If it wasn’t for him, they would have lost the crops that they had worked on all growing season.
They cleared away the last of the food and brought it into village with them, passing it off to the people from the granary to clean up and store.
While Erik waited, he checked on the notifications that had appeared while he was working.
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Skill: Healer
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Level: 42 (Apprentice)
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You have become familiar with the body and the arts of repairing it. Healing spells now cost 5% less Mana.
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Skill: Alchemy
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Level: 17 (Novice)
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No bonuses at this time. You must prove your skills first.
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21,497/120,000 EXP till you reach Level 13
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Rugrat had dealt with the simple injuries; these would only give Erik a small amount of Experience gain as it was easy for him to deal with now. The more complicated the wound or process required to heal a person, the greater the rewards, allowing Erik to increase his Experience gain.
Growing plants with spells was also part of the Alchemy skill and had allowed him to gain a deeper understanding of the plants and alter the spell, reflecting in his increased knowledge and thus skill in Alchemy.
His Experience gain had truly reduced to a trickle. Fighting against stronger beasts and working with unlimited materials to increase one’s skill were the fastest way to level up, but one needed to have the knowledge and ability to do so.
He could only sigh, knowing that his Experience gain was slowing down.
Still, he took it as a victory as he watched everyone gathering up the last load of harvested grain with smiles on their faces.
They headed back together. When they reached the village square, they could see people roasting large boar carcasses. These were the same boars that Rugrat had killed earlier.
Even Erik couldn’t help but swallow in anticipation as he smelled the roasted meat.
Rugrat and his group returned from their adventure. Rugrat dismissed them as they mingled with the rest of the groups that had gone through training.
Meat was a rarity in Alva, high-level beast meat even more. It could give one bonuses depending on how well it was cooked.
Erik was looking forward to digging in.
People sat together around the tables and seats in the square. There was no platform and people mingled together, talking about what they had experienced. Rugrat’s group talked of the boars they had fought and proudly told everyone of how their levels had increased. Some had made it to level seven and were advancing on to level eight; it was slower progress but it was only a matter of time to them.
Others talked of the crossbows, putting them together, and how to use them. Others about the harvesting of wood and the fields, or how they had formed the wood into odd, sharpened defensive objects.
Through this, everyone was able to see progress was being made; they were able to come together as a community.
“So what the hell is this? Some kind of simulation?” Rugrat asked.
“Hell if I know. You got any clues?” Erik asked.
“Nope. Seems real enough.” Rugrat shrugged.
Erik pinched Rugrat.
“Ah crap! What was that for!”
“Wanted to make sure.” Erik chewed on a piece of boar.
“Why did you pinch me? Shouldn’t you have pinched yourself?” Rugrat complained.
“Nah, might hurt.” Erik shrugged.
Rugrat looked as if he were going to club Erik with his boar leg when someone cleared their throat behind them.
They both turned around, as if nothing was out of the ordinary, Rugrat’s arm still holding the boar leg high.
Standing before them was a simple-looking girl. Her face looked as though it was normally screwed up in a scowl but now she didn’t know where to look as she wrung her hands.
“Roska,” Erik said. It took him a moment to recognize the young woman in front of him. When she had come to him with her massive injuries, most would have given up on her; instead, he spent nearly three hours, working to rebuild her body. She still needed a few more treatments before she was fine, but the major damage had been dealt with.
“I told you to rest and eat.” Erik’s expression darkened. He had put a lot of work into healing her and her body needed nutrients to make up for the energy her body had expended.
She seemed to stiffen her resolve as she looked up at the two of them. “I want to be useful. I want to help you out, Mister West,” she said in a strong voice.
Erik looked her over and saw the look in her eye. She wasn’t to be denied. “Once you’re healed and only then will we talk about what the future holds,” Erik said.
Her potential to be a mage was incredibly high. It would be hard to find someone as strong as her within the Mortal realm with nine open Mana gates. Thankfully Rugrat had been able to gather a number of Mana cores from the boars. Erik could sell those off easily to the store and then use the funds to buy different spell manuals to increase Roska’s fighting power.
It was Erik and Rugrat’s hope to create a quick reaction force that could be used to bolster the village’s defense when under pressure.
Although he had these avenues, Erik wouldn’t pursue them unless he had complete faith in Roska. After all, he could buy better weapons and equipment instead of those costly spell technique scrolls and books.
“Rugrat, got another one for your patrol tomorrow,” Erik said.
Rugrat lowered his boar leg bone and studied Roska. She tried to stand straighter, but her body was still broken in places.
“Still need some more healing,” Rugrat commented.
“I’ll heal her in the morning,” Erik said.
“Will you be okay by the afternoon?” Rugrat asked Roska.
“Yes!” she said.
“Better be,” Rugrat said.
“Eat and rest. You’re going to need it,” Erik warned.
“Thank you,” she said before quickly moving away.
Rugrat looked to Erik.
“You want me to go easier on her?” Rugrat asked.
“You know the saying—the more you sweat in training, the less you bleed when the fight comes,” Erik said.
“You got something planned?”
“Part of your quick reaction force if she’s any good—maybe give you a new mage. She’s got a ton of open Mana gates. She’d be an asset. Just need to see if she can listen to orders though,” Erik said.
They ate in silence, looking over everyone in the village. They knew that it would be hard in the coming days, that they would be changed. This wasn’t just about the quest anymore; these were honest and simple people who deserve their protection.
They’d put their all into making sure they could survive.
“I’m going to see if I can’t crack some more of those Mana gates open before that time comes.” Erik stood.
“So damn boring,” Rugrat complained but he rose as well.
Erik shook his head, a grin on his face.
Erik got settled in the village hall, blocking off everything going on around him. He turned his attention to his body and Mana gates he had opened. Slowly he started to compress and guide the mist-like Mana through his Mana channels. It was much sturdier than the last time he had opened a Mana gate. At the same time his mana density had only increased. Still, he didn’t rush to clash with the remaining Mana gate in his left foot that he’d targeted.
He took his time, compressing more and more, speeding up the rotation before he started to form the Mana and it passed through the main Mana channels in his legs, expanding them. They were like dried-out riverbeds accepting new rain. As the Mana rushed through and struck aga
inst the gate in his foot, a deep noise rang through Erik’s body and he trembled.
Mana was drawn in from the surrounding area, drawn in through his four open Mana gates. They were like mountain springs: their energy rushed together, meeting up like a torrent as they were pulled in by the circulation in his Mana channels that compressed and sped up the mist before being diverted toward the Mana gate in his left foot.
Erik felt more in tune with the Ten Realms than ever before. The feeling of drawing in power from the Ten Realms to temper his Mana channels and his Mana gates was heady and intoxicating. Erik increased the speed of his circulations, pouring more attacks into his fifth Mana gate. Listening closely, one could hear the sound of wind even as the room was still; it was Mana being drawn through Erik’s Mana gates.
An explosive noise sounded in Erik’s body as his left foot’s Mana gate broke down. Mana rushed in through the Mana gate, being drawn into the cycle of compression happening inside Erik’s body.
Erik’s eyes opened. The corners of his mouth lifted slowly as he called upon the Mana in his body and the ambient Mana entering his body. Suddenly multiple arrows of compressed Mana rushed from his center and into the Mana gate resting in his right elbow, eliciting a ringing noise like metal hitting metal.
“Break for me!” Erik yelled as his body started to glow, Mana tracing through his Mana channels. His Mana channels were forced open as he focused his entire body, his mind on breaking through the limits.
Erik’s eyes closed, his eyebrows coming together as he fought. The slightest mistake and he would fail in opening his Mana gate, and it would be impossible to open it ever again.
Erik bared his teeth. He had walked through hell; he had lived in pain; he’d embraced it, turned it into strength. If there was an obstacle in his path, he would forge ahead. Life wasn’t easy and this was a lesson he had learned long ago.
The Mana gate showed cracks and weaknesses. Erik started to laugh. This was living; this was victory! He was broken, a fucked-up soul. He fought for no other purpose than his brothers and sisters; he had fought because it was the only thing he knew how to do.
He lived for that drive, to go up against it all, to know that his actions had purpose—that was what made him feel alive! The Ten Realms wasn’t a prison to him: it was a future, a new life that gave him a chance to do anything!
Challenges? Those were just more reasons for him to fight, to forge his own path ahead.
He had been passively living in the Ten Realms, but now as he struggled to increase his power, he started to know a truth. He started to think on the motto of the Ten Realms—fortune favors the strong. He wanted to rise to the limits of the Ten Realms, to touch upon godhood.
Wouldn’t that be something. Even if I don’t succeed, even if I get halfway and it’s all game over, wouldn’t it be one hell of a thing to have tried?
Erik’s body seemed to inflate with the power circulating his body. His Mana channels were being torn up, showing signs of strain as he pushed past their limits.
His Mana channels were forced open wider.
His attacks increased again as he let out a low yell through his gritted teeth, holding up his arm and opening his hand.
A shatter noise rang through his body as a part of the Mana rushing through his body shot out of his hand, creating a bolt of pure Mana that struck the wall before him.
The wall exploded outward and debris rained down on the small street behind the village hall.
Erik was thrown back by the close explosion, going through the wall in the opposite direction and into the hallway.
Rugrat burst out of his door, shredding it as he looked to Erik.
Erik looked up from his hands in shock. “I can shoot Mana out of my hands!” Erik yelled.
Rugrat halted his movements. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” Erik looked up at the hole in the corridor wall and the now nonexistent wall in his room as part of the roof collapsed. “Shit. That might not be so easy to fix.”
Rugrat put away his gun and looked at the damage. “Yeah, this room’s fucked.”
Erik’s adrenaline started to wear off as he discovered the pain he was in. The hidden power in his blood that had been brought out through tempering was already working to heal his internal injuries.
With enough time, with just my tempered blood, I would be able to recover completely.
Erik didn’t need to rely on just his blood and sped up his recovery using his healing spells. He let out a sigh as the tears in his Mana channels were repaired, the rest of his body rapidly recovering from the bruises and minor cuts.
Erik noticed that Rugrat was looking at something through his busted wall with a displeased look on his face.
Erik got up and walked over to him, following his line of sight over to the barracks, where the guards were being pulled awake and organizing themselves.
Erik’s joyous expression darkened as well, seeing just how fucked up they were.
“I’ll go sort them out,” Rugrat said.
“You need a hand?” Erik asked.
“You need to sleep and put those stat points to use.”
“Right,” Erik said.
Rugrat jumped out of Erik’s room and landed on the ground, the three-meter drop not affecting him in the slightest as his body’s strength and agility had surpassed any human’s back on Earth.
Erik changed to another room and got comfortable in his sleeping bag. He opened up his notifications, a smile spreading across his face.
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You have pushed your Mana channels past their limit and increased their overall capacity and ability.
1
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You have opened another Mana gate!
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2 to Mana Regeneration
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You have successfully opened 6 Mana gates.
1 to Mana Pool
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Quest Updated: Opening the Fourteen Gates
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Congratulations! You have opened your sixth Mana gate.
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Requirements: Clear all of your fourteen gates (6/14)
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Rewards: +1 to Mana Regeneration base stat
Undergo Mana Body Rebirth
1,400,000 EXP
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You have learned the spell: Mana Bolt. Your spell book has been updated.
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Mana Bolt
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Shoot out a blast of Mana from your hands. Medium Range.
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20 Mana per blast. Power and distance can be increased with higher Mana cost.
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Erik’s entire Mana system was drained but he could feel it trickling in through his Mana gates with even more power than before.
He was excited to test out the functions of Mana Bolt. It was his first ranged spell and the destructive force from blasting his wall apart and him backward left him excited.
Erik took a moment to focus his mind and think on his goals. “If I can increase my Stamina recovery, then I’ll need less food and less sleep so that I can work more. If I increase my Mana Regeneration, I can then pop open another Mana gate, maybe two before the horde comes. I’ll be able to heal more people if they’re injured and speed up the rate that the fields can be harvested.”
What about that poison? If I use that, then I might be able to at least temper my body some, getting closer to Body Like Stone. The biggest problem is balancing how much damage I can do to my body, while sustaining myself with healing spells, letting each system be destroyed before rebuilding them.
Erik sighed. He didn’t want to waste the poison, but he didn’t know what he could do. Too far and he would die; just enough
and he would be able to increase the recovery ability and strength of his body explosively.
“Stamina and Mana Regeneration it is.” Erik thought on his logic a few more times before shrugging. There might be a better idea, but that was what he had so far.
He closed his eyes as he heard Rugrat yelling in the distance.
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You have 5 attribute points to use.
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Character Sheet
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Name: Erik West
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Level: 12
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Race: Human
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Titles: From the Grave
Land Holder (Temporary)
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Strength: (Base 7) +11
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180
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Agility: (Base 6) +13
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95
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Stamina: (Base 10) +1
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165
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Mana: (Base 6) +9
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150
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Mana Regeneration (Base 6) +20
5.95/s
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Stamina Regeneration: (Base 7) +16
5.35/s
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Chapter: Phase One Complete
Rugrat woke up early in the morning. He checked on Erik, who was still sleeping, before heading to the barracks.
He walked through the village and saw a boy running around the village. He had seen the boy sitting in a corner last night while everyone else was celebrating. He had been the one without any fingers and bad damage to his body from a life of labor; now he looked like a healthy young man filled with determination.
Rugrat diverted from his path to the barracks. “Wait up!” Rugrat called out.
The boy didn’t seem to pay attention as Rugrat grumbled and had to jog to meet up with him.
“Heya!” he said as he ran next to the boy, shocking him and almost sending him sprawling.
The Two Week Curse Page 28