Bloody Crucible- Lone Wolf
Page 6
Tanning Level 1 (Craft, Common) – 5% chance to increase quality level, 10% faster curing of hides into useable leather.
Survivalist Level 1 (Passive, Common) – +5 HP and STA, edible plants, herbs, and water becomes easier to find and highlighted in a faint white.
With the skills and independent efforts, he added an addition of several stat points totaling a +2 STR, +1 CON, +3 AGI and +1 DEX. Throughout the week, signs of a predator were becoming more common, worrying Wolf about safety. He broke down his camp and moved back to the cave entrance for additional security. At the cave entrance, he built a sturdy palisade with sharpened stakes pointing out adding to the protection.
While still of low quality due to the lack of ‘skill’ he still had good productivity. Building himself a bow, spear, several knives, and a few replacement stone axes after the first broke mid fight. His little cave was becoming well furnished with around 30-40 hides and furs curing at any given time. Sinew was turned into long strips of thread, which he used to create various bags, quivers, weapons and just about anything you could think of. Strong, versatile, and easy to make it was the duct tape of the past.
Wolf’s stock of dried meats, berries, roots, and anything edible was growing very nicely. He had killed about one hundred and twenty Forest Nutrias and even managed to kill nine level 3 Forest Foxes. He spent time preparing traps for predators of the four-legged kind and many more for the two-legged type. Knowing that eventually he would need to find civilization to get the lay of the land and the bigger picture. Considering this, it would be necessary to have a place to hole up in, when everything went pear shaped. More weeks went by as he continued to fortify his cave, once satisfied he started digging up bushes and other flora to begin camouflaging it. Each time he would leave he set up multiple traps to keep out the unwanted while he took his time to go explore and hunt.
At the end of the fourth week in the forest he was starting to go stir crazy, paranoia was creeping up on him. His arsenal consisted of several ‘average’ quality weapons; 4x bone knives, 2x Stone/Bone Tomahawks, a ‘poor’ quality survival bow, and 20 stone arrows. For the 100th time Wolf thought that he was becoming quite the ranger. He packed several days’ worth of dried food, a few water skins he fashioned from hides, and a hanging sleeping bag for a protracted hunting/exploration trip. As he left he set all the traps and fashioned a few newer ones in case he needed to fall back in a hurry. Paranoia is only beneficial when you are actively preparing for the worst.
He moved through the forest trying to train himself in his usual movement techniques again, following the stream as it grew bigger into a creek. He had been meaning to follow the river for quite some time, knowing your surroundings is a must have if you want to live long. The creek was a dark rust brown color with ancient oaks and willows standing vigil on the banks. The weather was nice despite his constant tripping and falling. He smiled after about 3 hours of running, sliding, dodging, and falling, he unlocked the skill ‘Parkour’.
Parkour Level 1 (Active, Progressive) – 5% faster movement speed through rough terrain when active. Cost: Sustained 20 STA while active (May only have one sustained skill active at any given time)
When he unlocked this skill he thought, ‘so there are practicable skills here’. Dismissing the notification, he continued onward as the creek turned into a small river of only 5 meters across, unable to tell its depth due to the murky water. Wolf decided to make camp nearby under a large oak off its bank. He strung up the furs that he had collected, preparing them into leather and cooked one of the rabbits, seasoning it with wild herbs he found along the way. He was pretty sure he would unlock herbalism eventually, but wasn’t sure when it would occur. His hanging sleeping bag was suspended 20 meters off the ground where he didn’t need to worry about wandering predators attacking him while he slept, ensuring the bag’s quick release was ready he got in to sleep.
The blast of a horn startled him awake. Instinctually he pulled his quick release he fell to the ground, a corded fiber rope slowed his descent as he grasped a tomahawk and knife in each hand respectively once on the ground. Searching for enemies, he was ready for combat. A few moments passed, and he found no foes to kill. Sheathing his knife and placing the tomahawk back in its loop, he strung a new survival bow just in-case he encountered someone or something hostile. Once he had prepped his bow and arrows he heard the horn blow again, from the rear. Carefully and cautiously he started moving toward that direction in as stealthy manner as possible.
Wolf came to an area of the forest where the trees were farther apart, about 100 meters away was a well-built palisade with men lining it all wearing a variety of leather and fur armors. In front of its gate was a gathering of approximately 80 men clad in scaled armor that looked like a mish-mash of old Roman Legion and Chinese styles. They were all human and wielded large rounded metal shields and spears. They stood in a tight phalanx formation with some holding their shields above their heads others to the front or side. Upon further examination he could see arrows made it look like a pincushion.
Much further behind the formation were a series of caged wagons filled with people, the look of despair and tears streaked over their faces. Very few seemed to be human, but he recognized several of the races, ‘These people were slavers’, Wolf thought. Images of Chinese occupied Japan flashed through his mind, the sight of women being raped and killed for the pleasure of the Soldiers. The slave labor camps, where people were barely fed and worked to death. Memories flittered through his mind reminding him why he fought so hard and so long against them. This was shortly followed by the memories of his own atrocities that he still felt guilt over.
Anger rose to a boiling point he wished he had a grenade or brick of C6 binary, ideas and thoughts raced through his mind as the phalanx began marching forward. His mind raced as he tried to come up with any idea he could. Looking around searching for something that could help the situation he noticed a tent off in the distance near the cages. Somethings were always certain, important people always had tents. Stalking through the trees he approached the tent, the mantra ‘slow is fast, fast is slow’ repeated in his mind. A notification window flashed startling him.
Congratulation! You have unlocked the skill ‘Stealth’ at Beginner Level 1
By unlocking new skill without a trainer you are awarded +1 AGI.
Stealth Level 1 (Active, Common) – Until broken you are 50% less likely to be discovered. Walking into well-lit areas, aggressive actions, and receiving damage will break stealth. Cannot be used in combat, movement speed is reduced by 95%. 3-minute cooldown
A smile crept up to his face. Opening his window, he selected stealth to be upgraded to level two using his only ability point.
Congratulation! ‘Stealth’ has become Beginner Level 2
Stealth Level 2 (Active, Common) – Until broken you are 50% less likely to be discovered. Walking into well-lit areas, aggressive actions, and receiving damage will break stealth. Cannot be used in combat, movement speed is reduced by 92%. 3-minute cooldown
With stealth, he would have a much better chance of seeing who or what was in that tent while remaining undetected. The sound of axes chopping at the palisade marked the beginning of the battle. Feeling like time was running out, he suppressed the desire to hurry. As he got to within 20 meters he activated stealth. His visage became slightly transparent proving he would be more difficult to see. Standing a few paces in front of the entrance of the tent was a single sentry in the same chainmail armor as the rest, with red tower shield and spear. On the head of the sentry was open faced helmet reminiscent to a Roman galea. Looking for a weak spot on the armor he saw that the chainmail coif was loose providing inadequate protection to the vulnerable neck. Creeping up to the sentry from the side, he pulled his bone knife, hoping to pierce the spinal column to prevent him from sounding alarm he lined up his stab.
Critical! Imperial Conscript takes 43.5 Damage (6 damage mitigated)
Imperial Conscript has received the ‘
Paralyzed’ Debuff for 2 minutes
You are now hostile to all Imperial Forces. Please have care.
The Soldier began to fall, but Wolf grabbed him, silently easing him down. Once laying on the ground Wolf used his knife to repeatedly and silently stab the Soldier’s throat. Blood splashed and sprayed him in the face as he felt the blade meet the little resistance of the Imperials throat. During the time of attack multiple notification windows appeared, he dismissed them immediately as he kept stabbing. Wiping the blood from the face and dagger he merely took a minute to let his stamina recover.
You have killed a level 5 Imperial Conscript, 100XP gained.
He looked at the motionless body of the soldier as the blood pooled. A sneer came to his face as he looked to the tent. Poking a small hole in the fabric of the tent he looked inside. The interior was well furnished with a large bed in the middle. A few chests, and cages lined the wall, Wolf’s face scrunched up in anger as he saw a large mound under the bed furs. A light snoring could be heard now that the adrenaline had faded.
Moving to the tent flap and activating stealth Wolf entered the tent. Slowly he approached the bed in the dimly lit tent. Next to the large silhouette was a smaller one, a crying in a feminine voice. Rage washed over Wolf, his vision took on hues of red as he drew his knives. The next few minutes devolved him repeatedly stabbing the larger figure in the face until his bone blades broke, then continued by punching. The wet thwacks of his hands impacting bloody flesh, the crunches of bones cracking under the impact. Once his rage was spent the tent was completely silent.
You have killed a level 10 Imperial Slaver, 200XP gained. The Empire of Kuing relates to you with hatred
Congratulations! You have started the quest ‘Defend Kokuri Village”
Type: ScarceDifficulty: Very Hard
Conditions: You must assist or successfully repel the Imperial Army Assault
Rewards: +50 Reputation from Kokuri, 3500exp, other rewards based on performance
Blood and gore was splattered all over the tent. It was smeared across his face, dripped down his arms and hands, the coppery smell was thick in the air, mixed with the smell of sweat, piss and shit. Looking at his blood covered hands he realized that his knuckles were cut up and exposed. He couldn’t even feel it. Looking to his left he saw a vanity mirror, his reflection sent a shiver down his spine. His eyes were glowing a dull red, with a hint of insanity, the blood covering him, growling with teeth bared making him appear and sound like he was some crazed maniac murdering his way through life.
He snorted, “Good riddance, fucking slaver trash.”
Taking in his surroundings he notices 3 pairs of eyes from young girls stared at him filled with fear. Wolf walked to the vanity mirror where a lantern was set to low light and increased its brightness. The tent was even more opulent than he thought. It was filled with now ruined rugs, furs, silks, and armoire was in the corner with its doors opened displaying many different elaborate cloths. He took several to wipe away the blood paying no mind to the young women.
In a hushed tone, he asked the woman who revealed herself to be a Wood Huldra, “Where are the keys to the cages?”
She said no words but pointed to a nightstand on the side of the bed. After getting the key and releasing the women, he noticed they were all different races, Beastkin, Wood Huldra, and Human. All three looked to be rather young and attractive, but the situation they were in made them seem older. Wolf started cutting large sections of cloth and rummaged through the tent for all valuables, and papers placing it on the cloth.
Looking over at the women who were frozen in place, he said, “Go on grab as much as you can. Consider it reparations for the hurts he inflicted on you. Outside there is an Imperial Conscript, feel free to take his stuff too, just leave the spear since I am going to distract those shit-bags. When I do take everything, you can to the village. I will try to be around in a bit after I kill all these fuckers.”
The women were shocked at his brazen attitude toward killing Imperial Conscripts. The Wood Huldra hissed in what he thought a British accent. “Who are you and why did you help us? Your kind is not known for its compassion and kindness.”
Wolf’s back was to the women as he opened a chest, he wanted to show he was not a threat to them but remained ready to counter in case they attacked.
“Think what you want. Right now, there are about 100 Soldiers attacking some village. If you move quickly you can grab as much as you can and hide in the forest while I send these shitheads to their creators.” Wolf said with ice in his voice.
The women shivered at the comment and began to loot the tent. After 20 minutes of activity, Wolf had a bundle of various weapons, armor, documents, a map and several bags of gold bundled up in a rug. The women likewise had large bundles, apparently Wolf had missed a hidden chest that the women knew about. He didn’t mind it, the women had more than earned their keep in this regard. Picking up and examining a well-crafted short sword, a short bow and several quivers of steel arrows, a notification appeared.
Name: Steel Short Sword
Quality: Average
Creator: Jean Craud
Durability: 21/25
Bonuses: None
Critical Hit Rate: 10%
Damage: 3-5
Rarity: Common
Weight: 1.5 kg
Name: 60x Steel Arrows
Quality: Well-Crafted
Creator: Benard Cunberbat
Durability: 5/5
Bonuses: +3% Accuracy (Fletched)
Critical Hit Rate: 10%
Damage: 6-7
Rarity: Common
Weight: 1.5 kg
Name: Short Bow
Quality: Average
Creator: Benard Cunberbat
Durability: 21/25
Bonuses: None
Critical Hit Rate: 10%
Damage: 8-10
Rarity: Common
Weight: 1.5 kg
Satisfied that it would do the job he wanted he used it to remove the mangled head of the dead slaver. Taking it and a lantern outside he mounted the head on the spear and smashed the lantern in the tent lighting it on fire. The women had grabbed the bag he packed for himself with instructions to hold it in the village until he returned. A look of doubt was across their faces when he told them he would be luring them away and killing them, but said no words as the fire climbed higher. Walking forward within sight of the formation of Soldiers who were almost through the wooden gate.
Staking the spear in the ground Wolf drew his bow, taking aim at the man with more elaborate armor than the others. It wasn’t a hard shot since he was only 20 meters away, the arrow flew and hit him the back scoring a crit. The officer looked back stunned, anger filled Wolf’s voice as he shouted. “Oi, Fuckface. You slaver fucks just entered the wrong forest.”
The commander looked back completely aghast at the audacity of this mystery man looked to the spear staked next to him. He was dressed in different armor than the rest, it provided much better protection and was significantly better made. The steel plated lamellar armor looked nigh impenetrable with matching his greaves and bracers. His conical helmet partially obscured his face hiding the look of shock as he saw the mangled and bloody head which adorned the spear. The other Soldiers took quick peeks back seeing what was happening as Wolf shot more arrows. Arrows began to pierce their arms and backs causing their shields to fall, breaking the phalanx. The occupants of the village didn’t waste time and added their arrows into the mix killing just under half.
“FALLBACK!” the officer shouted as more men began to falter in their collapsing formation.
The Officer’s hate filled eyes locked onto Wolf as the started charging at him. Turning to run Wolf sprinted away from them, once out of arrow range Wolf waited for them to get sight of him. The heavy armor and constant action that day made the Soldiers slow and tired, in contrast Wolf was relatively fresh. Leading the Soldiers into the woods. Always just in front of them and occasionally shooting an
arrow to entice them to continuing their pursuit, leading them further into the woods. He managed to pick off a few more heavily wounded, infuriating them and adding to their frustration.
The day continued in this same routine with Wolf leading them closer to the camp by the river. Taking on a larger lead to allow him to gather his belongings before letting the chase continue. The day grew wane, the remaining 67 Soldiers to stop for the night, making camp the exhausted troops fell to the ground. The lay made camp in the same spot he had made himself by the giant oak. Wolf went about a half mile further up steam of them and ate a cold meal to regain his strength, climbing high in the tree. He set his hanging sleeping bag in a location that would not be easily visible to any scouts and settled in for the night.