by Sarah Lin
The injured wolf should have been dying, yet somehow it lurched to its feet despite the blood it had lost. Not fast enough to threaten him, however. Bloodwraith swung downward, smashing the creature to the ground and ending its life.
Unfortunately, the second wolf attacked his side a moment later, driving him to the path. Before it could bite into him, he thrashed and kicked it away. Not elegant, but it was enough. The wolf fell to the side, snarling as it rolled back to his feet.
Bloodwraith managed to pull himself up to one knee and pulled his greatsword into position. He swung again, but the injuries in his side twinged. His swing moved slowly, allowing the wolf to dodge aside and rush past him, teeth tearing at his side again.
Still, he had an advantage the wolf did not have. Bloodwraith kept his distance, warding off the wolf with wide swings. Currently the box declared [Health: 63/100], but that number should increase in time. All he needed to do was keep the wolf at bay until he recovered enough that swinging his sword would not hurt so much.
Except the numbers didn't increase. After pushing away the wolf several more times, Bloodwraith saw that his "Health" had increased a measly one increment, while his "Stamina" had plummeted. He certainly didn't feel like he could keep fighting like this forever. Had his regeneration failed him? Or was something else amiss? Regardless, he needed to end the combat so he could think about it.
Fortunately, in the time he had been waiting, he'd noticed just how predictably the wolf attacked. He thought the animal would have had the sense to leave him and search for easier prey, yet it just kept attacking. It rushed quickly, but always tried the same few movements. Simple enough to understand.
The next time it attacked, he brought his sword down on the wolf's head, hard. It fell back from the blow, still alive, but while it was stunned he hacked at it again until it lay dead.
[Victory! You received 20 EXP and two Wolf Pelts.]
"I do not need your false encouragement, infernal box!" How was he supposed to accomplish anything when he was so regularly being attacked by wolves? Was there an entire pack lurking in the forest, waiting to assault him the instant that he walked anywhere?
Yet as he stood there, burning with rage, Bloodwraith felt himself healing. Much more quickly, at the speed he had healed before. Perhaps his unnatural ability could not work in combat? Though that made no rational sense and conformed to no law of magic he knew, it might make sense according to some strange logic. Perhaps the rest of this curse also operated by similar logic.
In that case... he found himself looking back to his personal box. It declared that he had 80 out of 100 "EXP" - whatever the hell that meant.
[EXP: Experience points. The measure of how much you have experienced in this world.]
"What? I've trained, reflected, and explored, but you've only granted these 'experience points' for the same experience of killing a wolf three times! How does that make any sense?" The boxes refused to answer, so he sighed and accepted it. "Very well. What good do these 'EXP' do me?"
[When you have achieved enough experience points, you will gain a level. In addition to your level having a direct impact on certain skills, each level gained will grant you five unassigned stat points.]
"What? I collect a hundred of these arbitrary points, only to be granted five different arbitrary points? What is the purpose of any of this madness?"
The boxes had no answer to that. Perhaps his questions had grown too abstract. Yet as Bloodwraith stood there, trying to glare the boxes into submission, he felt that he had begun to understand.
Everything about this power was like some sort of petty merchant attempting to fill an order. Each time he had killed a wolf, he had been granted 10 of these arbitrary "experience points." When he fulfilled the order of 100, something would occur. Whether or not that event would be worth all the trouble, he could not know, but he decided that he should perform the experiment before casting judgment.
Venturing deeper into the forest, Bloodwraith soon came across another wolf. Shockingly quickly, actually. He ignored the implausibility of such a thing and focused on combat. This wolf rushed toward him exactly the same as the others, so it was a simple matter to bring his sword down onto its head and kill the beast.
[Victory! You received 10 EXP and one Wolf Pelt.]
"Are you mocking me, noxious boxes? That could not have been easier!" But he wasn't going to complain about being only 10 of these points away from finishing the experiment. Then he could either focus on or ignore this strange system, depending on if it was worth his time.
Since he had not been injured in the battle, Bloodwraith marched onward into the forest... and almost immediately found himself surrounded by three wolves.
Why had they not rushed to join the other wolf? No, he had no time for such thoughts. He needed to focus on combat.
The wolves nipped at him from all sides, but the wolf behind him lunged for real, sinking its teeth into his calf. He went down with a cry of pain. Before he could fall completely, he swung his sword downward, biting deep into the spine of the wolf. Its teeth unclenched as it dropped, but the other two wolves lunged for his neck.
Bloodwraith barely moved his sword into the path of their teeth and the three of them fell into a bloody tangle. He ignored their slashing claws and teeth, just tried to push his sword against them, flailed with his other arm, even bit the nose of one of the wolves when it snapped out at him. It was brute idiocy, but that was all he had in this new life.
Eventually he emerged from under the two dying wolves, covered in blood half his own. He felt nearly dead and he was too exhausted to do more than pull himself a short distance from the bodies and collapse.
It wasn't worth it. Combat was always a risk, much less melee combat like this. Even with his regeneration, he had come very near death. A single additional wolf would kill him. This was all a useless waste of time...
[Victory! You received 30 EXP and three Wolf Pelts.]
Just as Bloodwraith was about to curse at the box, his jaw opened in surprise as music began to play. It was a jaunty little tune that made him search about for some sort of traveling bard, yet he realized that it was coming from the boxes. Specifically, from a new box that appeared before him. Unlike the soft blue of the others, this one shimmered as if it thought itself more important.
He hated it more than all the others.
[Congratulations! You gained a level!
Current Level: 2
Current EXP: 20/200
Unassigned Stat Points: 5]
Which meant nothing to him. At least the "unassigned stat points" did not declare themselves to be 5/100 or some other requirement. If they had been only a step toward earning some other type of useless points, he would have done his best to strangle the boxes.
"What are the blasted points for?" he demanded. In response, another box appeared.
[Unassigned stat points can be assigned at any time. Though they can be saved, it is recommended to assign early stat points earned in the Forest of Beginnings. Note that assigning points to Vitality will only increase maximum HP, not current HP.]
That... did not answer his question. But when he tried to drive his fist through the box, it gave way to another. It was like his personal box again, but a simplified form. The "unassigned points" were displayed prominently, and each of the words describing his attributes now had a large symbol next to it. Usually the symbols were all in a language he understood, but this seemed more opaque. Like a symbol from out of a mathematical formula, yet without the formula.
Well, this was his supposed reward. Bloodwraith crawled to his feet as his body regenerated enough to do so, staring at this new box. Perhaps the ability to add numbers to other numbers was pleasurable to the insane beings who would create such a system?
It made little sense to him, but he should carry the experiment to the end. Bloodwraith reached out and touched the symbol near the word "Might." The number changed from 12 to 13 and he felt a profound sense of disappoint
ment.
Followed by a surge of strength through his body.
For a time, Bloodwraith could only stare in shock as his mind understood what had happened. All he had done was kill some random wolves in a forest, yet he had become stronger. It matched no law of death magic he knew, yet somehow he had fed on their deaths and become more powerful. And if he had truly assigned only one of five points, he was extracting their life force with unprecedented efficiency...
Bloodwraith threw his head back and unleashed a peal of maniacal laughter. "Ahahahaaa! I am a god of blood and death!"
From the forest, he heard the growling of another wolf. He gave a bloody grin and charged.
Chapter 2
Daylight seemed eternal in the Forest of Beginnings, so Bloodwraith happily let the hours slip away slaughtering everything in his path. "Everything" turned out to be mostly wolves, though he'd encountered a few different kinds of wolves that seemed rarer than the others. They all died the same way, however, and gave him the same glorious rush of power.
Since realizing the raw potential available to him, he had been eagerly watching all of the arbitrary numbers in the boxes. When the percentages by his attributes reached 100%, the main number increased - it made no sense at all that he would work at something with no improvement and then suddenly receive a single increment, but he wasn't complaining. So far he had increased Might, Vitality, and Quickness. Oddly, Willpower and Wisdom had also increased by a point, though their percentages stagnated after that.
The things labeled "skills" had also increased. The difference between "statistics" and "skills" seemed obscure to him, but now that he believed in the power of the boxes, he wanted to increase them all. His skill with the greatsword had improved, both in reality and according to the numbers. Those increases hadn't been as much fun as feeling his body grow stronger, but he believed it represented something useful.
Bloodwraith had been keeping a mental map of the forest and realized that it all funneled down toward a narrow mountain pass. Most of it seemed to be unremarkable forest, but he had spotted two unusual things: smoke that appeared to be from a cook-fire and what appeared to be an entrance to a cave.
Since the smoke had been further away, toward the mountain pass, he decided to explore the cave first. He spent a little longer killing wolves until "Two-handed Weapons" had increased again. Hopefully that would appease the boxes.
When he approached the entrance to the cave, he heard the growls of wolves. Bloodwraith carefully stepped a short distance into the cave, then retreated as two wolves rushed at him.
The first he cut through with a massive overhead swing the instant it emerged from the cave. Though the second was able to bite into his leg, he had grown used to the pain and chaos of physical combat. All he needed to do was keep striking it until it fell, because it could not kill him and his injuries would soon heal.
[Victory! You received 16 EXP and two Wolf Pelts.]
Unfortunately, since he'd gained a level, he'd received only 8 points from each wolf. Perhaps the box gods were angry that he was only killing the same things repeatedly, or perhaps their life force was now worth less to him. Given that he also required 200 of these "experience points" for the next level, it seemed unfair, but the entire process was massively unfair in his favor, so he wouldn't complain.
But he would consider just why Raigar's power should work this way. Clearly, though he had a body in this world, his soul was some sort of eldritch entity from a world that operated by entirely different laws. Bloodwraith had studied the theories of multiple worlds enough to believe they existed, but it was so difficult to breach the boundaries between them that he had put such theories out of mind.
The primary function of the system was to grant him power, which it did effectively. But he became very aware that with decreasing rewards and increasing requirements, it would naturally push him in a specific direction. Toward the mountain pass, for now, but where after that? It struck him as massively suspicious, an invisible hand guiding him for reasons he did not know.
Infuriating as they could be, the boxes were clearly just guidance. Partially a simplified representation of reality, partially a way to access these new powers. Certain simple answers were built in, particularly whenever he focused on a given word, but the boxes held no true answers.
Realizing that he had regenerated his health, Bloodwraith advanced into the cave again. The light from the forest outside seemed to filter in surprisingly well, leaving the cavern brightly lit. So it was easy to see the next wolf, retreat once it began to chase him, and then kill it.
The wolves were stupid and predictable. Bloodwraith had encountered wolves over the course of his former life and they had struck him as surprisingly intelligent pack hunters. These creatures might appear to be wolves physically, but they operated more like mindless artificial constructs. That made them easy to kill, however, so he could not complain.
The lighting of the cave continued to be unnatural, almost as if spells had been cast to illuminate it. No one would bother illuminating a random cave in the middle of the forest, so it made him increasingly uncomfortable as he advanced. Could this be a trap of some kind?
When he reached the end of the cave, he heard a monstrous growl. In the final room, an enormous wolf lay amid a pile of bones. It saw him and released another loud growl as it rose to its feet. Three smaller wolves began to advance on him as well.
The largest wolf attacked first and he barely threw himself out of the way in time. It thundered past, but the smaller wolves turned more swiftly and fell on him. Fortunately, they used the same mindless charges as the others, so he was able to cut down two of them without taking any injuries.
A moment later the largest wolf charged again. Bloodwraith managed to draw back, yet this time it shifted, its massive shoulder slamming him into the wall. He cried out and nearly dropped his greatsword.
Worse, the wolf was turning on him, slavering jaws aiming for his throat. Before it could strike, he managed to bring down his greatsword, yet most of the force glanced off the beast's thick hide. It retreated only a short distance, licking the cut to its foreleg and growling at him. Bloodwraith took the opportunity to look at it more clearly as well.
[Alpha Wolf
Health: 185/200
Note: Area Boss]
According to the box, it was far more powerful than anything he had fought so far. He had no idea what "Area Boss" meant, but perhaps that accounted for how it had been smarter and more flexible. This could be a real challenge.
There was still another smaller wolf, which might not be a direct threat, but could distract him from the Alpha Wolf. On top of that, this small cavern was a poor place to use his greatsword, and he had taken injuries in his initial surprise.
Bloodwraith decided to take the better part of valor and ran from the cave.
Outside, he set his greatsword into the ground and leaned on it, catching his breath. In the past, wolves had seemed to forget about him if he ventured far enough away, allowing him to regenerate and kill them more easily. Either they were extremely territorial, or they really were automatons designed to guard a small region. He could recover, then enter to face the-
The Alpha Wolf charged out of the cavern, jaws snapping at his face.
Throwing himself backward barely evaded the attack, but he fell onto his back. The leader of the wolves turned more swiftly this time, rounding on him. It loomed taller than he was, now that he had fallen. Blood dripped from its jaws as it roared at him, then it charged.
He heaved his greatsword directly up, aiming the point toward the wolf's chest. To his surprise, it didn't dodge back, but charged in. His sword cut across the beast's chest and foreleg, but it closed on him and its jaws closed over his shoulder.
Pain shot through his body and his sword fell from his hand. The beast bit down further, and he realized that if it continued, it would destroy his arm. Yet the pain...
Throwing it aside, Bloodwraith jabbed out with his fr
ee hand, digging into the beast's eyes. It snarled in pain and released his shoulder, but only fell back a short distance before it savagely bit at him again.
This time, he was ready. Bloodwraith ducked low, evading the beast's jaws and grabbed his sword with his uninjured arm. It should have been awkward to swing it up, yet to his surprise he managed to cut into the wolf as easily as if he had always trained with his left hand. Was this body ambidextrous? No, there was no time for that now.
The beast began to circle him more warily now, blood dripping from its eye and the new cuts. Bloodwraith circled with it, keeping his eyes on the mouth of the cave. No sign of the remaining smaller wolf, at least. He needed all his attention for the leader.
This "Alpha Wolf" was tougher and stronger than him, and faster when rushing. He felt a bit of fear again, but swallowed it. Escape was not an option, since apparently this one was capable of pursuing him, so he needed to win. The only way he could do that was to press his advantage.
Bloodwraith reversed direction, trying to move toward the beast's injured eye. It swiveled its head to keep him in its vision and growled. When he kept moving, it charged again.
He swung at its remaining eye and the wolf dodged away. Just as he'd expected. Bloodwraith pulled back from his feint and instead chopped at the other side of the wolf's body.
His blade sank deep into the beast's shoulder but failed to sever its leg as he'd hoped. The wolf snarled and lunged at him, clawing his chest and dropping him to the ground. It lunged down, teeth going for his throat...
And he managed to jerk his sword in the way. To his surprise, the wolf bit down on the metal as if to tear the weapon from his hands. Instead of trying to pull away, he pushed forward, driving the edge into the beast's mouth.