2: Facing Wolves
He had to take a solid moment of clarity now that the threat had been eliminated, and by that, in the most gruesome way possible.
Did I do that? He couldn’t help sounding extremely irritating even in his own head from those famous words.
The wolf just… exploded, though now that he recalled the grisly affair, it seemed to have twisted upon itself, the limbs curling upon cranium upon sternum. It was such a horrid display that his mind continued to replay that scene.
But the worst part was that he was the one that did that exact attack. He felt something in him give and disappear, then the wolf just outright ripped itself apart. As the scene replayed over and over and became mundane to him now, he searched within himself to find the cause of this slaughter.
A bright panel of blue light showed up in front of him, displaying large bold letters and numbers that reminded him of the countless times he played video games.
Name: Aidan Munez
Race: Humanoid (Spirit Variant)
Talent: Path of Harmony
Level: 0
HP: 23/30
MP: 20/40
STR: 2
(Might 2, Toughness 2, Endurance 3)
INT: 3
(Intellect 3, Wisdom 4, Perception 3)
AGI: 2
(Speed 2, Reflex 2, Dexterity 2)
VIT: 2
(Lifeforce 3, Vigor 3, Charisma 2)
Points: 0 AP, 0 SP
Haha… this is really a whole ass video game, right here in front of me… man…
Aidan couldn’t help but chuckle bemusedly to himself. He had read books and watched shows about this sort of thing, where the characters show off their panels displaying their current level of power reminiscent of video games. He always wondered how nice it would be to live life like in a video game.
To find himself in this exact situation was mind-boggling, to say the least.
His mind wandered back to how he died, surrounded by rock and magma, all alone in his car. He didn’t remember the pain, but maybe it was better like that.
Or perhaps he might have been worse off, because then he would feel that this wasn’t real. The only thing that was keeping him rooted in reality was the still aching foot perforated with wooden spikes piercing his skin. He had no choice but to accept this.
“Okay, I’m in a video game…” Aidan perked himself up, slapping his cheeks to rev up his mind to accept reality quicker. “That means I can level up, right?”
Surely killing the wolf would have given him something, right? He tried to search the… whatever menu he had to look things through. But it didn’t seem like he could open a log that would display the actions he had just done. No matter how much he fangled, nothing showed up.
Though he did spot a strange blinking square the size of a pinprick on the bottom right of his vision. At the same time, it seemed to ping at him, as though nagging at him to open it. His heart and mind was too razzled by everything that was happening that he kept ignoring this strange sensation.
He barely had to think, as though his soul already knew how the process worked. He just ‘clicked’ on the square and it ballooned to a bigger size, revealing more information.
You have slain ‘Horned Wolf’.
You have gained a decent amount of experience points.
…..
Level Up! From Level 0, you became Level 1!
You have gained 1 Attribute and 3 Stat points!
…..
You have gained a title!
“First Blood”
You have slain your first ever creature. A joyous occasion! Huzzah!
+1 Might
+1 Speed
…..
You have gained a new spell!
Rend (Copper)
Allows you to harmonize the currents around you to twist the vibrations to your will. It has a lesser effect on beings with a stronger sense of will.
Mana Cost: 20
There were a lot of things in there that he had to take a quick minute to digest. The first two notifications were simple to deduce–basically he killed a monster and he was rewarded for it. That much was obvious.
The third followed the first and second, rewarding him for the first monster he had slain. While he wanted to argue that he didn’t wish to kill the poor thing in such a way, he realized that the situation didn’t call for mercy, and he was just glad that he wasn’t the one twisted apart instead.
Or mauled to pieces. Whichever was worse, he supposed.
But the last one got him curious. He gained a new spell, something that felt like it would belong to a mage or something, but it didn’t look like he had anything like a Class. What he did notice however were the two very distinct features on his status page that finally landed in his brain.
His talent, and his own fucking race. It didn’t say Human, but a Humanoid, and a Spirit Variant at that.
The hell does that mean? Am I not human anymore?
He looked at himself, but the darkness of the night and being in the middle of a shadowy forest didn’t help him much. The only thing he knew was that he was still buck-ass naked, so he tried to feel if anything changed by feeling himself over. Nothing seemed out of line and his skin was as soft and weak as ever.
There was no way for him to find out what made him different from an actual human, so he decided to leave that worrying little tidbit of being some Spirit Variant out of his mind for now. Finally, there was that talent.
He tried to see if there was some way to check it, as though clicking on it would open up a little information menu and–
Holy shit, it worked.
Talent: Path of Harmony
The weight of the world falls deaf before you. You are connected to the very fabric of the universe that composes parts of reality and ethereality. You are able to grasp the faintest tones, the smallest of vibrations, to shape the reality you desire.
Well, that didn’t tell me jack shit.
It sure sounded fantastical according to the description, but it didn’t really explain exactly what he did to the wolf. He supposed he had to take the description seriously if he ever wanted to find out.
Okay, so it talked about being connected to the harmony that is connected to the real world and the… what, metaphysical? So I guess I can control a certain something that’s real but also not real. It said that I can ‘grasp’ the faintest tones and the smallest vibrations… does that mean that I can control something small, like sound?
That sounded like the reason why he was able to cast magic and even earned a spell, but he still had no clue on what the connection is between sound and getting ripped apart.
“Wait, didn’t my spell say something about twisting vibrations?” Aidan checked his spell again to be sure, reading it correctly. “Right, so that means I can control vibrations…”
He thought perhaps it had something to do with sound, but perhaps the vibrations were something more than that.
Deciding on a whim, he lifted a finger up to the air and ‘sensed’ the strangeness that he felt earlier. He knew for certain that what he just used was his MP, proving it on his status page being 10 out of 30, now rising to be 14 instead.
His HP, which he supposed was his health, was still 23 out of 30, which made him really nervous from realizing that taking a horrible hit to his foot made him lose nearly a quarter of his health like that. Would he just outright die if he keeps stubbing his foot?
The pain would definitely make me want to feel like dying, but I don’t wanna go down that rabbit hole.
First he needed to find out what his superpower really was. If he can even call it a superpower in this strange, fantastical world. If he can find out how his powers worked, perhaps he can get out of his mess with some semblance of shame.
With his finger up in the air, he slowly but assuredly sensed something changing. He didn’t realize it before, but there was a very faint glow surrounding his finger that made him stare at it in wonder. It felt warm to the touch, and when he touched it with his other hand, it didn’t seem to do anything but remain glowing.
Vibrations, vibrations… if I were to use music, it’s sort of like how you strum a guitar. The string vibrates, creating waves that move through the air. It results in sound that we hear through our ears. So if I were to create vibrations outside of sound…
Was that the ‘ephemeral’ that the description talked about? Changing the metaphysical? Taking a chance, he placed his finger onto the trunk of a nearby tree. He took a short breath of air before commanding the vibrations to be sent through the tree.
A chunk of the trunk cratered in a heartbeat, surprising Aidan. It happened so quick that his mind couldn’t comprehend for a second, but he later placed his hand back onto the cratered portion of the trunk, a sizeable portion that could take in his entire fist.
“Holy shit.”
It wasn’t just vibrations of sound that he can control. He can control the vibrations of everything.
What does this mean? Can I just control everything?
He looked back at his MP pool, realizing that he spent 3 MP doing that little trick. What would happen if he kept spending MP to the point of reaching zero?
Somehow the idea didn’t seem all that good, especially as the howls kept permeating the air, the signs of other creatures lurking in the depths of the forest apparent even in his boggled mind.
“Shit, what do I do?” He muttered, his eyes darting all over for a solution. There were the bits of scattered wolf everywhere, and he wasn’t sure whether this thing’s pack would like what he had done to their comrade.
He knew one thing–he needed to do that Rend spell again, but considering how much it cost according to the description, he didn't have enough. His little experimenting didn’t work with him considering he spent mana when he should’ve saved.
But that begs the question: he somehow learned a new spell after experimenting with his newfound talent. Couldn’t he, well, tone down the effects a little?
He opened up his status page, and realized that he still had those points saved up from his earlier level. He knew the correct choice is to put the 1 AP, or Attribute point, or the 3 SP, or Stat points, into the stat that increases his MP.
Increase MP total, or increase how much he can recover–he needed all that he can do, but which stat increases the MP?
It’s gotta be INT, right? That’s Intelligence, isn’t it? Actually, can’t I just–
When he focused onto the INT portion of the stat, it ballooned into a whole notification explaining the contents.
Yes! I think I’m starting to get the hang of this game!
Intelligence:
Governs the user’s cognitive faculties and magical output. Intellect reflects the user’s memory and cognition efficiency, which also factors in increasing the damage output of magical spells. Wisdom reflects critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities, increasing the mana pool and mana regeneration rate. Perception reflects the user’s natural awareness around them, increasing the accuracy and success rate of spellcasting.
“Holy shit, this just answered everything!”
Aidan didn’t care that he sounded like an idiot for saying that out loud, he was just glad that this system thing was giving such helpful handouts. Now, if he read this correctly, Intelligence really is what helps casting spells, so he decided to put one Attribute point into Intelligence, and 3 whole stat points into Wisdom.
Would this make him smarter too? He didn’t know what critical thinking would be, but he was definitely having a problem, and having problem solving capabilities sounds like a bitchin’ thing to have at the moment.
He felt something stir in his head, making him panic for a second whether it might explode from the sudden change to his own body. Once again, nothing really occurred physically, but perhaps it might change if he put points into the other physical stats. It looks like Intelligence is the only attribute focusing on the mental aspects of the status page.
He looked up his status page to see the new differences.
Level: 1
HP: 24/30
MP: 23/70
STR: 2
(Might 2, Toughness 2, Endurance 3)
INT: 5
(Intellect 4, Wisdom 8, Perception 4)
AGI: 2
(Speed 2, Reflex 2, Dexterity 2)
VIT: 2
(Lifeforce 3, Vigor 3, Charisma 2)
Points: 0 AP, 0 SP
He checked his numbers again to be sure. He swore he only had 3 points in Intelligence with only 1 AP added in, so why did it jump up to 5?
Then his mind raced a little. It was at 3 already, making it a higher stat than all his other stat points. He knew he wasn’t really an active guy, mostly just sitting at home playing video games after he was done with work. He does work out at times, but he never really put much effort into it.
On the other hand, he prefers to put his nose into books and comics whenever he could, mostly buried on his phone during break times reading up manga and the like. That might be why his INT score is high up.
But why did it jump up to 5? He decided to do some basic math, and realized that out of the three stats, it adds up to 15. Not to mention both his Intellect and Perception increased up to 4.
Does this mean that for each Attribute point I spend, I automatically get 3 points across the INT board? 1 for Intellect, Wisdom, and Perception. Adding another 3 stat points into Wisdom makes that another point in INT. In other words, every three stat points in the score increases the attribute itself. And for every attribute increase I do on my own, I get 1 stat point on each stat, increasing the parameters.
That sounded like a reasonable system, considering that it takes 3 stats to make up 1 attribute. He still didn’t know what it means, and he was gonna have to talk to somebody about what it all means later since this was an entirely new world for him–literally.
The howls became louder, almost scraping his eardrums as several figures walked out of the clinging darkness of the forest. Three horned wolves appeared, each baring their fangs as sharp as knives and glaring at their prey with hungry yellow eyes. They didn’t even have irises, making them entirely yellow as though there were no souls behind their hunger, just a drive for a hunt on worthy prey.
Standing there, Aidan licked his lips as he knew that he wasn’t entirely defenseless this time. The problem was that he still didn’t know what he could do with his power outside of using Rend. He had enough, but he would run out of MP if he tried it on just one of the wolves.
His MP was increasing rapidly, but it still wasn’t enough. He could only cast one Rend, and there were still two other wolves ready to make mincemeat out of him.
Wait… the spell said that it becomes weaker in effectiveness if done on a target with stronger willpower. Isn’t that because it’s taking that much mana to turn itself apart?
That would mean one thing. As long as he used his magic on something else, he wouldn’t be using that much mana. One wolf was approaching closer, its paws clawing at the ground with each step. Aidan slowly lowered himself to the ground, putting his hand on the earthly soil beneath. He grasped the dirt between his shaking fingers as the wolf pounced straight for him.
He barely had to think before he poured that ephemeral energy within himself to the ground. The ground exploded upwards, forming a spiked shape straight up into the wolf’s chest, impaling it.
The wolf howled in pain, but Aidan didn’t care for its suffering. It was just about to kill him, so Aidan would do the same. He commanded the soil to continue forming spikes that spun around and dug deep into the wolf’s neck, and one more into the wolf’s brain. It shivered. It bounced about. Then it went limp.
Aidan let out a short hackled breath of relief and panic at what he just done. The other wolves, as though realizing what had just happened, growled and barked but took careful steps back. However, they still prowled around him, as if waiting for his next move.
That’s it… keep up this waiting game. The more you wait, the more mana I can regen!
He can play this waiting game for as long as possible, but it turned out that the wolves aren’t so patient like him. The two wolves decided to do this together, ramping up speed at different sides before one aimed low while the other jumped high to bite him.
For this, there was only one thing–he ducked out, rolling to one side and getting scraped up by the forest debris on the ground, but he managed to get away scot-free.
One of the wolves pivoted and charged at Aidan, but he swept his hand across the soil and scattered the dirt into the air, pouring mana into it. Each of the scattered piles of dirt hardened and sharpened into points before flying straight at the wolf, piercing it many times, with one lucky pile of dirt digging right through its left eye socket, killing it instantly.
The last wolf barked and howled, keeping up a brave stance, but the way it backed away from Aidan was proof that it knew it had no chance. Aidan breathed frantically, and his head was aching profusely. He dragged his finger under his nose, coming off with bits of blood that kept trailing from his nostrils.
His mouth ran dry and his limbs shivered. He never felt so weak before, but he refrained from showing weakness. He stood upright, and let out a roar straight from his core, ignoring the aching pain following his latest stunt.
Thankfully the wolf realized it wasn’t up to snuff and ran with its tail between its legs back into the shrubbery. The howls vanished from the night, and Aidan was left alone.
He knelt to the ground, closing his eyes as he tried to hold in the pain that was blooming everywhere. He saw his pool and noticed that his MP was 4 out of 70.
So my body starts reacting badly when it goes below 10… got it.
He wanted to lay down, enjoy the victory he so righteously deserved. But he still wanted to keep an eye out for any more enemies that might want to make a meal out of him.
He dragged himself over to the side of the tree, preferring not to lay on the ground and instead rest on the comforting bark, taking in a deep breath as he let his mind cool and his body recover.
He kept his eyes open, fearing that closing them even once might force his mind to take an actual rest and sleep. If he slept without any kind of shelter, other predators might come and kill him right in his sleep. He looked up the blinking box in his vision, and tapped on it.
You have slain ‘Horned Wolf’.
You have slain ‘Horned Wolf’.
You have gained a decent amount of experience points.
…..
You have gained a new spell!
Craft (Copper)
Allows you to bend the currents to alter the vibrations’ makings, creating a different use for any and all purposes. You have a better grasp on crafting if you gain a deeper understanding of the material you’re weaving.
Mana Cost: 5
…..
You have gained a title!
“Spellweaver”
You make a habit of making new spells. Why bother with tomes when you can just make them up as you go?
+1 Intellect
+1 Wisdom
+1 Perception
…..
Level Up! From Level 1, you became Level 2!
You have gained 1 Attribute and 3 Stat points!
He immediately wanted to increase his Wisdom again and jump his Intelligence another notch, but he restrained himself. If he called himself a gamer, then he needed to prioritize the other stats.
Sure, it was better to min-max, but his rising headache and the constant shivering, plus the injured foot still plaguing him which still stung quite a bit proved that the other stats might need some TLC as well.
He looked over at the other stats, figuring that since he was resting right now, he might as well check the other stats’ explanations and see what they bring to the table.