Runeguard 008

I don’t know how long I lay there, stuck under the bear and unmoving. My body was suffused in pain. My left arm had been gnawed to the bone, one of my legs was ripped open, and my chest was a mess of bruises and cracked ribs.

But ever so slowly, I could feel myself healing, wounds closing over and bones mending.

Eventually I raised my head and took in my surroundings. Nothing else had ventured into the clearing.

“Status, Adi,” I gasped.

“I’m displaying a summary of the battle’s System alerts now.”

Your health is at 15%.

Your swords and evasion skills have increased to rank 5. 

Your recovery skill has increased to rank 14.

You have gained the dexterity skill: daggers! 

Your daggers skill has increased to rank 3. 

You have reached level 6! 

+1 rank in strength, dexterity, constitution, life, channeling, and perception.

+3 Essence Points.

Your restoration skill has increased to rank 2.

I had gained another level and a new skill, but my focus right now was on speeding up my recovery.

“Adi, put my free Essence Points in life.”

“Done, Dace.”

“Thanks,” I said, finally turning my attention to the bear lying upon me. It looked even larger in death. Planting my elbows in the dirt, I dragged myself away. I didn’t stop until I reached the river. 

Without questioning the impulse that drove me, I dunked myself into the water’s depths and washed away the filth and grime.

Feeling human again, I waded out of the river and back to the bear’s side. “Well fought, you big bastard,” I murmured before placing my hands on its side and looting the corpse.

You have acquired: 1 x brown bear skin, 24 x pieces of uncooked meat, and a pair of +1 steel chainmail gloves.

The bear vanished as if it had never existed. I paid it no mind though as I extracted the surprising gloves from my inventory.

Made from a mesh of small metal rings woven together, the gloves looked well-made and appeared sized for my own hands. Curiously, I drew them on.

Item: +1 Steel Chainmail Gloves

Base Defense: 3.

Parent Essence: strength. Parent skill: heavy armor. Requirements: 5 strength.

Enchantment: +1 heavy armor skill.

Warning: all armor worn on the body negatively affects magic skills to varying degrees.

Debuff from gloves: -5% to all magic skills. 

My brows furrowed. “Adi,” I asked slowly, seeking her confirmation, “armor interferes with spellcasting?”

“Correct, Dace.”

I frowned. Was that why I had not seen anyone in the Creche wearing any armor or even bothering with melee weapons? “So, if I go the mage route,” I mused, “I will have to sacrifice my physical defense.”

“Not necessarily, Dace.”

One of my brows rose up in response. “Explain please.”

“There are advanced Classes such as the battlemage and paladin—and even the one you have been tasked with obtaining: the guardian Class—that can reduce the impact of armor.”

I chewed on my lip. “Tell me more about the guardian Class.”

“A guardian is similar to a paladin yet differs in two significant ways. One, the Class is built around life Essence, not divine Essence, and two, every guardian has a spirit companion. But like paladins, guardians have a skill that can eliminate the negative impact of armor on the Class’ primary magic discipline: life magic.” 

I had not come across any divine Essence yet. I hadn’t even known such was available in the Proving Grounds, but I set aside my curiosity about paladins and focused on the rest of what Adi said. 

“So, as a guardian wearing armor, my life magic will not be penalized, but other magic skills I acquire will be?”

“Correct, Dace.”

“What about the healer Class? Will it allow me to wear armor?”

“Not without penalties.”

“Hmm. So, why would anyone choose to be a healer over a guardian then?”

“Eliminating the armor penalty is one benefit the guardian Class has over the healer Class, certainly, but in other aspects, you will find the healer more beneficial, especially when it comes to mass healing.”

I rose to my feet. I had heard enough. It seemed I would have to ponder my choice of Class and the further Essences I absorbed much more carefully than I anticipated.

My gaze slid down to the steel gloves covering my hands. They felt comfortable, and for now at least, there was no reason to remove them. And they provided a nice bonus to my heavy armor skill too.

I glanced around the clearing. I was done here, and it was time to head back to the road and follow the trail in the other direction. 

But first to top up my water, I thought, making my way to the stream’s edge again.

While filling my canteens, I caught sight of a spot of color among the river weeds. Storing my canteens back into my inventory, I walked over to the plants. Nearly buried beneath the green foliage, I spied dozens of small purple flowers.

Bending down, I plucked one.

You have gained the dexterity skill: herbalism! 

You have attempted, but failed, to harvest an aloe flower.

Huh, another skill. At this stage, no skill was unnecessary, and no resource was a waste. I scanned the riverbanks. Now that I knew what to look for, I spotted other patches of flowers hiding amongst the weeds.

Rolling up my sleeves—figuratively—I got to work.

✵ ✵ ✵

You have acquired: 90 x aloe flowers, and 29 x barberry leaves.

Your herbalism skill has increased to rank 6.

After an hour, I was done harvesting every plant within easy reach and was ready to move on.

It took me only a few minutes to find my way back to the road, and without stopping, I crossed over and followed the trail west.

The western trail continued much deeper into the forest, and a little later, I found myself at the lip of a deep basin.

Standing on the valley’s rim, I stared down into its depths. The trail I had been following for the last hour ended at the valley’s entrance, and the ground underfoot appeared too hard to carry a footprint. 

Unlike the rest of the forest, the valley was only sparsely populated with vegetation. Strewn across its length were boulders, large and small, and what trees there were, were stunted or small.

Do I go down? I wondered. And if I did, would I find my way back?

I shrugged. Given the sparse nature of the vegetation below me, it would be no great hardship to find my way back to the valley’s rim.

Pulling out my daggers, I scored deep lines through the trunks of the nearby trees so I would not lose the trail. 

Then I headed into the valley.

The slopes of the basin were steep and moved beneath me as I made my way down. Wary of falling prey to a landslide, I moved carefully, using the nearby boulders and tree trunks for support.

Yet despite the difficulty of the terrain, I spotted the first attack before it came.

A blur of motion from downslope attracted my attention. Reacting instantly, I braced my back against a nearby tree trunk and unshouldered my sword and shield.

You have spotted an enemy! A level 3 timber wolf has failed to ambush you.

You have gained the perception skill: detection!

Wolves, I thought. I spotted further motion higher up the slope. There are at least two of them.

Crouching down low, I waited for the pair to arrive. Even though their ambush had failed, the two kept racing towards me. I judged the wolf from above would reach me first, and I angled its way. Three yards from me, the rust-colored wolf leapt, rushing through the air for my throat.

I uncoiled from my crouch and struck out with my shield. Unyielding wood met soft flesh, and the wolf yelped in surprise as it was flung off course and sent tumbling down the valley.

I had no time to celebrate though as the second wolf came snarling low. Its jaw clamped down on my ankle and tugged viciously. 

I chopped down with my shield onto its back and followed through with a second attack from my sword. The blade slid effortlessly through the beast’s fur, and a moment later it lay lifeless on the ground. 

I yanked out my sword and kicked the wolf away. The first beast was sprinting uphill again. I studied its approach for a moment, then discarded my shield and planted my longsword in the ground.

Deciding on a more adventurous approach, I withdrew the daggers from my inventory, and while the wolf was still twenty yards away, tossed the first blade at it.

I missed, of course. 

The damn wolf didn’t even have to dodge. Idiot, I scolded myself. I hefted the second dagger in my hand and waited for the wolf to close further. When it closed to within three yards, I flung the blade.

My aim was still poor, but at this range, I couldn’t miss. Still, somehow, I fouled the throw. The projectile hit the wolf off-center and bounced off, doing the creature little harm.

You have gained the perception skill: weapon-throwing!

The attack had not injured my foe, but it did cause the wolf to hesitate in momentary surprise.

Before the beast could resume its charge, I drew my sword out of the ground and lunged forward in a fencer’s thrust. 

My aim was true, and I impaled the wolf squarely.

I advanced, ready to follow-up with a second blow. But to my surprise, I saw that the wolf was dead already.

Well, I thought, that was unexpectedly easy.

 ✵ ✵ ✵

You have acquired: 2 x timber wolf skins, and 6 x pieces of uncooked meat.

I mopped up quickly after the encounter, looting the wolves and recovering my daggers. Then I ventured deeper into the valley.

Before I made it less than halfway into the valley, I suffered two more attempted ambushes. The first was by a trio of wolves, and the second by a pair of them.

I fended off both assaults as quickly as the first, and given the ease with which I was dispatching my foes, I took the opportunity to train my dagger skills.

By now, I was certain the valley was home to a wolf pack, and clearly, they were aware of my presence. 

As I advanced deeper into the valley, I held myself loose and ready for further attacks. But I reached its far end without being ambushed and it was only when I stepped into the dirt clearing in front of a cave that I took to be the wolves’ den, I realized why. Pacing in front of the cave, with their eyes fixed on me, were twelve more wolves. The rest of the pack, I guessed. 

Waiting for me.

 And at their center, was the pack leader, looking twice as large and twice as mean.