Chapter 4

  Nicholas appears in a vast open plain surrounded by unfamiliar trees.

  Wow... I knew I was no longer on my planet, but this... this is extraordinary. Never in my life did I expect to witness another world.

  Around him stretched long purple grass, dotted with an assortment of vividly colored flowers—none of which were native to Nicholas’s home.

  He was pulled out of his reverie by a blinking light in the corner of his vision. With a thought, he brought it up.

  Welcome, participants, to the first trial of the Tower. Before we proceed, please choose a basic starting weapon:

  Longsword.

  Wooden shield and shortsword.

  Bow and twenty arrows.

  Wand.

  Daggers.

  Hmm... this may be an easy choice for me. I could go with the wand, since I am technically a necromancer, but I’d feel much safer using the weapon I know—

  a longsword. I’ve trained with the blade since I was young.

  With a thought, the notification vanished, and a longsword in a leather sheath materialized on the ground before him. Nicholas slowly picked up the blade and inspected it.

  This is marvelous. The system can create things like this—out of nothing? The sword isn’t the best I’ve ever seen, but it’ll do to protect myself.

  Nicholas strapped the sheathed sword around his waist. Before he had a chance to wonder what to do next, another notification appeared.

  Welcome again, participants. 1/100 participants have chosen their weapons. All available participants are ready. The first trial will now commence.

  Followed by:

  New Quest Received Extermination: A tribe of unruly goblins has taken up residence nearby. Scout out their location and wipe them out. Reward: Dependent on contribution.

  After reading, Nicholas stood stunned.

  A whole tribe of goblins? How do you suppose, system, that I accomplish that?!, to be honest Gurgle did not seem too tough, but still a tribe meant for 100 participants can not be good.

  “Argh, gods!” Nicholas shouted to no avail. As his outburst faded into the air, growling rose from the treeline. Two black wolves emerged, stalking toward him with teeth bared.

  “I see the gods answered,” Nicholas chuckled as he unsheathed his blade and readied his stance.

  The beasts locked eyes with Nicholas and broke off, each going in a different direction around him, looking for weakness in their prey.

  I see they have at least some intelligence.

  “Come then, ugly dog!” Nicholas taunted.

  The wolves did not falter in their assessment.

  Okay, I need to face them one on one, but they seem too smart to fall for an obvious plan. This may seem too reckless, but I need one of them to attack so I can get behind them and face them together—so I’m not attacked from a blind spot. Still a bad plan, but I won't be able to outrun them.

  Nicholas feinted a charge at one of the wolves. They flinched but didn’t move from their positions.

  Nicholas sighed. “Don't you think you're being too cautious, little puppies?”

  He took his eye off one for just a second—and it charged, lunging straight for his throat. Nicholas tilted his blade, parrying the jaws with the sharp edge, deflecting the beast into the path of the other while slicing its jaw in the process.

  What? Did I just do that? These stats… I feel invincible. I’ve never moved this quickly in my life.

  With a smile on his face, Nicholas taunted the two scrambling beasts, pointing his sword in their direction. This time, they threw caution to the wind and attacked.

  The left wolf reached him first. Nicholas parried, knocking it to the side, then pulled back for a swing at the second. It showed no fear as the sword slashed across its neck—it dropped like a sack of potatoes, wheezing from the gash in its throat.

  The remaining beast turned and lunged again. Nicholas sidestepped and slashed at its right front leg, cutting it clean off.

  He marveled at his performance, then walked over to the crippled wolf and finished it with a stab to the heart. As he did, he heard the final death throes of the other wolf. It was over as quickly as it began.

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  I think I could get used to this.

  A familiar blinking light filled his vision.

  You have slain wolf (lvl3).

  You have slain wolf (lvl4).

  You are now level 2.

  You have earned +2 intelligence, +1 wisdom, +1 willpower and 3 unspent stat points.

  You have learned the skill: Swordsmanship passive (lvl1).

  Oh… I almost forgot, I have a magic class. I should have tried Necrotic Bolt… I guess it’s hard to change old habits.

  Nicholas wasn’t deterred in the least by what he’d accomplished.

  Seeing your victories and gaining power from them… I can see how this could get addictive for some people. No wonder Tiana said ‘kill or be killed.’

  Now, let’s see what I can do with these wolf corpses.

  After Nicholas checked his memory about how to raise the corpses into undead, he followed his internal instructions.

  It seems it's more about intent while pushing my mana into the body of the wolf… but I don't know how to control my mana. I’ll need a moment to figure this out.

  Thinking back, Nicholas imagined what it felt like when he summoned his first Necrotic Bolt, but this time with the intent to raise the corpse instead. A familiar black orb began to form in his palm.

  Hmm… this doesn't seem to be working.

  As he thought this, the black orb suddenly absorbed into the wolf with a familiar tug at his mana, draining nearly half of his core.

  It felt like it worked… but they’re not moving. Ah—let's see if I need to use my Control Dead spell.

  With his intent focused on control, a connection was established, and he felt a minor awareness of the wolf in his mind.

  “Bark!” Nicholas commanded.

  The wolf let out a gurgled splutter onto the ground.

  Ah—I must have cut this one's vocal cords. Let's see if I can command it with intent instead… Wag your tail.

  And the wolf corpse did exactly as ordered.

  “Haha, this is much better when they’re on my side.”

  Satisfied, Nicholas gathered his thoughts and tried to put a plan in place.

  Firstly, my outdoor survival lessons told me I need to find secure shelter, followed by food and water. Then I can scout out where the goblin camp is so I can start figuring out the next steps for completing this difficult quest.

  Before setting out to look for shelter, Nicholas raised the other wolf and decided to give them names.

  You, with the beautiful singing voice, can be… Rodrick. Haha, yes—Sir Rodrick. What a truly fitting name. And… Pepper. I once heard of a favorite prostitute the royal guards used to visit. She only had one leg too, so your name will be Pepper.

  Chuckling to himself at his witty names, he ordered Pepper and Rodrick to follow as he began scouting the forest.

  As the party of three searched through the forest, Nicholas became aware of the mana draw on his core.

  It seems having these two corpses follow me like this doesn’t drain my mana—only slows down my regeneration. Although… I feel Pepper is taking more of my mana, probably from exerting more strength due to having one leg. Curious. I suppose I need to perform some tests.

  “Rodrick, run to that tree and back,” he said, pointing to a tree twenty feet away.

  Rodrick did as asked, and Nicholas concentrated on his core.

  Okay, that uses more mana—not quite enough to alarm me though.

  “Rodrick, use all your strength to attack that tree,” he said, pointing to an innocent nearby tree.

  Rodrick lunged at the tree, bit down on the bark, and tugged backward, trying to topple it to no avail.

  Ah, that seems to start draining my mana core slowly. So in actual combat, this will be something I need to take notice of—even more so with multiple corpses.

  Satisfied, Nicholas ordered Rodrick to resume following as they continued their search.

  After some time, Nicholas spotted a cave mouth on the side of a large hill and decided to investigate.

  That looks like it would be a good home—as long as it’s not already occupied.

  He walked up the short hill, edged toward the cave entrance, and peered into the dark tunnel.

  Hmm… maybe I shouldn’t just walk into a dark, scary tunnel on an unknown world.

  An idea formed.

  Let’s see how well Rodrick can follow commands.

  Nicholas sent a mental command to Rodrick: Rodrick, go into the cave. If there’s anything living, tell me.

  Rodrick didn’t move.

  Maybe that was too complicated…

  Rodrick—run in cave, bark bark, then come back.

  Rodrick sprinted into the cave. Seconds later, Nicholas heard Rodrick’s signature bark—like a bubbling pool of tortured souls—and then the sound of sprinting paws returning.

  “Good job, Rod—”

  A monstrous roar bellowed from deep within the cave, followed by thundering stomps charging toward their position.

  “Oh gods!” Nicholas shouted as he sprinted down the hill, back toward the treeline, while sending frantic mental commands to his undead minions:

  Sprint! Follow! Go, go, go!.

  They all dashed to the trees. Finding little shelter behind the wood and bark, Nicholas slowed his sprint and hid behind one with a clear view of the cave mouth. He looked back to see what manner of beast would emerge.

  As he waited anxiously, the thudding slowed, and a head appeared—something that looked like a bear, if it had been beaten with an ugly stick. The creature scanned the area around its domain.

  As Nicholas studied the creature intently, a notification appeared:

  Skill learned: Identify (lvl1) focusing on any entity or object will give you a brief description of the target.

  How convenient, Nicholas thought. He focused on the beast and, like every other spell he’d used, willed his intent to identify the entity.

  Dire Bear (Lvl 9)

  Moments after Nicholas finished scanning the Dire Bear, it let out a warning roar at the cave mouth before turning and lumbering back into its lair.