In fact, he didn't wake up to an alarm clock and it turned out to be really difficult to sleep with all the adrenaline in his blood. The status reports also became more frequent and there were significantly more death reports than in the previous night. On the one hand, the day before, he had increased the radius of his traps, provided most of the old live traps with earth spears and even placed some a little deeper in the forest.
Whatever the drums were doing, he could be sure that one of the effects was driving a horde of beasts before him. "The beasts seemed to jump into his traps only to die in them or maybe even come out again?"
Above he could often hear something colliding with his stone wall, and now and then with the log cabin itself. It sounded like one from below: A real storm of beasts that came close to a stampede. The reports he received were also a real storm surge. So he had to believe that not a single trap was not triggered. It was absurd how many times he leveled that one night that nearly catapulted him to level 29, starting to scratch close to 30.
This gave him 168 new points to distribute in his system. It almost made him dizzy to think about what that surge of strength felt like. He just threw the 68 points straight into his intelligence. Another 50 in his willpower. He divided the rest evenly between his perception and vitality.
Here he invested his points in his most important statistics and slowly the others fell by the wayside. But that should be a worry for another day. That night he had only slept a few hours, if you could call it real sleep, and he dreaded digging his way up. Although the noises above the earth had long been silent, an insane chaos still awaited him there.
With a pained expression on his face, he dug himself out of the ground with the formation of the earth. As expected of him before, there wasn't much left of the hut, as quickly as he won his new home, so much did he lose it again. There were also no more beasts to be seen, luckily no other people were present. At least nothing took up his perception, but could you always be sure?
Everything was a mess, the log house had a few collapsed roof beams. Its provisional wall was broken in many places, probably more likely to have been breached. Whatever works its way out of the depths of the forest must drive a bestial flood out of the forest.
Individual corpses of animals lay scattered everywhere. Some of them horribly disfigured, trampled to death by their successors, tripped never to get up again. One or the other corpse drifted along even in the river.
Unfortunately, his smokehouse was not spared either. Hardly anything was left out. From now on he could no longer use the hut unless he rebuilt it. There was nothing else he could do. The corpses couldn't stay on the surface, so he disappeared into the ground near his shelter. There he collected all useful magical creatures that had perished in his field or at least in the area that he equipped with his traps.
The wood of the hut, in fact the whole hut, slowly disappeared in parts into the ground below, until nothing was left from above but a free area that seemed to remind of the former dwelling.
Then he prepared to drain the pits from south to north. Crossing the river hadn't really been a problem for him for some time. In each of his traps the animals piled up and against better expectations he had to wander back and forth between his pits and the location of the log house.
He collected what he could from the animals and shifted as many as he could into the depths of his bunker complex, which consisted almost entirely of rooms to store the carcasses.
Through a very simple tunnel in the ground, the creatures were almost magically swallowed by the underground. All day long he was busy recovering corpses, renewing his pits, widening them, deepening them and increasing their effectiveness. Even the pit with the wolf was filled to the top.
It was his last pit on his way at the moment when the sun seemed to be about to set. The poor animal was caught alive among all the other animals. It was panting heavily down there, but it was amazing that it was still alive, clinging to survival. Kneeling at the edge of the pit, he peered down and began talking to the wolf.
"I'm sorry friend. I didn't see that coming. It's unfair what happened to you, but as you know, life isn't particularly fair. Oh, to whom am I telling something that you are down there is my responsibility. ”
After some thought, he decided to allow the animal its freedom. To do this, he used his magic to grab various earth spears so that he could bring most of the carcasses that had gathered on the wolf to the surface. There were a few, but soon he reached the wolf with his earth spears and pried the last of the creatures up from him. But the animal didn't move. Apparently it was hurt at some point by the Falling Beasts.
The wolf moved a little more freely and his gaze was a little less reproachful, at least from what he thought he was seeing, but still it was no comparison to the previous days. He had read about the rituals for tying an animal in the hunter's notebook, but in retrospect the formulas seemed a bit incomplete or immature so that it could really be used.
Well, however, it was a different situation. Now he wanted to help the wolf in the pit. He didn't feel guilty for trapping him, but he could still empathize with something. After all, he wasn't a monster! He reached into the hole with his mana. He could almost feel the wolf with his mana tendrils. The wolf seemed to feel the strange touch, because shortly afterwards a deep growl came from the pit, which turned into a whimper if he tried to move. The wolf's mana seemed to repel him. The mana itself made it feel like the animal's natural defense.
“Listen, my friend. I mean no harm. But I'm sure not to jump down into this hole with you, I'm definitely not that crazy yet, or at least I hope not to be so lonely that I jump to my doom. ”
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It wasn't that he believed the wolf could understand him, but still he had to venture a little. He kept pulling his tendrils back a little, whereupon he again approached the wolf with the tendrils to examine his wounds, fractures and sprains. “Perhaps natural vitality would heal him? But not that night, when another storm like this came from the depths of the forest, then the animal would have passed! ”
Finally, the wolf slowly seemed to lack strength. Magna could feel the wolf lowering his inner barrier, it collapsed into itself like a slackened muscle. Immediately he could reach into the animal with his mana tendrils. Surprisingly, he almost stumbled forward into the hole after he could grasp the animal's feelings.
So he could its "fear" feel. It was an absolutely predominant feeling that was inherent in the whole animal! So he sent over the mana tendrils, if possible, his own feeling of security in the vague hope of calming the animal. It took a moment, but the animal's breathing seemed to stabilize.
Feelings of fear and insecurity came back to him. The sun was already kissing the horizon, suggesting that not only was time running out, but the danger of the whole situation was increasing.
Slowly he sent the wolf the feelings of help, security, kinship, help, healing and everything else that came to mind. But only feelings of confusion returned.
Besides, the feeling of confusion also seemed close to asking for something. At that moment the sun seemed to sink lower and lower. Soon the drums would sound again, but this time louder than before and another storm of creatures would likely follow that of the night before.
A decision had to be made out here. He couldn't wait much longer. He wasn't particularly fond of risks, but here and now he was ready to take them. Once again the wolf sent a cautious feeling of community, which evoked a brief, curt reaction from the wolf that no longer appeared threatening.
Contrary to his personal planning, all common sense and the previously made statement, he decided to indulge in an absolutely stupid impulse. One he already knew all too well of himself. The same impulse to buy something you didn't really need or to meet someone you knew was a bad influence.
He was almost certain that this behavior had a chemical origin in his head in his previous existence, which although no longer there, was still flesh and blood.
He took his equipment, his backpack and some other things with him into the more than generously deepened hole. The wolf didn't seem to make any move. At least something, considering how often such decisions backfired for him.
The advantage of increased intelligence also seemed to be that, while it did not make him smarter, it did speed up his thought processes, such as his ability to multitask. Still connected to the animal via a mana tendril, he began to pull soil into the hole in order to seal it upwards with a few windpipes. He paid no attention to the animal. Much more he relied on his bond with the animal through his mana itself. The blanket closed quickly over the two of them, which enveloped both in a deep darkness.
The wolf felt again fear of being trapped under the ground, but he only sent him "necessary" "cave" "security", which the animal seemed to accept. It wasn't stupid. It knew very well what was happening above, but that didn't change a natural fear of closed spaces.
Sitting next to the wolf he could now see the animal's eyes literally shining, something that gave him a thought that annoyed him that he hadn't got the idea beforehand. Immediately he began to put mana on his eyes and remember the principles of a residual light amplifier. Basically, he created a night vision device with Mana so that he could see in the dark. It took a few minutes to find the right proportions, but the system soon surprised him with a skill.
[System: Congratulations, you've acquired the Mana Eye skill. You can see almost as well at night as your new friend. As the level rises, the mana cost decreases slightly and the vision becomes more effective.]
[System: Do you want to take this skill?]
[System: Skill Mana eyes acquired, acquired level 1.]
[System: Gained experience.]
Of course, he took it without a major one Hesitate at. Because the skill would allow him to save large amounts of his mana. The system is called the skill Mana Eyes. Something that actually made him smile in the dark, which the skill was apparently not unfamiliar with. However, it apparently often took place in a different execution.
Finally, in the distance, the drums began beating louder this time, as expected. Their eerie sound filled the night. It was located a handful of kilometers north of his former home, which made the increase in volume appear much more plausible. The wolf quickly became tense by the sound. His fur began to stand on end, his teeth bared. Feelings of fear, panic, and aggression poured out of him.
It was hard not to get infected by these feelings. He tried to calm the wolf by sending him similar feelings to the drumming that filled the night.
He hoped that his willpower would be sufficient and slowly began to heal the animal. A bright white glow appeared in some parts of the animal. It took a lot of concentration.
The lack of knowledge was supplemented by his willpower. Inwardly, he could literally feel how the animal was gaining more and more strength. A difference like the equinox. In order to save mana, however, he had to stop healing again and again in order to regenerate his own strength so that he himself did not become defenseless in the end. But soon the system offered him another ability that made him sit up and take notice.
[System: Congratulations, you've acquired the Minor Heal skill. Their concern, knowledge, and power created this. As the level rises, the mana cost decreases slightly and the healing becomes more effective.]
[System: Do you want to take this skill?]
[System: Small heal skill acquired, level 1 acquired.]
[System: Experience gained.]
This should essentially be the healing facilitation. The next surprise came from the wolf himself. He sent a feeling of trust and hunger, whereupon he took some of the meat out of his backpack. He tore this in two parts, one for himself and the other tossed to the wolf. This hastily began to devour the meat in front of him. Finally, what was probably the biggest surprise came. The wolf sent him the feeling of "trust, community", which was accompanied by a message from the system.
[System: Congratulations, Eisenfell offers you a community. If they accept, then the iron skin recognizes their guidance. It will protect you and always fight by your side, this bond can also arise, which deepens your bond. In addition, from now on they will share their experiences.]
[System: Do you want to accept this bond?]
"Are you serious, buddy? It would be fine if you want to be alone after tonight. You don't have to. ”The
The wolf had a different feeling. It was like "want, fellowship, friend," and for the first time in this new world he had to cry. He didn't know why, but he cried. He was trapped in this hole with a predator, which he tried to calm down, but now had to be calmed down himself. He accepted, touched, by the system.
[System: Binding skill level 1 acquired.]
[System: Experience gained.]
The wolf sent him a confused question “Pain?” Whereupon he could only laugh, shaking his head.
"No, my friend" he simply sent him the feeling of community and well-being. He had found his first friend in this new world. Probably his new best friend. Most of all he just wanted to hug the animal. It was also no longer necessary to keep the tendril active. Apparently the adoption created something like a natural bond between the two. Finally he used his new healing ability on the wolf until it had completely recovered from its wounds, whereupon this riot licked his face. His big rough tongue spread a huge amount of saliva on his face, but this time he didn't want to complain about such little things as in his life before. No, he grabbed the wolf by the head and rubbed his own face happily against his. Ironically, the new skills brought him another level too, but that was what he cared about at the moment.