Atlas held very still, hoping that the mini boss would just leave.
No such luck.
The mini boss turned its head slowly, red eyes scanning the small clearing. After it seemed all was well, it trotted to the middle of the clearing, plopping down and yawning. It let out a loud squeal, that also somehow sounded like a battle cry at the same time.
There was a loud ruckus, and 2 large boars came out from the trees, walking over to the mini boss. Atlas scanned them to see who these newcomers were.
Dread Boar Knight
Lvl: 40
With those simple words, Atlas’s hope of escaping these giant creatures dropped to basically nothing. He could barely take on a single level 30 dread boar, just these two could wreck him, not to mention that there was the mini boss to worry about.
One of the knights let out a squeal, and it fell straight into Atlas’s trap. His heart plummeted, he had completely forgotten about his plan to kill a boar.
This boar was too large for the pit trap that Atlas prepared, and just its leg fell down, uncovering the hole that Atlas had dug.
With a snort, the bright red eyes of Skar popped open. It glanced at its knight, and then at the hole below. It let out a grunt and slammed into the knight, freeing it from its earthen prison.
It glanced around, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Atlas waited for the boar to notice him, but miraculously, it never did.
Letting out a grunt, the boar lay back down on the ground, snorting at the knights. They seemed to nod, and lay down next to their lord, closing their eyes. Skar looked one last time around the clearing, before shutting its own eyes.
Atlas let go of the breath he didn’t know he had been holding, nerves frayed. This was all going so, so wrong. He climbed up higher in the tree, wanting to get further away from the terrors below him. Laying on a branch as more than twice as thick as him, falling asleep easily despite the deadly creatures far below.
***
Atlas awoke with the sun shining through the leaves, acting like a filter and sending scattered sunlight all over him. Yawning, he sat up, almost falling off of the branch he had been sleeping on.
With a jolt, all that had happened over the past day came to him, flooding his mind with memories of the terrors he had gone through.
Glancing down, he saw the boars still sleeping on the soft forest floor. Atlas lay back down, waiting for them to wake up and leave so that he could get out of this place. At that moment, his stomach gurgled at him, telling him it was hungry. He hadn’t eaten anything for almost a day, and he was starting to suffer.
His body was hurt, and it couldn’t heal itself properly without food, which put him in a dilemma. To get food, he would probably get hurt again, which would just restart the cycle. He wanted more than anything to kill the mini boss, but it just wasn’t plausible with his current powers.
At that moment, he got a notification.
Congratulations! You have survived a night of Impossible difficulty!
Title Gained! Moonwalker: you are stealthier than most people will hopefully ever know, and you can hide when there isn’t anything to hide in. +10 to DEX when trying to hide or evade something. Your skin turns solid black during night, and your eyes grow dim and become far less reflective. You can see even without any light source.
Atlas balked. This was awesome! It helped him in so many different ways! Not only would it help him hide, but knowing the darkness wouldn’t be a problem for him. 10 dexterity wasn’t anything to scoff at. It was almost a third of his total dexterity stat.
Atlas realized he hadn’t checked his status in a bit, he wanted to see what his stats were looking like now. He didn’t actually know what all of his stats were right now.
Atlas Channing
Level: 18
Class: Master Slayer
Subclass: Lifestealer
Titles: Moonwalker
Skills: Weakening Punch: 2 (A), Lifesteal: 1 (B)
Spells: None
Talent: Complete tutorial
Potential: Complete tutorial
Stats:
Endurance: 16
Constitution: 21
Strength: 42
Dexterity: 42
Wisdom: 15
Intelligence: 18
Free points: 0
Atlas smiled to himself. It was nice to be able to see a physical representation of how strong he was, it made him happy.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
He realized that his intelligence was higher than it should be. Where did the three extra stats come from?
After thinking about it for a bit, Atlas assumed that it had come from his subclass, he should have chosen it but he hadn’t been fast enough it looked like.
Swallowing, he looked down at the three hulking beasts below him, with his new upgrades, he should be able to escape without waking them up.
He stood up, jumping down and landing on another branch, the second he touched the branch, he felt strength fill him, his title must be recognising he was trying to escape.
Filled with new power, he hopped down again, jumping down over and over until he reached the ground with a dull *thump*
Atlas froze, staring at the large monsters that were just a few dozen feet away from him. Each boar was about the size of a small car, with Skar being slightly larger.
Shifting his feet, Atlas crept away, making sure not to step on the many branches and leaves that were scattered around the forest floor.
When he was a good distance away, he started to jog lightly, wanting to get away from the boars as quickly as he could.
*SNAP!*
Atlas looked back in horror as the tree that he had been on dropped one of its many branches, snapping loudly. Skar snorted, looking around before meeting Atlas’s eyes.
“Oh no…” Atlas mumbled, fear coursing through his veins, he turned and started to run.
There was a loud *crash!* behind him as Skar stood up, trampling through the trees and charging at Atlas. Atlas looked back staring into the giant creature's eyes and gulping.
Facing forward again, he had an idea, and turned left running full tilt to maintain the distance between him and Skar. He heard another loud crash and heard a tree fall to the ground.
Atlas grit his teeth. Skar was just charging through the forest, taking out anything in his way, while Atlas had to avoid the trees and go around them. It wasn’t looking good for him, the mini boss was slowly gaining on him.
Just as Atlas was starting to lose hope, he saw what he had been heading for.
The edge of the world.
Instead of slowing down, Atlas picked up speed, pumping his legs as fast as he could. Glancing behind him, he saw Skar still charging him, only about 10 feet away from him.
Hoping that his impromptu plan would work, Atlas jumped, swiftly grabbing onto a tree and pushing himself to the side.
He was only about a dozen feet from the edge when he did.
Skar shot past him, flying straight off of the edge and plummeting to his death, or so Atlas assumed. For all he knew, he would just fall forever.
He sat back, breathing heavily. That had been terrifying. After a few long seconds he stood up, stretching and looking off of the edge. He saw a distant dot falling before vanishing from view.
Sure that he had successfully killed the mini boss, he started to walk back. After a couple of minutes, he got a notification.
You have killed a Mini Boss! You get 1 skill and 1 spell! You get one basic weapon of your choosing as well.
LEVEL UP!!! X12
Atlas felt power rip through him, making him fall to his knees from the sheer amount of change that was going through his body. After a couple of seconds the pain shifted to a light burn, before finally vanishing.
Atlas breathed deeply, staring at the sky and laughing hysterically. Finally! Finally things were going his way, with this power boost, he might be able to kill one of those knights, without having to use underhanded methods.
Please choose what class/subclass to use your skill and spell tokens in. Please choose a basic weapon as well.
“Hmm…” Atlas hummed, thinking. Which would he use?
After some debate, he decided to split them up, skill into his Master Slayer class, and spell into Lifestealer subclass.
The second he thought that, more notifications appeared in front of him.
Skill gained! Hunter’s Instinct: A grade. You can spot the weaknesses of your enemies, allowing you to fight more efficiently.
Spell gained! Drain: S grade. You can use magic to steal health. It is a 1 to 2 ratio of conversion.
Atlas grinned. Those were some pretty good abilities if he did say so himself. One would make it easier to fight opponents, and the other would steal health while they were still living.
He activated Hunter's Instinct, and he felt his eyes shift somehow, perceiving the world differently. Nothing seemed to change, but Atlas assumed that was because he didn’t have any opponents at the moment. He would have to test it in battle.Unknown to him, his eyes were a burning red while the skill was activated.
Please choose a weapon. This is your last reminder.
Atlas froze. He had almost forgotten. His mind started to churn, thinking of what weapons would be best for the kind of fighting he was doing. A sword was too close range and he didn’t want to use something that used projectiles.
After a couple more seconds of contemplation, he decided on a spear. It had good range, while also letting him use punches with his off hand if need be.
Basic Spear chosen!
A blue light appeared in front of him, hovering for a few seconds before popping. When it did, it left a shining spear in its wake, hovering in mid air.
Atlas gaped, staring up at the spear in awe. This was only basic? When he stretched out his hand, reaching for the spear, it suddenly dropped, falling onto the ground.
Atlas grumbled, reaching down to pick it up. It was about 8 feet long, with a triangular head at the top. It was the perfect weapon for piercing at range, but would be all but useless in close combat.
Swinging it a couple times to get used to it, Atlas wondered what his next plan of action should be. He had a new skill and spell, along with a weapon, but was that enough to take on one of those knights? He would just have to find out.
Pulling up his status, Atlas looked at the new changes.
Atlas Channing
Level: 30
Class: Master Slayer
Subclass: Lifestealer
Titles: Moonwalker
Skills: Weakening Punch: 2 (A), Lifesteal: 1 (B), Hunter’s Instinct: 1 (A)
Spells: Drain: 1 (S)
Talent: Complete tutorial
Potential: Complete tutorial
Stats:
Endurance: 28
Constitution: 33
Strength: 78
Dexterity: 78
Wisdom: 27
Intelligence: 30
Free points: 12
He split his free points up. Adding one point to all of his stats, and divided the remaining six between wisdom and intelligence, as he assumed that they boosted the efficiency and power of his magic. Or at least he hoped they did.
Resting his spear on his shoulder, he set off into the woods, looking for some new prey. This time, he would be the hunter, not the hunted, he decided. Goal in mind, he strode off into the woods, being watched by powers that were far greater than him.