CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

Is this really what the life of heroes should be like...

~

The smell of dirt and grass was joined by the smell of fresh rain

The feeling of the water on his head helped ease the pain

The nausea had subsided though he still felt cold and weak

But after sitting up Twig found found the energy to speak

“Status” he cried out in hope of answers, but no luck

Whatever all those symbols meant, his status was still stuck

He stared into that broken screen while soaking in the mud

But at the very least he was not wet with his own blood

~ xxmx: Txxx ~

xxxxx: xxxxxxxx

xxxxx: Pxxxxxx

xxxx

[x]

xxxxx

[0]

xxxxx

[x]

xxxxx

[x]

xxx

[0]

xxxx

[x]

xxxxx

[x]

xxxx

[0]

Xxx xxxxx xxx xxxxxx xxxx xx xxxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxxxx

Xxxxxxx xxx xxxxxxxxxx xx xxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxx

Xxxxxx xxxx xxx x xxxxx xxxx xx xxx xxxx xxx xxxxxx

Xx xxx xxxx xxx gxx ox txmx, xxx’xx xxxx x xxxxxx xx xxxx

He couldn’t tell if it were close to sunrise or sunset

He had no sense of how long he had been unconscious yet

The rain continued falling lightly from the cloudy sky

And then the boy was shaken by a long and painful sigh

He took a breath and hoped that when he turned his head to look

That he would see no evidence of the great life he took

He opened his eye slowly as his hand began to shake

Wanting to see nothing of the life he tried to take

There beside him on the damp and grassy forest floor

Was a Horn Bear capable of rampaging no more

But what little relief he felt that he was still alive

Vanished, for he was not the only one to survive

The Horn Bear was quite injured but it too had yet to die

It struggled feebly to get up while staring at the sky

Twig had always wanted to see such a creature dead

But now when he looked in its eyes he saw himself instead

“What is happening to me, why can’t I kill this thing

How come looking at this creature just makes my ears ring”

He backed away until his back was up against a tree

And something popped into his vision unexpectedly

Achievement: Empathy for the Weak

Not that it’s my business but I guess it’s fair to say

Your own eyes have looked up at the sky in the same way

It’s a shame that isn’t how things went in the last fight

Seeing you die that way sure would fill me with delight

“Empathy…” Twig muttered while he hugged his muddy knees

“How do people kill so many big monsters with ease…”

He cried until the shame of all the tears he had released

Gave way to fatigue and finally his weeping ceased

The Horn Bear had recovered just enough to raise its head

But in its eyes was still the knowledge it would soon be dead

And when Twig looked at it from underneath a great pine tree

He could see a helpless beast but not an enemy

Achievement: Makes Sense

The more I think about it though, the more sense that it makes

Of all the hunters out there, you’ve exactly what it takes

If anyone could understand a stupid beast, it’s you

No one could relate to dying monsters like you do!

The insults didn’t hurt as much as they would have before

They helped him understand what his new strength was really for

Twig recalled the words to an old lesson he had heard

Every village child had to remember every word

“Power is for killing enemies and saving friends

When you save a life, remember that another ends”

He’d never understood the meaning of those words til now

He wished he could undo the battle with the beast somehow

Achievement: Cruel

Hurry up, it’s suffering, it won’t survive out here

It won’t be long until some other animals appear

Put the thing out of its misery, it’s all on you

Even I was planning to put you down quickly too

He stood up and approached the bear still shivering and cold

Resentful of the power that he suddenly controlled

“I don’t want to kill, I don’t want to slay a monster

I want to go back home and I want to see my mother”

He started reaching out toward the head of the Horn Bear

He didn’t see why death was a fate they both had to share

He pitied it for fighting him and being in such pain

Alone out there and wait for death in the pouring rain

But as he reached out, maybe just to try and comfort it

The beast recoiled and Twig noticed that his left had was bit

He pulled it back and noticed that his left hand was missing

Taking just a moment to remember everything

Achievement: Childish

This is why I hate kids, I’ll just to it myself then

I shouldn’t have left work to you that was meant for real men

Let’s see if I’ve got this right, ya, this should do the trick

Seriously, how gutless are you, it makes me sick

~ Name: Unnamed⇨ Horn ~

Title: Dying

Class: Horn Bear [lv1]

HP

[15⇨ 0]

MANA

[2⇨ 0]

ATK

[24⇨ 0]

INT

[3⇨ 0]

DEF

[23⇨ 0]

SPD

[13⇨ 0]

A creature that fell victim to the the most selfish of boys

Who causes suffering as if it’s something he enjoys

It’s only crime today was being weaker than that child

Who’d still be better off just dying out here in the wild

Suddenly the air around Twig violently shook

Everything was wavy and it hurt his eye to look

The Horn Bear’s stats just vanished as it lay upon the ground

Without them it died instantly, without another sound

System Message

Warning, status has been changed to quickly, please refrain

The sudden change is causing the system increasing strain

Searching for the cause of this system violation

Unable to determine the culprit’s location...

Twig’s mind was already blank before the message came

“It’s dead, I killed it, why did it suddenly have a name…”

He touched the bear again where he had struck it earlier

His fingers sunk into the creature's course and thick brown fur

Achievement: Weak

You really did pass out from just the shock of your first kill

If this doesn’t make it clear, then I don’t know what will

Give up for the sake of everything that’s good and right

Eat the food your mother prepared, then just say goodnight

“Just let me go home, I don’t want to be out here now

Please forgive me, I’ll fix whatever I did somehow”

But neither the god or the System answered the boy’s cries

He wept until he’d cried enough tears for a pair of eyes

~