Chapter 10 Cardio

Adrian felt quite confident in his new gear. It smelled positively rancid but he much preferred that over the lack of protection and stats anything else he had would provide.

He thought about washing everything but right now he didn’t want to bother. With what he had to do, maybe getting used to disgusting smells wasn’t the worst idea in the world.

The bonuses to his Strength and Skill made a lot of things easier than they would otherwise be. Adrian thought about training without the gear on but finally decided against it.

For now he had to get used to what he had, what he would fight in.

He stored all the excess gear in his room, just in case his current things got damaged beyond usability.

Adrian had enough experience with workouts to quickly come up with a training regime. His endurance was abysmal, so he ran laps on the terrace. He ran laps and swung his sword both at the air and the trees. He deemed it important to get used to the feel of the weapon both hitting things and just the weight of it itself.

The branches of the various trees provided ways to do chin and pull ups, the latter he didn’t manage quite yet, even with his Strength enhancing gear on. He added push ups, squats, and various smaller exercises to the mix. He had never been in top shape but his current state was abysmal by any standard.

His fear of losing motivation proved to be both well founded and unnecessary at the same time. He did spend hours on end just lying in bed, uncaring for his situation. He mulled things over time and time again, cried, shouted out into the castle city, and just walked aimlessly through his room.

Most of all however, he was bored.

Other than food and masturbation, there was little else he could distract himself with. Which made actually working out and improving his situation a very attractive past time.

Part of that was learning to bake bread. He had done it before but his last attempt had been years past. He had no yeast here either which made the whole process a little more difficult. His creations were mostly quite dense but it didn’t take long for him to get better.

Days passed by, spent with self pity and working out. He did still slightly prefer the former. He cleaned out the hallway, stairs, and hall below. Corpse by corpse.

He had yet to open the closed doors in the hall downstairs, instead barricading them with furniture from the kitchen. He did the same to the left hand door in his own hallway.

The various books in the study brought little new knowledge, very few of them holding any illustrations. The few there were could be interpreted in just about as many ways as the art in the small gallery and the hallway itself.

Without context, he could only grasp at their meaning.

Adrian felt thoroughly stupid. He had read and seen so many pieces of fiction where the main character grew quickly with the situation, figuring out clues and finding answers. He was honestly just glad he had something to eat.

The training showed results quite quickly. The first weeks and months usually had the fastest progression when it came to cardio and strength after all.

He could run longer, could do five chin ups instead of just one initially. The progress made the training more fun and he quickly found himself enjoying the routine.

Adrian already felt stronger and more capable after just a week.

He had tried to think of traps but simply didn’t come up with any ideas that were better than just shooting his crossbow into an undead’s face in the first place.

Testing with and without his gear on showed that his progress applied to both situations.

So far he hadn’t gotten a single stat point from the training alone and he doubted he could even achieve such but the results were nonetheless indisputable.

He couldn’t discern the math behind it quite yet, simply lacking a way to easily test it beyond a vague feel and comparing how many chin ups he could do.

It was easier to lift his body now, and the gear made it easier still. But it also added weight that affected how much he had to lift. Neither did he know how the other stats affected it all.

His current best guess was that the stats represented his potential. His base Strength had remained at nine, despite the fact that he could now do several times the chin ups than he could do before.

If he wore only his belt, adding four points in Strength, he managed to do roughly forty to sixty percent more chin ups. The bonus seemed to decrease a little over the span of the week but he wouldn’t have noticed the difference if he hadn’t always counted.

His theory was that the bonus stats from his gear just added a flat value on top of whatever he could already do. He simply had too little data to come to any final conclusions however. The fact remained that a belt could magically increase his strength by half.

Vitality was a little more confusing, mostly because he didn’t want to seriously injure himself just for the sake of testing. However his very skin felt more durable when the bonuses were active. He did hit a tree with his fist several times, comparing the pain and slight bruises on his knuckles.

It turned out that neither Vitality nor Strength changed his perception of pain. However the bruises themselves were vastly different, his right hand showing a much healthier skin than his left after both had punched into the tree the same amount of times.

He thought it definitive proof that Vitality increased his body’s toughness in a meaningful way. He was right handed, meaning those punches were likely even harder than his left. Despite that, his right hand remained mostly uninjured thanks to his Vitality gear while his left was slightly bruised without the bonuses.

There was of course a possibility that his more clumsy left arm had hit the tree in a worse angle. He deemed it unlikely however.

Adrian also found that he just generally felt better with the Vitality gear on. He couldn’t put a finger on it though and just chalked it up to general vitality and healthiness. Further testing yielded noticeable results however, not something he could reasonably attribute to just working out more.

Even now, taking off his gear made him feel more queasy, more groggy, the aching in his body more prevalent.

It all meant that he really had to think about what to wear and what to level. The latter was less important for now, with so much fighting necessary to gain a hundred Essence in the first place.

His opinions didn’t change however, Adrian still deeming Vitality by far the most important stat to focus on for now.

There had been many times in that week when he stood in front of the closed doors, or the stairwell leading further down. He waited with his gear ready and his crossbow loaded but never actually continued onward.

Working out would yield more results, that much was true, but every day he spent without exploration would use up more food. Food and time. He didn’t know if the latter was important in the grand scheme of things but if he just remained where he was, he would simply never find out.

Another three days passed until he finally managed to push through the veil of fear and uncertainty.

He opened one of the doors and pushed it inward, carefully stepping back as he prepared his crossbow. The weight was familiar in his arms, his right hand resting casually near the trigger piece.

Adrian continued to widen the distance between himself and the door in the hall, walking backwards towards the stairwell that led up. He avoided the many pots and pans he had strewn onto the ground as simple traps.

A few seconds passed before he heard a growl from within the room.

An undead stepped out, hitting his arm on the door frame before he stepped out, dragging his legs with each step.

Soldier, he immediately thought, feeling his hands shake slightly.

He focused on his breathing and aimed. It looked the same as the two he had met before, carrying a sword and wearing a helmet.

The thing walked out of the room and took a few steps into the dark hall, looking around as if to try and find something.

Adrian breathed out and fired.

The bolt was released and slammed into and through the chest piece of the soldier.

It growled again and stumbled towards Adrian, its sword held out towards him.

He carefully put down his crossbow and drew his own blade. His shield ready as he waited.

The soldier stepped over the pans, finally entangling one of its boots in the pots. The thing slid away, costing the undead its balance.

Adrian didn’t let the chance go by. He closed the distance in three steps and slammed his blade into the monster’s neck. The strike was true and slid out on the other side before he ripped the weapon out again.

He watched the monster as it flailed its blade around a few times before it collapsed in a clatter of pots.

Adrian felt himself lose focus but he stuck to his plan, leaving the undead as he hastily reloaded his crossbow. He failed twice but finally got the string back far enough to hook it into the mechanism.

You never fail at that anymore.

Run away.

The thoughts came as no surprise.

With all the time he had spend in his little secluded and safe spot of the castle, he had nearly forgotten about the monsters lurking so close by. Mental preparation was one thing, reality was another entirely.

More moans resounded from within the room.

Adrian was already aiming again, his arms shaking slightly now but he didn’t want to give up on the ranged advantage. Don’t miss.

Two more soldiers stepped out.

He waited until the first noticed him.

The creature immediately sped up, slipping on one of the pans before it clattered down in a loud explosion of kitchen utensils.

Adrian aimed at the second one coming at him with a slower pace.

Wait.

Wait.

The man raised his sword when a bolt slammed into its face.

He still felt the vibration of the crossbow, the sound laying in his ear as he put the weapon down on the ground.

Adrian breathed in and unsheathed his sword, his adrenaline spiking as he rushed to the downed creature still trying to get its bearings.

He kicked down on its back, placing the tip of his blade on the soldier’s neck before he pressed down with all the strength he could muster.

A sickening sound of severed flesh and scratched bone resounded before his blade hit the stone below.

He ripped it out again and watched the second monster fall to its knees, the bolt stuck in its mouth.

Adrian wouldn’t leave it to chance and slashed his sword into the creature’s neck as if he was wielding an axe.

A thud resounded before he ripped it out again, another hit digging even deeper.

The creature fell forward as Adrian retreated again.

The pans worked better than expected… not as large as a body and harder to dodge, even for the soldiers.

Three bodies now littered the floor and he was still standing, with no injuries.

No bolts either.

He didn’t want to sheathe his weapon now to get the projectiles back, not while he wasn’t even sure if they were truly dead.

Double tap, as they say.

Nothing else came however and Adrian slowly calmed down, his breathing slowing as the sweat ran down his brow.

He wiped it away and allowed himself a weak smile.

Three more sets of armor to go through, he thought before throwing one of the nearest pants towards the opened door.

No moans resounded, no shuffling, or anything else either.

He stabbed each soldier one last time, trying to ignore the sickening sounds of his weapon biting into human beings. Monsters… monsters, not humans. Maybe they once were human but not now, not anymore.

A shudder went through him as he considered the possibility of him going insane, killing tourists in a castle while his mind projected undead visages onto their faces.

No, that’s not how that works at all, his rationale reminded him.

He took a moment to breathe, going upstairs and to the terrace.

Sword sheathed and water flask in hand, Adrian once more admired the city below. He wasn’t even at the highest point, not by far.

Ten minutes passed in a flash before he nodded to himself.

The second door now. Don’t stall. Keep the energy up. Breathe. You’re smarter than them, stronger, and you’re not afraid.

He stopped in front of the stairwell leading down.

I’m scared.

Of course I am. I’m fucking fighting monsters!

He took a step forward.

“And you’re winning,” he said to himself as he continued.

Adrian quickly realized that another one of his crossbow bolts had broken. The wood had splintered when he had shot the first soldier’s chest.

Leaves one…, he thought and reloaded.

He took the time to move all the pans and pots closer to the second door, quickly checking the three soldiers for obvious upgrades.

Only one of the pieces proved better than any of his current gear.

Arms – Faenhold Soldier Bracers [Adequate]

Endurance +1

He exchanged them quietly, his sword and crossbow on the floor beside him.

When he was ready, Adrian sheathed his sword and stepped to the door. He opened it the same way as he had the other one and rushed back around the field of pots and pans.

He grabbed the crossbow as he felt his heart beat quicken from the run, his arms still shaking slightly as he aimed.

Should have taken a longer break.

Maybe you should have trained for another day or two before opening the second door.

Adrian ignored the voice in his mind and simply waited.

Another soldier stepped out, followed by more creatures he couldn’t yet discern.

He waited and watched.

His eyes narrowed as he took aim, the soldier stumbling closer. Behind it two servants had stepped out of the room.

The crossbow released, its payload slamming deep into the the soldier’s chest.

It moaned once before slumping to the ground, its weight cracking the bolt sticking out of its chest before all of its movements ceased.

Adrian got his sword and prepared, watching the two servants run over the pots, both of them quickly losing their balance and slamming to the ground.

He rushed to the closest one, stabbing his weapon into its back three times until it stopped moving.

His shield held up, he turned to the other creature and saw its dead body lying amidst the kitchen utensils, its head split open on the edge of a large pot. Dark blood and brain matter slowly dripped into the steel container.

Adrian took a few steps back before he started laughing.

He still kept his eyes on the two doors and all the bodies but he couldn’t stop himself.

The rush of victory felt downright intoxicating. It had been easy too. His bolts had hit, his blade had killed. Without the internal monologue and uncertainties, an outsider might have thought him a capable warrior.

Then again, who really won this fight? Me or the pots?

“Trap master Adrian,” he whispered before hitting his sword against the shield. “Yeah, that’s me motherfucker.”

Don’t get cocky.

Focus.

There might be more.

He grabbed his oil lamp from near the entrance and walked past the many corpses, stabbing the three new ones as he went. All had already been dead.

He continued with the rooms, hitting the doors with his sword a few times before he waited. Nothing reacted to the noise.

Within he found two separate rooms, both were lined with beds and simple chests of drawers. More tables and chairs were present. A few plates with rotten food coupled with a lack of windows provided a wondrous stench that quickly pushed him back out into the hall.

He closed the doors as well, not ready to face the stench for an extended period of time.

Fuck that shit.

He checked the last soldier but found no obvious upgrade.

Adrian looked at the many corpses and decided to push onward. The fights had been simple enough after all.

No more crossbow bolts.

Before his inner voice could convince him of taking a break, he took a deep breath and entered the second stairwell.

This one was much broader and not of the same design as the one leading upstairs.

Adrian went farther down, his lamp soon the only light he could see.

When he reached the bottom, he could see a faint line of light push through below the heavy wooden door ahead. Peering through the keyhole revealed that it was indeed sunlight.

He checked the handle and found the door was unlocked.

Adrian took another deep breath and walked through, checking his surroundings as he left the door slightly ajar. Just in case he had to make a quick retreat.

He found himself in a courtyard. Withered trees and statues made of stone decorated the otherwise open space. Groups of undead creatures patrolling the area as he stepped close to a pillar supporting the open hallway close to the door.

That’s three soldiers per group, or four.

His heart started beating faster but he pushed on a little further, rushing to the next pillar before he glanced out again.

There were two groups, the closest one about twenty meters away. Bushes and roots had been left untouched, now obstructing his view.

He saw buildings rise up on the other side, the area just a comparatively small open space amidst the many high structures. There were several alleys leading away. He could make out three closed doors as well.

Choose one and sneak there. You don’t want to fight them out here, not with those numbers.

Adrian chose one and listened before he glanced out to check his surroundings. The groups had moved a little farther away.

He grasped his sword and stepped out.

Immediately he heard a growl to his left.

“What…,” he said and took a step back, looking at the origin of the noise.

A dog. Or well, it might have been one at some point. Its fur was in tatters, missing entirely in large parts of its body to reveal several broad scars. Its rib cage pushed through the skin, not just metaphorically but in parts even literally, dark blood dried to the edges of the bones. The dog reached up to Adrian’s knees in height.

Its yellow teeth were barred, some of the skin missing around its jaws but enough muscle visible to make it clear that this wasn’t a harmless animal. The creature had retained both its eyes, black and bloodshot as it stared at Adrian, still growling.

“Good do-” he pleaded.

The creature didn’t wait any longer, rushing at him with a mad dash and a loud bark.

Adrian raised his shield and managed to push the dog aside a little, a stab of his sword missing the low moving target.

The creature pushed on without a care, biting into his thigh.

He heard the fabric tear before its teeth pushed into his flesh.

Adrian flailed both arms, screaming as he fell. He hit the dog with both his shield and the handle of his sword as they tumbled to the ground.

The creature didn’t let go, not even when he stabbed its side.

He stabbed again when something hard smashed into his right arm, another dog biting down.

Adrian tried to wrench himself free of the teeth, his bracers holding out a little longer than his pants but giving in to the powerful jaws just as much.

His sword slipped from his fingers, still stuck in the first dog that had stopped moving by now.

Pain was everything he felt, a panic taking over as he found himself unable to shake off either of the two monsters. One was even dead but its teeth remained deep inside his thigh.

Adrian hit the living creature with his shield, the frantic movements letting the dog bite down even harder on his arm.

He smashed its head, drawing blood with the second hit before his wooden shield won out against the rotten skull. Blood, bone, and brain matter covered his defensive tool as he tried to pry open the corpse’s jaw.

The top came loose but some teeth remained in his arm.

Adrian looked up and found two glassy white eyes staring back at him.

The undead soldier had a crossbow lifted close to its head, with a steel tipped bolt aimed at Adrian’s skull.

The last thing he processed was the familiar twang of the heavy string.

Soulbound:

Essence – 116

Level – 1

Vitality – 11 [16]

Endurance – 10 [11]

Strength – 9 [13]

Skill – 8 [15]

Intelligence – 12

Wisdom – 11

Soul skill – Slot 1

Equipment:

Helmet – Faenhold Soldier Helmet [Adequate]

Vitality +1

Chest – Faenhold Soldier Leather Armor [Adequate]

Vitality +2

Arms – Faenhold Soldier Bracers [Adequate]

Endurance +1

Hands – Royal Faenhold Silk Gloves [High]

Skill +4

Rogue Soul Skill Damage +3

Belt – Faenhold Soldier Belt [High]

Strength +4

Warrior Soul Skill Cost -2%

Legs – Faenhold Knight Pants [Adequate]

Skill +2

Boots – Faenhold Soldier Boots [Adequate]

Skill +1

1h Weapon – Faenhold Shortsword [Adequate]

Vitality +2

2h Weapon –

Off Hand – Wooden Shield [Common]