LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 7: Tutorial.4
While I was still relishing the feeling of my levels and post-battle euphoria, I opened my status window. The ramblings of my comrades interested me little, for although I liked the victory, I didn't exactly see it as a monumental achievement. They were grown-up rodents... badgers are rodents, right? Probably not. Moving on.
Status
Name: Alexander Wood
Race: [Human (0) – lvl 1]
Class: [Fatal Shot – lvl 2]
Profession: N/A
Health Points (HP): 130/130
Mana Points (MP): 120/120
Stamina: 111/130
Statistics
Strength: 13
Agility: 14
Stamina: 13
Vitality: 13
Resistance: 11
Wisdom: 12
Intelligence: 12
Perception: 18
Willpower: 10
Free Points: 3
Titles
[Explorer]
Come to think of it, I hadn't opened this window since the introduction. Not even to confirm my class or title. And, surely, I had grown. My agility alone had almost doubled with the title and the levels combined, going from 8 to 14. With Perception being the attribute increased by 2 points per Fatal Shot level, it had grown by a full 8 points. And I could feel it. Sounds were clearer, my vision sharper than ever, except when I focused on using the Fatal Shot Eye.
It could be my imagination, but I felt like my perception was still increasing while I was there, venting. Or maybe the new statistics applied their bonuses gradually, or we simply needed time to get used to them. "I have to try it out," I thought, smiling to myself.
Statistics were truly a strange thing. During the fight, I moved faster and became stronger than ever, at the level of an athlete in peak condition, at least. However, everything felt so natural that I didn't question it for a second. It was almost frightening how easily I adapted to my body's performance going through such large changes.
I decided to attribute it to the magic of the system and dismissed the status screen, finally realizing that everyone was either looking at me or at the dead badgers.
"Thanks, Beatrice," Lucas said, gently pushing Beatrice, now blushing, away from him. He turned to the rest and began praising us. "Good job, everyone. Especially you, Alexander."
Lucas seemed to have returned to normal again, with the same passive smile and sparkle in his eyes as before. The tension after the fight had already disappeared. On a side note, I had 'completely ruined' the carefully made plan by killing half the beasts before the fight even started. The only beneficial part of the plan still applicable was what to do with the corpses afterward. We needed a food source, so... badger meat. Yay?
Figuring out how to transport the badgers was a hassle since no one wanted to handle the dead, bloodied animals. Especially the one killed by Xavier and Evan, since it was a complete mess, full of holes. In the end, they only took the two I killed at the beginning of the fight since they were more intact. The transport was left to Henrry, who felt bad for not contributing to the battle, and Bruno, who seemed eager to help. No one even addressed me or asked me to carry anything. It wasn't something I would complain about.
As we walked forward, still looking for any source of water, I checked my quiver and noticed I had 54 arrows, having fired 6 in the previous fight. I focused on the quiver and identified it once again:
[Enchanted Quiver (Common)] – A quiver enchanted with the ability to conjure [common] quality arrows when injected with mana.
Now I just have to figure out how to inject something with mana, I thought... only to find, four seconds later, that injecting something with mana was much easier than I had anticipated. I just had to hold it with my hands and think intensely about doing it. It was almost instinctive.
As the mana slowly left me, I felt a bit strange, but not really uncomfortable. In the quiver, I saw arrows slowly appearing, seemingly growing along its sides. After half a minute or more, there were again 60 arrows in the quiver. Trying to inject more mana didn't seem to have any effect. I looked at my mana: 102/120.
So, three mana per arrow. Got it. Damn, this would have been useful back then, I thought while admiring the magical quiver, before adding, or not, since I had no mana...
I thought about collecting the arrows, but there were several reasons not to. First, I would have to clean the arrows somehow before they were useful again. Second, my penetration power would be reduced if they had already been used, even if just a little. Third... I could just conjure them magically. And if I started running low on mana, I could just ask one of the warriors to refill the quiver, since they didn't use their mana for anything else.
All of this ignoring how long it would take to gather the arrows, when I could just conjure new ones in seconds.
As we continued walking, I quickly found myself at the front, walking alongside Xavier. He seemed to hesitate about something but eventually opened his mouth.
"Alexander... were you in the army or something like that? Or maybe you went hunting from time to time?" he finally asked.
I was a bit surprised; I hadn't expected that kind of question. "No, to both. But I practiced a lot with the bow when I was younger, and I still practice when I visit the old folks at home. Why are you asking?"
I was honestly confused. If I had to say, I did decently in the last fight, but that was about it.
"I just thought you did so well back there, nothing more," Xavier said, not pressing further. Although it didn't seem like the answer satisfied him in the least.
I nodded at him and turned my head forward again, scanning the foliage. One thing I noticed was the complete absence of insects or larvae, or any of the smaller animals, really. There were birds in the trees, but even they were all about the size of pigeons.
No insects was a good sign, though. Normal animals seemed to have mutated, or perhaps become something completely different. Imagining mutant mosquitoes, ticks, or spiders, I could easily see the entire group being wiped out without even knowing how they died.
The forest was extremely dense and full of hills, fallen trees, and giant bushes, making it hard to tell what was 10 meters ahead. This forced us to move slowly, barely managing to keep a walking pace.
After a few more minutes of walking, I finally saw some movement to my left. I immediately nudged Xavier on the side, who followed my line of sight, also seeing the rustling bush. Xavier raised his arm, signaling for the rest of the group to stop. I took my bow off my shoulder and pulled an arrow from the quiver, nocking it. I was ready for whatever was there.
After a few moments, the bush stopped rustling, and everything fell silent again. As the seconds passed, everyone seemed to start relaxing. Everyone, except me. My intuition told me there was still something there.
I focused and used the Fatal Shot Eye, watching the bush closely. I saw the light reflecting between the leaves and, without hesitation, I fired an arrow.
A huge scream was heard, and a small wild boar staggered out, no taller than my knees. After stumbling a few steps, it fell to the ground, an arrow protruding from its left eye.
"You killed [Boar – lvl 1] – Experience gained. 1 XP gained."
Everything went silent again as we stared at the dead boar. Lucas opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by an even louder sound.
"SCREAMED!"
A loud scream echoed, followed by the sound of footsteps, making the ground tremble slightly.
"RUN!"
I had no idea who had screamed, and didn't need to think twice before following the advice. I ran back and found my way around one of the larger trees. Without hesitation, I grabbed my knife and another arrow from the quiver, driving them into the tree, easily piercing the bark.
I started climbing while watching the rest of the group, all running to hide behind trees. Xavier was the only one still out in the open, holding the rear guard. His shield was pointed in the direction of the footsteps.
As I made quick progress climbing the tree, the bush where the small boar had emerged was torn apart. A massive boar, taller than even Xavier, the tallest member of the group, appeared.
The boar completely ignored Xavier and the others, charging straight at the tree I was climbing. It struck the tree with its tusk, making it shake violently. The impact caused me to lose control of my arrow, but I managed to hold onto the knife and avoid falling to what would likely have been a certain death.
As I stabilized myself, grabbing another arrow and driving it into the bark of the tree, the rest of the group froze, huddled around a nearby tree, all staring in awe at the massive beast. Finally, Lucas composed himself and called for the spellcasters and Wyatt to start firing spells and arrows at the creature.
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