“… I think he’s awake.” It was a woman’s voice. Feet shuffled towards me, kicking rocks and dragging on earth.

My eyes were still too heavy to open, and my body ached. Since they kept me alive, they shouldn’t pose an immediate threat.

I didn’t move.

“It looks like he’s still asleep,” said a man with a gruff voice.

“No, I’m pretty sure he’s awake,” answered the woman.

“It doesn’t mat—” something muffled his voice.

“I told you he’s awake. I can’t wait anymore.”

Someone shook my shoulder.

“Argh!” I couldn’t hold back my scream. My shoulder burnt. I opened my eyes, took a second to gather myself, and noticed an open wound covered in yellow pus on my right shoulder. I had to find a light mage, but first I’d need to deal with these people.

“Hey, what… Oh, you're cursed.” The woman took a step back when she saw my eyes. She had short brown hair and black eyes. Mud and grime covered her face. A sword hung on her waist and a shield peaked above her back. “Can you stand up?” She asked. On her right, there was a young man with a double chin, pointed nose, and slim eyes.

Still woozy, my eyes lost focus and I found myself looking between the pair. There stood a short man who sported a moustache and long black hair. A bow and quiver peaked behind his back. He looked older than the two others.

“Answer,” repeated the lady. Her voice echoed in the surroundings. Rocks made up her backdrop and water droplets wet my clothes.

I seemed to have been dragged into a cave.

Unable to think of anything good, I defaulted to the usual, “I escaped a beast,” It came out as a whisper. I was parched. Even though it was probably cool in the cave, sweat drenched my forehead, and the area around my wound burned up.

The trio gave each other a look. “Well, you see, we found you along the river. You were being chased by that beast. Now we’re stuck in this cave.” Her words were curt, and her hands fidgeted.

I didn’t speak. There’s no way a beast would let me live. They should immediately tell that I was lying. The only reason for which I could see them not believing me is that they were worrying about something else. Perhaps the validity of their own words. Evidently, they were making up their story about saving me. And the only reason I could guess as to why is…

I looked around–the cave was pitch-black. If there was one thing I knew, that was hunting.

These people wanted to use me as bait. For more than a decade I had hunted everyday. There wasn’t a technique they could use that I wouldn’t know. They needed someone who could move but would be weaker and slower than them to catch the initial outburst of a beast. I couldn’t let myself be used in such a manner. But could I take them on like this? Injured, weak, lost. I couldn’t find my sword, they could stab me within a heartbeat, and I was too wounded to try anything fancy.

“Now that you’re awake we should move,” she said.

How many skill points do I have? I asked the system.

You have 4 skill points.

With that many skill points, I could find a way to escape or even fight back. The first thing would be—

“Can you stand up?” she asked. Hesitant to get too close, afraid of the curse.

First, I’d need to get a skill which could heal me.

What are the best healing skills in the one to three skill points cost range? I had to spare some skill points for combat focused skills.

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

Passive regeneration 1pt. (Your injuries, mana, and physical strength regenerate six times.)

Mana Medic 2pts. (You can spend mana to heal your injuries and slightly increase your physical strength when fully healed.)

Quick regeneration 3pts. (Your injuries, mana, and physical strength regenerate twelve times as fast as currently possible.)

The three-point skill was good, but my wounds would at least take a few weeks to heal. Although being able to heal a couple of weeks worth of wounds in a day was great, this only applied if one had someone to look over you. Unfortunately for me, I was alone for now.

Mana Medic skill purchased for 2 skill points; you have 2 skill points remaining.

The skill would hinder my fighting ability, but I had a lot of mana and would manage against humans. Next, I needed another fighting skill, or perhaps a support skill. Yes, one which could increase the efficiency of my mana use.

Mana efficiency I 1pt. (When using mana, you consume 1.2X less mana than without the skill.)

Mana efficiency II 2pts. (When using mana, you consume 1.4X less mana than without the skill.)

I didn’t expect these skills to have such a high-cost reduction for mana. These mixed with my titles would be a great boon to my strength and survivability.

Mana efficiency II purchased for 2 skill points; you now have 0 skill points.

Without hesitation I started to heal myself, I only stopped when I could move my right hand.

“Let’s get moving.” It was the taller of the two men, the one with a gruff voice. “Help him up.”

The woman stared at my eyes, then back to the man. “No.”

“Then will you let him die?”

I thought I caught a slight grin.

“I’m not risking it.” She sneered at the man.

I would have attacked now, but the third member, the one in the back with a bow in hand, seemed ready to kill me whenever. And my magic wasn’t precise enough to shoot between the two other adventurers and hit him before he got me.

“It’s fine, I understand, I can walk.” I got up, my working hand to crawling up the rock wall.

“Sorry about that,” said the old man.

When I steadied myself, the group seemed to wait for me to take the lead. Their plan to use me as bait wasn’t very discreet. I didn’t move. They couldn’t ask me to take the lead. They were the adventurers, I was the one they ‘rescued’, as such they gave up and the other man and the woman led the way.

Water droplets fell from stalactite and echoed throughout the cave. I wanted to start the fight, but the archer was still behind me. His steps in time with the drip of droplets, disappeared behind me. He scared me. But I’d have to make a move eventually … which might as well be now.

I filled the tunnel with black haze.

“Everyone disperse!” yelled the archer.

I jumped to the side, created a large fireball nearly half the size of the tunnel, turned round and fired another one towards the freckled lady and young man. I returned my attention to the archer. His clothes caught fire and the rose vines wrapped his legs. Still, he reached for an arrow, but before he could release it, I controlled my rose vines to restrain his arms.

The fire had grown too hot for him. He jumped to the ground and rolled around. Just as the villagers had suffered, unable to escape my flames, so did he. Smoke spread through the cave, it carried the smell of burnt cloth and roasted meat. I covered my nose with my tunic and got down, but the pair on the other side wasn’t near death. My flame hadn’t caught their flesh or cloth, only the freckled lady’s shield.

“You’re a mage?” The lady dropped her shield which continued to burn pink. I stopped providing the flames mana and it died down.

You killed 1 human, you gained 200 Exp.

LVL 9. 705/2000 Exp.

“Fuck, you could have just said so,” she said.

My eyes burnt and grey tears flowed. I created another fireball, shot it at the pair, and ran to the entrance of the cave before I suffocated.

More than once I almost slipped on the wet rocks, but I couldn’t slow down now. The echoes of footsteps rang on stones behind me. They were quick. Without looking, I launched another fireball behind me.

Blue light reflected off the wet slabs of stone. But before I could reach the exit, the cave system rumbled, and stalactites fell. I covered my head and kept running. A few rocks fell on my head. They weren’t too big or high up so I managed to reach the exit without serious injuries; until something much harder and heavier smashed the back of my head and sent me tumbling out the cave.

Status

Newborn Beast

Species: (X)ravn

Gods Favour: 0

LVL 9/15-(X)

Exp. 705/2300

Trait breakdown:

Magic:

* Mana: 198/198

* Flow: B-/ S(X)

* Retention: D+/S(X) à C-/S(X)

* Expulsion: B-/S(X)

* Types: Shadow, Fire, X, X, X

Corporal:

* Strength: D+/ B(X)

* Endurance: C+/ B(X)

* Dexterity: B+/ A(X)

* Poison resistance: D+/ S(X)

* Weapon of choice (heavy longsword) proficiency: B- /B(X)

Skills:

* Mental Dam (proficiency 28%)

* Active Weapon Enchantment (proficiency 14%)

* Mana Medic

* Mana efficiency II

Titles:

* True King of Rosalia

* True King of Liliana

* X (Conditional)

* X (Conditional)