Book 1: Chapter 6: Hunt & Harvest

Book 1: Chapter 6: Hunt & Harvest

The berry of the Galebush is sweet and nutritious, drawing in fauna and adventurers alike. However, unless thoroughly cooked the seed will sprout within a few hours spontaneously from within, causing an almost certain and gruesome death. This is likely a mechanism to provide the new seedling with fertilizer for the next part of its life cycle. Should the being somehow survive the ‘sprouting’ then they will slowly turn into a volatile and strange chimera of plant and animal. One such creature was the infamous Sun Bear of the Duskdown Forest who terrorized the local territories for many years before a group of Knight Penitents put it down.

- Monsters of the Mortal Realms by K. D. Fidditch

My twin weapons in hand, I crept down the hill towards the pond with a furtiveness I never knew I possessed. Walking along the edges of my feet, heel to toe, I mused how the newly acquired Stealth skill was clearly bearing fruit. Crouching slightly forward with my weight evenly spread, I instinctively knew how to bend my knees just enough to absorb as much of the sound as possible.

Edging ever closer, I slithered across close to the shore of the pond on my belly. Hiding behind some shallow rushes on the shore, I decided to stake out the scene I saw before me.

Across on the opposite shore, the amphibious Bibsis relaxed under the late afternoon sky, occasionally making musical gurgling noises. I observed that the school of Bibsis consisted of larger creatures the size of a monstrously big breed of dog, along with smaller juvenile specimens. I waited, forcing each drawn breath to be slow and even, thinking of a plan. Some of the juveniles were currently playing in the shallows close to the shore. I needed to surprise one of them, kill it, then retreat back to the relative safety of the shrine.

I waited patiently in position, trusting my Stealth skill to hide me from the monsters. After an indeterminable length of time, I grew impatient, picking up a scattering of fine sand and throwing it a short distance from my place of hiding at the surface of the water. Two adult Bibsis broke away from the main school, swimming lazily to investigate where I threw the sand. Gurgle-chirping to each other before diving below the surface and swimming to look for the source of the disturbance.

After a minute or two, one of the creatures swam back to the main school with a babble. The remaining monster was the size of a large hound and it beached itself on the shore, rolling onto its side while closing its googly eyes in contented relaxation. Perfect, I thought to myself, time to use one of my skills in a combat situation.

I rushed out of my position to assault the monster. Instead of casting Power Strike by shouting it loudly, I invoked it with my mental voice. Targeting the basking Bibsis, I struck out with the half spear in my left hand to place it through its flapping gills. There was a moment of resistance as I felt my Stamina drain by ten points, before a driving sensation, different to the spell reaction, traveled through my body and along my arm to guide my weapon to its fated target.

The stone spearhead passed cleanly through the gills and into its brain matter, bypassing the cartilage of its skull with a squelching noise. For good measure, I struck its stilling body along its length with the blunt other half of the spear from my right, scattering wet muddy brown scales across the shore. Hastily I ripped out my half-spear from its cranium, scanning my surroundings for incoming Bibsis, but none approached. I was gratified with a notification of the monster’s death granting me another ten experience points. A critical hit I assumed, which meant I could execute perhaps eight damage with my current attributes and equipment.

A dark liquid was rapidly congealing on the shore underneath the fish’s head. Blood thick like tar now stained the sands. Quickly I heaved and tried to drag the creature from the edge of the pond. Struggling, I soon realized the impossibility of such a task.

Calling$%^& Level 2 Acolyte of Avaria Strength9 Dexterity10 Constitution12 Intelligence10 Wisdom9 Charisma8 Luck11 Pain Nullification (lvl.1)

Rest (lvl.1)

Backstab (lvl.1)

Dodge (lvl.1)

Polearms (lvl.1)

SPELLS & MAGIC

Heal (lvl.1)

Rust (lvl.1)

Identify (lvl.1)

GIFTS

Curse of Entropy -20% all starting attributes. Experience to next level 170/220 Health16/16 Stamina21/21 Mana7/7

A day and a half of a consistent loop of receiving damage and healing myself had increased my constitution by another two points, increasing both my maximum Stamina and Health. My Dexterity had also climbed to ten somewhere along the line, and I noticed that my average damage with my half-spear was increasing by one point. I confirmed this by casting Identify after a good hit on one of the monsters. I had not gained any Wisdom or Intelligence, likely due to relying almost exclusively on physical attacks rather than magic.

Interestingly I had also picked up three new skills. Two of the more mysterious, 'Dodge' and 'Backstab,' were at level one like all of my beginner skills. I deduced that I had gained Dodge by evading the innumerable water balls that had been spat my way. Backstab could be due to my success in surprise attacks against the Bibsis. I assumed it was this skill that was responsible for the occasional spikes of one or two damage points I achieved against the overgrown fish when I was able to catch them by surprise. Logically my third new skill, 'Polearms,' was obtained from the extensive and exclusive use of my scavenged spear. Thank heavens I was an avid gamer in the old world. Without that skill set, I would have little frame of reference for this absurd experience. Shrugging internally, I spotted that I had also mysteriously gained an extra point of Luck. I only had hazy ideas about how that attribute would affect my situation.

Circumstances were certainly not perfect, not by a long haul, but they were definitely improving. I felt a glimmer of consolation that I was beginning to understand the world I was in. It was satisfying working out some of the rules that I had to play by. There was no internet or Wikis here with easy answers, yet for all this, I was enthusiastic about tomorrow. In this world, self-improvement was a more tangible notion compared to my old life. Experiences and skills were broken down into numbers and I was fed solid feedback showing when I had gained in my abilities. Huddling cold against the tree, I decided to rest despite being at full Health, Stamina, and Mana, as I was at the limit of my mental endurance.

Tomorrow was another day and I had five more monsters to slay to attain level three.