NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17: Past – Zach
ACT I – Zach
Hunting
An aniwye leapt at Zach, its front paws extended and claws ready. Zach stepped to the side, his body faster and more coordinated than ever before. The monster was level eight, and easy for Zach, who was level fourteen, to avoid. He raised his sword from below, cutting into the aniwye’s stomach as it flew past him, his blade sinking into the stomach until it reached the spine and severed it, cleaving the monster in half. In the distance he saw Melody and Ryun fighting off another four monsters, so he activated his [Leap].
His legs bent and pushed off the earth, sending him flying across the small clearing and into the midst of the monsters. With a |Strike| he brought his sword down on the aniwye, cutting through the flesh on its shoulder. These were not the Young Aniwye that they had fought before, but were rather Mature Aniwye. They looked much the same as their smaller counterparts, a cross between a raccoon and a skunk, except that these weren’t the size of a dog, but rather that of a pony. The aniwye reared back as Zach cut it, letting Ryun get a chance to stab it through the chest. Seeing that it was still alive, Zach put a [Piercing Stab] through its stomach.
Behind him, Melody whirled her staff and kept four Young Aniwye at bay while Zach and Ryun dealt with the bigger ones. Then two quick Fire Flares flew across the clearing, hitting two different monsters, burning their hide and into their bodies. The last of the Mature Aniwye roared and jumped at Ryun, faster than Zach could react. But a pale silver light enveloped Ryun and he shot off to the side, and Zach jumped forward and met the monster with a |Strike| to the head. It tried to evade, but Zach was faster—his sword cut into its skull and got stuck halfway through, but the monster was dead.
Breathing deeply, Zach turned around, seeing that Melody and Linda had dealt with the smaller ones and were safe. Then he turned to Ryun, who was on his knees, breathing heavily.
“You okay?” Zach asked.
“Fuck no,” Ryun gasped out. Zach knew that that silver sheen was one of his Cultivation techniques that let him empower himself, but he hadn’t seen him use it on his entire body before.
“What happened?”
“At least you got out of the way in time,” Zach said as his own breathing calmed down.
He left Ryun to recover on his own, and looked around. There were about a dozen dead monsters, with four being mature ones. Two small brown chests stood in the middle of the clearing among the corpses. This was their third hunt of the day—they were fighting a group of Tiger Macaques as well as another smaller group of Aniwye
. Zach glanced at his screens and saw that with this hunt, he had earned enough Essence for level fifteen. Immediately he put three thousand Essence in and leveled up. New screens appeared, startling him.
Level 15 unlocked!
3 attribute points available!
Support Ability Available—*Multiple Choices Available*
Class Perk Available—*Multiple Choices Available*
It looked like could pick his final Class ability, but it was the text about a perk that drew his eye. He looked at the windows.
Quick Steps
You gain 10% bonus speed when in combat.
Duelist
When fighting opponents that use swords, gain +10 to all stats. (Gain one additional stat for every ten levels.)
Riposte Strike
Once per combat, gain the ability to execute a lightning-fast attack after being damaged. (Speed of returning strike equals double your dexterity.)
Seeing the Duelist perk immediately made his eyes darken. That one was obviously meant for people fighting other people, which he wasn’t interested in doing, and he could immediately eliminate that one as a choice seeing as he was fighting monsters regardless. The other two were both very interesting. Quick Steps was a good passive bonus to his speed, but he was already faster than all the monsters they had fought. Riposte Strike was riskier, but being able to return a strike that had a good chance of ending his opponent was incredibly good, and he couldn’t afford to think that he wouldn’t get injured again. Making a decision, he picked Riposte Strike
. Immediately he felt as if a small node appeared in his head, and he knew how to activate the ability.With that done, he looked at the abilities.
Chains
Summon chains from your arm to bind your opponent.
Sword Shine
The blade of your sword reflects and amplifies light in the direction of your opponent. (Requires sword-type weapon.)
Shimmer
Your form shimmers for an instant, confusing your opponents.
All looked like good choices, but he eliminated [Sword Shine] because he wasn’t sure that he would always have his sword at hand. [Shimmer] might be a good distraction, but in the end [Chains] appeared the most useful—being able to bind monsters in place would have a lot more utility than attempting to blind or confuse them. After he made his pick he looked at his stats. For his three free stats, he put two in intelligence and one into wisdom, because he wanted to get some cushion room for his stats. His dexterity was now forty-two and his strength twenty-seven. He would probably bring up his strength next.
He had only about 150 Essence left, and he needed 3500 for the next level. With a satisfied smile he closed his windows and looked around, seeing the others standing next to the two chests that they had received as loot. They had gotten them for the last two fights as well, only the items hadn’t been all that useful: some articles of clothing, a leather tunic and pants. They took them, but no one used them. They were all still wearing the clothes that they’d had on when they arrived here. Each of them had been dressed for a walk in the woods and camping, and so their own clothes provided more protection than what they were getting from the loot.
As he walked over he saw that this time they had gotten some weapons. One chest had two simple daggers, and the other a helmet made out of bound leather.
“Any takers?” Ryun asked.
Melody reached down and picked up the daggers, then turned to Linda. “You should take them.”
“I don’t want them,” she said with a queasy look on her face.
“You might be able to use your fire on range, but you need something in case a monster gets closer,” Melody said.
“She is right,” Zach said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll teach you how to use them.”
Linda looked at the daggers like they were snakes, but she did take them.
“And the helmet?” Ryun asked.
“One of us three should take that,” Melody said. “We are the ones in the thick of things.”
Zach nodded. “Ryun, you should take it. You have the lowest stats.”
Ryun grimaced but nodded, taking the brown helmet and putting it over his head. Melody and Linda had both reached level ten, and their stats were higher than Ryun’s, their primary ones at least. Zach didn’t know how good his path was, he had little to go on, but so far the Classes seemed more powerful as well as less demanding. Ryun still didn’t have enough Essence to advance.
They took the corpses of the monsters and sold them in the shop. They had tried their meat and found that none of them like it, so for now they were using the monkeys as a source of food. They gathered up and headed out. It was only around midday, and they planned on hunting for a while longer.