With a deep breath, Jax hobbled back behind the wagon dragging the summoners body as he did so. The muffled silence was heavy around him. Not a single sound reached him through the spell—not the clash of weapons, not even his own footsteps. It was disorienting, but he adjusted quickly, letting the quiet sharpen his other senses even further.

Jax found he could see pretty well even in the darkness. He stopped momentarily as he reached the body of the assassin. He searched quickly and found the other blade that had dun into his shoulder before. The two blades were similarly sized, each being around a foot long. The curved blades looked absolutely wicked in the darkness. Jax looked at the assassins crumpled form for a moment, and was surprised he didn't feel any regret. He had killed bot this man and the woman who now lay beside him; yet, he felt nothing for them. They were both small nearly children yet they had come at him, and he had come out the victor.

Turning he looked into the lights and saw that the giants had the upper hand. He was some 20 yards from the wizard who was preforming some strange kind of sign language with a frenzied look in his eyes. As Jax watched a shroud of purple energy pulsing around the caster, his fingers weaving intricate patterns through the air. A slew of rocks careened into the two giants who fell back against he onslaught, but the attack had no real effect. Jax stood, and began to slink into the night, aiming to get behind the wizard.

It was surprisingly easy to fall off the side of the road and move quickly in the darkness. The combatants were occupied with their battle. Above them the darting lights had clashed as well and Nia now only faced one crimson streak of light that now seemed to flee as she made movements twords it.

Moments passed as he moved. Jax looked at the timer for the silence spell, it read 6:30. So little time had passed. So little time and so much carnage. He finished the circuit of the battlefield and began moving forward silent as a shadow, slipping between the pools of darkness. No doubt if the spell had not been in place Jax would have made quite the ruckus, but as it was he made no sounds at all. The mage was vulnerable, fully focused on his magic. He never hear him coming.

With a swift motion, he lunged forward, one dagger stabbing deep into the mage’s side. And yet the dagger didn't find its intended target. The mages neck glowed and an invisable wall of air solidified to block the blade. Jax reacted quickly and plunged the other dagger in, this one landed in the mages kidney, and no spell stopped its forward progress. The mage jerked, mouth opening in a silent gasp, his magic unraveling mid-spell. Purple sparks flared, vanishing into the still air. The mage tried to turn, but Jax was faster, he pressed in and headbutted the back of the mages skull with his forehead. The made fell forward into a heap and as he did sound returned to them in a flood.

Jax barely registered the sound as he stepped forward and push kicked the warrior in the back. The man was thrown forward, and as he landed on his face a boulder crushed his head. Jax momentarily fell on his knees, but then he stood and looked at the fight sitll taking place. The giants roared their approval at his actions, and as they did Durg managed to grab hold of the Blood Hunter. The crimson creature tried to turn and run but the giant had a firm hold. The hunter saw Jax above his allies and froze as the giant pulled him in close and began to squeeze. Jerg’s gaze landed on Jax, eyes blazing with fire and nodded at Jax as the blood hunter began to scream.

Jax slunk back into the night and took a long looping path towards the wagon. He did not care to be caught out by anyone else on this night. As he looked he noticed that the illusionary ruins had disappeared, replaced by a campsite. The campsite held three tents, and a number of horses.

Jax continued his march towards the wagon, and he mentally remarked on how good he felt. He had felt a sharp pain when pulling out the blade in his leg, and also who stabbed, but he felt remarkable good. His limp was slowly starting to go away and though his injuries ached they didn't have the sharp pain one would expect after having a fight to the death. As he walked he sneaked a look at his status screen. What he saw shocked him.

Name: Jax

Level: 0

Exp: 295,151/10

Race: Hybrid (92% human 7% Spiritual protector 1% Suffering Voidspawn)

Class: Undetermined

Attributes:

Strength: 9

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Agility: 5

Dexterity: 8

Intelligence: 5

Constitution: 8 (10)*

Perception: 2

Resources:

Energy 70/140

Spiritual Energy 295,132

Void Energy 1

Titles: Once reborn, Void runner, Boundless soul, Bound Warrior, Slayer of Giants.

Skills: Skill Crystal Absorbtion, Limited Telepathy, Sneak attack.

Faction: Gelkrins Thralls

Rank: Battle Slave

My constitution was almost fully repaired. How had that happened? And I had gained a title and a skill. I highlighted my constitution with intent and read

Constitution 8(10)

Your constitution is currently being limited due to your bodies attempts to reconcile with 134,423 other spiritual entities.

As I watched the number continues to lower, though quite slowly. I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I swapped to my title.

Slayer of Giants

Kill an entity that has more than 10 times your total attribute value.

That was a bit of a surprise. Yeah, I had killed the wizard, but four times my attributes? Levels must add some serious power. It was kind of shocking that this group had managed to get Gelkrin if each level did so much for ones stats. It just goes to show how much of a big deal the element of surprise was.

Lastly I turned my attention to the new skill

Sneak attack (F-)

You live in the shadows. Your enemies fear the unseen blade. When engaged in combat you have a bonus to your strength and dexterity as your opponent until you are struck. Bonus will slowly decrease as the fight goes on. Initial bonus is +15% as you utilize the skill this may improve.

Well that was nice. I hadn't really thought about attacking like i did. It just seemed the safest option considering the situation. But having a harder punch was never a bad thing.

Not getting my answers there I opened my notifications and began to read.

Danger

You have been affected by a rank D poison.

Rank D poison? Fucking hell how was I still alive? I touched my leg and felt the slowly ebbing ache and gulped. I was getting close to the wagon now, creeping as I did so.

Besides the bit about the poison rank the notification honestly didn't tell me much. There were a few other notifications about achievements but none that explained what the hell was going on with my constitution. Then as I flicked back and forth I saw it. My race percentages were changing. It was at 92% human, whereas earlier it had been far lower. Were the Nyad's in my soul space dying? Shit.

And that meant over a hundred thousand of them had died from the poison. How in the fuck was I alive then? Had they taken the brunt of the hit?

Well it wouldn't do to worry any more about it I guess, as I watched the number steadied and ceased its plunge. As it did I felt a warmth on my shoulder. I turned and saw Nia poking me and trying to get my attention. Weirdly I couldn't hear her in my head, but I could sense she was trying to communicate. I shrugged, and said out loud “I got poisoned and now something is wrong with the beings in my soul space.”

The small woman flitted closer and then touched me on the forehead. When she did I heard her voice invade my mind.

“Jax” her voice paused as if she was thinking of how to phrase her words “how exactly are you still alive? Gelkrin got hit with the same poison as you, and then the mage used a catapult spell and shot him into the dark. You should be dead. He's almost D tier and I'm not sure if he survived.”

The fairy hovered over me as she spoke, and then after a few moments I put out my hand and she landed on it. She seemed uncertain but not scared. I pushed my mind back at her and spoke out in return, trying to be as reassuring as I could be.

“I told you, the spirits that came here with me..... they took most of the damage. I dont know how to explain it, or why it happened.”

Her face took on a quizical expression then she said “Let me see the wound”.

I obliged and showed her my leg wound. After a moment of shaking her head she said “No no no that's an F rank poison. Did you get stabbed anywhere else?”

I began to shake my head and then remembered the knife to my shoulder. I nodded and then took off my shirt.

Nia flew to my back, and I felt her hand touch my injury. After a moment I felt a heat radiate from low on my back, it climbed up until it touched my neck. The whole time it itched like all hell, but there wasn't much pain. After a minute or two a heaving Nia reentered my mind.

“The poison was meant to destroy your pathways, I think due to your physiology it cut off the spirits. They are built into your arm and they drew the poison into it. They arnt dead, but they will be... asleep? Yeah they will be asleep for awhile. You can put your shirt back on”

She flew back and landed back on my hand. She looked exhausted. I didn't know if it was an innate healing magic she possessed, or just her form. But I was very grateful for whatever she had just done.

“Thanks Nia” I said out loud as I began to walk towards the form of Gelkrin in the distance.