Haler slowly backed away and stopped when he could barely see the exit. He stood a safe distance away which gave him a lot of options. Whether to run away or go through the light could be chosen quickly.
Haler applied his father's lessons to his situation.
'By creating this long dark tunnel, the hunter wanted to wear out the prey. The darkness would bore the brave and scare the cowardly. What is devious enough to develop a plan of this magnitude? It should have interesting loot no?' Instead of being discouraged, Haler wondered what kind of drops the creature had. Immortality does that to a person.
[Chivalry ⤜ Courage 3/10]
Haler looked at the notification in confusion. The yellow flame lit up inside his heart once more and his strength rose. His black eyes had a tinge of orange coloring them. It was noticeable if one stared closely.
'Courage huh?'
Although Haler was not scared mentally, his body still was in a fight/flight mode. The Class could not identify his mental state but went with what the body said. Does that mean whatever gave him access to this dream place held higher authority than the Class Key themselves? Haler felt his head hurt.
Class Keys were the single thing that allowed humans, dwarves, elves, and beastmen to fight back against the invaders of the mystic places. To think that he had something grander than that was mind-numbing.
Ignoring his thoughts, Haler made his way towards the light with a 'since I'm already here' attitude. He was certain of death, but he continued. He would treat it as a reconnaissance mission.
He activated [Lightning Speed – 8] and dashed through the tunnel. In less than a second, his vision went dark. He died.
Haler flung up from his straw bed sweating. His face was paler than ever. He guided his hand towards his head in efforts to calm the migraine. Sweat dripped down his face.
'How?'
He was certain the creature near the exit was a Legendary Creature at the least. Haler had almost maxed out agility for the Mortal Sequence. Not only that, but he also had a speed-based Astral Art. Being unable to react to a Mortal Creature made no sense unless it was not one to begin with.
"F*ck!" He cursed out loud before regaining his calm. If he thought about it, this trip was not a complete failure. He managed to find out the effects of his new class.
Haler laid back down and reviewed what happened.
One, the wooden stick made for an excellent weapon against the Lightning Mice. Two, after killing a mouse, some power increased his stats by two. Three, the increase disappears the moment he stepped out of the battlefield. Four, there is a tiny yet long tunnel he could use to hide from the hoard. Five, the dreamscape is more mysterious than he originally thought. Six, there is a hunter of unknown power outside the tunnel's exit.
GROWL.
Haler's stomach ached as it urged for food. As if he did not hear it, Haler went back into a deep sleep. The village head had trouble getting his fill in much less an orphan. His stomach became a constant reminder of why he needed to leave the small village.
'One more time!' Even though his head ached, he still pushed forward. Passing the graduation exam was the number one priority.
[Entering the Mouse Borrow]
With every death, Haler's previous injuries reset. It was more effective than resting to recover injuries. Haler would have killed himself after every skirmish if it were not detrimental to his health.
Immediately, Haler went for the spear and started slaughtering. The first kill would be him luring a mouse to the bowl for the easy hit. Then it was hunting a few mice around the bowl. Then it was running to the little tunnel and waiting out the hoard before continuing the slaughter.
Haler did not manage to gain a single drop until his fiftieth kill.
[Killed Mortal Sequence Lighting Mouse – Dropped Lightning Mouse Astral Crystal(5)]
Haler looked puzzled at the drop. Did he not already have a Lightning Mouse Astral Crystal?
Nonetheless, he still crushed the crystal. A stream of lightning filtered into his body and a notification popped up.
[Lightning Mouse Astral Crystal gave Quick Charge - 5]
'One directional charge?' Haler saw images of the skill being used inside his head. 'So that's the source of speed these Mice got near their deaths.'
It was essentially a burst of speed that could be activated for a short while. Haler saw this skill used by almost every mouse. He just attributed it to death throws. Animals have been known to show bursts of strength near their end after all. As the son of a hunter, how would he not know that?
Unlike these mice, Haler wanted to use this skill to burst through the tunnel exit.
SKREE!
The screams of the hoard of mice awoke him from his trance. There were hundreds of grey-colored mice surrounding him. Haler's death was confirmed, but he wanted to see his skills.
"Have at thee!" He hollered as he charged into the hoard.
The mice were stampeding on each other to take a bite of human meat. Although they were cannibals, it was out of necessity, not choice. Earing your kind is never as nutritional as eating other species. Because they wanted to eat Haler themselves, they were not united. They killed more of themselves than Haler killed them.
Occasionally, Haler would see some drops made by other mice. He shuffled through the sea of mice and collected them when he saw it. The Agility Astral Crystals that were dropped mainly acted as energy replenishers because his Agility was at nine. Due to the crystals, he managed to last ten minutes against the hoard before they tore him apart.
Haler did not even get the chance to react. The pain and his hunger knocked him out cold. Even though he was unconscious, the cold winds still shivered his back. As a commoner and as someone who lived in a village, he never had things like blankets and pillows. He only had extra clothes that he draped on himself and his father's clothes that acted as a blanket.
His situation was well-off compared to the other villagers as well. Many orphans did not have a father that worked before he died. They had no housing. Even his shabby hut was miles ahead of their living situation.
Every day, death due to cold was a common event. No one mourned the death of these orphans. Commoners drop like flies every day. The 'nobles' of the village were comprised of the butcher, the village head, and the scholars. The magic academy was just the town hall when not being used. At times, the classes were conducted in the forest because the town hall had an event.
Haler was born in the smallest of wells. His idea of luxury was to eat cooked meat once every year. Even stale bread was a luxury at times. His nutrition was not a priority as well.
The first time he entered the dream space was because he fainted from hunger. His body enters this hibernation state when there are not enough nutrients. Due to a long history of this, his body adapted to constantly sleeping.
Haler dreamed of a time where he did not have to go hungry. Where he did not have to freeze to death. Where he did not need to sleep for most of the day.
In the late hours of the night, Haler woke up weakly. His golden locks obscured his view of his room. Straining his eyes, Haler tried to reason out what time it was. More specifically, if he had overslept to night-time or if he woke up during the night.
He was working with little nutrition, so his train of thought was hindered. His will was also proven to be useless. After trying to get up for minutes, he fell back to sleep.
His last thoughts – 'Am I going to die here?'