by J. J. Thorn
There had been a couple of stand-outs, of course. Apparently, two of the kids had received the 'FIRE' and 'FLAME' affinities, and one had even received the 'NATURE' affinity.
Elemental affinities, like Cousin John, were always viewed as good luck towards the town, so seeing multiple was a blessing to the Town of Huag, despite receiving so few affinity users.
There had been a few people confused at my WEIGHT affinity, but there was a kid who got the RAT affinity and luckily gossip about who that might be outweighed my own.
So the days passed and my training regimen was a bit more formalized. Runs in the morning, Skill training throughout the day, and some sword training at the end of the day.
I was still awful, of course, but I got to keep the iron sword and expected to use it again in the future. Dad brought home a blunted sword instead, so I wouldn't be swinging around a sharpened weapon, and I made sure to swing that sword after dinner every day.
The Prep School was in two weeks, and I couldn't wait to learn more about my Skills and my affinity!
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Dad had brought back some fresh chicken from the market for dinner that night and we were all seated around the table. Mom had used the chicken to make a beautiful soup, filled with some of the vegetables from the garden.
I had started to appreciate the time we were spending together. I think the added pressure of me going away had caused Mom to start working shorter hours so we could have a home-cooked meal every night.
Dad couldn't make it to every dinner, but he had definitely been showing up more than usual as well. I still hadn't gotten anything more out of him about his Dungeon diving days, but they were happy to help answer some of my questions about my own Rank and Skill. Tonight, Elise was helping me think of new ways to use my skill.
"What if you try to use the Skill while upside-down?"
"When would I ever need to use a Skill while upside-down?" I responded with some hesitation.
"Well, you're in a Dungeon. You're walking through a doorway and BOOM; you get ambushed by a pack of Trolls on the other side! One of the Trolls grabs you by the right leg and starts holding you upside down! The Troll looks at you with it's one huge eye."
"I thought Cyclops were the ones with one eye?"
"This Troll lost his first eye in a fight, don't interrupt!" Mom and Dad were chuckling softly at Elise's imagination.
"So ya, the Troll starts looking you in the eye and is about to eat you when you say 'WAIT!'. The Troll starts to reconsider based on the sincerity of your voice. You take a few moments and tell the Troll their weight.
The Troll is OVERJOYED!"
"Why would the Troll be happy to know their own weight?" This story keeps getting more and more ridiculous!
"Ugh, well, it... it really liked one of the Troll girls and it turns out the biggest Troll is usually the one that becomes Chief. So, he was REALLY happy to find out he had gained weight and might be able to beat the current Chief. As Chief, he would win the Troll Girls' hearts! It's just logic Terrence!"
"Haha ok, Elise. Well maybe I'll try to use it upside down, that should earn me a percentage for trying."
"Exactly!" Elise was thrilled. Her idea would be a huge success. She was also thrilled that her Troll story had worked out. She hadn't finished the story with her parents as yet and wanted to give it a shot before telling her friends at school.
"You will not be using it on me again Terrence." Mom started to say.
"There are only so many times a woman can hear that she's gained a pound since the previous day. I must draw the line somewhere! I started skipping breakfast and lunch in the hopes that you would weigh me beforehand!" Mom continued.
Dad was starting to realize that the soup in his bowl was the most interesting thing in the world at that very moment. Nothing could take his attention away from the soup.
"Mom, I told you I don't have to tell you what I see as a notification!"
"That just won't work. Why don't you start using it on yourself, see how that makes you feel!"
"Myself? I can't use it on myself! I..." Myself, can I use it on myself?
"Why not Terrence? Have you not tried it as yet?" Had I never tried to use it on myself!?
"I don't think so... I just hadn't thought about it." Dad stopped looking at his soup. Both my parents started to pay extra attention to the conversation.
"Honey, we know you went through a lot while you were younger about your weight, and..."
"And you don't need to worry about that stuff anymore" Dad finished Mom's sentence. Both looked at me lovingly. My bullies had never been a secret from the family, and my parents had always taught me to rise above their taunting.
Is that why I hadn't considered it before? Was I afraid to know how much I actually weighed?
"It's stupid, it's fine. I'll just try it later, shouldn't be a big deal." But then why hadn't I tried it before? I had checked the weight of everyone in my family, several people I passed by, and most of every object that I could see. And yet, I never even considered checking my own...
"It's ok to be worried son, you got picked on a lot growing up and it's a sore subject" My dad tried again.
"Yes honey, everyone worries about their weight sometimes..."
"I'm not WORRIED!" The house became deafly quiet.
…
Since when do I raise my voice? Especially at my parents! Why is this bothering me so much?!
I stopped reacting to John and his loser friends years ago. The taunts just became unimaginative and boring after a while.
Besides, I had worked so hard to lose weight and become healthier. I barely even know how much I weighed before, so why would this even matter?
"Terrence..." Elise started.
"Terrence." My parents both repeated as well.
"It's fine, I'm fine, I'm sorry for yelling, I'm going to go for a walk, thanks for dinner." I spat out quickly.
"Terrence, but what about trying the Skill in water!" Elise tried to cheer me up as I walked out of the house.
I started to walk away from the city towards the plains and farmlands to the west.
I wasn't up to talking to the guards right now.
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I had been walking for 15 minutes. I still can't believe how I acted back there. I had spent so much time thinking of different ways to use the Skill, but I'd never thought to use it on myself. Were my parents right? Was I worried that I might not like what I see?
Walking along the path, I couldn't see very far into the distance. Despite being south of the city, if you walked far enough West you would eventually reach some trees from the forest, but that was far enough that we didn't really have to worry.
For the most part, this area was used for farmland. Mom and Dad would take us walking this way all the time because of how beautiful it looked during the day.
I reached one of the farms that mom always took us to. This farm had a lot of lettuce and radishes. Mom did the farmer’s finances for basically free, so she was able to take stuff home pretty regularly.
I stopped and started to consider my Skill again. View Weight. A skill specifically used to view the weight of people and things. Why wouldn't it allow me to view my own weight?
Rank 1 abilities were generally a way to get used to your affinity and think of how it might be used in the future.
If I think about it, most of the things I would want to do in the future revolved around my own weight. As a result, it only made sense that I would need to understand my own weight.
I took the leap and even spoke it verbally. "View Weight".
Instead of spending time concentrating on an external source, I started to think about myself. My own weight.
It took longer than most things did, but after about 45 seconds, I finally received the notification:
205 pounds!
Was that good? Was that
bad? I began to laugh. I didn't even know "hahhahaa"
I had no idea what that really even meant. I had seen so many people's weights over the last two weeks. Some more than mine, lots less, but who cared!
My training was definitely paying off and I was starting to see some serious muscle gains. Who cares!
I continued to laugh beside the farm's lettuce for a solid 10 minutes.
As I continued to laugh, I didn't take any notice of my surroundings. I had been so focused on laughing that I was completely surprised when something hit the back of my left leg. The pressure of the hit, the ache in my leg, and the suddenness of it all caused me to fall over. I was now sitting on my butt, as something was attacking me. I looked around frantically as I tried to understand what might have attacked me.
Looking around seemed fruitless as I sat there prone.
"Ok Terrence, you have to get up." I said to myself.
As I started getting up, the attacker came from the front and hit me in the right leg this time.
At this point, I had a small cut on both of my legs, but if this continued, I wouldn't be able to get home.
I started to realize that I needed to think of something before I was overrun by my attacker. I started to think.
The attacker is obviously faster than me, otherwise, I would have noticed it already. The darkness didn't help, but I could still see most things around me.
The attacker doesn't seem to be bothered by me while I'm on the ground, but as soon as I stand up it attacks my legs... my legs...
Since it's only attacking my legs below the knee, does that mean I'm looking for something that can only reach that height?
It also came for the back of my legs the first time, then the front. If I trust that it'll do the same thing again, it's probably behind me waiting to attack.
I started to shuffle my body around and look around. I still couldn't see anything, so I went with plan B.
I started to get up slowly, keeping an eye on things around my knee's height.
As soon as I was fully standing, a white ball of fur started to sprint towards my legs.
I just barely dodged it while it almost grazed my leg yet again.
This time, as it passed by, I turned my body and followed its movements to see where it stopped, then crouched on the ground.
Despite the darkness, now that I knew what the look for, I was able to get a better look at what I was looking for.
In the distance, eating a large piece of lettuce was a small rabbit.
This rabbit was completely white, with small legs that appeared to be tucked into its body. On its head stood erect a horn. The horn was no larger than the size of its head, but it was slightly pointed at the tip.
The rabbit continued to eat the lettuce as I stared at it.
Of course, after making a breakthrough with my affinity I would get attacked by the wimpiest monster alive.
I had seen this type of monster before during the day, but they were generally more afraid of humans than we were of them. Whenever you got too close, they would run away.
I could only assume that I had somehow startled it with my laughing while it ate, which made it anxious enough to attack.
Maybe it thought I was the farmer trying to take away it's lettuce again?
For all I know it could just be defending its home since the lettuce was it’s favourite food?
Either way, I now knew what was attacking me. I weighed my options and thought back to what Uncle Tom had told me.
Uncle Tom had told me to gather as much information as possible. I had determined what was attacking me, how it attacked, but I didn't use my skill... AGAIN! This was going to take getting used to.
I concentrated on the rabbit and said 'View Weight' in my head, as to not startle the monster any further.
It only took 20 seconds, and I finally received a notification.
13 pounds!
So, there I have it…the rabbit is only 13 pounds, no wonder it's so fast!
To get away, I could try to run away, but then it might chase me and I don't want to hurt my legs anymore.
I could crawl away... but I have no way of knowing if my movement will bother it again.
I know that I was able to dodge it when I saw it coming from the front. What if I used the chance to kick it, instead of dodging it?
That could work.
As I enacted my plan, I slowly stood up. I watched the rabbit look in my direction. As soon as I reached my full height, the rabbit was on the move.
It darted left and right as it ran in my direction, making it hard to follow with my eyes. I used some of the practice I'd been doing over the last couple of weeks to concentrate on the rabbit a bit more. I didn't use my skill, but I could tell that some of my internal energy had been used slightly.
Making sure not to get too caught up in the feeling, the rabbit was upon me. Winding up, I tried to kick the monster with my left foot... and missed.
The rabbit had zagged to the left while I tried to kick with my left foot, resulting in my miss.
I had overextended my leg, and the rabbit took the opportunity to hit the front of my right leg again.
I now had two cuts around my lower leg and ankle.
I fell forward into a lunge as the pain in my right leg reached the rest of my body.
I sat down, worried that the rabbit would attack again. I turned my body around and was luckily able to find the rabbit in the distance.
Somehow it had already found some lettuce to start eating, as it stared at me mockingly.
My first attempt had been a failure.
A few more of those and my legs would be bruised and cut beyond belief. I wouldn't be able to train for the rest of the month if that happened!
Should I just sit here and wait for the rabbit to finish? My parents would come to find me eventually... and find me cowering from a rabbit. I would be surprised if they even categorized it as a G-rank monster.
No, I was going to be a Dungeoneer! I could deal with this monster.
I started to enact my plan again. I had missed it before, but the rabbit would always attack the left side, my right. This time, I would use my right to kick, the same one it always attacked!
I started to scramble up slowly. Same as last time, as soon as I stood up, it started zig-zagging in my direction.
This time, I waited a bit longer to pull my leg back - I didn’t want to alert it to my plan.
I waited as long as I could and as soon as it was right in front of me, I KICKED!
The rabbit was catapulted a meter away, the kick not holding much power since I hadn't fully braced myself.
As I watched, the rabbit was dazed as it started to get up...
I had to do something! Do I run now while it's dazed and probably injured?
No! I am supposed to be a monster hunter!
I ran forward as fast as I could and jumped on the rabbit!
The rabbit could do nothing as the 205-pound human landed on the 13-pound rabbit! It tried to struggle and hit me with its horn, but without momentum the stubby horn had nothing it could do.
There I sat with a struggling rabbit in my arms. Incapacitated, I used my weight to hold the rabbit down.
I’m not proud to say so, but I put my weight on it’s neck until it stopped moving. This took longer than I would have liked, but the extreme weight difference played a huge role.
Now, I did feel bad about killing the rabbit, but it had just tried to take out my legs! And hunters kill these daily for food in town!
Had I really done anything that much worse?
I tried to not think about it much, as I knew I would be killing hundreds of other monsters in the future. The Armadon was another monster, after all, am I supposed to care less because it looked like a huge rock with legs?
While musing, I realized that this is the same reason I had been ambushed the last time. I became very aware of my position on the ground, with two bleeding legs.
I got up and started wal
king towards home. My legs hurt slightly, but thankfully the injuries weren't too bad.
'Current Progress'
Affinity : Weight
Rank 1 – View Weight – 50%
"Hahahaha Figures." I started to laugh again. Maybe it was finally using the Skill on myself, or killing the rabbit, or even because I used my weight to overcome the rabbit. For now, it doesn't really matter.
After dismissing my status, I spent the rest of the walk more aware of my surroundings. It wouldn't be good if I got attacked again in my current state.
Mom wouldn't be thrilled about having to bandage me up again... but at least I'll be bringing home tomorrow's dinner!
Chapter 9
Augment
"Damn it, I thought I had it that time!"
For the hundredth time since my fight with the rabbit, I had tried to use my internal energy on something other than my eyes. There had been absolutely no success so far.
My thought was that my Skill was related to my eyes, and as a result, it made it easier for me to use the energy in the same way. Also, the meager amount of energy I had probably wasn't enough to use anywhere else.
I think this was my last attempt. We probably had dinner soon and I left for Prep School tomorrow! I wouldn’t be able to regenerate enough internal energy before I could try again. Plus I still had no idea how it worked.
It had been almost two weeks since my farm fight with the rabbit, and I had now fully recovered. Mom hadn't been happy to see me hurt but was happy to know I was OK. They had been able to bandage my legs well enough that I was able to continue training, which made ME happy.
Elise had taken to calling me bunny-killer. I'd given them a recap of my fight and made sure to leave out any gory details at the end. I hadn't realized at the time, but killing the rabbit via suffocation definitely wasn't the best way to preserve any meat on the beast. My mom had tried to salvage it, but realistically, most of it was lost.
Hunting for food truly was an art - an art I had no talent in! Another thing to add to the list of things to improve.