[Status updated]
'What?' Was my first thought, as my brain had tried to figure out what's happening. My stomach was hurting. More so then before. It felt like I was being carried by someone.
Whoever it was, they needed to stop moving so much. My aching body hurts enough. I could hear noises behind us, and whoever it was carrying me yelling, "This kid is heavy!" Hey! That's not nice. "We need to lose them!" He continued.
I tried to tell him to put me down since I was so heavy, but all that came out was drool and the words "Blegt meh gek-" before my sight started to go blank with darkness.
Maybe it was the lack of food, sleep, and the aching of my body, but it took a while for me to think.
'Wait… why am I being carried?'
Then darkness.
~
'This knocking out thing is getting old,' I thought to myself as I felt my body gradually awaken. The system started as my consciousness started to wake up again.
[HP recovering… stats updated]
[Title: "He who is one with food(+)"]
{Other Titles Hidden… Effect of one Title had been activated multiple times}
[+2 Vitality… +1 Vitality… +1 Vitality… +3 Endurance]
[Current Title is in effect]
'What does that mean,' I had thought. The system brought up my stats now. Yet they were vastly different from before.
[Name: Sinji]
[HP: 32/32(24)]
[STR: 40(19) DEX: 64(10) INT: 18 END: 48(18)]
[Skills:]
[Cut][Bite][Track][Silent Steps][Lunge]
[Additional Traits/Skills added due to title effect]
Okay, woah. That's a lot more then I remember having. I grew in over double of my original stats since I first saw it a couple hou-
'Where am I?' I leaped out from my prone position.
I started to scan my surroundings. I don't even remember when I last knocked out, but I definitely remember being carried.
Looking around, I'm in one of the ruin's buildings. I knew that for sure, seeing that the stone structures for similar to the other building I had holed up in.
The room wasn't too large. Maybe 15 by 15 feet?Nor was it dark either? I could clearly see the wooden door on the other side of the room, while just behind me I could see a bedroll that I must've been laying my head against.
This was probably the first time in a while that I was fully alert since I had left the village. That's when it all hit me. Smells. Oh god the smells.
"What the hell is that?" I groaned as the smells of everything assaulted my nose. The smell of wet stone, ash, fire, along with another myriad of smells were all too strong at this point.
And god was that the smell of sweat? Unwittingly I had taken another sniff of the smell as I was trying to hold my breath, I could smell other body odors. Was that rat? Why'd I know the smell of rats?
Then the sounds of footsteps were heard. Low at first but I could tell they were coming my way. Forcing the strong smells and loud sounds from my head, I got low to the ground instinctively. I tried reaching down to my side where my satchel was. Trying to find the cleaver that was held within it as I remember the proficiency I had with it.
'Crap,' I thought to myself. Whoever grabbed me must've taken them. Didn't matter.
I stared at the door. Waiting. Lowering my hands down to the ground as I prepared myself in one of the only stances of ground wrestling I had learned in the village.
[Trait activated]
Willing the message to go away, I readied myself against what was coming my way.
The beating of my own heart was slowing down as I listens to the steps of a heavy weight person coming in.
"Creak," the sound of the door had opened. Good god the man that appeared through the door was large. I mean large. I'm not that tall already, since I was only five foot and five inches. Yet this man easily could trump the size of someone a foot taller then me.
He was wider then the door frame itself! Having to come into the door sideways first.
As his head appeared through the doorway, I lunged. Without thinking, I lunged.
[Cut][Traits Active]
[Critical damage(Damage Doubles)]
[-26 cutting damage]
Wow, if that was done towards me, I'd be pretty much down for the count. Imagine if that had hit the guys head?
That's the thing though. Imagine being the keyword. I completely missed the guys head, since he dodged out of the way. Making me hit the wall instead. I leap backwards as I readied myself again against him. Realizing that my senses that had never been this sharp before, were screaming at me to watch out for this person.
"Leona's mercy," the large man laughed. "Didn't realize we picked up a fighter. That's great, we are going to need those claws against the goblins."
'Goblins?' I questioned. Wondering what that had to do with me. My senses picked up again as I heard another man's voice call out from down, what must've been, the hallway.
"Axis! What was that noise?"
The man turned to answer. 'Guess his name is Axis,' I noted.
"It's the kid! He's awake! You should come see this Ryker! Ymar too!"
I cringed as the sound of two.. no three more people were coming this way. Must've been because of the adrenaline that my hearing was so good.
I looked around as I could feel my body practically screaming at me to both get out of here or fight my way out. Neither of which seemed plausible.
"It's pretty dark in here isn't it?" The man named Axis said, as he finally managed to get through the room with the torch that he held in his other hand.
The smell of oil and flame crept into my nose again, as I winced at the strong stench. Backing up into the corner, as I stared at the open door way and the now brighter room.
The man was indeed as large as I thought. Bigger then the village guard captain and a lot more muscle. He had a full beard and it was greying also. His body, the parts that showed from his cut off sleeve tunic, was covered in scars of battle.
"Axis, if he's awake then that's fine. We need to board up the house. Goblins ain't too far behind from that dead end we left them in."
The other man had said as he was walking into the room. Behind him was two other figures. One was covered in a hood and a mask. The other was…
I must still be tired and hungry because that looks like a person. But instead of a person. It's a rat. On two legs. In clothing… not a mangy rat either. One that was weirdly groomed more nicely then the other two apparent guys.
Shaking my head, the man continued.
"Axis? You heard me- What happened here?" That man said as he came into the light of the torch. Staring at destroyed part of what must've been a weak wall.
"Kids a little jittery." The giant man laughed as he said, "a lot more quick and agile then a kid of his size should be."
The man that appeared through the doorway, looked to be in his early twenties. A weird shoulder guard to his right shoulder and a gun of some sorts on his right hip. His black hair was long enough that it almost reached the bottom of where his gun was holstered. A weapon that I only heard about from Jayce after reading about it in some book.
His ears are what caught my attention though. 'An elf?' That's a strange sight around here. Not stranger then the rat person that I assumed was just me hallucinating about. But strange since they are not anywhere near this mountain range.
The three figures in the hallway look my way. This is when the strange rat person weirded me out even more by opening its mouth to speak in a voice that was a lot more eloquent then the two other men that just spoke.
"A child with a blessing? Ch ch." The rat man (what I thought sounded like a man at least? Give me a break, I've never seen one of these before?)
He moved forward towards me, and knelt down with one knee. "Ch ch. Blessed one. Sworn under the oath of Aunter; I, Ymar Rusetail of the Lari Ratfolk Tribe, offer my aid to you who have passed through the rite of passage of one of nature's creations." And silence. The giant man, the elf, and the hooded figure showed visible surprise.
Even I could only respond with one thing after looking at the three figures then back to this rat man. Processing what he just said, I pointed towards myself asking.
"Me?"