The beak tore into Noah’s thigh, his dodge proving ineffectual.
“Agh!” he screamed as he fell to the ground, clutching his leg. Move! He rolled to the side and heard the beak sink into the ground. He desperately swung his arm hoping to hit something vital. His fang dug into the creature''s face and Noah grimaced in disgust. The ugly creature thrashed about, freeing its beak from the dark earth. Both wounded they faced off like a Western showdown, neither daring to make the first move. They were both stunned when a third party joined the fray, its jaws locking onto the fowl beast.
[50 XP Gained.]
Noah wasn’t sure how fair that was but didn’t have time to debate, as he found himself in the middle of a frenzy. All around, the sounds of fighting and the rending of flesh made for a gory landscape. He looked around frantically for an escape, but he was surrounded on all sides. Worst yet, more beasts were joining in the bloodbath. This is how they are so strong. He realized, after gaining two and a half levels in such a short span. How strong will the survivors of this massacre become? The interloping party got swept up in another battle and Noah ran over to the corpse of the bull he had fought earlier. He then dragged the body of the purple leopard-like beast next to the bull and crawled in between the two of them. He took a deep breath, quickly regretting breathing through his nose, and pulled himself together. I just need to look at this right. He coached himself, this is an opportunity to level, just like I wanted. He felt at his thigh, it was still bleeding but it seemed to have missed anything vital. He began to weigh his options. I can wait it out and try to take out the last monster alive, or I can join the fight and level in the hope that I get strong enough to either escape or fight my way to the top. Either way, he knew it would be some time before he was making it out of the battlefield.
Remembering that he had enough XP to level again, he willed the System to do so and assigned his free points to constitution, bringing his total to 42. As impressive as that number felt, he was also pretty sure that the monsters around him were well into whatever stage came after apprentice, which likely meant that they would have no trouble getting past his reinforced skin.
He tensed as something large stepped on the beast he was under, squishing him into the ground. Thankfully it didn’t stay long and he could breathe again. If he had a sword or spear, perhaps he would feel confident leaving his hiding space, but as it was, his meager weapons felt more like risky toys when faced with his current competition. So he waited. He was stepped on several times, and at one point a beast seemed to discover him only to be attacked by something else before it could act on its discovery. As the time passed, the sounds of battle slowly faded into occasional roars or yelps. After a minute of silence, he slowly lifted himself up and peeked out above the bull, doing his best to keep a low profile. He saw a field of bodies, massive and diverse, barely a duplicate among them. Each of them was a beast beyond him, making him feel like an ant in a giants graveyard. A dozen yards away, the two remaining monsters faced off, both of them bleeding and slowed. One was a massive winged snake, that seemed comfortable both on the ground and in the air, and the other was an enormous bear that looked like the older brother of the one he had encountered on his first day.
He watched as they clashed, the serpent biting into the bear, presumably injecting its venom while the bear slashed it with its claws. Noah crept forward, sensing that the end of the fight was near. The bear caught the serpent in its mouth and began to shake it with its powerful jaws. Noah dashed for it, fangs in both hands. The mighty serpent bit at the bear with its remaining strength, and after an intense struggle finally became limp. The bear having accomplished its undertaking slumped to the ground, exhausted from the battle and weakened by the venom. Noah arrived at that moment, driving both daggers into the base of its skull, catching the bear unaware. He immediately retreated, taking cover behind a nearby beast. The bear roared in frustration and pain as it failed to make out its attacker. Part of Noah felt like a coward for his underhanded method, but that part of Noah wasn’t going to save his people.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The bear continued to growl and look around but was becoming increasingly sluggish. Another ten minutes passed before the beast slumped to the ground, joining the serpent in its final rest.
[1000 XP Gained.]
Noah blinked. That bear had been worth ten levels and it seemed he didn’t have to share the XP if the other contributor was dead. He grinned, forgetting any reservation he may have had before, and leveled up.
Status
Name: Noah Denter
Race: Human
Grade: F
Domain: Self
Caste: Iron
Gate: 1
Path: Apprentice
Level: 25
Strength: 46
Dexterity:46
Constitution: 42
Intelligence:11
Wisdom: 13
Willpower: 14
XP: 62/100
Essence: 0
Stat points available: 30
He looked over his updated status in awe. He now had four times the physical stats he had possessed when he arrived in the forest. While the points didn’t seem to mean that he could lift four times the weight, he did feel far stronger than any normal human could attain. He considered his free points briefly before bringing strength and dexterity to an even 50 and dumping the rest into constitution which now read 64. His body quivered for a moment as the massive amount of stats changed his makeup. When it finished he felt like a new man, he had moved past green juice junkie territory and well into fantasy land. It felt good. That taken care of, he decided it was time to make himself scarce. After seeing how quickly the initial fight had drawn in the beasts, he beelined it to the stream and jumped in bloodstained furs and all, leaving only his pack on the shore. He did his best to scrub out the blood matted into the fur before climbing out of the freezing water.
He spent the next hour running, thankful that the constitution buff seemed to have quickened his healing dramatically and strengthened his resistance to the cold. As the skies grew dark he settled into a wedge of rocks that offered some protection from the wind and any prying eyes. As soon as he closed his eyes he was asleep and when he awoke dawn had already passed.
Noah stretched and took in the view from his temporary residence. The higher he went up the mountain the more pronounced the changes to the world became. Even from his new vantage point he still couldn’t make out the edges of the forest below. His stomach rumbled. He went to his pack, pulling out the fire-starting supplies that Matt had packed for him. He had doubled his physical stats since the last time he tried to make fire, if it could be done, he was going to do it.
Matt had made a spindle and board for him, which he gladly used in place of the rudimentary method he had tried before. He readied his tinder and began vigorously twisting the spindle. Minutes passed and he could feel the heat gathering, he spun the rod faster, desperation pushing him on. Then a beautiful thing occurred–a wisp of smoke rose from the bottom of the spindle, followed by a warm orange glow. With extreme focus and delicate hands he transferred the little ember into the tinder nest. It ignited in a burst of flame and Noah carefully placed it on the puck that Matt had designed. It lit easily, and soon a stable flame glowed in the center of his rock formation. I did it. A sense of achievement washed over him, and he felt that the world looked more beautiful than it had ever seemed before.
[Global Ranking System online.]
<ul>
<li>Dariss Ashfield-Drakon: Iron, Lvl 72</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Malentar Stoneskin-Drakon: Iron, Lvl 69</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Recter Jandon-Drakon: Iron, Lvl 65</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Do’Fon Anzinar-Orc: Iron, Lvl 62</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Ma’tan Anzinar-Orc: Iron, Lvl 59</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Darten Yellowfang-Drakon: Iron, Lvl 54</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Syton Talir-Drakon: Iron, Lvl 52</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Fastion Briner-Elf: Iron, Lvl 51</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Flamir Axehead-Drakon: Iron, Lvl 51</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>En’Do Forsten-Orc: Iron, Lvl 49 </li>
</ul>
Noah stared at the screen that had appeared before his eyes–the global ranking system. If the list had looked different then he might have liked the idea, but at that moment only one thought occupied his mind. None of them are human.