Waking up the next morning, Scott felt great. These beds were a godsend; they were comfy, and the extra regeneration did wonders for his exhausted body. Using beast mode

  **

  **Find what beast lies on top of Ice drake Mountain**

  **Figure out what happened to Atlar Sharptooth**

  Each of them woke and began performing their morning duties, along with a few crafts, ate breakfast, and went out in search of Peter.

  The storm had subsided, but they knew that Peter could be dead, especially after the blizzard they had. The sun was incredibly bright outside, reflecting off the fresh powder covering the mountainside. They knew to be careful now that they understood an avalanche could happen at any time. So they tread carefully through the thick snow, which was already above their knees. Rick, being a dark elf and so incredibly light, was able to walk on top of the snow. He pulled out some goggles to help him see in the blinding brightness, something he'd found while hunting prior to their mountain adventure in the dark forest hunts.

  Minutes turned to hours, and they found no sign of life besides another Ice Elemental

  "Another core for the bags!” Scott said happily. “Have you seen anything yet, guys? Tracks? Sign of life?"

  "Nope," replied David.

  "I can't find anything out here in this snow. It's a pain," Osia grumbled.

  "We should head back and search later," Tomas suggested.

  "Sounds like a plan, Stan," Rick said jokingly.

  They made their way back to the camp, but noticed something odd. Scott knew the teepee was tied off before they left; they all knew with the random snowstorms, they didn't want to lose any gear. But the flap was open nonetheless. So they cautiously entered their teepee with their weapons drawn. Once inside, it looked like things had been moved, and a hooded figure sat on the edge of a bed.

  “Around the fire 3 by 3. The sacred number, blessed thee be. Beneath the shining full Moon light, across the bogs through fog choked night. Blood and bones into the pot; along with pity, waste and rot. Stir and simmer oh so slow, focus on despair, calamity and woe. Darkness whispers in the gloom, hinting at impending doom. Where to run? Nowhere to go. Death be quick or Death be slow.” The hooded figure said, a chilling glee in his voice. "Yes, finally more to play with."

  The hooded figure leaped forward with daggers in hand. Instantly, Scott transformed and grabbed both of the attacker's arms, holding him up with his arms outstretched. Face to face, Scott spoke, "Anthony?"

  The hooded figure kicked off, twisting loose into a flip, and landed on a bed where he once sat. "I am, but I don't know who you are," he said in a creepy tone.

  "Dude, I'm Scott, you idiot. Pull yourself together!" Scott explained.

  "Scott? Scott? I do remember a Scott before the system! If you're Scott, what's my favorite game to play?" Anthony asked.

  "That's easy.” Scott explained. “If you're talking video games, it's Skyrim, and RPGs it would be Pathfinder. Besides that you used to have a shit ton of cats that roamed the outside of your house, and you owned multiple small dogs. Your son, last I knew, was going into the military, and the ex-wife, we won't get into that."

  “Scott, it really is you. I thought I'd never find you guys.” Anthony said.

  “Hello Anthony.” David said, walking past Scott drinking out of his stein.

  “David is that you?” Anthony said with glee. “And I thought you were going to be my next victims.”

  “Hey, you didn't loot the teepee did you?” Scott inquired.

  “Silly ole me? I wouldn't do that…” Anthony said slowly, taking items out of his bags and setting them on the bed.

  Anthony pulled his hood down, revealing his face the same old Anthony they used to know but with a twist. With peppered hair, skinny complexion, and standing at 5 foot 6 inches tall his nails and nose are a bit longer, with pink eyes.

  “Let's get you up to speed.” Scott explained.

  They talked for a little while about everything that has gone on since the start of the system and the beginning of the tutorial. From what they gathered Anthony was betrayed by his crew that he began with and he slaughtered all of them going a bit manic for blood. Every person he came across since was slaughtered without remorse after that due to the lack of trust in humanity, until he found the crew and came back to his senses.

  After lunch, they checked the map. (Yes, a map—something they were now working on to ensure they didn't keep searching the same old places.) They figured Peter had to be directly down the mountain from them, where they had initially gone straight down and found nothing. The likelihood of him surviving that avalanche was becoming very slim. So far, this side of the mountain was massive, with snow covering almost everywhere. Scott was sure there were some caves or caverns he could be in, but until they saw them, Peter was on his own, and they would keep searching.

  A few days went by while searching for Peter and the crew ultimately decided to stop the search. They found no clues or tracks of any kind besides animals and their own tracks. The decision came to a conclusion once a few more avalanches were caused from random encounters with, you guessed it, more Ice Elementals

  So what did they do next? Continued further up the mountain. The higher they went, the colder it got. Scott was even having trouble with the cold himself and the crew couldn't stand the cold any longer. That's when the crew decided to take a few days off to set up camp and have Scott and David teach the group how to control their mana better.

  The teaching ended up being a success, and they all began to learn some new tricks and tips on how to use mana. One trick in particular was the infamous mana shieldIce Elementals

  Most of the time, Scott took that position because he could handle the cold better. As soon as George got used to his mana, he was able to create a shield and cover himself in his magical fire. That's when he took over the assault job, until there were multiples. Then, all of it got a bit dicey and required the whole group working together.

  The first time they took on two elementals, everything went off without a hitch. The next time they found multiples, there were three on a cliff blocking the path up. Unless they wanted to free climb on ice walls (and Scott, for one, wasn't a very experienced climber) or track back a few days to find another path, they were stuck. They discussed what would be best and decided it would be in their best interest to clear the three on the cliff before moving forward.

  They had to pair up a caster with an attack class prior to the battle. Of course, David and Scott were paired together, George and Tomas, and last but not least, Rick, Anthony, and Osia were paired together. All of them decided not to use their familiars and animal companions due to the explosions that occurred during these elemental battles. No, they sat at a distance to back them up or warn them if anything was sneaking up behind them.

  The battle lasted about three minutes. During that encounter, David and Scott were holding their own against their elemental, and Tomas's group had been doing well with theirs.

  But Osia’s group had a hard time as both Rick and Anthony had been severely damaged while in their bubble.

  An explosion ripped through David and Scott's bubble caused by the elemental, but they successfully confined the blast within their mana bubble, enforcing it together. "Good, one down, two to go."

  Tomas's Ice Elemental was next to blow, and it really . The explosion shattered their mana shield, though it wasn't as harsh as it could have been since the shield absorbed most of the force. The blast nearly knocked Osia off the mountain cliff who stood near Tomas, but she luckily only fell to the ground at her feet. The bad part was that Osias’ shield went down as she lost her concentration just as Rick and Anthony finished off the last elemental.

  Their mana control was better than before, but not good enough to quickly contain the blast with their mana bubbles. The resulting explosion was so massive it threw Osias’ group off the cliff, while the rest of them used their mana shields to block the incoming shockwave and ice shards. From what Scott could tell, looking through the snow with his infrared vision, none of the three were moving, meaning they were either knocked unconscious or dying during their freefall.

  Scott looked at David and yelled, "I'll grab Anthony, you try and grab the rest! Tomas and George, get to the wagon as fast as you can and take cover!"

  David instantly transformed into a bird and took off.

  Both David and Scott reacted faster than normal, almost letting their instincts take over as they moved at top speed to reach the downed group. Scott used his boosting skills, running faster than usual because the thick snow had been cleared by the elemental's blast, allowing his boots to finally grip the ground. Since he knew he was faster than David now, Scott went for Anthony on the opposite side of the cliff. He felt like the Scarlet Speedster, running past David, who almost seemed to be flying in place.

  Once he reached the edge, Scott didn't break momentum but leaped off into a free dive towards Anthony's unconscious, falling body. It was like he was diving into a pool, only instead of water, it was a hundred foot drop off the side of a cliff—like falling from a ten-story building into a skydive.

  A few stories or so down, and Scott knew this was going to hurt if not be fatal if he hit the ground, even with all the snow to somewhat cushion his fall. While in mid-air, he activated his blade to the speed of light appearing next to the free-falling, unconscious Anthony. Once he was within reach Scott wrapped both arms around Anthony's waist now plummeting faster towards the ground. That's when he got this grand idea and decided to try something he'd always wanted to try. “ Using his mana, he formed what looked like a red platform pretty far below them. He also formed it at an angle so he could jump off of it to reposition himself towards the mountainside.

  They fell about three stories before Scott could maneuver them to land on a free-floating block resembling a brick Mario's bros. Upon landing, Scott realized it was too small for both feet. To stop their descent, he landed on one foot, instantly breaking it. Despite the pain, he leaped towards the mountain as the block vanished. The next challenge was gripping the icy rocks with his claws. They slid thirty feet until he finally secured a small ledge, dislocating his shoulder due to Anthony's weight. Ignoring the pain, Scott held on. Moments later, a griffin-like creature with Osia and Rick in its talons flew past, making Scott wonder if David had transformed or if they were in serious danger with a new combatant.

  "Hang on, buddy!" David yelled as he flew by.

  "I am trying!" Scott said with a disgruntled voice.

  Good, it was him, and boy, was Scott glad because he couldn't deal with another monster in his condition. What happened next was a disaster. The mountain began shaking, and Scott knew an avalanche was coming. With how big the previous blast was, it was inevitable. So he pulled Anthony close and held on with all his strength. Looking up was the last thing he wanted to see. There was nothing blocking them from the large cloud of snow rushing down.

  "Well, buddy, it was good knowing you," Scott said to the unconscious Anthony.

  Six adventurers stood in the middle of a crypt, surrounded by Undead KnightsGriffin

  The group consisted of two teenage wood elves, one female high elf, one female fairy, and two young boys. Each played their part. Cat hovered in the air, channeling a constant healing spell that slowly destroyed any undead stepping into its circle. Hunter

  Christyowlbear formAnn Victor

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Every time the group believed they were making headway, the bones would reanimate and come back for them. After fighting for an hour, Cat finally saw the cause of their problems: a gnome necromancer

  "Hunter and Christy, I need you to get into that small hole and take care of the caster up there while we deal with the lot down here," Cat commanded.

  "Right," Hunter and Christy said in unison.

  Hunter leaped up, grabbing hold of the opening and peering into the small tunnel above. He saw the gnome necromancer chanting an incantation in an unknown language. Before the gnome could finish, Christy, having transformed into a small bird, flew in at top speed, then shifted into a large python mid-air. She slammed into the gnome like a ton of bricks, interrupting his spell. This gave Hunter the perfect opportunity to pull himself through the hole and join his sister against the necromancer in the cramped four foot by three foot tunnel dug out above the arena.

  Even in the near darkness, it was enough for the two of them to see the bald-headed, big-nosed gnome, wearing a black and gold robe, getting up in front of them.

  "Don't let him get up, take out his legs!" Hunter yelled.

  Hunter launched one of his discs towards the gnome's head, distracting him and forcing him to duck. Christy began to wrap herself around the gnome's legs, moving up slowly while keeping tension to keep the necromancer from moving. Another disc flew down the small tunnel, hitting the bald gnome on the top of his head with a blast, knocking the wicked necromancer off his feet. Bones began to crack as Christy continued to wrap and tighten her body around his legs. The necromancer screamed in pain and began to cast a spell, but before that happened, Christy transformed into her wood elf form and pulled out a handful of boom berries

  Hunter saw what was happening and instantly knew there was going to be a big boom. He spun around and dropped down through the tunnel's entrance, landing next to Cat.

  "Where's your sister?" Cat asked in a worried tone.

  "Uh, she'll be here in a second," Hunter replied, "But we should probably get moving."

  Christy transformed once more, but this time into the infamous murder rabbit

  After all the stone fell and the dust settled, the skeletons in the crypt collapsed to the ground, shattering into countless pieces.

  Silence filled the crypt, an almost eerie ringing echoing in each of the survivors' ears.

  "Is everyone okay?" Ann asked, simultaneously checking her body for wounds.

  The avalanche bore down with terrifying speed, leaving Scott little time to react. In a desperate gamble, he launched himself off the cliff face with his good foot still holding onto Anthony, rocketing back into freefall. He couldn't decide what was worse: plummeting to their death or being crushed and suffocated by the onrushing snow.

  Either way, the situation he found himself in was a life or death situation. Scott leaped, clutching Anthony, hoping for a miracle. His plan was to land on David's owl-lion form, but it was clear that wasn't going to happen as they plunged towards certain doom. Panic began to set in as this could be it. He didn't want to die, and he was sure Anthony didn't either. Well eighty percent sure, well maybe fifty percent either way Scott wasn't going to let that happen at least one of them will live. “ ” Scott planned. “” Just before they hit the ground, Scott squeezed his eyes shut and used as much mana as he could to create a shield. Just before he was about to hit the ground, and throw Anthony up into the air a voice said “Stop.”

  Nothing. No thud, no pain, literally nothing happened. He could still hear the snow moving below them. But still he felt nothing. “” Scott spoke before he opened his eyes, finding himself miraculously hovering above the churning snow of the avalanche. A new system alert popped up, a welcome distraction from the chaotic white mass swirling just beneath him.

  

  

  

  [Gravity Manipulation (Self)]-

  Upon using gravity on yourself, this skill grants the user the ability to manipulate your gravitational pull. This manipulation can manifest in a variety of ways, including increasing or decreasing your own effective weight, altering the direction of your gravitational attraction, or even nullifying its gravitational influence entirely. The extent and precision of this manipulation may depend on the user's skill level, the size and mass of your body, and potentially other factors such as the composition of the object or the surrounding environment.

  "That's pretty cool, it makes me think of mutants of the X-Men kind," Scott mused. "I should probably work on learning how to control it more so I can use the skill during battle. Though I'm not sure how to get down from here anyway." He reread the skill description. "Did it say mastering one's skill could lead to being able to manipulate a planet? That would be completely insane. Even if that was possible, why would I do something that could possibly destroy a planet or kill a whole race? Seems like a waste to me. Also where did that voice come from? I've never heard it before and it sounded like a man speaking with authority."

  Time seemed to slow, almost to the point of standing still, as Scott felt all the snow and ice pelting him while he floated. He noticed his mana

  Once the snow settled, Scott had to figure out how to move—either float up or drop down. Right now, he felt like he was frozen in mid-air and couldn't do either yet. "" He mused trying to figure out how to work this new ability, "," He commanded and nothing happened.

  “ Okay, let's try (fly up)." He continued, nothing happened yet again. "" He thought, now flying up so fast that he could barely hold onto Anthony.

  “ He cried, flying up past the point of where he jumped off the cliff and kept going faster and faster, just about to reach the clouds. "Okay, uh I'm as heavy as a bowling ball," Scott commanded, and he started falling back down towards the ground. "." He was just about to pass the cliff again.

  "I'm at 250% of this planet's gravity." He commanded, now dropping so fast to the point he could barely see around him, but he could sense he was about to hit the ground. "" He commanded again, slowing way down just before hitting the ground. Now he was slowly moving up. finally getting the hang of it Scott lowered himself to the ground just as he hit 1 mana.

  Scott set Anthony on the ground and forced a healing potion

  "Are you okay, buddy?" Scott asked.

  "I feel like I have a hangover, almost like my head wants to explode," Anthony mumbled, bracing his head.

  "Eh, yeah, you kind of got blown off the side of the mountain," Scott replied

  “How did I not die? Or did I die and you brought me back to life?” asked Anthony

  "Yeah, a funny thing happened,” Scott said awkwardly. “I kind of leapt off the mountain after you and caught you mid air."

  "Oh great, so we're both dead," Anthony said, his voice now grim with defeat.

  Scott punched him lightly in the side of the arm. "Did that hurt?"

  "Ow, yes it did. Why did you hit me... oh, if I was dead, I probably wouldn't have felt that. Unless ghosts can feel pain or other ghosts can hurt each other," Anthony mused, already going off on a tangent.

  "Dude, look at your stats." Scott explained, knowing he had to do that a few times already to make sure he wasn't going past the no return with depleting any stat.

  "Ah, I'm very much alive!" Anthony exclaimed.

  "Yep," Scott said with a grin, pulling out a mana potion and guzzling it down, replenishing a good amount of mana. "Okay, let's go back up to the cliff."

  "How do we do that?" Anthony asked, getting back to his feet dusting the snow off himself before looking for a trail.

  "Eh, we float?" Scott said in a nervous tone, walking towards the edge of the mountain. "I kind of need you to jump up onto my back and hold onto me."

  Anthony jumped into Scott's arms, like he was Lewis being held by the super boy scout himself.

  "Like this?" Anthony said in a girlish voice, batting his eyes.

  "Eh, kind of creepy, dude, but I guess this is happening. Don't get used to this," Scott replied, and then started to float up.

  "I'm flying!" Anthony exclaimed, and then kissed Scott on the cheek.

  “What the hell man?” Scott said with a serious look, nearly letting go, “If you do that again, I'm dropping you."

  They floated up silently and awkwardly just above the cliff, and as they did, everyone started clapping and cheering. Scott used his mana to create another block behind him and pushed off to land on the cliff.

  "My hero," Anthony said yet again in a girlish voice, going for another kiss. Scott promptly dropped him to the ground with a thud, then stepped over him and walked to the wagon to sit down. The crew came over and sat beside him.

  "So, when was the wedding?" Osia asked with a grin.

  "Ha ha, very funny," Scott grumbled, annoyed. "Hey, can I get some healing when you're done with them?"

  David nodded, and once he finished, he walked over to Scott. "So, you can fly?"

  Scott explained everything that had happened in detail. Once he was fully healed and health was back to normal, then the Crew set up camp just before it started snowing again and bedded down for the night.

  Scott jumped into his bed and cuddled up next to Terran and Geist. He noticed their constant growth; Geist was proportionally much larger than Terran, and they nearly took up the entire bed, forcing Scott into a weird sleeping position. With the quiet time, everyone was either sleeping or working on projects. During his downtime, Scott checked his notifications to get some of his nighttime reading in, as he hadn't checked lately.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  “Wow, who knew that these ice elementals were good for leveling?” Scott mused, "Let's dive into the new abilities.”

  [Mana Savant(Rare)]

  With your constant use of mana you have grown stronger. Each use of your mana is now lessened by 10%, and your mana pool is improved by 10%.

  "Okay, I definitely need that for sure. I've been working hard on getting my mana under better control, and that definitely confirms it that he was moving in the right direction. But before choosing this, he decided to check and see what else was offered by the good old system.

  [Air walker (Rare)]

  Using your mana as a platform, the use of this skill will allow you to use the platforms at a lesser mana rate and allow you to what appears to look like your walking on air.

  Scott mused.

  [Health Regeneration Greater (Rare)]

  As a Slayer, you will go into battles that may leave you hurt or even on the brink of death. Using your innate magic, you can gain an edge while in battle by activating a small bit of healing regeneration +35 Hp every 10 seconds for 5 minutes a day.

  "Well, then there's this again with the healing. It's better than what it was before; giving you a little over 1000 hp back is nice and all, but I'll wait for something better."

  [Mana Shield Greater(Rare)]

  The ability to create a shield using mana is now easier and cheaper. The shield will be stronger than before and lengthened for a longer period of time.

  Scott thought

  [Mana Creation(Rare)]

  With use of your mana this ability will allow you to create weak small solid objects of your choosing. Do you want a hairbrush? You can create it. How about a bottle for potions? You can create that too. How about a knife? Yes then there is more, the possibilities are endless. This will help you in your quest for greater power.

  Scott laughed.It made him laugh a little, while everyone else gave him the stink eye during their quiet time.

  Scott was kind of at a loss on what to pick. The mana control was pretty much needed, and the ability to air walk mixed with his gravity control would be amazing. . Yeah, I know air walking is cool, but I'll stick to working on improving my stats for now."

  [Name: Scott Armidais Wheaton]

  [Race: Beastkin 20(Iota)]

  [Class: Slayer level 25] [Hero]

  Profession: Skinner 25/Leatherworker 20

  Health Points (HP): 2665/2665

  Mana Points (MP): 1250/1250

  Stamina: 3682/3682

  

  Stats-

  Strength:  368

  Agility:   458

  Vitality:   266

  Wisdom:  109

  Intelligence: 125

  Endurance: 342

  Toughness: 91

  Perception: 179

  Willpower:  61

  Skills and passive skills-

  [Bloodline:(Nature of the Beast(common)(12%)]

  [Craft[Leather Working level 20 (Primary)]

  [Craft[ Skinning level 25(Lesser)]

  [Dagger Mastery(Common)]

  [Medium armor proficient]

  [Short Sword mastery(Common)]

  [Short bow Mastery(Common)]

  [Weapons proficient all]

  Abilities-

  [Beastmode(Rare)(10%)]

  [Fangs of the Vital Beast(Legendary)]

  [Ghost skin(Rare)]

  [Gravity Manipulation (Self)]

  [Mark of Prey(Rare)]

  [Mana Savant(Rare)10% Mana Pool]

  [Surging speed(Rare)]

  Leatherworking Skills-

  [Stat increase Leatherworking(Unique)]

  [Fur Gear enhanced Cold(Rare)]

  [Skinning Enhancement (Rare)]

  [Bedroll Enhanced Healing (Unique)]

  Titles-

  [Den Mother]

  [Dungeon Lord(10%)]

  [First kill in tutorial(2%)]

  [Hero(5%)]

  [Gravity Lord(Legendary)]

  [The first Beastkin]

  “ Scott mused as he drifted off.