It didn’t take long for Vulwin to get back up after he got hit with the minor healing magic. Instead of standing the elf fully levitated, keeping any and all weight off his injured leg. To Arthur’s surprise Vulwin didn’t seem angry or annoyed at all. The elf was actually smiling, though he didn’t address Arthur first. “It seems a stronger shield would have done better.” Vulwin and Euld laughed. Arthur felt incredibly awkward about the situation, expecting the mage to hold it against him. Instead when he turned to the guy who had literally broken his leg a moment ago, the mage was the one who apologized. “Sorry about that. I Hadn’t really meant what I said.” Euld interjected “These little tests you do on people are going to get you killed one day!” Poking his metal-encased finger into Vulwin’s shoulder. “You got your leg broken, out of curiosity? For what?” Arthur asked him, the mage looking a bit sheepish from where he floated. “Atreus was someone who could throw himself into rage in an instant, then return just as quickly. I never knew exactly how he calmed himself; he seemed to have a trick to it that other berserkers don’t. One way berserkers are known to die is simply not being able to stop the ‘Rage’ status. They either get killed by an ally just trying to defend themselves, or die from sheer exhaustion.” Vulwin shook his head. “My magic is based on psychic powers, that of the mind. I once had to use a spell that affected the mind of Atreus to break him out of ‘Rage’. “ Arthur noticed the sadness that crossed the faces of everyone there. “He made it clear that he was grateful that I stopped his rampage before he did any true damage or got himself killed.” He paused for a moment before continuing, looking off into the woods beyond Arthur. He just couldn’t look into the eyes of Atreus, now Arthur’s. “He also made it clear that if I touched his mind again, that he would ‘do my best to turn you into a bloody smear on the ground.’ “ Mung nodded, speaking without a hint of sarcasm or jest in his voice. “It’s true, that was the exact threat he used.” Arthur looked at the club on the ground in a different light. These people were afraid of the person who held it before him. It’s very possible that they are afraid of Arthur too. The difference this time is that they don’t know Arthur, and he was a stranger with the face of an ally.

Arthur considered this for a long moment. “What was the spell?” Vulwin frowned. “It’s called ‘True Calm’.” He seemed almost guilty just for reciting the name. Arthur decided at that moment to put his trust in these people in the hope that it would be repaid; instead of in fear that he might be killed. He raised his arm up and straightened his back, palm facing Vulwin. This seemed to snap the elf out of his angst, and he raised a curious eyebrow at the gesture. “I don’t want to become senseless killer, I promise that if you use your abilities to prevent me from murder I won’t harm you in any way.” Arthur had entirely meant what he said. But he didn’t know why he struck a boy-scouts pose to make this promise, and he didn’t mean to sound so deadly serious when he said it. A blue box appeared in his vision.

You have made a vow

“I Have Faith in You.”

You have made a vow to one of the leaders of

the Western Bell Village. You have promised to not harm him

in the event that he prevents you from attacking any of his allies.

Specifically you have given Vulwin Raebon

permission to cast True Calm on you

when you have the Rage status.

Arthur was once again taken by surprise. He looked up past the status window and saw that Vulwin was clearly reading his own. He had made a promise to this man, and now he was somehow magically bound to this promise. He realized something, and did a test. Focusing in on one particular part of the vow until another text box came up.

True Calm

Psychic Spell

Forces a state of calm onto the mind of most

sentient beings. less effective on beast types.

Greatly increases the chance for discourse instead of battle.

Use this spell wisely, a truly calm man can still plunge his blade into a heart.

Mana Cost: 750

Cast time: 5.5 seconds

Duration: 10 Minutes

The effect of the spell was surprisingly simple. Arthur wasn’t shocked to find that the spell cost was larger than his own mana pool, Vulwin probably had more mana than he had stamina points. He unfocused enough to let both text boxes vanish. Vulwin bowed deeply, Arthur did the same even though he felt silly doing it. “Thank you Arthur. That promise does a lot to put me at ease.” Before he could respond Arthur heard frantic screaming coming from the forest. The noise got louder and he turned to look. Arthur could make out that it was a young woman with a thick Scottish accent; and that she was spitting curses out with impressive speed despite running faster than he had ever seen anyone go before. Her wild red hair was in a braid that looked like it was close to becoming one large dreadlock. She was carrying a bow, not slung over her back but instead cradled to her chest like it was her baby that she was trying to protect. She wore dark leathers padded with puffy fur that stuck out from the gaps in the armor. “Boars!” She screamed when she cleared the tree line, announcing to the whole village. “Pig hoard! Gather your bolts and arrows!” Arthur witnessed villagers bound into action, echoing the call while the first girl ducked inside a building “Pigs coming!” putting arrows on strings and readying crossbows, many villagers rushed to the clearing between the tree line and the village. And then Arthur saw them, deep in the trees. A group of two dozen wild boars grunting and charging in the direction of the village. Arthur thought they looked a lot larger than they should be. Arrows flew and crossbows fired, the distance causing many to go wide. These archers had experience though, and the sounds of a wounded animal were heard over the small stampede headed in their direction. A second and third volley were fired before the main group of boars reached the clearing. That’s when he noticed the redhead had emerged from her shed and set down a squat barrel that was absolutely packed with arrows. He also noticed that several of the large beasts had broken away from the main stampede, and one was headed right in their direction. Arthur picked up his club and hefted it back onto his shoulder, he felt scared. A stone pillar shot up under the boar and sent it squealing onto its side. He heard Euld’s weapon leave its scabbard. Mung had already shut himself in his brewery.

Euld has activated

Warrior’s Lunge

The giant man sped past Arthur like a bullet, a shiny two foot broadsword gripped tightly in his hand. As the giant boar got back on its hooves he was upon it. The charge stopped just short of the beast. Euld grunted as he drove his blade into the boar in an attempt to sever an important vein in its neck. His blade sank but hit a bone, and Euld was knocked to the ground when the boar rammed its tusks into the chestplate of his armor. It squealed in pain as the sword was still implanted in its oversized shoulder and turned to try to gore Euld with its tusks. The warrior was on his side and struggling to get back on his feet in time due to his heavy plate armor. Another stone pillar interrupted the animal and stunned it for another few seconds. “Help him! “Arthur heard Vulwin yell at him, his grip tightened on his club. He was shaking, he fought plenty of people in his life. But never faced off against an animal bigger than a mean neighborhood dog. He never even killed anything besides flies and ants. He saw how his hands were shaking. He hated this. Arthur hated feeling like a coward. He hated these pigs for making him feel fear. He felt hate push his fear aside.

Rage Activated

Euld tried to wedge his blade out of the beast while he still had time, but just put it at a weird angle and caused the boar to thrash as much as possible. He grit his teeth in pain, the giant pig had put a big dent in his chestplate. He grabbed it by his tusks and wrenched its head to one side. He struggled with it, he was immensely strong but so was the boar. He struggled and was almost taken off his feet again. Euld’s muscles felt like they were on fire as he frantically thought of his next move. That’s when he heard a terrible snap, and the boar screamed a horrible squeal. Euld noticed that it now struggled a lot less, and that Arthur had snapped its relatively stubby leg with his club. Euld dropped the tusks and took a big step back. “I hate pork!” Arthur screamed.

You have dealt 91 damage to

Predatory Boar

You have inflicted Predatory Boar with Compound Fracture

Arthur ignored the notifications and the bone sticking out of the animal's leg, and the horrific noises it made. All he focused on was the way it was moving, and how he could hurt it more. The boar turned and swung its head to try to connect with Arthur’s unarmored body, the tip scraped Arthur’s side and caused blood to stain his fine shirt. It wasn’t nearly enough to stun him through the red haze. It attempted to ram him just as it did with Euld. Arthur threw his body out of the way just in time, and the animal fell as its destroyed leg completely collapsed. He pushed himself to his feet, twisted his body and slammed the club down on the beast’s head.

You have dealt 79 damage to

Predatory Boar

You have inflicted Predatory Boar

with Cracked Skull

Stun (5 sec)

Arthur stood there, and just stared furiously at the animal for a few seconds. Vulwin was watching closely, and was surprised to see anyone in the rage status pause for even a moment. Arthur lined up his bat, and swung it into the pommel of Euld’s sword. It slammed the blade to the guard, and the Boar went limp.

Special Critical Attack

You have dealt 344 damage to

Predatory Boar

You have killed a Predatory Boar

320 exp. gained

Arthur heard the shouts of villagers and the squealing of pigs. He rushed into the village. Vulwin and Euld tried to shout after him to wait. He wanted more blood. He saw a boar ramming its head against the door of one of the buildings closest to him, and someone cried for help from inside. Every person he saw was either busy trying to not get impaled by a giant pig, or pelting them with projectiles from any building they could climb. Arthur heard the cracking of the wood starting to give in. He ran up and swung his bat low and snapped the boar's leg just like the last. It seemed to be a very effective strategy, especially when he broke the other in quick succession. Text boxes appeared and vanished as he lost himself in the violence.

You have dealt 87 damage to

Predatory Boar

You have dealt 83 damage to

Predatory Boar

You have immobilized

Predatory Boar

You have dealt 126 damage to

predatory boar

You have inflicted

Predatory Boar with Fractured Skull

Stun (12 sec)

You have dealt 119 damage to

predatory boar

You have killed a Predatory Boar

340 exp. gained

Arthur looked up from the corpse. He saw people laying on the ground, clutching their chests and stomachs. He noticed two were unmoving. More boars were dead though, their big bodies littering the village and pin-cushioned with arrows. A few were seen fleeing into the forest. The fight was over. They were done. Arthur kept telling that to himself. The words started to seethe through his clenched teeth. “The fight is over…It’s done..” He growled and threw his club against the shed closest to him, causing one of the boards to crack and splinter inward. “Fuck! Fuck-fuck-fuck!” He threw himself onto his knees and started punching the ground with both fists, the rough earth immediately bloodying his fingers. He kept punching until he felt something in his hand break. He clenched his fists and hissed through his teeth. He forced himself to breathe slower. He tried his best to focus. The red haze faded slowly.

Rage Deactivated

Arthur sighed in relief, then immediately cried out in pain. He had a bad gash on his midsection that was still bleeding badly. His knuckle also was exploding in pain. He pushed himself onto his feet and focused on his surroundings the best he could. Some of the people were cheering their victory, many were just trying to help the wounded. He saw someone familiar, the guy he had knocked out. He was unmoving on the ground. Arthur walked over to him, bending down and shaking him. “Hey” a moment passed without any reaction. “Hey!” Arthur saw that he was badly damaged, his chest was bleeding much worse than he was. The groan rasped out of the stranger. Arthur noticed a simple looking longbow next to him. He carefully lifted him into a fireman’s carry. The shooting pain in his hand made him wince. As Arthur straightened his legs he heard loud chimes. It sounded just like multiple church bells ringing in unison and followed the noise with his eyes to a structure in the middle of the town that looked like a huge chimney. Four bells swinging from their posts that hung from its four flat faces. Near the top of the bell tower, wide wooden shutters were seen. As Arthur began to trudge forward he felt grateful for his strength stat, otherwise carrying someone that was 5 inches taller than him and much lankier would be a pain in the ass. It didn’t change the fact that it was extremely awkward. He checked his inflictions as he walked.

HP:622/709 SP:721/1440 MP:600/600

Inflictions:

Bleeding Gash (-3 HP / 5 sec)

Broken Knuckle (Dex. - 1)

He glanced over to one side and saw the redhead sitting on the now upside-down barrel. She looked exhausted. Several boars lie dead, one just a few yards from where she sat. It looked like she had fired dozens of arrows in just a couple minutes. The very small amount of arrows he saw sticking out of the ground compared to the beasts astonished him. To his other side Euld had caught up to him, carrying two villagers over each shoulder. One looked like a Dwarf, his chain link torn up. He was cursing between strained breaths. The other looked like another human, and was eerily quiet and limp. “Does this village have a doctor?” Arthur asked, Euld seemed confused. “A healer?” He corrected himself. Euld nodded. “You’re heading in the right direction. Just follow me.” They both walked at a rushed pace to the base of the bell tower; where several tables wide and long enough to lay people across were stationed in front of one of the few brick buildings in the village. Two people in stark white robes seemed to apply healing magic to people in order of the most need, miraculously closing wounds and causing bloody bruises to fade rapidly. After they had casted once or twice each, the pair would move on as assistants applied bandages or stints as needed. One was a bald priestly old man, though he had thick white tattoos across his arms and neck. The other couldn’t have been older than 18. A pale blond that had similar tattoos in the same spots, but they were noticeably thinner. Arthur laid the person he carried down by a group of people with similar injuries, he couldn’t tell how long he had until his bleeding status would kill him. Arthur was looking at the seeping wound. And a blue box appeared.

Ability Learned!

Minor Analyze

Just by gazing upon items or enemies, you can absorb information from them. This will moderately decrease the chance of being tricked or swindled.

100 Mana cost

Mangol Pemud

Level: 14 Human Half-Blood

HP: 698/1020

Inflictions: Bleeding Gash (-7hp / 3 sec)

Broken Ribs x4 (-10 Dexterity)

Arthur gritted his teeth. “Shit..” he could see how fast his health was falling, but it didn’t tell him how long the bleeding lasted. He looked up at the man who was pale and sweaty. One of his eyes was purple and swollen shut. Arthur hissed under his breath and tore one of the sleeves off his shirt. He used the soft cloth to apply pressure to the wound with his good hand. This caused Mangol to writhe in pain. Arthur checked his inflictions again.

Inflictions: Bleeding Gash (-4hp / 6 sec)

Broken Ribs x4 (-10 Dexterity)

Arthur looked back up. Several of the people who were on the tables were already up, limping but on their feet. The next set of the most critical patients were loaded on the tables and the robed healers made another round. The senior mage took a bottle with a large round body that had a glowing, pale blue liquid filling it. It looked like the substance chilled the bottle that held it. The old man chugged the fluid with haste, then immediately began casting healing spells again. “Mana potions?” Arthur muttered to himself. Shortly after becoming bored and annoyed with waiting. He scowled to no one in particular. He wanted a cigarette. He pondered how even being forced into a different dimension didn't affect his nicotine addiction.