CHAPTER SEVEN

The Adventure Begins (Kinda) Pt.2

“Send someone into Eternity, she says. A great opportunity, she says. If she just wanted us to shank someone, then she should just say it. No need to be all melodramatic about it.”

Roari grumbled as she slashed her way through the foliage. Finally freed from the facility, the two of them found themselves amongst a dense sea of trees. The high canopy blocked all but the faintest glimmer of sunlight.

With nothing but a crudely drawn map, it was quite safe to assume that the dynamic duo were for all intents and purposes, lost.

While the map was still legible, it wasn’t particularly detailed and aside from the etchings of a forest and a few towns, there were no other markers. So even if they knew which general direction to go in, there would be no way of finding their way back.

“Well, Hoyt said that Torva should be relatively close by. Once we get out of the forest, we can probably get directions or something…” Pale said after scrutinizing the map for the fifth time.

Of course, none of them had bothered to think about the old dirt road leading out of the facilities. An option now long lost to them after they spent the hour battling the greenery in an attempt to navigate through the sea of trees.

Perhaps in the beginning, they were dead set on marching out of the forest in a straight line, but after so many twists and turns, they couldn’t even be sure if they were still heading in the same direction.

Neither were there any notable landmarks as the shadowy forest muddled the background into one cohesive blur.

“We should have asked for a compass.” Roari sighed. Exploration was fun and all, but even the greatest optimist would get tired after a couple hours of pure nothing. From excitement to the dreadfully mundane, it had gotten to the point where they had begun to debate the benefits of suicide. However, in the event that the two of them respawned in different locations, then that would only make an already bad situation worst.

“Thank you, Captain Hindsight.”

“You could have at least asked for directions when we were still there!”

“Thank you Captain Hindsight.” Pale repeated.

“We can still ask for directions now!”

“Directions from who?! Tell me! Where can I find someone to ask for directions in this fucking maze of a forest?!” The endless boredom started to affect Pale a bit as he lashed out.

“Yeesh! Calm down. Are you on your period or something?”

“I don’t want to hear that from the girl who comes to my room sobbing and then eats all my icecream whenever she starts bleeding!”

As the two siblings squabbled, their voices ended up echoing through the forest.

Perhaps divine providence had grown sick of their shit, as a cacophony of squealing soon appeared in the distance, indicating life.

Immediately shutting up, the two of them sought out the source of the noise carefully. Although the underbrush rustled a bit, the ensuing noise more than covered up the sound of their approach. In a depressed valley were three small figures surrounding a couple smaller ones. Their wore crude clothes that could probably double as burlap sacks and carried cruder weapons.

There was a stone spear and hammer, both of which were nothing more than rocks lashed onto tree branches with old knotted rope. The last figure carried a simple wooden branch which probably doubled as a stave.

Though they couldn’t get a firm grasp on their features at first, as they drew closer, the squealing noise suddenly made sense.

They were pigmen.

Short and stocky, these four foot barbecue entrees looked exactly like regular pigs save for the fact that they happened to have hands while standing on two legs.

Across from them were two wolf pups who were crying softly while licking the bloody gashes of a much larger wolf corpse. From their distress, Pale could only assume that the dead wolf was their mother.

‘Disgusting.’

It didn’t take a genius to realize who the villains were here. The monsters hurled small rocks while wheezing short grunts that could barely pass off as laughter. Rather than just kill the pups, the pigmen seemed content to toy with them. The pups who refused to leave their mother could only take it, as tiny pebbles smacked noisily off their soft furry coats.

Shiiiiiik

“Hey Pale look, its your brother.”

He turned to find Roari who had already pulled out her wooden sword. Though she had made a joke, she seemed in no mood to laugh as she said two short words. “We’re going.”

No strategy. No plan. Pale could only smile helplessly as he hurried to follow her charge. His sister had always loved dogs, so he could guess why she would be absolutely livid upon seeing their suffering.

Or maybe she just really hated pigs.

Thinking of the field of carnage from the other day, Pale shuddered and instantly felt a bit sorry for the tiny victims who were unaware of the two hostile presences swiftly closing in.

Regardless, it was not a moment too soon for the pigmen had finished their fun. The dark shadows of the forest were banished as fire bloomed to life in the hands of the stave user.

However, before it could so much as cast its spell, its attention broke as Roari’s threw her sword. The shoddy wooden weapon transformed into a spinning arc of destruction and hummed while flying through the air, smacking cleanly against the pigman’s face.

It’s concentration broken, the flame petered out as its companions squealed in surprise. But before they could brandish their weapons at Roari, Pale was already upon them.

Narrowly avoiding the initial thrusts, Pale drew in close to the spear wielder and smashed its face in with his pommel. Afterwards, he shoved the disoriented pigman into his hammer-wielding companion before redirecting his focus on the wizard pig, who he guessed was the most dangerous of the three.

To be frank, it felt as if he were bullying children, as all the pigment were far smaller than he was. Of course, any pretense about his guilt might as well have been hot air as he viciously jabbed the magic pigman.

This initial ferocity could be attributed to the constant boosts to his stats. Paired with the combat experience of getting swarmed by a muppet army, such a low level fight was too easy.

Despite their weakness however, the other two pigs did not idle as they charged forward to try to save their companion.

Keyword? Tried.

They hadn’t even moved two steps when Roari tackled the hammer pig from behind, locking its arms with a full nelson. Disregarding the disgusting sensation of having her arms sink into its squishy flesh, she pulled and dragged the two of them down onto the ground.

The spear pig paused, as if torn between which companion of his to save, but it was already too late.

Rising from the ash grey corpse of a pigman, Pale’s sword was coated with foul black tar like liquid, while his other hand brandished the gnarled wooden stave.

The two of them locked gazes, both wary of one another. Although it was small, the pigman still had the advantage of a weapon with longer reach, and unlike the beginning, it was now prepared.

As Pale preferred not to be stuck with a pointy rock on a stick, he was more than content to continue this impasse, for the deadlock would not remain unbroken for long.

There was a terrible crack as Roari rose up from her own corpse as well. Its fallen pig brother had its head bent at a grotesque angle and its weapon also fell into the hands of the murderer.

Suddenly, the spear pig was alone, its companions now nothing more than a feast for the worms.

Desperate upon seeing its impending doom, the surviving pigman screamed. It’s bone-chilling cries scattered deep into the wide expanse. Gripping its weapon, it gathered its resolve even as it was being charged from both sides at once.

It eyes Roari who was the closer of the two. As she was charging haphazardly, she seemed the much easier target. At the very least, the pigman would bring her down with it.

But as it was about to thrust its spear, a searing pain lanced through the back of its calves, forcing it to the ground. Surprisingly, the two wolf pups before had clamped down on its leg, their beady little eyes filled with vindicative hate.

Its face contorted with rage, but before it could do anything else, Roari’s hammer came falling down.

Squelch.

With but a single blow, the back of its head caved in, sending the last pigman to join his brothers as a cold, lifeless pile of grey flesh.

Adrenaline pumped through Pale’s veins as he appraised the gory mess around them. Overall, it was less messy than the razing of the massive muppet horde, but the setting seemed unnecessarily brutal.

Meanwhile, Roari had knelt down to check on the wolf pups. The tiny bundles of fur were barely larger than a loaf of bread and did not appear to be hostile. Thus the lot of them got along almost immediately, with the pups licking the blood off of Roari’s hands while she beamed with delight.

Having a weakness for small, cute creatures himself, Pale also had half a mind to join in, but first there were other priorities. He left his sister to his vices as he went to inspect the loot.

However, apart from pig meat and the weapons they looted, there didn’t seem to be much else. His nose wrinkled as he lifted a section that looked disturbingly like a human arm.

He was just about to leave in disappointment when he found a crumpled sheet of paper tucked beneath the corpse of the pig mage.

Flare Bubble

Tier: 0

SP Cost: 0

Restrictions: None

Mana per Cast: 50

Cooldown Timer: 1s

Forms a ball of condensed flame that inflicts 20 elemental damage to target. Also inflicts ‘burning’ status.

It was a spell book… or a scrap of paper torn from one, however the moment he touched it, he was instantly given the option to learn his first skill. However, the moment he finished reading the flavor text, the page slowly crumbled to dust as a new entry appeared in his adventurer’s journal.

“…”

‘Welp. No need to tell Roari anything.’ Pale whistled as he scattered the ashes into the air. Of course, after obtaining his ill-gotten gains, he was still going to give it a test run.

Pointing his palm towards an innocent, unassuming tree, he began to wonder. Just how exactly was he supposed to cast a spell. Was he supposed to say the spell aloud or maybe just think it?

‘Flare Bubble’

In those brief moments, electricity coursed through Pale’s arms, numbing it. A moment later, there was a brief heat as a small flaming soap bubble was ejected from his hands and spattered messily against the tree trunk. Immediately gouts of flame exploded out from the impact before quickly dissipating into nothingness.

“Oh?” The brief flash of flame got Roari to look up from her pups. “I take it, you’re going to be a mage now?”

“Not sure yet, but I suppose we’ll see. You don’t mind right?” Pale smiled as Roari ignored him to smother the wolf pups in affection. He only had 125. The consumption was quite bad, leaving him with only two more shots. Fortunately, there wasn’t a need for it just yet.

Grawwwwrrrrrrrr.

“Of fucking course.”

Pale wasn’t even surprised as the dense foliage nearby was roughly shoved away. From the shadows, another pigman stomped into the clearing. It’s eyes were bloodshot and grimey sludge dripped from its maw.

If it was small like the others, then it wouldn’t have been a cause for worry. Fate however was cruel as this one was easily double the size, with a hideously brutish face and savage aura.

It stomped towards them with murder burning within its pupils. Up close, it was easily of size with Hoyt, being a head taller than Roari and thrice as thick. Its hide was also darker, rougher and was half clothed by the shredded skin of a bear. It’s face, though hideous still sported numerous battle scars, which gave a veteran feel to the monster. The air around them trembled as it howled in grief at the sight of the fallen pigmen.

“Bro. Trade me the spear.” Roari ushered the wolf pups under a hedge for safety as she swapped her rock on a short stick for a rock on a longer stick.

With that she finally completed the assemble to look the very picture of an elegant amazoness. Of course, that was if her appearance was only taken at face value. When measured against the pigman who also happened to carry a monstrously sized club, her valiant appearance could only look pitifully small.

Without ceremony, the pigman charged. Its lumbering stride was clumsy, but shook the ground with each heavy stomp.

Despite the rapidly approaching pigman, Roari’s will remained firm as she planted the butt of the spear against the ground and braced for impact. Without care for her own being, she was fully intent on having the pigman impale itself by its own accord.

When faced with that mad slobbering face, it took every inch of Roari’s willpower not to dodge out of the way. If she were in the real world, she would have surely pissed her pants. However, now her mind was clear, as if the virtual world was lending her an incomprehensible bravery that served as a solid foundation to her strength as the monster ran directly into the spear.

Crack.

The spear had barely broken through its skin when it splintered and snapped into pieces. The pigman’s charge had not been stopped in the slightest as Roari found herself inelegantly trampled as the pigman barreled on past.

Pale paled in the face of such strength. The pigman was clearly unfazed by its stab wound as it ground to a half. Was there even a point to having a weapon if it could just run over them?

Despite such misgivings, Pale had already begun to act. His hand quickly burst into flame as he launched his newest spell.

“Flare Bubble!”

While wishing the spell name could be a tad cooler, Pale watched as the bubble jettisoned from his palm and splashed liquid flame all over the pigman’s side. Its bear half-cape was instantly set alight as the minuscule blow redirected the pig’s attention on to Pale. With a couple casual pats, the pigman roughly extinguished the flames with its thick fleshy hands. It coldly snorted as it raised its club menacingly towards Pale.

“Flare Bubble!”

The pigman swatted at the tiny bubble and winced as its hand was set alight. Its grunt of surprise gave Pale confidence, even as his flames began to disappear once more.

It was then that Pale immediately turned and ducked into the dense brush, finding cover in the dense sea of trees. The pigman who was watching its prey get away ignored the groaning Roari on the ground, and chased after, smashing through branches and small tree trunks in the process.

Despite its size, the pigman’s speed was no joke as it almost instantly caught up to Pale.

But even as the monster reached out to grab him, Pale’s courage was at an all time high as he swung his hammer at the monster’s outstretched arm. It came as no surprise as his blow bounced off that rough skin, completely ineffective.

‘Is it because I don’t have enough strength?”

Pale grimaced as he continuously pounded away while backpedaling. With each step, the pigman drew closer, but a tight cluster of trees had sealed its movements somewhat. But while the pigman was pursuing Pale, Roari had plenty of time to gather her bearings and rejoin the fight. Using the splintered shaft of the stone spear, she drove the point home, specifically on the encrusted flesh blackened by Pale’s fire.

This time, the sharpened point pierced through the cracked and blackened skin, releasing a spray of viscous green ooze. The pigman’s painful howls reverberated through their ears, threatening to knock them out with its volume alone.

With a rough shove, Roari was sent flying into the brush. The remains of the spear was crushed into sawdust as the pigman let loose a low grunt. Its dominance would not be challenged.

Having lost almost all of their newfound weapons, the situation was quickly taking a turn for the worst. While they still had the crude hammer and wooden swords, they would prove futile against the creature’s thick hide. Not to mention, with its monstrous size, he suspected that they could at most weather two or three more blows. The pigman was not slow either, as the constant evasion on Pale and Roari’s part required alot of stamina. Stamina that the monster seemed to have an endless supply of.

To be honest, there was a good chance the two of them would die here.

“I really would rather not die though,” Pale muttered. He couldn’t run away either, as the monster was now in the progress of chasing down Roari. If she were to die, then heaven knows when they would find each other away. The Flare Bubbles which did some damage had barely slowed it down at all, but perhaps that was only because the flames didn’t last long enough to have any significant effect.

Pale clenched his teeth and took out his adventurer’s journal. He had wanted to be conservative. He wanted to be careful, but if he had to choose between losing in the present or suffering in the future, then he would choose the present everytime. Delayed gratification be damned!

Not to mention, Perri would probably chew his ass out later if he were to let her die here.

‘No regrets right?’ He laughed hollowly to himself as he poured all his remaining stat points into wisdom.

Pale Storm Lv 8

HP: 210/270 (+10)

Jobless

MP: 585/735 (+5)

STR:10

DEX:5

VIT:7

INT:5

LUK:5

WIS:35

‘It worked!’

Though his stats were horribly skewed, he sighed in relief as his mana pool expanded. Though there was no guarantee that they would be able to win, at least they would have a chance now. He set his sights on the pigman who was still stubbornly chasing a screaming Roari.

“Flare Bubble!” The flames splattered against the monster once more. And though it squealed in outrage, Pale was far from done.

“Flare Bubble!” The next shot smoked the creature’s face, forcing it to stumble back as a sea of red and orange filled its vision.

“Flare BUBBLE!” Pale screamed! He fired shot after shot until he depleted all of his mana pools once more, transforming the pigman into a living funeral pyre.

With its entire body set aflame, the pigman rolled desperately on the ground in an attempt to put itself out.

Upon seeing such a pathetic scene, Pale felt a dirty wave of pleasure wash over him. Was this what they called power? To stand tall and proud while his enemies screamed in pain and agony?

He would have laughed if not for one tiny complication.

The giant pig was still alive.

And it was angry.

Like always, the fire did not last long. The pigman’s entire body was charred black, with its skin cracking with every movement. Leaky pus and fluids flowed from the cracks while it groaned in pain. Despite its weakness, its gaze was positively livid as the air around them seemed to have dropped several degrees.

If looks could kill, Pale would’ve started digging his grave by now. However, Roari did not miss the chance to seize the advantage as she whipped her wooden sword into the pigman’s side, sending its injured body crashing to the ground.

“You should have done that sooner!” Roari complained. Thrusting downwards, she pierced through the dying pigman’s neck. And although it maintained its death glare, it could offer no further resistance as its life essence flowed out from its wounds. It only retained that hateful stare that refused to cease until the light of its eyes was extinguished in full.

Although Pale was slightly disturbed, he heaved a sigh of relief as he shot Roari a smile. “At least you didn’t die? Just think. In the future, you’ll be running away from all sorts of monsters, so you can consider this training!”

“Well aren’t you hateful? I’m taking this as compensation.” Roari sniffed as she picked up the tattered brown bear pelt. Although it offered no stats, it was a rather fashionable item when draped around her shoulders.

Woof.

When the battle finally concluded, the two wolf pups burst into the clearing while yipping excitedly. They stumbled over their tiny legs as they waddled towards Roari, just begging to be petted.

“Oh god. I needed this.” Roari declared, running her hands through their thick glossy fur. “Let’s keep them.”

Pale stared at the girl who had killed every pet she owned since the age of five. For the pups sake, perhaps it would be best to leave them there. However, he wouldn’t rain on his sister’s parade just yet. Instead, he smiled and spread his arms.

“Sure. But how about we get out of here first? I’m getting sick of forest.”

“Kay!”