This night was somewhat more bearable than the last, as lots of things happen in the city after sun goes down. It doesn't have a night life, not modern enough for that yet, but a pair of who I think were drunk homeless people, after one of them told the other their tragic life story, got into an existential debate somewhere near the bookstore, me being able to hear them only because of the utter silence.
Money is not the only thing worth much, is what I told myself mid-night, as if I just discovered that obvious truth.
As I have the Greed Sin, it could become a huge boon to be convinced that wisdom is a form of wealth- to satisfy my sin by seeking knowledge, which is a powerful weapon in its own right, all the while increasing the strength of my magic tremendously. And if, going by the description of the sin, 'obtaining infinite wealth' is possible, it implies that getting to infinite WIS, or any other stat for that matter, is in fact, an option. It might as well mean exactly that, with there being finite physical wealth in the omniverse. How would a person even reach infinity though? Eh, there's probably some ultra-difficult quests concerning that.
Naela told me what to do today, which was sorting the book hallway on the first floor. It took some time, arranging piles of books is much harder than doing the same with shelved books, but she helped me so it wasn't as long as it could've been.
Having read more on the subject of unlocking my magic, I decided to try out the first ritual. It was unusual, but pretty simple- first, find a large tree, make a hole in it, and sit as near as possible for at least an hour.
...I know that sounds weird, but it's the only reliable way of getting magic without killing that boss.
Better try it than not, right?
The book described it as 'being near life and death at the same time' and 'letting the energies of the tree flow through you'. In my Doomed Earth life, I'd have immediately dismissed that as utter hogwash, but here, in a world where magic undoubtedly exists, and with confirmation from an omnipotent being, Vingnish, it's almost sure to be real working rituals.
-x-
Having finished the ritual, I'm starting to doubt it works, as nothing feels different. Of course, it's more probable that it does and I'm just being a fool for almost baselessly assuming it doesn't. Just because there's no visible effect doesn't mean it's not working, I hope it's like that in this case. Who am I kidding, it undoubtedly is.
After the ritual, I carve five runes for the daily Runecrafter EXP, and go back to the city to chill out at the bookstore, and occasinally help Naela with stuff.
-x-
Two hours later.
Naela was looking at me like she had something to say, but didn't want to interrupt my reading. Glancing up from the book, I prompt her to start.
"I haven't seen you eat ...ever since you started working here." She said.
Huh? What does she mea...
Ohh, Gamer's Body.
Supressing the annoyance at my lack of foresight, I say with a blank face,
"I'm half Dryad, no need to sleep, eat and I can't get tired, but don't have to live in a forest." Didn't expect her to believe that, don't know if dryads even exist here, but to at least get the curiousness off my shoulders for the time being. I think it's good to make a few false rumors to satisfy peoples curiosity, making me less of a target than if they knew nothing- better tell, mislead, a serial killer who doesn't know what a battleship is, but is steering one, that it only serves as transport, rather than have him figure out the reason behind the giant turrets.
That's exactly one of the reasons why I didn't want to live in the city, way too much guessing on how to deal with dangers I have never experienced, and can't even see, or know if they are either real, or it's paranoia.
Naela didn't respond, looking lost in thought.
"I'll..." I cut off, quickly deciding on what to do, "...be in my room, reading." I said, before leaving for the stairs.
Doing a dungeon would feel great right now, a distraction from this reality. The ID skyscrapers, although ruins, were a reminder of my polluted, but very nostalgic old life. A kind of way to stop worrying about the problems I have to begin facing in the coming two centuries of my life. Zombies being a much more head-on issue, representing many difficulties, making it almost pleasurable killing them, relieving stress by defeating the monsters to which I assigned metaphorical problems.
It's not really evil to get positive emotions from killing mindless creatures that wouldn't hesitate to do the same to me, right?
As lots of things happen during the day, it's the worst time to enter an ID so I decided to do them at night, not now.
Got to the room, picked up a random book from the table and laid on the bed, then started thinking of stuff completely unrelated to its contents. If I really want my inventory to be useful, training it is essential. I remember getting excited over being able to pocket whole planets in the future.
I should train my abilities in general. For example, that Throwing skill has some good potential; if the precentage increase is linear, and if there truly is no level cap, then imagine...
[Throwing] - LVL 543753434725689875
+543753434725689875% Damage inflicted by throwables
+543753434725689875% Projectile speed
+543753434725689875% Maximum weight you can throw
+100% Accuracy of object thrown [MAX]
A simple 'Throwing' skill, allowing me to move planets, shoot rocks across continents, making for flawless assassination with the perfect accuracy to be sure of it hitting the target.
This is one of the reasons why I absolutely love the Game, its unlimited potential for growth, the ability to master seemingly trivial stuff to a degree even gods wouldn't be able to replicate. Not that Game doesn't make its users divine in time.
The clock's ticking, if I want to win the multiversal hunger games, I should invest in any possible boons to ensure my victory. If throwing is easily leveled, I'll look into it, however should it take too much effort to do that, better would be to focus on my magic and runecrafting.
Though, despite throwing levels are a lot easier to grind than runecrafting, I'll still invest in the latter, didn't choose that class for nothing.
Peeling my eyes off the book, I look around my room.
...
I'm settled, I could probably live a few good decades like this, just lazing around in the bookstore...
But, no. I decided to try my best at the Battle, and I will.
Normally as a Gamer, that would entail grinding as much as possible. With being able to only do one dungeon per day though, I need to find other EXP sources.
The first thing that came to my mind when thinking 'strong opponents' was mages and knights, but there's actually no need to seek out evil humans, the forest's a great place to be defeating powerful beasts which lack sentience.
No doubt the other Players will do the same, so there's no reason for me not to. Won't start doing it until there's a good magic arsenal at my disposal, even basic wolves are a much bigger threat than the slow-moving zombies from within the dungeon, and I really doubt that they're the top dogs of the forest.
God, I'm thinking of killing people and innocent animals for exp...
Well, doing what's needed for my existence, survival of the fittest as they say.
No, that's Greed influencing me - exp translates to level up, that to stat points, these to power, and to wealth. I'll have to 'overcome my evil nature' as Paarthurnax once wisely stated.
Which is not possible with the Greed I have. Fuck, really hoping it won't get worse in the future. At least it shouldn't be as bad as multiple sins, better for a greedy person to rule the omniverse, than a wrathful warlock. I hope.
For the first time since coming here, I've gotten a fairly stable life, a routine. I'm settled, as stated before.
-x-
So a few days pass, with nightly dungeon sessions, leveling the Throwing skill, although not by much, training my inventory, now I can take out small objects in less than a second of focus, make them appear a meter away from my hand at max. Made a lot of progress with unlocking my magic as well. It's not fully awakened yet, but I can feel the subtle differences in the world around me, don't know how to describe it yet.
It's not nearly enough to be a magic sense, maybe an affinity to something? I'll have to ask an expert, any old mage should know.
Don't really care all that much about what it is, but I do care that it is there, for it's a sign that the rituals are working.
Other than that, I leveled up twice in the latest days.
Name - Suisei Kyoryokou
Title - The Gamer
Level - 4
Class - Runecrafter - LVL 1 [3%]
Race - Human
Rank - Mortal
Allignment - True Neutral (Path to Evil)
HP - 140/140 [1.4 per minute]
MP - 150/150 [2.6 per minute]
SP - 140/140 [1.4 per minute]
STR - 11
END - 14
DEX - 12
INT - 15
WIS - 13
CHA - 11
LUK - 12
Not much changed with the point layout I had from my first level up, some points go to the magic stats, a few spread all around, with a bit more focus on END- as something called Radical Glass Cannon exists, also it's a fairly important stat for a mage standing in the middle of a battlefield, even if they have magic shields.
Radical Glass Cannon is when someone puts all their points into one stat. Literally one stat. Four billion in INT and three in END is what a radical glass cannon is. Destroy gods with your infinite cosmic might, but get mauled by a wolf should it sneak up on you.
And my class only got to 3% of the EXP needed to advance it's gonna take so long to level it...
Even though I haven't improved noticably, I'd name the past days productive, it's the foundation of power. The magic unlocking book says there's only one ritual left, so let's say I'm pretty happy right now, finishing some archiving work at the bookstore. There's a cool place in the forest that I discovered on my third day here, and started going there for rituals.
A large boulder, and a small, fading stone beach with no river or lake to be near. Just those two things, minutes away from the main gate to the city, barely even in the forest. A reason why it wasn't discovered until now is either that it's hidden very well by all the thick foliage, or Vingnish placed it there to make my progress faster, he'd be kinda impatient for a god if that's the case.
I'm currently heading there, with the intention to finally gain access to my magic completely. It's been too long, being blocked from getting stronger, now it is no longer. With my magic, I shall kill the boss, advance in my power tremendously. Finally use the Game System correctly...
I know it's my fear of failure that was stopping me from just fighting the zombie boss and getting power much quicker, but really, would anyone attack such a tanky enemy with basic pebbles?
Feeling both thankful and cursing of my cautiousness, it set me back in my journey to get ready for the Battle, however would I live to that time if a level one dungeon boss killed me?
Feeling curious. Game, how many Players did a dungeon boss kill until now?
[58]
That's not as many as I thought, but not as few as I'd have hoped. What did they even do to manage to die to the zombie? Was it overconfidence? Maybe this dungeon boss was put there for that exact reason, to weed out the most idiotic Gamers, so only the more intelligent ones remain?
Thinking of it, there actually might be many more hidden tests, to guarantee that only the most keen will participate in the Battle, the strongest of the most intelligent taking place as the rightful ruler of everything? Quite interesting, and it'd make sense from Vingnish's standpoint.
Pushing through some large thick bushes, I reach the place. All in all, it's a very little clearing, not even enough to show more daylight than anywhere else in the forest. The boulder's filled with many markings from a complicated ritual I did yesterday.
Speaking of, the last ritual consists of managing to relax on a uncomfortable surface, it was written in the book that a stone beach's perfect. The pile I have here is not one per se, but it is enough to fit me, barely though.
It's the least complicated ritual, which I find a bit bizzare. At the end of the unorthodox process of awakening my magic, could've expected something more difficult, interesting, maybe flashy...
Eh, all that matters is whether it works, and there's no doubt about that.
Laying on the rocks I resist pushing the more uncomfortable, sharper ones away. A grimace crosses my face, I need to keep this position for multiple hours now, can't imagine the soreness after the ritual's done... But some pain is an incomprehensibely small price to pay for access to magic, considering its infinite potential.
[Do you allow the "Magic Pathway Opening" ritual to change your innate magic passageways, unlocking [Magic]?]
[YES] [NO]
That's new, there weren't any messages like this during earlier rituals... Eh, it's probably because this last one makes the finishing change, the largest change to bet.
I pressed [YES].
-x-
Opening my eyes, I see upper branches sprinkled with many leaves, partially blocking the light of day. Slowly getting up from the ground, saying I feel very disoriented would be an understatement.
Coming to my senses was easy, as per Gamer's Mind's help. The first thing I thought of, after remembering why and where I am, is-
'How the fuck did I fall asleep?!'
There's Gamer's Mind to stop this from happening, and if not that, then the uncomfortable nature of rocks.
But as I think about the situation more, I start to understand why it did happen. It was a ritual, and with my consent it changed me to allow the flow of magic. Apparently needed to put me to sleep to do some of the things, me clicking 'YES' on that message as it began may be the reason why Gamer's Mind didn't interfere.
Noticing I'm much more comfortable now, I feel confused. Wasn't there many rocks below me? It occurs that they are no longer- instead there's a large pile of steaming, warm sand resting on my back. A side effect of the ritual, I suppose?
I grin, taking out a certain stone from my inventory, it's the magic missile runed one meant to be for my first dungeon. After aiming it at the boulder still sitting there, a few meters away, I will it to fire. And this time it works- a light blue, thin, sparkling bolt of energy launched from in between my fingers, where the smooth rock rested. There was no recoil whatsoever, but I did feel a slight drain in ...myself? I have no idea how to better explain it.
The missile impacted, making a small energy explosion, electric looking sparks going off across the boulder. When everything settled down, there was barely a crack in the place the bolt landed... Well, it is a beginner spell, so that's to be expected.
I almost started jumping in delight, the last time I felt this excited was back on my seventh birthday, recieving my first bike. I can finally cast magic! Dealing with the boss will be of no difficulty now.
...Maybe it will be pretty hard regardless, but with this spell, it should be much more achievable than with throwing rocks.
I've thought a bit about what kind of rune I should make to maximize the damage for a single strike- it's drawing as many magic missile runes on one large stone as my magic pool allows, then it's like a giant cannon that takes a while to reload, but deals a ton of damage. It would be my opening move against the zombie boss, then the rarest stone I can find and rune would suffice for when it's time to do a hit-and-run tactic after the boss comes to its senses.
About that, I better go seek out rare rocks, or maybe steal some jewelry? No, most of it's fake, and how would I scratch a real diamond, the hardest naturally occuring material, without proper tools?
It's still some time till sunset, don't have any reason not to look for them now.
Wait. I still have hundereds of those stones from first day. Not like I remember how every rock looked like, so scouring through them would be a good idea, maybe I'll find a few uncommon, or at least rocks with a shape which fits my missile cannon rune program idea.
Opening the inventory menu, I look at many different looking, but similar in size pieces of earth. Scrolling down, one of them catches my eye, as it has a large flat area, perfect for my purpose. Taking it out, at first there's nothing special to it except the size, but with a bit of focus, I can see many glittering dots. Hoping that adds to the rarity.
Materializing another stone as the drawing tool, I start making the rune program.
-x-
And it's done-
[Rune Program]
[Material - ugy87Hr06y9oa]
[Contents]
א
[9x] ב
א - START [10 MP]
ב - SUMMON MAGIC BOLT [10 MP] [11.3 DMG]
[MP Cost Sum]
90 MP
What's that? Game, why did you change how it shows the contents?
[It's an automated process which compresses programs larger than two runes so they don't take up as much space. For your convenience it shows what each symbol means.]
Oh thanks then, that's pretty useful I would say.
Unfortunately though, the rock's surface didn't allow me to make more of the magic bolt runes, which I would have been doing until there were 14 total, to maximize the damage. But, around 100 DMG is still pretty good, and I'm gonna be able to fire two shots in relatively quick succession.
Satisfied with my heavy hitter, I resume searching through the inventory for any other smaller, rarer looking stones for a quick firing weapon.
-x-
Tried some, but the most damage I could squeeze out of one runed rock was 17.2. Looks like the one I made days ago was actually the best as well, having reached 18.6 DMG.
Now with those two stones I feel like I'm set for the boss, even though it might've become more powerful because of my magic.
I'll rather wait with doing the dungeon until the sun sets though, don't want to have another boring night.
While returning to the Inhocepi bookstore, I overhear a conversation which seemed to be about me. It was about how they don't believe my lie about being half-dryad. Not particularly good news, but something I did anticipate. Fuck, living in the city must go, once I get my own place in the forest...
Concerning that, why do I still work at the bookstore? It's not like the monthly payment is enough to cover the costs of buying the land, and requesting a team of builders.
Well, maybe it's because of the tons of books, or that it's a place to stay, a 'base' to which I can return.
Ooh, I'll start collecting books from across the omniverse, add them to my library and archive them, such an atmosphere... If I survive the Battle, reading and hunting books will be my leisure activity.
And why exactly couldn't it be now? Not like I can grind all the time with the one dungeon per day limit, and am really doubting if there's always gonna be strong enemies to fight. I should take it easy, be a bit more chill about the whole 'becoming god to fight in god hunger games' that I'm gonna participate in. There's no need to be anxious if I can't do anything about the situation.
-x-
Some time later in the forest, as it was getting dark, and the time to dive into the dungeon was drawing near, I got nervous- what if the boss became too powerful with my power spike in the last days? What if the zombies' reaction time will be comparable to the speed at which the missiles are launched at?
I know it all sounds silly, it's just that there's a possibility, and even the slightest chance of death is enough to reconsider options; would one pick up a hundered dollar bill if it meant they have a 1% chance of dying instantly? For progress, I am willing to risk it- if I don't, then it's a 100% chance, am referring to the Battle.
As the last slivers of orange disappear beyond the horizon, I enter the ID.
As soon as the surroundings change, I take out my light weapon, the 18.6 singular bolt runed stone.
Finding a zombie wasn't too difficult, one was stumbling across the street a few dozen meters away from me, in clear view. It's a bit larger than I remember them, but that's most likely because of my recent acquisition of magic. Still, if a rock could one-shot them before, I don't see why a magic bolt wouldn't be able to do the same now.
I pointed the rune towards the undead, and willed it to activate.
A missile soared through the air, crackling with energy. When it hit, the monster's head exploded in a gory display, rotten brains splattering a few meters around the point of impact.
I ...didn't expect it to be that effective though, still thought they'd be more durable now. What's the reason for this, Game? Weren't dungeons supposed to get more and more difficult?
[This is the first level of ID. It does get more difficult as you become stronger, but it's specifically designed not to pose a challenge, rather to familiarize the Gamer with IDs. Don't ask about the Boss, it was Vingnish's idea. Once you defeat the Boss, the ID will automatically update to the second stage. And that has no ending, IDs can become as difficult as you would like, theoretically being able to effectively train Gamers even after they reach infinity.]
Thanks for explaining. Now though, there are two more monsters heading my way. Pointing the rune at them, I let out a small, satisfied hum, this is much easier than throwing.
Seconds later, they're down.
I venture deeper into the dungeon.
-x-
There were more monsters than last time, not enough to be a problem, but I had to retreat once or twice because there were more zombies than I can launch missiles at before having to wait for my magic to regenerate. Rocks didn't have that much of an effect on them anymore unfortunately.
All in all, similar difficulty to when I was without working runes. As game said.
Walking on the final road leading to the boss room, I encounter the surely last normal zombie just standing there. Shot it down immediately, just as it started turning its head towards me.
Walking up to the glass doors, I open them, drilling my eyes into the boss. I can't afford to be suprised by anything it might do once I enter.
Fortunately it didn't move. Seems like it will start fighting as soon as I strike with my first shot.
Taking out the heavy hitter, I point it at the only weak spot, the only spot not covered in hundereds of kilograms of rotten flesh- its head.
As I activate the weapon, the drain it has on me almost hurts, not in a physical way.
Then the bolt barrage flies out of the runes, nine glowing lances covered in lightning fly directly into the boss's face, digging into it, the last missile coming out the other end.
A boss bar appeared hovering above it, one fifth of the HP missing.
[Lesser Zombie Titan - 399,3 / 500 HP]
It was supposed to collapse when I shot the first attack.
It has no head.
What the fuck is that endurance.
It started slowly walking in my direction, the heavy steps thundering across the supermarket, small pieces of flesh falling off the remains of its neck. How it sees, I have no idea.
It's speeding up, now almost running.
I jumped out of its way, making it crash into a wall with the momentum.
[Lesser Zombie Titan - 389 / 500 HP]
Checking my mana, it hasn't regenerated enough yet to be able to launch another missile, then I come to a realization.
It doesn't regenerate a number per second, but per minute.
Oh god. I'm so fucked.
My knowledge on how the game works has failed me a second time. Before, it was when I first jumped into a dungeon not having any idea that my magic might not work. Got the Throwing skill out of it though, so it's alright.
I didn't pay attention to it, assumed it was per second. It will be more than three minutes until my mana gets high enough to shot my heavy hitter a second time, plus even then I'll have to shoot it like five more times for the boss to die.
Wait! I still have the stones! They may not do much, but it's better than just dodging.
Dematerializing the weapon, I take out two rocks for each hand.
I can only hope the Throwing skill will help me at least a little bit, it's now at level 3, that means a 3% increase to the damage, not much, but better than nothing.
Tossing one rock at the back of the boss while it was still recovering from the crash, didn't look like it did much, but its HP dropped by four, so the projectile did do something after all.
When the Zombie finally turned my way, and started to accelerate once again, I waited till it was close enough, threw another, and barely rolled out of the way. Did it just get faster? I hope not, getting hit by the charges is no doubt game over.
I could fire the weaker rune a few times, but I'd rather wait for the heavy hitter, it's much more effective.
Throwing two more rocks at the boss as it gets up from the charge, I quickly glance at my mana bar. It only went up by one.
As the monster charges again, I have a plan this time. Materializing the largest rock I could find, and throwing it under the boss' feet, as predicted, the zombie fell.
Getting close to it, I get two of the heaviest stones in my inventory and throw them both at the fallen undead.
It didn't explode, but the rocks half buried in its flesh, taking 12,5 HP.
Taking the opportunity, I throw a few stones more until it looks like it's almost standing.
Backing away from the foul smell, I get ready for the next charge.
And it indeed is faster. I didn't have the time to toss another rock, the boss got much quicker, once I dodged, it also managed not to crash into a wall, immediately turning to me without even stopping. Jumped out of its way again, and spared a look at my mana bar, it's three points higher now.
Seemed the look took too long, as that's when the monster's rotting hand reached out and slammed me to the ground, halving my HP. Biting down a pained scream as I felt something crack inside me, before I had the time to writhe in agony, the boss started charging again, forcing me to roll out the way.
I shakily stood up as the pain faded away, getting ready for another rush.
Managing to hurl another pebble before having to evade, I glance at its HP.
[Lesser Zombie Titan - 349,5 / 500 HP]
Good.
I'll need to shoot it in the leg once my magic bazooka is ready again, anything to make the charges weaker.
Thinking of my weaker missile launcher, a realization dawns on me- it deals more damage per missile, and there aren't really any restrictions about firing speed. Making that 'heavy cannon' was absolutely damned unnecessary. Why didn't I think of this earlier, before wasting half my MP?!
No matter.
Taking out the better weapon as I evade, and aiming it at the feet of the boss, I fire until my mana gets down to zero. Which is two times.
...And so, I remembered why I didn't want to use the light weapon.
The Start rune consumes 10 MP, no matter how many other spells are in the rune program. The heavy hitter uses one Start rune to launch nine missiles, this here uses one Start rune to launch one missile.
Why the fuck didn't Gamer's Mind keep me from forgetting such important details?
[Gamer's Mind blocks all Psychic attacks, keeps you from suffering from any mental conditions, chronic boredom of immortals, and going insane. It does not amplify the power of the mind.]
I guess the battle clouded my thinking, this isn't like some MMO where everyone knows exactly what to do during a life or death situation.
At least there's one good thing about this whole fiasco of me being an idiot, the boss's right foot is fairly damaged, not completely destroyed, but it does make the monster considerably slower in its charges, enough so that I can get a few stone hits per charge.
-x-
In no time the zombie was down to 100 health, and my mana regenerated enough to use the light weapon once more - I decided it's not worth the danger and effort to wait almost an hour to be able to fire my stronger launcher.
After firing the missile at the bosses intact left foot, I dodge a stumbling charge.
The zombie collapsed as the damaged feet can no longer support its weight, along with many other small injuries across the legs, from the rocks I was throwing.
Now how to finish it...
Throwing more rocks! Who would've thought? Rocks are too OP please don't nerf.
My whole thing with those stones, the throwables, and that skill - it might seem like a joke, but the only thing I'm doing here is using all I can to survive and advance.
I was an idiot for falling for the same problem twice, I should really work on planning.
About twenty tossed stones later, I look at the corpse of the thing that's been haunting my mind for most of the time I've spent in the new world. I let out a heavy sigh.
Then the pile of flesh disappears, a large ornate chest taking its place.
I was very nervous about all this, made stupid mistakes before and during the battle, but I prevailed. Even though the boss was quite fast, it was predictable with its charges. Wasn't that difficult now to think about it, I only almost died that one time!
[The points you allocated to END and DEX helped much.]
Damn, I really need to learn how to plan...
Wait, why don't I still feel the pain of that strike? Can bet it cracked a few ribs, and my regeneration factor isn't quite strong enough to repair me that quickly.
[You have the background status effect Adrenaline, it should wear off in half an hour. Before you ask, I don't know the reason behind the lengthened time, except for it's almost sure to be a part of Vingnish's plan.]
Oh, I really hoped it was Gamer's Body nullifying the pain. Before it sets in though, let me get the dungeon loot, and get to my bed, the best place to suffer.
Coming up to it, I lift the relatively heavy lid, revealing nothing.
A notification appeared at that moment -
[Repetition Rune] No runic symbol
This rune works by circling the part of a program you want to loop and adding the number of loops + time between loops above it.
Every new loop costs 20 MP +10
Your configured time between loops doesn't have an effect on the cost.
This would cost 60 mana, excluding the runes themselves -
{(Rune) (Rune)}4loop+0,2sec
An infinite loop doesn't cost infinite mana to cast, but instead halves your mana permanently every time it's cast.
Neat, that's a very good rune, loops are important in programming, will make my heavy hitters much
But that cost though...
It's still a nice reward.
Seeing as there's nothing else to do here, I leave the ID. Raindrops immediately hit my body, my head and shoulders the most. It's a heavy storm, and I'm outside the city, early morning. God, really hoping the gate's open.
Don't get me wrong, I love rain, it's an essential part of nature, and the atmosphere of sitting inside, cuddled in a blanket reading a book while it's pouring is unmatched. But, being soaked is not something I want, especially just when I wanted to celebrate.
Walking onto the treeless area near the entrance, I see the gate's open. Smiling slightly, I pass it, before taking the route to the bookstore.
-x-
Walking inside the store, it's still dark as the little light that reaches from the windows is weak because of the rain clouds. Naela is probably still sleeping as there are no candles burning.
Got to my room, took off the wet clothes, tried drying myself off with a piece of cloth, and fell onto the bed. I bet I'd feel so tired now, if not for Gamer's Mind and Body. Well, I can still relax until the day starts off completely.
Really should start thinking of somehow getting a bath, my body and clothes are carrying the odour of a whole week. Though, people don't say anything, they most likely don't shower as well. I guess I'm not the only one here, in a medieval world, who's dirty...
Wait. I just remembered something quite important.
The adrenaline rush, it should've worn off by now.
Then, my chest erupted in excruciating pain, taking my breath away.
[A/N]:
So here's the first real fight!
I hope I didn't disappoint with it, don't have much experience writing fights.
Suisei's learining, as well as I am- the errors she makes are mine, she's like a testing ground for my writing. I hope this way, her character evolution will be believable.
Not trying to make a perfect mary sue OC, one of the reasons why I don't plan much, her errors are mine, as I wrote earlier.