“Myyy Bodyyy! MINE!” The young and ghastly voice sounded out once again. Seamus was in no condition to even try and compute the status board situation. Human blood was a hell of a distraction; “so is murder” Seamus grimly thought to himself.

“MIINE”

A supernatural pulse crashed against Seamus’ mind, knocking him flat on his back holding his head and writhing in agony.

“GIVVEE IT BAAACK” the child’s voice screamed deep in his mind.

“I saved your soul from getting stuffed into bones…. You ungrateful shit”. Seamus eventually crawled to his feet, the arrow shaft slipping slightly in his blood-soaked hands.

“I committed murder to try and save your soul!” Seamus gasped for breath as he ambled towards the fallen orb on the floor. Every movement closer intensifying the pain.

“I didn’t choose this body!”

He stared at the orb, beneath him

“I shouldn’t be here, I was asleep. In my own world.”

He raised his arrow slowly, the screams distorting now in fear.

“I saved you and you try to kill me?”

The arrow plunged down like lightning. *CRACK*

“Scouts honour only goes so far.”

[*DING*]

*You have destroyed a filled soul sphere, releasing the sealed soul. For the Karmic actions undertaken, you have gained 100 EXP*

[*GIFT: “ARROW” HAS EVOLVED. THE SKILL “SOUL ANCHOR” has been unlocked.*]

Ability: {Soul Anchor Shot} – Level 1

* Upon mapped command: the entity touched by the arrowhead will have its soul sealed inside the most appropriate mortal body.

* This skill acts as a seal equal to the strength of 5x the mana cost.

* This skill can be broken via mana or soul power at the cost of the strength of the seal.

* This skill can be resisted by those of stronger Soul power.

* Cost – Magic: Variable.

* Cooldown – 30 seconds

The screams stopped.

The headache slowly faded away.

But the blood. The blood on his hands. The human blood – it was still there.

Seamus tried to wipe it off. He wiped his hands on his trousers, the rough leather scrubbing at his hands as he wiped.

His hands were still sticky. Still red. The weird tang of iron from blood stank from his body.

He had hunted. He went above and beyond the scouts. His dad had taught him to hunt. Rabbit, hares, boars.

But it was the blood. The blood felt different.

The adrenaline had stopped, the pain faded away, and the exhaustion set in. Seamus looked around, hazily he looked through the bundles of the necromancer near the centre of the clearing, finding a rustic large longbow alongside a small quiver of familiar arrows.

“Finally…” He grabbed the remainder of the bags with the bow and quiver and dragged them under a tree. Further rummaging yielded him an untouched course blanket and leather bags filled with some dried meat and water.

“I give up.”

He collapsed under the tree, hid himself and luggage in the blanket and prayed to whatever passed for God here that he wouldn’t be eaten whilst asleep.

…..

*SQWAAARK*

“mmmhhugh”

*SQWAAARK*

“no.”

*SQWAARK*

“FUCK OFF BII—HOLY SHIT”

Seamus angrily ripped off the blanket of safety only to come face to face with a jet-black vulture with a head reaching the height of a lamppost in the middle of the clearing. Its beak was stained red and the remains of the necromancer’s intestines hanging out like a macabre Spaghetti.

“Nope. Nope Nope Nope.”

Seamus grabbed the bow in one hand and the quiver in the other.

And he hauled ass. Sprinting towards the path of the densest trees without looking back. He heard wood cracking and vibrations at his feet. He was sure he saw black feathers go through a tree just ahead of him. Eventually he couldn’t feel the bird’s presence anymore. After a minute of silence, panting and steps, he managed to strap the quiver and bow over his shoulder without stopping.

He kept running, long after his lungs begged to stop. Just because he couldn’t see or hear the bird didn’t mean he didn’t need to get the fuck out of here – wherever it was. The only thing that stopped him was the ground.

Or lack thereof.

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*SPLASH*. Sharp rocks scratched against his feet and legs; he felt water enter as he tried to scream in agony and breath in exhaustion as he flailed in the fast-flowing river.

The cold water of the running river gave a flash of self-awareness. Just enough to feel the agony he was in and the panic of drowning. A few seconds pass but he kept on fighting.

“I survived last night and this morning, I refuse to die because of DROWNING!” He roared internally as he broke the surface, his head whipping down to cough water back out of his mouth and replace it with beautifully underrated air. His outstretched arms grabbing on a nearby rock bank. He coughed and spluttered as he looked forward.

He saw boots.

He felt large hands pull him out.

And for the second time in two days he passed out.

…

He awoke to the smell of… meat? Smelled like meat. “Considering how fucked up my time in this world is, it could be a grape for all I know” Seamus thought to himself. He was flat on his back on grass, he flailed his arms around trying to find the bow and arrow as his eyes adjusted to sunlight without a violet forest or fear for a monster vulture with a taste for raw human chitterlings.

“Oh he’s awake. That’s better than our guess at least…” A matured male voice could be heard as Seamus was blinking the adrenaline out of his mind.

“Fantastic, wonder if he can tell us how he survived being a sacrifice.” Another male voice nearby sounded out, sounding more bored than anything.

“Where…. Where am I?” Seamus spoke, only just now noticing how his voice hadn’t broken. He was quite a bit younger than he was used t

“Oh he’s healthy, wonder if he can fight? We haven’t found the necromancers yet and I’m getting rusty…”

“Bruce, we killed a raptor two hours ago, we even let you get the final smash” The bored voice sounded out again.

“…I’m bored.”

“So go and chop wood then little brother, be useful until we get this little guy to talk and decide our next move”.

Seamus had finally worked his way to his feet before looking at the three men sat around the small fire and luggage. They all looked identical apart from their height.

“Raptor… Hang on, triplets?”

“Correct, triplets. Bruce, Brock and Brian Muslan.” The tallest man directed. “Bruce is the one with the ridiculous axe, Brock is the short guy with a shield that would stop a Rex dead in it’s tracks; and believe me he has. I am the tallest, the smartest, the eldest….”

“Brags the most…” a voice came from the corner *Snort*

Brian flicked his finger at the wooden stump in the path of Bruce’s descending axe, it moved out of the way and the axe smashed the ground.

“Shit!” Bruce winced “asshole…”

“The best” Brian said, finishing his introduction as Bruce tried to flip him the bird but had to shake his hands from the aftershock. “Now then, from what I know, you should be…Rahn? Raum? Yeah Raum, that’s what the village chief said. You were the giftless tribute to the nearby necromancer’s “Black Bone Brotherhood” under threat of town extermination. You had the village huntsman as your escort by the name of…Davy? Is that ringing any bells?”

Seamus fell silent… survival was more important than history right now. If he said the wrong thing or delayed, they could leave or… dispatch him right now. He could understand that they after the necromancers… meaning that either the village or someone else had reported them, at the risk of the village being raised by the necromancers anyway. Equally, the village had already allowed his death. Whether or not “Raum” would have been saved was irrelevant. If they wanted to buy time for these guys to come in and his survival, they wouldn’t have sent Davy as an escort to ensure delivery.

He remembered the notifications just before he passed out last night…

“My name is Raum”…Seamus started off slowly holding his head, “Or is it Raum” He thought with a wince. “But I unlocked my gift”.

Brian cocked his eyebrow “What is it” he asked questioningly.

“I think it said “Arrow”. How do I check? Also it said I unlocked my Status board as well, and skill tree as well. What is it all?”

Brian’s other eyebrow raised as well, making shock “You should know this. Everyone knows this.”

“Fuck”, Seamus cursed silently. “I’ve had a rough night and day, with killing a necromancer, collapsing, being chased by a huge black bird with a long neck and nearly drowning, I’m pretty sure I hit my head in there somewhere…” Seamus explained in a tired voice.

Brian put a hand under a chin seemingly unconvinced. “Think “gift” and it should appear. Gifts as far as I know are either “Augmentation” types or “entity” types. You have the latter, so you should be able to make it appear by thinking about it.

Seamus shut his eyes and frowned saying “gift” in his mind, a couple of second later A black arrow in his palm. Seamus knew arrows for hunting and it seemed that his gift reflected it. The black arrowhead was considered a broadhead – made for large damage and as sharp as possible. The shaft and head were jet black; perfect for hunting at night.

“A quick learner” Brian commented.

“That thing looks nasty. I do not want that in me. Add some poison and you’ll be a nasty archer. You do have a class in the hunter tree right?” Bruce chimed in, he had given up on the firewood and had a disappointed frown on his face. He was looking forward to a gift he could fight against.

“Mmm I agree. You said you killed a necromancer? What level was he? Did you get his name?” Brian asked with a huge grin on his face.

“I’m not sure” Seamus responded guiltily.

“Think status, then think history; you should be able to see all your notifications. This is good practice if you’re ever confused, knocked out or put to sleep and have the fortune of waking up alive, your history will give you something at least.” Brian grabbed hold of something in the pocket of his armour.

“Good to know…Necromancer Apprentice level 12 aaaand Skeleton Servant level 3.” Seamus reported back.

“Servant? You’re sure it was a servant?”

“Yeah, it was really weak and collapsed as soon as the necromancer died. Does it mean something?”

“Gah shit, we’re going to have to back off. No chance in hell if they’ve managed to refine servants, we need reinforcements immediately! Bruce, Brock pack up; we’re running back to the village and getting back to Haluren yesterday.”

“Why, what do servants have to be to make it so bad?”

All three triplets had gotten up and begun packing up properly. 30 seconds later the fire was gone and the clearing was just a circle devoid of grass.

“God, what kind of shit hole village was that place. Skeleton servants are a different kind of undead and represent a much bigger risk. Zombies are easy, thralls are harder, undead rats un-mass can be a nightmare But I’d rather deal with all three at once than skeleton servants, especially one from a level 12.”

“I don’t understand, why, level 12 is weak isn’t it? A level 3 servant should be easy to smash for Bruce over there!”

Brian stood up straight, a pack on his shoulder ready to leave.

“They can level. Skeleton servants can level up, even evolve over time. Other undead are level locked unless they get a crazy opportunity; and often they’re so thick its not much of a threat. But, if a cult can create Skeleton servants that can level? That’s a catastrophe that can annihilate a town, or even a city if its left alone. And to add insult to injury – a little level 12 apprentice has one. Considering the size of the brotherhood? They could have hundreds in storage! Haluren needs to be ready!”

“Oh shit. I…” Seamus winced, trying to forget. What about the village?”

“Your village abandoned you and didn’t report the necromancer’s activity. Either they are dead, dying or will be dead. Lucky for you eh?”

Seamus’ mind was about to melt under this new information. He was struggling to keep up.

“Why lucky for me?” He asked meekly.

“Well, you were going to die, but didn’t. You awoke your gift. You killed a necromancer so I would place bets that they will probably want to track you somehow. Finally…” Brian started grinning evilly, Seamus heart sank.

“I’m a control mage, Brock’s the frontline blocker, Bruce is our melee attacker. We need a hunter for scouting, ranged attacking and poison…”

“And you’re dead if you say no.”