Thinking back on it, putting his points into intelligence might have saved him that day. No matter how fast his body could move if his mind couldn't react fast enough it was useless in an ambush situation. In this case, his mind reacted before it could even fully comprehend what was attacking him. He managed to bring his spear up causing the beast to bite down on the shaft instead of him. Bowled over by the thing's speed and weight he didn't resist. Instead, he propelled himself back continuing into a roll. As they started to roll back over he dug his heels into the creature's body and kicked off with all his strength launching the thing away before rolling gracefully back to his feet.
He was really starting to appreciate just how much his physical abilities had improved but it seemed his enemy was at least his match. The silver beast landed on all four… no six feet and was already facing him. It looked like a giant silver wolf standing a good six feet at the shoulders. That said its body was oddly long and supported by the extra set of legs in the middle.
'Everything in this world has too many legs!' He rolled his shoulders thinking to himself. 'Well, I guess I found my guinea pig. I didn't want to waste testing this out on boars anyways.'
Grinning he glared at the beast "Hasten!"
The world seemed to slow down. Around him, the dust billowing out from his tumble slowed down to a crawl. He watched a drop of saliva drip from the beast's bared fangs in a slow descent toward the ground. Time wasn't stopped by any measure but things seemed to slow down greatly and in turn, he seemed able to read the details of his surroundings to a degree he'd never experienced. 'This should be easy."
Kicking off hard he lunged forward towards the beast, its sharp green almost human-like eyes glaring at him. He closed the distance between them in an instant and activated his thrust skill to launch a blisteringly fast attack right towards the beast's throat.
And then the creature leaped aside while twisting its body to avoid the blow. It landed softly then lunged forward at a speed that was still terrifying. Now it was his turn to twist to the side in a desperate attempt to avoid the attack. Still, although he avoided the snapping jaws a large paw slammed into his shoulder almost spinning him completely around with the force behind the blow. Abruptly, he found himself diving to the side in a panic. Rolling to his feet he snapped out his spear and launched several more thrusts towards the beast but only managing to make it twist and dodge. They continued this dance for what seemed like hours until its jaws snapped frighteningly close to his hand on the spear and he was forced back.
Fear started to creep up replacing his previous confidence. How much time had already passed… how long until his skill wore off. Already the beast was lunging again snapping at him as he was forced on the defensive. This monster was as fast or even faster than he was and that was only due to the Hasten skill. Any moment it would end and death would surely await. With little other options left to him, he kicked back hard trying to gain some distance. But the beast lunged forward after him maw open wide seemingly ready to devour him.
The heel of his foot hit something hard and he felt himself tipping back as his balance was lost. His eyes went wide in panic, 'I'm going to die!' He stared into the hungry green eyes of the beast as it lunged forward, its maw still open wide towards him. He could read the victory in its surprisingly human eyes, it knew he was done. Panic turned to rage and he hurled his spear even as he fell hoping to impale the creature through its open mouth. Rage drove him, he wanted his killer to suffer. 'I hope you choke on it!'
In the heart beat it took his spear to travel the distance the creature managed to snap its maw shut. Then with a skyward flick of its massive head it sent it flying upwards and away. Though the creature's maw was no longer open to devour him its forepaws were stretched forward, flexing claws more like those of a cat than a canine.
'Shit shit shit I'm really going to die... I need a weapon. I need my spear back! I can't die like this. I was just starting to level up…' The creature slammed down on him, his head bouncing off the hard earth. Claws sliced through his armor into his shoulder and chest. There was the gush of blood splashing all over him as the breath was driven out of him by a sudden powerful blow to his gut.
Everything was spinning and his vision was an explosion of lights as he awaited the tearing fangs. A few eternities or perhaps seconds later his head started to clear. He gasped for breath but found it hard to draw. Not because of the wounds to his chest but it felt as if something was crushing his stomach just below his diaphragm. Above him the beast was frozen, its muzzle pointing towards the sky with a spear piercing the bottom of its jaw. Blood poured from the wound and he lifted the butt of the spear out of his stomach. Taking a deep breath he pushed the creature over and shakily stood back up. Nearly the entire blade of his spear was poking through the top of the creature's head.
Leaning forward he braced his hands on his knees and dry heaved a few times before stretching to rub the horribly bruised part of his stomach. He held out his hand and called his spear to him just as he would when it was in his inventory it appeared bloody but ready in his hand. A sound half way between a laugh and a wheezing sob escaped his throat.
"I'm saved by the system… If this world didn't act like a video game half the time I'd be dead for sure right now. I'm just lucky it pierced the creature's brain…" even if he had hit it with a fatal wound elsewhere he felt for sure the thing would have ripped him to shreds before dying. "Thank you oh merciful and mysterious world system for saving my life." He clapped his hands in a prayer-like motion before a thought struck him. He checked but found no new messages. "Really such a hard fight and I get no experience? Not even a measly two to round things out. Ugh…. greedy… cheap… lousy system."
With a practiced hand, he called out his knife and made the slashing motion to trigger butchering the corpse.
Silver Conri butchered!
Acquired one Silver Conri pelt!
Acquired four Silver Conri fangs!
Acquired four Silver Conri claws!
"What the hell is a Conri?" Glancing around he decided he wasn't in the mood to look for boars. If anything he was more worried there might be more of these things. It looked a lot like a wolf… wolves traveled in packs right?"
*********
He'd lost a good chunk of his health in the fight and still hadn't fully recovered by the time he got back to town. He'd also found several more claw marks in his armor he could only assume he'd received when the Conri first tackled him. The Antger armor had three times the armor points of the boar. He wasn't sure what using the pristine hides would do but if he was to run into any more of those Conri he wanted all the protection he could get. He just hoped upgrading it increased it a lot. With one final shiver, he pushed the thought of just how close he'd come to death out of his mind. Sure, his hit points had been lower when he finally scored his first kill but that was a long drawn out battle. This time death had been barreling right down on him. It somehow made it seem more terrifying. He almost wished he could revert to the way he'd once been, he wouldn't have to worry about silly things like fear of death. But it wasn't worth it, he liked who he'd become and more importantly worked too hard to change.
He was heading towards Beth's shop out of habit when he spotted something completely out of place. Several wagons were in the middle of the little village square with a number of people including Beth and Gregory talking to a group of five or so strangers.
Sliding up next to Beth he asked "What's going on? Who are they?"
Beth glanced at him then did a double take "What the hell? You weren't even gone that long? What have you done to the armor I loaned you??"
He just shrugged and nodded towards the strangers trying to change the subject. She reached out and poked one of the deep cuts in the chest of his armor. He swatted her hand away and frowned down at her "Stop that it still hurts you know."
She shook her head and breathed out a resigned sigh "Merchants actually. Apparently, they're from the big city Gregory is always talking about. Amalor, they've come to do some trading. Seems they will be here for a few days at least. "
Looking over the group he spotted someone that stood out from the others. Though he was a few inches shorter than his own six foot height, he was taller than the others in the group. But what stood out the most was that he was wearing leather armor not too dissimilar to his own, held a small round shield in one hand and a spear in the other. Unlike his own spear, this one had a decorated metal hand hold in the middle that even offered a slight curve like a guard. Its blade was longer and narrower than his own while looking to be made of iron or steel instead of bronze like his. His gamer instincts told him it was definitely better than his.
As he dragged his eyes from the spear back to the man he found him staring back at him with a wide grin on his face. He slowly rotated the spear letting him get a better look and showing he obviously knew what he was looking at. Gregory led off one of the strangers while three others moved around the wagons unloading some things and moving others. The spear wielder broke off from the others and headed towards Beth and him. As he got closer Sael got a better look at him. He was probably eighteen or nineteen years old. His hair was in a buzz cut and he had just a bit of acne going on. Still, his brown eyes were bright as he approached smiling.
"Well hello, I didn't think this place had any adventure types. "He held out his hand, his face becoming serious. "Names DemonGodSlayer420." One of Sael's eyebrows went up and Beth's jaw dropped a bit as a massive grin spread across the stranger's face. "Gamers got to have a gamer name right?"
"You're an Arrived too?" Beth asked, glancing up at Sael next to her shocked that there was a second idiot that would say something like that.
Now it was the new guy's turn to seem surprised. "Too? You're an Arrived." He seemed to be sizing her up.
Her familiar scowl materialized at being checked out so blatantly. "Yes, we both are."
Her tone was frosty and Sael knew where things were going so decided to move things along a different path. He held out his hand "Sael's my gamer name...er DemonGod..Slayer...420…" he did his best to keep his tone normal.
Chuckling as he shook Sael's hand "Just Call me Dego. Most people find it easier. I have to say I'm surprised to find Arrived here. Especially a fighter type. We're pretty rare you know. That must mean you're an awesome dude just like me right?"
Sael wasn't sure what to make of him. Dego was friendly for sure but his personality was… loud. That said it was a great chance to learn more about what being a warrior in this world was like.
He gave his best smile and cut right to the chase. "Probably not as awesome as you! Where did you get that spear… it is a beauty."
Grinning Dego showed him it once more before making it disappear. "Come let's go get something to drink and I'll tell you the story." He threw his arm around Sael's shoulder and tried to throw his other around Beth's but she ducked away. He made a pouting face towards here "Awww come on!"
She just scowled before addressing Sael. "I'm going back to work. You boys have fun."
Dego just rolled his eyes as she walked away. "Girls eh? But she's pretty cute for a back water place like this right? Is she your girl? Eh? Eh? Come tell your friend all the juicy details!"
*********
Over a few drinks and after clarifying his relationship with Beth was just a platonic friendship he finally got to hear Dego's story about the spear. It seemed he arrived in Amalor nearly a year ago. Things went apparently far different for Dego than from his own experience. First, there was an adventurers guild that assisted and guided new warriors. Both Arrived and those native to the world. Arrived warriors really were apparently rare but highly valued as it seemed things like the inventory and various menus didn't work for natives either. Gregory had explained it as well but hearing it from a second source really made him wonder why they were here and what was going on. One of the things that had struck a nerve with him was that Dego's bloodied quest had required him to kill a fanged rabbit. From his description, it sounded like a normal rabbit only carnivorous. Still, it appeared that it normally only ate small mice and insects, it didn't sound like much of a threat and was definitely no Antger. Apparently, it truly hadn't been an issue and he'd killed it within hours of arriving.
He went on to spin a tale of a wild adventure raiding an undead filled crypt that Sael was pretty sure was ninety percent bull shit with only a few grains of truth. Still, the story of how he'd gotten the spear from a treasure chest they'd located sounded possible. Apparently, it was filled with normal things for the native adventurers but he'd received a message of acquiring loot. When he checked his inventory the spear was there. Hearing the tale, Sael could think of only one thing 'I want treasure!'
"Pretty awesome isn't it? Man, I love this world!" He gulped down a good chunk of his drink before grinning. "So how long have you been here and what level are you?"
"We arrived about a month and a half ago. I just hit level two the other day." he sipped his own drink reminiscing about
"Wow it must suck being out here in the boonies! A month and a half to hit level two? I did that in a week. Leveling slows down a bunch later on but the first few levels went really fast. I'm level nine by the way." He seemed to sit straighter in his bench puffing out his chest a bit. Sael did his best but felt the angry scowl growing. "Ahh don't feel so bad. Like I said being out in the boonies probably sucks… Besides I've got a unique trait!" As Sael's glare melted away Dego grinned "Yep, you're sitting with an actual unique trait holder. You'll probably never meet another either. We are super rare. Wanna know what it does?" Before he could respond Dego continued "I've got a trait called [Strong Arm] it raises my strength cap! Bet you can't guess what my strength is! Go on guess!"
Sael opened his mouth to reply but was cut off "Bzzzzz out of time! I'll go ahead and let you know. I've got a strength score of twenty two!" Smirking Dego sat back as if he was expecting a ton of praise.
Sael just blinked "Wait. Strength cap?"
Dego rolled his eyes "Check your attribute tab. The number in brackets is your cap. It goes up a little every few levels and I wouldn't worry too much about capping them. I left my strength one from the cap so I wouldn't waste any gained points but it's such a pain to raise them naturally so just go ahead and max em when you can." Grinning again "Ahh, it's like I'm playing online again. Look at me helping out a noob get started. Brings back memories."
Sael blinked a few times and checked his stats again. His strength was his highest stat having passed his vitality even and was currently twenty four. He didn't see any numbers in brackets then remembered his traits. 'No way…. There is no way… That would be way too broken….but…"
He looked over at Dego who was now trying his best to flirt with the barmaid. This guy's more than four times my level but it sounds like my attributes are way higher than his… I wonder how big a difference it makes...
*********
Belarian the Human King slouched to the side in his throne with his face tilted and resting on his fist. He was looking down on his petitioner with a bored expression. Anyone in the royal antechamber would have wondered why a young girl was standing alone before the king. She was short perhaps four foot ten with a delicate and slender build. Her long crimson hair flowed down her back in stark contrast to the deep green gown she wore. Her elaborate gown looked just like a child playing dress up as a princess. Except if there was anyone in the empty chamber they would notice her face was full and mature even bearing fine crow's feet at the corner of her eyes.
She did her best to keep from glaring at the human in front of her. She reminded herself he was just a child in comparison to her, they all were. "One of the summer princesses have been kidnapped." She repeated her statement a second time going a bit slower.
Belarian managed to sit up straight and sighed a bit though he kept from rolling his eyes. He felt it was a painful accomplishment. "And? Why should I care about some fairy, even a princess?"
Kera the Fairy Queen's expression never changed as she stated calmly. "Because, she has the Fairy King's Spear."