“Never mind, that wouldn’t be right.”
“And the critter would be the boss of the Lair, right?”
“So this is like a dungeon?”
The answer led to a bunch more questions, but Hawke decided to save them for later. He marked the Lair on his map and headed towards the next likely spot.
An hour later, he found the next candidate. This time it was a natural cave hidden behind a small waterfall that fed into a large pond; the stream was a tributary of the river that had almost drowned him. Hawke took off his armor and clothing before wading in. Getting soaked so recently after his last experience was no fun, but he made it through. As soon as he set foot on the cave, he felt another rush of energy. The cave walls had patches of some sort of phosphorescent moss that created enough green light to see by without relying on his Dark Vision. The floor of the cave was covered by hundreds of dark purple stones arranged in a spiral.
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Hawke started to ask the sword what he needed to do and decided he could spare himself the inevitable snark. He’d figure it out himself. He knelt down by the spiral on the ground, touched one of the purple stones and sent some of his mana into it. The spiral lit up, filling the cavern with purple light.
You have accessed: Level 10 Mana Node. You have the following choices:
Leave Mana Node alone: No risk or reward. Y/N
All Other Choices: You must defeat a Guardian to claim this Node.
Challenge Guardian? Y/N
“Uh, no,” he said, stepping back. The lightshow stopped. Hawke was pretty sure a second level Paladin shouldn’t be challenging the guardian of a tenth-level Node to anything. Maybe later.
“I guess I almost screwed up again.”
The sword didn’t say anything. Just as well.
He opened his quest log and saw that the Escape the Catacombs quest was blinking. He opened it.
You have found a suitable Reincarnation site. Bind yourself to it? (Y/N)
“Yes.”
A cold current ran through his body. The spiral glowed brightly for a second.
Quest Completed.
Fourteen
Congratulations! You have reached Level Three! You have gained 6 Attribute points to distribute.
Congratulations! Your Lore Skill has been raised to 2.
New Light Magic Spells Available.
You have gained access to Life Magic. New Life Magic Spells Available.
Current XP/Next Level: 295/1,000
He’d all but forgotten that one of the rewards for accepting the goddess Vitara’s quest was getting access to Life Magic. Time to sit down and do some bookkeeping.
Attributes first. His Intelligence and Willpower determined his Mana and Endurance pools and regen rates. He figured raising them was in order. He put two points on each of them, one point in Perception and the last point on Strength. He didn’t notice a lot of direct changes, but the increase in his Characteristics was worth the expense.
Spells next. Each time his level went up, he could pick up a new spell from one of the schools of magic he knew. And he’d also gotten three new spells thanks to his deal with the Life Goddess Vitara:
Bolt of Life
Time to Cast: 1 second. Cooldown: 10 seconds. Cost: 3(2) Mana. Duration: Instant. Range: 50 yards. Effect: Heal 1 Health per Caster level every second for 10 seconds.
Consecrated Ground
Time to Cast: 3 seconds. Cooldown: 10 seconds. Cost: 3(2) Mana. Duration: 1 minute. Range: Self (5-yard radius). Effect: Bless the ground around yourself. Any friendly living being who enters the blessed radius will regain 2 Health per Caster level, plus the same amount every second they remain there.
Growth
Time to cast: 10 seconds. Cooldown: 1 minute. Cost: 10(9) Mana. Duration: Permanent. Range: One plant or animal. Effect: Induce rapid growth on an animal or plant, providing the equivalent of one season’s passing instantly. Adults or fully matured specimens cannot be aged further.
The Life spells were useful, especially if he ever had to assume the role of group healer. The Light spell he picked was also nothing to sneeze at:
Enlightenment
Time to Cast: 2 seconds. Cooldown: 2 minutes. Cost: 5(4) Power. Duration: One minute. Range: Caster. Effect: Increase chance of detecting traps, hidden doors and opponents using Stealth by 10% per level.
With spells like that, who needed a rogue? Well, the spell probably didn’t work as well as someone with the proper skills. The bennies you got even at low level were pretty good, though. If this had been a game instead of some sort of alien abduction, he would be enjoying himself immensely. Even as it was, he had to admit that the cool stuff made up for some of the horror and misery of the previous day. He also noticed that all the spell Mana costs had been reduced by one, as part of his magic sword’s bennies.
He checked to see what Saturnyx had gained at third level. The stats had all improved:
Saturnyx Demons-Bane (Legendary Artifact). Soul Sword. Level 3. One- or two-handed. Damage: One-Handed: Current 18-23; Two-Handed: 19-35. Requires Swordsmanship Skill.
Special Abilities:
Enhanced Attributes: +3 to Strength, +3 to Constitution, +3 to Dexterity.
Enhanced Skill: +3 to the wielder’s Sword Skill.
Dragon-Bone Hilt: Provides Damage Resistance: Elemental (Fire) 45% Elemental (All Others): 15%.
Elysian Steel Cross-Guard: Reduces the Mana cost of spells by 1.
Demons-Bane: Triple damage to demons; double damage to demonically possessed or influenced beings.
Sense Evil: Can detect the presence of Demons, Undead and Beyonders within five hundred meters. Note: Powerful entities may be able to mask their presence.
The third level Elemental Boon was nothing to sneeze at, either. It gave him his first area of effect attack that worked against more than Undead:
Elemental Burst
By spending 10(9) Mana and striking the ground with your sword, you inflict your blade’s normal one-handed damage to all foes in a twenty-foot radius. This damage will be Elemental in nature.
Even better, the ability had no cooldown, although its Mana cost meant he could only use it only a few times in a fight. He couldn’t wait to try it out. Hawke gave his character information a final once over:
Name: Hawke Lightseeker. Race: Half-Elf (Eternal). Class: Paladin. Level: 3
Experience/Next Level: 295/1,000
Attributes:
Strength 14(17), Dexterity 13(16), Constitution 17(20), Intelligence 14, Spirit 17, Perception 13, Willpower 13, Charisma 16
Characteristics:
Health 50 (Regain 5/minute)
Mana 41 (Regain 4.7/minute)
Endurance 45 (Regain 5 minute)
Identity: 21
Skills
Dodge 4, Lore 2, Shield 6, Spear 3, Stealth 1, Survival 2, Sword 6, Swimming 2, Tracking 1
Languages: Common Fey, Vulgate, Lesser Celestial
Perks
Dark Vision, True Sight, Undying, Unlimited Po
tential
Spells/Abilities
Aura of Light, Bolt of Life, Consecrated Ground, Enlightenment, Growth, Hammer of Light, Shield of Light, Touch of Light
He was in a strange new world, but he was surviving. It was time to check out Orom and see if they had a friendly inn for weary travelers. The Iron Rations he’d had for breakfast were nothing to write home about and he wanted a real meal; he wouldn’t mind drinking something other than boiled water, either. But there was one more thing to do before he left his new respawning place.
“I was asked if I wanted to claim this place,” he asked the sword. “Do you know how that works?”
“All right, so that’s something I’ll save for when I’ve picked up a few more levels, then. What do I get in return?”
“Good deal.”
“All right, we’ll deal with that later. How far is the last Faerie Ring? I’d like to check it out but only if it’s doesn’t take me out of my way.”
Hawke decided to save that for another time. Time to head to the Golden Shire and check out the inn situation there.
His mother had been fond of the expression ‘Make plans, make God laugh.’ He should have listened.
* * *
“What’s the deal with the floating purses?” he asked Saturnyx as he made his way through the dark forest. The thick canopy only let through a fraction of the morning’s sunlight, so it felt almost like he was underground. Talking helped distract him. “They are just like in my games back home.”
“Do I? I haven’t absorbed anything.”
“You mean experience?”
“But my character info lists that sort of thing under Experience.”
Before Hawke could respond, something – something big – roared loudly not far away.
Hawke turned towards the sound and drew his sword, puzzled by the worry he heard in Saturnyx’s voice. He’d fought spider people, swarms of flesh-eating bugs and – well, not quite fought but ran away from – giant demon skeletons, or skeleton demons. A bear didn’t sound like that much of a challenge. He activated his auras while he walked. Maybe the light show would frighten Yogi away.
“Chill out, I got this,” Hawke said. Then he saw the Dire Bear.
It was huge. Even on all fours, it seemed to be as tall as he was. The monster paused for a moment when it saw him, and Hawke thought that the glowing aura around him might scare it off. Bears were scared of fire, weren’t they?
“Shoo,” he told the bear. He’d meant to shout at it but instead it came out as a whisper. His True Sight let him know what he was dealing with.
Old Urso (Dire Bear)
Level 6 Beast
Health 270 Mana 60 Endurance 210
Oh, crap.
That beast had five times as much Health as he did! Hawke set himself and raised his sword, wishing he had a 30-06 rifle or at least a spear. On the other hand, his auras were set, he had body armor, and a kickass magic sword. It was going to be tough, but he’d handled a lot of stuff already. He’d live through this.
The bear lumbered towards him. The way chunks of soil flew between its paws with every step, it must weigh hundreds of pounds. Maybe half a ton. It covered the distance between them with shocking speed. Hawke cast Hammer of Light; he managed to fire the spell off twice. Both energy missiles struck home, inflicting 31 points of damage. Neither the bright flashes of the spells or the pain of the injuries slowed down the bear. Its roars became louder and angrier as the creature – still with over two hundred Health – kept coming. The only reason Hawke didn’t piss himself at the sight was that he’d relieved himself a few minutes before.
With a roar that made his head ring and blew a rotten meat stench towards him, the Dire Bear reared up. Hawke took a chance and lunged with his sword. If he could stick the bear somewhere vital with his super-duper blade…
A swipe from a massive paw caught him in mid-lunge. Hawke felt his shield, the arm under it and his left shoulder shatter under the impact; the pain was overwhelming. Next thing he knew, he was lying face down on the dirt. Blood was pouring down one side of his face, blinding him. He couldn’t see the bear and he couldn’t move; his entire left side was paralyzed with agony. A prompt was flashing red, indicating that his Health had dropped below half.
A growl behind him was his only warning before the bear dropped on him, crushing him against the ground. He felt the beast’s hot breath on his back as it bit him and tore a chunk of flesh off his right arm even as it put its full weight on his body; his ribs gave under the pressure and he felt their jagged edges poking into his lungs. He tried to scream but choked on the blood filling his throat. The bear’s next growl was like a purr; its tongue licked Hawke’s blood as an appetizer for its meal.
The end wasn’t quick enough.
Fifteen
He sat up in the cavern, screaming at the top of his lungs.
He could still feel the bear’s teeth and claws. He’d been paralyzed, but he didn’t die until well after it started to eat. His protective auras had only made the horror last longer. The vivid memories almost made him vomit, but he got himself under control after a few minutes. It had been bad – downright horrible – but he had made it through.
Hawke struggled to his feet. He was still wearing his breast plate, although it was dented and punctured in places; the sharp edges where the armor had bent inwards poked at the ragged remains of his woolen shirt. One of his pants’ legs was missing; the bear had torn it off, along with the leg inside it. What was left of his clothes was soaked with blood. His shield hadn’t made the trip with him and it would have been broken beyond repair even if it had. He had dropped the sword at some point, but the Soul Bond had returned her to him.
Saturnyx said. For once, she didn’t sound sarcastic or condescending.
“Thank you.”
He shook his hea
d, trying to forget the memories. They were still there – he’d probably be reliving them in his sleep – but he set them aside. He couldn’t give up, or that sort of thing would keep happening.
Checking his character info, he found only two changes. His XP now read 0/1000. He’d had almost three hundred points before the bear killed him. Now he would need to earn back all the experience needed to reach level three before he started progressing back to the next level. That sucked big time. The other change was to his Identity Characteristic. It had gone down from 21 to 19 points. If it reached zero, he would die permanently.
And he couldn’t even be all that mad at the bear. It’d been doing what came naturally. No, he was mad at the damn thing. If he ever met it again, he would… well, climb a tree, probably. At least until he was a lot higher in power. And had acquired a spear. Maybe a ballista. He belatedly remembered he’d had the Arachnoids tridents in his inventory. It probably wouldn’t have made a difference what weapon he had. He’d been completely outmatched.
Jesus, that was horrible.
Time would help. Especially if he did his best not to think about it anymore.
“How long was I out for?”
“Huh.”
“Yeah, let’s do that. Hopefully I can buy new clothes there.”
He had learned a valuable lesson. Don’t lose a fight, because the consequences were downright nasty.
* * *
On his way to Orom, he avoided the river – the bear might be near the water – as well as his previous path through the forest. He paid a lot more attention to his surroundings, and his Survival skill helped him notice things his old city-bound self wouldn’t have. Like how birds would stop chirping when he came too close. Hopefully, if the bear was nearby, he’d spot it before it saw him.
He and the sword didn’t talk much along the way. Saturnyx seemed uncharacteristically quiet. She didn’t complain even once about Hawke’s poor choices and decision-making. Maybe she genuinely felt bad for him. The thought gave him some comfort. Being soul-bound to someone who held him in total contempt would be a living hell.
Twilight Templar (The Eternal Journey Book 1) Page 8
