First thing after waking up, I checked my stats and discovered that both my health and mana were maxed up. Well, I expected as much. My mana, which is what I should use to cast my heretical necromancy spells, should be absorbed from the environment. While health should go up naturally as I heal. I think whatever killed me yesterday should be not physical, so I recovered fast. Though, I should keep track of how fast I recover the mana and health points.
CLASS
NECROMANCER
LEVEL
1
HEALTH
50 (50)
MANA
10 (10)
SKILLS
BRINK OF DEATH
YOU CAN BRING YOURSELF FROM THE BRINK OF DEATH (X). COST: HALF OF YOUR TOTAL HEALTH (PERMANENT)
Now, I need to plan my destination and leave before someone finds me here. Yesterday, instead of going with the heat of the moment and facing the woods only a couple of hours before night, I decided to sleep the night in my hideout – I’m not that impulsive. Fortunately, my hopes were true and nobody knew about this place, or at least, they didn’t try to look for me here. Well, I’m not sticking around long enough to give them a chance.
Sadly, the night of sleep and crying didn’t bring any new ideas. I can’t enter the city and risk being identified, and going to other villages would only get other people killed. I’m sure there’s a way to hide my stats, I think I heard someone talking about it, but I didn’t pay enough attention to remember. This leaves me with, again, only one option, surviving in the wild until I know better. It’s probably a stupid idea that will get me killed, but I don’t know better now.
So, I left. This time for good.
***
Damp, cold, and surprisingly, empty. That’s what I’m thinking about the forest so far. It had been seven hours since I left the village, and started moving through the woods toward the nearest city. Still, I’m yet to see any of the deadly beasts I heard so much about. Not that I’m complaining about not becoming the meal of some beast.
Noon had already passed and dusk was about five hours ahead, so I should probably look for a safe place to make camp, dangerous beasts or not. I did notice a change in the vegetation, the bushes and twigs that once blocked my way gave place to towering trees, taller than anything I had seen. My poor quality but sharp knife did help me get through the thickest of the greenery, though I was expecting to use it for deadlier foes.
I don’t have I death wish or anything, it’s just that this dreary fear of meeting a beast at any moment is keeping me on edge. I know how to fight, my parents wouldn’t have me a weakling, but I lack experience. That would make for an interesting slogan – The necromancer that never killed – funny and friendly, though I doubt that would prevent others from trying to execute me.
Then, as if the forest itself had listened to my thoughts, a mud-colored four-legged beast appeared a few meters from me. It was bulk and almost reached my waist height. It was making some hostile sounds, clearly telling what it would do next. Grabbing my knife tighter, I concentrated on the footwork my parents tried to grind into my memory. Either because I was staring too deeply, or because of something else I can’t point, a smaller screen appeared next to the mystical.
Stolen story; please report.
Lesser boar L7
Great! It’s only 6 levels above me. Concentrate, Shain! It’s not time to be distracted about levels and such. The boar knows how to use my moment of distraction and launches itself toward me. The beast starts slowly, but soon, its heavy weight leans on its favor. I’m definitely dodging that. I jump aside and tilt my body to the left, trying to escape the attack, and… it works.
The beast turns around, snorting in anger, and runs my way again. This time, the boar comes a little slower, giving me time to evade while I slash its side. Hide versus blade, I can even hear the metallic hissing of the weapon sliding, but… the boar remains intact. Not a single scratch! How am I supposed to fight it, like this?
I won’t, I rather run! Stumbling on leaves, dirt, and stones alike, I sprint away from the beast while praying for it to forgo this necromantic meal. I know I shouldn’t be doing so; never run from an enemy that can catch you; never leave your back exposed. I’m basically, doing all wrong, but how can I kill it if my attacks don’t deal any damage?
A trunk gets in my way and I almost fall – I guess I should say that I got in its way. The sounds of the furious boar get closer, it shouldn’t be long before the damn beast reaches me. Then, as a gift sent by the Gods, I spot a huge rock with some big stones lying around it. They are perfectly sized for some boar smashing. I want to see if the beast can get away unscathed this time!
Instead of stopping, I circle the rock to break the momentum of the beast and put my efforts into picking the biggest stone, which lengths half of my arm. It’s heavy, probably some 70 or 80 kg, and I struggle with it for a few seconds. Time seemed to slow down, and I turn around just in time to let the weight crash right onto the boar. For a moment, the stone, me, and the beast connect as if we’re a single thing.
My sight starts to fade, the air leaving my lungs. I tried to turn around to see the boar; I can hear its agonizing screams so it isn’t dead. Only a meter to my right, the beast is wounded, bloody, and dying. But it’s not over. I don’t trust nature to run its course and take that life. So, I push myself up, take my knife from the ground, and push it with all my strength into the open wound in the head of the boar.
The warm blood splashes over me, painting everything in red, but the beast refuses to die. Three more times, it takes three more bloody stabs until it finally gives up. Somehow, I feel better.
Blood, sweat, dirt, everything mixed over my clothes, but I don’t care, I survived. Without my permission, my body falls leaning into the dead boar. I’ll just rest here for a moment, take a quick breath before I go back to the craziness my life turned into.
CLASS
NECROMANCER
LEVEL
2
HEALTH
20 (60)
MANA
15 (20)
SKILLS
BRINK OF DEATH
YOU CAN BRING YOURSELF FROM THE BRINK OF DEATH (X). COST: HALF OF YOUR HEALTH (PERMANENT)
Oh, so I leveled up. Yay! That’s why I feel better, my total health and mana increased by 10. Now, what do the extra 5 mana points mean? Do I earn mana from leveling or? Did I earn health points too? I took a pretty bad hit there, so I’m not sure if I gained something or not. Anyway, I should try to pay more attention next time.
A deep sigh expressed my frustration, a next time would come, whether I like it or not.