I clutched my aching head, using the pain as proof that I had survived the battle. However, despite my comfortable position curled up at the base of a tree, I knew I had to move. That truth was another source of pain, but one I endured with a grumble. I pushed myself to my feet without fully opening my eyes to the brutal glare of the stationary sun above. Once I was sure I wouldn’t tumble, I took a deep breath to prepare for opening my eyes. That simple action put pressure on my beleaguered skull, and it was this which caused me to collapse in a heap. If I hadn’t been on such high alert, I might have missed the quickly stifled giggle nearby.

My eyes snapped open. Fatigue was thrown away as I searched in panic for the source of the noise. Looking left and right, forward and behind, all I saw were trees. Well, that and the two hefty corpses which signalled my victory. It wasn’t technically impossible that I had lost my mind. I was fairly sure all of the System stuff was real, but a separate mental illness could have easily taken root during all of the concussions and trauma. Impossible to say really.

Keeping a wary, if bleary, eye on my surroundings, I glared at the quiet forest and approached the bodies. The seconds passed slowly, marked only as I watched my health and mana totals tick up in the System window. The scene of the battle wasn’t even a small grove, though the combat had torn up enough trees to make a little space. Yet, despite that, it took a full five minutes of ponderous creeping through the trees before I had looted both bodies. Each gave a measly ten gold coins, but it was their weaponry I was most happy to claim.

My eyes began to twitch as they tried to analyse the items but I didn’t want to waste even a single point of mana right now, choosing instead to drop both items right into my waiting inventory. The Xaverweave Pouch had been slithering over my body to avoid any damage during the battle but I had paid it no mind. As I filled it, there was a tightening of its wrapping. My heart melted as I realised it was giving me a hug. “Awh,” I pet the pouch, “don’t worry buddy, I’ll be alright.” The pouch didn’t respond in any obvious way but I was glad for the companionship. I brought up my Inventory Window and ignored the additional sign that I was losing my mind. Technically the pouch isn’t an inanimate object, anyway, I reasoned, talking to it isn’t that weird.

Inventory Page (Xaverweave Pouch)

Item

Amount

Gold Coins (Standard Mint)

8563

Gold Coins (Xaverion Minted)

2758

Guidance Stone of Mastery

1

Sorehammer

1

Fan of Knives

1

The hammer was a simple thing, though its weight was impressive given my attributes. Getting a proper look at it, it was fairly plain. The head was a solid lump of shaped metal, origin unknown. The long shaft was adorned with an interesting carving of waves or shapes at the base. All told, the weapon stood about four foot high and had a sledgehammer’s heft to it. There was a level of true joy as I beheld it, enjoying its simplicity and the fact I would no longer have to break my hand to hurt something without mana. Even with mana, I cringed, remembering the start of the fight.

Item - Sorehammer (Uncommon)

Once wielded by a king called Charles, leading to the nickname Chuck the Hammer. Which he did. His aim wasn’t the best, so now the warhammer is your’s.

When thrown, this warhammer does not lose momentum for a short time.

My brain struggled to understand the implications of the magical items I was finding, and I doubted it would get better when I inspected the fan. Unlike my new best friend the Sorehammer, the Fan of Knives was not as it had seemed. It was still a weapon, but upon the death of its user, the item had returned to its original state. A black and purple hand fan stood in contrast to the Sorehammer’s austere appearance. A beautiful depiction of thorny flowers made up the design on the fan.

There was a trick to its use, like a butterfly knife. I slapped the fan open and let it spin around my hand. When it rolled into my palm again, I closed my grip around a knife handle, the fan shuttering and transforming all at once. With a simple flick from my right hand to my left, the knife asked for some mana. I allowed the expenditure and the knife replicated. I admired the handiwork of them, an identical pair. Much like its fan form, the blades were a work of art. Handles of a lacquered purple wood wrapped in golden twine formed the tiny hilt of each weapon. Two silver blades with similar wavy patterns as the hammer glinted in the dappled light shining through the canopy above.

Item - Fan of Knives (Uncommon)

A popular safety precaution for courtesans and others who would prefer to show an air of grace while concealing a hidden weapon. When thrown, a small amount of mana can be spent to create another blade, though only the latest copy will remain after a few seconds.

Technically I had gained two throwing weapons, though I didn’t want to go the way of old king Chuck, so I would probably stick to just throwing the knives which reappeared in my hand rather than the hammer that was going to just keep going for an indeterminate amount of time. I would practise with both later, but for now I was just glad to have them. Deciding preparedness was more important than not looking like a murderer, I kept a knife in one hand and the Sorehammer in another. Checking my System windows before moving on, I hadn’t forgotten about the giggle I heard as I awoke, but without finding the source there was little I could do.

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Character Window

Name

Grant Kaeron

Race

Earth Human

Title

Dragon Slayer

Level

09

Health

04/50

Mana

31/65

Attribute Window

FP:0

Strength

5

Recovery

5

Resilience

7

Dexterity

5

Agility

5

Perception

5

Power

10

Regeneration

6

Command

13

Health

05/50

0.5 per minute

Mana

37/65

06 per minute

My health and mana had not recovered while I was unconscious. I was feeling mostly fine now, and my Recovery had caught back up to its maximum. When the pain and damage during the fight had accumulated, I had regained less health, likely because the damage was almost a debuff. When I was bleeding, my health had slowly gone down. I vowed to put a point into recovery and regeneration every level until I was recovering a health point every…

Well, maybe I shouldn’t get too ambitious. Planning out future level ups was aspirational, to say the least. The idea of healing quicker so I no longer felt this pain was alluring. I just hurt. I was scared and still half-hoping I would fall asleep, wake up and find out this had all been a ridiculously elaborate prank. Each passing hour with the sun locked in place made it less likely, though.

“Is… someone there?” I called out, darting my eyes back and forth. It was just a hunch. If there were any movement in the area, I would see it. I hadn’t imagined the laughter. Since before the battle, the feeling of a gaze upon me had not shaken. I refused to believe it was simple paranoia. Of course, when no answer returned and nothing shifted, I just looked silly. I began to stomp away.

Finding my way back to the café was easy enough by following the trail of the previous combat. I made my way slowly. While I had probably recovered enough to jog, I rejected the idea in lieu of a slow creep which saw me gain another ten health points before opening the door to Clive’s. I couldn’t help but frown at the door after I entered, along with the spotless dining space. Had the System just… repaired everything?

I was turning away from the entrance to throw myself onto a booth. My plan was to either fall asleep or curl up into a ball and weep, but neither of those were going to happen once I saw the door budge open a sliver before shutting again silently. The feeling of being watched intensified, and I glared at the space. My eyes began to buzz, which put my heart in my throat. There was something in front of me. I allowed the mana pressing against my vision to start identifying the threat.

There was an audible gasp. Then the door opened, fairly wide, leaving me slack jawed and confused. There was no one there. It was like a ghost had entered and exited the café. “Did that really just…” I walked to the door, stopping it from closing and looking around outside in vain. My mind was racing. What the hell was that? Something invisible? An actual ghost? The drain on my eyes began to fade but I sent as much mana to the area as I could, flooding my sight with magical energy.

New Skill Unlocked! - Manasight (Common)

It is said that those who do not make use of mana leave themselves half-blind.

Now it was my turn to gasp as the mundane world before me became covered in vibrant colours like I had never seen. There was a slight weight in my eyes, which was as uncomfortable a sensation as it sounds, but I was lost in wonder at the world around me. Slow ribbons of near translucent silver brushed through the air, the wind itself carrying and creating the tiniest trace of magic. The green grass seemed to spark on its edges, tiny blues and yellow flashes dancing around the edges of the plants as they fought for sustenance. Looking at my own hand, I marvelled at the gathering of a Mana Bolt.

Underneath my skin, a faint amber light moved. Multiple, in fact, as the pathways which lead to that area expelled the mana and the bolt was formed. I shook my head in disbelief. Prior to activating Manasight, I had only seen my Mana Bolts as a mostly invisible shimmer on the air, most reminiscent of a heat haze over concrete. Now, they looked like the embers of a smouldering flame.

Distracting as it all was, I remembered what had caused this moment in the first place. With Manasight now active, I once again swung my head back and forth like a mounted video camera. I saw what I was looking for, kind of. My vision hadn’t actually changed so much as a new layer had been placed over my eyes, like reverse sunglasses. So, I still couldn’t see the invisible thing, but I could see the bundle of mana that was staying very still underneath the damaged roundabout.

Where the circular metal had bent during my first fight in the System, a glittering cloud of magic was laying stationary. I let my vision wander away from its position but kept it in my periphery. An instinct told me to cast my Mana Bolt at the thing, but I squashed it. Flicking the bolt like a coin instead, I caught it and slapped it into nothingness. “You can come out… I promise I won’t hurt you if you don’t hurt me.”

If I thought the magic I could see was an interesting sight before, the flash of monochrome which shifted everything as the world turned pure black and white for a split instant scared me to my core. The glittering magic disappeared as reality returned to normal, leaving in its place a miniscule woman. On her back were a set of thin, dragonfly-like wings. “Has no one ever told you,” her voice was oddly nostalgic, carrying the accent of my homeland, “it’s dangerous to make promises to a fairy.”