It has been two weeks since Colin left Willows Cross to go to the city of BriarThorn, and he still wasn’t there.

He’d left in the morning to find a carriage and found that none went all the way there. The best he could do was take a carriage to a Pampas village and wait for the next transport that would rotate to the next town. Unfortunately, the next carriage wasn’t going to arrive for another week after he came. He might have considered waiting for it if Pampas Village wasn’t a podunk town in the middle of nowhere.

So both Nox and Colin agreed to walk. The main road that the carriages rode on was brick-paved, so there was little chance they’d stray. Except for the four separate attacks that forced Colin off the road and into the nearby woods.

The first attack was from something Nox called Gnolls. The pack of humanoid hyenas wore leathers and carried heavy stone-tipped spears. Colin managed to hold them back for a few minutes without issue until the leader stepped in and forced Colin to flee. Utilizing Guerilla tactics, he eventually managed to kill all of them and find the road again.

The second and third were both from a swarm of flies the size of kittens. It was an insane couple of battles but was made easier thanks to some packaged water and some quick applications of Frost Shaping.

The fourth and final attack was like manna from heaven.

A pack of satyrs ambushed the pair as they got close to the next village along the road. They wore no clothes, stood over six feet tall at the top of their curved horns, and carried sickles on poles. According to Nox, their fatal flaw was that they were prideful to a fault, and this made them manipulatable. He managed to challenge them in small groups by challenging their visible manhoods and managed to gain a level for himself and his Mythic Xiphos after killing their whole raiding party. The only one that was any real issue was the packs second in command, which must have been a warrior/ druid character.

When he entered Scutch Town with Nox in his shadow, he was beaten and battered but was happy nonetheless. His Personal blades skill leveled up to 6, Short Blades leveled to 3, Tumble leveled twice to 3, and his Kinetic Magic Manipulation and Kinetic Vigor skills leveled to 4. When he entered the village, a little girl rushed up to him with a panicked expression. “Sir, are you an adventurer?”

Letting out a tired sigh, Colin answered, “technically, no. Why?”

“The elder said he wanted ta see the next Adventurer that came to town,” she explained. “But yous not an Adventurer,” she said, dejectedly. “

She’d started to turn away when Colin stopped her. “Where is the Elder? Maybe I can help.”

Her face suddenly lit up, and she pointed towards the center of the hamlet, “he’s over there! Follow me!” she cried out as she started running.

“What do you think, Nox?” Colin asked his shadow as he followed the little girl, keeping a steady walking pace.

“There is definitely something wrong here,” Nox said from his shadow. “There is a smell of decay and faux life in the air. I have an idea as to what could be going on here, but let’s gather more information before I tell you. Better to not color your opinion,” Nox said, going quiet as he entered a denser part of the hamlet.

The little girl entered a house that bordered an inner ring of the small village, and as Colin approached, the door opened. The little girl was holding the hand of an old man with a braided white beard, shaved head, and wearing a well used green robe that emphasized his kind but worried eyes.

Both stopped the second, they saw Colin approaching the house, and the Elder smiled. “Well, I guess I owe you a cookie, Loren. Go tell the baker that I said to get one. I’ll pay him later,” the man said, releasing the girl’s hand, and she immediately burst into a sprint.

“Now, she told me you said you weren’t an Adventurer but that you want to hear me out. To whom do you owe your affiliation to, young man?” The Elder asked, putting both arms around his back.

“I have no affiliation, I work for me,” Colin informed the man. “Why did you want to see an Adventurer? If you need help, maybe I can.”

The man smiled, “I should tell you, we can’t afford to pay you much.”

Colin shrugged, “that’s alright. Just talk to me, old-timer.”

A twinkle entered his eyes as the man smiled. He extended a hand, “the name is Chevy.”

“I go by Walker,” Colin said, taking the proffered hand. Using the nickname was a new decision, and Colin figured it was for the best. Always going by DevilWalker might make him seem a little too edgy or dangerous.

“Walker,” he said slowly like he was trying to see how the name tasted on his tongue. After he smacked his lips together comically, Elder Chevy smiled, “I think it works for you, Walker. Please, Come sit. We have a job to discuss!” he announced, heading back into his house.

Colin followed and closed the door behind him, the old man gestured to a chair at his table and Colin took it with a spoken thanks. The man turned to face his little kitchenette and started working on what Colin assumed was tea. “So. Where are you headed?”

“BriarThorn,” Colin answered. “I was told there would be work there, so I left.”

“That’s all there was to it?” the man inquired, putting the kettle on a wood stove that was still warm.

Colin shrugged, “do you need another?”

You have gained a new skill, Deception level 3. Increased chance for people to believe your lies, Increased chance for lies to bring unexpected results.

“Ho, indeed, young man,” Elder Chevy exclaimed happily. “What kind of job were you hoping for in BriarThorn? Surely, you have some kind of specialty.”

Thinking furiously, Colin answered, “I’m an independent problem solver. Mostly, I solve my own, but I work for anyone who can pay or help me. Speaking of which, Elder, what is your problem, and why did you need an Adventurer?”

He put the tea leaves in a small ceramic cup that Colin was reasonably sure was called a gaiwan, and poured in piping hot water. He turned to face his guest and sighed. “Have you heard of an Outworlder by the name of AidenBrand?”

Colin shook his head, and the Elder started. “AidenBrand came here a few short weeks back. He claimed he needed a place to perform his work, and if we helped him, he would give us machines that would help us with our jobs. Of course, we accepted, it was too good to be true. So we gave him what he asked for. It was primarily fully crafted scarecrows with arms, hands, crafted eyes, everything. I was unusual, but it was what he wanted.”

“After a couple weeks, we felt like he was leading us on, so we gave him one more chance. We gave him one more scarecrow and left him to it. We knew something was wrong when the young man that delivered his food the night before hadn’t been seen since. When AidenBrand showed himself to us, he had a scarecrow walking next to him, but it wasn’t the exact one we’d left him the day before. It had a pumpkin head, sickle blades for claws on its wooden hands, and simple poles for feet.”

“The monster golem was disturbing, but the young man’s father approached anyway. He demanded to know where his son was,” the Elder said, turning back to the now over-steeped tea. He poured it out into a pair of mugs and handed Colin one of them before taking the seat across from him.

“He ordered the scarecrow to kill him, and it obeyed. It brutalized Tarvin and in another word from AidenBrand, it ran off. As soon as the scarecrow disappeared, Tarvin’s body… contorted. It changed into a monster. Not an undead but something used his flesh to make an abomination of a human. That’s what I need you for, Walker. That scarecrow is still out there and has killed not only a few more villagers but some of the forest monsters too. We need help, do you think you can?” he asked politely, but pleaded with his eyes.

Quest: Fields of the Damned. Objective: destroy the scarecrow golem and its growing horde that has been murdering and desecrating its way around the area. Reward: 51 CB, other rewards unknown.

Before he could accept the quest, the kettle on the stove collapsed in on itself, and every ceramic cup on the shelf shattered at once.

“What in the world?!” Elder Chevy cried as he rushed over to inspect the damage.

“DevilWalker, this will be difficult, but it is a fortuitous turn of events. We need to kill that thing!” Nox hissed from his shadow. “Trust me, I will tell you why later!”

The Elder turned back around and looked around the room, “did you say something, Walker?”

“I don’t want to put this off until later,” Colin said quickly. “Where can I find this thing?”

Stunned for a moment, the Elder gathered himself and pointed towards the area opposite where he entered the village. “Past the rye fields, in the forest. No one who has tried to find it ever returned, and that is where it always appeared from and returned to.”

“Thank you, I think I will hop right on this. I’ll see you a little later,” Colin said, drinking his now warm tea in a single pull. “Oh, that was actually perfectly steeped.”

Colin hurried out of the small cottage and broke into a jog towards the rye fields. A couple of children tried to follow him only to be left behind in his wake after only a minute. When he reached the fields and found them empty of people, he spoke, “Nox, this sounds like it might be too much for me. Why are you insisting on this?”

Nox stepped out of Colin’s shadow and pointed a finger at him. “This kind of Golem sounds like a higher-order golem. That would mean that this things core has to be made with profane magic and a mortal soul. That makes it more than valuable. It makes it a rare opportunity for you,” Nox said, gesturing towards the woods.

“Why?” Colin asked, rooting himself in place.

“Because, that means it has an experience bank. ALL Higher-Order Golems have a quartz crystal in them that collects EXP from the Golem’s kills. If we kill it and get that crystal intact, you can get that experience,” Nox explained excitedly.

“That feels like it would cheat the leveling system really fast,” Colin mused. “Especially if you created a lot of them.”

“Exactly,” Nox said, pointing at Colin’s face. “That is the problem with High-Level Golemists. They can passively gain a lot of experience if they play it smart. Most high end crafting classes have ways to make themselves useful. I am an Alchemyst class and you know I am not to be trifled with.” He dropped his hand and conjured his can from the shadow he was casting. “There’s an Enchanting class that can sacrifice enchanted items to enhance the effects. A Smithing class that makes weapons out of pure mana. Both of these generate EXP for their crafter. The difference with the Golem classes is that the balance with EXP gain for them is almost more like a cheat. As long as the Golem can get back to them, they can get the EXP.”

“How big are the EXP tanks?” Colin asked, mouth-watering a little at the prospect.

“The smallest can hold around five thousand EXP points. Assuming its creator is low level, I’d imagine it will be around there,” Nox grinned. “Understand now?”

“So that way, then?” Colin asked, pointing towards the trees.

“Indeed,” Nox smiled, nodding and hopping back into Colin’s shadow.

Colin followed the path between two of the Rye Fields and headed towards the tree line. All of them looked like fairly generic oak trees full of perfect green leaves. The wind blew the branches and created a rustling sound effect that would have been pleasant if accompanied. But no bird song or other animal sound echoed through the forest. A smell of tree sap and decay wafted along with the breeze, making this forest feel… evil.

Colin stepped inside the trees and immediately noticed that there was no trail, game or otherwise, for him to follow. Shrugging, Colin just kept walking and drew his Steel Dagger of Lesser Frost. It had seen a lot of use over the last weeks, and he’d made sure to keep it charged with his mana. It wasn’t sitting at full, so Colin quickly thought about recharging it, and said yes to the prompt when it arrived.

Dagger now full, Colin switched the smaller weapon to his offhand and drew the Mythic Xiphos with the other. He had a bad feeling as soon as he got more than a few paces inside the forest, and yet nothing stood out to him. Walking forward, steadily trying to watch everywhere in front of him, and hear anything behind him, he awaited the coming ambush.

And waited.

He just kept walking further and further into the trees and eventually lost sight of the Rye Fields he entered from. The eerie life-empty silence around him was making him more paranoid with every passing minute, and Colin was considering turning around and rethinking this direct approach.

When he did decide to go back, he turned around and was immediately set upon by a single tendril of pink and red flesh reminiscent of a snake. It coiled around his leg and squeezed, yelping in pain as the mutated snake-thing locked his leg tight and kept getting tighter.

Now impeded, two other creatures bound after him, both were lupine creatures without a scrap of fur on their bodies and their flesh squirming as if independent of the main creature.

“Aw, shit,” Colin groaned. He took his Xiphos and started sawing at the snake-thing, trying his best not to cut into his own leg. With the Mutant wolves bounding towards him, Colin activated Kinetic Vigor and Aligned Strike and, with one final slice, removed the snake things head from the rest of it.

Still, the body held firm, and the nearest wolf was now crouching in preparation to pounce. Activating Aligned Strike again, Colin watched his MP drop and readied himself. When the wolf jumped, he fell back and held the blade forward. The wolves’ weight slid the creature fully onto the blade, knocking the heavy dagger from his other hand, and pinning Colin to the ground.

He started pushing the wolf off only to have the other start to savage his right leg.

You have taken 21 points of damage and now have 234 remaining. You have taken 27 points of damage and now have 207 remaining. You have taken 34 points of damage and now have 173 remaining. The damage to your leg is extensive and deep. Your right leg has been hobbled. Until fully healed, you can only limp, and running or performing any acrobatic movement is impossible until fully healed.

With every shake, the wolf bit further into Colin’s leg until he managed to dislodge it with a sharp kick to the snout.

He got to his feet and really felt the full extent of the injury. It hurt, and while he was able to keep standing and put his weight on it, he could tell what the prompt meant. Grabbing his contingency plan, Colin pulled out one of his waterskins and removed the stopper.

This was a plan that he’d discussed with Nox over their trip, and Nox agreed that it was a good idea. He poured the fluid over his fist and used Frost Shaping to manipulate the form of the ice into a full set of knuckles with a single thin spike extending six or seven inches from his fist. Having enough water to manipulate more, Colin added a second spike half the size for the first.

Growling, Colin said, “awww, geez, this is cold!”

It growled in return and sprinted at Colin, It bounced up at his chest to get his snapping jaws within range of his neck. Its paws touched his chest, and Colin swung the pointed knuckles into the bosom of the wolf.

He felt it pierce skin, muscle, and organs as it entered all the way to the base of the spike. Still, the wolf struggled and tried to get its jaws around somewhere vital. Its teeth snapped in Colin’s face a time or two before he shoved his Xiphos past its ribs. After several stabs, the monster wolf died on Colin’s chest and collapsed on its hind legs, all the weight pressed onto his chest.

An unknown source has already drained all the EXP from these twisted creatures. You still have 1017 /6075 Experience needed to attain level 10 As per the bylaws of the world, skills used in the battle gained a small amount of extra experience Your Kinetic Magic Manipulation has reached level 5. You now can craft spells using this branch of magic. Your Kinetic Vigor skill is now level 5. All increases done by skill are now marginally larger.

“What the fuck,” Colin openly groaned, pushing the corpse off of him. It landed with a thud and he kicked it for good measure. “I like the skill experience, but come on! I wanted more level experience.”

“What happened?” Nox asked from within his shadow.

“The prompt said these things had their experience drained already. It’s so unfair,” Colin groaned.

Nox hummed within the shadow for a moment, While Colin did something Nox told him was possible when you have a dimensional bag.

Would you like to loot the corpse of the Fleshwarped Wolf?

Colin selected yes, and another prompt appeared.

You have gained three fetid fangs, two hardened talons, and the eye of a Fleshwarped Wolf.

He repeated the process on the other wolf and got similar results, minus the eye. The snake, however, got him a pair of snake fangs and a Fleshwarped Snakeskin. The lost experience was still a bummer, but what could he do, So Colin closed the loot window.

“I have a theory,” Nox said, stepping out from Colin’s shadow. “Do you remember how I mentioned that Golems can gain EXP and store them in a storage tank? Maybe the creatures that this magical machine kills are designed to come back without EXP to give. I don’t know how they’d do that, but I guess it’s possible. Golems are not my strong suit.”

“Not much of a theory, more conjecture than anything,” Colin posited.

Nox shrugged, “what do you want me to say, DevilWalker. Golems are so modular that I doubt there isn’t a limit to what they are capable of. Hell, maybe godhood is one gained true sentience.”

“That helps us how?” Colin asked.

“It doesn’t. I just wanted to say that you should be cautious. Even if we suppose that this thing is a low level, that does not mean it isn’t hazardous. Thankfully, it was based off a scarecrow, so it should be a softer target,” Nox told him, noncommittally.

“At least that is something to look forward to. Hopefully, the thing isn’t hiding from me. I’d hate to spend a week in these woods trying to find it. Who knows how long I’ve got for that Demon’s quest,” Colin said, grumbling as he turned his focus to the area around him.

Still, other than the wind rustling some of the higher branches, the area was dead silent. Colin’s nerves were on edge as it was, and these mutated animals made this entire area feel cursed and evil.

“Heh, evil, coming from the Antagonist who can channel evil. That’s funny,” Colin mused to himself.

He was still listening to his surroundings for a few more seconds to make sure nothing was coming in reaction to the fight and their conversation. When the rustle of a bush occurred ahead of him.

Your Perception skill is now level 2. The passive and active bonuses to your senses have increased.

Nox, without another word, stepped inside Colin’s shadow while Colin readied himself for whatever might be coming.

A man, naked with his flesh twisted and grotesque from his injuries, walked into view. His nails were extended into claws, his skin sallow, and his face gaunt, it looked human, but not at the same time. This guy might have been scary if it had not been for his experience with the Columbine Mutator in the Ruins of Old Willows Cross. Comparatively, this thing was so much less intimidating that it was funny.

It looked like a wimp compared to that titan of a creature.

It twisted its head around with bone-cracking pops, and its eyes bore into Colin. Reactivating Kinetic Vigor, Colin sprinted at the monster and drove his blade into its chest. He rode the creature to the ground and withdrew his heavy dagger. He activated Aligned Strike and plunged it into the things eye.

An unknown source has already drained all the EXP from these twisted creatures. You still have 1017 /6075 Experience needed to attain level 10 As per the bylaws of the world, skills used in the battle gained a small amount of extra experience Your Personal Blades skill is now level 7. Damage and critical damage with all personal blades have increased. Dodge rate has increased.

“Well, that wasn’t so hard,” Colin said, deactivating Kinetic Vigor. He took a moment to loot the human and almost decided to throw out the Fleshwarped human heart it gave him. He kept it only because he was treading evil powers. Who knows when something like this could come in handy.

“It was likely the remnant of a village person. It’s unlikely any of them are very powerful,” Nox commented.

“Well, at least this is good for my skills. Kinetic magic leveled to fifth and Personal Blades increased to seven.” Colin turned to Nox, who was smiling at him, “shall we head back? Pick this up again tomorr- why are you grinning like that?”

“Did you not get the notification that you can create your own spells now?” Nox asked.

“Yeah, but there wasn’t much I could do about it here, right? From what I know, spells usually require time, study, and experimentation to learn,” Colin explained.

Nox frowned a little, “where did you get that idea?”

Colin thought about it for a moment, “I don’t suppose you know what Dungeons and Dragons is, do you?”

“That sentence makes no sense. How could you fit a dragon in a dungeon? Even if you brought it in there when it was small, that would be the height of cruelty since you know it would be unable to escape later,” Nox explained before waiting on Colin’s reply.

“No, it’s a game that my wife likes to play. She explained the way wizards learn their spells, study, learning, and notes compared to other spell users. Like sorcerers cast spells more instinctually, and how bards put intent into their music,” Colin explained, keeping ready in case something else wandered in.

“Oh, that makes more sense, and no, you do not have to study to learn or create spells. Premade spells do exist, and you can cast some starting at level five, but you can also make your own. Creativity is your friend, DevilWalker. Just say, ‘create new spell’ and the system will explain the rest. In the meantime, I guess I can keep things away from you,” Nox said grinning.

“Thanks,” Colin said, and spoke, “create new spell.”

A prompt appeared in Colin’s vision, and it was a bit long-winded.

Greetings, DevilWalker, to the wonderful world of spell crafting. Here you can design your own spells to hinder your enemies, help your friends, destroy or save lives, and control the very world around you. There is no limit to what your magic can do once you have a high enough magical manipulation level.

Now you shall be guided through the creation of your first spell.

First, say the magical element you wish to make your spell out of.

“Kinetic,” Colin answered.

Kinetic. Checking level… Confirmed. You have a skill level of 5 in Kinetic magic and qualify to make spells. This tutorial will guide you through the process of creating your first spell, Lesser Knockback.

You have already done the first step and designated the magic type. Next, you have to fill out this chart.

Spell name:

Mana Cost:

Casting time:

Range:

Duration:

Effect: For this spell, I will tell you what you need to fill in.

So Colin filled in the chart, speaking out loud to designate the area he wished to fill in, and how he wanted it filled in according to the instructions. At the end, another prompt closed out all the others.

Spell name: Lesser Knockback

Mana Cost: 20

Casting time: 1 second

Range: 10 feet

Duration: instant

Effect: shoot out a blast of weak kinetic force able to knock back up to medium sized creatures or smaller. Note, this spell can only affect creatures under 200 pounds or have a build score lower than 15. You have successfully created a spell, Knockback, a level 5 Kinetic spell. As long as you have the spell written and on your person, you will always be able to cast this and all other spells you create with a simple verbal or nonverbal command. Error. You do not have a spellbook. You have been granted a ten-page spellbook as a reward for successfully creating a spell on your first try. It is recommended that you get a larger book at your earliest convenience. Note: All spells have limits depending on your Magic Manipulation with that spell type. Example. If you increased the range of Lesser Knockback to 12 feet, this spell would require a 6th level Kinetic Magic Manipulation skill. All Variables can be altered, but the spell level will increase or decrease accordingly.

As he finished reading the final prompt, a recognizable thud occurred on the ground in front of him. A thin book had plopped itself at his feet with the words, ‘DevilWalker’s Spellbook’ scrawled on the cover. He picked it up and opened to the first page, which happened to be a table of contents with Lesser Knockback being the only thing listed.

“I don’t have Kinetic Magic, what was the first spell?” Nox asked.

“Lesser Knockback,” Colin said, reading over the spell he created. He looked at the next page or three and found they were all filled with a flowing script that looked like nothing he recognized from Earth. “Nox, what is this?”

Nox looked at the writing and nodded sagely, “no idea.”

Colin scowled, “really, no idea?”

“No one does. At least, no one did when I was around. The only thing anyone knows is that these unknown words, scribbles, or nonsense somehow are what allow you to cast the spell without any lengthy chant or actual learning. If this didn’t exist you’d have to learn so much math, science, and philosophy that most just appreciate the shortcut that the world gives,” Nox shrugged. “Even I tried to learn magic the long way, and I only got a headache for my four months of trouble.”

“That settles that then. I’ll stick with the shortcut,” Colin said, looking around. A few more bodies were lying around then when Colin last looked. None of them were recognizable for what they could have been before, and only the different sizes of the eviscerated and goopy bodies let Colin guess at what they could be.

“A few came by, and it was no trouble at all to help you,” Nox said, shrugging. “So, ready to keep moving?”

“Yeah,” Colin said, looting the bodies really quick and only getting a Stag pelt for his trouble. The rest of the bodies were too mangled to loot.

“Oh well, not like I killed them,” Colin sighed. He looked around and chose a direction. “Let's go this way. Maybe we’ll find more. If we’re lucky, we might even find the Golem today,” Colin said, hopefully.

“Let's hope,” Nox said, stepping into Colin’s shadow and remaining quiet while Colin walked.