Mike spent the rest of the afternoon flitting between activities. He attempted meditation, which had been a great help during his time as a medic, but struggled to relax without drifting towards sleep. He then spent time decorating his walls by carving patterns in the compact dirt using his finger. After that he spent some time remembering his wife and what should have been had he not ended up traveling to wherever here is. He would have got home, given her his present and enjoyed a homely meal. The thoughts made him sad and his stomach rumbled at the same time. To distract him he went back to decorating his walls and the cycle repeated.
*****
Mike wakes to Ryx’us shaking him. He must have drifted off in the end.
“Evening Ryx, thanks for waking me.” Mike feels pretty rested he can’t believe it’s only been a couple of hours.
“Evening? No, Mike, we are all due to go back to sleep. You slept all night.” Mike’s newly woken mind struggles to keep up so Ryx expands. “We tried to wake you last night but it was like trying to wake the very earth.”
“Wow, no wonder I’m feeling so well rested.” Mike pulls himself up and reaches out for his clothing. The clothes are not where he left them and as he glances around finds them cleaned and folded in a neat pile by the entrance to his room. “Thanks for taking care of my clothes man.”
“No worries. Can’t have you running around covered in goblin blood can we? What happened? Our hunters found the clearing you engaged the goblins in. The guards initially made it sound like nothing but you single handedly killed seven goblins!” Ryx becomes more animated throughout his speech, not even pausing to let Mike speak. When he finally does pause to take a breath Mike cuts in.
“I did what I could. I assessed the risks and engaged as appropriate.”
“Righhht. The Chief wants to know if you can help us do the same. The goblins are an ongoing threat that continues to weaken us.” Ryx pauses a second as if trying to remember something. “OH! You must have gained a tonne of experience from those goblins. Have you already assigned your attributes?”
“I completely forgot. Give me a moment.” Mike, new to this world, notices at last the tiny flash of a notification in his vision.
Battle Report
You have defeated:
7x Goblin sapper (+42 experience)
You now have three free attribute points to assign
Mike smiles at the rewards. The ease at which he can improve his body in this world is incredible. His joy is short lived as the cost of what he lost in coming here, his wife, comes to the front of his mind. He takes a deep breath to calm himself before bringing up his status to figure out where to assign his points.
Name
Mike
Age
21
Race
Human
Level
0
Bloodline
Unknown
Mana
195
195
Attributes
3
Experience
7
Strength
8
Vitality
10
Dexterity
8
Agility
8
Intelligence
13
Wisdom
14
Abilities
Skills
Mana Sense
Examine
54
Marksmanship
26
Fletching
1
Stealth
13
Tracking
4
Mike decided that his ability to interpret the world is key, especially now that he is back safe. He quickly added two points into intelligence and one into wisdom bringing them both up to fifteen. Again he notices that his level still remains at zero. “Ryx, What does it take to gain a level and what does that mean?”
“Oh, Did you get one?”
“No, but I’ve added four points now and nothing much has changed.”
“Ah, Each level takes ten attribute points assigned. Levels are just a general indication of strength. Be careful though because different creatures have a different base stats. A giant for instance begins with hundreds of attribute points whereas we begin with just thirty-six. By that reasoning a level one giant would be much more powerful than a level one kobold.” Mike nods thinking carefully about that. A human basically starts twice as strong as a kobold.
“How does attribute assigning work for children then? I can’t imagine them making a decision about their own attributes?”
“It varies by race. For Kobolds, between the first and twenty-eighth day after hatching, an amount of attributes are automatically assigned based on the kobolds actions during that day. If they have to fight for food and wrestle a lot, their strength gets the greatest boost.” Again Mike is left contemplating the repercussions of this system. Now fully dressed, Mike looks to make plans for the day.
“Ok Ryx, should we head to see your father?” Ryx gives the assent and they head into the tunnels and down towards the centre of the mound. The glowing flora still hanging over his head still amazes Mike as he descends deeper into the hill. The attitude of the kobolds he passes has changed significantly. Some kobolds respectfully nod to him while others bar their teeth at him. It takes a while to realise this action is actually meant as a smile. Not long later Mike is standing beside Ryx in front of the two guards outside the chiefs quarters. A short exchange and the two of them are gestured to enter into the same wood paneled room as before.
“Welcome, Son, Mike.” The chief calls out. Mike notes the lack of guards within the chamber this time before bowing his head towards the chief.
“Thank you sir.”
“No need for formalities. Now, tell me, are all the rumours going around my den true? You single handedly defeated seven goblins.” The chief cuts straight to the point.
“Yes, through preparation and planning with a small amount of tactics, I managed to stop them from gaining from my hunt.” Mike explains.
“Great! What do you need to do it again? These goblins have been a nuisance to this tribe for months, and they are only increasing in number.” The chief looks desperate, he takes a deep breath, regains composure, and starts again. “The first time goblins appeared nearby they took residence in a nearby ruin. We were able to drive them off but took losses. Before we could recuperate another tribe had moved into the area and again we took more losses driving them away. This last goblin infestation seems to be growing too fast for us to confidently suppress it. I’m confident that, if you can replicate your success then we can succeed.” The chief finishes and Mike thinks carefully for a moment.
While confident his ranged tactics will be effective at defeating the enemy, Mike wonders about the longer term impacts. The pattern that the chief explains seems likely to repeat itself. He needs more information about it. Why are the goblins drawn to that ruin? He needs to see a map before talking tactics. “Do you have a map of the area?” Mike asks.
“Sure do. Come on, the war room is next door.” The chief hops off the throne and leads Mike into a new room. This one is also wood paneled but a table of clay earth dominates the centre. On the top scratched out by kobold claws is a detailed layout of the surrounding land. At the centre of the table is a symbol that clearly indicates the kobold mound.
“Can you orient me? Which way does the sun pass in the sky?” Mike asks.
“The sun? What’s that?” Ryx asks, confused.
“Ah, sorry, the bright light that illuminates the day.”
“Ah, Selestis. No need to be so patronising though. It rises in this direction and sets that way.” Ryx says pointing out two opposite sides of the table. Mike then orients himself for north, south, east and west. He draws a letter N at the top of the table and then takes a closer look at the terrain.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
To the north is a whole lot of nothing but trees. The same can be said about the west except for a small dot of water slightly southwest, coincidentally, the northwest is also trees. To the east, after even more trees, is a wall of hills cutting diagonally northwesterly from east to northeast. In the far southeast is a patch of blue that looks like water. The main focus of the map though is to the south. Large mountains rise up directly to the south, around the base of the mountains heading around the eastern side is a series of flags littered around the forested terrain. A river leads down the mountains curving south around a ruin before cutting north east to meet with the water in the east.
“This water here,” Mike points at the western dot of water. “What does it look like?”
“That’s the edge of a large lake.” Ryx then points to the eastern water. “This is the start of a huge body of water. The water goes as far as the eye can see. From what we have gathered the coast leads down this way, and leads to a large cliff face.” He indicates the water heading south.
“And the ruin you discussed is sat in this curve of the river?” Mike asks pointing at the ruin on the map with a larger flag above it.” Ryx nods his affirmative. “These flags are known outposts or last known positions of goblin patrols?”
“A mixture.” The Chief chips in. “These here seem to be semi permanent locations while these are sightings.” His hand waves around indicating various flags and offering up as much information as possible.
“Thank you, can you let me think for a moment?” Mike asks to which Ryx and the Chief nod.
It’s obvious that the goblins are in a much better strategic position than that of the kobolds. No wonder they have been taking losses. Already he can see the ranged tactics of earth being effective against the patrols in the areas but the final siege will sustain losses. His mind works furiously to formulate a plan of attack, stategising the training required and progression timelines. The key point he needs to drive home however is to convince the kobolds to move into the strategically superior location after victory is secured otherwise history is doomed to repeat. “I think I may have something. We need to settle a few things first.” Mike begins.
“If you need to take leadership of the tribe to succeed then I’m sure we can work something out.” The Chief offers immediately.
“Pardon?” Mike burbles in surprise.
“Leadership amongst the tribe is based upon the most suitable for the task. If you succeed where I was unable then naturally you should take command. It is our tradition.”
“Right, ok, well let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I suppose it would make my next suggestion easier to enact though.” Mike prepares the audience and takes a breath. “Once, if, we defeat the goblins, taking control of the ruins and occupying them will need to be a priority.”
“Why? We like it here.” Chief Ssar asks.
“It is a much more defensible location with better resources. I don’t doubt the ruins are there for that reason. The river will protect us on three sides while providing a huge benefit to the surrounding land. Your tribe will benefit from moving there in the long term.” The Chief looks doubious and Mike catches him share a look and a shrug with Ryx. “We can talk about it again later, for now we need to discuss how we clear out the goblins.” The two kobolds look much more positively at this and Mike continues to explain his plan.
Only an hour later Mike left the Chief and Ryx to head off to sleep while he headed out to prepare for that evening’s training. He is still a little sore and his left arm isn’t up to full strength but he is well enough for training some of the kobolds before heading out on a short patrol. He passes the two guards at the main entrance and makes his way to the archery range. The range needs a few modifications to set up for that evening and Mike is keen to get it set up before he heads back in for some food and a long nap. He is going to be busy tonight. Mike spends a few hours setting up the space before he heads back inside to his pile of straw in a dank single room without even a door. He sheds his clothing and settles in with a blanket and tries to get to sleep.
A short time later after tossing and turning and trying every breathing and relaxation technique he knows, Mike sits up. Without anything else to do he looks over his status in the hopes of finding further advantage over the goblins:
Name
Mike
Age
21
Race
Human
Level
0
Bloodline
Unknown
Mana
225
225
Attributes
0
Experience
7
Strength
8
Vitality
10
Dexterity
8
Agility
8
Intelligence
15
Wisdom
15
Abilities
Skills
Mana Sense
Examine
54
Marksmanship
26
Fletching
1
Stealth
13
Tracking
4
Mike browses the table in front of him happy with much of his progress. He identifies three key areas of advantage. His mana, if he can use it, could provide advantage. His Mana Sense already helps him interpret the world. Finally, discovering and harnessing his bloodline. Thinking about how it relates to his current knowledge, he reasons that it relates to a genetic predisposition that could provide a benefit to him.
As his Mana Sense seems related almost entirely on how high his intelligence and wisdom are then he reasons the only tangible benefit will come with gaining attribute points. His Bloodline is something deeply ingrained into him and he doesn’t know where to start with discovering it. He does wonder if his bloodline has anything to do with how familiar he feels with the kobolds though. That leaves only his mana to work on. With his Mana Sense he can feel the Mana pooled in his centre just as he knows mana is very finely diffused throughout the world. It’s subtle but he can feel it around him, like feeling like he’s forgotten something but can’t place it. Still the mana in his centre is what he wants to focus on.
Using his Mana Sense he tries to affect the mana in his centre. Nothing happens. He quickly realises that his Mana Sense is exactly that. A sense. You can’t move a piece of paper by looking at it. You can’t play a tune by hearing it. Mike realises that his sense does have an advantage though. It lets him feel what is happening to mana without it he would be flying blind. Establishing that his Mana Sense is not the key to using mana he begins to experiment. No stranger to using meditation as a key to self understanding he naturally settles down. When something new is introduced to a familiar place it is easy to identify. Just like a new lamp in a familiar room stands out so too does the mana in his inner mind. The streams of mana flowing out from his centre through his entire body are in stark relief to the rest of his self. He tries again to move the mana and once again nothing happens, although this time he definitely felt a resistance to his effort. The more he pushes the mana the greater the feeling of resistance from it. Even when he attempts the frailest, most peripheral, streams does it feel like trying to bend steel. A firm believer in the saying ‘stupidity is attempting the same thing and expecting different results’ he stops and, still in his meditative state, analyses the pattern of mana within his body. Seeing a pattern similar to that of the circulatory system he realises that the mana and his body are not two separate entities but multiple systems of the same entity. With that epiphany a fundamental shift occurs. The stark, rigid, streams of mana soften and sink into the rest of his body. Mana begins to bleed into the rest of his body and diffuse, osmose, and transfuse throughout. Mike focuses on the mana in his finger and with a small effort of willpower encourages it to extend from his hand. His connection to the mana remains even outside his body and as he opens his eyes he can see, both with his eyes and his Mana Sense, a hazy transparent orb. His Mana Sense detects specs of rainbow hues dispersing away from it and he realises the mana is decaying into its surroundings.
Taking a deep breath Mike breaks his concentration and finds he can still feel the mana within him despite not meditating. Another small effort of will draws out another hazy orb that he allows to dissipate quickly. A blinking notification catches his eye:
Skill Acquired
Through practice and instruction you have gained the skill Meditation. Your previous experience has increased this skill to Novice (9)
This skill allows access to your inner being. Further increases in this skill allow deeper levels to be reached..
Ability Unlocked
Through your method of unlocking your Mana you have gained the ability Mana Unity.
You are connected with your mana on a fundamental level. This will have far reaching effects on both your physical body and your inner being.
+250 Mana
+1 to all attributes
Note. This ability has also fundamentally altered your bloodline.
Title Acquired
As the first being to manifest Mana in over a century you have received the title Archmage.
+100 Mana
+2 to Intelligence and Wisdom
Social page unlocked.
Mike grins, he knew he was on the right track. His work just granted him eight attribute point increases, doubled his mana capacity and got him a new ability. Now all he needs to do is find a use for his mana besides making pretty floating orbs. Feeling the mana within him he feels it is pretty empty. Checking his status however he notices that he only used up fifteen mana making the orbs. The empty feeling is just because he expanded his capacity so much and it hasn’t had time to refill. Mike watches his mana for a couple of minutes and notes that he is recovering one Mana about every thirty seconds. That’s around 120 mana an hour or just under six hours to completely refill. Useful information if he is going to start using it.
Mike then spends time playing with orbs of mana. His first discovery was that he could reabsorb the clear orbs and restore some of the mana invested into it. He discovered this while trying to see if the orb had any physical characteristics. The result was undetermined. The second discovery was that the further the orbs got from his body the faster they decayed. When tested further Mike found an exponential increase to the rate of decay. The third, and final discovery Mike made happened as one of his orbs touched part of the wall. To his eyesight the wall rippled and then settled down. To his Mana Sense the orb violently decayed in a flash of green. Mike felt as if the wall was a part of him very briefly before the feeling faded. Mike checked his mana and realised he is down to only a hundred and thirty two a slight fatigue is also starting to suffuse his body. If he wants to regain most of his mana before the evening he should try to get some rest. As a final test he lies down on his straw mattress and instead of creating an orb of mana he lets it slowly flow out into the earth below him. His awareness slowly encompasses a layer of earth below him which he exerts his will upon. The earth gradually starts to shape to his body as his fatigue spikes. The mana flow cuts off and Mike slowly starts to snore. More comfortable than he has been since coming to this world.
*****
Mike wakes once more to Ryx shaking him awake. This time he realises that Rxy seems shorter. He swings his legs over the side of his bed and stretches and then realises that his bed is elevated. Looking down at it he realised his final use of mana moved almost two cubic meters of earth into a platform on which he slept. A new notificatification is waiting for him but Ryx interrupts him.
“That must have taken some time. Where did you get the excess dirt?” He gestures at Mike’s new bed.
“Err, from around the place.” Mike, unsure how his abilities would be received opted to keep them quiet until he got to grips with them some more. “Anyway, is it evening already? Please don’t tell me I slept through again?” Mike checks his mana which is sitting up in the four hundred and thirteen mark. He could only have been out for at most four hours, most likely it’s evening.
“Nope, Selestis’ last light just faded. Let’s grab some breakfast and I’ll introduce you to our most senior archers. They are keen to get started.” Mike groaned remembering his evening meal. The kobolds idea of stew was way too overcooked and resembled a tasteless gruel. He shrugged and followed after Ryx with fingers crossed.
The meal turned out to be much better than his last. Strips of fried fresh meat with some fruits. Mike steered clear of the cauldron of what looked like an attempt at porridge. While eating Mike was introduced to seven kobolds. All the kobolds had an undercurrent of excitement but remained polite. Mike made a note to make sure they understood the danger of what they are getting in for. Once they had all finished eating, Mike led them up to the archery range.
“Now, I want to be clear.” Mike begins. “What I am about to teach you will be utilised later tonight if all goes well. You will be risking your lives in combat. It will be dangerous.” Mike pauses for effect watching the kobolds assembled. They all calm themselves and begin to focus. “Now, tonight we will be what will now be known as a section. Tomorrow you will train your own section as I am teaching you now. Make sure to take these lessons to heart.” Mike pauses again. “A section is made up of eight archers. For tonight I will be your commander. Cryx, You will be my second. The eight of us will be split into two fireteams of four, three with me and three with Cryx…” Mike continued to explain section tactics to the seven kobolds. Talking them through movement, reaction to enemy, attacks, withdrawing and patrol orders. Once they caught up with theory Mike started having them walking through the various scenarios and then finally running at full pace. Finally once Mike was happy with the kobolds understanding and reactions he gathered them back up.
“Ok, I’m now going to give you our orders.” Mike allowed the kobolds to catch their breath and then continued. “Orders are critical to mission success. They give you the authority to act on behalf of the tribe. These are quick orders. The key information is the task, intent and enemy. The task is what you are to achieve. The intent allows you to act flexibility in the event that what you see on the ground prevents you from executing the task. The enemy is the information you need to be able to make a plan.” Mike pauses for the information to settle. He then gives the orders. They are to patrol south to locate and attack a known enemy position. The intent is to kill the enemy, reducing numbers and weakening their position. The enemy has roving patrols and standing sentries. He goes on to talk about the ground situation and key choke points. The kobolds pay close attention and nod. Finally Mike gives everyone their orders of march performs a short battle prep before leading them south out of the clearing.