Chapter 3 - Alive Once More
When I awoke I found myself feeling very heavy. I could feel a very sticky sensation covering my face and most of my chest. My eyes snapped open and I saw someone lying on top of me. I quickly pushed the person off and stood up. Looking at the person, I noticed he was dead, an arrow piercing his skull. My own hands were covered with blood, as was my face if the sticky feeling was any indication. All around me lay dead bodies and pools of blood. Some had died with arrows through various parts of their body. Others had large gashes, sword wounds to be sure. Broken wagons and strewn miscellaneous objects laid about. The remnants of a merchant caravan it seems. Loki sure picked a wonderful spot to start a new life! Gathering my wits I start looking through the wagons and crates nearby to find some supplies. I don't even hesitate to scavenge the dead for some clean clothes. Their is no valuables to be found, curtsey of whoever was responsible for this massacre probably. I did, however, find a few canteens of water made of some animal's stomach. Using the water, I quickly washed off my body and put on the new clothes I found. These clothes weren't anything special, clearly rough linen with some softer material woven in here and there but it was a sight better than the bloody clothes which I was wearing. Amongst the bodies I also found a compass, a dagger, and some needles and thread. Now what to do what to do.
The first thing I usually did when I arrived in a new world was find out its current political structure, learned about its denizens, learned anything I could about the worlds magic, and then killed the bad guys. It sounds simple enough but it often results in long stays in the libraries of the larger towns and deep treks into forbidden dungeons of which, no had ever found the bottom. However, in those worlds I had all the authority and power of a hero summoned by the very ruler of the gods. Right now in this shabby body of what I presume to be a young boy, I couldn't exactly demand entrance to anywhere. This train of thoughts led me to wonder about my appearance so I quickly began looking for a mirror. Finding one used for makeup in the bag of a now dead women, I quickly opened it and peered into it. What I saw would have shocked me, if I could still be shocked. In the mirror stood a young boy, around the age of 10 or 12, with golden eyes that seemed to be deeper than the ocean, and hair as black as the abyss. Hmmm. I'm not bad looking huh? Seems like I have the kinda face that would make most girls swoon. Perfect. Okay so maybe Loki is slightly maybe a tiny bit of an okay guy. At least I wasn't put into the body of a turtle. Now what about my stats? With the thought and a bit of magic, I was able to open my stats window. A handy trick any budding Hero should know.
Current StatusNameAlric StroussAge11Level1Magic300Strength1Intelligence100Agility1Endurance1Perception100Luck-999
Abilities
Burning DeterminationYour determination directly affects every action you take. Provides direct increases on stat gains. Higher determination results in higher bonuses.Skill AbsorptionYour massive amount of knowledge and experience results in the easy learning of any skill that you are exposed to as well as the absorption of the power held by your dead foes.Language PerceptionYou are able to speak, write, and understand any language.Skill Level Gap BufferYour massive amount of experience and skill allows you to ignore most level gaps.InspectionAllows you to use your vast experience to inspect a person or object to determine its qualities.
Well that is surprising. Not my luck, but the other stats. It seems my reincarnation has maxed out my intelligence and perception for my current level, but what the hell happened to my strength? Hell, most villager kids start out at 10 for god sake! Its that god damn Loki. Is this his idea of a suitable body? Fuck. I don't even think I could handle a slime right now. I guess its not all bad though, my magic is beyond any beginner. Its not enough to cast any serious magic but I could probably handle magic up to the intermediate level. Still that is a far cry from my God-Emperor ranked magic I used before. I sighed internally. Well there's no helping it. Assuming Loki isn't a complete liar, I finally have my change for revenge. I will kill that bastard who dared treat me like a slave and crush his damn little empire. Well, first things first, I need to gather supplies so that I can begin to learn more about this world. Thankfully, there is a group of people that had only recently restocked their inventory and who should be quite willing to part with it after a little...persuasion. I headed towards the tracks of the raiding party which had attacked the caravan.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
The sun was close to reaching the horizon when I finally found the raiders. I had tracked them through a thick pine forest to a large encampment encircled around a slight escarpment. I circled around towards the back of the escarpment and began to climb it to get a better view of the bandit camp. There must be at least thirty of them, all dressed in a ragged assortment of leather armor with various weapons hanging off their belts. Judging by the noise and the mugs of what I presume to be alcohol, I gather they are celebrating their recent victory over the caravan. Well I suppose I better climb down, march right up to them, and demand their surrender. That would be the heroic thing to do. Man I crack myself up. I have a slightly better, and much more sane, idea. Right now, I doubt I can stand up to a angry villager let alone thirty plus bandits armed to the teeth. I needed an edge. The bandits drunken revelry should last well into the night and afterward I doubt they would be in any shape to fight. While they partied on, I began to look for what I needed.
"Inspect!" I murmured to the blue tipped flower I was holding.
Blue Prymthian
The Blue Prymthian is one of the most common flowers in the world. With a variety of subspecies and colors, it makes a wonderful gift.
Yes perfect! Now I can give all the bandits a nice bouquet of flowers. Sighing I dropped the flower and kept walking through the forest. I had inspected at least a dozen flowers, weeds, and mushrooms to no avail. None of them had the effects I was looking for. Suddenly I stumbled over a stray tree branch and fell face first into the ground. "Shit that hurt" I said as I began to pick myself up but a streak of red to my right stopped me. Under the tree who's branch I tripped under is a group of flowers gently swaying in the slight breeze that reach them. Well it's worth a shot. Grabbing one of the flowers I said "Inspect!"
Red Deathbloom
Danger! The Red Deathbloom is one of the most poisonousness flowers known to man. Growing only in the shade sucking the life from other plants, these red flowers produce a lethal poison from their petals. A small dose will paralyse the victim and anything larger will lead to a slow painful death.
Well now isn't this a surprise. These are exactly what I needed. "Inventory!" I quickly pulled out the some peices of cloth I had salvaged from the caravan and began picking all the flowers.
Hours Later
Wiping my brow I stood up. On the ground were two small bowels, one with a find red powder and another with water. From just over the escarpment the sound of drunken revelery continued. Ignoring the noise, I carefully began powering the red powder into the water. The bowl of water quickly became a deep scarlet color, almost the color of blood. Since I couldn't put the powder directly into their food without getting spotted I had to come up with another idea. By diluting the powder into the water, I formed a deadly liquid poison which I could use to coat the dagger. However, since the poison would be used up in a few swings, I needed something else. That's when I remembered the needles I had stored earlier. Taking them out I carefully laid them on a cloth. Slowly, one by one, I dipped the needles into the deadly brew using a pair of sticks. Once I coated all twenty needles I carefully rolled up the cloth and put it in one of my pockets. In the other pocket, I stored my dagger, also covered in poison, with its sheath on, and starting climbing the escarpment. Once I was at the top I had a perfect view of the camp. By now the sun had fallen but the partying continued. I layed down and began to wait.