After the excitement of my powers died down, I was assaulted by a wave of pain from my fist. Small pieces of wood were lodged in various spots, and the whole fist was mostly covered in a variety of cuts that oozed blood.
“Oh, shit man are you good?” Erik rushed over and examined my hand.
“Mmm...” Closing and reopening my hand a few times, I grunted in response. Oddly enough it started to feel like I was getting used to being in pain.
You have learned a new Skill!
Pain Tolerance
“You’re staring into nothing again. Did something happen?”
“Somehow I got a new skill called [Pain Tolerance].”
“We can think about the skill later, we need to get those splinters out of your hand.”
It didn’t take us long to walk back to school and head to the nurse’s office. Ms. Parker, the school nurse, was a middle-aged white lady that always looked annoyed whenever she had to do her job.
As soon as Erik and I entered, Ms. Parker’s expression turned into a mixture of concern and disbelief.
“You’re dripping blood all over the floor! Do you know how hard the janitorial staff works to keep this school clean?!” Ms. Parker exclaimed as she threw a roll of paper towels in our direction.
Erik and I started wiping the blood off our hands, while I had to be careful to avoid prodding any of the splinters. Thankfully my hand finally stopped spilling blood, so it was just a matter of removing the splinters and covering the cuts.
“What exactly happened here? Depending on what you say, I’ll have to report this to the principal and your parents.” Without even looking back Ms. Parker continued to nag while she grabbed the proper tools to fix my mess of a hand.
“Just boys being boys ma’am.” Erik replied.
“You two haven’t gotten into much trouble since that incident, so I’ll take your word for it. Come here, Connor.”
I sat down while Ms. Parker brought a platform for me to lay my hand on.
“This may hurt. A lot.” The nurse warned me.
“Just get it over with please…” I held back a groan as she used a tweezer to remove the splinters from my hands. Ms. Parker disinfected my hand with alcohol and bandaged all of the cuts.
“Alright, you’re all taken care of. What happened to you, Erik?”
“I’m fine the blood on my hand was from Connor.”
“I don’t want you boys coming here again.”
“Thank you, Ms. Parker.” We both replied in unison before leaving her office.
“How are you feeling Connor?”
“It stings but I’ll get over it. What time is it?”
“Almost 12:30…crap I have to get to class. I’ll text you later man!” After checking his phone, Erik rushed down the hall and around the corner leaving me alone with my thoughts.
I immediately summoned my status screen.
Status
Name – Connor Bishop
Class – Fighter
Skills – Strong Strike, Pain Tolerance.
The only visible change was the addition of my new skill. My next class was a free period, so I was in no rush to head anywhere. However I didn’t want to seem weird standing in the middle of the hallway, so I went back to the lunchroom while repeatedly opening and closing my screens.
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The rest of the day was uneventful. The classes passed by like a blur but I managed to text Erik throughout the day, and we started some theory crafting over the limits of my powers.
Dream Powers
1. Whenever I go to bed I wake up in a fantasy world.
2. I can’t grind skill levels with my system.
3. I can’t lose my life in the dream, instead, I’m forcefully awakened and banned from entering the same world again.
4. Currently, only have access to a status screen and quest list, but there may be more options later.
5. The System doesn’t explain things to me.
6. My current class is built around physical abilities (Needs more info for verification).
The sound of my mom taking off her seatbelt reminded me that we were finally home.
“Hey, mom do you think Erik could sleepover this weekend?”
“I’ll have to speak with Jessica, but I don’t see any reason why he can’t.”
“Thanks, mom, love you!” I gave her a quick kiss and ignored my mom yelling at me, as I rushed inside and hurried to my room.
Now that I was in the comfort of my room, I face-timed Erik.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“So what did she say?”
“Your mom should be getting a call soon, so we should be good. I’m so glad I don’t have to deal with all of this alone man.”
“Bros before hoes. Not that my girlfriend is a hoe, she is a very lovely lady. Don’t tell her I said that, she’d be pissed I even implied that about her.” Erik looked horrified for a moment before he regained his composure and continued.
“Anyways we’re just going to conduct some simple tests and find out how we can cheat the system. The strength of most MCs are built through some exploitation, so that’s what you need to do.”
“I don’t think my system is cheatable. There are no stats or skill levels I can cheese. My class is the only section with a Roman numeral.”
“The system is just as annoying as its user.”
I rolled my eyes and urged him to continue.
“I’m going to look at some other litrpgs and I’ll try to figure out some solution. What you need to do is figure out as much information while you’re on the other side. Also, see if you can learn magic from the old man.”
“Alright sounds good. I’m going to start my homework before I forget. Talk to you later.”
“Later man.”
I felt my mind go dizzy with the possibilities. I raised the arm with my good hand and stared at it for a moment before closing my fist.
How powerful would I become at the end of this adventure?
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I opened my eyes and found myself staring at the old man finishing up a prayer for the sheep. I couldn’t tell if it was my quests that kept me in the savannah world, or would I be forced to wander until I died?
The first thing I checked was my injured right hand. Emphasis on the usage of the past tense; for some reason my earthly injuries didn’t carry over here. Not a single blemish was left on my hand.
This raised more questions but I was brought back to my current situation by the sounds of the sheep.
I bent down and spread my fingers through the tall grass, absorbing every sensation that passed through my fingertips.
I took a deep breath and smelled the earth and sheep around me, how the wind brushed up against my skin. This world is just as real as the place I called home.
These were no longer dreams, but I was unsure what I was supposed to call phenomenon. Did this even qualify as isekai?
This time a blue screen interrupted my thoughts.
New Quest!
Survive an Encounter [II]
Reward: None
“I’m just about finished. We’ve got to make up lost time before it becomes night.” The old wizard croaked.
“Wait I have so many questions. Who are yo-”
“We can walk and talk. You sure can yap youngster.” The man interrupted me.
“Follow me, my flock. We’re on our way back home.” He turned to his group of sheep and commanded them to follow. I felt slightly guilty that their numbers were less than the day before.
The sheep baa’d in response and showed no indication they minded as we continued traveling the seemingly endless savannah. I couldn’t tell what direction we were moving in because the sun was directly above us. Did this world even operate on the same principles as Earth…
“You said you had questions boy, so speak.”
“How much longer will it take before we arrive?” Depending on how long this quest took, I might be able to test some more limitations.
“Hmm.” The man paused for a moment and placed his hand on the ground. He closed his eyes and chanted ineligible words once more, however, this time a magic circle appeared underneath his feet.
The magic circle featured some sort of symbol in the middle obscured by the old man’s body, surrounded by two sets of progressively bigger circles. In between the two circles were a series of mysterious symbols that I couldn’t recognize.
The magic glowed an earthen brown and didn’t extend past the wizard’s body, and I was too enthralled by the display to try and memorize any of the symbols for future research.
Without opening his eyes, the “king” responded to me.
“A few more days of travel until we arrive at the swamp.”
“I guess that isn’t too bad considering how long you’ve been walking…Speaking of which do you want some shoes? Every time I look at you I feel bad for your feet.” It was more so sympathy and slight disgust that drove me to ask. I couldn’t stand to stare at the man’s feet, but I’d never vocalize this thought out loud in case it messed with my quest.
“I’ll lose my connection with the land if I cover my feet, and how else would I be able to protect these sheep?”
“So you’re like some sort of druid right?”
“You are burdened with the curse of curiosity and have even managed to inflict me with it. You are a perplexing existence, young man. Who are you and where are you from?”
I hesitated for a moment. Erik and I both wondered if I was allowed to talk about Earth whenever I traveled worlds. Since there was no system notification warning me, we both decided it wasn’t a taboo topic.
“My name is Connor and I come from a different world called Earth.” I waited a few moments but there was no impending sense of doom or retribution for revealing my origins. I was safe.
“Mmm…I know not of your purpose, but you’re aiding me in my tribulation. For that, I’m eternally thankful Connor. You may call me Terra.” Terra finished with a deep sigh, while his eyes looked into the distant landscape.
I decided to respect his moment of silence until he spoke again. By the time I started snacking on a granola bar and some water, the man became receptive again.
“I’m sure you have more questions. Ask away.”
“Can you teach me magic?” I replied.
“No. Magic is a talent you are ill-suited for boy. While everyone has mana in their body, and I can tell you have more than the average man, it is not enough to manifest your mark.”
“Besides there’s no telling your mark would even be compatible with mine. Brutish men typically gain marks focused on physical attributes, if they even accumulate enough mana make it that far.”
While I was disappointed I couldn’t cast the same magic as him, the conversation proved fruitful. I would eventually learn some form of magic, all I needed was my mark. Hopefully, the system will help me develop my own.
“Well what’s the point of all these sheep and how will they save your people?” My first image of an omnipotent wizard was a frail old man wandering with a pack of sheep.
“These sheep are the final barrier towards the freedom of my people. I pray nothing goes wrong on our journey.”
Every mention of his entrapped citizens brought the conversation to an awkward lull. This time I didn’t bother to ask more questions, as I felt I was bordering the line between honest curiosity and blatant disrespect to his people and their plight.
I glanced at the sky but was unable to tell if the sun even moved from its position.
Although I couldn’t tell how far we’ve walked, our surroundings still looked completely identical to the last time I bothered to pay attention.
A green expanse that reminded me of an ocean whenever the wind blew by. I’ve never seen a view like this in person before, the closest I’ve been was a spare glance at the nature channel before I clicked away.
The setting was straight out of a painting.
“Are we going to be walking the entire day?” I asked. My legs were starting to get tired.
“We can stop here and prepare for our guests later tonight.” Maybe it was because Terra was a druid, but the sheep immediately stopped and started frolicking around the area.
“Guests?”
“The spell I used earlier is called [Earth Sense], and it allows me to sense any creatures within a certain radius. I focused on finding anything similar to the wolves we previously encountered and learned there is a pack following us.” He promptly explained much to my shock.
“Wait what?! Why didn’t you tell me earlier or use that earth spike spell from before?”
“They are most likely being led by an Alpha, which means it doesn’t matter how many we pick off if we don’t kill it. Besides I can’t pinpoint their exact location with the spell so I’d just be wasting mana.”
“So what am I supposed to do? I can barely handle one let alone a pack of wolves…”
“That’s fine. Besides this can serve as much needed experience for you. I can tell you’re as green as the wolves we fight.” He chuckled to himself at his lame joke.
Terra started mumbling an incantation while the same magic circle appeared underneath his feet, and suddenly two smooth sections of the earth raised out of the ground.
“Come sit. I’ll tell you my story since you’re so curious.”