A dream came to me as I laid there in a dark void again.
The dream was about me as a child. I was always reserved but also outgoing when the times needed me to be.
I was never one to raise my fist, even if the situation called for it.
That all changed however when disaster struck my family, or more so my sister.
One day, one of her bullies pulled her aside in a dark alley within the school grounds. To say this was a hazing or harassment was giving it a light label.
A lot of girls didn't like my sister due to jealousy. My sister was very good looking, more so than most girls around the town, and the boys all gathered around her like dogs waiting their turn.
She had a lot of things above the others, which made their jealousy grow even further, and one day, they snapped.
They started to harass her and physically harm her. Even when it was brought up to the school, they couldn't do anything since they had no clear evidence it was them.
Our family didn't have the weight behind them like some of the bullies parents who heavily fund the place. So, it mostly went under the radar without so much as a struggle.
Once they dragged her back behind the school, that was when they took it too far.
The girls and the ones they called their boyfriends, made sure to attempt to ruin her for good.
I normally try to find my sister before leaving so we could walk home together. This day was different since she wasn't at her usual spot.
I walked around the school in order to find her, and instead I found muffled screaming in the distance. It was towards the back of the school where everyone was going the opposite from.
Upon arrival, I saw her bullies and some other guys around her. She was stripped and toyed with. It was painful to see as it was to process it. I just started recording on my phone, and propped it on my backpack to let it view the entire event.
I pretty much blacked out.
Once I came to, my hands were bloody and every single person there was lying on the ground unconscious and bloody.
This was the first time I have ever experienced this. Even with the somewhat hard to remember scenes, I remember the feeling.
However, I shouldn't waste time so I hurried to my sister's side, she was crying and heart broken. The event left us both scarred, but she took it the worst. I gathered my things and went back home.
Eventually, the proof I recorded was enough to convict the kids to a good bit of juvy and a lot of at-home parental discipline, although I think they got off easy, well . . . other than the fact that each of them was sent to the ER.
That day sparked something within me. Not only did it make me want to get stronger to protect my sister when she needed it, but the rush of letting loose on those bullies made my heart race.
I knew something within me changed for good. It was more of a passion that came out than a trauma. Of course the images of my sister then won't be going away, but what's left now is something more.
I ended up asking my parents to take me to boxing lessons.
It was a strange request from them, since I was usually the quiet one that enjoyed tactical games like chess, but it seemed I yearned for something else.
That kickstarted my love for fighting. I ended up winning championships in boxing, then moving on to MMA. I continued my career even after that.
The fame I gathered for being a menace in the ring, was enough incentive to not mess with me or my family.
However, even though it was a sport to me, the feeling of beating someone down was a drug. It fueled my adrenaline and excited me. Even when faced with someone easily stronger than me, the idea that the fight could be a bloody one, was something I couldn't miss out on.
. . .
Suddenly, the dream came to an end. I awoke under a bright sky and a smell that pierced my nose immediately.
I looked over to the fire and noticed Rak having a massive bone with the meat rotating around.
A massive black lump was behind him. It was clear that the Shade became Rak's breakfast. "So, I guess we won huh?"
"We?" Rak looked over at me with a questioning eye. "Nah, you won. That was somethin' I've never seen before in my life. What spell did you use?"
I couldn't recall how the magic flames that spun around me came to be, so I simply answered, "I have no clue."
Rak seemed dissatisfied with that answer.
"Look. If I knew what that spell was, I'd tell you. The thing is though, I only used your advice and the feeling from using
Rak leans back using the Shade as a backrest. "Hm. Well, not like I can understand it either. What was the feelin' that went on within you to cause such a reaction?"
"It was a warm feeling. Like, instead of an ocean guiding me, it was hell itself that was."
"Hell itself huh?"
We both pondered for a second, as the food cooked.
It was a strange phenomenon that I went through. Almost like I was constructed differently than normal. The only theory I had on it was the fact I absorbed a phoenix heart; however, since there weren't many records of people who successfully absorbed a mythical beast's heart, I have nothing to base my knowledge off of.
"Also, I see ya don't rely on yer lycan form much. Why's that?"
I guess he caught on. It's not much of a reason, more or less is the fact that I'm scared of what would come of me if I did transform.
In the game, the description of lycanthropy is a brutal rampage that consumes one's mind and allows for greater power. Since this isn't a game with a character I can control freely, I don't want to think about what the power of transforming could cause.
Lycanthropy was really only used by players. There have been npc's that became lycanthropes but this was rare and they were mostly able to combat this by going to a church and being blessed by the God of Restoration.
Most players used the buff in order to wreak havoc on the populace to "have fun". So the lycanthropes were mostly viewed as evil due to this however since it appears that players had an even worse rep, lycanthropy probably wasn't considered a big evil cause of those players.
So even if I could transform on a whim, the side effects are something I can't garuntee.
"Well, I'm terrified of what would come of me. If it was back before my reincarnation, I wouldn't have batted an eye, but the idea of the curse consuming me is a little too much."
Rak understood my reasoning.
We continued to eat and relax now that the intense fight was over. It almost felt nauseating to even think about, but we did it!
"So, what's yer plan from now on?" Rak asks me right out the blue.
"Plan? Well . . ." Then it hit me. What am I supposed to do?
My original goal was just to find where I was and how to deal with the situation, but now that I understand it and even took on a life threatening conflict, what was I supposed to do?
"I guess, I'll have to start over. I need to find my way back to where my castle is."
"Castle? Are ya like royalty or somethin'?"
I laughed at the idea, "Not at all. I just built myself a castle, or at least my subordinates did. It was my dream to have one. One that overlooked the endless ocean in front of it and a sprawling city on the other side continuing into the plains."
I began to reminiscence a little on the struggle that I had to deal with in order to even make that possible. The group of npcs that I had to formulate and the massive amount of time and effort construction was.
. . .
Npcs?
I guess it's a little weird to call them such now. It's clear to me that this is no longer the game that I played in the comfort of my own home. The major question was, how is this even possible?
"My guardians are probably worried sick about me. It's been so long for them, yet it was an instant for me. I guess that should be my priority. I need to go to Ikoth. Do you perhaps know of it?"
Ikoth was the continent's name that the game was centered on. It was a large map that even dwarfed any continent on Earth.
"Ikoth huh? Well, yer a long way from that place, and it's a living hell to get to it as is."
My head flicked to turn towards him. "What do you mean?"
"Well, that place has been surrounded by the Sky Mist for almost eons. At least, that's what the legends say. Ain't nobody gettin' in, and nobody gettin' out, unless ya want a fight of a lifetime."
The idea never occurred to me. Even when my castle was erected, I would look out into the ocean and not see any sign of a mist. "Could that just have happened in the last couple hundred years too?"
"Nah, It couldn't have. This was an ancient thing that people from thousands of years back wrote about. It's common knowledge outside the mist."
It seems that there is more to the Ikoth continent than I could ever expect.
"Anyway, If yer tryna get to Ikoth, then you need help. Like serious help. I only know of one ship that'll take anyone near that. Gettin' through it is a different story."
"Is there no one that could help me?"
"Not that this soul knows. I'd reckon ya'd have more luck swimmin' the way."
I need to figure out a way to get to Ikoth. I know my people are waiting for me there, and sitting here without the ability to help just doesn't sit well with me.
As Rak and I shared our time together, he stood up after eating and stretched.
"Alright! Time for me to get a move on."
"Where are you going?"
"A place that needed me." Rak stated such with a sad tint in his eyes.
"Is it alright if I come along?" I didn't know what this place was, but curiosity got the better of me. I shared so much with him already, and I want to continue our journey together.
Rak looked towards the ground reluctantly almost as he was debating with himself on the matter.
"Fine, I'll let ya follow me."
A warm feeling swelled up within me. It was a circumstance that normally I would never have the privilege of experiencing. I welcomed the emotion.
I merely nodded in agreement as we took off into the jungle.
____________________________________________________________________________
An hour passed by while we still trudged through the bushes and flora of the jungle.
Rak carried Shade's head on his back, strapped with hemp rope. He carried it around like a backpack.
I kept staring at Rak in curiosity. This was a being who I already face life and death with and has saved me multiple times, but I have close to no idea on who he really is.
It seems he has a lot of mental baggage, which is pretty common for a lot of people who tend to roam alone. Hell, I know I have a ton of my own. Being with him through these crises, I wanted to know him more. Instead of a simple party companion, I wanted to see him as a friend.
Before I could think any longer, Rak abruptly stopped at the edge of the leaf this entire jungle was on. It reminded me that this whole biome was on the leaf of a tree.
We were right next to the huge trunk of the upside down tree, and etched on the sides are footholds.
Rak grabbed onto a notch in the trunk and placed his feet in the slots. He started ascending upwards to a nearby leaf where the path led.
"Are you seriously saying we have to climb this?"
"Yep!" The voice of Rak echoed as he bluntly put it.
I really didn't want to mountain climb- or I mean, Tree climb, today.
Placing my hands on the edges of the points I needed to, I made my way up.
Incidentally, I looked down for a second and realized how high up we were. It looked like I stacked multiple Eiffel Towers on top of each other. I couldn't even make out the bottom.
It took thirty minutes to cross, but eventually I made it without sweating too much.
"Took ya long enough." Rak scoffed at me.
A little sassy isn't he?
As I looked around, this biome was different, it was a swamp.
The terrain was muddy and filled with water. It was like an entirely new world from the jungle before.
"What's with this place? First a jungle, now a swamp."
"The leaves have a multitude of different areas. The land underneath was a diverse ecosystem. A whole bunch of biomes existed within it, all of em were mostly plant centric."
Rak continued to explain a bit. It was more of a ramble than anything.
After a long walk, we were in front of a massive wall of moss. Rak pulled a section of it like a curtain and motioned me in.
I stepped inside and a hallway was next. It was only a couple dozen yards, but the other side sported a curtain as well.
The light shined into the dark hallway and upon moving the curtain, a massive open land marsh was before us.
There were houses and farms everywhere, but one thing was off, it was all destroyed.
Broken and discarded, most of these structures were basically scrap at this point. Whoever lives here must be down on their luck.
. . .
Luck huh?
That was something I never should've thought.
On the other side of 'town' lay a massive field of stones all with varying sizes.
Each stone had something inscribed on them. They weren't letters I understood, or even letters at all. They just stood then in even spacing, like someone with OCD came through to perfectly place them here.
Rak went towards the back of the stone garden, and took a knee at one of the smallest rocks I've seen here. He placed the Shade's head right behind it, allowing the stone to cast its shadow on the trophy.
He also pulled out a small pebble. It was painted with mixtures of colors, almost imitating a child's drawing.
. . .
A child's drawing?
I turned my head towards the front of the garden, and then it hit me. The mounds of dirt ever so slightly raised above ground level, where the stones adorned the end of. This wasn't something like a hobby, this was a memorial.
A ghost town.
Without even being told what was occurring, I knew instantly.
I stood there silently, allowing Rak to mourn.
After a few moments, Rak stood up and turned back. I followed him.
It was a quiet walk out of the village. I neither wanted to encroach on his sorrow, nor ask any insensitive questions. However, I wanted to know more about him and his strife.
The words escaped my lips before I could think. "So, how did it happen?"
Rak looked at me. Grief was not a strong enough word to describe what I saw in his eyes.
"It was a long time ago." He shook his head like he didn't want to continue his thought but managed to force it out. "I haven't really been truthful with ya. I didn't start adventurin' ten years ago, in fact, I don't even know when I started traveling the world. It was a long, long time."
The sudden emergence of hesitation led me to think he was withholding information still.
He sat down on a log and I followed suit.
"It was a while ago that I came to these swamps. I met my wife here, an' we had a baby girl. Them two meant everything to me."
I allowed him to reminisce with the memories of his family until I asked a question.
"What caused all that back there?" I could assume it was Shade, but a lot of the destruction was made by other means.
"Well, Since yer askin', I guess ya don't fully believe that beast could do all that." He paused to take a deep breath. "It was somethin' similar to what ya saw on that battlefield. A shadowy creature that deemed itself as a God. I couldn't believe the words comin' out of it's mouth most of the time. Hearing yer story got me thinkin' that it wasn't just mere coincidence."
"What do you mean?"
"Well. that 'God' seemingly wished to target wanderers. Seemed like it wanted to start with you."
"So why come after the village? What was its purpose?"
"My wife."
. . .
His wife?
"So your wife was a wanderer? But that doesn't make sense, cause you said they eradicated all the wanderers two centuries ago."
"They did, but some of the wanderers had holy scrolls with them in order to be reborn. I guess only a select few had em."
He is talking about the reincarnation scrolls one can craft within the game.
"Reckon they wanted to hunt down the remaining wanderers that were able to reincarnate themselves. I don't know how they found out where my wife was at, like they knew where she was. It was a band of religious freaks guided by the shadow guy."
I took in the information. If they were able to track down his wife, they could probably do the same for me.
"Damn, I'm in deep shit huh?"
Rak looked at me, and scoffed. "Ya think so? Well why don't ya get stronger? If ya sayin' these people are gonna try lookin' for ya, then that's what you needa do."
"I guess, but that would mean I'd have to find enough monster in order to do that, plus they have to be high level."
"Level? Watcha mean by that?" Rak tilts his head slightly.
"It's like how strong your existence is y'know? Like how strong you are. Well the stats that leveling up can increase will do that. You don't know about that?"
"Nah, I never heard of somethin' like that."
I brought up the mirror that showed my stats, and reflected Rak's image within it. It showed his level and his stat points.
Surprisingly though, Rak was at a very high level.
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
Rak; level 89
EP: 186
Strength - 34
Dexterity - 20
Constitution - 35
Intelligence - 56
Charisma - 4
Luck - 40
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
Rak saw this and got even more confused.
I was even dumbfounded when I saw that he never put any points into his stats, but considering they he didn't even know what levels and stats were, it wasn't surprising.
The most bizarre fact is him having as high of stats without allocating anything. It seems he trained a shit-ton in order to increase those. Even in-game you could do that, but it was slow and inefficient to do something like that as one stat point took multiple days to even get, so most players avoided that grind.
I showed him how to operate the mirror and allowed him to allocate his points. I also explained what each stat did.
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
Rak; level 89
EP: 186 -> 0
Strength - 34 -> 82
Dexterity - 20 -> 60
Constitution - 35 -> 80
Intelligence - 56 -> 66
Charisma - 4 -> 40
Luck - 40 -> 45
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
Rak tried out his new stats, and they were insane. He vanished from my vision. I couldn't trace his movements but I saw at least twenty footprints left behind the moment he was gone.
He reappeared and lifted up a huge tree and threw it way beyond hundreds of meters.
This was typical however. The stat numbers increase one's abilities exponentially. Each stat point added was correlated to a specific percent increase each time.
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
For each stat in strength, lifting strength goes up 18% and striking strength increases by 50%
For each stat in dexterity, combat speed goes up by 15% and travel speed goes up by 10%
For each stat in Constitution, unarmored defense goes up by 50% and resistance to environmental debuffs is 1.5%
For each stat in Intelligence, amount of mana goes up by 20 points each stat and mental power increases 2.5%
For each stat in Charisma, favor with people grows easier by 8% and intimidation to enemies rise 15%
For each stat in Luck, item drops increase by 20% and exp increase goes up by 1.5% and random events occur more often.
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
Everyone starts off with one stat point to each stat, and they correlate to being above peak human. So any being that lives in this world is already stronger than any human in my previous one.
Someone at level one could run a fifty meter dash in under three seconds, while someone at level a hundred could run it almost instantly.
When it comes to strength, a level one could lift over six-hundred kilograms. At level a hundred? I haven't seen it yet, but it will be astonishing.
Rak started to walk away. "Since ya helped me out, I'll show ya a little secret of mine!"
____________________________________________________________________________
After a while of walking, we came up to the trunk of the tree. There was a hole dug out within a small area that led deeper within.
Once Rak and I made our way in, it opened up to a massive grove inside the tree. It was filled with countless monsters roaming around.
We stood at a ledge that dropped down into a massive cliff that seemed to be as tall as a hotel building.
I looked at Rak as he had a smirk on his face. "Well? Ya ready?"
A grin swept across my face unconsciously. The idea of fighting there excited me. Just before I could take in the scenery, a hand immediately forced myself forward.
I slipped off the ledge and began falling. I twisted my body around to see Rak waving at me as I dropped.
"Be sure to hang there. Good luck!"
He turned around as I plummeted towards the ground.
I extended my middle finger out towards him as I fell. "Fuck you asshole!"
. . .
Whelp, let's hunt.