Will awoke in pain. He tried to scream, but his hoarse throat wouldn’t make a sound. It was dark, and he was in pain. He tried to move, but his arms and legs were pinned by something. Finally his eyes flew open as something was fitted over his mouth and nose. Standing over him, fitting him with some sort of medieval respirator, was Alchemist Savil. His voice was completely gone, and the respirator muffled his whispered demands to know what was going on.

“Ahh, you're awake!” Alchemist Savil said. “Don’t struggle too much. You hit the ground quite hard. It will take a bit more than a health potion to put you right. You may not be able to tell but you are in a force cast at the moment. Most of your bones are broken so I need to put you in a healing vat.”

Will stopped trying to move. It certainly felt like the alchemist was telling the truth. Will was jostled as the entire table he was on was lifted vertically by one end by a chain and pulley system the alchemist was working from the other side of the room. He stopped rising after being lifted about ten feet in the air. He was then moved sideways until he dangled over a glass vat that looked more sci-fi than will was used to in this world. The vat was filled with a translucent red liquid, and he was dipped feet first into it.

Once it was over his head he stopped and groaned in relief as the pain began to ease. It was wonderful for several moments as the anesthetic effects of the liquid took hold. But then the itching started. His skin itched, his muscles itched. His bones, oh god, his bones itched. Will pressed against the restraints with all the force of his body searching for some relief. After what seemed like hours, the itching stopped, and Will hung limp but whole from his restraints. He was lifted out and set on the ground, but not all the way. The top end of the table he was strapped to was still suspended from the chains so he was nearly vertical on the ground.

Alchemist Savil walked over to a table muttering to himself. Will called to him then screamed at him as the Alchemist seemed to utterly ignore Will. After a few minutes of jotting down notes, the Alchemist turned toward Will.

“Thank you so very much! I have not had someone so badly damaged to test the newest version of my healing serum!” He walked to Will and removed the respirator.

“Thank you Alchemist.” Will said. “I am sure I would not have survived that if not for you.”

“Quite so lad, quite so.” He then turned to the vat and started to empty it out.

“Umm, Alchemist Savil? I need to go see if my friends are ok, so could you undo these restraints?” The Alchemist just shook his head.

“Children these days are simply not taught right. William, your name is William correct? As you have rightly determined I have saved your life at no small expense to myself. That elixir was not cheap. All in all you have cost me no small amount of time and at least three silver crowns worth of materials which will be months in the procurement. Until that debt of time and money is paid, I own you body and soul. I have given you your whole life and expect only a few years in return.” The Alchemist looked at Will earnestly. “That is not too much to ask, now is it?”

Will’s jaw dropped. This man expected him to become his slave? A part of Will’s mind told him it was more like indentured servitude, but most of him didn’t care. He wasn’t going to be this man’s slave for the next several years.

“Are you sure this isn’t something we can work out another way? I have a lot of things that are quite valuable. I could pay you back directly!”

“I apologize William, I really do, but I currently have little use for the kinds of things you could sell me.” He held up a hand when Will tried to speak. “Nor do I have a use for an errand boy. As it is my decision as to how you will pay me back, I have need of a test subject, a job for which you have already been quite valuable.” He then fitted the respirator over Will’s mouth which immediately cut off all protests by causing a magical silence to fall over Will.

“I have had this conversation one too many times to allow this to go on. Really, no-one seems to have any sense of etiquette these days.” The Alchemist cast a spell and the vat started to fill with water. He then climbed a ladder to where a small wooden catwalk allowed him to service the top of the vat. He started to manifest herbs, bits of slime, meaty chunks of something green and purple and other unidentifiable bits which immediately plopped into the water. The Alchemist cast another series of spells causing the water to froth and churn. Will was close to the side of the vat and so he felt it heat, and saw steam lifting from the surface. After a few minutes the water turned a luminescent purple. The frothing calmed down and the water went still, but still steamed. The Alchemist went to the chain system on the wall and started to lift Will again.

Will had been strangely entranced by the alchemist working, but now he started to struggle. But his 46 strength was not enough to remotely budge the restraints. He was left to futilely resist as he was lowered into the scalding potion.

Will felt his skin burn at contact with the potion, not just from the heat but from its caustic nature. But he was quickly distracted by what was happening in his spirit map. Runes were covering every line, surrounding every star from the inside out. He could feel it changing his body, his flesh wriggling and moving in time with the runes that crept through his spirit map. Will felty panic trying to overtake him, but he forced it down. It was just runes after all. He could deal with runes.

Will tapped the springtime star, flooding his spirit map with power and destroying the runes that had formed. But the runes started again, and he destroyed them again. After the third time, Will started to form layers of runic protection against the invading runes, and after a minute, he was completely protected. He looked out of the vat at the alchemist who looked confused. After a few more minutes, he was pulled out. His skin was red and raw, but it didn’t look like any permanent damage had been done. He realized that he probably could have just used his cold concept to ruin the potion, but he had been more worried about his spirit at the time.

“What just happened?” Alchemist Savil asked. Will couldn’t answer but wouldn’t if he could. The Alchemist cast several spells over will and the vat. “Mana contamination? The vat is supposed to ensure the purity of the mixture. Where did the mana come from? Did you jettison your mana pool trying to stop the potion from working its magic? No, it is just too much mana.”

The Alchemist cast several more spells over Will before he just started to laugh in glee.

“A Mana Source! You have a heavens blessed Mana Source! I thought they were a myth!” Alchemist Savil grinned at Will. “I will have to change the experiments that I had planned. With a Mana Source I can do things I never would have thought possible!” The Alchemist danced away from Will, who had resumed struggling against his bonds.

For the first time Will tried to escape in earnest. He first tried to summon his desolation blade, but it felt like there was a block between him and the skill. He then enchanted himself for strength and tried to force the bindings open. He felt like there was the slightest bit of give to the restraints now, but it was too little to accomplish anything. He racked his brain for ideas and found his notifications.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

You have slain Dire Shrike x458.

You are now level 20.

Note: Level cannot be raised further by enemies more than five levels below you.

Animal Companion is level 17

Congratulations! A new module has been created!

Inscription Module has been added to your system.

Will looked at the new tabb in his system interface. It contained two subtabs labeled external and internal. The external tab held blueprints for every inscription he had ever done while working with Old Morris, while the internal tab held the blueprints for every spirit inscription he had successfully tried.

Strength Boost (Weak)

Boosts effective strength by 300%

Dexterity Boost (Weak)

Boosts effective dexterity by 300%

Constitution Boost (Weak)

Boosts effective constitution by 300%

Physical Boost (Weak)

Boosts physical stats by 300%

Curse Ward

Wards your spirit map against malignant spirit inscriptions

Will didn’t know what to think. A three hundred percent boost was not weak by his estimation. The fact that it was called weak here made him wonder what was possible with this method. But that didn’t matter right now. None of his available inscriptions would give him the strength to break his bonds or allow him to activate his skills but he did have 20 free stat points from his last four levels. Would that be enough with the three times multiplier? Will enabled his strength boost. There were inconsistencies here he hadn’t bothered with fixing since creating the physical boost. He tweaked the structure, making the runes smaller, the flow of energy smoother.

Congratulations, You have discovered Strength Boost (Moderate)

Strength Boost (Moderate)

Boosts Strength 500%

Will slammed his twenty stat points into strength and activated his new strength boost. His muscles screamed with torment as he pulled against his restraints. The table he was attached to started to groan and bend, and Alchemist Savil looked up from his notes.

“What do you think you are doing?” The Alchemist said, and he cast a spell over Will. Will felt the magic touch somewhere deep inside him and start to drain him. He felt the insidious exhaustion of soul drain flowing over him and he pulled harder. The table groaned in protest and he felt the leather of his restraints start to tear. It wasn’t enough. The exhaustion would take him before he was free.

“WHAT IN THE BLACKEST HELLS IS GOING ON HERE!” Both Will and the Alchemist snapped their heads to look at an enraged Emerys standing silhouetted in the light of the door, with Amalise and the followers right behind him. Will’s wrist tore free from its restraint and he lunged for the Alchemist, but the old man fell back too quickly.

“Release!” He cried. “Release the seals!” An arrow protruded from the man’s neck the next moment and he fell to the ground. But it was too late. The entire building rumbled as the floor on the far end started to buckle and tear upward. Will frantically fumbled with the other restraints, and nearly fell over when a shard of ice sliced each one.

“Thanks Amalise!” He yelled. He nearly fell over again as Koma bounded over to him and started licking his face. “Koma, not now, not now!”

He summoned his sword to his hand, and turned to the monster that was dragging itself up through the floor of the building. It was a hulking humanoid so thick with muscle that it looked wider than it was tall. Given that it was easily over twelve feet tall, that was intimidating. Various feathers poked out at odd angles, and one hand was replaced by a giant crab claw. It reached down into the hole and after several tugs managed to pull out a sword nearly as tall as it was. It was a great slab of unsharpened metal, but no less deadly for it. It’s face was the most disturbing part. Will originally thought it only had one eye, as a large purple orb with a floating pupil took up nearly half of his face. It wasn’t until Will looked closer that he saw the three human size eyes crowded on the other side of his skull.

Curseforged Abomination, level 43 monster.

Will took an involuntary step back when he saw that. If only this were a beast, he could take it out alone. But the aura of this thing alone pressed down on him. Will blasted out his cold aura and Regal Bearing, feeding them with extra mana from the springtime star to deepen their effects. Frost began to form on the surrounding surfaces, and the weight lifted enough to become manageable. He felt the aura of divinity from behind him increase as well as Emerys and Amalise ran up beside him.

“Oh yeah, level 43, finally a good fight!” Emerys shouted. The followers lined up against the back wall, all retrieving ranged weapons of various kinds.

“I will get his attention,” Emerys said. “Amalise will alternately harass and slow, Will will attack from behind, and Koma will distract. Any questions?” They shook their heads and as if a que had been given everyone lept into action. The monster stomped toward a shouting Emerys who activated a skill that made him grow twice his normal size. Emerys shouted insults and obscenities at the monster and lashed out with his mace to hit sensitive spots. When the monster stepped to swing, Amalise created a patch of ice under its foot that caused it to slip. It didn’t fall, but Emerys was able to parry the blow easily.

As the monster overextended, Will and Koma came up behind to tear out huge chunks of flesh from its back. The monster bellowed in agony and with unprecedented speed brought the sword over his head to crash to the ground right between Will and Koma. The monster swung again, so fast Emerys was barely able to get his shield up. As the blow hit, Emerys was sent flying to crash hard into the far wall of the building. Emerys fell to the ground unmoving. Another swing, but not as strong, which was good as Amalise was barely able to use her ice to deflect it away from her.

Will jumped up and ran toward the monster. He had switched to his physical boost for the fight, but switched back to his Strength boost as he leapt into the air and onto the monster’s back. The problem was the monster was too big to do significant damage, but it was relatively slow and horribly musclebound. Will stabbed his sword to the hilt in the monster’s back. The monster screamed and flailed about. Koma danced about it, snapping at the monster’s ankles and doing his best to keep the monster’s attention. Will pulled out his spear and stabbed it in even deeper, working the two weapons back and forth to enlarge the wound.

It did not take long for the monster to hit on the idea of flopping backwards to dislodge the irritant. And when it did, Will jumped away. When it hit the ground everything stopped for a long moment before it started scrabbling at its chest right over where the spear had pierced its heart. Its movements slowed and then stopped and then it slumped in death. Its body disappeared in a cloud of black oily smoke.

You have slain Curseforged Abomination, Level 43

You are now level 23.

Animal Companion is now level 20.

Congratulations, you now have a permanent bond with Koma the Arctic Wolf (Dire Spirit Beast) Koma’s status sheet has been added to your system interface. You may now choose how to spend free stat points.

Koma is now level 10

Regal Bearing is now level 2

Spirit Inscription is now level 15

Mana Gem x 13 has been added to your inventory.

Curseforged Monster Core has been added to your inventory.