The roundabout underneath me creaked as it shook rhythmically. I blinked, waiting for the hallucination to disappear. It didn’t. For all I had pretended to be ready for this new world, the first sign of it sent my skin crawling. My muscles wanted to run one way, my bones another and in the chaos I fell into a clumsy pile trying to move toward Clive’s. A scream rose in my throat as my eyes burned, wide and unblinking, at the approach of the monstrous creature.
My brain tried to name the creature but I rejected the ridiculous notion that I recognised the monster lumbering my way. It just looked like a mixture of my childhood memories turned into a monster, that’s all. It wasn’t actually a Teenage Mutant Ninja-
No, really. My eyes were burning. Frustration and panic were good kindling for inspiration, however. The burning was something new, but I reacted with my other new sensation. With no ability for fine control, I shoved my mana towards my face and felt the caustic pain slip away. My vision felt sharper immediately and a textbox appeared above the creature. “Oh you’ve got to be kidding,” I groaned, genuine anger rising in my chest. It felt like an insult.
Monster - Adolescent Amphibian Attack Animal - Level 06
What the hell kind of name was that? I shook my head and pulled myself to my feet. Standing around eight feet tall, the sickly grey-green bipedal thing began to pick up speed as I rose, taking long strides with its frog-like legs. Two long, muscular arms matched the legs, all protruding from an almost comically round yellow and green shell. I roared, fear and anger combining and giving me control of my strength. My new attributes were useless if I froze. Was I going to fall at the first hurdle because I was unprepared?
“No!”
My rejection of fate came across as a plea for mercy as the Attack Animal closed the gap. Yet, the tempering I had begun when the System descended was not for nothing. A massive hand slashed through the air with the speed of a world champion boxer. To my own amazement more than anything, I slipped the blow and closed in. If your enemy had a reach advantage, that’s what you did, right?
Well, what if they have a rock hard shell, too?
The second swing, a backhand, caught me and flung me straight into the Café. The window shattered easily, no forcefield stopping me from becoming a projectile right into the room. I bounced a few times, protecting my head as best I could. I felt shards slash into me and push deeper as I collided around the space.
Yet, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Although it was new, my eyes flung to my Character Window and the health points it explained before even checking the damage to my body. I was surprised to find myself more lucid than expected, but the actual attack hadn’t hurt that much. The glass in my back was more of a problem.
Health
16/25
0.2 per minute
“Yeah, that feels about right.” The attack hadn’t half-killed me, but it was close. Without letting myself hesitate, I placed two points into Resilience. My skin burned like acid had been poured on it, but my eyes didn’t leave the destroyed window. It seemed my enemy wasn’t desperate to enter the building. It likely assumed I was trapped either way. I thanked whatever gods there might be for the small mercy and frantically tried to come up with a plan. My current and maximum health rose ten points and the sizzling under my skin stopped. There was a tinkling on the floor as glass pushed out of my back and skull.
“Fucking… ow.” I let the anger push away the fear. This already bloody room did little for my mood. I couldn’t keep my eyes from taking in the scene. With the new clarity, both from my stats and from new information, I was filled with even more rage. The gore was visceral, high definition. I started to worry about diseases from the blood of others but the active threat to my life seemed more pressing. First I get turned into a murder puppet and then this thing tries to kill me! If I hadn’t placed a few points into my attributes, I would have snapped in two as I hit the counter instead of bouncing off it. “Okay, twice as durable, what next?”
I was hesitant to place a surge of points into any one attribute given the rebound I would feel. Less than a minute had passed since I got thrown into the café and I wasn’t going to be left alone forever. As though reacting to my doubts, my fingers tingled powerfully. I raised my palm, trying to look at the magic within. I could almost watch the pulses of mana under the skin, but not really. Instead I clenched the hand into a fist. A single point of durability had made me solid enough to brush off a big hit. In my confusion, I had placed ten points into the attributes governing mana. How strong did that make me?
It was time to find out.
Consciously, I crushed the mana in my hand. Tighter and tighter I held my fist even as I directed the mostly ambivalent flow within myself down my right arm. Something was happening, at least. I felt a drain, and looking at my mana pool under health told me I was slowly infusing mana into… something. It trickled down from twenty to fifteen… ten…
Tired of waiting, the Attack Animal kicked in the front door, sending it shooting past me like an oversized throwing star. I pushed my foot off the nearby counter and threw myself away. Following what felt natural, I used the momentum of my dodge to swing my arm. Like throwing a ball, I released the collected mana in a desperate gambit.
Ding! Congratulations, you have unlocked a skill!
Skill Unlocked - Mana Bolt (Common)
As simple a use of mana as exists. Collected into an orb, spear or arrow, the Mana Bolt is unguided and thrown by the wielder’s strength.
My mind filled with information quickly as the prompt appeared. Like I had been taken through a tutorial on the subject, I gained an immediate understanding of how Mana Bolt functioned. My arm shot back as I released the attack, a recoil effect from the energy happily leaping into the air. Like a shooting star, a light flashed between the pair of us and the turtle-man was thrown backwards. “Oh shit… it worked!”
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It had cost half of my mana, but it had worked!
Up to a certain amount of mana could be channelled into a Mana Bolt, which I could then lob on my own accuracy at an enemy. There were nuances, and I could tell this was barely scratching the surface of how things really worked, but I was grateful to the System for the assistance all the same.
High on my own strength, I followed my fallen foe. It had landed on its back, and while I wasn’t about to showboat it was fairly funny to see it flail. Mostly I just wanted to be out of those tight quarters, even if they favoured me in some way. Unlike its less ambulatory brethren, this shelled creature didn’t have a very hard time getting to its feet. The attack had hit it right in the face, leaving it bloody and dented. I whistled. “I bet that hurts, big guy.”
Having stood, the Attack Animal spat some blood to the floor in a strangely human motion. Its round head, with bulging fish-like eyes and sharp beak was anything but, yet that moment forced some more respect into me. Whatever its reasoning, I would meet this strange beast in battle and finish it as quickly as I could. Thankfully, it was wary not and not quick to press the attack.
I’ll come to you, then.
With a thought, I placed three attribute points into Command and three into Power. A flick of my wrist dropped more mana into it, which caused the Attack Animal to charge. I dashed the Mana Bolt at its face once more but it ducked, taking the light blow on the top of its head instead. The mana glanced away, though I wasn’t too surprised. It hadn’t only been a small amount, to break the deadlock.
The massive frame of the monster barrelled into me and I scrambled away from its clutching hands. With a laugh, I planted my feet on its back and launched myself into the air. As I rose, the creature fell and rolled, coming to a stop and glaring up at me in the air.
A laugh? Even in the heat of battle, I noticed myself. A moment later, I forgave it. This was terrifying and dangerous. People had died and now I was fighting for my life. So what?
Magic was real and I was fighting a goddamn ninja turtle. If I wasn’t having a little bit of fun then I really had gone mad. I refused to take blame for what happened in Clive’s, and living like I was scared of life was a disservice to the memory of anywho who I had survived by pure dumb luck.
I gathered my remaining mana into both hands. If this came down to a physical battle I was as good as dead, so I needed to end things right now. I felt as the bolts became unstable, each carrying ten mana. From here, it was as simple as dropping them. I didn’t, of course. No point in a half-measure. With all the force I could manage mid-air, I threw the first Mana Bolt down as hard as I could.
My aim the first time was hard to replicate, but the burst of concentrated mana caught the creature on the chin. Part of its shell broke away, revealing unhealthy looking grey flesh underneath at the collar area. It squealed awfully as it began to fear for its life. I bounced the remaining mana in my hand, taking the moment to practise the feel of it. The energy really did feel like an orb. I wonder how to make it into an arrow?
Questions for later. Right now, it was time to put this thing out of its misery. Not having a better way to go about it, I simply lined up my shot. The Attack Animal was flailing slightly but crushing its shell as I had must have damaged its range of motion because it wasn’t getting back up. “If it matters,” I said over its cries, “I’m genuinely sorry about this.”
With an increasingly impressive form, I threw the Mana Bolt with all my strength. The combination of my improved attributes and the raised Power behind my mana meant this bolt didn’t just smash its face a little. The attack destroyed its skull and crushed its head down into its torso. I dropped to the ground in relief as a surge of energy flooded into my body.
My core, where the mana flowed forth from, filled with this new energy and seemed to be reaching a bursting point. Like gas from my stomach rising up my throat, this feeling with my mana increased until-
Ding! Level up! +5 Attribute points!
The euphoria which came with the level up nearly knocked me out. Instead I just fell back and let myself wriggle in success. I hadn’t fallen at the first hurdle. I had survived. Looking into the sky above me, I wondered if it was even the “real” sky. “I will escape this dungeon,” I promised myself. “Whatever it takes, I will keep surviving.” In the afterglow of victory and levelling up, it seemed like a sensible proposition.
Magic was my avenue. As the level up refilled my health and mana pools, I fiddled with the energy inside. I grabbed it, pulled it, spun it and otherwise tried to figure out what made it tick and how it worked. The Mana Bolt had been basic, as described by the System. What else could it do? What could I do? I nodded at the sky. I would conquer this strange dungeon. Whatever came after could wait.
It’s not like it could be any more difficult and dangerous than this, anyway.
Character Window
Name
Grant Kaeron
Race
Earth Human
Title
Dragon Slayer
Level
8
Health
35/35
Mana
24/35
Attribute Window
FP:17
Strength
4
Recovery
2
Resilience
4
Dexterity
5
Agility
4
Perception
4
Power
8
Regeneration
1
Command
7