The boy woke upon a tree, the sunlight making its way from the space between the tree's and hitting the boy in the eye. The looked around himself and recollected what had happened the previous day and night. After wandering around for some time in the forest, and consecutively getting lost, the boy decided upon a random tree to climb, making his way up and sleeping through the night.
The boy made sure that his bag of stuff was still there and full; it was Confirmed that he still had all his stuff, the boy headed off into another random direction.
Several hours passed by, the boy still walked the forest. It was then that he realized that he was lost. It was also then that the boy started to panic, as he realized that he was lost. But then came a simple solution to the boy, which the trees would readily provide. The boy looked around, finding the highest tree and heading towards it. Upon arrival, the boy started to climb the tree.
Upon reaching the top, the boy went further, beyond. He climbed past the canopy of the tree, allowing him to see the sky and clouds filling the air. He then looked around, seeing several things. There were mountains in some direction behind him, and the castle he most likely escaped from several days ago to his right. The boy, memorizing the way to the castle, climbed down and headed off.
Several hours later, the boy got lost again. Sighing, the boy looked around for another tall tree to climb and re-confirm his position. The boy looked around, seeing different clouds and a slightly darker sky, meaning it was close to evening now. He looked around, before seeing that the castle was closer, but on his left this time.
The boy tried to commit the castle to memory before climbing down again and continuing his journey. But as the boy was climbing down, he heard snarling; he looked down to see less than friendly faces.
Wolves, the bane of all those who travel alone through forests. The boy, upon looking around, realized that he was surrounded by a pack of them on all sides. The boy sighed, slightly scared but mostly exhausted from all the walking he had done. He looked upon the wolves and decided upon his options.
The boy had three choices; he could run, fight or wait. Running wouldn't' be wise, as he was tired from walking several hours while lost. Fighting wouldn't be wise for the same reason of exhaustion. So the boy waited the wolves out, listening to their growls and snarls, some of them trying to climb the tree, leaving claw marks on the bark.
Eventually, the wolves dissipated, till there were no wolves. The boy however, noticed it was nighttime, and didn't want to wander a wolf-infested forest in the dark. So he choose the next best option; sleep.
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Awoken to a fresh new day, the boy yawned, but then noticed something strange. The forest was quite; the wind didn't blow, the small critters didn't make a noise, and he couldn't see any light passing through the holes in-between the tree's. The boy felt a slight chill permeate the air, realizing that something was off.
He slowly got down from the tree, and heard a faint snarl coming from all-around him, the world turning darker as it did. The boy practically jumped, running off in the direction he remembered the castle to be. Soon, the growls and snarls came closer, almost as if the thing making the noises was enjoying, feeding off the paranoia that it gave the boy.
The boy looked back, trying to see what was upon him, chasing him down. There, he saw a wolf. It was the most ferocious wolf he had ever seen. At as tall as the boy, the wolf had black fur, teeth a light blue, seemingly glowing. It's eyes a hateful white, staring upon the boy as an archenemy, not as prey.
Upon realizing that he was likely getting chased by the king of all wolves, the boy stopped. He looked back to the hateful beast with his own hateful eyes, both looking at each other like devils to angels. The wolf got closer and closer, bringing a fog along with him, it as dark as the star-less night sky, the night around the two growing ever-so darker.
Finally, the wolf jumped the boy its maw revealing its glowing blue teeth even further, them radiating with a fervid heat. This didn't deter the boy, who shot out his hands to grab the foul beast's maw before it clamped down on him. They connected, and the world went dark.
The boy awoke, sweating and gasping. He looked around and saw that everything was in order. There was sunlight shining in his face, the forest critters were skittering around, going about their lives. There were no wolves around the tree, just a faint gust of wind.
The boy warily got down, looking around just in-case something was to pop out towards him. After a few minutes of nothing happening, the boy relaxed, producing himself into a faint, but rather thoughtful to the castle; the only thought being 'What the fuck was that?'
The boy, after another estimated two hours of travel, finally reached some road. He looked to where it leads; on one side, he got see the castle's tower's, and on the other side, the boy saw nothing bit forest and a dirt road. He choose the road to nowhere, and went on, wanting to go and find a real bed to sleep on.
The boy walked for a few minutes before he met someone on the road. It was a single, rather dirty man sitting on the edge of the road. The boy glanced at him, before passing by, indifferent to the man's situation. But as the boy passed by, the man stood up, and started to talk.
"You know laddie, it's wrong to pass by some poor old fellow like me and not offer anything..." After the man finished, suddenly three more men came out of the forest surrounding the boy. From the way the two in the front were dressed, the boy figured he was surrounded by thieves. This wasn't a good day by any chance.
"...So how about you pay up, give charity to this old man here?" The man said with a light laugh at the end. The boy noticed how the rest of the bandits also grew smiles on their faces when he said that, meaning that this was a routine thing for them. But the boy wasn't so easily intimated by such people.
"Well old man, I'm sorry to inform you I have no money to give you and your compatriots." The oy was calm, almost relaxed when speaking to the criminals. The man lost his smile and slight friendly demeanor when he heard that, his smile turning into a sour expression. The man then turned to the man beside him, ordering him to approach the boy, doing the same to the two men in front of the boy.
The two men in front both got out some form of heavy-ended sticks probably used for bashing skulls in. Quickly glancing back, the boy noticed that the man behind him drew a rusty dagger. It was time to fight, and the boy realized that he had to strike first if he was to win. The boy placed down his bag, and prepared.
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First, he started to run towards the closest man in the front. Realizing that he was being attacked first, the man swung his club to meet the boy's head; but he didn't account for the boy to dodge. The boy sidestepped the attack, before smashing the man in the face with a highspeed shoulder block. Then came the other man, swinging his club, expecting it to meet the boy's head.
But the boy dropped his entire body in the last moment, making way for the club to hit the bandit in the side of the head, knocking him out. The boy then kicked the man in the knee before he had time to prepare another swing, downing him. But before he could finish the man, the boy saw the man with the dagger approach, nearly stabbing the boy in the arm.
The boy nimble dodged, kicking the man in the stomach and jumping up to his feet. By this point, the second bandit and the bandit with the dagger had recovered and were both coming at him at him at the same time. The man aimed to tab the boy in the gut, while the man with the club swung at his head. The boy jerked his head out of the way and grabbed the hand of the man with the dagger.
The boy, noticing that the man was about to grab his arm, kicked him in the balls. This surprisingly made him let go of the dagger, which allowed the boy to catch it mid-air. Dodging another swing for the head, the boy then stabbed the dagger into the man's throat, killing him. The man gurgled for a bit before falling, the dagger stuck in his throat and the club in hand. The bandit who just lost his dagger got up from clutching his balls and threw a punch.
The boy wasn't really fast enough to dodge the punch, so he took it. It disorientated him for a moment, but nothing worse than what the Abyssmal could do. The boy near instantaneously came back, punching the bandit with his own fist several times. After the seventh punch, the bandit fainted, but the boy used his as a meat shield for an incoming strike.
The dirty, old man suddenly pulled a sword from nowhere, and ran towards the boy as he was laying it on the bandit. The boy saw this coming, using the unconscious bandit in his hands to block the incoming stab. The boy threw the body onto the old man, who was surprisingly fast, and got out of the way, around the body, going for the man's flank.
The boy saw that the man just barely sidestepped the body falling onto him, re-directing his sword to face the boy. The boy and the man looked upon each other, and startled to circle each other, deciding their moves.
Then suddenly, the man jumped the boy at an incredible speed, and with incredible strength, proceeded to do an overhead strike. Then he heard how the strike made a small crater in the ground, the old man surprised at the boy's dodging ability.
The boy didn't waste any time, and upper-cutting the old man in the stomach before he could lift his sword again. The man barely moved, signaling that he was barely damaged by the attack. The boy then punched the man on the side of his head, but he still looked unaffected; and by this time, he lifted his sword from the ground.
The boy scuttled away from the man, them both getting ready to attack each other again. The man held up his sword at the ready, circling the boy again, the boy following suit. Then the boy struck first, determined to end the battle before he was cut into pieces by the man. The man, obviously ready for the boy, waited until he was in range before violently swinging his sword in a diagonal way.
The boy sidestepped the blade, going in for a gut punch on the man with all of his strength. The man let go of his sword, blocking the boy's hand in the last moment. The boy, slightly surprised, went in for another punch, but was grabbed yet again. The boy then headbutted the man, but yet his grip was like steel, unyielding.
The man then headbutted the boy walk, briefly making the boy lose his vision and awareness of the surroundings. Then, the man let go of his arm, delivering an uppercut of his own to the boy's chin, further taking the boy away from consciousness. Finally, the man let go of the other arm, smacking him in the stomach.
The boy, upon feeling the strike, stumbled back, clutching his stomach in heavy pain, while the man slowly advanced. The boy felt something coming back up from his stomach, lifting his head and puking all over the dirty man's face. The man yelled in disgust, swiping at his eyes to remove the disgusting liquid from his eyes.
As the man brought his hand to his eyes, the boy struck. He launched to strikes to the head of the man, effectively stunning him for a moment. Then, he kicked him in the balls, proceeding to punch him in the stomach afterwards. The man slightly keeled over, giving the boy enough room to kick him in the head, finally sending the man on his back, blinded.
The boy wasted no time getting on top of the man, proceeding to beat him down over the head with all kinds of smashes, punches, and other strikes. The boy did this for fifteen strikes, before noticing how the man stopped resisting. The boy got up and curb stomped the man on the head, lest he was to get up again and fight.
The boy then proceeded to grab the sword the man wielded and cut off all of the bandit's heads and leaving the sword stabbed through the chest of the other bandit with a dagger through his throat. The boy then looted the bandits finding some amounts of shiny things on them that he took and put into his bag, taking everything and heading down the road.
And as he took his first step, a familiar message popped up.
[Hail! Hail! You have defeated four opponents of a higher level than you and have received 200 EXP. You have 300 EXP left till your next level up.]
The boy read the message before heading on forwards, a question permeating his mind. 'What the hell do "level up" mean?
After two more hours of walking, the boy finally reached what looked to be a town. He stopped in front of a large, wide wooden doorway that was encircling the supposed town with wooden walls. Then, a guard that stood on the right side of the wall approached the boy, looking exhausted and wanting to leave his position.
"Now you just wait right there. What business do you have in this town?"
"I want a comfortable place to sleep, and some food I can actually taste."
"That is a good reason for a traveler such a yourself. Can I have your identification please?"
The boy looked at the man for a moment, saying nothing and showing no facial expression.
"...on the second hand, I think I will leave. See ya."
The boy then went to the forest surrounding the walled off village, leaving a slightly surprised guard behind. The boy did hear the man try and say something, but he was long in the forest when he did, pretending not to hear him. The boy, walking beside the wall for some time, decided to go and find a tree to stake out on, wait out till night time came.
Soon enough the night did come, leaving the boy to watch the wall. He learned about the time the guards watching the wall walked around, how many there were, and figured a plan that would allow him to enter without having to provide documentation. And it started with a really good run up and some holes in the wall.
From what the boy could tell, years of weathering and possible defending have left the wall. This also means that the holes that are quite high would allow the boy to practically wall climb the place and allowing for a good sneak. The boy waited for the right moment on the ground, letting the two guards that would signify the most optimal time space to sneak in to pass each other, before he started to run as silently as possible.
Upon getting to the right point on the wall, the boy jumped as high as he could, and as hard as he could, into the wall. This turned to be far higher than he expected; the boy jumped half the wall, which was at least twice at tall as him. This meant that he only had to grab the holes at the ¾ range of the wall, which he wasn't prepared for at all. He just barely grabbed one of the smaller holes, before worriedly sighing and bringing himself up.
Once he was on the edge of the wall, the boy quickly glanced over the side, looking to see if any of the guards were nearby. The closest guard, being at least two minutes away, the boy jumped the wall and looked around just in case and jumped down the wall. The boy then went down the nearest alleyway, and proceeded to out of it, completely confident in his ability to blend in with the people around him.
The boy walked around, seeing little to no people on the streets, them only occupied by the torches. The boy walked and walked, diving in and out of alleyway's the moment he saw anyone resembling guards patrolling the street's. The boy, after a good hour of exploration had passed, came upon a two-story bar; which he had assumed to also be an inn.