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“Dialogue” ‘Thoughts’ -Author notes-
Chapter 16: The Journey to Zloria Town
“Lightning strike!” Zephyr called upon his magic, and it pierced the body of the second wolf.
“Status!”
[Status: Zephyr Lv. 03
Health points: 20/24
Mana points: 14/24 ]
‘Not bad… One of those wolves bit me once, but it only took 4 points. I used my Strike twice and consumed 10 mana. I can still use it twice more.’
There were still three more wolves. He could kill two with his magic, but he wouldn't have enough for the third unless he waited for a minute or so.
“Lightning Strike!” Another wolf went down before it could approach.
The other two must have felt the urgency of the situation because they both rushed at him together.
“Shit!... Lightning Strike!” He killed one of the wolves, but the second one jumped for his throat.
[Lightning Strike gained a level]
Zephyr used his left arm to block it, and it bit as hard as it could.
“Damn you!” He saw his health drop 3 points.
With no weapon and no mana to cast another Strike, Zephyr did the only thing he could.
He started punching the beast with his free hand.
His 7 points of strength showed their worth as the creature yelped in pain under his counterattack.
“Yeah, take that!” The wolf went down, and he continued to rain blows on it until it stopped moving.
His left arm was a bloody mess, and his hands were bruised from hitting the beast as hard as he could.
But then he heard the voice of the Goddess and smiled.
[Level up… status recovery]
“Yes!” He celebrated as his wounds disappeared.
This was the third time this had happened.
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He still didn't know for sure what this ‘Level up’ was. But he knew it appeared after killing some creatures and healing him from any wound he had.
He also saw his magic leveling up before.
“Status!”
[Status: Zephyr Lv. 4
Health Points: 24/24 (+2 per minute)
Mana Points: 24/24 (+1 per minute)
Strength: 7
Dexterity: 7
Intelligence: 11
Vitality: 8
Luck: 9
Available points: 5 ]
“I have more available points, I see… I get five points every time I gain one of those 'level-ups'… this is great!”
He glanced down at the group of beasts.
“I can decide how to spend my points later; I should first take care of these…”
Unlike the red bear he killed the other day, these wolves were not that hard to kill. With his enhanced strength and a sharp stone, he should be able to extract some meat from them.
Without wasting time, Zephyr got to work and cut open a couple of wolves, getting almost ten pounds of meat that he stored inside his bag using some of their leather as a container.
He could have gotten more meat, but with no way to preserve it, it would just go bad inside his bag before he could eat it.
The leather was also valuable, but even if he had a carving knife, he had no clue on how to skin an animal. He had only seen people doing it a few times back at the village.
“Maybe I'll buy a knife when I get to the town. I can also use it as a weapon.”
He would have liked to get a sword, but knives and bows were the only weapons allowed to humans, and it was only because those were needed for hunting.
Anything else was for the exclusive use of the Celestials.
It's almost like they are afraid of us… but that makes no sense. Humans are so much weaker than Celestials. Without magic, it would be like an ant trying to fight a bear.
“Well, let's continue then. I should be close to the river by now."
He had originally come here to get some water when he was ambushed by those prairie wolves.
“The river runs parallel to the road, so if I just follow it north, I should arrive at Zloria Town in two days… this is going to be risky.”
So far, he had avoided the main road and the river because they were the most likely places to run into other humans traveling from Zloria to Varian Village.
He was sure that people in his village would be looking for him and didn't want to be seen by any traveling merchants who could talk about seeing him on the road.
But for this final stretch of the journey, he had no choice but to follow the common path.
“I will need to keep my head covered at all times from here on. And if I encounter someone, remember to avoid eye contact…”
If everything goes right, he should only need a few hours to get what he needs and leave the town.
“First, I should buy the map…” That was the item he needed the most. Without it, it would be very difficult to reach the wall while avoiding the Celestial camps set in place to prevent humans from crossing it.
“Let's hope I have enough money.” He didn't really know how much a map would cost.
He only knew they were normally bought by hunters to avoid getting lost while traveling off-road, hunting for prey.
The rest, he could do without.
He could hunt for food, and although a carving knife would be nice to have, he could make do with a sharp stone in the meantime.
“Alright… there we go.” Zephyr spotted the river in the distance.
This was going to be extremely dangerous, even more so than fighting another red bear.
If he was found out by the Celestials… then his journey would come to an end.
“Well, it's not like I'm alone… Status!”
[Status: Zephyr Level 4
Health points: 24/24
Mana points: 24/24
Strength: 7
Dexterity: 7
Intelligence: 11 (+2 reg)
Vitality: 8 (+1 reg)
Luck: 9
Available points: 5 ]
[Spell list:
Lightning Strike Lv: 2, Mp: 6
Identify Lv: 2, Mp: 1 ]
"I have the Goddess Gift with me!"