~~~~~~~~~~~
The reasons for why monsters have weakened over the past years is as of yet unknown. My attempts to gain funding for further research stymied by erupting wars across the globe. It is a phenomenon which has been observed by a number of my sources, though reliable contact with the far reaches of Azur has become increasingly sporadic. It has been suggested that areas closest to the Cataclysm were irrevocably damaged in some way that inhibits the full development of their reproductive abilities.
It has also been suggested that, lacking the severe evolutionary pressures placed on their ancestors by the continual culling reported prior to the fall, monsters have taken a more leisurely approach to life. As such they are not as inclined to extremes of condition that have been recorded in the history books. It is this humble author’s opinion that the people who said this have never encountered a monster in their lives.
Others have offered the theory that monsters grow to fit the strength of those who would defend civilization against them. This is the narrative view of the world, which is more based on suppositions and connecting coincidences. If taken together, it can appear as if all is pre-ordained by some cosmic entity. “Ha!” I say to those followers of Dave. “I am a free and sapient being, you can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill. I will choose the path that’s clear. I will choose free will.”
Writings of stenographer Alex Lee, prior to his being struck by lightning from a clear sky and joining the Cult of Dave, predecessor to the modern Ecclesiarchy - Circa 8 AC
~~~~~~~~~~~
After saying my goodbyes to Orth the friendly merchant, I hopped off the wagon and walked along a narrow road off the main drag towards Perthshire.
Paddocks of grass lay spread before me, though no livestock could be seen grazing in them. Overgrown weeds were making their presence known as they stretched above the verdant green, sweet smelling clover being choked out from neglect.
My eyes caught sight of a column of smoke drifting skyward, confirming Orth’s directions that the village lay this direction. Continuing my steady pace along the winding road, I passed over a small bridge. Schools of tiny fish danced in the clear waters, while my mind recalled the first meal I’d had in this strange land. Idly I wondered if there might be another Daggermouth in these waters, but for today my task was set to clear out the Caerbanning these people had reported.
You have discovered Perthshire 20 XP Awarded
The reduced experience wasn’t of particular surprise as the village came into view. A dozen rough houses lay clustered around a central stone well. Three sided lean-tos dotted the immediate area. A number of musken and even some sheep were milling about, clearly ill at ease. The scent of blood caught in my nose and I knew what must have happened the night before.
“Hoy there hero! Come speak with me over here,” The village elder called from near the well. Her silvery gray hair contrasted sharply with the angular features of her face and waifish body. A strong breeze might have blown her away to never land again. I would have called her human but for the long, thin ears that came to a point almost even with the top of her head.
“I understand that you have an issue with a Caerbanning around here?” I asked.
“Well of course we do! The musken are getting frustrated with being cooped up all day and the sheep are getting picked off like berries from a bush! We’ve already lost six this month,” She informed me with a hint of pleading in her voice.
“Has anyone seen where it goes after a kill?”
“To the east lies a cave which no man has entered since its arrival.”
“Has it killed any kin yet?”
“None so far young traveler. But be warned, none of us have gathered enough courage to face the beast. Do so only if you dare look upon the face of death itself. Our bravest hunter was the one who caught sight of the monster feasting in its lair. He has refused to leave the village until proof of its demise is in hand.”
“I’ll be careful, thank you madam,” I continued through the village, wondering what had to have happened. The world as I knew it was changed, that much was sure. But runes still functioned and spells still worked even if they were in rarer supply. How could such a monster hold an entire village at bay? I would soon find out.
The cave was supposedly a ten minute walk from the village edge, I found the site with my nose before my eyes. Stripped bones from a full fifty animals must have been strewn about the beast’s lair. Flies and the scent of carrion filled the air. In the middle of it all, a saw a tiny little white bunny rabbit. It was adorable, but very much in danger if whatever created these piles came back or woke up from its feast driven nap. Probably a pet of one of the villagers.
I slowly walked over to the rabbit, taking care not to startle it with any sudden movements.
It held still, as if trying to camouflage its bright clear coat against the blood-spattered rocks around it.
Closing to within five meters, I crouched to the ground and laid down my arms in an attempt to make myself as unthreatening as possible.
The rabbit crouched, and then held still for a moment.
*choo* The world’s tiniest sneeze emanated from the beautiful creature as I was reminded that despite all that had happened, there was still some good left in the world.
Snuffling its little button nose, she began to slowly move my direction. If only I had held onto one of those skewers of vegetables, I might have had a treat to bribe her with.
Then suddenly, her trust in me full, the rabbit bounded the rest of the way to me and landed in my arms.
I stood up, cradling the soft animal as she tried to nuzzle into a gap in my armor.
Carefully, I backed away from the cave with the escaped pet rabbit in tow. My fingers idly stroking her sumptuous fur as I watched for movement from within. Nothing immediately appeared, so I set the rabbit down a short distance away and returned to continue my search.
As the clearing revealed itself again and scent of death filled my nostrils, I saw another white shape hopping along the ground and nudging some of the bones.
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“Look, there it is!” I hissed.
“Where, behind the rabbit?” I asked.
“No! It is the rabbit!”
Sure enough, the Caerbanning stood up from the ground on its back paws and glared a deathly stare at me. It’s muzzle was stained red with fresh blood from its kill the night before. The ghastly mouth opened in a silent hiss as saliva dripped from the overly numerous shredding teeth that filled its maw.
It let loose a blood curdling cry that far outstripped its meager size and began bounding straight for me.
Scattered bones were knocked aside from the ferocious charge, then it came upon a musken skull a scant eight meters away.
My pilum in hand, I activated [Piercing Strike] and launched the spear forward.
Contorting around the weapon in midair, the Caerbanning set its claws in the wooden shaft, using it as a springboard to launch itself at my throat.
I bring my shield to bear in the nick of time.
With a solid thud, the beast bowled into my shield with the force of an onager stone. Falling to the ground, I was set upon by a whirlwind of grasping claws tearing into my leathers.
Blood welled up along my arm where it managed to break through the thin protection. I barely felt it as adrenaline surged in my veins.
The searching teeth began taking chunks out of my shield as it quested to get through it. Mustering my strength, I pushed against the shield in an attempt to dislodge the possessed monster.
Tossing it back successfully, I scrambled to my feet with shield at the ready.
Not a moment too soon either, as the Caerbanning slammed into my shield again. The force knocked the shield into my helm and left me dazed for a moment.
By the time I’d recovered, the beast had circled behind and lept for my back. Only years of intense training had enabled me to bring my shield to bear in time to prevent it from gaining a hold it could capitalize on.
Leaping back again and enraged by my refusal to go down, it made for another frontal attack. This time I was prepared.
The blow to my battered shield came again, only staggering me this time. My counter strike with the sword was thrown off slightly but still drew blood on the beast. At the moment of contact, I felt pure fire rushing into me from [Siphon] as my wounds ceased bleeding and the breath in my lungs chilled.
A berserk roar came from the Caerbanning, a crisp line of its own blood dripping from a damaged hind leg. With redoubled fury, it charged again with a lame leg dragging slightly behind.
[Piercing Strike] I lunged to meet it, skewering my sword between its ribs. It pulled itself forward and latched onto my hand with its piercing teeth. I dropped my sword with the rabbit still thrashing on it and reached for the pilum behind my back.
Any attempt at cunning was far beyond the ravening monster still clawing forward through sheer force of will. One last jab was all it took to finish putting the monster down. A rush of life filled me as [Siphon] activated again.
You have slain LV4 Caerbanning: 22 XP awarded
I choked on my tongue as an involuntary cough escaped from my bedraggled body. A quick glance at my stats revealed what I already knew.
Fabius Dansin
Level 2
109/150 HP
150/150 SP
My ass had been handed to me by an overgrown rabbit.
“Eighteen health back from siphon and full SP. Oww my arm hurts. And my leg. And this hand with a hole in it.”
Sure enough, daylight was visible from the other side of my hand from where it had been bitten through. Even more alarming was the way that it was slowly, almost imperceptibly closing.
“Now that’s not natural no matter where you’re from.”
If my calculations were correct, and they typically were, I’d be back to full health in less than a couple hours? This world was far from my own experiences. Heck, I stubbed my toe on a chair and it hurt for a week. This System nonsense was just that- ridiculous. Unless... no. There had to be something I was missing. Some reason for it. I’d discover the secrets hidden here. But first, the gruesome business of collecting my first trophy.
I took a look at the fallen beast, no longer quite as terrifying now that it wasn’t leaping for my throat. It might have been three times the size of a large rabbit. The weight though is what got me. It must have been twelve kilos. Colette had requested the brain as a Cephlyx precursor, I’d separate it from the body once I got back to town.
Taking a moment to breathe, I shuddered to think about what it meant that killing a monster yielded barely more experience than discovering a tiny village. “Perhaps I could be a world traveler, level up enough that way for you to separate us.”
“I was thinking about that too. My theory is that XP is awarded based on how much the action causes you to grow as a person. Just visiting places with no purpose would have minimal effect. You’ve seen combat before, so killing one small thing isn’t that much personal growth. Also, this is one of the weakest types of monsters I know of so... yeah.”
“Visit bigger places and kill harder things?”
“Or create. I want to see what my crafting can do once we get the materials. Aside from comfort, I already have a couple ideas for how we might be able to improve your shield.”
“You mean just get a new one, right? It’s meant to take a hit, and that’s what it did.”
“Yes, but at what cost? Its torn to pieces. I’m thinking force projection. Use the shield as a framework to build upon. Let the enchantments take a blow instead of you. Project a bubble around your whole body to prevent flanking attacks.”
“But what could a bubble do to stop an attack from that?” I pointed at the Caerbanning, “It’d tear right through it.”
“Imagine a bubble that could be used to hold a battering ram from hitting the city gates. The absorbed kinetic energy temporarily stored then redirected into a beam of pure electrical energy at your command. That’s what I can aim to create. It might take a few iterations, especially working with the materials available. But I know it can be done, and possibly much, much more.”
“That could be useful, but I don’t think anyone is strong enough to carry a city gate with them.”
“Refine the runes. I’m sure a condensed version could fit on your shield. Or at least a replacement of it. This one is done. Your sword, a directional heating rune to melt through steel like butter.”
“You could do that?”
“We have toasting knives, toast your bread as you cut it. A larger scale application would probably work as well.”
“And it uses the brains of these monsters to make?”
“Not directly...but essentially... yes.”
“You wanted to practice your rune crafting right? Well, then let’s get to some monster hunting. You can make us gear this world hasn’t seen for an age.”
This arrangement was actually getting better by the day. Yes, the materials were raw and unrefined, the technological state pitiful, but this? This had potential. Unlike my time in the university, I had no board of ethics to put my proposals through. No limited funding. No begging for grant dollars. I could create anything I wanted to without my ideas getting nit picked by jealous peers. This time, I had freedom.
I packed up the corpse and stowed it in my bag, then prepared for a return to the village. Stepping through the field of bones and death, I carefully made my way back to the path I’d came in on. A white patch caught my eye, the harmless little bunny was still setting where I left her.
I walked over and picked it up, the blood on me apparently no bother to the adorable little fluff ball. After taking a moment to settle in at the crook of my elbow, it was time to return to town.
***
“Princess!!!” A young elven boy exclaimed as I came into view of the ramshackle buildings. He ran up to me, smile from oversized ear to oversized ear.
“Is she yours? I found her lost in the woods back there,” I didn’t want to scar the boy with descriptions of the gruesome sight of where she’d actually been found. His face of innocence was far too sweet to be spoiled.
“She got loose from her pen three days ago! The elder told me I couldn’t go looking for her because it wasn’t safe. Thank you so much for bringing her back to me!” The youth practically vibrated with excitement.
Handing over the wayward pet to it’s rightful caretaker, I scuffled his curly orange hair and went to speak with the elder. A few minutes of searching and directions from the townsfolk later, I’d located the sage elder.
“You’ve returned! Thank you so much, I fear what might have been. We don’t have much to offer you aside from our thanks, but please join us for a feast tonight. We’ll butcher the Caerbanning and show you how Perthshire celebrates its heroes!” With that, she whisked away the body of the deceased monster and handed it off to one of the local men I hadn’t had an opportunity to make the introduction of.
“Just be sure to leave me the head and pelt, I need to bring those back to the guild with me when I head back,” I said to the man who was quickly turning away to prepare the animal.
“No problem, thank you for getting rid of it. It took two of my sheep last week, this one is personal,” He said while stabbing a pointed dagger into it a bit harder than I imagined was strictly necessary.
The rest of the afternoon was spent letting my wounds heal up. One thing I noticed was that even when I was at full health, the damage to my hand was still apparent even if diminishing in size.
Samara considered that health was not directly related to my physical state of being but was a more abstract one of my ability to continue in a fight. Either way, I wasn’t tempted to see what really would happen were I to reach 0. The risk of dying also dampened the professor’s enthusiasm on this particular subject even if it didn’t halt her theorizing.
Recalling the stream near the village on my original approach, I walked down to its cool waters to cleanse my armor and myself of the remains from battle.
How such a small creature contained so much blood I wasn’t sure. Even if some of it was mine, the splatter was excessive. Taking a look around and seeing nobody nearby, I stripped down and plunged myself into the brisk flowing water.
The refreshment I felt was undeniable. Even though I lacked proper soap or scrub, I still took the time to work fingers through my hair. Broken fragments of leaves flowed downstream as I scrubbed the chill waters into my scalp. A couple of giggles from behind an obvious cluster of bushes interrupted my reverie.
“Hey, I hear you! Get out of there!”
The bushes rustled in response as someone scurried away. Kids were a right nuisance but then again I did look like something they probably never had seen before. Mood broken, I quickly finished scrubbing then laid out on a sunlit riverbank while waiting for my clothes to dry in the warm breeze.
***
One brief nap later, I donned my gear and found that none of it was missing. The kids must have been scared off by my catching them in the poorly hidden brush. Making my way to the village center, the smell of a cook fire reached me and I followed my nose to a long dining hall. The whole village was present, a large cauldron filled to the brim with root vegetables, meat from the Caerbanning, and spices simmered on a low fire.
I was directed to the seat of honor at the head of the table. Stoneware cups filled with wine and shallow bowls were laid out for serving.
“A toast, to the savior of Perthshire!” A middle aged elven man exclaimed.
“Hear, hear!” The villagers raised their glasses as one and toasted me.
That was the moment I decided that being a hero wasn’t all that bad an idea.