Gleam of Darkness

by Elian Tars

  The girls quickly fell asleep, and after I filled the “Food” scale up to 90, I opened the stats window.

  Yet again, I was in for a surprise. The last time I had checked them, my intelligence level was at 3. Now it had grown to 5. Yes, I gained two levels, but I still hadn’t distributed the points I had received. They haven’t been distributed on their own, either. As I had expected, this was under the main stats:

  Free stat points: 2

  What else happened besides the level up? The synchronization with the body had increased by 10%! Intelligence level jumped up by 2 points after this repeated achievement.

  However, increasing synchronization had its pros and cons. I could remember having someone else’s feelings, as was proven when I had looked at the body of Bon’s mother… I didn’t want such misery, not even for the bonus.

  Although there was no such thing as too many bonuses, no one would argue with that.

  I thought about what to do with the performance points. I increased my strength by 1 and unlocked The Way of Force. I got plus one to my Body Type. I could have continued to increase intelligence, but I still had no active spells.

  When I checked my skill points, it turned out that I got two skill points, too. Frowning, I decided to unlock Eyes in the Dark. I immediately felt the effect of this passive. Every object’s outlines became much clearer. I still couldn’t read without light, but I could see the crows on the tree about a hundred feet away from me. The game developers had lied though. They had promised that my night vision would be just like during the day. It didn’t bother me much though, because I would gain that skill anyway.

  The reason I chose night vision first was because it was nighttime, and God knows what could happen during it. Judging by Una’s reaction, you could easily part with your life. A watchful eye could do no harm.

  As for the second ability, I gave it much more thought. On one hand, resistance to debuffs could be very cool. On the other, Tranquility of Darkness looked too tempting with its ability to restore all indicators, and the chance to turn the enemy away from the battle. But the voice I heard before I entered the game… He had strongly recommended not relying on Darkness too much... Or was I remembering it wrong?

  I decided that I would leave one skill point unallocated, for the time being, and that I would add 1 point to intellect category, and the second one to strength.

  I closed all the stat windows and got up. I walked around our tiny camp as I noticed two burning eyes staring from the direction we had come from.

  Regular Fox

  Level 2

  Oh yeah, this was a fun game. A small carnivore had the same level and amount of health points as the teenager Rin. He could tear apart Slay. Could he really have done it? Probably, but I was no specialist.

  The fox sensibly decided not to attack and silently disappeared into the grass. I made another circle around the camp, returned to the same spot and started thinking about my other life. Only the day before I had been glad that I had found a job; but in the game, I had already died, resurrected, fought a monster, entered a burning village and rescued four people. And everything felt so real! Pain, fear, worrying… As if it wasn’t a game at all.

  “Display the application menu.” I murmured quietly. The world didn’t to respond to my strange request.

  An owl hooted in the distance. I jumped up and got my pitchfork out. You never knew who, or what, might have scared it off. This time there was no threat, however. It seemed that the bird had just gone hunting.

  A few minutes, later I heard a rustle. I jumped up again but didn’t find anyone. When the rustle repeated after some time, I reacted just as fast and was even able to see the carcass of a wild hamster in the thick grass.

  As my shift was coming to an end, and the Moon had touched Karus’ shoe woven from the stars of a bearded man, I woke Jonna. I lay down on the grass, closed my eyes and instantly fell asleep.

  I didn’t even remember dreaming. It felt as if I had almost immediately heard Una’s scream:

  “Get up!!! We’re under attack!!! А-а-а!!!”

  I jumped to my feet and looked around in amazement. When I saw a huge, black wolf holding the healer down on the grass, I realized what was happening. Instantly, I snatched a weapon from my inventory, ran up to the predator and, with my last step, struck it with the pitchfork, activating Power Strike.

  Three powerful blades pierced the predator’s ribs, and a message flashed before my eyes:

  You have dealt 41 points of damage.

  The beast howled and then turned its toothy muzzle in my direction, not paying any attention to Una, who was stabbing it in the chest with a short dagger.

  Black Wolf

  Level 12

  HP: 365/419

  After leveling up, all of my bars got restored, so now I had 240 HP. Una had 139 out of 220. She had been attacked pretty hard… I was worried about how much damage the wolf could cause. We would be okay though, the girl was a healer, and together we would make it.

  The beast roared and for a moment it seemed as if it had vanished, but then it attacked.

  Not being able to defend myself in time, the wolf aimed its snout at my stomach and threw me about fifteen feet back. I managed to regain my balance, but the beast was already beside me and it sank its powerful jaws into my side.

  You have received 45 points of damage.

  That really hurt. The wolf must have used some kind of skill. It clung to me like a pit bull and wouldn’t let go.

  You have received 10 points of damage.

  You have received 10 points of damage.

  Clenching my teeth, I grabbed the pitchfork with a reverse grip and hit the wolf right in the eye. Nothing happened; it only stripped away 10 hit points from my enemy! If this were happening in real life, it would have definitely unclenched its teeth, and it would have been blind on one eye. Although in real life, I would probably have been lying unconscious by now…

  “Take that!” I growled as I made one hit after another to the wolf’s face.

  You have dealt 10 points of damage.

  You have received 9 points of damage.

  You have dealt 11 points of damage.

  You have received 12 points of damage.

  In such a ridiculous confrontation, the one who had the higher amount of HP would win the fight. Meaning, it wouldn’t be me. Where the hell was Una?

  A noiseless shadow passed behind the wolf’s back. In a matter of seconds, it jumped and straddled the predator. Without a word, the healer began to methodically stab a dagger into the black fur. She might have been causing little damage, but her speed was incredible. A trickle of warm wolf blood began to pour onto the grass, and its life count started to fall twice as fast.

  “Heal me!” I yelled when my HP dropped to 40. The girl continued to shred our enemy. “Una! Are you deaf?!” I screamed. I also noticed that she had managed to tweak her own HP, probably even before she had decided to attack the wolf. “Hey! Una!”

  The healer acted as though she really didn’t hear me. I already began to think that my only chance of escape would be to dive in and start using Tranquility of Darkness. Maybe the beast would finally let go. All of a sudden, the predator unclenched its jaw.

  I realized immediately that it only had 10% of its HP left. I turned around, took a step forward and made a Power Strike.

  You have dealt 42 points of damage.

  You have defeated the “Black Wolf”.

  XP received: 205 (50%)

  You can use the slaying hit on the “Black Wolf”.

  As soon as I had read the last line, Una was already at its side. Grasping the fur between its ears with her left hand, she lifted the wolf’s head. A moment later, the throat of the beast had been slit. The blood poured across its powerful fur chest. It was very impressive.

  “Hey, Una!” I went up to the girl and squeezed her shoulder. “Why didn’t you fix me up, huh? I trusted you and I nearly died.”

  She jerked and tried to fre
e herself, but then she yielded to my superior strength.

  “Mana is not infinite, you know.” Throwing back her black hair from her forehead, the girl proudly puffed up her chest. “I could have raised your HP a little, but it would’ve taken time just to perform the preparation. It was more effective for me to jump on the wolf and slice him while he was busy with you. I couldn’t have done it by myself, and neither could you. I chose the best option and we won. So what’s the problem?”

  I was taken aback by such audacity and impudence. I probably should have said something. She was safe, and I had been made the bait. We won though, and for some, that was the most important thing.

  Maybe I should have sent her to hell and just left? Tranquility of Darkness would heal me, and I would be able to fight without any help but I didn’t want to leave the baby and Jonna. The hell with the girl! But if something were to happen to those three on the way to town, I would have feel like shit. I was the one who had saved them; that damn responsibility was mine and mine alone. I needed to finish what I had started. You don’t change horses in the middle of a race.

  “Remember, Una,” I said dryly. “People will treat you as you treat them. Who knows, maybe next time I’ll decide to leave you to the wolves and just walk away.”

  It sounded very naïve and immature, but it looked like it had worked.

  “Aw, are you offended or something? Come on, we won, didn’t we? I’ve recovered a little bit of mana. Let me help you a little.”

  Without waiting for an answer, the girl smiled and put her hands in front of her. She sent a glittering, warm light through her palms in my direction.

  Villager Una used “A Little Healing” on you.

  Added a special skill: “Part of the Old World”

  You have received 30 points of damage.

  Una recoiled from me as if I were a leper.

  “The healing damaged you!” she blurted out. “What is this? What are you?!” She was already holding a knife, prepared to kill me at any moment.

  “Calm down…” I mumbled while unclenching my fingers that were squeezing the shaft of the pitchfork, and slowly raised my hands.

  Mentally, I requested information about the new skill:

  Part of the Old World

  Level 1

  Passive skill

  You cannot defend yourself against the destructive power of the Gods. Also, any manifestation of their creation power is destructive for you.

  Unlike other skills, it was impossible to increase the level of this one.

  “Well? Aren’t you going to say something?!” Una waved her knife near my nose.

  “Please, stop…” I spoke as gently as I could, frantically trying to come up with a believable story in my mind. “Nothing bad happened. I just have a lifetime’s worth of negative effects.”

  “Where from?” The girl frowned.

  “I got it from that creature… Little Spider Changed by Decay.” Remembering the vile thing I went into detail about a story that never happened.

  “Then why did you ask me to heal you?” The blade had almost sliced my cheek.

  “Well… I had never used a healer’s help before, and I had forgotten about the curse. To hell with it!” I angrily spat in disgust to make it more convincing.

  I wasn’t sure if the girl would believe my story and my mediocre acting, but she put the knife down. ”It’s all very suspicious, Bon,” she said. “The fact that you’ve managed to survive the attack of the Iron Faced, and what you’ve told me just now…”

  “I understand, Una,” I interrupted the girl and quickly added: “You have questions for me and I have questions for you. But let’s put them off ‘till we get to the city. Agreed?”

  After thinking it over for a few seconds, she stretched out her hand:

  “Agreed. You’re right, we should get going.”

  Sealing the deal with a handshake, I asked for a few minutes of a lone time and walked some hundred and fifty feet away from our camp. On my way, I examined the newly acquired skill, vainly trying to understand where it had come from.

  “Open the skills menu” I ordered mentally and the usual three columns appeared before my eyes. I went through almost all of them and saw, without a doubt, that I had unlocked the Tranquility of Darkness. To hell with it! I thought to myself. If others couldn’t heal me, I would take care of myself.

  It felt amazing. All I had to do was watch a GIF-visualization of the reception, and in a moment, I was able to repeat it.

  Feeling the flow of mana inside my body, I spread my right hand and placed it on my chest. Clouds of black smoke fell from my fingers and immediately entered my body.

  You have used “Tranquility of Darkness” on yourself. The effect didn’t work.

  I waited three seconds and tried again. Then again, and again, and again…

  You have used “Tranquility of Darkness” on yourself. You’ve used “Tranquility of Darkness” on yourself. You’re losing the desire to fight yourself and your squad.

  That was interesting. I wasn’t planning on fighting myself, though. I kept spending mana.

  After two more attempts, the buff had finally gone through, and with that came another desired effect:

  … The regeneration rate of all your targets has been increased by the forces of Darkness...

  Perfect! Now we just needed to see for how long this acceleration would last.

  Chapter 5

  Tranquility of Darkness

  “Uncle Bon, they’re waiting for you,” said Slay as he ran up to me and tugged at my sleeve.

  “Ok, go back and tell them I’ll be right over,” I replied, sending him away.

  I stood there for five minutes, motionless, counting the time. The effect was still working. I found that my HP, mana and energy were being restored by one point every twelve seconds. In total, I had already received 25 points in all three status bars.

  That didn’t look like much. But earlier, I had noticed that it took ten minutes to restore a point. This meant that with Tranquility of Darkness, my regeneration had increased fiftyfold.

  And here was another reason to stop and think about how hardcore this game really was. To restore my 240 HP without treatment, I needed forty hours? This is crazy! It’s just incredible! Did that mean that everything here was completely tied to the healers? Then again, mana was replenished at the same rate. I guessed that it was as bad for mana users like healers, too. I probably shouldn’t have yelled at Una. I could only see her HP, but not the MP. Maybe she really couldn’t heal me because she had only enough mana left for one more heal, and she had been saving it for the most extreme case?

  So, everyone in this game walks around with a huge supply of potions? From what I can tell, that’s the only possible explanation. I must get my hands on some of the local potions. Hopefully they will work on me as they should, not like a magical cure.

  A loud rustle on my left startled me. As I turned toward the sound, a Black Wolf emerged from the grass; looked exactly like the one that had nearly killed me half an hour ago.

  “A wolf! There’s a wolf! Another one!” Slay’s shaky voice called out from behind me.

  “G-r-r-r!!!” roared the beast, as it lunged forward. I miraculously dodged and, not thinking straight, lifted my hand toward the beast, activating Tranquility of Darkness. The black smoke hit its furry snout, but the predator didn’t even blink. There was no effect.

  “Run! Hurry up if you want to live!!!” shouted Una from the distance. The bitch wants to leave without me!

  With a furious roar, the wolf rushed forward once again. Materializing the pitchfork, I tried to get its muzzle. But the beast walked away, only to appear the next moment right in front of me.

  “But what about Bon?” Making a half-turn to avoid the enemy’s attack, I heard Jonna’s voice.

  “We can’t save him! My mana is gone! The treatment isn’t working! But his corpse will distract the wolf. Once it has stuffed itself full, the creature won’t go after us!”<
br />
  “G-r-r!!! G-r-r!!!” growled the beast, hovering a few feet in front of me. Again, I launched Tranquility at it, and yet again, nothing happened.

  For a moment it disappeared from sight, just like its predecessor had earlier. I was ready for this skill; I began to dodge, but didn’t make it in time. The difference in our levels was not just words on some status screens. Even when you knew what kind of attack was coming, that didn’t mean you could avoid it.

  It hit me in the stomach with its snout, throwing me back. This skill wasn’t about doing damage, but getting the opponent off balance. I fell down and failed to protect myself from the ensuing combo of bites to my side.

  You have received 30 points of damage.

  However, this didn’t mean that I was as helpless as last time. I managed to pull something off and the beast ended up digging its teeth into my left hand and not into my side. Only thanks to this did I still have some HP left and could continue fighting.

  I extended my right hand and almost grabbed the wolf’s head.

  Tranquility of Darkness.

  Shit! Still not working!

  You have received 7 points of damage.

  This mad wolf wasn’t even thinking about loosening its grip, and it was burning through my hit points. Well, either the spell will work now, after its cooldown, or I become an early breakfast for the black predator.

  I bit my lip and. feeling the flow of energy within me, activated the skill.

  You have used the “Tranquility of Darkness” on the “Black Wolf”. The “Black Wolf” felt the “Tranquility of Darkness”. The “Black Wolf” loses its desire to fight you and your squad.

  You have defeated the “Black Wolf”.

  XP received: 409

  The wolf opened its jaw and stared at me indifferently. Dog-like, it tilted its head, wagged its tail, turned around and trotted off into the forest.

  I collapsed helplessly onto the grass. I lay there for about twenty seconds without a thought in my mind before forcing myself to get up. Maybe my regeneration was accelerated, but my HP was pretty low. One attack, not even a strong one, and it’s safe to say that I would’ve been slayed.