Alaster did not allow himself to panic. He allowed his mask to fall off, allowing his Cold and Violent self to appear. His heart immediately slowed. His stance relaxed into the one he had trained in. And his eyes looked everywhere, seeking for any possible threat.
However, the forest was quiet. There was no rampaging beast or screaming monster. It was an uncomfortable silence, but not one that was threatening. The thick snow that covered the world around the boy dampened any sound.
Allowing himself to relax, Alaster shivered. The fancy new clothes that Isabella had bought him were meant to be worn during the winter months, but they were meant to be worn with a coat of some kind while outside.
Alaster remembered the cloak that Lukas had gifted him and glanced at the ring, where it was stored, but without mana, he could not access it. It was a simple ring, only an Iron Band. Alaster would have worried about its durability, but he knew that Dimensional Bags and Rings were strengthened naturally by the magic.
A strong gust of wind pushed into Alaster, forcing him to take a step and huddle against himself. Remembering some of the lessons his father had taught him about staying warm in the winter, Alaster rushed over to a cluster of trees near where he had fallen.
The trees would block the wind from that direction, and Alaster huddled against it. Alaster hyped himself up and began to dig through the surrounding snow, piling it up on the edges. In this way, he fashioned himself a small little hole that would further protect him from the wind. He faintly remembered that the snow would also slightly insulate him, making him warmer. It seemed weird to him that snow could help to keep him warm, but he didn't doubt his father's words. He already remembered so little of them.
Alaster rubbed his hands together and kept them close to his body to warm them back up. As he did so, the boy looked up through the tree branches and saw the sky obscured by thick clouds. As he watched, the cloud passed in front of the moon, blocking what little pale light it sent to the world below, and darkness took hold.
Alaster had never feared the dark. But he did learn to fear it, or more specifically, the creatures that called it home. And he was not the only one in the forest that felt the same. As the light retreated, what little noise the creatures of the forest gave off, quieted even more, casting the woods into silence.
The boy could not do anything more, at least, he did not know what more he could do at that moment. He had no clue where Colius had sent him, so he had no idea where the City lay. If he moved from that spot, he would likely freeze or at the very least get very sick. And that was if the Monsters that hunted at night did not find him first.
So, the boy sat and waited. Even as his blood boiled, urging him to return to Onigas and protect Isabella from the masked men, he stayed still. Those men had been looking for him, and had somehow found him. Alaster simply hoped that they would leave the Siphas family alone now that he was gone.
Alaster briefly entertained the idea that the rest of the guards had arrived in time, and they had either captured or killed the masked men, but he doubted it. After all, the men had somehow gotten past all the guards undetected. The boy then wondered if they had somehow killed all the guards to get past, but that would not have been possible.
The masked men were without a doubt a powerful group, but he had seen them struggle to get past the guards in the Banquet Hall, and they outnumbered the guards. Even if they specialized in sneak attacks and ambushes, Alaster doubted they would have been able to do so repeatedly without a single guard calling the alarm.
[Receiving your Class in ten seconds. Be prepared.]
'Now? I'm getting my class now?'
Alaster's mind raced. His heart beat faster in excitement. Every child wished they got their class sooner. Having a Class meant so much to everyone. It practically defined who you were. Alaster had personally seen some of the older kids in the village have their entire lives thrown around when they got their Class.
A kid could spend their entire life hoping and training to receive a Warrior Type Class with a sword, but then get an Archer Type Class.
As those ten seconds passed, oh so very slowly, Alaster's mind recognized this as the first step to his revenge. He would grow in strength, and then hunt down each and every person responsible for his family's murder and theft.
The tenth second came and immediately, Alaster's entire body was racked with pain. More so than he had ever endured, even when he took that beating from the man attempting to kidnap Isabella. Every muscle in his body clenched, but it not do anything to alleviate the agony. Alaster opened his mouth to scream, but all that came out was a pitiful gasp.
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
His entire body felt like it was being burned by a Dragon's flame, but his veins felt like ice shards were being shoved through. The boy began to bleed from the nose and his eyes turned bloodshot.
But then, just as it seemed to last for ages, it vanished, just as suddenly as it had come.
All the strength left from Alaster's body, and he slumped against the trees and the frozen ground, gasping for breath.
[Congratulations. You have received the Class: Death Mage]
The words appeared before his eyes, even when he closed them, the words were still there. As soon as his mind processed the final word, they vanished, and new lines appeared.
[You have been gifted the Spell: Necrotic Bolt]
[You have been gifted the Spell: Raise Undead]
[You have been gifted the Spell: Bone Crafting]
[To see your Status, simply think 'Status'. It may also be easier to say 'Status']
Alaster immediately thought it, and before him, appeared his Status.
[Class: Death Mage
Level: 1
EXP: 0%
Health: 120/120
Health Regeneration: 5/min
Mana: 130/130
Mana Regeneration: 1/min
Spells: Necrotic Bolt, Raise Undead, Bone Crafting
Strength: 12
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 14 (12+2)
Wisdom: 19 (14+5)
Intelligence: 16 (13+3)]
As he had been told, his Status told him a lot, but just left him with more questions. In fact, just about the only question that was answered was why Mage Types level so much slower than any other Type at the lower levels.
Ten stat points was the expected and normal someone would be, at level 1. Anything above, or even below, was due to something they had done. Alaster had worked out his body, which gave him physical stats above the standard ten. He had taken lessons and learned as much as he could, which gave him increased mental stats.
Strength determined how hard they could hit with a melee weapon, but this was heavily reliant on the weapon, and its usage. If someone with 100 strength attacked a monster made of rock with a rapier, he would do less damage than someone with 50 strength who attacked the same monster with a hammer. The location, and even the angle, of the hit was also crucial.
Dexterity was how fast or quick they physically were. How easily they could maneuver their body. Weapons such as bows, or daggers used Dexterity more than Strength when calculating damage, though strength still played a role, just like DEX did with STR weapons, such as hammers.
Constitution was how tough the person was, both to damage and kill. If a person with 100 CON was attacked while they had no armor, they would still take less damage than a person with 50 CON who had on armor. Each point in Constitution, above ten, granted an additional 5 health. As for its regeneration, each ten points over 10 would grant an additional 1 Health Regen, making healing much more important at higher levels.
Wisdom's prime factor was how quickly you regenerated mana. Every ten WIS over the standard ten would give you another point in Mana Regen. The second factor was how quickly you could cast a spell. However, this increase in speed was not detailed in the Status, and was more of a feeling. It was the most important Stat for most Battle Mages.
Lastly, there was Intelligence. INT determined how large of a Mana Pool one had access to. Similar to CON, a point in INT would grant 5 Mana. INT was crucial for any Mage because as the Mage leveled his Class, they would have access to stronger magic, but that stronger magic cost more Mana. And while many spells would cost less mana as it was leveled, some cost even more. INT also determined just how effective the spell was, such as its damage, or area. But just as with WIS, this was not in the Status and could only be felt or seen.
Alaster also knew there were bonuses once a stat reached 50, 100, and 200. However, those bonuses were different and tailored to each class.
A Warp Mage like Colius had put most of his points into INT, as the majority of spells Warp Mages used were Mana intensive. But another mage might have a lot of smaller spells, which used less mana. Meanwhile, very few abilities of a Warrior Type Class used mana at all.
Alaster shook his head to clear it. Looking again at his Status, he saw that CON, WIS, and INT all had modifiers. But he knew what they were. Each Novice Class granted ten stat points, distributed among the stats depending on the Class itself. They were very important. Not only for the numbers themselves, but because it was practically the only clue a Novice would get as to what their class specialized in. That and the starting Spells, for mages, and Abilities, for non-mages.
As a Mage, it was obvious that his starting Stats would be in WIS and INT, but he was surprised that he would also get some in CON. After all, Spell casters were usually attacking from a distance. If the enemy was close enough to hurt the Mage, he had already failed.
Alaster would have thought that if he did get Starting Stats in a third stat, that it would be DEX, so he could avoid attacks better. But clearly his Class felt differently.
The numbers of the Starting Stats were just as important. His Class had put emphasis on WIS over INT, but an entire two points, while CON was only behind INT by one. Each level would grant five stat points, but that did not mean the person could not train and raise the stats by itself. The Class was practically telling Alaster to focus on WIS first, and INT and CON second.
A strong gust of wind blew across the slow, kicking up a small flurry. Alaster shivered again and glanced at his ring. Now that he had Mana, he could access the ring.