A short alert popped up before the system went silent.
“Chosen? Who chose this? I sure as hell didn’t. Damn it all.” Corvin shouted, then immediately realized shouting was probably a terrible idea. He ducked behind a nearby tree, heart pounding.
Okay, she said, I need to get a Class, whatever that is, and finish the tutorial. How hard can it be? Corvin tried to console himself.
Oh, wait… damn it. I never asked how to level up or how to get a class. He facepalmed.
Okay, let’s survive the first day first. Shelter and food should be my priority for now. He carefully scanned the area, making sure that the humongous monsters were gone, and slowly walked towards the opposite direction of the big snake and the flock of dragons.
Half an hour later, he stumbled into a rocky stretch. There could be a cave here, or at least a hole to hide in. He pressed on until he spotted a fresh trail of something that had slithered through not long ago.
This is bad. Who knows what kind of monster left that? Sweat prickled his palms as he veered onto another path.
The trail narrowed until jagged walls loomed on either side, creating a human-sized crevice. He squeezed his bulky frame through a tight crevice and froze. On the other side lay a small lake, flanked by two trees, heavy with bright red apples. Score! He grinned and crept toward the water, scanning for danger.
He crouched and took a sip. The crystal-clear water was crisp and refreshing, sending a thrill through his stressed body. Rising, he reached for an apple when a piercing screech split the air and made goosebumps scatter over his whole body.
A creature descended from above: avian, sleek black legs, wing-like arms, and a feathered female torso. Its head was that of a beautiful woman, which would make any man fall, well, at least until it screeched again, revealing razor-sharp teeth glinting in the sunlight. A massive feathery tail whipped aggressively behind it.
“Ah fuck me, a damn Harpy!” Corvin paled. He had long ago experienced a nest of Harpies in one of their previous raids. It took the whole party to kill three of them, and now he was alone and powerless against what looked like at least a high-level Harpy.
As dread sank in, his Appraisal flickered to life:
[Warrior Harpy Lv. 73] [HP: 5479/5479] [MP: 400/400]
“Well, fuck this. So long!” Corvin yelled, sucked in a deep breath, and dove into the lake, just as the Harpy’s talons sliced through the air where he’d stood.
Corvin kicked hard, plunging toward the lake’s bottom as the surface erupted in chaos. The Harpy slashed at the water, sending blades of wind slicing deep into the lake, churning it like a storm-covered sea.
Think, Corvin, think! What’s it gonna be, choke down here or get carved up there? Pick one, you bastard! Even in the depths of despair, his twisted sense of humor refused to die.
He darted erratically along the lakebed, somehow dodging the deadly currents and sharp blades. Then, CRACK! A stray wind blade slammed into the bedrock, carving open a narrow crevice that bled into a hidden stream. Water gushed through the gap, feeding the lake and revealing a dark watery path.
Shit. That’s my ticket out. But I’m almost out of air… His lungs screamed for oxygen. No time to go up. Screw it. He bit his lip and shoved himself into the crevice, thrashing forward with everything he had.
*** Skill Unlocked: [Novice Swimming Lv. 1] ***
Oh, thank you. You’re so helpful… He scoffed inwardly as his lungs burned hotter and his vision blurred while he somehow squeezed himself through the tunnel.
The faster he swam, the more his lungs cried out.
Stay awake. Don’t you dare black out on me. He kicked like a madman.
*** Skill Level Up: [Novice Swimming Lv. 3] ***
*** Skill Unlocked: [Iron Lungs (Active) Lv. 1] ***
Shit keeps popping up, it’s scaring the living shit out of me. The glowing screens were the only light in the suffocating tunnel.
Then, something changed. His strokes grew stronger, faster. Wait… Is it helping me? That last one said “Active.” Can I trigger it like Appraisal?
Then new notifications flickered with a chime:
[HP:249/250]
[HP:248/250]
[HP:247/250]
His health was going down a point every few seconds.
What the hell? Why is my health dropping? I’ll die if it hits 0, right? Shit, shit. Panic clawed at him.
Oh no… I’m drowning. His lungs were molten fire by now. Fuck it. Iron Lungs! He screamed in his mind, the only thing he had left in this liquid darkness that devoured all his senses.
And then, miracle. His mind cleared. His chest expanded. Air flooded his lungs like magic.
Holy shit. This is insane. Swim. Swim now!
He exploded forward, tearing through the water like a torpedo. No idea how long the skill would last, and zero interest in finding out.
Minutes blurred into agony. Finally, the tunnel spat him into a cavern. His skill had faded long ago. He clawed onto the rocky shore, collapsing in a heap, sucking in greedy gulps of air. His body felt reborn, like someone had cast a healing spell.
“That… was a close call,” he whispered hoarsely. Then, with trembling lips, he added, “Let’s check what changed. Status.”
[STATUS]
Name: Corvin Moraine Valtieri [No title equipped]
Level: 1
Experience toward the next level: 0%
Class: None
Title: The Last Crow | First User
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Age: 16
Race: 78% Human | 14% Demonic | 7% Divine | 1% Unknown
HP: 157/250 | MP: 0
Strength: 14
Agility: 8
Intelligence: 16
Vitality: 15 [+10]
Magicka: 0
Luck: 0
Skills: Passive: [Valtieri Greatsword Arts Lv. 2, Basic Swordsmanship Lv. 5, Fishing Lv. 1, Dungeoneer Lv. 5, Novice Swimming Lv. 3]
Active: [Appraisal Lv. Max, Iron Lungs Lv. 1]
Resistances: Holy Lv. 4, Darkness Lv. 6, Lightning Lv. 3, Poison Lv. 4, Fire Lv. 2
Okay… so the things I do turn into skills. Some are passive, some active. And if I keep using them, they level up. Interesting. Corvin rubbed his chin, still catching his breath. Oh, nice, Appraisal’s already maxed. Let’s see what Iron Lungs actually does.
“Appraise!” he whispered, focusing on the skill.
Skill: [Iron Lungs (Active)]
When activated, fills the user’s lungs with air and allows underwater breathing for a short duration.
Duration: 30 seconds
Cooldown: 4 minutes
Mana Cost: 0
“Well… this info would’ve been useful earlier,” he muttered, chuckling like a lunatic. “At least now I know skills have cooldowns. But my damn HP isn’t going up. So, my vitality’s spent, huh? If only I had a healer… or a potion.” He exhaled sharply and sat up.
Storage. He thought as a screen popped up, now holding a few more things than the last time.
[Iron Blade (Junk)]
[Core of a Guardian Golem (Unique)]
“What do you mean, junk, you bastard? This blade’s my precious companion! We killed plenty of lesser monsters together!” Corvin barked, standing up, pulling out the large iron blade.
That core could get me a fortune if I ever survive this. I will save it for now…
He gripped his blade firmly, resting it over his right shoulder as he trudged deeper into the cave. Darkness swallowed him whole, and the eerie silence made it oh so suffocating.
***
The deeper he went, the darker the cave became, or at least that’s what it felt like. Slowly, he was getting lost in its depths, not sure where he was or where he was going, and the continuous silence did not help whatsoever.
Think, Corvin. Think. Then, a random idea hit him. He swung his sword against the walls and floor. The metal rang out, sounds echoing through the cavern. Slowly, the sounds guided him as he kept hitting the dark walls, following what he hoped was a straight path. His eyes gradually adjusted to the gloom, and his ears tuned to the echoes, guiding him forward.
*** Skill Unlocked: [Night Vision Lv. 1.] ***
*** Skill Unlocked: [Echolocation (Active) Lv. 1.] ***
“Nice! Just as expected!” He grinned. “Didn’t expect an active skill though.”
“Appraise!”
Skill: [Night Vision]
Adapts eyesight to dark environments. Higher levels improve vision clarity.
Skill: [Echolocation (Active)]
When activated, it sends sound ripples that bounce off surfaces and return data to the user, mapping the area.
Duration: 25 seconds
Cooldown: 3 minutes
MP Cost: 0
Okay, not bad. Also, this MP 0 keeps repeating. Wait, if I get a skill that needs MP, I won’t be able to use it, right? He sighed... I have no damn Magicka… Better to find a way to level up fast.
“Echolocation!” He whispered as the sound waves rippled outward and traveled through the area, painting a rough mental map.
He saw that the cave split forward into two tunnels, but he could not see any further from here. At least I have something now. He took a deep breath, held his blade firm, and followed the path until he reached the crossing.
He used Echolocation again, only to realize that the sound waves could not travel so far to see what was at the end of each tunnel. Screw it. He picked the left tunnel and pressed on.
***
At the end of the tunnel, Corvin stumbled upon a pile of small bones, which looked like either goblins or small humans, and he hoped it was the goblins. Damn green demons…
*** Skill Level Up: [Night Vision Lv. 3] ***
As the chime faded, his vision sharpened, and the surroundings grew clearer. The bones now clearly visible were definitely those of the goblins, as he recognized the damn monster's skull shape.
Great. Whatever eats goblins is probably close. Time to tread carefully.
He was about to trigger Echolocation when distant battle cries echoed from the other tunnel.
*** Skill Unlocked: [Enhanced Hearing Lv. 1] ***
Yeah, yeah. More ringing. Thanks. He perked his ears and activated Echolocation. A blurry image formed in his mind: a massive snake locked in combat with two hulking goblins.
Wait… Hobgoblins? Damn. Never seen one. They’re supposed to be as strong as Rare Icon holders.
I'd better go check that out; maybe I can gain something from it. Going back now makes no sense… He thought that maybe if the two forces could kill each other, he could steal all the loot.
His heart raced at the thought of the possibilities.
As he crept forward and used echolocation whenever it was ready, he slowly approached the location of the fight. The tunnel ended with a steep slope and rose again towards what looked like an exit. Even glancing at the white dot of light burned his eyes. I am now a damn mole monster. I will live in these tunnels forever, afraid of light. Yes, that is what I have decided. He chuckled to himself. As he observed the fight at the lowest, most spacious part of the slope.
A massive black snake coiled around a dead goblin, which appeared to be her lunch of the day. Cannot say I have anything against the snake. Corvin smirked.
The two hobgoblins each held wooden, simple iron spears as they stabbed at the monstrous snake. Each stab was followed by a quick dash; the two danced, damaging the snake while avoiding the snake's tail and body attacks.
Look at them move. They’d kill me in a second. He observed as he appraised their status, three names appearing, one in deep red color and two in dark green.
[Cave Boa (Night Lord) Lv. 213] [HP: 40,750/45,669] [MP:1000/1600]
[Hobgoblin Spearman Lv. 134] [HP: 16,657/18,740] [MP:500/700]
[Hobgoblin Spearman Lv. 156] [HP: 20,174/24,386] [MP:740/970]
It seemed that the darker the color, the stronger the monster.
Holy shit, look at those levels. That snake is crazy strong, and look at the two, they're still throwing a good fight. Corvin watched his heart racing; the possibility of a lower-level monster fighting such a high-level one was like a thread of hope in this madness. Maybe, just maybe, he could do so as well.
As he hoped for a better tomorrow, two Hobgoblins started using what looked like skills. Their spears started shining green light, and their legs bulged up with muscles and veins as they grew quicker.
Seeing the change in her enemies, the Boa constricted and jumped into the air, then hissed a beam of dark energy which razed the ground. The Hobgoblins blurred faster, weaving between deadly beams. It would seem that they were faster than the snake’s deadly attacks.
As the snake's attack failed and it started falling, it hissed with rage while the two stabbed upward in unison, sending the beams of dark green energy and piercing her sturdy scales, leaving two small gaping wounds across her body.
Boa, seeing her body wounded, started thrashing around and releasing deep black mist, which covered the whole makeshift arena.
Two Hobgoblins screamed as their eyes turned bloodshot. They started spinning their spears as fast as they could, creating gusts of wind which dispersed the mist somewhat, but too late. Black veins had already slithered all over their green bodies.
Seeing its enemies numbered days, the Boa hissed as if in happiness just before the two screeched and stabbed again at the snake, piercing her already damaged scales once more before they fell on their knees, frothing from their mouths as blood dripped from their orifices.
Corvin gasped. Holy shit. That was insane.
*** Skill Unlocked: [Sneaking Lv. 1] ***
Shhh, not now, you bastard. He feared that the serpent could hear the system's chimes.
He peeked again. The Boa lay barely moving, HP bar glowing green as it plummeted:
[Cave Boa (Night Lord) Lv. 213] [HP: 24,782/45,669]
The longer he observed, the faster her HP dropped. Poison! Those spears had poison! Joy surged through him. If it drops to single digits, I’ll finish it off. Killing this thing should definitely give me some levels, maybe 100 levels, or maybe even 200!
Hahaha, I’ve struck it rich this time. Who said that my Luck is shit just because it's 0? He grinned like a madman.
Then, after a few more minutes, the Boa’s HP dropped from thousands to the low hundreds.
“Sorry, big snake. But since you’re dying anyway… help me level up...” He muttered, checked the air with Appraisal for any poison, and leapt.
Blade in hand, he swung mid-fall, driving it into the Boa’s gaping wound. Steel stabbed deep, then snapped in two as the HP bar hit zero.
Corvin landed beside the corpse, laughing like a victor. “Haha! Here come my levels!”
Then, the sweetest chime in the world rang.
[Damage done in battle: 0.1%]
[Experience gain reduced do to the user’s constitution]
[Experience gained: 200]
[Level up!]
[You have gained your first level! Congratulations!]
Corvin froze. “Oh, you bastard. You must be fucking kidding me!”
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