That worked out much better than I’d expected. I grinned. Makes the whole ogre thing worth it.
I hit Accept on the weapon stat screen, agreeing to equip the weapon. A stream of glowing lights emerged from the prompt and floated over to my shoulders. The lights condensed and the weapon emerged. Two scabbards formed a cross on my back, and a scimitar was held tight in each one. I reached out to the handles and pulled out the blades.
A whoosh of metal cut through the air as I brought the weapons forward. They were about the length of my arm and had strong silver blades with a certain bluish hue to them. Vines of green metal emerged from the top of their earth-brown hilts, rising five inches along the blade.
I smiled, in awe of the craftsmanship of the weapon. The nymphs sure know what they’re doing. I put the scimitars away, sliding them back into the scabbards on my back. I could feel their weight, but it wasn’t anything that would hinder my movement.
A clap of thunder echoed through the sky, and a river of rain poured down an instant later. The branches and leaves above me, however, were extremely dense, so even though it was raining heavily, all I felt was a misty spray on my skin.
The scent of earth and mud spread through the air, sending a sense of calm radiating through me. I wasn’t too keen on finding shelter, and so I kept walking, enjoying the weather. My path soon inclined upward, and I trudged along it. Excitement rose within me. Am I near the edge? I wondered.
Half a minute later, I looked up and noticed the route break off abruptly, ending in a plateau-like flatness. My feet picked up the pace and I climbed up, anticipation in my breath.
As I finally reached the top, the wind rushed past me, and my clothes fluttered in its wake. My eyes darted around, looking at the landscape. This end of the forest was a wild cliff that dropped about two hundred yards below. I looked ahead, through the torrential rain that blocked my sight. The faint outline of a city sat on the horizon, probably about forty miles away or so.
Langsdale. I smiled.
It was much farther than I’d expected, but at least I was heading in the right direction. I looked down and saw another patch of forest below me, this one more brown than green.
I stepped back a few steps and sat myself down, my back resting against at the nearest tree. Drops of rain shot down from the sky, like bullets of water. I closed my eyes and breathed in, feeling the life that flowed within the air. The cold drops sprayed against my face, lacing my skin with their chilling touch.
I grinned. There were still a ton of things left for me to do, and plenty of questions that’d been left unanswered. But at that very moment, in the cold rain, it felt like nothing else mattered, like I could simply lie back and let my problems go. So, I just stayed still, living that very moment for as long as it would last.
***
CHAPTER FIVE
The rain broke hours later, when the sky had darkened and the sun had made its way back to the horizon.
I leaned over the edge of the cliff, peering down at the ground. The rain had caused the mud from the edge to slide down the cliff’s side, and now the entire incline was layered with slush.
“Just the way I wanted it.” I grinned, scanning the ground directly beneath the drop. A brown forest of wood and leaves stood there. The darkened color of the soil showed the surface had moistened just enough to be firm but bouncy—the perfect landing spot.
I stood at the very edge of the cliff and felt the fast winds flow through my body.
And then I dropped.
My back slid against the cliff wall, but the slush protected me from the hard surface. I rushed down, surging towards the ground. The friction from the wall reduced my speed, but it wasn’t enough to cut my fast pace.
I tucked my body into a ball as I neared the surface, and dived onto the ground. I hit the surface hard and rolled over a few times before finally coming to a stop.
Probably not my best entrance. I swiped the slush off my arms and sat myself up. I spat the dry leaves from my mouth before doing a quick injury check. There was a shallow cut on my calf and a light bruise on my wrist, but other than that, I was fine.
Huh. My eyebrows rose. Figured there would be a lot more.
I turned my attention to the sight in front of me. The forest I was in looked half-dead. The tree bark was an unhealthy brown, and the leaves were a darker shade of the same color. A lonesome trail ran through the greenery, in the direction of the city, and I walked to the narrow path.
Should probably reequip myself, I thought. I quickly slid open my Ga’em menu and delved into my Equipment menu. I tapped on the small icon of a tunic on the grid, and a screen popped up.
Equipment Title
Forest Tunic
Defense
+15 DEF
Special Effects
None
Grade
Zero Stars
Durability
30/30
Rarity
Uncommon
Value
1500 Sol
Nice! I grinned. A +15 increase in defense. Just what I needed. I looked over the stats once more and hit the Equip button under the screen.
DING!
You are already wearing a tunic. Would you like to switch to the Forest Tunic?
I tapped on Yes. My tunic glowed with a bright white light, and heat sank into my chest. When the glare died down, I was no longer wearing a tunic of misty gray, but one of sandy brown. I touched the piece of cloth and rubbed the fur-like texture under my fingers. I felt warm and cozy, as if I had been wrapped up in a large blanket.
I should have equipped this while I was in the rain, I thought.
An eerie silence flowed through the air. The bland scent of dust and mud spread around me, and filled my head. I smiled. Just hours ago, I was wallowing in the rain, appreciating the life all around me, and now I was stuck in a dry forest, with nothing but stale winds and silence for company.
The irony was amusing.
A flash of bright purple caught my eyes, peeking through the greenery around me. A small flowering plant sat hidden behind the bushes. Drops of rainwater lay on the colored flowers and reflected the dull sunlight.
Pretty, I thought. Maybe I can analyze it.
I stared at the flower, my eyes focusing on its smooth texture and rich hues.
DING!
A prompt appeared. No info screen? I wondered and looked at the notification.
Warning!
Unable to analyze object. You must obtain a new skill—Herb Lore—in order to use Analyze on plants.
“Ah.” I knelt down next to the plant.
Herb Lore was a skill that allowed one to identify and use different plants in things like medicine and potions. The only two ways to learn Herb Lore were to use the knowledge one had of plants or to have someone who knew Herb Lore teach them the skill.
My knowledge contained close to nothing about herbs or other useful plants, but I did seem to know about this one.
Way to go, memory, I chuckled and gazed at the plant.
It was a kind of lily called the Purple Dawn—named so because its purple shades blended in with the sky at sunrise. I gently grasped one of the flowers, holding the base of the stalk, and snapped it off.
DING!
Failure!
You do not have an Herb Lore skill. The plant has been destroyed.
The flower’s petals instantly dulled down to a rustic brown, and the plant withered away in my hand.
“Dammit,” I mumbled.
I tried again, being a lot more careful than before this time. Herb picking is a lot harder than I thought. I grasped the stalk once more and pinched it with my fingers, snapping it off cleanly.
DING!
Failure!
You do not have an Herb Lore skill. The plant has been destroyed.
The plant in my hand withered away once again. “Ugh!” I yelled, throwing away the powdery remains.
Connect with the plant. The thought echoed through my subconscious
.
I relaxed my body and took in a deep breath. I reached out and touched the plant, treating it like a delicate treasure. A tingling sensation spread across my fingertips, as though tiny pulses of lightning were connecting the stalk and me.
The sensation pulsed within my fingers. I smiled. I could feel that the plant was alive. I didn’t lower my hand down to the stalk base this time, nor did I try to snap it off. I held on to a petal and gently tugged on it, pulling it like I would a child’s hand.
The flower stalk came off cleanly, and the tingling sensation disappeared. I stared at the flower in my hand, my heart thumping as it kept its morning purple shades.
DING!
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill
Herb Lore!
Mother Nature knows best. All those inanimate sculptures of green hold within them a treasure trove of possibilities that even the smartest man can never fully grasp.
Effect 1
Herb effects +1%
Awesome. I grinned. I took advantage of my new skill immediately. I stared down at the flower, focusing on its shape.
DING!
Name
Purple Dawn
Rarity
Uncommon
Special effect
Increases Agility by +5% for 10 minutes
I looked at the plant’s special effects. “Oooooh,” I said. This would be useful to have. I knelt down and plucked four more stalks from the bush.
DING!
You have found a new item.
Purple Dawn (x5)!
The shade of the glorious morning sun, these flowers increase the vigor of the consumer for a short while. Definitely don’t overdose. Would you like to transfer the items to your ‘Item Inventory?’
Yes
No
I tapped on Yes. The flowers glowed brightly in my hand before dissolving into dots of light and disappearing into the air.
A low growl rumbled. I dropped to the ground on instinct, and my hands reached out to the scimitars on my back. It’s close by, I realized. A sole twig snapped. I quickly moved out of the bush and behind a tree.
Footsteps inched closer. I resisted the urge to peek out and stayed where I was. I didn’t know what this thing was or which direction it was coming from, and I wasn’t making any moves until I figured out at least one of the two.
The growling sounded again, now louder than before. The beast was mere yards away. Its panting breath came closer, the intervals between each one shortening as the seconds passed. It’s on my right. I turned, keeping a close watch on that side.
My hand rested on one of the scimitars’ handles, and my fingers gripped the rough surface. I lowered my body and slowly pushed my head out from behind the trunk, trying to steal a glance at the creature approaching me. The green of the trees and the brown of the earth filled my vision.
And then, it emerged.
A blur of black and red at a distance, but a more distinct shape when it neared. I stared, focusing my vision on it while keeping myself hidden enough behind the trunk.
DING!
My Analyze screen came up.
Race
Blood Sabretooth
Level
12
A blood sabretooth? I jerked myself back behind the tree. Oh no.
DING!
Congratulations! You have advanced a skill.
Analyze Level 2!
For a man who desires to know about others so much, a new pathway will open. You can now snoop on people with better accuracy. The Analyze screen will also be hidden from everyone but you for the first five seconds after generation.
Effect 1
Screen generates 20% faster
I closed the prompt. A sabretooth. My body shook and I nervously touched my shoulder.
The sabretooth was at Level 12, which was four levels higher than what I was right now. It didn’t seem like taking this creature on would be a good idea in general.
Then again, the ogre was Level 12 too, I thought. And I’d managed to take it down. Albeit with a little help.
This situation, however, was different from that. Because now I was in the possession of something I hadn’t had back then.
The Forest Scimitars.
The weapons dealt a maximum of 174 ATK damage, and that increased by another 50% since we were in a forest. So, I could probably knock the thing out with one hit from my scimitars. However, that didn’t mean a face-off would be one-sided, though.
For one, the blood sabretooth could have good defenses, which would mean my attack wouldn’t really do as much damage as it was supposed to. But more importantly, the blood sabretooth was certainly much faster than I was, and it was stronger as well. It seemed plausible to consider the fact that the beast could probably take me out with a single attack too.
So, in the end, the result of the face-off would just boil down to who was faster, and I had no doubts that it was the sabretooth, by a long shot. Well, kind of. I grinned. I couldn’t match its speed, but there were other ways to bring myself closer to its Agility levels.
I opened my Item Inventory and brought out a stalk of the Purple Dawn. I put it to my lips and ate the flower in one bite, chewing for a bit before swallowing. It had a sharp bitter flavor, but a weirdly sweet aftertaste.
DING!
You have consumed a Purple Dawn! Agility will now be increased by +5%. Health Regeneration will be stopped. Effects last ten minutes.
Wait, what? I blinked. Health Regeneration will be stopped?
The plant had more side effects than my Analyze screen had let on, meaning my Herb Lore skill didn’t tell me everything about the plant just yet.
“Ugh,” I muttered. This was not what I’d wanted. Health regen was important in a battle, and I’d just sacrificed all of it.
A ravaging growl echoed, and a quick shuffle of footsteps followed. I jerked my head from behind the tree trunk, just in time to see a blur of red and black shoot toward me.
I mobilized on instinct and rushed through the forest. A growl sounded, and I glanced back. The beast was but a few yards from me and catching up fast. Yup, definitely faster, I thought. I could see it clearly as it came closer—its jet-black fur, the streaks of red striping its skin, the murderous blood-shaded eyes, and the thick fangs that grew out of its mouth.
It was a solid killing machine.
And it was charging right at me.
Yay me, I thought.
I looked up at a tree a few yards ahead of me. I heard panting from just a few feet behind. It’s getting close. My heart thumped. I gripped my shoulder hard. I’ve got to do it, I thought. I have no other choice.
A foot from a tree, I lowered my speed and jumped into the air. I planted one foot against the bark and pushed back. My body flipped midair, and I grasped shades of black and red pass beneath me. I dropped to the ground, back on my feet.
I reached out to the scimitar on my back. I looked ahead of me and pulled the weapon out. The sabretooth slid up to the tree and stared at it.
An opening. I grinned.
I pulled out my other scimitar and surged forward, right to the beast. My weapons slashed hard, slicing twice into its flesh.
It didn’t even stand a chance.
Its health bar instantly decreased, going to zero in a second tops. The sabretooth collapsed to the ground, not a sound out of it. Its eyes slowly close, and they remained that way after.
I stood above the beast, panting hard. I don’t want to do that again, I thought.
DING!
Congratulations! You have defeated:
Blood Sabretooth (Lv. 12)!
That beast had no clue what was coming. On another note, good footwork Reward: 3000XP.
DING!
Congratulations! Your level has increased!
Level 9!
Killing a cat as big as that better give you a level-up. You gain 4 stat points to spend on your skills. You also gain a 25% advancement to the skill of your choice.
DING!
>
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill
Swordsmanship!
You have proven yourself proficient in the art of the long blades. Go forth and show the world the power of your sword!
Effect 1
Strength increased by +2% when wielding a sword.
I closed the screen, and my eyes turned to the sabretooth’s lifeless body. I couldn’t help but feel a little excited at the sight, invigorated that I’d made that kill. I looked at my scimitars, and my fingers brushed their vine-like ornamentation.
They’re really good weapons, I thought, and admired them for another second before putting them back into my scabbards.
I was honestly surprised I’d been able to move like that. It wasn’t that the movements were necessarily hard, but I just felt very comfortable doing them.
The Eternal: A Boxed Set (World of Ga'em Book 6) Page 5
