Spell Weaver-Chapter 11: Level Up

Gravity reasserted itself on Alex’s body, causing his hair and clothes to fall back down.

His forward momentum continued at the same walking pace he’d had when approaching the Rift from the other side.

Even though Alex found himself in a forest once again, it was clearly different in a number of ways from the park that he’d just left.

Alex looked at his surroundings and dismissed the blue window that appeared in his vision before he took the time to read it. He continued to look around but couldn’t see much movement. The only sounds that could be heard were a light drizzle of rain and the drip of water from higher branches. There were some clear signs that others had made their way through the area, but no movement in sight.

His shoulders tensed as he scanned the wet underbrush and the dense foliage that surrounded him looking for the boars that Red Beanie had mentioned. Even though he hadn’t felt like his life was in danger while in the last Rift, Alex knew that things could, and likely would, be very different this time around.

After a few tense seconds, Alex was fairly sure that he wasn’t going to be attacked and didn’t see any other humans standing around. He moved a short distance away from the portal and looked back at the window the System had prompted him with.

Personal Quest: Culling the Boars

Kill 10 Forest Boars.

Rift Quest: Corrupted Forest

Uproot the corruption before the Ancient Forest Biome becomes a Corrupted Forest.

Just like he said. I feel like a boar kill-quest is pretty standard for a fantasy game.

Taking another look around, Alex took his pack off and set it on the ground. He stripped off his winter coat, did his best to wrap it tight, and tuck it in the backpack while removing the hatchet he’d gotten that morning.

His thoughts drifted back to the sturdy-looking spear that John Riley had carried with him when they met. It made his small hatchet look inadequate.

It’s not all about size, right?

He couldn’t help but snicker to himself as he picked up the pack and slowly made his way through the forest. Alex did his best to continue on in a straight line, curious to see how far he’d have to walk before finding any signs of life.

The forest floor was wet as if it had recently been in a downpour. He was thankful that it was only misting while he was there. He’d bought a small poncho from the camping section that morning, but it looked more like a trash bag than a rain jacket.

I’m sure I’d be sweating to death out here if I had to wear that.

He clipped the waist belt from the new hiking pack and kept walking on, feeling the pull in his Core toward the portal. Even though the feeling was odd, it did comfort him to know that he could make his way back if he needed to.

It took Alex 15 minutes of walking through the underbrush before he was annoyed, and everything from his waist down was soaking wet. He did his best to lift his feet over the large, wet leaves.

He was focused more on avoiding tripping over sticks than on his surroundings when he suddenly heard a crashing sound from his left. The snapping of sticks and snorting were terrifyingly loud, especially compared to the relative silence from a few seconds before .

“Oh, shit!” Alex yelped as he tried to run to the side and get out of the charging boar's line. A few heartbeats later, a small blurry brown wrecking ball barreled through the space that Alex had previously occupied.

Oh shit.

For some reason, those two words seemed to take over the entire plan that Alex had spent the last 15 minutes putting together. He’d had all kinds of theories on how to bait the boar into running into a tree, dodging it at the last second, and then striking with his hatchet.

He’d spent most of the morning’s car ride going over the steps and theory behind the article he’d read the night before. He could potentially use mana to enhance a punch or a weapon strike by pushing mana into a limb.

All of his planning immediately went out the window as Alex ran out of the boar’s way and did his best to find a thick tree to put between them. He looked over his shoulder and lifted his arms over the waist-high foliage, holding the ax in a way he wouldn’t hit himself with the blade.

He had to lift his knees abnormally high as he stepped over the dense undergrowth and sticks that threatened to trip him.

I probably look like fucking Jack Sparrow.

REALLY!? That’s where my brain is going? Focus, Alex.

Alex berated himself as he skidded behind a tree that was twice as thick as he was.

He forced himself to take deep breaths and focus on what was happening around him. He could hear the beast rummaging around and snorting a distance away.

Probably trying to smell where I went.

Thinking back to some of his games with Mark. He knew that they charged and screeched a lot, but the only other tidbit of information Alex could remember was that the animals had a very thick hide.

It feels a whole lot scarier when a real beast is charging me at full speed. If it hit my knees… I’d never walk again. That simple.

He was doing his best to maintain some amount of steady breathing, but his heart was hammering away in his chest and his thighs were already burning after that short sprint.

The sounds of the beast were getting closer, and Alex knew he had to make a decision.

Commit or run.

Fuck it.

Taking one more deep breath, Alex stepped out from behind the tree and positioned himself between the tree and the boar. As he did, the sounds went quiet.

He stood there, the whole forest seeming to hold its breath.

The forest exploded around him again as the snorting and smashing of branches came back in full force.

It was hard for him to see where the boar was, but he could see the bushes and big leaves moving.

He felt like he was playing chicken with a semi-truck.

Alex dodged to the side and couldn’t help but yell in fear and excitement.

The dull thunk that sounded out as the boar slammed into the tree made Alex wince. Turning, he shifted his weight and regripped the hatchet. He swung down with the short weapon as the boar lay on its side, momentarily stunned.

His first strike opened a large gash down the boar's hindquarters. The beasts hide was pulled so taught that that as the cut was created it split further and grew longer than the head of the axe. Though, as soon as he struck it a second time, the beast began to thrash and squeal. The sound was at least two or three times louder than he expected it to be, the animal clearly in distress.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

With no time to feel bad for the animal, Alex leaped back, fearful that the tusks might gore him. Almost too late, he realized that he was far too close to the boar.

If I want it to charge again, I’ve got to get distance.

He put the large tree between the two of them and found another suitable tree nearby.

Alex took off as fast as he could, glancing back over his shoulder. As he got closer, he saw the sea of leaves begin to part again as the boar screamed in rage while charging a second time.

He had barely made it to the tree when he needed to dive to the side to avoid his rear end from being impaled.

Alex sprawled into the dirt and quickly got back onto his feet, though he had lost his hatchet in the fall.

With panic filling him, Alex stepped forward and let his practice with [Mana Shaping] take over.

He pulled mana from his Core and guided it to his hand, letting it take the rough shape of his fist before punching forward. As he extended his arm to the full distance and made contact with the boar, he pushed out with the mana. This caused a small woosh of air and mana to emit from his knuckles as they made contact with the monster’s side.

The boar let out another squeal and Alex repeated the process twice more. Though the second punch was not empowered by his magic like the first had been. The final punch was though, and the boar let out a final squeal before lying on its side. Its chest and ribs were caved in from the magical meeting.

Alex sat on his knees next to the boar with his nondominant hand resting on its chest as he took gasping breaths. He hadn't been prepared for the fight to devolve into such a mad scramble.

Blue motes of light floated lazily into the air. This time, as they rushed into him, something different happened. They hit his chest, and small golden motes of light began to fall around his head and down to his feet like giant snowflakes.

You have slain Forest Boar - Level 1

Congratulations Awakened. You have leveled up! You have 3 Stat Points to distribute.

New Skill Learned: [Mana Infusion] (Novice - Level 1)

Do you accept? Yes/No?

It took several minutes for him to compose himself.

It was odd, Alex had heard about how much adrenaline and fear can affect a body. But he wasn’t expecting the rush of emotions that followed. His hands shook as he gripped his knees, and while he searched for the hatchet in the underbrush, he couldn’t tell if he wanted to laugh or cry.

After finding his hatchet, he took a few more minutes to reassess everything that had happened and how he’d done it. Overall, things had gone about how he’d planned; he just hadn’t anticipated the fact that he’d be scared witless at first contact.

Now, I know what to expect.

Just… nine more times. Yeah, that’s all…

Sitting on the damp ground with his back against the tree beside the now-dead monster, Alex pulled up his Status Window. He accepted the offered skill and pulled up its window as well. However, he was most interested to see how things had changed with his level up and to see how much mana he’d used in his terror-filled punch.

Status

Name: Alex Moore - Level 2

Class: None

HP: 50/50

MP: 18/60

Traits: (1/3)

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{Primordial Will}

Physical Stats:

Strength: 4

Agility: 5

Constitution: 5

Vitality: 6

Magical Stats:

Intellect: 6

Willpower: 3

Mana: 6

Wisdom: 6

Free Points: 3

Active Skills:

[Mana Shaping] (Novice - Level 3)

[Mana Infusion] (Novice - Level 1)

Passive Skills:

(None)

[Mana Infusion] - Grants the ability to infuse mana into objects that are mana-receptive.

Alex winced as he saw he’d used almost half of his mana on the single punch attack.

Knowing it was likely pointless, Alex tried to guide his free points to enter intellect.

If using the System was considered intuitive and could be guided with thoughts and intent. Then Alex attempting to put points into Intellect or Constitution, could only be described as the mental equivalent to pushing against a brick wall.

There was no give at all, and he could tell instinctively that it wasn’t going to work.

Fuck.

With a sigh, Alex directed his thoughts to enter a point into Willpower. He put one free point into the stat, then rubbed his eyes and looked at his Status Window.

Physical Stats:

Strength: 4

Agility: 5

Constitution: 5

Vitality: 6

Magical Stats:

Intellect: 6

Willpower: 6

Mana: 6

Wisdom: 6

Free Points: 2

He’d only put one point toward the stat, but it had increased by three. Alex put the remaining points into the skill and was pleased to see his Willpower stat at 12. In just one level, it had quadrupled, and it was already his highest stat.

This must be what the description meant by ‘Stat Weights.’ Hmm.

Alex paused for a minute.

Maybe this isn’t so useless after all? What does an increased Willpower mean? Will it be worth it even if the trade-off is that my HP pool is at 50 points forever?

Alex scoffed, as he was certain that the trade-off would not be worth it.

Whatever, nine more boars to go.

Where he’d been feeling excited about receiving a new skill and the level, suddenly, he just didn’t care very much. It felt hollow to know that he wouldn’t be able to make any other choices with his Free Points, no matter how many levels he might gain.

Alex stood and retrieved his hatchet from where it had fallen on the ground. Looking back at the boar, he didn't relish the thought of what came next. He made sure to look up an article on how to get Mana Stones. One thing that every article had in common was that the stones were formed in a monster's chest cavity after death. One of them went as far as to say that harvesting a Mana Stone was just reaping the concentrated magical energy from a kill.

I still don't feel like that makes too much sense if not every kill gives a mana stone.

His hands trembled slightly as he bent down and made a cut below the beast's rib cage. Dark blood welled up around the blade and felt hot and sticky on his fingers. The metallic smell made his nose wrinkle but he pressed on. He followed the article's instructions and deepened the cut until there was an opening just below the chest cavity that was large enough for him to reach his hand inside.

"Shit." Alex grimaced as he plunged his hand into the beast. It was gruesome work and he found himself dry heaving twice as he attempted to find any feeling of a solid object within the beast.

Well, either there isn't one in there or I'm just not doing it right. I'll have to try again on the next one.

Clapping broke his musing.

"Good shit!"

Alex spun around and raised his hatchet. There was a young man wearing bloodstained clothes who had just stepped out from behind a tree.

"Uh... Thanks?" Alex kept his grip tight on the hatchet even though he noticed the other man's hands were raised in a peaceful gesture.

"You made that look easy," the kid said. As he got closer, Alex had to guess he was around eighteen. "I'm Dylan."

Alex took a small step back and glanced over his shoulder to see what was behind him. "Did you want something?"

"Nah, just wanted to say hey. Haven't gotten to talk to too many other Awakened. You're the first one I've seen in here." Dylan's smile faltered as he saw Alex's defensive maneuvering. "Hey, no need to be all weird about it. We're both guild members, right?"

Alex sighed and his shoulders relaxed slightly. He hadn't thought about it like that. "Look, I'm sorry. I work a desk job, and this is all really different for me. I saw some posts about people attacking each other in rifts, so…"

"And I'm covered in blood?" Dylan laughed and gestured at his stained clothes. "Yeah, that's fair. And I've seen those articles too, but almost all of those are in rifts that aren't controlled by the Guild. You and I are strangers but come on, we're basically coworkers now. What's your AG ID? We can team up sometime."

"NotXela."

"Okay...? Then, what is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean, what do I mean? If it's not Xela, then what is it? I don't even know what Xela means."

Alex smiled, remembering one of his grandfather's favorite skits. "Here, I'll spell it for you, ready? It's N-O-T-X-E-L-A."

Dylan shifted his weight and gave Alex a strange look. "Bit weird, but sure. I'll send you a DM when I get back out of the rift. You finished with your boar quest?"

Alex shook his head. "Not yet, still have nine more to go." He wiped his forearm and hand against his pant leg, not enjoying the way that the blood felt as it dried.

"Nice! I just finished mine and got a few mana stones while I was at it. Great cash, if you can stomach the messy work."

Alex re-shouldered his backpack and wondered if he would be able to stomach the messy work nine more times. "Yeah, it's a bit different than I thought it would be. I should get back to it though."

"Same here. Good hunting, man. Don't die!" Dylan gave a mock salute before disappearing into the misty forest.

Alex watched him go and then checked his bearings to head in the opposite direction.