ISMUND
Seeing the town on the edge of the horizon I continue my slow march forward with the girl drifting behind me. As I approach there’s something clearly off. It’s more than there was at the village before and it seems to span further.
What is it?
Squinting, I try to get a better look but my eyes are still greeted with the abrasive light reflecting off of the snow.
That’s weird.
As I get closer I eventually find lots of small masses surrounding the gate entrance. Figuring that must be where the weird feeling is coming from I pull my swords out of the air (courtesy of the box). While I still don’t know what it is, I can tell it’s no good.
As soon as I can register that it’s a bunch of rabbits they all rush towards me.
“SCREE!!!”Turning behind me I yell over my shoulder, “These are not rabbits, they’re monsters! Go find some cover!”
Hoping she heard, I charged towards them and split my swords into two separate smaller blades, looking similar to katanas.
As soon as the first one comes within striking distance I whack it out of the air with one strike. Either they’re weak or the swords are sharp because they go straight through it. Not caring which one it was, it worked. Continuing my charge forward, I leave a mess in my wake.
Eventually, they get the bright idea, to surround me instead of just charging forward in a line. Doing my best to manage them, it’s not enough to keep every scratch away.
“Gah!”
One of them manages to leap up and bite my arm. In the heat of the moment I decide to hit another rabbit with the one still on my arm, dislodging it, but leaving some nasty blood trickling down. Ignoring it I carry on until it starts dying down.
Suddenly I catch a glimpse of the girl being chased by a single hare, heading straight for me. The battlefield is almost empty, and I’m able to spare the time to dispatch the little beast. But, instead of going back to cover, she keeps following behind me.
“What are you doing?! I told you to hide!” I call behind me.
“Well um, there wasn’t any. It’s all flat, the only thing close is the village.”
“If you’re going to stay here stay quiet so I can focus!”
A minute or two later I’m just getting rid of the stragglers.
> [You have defeated D tier frost hares. You’re Body has gained 10 points. Sorry, that wasn’t hard enough to warrant much. (385/500) to C tier Body.]
I guess that’s a warm-up for the dungeons.
Looking up, I notice a few armed guards just sitting there doing nothing.
I Shout, “Hey you!” as they start trying to sneak away.
“Why didn’t you help? You’re both capable of battle and armed. What’s your excuse?” I look up staring him straight in the eye.
Simply staring down at me one of them responded, “You had it covered, no need to jump in if I don’t have to. That’d be risky. The other guard simply nods and starts opening the gate.
Some guards. I’ll tell you that much.
After moving into the town I swear the guards are staring daggers into my back.
Looking behind me I can tell that Drifa grabbed a few of the carcasses with her. Their blood was already mostly frozen, so I guessed that Balder’s cloak was safe.
Stopping I turn around.
“Can I have that?” I ask pointing my finger at the hares.
“Oh sure of course. You got them after all, I just figured you might want them for something.” She says flustered.
“Yeah, that’s why I want them.” She nods shyly, handing it over.
Swiping them I turn towards what looks like a butcher.
“What can I do you for?” her feminine voice calls out.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Presenting the corpses I ask, “Will you buy these?”
She begins to wrinkle her nose, “The skin is certainly useful, but the meat from the immigrants tastes overly metallic. It’s also distasteful to eat those in need unless truly needed. The poor fluffy critters could’ve evolved enough to go free and enjoy the world.” The woman says pouting her lip.
> [Dungeon monster meat is metallic because of the corrupted energy coursing through them, it can be deadly if it is not cleansed. Users have found it distasteful to eat monster meat because they could be friends with them on a basic level. However that is mostly a guise, they mostly don’t want to lose their alliance with the invaders.]
I reach out with an open hand, “So you’ll take it?”
“Yes.”, she hands over a few coppers.
Right after the transaction is complete Drifa looks up at me holding a rabbit leg, “Can you save this piece, please? I want to practice on it.” I obligingly put it in my storage, even if I have no idea what she wants to do with it, or what she means by 'practicing'.
Once we arrive back at Brooks Bar, Drifa gives me a weird look.
“What?” I say, raising my eyebrows.
“You're a sight to behold if you didn't notice." snorting, she points at the blood and scratches from the fight covering me.
“I was going to deal with that, no need to remind me.” The girl doesn’t seem to believe me but stays silent. That being the end of that, I walk up to the counter.
“Give me a pair of separate rooms and baths,” I say, handing over the money. Swiping it before it even hits the counter Brook grins and counts it. After she nods we go on our way.
Before I go very far up the stairs I turn around. “You don’t look conspicuous yourself. Go run over to the tailors and grab something less… odd.” I grab just enough money so that she can get one pair of clothes.
Heading into my room I access my inventory.
> [Box Contents: (strange red bandana X2), (mysterious sword), (Home-made, fine cloak: Red), (too many toothpicks), (Family Crest), (Coin), (bandages), (Jerky), (extra set of clothes), (knife).]
I switch out the clothes I’m wearing for the clean ones in my storage and head over for my bath.
* * *
Back in my room, just as I’m about to go to bed I hear something at the door accompanied by the jiggle of the doorknob.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The fog that was sending me to sleep cleared up right away. I jog over to the door and crack it open finding the same girl who’s been following me around behind it.“What is it? You should’ve been able to afford an extra pair of clothes.” I say, opening the door all the way.
“It’s not that. I got bitten by one of those rabbits! I saw that you had some bandages earlier…” She says questioningly.
Letting her in I ask, confused, “But wouldn’t you have noticed that happened I don’t know. As soon as you got it?”
“It’s numb, that’s why I didn’t notice!” she hisses.
Drawing my brows together I tell her, “Open your status. It’ll tell you what it is.”
“But you never told me how.” The girl whines.
Pinching the bridge of my nose I tell her that she just needs to say ‘status’.
“Oh. I didn’t think of that.”After she accesses it, Drifa freezes, stares for a few minutes and then crumples in on herself holding her ears.
What happened?
* * *
DRIFA
> [Error, updating…]
Finally, I opened it.
> [Congratulations! You’ve been summoned by user Ismund as help. User Ismund was the last user who was not corrupted and you have been assigned the support role you always wanted (minus the fire balls). New title gained [Help]. Would you like to view more information on title [Help]]
Aha! I was right it can use mental commands! Yes.
> [Help:Increased proficiency and speed in anything that could labeled as helpful to user Ismund]
So I guess it’s a good thing that I followed him around. It does explain why there’s nobody else who seems to be as green as myself. What does corrupted mean? I’ll ask Ismund later. Wait, no. I can ask the System now. Much better.
> [Corrupted energy is also known as ‘magic’ used by the monsters invading in dungeons.]
I guess that’s all I need to know for now. Carry on System!
> [Assessing path for user Drifa…]
>
> [Match found: Snow’s Whisper]
Okay, opposite of fireballs and I don’t know what it is. Great.
> [Would you like to access more information on path Snow’s Whisper?]
Of course, I do!
> [Snow’s Whisper: Traits added:[Snow affinity (non upgradable): Grants user a higher recovery rate in cold conditions, however the user of this path is extremely weak to heat. Cold immunity. Winter weather does not affect user and can walk on snow like solid ground if desired. User is permanently cold to the touch and may create frost on contact unless there is intense heat.], [I Can Hear You (non upgradable): Do you ever feel sneaky in the snow despite all the crunching? Well, others do too, so now you can hear them a mile away. However fun that is there are no protective measures. Good luck!], [Pure Magic (upgradable): User can manipulate Snow and it’s aspects: frost, purity, and healing, wind. Pure energy magic is based directly on Soul tier and understanding. User Drifa has been granted this because of the dire situation, in normal circumstances the use of System energy is prohibited. Increase in understanding of Pure Magic to upgrade. User Drifa has been given the ability to vaguely sense different energy sources upon contact.]. Look at that neat little package!]
Sweet! So I get to be the only one with not-evil magic, and I don't have to be on the front lines!
> [Advancing user…]
I quickly look at my status sheet before I black out.
> [Name:Drifa Helgason
>
> Age:18
>
> Sex:Female
>
> Race:Human
>
> Path:[Snow’s Whisper (C)]
>
>
>
> Tier
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> Body:D (250/500)
>
> Mind:D (300/500)
>
> Soul:C- (3/1,000)
>
>
>
> Achievements
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> [None]
>
> Noteworthy traits
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> Upgradable:[Pure Magic]
>
>
>
> Non upgradable:[Snow affinity], [Avid Reader], [I Can Hear You]
>
>
>
> Titles
>
> -Help]