Télécharger l’application
2.97% New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live / Chapter 33: The Orphan, Part 2

Chapitre 33: The Orphan, Part 2

Astaroth woke up what seemed to be several hours later. The sky was dark and close to him, he could hear the crackling of a fire.

There was a blanket covering him. He groggily lifted his head, before terrible pain assaulted him.

He caressed his head, and there he found a nasty gash, covered in some kind of ointment, on the back of his skull.

'Who saved me?' He wondered.

Then he heard a cracking noise behind him. Astaroth got up as fast as his state permitted him and equipped his polearm, pointing it in the crack's direction.

"Easy there, kiddo." He heard in a familiar voice.

"Korin?" Astaroth asked, puzzled.

Vertigo then caught him, and he started dropping.

"Woah there. Easy now. Sit down, will ya?" Korin said, catching him back before he hit his head on the ground again.

"What are you doing here?" Astaroth asked him.

"What you mean to say is thank you for saving my sorry ass, I think." Korin teased him.

"Ahh, you are the one who pulled me out of the river?" Astaroth asked, still hazy on the events.

"Who else would have saved you, kid?" Korin said, giving him a silly smile.

"You were in trouble, and I was there. I would not let you drown and waste all that precious day of training now, would I?" He added.

"How do you... It's you! You were the one I kept feeling was following me!" Astaroth exclaimed, finally understanding what had transpired.

"Oh? So you knew you were being followed? Why didn't you try to find me?" Korin asked, now curious at the young man's thought process.

"Well, I guessed if what or who was following me had nefarious intentions, they would have attacked me while I was fighting, or right after, when I was exhausted." Astaroth explained.

"How naïve." Korin smirked.

"Huh? Why?" Astaroth replied, confused.

"Do you think a good hunter attacks when his prey is weak? No. He attacks when his prey least expects it." Korin said, matter-of-factly.

"Hmm." Astaroth hummed in contemplation.

It was at this moment that Astaroth noticed a little white lump, on the other side of the fire. He stretched his neck, trying to see what it was, and then he saw two little ears wiggle on the lump.»

"The pup!" Astaroth exclaimed, crawling to it.

"Yeah. When your wolf threw it to the river bank, I picked it up. You were trying so hard to save the little fellow, that I didn't want your efforts to go to waste. So I picked him up before following you downstream." Korin said, smiling gently.

"Young master. Please let me out." Astaroth heard in his head.

"Young master? Since when do you call me that? You usually call me weakling or Elf." Astaroth replied with an eyebrow rising.

"You saved my kin. I shall be eternally grateful for it. You deserve my full respect." White Death said in his head.

Astaroth could feel the reverence in his tone. He summoned him out.

The wolf appeared next to him and slightly bowed its head, before walking to the pup. White Death sniffed the pup all over, licking the wounds on the poor thing.

It did all of this, ever so gently. It surprised Astaroth how gentle the wolf was right now.

Then again, he had already guessed that the pup was his. After the panicked reaction and the insistence to save it, plus that he had been looking for something in his old den, the dots were easy to connect.

When the pup felt the nudging and licking, it weakly opened its eyes. It immediately recognized the white wolf in front of him, although it was smaller.

It whimpered and tried to get up. White Death pushed it back down and kept taking care of it.

"So that's why you were saving it." Astaroth heard from the side.

"Yeah. The pup is his. They rejected it from the pack after the alpha died and swapped to another wolf." He nodded.

"Makes sense." Korin replied.

When the five-minute summon was almost up, White Death grabbed the pup by its scruff and brought it before Astaroth.

"I have told her who saved it. I also told her who my master was now and why it should follow you, too." White Death said to Astaroth.

"You want me to adopt it?" He answered, a little bewildered.

He had never had a pet in his life because it was too much responsibility. He feared he wouldn't know what to do.

"Yes. Although I wouldn't say adopt it. More like making her your companion." White Death replied.

"And how do I do that?" Astaroth asked.

"Name her and make a blood pact with her." White Death said, like it was the most normal thing to do.

"A blood pact?! How do I form a blood pact with her?!" Astaroth said in bewilderment.

"Name her first. If she accepts the name, the first step is already done. Then cut open your thumb and press it upon her forehead. That will seal the pact." White Death said, looking at Astaroth like he should know this.

As he looked at him, he started fading. Time was up.

Astaroth just looked down on the pup, and it looked back at him. Her big, black, puppy eyes were staring at him like she was peering into his soul.

He finally shrugged and went through with it. He thought for a brief moment, trying to find a suitable name.

Then he recalled something he had read in a psychology paper once. Something about an orphan girl, abused and cast away.

The situation here fit, so he recalled that little girl's name.

"Genie." He said, looking at the pup.

"Does that name suit you?" He asked.

The little pup bobbed her head a bit like she was nodding. It almost looked like she could understand him.

"Okay then. You shall be called Genie." Astaroth said, nodding too.

He then pulled his dagger out, cut the tip of his finger, and pressed it upon the Genie's forehead. A spout of vertigo took Astaroth, but it lasted only for a moment.

He could feel a conscience connect to his. No words came from it though, only feelings.

He felt a bit of fear from it, followed by a wave of relief. He looked back down and Genie was now climbing his legs and lying down on them.

She fell asleep right there and then, curled up in a small ball of white fur.

"Well, it seems like you have yourself another ally." Korin said from the side.

"Take care of the little thing and it can become a powerful helper." He added.

"Mmm." Astaroth replied, in a daze.

He looked at the pup's stats, now that it was bound to him.

Status:

Name: Genie

Race: Dire Wolf (Pup)

Level: 4 (0/100) (Exp share 50/50)

Grade: Special

Stat Allocation: Agi-Con-Agi-Int-Str

Str: 4 Agi: 6 Con: 5 Int: 5 Wis: 4

Heath: 250 Mana: 45

Attack Power Str (Bite):20 Attack Power Agi (Claw): 30

Defense: 0.5%

'Great. Now I have another burden on my Exp.' Astaroth thought.

Then again, that is only in the short term. In the long term, this companion would become another asset to put him on top.

Astaroth looked at the little fur ball sleeping on his lap, smiled, and got some rest.

"I'm tired, can I leave you to guard the first part of the night?" He asked Korin.

"Sure, kiddo. I'll wake you up when it's your turn on watch duty." Korin Replied.

Astaroth thanked him, lied down, rolled into the blanket, and closed his eyes. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep, his day catching up to him.


L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS
Galanar Galanar

Bonus chapter for 200 PS! Huzzah!

next chapter

Chapitre 34: Innovation, Part 1

That night, since he fell asleep in the game, Astaroth forgot to log out. Therefore, he spent his night in the game.

Slight tremors awakened him. Korin was shaking his body awake, to switch out of watch duty and catch some shut-eye.

The night was relatively uneventful, and no beast came to disturb them. The morning came soon enough and Astaroth woke Korin up.

"Thank you for saving me yesterday. And for staying the night with me. But I wish to stay out here for another day. I will come back to the village by sundown, I promise." Astaroth told Korin, bowing in appreciation.

"Fine. But in case you don't make it back, keep the blanket. It will let you camp out without freezing. I will go back to the village today. I'll tell the captain that you don't need to join patrols anymore. And I'll also tell him to send the patrols in another direction for a few days, at least until you come back." Korin said, getting up and stretching his limbs.

Korin then walked to the fire and stomped it out. He grabbed his stuff and walked back in the village's direction.

Korin knew the woods like the back of his hand and needed no help to go back home. As for Astaroth, he had the game's map function to guide him.

That was also how he knew where he was now. He was far away from the village, but it was nothing he couldn't trek back when he needed to.

Astaroth watched Korin's figure disappear into the woods. He was thankful the man had helped him, but even more that he left him alone to get stronger.

After all, he already had two leeches on his Exp now. He looked down at his new companion, who was awake and prancing around him.

The pup looked back up at him expectantly.

"Alright girl. Let's get you leveled up." Astaroth said to the pup.

They left their makeshift campsite and went back into the woods. He would have to farm much more, just to reach level thirty now.

The little wolf accompanying him would be a burden at first, but she would quickly become an asset, in Astaroth's opinion. Another source of damage linked directly to his own.

Although she would take half of what little Exp he was still gaining, she would quickly level up and become strong enough for him to go after larger groups of enemies.

That would make his grind go faster than before, and would compensate for the loss he was experiencing. Astaroth soon after found a small group of wolves.

He used the same method as the day before to slay them, making max use of his 'Spirit Melding' and 'Spirit Summoning' abilities to boost his power.

Genie was contributing minor damage at first, but as her level rose, her damage did with it.

They went about killing all the wolf groups they encountered, no longer stopping at just groups of three or fewer wolves.

Astaroth upped the game up to six wolves today, making the training more taxing on his mind, but also much more lucrative for his level. Astaroth farmed for the whole day, killing almost fifty wolves this time.

His level had only gone up by one, but White Death's level had also gone up by one, and Genie's level had the most drastic upgrade, going up by a whole fourteen levels.

When Genie reached level fifteen she had grown bigger, becoming an adolescent wolf. It had not affected her stats, but she had unlocked a skill.

Astaroth assumed that it was probably a normal skill for the special-grade wolves. He opened her status window, to look at her progress.

Status:

Name: Genie

Race: Dire Wolf (Adolescent)

Level: 18 (7'252/13'050) (Exp share 50/50)

Grade: Special

Str: 23 Agi: 28 Con: 23 Int: 23 Wis: 18

Heath: 2'100 Mana: 410

Attack Power Str (Bite):115 Attack Power Agi (Claw): 140

Defense: 2.3%

Abilities: Tearing Claw

Tearing Claw: Uses a powerful claw attack that does more damage and causes bleeding. Can be seen by the sheen around the claws. +100% claw damage, causes bleed 1% HP/s that stops when treated. Cooldown 1 minute.

Astaroth had no control over her stat points, so he guessed they followed a predetermined path, specific to this breed of wolves.

The amount of health Genie had was staggering for her small amount of constitution points, but he surmised it was because of her being a special-grade creature.

He then opened up his status window to see how many points he had at his disposal.

Status:

Name: Astaroth

Race: Ash Elf

Level: 21 (37'285/55'950)

Stats:

HP: 2'400/2'400 MP: 735/735 Stamina: 100

Mana Regen: 1/second in combat, 5/second out of combat

Strength: 24 (+20) Agility: 27 Constitution: 27 (+20)

Intelligence: 27 Wisdom: 22

Attack Power Str: 220 Attack Power Agi: 135 Magic Attack Power: 135 Healing Power: 110

Natural Defense: 4.7% Armor Defense: 14%

Luck: 0 (Stat unaffected by Level up and free points)

Available stat points: 15

Available skill points: 8

Physical Condition: Normal

Mental Condition: Normal

He brought all his attack stats to thirty, followed by his constitution stat also to thirty, using all fifteen free points at once.

He looked at it again.

Status:

Name: Astaroth

Race: Ash Elf

Level: 21 (37'285/55'950)

Stats:

HP: 2'700/2'700 MP: 780/780 Stamina: 100

Mana Regen: 1/second in combat, 5/second out of combat

Strength: 30 (+20) Agility: 30 Constitution: 30 (+20)

Intelligence: 30 Wisdom: 22

Attack Power Str: 250 Attack Power Agi: 150 Magic Attack Power: 150 Healing Power: 110

Natural Defense: 5% Armor Defense: 14%

Luck: 0 (Stat unaffected by Level up and free points)

Available stat points: 0

Available skill points: 8

Physical Condition: Normal

Mental Condition: Normal

Astaroth grinned in satisfaction and started walking back towards the village. He had done enough for today.

He also had to consider he had been in the game for two full days, which meant he had been in there for twenty-four hours in real-time. That was a lot of time and very unhealthy for his body.

He would need to look into managing this better. Astaroth was almost certain he wasn't the only one that had done this either.

Maybe 'Evo-Gaming' would remedy the situation eventually, but for now, logging in and out was his safest option.


L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS
Galanar Galanar

If you liked my story, add it to your library!

This story is in the Fantasy Carnival, so it needs Power Stones to up-rank. If I get into the top 100, I will drop an extra 2 chapters that day. Another 2 chapters for top 50. I will up the stakes at 5 bonus chapters for top 20, and another 5 for top 10! Please vote for me! :)

Also, I drop an extra chapter on Monday for every 100 PS I accumulate in the event!

We managed to climb up to 54th! The competition is getting tougher, but we are still slowly inching toward our next objective! We are so close now! Let's keep this going!

If you like the novel so far or think something could use work, don't be scared to leave a review :)

Load failed, please RETRY

Cadeaux

Cadeau -- Cadeau reçu

    État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire

    Chapitres de déverrouillage par lots

    Table des matières

    Options d'affichage

    Arrière-plan

    Police

    Taille

    Commentaires sur les chapitres

    Écrire un avis État de lecture: C33
    Échec de la publication. Veuillez réessayer
    • Qualité de l’écriture
    • Stabilité des mises à jour
    • Développement de l’histoire
    • Conception des personnages
    • Contexte du monde

    Le score total 0.0

    Avis posté avec succès ! Lire plus d’avis
    Votez avec Power Stone
    Rank 200+ Classement de puissance
    Stone 28 Pierre de Pouvoir
    signaler du contenu inapproprié
    Astuce d’erreur

    Signaler un abus

    Commentaires de paragraphe

    Connectez-vous

    tip Commentaire de paragraphe

    La fonction de commentaire de paragraphe est maintenant disponible sur le Web ! Déplacez la souris sur n’importe quel paragraphe et cliquez sur l’icône pour ajouter votre commentaire.

    De plus, vous pouvez toujours l’activer/désactiver dans les paramètres.

    OK