Tired legs pulled Dave along, through the snapping twigs and the crunching of long dead leafs he trotted on. What else could he do? He had no idea where he was, in a forest of twisted woods. So he did the only thing he knew he could, he walked. He slipped off the tailcoat jacket and tossed the slime covered thing to the side. His chest was still garbed in a white button up shirt, but much like the jacket, was covered in filth.

As he walked a question entered his mind: why wouldn’t he try teleporting again. He had no idea how he arrived in that place but he was sure the Teleport skill was responsible. So it begged to reason that the teleport could get him out… or it could just make it worse. Yet even with that fear, he wasn’t sure how much more he could take of that creepy forest.

He picked a spot with his eyes twenty feet away. His hand was held out as he spoke the spell aloud, “Teleport!”

Spell activation not possible at this time

“What?” In shocked disbelief he tried the spell again, and yet instead of blinking to a new location the same message popped up again. Was this the fantasy version of a 404 error.

“Are you kidding me!” Dave yelled, holding nothing back. “What am I suppose to do now?” He rubbed his forehead as his face grew a shade redder. However, apart of him already knew the answer, he could only walk.

One foot after another pulled him along. He dared not stop to rest, lest he not have the will to stand back up. He walked until the trees began to part and the sight of an overturned cart greeted him on a lone road. It was less of a road and more path not fully obstructed by the trees.

Dave approached the wagon, hoping to find some indication as to where to find civilization. He rounded the cart, but just as quickly fell back with a yelp at the sight of a corpse. The body was long mummified with hollow eyes and it’s mouth hanging open. It wore armor like those of the palace guards, yet if this was iron, steal, or something else Dave had no idea. And with the amount of rust covering it, he didn’t think it would make much of a difference.

Stealing his nerve, Dave approved and looked into the wagon’s bed. Whatever it once carried was now little more than black mush. The wagon it self wasn’t much better, with just a small amount of pressure the wood cracked and deformed. How long had this been here?

Even if this was a path seldom used, surely someone would have stumbled upon this site by now. And yet, there it was, a body not even given the proper burial. Dave keeled down and took the halberd from between the soldiers hands. The weapon was five feet long with a spade spear point, a broad axehead, and crescent hook on the back end. Much like the armor, a layer of rust covered the weapon.

“Don’t think bad of me, but right now I can make better use of this gear.” He didn’t relish the thought of waring armor that had been on a dead man, but he also didn’t relish the thought of dying. It took him a bit of time to finished stripping the corpse and to figure out how to tighten the straps of the armor as to not snap the rotten things. Just when he had finished and picked up the weapon the system gave him a message.

User lacks the proficiency to use the heavy armor class.

Speed reduced by 50%

Agility reduced by 25%

User lacks the proficiency to use polearm class weapons

Attacks are blunted

Damage reduced by 50%

“Yeah, why not,” Dave just shook his head in disbelief. “Why the fuck not!” At first having an adventure in a world that operates on game logic sounded like fun but it had long ago lost it’s charm. The way this system interacted with the world was strange as well. Damager reduction? What did that even mean? If he swung his halberd down with all his might would the object he hit somehow not get damaged or would his swing just slow down at the last moment. It was strange and he didn’t understand it.

Nevertheless, he would still use them. It didn’t matter how slow it was, so long as the armor protected him, and the weapon was still a weapon in the end.

Crack

Dave froze. He dared not move, not breath, not make so much a sound. There had been so little sound since he dragged himself out of the lake, and with his mind focused on other things, he had simply gotten used to it.

Crack

Slowly, so slow to not even scare a fly if there was one, Dave turned around. Not twenty feet into the woods stood a creature. It had the shape of a man but the proportions were wrong. Tall, easily six feet in hight, and pale white with ribs showing. Both arms nearly touching the ground, and the hands were larger than they should be and ending in unnatural claws. The head was small with sunken eyes that made it resemble more of a corpse.

He stared and the creature stared back. Dave’s heart pounded in his chest and every part of him screamed to run away.

Speed reduced by 50%

He hated the system. He hated it so much. However, just as he feared his mind would freeze up forever, he remembered what Julien told him about general magic the night before. In a voice barely above a whisper he spoke, “Appraisal.”

Name: Lesser Witiko

Level: 3 [0/2700]

Stamina: 110

Mana: 30

Strength: 7 (-5)

Dexterity: 15 (-5)

Wisdom: 3 (-5)

Endurance: 11 (-5)

Charisma: 2

Intelligence: 3

Status effect: Withered

Dave barely got to absorb any of the information in front of him before the creature screeched with a mouth full of jagged teeth. It lowered itself on all four limbs and sprinted the distance, leaving Dave with barely enough time to close the status screen and ready his weapon.

He swung down with the axehead, trying to stop the charge in it’s tracks, but the Witiko nimbly avoided it. Lunging forward with a open handed swipe that cut long grooves into his armor that his sluggish body couldn’t hope to dodge. It leaped back. Readied itself. And lunged again!

Dave’s legs felt as if he was walking through tar. He could see it coming, but his body was so slow that he could barely react. The pain in his hands as he gripped the halberd kept him in the moment. He thrust the spear tip into the charging creature, hitting the shoulder but his strength alone couldn’t pierce the hide of the beast.

The Witiko faltered but did not stop, as it’s claws sliced through the gap in the left side armor. Dave cried out. He gripped the wound as a pulsing pain sent shock waves through his whole body, causing the strength in his legs to gave out and forced him to one knee.

Bleed has been applied

You will continue to slowly bleed out until the status has been treated. The longer it goes without treatment the more damage will be done to your abilities.

With the beast’s momentum gone, it crashed into the ground. But the respite lasted only moments before it righted itself. The smell of blood in the air causing fresh waves of drool to pour from it’s mouth. It’s claws dug into the ground and it flung itself at the downed boy. Dave raised his weapon with a bloody hand. He tried to block the Witiko, but it’s weight was too much and sent them both sprawling to the ground.

A snapping jaw tried with reckless abandon to reach him, but it was only the weapon the separated the two that prolonged Dave’s life. The Witiko pushed it’s body weight down onto the weapon, yet Dave did not budge. He strained and pushed back. His face grew red from the exertion but he was pushing it back. His strength stat was higher, not by much, nevertheless in that moment he would give it all it was worth.

Adaptation has been activated

Through your endeavors you have gained access to a new skill: Second Wind.

Second Wind Lv. 1:

Heal half the damage your body has taken and cleanse all conditions

Gain bonus Strength and Dexterity equal to half of your Endurance for 30s

24h cooldown

Will you accept?

“YES!” he shouted and without a moment of hesitation he activated this new skill. “Second Wind!” Power flowed through him like an unchecked tide. The aches in this muscle from walking for so long, the fatigue from swinging a weapon, the wound on his side, barely noticeable anymore. The weight of the beast was nothing now, and with one mighty swing he sent the Witiko flying with a spray of it’s own blood as the hook dug into it’s hard flesh.

Dave rolled and sprang back to his feet. With what little breathing room he could get, he ripped the rotten straps from his chest plate, letting the armor fall to the ground. As if one of many weights had been lifted, he felt lighter. He spun on his feet as the Witiko narrowly flew past him.

The Witiko let out a low guttural growl and rose from the ground to stand at it’s full hight. With it’s hands out to it’s side, it charged. Dave gripped his weapon tightly and moved to meet it.

The weapon spun in his hands and the axehead slammed into the Witiko’s right arm with a sickening snap that sent the limb flying back behind the creature. However, the small moment of joy from his feat was ended at the pain of claws stabbing through his forearm. Yet his arm was the only thing that kept the claw from stabbing into his chest.

Perhaps it was the adrenal that flowed through his blood like water, or some part of the game logic, but he barely felt a thing in that moment. The claw pulled back. Dave adjusted the butt of his weapon and plunged it into the creature’s eye.

It stumbled back, stunned but for a moment. But a moment was all Dave needed. He brought the halberd back and swung it upon the Witiko’s head with every last ounce of strength he could pull from the system.

The Witiko’s head caved in slightly, yet the halberd bounced back, forcing Dave to grit his teeth as waves of vibration nearly made him drop his weapon. The Witiko stood for only a second before falling forward like an unmoving log.

Was it over? Was it dead? There was only one way to make sure. He brought the weapon back up and hammered it into the beast skull.

And again.

And again.

And again.

You have gained XP: 120

With each strike blood sprayed, covering the forest and Dave in equal measure. When the head was no more, he hammered away on the body, when the body was little more than unrecognizable gore he just kept swinging. It was only when the axehead of his weapon snapped off that Dave returned to his senses.

Dave gazed out to the bloody mess around him. The pain in his arm was spreading like a fire. Blood dripped down from the wound, yet surprisingly there was no bleed status like last time. However, he was too tired to focus on that. With what was left of his weapon, he cut the sleeve of his injured arm and used it as a tourniquet. Between the blood that covered the cloth and filth from the lake before that, there was no way to avoid infection, so for now he merely set his sights on not dying from blood loss.

He trudged back into the woods, partially worried that the smell of blood could attract more of those creatures. He had barely killed the Witiko and that thing was already weakened. If not for that he knew he would be dead now. He walked until he found a tree that looked almost normal and rested his back against it. He just needed to rest.