Archer followed the river as he constantly used Aura-Detection but got no pings. Looking around, all he could see was a jungle as the afternoon sun started to cool down. Pulling out a bottle of Rune Shine, he took a swig as he walked along.
That's when he noticed the river entering a dark, dingy cave. ''Did I float through that cave to get here.''
Archer didn't care but had to find another way north. The cave went straight into a sheer cliff, which was a no-go. He looked left and right but didn't see any way around it. So he just chose right and continued walking, following the cliff until he could find a way up, looking at the skinny ass tree in front of him. ''Lucky I'm thirteen.''
He approached the tree and started climbing. His hands and feet moved quickly and expertly, finding the right crevasses in the slim tree as he climbed higher and higher up.
Eventually, he reached the top of the cliff, and the view that greeted him was breathtaking before him. A vast expanse of jungle stretched, dense with vibrant green foliage and teeming with life.
Trees towered over one another, their branches intertwined in an intricate dance of life, while colorful birds flitted from branch to branch. Extending far into the distance, the jungle disappeared into a soft haze, hinting at the vastness of the unspoiled wilderness that lay beyond.
Archer scanned the jungle, taking in all the sights, sounds, and smells wafting from the canopy below. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and rich vegetation, and the sounds of hidden creatures rustling about filled the air with life.
The cliff led to another long stretch of jungle, so he started walking as his Aura-Detector started pinging like crazy. Magic arrows quickly flew toward him, and he Blinked out of the way. Looking around, he didn't see anything but heard some whispering.
''Demi-human like the Northman, we must eat.''
''Meat.''
''Hungry.''
Archer pinpointed the voices with the help of his senses and Aura-Detection; as he dodged more arrows, he cast Fire Missiles in the direction of the voices.
Boom!~ Boom!~ Boom!~
Three bodies flew out from the bushes, resembling the same cannibals from before. Humans with weird-looking sharp teeth, tribal tattoos, and ritual scars. Cutting their hearts out, Archer continued with his trek.
He reached the top of a hill, looking north. All he could see was green stretching into the distance, and he sighed as he jumped down the mountain. Sliding down there, he came across a gruesome sight as he got to the bottom.
Human body parts stripped of most of their meat were at the bottom scattered about. He looked back up and realized they chucked the dead bodies down here. What they've done here is sickening. Archer could see tribal clothing on most of the remaining bodies.
The clothing was once colorful before being covered in blood and filth. Looking around, he was back in the forest. Ignoring the bodies, he walked further north by following the sun; he knew the sun sat north thanks to the old Archer's memories.
An hour passed as he jumped over logs and trekked through the jungle. It was very peaceful until creepier screams were heard all around him. Archer was getting annoyed by the creepy screams.
''Meat!''
''Food!''
''Eat!''
He summoned his Cosmic Sword and blocked the incoming arrows, but as he was deflecting the arrows coming in front. More came from behind. He managed to dodge most of them but was hit under his scales.
Archer quickly turned around to see four more cannibals running towards him, casting Cosmic Sword twice as he dodged a sword strike and deflected another attack. Stabbing one in the face as he blasted another one with a plasma shot, he could see more coming through the hole his magic had caused.
Archer snapped the arrow's head and pulled it out, noticing more cannibals starting to appear around him. Smiling like a creep, he got excited due to all the fighting, but the pain remained until Regeneration kicked in.
He weaved around the arrows the cannibals were firing at him as he quickly Blinked behind the archers. Plunging both black blades in their necks. They dropped hard to the floor under the shocked gazes of the others, and Archer Blinked to each cannibal before killing them.
Archer killed another seventeen before all the screaming stopped; looking around, he saw limbs, blood, and heads lying all over the place. He looted all the hearts, fifteen due to the others being destroyed; he stored them and examined whatever intact bodies he could find.
Once he was finished examining them, he burnt everything with his Fire Missiles. Looking at the smoke drifting up into the sky, he continued with his journey, hoping not to run into the cannibals again.
After hours of walking, the sun started to set as he got deeper into the jungle. The longer he traveled, the denser the foliage got. As he walked past a massive tree, his Aura-Detection went crazy with pings. Casting Cosmic Sword again as a pair of claws swung at him.
CHING!~
He managed to block the surprise attack, but because of the force of the strike, he was pushed backward. 'Oh shit.'
Archer saw a humanoid-looking creature with grey skin, about five feet tall, and long claws hanging from a branch and staring at him with its pitch-black eyes. The beast gave him the shivers; it was skin and bones, with long black hair and a mouth full of sharp yellow teeth.
''Kekekekeke.''
It let out a creepy laugh as it pounced towards Archer. He cast the Cosmic Shield, causing the beasts to slam into the purplish barrier. He charged at it as it tried to get back up after hitting the barrier. After dismissing the shield, the beast tried swiping at him.
Archer leaped over its skinny arm as he swung his blade, separating the beast's arm from its body. It howled in pain as Archer landed on the ground. He spun around and plunged the blade into the beast's head.
The thing went still, and he examined it. It had the same clothes that the dead bodies from earlier had, but this beast creeped him out, and he quickly tore out its heart. After he was done with the bloody business, he cast Cleanse on himself while storing the body and heart.
He looked around and climbed the nearest tree, perching himself on a branch. Archer pulled out a heart alongside a Honey Brew and started eating. After a while, he burped as he finished all twenty-four hearts: twenty from the cannibals, three from the dinosaurs, and one from the creepy-looking humanoid.
He checked his status as he was sitting there.
'Status.'
[Experience: 7600/9000]
[SP: 0>24]
Archer jumped off the branch and continued with his walk. Two months passed with him traveling through the jungle. He was attacked many times by beasts and cannibals. During one of the cannibal attacks, he got injured and had to hide away for a while due to the amount of them that appeared.
He managed to kill over a hundred cannibals and a dozen forest beasts, but he couldn't gather many hearts due to getting chased. Archer was hiding up a tree like a scared cat and wondered how he could reduce the number of cannibals.
That's when he got an idea for a spell that allows him to target multiple targets.
[Spell Creation activated]
He waited for the spell to get to work.
[Element Bolts created]
[Spell Creation: On cooldown until next rank]
[Element Bolts: Allows the user to target multiple enemies with different element bolts]
Before checking his status, he spent all sixty-nine points he had earned. Archer spent fifteen points on HP, fourteen on mana, ten on strength, constitution, and charisma, and five on stamina and intelligence.
He noticed that loads of his spells and skills leveled up during the two months on the run. He could have hidden in his Dragon's Domain, but when he exited, they would have jumped him.
So, he avoided using it for now. 'Status.'
[Experience: 8600/9000]
[Level Up: 74>76]
[SP: 0]
[2nd Stage Evolution Available]
[Blink: 3>4]
[Eldritch Blast: 3>4]
[Thunder Wave: 2>3]
[Call Lightning: 1>2]
[Aura-Detector: 2>3]
[Short Sword Mastery: 3>4]
[Dragon's Domain: 0>1]
[Element Bolts Learned]
[HP: 1410>1510]
[Mana: 4900>5320]
[Strength: 740>840]
[Constitution: 800>900]
[Stamina: 770>820]
[Charisma: 810>910]
[Intelligence: 670>720]
Archer got excited seeing his status as he had reached the second Stage of his evolution. He selected it.
[Second evolution: inherit more of your draconic bloodline by evolving into the second Stage]
Getting excited, he jumped off the branch while casting Element Bolts; he imagined Fire and Water bolts killing the cannibals roaming the area trying to capture him. Seeing that he had killed all seven cannibals that were close by, he opened his domain and entered it.
He went to the cottage, walking up the wooden bridge as he entered. Archer made his way to one of the bedrooms and sat cross-legged on the bed as he activated his evolution.
He settled in and selected the second evolution option.
[Initiate the second Stage of evolution?]
[Yes or No?]
He selected Yes. After waiting a short while, that familiar heavy feeling spread throughout his body. Archer blacked out as a storm began brewing over the Southlands.