Chapter 3 - James the magician_Way of the Starless

James woke up in agony, feeling like molten lava was running through his veins. In pain and still absolutely confused by his surroundings, he tried to sit up, only to fall back down as he realized he still couldn’t move his right arm.

Now in even more misery than before, he decided to just lay there for a while until the pain receded enough for him to move again. A few minutes later and finally seated, James recalled the events of the previous day.

So everything was real after all. I was half expecting to wake up back at home, this just having been a particularly bad nightmare. he thought while looking at his shoulder. Spotting that his improvised bandage got loose at some point during his nap, he carefully took it off. Glancing at the disturbing wound that was hidden below it, he was startled to notice that it seemed slightly smaller than before.

How did that happen? he asked himself. That shouldn’t be possible. Did I accidentally sleep for a whole goddamned week?

Giving it another thought James guessed that it probably was something to do with the System. After using his 11 points in intelligence for once he finally remembered the fact that his vitality was most definitely a few points higher than when he arrived.

So vitality increases my natural health regeneration. he concluded. That’s really helpful and all, but it’ll probably still take a few weeks till I can move that arm again.

Not exactly fancying the idea of hunting with only one arm, James instead decided to explore his temporary home a bit more, but not before eating his mossy breakfast. While walking around he realized that the cave was nearly perfectly round, had a fixed width and didn't have any tunnels leading away from it. This led to his assumption, that some monster probably created this space as a nest, possibly even the Spiked Terror. A few minutes of walking later, he noticed that it was slowly getting darker and darker the further he went, the purple moss gradually losing its glow.

I definitely shouldn’t walk any further. James mused as he reached a point, where he could barely see anything, the purplish light having nearly dissipated. Just as he was about to turn around, he spotted an orange light in the distance. Unsure whether that was just some more weird moss or some glowing monster, he stood as still as he could while trying to look for movement or any noises that would hint at danger.

Probably not a monster. He concluded after a few minutes of absolute silence. Hoping he was right, James steeled himself to take a closer look as he didn’t want to share a cave with potential monsters that might eat him in his sleep.

Very careful to not make any noise, James started slowly sneaking closer, a new sharp rock in his left hand. Ten agonizingly long minutes in complete darkness later, he could finally make out the source of the light. In the middle of the cave, hovering at the height of his head was an orange orb the size of a football, illuminating its surroundings.

Relieved that he didn’t have to fight any new monstrosity, but still cautious, he made his way towards it. Spotting no immediate danger, he decided to take a closer look.

Why is there a perfectly spherical orb just floating around in this random cave? James questioned. Maybe the Terror was staying in here because of this? It might be some ancient magical object, that will allow me to become a powerful mage or something.

Like a complete moron and proving that contrary to his beliefs, intelligence does not decide how smart one is, he touched the orb with his hand. Triggered by that action, two blue boxes decided to surprise him, causing James to jerk back from shock, tumbling back a few steps and taking his arm off the glowing orb.

Curious and the other box gone before he could read what it said, James stabled himself and tried that again, this time expecting the blue screen.

Trial of the aspiring hunter (Tier 0)

Type: hidden, one-time, small

Tier: 0

Party limit: 1

Requirements: Tier 0

Challenge: Growth

Danger: Medium

Time Dilution: 1-1

Reward: Skills, Stats, Equipment

Is that a fucking dungeon? James asked himself, trying to figure out just what he was looking at. It’s Tier 0, but why does it say that twice? Hidden probably means it’s hard to find, one-time is self-explanatory and small should be the size of the dungeon. But where exactly is it? Does the orb teleport you to the Trial? Danger being medium doesn't sound that good. Well, at least I can conclude that people do exist, why else would party limit be a thing?

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Denying the prompt and turning around to leave, happy to have learned that the cave was danger-free, James decided here and now that he would never enter a Trial as he valued his life far too much for such a thing. Maybe one that says it has no danger. he gave in, unable to fully suppress his adventurous spirit.

Walking all the way back to his sleeping area, namely the patch of moss he used as a bed, James started pondering what he should do while his wound heals itself. Hunting is a big no-go, don’t want to get my blood drained by some freaky magic squirrel thing or worse. I probably have enough moss to sustain myself for a few years in this cave anyway. Maybe try to feel mana and become a wizard?

Thinking no further and setting his mind on learning magic, cause fucking magic, he sat down on a relatively big flat rock, closed his eyes and started meditating. Clearing his thoughts was harder than he expected, mainly because everything still hurt like hell and trying to filter out all thoughts just made him realize how much pain he was in.

One and a half hours later something finally happened. In his deep trance, he felt a warm feeling coming from the ground. Focusing on it as hard as he could and letting it seep into him, James slowly but surely noticed his body heating up. A slight rumbling could be heard from the ground he was sitting on. Lost in time and fixated on this sensation, a gentle breeze of cold air surprised him. Distracted by this new development, his concentration broke. Surprised that the warmth and wind weren’t gone with his lost focus, James opened his eyes to study the phenomenon he called into existence, only to freeze in shock.

He couldn’t see the mossy walls anymore, instead, he found himself surrounded by the marbled trees of the forest, the entrance to the cave behind him. There was only one thing that could have possibly caused this shift in perspective in his mind.

“I FUCKING TELEPORTED! HAHAHA!” he shouted in joy. “I AM A FREAKING MAGE NOW!”

But before he could celebrate any further a loud growl came from right next to him. Surprised James frantically looked around for the source of the sudden noise, finding it right below him.

“AAAAHH” James shouted after taking a couple of seconds to comprehend what he was looking at.

What he thought of as flat stone was actually the shell of a now very annoyed-looking legless turtle, that was somehow hovering above the ground, with flames coming out where its legs should have been.

James abruptly jumped off its back and picked up the nearest branch from the ground. Not having any feeling in his legs after sitting for so long, he realized that fleeing would be difficult. Instead, he threateningly swung his weapon around and glared at the turtle, trying to seem as frightening as he could. It seemingly worked. The beast quickly floated off into the forest, panic clear in its eyes.

Finally alone again James sighed, disappointed that he didn’t become a mage just yet. A minute later and having regained his mobility, he was just about to walk back into the cave for some more meditation, when he heard a few trees crashing onto the ground in the distance. Not wanting to find out what was causing that, he hurriedly sped towards the cave.

Only a few steps later, the crashes suddenly sounded a lot closer. Looking back, James nearly tripped after he saw a humongous eight-legged lizard running at him. The monster had no visible eyes, instead sprouting two spiraled horns where one would guess they should be. Covered from head to toe in lustrous azure scales, each the size of a car, the monster was running straight towards the cave.

His heart started beating louder and quicker than ever before as he sprinted fast enough to most likely set some new records back on earth, hoping the lizard wasn’t actually after him. While running he recalled the turtle fleeing in a panic, promptly realizing it wasn't afraid of him, but of the scaly monstrosity wrecking the forest. After reaching his sleeping place, James noticed what felt like a small earthquake, losing his footing and stumbling forward. Not able to catch himself in time, he crashed face-first into the ground, immediately standing up again while he tried to ignore the horrible pain. Now convinced the lizard was actually following him as it just entered the cave and not wanting to take the chance that it merely wanted to talk, he started frantically thinking about his options.

GODDAMNED FOREST AND ITS MONSTERS! Calm down! Think! I could obviously try and fight it, but if it can run straight through those trees, I don’t fancy my chances. Maybe I can just hide behind some stones, but who knows- THE TRIAL! I can flee into the Trial!

Having found a possible path to salvation, James continued onward as he ignored the sounds behind him. A whole minute of running on shaky ground later, he finally spotted the orange orb, breathing out a sigh of relief, only to suddenly find himself flying across the air. At some point the giant lizard reached him, ramming into his body in the process of stopping its momentum as it sensed a potential threat in the orb.

James hit the ground with a loud thud, unable to move or even scream from the unimaginable pain that the crash caused. Clearing his bloody vision he noticed the scaled monstrosity just standing there, unsure if to proceed. Desperate to not get eaten, knowing full well that it was only a matter of time, he struggled to try and stand up, failing as his feet couldn't bear his weight.

SHIT! he screamed in his head. I don’t want to die!

In a last desperate attempt, he threw himself at the orange orb, missing it by a hairsbreadth. Laying right below it and on the verge of oblivion, he despaired. But as if reading his mind the orb suddenly lowered itself until it touched his body, causing the blue box he was looking for to appear.