He continued down the path to the room where he had fought the aquatic seraph, glancing once more at the statue. "The bastard literally carved himself," he muttered, realizing that Khaross had, indeed, made statues of himself. "Unlucky bastard," he added, glancing at the statue's unmentionables before turning towards the right corridor.
Before heading for the exit, he decided to stop by the pool of water to refill his bottle. Afterward, he pulled up his overview page, wanting to review his progress one more time.
The screen appeared in front of Brandon’s face, displaying his current status:
Brandon Larente – Overview
Race: Human – Level 1
Profession: N/A
Class: Wizard – Level 9
Specialization: Conjuration
Abilities:
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Conjured Projection – Novice
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Arcane Barrier – Novice
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Conjured Whip – Apprentice
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Conjure Elemental Binding Chains – Novice
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Flame Infusion – Unpracticed
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Volt Infusion – Unpracticed
Noticing that his Projection and Binding Chains abilities had both upgraded to Novice was a bit of a shock to him. But as he thought about it, it made sense. To his knowledge, he had altered the abilities in ways they weren’t supposed to go, and that had to mean some level of mastery. Though, he scrolled back through his notifications to check for any updates from the system, but found nothing. He assumed that the upgrade messages themselves were, in fact, the level-up notifications.
A surge of pride swelled within him as he saw he was now Level 9, but it was quickly replaced by a deep curiosity. What would happen at Level 10? Would he be offered a new specialization? Or something else? He had no idea, and if he had to admit it, the curiosity was eating at him.
"I guess I'm a cat now?" he mumbled, half-joking, as his mind latched onto any distraction it could find. Anything to take his focus away from what Sarah might be going through. Even if it meant thinking about dumb old sayings from Earth.
Finally deciding it was time to get the hell out of this stupid cave, Brandon made his way toward the exit. His hands were tense with a mix of worry and determination. As he turned the corner, he was met with the sight of a vast forest sprawling out before him. He looked up, but the treetops were still barely visible, and now, down here, the sheer size of the colossus he'd fought seemed even more overwhelming. The fact that it had just disappeared by morning, leaving no trace of its existence, only added to his unease.
"Fuck, I didn't ask him about how the forest fixed itself," he muttered under his breath, but he quickly dismissed it. In the grand scheme of things, how the forest repaired itself didn’t seem important right now.
He could hear the sounds of wildlife all around him, and he wasn't sure whether any of it was friendly or hostile, which kept him moving at a fast pace, always on high alert. As he made his way through the dense underbrush, he encountered a few beasts of various sizes and shapes. None of them looked familiar, but none of them seemed to notice him either. He had no intention of getting close enough to test his Analyse Thingy—which was what he had taken to calling his ability—just to find out what they were.
He walked for what felt like days to him, but looking up at the sun, he saw it had only been at most three hours. Then, he heard what sounded like a fight. A large scream off in the distance, followed by what Brandon assumed to be some kind of roar.
Brandon felt like the smartest move would be to turn the other direction and leave whoever it was to their own devices. After all, this wasn’t his fight, and it wasn’t his responsibility to be out saving people.
Brandon took a few steps in the direction he assumed to be away from the commotion, until he heard a voice speak in his mind: "What if it was me?"
He sighed. This person had to be someone's child, and if Sarah had been in this position and he knew someone had left her to die, he didn’t know what he would do.
With a grim determination, he turned to face the sound and began to make his way toward it.
The screaming had stopped, so he assumed that the person had either won the fight or died. But he decided to make his way there anyway, just in case.
Continuing to make his way through the underbrush of the forest, Brandon tried to remain sneaky. After all, he didn’t need to possibly attract more monsters toward whatever he was about to find.
As he grew closer to a small hill, he noted signs of a fight. There were broken saplings and plants, grass blown away from parts of the dirt, and holes torn into others. He spotted a battle hammer lying on the ground, its handle snapped in half. Bark from the trees around was scattered haphazardly across the ground.
Briefly, Brandon questioned if he was doing the right thing, but then he gulped down a large amount of air and took hold of the talisman in his hand. He knew Sarah wouldn’t have hesitated if she were in his shoes. Actually, he figured she’d yell at him if he just turned away from whoever had clearly been attacked here.
Sighing, he placed the talisman inside his shirt in an attempt to hide the glow. Reaching up for his trusty fedora, he froze. "Oh, come on," he muttered. At some point, Brandon had lost his fedora, and all his hand touched now was his short brown hair. Briefly, he considered running back to the dungeon to try and find it again, but he couldn’t even be sure when he had lost it. He figured it could’ve been when he was bulldozed by that stupid boar, though he could’ve sworn he picked it back up after each hit.
Shaking his head, he muttered, "It’s just a fucking hat, Brandon. You can get another hat... probably." He hadn’t seen anyone else wearing a hat in this world, but then again, he'd only encountered two people since his arrival.
Realizing he was stalling, he cursed himself and began to walk closer to the mountain. He soon spotted a small entrance that seemed like the mouth of a cave.
"Oh, for fuck’s sake, another cave? Seriously?" he moaned, unable to stop himself. He immediately placed his hand over his mouth and waited for any reaction.
"Idiot," he muttered to himself, then proceeded toward the cave opening.
Crouching by the side of the exit, Brandon tried to control his breathing. He leaned out to peek around the corner but immediately realized he couldn’t see a thing. It was too dark.
"Just once, can it be easy?" he questioned the sky, feeling as though it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if it actually answered.
He decided he had wasted enough time and slowly made his way down the corridor, moving at a pace that would bore a snail.
Brandon decided to pull out his talisman again and use it as a makeshift torch, hoping its faint glow wouldn’t be bright enough to alert whatever resided in this place. He was immediately glad he had, as he pulled it out and realized he was only about three paces away from walking headfirst into a wall.
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Glancing around, he noted the rough stone walls, dotted with moss and vines, some hanging from the roof of the cave. They trickled a fine dusting of dirt down onto whatever was below every now and again.
With some level of horror, Brandon noticed the floor had a small trail of blood leading further into the cave. Sighing, he figured whoever this was didn’t have much time left—if they weren’t already beyond help.
Brandon picked up the pace, feeling the need to hurry. He ignored the fact that it felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest and focused solely on the talisman and the light emanating from it. He continued for another 10 minutes or so, the cave and terrain remaining mostly the same, though the vines growing more and more dense as he went further.
He could hear soft cries in the distant quiet of the cave. He slowed himself and listened.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god," was all he heard from a voice that mixed with tears and had been sore for days.
He slowed himself and crept around the corner, trying to hide some of the light with his hand. He couldn’t make much out with the little light he had, but what he could see shook him.
As he came around the corner, the figure that had evidently lost the fight and had been in agony moments before saw him. Brandon raised a finger to his lips, trying to get the figure to remain quiet and not alert whatever it was to his presence.
As Brandon examined the figure, he noticed the blood surrounding it, though he couldn’t make out the wounds. He edged closer, doing all he could to remain silent.
Then he saw a hulking form at the back of the cave, realizing now that he could see the end wall. Brandon looked from the figure to the hulking form and felt determination rise within him.
“I’m not leaving someone to die,” he muttered as quietly as he could. He quickly placed the talisman back inside his shirt, momentarily cutting out all vision, and conjured his whip, watching the fire dance along it as he also used Flame Infusion.
As he did, he watched the light spread around the room. It took his eyes a moment to adjust, as the cave went from near complete darkness to a brightness that allowed him to see. His hand instinctively covered his eyes.
Safe to say, this did not go unnoticed. Almost as quickly as the light spread across the room, the hulking beast was on its feet, staring directly at Brandon.
Looking at it, Brandon's first thought was that it was some kind of lion, but with major differences. First, it was taller than any lion he had ever seen, and its fur—if you could even call it that—looked like it was made of stone. The edges of each strand were spiky, and its shoulder blades appeared to be solid stone. Its mane was traditional fur, but with one big difference: at the bottom, nearly touching the ground, were a cluster of gems that jingled quietly as the beast moved.
"Kitty cat has a bell," Brandon chuckled, finding it strangely amusing.
As was becoming customary for Brandon, the eyes of the beast thoroughly creeped him out. They were intense, obsidian gems that glowed slightly. Brandon suspected they were magical, as when he looked into them, he felt an overwhelming sense of unease—almost bordering on fear. It made him realize that he was most definitely dealing with an apex predator of the area.
He watched as the beast's tail swished through the air, each movement carving through the stone below as if it were butter.
All in all, Brandon was thoroughly regretting the decisions that had led him here.
Focusing on the beast, he saw its name appear: Lithalion, and an overview notification popped up. He dismissed it instantly, knowing he could already guess the content. Now that he could actually see the creature’s level, the notification confirmed it: Lithalion - Level 10.
Before he could process the information, the beast let out a primal roar, and Brandon was thrown to the ground. As the roar echoed through the cave, rocks began to fall from the ceiling, making Brandon worry about a cave-in. However, he quickly realized the roof remained mostly intact, and it was only small rocks and dirt that were coming loose.
The ground beneath him shook violently. From the corner of his eye, he saw the figure that had been lying in the bloodied mess—now clearly a young man—cry out in pain as his injuries were jostled around by the tremors.
Growling, Brandon forced himself to his feet, conjured his shield, and felt the familiar blue shimmer surround him.
"Fine, that's how you want to play it?" he muttered more to himself than the beast, before summoning his projection to the side of the Lithalion. With a sharp movement, he forced his whip to remain rigid and swung it through the projection, aiming for the beast’s underside.
Brandon felt the whip gain purchase between two of the rock strands that made up the beast’s mane, flaring it out.
"Fuck, I wish this was a sword," Brandon muttered, realizing that while the whip was cool, it wasn't very practical. It was useful in some situations, but not this one.
The beast roared in what Brandon hoped was pain, then stomped its front leg, closest to the projection. A stone shard shot up from the ground, ripping through the projection and destroying it instantly. The beast then turned its unblinking gaze back to Brandon.
“Don’t let it charge you!” Brandon heard the man on the ground yell, just as the beast crouched low, clearly preparing to launch itself.
The beast shot forward with a speed that Brandon would have thought impossible for something its size. He barely managed to leap out of the way, narrowly avoiding the destruction that rained down behind it. Every step it took sent tremors through the ground, with shards of stone flying out in all directions and shockwaves disturbing the dirt. Brandon coughed as he inhaled a cloud of dust.
The beast prepared to charge again, and once again, Brandon barely got out of the way. This time, though, he struck out with his whip, wrapping it around the beast’s front left leg. The sudden pull caused the creature to topple, sliding headfirst into the cave wall with a deafening crash.
The impact caused Brandon's heart to skip a beat as he watched the entire cave shake. He feared this might be the thing that would cause the cave to collapse on him and everyone else inside. It didn’t, which only led Brandon to think that some magic bullshit was at play.
He watched the beast carefully as it struggled to stand. “Maybe I finally got lucky for once?” he questioned aloud, quickly closing the distance between himself and the Lithalion, almost tripping twice in the divots the creature had left behind as it ran.
“No!” the man yelled, but it was too late. As Brandon got close, the beast turned unnaturally fast, swiping at him. The attack instantly shattered his shield, sending him flying backward and crashing into the wall opposite.
Brandon looked down and saw blood seeping from his stomach where the beast's claws had torn him open. He fumbled for his last Rockroot Regeneration sap, applying it to the wound. He watched in fascination as it began to heal, still not used to the strange sensation of his body repairing itself.
Annoyed, he looked down at his tunic. “Man, this was magic too,” he complained, seeing that it was torn to shreds, along with his stomach. But as he felt a draw on his mana, he watched in awe as his tunic repaired itself before his eyes.
"Okay, that's cool," he murmured, his eyes wide.
Remembering he was actually in a fight, Brandon's head snapped up to see the creature back on its feet. He quickly stood, reconjuring his shield, though this time he had an idea.
Picking up a small rock, Brandon held it in his hand as he watched the Lithalion crouch low, preparing for another charge. He braced himself to meet it head-on.
The beast leaped forward, charging at him with terrifying speed. Brandon waited until the last possible moment, infusing the rock with flame before leaping to the side. The Lithalion tried to snap at him as it passed, but Brandon threw the flaming rock directly into its mouth. The speed of the beast forced the small rock deep into the back of its throat, causing it to swallow involuntarily.
The Lithalion let out a blood-curdling cry of agony as the flames burned its insides. It crashed into the far side of the cave, its tail ripping through the stone wall in a frenzy.
Seeing his opportunity, Brandon charged forward, his whip back in hand and rigid as a lance. He infused it with fire and thrust it into the Lithalion's face, driving it deep into its eye socket. The beast's cries of agony were quickly replaced by the acrid scent of burning flesh.
Breathing heavily, Brandon fell backward onto the ground. "Holy fucking shit, I actually killed it," he exclaimed, excitement mingling with the fear that was rapidly dissipating. He looked back at the beast once more, taking in the sight of his kill.
Then, he received what was quickly becoming his favorite screen of all:
You have slain Lithalion, Level 10.
Congratulations, experience gained.
Would you like to claim your bounty? Yes or No
Brandon mentally assented and watched as the creature burst into flame, with no heat to it, quickly disintegrating its body. He looked at the notification that appeared:
"You have obtained: 1 Lithalion Obsidian Eye, 1 Lithalion Mane Gem, 25 Gold Coins, 15 Silver Coins."
He quickly pushed the rewards out of his mind, having no clue what they did, and walked over to the figure still lying on the ground.
"Can you move?" he asked.
To his surprise, the man on the ground looked completely fine.
"I can now," he replied. "The creature was using its magic to keep me from being able to do anything. I'm surprised you didn't notice the rock covering that was around me before."
Brandon shook his head. "I was more focused on the big thing trying to kill me, if I'm being honest."
He extended his hand. "My name's Brandon."
The man took his hand and shook it. "I'm Ishtan. Thanks for saving my ass. Now, can we get out of here? This place gives me the creeps."
Nodding, Brandon turned toward the exit as Ishtan glanced back toward where the creature had fallen.
"Did you loot him, by the way?" Ishtan asked. "Rare power to loot enemies," he added, an inquisitive tone in his voice.
"Is it? I thought everyone would be able to do it," Brandon responded, a little uncomfortable. I thought Khaross just said it was the money part that others couldn't do, he thought to himself.
He pulled out his talisman to provide some light, and they slowly made their way out of the cave, Brandon still feeling some residual pain from having his guts ripped in half.