by Elian Tars
But I didn’t get tired of repeating to myself that I shouldn’t relax. Even though I constantly tried to be ready, I kept getting into one mess or another. And if I decided in advance that I would win, I would surely lose.
When the wolf was left with less than 100 HP, it abruptly jumped back. I looked at my own HP bar.
HP: 89/390
At the same time, the effect of Decay worked for the second time, dealing its 22 points of damage and disappeared.
The wolf looked at me with bleary eyes, showed its teeth and suddenly disappeared. Hit or miss, if I don’t dodge its attack and allow it grab me, I would die.
Thoughts raced through my mind. For the moment that I didn’t see my enemy, I even managed to compare myself to a goalkeeper guessing a penalty. Right or left?
However, unlike the goalkeeper, I didn’t have to stand in one spot.
I found a completely insane solution. Why I decided to followed it, I didn’t know. Maybe because I saw that Vella was almost done with her enemy and that there was a chance that, even if it brought down my HP to 0, the wolf wouldn’t have time to use a finisher on me because my dog would kill it. And then she would sit there and wait for me to come up. After all, I ordered her to run away if I die, and to stay if I lose consciousness. Maybe everything was even more prosaic — the realization that you would resurrect made you much braver.
The wolf appeared from the right the moment I plunged the pitchfork into the ground. It rushed forward, trying to overcome the last couple of inches and sank its teeth into my side.
I jumped up, holding my hands on the shaft. The enemy bit air and swept past me. Standing up straight, I lengthened the pitchfork’s shaft with all my body. Long ago, in my childhood I saw a similar trick in the circus. I repeated it now; thankfully level 5 of Acrobatics allowed me to do more than just climb trees.
Landing behind the decayed predator, I quickly pulled out the pitchfork. The enemy had already turned around and rushed back at me. It didn’t use a special skill, so I half turned and went to the side, immediately steeping forward and attacking it.
Power Strike.
You have dealt 51 points of damage.
I stroked its side, close to the neck. I then pulled out the pitchfork and, dodging the caustic slurry pouring from the wound, sidestepped to hit its thigh. Once I was as far as possible from the toothy mouth, I hastily landed the last hit, getting all of the experience and a chance to finish off the enemy.
“Finish them both,” I told the dog, while I casted Tranquility of Darkness on myself.
I estimated how much time it would take for my HP to be restored on the territory of Decay. Every 8 seconds I would get 1 HP and I would lose 1 every 10 seconds. So, in 80 seconds, I would get 10 and lose 8. Therefore, the regeneration speed was 1 HP every 40 seconds. I need to restore 303 HP. That would take more than three hours... Here, in this cursed hole, where I couldn’t even hide on a tree, and where even the devil himself didn’t know who, or what, could attack me.
I had to go back to the border, to the live part of the forest, which was not far away from the house.
Sitting on the porch, I chewed some dried bread and drank wine. I thoughtfully looked at the dog lying at my feet. How were we doing?
I had four health potions and the same amount of bombs. However, it would be foolish to immediately spend such wealth. Yes, I could restore our HP with the help of those bottles, and we could continue to move on. But we could use them only once every twelve hours. So that was not an option.
So then, there was nothing left to do but continue our shuttle run, advancing farther and farther each time. The realism of this game didn’t allow normal mobs to respawn, so there was hope that I would eventually be able to “cut through” the way. But how long would that take?
I looked at the dog again. As if sensing that I wanted to say something to her, Vella raised her head and stared at me with her black eyes.
“You know, I’m probably not using you correctly. On the way here we fought small things, even when the three Spiders attacked us we kicked their asses without any problems. That’s not going to work now. You should tank. Do you have any skills for that?”
She didn’t understand a word, of course, thoughtfully inclining her head to the side. What was I doing?
“Your task is to ensure that enemies don’t attack me if I have less than half of my HP. Can you do that?”
“ Woof!” the dog replied, confirming.
“ Then let’s go. Break time is over.”
***
Of course, I could ask Vella not to let me get attacked at all. But then all the damage would be caused to her. I should let her have more HP, since she wasn’t “immortal”. I doubted very much that I would be able to resurrect the dog if she died. Where would I find one like her then?
I was thinking about it as we were going deep into the territory of Decay. I tried to go the same way as the first time. As before, it seemed like there was no one that would attack us.
It was difficult to accurately tell time without a watch. I thought that we had been walking for forty minutes, but we hadn’t come across the bodies of the dead wolves. That was weird…
However I didn’t have to worry about it for long. Five minutes later, Vella growled and crouched to the ground and the hair on her back stood up.
There were two enemies again, and again they were wolves. But this time the creatures of Decay attacked from one side. Jumping forward, Vella tied both in a close battle. Unlike her past attacks, she bent down slightly this time and stood firmly on all fours, thinking more about defense and not about a violent attack.
Fearing for her HP, I didn’t waste my time on safe shooting from the crossbow. I grabbed the pitchfork and came to the side of one of the wolves. Power Strike, a usual strike, one more…and the wolf angrily turned in my direction.
Vella had noticed it, immediately ceasing to trade bites with the first wolf. With an open mouth she reached for the second enemy, but it was gone.
It was the first time that I saw a Black Wolf, “Changed by Decay” in this case, make a Leap on such a short distance. My side and his mouth were less than a foot apart!
I didn't know whether it was experience or instinct that moved me the next moment. Keeping the enemy in my sight, I half turned, bumping against the side of the first wolf with my back. The second one appeared few inches in front of me, but I stabbed its mouth with the pitchfork. Vella came to my rescue and immediately grabbed its neck.
With my back I felt that I was losing my support, because the first wolf was already rushing after the dog. I transferred my body weight to the right leg.
Power Strike.
During this battle, none of the creatures of Decay were able to catch me with Stranglehold. I missed several ordinary bites, lost almost half of my HP, but didn’t come to the edge, like the last time. I’ve made progress. But Vella had suffered much more.
Again, we had to return to the house and then go back to the decayed forest. As before, I had found no corpses of the defeated enemies, before we were attacked by a lonely Black Wolf Changed by Decay.
As soon as another enemy fell, I saw a large text before my eyes.
You have defeated “Black Wolf Changed by Decay”.
XP received: 307 (50%)
You can use the finisher on “Black Wolf Changed by Decay”.
Level up.
Current level: 20
Level 20 achievement unlocked.
All the critical negative status effects are removed from you, up to the medium severity. All stats have been increased by 6.
Achievement unlocked: “Full Light”.
You have never committed a murder and have already spared a hundred opponents. Your virtue has led you onto the path of Light. You are ready to gain strength. Surrender yourself to the Light or conquer it.
Attention: the presence of Light inside you is in conflict with your Darkness. You’re pissing your own self off by 100%.
Wi
ll you allow the Light to cleanse your body from the Darkness?
I stood frozen for a couple of seconds, trying to realize what I was being offered.
It turned out that I had the opportunity to change my element. I could become a true paladin of Light! With my will I could disperse the Darkness and all the muck, and cleanse the world of vile Decay.
Oh... I am getting carried away… Was this the effect of the achievement?
The hell with Darkness! There were way too many problems with it. I couldn’t approach people, I couldn’t fight side by side with others, I couldn’t reveal my abilities, and my body was rejecting healing…
Stop! Shit... I am getting a headache! It felt like there were hundreds of bells ringing in my head.…
I needed to accept the Light...the Light would help…
I looked again at the last lines and began to open my mouth when, suddenly, the strange obsession disappeared.
“I wouldn't choose it if I were you, boy.”
I have no idea how I hid the system messages. Right in front of me was the Darkness, its shape vaguely resembling a human figure in a hood.
“G-R-R...” crouching to the ground, Vella growled with a trembling voice, but her roar almost instantly changed to a plaintive whine.
“Good to see you,” I said, “I have so many quest-…”
“There’s no time for that, boy,” a voice sounded in my head. “If they find out about us, we won’t be the only ones who will suffer.”
“Who wi-…?”
“Don’t interrupt me, boy. Listen to me carefully. You can choose the Light, but of all of us, only I can talk to you. By choosing a different path, you will be left all alone. Do you really want that?”
Actually, I had already thought about this question. I felt closer to the Darkness; it was even pleasant to me. If it weren’t for the limitations or the effects of Full Light, my answer would be unambiguous…
“The Light has its limitations too,” said the Old Man, reading my thoughts. “True Light, just like the Darkness, will cause a lot of unnecessary problems and raise questions. Your Part of the Old World is not going anywhere, boy. Now you must choose. I can’t stay long in the land of the Decayed. If they notice my presence, you won’t survive.”
“I would like to continue on the path of the Darkness,” I replied after a couple of seconds, my voice firm. “But I would like to understand where I’m going and why. Also, I need to know how to get home.”
“Well... I assure you that not only I, but the Light itself is glad to hear your answer. If you continue on your way, you will find answers to all of your questions. And even more. Find Unity. Build your Altar. Save the power of Darkness. Don’t doubt yourself, boy. You’re doing the right thing.”
A clot of darkness melted in the air, and a new system message appeared in front of my eyes.
Your Patron has helped you deal with your mental problems. You don’t piss yourself off anymore.
Attention!
You feel the effects of your Patron’s abilities within you. The effectiveness of skills related to the element of your Patron has been increased by 5.
Duration: 8 hours
After reading the lines, I suspected that something was wrong. Kind magicians don’t just appear out of the blue and solve all of your problems with a wave of a magic wand, nor do they accidentally cast mega buffs.
“Show me the logs,” I said mentally.
“Call of the Patron” has been activated.
Cost: 50 fate points.
Well, of course! I kept going back to the hunter’s house during the night, regenerating some of the faith points. I almost got out of the minus, too. Here I go again…
But it was fine! It was worth it!
Smiling broadly, I stared at my stats. Under the influence of Tranquility of Darkness they were recovering at the same speed as they had beyond the territory of Decay; not 2, but 5 times more — 10 points every 80 seconds.
Wait! They were recovering way much faster! Why?
Of course! I had to multiply not the difference, but the original figures. 50 points of HP, MP and energy were being restored every 80 seconds. The effect of Decay took away points from those 50…
I froze while I watched the numbers grow. I came to an unambiguous conclusion — Decay had no negative effects.
A minute later I smiled even wider. An ear to ear smile almost! The effectiveness of my skills had increased fivefold! It turned out that now I had level 15 Tranquility of Darkness. The other two were level 10? If that’s case, it was not surprising that Decay had no effect.
The next eight hours will be unforgettable!
Chapter 17
The Rider
The bluish matted cover of the virtual capsule went down smoothly. I blinked, focusing my vision. I closed my eyes to shield them from the bright light and tried to turn away, but nothing happened.
“Please wait,” I heard a pleasant female voice, “you cannot leave the capsule right after the emergency shutdown. Your body isn't ready yet.”
I wanted to answer her, but my mouth felt dry and my tongue refused to move.
“You’ll be all right,” said the woman warmly. I didn't see her, but from the sound of her voice, I knew that she was doing something at the head of the capsule, where the manual controls were located. “You’ll be able to get back on your feet in five minutes. Just wait a little bit. Don’t worry.”
“”That was easy for her to say. She hadn’t spent almost two weeks in a crazy dark world, climbing trees and castle walls, fighting monsters, predators and seeing blood at every corner…
Well, everything was going to be all right. Finally, I would be able to rest and relax. I wouldn’t have to fight to save my skin anymore. I wouldn't have to live in constant fear that someone would jump from behind a tree and attack me. I wouldn’t have to trample the decayed grass and breathe the stench. I was finally back…
I would go home tonight, take a shower, have a beer and order some... Hey! Who was growling over there?
***
“G-R-R!!! G-R-R!!!” A loud roar pulled me out of my much too realistic dream. Frowning and staring at the ceiling with disbelief, I tried to figure out where I was. What’s happening?
Okay, the bedroom was very familiar to me. I was home. I was in the house of the lacerated couple, to be precise!
I sat up abruptly in bed and turned my head to the boarded window. I heard Vella’s voice. The dog was clearly fighting someone!
Finally, my brain started to work, shaking off the strange dream. Jumping to my feet, I put on my jacket and cloak and jumped into my boots. I approached the window and looked through the crack. My dog was fighting a level 13 Black Bear. Weren’t they usually level 20-21? Stop! Why are arrows flying at Vella?!
Pushing the board aside for a better view, I was able to get an answer to my question. Not far from the trees, almost on the edge of the clearing, I saw a girl dressed in a green cloak with a deep hood. She was string stretching her bow.
Apprentice Ranger Ilsa
Level 30
HP: 380/380
Yesterday my dog gained three levels and she was now level 29. I was sure she could handle a bear in a fair fight, but the archer was spoiling it.
Trying not to make any noise, I quickly pushed the boards aside, activated Blind Eye and climbed the windowsill. I knew very well that living on the second floor of an abandoned house was very dangerous. Even if the first floor was being guarded by the Bullkorg, if she the unknown enemy defeats her, all escape routes will be cut off, except for the window. So, yesterday I came up with a way to get outside in case of trouble.
I held out my hand, aiming Joy of the Acrobat at the thick trunk of an old elm tree growing near the corner of the house. The grapple hooked on a branch, and I pulled the lever. The rope began to reel in, pulling me along. I pushed off and jumped up to gain at least half a second–the distance to the tree was more than to the ground. There was a risk that I would fall to the groun
d first, and be pulled up only after that. I didn’t think that I would die, but I really didn’t want to lose my HP.
However, all went well and after a few moments I had removed the hook from the branch. Releasing the device, I turned around and jumped on a branch of a nearby tree. The next one was a long way off and it was not worth the risk. It was time to get down.
Boots barely touching the grass, I ran toward the archer, pulling the knife from my inventory on the way. It was an ordinary hunting knife which I had inherited from the previous owners of the house.
“Drop the bow and call off the bear,” I whispered in Ilsa’s ear. Standing behind her, I put my arms around her and held the blade to her neck.
“Who are you?” she hissed angrily, lowering her weapon. “What did you do to my parents?”
“What parents?” For a moment I was confused, but then I pressed the blade even closer to her throat. She better not take advantage of my surprise and run away.
“The ones that lived in that house!” She spat out angrily. That was bold... Wasn’t she afraid of dying? Maybe she thought that I wouldn't be able to kill her quickly? She would be right, if that was the case. I had no upgraded skills for the knife or for close combat. But how could she have known that?
Stop! What was I thinking? She said “parents”. There were two bedrooms on the second floor, and I assumed that there had been someone else living in the house before, besides the hunter and his wife. I thought that they could have had a child that had left. And here it was… Or rather, she was. I could only hope that all of that was true, and she wasn’t making a fool out of me.
“I'm sorry,” I said quickly. “Your parents were murdered. I buried and avenged them. Call off your bear, hide your bow, and I'll tell you everything.”
“Fine…” said Ilsa after a few seconds. The weapon disappeared in her inventory.
“Bary, that's enough!” She shouted raising her head.
The bear froze, stopped the swing of its clawed paw, and turned its bewildered muzzle toward its master.
“Vella, stop!” I yelled at the dog before she managed to jump at the distracted enemy’s throat. “The fight is over.”