Chapter 15: A New Weapon

After a few minutes of debating, I finally decided on using a spear. This would allow me to keep my enemies a decent distance away from me in battle. I was more of an agility based mage so I didn’t have a lot of defense. Therefore I needed to be careful when I fought. I could also extend my reach even further by adding a wind blade to the edge of my weapon. By doing this, it would become an even greater challenge for my enemies to get closer to me.

Although I was used to using a sword, I had to plan for the long run. Using a sword would require me to get extremely close to my enemy. Something I didn’t want. The only reason I had even used a sword was because that was the only weapon that I had at the time. Now that I had choices, I could choose what would be best for me.

Now that I had chosen what type of weapon I wanted, I needed to pick a spear. There were a grand total of three of them. It wasn’t that many, but I was glad there were so few. This way I didn’t have to waste a lot of time choosing which one I wanted. I needed to make sure I chose carefully since I would probably be using the weapon I chose for quite a while. Even if I did get a weapon as a dropped loot, it probably wouldn’t be as good as the weapon I’m choosing now. This is what each of the three weapons looked like.

Polished Iron Spear

Description: A newly forged iron spear.

Effect:  + 3 Agility

 Increased Durability

Damage: 12-17

Durability: 50/50

Steel Spear

Description: A spear with a wooden shaft and a steel head.

Effect: +2 Strength

Damage: 15-20

Durability: 35/35

Steel Spear of Darkness

Description: A steel spear imbued with the element of darkness.

Effect: + 3 Intelligence

Requirement: 25 Wisdom and 25 Intelligence

Damage: 15-20

Durability: 35/35

The polished iron spear looked like a generic spear, albeit a little shinier. It had a normal wooden shaft and a glistening iron tip. It looked as if it had just been made. I had no idea how it got this certain look, but whatever works. Not only did it have increased durability, but it also gave me three agility. This boost of speed would help me attack my enemies quicker. The only problem I had with my weapon was its damage. Although it was stronger than my rusted iron sword, the two remaining spears did more damage. After glancing over the polished iron spear one last time, I moved on to my next weapon.

The next spear in the group of three was a steel one that gave me two strength. Although it had less durability than the polished spear, it did more damage. If I had to choose, I would rather have more damage than more durability. You wouldn’t need an increased durability if you killed your enemies before your weapon’s durability went down. Right now I was leaning towards the steel spear rather than the iron one just because of the damage output. But before I decided on anything, I needed to look at my last weapon.

The last weapon in the group of spears was called the steel spear of darkness. It looked exactly like the other steel spear except for one thing, a strange symbol on the head of the spear. I didn’t know what it meant, but I had an idea. I believed that it was this rune/symbol that gave this spear the element of darkness. After all, that was the only difference between it and a normal steel spear. What else could it be?

While my other two spears gave me strength and agility, this one gave me intelligence. The reason for this was probably because of the element that was stored in the spear. The polished iron spear felt lighter than the other two which was why it gave me bonus agility. The normal steel spear had a sharper end than the other two spears which was why it gave increased strength. My weapons received different bonus stats based on each of their characteristics.

The durability and the damage of the spear of darkness was the same as the steel spear. However the element of darkness my spear contained would probably let me deal extra damage. The only thing about this weapon was its requirement. Before I could use it, I needed twenty five wisdom and twenty five intelligence. That was quite a steep price.

Taking a glance at my status, I looked to see what my wisdom and intelligence stat were at. Right now I had twenty intelligence and fifteen wisdom. Both of these stats needed to be twenty five however I still had ten unallocated skill points. After a few seconds of debating, I poured my remaining points into wisdom bringing it up to twenty five. Now all I needed to do was gain one more level and I would be able to use this spear. This might have been a spur of the moment decision, but I didn’t care.

After allocating my points, I looked at the spears. The next few minutes were spent going over the pros and cons of each of them. Although I already knew which one I wanted, I wanted to glance over all of them at least one more time. The spear I ended up choosing was the steel spear of darkness.  Although I would have to wait to use it, there was a really good reason for why I was getting it. The reason was in the name of the weapon. Darkness. Once I gained a level, I would be utilizing the element of darkness to fight. If I studied it carefully, I might be able to create some sort of dark magic. This would be extremely good  in the sewers since I was almost always in darkness.

After I grabbed the spear of darkness, I was led out of the room with the undead general by my side. I didn’t talk to the general as we walked since he seemed to be deep in thought. I wonder what he was thinking about. From the sound of things his position as general was in jeopardy because he was an undead. I guess the majority of the bats didn’t like undead. It was probably the same for humans. Although it was unfair, what could you do?

We walked in silence for a couple of minutes until I saw the doorway leading out. Sadly it didn’t seem as though was would be able to just walked out. Standing in front of the door was an imposing group of bats. I took a quick glance around to see if they were waiting for us or someone else. Since I saw no one else, I could only assume they were waiting for us. And from the look of it, it didn’t seem that they were there just to say goodbye to us. I glanced towards the general to see if he knew what was going on.

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“Shit.”

Well that didn’t sound good. We slowed our walk as I questioned the undead general. It turned out that the undead general knew the leader of the group of bats we were about to meet. The leader of this group was also a general for the bat army. Huh, so there was more than one general. I had my suspicions but I wanted to be sure.

This general didn’t like the undead at all. He believed that they were a scourge upon the bat folk. You were supposed to have one chance at life, not two. I didn’t even need him to explain further to know what the problem was. The undead general had brought another undead to the bat base with the intent to have it join. To the other general it was like a blow to the face.

Tch. I also had an undead aura surrounding me so the other general would know immediately who I was. Oh well, I would just have to deal with it. There was nothing I could do about my aura so I was going to be noticed. As we stopped in front of the group of bats, I tightened my grip on the spear. From the way it felt in my hands, I felt as if I could still wield it as a weapon. However until I met the requirements, it wouldn’t have the dark element added on to its attack. I put a mask of indifference on as the general of the group spoke.

“Well what do we have here, two undead. I don’t seen what the boss sees in you, but I can tell he’s making a mistake. I just don’t understand why he won’t listen to me. But anyway, I have a suggestion to make. Now I know we have our differences but I think we both want to know one thing. Which one is stronger, an undead or a living creature? Since we can’t fight each other because we’re generals, I came up with another way. How about we pit the undead you brought with one of my soldiers? I mean why not? Unless you’re afraid an undead will lose to a living creature.”

As the bat general spoke, his subordinates jeered at us in the back. They were extremely annoying to say the least. From the sound of things the two generals weren’t allowed to fight each other so they were getting their subordinates to do it for them. I found the timing slightly suspicious however. It sounded like they had hated each other for a while so why would he choose this little tournament now? Was it because of me? Did he believe that I was the chance to prove that the undead weren’t needed? Humph, I guess I would have to prove him wrong.

The undead general turned to me with a worrying look. Was he worried about me? It looked as if he wanted another one of his subordinates to fight instead of me. But thanks to the way the other general phrased what he said, their opponent had to be me. If it wasn’t, then it would show that the undead general did the wrong thing in bringing me to their base.

The undead general was also unable to refuse thanks to his pride. If he didn’t agree to this deal, this little group of bats would never let him live it down. It would also be bad for his reputation. Therefore he was counting on me to accept. If I didn’t, then he would suffer.

Nodding my head towards the undead general I accepted the bet. Not only would  I win, but I would also prove that the undead were just as strong as living creatures. Even though I was technically a living creature, I still wanted to help the undead general out. He was the reason I was still alive. If it wasn’t for him, I would be dead on the battlefield.

The next few minutes were spent with us traveling to a different location for the fight. It seemed that they had a little arena for fights that weren’t just training. I had no idea what was going on, so I just followed the undead general. The only thing he told me was to try my best. I noticed that he didn’t tell me to win, just to try. Well he didn’t have to worry about that. I always gave it my all when I fought.

Sadly Viola couldn’t fight with me since the fight was supposed to be one on one. I made her sit by the undead general since I didn’t trust any of the other bats not to do something while I was distracted. Since I was the one being challenged I was able to choose whether we could use weapons or not. I ended up choosing no weapons. Not because I wasn’t  used to the spear I had just received, but because my opponent held a fearsome halberd in his hand when he approached. From the way he held the weapon I could tell he spent many hours practicing with it. Therefore having no weapons would give me a slight advantage.

Since nothing seemed to be happening, I sat on the ground and began to meditate. I might as well use all of this free time doing something useful. As I was meditating, I noticed that my mana was regenerating faster than before. The only reason I could think of for this was my increased wisdom. I guess wisdom helped my mana regeneration while intelligence helped my mana capacity. I was glad for this since I wouldn’t have to wait as long for my mana to be restored.

Sinister Adult Bat - Lv.8

Hp: 45/45

This is the box I saw above my opponent’s head when I looked at him while I was meditating. He looked like the first bat I saw when I was fighting against the giant rats. I also noticed that his level was higher than mine by two levels. Hmm. The reason I thought this was odd was because I could see some bats with the same level as me in the general’s group. Tch. This general was playing quite deviously. It seemed that he didn’t want to leave this battle up to chance.

Did I really think I could win from the bottom of my heart? Yes…probably. Although he had a higher level I had more health than he did. I also assumed that he didn’t have as many skills as I did. I had gone through many struggles to gain my skills and I doubted the bat did the same. The only thing I was worried about was if he started flying. I didn’t really have any moves to combat flying opponents so I would just have to wing it. I would just have to fight smartly and I would be able to win. Losing wasn’t an option since the undead general was counting on me, even if he didn’t know it.

The sound of whispering brought me out of my musings. Looking around I soon figured out the source of the noise. It seemed that while I was thinking a small crowd had gathered. The crowd was so small that the bat boss wasn’t even there. I guess he had better things to do than watch a squabble between his minions. He did say he didn’t want to see me until I had a higher level.

To be honest, I was glad the bat boss wasn’t there. If he was, it would be extremely nerve wracking for me. A shiver ran through my spine as I imagined him watching my battle with those cold eyes of his. Shaking those thoughts out of my head, I meditated for another few minutes until my mana was restored. Once I was done meditating, I stood by the undead general. A few minutes later and my battle was finally ready to begin.