《Tenebris: A Survival Fantasy LitRPG》 Chapter 1 – Day 1 – The awakening He awoke with a start. Upon opening his eyes, he found himself lying in the middle of what looked like an underground cavern. It smelled somewhat musty and earthy. While the air was damp and cold, it still was fresher than one might have expected from the cave air. He sat up and glanced around. It was dark. The walls, floor, and ceiling of the cavern had something like mushrooms growing on them. They came in all shapes and sizes. The smallest was the size of his pinky while the biggest was about two feet in height. The mushrooms were translucent, and from inside each of them radiated a bluish glow. Those mushrooms were the only source of light in that place. While most of the cavern was bathed in that light, there were pockets of darkness here and there. As far as he could tell, there was nothing else in the cavern except for the mushrooms. What the hell is going on here, he thought. Where am I? He slowly got on his feet, still looking around in amazement. Since the cavern was dimly lit, it took a little while for his eyes to get accustomed to the semi-darkness. As his eyes were gradually getting adjusted to the dim light, he made out more details. The walls of the cavern were uneven, and rock outcroppings protruded from the floor. Except for that, there seemingly was nothing else of interest in the cavern. How did I get here? he thought, still perplexed. Where am I? What is this place? He realized he had no memories in his head whatsoever. No matter how hard he racked his brains, he just couldn¡¯t remember anything about himself. Who was he? How had he gotten to this place? He simply couldn¡¯t remember. His head was devoid of any memories. Even his own name evaded him. He lowered his head to look at his body. He was dressed in a pair of jeans, a black T-shirt, and a dull green hooded jacket. On his left hand, he wore a leather watch. It was six o¡¯clock. Morning or evening? He had no idea. It was impossible to tell from inside the cavern. He then brought his hands closer to his face for a better look. His skin was very pale and seemed unhealthy in the bluish light coming from the mushrooms. He looked like a person who spent most of the time indoors. As far as he could tell, he was of average height and build. Maybe a bit overweight. He touched the tips of his fingers to his face. He didn¡¯t have a beard. He then ran his hand through his hair. He had a short haircut. His thoughts got back to the main question: why couldn¡¯t he remember anything about himself? What had happened to his memory? He tried to recall anything about himself for some more time but came up with nothing. He decided to check his pockets. In the inner pocket of his jacket, he found an old tattered wallet. He opened it. There was some money, a few credit cards, and a driver¡¯s license. He pulled out the latter and brought it closer to his eyes. The name on it read Jack Nolan. He examined the photo. It was a picture of a young man, who was in his mid to late twenties. He was clean-shaven, and his hair was dark and cut short. His skin was pale, his eyes dark. Everything indicated that he was looking at the picture of himself. Yet he felt like he was looking at the face of a stranger, what with him having no memories at all. But if the driver¡¯s license actually belonged to him¡ªand there was no reason to believe otherwise¡ªthen his name was Jack. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. He took another look at what he assumed was his photo. He liked the face. The young man in the picture looked very serious, but his face was pleasant to look at. It was the face of a good person. You knew you could trust a person with such a face. If it was actually him in the photo, Jack was pleased. Such a face couldn¡¯t belong to a bad person. At least he hoped so. He slid the driver¡¯s license back into the wallet and returned it to the inner pocket of his jacket. In one of the outer pockets, he discovered a cell phone. He even sighed a breath of relief. Only his joy didn¡¯t last long. The phone was locked with a fingerprint scanner. He paused for a second and then pressed his thumb to the screen. The phone unlocked. There were no bars at the upper edge of the display. ¡°Of course, there¡¯s no phone service in this place,¡± Jack muttered to himself. He then thought that maybe he¡¯d get service when he got out of the cave. Providing he would be fortunate enough to find the exit. Jack didn¡¯t let depressing thoughts overcome him. Just in case, he randomly selected a name from the contact list and tapped the call button. Nothing happened. There was no signal. He then tried to access the Web. He was pretty much sure that the result would be the same but wanted to make sure. He tapped on the icon of an internet browser. As he¡¯d expected, the Google homepage failed to load. Out of curiosity, he decided to more carefully examine his contact list before pocketing the cell. The list turned out to be surprisingly short. Almost all of the names on the list had the suffix -From Job. ¡°You don¡¯t have a lot of friends, huh?¡± Jack muttered to himself. Well, it didn¡¯t mean anything by itself. It didn¡¯t make him a bad person or anything like that. He might just have been introverted, that¡¯s all. Besides, the person in the photo had a nice face. He refused to believe that a person with such a face could be bad. He put the cell phone back into his jacket. In another pocket, he found a half-empty pack of cigarettes and a lighter. ¡°Are you a smoker, Jack?¡± he asked himself. In the same pocket, he also found several keys including a fob key and a few crumpled shopping bills. He was about to check one of the shopping bills, but before he could bring it closer to his eyes so he could see the text in the semi-darkness of the cave, something strange happened. Right before his eyes popped up a text message. You have just received a bounty. The message disappeared as soon as he read it. ¡°Huh?¡± Jack muttered. ¡°What the heck is that? A bounty? What bounty?¡± As soon as he thought that, a new piece of info appeared in front of him.
Objective Kill a monster residing in the cave you¡¯re currently in.
Reward 1,000 gold
Unlike the previous message, the bounty text didn¡¯t go away when he read it. What the hell is that? Jack thought. He didn¡¯t receive an answer to his question, but he heard something. He wished to be rid of the text blocking his vision, and to his relief, it immediately disappeared from his sight. He then wheeled around to face the direction he thought the strange sound had come from. There was something in the darkness on the other side of the cavern. Chapter 2 – Day 1 – Something in the darkness Jack stared at a dark opening on the farther side of the cavern. It was very dark over there because there weren¡¯t any glowing mushrooms. The entrance to the caverns was just a black hole. It was impossible to see what was on the other side of it. He kept staring at the dark opening for a few more seconds. The sounds seemed to have come from the entrance, but he couldn¡¯t make out any details. All he could see there was darkness. It was all quiet now again. The sound didn¡¯t repeat itself. He was even starting to think that maybe he hadn¡¯t heard anything to begin with. He might just have imagined it, being on edge, and all. A couple of minutes passed. The sound didn¡¯t reoccur, and Jack eventually relaxed just a tiny bit. It was impossible for him to completely put himself at ease considering he had no idea where he was and what was happening around him. The bounty text he¡¯d seen earlier didn¡¯t help either. Did it say he had to kill some kind of monster? He felt the urge to reread the text. Was there a way to see it again? As soon as he thought about the bounty, the same text popped up before his eyes. As he read it again, his mood worsened once more. The text told him that there was a monster somewhere in the cave. It didn¡¯t specifically say that he had to kill it, though. So maybe he could just try and sneak out of the cave without engaging the monster. Still, knowing there was some kind of creature in the cave with him put him on edge once more. What did this creature look like? Was it aggressive? Was it strong? Would it attack him on sight? And if it attacked him, what would he do? He didn¡¯t have any weapons to defend himself with. This whole situation reminded him of something. He brought up the bounty once again. The text said that if he killed the creature, he would get one thousand gold. Something like that he saw in video games. It was something like a quest in a role-playing video game. Jack couldn¡¯t remember anything about himself, but he knew what a video game was. He also realized he¡¯d probably been pretty good at them because such concepts as experience points, leveling up, skills, and whatnot were all too familiar to him. He must have been an avid gamer when he was younger and had more free time. He brought up his hands and looked at them. ¡°Am I in a video game then?¡± he muttered to himself. It seemed impossible. He knew for sure that virtual reality video games that looked so realistic didn¡¯t exist just yet. Maybe everything in this place¨Cwherever it was¨Csimply worked like in a video game. Maybe it all was just some kind of government or social experiment. He¡¯d watched plenty of movies and read many books with similar plots. Again, while he couldn¡¯t remember anything about himself, he was easily able to remember lots of movies and books that he must¡¯ve watched and read in the past. It was kind of strange. Anyway, if it was a video game or if everything here worked like in an RPG, then he should be able to access his character sheet or something like that. As soon as he thought that, what looked like a game menu appeared before his eyes.
Character
Store (available for 10 days only)
Bounties/Quests/Challenges
Map
¡°What the hell,¡± Jack muttered. He hadn¡¯t actually expected that he would be able to see something like that. The words just hovered before his eyes, not disappearing or going anywhere. All the information stayed fixed in place when he looked between the various lines of text, and when he tried to move his head, the text moved too, always staying in his field of vision. Jack called off the main menu¨Cor whatever it was called¨Cand all the information disappeared. Then he brought it up with a thought again, and all the info immediately popped up before his eyes. Manipulating the game menu was so easy that he got the hang of it in no time flat. He then focused his attention on the first word, Character, and wished to access it. The text before his eyes was instantly replaced with another. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
Level 0
Current Essence 0
Essence to Next Level 100
Available Skill Points 0
Gold 0
Survived 0 days
Strength 0
Constitution 0
Agility 0
Perception 0
Intelligence 0
Magic 0
Talents None
Abilities Slot 1: Unlocks at Level 10
Spells, Runes, and Enchantments None
Perks Slot 1: Unlocks at Level 5
Resistances None
Crafting/Building None
Jack just stared at the information for a moment, not quite believing that he actually had a character sheet at his disposal. He then realized he could call up additional info on some features of his character sheet. However, before he could examine it all more carefully, his ears picked up the suspicious sound again. Only this time it was louder and clearer. It sounded like an animal¡¯s snort. Dismissing the game menu with thought, Jack looked at the dark opening again. It was the only exit from the cavern he was in. The opening looked like a black hole because no light from the mushrooms reached it. It was impossible to see what awaited on the other side of it. His ears picked up another faint snort. This time it sounded even louder. There must have been some sort of creature outside the cavern. Another snort. Jack could now also hear another sound, the scraping of feet on the cave floor. The sounds were getting louder and louder. The unidentified creature seemed to be getting closer to the cavern. Jack tensed. Even though he still couldn¡¯t see the creature, he could tell that it was approaching the cavern he was in. He got so nervous that large beads of sweat formed on his forehead despite the chill of the cave. He swept the room with his gaze, looking for some sort of weapon to defend himself with in case he got attacked by the creature. In spite of the bluish glow coming from the mushrooms, it was dim in the cave, but as far as he could tell, there weren¡¯t any weapons in the cavern. Which wasn¡¯t surprising at all. The scuffing ceased, but the snorting sounds continued to reach his ears. Judging by the volume of the sounds, the creature was somewhere nearby, probably just outside the cavern. He stared at the dark opening without even blinking, but he still couldn¡¯t see the creature. He¡¯d received a bounty to kill a monster, but how could he do that without any weapons? It was totally unfair. Or was he expected to kill the creature with bare hands? Maybe the creature over there isn¡¯t hostile, he thought. Maybe I got my panties in a knot for no reason at all. But he immediately dismissed this silly thought. After all, he was in what looked like a dark dungeon in a role-playing video game, so the chances that the unknown creature was friendly were slim to none. Jack walked back, taking care to move slowly and carefully so as not to make any sounds that could give away his presence in the cavern. Considering the creature was most likely hostile, he didn¡¯t want to be found. Not at all. He continued to move back until his back bumped against the wall behind him. There was nowhere else to retreat to. He once more heard the snorting and scuffing sounds coming from the dark entrance to the cavern. The sinister sounds were getting louder and louder. The creature was closing in on the cavern and was about to come into view. Standing motionlessly near the wall opposite the dark opening, Jack held his breath. Chapter 3 – Day 1 – Danger close by His eyes never left the dark opening. He hoped that if he stayed hidden, the problem would disappear. He didn¡¯t really have any choice other than to wait and hope that nothing bad would happen to him. He stood still with his back pressed against the uneven cave wall behind him. His unblinking eyes kept staring at the dark exit from the cavern. He could hear the unknown creature snorting, but couldn¡¯t see it yet. The waiting was getting on his nerves. He wished the creature would hurry up and show itself already. But the mysterious creature was still somewhere outside the cavern as if hiding in the darkness on purpose. Remaining in the dark, it snorted every now and then. Even though the cavern had lots of glowing mushrooms growing all over it, the light they emitted was dim, and there were plenty of pockets of darkness in the room. Jack stood quietly in one of them, hoping that the creature couldn¡¯t see him just like he couldn¡¯t see it. Seconds seemed to stretch out into minutes, and minutes into eternity. For a little while, nothing happened. The snorting of the unknown creature was the only sound in the cave. That is, excluding the thumping of Jack¡¯s heart, which was so loud he couldn¡¯t help but wonder how come the creature hadn¡¯t heard it yet. He stayed completely still for some more time. Then, after nothing scary happened, he got a little bolder and dared to sweep his gaze around the cave one more time. Here and they, rock outcroppings protruded from the cave floor. Hoping his movements would go unnoticed, he turned his head left and right, looking for something he could use as a weapon. He hoped that the creature wouldn¡¯t notice him. But if push came to shove, he wanted to be ready to defend himself against the creature. He spotted a few large rocks lying on the ground not far from his position. He judged the distance and came to the conclusion that he would be able to spring the distance and get to the rocks in two leaps. It was anybody¡¯s guess whether a rock would be of any use against the creature he still didn¡¯t know anything about. Knowing nothing about the creature, it was impossible to tell what it would take to bring the creature down in a fight. Another thought came to his mind. If the creature entered the cavern and made it to its center, he could try to run around it and bolt for the exit instead of taking on the enemy. The creature would surely give chase, but he might be able to give it the slip. However, since he didn¡¯t know anything about the layout of the cave, it would be too risky to mindlessly run around this place. What if while running away from one creature, he would run into a bunch of other similar creatures or, worse yet, stumble across a lair full of them? Sweat trickled down his face, but he didn¡¯t dare to wipe it away. He had no idea what he should do, so he just stood still, hoping as hell that the creature wouldn¡¯t notice him. The snorting sounds reached his ears again. He then heard footsteps and immediately tensed. His gaze was fixed on the dark opening across the cavern. The dim bluish light coming from the mushrooms didn¡¯t reach the exit, so the opening was so dark that it looked like a black hole, on the other side of which lay a terrifying unknown. Peering into the dark opening, Jack thought he spotted a movement. It was so light and elusive at first that he even questioned himself whether he¡¯d actually seen something or just imagined it. He kept staring into the darkness of the opening until he caught a glimpse of the movement again. Something was slowly coming out of the dark. He could now see the outline of the creature in the darkness as it slowly walked forward. He pressed his back against the wall as if hoping that he would be able to phase through it like a ghost. His gaze kept bearing into the creature, which was slowly but steadily coming out of the dark. It took its time. It seemed unaware of Jack¡¯s presence in the cavern. The creature emitted snorting sounds from time to time, but they sounded quiet and peaceful. The creature didn¡¯t seem to be aggressive. At least, for now. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Suddenly, the creature froze for some reason. It didn¡¯t get out of the darkness of the opening. It stood inside it, leisurely looking around the cavern before it. Jack didn¡¯t dare to move. While the creature examined the cave, he tried to get a better look at it. But he couldn¡¯t. Since the creature was still inside the dark opening, it was impossible to make out any specific details. All he could tell was that the creature was the size of a large dog. It had four legs, an elongated head, and, if he wasn¡¯t mistaken, a long tail. While the creature had a large body, its legs were kind of short, and its torso stayed close to the ground. Moreover, something seemed to grow from the creature¡¯s back, but he couldn¡¯t determine what it was exactly. Aside from all that, he couldn¡¯t tell anything else about the strange creature. It continued to stand still, slowly turning its elongated head this way, then that. Jack calmed down a bit. The creature obviously didn¡¯t see him, otherwise, it would already have shown some reaction. Looked like he¡¯d gotten himself all worked up for nothing¡ª His line of thought crashed to a halt when the creature snorted and turned its elongated head to look directly at the pocket of darkness where he was hiding. Jack tensed again, staring at the creature, which seemed to stare right back at him now. Did it notice me? he thought. Can it see me? It was hard to tell if the creature actually saw him. It stood so still its body seemed to merge with the darkness of the opening it was in. The creature blended into the dark so well that if he hadn¡¯t already seen the creature, he would never have been able to discern the creature in the dark. It was a good thing because it meant that Jack, who also stood completely still in a pocket of darkness at the wall opposite the opening, should be almost invisible to the creature too. So maybe it can¡¯t see me then? he thought with hope. As soon as that thought formed in his mind, the creature moved again. It took a few more steps forward and came to a halt again. In the darkness could now be seen a pair of small evil eyes, which seemed to glare right at him. Except for the monster¡¯s red eyes, all of the other parts of its body were still shrouded in darkness. It seemed like the monster could see in the dark somewhat better than him. The creature could obviously tell that something was hiding in the darkness at the wall opposite the entrance, but the creature couldn¡¯t tell for sure what it was. The monster stood still, its red eyes fixed on the spot where Jack was hiding. The creature didn¡¯t emit snorting sounds anymore. It seemed to be as tense now as he was. For a long minute, they stared at each other, not quite able to make out any particular details. Then the monster took a tentative step forward. The creature was wary and seemed unnerved. It was a good sign. It meant that the creature wasn¡¯t a fearless, bloodthirsty apex predator. This creature clearly wasn¡¯t at the top of the food chain of this place. At least, he hoped so. The monster then took a few more small steps forward and stopped right at the edge where light and darkness met, intentionally staying out of sight. The sinister red eyes kept staring at him without blinking. Jack was on the verge of succumbing to panic. If the monster took another step forward, he would bolt for the rocks, which he¡¯d spotted a few minutes before, and attack the creature with them. Maybe it was what he had to do right now. The creature seemed just as afraid as him. Maybe the creature wasn¡¯t completely harmless, but it obviously wasn¡¯t all that dangerous either. So, if he yelled at the top of his lungs in rage and charged at the creature, brandishing a large rock in his hands, the creature might lose it and bolt away from him in panic. Still, Jack decided not to do anything ill-conceived. It was much better to just stay hidden to see how things would play out. Another minute passed, which seemed like an eternity to him, and then something surprising happened. The tense situation must have gotten on the creature¡¯s last nerve, because it snorted, then made a one-eighty and bolted away, scuffing its clawed feet against the cave floor. The creature disappeared from sight in no time flat. Jack didn¡¯t dare leave his hiding spot. Heart thumping against ribs, he stood still, listening to the creature¡¯s receding footfalls. He kept listening to the creature running away until complete silence settled in the cave again. Only then did Jack let out a breath he only now realized he¡¯d been holding for the past half a minute. It seemed like he was finally out of the woods. Chapter 4 – Day 1 – Looking for the exit Even though the unknown creature had run away, he wasn¡¯t in a hurry to get out of his hiding spot just yet. He kept staring at the dark opening of the entrance to the cavern. He half-expected the mysterious creature to return at any moment. It didn¡¯t get back, though. Jack listened carefully but couldn¡¯t hear anything. It was so quiet in the cave that the sound of his heart thumping in his chest seemed almost deafening. Jack decided to wait a few more minutes to give the mysterious creature enough time to get as far from the cavern as possible, before leaving his hiding spot and going to look for the exit. Knowing nothing about the creature and having no weapon, he wasn¡¯t willing to engage the beast. He didn¡¯t know how dangerous it was and what to expect from it. He didn¡¯t want to take any unnecessary chances, so he remained standing still. After a while, Jack decided it was safe to leave his hiding spot. He was about to do that when a sudden thought came to his mind. What if the monster hadn¡¯t gone anywhere? What if it lingered somewhere near the exit from the cavern, waiting for him to show up? The thought made him nervous. Was the monster that clever? Was the mysterious animal guided by simple animal instincts or was it highly intelligent? Jack wasn¡¯t sure which one was the case. His first encounter with the creature was very brief. He hadn¡¯t had enough time to properly study the animal. He didn¡¯t even know yet what it looked like, much less its behavior patterns. Still, his gut feeling was that the monster wasn¡¯t capable of pulling such a trick. Anyway, it was time to act. He took a tentative step forward, separating himself from the cave wall and leaving his comforting hiding spot. As soon as he stepped into the area of the cave that was lit by the glowing mushrooms, he tensed. When he was standing in the darkness at the back wall, he felt safe. Now that he was well-lit, he felt on edge again. He looked around nervously as if he was afraid that all the creatures in the cave would somehow learn that he¡¯d just left his hiding spot and would attack him. No monster suddenly showed up out of nowhere, though. He was still alone in the cavern and no sound reached his ears. It encouraged him a little bit, and he started to walk to the exit. He walked slowly, taking care to be as quiet as possible. His gaze was fixed on the dark opening he was approaching. The closer he got to it, the slower he walked. He expected a scary creature with long claws and sharp teeth to jump at him from the darkness at any moment. But it didn¡¯t happen. He reached the dark opening and stopped. He took a deep breath as if he was going to dive into the water. Then he stepped out of the cavern. He found himself in a wide tunnel that ran a long way forward. Far in the distance could be seen a dot of light. It must have been the exit from the cave. Jack felt the urge to burst into a run toward it. He wanted nothing more than to get out of the cave as soon as possible. However, he fought back the urge. It was too dangerous to rush headlong down the tunnel because he could hardly see anything. Unlike the cavern he¡¯d just left, the tunnel was very dark. There weren¡¯t any glowing mushrooms there. The only light was coming from the cavern behind him, but it reached just a couple of feet into the tunnel. Jack kept staring into the darkness in front of him, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the lack of light. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. An idea came to his mind. He could get back into the cavern and pluck one of the glowing mushrooms. However, he decided against it. He didn¡¯t know what would happen if he plucked a glowing mushroom from the ground. Would it still emit light? Or would it go out, turning useless? Besides, he didn¡¯t want to return to the cavern and ruin his night vision. He already could make out some details in the darkness that he hadn¡¯t been able to see a few moments before. Taking another breath, Jack started to walk. He trod the uneven cave floor slowly and carefully, trying to watch where he stepped and through the tunnel at the same time. His eyes had already adjusted to the dark, but he still couldn¡¯t see all the details. There were plenty of dark spots up ahead that he could identify only when he got near them. They turned out to be rock outcroppings and huge boulders. At first, Jack walked very slowly so as not to trip over something. After a couple of minutes, he grew more confident and picked up his pace. The dot of light at the end of the tunnel grew bigger as he got closer to it. Jack couldn¡¯t wait to finally get out of the dark cave, so he increased his speed even more. His steps were now causing more noise than before, but it didn¡¯t bother him much, because he was now sure that there was no danger in the tunnel. The creature he¡¯d encountered earlier must¡¯ve left the cave already. As he learned a moment later, he was dead wrong. When he was halfway down the tunnel, his ears picked up some noise. He froze as soon as he heard it. He recognized the sound. It was the snorting of the mysterious beast. Jack tensed as he stared into the darkness of the tunnel. He couldn¡¯t determine where the sound had come from. A few seconds passed, and the animal snorted again. Jack remained motionless. Despite the chill cave air, large beads of perspiration formed on his forehead and trickled down his face. Afraid to move a muscle, he blinked the sweat away. Nothing happened in the next several seconds. It was quiet. Jack stared into the darkness in front of him but failed to learn where the snorting sounds were coming from. Farther down the tunnel, he could see a few black spots. He couldn¡¯t tell for certain what they were, but he assumed they were rock outcroppings or large boulders. Nothing moved in the darkness, and Jack couldn¡¯t figure out where exactly the animal lurked. Another snort. It sounded pretty close. Wherever the beast was, it was somewhere nearby. Jack studied the dark forms closest to him. None of them moved. The general shape of these objects didn¡¯t resemble the creature he¡¯d seen some time before. Jack assumed that those objects were large rocks and that the mysterious creature was behind one of them. He didn¡¯t know exactly which one of the large rocks blocked the beast from his view, but it didn¡¯t matter. What was more important was what he should do now. He needed to get out of the cave, but the only exit was farther down the tunnel. Would he be able to sneak past the creature unnoticed? It seemed highly unlikely. While the tunnel was quite wide, the creature could see better in the dark than him as he¡¯d already learned. So Jack continued to stand still. He was sure that the mysterious creature would attack him when it noticed him. And he had no desire to fight some large aggressive animal he knew absolutely nothing about. He couldn¡¯t move forward without the creature noticing him, and there was no point in returning to the cavern he¡¯d left either. He had no idea what to do. He was stuck. Chapter 5 – Day 1 – Confronting the beast Nothing happened for the next few minutes. Jack still hadn¡¯t figured out what he should do. He hoped that the creature would just leave the cave, but it clearly wasn¡¯t going to happen. The mysterious beast was still sitting somewhere behind one of the large rocks up ahead, making snorting sounds every now and then. Jack didn¡¯t have much of a choice. He could just continue to, figuratively speaking, sit on his ass and hope for the creature to eventually leave the cave. Another option was to try to sneak past the beast. Grinding his teeth in anxiety, he made up his mind. He was going to continue down the tunnel. He¡¯d spent too much time in this cave for his liking and was eager to finally get out. Now that he¡¯d finally started moving forward he didn¡¯t want to slow down and wait for who knew what. So he took a deep breath and resumed sneaking down the tunnel, trying to make as little noise as possible. His eyes darted between rock outcroppings ahead of him, trying to figure out which one had the creature hiding behind it. He couldn¡¯t determine it, and it made him nervous. Still, he continued on, not letting his fear slow him down. The beast continued to make the same snorting noises every now and then. The noise it made was peaceful enough. The creature clearly wasn¡¯t aware that there was somebody else in the tunnel. Jack would love for it to continue to be the case. As he sneaked down the tunnel, the noises were growing louder. He was getting closer and closer to the spot where the mysterious creature was hiding. After a few seconds, he reached the place where he assumed the animal was. A few paces ahead of him were two large boulders, one at each wall. The snorting sounds were so loud and clear that Jack had no doubts about where the beast was. The mysterious creature must have been behind one of the two boulders ahead of him. He was sure of that even though he still couldn¡¯t see the creature itself. The animal wasn¡¯t moving at all. Maybe it¡¯s just sleeping? Jack thought hopefully. The beast continued to snort, still not moving. There were no sounds of any movement. The creature must have been completely still. Jack remembered it emitting the same snorting noises when it stood at the entrance to the cavern. Did it mean that the beast was awake? Or did it produce such sounds even when it was asleep? Without knowing anything about the mysterious beast, it was impossible to tell which was the case. If the creature was actually asleep, then he had a good chance of sneaking past the beast unnoticed. Jack continued to quietly move down the tunnel. His gaze darted between the two large boulders ahead, which sat right across from each other. Which one of the two had the beast hiding behind it? He got the answer to this question soon enough. When Jack almost reached the two boulders, he heard a new sound. It was the grate of claws scratching the rocky cave floor. Immediately after that, the beast made another sound like drawing air into its lungs. Then there was silence. The creature went quiet, making no sounds at all now. Jack tensed. What just happened? Had the beast woken up? Or maybe it hadn¡¯t been sleeping at all? Maybe it¡¯d caught his scent? How good was its sense of smell? Jack didn¡¯t know what to think. He didn¡¯t know anything about this creature and how it behaved. The lack of information put him at great disadvantage. There was another scratching of claws against the cave floor, and a second later, the beast finally showed itself. It stepped from around one of the large boulders and froze, staring at Jack with its red evil eyes. It was so dark in the tunnel that he didn¡¯t learn anything new about the beast. All he could see was its general shape. Now that he was so close to the animal, it seemed even bigger than before. The mysterious creature was surely seeing him, but it didn¡¯t make any aggressive movements toward him. Maybe he would get lucky and the creature would run away as it¡¯d done the last time. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Unfortunately for him, it didn¡¯t happen. The animal emitted a low growl and took a few steps toward Jack. He backed up. Sensing his fear, the beast growled louder and picked up its pace. Heart hammering in his chest, Jack moved backwards hurriedly. One of his feet hit a small rock on the floor. He waved his arms, trying to keep his balance, but he failed to do so and fell on his back. He yelped in pain, and his vision darkened for a moment. Grinding his teeth, he sat up and saw that the beast wasted no time taking advantage of his misfortune. The creature rushed toward him and its jaws clamped down on his ankle. Jack screamed in pain when razor-sharp teeth broke the skin of his leg and pierced his flesh. Beside himself with pain and panic, he punched the monster in the face with his tightly clenched fist. Only he didn¡¯t do any damage to the creature. If anything, he made the beast even angrier. It shook its head as if trying to tear a piece of flesh out of his leg. The pain was overwhelming. His eyes teared up, blurring his vision, and he screamed again. Overcome with extreme pain and fear for his life, Jack set about hitting the monster¡¯s head with his fists. He punched his enemy as hard as he could but hardly dealt any damage to it. Its head seemed to be made of stone. Jack knew that the beast wasn¡¯t bothered by his strikes at all, but he didn¡¯t know what else he could do, so he continued to hit the beast with his fists. Suddenly, the creature gave his leg a hard yank. The beast turned out to be surprisingly strong. The sudden tug made Jack fall on his back again, and he hit the back of his head on the cave floor. The monster continued to drag Jack along the tunnel with sudden jerking movements. Where is it taking me? Jack thought panicky. Into its lair where more of its hungry breed await the food?! Jack wasn¡¯t keen on being eaten alive. Bringing up another leg, he kicked the monster in the head as hard as he could. The beast got stunned for a moment. It encouraged him, and Jack kicked the creature another time. The grip on his ankle weakened. He kicked the monster again, and its jaws finally let go of him. Jack tried to kick his enemy yet again for good measure, but the beast decided it had enough of that. Snorting bitterly, it jumped back out of his leg¡¯s reach, and his heel hit nothing but the empty air where the beast¡¯s head had been a second before. Jack leaped to his feet, grimacing against the searing pain in his maimed ankle. He quickly looked around, searching for any kind of weapon. There was none. The boulders that lay nearby were too large for him to pick up. When he looked back at the monster, he saw that it had disappeared. It hadn¡¯t run away, though. It was somewhere nearby because he could still hear its heavy breathing. But he couldn¡¯t see the beast. It stood completely still, blending into the surrounding darkness so well that it¡¯d turned invisible. How to fight the enemy you can¡¯t even see? Jack thought in frustration. He had to get back to the cavern. There was no other option. Back in the cavern, he, at least, would be able to see his enemy. Besides, he remembered that there were a few heavy rocks with sharp edges that he could use as a weapon against the beast. He turned around and moved back down the tunnel. He tried to run, but his injured ankle prevented him from moving fast. Every step he took caused a new pang of pain in his leg. Grinding his teeth, he moved down the tunnel as fast as the injured leg allowed him. He could hear angry growling and claws scratching the cave floor behind him. He didn¡¯t need to look back to know that the beast was gaining on him. A few seconds later, he reached the entrance to the cavern and burst inside. He glanced around and noticed a few large rocks. He dashed for the nearest one. Grabbing it with both hands, he wheeled around to face the only entrance to the cavern. The noise that the monster was making was getting louder. The beast was getting closer. His injured ankle bled profusely, but he couldn¡¯t do anything about it at the moment. He needed to defeat the monster first before tending his wound. He didn¡¯t know if he was going to live through this, but he was gonna fight till the last gasp. The sounds of the approaching beast were getting closer and closer. Grinding his teeth against the pain in his maimed ankle, Jack waited for the monster to show up. His palms were sweaty, so he gripped the large rock harder. He didn¡¯t have to wait long for the monster to appear. Chapter 6 – Day 1 – Battle to the bitter end The beast materialized in the dark opening of the entrance. It took a few steps into the cavern and stopped, staring at Jack with its red evil eyes. Now that the monster stepped into the section of the cavern that was lit by the glowing mushrooms, Jack could finally see it very well. It was his very first opportunity to examine the beast. The creature looked like a mix of a rat and a porcupine. It was the size of a large dog. All of the creature¡¯s body, except for the legs, was covered in greasy black fur. The beast¡¯s head didn¡¯t look like that of a rat¡¯s, though. Elongated and ugly, it kind of resembled a crocodile¡¯s head instead. The toes of the monster ended in long, curved claws. From the spine and the tail of the beast protruded bony appendages that resembled a porcupine¡¯s quills. Unlike the latter, they were thicker, and there weren¡¯t as many of them. Jack remembered that the beast didn¡¯t use its quills when it attacked him in the dark tunnel. Its elongated jaws filled with sharp teeth were its primary weapon. As to its quills, they most likely served as protection against stronger predators. This creature obviously wasn¡¯t an apex predator in this world. Still, the rat-thing was quite dangerous as Jack had learned from bitter experience. His heart hammered in his chest as he stared at the scary animal. The croc-rat emitted something like a growl and began to walk toward him. Jack felt a pang of fear. However, he forced himself to hold his ground. As he¡¯d already learned, this creature could sense its prey¡¯s fear, so he was determined not to let the dread he felt show. He stood still, watching the beast carefully. His hands were tightly gripping the large rock. He was ready to smash it against the ugly rat-thing as soon as it got within striking distance. The beast was in no hurry. It seemed wary of him. While it didn¡¯t seem afraid of him, it was cautious. He decided to test out one idea that came to his mind earlier on. Hoping he would be able to scare the beast off, he yelled at the top of his lungs and lurched at the croc-rat, lifting the rock above his head. Sure, the injured ankle prevented him from moving fast, but the lunge still came out quite threatening and aggressive. The beast froze when it saw its prey move toward it instead of covering in fear or running away. The creature clearly hadn¡¯t expected such a turn of events. However, the croc-rat didn¡¯t retreat as Jack had hoped it would. At least, the creature stopped growling and moving toward him. It seemed unsure of what action to take. Jack was scared, but he didn¡¯t let his fear show. He continued to approach the motionless creature. Every step he took caused a prick of pain in his bitten leg, but he fought through the pain. Unfortunately, either the beast saw through his bluff or Jack didn¡¯t look as intimidating as he hoped. Whatever the case, the creature didn¡¯t get scared. It growled again and burst toward him. There was no point in retreating. Jack waited for the beast to get closer and then brought the rock down, aiming for the rat¡¯s head. The monster must have noticed the movement because it instinctively jerked its head to the side, and the rock grazed its shoulder instead. One of the sharp edges of the rock left a scratch across the rat¡¯s body. The wound was shallow but painful. The animal yelped in pain. Encouraged by his first successful attack, Jack brought the rock up again. The beast realized he was about to attack, and it wasn¡¯t keen on being hit again. Before Jack could hit his enemy, the rat jumped to the side. Jack was already bringing down the rock and though he spotted the monster run away, he couldn¡¯t stop the momentum fast enough. The rock crashed into the empty spot on the cave floor where the rat-thing had been a second before. Quickly recovering, Jack lifted the rock and turned toward the monster. The creature was wounded, which made it angrier and more dangerous. Even though it was bleeding, it wasn¡¯t going to give up and run away from Jack. The beast growled and lurched toward him, opening its mouth wide. The beast was extremely fast. No sooner had he lifted the leg the beat aimed for than its jaws snapped shut on the empty air where his leg had been a moment before. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Unable to stop its momentum in time, the croc-rat crashed into Jack. Losing his balance, he fell on his back. The rock flew from his grip and hit the floor with a thud somewhere behind him. The sight of its fallen enemy made the rat-thing more confident. Growling, it dashed toward him, ready to bite into his flesh. Still lying on his back, Jack lifted one leg and kicked the animal in what he assumed was its nose. The creature was taken aback for a second. Before it could recover, Jack kicked it again. This time, the heel of his boot struck the monster in one of its red eyes. The creature shut its eyes and whined pitifully. Jack rolled onto his belly and got up to all fours. He scrambled to where the rock had landed. As soon as he made it to his improvised weapon, he heard fast footfalls and heavy animal breathing behind him. Jack rolled back on his back just as the beast caught up to him. He tried to kick the animal, but the beast suddenly stopped out of reach and brought up one of its forefeet. Sharp claws ripped open the leg of his pants but, luckily, didn¡¯t get his flesh. Jack grabbed the rock with both hands and lifted it over his head. Upon seeing this, the croc-rat froze. It didn¡¯t want to be hit with that thing again. His gaze never leaving the creature, Jack attempted to get up. As soon as his enemy saw the movement, it darted toward him and struck him with its claws. This time, they scraped his good leg, leaving long, deep scratches in his flesh. Gnashing his teeth in pain, Jack tried to strike the beast with the rock. The rat-thing jumped back just in time, and the rock went through the empty air just before its nose. The creature growled but didn¡¯t attempt to attack Jack again. For the next several seconds, the human and the animal just stared at each other. The beast stayed just beyond his reach, so Jack didn¡¯t try to attack it. The crot-rat was clearly afraid of the rock in his hands, so it didn¡¯t attempt to get any closer to him either. Jack tried to get to his feet one more time. As soon as the rat-thing saw him move, it lurched forward. Jack tried to strike the beast, but it immediately stopped outside of striking distance. In an attempt to protect itself, the croc-rat brought up one forefoot, scratching its claws across the surface of the rock, doing no damage to it at all. Frustrated, the beast took a few steps backward. Jack made another attempt to get up. He was ready to deflect any further attacks, but this time, the monster didn¡¯t lurch at him. His gaze never leaving the beast, Jack stood up from the cave floor. He continued to stare down at the monster. Sweat trickled into his eyes, and he blinked it away, not bothering to wipe perspiration from his forehead. He needed both hands to hold the large rock, and he was afraid to lose sight of his enemy even for a second. For the next minute, the beast would try to get closer to Jack, but it would immediately retreat when he brought up the rock. Both his legs were throbbing with pain, and his hands were growing weak from handling the large rock for so long. He was barely able to hold it now. He was quickly getting tired. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to go on for much longer. One way or another, it was high time to finish this fight. Shouting a battle cry, Jack lurched at his enemy, bringing up the rock. He was vaguely aware that he was so tired that even his battlecry came out weak and not threatening at all. Sure enough, the rat-thing didn¡¯t flinch upon seeing him approach and hearing him yell. It held its ground, glaring at him with its evil red eyes. As soon as he got within striking distance, Jack struck. However, due to tiredness, all his movements were slow and sluggish. The croc-rat had no trouble getting out of harm¡¯s way with plenty of time to spare. The rock hit the empty spot on the cave floor where the beast had just been. Jack tightened his grip around the rock. It had grown so freaking heavy. Before he could lift the rock from the ground, the angry animal attacked. Chapter 7 – Day 1 – Hard-fought victory The beast rose on its hind legs and swung its claws at Jack. He yelped in pain and frustration. He was so weak that the rock seemed three times as heavy as it¡¯d been before. Shouting and exerting all his strength, he lifted the rock. Turning to face the monster, Jack tried to strike it with his improvised weapon. However, his body was so tired that all his movements were slow. The croc-rat had no trouble at all jumping out of harm¡¯s way in time. The creature must have realized how tired and weak his prey was now. It sure noticed how slowly he moved, and this observation made the croc-rat more confident. Growling angrily, the creature crept toward Jack. It was bad. It was real bad. Even though he¡¯d known from the very beginning that his chances to win this battle were slim to none, he still hoped that he would be victorious. But now his hope completely died off. He was severely wounded and exhausted. He was hardly able to hold the rock in his hands. Jack began to move backward, staring at the growling animal that was approaching him. He had to come up with a plan, otherwise the monster would finish him off. It could charge him at any moment. But what could he do? How to defeat the monster? Jack kept retreating, racking his brain for a solution to the problem. No bright idea came to his mind. Still, he refused to just give up. He took a few more steps backward. The croc-rat continued to advance on him, but it still didn¡¯t make an attempt to attack him. It was clearly afraid of the rock in his hands. It was the only thing that discouraged the beast from charging at him, so Jack made sure to hold the rock tightly in his hands. Even though the rock was heavy as hell, he wasn¡¯t going to drop it. After all, right now it was the only thing that kept him alive. As he continued to retreat, he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. He quickly glanced in that direction and saw a few more similar large rocks lying nearby. A plan of sorts formed in his mind. He had no idea if his plan was going to work or not. However, he had no time to think it through because the croc-rat finally made up its mind and burst into a run toward him. Jack lifted the rock in his hands higher and hurtled it at the approaching beast as hard as he could. The beast clearly didn¡¯t expect it and reacted slower than it should have. It wasn¡¯t able to get out of the way in time, and the rock grazed its side, leaving a long bleeding scratch along its body. The creature yelped in pain, but Jack didn¡¯t give it another look, because he was already darting for another nearby rock. Bending at the waist, he grabbed the rock with both hands. He was dog-tired, and his hands trembled from the effort, but he was going to do his best to finish the creature off. Or he would die trying. Either way, he wasn¡¯t going to stop now. With great effort, he lifted the rock from the ground and brought it up to chest level. When he turned toward the beast, he was pleasantly surprised to see that it still hadn¡¯t completely recovered from the last blow. Before the creature could do anything, Jack lifted the rock above his head and hurled it at the beast with great force. The croc-rat noticed it fly toward it, but it was too late for the creature to do anything. The rock smashed into the monster¡¯s head, leaving a bleeding gush in it. The beast staggered. It tried to keep its balance but failed to do so and toppled over. Encouraged by such success, Jack darted for another rock. By the time he picked it up, the croc-rat had already gotten to its feet. Only it didn¡¯t charge at him. Upon seeing another large rock in his hands, the beast must have decided it had enough. The creature was bleeding profusely from numerous wounds and was in no condition to continue to fight. It wheeled around toward the opening that led out of the cavern. As it staggered toward the exit, Jack hurled the rock, and it hit the creature in one of the hind legs, breaking it. Yelping in pain, the beast collapsed to the cave floor. It tried to immediately get up, but the pain in its broken leg caused the creature to fall again. Jack grabbed another rock from the floor and ran to the fallen monster. Straddling the beast, he smashed the heavy rock against the croc-rat¡¯s head again and again, splashing dark blood over the ground. The creature yelped in pain and its body thrashed around, but the monster couldn¡¯t do anything to save itself. Yelling in wild rage like a barbarian, Jack hit the monster again and again. He struck it repeatedly, not realizing that the monster was long dead. He continued to smash the rock against the beast¡¯s now heavily deformed head until he got completely exhausted. The rock fell from his hands. Breathing heavily, he stared down at the monster he¡¯d just defeated. Half its head was turned into a gory mush. There was no way the beast could be alive, so Jack finally allowed himself to relax. He backed up, walking away from the dead body until his back bumped into a cave wall. He slid down to the cave floor and sat still. And all the while, his eyes were fixed on the motionless body as if he expected it to rise from the dead. But it didn¡¯t happen. The beast was dead for good. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Then something happened. At first, he thought that the croc-rat revived, but he quickly realized he was wrong. Some kind of energy wafted from the dead body and floated across the cave toward him. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± he muttered. He tried to get up but couldn¡¯t. He was too tired. The energy reached him and disappeared into his body. Almost immediately after that, a text message appeared before his eyes. You have received 10 Essence points. ¡°Fuck me,¡± he muttered. ¡°It¡¯s really like a video game.¡± Those Essence points must have been an analog of XP in role-playing games. Then another message popped up in his vision. Bounty fulfilled! You have received 1,000 gold. ¡°Nice,¡± Jack thought tiredly. ¡°I¡¯m fucking rich now.¡± With a thought, he brought up the main menu and switched to his character sheet to examine the first section of it.
Level 0
Current Essence 10
Essence to Next Level 100
Available Skill Points 0
Gold 1,000
Survived 0 days
Killing the croc-rat gave him only ten Essence points. To level up, he needed to kill nine more such vile creatures. The croc-rat had almost managed to kill him, so he had no idea how he would be able to deal with nine more such scary monsters. ¡°That¡¯s brutal,¡± Jack muttered tiredly. At least, he got one thousand gold. That¡¯s got to count for something. He heard a strange sound coming from across the cave. Instantly alert for any danger, Jack turned his head to look in that direction. On the other side of the cavern, he saw a section of the wall move forward a few inches and then slide aside, revealing a hidden compartment. Inside the chamber sat a wooden chest. Jack just stared at it for a second before he realized what it all meant. In video games, you receive rewards for killing monsters, completing quests, clearing dungeons, and so forth. So since this place pretended to be a video game, things worked similarly here. He killed the croc-rat, so he was offered a reward. He was curious about what was in the wooden chest, but he was too tired to get up at the moment. It can wait, he thought. Gotta just rest for a bit. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, he felt severe pain in his injured legs. He looked down at them. His ankle that the croc-rat had bitten was bleeding profusely. The wound looked bad. Very bad. He had to do something about it. The other leg sported three long scratches, but they weren¡¯t bleeding. The legs of his pants were torn to shreds as well, but it was the least of his worries at the moment. He brought up the main menu again.
Character
Store (available for 10 days only)
Bounties/Quests/Challenges
Map
He opened the store. There were a lot of various items, consumables, and even buildings for sale. He was interested only in medical stuff, though. It didn¡¯t take him long to find what he was looking for. The first thing that he noticed was that everything was extremely expensive. First of all, he purchased a small bottle of antiseptic for 500 gold. It materialized out of thin air right before his eyes. There weren¡¯t any sound or visual effects like you would expect in an actual video game. It just appeared in front of him. He held out his hands, and the small bottle without a label dropped into his cupped palms. He uncapped the bottle and tipped it over the gash in his ankle. He screamed bloody murder at the sudden burning pain, but he kept pouring. He used most of the antiseptic on his injured ankle, and what was left of the medicine, he poured over the scratches across his other leg. He then brought up the store again and bought two gauze bandage rolls for 100 gold each and wrapped them tightly around his injured legs. The torn wound on his ankle oozed through the dressing several times before the bleeding was stanched. He was still in a lot of pain. He checked the store one more time. There were painkillers for sale as well, 300 gold for one pill. He spent the remaining three hundred gold to buy one, and just like that, all the gold he¡¯d just earned was spent. A pretty large white capsule materialized before him. He caught it as it fell down. He popped the pill into his mouth and dry swallowed it. Almost immediately after that, the pain began to subside. Jack leaned his head against the wall behind him and closed his eyes. He wasn¡¯t planning on falling asleep. He just wanted to rest for a little bit. However, the stress of fighting the croc-rat, the tiredness, and the soothing effects of the painkiller did the trick. Before he knew it, Jack fell asleep. Chapter 8 – Nina – Running frightened Sobbing, Nina fled through the trees. Tears blurred her vision. She wiped them with the back of her hand as she continued to run through the forest. Long thin branches seemed to reach for her from every direction. Overgrown, twisted roots of sprawling trees tried to trip her almost on every step she took. The tender soles of her naked feet were sore and bruised from running on the dry, hard ground. Thin branches of trees and shrubs whipped painfully at the exposed parts of her body: bare shoulders, arms, and legs. The only article of clothing that she wore somewhat protected her, but she cried out in pain every time a whip-like branch lashed at her exposed skin. She didn¡¯t let herself slow down, though. She didn¡¯t know if she was still being chased, but she continued to run nevertheless, running as fast as she could, ignoring the pain in her feet. Over her sobbing and heavy panting, Nina could hear the sounds of the unknown wildlife crying, chirping, and buzzing all around her. The forest was full of life. All she could think of at the moment was her own survival, but she still noticed that the forest was very strange. It looked very different from all the other forests that she¡¯d ever seen, either in person or in pictures. The tall formidable trees were unfamiliar to her, the gnarly bushes with twisted branches looked scary and alien, and the glimpses of terrifying-looking animals that she could catch between the trees every now and then inspired great horror in her. One time when she ran past a gnarly shrub with twisted branches snaking in every direction, she scared off a group of large birds. They took off from the shrub and flew every which way. They disappeared from sight in no time flat, but not before she could catch a glimpse of them to realize they were no ordinary birds. They kind of looked like overgrown scary insects instead. What is this place? she thought with terror as she continued to run. Where am I? It isn¡¯t Earth, that¡¯s for sure! Nina had woken up in a cave filled with glowing huge mushrooms about half an hour ago. She was dressed in a white short nightgown and nothing else. She had no idea where she was. She couldn¡¯t understand how she ended up in that place. She couldn¡¯t remember anything about herself at all. Her head was devoid of any memories. She racked her brain for quite a while, but the only thing that eventually popped into her head was the name Nina. She assumed it was her name. Aside from that, she couldn¡¯t remember anything else, no matter how hard she tried. Then a blue box containing a text message appeared before her eyes. It remained in her vision wherever she looked. The message told her that she had to kill some kind of monster that was somewhere in the cave with her. She managed to get rid of the blue box with a simple thought. She wanted to cry out for help, but now that she knew that there was a monster nearby, she was too afraid to make a sound, not wanting to attract attention to herself. Nina didn¡¯t know how long she stayed in the cavern, afraid to move, standing as still as a statue. When nothing scary happened, she finally managed to get enough nerve up to start exploring the cave. The cavern wasn¡¯t too big, and it had only one opening, leading into a long dark tunnel. It took Nina some time to muster enough courage to begin walking down the tunnel. At some point, she realized there was a monster hiding somewhere farther down the tunnel. It almost made her turn back. Only there was no point in getting back to the cavern she had emerged from because the only exit from the cave was somewhere up ahead. She didn¡¯t know where exactly the monster hid. She knew there was probably no way she could defeat it in a fight, so she hoped that she would be able to quietly sneak past it, but no dice. The monster sensed or spotted her and attacked her from the darkness, raking its claws across her leg. Crying out in pain, she burst into a run, the rough rocky cave floor abrading the soles of her naked feet. A few seconds later, she reached the end of the tunnel and burst out of the cave to find herself surrounded by tall grim trees. She stopped, looking in amazement at the strange alien forest. The footfalls of the approaching creature behind her woke her from her stupor, and she ran on. Since then Nina had been running through the dark alien forest. The beast from the cave seemed to have stopped chasing her a long time ago, but she continued to run. She didn¡¯t know where she was going. She couldn¡¯t think straight. She just kept running, hoping that this nightmare would eventually end and she would safely wake up at home, wherever her home might be. She was pretty much sure that no matter whoever or whatever had taken her from her home, it¡¯d happened when she was fast asleep, hence the attire. Whoever or whatever brought her here hadn¡¯t bothered to bring some of her outerwear. But who or why had abducted her and taken her to this scary forest remained a mystery. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Her train of thought was cut short when she tripped over one of the exposed tree roots. Yelping in surprise, she fell face-first on the hard ground. For a few seconds, she just lay on the cold ground, sobbing quietly. Her leg where the cave monster had attacked her was still bleeding and throbbing with pain. Maybe she should just give up. She didn¡¯t know where to go or what to do, so why prolong the suffering? Maybe she just should let the local wildlife kill and eat her. If she was lucky, she would die quickly. However, when she actually heard something growl somewhere in the nearby bushes, she realized she didn¡¯t want to die. Especially not in a place like this and not in such a horrible way. Being eaten alive by some unknown animals undoubtedly was a horrible, painful death. She wouldn¡¯t wish it on her worst enemy. She didn¡¯t know if she had one, though. Anyway, Nina got to her feet and continued to run. However, her strength was quickly leaving her. She couldn¡¯t run as fast as she had before. She was getting tired by the second. She kept tripping over the exposed tree roots and snagging her nightgown on the branches. Now that she ran slower than before, the movements of branches were more noticeable than before. Some of them were still as they should be, but some of the others seemed to snake through the air toward her as she ran past them. It was scary as hell. She seemed to be trapped in a nightmare. At some point, Nina¡¯s foot hit something on the ground. She tried to keep her balance, but no dice. She fell on the hard earth again. He rolled on her back and tried to get up, but couldn¡¯t. She was too tired. Her chest rose and fell heavily as she breathed in short, quick gasps. Tears blurred her vision. Welts from the blows inflicted by the whip-like branches criss-crossed the exposed parts of her skin. Her nightgown, which had once been white, but now was gray from dirt, was torn in several places. The scratches on her leg where the cave monster had attacked her were still bleeding, and the bruised soles of her naked feet were throbbing with pain. From the corner of her eye, she spotted a glimpse of a movement. She jerked her head to look in that direction and saw a long snake-like branch whip through the air toward her. Before she could do anything, it wrapped itself around her left wrist. Another one grabbed her right ankle. Nina tried to free herself from their grips, but they held fast, and she was too tired to properly resist. Several other branches whipped out from somewhere and snaked beneath her torn nightgown. She could feel their rough bark on her skin as they moved across her body in a snakelike manner, looping around her torso. In just a few seconds, she was bound up with branches so tightly she could hardly move. Something buzzed angrily somewhere nearby. Nina looked in that direction and saw an ugly creature fly toward her. It kind of looked like a mosquito. Only it was the size of a large dog. So far, it was the most terrifying thing that she¡¯d seen in the forest. And maybe it was the last thing she would see. She tried to free herself from the branches once again, but they held fast. The mosquito-thing was quickly approaching, its proboscis pointed at her. Nina screamed in terror. Something streaked through the air and lodged itself in the flying creature¡¯s body. It looked like a crossbow bolt. The monster screeched in pain. Another bolt flew from somewhere and embedded itself in the monster¡¯s body. The mosquito-thing slowed down and turned around. Nina turned her head too. She saw a male figure emerge from the foliage. The stranger was dressed in what looked like medieval light armor and was armed with a crossbow in his hands and a sword at his side. He was already loading another bolt. Just as the overgrown mosquito flew in his direction, the stranger brought up his ranged weapon and took aim. Before the monster could reach him, he fired. The third bolt struck the large mosquito¡¯s body, but the monster was still alive. The flying creature got dangerously close to the stranger. He had no time to place another bolt against the bowstring, so he dropped his ranged weapon and pulled out the sword from its sheath on his left hip. Showing no fear at all, he lurched toward the monster. The mosquito-thing tried to attack him with its proboscis, but he ducked the attack and swung his sword at the enemy. The monster screeched in pain. The stranger attacked again, severing one of its wings completely from its body. The mosquito dropped to the ground. The stranger stabbed it in the head, and the creature went still. He put one foot against the now-dead monster¡¯s body and pulled the sword from its head. Nina screamed when the branches wrapped around her body began to lift her from the ground. The stranger wasted no time coming to her aid. With a powerful swing, he severed some of the branches. He swung his sword again, cutting the rest of them, and Nina plopped back down to the ground. Sheathing his sword, the stranger leaned over Nina. ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked, reaching his hand out to her. Overwhelmed with emotion, she began to cry. Chapter 9 – Day 2 – Another day to survive Jack Nolan woke up. At first, he couldn¡¯t understand where he was. Then it all came back to him. He was still in the cave where he¡¯d fought and defeated the strange overgrown rat. When he lifted his head to look forward, he saw that the body of the dead creature still lay in the middle of the cavern. Dammit, he thought. It wasn¡¯t a dream after all. When he was about to get up, a text message appeared before his eyes. You have survived a day! You have received 100 Essence points and 1,000 gold. The message made Jack pause. With a thought, he pulled up his character sheet and took a look at the first section.
Level 0
Current Essence 110
Essence to Next Level 100 (Level up: Y/N)
Available Skill Points 0
Gold 1,000
Survived 1 day
Sure enough, he had one thousand gold in his virtual account and one hundred and ten XP, which was called Essence points in this game world¡ªor whatever the hell it was. He also noticed that the level of his character didn¡¯t go up automatically like it usually did in video games. He wondered why. Maybe this Essence could be used for something else besides leveling up? He gave it some thought and decided there was no reason for him not to level up, so he thought Yes. Immediately, a notification popped up before his eyes. You have spent 100 Essence points. You have leveled up! You have received 1 skill point. After leveling up, his current Essence count decreased to ten points again and the amount needed for another level-up was two hundred and fifty Essence points now. He then studied the rest of his character sheet. He had six attributes: strength, constitution, agility, perception, intelligence, and magic. All of them were zero at the moment. He could put his newly-received skill point in one of them. But which one to choose? The attributes had no descriptions, but it probably wasn¡¯t necessary. After all, the names of the attributes were pretty much self-explanatory. He guessed that strength made you stronger, constitution more robust, agility quicker, perception more, well, perceptive, and intelligence smarter. As for Magic, it most likely helped you cast more powerful spells. There might have been more to the attributes than that, though. If this was the case, then he would most likely learn about other properties of the attributes later on. Maybe he could use skill points to upgrade spells or abilities as well. Right now, he didn¡¯t have any skills, abilities, or spells to upgrade, though. He didn¡¯t even know how to acquire them. He couldn¡¯t just purchase them for skill points or gold. When he checked the Store the last time, there weren¡¯t any spells or skills for sale. At least, he hadn¡¯t spotted one. But he hadn¡¯t examined the Store too thoroughly, because he had been looking mostly for medical stuff to heal himself after the battle with the croc-rat. So he decided to examine the merchandise sold in the Store more carefully later on. Jack gave the matter some more thought but still wasn¡¯t able to make up his mind as to what attribute to upgrade. He didn¡¯t know any spells yet, so there was no reason to put his skill point into Magic yet. As for the other attributes, all of them seemed to be useful. In the end, he decided to put off the decision for now. He checked the dressings on his injured legs. The one wrapped around his ankle where the croc-rat had bitten him was too bloody for his taste. It was probably a good idea to change the dressings. He decided to do it right away. He pulled up the main menu to buy new bandages from the Store.
Character
Store (available for 9 days only)
Bounties/Quests/Challenges
Map
He immediately noticed that there were nine days left before the Store would apparently disappear. And what then? How would he be able to get stuff after the Store was gone? He had to figure it out fast, otherwise he would get in a fix. Then another question popped into his head. How long had he been asleep? He looked at his watch only to realize it no longer worked. The glass face had shattered and the hands were gone now. His watch must have broken during his fight with the croc-rat, most likely when he¡¯d fallen. He then reached into his jacket pocket and took out his cell phone. Its display was shattered and dented too. He tried to turn on his phone, but nothing happened. Both his watch and cell were totally useless now. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Goddammit,¡± he muttered to himself. He took off his broken watch and pocketed it. He put his cell phone into another jacket pocket. Shaking his head in frustration, he switched to the Store. The list of various goods appeared before his eyes. He bought two gauze bandage rolls for 100 gold each. After removing the old dressings, he wrapped the new bandages around his injured legs. He had eight hundred gold left now. Jack got to his feet. He turned his head to look at the wooden chest hidden in the small compartment on the other side of the cavern. It was time to see what was inside. As he crossed the cavern, he looked around. The glowing mushrooms were still the only source of light there. Nothing seemed to have changed in the cave while he was asleep. Jack realized how dangerous it¡¯d been for him to fall asleep. Anything might have happened while he was unconscious. Fortunately, nothing happened to him, but he should be more careful from now on. He sat on his haunches before the chest and lifted the lid. Inside lay a sheathed sword and two small vials with wooden corks. The vials contained red liquid. Jack reached inside and took the two vials out of the chest. What are these? he thought, examining the two small vessels in his hands. They sure look like potions from fantasy video games. As he looked more intently at one of the vessels, a piece of info appeared before his eyes.
Item Weak Health Potion
Type Consumable
Description Heals minor injuries when consumed.
¡°They are actually health potions,¡± Jack muttered. He considered drinking them to heal his injured legs, but he decided against it. When he removed the old dressings, he saw that the wounds were healing nicely. So he decided to save the potions for later. He had a bad feeling that the croc-rat he¡¯d defeated earlier wasn¡¯t the last monster that he was going to encounter. After pocketing the two potions, he took the sheathed sword out of the chest.
Item One-handed weapon
Rarity Common
Description Simple shortsword. Nothing special about it.
Primary effects None
Temporary effects None
Enchantments None
It kind of looked like the Roman Gladius. He pulled the sword out of its sheath and stood up. He turned around and took a couple of steps from the chest. ¡°Let¡¯s give it a try then,¡± he muttered. He swung the sword a few times. He had no idea if he was doing it correctly or not. Even though he had no memories about himself, he was pretty much sure that he had never wielded a sword before. He didn¡¯t live during the Middle Ages after all. He knew that the Earth he¡¯d come from was way more technologically advanced than that. ¡°I¡¯m getting the hang of it I think,¡± he said to himself after he swung and thrust the sword at an imaginary enemy a few more times. He then sheathed the sword and returned to the chest to make sure there wasn¡¯t anything else. As it turned out, there was one more item inside that he hadn¡¯t noticed before. It was a book in leather binding. He took it out of the chest. On the front cover was an image of a sword not dissimilar to the one he¡¯d just practiced with. ¡°What do we have here?¡± he muttered.
Item Talent book
Type Consumable
Description Teaches you the One-handed talent.
¡°So that¡¯s how you get new skills and spells, huh?¡± He wondered what he needed to do to learn the talent. No prompt appeared before his eyes. Maybe just try to read the book? He decided to give it a try. He undid the leather flap and opened the book at a random page. He immediately noticed that the book was written in a strange foreign language. However, he understood it perfectly as if it¡¯d always been his native language. He began to read. After reading a few words, the book in his hands flashed brightly, forcing him to close his eyes. When he opened them again, he saw that the book was gone. A new notification popped before his eyes. You have learned a new talent: One-handed. Jack wondered if it meant that he could use the sword more skillfully now. He decided to test it out. Before getting to his feet, he looked in the chest one last time. There was nothing else in there. He had taken all the rewards. Unsheathing his sword again, he got up and turned away from the chest. He was about to swing the weapon at an imaginary enemy when he spotted a movement out of the corner of his eye. Immediately alert, he spun to face that direction. He didn¡¯t see anything out of the ordinary. At least, not at first. Then something to the side attracted his attention and he turned his head to look that way. He saw the body of the dead croc-rat. It still lay in the middle of the cavern, but something strange was happening to it now. Chapter 10 – Day 2 – New enemy to confront Jack couldn¡¯t quite comprehend what he was seeing. At first, he thought that the dead croc-rat¡¯s body was in motion. But he quickly realized he was wrong. While the body lay absolutely still, something was definitely happening to it. It seemed to shrink, getting smaller, its black fur and spikes disintegrating slowly but noticeably. The dead creature¡¯s body seemed to be melting. Jack kept staring at the strange sight before him. It took him almost a full minute to finally realize what was happening before his eyes. The dead croc-rat was inside a huge shapeless form. It was another living creature. It was so large it managed to envelop the dead croc-rat completely. The new creature was ninety-five percent transparent. It was almost impossible to see it. Jack didn¡¯t know what this transparent creature was, but it sure looked like a slime. It didn¡¯t have a head or any limbs. It was just a shapeless form like a piece of dough. In some of the role-playing video games, low-level players encountered similar creatures in the initial locations. In video games, slimes were pretty weak enemies. However, while the transparent creature before his eyes looked harmless, Jack was terrified. It looked like the slime was devouring the croc-rat¡¯s body, dissolving it in its stomach acid. Jack wasn¡¯t sure when exactly the creature had gotten into the cavern. Had it happened when he was asleep? It seemed implausible. When he woke up, he studied the croc-rat¡¯s body for a little while, but there was nothing wrong with it at that moment. So the slime must have crawled into the cave when he was busy examining the talent book. Jack once again mentally rebuked himself for having fallen asleep. It was a stupid mistake on his part. What if the slime had crawled into the cave and consumed him when he was out cold? It would have been a slow and painful death, Jack was sure of that. He once again promised himself that he would be way more careful from now on. The slime continued to eat the dead croc-rat, slowly dissolving it. Jack didn¡¯t know what to do. He sure didn¡¯t want to fight this new type of enemy. Even though he now was armed with a sword, he still wasn¡¯t willing to take on the slime. He had hardly been able to kill the croc-rat. As for the slime, it might be even a more dangerous enemy. He had just learned a One-handed talent, but he didn¡¯t know what exactly it did. It probably made him a better swordsman, but he wasn¡¯t sure if it took effect immediately or gradually. Anyway, he wasn¡¯t in the mood for a fight with another dangerous monster. The transparent creature paid Jack no mind. It was a good thing. He might be able to slip out of the cavern unnoticed. After giving it some more thought, Jack decided that it would be the best course of action. He soundlessly took a deep breath and began to sneak past the motionless slime toward the exit. Eyes never leaving the transparent monster, he took one careful step after another. Giving the slime a wide berth, he continued to sneak to the exit from the cavern. He avoided those parts of the cavern that were well-lit by the glowing mushrooms, remaining in the darkness all the time. He made sure to make no noise, but the slime somehow still heard him. Or maybe it saw him, though Jack wasn¡¯t sure if the slime had any organs of sight. Anyway, the shapeless monster contracted, and in the next second, it shot up like a released spring, launching itself into the air. With a dull plop, the slime landed just in front of surprised Jack who didn¡¯t expect such a bulky shapeless creature to be able to make such movements. Before he could do anything, some part of the slime formed a long tentacle, which immediately shot forward and gripped Jack¡¯s left arm. It almost instantly dissolved the sleeve of his jacket and reached his skin. Jack¡¯s flesh burned as if plunged into hot coals. His skin bubbling and melting, he screamed in agony as the transparent tentacle seared his flesh. Smoke fizzled from his severely wounded arm, the stench of the burned flesh almost making him retch. The pain seemed to invigorate him. He jerked his arm out of the tentacle¡¯s grip so hard his limb almost tore from his shoulder. Jack cradled the blistered mess of his left arm against his chest. He gripped the hilt of the sword with his right hand tightly so that it didn¡¯t slip. It was his only weapon against the monster. Losing it would amount to his death. His left arm was totally useless now, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to handle large rocks with only one hand. So he made sure to hold the sword tightly in his good hand. The slime¡¯s tentacle shot forward again. Upon seeing the movement, fear gripped Jack¡¯s heart, and he immediately swung the sword at the obnoxious appendage. The blade cut through the transparent flesh, severing the tentacle from the slime¡¯s shapeless body. Shouting in rage and pain, Jack attacked the slime with his weapon. The blade sliced through the creature¡¯s body and got stuck in it. Exerting all his strength, Jack wrenched the sword out of the slime¡¯s body. He immediately attacked it again, but this time he pulled the sword out of the creature¡¯s viscous body before it could get stuck in it. He continued to forcefully hack and slash at the large transparent monster until it was finally dead. Just like the last time, some kind of energy flowed from the dead slime and disappeared into Jack¡¯s body. You have received 25 Essence points. The notification flashed before his eyes. Killing the slime gave him more XP than he¡¯d gained from the croc-rat, but Jack hardly noticed it. He stumbled away, trying to block out the burning pain of his injured arm. It hurt as hell. His severely burned arm was all he could think about at the moment. It looked awful and smelled terrible. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He was about to pull up the Store and spend the rest of his money to buy some medicine to treat his wounded arm, but then he remembered that he had the two health potions that he¡¯d found in the chest. He dropped the sword to the ground and took one of the vials out of his pocket. He grabbed hold of the wooden cork with his teeth and pulled it out. Tipping his head back, he drank the contents of the small vial in one gulp. The liquid was almost tasteless, but he instantly felt its effect on his body. A warm, tickling feeling enveloped his wounded arm. He looked at it and saw the burned flesh heal over in mere seconds. The pain began to fade away. The health potion didn¡¯t heal his arm completely, though. Jack decided to drink the other potion. Dropping the empty vial, he took out the second potion and drank it too. It did the trick now. He was no longer in pain, and his arm looked good and healthy as if nothing bad had happened to it. It was amazing. Two health potions healed what looked like a severe burn. All it took was two small vials filled with magic liquid. It was especially amazing given the fact that the two potions he¡¯d just drunk were considered weak. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder what kind of wounds more powerful health potions could heal. And unlike the painkiller he consumed yesterday, the health potion didn¡¯t make him sleepy, which was another good thing about health potions. Now that he no longer was in pain, Jack could think straight. He brought up his character sheet and checked out the One-handed talent he¡¯d recently learned. It was zero. He tried to put his skill point into the talent, but nothing happened. Next to the talent was the name of one of the attributes: Agility. Maybe the talents improved when they were in use? As for the related attributes, they probably put caps on them. So he put his skill point into Agility. He then picked up the sword and swung it a few times, but when he checked his talent again, he saw that it was still zero. Maybe it improved only during an actual fight? Guess I¡¯ll find out when I encounter another monster, Jack thought. And he had no doubts whatsoever that he would have to fight more enemies very soon. It was kind of disappointing that there was no tutorial on how the system worked, forcing him to figure it out on his own. Before leaving the cavern, he decided to check his character sheet one more time.
Level 1
Current Essence 35
Essence to Next Level 250
Available Skill Points 0
Gold 800
Survived 1 day
Strength 0
Constitution 0
Agility 1
Perception 0
Intelligence 0
Magic 0
Talents One-handed: 0 [Agility]
Abilities Slot 1: Unlocks at Level 10
Spells, Runes, and Enchantments None
Perks Slot 1: Unlocks at Level 5
Resistances None
Crafting/Building None
The sheath didn¡¯t have a belt and it couldn¡¯t be attached to his belt either, so he had to carry it. Holding the sheathed sword in his left hand, he started for the exit from the cavern. He couldn¡¯t help but notice that he stepped with more ease now that his Agility had been increased to 1. His steps were lighter, and he moved somewhat faster. The change wasn¡¯t significant but still noticeable. He reached the opening and stepped into the dark tunnel where he¡¯d encountered the croc-rat yesterday. It was as dark there as it¡¯d been before. After his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he began walking down the tunnel, looking and listening very carefully for any signs of danger. If there was another transparent slime hiding somewhere in the tunnel, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to notice it. Being almost invisible and very quiet, slimes would be nearly impossible to spot in dark places like this tunnel. I should probably put the next skill point into Perception. However, there weren¡¯t any more monsters in the cave, and he reached the end of the tunnel without incident. He stopped at the exit from the cave, staring astoundingly outside. He saw an alien forest with tall foreboding trees and gnarly bushes. It was dim. The canopy high above was so thick the sunlight was barely able to penetrate it and reach the forest floor. The air was filled with alien sounds of the local wildlife. He didn¡¯t recognize any of the sounds. They caused goosebumps to form on his arms. The forest looked so alien and unwelcoming that the cave behind him suddenly felt almost pleasant. But Jack knew that he had no choice but to enter the forest. Always staying in the cave wasn¡¯t an option. Taking a deep breath and tightening his grip around the sheathed sword, he stepped out of the cave. Chapter 11 – Day 2 – Exploring the alien forest For a few hours, Jack wandered through the alien forest, which didn¡¯t cease to amaze him. He was a grown-up person of average height and build, but in this forest, he felt like a little scared child. To say that the trees that surrounded him were enormous was to say nothing. They were gigantic. They were so huge they dwarfed even the famous redwoods. Their intertwined branches formed such a thick canopy high above that it was almost impossible to see the sky through it. It was pretty dark in the forest because the streaks of sunlight were barely able to penetrate the foliage up above. Not all of the plants were as large, though. Among the giant trees sheltered way smaller types of vegetation. Here and there were oak and pine-like trees as well as plenty of strange-looking shrubs and bushes of various sizes and shapes. Every now and then, Jack scared off insect-like birds when he walked past some of the smaller plants. Screeching and buzzing, they flew every which way but didn¡¯t attack him. The strange forest was full of unfamiliar sounds. At first, every alien sound Jack heard made him flinch in fear and nervously pull the sword from the scabbard. But after a couple of more hours of wandering around, Jack more or less learned which of the creatures he encountered were actually aggressive and dangerous and which ones were not. At the very beginning, he was attacked by a creature that looked like an overgrown fly, which was the size of a soccer ball. Even its general shape resembled a ball. The creature was large and slow. Since it couldn¡¯t fly fast, Jack had no trouble dealing with it at all. He pierced the creature with his sword once, and the monster immediately died. He received ten Essence points for the creature. After killing the monster, he continued to wander around the alien forest. Every now and then, he was attacked by overgrown flies, which he came to call fatflies, and he killed every single one of them without any problems. When he heard another loud angry buzz, which had already become very familiar to him by now, he wheeled around expecting to see another fatfly nearby. Sure enough, he saw the overgrown fly buzzing through the air toward him. While those creatures tried to attack him as soon as they saw him, so far they hadn¡¯t been able to harm him in any way, and he¡¯d grown unafraid of them. They were so slow he had no trouble dodging their attacks. Jack lurched at the fatfly, raising his sword. When he almost got within striking distance, the fatfly did something surprising. It opened its mouth and ejected a yellowish lump of spit. Jack didn¡¯t expect that. It was the very first time when Jack saw a fatfly do something like that. He wasn¡¯t ready for that, which was why he failed to duck his head in time to avoid the disgusting projectile. It splashed across his face, its stench almost making him retch. What was worse than that was that the fatfly spittle got in his eyes. You have received a negative status effect: Weak Fly Spit Poisoning. Your sight will deteriorate for a little while. ¡°Oh fuck,¡± he cursed as he felt the stinging pain in his eyes as if they were pricked with millions of microscopic needles. He tried to pry open his eyes, but couldn¡¯t. The pain was too much. He was aware that the fatfly was moving toward him, the buzzing of its wings growing louder and louder. Jack set about swinging its sword in front of him blindly. He felt the blade slice across the fatfly¡¯s body, and then he heard the dull thud as the now-dead creature fell to the ground. A second later, he saw a notification even though his eyes were closed. You have received 10 Essence points. Luckily, there were no more enemies nearby. His eyes still closed, Jack slid the sword into the scabbard and sat down on the ground. Putting the sheathed sword next to him, he wiped the stinky spittle off his face with the sleeve of his jacket. He still couldn¡¯t open his eyes, though. He tried to bring up the main menu, and he was actually able to do so. The familiar lines of text appeared before him even though his eyes were still closed. He switched to the Store and bought a small water bottle for one hundred gold. A second later, he heard the dull thud of the bottle falling to the ground in front of him. He felt for it blindly with both hands. Uncapping the bottle, he poured the water over his face, prying his eyes open a crack so the water could get inside and clear them. Yet, it didn¡¯t help much, and he still felt the painful pricking sensation in his eyes. He then switched to his character menu and saw that it had a new line of text now called Status Effects. When he opened it, he saw the Weak Fly Spit Poisoning negative effect that he¡¯d received just now. He focused his attention on it, but its description didn¡¯t provide him with any additional information. It didn¡¯t even tell him for how much longer it would be active. All he could do was wait and hope that the negative status effect would wear off sooner than later. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Luckily, no other creature attacked him while he was still half-blind. After a few minutes, the stinging sensation in his eyes finally wore off, and he managed to fully open them. His eyes were tearing up, but it was fine. Blinking away the tears, he took his sword from the ground and stood up, looking around. While the forest was still full of strange sounds, there were no enemies nearby. Just to make sure he was no longer poisoned with fly spit, he checked the status effect tab once again and saw that the negative effect was indeed gone now. ¡°Should be more careful,¡± he muttered, shaking his head, the memories of his fight with the last fatfly still fresh in his head. Those flying creatures turned out to be more dangerous than they had appeared in the beginning. If there had been more fatflies or some other monsters nearby while he couldn¡¯t see, they would¡¯ve had no trouble finishing him off at all. He should never let his guard down in this alien forest, that¡¯s for damn sure. Picking a random direction, Jack continued to explore the forest. At some point, he heard some kind of whirring sound. He looked up and up above saw a huge creature flying some distance under the canopy, weaving its way between the giant tree trunks. The creature looked like a dragonfly, but it was the size of a horse. Upon seeing such a monstrosity, Jack tensed. However, he quickly realized that the creature paid him no mind. It continued to fly in the same direction, without paying attention to what was on the ground far below it. Jack continued to watch the creature as it flew over him. He was about to go about his business again when he realized that there was a person who sat in a saddle atop the enormous dragonfly-thing as if it was a riding horse. The stranger was dressed in a dark robe with its hood pulled over their head. In one hand they held the reins, in the other a long staff. Even though he¡¯d just met another person in this hostile alien forest, Jack wasn¡¯t sure if he should attract the attention of the stranger. Their black robe flowing behind them and the scary-looking creature they were riding made the stranger look quite threatening. Before Jack could decide what he should do, the person noticed him. The dragonfly-thing hovered in one spot like a giant hummingbird. The rider pointed their staff downward, and its tip flashed red. What looked like arrowheads glowing red flew from the staff and struck the ground not far from Jack. The resultant explosions made him flinch. That person is firing at me! Jack burst into a run as the dragonfly rider adjusted their aim and fired their magical staff at him again. The earth trembled under his feet as the magical projectiles exploded somewhere behind him. Heart hammering in chest and knees pumping, Jack ran as fast as his legs could carry him. At some point, he realized that he actually managed to give the rider the slip. Apparently, it wasn¡¯t easy for the dragonfly rider to chase someone while maneuvering between the numerous giant tree trunks. Jack hid in the dense foliage of some bushes and forced himself to stay as still as a statue. He heard the whirring of the giant wings somewhere high above him. He couldn¡¯t see the dragonfly-thing from his spot, but he was pretty much sure that the stranger hovered right above the bushes he was hiding in. A minute passed, but nothing happened. The dragonfly rider must have been examining the ground far below them, trying to figure out where Jack had gone. Then there was a terrifying screech of some creature followed by someone yelping in surprise and fear. An enormous shadow covered Jack. At first, he thought that he had been discovered, but then he realized that he was wrong. Another creature roared, making the ground shake. There was a tremendous rush of air as something huge flew over his head. Jack carefully parted some of the branches above him and peered between them skywards. He saw that the hunter had become prey: the dragonfly rider was now being chased by some huge winged creature. However, the enormous monster disappeared in the distance before Jack could get a good look at it. ¡°What the hell was that,¡± he mumbled to himself. Chapter 12 – Day 2 – Getting XP and leveling up As Jack continued to explore the alien forest and kill insect-like creatures, every now and then notifications popped up before his eyes. Your One-handed talent has increased to level 1. Your One-handed talent has increased to level 2. ¡­ Your One-handed talent has increased to level 5. ¡­ Your One-handed talent has increased to level 8. There were various types of creatures in the forest. Fatflies were one of them. He¡¯d already gotten used to dealing with these flying critters. He could now even tell when a fatfly was about to eject a glob of spittle from its mouth. When a fatly was about to spit out an obnoxious lump of viscous spittle, it would hover in one spot, its wings buzzing louder and faster. It then would open its mouth wide and emit a low hiss, the sound quiet but audible. A second later, a gob of spittle would shoot out of its mouth. When it happened, Jack would duck his head or jump out of the path of an incoming vile projectile. So yeah, Jack dealt with fatflies without breaking a sweat now. They no longer posed any kind of threat to him even when there were several of them against him. Sure enough, besides fatflies there were other kinds of creatures in the alien forest. All of them looked like overgrown insects, some of them resembling insects from Earth, the others looking unlike anything Jack had ever seen in his life. Some of the critters were aggressive, attacking him as soon as he walked past them, and the others were not, either scattering every which way upon his approach or paying him no mind at all. Jack killed most of the creatures he encountered on his way, even those who ignored him like green-colored bugs about two feet in size. Those creatures simply sat on or crawled across tree trunks. Sometimes, they flew away when he approached them, but most of the time they did not. He pierced them with his sword, killing them instantly and getting five Essence points for each of such bugs. That was the reason Jack killed everything he could. He received XP for all the creatures, even those who didn¡¯t attack him. And he wanted to level up as fast as possible because he knew it was the difference between surviving and getting killed in this video game-like world. One of the most dangerous types of monsters he¡¯d encountered so far were creatures that looked like overgrown mosquitos. They were the size of a large dog, capable of moving and attacking with surprising agility and speed. Jack¡¯s very first encounter with such a creature almost cost him his life. However, after killing a bunch of such creatures, he learned the behavior patterns of this type of enemy, and such creatures no longer presented much of a threat to him. So Jack continued to explore the forest, killing everything he encountered and collecting Essence points for every kill. The smallest amount of XP he received was for green bugs, only five Essence points, and the largest was for mosquito-things, twenty-five points. He lost count of how many insect-like creatures of various types he¡¯d killed in this alien forest already. His One-handed talent kept improving too. As the number of this skill went up, Jack¡¯s ability to wield his sword improved significantly. The skill point he¡¯d put into the Agility attribute definitely helped too: Jack moved easier and faster than before, which helped him a great deal in dodging enemies¡¯ attacks. At some point, his One-handed talent increased to level 10, and Jack received another notification. Your One-handed talent has reached its current level cap. To improve your One-handed talent further, you need to increase the related attribute. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Jack stopped and looked around. Not seeing any kind of danger in the immediate vicinity, he pulled up his character sheet to see how much Essence he¡¯d collected so far. When the familiar blue box containing his stats popped up before his eyes, he looked at the first three lines of text.
Level 1
Current Essence 675
Essence to Next Level 250 (Level up: Y/N)
Jack had collected quite a lot of Essence points. He focused on the question and thought Yes. Two notifications instantly appeared before his eyes. You have spent 250 Essence points. You have leveled up! You have received 1 skill point. Jack checked his stats one more time. He had 425 Essence points left, and the amount for the next level now was 375, which meant that he could level up one more time. Which he did. You have spent 375 Essence points. You have leveled up! You have received 1 skill point. Jack closed his stats. A thought came to his mind. Did he always have to open the main menu and switch to his character sheet when he needed to check something out? Maybe there was a faster way to do so? He decided to test out an idea of his. What is my current level? he thought. Immediately, a text message flashed in his mind. Your current level is 3. ¡°So it works,¡± Jack said, pleased with his discovery. He liked this feature because it allowed him to check a particular line in his stats without going through all the effort of pulling up the main menu and looking over all the info in his character sheet. ¡°How much Essence do I have?¡± he asked wanting to see if voice commands worked too. You currently have 50 Essence points. ¡°How much XP do I need for the next level?¡± he asked, checking this time to see if the system would understand him if he used words that were different from the system¡¯s usual terminology. The amount of Essence points required for the next level is 500. The system understood him perfectly. How many skill points do I have? A text message appeared in his mind, telling him that he had two skill points available for use. ¡°Nice.¡± Jack put one skill point into Agility, increasing the attribute to 2. After giving it some thought, he put the second skill point into Perception. He then looked around and immediately noticed that he could see somewhat better now. His hearing improved a little bit too. He could now hear distant sounds that he hadn¡¯t been able to discern before. Also, if he encountered another transparent slime, he should be able to see it better now. Except for the slime he¡¯d killed in the initial cave, Jack hadn¡¯t run across any other similar creatures yet, but he was sure that sooner or later, he would have to deal with slimes again. The last thing he wanted to check was his only talent. He gave a mental command, and the info about it emerged before his eyes. One-handed: 10 [Agility] Now that he¡¯d increased his Agility to 2, he should be able to improve the One-handed talent further. He also realized that he could get an additional piece of info on the talent by focusing his attention on it. Name: One-handed Description: The one-handed talent governs your effectiveness with one-handed weapons such as swords, daggers, battle axes, maces, etc. The higher your One-handed talent, the more skillfully you use weapons of this type. He read the information and dismissed it with a thought. After looking around, he picked a random direction and continued on. Chapter 13 – Day 2 – A lucky find At some point, Jack stumbled across the dragonfly-thing he¡¯d encountered a few hours before. It lay on the ground, and upon seeing it, Jack tensed. At first, he thought that the creature was resting and might take off from the ground as soon as it noticed him. However, a closer inspection revealed the creature to be severely wounded. A huge chunk of flesh had been torn out of its body. The nasty wound was bleeding profusely, soaking the ground beneath it. Some of its wings were gone too. There was no way to tell for sure whether it was the creature that had been chasing him or not, but his gut feeling was telling him that it was the same creature. It had a saddle secured on its back, but the rider who had fired their magical staff at him was nowhere to be seen. Jack looked around one more time to make sure the stranger wasn¡¯t hiding somewhere nearby, waiting for the right moment to jump him. They weren¡¯t around, though. Jack had no idea where the trigger-happy stranger was, but they clearly weren¡¯t anywhere in the immediate vicinity. They might have been killed by the enormous winged monster that had attacked the dragonfly-like creature. Or maybe they¡¯d slid from the saddle and fallen to their death on the ground when their riding dragonfly had been trying to get away from the winged predator. Jack realized that the creature was still alive when it suddenly let out a tormented sigh. It slightly turned its head to look at Jack with its huge faceted eyes, but other than that, it didn¡¯t move at all. The dragonfly-thing was in severe pain and could hardly move. Jack felt bad for the strange-looking creature. As he walked closer to it, he spotted a pouch on either side of the animal. He checked his surroundings one more time to make sure he wasn¡¯t about to be jumped by someone or something and walked to one of the pouches. He undid the flap and looked inside. There were some crafting materials he had no use for. Since the stranger had been carrying them, those materials must have had some value, but Jack had no idea what he could do with them, so he left them alone. He walked around the large animal¡¯s body and examined the contents of the pouch on the other side of the dragonfly-thing. This time, he found something more useful. Inside lay several vials and small bottles containing liquid of red and blue colors. It was health and mana potions. Some of the bottles were the same size as the two weak potions he¡¯d found in the cave he¡¯d awoken in, and some of the others were somewhat bigger. Jack read the descriptions of the latter and learned that they were average health and mana potions. There were also a couple of small water bottles, one of the two half-empty, and lean strips of dried meat in a small paper bag. Upon seeing the food, Jack suddenly realized how hungry he was. Since he couldn¡¯t remember anything before waking up in this world, he had no idea when was the last time he¡¯d eaten. Feeling like a thief, he grabbed the paper bag with meat and put it into one of his jacket pockets. He shoved the full water bottle into the same pocket, filling it up completely now. Just like the crafting materials in the other pouch, the mana potions were of no use to him because he didn¡¯t know any magic spells yet, but he packed the rest of his pockets with as many health potions as they could carry. When he took a few steps away from the dragonfly creature, he realized it had succumbed to its wounds and died. He felt bad for the creature once again. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, buddy,¡± he said. In the saddlebags were some crafting materials and mana potions, but Jack couldn¡¯t carry any more stuff on him, because all his pockets were already crammed with various things. As to the pouches themselves, they were attached to the saddle and couldn¡¯t be detached from it. Carrying the pouches attached to the saddle in his hands would have been too troublesome, so Jack left them alone. Hopefully, he would be able to find a normal bag or a backpack soon enough. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. He walked away. Now that he¡¯d found some food, he couldn¡¯t think about anything else. He picked a spot at a gigantic tree and sat on the hard earth, leaning his back against the tree trunk. He took the paper bag out of his pocket and picked one of the strips of dehydrated meat. He took a small bite and chewed it. It tasted like beef jerky. Since he was ravenous, it seemed the most delicious thing he¡¯d ever eaten for him at the moment. He finished off the strip of dried meat, washing it down with water, and immediately took another one from the paper bag. While he ate, he pulled up the Store to examine it with more attention than he had before. After a few minutes of looking, he learned that there were no weapons, armor, tools, clothes, or anything like that in the Store. Most of the things were either crafting materials or consumables like various potions. Then he noticed that there were also some buildings for sale, but they were extremely expensive. The cheapest and the smallest cost a whopping ten thousand gold. As for Jack, he had only eight hundred gold for now. There was also some food for sale, and Jack couldn¡¯t help but wonder if the stranger had bought the jerky from the Store or cooked it themselves. It most likely depended on how long they had been in this world. Considering they had known how to tame and ride an enormous dragonfly-like creature and had been armed with a powerful magical staff, the stranger had most likely lived in this world for quite a long time. Jack himself didn¡¯t know where or how to get food yet, so the next time he got hungry, he would simply purchase some food from the Store. But he would have to figure out where to get food on his own because the Store wouldn¡¯t be around for long. It would disappear in just nine days. His encounter with the dragonfly rider had taught Jack one important lesson: he shouldn¡¯t trust strangers in this place. Just because there were other people in this world didn¡¯t necessarily mean they were friendly. Whoever he might run across next time could pose a threat to him, so he should be on his guard when he encountered not only new creatures but other people as well. After eating all the meat and drinking the water, Jack turned off the Store. As he stood up from the ground, he realized it was now even darker in the forest than it¡¯d been a few minutes before. While he was looking over the goods sold in the Store, night had begun to fall. After another half an hour of wandering around, Jack came across two huge roots of a gigantic tree. They formed an enclosed space large enough to accommodate his body. Between them remained a long break wide enough for him to squirm through if he wanted to. He reached his hands inside. The ground there was hard but dry. It seemed kind of comfy in there, and Jack didn¡¯t want to spend the night sleeping in the open. The alien forest was full of dangers, and who knew what kind of predators lurked at night. So he wandered around for some time, gathering large fallen leaves and piling them in the compartment formed by the two roots. After he put enough leaves into his future hiding spot, he spread them all over the bottom, forming some kind of bedding. By the time he finished, it had become very dark in the forest. He put his sword in there and then squirmed through the two roots inside himself, rolling over and lying on the soft layer of dry leaves. Only when he was lying comfortably on his back did he realize how tired he felt. For a few seconds, he just peered through the crack between the two roots at the canopy of the forest, which was so high above it was barely visible in the dark. Before falling asleep, he planned to go through the Store one more time. The list of items for sale was pretty long, and he hadn¡¯t examined them all yet. He also wanted to check his stats to learn more about it. There still was a lot of what he didn¡¯t know about the system and how it worked. However, when he closed his eyes for a second, he immediately fell asleep. Only nocturnal predators didn¡¯t let him rest for long. Chapter 14 – Day 2 – Surviving the first night Jack awoke instantly, his body tense. His hands groped for the sword that he¡¯d placed next to him along the length of his body before he¡¯d fallen asleep. He gripped the handle of his shortsword and went still. It was dark outside. He didn¡¯t know how long he¡¯d been asleep. It felt like no more than two hours. Something had awoken him, but he couldn¡¯t put his finger on what it was. He couldn¡¯t see anything through the break between the two tree roots above him. For a few seconds, he lay completely still, listening carefully to the silence. When he thought there was nothing scary outside, he heard a low growl. ¡°What the hell,¡± he whispered. There was some creature outside the two tree roots. Jack could hear it clearly now. The unknown creature was moving about somewhere nearby. He heard the scratching of claws against the roots and loud sniffing. Heart hammering against ribs, Jack tightened his grip on the handle of his sword. He could hear the mysterious creature climb on the two tree roots, its claws scratching against the rough bark audibly. Jack¡¯s eyes had already adjusted to the darkness of the night. He could make out the two roots up above him. Through the break between them, high up above could be seen the canopy of the forest. Silver moonlight sipped through the thick foliage. Jack continued to lay still, listening to the sniffing and scratching sounds the unknown creature was making as it tried to climb atop the two tree roots. A few more seconds passed. The sounds were getting closer. Jack gripped the handle of his shortsword tightly and placed the weapon across his chest. He hoped that the unknown creature would just go away, but he had a feeling that it wasn¡¯t going to happen. Whatever this creature was, it had clearly sensed him and was trying to get to him. So he had to be ready to defend himself. He didn¡¯t have to wait long. Judging by the sounds, the creature had finally managed to climb atop the tree roots. Jack could hear it move somewhere above him now. It would discover Jack lying down below at any moment. The creature sniffed and snorted, and Jack remembered where and when he¡¯d heard similar sounds. The croc-rat he¡¯d encountered back in the initial cave had emitted the same sounds. A few more seconds passed, and then Jack saw the creature¡¯s head in the break between the two roots. The animal saw him too, its evil red eyes glaring down at him. Though it was dark, Jack could tell that it was another croc-rat. It had the body of a rat, but its head resembled a crocodile¡¯s. It also had something like spikes growing from its back and a long tail. The croc-rat growled and tried to bite him, but its head was too big to slip through the two roots. Jack wasted no time stabbing the scary creature right into its open mouth, piercing its brain. Dark blood poured over his hand. When Jack withdrew his shortsword, the now-dead animal fell over and tumbled to the ground. A notification emerged in his vision, telling him that he received ten Essence points. So it had been another croc-rat all right: for the croc-rat he¡¯d killed in the cave, he¡¯d gotten the same amount of XP. The creature was dealt with, but before Jack could relax, he heard other sniffing and snorting sounds. As it turned out the croc-rat he¡¯d just killed wasn¡¯t alone. It¡¯d brought friends along. And judging by the noises outside, there were quite a lot of them. Two or three other croc-rats climbed on the roots. They growled upon seeing him down below and tried to wedge their snouts through the roots. One of the creatures managed to do so, clamping its jaws down on his leg. Jack yelped when his shin lit up with a sharp pain. Another croc-rat slid its paw through the roots and raked his side with its claws. Gnashing his teeth in pain, Jack stabbed one of the croc-rats above him a few times until it was dead. He then turned his attention to the other monster. He tried to pierce it with his weapon, but the creature defensively jerked its body aside, losing its balance and falling down to the ground. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. There were no more croc-rats above him, but he could hear them move around the two roots, trying to climb on them. It¡¯d been a mistake to sleep in this place. On the other hand, sleeping out in the open would have been even worse. However, there was no time to contemplate the matter. He had to get outside, otherwise he would be trapped. He needed to get in the open where he would have room to maneuver. It took him a few seconds and a bit of squirming, but he finally managed to squeeze through the break between the roots. As he stood up on them, he looked around. Below all around him, at least a dozen croc-rats were trying to climb on the roots to get him. Where did all these monsters come from? Jack thought. He hadn¡¯t encountered any croc-rats when he was wandering around the forest during the daytime. The only croc-rat he¡¯d encountered before now was the one he¡¯d defeated in the cave he¡¯d awoken in. Maybe these critters lived in caves and left them only at night? But again, there was no time to think about it. He killed a croc-rat at his feet and jumped down from the roots. He landed a bit awkwardly, which resulted in him losing his balance and falling to the ground. One of the croc-rats immediately took advantage of his misfortune, biting him in the leg. Grinding his teeth at the sudden pain, Jack rolled on his back and grabbed his shortsword, which he¡¯d dropped when he¡¯d fallen. He stabbed the monster holding his leg in the eye, and the creature released him. He jumped to his feet and swung his sword downward, thrusting the blade all the way through the monster¡¯s neck and killing it instantly. He then withdrew his sword and spun around, ready to fight the other creatures. For the next several minutes, Jack fought the croc-rats attacking him from every direction. He dodged their attacks and slashed at them with his sword. He dealt with one monster after another, but every croc-rat he killed seemed to spawn two more. The battle didn¡¯t last too long, but it was brutal. While Jack did his best to avoid the croc-rats¡¯ sharp teeth and claws, every now and then, the monsters managed to bite or scratch his body. He was bleeding from numerous wounds, but he wasn¡¯t going to let these obnoxious creatures kill them. After taking care of another monster, he yelled furiously, ¡°Who wants more? Come and get me! I can do it all night long!¡± He spun around, ready to fight whatever was about to attack him, but he suddenly realized there were no more monsters alive. All around him only lay the bodies of the croc-rats he¡¯d just killed. Still not quite believing it was over, he continued to stay in the same spot and look around. When the adrenaline in his veins began to fade away, he retreated to the gigantic tree to sit down on the ground. He leaned back against the huge trunk, his right hand still gripping the handle of his shortsword. Here and there, he noticed large, about the size of his lower arm, firefly-like insects, sitting on tree trunks or flying through the air. He hadn¡¯t noticed those night creatures before, because he had been solely focused on fighting the croc-rats. The large fireflies¡¯ bodies cast blue, green, and purple glows throughout the forest. It was so beautiful he almost forgot how dangerous the alien forest was. Almost. The bodies of the dead croc-rats provided a sharp reminder of that fact. The numerous wounds he¡¯d received during the fight were still bleeding. Jack reached into his pockets only to find out that most of the vials had shattered during the battle, most likely when he fell to the ground. ¡°Goddammit,¡± he muttered, taking the glass shards from his pockets and throwing them away. He had to figure out a way to preserve the priceless magical potions during brutal fights. Or maybe he just needed to learn to keep his balance and not fall. Luckily, in one of the pockets he found the only medium-sized vial that had survived. He immediately drank the health potion, and most of his wounds, the worst ones, miraculously healed up. Even though Jack was dog-tired, he didn¡¯t let himself fall asleep. An hour passed, then another, then a few more. No more monsters showed up to attack him. Only when daybreak began to come did he dope off. The last thing he saw before falling asleep was another notification flashing before his eyes. You have survived another day! You have received 200 Essence points and 1,000 gold. Chapter 15 – Day 3 – Still alive When Jack woke up, it was light in the forest. He¡¯d slept for a few hours straight, and it was midday now. He still sat on the ground with his back leaned against the huge trunk of the gigantic tree. When he lifted his head and looked around, he saw that the bodies of the croc-rats he¡¯d killed last night still lay in the same spots. At least, some of them. As he continued to study his surroundings, he realized that some of the bodies were missing, and some of the others seemed to be half-eaten. He also noticed that large winged insect-like creatures were feeding on some of the croc-rats¡¯ dead bodies. One of the creatures suddenly flew up, landed next to him, and tried to peck at a small wound on his leg. ¡°I¡¯m still alive, dammit,¡± he yelled, kicking out at the bold creature, scaring it off. Picking up his sword, Jack got to his feet. The other vultures noticed him do so and snarled at him. ¡°Don¡¯t mind me,¡± he said to them. The creatures continued to glare at him. Some of them hissed at him in a threatening manner, and a couple of others even took a step toward him. ¡°Hey we don¡¯t have to fight,¡± he said to them, raising a placating hand. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna take your food. Unlike you, I don¡¯t feed on carrion.¡± Jack was pretty much sure he could kill them all if he needed to, but he didn¡¯t want to get into another bloody, brutal fight so soon after his night battle with the croc-rats. Luckily, none of the winged insect-like creatures attacked him. He took one cautious step back after another until the creatures calmed down and returned their attention to their rotting food. Jack turned around and walked away. He wandered aimlessly around the forest for half an hour, killing random creatures and getting some XP. At some point, he realized he desperately needed to pee. Picking a spot at one tree, he unzipped and emptied his bladder. He couldn¡¯t help but notice that all his clothes had turned into torn rags and he was covered in dirt and blood from head to toe. He needed to take a shower. He really needed to wash. But where could he do it in the forest? And where to get new clothes? Some armor would be nice too. He thought about all this as he wandered around the forest. He really needed to figure it all out. And he also had to form some sort of plan for long-term survival. The previous night had almost cost him his life. He couldn¡¯t just sleep out in the open when nocturnal predators lurked in the shadows. He had to come up with some idea to safely spend the nights in this extremely dangerous world. At some point, he just sat on the ground under one of the gigantic trees and checked out the Store one more time. He currently had 1,800 gold in his virtual account. First of all, he decided to eat something. But before doing it, he checked the amount of XP he currently had. He realized he had collected enough Essence points to level up at least two times. Which he did. His level was 5 now, and he had two skill points to allocate. He put one of them into Strength to deal more damage to his enemies and the other one into Perception so he could see and hear better, especially in darkness. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Then he returned his attention to the Store. He looked at the section where food was sold. He noticed that there were some self-heats for sale. The cheapest and the smallest cost 100 gold each. He bought some of the medium-sized tins for 200 gold instead. Beans with bacon. Beans with pork. Rice and stew, which looked pretty good in the picture on the outside of the doubly-layer tin. Every time he purchased a can, it materialized out of thin air and dropped to the ground in front of him. He also bought a water bottle for 100 gold. Each tin can had a plastic spoon in a paper covering loosely glued to its outside. Jack detached the spoon from one of the tins and unwrapped the covering. He heated the can, waited the required three minutes, and then opened it. Steam rose from it. ¡°Ugh. Looks like shit,¡± he muttered to himself. ¡°Probably tastes like it, too.¡± He used the spoon to sample the food. It wasn¡¯t as bad as he¡¯d thought. He poked at his stew, bringing large portions to his mouth. While he ate, he was thinking. So he needed a plan to survive another night. There were no tools, weapons, or armor in the Store. Only food, medicine, and consumables were sold there. There were also buildings and crafting materials for sale. Since he couldn¡¯t just buy tools, armor, and weapons, he had to either craft or find them. While there were some crafting materials in the Store, he didn¡¯t have a clue how to craft items yet, so they were of no use to him at the moment. It sucked that the system didn¡¯t bother to provide him with any kind of tutorial on how crafting worked in this video game-like world. He opened another can, the steam from the self-heat misting the chill air. Jack ate his fill, devouring three medium-sized cans before he felt satisfied. He then drank the water he¡¯d bought. Since he didn¡¯t know how to craft the items he needed, for now, he could try and find them instead. He even knew where he could go to look for them. But before getting to that, he needed to build some kind of shelter or small house to safely spend the next several nights. This alien forest was formed by gigantic trees and there was no way he could fell them. But between them, here and there were much smaller trees, some of them resembling oaks and pines. He could fell these trees, but he needed some tools for that. Which he didn¡¯t have. So for now, his only option to get a shelter was to simply buy one in the Store. The smallest and the cheapest house cost a whopping ten thousand gold as he had learned yesterday. He knew how he could earn money, but he had to work fast. He¡¯d slept until midday, and it was already getting dark. He had to work very fast to earn 10,000 gold before the night fell. Jack bought a protein bar and a bottle of water to eat and drink on the go when he would get hungry again. He then packed up and got to his feet. With a plan formed in his mind, it was time to get to work. Chapter 16 – Day 3 – It’s time to earn some gold Jack opened the main menu and switched to the Bounties/Quests/Challenges tab. The second and the third sections were empty, but the first one contained quite a few bounties to fulfill. When Jack wandered around the forest the other day, he¡¯d been checking the tab every now and then but hadn¡¯t accepted any of the bounties. They were pretty straightforward¨Cjust to kill a certain amount of some creatures in a specific location. However, most of the bounties required him to visit a cave or a dungeon. He hadn¡¯t been keen to venture into dark caves, though. He¡¯d wanted to explore the forest instead, so he hadn¡¯t accepted any of the bounties yet. But he needed to earn 10,000 gold now, so it was time to start doing some bounties. He looked over the list to see what bounties were available in his current area. The list was constantly updating in real-time, with some of the bounties disappearing to be replaced by some others. Jack assumed that when other people fulfilled some of the bounties, the system added new ones. As he already knew, he wasn¡¯t the only person in this game-like world. It didn¡¯t take Jack long to find what he liked.
Type Bounty
Objective Kill all the cave rats residing in a small cave.
Difficulty Easy
Recommended level 5-10
Reward 1,000 gold
So he needed to clear out a cave infested with cave rats. Sounded pretty easy all right. Jack assumed that cave rats were those creatures with spikes on their backs and crocodile-like heads that he¡¯d already met before, so he accepted the bounty. There were a few other similar bounties, whose objectives were to clear out caves infested with croc-rats. Jack wanted to accept all of them too before some of the other people took them, but he wasn¡¯t able to do so. As it turned out, the system allowed him to take only one bounty at a time, unfortunately. Sure enough, there were other kinds of creatures to kill like bloodsuckers, which Jack assumed were the mosquito-like creatures he¡¯d already encountered. There were bounties on some other creatures like rift scourges or blood fiends, but Jack wasn¡¯t willing to fight creatures he¡¯d never encountered before. At least, not yet. His current goal was to earn ten thousand gold before nightfall. He had to earn this sum as fast as possible, so he couldn¡¯t afford to waste time learning the behavior patterns of new monsters. As for the croc-rats, which were apparently called cave rats, he already knew how to deal with them. While they still posed quite a threat to him, especially when there were several of them at once against him, he at least knew what to expect from them. He¡¯d killed so many of them he now knew how they acted in a fight and how to counter them. Also, Jack didn¡¯t want to take bounties that required him to kill monsters out in the open. He now wanted to venture into caves because as he already knew, there could be hidden treasure chests containing valuable items. At least, that was the case with the very cave where he¡¯d awoken. That¡¯s why he wanted to focus only on cave-related bounties for now. As for the Quests and Challenges sections, they were still empty. Jack didn¡¯t know why, but he didn¡¯t think about that for too long. He assumed that some quests and challenges might become available when he leveled up a few more times, and he left it at that. So, after accepting the bounty to kill some croc-rats in a specific cave, Jack finally closed the bounty tab and switched to the map. Those areas of the forest that he¡¯d already visited were visible. The rest of the map was hidden by clouds of gray mist. A green triangle sitting in the middle of the map showed his current position. Jack toyed with the map for a little while. He learned that he could zoom in and out as well as put pins with labels on it. There already was a pin that showed the location of his current bounty. It was a little way north of his current position, somewhere in the clouded-over section of the map. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Jack turned around, and the green triangle on the map turned too. When he was facing the right direction, he closed the map and set off on his mission. He met some insect-like creatures on his way to the cave, but he ignored them. He wanted to reach his destination as soon as possible, so he fought only those monsters that attacked him. He was so focused on quickly getting to the cave that he barely paid attention to what was happening around him. And this mistake cost him dearly. When he was walking past a strange-looking tree, some of its branches reached for him and took hold of his jacket. Not quite comprehending yet what was happening, Jack dropped his sword and slipped out of his jacket. He then immediately grabbed his weapon and spun around in time to see his jacket disappear into the foliage high above him and well out of his reach. In the pockets of his jacket had been some food and water as well as his cell, watch, and wallet. But now all these things were lost forever. But he didn¡¯t have time to feel grief. Several other branches lashed through the air from somewhere and grabbed him by the legs. Jack lost his balance and tumbled to the ground. Luckily, his sword didn¡¯t slip from his grip. As the branches began to drag him across the ground, he swung his sword at them. The blade cut through the branches without much trouble, and Jack jumped to his feet. For a second, he just stared in awe at the weird-looking tree whose long branches curled and undulated in the air. The tree seemed to be alive. He wasn¡¯t even sure if it was a plant or some kind of creature pretending to be a plant. When some of the other branches reached for him, Jack wheeled around and ran away. He didn¡¯t have time to deal with this strange tree. He wasn¡¯t even sure if it was killable. He continued his way to the cave, now keeping his head on a swivel for other tree monsters who might slow him down. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t encounter any more of them. He felt bad for losing his broken cell and watch as well as his wallet, though. Sure, these things were of no use for him in this world, but they had been his only link to his past. Having lost them sucked. He felt like part of him was missing now. Out of all the things that he¡¯d come into this world with, now only his lighter remained because he kept it in his pants pocket instead of one of the jacket¡¯s. Finally, he reached his destination. He stood before the entrance to a cave. No sound reached him from inside. He took a deep breath and stepped in, finding himself in a dark cave tunnel. Now that his Perception was 2, his eyes adjusted to the darkness somewhat faster than before. As it turned out, it wasn¡¯t all that hard to clear out the cave. He met only one croc-rat in the tunnel, which he took care of without much trouble. Then the tunnel opened out into a cavern where he encountered a few more croc-rats he had no problems to deal with too. After that, a notification informed him that the bounty was fulfilled and he received 1,000 gold. No secret compartment revealed itself this time. However, on the other side of the cavern sat a closed chest. When Jack opened it, he saw a couple of small health potions and a sheathed sword inside. He pocketed the magical beverages and focused his attention on the sword.
Item One-handed weapon
Rarity Uncommon
Description A slightly enhanced steel shortsword. Deals a little bit more damage than other swords of this type.
Primary effects Increases the damage you deal by 5%.
Temporary effects None
Enchantments None
This sword of uncommon rarity was somewhat better than his old weapon. There was probably no point in having two swords, so he discarded the old one and took the new blade with him. After he left the cave, Jack noticed that it was already getting darker. He brought up the Bounty menu. The forest was enormous, and there were plenty of bounties in that area. Jack quickly found a bounty that was identical to the one he¡¯d just finished. The reward for this one was 1,000 gold too. He needed to complete nine more similar bounties, and he had to do it before nightfall, which wasn¡¯t all that far off now. There was no time to lose, so Jack quickly consulted the map and set off for another rat-infested cave. Chapter 17 – Day 3 – Doing bounties and getting rewards After Jack finished his second bounty, he received another 1,000 gold. In the cave, he also found a wooden chest. Inside were a couple of talent books, a few weak health potions, and a backpack. The latter was a good find. He stowed the health potions away in the backpack and hung it on his back. As for the talent books, he learned them but didn¡¯t bother to read their descriptions yet. He could do it later. For now, he had to focus on fulfilling bounties and earning gold. When he exited the cave, he realized he had to tweak his plan a little. The rewards for bounties of easy difficulty were 1,000 gold each, but Jack didn¡¯t have time to do eight more such bounties, because the nightfall was just around the corner. So after checking the list one more time, he accepted a bounty that was more difficult but also more rewarding.
Type Bounty
Objective Kill fifteen bloodsuckers.
Difficulty Normal
Recommended level 5-10
Reward 3,000 gold
This time, on his map was shown not a pin of the exact location for the bounty but a general area where it could be fulfilled. He turned in the right direction and set off. As he learned a little later, bloodsuckers were those mosquito-like creatures that he¡¯d already encountered before. He¡¯d killed plenty of such critters, so he knew what to expect from them and had no trouble dealing with them. At some point, he discovered another cave. He wasn¡¯t sure if he needed to go in, though. He checked the map and saw that the cave entrance was located inside the area of his current bounty. So he decided to check it out. Maybe there would be more bloodsuckers to kill. There weren¡¯t any of them inside, though, only cave rats, but he discovered another chest in the last cavern. Inside it, he found a few more weak health potions, yet another talent book, and some armor. He first learned the talent from the book and then put the health potions in his backpack. After that, he took the armor from the chest. As it turned out, it was a full set of light leather armor consisting of a pair of high boots, pants, a leather tunic with long sleeves, and a belt, to which his sheathed sword could be attached.
Item Ranger Leather Armor Set
Rarity Uncommon
Description A full set of light leather armor that gives you some protection against physical damage and helps you move a little bit faster.
Primary effects
  • Increases your overall movement speed by 5%.
  • Increases your Physical Resistance by 5%.
Temporary effects None
Enchantments None
It was definitely a good find. Jack quickly undressed to his underwear and then put on the light armor. All the articles of armor fit his body perfectly as if the system had been aware that he¡¯d been about to open the chest and in the blink of an eye, had designed this armor set specifically for him. Maybe that was the case. Maybe that was how things worked in this magical game-like world. He then attached his uncommon sword to the belt, hanging it at his left hip. There was one more item in the chest. Jack took it out.
Item Identification Scroll
Type Consumable
Level 1
Uses 3
Description Allows you to get information about your environment.
It seemed like a good find too. He unrolled the scroll. There were some magical symbols written on it. How to use the scroll, though? As soon as he thought that, the scroll disappeared in a brief flash of light, and a notification emerged in his vision. You have learned an identification spell. You can use it 3 times. So he could identify something now, huh? Jack decided to use this spell on some of the monsters he would encounter next. When he made his way out of the cavern, he immediately noticed that he was moving somewhat faster now. The ranger light armor he now wore would definitely help him in dodging his enemies¡¯ attacks in future fights. Jack left the cave. It didn¡¯t take him long to find some more bloodsuckers and kill them, fulfilling the bounty and receiving 3,000 gold. He hadn¡¯t forgotten to use his identification spell on one of those creatures before he killed it.
Name Bloodsucker
Race Insectoid
Rarity Common
Faction Beasts
Special abilities Unknown
Magical abilities Unknown
Resistances Unknown
Weaknesses Unknown
He didn¡¯t receive much information about the creature, though, only its name, race, rarity, and faction. He wasn¡¯t sure what the last of those meant. Probably, he would find out later on. The identification spell hadn¡¯t revealed the full information about the creature, but that was most likely because the level of the spell was only 1, which meant that there were more powerful identification spells. He would surely find them at some point. As he learned a little later, now that he¡¯d identified one bloodsucker, he could now summon stats of any other bloodsuckers. So he needed to earn 5,000 more gold. When he brought up the list of available bounties and looked it over, he found one that interested him the most.
Type Bounty
Objective Kill all the creatures in a cave.
Difficulty Hard
Recommended level 5-10
Reward 5,000 gold
The difficulty of this bounty was hard, but the level recommendation was the same, so he should be able to fulfill his bounty. It didn¡¯t say what kind of enemies he would encounter, though, and it bothered him a little. In the end, he decided to accept the bounty, because the reward was too tempting to resist. He then brought up his stats. He¡¯d collected enough Essence to level up two times. He put one of the skill points into Strength to become a little stronger and deal even more damage. He put the other skill point into Constitution because he assumed it would make his body more robust. As he made his way to the cave, he examined his surroundings and realized he could use the identification spell on almost anything he saw, not only on monsters. He used the spell on a tree that kind of looked like a pine, and its description appeared in his vision. He learned that by felling that tree, he could gain some valuable crafting materials such as logs and sticks that could be used to build structures and craft various items. It was a useful piece of information. The discovery he¡¯s just made would definitely come in handy later on. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. In the cave, Jack encountered some more croc-rats. He used the identification spell on one of them.
Name Cave Rat
Race Beasts
Rarity Common
Faction Beasts
Special abilities Unknown
Magical abilities Unknown
Resistances Unknown
Weaknesses Unknown
All the three uses of the spell were spent now, unfortunately. It was definitely a useful spell. It taught him some new things about this game-like world and the system itself. Jack hoped that he would find another identification scroll soon enough. Besides croc-rats, there were some slimes in the cave. They were somewhat more dangerous enemies, but there were few of them, and they attacked him one at a time, so he didn¡¯t have much trouble taking care of them. Finally, the cave was cleared out, and the bounty was fulfilled. He received 5,000 gold and had more than 10,000 gold now. In the chest that sat in the final cavern of the cave, he found some more health potions and talent books. By the time he was outside again, it¡¯d gotten dark in the forest, but the moon wasn¡¯t up yet. Jack wandered around for a little bit until he found a good spot. He brought up the Store and spent 10,000 gold to buy the building he¡¯d been collecting money for. Before his eyes appeared a green translucent outline of the building. It followed his gaze wherever he looked. When the outline intersected a plant, its color turned red. Jack looked at an empty spot not occupied by any trees or bushes, and the outline became green again. Jack gave a mental command to put the building there, and the green outline was immediately replaced by an actual concrete building. Jack walked around it. The one-story wooden structure was pretty small, with four walls and a flat roof. It had one door and no windows. Jack stepped inside the only room of the building. It was empty, but there was enough space for him to lie down at full height, and that was all he needed. The door had a wooden latch, but since there were no windows or any sources of light in the building, he decided not to close the door just yet in order to let some of the moonlight seep in. He had a little gold left, so he bought some food and bottled water, and his small house filled with the steam and aromas of the self-heats being opened. After he satisfied his hunger, he closed the door and slid the latch closed. Only when he lay down on the wooden floor did he realize how tired he was. It¡¯d been a difficult day, but he¡¯d managed to accomplish what he¡¯d planned for today. It hadn¡¯t been easy, but he¡¯d pulled it off, and it made him feel good about himself. After he rested for a little while, he opened his stats. He noticed that his One-handed talent had increased only to 15. It¡¯d reached level 10 pretty quickly but was now improving at a noticeably slower rate. Still, Jack couldn¡¯t help but notice that with each increase of this talent, his ability to wield his sword improved. He¡¯d learned a few new talents but hadn¡¯t read the descriptions yet. Now that he was finally in the safety of his house, he decided to check the new talents out. All of them were survival-based.
Name Crafting
Description Crafting lets you create various small items. The more experienced you are at crafting, the better items you create and the longer they serve you.
Name Building
Description Building lets you build various structures. The more experienced you are at building, the better and sturdier structures you build and the longer they serve you.
Name Hunting
Description Hunting lets you track both small and big game. The more experienced you are at hunting, the more tracks left by animals you notice.
Name Cooking
Description Cooking lets you prepare food for eating by applying heat. The more experienced you are at cooking, the better the food you cook satisfies your hunger.
Name Felling
Description Felling teaches you to fell trees using tools like axes and chainsaws. The higher your Felling talent, the more efficient you are at cutting down trees as well as at limbing (the process of removing branches from a standing or fallen tree trunk) and bucking (the process of cutting a felled and delimbed tree trunk into logs).
Jack then checked out all the current stats of his character.
Name Jack Nolan
Level 7
Current Essence 135
Essence to Next Level 1,000
Available Skill Points 0
Gold 100
Survived 2 days
Strength 2
Constitution 1
Agility 2
Perception 2
Intelligence 0
Magic 0
Talents Battle:
  • One-handed: 15 [Agility]
Survival:
  • Crafting: 0 [Intelligence]
  • Building: 0 [Intelligence]
  • Hunting: 0 [Perception]
  • Cooking: 0 [Perception]
  • Felling: 0 [Strength]
Abilities Slot 1: Unlocks at Level 10
Spells, Runes, and Enchantments None
Perks Slot 1: None Slot 2: Unlocks at Level 15
Resistances Physical Resistance: 5%
Crafting/Building None
As Jack lay on the floor of his house, he listened to the sounds of the night forest. He thought he heard some creatures shuffling just outside the building. The unknown creatures scratched the wooden walls with their claws but didn¡¯t try to get inside. After a few minutes, they went away, probably searching for easier prey. Jack closed his eyes. It didn¡¯t take him long to fall asleep. And this time, nothing disturbed his sleep. Chapter 18 – Days 4-7 – Learning more about the game mechanics For the next several days, Jack continued to explore the forest and do bounties. At first, he was mostly focused on earning money. He knew that the Store would disappear in just a few days and he wouldn¡¯t be able to buy stuff from it anymore, so he had to get prepared. He was planning to earn as much money as he could and on the last day, to buy enough self-heats to last him for a while. At least, such was his plan in the beginning before he finally found a way to get and cook food by himself. Almost in every cave he ventured into, Jack found a treasure chest containing some useful items. He almost always found health potions, which was always good. These magical drinks seemed to be able to heal any wound no matter how severe it was. Besides potions, chests usually contained some other useful stuff like talent books or blueprints. The former gave him new talents, and the latter taught him how to craft various things. Jack learned how to build a small building similar to the one he¡¯d bought on the third day of his survival as well as some pieces of wooden furniture like chests, tables, stools, and whatnot. Every now and then, he also found identification scrolls. They were really a great help to him. Using them, he learned a lot about the alien forest, its fauna and flora. When he used them on plants, he learned what resources he could gather from them, and when he used them on monsters, he learned their weaknesses and strengths, which helped him a lot in battling them. The higher the level of an identification scroll was, the more uses it gave him and the more information about the target it revealed. At some point, Jack also learned that the corpses of killed creatures were lootable. Aside from meat, he could also extract some valuable resources from them like furs, bones, fats, and whatnot. They could be used as crafting materials, but there was a catch¡ªto extract some material from an animal corpse, he had to pay in gold, and the price usually was quite steep. One time, out of curiosity, Jack tried it out on a freshly killed cave rat. He sat on his haunches beside the carcass and with a thought, brought up the list of all the resources and crafting materials that he could extract from the rat¡¯s dead body. He chose the meat and confirmed when the system asked him if he wanted to pay a certain amount of gold. The price was steep, but he still agreed just to see what would happen. As soon as he gave his confirmation to the system¡¯s question, a piece of rat meat appeared on the floor next to the animal¡¯s carcass. The croc-rat¡¯s fur now hung loosely on the bare bones, all the meat gone from them now. Jack didn¡¯t take the meat, though. He didn¡¯t know how to cook it yet, and he wasn¡¯t keen on consuming rat meat. For now, he could just buy some self-heating meals when he got hungry. Jack also learned that besides meat and crafting materials, from killed creatures could be extracted special items called components. For instance, from cave rats could be extracted their huge fangs. He learned that they could be used to craft some things like talismans, and they also could be used in some magical rituals like alchemy or enchanting. But for now, they were of no use to him. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Later on, Jack acquired two new talents from talent books he found in a cave, Skinning and Butchering. So after killing cave rats, he set about skinning and butchering the carcasses with a dagger of common rarity he¡¯d found in another cave. It wasn¡¯t a very pleasant thing to do, but he needed his newly learned skills to go up. He couldn¡¯t afford to pay the system a steep amount of gold every time he needed to extract meat or crafting materials from a carcass. He would be saving a lot of gold if he learned how to get what he needed by himself. So while he didn¡¯t really want to engage in such bloody activities, he knew that he had to do it because it would pay off for him in the long run. So he set about working on the carcass of almost every creature he killed. As his Skinning and Butchering talents slowly but steadily went up, he felt he was getting really good at it. At some point, Jack learned about something called Factions. He encountered more and more new types of enemies, and when he brought up his character sheet to check something, he noticed that there was now a new section called Factions. He checked it out.
Factions
  • Beasts: 5% (Common)
  • Monsters: 1% (Common)
Jack had already learned that creatures like cave rats were categorized as part of the beast race and overgrown insect-like critters like fatflies and bloodsuckers were classified under the insectoid race. However, they all shared a common affiliation, being members of the faction known as Beasts. He¡¯d killed quite a lot of both insectoids and beasts by now. As to the faction called Monsters, he¡¯d encounter only one type of creature that belonged to this faction¡ªslimes. So far, he hadn¡¯t fought too many slimes, and that¡¯s why his infamy with Beasts was 5% while that of Monsters was only 1%. As he¡¯d learned, killing members of hostile factions earned infamy with these factions. He wasn¡¯t sure what it gave him, though, and he didn¡¯t know what would happen when his infamous reputation with hostile factions reached higher numbers. But he could make an educated guess. All the creatures he¡¯d encountered so far were of common rarity, so maybe when his infamy with factions got higher, he would be encountering stronger types of enemies and getting more XP and better rewards for killing them. Perhaps, at some point in the future, he would get so strong and infamous that all the monsters he would have to fight would be extremely powerful and no less than of legendary rarity. So far, all the factions he¡¯d met were hostile. Were there any friendly ones? He didn¡¯t know it yet but was sure that he would find out in due time. Even though Jack had been surviving in this game-like world for a few days already, he was still learning and making new discoveries. And he had a feeling that there was still a lot more that he didn¡¯t know about this game-like world yet. Chapter 19 – Day 8 – Getting to know how the crafting system works At some point, Jack found a less dense section of the forest. While the enormous great trees that dwarfed everything else were here too, this part of the forest wasn¡¯t heavily overgrown with plants. It was brighter here, and every now and then, Jack could even see the sun peeking between the branches in the canopy high up above. For some time, he explored this newly discovered section of the forest. The first thing that he noticed about it was that there weren¡¯t too many overgrown insect-like creatures. Instead, this part of the forest was mostly populated by animals. Jack had gotten so far away from the house he¡¯d bought the other day that he decided to mark it on the map before he forgot where it was. Jack pinned the location of the building on the map and labeled it as Storage One. He didn¡¯t think about that building as his house. It was too small and uncomfortable to be called a home, and he mostly used it simply as a sleeping area combined with a storage unit where he could keep self-heating meals and some other of his things. He then put two more pins on the map to mark the locations of the two sections of the forest. For the sake of convenience, he named the part of the forest where he¡¯d come from the Darkwoods and the other one, where he currently was, the Sungrove because it was so much brighter here compared to the Darkwoods. He then continued to explore the Sungrove. At some point, he discovered some bushes with large red berries. They were edible as he learned after using an identification spell on the bush. A little later on, he discovered an animal that looked a lot like a rabbit. Its fur was orange, and the creature had two small horns, but other than that, it was indistinguishable from the Earth rabbit. After he identified it with a spell, he learned that in this world, this creature was called a rabbit too. The small animal scurried away as soon as it noticed Jack. As it turned out, there were plenty of those orange furry creatures in the Sungrove. Jack also learned that they loved the red berries he¡¯d discovered earlier on. Most of the time when he spotted an orange rabbit, it sat near a bush, taking another berry from a branch with its soft lips and slowly chewing it with its eyes half-closed in delight. When Jack found a snare trap blueprint in a cave and learned it, he decided to try to catch a rabbit and cook it. To do that, he first needed to craft a snare trap. He knew that the Crafting talent was Intelligence-based, so he put one skill point into the attribute. As he already knew, the attributes put caps on his talents. Now that he¡¯d increased the Intelligence attribute to 1, the level cap for the Crafting talent was increased to 10. With that done, the talent would now go up when he crafted something. He then brought up the crafting menu and studied the blueprint he¡¯d just learned. He only needed a few long thin branches to craft the trap, and he knew what he could get them from. There were plenty of bushes with long flexible branches. After he got a few such branches, he opened the crafting menu again. To craft a snare trap, he had to pay the system a certain amount of gold. As soon as he did so, the long branches in his hands vanished, and a snare trap materialized on the ground. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Jack leaned over to examine it. Its design was pretty simple. Now that he knew what it looked like he was sure he could craft it by himself from now on. He then checked his stats. Sure enough, his Crafting talent didn¡¯t go up even though he¡¯d just created a snare trap. Jack knew why. Sure, he gathered the crafting materials and paid the required amount of gold, but it was the system who created the trap, not him. For the Crafting talent to go up, he needed to craft things by himself. It was the same with the Skinning and Butchering talents. They only increased when he skinned and butchered animal carcasses by hand. When he paid the system to do it for him, the talents didn¡¯t increase. So, from now on, he would be crafting snare traps by himself. This way, not only the crafting talent would be improving, but he also would be saving gold. He put some berries into the snare and pinned the location of the trap on the map. It didn¡¯t take long for a rabbit to get into the trap. When Jack returned to it a few minutes later, he saw a poor animal thrash around in futile attempts to free itself. Jack killed the rabbit as quickly as he could, cutting its throat with his dagger. Now it was time to cook it. First of all, he decided to build a fire. After tying the rabbit carcass to the side of his backpack, he went to explore the Sungrove for a little more, collecting stones and firewood. When he gathered enough resources, he built a fire, lighting it with his lighter. It was a good thing that he¡¯d been a smoker in his past life. Without a lighter, he would get in trouble. But he needed to find other ways to start a fire before his lighter ran out of gas. He also realized that while he seemed to have been a smoker, he¡¯d never craved a cigarette since he¡¯d awoken in this world. With his memory loss, this bad habit seemed to vanish too. Which was surely a good thing. He found two branches that formed a V-shape on one end and dug them into the ground on either side of the campfire. He then found another long stick that he could use as a skewer. After that, he took off his backpack and untied the rabbit carcass from its side. Now that his Skinning and Butchering talents were 15 and 14 respectively, it didn¡¯t take him long to get the job done. After he put pieces of meat on the skewer and placed it over the fire, he wondered if the system could cook the food for him. As soon as he thought that, a message popped up before his eyes, asking him for confirmation. So the system could actually cook the food for him, but sure enough, he had to pay for that. Later on, Jack would learn that the system could cook food for him only when the fire was on and the food was already positioned over it. For the first and the last time, Jack decided to let the system cook the food just to see how it would work out. He paid, and in the blink of an eye, the meat was cooked. It tasted amazingly good. It was so delicious Jack even teared up a little. He wondered if the food that he¡¯d cook by himself would taste that good too. Probably not. At least not until he got the Cooking talent to a more-or-less high level. He wolfed down the cooked rabbit and then checked his stats. The Cooking talent was Perception-based, and his Perception attribute was currently at level 2. Which meant that his Cooking talent could currently increase up to level 20. However, since he¡¯d had the system cook the rabbit for him, his Cooking talent hadn¡¯t gone up at all. Well, just like crafting, he¡¯d be doing all the cooking by himself from now on. After eating, Jack continued to explore the Sungrove to see what else this part of the forest had to offer. Chapter 20 – Day 8 – Gathering resources to build another house With each minute he spent in the Sungrove, Jack liked this part of the forest more and more. There were plenty of tasty rabbits and berries to eat, and it was so bright here. He didn¡¯t want to return to the Darkwoods at all even though there was the Storage One in that part of the forest. It was so dark and grim in the Darkwoods, and it was populated only by insect-like creatures. Jack didn¡¯t even know if they were edible, but even if they were, he had no desire to eat disgusting-looking critters resembling huge insects. Then he realized that he didn¡¯t actually have to return to the Darkwoods. He could build a Storage Two here, in the Sungrove. Earlier on, he even found a blueprint of a small wooden house not dissimilar from the one he¡¯d purchased for 10,000 gold. He only needed to gather some wood. In the past few days, he¡¯d found some useful blueprints including the one that let him craft an axe. According to the blueprint, he only needed a stick and a large stone to craft a very simple axe. It didn¡¯t take him long to find the required crafting materials. Stick in one hand, stone in the other, Jack asked the system to make an axe out of these materials. As soon as he paid, the stick and the stone disappeared. He now held a small axe in his hands. Jack had expected the tool to be crudely made, resembling something right out of the Stone Age. However, when he glanced at the tool in his hands, he was surprised to see that it was actually a very well-made axe. It was the thing with the system¡ªeverything it created was perfect. No matter what Jack asked it to do, whether it be getting the fur from an animal carcass, cooking some food, or crafting something, the produced result was always of perfect quality. However, it never was for free. Every time he asked the system to do something for him, he had to pay quite a lot of gold. If he asked the system to do everything for him, he would run out of gold in no time flat. And the only way he knew of to earn gold was by doing bounties, fighting monsters and risking his life. Now that he had an axe, it was time to get some wood. Since he¡¯d never done it before, it took him some time and effort to fell a tree. He earned a few points in the Felling talent in the process. When the deed was done, he looked at the felled tree lying on the ground. He now had to delimb the tree and cut it into logs. Which would probably take him a lot of time. Could the system do it for him? As it turned out, it could. The system asked him if he wanted it to extract valuable crafting materials from the felled tree. Sure enough, he had to pay for the service, and quite a lot at that. Jack knew that it¡¯d be much better if he learned to do everything by himself, not to mention that this way, he¡¯d be saving a lot of gold. But it was already getting darker in the forest. It¡¯d taken him about half a day to get from one part of the forest to the other, so he knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to get back to the Darkwoods where the Storage One was before the night fell. And he wasn¡¯t willing to spend the night out in the open knowing that dangerous creatures lurked in the shadows at night. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. So he gave the system his confirmation, and the required amount of gold was taken from his virtual account. The felled tree vanished, and in its place materialized a few perfectly cut logs as well as a bunch of long straight sticks. Logs were used in building houses and other structures, and sticks were used in crafting various items. Jack focused his attention on one of the logs, and a piece of info emerged in his vision. Wood: 10 Logs gave the resource called wood. Each of the logs before him amounted to ten wood. To build the house from the blueprint, he needed 100 wood in total. He didn¡¯t have enough logs to provide him with the required amount of wood, so he had to fell a couple more trees. Hefting the axe in his hand, Jack got to work. A little later, he felled two more trees and with the system¡¯s help, extracted all the crafting materials from them. He now had enough wood to build the house. He brought up the crafting menu and selected the blueprint of a small wooden house. The system requested him to select all the required resources that would be utilized during the creation process. He looked at one of the logs and selected it with a thought. He repeated the process with nine more logs. When it was done, the system told him he had to pay. Building with the system¡¯s help cost quite a lot of money. Sure, it wasn¡¯t quite as expensive as buying off-the-shelf houses from the Store, but it still cost a lot. He wouldn¡¯t have much gold left after he paid. Jack promised himself that later on, he would teach himself how to build houses on his own. After all, he¡¯d already learned a skill for that. But right now, he didn¡¯t have time for that. So he paid the price, and all the logs he¡¯d mentally selected disappeared. In his vision appeared the outline of a small house. Jack was already familiar with this process. He picked an empty spot not far from him, and the outline jumped to that place. It didn¡¯t change its color from green to red, which meant that the house could be built there. As soon as Jack gave the mental command, the wooden house materialized out of thin air. The house looked exactly like the one he¡¯d purchased on the third day of his survival. It was small and rectangular, with four walls, a flat roof, one door, and no windows. He pinned the location of this house on the map and labeled it as Storage Two. He then checked how much gold he had left. As it turned out, not much at all. He would have to spend the next day or two to earn back some gold. He didn¡¯t even have enough money to buy some food from the Store. But he wasn¡¯t all that hungry right now. Maybe he would return to the Storage One tomorrow because there were some self-heating meals he¡¯d bought and stored there the other day. The journey would take him about half a day, though. It was a bad thing that the trip from one section of the forest to the other took so long. Was there a way to move faster? He then recalled the dragonfly rider he¡¯d encountered on his second day. There was certainly a way to obtain a mount, but he was unaware of how to do so yet. Jack thought about all that until he finally fell asleep in the house he¡¯d just built. The eighth day of his survival came to an end. Chapter 21 – Days 9-10 – What could go wrong now? The next two days Jack spent in the part of the forest he¡¯d named the Sungrove. He kept discovering new animal species in this area. Some creatures looked very similar to deer from Earth. They were easily scared and ran away when he approached them. Some of the other creatures looked a lot like squirrels. Their favorite food was nuts. There were lots of both big and small game in the Sungrove. The snare traps let Jack catch bunnies and squirrels with ease. The former were easily lured into a trap with red berries, the latter with nuts. Wild boars, which also lived in the area, were edible too, but unlike deer-like creatures, they didn¡¯t scare. Instead, they attacked him, which made Jack¡¯s task of getting food so much easier. Wild boars were pretty strong, but fortunately, they never formed a group, each roaming the Sungrove all by its lonesome. Jack didn¡¯t have much trouble killing sole wild boars, dealing with them one at a time. The identification scrolls, which he found in caves every now and then, helped him learn about his surroundings. He discovered some edible plants, roots, and shoots. He learned which of the plants could be turned into spices and seasonings, and how he could do so. The process of turning plants into spices included cleaning, drying, grinding, blending, sieving, and grading. It wasn¡¯t a very quick process, but Jack could always pay some gold to have the system do it for him. He learned which herbs had savory or aromatic properties and could be used for flavoring and garnishing food. He also learned which plants could be used for brewing potions. This knowledge would surely come in handy when he found out how to create potions and learned the required talent for that. Jack built a campsite near the building he¡¯d dubbed Storage Two. He cooked food over the campfire and stacked and piled the resources like logs and sticks nearby. He wanted to build a proper house to live in but didn¡¯t know how to do it yet. The only house blueprint he¡¯d learned so far was that of the small rectangular structure he¡¯d already built. So for now, Jack just collected various crafting materials for later use. As his survival talents steadily went up, he quickly adapted to living in the wilderness. At some point, he discovered a small stream not too far from the campsite. The water was clear, but Jack wasn¡¯t sure if it was safe to drink it. Though the water in the stream looked clean, it could still be filled with bacteria, viruses, and parasites. So he bought a couple of 5-gallon water bottles to carry water from the stream back to the campsite and boil it in empty cans. Later that day, Jack also stumbled across a small river and a waterfall. He was finally able to wash himself and clean his armor. Some time ago, he¡¯d even found a blueprint that taught him how to craft a bar of soap. He only needed some animal fat, wood ash, and fresh herbs with a pleasant scent for that. He wasn¡¯t sure how to create a bar of soap out of these ingredients yet, but sure enough, the system could do it for him provided he had the required ingredients and enough gold on him. It didn¡¯t take him long to find the ingredients. After the system created a bar of soap for him, he washed in the waterfall. He also washed and cleaned his leather armor, rubbing away most of a few days¡¯ worth of grim and dirt. He returned to the campsite in high spirits. It felt great to be clean once again. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. He caught a rabbit and in the evening, cooked it with some herbs and spices he¡¯d gathered and created earlier on. With his Cooking talent steadily leveling up, each meal he cooked was better and tastier than the previous one. The rest of the evening he spent sitting by the campfire, resting after another hard but fruitful day and listening to the sounds of the forest. When he woke up in the morning, Jack decided to devote the entire day to earning some gold. It was day 10 of his survival in this world. Since it was the last day when the Store was available, he wanted to earn as much gold as he could and spend it on self-heating meals. He set off on his mission without any delays, fulfilling one bounty after another. Most of them had him clear out a cave or kill a certain amount of monsters. He returned to the campsite in the evening, having earned a hefty amount of gold. He cooked a couple of rabbits he¡¯d caught earlier in the day and boiled some water in an aluminum can. During one of the previous days, he¡¯d even learned how to make an aromatic beverage. He put some fresh leaves of a specific plant into another can and poured boiled water over them. ¡°Bone apple tea,¡± he blurted out and froze, taken aback a bit. He didn¡¯t know why he¡¯d said it. He didn¡¯t know when or where he¡¯d heard the phrase, and he wasn¡¯t even sure what it meant. It¡¯d just suddenly come to his mind, and somehow it felt right to say it out loud before starting to eat. He smiled. Besides, the phrase sounded funny. He then bit into the rabbit meat heartily. After the meal, he brought up the Store. It was the tenth day of his survival, the last day when the Store was available. Tomorrow, it would be gone forever, so Jack wanted to look over all the goods for sale one last time and buy anything that he might need in the future. He carefully examined all the merchandise but didn¡¯t find anything worth buying. There was some medicine, but health potions he found in caves healed all the wounds he received in battles. Later on, he would most likely learn how to brew potions by himself. There were also some crafting materials in the Store, but there was no reason to buy them either. He knew how to get all the crafting materials he might need for his current needs. Sure, there were some unknown resources in the Store, but since Jack had no idea what they could be used for, he saw no reason to purchase them. So the only thing that he decided to buy from the store was a bunch of self-heating meals. He spent all his gold on them. Between the self-heats stored in Storage One and Storage Two, he now had enough of them to sustain himself for quite a long time if the need arose. Canned food could last for months, years even. Sure, he knew how to get food in this world now, but there was no telling what might occur in the future. It seemed that it was summer now. Come winter, it might become much harder to get food. So if push came to shove, he would have enough self-heats to get through winter. After stacking the cans on the shelves along the walls, Jack lay down on his bed, staring at the ceiling of the wooden building. It seemed like he¡¯d finally learned how to survive in this strange world. He knew how to get crafting materials, build houses, get food, and fight various creatures. This world didn¡¯t look as grim and dreadful as before. It didn¡¯t scare him anymore. So Jack was pretty optimistic about his future in this world. Now that he knew how to survive in this place, what could possibly go wrong, right? Chapter 22 – Nina – Getting to know her rescuer His name was Kirk. He¡¯d been surviving in this world for about two months already. Just like Nina, he¡¯d woken up in a cave without any memories at all, having no idea where he was or how he ended up in this place. Since then, he¡¯d been surviving in this strange world, slowly exploring it and killing monsters, gradually getting stronger and stronger. After killing the bloodsucker and severing the branches that attacked her, Kirk helped her up. It took her some time to calm down. He handed her a strong health potion, and when she drank it, all her wounds miraculously healed almost immediately. However, he then shocked her by telling her that they needed to return to the cave where she¡¯d awoken. She had no desire to get back to the cave where she¡¯d been attacked by some kind of monster, though. Kirk explained to her that she needed to complete the bounty that had been given to her not long after she awakened. He added that she didn¡¯t really have to do it, but if she fulfilled her very first bounty, she would be given some useful things and skills. It took a bit of convincing, but Nina finally agreed to return to the cave. Kirk promised her that he would help her. He said that the creature she¡¯d encountered in the cave most likely was a cave rat, a low-level monster. He added that he would deal as much damage to it as possible, and then she would only need to deliver one last blow to the monster to kill it. ¡°Can¡¯t you just just kill that monster for me?¡± she asked. Even though he told her that the monster in the cave was weak, the thought of encountering it again terrified her. ¡°No,¡± Kirk replied, shaking his head. ¡°If I kill it, your bounty wouldn¡¯t be fulfilled, and we would have to wait twenty-four hours for the monster to revive. It has to be you who has to deliver the mortal blow to the monster. If you do that, your bounty will be fulfilled, and a secret compartment with your reward will be opened. That¡¯s how it works for the new people who were just teleported to this world.¡± Kirk then said that it would be a good idea if they formed a group. ¡°This way, we¡¯ll always be able to see each other on the map,¡± he explained. ¡°It¡¯ll help us out a lot in case one of us gets lost.¡± Nina agreed. He looked at her intently, and a second later, a prompt appeared in her vision asking her if she wanted to join Kirk¡¯s group. She agreed with a thought, and then another text message told her that she was now on his team. ¡°Will I always be in your group?¡± She asked. ¡°What? You want to leave me already?¡± He joked. Nina smiled and shook her head. ¡°No. I¡¯m just curious.¡± ¡°You can leave the group you are in any time you want,¡± he said. ¡°You just need to think about it.¡± ¡°Sounds easy enough.¡± ¡°Yes, it is.¡± He then taught her how to open the map. She saw that most of the map was hidden by gray mist, but the path she¡¯d taken while running through the alien forest had been cleared of the mist. She¡¯d fled mostly in a straight line, so it was very easy to find the way back to the cave. A second later, she noticed that the location of her bounty was marked on the map, making the task of finding the cave as easy as apple pie. At some point, while they walked, she realized that she was almost naked. She was only dressed in her nightgown, which had turned into torn rags during her frantic fleeing through the alien forest. Her nightie revealed more than it concealed now. One of her breasts was partly visible through a large ragged hole. A lot of skin was showing through the numerous tears in her torn nightgown. However, Kirk didn¡¯t stare. He looked her only in the eyes when he talked to her. While they traveled back to the cave, she pelted him with questions about him and this world. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have a lot of answers for her. He¡¯d awoken in this game-like world a couple of months before. Just like her, he didn¡¯t have any memories about himself except for his name. He didn¡¯t have the slightest idea who or what had teleported him to this strange world. He didn¡¯t know whether there was a way to return to their old lives either. The only thing he knew for sure was that whatever this world was it wasn¡¯t Earth. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Have you met other people here?¡± She asked him after that. ¡°Besides me I mean.¡± He replied affirmatively. He told her that new people were constantly teleported to this world. He¡¯d surely met some of them. Before meeting her, he¡¯d been in a group consisting of a few other people. They¡¯d explored this world and fought monsters together. Then something bad happened. They all had been killed, and he was the only survivor. It happened about a month ago. Since then, he¡¯d been alone. Nina could see the pain in his eyes when he told her this story. She wondered what killed the members of his old team, but seeing how painful it was for him to remember it, she didn¡¯t ask any further questions about it. He then looked at her with a serious expression in his eyes and told her she was very lucky that it¡¯d been him who¡¯d found her. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Nina asked. He told her that there were no rules, no laws, and no authorities of any kind in this place. You could commit any hideous crimes, and you would never be punished for that. She understood what he meant and nodded grimly. Finally, they reached the cave she¡¯d awoken in. They stood before the dark entrance to the cave that had terrified her so much. The mere sight of it scared her, and she stepped behind Kirk. He noticed that. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± he said to her in a soft voice. ¡°Everything will be fine. I promise.¡± And then he stepped into the dark tunnel. She clasped both her hands on his upper arm as she walked behind him. She could hardly see anything in the darkness, but he must¡¯ve been seeing much better in the darkness than her because he walked with the confidence she didn¡¯t feel. Then he came to an abrupt stop, and she bumped into him from behind. ¡°What is it?¡± She whispered in a nervous voice, staying close to him, her full breasts pressed tightly against his back. ¡°The creature¡¯s a little farther down the tunnel,¡± he replied. ¡°Is it?¡± She muttered, peeking over his shoulder, struggling to see anything in the darkness that enveloped them. ¡°I don¡¯t see it.¡± ¡°Wait here,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with it.¡± ¡°Ok,¡± she said, but instead of releasing him, her hands only tightened around his upper arm harder. ¡°Let me go please,¡± he said. When she finally released him, he immediately stepped away from her, almost disappearing in the darkness. She could hardly see him now. She got so scared she stepped after him but tripped over something and almost fell. She then heard the snorting sounds the monster made and the swish of a sword swinging through the air. The fight was over in just a few seconds. He returned to her and put the hilt of his sword into her hand. ¡°You need to finish the job,¡± he said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The cave rat¡¯s dying and no longer dangerous.¡± He led her to the body of the creature lying motionlessly on the floor. It was so dark she could hardly see the monster, its body just a dark form. ¡°Do it before it dies on its own.¡± She thrust the sword downward and felt the blade sink into the creature¡¯s body. She suddenly felt nauseous and took a step back. She swayed and almost fell. Kirk put one arm around her shoulders to support her. ¡°You did good.¡± She then saw some kind of energy flow from the creature¡¯s body toward her. ¡°What is this?¡± She asked. ¡°It¡¯s XP. You get it for killing monsters. But since I dealt most of the damage to the cave rat, the XP was shared between us, with me getting the most of it.¡± Then a text message flashed before her eyes, telling her that she¡¯d fulfilled the bounty and could now retrieve her reward. In the cavern where she¡¯d awoken, they found a chest that had been hidden in a concealed compartment behind a cave wall. In the chest, they found a few books that taught her a couple of magic skills and two spells, Healing and Fireball. There were also some clothes in the chest. Kirk faced away from her to provide her with privacy while she changed into the new clothes. She quickly slipped out of her torn nightgown, undressing to her panties. She first put on the high boots that she¡¯d found in the chest. Then she donned something like a short tunic or maybe a fantasy-like dress. When she changed, she let Kirk turn around to her. Her long blond hair fell over her shoulders and across the gray-colored tunic that clung to the soft swell of her breasts. The tunic was simple, but it looked good on her. Kirk then had her practice with the spells she¡¯d just learned. As it turned out, it was surprisingly easy to use magic, and she got the hang of it in no time flat. She used the healing spell on herself and cast a couple of fireballs out of her hands at the cave wall. After that, they left the cave. ¡°What do we do now?¡± She asked. ¡°You must be tired after all this,¡± he said. Nina nodded. She cast just a few spells, but it tired her a great deal for some reason. ¡°Let¡¯s go home then.¡± Chapter 23 – Jack – Learning magic It¡¯d been a few days since the Store had disappeared from the main menu. It didn¡¯t change anything in terms of Jack¡¯s survival, though. He¡¯d already learned how to get food and craft things by himself. He continued to explore the Sungrove, fighting monsters and discovering something new, gradually getting stronger and improving all his skills. After he cleared out another cave, he found a treasure chest with something interesting inside¡ªa Fire Magic talent book and a Fireball spell book. He learned the Fireball spell first. He got so excited that he immediately tried to use it. However, as it turned out, to be able to use the Fireball spell, he needed to learn the Fire Magic talent first. Which he did. This talent was Magic-based, so he then spent some of his Essence points to level up and allocated the skill point into the Magic attribute. ¡°So,¡± he said, ¡°how do I cast a fireball?¡± He gave a mental command to do so, but to his surprise, nothing happened. Perhaps I need to aim with my hand? He stretched out his left arm, aiming for the wall on the opposite side of the cavern and repeated the mental command to cast a fireball. Immediately, his left hand burst into flames. For a second, he got scared, but he almost instantly realized he felt no pain. A fraction of a second later, a fireball materialized in front of his hand and flew forward. The magical projectile zipped across the cavern, illuminating it, and exploded when it crashed into the cave wall. ¡°Cool,¡± Jack said in amazement. For the next several minutes, he just practiced casting fireballs, learning what he could do with the spell. He found out that when using both hands, he could cast two fireballs at once. He could aim them in the same direction or different ones. When holding hands next to each other, he could also cast a more powerful version of a regular fireball, which was bigger in size and exploded with greater force on impact. He cast a couple more fireballs when he suddenly felt he was exhausted. ¡°Okay,¡± he said to himself. ¡°Looks like magic consumes a lot of energy. Noted.¡± He sat on the cave floor to rest for a little bit. When he put more skill points into his Magic attribute, he most likely wouldn¡¯t get tired so quickly when casting spells. He also noticed that though he¡¯d cast the Fireball spell a few times, his Fire Magic talent didn¡¯t increase at all. He thought that this talent most likely increased when the spell was used on enemies in actual battles. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. When he checked his stats, he saw that the Spells, Runes, and Enchantments section now contained the spell he¡¯d just learned. Next to it was its level. Fireball (Level 1) He could put skill points into the spell to level it up and make it more powerful. He had enough Essence points to level up one more time. He put the skill point into the Fireball spell, and after he rested for a few more minutes, he tested out the spell again. This time, the fireball flew somewhat faster and exploded with noticeably more force than before. Excited, he cast another fireball and watched it explode when it hit the cave wall. What surprised him was that now that his Fireball spell was somewhat stronger, using it tired him more than before. He cast only two fireballs and already felt so tired his legs could barely support his weight. He had to sit down again. He decided to postpone upgrading the spell for some time. The more powerful a spell was, the more energy it took from the caster. So he first needed to increase the Fire Magic talent and put a few more skills into the Magic attribute before upgrading the Fireball again. If he put a few more points into the spell without increasing the Magic attribute and the Fire Magic talent first, casting one fireball might tire him so much that he could probably even lose consciousness. It would be a disaster if it happened during a fight with monsters. Having rested for almost an hour, he recovered some energy and left the cave. During one of the next days, he learned another magic talent called Healing Magic as well as a spell with the same name. He could now heal himself, and it was great. He no longer depended only on health potions to heal himself. During one of the next days, Jack found a blueprint for a treehouse. That discovery excited him a great deal. After returning to the campsite, he summoned the crafting menu and selected the treehouse blueprint. The outline of the future house appeared before his eyes, but it was red-colored. He knew why. Since it was a treehouse, it couldn¡¯t be placed on the ground. When he shifted his gaze to one of the enormous great trees, the house outline turned green. The system allowed him to design the future treehouse however he wanted, and he had the freedom to position it at any desired height. He experimented with this feature for a little while, designing the future treehouse. If the future house was medium-sized, it could be attached to the great tree from one side. If the house was much larger, it could be built around the trunk of the great tree. After giving it some thought, Jack decided to go for the large version of the treehouse. But it required a lot of wood and gold. He realized he would need to use most of his resources and money to build the treehouse he wanted. But it was totally worth it. So as he looked up at the trunk of the great tree, he mentally positioned the house outline at about the height of three stories and gave the system a command to build the house there. Immediately, the outline was replaced with an actual treehouse, and most of his resources such as logs and sticks disappeared. A huge amount of gold was taken from his account too, leaving him almost broke. But it was totally worth it. Jack slowly walked around the great tree trunk, looking up at the treehouse that had been built around it. He couldn¡¯t help but smile at his new home. There was one small problem with it, though. ¡°How the hell do I get up there?¡± Chapter 24 – Nina – Braving the alien world It was several weeks since Nina had met Kirk. He taught her everything he knew¡ªhow to fight monsters, get food, craft things, and everything else that she needed to know to survive in this world. Kirk helped her build a house next to his. It took them a couple of days to gather enough resources for that. Initially, she resided in his house, but after the completion of her house, she relocated to it. They spent every day together. Nina could tell he was glad he¡¯d met her. He¡¯d been here much longer than her and was more than capable of surviving on his own, but just like her, he needed a friend in this hostile world full of dangers. Every day, they hunted and cooked together, then did a few bounties, getting XP, leveling up, and improving all their skills and abilities. In the evenings, they crafted something or just sat near a campfire, enjoying each other¡¯s company. Since they were in a group, all the XP and rewards for killing monsters and fulfilling bounties were automatically shared between them. As for the treasure chests they found in caves, they divided the loot in accordance with their personal preferences and skills. Kirk was a sword-wielding warrior, so he took weapons and armor. Everything magic-related was taken by Nina because she was a mage. In battles against monsters, Kirk used a sword and a shield. Sometimes, he also used a crossbow, but a sword was his primary weapon. Nina was a one hundred percent mage. She could use both offensive and defensive spells, not only healing and protecting Kirk when needed but also fighting enemies alongside him. She knew plenty of battle spells and could handle herself now. She no longer was a scared girl who¡¯d been fleeing through the forest, frightened for her life. Just like Kirk, she was a force to be reckoned with now, and the two of them made an excellent team. In the weeks that Nina spent with Kirk, he told her everything he knew about this alien world. He told her that while this world was as real as Earth, many things here worked like they did in a regular role-playing video game. Most of the killed monsters revived in twenty-four hours. Ditto for the cleared-out caves. You could clear a cave of all the monsters residing in it and take all the rewards from the treasure chest, but if you returned to the cave in twenty-four hours, you¡¯d discover the monsters you¡¯d killed to be alive again and the treasure chest at the end of the cave full of loot once more. Bounties were endless and repeatable. When a bounty was fulfilled, it would be available again after some time. It then could be taken by either the person who¡¯d already fulfilled it once or by somebody who¡¯d never done it before. Stolen novel; please report. Unlike bounties, quests were not repeatable. Each quest was unique and could be done only once. If you accepted and completed a quest, it would never appear in the quest list again, and neither you nor other people would be able to do it again. Unlike bounties, quests seldom appeared on the list. Sometimes, you needed to wait a few days before a quest appeared on the list. And quests didn¡¯t linger there for long. If you saw a quest on the list, you should take it before one of the other people in the same area took it. Doing quests was totally worth it. Rewards given for completing quests were way better than rewards for bounties. Just like quests, challenges seldom appeared on the list, but unlike quests, they could be done by other people. If you completed a challenge, it would eventually appear on the list for other people to take it. Each bounty, quest, and challenge was restricted to a specific area. If you left the forest, you would never see a quest that was available only in this particular area. Kirk and Nina did plenty of bounties together, but so far, they¡¯d never been able to get a quest. Kirk also hadn¡¯t taken Nina to any of the dungeons located in the forest even though he knew where some of them were. He told her that the reason for this was that, unlike caves, dungeons were way bigger and much harder to clear out. Sometimes, it could take you up to a few days to clear out a dungeon. Dungeons held lots of treasure chests with awesome loot, but dungeons were also full of dangers. Even though Nina could handle herself now, Kirk wanted her to get a little bit stronger before they ventured into a dungeon. At some point, he also told her that while he had no idea who or what kept teleporting people from Earth to this world, he noticed some curious tendencies. All the people who ended up here were adults. He¡¯d never met kids or teenagers here. It was the same with the elderly. It seemed like people who were too young or too old were never teleported to this world for whatever reason, but Kirk didn¡¯t know why that was the case. At least, he¡¯d never met such a person. The youngest person he¡¯d ever met here was in their early twenties, the oldest in their fifties. He himself was in his late twenties or early thirties. Nina was somewhat younger, mid to late twenties. Kirk also told her that he¡¯d heard from other people that to this game-like world were teleported not only people from Earth but also people from other worlds as well. However, he didn¡¯t know if these stories were true or false. So far, he himself had only met people who hailed from Earth here. Nina continued to explore the alien world along with Kirk. Every day they fought monsters and did bounties together. She leveled up, getting new skills and spells, gradually getting stronger and stronger. Their survival in this world was coming along nicely. She¡¯d been completely terrified when she just awoke in the cave with no memories at all, but ever since Kirk had rescued her, everything was fine. She was sure that nothing bad could befall her and Kirk now. Little did she know that an impending misfortune awaited them in the near future. Chapter 25 – Jack – The Great Tree Cottage It took Jack a few more days to finally find a way to enter his treehouse. In one of the caves, he found an elevator blueprint. He spent the next several days gathering wood until he finally collected enough resources to build an elevator. He summoned the crafting menu and selected the recently learned blueprint. He looked at the treehouse up above, and the outline of the future elevator shaft moved that way. With a thought, he gave the system a command to build the elevator. When it was done, he studied the result. The elevator consisted of vertical guide rails and a lift platform. In other words, it looked like a very simple cargo elevator. Jack stepped onto the platform and looked around. Spotting a lever, he gave it a tug. The platform began its slow ascent. It was kind of scary. While the whole construction was sturdy enough, the elevator was just a platform and the shaft was merely a wooden framework. The elevator moved higher and higher, and a few seconds later, it entered the treehouse. Jack was finally inside his new home. He then studied his new place of residence, slowly walking from one room to another. The huge building was built around the great tree trunk and had a round, octagon-like shape. It was composed of a few segments, each one being a room. Each room had windows to let daylight seep in. But there were no walls between the rooms yet, so for now, they weren¡¯t separated, forming one long circular space. Later on, he might add some walls with archways or doors. Or maybe he would leave it as it was because he actually liked the current octagon-like design of his house. He then returned to the elevator and gave it one more look. There was one thing about it that he didn¡¯t like. While he was inside his treehouse, nobody would be able to call the elevator from outside. But when he was absent anybody would be able to take the elevator up and barge into his home, and there was seemingly no way to prevent it from happening. He had to find a way to prevent potential intruders from using the elevator when he wasn¡¯t home. He then pinned the location of the treehouse on the map. He gave the matter some thought and decided to name his new home the Great Tree Cottage. In the next several days, Jack mostly collected wood and crafted various pieces of furniture, gradually furnishing the Great Tree Cottage. He also carried all the self-heating meals from the Storage Two to the treehouse. At some point, he learned a new feature: he could disintegrate any of the structures he¡¯d built to get back some of the resources that had been used to create it. So he used the feature to destroy the Storage Two because there was no reason to keep the structure anymore. It disappeared without a trace as if it¡¯d never existed. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. In one of the next days, he returned to the Darkwoods and visited the Storage One. It held quite a lot of self-heating meals he¡¯d bought on day 10, and Jack wanted to bring them all over to the Great Tree Cottage. It would¡¯ve taken him a few trips if he¡¯d had to carry cans in his hands, but fortunately, he knew how to craft a simple cart, so he was able to relocate all the cans in one go. Since he now lived in the Great Tree Cottage in the Sungrove, he considered disintegrating the Storage One but in the end, decided against it in case he would have to spend a night in the Darkwoods at some point in the future. Jack spent a few days trying to build small houses similar to Storage One. He didn¡¯t need them, of course, and the only reason he built them was that he just wanted to increase his Building talent. He did almost everything by himself¡ªhunting, cooking, and crafting. So all his skills were gradually increasing. Except, for the Building one. When he needed to build a house, he simply asked the system to do it for him. That was the reason the Building was the only talent that didn¡¯t improve at all. At some point, he decided to fix it. All the initial houses he built were ill-constructed, but as his Building talent went up, every house he built was somewhat better than the previous one. He disintegrated all his creations right after he built them because he only wanted to increase his Building talent. At some point, he finally learned to build small rectangular houses that were almost as well constructed as the Storage One, which had been built by the system. Maybe at some point, he would become such a good builder that he would be able to create complex houses such as the Great Tree Cottage by himself. It would be great because the system took a hefty amount of gold for every action it performed for him. During one of the next days, Jack learned the Alchemy talent. He spent a couple more weeks wandering around the forest and collecting herbs and other various ingredients and then mixing them at home, trying to brew some potions. Most of the time, he failed to create anything, but his Alchemy talent slowly but gradually went up, and eventually, he began to understand the process of mixing ingredients. At some point, he finally learned how to brew health potions, and a little later, some other types of potions as well. The system didn¡¯t memorize the potion recipes he learned. As he learned more and more recipes it was becoming harder to keep them all in mind. So with the system¡¯s help, he crafted books with empty pages to write down all the recipes he learned. The Great Tree Cottage now had several completely furnished rooms. Jack fully allocated one of them as an alchemy laboratory. It contained everything that was needed for potion creation. There were also bookshelves as well as chests with various ingredients. But the rest of the rooms were currently empty. Jack wasn¡¯t sure how to utilize the remaining space in the Great Tree Cottage, but he was sure he would figure it out later. Chapter 26 – Nina – Sinister discovery Kirk was breathing heavily. Several dreadwolves stood before him, their evil eyes glaring at him. Each of these terrifying creatures was much bigger and stronger than a regular Earth wolf. And they were way more aggressive and dangerous. Even a single dreadwolf could pose quite a threat to a regular person. But dreadwolves hardly ever roamed the forest alone. Instead, they formed a pack consisting of at least a dozen creatures. Kirk had already killed some of the pack¡¯s dreadwolves, but there were several of them still alive. All of them were wounded, having been slashed or pierced by Kirk¡¯s sword. They were now wary of him, knowing he wasn¡¯t as easy prey as the one they usually hunted. But Kirk himself was tired too, exhausted even. The fight had been going on for just a few minutes, but it was intense and brutal. While he wasn¡¯t wounded, he was very tired. To continue to fight the dreadwolves, he needed to drink a stamina potion to get some additional energy. There were some risks involved with that, though. He knew that when the effects of the stamina potion wore off, he would get so tired he might even black out. But it was too early to worry about that. For now, he had to defeat the remaining dreadwolves at any cost, otherwise there wouldn¡¯t be the need to worry about dealing with the side effects of stamina potions. Kirk held a round shield in one of his hands and a sword in the other. To take a stamina potion from one of the pouches on his belt, he needed to sheath his sword. He was cautious about doing it, though. The dreadwolves watched him carefully, waiting for the right moment to attack. They weren¡¯t stupid. They knew the sword in his right hand was the real threat to them. They would surely attack him if they saw it sheathed. So instead of taking out a stamina potion, Kirk did something else. He held his shield in front of him and concentrated on his active ability called Power Burst. As soon as he thought about the ability, he received a mental reply that it was ready to use. He activated it with a thought and instantly burst into a run toward the wild animals, his movement speed greatly increased. He rammed his shield into the nearest dreadwolf with so much force the creature got knocked over. Without slowing down, he continued to charge forward, bashing his shield into every creature that stood in his way. A few seconds later, his Power Burst was deactivated, going into cooldown. Kirk instantly stopped running and spun around. Most of the dreadwolves had been knocked over by his shield. Some of them had already gotten up, but they were still disoriented and wouldn¡¯t be able to fight for a few seconds. However, he¡¯d missed a couple of creatures. They growled as they approached him. He had no strength left in him to fight. He had to drink a stamina potion right now. He slid his sword into its sheath and took a small bottle from a pouch on his belt. He quickly drank the potion and tossed the empty bottle aside. Invigorated, he reached for the hilt of his sword. But before he could draw his weapon, one of the dreadwolves jumped at him. From the corner of his eye, he spotted a flash of light, and a fraction of a second later, a fireball flew from the right, hitting the dreadwolf in midair. The magical projectile exploded, hurling the scorched body of the now-dead creature to the ground. The other forest predators spun to face the new threat. Nina stepped from the bushes where she¡¯d hidden to restore some of her energy after the first minutes of the battle. Nina didn¡¯t wear any armor at all, being lightly dressed, so she always stayed a safe distance from enemies while Kirk bore the brunt of their attacks. Having restored some of her energy, she returned to the battle. And none too soon¡ªa moment later, and the dreadwolf would have bitten into Kirk¡¯s face. She¡¯d just saved his life. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. She cast a fireball, killing another of the remaining dreadwolves. The rest of them began to move in her direction. Now that Kirk had drunk one stamina potion and recovered some of his energy, he could fight in full force again. Shouting a battle cry to distract the remaining forest predators from his companion, he charged at them. It didn¡¯t take Kirk and Nina long to deal with the rest of the dreadwolves. They could now continue their trip home. They had been walking home after having fulfilled a bounty before they were suddenly attacked by the wolf pack. Now that all the dreadwolves were taken care of, they resumed traveling home, hoping they wouldn¡¯t be interrupted by another monster attack. At some point, several pine-like trees they walked through opened out into a small clearing. Kirk took a few steps into the open and came to a sudden stop when he saw something terrifying up ahead. He raised a hand to signal for Nina to halt because he didn¡¯t want her to see it. But she¡¯d already come abreast of him, and she gasped when she saw what he was staring at. ¡°What the¡ª¡± she said in a terrified voice. In the middle of the clearing lay a human dead body. It was a man. The body was completely naked and carved open from neck to crotch, allowing its internal organs and entrails to spill out. ¡°What kind of creature could do something like that?¡± Nina whispered. ¡°It was no animal,¡± Kirk said. Nina turned her head to look at him with wide-opened eyes. ¡°You mean a person did this?!¡± ¡°Yes. No animal could do it. This wound must¡¯ve been inflicted with a large dagger. Besides, see those cuts there?¡± Strange symbols were carved into the dead man¡¯s body. ¡°What are those?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. But it wasn¡¯t a simple murder. I¡¯m certain that some kind of magical ritual was performed here. You are a mage. Can you sense it?¡± When somebody used a spell, some kind of magical residue lingered in the air for some time. Regular people weren¡¯t able to sense it, but experienced mages like Nina could. When she concentrated, she immediately realized that a lot of magic had been used here to create some kind of an extremely powerful spell. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± she said. ¡°The poor bastard must¡¯ve been sacrificed,¡± Kirk concluded. ¡°By whom? And to what end?¡± Kirk just shook his head. ¡°I have no idea. But do you remember what I told you when we just met? That there were no rules or laws to obey in this world?¡± ¡°I remember,¡± Nina said grimly. ¡°You said I was lucky that it was you who found me and not some bad people.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Kirk nodded at the maimed dead body. ¡°And whoever did this isn¡¯t just bad. They are truly evil. I have no desire to meet with whoever is responsible for this. So let¡¯s get the fuck out of here.¡± ¡°You think they may still be somewhere nearby?¡± Nina asked, looking around in fear. ¡°I don¡¯t know. They are probably long gone. But just in case, we better not linger here. So let¡¯s get a move on.¡± And he started to walk away from the scene. Nina got truly scared. She thought she would never be so frightened again. Since Kirk saved her life and she teamed up with him, everything was fine, and she was lulled into a false sense of security. But she was now just as scared as she¡¯d been when she¡¯d just awoken in this alien world. What scared her the most, however, wasn¡¯t even the sight of the maimed body, but the fear she saw in Kirk¡¯s eyes when he glanced at her before hastily leaving the clearing. It was the very first time when Nina saw him scared. Chapter 27 – Jack – First quest During the next few days, Jack built a new addition to his treehouse¡ªa balcony with an overhanging roof. He also crafted a small table and a couple of chairs and put them on the balcony. He spent the next several days felling trees and collecting wood and then turned one of the empty rooms into a kitchen. His treehouse was becoming more and more comfortable and pleasant to live in. With every new addition to the Great Tree Cottage, he was falling further in love with his home. In the evenings, he liked to cook food in the kitchen and then enjoy the meal on the balcony. Sometimes, after eating, he just sat on the balcony until nightfall, resting after a hard day, listening to the sounds of the wildlife down below and watching darkness gradually fall over the forest. He now only needed to create something like a bathroom with a shower cabin. And he also still had to do something with the elevator to prevent potential intruders from being able to use it when he wasn¡¯t home. Jack continued to explore the forest, fight monsters, and do bounties. During the next several days, he learned a couple more things about magic. He discovered that his Essence points could be used as mana. Casting a few spells one after another quickly made him tired. He needed to rest and recover his energy before using magic again, otherwise he could even black out from the excessive use of magic. And then he found out something interesting¡ªhe could use his Essence points as mana to cast spells, and when he did so, he didn¡¯t get tired at all. But of course, his Essence points were also used for leveling up, so using them as mana meant he would need to kill more monsters before he could go another level up. So he avoided using his Essence points as mana at all costs. He was going to do it only as a last resort when his life was in serious danger or something like that. After Jack put a few points into the Magic attribute, he was able to cast quite a few various spells without feeling too tired. When he used the Fireball spell to attack enemies, his Fire Magic talent leveled up, making the fireballs he cast more powerful and easier to control. During intense battles, Jack also used his Healing spell to patch himself up on the go. As his Healing talent leveled up, his healing magic was becoming more effective, taking less time to heal the wounds he received in battles. One day, when Jack opened the list of available missions, he spotted a challenge. It surprised him a little bit. After all, it was the very first time he saw a challenge on the mission list. So far, he¡¯d only done bounties and never challenges or quests. He got so excited he immediately accepted the challenge before somebody else could beat him to it. After that, he switched to the menu of his active missions to read the description of the challenge. He found out that challenges differed from bounties a great deal. While the objective of a bounty was to hunt down and kill a strong monster or a certain amount of weaker creatures, that of a challenge was something different altogether. This particular challenge required Jack to fight monsters for several minutes while being severely wounded. So he needed to let some creature inflict some serious damage on him and while profusely bleeding, fight monsters for a few minutes. It was risky as hell. It could easily lead to his death. At first, Jack even wanted to turn down the challenge, but then he saw what he would get if he completed the challenge. The reward was a perk called Tough-skinned, which would make his body more robust and resistant to damage. So in the end, he decided to try to do the challenge. He wasn¡¯t going to put his life at risk, though. If it wasn¡¯t working out all that well, he would drink a strong health potion to heal himself and then make another attempt to complete the challenge. So he created quite a few strong health potions in his alchemy laboratory and then set off on his mission. It took Jack a few tries before he finally managed to complete the challenge. As a reward, he received the Tough-skinned perk. He had two available slots, so he put the perk into the first one. As he found out after a few battles with monsters, the Tough-skinned perk was totally worth all the trouble he¡¯d gone through to get it. Tough-skinned: Your body can sustain more damage of any kind and remain functioning. The perk made his body so much tougher that the weaker types of monsters like cave rats couldn¡¯t even harm him now, neither their sharp teeth nor their dagger-like claws being able to break his skin anymore. It was amazing. Many days ago, back in the initial cave, his encounter with the very first cave rat had almost cost him his life, but now those furry creatures no longer posed any kind of threat to him at all. Jack could only imagine how strong and powerful he would become when he leveled up a few more times and acquired a bunch of other perks, skills, and spells. When he woke up in his treehouse another morning, he saw that there was a quest available in the mission menu. It was the very first time he¡¯d stumbled across a quest. He quickly studied it before accepting.
Type Quest
Objective Find out what is going on in the ancient catacombs.
Difficulty Epic
Recommended level 25-30
Reward An item of Epic rarity of your choice
It didn¡¯t even tell him what he needed to do to complete the quest. The description was pretty vague, only telling him that he needed to solve some kind of mystery. Still, he was pretty much sure that solving it would involve fighting a lot of dangerous creatures. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He noticed that the quest difficulty was epic. There were three difficulties for a bounty: easy, medium, and hard. As for quests, it seemed that they had a different system of difficulty ranking. Jack wasn¡¯t sure if Epic was the easiest quest difficulty or if there were two more before it, common and uncommon. If it was the latter, it meant that the quest was going to be pretty hard. Still, Jack was going to try to complete it nevertheless. After all, the reward was quite promising. Jack created a few different potions in his alchemy lab and put several of them into the pouches on his belt. He stowed the rest of the created potions away in his backpack and then checked out all his current stats.
Name Jack Nolan
Level 28
Current Essence 3,550
Essence to Next Level 3,625
Available Skill Points 0
Gold 14,500
Survived 47 days
Strength 4
Constitution 4
Agility 5
Perception 3
Intelligence 4
Magic 3
Talents Battle:
  • One-handed: 27 [Agility]
  • Dodging: 15 [Agility]
  • Light Armor: 13 [Agility]
  • Blocking: 10 [Agility]
Magic:
  • Fire Magic: 24 [Magic]
  • Healing Magic: 15 [Magic]
  • Alchemy: 11 [Intelligence]
Survival:
  • Crafting: 34 [Intelligence]
  • Building: 13 [Intelligence]
  • Hunting: 23 [Perception]
  • Cooking: 35 [Perception]
  • Felling: 31 [Strength]
  • Skinning: 37 [Agility]
  • Butchering: 43 [Agility]
Abilities Active Slot: None Passive Slot: None Slot 3: Unlocks at Level 30
Spells, Runes, and Enchantments Spells:
  • Fireball (Level 5)
  • Healing (Level 3)
Runes: None Enchantments: None
Perks Slot 1: Tough-skinned Slot 2: None Slot 3: Unlocks at Level 30
Resistances Physical Resistance: 5%
Factions Beasts: 17% (Common) Monsters: 5% (Common)
Jack then summoned the map. The pin showing the location of the ancient catacombs he needed to explore was far away from his current position, way out in the Darkwoods. Moreover, the ancient catacombs were somewhere in the clouded-over area, which meant that he¡¯d never been in that area before. It was a bit disappointing. It would take him half a day only to get there, and he had no idea what kind of dangers he would encounter there. Still, it didn¡¯t mean he was going to reject the quest. Armed with his sword and having plenty of various potions on him, Jack took the elevator down and set off for the Darkwoods. Chapter 28 – Nina – A night incident ¡°Nina, wake up!¡± Her eyes snapped open, and she saw Kirk leaning over her bed and shaking her awake. ¡°Kirk?¡± She said sleepily. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°There are some people outside.¡± Suddenly awake, Nina sat up. ¡°What people?¡± Seeing that she was fully awake now, Kirk straightened up and stepped away from her bed. ¡°They¡¯re friendly,¡± he said. ¡°But they are in trouble. They¡¯ve been chased. Come on outside. They need our help.¡± ¡°Chased by what? And who are those people?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have time for this right now, Nina,¡± Kirk said striding across the room to the exit. ¡°We need to prepare to fight.¡± By the time she got out of bed, he¡¯d already reached the exit. Nina saw that the door to her house was open. They lived in different houses, but they had duplicate keys to each other¡¯s homes just in case. Nina got dressed and ran outside. She saw two people standing near Kirk¡¯s house across from hers. One of them was tall, young, and of Asian descent. The other was middle-aged, of a sturdy build, and with big hands that were clenched into fists. Kirk had just reached them. The two guys glanced in her direction, then they peered into the trees to the north of the houses. The moon was high in the sky, bathing the forest in silver light, but there were still plenty of pockets of darkness here and there. Kirk said something to them, and the big guy replied, but Nina didn¡¯t quite make out the words. She trembled a little. It was a chilly night, but she wasn¡¯t sure if her body shook from the cold or the fear she felt. ¡°Nina, come over here,¡± Kirk called. She peered into the dark trees that surrounded their two houses but didn¡¯t see anything scary. Still, it didn¡¯t mean something dangerous wasn¡¯t lurking somewhere in the darkness. Nina couldn¡¯t believe she was so scared again. Ever since Kirk rescued her, she¡¯d never experienced such intense fear. Until now. The maimed body of a naked man she and Kirk had stumbled across a few days ago came to her mind again. Whoever had done that was surely still somewhere out there. Nina suddenly realized she was standing out in the open all alone, so he hastily approached Kirk and the other two persons he was with. The two of them looked at her with interest. Nina noticed that the Asian guy was very young, probably not much older than twenty. The other man was much older, probably in his fifties. ¡°Nina, this is Kwan,¡± Kirk said as he waved his hand at the Asian guy. ¡°And this is Michael. Guys, this is Nina.¡± ¡°What the hell is happening here?¡± Nina asked, wanting to skip the pleasantries. It definitely wasn¡¯t the right time for them. ¡°These guys woke me up a few minutes ago, pounding on my door,¡± Kirk explained. ¡°As far as I understood, something was chasing them.¡± ¡°Not something,¡± Michael corrected. ¡°Someone.¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Someone?¡± Nina asked as her heart skipped a beat. ¡°Yeah.¡± Kirk once again turned his head to look in the direction the two guys had come from. Nina looked that way too, peering into the dark trees but couldn¡¯t see any signs of danger. ¡°Do you know who it was?¡± Kirk asked, looking at the two guys again. ¡°Some men,¡± Michael replied. ¡°Never met them before. They approached our campsite when I was fast asleep. Good thing Kwan wasn¡¯t sleeping. He spotted them just in time and woke me up.¡± ¡°I was actually asleep too, but something awoke me,¡± Kwan put in. ¡°Must¡¯ve been the noise they were making while circling in on us.¡± Kwan was speaking kind of funny, but she couldn¡¯t put her finger on what was wrong with his voice, and she was too anxious right now to think about that. ¡°And then you ran?¡± Kirk asked. ¡°Yeah,¡± Michael replied. ¡°There were too many of them against the two of us. We figured our best shot was to try and run away from them.¡± ¡°How many of them were there?¡± ¡°I dunno,¡± Michael said uncertainly as he glanced at Kwan. ¡°A dozen maybe?¡± ¡°A dozen?¡± Nina asked, raising her voice in panic. ¡°I think even more than that,¡± Kwan said. ¡°But it was hard to tell, being the middle of the night.¡± ¡°They fired after us as we ran from them,¡± Michael added. ¡°With what? Crossbows?¡± Kirk asked. ¡°Yeah,¡± Michael said. ¡°And some kinds of firearms as well,¡± Kwan added. Kirk raised an eyebrow. ¡°Firearms?¡± ¡°And magic too,¡± Michael said. ¡°Them sonfabitches launched some kind of magical projectiles after us. I can¡¯t believe we actually managed to get away from them unharmed.¡± ¡°The men fired crossbows and rifles at us,¡± Kwan pointed out. ¡°But it was the woman who attacked us with magic.¡± ¡°The woman?¡± Nina asked in a surprised voice. ¡°Yeah,¡± Michael replied. ¡°I noticed her too. And she seemed to be in charge of the men. She was some kind of sorceress or whatever. She was armed with a staff with some glowing sphere, which fired some magical shit at us. And when she moved, her feet didn¡¯t even touch the ground.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Nina asked the older man. ¡°She seemed to glide smoothly over the ground without actually touching it.¡± ¡°Like she was flying?¡± ¡°Yeah. Like she was flying.¡± ¡°You forgot to mention the most important detail,¡± Kwan put in as he smirked a little. ¡°What detail?¡± Nina asked, shifting her gaze at the younger guy. ¡°The woman was completely naked,¡± Kwan replied. ¡°Naked?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I said,¡± Kwan replied. ¡°Not a thread of clothing on her.¡± ¡°That¡¯s bizarre,¡± Kirk said, shaking his head. Michael nodded. ¡°And her body shimmered in the moonlight like it was oiled, you know?¡± ¡°So where are they now?¡± Nina asked as she looked around once again. ¡°We might¡¯ve been able to give them the slip,¡± Michael said. ¡°Though it¡¯s hard to tell for sure. They might still be looking for us. When we burst into this clearing and saw your houses, we decided to ask for help.¡± ¡°If there¡¯s a dozen or more of them, then we won¡¯t stand a chance of defeating them,¡± Nina said as she glanced at the two newcomers to see what they were armed with. Kwan had a shortsword hanging at his hip. As for Michael, she first didn¡¯t notice any weapons on him. Then she realized why he kept his hands clenched in fists¡ªhe wore quite heavy and nasty-looking knuckles on his hands. ¡°Nina¡¯s right,¡± Kirk said. ¡°We better hide in case they show up here.¡± Nobody argued the point. The four of them hid in the thick bushes not far from the two houses. For the next hour, they kept hidden, carefully watching the two houses and the forest around them. All was quiet and not once did they spy any sign of the strangers that had been chasing Kwan and Michael. At some point, they all agreed that their pursuers must have lost them, and it was safe to leave their hiding spot. By the time they emerged from the bushes, the sunlight had already begun to brighten the forest. Knowing that they wouldn¡¯t be able to get any more sleep today, they entered Kirk¡¯s house to get to know one another a little bit better. Chapter 29 – Jack – The ancient catacombs Jack stood at the entrance to a one-story building made of stone blocks. The structure was old and decrepit. Creeper plants covered the walls, merging the building with the surrounding forest. No sound reached his ears from the entrance. Gripping the hilt of his sword tightly in his hand, Jack stepped into the dilapidated building. The structure appeared even smaller from the inside than it did from the outside. The room he found himself in was absolutely empty. The only thing that he noticed was a spiral staircase leading somewhere underground. Jack carefully descended the steps until he reached the bottom. He found himself in a dark tunnel. There weren¡¯t any sources of light, so it took his eyes a little while to get adjusted to the darkness. It was a man-made corridor. The floor was paved with cobblestones, many of which were cracked or dented. The walls were made of large red bricks. Here and there, roots had grown through the walls and the floor. The ceiling was covered in thick cobwebs. Jack hoped he wouldn¡¯t have to deal with huge spiders. A mere thought about enormous arachnids made his skin crawl. Come to think of it, he had no idea what kind of monsters he would encounter in this place. From the description of the quest, he¡¯d learned that his objective was to investigate this ancient place, but other than that it hadn¡¯t told him anything else. He had to be ready for anything. He walked down the tunnel, his echoing footsteps the only sound in this place. While his eyes had already gotten used to the lack of light, he still couldn¡¯t see farther than a few paces into the tunnel. He continued to carefully walk forward, listening for any sounds that might indicate the presence of some creatures in this underground place. So far, he hadn¡¯t encountered anything on his way down the corridor. Yet he had a feeling it would change soon. The tunnel opened out into a vast room. He stopped at the opening, looking around. Except for a few columns, the room was devoid of any objects. Seeing no sign of danger, Jack stepped into the room. Just like in the corridor, there were no sources of light anywhere to be found. When Jack reached the middle of the room, he spotted an archway on the other side of the room, leading somewhere further into the catacombs. Aside from this archway and the one he¡¯d walked through, there weren¡¯t any other doors or openings to be seen. Before progressing further, Jack decided to look around one more time to make sure he didn¡¯t miss anything. The room was pretty big, and the farthest corners were completely shrouded in darkness. Jack kept staring into one of the corners until he thought he was able to make out the outline of something there. It looked like some kind of creature, but it was hard to tell for sure because whatever it was stood completely still. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°What the hell,¡± Jack muttered, still not quite comprehending what he was seeing. Was it actually some kind of creature? Or maybe it was just his imagination? He had to know for sure. He wasn¡¯t willing to go farther into the catacombs, knowing that somewhere behind him could be lurking an unknown creature waiting for the right moment to attack him. Jack was about to get closer to the corner when he heard something behind him. He spun around raising his sword. He didn¡¯t see anything at first. Then out of another dark corner stepped someone¡ªsomething. At first, Jack thought it was a person, but he quickly realized he was wrong. It looked humanoid with two arms and two legs. And that was where the similarity to a person ended. The misshapen, stooping figure had arms that were too long. Its skin was deathly pale, its head devoid of hair, its nose just two small holes, and its ears long and pointed. As the creature shambled a little closer to him, Jack saw that it didn¡¯t have any eyes. What it did have was an enormous mouth filled with long curved yellowish teeth. They were so large and there were so many of them that the creature¡¯s mouth couldn¡¯t even close. The creature continued to move in Jack¡¯s general direction, shuffling its naked feet across the cobblestoned floor. The mutant¡¯s¨Cor whatever this creature was¨Cfingers ended in large dagger-like claws. The sight of this monster unnerved Jack. He had fought lots of various insect-like creatures and various wild animals in the forest, but it was the very first time he¡¯d encountered such an abomination. He had no idea what to expect from it. While the mutant was blind and its movements were sluggish and unsure, the creature could still prove to be dangerous. Its razor-sharp teeth and dagger-like claws looked nasty. Jack was sure that the mutant could use its natural weapons quite efficiently. A shuffling sound came from behind him. Jack looked back over his shoulder and saw another similar mutant step from the corner that Jack had been studying a minute before. The second mutant began to move in his general direction too. These creatures were blind, so they must have sensed him somehow. Probably they¡¯d heard him when he uttered some words a minute before. Their sense of hearing should be quite good. Jack looked around but didn¡¯t spot any more mutants anywhere in the room. Two monsters shouldn¡¯t pose much of a threat to him. He was used to dealing with many more monsters at once. However, since he¡¯d never encountered such mutants before, he didn¡¯t know what to expect from them. So he decided to exercise caution. He stepped aside out of the path of the two mutants, making sure to make as little noise as possible. Jack was sure he produced little to no sounds at all while moving, yet the two mutants heard him, unmistakably turning their ugly heads in his direction. Their sense of hearing must have been amazingly good, which wasn¡¯t all that surprising, what with how large and well-developed their ears were. The two mutants froze for a second, sniffing the air. Then they turned and walked toward him, moving much faster and more confident this time. It was time to fight them. Jack held his left hand out toward one of the two mutants and cast a fireball. Chapter 30 – Nina – Safety in numbers As it turned out, Kwan wasn¡¯t from Earth. He hailed from a world called Azorhia. He told Nina and Kirk that a deadly plague ravaged his homeworld, killing millions of people all around the globe. Nobody knew where the plague originated from or how to stop it. He¡¯d found himself in his world a few weeks ago. This strange place was just as alien to him as it was to Nina and Kirk. Just like the two of them, he¡¯d woken up in a cave, having some general memories about his homeworld but unable to remember anything about himself. He¡¯d been dressed in fine clothes that only rich people could afford. He also knew for sure that he wasn¡¯t afflicted by the plague from his homeworld, having none of the symptoms. All of this indicated that his family must have been quite rich, and they most likely either had lived in some isolated area or had been able to distance themselves from the general public to avoid any contact with potential disease carriers. He survived in the alien forest all by himself for a few days before meeting Michael. They decided to team up, and since then they¡¯d faced the dangers of this world together. Michael already knew all of this, so he silently listened to Kwan telling Nina and Kirk his story. Now that Nina knew that Kwan was from a different world, she finally realized what struck her as odd about his voice. She now understood why his voice had sounded funny to her when she heard him talk for the first time. The reason for that was that Kwan was speaking a foreign language. However, Nina perfectly understood everything he was saying as if correlative English subtitles were popping up inside her mind. When Kwan finished, it was Michael¡¯s turn to tell them about himself. Only there wasn¡¯t much he could tell them. Just like Nina and Kirk, he hailed from Earth, but sure enough, he didn¡¯t have any memories about himself. He told them that he¡¯d awakened in a cave a few weeks ago, dressed in a business suit. He added that in one of the pockets he found a wallet with an ID, which revealed his name. ¡°In the wallet, I also found a picture,¡± Michael added as he reached into his pants pocket. He was no longer dressed in the business suit in which he¡¯d been teleported to this world. Such clothes weren¡¯t of much use in this place. Instead, he now wore a leather armor set, which he¡¯d found in a cave a few days before. Michael took out a photograph and showed it to his new friends. Nina leaned forward for a better look. In the picture were Michael, a dark-haired woman who appeared to be about the same age as him, and two young girls standing between them, one of them about Nina¡¯s age, the other one a few years younger, probably in her late teens. ¡°It must be your family,¡± Kirk said. ¡°Yeah,¡± Michael replied as he glanced at the picture in his hand. All of the people in the picture were laughing happily as if they¡¯d heard a joke or something funny had happened just before the picture was taken. ¡°Looks like you have a lovely family.¡± ¡°You know what sucks, though?¡± Michael said grimly. ¡°I don''t remember them. I have no recollection of my family at all. I look at the picture and see three strangers with me.¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°You may not remember them, but they are still your family,¡± Kirk said, trying to calm him. Michael nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡± Nina gave him a sympathetic look. ¡°And they are safe at home, and not here, in this scary place.¡± ¡°But you can¡¯t know that for sure, though, can you?¡± Michael responded a bit harshly. ¡°They might¡¯ve been teleported here as well. They might be wandering in some other parts of this world at this moment while we talk.¡± Nina was caught off guard by his last words. Michael could be right. Since they had no memories about themselves, they had no idea what had happened when they were suddenly plucked from Earth and brought to this world. Had they just disappeared into thin air in front of other people around them? Or had the people who were next to them at that moment been taken along? They didn¡¯t know anything for sure, and everything they assumed was just guesswork. Nina went silent because she didn¡¯t know what else to say. She wanted to comfort Michael but was afraid to say something inappropriate and unintentionally add to his worry about his family. ¡°I think you may be right,¡± Michael said. ¡°At least I hope so. Whatever has brought us here probably chooses people at random. I don¡¯t think it teleports whole families to this world.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Kirk said. ¡°If that was the case, your family would most likely have materialized in the same cave with you. There wouldn¡¯t have been much sense to take your whole family from Earth only to teleport you all to different parts of this world.¡± Michael nodded. But we can¡¯t know that for certain, Nina thought. Whoever brought us here may not think the way we do. We don¡¯t know for what reason we were teleported here. We don¡¯t know anything for sure at all. But she didn¡¯t voice her thoughts. There was no reason to worry Michael further. Nina suddenly realized she was glad she didn¡¯t remember anything about herself. She most likely had parents, maybe a boyfriend too, but not knowing about it made it easier to survive in this world. With her head devoid of any memories about her past life, she could focus solely on surviving in this dangerous world. ¡°I only wish I could get in touch with my family to tell them that I¡¯m fine,¡± Michael said. ¡°They are probably worried sick about me.¡± They went silent for some time after that. Then Nina and Kirk said a couple of words about themselves. When Nina found herself in this world, she¡¯d been dressed only in a nightgown and hadn¡¯t had any personal belongings on her. It was the same with Kirk. He¡¯d worn something like workout clothes when he woke up in a cave. His pockets had been empty, and the only thing he¡¯d managed to remember about himself was his name. So unlike Michael, they didn¡¯t know anything about their families and couldn¡¯t tell much about themselves. Instead, they told Kwan and Michael how Kirk had saved Nina¡¯s life on the first day of her appearance in this world and how they¡¯d been surviving together since then. After that, Kirk suggested they all team up. ¡°We should stick together, guys,¡± he said. ¡°You told us that you¡¯d been attacked by some gang at night, right?¡± ¡°Yep,¡± Kwan nodded. ¡°A bunch of brutes who were bossed around by a naked sorceress jumped us.¡± ¡°And they are still somewhere out there,¡± Kirk continued. ¡°So we should all stay together. This way, we¡¯ll have better chances of defeating them if they show up again and attack us. There¡¯s safety in numbers, right?¡± Everybody agreed with him. Chapter 31 – Jack – The Mystery of the Ancient Catacombs The fireball Jack had just cast hit one of the mutants in the middle of its body. The force of the explosion hurled the creature backward, its chest scorched, wisps of smoke rising from it. However, the mutant was still alive. By the time it got up from the floor, Jack had already jumped to it. He thrust his sword into his enemy, the blade piercing the mutant¡¯s throat and bursting out the back of its neck in a spray of gore. Jack pulled the sword from its body as the mutant collapsed to the floor, dead. Jack heard fast footfalls from behind him, but before he could turn around, the second mutant already reached him and raked its claws across his back. Yelping in pain, Jack jumped to the side before the monster could attack him again. He wheeled around in time to see the mutant reach out for him. He swung his sword with great force, severing the mutant¡¯s hand at the wrist. Before his enemy realized what had just happened, he finished it off with a stab through the head. After the fight was over, Jack took a deep breath. The battle had been brief, yet it¡¯d been brutal. While these mutants didn¡¯t seem too dangerous, they proved to be quite fast and agile. He had to be real careful because there most likely would be more mutants in the underground catacombs. He reached back with his left hand and touched the long tears in his leather armor where the mutant had hit him. When he pulled his hand back and looked at it, he saw that his fingers were smeared with blood. With his left hand, he took a health potion from one of the pouches on his belt. He pulled out the wooden cork with his teeth and downed the contents of the vial. The wounds on his back began to close, and the pain he felt receded. Gripping the hilt of his sword, Jack walked across the room to the archway on the other side. It led into another corridor. It was so dark Jack couldn¡¯t see the other end. He was about to start walking down the corridor when he realized something. He hadn¡¯t received any Essence points for killing the two mutants. It was strange. Such a thing had never happened before. He¡¯d always received XP for killing various creatures. A sound reached his ears from behind. What the hell? He looked around to see something that surprised him a great deal. The two mutants he¡¯d just killed were slowly getting up from the floor, their wounds closing with surprising speed. The mutant¡¯s hand he¡¯d severed was growing anew, and judging by the speed it was happening, the mutant would have a new clawed hand in just a few seconds. A system notification emerged in his vision. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The quest has been updated. He read the message and dismissed it with a thought. After glancing at the two mutants to make sure they were still recovering and weren¡¯t about to jump him, he pulled up the info on his active quest. He instantly noticed that its objective had changed. You need to find out what is making the enemies you kill in the ancient catacombs resurrect from the dead. So those mutants were actually unkillable. Well, they could be killed, but after a few minutes, they revived. He needed to find out why it was happening and most likely put an end to it. That also must have been the reason he hadn¡¯t gotten any XP for the two mutants he¡¯d slain. Jack put away the quest information and glanced at the creatures. They¡¯d already recovered from the wounds he¡¯d inflicted on them and were now moving in his general direction. Raising his sword, Jack lurched toward them. This time, he killed them faster, without getting wounded in the process. The two mutants lay sprawled on the floor again, but just in a few minutes, they would revive once more. Jack didn¡¯t wait for it to happen. He spun around and strode to the corridor that led somewhere deeper into the catacombs. Jack continued to explore this underground place for quite a while, traversing one corridor after another. Each corridor ended in a room having an archway that led to another corridor. So far, this underground place was straightforward, all the corridors without any bends or forks. It was no maze, and it was a good thing. It was absolutely impossible to get lost in this place. Jack continued to travel deeper into the catacombs, killing all the mutants he came across on his way. So far, it was the only kind of enemy he¡¯d encountered here. Most of them were in groups of twos or threes, and Jack didn¡¯t experience much trouble dealing with them. After taking care of a group of mutants, he immediately continued to travel deeper into the catacombs without waiting for the killed enemies to rise from the dead. The further into the catacombs he went, the more convinced he became that there weren¡¯t any other kinds of monsters in that place. Sure enough, he didn¡¯t receive any XP for the mutants he killed, but all his battle skills that were used during the fights were gradually increasing. At some point, he reached into his backpack and took out an identification spell. He unrolled it and glanced at the magical symbols written on it in gold ink. With a thought, he wished to use the scroll, and it immediately disappeared in a brief flash of light. The identification spell he¡¯d just received could be used three times. Jack spent one of the uses on the next mutant he encountered. He didn¡¯t learn much about it, though. He found out that the mutants residing in the ancient catacombs belonged to the race called monsters and that they were of common rarity, which meant that they were pretty weak and easy to kill. Finally, Jack reached the final room of the ancient catacombs. It was noticeably larger than all the previous ones he¡¯d come through. Jack took a few careful steps into the room and came to a halt when he noticed a strange large creature standing in the middle. Looks like a boss fight is awaiting me, Jack thought. Chapter 32 – Jack – Unpleasant Surprise from The Witch For a moment, Jack simply stared at the creature standing in the middle of the room. It was definitely a she. The monster had a feminine body and was dressed in something like a long robe. The cloth was torn in many places, and her rotted flesh that was so dark it was almost black could be seen through numerous ragged holes. Jack couldn¡¯t see her face, because she had her back turned to him. However, he could see that the monster was bald and had two long horns, growing from the front of her head and curling back along her skull. In her right hand, she held a staff decorated with a skull of some horned animal. At that moment, she casually turned and seemed to look toward one of the corners of the room. Now that she was halfway turned in his direction, Jack could see that just like the mutants he¡¯d been fighting in the catacombs, she was blind and had long, pointed elvish ears. The two large horns grew from where her eyes should have been. Most of the flesh on her face had rotten and flaked away, revealing the yellowish skull. Her lips and most of her cheeks were missing, putting rotten teeth on display. The monster kept staring in the same direction. At least she seemed to, but having no eyes she couldn¡¯t see anything. Shouldn¡¯t have. Still, something definitely attracted her attention, and Jack turned his head to look in the same direction. At first, he didn¡¯t notice anything of interest. Here and there were pillars, but other than that, the room appeared to be empty. However, when Jack looked around more carefully, he spotted bodies of dead mutants scattered around the room. The room was large and dark, and that was the reason he hadn¡¯t noticed the dead bodies before. The monster raised her staff and gave it a slow wave around the room. Some kind of magical energy flowed from the horned skull at the tip of her staff. Immediately, from different parts of the room came the sounds of the mutants getting up from the floor. A notification flashed before Jack¡¯s eyes. The quest has been updated. Jack called up the description of his current quest. Its objective had just changed. The witch¡¯s dark magic causes killed enemies to rise from the dead. You need to kill the witch to destroy her spell. So Jack now knew what he needed to do to complete the quest. But before attacking the witch, he decided to use his identification spell on her. It didn¡¯t tell him much about her, though. The only thing that he learned about her was that she was an epic enemy. It was the first time he¡¯d encountered an enemy of this rarity. All the creatures he¡¯d fought so far were common. Jack had a feeling that the fight against the witch wasn¡¯t going to be easy. Raising his sword, he began to walk toward the witch. He was sure he produced little to no noise while he walked, but the witch heard him nonetheless. She spun toward him, raising her staff. Her jaws opened much wider than a human mouth could, emitting a deafening shriek. Gritting his teeth, Jack burst into a run toward her, but before he could reach the witch, she pointed her staff at him. A burst of magical energy dashed from the tip and slammed into him. The force of the impact was devastating. Jack felt as if he¡¯d been hit by a freight train. He flew a few feet backward and collapsed to the stone floor with a dull thud. A few nearest blind mutants immediately picked up on the noise he¡¯d made and raced toward him. By the time Jack got to his feet, he¡¯d been surrounded by a few mutants. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He swung his sword at one of them, slicing the monster diagonally across its body. The mutant took a couple of shaky steps toward him before tumbling down. Jack ducked when another mutant tried to grab him and dodged a third enemy¡¯s attack. All those points he¡¯d put into Agility were really paying off. He was too fast and agile for the mutants to hit him. After evading another mutant¡¯s claws, he pierced his enemy through its heart, killing the monster instantly. Jack immediately turned to face another enemy that was about to attack him. It took him less than a minute to deal with the mutants the witch had revived. As he already knew, they would soon rise from the dead again, so he wasted no time sprinting toward the witch. She opened her mouth wide, screeching in rage upon seeing him deal with her minions without much trouble. She pointed her staff at him again, but this time Jack was ready. He jumped to the side with the speed and agility of a cat, and the wave of magical energy passed through the air, missing him completely. The witch screeched in frustration. Jack held out his left hand toward her and utilized the fireball spell. His hand burst into flames, and a fraction of a second later, a fireball flew from his hand. The magical projectile struck the witch in the chest, the force of the explosion shaking her, almost knocking her off her feet. The witch didn¡¯t like it. She didn¡¯t like it at all. She screamed in rage at him unintelligibly. ¡°Did you think you were the only one who could use magic, huh?¡± Jack retorted. When he got within a sword¡¯s reach of her, he lurched forward in an attempt to pierce her through the heart and bring the battle to an end. However, just before the tip of his blade would have pierced her flesh, the witch struck her staff against the floor and disappeared in a brief flash of crimson light. Carried by his momentum, Jack almost lost his balance. Spotting a flash of light out of the corner of his eye, he glanced in that direction and saw the witch materialize several meters away from him. He sprinted toward her, outstretching his left arm toward her and casting another fireball on the run. The witch raised her staff again. He expected her to eject another wave of magical energy at him or teleport out of harm¡¯s way again, but she did something else instead. She waved her staff in the air, and a spherical energy shield materialized around her. The fireball hit the shield, weakening it. Jack launched a few more magical projectiles at it before it was finally destroyed, leaving the witch vulnerable again. He ran toward her, raising his sword, getting ready to swing it at her. The witch neither launched a wave of energy at him nor teleported out of the way, probably because these spells hadn¡¯t recharged yet. When Jack got within an arm¡¯s reach of the witch, he swung his sword at her. The witch raised her staff, attempting to block his strike, but it didn¡¯t do her any good. The blade slashed her skeletal arm, slicing through flesh and bone with ease. The severed hand still holding the staff dropped to the ground. The enraged witch screeched at him, but her scream was cut short when Jack¡¯s powerful swing detached her horned head from the body. A spray of dark, almost black blood gushed from the stump of her neck. The headless body collapsed to the ground while the head flew sideways, hitting the ground and rolling away. Jack quickly looked around, but the mutants he¡¯d recently killed hadn¡¯t risen from the dead yet. And now that the witch was dead, they most likely would never do so. Jack sheathed his sword just as a notification popped up in his vision. You have completed the quest. You can now pick your reward. Jack was about to do just that, but he then heard a strange voice behind him. He spun around, drawing his sword again, ready to fight whoever was about to attack him. However, there was nobody behind him. It took him a moment to realize who was talking. The familiar screeching voice was coming from the horned head of the witch as her lipless mouth moved. She was muttering some strange words. A sinister message appeared in his vision. You have just been cursed. ¡°Are you fucking kidding me?¡± Jack snapped in frustration. ¡°It¡¯s not fair!¡± After uttering the curse, the witch¡¯s head went silent. She was dead for good now. Chapter 33 – David – The Captive They¡¯d tied him to a sturdy tree, his hands pulled back around the trunk, secured by a thick, coarse rope. David had been twisting and turning his wrists, trying to loosen the rope, feeling the rough fibers of the binding slowly give way under his persistent movements. Each subtle twist and turn of his wrists caused the rope to slacken, the fibers protesting with a soft groan. While he worked on freeing himself, his eyes flicked between the trees surrounding him, scanning for any threats. A sharp crackling reached his ears from the left, the sound of twigs breaking underfoot. He instantly stopped what he was doing and glanced in that direction. He saw two large male figures appear out of the foliage¨Chis captors had already returned. One of them carried a sack with something inside, and the other one held a large plastic bottle filled with water. Upon seeing the two of them, David gritted his teeth. He¡¯d hoped they would be gone longer. He¡¯d loosened the binding around his wrists somewhat but not enough to free his hands and escape yet. One of the two sat on his haunches beside a circle of rocks and put some dry twigs in there. He cast a simple spell to create a small gush of fire. The firewood burst into flames immediately. He then stood up and poured the water from the bottle into the pot that hung over the campfire. While he was busy doing all that, the second guy stepped up to David. ¡°Look what we¡¯ve brought you,¡± he said, opening the sack so David could see what was inside. ¡°We stumbled across these mushrooms nearby, but we have no idea if they¡¯re edible. You know what that means, right?¡± He laughed in a hoarse voice as he stood up and joined the first guy. He dropped the sack to the ground, and they began taking the mushrooms out of the sack and tossing them into the pot with boiling water. David resumed wriggling his wrists, not worrying that his captors might notice what he was doing anymore. He had to get the fuck out of there as soon as possible. He¡¯d been their captive for a few days now. He¡¯d run into them when he was exploring the forest, and they attacked him without provocation. He¡¯d lost the fight. They could just have killed him, but instead, they found a use for him. The forest was full of potential food, but they didn¡¯t know what was edible and what was not, so they decided to test out everything on him first. The last time, they¡¯d killed some disgusting-looking insect-like creature and cooked it. Sure enough, they made him eat it even though from the smell alone it was obvious that it wasn¡¯t edible. When he tried to resist, they¡¯d beat him up, breaking fingers on his left hand. One of them then used healing magic on him, but he didn¡¯t bother to set David¡¯s broken bones first, probably thinking that the magic would take care of that. But it didn¡¯t. As a result, the bones of his broken fingers healed wrongly, in misaligned positions. He lost some mobility in the fingers of his left hand and couldn¡¯t close that hand enough to make a fist anymore. After they made him eat the meat of the cooked insect-like creature, he¡¯d almost immediately gotten sick, and the whole next day he¡¯d been in so much pain and had such a high fever that he¡¯d thought he¡¯d die. To his captors¡¯ and his own surprise, he¡¯d managed to get through this. And now they wanted to make him eat some strange mushrooms. From their disgusting smell, it was obvious they weren¡¯t edible either. Probably they were poisonous. David tensed when his captors walked up to him, carrying the pot with the stinking cooked mushrooms. ¡°I fucking ain¡¯t eating it,¡± David snarled at them. ¡°Oh yes, you are,¡± one of them responded. ¡°If you don¡¯t, we¡¯ll break all the fingers in your other hand.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fucking inedible! Can¡¯t you tell by the smell?¡± The other one said, trying to breathe through his mouth, ¡°You know he may be right.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± the first captor said. ¡°If anything, his suffering might entertain us.¡± ¡°You got identification scrolls, dammit,¡± he yelled at them. ¡°Why don¡¯t you use them to learn what is edible and what is not?¡± ¡°Why waste such precious spells when we¡¯re keeping you around for this exact purpose?¡± David had known they would say something like that. The reason he asked the question was that he was just stalling for time. He¡¯d loosened the binding almost enough to get rid of the rope. He only needed a few more seconds. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. However, the two captors had already reached him. When the one holding the pot began to lower to the ground, David kicked him hard in the knee. The guy yelped in pain, and the pot flew from his hands. The boiling-hot water filled with mushrooms splashed over the second guy who collapsed to the ground, screaming bloody murder. ¡°Sonofabitch,¡± the first one hissed at him. ¡°You¡¯ll pay for this, you mothe¨C¡± He shut up in surprise when he saw David rise from the ground, the binding gone. Now that his hands were free, David could use magic. He knew two spells, but he couldn¡¯t have used them when his hands were tied. Besides, those two spells had been useless when his hands were tied. Now that he was free, his spells could help him escape from his captors. He¡¯d already fought them once but lost, so now he was going to run away instead. David held his hand out toward the other guy, and cast a spell, causing a powerful rush of wind to slam into him. The guy was hurled backward a few feet away from him, but before he even hit the ground, David had already spun around and burst into a run. ¡°You¡¯re fucking dead,¡± he heard the guy who¡¯d gotten burnt by the boiling water yell. ¡°You ain¡¯t getting away from us!¡± It wasn¡¯t long before David heard his captors crash through the foliage, hot on his heels. He used his second spell, temporarily turning himself invisible. He hid in the nearby bushes, watching the two guys close in on his position. As he watched them, he realized that while they couldn¡¯t see him, they followed the path he¡¯d made through the foliage without much trouble. Their Hunting skills must have been pretty good because his captors were able to discern his footprints set into the soft ground very easily. At this rate, it wouldn¡¯t take them long to reach the spot where he¡¯d hidden. By the time it happened, his invisibility spell might have worn off. He had to continue to run while he had a bit of an advantage over them. He jumped to his feet and resumed running away. Sure enough, his captors heard the noise he was making. ¡°I can hear him but can¡¯t see,¡± one of them yelled. ¡°The bastard must¡¯ve used the invisibility spell,¡± the other one responded. ¡°This way!¡± Legs pumping, hands flying, David ran as fast as his legs could carry him. At some point, he became visible again. He learned about it when he heard victorious shouts behind him. David noticed something up ahead. It was a treehouse that was built around the huge trunk of an enormous tree. ¡°What the hell,¡± he muttered. He didn¡¯t expect to stumble across something like that. He was so surprised he even slowed down, but a second later, he heard the footfalls behind him and accelerated again. ¡°Help,¡± he yelled as he ran toward the treehouse. There was no answer, and nobody peeked out the windows. David spotted an elevator that could be used to get up to the treehouse. Without giving it much thought, he jumped onto the platform. There was a lever, and when David gave it a tug, the elevator began to ascend. At this moment, the two guys burst out of the foliage. Looking down at them, David wondered if they knew about this place. Judging by the surprised looks on their faces, it was the first time they¡¯d seen it too. After they realized David was slipping away from them, they burst toward the great tree but immediately stopped¨Cthe elevator was already too high. One of them fired the crossbow he was armed with, but the bolt passed harmlessly over David¡¯s head. The other guy launched a fireball, and it exploded upon impact with the trunk of the great tree. Seeing that he¡¯d missed his target, the guy readjusted his aim and was about to cast another fireball, but the first guy stopped him for some reason. The elevator finally slid inside the treehouse and stopped its ascent. David ran to one of the windows and looked outside. His captors stood at the same spot, looking up at the treehouse and conversing among themselves. They couldn¡¯t get up to the treehouse, this much was obvious. David was safe. Then he realized he¡¯d just barged into somebody¡¯s house, and whoever lived here might not be happy about it. ¡°Hello?¡± He called. ¡°Sorry for barging in, but it was an emergency. I can explain everything.¡± He listened for an answer, but nobody responded. The treehouse was very quiet. Maybe nobody was home, but David had to make sure. He slowly walked from one room to another. The treehouse was huge and built around the trunk of the great tree, so eventually he returned to the room he¡¯d started from. Nobody was home. The house was so huge several people could live there, but only a few rooms were furnished. The treehouse had a lounge, a kitchen, an alchemy lab, a storage area, a bedroom, and even a pretty spacious balcony with a couple of armchairs and a table. Whoever built this house had done a great job. All the rooms that were furnished were quite comfy. David immediately liked this place. In the storage area were stacked enough self-heating meals to last the owner of the treehouse for months. In one of the other rooms, bookshelves lined the walls. He took one of the books and opened it. As it turned out, the book had lots of potion recipes written in it. Whoever lived here must have been pretty good at alchemy too. David returned the book to where he¡¯d taken it from and walked over to one of the windows. The two guys still stood at the same spot. They still hadn¡¯t figured out how to get David and were probably now wondering what they should do. David wondered the same thing. Whoever lived here might return soon. And then what? Who would they side with? Would they help David out, a person they didn¡¯t even know or would they rather team up with his ex-captors to help them get him? What to do? David thought nervously. What to do? Chapter 34 – Jack – Trip Back Home It was getting dark in the forest. Jack had completed the quest a couple of hours ago and was now traveling back home. After killing the witch and getting the message about being cursed, Jack pulled up the Status Effects bar. There was a line saying that he had a curse, but it didn¡¯t specify what kind of curse it was or in what way it affected him. He tried to use his identification spell on the curse only to receive a system message telling him the level of his spell was too low to identify the curse. It was annoying as hell. But what pissed him off even more than that was the fact that the witch had been able to put a curse on him after he severed her head. She should have been dead by then, but somehow she¡¯d managed to curse him just before she finally died. It¡¯d been some crazy black magic at play. For a few minutes after failing to identify the curse, Jack just monitored his condition but didn¡¯t notice any changes in himself. Whatever the curse was had no effect on him. Or so it seemed. Jack was pretty much sure that the curse wasn¡¯t as harmless as it seemed and that sooner or later, he would find out what the witch had done to him. After giving up his attempts to learn anything about the curse, Jack took some time to examine the reward for completing the quest. There were three items to choose from, a light armor set, a two-handed sword, and a crossbow. All of the three items were of epic rarity. He could pick only one, though. After giving it some thought, he decided to pick the light armor set. It had good protection quality, increasing every type of resistance by 10 percent. The two-handed sword was of no use to him because he didn¡¯t have the skill for it. Besides, he preferred to use one-handed weapons. He would love to lay his hands on the epic crossbow, though. Then again, he didn¡¯t have the skill for ranged weapons yet, and one-handed swords were his main weapons for now. He switched into the epic light armor he¡¯d received for completing the quest and made his way to the exit from the ancient catacombs. On his way through the corridors and rooms, he encountered mutants that he¡¯d once killed. They had revived before he killed the witch, but now that she was dead and her resurrection spell was no longer active, the mutants couldn¡¯t revive anymore. They died for good when he slew them again, and now he was finally receiving XP for killing them. After getting out of the catacombs, Jack set off for the Great Tree Cottage, the treehouse that he¡¯d built a few days ago and that had become his home. He really liked that place and couldn¡¯t wait to get back there. However, he soon realized he wouldn¡¯t be able to make it home before nightfall. He was still in the Darkwoods, and the trip to the Sungrove where his home was located would take a few hours. Jack wasn¡¯t willing to make such a trip after the sunset. Dangerous creatures hunted at night, and while Jack could take care of himself by that point, there was no reason to take unnecessary chances. So after consulting the map, he changed direction and set off for Storage One, the small wooden house he¡¯d built in the Darkwoods many weeks ago when the Store was still available for use. In the past, he¡¯d kept his self-heating meals in that small building. But he¡¯d long since brought all of them to his treehouse, so other than a bed there wasn¡¯t anything else in the small building now. Jack made it to the building just before nightfall. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. The fight with the witch and her minions had been exhausting. Jack would love to eat something to restore some of his energy, but, alas, there was no food in the Storage One anymore. So he just lay on his bed and closed his eyes, falling asleep almost immediately. Stolen story; please report. Only he didn¡¯t get much sleep. He woke up to the sound of some creatures shuffling around just outside the small building. At first, he thought it might have been some cave rats that, as he already knew, crawled out of their lairs at night. However, he quickly realized he was wrong. It didn¡¯t sound like them. He sat up just as the door rattled in the doorframe as somebody, something, tried to open it from the other side. Jack stood up and drew his sword. The door shook violently as somebody tried to get inside. It was obvious that it wouldn¡¯t be long before they managed to do so. Jack turned out to be right. Just a few seconds later, the wooden bolt cracked and the door flew inwards, slamming against the wall. A figure stood in the doorway. Just as it lurched inside, Jack held out a hand toward it and launched a fireball. The magical projectile slammed into the creature, the force of the explosion hurtling it back outside. Raising his sword, Jack ran out of the building too. What he saw outside astounded him. There was enough moonlight to see by, so he saw that the small building was surrounded by those creatures he¡¯d fought in the ancient catacombs. What the hell, Jack thought. Where the hell did you come from? Didn¡¯t I kill you all in the catacombs? He quickly looked around expecting the witch to be among the blind mutants, but she was nowhere to be found. Only her minions were there. And there were so many of them around him, much more than he¡¯d encountered in the catacombs. He was surrounded by the blind mutants from all sides, and before he could come up with a plan of action, the nearest mutants attacked him from different directions. Jack fought relentlessly, killing one mutant after another, but every single one he killed seemed to spawn two more. There was no way he could kill them all, and at some point, he had to retreat back into the small building behind him. He was bleeding from the numerous wounds the mutants had just inflicted on him. It wasn¡¯t a good idea to trap himself inside the small building, but being outside surrounded by dozens of those mutants was even worse. Jack killed a mutant that ran into the building and immediately took on another one that came next. Suddenly, a board was torn off from one of the walls. Then another one from the other side, then another and another. That flimsy building hadn¡¯t been built to withstand a direct attack. It was a simple shelter, just a storage and sleeping area. It was no fortress. Blind mutants filled the newly made holes in the walls, fighting among themselves, each trying to be the first one inside. The whole house was shaking violently. It wouldn¡¯t be long before it collapsed in on itself. Jack killed a few more mutants in front of him before he finally managed to run back outside. As soon as he did so, the building behind him completely broke down, the walls and the roof crashing in shattered pieces down to the ground. Jack spent the rest of the night fighting the blind mutants. There was no way he could run away from them. There were so many of them he was surrounded by them all the time. It was a miracle by itself that he managed to get through the night alive. When the first beams of sunlight shone through the canopy, something began to happen to the mutants. Their movements became sluggish, their bodies seemed to shrink and get transparent as if they were melting. A few seconds later, all the mutants, both alive and dead, disappeared without a trace as if the violent night attack had never happened. Had it not been for the ruins of the destroyed house, Jack would have thought that he¡¯d imagined the whole thing. ¡°What the fuck was that,¡± he muttered to himself. One thing was clear¨Cwhatever it was had something to do with the witch¡¯s curse. The gore-caked sword slipped from his grip and dropped to the ground. The world swam before Jack¡¯s eyes and he collapsed as he lost consciousness. Chapter 35 – Kwan – Guardians of the Forest ¡°Nina, what are you doing?!¡± He stared at the girl¡ªwho had just stepped into his house¡ªas she walked toward his bed, shedding one piece of clothing after another, dropping them to the floor. Finally, she stopped just before his bed, completely naked. Kwan couldn¡¯t tear his gaze off her nude young body. Seeing her full breasts with erect nipples and the patch of soft pubic hair between her legs made him hard to the point of pain. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t like what you see,¡± Nina said. ¡°I like you,¡± Kwan croaked. ¡°I like you very much. But¡ª¡± ¡°But what?¡± Nina asked as she crawled into his bed and began to pull down his pants. Kwan got really nervous. ¡°Nina, we can¡¯t do it!¡± The girl lay on top of him, her beautiful face two inches above his. ¡°Why not? Or you don¡¯t want to do it?¡± ¡°No¡ªI mean yes¡ªI mean we probably shouldn¡¯t¡ªI mean¡ª¡± Nina planted a kiss on his lips, silencing him. He felt like he was melting when her wet tongue slid inside his mouth and met his. Nina then pulled away from him and resumed pulling down his pants, exposing his erection. She straddled him, guiding him inside of her. Kwan gasped when she sank down, taking all of him. She moved slowly at first, gradually increasing her pace. Kwan felt he was reaching climax already. ¡°Nina, wait, I''m about to¡ª¡± ¡°Not yet, lover, not yet, not yet,¡± she panted as she neared her own release. She continued to ride him, her full breasts bouncing up and down, and then she gasped, ¡°I love you, Kwan!¡± ¡°Nina, I can¡¯t¡­ I can¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°Soon, lover, soon¡­ Yes! Now! Go for it!¡± They came simultaneously, Kwan exploding inside of her as her body fluttered uncontrollably with the power of her own ecstasy¡ª Kwan¡¯s eyes snapped open. At first, he couldn¡¯t understand where he was. Then as he fully woke up, he realized he was lying on his bed in his house. Sunlight was streaming in through the windows. He was alone. Kwan moved, wincing at the stickiness in his underwear. It¡¯d been just a dream. Just another wet dream featuring Nina. Kwan sighed and got out of his bed. Another day had just begun. Later on, Kwan, Michael, Nina, and Kirk gathered up at the center of their camp. During the last several days, they had built two more houses, one for Michael, and another for Kwan. They also chopped down some trees and built a tall fence made of sharp-tipped wooden stakes. They¡¯d also built a few guard towers, which were even taller than the fence, from where they could watch the forest surrounding their houses. The perimeter of their camp was almost secured¡ªthey only needed to build one more wall and a gate. That was what they planned for today. For the next several hours, the four of them were busy getting the wood. Since Michael was the strongest and Kirk was the most skillful at felling, it was the two of them who chopped down trees while Kwan and Nina moved the carts loaded with logs back to their camp. They didn¡¯t talk much, mostly working in silence. In the first several days of meeting Nina and Kirk, Kwan tried to get to know the pretty girl a little bit better and even made an attempt to flirt with her. However, she hardly ever talked to him. She was always nice to him, but it was obvious that she wasn¡¯t interested in getting involved in a romantic relationship with him. And the reason for that was that she was already in love with Kirk. Out of the four of them, there was only one person who for some reason seemed unaware of her feelings for him¡ªKirk himself. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. In his wet dreams, it was always Nina who took the initiative, but the harsh reality was altogether different. Not only Nina wasn¡¯t interested in flirting with him, but she hardly ever talked to him. When he tried to strike up a conversation with her, she gave one-word answers or simply smiled without saying anything at all. When Nina and Kwan returned to Kirk and Michael after another trip to their camp, Kirk had just felled another tree. He didn¡¯t bother to chop it into logs by hand. Instead, he paid a certain amount of gold to the system and it did the deed for him¡ªthe tree disappeared and in its place materialized a few delimbed perfect-looking logs as well as a bunch of sticks. Kirk pointed toward Michael who was swinging his ax at another tree, about to fell it too. ¡°That will be the last one, guys,¡± he said to Kwan and Nina. ¡°I think we have enough wood now to finish the fence. So let¡¯s wait for Michael to fell that tree and return to the camp together.¡± Nina smiled, nodding happily, glad to be in Kirk¡¯s company again. She walked so close to him, her ample chest pressed against his upper arm. Hoping his emotions weren¡¯t showing on his face, Kwan turned away from them and turned his head to look at Michael instead. The big fifty-year-old guy swung his ax powerfully at the trunk for the last time, and the tree began to fall. A couple of seconds later, it hit the ground with a thud. At the same time, Kwan thought he heard something else somewhere behind him. He looked over his shoulder but didn¡¯t see anything suspicious. At least not at first, but a second later, he caught a glimpse of a movement to the side and turned his head to look that way. What he saw made his skin crawl. One of the nearby oak-like trees was moving. It looked like it was transforming into something else, its branches creaking loudly. ¡°Guys, what the hell is that?¡± His three friends turned to look in the direction Kwan was pointing. The large tree continued to change until it finally turned into some kind of humanoid creature with two powerful legs and arms. It then began to walk toward them, the ground shaking as it took one step after another. The four of them just stared, having never seen anything like that before. ¡°What should we do?¡± Kwan asked, glancing at Kirk who was the leader of their small group. Nina held her hands out toward the tree golem, ready to use offensive magic on the monster as soon as Kirk said so. But he was silent, not sure what to do. The golem almost reached them, towering over the four people. It balled one of its hands into a fist and swung downward, aiming for Michael who was the closest to it. The big guy jumped aside, barely avoiding being smashed to a pulp as the huge fist hit the ground where he¡¯d just stood. Kirk finally made up his mind. ¡°Attack!¡± Nina launched a fireball at the tree golem, but it didn¡¯t do any visible damage to it at all. Kirk and Kwan drew their swords, and Michael put huge brass knuckles on his hands. The four guys attacked the golem from different directions. The huge monster was slow, and the four of them had no trouble dodging its attacks. However, they couldn¡¯t inflict any damage on the monster. Their weapons seemed to be totally ineffective against it. After a few minutes of fighting, Kirk gave a command to back off for a moment. ¡°What do we do?¡± Michael asked. ¡°That thing seems to be unkillable.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the camp,¡± Kirk said. ¡°What about the logs?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll return for them later.¡± Since the tree golem was slow, they had no trouble getting away from it. However, they had a feeling it was constantly following them. When they got back to the camp, Kwan climbed into one of the guard towers and looked over the pointed stakes of the fence toward the direction they¡¯d come from. They had to make sure if they¡¯d managed to give the golem the slip or if it was still following them. A few minutes later, they got the answer when Kwan saw the golem step from the nearby trees and begin to walk toward their camp. ¡°Oh crap.¡± He leaned over the wooden railing to look down at his friends standing near the guard tower. ¡°Guys, the golem¡¯s coming! That freaking thing¡¯s still honed in on us!¡± His friends argued between themselves agitatedly. The seemingly invincible tree golem kept walking toward their camp, but they had no idea what to do. Chapter 36 – Jack – Trouble at Home Home sweet home. Jack couldn¡¯t keep a smile off his face as he was approaching the Great Tree Cottage. He was finally here. After defeating the horde of blind mutants the previous night, he¡¯d blacked out, completely exhausted. Well, he hadn¡¯t actually defeated them. Instead, they simply disappeared as the sun began to rise. At least, he¡¯d managed to survive the sudden night attack. He¡¯d regained consciousness in the middle of the next day, the sun high in the sky. His leather armor was torn in many places where the mutants¡¯ claws and teeth ripped it. All the wounds he¡¯d received in the battle had been superficial and healed by the time he came around. Jack had no idea where the blind mutants had come from, but it clearly had something to do with the witch¡¯s curse. There were none of them during the day, and the horde that had attacked him the previous night had disappeared as soon as the sun began to rise. Which most likely meant that another horde of mutants would come at him after nightfall. He had to get home before that happened. He managed to get through the previous night, but there was no telling if he would get so lucky the next time. So he consulted the map and set off for home. The trip from the Darkwoods to the Sungrove took him a few hours. By the time he was nearing his home, the sun had already begun to set. It wouldn¡¯t be long before it got dark. He really needed to find a way to fast travel from one location to another. The initial joy of seeing his huge treehouse was replaced by caution. He slowed down until he stopped about thirty yards from the great tree on which his house was built. Something was wrong, but it took him a second to realize what was bothering him. The elevator platform wasn¡¯t at the ground level, which meant that somebody had used it to ascend to his treehouse. Somebody had barged into his home while he was absent, and from the looks of it, they were still inside his treehouse. There was a crack of fallen branches being stepped on behind him. Jack spun around in time to see two men step out from around the nearest tree trunk. They wore leather light armor and had shortswords hanging at their hips. One of them had a crossbow across his back. Jack wasn¡¯t surprised by seeing other people. He¡¯d already known that he wasn¡¯t the only person in this forest and was well aware that sooner or later, he would meet other people. In fact, he¡¯d been looking forward to it. However, the two guys before him didn¡¯t look friendly at all, and Jack¡¯s hand instinctively reached for the hilt of his sword. One of the strangers raised his hand in a placating manner. ¡°We ain¡¯t gonna cause you any trouble, friend,¡± he said. Jack glanced between them, still tense. ¡°Who are you people?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Mercer and this is Dregu.¡± Jack stared at the two for a moment. While they acted in a friendly way, they didn¡¯t strike him as good people. At least, such was his first impression of them, but he decided to give them the benefit of the doubt for now. ¡°I¡¯m Jack,¡± he finally answered. ¡°Nice to meet you, Jack,¡± Mercer said, trying hard to look like a good guy. He made a movement as if he was going to stick out his hand for a handshake but thought better of it for some reason. Jack simply nodded, waiting for them to tell him what the hell they were doing here and what they wanted from him. He had a strong feeling that something was off here. ¡°This is your house over there I assume,¡± Mercer said, waving his hand at the great tree behind Jack. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Yeah,¡± he replied, his gaze never leaving the two strangers in front of him. They were giving off really bad vibes. ¡°Nice house you got there,¡± Dregu opened his mouth for the first time. ¡°You live all alone there?¡± ¡°What do you think?¡± Jack said, having no interest in telling them the truth. ¡°Well, this house is huge,¡± Dregu said. ¡°A few people could live there. However, we¡¯ve been here for more than twenty-four hours and you are the first person whom we saw come here. So I assume you¡¯re the only resident of this place.¡± Jack didn¡¯t like where it was going. ¡°What do you want?¡± He asked in a harsher voice than he¡¯d intended. Mercer picked up on his mood. ¡°Look, man, we don¡¯t have to be enemies.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get straight to business,¡± Jack said. ¡°What do you people want from me?¡± ¡°Very well,¡± Mercer nodded. ¡°There¡¯s a person in your treehouse. His name is David.¡± Jack couldn¡¯t help but glance over his shoulder at the treehouse behind him. There wasn¡¯t any movement behind any of the windows. He turned his attention back to the strangers. ¡°That guy is our enemy,¡± Mercer continued. ¡°He attacked us out of nowhere, but when he realized he couldn¡¯t defeat the two of us, he escaped. We chased him here, but before we could catch him, he got into your house where he¡¯s currently staying.¡± He was obviously lying. Jack didn¡¯t have to be a detective to tell that what Mercer had just told him was a blatant lie. Something else had happened between these two strangers and the guy named David. He was about to say something, but then he noticed Dregu frown as he looked past Jack at something behind his back. Jack glanced over his shoulder once more and saw a guy step onto the balcony of his treehouse. He leaned over the wooden railing and shouted, ¡°Hey there. My name¡¯s David.¡± Jack heard Dregu curse under his breath, but he ignored him. He continued to stare at David who obviously was addressing him. ¡°I¡¯m Jack,¡± he shouted back to David. ¡°What is going on here?¡± He needed to hear both sides of this story before taking sides. ¡°This is your house, right?¡± David asked. ¡°Jack, I¡¯m sorry for barging into it, but I had no choice. These two guys kept me captive for a few days. They tortured me. They made me eat various things so they could learn what was edible and what was not. I almost died because of that.¡± He raised one of his hands high in the air. ¡°They broke all my fingers on my left hand when I tried to resist. But I escaped from them and took shelter in your house before they could¡¯ve caught me.¡± ¡°I hear you,¡± Jack said back to David when he finished speaking, and then he turned his attention back to Mercer and Dregu. The two of them no longer tried to pretend to be good guys. Well, Mercer no longer pretended to be who he wasn¡¯t, and as for Dregu, he hadn¡¯t tried to pretend to be a good person to begin with. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m gonna level with you,¡± Mercer said, with a hard expression on his face. ¡°What he just told you is the truth. But it has nothing to do with you. We have no beef with you, so just give us that asshole and we¡¯ll be out of your hair. Like I said in the beginning, we don¡¯t have to be enemies.¡± But Jack knew that it was just another lie. He saw how Dregu looked at his treehouse. He really liked it, and it was totally understandable. What was not to like about it? It was huge, it was sturdy, and it was high above the ground. Mercer and Dregu wouldn¡¯t mind taking this place from him to themselves. The only reason they hadn¡¯t killed Jack yet was because they didn¡¯t know how to get up to his treehouse. There seemingly was no way to call the elevator down, but they must¡¯ve thought that Jack knew another way to get up. So they needed him alive for now. Or maybe they planned to take him hostage to torture him and test potential food on him like they¡¯d done with David. But it wasn¡¯t the only reason Jack wasn¡¯t going to obey. These two strangers were bullies, and there was one thing Jack knew about bullies. You can¡¯t negotiate with them. You can only beat them to a pulp because that¡¯s the only language they understand. At least, it was Jack¡¯s point of view on the matter. He didn¡¯t know how or when he¡¯d come to such a conclusion, though. Probably it was his personal experience, but having no memories about his past life, it was hard to know for sure. There wasn¡¯t anything to discuss anymore. He had to fight them as there was no other way to settle this conflict. And he had to attack them first because it would give him a bit of an advantage over them. So Jack pretended to think about Mercer¡¯s offer for a second. Then in one swift, fluid motion he drew his sword and swung it at the nearest opponent. Chapter 37 – Nina – Fighting The Tree Golem A huge fist crashed through the window, taking down a section of the wall as well. Nina thrust her hands toward it, launching a fireball. The magical projectile exploded on impact with the monster¡¯s hand covered with tree bark but didn¡¯t do any visible damage to it. The huge fist thrashed around inside the house, knocking over and shattering all the furniture. Nina, Kirk, and Kwan managed to avoid being hit by it, but Michael wasn¡¯t so lucky. He wasn¡¯t as fast and agile as his three friends, and at some point, the monster¡¯s fist hit him with the force of a freight train, sending him flying across the room. He hit the wall on the opposite side and collapsed to the floor with a thud. ¡°Michael, are you okay?¡± Kirk shouted to him with worry in his voice. ¡°I''m fine,¡± the big guy replied as he slowly got to his feet. ¡°More or less, that is.¡± ¡°Catch,¡± Kwan said, tossing him a health potion. ¡°Much obliged,¡± Michael replied, catching the bottle out of the air and immediately drinking the contents. At that moment, the monster swung his fist across the room once more, but this time, all four of them managed to get out of the way in time. ¡°We can¡¯t fight the golem here,¡± Kwan yelled. ¡°Let¡¯s get back outside.¡± The tree golem they¡¯d encountered in the forest had followed them all the way to their camp. Since they still hadn¡¯t finished building one of the walls, the enormous tree monster had no trouble getting into their camp. The four of them had been fighting the golem for a few minutes but had hardly done any damage to it. They¡¯d decided to hide from it in one of their houses, but as they¡¯d just learned it hadn¡¯t been such a good idea. ¡°Get out of the building,¡± Kirk shouted to his friends, and they ran out of the house. They continued to attack the tree golem with everything they had. As they¡¯d already learned, the monster wouldn¡¯t leave them alone no matter what. It would follow them everywhere, and the only way to get rid of it was to defeat it. The tree monster was so tall Kirk, Kwan, and Michael who were armed with melee weapons could attack only its two huge legs covered with thick bark. Nina was a mage, so she launched fireballs at different parts of its body, trying to find a weak spot, but no dice so far. They had no idea how to defeat the powerful forest monster, but they had no other choice than to fight it. Nina had a feeling the tree golem could be defeated somehow¡ªthey just needed to find some kind of vulnerable spot. She stepped back for a moment to drink a stamina potion. Casting spells consumed a lot of energy. While Nina was an experienced mage by that point, using magic non-stop for such a long period of time was taking a toll on her. She was getting tired and therefore needed to restore her energy in order to be able to continue to fight. She drank a potion and debated whether it was enough or if she should drink another one. At that moment, she heard Kwan yell to her, ¡°Nina, watch out!¡± She looked up in time to see thorny vines shoot from the tree golem in her direction. She attempted to dash out of the way, but she was too late. The long snake-like plants wrapped around her slender body, and she yelped in pain when some of the thorns tore through the fabric of her robe and pierced her skin. Kirk and Michael wasted no time coming to her aid, but before they could reach her, the vines lifted her off the ground well out of their reach. Nina wiggled and jerked her body, exerting all her strength, but no matter what she did, she just couldn¡¯t free herself. Every movement she made caused the thorns to dig deeper into her flesh, hurting her and causing her eyes to tear up from the pain. The vines continued to bring her closer and closer to the tree golem. What is the monster planning to do with me? Nina couldn¡¯t even use magic right now. To cast a spell, she needed to think of it and simultaneously make a special motion with her hands. For instance, to launch a fireball she needed to hold her hand toward the target. Or if she wanted to heal herself, she needed to raise one hand and clench it into a fist. But right now her arms were pressed to her sides by the vines tightly wrapped around her body. The vines brought her so close to the tree golem its body filled her vision almost entirely. In the middle of its body opened a vertical tear. The vines hovered Nina just in front of it. The tear kept expanding, opening like an enormous mouth. Nina looked into it and saw what looked like a human heart inside the tree golem¡ªonly it was the size of a basketball. The heart was beating constantly, and Nina realized she¡¯d just found the monster¡¯s vulnerable spot. The question was whether she would live through this to tell her friends about her discovery. When the maw opened wide enough to swallow her whole, the vines resumed bringing her toward it. The tree golem was apparently planning to eat her. Nina screamed in horror. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. When Kwan saw the vines wrap around Nina¡¯s body and lift her off the ground, he¡¯d wasted no time dashing toward the building closest to the tree golem. Out of the four of them, he was the fastest and the most agile. Once he got on the building¡¯s roof, he spun around toward the tree golem in time to see it open its mouth to swallow Nina. Yelling in rage, he ran to the edge of the roof and jumped, raising his sword above his head, holding the grip with both hands. Still airborne, he swung the sword down, severing the vines holding Nina. Kirk and Michael caught her, breaking her fall. Kwan dropped to the ground nearby, curling into a roll to cushion his fall. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Kirk asked Nina. Instead of answering the question, she pointed upward and said, ¡°Guys, look!¡± They looked up and saw the tree golem¡¯s heart Nina had first seen a minute before. ¡°What the heck is that?¡± Kirk muttered. ¡°Looks like a heart,¡± Michael said. ¡°It sure does.¡± The tree golem began to close its maw, and Nina held her hands out toward it, launching a fireball. Before the monster could fully close its mouth, the magical projectile flew inside and hit the heart. The resultant explosion made the tree golem shudder. ¡°You hurt him, Nina,¡± Kirk yelled excitedly. ¡°It¡¯s in pain!¡± The monster continued to attack them, but the battle didn¡¯t last long after that. Now that they knew where its vulnerable spot was, they knew what they needed to do. While Kwan, Kirk, and Michael distracted the monster, Nina launched fireballs at the exact spot on its body where moments ago they¡¯d seen its heart. After a few hits, she finally managed to punch a hole in its body through which could be seen the monster¡¯s beating heart. The tree golem realized Nina posed the biggest threat to it, so it tried to get to her, but she always stayed a safe distance from the monster while her friends did their best to distract the golem from her. After Nina hit the monster¡¯s heart a few times with fireballs, the tree golem¡¯s enormous body shuddered for the last time and began to fall. The gigantic monster collapsed onto the building that was already damaged, crashing through the roof and partly obliterating two of the walls. ¡°Is it dead?¡± One of them asked. They got the answer a second later when all of them received lots of Essence points for killing the monster, with Nina getting the most XP for having dealt the most damage to it. After that, they spent a few hours chopping the tree golem into pieces and getting rid of them. They then brought the rest of the logs from the trees they¡¯d felled earlier on back to the camp. They used the wood to build the final wall and a gate. The perimeter of their camp was now secured. The walls were made of thick sharp-tipped wooden stakes. Nobody and nothing would be able to get into their camp without breaking one of the walls first. This long day was coming to an end. They¡¯d spent the first half of the day chopping down trees and carrying logs to the camp. Then they¡¯d been busy dealing with the tree golem and building the last wall and the gate. By the time the sun began to set, all of them were exhausted. They decided to call it a day. They ate together and then just sat around the campfire, discussing the recent battle against the tree golem. After they talked about it for a bit, they came to the conclusion that that monster had probably been some kind of a guardian of the forest. In the past several days, they¡¯d chopped down a lot of trees in order to get enough wood to build the walls as well as houses for Kwan and Michael. So they must¡¯ve made the forest mad with them, and it¡¯d turned one of the trees into a golem to deal with them. It was as good an explanation as any. The house that had been partly destroyed during the battle belonged to Kwan, but they didn¡¯t have enough wood left to restore it. Since they didn¡¯t want to wake up another tree golem, they decided not to chop down any trees for a few days. It left a question of where Kwan would live now. He stole a glance at Nina, hoping she would invite him to live with her even though he knew very well that it wasn¡¯t going to happen. It was just wishful thinking on his part. ¡°You could live with me,¡± Michael said. ¡°If you want, that is.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± Before meeting Kirk and Nina, Kwan and Michael had spent a lot of time together, so they were getting along very well. They exchanged goodnights and began to walk to their respective houses. When Kwan and Michael were nearing Michael¡¯s house, they heard fast footsteps behind them. ¡°Wait please,¡± Kwan heard Nina¡¯s voice behind him. He stopped and turned around. Nina caught up with them and stood before Kwan. ¡°I still haven¡¯t thanked you.¡± ¡°What for?¡± ¡°You saved my life.¡± ¡°Ugh¡ªThat¡¯s fine. You don¡¯t have to thank me,¡± Kwan mumbled, suddenly feeling shy. He wanted to add something else, but he was feeling too embarrassed for some reason. Nina took a step toward him, a serious look on his face. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for you, the golem would¡¯ve killed me.¡± Kwan blushed when Nina took another step toward him. Now she was so close to him her chest almost touched his. ¡°What are you¡ª¡± She stood on tiptoes and pecked him on the cheek. ¡°Thank you for saving me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± he managed to say. Nina smiled at him and began to walk back toward her house. Kwan watched her go until he realized Michael was staring at him intently. Kwan looked at him briefly and said, ¡°What are we waiting for? Let¡¯s go.¡± Without waiting for the answer, he turned toward Michael¡¯s house and began to walk toward it, hoping he looked casual and relaxed when in fact he was so excited that his heart hammered in his chest. At some point when they walked toward the building, he noticed that Michael was casting glances at him. It was then that Kwan realized he had a stupid smile plastered on his face. He immediately wiped it off. ¡°What?¡± He asked his friend looking at him. ¡°Nothing,¡± Michael replied, his eyes sparkling with amusement. Chapter 38 – Jack – Battling the Intruders As it turned out, fighting people wasn¡¯t the same as fighting monsters. Mercer and Dregu were just as experienced as Jack was. They skillfully dodged and blocked his attacks. No matter what he did, he couldn¡¯t break through their defenses. At some point, he realized they were playing with him. They stayed on the defensive without trying to attack him for some reason. A few minutes later, he learned why. ¡°Just tell us how to get David,¡± Mercer said. ¡°No reason for you to die for him. You don¡¯t even know him.¡± Jack didn¡¯t bother to reply. He was racking his brain, trying to come up with a plan of action. If he didn¡¯t think of something fast, they would crush him without much trouble. He thought hard, but no bright idea came to his mind. ¡°I think the elevator is the only way to get up,¡± Dregu said. ¡°So we don¡¯t need to keep this clown alive. Let¡¯s fucking kill him already. Then we¡¯ll figure out a way to get David.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± Mercer replied after a brief pause. After that, they went on the offensive. They swung their swords violently, coming at him simultaneously. So far, he managed to deflect all their attacks, but he knew that sooner or later, his luck would run out. At some point, he feigned at Mercer¡¯s head and when his opponent raised his sword to protect it, he slashed at his midsection instead. This simple trick worked, and Mercer yelped in pain and rage when the tip of Jack¡¯s blade cut through his leather armor, leaving a long cut across his stomach. ¡°You¡¯re fucking dead,¡± he snarled at Jack. ¡°You¡¯re gonna pay for¡ª¡± Using one hand, Jack launched a fireball at him. Cursing loudly, Mercer tried to dodge the magical projectile but being too close to Jack, he didn¡¯t succeed. The fireball exploded hurling him backward. Mercer collapsed to the ground, the armor on his left side gone, his skin scorched. Yet he was still alive. Moaning, he reached into a pouch on his belt to pull out a health potion. Jack wanted to finish him off before he healed himself, but Dregu stepped in front of him. He was enraged, attacking Jack with fierce force and violent speed. Jack retreated doing his best to block his enemy¡¯s attacks. Then he realized that in his rage Dregu forgot about defenses. When Jack saw an opening, he immediately counterattacked, piercing Dregu through the shoulder. He screamed in sudden pain and jumped back, swinging his sword violently in front of him to discourage Jack from trying to finish him off. Now that both Mercer and Dregu were wounded, they were way more wary of him than they¡¯d been before. They now knew he wasn¡¯t as easy a target as they¡¯d initially thought. They continued to attack him, but they were much more careful now. As Jack continued to fight them, he noticed that it was already dark in the forest. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of movement. He glanced in that direction and spotted a dark form in the nearby undergrowth. It had a humanoid body, and Jack immediately remembered what had happened the previous night. His two opponents didn¡¯t pay attention to it, though. They probably thought it was just an ordinary creature living in the forest. They didn¡¯t take it for a threat. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± Dregu suddenly asked, looking at something behind Jack. His surprise was sincere, and Jack glanced back over his shoulder. There was a blind mutant standing a few steps behind him, about to jump at him. Just as Jack spun around, the mutant charged at him. He dodged its attack without much trouble, piercing its heart. Another blind mutant materialized out of nowhere and attacked him. It took Jack only a second to take care of the new threat. As soon as he dealt with the second mutant, he heard fast footfalls behind him. He wheeled around in time to see Mercer and Dregu come at him. They must¡¯ve decided to kill him while he was distracted by dealing with the mutants. Dregu swung his sword at him, and Jack jumped backward. He tripped over the body of one of the mutants he¡¯d just killed and fell on his back. His enemies stepped closer to finish him off, but before they could do it, Mercer was attacked from behind by another blind mutant. The creature sunk its teeth into his shoulder, bringing the screaming guy down to the ground. Dregu looked at him, unsure if he needed to come to his companion¡¯s aid or if he could deal with the mutant by himself. Jack reached for his sword that had flown from his grip when he fell. Dregu spotted the movement and instantly turned his attention back to his opponent. He kicked the sword hard, and it skittered out of Jack¡¯s reach. Dregu brought his sword upward, glaring down at Jack with pure hatred in his eyes. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. He was about to bring his blade down on Jack when something approached him from behind. From the expression on his face, he must have sensed a movement behind him. At first, Jack thought it was another blind mutant, but he was wrong. A heavy club hit Dregu on the head, causing him to stumble. He turned around to see David standing behind him who must¡¯ve finally decided to get down from the treehouse and help Jack out. David was holding what looked like a heavy club in his good hand. He swung his weapon again, but Dregu deflected it with ease and then lurched at David, piercing him through the chest. He pulled his sword out of his body as it collapsed to the ground. By the time Dregu wheeled around to face his initial opponent, Jack had already been on his feet, with the sword in his hands. Dregu¡¯s face twisted in horror when he realized he didn¡¯t have time to assume a defensive pose. Jack swung his sword in an arc, cutting through his enemy¡¯s neck and sending the severed head flying to the side. Even before the headless body slumped to the ground, Jack spun to face Mercer. The guy was still pinned down to the ground by the mutant that had its teeth buried deep in his shoulder. Jack jumped toward them and stabbed the mutant through its back with his sword, the blade going all the way through its body and piercing Mercer¡¯s heart, killing both of them instantly. Jack withdrew his sword and glanced at David. He lay motionlessly on the ground, either dead or unconscious. It was most likely the former, but Jack had to make sure. If David was still alive, he couldn¡¯t just leave him behind. However, as he began running toward the motionless body, two more blind mutants appeared out of nowhere right in front of him. Behind him, he heard the sounds of even more approaching mutants. With every passing second, more and more monsters materialized all around him. If he didn¡¯t try to escape right now, he would be surrounded in no time flat. He spun toward his treehouse and burst into a run toward it, the swarm of mutants hot on his heels. When he killed Mercer and Dregu, he¡¯d received notifications telling him he¡¯d received Essence points and gold. However, he didn¡¯t read the notifications, only glanced at them, being focused solely on saving his life. He jumped onto the elevator platform and yanked the lever. One of the closest mutants stepped onto the platform right after he did. Jack took care of the monster as the platform began its ascent. Another mutant jumped and grasped the edge of the elevator, hanging off it, its legs dangling in the air. As the mutant began to climb onto the platform, Jack swung his sword at the monster, severing its hands and causing the mutant to drop down to the ground. The other mutants made it to the elevator shaft, but the platform was already too high for them to reach it. They just stood next to the elevator shaft as if they didn¡¯t know what to do next. Once Jack was inside his treehouse, he crossed the room and stepped through another door onto the balcony. He walked over to the wooden railing and looked down. There were so many blind mutants beneath the tree they surrounded it from every direction. However, they couldn¡¯t get up to his treehouse. Somehow, they sensed that their target was somewhere nearby but didn¡¯t know where exactly he was, so they just kept shuffling around the trunk of the great tree. Jack watched them for a minute. When he was absolutely sure they couldn¡¯t get up to his treehouse, he finally allowed himself to relax. He sat in one of the armchairs that were on the balcony and closed his eyes. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, tiredness began to overcome him. He opened his eyes when he remembered something. When he killed Mercer and Dregu, all the Essence points and gold they had on them had been given to him. However, at that time, he hadn¡¯t read the notifications to learn how many points and money he¡¯d gotten, because he was too busy running away. So he called up his character sheet and saw that he now had a lot of money and points, more than thirty-five thousand points and about fifty thousand gold. He had enough points to level up a few times. At first, it excited him, but then his mood darkened. He¡¯d just learned that killing a person gave you all the money and unspent points they had on them. It was really bad news. It meant he wouldn¡¯t be able to relax when he met other people even if they appeared friendly. He would have to watch them all the time to make sure they weren¡¯t going to stab him in the back only to take all his gold and Essence points. Jack was too tired at the moment, so he decided to spend the earned points later. He closed his eyes and almost immediately fell asleep. When he woke up in the morning, all the blind mutants were gone. He took the elevator down and examined the bodies of the three people who had perished the previous night. Carrion-eaters had done a number on them during the night. The bodies of Mercer and Dregu were bones with hardly any flesh left on them. The body of David had been dragged a little way away from the treehouse, and it took Jack some time to find it. He launched a fireball at the creatures feeding on David¡¯s body to scare them off. He then checked the weapons the three of them were armed with, but none of them were any better than his sword. The previous night, Jack had assumed that David was armed with a club, but now in the daylight, he could see that it was just a thick branch, which he must¡¯ve found and picked up from the ground after he got down from the safety of the treehouse. Jack returned to his home. Now he knew for sure that the blind monsters were going to materialize all around him every night no matter where he was. He had to get rid of the curse the witch had cast on him, but he had no idea how to do it yet. Chapter 39 – Melinda – The Sorceress A low moan escaped her lips as rough hands roamed all over her naked body. Up and down her legs and hips, then down to the insides of her thighs, across her flat toned stomach, and up to her full breasts. Somebody behind her ran his hands down her back to her buttocks. She gasped when the man behind her slid his hand to her crotch. His hands stayed there for a moment before going down her legs. Melinda felt good. This procedure always made her feel good even though it wasn¡¯t a prelude to sex¡ªat least not always. Another moan escaped her throat as the man in front of her moved his hands to her breasts again, cupping and massaging them. She couldn¡¯t help but feel horny. However, she tried not to think about it. Maybe later she would have sex with her slaves, but right now she had to concentrate on a more pressing business. While the hands of her slaves continued to roam all over her body, rubbing magical oil into her skin, she decided to distract herself from being horny by thinking back to the last two months that she¡¯d spent in this alien forest. Or was it more than two months already? She couldn¡¯t tell for sure, but she remembered that she¡¯d awakened in a cave without any memories about herself or how she ended up here. She¡¯d quickly learned that the place she found herself in was extremely dangerous. The alien forest she discovered after exiting the cave was populated by all kinds of scary, bloodthirsty creatures. However, against all odds, she managed to survive in this hostile environment. She became a skillful sorceress with plenty of powerful spells under her belt. She became a force to be reckoned with. Every day she spent in this spooky world she learned or found something new and exciting. For instance, at some point, she stumbled across a magical staff of epic rarity. This staff allowed her to crush the will of any persons¡ªat least those whose resistance to magic wasn¡¯t too advanced¡ªturning them into her slaves. The description of the staff also told her that it was cursed, but it didn¡¯t explain what it meant or what kind of threat it posed to her. Anyway, at first, she was disgusted by the magical properties of the cursed staff and swore to never use it on anybody. She even wanted to get rid of it, but something stopped her. The cursed staff seemed to whisper in her mind, telling her that sooner or later, it could save her life. In the end, she decided to keep it just in case. Later on, she couldn¡¯t even remember if the staff actually talked to her or if it¡¯d just been her imagination. Later on, the magical staff actually saved her life when she was attacked by a group of several men. They fought her, but at the same time, they seemed to be unwilling to kill her, trying to take her alive instead. Melinda had a pretty good idea of what they had on their minds. Thanks to them going easy on her so as not to accidentally kill her, she was able to get to her staff. She immediately used it on them, turning her attackers into her obedient slaves. At first, she thought that the staff hypnotized a person she used it on, turning them into some kind of brainless zombie. However, as she learned later, it wasn¡¯t the case. Instead, the staff made a person carry out her commands, and if they didn¡¯t obey, the staff inflicted severe physical pain on them. Her slaves also had to always be nearby. If they walked too far away from her, they experienced insufferable headaches that could even kill them unless they returned to her. The same would happen to any of them who¡¯d try to hurt her. While Melinda couldn¡¯t remember anything about herself, at some point, she seemed to come to the conclusion that she hated men, all men. She didn¡¯t know why, though. Maybe something happened in her past life? Having no memories about herself, she couldn¡¯t tell for sure. But even though she had no recollection of her past life at all, her strong feeling of hatred toward all men remained. What she didn¡¯t know, though, was that the cursed staff was whispering in her mind every night when she slept, putting ideas in her mind about how much she hated men. She was quickly losing her mind but was completely unaware of that. At some point, she decided that she had to turn every man she met in the alien forest into her slave. She enjoyed the power over them that the staff gave to her. As long as men were her slaves and did everything she told them to, she could tolerate them. There was a catch, of course. In order to keep her slaves under her heel, the staff had to always be in contact with her body. As soon as she let go of the staff, its magical effects stopped working on her slaves. Melinda read about it in the description of the staff, so she never let go of it. She made sure to hold the staff in her hands even when she turned in. Sometimes, she put it atop herself and hugged it tightly. The other times, she pressed it to her side or even lay on top of it when she went to sleep. While her slaves had no choice but to obey her, they maintained their wits. She took away their free will and did whatever she wanted with them, and they hated her for that. There was one time when one of her slaves even tried to kill her in her sleep. Melinda woke up when he sat on her hips, straddling her. He could just try to wrench the staff from her grip, but he didn¡¯t know that it would stop its effect on him. So he tried to kill her instead. From the pained expression on his face, she realized he was in agony. The moment the staff she held in her hands had sensed that he wanted to hurt her, it¡¯d inflicted a terrible headache on him. However, it didn¡¯t stop the man from what he was doing. He was going to see his murder attempt through no matter what. Fighting through the pain, he reached for her throat. But as soon as his fingers touched her skin, he screamed loudly as a way more extreme pain lanced through him. He fell over, and when Melinda looked at him, she saw that he was now profusely bleeding from every opening in his head, mouth, ears, nose, and even from his eyes. He continued to scream, begging for the pain to stop, but it didn¡¯t. Even though he no longer tried to kill her, the staff continued to take his life away. He died a horrible death. It was the first and the only time when one of her slaves tried to kill her. They learned the lesson. At some point, she learned that the staff could control only thirteen people at a time. Unfortunately, the description of the staff failed to mention this important detail, and one time it almost cost Melinda her life. She didn¡¯t know there was a limit to how many slaves she could have. Such a thought crossed her mind, though. She initially thought that when she reached the limit, the staff simply wouldn¡¯t let her take another person under her control. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. However, something else happened instead. When she and her gang of thirteen slaves met another man, she used the staff on him, taking him under her control. The moment she did so the very first man she¡¯d enslaved stopped being under the spell of her staff. As soon as he realized that, he did a very stupid thing. He could¡¯ve pretended to be still under her control to try to kill her in her sleep. But he didn¡¯t do that. Probably he thought that she knew he was free now. So as soon as he realized the staff no longer affected him, he charged at Melinda. He almost managed to make it to her when she noticed him run at her with a sword in his hand. She killed him with a powerful electricity spell, burning his body to a crisp. That¡¯s how she learned that her enslaving staff could control only thirteen people at a time. Melinda was not only a strong sorceress but a talented alchemist as well, and at some point, she learned to create magical body oil that greatly increased the effectiveness of all her spells. The more parts of her body were covered with the magic oil, the more effective it was. Along with the magical effect it gave her, the oil made her body shimmer and emit a soft golden glow, and its effects lasted for a few hours before disappearing by itself. There was a catch, though. For the magical properties of the oil applied to her body to work, her skin needed to be exposed. The more skin was exposed, the better the effects of the magical oil were. Being a mage, Melinda didn¡¯t need to wear armor. Her spells protected her better than any armor could. Before learning to craft the magical oil, she wore short tunics or robes, but after discovering the oil, she decided not to wear any clothes at all. At first, she felt embarrassed by it even though there wasn¡¯t anybody around her at the time, but she quickly got used to being naked all the time. It no longer bothered her at all even when she met other people or was surrounded by her slaves. The cursed staff was quickly turning her into an altogether different person. She wasn¡¯t burdened by any ethical considerations anymore. She no longer cared about such things as her modesty or other people¡¯s lives. A few weeks ago, Melinda completed an epic quest, for which she was rewarded with a rare reward¡ªshe learned how to perform a ritual to summon a demon and ask him to grant her a temporary but powerful spell. First, she needed to address the demon and tell him what kind of spell she wanted to get. Then she received a reply telling her what kind of ritual she needed to perform in order to get the spell she wanted. The ritual always involved a human sacrifice, and the more powerful the spell she wanted, the more violent and bloodier the ritual was. One time the demon had her cut a victim from neck to crotch and gut him clean. However, the spells she received as a reward for worshiping the demon could only be used for twenty-four hours, and she could perform only one ritual in a day. When Melinda planned to do a difficult epic quest or venture into a perilous dungeon, she always sacrificed one of her slaves in order to get a powerful offensive or defensive spell. After completing a quest or clearing a dungeon, she usually wandered around the forest, looking for a person she could enslave to top off her gang. A few days ago, she lost two of her people during a raid into a dungeon. Most of the dungeons were extremely dangerous, and Melinda more often than not lost some of her men during a dungeon run. So after losing two of her men after the most recent dungeon run, she used a control spell on a winged creature and had it look for any people in the forest. A couple of hours later, she received a mental reply from the creature, informing her that it¡¯d just found a pair of people. Melinda set up a mental link with the creature and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she looked at the world through the creature¡¯s eyes. It was perched on a branch of a tall tree under which were two men who sat near a fire they¡¯d built. She marked their position on the map and gave the creature an order to follow the two of them wherever they went. After she turned off the mental link, she gathered up her men. As she learned later on, the two men¡¯s names were Kwan and Michael. Melinda attacked them during the night, but they managed to escape from her. Melinda and her men combed the forest for them for a few hours before finally giving up the chase. The two strangers gave her the slip, and he thought she¡¯d never see them again, but to her surprise, when she sent another winged creature to fly around the forest, it came across a camp, in which four people lived. As it turned out, Kwan and Michael had teamed up with a young couple whose names, as she learned later, were Nina and Kirk. The discovery excited Melinda a great deal. She had three more men to enslave, and they had a permanent place of living, which meant they weren¡¯t going to relocate to another place anytime soon. By the time she discovered their camp, she¡¯d already topped off her gang with two more fresh slaves, so there was no immediate need for new slaves. She marked the location of their camp on the map and every day had a winged creature fly over there to check on Kirk, Kwan, Michael, and Nina. One of the previous days, she watched them fight a tree golem¡ªa guardian of the forest. They¡¯d chopped down a lot of trees in the past few days and therefore awakened the guardian of the forest. Luckily, none of them were killed in the battle. Right now her gang was full, so there was no need to enslave more people. However, Melinda knew that her slaves didn¡¯t live long, what with her sacrificing some of them to the demon and losing others in dungeons. Sooner or later, the need would arise to top off her gang with new members. When that happened, she would attack their camp. She didn¡¯t know what she would do with the young woman called Nina, though. So far, she¡¯d targeted only men. Melinda didn¡¯t have any hatred toward her, so she would probably let her go unless Nina caused her too much trouble. Anyway, for now, she left the four of them alone, but she sure kept a watchful eye on their camp. Finally, her men finished rubbing the magical oil into her body. Her tanned skin shimmered and emitted a soft glow. Melinda closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Feeling invigorated by the magical oil, she cast a levitation spell, and her body easily flew up, her feet hovering a few inches from the ground. Melinda opened her eyes and looked at her slaves. All of them were kneeling before her now, waiting for her orders. She checked the map and put a pin on the location of a dungeon she hadn¡¯t cleared yet. Dungeons were extremely dangerous, but they were also full of treasures, so she had to venture into them every now and then to find a rare item as well as better armor and weapons for her gang. ¡°Follow me,¡± she said to her men. As they began to get to their feet, she wheeled around and flew through the air as lightly as a feather carried by a rush of wind. The cursed staff continued to drain her of her sanity, but Melinda had long since reached a point where she no longer cared. Chapter 40 – Kwan – Finding a Cursed Sword ¡°Where are you going?¡± Michael asked behind him. ¡°Outside,¡± Kwan replied without looking back at him. ¡°What for?¡± ¡°I just want to go out for a stroll.¡± ¡°But Kirk says¡ª¡± ¡°I know what he says.¡± It had been established that when two people left the camp for whatever reason, the other two needed to stay inside to keep guard over it. Right now, it was Kwan and Michael¡¯s turn to guard their camp while Nina and Kirk were out in the forest. Kwan wasn¡¯t annoyed because he was forced to stay in the camp for the time being. No, the reason for him being angry was altogether different. When their group needed to split into twos, Nina always paired up with Kirk while Kwan had no choice but to form a pair with Michael. It wasn¡¯t that he disliked Michael, no. He just wanted to spend some time with Nina without other people around. He liked her very much and wanted to get closer to her to try to develop a stronger emotional bond and connection with her. Maybe if she got to know him a little bit better, she would like him more. However, when he brought up the idea of teaming up with different partners every now and then instead of always pairing up with the same people, none of the three backed his proposal. Nina wanted to always be paired with Kirk while Kirk himself said that they should pair up with those whom they were the most comfortable with. Kwan and Michael had known each other long before they met Nina and Kirk. Due to their longstanding acquaintance and strong rapport, it would be most effective for them to consistently pair up with each other rather than other people. Nina and Michael agreed with Kirk¡¯s point of view. Kwan, not so much. But Kirk was the leader of their group, and what he said went. Kwan often disagreed with him on various points, but Michael and Nina never backed him up, silently taking Kirk¡¯s side. Nina was in love with him, and Michael just didn¡¯t want to spark any conflicts within their group. He clearly liked being on Kirk¡¯s team and was feeling safe around other people, which was why he wasn¡¯t willing to do anything that might result in him being expatriated. So Kwan was angry with how things currently stood. After Nina and Kirk went out somewhere, he decided to leave the camp too. He wanted to go kill monsters to let off some steam. ¡°Close the gate after me, will you?¡± He said to Michael and without waiting for a reply, opened the gate. Michael said something behind him, but Kwan didn¡¯t listen. He stepped out of the camp and looked into the tall trees surrounding him. He wondered where Nina and Kirk had gone. They said they wanted to hunt monsters to gain some Essence points and level up a few times. When they returned, it would be Kwan and Michael¡¯s turn to go outside to hunt for some XP. But Kwan had a gut feeling that there was another reason Nina and Kirk had left the camp. He had a feeling they just wanted to enjoy each other¡¯s company without other people around. Such thoughts made him insanely jealous. Behind him, he heard the thud of the barrel bolt being shoved into place as Michael locked the gate. Kwan touched the grip of the sword sheathed at his hip to make sure he hadn¡¯t forgotten his weapon. He was so engrossed in his thoughts about Nina that he hadn¡¯t taken enough precautions when he was gearing up for the trip outside. After he quickly checked his gear, he realized he¡¯d forgotten to take health potions with him. All the pouches on his belt were empty. ¡°Ah crap,¡± he muttered. For a second, he contemplated returning to the camp but in the end, decided against it. He wasn¡¯t keen on observing the disapproving expression on Michael¡¯s face or arguing with him over Kirk¡¯s rules again. He took a breath and walked into the trees surrounding their camp. As he wandered through the forest, he warily scanned his surroundings for any threats. For the first time in a long while, he found himself totally alone. He¡¯d grown so used to always being around his teammates that being now completely alone in the forest unnerved him somewhat. He was on edge, and every unfamiliar sound made him reach for the hilt of his sword. At some point, he reached a small river. The stream could be seen through the foliage up ahead. As Kwan was nearing the small flowing body of water, its soothing murmur grew louder. At some point, he also saw a small waterfall through the foliage. He suddenly stopped at the edge of the tree line that ran along the bank. There was somebody in the stream, and Kwan immediately dropped to his haunches to avoid being seen. Very carefully, he parted some of the branches in front of him for a better look. What he saw made his heart beat harder. Nina washed in the stream, the water up to her knees, the small waterfall behind her. Her wet long hair clung to her back. She had already washed them and was currently washing her body. She positioned herself so the spray of the waterfall hit her shoulders and breasts. She soaped her body, arms, legs, breasts, feet, and between her toes. Kwan quickly grew rigid when he saw her wash her vaginal area. She stood directly under the spray of the waterfall, rivulets of water running down her naked body. Breathing heavily, he studied every inch of her wet body. Water cascaded down the seductive curves of her body, rinsing away the soap, sluicing over her full breasts, droplets clinging to her nipples for a moment before falling down into the stream. He saw her turn her head to look toward the opposite bank of the stream. Kwan looked that way too and saw Kirk standing on the strip of land on the opposite side of the stream. Unlike him, he wasn¡¯t watching Nina wash. His back was turned to her, and he studied the line of trees before him, making sure nothing burst out of the trees and attacked Nina while she washed. He was taking great care to make sure nothing bad happened to her. Kwan heard Nina shout to Kirk. He didn¡¯t make out the exact words, but he got the gist of it¡ªNina was inviting Kirk to join her in the stream. Kwan¡¯s stomach churned with jealousy, but to his surprise and relief, Kirk refused her offer. He half turned his head as he gave her his reply, but he made sure not to look at her, even though it was obvious that Nina wouldn¡¯t mind him seeing her naked¡ªand she would even have allowed him more than just observing her nudity. But Kirk didn¡¯t join her in her washing activity. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. It¡¯d been a few days since they defeated the tree golem. They¡¯d never encountered another such creature since then, but they were now aware that the alien forest was still full of unpleasant surprises. Kirk kept repeating to them that they had to keep their guard up during their forest explorations all the time. Even now as the beautiful young woman invited him to join her in the stream to wash with her, he didn¡¯t take her offer, choosing to stand guard to make sure nothing jumped them instead. Kwan ground his teeth in frustration. If it was him whom Nina invited to join her, he would¡¯ve accepted her offer without any second thoughts. He imagined getting undressed and joining Nina in the stream. He pictured in his mind kissing her and stroking his hands up and down her wet body. His cheeks heated as his gaze lingered on the light curls of hair between her legs. He imagined cupping her breasts in his hands before lifting one of her legs and sliding inside of her, bringing her to orgasm, and feeling her inner muscles spasm around him. He imagined her moaning in pleasure and her beautiful body trembling in waves of ecstasy as utter bliss consumed her. Kwan was so engrossed in his wet fantasies he didn¡¯t hear a large mosquito-like creature sneak up on him. He became aware of the monster behind him only when it was almost on top of him. He jumped to his feet, spinning around and drawing his sword. He dealt with the monster in a matter of seconds and then wheeled around to check if he''d been noticed by his friends. He saw that the commotion had indeed attracted their attention. Both Nina and Kirk were now looking in his general direction, studying the foliage on his side of the stream. But they hadn¡¯t noticed him. At least not yet. Kwan decided to get out of there before they could spot him. He didn¡¯t want to be caught spying on Nina washing in private and be forced to explain himself. He backed up from the stream and when he was sure he was far away from it to be spotted from there by Nina and Kirk, he spun around and ran away. Kwan had saved her life during the battle with the tree golem. Had it not been for him, she would¡¯ve been dead now. However, her general attitude toward him hadn¡¯t changed at all. Not that he saved her life because he¡¯d hoped she¡¯d fall in love with him. When he saw the tree golem grab her with its thorny vines, he acted automatically without thinking. He could do anything to help her out, and he didn¡¯t need anything in reward. Still, by kissing him on the cheek, she really got his hopes up. He hoped that she might now change her opinion about him if only by a little bit. Yet nothing really changed, and he still was just a friend to her and nothing more than that. To distract himself from thinking about Nina, Kwan decided to do a quest. There was one available in his current area. Its objective was to kill an undead necromancer residing in some ancient ruins. The location wasn¡¯t too far away from his position. As soon as Kwan made it there, he was attacked by undead warriors. Those zombies weren¡¯t too hard to kill, and Kwan didn¡¯t have much trouble dealing with them. Finally, he made it to the center of the ruins and engaged the undead necromancer. Kwan was fast and agile, and besides his sword, he also had a few offensive and defensive spells under his belt. The necromancer revived zombies Kwan had already killed, but it wasn¡¯t nearly enough to stop him. He attacked the undead with fierce force and speed, taking his frustration and anger out on them. Finally, the necromancer was lying on the floor, one final blow and he¡¯d be dead for good. Just as Kwan raised his sword to finish the necromancer off, the undead¡¯s mouth opened, and he began to talk in a strange language that Kwan somehow understood. The necromancer begged him not to kill him. He said that he would give him a powerful sword if he spared his life. As soon as the necromancer told him that, a system message appeared in Kwan¡¯s vision, asking him to choose from two rewards, an epic crossbow and a sword of the same rarity. The former was the initial reward for completing the quest, and the latter was the offer the necromancer had just made him. Kwan didn¡¯t think long. He wasn¡¯t really interested in the crossbow to begin with. He¡¯d mostly taken this quest to busy himself with something. So he chose the sword. As soon as he gave his mental reply, the necromancer disappeared in a brief flash of light. A sword materialized where he¡¯d just been lying. It was dull-looking and without any interesting details. Kwan picked the weapon up and brought up its statistics. He learned that the sword was called Bloodthirsty. The description also told him that the sword was cursed, though it didn¡¯t explain to him what exactly it meant. The sword¡¯s stats weren¡¯t impressive at all, not being any different from that of his current weapon, which was of common rarity. However, Bloodthirsty had its own experience bar. Kwan could level up this sword by killing enemies with it. After leaving the ruins, he spent the next several hours wandering around the forest and killing monsters with his newly acquired sword. Every time he leveled Bloodthirsty up, it became more powerful. At some point, it got much stronger than his old sword, and Kwan got rid of it since there was no longer the need to keep it. He returned to the camp when the sun began to set. Michael saw him from a watch tower and immediately climbed down to open the gate for him. As it turned out, the three of his friends had been waiting for him at the gate. They surrounded him as soon as he stepped into their camp. ¡°Where have you been?¡± Kirk asked in a louder voice than usual. ¡°Somewhere,¡± Kwan replied. He was tired and didn¡¯t feel like talking. He began to walk toward the house he shared with Michael, but Kirk stopped him by putting his hand on his shoulder. ¡°You can¡¯t leave the camp whenever you feel like it,¡± he said in a stern voice. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°You know why.¡± ¡°Oh, just leave me alone,¡± Kwan replied, shrugging Kirk¡¯s hand off his shoulder. He continued to walk toward the house. ¡°We were worried about you,¡± Nina said behind him. Kwan stopped and glanced at her over his shoulder. ¡°Really? I thought you two were having too much fun to think about the others.¡± A confused look appeared on Nina¡¯s face. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Kwan didn¡¯t bother to reply. He resumed walking toward the house. ¡°Now wait a minute,¡± Kirk said. He wanted to go after Kwan, but Michael stopped him. ¡°I think we should give him some space,¡± the big guy said. ¡°Let¡¯s leave him alone. He¡¯s just tired, that¡¯s all.¡± Kirk turned his head to look at Michael. ¡°You know him better than us. Have you seen him like this before?¡± It was the very first time Michael had seen Kwan in such a bad mood, but he decided not to mention it, choosing to back his friend up instead. A bit of white lie wouldn¡¯t hurt anybody, he thought. ¡°Yeah,¡± he replied. ¡°He¡¯ll be back to his normal self after he rests. He¡¯s just tired.¡± Kirk watched Michael for a couple of seconds and then shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Alright then,¡± he said. ¡°Still, we¡¯ve come up with our rules for a reason. They keep us safe. If somebody had attacked our camp while the three of us were absent, you, Michael, would¡¯ve had to fight the attackers all on your own. So I still need to address his inappropriate behavior later." ¡°It can wait for tomorrow.¡± ¡°Yeah, I got that, Michael.¡± After that, the three of them lapsed into silence, watching Kwan walk toward the house and wondering what was going on in his head. Chapter 41 – Jack – Improving the Great Tree Cottage Jack was returning to his treehouse in high spirits. He''d just cleared a dungeon in which he''d acquired quite a few useful spells, a couple of epic items, and some rare ingredients that could be used to create powerful magical potions. But what excited him even more than any of that was another find¡ªa magical gravity rune. He now had a much better means to ascend to his treehouse than his cumbersome elevator. He finally made it to the great tree, in which the Great Tree Cottage was built. However, there was no treehouse to be seen now, only the elevator shaft remained. Or so it seemed. As Jack continued to walk to the tree, he looked up, focusing on the spot where his treehouse should have been. He gave a mental command for the treehouse to become visible to him, and it immediately appeared in its usual spot. A few days ago, in one of the caves, Jack had found an illusion spell. As it turned out, the spell was quite useful and powerful. It enabled him to hide anything from view, and he used the spell to make his treehouse invisible. When he wanted, he could see through the illusion spell, but to everyone else, his treehouse always stayed invisible. The spell could stay up for twenty-four hours, and Jack made a habit of filling the spell with magical energy every morning so his treehouse could remain invisible all the time. Unfortunately, the illusion spell didn''t expand to the elevator shaft. Jack had already tried to create an additional spell to hide the elevator too, but as it turned out, it led to some problems. For the elevator shaft to stay constantly invisible, he had to charge it with magical energy too. Between the two illusion spells hiding the treehouse and the elevator, Jack used so much magical energy it exhausted him a great deal. Filling both spells with magic tired him so much that he needed a few hours of rest to restore some of his energy before he could go on with his day. In order to survive in this dangerous world, he had to always be at his best. Being tired impeded his attention and reflexes, and it could easily put his life on the line. He needed to be in his most excellent condition when he ventured into the depths of the alien forest. And that was a problem. Jack couldn''t risk wandering around the dangerous forest while he was too tired, but he also couldn''t afford to be idle for a few hours every day. After his encounter with Mercer and Dregu, he''d learned that fighting people was much harder than monsters. He was sure that sooner or later, he would meet other people. Whether they would be friendly or would turn out to be assholes and bullies like Mercer and Dregu had been was anybody''s guess. So Jack needed to get much stronger than he currently was. In order to be able to properly defend himself, he had to become a force to be reckoned with. To do that, he had to level up at a much faster rate than he currently did. So he decided not to use an illusion spell on the elevator. Instead, he needed to find another means to get up to his treehouse. Besides, while the illusion spell could make the elevator completely invisible, other people could see through the illusion spell if they got too close to the elevator. As for the treehouse, it didn''t have such a problem. Since it was at a height of a few stories above the ground, there was no way somebody could see it from the ground even if they stepped up to the trunk of the great tree in which his house was. Only those who could fly could stumble across his treehouse now, but since his encounter with the giant dragonfly rider on the first day, he''d never met any other aerial riders. Probably there weren''t supposed to be any in the forest, which probably was an area for newbies. The dragonfly rider might intentionally have come here to hunt down novices, probably because he or she got their kicks from killing newbies. Anyway, Jack decided not to use the illusion spell on the elevator anymore. Right now, his treehouse was invisible while the elevator shaft could be seen. It rose a few stories up and disappeared where it reached the illusion spell that kept the house hidden from sight. While his home was invisible, anybody who would stumble across the elevator could use it to get up to the treehouse. Luckily, since he dealt with the two bullies, he hadn''t had any more encounters with other people. And now that he''d found a magical gravity rune, he could finally dispose of the elevator altogether. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Walking up to the elevator shaft, he gave the system a mental command to dismantle it. A certain amount of gold was taken from him, and the deed was done: the elevator shaft disappeared, and in its place materialized several logs¡ªsome of the resources that had been used for building the elevator. Jack would use the wood to create a few new pieces of furniture in his house, but in order to get up there, he first heeded to create a gravity spell. Jack took a few steps to the side so he stood directly below the balcony of his treehouse. He then looked at the ground below him and with a thought, placed a magical gravity rune there. He mentally activated it, and magical energy began to pull him up. Jack could adjust the properties of the gravity shaft however he wanted, changing the height and width of the gravity tunnel, the speed he was pulled up and down, and so on. Jack spent a few minutes adjusting the gravity rune until he got the result he wanted. He then spent a few more minutes testing the gravity tunnel and fine-tuning it. Finally, he finished the work. After he used the gravity shaft to descend to the ground, he brought up the crafting menu and selected all the logs that had appeared after he dismantled the elevator. The system memorized the wood he selected and asked him what he wanted to use it for. Jack stepped into the gravity shaft and activated the magical rune beneath him with a thought. The magical rune began to pull him up at a reasonable speed. When he was at the same level as the balcony, the magic rune just hovered him there. He dismantled a part of the railing with a thought to create an opening and stepped through it from the gravity shaft onto the balcony. He used the wood he''d selected to create a few pieces of furniture and placed them in one of the empty rooms of his treehouse. He then walked into a kitchen area and cooked some trout-like fish he''d caught earlier today. The smell of the roasting fish made his mouth water. As usual, he ate on the balcony. The fish he''d cooked was delicious, the tender flesh all but falling off the slender bones. After finishing his meal, he just sat in his armchair on the balcony, watching the forest darken as the sun set. Today was a productive day. He¡¯d finished clearing a dungeon and received quite a lot of rare items and spells for it. Unlike regular caves, dungeons were way bigger and much more dangerous. It usually took Jack a few days to clear a dungeon. Unlike caves, it took much longer for monsters killed in dungeons to revive and rewards to reappear. Out of all of the rewards he''d gotten in today''s dungeon, the gravity rune was definitely the best one. Just like his treehouse, the gravity shaft he''d created with the rune was invisible. To set the gravity tunnel in motion, he needed to step on the rune and activate it with a thought. The magical rune itself was invisible as well. It lit up with a bluish glow only when it was in use. If somebody walked past the great tree, they wouldn''t be able to see either his treehouse or the gravity rune. Even accidentally stepping on the invisible magical rune wouldn''t activate the gravity tunnel. So his mind was at peace now. The illusion spell made his treehouse completely invisible, and the gravity rune could be activated only if you knew where exactly it was. When he went outside another time, he wouldn''t have to worry anymore that somebody might barge into his home while he was absent. His home was completely secure now. Another good thing about the gravity rune was that it didn¡¯t need to be charged with magical energy every day. Just like the illusion spell, the rune consumed magic only when it was in use. The illusion spell was constantly active, so Jack had to fill it with magical energy every day. As for the gravity rune, he most likely would usually use it only twice a day, in the mornings when he went out to explore the alien forest and in the evenings when he returned home. So he figured the gravity rune wouldn¡¯t consume as much magical energy as the illusion spell and he would probably need to recharge it no more than once a week. As the darkness set in, Jack heard the familiar sounds of blind mutants shuffling down below. Those creatures materialized near him every night, so he always made sure to get home before nightfall. He still hadn''t figured out a way to get rid of the curse the witch had cast on him. Leaning over the railing of the balcony, Jack watched the blind mutants down below. They stumbled around the trunk of the great tree, sensing that he was somewhere nearby but unaware of where exactly he was. Some of them stepped on the invisible gravity rune on the ground, but nothing happened of course. Even if those creatures had been aware of the rune, they wouldn''t have been able to activate it. They weren''t that smart. Jack watched them shuffle around the tree trunk and bump into one another for a minute or so. He then stepped back inside the treehouse. It was time to turn in. Chapter 42 – Kwan – The Whispers Kwan lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. The evil voice whispering in his head didn¡¯t let him fall asleep. Usually, he heard it in his dreams, but in the past several days, he had begun to hear it even when he wasn¡¯t asleep yet. There had even been a couple of times when he heard it during the daytime. The whispering voice kept talking in his head, trying to force him to do unthinkable things ¨C to enter the house where Nina slept and take her by force. Kwan knew that he would never do such a thing. She wasn¡¯t just his friend ¨C he was in love with her. He would never hurt her and would never let any harm happen to her. Mentally, he yelled at the evil voice to shut the fuck up, but it didn¡¯t of course. It kept talking to him in an annoying whisper, driving him crazy. He knew where the inhuman voice was coming from. He turned his head to look at the cursed sword that was propped against the wall at the foot of his bed. He should¡¯ve gotten rid of the cursed weapon a long time ago as soon as he realized what was wrong with it. The sword seemed to have a soul ¨C a wicked one. Yet he hadn¡¯t discarded the sword when he had a chance to do so. The weapon grew stronger when Kwan killed enemies with it. The sword leveled up when it got enough experience points, and with every level, it grew more powerful. By now, Kwan had leveled it up a few dozen times, and it¡¯d become equivalent to a legendary weapon. However, it wasn¡¯t the main reason he hadn¡¯t gotten rid of it. When the cursed sword grew strong enough, its soul had established some kind of a mental link with him. It felt as if he¡¯d been chained to the weapon with magic. The cursed sword had the reins on Kwan now, making it impossible for him to discard the weapon on his own. There had even been a couple of times when he wanted to ask his friends to help him out. He tried to tell them about the sword and what it¡¯d been doing to him, but every time he opened his mouth to reveal all that, the evil weapon made him shut up. Sure, for now, the cursed sword had some minor control over him, but what would happen next was hard to predict. Kwan was afraid that at some point, the weapon would get so powerful that it might have complete control over him, but he didn¡¯t seem to be able to do anything to prevent that from happening. Finally, Kwan got fed up with the evil voice whispering in his head, trying to persuade him to barge into Nina¡¯s house and subdue her. It was harder and harder to resist the demonic voice. He knew that he had to do something right now, otherwise he would give in and do what the cursed sword was telling him to. There was only one way he was aware of to shut the annoying voice up. The sword was called Bloodthirsty for a reason. It always wanted blood and violence, feeding on it. When Bloodthirsty was satiated, it kept silent, but when it was hungry, it got verbally active, whispering to him in his head nonstop. So there were two ways to shut it up ¨C either do what it was trying to make him do or go kill some monsters with it. Sure enough, Kwan was going to choose the latter. When he slew enough enemies with the sword, it would go to sleep, leaving him alone for a little while. Kwan got out of bed. One of the floorboards creaked loudly when he stood up, and he immediately turned to see if the sound had woken up Michael. The big guy grunted and turned over. For a moment, it seemed like he was going to awaken, and it made Kwan nervous. He wanted to sneak out of their camp without anyone noticing. Kirk wouldn¡¯t approve of him leaving the camp alone, especially in the middle of the night. Fortunately, Michael didn¡¯t awaken. When his peaceful snorting resumed, Kwan took the cursed sword in his hand and tiptoed to the exit. After he reached it, he glanced over his shoulder at his friend to make sure he was still fast asleep. He then opened the door and stepped outside. The moonlight seeped through the canopy high up above, bathing the camp and the forest surrounding it in silver light. He quickly looked around. Nobody was outside ¨C all his friends were sleeping in their respective houses. He glanced at Nina¡¯s house. Yes, the demonic voice instantly whispered in his head. Go to her. Violate her. It¡¯s high time you took that ungrateful cunt. You¡¯ve saved her sorry ass, but she hasn¡¯t even properly thanked you for that. You deserve some reward for saving her life. Grinding his teeth in anger, Kwan turned away and began to walk toward the gate instead, ignoring the demonic voice that kept whispering in his head. A few seconds later, he slid aside the bolt and pushed open one leaf wide enough for him to squeeze through. Once outside, he stopped, unsure of himself. He was aware that he wouldn¡¯t be able to lock the gate behind him. What if some monsters got into the camp while his friends were asleep? It¡¯ll be fine, he thought, trying to convince himself. You¡¯ll be back in no time. No monster will get inside while you¡¯re absent. He knew that by sneaking out of the camp and leaving the gate unlocked he was putting his friends in jeopardy, but he didn¡¯t seem to have any other choice. He hesitated for a moment before finally making up his mind. He closed the gate tightly behind him and ventured into the trees. For the next two hours, he wandered around the forest, slaying monsters until the cursed sword was satisfied and finally shut up. Kwan finished off the group of monsters he was currently fighting and decided to rest for a minute before returning to the camp. He leaned against a tree trunk and sat on the ground. It was such a relief not to hear the sword¡¯s annoying whispering voice in his head. However, he knew very well that it wouldn¡¯t be long before the demonic sword talked to him again. He¡¯d been using the cursed weapon for a while now, having leveled it up almost to 40. With each level, the sword grew more powerful and its demonic soul became stronger. In the first days of using the sword, it¡¯d hardly ever spoken to him. At first, it spoke to him only in his dreams. Then he began to hear its voice every few days. Then every two days. Now the demonic weapon whispered in his head twice a day, and not only when he was asleep, but when he was awake too. Kwan knew that in about twelve hours, the cursed sword would continue to whisper in his head. Yet he couldn¡¯t do anything about it. Even though the cursed sword was quiet now, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to get rid of it. It had a tight grip on him even when its demonic soul was asleep. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder what would happen when he leveled up the cursed sword a few dozen times more. What if the demonic weapon would become so powerful it would consume his soul or turn him into an altogether different person? Such thoughts terrified him; then again, he couldn¡¯t do anything about that. Whatever evil magic the cursed sword used on him didn¡¯t allow Kwan to get rid of the sword. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Half an hour later, he returned home. As soon as he stepped out of the trees into the clearing where their camp was, he realized something was wrong. The gate was wide open, and from inside echoed the sounds of a battle taking place in the camp. Somebody or something had attacked his friends while he was absent! Cursing, he raced through the open gate, drawing his sword on the run. He stopped for a moment in the doorway, taking in the battle scene unfolding inside the camp. Kirk, Nina, and Michael were fighting ratlins ¨C a species of humanoid creatures that seemed to have evolved from rat-like ancestors. They inhabited caves and dungeons, leaving them mostly at night. It was no wonder a group of ratlins had found out that the gate wasn¡¯t locked. Unlike many other creatures in this forest, ratlins were pretty smart. Sometimes, they seemed almost intelligible even. The group of ratlins that was attacking the camp had cave rats with them. Ratlins used those large creatures covered in spikes as pets. Yelling a battle cry, Kwan joined the battle. Ratlins were pretty weak and cowardly creatures. They usually attacked only when they outnumbered their enemies or when they had some serious advantage over them. The four friends didn¡¯t have much trouble dealing with the attackers. It wasn¡¯t long before the group of ratlins realized they couldn¡¯t win this battle. Those of them who were still alive and kicking spun around and dashed for the exit. The four friends didn¡¯t bother to chase them. For a moment, nobody spoke, catching their breath after the battle. Then Kirk stomped toward Kwan, moving in an aggressive manner. ¡°What the hell are you doing, Kwan?¡± he almost yelled at him. ¡°How could you leave the camp during the night without even warning any of us? What were you thinking?¡± Kwan felt anger rise in him. He wanted to yell at Kirk, wanted to punch him in the face, wanted to stab him with his¡­ With a huge effort, Kwan forced himself to get a grip on himself. Those were not his real thoughts and feelings. The evil sword was forcing them on him. Kirk was his friend, and he, Kwan, had put all of them in jeopardy. Kirk had every reason to be mad at him. ¡°Just leave me alone,¡± Kwan said tiredly as he stepped around Kirk and started walking toward his house. ¡°We¡¯re not done yet,¡± Kirk shouted after him. ¡°We already talked about it, Kwan. You can¡¯t leave the camp whenever you want, especially not at night and not without warning us. What if one of us got killed?¡± Ignoring him, Kwan continued to walk toward the house he shared with Michael. Kirk ran after him and grabbed him by the shoulder. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m talking to you, goddammit.¡± Kwan suddenly spun around and shoved Kirk in the chest, almost causing him to fall. ¡°Leave me the fuck alone!¡± Upon seeing the shocked expressions on his friends¡¯ faces, he realized he¡¯d lost control of his emotions. He wanted to apologize to Kirk and tell his friends that he wasn¡¯t in control of his actions anymore. Sure enough, the cursed sword didn¡¯t let him spill the beans. ¡°Kwan, are you alright?¡± Nina asked in a soft voice, a worried look on her pretty face. He glanced at her for a second, then silently spun around and ran to the house. The three friends of his watched him run, not trying to stop him. ¡°What the hell is wrong with him?¡± Kirk muttered. ¡°What¡¯s gotten into him?¡± Michael looked at Nina, then at Kirk. He was silent for a moment, then said, ¡°I think I might know what¡¯s the matter with him.¡± Nina and Kirk turned their heads to look at him. ¡°Yeah?¡± Kirk said. ¡°So tell me. Help me understand him.¡± But Michael looked at the girl instead. ¡°Nina, I don¡¯t know if you noticed,¡± he began, ¡°but Kwan is in love with you.¡± The girl¡¯s eyebrows lifted in surprise. ¡°What? Really?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Nina seemed confused. ¡°I¡ªI didn¡¯t know that.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Michael said with a little smile. ¡°Because you¡¯re always too focused on Kirk.¡± ¡°What? No.¡± The girl said as she lowered her eyes, her face flushing in embarrassment. ¡°So you think that¡¯s the reason Kwan has been acting weird lately?¡± Kirk asked. ¡°Yeah, probably,¡± Michael replied. ¡°I mean I don¡¯t know what else could be wrong with him. He¡¯s very young, and therefore easily falls in love. Right now, he¡¯s clearly suffering from one-sided love. So yeah, I think that¡¯s the reason for his recent behavior and tendency to overemotional displays.¡± Kirk seemed to be deep in thought. ¡°So what are we gonna do about it then?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll talk to him,¡± Nina suddenly said as she began to walk toward Kwan¡¯s house. ¡°Nina, wait,¡± Kirk stopped her. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s a good idea?¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°He seemed¡ªI don¡¯t know, unhinged. I don¡¯t think you should be alone with him.¡± Nina seemed offended by his words. ¡°What are you talking about? It¡¯s Kwan, our friend. He wouldn¡¯t do anything bad to any of us.¡± ¡°But we were attacked by ratlins because of him.¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t do it intentionally. He probably wanted to go out for a night walk and didn¡¯t think monsters would attack the camp while he was absent. I mean it hardly ever happens, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Kirk frowned, still not quite agreeing with her point of view. ¡°What are you gonna say to him anyway?¡± ¡°I dunno. Ask him if he¡¯s alright, if something¡¯s bothering him. I just don¡¯t think we should leave him alone. He clearly could use some friendly company.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Kirk finally gave in. ¡°But we¡¯ll be nearby. If something happens, just yell for help, okay?¡± ¡°Nothing¡¯s gonna happen,¡± Nina said in a stern voice and continued to walk toward the house Kwan had disappeared into. ¡°Besides, she can handle herself,¡± Michael put in. ¡°She¡¯s a very capable mage.¡± ¡°I know.¡± The two of them watched the house for a couple of minutes. Just like Nina had predicted, nothing bad happened. There wasn¡¯t any indication that something was wrong. ¡°The other day, Kwan offered to pair up with different people,¡± Michael said. ¡°But you turned down his idea.¡± ¡°I remember,¡± Kirk said grimly. ¡°So?¡± ¡°So he definitely offered it so he could pair up with Nina every now and then,¡± Michael said. ¡°If he spends more time with her, it¡¯ll definitely make him feel better. So you should probably change your position about that.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Kirk agreed. ¡°I¡¯ll tell the others later. But if Nina doesn¡¯t want to pair up with him, I¡¯m not gonna force her to do it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be fine with that,¡± Michael said. ¡°She¡¯s a kind person, and she clearly cares about her friends very much.¡± They went silent, watching Michael and Kwan¡¯s house for a minute or so. Nina and Kwan were still inside. Everything was calm and quiet. Michael then motioned around himself expansively at the dead bodies of the ratlins and cave rats they¡¯d killed a few minutes earlier. ¡°We should probably drag them out of the camp. Not my kind of street decoration.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Kirk agreed, smiling a little at his friend¡¯s lame attempt to joke. Chapter 43 – Melinda – The Bloodbath Melinda hit the goblin rushing at her with a bolt of electricity, sending the ugly little creature flying across the cavern. It hit the cave wall with such a fierce force that its spine snapped loudly. Melinda spun around, taking in the battle scene unfolding all around her. Her men were battling hordes of goblins that were coming at them from every direction. They emerged from every opening and crack in the walls, armed with crudely made swords, axes, maces, and whatnot. Her men were armed with much better weapons than the goblins. Each of them had a longsword as well as some kind of ranged weapon ¨C either a crossbow or a rifle. Those rifles were powered by magic, and they didn¡¯t need any kind of ammunition. When the trigger of such a rifle was pulled, the gun created and fired a bullet-shaped magical projectile. For those rifles to work, they needed to be filled with magical energy, which Melinda always did before she and her men ventured into a dungeon. However, despite being better equipped, her team was losing badly. This dungeon had turned out to be way more difficult than she¡¯d expected. The dungeon was mostly populated by goblins, and while those small green monsters weren¡¯t either strong or smart, there were so freaking many of them in this dungeon. She had already lost some of her men to these ugly evil creatures. Her team was now trapped in one of the huge caverns of the dungeon, with the horde of goblins coming at them from every direction. They had nowhere to retreat, and if she didn¡¯t think of something fast, they would all get killed in the next several minutes. As Melinda swept her gaze around the cavern, looking at the horde of goblins surrounding her team, she realized there was only one thing she could do to save herself and maybe some of her slaves too. She yelled at her men to come closer to her, and when they converged on her, she created a dome-shaped magical shield around them. Most of the goblins were outside the shield now, but a few others were close enough when Melinda used the spell, so they were now trapped inside the dome-shaped shield with her men. When those goblins realized they were cut off from the others, they hesitated for a moment as if they didn¡¯t know what to do now. Then they raced toward Melinda, screaming in rage, trying to sound threatening, but their thin, high-pitched voices sounded pathetic instead. Before they could even reach Melinda, her men killed them with crossbows and rifles. The rest of the goblins were outside the magical shield. The horde of small evil creatures surrounded it from every direction, but the translucent bluish wall didn¡¯t let them get inside. The goblins smashed their crude weapons against the shield, but it held fast. Melinda knew that for the time being, she and her men were safe. The magical shield would stay up for some time, and nothing short of a powerful offensive spell would be able to break it. She knew what she had to do next. Some time ago, she¡¯d learned a spell that allowed her to summon a demon who could grant her a temporary but powerful spell of her choice if she honored him by performing a human sacrifice. Melinda didn¡¯t really want to sacrifice one of her men. Not that she cared about them, though. It just was that the strength of her team had already been weakened because she¡¯d lost some of them in this dungeon. However, whether she wanted to offer the demon a sacrifice or not, she had to do it in order to save herself and the rest of her gang. Her men stood around her waiting for her orders. Melinda didn¡¯t say anything to them. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Then she called the demon by his name. Zeth¡¯ranor, come to me, she said mentally. As always, as soon as she pronounced the demon¡¯s name in her mind, she felt a rush of cold air envelop her body, making her shiver. As usual, she was completely naked, and her skin was shimmering with the magical oil that covered every inch of her body. She couldn¡¯t stop her nude body from trembling in cold and fear, feeling the presence of the evil demon behind her. She wanted to bolt away from him, but she forced herself to stay still. She felt the demon¡¯s scaly body press against hers from behind as his long rough arms wrapped around her torso. Melinda was petrified with horror even though it wasn¡¯t the first time she¡¯d summoned the demon. She couldn¡¯t explain why, but the mere presence of the demon made her cower in fear. Knowing very well what kind of effect he had on her, the demon always touched her as if he wanted to instill even more horror in her. Her men were watching her, but she knew that unlike her, they couldn¡¯t see or hear the demon, or even sense his presence in any way. Zeth¡¯ranor didn¡¯t seem to have a physical body, yet somehow she could feel him as if he were a real person. He felt him wrap his rough arms tighter around her body, his touches cold against her naked skin. Zeth¡¯ranor ran a hand up her belly, its long clawed fingers scratching her skin almost painfully. The demon cupped one of her breasts, pinching her nipple. His other hand slid down her belly and spread the folds of her womanhood. She gasped when one of his fingers pressed against her love bud. He entered the center of her heat with the tip of his deathly cold finger. Another one joined the first, and together they moved deeper inside her. She trembled as the demon withdrew and inserted his ice-cold digits with long curved claws. With the fingers of his other hand, the demon continued to twist and pinch her nipple. Despite being scared, she felt desire flooding her from his rough touches. Her full lips parted, and she moaned. Her men kept staring at her in silence. Melinda hated them seeing her like this, but there was nothing she could do about that. The demon brought his face closer to her, and she felt his long tongue slide across her cheek, leaving a smear of saliva that burned her skin a little. ¡°So what do you want from me this time, Melinda?¡± She heard his hissing voice speaking into her ear. ¡°I¡ªI wanna¡ªAh!¡± The demon kept moving his long fingers in and out of her while massaging her love bud with his thumb and squeezing her breast with his other hand, making it hard for her to concentrate on speaking. She couldn¡¯t grasp how his touches could feel so real if the demon didn¡¯t have a physical body. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. She couldn¡¯t stop from moaning in pleasure. ¡°What is it, Melinda?¡± The demon asked in a teasing voice. ¡°I can¡¯t hear you. You need to speak up.¡± ¡°Give me¡ªsome protective spell so I¡ªcould get out of the dungeon.¡± ¡°I see,¡± the demon said. ¡°Looks like you have gotten yourself in a bit of a fix here, haven¡¯t you, Melinda?¡± She couldn¡¯t reply; she could only moan louder and louder as the demon¡¯s fingers dived deeper and deeper into her. She wished the demon would hurry up and let go of her so she could sacrifice one of her men and receive a reward from the demon. Zeth¡¯ranor was taking his time, though. ¡°I know a spell that you might like. It¡¯s pretty powerful, and in exchange for it, I would normally have you perform a quite bloody and brutal sacrifice. But seeing as you don¡¯t have time for that right now, a regular sacrifice will suffice.¡± ¡°I will do as you say,¡± she gasped. ¡°Can¡¯t wait,¡± the demon replied and then suddenly disappeared. Melinda immediately felt that she was no longer being touched, and the air didn¡¯t feel chilly anymore. She was breathing heavily, feeling weak in her knees. The demon had her all worked up but left her unsatisfied and wanting more. But that was fine. She had much more important business to take care of right now. She looked sternly at her men, then pointed at one of them. ¡°You,¡± she said, ¡°come to me.¡± Out of her men, that one seemed to be the weakest. Besides, one of his arms was so severely wounded that he could hardly use it now. He wasn¡¯t much of a help to the team, so she decided it would be him whom she would offer as a sacrifice to Zeth¡¯ranor. On the man¡¯s face appeared a terrified expression ¨C he knew what was going to happen to him. Yet he couldn¡¯t resist ¨C Melinda¡¯s enslaving staff kept him under control. The sorceresses had him lie down on the cave floor. She then quickly looked around. The magical shield was thinning out, slowly but gradually disappearing. It wouldn¡¯t be long before it vanished completely, and then the horde of goblins would rush toward her from every direction. She had to hurry. Melinda glanced at the other men who watched her with pure hatred in their eyes. They knew what she was going to do to one of them but couldn¡¯t do anything about it. The evil magic of the enslaving staff she always gripped tightly in her left hand kept them obedient. Melinda returned her attention to the man lying on the floor who was looking up at the cave ceiling with horror in his eyes. The sorceress dropped to her haunches before the man¡¯s supine form and pulled a dagger from its sheath on his hip. She wasted no time severing his carotid arteries, causing blood to gush from the wounds. She dropped the dagger and drenched her free hand in the man¡¯s blood. She then began to draw a circle around the lying man and scribble arcane symbols along the curve of the circle. By the time she finished, most of her body was smeared in gore, but she didn¡¯t care one bit about the way she looked. Neither was she bothered by the metallic stench filling her nostrils. Surprisingly, the man was still alive. Ignoring the gurgling sounds he was making, Melinda picked up the dagger again and pronounced, ¡°Oh great Zeth¡¯ranor, please accept this sacrifice and grant me my wish.¡± She then brought the dagger down, slicing the blade between the man¡¯s ribs and pushing it deep into his flesh. The victim¡¯s eyes opened wide, he gasped for the last time, and then his body went rigid. Immediately after that, the arcane symbols Melinda had drawn in his blood on the cave floor flashed with bright light, and the sorceress felt magical energy flow into her gore-smeared body. A text notification appeared in her vision, telling her that she¡¯d just received a new spell. She quickly called up her stats to read the description of the spell. She learned that the spell would inflict burning damage to any living creature that would get within a few feet of her. She¡¯d never used such a spell before, so she couldn¡¯t tell from her personal experience how useful this spell was. Yet he trusted the demon completely because all the temporary spells he¡¯d gifted her before had always been extremely powerful. Dropping the blood-smeared dagger, Melinda stood up and cast a levitation spell that allowed her to glide a few inches over the ground at pretty good speed. She looked at her men and said, ¡°Follow me and try not to lag behind. Anyone who will fail to keep pace with me will be left behind.¡± She then consulted the map and turned to face the direction where the exit from the dungeon was. She took a deep breath and deactivated the magical shield. For a second, the horde of goblins continued to stay still ¨C they hadn¡¯t expected the shield to suddenly disappear. As for Melinda, she was already flying toward them, and before any of them could react, she reached the first ones in line. Some kind of orange-glowing aura surrounded the sorceress, and the nearest goblins screamed in agony. They didn¡¯t burst into flames, but their flesh melted like hot wax, flaking off their bones. They died in mere seconds, and the rest of the terrified goblins stumbled away from the sorceress, fighting among themselves. Melinda continued to fly across the cavern, carving a path through the horde of goblins. At some point, she heard one of her men scream in pain. She glanced over her shoulder and saw him fall to the ground, half his body scorched black as if he¡¯d stumbled into a very hot fire. He collapsed to the floor, still screaming in pain. There was nothing she could do for him, but she shouted for the rest of her men not to get too close to her. For the next half an hour, she navigated her way through the tunnels and caverns of the dungeon until she finally reached the exit. She burst out of the dungeon into the night forest. The moon hovered high above the trees, bathing everything in silver light. She turned around to face the entrance to the dungeon. A few seconds later, one of her men burst outside. Then another one. Then a few others. Melinda watched the dark entrance for a few more minutes, but no more of her men emerged. ¡°That¡¯s all that survived?¡± she asked no one in particular. Only a handful of her men had managed to get out of the dungeon alive. That was a bit of a shock to her. She hadn¡¯t expected to lose so many of her men. ¡°Dammit,¡± she muttered. The manpower of her team had been significantly decreased. She couldn¡¯t help but be bothered by it. She needed to find new people to enslave. But where to find them? The forest was huge, and it might take her weeks to find more men to enslave. She thought for a moment and then remembered the camp she¡¯d discovered some time ago where four persons lived. What were their names again? It took her a moment to remember their names ¨C Kirk, Michael, Kwan, and Nina. It was high time she¡¯d added three of them to her team. Maybe she would enslave the girl as well. Why the hell not? She seemed to be quite an experienced mage and therefore would be a great addition to her team. However, she had to be smart about that. She couldn¡¯t just attack them out of nowhere. Their camp was well protected, surrounded by tall pointed logs and having several guard towers. A direct attack on their camp would definitely result in even more of her men getting killed. She needed to avoid that. After giving the matter some thought, she decided she would be spying on them all the time from now on, waiting for the right moment to attack. It would be suicide to attack them while they were inside the camp. Instead, she would wait until they left it for whatever reason to attack them in the open. The sorceress smiled. The fate of those four people was sealed. They just didn¡¯t know it yet. Chapter 44 – Jack – The Deranged Jack ran through the forest. He had to hurry because it wouldn¡¯t be long before night fell. It¡¯d taken him much longer to clear a dungeon than he¡¯d expected, and now it was already dark in the forest. In just a few minutes, the blind mutants would begin to materialize all around him. He knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to get home before it happened, but maybe he at least would be able to outrun them. He spotted a figure step out from behind a tree trunk up ahead. At first, he thought it was a blind mutant, but he immediately realized he was wrong. It was a male person clad in light armor. He pointed what looked like a revolver at Jack, causing him to come to an abrupt halt. He hadn¡¯t been prepared to meet another person so suddenly. For a moment, he thought the stranger was about to shoot at him, but he lowered his handgun instead. ¡°Geez, man, I thought you were a monster,¡± the person said, grinning widely. ¡°I¡¯m Matt.¡± Jack didn¡¯t have time for that. ¡°Stay away from me.¡± ¡°What?¡± Giving the stranger named Matt a wide berth, Jack continued to run. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure Matt wasn¡¯t going to shoot him in the back. He wasn¡¯t, but Jack spotted the familiar shapes of blind mutants between the trees behind him. ¡°Dammit,¡± Jack muttered under his breath. The mutants had begun to pop up sooner than he¡¯d expected. ¡°What the fuck are those things?¡± Matt yelled behind him, noticing the mutants too. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such monsters.¡± A second later, Jack heard the muffled sounds of gunshots. This time, he didn¡¯t look back, focusing on running instead. After a few more shots, he heard Matt yell, ¡°There are so many of them!¡± There was no more gunfire, but Jack heard the sound of running feet behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Matt catching up with him. He was surprisingly fast and got abreast of him in mere seconds. ¡°What are those things?¡± He shouted to Jack as he ran alongside him. ¡°They are blind, but their hearing is excellent.¡± ¡°Leave me alone!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Those things are after me, not you,¡± Jack said panting heavily from the strenuous run. ¡°If you go your separate way, they won¡¯t follow you.¡± The stranger seemed to think about it for a moment. ¡°Why are they after you anyway?¡± ¡°No time to explain. Just go. It¡¯s best for both of us if we part ways.¡± But Matt wouldn¡¯t listen. As he ran alongside Jack, he pointed his strange-looking handgun back and opened fire at the mutants following them. Jack was quickly losing patience with him. ¡°For fuck¡¯s sake! Didn¡¯t you hear what I just said? Leave me alone! They won¡¯t come after you if you break away from me.¡± ¡°I''m not leaving you alone, bud,¡± Matt said. ¡°You definitely could use my help.¡± Jack already could see the great tree, in which his house was built. Only he wasn¡¯t willing to let the complete stranger into his home. His treehouse was huge, and he normally wouldn¡¯t mind sharing it with somebody, but he needed to get to know them first. He wasn¡¯t eager to allow a potentially bad person to enter his home. As for this guy, even though Jack had known him just for a couple of minutes, he already could tell that there was something off about it. However, Matt wouldn¡¯t leave him alone, giving Jack no choice but to show him his treehouse. Aside from killing him, he didn¡¯t know what else he could do to keep his place secret, but killing every person he just met probably wasn¡¯t such a good idea. Maybe his initial impression of Matt was wrong, and that guy was alright. Jack finally reached the great tree. He found the spot where the invisible magic rune was located and stepped on it. Matt stood next to him, a bewildered look on his face. ¡°Why¡¯d you stop running?¡± He asked. Jack didn¡¯t bother to reply. The blind mutants were converging on them from every direction. Matt wasn¡¯t firing at them anymore, probably because he¡¯d finally realized there was no way he could kill them all. With a thought, Jack activated the rune, and it immediately kicked in. The lines of the rune emitted a bluish glow, and Jack began to float up the gravity tunnel with Matt drifting up alongside him. ¡°What the fuck is happening?¡± he screamed in panic, grabbing Jack by the shoulder. ¡°What the fuck are you doing to me, asshole?!¡± Jack looked down. The blind mutants swarmed the great tree from every direction, but he and Matt were already too high in the air. Some of them stepped on the glowing rune, but the gravity tunnel didn¡¯t pull them up, because unlike Matt, they hadn¡¯t been anywhere near the rune when Jack activated it with a thought. To use the gravity tunnel, they needed to give it a specific mental command, but they weren¡¯t capable of that. ¡°Answer me, dammit,¡± Matt snarled at Jack as he pointed his handgun at his face. ¡°Or I¡¯ll fucking kill you.¡± Jack had had enough of him. Slapping the handgun aside, he punched Matt in the solar plexus as hard as he could. The guy dropped to his knees as his mouth formed an O in a vain attempt to draw in a breath. The movement finally stopped, and Jack stepped from the gravity tunnel onto the balcony of his treehouse. As he did so, he glanced back at Matt. If the stranger tried to point his handgun at him one more time, he would instantly fling a fireball at him. Matt finally recovered. As he slowly got to his feet, his face twisted in rage. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have hit me. I¡¯m gonna fucking kill¡ª¡± He went silent as he for the first time saw the enormous house that was built around the trunk of the great tree. Now that they were inside the illusion spell, Matt could see the treehouse, and by the look on his face, he was impressed by what he was seeing. ¡°Wow,¡± he muttered. ¡°That¡¯s awesome.¡± ¡°So are you going to kill me or not?¡± Jack asked in a cold voice. ¡°What? Oh, that,¡± he muttered as he looked at the handgun in his hand. ¡°No, of course not. I was freaking out because I didn¡¯t understand what was happening. But now I get it. Your treehouse is invisible if you look at it from outside, right? That¡¯s smart. That¡¯s very smart. And you use some kind of gravity magic to pull you up here. That¡¯s smart too.¡± He slid his handgun into the holster on his right hip and stepped onto the balcony of the treehouse. He walked to the railing and looked down at the mutants shuffling aimlessly around the great tree. ¡°They can¡¯t get up here, huh?¡± ¡°No, they can¡¯t.¡± Even though Matt had holstered his weapon, Jack was still watching him carefully. He still didn¡¯t like him much. There was definitely something off about him. The more time Jack spent in his company, the more sure of that he became. For the next several minutes, Matt walked around his treehouse, wondering at everything he saw. He was impressed by the treehouse. He didn¡¯t ask Jack any questions about it, though. Finally, they returned to the balcony. Matt slid his revolver-like handgun out of its holster for some reason. ¡°I found this beauty in a dungeon where I was doing some quest,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve been using this precious gun since then. I don¡¯t need any other weapons anymore.¡± Matt was looking at the revolver in his hand with such love that Jack once again wondered if he had a few loose marbles or something. He didn¡¯t ask Jack any questions about him and didn¡¯t tell him anything about himself or how he¡¯d been surviving in this world either. Instead, he began to talk about his handgun right off the bat. He couldn¡¯t even keep it in its holster for a minute. His obsession with his handgun wasn¡¯t normal, to say the least. ¡°My precious gun grows stronger when I kill monsters with it,¡± Matt kept babbling, not even looking at Jack. ¡°I¡¯ve leveled it up so many times, it became legendary.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. He tore his gaze off his weapon and held it out to Jack. ¡°See for yourself if you don¡¯t believe me.¡± ¡°I believe you,¡± Jack replied, not taking the revolver. ¡°Check it out,¡± Matt said in a suddenly harsh voice, squinting his eyes at him. ¡°I know you want to. Anybody would.¡± That guy was definitely not right in the head. Jack hesitated, not sure of what he should do. How do you deal with a crazy person? ¡°Take it,¡± Matt almost yelled, his face twisting in anger. Jack realized it wouldn¡¯t be a good idea to agitate Matt even more, so he took the gun from the guy¡¯s hand. For a moment, he looked the crazy guy in the eyes before finally turning his attention to the strange-looking weapon. It kind of looked like a revolver, but it didn¡¯t seem to have a cylinder. There didn¡¯t seem to be any way to load bullets in that gun at all. As if reading his mind, Matt said, ¡°This amazing weapon doesn¡¯t need any ammo. It works on magic instead. When you pull the trigger, a bullet-like projectile is created inside the gun and fired from the muzzle.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that awesome?¡± ¡°I guess.¡± ¡°Go on, check its stats now.¡± With a thought, Jack called up the revolver¡¯s stats. He learned that it was a legendary weapon and that its current level was 78. From the description of the gun, Jack also learned that the weapon was soulbound and cursed. The latter had him worried. He stole a look at Matt. It seemed like the cursed revolver had been draining Matt of his sanity, turning him into a crazy person. ¡°When did you find the gun?¡± Jack asked. Matt shrugged his shoulders. ¡°I don¡¯t remember. A few months ago. Why?¡± ¡°No reason.¡± So the cursed gun had been draining Matt of his sanity for a few months. No wonder he had a few screws loose. Jack contemplated telling Matt it and suggesting to refrain from using the gun, but in the end, he decided not to. In the best-case scenario, his suggestion would fall on deaf ears. In the worst-case scenario, Matt would think that Jack simply tried to trick him into yielding his precious gun, and it would definitely result in Matt losing his temper again. ¡°Shoot me with it,¡± Matt suddenly said, bringing Jack back from his thoughts. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Point the gun at me and pull the trigger,¡± Matt said with a huge crazy grin on his face. ¡°What? Why?¡± ¡°Just do it. You¡¯ll understand when you try to shoot me.¡± ¡°Are you serious? I¡¯m not gonna shoot you.¡± Matt¡¯s face twisted in anger. ¡°Shoot me! Just fucking do it!¡± Geez, Jack thought. This guy¡¯s completely off the rails. He regretted bringing such a person to his home. Not that he¡¯d had a choice in the matter. He pointed the gun at Matt¡¯s arm and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Matt¡¯s mood immediately changed again ¨C his anger was gone, and the crazy smile reappeared on his face. ¡°See?¡± he said. ¡°This gun is soulbound, so only I can use it. If you want to use it, you¡¯ll have to kill me first. But if you do that, the gun¡¯s stats will be canceled, and you¡¯ll have to level up the gun from scratch.¡± Not that I¡¯d ever use such a weapon, Jack thought. I value my sanity. ¡°Now give the gun back to me,¡± Matt said. Jack hesitated. That guy was crazy, which made him very dangerous. It was impossible to tell what was on his mind and what he could do next. Matt seemed to read his mind again, and his face twisted in anger. ¡°Gimme back my fucking gun,¡± he almost screamed. Almost immediately after that, Jack felt something tug at his hand with such force that his hand almost broke. The revolver jumped from his grip and flew toward Matt. He snatched it out of the air and grinned at Jack. ¡°Remember when I told you that this gun is my only weapon?¡± Matt said. ¡°I didn¡¯t lie to you, but what I didn¡¯t tell you was that I also know a few magic spells like the telekinesis one I just used on you.¡± Without waiting for a reply, Matt turned and strode to the railing. He looked down and said, ¡°Those creatures are still down there.¡± Jack didn¡¯t say anything. He didn¡¯t feel like talking to a crazy person. Matt aimed his gun down over the railing and opened fire on the creatures at the base of the great tree. ¡°At least, I can practice shooting,¡± Matt said. ¡°Too bad you don¡¯t get XP for those creatures, though.¡± Jack got worried. He walked over to the railing and looked down. Most of the blind mutants were looking up as Matt continued to fire at them, the crack of the gunshots reverberating through the night air. ¡°Stop,¡± Jack said. ¡°Why?¡± Matt asked as he fired another shot, the bullet slamming into a mutant, spinning the creature to the ground. The other mutants got closer to the great tree, feeling the huge trunk with their clawed hands. ¡°You¡¯re attracting their attention.¡± ¡°So? You said they couldn¡¯t get up here, didn¡¯t you?¡± As Jack stared down, he saw several mutants dig their claws deep into the bark as they began to climb up the tree. Matt fired another shot at the mutants on the ground. Jack finally lost his patience. ¡°Fucking stop firing at them, you idiot,¡± he snapped at Matt. ¡°They¡¯re climbing up the tree now, don¡¯t you see?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get your panties in a bunch,¡± Matt said indifferently. ¡°I got this.¡± He fired at the mutants climbing up the tree and even managed to kill several of them, but all he¡¯d accomplished was to attract even more mutants. A few more dozen creatures were climbing up the trunk now, and amazingly deftly at that. Unless Matt stopped firing, there was no way they would stop trying to get up to his treehouse. And Matt wasn¡¯t willing to stop firing his gun. Several mutants had already reached the bottom of the balcony. Pushing the claws on their hands and feet into the wood, they crawled across the bottom of the balcony like spiders. One of them reached the edge and reached up to take hold of the railing. When the mutant began to climb over it, Jack raced toward it and kicked the monster in the chest, sending it flying down to the ground. Another mutant began to climb over the railing. Matt shot it in the face, and the monster dropped down. A couple more creatures climbed on the balcony from the other side. Drawing his sword, Jack lurched at them, killing both in mere seconds. He quickly looked around, but there were no more mutants on the balcony yet. Matt continued to fire at the creatures down below. ¡°Stop doing that,¡± Jack yelled at him. ¡°If you continue to fire at them, we¡¯ll be outnumbered in no time. There¡¯s no end to those creatures.¡± Matt suddenly turned around and pointed his gun at him. ¡°Don¡¯t fucking tell me what I can and cannot do. All I¡¯m trying to do is help you. Are you too dumb to understand that? I¡¯m gonna kill them all. Either you shut up and deal with the ones that reach the balcony or I¡¯ll kill you this instant. You understand me?¡± From the crazy look on his face, it was clear that Matt could easily kill him without a second thought. ¡°Okay,¡± Jack said. ¡°Fine.¡± Matt watched him for a moment, then, seemingly satisfied, nodded. ¡°We got this. Between you, me, and my lovely gun, we can deal with all of them. You can thank me later.¡± Without waiting for a reply, he turned away from him and resumed firing at the mutants down below. Jack closed his eyes for a second. He knew that there was no way to kill all the blind mutants. Everyone they killed seemed to spawn two more. He hated himself for what he was about to do, but seeing as Matt couldn¡¯t be reasoned with, he had no other choice. He opened his eyes and looked around to make sure no more mutants showed up on the balcony yet and sheathed his sword. He approached Matt from behind, the crack of gunfire muffling his footsteps. Jack bent over, grabbed Matt by the ankles, and lifted. Matt screamed when he realized what was happening. He tried to take hold of the railing, but before he could do so, Jack swung his legs over the edge of the balcony and let go of him. Matt continued to scream as he dropped down to the ground. A second later, there was a thud as his body collapsed on the forest floor. Jack looked down. The mutants that had been climbing up the tree trunk stopped and lowered their heads toward where Matt had fallen. The guy was still alive, but he must have broken his spine in the fall. He tried to get up, but his legs were unresponsive. Continuing to scream, he used his elbows, trying to crawl away from the monsters. Only there was nowhere he could go ¨C the swarm of blind mutants surrounded him from every direction. Those that clung to the tree trunk began to climb down, attracted by his high-pitched screams. When the mutants attacked him with razor-sharp claws and needle-like teeth, Matt¡¯s screams intensified. Jack walked away from the railing, not willing to see him being torn apart by multiple monsters. But he could still hear his screaming for a couple of minutes, which seemed like an eternity. When Matt finally died and it was quiet again, Jack walked to the railing and looked down. No more mutants tried to climb up the tree. What was left of Matt¡¯s body lay on the ground. Jack turned away, walked to one of the chairs, and slumped into it. He felt bad about what he¡¯d just done. He¡¯d already killed three people in this world. Sure, he hadn¡¯t had another choice, but it still bothered him. He remembered his driver¡¯s license photo. He¡¯d lost his belongings such as his ID and cell phone a long time ago, but he still remembered what he¡¯d looked like in the picture. The honest face on his ID photo belonged to a good person. There was no way a person with such a face could be bad. Though he couldn¡¯t remember anything about himself, Jack was sure he hadn¡¯t been a bad person in his past life. Sure, he hadn¡¯t had many people on his phone contact list, but it didn¡¯t mean anything by itself. He might have been introverted, that¡¯s all. However, in this dog-eat-dog world, there were no laws and no rules. In order to survive in this place, he had to do bad things ¨C there was simply no way around it. And whether he wanted it or not, it might gradually change him, turning him into a more cruel and cold version of his former self. In the morning, Jack found what was left of Matt¡¯s body. He was interested only in his cursed revolver. He picked the weapon up and brought up its stats. Now that Matt was dead, the revolver¡¯s stats were back to level 1 and common rarity. Jack figured he could use the gun now that its former owner was dead. Only he wasn¡¯t going to. He wasn¡¯t willing to turn into a crazy person like Matt. He just didn¡¯t want to leave such a dangerous weapon lying on the ground. Jack returned to his treehouse and hid the cursed revolver in one of his chests. He locked the chest with a key and hid the latter in another room. He wasn¡¯t going to use the cursed weapon anytime soon, that was for damn sure. Chapter 45 – Nina – The Misfortune in the Elite Dungeon They ran as fast as they could ¨C Kwan in the lead and Nina a few paces behind him. She didn¡¯t have to look back to know that the troll was still after them ¨C the thunderous footsteps of its running feet reverberated through the dungeon¡¯s tunnel, causing the cobblestone floor to vibrate. She looked over her shoulder anyway because she wanted to see where Kirk and Michael were. The enormous troll was still barreling after them, brandishing a huge saw-sword, but there was no sign of Kirk and Michael. The two of them had lagged behind Kwan and Nina and eventually might have gotten lost. With the gigantic troll following her and Kwan, she couldn¡¯t get back to look for her friends. The only thing she could do was hope that her friends would eventually somehow catch up with her and Kwan. The tip of the saw-blade troll was holding in its huge fist scraped against one wall. The corridor was wide enough for two people to run alongside each other; as for the huge troll, the bulk of its body took up most of the corridor¡¯s width. ¡°Can you slow him down a little?¡± Kwan shouted as he looked over his shoulder at her. ¡°No,¡± Nina yelled back, panting heavily. ¡°I''m too tired.¡± She¡¯d been casting various spells non-stop in this dungeon and had already used up all the mana potions she¡¯d had on her. Employing magic used up a lot of energy, and by that point, she¡¯d grown so tired she couldn¡¯t cast another spell without running the risk of blacking out from exhaustion. ¡°Hold on for a little longer, Nina. I can see an opening up ahead. Once we get there, we¡¯ll be safe!¡± Nina ran as fast as she could. The thundering footfalls of the troll¡¯s enormous feet drew nearer with each second. She didn¡¯t bother to look back. Breathing heavily, she continued to race down the corridor as fast as she could. Up ahead, she saw Kwan reach the opening that led into some room. He stopped in the opening and spun around to look at her. ¡°Nina, come on,¡± he shouted to her. With every muscle straining and heart pounding, she propelled herself forward, pushing her body to its limits. She raced at top speed, but she could tell that the troll was getting closer still. When she was sure the enormous troll was about to grab her, she reached the opening and burst through it into something like a hall with several tall columns. Nina ran a few more feet into the room before her strength finally gave out. Breathing heavily, she dropped to her knees. She looked back in time to see Kwan cast a spell that caused a stone wall to rise from the floor, blocking the entrance to the hall completely. Half a second later, the huge troll ran into the wall from the other side. Fortunately, the magically-created barrier held. There was another tremendous thud as the troll smashed its body against the stone wall again. A few small pebbles detached from it and dropped to the floor, but other than that, the wall remained undamaged. The troll bellowed in rage as it continued its onslaught on the stone wall, but no matter how hard the monster tried, it wasn¡¯t able to break through the stone barrier, which was quite robust and resilient to physical attacks. In the end, the troll gave up. It emitted a frustrated groan and began to walk away from the stone wall. Nina and Kwan listened to its receding footsteps until they could no longer hear them. Nina lay on her back on the floor with her arms above her head, staring up at the high ceiling of the hall. Luckily, there were no monsters in the room, so they could relax for a little bit. She was worried about Kirk and Michael, but before going to look for them, she had to rest for a little bit. Kwan sat on the floor next to her. ¡°I think the troll decided to leave us alone,¡± he said. Nina didn¡¯t reply. She was too tired even to speak. Her chest rose and fell heavily. She knew that she had to find her friends, but she was so tired she couldn¡¯t even make herself get to her feet. All she wanted was to lie on the floor for a few hours. ¡°Do you think they are alright?¡± She asked. ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯re fine,¡± Kwan replied. ¡°Kirk and Michael can take care of themselves. Don¡¯t worry.¡± She sighed and closed her eyes. The four of them made a pretty good team, having cleared out a few dungeons in the last month without much trouble. But this was an elite dungeon, and unlike the regular ones, it was much more difficult. Having completed the normal dungeons, they¡¯d become overconfident in themselves. They¡¯d known it was too early for them to venture into an elite dungeon, but they¡¯d done it anyway. As it¡¯d turned out, it¡¯d been a huge mistake on their part. The monsters in this dungeon were way too powerful. At some point, their party had gotten separated, and they¡¯d had to run for their lives. All they wanted now was to safely make it out of the elite dungeon. If the four of them managed to get out of this dangerous underground place, they wouldn¡¯t return here until they became much stronger. Once again, Nina wondered where Kirk and Michael were. As Kwan had said, the two of them could take care of themselves, but she still couldn¡¯t help but worry about them ¨C especially about Kirk. She hoped her friends would catch up with her and Kwan soon. Her ears caught the rustle of clothing as Kwan shifted. Wondering what he was doing, Nina opened her eyes. She still was in the same pose, lying on her back with her arms above her head. As for Kwan, he was also still sitting in the same spot near her, but he was now leaning over her body, looking down in her eyes. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± She asked and immediately went silent. There was some strange expression in Kwan¡¯s eyes that she¡¯d never seen before. His face suddenly twisted as if in pain. He pulled back and jumped to his feet. He took a few steps back away from her, a grimace spreading across his face, contorting his features. ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡± Nina asked as she rose on her elbows. ¡°Nina, I¡¯m sorry¡­ It takes control over my body. I can¡¯t¡­ resist¡­¡± The painful expression on his face was replaced with one full of cold determination. ¡°It¡¯s about time I claimed what belongs to me,¡± he uttered in a voice that didn¡¯t sound like his own. ¡°Kwan, what are you¡ª¡± Before she could finish her sentence, he cast a spell on her. Translucent glowing chains flowed from the floor and wrapped around Nina¡¯s wrists and ankles. Before she could do anything, the magical chains pulled her limbs in different directions, spread-eagling her body. She tried to resist, but she was too weak to break free. The chains pulled tight, stretching her arms and legs wide open. She pulled with all her might, but couldn¡¯t free herself. ¡°Kwan, what are you doing?¡± She hissed at him. ¡°Let me go!¡± When she looked him in the eyes, she hardly recognized him. The cold expression he wore on his face made him look like a completely different person. ¡°Why would I let you go?¡± He said. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for this moment for so long.¡± He walked to her, drawing his shortsword. Nina¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Kwan, what the hell is on your mind? Quit messing around!¡± He crouched between her wide-spread legs. With his free hand, he grabbed the hem of her short tunic and pulled back, revealing her underwear. Nina felt her cheeks flush red with embarrassment. ¡°Kwan, snap out of it!¡± He ignored her. He slid the tip of his shortsword under the fabric of her underwear. With a quick flick, he cut through the fine material. With his other hand, he pulled her torn panties from under her, revealing her mound of light, soft curls. He tossed her panties aside, a barbaric look on his face. He pulled his shortsword into its sheath, staring at her exposed womanhood. Her cheeks burning with overwhelming embarrassment, she resumed her attempts to break free, but to no avail. She couldn¡¯t help but yelp in surprise and anger when he put his hand on her warm mound. Her loud call seemed to wake him up. He jumped to his feet and backed up from her hastily, a mix of embarrassment and apology on his face. ¡°Nina, I¡¯m so sorry,¡± he was babbling. ¡°It isn¡¯t me doing it, it isn¡¯t me. I can¡¯t resist, I can¡¯t¡­ It¡¯s forcing me to do it!¡± Kwan was speaking very fast as if he were afraid he might suddenly lose the ability to talk. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Nina asked. ¡°What¡¯s going on? What is forcing you?¡± On Kwan¡¯s face once again was the pained expression that she¡¯d already seen a couple of minutes before. Kwan appeared to be either in physical pain or undergoing a mental struggle of some sort. ¡°The sword,¡± Kwan gasped. ¡°It has a demonic soul, and¡­ And it controls my actions now. I can¡¯t¡­ resist it. It makes me do things I don¡¯t want to.¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Nina looked at the sword sheathed at his hip. She knew that Kwan had found it some time ago, but he¡¯d never told them anything about it. Now she understood Kwan¡¯s strange behavior they¡¯d witnessed a few times recently. The struggling expression on Kwan¡¯s face was replaced by a cold one ¨C the demon took over again. When he began to walk toward Nina, she yelled at him, ¡°Leave him alone, demon!¡± ¡°Why would I do that?¡± The demon said via Kwan. ¡°He belongs to me now.¡± Nina couldn¡¯t free herself from the magical chains and couldn¡¯t throw any of her spells because she was still too tired. However, she had a few thousand unspent Essence points. While they were normally used for leveling up, upgrading spells and abilities, and other such stuff, they could also be used as mana to cast spells. Unlike regular spellcasting, using Essence points didn¡¯t take a toll on a mage¡¯s energy. Nina hardly ever spent Essence points for spellcasting because they were too precious to use as mana. However, it was an emergency now. The magical chains held her wrists tightly, but she still could move her hands. With one of them, she managed to draw an arcane sign in the air, casting an offensive spell. A bolt of electricity zipped from her hand and struck Kwan in the middle of his chest. He was hurled backward with such a force as if he¡¯d been struck by a freight train. He flew halfway across the hall and dropped to the floor. Nina knew that her spell couldn¡¯t have killed him, but after he didn¡¯t move for a few seconds, she began to worry. She was about to call out to him when he began to slowly get up. ¡°It hurt a lot, Nina,¡± he said in his normal voice. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± she replied, glad to have her friend back. ¡°I had to do it. Did it kill the demon, though? Is it gone?¡± ¡°You wish,¡± Kwan said in a sarcastic voice as the demon took over again. He continued to walk toward Nina with a cold expression on his face. She prepared to launch another bolt of electricity at him. ¡°Don¡¯t make me kill you,¡± she said. ¡°Just give me back my friend and go away.¡± ¡°You cannot kill me, you dumb cunt,¡± the demon said. ¡°You can destroy your friend¡¯s body, but you can¡¯t do anything to hurt me.¡± Kwan, controlled by the demon, was getting closer and closer. Nina didn¡¯t want to hurt her friend any more than she¡¯d already done, but she had no idea what else she could do in her situation to protect herself. Letting the demon rape her wasn¡¯t an option either. When he got within three meters of her, she launched another bolt of electricity at him. Only she missed her target this time ¨C the demon managed to jump aside in time. ¡°You caught me off guard the first time, but it won¡¯t happen again,¡± the demon said. Nina ground her teeth in frustration. Every bolt of electricity cost more than a thousand Essence points. Having cast two of them, she now could cast only two or three more before she would become completely defenseless. The demon continued to walk toward her. When she was about to launch another bolt of electricity at him, something happened. From across the hall, from the other side of the stone wall came the sounds of fighting. Kwan stopped and looked in that direction, furrowing his brow. Nina was watching the demon controlling her friend¡¯s body, ready to unleash another offensive spell. About a minute later, there was a thud as if something large dropped to the floor. Then something hit the stone wall from the other side. The barrier held. The wall was hit again, followed by a muffled shout, ¡°Nina, Kwan, are you there?¡± It was Kirk. Upon hearing his voice, Nina¡¯s heart began to beat harder. He was alive! ¡°Kwan, is this your wall?¡± Michael shouted from the other side of the stone wall. ¡°We just killed the troll, so you can bring it down, buddy.¡± Kwan looked at Nina with an annoying look on his face. ¡°It appears your friends have arrived. Too bad they can¡¯t get over here thanks to your friend having created the stone wall.¡± Nina knew that the magically-created barrier wouldn¡¯t stay up for much longer, maybe for a few more minutes. Only she didn¡¯t have that long, so she yelled as loudly as she could, ¡°Kirk! Michael! I need help! But you are gonna have to break the wall.¡± ¡°Nina,¡± Kirk shouted back. ¡°What is going on?¡± ¡°Just break the freaking wall!¡± No more questions from Kirk or Michael came. The stone wall trembled as the two guys launched a vicious onslaught on it from the other side. Pebbles and small pieces of stone broke from the barrier, pelting the cobblestone floor. The wall had been weakened by the troll¡¯s attack, but it still would take some time for Kirk and Micahel to break through. The demon turned his attention back to Nina. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s gonna be a little while before they get here. Plenty of time for me to have fun with¡ª¡± Nina launched a bolt of electricity at him, putting into the spell all the remaining Essence points. Kwan yelped in pain as his body was hurled back across the entire width of the hall. His back collided with the wall on the opposite side of the room with a thud. He dropped to the floor and for some time, just lay there motionlessly. When Nina began to worry that she might have killed Kwan, he began to rise from the floor. He looked up at her, his face a mask of rage. ¡°Dumb cunt, don¡¯t you understand you¡¯re hurting your friend¡¯s body without actually doing any damage to me? Anyway, you¡¯re gonna pay for your stubbornness.¡± The demon burst into a run toward her. She didn¡¯t have enough Essence points left to launch another spell. The magical chains were still holding on, and she didn¡¯t know when they would disappear. She couldn¡¯t do anything to protect herself anymore. Kwan almost reached her when the stone wall suddenly broke apart, and the two guys burst into the hall. Kwan came to a halt to look at them. Kirk and Michael stopped, taking in the scene before them ¨C spread-eagled Nina lying on the ground with her private parts exposed, her body held in place with magical chains and Kwan standing before her with an enraged expression on his face. ¡°What the fuck is going on here?¡± Kirk asked, still not quite believing what he was seeing. Unlike him, Michael grasped the situation immediately. The fifty-year-old had always treated Nina as his daughter. When he woke up in this world a few months ago, he¡¯d found his wallet in one of his pockets. In the wallet, he discovered a picture of his family ¨C his wife and his two daughters who were about Nina¡¯s age. Even though he couldn¡¯t remember them, he kept the picture and was sometimes looking at it, lying on his bed. Nina had become his family too. He treated her just like he would his real daughters in his past life. Seeing her now half-naked and restrained by the magical chains, he felt furious. ¡°What the fuck do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± he bellowed as he stomped toward Kwan. Seeing the large enraged guy approach him, the demon stumbled back. ¡°Calm down, gramps,¡± he said, raising a placating hand as he continued to hurriedly retreat. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t hurt me, would you?¡± ¡°A good beating is what you deserve, pal,¡± Michael growled as he continued to stride toward Kwan, the nasty-looking brass knuckles on his hands glinting faintly. Kwan almost ran backward, smiling apologetically at the big guy. ¡°Hey, I thought Kwan was your friend. Was I wrong?¡± ¡°Why do you talk about yourself in the third person all of a sudden?¡± Michael asked suspiciously and then suddenly went silent as he spotted something behind Kwan. He was backing up toward an arc that led into a dark tunnel. And something was appearing from the darkness of the tunnel ¨C something huge and glowing orange. Michael came to a sudden halt upon seeing the mysterious creature. Unaware of the danger behind him, Kwan stopped in the opening, looking at Michael. ¡°Have you changed your mind about beating the shit out of Kwan?¡± he asked with a smirk on his face. ¡°I knew you¡¯d come around, gramps.¡± ¡°There¡¯s something behind you!¡± ¡°Whuu¡ª¡± Kwan turned around just as a three-meter fire elemental reached him. The magical creature grabbed him with both hands and lifted him in the air with ease. Kwan screamed in pain when his clothes caught fire. Holding him tight in its hands, the fire elemental spun around and raced back into the dark tunnel it had come from. In a few seconds, it disappeared in the distance, but Kwan¡¯s screams echoed through the stone tunnel for a little longer. Michael wheeled around and ran back to his friends. He saw that Kirk had already dismantled the magical chains and helped Nina to her feet. She pulled the skirt of her tunic down over her legs, but her panties still lay on the floor. They were torn and therefore couldn¡¯t be put on. Nina had been relating what had happened, but when Kwan began to scream, they both turned to see what was going on. ¡°What happened?¡± Kirk shouted to Michael running to them. ¡°I saw something grab Kwan.¡± ¡°It was a fire elemental,¡± Michael replied as he got to his friends. ¡°We have to help him,¡± Nina said. ¡°It¡¯s too late,¡± Michael replied, shaking his head. ¡°The elemental is already gone. We can¡¯t do anything to help Kwan. He¡¯s probably dead already. If he¡¯s not, he will be very soon.¡± ¡°Besides, none of our weapons can even hurt a fire elemental,¡± Kirk added. ¡°That¡¯s why we decided to get out of this dungeon, remember? There are way too many monsters that can¡¯t be harmed with our weapons.¡± Nina felt bad about leaving Kwan to his fate, but she knew that her friends were right. While they navigated their way through the tunnels of the dungeon, she told them what had happened between her and Kwan. ¡°So the demonic sword was controlling him?¡± Kirk said. ¡°Damn.¡± Michael shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s my fault that it happened. I should¡¯ve realized that something was controlling him when he began to act weird a few days ago. After all, I knew him longer than you guys.¡± Nina put a hand on the big guy¡¯s shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s not your fault. The demonic sword is to blame, not any of us.¡± ¡°He should¡¯ve told us about it,¡± Kirk said. ¡°Why didn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°Probably because he couldn¡¯t,¡± Nina guessed. ¡°The demonic sword didn¡¯t let him, I believe.¡± A quarter of an hour later, they finally got out of the dungeon. Being tired and in an awful mood for losing their friend, they didn¡¯t notice the strangers waiting around the dungeon entrance until it was too late. They stepped from the foliage, pointing crossbows and rifles at the three of them. Nina and Kirk froze, looking at the armed strangers in front of them. ¡°What is going on?¡± Nina whispered. ¡°Oh no,¡± Michael said. He recognized these people. Many months ago, he and Kwan had been chased by a gang of armed men. Their leader was some evil sorceress who didn¡¯t wear any clothes. Michael and Kwan had managed to give them the slip before stumbling upon the camp where Nina and Kirk lived. Since then, Michael had never encountered the sorceress and her gang and thought he would never see them again. As it turned out, he was wrong. The three of them stood motionlessly. They didn¡¯t know what to do, but one thing was for sure ¨C if they attacked the gang of armed strangers, they wouldn¡¯t be able to win. They were tired, outgunned, and outnumbered. A few seconds later, from behind one of the trees out stepped a naked woman holding a long staff in her staff. She stood before them, her oiled body glistening in the sunlight and emitting a soft golden glow. ¡°That¡¯s her,¡± Michael said quietly. ¡°That¡¯s the sorceress that was chasing me and Kwan the other day.¡± Chapter 46 – Melinda – No Plan Survives… She¡¯d been spying on them for a few days, waiting for the right moment for a surprise attack. When they went on an elite dungeon run, she knew it was a perfect opportunity for her to get the drop on them. After clearing the dungeon, they would be too tired to fight her. All she needed to do was to set up an ambush near the entrance to the dungeon and wait for the four of them to get out. To her surprise, they¡¯d returned way faster than she expected. Her men stepped from the foliage and surrounded the three of them as soon as they emerged from the dungeon. Melinda stayed hidden for a little longer, examining her prey. From their look, she realized that the elite dungeon must have turned out too difficult for them to clear out, so they¡¯d had to flee. She also couldn¡¯t help but notice that one of them, Kwan, was missing ¨C probably having been killed in the dungeon. It was a shame. Real shame. She¡¯d hoped to enslave all four of them. When she emerged from her hiding spot behind thick bushes and stood among her men, she heard the big guy named Michael say quietly to his friends, ¡°That¡¯s her.¡± Melinda couldn¡¯t help but grin. It felt nice to be feared. Kirk, who was the leader of their small group, looked at her, and asked, ¡°What do you want from us?¡± Melinda didn¡¯t like the tone of his voice. If he was afraid, he was hiding it well. Ignoring him, she pointed her finger at Michael and said, ¡°You. Come over here.¡± The big guy didn¡¯t budge. ¡°What for?¡± ¡°Just do as I say if you want to live,¡± Melinda replied. ¡°Tell us what you want from us,¡± Kirk asked again. Melinda looked at him. ¡°You ask too many questions. But I¡¯ll humor you this one time. I want the three of you to join my team.¡± ¡°And why would we do that?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have a choice. Either you join my team or you¡¯ll die right here and now.¡± Melinda shifted her gaze at Michael again. ¡°Come to me, and don¡¯t make me say it twice.¡± She turned her head slightly to her men. ¡°If the fatso doesn¡¯t comply in two seconds, shoot him right away.¡± Michael stood for a second, then began to walk toward her. Kirk called after him, ¡°Wait.¡± Without slowing down, he replied, ¡°We don¡¯t have a choice, Kirk. We have to do what she says.¡± It was easier than Melinda had expected. And it had her worried. Very quietly so only the nearest man could hear her, she said, ¡°Be ready.¡± Michael stopped before her and asked, ¡°So what happens now?¡± Melinda began to answer, and the big hut suddenly threw a punch at her face, the brass knuckles he wore on his hand glinting in the sunlight. Unfortunately for him, Melinda was ready for something like that. She easily sidestepped his strike just as the man she¡¯d said to be ready approached Michael from behind and banged the butt of his rifle against the back of his head. Grunting, Michael dropped to his knees, and two of her men immediately took hold of his upper arms to restrain him. ¡°Hey,¡± Kirk yelled. ¡°Leave him alone.¡± He took a step forward, and the rest of her men instantly pointed their weapons at him, causing him to stop moving. Before Michael could recover from the blow to his head, Melinda lowered her staff, touching the sphere-capped tip to his forehead. She employed the staff¡¯s power and saw bluish energy flow from the sphere and disappear into Michael¡¯s head. He tried to resist, but the two men on either side held him fast. A few seconds later, it was over. Melinda nodded to her men, and they let go of him. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Stand up, slave,¡± Melinda said, and Michael got to his feet without any words. Melinda grinned. ¡°You are mine now. Stand with the others.¡± Without saying anything, Michael walked to the side and stood among the other men of hers. He turned around to face Kirk and the girl named Nina, and froze, waiting for further directions. ¡°What did you do to him?¡± Kirk demanded. ¡°I think she¡¯s hypnotized him with her staff or something,¡± Nina said. ¡°It¡¯s your turn now,¡± Melinda said to Kirk. ¡°Come to me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do it, Kirk,¡± Nina begged as she grabbed his arm with both hands. What Melinda saw pissed her off. ¡°Let go of him, stupid girl,¡± Melinda snarled. ¡°He¡¯s but a man. No big deal if you lose him.¡± Kirk turned his head to look at Nina. He didn¡¯t say anything to her, but she let go of his arm. For a second or two, they just stared at each other silently. Melinda realized the two of them knew each other so well they understood one another without any words. Before she could do anything, they both looked at her men, and Nina threw her hands forward. Immediately after that, a violent rush of wind blew toward them. It was so powerful some of her men were hurled backward. Melinda raised a protective arm against the wind, digging her heels into the earth, struggling not to lose her balance. The magically created wind stopped as suddenly as it¡¯d started, and when Melinda pulled her arm away from her face and looked up, she saw Kirk race toward her men, drawing his sword. Before any of them could do anything, he swung his blade at the nearest, cutting his throat. Before the man could even fall, Kirk was already piercing another one with his sword. Somebody fired a rifle, but the bullet hit the back of the man that Kirk had just stabbed through the chest. Her men realized their enemy was too close to use their ranged weapons, so they began to draw their longswords instead. One of them suddenly became a living torch as he was hit by a fireball launched by Nina. Melinda wanted to scream in rage. That was not how she¡¯d planned her attack to play out. In mere seconds, three of her men were dead. She¡¯d wanted to enslave Kirk and his friends to replenish the ranks of her group, but she¡¯d just lost even more of her men instead. With a great effort, she managed to take her emotions under control. She then cast a summoning spell, and magical tears began to split open in the air a few feet above the forest floor. Several huge hellhounds dropped from the tears, and Melinda gave them the command to attack Kirk and Nina. Several hellhounds ran toward Nina, and the others surrounded Kirk, causing him to turn his attention to them instead of her men. When Melinda noticed some of them point their ranged weapons at him, she yelled, ¡°No! Don¡¯t kill him! I need both of them alive.¡± Only she would have to wait for another opportunity to present itself. Kirk and Nina weren¡¯t going to give up without a fight, and she wasn¡¯t willing to lose even more of her men, so she was going to have to leave for now. When she came up with a plan to enslave them without putting her men¡¯s lives at risk, she would come at Kirk and Nina again. She glanced at the two of them. They were successfully fending off the pack of the hellhounds she¡¯d summoned, and from the look of it, it wouldn¡¯t be long before they took care of the evil creatures. ¡°Fall back,¡± she yelled to her men. After casting a levitation spell, she wheeled around and flew away, her men, including Michael, following her close behind. At some point, she looked over her shoulder to see if Kirk and Nina gave chase, but the two of them were still fighting off the pack of hellhounds. While those creatures looked scary, they were pretty weak, so she was sure Kirk and Nina wouldn¡¯t have much trouble dealing with them. After covering about thirty yards, Melinda stopped and opened a portal home. ¡°Go,¡± she said, motioning for her men to get into the portal. While they one by one stepped in the swirling magical clouds of the portal, she peered back into the trees she¡¯d come from. There was still no sign of Kirk and Nina. ¡°The next time we meet, the two of you will be mine,¡± she said vehemently as the last man in line, Michael, walked into the portal. The big man hadn¡¯t said anything, hadn¡¯t even glanced at her before disappearing into the portal. He was just another silent slave who would do anything she would tell him to. As long as she had her staff on her, her men would be following her orders to the letter no matter what. And she wasn¡¯t going to let go of the staff anytime soon. She turned and stepped into the magical portal, which would take her home. A second after that, the swirling clouds of the portal dissipated without leaving a trace. Chapter 47 – Nina – …Contact with the Enemy Nina and Kirk fought the pack of hellhounds the sorceress had just summoned. Those creatures kind of looked like oversized Dobermanns, but their mouths were X-shaped, consisting of four jaws. The creatures looked terrifying and ferocious. Their eyes glowed red, and their jagged and serrated jaws were adorned with rows of cruel, pointed teeth. Those creatures seemed to be designed to tear apart anything unfortunate enough to cross their path. Their X-shaped mouths lent them an appearance of relentless hunger and ferocity. When Nina saw the nude sorceress summon those creatures, she¡¯d felt a chill creep up her spine. However, as it turned out, despite the hellhounds¡¯ malevolent appearance, they weren¡¯t all that hard to kill. When she, Kirk, and Michael made their way out of the elite dungeon, her friends had given her some mana potions they¡¯d found. Since none of the two could use magic, they gave her all the mana potions they had on them. So Nina could use her magic at full strength again. She dealt with one of the hellhounds running at her with a fireball. The magical projectile slammed into the creature¡¯s body, setting it aflame instantly. The nauseous scent of burning fur and scorched flesh filled her nostrils. The monster whimpered in pain as it ran in circles as if chasing its tail. Its agony didn¡¯t last long as the creature died in mere seconds. The other two hellhounds had gotten dangerously close to her. She had a dagger in the sheath strapped around her ankle, but she wasn¡¯t all that good at close-range combat. Her main weapon was offensive magic, so she cast a spell to slow down the two hellhounds and then killed both of them with bolts of electricity. Unlike her, being a swordsman, Kirk couldn¡¯t keep the hellhounds at bay with magic. Several four-legged evil creatures attacked him from different directions, but he dodged their X-shaped mouths and counterattacked the monsters with his blade. Being an experienced fighter, he was doing pretty good, and Nina allowed herself to glance in the direction where the sorceress and her men had disappeared into the foliage. There was no sign of the attackers now. Nina was worried sick about Michael. They¡¯d first lost Kwan and now Michael too. Unlike Kwan, however, who had most likely been killed by now, Michael was still alive. Nina and Kirk had witnessed the sorceress touch his head with her crystal-capped staff, and then Michael had seemed to become her obedient servant. The sorceress¡¯s magical staff obviously had an ability to hypnotize people. That was probably why the rest of her men so dutifully and silently complied with her commands. So it meant that unlike Kwan, Michael could still be saved. They only needed to find the sorceress and kill her. But before giving chase, they first had to deal with the rest of the hellhounds. Just as Nina came to this conclusion, she heard Kirk yelp in pain. She instantly turned to look at him and saw he was still fighting the hellhounds. His left thigh was profusely bleeding from a nasty bitten wound. Favoring his injured leg, he no longer could move as fast as before. Nina mentally scolded herself. Instead of indulging in her musings, she should have been helping Kirk. She shouldn¡¯t have taken it for granted that he would be able to deal with the rest of the hellhounds all on his own. This world was extremely dangerous, and even a small mistake could cost you your life. She should¡¯ve known it by now. And unlike Kwan and Michael, Kirk wasn¡¯t just a friend to her. She loved him more than life. If something happened to him, the grief would be too intense to bear. If Kirk got killed, she might as well kill herself too. Without him, there wouldn¡¯t be any reason for her to go on in this cruel and harsh world. Gritting her teeth in anger directed at herself, she held her hands out at the hellhounds surrounding Kirk. She didn¡¯t employ any of her offensive spells, though. The creatures were too close to him, and she was afraid she could accidentally hit him instead of the monsters. She couldn¡¯t slow them down either, because the magic would affect Kirk too. So she settled on using healing magic on him for now. The wound in his hip began to close, and the bleeding stopped. His agility returned to him, and Kirk was no longer in pain. He didn¡¯t thank her, didn¡¯t even glance in her direction. It didn¡¯t bother her, of course. She knew that with the hellhounds surrounding him, he couldn¡¯t afford to turn his attention away from them even for a second. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Nina waited for the right moment and then launched a bolt of electricity at the hellhound that was the farthest from Kirk, killing the vile creature instantly. At the same time, Kirk attacked another creature, swinging his sword in a downward arc and slashing the monster across its neck. There were only three creatures left. Nina and Kirk dealt with them without much trouble. After that, they quickly looked around to make sure there were no more hellhounds left. ¡°Come on,¡± Kirk said, pointing in the direction the sorceress and her men had disappeared. ¡°They went that way.¡± For the next several minutes, they followed the tracks left by their attackers. The sorceress was flying, but her men left so many footprints that it was very easy to spot them even though her Tracking skill wasn¡¯t all that high. Then the tracks suddenly stopped. ¡°What the hell,¡± Kirk muttered looking down at the ground. He examined them for a minute before speaking up again, ¡°The men just came to a stop here and then seemed to just disappear. What happened here?¡± ¡°The sorceress might¡¯ve used a teleportation spell,¡± Nina guessed. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re probably right,¡± Kirk said with obvious disappointment in his voice. Nina knew what he was thinking. If the sorceress had actually used some sort of teleportation magic, she could be anywhere now and they had no chance of finding her and rescuing Michael. She felt bad for losing Kwan and Michael, but she was glad Kirk was still with her. If it had been him who got enslaved by the sorceress, Nina would¡¯ve been beside herself with anguish. Nina suddenly realized she was glad it¡¯d been Michael whom the sorceress decided to hypnotize first, but she immediately felt ashamed of such a thought. Michael was her friend. Who knew where he was now and what the sorceress was planning to do to him next. Kirk spoke up, bringing her back from her reverie. ¡°He said it was the sorceress who¡¯d been chasing him and Kwan the other day,¡± he said. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Do you think she¡¯s been spying on us all this time?¡± Kirk asked. ¡°Or did she accidentally stumble across us?¡± Nina gave the matter some thought before replying. The sorceress and her men were hiding near the entrance to the elite dungeon, waiting for them to get out. She¡¯d known they¡¯d gone in there beforehand. So, this meant that after Kwan and Michael escaped from her, she must have used some spell to find them. She¡¯d discovered their camp and since then had been keeping tabs on them. ¡°My guess is that she¡¯s been spying on us all along,¡± Nina said. ¡°I think she may also know where we live. Though if it¡¯s the case, I¡¯m not sure why she didn¡¯t attack us earlier.¡± ¡°Probably because our camp can be easily defended,¡± Kirk said. ¡°It¡¯s basically a secure fortress.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Nina said thinking about the pointed logs surrounding their camp and the tall guard towers rising high above the sharp-tipped logs. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go,¡± Kirk said. ¡°Where?¡± ¡°Home.¡± ¡°Is this a good idea, though?¡± Nina asked with worry in her voice. ¡°I mean if she knows where we live, is it safe for us to return home?¡± ¡°If she knows where we live and didn¡¯t attack us before, she probably won¡¯t do it now. She waited for us to be out in the open before she decided to attack us. It means that she knows she¡¯ll fail if she tries to attack our camp. We will be safe. Besides, all our supplies are stored there, and we have nowhere else to go.¡± Nina agreed with his point. ¡°What about Michael, though?¡± she asked. ¡°We just leave him behind, huh?¡± ¡°Do you know where the sorceress took him?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Me neither. The forest is enormous, and she could be anywhere. We could wander around the trees for months without finding her. I feel awful for being unable to help Michael, but we have no means of finding him. We have no choice but to return home.¡± Kirk made a brief pause. ¡°However, if the sorceress decides to attack our camp, she¡¯ll most likely bring Michael along, and we¡¯ll get a chance to undo what she did to him.¡± Nina nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s go home.¡± Chapter 48 – Michael – The Transformation When Michael stepped through the portal created by the sorceress named Melinda, he found himself in a cave. A musty earthy scent enveloped him, mingling with the cool, damp air that clung to the rocky walls. The sunlight was coming in through some cracks in the walls and the ceiling, but other than that, there weren¡¯t any other sources of light. When Michael¡¯s eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness, he scanned the dimly lit space he¡¯d found himself in. The cavern was cluttered with sleeping bags, wooden boxes, some supplies, and not much else. That¡¯s where you live, huh? Michael thought. The other men who¡¯d stepped through the portal now stood silently around the cavern. Michael wanted to ask them some questions but couldn¡¯t. He wanted to walk around the room to look for something to kill Melinda with, but his body wouldn¡¯t respond to the signals his brain was sending. When the sorceress used the magic of her staff on him, he¡¯d seemed to lose control over his body and since then, could do only what he was told by her. Then he felt a sudden headache. With each second, the pain worsened, and after a moment, it was all he could think about. What the hell is happening to me?! As soon as he thought that, he realized what was causing his headache. The sorceress still hadn¡¯t stepped in through the portal she¡¯d created, and that was the reason for his terrible headache. The spell the sorceress had used on him with her staff not only made him comply with all her orders but also caused him to experience awful headaches when he was too far away from her. The pain in his head kept worsening. From the corner of his eye, he could see the other men were suffering from the same torment. Only he didn¡¯t care about them at that moment. His own suffering was all he could think about. Then the pain began to abate. Only then did he realize he was sitting on his heels, though he couldn¡¯t remember dropping down to the floor. A second later, his headache disappeared without a trace. It was such a relief he wanted to laugh in happiness. Instead, he looked up and saw the sorceress who had just stepped through the portal. The magical gate behind her vanished after a second or two. Melinda walked up to him and snarled, ¡°Stand up, slave.¡± Michael wanted to flip her the bird, but his body did what he was told instead. When he was on his feet, the sorceress stepped so close to him that the nipples on her full breasts almost touched his chest. ¡°Your friends killed three of my men,¡± she snarled at him, her face a ferocious mask. You have nobody but yourself to blame for that, Michael thought. He wanted to say it in her face but wasn¡¯t allowed to speak up. The spell she¡¯d cast on him controlled most of his actions, exerting such control over his body that he wasn¡¯t even able to show a hint of defiance. Michael was pleased to see the sorceress in such a rage, though. He mentally praised Kirk and Nina. He was really glad his friends not only avoided being enslaved by her but even managed to piss her off. None of his thoughts or emotions registered on his face, though, because the spell controlled even his facial expressions. ¡°What should I do?¡± Melinda asked. ¡°I know where they live. Maybe attack them tonight?¡± Michael said nothing. Even if he wasn¡¯t under the sorceress¡¯s spell, he wouldn¡¯t answer, because she wasn¡¯t actually talking to him but rather was thinking out loud. ¡°No, no, no,¡± she continued to babble as she walked away from him and began to pace the cavern. ¡°That would be a really bad idea. Their camp is well protected, and if I try to attack it now, I¡¯ll lose even more of my slaves, and I can¡¯t afford to lose any more of them. Maybe try to get to their camp before they do and set an ambush for them?¡± The naked sorceress continued to pace the length of the cavern, talking to herself in a hushed voice. ¡°No, I can¡¯t get there fast enough,¡± she babbled on. ¡°My home is too far from their camp, and my teleportation spell allows me only to get home, not to some other places. So what to do? What to do? Wait for another opportunity to get the drop on them? No, I can¡¯t wait that long. I want those two dipshits right fucking now. They have to pay for what they¡¯ve done to me. But how do I get them without losing any more of my slaves? I can¡¯t wait who knows how long before I¡¯d get some advantage over them again. No, I need to act now. What should I do? What can I do?¡± Listening to her whispering voice, Michael realized she was batshit crazy. He hadn¡¯t noticed it before, but observing her from this close allowed him to become aware of this fact. And that scared him. It was hard to predict what such an insane person could do at the next moment. Suddenly, Melinda exclaimed, ¡°I know what I need to do.¡± She turned to face Michael again, and when their eyes met, an ominous smile spread her full lips. He felt a chill creep down his spine. He didn¡¯t like the way she looked at him. He didn¡¯t like what he saw in her evil eyes at all. He wanted to bolt out of the cavern but couldn¡¯t move at all. He mentally yelled at his legs to unfreeze and carry him out of the cave as fast as possible, but his body wouldn¡¯t budge. ¡°Take off all your clothes,¡± she said to him. Many questions bombarded his mind, but he couldn¡¯t voice any of them. Instead, he began to strip, dropping one article of clothing to the cave floor after another until he stood stark naked before the sorceress. Michael felt ashamed, but he couldn¡¯t even cover his private parts. Her eyes shamelessly ran up and down his body for a moment. The sorceress was naked too, but it didn¡¯t seem to bother her at all. What the fuck does she want from me? Michael thought with panic. What¡¯s on her mind? Whatever it was, it wasn¡¯t a desire to lay him, that was for sure. He wasn¡¯t the most attractive man among her gang members. Michael had been overweight when he came to this world. Since then he¡¯d been putting most of his points into the Strength attribute. Some of his body fat had been replaced with solid muscle, but his physique remained a combination of fat and muscle. He was really strong, though. Whatever was on the sorceress¡¯s mind had nothing to do with sex, that was for sure. The sinister smile on her face didn¡¯t promise anything good. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Melinda spotted something at her feet and looked down. Michael followed her gaze and saw the photo of his family lying on the floor ¨C it must¡¯ve slipped from his pants pocket when he was undressing. Melinda bent down and picked up the picture. She examined it for a moment, then looked at him. ¡°Is this a pic of your family? How cute.¡± Michael wanted to yell at her not to touch the photo, but his body refused to comply with his brain¡¯s signals. Melinda watched him carefully. Even though he was silent and the expression on his face was blank, she seemed to somehow know what he was thinking. Her lips stretched into a wicked smile. ¡°Say goodbye to your family. You won¡¯t have anything to help you remember them anymore.¡± Her fingers burst into flames as she cast a spell. The picture she held in her burning hand immediately caught fire and was reduced to ash in mere seconds. NO, Michael yelled mentally. Melinda lowered her hand, still watching him in the eyes. Michael eyed her back with pure hatred in his gaze. He¡¯d been keeping the picture all this time, taking care not to lose it and making sure not to let the elements damage it. And now the only reminder of his family was gone forever. He felt so bad he wanted to cry. The worst thing was that the only reason Melinda had burned the picture down was the desire to hurt him for no reason. It made him hate her even more. He suddenly realized the other men were staring at her too with the same hatred in their eyes. They all probably had their own reasons to hate her, aside from having been enslaved by her. The sorceress then stepped aside and pointed at the spot in the middle of the cavern. ¡°Lie there on your back.¡± Michael¡¯s legs carried him where she¡¯d indicated. He wanted to kick her, wanted to run away, or simply to stop, but his legs seemed to have a mind of their own. The floor at the center of the cavern was covered with some dark dry blotches. When Michael got closer to them, he realized it was dried-up blood. Somebody had been killed there. Michael wanted to scream in horror as his body moved on its own volition, obediently doing Melinda¡¯s bidding. He lay on the blood-covered floor, the hard surface digging into his back. The cave floor was cold and unpleasant. Sweating bullets, Michael lay motionlessly, staring up at the stalactites hanging from the ceiling and wondering what the sorceress was scheming. ¡°Zeth¡¯ranor, come to me,¡± Melinda said with awe in her voice. Immediately after that, Michael felt a sudden rush of cold air roll over him. He looked at the sorceress, wondering what the hell was happening. At first, he didn¡¯t notice anything out of place. Then he saw her body tremble slightly as one of her full breasts got squeezed by some invisible force. The nipple looked like it was being pinched and twisted. ¡°Oh great Zeth¡¯ranor,¡± she groaned, ¡°please give me¡­ the ability to fly¡­¡± On the sorceress¡¯s face was a mix of fear and pleasure. There was definitely some invincible person behind her who was roughly pawing her most private parts. After a few seconds, the sorceress spoke again as if answering to somebody. ¡°I need to be able to¡­ fly faster¡­ and higher¡­ and to be stronger¡­ I need to¡­ I need¡­ Oh yes¡­ Yes¡­¡± Michael saw the folds of her womanhood move apart as if someone was spreading it with their fingers. Her moans grew louder. ¡°I understand,¡± she gasped. ¡°I will do as you say.¡± Then she yelped in pleasure, her body shuddered, her knees bent at the knees, and she dropped to the floor. Whoever had been manhandling her from behind was gone now. Melinda sat on her haunches for a few seconds. Then she stood up and looked down at Michael with a cold determination on her face. She held her hand out to the nearest man and said, ¡°Gimme your dagger.¡± The man pulled a dagger from its sheath strapped around his calf and handed the weapon to the sorceress. On the man¡¯s face was an expression of terrified anticipation. He clearly knew what was going to happen next. Holding the dagger in her hand, she stepped to Michael lying on the cave floor. He could see that the inner sides of her thighs glistened with the juices flowing freely from her womanhood. Her gaze ran down his body, lingering on his crotch. ¡°Oh my. Our little show got you all excited, huh?¡± Michael realized he had a half-erection. The sorceress switched the dagger to her left hand. With her right one, she reached between her legs, soaking her hand with her juices. She then sat on her haunches next to Michael¡¯s lying form and took his half-rigid manhood in her slick hand, caressing it. Even though he didn¡¯t want to, he felt himself growing hard upon her gentle strokes. He couldn¡¯t help but grunt in pleasure despite the dire situation he was in. ¡°So I decided to attack your friends at their camp tonight,¡± Melinda said, looking him in the eyes as her slick hand continued to slide up and down his now fully erect shaft. ¡°I will be granted the ability to fly, but to get that gift, I first have to sacrifice you to the demon named Zeth¡¯ranor. Unfortunately for you, the last time I had to ask for his help, I was surrounded by a horde of goblins in a dungeon. The sacrifices I perform for Zeth¡¯ranor are usually quite bloody and brutal, but that one time, Zeth¡¯ranor allowed me to simply kill my victim, for I had no time to perform the usual brutal killing. So Zeth¡¯ranor just told me that I had to make up for that now, which means that you¡¯re going to die in a very gruesome way.¡± Melinda was speaking in a soft voice with a kind smile on her lips that didn¡¯t match the cruel look in her eyes at all. Her hand continued to stroke his manhood, but it suddenly slipped out of her grip. ¡°Huh?¡± She looked at his flaccid penis that had shrunk back to half erection. ¡°What I just said caused you to lose sexual excitement, eh? That¡¯s okay.¡± She wiped her hand off on his protruding belly and switched the dagger to her now dry right hand. ¡°Let¡¯s begin, shall we?¡± All Michael could do was watch in horror as the sorceress touched the sharp edge of her blade to his flesh. For the next hour, the sorceress cut and sliced his flesh, drawing blood and eliciting grunts of pain from Michael. When he was profusely bleeding from multiple wounds, she drenched her hands in his blood and used it to draw a circle around him as well as some arcane symbols along the bloody curve. ¡°Oh great Zeth¡¯ranor, please accept this sacrifice and grant me my wish,¡± she half-sang. She then dragged the blade across his throat. Almost immediately after that, she dropped the dagger and emitted a surprised cry. She jumped to her feet and took a few steps backward. As Michael was gurgling and gasping, blood bubbling out of his mouth, Melinda¡¯s body smeared with his blood began to change. There was the crack of breaking bones and the tearing sounds of rupturing flesh as her body was transforming into something else. Huge bat-like wings sprouted from her back and her hands and feet elongated into claws. After just a few seconds, the transformation was complete. Spreading her enormous wings, she stepped closer to dying Michael. Her legs had changed too, bending backward like a dog¡¯s. Her face was now elongated, having turned into an animal-like snout filled with rows of pointed teeth. She looked absolutely terrifying, hardly resembling a human being anymore. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ amazing,¡± she pronounced slowly. The changed anatomy of her body made it harder for her to speak. ¡°I love¡­ my new¡­ body.¡± Michael tried to say something, but all that escaped his lips was more gurgling and bubbles of blood. ¡°Your friends¡­ are gonna¡­ die tonight.¡± Michael suddenly realized he had control over his body again as if the sorceress¡¯s magical staff knew he was dying and there was no reason to keep him under its control anymore. ¡°No,¡± he managed to crock. ¡°You¡¯ll never get them. They are too tough for you, bitch.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t you worry¡­ I will get them,¡± the sorceress hissed down at him. ¡°They don¡¯t know¡­ what¡¯s coming.¡± Michael wanted to insult her more, but no more words came ¨C only more blood trickled from his mouth. ¡°Your friends are going¡­ to suffer,¡± the sorceress hissed at Michael just before he finally died. Chapter 49 – Kirk – The Night Attack Kirk¡¯s eyes snapped open. He was in a seated position, leaning against a wall, with his sheathed sword lying across his outstretched legs. For a moment, he couldn¡¯t comprehend where he was and what was happening. Then he heard a quiet, even breathing to his left and turned his head to look that way. He saw Nina who sat next to him, her side pressed against his, her head resting on his shoulder. A lock of her light hair fell on her face in her sleep, and he gently tucked it behind her ear. Nina didn¡¯t awaken ¨C both of them were exhausted. The memories came rushing back to him. He remembered being attacked by the naked sorceress after they exited the elite dungeon. By the time they killed the hellhounds she¡¯d summoned, Melinda had used the teleportation spell and vanished with all her people, leaving Nina and Kirk no choice but to return home. When they got to their camp, night had already fallen. They both were dog-tired and wanted nothing more than to go to bed. However, Kirk was afraid that the sorceress might attack them during the night, so he suggested he keep guard over the camp while Nina get some rest. Yet Nina refused to be sleeping while he would keep a sharp lookout for the entire night. He tried to reason with her that she needed to rest, but she stood her ground. She could be very stubborn sometimes. So after locking the gate, they climbed on one of the guard towers, and at some point, they both fell asleep. Kirk couldn¡¯t even remember who had drifted off first or how it¡¯d even happened. What did wake me up, though? He looked around but didn¡¯t spot anything suspicious. The night was peacefully quiet. Then he heard the sound of flapping wings. At first, he thought it was just some winged insect-like creature flying by, but then he realized he was wrong. The sound of beating wings was loud and powerful. Whatever this creature was, it must¡¯ve been enormous. And judging by the proximity of the sound of the wings beating the air, the creature was very close ¨C somewhere above the camp. What the heck is that creature? Kirk thought, wondering what kind of monster it was. He¡¯d encountered lots of different critters in the forest, but most of them were terrestrial. Huge mosquito-like monsters were probably the only flying creatures he¡¯d fought so far. He turned his head to his left and whispered, ¡°Hey Nina. Wake up, Nina!¡± He shook her a little, but she was so fast asleep it took him some time to finally be able to awaken her. When she lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at him with sleepy eyes, he put his finger to his lips. Immediately alert, Nina whispered, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Kirk silently pointed his finger up. Nina looked up, but all she could see was the roof of the guard tower. For a second, she couldn¡¯t comprehend what caused Kirk to be so disturbed, but then she too heard the sound of flapping wings. ¡°What is that?¡± she whispered as her eyes went wide. ¡°I don¡¯t know yet,¡± he replied quietly. ¡°I¡¯m gonna check.¡± He stood up and turned around. He carefully stuck his head out in the open and looked up. What he saw made his heart shrink with fear. The creature that hovered up in the air looked semi-human. It had a female body, but its arms and feet ended in huge claws, and its knees were seemingly designed to bend backward instead of forward like the legs of a normal human being. Its enormous wings flapped continuously as the monster bobbed up and down, making the creature kind of hover in approximately the same spot. Its face was elongated, resembling an animal snout with sharp pointed teeth. The face of the creature was vaguely familiar. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± he whispered. ¡°It¡¯s her,¡± Nina gasped next to him, having stood up to take a look at the creature too. ¡°It¡¯s the sorceress!¡± It took him a moment to realize she was right. ¡°What the hell happened to her?¡± ¡°She turned into a monster,¡± Nina stated the obvious. ¡°But how?¡± ¡°I dunno. Magic?¡± At that moment, the sorceress cast a fireball. It streaked downward and hit one of their houses. The magical projectile exploded on impact, and the wooden structure immediately burst into flames. After that, everything happened so fast Kirk hardly even had time to grasp what was happening or to form any sort of plan. One after another, Nina and Kirk climbed down the ladder from the guard tower. By the time they both stood on the ground, the sorceress had set the other three houses on fire. It was really hot inside the camp now, the flames from the burning houses rising high in the air, lighting up the night almost to the level of daylight. The fire had also spread to the pointed logs that formed the walls around the camp. ¡°We¡¯re gonna burn alive,¡± Kirk coughed. ¡°We gotta get outta here.¡± They began to run for the gate, but before they could reach it, the sorceress noticed them. She launched another fireball, and it hit the ground between them and the gate, the force of the explosion hurtling them backward. Kirk jumped to his feet and ran to Nina lying on the ground. ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked, reaching down his hand to help her up. ¡°I¡¯m fi¡ª¡± At that moment, they both heard the flapping of wings as a huge shadow passed over them. For a second, Kirk thought the sorceress was about to pounce at them, but she instead landed at the gate ahead of them. She threw the heavy bolt aside with surprising ease and swung the leaves of the gate open. Her men who had been patiently waiting on the other side poured into the camp. ¡°Fall back,¡± Kirk shouted to Nina. ¡°But where¡ª¡± Kirk grabbed her hand and led her back into the middle of their burning camp, both of them running as fast as they could. Behind them, they heard the flapping of powerful wings as the sorceress launched herself up. The crack of gunshots reverberated through the air, the magical bullets zipping past them. ¡°No,¡± the sorceress yelled at her men from high up in the air. ¡°Try to take them alive. But if they are too much trouble, feel free to kill them both.¡± Kirk and Nina stopped and turned around. Two of the attackers stood at the open gate to prevent them from leaving while the rest of the sorceress¡¯s people were advancing at them. They¡¯d slung their rifles and crossbows over their shoulders and drawn their longswords instead. ¡°Michael isn¡¯t among them,¡± Nina said. ¡°I noticed,¡± Kirk said through clenched teeth. ¡°What do you think she did to him?¡± She most likely killed him for some reason, Kirk mentally replied but didn¡¯t voice his thoughts as if being afraid that saying it out loud would make it the case. Nina looked up at the winged sorceress hovering up above the camp and shouted, ¡°Where¡¯s Michael? What did you do to our friend, witch?¡± ¡°He served¡­ his purpose,¡± Melinda replied. Her screeching voice and the implication of what she¡¯d just said made Kirk¡¯s skin crawl. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Nina asked. ¡°What¡¯d you do to him?¡± ¡°I sacrificed him¡­ to a great demon,¡± the sorceress replied. ¡°In exchange for this wonderful form.¡± Nina wanted to say something but couldn¡¯t. She¡¯d wanted to believe that Michael could be still alive, but that hope had just been shattered. She looked like she struggled to hold back tears. Seeing her so grief-stricken made Kirk furious. ¡°You turned yourself into an obnoxious monster in exchange for his life?¡± Kirk yelled to the sorceress. ¡°You¡¯re fucking crazy! You¡¯re gonna pay for what you¡¯ve done to our friend!¡± ¡°Bring it on, boy,¡± the sorceress screeched at him. Nina was almost crying by that point. Kirk put his hand on her shoulder and said, ¡°Nina, we gotta fight. They¡¯re almost on top of us.¡± The sorceress¡¯s men were getting dangerously close to them, longswords held tightly in their hands. ¡°But what can we do?¡± Nina said. ¡°There are too many of them. And¡­ I¡¯m not feeling too well. I¡¯m tired¡­ and don¡¯t feel like fighting again.¡± ¡°We have no choice, Nina,¡± Kirk said. ¡°We can¡¯t give up without a fight. We cannot let the sorceress win.¡± He drew his sword. Nina tried to stop him, but before she could, he launched himself at the approaching men. Just like Nina, he was tired. Since they escaped from the elite dungeon, they¡¯d hardly rested. He fought furiously, blocking his enemies¡¯ strikes with his sword and dodging their attacks, but the lack of rest was taking a toll on his body. He couldn¡¯t move as fast as he usually did, and every now and then, his enemies managed to catch him with their longswords. One minute into the battle, he was already bleeding from numerous superficial wounds. Yet it failed to faze him, and he continued to fight his enemies with the same determination as before. At some point, he managed to pierce one of the men with his sword. When he pulled his blade free, the man began to fall back. His hand suddenly shot forward and grabbed hold of the front of Kirk¡¯s tunic, dragging him down. They fell on the ground, the man on his back, Kirk on top of him. He was about to strike his attacker with his fist, but what he saw in his eyes made him stop. The man was looking at him with gratitude in his eyes. ¡°We don¡¯t want to fight you,¡± he croaked, blood trickling from his mouth. ¡°The sorceress¡­ makes us do it. The staff¡­ break Melinda¡¯s staff and we¡¯ll be free.¡± Then his eyes glazed over. The man¡¯s hand released his tunic and fell lifelessly down. Kirk got to his knees. After sheathing his sword, he picked up the man¡¯s rifle and stood up. Pointing the gun at the other attackers, he said to them, ¡°Freeze, or I¡¯ll shoot you all.¡± It made them pause but only for a moment. Kirk backed up until he reached Nina. Still pointing his weapon at the approaching men, he said to her, ¡°Can you immobilize the sorceress with your magic for a moment?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No time to explain. Can you do it?¡± ¡°I can try,¡± Nina said. ¡°But I don¡¯t know if it works. Her resistance to magic must be very high.¡± Nina held her hands up and cast a spell. As she¡¯d predicted, her magic failed to immobilize the sorceress completely, but it somewhat slowed down her bobbing in the air. Kirk brought his rifle up and took careful aim at the sorceress slowly hovering in the air. He curled his finger around the trigger, and the rifle cracked, firing a magically created bullet. It hit the sorceress in her wrist, and her hand opened, the staff slipping from her grip. ¡°Yes,¡± Kirk exclaimed. Tossing the rifle aside, he burst into a run toward the spot where the staff was going to land. The sorceress tried to fly down toward her staff, but Nina¡¯s magic still affected her, slowing her down. By the time the staff dropped to the ground, Kirk had already reached that spot. He wasted no time grabbing the staff and breaking it over his knee. The crystal that emitted a bluish glow faded out. The magical staff was useless now, but just for good measure, Kirk hurled it into the fire consuming the nearest building. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°No,¡± the sorceress screeched from above. A huge shadow covered him. ¡°Kirk, look out,¡± he heard Nina scream. He looked up to see the winged sorceress pouncing down at him with her clawed hands outstretched in front of her, ready to tear into his flesh. Before she could reach him, though, a gunshot rang out, and the sorceress jerked as she was hit by a magical bullet. She dropped down a few paces from him. Before she could even stand up, another bullet drilled into her body. Hearing her screech in pain and rage was so satisfying. Drawing his sword, Kirk made to run toward the fallen sorceress to finish her off, but somebody stopped him by putting a hand over his shoulder. He looked back and saw one of the men behind him. At first, Kirk tensed, but he then realized the man meant no harm to him. Now that the staff was broken, the men no longer obeyed the sorceress. ¡°Thank you for freeing us, friend,¡± the man said. ¡°Let us deal with Melinda now.¡± ¡°She killed our friend,¡± Kirk said. ¡°I have to avenge him.¡± The man squeezed his shoulder harder. ¡°I know. She killed him before our eyes. We all hate that wretch for all she was doing to us. We suffered for so long because of her. Let it be us who will kill her. We¡¯ll avenge your friend¡¯s death, I promise.¡± Finally, Kirk nodded. At that moment, there was the flapping of huge wings. Kirk wheeled around in time to see the sorceress launch herself high in the air. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± the man said. ¡°We won¡¯t let her go.¡± The crack of gunshots reverberated through the air as the now-free men fired at Melinda. He screamed in pain every time a bullet tore into her body. Kirk ran over to Nina, shouting to her, ¡°Let¡¯s get outta here.¡± ¡°But what about the sorceress?¡± ¡°These people will take care of her,¡± Kirk said as he took Nina¡¯s hand and led her toward the gate. The two men who stood there stepped aside to let them pass. ¡°Thank you for freeing us,¡± one of them said. The other one nodded his gratitude. Kirk and Nina ran out of the burning camp, which had all but been reduced to ash by that point. They were going to start from scratch, but at least, they were alive. ¡°Where do you think¡­ you¡¯re going,¡± the sorceress screeched from somewhere behind them. Kirk glanced back over his shoulder to see the sorceress hover above the burning camp. She was surrounded by a bubble of a magical shield, which flared briefly where bullets hit it. The sorceress held out one hand, casting a spell. Some sort of magical projectile flew from her hand toward them at impossibly high speed. When Kirk realized Melinda had targeted Nina, he shoved her out of the way, and in the next second, he felt the projectile hit him. The force of the impact spun him around, whipping him to the ground. ¡°Kirk,¡± Nina yelled, jumping to her feet and running to where he¡¯d fallen. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he said, getting to his feet. He got no damage at all, but in his vision popped up a notification telling him he¡¯d just received a negative status effect of some sort. He called up his stats to examine it. ¡°What the hell,¡± he muttered after reading the text of the status effect. ¡°What?¡± Nina asked. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°It says I will turn into stone in about forty-eight hours.¡± ¡°What?¡± Nina asked, shocked by the news. ¡°What should we do?¡± He looked back. The sorceress was still surrounded by the magical shield she¡¯d created. The men fired their rifles at it but were unable to shatter it. The sorceress launched fireballs down at them, killing off her former slaves one after another. Kirk had a bad feeling the men wouldn¡¯t be able to win the battle. Still, they continued to relentlessly fight her. Their hatred toward her must have been much stronger than the fear of death. ¡°Let¡¯s get outta here while we can,¡± Kirk said. For the next minute, they moved through the trees away from the camp. Then Kirk suddenly yelped and collapsed to the ground. Scared out of her mind, Nina dropped to her hanches next to him. ¡°Kirk, what¡¯s wrong?!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Something¡¯s happening to me.¡± He sat up, leaning against the tree trunk behind him. He took off one of his boots to take a look at his foot. He saw some of his toes had turned into stone. He couldn¡¯t move or even feel them anymore. ¡°It¡¯s already happening, Nina.¡± ¡°Oh my gosh,¡± she gasped. ¡°What should we do? Let me try to heal you.¡± But Kirk knew it wouldn¡¯t help. Nina knew it too. The negative status effects couldn¡¯t be cured either by magic or potions. You just needed to wait until they wear off over time. There was no other way to get rid of a negative status effect. That¡¯s how things worked in this world. Nina cast a healing spell on him, anyway, but sure enough, it didn¡¯t help at all. ¡°What do we do, Kirk?¡± Nina asked, looking at him with wide-open eyes, being scared even more than he was. He suddenly realized he could no longer hear the sounds of the battle behind them. He looked back from around the tree trunk. Their camp had been burnt to the ground. However, illuminated by the silver moonlight, the sorceress still hovered above the remains of the houses. ¡°Look at what you made me do,¡± her screeching voice echoed through the forest. ¡°I killed my people! My own people! You made me do it! You hear me, you dirty cunt? You!¡± ¡°Has she noticed us?¡± Nina whispered. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. While she can¡¯t see us, she knows we are somewhere nearby.¡± ¡°It¡¯s your fault,¡± the sorceress screamed through the night air again. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m talking to you, you dumb cunt. It¡¯s your fault! Yours!¡± ¡°What does she mean?¡± Nina whispered. ¡°Don¡¯t try to make sense of what she says,¡± Kirk replied as he shook his head. ¡°She¡¯s totally crazy, and there¡¯s nothing more to it than that.¡± ¡°And now you¡¯re going to watch your friend slowly die,¡± the sorceress continued. ¡°How do you feel about that? After he dies, you¡¯ll be alone. Absolutely alone! In a world full of monsters and enemies! How do you like that, you dirty cunt?!¡± The sorceress went silent as if to let what she¡¯d just said sink in. Then she continued, ¡°But you can still save him. If you manage to kill me, the status effect I¡¯d put on him will vanish. There¡¯s no other way to get rid of it as you should know yourself.¡± Nina looked at Kirk, but he shook his head. ¡°No. You can¡¯t fight her in your current condition. She wants to kill you, and she will if you go after her. You know, she was actually aiming at you, but I shoved you out of the way and accidentally stepped in the path of her projectile. She probably wanted to put the status effect on you so she could have leverage over me and make me come to her.¡± ¡°But why? She couldn¡¯t have enslaved you anyway, because her staff had already been broken by that point.¡± ¡°I dunno. Maybe I¡¯m wrong. Maybe she just wanted to make me suffer by making me watch you slowly turn into stone. Anyway, it doesn¡¯t matter. Let¡¯s just get out of here.¡± Kirk stood up, and Nina got to her feet too. ¡°But where can we go?¡± ¡°Any place that is far away from here will do.¡± ¡°But what about the status effect? How do we get rid of it?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll figure something out.¡± ¡°But the only way to¡ª¡± Kirk turned to her to look her in the eyes. ¡°Nina, we can¡¯t fight her right now. Both you and I are too tired. If we try to attack her, we¡¯ll be dead ¨C and that¡¯s exactly what she wants.¡± At that moment, they once again heard the sorceress¡¯s screeching voice reverberating through the night forest. ¡°I¡¯m gonna give you twenty-four hours to think about what I just said,¡± Melinda screamed. ¡°You hear me, you dirty cunt? Twenty-four hours. Return here at the remains of your camp tomorrow to fight me. If you¡¯re not here at this exact time tomorrow, I¡¯ll assume you don¡¯t care about your friend, and you won¡¯t see me again. And then you will have to watch your friend slowly turn into stone and die.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get the fuck out of here,¡± Kirk said as he began to walk away from the burnt remains of their camp. For the next several hours, they walked through the trees, not knowing where they were headed. Every now and then, they checked the map, and at some point, they realized they¡¯d ventured into the part of the forest where they¡¯d never been before. With every passing hour, it was getting harder and harder for Kirk to walk. Nina draped his arm over her shoulders to support him. At some point, there was a flash of lightning and the roar of thunder in the sky. Immediately after that, it began to pour, drenching both of them to the skin in mere seconds. Trembling from the cold and clinging to each other, they continued to trudge forward through the trees. Then Kirk suddenly fell. He could no longer walk, for both his legs had turned into stone reaching a couple of inches above his knees. He sat up and leaned against a tree trunk behind him. ¡°Go,¡± he said to Nina, yelling to be heard over the relentless downpour. ¡°Leave me and go. There¡¯s no reason for both of us to die here.¡± Sure enough, Nina wouldn¡¯t listen to him. She hugged him tightly, sobbing quietly into his shoulder. They remained in that position for a little while as the rain kept coming down in sheets, drenching their clothes. Despite the cold and the pouring rain, the warmth of their tightly embarrassed bodies somewhat shielded them from the harsh conditions surrounding them. Finding comfort in the shared heat of their bodies, they clung to each other more tightly to ward off the cold. Then she lifted her head, her full lips seeking his. He instinctively jerked away from her. She pulled her head back to look at him with a perplexed look in her eyes. He hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°There¡¯s something I should¡¯ve told you a long time ago, Nina. I swing the other way.¡± She just stared at him for a few seconds as if not quite believing his words. ¡°Really?¡± she finally asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me.¡± ¡°I swear I¡¯m not.¡± She burst into a laugh. Only it was a bit of a hysterical laugh, and there was no mirth in it at all. She stopped laughing as suddenly as she¡¯d begun. ¡°Why the hell didn¡¯t you tell me before?¡± she asked accusingly. ¡°Now that I think about it, I realize I should most definitely have told you a long time ago. I¡¯m not sure why I didn¡¯t. Maybe I thought¡ªI don¡¯t know¡ªthat you¡¯ll maybe get over me someday.¡± Nina shook her head. ¡°I still can¡¯t believe it.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s true.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t like me at all?¡± ¡°I like you very much¡­ as a friend. I value you a lot as both a person and a friend. That¡¯s why I want to tell you again that you should leave me. I¡¯m a dead man. I can¡¯t even fucking walk anymore. And you can¡¯t carry me¡ªyour Strength attribute isn¡¯t that high¡ªso you should go.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not leaving you, so shut up.¡± After that, they went silent for a few seconds. ¡°It doesn¡¯t really change the way I feel about you, you know?¡± Nina said. ¡°I mean I can¡¯t suddenly not love you anymore.¡± Nina¡¯s cheeks heated as she realized it was the very first time she said to him that she loved him. ¡°I know.¡± After a moment, she said, ¡°So that¡¯s why you never bathed with me in the river no matter how many times I invited you. You never so much as take a peek at me. Guess now I know why.¡± ¡°Well, that and somebody also had to stand guard while one of us was in a vulnerable position,¡± Kirk said. ¡°This forest is full of dan¡ª¡± He suddenly went silent as he saw a glimpse of movement somewhere behind Nina. He stared intently in that direction, but no matter how hard he peered into the darkness he couldn¡¯t see much. Heavy thunderclouds hid the moon, reducing the visibility to just a few paces. The heavy downpour didn¡¯t help either. Then there was a flash of lightning, and everything got brightly illuminated. In that brief moment, Kirk saw that there was some strange creature a few yards behind Nina. It was standing completely still with its back turned to them. It kind of looked like a human being. It had two arms and two legs, but that¡¯s where the similarity to a person ended. The creature had a misshapen body, and its arms were too long. Its skin was deathly pale and devoid of any hair. That was all that he managed to discern before everything was plunged into darkness again. ¡°Nina, there¡¯s something behind you,¡± Kirk said to her. Immediately alert, she jumped to her feet and spun around. ¡°Where?¡± she asked, struggling to see anything in the darkness. ¡°Over there,¡± Kirk said, pointing in the right direction. Then there was another flash of lightning, and Nina finally saw the creature too. ¡°Is that¡­ a person?¡± she asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± The creature must have heard them because it turned around and began to walk toward them in an unsure, shambling way. When the creature got somewhat closer to them, they saw it seemingly had no eyes. The creature seemed to be completely blind. It had two small holes where a human nose would¡¯ve been and two long pointed ears. Its open mouth was way too oversized and filled with large pointed yellowish teeth. When the creature opened its scary mouth and outstretched its clawed hands toward her, Nina launched a fireball at the creature. The magical projectile exploded on impact with the monster¡¯s body, hurling it back into the darkness. ¡°Is it dead?¡± ¡°I think there are more of them,¡± Kirk said as he spotted dark shadows moving toward them from different directions. During another momentary flash of lightning, they saw dozens more similar creatures converging on them. ¡°Where the hell did they come from?¡± Nina shouted as she cast another fireball, the magical projectile illuminating the darkness while flying toward its target. Kirk tried to get up but couldn¡¯t. He knew he was screwed, but he didn¡¯t want Nina to die with him, so he tried to reason with her one more time. ¡°Nina, please run while you can,¡± he pleaded with her. ¡°I already told you,¡± she said, not looking at him. ¡°I¡¯m not leaving you.¡± During another brief flash of lightning, Kirk saw that the number of mutants had doubled. Nina noticed that too. ¡°How come there are so many of them?¡± she asked. ¡°Where did they all come from? What¡¯s going on here?¡± She continued to launch fireballs at the humanoid mutants, but their steep numbers didn¡¯t seem to decrease at all. There were so many monsters around them that even if Nina had a sudden change of heart, she wouldn¡¯t be able to get away ¨C the two of them were completely surrounded by the blind mutants now. Nina fired away at the monsters as they continued to shamble closer and closer to them. Chapter 50 – Jack – A Chance Encounter Jack woke up with a start. He sat up and reached for his sheathed sword that was propped against the wall next to his bed. Holding the weapon in his hand, he swept his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. It took only a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the darkness in the room. As expected, he was alone in the Great Tree Cottage. Except for the patter of the relentless downpour against his treehouse, no more sounds could be heard. Yet something had awoken him in the middle of the night, and he wasn¡¯t going to go back to sleep before he found out what it was. He walked over to the door leading out onto the balcony. He cracked it open and took a look into the wet darkness. The wooden floor of the balcony was sleek from the rain, the heavy droplets pelting it relentlessly. He couldn¡¯t see farther than a few paces ahead of him, and all he could hear was the sound of the heavy rain. He peered into the darkness for a few more seconds but didn¡¯t spot anything suspicious. He was wondering if the great tree was still encircled by a swarm of blind mutants. From experience, he knew they vanished into thin air only when the sun began to rise, so there was no reason to believe they weren¡¯t standing or shuffling around the base of the tree at this moment, downpour or not. He couldn¡¯t see them from where he was, though. To see them, he needed to step out onto the balcony and walk over to the railing, but he wasn¡¯t eager to do that. The downpour would drench him in mere seconds if he dared to step out into the open. So he closed the door instead and walked to one of the windows. The downpour pelted the window pane, rivulets flowing down the glass making it hard for him to see anything through the window. Then there was a flash of lightning followed by the roar of thunder. That must have been what had awakened him. He was finally able to relax. Turning around, he began to walk back to his bed. When he was about halfway to it, a scream reached his ears. He immediately stopped, pricking up his ears. Even though the scream had been muffled by the distance and the relentless downpour, he¡¯d heard it without much trouble thanks to his high-level Perception attribute. He strode back to the door but this time didn¡¯t hesitate to open it and step out onto the balcony. His fabric tunic and pants got soaked through almost immediately. He walked over to the railing and looked down. It was hard to see anything, but he managed to discern the dark forms of blind mutants down below. Only there were much fewer of them than he¡¯d expected. Spotting that some of them were moving away from the great tree, he turned his head to see where they were headed. He peered into the darkness and managed to see there was some sort of commotion about thirty yards out. Just as he was looking in that direction, he saw a flash of orange light as someone cast a fireball. The magical projectile hit one of the blind mutants, the force of the resultant explosion killing the monster instantly. The spellslinger cast another offensive spell, and Jack saw it was a young woman dressed in a short mage tunic. He also noticed that she was surrounded by a swarm of blind mutants. There were so many monsters around her that she seemingly couldn¡¯t get out of her predicament by herself. They were getting closer to the girl and were about to pounce at her from every direction. Jack hesitated for a second. All his previous encounters with people in this world hadn¡¯t been pleasant, to say the least. That¡¯s why he was unsure if he should help the stranger. What if she was a bad person? However, when he heard the mage yelp in pain as one of the mutants attacked her, Jack burst into action. Whether or not she was a bad person, he couldn¡¯t just watch the mutants kill her in cold blood. He had to give the stranger the benefit of the doubt. Besides, those creatures were actually after him. They just attacked any other person who was unfortunate enough to find themselves near Jack. He couldn¡¯t stop thinking that if that girl got killed by the blind mutants, it would be in a way his fault, especially if he didn¡¯t even try to help her out. He ran toward the gravity tunnel and stepped into it. He did it so fast that he didn¡¯t have time to activate the rune and actually dropped a few feet down. His heart shrunk with panic, but then he gave a mental command to turn on the rune, and the gravity magic immediately checked his fall, lowering him to the ground at a much slower and safer speed. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he burst into a run toward where the mage was still fighting the mutants. Some of the nearby monsters tried to grab at him, but without even slowing down, he drew his weapon and swung the blade at them, severing their arms in half. It didn¡¯t take him long to make it to the swarm of mutants surrounding the young woman. He used his free hand to cast a fireball at the nearest monsters, and some of them burst into flames. Some of the others turned around to face him. Brandishing his sword, Jack lurched at them, cutting a path through several layers of mutants until he finally reached the young woman. She stood before a great tree, her drenched short tunic sticking to her body so tightly she seemed to be naked. Her completely soaked long hair clung to her pretty face, which displayed a mix of determination and concern. It was clear that while she stubbornly continued to fight for her life, she didn¡¯t believe she would be able to live through this fight. Her left upper arm was injured slightly, but the wound seemed to be almost healed already. The young woman must have used healing magic on herself. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Her arms were outstretched in his direction, and by the look on her face, she was about to fire a fireball at him. ¡°Wait,¡± he yelled a half of a second too late. The girl launched a fireball, but fortunately for him, Jack was able to get out of the way in time, and the magical projectile hit one of the mutants instead. ¡°I¡¯m on your side,¡± Jack shouted. ¡°Sorry,¡± the girl said, a look of bewilderment on her face. She clearly hadn¡¯t expected that somebody would be in the nearby vicinity to come to her aid. He now could see that the girl wasn¡¯t actually alone. Leaning against the tree trunk was seated a guy staring at him with a mix of hope and suspicion. ¡°Please we need help,¡± the girl said. ¡°His legs¡­ he can¡¯t walk.¡± There was no time for questions, so Jack sheathed his sword before stepping to the guy and crouching down next to him. Jack draped his arm over his shoulder, and the girl mirrored his action, sliding the guy¡¯s other arm over her slender shoulder. With his arms draped over their shoulders, they hoisted him up while the blind mutants kept converging on them from every direction. The young woman looked at them and said, ¡°We killed so many of those creatures, but there are still a lot of them around us. Where do they all come from?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Jack said, not wanting to waste time on explanations. They began to move forward, half dragging, half carrying the wounded guy. He didn¡¯t seem to be able to bend his legs at the knees, but he was doing his best to move his legs nevertheless, easing the burden on Jack and the young woman. The mutants kept shuffling toward them. With his free hand, Jack launched a fireball at the nearest enemy. Nina did the same, firing in another direction and killing several monsters with a single magical projectile at the same time. Jack couldn¡¯t help but notice that her fireballs were way more powerful than his. Unlike him, she must have been a pure mage, having been putting all her free points into improving her magic attribute and upgrading her spells. They continued to move forward, their progress slow but persistent. ¡°Where are we going?¡± the wounded guy asked, the suspicion evident in his voice. ¡°There,¡± Jack replied nodding toward the great tree in which his house was built. ¡°There¡¯s nothing over there,¡± the guys said, getting even more suspicious. Jack didn¡¯t waste time on explanations. The blind mutants were coming at them from every direction, and he and the girl were doing their best to keep them at bay. Finally, they reached the great tree. ¡°Why¡¯d we stop?¡± the girl asked. ¡°We¡¯re going up,¡± Jack replied as he mentally activated the invisible magical rune they stood on. The gravity magic kicked in, pulling the three of them upward. ¡°Whoa,¡± the guy exclaimed. ¡°Where are we going? You need to tell us where you are taking us right now!¡± ¡°I think we should trust him,¡± the girl said, trying to moderate her friend¡¯s mistrust. ¡°I live up there,¡± Jack replied. ¡°In a treehouse.¡± The girl and the guy exchanged a surprised glance before looking up. ¡°There¡¯s no house up there,¡± the guy said. ¡°It¡¯s hidden by an illusion spell,¡± Jack said. ¡°You¡¯ll be able to see it when we get a little closer to it.¡± ¡°Are you serious? I don¡¯t¡ª¡± The guy didn¡¯t finish his sentence, because at that moment Jack¡¯s house became visible to them. ¡°Wow,¡± the girl exclaimed. ¡°That¡¯s amazing!¡± The gravity magic stopped pulling them up when they were at the same level as the balcony. The three of them stepped onto it from the gravity tunnel and then entered the house. Jack led them into a room with spare beds and with the girl¡¯s help laid the wounded guy on one of them. ¡°What about those monsters?¡± the young woman asked. ¡°What if they get up here?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. They won¡¯t be able to do that.¡± Jack wanted to add that to use the gravity tunnel, you had not only to step on the invisible rune but also activate it with a mental command. However, he decided to omit that detail for now. After all, while these two people didn¡¯t seem like bad guys, they still were complete strangers to him, so he shouldn¡¯t reveal all his secrets to them just yet. For a minute or so, the three of them were silent, catching their breath after having survived the life-threatening situation. The rain still drummed on the house, but other than that, all was quiet. Then the girl looked at him and said, ¡°Thank you so much for helping us.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it,¡± Jack said automatically. The girl took a step toward him. ¡°No, I¡¯m serious. We¡¯re in your debt. If it wasn¡¯t for you, we would¡¯ve been dead by now. You saved our lives.¡± ¡°No problem,¡± Jack said, looking at her. From this close, he could see that she was even prettier than he¡¯d initially thought. Then he realized that while it was warm inside his treehouse, her light tunic hadn¡¯t dried up yet, her drenched attire sticking to her feminine figure like a second skin. He averted his eyes in embarrassment, for her soaked tunic clung to the curves of her body so tightly that she appeared to be almost naked. ¡°I¡¯m Nina, by the way,¡± the girl said, as if not noticing his reaction. ¡°And this is Kirk.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Jack. So what happened to you guys?¡± Chapter 51 – Jack – Not My Fight A heavy silence hung in the air. After she finished relating her story, Nina had fallen quiet as if to let what she¡¯d just said sink in. For a moment, Jack didn¡¯t say anything either, contemplating what he¡¯d just heard from Nina. There had initially been four people in her group. Two of them had been killed, and Kirk, who still lay on the bed with his eyes closed, was slowly but gradually turning into stone. It was the doing of some evil witch who had also destroyed their home, burning their camp to the ground. What had happened to her group was terrible. He couldn¡¯t even imagine how Nina must be feeling right now. ¡°I need your help,¡± she said, bringing him back from his reverie. Jack looked at the pretty girl who was staring at him intently. ¡°I¡¯d love to,¡± Jack replied, gesturing toward Kirk lying on the bed, ¡°but I have no idea how to heal him.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m asking you to help me with,¡± Nina said. ¡°At least, not exactly. I actually know a way to get rid of the debuff that¡¯s affecting him.¡± Jack raised an eyebrow. ¡°You do?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Nina made a dramatic pause. ¡°There¡¯s only one way to get rid of it.¡± A realization hit him. ¡°You mean you want to kill that what¡¯s-her-name witch?¡± ¡°Her name is Melinda. She¡¯s a sorceress. And yes, I want to kill her. That¡¯s the only way to heal Kirk.¡± Nina took a step closer to Jack. ¡°That¡¯s what I need your help with.¡± Jack looked away. That sorceress sounded really dangerous. Nina and her friends had fought her a couple of times but failed to defeat her. Would he be much of a help to Nina if he decided to aid her in fighting Melinda? It was anybody¡¯s guess. This world was governed by video game rules. The sorceress must have surpassed them by many levels. If that was the case, there was no way they could defeat her. Nina must have realized what he was thinking because she said, ¡°I¡¯m well aware that I barely know you and that you don¡¯t owe me anything. You¡¯ve already saved our lives when you suddenly showed up and helped us escape from those blind monsters.¡± Jack knew that he was actually the reason Nina and Kirk got almost killed by the mutants in the first place. He felt like it was his fault they had gotten surrounded by those blind creatures and had felt the obligation to save Nina and Kirk. Yet he decided not to mention any of that yet. Nina wasn¡¯t finished and he didn¡¯t want to interrupt her. ¡°Normally, I wouldn¡¯t dare to ask you to help me kill the sorceress, as it¡¯s a considerable favor to ask. But I have no choice. I¡¯m not sure if I can deal with her on my own. So could you please help me? Kirk broke her enslaving staff, and then the men she¡¯d controlled turned on her. Unfortunately, she killed all of them, but now she¡¯s all alone and won¡¯t be able to enslave anybody else.¡± Nina paused as if to see if Jack had something to say. He kept quiet, though. ¡°I¡¯ve seen how you cut through those mutants to reach us,¡± Nina continued. ¡°You sure are a skillful swordsman and a pretty good spellcaster to boot. The fireballs you launched at the mutants while we retreated to your treehouse were pretty powerful too. I¡¯m myself a pure mage. I know a few powerful offensive and defensive spells. Between you and me, I have a feeling we have good chances of defeating Melinda.¡± Jack was still silent. He tried not to look into Nina¡¯s intense eyes. Fighting the sorceresses seemed like a lost cause to him. Unlike Nina, he wasn¡¯t sure if the two of them had any real chances of defeating her. Besides, it was not his fight. Like Nina had said, he didn¡¯t owe her or Kirk anything. Sure, he¡¯d come to their aid when they needed help, but he¡¯d done it mostly on the spur of the moment. He felt guilty they¡¯d gotten attacked by the blind mutants because they existed only because of the curse he had on him. Also, he knew what to expect from those blind mutants and how to fight them. But dealing with the sorceress was an altogether different matter. She appeared to be an extremely powerful mage, who sure had lots of tricks up her sleeve. Why should he get into a fight with such a powerful opponent, putting his life on the line for Nina and Kirk, the two people whom he barely knew? He sure had no reason to. Still, he couldn¡¯t help but feel bad for them. They seemed like good people. He really wanted to help them even though it seemed like a very bad idea to him. While it was a game-like world, as far as he knew, death was permanent here. Sticking his neck out for the two strangers would be a really bad idea. It¡¯s not your fight, Jack told himself another time, trying to persuade himself to do the smart thing instead of the stupid thing. Not your fight. Nina must have realized what he was thinking. Her pretty face scrunched into a scowl. ¡°Fine,¡± she said with determination in her voice that surprised him. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to help me, I¡¯ll fight Melinda on my own.¡± She made to leave the room, but an arm shot out toward her. It was Kirk. He suddenly opened his eyes as he grabbed Nina by her wrist, stopping her. Jack had thought him to be unconscious, but he must¡¯ve been awake all along, listening to their conversation. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°Nina, don¡¯t go,¡± Kirk said. ¡°There¡¯s no reason for you to fight Melinda.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? Killing her is the only way to heal you!¡± Kirk shook his head weakly. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m done for, Nina. If you try to fight Melinda, she¡¯ll kill you, and we¡¯ll both be dead.¡± ¡°I''m not going to sit on my ass and watch you die, Kirk. I gotta try to save you.¡± ¡°The blind mutants are still outside,¡± Jack said before the two of them could continue to argue. ¡°There are lots of them out there. It¡¯d be incredibly hard for you to break through them.¡± Nina just stared at him for a moment. Then she seemed to concede. ¡°What are they anyway?¡± she asked. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such monsters before.¡± ¡°Me neither,¡± Kirk said. Jack told them about how he¡¯d been cursed many days ago and how those blind mutants now materialized all around him during the nighttime. ¡°You don¡¯t know how to break the curse?¡± Nina asked in a tone like it was an easy task. ¡°If I knew, I would¡¯ve undone it a long time ago,¡± he grumbled. ¡°You must¡¯ve never found a Shrine of Talindra.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Talindra must be some kind of deity in this world. A shrine dedicated to Talindra can lift any curses as well as heal any wounds you may have.¡± Jack raised an eyebrow. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jack had never stumbled across such a useful thing. He¡¯d explored many parts of the alien forest, but there were still plenty of places where he¡¯d never been before. ¡°So this shrine can lift the curse I got on me?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes. The very first use of the Shrine of Talindra is free of charge. After that, you will have to bring something to the shrine in order to receive its blessings.¡± ¡°Can you tell me where I can find that shrine of yours?¡± A sly smile tugged at the corners of Nina¡¯s lips. ¡°Looks like we both need something from each other now.¡± ¡°Wait a second, can¡¯t this shrine get rid of Kirk¡¯s debuff?¡± Jack asked. ¡°If it could, I wouldn¡¯t be asking for your help in killing Melinda,¡± Nina said. ¡°A Shrine of Talindra can heal all your wounds and lift any curses that were put on you by monsters, but it can¡¯t undo negative effects that were put on you by other people.¡± Jack nodded. ¡°Okay.¡± Nina stepped closer to him. ¡°Help me kill Melinda,¡± she said. ¡°Then I¡¯ll lead you to the Shrine of Talindra.¡± Jack felt relieved. It wasn¡¯t because of the shrine Nina had just told him about, though. At least, not entirely because of it. If he let Nina die in the fight against the sorceress without lifting a finger to help her out, his consciousness would gnaw on him forever. He was going to accept her offer because now he had a legitimate reason to help her. At least, that was how he tried to justify his decision to help Nina. The voice at the back of his mind kept telling him to turn her offer down, but now it failed to persuade him. ¡°Deal,¡± Jack said. Nina looked at him in disbelief at first, then her face was brightened by a happy smile. ¡°Thank you so much!¡± she exclaimed. ¡°I haven¡¯t done anything yet.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go then!¡± She was about to dart out of the room, but Jack stopped her. ¡°Hold your horses. First of all, those blind mutants are still out there. While it¡¯s still night, they¡¯ll be materializing all around me no matter where I go. We have to wait until morning.¡± Nina was going to object, but Jack continued to talk before she could speak up. ¡°And second, you look really tired. You should rest for the rest of the night. If that sorceress of yours is half as powerful as your story claims she is, we must make sure we are well-rested to confront her at our strongest.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right, Nina,¡± Kirk said. ¡°If the two of you are gonna fight Melinda, you have to be at your best. Though I still don¡¯t approve of your decision to get into a fight with her.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to go fight her whether you like it or not.¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what concerns me. Since I can¡¯t stop you from going, then at least allow me to convince you to grab some winks.¡± Jack sensed Kirk¡¯s relief upon learning that he would assist Nina in battling Melinda. It looked like the two of them thought too highly of his combat prowess. He wondered why. Had he really looked that good when he cut through the horde of the blind mutants and then helped Nina and Kirk to safely get to his secure treehouse? Perhaps it was time for him to acknowledge his experience and give himself more credit for his combat and survival skills. The girl turned out to be incredibly stubborn, though. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna sleep, Kirk.¡± She turned her head to look at Jack. ¡°When you led us through your house to this room, I noticed your alchemy laboratory.¡± ¡°Me too,¡± Kirk said. ¡°It looked pretty impressive, bro.¡± ¡°It seems that you also have a wide array of ingredients,¡± Nina said. ¡°May I use some of them to concoct a stamina potion? It¡¯ll give me peak strength and maintain it for the next twenty-four hours.¡± ¡°Be my guest,¡± Jack said. ¡°And by the way, that¡¯s what I was going to do as well. Once I committed to assisting you, I planned to spend the remainder of the night brewing some potent potions to aid us in fighting Melinda.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good idea,¡± Nina said. ¡°I can also enchant your weapons to make them more powerful and give them magical properties.¡± ¡°She¡¯s really good at it,¡± Kirk said to Jack with a wink. While Jack was good at alchemy, he himself lacked enchanting skills. The idea of giving his weapons powerful enchantments excited him a great deal. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± Jack began to walk toward the door that led out of the room, but the girl hesitated. She looked at Kirk, who lay on the bed. Since his legs had turned into stone, he couldn¡¯t follow his friends. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, Nina,¡± he said to her. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine here. Go brew some potions and enchant weapons. The two of you gotta prepare well for the upcoming fight with Melinda.¡± Nina nodded and hurried after Jack. Chapter 52 – Jack and Nina – Preparations For the next several hours, Jack and Nina were hard at work, brewing an assortment of potions. The dimly lit alchemy lab was adorned with shelves filled with an array of colorful vials and bubbling cauldrons. The air was heavy with the scent of herbs and arcane ingredients as they meticulously concocted their potions. First of all, the girl deftly mixed ingredients in a large cauldron to create a potent stamina potion. As the brew simmered, she poured the liquid into a vial and swiftly downed it to invigorate her body so it could function effectively for the next twenty-four hours. Then Jack and Nina proceeded to create a few powerful health and mana potions, each one carefully selecting and blending ingredients to maximize their effectiveness. Jack also created potions to heighten his reflexes for the upcoming battle against the sorceress known as Melinda. Meanwhile, Nina focused on enhancing her mana manipulation skills, crafting potions to amplify her magical abilities and cast more powerful spells with ease. After completing the potions, Nina shifted her focus to enchanting Jack¡¯s sword. Tapping into the local mana pool, she channeled the magic energy to imbue the blade with three different enchantments. The first one greatly increased the sword¡¯s attack power, while the second bestowed the ability to inflict fiery damage upon enemies. The most intriguing enchantment was the creation of a phantom copy of the sword. By activating this enchantment with a mental command, Jack could release a spectral flying blade, sending it hurling in the direction he swung his physical sword. The strike of the phantom copy would be as powerful as that of the real sword. Nina warned Jack that activating the enchantments consumed mana, so she advised him to activate them strategically only when needed, such as before their clash with Melinda. If the sword ran out of mana, the enchantments would deactivate until replenished. The first two enchantments could be turned on and off with a simple mental command. The third enchantment, the one that created a phantom copy of his sword, had to be activated each time just before it was utilized. By the time they finished, morning had arrived. Their meticulous preparations finished, Jack and Nina bade farewell to Kirk. His condition was getting worse. Both his legs had already turned into stone up to the thighs, and his fingers had begun to petrify as well. It was so painful for Nina to see him in that state she almost cried. She didn¡¯t want to leave him alone, but she knew she had to. In order to save him, she needed to kill the sorceress. There was no other way to cure Kirk. After Jack reassured her that his treehouse was secure in their absence, they departed, each equipped with potent potions. Jack carried his sword, imbued with mystical enchantments, secured at his hip. Nina, a proficient mage, had no need for a physical weapon; her combat spells surpassed many conventional arms. Nina guided Jack into the area of the forest he had dubbed the Darkwoods. After he discovered a less dense and much brighter part of the forest, which he had named the Sungrove, he rarely ventured back into the Darkwoods. He hadn¡¯t explored that section of the alien forest all that well, and that likely was the reason he had never found the Shrine of Talindra Nina was leading him to. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. It took them a few hours to arrive at their destination. In the center of a small clearing they had just entered, a pedestal stood with a statue of a long-haired female deity dressed in a flowing robe. Before the statue, embedded into the stone of the pedestal was a bowl, currently empty. Nina explained that one needed to put a specific rare item in the bowl to receive Talindra¡¯s blessings. However, as she had told him the previous night, the first use was complimentary, so all he needed to do now was touch the statue. When Jack pressed his palm against the cool, smooth statue, a wave of warmth enveloped him. A message appeared before his eyes, informing him that he had been cleansed of all negative effects. When he checked his status, he discovered that the curse the witch had placed on him many days before had indeed been lifted. Relief flooded through him, knowing that the menacing blind mutants would no longer materialize all around him every single night. It took them several more hours to make their way back to the Sungrove. Along the journey, they encountered various monsters, dealing with them without any trouble. While Jack engaged the creatures in close-range combat, Nina cast offensive spells at them from a distance. She used some protective and combat-enhancing spells on him as well. Through their seamless coordination and effective teamwork, Jack grew increasingly confident that the two of them made an exceptional duo. He was getting more and more optimistic that they might actually be able to defeat the sorceress. Finally, they made it back to the Sungrove. Nina wanted to return to his treehouse to check on Kirk, but Jack told her it wasn¡¯t such a good idea. Jack reasoned with Nina, explaining that if they first returned home, it would take them a few additional hours before they could reach the meeting place with Melinda. He stressed the importance of arriving before Melinda to avoid falling into any potential ambush she might set. Time was of the essence, and they couldn¡¯t afford any delays in their journey. Reluctantly, Nina agreed with Jack¡¯s reasoning. Noticing how sad she was, Jack once again reassured her that his treehouse was securely protected by magic and would remain safe in their absence, so nothing bad would happen to Kirk. When they finally reached the scorched remains of the camp where Nina and Kirk had once lived, the evening had already descended upon the alien forest. Jack couldn¡¯t help but feel a pang of sadness as he surveyed the wreckage of what had once been Nina¡¯s home. The effort and care Nina and her friends had put into creating this place were evident, and the sight of it in ruins was truly disheartening. Glancing at Nina, he noticed the tears glistening in her eyes as she stared at the scorched remains of her home. As Jack prepared to offer words of encouragement to Nina, a sudden rustle of leaves caught his attention. Someone had stealthily emerged from the foliage behind them, catching both Jack and Nina off guard. ¡°Well, well, well,¡± a female cold voice suddenly spoke from behind their backs. ¡°You arrived sooner than I expected.¡± Both Jack and Nina swiftly turned around to face the woman who had just emerged from behind a nearby tree trunk. Jack was taken aback to see she wore her birthday suit. ¡°That''s her,¡± Nina whispered to Jack, her voice laced with hatred. ¡°That¡¯s Melinda.¡± A wicked grin stretched across the sorceress¡¯ face. ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s me. Shall we begin then?¡±