Barry stood with his arms raised to his side and head lifted up, gazing in amazement at the clear blue sky visible through the gaps in the canopy above him. He took in a long deep breath of cool, crisp air and took pleasure in the simple way that his lungs were able to expand to their full potential. It had been so long since he had been able to breathe like this. He smiled and lowered his head to look at the ground below him as he felt the smooth kiss of the wind on his cheeks. The breeze blew up within his hospital gown and tickled the skin around his privates to the point where he almost giggled, but he didn’t bother moving, he wanted to soak up all available sensations. His feet were bare, and he curled his toes backwards and forwards moving the dirt and sticks of the forest floor as he did so. Barry found it odd that he had such good control of his body considering how long it had been since he’d had this sort of function, but he figured now that magic was a thing, normal limb function was not all that surprising.
After a few minutes of standing still and soaking in his new environment Barry finally decided that he needed to make a move. The first thing he did was open his status screen to check on his mana. He breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw that the bar was back to full. He assumed this was an effect of the transition out of limbo, and not a true representation of how quickly his mana regenerated. But he decided he would have to test this out properly in the future. Closing his status screen Barry had another long look around at his surroundings.
There was no sign of any buildings or structures, he was truly in the wilderness of some unknown land. Scattered below him were small, lime green shrubs that reached about knee height, forcing him to constantly change direction as he walked to avoid their scratchy leaves and spiny thorns. Massive trees spread out in all directions around him, each separated by around twenty metres. Their trunks must have averaged six metres or so in diameter and they stretched up to thirty metres in the air. “Oak trees maybe,” he thought to himself with little confidence. Shaking his head uncertainly Barry quickly moved his attention elsewhere.
“So, how exactly am I meant to find the middle of the forest?” he thought as he spun around seeing nothing but bark, greenery and far off mountains.
That was until he looked a little higher and spotted the distant glowing purple light that covering a section of sky. It must have been over a hundred kilometres away, maybe more.
“Follow the light,” Barry thought as he reflected on Gupa’s advice, and walked forward.
Barry continued walking past the massive trees in the direction of the light, practicing striking with his chain at invisible targets as he did so. He found the item unpredictable and cumbersome at first, even accidentally whacking himself in the leg occasionally as he was getting used to the trajectory of the chain through the air. These wayward strikes even caused his health bar to drop a little depending on the force provided. The chain wasn’t like a sword or an axe at all, it flicked and curled awkwardly as it travelled, making it difficult to aim. Barry stopped from time to time to strike a tree or stone, gradually getting more accurate with his blows, but he was still overwhelmingly inconsistent. What he really wanted to do was to practice with his illusionary chain, but he was fearful of wasting his mana. Luckily, his aura chain, as impractical as it may be, was providing sufficient entertainment.
It wasn’t long before Barry’s leisurely stroll through the woods and aimless training with his chain was rudely interrupted by the sound of rustling leaves and a squeaking noise coming from his left. Turning in the direction of the noise Barry gripped his chain tightly, expecting some vicious beast to appear from behind one of the tall trees. Gupa had consistently alluded to the dangers of this world and had specifically mentioned there being beasts so Barry was a little on edge and anxious about what might appear. Instead, what he saw was a small rabbit-like creature barely one-foot-tall hopping playfully towards him. It’s petite frame repeatedly came into view before disappearing again as it bobbed up and down amongst the shrubbery. It had fluffy white fur and long floppy ears, but instead of a cotton tail like Barry was expecting, it instead had a strange beacon like protrusion extending from its rump that pointed directly up into the air. Barry relaxed his grip on his chain as he studied the creature and put his inspection skill to use.
Inspection:
Beast: Leaping snarler
Level: 1
Stat: Dexterity
“Leaping snarler? That doesn’t seem like an appropriate name for such a cute creature,” thought Barry, just as the little critter got within a metre or so of him.
Suddenly, and without warning it leapt forward with impressive speed in his direction. Barry was shocked not only by the creatures’ movements, but also from the now bared rows of razor sharp, triangular teeth that were about to sink into his neck. He reflexively turned his body to avoid the strike, but he was too slow. The creature latched on to his left shoulder and bit down firmly. He yelped in pain as he swung his chain up and smashed it into the creatures back repeatedly, attempting to dislodge it. But to his dismay, the creature maintained its grip as it gnawed and clawed away at his flesh, letting out low, haunting snarls as it did so.
Finally, in desperation Barry swapped his chain to his left hand, allowing him to reach up with his now free right hand and grab the creature by its legs. Pulling with all his might he managed to dislodge it and throw it to the ground as it landed with a squealing thud. Before the beast could get back to its feet Barry had swapped the chain back to his uninjured right arm and began battering away at the fluffy devil. As the creature yelped in pain Barry briefly noticed a peculiar pulse of light emanate out from its beacon-like tail. He frowned as he saw it, but he didn’t let it distract him as he continued to swing down ferociously. Before long the snarler was nothing more than a crumpled, bloody mess of fluff of the ground.
“I was nearly killed by a damn rabbit,” Barry thought to himself as he bent over panting heavily.
Suddenly, a strange sensation interrupted his thoughts. It felt as if some mystical energy was entering his body and swirling through his circulation before disappearing into his centre. The moment the energy faded into his soul Barry saw a message appear in his mind.
You have slain Leaping snarler, level 1.
“That was weird,” Barry thought, before his attention was dragged back towards his shoulder which was aching terribly.
He put his free hand up to it and felt wet blood cover his palm. His gown had been partly ripped and a pool of red blood had formed on the fabric around the area. He wasn’t sure if all the damage was from the snarlers bite, or from his wayward strikes with the chain, but regardless, he had some nasty wounds. He opened his status screen to check on his health points. On examination it seemed he had lost about a third of his total health. On closer inspection he realised he’d also lost a little bit of stamina, possibly from the strain of swinging his chain repeatedly. Barry’s recovery was short lived though as he heard more rustling behind him. A lot more rustling.
As he turned around his stomach dropped as he counted fourteen leaping snarlers in the distance. Their distinctive white fur and beacon tails bobbed up and down above the shrubs as they bounded forward, directly towards him. If Barry hadn’t just been mauled by one of these creatures, he would have thought it was one of the cutest sights he had ever seen. But right now, he was genuinely terrified. Clearly the pulse of energy the snarler had emitted was some sort of signal to the rest of its pack.
“That little bastard called his friends to come and gang up on me,” Barry panted as he forced himself upright.
He turned around and sprinted in the opposite direction as fast as his legs could carry him, zigzagging through the undergrowth. Although Barry was much faster than the snarlers in a straight-out sprint, they were able to leap forward over the bushes, whereas Barry was constantly having to change directions to avoid the shrubs, which slowed him down substantially. Additionally, the pain and heaviness he felt in his left arm from the wounds meant his movements felt awkward and uneven. Despite his best efforts the snarlers were quickly gaining ground, and Barry realised that simply running away was not going to be an effective strategy.
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Barry had to quickly weigh up his options. He wasn’t confident in taking on so many of these vicious rodents at once, especially considering how poorly he’d handled a solitary one. He was under no illusions that his fighting prowess was pitiful, and he had basically zero battle experience. All he could really do was wildly swing his chain, but at this stage he was just as likely to damage himself with it as he was an opponent. As more and more doubt crept into Barry’s mind, he finally threw away any thoughts of fighting his way out of the situation and instead changed tactics and sprinted towards the closest tree.
As he closed in on the base of the tree he suddenly leapt into the air, forced his left arm up despite the pain, and grabbed hold of one of the sturdy low hanging branches with both hands. He heaved himself up onto the branch just as the first of the snarlers launched itself towards him, locking onto his foot before he could pull it out of the way.
“You little shit!” Barry yelled as pain shot up his leg.
Without thinking he swung down powerfully with his chain and connected sweetly with the beast’s neck, leaving a deep indentation in its flesh. The snarler let out a gurgled whimper as it released its bite and fell to the ground, awkwardly landing on its head. Once again, a strange feeling of energy rushed into Barry’s body as a familiar message entered his mind.
You have slain Leaping snarler, level 1. (2)
“Serves you right you vicious little pest!” Barry yelled before turning his attention towards the rest of the beasts that had now formed a fluffy white pack at the base of the tree.
One by one the creatures leapt up, teeth bared, attempting to maul Barry. Thankfully they could only jump a metre or two in the air, and it didn’t seem like climbing was one of their strong suits. If he kept his feet up, they couldn’t reach him. Barry let out a sigh of relief as he finally felt somewhat safe.
The remaining snarlers seemed completely unfazed by the bloodied body of their comrade that now lay on the ground beside them. Instead, they were wholly focused on Barry. At times they even landed on top of the dead snarler as they attempted to jump up at him, disfiguring the creature’s corpse beyond all recognition.
“Not the smartest critters around,” thought a relieved Barry.
After catching his breath, he decided to take advantage of his current predicament.
“Time for some target practice,” he thought as a devilish smile spread across his face.
Barry spent the next twenty or so minutes taking out the snarlers one by one. He developed a strategy where he would summon his aura chain and dangle it down to get the attention of one of the critters. Then, as it leapt up at the intangible lure, he would swing down hard with his aura chain and try to connect with the beast. He did occasionally have to swap to using his foot as the bait when he ran out of mana points but the strategy was the same. With each successful kill Barry experienced the same strange sensation of energy entering his body, followed by an increasingly familiar message in his mind.
You have slain Leaping snarler, level 1. (3)
You have slain Leaping snarler, level 1. (4)
You have slain Leaping snarler, level 1. (5)
However, after the fifth beast had fallen, he received a new additional message.
Soul item aura chain has reached level 2.
This made Barry grin with glee and provided him with additional motivation. He had just achieved his first ever level up by killing some nasty little bunnies, and he’d be damned if he was going to stop there.
The one-sided slaughter continued for another fifteen minutes until eventually, only a couple of the small beasts remained standing. Their previously pristine white fur was now stained red from the blood of their kin. Barry hadn’t managed to remain completely unscathed though, as his feet were riddled with bite marks and deep cuts from the snarlers in addition to some bruises from the odd wayward strike of his chain. Although he was still no dead eye, his aim was steadily improving throughout the battle, and he was beginning to have some understanding of the way the chain moved in the air.
Barry was starting to feel a bit fatigued from his injuries and his dwindling stamina reserves. As he willed himself to strike down at the second last snarler, he lacked his usual power and mistimed the swing slightly. Instead of landing with force like most of the other blows, the chain somehow looped around the beast’s neck creating an unintentional metal noose. The surprised snarler twitched and jerked for a few seconds before going limp, having been strangled to death.
You have slain Leaping snarler, level 1. (14)
Soul item aura chain has reached level 3.
Power level has reached level 2.
Although his body was feeling exceptionally fatigued, Barry’s mind was suddenly alert at the series of messages. These annoying little pests had managed to elevate his item level not once but twice, subsequently providing him with his first and second power level increase. Barry wanted nothing more than to open his status screen and check his progress, but he found the constant leaping and snarling of the last of the vermin below him extremely distracting. With a frustrated swing of his chain, he tried to replicate the noose he had just managed to form in his previous attack. Although he did manage to get the chain to wrap around the snarler, his aim was off, and he could only manage to hook it around its body. Sighing, he held the wriggling beast in his chain before repeatedly slamming it into the trunk of the tree. Once the creature stopped wriggling, he allowed it to drop to the ground as that familiar message appeared once more.
You have slain Leaping snarler, level 1. (15)
Barry felt equal parts relieved and saddened as he gazed down at the bloodbath below him. He’d just killed an entire pack of animals, and cute ones at that. He’d bashed and strangled every one of them until they ceased to be, like some kind of bloodthirsty madman. He knew that it was kill or be killed, and in the midst of battle he’d been completely focussed on survival, never second guessing his actions for a second. But now that all was still and calm again, he found himself filled with mournful regret.
Barry knew that he was going to have to get used to this if the forest was as dangerous as Gupa had suggested, but right now the bloody corpses made him feel deeply nauseous. No words can truly prepare someone for the mess that life or death battles create. The blood, the gore, and the smell, it was all overwhelming.
He turned his head away from the corpses and willed himself to climb up to a much larger branch just above him. His body ached, his left arm felt numb, and his foot was still bleeding, but he did his best to ignore it all. As soon as he reached the large branch, he found a secure spot within an indent in the wood that was surrounded by bushy barriers where he could lay down without fear of rolling off and falling. Here, Barry finally opened his status screen to see the changes and distract himself from the pain.
Status Screen:
General stats:
* Race: Human
* Power level: 2
* Class: None
Soul magic stats:
* Magic level: 1
* Primary affinity: Illusion
* Secondary affinity: None
Soul item stats:
* Item level: 3
* Item name: Aura chain
Soul stats:
Physical stats:
* Vitality: 6
* Strength: 1
* Stamina: 2
* Dexterity: 2
Mental stats:
* Mana: 2
* Perception: 2
* Manipulation: 1
* Willpower: 2
Titles:
* None
Other:
* Free points: 4
Skills:
* Expert linguist
* Inspection
* Item duplication
What first caught his attention wasn’t the four free points available to him, but the health, stamina, and mana bars at the top of the page. His health bar had dropped to below half, his stamina bar was nearly completely empty, and his mana bar was about one third full. Barry was shocked that a few scratches and bites had managed to drop his health so much.
“I must have lost more blood that I realised. And the drained stamina must be why I feel so sluggish and exhausted,” he thought.
The only small benefit he could find to the pain and fatigue he was feeling was that he was gradually building an understanding of his three key stats and the speed at which they regenerated.
Next Barry focussed on the individual stats. Just like the messages that popped into his mind had said, his power level had reached two and his soul item level was now three.
“I must gain two stat points per soul item level,” thought Barry with indifference.
He’d been hoping for more, but at least it was better than one, and he was glad he had full control of how he distributed them.
Now, how he should distribute the points was the real question. Part of him felt that he should start trying to round out his stats, so he had an even spread of skills. But now that he had seen a glimpse of what kind of beasts lurked in the forest and how even the cutest of creatures could easily prove deadly, he felt he needed to sure up his defences further. Barry knew it was likely his prior experiences that had given him this defensive mindset, but he didn’t care. He was starting to come to terms with the fact that he was likely going to be thrown into conflict on a regular basis in this unforgiving environment, and he needed to be robust. He knew that at some point he’d have to build up his offensive capabilities, but his main concern right now was survival. With that he threw all four free points into vitality, taking the stat to level ten. Just as he did so he received yet another new mental message.
First stat to reach level 10, Vitality – Milestone ability granted:
Ability choices:
1. Rapid recovery: Increase health regeneration for one minute. 24 hour cool down that reduces as vitality level increases.
2. Stone skin: Increase resistances to physical attacks for one minute. 24 hour cool down that reduces as vitality level increases.
Barry smiled through the pain as he looked at his options. He hadn’t expected another skill so soon, but it was a welcome bonus. Both abilities sounded extremely useful, and he was glad he had chosen to maximise vitality at this early stage. Pondering his options Barry could see the usefulness of both skills, it was no easy choice. After some time, he realised that the quicker he could heal himself, the quicker his pain would fade, and this was enough to sway him towards the first option.
Without a second thought he selected the rapid recovery skill, feeling the knowledge enter his mind, and the second it became available to him, he activated it. At that moment, Barry saw a subtle red hue emanating from his body which seemed to glow stronger around his injury sites. The red glow was soothing and strange, and Barry found he could sense his body’s natural healing process accelerating, quite the contrast to the years of deterioration he had experienced previously. He felt his wounds clotting, his skin regrowing and his damaged muscle cells regenerating. After the minute passed, the red glow faded, and he opened his stat screen to check on his health bar. His health was now over three quarters full, a massive improvement on his passive regeneration rate.
Unfortunately, although the skill was a game changer for recovering his health, it did nothing for his stamina. Barry still felt exhausted and sluggish, like he had been drained of all energy. He was becoming overcome with fatigue and he couldn’t fight it any longer. He took a quick look around to make sure he was safe, and realising he was he allowed himself to close his eyes, immediately falling to sleep.