by Ryan DeBruyn
Current rank Apprentice Skinning Lvl 5.
“Sorry! Those will be the last ones. They came through before my changes,” Sela winced and stated plainly as she continued to fiddle with his settings.
After a lunch of overcooked wolf meat and another few hours of work, the moment he was dreading had arrived. Rocky was done with all the wolf bodies. Trying to delay what came next, he took a few moments to move each carcass into a neat pile, well away from the camp.
Unable to avoid it any longer, Rocky walked hesitantly up to the last and final giant monster.
“Sela, I am going to need you to take a break and distract the little guy. It's his mother's turn, and I don’t want him watching me.” He shrugged his shoulders and looked at her helplessly as he finished lamely.
Sela instantly understood, and without hesitation, she flew over to begin playing and leading the distractible kitten away from the corpse of its mother. A few moments later, Rocky began the same way he had with each wolf corpse, by placing his hand on the mother Chimera’s body and thinking about looting it when, suddenly, he was holding more than just Crystalized Ether in his hands.
You have collected 3 Crystalized Ether.
You have collected Ring of the Amalgam.
You now own a Ring of Amalgam.
You have collected Armour of the Chimera Knight. Chest, Legs, and Boots.
You now own Chimera Knight Leather Chest Armour. You now own Chimera Knight Leather Leg Armour. You now own Chimera Knight Leather Boots.
Rocky was jumping up and down, holding the equipment, and he immediately yelled for Sela who came over looking annoyed. Before she could snap at him, he hastily asked, “Sela, is there a way for me to Analyze an item, or do items possibly grant attributes?”
“Yes… you just Analyze it, halfwit. I should probably mention, though, that you will need a shop. Gear dropped by wild monsters is locked!”
With that cryptic last sentence, she flew away, and Rocky watched her go with a blank look on his face. Once the words sunk in, his eyes narrowed, and he sputtered as he saw her resume distracting the fluffball in the distance.
Rocky used Analyze on the Ring of Amalgam.
Ring of Amalgam
This ring was created when four creatures were fused together to form Skandranon: The First Chimera. This ring was the core they fused around.
Quality: Excellent
Stats: Unknown
Seeing the “Stats: Unknown” part to the message made him purse his lips in frustration, but the fact that Sela had now mentioned a shop to him had sufficiently buoyed his spirit. If she brought them up, even after knowing how changed this world was, then he was going to find one and figure out what made them special.
Rocky smiled and made a mental note to ask her about them that night. Then he quickly listened to his inner greed menagerie and analyzed his armor.
Chimera Knight Armour Set
This armor was created from the left-over components of the animals that made up the Chimera. The owner of this armor set has either killed a Chimera or keeps one as a pet. Either way, you should probably run.
Quality: Excellent
Stats: Unknown
Again, the fact that his new armor was just an extra layer of hardened clothing was slightly upsetting to Rocky, mostly because the other alternative existed. In an attempt to ignore his heavy heart, he placed the armor to the side, knowing he was about to cover himself with more blood, and got to work. After the armor was resting against a trunk, he removed his shirt and placed it on top it before starting the skinning and butchering of Skandranon’s corpse.
When he was finished, he quickly dragged the carcass to the pile of bones and refuse, hoping that his playful little friend hadn’t witnessed any of it.
After skinning the mother of an animal he was growing attached to, Rocky felt dirty and made his way back to the river. A quick dunk and some vigorous scrubbing later, he was cleaner and dressed again in his clothes. With Sela’s helpful directions, Rocky also learned how to buckle on the armor.
It was quite a complicated task and because his clothes were not made to be worn under the tight, hard leather, it felt uncomfortable no matter how he adjusted it. In the end, the only piece he was delighted with was his new pair of boots, which were actually extremely comfortable as if they were made to fit him.
Once Rocky had put on the armor set, Sela shook her head, and a chagrined smile crossed her face. At Rocky’s confused glance, Sela clicked something in front of her, and a window popped up in Rocky’s interface. The notification brought a broad smile to his and her face as they looked at each other over the window.
Congratulations! You have tamed a new pet Level 1 Dread Chimera!
What would you like to name your pet?
As Sela flew away with a bounding exuberant Chimera kitten in tow, he swore he heard her whisper, “Honestly, if that isn’t an argument against the Luck stat not being about situational Luck…”
Rocky tilted his head after the retreating pair, then toyed with names like Blackie, Soot, and Midnight, but he couldn’t subject the creature to such dribble. As he got wolf meat skewered on sticks and began stoking the fire, he tried to come up with a majestic name. This creature would be feared by anyone who saw it.
With a jolt, Rocky realized he could name it after his ancestor who had helped him get his class—Azrael. A few excited heartbeats later, he shook his head and felt his stomach sink. That moniker might be offensive to the memory, so he tilted his head back and forth before placing a hand on his bearded chin.
Okay. Look at it from that angle but think of something new…
A moment later, a smile crossed his face. Rocky settled on a name and thought at the box, Azoth. Azoth had an excellent feel to it when he whispered it under his breath. It would be a name that could be feared! It quickly wrote in the chosen letters and asked for him to confirm the selection.
Once selected, he heard Sela begin to laugh and turned to look at the newly minted Azoth who was leaping around in an apparent show of happiness.
Guess that means I made a good choice.
Thinking about names, he remembered he had put off naming his Territory and chose to do that now. It took him a few moments of scanning back through notifications to find the one that he had minimized by choosing later. He selected yes this time, and a new window popped up.
What would you like to name your Territory?
Algonquin
Rocky didn’t even have to think about this one. This park had a name long before he was born. As the sun set on his second day of butchery, Rocky thought, Algonquin and was rewarded with a notification.
Congratulations! You have named your Territory.
Algonquin
Current Rank: Valley
Name displayed when sapient beings enter your Territory.
Algonquin Valley
A few hours of hard skinning later saw Azoth, Sela, and Rocky lounged near the campfire, waiting on the next batch of wolf meat to finish cooking. Rocky was desperately trying not to burn it this time and was jarred out of this semi-relaxing focus by alarm bells beginning to ring—very loudly.
The problem was that the bells were only ringing inside his head. He clutched at his ears, but that didn’t lessen the noise or feeling in the slightest.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sela desperately accessing screens as she looked concerned. A window popped up in front of him, explaining why the noise was there but not why it was so damn loud.
Algonquin Valley has numerous invaders crossing the border! Push back these invaders or risk losing your Territory.
22 Sapient Creatures and 1 Boss Monster has entered Algonquin Valley. Follow the gold string to find the invaders!
Chapter Seven
“I said I am sorry,” Sela mumbled for what felt like the hundredth time as she floated in front of the running form of Azoth. It turned out that she had adjusted his interface setting and put the alarm for his Territory to one hundred percent internal volu
me.
Even though the bells had stopped, they had left behind a debuff.
Traumatized Mind
An unexpected, extremely loud, jarring noise has given you something worse than a migraine. You will experience jolts of pain for the duration of this effect. Moving will increase this pain exponentially.
Duration: 25 Minutes
His face contorted in pain with every step he took, and Sela’s incessant apologies didn’t help.
Rocky was running as quickly as possible towards where the gold string in his interface was indicating, yet compared to his speed of a day ago, his current pace would be considered little more than a walk. With each footfall, his head shook slightly, and he tried to ignore the pain by blaming Sela.
Wombat—son of a—barrister—this has got to be some sort of revenge—for the hell lady comment.
As Rocky ran, he dumped his class skill points into Blood Mend, knowing he may be in for a tough fight. If there were indeed twenty-two sapient creatures invading, and he was even able to survive them, he was going to take at least a few small injuries. That wouldn’t even include the boss monster which was also involved in the invasion.
The action also removed his Stasis, and he received a minimized notification.
Congratulations. You have reached level 10! You have been awarded 5 stat points and 1 skill point. Stasis Ether used. You are no longer in stasis.
6800 Etherience from Stasis Consumed. Final 534 Etherience applied to Current Level.
The new skill point capped off his five in Blood Mend, giving him the class skill. The corners of his lips curled up at the five new stat points before the pain of another footfall wiped it back off. He hadn’t been expecting five ever again but was happy to see them, and due to the upcoming fight, he chose to place them immediately.
Since he now had a skill that used personal Ether, he placed them as follows.
Rockland Barkclay Level 10
Health Pool: 140/140
Ether Pool: 150/150
Class: Apprentice-(Azrael) Revenant
Level 1 Leader: Level 1 Strategist
Class Skills: Revenant Blade, Blood Mend
You have 0 stat points and 0 skill points to distribute.
Stamina
14(+1)
Strength
13(+1)
Agility
21
Dexterity
19
Intelligence
15(+2)
Wisdom
17
Charisma
19
Luck
7(+2)
Weak Skills
Combat Skill (Non-Class)
Common Skills
Endurance 5 (+2)
Analyze 5 (+4)
Profession Skills
Skinning 5
Butcher 5
I noticed it before—clucking—but it sure is helpful that leadership class gives stats based off—cock—class levels. Wonder what will happen at leader level two—shit.
During the run, in one of the rare moments the pain seemed distant, Rocky had also managed to ask Sela why the Ether protection didn’t keep the invaders out. She had responded that it isn’t an active protection but more of a passive one. If a sapient creature reaches it, they will be told and given the option to leave. If a monster reaches it and has nothing forcing it to continue or drawing it onwards, it will automatically go, but in this case at least twenty two of the creatures were intelligent.
Rocky tried to breathe through the pain as he continued running. It had already been fifteen minutes, and his new debuff still had another ten minutes to go. “Traumatized mind: 11 minutes and 23 seconds remaining,” The jolting pain left Rocky really wanting something to attack.
During the run, Rocky managed to smirk one more time when he glanced at his debuff section. His lazy eye was the only major affliction, not including the traumatized mind. In fact, by the time he woke up the next day, a problem he had suffered from his entire life would just be gone. If he made it to tomorrow, that was.
Rocky momentarily forgot about the pain when he realized he had been jogging for fifteen minutes and his lungs and legs didn’t seem to be tiring. He considered if this was a side effect of Strength, Stamina, Agility, or a combination of the three. The invasion had also luckily come from the direction of his car which would save him time if he was going to stay on track to get to his family.
Sela’s mouth twisted when Rocky grimaced again and Sela opened her mouth to apologize again. “Sela, enough apologies. Right now, I want to know if it’s possible to learn some sort of stealth or sneak skill.”
Sela stuck her tongue out but kept flying in lazy circles in front of Azoth. “They are both possible. In the world I came from, they were actually considered to be complementary skills. Stealth utilizes your personal Ether, immediately surrounding your body and distorting the light as it comes through it to reflect around you.” She made a circling gesture with her hand. “At higher levels, you can use ambient Ether instead of your personal Ether. Stealth also will automatically utilize personal Ether to reduce sounds made by the user as he moves but at an increased cost.”
Floating on her back, Sela put up one hand and then moved another hand to join it. “Sneak, on the other hand, is a common skill and reduces the noise one makes naturally through learning to place the feet properly in different settings. It also uses natural cover to move around with the best chance of staying unnoticed. In combination, sneak will reduce the personal Ether cost of Stealth, and at high levels of both, you can rely entirely on the ambient Ether around you rather than your own personal Ether pool.”
Rocky groaned; he was hoping it was more like a skill button he could have just clicked on, rather than something he had to physically begin learning. He chose to look at it as a challenge, so for the remainder of the run, he attempted to place his feet more efficiently and tried to avoid making noticeable noises. He also ran in the shadows of trees and out of the line of sight in front of him by purposefully considering avenues of approach in the direction he traveled.
He felt his competitive edge kick in and turned it into a game. Once he changed his frame of mind, he bared his teeth against the remaining pain and got to work.
Near on fifteen minutes later, Rocky no longer had a constant brain pain and had sped up. Sela had recently taken off in front of him to scout the way a bit more thoroughly. She was back so quickly that it made Rocky stop his run and look at her concernedly.
Sela flew up to him and with an eerie, military calm explained, “About fifteen humans are running towards you. They have no weapons and many of them are in rough shape. They have a few women and children. The reason they entered the Territory is a massive Onikuma or Bear Demon—it’s clearly a boss monster—is chasing them.”
Rocky felt his stomach drop out at the news. If this thing was anything like the wolves or the Chimera, it was going to be massive. Perhaps it would be a good time to change course or retreat? However, if he ran away, then all these people would die.
The other problem was that this was now his Territory, and if he wanted to keep it, he needed to step up. Snarling, he made a mental note to ask Sela what a boss monster was versus what he had seen before, and with that came his decision. Rocky placed his hand on his chin and looked around. He spotted a copse of trees with a large clearing under them clear of foliage, and a plan coalesced in his mind’s eye.
“Show me where the people are going to run through and give me an approximate timer before they arrive.” His voice was emotionless and cold, but Sela nodded curtly before pointing in the direction she had come from which also coincided with the clearing surrounded by trees.
“Good. Now, take Azoth out of the immediate path of this creature and keep him safe. Then warn the humans to run around that circle of trees.” Rocky pointed them out but didn’t even look to see if Sela complied. Instead, he hastily jogged to the clearing, opened the Territory inventory, and dumped a massive pile of frozen wo
lf meat out.
Rocky then drove quills in and around the frozen flesh, trying his best to hide the spikes. After his trap was set, it was a waiting game, and so he did his best to hide. He chose a place at a tree just to the right of the path Sela had indicated.
A deep breath helped him calm his nerves. To have any chance against this creature, he needed this plan to go smoothly. People began stumbling by him and not one noticed him in their haste to get away from the monstrous crashes that chased them.
Suddenly, the crashing stopped for a moment, and Rocky heard a few loud sniffs, signifying the creature was very close and had hopefully scented the meat. Rocky’s muscles tightened, and a shiver crept down his spine when a branch snapped very close to his position.
The creature had definitely caught the scent of the raw meat thawing, and Rocky held his breath as a terrible visage poked through the trees a short distance from where he hid. He pressed himself tight to the trunk and tried to breathe as he felt his heart ramp up its tempo. The head of the bear demon was massive but not as large as the wolves or Chimera from earlier. Its fur was a brown so deep that the shade of the canopy turned it black. Its nose flared continuously as it scented the air, and its muzzle was smeared red with dripping blood.
The sight of human limbs protruding from its gaping mouth created a heat inside Rocky that infected his limbs and neck. He felt a part of him he had locked away rattle its cage and quickly suppressed that part of himself that had gotten him into trouble many times before.
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill, Sneak!