There wasn't much I could do after a warning like that.
I didn't want to die, therefore I had to eat the orbs, which meant I needed to find the elf village within the next twenty hours.
The problem of being snacked on by fauna persisted, but there had to be some way around that. How did the characters in video games get around the issue? Oh, yes. They leveled up.
Pretty straightforward to me.
Straightforward, my ass.
Every game dev knew to populate starting areas with low-level critters. Doing otherwise resulted in a bunch of gamers crying about balance issues. Those Dread Tigers broke the unspoken rule about balance, so maybe survival in this setting required skills in stealth?
Ugh.
I fought down a grimace and turned to the one thing within my power: the ability to investigate my capabilities. I summoned the character sheet, doing so by mentally saying the word, status.
Damien Njoku
Race: Dark Elf
Level: 1
Affinity: Fear
Class: [?]
VP: 21/19
MP: 23/21
Attributes:
STR 4 (5), PER 2 (3), END 4 (5), DEX 7 (8)
INT 5 (6), WIL 3 (4), V.F 2 (3), MGK 3 (4)
Traits:
[Born of Fear], [Against the Odds], [Migrant Soul]*
Skills:
[Map], [Identify]
Abilities:
[Fear Aura]*, [Scaredy-cat]
New numbers had appeared beside my attributes—a consequence of the strange pop-ups, which had in turn been caused by one of my abilities. [Fear Aura] didn’t respond to prompting, so I focused on [Scaredy-cat] and thought hard about the word.
A new screen appeared.
[Scaredy-cat] [Lesser]
Sometimes, a ranker needs to stand his ground. Gain a stack of [Fear] whenever you’re frightened. Each stack adds +1 to all stats and lasts [20] minutes. Max: 5 stacks.
Cost: None.
A little too meh for my liking. The ability would have been much better if it activated on every encounter. Sure, the stat boosts were nice, but I wouldn’t want to fight an enemy that scared me—unless, I had no choice.
The extra stats could be useful for fleeing, however. Experimentation could help reveal more in that regard. Did a difference of one mean much by way of stat increments? Or were all five [Fear] stacks necessary for [Scaredy-cat] to be useful?
I shelved the issue for later. [Map] didn’t offer much by way of description—
A navigational tool. Grants increased awareness of your surroundings.
Cost: None.
—which left [Identify] as the only other skill I could fire.
[Identify] [Lesser]
A crutch skill open only to pure magic classes. Gain extra insight upon activation on a target.
Cost: None.
The text taught me two things. One: Certain skills had class requirements for their acquisition; and two: Despite being classless, I had access to one such skill.
The classless bit bothered me more than a little bit, especially with fancy words like ‘pure magic classes’ being thrown around. I needed to remedy that, more so if it guaranteed a jump in power.
“Against the odds,” I said, moving on to my traits and forgetting for a half second that I could use mental commands.
[Against the Odds]
You survived an event with an abysmal chance of success. That makes you special. Congratulations!
This trait grants the unique skill: [Map].
This trait grants [Identify].
One technique upgrade unlocked at level 50.
I had only two skills, and both of them had come from the trait. Was that the same for my abilities?
[Born of Fear]
Everyone is gifted with an affinity, but once in a rare while, a person is born as a gift to the affinities. You embody the concept of [Fear]. Take up your mantle and strike terror into the hearts of your enemies.
This trait grants 50% resistance to mental effect techniques.
This trait grants 10% potency to your Fear-based attacks.
In addition, the following abilities have been granted:
[Fear Aura].
[Scaredy-cat].
Bingo.
I sure as hell didn't strike terror into the hearts of the Dread Tigers. If anything, I had been the terrified one. Still, it helped to learn that my traits were the sole reason I wasn’t completely defenseless. I should probably find ways to gather more of them.
The [Migrant Soul] trait remained dormant and provided zero information, much like [Fear Aura]. A small well of confidence blossomed in me regardless. You got this, Damien. I had survived the madness at the pyramid. A stroll through the wilderness was nothing in comparison.
“[Identify]!”
An infobox leaped out of the foliage. [Harper's grass], it said, identifying the blades at my feet. I turned the skill on the trees around me:
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[Deridum tree].
[Elfwood].
[Sword fruit tree].
The last specimen stood over fifteen meters tall with gnarly bark and thin, long branches. The fruit in question hung from thick stalks on the branches and bore great resemblance to cashews if one ignored the long spike that extended from the bottom.
That long spike had probably attracted the name, sword fruit. No point dallying. I needed one of those.
“Here's to hoping my 7 in Dexterity means something,” I said to myself.
It actually did. I climbed the tree with moderate difficulty, managing it with less grace than I intended. Nevertheless, for someone who had never been adept at climbing, achieving that much was a big leap in proficiency.
The exercise left me winded upon return to ground level, with two makeshift blades to show for it, courtesy of the fruits. The spikes sat fused to their cores, but they made poor weapons anyway due to a lack of grip. I ran them across a fallen branch instead and sharpened the latter until it narrowed to a point.
One hour later, I had created ten stakes and tied them to my waist with cloth, sourced from ripped strips of my sleeves.
Not the best of weapons as far as combat went, but I was no longer defenseless.
The origin quest provided me with a goal: Find the Dark Elf village. I opened the [Map] and weighed my chances.
How the hell was I supposed to find a village on my own in the wild? Search for a path? Or maybe a stream? One of those could lead me to civilization.
I sighed and struck out in a random direction that seemed to lead downward. Might as well get to it.
A large shape blurred down a tree. I lashed out in reflex, stake leaping into my hand. Warm blood splattered my torso.
Dread Viper LVL 2.
The dead snake flopped onto the grass, sporting a wound from its neck. An empty health meter vanished above its head. It undulated, revealing a grey belly beneath a coat of black. Snakes possessed the ability to bite even in death, so I backed up a few meters just to be safe.
A notification flashed in the periphery of my vision. I forced it to enlarge after a few awkward tries.
Hurray! You've killed your first monster.
You’ve gained XP from Dread Viper LVL 2.
Kill more monsters to increase your level.
The dead snake spasmed, revealing horrendous fangs. Vertical pupils glared up at me, evoking a degree of remorse. Before reincarnation, I’d never killed anything more frightening than roaches. But, that ship had long since sailed with the deeds I’d committed back at Rebirth.
Another text box hovered over the snake.
Loot Dread Viper? Y/N.
“Yes?”
The monster sizzled. Odorless smoke wafted off the creature, leaving behind a stretch of ash that scattered in the wind.
Snake meat has been added to the inventory.
Error: Inventory not found.
Monster core [Lesser] has been added to the inventory.
Error: Inventory not found.
A tiny red gem and a pile of raw meat packed into a neat bundle appeared where the corpse had lain.
“Snake meat?” I shook my head.
What did the [System] mean by inventory? The kind of storage space common in video games?
I picked up the gem. It stood at about the size of my largest fingernail, warm and vibrant to the touch. I shoved it into my pocket and resumed my trek.
The grass rustled beside me.
“That is so not ominous.”
A regular bunny appeared, poking its head through the grass.
Cute, I started to say, when it leaped up and bit me on my shin.
Ow!
I punted the rabbit into the trees. It returned an instant later, lunging for my throat. I drove a stake into its belly. Guts exploded in a shower of red.
“Crap.”
The rabbit twitched in the throes of death and heaved blood onto the ground. Large fangs poked out of its snout.
You’ve gained XP from Dread Hopper LVL 2.
So, even the bunnies here couldn't be trusted?!
I sighed and glanced at my shin. The evil rabbit had bitten straight through my pants. Despite hurting something silly, the attack hadn’t drawn blood. Rather, the red bar that signified my health dipped by a little.
Loot Dread Hopper? Y/N.
“This is so not fun.”
I fought a few more critters after that.
They gave chase the instant they noticed me, leaving few chances to escape.
I killed two more bunnies and a turkey-bat creature that moved like it was high on crack. The turkey was named a [Dread Fowl] and came very close to blinding my eyes. It had only gone down after repeated stabs with a stake, and even then, the damned bird kept trying to peck me in death.
“Why are you so bloodthirsty?” I screamed, stomping the beast's head beneath my foot.
The fight with the Dread Fowl had solved the mystery about the rabbit bite—I couldn’t be deeply wounded as long as I possessed HP. Sure, the monster attacks never failed to hurt, and a good hit tended to leave a scratch. Regardless, I stayed whole through the worst of it. All damage battered my health meter instead.
I’d looted all the corpses of their monster cores, even though I kept getting the same error message. The [Dread Fowl] also offered a pile of meat, which was too good to pass up.
I ripped more fabric from my shirt and wrapped the meat in a sling across my shoulder. If I didn't find shelter before the night was up, at least I'd have something to eat.
Not that I was looking forward to starting a fire here or wandering around by nightfall. If this world was anything like the games, then monster encounters worsened with darkness. I hadn’t met another Dread Tiger since the initial confrontation, but luck was a fickle thing. Hopefully, the Dread Tigers were the apex predators of this wilderness. I couldn’t imagine fighting anything bigger.
I leaped over a log. The lack of shoes meant that my soles scraped punitively against the ground. My entire body was riddled with aches, and my health meter had dropped over forty percent, thanks to the bloody [Dread Fowl]. My stamina had fallen even lower than that.
Given that daylight had dimmed by a few notches, evening fast approached. I had to find a good place to shelter in. Anything else probably meant death.
Another run-in with a Dread Hopper provided a new notification.
Yay! You've leveled up.
You are now Level 2.
Visit your status sheet to assign your new attribute points.
I didn't need any prompting. Status.
Damien Njoku
Race: Dark Elf
Level: 2
Affinity: Fear
Class: [?]
VP: 20/20
MP: 22/22
Attributes:
STR 4, PER 2, END 4, DEX 7
INT 5, WIL 3, V.F 2, MGK 3
Free Stat Points: 3
My MP and VP values had increased by 1 upon level up. I still didn't know what to make of those two, so I filed them for later. I had three points to spend on attributes, but what should I choose? Which was more important?
Considering the way the demon turkey had mauled me, [END]—which probably stood for Endurance—looked the most appealing. But I didn't want to jump the gun. Not until I had explored their meaning in depth.
“Attributes,” I said.
No [System] answer.
Ugh.
Without guidance, I couldn't tell which attributes were more important. [STR] seemed clear-cut enough. Likewise, [DEX] for Dexterity. [INT] and [MGK] probably meant Intellect and Magic, but did I need any of those at the moment?
Movement registered behind me. Two Level 3 Dread Fowls appeared, unfurling their wings.
I didn't even think.
Assign [3] stat points to [End]? Y/N.
“Y-yes!” I said as the Dread Fowls leaped for my face.
I tore into them, a stake in each hand, but they proved more than my match. A single maddened fowl had been a challenge. Two bordered on death.
One scratched my cheek with a hooked talon that came close to claiming my ear. The other latched onto my thigh.
You have gained a stack of [Fear]!
+1 has been added to your stats.
We struggled some more. My health meter dipped below the halfway line.
You have gained another stack of [Fear]!
All stats have increased by 1.
I grabbed a Dread Fowl by its wings and pulled in opposite directions. The creature shrieked. HP dropped to zero. It split apart at the arms, splintering bone. I stunned the second bird with a kick, then proceeded to bludgeon it with the corpse of the first.
I didn't stop till both birds turned to mush.
“Take that, bastards!”
I staggered away from the birds, heart thumping wildly in my chest. Two monster cores and two bundles of meat were all I got for my effort, but I’d cheated death once again.
A quick look at the [System] log revealed that I had nineteen hours left to find the village and gain a spirit orb. I had lost health and stamina at an alarming rate with no way to recover them.
My chances at the moment weren’t looking good.
Someone, help?