New World Day 23

  On the morning of the 23rd day of the New World, I dressed in a pair of jeans, a long sleeved white shirt and put a navy blue jacket on over top of that. Then I packed my best backpack with a couple of changes of clothes, several boxes of ammo, a half dozen bottles of water, my remaining bread, a bag of deer jerky that I found hidden in the back of the freezer, my journals, my remaining mana stones, and my axe. There was a special metal water bottle that I filled with mana water that I slid into a side pouch of the backpack so that I could reach it quickly in case of emergencies. I began to wish that I hadn’t been so gung-ho on eating the peanut butter crackers and granola bars as I packed the meager amount of food. They would have been a perfect fit for a long trip. While I continued packing, I thought about how my training over the last eight days improved my abilities yet failed to help me break through in one area. I had intended to create a portable barrier out of some wire and metal posts that my dad bought to make a small fence to protect his tomato plants, but I wasn’t able to get the runes to work on the metal. The metal was hard to carve and the pieces of metal were too thin for my low level of skill. The mixed wood and wire pieces that I did get it to work on weren’t able to handle channeling the mana for more than a few minutes. I packed the best set that I had created as a few minutes was better than nothing.

  I surveyed the basement a few times to see if I was missing anything that I would need, and then wrote a modest length note explaining the various nearby dangers in case someone else stumbled on the house and sought refuge. I intended to take refuge at night time in the house of someone along the road and hoped that any survivors that might have lived there were just as conscientious. Once the note was finished, I belted on the pistol which now had the sheath of a large hunting knife slipped onto the belt of the holster, slung the rifle on my left shoulder, picked up the shotgun, and left the garage. It was a good day to start a journey. Sunny but not so hot that I would be sweating like crazy from the heat. A perfect spring day in other words. I strode to the front of the house and walked through the grass of the front yard until the old fire pit was below me. I channeled my mana and activated my mana vision at this point. Bright white streams and floating mists flickered into view as I gazed down and to my left to where the barn sat. One of the things that I found when I learned the mana vision skill was that you could see mana through walls so long as the wall in question wasn’t filled with too much mana itself. I used this to my advantage to see if the python was lurking in the barn at this time. There were a few small mammals which I suspected were mice or rats including one that had a suspicious amount of mana leaking from it, but I didn’t see the python anywhere in the barn.

  I turned my attention to giant blue grass swaying in the wind on the dam of the Little Lake now that I knew the python wasn’t around. It was a lot trickier trying to make out if any predators were lurking in the grass. The grass itself possessed a small amount of mana that kept me from seeing right through it and the constant movement from the wind made it even more difficult to see if there was anything with a higher concentration of mana waiting to ambush any wayward travelers. I spent 10 minutes standing there on the grassy hill staring into the grass before I worked up enough courage and marched through the sparse forest and light undergrowth into the sea of grass. My mana vision skill drained less mana a minute than I regenerated so I kept the skill activated as I waded through the grass. I should have activated it before I even left the garage. It seems that no matter how hard I try I always seem to be more careless than I should be. I shrugged mentally and kept pushing through the grass until I heard a massive splash.

  As soon as I heard that splash, I sprinted forward and down onto the backside of the dam just enough that I couldn’t see the water even if the grass wasn’t there. A giant hole appeared in the grass leading to where I had been standing and the ground where the geyser crayfish landed was cracked and cratered. I could sporadically see the stronger mana of the crayfish through the grass as it scuttled down toward me. I kept a better track of its progress by watching the grass get stomped down than through my mana vision skill. The crayfish weren’t much of threat after that first strike, and even at just a brisk walking pace, I managed to keep ahead of it. There were four of them that felt the vibrations caused by my passage and attempted to crash into me. These four ended up hitting the front incline of the dam with such a combined force that I was afraid the dam would break. I wasn’t sure how much more the dam could take so I worked my way further down the backside of the dam towards the edge of the forest to prevent anymore of them from feeling me. I was a bit surprised to find that the crayfish pursuing me didn’t trigger any additional strikes. I guess they could tell the difference in vibrations between one of them and something else?

  Either way, I made it across the dam and onto the trail without any real issue. I slowed my pace once in the forest as I didn’t know what might have made this area its home. I knew that there had to be more than just forest coyotes and goblins living in this forest. I had encountered too many different types of new animals to believe that this area would be any different. Walking through the forest was off-putting in multiple ways. It was both familiar and alien at the same time. The rattle of the branches and rustle of the leaves combined with the chirps of the birds and buzzing of the insects felt like home. Even the faint stench of a skunk was welcoming, but then there would be a new sound or smell that would erupt from the depths of the forest and force everything else into silence. The Old World creatures knew instinctively that these sounds and smells were not normal and would cower in fear whenever something new emerged. I was left to wonder how long it would take for the creatures of the two universes to adapt to one another. If they ever did.

  I did my best to ignore my mixed feelings on the forest and crept along the trail. I found that walking with my mana vision always activated was more disconcerting than I expected. The natural flows of mana often obscured little non-magical details that I would have noticed otherwise. I almost tripped twice on rocks jutting out of the ground because a cloud of mana hid them from view. I wondered how things would look if I activated it on only one eye, but now wasn’t the time to experiment with such things. The extra safety that the skill provided me was more important than the small details that I missed with it on. I would just have to be extra careful with where I stepped.

  Besides, the streams of mana that twirled around the bark of the trees and through the waving leaves to mix with the strands of sunlight that peaked through the canopy of the forest resulted in breathtaking and ever changing sight. It was like watching an intricate dance of light. If I wasn’t in such a dangerous place I could have sat there for hours engrossed in the wonder of this New World, but I was in a place where danger could arrive at any time so I pulled my vision away from the beautiful sight to keep watch on my surroundings. I walked all the way to the point where the giant New World trees interrupted the path. I did my best to keep my attention on my surroundings while I walked through this area, but there were a few extra details that I noticed now that I was passing through at a much more sedate pace. The massive leaves that covered the forest floor around the trees were an odd shape. They had a extra long center point and two curved side points. The leaves reminded me of an elephant or mammoth’s trunk and tusks. The fact that they covered the entire forest floor in this area meant that the ground was slippery, and any tracks that beasts might have made in the area were covered up. Even worse, most of the leaves were devoid of mana, but those that had recently fallen let out mana in the form of low lying banks of mist that made it difficult to see anything magical hiding in the ground. There weren’t many of the newly fallen leaves since it was spring, but the few that fell from each tree were enough to cover great stretches of the ground with white fog.

  I wasn’t sure if there would be anything dangerous hiding in the fog, but I avoided the patches for safety’s sake. I managed to walk all the way to the point where I could see where the trail picked up again without going through any of the fog, but the last small stretch was completely covered in the fog. I thought about going around it, but the fog stretched up and down the hill as far as I could see. I didn’t want to take the chance of going around only to find that the terrain had changed even more than I realized. I might easily get lost in that case. I dropped the mana vision for a moment to see if there were any non-mana based clues that would point to anything waiting in ambush, but all I saw were leaves and a few thin vines that resembled grape vines twined around a few trees to my left. Satisfied that there was nothing to worry about, I reactivated my mana vision and proceeded forward through the fog towards where the trail picked back up.

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  I was halfway through the fog when I heard a slight rustling noise. I stopped and looked around to see what might be causing the noise, but I didn’t see anything. I shrugged and continued forward eager to get back on the trail. I took four more steps forward when something circled around my left ankle and yanked. I slipped backward and fell flat on my back as my left leg was pulled out from under me. I dropped the shotgun as I fell to the ground, but it wasn’t all bad news. My impact caused the fog to disburse long enough for me to see what grabbed my left ankle. One of the grape vines was curled around my ankle and was pulling me towards the tree it was growing around. I saw additional vines descend from the lower branches as it pulled me closer. My guns wouldn’t be of any use against such an enemy so I didn’t even attempt to pick the shotgun back up. I switched my mana vision out for mana enhancement and drew the hunting knife from its sheath. I leaned forward and hacked down at the one vine wrapped around my ankle. It took a bit for the mana enhancement to really kick in so it took three strikes to sever the vine. There was a hiss of pain that emanated from somewhere in the branches of the tree when I cut through it.

  Freed from the vine’s grip, I jumped to my feet and backpedaled away from the other vines. I dropped my head down like a turtle hiding in its shell to dodge a vine that came for my neck in the shape of a noose. My victory was short lived as two more vines untwisted from the tree branches in front of me and darted down to try again. I raised my left arm up in an attempt to block their advance. They stopped going for my neck, twisted themselves around my forearm, and yanked. While their choice of targets was unexpected, what they did once they wrapped themselves around my arm was within my expectations. I used the momentum of the pull to add a bit of extra strength to the slash of my knife. The extra momentum along with the fact that my mana enhancement was now going full throttle allowed me to cut right through the one vine. Another hiss of pain came from the branches above as the second vine continued to pull on my arm.

  The vine with the noose returned and struck like a viper at my neck. I dodged backward so that the noose slashed through the air right in front of my neck, but I felt a flash of pain as the vine around my left arm chose this moment to yank with all of its strength. My left arm was wrenched forwards at the same time as I jumped backwards. It felt like my left arm was being pulled out of its socket. My movement backward combined with the vine’s own attempt to pull me forward caused the vine to be pulled taut. Taking advantage of the situation, I swung my knife and slashed through the vine. I stumbled backwards and nearly tripped over the shotgun on the ground once the force from the vine was gone. I ducked down to dodge the vine noose for a third time and used my lowered posture as a chance to grab the shotgun. I dashed forward to the trail after I grabbed the shotgun but before before the vine noose or any new vines could try and seize me again.

  The vines couldn’t sneak up on me again now that I was on the trail, and they didn’t try to pursue me. I tore the remnants of the vines I severed off of my left arm and leg while keeping an eye on the vines. I looked down at my limbs and saw that there were deep purple bruises where the vines had been twisted around me. That should teach me to just assume that plants aren’t dangerous. I saw the vines, but I never believed that they would attack me in such a manner. I was a bit curious to see if I could find the main body of the vines that I heard hissing in pain. I stopped using mana enhancement and shifted back to mana vision. It took a few minutes to find it, but I found the main body nestled in the crook of a branch 15 feet off of the ground. So that’s how it managed to hide itself from my sight! The creature blended its mana in with the mana of the tree to such a degree that when you looked at it with mana vision you only saw the mana of the tree. I was only able to find it because I followed the vines until I found where they originated from. The creature itself resembled a roll of barbed wire except its center wasn’t an empty hole. The center was black and rubbery with a mouth at its center filled with sharp fangs. I couldn’t see anything that resembled eyes, a nose, or ears. I suspected that it must hunt via vibration similar to the geyser crayfish. I was tempted to take a shot at it with the shotgun or rifle, but I wasn’t sure what other creatures might be attracted by such a loud noise. I threw a rock at the sucker instead as a petty demonstration of my anger and then turned around to continue down the trail.

Name: Jason Silver

Job Name: N/A

LVL: 8 50%

Job LVL: N/A 0%

Job Points:

N/A

N/A

N/A

Titles:

Survivor (B) LVL 9 82%

Fool © LVL 1 13%

Swarm Killer (B) LVL 9 31%

Beast Killer (B) LVL 9 49%

Risk Taker (B) LVL 8 72%

Repeated Risk Taker © LVL 7 80%

Compassionate Fool © LVL 5 26%

Curious Fool © LVL 5 25%

Stupid Fool © LVL 7 37%

Extremely Stubborn Fool © LVL 5 7%

Greater Mana Wielder ® LVL N/A

Title Points:

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*

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*****

7

Stats:

HP:

MP:

Mana Regen:

Endurance:

Strength:

Speed:

Agility:

Spirit:

Bonus Points:

150/160

52/66

14.5 per min (-2.75)

19

15

17

9

10

28

Status Effects:

Regen, Spirit Regen, Disease Resist, Parasite Resist, Poison Resist

Skills:

Basic Axe Mastery (B) LVL 9 94%

Basic Gun Mastery (B) LVL 5 61%

Lesser Regen (Passive) (UC) LVL 1 8%

Minor Spirit Regen (Passive) © LVL 5 68%

Basic Disease Resist (Passive) (B) LVL 9 89%

Basic Parasite Resist (Passive) (B) LVL 9 95%

Basic Poison Resist (Passive) (B) LVL 9 11%

Minor Mana Control © LVL 9 45%

Greater Mana Vein (Passive) ( R ) LVL 1 0%

Flexible Mana Lake (Passive) (B) LVL 1 0%

Pain Control (B) LVL 4 24%

Fear Control (B) LVL 1 10%

Basic Close Combat Footwork (Active) (B) LVL 8 91%

Basic Ranged Combat Footwork (Active) (B) LVL 8 88%

Beginner Barrier Runes (Active) © LVL 1 7%

Basic Mana Enhancement (Active) (B) LVL 6 70%

Basic Mana Vision (Active) (B) LVL 4 94%

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*

*

*

*

*

*

*****

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