In many ways, this morning was the best.
Sure, there was a torrential rain silencing the otherwise boisterous forest outside, making any exploration impossible, or rather, very depressing. Besides this point Zeke's, situation was quite 'cosy'. His small fire had lasted throughout the night, his body felt limber and his wounds had mostly recovered. There were enough sticks scattered about to fuel the fire for at least two more days, the only imminent concern was food. As always, moss was abundant, but Zeke had told himself that living off the stuff would probably be a health risk in the long-term.
But that was before obtaining the survivor title, so he risked another day on the mossy diet.
After the fleeting joy of being in good health faded, Zeke now suffered from an intense boredom. For the first time since he awoke, he had a real longing to leave the cave and soak up the outside while his healthy body permitted it. Zeke had a sneaking suspicion that the forest was sentient and held some sort of grudge on him. He sat down by the fire in a meditating pose, the background rain soothed his mind as he sunk into his own mana.
His mana had changed. It was faster and stronger, it responded to his poking and prodding more readily and it was flowing in more abundance. If he just let his mind sit in the flow of mana he could expand his mind across every inch of his mortal container. From the tips of his toes, to the ends of each hair, he felt everything and how mana touched all. If not for the omnipresent danger of Zeke's situation, he felt as if he could spend an eternity wading through the serene mana that filled his whole being.
+1 Mana (31/34)
Noting the progress, he delved deeper. This time trying to peer into his spine, where mana was strongest. Now that there was a higher quantity flowing in his spine, the sensation of it was almost overwhelming, but he managed to hold his ground. It was his own god-damn mana anyways, he wouldn't let it reign over him.
Seeing through the strong storm as it raced by his consciousness he noticed a flickering. He could recognise the flickering as himself. His own thoughts and feelings were flowing through the mana, his fear, his pain and his pleasure... mostly pain. He now understood that mana was not just a tool for magic, but his own essence, an extension of his being.
+5 Mana (27/39)
Brilliant! The best revalation and improvement so far!
Zeke didn't push on in trying to reveal more, he knew he'd exhausted the extent he could delve into his mana. With roughly the half he had remaining he tried something he wanted days ago, if not for the constant need to heal his wounds he would have.
Zeke gathered the mana into his palm as per usual, but instead of moving it around or releasing the flow he attempted to exert it out of his body. There was moderate success with the method. Most of the mana was lost in the transition from body to outside, it leaked harmlessly into the atmosphere, but a good amount passed through as intended.
Opening one eye Zeke saw a plume of blue energy flow out of his hand for a brief second. Cool, even though it didn't seem functional on its own there was more experimentation to be done.
With all remaining 20 something mana Zeke gathered it in his palm and gradually released it, with a focus on a low output, steady stream, as opposed to the violent burst earlier.
One eye still open, Zeke examined the plume of mana, it would probably last for 20 seconds at the current rate of expenditure. Without purpose the mana plume just dissipated in the air, Zeke ran his free hand through the plume just to see what would happen. It was slightly warm and clung to his hand like a sticky web before disappearing, it didn't seem too usefull to be honest. With only a single digit amount of mana remaining Zeke decided to expend it all into his waiting hand in a final burst. The plume of mana was no warmer than before but clung on to his hand for while longer, giving him a somewhat translucent glove of warm mana.
Zeke's meditation had taken the most part of the day. He relished how much free time he had and considered himself lucky that he was safe enough to indulge in his mana. It truly fascinated him to no end, he felt as if he'd barely scratch the surface of hairs that covered the surface of mana. He was hoping that he'd uncover a skill by now but a total increase of 6 in capacity was good too, he could now cast blood regeneration enough to cover his entire body and still have a little left over.
After stoking the fire and eating a smidgen more moss, he settled for some sleep. Mana manipulation was a good remedy for a boring day and big help for getting sleepy in a pinch. He planned that if the rain cleared by tomorrow he'd get some serious exploration done, he hoped the morning would bring his body at least 90% of his peak performance and was something Zeke longed for.
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Zeke stepped outside.
True to his hopes, the rain of yesterday had vanished so completely, the only evidence were the tiny puddles scattered on the forest floor at random. Not even the countless tree leaves showed any sign of moisture. It was kinda strange how such strong and persistent rain resulted in the small puddles he saw, but Zeke didn't question it, so what if the forest was thirsty?
With a wooden club in hand and a stone knife sheathed in a pilfered loincloth, Zeke set out, making sure to mark trees with a series of triangles atop one another, lest he lose his way. His main goal for today would be to collect some berry varieties, locate more goblins for a prompt slaying and keep an eye open for other oddities.
Goblins came first obviously, carrying around berries everywhere would be cumbersome and they were in surplus, so they would come last.
Unsure of the best method of goblin hunting Zeke just followed a small game trail through the forest, probably a small animal like a boar, the prints indicated something four-legged and heavy but he wasn't sure. The benefit of following a trail was the prospect of finding a source of fresh water and tracing the trail back to his little hidey-hole. Animals gotta dink water too after all and Zeke wasn't keen on drinking from puddles for the rest of his life.
It had only taken half an hour to run into a curious creature, not a goblin, but a boar/dog hybrid, not the one he was tracking, just an animal from the same species who was using the same trail.
It's snout was dog-like, as were the teeth and tail. The body and legs were stumpy and powerful, a pair of tusks grew from the mouth too, emphasising the boar aspect. Imagine a barrel-chested dog on steroids with a pinch of tusks and that was the thing he stumbled across.
Zeke didn't get a huge amount of time to ogle over the discovery. The dog boar, I guess a bog, noticed Zeke once it obliviously bumped into the man's leg. Once the bog came to the realisation the Zeke was a living breathing thing of scrawny statue it dropped the casual attitude and attacked the 'easy prey'.
The oblivious bog shocked Zeke with its terrifying speed, he only barely dodge aside as it charged past. It slammed its head into the tree a meter or so behind him and swaggered around at the recoil. Zeke puzzled, were all bogs normally stupid or was this one particularly unobservant. The bog spun around a gnashed it's jaws at Zeke, it seemed to take offense at the insult, much to the explorer's regret.
It charged a second time, reaching speeds even faster than before.
Zeke easily predicted it and swayed within a hair's breadth of the gnarly tusks before swinging down his club at it's head. Zeke wasn't going to play around, a single hit from any of its attacks would mangle him at best.
Once again, much like with the goblin, he was a little slow with his strike and missed the head, hitting only the rump.
The bog nimbly dodged the tree the flew towards it's face and skidded around a second time for a third charge. It was getting real pissed that the lanky weakling before it had been lucky and narrowly side-stepped his attempts at impaling him. It kicked up a clump of dirt and grass with it's front hoof before taking off.
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Zeke noticed how little his club seemed to affect the thick brown hide and taut muscles of the bog's rump and decided to switch tactics, taking advantage of the impending beast's reckless charge. Zeke quickly jogged towards the nearest tree, putting himself between the tree and the bog who was currently charging.
As opposed to stepping aside of the charge, Zeke thought to jump over it, to make absolute certain that it hit the tree behind him
Seconds from contact, Zeke jumped and soared over the charging mass of muscle.
As planned, the Bog slammed into the tree at ludicrous speed, shaking the entire plant and permanently bending it's form. The bog's jaw hadn't fared much better and was crushed on impact, not before rearing upwards and battering Zeke's legs before collision.
Zeke cussed as the bog's tusks rended his shins, sending him into a full front flip that ended with him flat on his back. The soft forest floor softened the fall but to say he was only in a shitload of pain would be an understatement.
He swiftly fought back the pain and stumbled at the bucking bog, if Zeke didn't finish it off now, his legs would prove useless to any more assaults of that caliber. The bog was going hysterically berserk in pain, blood flowed from its facial orifices and it's jaw was completely mangled, hanging slack and dislocated.
Zeke timed his step-in as the animal bucked around, getting hit by a stray hoof after being hit in the shins would be a bad start to the day. He pulled his knife from his loincloth and in a moment of opportunity lunged at the bog's side swinging the blade upwards, straight to the neck.
It connected to the throat and plunged down to the hilt, it wasn't quite enough to instantly kill the writhing mess. Zeke back off the dying beast with a hearty shove and waited for it to bleed out. Watching the beast slowly die had given the hunter a pang of remorse. If it wasn't still so jumpy despite it's near-death condition he could move in and end it's life without risk, but he wasn't willing to sacrifice health over remorse and just continued to loom it.
The beast toppled to it's flank, occasionally twitching, bleeding profusely from both neck and mouth. The remorseful hunter sulked towards it and pierced the bog's eye, ending it's life.
Zeke allowed himself a cast of blood regeneration on his legs and attempted a try at Avarice, hopefully at least he'd be able to finally see the effects of his unique skill. He placed his hand on the bog's spine and chanted.
"Avarice"
He felt the bog's mana run into his own, it was wild and dense, much like the owner. Zeke marveled at the sensation of Avarice, it was addicting. As the culmination of mana merged and adapted, it just as quickly scattered and dissipated.
Not before imprinting a gift.
+3 Strength (31)
Wow! three whole points of strength! that as much as a level's worth of points for free!
Zeke flexed his arms in joy, he couldn't feel a difference from just flexing but if he could find a way to test it he was sure there'd be a change. Maybe he'd be capable of 5 more push ups or kick a goblin several centimeters further, any remorse he once felt was now quickly discarded in trade for the intoxicating high of Avarice.
With the afterglow of his successful Avarice he pondered how to deal with the bog corpse. Taking the whole thing would be physically draining and may attract predators, leaving in here might have been sensible, but a rumbling stomach said otherwise.
Zeke bent down and began amputating the bog's front leg, the tough hide and muscle made long work and pushed the tiny stone knife's cutting ability to the extreme, giving it a few new chips and cracks.
With a spring in his step, the hunter hummed his way to the cave where he placed the leg, right at the back of the cave where it should be safe from prying noses and stepped back out into the woods.
With more daylight to burn Zeke set of again, avoiding the same trail and opting for a different one, leaving a trail of triangles. After all, a larger beast may have decided to clean up the mess he made, a beast he would rather not get acquainted with.
In efforts of being as efficient as possible, Zeke made sure to expend a little mana whenever it reached it capacity, letting it just sit at full would just be a waste. Turns out that trying to manipulate mana at the same time as walking and paying attention to his surroundings at the same quite was quite challenging. It was like trying draw a circle with one hand and a square with the other. Zeke decided that his focus would be directed at gathering his mana into a whirlpool in not just one palm, but two, and if possible a third elsewhere. The task was strenuous and satisfying. If he could manipulate two or more areas of mana at once he may be able to cast blood regeneration once instead of twice, it wasn't that exciting, but the future application may be.
Once more, it only took half an hour or so to run into another bog.
It did seem that being oblivious was a trait shared by all bogs, they hit like a boulder, hitting them felt like hitting a boulder and they shared the awareness of a boulder to compensate. As if a boulder had adopted the guise of a boar/dog, It was quite terrifying to imagine what one with a speck of perception of intelligence could accomplish.
Much like with the first victim, placing yourself between it and a tree was a surefire method of gaining precious seconds to go in for the kill. This time Zeke even managed to completely avoid any damage, although the Avarice failed again. So far it had a 33% chance of succeeding, taking into account the utility of the skill made Zeke think that the real percentage was much lower, only time would tell.
Leaving this one behind, Zeke walked deeper into the forest leaving his triangular markings as he went.
Another bog down and two strength stronger (33) with a lucky Avarice, Zeke happened upon a rapid stream. It was a hub of forest life, bog's had packs scattered around drinking and bathing, even a couple of verdant rhinos were lazing around, soaking up the sunlight, a deer or two bounded off when they sensed Zeke. The rhinos seemed to be living plants in the shape of a rhino now that he had a closer look. He wanted to get closer and really get a good look at the green rhino, but better judgement stopped him, he got a real 'don't mess with me and I won't mess with you' vibe. Finally, and much to Zeke's joy, he saw a small group of goblins that had taken it upon themselves to hunt a bog that had strayed to far from it's pack.
Zeke grinned as he stealthily slinked towards the scuffle.
Eight goblins in total and one bog. The bog was bleeding from several areas, a deep cut on it's belly and an arrow lodged in it's eye. The goblins had suffered too. Two of them lie immobile to the side and four others were skirting around the bog's frantic charges, there was one goblin with a bow taking pot shots when ever the bog stopped moving. It's clear the Goblins would emerge victorious, well they would've if Zeke wasn't present.
The first target would be the archer, he posed the largest threat, next he'd let bog wear down the remaining four untill they were ripe for the reaping, the two immobile ones were easy kills and could wait till last.
Despite posing the biggest threat, the archer was actually in the most convenient site. It was using a tree for cover by the outskirts of the fight and would duck behind it after every shot to reload.
Slowly creeping through bushes and the longer grass Zeke made his way towards the goblin.
Each time the goblin took aim Zeke would scoot closer, and pause as the archer took cover behind the tree and reloaded.
A few rounds of red-light green-light later and Zeke lay crouch just 5 meters away, the next shot it took would be it's last. Then the unknowing cadaver popped out of the tree's cover to take another shot.
Wasting no time Zeke slithered up into a long strided walk, closing the distance in just a few steps. He was right behind the archer now and entirely unseen.
Zeke reached out.
One hand lifting it's disgusting, wart infested chin, the other deftly slice the throat as he pulled the archer to the ground. A perfect unnoticed ambush.
Level Up!
+3 Attribute Points
Zeke had been so lucky that when he assassinated the goblin. The arrow the it shot was thrown off and veered into one of the five goblins scraping with the bog, straight to the knee.
The shot goblin twisted it head around, scanning with seething eyes for the perpetrator only to get slammed aside in it's moment of distraction. Instantly killed by a furocious tackle. Lucky for Zeke.
Zeke crawled towards the two immobile Goblins, favouring speed over stealth now that the archer was no more.
The last four goblins and the bog were the only remaining targets, he'd been so precise so far, he didn't want to make a mistake now and get himself injured, or worse.
Holding out his club he walked at the melee with a steady pace, unfazed and assured of victory.
Three of the green uglies notice the advance and scurried backwards, the one who didn't stared confused at his running allies and caught himself a 33 strength bonk to the head, either killing it or knocking it unconscious.
The bog was so tunnel-vision on the retreating goblins that Zeke was utterly ignored. One of the fleeing goblins was mowed down in bestial fury and Zeke finished the other by catching up with his longer stride.
The bog charged onwards to claim the life of the other running goblin only to find a Zeke standing over it's corpse. The moment of confusion was all Zeke needed to rush in and bonk the Bog's snout before it could react.
Bleeding, bruised, missing an eye and exhausted, the bog wasn't stupid enough to fight a losing battle, much like the goblins it turned tail fled.
Bleeding, bruised, missing an eye and exhausted, the bog wasn't stupid enough to fight a losing battle, much like the goblins it turned tail fled.
Zeke wasn't too happy about the potential Avarice running away, but his speed wasn't enough to give pursuit so in a last-ditch effort to earn bonus attributes, Zeke threw the club at the fleeing form.
It was a mighty throw. Strong enough pass the thick hide and shatter bone.
Just not this throw. He missed the mark by an embarrassing margin. With a slight blush on his cheeks, Zeke scanned the perimeter to make sure no one had witnessed the abysmal throw.
Content with his current massacre Zeke went to each corpse, looted them and Avarice them.
In total, he gained 8 loincloths, 6 stone daggers, a small stone sword and 8 fibre belts. The Goblin archer also had a leather vest and a kid-sized bow with arrows. In a stroke of genius Zeke ramshackle the leather vest with the loincloths and a few fibre belts, making a nice backpack to carry the other items. It was more like a wearable bucket, but that was besides the point.
The Avarice only functioned on 5 of the corpses, the 5 he killed, the bog's kills were incompatible with the skill. But, of the 5 Avarices attempted, not a single one yielded a gain, very frustrating to say the least.
This murder-operation had gone of without a hitch yet, his skill seemed to make an effort to sour his mood. Next time he would make a conscious effort to claim every kill and try to avoid others stealing his kills, as he assumed stolen kills wouldn't count as his own too.
Now with an even bouncier spring in his step, the goblin exterminator made his way back to the trail of triangles satisfied with the level of goblin killing he'd accomplished.
On the way back he encountered two bogs, Zeke allowed them to live as he was feeling quite tired and the quicker he returned the sooner he could eat. He also made an effort to collect an assortment of wild berries in his makeshift backpack as he forgot to do so earlier this morning when he returned home.
It was late afternoon, the sun warmed his back as the familiar cave mouth came to view. Zeke pipped up a little at the sight, eager to drop the heavy bag of weapons.
Needless to say, Zeke was very upset to see that his humble abode was currently being raided by a large bipedal lizard who feasted greedily on Zeke's hard earned piece of bog leg.