Chapter 16: Backlash

After an hour of meditating on my bed, my system notified me about the healing properties I needed to learn. Although this precious spell came at a cost, I must use it and prepare myself for the upcoming fight against the demons.

'Command, healing skills set, and enter.'

Those were the commands that the players needed to input into their keyboards. It was a way of skimming through the spells inscribed for the players to learn, master, use, or sell. However, this world required me to say it or think about the phrase inside my head.

'For now, I needed to learn at least one healing spell that could amplify my regeneration rate. If only I can learn one passive skill for my level 1 character, that would be great! Even if it were passive healing, I would take that crap,' I thought, and waited for the screen to illuminate a brilliant glow.

Passive abilities were not that great during clashes. Since the last patch of the game came, players broke these passive abilities by overusing them. They learned the true potential of these skills and outmanoeuvred their opponents without using active abilities.

I did not know if that still applies right now, but I still thought that placing any healings would fix my body. We only had three days before the demon's attack, and I cannot afford to stay idle in this room, trying to heal every wounded cell inside my body.

After a high-pitch sound, the azure window grabbed a book and showed it to me. The system presented countless healing magics that any player could learn. Thanks to this information, I did not have to learn it through the churches, or wandering mages could teach me those skills.

However, the worst happened in front of me.

My efforts of scrolling until I hit rock-bottom were all for nought. There were no spells applicable for me to learn. The system showed me two reasons: one, my level was too low. And two, I was a knight that had no aptitude for magic spells besides fire elements and enhancement runes.

But before I could even give up, a glowing page welcomed my eyes. I thought, "this was it!" and waited for this golden opportunity.

"... you gotta be kidding me," I snarled, as I witnessed a passive ability I received from the system.

[Because you are the descendant's hero and got your ass beaten by an ogre, the system grants you two abilities.]

"Excuse me...?" I groaned, but the pain got the better of me.

[Passive Ability (Knock-back): If you receive damage continuously, the following attacks would have a lesser impact on you than before. This spell allows you to toughen your defences and multiply your armour by tenfold! (Stacks indefinitely. Health threshold as follows {For every 10% life-points deduction, increasing armour by x2}. {if life points reached 50%, increasing armour by x5}. {if life points reached around 25%, increasing armour by x10})

[Passive Ability (Healing Salve): Amplifies any healing done to the character by 1%. (This applies to human regeneration)]

I needed to become a priest if I wanted to learn more about healing spells. However, I WAS NOT A FREAKING PRIEST. I was a knight in shining armour, so having healing spells was not applicable for my character.

My character before had rings and accessories that gave me healing abilities and passive regenerations. Since I did not have to worry about restoring my life points, getting potions posed no problem.

And right now, I needed them if I wanted to move. But only the wealthy players and people could afford those crimson flasks. The stupid game developer added those potions after a year of Magique's release. I did not have to wonder why I was playing a beta game before!

But all of those memories were in the past. I needed to focus on what I have and learned right now.

Thanks to the porridge and herbs that Aferous and Rain gave to me, my body continued to regenerate. Although it was not visible in the naked eye, I could feel some pleasure creeping through my veins. It was my passive ability and medication doing their job helping my body.

If the doctors on Earth saw me right now, they would feel jealous to know about this spell!

My body immediately absorbed the effects and healed most of the wounds on my body. Since I had a health bar like the goblins, healing me was a piece of cake. However, I did not want to force myself violently to move like a monkey.

"Just… take it slow, Arthur… take it slow…" I grumbled, and went to the gates.

Rain and Aferous widened their eyes as they witnessed me standing up from my bed. They shook their heads and told me to rest for the time being. However, I wanted to see Afenos and told him about the passive abilities that he can have inside his body, considering that we were both knights.

The two reluctantly agreed, as long as I would return to this shack in around an hour. I gave Rain and Aferous a nod and took off from the house. Rain followed me along and guided me to Afenos.

I was fortunate enough that our journey turned out shorter than I expected. I did not know why I thought about Afenos becoming a monk, training on the top of a mountain. There was no need for the monks and me. But thinking about that idea made me burst into tears, laughing about Afenos shaving his head.

(Author's note: I am not trying to insult monks. sorry…)

The training ground that Afenos chose was a grassy field filled with nothing but… well, grass. All the trees were still far beyond the meadow. It would take anyone for a fifteen minutes walk before reaching the woodland.

"There's my brother! Afenos, yoohoo!" Rain called out for Afenos, but the boy did not hear him.

Afenos preoccupied himself with a scarecrow as his training buddy. He had a sword in his right hand and a shield on the other, like a proper knight. That boy swung his blade like a madman and crushed his target to the ground. The scarecrow, bundled with tons of creeping plants, went back up and stared at Afenos.

As soon as I stepped foot on the green scene, the little brat turned around and hissed at us like a cat. It was as Rain had mentioned. Afenos had yet healed his body from our earlier battle. Instead of resting on a bed, that kid went straight in the field and trained until his heart's content. But seeing him right now made me feel pity for him.

Afenos was doing everything all wrong. I was no swordsman, but my notification saw it as an error in my point of view. Since all the knowledge that came from my knight class went inside me, I knew a thing about to position myself during sword fights.

I grabbed an enlarged bough on the ground and shouted, "Afenos!"

The boy turned his face to me and raised his eyebrow. Afenos wondered about the twig clipped in my hand. But before he could answer me, he looked at his own hand and flashed me a smirk.

"What better way to train ourselves than to fight?" I asked, and motioned my fingers for Afenos to do his trick.

That boy leapt from the ground and dashed straight towards me. The feeble Afenos that I knew were no more in front of me. While I was sleeping on my bed, Afenos trained for three days to reach this speed. Although he was still level 1, he had the dexterity of a proper adventurer!

However, I was more experienced than him. If someone combined our hours playing or living in this world, I would win from miles away.

Afenos swept a kick, hoping to disrupt my balance. I saw his little cheap trick and jumped from the ground. It was now time to defend myself in mid-air. Although this position gave Afenos the advantage, I knew I was going to win.

"[Hell Fire!]" I shouted, but nothing happened.

I expected a crimson-coloured magic circle to appear on my hands… but it did not. A

It was when I realised I was not using my character in Magique. I was the puny Arthur that teleported into this world without my legendary attributes and skills. [Hell fire], which burned the entire empire, did not appear in my arms.

"Shit!"

I covered my chest using my arms and expected the stick to attack me. But Afenos did another thing. He moved to the side and aimed for my flank, which I left open!

As soon as his palm crashed against my abdomen, my mouth spewed saliva mixed with red liquid on the soil. With one hit, Afenos defeated me as I plummeted to the ground.

After realising what he had done, Afenos rushed towards me and inspected my body. He lowered his head and expressed his apologies to me.

"ARTHUR! I thought you knew what you're doing! Why would you rush in front of me like that, stupid!" Despite insulting me for my failure, Afenos tried to help me stand.

I was fortunate enough to receive no alarming wounds after that fight.