A note from the Qual’Fan guide to Helldarvin:

The creatures of Helldarvin, while varied in size, temperament, and abilities, all possess one universal trait. Exceptionally high Physique. The reason for this is irrelevant to your survival. Any who plan to train on this Dungeon World must prepare methods of breaking through the creature’s tough exteriors and depleting their enormous health pools.

“Goddammit!”

The anger and frustration temporarily overwhelms my Meditation, slowing down my Mana Regeneration to a point of near uselessness.

Despite my earlier confidence, the Hunter in the pit is still not dead. I’ve spent the last three hours using Condensed Mana Bolt’s on it, throwing it around the pit with an impressive amount of force. The Hunter still manages to stand, if somewhat pitifully, and looks at me with hate. The coarse purple fur that once helped it blend in with the pines is now missing over half of its body, evidently incinerated by the sheer amount of Mana that I’ve thrown at it. If it wasn’t for the fact that it would tear my throat out without a second’s thought, I would admire the creature for its tenacity.

Obviously I need a different way of handling these creatures. I had planned on trapping them as often as possible, using them as test dummies to improve my skills and provide me with a source of meat. If I can’t even kill a single one then that plan has little to no viability. I've managed to gain 4 levels in Condensed Mana Bolt but killing the beast is becoming a time sink and I have other ideas that I want to work on.

Deciding to put it off for an hour or two, I open up my Status page.

Name: Cael King Health (Regeneration): 85/85 (27/h)

Race: Human (Earth) Mana (Regeneration): 22/130 (50/h)

Class: Unassigned Stamina (Regeneration): 65/70 (25/m)

Level: 1 Available WP: 50

Strength: 5 Intelligence: 10 Perception: 5

Dexterity: 4 Wisdom: 6 Recovery: 3

Endurance: 5 Willpower: 6 Charisma: 3

Physique: 6

Now that I have 50 Way Points available I think it’s probably time to finally invest them. I’d been holding off on the hopes that I’d be able to keep all of them tucked away until the 2 month period was over and I could ask the man which Way to invest in. Unfortunately, that idea doesn’t seem particularly viable at this moment and I open the page to see what I’m going to put them in.

Ways: The Way of the Randomly Chosen (0/100), The Way of The Hopeless (0/250), The Way of The Traveler (0/50), The Way of the Mana Initiate (0/50), The Way of Intelligence (0/25)

The last two options were new and both were available to finish with the amount of points that I had. Sitting down with crossed legs, I slip into Meditation and think about the choice as if I am planning my future life. The increased mental acuity of Planning kicks in and my thoughts become faster and more fluid.

The Way of the Traveler is not on my list of options. It strikes me as an ambiguous Way that may not have significant returns on the investment, probably only unlocked because I'm on Helldarvin. The Way of the Randomly Chosen interests me but, unlike the other paths, I have literally no idea what the benefits will be. With random in the title it wouldn’t surprise me if the benefit was completely up to chance. That was a risk that, although I wanted to take eventually, didn’t make sense right now.

That left Hopeless, Mana Initiate, and Intelligence. Intelligence definitely made sense based on the Skills I was using but, given that it required fewer points than Mana Initiate, I suspect that the benefit is not as significant as a Way that requires a larger investment. The only reason that the 11th Wave reward had been so beneficial was due to Humanity’s weak position.

So it comes down to Mana Initiate and Hopeless. I have absolutely no idea what Hopeless will do but I had watched as the man’s eyes had lit up upon the mention of that Way. I’m sorely tempted to put all of my points into Mana Initiate but I can’t get rid of the image of the man’s face at the mention of Hopeless. Closing my eyes and praying that I’m not making a huge mistake, I invest all the points into the Way of the Hopeless, knowing that it will take me a long time to get to the final payout. I am then pleasantly surprised when, upon reaching the 50th point, a notification appears.

While many lives are difficult or filled with struggle, yours is completely Hopeless. Despite this, you continue to struggle against your situation. You refuse to lie down and die, striving forward relentless and constant. Willpower + 5, Wisdom + 5.

The lightning of an attribute increase sparks through my mind instantaneously. With the increase in Wisdom I finally seem able to comprehend the difference between it and Intelligence, a conundrum that had been troubling me since I first stared at my Status page. Imagine that my mind when I arrived was a pond. It contained reasonable depth and size and allowed for a small ecosystem to develop. My increases in Intelligence expanded the boundaries of the pond, welcoming more creatures into the upper layers, while the corresponding increase in Wisdom doubled the depth of the pond, allowing for deeper creatures to scurry around the depths. To describe in simple terms, the Intelligence allows me to store more information but the Wisdom allows me to apply it in new and interesting ways.

The Willpower, on the other hand, is still hard to classify. Perhaps true understanding of it will come in time.

Satisfied with the little break, I stand up and quickly scan around the outer ring of trees, keeping a careful eye out for any other creatures that may come to kill me. My trap may have worked once but that doesn’t guarantee its success again.

Not seeing any creatures, I walk over to the hole and stare down at the little hate filled Hunter below. His ridiculously resistant body has managed to regenerate some of the skin that I had previously whittled down. Concentrated Bolts just won’t do the trick for the creature. I need something that can pierce through his tough hide and do internal damage. I mean I’m not entirely sure that internal damage is as fatal in Genesis as it was previously but it is a better idea than anything else I’ve got.

I climb up my tree, determined to be safe as I once again dive into my Well, and ignore the notification that informs me of the level up in Climbing. The point is certainly helpful but won’t do anything significant now.

Holding my palm face up, I conjure up a Concentrated Mana Bolt, staring at it intensely. The problem I have right now is that the force can't break into the creature's body. I need to figure out a way to break into its natural armor. I spend the next hour meditating on how I'll be able to solve the problem when I'm struck with inspriation. Perhaps if I elongate the front … add a second weaker layer in the back … add a tip for piercing ability…

After an another hour of careful crafting, along with a serious amount of trial and error, a notification ping greets me and I smile at my success.

You have created the Skill Mana Bullet (R-3) Lvl 1. Your race’s history with violence has served you well, serving as a base for this Skill! Let Humanity's weapon become the method by which you gain power! Cost: 29.75 (35 – 15%) Mana. Increased skill level improves damage, piercing ability, and speed.

As the 439,204th person to create this Skill, you are awarded a Creation Bonus. Your bonus is: 15% decrease in Mana cost.

Mana Manipulation has reached Lvl 9 & 10. Few understand the unlimited potential of Mana. Fewer take the risk to manipulate the fuel of Life itself once they understand the consequences. Increased ease of manipulation. +2 Intelligence, + 2 Wisdom.

That last aspect of the discovery is interesting. I may not have been the first person to create the Skill but evidently even those a few hundred thousand after are awarded some sort of bonus. My eyes light up at the thought of the 1st creation bonus. Yet another long term goal is filed down in my mind.

I walk down to the hole once again and hold my hand out in the semblance of a gun. Intellectually I know that a gun looks nothing like my hand, especially with my thumb pointing towards the sky, but the symbolism helped me form the Skill and I decide to keep it that way. Conjuring up the Mana Bullet, I admire my handiwork for a second.

Unlike the Condensed Mana Bolt and Raw Mana Bolt, I don’t actually need to will the Bullet forward. The reason for this lies in the ingenious design, if I may so myself. The entire structure of the Bullet is actually composed of two separate parts. The first is the pointed tip at the front, which is contained in a shell that is roughly twice the density of Condensed Mana Bolt. The second is a little chamber at end of it that contains Raw Mana, as well as a very thin separation. I activate the bullet by willing the separation to collapse, creating a small localized explosion that propels the front end of the Bullet forward. All in all, Mana in its simplest form can be used as a more versatile form of gunpowder.

Pointing down towards the Hunter, I will the separation to collapse and the Bullet explodes out of my hand, rushing towards the Hunter at a speed that I can barely follow. The Bullet then pierces through the roof of the beast’s skull and detonates upon hitting the lower end, sending little spurts of blood out of the entry wound. Despite this horrific wound, the beast still stumbles around and looks at me with those hateful eyes, if somewhat out of focused. I admire it for its sheer tenacity.

I conjure up another Bullet and hit it within the body, making the beast cough blood. It still refuses to die.

In the end it takes another 3 Mana Bullets before the Hunter is finally dead. I can pinpoint the moment of its exact death because it perfectly coincides with the litany of notifications that overwhelm me.

You have killed a Helldarvin Hunter [Lvl 24]. For killing a creature more than 20 levels above you, experience is quadrupled. Experience gained: 29,600 [7400 * 4].

You have reached Lvl 11! Attribute Points Available: 10

Trap Making has reached Lvl 8, 9, … 14. The best hunters know that the most efficient way to capture prey is through the use of traps. Whether that prey is beast or not, traps allow the careful hunter to take out the strongest foes. Increased knowledge of traps.

Mana Bullet (R-3) has reached Lvl 2, 3, … 9

Smiling to myself, I begin to whistle a little tune as I go down into the hole and take out the body of the Hunter, throwing it into a pile with the other body.