Ethan was instantly pulled off his feet and landed in the knee-deep water, hitting his back against the river bank. The screeching of his compass did not do much good to warn him, as he reacted on instinct and summoned his sword, cutting into the tentacle and slicing it off.
He got up from his knees and stood still for a moment, looking around at the disturbed surface of the water, trying to make out where the next attack would come from. Ethan then noticed that the beast had dragged him further down toward the middle of the stream, cutting off his easy escape back to the dryland.
“Well, come on, you little shit!” Ethan taunted the beast, understanding that a direct confrontation was the best way to escape this situation. He had never fought anyone in the water, as his fights have been either in the ring, on the mats, or in the school hallways. Right, I forgot that one time in the bathroom, he recalled, his memory not helping much in his current situation.
Then, something breached the river's surface a few meters away from Ethan. The thing was silent and did not make a move, evaluating him. Ethan brandished his sword and observed the creature in turn.
It resembled a leech with a head the size of a cat with multiple circles of sharp teeth, dripping saliva in the water. It had grey, sickly-looking skin, ideal for swimming or moving on the bottom of the water. Ethan identified it.
[Hementeran] (apprentice rank)
A freshwater leech that preys on the unknowing. Be prepared to take a swim or surrender some blood and eventually your life.
Helpful as always, Ethan thought and started circling the beast, noting how it kept its open maw pointed at him, despite the lack of eyes on its head. Ethan conjured a knife made from mana and threw it at the monster.
The leech did not wait for the dagger to reach him and lunged at Ethan with its sharp teeth. Ethan quickly dodged, swinging his sword in a wide arc, already waiting for the creature to make a move. The blade sliced through the air with a hiss, leaving a trail of energy behind it as it cut the beast. The leech monster recoiled from the impact, its body shuddering with pain.
It quickly recovered and charged again, its jaws snapping and grazing Ethan’s hand. A message popped up in his vision, but he quickly dismissed it. Instead, he leaped backward, narrowly avoiding the monster's attack. Then he spun around, his sword trailing behind him like a comet's tail, and struck the leech monster once more.
The creature released a piercing screech, and its body writhed in agony as Ethan’s sword, made from pure mana, cut deep into its flesh. Despite its wounds, the leech monster refused to give up. It lunged again and again, each time with more ferocity than before. Ethan frantically parried each blow with his sword, his movements fluid and graceful even in the knee-deep water.
The fight continued for what felt like an eternity, with neither side gaining the upper hand. But eventually, Ethan saw an opening, and with a fierce cry, he lunged forward, his sword aimed at where the leech monster's heart could be. The blade sliced through the air with deadly accuracy, striking the beast squarely in its chest.
The leech let out a final, guttural groan and then collapsed into the river water, its body slowly sinking into the murky depths. Ethan breathed a sigh of relief, his body aching from the fight. He stood in the middle of the river for a moment, catching his breath, and then dispelled his sword. Then, with a final glance at the place where the leech had fallen, he turned around and got out of the river.
Ethan checked his notifications and looted the monster noting it gave him the usual amount of tokens and monster core. Next, he checked the notification that popped up during the fight.
[Hementeran] has used the ability [Drain] on you.
Would you like to copy this ability?
Yes/No
“Oh, look at that,” he said and mentally accepted the prompt, pulling up his character sheet with the description of his copy ability, instantly noticing changes in the list.
[Inherit trait] (spell)
Rank: Apprentice (1%)
Base cost: High mana
Cooldown: 1 day
Observe and imitate the magical or physical ability of another being. Requires the ability to be used on you. Unable to copy abilities of bloodlines or too complex abilities above your rank. The number of copied abilities and their strength is limited by your rank and soul’s potential.
The current number of abilities that can be copied and used: 1
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Current ability copied: [Drain]
[Drain - inherited] (spell)
Rank: Apprentice (1%)
Base cost: Low mana
Cooldown: 15 seconds
Drain the life of an opponent, instantly replenishing health. The amount replenished varies depending on the level of the ability and on the opponent’s soul potential.
“Damn, leech, you had such an ability up your sleeve?” Ethan asked, looking back at the murky water where the monster's body had no doubt started to dissolve. “Why did I not notice the effects, though?” he questioned, looking back to his health and seeing that it had not declined much. Then he remembered the soul part and checked his action log.
Action log
…
[Hementeran] has used the ability [Drain] on you. [Drain] is ineffective.
…
“Well, that explains nothing. Have to trust the system, though. If it is not effective on me, then good for me, too bad for the leech, though,” Ethan shrugged, accepted the truth as it was, dismissed the window, and got up. He looked back at the position of the sun and saw it was well underway toward midday. He turned around and continued his trek through the forest.
- - -
As Ethan moved further into the forest, he continued encountering more monsters on his way. At first, they were small critters running around, barely classifying as monsters in his opinion, but the compass did its job diligently and alerted him either way. Overgrown squirrels, how did those come to be? Too much protein in their diet? he thought as he observed the large rodents run up a tree a few paces away from him.
As the day slowly approached the evening, the sun moving beyond the tree line, casting golden light, Ethan started encountering more dangerous potential foes. One of them was a bizarre rabbit, the size of a bear, with six legs and brown-grey fur. He promptly avoided it, turning around just before the monster noticed him.
His trek through the endless sea of pine and evergreen trees, and some others he could not place, took him to a smaller clearing with a large rock next to the exit of the tree line. He looked around and noticed that the twilight had set, and there was no cave to hide in sight. A sleepless night then, huh? he thought as he looked for a place to rest for the night.
Without an obvious place in mind, Ethan walked to the rock and noticed a crevice where he could squeeze in and lay down for the night. He touched the rock and was surprised it did not feel like any rock he had seen. Everything in this place, even the stones, is weird, he noted, looking for a way to crawl in.
Just as the sun set, Ethan got out a couple of logs from his storage, placed them next to the exit out of the small crevice, and lit a fire for the night. The air quickly cooled once the sun had set, and the chill started to set in, making him shiver under his cloak. I wonder why it is so cold, even if I am wearing this damn cloak, he thought, observing that the night around him was not significantly colder than the one before.
He lit the fire, the spark taking foot in the dry chopped wood, as a small flame started to heat his chilly palms. Then Ethan felt the ground below him tremble, just enough for him to notice something was wrong. The next moment, the crevice around him started to vibrate and then move.
Ethan watched in astonishment as the rock crevice began to tremble and shift. Small rocks and debris tumbled from its edges as it slowly rose from the ground, revealing a dark, shadowy space beneath. Ethan quickly put some distance between himself and the rising rock, observing the now towering rock in amazement.
As Ethan peered closer, he gasped in disbelief as the crevice lifted up and began to take on the form of a massive turtle, its rough, boulder-like skin glistening in the evening light. Ethan could hardly believe what he saw - it was as if the ground beneath him had come alive, transforming into a giant, lumbering creature.
He stood there, frozen in awe, as the creature rose, revealing its massive form in all its glory. He saw that the beast was over twenty meters in height, half of its body in the forest behind it. Without much effort, he peered at the creature and triggered his ability to identify it.
[Frostshell Turtle] (master rank)
The true terror of the north. A massive turtle spewing ice to whoever dares to wake it from its slumber.
Ethan slowly backed away and muttered, “Holly shit…” His boots stepped on a branch, the loud crack drawing the slow monster’s attention. Ethan froze, looking at the large, bright blue eye staring at him, only then having noticed his existence.
Mist started forming around the turtle’s rocky maw, and Ethan now understood that a fight was inevitable now that he had caught its attention. Best he could guess, there was only one way how he was going to survive the inevitable battle. So he ran at full speed toward the tree line, unashamed to acknowledge defeat when he saw one.
Fortunately for him, the creature was slow, and it took it over five seconds to collect the breath required for an attack, allowing Ethan to vacate the near vicinity. However, just before he made it to the forest, Ethan glanced back and noticed that the turtle pointed its open maw toward where he was, and he corrected his course, jumping sideways.
A torrent of wind and ice hit the path on which he was just a second ago, ten meters away. The ground and the trees instantly froze solid as the turtle’s breath touched Ethan's path in a frosting cone.
Ethan scrambled away and into the trees, not daring to look back and evaluate the situation, hoping the turtle was just as slow in following him as it was in attack.