Chapter 5, Slaver Slaughter
Since parting ways with [Oliver, things had certainly become more stressful as I had to navigate my way through towns and villages on my own. Almost walking straight into quarantined off sections of town or districts more than once, doing my best play off just being lost. Keeping my old set of shackles around in case the need arose that I'd have to enter the city limits or pass through a checkpoint. Luckily I hadn't encountered the latter of the two yet.
People tend to avoid you when it looks like you're busy. Bit of a life hack that I abused to slack off at work, so I can attest to its effectiveness first hand.
The climate isn't terrible here, significantly colder than the archipelago that I had started off in. It hadn't rained yet, and for that I was grateful considering I lacked an umbrella or a proper rain coat. For fog to surround me like it was today, it was a common sight or lack of it given the present weather conditions. A snow storm would probably kill me if I was caught out by one while traveling to the next town.
2:36 P.M. Wednesday, January, 15th . . . No Signal Available 62% / .]
Taking a moment to myself, I looked through my phone to find the app I needed. Snapping a photo of the map while the sky was clear for the light to shine through and illuminate the paper. I had only been here for 22 days, or 21 and a half if I accounted for stumbling across this place like it was fucking Narnia. A shitty argentinian knock off of Narnia, but I'm pretty sure that the analogy still applies. Here's to hoping that I don't have to fuck a squirrel, or whatever in order to leave this place.
'3 weeks, good God. I need a shower.'
While finding my way back home did hold the top spot of my priority list. Doing so before the weather got the opportunity to murder me would be preferable, unless God considered that too ambitious.
A part of me just wanted to take a nap, but I knew that if this was allowed to go on for any longer that it had to. For no other reason than to avoid the hell that is nicotine withdrawal, though this would be a helluva way to kick the habit. Assuming that I lived long enough to tell it.
The guards manning the city gates dismissively waved me through after handing them a small stack of coins. Barely paying me any mind, one of them even leaning against his spear bored out of mind. Catching the beginning part of their conversation as I was passing through the checkpoint, "[You ever wonder why we're here]?"
This town that I had found in, it wasn't home, but there's that same sense of familiarity I had with it in the air. Stuck in a corner of town, weighing my options on the path that I'd have to take and make it to the nation's capital in a timely manner. Figuring that I would have to either walk another hundred miles if I wished to dodge the major town and cities along the way. That, or I could just go around the city limits and hope that no one caught sight of me.
Making my way around the city proved to be a small challenge, staying away from the main streets and marketplace. Guards were running more organized patrols, and the chance that I'd be questioned remained too high of a risk in my mind. Passing by medieval store fronts and personal houses displaying various levels of wealth within the town. Far grander brick, and mortar structures in this mere town than I had in the huge port city that I had traveled into to leave the archipelago. Featuring a wide variety of Renaissance era designs, some even older and reminiscent of how I imagined that Rome might've appeared.
I liked people watching, even if the world was all too 'friendly'. That doesn't mean that it wasn't interesting to observe the daily going's ons, a blast to the past. Yet surprisingly ordinary in many ways.
Just watching other people enjoying a windier day than usual, and some kids had chosen to pass the time by flying kites. Custom designs occupied some of them, some plain while others displayed more complex shapes and sizes. Despite the sun being drowned out by silver fluffy clouds, the visage of papier-mache kites of dragons and pegasi both remained seared into my eyes to whichever side my gaze shifted to.
Forced to enter the bustling little town after running out of food, a man can't live off of alcohol and moldy potatoes forever. Not the worst choice that I had been strong armed into, ordering fresh bread to act as my rations had been a challenge in of itself. The older man operating the bakery barely even gave me a once over before taking the stack of gold coins from my hands.
Turning over to look in the direction in which had seemed so much more interesting that I flew under his radar. A lump in my throat formed, and I swallowed a bite whilst turning away from the scene playing out before me.
'Fuck, change of plans.'
Several men and women chained together by their hands and feet, we're being dragged inside of an amphitheater. Kicking and screaming while a group of bounty hunters whipped them into compliance. One of the bounty hunters doing a double take as their gaze passed over me, recognizing him in turn soon after. Quickly shoving the bread that I had bought into my ruck sack while ducking into the alley nearby.
Hopefully slipping into the dark side street before he could alert his friends to my presence, the idea that he wouldn't be holding onto a grudge seemed unlikely. A part deep with my gut clenched uncomfortably, my anxiety spiking as my heartbeat rose in unison.
"I [swear] to [the Goddess herself Frank," The same voice that had argued with me, that same person that I had been so very close to fighting, spoke. Keeping against the wall while I listened from around the corner, one of the men stepped into the alley to take a look. Giving up after a brief moment while my nemesis yelled obscenities at him, "[Suggest that I'm going insane again and just see where] it [gets you]!"
"[Quit] it [both] of [you," A deeper man's voice barked, silencing any protests or arguments as he issued an order to those around him. Both of my hearts pounded while they spoke about me from the tone of their voices, "[The slave was running errands] on [their own, emperor's will shall] be [done] or [this negligent noble will face] a [mighty fine. Whatever the case, there'll] be a [reward for his safe return, so [find him before] he [tries] to [make] a [run for the hills]."
"God daaaammmn it," I only finally released a breath after I heard their footsteps fade away, rising from my crouched posture to stand up straight. My legs burned from remaining tense for so long, muscles feeling like silly putty once I managed to rise to my feet.
My heart had almost lept out of my chest, pounding so hard and so fast that just listening back there was an eternity. Looking out at the entrance I wonder why they hadn't bothered to investigate further to search for me here. Finding the answer the instant that I turned back, discovering upon being gripped by panic I had chosen to hide within a dead end alleyway. I was fortunate that it had a small winding turn near the end to obscure my presence.
Thank God for small mercies.
I shuffled out of the alley, taking great care to keep my hood up after ditching my shackles. Dumping them before I re-entered the street as my priorities had changed from discretion in favor of expediency. The gray clouds high in the sky afforded me some wiggle room, making my choice to wrap my cloak tighter around my not all that out of the ordinary.
Doubling back wherever I came across one of the hunters, either when traveling in a duo or entering shops to investigate. I wasn't sure how many of them there were, choosing to not risk approaching them even if it would help me to identify them.
The side streets were full of them, or at least had been blocked off my more discrete avenues of escape. Entering the town's plaza possessed a different sort of danger, patrolled by more professionally dressed town guards than the armed hunters. Brushing past the crowd more interested in browsing the various wares on display than to play me any mind.
Some of them approached me with fistfulls of furs or fruit that might've appealed to the locals. Doing my best to politely wave them off and refuse the goods that they were trying to push into my hands.
One of them grabbed me by the sleeve, pulling me from the road and into an isolated corner of the market. A young woman around my age laughed at my panicked expression, fearing that it had been one of the hunters to grab ahold of me. Taking my other bandaged hand in her own, she pulled me back towards her own stall that held a carved sign with [Secret Seller] inscribed upon it.
"[Local courtesy has been quite lacking these days hasn't] iiiiiiiiit?" Pulling me a tad closer, her blood red hair almost took up the entirety of my vision. The sash she wore across her shoulder was a darker merlot, my mind coming to the fairly obvious conclusion that the lass had a thing for the color red. Giggling at my curiosity she snapped her fingers to bring my attention down back to herself, "M-my [eyes are down here sweetheart, do [they not have redheads where you come from]? -do [they]?"
Her smile curving too wildly for my nerves to settle down at the sight. The feeling of wrongness that had gripped me only increased, my efforts to pull away and rejoin the crowd halted as the grip she had on me tightened. A bead of sweat that had formed on her forehead took on a crimson hue after it passed through her left eye, "[This] is [nothing, the transitionary period can] be a [bit disorienting]-"
'Shit, shit, shit shit shit shitshitshitshit!'
Now normally I'd be ecstatic about a girl deciding to hang off of me, goosebumps erupting all over my skin. Call me ignorant but I don't believe it was a good sign for her to be coughing her lungs out with bloodshot eyes. The sight was kind of freaking me the fuck out, moving to put a arm around her waist before her legs gave out.
Her mouth hadn't gotten the point of foaming, but the words that she spoke came out barely above a whisper. The back of my hand stung from the heat that radiated from her head, babbling incoherently while leaning into my touch.
"[It's] so hot. . ."
I hadn't wanted to get close to anyone, a distant concern that lingered in the back of my mind while traveling with [Oliver]. Fearing that by simply being here with future germs might cause a catastrophe, but that had faded with the passage of time. My longest companions failed to show even half of the symptoms for the common cold the entire time I had spent with them.
'So why the FUCK are you dying right now?!'
Almost as if she had been listening in on my internal thoughts that had intensified since panic had taken hold over me. I heard her suck in a deep breath as if she hadn't taken one since the convulsions had begun. Her grip on my arm finally loosened, peeling back her fingers to reveal the bright red marks that she had left in my skin.
"Uh, Hi?" Looking over my back at the bustling crowd going about their business beyond the young woman's stall. Thanking my good fortune that this mad woman had set up a whole tent to house her wares, of which now that I took a moment to look at. Well it looked like alot of fuckin' junk to me at least.
The rack full of polished medieval weapons did make me raise an eyebrow at her. I wasn't sure about the legality that surrounded being a distributor of arms and armor, but then again history wasn't my major in college. My memory on the subject from the one class that I had taken on a whim was sketchy at best.
She finally pulled her away from my hand that had been keeping her head up, fearing that she'd choke on her own spit or something if I let go. Releasing a giggle that was so clearly fraught with the lingering delirium that she had been under.
I moved my hand over to her eyes, peeled back her eyelid that had been clenched so fiercely to examine the state of her bloodshot sclera. Finding her pupils to be severely dilated while her giggling just grew louder, but where I expected lines of crimson veins. The area around her pupils was a healthy pure white. Despite knowing there was an entire language barrier between us. I made the effort to inquire about her health, "Are you. . . alright?"
"Never better in fact," Both of my hearts skipped a beat at hearing her utter the first intelligible words that I'd gotten from someone in weeks. Playing replying to the question that I hadn't expected her to answer, offering me a genuine smile as she raised an eyebrow while regaining her foot. I became intensely aware of where my bandaged hand lay at the base of her back, my face flush with embarrassment at the position we were in. Her imperial red eyes stared directly into mine.
She tried to save me from my own ego dying alone in a ditch, stepping back into my personal space with a hand over her mouth. Even doing her best to keep my mouth shut, but I could still clearly hear her giggling at my expense from behind it.
The sheer shock of speaking to someone without having to play a game of charades shook me down to my core. A double whammy when combined with being in such an intimate position that I had inadvertently gotten myself into. Something that the experienced merchant seemed to instantly latch onto, brushing back one of her bangs while stepping closer with a sultry expression on her face.
"Who the fuwauC," My voice reached a higher pitch than I thought possible as the young lady wrapped an arm around my shoulders when I ran out of tent to back into. My hips bumping into a table while she finally managed to close the gap and press her chest against mine. Taking on a hushed tone while I desperately tried not to bring unwanted attention down onto ourselves, "Are you? You're getting a tad close there lady, uh, how do you know how to speak latin?"
"Hmm, is that what this is? All these questions," The crimson haired replied in a contemplative tone, raising her other hand tap her chin with an upturned finger. Smirking at me without bothering to answer my question, "But you should know that knowledge always comes with a fee. Course you have paid me already, I have yet to compensate you."
My heart's racing as her bare skin brushed against me, becoming incredibly aware of all the dirt and grime that was stuck to me. Getting even closer so that we were breathing in each other's air, the heat of her breath washing over me. Hypnotized to not think a single coherent thought while her nose rested under mine. Whilst wrapping my arms around her waist she weaved her fingers through my hair, the only thing that I could focus on was the scent of rosemary.
It took me a few moments to reboot, not quite registering what had just occurred. Wheezing while I desperately tried to regain my breath as the merchant idly flipped through the pages of the blue book that [Oliver] had given me. Looking over her shoulder I could spot pages upon pages littered with indecipherable diagrams, runes and reflective metallic lettering gibberish.
"You're free to look as long as you like," The red head remarked, the barest hint of a smirk on her lips as she released a breathy exhale.
'This bitch,' Her flirting was just blatant now, but failed to have the effect I imagine that she had in mind. Pushing any and all feelings of attraction that I held for her off to the side, resentment built at the bottom of my gut for her behavior. Her clear disregard, and avoidance of answering my questions hammered out a new spine that had grown sick and tired of this world's continuous bullshit.
"What the fuck did you just do to me?!" My voice rose by several octaves, reverberating inside of my chest as the young shook her head back and forth. She froze in place, briefly stunned by the sheer volume present in my voice as it had felt like I had spoken twice at once. Taking my book back from her hands as the playful expression she bore disappeared just as quickly as snapping the book shut was.
"Really now? That was just excessive," The lass scoffed, closing the distance between the two of us with a single step. Despite being within just a few inches it felt like she was millions of miles away from me, "All I did was open your eyes to the truth, and your lips I suppose."
"Don't play coy with me," Something was off about her, nothing about the woman was good news. Detecting that her accent had been perfect, too perfect. Her voice changing from being perfectly able to speak the local language to then instantly being capable of speaking modern Latin. All of that without skipping a beat, "Speak plainly, why did you bring me here?"
"Hahah, bring you here? Me!? You're funny. The name's Anna by the way," While I was thoroughly thrown for a loop, this 'Anna' was completely unphased and no worse for wear. Not a single seam in her clothing wrinkled or hair sticking out from her tightly bound ponytail. An identical symbol to the one engraved onto the scale that I lost was embroidered onto her non-ruffled shirt, it didn't belong in a world where every shirt was rife with them. "You're not from around here are you, and by here I don't just mean Fódlan."
She didn't have to clarify her identity, given the dark lettering that hung in the air above the merchant's head. Though a part of me appreciated the intent behind the gesture. My thoughts were focused on the elongated caltrops that were placed in a pattern along her shirt, wondering what connection she could have with a bunch of scales of all fucking things!
'Anna', Lv. 5 Myrmidon, [The Secret Seller]
I wanted to strangle someone, or get out and have a smoke. Anna's neck was looking kind of tempting over burning one of my last cigarettes.
Didn't think that insanity was going to have me tongue fuck pretty women or hallucinate that I was stuck in a video game. Worst game of the sims ever, well, second worst. I could be stuck in poolside purgatory.
My hyperfixation had petered out, moved on, and details in the world around me became glaringly obvious to take note of. I'd always suspected that I wasn't in just a 'ancient' world, or simply a slightly 'fantastical' one, but I'd never really had much proof to figure out which one specifically applied to my case. Caulking up the effects of the 'potion' on luck mostly, or that I'd somehow come across people that had access to surprisingly advanced antibiotics.
Bit of a coin flip really.
"Fuck me," I groaned out aloud to myself, already sensing the cheeky bint smirking while I spoke. Preemptively silencing her before she could get halfway finished with her dad joke tier flirtation.
"Well if you in-"
"Shut it Rouge the Human."
"Pft. I don't exactly know what you mean by that," Anna had looked a bit miffed at my comment, but she would have to try harder than that if she wanted to get one past me. As if God had cosmically placed the woman on not-Earth to punish me for my transgression, she somehow pulled my bag of coins out of nowhere. Dumping an entire pile of gold plated coins onto the table before returning the bag to me, "But you should know payment always comes before service."
To say that I was close to losing it would be the understatement of the year, as I officially started to consider if shaking her repeatedly might work. Hoping that the last shreds of my patience would carry me through, "How the fuck do you keep doing that?"
"I thank you for your loyal patronage, oh kind sir!" Anna had taken on the accent of an upper class posh british lady before assuming a tone more common with bored customer service workers. Tossing a strange silver medallion between her hand as she addressed me, "Now we don't have much time to go through every single insignificant detail, so I'll keep the terms of service shor-"
- 100 Marks
"[THERE] HE [FUCKING] IS!"
'Fuck my life, seriously. I'm going to kill myself, today. I'm really going to do it this time.'
My head swung over my shoulder to pin down where the man's yells had come from, spotting the veritable pain in my ass's angry face looking over the crowd at me. Glancing back I grabbed the medallion as it hit my chest before I could lose it in the bustling crowd that I found myself in again. Completely disregarding how a structure so huge could simply stop existing the moment that I looked away. A burning rage blossomed in my chest, using my fury to try and get a grip over the sudden wave of nausea that passed through me.
Promotion: Commoner Monk!
Personal Skill Upgraded!
Deserve to Die - Foes within three spaces take 1 extra point of damage.
\/
Deserve to Die - Foes within four spaces take 2 extra points of damage.
"I [told you that] I [wasn't lying," While I was stumbling through the crowd in my pseudo drunken stupor, they weren't faring all that much better. Meeting resistance from the townspeople as they attempted to push through the market to get to me. Another was creeping up behind me, using his companions as a distraction. It would've worked too had I not seen the glaringly obvious, "[You asked] me [where we'd get our next mark, and] I [told you that we'd] be [fine. Didn't] I?"
'?', Lv. 6 Slinger
Going slack, and allowing myself to be pulled further toward my attacker than if I had resisted the attempt to be grappled. Taking a hold of his arm in turn, pulling it down while my switchblade briefly shone as it crossed the shortened distance between us. His hands went straight to the blade stuck in his throat, putting pressure as I felt his eyes searching my face he choked on his own blood.
Critical Hit!
21 Damage!
29 Experience!
"[Stop gossiping then," A lone voice called out, the very same gravely older tone that I had come to associate with their leader. Barking out a command as my captive tried to raise one of his hands in an effort to alert his companions to my position, "[And get after him]!"
Critical Hit!
21 Damage!
58 Experience!
LEVEL UP!
'\[6/'
Monk
HP: 26 1 Mv: 2
Str: 10 0 Lck: 8 0
Mag: 16 1 Def: 10 0
Dex: 9 0 Res: 16 1
Spd: 12 0 Cha: 4 0
156 Experience points until the next level up!
It was the wrong move to make, finally gaining the leverage to pull my switchblade back out of her throat. A veritable waterfall poured through the hole in her neck, sending a huge shudder through his body from the shock that came with the sudden blood loss. Putting the see-through pseudo video game screen that had popped aside while I dragged the quickly fading man away from the market.
Quickly pulling my hood over head as I lost my pursuers amidst the rush, using the Slinger's dead body for cover taking him home for getting too drunk. Going slower so that the people passing closest to me wouldn't notice the blood pouring onto the street. Throwing the man's corpse off of my shoulders into the first alley that cut into the town plaza. Breaking into a sprint as I left town out the way that I had first intended to.
Running past town guards on my way out, giving little mind to any consequences while I left them in the dust. Calming down only once I felt like I had run far enough, slowing to a jog after I had broken sight with the town.
Choosing a small clearing off to the side of the main road where I could rest my sore legs. Finding a rock that I could sit on while I built up a fire for the encroaching night with a good view of the main road. The twilight sun's rays were split by the bare branches of the forest's treeline, acting as a small comfort that I had managed to escape capture another day. A horse like [Baron] would've been a great help right about now.
While my mind was occupied by such musings I wasn't as focused on the world around me, primarily fiddling with the gifted tome currently in my hands. Trying to parse the local language in an effort to see why Anna had taken an interest in it, or the medallion that she had bought with my own money. Learning the language is going to take ages, and I need to do that if I'm going to get home with any sense of expediency. For that I'd likely need more of Anna's help.
Broken from my thoughts by the loud galloping of horses, swearing to myself while I dove for cover as I ducked behind a tree at the last minute before their arrival. Groaning at the fact that I had to cut my smoke break short because of their appearance. Dragging my pack along with me before leaving it there for them to find, debating whether I should just abandon it to have a better chance at freedom. Settling on taking my only items that served as a link home with me a little longer.
My pack smacked against my injured arm as I readjusted the weight that had settled onto my my head back as my ears caught sight of a well built axeman leading this group of hunters, uttering a word that sounded familiar. If only distantly.
"[The clever] helot [was just here," Across the nearly silent clearing the bulky older man's voice boomed while addressing his cohorts. The group of bounty hunters stopped to examine the little clearing that I had temporarily taken up residence in. The jig was up, or would be soon. Orders yelled out by their leader had them spread out into the forest in an effort to locate me, "He [couldn't have gotten far. Spread out and find him]!"
Hearing a loud knock as one of the men kicked over the log that I had been working at to start a campfire before abandoning it upon their arrival. For a while I had been thinking that the stress from just waiting was going to kill me before they did. A trio of them coming in from my left to cut off my ability to escape north where I had intended to head next. They forced me to move slowly through the underbrush, taking great care to avoid stepping on any branches and attracting more attention to myself.
The air around me had stilled, the jiggling from wind chimed uncharacteristically quiet for such a windy day. An absence of bird calls soon explained as a litany of howling wolves erupted from all around us, containing an unnatural intensity that unnerved me.
While their attention was split between searching for me and keeping an eye out for those wolves, I struck. Brandishing my switchblade in shade while I crept up behind a Myrmidon acting as a scout.
[Player Phase]
'?', Lv. 7 Myrmidon
Critical Hit!
21 Damage!
28 Experience!
There aren't many places that you could launch an attack from, the forest barely starting to become dark enough that I could hide within. A distraction was the perfect thing that I had needed, wolves masking my sloppy approach until it was too late. He hacked up a load of blood as I plunged my knife into his back, I had definitely nicked something important.
- 0 HP
- 0 HP
[Enemy Phase]
- 0 HP
The Myrmidon's next three counter attacks were sloppy, swinging his blade wildly and hitting nothing but my sleeves as I lifted them in front of me. Set to brace for the incoming barrage of slashes, instead being met by a man using his weapon more as a bat than a blade. .Swapping to a reverse grip I plunged the blade into his shoulder while my good arm held him from delivering a four strike.
7 Damage!
19 Experience!
His sword hand went slack as he toppled over like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
"Fuck off," I barked out the words at them, even if they couldn't decipher what I'd said. The meaning should be easy enough to grasp. Course, even if they got the memo I doubted that they would give up now considering that I had gutted one of their friends like a fish. The literal blood on my hands did not help one bit I imagine, "And no one else has to die."
'Grant', Lv. 7 Slinger, 'Frank', Lv. 7 Myrmidon, '?', Lv. 7 Slinger,
"[There] he is [Garnt," Another more burly man wielding an axe slung over his arm, ordered the Slinger that had been a pain in my ass to fight me head on. Those who had seen their friends get picked off one by one finally decided to pull together in a reverse V formation. A pair of Slingers flanked the second myrmidon, deciding to surround me in a semi circle while their boss hung back. Waiting for the right time to step in.
While you could control your own actions, the mind behind what guides the actions of others is of no concern. How does that saying go again, 'You can take a horse to water, but you can't make it drink?'
Admittedly I may consider myself guilty of cold blooded murder at this point, and a cucked judical system's operating in Alexandria or Antioch would be inclined to agree. Repeating to myself that I 'gave them fair warning', did do alot to alleviate any doubts that I had been feeling up till now. My mind quickly became too preoccupied with figuring out how to survive this fight to ponder the ethics of my predicament.
TLDR? Mercy was a luxury that I was too poor to afford.
BANG!
- 3 HP: 24/27
The case was made exceedingly obvious as the Slinger to the left of the Myrmidon instantly threw a stone that ricocheted off the tree to the left of me. Upon entering range to do so, feeling like a hockey puck had stuck me straight in the ribs. It was an attack that definitely left a bruise, and that was before speculating about internal damage. Not sounding not too far off from a low caliber pistol being fired.
- 0 HP
"[The fucker killed Erik," The venom was palpable, evident from their posture to the way that the myrmidon in front of gripped his blade far too tightly. Making his attacks extremely telegraphed even to a novice like me in medieval warfare, "[Screw taking him alive]!"
- 0 HP
Feeling more like I'd been hit with a baseball bat than a true weapon of war. Caulking up its relative failure to break my skin to their own weakness rather than any fault of the blade itself, but being made up of pure iron definitely didn't help. Its darker black coloring acting as a clear sign of its material make up, undoubtable cheaper in this era than purchasing a blade forged from even half decent steel.
7 Damage!
9 Experience!
Cutting into his flurry of attacks with one of my one, only just slowing him down that he needed to take a breath before continuing.
- 0 HP
"[He's] my [mark damnit," Even while fighting me they insisted on bickering, it was almost insulting if it didn't make them easy to exploit. An opportunistic sniper thought that being distracted trading blows with the myrmidon was the best time to fire off a stone at my head. I caught wind of the loud 'whirring' need for a shot to be fired before it had reached its apex, "[We're taking him alive and getting paid]!"
'These little shits!'
- 3 HP: 21/27
An echo of pain reverberated through my body originally from where I had been stricken. Previous irritation and overwhelming caution that had already existed faded away only to be replaced by righteous fury. Enraged that such pathetic vermin had been responsible for running me ragged, the same ones that had made me fear enslavement. To be permanently sealed on some forgotten plantation somewhere on this shithole of a civilization.
With that grazing blow sliding past my cheek everything got screwed back into place, the cold air brought a searing pain to the cut open flesh. I felt like I had gotten slapped instead of narrowly avoiding having my face ripped open by a fucking rock flying though the air at around 90 miles an hour.
"Hhaha, We [get paid anyway]-"
Critical Hit!
21 Damage!
56 Experience!
I interrupted his gloating, settling for punching his chest with it in place of skinning the bastard alive. My eyes zeroed in on the cackling Slinger, too busy to notice how the area around me became illuminated with bright light. A sudden burst of energy sprung forth to bathe the Slinger's face with the light of a second, "Take me fucking seriously!"
18 Damage!
21 Experience!
An all too familiar dread settled into the man's eyes as my hand extended out forth as if to block him. The air ahead of me ignited, pushed forward by my instruction for the flames to torch his body.
18 Damage!
41 Experience!
LEVEL UP!
'\[7/'
Monk
HP: 27 1 Mv: 2
Str: 10 0 Lck: 8 1
Mag: 17 1 Def: 10 1
Dex: 9 0 Res: 17 1
Spd: 12 1 Cha: 4 0
159 Experience points until the next level up!
A different spell might've been better, but the streams of flames spewing forth from my hands were the only spell I knew how to use. This was a numbers game, and I was on a timer to even the odds as fast as possible before problems started piling up.
19 Damage!
19 Experience!
I swung over to do the same that I had done to the first Slinger who's face that I'd managed to melt with the torrent of flame. My hand remained cold as ice while the air around me caused the air itself to boil and pop, hearing over the waves of fire that I spewed forth. My heartbeat thumped in the midst of my hand, a clammy feeling stuck around in place of where my mana had lingered when my spell petered out. My target stumbling back from the blaze for a second before tipping over and falling dead. Take a literal dirt nap.
19 Damage!
37 Experience!
Taking out the tome made for casting magic would been a good idea before I blowtorched a man's head clean from his shoulders. The giggle that slipped out during my brief mania definitely warranted some concern. Something a professional might've had something to pipe in about. An opinion that very much would have been welcome, but not heeded either way.
The decision had been a bit of a spur of the moment thing. My clothing had been cut to tatters, the ends of my cloak held together with nothing but thoughts and prayers. Still in one piece at the end of it all.
Who I'd pissed off to warrarent being lynched by a bunch of paleolithic dire wolves, and psychotic medieval humans obsessed with slavery? I'm not sure, but I wasn't waiting to find out who. I didn't regret my action, none of it in fact. Even as the act had sent waves down my back, something within the back of my mind squirming uncontrollably at what I was doing. The only thing that kept me from vomiting was a mixture of adrenaline and the sense of urgency going through my mind.
And how glad that I was to avoid looking for those sorts of answers, turning away from corpses whose flesh were sizzling. Just to see something nearly as bad as that disgusting sight.
Their leader had been taking advantage of my focus being solely his man that he had intended to sneak up behind me. Quietly flourishing his steel axe that I had only noticed that he had gotten so close by the irritated scream that came out of his mouth as the jaws of a wolf latched onto his leg. A light brown blur slammed into him, dragging the man kicking and screaming from behind a tree out of my direct line of sight.
Truly, wolves are the ancestors of the pitbull. Beware toddlers, of the true apex predator of Earth.
You'd think setting up a campfire would be a simple enough security measure for warding wild animals off. Most critters know to stay a good distance, others have to be reminded. These goddamn wolves had just taken it as an invitation to pry the hunting party's attention off of me.
CRACK!
A stone smacking against the wild animal's thigh causing the creature to yelp in pain, releasing the hold that its jaws had on his leg. Keeping an eye on that section of the woods, I searched from where that life saving shot had come from. Clearly spot many more enemy on horses along the road.
The matter of being outnumbered truly came into my mind as my sense of relief was shattered. It wouldn't be enough, my blood going cold as I realized that the man was actually going to win. Separating the head belonging to one of the lupical with the force of a single swing of his blade.
The thing, a creature that could barely be referred to as a wolf had stepped into the light. It certainly wasn't a damn gray wolf, the predator that stepped forward after its brethren had had its head removed was fearless. Resembled a female lion more than the wolves that I'd grown familiar with back home. Closer to a dingo with an oversized jaw, the only thing that allowed me to remain calm was the fact these creatures were more interested in my pursuers than in easting me.
The rest refused to get any closer to either of us as the corpses of his comrades had begun to set my surroundings ablaze. Figuring out that if nothing was done to cull it's spread then the whole entire forest was going to go up in flames with all of us caught up in it. It was that same realization that led me toward my next questionable decision.
Leading me to cook the patch of forest that lay between us with a torrent of conjured flame. Creating an artificial wall that he would have to go around he really wanted to have a crack at me. Making it harder for the bounty hunter's leader to chase me down, while using the extreme heat from the fire to keep the howling wolves in the distance at bay.
"This is a terrible idea," While I had effectively severed the man's hunting party in half, there still lay the question of the rest of his compatriots that remained on my side. Returning to a familiar game of cat and mouse that I had played inside of that dreadful town. Except flinging streams of scorching hot flame behind me whenever I got the chance, eventually being overtaken by the forest fire that I had inadvertently created.
A choice was quickly made, dragging out the book with the symbol of a snowflake out, the tome almost coming to life in my hands. The Hailstorm tome in my offhand fluttering open, a dozen pages trailing past with every second as the core components of the spell were conjured. Rings of sigils and runes spun to life in front of me, the pages flickering with magic wind that urged my hearts to beat faster for what I was about to do.
What singed pieces of wood that I had managed to burn froze over in an instant, the temperature dropping more than a dozen degrees as the spell was assembled. For a brief moment the blood in my veins came to stand still, the air cracked as energy snapped to the floor.
I don't get the mechanics behind frost magic, but the spells don't much care about how much I understand. In place of comprehension and a true show of effort, my mana instead simply took the decision for me, flooding the book and causing the runes inscribed inside to light up. Forcing the signature ritualistic circles to form around my outstretched hand, not quite humming like it would with Blaze.
Part of me acknowledged that I might've inadvertently kicked the metaphorical hornet's nest, the part in charge of staying alive bitched at my shortsightedness. The fires I'd given life to cracking off to the side, promising retribution as I charged volleys of ice so as to carve a path through the flames. When done correctly it muffled the blaze enough for me to pass safely through, the area reclaimed by the wildfire just as swiftly.
Barely catching the second set of footsteps lagging behind me if not for the careful timing that I had to maintain. Least I risk getting burned alive after all.
He'd been hiding, waiting for the moment that I would stop running to take a breath. Assuming that I wouldn't be paranoid enough to think there would be anyone insane enough to follow me straight into a forest fire burning in full force. The half faded sigils in the air glowed back to life as my magic flipped through the pages necessary to finish the spell. Pulling on my magic until the shards of icy glass in the air flung themselves into the man who'd decided to rush directly towards me. Covering the man's lowered half, pockets of skin and leather poked out from under a slew of conjured frozen knives. Immobilizing him by impaling his knees with a dozen spikes of solid ice.
A myrmidon popped into view in front of me, "[You're going] to [suffer for what you've don-]!"
Pointing his curved blade in my direction as he shouted.
19 Damage!
25 Experience!
I had cut him off mid sentence with a frozen volley of conjured knives that became lodged in his chest and belly. His fur coat doing nothing to prevent the shards of hardened water from shattering bone let alone breaking skin.
"Get a fucking life before you try to take mine," I berated the dying man, grabbing my by the hair while he pointlessly swung at my legs.
- 0 HP
"Just die already," The intense frost gathering in the hand that held my ice tome flared outward, lodging a dozen pencil-length rods of avarice into the face and chest of a thief as he lay on the ground.
19 Damage!
51 Experience!
The ease at which I could take life was starting to worry a tendril of flame reminded me that I was literally going to get cooked alive if I even started to hesitate. My body matched my racing heartbeat, shaking my entire frame from the magical expenditure that I'd put it through. Sweat cloaking my back, tugging on my clothes while the fire around me wished desperately to grab ahold of my clothes.
Soft pops proceeded a loud snap that rang throughout the burning forest, the trunk of one of the older trees I'd set alight suddenly collapsed under its own weight. A dozen other plants around it caught alight on its way down, as the falling tree helped block the path behind me.
Color blurred, the moments after receiving the incoming strike stretched out for a long period of time. The shades of orange, red and flecks of bright yellow burned beautifully. An exhale escaped my lips, while I expected the normal white puff to accompany it, there was nothing this time. Slight chills crawled down my spine, with my hairs standing on end while feeling lightheaded.
While some part of me was satisfied with the damage that I had done so far. The hate boiling under the surface said otherwise, my hearts pounding in unison as a new sort of pain blossomed inside of my chest. A firmer sort of strain that pulled against my ability to string together the energy to think. Something approaching what I imagined a migraine to be like, my vision blurring at the edges from casting so many spells right after each other.
Tonight had been truly exhausting, exhilarating yet far too close for comfort.
The smoke had gotten thicker, and while the forest fire had avoided catching up to me up til now the flames clearly weren't going to wait for me to catch my breath. Speaking of smoke, the bright white sigils took longer to come to life as the sudden cough that had come over me tried to tear a hole through my lungs.
My breaths continued to come out with increasingly more difficulty, more adrenaline pumping through my veins than blood at this point. Only becoming manageable when I finally blasted my way out of the forest, stumbling onto cold stone under a cloudy night's sky. Not a single bit of wind brought me a cool breeze or wave of heat from the fire burning just a dozen meters away from my prone form.
I really wish that I was dead, a significantly deluded part of my brain suggested that I keep playing dead for a while. Less so was the idea of a branch falling atop of me after everything and just burning me to death, unable to push it off of me.
Unfortunately while I was stuck in a terrible, simply agonizing amount of pain that made taking even small breaths seem akin to torture. Hitting the ground with little in terms of cushioning sucked, rubbing my raw skin as I rose to my feet.
Only fumes remained, flickering between states of exhaustion as I made my way the tendrils that had bathed my body with far too much warmth. Using the various cool boulders to act as a temporary rest stop as my legs finally collapsed under my weight. Dumping me right at the entrance of a cave, a steady air current coming from deeper inside blowed cold air against my tired face.
I seriously doubted that I'd be the only one to half groan, half moan as the sensation brought me a level of relief. More than willing to skip creating a campfire tonight, having had enough fire for one day considering what I had gone through.
There was something else fuzzy further within the cave, since it was smaller than a bear it went ignored. Hearing a couple of animals also hiding out here. My ears registered the noise, compartmentalizing the small squeaks as the vocalization of bats that had taken refuge from the forest fire. Eventually clocking out as the adrenaline was bled out of me, my own wounds slowing with my heart beats coming to rest.
Chapter 5 Note:
Don't nun of ya'll DARE fuckin ask me to double check my math, if I fucked it up so be it. We ball. I'm not doing hit calculations, it's cringe. We go off of vibes here, and whatever makes for a more interesting back and forth to right. Also because if I left it up to pure chance we'd be here for fucking ages. The only crit check I skipped was for the guy in the market, made for a better read if it was an instant kill. The rest of the rand num generation went like 6, 99, 33, 7, 81, 72, 43, 60, 79, 72.
You don't have to read this, I just feel like writing it down here before I move it to its own tab. Brigid = Ireland, Adrestia = german/etc, helot for slave, Leicester = French/etc.
Chapter 1, one day/ december 25th
Chapter 2, day 3
Chapter 3, day 4
Chapter 4, day 22 (boat trip and the time spent traveling with Oliver)
Choices (optional to participate in)
1. Where, when, and how do you think consumables should be utilized?
2. Outlook on having a fresh new start in stories, the whole isakai scenario thing? Is it overplayed, overrated?
3. Fucked up shit is gonna go down in Chapter 6, people who have already read the previous version of this story are in the know. I bring this up to bring you a once in a lifetime opportunity, a character fate rewrite. Be warned! I have many terrible things in store for multiple characters, and you are only getting this once. (On top of cannon) You can comment complex conditions under which this will activate(like saving it for later or something), but if enough people comment just the name with nothing else. I will monkey's paw the fuck out of it, like if I wrote something fucked up that happened to a character in a past chapter. There will be no retcon. This is not comparable to Sothis's time reversals. (New!)
As a bit of fun I'll also let you pick what the next chapters after battle loot will be for this list, pick 3 categories or from the loot pool itself. I'll even take custom items that don't exist in FE3H if it sounds interesting.
Medium loot roll: 5000~15,000 gold, 1 Bow Random 50 arrows of the same type 2 quivers. 4 items with a weight of 3~6. 3 materials. Three Small Loot Rolls.
Item weight 0: Accuracy Ring, Critical Ring, Evasion Ring, Speed Ring, March Ring, Goddess Ring, Prayer Ring, Black Eagle Pendant, Blue Lion Brooch, Golden Deer Bracelet, White Dragon Scarf,
Item weight 1: Experience Gem, Knowledge Gem, Steel Dagger, Steel Knife, Glass Dagger, (Mythril Knife),
Item weight 2: Iron Dagger, Iron Knife, (Steel Javelin), (One-handed Steel Sword), (Silver Knife), (Adamantium Dagger),
Item weight 3: (Iron Sword), (Bronze Sword), (Iron Javelin), (Bronze Javelin), (Steel Spear), (Glass Spear), (Glass One-handed Sword), (Mythril Javelin),
Item weight 4: (Wooden Flail), (Iron Spear), (Bronze Spear), (Steel Axe), (Glass Axe), (Mythril Spear), (Mythril One-handed Sword),
Item weight 5: (Wooden Club), (Iron Axe), (Bronze Axe), (Steel Mace), (Steel Flail),
Item weight 6: Heater Shield (Leather, wood, and metal), (Steel Hammer), (Silver Javelin), (One-handed Silver Sword), (Mythril Axe), (Mythril Flail),
Should be a good example of what I mean.
Character Sheet and Details
Alcides, Lv [7] Monk, Experience: 150/177
HP: 28 (40%)
Mv: 2
Str: 10 (35%)
Lck: 9 (30%)
Mag: 18 (60%)
Def: 11 (35%)
Dex: 9 (40%)
Res: 18 (60%)
Spd: 13 (50%)
Cha: 4 (20%)
Base Critical Chance: 9% = [(Luck Dex) / 2]
Dodge: 8% = Luck Ability bonus
Attack Speed: 8 = Speed [Inventory weight (Strength / 5)]
Class Growths: (Monk)
HP: 5%, Str: 0%, Mag: 5%, Dex: 0%, Spd: 0%, Lck: 0%, Def: 0%, Res: 5%, Cha: 0%
Personal Skill: Deserve to Die - Foes within four spaces take 2 extra points of damage.
Class Ability 1: Prepare - Spend an action to store any spell that can be triggered at any later date as an action with no reaction. [Mage Mastery required, 4/60]
Class Ability 2: Logos , Lv 1 - Grants 1 range for spells per whole new letter grade beyond F. (1)
Class Ability 3: Pathos, Lv 1 - Increases the user's max uses of spell by 0.1 per partial letter grade beyond F. (x 1.1)
Class Ability 4: Ethos, Lv 2 - Grants the ability to use magic that is lower than or equal to this skill's level multiplied by two. (Threshold of 4 Might)
Class Ability 5: [Mastery required]
Ability 1: Knife Prowess, Lv 5 - Grants 5% to land a crit while using sharp weapons.
Ability 2:
Ability 3:
Ability 4:
Ability 5:
Learned Combat Arts: Flash Fire - Allows the user to throw their weapon at the target, with a durability cost of 5 while preventing counter attacks with a range of 1~2 tiles. Strength Weapon Might 3 = Attack.
Learned Abilities: (jack shit)
Learned Spells: Blaze - Mt: 3. Hit: 85. Crit: 15. Rng: 1. Wt: 1. Lv: F. Uses: 35. Description: Can inflict Burns that reduce physical defense equal to might on critical hits.
Skill Levels: Knives (63; D), Logos/Reason (33; D), Ethos/Authority (10; E), Pathos/Faith (5; F)
Proficiencies: Logos/Reason,
Deficiencies: Pathos/Faith,
Budding Talent: (to be decided later)
Inventory: Steel Knife (1 mt, 10% crit, 1 wt), 1 Blizzard Tome (2 wt), No Vulneraries, and a pair of Sacred Galewind Shoes (0 wt), traveling pack (7 wt).
Currency: 955, 955 Marks - 1 Small Bullion/Kilogram and 55 Gold Coins.
Critical Chance = Weapon Crit [(Dexterity Luck) / 2] Ability bonus Equipment bonus Battalion bonus
Dodge = Luck Ability bonus
Hailstorm - Mt: 4. Hit: 80. Crit: 20. Rng: 1. Wt: 1. Lv: F. Uses: 30. Description: Deals 25% more damage against burned targets, but the spell's might will remove the debuff after combat.
Enemies;
Slinger, lv 6 (sling 5 mt 7 wt) AS = 4
HP: 29 Mv: 2
Str: 8 Lck: 10 (can't crit)
Mag: 6 Def: 6
Dex: 10 Res: 2
Spd: 7 Cha: 7
Myrmidon, Lv 7 (iron sword 2 mt) AS = 9.5
HP: 27 Mv: 2
Str: 7 Lck: 6
Mag: 6 Def: 6
Dex: 6 Res: 2
Spd: 9 Cha: 8
Mercenary Lv 11 (steel axe 5 mt 2 wt) AS = 13
HP: 30 Mv: 2
Str: 12 Lck: 9 (can't crit)
Mag: 9 Def: 9
Dex: 8 Res: 3
Spd: 11 Cha: 12
I've been trying to balance the movement capabilities while taking infantry into account, while figuring out how much more maneuverable that cavalry would realistically be. So if you've wondering why people's mv went from 4-5 to 3 and now down to 2, that is the reason why. You don't have to worry about it, as it is mostly flavor text when it comes to actual combat. Such a thing is subject to change while I iron things out.