Runeguard 006

Day Two

You have been ambushed!

You have been hit by a sneak attack for 50 damage. You have 120 HP remaining.

Pain blossomed in my torso as something sharp bit hard and deep. 

I screamed. Or tried to. 

But my cries were muffled. My mouth had been covered. I tried rolling onto my side, but my arms and legs were pinned down too.

My eyes flew open. 

Agony coursed through me, and my eyes swam with unshed tears. But I fought through the pain and blinked them clear until the world shifted into focus. 

Two shadows were looming over me.

“Gah! He’s still alive, Max,” hissed a shrill voice. “The bastard is looking at me! What should I do?” The voice was close. The owner was the one whose hand was covering my screams.

“Stick him again, you idiot!” Max replied in a furious whisper. The second voice came from much lower. He was holding down my legs and arms. “God, Osten, do I have to do all your thinking for you?”

Osten didn’t reply, at least not verbally. Pain bit at me again as he struck at me twice more with something sharp and vicious.

You have been hit by Max for 30 damage. 

You have been hit by Max for 20 damage. 

You have 70 HP remaining. You are bleeding!

Your health has dropped below 50% and you have gained the life skill: restoration! Your current rate of health restoration is 1 HP / min.”

Blood pumped out of me in copious amounts, and in an eyeblink the fight drained out of me. My body sagged inwards. I let it, stilling my struggles. Maybe it would fool them.

“That’s done him for,” Max whispered, sounding satisfied. He stood up. 

Osten followed his partner to his feet. “Why is he still breathing?” he asked worriedly. “None of the others took this long to die.”

“Who knows? Or cares?” replied Max with a shrug. “Come on, we wasted enough time on this flesh bag. We’ll come back after he’s dead. The bastard probably doesn’t even have anything worth stealing anyway,” Max muttered as he walked off—presumably to their pair’s next victim.

“He’s still twitching,” Osten said as he trailed after his partner.

Max cuffed him over the head and whispered something furious which I didn’t catch.

I watched the two leave through eyes slitted in pain. I wanted to sag back and let unconsciousness claim me, but I knew I was not out of danger yet.

As that bastard Max had said, they were going to be back.

“Adi,” I gasped, “what’s happened?” My mind was still fuzzy, and I was struggling to piece together my disjointed memories. I was in the Proving Grounds. That much I remembered. But how had I come to be assaulted?

“You were attacked, Dace.” 

I bit back a curse. I knew that already. 

“You were ambushed while you were asleep,” Adi continued. “By the humans named Max and Osten.”

It all came rushing back. 

I had fallen asleep in the streets. In hindsight, it had been a damn fool move to have lain down in the quietest alley I could find. I had only made my attackers work easier for them. 

“What’s my status?”

“Your health is at forty percent and you have sustained a debilitating debuff: bleeding. Normally, this would cause your health to keep dropping and lead eventually to death.” 

She paused. “But as a result of your weakened condition, you have gained the restoration skill, and even now your life Essence is working to stem the bleeding. In ten minutes, your blood loss will stop altogether, and your body will begin its recovery.”

I would be lucky if I had five minutes. “Can I fight?”

Adi took her time responding. “Irrespective of any injuries you have sustained, as long as you remain alive, the System will keep your body functional. But the System does not inhibit your pain. If you can endure the discomfort, there is no impediment to you fighting.”

Discomfort? I would have chuckled if it didn't hurt so much. My innards were on fire and felt as if they had been ripped asunder. But if Adi thought I was—how had she put it?—still functional...

Alright, let’s see how right she is.

I willed my weapons out of my inventory, and they appeared on the floor next to me. Grabbing the hilt of my sword, I used it like a cane to lever myself upright.

“Aaaaah,” I exhaled as I tottered to my feet. The pain was incredible. Every fiber of my being urged me to curl up in a ball and succumb to the agony. But… 

Adi was right. My movements were not impeded—at least not physically. I glanced down and slowly removed my left hand from where it hovered protectively over the wounds in my stomach. Blood pumped out, but no faster than it had before.

Right. This pain is only pain. You’re not on Earth anymore, Dace. The same rules don’t apply here. Fighting instinct, I forced clenched muscles to relax and bent down to pick up my shield.

As I straightened, I heard Osten’s yelp of surprise. “Max! Look, he’s risen from the dead!”

The two were further down the alley, kneeling besides another victim. I felt a moment’s pity for the unlucky soul. He looked dead already and even as I watched, his corpse vanished.

Ignoring the mystery, I paced forward, while keeping my breathing even and doing my best to hide my grimace of pain. The thieves rose to their feet and turned to face me.

I stopped and studied the pair.

Both were armed with daggers, one apiece. Beyond them, I saw three more sleeping bodies, one of whom seemed as if he was stirring. 

“Wake up!” I shouted. “Help me!”

The sleepers jerked upright and shot me and the thieves startled glances. Max and Osten braced their backs against the walls on either side of the alley and tried to watch both directions—the three sleepers on their left and me on their right.

I smiled. We have the bastards outnumbered.

But instead of aiding me, the three whom I had assuredly saved from certain death, chose to flee. As one, they hurtled past the thieves—who let them go without challenge.

The smile slipped off my face. “Cowards!” I yelled after them.

Max laughed. “You really thought they were gonna help you, did you? You poor idiot.”

I tightened my grip on my sword. “I don’t need help to kill scum like you,” I growled and took another step forward. The pair were less than three yards away now.

Max snorted. “Look at you, you can barely move. If I were you, I’d run.”

I chuckled hoarsely. “What? So you two can stab me in the back. No thank you.”

I advanced another step. “What can you tell me of these two, Adi?”

“Nothing, Dace. Their profiles are hidden.”

“Even their levels?”

“Correct.”

I sighed. It would have been useful to know what sort of opponents I faced, but it didn’t matter really. Fighting them was inevitable. 

I inched forward, putting the pair nearly within reach of my sword. The two backed away. But they couldn’t retreat forever, the alley ended only a few yards beyond them.

“Let us go, mister,” Osten said, gulping nervously. “We meant no harm.”

I looked at Osten as if he was stupid. Max’s accomplice looked little more than a boy, but after what the pair had done, that made no difference.

“It’s too late for forgiveness, boy,” I snarled. “You should have—”

My words cut-off as Max lunged forward, hoping to catch me unprepared. But I had kept one eye fixed on him, knowing him to be the true threat.

I caught his blow on my shield and riposted with my sword. The thief tried to dodge, but was defeated by his own momentum.

My blade slipped into the thief and tore a hole through his heart. With an unhappy grunt, the thief collapsed. My eyebrows flew up in surprise. A dagger was no match for a sword, but I had expected the thief to put up more of a fight. 

A line of fire cut down my right arm.

Snarling, I whirled that way. Osten had joined the fray. The youth’s eyes widened as I failed to go down under his blow. I lunged forward. Osten’s mouth opened and he backed away, probably to plead for his life again.

I didn’t give him a chance. 

Following through, I slashed my blade down the youth’s torso, and nearly cleaved him in two. He crumpled to the floor.

I lowered my sword and looked down at the pair. They were dead. Defeating the pair had been much easier than anticipated.

It’s over. 

The breath exploded out of me as I finally acknowledged the pain I had been holding in. With hands on knees, I bent over and sucked in air as I surveyed the alley. 

But for me and the two corpses, it was empty. Yet when I had lain down to sleep, there had been about a dozen people in the alley. Were they all dead? Where were their bodies though?

“Adi, what happened to the thieves’ victims?”

“Like everything else, players’ bodies are recycled on death.”

“Will they ever come back?”

“Only if they have a rebirth token in the System bank.”

I swallowed, and bowed my head in a respectful moment of silence for the strangers’ passing. But at least I had avenged their deaths. Parasites like Max and Osten were a plague the town could well do without, and I felt no small measure of satisfaction at having dealt with them. 

I looked down at the corpses at my feet. “Why are the bodies of these two still here?”

“You must loot them first, Dace.”

Nodding, I reached down and willed the contents of the pair’s inventory into mine.

You have acquired: 2 x steel daggers, 5 x beef jerky strips, 10 x travel rations, 2 x water canteens, and 27 gold coins.

Item: Steel Dagger

Base attack: 3.

Parent Essence: dexterity. Parent skills: daggers, weapon-throwing. Requirements: dexterity or perception.

My eyes widened. 

Osten and Max had carried a near fortune on themselves. The daggers alone were valuable, but taken together with the food and gold, the thieves had run a profitable venture.

And all it had taken to earn these spoils was killing a handful of people. 

Bile rose in my throat. The two had been scum, and any hint of remorse I had felt at killing the pair disappeared entirely.

I straightened. “Adi, what time is it?”

“Two hours before dawn.”

The day had almost begun, and there was no point in going back to sleep now. Not that I could manage it. Certainly not in this alley.

I inspected the wounds in my stomach. Already they were closing over, leaving nothing behind but unmarked skin. Remarkable, I thought. I would be hale again soon. 

So where to now?

I considered my newly acquired wealth. Only one place to go, I thought, heading towards the amphitheater.

✵ ✵ ✵

The streets of the town were dark and quiet as I passed through them and up the hill. The amphitheater, though, was dark and crowded. Hundreds of slumbering forms filled its entirety.

It seemed that most people had chosen to sleep here. In hindsight, the wide-open space certainly seemed a safer option than my own alley. 

With careful steps, I weaved my way through the shapes. I didn’t want to wake any of the sleepers. I was quite the mess. 

My shirt was bloodstained and ripped from the various stab wounds. My pants were drenched with blood, and my shoes were caked with mud from the river. I would not make for a pleasant sight, certainly not when rudely awakened.

Tiptoeing through the amphitheater, I reached the vendor I needed without mishap. I placed my hands on its bronze disk and initiated the trade I wanted.

You have bought a channeling Essence Gem for 10 gold. You have 17 gold, 1 silver, and 3 copper coins remaining.

Making the purchase had required little thought, seeing as how it was necessary for the mana I needed for life magic.

Unfortunately, I already knew from my previous exploration of the amphitheater that none of its vendors sold any life magic spells. I would have to come up with some other means of acquiring one. 

But that was a task for later. Turning my attention inwards, I inspected my purchase.

Item: Channeling Essence Gem

Tier: 1. Description: connects a player to his mana pool. Human compatible: yes. 

Warning: this item cannot be sold or traded. If not used within ten hours of acquisition, this item will be recycled into the System for: 1 gold.

Without further delay, I willed the Essence to be installed.

Congratulations, Dace Tolman! You have absorbed: channeling, a tier 1 Essence.

Essence Nodes remaining: 10 / 17.

Mana pool unlocked. Life Magic skill unlocked.

Current Mana: 10 / 10 MP.

I scanned and dismissed the expected System message. But to my surprise, more alerts followed in their wake.

You have acquired a new Creche task!

Creche Task 02: Become a Healer

Due to your current mix of skills and Essences, you have been awarded the following task: become a healer.

Main Objective: Search the dungeons of Creche 1050 for a tier 2 healer Class Stone. Note, this Class requires two Nodes to install.

Rewards: +4 ranks in life.

Additional requirements: Must be achieved before exiting Creche 1050. 

You have acquired a new Creche task!

Creche Task 03: Become a Guardian

Due to your current mix of skills and Essences, you have been awarded the following task: become a guardian.

Main Objective: Search the dungeons of Creche 1050 for a tier 2 guardian Class Stone. Note, this Class requires two Nodes to install.

Rewards: +4 ranks in life.

Additional requirements: Must be achieved before exiting Creche 1050.

I blinked. Dungeons? Class Stones? I read the messages again, and my eyes narrowed as one particular bit of information caught my attention.

“Adi, do classes require Nodes too?” I murmured softly.

“Correct, Dace. Players may install any combination of Essence Gems or Class Stones in their available Nodes. You may choose to go class-less, select multiple Classes, or even to acquire a tier three class. By default the System only reserves one Node for your class, though this may be changed.”

I rubbed at my temples. The possible permutations were becoming complex. “So you are saying I could become both a healer and guardian, but doing so will take up four of my available Nodes?”

“Correct, Dace.”

“Alright Adi, I think I understand now. Can you change the number of Nodes reserved for my Class to four?” On the assumption that I would acquire both available Classes.

“Done, Dace.”

Another System window opened before my eyes.

Nodal Capability

Max Nodes: 17. Total Occupied: 6 / 17.

Available Essence Nodes: 7 / 17.

Class Reserved: 4 / 17. 

 I considered my Nodes thoughtfully. Seven for Essences seemed like plenty. I now knew that installing Essences early also came with benefits. Since I could afford it—both in terms of money and available Nodes—I thought it best to absorb another Essence before I levelled up further.

Which one though?

My initial thought was to go with a magic Essence: fire or air, but I hesitated as I thought back on my fights with the queen bloat fly and the thieves. I had been ambushed both times—with nearly disastrous consequences.

“Adi,” I whispered, “what skills are in the perception Essence skill tree?”

“Perception governs the use of projectile weapons, detection skills, and the insight skill which is used to assess an opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.”

“The insight skill too,” I mused. In the end that decided me. More magic would be nice, but being able to better analyze my foes could make all the difference in future life and death struggles. 

Knowledge was power, after all.

Without further hesitation, I purchased and activated the perception Essence.

Congratulations, Dace Tolman! You have absorbed: perception, a tier 1 Essence.

Essence Nodes remaining: 6 / 17.

You have 7 gold, 1 silver, and 3 copper coins remaining.

Satisfied that I had done all I could to prepare myself, I walked back down the hill and headed out of town.