Zane's journey took him further and further into the woods he assumed the flower wolves called home. As he made his way towards his unknown destination, he had noticed the density of the wolves had grown, as he was encountering them more and more often. Zane had decided to play it safe and stick to taking out the younglings, but it wasn't until he had taken down a level 5 wolf far easier than before, thanks to his levels and skill upgrade, that he decided to play a little looser. Over the course of the next two hours, Zane cycled between taking out whatever wolf he saw, and resting to restore his Krisis pool. He didn't have a visual, like a mana bar in a video game, but the instinctual feeling that he had almost negated the need for one, as he could tell how much Krisis he still had if he just focused a little. Over the course of those two hours he had seen some fairly good progress.
*[Class Mage has reached level 6, stats earned, +1 free point]
*[Class Mage has reached level 7, stats earned, +1 free point]
Status
Name: Zane Winters
Race: [Human (F) – lvl 7]
Class: Mage (Inferior) (Level up -> +2 Mind, +1 Body, +2 Soul, +1 Free points)
Subclass: N/A
Stats
Mind: 20
Body: 14
Soul: 18
Free Points: 6
Titles:
Spectral Walker
Reckless Advancement
Skill Artisan
Zane nodded from his vantage in a particularly small tree, with easily grabbable branches. Zane felt his Krisis pool hit its max, and dropped out of the tree once he made sure the coast was clear. Zane conjured a bolt in his hand, but just let it float there. The beads of pure Krisis danced in his hands like a meteor shower, the slowly setting sun beading down behind them, whirring ethereally. Zane had noticed that if he held a bolt and did nothing with it and didn't direct the beads, they would float around and make a beautiful spectacle. Zane's hand dropped to his sides as he walked, which caused the beads to float out in front of him, floating around him like electrons around a nucleus, circling him in a wide, circular pattern. Zane reached out again and the beads darted for his hand, before coalescing into an amalgam of Krisis. Zane found playing around with his skill was a good way to practice his skills, and he could feel his basic Krisis control skill on the verge of a natural upgrade somehow, like his understanding of the way Krisis worked was deepening. Zane dismissed the bolt which returned to fill back up his slightly depleted Krisis pool.
He continued to walk with the practiced ease of someone who has been in this world a whole afternoon when he felt a buzz in his head. He could only liken it to the feeling he was still following, but this was clearly different. Zane's eyes widened as he realized it was his Magical Sense skill, meaning he was close to something potent. Zane put his head on a swivel, eyes darting around for something that could be the source. His eyes landed on a tree about five yards to his left, taking a step closer, the feeling got stronger, and vice versa. Zane approached the trunk, looking for imperfections, when he remembered seeing the flower wolves digging at the base of the tree. Zane placed his hand on the ground at the base of the tree, and he felt a slight buzzing.
"Buried treasure." Zane said, a grin spreading across his face.
Zane held out his hand and focused, forming a trowel in his hand, and got to work. After about ten minutes, he felt the urge to stop digging with the tool. Zane dismissed the construct which returned to stars before fading and he began clearing the dirt with his hands. Zane gasped as he uncovered something glowing a illustrious golden red. Zane completely uncovered it to find a kind of glowing mushroom, picking it up, his Magical Sense skill buzzed and a prompt appeared in front of him as he inspected it.
[Redbark Golden Truffle (Rare), Consumable]
Effect: Upon consumption, immediately heal half of your wounds, and restore half of your total Krisis. +5 Mind, +10 Body, +5 Soul.
"Holy shit dude, is this what the gatherers have been looking for?" Zane said, bewildered.
Zane contemplated popping the consumable in his mouth immediately, as even those stats would go a long way, but decided it was important to have a potent healing item on standby. Zane then noticed that his "experience bar," which was purely instinctual, went from barely at level 7, to nearly at level 8. Zane glanced back down at the fungus, realizing that finding this item through his skill must have granted him experience. Zane had been walking by trees all day and hadn't sensed a thing. He decided to continue towards his destination, but this time, keeping to the base of the trees, looking for these incredible treasures.
After about an hour, the haul Zane had achieved was lackluster, but not really unexpected. He had to kill a couple more level 3 wolves, and managed to find 3 more truffles, but not the golden kind.
[Redbark Truffle (Common), Consumable]
Effect: Upon consumption, slowly heal some of your wounds, and restore a quarter of your total Krisis over time. +1 Mind, +2 Body, +1 Soul.
Fortunately, Zane managed to hit level 8.
*[Class Mage has reached level 8, stats earned, +1 free point]
Zane sighed, he was disappointed to have not found any more of the golden truffles, but the standard ones were still pretty good. Zane's trek continued, looking for more and more truffles, when he felt the tug towards his destination intensify. Zane picked up the pace, figuring this meant he was getting close to whatever he was guided towards. Zane, keeping an eye on the surroundings, noticed the density of the trees getting lower and lower, before he saw something akin to a clearing. Zane began to jog, before a sense of fear struck him, and he skidded to a stop. He realized the danger had come from his Magical Sense when his eye caught the outline of a wolf, only this wolf was twice the size of the previous. Zane managed to identify, only for his heart to drop out of his chest.
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[Flower Wolf Guardian- lvl 12 Beast]
Four whole levels above his own, and if he had the right idea, level 10 was a threshold that led to more power, meaning this fight would be extremely difficult. The beast's legs were bent and its body close to the ground. The sound it was making was more akin to a motor than a growl from an animal, reminding Zane just how alien of a place this was. The wolves' fur wasn't the same brighter purple like the one he wore, instead, it more resembled the night sky, just barely not black. The flowers covering this wolf's body were a deep, blood red which almost seemed to glow in the nearly dark edge of the forest. Zane prepared himself, making sure not to startle the creature by conjuring a bolt like the first one he encountered. He took slow steps toward the nearest tree to him. If he could climb it, he should be able to pepper the wolf from a distance. Zane had tried earlier to make something like climbing claws to allow him to scale the trees, but the bark was just to sturdy, and the bark would heal any significant damage he could make. Zane glanced around, searching for the nearest tree with low enough branches to climb, and his eyes landed on a tree about 50 yards to his left. The beast was still growling, advancing slowly, and it was about 75 yards in front of him. While he was closer to the tree, Zane had no confidence in reaching the tree first against this monster. Zane reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the standard truffles, and held it up. The beast's ears perked up, as if it realized what it was seeing, and its approach slightly quickened. Zane, praying this would work, took the truffle and threw it forward and to his right, prompting the beast to chase the truffle for a moment. Zane seized the brief window and booked it towards the tree. Not daring to glance back, Zane ran faster than he ever had before, thanking the system for his new and improved body. Zane had crossed half the distance before he could hear the pursuing beast, either he had thrown too short, or the wolf was faster than he thought. The approaching wolf sounded like sledgehammers, releasing deep, booming thuds as it ran along. Only about 10 yards out now, he knew he wouldn't make it at this rate, so Zane took a risk, conjured a bolt in his hand, glanced back at the wolf only 5 yards away from him and closing fast. Zane mentally marked the wolf and threw his bolt backwards over his head. He heard the telltale whirring noise of the beads get quieter, then louder as it caught up to the wolf, and as the wolf was mere inches away, the bolt connected, causing the beast to stumble, and give Zane enough time to reach the tree, and scramble up as high as he could go. Zane looked down at the wolf, which was now growling even deeper, and barking up the tree, giant paws on the trunk, daring Zane to come down. Zane took a deep breath before he conjured more beads, and started peppering the beast with bolt after bolt. The wolf had torn away the lowest branches in its attempts to reach Zane, who only managed about two more layers before he could climb no more. The wolf, realizing it wouldn't be able to get Zane at this point, stepped back from the tree. Zane almost let out a sigh of relief, when a feeling of impending doom swallowed him whole as the wolf howled a deep, primal howl, that made Zane's soul quake. It was calling for its pack.
Zane shot down a bolt at the still howling beast, which stopped the howl, but the damage had been done, dozens of howls were returned from all over the forest. Zane knew his time was limited, but his Krisis was running low after firing a dozen bolts at his pursuer. His eyes lit up, and he pulled out the golden truffle. As soon as he took out the golden truffle, the Guardian snapped its head at the glowing fungus in Zane's hands. The beast redoubled its efforts in climbing the tree, only for Zane to pop the truffle into his mouth. The beast went absolutely berserk, releasing deep, booming barks, deep growls, and bearing slobbering, gnashing teeth. All of that was muted as Zane processed the absolutely delightful tasting truffle. Its magical properties must make the already delicious food back on Earth an absolute treasure here, but the taste was only the afterthought. A surge of power entered Zane as the restorative effects of the truffle surged through his body. Previously unseen injuries healed, and the over half empty well of Krisis shot nearly all the way full as an absolutely indescribable feeling came over him. Now he knew why these flower wolves really wanted these things, and not only was he healed and topped up, his stats had skyrocketed. Zane took a quick glance at his status screen before executing the next step of his plan.
Name: Zane Winters
Race: [Human (F) – lvl 8]
Class: Mage (Inferior) (Level up -> +2 Mind, +1 Body, +2 Soul, +1 Free points)
Subclass: N/A
Stats
Mind: 27
Body: 25
Soul: 25
Free Points: 7
Titles:
Spectral Walker
Reckless Advancement
Skill Artisan
Zane's stats had almost completely evened out upon eating the truffle, and he could already feel his strength nearly double instantly. A splitting sound disturbed the plan forming in Zane's head as he looked down in shock and horror to see the guardian bashing its head into the tree, and somehow managed to form a crack. The onslaught continued, as the beast's fury only rose and rose. Zane threw down a few bolts to no avail, the guardian would get him out of that tree, one way or another. Zane formed two daggers in each hand, as he waited for the beast to charge once more, he had to time this perfectly. Boom. Boom. BOOM. This was it, as the beast charged for the last time, Zane leaped off the tree towards the base, and towards the charging wolf. The wolf made final contact, causing a loud, snapping explosion to burst out from the tree. As soon as the tree began to fall over, Zane fell upon the back of the beast, and plunged his daggers into the back of the beast. He formed two more constructs on his feet, blades attached to the backs of the soles of his shoes, and plunged them deep into the wolf's hide. He had locked himself in place, and the wolf yelped in pain as it tried to buck Zane off its back, but Zane's new and improved strength allowed him to hold on. The beast took off in a dead sprint, as it tried and tried to get its unwanted guest to dislodge. Zane managed to somehow direct the charging animal using his daggers, forcing it to change direction over and over, avoiding slamming into trees. The wolf was running at about 30 miles per hour, and Zane counted himself lucky he was able to outrun this thing. Zane managed to guide the wolf to the clearing he had seen earlier, all while repeatedly removing and re-stabbing the daggers into the wolf's shoulders. As they reached the clearing, Zane managed to see what seemed to be a log cabin, right in the path of where he needed to go.
"Come on!" Zane shouted, "Just a little further!"
Zane had spoken too soon, as the front legs of the wolf had given out, and at 30 miles an hour, Zane lost his grip, and both him and the wolf went tumbling through the clearing. A spike of pain shot throughout Zane's right leg and left arm, looking down to see his arm was dislocated and his leg had the bone sticking out his shin. Zane suppressed a scream as he saw the wolf, about 30 yards out, struggle to stand, before starting a limping, painful looking approach. Zane was nearly out of options, his only real chance was to kill the guardian before it reached him. Zane conjured bolt after bold and peppered the beast with an outright onslaught of attacks. The beast seemed to not even be capable of dodging the attacks as they just kept coming. Zane gritted his teeth as the wolf got closer and closer, but Zane did not give up. The face of the wolf was completely bereft of fur, as the onslaught of bolts had burned away the fur, and left a bloody looking visage. The wolf had not stopped its low, guttural growl, yet it felt more hollow the more he attacked it. As the beast entered melee range, Zane needed a final gambit. Zane, using what felt like the last of his Krisis, formed a familiar feeling rapier, similar to the fencing swords he used back home. The wolf reared up, and lunged for Zane's throat, but it never hit its mark. The bloody rapier exited the other side of the now still corpse of the guardian. Zane began to feel exhaustion take over as the adrenaline left his body. He let the rapier fade away as he shoved the now glittering body of the guardian off of him, as he blacked out for what seemed to be the fifth time that day.