Arn
Doesn’t look like you’re dying anymore. Lou informed Arn after several hours had passed. In all honesty, he didn’t have much to show for it. His excitement to get his new abilities and spend his Karma kept distracted him from any deep insights.
With a thought of return, he felt his consciousness being shot back into his brain, as his senses assaulted him with conflicting messages. The pain that was once extreme had dulled into an ache that started and ended in his upper body. His legs were utterly numb, although he could wiggle his toes, so at least he wasn’t paralyzed. He also noticed that the integration had completely healed the burns to his body. He was now laying naked on the stone floor.
Dragging himself to a cave wall, Arn propped himself into a seated position. Nearby, he noticed a bag below the cot, the hilt of a sword sticking out in his direction.
That can be explored later, I’ve got some leveling to do. With a deep sigh, Arn once again fell back into a meditative slumber. The first step was purchasing the rest of his skills. Two of his skills were directly related to damage, both bone tusk, and battle stomp. He didn’t consider Empowering Trumpet a direct damage attack as the flavor text made it seem that the mental attack was a secondary effect and it would most likely have some other utility. Stampede if taken at face value was a strong mobility skill. Sure, 10 feet didn’t seem all that impressive, but in the heat of battle, being able to instantly reposition and gaining a movement buff would be crucial. It also synergized with his other spells.
Arn could already imagine rushing into an enemy and instantly casting battle stomp to deliver a bone crushing kick to the ribs. He could also try to catch his opponent off guard by following up with a bone tusk and letting them skewer themselves with their own momentum.
Tough Skin was the final, and in Arn’s opinion, scariest ability to try out. He had no reference for how much his defense would rise and it would be risky to experiment with. Too little, and he could end up severely injured due to overconfidence. If it was effective however, then it would quickly become his most important skill.
With his remaining Karma, Arn tackled his stat sheet. He invested all remaining points bringing up each stat to 12. He didn’t know if that was the most effective use of the points, but he was sure he’d eventually need to level up each stat. Plus, he couldn’t be sure of the importance of any one stat over another. Physical stats would obviously be helpful in a fight, but if he needed mental stats for his abilities, he’d be crippling his newfound power by starving them of resources. To tie it all off, Arn couldn’t bank on being given enough time to rest and meditate once he continued on his journey, if even one point would mean the difference between life and death, there would be no reason to hoard them.
Alright Lou, do you think you can send a message to Anna now? Arn’s anger towards Death and his siblings didn’t prevent him from feeling genuine gratitude towards the terrifying power. Just the thought of hearing his wife’s real voice, not a homunculus, made his breath shudder.
I think I can? Please make it as short as possible though, I don’t think I can manage more than a few words. Lou responded.
That’s alright, let’s just try to reach out to her for now. Arn didn’t need to think about sending the message too hard. It felt as if he already knew how to make the request. He passed along the mental note to Lou and felt the owl’s presence disappear for a moment.
That’s all I’ve got in me right now, I don’t think I could help you hold a conversation with her. It’s like I’m stretching to my limit when I pass the message along. I can’t hold a connection to both ends at the same time and just the act is draining.
I appreciate the attempt buddy. Rest up and maybe we can figure out a way to get you leveled up soon. With his message sent and feeling no connection to the mentor he was meant to have, Arn ended his meditation and took stock of his supplies.
Starting with the large backpack, he pulled out items one by one and placed them on the cot nearby. He found an almost identical set of weaponry to the set he’d just lost. On top of that, the bag provided a tin bottle filled with water, two rolls of bandages, and several rectangular packages that read ‘NUTRITION RATION’ on two sides. The bar within looked like an oversized granola bar and was just as dry as you’d expect. On the upside, Arn felt full after eating the whole bar and if its namesake wasn’t misleading, then he wouldn’t need another source of food for some time.
Finally, he turned his attention to the set of armor in the corner. Once again it was almost a replica of the set he had just lost. The key distinction was that all pieces, including the shield were dyed a mottled red and gray. Weird that the system would go through the effort of making sure the clothing all matched, but whatever floats your boat I guess.
After donning his armor, Arn placed the backpack in front of Lou. You wanna hold onto this for me little guy?
Rather than responding, Lou jumped above the pack and belly flopped on top of it. After a few moments, there was an audible “pop!” and the owl fell to the floor.
Does it take a while to put things into and out of your inventory? Arn asked.
Yeah, I have to cover the object with my energy and then pull it inside myself. It’s a pretty funny feeling, like eating directly into my stomach.
Well, looks like giving you my weapons to quickly swap between them is out of the question.
Yeah, I’d say so.
Arn moved the cot towards the wall to clear the center of the room. Time to test out my abilities. Standing at one end of the room he decided to try out bone tusk. Remembering what the system had told Anna, Arn closed his eyes and tried to look inward. He focused on trying to visualize his soul and skill markers. One on each foot, one on each thigh, throat, spine, and shoulder. It seemed that both stampede and battle stomp had matching skill ruins, while his three remaining runes each had one. A quandary for future me.
Focusing on his bone tusk skill, Arn pictured a sharp bone stabbing out of his hand. When nothing happened, he tried several other places on his body. What finally worked was when he gave up on being a human pincushion and instead imagined the bone growing in front of him. A large chunk of energy was pulled out of Arn when he wasn’t expecting it as the ground was pushed away before him. What emerged was a yellowed curled elephant tusk, rather than a healthy bone. The tusk seemed fossilized and ready to snap with the slightest bend. At least the tip is sharp enough. Arn thought as he pushed his finger against the pointed tip of the tusk, drawing blood.
Although he didn't test it, Arn knew that he'd only be able to summon one more tusk with his current mana pool. Two tusks is all I can manage. Not a superhero just yet, but it should definitely help keep me alive.
Arn lifted his left leg to take a step forward and blasted across the room before he set bjs foot down again. The inscription for stampede in his left thigh felt tight, as if he'd just exercised his quad. It seemed that the ability used stamina rather than mana, which was a blessing, as he had much more of the resource to spare.
His testing continued with battle stomp, another stamina ability. When used as a kick he was able to slam his foot into the wall without feeling any force or pain in return, as if the opposite force simply disappeared. That's pretty convenient. The stomp function of the ability seemed a bit lackluster at first, as Arn kept stomping around the cave not noticing any effects. That is until Lou called out.
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Can you stop playing around? You keep shaking the damn place and I feel it in my bones.
My bad. Replied Arn As he moved on to his other skills. He wouldn't try out empowering trumpet, at least not in the cave he was in for fear of hurting Lou. That just left his final skill, tough skin.
The skill was unique in that it drew from both his mana and stamina reserves, although it took more from the latter. His armor felt incredibly rigid and his joints completely locked up. The skill seemed to literally harden his skin and everything he was wearing to the point that he felt incase in stone for just half of a second. I'll have to time my usage perfectly, otherwise I'll just end up wasting resources and leaving myself vulnerable to attacks.
To be honest, Arn was a bit disappointed, he was hoping for a body strengthening skill that would last for a long period of time. Instead, it was more like a parry ability that he would have to perfectly time to get use out of. That just added to the never ending list of things to consider in a fight in which any distractions could spell death.
Rather than dwell on it, Arn sat back in the cot and meditated once more to refill his mana and stamina. His soul lost a great deal of its luster as he did so. He sat around trying to find a way to ‘refill’ his soul, but wasn't able to find a way to effect it. After a moment, he noticed that his soul got just a bit brighter and hoped that it would correct itself over time.
Time to stop wasting time Arn, you’ve got something you need to do right? Lou had apparently had enough of his large friends stalling.
Letting out a long sigh, Arn approached the door to the empty armory where he had left the unconscious kobold. She’s probably awake by now anyways. Carbon was indeed conscious by the time Arn returned. She was crouched against an empty sword rack twitching her head back and forth in an effort to find him.
“You can choose to fight, but I’ll shatter your kneecaps. I don’t want to kill you, but if crippling you for life means I can get out of here, I’ll do it in a heartbeat.” The aggression right out of the gate surprised Arn. Seeing her here had him more irritated than he’d realized. For however many life cycles he had, no kobold was able to enter the armory. It was his private and only safe place. Her presence shattered that illusion.
Carbon, to give her credit, didn’t show any fear. Her defiance was clear in her eyes as she responded, “Better crippled than allowing the death of my children.”
“How are you sure fighting me will actually lead to the outcome you want? Igalt is sadistic and I’m certain he’d relish the opportunity to torture and kill your boys out of nothing but spite.” While he spoke, Arn slowly moved to the opposite wall from the kobold, keeping his shield up, but his sword in its scabbard. It seemed that she was unable to see any doors in the armory and that meant he’d be able to keep her here indefinitely.
“So what? Are you going to protect them for the rest of their lives? The clan will shun them for their failure, but at least they’ll live. Do you think siding with you is a better outcome? Do you know what happens to most outcasts? They lose their connection to their magic, and their sanity. I will not allow my children to become monsters.”
“I promised them their lives, that’s it. Whatever you all decide to do is on you. Letting them live does not mean I’m willing to accept responsibility for them, no matter what dumbass logic you try to pull.” This wasn’t completely true, Arn did feel some responsibility for the young group, just not enough to jeopardize his chance at escape. “How about we barter? You tell me what I need to know, and I’ll keep your children safe until I kill that fucker Igalt. The chief is a reasonable man, with Igalt out of the picture, I doubt he’d let any more harm come to either Punt.”
“You can’t guarantee any of that.”
“I’m not going to negotiate my terms.” Arn replied with a flat voice.
The kobold took some time thinking over the humans words. Her husband was not supposed to be killed. The elders were meant to decide the fate of her family and Igalt took the matters into his own hands. If they could get back home safely, then there was a chance they’d be forgiven due to the commander's disregard for orders. “What information do you want?” She finally replied.
“After I kill Igalt, how do I get out of here?”
“You walk out? There’s several paths to the surface.”
Didn’t the system say I was in a dungeon?
System Alert:
Access to the outer world has been blocked for ARN PAND until completion of his vocational quest. Any attempt to leave the dungeon will result in severe backlash.
I guess that explains the error message I got about getting to Anna. “Nevermind that,” Arn continued, “is there any kobold that has shunned death?”
Carbon stared blankly at the human, a look of confusion slowly entering her face, “What do you mean? How do you shun death?”
Yeah, I sound like an idiot. “How about any kobold that has lived an exceptionally long life? Like way longer than you’d expect?”
“They’d be on the council of elders.” Carbon said slowly, adding insult to injury.
“Right, yeah…” An awkward silence hung in the air as Arn thought of his next question. “How do we get to your village?”
Carbon snorted and replied, “I’d hardly call it a village, but I’ll show you the way nonetheless. First, you must retrieve my children.”
“Yep, let’s get to it then. You wait here.” Arn stated as he headed to the door.
So are we just winging this whole thing, or do you have a plan after that display of your great deductive reasoning skill? Lou mentioned as he flew over to land on Arn’s shoulder. The kobold watched silently as the owl flew by.
As Arn reached for the doors handle, he received a second system alert:
Please select exit location:
1. Dungeon Area II
2. Dungeon Area III
I’m in Area III right now so Area II must be the resurrection room at my old training ground. If I return, would that be enough time for them to have set-up another ambush? Should I risk returning to Area III and hope that they’ve already left?
They might think you died and returned to your old resurrection point. Lou offered.
True, and it’s the only real way I could catch them off guard, in that case. With his decision made, Arn mentally selected Area III and felt the door gain a familiar warmth. Throwing his shield over his shoulder, Arn drew his longsword and cracked the door open to see what was on the other side.
A single kobold sat on a stool near the entrance Arn had used previously. Wary of his ticking 10 second timer, Arn activated stampede and dashed the majority of the way to his unsuspecting victim. A single step was all that was needed for a stab into the kobold’s neck.
Arn’s longsword easily cut through the kobolds rock-like skin, shattering its spine. Taken aback at his own gain in strength. Removing his sword, he took a few practice swings, marveling at how easily he manipulated the weapon. It’s insane how much upgrading my strength affects me.
Looking over at the nearly decapitated lizard, Arn felt a small pang of guilt. His passive, pacifist’s commitment, had informed him of the creature’s intent of violence, but that didn’t stop him from wondering if its death was necessary. Ultimately, he put the thought out of his mind and continued on.
Arn pushed through the invisible barrier after seeing that the room beyond was empty. He ignored the area alert and crept through the halls back towards his original spawn. Before he reached the fork leading towards the spider then, he heard footsteps around a corner.
Several footsteps moved towards his location, some matching the clanking of metal chains. Guessing that the young kobolds were being taken back to their home, Arn prepared to attack.
The first lizard to turn the corner was met with a blade through the chest as Arn pushed forward and cast battle stomp. There were four surprised kobolds that wobbled on their feet as Arn attacked. The only chained kobold turned out to be Marshall, Sprat’s father.
Ignoring the non-target, Arn slashed the leading kobold across its body. The cut failed to kill it and it scrambled back, shouting in pain.
The enemy in the back was the first to regain its composure and opened its wide maw to douse the Trainer in flame. Except, not a wisp left its mouth before it was skewered by an elephant’s tusk that appeared behind it.
The final enemy charged from Arn’s flank, wielding a dagger in one hand, and Marshall’s chain lead in the other.
Look out! Lou yelled as he pulled on the scruff of his partner’s brigandine in warning.
A split second before the attack landed, Arn cast tough skin, causing the blade to deflect off of the cloth covering his lower back. Arn followed up spinning in place, swinging his longsword in a short arc that first slashed the attacker, and then stabbed through its midsection.
The remaining injured kobold was cut down before it had a chance to recover as Arn simultaneously gave Lou the order to search for a key to Marshall’s chain. He turned and addressed the cowering kobold, “Are the children still alive?”