Chapter 5 – Long, Long Way from Home

“Welcome back.” A relieved smile greeted him, she probably wasn’t convinced he would return. ‘Guess Lily still has some trust issues, can’t blame her though.’

“Yes, I’m back.” Hall answered with a smirk. “Did I miss something?”

“I located the books I need to teach you, you just have to gather them and we can start and before you ask why I didn’t collect them…” She put her hand on one of the books laying around and it passed right through. “It’s been like that since I woke up but at least I can fly around.”

Trying to hide the concern in her voice with humor she flew in circles. Hall wasn’t sure but she seemed to have lost some of her presence. Part of her lower body was missing to begin with and her figure was somewhat transparent, he thought it was just because she was a banshee, but now he wasn’t so sure anymore.

To complicate things the walls of the tower seemed to be imbued with the same magic as the tower grounds, so Lily couldn’t pass through them to look outside. And his chains wouldn’t extend further than a meter or so which meant he couldn’t get books that were placed higher than that.

So she couldn’t leave the tower and touch nothing beside him thanks to their soul bond. And he could walk inside the walls surrounding the tower, but was ridiculous slow and couldn’t reach higher than his waist.

Unfortunately all that made his plan of her gathering edible plants and getting water fall apart. Simple tasks, which would take forever with the chains around his wrists. But brooding over it wouldn’t help.

“Alright, let’s start gathering books.”

He put his weight against the resistance that held him back and took one step after another. Slowly but steadily they gathered different books, scrolls and a bunch of candles. He had to take several breaks. After around two hours he was completely exhausted and fell to the ground gasping for air, at least this time his effort wasn’t in vain.

*Ding*

You have gained status points

+1 Strength

+10 Stamina

Well it’s not much but I guess it’s something. Lily looked worried though.

“I guess those books should suffice for now, let’s start practicing.” He nodded, still panting.

She started by teaching him the foreign alphabet. It seemed to be derived from some kind of cuneiform but with connected lines. Additionally it was made up of mainly vowels with only a handful of consonants. Within another three hours he had a pretty firm grasp on the alphabet and was able to read the language, even if he had no idea what it meant.

*Ding*

You have gained a new skill

“Sweet, show information”

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Ancient LanguagesBeginner10%There are languages long forgotten by the people of this world, only known by those who try to keep the past alive or practice ancient magic.

Effects:

You are able to read a small part of the heritage of ancient languages

Additional effects will be added if you gain further knowledge

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Sorian Language (Subskill of Ancient Languages)Beginner10%The people of Soria were masters of the dark arts, specializing in curses and black magic. Their doom came by the hands of several churches as they were deemed evil.

Effects:

Able to read the Sorian language

Additional effects will be added if you gain further knowledge

*Ding*

You have learned your first language skill

+5 Intelligence

+5 Wisdom

‘Wow, awesome’

Lily seemed satisfied. “Amazing, you learn beyond fast. If you practice this and maybe other languages your skill will rise and if you get it high enough you shouldn’t only be able to understand but also to talk and even use magic based on them.”

He had absolute no interest in ever using this accursed language after they got out of this tower but still nodded. “Alright, now to the next step, it’s time for some pain.”

It was what he dreaded most and explained to Lily. “You know I have to do something about those chains, so I will try touching them again.”

Lily looked at him dumbfounded. “Are you serious? Did you forget the pain last time?”

Hall just laughed. “No, how could I, but it’s necessary, this kind of training raises my level of the skill connected to the chains and with that my understanding of it and the curse.”

She still didn’t like it, but as she saw how determined he was, she refrained from saying anything else and instead stood behind him putting her hands on his shoulders. “I can’t help you but I want you to know that you are not alone in this.”

“That’s more than enough, thank you.” He showed her a genuine smile. It has been a while since he heard words like these and they truly helped him.

Feeling her hands on his shoulders he closed his eyes and calmed himself breathing slowly.

This time he could see the glowing stream of his soul essence within seconds. This time he was more careful putting only a single finger on the now corporal chain. Again pain surged inside of him. This time he expected it, only let out a small gasp and kept his finger on the chain.

The pain didn’t subside but after a minute he touched the second chain with a finger from his other hand. The agony increased but he still wouldn’t let go, breathing heavily now, he only let go after five minutes before he fell to the ground, Lily clinging to him and talking trying to comfort him.

*Ding*

You have created the status Endurance

Endurance:

reduces the physical damage as well as the pain inflicted upon you

Decreases stamina usage

Status point distribution is not possible

‘I’m so going to increase that stat.’ He thought while lying on his back still feeling the after effects of the pain he just suffered. Nonetheless, he was surprised, it should take a whole lot longer to gain this stat, especially as he didn’t get that hurt physically and he only was out of stamina a couple of times.

His best guess was that the pain inflicted upon the soul is somehow regarded as special and so the endurance stat is awarded as not to torture players for too long.

It was also not normal for a new player to receive this kind of pain, as damage to the soul energy itself was incredibly rare so most players will probably never hear about it.

Lily was again close to tears so Hall tried to console her. “Don’t worry, it will be easier from now on and it looks worse than it is.” It was a bad lie but the intention behind it made Lily feel a little bit better.

He stood up and continued with the training, extending the time he was able to touch the chains and also increasing the contact surface. He made at least some progress at the cost of his mental health as the pain slowly took a toll on him.

After two hours he managed to put two fingers on each chain and hold it there for around fifteen minutes. He even gained one point in endurance and managed to increase his progress with the chains of sorrow skill, unfortunately he didn’t manage to level it up.

“Alright, that should be enough for now.” Unable to continue as he was mentally exhausted, he lay on his back chewing on another loaf of rye bread and taking a couple of sips from his water bottle.

‘The canteen should be empty by now, it’s probably magically enhanced to hold a lot more water than usual. I guess that makes sense, it would be kind of annoying to carry around tens of liters of water just to travel a couple of days.’

Lily seemed at least a little bit relieved at his declaration but she knew that it wouldn’t be the end of it.

Hall had eight loafs of bread left which should last him around two days. During his next break he would have to check online how much water fit in a beginner’s canteen, just to be sure he should fill it up as soon as possible.

Stretching and clearing his head Hall sat down and picked up a book Lily has pointed out as being pretty easy to understand. “Good, now back to studying, I need to learn the language, there are a gazillion books we need to read, I’m sure we’ll find a way to break that curse.”

Lily pointed at a large book she seemed to have written. It contained thousands of words, phrases and grammatical rules. “It took me over a decade to complete it, with this you should be able to learn the Sorian language a lot faster.”

So he took the big dictionary and began to translate one of the easy books word for word, remembering the words as he went on, slowly raising his skill Sorian Language.

After three hours he gained a bonus point in wisdom and proceeded to level his Chains of Sorrow. This time he managed to withstand the pain for over three hours without breaking down thanks to his endurance stat.

He was actually able to grab both chains with his hands this time, even if it was only for a couple of minutes. His skill went up to beginner level 3 though he didn’t attain another point in endurance.

Again he lay on his back trying to push the pain away. He so didn’t look forward to doing this for the next days. Still, it had to be done. Steeling his resolve, he swallowed another loaf of bread and picked up the books around him to continue learning.

Switching between agonizing pain and annoying studying he slowly rose his skills and managed to gain two points in each intelligence, wisdom and endurance. It took him a whole day though and he had only two loafs of bread left. ‘Damn, I miscalculated, I need to restock.’

“Lily, I have to go outside, I need some food.” She nodded understanding. “Alright but be careful and don’t forget the shackles that bind us together.

The chain can’t be extended for more than five meters and I can’t leave this tower so you don’t have too much elbowroom out there.”

Hall sighed and slowly moved to the door. When he arrived he was already breathing heavily. Leaving the tower for the first time since being betrayed by Belinda and the rest he was happy to see natural light again, even if the atmosphere was still rather creepy and dark.

He would have loved to hunt a rabbit and would even settle for a crow but he had absolutely no idea how he should manage that with his current speed and without any weapons.

Looking around he saw a couple of bones lying on the ground. ‘That’s probably the skeletons the twins killed. They didn’t even gather what their prey left behind.” He wasn’t surprised though as the loot only consisted of a couple of bones and teeth. He shrugged, pocketed them anyway and continued looking for the well he needed to fill his canteen.

Although Lily described to him where it was, it still took him a couple of minutes to spot the well and he wasn’t surprised he didn’t see it when he entered the area the first time.

The stones barely reached his knee and were overgrown with moss. The rusty bucket next to it was toppled over and he wasn’t sure the rope attached to it would allow him to carry a lot of water seeing how withered it was.

He approached the well breathlessly and filled his canteen and took a couple of sips of the water as he didn’t trust it completely seeing the old well.

*Ding*

You drank water from a well placed on cursed ground

-5mp

‘Well that could have been worse.’ He chuckled as he didn’t have any mana anyway.

His thirst quenched he started to search for edible plants around the well and found a couple of berries, roots and what looked like thorny nuts. ‘I bet they are poisonous, I really need the Identification skill, guess I have ask Lily before taking a bite.’

Unfortunately he couldn’t reach the gravestones. There grew a couple of red and black flowers he wanted to pick but he had to give up on them for now.

Wandering around, pulling the chains behind him while panting violently, he picked dozens of plants and put them in his inventory and after a couple of hours he finally got a message that made him smile.

*Ding*

You have gained status points

+1 Strength

+10 Stamina

Satisfied with his progress he stepped back inside the tower where a worried Lily greeted him.

“You’ve been out there for hours and you overdid it again, you know I can tell.”

Seeing her pouting face he couldn’t help but smile. She was really the only thing that kept him going. ‘Unbelievable that she’s an artificial intelligence.’

Being inside he put everything he gathered out in the open for Lily to inspect except for the bones and teeth. “Lily I hope you know something about plants and poison.”

She nodded. “A little bit, I grew up in these woods so I should be able to tell you a couple of things about the vegetation.”

The next few minutes she was busy inspecting anything he took out of his inventory.

“Well most of it is edible though you won’t like the taste very much. These grey berries are actually antiseptic, so they are used to treat wounds. These though.” She pointed at the suspicious thorny nuts, they have a somewhat unique ability.

If you eat them raw they will give you a reduction in speed, something you probably can’t afford in your current state.

They will also cause some damage, reducing your health. If you cook them though their properties change and they will give you a little bit of mana.”

‘Great.’ He thought. ‘They can counteract the water, not that it matters anyway.’

So he took a large pot that probably wasn’t used in centuries and cleaned out the dust. He started to make a fire in the chimney that looked like it was designed for cooking.

Filling the pot with water from his canteen. ‘Wow, there’s really a lot in there.’

“Lily, how are your cooking skills?” He asked hopefully, but she only shook her head.

“Pretty much nonexistent, I know enough about plants to survive if I’m lost in the woods. I can also cook some meat over a fire, usually burning half of it in the process of course. Sorry I can’t make you breakfast anytime soon.”

Both started laughing and even though they were in a dark and dirty tower, both cursed, far away from home and scared because they didn’t know what their future held, they somehow managed to be happy together forgetting their sorrows for a moment.

Still smiling he thought about what he could do with the food, then just shrugged and threw everything together in the pot. He even tore up the remaining bread and put it in because he thought it might thicken the broth.

Lily stared at him with wide eyes. “I’m pretty sure that’s not how you are supposed to do it and did you put the berries in there? You don’t eat them, you make a paste out of them and put it on the wound.”

But Hall just pushed her worries aside. He had to eat something after all and it couldn’t be much worse than the bread, he just hoped it wouldn’t be poisonous.

While the broth was cooking he continued to train his Chains of Sorrow skill. It was as agonizing as ever, putting more force on the chains increased the pain and made him shiver and twitch.

During his breaks he stirred the food, watching his satiety bar slowly drop.

He had actually no idea how long it would take for the makeshift stew to be ready and he just hoped it would be soon. ‘Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to put everything I had in there.’

But he could do nothing about it now so he closed his eyes, concentrated on his soul energy and continued with his training.

Through his pain he barely heard the sound he hated and loved at the same time.

*Ding*

You have created Dubious Broth

May the gods have mercy on your soul

‘Well that’s not very encouraging now, is it?’

But he couldn’t really deny the questionability of the food. The color was greyish with a hint of green, the smell was not really appetizing but thankfully not appalling either and seeing how it poured from the ladle back into the pot it somehow reminded him of really overcooked porridge.

‘Well, here goes nothing.’ He used the ladle to eat directly out of the pot and gulped down whatever it was he made. The taste wasn’t even so bad, as it was rather bland with a hint of bitterness. It was the texture that made him almost vomit, as he tried to swallow the slimy mass.

“Oh my god, this is terrible.” said Hall with a distorted face. Lily just shook her head but also had a disgusted look as she shared his feelings. “Told you so. I can’t believe you have to eat this for the next few days.”

She was right, he put in all he had and it was enough to keep him going for at least three or four more days.

Sighing deeply he ate another ladle full of the mysterious goo and another one after that until his satiety bar was full. Forcing himself to keep the food down he sat on the cold floor.

*Ding*

temporary status change (30min):

+30% mana regeneration

-30% health regeneration

He couldn’t help but chuckle tiredly while lying down and closing his eyes.

“You have been working hard, how about a taking a break for a couple of hours.”

Lily approached him and put a hand on his head, it was so cold it almost made him cry. It was just wrong for someone like her who was so kind to be this cold.

So instead of following her well-meant advice he shook his head, sat up and took the books lying around to continue to study. “Not yet, I can still go on.”

Another day passed with him training his Chains of Sorrow and Sorian Language Skill. If his satiety bar dropped too low he reluctantly forced some of the food down his throat and if he was thirsty he drank from his canteen.

Lily was always by his side, comforting him, motivating him, teaching him. She stopped trying to convince him to take it easy and instead did what she could to make him get through his draining exercise and studying.

It was already two and a half days game days since he logged in which meant he hasn’t eaten anything or went to the toilet for over thirteen hours and so he decided to get a bite of real food to eat and take of certain needs.

“Lily I’ll be back in a couple of hours, so don’t worry alright?” This time she nodded without a doubt in her eyes, the days they spent together showed her, that she could trust him. “See you soon.”

He logged out, stepped out of his capsule and began to stretch. ‘They really should invent something so your body trains while you’re inside of this thing, at least I wouldn’t have to worry about my body then.’ Yawning he put an instant meal in the nanowave oven and went into the bathroom to relieve himself.

As usual he ate his meal in front of the computer but this time he browsed the internet for information instead of watching some action series or anime. ‘Would you look at that, the small beginner’s canteen can actually carry 25 liters of water, not bad.’

Unfortunately he found absolutely no information on soul essence, the Sorian language or any grand curses. Instead he found something rather unsettling. The kingdom of Bredon was really far in the west with his starting city being even farther in the same direction. ‘Did those guys have some kind of teleportation scroll? This is ridiculous, how am I supposed to get into any decent town like this.’

He didn’t even know where the tower was as he just followed his party. The whole area was covered in woods and pretty much unexplored and so he was very sure he wouldn’t find Fostein again. ‘Well one problem at a time, the first step is to get out of the tower.’

The only good thing was that the area around the town was pretty low level, but because it was in the middle of nowhere not many beginners started there. Usually most newcomers checked where famous guilds, as well as important NPCs that could teach different crafts, were located to get their classes and jobs as fast as possible.

He also reread some stuff about skills and stats which gave him an idea to improve his training.

Surprised he noticed a new article and bend over to read it properly. It was something that seemed to be known for a while but there weren’t confirmed reports as most players kept it to themselves to either have an advantage over others or by orders from their guilds.

The article was about passive skills. There seemed to be different kinds as some were able to be leveled up through special actions and others that would remain the same throughout the game making them more like traits than skills.

Some skills, passive or active, were removable by the players while others had to be removed through quests, by NPCs or with the help of special items.

Those passive skills were often highly desired as they didn’t cost any mana or stamina but could increase ones fighting capability significantly.

Afterwards he skimmed through some news. A handful of new hidden classes have been discovered. A couple of people managed to reach intermediate in a profession. The first person reached level 100. Although it seemed that the game would become significantly harder from then on out. All this was far away from him right now.

So he closed his eyes and listened to his favorite rock song, the same song he always listened to before exams or other difficult task. He just loved those old songs, guitars, bass, drums and a good singing voice. He just couldn’t get into that computer generated stuff.

Too bad he couldn’t sing or play an instrument. ‘I have to ask Lily to sing something for me.’

With this thought he lay down inside the capsule. ‘Enough idle thoughts, back to training.’

“Connect to Novus Vita.”

Back to Main Page

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Author’s Note:

Just as promised, another chapter, hope you like it

It’s mainly about training and the relationship between Lily and Hall, so there’s not that much progress, but I think it’s important to build up the characters even if it isn’t incredible exciting, hope you agree

As always, I’m grateful for advice, suggestions and for pointing out mistakes.

:bye: