Fireside Stories 3

One night, around a campfire, Jude and his group of friends were enjoying a lively conversation. Along with them was an old weak looking man with crisp blue eyes that contained a hint of youth. He was there, yet he was not there. They knew of his presence, yet they did not know.

This old man was Feyrath.

Feyrath cleared his throat indicating that he wanted to share his own story. Not that they would remember. They never did, except for Jude. Jude would occasionally remember. He remembered the time when Feyrath helped him learn skills on a deeper level and remembered when Feyrath showed up in his last fight with Guudnash in Longdale.

But most of the time Jude wouldn’t remember. Occasions like tonight would be quickly forgotten. Only a few critical occasions would Jude remember. Even then, it was not all of them.

A night like tonight and a story to share, would all be forgotten as quick as a hare. But Feyrath didn’t mind. He was a protector, a guardian angel one could say. But he didn’t protect Jude and his friends from everything.

They had to live their lives and run their own risks. Feyrath would only step in when other forces started to intervene.

“How about I tell the story of how I came to this world…” he said with a pause.

The stars shined in his eyes as he thought back many thousands of years ago. “Where I come from, I’m simply a soldier. Nothing high ranked, but enjoyable nonetheless. When they asked for volunteers to come here, I didn’t accept at first. The of this universe are nothing to scoff at. But eventually, I decided to try.

“My race are beings of spirit. We can condense a physical form, but it is taxing and it can only be kept for a limited time. The allow us to gain a body here. A physical form that doesn’t need upkeep from our source energy. But such a body is not given freely.

“The where hard. In my trial, I was given a human body at Level 1. There were no classes like this . I was given one skill to start , then immediately dumped into a landscape full of darkness and wolves…”

***

The first surprise Feyrath felt upon entering the was the weakness of his body. His mortal shell was… well, it was mortal. Not like the powerful physical body, he could create with his spirit. But now that he was here and his spirit locked into a mortal shell, he could no longer exhibit the exponential power that he regularly had. A single one of his kind could decimate cities and even countries. Now he was no stronger than an ordinary human.

The next thing he noticed was breathing. Then the heartbeat. He had experienced this before, but every time it happened it always felt unique. A smile spread across his face, a body like this was fantastic, especially since he didn’t have to maintain it with his power. It was completely self-sufficient as long as he fed it.

The smile quickly vanished as he assessed his situation. It was dark and only light enough to be lit by the stars, but the sky had no stars. A lone howl sounded out in the distance, then followed by another and another. A crescendo of howls resounded in the air as more and more joined the chorus.

He received a notification: [Defeat all the wolves to pass this trial]

Wolves began leaping out of the darkness. Fangs were tearing into his flesh. His arms were quickly ripped into pieces. His only thought, ‘No wonder so few pass the trials!’

kicked in healing his arms, but there were too many wolves. They were biting his legs and torso. They tried to gnaw on his head, but he barely avoided that.

Hours past as kept him alive to his horror. The wolves’ appetite seemed as endless as the wolves themselves. Eventually, the wolves started to fight each other as there were too many and not enough could reach Feyrath to get a bit. The frenzy reached its peak as they began eating each other.

Blood flowed everywhere. Feyrath was soon covered in not only his blood but that of the ravenous wolves. This brought him a brief respite as his one, and only skill got him back to full health.

The wolves were tougher than he was, so he quickly looked for a weapon near him in the confusion. He found a bone that was splintered. Whether it was his or the wolves, he did not know. But now he had a weapon, and it was just long enough to be called a dagger.

One wolf broke out from fighting its own kind and attacked Feyrath. He stabbed out the bloody bone and pierced the chest of the wolf. Feyrath was more than familiar with a wolf's anatomy, and the tip of the splintered bone found the wolf's heart.

Not wasting any time, he pulled his weapon out of the wolf and attacked another one not expecting the attack. Another wolf down, but he didn’t stop there. He continued his attacks, one strike one kill.

Before he knew it, he received another notification: [Level Up! You are now Level 2.]

Instantly he felt his body grow stronger than before. His strength increased, his breathing became easier, his energy rose, and his feet became quicker.

The wolves were not easy to kill, yet with his skill, he made it look easy. Now with his new found power, it really was easy. But things quickly took a turn once again.

An even louder howl sounded out in the distance. It was the alpha wolf. The infighting of the wolves suddenly ceased as they once again locked their eyes on Feyrath. A circle formed around him in the middle. The wolves were no longer as reckless as before.

From behind a wolf leaped out seeking to attack his calf. But Feyrath noticed. He spun around and stomped down, pinning the wolf under his foot, with another quick action he stabbed his dagger out and ended the wolf's life. The action was so fast and clean that even the dumb wolves were taken back.

Now Feyrath didn’t wait for the wolves to attack, he launched the offensive. Plowing into the wolves some ran and others bit back. However, they all died the same.

A full day past without rest as Feyrath continued his killing without end. Finally, the Alpha Wolf appeared. It was twice the height of the other wolves and twice as long. Its weight was four times as much. Each paw sunk into the blackened earth below.

They both leaped at each other clashing in the air. Feyrath avoided his neck being bit, instead the large mouth of the wolf bit down from his shoulder to the other side of his torso diagonally. The large fangs penetrating to the other end of his body. At the same time, he plunged his bone dagger into the chest of the wolf. His angle couldn’t fully reach the heart, but it still caused tremendous damage to the wolf.

The let each other go and created a space between them. Feyraths wounds quickly healed through while the Alpha Wolf released a baleful aura that sucked the life out of the surrounding wolves.

They continued to clash back and forth for hours. The alpha wolf continued to use its pack to regenerate its wounds, while Feyrath seemed to never loose out in regenerating his own.

By the end, Feyrath won the war of attrition. Only the alpha wolf and he remained. The alpha wolf haggard and bleeding. Feyrath covered with scars, his mind barely hanging on to consciousness.

One last clash. The wolf opened is giant maw, biting down onto Feyrath from above. Feyrath took a gamble and pierced his bone dagger into the mouth. If the dagger hit the skull, it would be broken. And without the dagger, the wolf would have a great chance of winning. But Feyrath was at his limit as well. He had been fighting for nearly two days straight.

The wolf saw what he was doing and closed its mouth down around Feyraths arm. But it was too late for such an action. The bone pierced the soft tissue in the back of the wolf's mouth and penetrated towards its brain. The jaw locked down on the arm, but the hand still had room to move. It plunged the dagger deeper.

The wolf wanted to howl in pain, yet if it opened its mouth, it would be doomed to die. What it didn’t know was that Feyrath wasn’t out of moves just yet. With a flick of the wrist and a push with the fingers, he extended the dagger as far as humanly possible.

The dagger finally pierced the brain of the wolf. Its body stiffened then collapsed as the gushing blood was expulsed from its now open mouth.

Feyrath sighed with relief and exhaustion. He was ready for a break and some sleep.

But in the trial, there is neither rest or sleep as Feyrath was teleported to the next level.

***

A sad feeling prevailed over Jude and his friends. But they didn’t know why. No one had talked for quite some time. Yet the kinship between them seemed to deepen further. Like they experienced a significant thing. Slowly the talking resumed, not as jovial as before, but it had a deeper meaning that it had previously.

Feyrath stood at the side with a smile on his face. Eyes could not see him, nor could magic detect him. At least not with the skills of these youths. The results of him telling the story satisfied him. The bonds between these friends would be tested. The stronger they were, the better it would be.