Moving through the forest was a bit difficult, as the sheer thickness of it made it rather hard to push through. Thankfully, the sickle seemed to be just sharp enough to cut through the vines and branches blocking his way, allowing him to essentially slice open a path for himself to move through. Still, it felt weird swinging around the sickle. With his body now being just bones, without an ounce of muscle to it, his body felt a lot lighter. Swinging around this weapon felt like that with every movement, he'd accidentally toss it away, out of his hand.
However, he pressed on.
Eventually, he reached a small opening in the forest, where the trees weren't as thick. Looking around, he examined the area. There wasn't much of anything here, apart from quite a scene in the center. There was a boulder, around which was a small group of five Goblins gathered around.
They were short, kind of greenish, kind of greyish in colour, with huge noses and long ears and slightly bulging eyes. They had ragged pelts over their bodies and in their hands, scuffed weaponry – small knives and daggers.
Next to the boulder seemed to be some sort of bag.
"Well, I suppose it's time to put this sickle to the test." Kai thought, stretching a bit, before running towards the Goblins. He had never fought before a real fight, well, at least not one to the death, so he didn't want to drag it on too much. Killing these small critters quickly and before they could react was the most ideal.
The Goblins lifted their gazes up, turning to look at the approaching Skeleton with confused stares – however before any of them moved, Kai leapt at the closest one, slicing apart its throat, causing the Goblin to cough up blood, before falling to the ground - dead.
"...Rather weak huh… I suppose that makes sense." One other Goblin leapt at Kai, slashing its weapon towards him – however, the dagger didn't even penetrate Kai's body. Kai quickly retaliated, grabbing the Goblin by its nose and slashing its throat, killing it instantly.
{ You have levelled up; 1 > 2 }
After the level up message, another smaller window appeared.
{ As an Undead monster, you are highly resistant to slashing damage. }
Kai chuckled. "Well, that's convenient, ain't it?" He looked at the other three Goblins standing around, the Goblins backing up with their bodies trembling, clearly afraid of him. Before they could escape, Kai lunged at them, with swift movement slicing one across its stomach, killing it, slicing another one's throat open, killing it and then jamming the sickle into the head of the last one, tearing it open. After the last one fell, he stood up and spun the sickle, the blood covering it flying off of its blade.
{ You have levelled up; 2 > 3 }
"That was pretty easy. Though, those were just Goblins. They seemed far too primal and weak to be able to give much challenge or threat." Kai thought turning around and moving back around the boulder, kneeling down to pick up the bag that was resting next to it.
"What do we got in here…" He commented in his mind, as he placed the sickle down onto the grass and searched through the bag. Inside were three items. The first one, was a map – something that would most certainly come in useful. It wasn't super detailed and only listed areas he didn't know.
Though, one area did stick out – 'The Mourning Forest'. Looking around the grey forest he was travelling through, it definitely fit the bill for the name, so he thought it was safe to assume that this forest was called 'Mourning Forest'. Rolling the map up, he placed it to the side, before picking out the next item in the bag. A small, scratched up and discoloured ring.
Examining it closer, a menu appeared.
{ ITEM }
Basic Ring (Protection)
A basic ring of protection. Upon wearing it, it provides a three point increase to the Defence of the wearer.
{ ITEM }
"Seems useful enough." Kai thought, placing the bag down for a moment and putting the ring onto his right hand, ring finger. Then, he looked to the side. "System open."
{ STATUS }
Kai Wilhelm - Nachrose
Level: 3 | Gender: Male
Health: 100/100 | Mana: 100/100
Race: Skeleton | Class: Priest | Title: Player | Rank: F
STATS: 4 Stat Point
CON: (10) 0 | STR: (10) 0 | MP: (10) 0 | DEF: (10+3) 0 | AGI: (10) 0
SKILLS: More skills can be acquired through leveling up or the terminal.
[Blessing of the Titans] Passive | [Monster Presence] Lvl.1 | [Miasma Control] Lvl.1
[Prayer] Lvl.1
SPELLS:
(Open Spell List) Spells are learned through scrolls or spellbooks.
INVENTORY:
(Open Inventory) Items can be placed and taken out of the inventory at any time.
{ STATUS }
What do you know? The ring did indeed increase his defence stat by three points. Though, it seems like the number wasn't simply added on, but simply thrown on next to the main stat. Probably to avoid confusion on which stat is the permanent one and which is the temporary one given by the item.
Turning away from the status window, Kai picked up the bag again and took out the last item in it – which was a small, green sphere. "What on earth is this?"
{ ITEM }
Small Exp Orb
When broken, provides a small amount of exp.
{ ITEM }
"Ah… that must be an alternative way to gain exp to level up, opposed to just killing monsters. Makes sense." Kai commented, examining it for a moment longer, before shrugging and simply crushing the orb between his fingers. Surprisingly, it was rather easy to do so, however after breaking it – he did not receive any message. "Guess the 'small amount of exp' was quite literal." He sighed, picking up his sickle and the map after closing the bag and throwing it onto his bag. He stood up, turning his attention back to his status window.
He had four 'Stat points'.
He could only assume that he was able to distribute said stat points to the five different stats he possessed to increase them. Taking into consideration his current kit and ways of fighting, he decided to place two points into agility and two into constitution.
That made his health go up from a hundred to a hundred twenty. So it seemed that one stat point was equal to about ten stat values. A one to ten ratio so to speak. "Great, that means no need to worry about those getting too insane… I suppose." He thought, closing the status window before looking around once more. With the map he found, navigating would be a bit easier — IF this place really was the one he assumed it to be. Looking into it, he managed to semi-figure out or rather, pinpoint where he approximately was on the map. Using that information, he decided to head north – to hopefully find more monsters to fight, as well as perhaps something interesting to explore.
Placing the map into the bag on his back, he spun his sickle, before heading out once more, leaving behind the dead Goblin bodies to lay on the grey grass around the boulder, their blood staining it.
Later.
A howl roared, as a wolf dashed at Kai, with the Skeleton standing perfectly still, before dodging the wolf and then quickly grabbing it by its tail and pulling it back, before lifting his sickle in the air and with one swift movement, slashing its throat open, before finishing the monster off with a swift slice across its stomach.
{ You have levelled up; 4 > 5 }
"Phew, ran into a trio of wolves. They weren't too difficult to beat, though, the scratching of their teeth against my bones felt far too uncomfortable." Kai spun around the sickle, causing most of the blood staining its blade to fly off, before looking to the side, opening his status window and quickly distributing his newly acquired stat points into constitution, strength and agility.
He had no spells right now anyway, so no point in investing any into mp, which he assumed stood for 'Magic Power', and defence was already boosted by three thanks to his ring. Closing the window, he looked to the left side, a small, clearly abandoned cabin standing before him. He had stumbled upon it randomly while following the map's lead – and figured exploring it could be interesting and perhaps give him access to some cool gear. Or maybe even just something to throw onto his shoulders, since despite not really feeling cold… it felt weird to have his bones exposed, especially with a beating heart secured inside his ribcage via boney chains.
Walking over to the cabin, he carefully pushed open the door, which immediately fell down onto the floor after creaking open, showcasing just how old this thing was. "Well, that could have been a little quieter…" He thought, stepping inside and looking around. The cabin looked exactly how you'd expect an abandoned cabin to look on the inside — abandoned. A broken table, rotted chairs and a clearly decimated bed frame with a mattress on it, which seemed to be covered in mold and moss. A bit gross.
Moving further inside, he carefully searched around, for anything useful he could take with him, however there was nothing here – apart from a shattered lantern, which still had a handle attached to it surprisingly, but the glass?... Yeah, it had seen better days.
"Still, the inside doesn't look awful. If I find a way to start a fire, I can easily use this as a portable source of light." Kai thought, before opening his status window and navigating to the inventory. Then, he simply pressed the lantern against it, the lantern disappearing from his hand and then appearing inside the inventory.
[Broken Old Lantern] F-Tier
"Not much, but it can be useful." Kai thought, before leaving the cabin through a broken window in the back of the cabin. Back outside, he brushed off his trousers before looking around and then heading off to the right side, reentering the forest once more.
Moving through it, he slashed away at the vines and branches in his way, before something fell out of the tree and blocked his path. A rather large snake rose up, hissing loudly at him as he stopped in his path.
{ MONSTER }
Grey Wild Snake
F-Rank | Serpentine
A weak monster found within the Mourning Forest.
Though they are not much of a threat to most adventurers or travelers, their constant accidental fallouts from the trees are known to induce heart attacks sometimes.
{ MONSTER }
"....What a joke.." Kai sighed, before with one swing slicing off the snake's head with his sickle, before stepping over its body and continuing to move deeper into the forest.
Hours went by.
Kai encountered more and more monsters the more he moved through the forest, fighting them and killing them. During these fights, he learned something critical about his new body – though he was resistant to slashing damage and most forms of projectiles, like arrows, he took double the damage from bludgeoning weapons such as clubs. Which made sense - it was certainly easier to crush bones than to slice them.
Before he knew it, night fell and the forest was cast into the dark. He managed to figure out how to create a fire and so set up a small campfire in the middle of the forest, one he kept in check using a couple of rocks he had managed to find around. Sitting by a tree, his legs crossed, Kai was browsing through his status window.
{ STATUS }
Kai Wilhelm - Nachrose
Level: 19 | Gender: Male
Health: 180/180 | Mana: 140/140
Race: Skeleton | Class: Priest | Title: Player | Rank: F
STATS: 3 Stat Point
CON: (18) 8 | STR: (18) 8 | MP: (14) 4 | DEF: (15+3) 5 | AGI: (18) 8
SKILLS: More skills can be acquired through leveling up or the terminal.
[Blessing of the Titans] Passive | [Monster Presence] Lvl.1 | [Miasma Control] Lvl.1
[Prayer] Lvl.1
SPELLS:
(Open Spell List) Spells are learned through scrolls or spellbooks.
INVENTORY:
(Open Inventory) Items can be placed and taken out of the inventory at any time.
{ STATUS }
"Not too bad for the first day. I managed to grow by an entire eighteen levels in just one day. Though I admit, the monsters I faced were definitely nothing to bloat about – just goblins, wolves, snakes and some spiders. Nothing crazy." Kai thought, his attention falling down to his skills. Tomorrow, he wanted to try out using one of his skills, however, was unsure how it was done.
"Maybe I can get a tutorial—?"
{ TO UTILISE A SKILL, YOU SIMPLY HAVE TO CHOOSE WHICH SKILL YOU WISH TO USE AND FOCUS ON IT. }
The system suddenly announced, startling Kai a bit, who exhaled. It seemed like the system was still able to read his thoughts. Before he could even finish his thought process, it explained how to do it. Rather useful.
Like having a personal assistant.
Looking back down at the skills, he decided to reach out and click one of them, just to see if he would gain more information. And low and behold – he in fact did.
[Monster Presence] Lvl.1
As a member of the monster race (Category: Undead) you are the natural enemy of all humanoids. At any time, you are able to channel this inner monstrous energy of yours to create a strong presence around yourself.
(The effectiveness of this skill increases with its level.)
"I see… So I can basically use this as a form of intimidation? That could be useful." Kai nodded, before closing the menu and reaching for the next one, which was 'Miasma Control'.
[Miasma Control] Lvl.1
As an Undead monster, you possess the unique energy known as 'Miasma'. Not only are you immune to the negative effects, but it also empowers you. As a basic ability, you are able to channel the miasma inside you and around you to use for different purposes (Ex. Weapons, Spells, Constructs.)
(The effectiveness/power of this skill increases with its level.)
So he did have another way of fighting… As an Undead creature, he didn't just possess mana. "I have to try this out." He commented, before closing the window and looking around. Noticing a nearby patch of bushes, Kai lifted up his left arm and extended it out towards the bushes. He had never done this before… obviously– so he wasn't quite sure how this would work. However, simply following the instructions given by the system, he focused on the skill and what he wanted to do with it… and…
He felt it.
A sudden shift inside of the beating heart that was secured inside his chest. Then, a black mist engulfed his left arm, trailing down all the way to the palm, before forming into a small orb. Kai appeared rather excited – like a kid who had just gotten a new toy. Quickly composing himself, he took in a deep breath and focused on firing the orb at the bush patch.
A moment or two later, it did.
It launched itself at the bushes, engulfing them in an instant, causing them to wither away and turn into just some ash, which was carried away in the wind. "Woah… that was… sick."
{ New spell learned: Miasma Bolt. }
"Huh? A spell? But I thought spells could only be learned through spellbooks and scrolls… So why–?" Kai shook his head. There was no point in questioning it. Besides, it didn't matter either way - that orb didn't use up a single point of mana, which meant it wasn't a 'normal' spell either way.
It was probably something special and exclusive to the undead, considering that seemingly, or at least, from what he understood when reading the description of the 'Miasma Control' skill, only undead can use miasma without suffering the negative consequences of it.
"I should try using that while fighting tomorrow. That should slowly get me accustomed to casting spells, which will most likely be the main way I deal damage as a Priest." Kai thought, closing all the windows he had open before exhaling. Yeah, he hadn't distributed all of his stat points, but that was intentional. He wanted to leave some for himself, so that in case he needs them, he can use them tomorrow or some time later on a stat that actually needs it.
It wasn't really stupidity – more like resource management.
Looking at the crackling fire in front of him, Kai fell into his own thoughts. "It is still hard to believe all of this is real. That I am not dreaming – I am actually in another world and as a skeleton no less."
Kai, though already somewhat accustomed to this world and his new body on the first day, still couldn't believe all of this. Just yesterday, before he was roped into this, he was heading to college for another day of studying, hanging out with his friends, going to play basketball, going to attend a self-defence class and then after all of it, going back home, while picking up his younger brother and a cup of noodles on his way. All of that, suddenly had been tossed out the window for this.
Looking down at his skeletal arm, he couldn't help but wonder.
What would his family think of him, if they saw what he was right now? Would they be frightened or disgusted? Would they still treat him the same?
It was….
It was a scary thought.
"...I didn't even get to say goodbye." He sighed, resting his arm back down onto the grass, before pressing his head against the trunk of the tree. It was strange, despite moving and fighting all day, he didn't feel even a little bit exhausted or tired…
{ Note: As an Undead monster, you are incapable of feeling fatigue or exhaustion. }
"Makes sense. I technically don't have a body that is 'alive' so it wouldn't make sense for me to be able to feel fatigue or get exhausted." Kai acknowledged the information window, before closing it. Still – even if it made sense, it didn't make it any more strange to experience. It felt wrong to not experience exhaustion after such a long day of movement.
Staring up at the dark night sky that was somewhat visible through the branches above him, Kai felt at ease. It was a calm environment around him – so peaceful. So quiet. It was something he couldn't remember the last time he had experienced in his usual life while living in the city with his family. Raising his right hand up into the air, he reached towards the blurry moon which was visible through the clouds that blocked the sky. "...I'm going to try to get some sleep, even if I don't need it. Mother, father, brother, sister… Goodnight. Stay safe, all of you."
He thought, before lowering his arm back down and resting it onto his lap.
A little bit later, he seemingly fell asleep – however, no sound of snoring or breathing came from him. The only sound that originated from his body was the sound of the beating heart chained in his ribcage. It was the only sign of him being 'alive' and not just some remains.
As the gentle flame crackled, a gaze shone through it.
Hmm…
How doth he fare, Fackel?
He liv'd the day,
And laid full low a host of other monsters.
Then have we no cause for concern. If he hath adapted with such swiftness as to endure the first day's trial, he shall fare well in days to come.
I would not be so certain, Hasmorota. All things may chance at any hour.
Barbaros speaketh true. Though he hath passed the first day's trial, yet shall his fortunes swiftly turn more grievous, not more gentle. He must perforce learn much in little time. Should he fail to keep pace... I fear he may soon be spent of breath.
Be not so grimly thoughted, Luft. I am certain he shall manage.
Is't not so, Kronos?
…
Verily.
I do believe he shall prevail.
For he is, in sooth, a most swift learner.
Next morning..
Up and early, Kai moved through the thick forest once more, facing off against some weak monsters that posed little to no threat to him and were easily killed by him. However, due to his already relatively high level, the exp they gave was miniscule and not at all enough for him to level up any further. So, he simply pushed on, only stopping to kill if it was absolutely necessary and unavoidable.
Pushing through the thick trees, bushes and vines, he eventually stumbled up a cave opening. Walking up to it, inside was a rough staircase which led down, with faint torch light at the bottom. Examining the rough archway entrance, Kai managed to spot a slate directly above the cave entrance, on which a simple message was carved: "III"
"What is this?"
{ Note: You have found a dungeon. Specifically, a three floor dungeon. Inside, you will find a wave of enemies on the first and second floor, with a dungeon boss on the third. After conquering it, you will be awarded loot equivalent to the dungeon level. Upon claiming the loot, you'll be transported outside the dungeon. }
This system truly was useful, giving him information about things quickly. Looking around, Kai looked at his sickle, debating on whether it was a good idea to head inside at his current strength and with his current equipment. It was risky – he wasn't sure what was down there.
But at the same time… The promise of loot was tantalising.
He would take anything he could get his hands on, so if this place had loot to offer at the end… It was worth the risk, no?
Thinking about it for a moment longer, Kai shook his head and opened his status window. Before he headed inside, he decided to distribute the last of his stat points to strength and agility. In case of anything, it was good to have great mobility and decent physical strength. Plus, this place would be the perfect opportunity to try out his brand new 'Miasma Bolt' he learned to do last night.
After distributing the three remaining stat points – two going to agility and one to strength – Kai took in a deep breath, before stepping forward into the dungeon, making his way down the staircase with measured steps.
{ PLAYER 'Nachrose' HAS ENTERED THE MOURNING FOREST LEVEL THREE DUNGEON; Woodmen Punishment. }