Edited by: Arondight
There was a commotion in the Council of Gods. Onyx was moving swiftly to the chamber where the meeting would take a place. He took none of his deities with himself, it’s better for them to clean up the mess they did almost 2000 years ago… and it’s very likely that it’ll take them 2000 more. Oh? The reason of commotion? There were already many circles in which worlds were falling and being raised from nothingness again. But there was never a soul that would not fit in the circle for the whole eternity. Not until a few days ago.
Souls were a beings with high adaptability. They could survive in almost all conditions. They were almost indestructible. Even a process of purifying takes from centuries to millennia. So it was easy to say that one could reincarnate. But if one life you could be a soldier of Rome Empire, and in the next one you could be the one who invented a steam engine. So there were not so many reincarnations? Oh you can’t even count how many one had reincarnated. Told you already, in one universe under one administrator-god there where many worlds that has fallen already. He doesn’t remember how many Earth-like worlds he had already created. And in those eons, in all universes, never, ever, a soul wouldn’t fit. Even better. This soul was found in his universe! Under his care! Did he do something wrong? No. it can’t be. His circle was more efficient one. He could purify most of the souls in the shortest amount of time. What could be the reason? Did he… did he finally awoke?
He walked inside. As he did all conversations stopped. Oh I called it a chamber did I? It’s a word I just used for it was comfortable for me. Well actually it was a completely different dimension. There was no time. There was no place. It was the state of very beginning. The Void. Conversation? Those where more like extremely fast information transfer from one god to others. He connected to network and become one with other gods and theirs deities.
- So… Onyx there was a very special soul found in your domain, is it true? – One of many gods asked.
- Yes. As it was agreed millennia ago I have sent him away. He should be now under Emera‘s care. – I was not pleased with it. If the situation could be different! He wanted to watch upon this strange soul by himself! He loved every one of the souls in his circle. But this one… it could be awoken part of HIM.
- Emera, could you please show us his journey so far? – the same god as before asked
- I would have no problem with that, please hold on a little I will share the memories right away. – The most beautiful goddess said. Her avatar was of the beautiful woman. Her long hairs were never in one color and not even for a second colors stayed the same. From silver to dark. From green to blue. She was sparkling. Every mortal that would look upon her would completely fall in love.
As the memories where shown, the gods started their conversation again.
- What s strange luck he has! How did he find this cave? It’s in a perfect location! He has everything to grow there! Water almost in front of the cave! Hunting grounds in all directions! The cave itself is pretty well hidden! How is this even possible?
- Uuum… - the shy voice of one of the deities behind Emera could be heard – It… it could be because of me…- small figure of cute little lady with green hairs and eyes could be seen.
- Aira? What did you do?! – Emera seemed to be not pleased at all – we have already told you to reduce your influence on mortals to minimum!
- B…b…but I didn’t interact directly! I…I just showed some tasty animal to gryphon, so he would fly to the sky…. A…and then I irritated a Behemoth a bit and made him roar… I just… wanted to warn him which ways would be dangerous… and lead him there… Did I do wrong? – her eyes was teary. She looked like a dog that did something nasty and just waited for punishment.
- Aira…Aira… what have I done to be bound with you…
- Umm. You... created me?
- It was rhetorical question!
- Kiii! Sorry!
- Okay. This one is solved then… next one… valentine’s day event? What was that?
- A…ano… - the green haired girl answered – This would be me again I think… I just wanted to help him improve! And he was hurt so badly! A..And..
- AIRA!
- I AM SO SORRY!
- Okay okay… - the unknown god once again tried to calm down the situation – lastly we had that rabbit champion… those are rare… and he appeared almost from nowhere…it was like he never existed before…
- Ummm… - guess who rises hers voice again.
Emera threw a death glare at the forest deity, as a reaction Aira hid behind one of her many siblings.
- Aria! Why do you mess with this boy’s life!
- B..But it is first time in centuries when a human is in my forest! Why do they never come to visit me?
- I think a gryphon may be one of the reasons… you know, it likes to eat his prey alive… and it can take him a day or two… - other deity said
- Naah! It would be the behemoth! Those assholes are big like house and are always hungry!
- Oy! Do you remember when Aira made a crystal cave and then, in fear that it would be mined, she put an earth dragon there?
- No no no! it’s nothing! Ya remember when she created the most beautiful flower in the world? And then she was so scared that somebody would take it away from the forest, that she made it carnivorous? I mean.. honestly… meat eating flowers are ok… but if it is 50 meters long it may be a problem…
- Aira… why did I even create you?
- -sniff- I am so sorry…
- But… why champion Aira?
- I though… that while he would be taking away heart… he would find IT…
- Aira… he was hungry, thirsty, bloody and exhausted. I think that it is pretty likely that he could miss monster core which is located in a random body part…
- I AM SORRY! – Aira screamed for the last time and started to cry aloud.
- Now now.. please stay calm everyone. Even as Aira’s action were mostly random, she did a pretty good job… honestly.. how long would it take him to get so much experience? But now, let’s focus on the most important part… it’s a first ever soul to break out from the circle… Do you think… that part of HIM… could be awoken?
- The All-Father? Really? He is back?
- Silly! He never had been gone! He was just… unreachable… All-Father… how long were we out of your love? Ah.. our beloved creator… the first purpose…
- Ne..ne.. why was the All-Father gone? – Aira asked while she stopped crying.
- … You idiot… you don’t even know, what happened to your grandfather, the mightiest being ever, the one who lead us out of the void?!
- I AM SO SORRY!!!
- Oh my Void… you silly child. The All-Father is, was and will be everything. He is the whole knowledge, he is every emotion. He was the first thought that ever appeared in void. He created universes, that gods could be administrators of this worlds, and then gods created deities to interfere in their names in those worlds… but All-Father.. as he was everything… he was suffering. He was love and hate at same time. He was passion and sloth. He had ideas that were excluding each other… he was in such pain, that he shattered himself… into souls. Every single soul is a part of the All-Father. This is why we care about them, we care about the pieces of him just as he cared about us while we were young. The pieces of All-Father where put into the circle. So via getting experience he could organize his emotions and thoughts. And now. For the first time ever. One of his pieces seems to be awaken. This one soul may reach us gods, it may even surpass us.
- Eeeh? But he is only a shard…
- Even a shard of All-Father has greater potential then all of us combined… if put to right environment and was given enough of time. This desire… this lust! THIS GREED! CAN YOU SEE IT BROTHERES AND SISTERS?! THIS BUT A SMALL SOUL IS ALMOST EXACTLY LIKE OURS FATHER! SHOULE WE….
- DO NOT INTEREFE INTO HIS GROWTH! – Onyx screamed. The always calm onyx. Everyone became silent – let him grow by himself… He is the one who forges his own destiny. He asked me to just let him reach the power by himself. Aira
- Y..Yes?
- Keep looking after this boy. Never give him anything for free. He has to wrench it off with his own bloodied hands.
- Y..Yes Lord Onyx!
- We shall end this meeting for today. Please everyone get back to your duties. We shall meet in the near future to oversee growth of this one soul. Now you are all dismissed.
Pov change
I have just opened my eyes… I feel… good… my left arm seems to be fixed. No pain while moving… status effect and strength/dexterity debuff is gone.
And now I am hungry as hell and damn… thirsty… I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday… and I drank only a bit of my own blood… but damn I do feel good. What the hell…
I got up and after stripping myself I jumped to the lake. This way I can both clean myself and drink… yup normally I wouldn’t do that… but my throat was burning! I could lie there forever… and I probably would if not for rumbling in my stomach. As I got out of the water I started to put up a fireplace. I already had a wood as I am always prepared. It is simply my nature, I do more than I need for the momen.If I would have to replace something I would have the required parts right under my hand.
Oh I have leveled up, haven‘t I? Maybe I could allocate some points? Okay, it was said that I can put only 1 point per level into each one of luck, charm and charisma. Luck seems pretty nice… even the most useful for now as the charm would have no usage cuz I am not in a human vicinity, and charisma would make monsters run away from me if raised too high. Okay one point into luck then, and I am left with 9 more…hmm let’s see. I have yet not decided what class I should take, so please tell me dear me, what will help me survive… vitality, endurance and constitution seem nice, for they will allow me to take more hits and get tired slower… strength… not needing right now. My weapon is a dagger and traps and those need dexterity and reflex… maybe rise my “dex” a bit? But my intelligence is high… in some games after you hit certain amount of stat you may be given a bonus… if I hit int to 20 will I get a bonus? Like… fast thinking! Or better trap making? Or my mana pool will be unlocked? Ok, at least 1 point will go to int.. ah! SCREW THIS! LET’S PUT ‘EM ALREADY!
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Name: Zariel
Level: 2 exp 43.6% [109/250]
Age: 16
Race: Human
Class: None
Job: None
Title: The one who forge his own fate
Champion slayer
Hp: 110/100
Stamina: 120/120
Mana: NA
Attributes:
Strength: 8
Vitality: 11 (added 1)
Endurance: 9 (added 1)
Constitution: 12 (added 1)
Dexterity: 14 (added 2)
Reflex: 8 (added 1)
Intelligence: 20 (added 1)
Wisdom: 18 (added 1)
Spiritualism: 13 (added 1)
Luck: 5+10 (added 1)
Charisma: 4+5
Charm: 6
Unallocated points: 0
Skills:
Appraisal level 2 exp 0.88%
Skinning level 1 exp 90.00%
Resistances:
State:
In the end pushing my Intelligence up to 20 gave me nothing! BUT! What can be bad in becoming smarter? I am a little bit scared of putting those stats in this way as I don’t wanna become jack of all… But as I am classless I really do need all of those stats for living! Okay. Gotta hit lvl 5 as fast as possible.
Aaaand our favorite part now. Stick into stick!
Rub
Rub
Rub
May I get something like a camping skill? Which would improve the speed of creating the fire? Pleeeease?!
Ding [Requirements met. For living for more than 3 days in wilderness you have gained a Survival Skill]
[Survival level 1
Improve both quality and time consumption of certain actions needed while living outdoors.
You will find better places for making a shelter, preparing traps and ambushes. Building/creating time and quality of primitive constructions and tools will be improved.
It will be easier for the user to collect meat and body parts from animals/monsters
This skill is more effective the higher level it has
This skill is more effective the more wisdom you have
This skill is more effective the more intelligence you have]
As I got this skill the branches I was rubbing caught the fire…
- HALLELUJAH! HAAA-LLEEE-LUUU-JAAAH!
Fast Pov change:
-
Really Aira? - Emera turned her head in disbelief
- WHAT NOW? HE WAS DOING IT FOR PAST 3DAYS! HE DESERVED IT!! – Aira started shaking her little hands like a child who thinks that whatever she would do she would be scolded and it’s impossible to please her mother
Back to Zari:
Rabbit’s meat was being roasted over the fireplace, and their furs where drying on a rock in the sun. His clothing including the tattered wolf’s fur was already washed and where drying on his body.
I took a bite of the meat. It’s all tasty but misses something at the same time. He was lacking both cooking skills and spices to give the meat the right taste. Oh there was plenty of herbs that could be used as ingredients… but he had no idea which ones… Appraisal was still too weak to tell him if some plant is great for headache or will make him die in an horrifying agony… better not push your luck.
What to do today? I have a food for today, maybe even for tomorrow. 10 portions of small dog sized rabbit is pretty much. Maybe try to look for some diversity in my diet? I could try fishing in the lake… I used to go fishing… but I had professional fishing rod… I have nothing I could use as string, if I do I actually would prefer to use it in a bow construction. Try to look for other animals? But I doubt that there will be something as easy to kill as bunny. On the other hand I can’t stay in one place forever, I have to at least know my surroundings.
As I still have no idea how to transport water with myself I drank as much as I could, packed some dried meat into rabbit fur and placed it in my bag pack. I headed into the forest.
Maybe…Maybe first I should visit the place where I fought with the bunny champion? Ugh, predators probably ate it in the night… but my luck is pretty high, isn‘t it? Maybe it wasn’t spotted.
Please don’t be spotted,
Please don’t be spotted,
Pease don’t be spotted,
Fuck. It was spotted.
His organs where laying half eaten all around. There was also a stench of already decaying meat… already? It’s not even 24 hours after it died… eh.
As I wanted to take my leave, and start looking for new hunting ground, ya know… I doubt bunnies will come here as there are body parts of theirs champing laying everywhere, I noticed something shiny in a half-eaten liver…
I leaned to smelly organ and pulled it out.
It was greenish, perfect round, chicken-egg-sized ball. Appraising time.
[the lowest Monster Core]
How do I use it? In different games those have different usages. They could be used as an enchanting materials to power up your equipment, or could be a mana source for mages, or a proof of slaying a monster and then turned into cash… or they could be eaten… Should I eat it? Not now dear me, not now. Let’s think about it back in the camp. I put it into my bag.
Now keep heading deeper into the forest. Actually… there is a lot of clearings like that behind me, and bunnies - bunnies everywhere! Seems that I won‘t starve in the near future. But it also means I have to dig more traps… maybe I should think about some new type of those? I mean… running through the forest is a bit risky, I would prefer to make such traps that will allow me just to collect already dead animals. It’s all just a meter of effectiveness. Will have to think about it in camp too…
For now let’s just keep digging. While I was setting new traps I started to wonder… you know what is the worst thing in being lonely in a forest? Not beast. Not hunger. It’s a solitude – having no one to talk to… How I kept my sanity? I DIDN’T! Right now I am talking to imagined friends narrating my life as it is some kind of web-novel! Uhh. This one is done, now it just needs to covered. Done
Ding [Trap Making skill has been acquired through special action]
[Trap Making level 1
Allows user to find better location for traps
Allows user to create better kinds of traps
Traps constructed by user will deal additional damage or put an additional effects on targets, like slow or bleeding
It will be easier for user to detect other traps]
[A “Trap making” skill has been consolidated to “Survival” skill]
Oh, a good thing is good. I will tell even more the trap I just made was somehow highlighted in red, showing me it’s position.
This put me in high spirits. A grin appeared on my face – let’s change this place into some god damned trap field.
My nails where bleeding I didn’t care. After trap making consolidated with survival, setting a trap got me exp points for it. It was leveling slow, but not as slow as appraisal. I spent here about 4 hours and it was well after noon. I took out my lunch out of the bag.
This life is not so bad. As long as you work hard, no matter your talent, you can live a pretty pleasant life… of course as long as you live in civilization and not in a forest filled with murderous bunnies, giant wolves, gryphons and god knows what more. I really miss the bed. A real bed with a pillows… I could try to tame one of those rabbits and use it as a pillow… kay jokes aside, Ya done with eating? THEN MOVE YOUR SORRY ASS! THERE IS JOB TO BE DONE!... but mooooom!... SILENCE! I TOLD YA’! BACK TO WORK!
Auto motivation at it‘s best. I raised from my sitting spot. Should I dig more? Nah it’s enough for now. Let’s walk further into the forest.
Nothing interesting to describe, unless you are interested in flora of the forest… in names actually… I didn’t believe it at first… but it seems like appraising level up speed slowed down even more. Just how many things you want me to appraise to get some info?! Can’t be picky. Not now as I got those skills.
A movement in the bushes. I freeze in place and put my hand on a dagger. A drop of sweat slid across my forehead. There was a wolf in the bush… with its back turned to me. It was preparing itself to jump at something. I almost wanted to sit next to him and ask: “what ya’ lookin’ at?”. It could be funny if it was another hunter and not a beast.
Okay doge, you are all nice and wonderful predator, but one of you not so long ago almost bit my hand off, so yup – we are seeing each other at the dinner, with you being the dish. As I remember correctly, either I am terrible at sneaking or you are good at anti-sneaking… So, I will not sneak, you’re close enough anyway.
I took a breath and improved my grip over the dagger. And I ran at a full speed jumping at the end of my route. The wolf turned his head towards me, in the mid air I appraised him… a mere 3 level? you are barely better then myself, but I am living for a bit more than 3 days… honestly, what’s your excuse you lil’ sloth?
I landed on his back, his legs bent under the pressure. Seems that I know your trick little one. You are agile type of monsters, you have very low amount of muscles and they are located mostly at your legs and jaws, this is also why you are so light. I made a one basic mistake while thinking about you – you are not wolf from my world. Your body is completely different, you are actually way less deadly than a wolf form where I came from. It is all because of you preys. You are hunting bunnies, so ya don’t need to be strong, just fast enough to catch them, rest is done by your body size.
As we struggled with each other bunnies that seemed to be the wolf’s target fled left and right. I pinned him to the ground. How you are you going to move now huh? hahahahahHAHAHA! Oh FUCK! Okay I see, this way. Even as he is not able to scratch me his head was moving in every possible direction to bite my face off.
[Critical strike executed as a reason of surprise attack, attack damage boosted by 84% for duration of 5 seconds]
Luuucky! Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab… oh please… you are easier to kill than rabbit champion! What a disgrace for predators are you? Shame on you!
[You have slain a Young Lone Shade Wolf – 9 exp + 9 exp boost]
Huh. You was weaker than the one I evicted from the cave… wait… this experience boost I get for month… it’s double? And if I hunt multiple enemies its doubled too? Is this double doubled then? Or are those two independent boosts? Depending of in, my normal boost is either tripled or quadrupled… IT’S SICK! AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
[Skill Dagger User – Beginner level 1 has been obtained]
[Dagger User – beginner level 1
Daggers are weapons used mostly in ambushes and as weapons in places without much space for movement.
User will deal more damage while using a dagger class of weapons
User will fight faster while using a dagger class of weapons
User will deal more critical damage while using a dagger class of weapons
User has a slight chance of landing a critical hit even while non-ambush combat while using a dagger class of weapons
User may deal bonus status effects (like bleeding) while using a dagger class of weapons
Those effects rise with skill level
Those effects rise with dexterity
Those effects rise with reflex
Those effects rise with luck]
Are we having Christmas already?... no wait… WHY SO LATE?! WHY COULDN’T I GET THIS BEFORE BUNNY CHAMPION!? Ught, calm down me. It is a good thing… don’t be ungrateful..
I grabbed the wolf by its back legs and started to drag it in the direction of my cave.. I’ll have to skin it on the way to not leave any traces that could reveal my location… in the end… it was a good day, huh? I should think about fishing soon… it’s a good thing while you can both relax and slaughter at same time…