Marcus woke up a little stiff stretched and checked his arm. Not only was it not broken but it was fully healed as he moved his arm up and down as he tested it.
It really is healed.
He stood up and drank from his waterskin and refilled it with a waterskin before making an English Breakfast. He never had it before but he saw it on a cooking show and thought it would be cool to try. He wolfed down his food and patted his belly
So this world is very real. I did get a little stronger though so that’s good. I should practice with my Spear and see how this Splash thing works.
With torch light he pulled out his Spear and swung it and felt a mental pop as a gallon of water burst from the tip of the spear with another force to knock the dirt off the cave wall. He didn’t think it would kill anything but it looked like it would hurt as much as a rubber bullet.
This could work to buy me some actual time
He checked his energy levels and it was still saying Green. With a nod and a smile he grabbed his shield and torch while storing the spear on his back as he moved back towards the corpse room.
Marcus clogged his nose and he walked past the room of the corpses and dismembered parts as he looked up and saw that there was a strange hole in the center of the cave that had to go up well over a mile.
“Well ... .I ain’t climbing up that.”
As he looked around he marked the cave wall where he came and noticed that on the other side of the room was another tunnel. He quickly looked through the corpses around the room making sure they were really dead and looked for any useful items on them but it was no not avail. He pressed forward heading to a new tunnel around the other side.
The tunnel squeezed in on itself, constricting like a hungry python as it narrowed to a mere 3 feet wide. It went on like this for agonizing minutes, until finally opening up into a massive cavern. But he had no time to marvel at the sight before dozens of monstrous bats with wingspans the size of an eagle descended upon him, their razor-sharp talons and gnashing teeth hungry for blood.
Guinereve’s voice popped into his mind as he stepped back into the tunnel so he couldn’t be flanked from all sides.
“There are dozens of these creatures. You are gonna have to level up on the fly. Allow me to handle your next levels up while you focus on killing these things. “ Marcus mentally nodded and readied his spear and shield.
The Tunnel was swarming with a horde of at least 20 bloodthirsty bats, their wings beating frantically as they dive-bombed towards him. Heart racing, he dropped his pack and hurled the torch behind him, barely managing to stumble backwards as he used its flickering light to see his attackers. With every ounce of strength and skill he possessed, he swung his weapon in deadly arcs and parried vicious bites, the sound of metal clashing against fangs echoing through the narrow passage.
The first three attackers fell to the ground with a thud, but more continued to swarm towards him, their beady eyes fixed on their prey. Though he was no soldier, his grip on the spear was steady and instinctual - it was one of the oldest weapons known to man and he wielded it with fierce determination.
With a large swipe of his spear a glob of water flew from his spear and hit the three in front as they collapsed to the ground in shock as the ice cold water hit them. The two remaining pressed in as he used his shield to block a bite from one and withdrew his spear back and impaled another. As he connected, he felt little resistance as he pierced the chest of the other. It shook violently before collapsing on the ground as he shield-bashed the bat off his spear.
6 more to level 3
More rushed in taking the place of their fallen brethren. He stabbed another and the shield bashed another's brains in as he continued to retreat.
4 more to Level 3
He continued to move backwards as several of the creatures that he stopped their flight hobbled over to him and bit at his legs and clawed at this face as he strafed further back but for every nick he received they were paid back in blood as more and more as he leveled up. The notification was suppressed as he reached level 3 and kept moving.
Marcus Washington
Level: 3 - 12 Kills till next level 4
Health: Light Yellow
Energy: Light Green
Attunement: 80/110
Skill Trees:
Field of Raining Spears
Guardian of the Forceful Vault
Loot Coin: 1
STR: 9
DEX: 5
CON: 10
INT: 5
WIS: 5
STA: 8
As he gained a level and the points were allocated, he could feel an increase in energy coursing through his body, making him tougher than he ever thought possible. The attacks from his enemies only left shallow scratches and cuts now. He effortlessly sliced through them with his sharp blade, while also using his shield to deflect any incoming blows.
With blood dripping down his face and sweat pouring from every pore, with him desperately clinging to his weapon like a lifeline. Each swing feels heavier than the last as he fights through the pain and exhaustion. His health and stamina levels drop into the danger zone, but he refuses to back down. He knows he must keep going or risk losing everything, his life included.
You have reached Level 4
Marcus Washington
Level: 4 - 18 Kills till next level 5
Health: Red
Energy: Orange
Attunement: 80/115
Skill Trees:
Field of Raining Spears
Guardian of the Forceful Vault
Loot Coins: 2
STR: 10
DEX: 5
CON: 13
INT: 5
WIS: 5
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
STA: 10
Each blow he landed on against a bat seemed to make him stronger. His muscles bulged and sweat dripped down his taut body. Despite the exhaustion, he refused to give up, using every ounce of energy left in his tank. As he finished off the last of the bats, he collapsed against the wall, panting and covered in cuts and bruises.
A guttural roar ripped from his throat, echoing through the desolate abyss around him. It was a primal scream, reminiscent of his ancestors' fierce hunts and survival against deadly prey. As the adrenaline rush of battle began to fade, he stumbled back to his torch and bag, feeling the weight of exhaustion and triumph settle onto his shoulders like a heavy cloak.
Level: 4 - 9 Kills till next level 5
His body ached all over as he went over and grabbed his torch and bag before slumping against the wall again breathing heavily. He heard Guinereve’s voice in his head again.
“You need to recover and rest. At this point with your constitution being as high as it is you heal much faster than a normal human, you still will not recover as fast as you could while sleeping. Sleeping increases your healing by a factor of 4 from my calculations. Go back to the corpse area and cover your nose and mouth and try to sleep at this point. You have been going for a while.”
Marcus slowly but surely walked back to the corpse room as he drank water from his waterskin and ate hardtack and beef jerk rations. He soon ripped off old cloth from a corpse before wrapping it around his face. He killed the torch and tucked into a tight ball pressed against a corpse pile and a wall before quickly passing out.
As he woke up he noticed that he was starving as he drank the remaining water and rations before he stood up and felt the wounds that wore over his body and was amazed. All of his wounds were completely healed. As he looked at this health he noticed it was now Green.
Guin quickly piped up. “You have two loot crates coins left. I would suggest holding off on opening them until the next level.”
“Why?”
“You are running low on attunement slots. If you open a standard crate or higher you will be unable to use it while needed to carry the additional weight. You will most likely get another standard crate as they are ... .drumroll please, standard.“ It sounded like a good idea so he nodded.
“I see you tell jokes now. Whelp, this is gonna be a long ride.”
“You should try and use your food and beverage boxes so you will be better familiarized with them. This will help you get more experience using the Loot Crate System for when you need to make another item.“
He nodded and moved away from the smelly undead area and pulled out a beverage and food box. As he looked at the food box he thought about a nice double hamburger with lettuce, tomato and mushroom ketchup on a toasted bun and said ‘activate’ as the box grew in his hands and molded to a burger box that he could smell through the box. As he reached inside and took a bite it tasted just like what he imagined from his memory.
“Now that’s a tasty burger.”
He moved on now to the beverage and imagined some water and the box merged and changed to a jug of water as he began to drink his fill before refilling his waterskin and discarding the jug in the corpse pile. He relit his torch and continued down towards where he fought the bats and the smell of death was intense as he worked his way past the corpses and into the large open room that had two pathways, left and right.
He decided to continue to go right as he marked his path and stayed right on the path and continued what felt like hours.
What he noticed was that with his increased stats he moved much faster. His walking speed was comparable to his previous running speed. Along with heartbeat slowing down as he walked he could feel that his heartbeat was so slow it almost scared him. As he tested his strength he realized that he could actually dent the soft rock of the cave wall slightly.
This is new
As he continued walking down this long and winding tunnel it felt like hours before he was able to see something different. As the tunnel opened wide into what looked like an outpost underground.
He saw several pillars made of stone leading up to a large castle structure with an intense smell of death. It was made from the same stone as the cave but he saw several zombie-like creatures that seemed much more intact than the Shamblers he fought previously as they all turned to face him.
“Guin, got any info on this?”
“These seem to be Ghouls. These are semi-intelligent undead that are raised with intent and not from just ambient energy of the world. They can use crude tools and are as strong as Shamblers but will not use all of their strength to the point of shattering limbs. Use your shield and speed to dance around them.”
With the grunt he dropped his bag and threw his torch down near him to give his at least dim light as he fought what looked to be 4 ghouls guarding the entrance.
With a quick rush he speared through the head of the closest ghoul as the other ghouls turned to him looking actually surprised by how fast he was. He even shocked himself. He leapt around the opening to the outpost and killed one of the ghouls before it could even draw their swords.
(+2)7 more kills till level 5.
Interesting, so different monsters have different kill amounts.
They seemed to adjust and the remaining three, all of them with old and rusty clubs and blades came at him. As they rushed towards him, he grabbed the club of the fallen ghoul with his shield hand and threw it at the leg of the ghoul closest to him as it’s leg shattered and collapsed on the ground before he blocked the incoming club blow and leaping back to the maw of the tunnel entrance with the two remaining ghouls rushing towards him. He decided to be a little risky. He threw his spear in the center mass of the ghoul as its inners poured out as it collapsed on its back from the force before rushing the last standing ghoul and ducking a swipe and bashing its head in with his shield. He quickly rushed over and with spear and shield combo killed the remaining ghouls.
(+6)1 more kill till Level 5
“Marcus.” Guin spoke up randomly in his head before he could continue towards the entrance of the strange castle.
“Yes.”
“This place is probably what you would consider a dungeon in your homeworld. Are you sure you want to continue down this path? You have little Loot Gear and while you are strong, you aren’t overwhelming at this point.”
He thought about it and while he felt he SHOULD be more scared he was not, which was strange.”Guin, you said there were monsters in this world that were at levels above me that they could destroy me with a thought.”
After a long pause she answered. “Yes.”
“Based on the quality of monsters at the entrance of this dungeon, what do you think of my success rate of clearing this place?”
“60 percent.”
With that Marcus laughed. “I am going down the path of a Knight. If I level mid fight can I trust that you can handle that. If anything crazy appears I will flee and pull back. I mean what would Denzel Washington do?“
After several painfully long seconds Guin responded.
"Understood and Good Luck.” With that he entered the maw of the castle-like building.