Warm liquid slithered down his throat. They filled a reservoir inside Rue. Something akin to a source of energy. Is it mana?
“If he levelled up, he should wake up soon from the new added mana, and this potion,” A distant voice said.
“Was that really him? When he suddenly clad himself in that black armour.”
“Those are not armour, those are ice. My back was to him earlier, and it's cold.”
“Doesn’t seem like a good skill to have if it knocked him out after each use.”
“It works! He’s awake!”
“His mana is still too low. Carry hi-“
The world is spinning. Light zipped across his vision like a child's doodle on his eyes. Is this what a hangover feels like? Rue had never drunk before; all of his excess money from his job goes to his retirement fund. He wanted to retire as fast as possible and live a life of solitude full of games, anime, and maybe some novels. And he was on the right path, by his calculation, maybe in ten to fifteen years if he kept going. And damn it, he would live a hermit life for that future.
That’s until the damn system came.
His boss has chewed him plenty of time to get himself something nice. But, really, all he needed was his cheap laptop and bicycle; that’s all he wanted. Even now, in a delirious state, he saw nothing wrong in it. Granted, when he saw the boss's kid, Dan, playing on his fancy Pc, he got jealous. He’s by no means close to Dan, even when they are pretty much the same age. Wait.. Actually, they’re pretty close, enough to be called friends.
Dan had forced him to play some game, complaining he felt bad for Rue as he minded the shop, which barely had any customers while Dan himself just game all day. But, he didn’t mind. Dan is a pro gamer, a quite successful one. And a pretty solid dude. A couple of times, he also tried to force Rue on a mixer. Emphasis on tried, Rue never gone.
Right…
He wished Dan to live.
Rue paused even when his mind blanked. That made two people. A connection back from old Earth, now two, he wished to survive. Maybe he should try to find them after the tutorial is complete. If he survived, that is.
He wished he were closer to him. Both Dan and his father.
“Should’ve at least gone to one of those mixers,” Rue muttered.
Light slowly blared across his vision, and it was unforgivingly bright white. Rue opened his eyes to be greeted by the sun blazing on him. He shielded his eyes, and a shadow offered a brief shield from the sun.
Above him are two girls staring at him with a blank look on their faces.
Emily, who had been acting all miserable, had her mouth gaping open.
Eve, on the other hand, grinned, “You know both of us are available.”
Rue coughed slightly, embarrassed. Slightly.
Damn it, Dan.
“What happened?” He asked, standing up.
Is it afternoon?
“How long was I out?”
“You’re not fully out. You were like a walking zombie. Benedict and I both carried you all the way here.”
Rue looked at the speaker, a blond-haired young man of his age. What was his name again?
“Yom here almost tipped us over to the Kobolds again. He almost dropped you,” Rino said.
Ah, right, Yom. He needed to start remembering their names.
Wait? Again?
Rue metaphorically shook his head. Not important right now. “There was a fight?”
“He really didn’t know,” Emily muttered. She scanned him like he was some endangered animal.
“When your Mana is zero, you will faint until your body replenishes them. Mana is not just a resource to cast magic; our body needs it to stay awake. In your case, you had barely enough to move.” Eve explained. “I was in mind zero, too, to heal both you and Yom. But, barely manage to chug a mana potion to keep myself awake.”
“Mind zero?”
“I just called it that,” She blushed.
“It made sense, our MP capacity rises the higher our Mind stat is,” Rino said.
So it’s not Arcana? Actually, what even is Arcana? Pure magic power or some kind, maybe? It probably is, Rue theorized. His Mind and Arcana go hand in hand on their stat increase, so it’s hard to tell. Speaking of stats, he noticed a skill option available with his earlier level-up.
Suddenly, excited, he stood looking around for a place to sit and read over his skills.
“Finally awake! Our black clad ice armour monster,” Benedict’s voice called out. His voice sounds strange, like they’re distant.
Rue looked up to find the man dangling over a huge branch attached to a gigantic tree that easily towered over any other tree in their surrounding.
Gilbert also sat on the branch, looking down on Rue. “Ah, finally awake, huh?”
“Did I make us stop?” Rue asked.
“No, Benedict found this tree, and we decided to scout things first since it offered a full view and was close to the camp,” Emily said. She looked up, gulping slightly at the tree. “Paxwell told you to climb up once you awake. He’s right there,” She pointed. “See? With Alquin”
Why did both men even climb that high up? Paxwell, he might get it because of his skill. But Alquin? The man is just plain suicidal. He had thought so when he was so eager to take two Kobolds each, and the line he said when he took three goblins by himself.
Well, I did the last part too.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Rue! You really want to climb up! The stag finally came out!” Benedict shouted. He wants him to shut up since there might still be a Kobold nearby.
“What are you talking about?”
“A fighting arena! The Kobold captured beasts to fight each other! Our six-legged Stag has won five bout! Five,” Gilbert exclaimed. The blue-haired man seemed to have a ton of fun. Forgetting if the stag died, their mission is over. Or maybe the Stag has been winning easily?
Stag…
“Six-Legged Stag?”
It took Rue, maybe about twenty minutes, to climb up near where Paxwell is. He had passed Gilbert and Benedict's spot, where the height offered a clear view of the fighting arena, the arena is a circle with a frail wooden fence. Kobolds were seen hollering, thumping their spear against their shield as they watched the beast fight.
He had just missed the six-legged stag fight. According to Gilbert, the fight was over quickly, making this a win. Rue cursed at himself for being slow at climbing; if he had been braver, he would’ve gotten a glimpse. The system has provided him enough strength and dexterity to make climbing easy.
Actually, maybe he won’t make it even if he were faster, because of her. Emily is shaking as she climbs. The archer has been following where Rue had grip had been, but still questioning every step of the way.
“So I just slung over this small crevice, right?” She grunted.
“Yes, it's sturdy enough!”
Wind whooshed, pushing his robe against the time-worn wood of the tree. His heart skipped a beat, worried his robe would’ve caught something. Maybe wearing a robe is not the smartest move when you climb this high.
“Rue! Don’t leave me!” Emily yelped as the wind made her squeal. The girl has been talkative since they began climbing. Rue had worried she would drag him to fall. That will be a stupid death.
“You know, you don’t need to climb.”
“But, it will be a waste! I got Archer's eye, too!” She reasoned out, even though Paxwell was already up there.
“I don’t think we need your archer eyes,” Benedict commented. he had been holding his laugh at Emily, who had been sparing him a glare every minute or so.
Rue was inclined to agree with him; he could also see everything clearly.
“Yes, kid! I already counted all of them Kobolds!” Paxwell shouted down. “I just need Rue here to confirm if the blue line led to the stag or one of those lions.”
“Well, I'm already here anyway,” Emily grumbled. She toughened up, reaching for Gilbert's hand, who pulled her up to him. She let out a thank you and let out a huge sigh.
“I’m going up then. Do you need a hug first?”
Her mouth gaped open, and she closed in and glared at him. “Go already!”
Chuckling to himself. Rue reached toward where Paxwell was. Alquin had taken another branch. The man closed his eyes with a huge smile on his face. He’s having the time of his life.
“Here goes, Kid!” Paxwell reached down.
Rue grasped his hand, allowing him to be pulled up. As he slung his leg over, he steadied his arm. The climb is bad for his heart, not his muscles. Then Rue opened his eyes to see a sea of green dominate below him.
So much life.
The verdant green of the trees is lively under the sun. They rustled as wind blew on them, like trying to escape each other's touch. He could make out a ravine not far from the camp, which looked deep, but was blocked by a tree. The camp itself is rather unimpressive; it's set in an open plain with just a huge white tent in a circle formation.
Rue could make out the red colour of Kobolds, surrounding the circle, which is the fight arena. In the middle are two hulking creatures. One is a white bear and the other is a lion. They fought each other, exchanging swipes of claws. The lion took a risk and threw itself at the bear's throat. it bit deep, ripping the bear's neck.
The Kobolds cheered as the spectacle had over. The banging of the shield was rowdy; he could hear it all the way here as a distant thumping.
“They usually take a brief break,” Paxwell said.
“By my count, the Stag should be next! Against the lion for the final,” Gilbert exclaimed.
“You’re keeping track?” Emily asked,
“Of course! We bet our weapon for the final,” Benedict answered. Then he shouted. “Rue! Are you joining? Let’s each bet the Bone Sword.”
“Count me out.”
“Oh! Come on! You got two!”
“Lad! I’m willing to bet three daggers and two spears for that!” Alquin called.
“A bunch of garbage for an uncommon item? Not happening”
Ignoring both Gilbert and Benedict, who seemed hellbent on getting him to join. Rue examined his skill choice.
Upgrade (Fireball (Common)) - (Frost Shard (Uncommon)) – Summon a shard of ice that will deal a frost effect upon burst. Ice Shard shall disperse once it does its initial damage. The dispersion will carry a frost effect, deadly, especially if the enemy breathes it in.
An upgrade? This means Rue will lose his fireball if he takes this one. But it might be a good choice. He had decided to go full all-rounder for his class. It had been troubling him that he did not have any ranged magic spells that befit a Frost mage. This spell might be exactly what he needed.
Besides, he would rather not have Fireball anymore once he has committed to his frost progression. Having it might cause him more harm than good for his future skill choices. It might offer him a bunch of skill choices that do not make sense in the future.
(Ice Shaper (Rare)) – An Ice mage's life will be much easier if he can will ice to his liking. Will the ice around your surroundings, shape and control them to your desire. The ultimate manipulation of ice is within your grasp.
At first glance, this skill sounds powerful. But what jumped to Rue's head immediately is how it did not mention any Frost effect. Besides, his surrounding is not exactly covered by ice right now. If he were in an appropriate environment, he might consider this.
For now, he favours the Frost Shard much more, even if it is uncommon.
(Meditation (Common)) - Cut your surroundings and focus deeply within. Increase healing and mana regeneration in meditative state.
Rue had hoped this skill would come back eventually. Having meditation will solve so many problems he has. Especially, he wondered what would happen if he used it during the Time of Ice. Will his wound heal, and will he be able to fight without any pain? Time of Ice stops everything, even his heartbeat. Would meditation be boosted by it?
It’s an interesting combination he would consider. Between this and Frost shard is a close one. But now he had Eve to heal him.
That might play into his decision.
(Cold Healing (Uncommon)) (Passive) – Cold is not deadly to you; it is the reverse. Heal your Health and Refill your Mana by surrounding yourself with cold, and also soothe your Magic Vein to hasten its recovery. Regeneration scale with Arcana.
Also, this one had come back, too. Now, Rue read it over again. How is this only Uncommon? He would heal and refill his mana by just existing? Well, he has to be surrounded by cold first. But he can rub himself with the Ice Sword to do that. The biggest plus is, it healed his Magic Vein. The skill had made it clear that Magic Vein is not something you want with a high percentage. Keeping it low is ideal. Wait… Maybe you were supposed to keep it in the middle? How else is it going to get stronger if you don’t use it? With the Mind Zero syndrome and Magic Vein, being a mage is not reliable; other combat ability is needed.
Rue did a double check. Cold Healing is the choice; he needed it as he’s not going to give up magic..
This is the obvious answer, isn’t it?
“Screw meditation,” He muttered.
“I'm just about to pick that,” A voice grumbled. Rue looked down on Emily, who was staring pointedly at him. He chuckled and gave a quick sorry.
Name: Rue.
Level: 6 → 8
Race: Human.
Class: Frost Apprentice Lvl 6 → 9
Magic Vein (Wood): 88%
HP: 228/305 → 259/502
Mana: 159/188 → 51/352
Strength: 17 → 26
Vitality: 17 → 24
Dexterity: 17 → 22
Arcana: 35 → 52
Mind: 32 → 57
Perception: 18 → 21
-Skill (3/15)-
- Fireball (Common)
- Time of Obsidian Ice (Rare)
- Sword of Frost (Uncommon)
-Passive Skill (2/10)-
- Cold Resistance (Uncommon)
- Cold Healing (Uncommon)
It’s regrettable not to have the Frost Shard. The worry of him going into a warrior class has doubled after he read over his status again. Despite his Mind and Arcana almost doubling, his spell did not reflect that.
Still, Rue did not regret picking Cold Healing. He has not felt the effect of the spell since he’s quite close to the sun. But it's just too good to pass.
“Kid,” Paxwell said suddenly. He pointed toward the arena. “There, that's the six-legged stag.”
Rue couldn’t make out how many legs it has. But its color is not of the majestic stag he knew. It has a boring brown color, nothing impressive or ethereal about it.
But.
The blue line extended toward that stag. Not to lioness, but to the stag.
“Cel” Rue muttered. He was sure of it. He’s watching Cel in his past. No, he's living it.
