Helen sat down with a silver goblet in her hand.
“I had to practically blackmail the staff to get a decent drink here,” she complained.
“You wine drinkers!” Jamis said, chugging back a pewter pitcher filled with a thick, bitter ale. “This, right here, is a proper drink.”
“I’m with Helen,” Mira said, wincing as she sipped at her own ale. “This stuff is foul.”
“Well, it’s a border settlement,” Felrick said. “They get raided by the myrmidons from the forest so not many skilled crafters want to live here. Those that do are hard people, used to hardship and making do.”
“Why do they raid?” Torvin asked. “What is it they’re interested in?”
“Women,” Helen said darkly.
“And textiles and other manufactured goods,” Felrick added. “But yes, they take young women as well as any Gifted children they come across. The women are used to breed more warriors for them, and the children are indoctrinated into their beliefs.”
“I don’t understand how a race of people can live like that,” Mira said.
“It’s because of their creator,” Helen said, her lip curling. “We are not native to this world. Humans, elves, givarta, kassadrons… We all were brought here as champions over the centuries. But the myrmidons are one of the first six races of this world. They were created by Kelesa, and they will always be drawn to worship and emulate her.”
“You don’t think they are capable of change?” Jamis asked.
“Maybe individually but as a people, no. Whenever Kelesa chooses a champion, the myrmidons will invariably follow him to bleed the world dry.”
“That’s enough doom and gloom for one day, thank you,” Felrick said. “Let us enjoy what time we have today. Tomorrow, we’re entering the Cursed Forest, and we won’t see a safe resting place for some time.”
“I’m looking forward to fighting some Gifted beasts and getting more rank points,” Jamis said, cracking his fists.
“Don’t be launching yourself at every Gifted beast and monster you come across!” Helen scolded him. “It’s a good way to end up at death’s door.”
“That’s why we have you,” Jamis said, toasting her, a big grin on his face. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, that girl across the tavern has been eyeing me all night. I’m going to go see if I can make my last stay in town for a while a bit more comfortable.”
They shook their heads as they watched the hairy barbican leave to seduce the local woman.
“You said humans aren’t native to this world,” Mira said. “Why do I see so many of them, then? I thought they were the predominant race in this world.”
“They are,” Felrick said. “Humans have more children than most races and are compatible with every humanoid species that the gods have brought to this world. Other races usually just get assimilated into them over a few generations.”
“Is that why I’ve seen an asterisk behind some people’s description?” Torvin asked.
“Yes,” Helen said, nodding. “If Mira and you were to have a child, for example, there would be that same asterisk next to the name of whatever race your child most took after.”
“It’s not going to happen,” Mira told Torvin flatly.
“I’m not the one who suggested that!” Torvin protested as Felrick and Helen laughed at him.
***
I woke and stretched, then strapped on my armor, grabbed breakfast and found Juruk again.
“You’re up again,” I said. “Take me to the spined lion.”
Juruk sighed but on this occasion, did not complain. He led me to a ford across the river and we headed west, the forest thickening until Juruk stopped and pointed ahead.
“Lair ahead. Territory starts here,” Juruk said and pointed to scrape marks on the trees.
“Stand by at camp in case I need you to guide me somewhere else,” I said, dismissing him.
I stalked forward, scanning for tracks or signs of movement.
Every Gifted I’d ever fought had been territorial, so I was sure the spined lion and I would encounter each other one way or the other. I kept pacing forward before breaking through the line of trees into a wide clearing. I noticed a cave which wasn’t set into a cliff face.
Instead, a jagged pile of rocks jutted up and a looming maw led down.
There was no eagerness in me to fight another beast in its own lair.
Luckily for me, it turned out I wouldn’t have to.
A yowl broke out from the cave, echoing about the clearing. A pair of luminous yellow eyes emerged from it as the spined lion stepped out, into the light.
I had been imagining something with a row of spikes along its back or a manticore but what I saw was like a cross between a saber-tooth and a porcupine.
Tutaren the Impaler. Gifted—Mortal. Beast/Spined Lion. Rank: 48.
The thing bared its teeth at me, snarling as its spines bristled on its back. It flicked its tail toward me, and at the same time, dozens of barbs shot at me like arrows.
My shield intercepted them, and they pinged off the enchanted steel.
With stealth, the spined lion ran around me in a circle, soon launching more freshly generated spikes from its tail.
I dodged and interposed my shield as the distance between us closed. Within ten feet, I lunged at the beast, every single spike on it exploding outwards, growing an extra five feet in length. I tried to grab the spikes with my Telekinesis, but they were moving so fast.
Besides, there were so many of them that I lacked the mental ability to keep track of them all. As I twisted my head, they glanced off the dome of my helmet. This was preferable to being skewered through the visor of my helmet or the gap between my shoulders and neck.
I was, however, unable to prevent six spikes from puncturing my left bicep.
Another was sticking out of my thigh just above the knee.
Whilst this was clearly sub-optimal, this was without a doubt the most favorable outcome out of the possible futures of which I’d been able to catch a glimpse.
Most of them pictured me lying in a pool of my own blood.
My maul swept in, but the cat disappeared in a flash, zipping along the ground and whirling to face me again, its spikes visibly regrowing by inches in a split second.
I ripped the spikes out of my body and crouched down, taking cover behind my shield as I was bombarded by another volley of spikes.
I hurled a volley of spearheads but the lion didn’t even dodge them, merely flattening its spikes and not even flinching as my spearheads bounced off them.
Then, the beast nimbly dodged my maul and again hurtled across the ground.
Activating my boots, I rolled under its pounce, continuing rolling as a volley of spikes launched at me from midair. I teleported to the side of my foe, slashing down with my clubs on its head. I didn’t cut into it, but both my weapons connected with meaty thuds; Tutaren staggered back for a second before hissing and expanding out again.
A second time, I ducked down behind my shield as it exploded with spikes and I let loose a roar for the first time in the fight, wrestling with the urge to flee.
Pushing forward, I slashed down with my club.
Tutaren twisted and grabbed my weapon with its jaws, ripping it out of my hand.
I rested for a second, the beast using the opportunity to whip its tail under my cloak. Thorny javelins peppered my back, jutting out like a pincushion.
I screamed in pain and teleported away, reaching behind me to pull out the spines.
In a flash, Tutaren pounced at me.
I dropped and managed to roll under it but it used an ability, its spikes shooting out and pushing it back, midair. Suddenly, there it was, on top of me.
I was only marginally faster than this thing. Whatever skills and abilities it had, speed was obviously one of them. To my horror, it went for my throat.
I shoved my right arm in its mouth, causing its saber teeth to grind against my armor. I felt it start to bend, the lion beginning to crush and penetrate what I believed was my unbreachable defense. I scrambled under it, the weight of it shoving the spikes deeper. I felt myself gasp in shock and pain as they pierced what I was sure were vital organs.
My hand reached out, grabbed one of its spikes and jammed it deep into its right eye.
Tutaren released me as it stumbled backwards, yowling in pain and pawing at its face.
I didn’t let up even as blood streamed down my back. Instead, stepping forward, I wrapped my cloak around the beast and held on as tightly as I could. I felt its spikes discharge but my cloak was tough enough to withstand the barrage and I held on.
Grabbing one of the lion’s own spikes, I stabbed into the fur under its chest.
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We rolled on the ground, and it managed to get a paw around me and run its claws across my back, shredding my skin, causing even more blood to spurt from my back.
My vision was red and blurry by this time and not just due to the loss of blood. Deep anger was welling inside me. I used it to help me survive.
Again, the lion thrashed, slamming me against trees and onto the ground.
I stubbornly held on and stabbed relentlessly into its chest, my enhanced dagger and my arm coated in our mingling blood.
24 rank points gained.
Blood and Souls (Repeatable): Kill 320 monsters or humanoids. Current progress: 59/320. When you complete this quest, you will gain 64 rank points. The next quest will require double the number to be completed but will award double the rank points.
I finally let go and dropped to the ground.
You have suffered a massive internal injury to vital organs and still have foreign objects inside you. The time until death is 52 seconds.
I snarled, refusing to accept death. I felt the spikes and ripped them out with Telekinesis as I poured cauter fennel over my back. As it came in contact with my blood, it seemed to ignite. I kept pouring, emptying the jar, downing the health potion.
You have suffered a massive internal injury to vital organs and still have foreign objects inside you. The bleeding has slowed. Time until death is 95 seconds.
Grim laughter spilled from my throat and soon transformed into a blood-filled cough. I had stopped the external bleeding, but the health potion had only slowed the internal bleeding. I went through my other herbs and picked up another I had gathered.
Scourge Rose. Type: Poison. Rarity: Uncommon. Grows in places with a fire affinity or where a massive fire has swept the land. The rose bushes feed off the ash. The thorns of this rose excrete a sap that attacks the blood with a flameless fire, burning the body from the inside out.
It wasn’t a cure, but I was dying and had nothing to lose. Hoping my Field Alchemist title lived up to its description, I dumped a bit of the sap into a health potion with a pinch of the remaining cauter fennel and a bit of raw red yarrow, violet nullifier, and purity lilies.
Chugging back the mixture and chewing as vigorously as I could, I fell back and prepared for death.
“Fuck you, Dad!” I said as I stared up into the blue sky.
The blue sky faded to be replaced by a dark expanse.
I couldn’t tell whether I’d closed my eyes in my last moments or gone blind. Pain wracked my body, and I curled up on myself, my stomach burning, and my veins beginning to throb as fire traveled down them, followed by an icy chill. It was ten times worse than the last time I had combined some random herbs. Simultaneously, I felt the burning, searing agony with the icy pain of the freezing liquid nitrogen coursing through me.
The two forces battled it out as I thrashed on the ground, unable to focus on anything through the agony. I fought to stay alive but could feel my grip on life loosening.
I wanted to growl in anger and rage but did not have the strength to even whimper. I was dangling over a precipice, a black abyss beneath me. In my mind, I felt the hunger of death below me, and there, at least I found the strength to rage against my fate.
“You said I’d never be anything!” I screamed into the darkness, although at what or at whom I screamed I could not be sure. “I am the champion of a god!”
The darkness laughed back at me.
“I am more than you ever were!” I shouted into the blackness. “More than you could ever have been!”
I felt a sudden strength as if something was shoving me up from the depths. It wasn’t much, but my body was suddenly driven by a new force, pushing back the darkness, scrambling and scratching for every last inch of life I had left. The agony began to ease slowly. It wasn’t the sudden release from pain like the jolt of a rank-up but a gradual release, more akin to a glacier melting. When I could finally sit up, it was late in the evening.
You have completed a hidden objective and earned a title. Objective: Kill a Gifted beast with a primitive weapon of bone while in a state of rage and severely injured.
Reward. Title: Berserker (Requires you to have the titles, Mark of Cain, Feral Barbarian, and Survivor II).
*Berserker: You have overcome pain, suffering, and even the brink of death by the force of your anger alone. Whenever you are filled with anger and enmity, your body becomes less receptive to pain, letting you push through life-threatening injuries more easily.
“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing,” I said, reading over the title. “This seems like a good way to get myself killed.” I stopped talking, realizing I’d already been doing a good job of that already. As I dismissed the notification, another one popped up.
You have completed a hidden objective and earned a title. Objective: Consume several herbs as well as at least one poison and survive the combination.
Reward. Title: Field Alchemist II (Requires you to have Field Alchemist).
*Field Alchemist II: You do not care for the dangers of mixing different herbs, liquids, and even poisons inside your body and your very stomach acts as your cauldron. Suffer only a quarter of the negative effects of mixing different unprocessed herbs and gain full benefits from them.
The title was basically the same as my last one, merely including an added description for poison and no longer limiting me to the combination of two herbs.
Considering I had only just attained the first title that day, it probably said something about me and how I threw myself unflinchingly into life-and-death situations.
“Without risk, there is no reward,” I said quietly, standing.
I looked at the body of Tutaren but there wasn’t much use I could see for it. Its spines were highly effective, but my spearheads were probably more suitable for my needs. I picked one that was four feet long but could bend it only slightly. Gathering up several bunches and tying them with paracord just in case I found a use for them, I looked again over the body of the spined lion, ending up collecting its saber-tooth fangs.
Spined Lion Fang. Type: Material. Rarity: Uncommon. Hardness: 9. The tooth of a Gifted Spined Lion: This material can only be broken by a weapon of Hardness 9 or higher.
I headed back to camp, stopping when I reached the river to soak the dried, merged lion and human blood out of my skin, clothes, and cloak, also washing my armor clean. Bone weary, I eventually made it back to camp. Having once again narrowly survived death, I collapsed into my tent without even eating.
I was still on a time limit, however, and forced myself to sit up and concentrate. I only had a few abilities I could raise, so looked them over. I still wanted to raise Telekinesis, but Compress Earth would also let me increase my Mind Attribute and get me closer to a mutation for that stat. I decided to compromise and raise Telekinesis by one and Compress Earth by two, since even if I put all my points into Compress Earth it wouldn’t get it over twenty. “Raise Telekinesis by one rank,” I told the System at last.
Telekinesis (Rank 8): You can, at will, lift 8 objects or creatures weighing 610 pounds or less and move them within 190 feet of your body; or up to 384 objects or creatures weighing 150 pounds or less and move them within 190 feet of your body. The speed and power of objects are based on your Spirit Attribute.
You can now crush an enemy with your ability. You deal a moderate amount of damage each second to a creature suspended by your Telekinesis. The damage is increased slightly for every point in Spirit you have above 10.
Cost: 1 Mana per 10 small objects/sec; or 1 Mana per large object/sec.
Upgrade this ability to increase the number of items, their weight, and the range at which you can move them. Every upgrade of this ability increases your Spirit Attribute by 1.
I felt the burning as my Spirit, already over twenty, went even higher. The raging inferno burned, spreading from my center out through my chest, stomach, shoulders, and neck and reaching ever further along my body. After the agony of pushing past death, this was nothing. I focused only on my breathing as the rank-up increased my Spirit, the pain vanishing.
Breathing out, I quickly reviewed the increase in my ability before dismissing the notification. “Raise Compress Earth by one rank.”
Compress Earth (Rank 11): You can fuse dirt and stone into a more durable, heavier material that can be shaped. You can currently fuse a 1,024-square-foot section of earth, common stone, and metal. Your compressed stone has a Hardness rating of 9; your compressed earth has a Hardness rating of 7. The detail with which you can sculpt is based on your Mind & Perception Attribute.
You can now use uncommon stone in your fusions. The rarer, denser or more exotic the stone, the greater the effect on the final product.
You can now use non-magical metals in your fusions. The rarer, denser or more exotic the stone, the greater the effect on the final product.
Cost: 10 Mana per square foot.
Upgrade this ability to increase the amount you can compress, its durability and weight, and the materials upon which you can use this ability. Each upgrade increases your Mind Attribute by 1.
A throbbing headache stabbed into my brain as if nails were being driven into my skull. Despite finding it extremely difficult to focus on my breathing, I had an epiphany, thinking about everything that made me angry. Thoughts of my parents, the foster system, and people I’d known throughout my life flitted through my mind.
The stabbing in my head faded into the background, still there, but the pulsing in my veins suppressed it as a feeling of wrath rose in me.
I focused on the anger, channeling the emotion, breathing in and out. The pain ended and I barely even noticed except for the notification flashing behind my eyelids.
“Increase Compress Earth once,” I said, the words coming out as a snarl.
Compress Earth (Rank 12): You can fuse dirt and stone into a more durable, heavier material that can be shaped. You can currently fuse a 2,048-square-foot section of earth, common stone, and metal. Your compressed stone has a Hardness rating of 9.5; your compressed earth has a Hardness rating of 7.5. The detail with which you can sculpt is based on your Mind & Perception Attribute.
You can now use uncommon stone in your fusions. The rarer, denser, or more exotic the stone, the greater will be the effect on the final product.
You can now use non-magical metals in your fusions. The rarer, denser, or more exotic the stone, the greater the effect on the final product.
Cost: 10 Mana per square foot.
Upgrade this ability to increase the amount you can compress, its durability, weight, and the materials upon which you can use this ability. Each upgrade increases your Mind Attribute by 1.
The pain returned. I could dimly feel how much more it had increased but it was an annoying throb in my head instead of an all-consuming pain, no longer as it was before. I let my hate and resentment simmer, my breathing now ragged from emotion instead of pain.
“Raise Compress Earth, again,” I said, my voice hard and sour.
Compress Earth (Rank 13): You can fuse dirt and stone into a more durable, heavier material that can be shaped. You can currently fuse a 4,096 square-foot section of earth, common stone, and metal. Your compressed stone has a Hardness rating of 10; your compressed earth has a Hardness rating of 8. The detail with which you can sculpt is based on your Mind & Perception Attribute.
You can now use uncommon stone in your fusions. The rarer, denser, or more exotic the stone, the greater the effect on the final product.
You can now use non-magical metals in your fusions, The rarer, denser, or more exotic the stone, the greater the effect on the final product.
Cost: 10 Mana per square foot.
Upgrade this ability to increase the amount you can compress, its durability, weight, and the materials upon which you can use this ability. Each upgrade increases your Mind Attribute by 1.
The pain came again but in my state of meditative anger, was barely palpable. Once it was done, I stood, needing to cool off despite my weariness. I took a bowl from the fire and walked to the edge of the river. I dipped my bare feet into the water as I slowly ate the heavy stew. When I was done, I felt better physically and mentally. I returned to the inner wall, dropped my bowl off at the wash basin and returned to my tent.
Chapters 10-30 were removed after I hired a professional editor, if you want to read them you can either on Patreon at Exarch tier or buy the book on Amazon