I started considering the situation I was in. Outside the strange temple I where I woke, was a great forest. It was an outgrown area that looked as if no civilized society had passed in what had to be hundreds of years. The trees were also larger then anything he had ever seen. They had to be at least one hundred feet tall. More then that, the foliage and cover their leaves produced was so thick that you could barely even see the sky. There was enough light to see around the area though.
I had begun picking up on some subtle hints since I awoke that I had been sent to Dinevold. If that were to be the case, I would genuinely be happy with that. Its not that I wanted magic necessarily or to live in Divevold. More so it came from the fact that I felt tied down in my old world. Outside of the tournament which always had my heart racing, I just didn’t feel all that alive back on earth.
Dinevold is a dangerous world and if I was sent there. I’m going to have my hands full just trying to stay alive.
I wasn’t sure if it was just the gamer in me losing its mind. But this was at least more interesting then retiring and exploring earth. I still think that whatever sent me here could have at least asked first. Why would whoever dropped me here just leave with no explanation?
In spite of that, it was time to get to work. If this is indeed Dinevold, then I will need to learn a couple things and fast. Normally, you would create your character and would be placed in a city according to your race and choice. This was a problem seeing as how he was currently a Homunculus.
Not only did I not know where I was, I didn’t even recognize these woods. And because there was no option to play as a Homunculus in the game, I don’t know where that race would generally start either.
It angered me that whoever sent me here didn’t even have the courtesy to leave some basic information.
“That’s enough.” I told myself, “Its time to stop focusing on things I can’t change. Instead what can I change?” I made a small note that my voice seemed to have gotten higher and continued thinking.
I was naked, that I could try to change. Even if I had lost my staff of manhood, just the concept of being naked bothered me. That was the first thing on the agenda. Next, I had no real understanding of the area around me, that I could change.
I took one last look at the forest canopy in front of me. And with a breath to calm my fraying nerves, I moved forward into the foliage.
*
Asrane Regalia woke up to the sounds of small bells chiming.
“In service, your highness.” A deeply reverent female voice said using the same greeting that all her fellow elves gave her. “The chief hunter wishes to see you. She asked me to inform you that she will be awaiting your arrival in the courtyard.”
“Thank you, Lyndis. Please let my sister know I will be meeting her shortly.” Asrane responded a little annoyed to have been awoken in such a manner.
She practically rolled out of bed. Such a show would not be becoming of a princess, but no one would know. She stood up in her massive room carved into the trunk of a tree and crafted by the finest woodworkers. To her right stood a wardrobe that rose to a staggering ten feet in height. Inside was her armor. It was the royal armor of the Regalia family. The set was tailer made to fit her and she slowly began to dawn the protection.
It was a fine piece of equipment. Even as beautiful as it was, it did not hinder her at all when moving. It was made from the finest moonstone and even assisted her in stealth. It fit snuggly around her lithe body and its emerald green sheen complemented her blond hair and bright blue eyes perfectly.
As a member of elven royalty, she had a responsibility to act to a higher standard. As much as she hated that fact, It was their calling to protect the Forest of Wisps. Recently the hunting parties had been returning more and more battered. She was not sure what exactly was causing this, but she had relative confidence that it involved her sister in some way.
She wished she could leave on these trips with her. Despite her desires however, she did not possess a class. She was level 9 which put her at only one level away from obtaining one. But recently, it’s as if her growth had stagnated, she just couldn’t make that final push to obtain it.
She only hoped she could obtain it soon. Her sister had been fighting against increasing odds in the forest alone for to long. She only hoped that whatever she was being called for was good news.
*
I had been traveling through the woods for what felt like hours. I was making very little progress as to no ones surprise, I wasn’t very used to traveling through a forest. Especially one with so many plants and thorny vines around.
I still couldn’t help but be annoyed at the lack of animals in the area. I was looking to determine the level of the creatures around and, if they were low enough, to grind some levels. It was a ghost town here though.
I had long since made makeshift underwear out of some larger leaves and some vines. It was itchy as hell but at least it covered up the important bits.
You never realize how much you take for granted until its all gone. I was experiencing the brunt of that while I walked through the woods with nothing but my fist as a weapon and my “cloths” as armor. You might think that it would be smarter to grab a small rock to use as a weapon. To which you would be right in most cases.
In Dinevold however, the classes you gain access to are based completely on what you are able to accomplish and what you used to accomplish it. I had decided to go for a martial arts class with magic if I could get my hands on it.
Magic was a pain to come across back in the game so getting a magic class was always a chore.
As for the weaponry, there was always a problem with weapons in the game. Weapons would get weaker and require maintenance. And the worst part was that their was a limit to how much damage a weapon could deal.
For example, if a level 99 sword-master was to use a copper sword. They would only be able to dish out a maximum of thirty damage per strike without risking breaking the sword itself. That was appallingly low seeing as how a martial artist of the same level could deal upwards of three hundred damage with a single strike.
The downside to the approach of using your hands was that you wouldn’t be able to benefit from damage increases that weapons offer. For example, a silver sword gives a minimum damage of twenty-five. That would make his damage, (which he assume is somewhere around 3-5 per strike) jump to twenty-six to twenty-nine per strike.
That was a worthy sacrifice however as in order to get a silver sword, you would need a blacksmith capable of forging silver. And judging by how long he had been walking without signs of life. That was not going to happen.
Besides, the real reason why he had chosen to go for a martial arts class wasn’t because of the power or because the class was inherently better. It was because of Youtube. You see, in fantasy, there was always a large list of moves and powers that wouldn’t actually work in a real setting. Such as doing summersaults to create distance in a fight.
If he was in Dinevold, he could manage to outclass his opponent so badly however, that he might just be able to manage something like that. Doing more than just fighting, but also looking awesome while fighting.
Was it dumb? Yes. Would it make grinding take far longer? Yes. Did he give a flying shit? No. He had an opportunity to be one of the game world characters and damn it. No one was going to stop him.
In order to even start that process though, he needed to start gaining levels. It was getting harder and harder to keep track of time as the sky was blotched out more and more by the trees. He wasn’t sure how long he had been walking, but finally he saw something.
“A hunter bunny” I said, just barely being able to catch a glimpse of the thing. It was an apt name for the creature. They were level three and generally traveled in packs. They had black fur and red eyes. They were weaker than most monsters because they didn’t possess any skills. Beating them most of the time just came down to how much AOE you could dish out. Or if you could find a ledge higher then fifteen feet.
They were hopelessly aggressive and would just growl at you while you attacked them from such height because they had no way to get to you.
The fact that this one was alone meant that he would be able to kill it if he baited it into a situation like that. Their vision range was around twenty-five feet in game, and he might be able to work something out.
I scouted out the area and found a ledge that met the criteria. After I found it, I turned towards the creature and stood in somewhat disarray.
The bunny was staring directly at me. Did it see me? No that’s not right, it was at least fifty feet away. It was far enough away that it was just a bit blurry. Apparently my new body did not come with 20 20 vision.
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Still, it appeared as though the creature was making direct eye contact with me. It began sniffing the air with its nose before it began hopping towards me. Bounding would have been a better term as it reached me in little over a second. I was so caught off guard that I didn’t even turn to run.
Fear took hold as the creature bit into my skin. It was eating into my leg and I could feel the chunks of flesh being torn off piece by piece.
With a scream Riku began pounding on the rabbit with his fists. Horror began to dawn as the creature squirmed its way inside his leg. His thoughts were pulled to the pain he had felt after he died. He remembered the feeling that felt almost just like this. Panic made way to rage as he thought about it.
He reached inside the hole the creature had made in his leg and grabbed the little gremlin by is small fluffy tail. As he pulled, the creature tore bits of flesh from his leg. It barely registered in his mind as he took the creatures neck in his hand and moved his other hand to its leg.
He pulled with all the might he could manage. The creature bit into his hand as he pulled and his blood ran freely. It just made him more angry as he continued the tug of war. The creatures neck made a sickening pop before its body immediately fell limp.
I continued beating the creature with my fists for an extended period. I’m not sure how long I stayed there but I came to when I realized that I was losing to much blood from my leg and hands. I tried to stall the bleeding by tightening a vine around my leg. The vine snapped before the blood stopped. As I searched for a solution, my vision slowly began to fade.
As I desperately limped around for something to stop the bleeding. I heard some squeaks. it was not to be. I turned and found a group of around thirty hunter bunnies only one hundred feat away. Deciding that escaping was no longer an option, I smiled.
I had been in this world for no more than a day and I was about to die to some of the weakest monsters you could fight. All because I assumed I knew how far these monsters could see. I felt my chest convulsing. Was I crying? No, I’m laughing?
Why? Is it funny? Was... It’s the irony.
The irony of what was the best player in Dinevold dying to some of the weakest monsters was just hilarious and he couldn’t help but laugh.
He made a decision then and there. If he was going to experience the pain anyway, he might as well give some back. He took a deep breath and with a will of steel looked on towards his mighty foes. He remembered the suffering his soul had endured and reaffirmed what he had decided. He would move forward despite the pain.
He felt no rage towards these creatures anymore, only determination. He would fight and he would die. That was the reality of the situation. But it was his choice whether to despair or not. And he chose not. He ran towards the rabbits for the fight. He didn’t manage to even wound one before he succumbed to his injuries.
I was again pulled into darkness. I felt the pain of my soul being tortured yet again but I had already decided not to let the pain affect me. It wasn’t the easiest thing in the world, but it was doable. I sat there wondering just what had happened. How had the bunny seen me? Was my sense of distance in this new body really that bad?
As I continued to ponder what had happened, a window appeared in my mind.
Combat Log
Level seven hunter bunny has inflicted massive damage to you. Level seven hunter bunny has inflicted bleeding on you
Your leg has been greatly wounded. You will have your movement speed reduced by 40 percent until treated.
You have slain level seven hunter bunny. Your unique constitution will not allow you to level unless a shrine to chaos is present.
You have been attacked by a group of hunter bunnies. Average level is 10.
You have died.
Current deaths: 3.
Because the death was not inflicted by a king, a new body will be formed. In the process of formation, you have a choice to spend your levels before resurrection.
Levels available: 4
Stat Points Available: 40
Skill Points Available: 4
Would you like to spend your levels?
Yes/No
As I registered just what I was seeing, my eyes were drawn towards the level of the creature.
It was level seven? No wonder it managed to see him. But how was that possible? In the game, the highest level those creatures could spawn at was three. Does this mean that monsters could gain levels in this world?
And what did it mean by special constitution? He was being brought back to life? Was it because he was a homunculus? Or did it have something to do with chaos. It appeared that he wouldn’t be able to gain levels unless a shrine to him was present.
That last bit would be annoying, but I set those thoughts aside now. Some more pressing matters had come to my attention. First, why did I have 40 stat points? Normally for a homunculus, it would only receive one stat point per level. And skill points? It would only receive one every ten levels. Just what was going on?
The only reasons he could come up with were that he wasn’t in Dinevold, and only in a world that was similar. The second and what he thought was more likely scenario was that it was this ability he had never seen before. Eyes of Chaos and Order.
Deciding that I would deal with the problems later. I chose yes to level.
I was greeted with my status screen.
Name: []
Race: Homunculus (Human Child) - [Lowest]
Age: Not yet created.
Gender:Not Applicable
Titles:
Indomitable – [Rare],
Slayer - [Common]
Skills:
Eyes of Chaos and Order: LVL 3 +2
Physical Pain Resistance:LVL 60 +3
Mental Pain Resistance:LVL 46
Spiritual Pain Resistance:LVL 99 - MAX
Class: Unavailable
Stats
Level: 5
Experience Points: 973
Power: 5
Agility: 3
Endurance: 2
Intelligence: 8
Wizdom: 4
Sense: 0
Luck: 0
Stat points remaining: 40
I wondered if the process would be the same. When you leveled in Dinevold, the system would go through what you had gained one piece at a time. You would have to spend your points immediately in order to finish the leveling process.
The choice was simple for him to make and before long, he had spent all his stat points.
Stats
Level: 5
Experience Points: 0
Power: 5 +0
Agility: 15 +12
Endurance: 10 +8
Intelligence: 12 +4
Wizdom: 10 +6
Sense: 5 +5
Luck: 5 +5
The reasoning behind his points was simple. He had not given up on being the game character. In fact, finding out that he could only be slain by kings just drove that mentality home. In order to pull it off, he would need to be faster and more nimble. Agility not only made him faster, but it also made his reflexes increase.
Endurance was just what it sounded like, it affected health though that’s not why he got it. He took it because of its bonuses to how long he could run. He had a feeling he would need to run from creatures in the future and he knew that those points would be well spent.
Intelligence was so that in the future when he got the chance for magic, he would be able to use it. Wisdom was the same, though, it was more so because he wanted avoid being affected by mental effects. There were some scary spells out there and being charmed into serving someone did not sound fun. The idea of someone else running around in his head didn’t sit well with him.
Finally there was luck and sense. Luck would be mostly worthless. It doesn’t actually effect anything in the world outside of skills and spawn rates. It also doesn’t necessarily mean something good will happen. Luck merely makes things that are less likely to happen will happen more Frequently. This could show itself in more five star swords dropping from a bosses (in a dungeon). Or getting completely squashed by demon monsters.
Demon monsters generally are quite rare. However, if someone with enough luck is in the area. They will spawn with far more frequency. It is more dangerous, but it also grants more rewards. And now that he was immortal, that was his cup of tea.
Sense was a strange one that he wasn’t sure how it would manifest. In the game, you had a radar. And the higher your sense was, the more accurate the radar would be. But as he was running around, he didn’t see any windows. He had tried to open them but had no success. In the end, he sated his curiosity with only five points.
Next on the chopping block was his skill points. He had gained four of them and each would allow the purchase of a new skill. Unlike the rest of the game, new skills could only be obtained through this method. He was ecstatic to have them and began considering what he would use them on. Many ideas flashed through his head. He had a long list of skills he was aware of but in the end, he had chosen the following.
Tracking
Crafting
XP Boost
Martial Arts
His reasoning behind the choices were simple. Tracking because he needed to find monsters faster if he ever truly wanted to grind. Crafting because his cloths needed an upgrade. XP boost because its an XP boost. And Martial Arts so that he could begin practicing his fighting skills instead of just getting angry.
He felt whatever power was allowing this ask him for confirmation on his choices. After he had assented, he felt his soul being shifted. It was excruciating but again still manageable. While it hurt, he couldn’t help but feel awe at what was happening. He could feel his soul being imprinted with the information. He understood how his new skills worked. It wasn’t just an ability. It was an instinct. An ingrained knowledge of what to do.
When creatures moved, they always left behind a trace both physical and spiritual. Their aura would leave behind marks of having passed. For crafting, he understood that some materials would work better than others for crafting certain items. This could obviously be ascertained by someone without the skill. But now he just knew what materials would be needed and where to put them.
For his XP boost. He understood just what XP was. It was chaos. When the chaos of the universe came together in large doses. Monsters would spawn. This chaos was harvested by creatures when they defeated the monsters. In this process, much of the chaos would be lost. He understood how to gather it and even more so. He understood more about how levels worked.
A level could not be gained by just slaying monsters. One needed to organize that chaos into a tangible form. If not, then it would just be wasted. That was why some creatures race was considered better. Their race was more in tune with the chaos. That also was why he had gained more stats then a regular homunculus.
He didn’t understand everything, but his eyes of chaos and order skill helped him organize the chaos into levels. And even more so, the chaos part helped him be more in tune with it.
His final skill, martial arts, was actually the most interesting one though. He did not just learn how to do kung fu on the spot. Rather, he felt an instinctual guide to how to move. But most importantly, the guide seemed to be targeted towards his idea for what he wanted to be. He understood that it was possible to do flips in combat for no reason, even though it required you to be roughly twice as fast as your opponent. And that felt like the most important part of his bonuses.
He absently felt something feeling exasperated at him and for just a moment. He wondered what it said about him that he cared more about looking cool than the fact that he just found out that unless he ran into a king, he was immortal.
His mind was pulled out of its slumber as he felt himself come to consciousness in the water. It was a strange feeling to wake up while still being completely alert. When he opened his eyes, he saw a familiar light. And as he looked up to them, piercing the waters with there brilliant luster. He realized one fact and smiled wider than he ever had before. He was alive.