"I disappeared from the bar and appeared here in the forest. I had no idea what to do. I walked and walked until I encountered those men. They started chasing me for no reason, but I got far ahead because they were quite slow. I stopped when I randomly came across your grave in the middle of the forest. It occurred to me to try using a necromantic spell from the book to revive you. It only worked on my 80th attempt. And then, you know what happened next," Itai finished.
"Did you have that story prepared?" Flain asked.
"You got me. But don't worry, this story will soon become the legend of the rise of the most powerful necromancer," Itai said confidently.
"Can I see those books?" Flain asked.
"Of course. I've almost fully understood the first one, except for the last page—it's ridiculously difficult," Itai said, handing Flain the books.
As soon as Flain touched the first book, a system window popped up.
[Automatic skill learning: 3000 XP]
'So I can learn to summon skeletons? That would be useful, but 3000 XP would be useful too,' Flain thought. Then, he touched the second book.
[You will never learn this skill.]
A system window appeared as soon as he touched it. Flain tried flipping through both books, but they were filled with symbols he didn't understand.
[Tip: The system translates all spoken languages into yours. However, you must learn the written form yourself, as the system does not translate it.]
Flain returned the books to Itai.
"For now, my next goal is to find another grave so I can train necromancy and decipher the last page of the first book. What's your next goal?" Itai asked.
"To become as strong as possible," Flain said.
"Wow, that's pretty rushed, but I have a similar goal. However, our most immediate goal is to find some civilization where we can sell the loot from those men and buy food for me, because I'm already pretty hungry. But you probably don't have the same problem. By the way, those men had a total of 10 silver and 50 bronze coins," Itai said.
"How much is that worth?" Flain asked, as he didn't know the currency of this world.
"You said you have memories from a past life," Itai countered.
"Well, yes, but I must have lived a long time ago because, in my time, we used iron rods as currency," Flain lied.
"Iron rods? That must have been ages ago, because I've never heard of that. It's actually quite a lot—I would have earned that in about half a year working as a bartender," Itai said.
Then, Flain and Itai set off through the forest in search of civilization. Flain carried a sack on his back filled with armor and other valuables from the men, as Itai had ordered him to.
"Flain, I've already told you my story, so why don't you tell me yours from your past life?" Itai asked as they walked.
Flain had always had a creative mind and found it easy to come up with lies, so he quickly made something up.
"I grew up in a small village and had a normal life. But one evening, when I came home, my entire family had been massacred by some unknown monster. I wanted revenge and to kill as many monsters as possible. I worked as a builder, and when I saved up enough money for a sword, I quit my job and started making a living by killing monsters and selling their corpses. In the end, I was killed by a monster I couldn't defeat," Flain said, making up a story.
"That's quite a tragic story," Itai said.
They continued walking. Suddenly, two wolves jumped out of the bushes.
Itai ran to hide while Flain threw down the sack and stood his ground. The wolves circled around Flain, growling at him.
"Destroy them, Flain!" Itai shouted from behind.
Flain charged forward and slashed at one of the wolves, but it dodged. Flain's biggest disadvantage at the moment was that he wasn't skilled at fighting with dual swords and had practically no combat experience with them.
Both wolves rushed at Flain simultaneously—one from the right and the other from the left. Flain managed to slash the one in front of him, but unfortunately, the one from behind bit him hard.
[-40 HP]
Flain turned and kicked the uninjured wolf, making it stagger back. Then, he looked at the wounded one and dashed toward it.
When he reached it, he slashed it twice with each of his swords, his eyes glowing with excitement.
The uninjured wolf was already behind Flain and bit his leg hard.
[-30 HP]
Flain spun around sharply and sliced off its head. Now, only one heavily injured wolf remained.
[+280 EXP]
Using all its remaining energy, the wolf lunged at Flain and bit his leg with full force. Suddenly, Flain fell to the ground—his leg had literally fallen off.
[-50 HP]
Flain couldn't do anything. He couldn't stand up because he would immediately fall again with only one leg. He couldn't attack properly because he could only swing his swords while lying on the ground.
The injured wolf began biting him repeatedly until Flain lost all his HP.
[You have died.]
Flain found himself in a very familiar void. He was actually quite pleased that he had died because now he could kill those men again and gain another pile of EXP. As usual, dark hands engulfed him, and he reappeared in the forest with Itai standing over him. Unfortunately, this time, he didn't receive any blessing of darkness.
Flain did and said everything exactly as he had the first time, and Itai reacted the same way.
Then came the fight with the men. With his level now at 4 and his experience with the dagger, it was much easier for Flain this time. In the end, he killed them all again, earning another 1100 EXP.
[Level 4 -> Level 5]
[Level 5 -> Level 6]
[Strength increased by 2, agility increased by 2, vitality increased by 2]
[You have gained 2 bonus points]
[You have reached the required level 5 to select a class. Please choose one of the following options:
1. Warrior
2. Archer
3. Rogue
4. Mage