after a few minutes, 5 minutes, to be precise, hil woke up along with his system to a frozen world; the bits of iron from his anvil that fell when he smashed his head stopped mid-air, the fire he forgot to extinguish didnt flicker nor moved anymore, he couldnt hear any sounds and feel the air moving, the time has stopped.
hil yawned upon waking up "that was real good, i actually want this skill right now. maaaaaan i feel like my head is completely clear and my mind feels blank".
[ *yawn* yea that was really nice right? i told you its something good]
"did you?"
[uh... of course i did who else could tell you]
"yea thats the thing, no one did"
[erm. look! a bird!]
"we are underground"
[uh... an underground bird?]
"wow, where" hil rolled his eyes in disappointment and searched the room with a lifeless gaze.
[ehm, anyways. what would you like to do now?]
"erm, i dont know, you tell me"
[why me? its your fault we~ *you* are stuck here]
"how is it my fault, i was asleep. i even had a guard beside me"
[but you did know he isnt a good guard right? you did know a bunny could make him kneel]
"well i mean, yes, its true but even a sack of bones can alert you when someone is touching it"
[yes, yes, you have a point. unfortunately it doesnt matter since we are stuck here and not your guard]
"well i mean~"
[YOUR FAULT]
"NOT MY FAULT"
[AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH]
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH"
and after that hil and his system had a fierce battle of shouts, a debate of the power in the voice. basically they just stood there and screamed at each other, at the middle of the night. such smart people they were right?
and after a few long minutes of their shouts, the door to hil's room opened and a man with a large build and a greataxe entered the room. the man was bald, very muscular and strong, he emitted a fearsome aura. he was very tall, combined with a solid, large build he looked like a titan. he was shocked at the sight of hil shouting at the air at the middle of night, who would be that insane to shout at night instead of sleeping? and whos even more insane to shout at the air?
"HEY! YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" the man shouted at hil.
hil didnt even notice the man in the heat of his spectacular and divine battle of shouts with the system. he was so absorbed in his grand battle that he didnt even notice the man punching his stomach.
[-7 health]
"hi what the f~"
hil couldnt finish his words after he saw the giant man in front of him, he got extremely scared and accidently attacked the man with a fist.
"HI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING" the man shouted at him.
"me? what are YOU doing? its my room?" hil looked very confused.
hil wondered what a man could want to do with him in the middle of the night and being a man, he reached the conclusion that...
"oh" his right eye twitched a little and his face changed into a face of a disgusted man "i get it... no im sorry, im not into that. i need them boobs you know..." hil was really flattered and disgusted at the same time.
"what?" it took a few minutes for the man to understand "oh... OH..." he slapped hil.
[-4 health]
"OUCH stop hitting me you fucked up protein shake" hil shouted while punching the man.
"ARGH what are you doing?" the man asked in anger before trying to slash hil with his axe.
hil dodged the clumsy vertical slash with a small dash to the side while the axe got stuck in the ground after missing hil.
"HMPH! I DONT NEED NO WEAPON! ILL KILL YOU WITH THESE HANDS!" the man shouted, consumed by the anger of pride.
he tried to punch hil with a clumsy movement, it seemed like the man just had his muscles to offer in the battle.
hil easily dodged the fist after parrying it with his left arm. he returned the punch to the man with a changed direction to his face which caused him to bleed, probably because of his teeth scratching his mouth.
the man also replied with another punch. this time he grabbed hil by his left arm wrist with his right hand and then launched a fist to his chest, draining the air from his lungs.
[-8 health]
[!warning! health points are lower than 50%]
hil didnt wait and gave the man a punch as well before being hit by his fist. he delivered an uppercut to his face with a lot of force, intending to separate his head from the neck.
hil's punch hit exactly the place it should hit, the man's head jerked backwards and his neck broke.
[ killed a human, +5 souls ]
[nice 5 souls, you can level up again :D]
"wow, this fast?"
[well i mean, you are only level 2 so...]
"meh, fair enough i guess. so what do i do? the same thing?"
[yep, just tell me how bright the light shines]
"fine"
hil closed his eyes again and tried to focus on the light.
"hmmmm"
[it is..?]
"it shines"
[such a genius. more details you idiot]
"it shines... pretty... normally..." hil said, confused about the details he can give about a light.
[argh, damn it, ill see for myself]
"see what for yourself?"
after a few seconds of silence a screen appeared before hil's eyes. the screen was red to sepratate it from the normal stat screen. the screen had many words written on it but most of them were unreadable and distorted.
_______________
ᚱᛖᛒᛁᚱ̵̡͚̻̩̣̳͇̬͓͕̰͚͙̽̈͆͆̕͠ͅᛏᚺ
wheel of skills
ᚾᛟ̵̗̬͔̳͈͝͠ᛏᚺᛁᚾᚷ
ᛖᛪᚲᛚᚢᛋᛁᚡᛖ ᛋᚴᛁᛚᛚ
ᚠᚱᛖ̷̨̝͔̱̣̹͖̳̱̗͚̺͙̞̋͌̋̃̽ᛖ ᛟᚠ̸̫̫͙̦͆̉͒̏̒̀ ᚲᚺᚨᚱᚷ̷̡̛̦͕̳̖̥̝̭͚̪̥͖̹͋͑̉̃́͊͆̂͝͝ᛖ
>level up!<
_______________
[and there it is, you got the "level up!" event]
"how did you do that?"
[what? the screen? just a few offs and ons here in the settings]
"then why did i have to just focus on a damn light and describe it to you?"
[i dont know, it was pretty boring if you could just look at the screen all the time]
"well now ill do it"
[meh, fine, keep the screen]
"so whats this level up thing now"
[uh, this event just gives you a boost to your stats]
"really? what kind of boost?"
[just level/2 for each stat]
"so ill get +1 to each stat now?"
[yea, i guess]
"no i meant, right now?"
[after you level up of course. i thought you know about that stuff...]
"hahaha... of course i do..."
[wanna me to give you a little tutorial about the system here?]
"well if you insist..."
[i dont]
"..." hil just glared at the screen for a couple of minutes without saying anything.
[what? you need it not me]
"..." he didnt even read the new message, just ignored it.
[well, fine, yes, i insist, as your most humble servant, to bless you with the knowledge of this extremely-super-ultra complicated thing]
"well, thank you for cooperating." hil smiled at the new message.
[pfft, geezer]
the message quickly disappeared as soon as it popped up, unfortunately...
"what was that?"
...hil somehow could read it.
[uhhh, nothing, nothing. what about the tutorial? wanna do it now?]
"no let me~"
[hahaha good, such a dedicated and diligent knowledge seeker]
"what, no, let me~"
[so first thing you should know...]
"dickhead" a quiet groan escaped from hil's mouth.
[...]
"what was that?" hil turned his head right and left as if searching for something.
[pathetic, anyways, first thing you should know]
the stats screen suddenly appeared beside the texting screen, they both were blue so it looked like they are connected.
_______________
user: hil | lvl: 2+ | race: d̵͉̜̃̈ḛ̷̫̬̍͋̀͆m̶̨̮͇͈̔̂*̸̪̲͋@̸̙͖͆̀̊͋h̶̡̙͕͈̔̽͠͝uman
strength: 10
agility: 10
stamina: 5
mind: 6
mana: 12 / 12
sanity: 100/100
rage: 0/100
souls: 5
ability: edge, the tamer, creature of the night, master of contracts.
skills: call, flow, overflow, tame, awakening, lesser contract, roar, smithing, give me a break.
_______________
[so first of all, your stats, any questions about them?]
"well, no, not really. just a plain explanation would be fine."
[well then so the first stat, strength, is as it sounds, gives you some extra muscles. the second stat, agility determines how fast and quick you and your reactions are, more agility means being faster and also being able to respond faster to any events. now, the third stat, stamina, determines how long you can last...]
"hehehe" hil giggled when he read the last few words.
[in a battle...]
"hehehe i wonder what battle hahahaha" hil couldnt hold his laughter at this point.
[dude are you 12 or something, shut the fuck up]
"but its funny, hehehe" hil still couldnt stop giggling.
[how is that funny. nonono, if you know whats stamina that good ill just talk about the next stat]
"hehehe a mighty battle of two beings from the opposite sex trying to~"
[-43 health]
an unknown force slammed down hil's body before he kept going.
[shut the fuck up already you shitty little baby]
hil stood up and brushed the dust from his already dirtied rags.
"fine, fine no more jokes like that"
[good]
"hehe"
[you just thought about another joke didnt you]
"wel~"
[+43 health]
another unknown force slammed hil's body again. this time it was so strong that it left a small pit in the ground, half burying hil.
"ARGH FINE I SAID"
[BUT YOU KEPT GOING]
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH"
[AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH]
another mighty battle of godly voices. the two kept demonstrating their powerful and terrifying shouts, well, one was just writing his shouts but it was enough to give the feeling of a worthy opponent to hil's voice.
"ALRIGHT WHATS GOING ON HERE IM TRYING TO SLEEP"
the door to hil's room was kicked from the outside and it fell, a tall man with a very big build entered the room. he barely had any hair on his head and most of it was used for his viking-like beard. the man had tired and sleepy eyes, like he just forcibly woke up from his sleep. if he wasnt a man with a giant sword in his hand and a giant's body equipped with almost lifeless eyes, he would resemble a little girl waking up from her beauty sleep, angered.
"oh kind sir" hil started to talk "i uh..."
the man looked at him as he wondered if he got enough sleep to listen to some dirty looking beggar.
"i was working on the weapons for you guys and im out of coal for my furnace, the water in the bucket are also, already turned into steam i dont have enough coal and water for the next weapons" hil tried to talk with the man with the excuse of trying to call someone for a refill, he had a dumb expression and an idiotic face for all of the explanation and after he finished he just shrugged as if asking for a refill at the middle of a night with the very common method of screaming is normal for a captive.
the man blinked, slowly, after each blink it seemed like his eyes took longer to open again.
"so you are telling me", he slowly blinked again and yawned, "that~ tha~", the yawn was very long, "that you called me at the middle of the night just to get more coal and water?"
"thats right! you got a big brain in that skull ey?" hil walked to the man and lightly knocked on his head.
the man shoved him away and yawned again.
[-2 health]
"you will get your refill at the morning, just go to sleep for now" the man yawned again and turned his back, walking to the door.
hil quietly walked towards the sword and realized anna's body was near the door, the man probably didnt realize it. yet.
"HI HI SIR!" hil shouted.
"what now?" the man turned to him.
"what do you say about a little bet?"
"a bet? and what could i get from a lowly beggar?" the man snickered at his request.
"well im the blacksmith right?"
"well i would say you really are, its just that our weapons are so shabby and dull that anyone could sharpen them" the man mocked him again.
"then why you didnt do it yourselves?" hil replied.
"..." the man didnt have an answer, he was defeated.
"ehm, so, whats that bet and whats my prize?" the man asked.
"well you see, i just calculated my materials and i found out that after i finish to make your leader's sword ill still have some pieces left and that iron is enchanted so even if i coat your weapon with the leftover iron your weapon will be much better than your comrades, and you know what that means?"
"more power!" the man roared.
"yes! indeed! more power at the battles and more kills to your name! enchanted ores also dont break or get dull as fast as normal ores so your weapon will also stay sharp after your comrades weapons become dull and shabby!" hil replied to the man with a big, warm smile on his face.
"hahaha!" the man let out a thunderous laugh "that sounds like a fitting reward! im starting to like you boy! hahaha!" the man walked closer to hil and tapped on his shoulders as he laughed.
after the man calmed down a bit he wanted to start the bet but a question popped in his head.
"wait but what if i lose? you will get the scraps?" the man asked with a suspecting voice, "you are trying to scam us arent you?" the man gave an evil glare at hil.
"oh! no, no, of course not. the time of such a great warrior such as yourself is more than enough as a reward. think about it, what can a man do in such a small room? eat, sleep and do his job? a little entertainment is more than enough for such a man hahaha!" hil also laughed to try and get closer to the man after hil was pushed by the reward.
"oh... im sorry, i mistook your intentions" the man apologized.
"no, no, its fine but lets just get into the bet alright?"
the man nodded at hil.
"so its simple" hil grabbed the sword he made, he tried to do so quickly so the man wont start to search around the room. "we will just have a little spar with some special rules, the rules are changing from a game to game to try and make the players show their weaknesses. for an example, you" hil pointed at the man, well, at his sword, "the rules for you would be set so you wont be able to use that sword properly, for this spar i can rule that you can only make light and short swings as if you are using a dagger, or i could rule that each time your sword misses me or hits the ground you have to keep it there for a few second, thus, making you see how vulnerable you are after making heavy swings." hil was completely out of breath at this point so he took a little break while allowing room for some questions.
"wait YOU make the rules?" the man asked, "so that means you can just make so rules for your self to get some advantage on me" the man accused him for the possible cheating in this game.
"yea" *huff* "thats the thing, you make my rules and i make your rules. only 3 rules are allowed and we take turns making them, i say whats my rule and you say whats your rule".
"so we are basically... trading penalties?" the man asked.
"well... you could say that i guess? it depends on your point of view but the goal of this game is to train each player and show him his weaknesses, most of the times after the game ends the players help each other to overcome those weaknesses. many children are playing it from where i come from". hil was still catching his breath so this long answer made him start huffing again.
"hmm?" the man looked at him and raised an eyebrow out of surprise "you are an outlander? you dont look too special..."
'wait now that he says that, how do i look?'
[oh pretty normal i guess, you also took the body of that slave so you shouldnt look like someone from overseas unless that slave also was someone from a distant kingdom]
'AH SHIT, what are you doing here? he will see you. wait, is it normal for people to have these screens here?'
[uh... i dont know and also only you can see the screens]
'well thats good'
[you are still wasting time talking with me yea?]
"oh, no no, im not from such a far place, its just that my village has a closed community and normally there arent any travelers there".
"well thats alright. so shall we start?" the man asked.
"oh yes, we shall just go over there. no, no, a bit to the left. just stay in front of me now. yes! exactly! stay there!" hil tried to give directions to the man.
"good, now take a fighting stance" hil said as he grabbed the sword with one hand. his right hand held the sword and was going downwards to the floor in front of him and his left hand was going downwards from behind. his legs were straddled, his left leg was in front of him and in the same position as his right arm his right arm and his right leg was positioned the same as his left arm.
"oh, erm..." the man tried to mimic hil's stance. with no success and gave up after a few tries.
"um, i dont really have a fighting stance" the man shyly admitted, he felt inferior to hil because it looked like hil was more professional than him even though hil was a blacksmith.
"thats alright, i also learnt this from my dad, he was the champion of the village before... before he died..." hil tried to make the man empathize with him so he wont lose his attention or his will to the fight.
[ the shackles of the vow are shaking angrily ]
[erm... i think you shouldnt bend the truth like that again]
hil didnt notice either of the messages and kept talking to the man.
"just grab your sword comfortably and make sure you stand on the ground steady, it should work, in fact, its one of the most basic stances. you should hold your sword with both hands in my opinion, but a mighty warrior such as yourself is probably strong enough to wield such big swords with one hand! maybe even one finger haha!" hil tried to taunt the man to get the advantage, sneaky but not enough to be considered dirty.
'well hes just a blacksmith, even if his father taught him a stance this fight wont last more than a few minutes. i can hold my sword and swing it around with one hand for a few minutes, it should end by the time im feeling tired' the man argued with his pride.
"haha! of course i can! i wont be able to land my legendary heavy hits with one hand but i guess it will be enough!" the man laughed again, praising himself.
after the hil and the man finished preparing they started to make the rules but in the middle of their "penalties trade"...
"tony?" the man spotted the dead body of his brother in arms near the small table in the room, he gasped and lost his focus after staggering a bit.
'oh i forgot about that one'
[you sure did]
"and thats why fighting stances are important" hil said as he rushed to the man, "it helps you to get ready and run straight at the enemy!"