Vlad breathed heavily as he gazed up at the night sky, covered in leaves and branches, only allowing very little light from the moon to peek through. With each raspy inhale, his lungs ached along with his muscles that were strained to their absolute limit. Since he was no longer under the effects of his adrenaline, he was feeling every ounce of pain coursing through his body. But it didn’t matter to him at the moment. After all, even when he was currently battered and beaten to near death, he still won the fight. And that was all that mattered to him at the moment.
“Hehe…heh,” Vlad lightly chuckled, though that also made the pain worse than before.
While Vlad was sprawled on the ground, he contemplated why in the hell he was in this trial simulation anyway. Why did he have to prove his faith in the hunt? And why did proving his faith involve killing five hunting maidens? Just what exactly was all of this for?
Before he could question this any further, another notification panel appeared.
[Congratulations for completing the First Trial of [the Fable of ???]]
[You have proven your faith to the Hunt!]
[The Hunting Goddess is pleased with your determination and grit in defeating her maidens. You have shown great potential to her and are worthy of receiving her blessing!]
[You have been chosen as her Divine Hunter!]
[You have received the [Divine Hunter’s Senses] skill!]
[You have received the [Divine Hunter’s Physique] skill!]
[You have received the [Divine Hunter’s Spirit] Skill!]
All of a sudden, Vlad felt a surge of energy engulf his body. His muscles painfully strained, locking up entirely as if he were frozen in ice. Deep within his body, a warm yet rushing feeling enveloped him. The muscles on his body then tensed and bulged as they grew bigger and stronger than before.
As his body was being tempered, so were his senses. The rustling of the leaves grew louder, to where Vlad could hear every individual one in clearer detail. His raspy breathing became louder and more defined as if it was coming through a microphone. He could even hear the slight creaking of his damaged ribs as they expanded with each inhalation.
When Vlad looked back up at the sky, the light from the moon became brighter as well. Even a single beam peeking through the tree gave off the intensity of a fully revealed moon. Speaking of the leaves, Vlad’s vision instinctively zoomed in on the leaves to where he could make out the individual veins branching out the midrib. His telescopic vision saw more than just the leaves, to where he perceived the rough surface of the bark of a tree in exquisite detail.
Taking a deep breath, he nearly gagged as a new wave of smells assaulted his nostrils, unlike anything he smelled before, overwhelming his nose. The fragrant scent of the forest, the putrid manure smell from some animal that just took a dump, and even the crisp smell of the air all over the dense words. Vlad could smell all of it. And he wished he didn’t due to how bad it was all together.
He could even taste the air, among other things. Licking his lips, he got the faint taste of cheese and beef mixed in with a little bit of blood from his wounds. The cheese and beef are from a burger he ate sometime before the apocalypse. The taste was awful since his blood mixed in the flavor.
Then there was a warm energy he felt surge deep within his chest. It pulsed rhythmically like a heartbeat while slowly engulfing his entire body, filling him with raw power that couldn’t be compared to his physical body being enhanced. It was like his very soul…was going through a metamorphosis as well. It was as if his entire spiritual existence was becoming clearer and…divine.
As he endured the sudden heightening of his senses, body, and soul, the sensation slowly went away as Vlad got used to it. He could still sense anything and everything, but he managed to dial it down so he wasn’t drowning in his senses. Pulling himself up from the ground, his legs shook like mad before stabilizing, allowing him to stand straight.
The moment he was on his feet, he quickly noticed something. The pain from before from his wounds wasn’t agitating him. He didn’t even feel a slight throb from his leg or shoulder. If anything, he felt good. Better, even. Reaching for his shoulder, Vlad poked at his wound to see if he was just numb to the pain, only to realize the injury was gone. His finger pressed against new soft skin rather than a gory puncture wound.
Pulling back, he glanced at his finger, only to see dried-up blood crumbling on the spot. Vlad then closed his hand into a fist, noticing a difference in power compared to before.
“Huh…” He tilted his head, bewildered yet amazed at whatever just happened to him. He quickly checked his other injuries and confirmed that miraculously enough, all of his wounds were completely healed.
His shoulder and leg from the spear, his ankle, and side from the daggers, and even the rope burns from the whip were gone as if they were never even there to begin with. Vlad stood there in awe, trying to process his situation. As he did, a question popped up in his head, and that was how the hell did his wounds heal?
Could it be from when the Divine Hunter notification appeared? It said that he received three skills, and the moment he got them, his body suddenly changed. Although it was a long run, he speculated that his sudden metamorphosis also caused some kind of regeneration as well. Like a side effect of sorts. Of course, Vlad didn’t see much of an issue with it since he was technically healed by it.
Then a thought occurred. If he received skills, then it should show up in his status window, right? Curious to see if his theory was correct, Vlad immediately pulled up his status to check it out.
Name: Vlad Stoker
Age: 20
Species: Human
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Class: None
Level: 1
EXP: 0/100
SP: 0
MP: 100/100
Attributes:
Strength: 9
Endurance: 9
Agility: 11
Senses: 10
Magic: 10
Soul: 10
Skills:
[Divine Hunter’s Physique] (S), [Divine Hunter’s Senses] (S), [Divine Hunter’s Spirit] (S)
Vlad’s eyes widened. “W-what the hell? What does ‘S’ mean? Is that supposed to be my rank of the skill or something?”
Not only were Vlad’s three skills registered in his status window, but if he was right, their rankings were also the highest and strongest. S-rank was the pinnacle of ranking because they were deemed the most powerful. And Vlad managed to receive a trio of them.
[Divine Hunter’s Physique] – (S-Rank): User is blessed by the Hunting Goddess with a heightened Physique, making them stronger, faster, and more durable on a Divine Level.
[Divine Hunter’s Senses] – (S-Rank): User is blessed by the Hunting Goddess with heightened Senses, allowing them to see, smell, hear, feel, and taste better on a Divine Level.
[Divine Hunter’s Spirit] – (S-Rank): User is blessed by the Hunting Goddess with a Divine Spirit, enhancing your Magic and Soul capabilities.
“Whoa…” Vlad marveled at the description of his skills, a big grin plastered on his face.
So he had three skills that enhanced all of his attributes. Though, strangely enough, none of his stats were affected by it. And yet despite this contradiction, Vlad still felt different compared to before. He felt stronger, faster, and more alert than ever. Even the warm energy from before still pulsed within his soul, flooding with him the same raw power from before.
He briefly dusted off his clothes and looked around the forest. Aside from the chirping crickets and critter-crawling bugs, he was the only one present in the forest now. No maidens trying to kill him or anything else. Since it was so quiet and peaceful, Vlad sighed before relaxing his body. Between his fight with the hunting maidens and his transformation, he was glad he could loosen up even for a moment.
Sadly, the moment didn’t last long before another panel materialized in front of him.
[The Goddess of the Hunt is deeply moved by dedication to win!]
[The Goddess wishes to give you a gift!]
“A-another one…” Vlad panicked after reading the message, afraid of what was to come.
The last gift he received caused him great pain. Now the goddess or whoever it was wanted to give him another one? Out of fear, Vlad quickly shut his eyes and braced himself for what was to come. Whether it was pain or not, he was ready.
[You have received the Divine Silver Bow!]
Instead of a wave of pain, something fell into Vlad’s hands. Slightly opening his eyes, he gazed at an extraordinary item. It was a long bow made entirely of silver. The weapon glistened from the moonlight peeking through the trees, giving it a divine or majestic aura. Upon closer inspection, Vlad noticed that even the string itself was made of silver too.
While holding it, he couldn’t help but feel mesmerized by the weapon. However, there was this nagging feeling in the back of his mind. Something that bothered Vlad that he couldn’t just let it go. And that nagging feeling was pretty obvious.
“Why give me a bow when I use a spear? This weapon is practically useless to me!” With a groan, Vlad vigorously scratched his head.
It didn’t make any sense to give him a bow rather than a spear. Sure, Vlad knew a little bit of archery, but not enough to use to protect himself from potential enemies. To him, this bow would be better as an ornament on his wall rather than a weapon to use for survival. Vlad was starting to believe that this Goddess was just screwing with him.
Out of curiosity, Vlad decided to appraise the item, wanting to know what exactly it would show.
[Divine Silver Bow of the Hunting Goddess - (Mythic-Grade): A bow forged out of pure divine silver and presented as a gift to the Hunting Goddess. It is a weapon that is highly effective against undead creatures and other monstrous creatures like demons and devils. Has ??? Damage]
Vlad's eyes widened at the sight of its rarity. "Mythic Grade?! Are you kidding me?! I thought these types of items were extremely rare."
According to the system, Mythic grade items weren't that easy to come across. He figured that he had to go through a lot of hardship to find a Mythic-Grade item, and yet he managed to gain one as a gift to some goddess. He was now conflicted, unsure of whether or not the system was messing with him or not.
Before he could get an answer to this question, another panel appeared, pulling his eyes away from the Mythic Grade item for a moment.
[You have completed the First Fable “The Divine Hunter” of the [Fable of ???]]
[Redirecting Player to the Second Fable.]
“Wait, what?!” Vlad blurted out in surprise. The moment he gets a chance to relax, he’s forcibly taken to another place?!
Before he could do anything to stop it, his vision was slowly engulfed with white particles. He saw nothing but a white light for a few moments before the particles dispersed in front of him. And when they did, his entire scenery changed. And in the most drastic way possible.
Instead of the beautiful and nature-like environment of the dense forest, Vlad was now in a dark narrow hall of stairs that was situated into an incline. Facing the wall, he saw that it was completely made of stone, much like the one from the Greek temple. However, this stone looked more withered and…ominous.
Vlad wasn’t sure if it was his newly enhanced senses, but he suddenly had a bad feeling about his current location. Then there was the putrid smell assaulting his nose. It was a mixture of rotten meat and sulfur, and he could smell it all over the narrow stair hall. Just then, Vlad looked down to get a better look at the stairs he was standing on, only to recoil in disgust at what he witnessed.
Scattered all over the staircase were dozens upon dozens of corpses. Their skin was either falling off or already gone, revealing blackened skeletons underneath. For the ones that still had skin, they were slowly decaying with their decomposing flesh, muscle, and nerves on full display for all to see. Surprisingly enough, no flies were having a feast on the corpses, which Vlad found strange, but between the ominous staircase and the dead bodies, he had bigger issues on his hands at the moment.
With his nose pinched to block the rotten smell, Vlad began to climb the stairs to see if he could get away from the bodies while also figuring out where he was right now. While moving up, he looked ahead and saw a small bit of light in the distance. That was likely the exit. Doing his best to ignore the countless bodies that blanketed the stairs, he continued his way to the opening.
It didn’t take long before he reached the top, to which he made it to ground level, only for his nose to get assaulted by more sulfur along with a faint smell of ash floating in the air. Aside from that, he had a whole new problem before him. Vlad expected to find himself in another temple, much like when this whole thing started, but that wasn’t the case this time.
He soon found himself in a barren, hellish wasteland. The sky was gray with ash particles blowing in the wind. The ground was black like charcoal, with not an ounce of any other color in sight. No green grass, no blue ocean or lake or river, no brown trees; nothing. To make matters worse, Vlad looked ahead and saw a thick fog. When he looked closely with his telescopic vision, he saw something rather…disturbing.
The thick fog was forming faint silhouettes of skeletons, all conglomerated together like a mass of monstrous calcium. Skulls, ribcages, and even spines were formed in the fog, while being distorted as mist shifted about, giving the skeletal silhouettes an even more haunting appearance.
And near the skeleton fog was a massive and medieval-looking castle. It was in the distance up a very steep and treacherous mountain. Dark clouds loomed around the castle before a boom of thunder erupted as well as black lightning striking down near the building. The entire scene felt like something from a horror movie.
As Vlad took in his new surroundings quickly, he quickly posed a rather reasonable question, given his current predicament.
“Am I…in Hell?”