Darkness, darkness was all he could see. He looked to his left, still dark. He looked to his right, dark. He looked down to see more darkness. Maybe up? No, still darkness, hands? Yes, he had hands, not darkness. He still had himself, everything else was darkness. He took a couple of steps forward, still dark.
He jumped up several times, still dark. Perhaps he could outrun the darkness? Darkness, darkness, darkness, nothing but darkness all around. Was the darkness bad? didn't seem so, it didn't hurt nor did it scare him. He was fine in such darkness. But what if something was in the darkness?
Then it wouldn't only be darkness, all around was darkness. Nothing in it, Pockets? Yes, he had pockets, anything in them? Only one had something, a new thing that wasn't darkness. A stone, a dull stone, was it bad? No, it didn't hurt.
Something was in it. Darkness was in the stone, a faded pitch black, almost gone. It was different from the darkness surrounding him. It felt older, and, benign. He held it close to his chest, it grew. It grew more and more, slowly making his body disappear behind the absolute dark. It didn't hurt, he still felt his chest rise and fall. It felt cold and safe. Like a cold blanket wrapped around you on a hot day. He closed his eyes as the pitch black covered him head to toe. It suddenly vanished, he didn't drop it. It just, ceased to exist. He tried to open his eyes but was met by the opposite of darkness. Light, blinding stinging light that hurt his eyes. He closed them again and noticed that it didn't go away. It stays just beyond his eyelids. Probing, trying to invade his sight. Minute by minute however, it became, calmer. It didn't hurt, he cracked his eyes open and the light didn't sting anymore.
Green, he saw green things, He fully opened his eyes to see trees and grass surrounding him. He walked forward, he went somewhere.
New skill: Athletics: LVL 0 (00.02%)
He walked more and the gray box went away. 'Where did box go'? Another box appeared.
Would you like to play the tutorial: Y: N:
He knew what the Y and N stood for but he didn't know how. 'Yes' The box disappeared and a calm male voice spoke. It sounded old and kind but also, tired and sad.
Welcome to Remnant, this world is filled with many dangers and wonders. For now I will teach you the basics of the menu. The menu can be called by either thinking or saying "Menu". The first option in the menu is stats.
Stats
Name:?
Species: ?
LVL 1
EXP 0/200
Title (?)
HP 25/25 (regen 0.5 per min)
SP 50/50 (regen 1 per sec)
MP 100/100 (regen 2 per min)
AP ?
STR:2
VIT:1
END:2
DEX:2
PER:3
INT:5
WIS:4
WIL:36
CHA:1
LUK:1
"LVL stands for Level. This is your overall power. Higher levels speak of higher skill and power but not always. Each new level will give you 5 stat points. Stat points can be used to raise up your stats without the use of training. Leveling up however, can only carry you so far.
EXP stands for experience points. This is your overall experience and not your skill or spell experience. When the EXP meter is full you will gain a lvl. EXP carries over to the next level if you gain abundance. EXP can be gained by killing enemies, completing quests or creating items.
HP stands for hit points. HP is your overall health and dictates how much of a beating you can take. When your HP reaches 0 you will go into a critical state. You will not be able to do anything besides crawl and will be in this phase until you are naturally able to heal or are helped up by an ally. You can go under 0 but once you reach your limit you will die. Your critical limit is 10% of your max health.
SP stands for Stamina points. SP is your overall physical energy. abilities such as running, climbing and some physical skills use this resource. When SP reaches 0 you simply can not use any of said abilities with a feeling of slight out of breath.
MP stands for mana points. This is the energy that you store within your soul. Mana can be used to conjure up spells and some abilities. You can use more mana than you have for some spells but this will have consequences. Sometimes it will eat away at you SP or other times at your HP. Once you reach 0 MP you will feel mentally drained and may develop a headache.
AP ?
Stats or sometimes called attributes are the base components that make you up. Some Abilities, spells and equipment require a minimum amount to use.
STR or strength is the raw physical power you have. It affects how much weight you can hold before you become encumbered. Each STR increases max weight by 5. Every other point increases HP by 5.
VIT or vitality is how healthy you are. VIT dictates how much HP you have and how naturally resistant to toxins, diseases, and poisons you are. It will also control how fast you regen HP. Each point in VIT increases HP by 10 and SP by 5. Every 2 points increases HP regen by .25 per minute. Your base is .25
END or endurance is how long you can go. END dictates how much stamina you have as well as how fast you regain it. Each END increases SP by 10. Each end increases SP regen by .5
DEX or dexterity is how quick and nimble you are. The more DEX you have the faster you can run and more flexible you are.
PER or perception is how good your eyes are. The more you have the better you are at spotting danger, trinkets, and using ranged weapons.
INT or intelligence is how much knowledge you possess. The more you have the more you know. You will be able to cast more powerful spells and higher max MP. Each Int gives you 20 MP.
WIS or wisdom is how well you can use that knowledge. The more you have the faster you can come up with ideas and the easier it is to cast spells. It also controls how fast you regain MP. Each WIS gives you .5 MP regen per min.
WIL or will is how mentally tough you are. The more you have the less power fear and doubt have over you. Will also acts as your defense against spells and events that affect your mind. Finally Will affects how well you can handle pain.
CHA or charisma is how much of a people person you are. The more you have, the easier it is to lie, bargain, rally and intimidate. As well as just talking to people depending how low it is.
LUK or luck is, well how lucky you are. The more you have the higher the chance to strike a deadly blow or win a card game. (That isn't rigged)
Like I had said before certain items may require a minimum stat requirement to use its full potential. For example a massive hammer will require a certain amount of STR to use. Or a bow requires a certain amount of DEX and STR to use. Or a spell requires a certain amount of INT to use. However if your Stat is close to the requirement you may use it with debuffs. Like a hammer doing less damage then it should or a spell eating more MP than normal.
The next thing we'll talk about are skills. Skills are your natural abilities such as running, climbing, etc. Skills also are your efficiency with weapons, special attacks and spells. Skills can be learned either by first doing it or discovered in various ways. The more you experiment the more you discover. However, some skills can only be awarded from special quests or various tomes. Skills improved through use or by special items. You can view your skills in the :skill: tab.
Next we will talk about quests and tasks. Quests are jobs or missions that are either self appointed or given by someone important. Tasks are common jobs found around the world. Usually a job to deliver something from point A or B and other simple tasks. Both quests and tasks give out rewards once completed. Be it either exp, yen or items. Quests are the most profitable but are more rare and not repeatable.
Next is your INV or inventory. INV is a storage system that will make your time on remnant a little easier. It looks like this". A box with many smaller boxes inside appeared. A hand held a stone and dragged it into a box and in the top right corner were numbers.
"As you can see you can place items in here for safekeeping. But this doesn't come free, while the item will not get in the way with this method. It will still weigh you down. This ratio up here shows how many pounds you can carry before you become encumbered. For instance, 1/10 means one pound out of 10 has been taken up. If encumbrance goes over the max number then you will be minorly encumbered. Minorly over encumbered will cut you movement speed by 30%. If you are 50 percent over max weight. You will become moderately over encumbered. Your movement speed will be reduced by 60% and you will lose 10% of your usable STR and DEX to compensate excess weight. If you go 90% over max weight you will become majorly over encumbered. Your movement speed will be reduced by 90%. Your usable STR and DEX will also be reduced by 30%. If it becomes double the max weight then you will begin to crush yourself. The crushing damage drastically speeds up with more and more weight. STR allows you to carry more weight.
Finally we will talk about currency. The most commonly accepted currency is Yen. Yen is used to buy items or services. While some towns or villages use another type of currency. Yen will still be accepted although it may be less valuable. Isolated towns and villages may also accept a trade of supplies, items or knowledge.
Now we have covered all in the tutorial. If you would like to go through this again just tap "play again". Now good luck and try to stay alive.
This much information hurt his head. He decided to take it bit by bit. He listened to the tutorial a few times before swiping the box away. He looked down at himself to see a black skirt tied to his waist with a line of rope. He didn't have pockets anymore.
A thought struck at his mind, 'maybe INV has it'. He brought it up to see a single item. The same stone that was in his pocket. It was now dull and mundane looking. He took it out and held it in his hand.
New spell: Observe lvl 0 (20%)
Type: Divination
Mana cost 1
Range: as far as you can see
The ability to scry objects, entities and energy
Able to scry basic infomation
Shard of ?: Legendary
A gem filled with a whisper of the ?. If you listen in closely, you can hear its voice.
He brought it to his ear and like the description said he could hear a faint whisper. "At once a voice arose among the bleak twigs overhead. In a full-hearted evensong of joy illimited. An aged thrush, frail, gaunt and small, with blast-beruffled plume, had chosen thus to fling his soul upon the growing gloom".
New spell acquired: Shadow bolt
Type: Dark
Mana cost 6
Dmg 10-15
Range 30 FT
"Even the faintest of lights produce shadows"
He stared at the box before looking down at the black stone. He listened to it again to see if anything else happened but the whispers were gone. Perhaps the voice needed rest before it spoke again. He was grateful that the darkness had given him a spell.
He placed the stone back in his INV. He looked up to see that he could hold 20 pounds without being encumbered.
Even without knowing anything about this world he knew he was laughably weak. He knew nothing would happen if he kept standing there so he decided to explore this new world. The songs of birds danced in the air as he walked.
Somehow he knew what birds were, he didn't know how. The knowledge was somehow foreign and familiar at the same time. Like a faint childhood memory that wasn't complete. He picked up a large branch and observed it.
Oak branch: common
Durability 10/10
Dmg 2-4
An ordinary branch from an oak tree.
He wasn't sure what he was expecting but it was informative never the less. He grabbed other sticks and they all said the same thing with some having lower or higher durability. He looked up at a bird and observed it.
Crow LVL 1
HP 10/10
?
It was a little disheartening to see that a bird was not that far away from him in terms of HP. He was frail in this new world and all he had was a stick and a spell that he could only use 13 times. He would have to be careful, and so he stayed low to the ground as he moved.
New skill: sneak
Sneak: 00.0%
Bonus of remaining hidden: -20.0%
Speed reduction while sneaking: 80.0%
The ability to move without anybody knowing you were there.
He looked at the box with worry, it seemed he was at a disadvantage when it came to sneaking. But the tutorial said skills got better when you used them. Hopefully that big negative would shrink as he got better at sneaking. He stayed crouched as he snuck around.
He observed various trees and bushes to try and level up his observe skill so it would say more than what he could see.
He kept sneaking around until he came up to a bush with berries.
Berry bush: unknown effects
?
The berries were orange being made of many small beads. He wasn't hungry and the last thing he wanted was to be poisoned. Perhaps it would be best to leave it alone for now. He continued to explore the forest only stopping to look at birds and the occasional deer. He peered through a bush to see a big wolf-like creature feasting on something. It had jet black fur with red glowing eyes. Bits of bone were scattered across its back with its head completely covered in bony armor. The body it feed on looked vaguely like him.
Beowolf alpha LVL 12
HP 212/260
?
This was a powerful creature that was not to be trifled with. Even if he managed to hit it with all of his mana it still wouldn't be enough to kill the monster. And his stick and rock collection wasn't going to be much help either. With how frail he was it could probably kill him in one swipe. He slowly began to back away until a bone chilling snap rang out. The beast looked up from its meal and sniffed the air. His mind began to fill with panic, what to do what to do. 'Run? Hide? What to do'!? The beowolf stood up from its kill and walked towards the sound. 'Running was the only way, must run now'! He took off on all fours scurrying away with fear. The beowolf hearing something run gave out a snarl and bounded after its new prey. He kept running even as he heard the beowolf close in on him. He couldn't outrun it, his SP was quickly running out and it was faster than him. A plan formed in his mind as he approached a young tree. As he ran he leaped forward and grabbed the trunk. With his momentum and final kick he swung to the left dodging the leaping beowolf. With the sudden turn of its prey the beowolf dug its claws into the dirt to stop itself. It tore through the ground as it turned its body to face him. Instead of seeing its prey however, a bolt of killing shadow was there to greet its face. The shadows punched into its skull. Another hit its shoulder tearing through its thick fur and pricking into its skin.
The beowolf gave out a growl and charged towards the odd human. The human in turn casted shadow bolts with each hand as fast as possible. The beowolf lunged only to miss the initial lunge as it's prey ducked. As it landed it turned its body and bit down on his throat. The man had pulled out a branch and blocked the bite. The beowolf struggled to bite through the thick branch. The man felt the branch be pushed down on his throat. He tried to push it back with all of his might but did so in vain. He couldn't breathe and the world was beginning to turn dark again. In a desperate last ditch effort he placed his left hand on the beowolf's head. He felt much of his mana pour into the spell before it exploded on the beowolf's face. The beast recoiled back in pain as the darkness ate away at its head. The man coughed and took in deep breaths as air was able to reach his lungs again. He weakly looked up to see the beowolf clutching its head before falling over.
Beowolf alpha LVL 12
HP 42/260
?
New spell-
He quickly swiped the box away, this was no time to read. He stood up feeling bruises starting to form all over his body. He was almost out of MP and it would take minutes for him to recharge enough to use spells again. If he tried to run away again the beast would just catch up to him. He had to kill It here and now or most likely die trying. While it still recovered the man took out rocks out of his INV and began to pelt the beowolf. The beast now furious got back up and gave out a snarl. Half of its mask was gone along with one of its eyes. It sprinted towards the little man with fury as it opened its maw to finish him off.
Weak spot hit 2 × DMG
A rock scored a critical hit as it pounced into its exposed face. The man pulled out a large branch and took a swing at the wolf only for it to pounce off its back. It landed on him and took a large bite into his arm. He screamed in pain as smashed a rock into its head repeatedly. With how much damage it had already suffered to the head the wolf began to lose consciousness. Slowly the vice grip of its jaws loosened more and more until the wolf had been knocked out.
He ripped his arm free and clutched it in agony. His skin and muscle had been torn off and he was losing blood quickly. He saw his HP quickly dropping, he would be dead within the minute. He looked at the beowolf with tears in his eyes. It only had 20 HP left. So close to killing it. He was going to die just as he came to this new place. At least when he was in the dark he felt safe. He took one more glance at the beast that had killed him as his HP counted down from 5. It kinda reminded him of the darkness. Scary at a glance but when it isn't trying to kill you. It can be quite beautiful, powerful and elegant in its own terrifying way. He reached out to it with his good arm and felt it's fur. Thick and soft, so comfy, a slight nibble of a feeling went through his head. He could feel his energy leave his body and a new feeling enter him. Was this what I felt like to die? He expected it to be more draining and cold but he didn't mind. His last thoughts were on the feeling of the fur before he reentered a world of darkness.
Cold was the first thing I felt. Next was the grass underneath me that made my skin itch. 'Do people get itchy in afterlife'? Slowly I opened my eyes to see darkness. 'I'm back? Well, at least dark is here to greet me'. A small smile spread across my face. I soon realized however that I was still alive and the bright orb in the sky was gone. slowly I lift myself ignoring the aches across my body. Where the beowolf laid was now a pile of dust. My arm was still mangled and hurt to move but it looked like it had been healing for a week. Even in the dark it looked like it had something shiny in it. In the dust were some bones, a large piece of pelt and what looked like the remains of its mask.
Bone×3: common material (grimm)
The bones of a grimm that had failed to disintegrate with the rest of the body.
Large pelt piece: common material (grimm= beowolf)
The leftovers of a beowolf pelt.
Broken grimm mask: uncommon material (beowolf)
The broken remains of a beowolf mask. Perhaps with other pieces it can be fixed
'I killed the beowolf? How, it was still alive when I lost consciousness. Did something come by and finish it off and spare me? No, that doesn't make sense, hold on, menu'. A grey box appeared and I tapped through history.
New spell acquired: Shadow discharge
Type:Dark
Mana cost 30
Damage 50-60
Range melee
An over fed dark spell that bursts like a bulging cyst.
New Spell acquired: leech life
Type:Dark
Mana cost 3 per sec
Damage 1 | restore .5 HP per sec
Range touch
"Your life force is now mine".
'So that's how I survived, stealing the beowolf's HP. I must been doing it when blacked out. Wait, I shouldn't have had enough mana for what was left. It did say I could overuse mana. Maybe thats why I was out for so long'. Another notification popped up that I couldn't help but smile at.
You leveled up
You leveled up
Two new levels, 'stats'. There was a total of 10 stat points to spend. 'What to put it in what to put it in. Frail, even a few hits and almost dead. Would make sense to put them in VIT. But what's use of health if can't kill enemy without getting lucky. If not careful I'll be dead and eaten. Wait, that beowolf was eating something. Perhaps can find something useful. Wait, need to focus on stat points first. Hmm 2 into VIT and split rest between WIS and INT. Won't be as frail but also be able to hit harder and faster. Can't get close, low health, using sticks and rocks barely do anything. Must use my best attacks, must discover new spells and improve the ones I have'. After putting the points into their slots I was happy to see that MP regen was now 4 a second. Shadow bolt and shadow discharge only did a little more damage. 'It seems training will be main way to improve them'. Standing up I began to make my way to where the beowolf originally was. 'Somethings not right, my thoughts feel, broken, cracked maybe? Now that I think, even this is how I think. It doesn't feel, full'. I was struggling with coming up with the words. Was it because INT was low, am I dumb? 'Another thing, I feel incomplete, broken maybe? I need to figure this out after scavenging corpse'.
After pushing through some bushes I finally saw the dead body. It looked like me, but not exactly like me. 'Did this one come from darkness too'? The body was ravaged, missing many features I think we shared. what was left of its coverings were bloody torn rags. The boots were the only thing not torn apart. I looked down at my own bare feet, I compared the sizes. 'Too small, something to cover my feet would be nice. Sticks and pebbles hurt to step on. Good that my HP regen takes care the damage I take. But pain still hurts'. Looking around I saw a bloody knife and small backpack lying a few feet away 'Observe'.
Hunting knife: common
Durability 67/90
Damage: 10-16
Skinning: moderate
Butcher: moderate
A well used hunting knife, a mixture of Human and faded grimm essence coats it.
I looked through the pack to find a broken canteen, a compass, a map, a bag with a sandwich, some rope and a book on mushrooms. I looked through the map before it disappeared.
Map updated
I twisted my head in confusion before guessing what might had happened. 'Map' just then a screen popped up showing a layout of the surrounding area. It was mostly forest with a lake and several caves dotting the area. The most interesting thing was a town at the top of the known land. A few cabins dotted the surrounding area. The compass was visible in the lower left corner. 'This one must have come out looking for mushrooms. Must have had no luck for it, to be out so far. Maybe it chased before caught'. I looked back at the corpse, even if it wasn't mostly eaten it would have been smaller than me. I didn't know if I was big or small for my kind. 'I'm frail and weak, so can't be big for kind. Unless we're naturally frail, but doesn't make sense, or maybe does'. I put the backpack on after adjusting the straps. 'This one is smaller, yet it hurt beowolf with knife. Maybe I just weak'? The question what to do with the body crossed my mind. 'Should I bring it to town, what if they think I did it? No, have broken grimm mask, proof didn't do it, Yes, only right'. I picked up the gorey corpse and placed it in my Inventory. With it halfway eaten it didn't way that much but it still took up around 60% of my weight. I noticed however that the max weight had gone up by 5 pounds. I looked at my gear.
Small backpack: Common
Durability 14/20
+5 to max weight
The only other clothing I had were a torn thick skirt of black fabric.
Scrap of shadow: Rare
Durability 7/12
DEF +1
Efficiency with dark spells +5%
A gift from ? "Can't have you running around bare as a pup". Self repairs 1 durability in total darkness every minute
A gift from an unknown entity. It was nice to know that something in the dark was helping him. 'Perhaps it also gave me shard. I should find way to thank it'. I looked at the map to see that a cave was on the way to the town. 'should let skirt fix itself before to town'. Looking around to see nothing else besides the drying puddle of blood. I began to make my way to the cave. The forest felt less wondrous with terrible beasts and death lurking in the underbrush. It didn't take long to reach the cave. Though the cave looked more like a large crack than a cave. I would fit but only have a few inches of room. Taking the pack off I squeezed past the two rock walls. I could hear drops of water bouncing off stone. My eyes tried to adjust but the only light was from the entrance. I went to my knees and began to wait. A memory suddenly came to me.
A candle sat on a nearly barren shelf while I sat on the floor. The room only had a bed and a desk. I began to slow my breathing before closing my eyes. I wasn't sleeping, I was meditating.
As fast as the memory came it quickly fell back into my mind. 'I had a room, a bed. Perhaps meditating will bring more memories back'. I copied my past self's posture and began to slow my breathing. I closed my eyes and began to focus on my mind. It was like a misty valley and I wandered around looking for something, anything really. I made my way through the mist until I came to a clearing where a figure stood behind a wall of fog. I tried to reach them but the wall was too strong. I focused all of my being on the memory trying to catch a glimpse. I scratched at the wall tearing fog away. But no matter how much I focused the fog would form again. I felt a faint feeling in my gut, like something was begging to be used. I tried to push through the fog desperate to see who was behind it. 'I will not be blocked from my memories. They are mine, they belong to me'! The feeling became stronger as the world around me grew darker. I was losing my connection with this memory. I became desperate and gathered the darkness around me. I molded it into knives, swords, claws and teeth. I threw myself at the wall slowly chipping fog away. The person, no, the woman was becoming fainter. I unleashed all that I could at the wall. But it was for not, the woman had disappeared completely and I had lost my chance. I shook from my meditation before screaming out in defeat. "No, I close, she within grasp. Why, why my mind foggy, why I broken"!? For the first time since I had left the darkness I spoke out loud. Just like my thoughts my speech was broken and scattered.
I knew it wasn't right but I couldn't form the full sentence. It hurt my head to even say the few words I could. I smacked the stone floor in frustration, tears sliding down my cheeks. I laid there for what felt like hours but in reality, it was mere minutes. I sat up and looked in my Inventory. 'You're broken like me, physically, not mentally, but broken. I wish I could fix, bring you back. Too weak, but I can take you too others. I can do'. I stood back up and crawled out of the hole. I was in meditation longer than I had thought for the stars were out Twinkling in the sky. I saw a notification in the corner of my eye.
New spell: Mold shadow lvl1 (00%)
Type: Dark
Damage 4-30
Cost 5-40
Mold shadow into a weapon or tool. Shadow becomes weaker in direct light. Damage and cost depends on size and complexity.
Old skill recovered: meditate LVL 5 {10%}
Restore 2.5 mana per sec
10% chance to recover from minor mental debuffs every minute.
A new spell and a versatile one. I looked back up at the sky to gaze at the twinkling stars. I gasped out when I saw the condition of the other nightly body. The moon was shattered, broken. 'This world filled with broken things. But can mend and fix few, including me'. I would start this mission to fix this broken world by returning this dead being to its group.
New quest: Fixing The World
Objective: make things right where ? and ? Made wrong.
Steps unknown
Reward: ?, 1 billion EXP, ?
New quest: Putting The Dead To Rest
Objective: return the dead child to its parents.
Reward: +20 rep to …., 200 EXP
I stared at the second quest with shock. 'Child? Poor thing, if only I came sooner, at least be able to draw Beowolf's attention'. I began to make my way to town determined to at least bring some good today. The moonlight thankfully gave off enough light for me to somewhat see. I was only a mile away from the town when I saw lights. The treeline, I lowered my body and slowly snuck toward them. "Beoo"! Someone yelled out, as I drew closer I could see through the bushes that there were several people. They were fully clothed and held metal cages with flame inside. A few had strange metal objects hanging on their hips and slung over their backs. They were talking to each other in a language I did not understand. Thankfully I didn't have to understand what they were saying to know what they were doing. They were looking for the child. I was about to crawl through the bushes when there was a snap. The people with the metal objects pulled them out. "Beoo"? One of them asked. A beowolf jumped out from the bushes and charged at the group. "Caimm"! One with a long metal object yelled out before a loud crack came from it. I covered my ears at the sudden loud noise. It must have set the other hidden beowolves off because 6 more leaped out from the bushes. 'Observe'
Beowolf pup LVL 1
HP 80/80
?
These Beowolves didn't have bits of bone on their backs. They were much weaker than the one he had fought. The people without loud metal ran to the other's side and watched as 2 beowolves dropped dead. I couldn't just stay here and wait. So I jumped out of the bushes and sent out a shadow bolt at the closest one. "Die dark beasts" I yelled out letting the other's know they had help. The bolt hit it in the leg causing it to yelp and trip to the ground. Without giving it a chance to recover I sent out 3 more that shot into it's side. It got up and locked eyes with me. It knew I was the one to cause it harm, it's rage clear as day in its eyes. It got up and bounded towards me. I sent out 3 more bolts with only 1 hitting it. It would be on me within seconds so I began to charge up discharge. It leaped up into the air and reached out its claws for me. It was mere inches away when the spell went off, sending it flying back. The blast had blown off its arms causing it to quickly dissolve. The other beowolves had been killed with only one person having claw marks on their arm. They all looked towards me as if trying to figure out what I was when one of them pointed a boomstick at me. I lowered myself and raised my hands in a submissive way. "Reehid boo". No, he wasn't pointing it at me, he was pointing it behind me. I quickly turned to see a Beowolf pup in mid lunge at me. A loud crack sounded out as something hit it's arm. I sent my hands out and molded the shadows around me to form spikes. The pup fell on me as the spikes surrounding me impaled it. With the momentum and weight it had slid down them onto me. It let out a final gargled breath before it began to disintegrate. I shuddered as it's thick black blood dripped on me. It didn't stick for long since it's blood also disintegrated. I pushed the remains off me as the shadows melted back into the ground. I saw something shine and picked it up.
Fur scrap: common material (grimm=Beowolf)
I pocketed it and looked over to the people. They seemed cautious of me but weren't pointing their boom metal at me. I crawled towards them slowly to show I wasn't trying anything. I stopped at the edge of their light. They seemed to gasp at me when they finally got a good looked at me. The biggest one who held a long boom stick went to his knees to my level. "Hat gor nee". I didn't understand him but I remembered their goal. I slowly took the backpack off and showed it to them. One of them, a woman stepped forward terribly close to crying. "Gere fif nee cind bat". I felt terrible knowing what I was about to give them. I took a step back placing it down. I pulled up my INV, they were confused for a second as I tapped in the air. I pulled out the dead body and placed it on the ground. The entire group went rigid as the woman leaped to the body's side. She looked all over it no doubt hoping it wasn't who she thought it was. When she looked at the boots she began to bawl out. Another man fell to his knees beside her and hugged her. I couldn't help but shed a few tears at the sight of this. I had completely forgotten about showing them the broken mask to show I had avenged their child. I slowly began to back away not wanting to be here anymore. I could go into the town tomorrow. Right now all I wanted to do is to get away from this sad sight. Curl up in that hole where I was safe and sleep the night away. The people didn't notice me going until I had disappeared into the bushes. I heard one of them yell after me but I ignored it. I ran away towards the hole. By the time I had made it I was breathing heavily as my SP had ran out. I crawled through the crack and made it inside the small cave. I took this opportunity to look around and see nothing but rocks. The entire cave was no bigger than the room in my memory. I curled up on the hard cold ground and closed my eyes. I laid there for minutes not feeling tired at all.
I finally got up realizing I wasn't going to sleep. I realized that a few tears had fallen from my eyes. 'Poor child, at least it had someone mourn it. Would anyone mourn me? Did I have anyone? Who was that woman, would she mourn me? Can't let this stop me, must get stronger, faster. Keep things like this happening. Should use time to train spells'. I put my back to the entrance and looked at where the back wall would be. I couldn't see it but I knew there was a stone wall there. 'would be safe here, stone won't break from weak spells'. I stretched out my hand and sent out a shadow bolt. I continued to assault the cave wall with shadow bolts until my mana was 0 or close to it. I would then meditate to regenerate mana quicker. I continued with this training session through the entire night. Not once did I feel tired. I might have worried if I remembered if I slept in the past. Maybe I didn't need sleep before, it would definitely be useful. Less time sleeping meant more time training and getting stronger.
By the time the morning sunlight rays were peering through the crack I had leveled up shadow bolt 30 times, shadow mold 28 and discharge by 15. Not only did the damage and range improve but the mana cost was lower slightly.
I had eaten the sandwich that I had found before. The sandwich had gone down like lead as I was reminded of what had happened.
I squeezed out of the cave and took in a deep breath of fresh air. The cave felt stale and heavy with the training. Their was something else in the air that I couldn't place my finger on. If I had to guess it was from all the dark spells I had used. It didn't feel bad but it didn't feel like anything I've felt before. However, before I could think on the matter anymore I was reminded how thirsty I was by the thick mucus in on throat. I had yet to drink anything since coming from the dark. I pulled up the map to see where the lake was. It was several miles away at the edge of the map southwest. I began my trek with water the only thing on my mind. 'Too bad canteen has hole. Otherwise could bring some back'. I then began to think on the cave. Was that my temporary home? There were other caves to explore. Perhaps better ones, though if the cave had a proper entrance Beowolves could come in. The current cave was small but the crack kept the dark beasts out. An idea suddenly came to my mind. I pulled up my INV and stared at the pieces of fur I had. 'Should hunt beowolves for fur? It says it's a crafting material, I could use something to cover my body. Simple fur shoes good too'. After debating on the matter more I thought it would be a bad idea. Even with my improvements, I can only kill a few pups. If the pack was big enough or it had the ones with bone on them then death would be the only thing I would be getting. 'What of other beowolves last night? No, other people must have grabbed'. I had finally made it to the lake. It was clear and blue, lilypads floated on the water with flowers blooming out.
Lily flower: Common
Properties unknown
A flower from a lily pad.
'Properties'? I reached out and plucked a flower. I placed it in my INV for later. I looked back at the water, dry tongue sready to taste the refreshing liquid. I was about to cup some with my hands when I remembered something. 'Can't drink from lake, I'll get worms. Unless boiled'. I grew excited at the prospect of getting clean safe water at the end. I took out the canteen and looked inside the hole. Bone dry, It was disappointed that nothing remained but at least I had a container to put the water in. I began to gather dry leaves and small twigs. I took out the branches that I had grabbed earlier and set them to the side. The knife should be good to use as a striker, I now just needed flint. I looked around the shore observing different rocks. I was halfway around the lake when I finally found a piece of flint. I sighed out in relief not having to observe any more rocks. While it had raised my observe skill a fair bit. I was tired of seeing the different flavors or rock.
For finding the needle in the haystack +2 PER
I smiled at the stat increase and made my way back to my soon to be fire. Yep, still a pile of sticks and leaves. I took out my knife and flint. The knife was still stained with blood. I looked at it grimly. I went a little ways away from my spot and washed the knife, scrubbing the blood off with my fingers being careful when I got to the blade. With it clean I would be able to strike sparks. I sat in front of the tinder, I held the knife out and struck it with flint. It took a few tries before a single spark flew off. It took many more tries before one of the sparks finally caught the tinder. I placed the tools aside slowly not wanting my moment to blow it out. I cupped my hands around it as it grew. I softly blew into it making the heat rise up. Soon a flame had engulfed the small pile of tinder. I placed more twigs and leaves on it until it was big enough to put branches onto the fire. After 15 minutes of work and almost snuffing the fire out once. The fire was big enough to boil water. I grabbed the canteen from my INV and went to down to the lake. After I had almost filled up the canteen I walked back to the fire. It was now a nice flame, small coals were sitting in the center as the branches above were leaning against eachother. I placed the canteen down and slid it close to the fire. I made sure nothing would fall in and waited. I was suddnly struck with a small migraine. 'Must be from thirst'.
I was creating a fire. I had flint and a steel rod in my hand. "Now you slide the flint against the rod to make sparks". I did as the voice instructed and the striker produced many sparks. Soon smoke came from the small pile of tinder. "Now you gently blow, be patient and don't blow too much or else you'll blow it out". I did what the kind voice instructed and soon I had a small fire. "Good good, your a natural, now we just add some branches here and there". Another set of hands began to place sticks. I looked up and I was smiling. His face was blurry, I couldn't make it out. I could make out that he had brown short hair. He wore a simple green shirt with gray trousers. "I did it jairbch"! I couldn't see his face but I could tell he was beaming down at me.
The memory had faded but I could still briefly recall it. I looked down to see that the water was boiling. With a couple of painful attempts with my hands. I realized I could make a hook with shadow mold and pulled it away from the fire. As I waited for the water to cool I went back on the memory. 'Who was man, a friend, brother, father? How long ago was it, how long sleeping in the darkness? Much I don't know, must seek answers. But where to look'? I pulled up the map, the area that was mapped was small as I scrolled out. I had scrolled out completely and the area was no longer visible. 'I must find maps, but maps can't show all. Need to explore too, need to get strong too. Some places will be dangerous and hard to reach. Lots of things stacked against me but can't slow down. Got this one from making fire. Perhaps get others by doing other things, seeing places'. I was determined to rediscover who I was. I saw some notifications and tapped it.
Old skill recovered: fire starter LVL 17 (15.78%)
Chance of starting a fire 47%
"Man's greatest tool"
New quest: filling in the holes
Objective: reclaim your lost memories and ?
Reward: your memory, a whole ?, 500'000 EXP
I looked at the quest wondering what the other thing could be. 'I guess find out later'. The water by now was cooled and safe to drink. After drinking the entire canteen I refilled it again and set it next to the fire. I fed the fire more before pulling out the mushroom guide. I flipped through the pages seeing it to be written in a unknown language. I was about to close it when the letters rearranged into something I could read. I was confused at first but didn't want to jinx it by questioning it. I read through the book moving the water and feeding the fire as needed. I saw the many different edible mushrooms and how to prepare them. There were different types with some having flat caps others had crevices in their cap. It even had a sub section on some that could be made into healing remedies to cure colds, fevers, headaches and a few other minor things. The next section showed poisonous ones and what they would give you. Some were just simple stomach aches or tasted terrible. Others would make you throw up or get the runs. Near the end were the most dangerous ones. Angel caps were so poisonous that a single small one could kill you. Orange false oyster cups that would leave you bleeding out of every orifice. Dead man's toes that would send you into a coma that could last for years. I would have to be careful with any of the poisonous ones. My HP was lower than a beowolf pup. By the time I had read the book, I received a notification.
New specialist skill: mushroom picking LVL 1
Success rate at identifying mushrooms: 25% (+50% with book or guide)
New skill: Forage LVL 1
Ability to identify useful plants or fungi 5% (+50 with book or guide for specific plants or fungi)
New skill: Alchemy LVL 1
Bonuses with poisons 0%
Bonuses with salves 0%
Bonuses with potions 0%
"Man has always dreamed of immortality. He mixes different things in search of the universal panacea. But Alchemy has more everyday uses".
I looked at the new skills with delight. 'Potions and poisons, those will be useful'. The grumbling in my stomach reminded me I had only eaten a single sandwich hours ago. I decided to start with a less ambitious goal, edible mushrooms. I placed the canteen in my INV hoping it would stay full. I pulled it out to see that the water was still in there. I just had to put it in with the hole side up. I decided after I found enough things to eat I would explore the surrounding forest and caves before going to town. Maybe I could find something or make something to cover myself up. I looked out into the forest. The sound of animals brought comfort to me. If I was lucky, I wouldn't run in any grimm for a few hours. I began my trek deeper within. My lunch wasn't going to just appear in front of me.
