Chapter 2: The Treacherous Sewers

“Wind blade”

To my surprise the moment I uttered the name wind blade, mana gathered quickly towards my hand. For some reason it was incomparably easier to cast than the first time I tried. Although it still took me a couple of minutes to cast the spell again it was still better than before. This was good because I doubt an enemy would let me wait an hour in order to cast a single spell. Once enough mana was gathered I started converting it. Once the conversion was done I gave the wind blade in my hand a couple of practice swings. The blade in my hand felt nearly weightless as I swung it fluidly through the air. Up, down, sideways, diagonal. I slashed all throughout the air around me watching my blade dance in the air. Yes, with this I could kill something.

I stopped swinging after a few minutes in order to catch my breath. From the looks of it, my wind blade could be near invisible in the future. How did I know this? Well while I was training every time I swung my blade it seemed to disappear in the air. Even looking at it now my wind blade just looked like a distortion in the air. If I could level it up enough my enemies would have to fight against an invisible weapon. How can you fight against something you can’t see. But before I could do that, I would need to be able to summon my wind blade faster. Right now it took a couple of minutes to summon one wind blade. That was way too long. Keeping my wind blade out constantly wasn’t an option either since it drained more mana the longer it was out. The mana that I lost would have to be restored which would take a considerable amount of time. Therefore my only option was to shorten the time it took to summon it.

The next hour passed by quickly with me summoning and desummoning my wind blade. When I summoned my wind blade I would practice swinging it for about five minutes then I would desummon it. This process was repeated until I ran out of most of my mana. The reason I practiced my attacks in between the summons was because I wanted to be decent at attacking before I fought something for real. It would not do to venture out unprepared. When I finally ran out of most of my mana I sat down on the ground to meditate.  With my legs crossed, I closed my eyes and searched for the mana around me. This process took me a couple of minutes. The reason it didn’t take longer was because I knew how mana felt since I had to gather some in order to create my wind blade. Once the mana was located I began to draw it towards me. About thirty minutes later my mana was almost filled to the top. I was surprised that I wasn’t bored while I meditated. The reason for this was because when I drew mana from the air a calming sensation washed over me. It was quite pleasant and it also eased the painful headache that I had.

Once I was done meditating I looked to see what my skill level was. I had gotten some notifications about its level but I ignored them since I was training. The notifications took the form of an arrow pointing upwards in the bottom left of my vision. If I wasn’t paying close attention I could easily miss them. I was glad they were this small since they would be annoying if they popped up in the middle of battle and blocked my vision. Mumbling the word skills, I looked at the blue boxes that appeared in my vision.

Wind BladeSkill Type: ActiveSkill Rank: CommonSkill Level: 3Exp: 0%Effect: Allows the user to create a sharp blade of wind that can be used in combat.

Mana Affinity SkillSkill Type: PassiveSkill Rank: UniqueSkill Level: 1Exp: 65%Effects: Any skill using mana cost 1% less. You are more sensitive to the mana. This enables you to know when someone is about to cast a spell due to the amount of mana being gathered. Anything mana related comes easier to you.

MeditationSkill Type: ActiveSkill Rank: UncommonSkill Level: 1Exp: 20%Effects: By sitting down and gathering mana, mana regeneration is increased. The higher the level, the more mana that is regenerated.

Thanks to my hour of training, my wind blade was level three. Not only was my wind blade sharper, it could also become longer. At first the size of my wind blade was only as big as a dagger. But now its length could be between a dagger and a sword. The distortion it made in the air was smaller making it harder to see. By changing how much mana flowed through my blade I could make it smaller if I wanted. In order to make it any bigger I would have to level up my skill more. I decided to stop training here since I wanted to see what the enemies were like in this dungeon. My wind blade skill would probably level up faster too if I fought against real enemies instead of imaginary ones.

My mana affinity skill hadn’t leveled up but it was close to it. It seemed that its level rose whenever I trained something magical. My meditation skill wasn’t even close to leveling up but that was understandable. Whenever I wanted to train it I could just sit down and meditate. Meditating for me was actually pretty pleasant so I wouldn’t mind doing it when I had the time. Taking a moment to stretch my aching muscles I began to walk on the path that led to the left. Only by exploring would I know what lay in the darkness.

But before I could take a step into the darkness, shadows began to move amok on the side of my vision. I knew that my mind was making it up, but it still made me weary. The moment I stepped into the darkness the shadows disappeared, making the sewers seem even more unnerving. I had wanted the shadows to disappear a few seconds ago but now I wanted them back. Anything was better than this pitch black darkness.

I advanced slowly with my hand out in front of me. I couldn’t see anything! Should I just turn back? No, I couldn’t. Heading back wouldn’t change anything.  I needed to defeat the boss to get out of the sewers and waiting around wasn’t going to help. The darkness wasn’t just going to up and disappear if I waited. Steeling my resolve I continued my journey of exploring the unknown. Thankfully after walking for about a minute my eyes saw something glow on the side of the sewer walls. Taking a closer look at the glow I soon realized that it was coming from moss. Although the moss didn’t give a lot of light, it still gave some. A little bit of light was better than none. Before I continued on I grabbed some of the moss and placed it on my arm. Because the moss was quite sticky, I didn’t have to try that hard in order to make it stick. I was placing quite a bit of moss on me since who knew what manner of creature could sneak up on me in this perpetual darkness? Without the moss the only thing I could see was darkness. That was it. No moving things, no nothing. Just darkness. I couldn’t even see my hand when I waved it in front of me. So there was no way I was continuing on without the moss.

As I gathered pieces of moss I began to think about my family. I wondered if my mom and dad were safe out there on the surface. They should be, I think? My dad was a strong guy and he would protect mom if anything happened. However I didn’t know how he would fare against monsters. Would anyone be able to fare well against monsters? Hopefully if he saw some they were weak ones that he could easily kill. My parents weren’t the only people I was worried about either. My older brother Nate, who was 19, lived only a few minutes away from our house. Right now he was probably at work stocking the shelves or something. How would he fare against a monster? Shaking my head furiously, I slapped myself on both cheeks. I would worry about this later after I got myself out of this predicament. After I collected a good clump of moss that was along my path I began to take a closer look at it only for a blue box to appear.

Luminescent Moss

Description: Pieces of this moss glow in the dark unlike most of its brethren. By clumping multiple pieces together, the brightness of the moss will increase. This moss is usually found in damp places devoid of light such as sewers or caves.

Effect: Alchemy Ingredient

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

From what the description said, if I clumped up the moss together, its brightness would increase. Nice, now I would have more light which would enable me to see better. The effect also labeled it as an alchemy ingredient. Hmm, this meant that I would be able to use it in alchemy. From what the information in my head told me, alchemy could be used to create items such as potions. However, potions weren’t the only thing that alchemy could help you create. Sadly the information that I received in my head conveniently left out what else alchemy could do. I guess the only way I could find out was by using alchemy. No doubt alchemy would be something interesting. I was getting excited just thinking about it.

Thanks to the moss that was covering my body, I could faintly see my surrounding. Everything around me held a faint green glow which was better than seeing nothing. As I walked I kept a cautious eye out for anything that moved. The longer I walked the more my mind wandered. I reviewed what I learned in order to ignore the encroaching darkness at the edge of my vision. One of the things I noticed while I used mana was the more I used it, the more I would feel mental fatigue. Right now I could tell that my mana was around 98%. And for some reason I could roughly guess what it was after I used a spell. Even if it was a little odd, I was glad because of it. This meant that stamina was energy, mana was mental, and my hit points were my health. Right now I only had a measly 100 hit points. If my hit points went to zero, I would probably die. I needed to try my hardest to not let that happen.

Hearing an odd sound in front of me, I stopped walking and crouched low near the wall next to me. A couple of feet in front of me I began to hear shuffling and squeaking. It sounded like a….mouse? As I looked at a noticeably large shadow, I recoiled in shock when I realized what it was. This was no mere mouse! I wasn’t even surprised when a blue box filled my vision.

Giant Rat - Lv.4

Hp: 25/25

The giant rat crouched in front of me was about as big as a puppy. It was an ungodly size that no rat should ever reach. Its sharp glistening fangs shined in the darkness whenever it opened its mouth. I didn’t move a single muscle as its eyes roamed over me. The reason it must’ve noticed me so quickly had to be because of the glowing moss that was on me. I was basically a glowing beacon to investigate… or to attack. However if I got rid of the moss I wouldn’t be able to see. Therefore the moss that was on me was a must. I tried inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my mouth in order to calm myself down. I couldn’t remember if it was that way or vice-versa. Either way it was helping. Staring at the giant rat in front of me I prepared to attack.  I needed to do this. No, I had to do this. I had almost three times as much hp as the rat and I was bigger than it. But the only weapon I had was my wind blade spell. If I ran out of mana in the fight, who knew what would happen to me. However from my training I knew that my wind blade was an extremely dangerous weapon. You would not want to get cut by one of those. I focused on my eyes in order to stop them from blinking as sweat began to drip from my face. This was my first life and death fight so it made sense for me to be nervous. Anyone in my position would be nervous also….right?

Keeping a close eye on the rat in front of me, I whispered wind blade quietly and stretched out my hand slowly. If I said the name of my spell too loud, it might feel threatened and try to attack me. I needed my wind blade out before it attacked or I would be in trouble. Because my concentration was focused solely on the spell, my wind blade appeared quicker than it normally would. I was quite thankful for this because I doubted that the giant rat in front of me would wait for me to prepare myself. I watched as the wind blade shimmered into existence and covered my hand. Although the moss on the walls of the sewers lit it up some, it was still quite hard to see. I was sure that the giant rat didn’t have this problem so I needed to be extra careful. But before I could think any more thought, the giant rat struck!

---

Time seemed to fly by in slow motion as the rat jumped towards me. I could see the muscles in its mouth moving as it opened its mouth in order to bite me. The sharp teeth that the giant rat possessed would shred my arm apart in a heartbeat. I couldn’t be hit by that attack! Pushing myself off to the side I managed to dodge the oncoming blow. As the rat passed by me I watched it reposition its body in mid-air so it could land on its feet. What the hell? I was pretty sure normal rats couldn’t do that. The moment it landed I twisted my body around in order to face it. The moment I was facing it I swung my wind blade towards its torso as quickly as I could. But in a single movement the giant rat ducked under my oncoming blow and nicked the side of my leg with its fangs.

-10

Fuck! That nip was painful as hell. Not only that but it managed to skin of a tenth of my health with that attack. Tch, I never knew that fighting a monster would be this challenging. It had already damaged me and I hadn’t even hit it once. Ignoring the pain in my leg, I moved in tandem with the giant rat. By doing this I was able to make sure it didn’t flank me when I wasn’t looking. If I lost sight of it in this darkness, I wouldn’t see it again until its next attack. I waited until the giant rat leapt at me again. But this time I was prepared.

The moment the giant rat was in the air, I ducked below it and held my hand upwards. With a sickening sound my wind blade cut through the stomach of the giant rat. Swing my blade forward I felt the giant rat continue pass my blade and then crash into the ground.

-8

The giant rat glared at me angrily as blood gushed out of the cut on its stomach. The reason my attack worked so well was because the giant rat’s jump forced him onto my blade. Since he jumped at me so quickly, he was unable to change his movement in the air. Because of this my wind blade easily sliced through his flesh. From what the damage notification box told me, my attack had done eight damage. To me this was quite a bit of damage since the giant rat only had twenty five hit points. Two more attacks like the last one and the giant rat would be dead. I could do this.

With its hair standing up the giant rat looked toward me angrily. Squeaking obscenities no doubt, it charged toward me as quickly as it could. But it wasn’t fast enough. For some reason it seemed to be attacking me in the same pattern as it did last time. Did it not have another way to attack, or was it a feint? I watched it cautiously as it jumped in the air toward me. Ridiculous, did it think I would fall for the same attack? Ducking under it, I brought my wind blade up and slashed through the same spot as last time.

-8

-2

I watched as the giant rat crumbled into a heap on the ground once again. The reason why it took an extra two damage was because it was bleeding out from its stomach. I had attacked it in the same spot twice after all. Before it could get up I rushed toward it and plunged my blade into its head with a sickening thud. I would not let this chance go to waste.

I groaned in relief as I watched the life fade from the rat’s eyes. Whew, this battle was pretty challenging. It became easier once I realized that the giant rat only had one attack pattern. Turning off my wind blade to save mana I looked at the carcass of the creature I had just killed. It could’ve been me lying on the ground instead of the giant rat. Before I could think any further I was interrupted by a flash of blue. What new and intriguing information would these blue boxes hold for me?

AN: Sorry for the delay, I didn't like some parts of the chapter so I ended up changing them. Chapter 3 will be coming out in another couple of days.