Although beaten, exhausted, and bleeding, Levi couldn’t rest. If he was lucky a few days back of not being hounded by the smell and sound of that fight, then it would be a miracle if he got out of this one without a hunting party after him.
So, stifling back the tears forming in his eyes, Levi grabbed hold of the greenkin on top of him and hauled it over to the settling fire. It was far more difficult than usual with only one useful arm. Nearing the pit of charred flesh and bubbling blood, Levi caught a mouthful of bile from leaving his mouth. Swallowing it back down with a wince, he threw the creature into the pit.
Then, he finished by putting all the soil back into the trap, along with the bloodied leaves. He worked as fast as he could. 15 minutes later, he was finished and already rushing back into town as fast as his weary body could take him.
Levi opened the door to his house. It was located near the mountain range. He took out a first-aid kit, then grimaced at the arrow poking out of his shoulder. It hurt so much. So much so, that his entire body was trembling at the throbbing pain. It was fine before when he was consumed by adrenaline, but now? It sucked.
He had learned from nurses and television shows that if ever stabbed by an object and it remained lodged inside, the best course of action was to leave it in place and await medical assistance. But what bloody medical assistance was there in this god forsaken town? None, is the answer to that question. None at all.
Come on Levi. You need to rely on yourself. You can do this. Shit, this is going to hurt, he thought as he gently yanked the arrow–
“Ahhh!” Levi screamed. “Shit that hurts!”
Striking his feet against the wooden floor in a feverish dance of pain, he breathed in a sharp breath of dusty air.
Okay. Not a good idea. First shear off the tip, then pull the shaft, thought Levi as he grabbed a pair of shears and chopped off the tip.
One, two–he pulled without waiting for the three count. Blood didn’t spurt. That was good, he hadn’t hit an artery, or something. Taking a strained breath of pain, Levi finished up by bandaging the wound. Did he have to put his arm in a sling? Realising that it may be more comfortable that way, he made himself a small sling for his arm, and rested his arm inside. That was better.
With all of that finally finished, Levi collapsed on the floor. He was exhausted, hungry, thirsty, in feverish pain–and all at once, he felt lonely.
He had magical powers everyone on Earth could only dream of, and a perfect system to grow stronger. But the loneliness he was plagued with was still there. Levi crawled up into a ball, and soon found himself in a nightmare.
***
It turned out that he had slept for the rest of the day, and through the night. Rousing from his deep sleep, he winced in pain. He checked the wound on his shoulder, peeling back the bandage. It wasn’t infected. That was good. But it hurt like a bitch. Was a child's body more susceptible to pain, or less?
Although Levi really didn’t want to get up, he forced himself into action. Once he got the first chore out of the way–washing his body–the rest became easier. He had something to eat, a lot to drink, and stretched his tired muscles
Levi peered out of the gaps in the window. It would be a luxury if the monsters hadn’t found out where he was staying. He didn’t believe that him hiding the evidence would stop them for long. It was a string’s length in time before they found out that 3 of their hunters were missing. And by the descriptions of the greenkins, they were excellent hunters, and that meant they had tracking abilities.
Trying to move his left arm with his wounded shoulder, he stopped himself the moment he tried. It was too painful. The arrow had most likely damaged the muscle. With only one arm, he was severely limited in what he could do.
He couldn’t dig another trap, not that he had the time to do that, anyway. Levi sunk into his thoughts. Right now, the building in which he resided in was one of the furthest away houses from the forest path. That meant that if the greenkins entered, it would be one of the last they checked.
Setting up traps in each of the border houses would be a lot easier, thought Levi. And by a lot easier, he meant significantly. He could set up oil containers above doors, spring deadfalls. He wasn’t certain on how to make them, but he would rely on trial and error. He knew the basics from survival youtube tutorials that he found himself watching deep into the morning. That was the extent of his knowledge, that, and his new Trap Making skill.
Stolen novel; please report.
The morning soon turned into night.
From working through pain, he had gained another point into Vitality. From setting up traps, he had gained two points into Dexterity. And from practising his mana, he gained one point into Mana. The progress made him forget about his loneliness. It was the only reprieve he had.
And that wasn’t all—
Your skill has Levelled up → Incite (★★)
| Your words are 20% more effective.
| Progress to next Level-up → 0/5,000xp
Your skill has Levelled up → Mana Control (★★)
| Mana control is 20% greater.
| Progress to next Level-up → 0/5,000xp
Nice, Levi thought with a smile. Progress felt good. Maybe it was the only thing stirring him onwards.
It had also led him to potentially discover something. In theory, Trap Making should have also levelled up. After all, that was his main focus during the day. But instead, his magic abilities had taken the lead instead.
Levi checked his current experience in his Trap Making skill to affirm his thoughts.
Trap Making (★)
| Progress to next Level-up → 2,241/5,000xp
Yeah… that was quite slow all things considered. So his talent not only made him learn magical skills quicker, but level them up faster at the same time. Whereas, if he had to take an educated guess, Trap Making was levelling up the rate it was meant to. Or maybe he just had low talent in trap making? He doubted that. He felt like he got the hang of them pretty fast.
It was an interesting thing to take note of.
When night arrived, he sighed in relief noticing that the hand, once more, hadn’t arrived. When would it come back? Hopefully never, but maybe there was a condition for its arrival? He still had to obtain information in the library, but there were just so many other things to do right now. Like surviving, for one.
It wasn’t long before he heard the distant screams of greenkins. And then–
You have defeated: Greenkin (Level 8)
| …
| You have Levelled up: 4 → 5
| You have 2 unspent Stat points.
And then more…
You have defeated: Greenkin (Level 8)
| …
| You have Levelled up: 5 → 6
| You have 2 unspent Stat points.
Levi sat staring at the door with a small smile, orange from the nearby lantern flickering on his face. It was an eerie sight, seeing a child grin at the door as his victims were burned, and skewered by traps. But he didn't care.
He was solo levelling.
And the Levels didn’t stop. 6, 7, 8… 12. Only then did it halt alongside the noises of greenkins. They had most likely ran away from the town. Levi was left with a landfall of notifications.
You have gained an Achievement – You have defeated 10+ monsters before reaching adulthood.
| Rewards: +2 to a stat of your choice.
You have gained an Achievement – You have defeated 10+ monsters using traps.
| Rewards: 1,000xp to Trap Making.
Levi tiredly nodded along. But he was happy deep down. He had gained a massive amount of stats in a short amount of time. It wouldn’t be long before he reached level 25 so that he could reach the next Tier of Birthright–when he found the next one.
He had 16 points of Stats to add and an extra 2 from the Achievement he had earned. At first, he half wanted to place at least some of them into his body. But with him being able to work towards them by doing actions, he stopped himself. Even if it meant having to put up with this pain for a while longer. Tomorrow, he’d try to exercise more and reach the peak of a regular person in this world.
Just the thought of that made him shake in excitement–not pain.
So that left him with placing all of them into Mana and Magic. Magic, to his knowledge so far, would make his words more powerful. Mana on the other hand would allow him to use his words more often without making him tired.
Levi decided to do a 2 to 1 split with Magic as the main focus.
He placed 12 points into Magic, and 6 into Mana. He felt the startling difference immediately. It was like adding water to a cup, and now it was more full than before. More than that, however, was the difference it made with the power of his words. He spoke, feeling the added potency from the points.
If before he managed to scramble the mind/confuse the greenkin with the abruptness of his magic, he wondered what it would do now. Could he force the monster to be his puppet? He couldn’t wait to find out.
But he had reached his limit. It had been a long day, and although he had the body of what he guessed was a strong man in this world now, his mind was still that of a 12 year old.
He fell asleep.
Tomorrow was going to be another long day…