I slowly wake up with a groan, still lying on the ground where I collapsed. The first thing I see when my eyes focus is the wolf about a foot away from me. I scream and try to crawl away from the corpse, but only manage to painfully reopen all my wounds. After a moment, I calm down when I realize that the wolf is dead. I sigh in relief and carefully sit up.
'Cheers!'
HP: 1/158
Wow, I almost died again, I really need to find a way to get stronger! I put those thoughts aside for now and concentrate on meditating for a few hours so I don't bleed out.
HP: 31/158
With my wounds closed again, I carefully get up, take a long drink of water and eat half of my remaining mushroom soup. After finishing my meal, I approach the wolf carcass, retrieve and clean my daggers. Then, I skin and quarter it.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩⟩
- Congratulations, the Skinning skill has progressed to level 4!
√ Skinning
√ Level 4
- Agility +4
- You can skin normal animals, from small to large.
As I slaughter the wolf, I find a strange orb in its chest. I examine it closely, trying to figure out what it is.
- Item.
√ Beast Core
- Quality: medium
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩⟩
- Congratulations, skill Observe has advanced to level 2!
√ Observe
√ Level 2
- Intelligence +2.
- You can identify objects with intense study.
- It is possible to absorb the core of the beast. do you want to continue? Y/N
"Can I absorb it, what does that mean? I guess there's only one way to find out."
"Yes!"
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩⟩
- You've absorbed the average Beast Core!
√ HP +50
√ MP +50
√ Strength +5
√ Agility +5
√ Endurance +5
"Wow, that's awesome, I need more beast cores!"
It's an easy shortcut to make me stronger. The fight almost killed me, but it was worth it!
'Status!'
==========
- Name: Klein
- Race: Black Lion
- Title: None
- Class: None
- Level: 0
- HP: 31/223
- MP: 100/100
- Strength: 34
- Agility: 33
- Endurance: 37
- Intelligence: 27
- Wisdom 23
- Charm: 19
- Unspent points: 0
- Missions: (4)
- Skills: (13)
- Crafts: (7)
I've definitely gotten stronger. First I need to heal myself, then continue exploring and improve my skills. I start with my usual exercise routine, then pull out both daggers and practice all the combat moves I remember from anime and manga.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, the Dagger Fundamentals skill has advanced to level 2!
√ Dagger Fundamentals.
√ Level 2
- Agility +2
- You cause 10% additional damage with daggers.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩⟩
- Congratulations, the Dual Wield skill has advanced to level 2!
√ Double Grip
√ Level 2
- Agility +2
- You can fight with a weapon in each hand.
Once I finish my training, I drink a good drink of water and then relax to heal some more. I meditate for the next four hours.
HP: 71/223
After meditating, I eat what's left of the mushroom soup and decide to work on some of my crafting skills. First, I go out to the well room and, after checking that it is empty, I gather the best bones I can find from the pile and take them back to my room. I sit down with my dagger and start carving. First I turn a skull into a bowl to use with my spoon, then I make a plate out of a hip bone.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, the Ivory carving skill has advanced to level 2!
√ Ivory carving
√ Level 2
- Agility +2.
- You can carve normal bones and turn them into basic objects.
Next, I carve a knife and fork, then several needles for sewing. Since I've already carved everything I can think of, I concentrate on rat skins. The wolf skin still needs more time to heal, so I decide to try sewing the skins together to make myself some pants.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩⟩
- Congratulations, you have acquired the fur crafting skill!
√ Furry
√ Level 1
- Agility +1.
- You can craft rudimentary items from leather.
The pants I planned to make ended up being shorts due to lack of material, but the important thing is that I don't have to walk around naked anymore. With leftover scraps, I make a belt to hold my dagger sheaths. Rat gut has worked quite well for me as a cord; I came up with it because I remembered reading that in the Middle Ages violin strings were made from cat gut.
Since I've used it all up, I'm letting the wolf sinews dry in a similar fashion, hoping to use them in whatever I make with their fur. Having no more ideas of what to do, I decide to meditate for another four hours before heading out to explore.
HP: 111/223
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, the Meditation skill has advanced to level 5!
√ Meditation
√ Level 5.
- Physical +5, Intelligence +1, Charm +1.
- A recovery skill. HP 15/hour, MP 15/hour.
'Hmm, additional stat bonuses at level 5? Cool! I bet that means level 10 will be special too'.
Now that I'm a bit more healed, I decide to do something.
I'm scouting, so I drink my fill, check my weapons and head for the well room. I don't activate stealth, but walk as quietly as possible. I think the stealth skill hasn't leveled up just by using it, so maybe I need to practice being stealthy.
I find the well room just as I left it, so I continue moving along the right wall. This time I pass the first passage leading to the mushroom room and continue to the next one. This passage is similar to the others, except that it has less dust, which should indicate that it is in use, so I advance slowly and cautiously, being careful not to run into goblins.
The passage continues for ten meters before a side passage opens up to the left. Looking down, I see that, about five meters away, it ends at a T-shaped intersection. After listening carefully and hearing no movement, I decide to continue down the main passageway first.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩⟩
- Congratulations, the Stealth skill has advanced to level 2!
√ Stealth
√ Level 2
- MP cost: 15
- You can hide in the shadows and move silently.
'I was right, I need to practice the skill, not just activate it!'
After advancing another three meters, I find a door on the right. Not only is it the first door I find, but when I try to open it, I discover that it is locked. I crouch down to take a look.
The other side is similar to the light in my room. Since I have no tools to test the lock and don't want to risk the noise of trying to break down the door, I continue down the main hallway.
After advancing another ten meters, the hallway opens into a room where I see the flicker of a campfire. I approach slowly and cautiously until I can see inside. In the room, five goblins are sitting around a small campfire. Although I want to take them out, I decide it's probably best not to fight yet, since I only have half my HP. So I creep back down the hallway.
Back in the well room, I pass the closed door and then turn right into the side hallway. I move silently to the right and glance around the corner; both ways, it's only about ten feet before I reach what appear to be small rooms. Seeing no movement and hearing nothing, I approach the room on the right first and take a look inside. Inside, I see broken and rotting boxes, which makes me think this used to be a storage room.
I'm surprised that the wood here hasn't decayed long ago, but, thinking about it, aside from the stream and the trickle of water in my room, the rest of this place is completely dry, which probably slowed the decay. Well, at least, if nothing else is useful here, I have a supply of firewood for cooking.
I turn around and head to the other room before checking the piles of garbage. The second room is the same size, but instead of boxes, it looks more like a collapsed bookshelf. Upon closer inspection, I recognize parts of armor shelves, deducing that this was an armory long ago. Hoping to find weapons, I begin to examine the piles and stack the remaining wood for easier transport.
After going through the entire room, I find only a rusty old mace and a broken shield. So I take them along with a pile of firewood and return to my room. Once there, I clean the mace and practice a few blows with it.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, you've acquired the Blunt combat skill!
√ Blunt combat basics.
√ Level 1
- Strength +1
- You cause 5% additional damage with blunt weapons.
I decide I can't repair the buckler, but I come up with another use for it. I light a small fire and place the tripod on top, then use the buckler as a makeshift frying pan and start cooking wolf steaks and mushrooms.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩⟩
- Congratulations, the Cooking skill has advanced to level 3!
√ Cooking
√ Level 3
- Intelligence +3
- You can cook food without burning it.
Since I've never tasted wolf, I'm not sure if it's delicious. Be that as it may, I clean up the mess and then make several more trips for firewood, being as stealthy as possible.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩⟩
- Congratulations, the Stealth skill has advanced to level 3!
√ Stealth
√ Level 3
- MP cost: 15, Agility +2.
- You can sneak up on average beings.
After cleaning out the armory, I have enough firewood stacked in my room for several days. I decide I've done enough for today, so I set out to meditate for eight hours.
HP: 223/223
MP: 100/100