The arrow pierced Thrawl’s back cleanly, right below the heart and straight through the ribs. It went three quarters in before getting stuck in between the bones. The momentum of the arrow pushed Thrawl one heavy step forward.
The fresh summer breeze died off. The forest trees stopped swaying, the birds stopped singing, and the river waters blended out of existence.
All was still save for the droplets of blood splashing against the river water.
The high pitched soar of another arrow broke the spell. With a thud, it impaled itself into Thrawl shoulder blade and went out through his right shoulder blade.
Thrawl turned around slowly, blood dripping from his lips and down his chin. A look of horror and confusion filled his face. His eyebrows were raised and teeth were bared. He limped a few shaky steps towards L, his bow dropping from the grasp of his hand. The third arrow L fired whiffed above Thrawl’s head, missing entirely, but the fourth punctured his guts, dropping him to his knees. He held a numb hand over the arrow, prodding it his blood slipped out of him. It was not until the fifth arrow loosened that Thrawl finally doubled over and died. It had penetrated his chest bone.
Previous Knowledge of Archery observed. For the reason of Archery being a combat-related Proficiency, the increased Proficiency bonuses will be reduced by a further 50%. You have learned Beginner 3 Archery.
Beginner Archery
Increase handling by 15%
Increase power by 15%
Increase arrow notching speed by 15%
Increase pulling speed by 15%
Increase accuracy and power of Aimed Shots by up to 25%
Decrease Stamina cost by 9%
Decrease Archery related injuries by 9%
The penalty of firing while moving has changed -50%>-47% in all parameters.
The penalty of firing from horseback has changed -50%> -47% in all parameters.
For killing a Good alignment, non-hostile NPC your alignment with all Good Alignment Godly Entities has been reduced. Most Neutral Alignment Godly Entities have been reduced. Most Evil and Chaotic Alignment Godly Entities have been increased.
-30/100 Good Alignment
-15/100 Neutral Alignment
+15/100 Evil Alignment
+15/100 Chaotic Alignment
The death of the Hunter and his daughter has released Dark and Chaotic Mana. When knowledge of their death reaches the village of Boliam, the influx of Dark and Chaotic Mana will increase. Your rewards will increase then, proportional to the amount of Darkness and Chaos it creates.
Your actions have altered your Racial Evolvement. Take heed, Half-Darkling, for your Alignments and Deeds will determine what type of abomination you will become.
L shrugged off the notifications. Everything was somewhat expected.
In the span of time that L had taken to riddle Thrawl with his arrows, the combined forces of the Bugbear and his two purple minions had slaughtered the husky and were currently dragging it into the forest.
They had eyed the hunter’s corpse as well, but the five arrows that protruded from his body was sufficient enough to ward them off.
They were too far off anyway, and instead of wasting arrows L held his fire.
A few minutes passed after the monsters escaped beyond L’s vision, though the possibility of them repeating the same trick on him remained.
L set his bow and began Dark Weaving a thick string. He reached for a patch of Darkness and grasped it in his hands. It came alive and whirled around L’s palm’s, spiraling vehemently up his sharp fingernails. He gathered a higher concentration in the middle of his palm and squeezed, commanding the Darkness to retain its form. This time, L did not add the Flexibility or Sturdy traits, as he figured Darkness was flexible and somewhat sturdy from the beginning.
It took little of his reserves but it did take a few moments to fabricate. Being satisfied with the length and thickness of the thick string, L finished his creation.
Poor Darkness String
Durability: F
Defense: F
Elasticity: F
Protection Against Light: F
Live time: Minimal. Requires a constant Dark Mana supply to retain its form. Pressure, light, and surrounding Mana concertations will alter the required supply.
L felt the strain on his Dark Mana as he held the string in his hand. It was somewhat negligible considering the night had completely risen, but it was not something that L wanted to retain indefinitely as he felt his Shadows Embrace weaken as he re-directed the Dark Mana from his body into the string.
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Picking up his short hunter’s knife, L set it against his upper arm and tied it with the string. He then stalked off his sniping spot, going as far as he could from the Bugbear’s previous known position. About a 100 yards away, where the river’s snake arched in an adequately concealing manner, L slipped into the cool water. After taking a deep breath, L went under and swam across the river as quickly as he could without causing too much distortion in the water. A wide variety of fish swam by L, tickling his skin as he worked his legs. The string threatened to loosen countless times as the water current slid off his skin.
Reaching the other side of the river L poked his head out, and making sure that no one had spotted him, pulled the rest of his body out into the bushes and breathed heavily. Supplying mana while simultaneously swimming siphoned a ludicrously high amount of L’s reserves. It was obvious at that point that created a highly durable creation was much more efficient than constantly supplying mana to retain its form, especially when force is placed upon it. Catching his breath, L grasped the string and allowed his hands to siphon the Dark Mana back.
Irritatingly, his naked skin scraped against the sharp edges of the branches as he moved across the forest, and until he can increase the proficiency his Dark Weaving to create some type of protective aura, L would just have to deal with it.
Or you know. I can just get some fucking clothes.
He snuck under the shadows of the trees. Though the sun had set, the light of the stars and rising moon would be sufficient enough for the Bugbear to spot him, as L knew Bugbears had a decent sense of smell and some form of dark-vision, but L wasn’t entirely too sure regarding just how powerful their senses were.
It did not take long for L to find the tracks of the Bugbear and his two minions. Broken branches, trampled leaves, and bent bushes all led away further towards the North. They did not seem too keen on risking further confrontation and had instead retreated with their prize. Though they were excellent hunters, most beastile races lacked the components and tendencies to be meticulous enough to cover their tracks.
Previous Knowledge of Tracking Proficiency observed. You have learned Beginner 5 Tracking.
Beginner Tracking
Increase perception when consciously attempting to find tracks by 15%
Slightly increases information observable from tracks.
L stopped sneaking around then. Though he was making excellent use of proficiencies learned from previous games, it was still a tedious chore to be conscious of every movement. It would still take some time until he learned the sneaking proficiency, however, as it leaned more towards an active skill than a simple proficiency, and thus he had to put further effort into re-learning it, and it required targets for the proficiency to actually increase.
Jumping back into the shallow parts of the river, L walked with vigor towards Thrawl’s body. His thick Darkling feet stifled the sharpness of river stones. Pushing over Thrawl’s pale body, L studied his equipment. Armor and Martial Arts were most commonly used to fill in the tank role, or alternatively, the good ol’ technique of not getting hit worked wonders as well.
L was quite impressed with Null’s system, though the one thing he despised was the lack of inventory system. The ability to stack items in another dimension was considered Advanced Spatial Magic, which while L understood it balanced the incapabilities of mages carrying their own weight on expeditions, he still found it nettlesome.
Thrawl did not wear any armor, which was fine with L, as the body difference was too huge anyway. What he did have, however, was an excellent set of weapons.
Thrawl’s Quality Bow
Skill Modifiers:
Dexterity: A
Strength: C
Weapon Parameters:
Accuracy: B
Durability: B
Enchantability: D
Handling: B
Power: C
String Durability: C
String Pulling Speed: C
Weight: C
Simple Quiver
Arrow Limit: 24
Durability: C
Weight: C
Quality Iron Arrows
Flight Distance: B
Wind Resistance: B
Handling: B
Speed: C
Weight: C
Penetration: B
High-Quality Akinaka Short-Sword
Though it is plain and unnamed, the quality of iron and the Blacksmithing techniques required to achieve such balance and sharpness is noteworthy. The design of the Akinaka is unique to the Desert Land's countless kingdoms.
Skill Modifiers:
Dexterity: B
Strength: C
Weapon Parameters
Slashing: B
Thrusting: C
Blunt: F
Durability: C
Handling: A
Weight: B
Enchantability: B
L noticed Thrawl had decent boots as well, but considering how well the Dark Mana morphed his feet to a slightly demonic version, L doubted he needed them. After relieving Thrawl of his burden, L began to drag his body towards the other side of the river.
He needed to get rid of the body. The town guards spotted L and Thrawl going in the wilds, and if his body was found riddled with arrows and looted then any half-assed rat will connect the dots. If monsters truly killed him then they would have had no reason in not taking his body to feed on, as the Bugbear did for the husky and Tel. L would then be the main target of suspicion, and his days at the Rojenteem Empire would be cut too short for comfort.
At least if the body disappears, then he could just blame it on the Bugbears. But that was a whole different issue in itself. How would he prove that it was actually monsters that killed their best hunter, and not an arrow in the back?
That was the risk L had taken when he loosed the first arrow. L could not return to the village until he could get sufficient proof that would keep his head connected to the rest of his body. He also had to do it quickly, as L definitely saw himself being accused of killing Thrawl then finding a monster to blame it on.
Which really, is exactly what he was going to do, albeit with a slightly more sophisticated method.
L had attempted to drag Thrawl out of the water, but his sad amount of 8.2 Strength made it atrociously difficult. L decided to put the four points he’d received from Blacksmithing into Strength. Not only did he need it to sufficiently use his newly acquired weapons and future Blacksmithing tasks, he also required it for a wide variety of movements. His Agility provided him the flexibility and ability to abruptly change directions, but it not grant him raw speed or the ability to jump around the field on his tippy toes.
L pressed the confirm button and made a mental note to hit the gym harder in order to not have to deal with his initial lack of strength in every decent game he immersed himself in.
Energy poured into L’s muscles in opulent abundance, drowning them in acid and heat. Everything pulsed painfully as he felt every muscle in his body break and reform in a mere few seconds.
L grunted as his skinny figure was largely reformed into a more befitting body of the future tasks it would suffer through.
He spit a mouthful of blood before bending down to grasp Thrawl’s hands. His muscles ached from the dramatic increase of his stats, but L doubted it would happen again. The only reason his body reacted unpleasantly was because his stat had jumped from 8.2 to 12.2, a near 50% increase. The effects of gaining stats would lessen in the future.
Being 50% stronger though meant dragging Thrawl’s body was slightly easier, but still a chore considering he had to do it through rough terrain. The thought of cutting Thrawl’s limbs for easier transportation flashed by L’s mind, but was quickly dismissed by the better parts of his brain.
Cutting Thrawl’s body to lessen the ordeal of having to haul his body into some dark corner where he would be (hopefully) eaten by some monster was obviously not worth chipping his blades over.