Pov - Tavarious

I sat there, the eerie silence grading on me as I stared directly into the fire. I hated this lakeside, it was so unnatural, just the fact that there were no creatures near the lake to drink some water tip me off. Up until now, we have been following the tiny rivers as they draw closer to the lake, the beast seems fine with the river water up till now, but they don’t dare come near this lake. Yet, despite my protest, the captain decided this was a good place to set up camp. Ever since we set up camp, my [Danger Sense] has been going off like crazy, but even when I brought this to the attention of that godforsaken mongrel… I quickly closed off that train of thought before I could finish it. I almost let my pride take over me again. It was bad enough that it erupted in front of the Librarian, if I let go once again who knows what it might attract.

I lean back on the log, if only to give my body the idea that I am letting my mind rest. Yet I can’t fall asleep because of the blundering buffoon of a leader who put me on the first watch. I take a deep breath, the pride threatening to take hold of me.

Suddenly, without warning, my [Danger Sense] flies off the roof. I shiver at the sheer dread that the skill imparted upon me for a split second, then as fast as it appeared it disappeared. I tried holding my fist tight to stop me from shivering. Likewise, I quickly look every which way to see if I can find what sent me that feeling, even if it was only for a brief second.

After seeing nothing I was about to ask myself was I was still sane but then my mind landed on all the other times I felt my [Danger Sense] react so spontaneously even if the other times gave me less of a feeling. First, after we explored for a while, second when we purposely explored the forest instead of going to the cave, and lastly now. This also brings into question the fact that there was such a significant difference from the second to the third feeling of this phenomenon. Oh well, it is the scholar's job to find out these things, not mine, plus those arrogant commoners can finally get some sunlight. I visibly frown at my pride because I’m not even a noble, yet I'm acting like one.

I decided that I should open my status because it has been a week since I last checked, and the Adventures guild will hound me if I don’t check every week, something about ‘we want a time date when changes happen’. Furthermore, I don’t even know why the nosy pricks want to look upon the glory of my status. I pause my thoughts for a moment as my pride wishes to take over. After a couple of relaxing breaths, I open my eyes once more, without even knowing why or when I closed them. The thought passes my mind that I am still on the lookout, so I swivel my head around to make sure no creatures come and attack us when we are almost at the highest state of vulnerability. We are the most vulnerable right after immense training, and that is why most people go full-on megalomaniac, killing everything they see on their way to power. Even if there are far more ways to gain levels than killing, some are even better, like enlightenment. Knowing that I have been wandering around in my thoughts on purpose, I harden my resolve and open it. I immediately grimaced because of my biggest mistake printed on the status.

Status

Name: Tavarious

Level: 31

Race: Beast-Kin (Cat)

Hp 1950/1950

Mana: 200/200

Hp Regan:

59 per hour

Mana Regan:

15 per hour

Class: Rogue

Title: “Prideful one”

“One who met a Concept”

Stats

Skills

Strength: 85

Dexterity: 200

Constitution: 75

Wisdom: 110

Intelligence: 90

Charisma: 40

Inspect Lv.9

Sneak Lv.9

Advanced Shadow Magic Lv.3

Untrained Sin Magic (Pride Variant) Lv.0

Dagger Provost Lv.6

Aim Lv.3

Danger Sense Lv.4

Blessings:

*None*

Curses:

Curse of Pride

As if my eyes were not my own, they gravitated towards the [Curse of Pride]. All I can do is let out a sigh because no matter how many high-level curse breakers I have met on the topic, none have been able to break that blasted curse. I close my eyes and lean back some more, and after almost falling, I start reminiscing about how I met Fastus. The worst part is that all I know about him is that he is a living concept of pride, and how arrogant that scum was.

In the middle of my reminiscing my [Danger sense] flares, with that as an indicator I jump back dodging a spike of shadow. I quickly adjusted myself in the air and landed, staring at what I believed to be the culprit of the action. What attacked me was a fucking mutt, I mean wolf. The wolf was as black as I could imagine, with its fur blending in with every little shadow cast by the fire. With the brief window left from me dodging out of the way, I use [Inspect] upon the wolf.

Name: *None*

Level: 25

Race: Shadow Dire Wolf

C

Hp: 100%

As fast as I could, I focused on the race section of the wolf to see if I can glean a weakness. Before I completely focus on the race, I take a quick note of its level and race rank.

Shadow Dire wolf

Rank: C

“Shadow Dire wolf is the 2nd evolution of a common wolf. This evolution is notable because of its control over shadows, and slight control over darkness. The ability that ends up killing the most sapient races is its ability to hop from shadow to shadow.” (Wolves and their evolution)

High offense

High physical defense

Low magical defense

Mediocre adaptability

High mobility

I snarl at the system briefly before I caught myself from doing it any further. I did this due to the distinct lack of information on the Shadow Dire Wolf. This lack of information was not because of anything special, all it means is that the race is somewhat rare, forgettable, or just hard to study, but they could at least tell me the average level. The system itself did not define different races, it takes a definition from literature written in the past, so a race that has not been seen before will not have a definition. So not all definitions of races are created equal, some may have good information or some will be downright wrong. The only real information I have gathered is that it can control shadows and jump from shadow to shadow.

From the corner of my eye, that I have been eyeing the wolf with, I notice that the wolf is preparing a barrage of small shadow spikes. I close the screen to get the distracting thing out of my sight. As I begin to condense, a shadow dagger in my left hand. The wolf finishes first and sends them hurtling towards me at a speed which I can barely jump to the side to get out of them. While I'm still in the air, I throw my newly finished condensed shadow dagger toward the wolf. I note that the wolf seems surprised about the dagger flying toward it, but as fast as I could blink it sinks into the shadows cast by the fire. Appearing in front of where I dodge too, it is already lunging forward to bite me. With this surprise and me barely considering any repercussions, my instincts take hold, and I dodge backward.

I toyed with the idea of alerting my team, but even before I could think the action through, I felt my pride flair as if to tell me that I can deal with this on my own. Knowing how [Curse of Pride] acts from my years with it, I know that if I were to wake up my allies, the pride would take over and that action alone would cripple my chances of winning this at all. So with that quick debate in my mind over with, I spread out my stance as I get ready to pounce.