Chapter 7

Adrian tapped the side of the door again and waited.

This time the room seemed clear, the soldier having been the only occupant that reacted to the sound.

He took his lamp and checked inside, finding a small room with a simple bed and table, a wooden chair and a chest of drawers.

A wooden rack fastened to the wall to his right immediately took his attention, on it both a small wooden shield and a crossbow.

“Yes,” he said quietly, making sure the room was clear before he checked the newfound gear.

The crossbow struck him as much more interesting, the wood treated and with a variety of metal pieces built in or attached, two of which holding the string in place.

2h Weapon – Faenhold Crossbow [Adequate]

Skill +2

Adrian had never seen a crossbow from up close, let alone shot one. Considering there were only a few pieces to the design, he thought it more than possible to figure the thing out.

Compared to a modern rifle, it looked positively archaic.

Then again, his currently most deadly weapon was a piece of pointy steel. If he could kill monsters without engaging them from up close, his coming days might not be as dangerous as the last few.

The most important thing was ammunition. If he didn’t have any bolts to fire, the thing would be useless. Adrian doubted he could just carve a few bolts from the wooden chair or one of the beds. Maybe, with enough time and practice but right now he had more pressing concerns and this one proved to be moot.

He found five wooden bolts with a steel tip resting inside a small chest below the weapons rack, both expertly made and quite deadly to his eyes.

He allowed himself a slight smile as he twirled one of the things in his hand, holding the crossbow in his other.

A man larger and stronger than himself could probably wield two of these at the same time but even then, he could likely not aim particularly well.

Beds would probably be best… put in front of the wooden gate outside, he thought, already sure that training his aim would become a top priority in the coming days.

The weapon was simple but if it still held up, it would allow him to take out creatures without even thinking of getting injured. He doubted any issues would arise looking at the sleek design and lack of rust. The string was probably the main thing he had to worry about, and the lack of more ammo.

His stomach rumbled to remind him of his more pressing issues, the man putting down his newfound toy before he checked out the shield.

Off hand – Wooden Shield [Common]

It was made of treated wood, quite thick and reasonably heavy. Not something he would even think about using against the knight that had killed him but against the servants or perhaps even another soldier, it should prove useful.

He gulped when his thoughts turned to the knight, his cold body still lying on the dusty floor, rotting more and more with each hour. His blood seeping…

He stopped himself, sitting down on the chair that he quickly turned to face the door. In his hand lay the crossbow, perhaps enough to punch through that steel helmet and through that monster’s head.

No.

Adrian had no idea how much power this weapon had and how durable a steel helmet was but even if he knew he had a chance, he wouldn’t face that creature again. Not ever, if he had the choice.

It felt good to have clothes now, to be armed and at least partially armored. He felt a headache coming and took off his helmet, finding the task more than a little difficult.

The thing finally ceased to squash his head as he focused once more onto the weapon.

Adrian could discern what most of the pieces did. There was a moving metal part where the cord would be set into, a steel bow to actually secure the heavy string, and another piece that would likely act as the trigger.

The only part he couldn’t place was the steel handle at the front of the weapon. After fiddling around with it for a while, he came to the conclusion that it was an aid for pulling back the string.

It took him a few tries to actually pull back the thick cord, his discovery of the handle’s function a mere accident.

The trigger worked as expected, a loud twang resounding as he fired the weapon. It vibrated in his hand, a testament to the forces involved.

Aiming seems pretty straight forward, he thought and tried a few times without a bolt. His hands were already aching from the repeated loading but he would get used to it.

Might actually be a good place to learn more about Strength and Skill and how they affect me.

He found a sheath for his sword too, quickly trying to fasten it to his belt. The process took longer than he would ever admit to someone but in the end he figured it out, the leather piece resting to his side with the sword stashed safely inside.

It actually felt like he was a soldier of sorts.

One without training.

But luckily he wasn’t facing perfectly sane fighters, otherwise his only advantage over the servants would be his weight. Their starved and rotting forms had little to match him in that department.

The next twenty minutes were spent moving all the useful things to the royal chambers before going back to the servants quarters and pulling one of the beds out into the hallway.

It proved quite an endeavor, the wood much heavier than he had expected. Adrian still managed it with a lot of grunts and insults thrown at the designer. The thing sadly didn’t have a mattress, layers of cloth and some filling kind of sewn together to make a semi comfortable bed with everything connected to the wood. At least it was movable compared to the bunk beds he had slept in before.

The tests were quite successful.

Adrian confirmed that yes, the crossbow could penetrate through a bed with ease, even digging into the wooden door out on the terrace.

The first bolt he fired was still stuck in the wood, too deep for him to remove it without breaking the thing.

Luckily, the second thing he confirmed was that aiming the crossbow was almost comically easy. There was a reason rifles with higher loading times took over bows as the preferred weapon to arm soldiers with.

As he increased the distance, it became harder, but at the same time the bolts didn’t penetrate deep into the door anymore, allowing him to continue his testing without losing any more of his bolts.

Adrian spent a few minutes trying to aim and shoot without wearing some of his armor, just to see how the different stats affected him.

Strength turned out to be the most notable change, his arms quivering noticeably without the bonuses if he aimed the weapon whereas they were steady with them. He was sure it was the weight and not something else affecting it.

The same was true with simply pulling back the string.

With the Strength bonus from his chest piece active, he could pull it back with some difficulties. Without it, he nearly injured himself a few times.

He found it difficult at first to grasp the difference Skill brought to the table, until he actually counted the seconds between loading, aiming, and shooting.

With ten points in Skill, he needed about twelve to fifteen seconds to pull back the cord, load the crossbow, aim and shoot it. With fifteen in the stat, he needed about eight to ten seconds.

The actual feel didn’t change much to his perception but he did think the bonuses made everything go smoother. After he actually tested with counting, he was surprised how much he was affected.

Around fifty percent faster with fifty percent more Skill. But I’m not actually moving faster, am I?

He tried a few things but couldn’t discern any actual changes. With higher Skill, he fucked up fewer times, got the string in on the first try and aimed with ease, the weapon mostly pointing where he wanted to shoot right after he lifted it.

Another thing he noted was that the sword on his hip provided its strength bonus as long as he didn’t carry the crossbow. Whenever he did carry the weapon categorized as a two handed model, the skill bonus would instead apply.

“Okay,” he said to himself and sighed.

His training had proved to be useful, both his reloading, aiming, and shooting improving noticeably in the short span of time. Anything more would take hours if not days. What he needed to do now, was take his newfound weapon and go down the stairs.

Adrian knew it was the only way.

He had to explore more of the huge castle city if he ever wanted to find out why he was here, what all of his stats meant, what magic was, and how he could learn it. All of it to get back home, hug his friends, and get Steve. Then hug Steve.

Right now he felt a little hungry but it wasn’t major. He had eaten a few of the sweets in between training. Water wasn’t an issue either after he had made another fire with some wood he got by applying his hatchet to a chest of drawers.

He still lacked proper pots but the cans and plates he had were enough to get enough water. It just took ages. Time he spent working on his crossbow handling.

The sword he got was useful but he would simply attack by stabbing. Anything more fancy was entirely out of his reach right now and he wouldn’t even try it. Just hide behind that shield and stab.

Pretty much the tactics the soldier had applied, he doubted he would need anything more than that to fight servants.

Adrian strapped the wooden shield to his left arm, the leather straps still holding up pretty well. His sword remained sheathed before he stood in front of the spiral staircase leading down with a loaded crossbow in his hands.

It felt heavy.

The helmet on his head seemed to push harder against his skull with every passing second but he wouldn’t give up on the dubious Vitality bonus it provided.

He took a deep breath and turned back, entering the guard’s quarters before he sat down on the chair again, carefully lowering his crossbow as to not accidentally shoot it.

What am I doing?

He cupped his face with both hands, the shield lightly scraping against his helmet.

Come on.

Do it.

Get up.

Go down and shoot whatever you see.

Then go back up.

Slow and quiet.

The plan sounded simple enough. He had no clue what waited below.

Another knight?

The question didn’t need an answer. He had to go either way. If it really was a knight, he would just go back up. If he was noticed, he would shoot and hope the projectile would penetrate.

It was either continue, improve, explore, find help, or dying.

Adrian took a deep breath and stood up, grabbed his crossbow and sneaked down the stairs making as little noise as possible.

With his heavy weapon, sword, and shield, the task proved quite difficult. He managed it mostly, turning around the corner as he took in the new sights.

He saw a large hall, spanning at least twenty meters in length and ten in width. Various doors lined both sides, those on the left hand side all open, some light coming in through them. There was no furniture he could see, the floor made of stone. There were no decorations.

Most importantly however were the ten or more servants prowling around or lying on the floor. They hadn’t noticed him yet, meaning their hearing and eyes were most certainly worse than his own.

He felt himself shiver as he clutched his crossbow, his hand luckily not grasping the trigger.

Adrian heard a moan to his left and turned his head, seeing a dried up man in ripped servant’s clothes sitting near the wall. He looked up and moaned again.

He moved his crossbow up, aimed at the target a few meters away, and fired.

The bolt hit its target, punching through the undead’s head with no noticeable resistance.

Adrian already retreated backwards into the stairwell. He rushed up, hearing a few moans from below as he put the crossbow down on the floor, unsheathing his sword right after.

He heard more moans. At least a few of them had heard the weapon.

This is your chance… use the stairs.

He was annoyed at the lack of planning, chastising himself as he rushed into the guard’s room and grabbed the chair.

He threw the thing unceremoniously down the stairs, hearing a few more moans and steps on the stone floor.

Adrian took a deep breath and focused, his shield held up in front of him, his head throbbing, and his sword raised. He stepped into the stairwell.

The first undead saw him and rushed forward, slamming into the chair before he fell, hitting his head on the close wall.

Adrian waited for the man to fall before he stabbed his sword down into its head. The blade penetrated with a sickening crunch before he ripped it out again.

More undead were coming, some already falling before they even saw him according to what he heard. The additional corpse would provide another hurdle for the uncoordinated creatures.

Perhaps it was a way for his mind to protect itself but he found himself not even thinking of them as humans anymore. Just monsters that stood in his way to get back home. Or for now, to find some god forsaken fucking food.

His body was aching but he remained steady, watching the next monster approach before it sped up, its legs entangling themselves in the chair before it fell. He ended its life the same way as he had the previous one’s.

Adrian was surprised how much he could actually push his body when his life was on the line. He wondered how far he could’ve come with the various workouts and sports he had tried if a bunch of monsters had constantly hounded him along the way.

The next undead actually managed to climb over the corpses, rushing at him with outstretched arms.

A woman, her face retaining some of the features she must have had before she turned into this creature. She slammed against his shield, her hands scratching against the wood and the wall as her belly was pierced by his sword. Another two stabs to the chest followed quickly after.

Adrian remained where he stood, the much lighter woman unable to overwhelm him.

He was starting to breathe more heavily, the onslaught not yet done.

Two more rushed at him at the same time, somehow getting over the barricade without getting into each other’s way.

He took a step back and held up his shield, his sword just aimlessly stabbing forward and into their arms and bodies.

The top pair of his pants ripped a little but he didn’t feel anything getting at his actual legs yet.

A clean stab into one of the monster’s necks ended its life, leaving only one of them.

Adrian had reached the top of the stairs by now, slamming his shield forward with the weight of his body to push the monster back.

It stumbled as his sword pierced through its belly.

He took another step back and waited for more to come, the undead in front of him collapsing to the floor, dark blood seeping onto the stone.

That was it.

That was it.

He remained there, his sword and shield in hand, both bloodied.

I did it.

He nearly shouted, stopping himself in the process as he produced a pained squeal.

His eyes were still focused on the stairs but nothing more came.

He knew there were more creatures down there but Adrian simply sheathed his sword, grabbed his crossbow and left.

Every door behind him was closed before he pushed the chest of drawers in front of his royal bedroom door.

His helmet came off after he wrestled with it for a moment, a slight headache pounding as if the gear had prevented it before.

Adrian sat down on the bed, putting the crossbow aside and unstrapping his shield.

He unsheathed the blade again and looked at it. The thing felt heavy in his hands by now. His arm quivered a little, his eyes blurring lightly at the sight of the blood.

It smelled a little foul but after staying in that corridor for so long, he hardly cared.

You killed them all.

A slight smile spread on his lips. He had won. He had won and hadn’t even gotten injured.

His pants had ripped slightly but only one pair.

He looked inward and sheathed the blade again.

Soulbound:

Essence – 8

Level – 0

Vitality – 10

Endurance – 10

Strength – 9 [12]

Skill – 8 [15]

Intelligence – 12 [14]

Wisdom – 11

Soul skill – Slot 1

Not in the negative anymore, he thought and lied down on the bed. There was much more to do but he found himself both unable and unwilling to get up again.

Sleep took him mere moments later.

Soulbound:

Essence – 8

Level – 0

Vitality – 10

Endurance – 10

Strength – 9 [12]

Skill – 8 [15]

Intelligence – 12 [14]

Wisdom – 11

Soul skill – Slot 1

Equipment:

Helmet –

Chest – Faenhold Soldier Leather Armor [High]

Strength +2

Warrior Soul Skill Damage +2

Arms – Faenhold Soldier Bracers [Adequate]

Fire Magic Resistance +2%

Hands – Royal Faenhold Silk Gloves [High]

Skill +4

Rogue Soul Skill Damage +3

Belt – Royal Faenhold Belt [High]

Intelligence +2

Light Magic Mana Cost +2

Legs – Faenhold Knight Pants [Adequate]

Skill +2

Boots – Faenhold Soldier Boots [Adequate]

Skill +1

1h Weapon – Faenhold Shortsword [Adequate]

Strength +1

2h Weapon –

Off Hand –