“Yeah,” I said, noticing the same. If the voice hadn’t done what it did, me and Freya would have probably died at the hands of the Valdar.
“None of this makes sense,” she sighed.
I don’t think it was meant to, I sighed. I diverted my mind, looking to the other questions I had. “I’m still confused about who these Valdar are,” I said, looking at Freya.
The Moon-Elf stayed silent for a moment, the sudden topic change catching her off guard. “They’re beings who shouldn’t have been at that grove,” she finally said.
“Okay?” I asked. “Are they like…special beings? They didn’t seem…normal,” I said, remembering how they dissolved into smoke when I attacked them.
“They’re more like dark spirits with physical forms,” she said. “Creatures that can exceed the capacity of life. They neither bleed, nor feel any pain.”
“Figures.”
I accidentally swiped through the air and opened up my Ga’em menu. I was going to close it back but then saw that my Player menu icon had a notification on it, a square with a number inside it.
I recalled that the Ga’em sometimes stifled prompts from showing up, instead stowing them away as notifications and displaying them later. It apparently did that to prevent screens from showing up at inconvenient times and I have to say, it was probably a very useful feature. I brought my hand up and tapped on the icon.
TRING!
Congratulations! You have defeated the Valdar Squadron (Level 23). Reward: 21000 XP. Reward: Warrior’s Restoration Potion (x10).
DING!
Congratulations! A bonus has been unlocked! You have single handedly taken on a Valdar squadron and defeated them. Bonus reward: 6000 XP. Bonus reward: 30000 Sol.
RING!
You have now reached level 15! You gain 4 points to distribute between your stats. You also get a 25% advancement to the skill of your choice. Use them wisely.
You have now reached level 16! You gain 4 points to distribute between your stats. You also get a 25% advancement to the skill of your choice. Use them wisely.
…
You have now reached level 18! You gain 4 points to distribute between your stats. You also get a 25% advancement to the skill of your choice. Use them wisely.
I earned a lot, I thought to myself, trying to positive spin on everything that had happened.
“Looks like you levelled up quite a bit,” Freya said, echoing the same.
“Yeah,” I smiled.
DING!
Congratulations! Your Swordsmanship skill has now increased to Level 3. Strength will now be increased by +6% while wielding a sword.
Congratulations! Your special move, Bladestorm, has now increased to Level 2. Attack will hit 6 times a second with each strike causing %60 of the weapon’s max attack damage. Increases critical hit chance by +6%. Cost: 20 Mana. Duration: 6 seconds. Cooldown: 10 minutes.
Nice! I thought, reading the prompt. I should probably upgrade my Swordsmanship skill soon.
Skills could be upgraded in two ways, either by using the skill advancement points that I earned while levelling up or by practicing the skill over and over again. Using skill advancement points was of course much, much faster, and it was precisely the method I hadn’t used ever so far.
I opened my player menu and checked out my stats.
Stat points: 16.
I quickly assigned my points, more confident about it now that I’d already done it a few times. My first concern of course was about how I’d ended up resurrecting in enemy territory.
Don’t need that happening again, I thought, deciding to put some points into my luck stat. I used my stats to even everything else out, trying to bring every stat up to a standard 10.
Name
Zoran
Level
18 (12% to next level)
Health
90→100
Mana
100
Stamina
60→80
Strength
16
Agility
11
Dexterity
6→10
Wisdom
5→10
Constitution
9→10
Intelligence
10
Endurance
6→8
Charisma
4
Luck
9→13
I selected my Skills menu next. The title said ‘Skills’, but below it and aligned to the left was a smaller piece of text.
Skill advancement points: 400%
Nice, I grinned to myself and looked at the rest of the screen.
Skill Name
Level
Buffs
Analyze
Level 2 (86% to next level)
None
Tracking
Level 1 (5% to next level)
None
Herb Lore
Level 1(5% to next level)
None
Swordsmanship
Level 3(2% to next level)
Strength +6%
Agility +3%
Heavy Weaponry
Level 1(3% to next level)
Strength +1%
Defense +1%
Hand Combat
Level 1(15% to next level)
Strength +2%
Agility +3%
Dexterity +1%
Night Vision
Level 1(32% to next level)
None
Stealth
Level 1(23% to next level)
None
I saw a plus sign next to each skill, obviously to add the skill points to it. Of all the skills I had, Swordsmanship was the one that was most useful and so I tapped on the plus sign next to it, letting the skill reach a 100% two times over.
DING!
Congratulations! The skill ‘Swordsmanship’ has now advanced to Level 4. Agility will now be increased by +4% while wielding a sword. Dexterity will be increased by +2% while wielding a sword.
Congratulations! The skill ‘Swordsmanship’ has now advanced to Level 5. Strength will now be increased by +7% while wielding a sword.
DING!
Congratulations! Your proficiency in the Swordsmanship skill has earned you a new special move: Heavy swing. Focus your power and attack your enemies with one defining swing. Attack causes 200% max damage of weapon. Aftershocks from the strike cause residual damage to nearby enemies. Cooldown: 5 Minutes.
“Oooooh,” I whispered. I didn’t expect to get a new special move from advancing one of my skills as well. That was actually really cool. And convenient!
I realized I still had enough Skill Advancement points to level up my Swordsmanship skill two more times, but decided against it. These points were hard to get, and so I wanted to save them for the rarer skills I might obtain or for when it got harder to advance my skills just through just practicing them.
“About what happened with the Valdar,” Freya spoke, drawing my mind away from my stats and my skills.
“Yeah?” I asked, closing down all my prompt screens.
“Are you sure you don’t have like an Arts skill that allowed to you use that move and defeat all those Valdar at once?”
“I don’t. I just checked,” I said. “I can show you my skills screen if you want.”
“No no,” she shook her head. “It’s not like I don’t trust you, but I thought it’d be better you checked.”
“I understand,” I said.
“I guess it makes sense you don’t need an Arts skill to do whatever you did back there if you have voices speaking in your mind.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled. “This is the happened quite a few times already.”
“What?” she perked up.
“No, nothing like what happened right now with the Valdar,” I said. “I meant I’ve heard those mumbling voices a few times before. One of them helped me out one time before, by giving me a spell to use. Still can’t figure out what it was.”
“Do you kno
w the word you used to cast it?”
I shook my head. “It was a while ago,” I said. “The word has slipped from my mind. However, other than that one incident I’ve heard them randomly a few times as well.”
“When was the first time you heard them?”
“Right as I woke up in the forest with no memory of-” I clasped my mouth.
The elf’s big silver eyes blinked. “What was that about your memory?” she asked.
I panicked. I hadn’t planned to tell her about the fact that I had no memory of who I was, but in my laxed disposition I’d slipped up. I had two options now. Lie to her, and possibly lose her trust, or tell her everything. I’d initially held back on telling her because I wasn’t sure how much I could trust her, but it didn’t really seem like that was of any concern anymore, especially since we were allies now.
“Well…” I started. “I don’t really have any memories of who I am,” I said.
She smiled. “I know.”
“What?” I blinked.
“Well, I didn’t know for certain, but I figured that was the case.”
“You did? How?”
“Just small things,” she said. “Like back when you told Raffyr you were not from around here? To the normal person your face might have looked like you didn’t want to tell us where you were from, but I could see deeper than that, that the real reason you didn’t tell us wasn’t because you didn’t want to, but because you didn’t know yourself.”
“Just from things like that?” I blinked, stunned that one could discern so much from just the way I’d replied to a question.
“It’s scary how much small things can tell us about a person isn’t it?” she chuckled.
“Yeah,” I said softly, thinking cheekily about how Freya’s hidden identity told me quite a bit about what her past could have possibly been.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to push you away just because you didn’t tell me about your lost memories,” she said. “I understand it can be a tough thing to bring up, especially to someone you didn’t really know properly till just a while ago.”
“Thanks,” I smiled.
“Actually, the friend that we’re going to meet soon might be able to help you with your memory as well.”
I perked up. “Are you serious?” I asked, excited.
“Probably, but I can’t make any promises.”
“That’s fine,” I said, smiling widely. Ever since I’d woken up, my lost memory was the biggest thing on my mind, and even getting one step closer to getting my memories back would be of big relief to me.
“We should probably get going then,” she said.
“Wait what?” I blinked. “I thought we were staying here for the night.”
“We were, but then the Valdar attack happened,” she said. “The earlier I see my friend, the better.”
“Ah, okay,” I said, understanding a part of what she was saying. I was stilling missing the important detail of why the Valdar attack was a big deal, but I was going to wait till that information naturally came to me.
“Let’s leave,” the Moon-Elf picked up her longsword and slid it over her back. I stood up as well, following her as she started walking away. We headed deeper into the forest, taking a narrow trail.
All the while I wondered who this friend Freya talked about was. I wondered what type of a person they were and why she seemed so confident about their ability to help us. I have to say I was quite excited to meet them though, and it wouldn’t be completely false to say that almost all that excitement was because Freya said they might be able to help me with my lost memories.
I looked at the darkness as we walked through it, my mind conjuring up hallucinations of the men of shadows emerging from within. But I wasn’t afraid. Somehow between when I’d first woken up and now, my unease with the darkness had changed. I felt closer to it, as if it were more of an ally rather than a foe.
A while of walking later the trees around us turned thicker, the bark wider, the leaves darker. The branches contorted into weird shapes, as though they had been turned inside out. The vegetation grew denser, with green vines and creepers covering every inch of the air above.
Well, that certainly isn’t calming, I thought, sticking right behind Freya. Wherever we were going now wasn’t a place I wantedto get lost in. Sure, I was level 18 now and had a proper weapon, but I still felt like this forest was going to throw out a beast I had no hope of putting a scratch on.
Viola suddenly stopped in her path and brought up her sword. I stepped back just as she sliced a curtain of creepers to our right and pushed them to the side.
“Come along,” she said, and walked through. I followed her quickly, pushing the creepers aside with my hand. The moment I stepped through the curtain my eyes lit up, in complete awe of the sight before me.
Bunches of glowing flowers lined up a pathway in front of us, shining petals of green, blue and purple giving the forest a mystical beauty I had not expected to see.
“Stay close,” Freya said and walked along the path. I stuck right to her, my eyes wavering between the lights all around me.
A small house quickly emerged before us, standing between the dark trees and under the darker leaves. I followed Freya as she walked up to it, my heart beating faster than it should have. The black wood of the house contrasted beautifully against the glowing flowers of purple and green that sprouted from the ground around it. The whole place had a haunting beauty and I was completely mesmerized at the sight.
We walked up to the door, the old wood creaking slightly as we stepped over it. I expected the Moon-Elf to knock but instead she just threw the door open and walked right in. I stood at the entrance for a second, wondering if this was okay.
I don’t have another choice, I thought and walked in as well.
Musty wooden floors built the place, with the cobweb covered walls not doing the house an aesthetic favor either. A sole doorway stood in the room I was in, an orange-green hue coming from within it. Freya walked up to it promptly and I followed her through, entering the small room on the other side.
I heard squeaking to my right and turned. A fireplace sat fixed to the wall and a lady in a rocking chair sat right in front of it. She slowly turned around and faced us.
I could immediately tell from the pointed ears that she was an Elf. She was dressed in night-colored robes that fell loosely over her black-skinned body. She ran her long fingers through her white hair, her emerald-green eyes glowing as they looked to me.
“Ah,” she smiled. “It is good to see you again, Zoran the Eternal.”
***
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“You know me?” I stared at the green-eyed witch.
“You’re not the only one who has an analyze skill you know,” Freya chuckled.
“Oh,” I blinked, realizing someone else could learn of my name using an analyze skill as well.
The dark-skinned elf chuckled. “Though what Freya says is true, I do not need an analyze screen now to know of your name, young one.”
“What?” Freya asked, confused as well.
“I have seen this young man before,” she said. “When he first woke up in this forest with no memory of who he was.”
My eyes widened. “You saw me when I first woke up.”
She smiled. “Indeed I did.”
“Then that Spring of Healing-”
“Is the one you healed yourself in before the wolves came after you. Yes.”
A shudder passed through me at the mention of the wolves, but my mind knew better than that. I’d grown a hell lot stronger now. What happened back then wasn’t going to happen again. I focused on what the elf had said, that this was the forest that I’d first woken up in. I wasn’t sure of how crucial such information might be, but I was certain it wouldn’t prove to be useless either.
“Ijyela, why did you not tell me about this before?” Freya asked, sounding annoyed.
“There was no reason to,” Ijyela said. “Where and when I m
et Zoran does not affect you or this situation in anyway.”
Freya opened her mouth to respond and then stopped, probably realizing that Ijyela was right. Honestly even I hadn’t really benefitted much right now by finding out where exactly I’d first woken up
“Do you know how I ended up here?” I asked, wondering if this elf held more answers than she’d let on.
“I do not,” she sighed. “It was a few days ago when I randomly sensed an odd presence close to me.”
Maybe that’s connected to my mysterious aura situation, I thought, making a mental note to ask about it later.
The elf went on. “I ventured out to see what the presence was and I found you in the forest, battered up and unconscious.”
“But you didn’t approach me,” I said.
“I did not,” she said. “I wanted to, but that presence within you felt very suspicious and so I let time pass, wondering if I could gain any answers just by waiting.”
“And?”
“You woke up before I could figure anything out and you know the rest.”
“I see,” I said quietly. So far between what she, Freya and the Nymph Mother had said, one thing was very clear, there was some kind of aura that I was emitting, whether willingly or not. I had no clue what this was or why only these three had sensed it so far, but it was certain now that this existence wasn’t helping me in any way.
“I was quite regretful when I realized you had been killed by the wolves,” Ijyela said. “I had hoped I’d have longer to study your existence.”
“You don’t say,” I mumbled. Great, I’m a test subject now, I thought.
The Eternal: Awakening - A LitRPG Saga (World of Ga'em Book 1) Page 12