Chương 15: Important Lesson

I crash into the clearing and quickly take account of the scene. There is a ridiculously large elk with a deep black hide. Its antlers are pulsing with mana, too much of it. [Lesser Shadeling Elk - Lvl 12] Its level is the same as the falcon, but that doesn't mean it is of similar strength. Levels aren't absolute measurements of power, more like general classifications. But it doesn't matter how strong it is, because about a meter in front of it is a young boy. His hair is blonde, I think.

It's hard to tell, as his head is bleeding quite profusely. Nearby I see the body of an older man, the father most likely. The body is almost completely bisected, and there is no way one could live through such a wound. I launch myself towards the elk and tackle it. The thing is heavy, far more so than myself, so I only push it to the side. But it is enough, as the attack it was charging misses the boy and strikes a nearby tree, incinerating it in a blaze of dark flame. Note to self: don't get hit with that attack.

The elk realizes its attack missed, and it is pissed. I roll to the side, barely dodging its antlers that tried to bisect me. Getting back on my feet, I take a few steps back, but the elk insists on closing the distance. I duck under one of its strikes, marveling at how easy it is to move now. My hammer goes right for its knee and hits with a satisfying crack. The elk roars out in pain and kicks around randomly. Unfortunately for me, one of the hits nails my gut.

My armor tries to stop the force, but it is just a bit of leather. Several ribs crack as I go flying backwards into a tree. A wave of concern washes over me from Luma, who is hiding in a bush nearby. Poor Luma, It must suck to just sit and watch. Guess I better wrap this one up quickly. I lock eyes with the elk and realize that is easier said than done. However, I have been in far worse situations before. My body may be old physically, but I've got this weird system on my side now.

My legs tremble as I steady myself on my feet. I leap forward towards the elk. Just as it is about to take a bite out of me, I drop into a slide and go right between its forelegs. Now under the beast, I muster as much stamina as I can and use the technique I got earlier.

"<Anvil Strike>" I say, and revel in the power that flows through my hammer. Techniques are quite powerful, if you can find the right time to use them. With my knowledge of thousands of strikes at the anvil, my hammer smashes into the side of the elk. Many of its bones audibly break, no doubt causing all sorts of internal havoc in the process. It doesn't die yet though. While it is staggered, I crawl out from underneath it and jump to my feet. Pure adrenaline is the only thing keeping me going right now.

My stamina is at a quarter, so this fight needs to end now. Given the state of the elk, I presume it too must be low on resources. Blood leaks out of its side and I can see several bones poking out. Nevertheless, it remains steady on its legs and glares at me with the rage only seen in wild beasts that are near death. The elk charges forwards and I brace myself.

"<Ember Wall>" A wall of fire erupts in front of the elk, stopping it in its tracks. Moments later, its death is signaled with a ding. Not paying attention to the notifications, I look towards the boy who casted the spell. He is leaning up against a nearby tree with his staff in hand. A red crystal at the tip still shimmers with mana, before fading away. I catch a glimpse of his smile before he starts to fade as well. I rush over to his side and pull out a health potion.

Tilting the bottle back, I carefully pour it into his mouth and encourage him to swallow. The vital energy surges through him and I sigh in relief. I am no doctor, but I think he will be okay. The injuries on his body don't seem too severe, and I can already see the wound on his head start to fix itself up. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. However, the pain in my own body makes me aware that I am not doing so good either.

So I down a health potion for myself and then lean against a nearby tree.

"Yip!" Luma says and then jumps out of a bush and right into my lap. She nuzzles my hand and sniffs me all over. Naturally, I give her a few headscritches, as one does to cute fox spirits. Now that I am relatively settled, I check out the notifications I got from slaying the elk.

'Ding', You have slain [Lesser Shadeling Elk - Lvl 12]. Experience split amongst group.

'Ding', Magic Smith has advanced to level 9. Stat points distributed.

'Ding', Magic Smith has advanced to level 10. Stat points distributed.

'Ding', Luma has advanced to level 6. Stat points distributed. Darn, no fancy skills or anything. Gaining skills is quite weird, at times you can just get them for doing random things. But most of them come from leveling up classes, typically at five-level increments. Hence how I got the Form Spirit Contract skill. Perhaps since I started with so many Magic Smith skills, I won't get any more until later? That could make sense, I guess. Skills, techniques, spells, titles, traits…

so much stuff to learn about in this new world. I know that I haven't even scratched the surface yet. Speaking of techniques, I kinda just acted on instinct back there. Calder talked about techniques and spells a bit, but he kinda glossed over it saying it would come naturally. To sum it up, it seems like they are simply shorthand ways of doing things. My Anvil Strike for instance is just an attack I can do.

But given my extensive knowledge of hammering an anvil, a technique was created that allows me to use that knowledge in an attack, and even gives it a power boost. Neat.

"Yip!" Luma pokes my hand with her nose and flicks her ears towards the boy as he starts to stir. I too am mostly healed, thanks in part to Luma's help of course. A shudder goes through the boy and his eyes open. His eyes dart around, looking for danger. Heh, I've been there before, waking up in strange places is always disorienting.

"The monster is dead. We are safe, relatively speaking." I say, and the boy calms down as he notices my presence. Not entirely though, his hand moves to rest on his staff. Guess he was taught well not to trust random strange men in forests."Name's Orn, by the way."

"Vik." He offers and then his attention focuses on the body in the clearing. His jaw clenches, and I can tell he is trying to act brave.

"Father?" I probe.

"Uncle." Vik replies and then I realize that I never checked Vik's level, and do so. [Human Mage - Lvl 16] Damnit. Vik is higher level than me, I guess that proves my theory right. This kid can't be older than twenty.

"We should get moving soon, the mana signature is bound to attract more monsters." Vik stands up slowly, leaning on his staff for support. He points it towards his uncle's corpse and hesitates for a moment. I watch as emotions flash across his face, but then he makes up his mind and casts the spell.

"<Flame>" The corpse bursts into flames and is quickly burnt to ashes in the way only fire magic can do. Vik makes some sort of gesture with his free hand and then turns to me. He drops his head into a slight bow.

"Forgive my rudeness. Thank you for saving me, kind sir." He says far too politely. This kid is obviously used to death, to just shrug it off like that. This world seems very dangerous, so I bet that is far too normal. The kid went on his first hunt wanting to learn some lessons. Unfortunately, he had to learn the most important one of all first. I stand up and place a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"Ah it was nothing. That spell of yours probably saved me too. So let's call it even?" Vik nods and then heads over to where the elk died. He picks up two items from the ground. He hands me one of them, an antler which I instantly identify. Antlers of Shadeling Elk (Uncommon) Antlers produced by the slaying of a shadeling elk. They have various applications, most notably as equipment ingredients. The energy within them is of a dark affinity. I take the antlers, I may try to be kind and such.

But I am not fool enough to pass up the best drop from the monster. I did do most of the work killing it, after all.

"So, Orn." Vik says after I am done inspecting the antlers.

"You up for some more hunting? I wouldn't want to go back home without something to show for the cost. We seem to be around the same level too…" He reaches out his hand. I smile and reach out to shake his hand.

"Sure, two brains are better than one, right? You are a bit banged up too, I wouldn't just leave you out here. I was hoping to push a bit farther, too." Vik sighs in relief. He must've been worried about just that. The kid seems tough, but I don't like the chances of a lone injured mage out here. Let alone one that lacks experience and is clearly shaken – even if trying to hide that last part. Also, I think having a temporary partymate might be useful. The kid may be young, but he is higher level…

and probably knows a whole lot of stuff I don't. Like remembering to loot the monsters, which I realize I forgot to do with the falcon earlier. Calder did say it was best to hunt alone at first. But with the given circumstances, I might as well team up with Vik. Plus, mages are fucking cool. I wonder if he can teach me magic, or how the whole magic thing works.

"Yip!" Luma says from my hood. It would seem that she agrees with my thoughts – which I am now convinced she can read somehow. With all of that settled, the two of us promptly sit down on the floor and begin Meditating. One can't fight without resources, after all.