Chapter 4: Training

Earthen SpikeSkill Type: ActiveSkill Rank: CommonSkill Level: 1Exp: 5%Effect: Allows the user to create an earthen spike that erupts from the ground.

Just like my wind blade a blue box appeared in front of me when I created an earthen spike. Wiping the box away I examined my spike. The spike that I created looked like a bunch of earth that had been compacted together. The edges of it look noticeably sharp. So sharp in fact that I was positive anything struck by this attack would be torn apart. While I was examining the spike an idea sprung from my mind. Why not create some type of earthen container to hold the bone dust in? That way I could wear my jacket and I could have something to hold my bone dust. Nodding my head in agreement I stuck my hand in another patch of earth.

I gathered mana similar to the way I gathered if for the earthen spike. However unlike before I didn’t push the mana out with all my strength. Instead I began to mold the mana in the shape of a hollow cup. Minutes flew past as I concentrated on hollowing out the cup. This was quite harder than I imagined it would be. But after a few minutes I had successfully completed my goal.

Cracked Earthen Cup

Description: A cracked cup that is made from earth.

Effect: This cup can hold small solid items but cannot hold anything liquid due to the many cracks in it.

The cup wasn’t that well-made, but it was good enough. It would be able to hold my bone dust since it wasn’t a liquid. The cracks that were on it were too small for anything solid to fall out, but big enough for liquid to seep through. Walking over to my jacket I unfolded it and placed the bone dust in my cup. Once that was done I made an earthen lid and placed it on top of the cup. This way I wouldn’t have to worry about losing any of it accidentally.

Patting my hood so I could get the remainder of the bone dust off, I quickly put my jacket on. Whew, although I didn’t have it on for a short while I could feel the difference. It was really too cold in here to be without a jacket. Placing my cup gently against the ladder, I began to move on to my next task.

After thinking on it for a few seconds I decided that my next task would be to fight more giant rats. By doing this I could train my skills, level up, and maybe find a weapon. Heading off towards the left pathway, I ventured into the darkness. I walked in complete darkness for about two minutes until I was met with the sight of glowing moss. The moss that was on me was beginning to dull so I began the process of removing it. A minute later and I was completely moss free. Scratching my arms absentmindedly I continued on my way. Why did I remove the moss you ask? The reason for it was it gave away my position and I didn’t need it right now thanks to the moss on the walls. However if I ran into a part of a sewer that was masked in complete darkness I would put the moss back on me. But until then I wanted to stay hidden.

With the moss as my light, I advanced cautiously through the sewers. I wanted to sneak up on a rat and see how quickly I could kill it. Why waste my time fighting it in combat when there were easier and smarter ways to go about it? A sneak attack would get me just as much experience as a normal attack would. In order to survive I needed to play it smarter not stronger. After a few minutes of stealthily walking, I caught a glimpse of something ahead. Crouching near a section of a wall with no moss, I focused on the dark shadow to see what it was. It could’ve been my eyes playing tricks on me but I wanted to be sure. Until I got night vision or something I would just have to trust my instincts.

I moved a couple inches forward in order to see the shape of the shadow. Sure enough the shadow looked like a rat. If I tried listening hard enough I could hear tiny squeaks coming from it. That was all the evidence I needed to know it was a rat. Placing my hand on the ground, I concentrated on combining the earth and the mana. Thankfully the giant rat still hadn’t noticed me so I had quite a bit of time to do this. Once the process was done I pushed my mana into the ground forcefully. The surprised rat never stood a chance.

*Sneak Attack* -14

My earthen spike savagely tore through one of the giant rat’s legs. Blood gushed out of its stump like a faucet. My attack had done more damage thanks to it being a sneak attack. I made a mental note to do more sneak attacks in the future. As the rat slowly bled out I focused on creating another earthen spike. I wasn’t going to use a wind blade since there was no need for me to get close to the rat. The rat couldn’t get close to me either due to the absence of one of its legs. I began combining mana and earth in order to cast my spell. I didn’t have to worry about the rat attacking me while I was concentrating since it could barely move. Once the mana was combined I pushed out with all my strength.

-7

The earthen spike I made pierced the giant rat through its chest making it bleed any further. Since it only had two health points left because of the bleeding effect I waited for it to die. Why waste mana when it would bleed out a few seconds later? Right before the giant rat died it let out a loud wail. Shit! Rushing towards it as quick as I could I finished it off with a kick to the face. I crouched down cautiously as I listened for more enemies. If I would’ve known that the rat would scream for help I would’ve finished it off quicker. After a few seconds of waiting I began to hear the pattering of feet coming towards me. I would need to prepare myself before its allies came to kill me.

Sticking my hand out I began to quickly form a wind blade on my hand. I began to take a couple steps backwards until I reached a patch of moss that was glowing brightly. If I was going to have to fight again I would do it where there was a decent amount of light. After a few more seconds of waiting another giant rat appeared in front of me. This rat however seemed a little different from the one I had just killed. It seemed a little….stronger? I took a closer look at it in order to see its status.

Giant Rat - Lv.6

Hp: 35/35

Tch, I would have to be careful. This rat was two levels higher than the one I had just fought. It was also five levels higher than me. I eyed it carefully as its hair bristled angrily. The moment its muscles tensed I dove to the side. Whoosh. I could hear the claws of the giant rat slashing through the air. Yah, I did not want to be hit by that. Turning around quickly I waited for that rat to attack me once more. In a fit of rage the rat charged towards me with a ferocious squeak. However when it leapt in the air this time, I was prepared. Sliding under it in one smooth motion I raised my arm up and watched as my wind blade tore through its flesh.

-8

Four more attacks and this rat would be finished. By dodging and striking when it was unprepared, I managed to low its hp to a mere eleven. However it was here that I got a cocky. This was a mistake that I wouldn’t make again.

Charging towards the giant rat I swung my wind blade towards its head. With a dangerous glint in its eyes the rat suddenly disappeared. What the hell? Where did it go? My question was answered when I felt unimaginable pain on my back. Screeching in pain I twisted my back in pain. Turning around I looked at the grinning rat. Fuck that hurt. Even though the attack only did fifteen points of damage it was still extremely painful. Seeing my injured state, the giant rat leapt towards me again. As it did anger ran throughout my body. I would not die in these wretched sewers by a mere rat. I just wouldn’t allow myself too.

Placing my left hand in front of me, I forced the giant rat to crash into it. Gathering all of the energy I could in my left arm, I slammed the giant rat into the ground. I swung my blade across its neck as the rat looked at me with a dazed look. The rat’s decapitated head flew across the sewers, painting the walls crimson.

*Critical Hit!* -16

Before I was awarded a moment of rest, another blue box appeared in front of me.

Level Up!

Status WindowNameColm MarythouAge: 16Race: HumanLevel: 2Gender: MaleTitlesThe Peerless Descender, Undead ProphetHealth: 90/110Mana: 80/110Stamina: 90/110~Strength: 10Agility: 10Vitality: 8Dexterity: 9Intelligence:11Wisdom:12Luck:0~SkillsMana Affinity, Wind Blade, Earthen Spike, Necromancy, MeditationUnallocated Points:5

Thanks to the death of two more rats I was now level 2. As I glanced over my status I soon realized that more was changed than just my level. My unallocated points had gone from zero to five. Beside all of my stats was a plus sign that I could click. This more than likely meant that I could put my points in one of the many stats that I possessed. But that was where I ran into a conundrum. Where should I put my stats?

I decided not to put any points in strength for a couple of reasons. One reason was due to the fact that I didn’t have a weapon. I might add points in it later when I had one but until then strength was a no go. The other reason I didn’t want to put points into strength was because I had the skill to use magic. In order to increase my spells power I would need to place my points into intelligence or wisdom rather than strength.

The next stat on my list was agility. Unlike strength this stat would be pretty useful. If I put some points into this I would be able to attack faster and dodge quicker. But before I put a point in agility I wanted to see the rest of my stats. Vitality was like defense and more defense was always better. However if I put points into agility, there would be no point in putting it into vitality. If I became faster I wouldn’t get hit as often so the added defense wouldn’t be necessary.

From what I knew dexterity meant how accurate I was. This would help me if I used bows or throwing knives. I didn’t so I wasn’t going to worry about dexterity. My luck was zero and I didn’t plan on putting any points into it. You could say I had been unlucky by being trapped in this sewer. But you could also say that I was lucky that I wasn’t on the surface. Therefore I decided not to mess with my luck stat since I had no clue what it would do.

I was now left with my two remaining stats intelligence and wisdom. From what I knew intelligence was power and wisdom was how to use that power. Putting a point into intelligence would make my spell stronger while putting a point into wisdom would help me make new spells. Or at least that was what I thought. After debating on it for a little bit, I decided to place two points in intelligence, one point in wisdom, and two points in agility. This raised my intelligence and wisdom to 13, and my agility to 12.

The reason I placed some points into my wisdom and intelligence was to increase my magic capabilities. I also put some points in agility so I would be quicker in battle. Clearing the blue boxes away from my vision I decided to test out my new stats. I jumped side to side quickly to see if I could tell a difference in my speed. There was an increase in my speed, however, it was only a slight increase. But the more points I put into the stat, the more increase I would see.

After I tested out my new stats, I glanced at the mutilated corpses. Pushing their bodies over, I looked for any type of loot. Sadly there was none. Maybe next time I would have better luck. After examining the giant rats I decided to try reanimating them here rather than at the ladder. The reason for this was because the corpses looked like they would fall apart if I moved them to much. I was about to begin the process of reanimated the giant rats when I ran into a problem.

The problem that I ran into was their bodies. The level six rat that I had killed had been decapitated by me. Could I still reanimate him? I had no idea since my last reanimation had his body mostly intact. I would have to read more of my journal in order to find out. Walking over to a bright section of moss, I pulled out my journal from my pocket and began to read. Every few minutes I would glance up and make sure no enemies were approaching me. I had seen how effective sneak attacks were and I did not want them happening to me.

After reading for about twenty minutes, I finally found a solution to my problem. There was a ritual in the journal that would combine two corpses into a stronger corpse. Once they were combined I could then reanimate them into a stronger creature than they once were. This was helpful since both of the giant rats had pieces of their body missing. However, if I combined them, all of the pieces would be there. Walking over to one of the giant rats, I began the process of moving them. This proved to be quite a challenge because I wanted to keep all of the blood inside of them until I needed it. My actions were careful and meticulous until the rats were finally near each other.

I made the two rats face each other in between two sections of moss. The moss had nothing to do with the ritual but I needed it in order to see. Before I began the ritual I had to spend a minute finding the head of one of the rats and placing it near its body. For some reason I wasn’t disgusted by my carnage like I thought I should be. Instead I was elated to try out a new necromancy spell. I could hardly imagine that I was one of the few people to bring creatures back to life. If I kept on practicing necromancy, I wouldn’t have to worry about death for much longer. I brought other creatures back to life so why not myself. But that was another task for another time.

Placing my hand on the ground I manipulated the earth in order to make an earthen brush. The quality of it was shit but it was still better than pieces of moss. One thing I noticed while I made it was that I gained experience in my earthen spike skill. I guess my earthen brush counted as a spike. Once my brush was finished I began the necromancy ritual.

Dipping my earthen brush in the blood of one of the rats, I began to paint symbols surrounding the both of them. I recognized some of the symbols from my last reanimation but other than that most of the symbols were unrecognizable. The next few minutes went by with my painting and glancing at the journal. With an elaborate stroke of my brush I was finally done painting off all the symbols needed. From what I could tell, the symbols surrounding both of the rats looked as if they were pointing towards the middle. Thanks to this I knew I was on the right path of combining the corpses. I made sure I put in all of the symbols before moving on to the chant.

Reading off from my journal I began to chant strange and exotic words. Similar to my symbols there were some words I recognized. I had no idea what they meant but I did know that I had seen them before. As I was chanting I placed one of my hands on a symbol and began to pump mana into it. The moment I put mana into it, pieces of the rats began to gather in the middle and combine. It was a very odd thing to see. I had no idea how it was possible for them to combine, but they were. It looked as though they were being melted and then put together.

Once all of the flesh was combined, the blood began to move. I was forced to tear my eyes away from the spectacle in order to finish the first part of the chant. Once all of the pieces were done I moved on to the second part of my chant. I pumped more and more mana as I chanted the words for reanimation. A few minutes of chanting and pouring mana into the symbols and I was finally done. Closing my journal slowly, I looked at my new creation in glee.