<h4>Chapter 20: A New Weapon</h4>


    I hit the crystal with a fist sized rock. A loud, clear clinging noise echoed as I continuously hit the crystal. With every hit, my arm and chest hurt. With every hit, small pieces of it broke off. I continued, slowly carving the shape of a sword.


    It took days to carve the basic shape. I used the antlers of that deer to reinforce the sword''s guard, as well as using a portion of its fur to create a proper hilt. Sharpening and thinning the edges took another whole day. By the time I was done, my hands were covered in cuts and bruises.


    When I finally finished, I washed the stone dust off the de. It wasn''t ideal. It was uneven, heavy, and rough. But it was mine. I felt proud. It felt as if I had taken the first step towards finding Erik and the others.


    With my wounds finally healed, I headed outside. Of course, I was still no match against the horned lion, but I could take on the smaller creatures now.


    I didn''t hide my footsteps, I wanted to face an enemy head on. Naturally, I didn''t have to wait long. A two headed giant snake lunged at me from the shadows. Ducking under its attack, I cut both it''s heads off with a single swing.


    A smile appeared on my face as I used arge leaf to clean the blood off my de. I wasn''t the weakest one here anymore. I walked ahead, never letting my guard down, ready to cut down anything that dared approach me.


    I returned to the alcove at dusk and emptied my inventory of dead creatures to the ground. Skinning all this was going to take quite some time. I ced my crystal sword in the tent and started taking care of all these dead bodies. Once I removed the teeth, ws, skin, and fur, I pondered what to do with all this meat.


    There was enough food in this pile tost me for months. They''d go bad long before I could eat them. With a sigh, I decided to give back to the forest a little. I ced most of it back into my inventory and dumped some smaller bits into theke, where the fish were quick to eat them.


    The remaining meat, I went to dump near the old campsite. I knew most carnivores circled this ce simply because our scent lingered. Afterwards, I made my back to the alcove. It was dark now; I could hearrger and more dangerous creatures slowly make their appearance. I covered the entrance with severalrge branches and headed to the back of the alcove.


    I lowered myself onto the soft grass and used some flint to start a fire in the firepit. As the mes illuminated the crystals and the cliff face, I looked up to the clear night sky. The stars were shining brightly, and both moons were visible now.


    After watching the sky for a while, I directed my attention to my stats panel.


    ''Kai Friseal – Level 10 Soul Keeper | Exp: 850/1000 - - Souls 56/100 - - Mana: 280''


    A smile appeared on my lips. The monsters here really were stronger. All this was just from one day of hunting. If I could keep this up for a few days, I could maybe even challenge that horned lion.


    New skills also had been unlocked. I read through the skills and their descriptions and finally decided on levelling up Fallen Grace and picking up a single new skill. I didn''t need a skill to locate dying creatures or a skill to heal more than one person – I was alone.


    I had a total of six skill points avable, so I put one skill point into ''Dark Bolt''.


    ''The Soul Keeper fires a bolt of dark energy. The number of bolts and their damage scales ording to the amount of souls who have found their respite within the Soul Keeper.''


    I scoffed at thest few words. Finding their respite, it said. The game was taking its lore way too seriously. I quickly put four points into Fallen Grace and one into Soul''s Respite.


    ''Kai Friseal – Level 10 Soul Keeper | Exp: 850/1000 - - Souls 56/100 - - Mana: 280


    Skills: Fallen Grace Lv. 5 | Death''s Scythe |Soul''s Respite Lv.2 | Dark Bolt | Explorer | Crystal Sage''


    A smile appeared on my face as I looked at the pale blue writing. I could feel my power grow. I nced at my stats. I still hadn''t used any of those points yet. I didn''t need to just yet. I was doing fine for now.


    Laying on the grass, I closed my eyes. I was one step closer to getting past that creature and that was enough for now. Soon, the sweet darkness of sleep engulfed me. I weed it, as it was my only escape from this world.


    I woke up at dawn to distant howls. The clouds were dyed crimson and purple as the sun rose from behind the mountain range. It was, as always, beautiful. If it weren''t for the howls, it would have been the perfect morning.


    As soon as I woke up, I washed my face and quickly ate some of yesterdays meat. Monster meat was certainly not the most delicious thing, but it was surprisingly nutritious. Still, if I wanted to survive, I had to find some fruits too. Eating only meat would eventually take its toll on my health.


    I took my crystal sword with me and left the alcove. I didn''t have my bow today – I wasn''t here to hunt from the shadows. It was time to sharpen my skills. I headed to the old campsite, taking care to not make much sound as I walked on the mossy surface.


    As I approached to the old campsite, I heard some low growls. Staying in the shadows, I peeked from behind the trees.


    Several creatures were eating the remains of the meat I had dumped here yesterday. At first nce, they looked like a smaller version of that horned lion. They were about the size of a horse. Looking at them more carefully, I could spot some differences from the giant creature. These ones left a shadowy aura behind them as they moved. It was hard to spot, but the area around them was ever so slightly darker, even though it was bright out.


    There were five of these creatures. I didn''t feel entirely confident in my ability to take on all of them, I didn''t know what they were capable of. Instead, I took small rock from the ground and threw to the other side of the opening.


    As the rock hit a tree trunk with a thud, the creatures immediately focused their attention to that side. Their ears perked up as they stared silently. Now that they were standing still, I could see that dark aura much more clearly. It was quite strong; I was having trouble focusing my sight on them.


    One of them slowly stepped forward, towards the source of the noise. The others remained still. I clenched my fist, I needed more of them to move away!


    I waited, tightly grasping the hilt of my sword. If only one more of them moved away, I was confidant in my ability to take on the remaining three. I opened the interface, ready to use Fallen Grace and Death''s Scythe at a moment''s notice.


    After what seemed like an eternity, two more of them followed the other one into the woods. My lips formed a smile as I used both of my skills. Power like I never felt before rushed into my muscles as I leapt out of the shadows and dashed towards the remaining two creatures.