The circular Cabin towered over Gin at the edge of the forested area in a mixture of faded orange paint and redwood. He locked the window of his room and placed the Terrarium right by the window so that he could see the change in daylight. He turned around, and the forest felt natural, unlike the first time when the environment felt dead and infested. He climbed the steps and opened the front door; the steps led down to the large dining area.
He had to climb steps to enter the front door, and then he had to descend steps again, creating a kind of invisible floor. Anyone who exploded through the front door would find themselves tripping down the stairs.
A large kitchen with a bar nestled under steps that lead to the second floor. Past the kitchen, a hall of three extra rooms led to an open area with a large window letting in the light and a reading area. A curtain covered a large back door. Gin couldn’t stop grinning, but there was one thing he was expecting to see.
He opened the back door to a lake the size of half of a football field, and at the edge of the lake was a hill where a large tree of yellow leaves stood. Ten feet behind the large tree was an area with training dummies and red dirt. The massive tree provided shade, and from the light stone that hung over the Terrarium to the light from the window, the tree reminded him of a Bonsai tree.
“This might be an equivalent exchange, but this is ridiculous. Bonsai trees didn’t get that big, right?”
Forgetting that he was the small one and bonsai trees were normal trees that were forced to adopt a more diminutive form, Gin stared with a smile that hurt his cheeks. Ada and the football-sized June made tracks in the background, chasing each other, and then Ada looked at Gin, and Gin paused. She had no eyes, but he felt her glare.
“What? Something on my shirt?”
Ada’s lobster-like tail began to dance, and then she charged while her six powerful legs dug up the dirt, and she picked up speed. Gin did not want to meet her charge, so he turned and ran as Ada chased him around the backyard. Gin laughed, and Ada pulsed with joy and freedom.
“Yes, you can explore; just don’t throw off the balance of the ecosystem. I’ll just bring food to you; maybe we can get some chickens or something. If you want to keep nice things, you must care for them. I’m talking to you, too, June.”
Ada pulsed with pride and was slightly disappointed that she couldn’t eat whatever she wanted. Gin tried to wrestle her to the ground, but it was like grappling a car bare-handed. Her six legs locked onto the dirt, and Gin was pushed out of the training area. She nipped at his arms and legs whenever they were exposed until Gin jumped over her and proceeded to ride on her back while they explored the place.
Long after, Gin began doing something that he would never do for the enjoyment of it. At the group home, when he couldn’t be offered new clothing, he taught himself how to knit by watching videos online and practicing to fix his clothes until his work was barely distinguishable from that of a professional.
Gin figured that if he knitted daily to create a shirt out of different materials, he would have a higher chance of gaining a class close to knitting. If he spent two weeks leveling the class, he could wield the weapon of the Southern Giratain forest style, the whisper web. The technique combined the spear and wires, a giant needle and string weapon. In his mind, all these skills and classes would allow him to be a well-rounded fighter enough for multiple opponents or just one dangerous monster. If he was always prepared, there would be nothing to worry about.
Gin fell asleep in the reading area surrounded by all the books he had bought. The following day, he began to train relentlessly, spending hours practicing and incorporating The Dance of the Dragonblood Songila into his Sunny Ray school of fist style.
Then, he would incorporate all his spells and skills into his movement and repeat at the end of the first day. He sat under the great tree and meditated for ten minutes, which was frustrating but longer than the first time. This was precisely what he wanted to see: growth, no matter how small.
[seamster class obtained]
[skill double stitching obtained]
The days turned into a week in the blink of an eye. His meditation progressed from ten minutes to a full hour of absorbing prana energy, filling his meridians to burst. With a strength of will, he pushed down the power, condensing the energy into a spinning ball of power like the sun in the center of his Well. His energy highway strengthened, and his muscles stretched and healed along with his bruised fist.
Congratulations
[Bloodline awakening 00.5%]
[Well of power 1]
[Body-greater physique 1]
[Hunter of the deep level 25]
[body-shock absorption unlocked]
[imploding touch obtained]
[Grappler level 22]
[skill-hammer punch]-[skill-shockwave fist obtained]
[skill-Quick step]- [flicker step obtained]
[Lesser strength]-[greater strength obtained]
[lesser endurance]-[greater endurance obtained]
Gin’s eyes opened as the power grew from his core. His [ignore pain] activated, but it couldn’t silence the pain as his skin began to peel and blood-soaked the training ground as everything went black. His horns grew from barely visible to two inches long, his clothing shrank under his new muscles, and a long red forked tail with scales stretched around him. Just as the pain came, the pain disappeared. Hours later, Gin awoke. He looked into the lake and laughed. He had nothing to say except for the feeling of acceptance he’d been thinking about what might happen and how he would change.
Gin peeked at his hand and walked by the lake to look at himself. His tail was only five inches long, but as he watched like the plant, its length multiplied to six feet. His [Edge walker] skill allowed him to stay balanced. In fact, the tail added to his skill. He felt like a tree, solid and immovable.
Gin opened in a movement called the serpent’s strikes, which caused him to overbalance. He flowed into spinning back, fist over-compensated for his tail, leaving him standing still. Gin realized he would have to put in extra effort to stay in motion.
June was the size of a full-grown dog. She transformed from looking like a giant peanut to resembling a scorpion without a stinger. Still, his pincers were more like sharp scissor blades. Once in a while, June would sit by the training area and watch Gin fight.
Gin didn’t know what was happening in his little head, but June would be a fearsome addition to his group. After eating all the eggs, Ada wrapped herself inside a cocoon and hasn’t responded since.
After his changes in strength and speed, Gin found himself training longer. A week turned into two, and Nhoka’s and Talril’s telepathy crashed into his mind on the last day of the second week.
“We found him.”
“Help!”
Gin responded automatically.
“What? Where are you?”
Talril was usually quiet, but for the first time, she was distressed and tired yet confident, even beastly.
“We’re in the forest to the north.”
Holding on to her psychic signature slithers of tendrils of Mana connected to Nhoka, Talril Gin automatically packed everything and placed the Terrarium in a bag instead of his spatial compartment because Ada was still in her cocoon with June.
He used [flicker steps], which took him across the city in moments, jumping over crowds and running on the sides of buildings. The northern entrance was massive, and a wall was already open. In an effort not to draw attention, Gin strolled through the gate as the guard repeatedly yelled over the departing adventurers.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Remember, if you’re not back by nightfall, the gates will be closed, so I suggest you stay within sight of the city walls and listen for the bells.”
The hubbub died as the March continued. It was midday, and the sun was high overhead. Forest tree leaves were wider than usual, with a dark blue tint. He would have thought they were poisonous if he wasn’t in a rush. Still, adventurers waded through the heavy grass, melting into the forest’s shadows. Gin’s [Awareness] told him to go north, and he [flicker step] into the forest and pulled out his new weapon, a giant needle, and wire made from his slab of Bar mace.
Under the canopy, the sunlight created more shadowed crevasses than light. Gin [Awareness] felt the presence of a flying blade before Gin saw the weapon. Effortlessly, he knocked it out of the air. Monsters followed from the canopy, hopping from limb to limb. Three green torso-like creatures with two swinging arms and tiny stubby legs with a body filled with black spikes called Droviles plant creatures who hunt by sound. Their massive arms are used to drag their dead prey back to their mother tree. Gin picked up speed, but one turned into two, and their numbers grew. Pop pop.
A chorus of loud popping, like bombs, thousands of spikes ate up the ground behind him. Gin jumped into the canopy and used [speed stitch] and [double stitching] as he rushed. Within seconds, the wild calls cut off as the Droves barreled into the wire threads, leaving behind green goo.
A few seconds later, another dagger appeared in his [Awareness]. Gin spun and knocked the weapon out of the air. His [Awareness] expanded like a bomb, and there were three warriors to the right. Gin slowed to a stop in a small clearing.
“What do you want? Who are you?”
Only Silence met him as he watched the men move to encircle him, and a few seconds later, more people began to show themselves in his [Awareness] utterly Encircled. Gin waited impatiently until a wolfman with black and grey fur began to laugh as he walked out of the shadows. Clapping.
“My fastest men could barely keep up with you. I’m sorry to say, but you’ll have to give us everything you have or die..”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, we don’t make exceptions.”
“Well, I have nothing for you or your friends.”
The wolfman smirked.
“You don’t understand mutt.”
The bandits began to show themselves one by one, surrounding him. Most were dog men and women, but a few looked human.
“We outnumber you, so you have no choice but to give me your stuff.”
Then Gin recognized a face. It was the girl from the bookstore. Their eyes met, and she gave him a wicked grin.
“It’s him. Hey! We waited for you at the gate for a whole day.”
The supposed leader glanced at her.
“Him who.”
“The one that killed Bartholomew.”
“I thought you said that it was a human, not.”
“He must have awakened since then. You know, like you, but you never forget such a handsome face. The horns look good on you.”
The assailants all stepped back, and the girl winked at Gin, bit her lips, and giggled like a creepy schoolgirl.
“Since you killed one of my men, I can’t let you go. I have to make an example of you. I’ll bring back your torso and tell them that you were eaten alive or something.”
Gin responded.
“Hey, your friend tried to kill me, and it didn’t look like he wanted to stop doing it. Aren’t you all adventurers? Aren’t you supposed to be hunting monsters or helping people? You do know the penalty for banditry is death, right?”
A few bandits rustled at his word, but most ignored him. The wolfman casually mentioned decapitation and murder, which said a lot about his situation. A small guy walked out of the group of bandits with two swords on his back. Gin recognized him as one of the warriors who had thrown a knife.
“I’ll kill him. Let me prove that I’m stronger than Bartholomew.”
The wolfman ignored him.
“Hey, Sofre, why don’t you show me that new spell of yours.”
The girl smiled. Gin had no time to stand around and wait. He turned and felt energy gather around him, and the girl spoke.
“[Emulate]”
Like a bomb, Gin’s body went up in flames, and flinching at the pain, Gin began to scream in anticipation. He squeezed his eye shut out of fear and waited, and then he realized that the fire wouldn’t burn him.
The Sofre laughed bandits, and the group leader laughed and began to walk away. Gin deflated and decided not to react and pretend to be dead, except the knife-throwing bandit saw through it. His two-throwing knives filled Gin [Awareness] as he gripped his giant needle and knocked them out of the air. Before anyone else could react, Gin’s giant needle parried the bandit’s twin blades like a mace. With his new strength, his opponent buckled under the strain. Gin twisted the giant needle, and it wrapped around his opponent within seconds.
The bandit leader swung down with his greatsword, and Gin pulled one of the wires as he dodged blood pooling all over the forest floor, and one of his men’s heads rolled to the floor.
“You bastard!”
In anger, the bandit leader. Swung the great sword backward. Gin dodged, but he had no time to stop and think. An arrow entered his [Awareness], and Gin caught the arrow. A bandit with a giant flail charged into the fight. Gin tossed the arrow into his face. The warrior dodged, but the wire wrapped around his arm as Gin pulled. Like a mace, the midnight black needle slammed into a female warrior, sending her flying through the forest. The bandits stepped back, but Gin already sensed the build-up of Mana’s energy. The female mage threw a [fireball], but Gin was already moving with [force wall] and [flicker step]. He was on the other side of the gang. Another arrow crashed into his wall. Gin created needles, and then he launched them toward the archer. The man crumpled to the ground in a murmur.
The bandit leader finally caught up, and his great sword met Gin’s giant needle with thunderous force. The bandit leader twitched and tried to stab Gin, but he slapped the tip of the great sword with his needle. Then, he lunged at the leader, who retreated as another arrow entered Gin’s [Awareness]. This time, he stepped to the side, and the arrow was sticking out of the bandit leader’s neck.
Gin retreated to hear the mage Sofre scream.
“Noo! Emulate!”
Gin’s body caught fire, but he only stared at her.
“I didn’t become an adventurer to kill people, but I’m guessing sometimes it’s not something you get to make a choice about the law of jungle kill or be killed crises happens. Then, the idea of leaving the world better than how you saw it comes into play. I don’t think it a good idea to give an idiot chances to do bad things. Still, I don’t think you are all idiots, so I’ll say this. Once you leave the Tower or find a peaceful way to live, become an apprentice or something because If I see any of you here again, I’ll kill you.”
The girl’s only response was another.
“[Emulate].”
She was in tears, holding her leader’s body. Gin felt terrible, and he couldn’t kill her for angrily lashing out.
“That actually tickles. Be good, boys and girls.”
Gin turned and went north toward Nhoka and his friend. The short fight felt longer than it was, but the sun seemed to be setting. Gin followed the psychic signature to a small cave entrance. Using telepathy, he called Nhoka.
“Nhoka!”
“Gin….”
Her tired voice sounded pained, so faint that Gin had to replay what she said.
“I’m here.”
Gin charged into the cavernous as fast as he could. At the end of the caves was a drop that his [Awareness] couldn’t see at the bottom, but he sensed his friends deep inside the cavern like faint embers. Without hesitating, Gin jumped.
“[Spell-summon lesser psy swimmer Niralfin]”
The long silver serpentine fish circled Gin and used telekinesis, slowing his fall. Gin could have used it himself, but he still didn’t know how to fly.
“Thanks.”
His [Awareness] picked up various types of monsters, watching them fall. The lower he went, the more he felt eyes on them. A shadow fell upon him at high speeds, and the Niralfin was in a flurry of scales and claws. Suddenly, Gin was falling again, and the summon was gone.
“Useless fish!”
Gin curled up his body and used his [Awareness] to push up and create [Force wall].
“This is going to hurt.”
Gin’s [Awareness] saw water just before he crashed into an underground lake. He put away his weapon, and his claws grew into webbed claws. He found himself surrounded by giant eels and all sorts of creatures.
“I come in peace.”
He tried to move slowly through the water, but his [Awareness] was filled with monsters in all directions. There was only one safe way to move without being noticed. It was as if they smelled blood in the water and were all waiting for their pound of flesh. It was then that Gin realized that he was covered in burnt blood and most of his clothing was ashes. For a moment, it’s as if everything froze. Then, a giant eel struck him with lightning. Gin used [force wall], but his force wall blocked the lightning from one side. The lightning electrocuted the water around him. Gin screamed, swallowing a load of water, but the water drained through his gills. His muscles stiffened, a giant mouth crashed into his [force wall], and the eel’s jaws squeezed.
Gin’s claws split its head in two. Blood filled the underground lake, and then the frenzy began as all the monsters began to eat each other. Gin found himself in the middle, fighting off a giant fish. The fish pushed him against the wall with its mouth wide open. Struggling, Gin slowly pushed the giant fish back, but instead of trying to take another bite, the fish slowly swam away.
He turned around and climbed the lake’s edge while the water thrashed with blood and battle. He climbed into a cave and followed the psychic mana signature. He needed to know they were still alive. He needed Nhoka or Talril someone to talk with him. He sent out a question.
“How did you find Jareth.”
“Gin? Is that you?”
“It’s me. I’m on my way. Tell me how you found him?”
There was a long pause, but he felt she was still there. She spoke slowly as if her mind was muddled.
“It was Talril. She found a boy who could find lost things and sometimes people if we had something the person owned as a connection. He gave Talril a flag that blew in his direction, and we followed it. When we got to the.”
She paused for a moment.
“We found a cave that led to a pit, and it took us four days to find him. Things went south from there. We found that sometimes, the tower door opens in the forest. Jareth, he’s been in the forest here this whole time.”
Gin tried to keep her talking.
“How is everyone else doing?”
“Thade is defending our rear, but we haven’t slept in days. Talril is unconscious. Eltynna has been using a lot of mana potions; I think she’s running out. Cohan has been scouting, but we can’t find a way out. Jareth lost an arm and a leg. He was being attacked by worms. Watch out for worms; they’ve collapsed tunnels, and slashing damage doesn’t work.”
It was a wonder how they got this far down. The signal grew stronger as Gin turned a corner, only to meet a dead end. Through his [Awareness], close to the surface were worms, and through the dead end was another tunnel system. Gin folded his fist and punched through the wall like paper. The worms immediately swarmed, falling from the ceiling and chewing on his skin. He punched, kicked, and stomped blood painted the tunnels, but he was taking a lot of damage. There was no room to move. Gin inhaled, filling his lungs with Prana, and then a torrent of red flames lit up the tunnels, and the worms screamed and ran.
He kept moving, but there was one problem: he was moving away from the team. He turned to a wall and punched. His fingers turned into claws, and he began to make his own way, but the worms weren’t giving up. The closer he got, the more worms he fought. They collapsed the way back and created tunnels that led in various directions. Still, Gin noticed that the team was headed deeper underground.
“Stop moving.”
“Every time we stop moving, the worms attack.”
“That’s because I’m close.”
“You’re going to have to fight. Maybe if I stop moving, the worms will stop pushing.”
They tested the theory, and the worms surrounded Gin in a tunnel. He. He could sense them through the walls but only watched. Nhoka and the team could rest for only twenty minutes, which was enough time for Eltyna to meditate. The next part of the plane involved fighting while Gin made a big push towards his friends.
Gin dugg faster as on the other side, Eltyna created a force field around the team. Claws cracked, and healed exhaustion never took him as his arms began to feel like sticks stirring clay. Gin reached inside and began to infuse Earth Prana into his claws, and Earth began to part faster and easier. A bright light lit up the cavern’s end, and creatures’ waves crashed against a force field.
Gin stopped inhaling and sprayed the entire cavern in flames. The worms ran away, but thousands died. Gin approached the force field, and the team looked haggard. Eltyna was in tears, and everyone else seemed to have no energy to stand. Gin removed his Terrarium from his half-burnt bag and placed it on the ground.
“Touch it with your mana, and you will be transported inside.”
Eltyna touched the Terrarium, and everyone went inside individually, too exhausted to speak. The one thing Gin was concerned about while inside his Terrarium was being eaten. After its energy enters, the Terrarium blends into its environment. The Terrarium becomes clear, like barely visible glass, and Gin enters.
The front door was opened, and the team was already sleeping on the floor in the hall. Gin placed four bottles of healing potions on the table, placed Jareth into the spare room by the kitchen, and slowly fed him a healing potion. The adventurer was barely conscious. He was a tall guy with armor-eaten leather straps and bit marks all over his skin. The potion healed his worst wounds, but he lost a lot of blood. He would be asleep for a while, Gin thought to himself. He turned to see Talril chugging the healing potion. Her shark features glimmer with sweat, and her bite marks visibly healed. Then she relaxed and stumbled to a chair.
“Where are we? What happened? How?”
Gin raised his hand placatingly.
“Just catch your breath. Let’s rest and wait until everyone is awake.”
She sat up.
“What about?”
Her eyes took in the room until she saw Jareth. She rose to her feet and slowly made her way over to his unconscious body. She placed a hand on his chest and padded him. A silence filled the room. Gin felt intruding, so he went outside and looked up. He could see the cavern and millions of warms. The warms weren’t in any of the books that he had. He skimmed through pages of monsters he read about as his fingers trembled. Gin sat by Ava’s cocoon and waited, slowly drifting off to sleep.
Congratulations
Quest.
Who will you be? Defeat five opponents using a specialized fighting style to add to your skills and abilities.
Quest complete 3/5
[Hunter of the deep level 25]
[skill earth tunneling obtained]
[spell-minor shape earth obtained]
[intimidation obtained]
[Skill-sense mana signature obtained]