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Published at 27th of December 2022 11:01:11 AM


Chapter 11

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Wolf woke up.

He had no clue how long he had been out cold. His body was still spasming violently and his burning bones kept trying to incinerate him from the inside. This was the highest fever he’d ever experienced, and his body hurt everywhere. Thanks to this discomfort Wolf was certain of one thing. He was still alive, somehow.

He was sure of it. Otherwise, he’d be in a warm, dark place feeling safe and loved. Which wasn’t all that bad, considering the alternative which was Wolf’s reality.

The boy opened his mouth, panting, and saw a cloud of steam rising in the chilly underground air.

The air, which felt pleasantly cool when he’d first entered this place, now seemed icier than the freezing wind in the deepest winter. Yet, despite the biting cold outside and boiling heat inside, Wolf was alive. And he hoped that after this torment ended, things would get better. There was no way they could get any worse. At least that’s what he naively believed.

“Personal Disciple should drink a Lesser grade Healing potion. After that, Personal Disciple should sleep. Upon waking, Personal Disciple should experience no repercussions from the procedure, nor the ensuing malnutrition,” the dispassionate metallic drone sounded somewhere far off in the distance.

Once again, Wolf failed to understand everything the artifact spirit said.

I really need to learn those complicated words, he thought, analyzing the cryptic statement.

Fortunately, Wolf understood the first sentence, which was the important bit.

He summoned a potion from his ring, uncorked the vial’s stopper, and downed it in one gulp. Then he went back to sleep right there on the stone floor.

Inside his Mind Hall, Wolf’s Mental Aspect had greatly stabilized. Now that things had calmed down, he noticed an oddity about the first column. Several wisps of black mist kept seeping out of the carved pillar.

These strands of darkness flowed towards Wolf’s Mental Aspect as if drawn in by a whirlpool. The boy examined his hands and was freaked out to find they were full of tiny fractures. Wolf’s mental aspect looked like a ceramic doll about to disintegrate.

“Will I die?” the Mental Aspect muttered, seeing he was about to come undone.

And yet he was still fine, more or less. The inky blackness which oozed out of the first column acted like glue, working hard to stop Wolf’s Mental Aspect from crumbling.

Oddly enough, he felt no pain from this kind of damage. He was afraid of dying and the sight was very unnerving, but it was blissfully painless.

Wolf didn’t know what was going on. He had no idea that the destruction of Lonely Eagle’s shade years ago saved his life just now.

As time passed, Wolf’s Mental Aspect healed and the visible part of his Mind Hall steadily increased. He could even see the outline of the fifth column flickering in and out of sight within the mist. Unfortunately, the only thing Wolf could do was wait. Probably for an eternity.

After a really, really long time of staring at the mist, Wolf’s Mental Aspect was healed. Now that he was whole, the boy finally felt confident enough to reinforce the fading runes on the completely dim tapestries of his Mind Hall.

Archibald had taught him a trick which bordered on cheating. A Mage should maintain their spells every day. If you haven't used up a spell, always prepare the same one in the same scroll, as he referred to the tapestries.

If done properly, once he was done slinging spells, Wolf could spend an hour or so in meditation to prepare a new batch that very day.

When Wolf finished reinforcing his spells, he looked around, trying to figure out what to do next. At the moment, he felt too beat up to continue carving. He was afraid that if he swung the chisel, he would be the one to fall apart, not the column.

“I wonder whether my body is healed already?” the Mental Aspect said, but still didn’t dare awaken.

Wolf’s soul was much stronger than his body. If the soul took this long to heal, that meant his body was still battered.

“How come I can’t tell that from here?” he asked in annoyance after an eternity had passed, wondering whether he should go back to carving.

“Maybe there is a way to do it, but I just don’t know about it? I should ask dad. It’s the first time I’ve been away from him and the questions I have for him just keep piling up…” The Mental Aspect muttered his thoughts and noted new things Wolf had to do.

Finally, the boy decided it was time to wake up. As he opened his eyes, the first thing he heard was the now familiar metallic voice.

“Personal Disciple should go back to sleep. Personal Disciple has not rested enough. The following challenges are even more difficult and Personal Disciple should only face them in peak form.”

Wolf still felt slightly feverish and steam was still rising from his body, but at least the air was no longer as cold as ice.

After thinking for a moment, he followed the suggestion and went back to sleep.

Inside his Mind Hall, Wolf gingerly went back to carving the fourth column. He had already noticed that each successive column was getting harder and harder to carve. Still, no matter how difficult it got, the columns were significantly more malleable than the throne, which Wolf couldn’t even scratch.

Time passed and Wolf woke up again. This time, he didn’t feel feverish at all. What he did feel though, was hungry. Very hungry.

He wolfed down two days' worth of rations. Despite pigging himself out, Wolf still felt ravenous. And yet his tummy hurt from overeating.

He forced himself to stop because of the tummy ache, otherwise he would’ve eaten at least two more days’ worth of food. Once he was done eating, Wolf realized that the metallic voice hadn’t said a thing since he’d woken up.

“Artifact spirit sir. How long did I sleep?” Wolf asked while holding his bulging belly.

“Personal Disciple last awoke three days seven hours and twenty-three minutes ago,” the metallic drone answered. “If Personal Disciple wishes to know the full history, the medical puppet completed the procedure in slightly under an hour. Following which Personal Disciple’s bone marrow was refined for twelve days, seven hours and nine minutes before Personal Disciple woke up. Then Personal Disciple spent an hour eating.”

Twelve days and seven hours? That long?

“No wonder I’m hungry! I haven’t eaten in two weeks!” Wolf exclaimed in shock.

The artifact spirit ignored the outburst and continued with its script. “Personal Disciple should continue with the trial. Being promoted to Legacy Disciple status is highly desirable, if possible.”

This artifact spirit sir just keeps talking and talking, Wolf thought. It’s almost like dad. I wonder whether dad would debate it?

Pushing away the foolish thoughts, Wolf slowly turned his sight towards the trial. The next monster will be the one I defeated when I was five years old in my previous life. I wonder if I was five when I defeated that wolf?

The next monster Wolf faced was indeed a wolf. As was the next one and the next one. Wolf was already getting bored. Did his past self spend his life killing nothing but wolves?

At least, there was one change. The pain from getting bitten by wolves was almost gone. Now it seemed funny that he thought that this little itch was painful the first time the illusory beast bit down on his arm.

Without the boy even noticing it, the torture he’d gone through drastically changed his perception of pain, as well as his tolerance towards it.

While Wolf thought about this unexpected benefit and wondered if anything would hurt ever again, he pressed onward.

Fantasizing about his invulnerable future must have been very interesting because, stuck in his daydream, Wolf crossed yet another fifty-meter line and started the fourteenth trial.

The monster that materialized this time was not a wolf, but a bear.

This was the first time Wolf had ever seen a real bear. The beast seemed gargantuan in front of a four-year-old. Even though the animal stood on all fours, it still towered over the manling child. Aside from its shaggy fur with missing patches, the only distinctive feature this bear had was its left eye.

The eye was completely white and dead, with a wicked old scar around it. Based on the scar-lines and Archibald’s lessons, Wolf could tell a big cat had claimed the eye a long, long time ago.

The bear stood silently, looking old and rather mangy, but Wolf failed to realize that. It was still a fully grown bear, which Lonely Eagle had slain back when he was eight or nine.

I should keep to its left, Wolf immediately realized. That’s probably how I did it last time. As long as I stay in its blind spot, victory is only a matter of time.

Wolf sprang into action and dashed to the side so that the bear couldn’t see him. After fighting that bunch of wolves, Wolf had figured out that if he didn’t take action for five seconds, the beast would attack him instead. And giving the initiative to this enormous monster seemed like a bad idea.

Wolf kept moving sideways, always to the right, doing his best to stay in the bear’s blind spot. Meanwhile, the huge creature kept turning its body leftward, trying to catch sight of Wolf.

This simple dance went on for half a minute before Wolf realized there was a problem. No matter what he did, he couldn’t find an opening.

How am I supposed to hit this thing? He lamented silently. Its legs are bigger than I am!

The difference in reach was simply too immense. Wolf’s arms were short and the dagger in his hand just as tiny. If he charged the bear, the beast would smash him with a single swipe.

Think… Think… What can I do? Wolf began panicking. If I run forward, I’ll just get swatted like a fly. Whenever I draw closer than five steps, the bear starts swinging its claws blindly regardless of whether it can see me or not.

I know I should use its strength against it because I’m weaker, but how do I do that? Wolf was trying to figure out a solution, but no matter what he thought it was futile. Then he had a novel idea. Maybe I can tire it out? It’s trying to hit me when I get a bit closer, so making it waste energy on pointless attacks should work?

A couple of minutes later, it became apparent that the illusion couldn’t get tired. Its movements, reach and reaction time were identical every time, revealing yet another flaw of the illusion.

No, this isn’t working. I’ll get tired before the bear does. What am I supposed to do? Wolf started despairing. This is impossible! There's nothing I can do to hurt it! The only way I can kill this bear is if it just lays down on its back and lets me kill it. Either that or I kill it while it’s sleeping!

Wait! That’s it! I just have to make it fall asleep!

Wolf immediately started chanting Slumber.

Dad was right! Being able to make your enemy go to sleep in the middle of a fight is really useful! No wonder he said I should always have one Slumber ready to cast.

Wolf chanted the words and waved his hands in a well-practiced manner, all the while awkwardly running circles around the bear. With a bright smile and a triumphant glint in his eyes Wolf cast the spell.

Expecting the bear to fall down and start snoring, Wolf stopped sideways speed walking, ready to stick his dagger into the beast’s throat.

Then, to his horror, nothing happened. The bear didn’t topple over. It didn’t even blink. In fact, the beast just stood in front of Wolf, who, in his confusion, didn’t resume his awkward maneuver.

The spell had absolutely no effect!

No, wait, Wolf thought excitedly. Something is happening!

Just like the boy, the bear had stopped moving. Then its movements resumed, but they were slower and choppy. Apparently, the illusion or the artifact spirit were trying to figure out how to deal with Wolf’s hocus-pocus.

Chance! The boy grinned.

Wolf dashed forward. Luckily, he still didn’t have an academic mind like his father. He didn’t care why the bear had slowed down its movements, nor why they had become awkward. What Wolf saw was a chance, and he took it.

There were only a dozen steps to cover, but Wolf did his best to gather momentum. Then, when he was just two steps away from the staggered bear, he jumped. In a downward stab, Wolf rammed the dagger into the dazed bear’s right eye.

“Roar!”

The beast let out a cry of agony as the dagger sunk into its skull. It shook its head violently, tossing Wolf a couple meters to the side.

He tried gripping it, but still lost the hold of his weapon. It stayed stuck in the eye socket, leaving Wolf unarmed.

The bear flailed its arms wildly as its movement returned to normal. The beast roared once more, but Wolf barely heard it. The world was spinning in front of his eyes and his stomach churned. His sense of balance told him he hadn’t moved, while his eyes sent the impression that he’d flown five meters through the air madly spinning.

The illusion had no way to throw the boy into the distance. So it slid the animal away from him in a very bizarre manner. The rest of the room also shifted while rotating to produce the result of Wolf being thrown away and landing on his feet.

Wolf could see his dagger stuck in the bear’s head, and when he looked down, he saw that his hand was empty.

But I know I’m still holding the dagger? he thought, tightening his grip.

He couldn’t ball his hand into a fist, confirming that he held an invisible weapon in his hand.

I think I’m gonna throw up. Wolf grit his teeth while fighting the dizzy spell from his disjointed senses.

In the background, the bear roared once more. However, this time, it did something new. It stood up on its hind legs and started blindly flailing its arms.

That’s not fair! Wolf felt like crying. He can keep swinging his arms all day and not get tired!

As Wolf inwardly complained, he realized something else. It’s not moving to face me anymore! Maybe I could attack it from behind?

Wolf looked down and saw his empty hand, which was still holding a dagger.

This is so confusing! he grumbled. Will the illusion think I don’t have a knife? Even if I did, what could I possibly do? Stab it in the butt?

Wolf took a couple of steps back, simply observing the bear. The beast still blindly thrashed its arms, turning this way and that. Apparently, it had no intention of stopping, nor moving.

Wolf breathed in deeply to calm down.

For the moment, I’m safe. If I can’t hit it till it’s dead, then I have to think of something else...

Wolf breathed out.

Objectively speaking, this was Wolf’s first true battle. Even though it was an illusion, the stakes were still high and the sense of danger was real.

I can’t lose! I can’t give up either! I need those rewards. You get good stuff if you pass all the trials.

*Breathe in.*

Wait. Slumber did something! It wasn’t as good as dad said, but it did something.

*Breathe out.*

That means other spells will work as well!

It was only then that Wolf finally realized a Mage should use magic in combat. Not a dagger he technically no longer had, even though he still held it in his hand.

The irony was that he wouldn’t have figured it out if he could still use his weapon. Then Wolf would’ve spent his time trying to figure out how to stab or slash the bear to death. When a manling has a hammer and all that…

As soon as Wolf reached his grand realization, he started casting another spell. Hearing the sound, the bear slowly lumbered towards him, swinging its huge paws left and right like a windmill. Wolf completed the incantation long before the blind bear could reach him.

Four glimmering awls appeared above the boy’s hand, then shot at the lumbering hulk.

*Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu!*

Darts composed from silvery-purple light struck the furry hide, piercing deep holes. Wounds pierced through the beast’s chest, causing it to bleed profusely.

I should’ve done this from the start, Wolf silently complained. That Slumber spell was just a waste of Soul Force. I should’ve prepared more Magic Darts! Dad said that it was the least useful of all good Second Order spells. But he also claimed that Detect Poison was useful.

Luckily, when we rested last time, Dad told me not to prepare Fleet of Foot and Protection from Elements. Now I have Grease, Mage Armor, and one more Magic Dart remaining.

I hope it will be enough for the last opponent. As Wolf was considering which spells he had left to deal with the bear, he realized something else. If the bear was this tough, what about the enemy that followed? They were certainly going to be stronger than the bear.

Wolf had stopped paying attention to his enemy. He only made certain to stay out of its reach while watching it bleed out. Apparently, Lonely Eagle had also bled the bear to death.

Or maybe the illusion handled wounds realistically, but didn’t take stamina into account?

Wolf, however, simply observed the beast bleed out with an odd mix of boredom and panic.

Eventually, the bear collapsed and disappeared. Wolf had to admit that he was really strong in his past life. Being able to defeat a creature this powerful without relying on magic was certainly not an easy feat.

As Wolf replayed the battle in his mind, the familiar metallic voice rang out again.

“Congratulations Personal Disciple. Personal Disciple only has one challenge left before being promoted to Legacy Disciple of Honored Master. This is a great honor…” the voice kept singing praises for its Honored Master. Unfortunately for it, Wolf was already a grandmaster of ignoring long-winded speeches which didn’t interest him.

Completely disregarding the metallic drone, Wolf cast Mage Armor. It lasted several hours, so why not? Once the silvery-purple full plate armor materialized, Wolf headed towards the last challenge. As he did, his fingers kept clenching the now visible dagger in anticipation.

Can I defeat something stronger than this bear? he wondered as he stepped forward.

Archibald's lessons:

It is assumed that Monster Beasts are a cross between what is known as True Monsters and regular beasts. Meaning somewhere in the extremely distant lineage they have a truly terrifying ancestor. After crossbreeding over very long periods of time, the majority of Monster Beasts have lost any traces they had of their divine ancestry and evolved into something new. The legends say that even the most powerful Monster Beast couldn’t stand its ground against a True Monster newborn.

 

sleepydad88 This chapter was edited thanks to the support from June and July patrons:  Auron32, Carla Measner, Connor Kogut, GenericKane, Hammy, Jarloway, Joao Paulo Cambri Fiorin, Johnny Hines, Kai, Magnuss, MrrC, Nonie, Roland Thelefty, shabbybook, Story Seeker, Thundermike00, Tom and warmoger55.





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