to actually harm him. Not with the poor common Class she likely had. Also, the farmer said she was only level 16. That might have been a lie, sure, but he doubted that. No one lied about levels like that, when almost everyone had Identify. No, this just had to be someone else. And an experienced archer at that. But when he looked up, the only person he saw was her.
Even with dried tears on her cheeks, she was completely emotionless. She drew another arrow from her quiver and fired it right at Silas’ eye. He swatted it out of the way, and jumped, drawing his sword while he was in the air. She had dared to attack and harm an officer of the Imperial Army. She would pay for it with her life.
Silas swung, but the girl managed to just barely avoid decapitation. Not without a price though. His sword had sliced cleanly through her wrist, taking off a hand. Blood came rushing out of her arm, getting into Silas’ eyes and blinding him. As gravity reasserted itself over his body, he could only feel as the girl jumped onto him, bringing him to the ground even faster.
The arrowhead still inside his skull lodged itself deeper, finally penetrating his brain. The wood splintered and caused more damage. Vitality reinforced your bones. It strengthened your skin. And it did so much more. But it wasn’t enough to keep him alive when his brain was damaged so heavily. Not with how many punctures and lacerations there were. Only a very high-leveled healer would be useful. And here, alone in the forest, there wasn’t one to save him.
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System Notification: You have killed Silas (Soldier of the Legion - Fire - Level 68)
System Notification: You have leveled up Calamity Amnesiac! (Level 16 → 25 (Awaiting Class upgrade))
System Notification: You have leveled up Archery! (Level 18 → 19)
System Notification: You have leveled up Skill Recall! (Level 13 → 16)
System Notification: You have leveled up Heightened Learning! (Level 14 → 15)
System Notification: You have leveled up Focus! (Level 2 → 4)
I didn’t pay much mind to the notifications. During the fight, I’d almost completely ignored the fact that my hand had been cut off. But now, with the adrenaline wearing off, the pain was coming in full force. If tripping and scraping my knee was the worst pain that I’d felt until now, which it literally was, then this was at least a hundred times worse.
More tears streamed down my face, and I couldn’t hold back screams of agony. Saying it was painful was something of an understatement. It was hard to think of anything else. Or really think at all, for that matter. Not only that, but I also felt myself getting weaker, likely due to blood loss. I knew I needed to do something about it. I wouldn’t live if I allowed myself to bleed out. But the pain was just too much. My body didn’t listen to my barely-focused brain.
I didn’t even notice him until he was lifting me by the arm. Something cold was poured onto the wound, and I could feel skin stitching itself over it. My hand didn’t come back, but the bleeding stopped. The pain almost instantly subsided as well, but I was still left with a strong feeling of dizziness and nausea.
“Tell me, Luna. How in the world did you manage to take down someone with over 50 levels on you?”
I didn’t answer him. He’d killed Cyril. I hadn’t seen it, but I knew. I knew he was responsible for ruining everything I’d come to love in my short time here. I only wished I could have killed him instead.
“No matter. You’ll speak soon enough.” He withdrew something from a bag that I didn’t recognize. Except that wasn’t true. It was familiar, but not something I’d directly seen. It was a metal collar. I instantly remembered what I’d seen months ago in that dream. What had happened when the bandit leader had captured the Luna of the past.
I struggled and tried to get myself out of his grasp. I absolutely couldn’t let this foul man put that collar on me. But no matter how hard I tried, he didn’t budge.
“First, allow me to tell you a few things about myself. My name is Victor. I’m a fairly high-ranking officer, and decided to take a short break from the front lines to recruit some more individuals for the Empire’s great army,” He grinned at me, but it wasn’t a happy one. It was more like a wolf baring its teeth. “And I always get what I want. Our army could benefit greatly from having a skill archer like you. So if I want you to join, then that’s exactly what’ll happen.”
He snapped the collar around my neck. Something I hadn’t experienced in the memory was the feeling of my stats disappearing. I was already feeling weak, but this was different. Suddenly, I couldn’t even run half as fast as what was possible a few moments before. I could still move my body, but it all felt so sluggish. Everything just felt… worse. Like I wasn’t experiencing as much of the world as I did before.
“I’m willing to look past your killing of another officer. In exchange… I’ll be sure to turn you into one of my legion’s finest. I look forward to seeing your results.” The sound of excitement in his voice was sickening.
STATUS
Name: Luna Maret
Age: 15
Race: Human
Mana: [Locked]
CLASSES
[Locked]
STATS
[Locked]
COMBAT SKILLS
[Locked]
GENERAL SKILLS
[Locked]
ACHIEVEMENTS
- Cheater of Death: You have been allowed a second chance at life, at the expense of your personal memories. Over time, they will slowly come back, but there is no going back. You will never be the same again. At the same time, this opportunity gives you the chance to become your ideal self. Use it wisely.
- Archer: You have learned of the powers that a bow can bring. Rather than relying on your own skill to fire arrows at your enemies, rely on a Skill instead! (Granted Skill: Archery)