Waking up I followed my new daily routine of eating raw meat and practicing my whip skill before heading out with Adelinda and fighting groups of goblins. Due to Null learning to produce more than one blade of grass that can attack enemies it became easier to search for prey according to my dragon teacher.
Although we seem to find then at the same pace as before. And after ten days of steadily killing things I've reached level seven while Null reached level nine and is only one step away from Its first evolution. But the problem is that with each level the exp gained from various goblins lowers while the requirement for leveling up increases.
At this point Null and I should be capable of surviving in the level ten area that we’re currently in. Well it’s mostly due to the fact that null has become really scary. And the inside of my shadow is like some kind of bottomless pit. Still at the rate we’re going I should be able to reach level ten in a couple of weeks then I plan to head to a city.
By the way I've put every stat point I get into intelligence, I don’t really know if that’s a good idea or not but it’s helped so far. With more mana I can use heavy strike more often and keep my spells for longer periods of time.
‘Child do you plan to keep that malice weed with you?’ [Adelinda]
Ahh, I know why she’s asking this. Originally the malice weed, Null, was just going to be contracted for practice but now that it’s been with me I’ve grown attached and almost never have it go to my summoner’s space. And I have it that way for good reason, Null is ridiculously strong and having it always in my shadow makes me feel safe.
The reason for this isn’t that it has surprisingly high stats, the reason is the fast growth skill. That combined with the fact that it’s planted in my shadow makes it hard to kill by normal means. Adelinda also understands this and knows that I can no longer think of it as just something to practice with for a while then throw away or sacrifice in some petty battle.
“Yes, I intend to keep it with me and nurture it.” [Enrique]
Adelinda had a contemplative look for a while, which is really hard to tell on a dragon but after some practice I am now able to read her facial expressions.
‘Okay good child. Now before it reaches level ten I will bestow upon you a gift, a name. Normally names are given to subordinates but I shall name you as if you were one of my own granting you power without placing restrictions. Now your name shall be… Enra Pitkis. Yes that should be fine, and that old man should be fine with it too.’ [Adelinda]
As she finished speaking the light around me faded and everything went dark. I didn’t faint instead my surroundings instantly went dark. And I felt a slight change in my body. After checking my status menu I found that I had become a named monster and had a plus two rais to all my stats. The name is a little weird but I'm not going to complain after getting this with practically no strings attached. Looking at my skills I even have a new one.
[table=black]shadow transmutelv.1turn any inorganic or dead object into a shadow. Shadows are insubstantial and can pass through objects but this skill requires a large amount of mana. (The original Pitkis granted you this ability for taking up his name.)[/table]
Hmm seems like I can now turn inanimate objects I touch into shadows. That has some potential to be useful but I can't really think of anything for now, maybe in stealing things? Also it seems there was already a monster named Pitkis and he somehow gave me his blessing.
‘Oh I'm surprised that old man would help out, you should have gotten something good from that. Now as I have named you as one of my own you have the right to name monsters as well, but this is limited to two monsters, so use this wisely. As you grow in strength you’ll be able to name more but for now that's all. Also from now on you are not to call me Adelinda as I have named you you are to call me either teacher or mother.’ [Adelinda]
Well she did name me as if I were her child but calling her mother would be a bit odd so I'll go with teacher.
“Yes teacher… Are we going to go out and raise my level more today?” [Enra]
‘Hmm as you were just named you should have more strength and it should be possible for you to survive the outskirts of the cave with the malice weed’s help. Today go out on your own around this area and be careful not to die.’ [Adelinda]
Noooo! The time finally came for me to go out on my own, from what I know the monsters around here should reach level ten and finding something that matches my level will be difficult but it should still be possible.
Because of all the goblins I've killed together with Null I don’t exactly panic anymore but the fear of dieing is ever present. Because of that I left the cave slowly and with caution. There were no monsters right outside the cave but in the forest just ahead there should be.
Normally we don’t run into them because of teacher but now that I'm alone things should be different. Walking cautiously for a couple of minutes I spotted a large black and red spider. Because there was no way I would fight it I turned my head the other way and began my search for another foe. The spider specializes in capturing its prey in a similar way that Null does. And if we’re talking about levels, states, or skills the spider wins.
With a long distance web it can trump my best defence which is Null. For now I need to find a creature that will recklessly charge at me. Looking around some more I spotted three gray wolves.
Each one reached level nine and their stats were much higher than mine but that's fine. After all a wolf would need to bite or claw at me meaning that Null should be able to protect me. Ahh if only I had a bow then this would be a great opportunity to use it. Well no matter, forgetting things that had no way of being helped I began to cast support spells on Null.
Lately my support spells have gotten quite good and can be cast at little cost, I just wish I had other spells with stronger effects but a plus five to all physical stats can be considered quite good so I have nothing to complain about.
Because of the spells I cast the wolves quickly noticed me however Null was already quietly spreading itself around using the grass as cover. When the wolves were close enough it sprang the trap and began to entangle them using its various blades of grass to grasp onto the wolves. However the wolves wouldn’t give up without a fight and began to tear at Null with their claws and fangs.
They also seemed to have noticed that I was the cause of this and aimed to finish me as soon as possible. Because I couldn’t just sit there doing nothing I brandished my whip and began striking at the leading wolf despite my efforts however all I could do was become a minor inconvenience. Not giving up however I began to aim at their eyes as that would damage any creature. Despite that however these things were ferocious and continued to tear through Null and advance steadily towards me.
Seeing that I wasn’t having an effect and the wolves were drawing closer I back peddled and created some distance while they continued to struggle. Thinking that this would turn into a battle of attrition soon I cast the three support spells on myself and used heavy strike twice as fast as possible which the whip.
One of the hits landed on the nose of the leading wolf and the other landed on the eye of one of the other two. Because of the pain the two wolves stopped and gave Null an opportunity to fully entangle them. The third one however was still going strong and wouldn’t let up. Seeing that its two fellow wolves were captured it escaped after a fierce struggle.
Thinking back on the fight I should have added more stats to Nulls endurance instead of putting everything on strength. I was never a top gamer so thinking far ahead was never a plan instead I just thought about the moment and got carried away and put everything into one stat, that might have been a mistake.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Because there are two wolves I killed one by repeatedly striking at its neck and Null choked one to death. Both bodies were once again taken into my shadow. Looking at my status I seemed to have gained a lot of exp. at level five I need quite a lot and it was difficult to get there by just killing goblins.
Null was capable of doing so because killing a group of seven became easy but because my strikes are relatively weak and I run out of methods to kill one after running out of mana I was limited to the number I could hunt. This is where a sharp object would help a lot.
A spear might be nice, it has some distance and a sharp end. But he had to work with what he had, and he did not have a sharp spear or anything that would allow him to kill without having to spend mana.
“Null, wait I've been given the power to give you a proper name now. Then I Enra Pitkis name you Null.” [Enra]
Null also had a slight power up gaining one stat point in each stat but didn’t gain any skills or have anything flashy like being enveloped in darkness happen. Still anything helps. Following that we went around looking for more wolves but we only found a pack of seven and I determined that going against them would be suicide. There was also a wild boar but it had reached level fifteen and had stats that would tear right through Null and kill me instantly, I should go back to hunting horned rabbits.
“Ahhh if only I had something sharp then this wouldn’t be so complicated.” [Enra]
When I said that Null began to rustle and out of my shadow came a horn oddly resembling that of a horned rabbit.
“Wait you didn’t eat those things already?” [Enra]
Well it doesn’t answer me but it seemed to sway side to side saying no. Hmm this could help save mana when finishing off an opponent but this still means we have to find a good one and without Teacher’s help it isn’t quite so simple.
On my way back I once again spotted the spider and after checking its status I determined that with a sneak attack it should be possible to win casting shadow cloak on myself I kept to the ground and got close enough were Null could begin to spread its blades. Hopefully it doesn’t notice the incoming strike. As Null got closer to the spider its presence was noticed.
“Null entangle it quickly.” [Enra]
With nothing left to do but go on the assault I had Null attack, the spider should be able to rip Null apart in a similar form that the wolves did but with only one spider we should be able to take it down. Unfortunately I had underestimated the creature called Dark spider and the skill known as poison magic.
I had thought that the spider would need time or release something from its fangs but it's body began to secret poison that killed all of Nulls blades. Seeing that this attempt had failed the only choice was to cast every support spell and run.
But I didn’t get far as the spider shot its thread and caught my leg. Having fallen the spider came to me slowly, its body continuously releasing poison and stopping any attempt from Null to stop it. Ahh I'm probably going to die now, but not without a fight, though this is why I wanted a bow to be a rear guard. With the horned rabbits horn in hand I was prepared to give it one swing to at least take out an eye before dieing.
‘Ohh young thing I gave you something good and you don’t use it, come now shadows go through anything. Let it fall through.’ [???]
As if possessed I swung down my arm while using my new skill. The horn in my hands turned into an incorporeal shadow and I could no longer hold it but it still had some momentum and made its way to the spider. Then when the shod of disappeared into the spider's head it collapsed on the floor no longer moving.
Not knowing what happened Null took in the spider and I made my way back to the cave. in the cave I checked my status. I had leveled up from killing the spider but didn’t really understand what happened.
Wait the shadow went and entered the spider then it died. Could the shadow horn have killed the spider? No the shadow was incorporeal and can’t damage anything, but what it it became a regular object inside the spider? Doesn’t that mean I just got a crazy skill? This is something that should be tested.
[table=black]StatusNAMEEnraPitkisRaceShadow ImpStat points:1Exp:7/40Level6AttributeShadowStrength4(↑ 2)Intelligence14(↑4)Endurance6(↑ 2)Agility8(↑ 2)skillsShadow magiclv.9(↑4)Use magic to manipulate shadows.[tr]Archerylv.1Use a bow with some skill.Summeninglv.6(↑ 3)Summon creatures of your attribute.Identifylv.maxIdentify anything around you.
(does not work on anyone more than five levels above you)Contractlv.1Contract and enslave anything on the same level or weaker then you.Support magiclv.17(↑10)Magic buffs to support the basic stats.Whiplv.13 (↑5)Use a while with some skill.[/table]
[table=black]StatusNAMENullRaceMalice WeedStat points:0Exp:17/100Level9AttributeShadowStrength16(↑4)Intelligence3(↑ 1)Endurance15(↑ 10Agility8(↑ 1)skillsEntanglelv.16(↑7)Trap an opponent.[tr]Fast growthlv.21(↑6)grow your body at a fast rate.Self plantinglv.3Plant yourself into any environment.Shadow plantlv.12(↑2)Plant yourself in shadows.[/tds]Whiplv.25(↑5)[td2]Use a while with some skill.[/table]
(Authors note: so I'm going to say this but I've never been good ad stat distribution in any games and have always focused on one thing when I play RPGs. Sometimes I'll be a great tank with no power and sometimes I'll be the kind of person who kills all in one hit but dies in one too. So having said that my charecter will overcome my gaming flaws. Maybe with style. And thanks for reading if your have time please read my other work with more chapters. Though it's not game world. Royalroadl.com/fiction/5687