The deaths lingered in my mind. Reaching level forty was hard, it could take up to a decade depending on one's appetite for risk and the rarity of their Classes. Yet, it was all wasted to feed the Dungeon. I tried to push it out of my mind as I scouted the tunnels for prey but the sorrow for the waste of life returned over and over.
Then I heard skittering ahead and my brain went into overdrive. The training my father gave me pushed the grief aside and my focus shifted to hunting mode. My fingers bristled against the fletching, the wax on the bow string.
Soon, my prey came into view. They were Leaping Horrors, a low-level monster that was a nightmare. A stubby neckless gray body two feet tall and four long, with four legs resembling a frog, with a rugged and spiny skin. Its mouth had four jaws in a X-pattern, with eyes on stalks above and to the sides. a set of six spider-like chelicerae with spikes surrounded the mouth, its movements meant to shove more food into the toothed maw.
They moved like rabbits, jumping from spot from spot, twisting every limb to propel the body toward their next meal. These monsters could eat up to fifty times their body weight and still not be sated. Where all the mass went was anyone's guess but the monster had no anus.
I readied a handful of arrows and inhaled. Holding my breath, I took aim and fired. My hand went for the next arrow and pulled the bow as I aimed at the next Leaping Horror. Right when the string reached its maximum draw, I fired again, hand dropping for the third arrow.
The lead monster caught the first arrow on the side of its head.
> > For killing level 8 Leaping Horror, you gained 511 Experience Points.
Ignoring the notification, I kept firing. The second Horror took two arrows to die and then the rest of the pack caught up on what was going on. Food was served.
> > For killing level 7 Leaping Horror, you gained 426 Experience Points.
Five other Horrors bounded toward me in a frenzy. Remembering the tunnel behind me, I shot while moving backward. Another dead. Then a second. It didn't matter. A single horror in melee could spell death, I had three coming my way.
> > For killing level 7 Leaping Horror, you gained 426 Experience Points.
>
> > For killing level 7 Leaping Horror, you gained 426 Experience Points.
Alice was nowhere to be seen. The lead Horror, slightly bigger and darker than the others, jumped further and faster than before and lunged toward me, mouth fully open and a gullet with barbed tongues read to shear the flesh from my bones. I shot the last arrow of this engagement straight into the roof of its mouth. The arrow skidded on a bony plate and veered down into its stomach, vanishing into the darkness. Then it was upon me.
I blocked with Scout's Oath, forcing the monster to latch onto the enchanted wood. Its jaw closed around, the chelicerae trying to reach for my arm. I pushed the bow in a downward arch, intending to slam the monster on the ground. The creature's sharp pincers cut the bow string, causing the curved wood to snap back into a straight line. Added with the momentum, the Horror's stubby tail struck the ground, forcing the staff into the leathery folds binding the jaws together. I heard bone breaking but the critter was still alive.
And the other two were closing in, eager to exploit this moment of vulnerability.
Fighting back to keep myself from panicking, I transferred the bow staff from my hand to my feet, keeping the monster pinned. My right hand drew a dagger and sent it flying toward one of the horrors. The dagger struck and skipped on its thick skin, spinning away uselessly on the cavern floor. I could only draw the short sword before the two Horrors jumped at my head.
I crouched and stabbed up, catching one of them in the softer belly. Then I shoved the monster onto the other, using their bodies as leverage to dodge to the right. My foot slipped on the bow staff, allowing the first Horror to break free from its entrapment. The two flew toward the cavern wall but their blubbery bodies bounced back.
Alliterations aside, I was in quite the prickly pickle. The first Horror twisted back on its feet and gnashed, the wounded jaws not working properly. It looked at me and screeched, sending waves of intimidation toward me. My vision spun and I felt the deep desire to flee. A Perk. meaning this one was above level 10.
The intimidation bought time for the other two to recompose themselves. One was panting and bleeding from a massive gash that went from chin to pelvis, barely holding himself upright. But the third one was only slightly wounded from striking the wall.
It jumped as the leader kept screaming. I brought my sword in a descending arc and bashed the crown of its head with it, in a complete lack of finesse or skill. I was using the sword as a club at this point but I at least kept the blade aligned. Mostly.
The horror bounced from the sword to the ground like a basketball, coming up and getting bashed on the head again by another swing of the sword. It fell down and didn't rise, stunned or unconscious.
Still, the ancient rule remained. It's not dead if the System is mum. No notifications came.
The forgotten leader jumped low and bit my shin. The teeth and chelicerae punctured the metal guard and dug into my flesh, a hundred needles that caused me to scream in pain and drop my sword. With a roar of rage, I balanced my body on the other leg and kicked at a ridge on the cavern wall, splattering the Horror's back against it. I heard its hip bone crack and break, causing its legs to dangle without support.
The creature was chewing through the metal plate of my shin guards. I drew another dagger and stabbed it in the head, over and over until it stopped moving. Still, my leg burned like hell and I couldn't keep on my feet. I dropped down, arm lashing out to finish the stunned Horror.
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> > For killing level 8 Leaping Horror, you gained 511 Experience Points.
>
> > For killing level 11 Leaping Horror, you gained 882 Experience Points.
And then the last one, who was about to bleed out and die anyway.
> > For killing level 9 Leaping Horror, you gained 613 Experience Points.
>
> > Level UP! You need 2205 Experience Points for the next level.
My leg was bleeding from a hundred puncture wounds but the blood loss would be worse if I removed the horror right now. Despite the pain, I gave myself a few minutes to catch my breath and still my body and mind. My hands trembled and I could feel my pulse on my temples. Sweat covered my face and dampened my gambeson. Nausea had me wishing to empty my stomach again. My vision had bright spots and I was hearing a buzzing sound.
I was in shock.
"Alice?" I asked. No elf answered. What happened? Was she hiding or did she ditch me. It was probably the former.
I took a healing potion and uncorked it. Pressing the upright vial to my lips, I reached with my other hand to grab one of the dead Horror's jaws. I pulled it at the same time I took a sip of the potion. I had to suppress a shout of pain as the wounds flared as if I had burned them. I had to act fast. I pulled the second one and took another sip. The third, and then the fourth. With a jerk, I kicked the corpse away. It bounced a few times on the gravel. Then I emptied the potion and grabbed the knife. I cut the straps of the ruined shin guard and tossed it away. Then I bit the knife handle and braced myself.
As the potion reached its full effect, it was like worms crawled underneath my skin. Flesh moved with preternatural speed to pull the holes closed. My hands closed over the gravel and I couldn’t help but grunt. Minutes passed and then it was over. I wasn't ashamed to having shed quite some tears.
*
*
Ten minutes later, I was functional again. Exhausted, both physically and emotionally. But I had gained a level. I had fifteen Attribute points to spend. "Base Attributes view, please," I requested to the System.
Strength 10 Dexterity 27 Endurance 26 Intelligence 10 Wisdom 24 Clarity 10 Charisma 10
To focus my mind and take my attention away from the pain, I reminded myself of what I knew about each Attribute.
Strength was muscular potency. High strength meant you could lift heavier objects and deal more damage with attacks. All Melee attacks and most Ranged too if the weapon allowed. Strength also added a little bit of resilience to the body, otherwise people focusing on this Attribute would kill themselves every time they pushed their bodies to the limit.
Dexterity also affected the muscular system, enhancing both speed and precision of movement. It had a minor effect on reflexes and the senses, because you needed these to make full use of the Attribute.
Focusing on a single one of these two Attributes in detriment of the other was a fool's choice. Strong people needed Dexterity and Dexterous people needed Strength. Usually, the build was to put one point in the secondary Attribute for every two of the primary, whichever was their choice. I needed to add several of my level up points to Strength, for example.
Endurance made your body tougher. The Horror would probably ruin my leg if I didn't have those 26 points of Endurance, making my body 26% tougher. It also raised immunity and resistance to disease, poison, and parasites by the same amount. It had a minor effect on longevity. While each point of Endurance added a little more time on this planet, the exact formula was unknown and heavily disputed. People with high levels more often than not died to violence than old age.
Intelligence allowed the brain to process information and make calculations faster. It made people smarter but to a minor degree, hence Alice's "that's not how it works" remark. It improved focus and also granted more detail to sensory inputs. Since spellcasting involved a lot of math bullshit, this was a Wizard's favorite Attribute.
Wisdom also affected the brain but it focused on memory and inferences. Like when one saw two unrelated things and could draw parallels between them. It made old ladies way better at solving crossword puzzles, remembering their youth, and so on. It also allowed you to extract meaning and information from what your senses fed you. Wisdom also allowed your body to gather more magical energy. Sustained spellcasters, those who were expected to keep pumping spell after spell, needed high Wisdom to keep recovering Mana while they worked.
Just like Strength and Dexterity, Wisdom and Intelligence also had a synergy between them. What good was to remember thing and connect the dots if you took too long to do it? Or make lightning-fast calculations if you could only work with two variables at the same time? I also needed points in Intelligence.
Clarity was the ability to process and store Mana. Clarity's main job was to improve one's MP pool. MP could stand for Mana Point, Magic Point, or anything people saw fit to attach to the acronym. The System God never truly explained what it meant. Clarity also regulated how much magic one could use at once. Some mages likened Clarity to the plumbing system of a house. Thicker pipes, bigger reservoirs, and so on.
Finally, Charisma was a wildcard. People said it was magnetism, that it was the ability to read, process, and react to social cues, or that it was harmony with one's surroundings. A high Charisma passively helped making people like and understand one's words and actions. To convey their feelings and also make sure the other party understood said feelings. My reactions to the conversation with Alice on that rooftop was heavily influenced by her Charisma score. It did nothing to the mind. To influence the way people thought required specialized spells. Charisma helped get the message across, not to push it into people's heads against their will.
With that in mind and clear thoughts, I added seven to Strength and Intelligence. The last point went to Charisma.
Strength 17 Dexterity 27 Endurance 26 Intelligence 17 Wisdom 24 Clarity 10 Charisma 11
"Congratulations," Alice said as she came out of invisibility.
I grabbed a Horror corpse and tossed it at her.