Name:

Zareb Sindile

Age:

???

Titles:

Master of One’s Soul

Fame:

---

Level:

6

Class:

---

Health:

50/150

Health Regen:

0.1/s

Mana:

100

Mana Regen:

.01/s

Stamina:

140/180

Stamina Regen:

0.2/s

Strength:

18

Intelligence:

33

Vitality:

15

Wisdom:

33

Agility:

35

Charisma:

6

Dexterity:

17

Luck:

17

Soul Force:

MAX

Soul Resilience:

MAX

I opened up my status menu and took a quick note of the changes. Now I have a more accurate representation of my growth over the last month. When I previously checked my stats at level 5, that was just before I started training in earnest, focusing on eating as balanced a diet as I could manage, sprinting and running, lifting weights, doing everything I could to push my body to the limits. The results...are a bit surprising, to be honest. Only 2 points in strength, compared to a massive 20 in agility? That must be the effect of the Attribute Cores...the growth rate is truly something else, if a month of heavy training could only bring my strength up by a miniscule amount in comparison.

Resolving to take a more in depth look and analysis later, I closed the screen and brought my attention back to the present. Four broken Harpy Wolf corpses were waiting for me to loot, plus the heavily injured one not too far away. The last one had not moved this entire time, but I could tell it was still alive by its noisy breathing. Figuring I should put it out of its misery rather than letting it suffer while I dismember its brethren for parts - I mean, uh, collect potentially valuable resources, yeah - I approached its prone form and raised my [Rising Sun] to grant it mercy.

THWACK!

I leapt backwards in a split second, the arrow striking only empty air as my arm was yanked out of its trajectory. A second barely audible snap alerted me to a follow-up shot, timed too far apart to be some sort of System Skill, but too close to the first to be from the same shooter. Whatever the circumstances, this arrow would hit me before my feet could touch the ground and let me dodge.

Double Jump.

In the same second that I worked out my dire situation, I activated one of the abilities I taught myself in the mountains. A platform of mana instantly formed beneath my left foot, giving me a surface to exert force upon in mid air. I jumped for the second time in a row, evading the second arrow, and creating a considerable distance from my original position.

But much closer to my hidden adversaries.

Before I could capitalize on the moment, I suddenly heard a voice in the trees.

“Watch it, you idiot! You nearly killed the wolf!”

A second voice, somewhat whiney, replied, “Shut up! I didn’t aim anywhere near it! And how can you complain when you missed too!”

The first voice, clearly aggravated, called back, “I wasn’t trying to hit him! You startled me with your stupid shot and made me release mine, so it’s your fault he’s still walking!”

A slight pause ensued before both voices cried out at once. ““He’s still walking!””

By the time those words left their mouths I was already upon them. Dash sent mana flowing through my leg muscles, boosting my sprinting speed significantly for a short time. Using the sound to pinpoint their location, I found them several trees behind the road, in the middle branches. I didn’t have any real ranged attacks yet, so the best I could do was throw a few of the knives and daggers I pulled out of my Inventory. I made sure to hold my hand behind my back, under my shirt, when transferring them, just to keep up appearances.

Yes, I know, in a life or death situation appearances are the last thing to worry about, but sometimes a little forethought can save you a ton of trouble in the future. I don’t plan to let these men live, but in the off chance that they get away, I would rather them not realize that I had tricked that thief earlier. And I had no doubt that they were watching the whole incident.

These lovely gentlemen even took the time to confirm my suspicion, while using the trees for protection against my airborne blades. “Let’s get back to Lilia, we can’t be held responsible for whatever he does now!” Voice number one exclaimed. Oh, as if I would let you leave that easily-

BOOF!

Both men threw some kind of ball to the ground that exploded into smoke. This world has smoke bombs?! What are they, ninjas?! No, I can’t insult ninjas that way, they are rarely so openly chatty on the job, and they certainly wouldn’t be this incompetent...though I say incompetent when they managed to escape. Sigh.

I didn’t get much of a good look at them, with the lighting and our distance from one another, but they looked to be somewhat taller than I with bodies just as slender, perfect for high speed flexible movement. Coughing and waving my hand through the smoke to clear it, I can tell that their movement skills were at least decent, since I couldn’t tell what direction they left in. Still, at least I know that I could recognize them by voice if I ever met them again. They won’t escape me a second time. Only I get to choose when and how I die, no one else.

Wait, were they actually trying to kill me though? Judging by what Grunt number 1 said, they were trying not to hit the injured Harpy Wolf...but why? They were definitely working for Lilia too, or at least associated with her, so...I don’t get it. I could understand Lilia leaving me alive, or leaving me with the chance to live. Many thieves stick with stealing and avoid murder like a plague. It’s one thing to take a person’s possessions, another to take their lives. That is a burden most people are not strong enough to carry. I could even understand her overly dramatic behavior, doing the cliche ‘damsel in distress’, telling me her name...all of that can be seen as a grab for attention. She wants to be known as a thief, maybe for the challenge of pulling off a heist even when everyone is expecting it. But where do the flunkies come into play?

Well, one thing I know for certain, if they were willing to put arrows into me to stop me from killing a creature that was already on death’s door, then there must be damn good reason why. Hmm...let’s find out, shall we?

After collecting the weapons I threw at the duo, I moved back over to the Harpy Wolf. Still in the same spot, still alive somehow, but clearly struggling. Poor thing, I will let you rest in a moment. Opting to use a regular dagger instead of my traumatising morningstar, I calmly lifted the head of the beast and looked it in the eyes as I slit its throat.

That is a burden I have long since learned how to carry.

As the light faded away from its eyes, I began to feel a slight pressure in the atmosphere. Something clearly changed with the death of this wolf...hold on, didn’t Lilia say that these were the other half of the pack? Then, this would be the last one…

An idea slowly formed in the back of my mind, but it wasn’t solid enough for conscious thought. It was, however, enough to give me a sense of approaching danger. I quickly stood up and went around to each of the corpses, noting that they had already begun to decay at a rapid pace. I gathered the cores that popped out of their heads when I killed them, and I began to suspect that it was the separation of core from body that caused this phenomenon. Further shoving that thought to the back of my mind to share company with every other concern I held, I tried to focus on the task of getting out of the area. I didn’t even think to try to salvage what I could from the bodies, my instincts told me there was just not enough time for that.

I made it maybe sixty feet from the site of the battle when I heard the cry of another Harpy Wolf...but this time much louder, and more...human-like? Now that I think about it...oh. That’s what was bothering me. As much as Identify told me that what I fought were called Harpy Wolves, I only saw an awkward fusion between bird and wolf. Harpies have a different nuance to me, at least by the memories that the name drags up from my first world...shouldn’t they look a bit-

THOOMP!

-a bit more...like...that...oh dear.

A monstrosity landed in front of me, blocking my path. It was at least three times the size of the creatures I just fought, with features that clearly defined it as an adult of the species. It - no, she, had well defined hind legs, ending in brutal bird claws that looked like they could shred through trees with no problem. Her forelegs were actually her wings, heavily feathered and equipped with similar claws as her hind legs, albeit slightly smaller. Dangling from her chest were a pair of breasts that looked eerily human, bare skin without adornment. She was clearly well endowed, and if this was an actual human woman I might have indulged in the view a little more. As it is, they only served as a pleasant distraction from her head, which was the true nightmare. Front facing, piercing eyes, over a fleshy protruding jaw. A short mess of hair on top of her head, completely at odds with the feathers donning most of the rest of her body. When she opened her mouth to screech at me, I could clearly see the hardened beak hidden underneath the flesh.

My Identify skill marked her as the Harpy Wolf Matron, the leader of the pack.

...Crap.