Back at the house, Arn decided to split his four points by putting two in Strength and Dexterity. I don’t have to consult The Elder for every little thing. I get that the strategy of getting in close makes sense, but I still need more dexterity and can’t take only strength. Thus far my fights have not been particularly graceful. That changes now! Arn grabbed his gear, and jogged to the lake with the wheelbarrow.

Looking around the lake, there were plenty of slarn, but the old bitch he wanted revenge on was nowhere in sight. He wasn’t about to lay on his stomach again, that hadn’t worked out well, but he was willing to kneel and figured he would either end up getting wet or covered in blood and ichor. Either way, no sense ruining more clothes. Arn, hesitated, but after a pause stripped to his underwear. I’m sure Nina is correct. Just normal bumps on a new path. There is no reason to think that hunting half-naked is automatically going to lead to a disaster. Sooner or later something needs to be easy? Please let it be now!

Arn kneeled in his underwear, sword on his back and a dagger sheathed on each leg, and slowly edged forward while keeping an eye on the water. No dice. Do I have to sing? Take off my underwear? Arn edged to within 5 feet of the lake where a slarn waited a foot or two into the water. And waited.

All right. You win. I’ll come to you. The worst that happens is that you have a couple of friends out of sight, I lose a few body parts and maybe die once or twice, level up Tasty for good measure. Arn slowly went from kneeling on both feet to readying one to push off. When the slarn didn’t react, Arn pushed off, took two big steps and leapt forward.

Maybe the slarn was baffled by a huge man-child descending from the sky. Maybe the slarn couldn’t conceive of a human being dumb enough to join it for a swim. Regardless, the slarn didn’t move. Which was something of a mixed blessing, as Arn ended up a bit too far forward, stabbing into the lower third of the slarn. The slarn’s jaws, of course, ended up in the vicinity of Arn’s crotch.

Perhaps the Gods are not entirely without mercy. Perhaps Arn got lucky. Comparatively speaking. Regardless, this particular slarn was more than content to work on ripping a nice fat chunk of thigh from the bone.

As the battle dragged on, and numbness spread down his leg and up into his belly, Arn grew afraid that more slarns were coming. Both combatants were, however, quite trapped in their parody of a lover’s tryst – the slarn by Arn’s weight and left arm locked around its lower body, and Arn by his awkwardness lying in nearly a foot of water. The battle, however, was fundamentally unequal; Arn was stabbing the equivalent of a tail, while the slarn tore its way to the femoral artery.

ATTENTION: You have died!

RESURRECTED! Resurrections Remaining: 0 (23:59). Regeneration increased by 500%, Pain Resistance set to 100% and all attributes increased by 10 for 10 seconds.

CONGRATULATIONS! Hapless Zoologist achievement unlocked! By being killed by two different types of animal, you have unlocked Hapless Zoologist! You gain greater insight into the threats posed by beasts!

CONGRATULATIONS! Fearless achievement unlocked! By being killed three times within three weeks, you have unlocked Fearless! You do not fear death, and are better able to resist fear from all sources!

Arn came to with a gasp, strength flooding into him. He stood, grabbed the slarn in a one-armed hug and pulled it to his chest. Drawing his second dagger, Arn stabbed deeply into both sides of the slarn, again and again. As the rush of strength fled, the notification popped up:

Slarn Slain!

Kitten weak, Arn staggered onto the grass, collapsing 20 feet from the lake. That went well. Only died once. The bards will sing my glories. Was that really only the third death? I’ll have to up my game. The water began to boil as slarn descended on their slain brother. No silver for me, and no more lives to give. I guess I’m done for the day.

Rather than put clean clothes on his blood and ichor covered body, Arn decided to take Nina’s advice and “own it.” He grabbed his clothes and headed into the village in his underwear. Laughing at the madness of it, began to sing a little song as he entered the village.

The wargs they tried to eat him;

But Arn, he beat them!;

The slarn they poisoned him and tried to make him their fish wife;

But Arn just smiled and took life after life!

Cackling and waiving to villagers, Arn decided to take a nap. I deserve it!

* * *

Six hours later, Arn woke to darkness. Ugh. It’s not that dark. Is it before midnight or just before dawn? Guess it doesn’t matter. Arn settled in to try and manipulate mana. I must have tried pouring some of my self into the mana 100 different times now. The book said different visualization methods work for different people so what else can I try? Uncertain, Arn decided to try and take advantage of the fact that his Mana Sight hit during late night practice last night to try and figure out what the heck he was actually looking at. As Arn really focused on some of the mana in front of him, he felt as though he “zoomed in” and could see more clearly. The mana still looked like dancing motes of light . . . just larger, so he tried to zoom in further and further in an effort to see the detail that must be there. Suddenly there were no more dancing motes. Arn could no longer see the mana, but he felt it. Excited, he tried to move the mana . . . and it stirred in response.

CONGRATULATIONS! Mana Manipulation skill unlocked! Mana Manipulation is now level one!

Arn pumped his fisted and gave a whoop! Then he laughed at himself, imagining his doubters seeing him squinting at nothing and cheering the ability to do . . . pretty much nothing. Screw it. I’m on my own path. I want to make something of myself for me, not for them. I’ll walk around in my underwear singing every day from here out if I want! I’m Arn The Deathless! …um wait, Deathless doesn’t make any damn sense. Sounds better than Arn the Bleeder or Arn the Tasty though. Have to think on it.

Arn went back to sleep, with, for the first time in weeks, a smile on his face.

Arn: Level Four Revenant

Attributes:

Constitution: 20

Dexterity 12 (+2)

Strength: 16 (+2)

Intelligence: 10

Will: 10

Charisma: 8

Skills:

Block (5)

Death’s Scream (1)

Dodge (5)

Head Butt (1)

Focus (1)

Mana Manipulation (1) (+1)

Mana Sight (2) (+2)

Pain Resistance (6)

Poison Resistance (2)

Shield Bash (1)

Sword Mastery (3)

Achievements:

Fearless

Hapless Zoologist

Masochist

Survivor

Tasty!