When I woke up next morning I ate breakfast and did some light exercise.
Everyone eventually woke up and we held a strategy meeting. We decided to make the wolves' spoils into weapons to equip everyone with.
we split up and each got to work. I took a horn and drilled a hole in it with the 'hunter's knife', it cut through it easily.
I attached the horn to a bone and made a simple short-spear.
<Congratulation! Title 'The first smith' earned>
When I did I earned another title.
Titles:
The first smith
Description: Be the first person of your race that crafts a weapon.
Effect: When crafting the product will always end up one grade higher than without this title.
I wasn't sure how good of an effect it was, but it seemed pretty good.
'So, it would have been 'common' grade without this title.', I thought as I looked at the details of the spear I'd made.
Horn-spear of the dark wolf(rare)
Attack: 4-5
Effect: Endurance +1
It was a pretty good weapon for something I'd made in a few minutes.
I made a few more and handed them out. My combat knife had an attack of 15 so I didn't need a spear.
"Just give it to me, come on!"
A fight had broken out.
It had been 4 hours since we woke up and some people were eating lunch. Not everyone had food left over from breakfast, so they were looking at those who had jealously.
Rock, the muscular man who had gotten 4th place in yesterday’s ranking, was extorting food from an old lady.
"Give it to me, I need the energy to fight those monsters." He hit the woman and took the loaf of bread she was eating. I walked over to take it back for her, but before I got close he had already eaten all of it.
"Next time you do that, I'll kill you." I warned him as I gave the old lady some food. He scoffed at me and walked off.
<Warning! Second wave starting in 60 seconds>
We quickly moved to our positions. We used the same tactic as before, we couldn't think of anything better after all.
"There!" Monsters started appearing behind us and we quickly rushed towards them.
The monsters this time were goblins; they were small humanoid creatures with green skin and pointy ears. They held crude weapons but had no form of teamwork at all.
We engaged with them and started taking them out.
During the fight I made full use of my 'First blood' title. I snuck up on goblins and cut their throat. Whenever I did I'd get discovered by the surrounding goblins, but I fell back every time and disengage from combat. That would reset the title and I would be able to sneak up on another goblin.
<Congratulations! Title 'assassin' earned>
After killing nearly a dozen goblins this way I earned another title.
We’d fought for just a few minutes when we cleared the whole group. We moved back to our initial position, on guard for any new monsters.
We looked around, but none appeared. A few people relaxed and moved to loot the goblins. I tried to stop them, saying the wave hadn't ended, but they wouldn't listen.
Lights flashed, and more goblins appeared, about twice as many as before.
They appeared in the same place as before and the three people that had split off were surrounded and quickly killed.
We rushed out again and faced the goblins.
As we were fighting the goblins more lights flashed. New goblins appeared all around us, eventually everyone was fighting including the non-combatants.
More and more people started to fall until just 8 people were left. "We have to break through! Charge!"
We were completely surrounded and were in serious danger. Listening to Hugh, we charged through where the encirclement was the weakest.
Two more people fell, and we were now 6 against nearly a hundred.
We faced the horde of goblins. "why are they suddenly so organized?" Rock, who had survived, asked. "Don't know, someone might be controlling them."
The goblins hadn't been hard to fight for the first while, but they suddenly started cooperating with each other. This made it harder for us to kill any; whenever a goblin was about to be killed, another would strike out and force us to defend against the attack.
I looked over the crowd of goblins and spotted one that was slightly taller than the rest.
"I think I've found the one controlling them. I'm gonna go kill him, you guys focus on staying alive."
I started sneaking and moved towards the goblin that stood out. As I moved closer I could see he was, indeed, giving out orders and directing the goblins.
He was right in the middle of the goblins, so I wouldn't be able to hide after killing him.
I hesitated for a moment but quickly moved behind him and slid his throat.
<Congratulations! Title 'General killer' earned>
I killed him and immediately started attacking the surrounding goblins.
When the tall goblin fell, the rest of them fell into chaos; They started yelling, each one trying to take control. Because of this I was able to swiftly take out a dozen goblins, each with just a single stab.
The goblins calmed down a bit, but their organization was gone. Each fought for themselves.
I had nearly exited the mob of goblins when a spear suddenly stabbed me. I'd gotten surrounded by several goblins and kicked one of them away to break through, but another had thrown his spear and hit me.
My Kevlar suit had reduced some of the damage but the spear still managed to puncture my shoulder.
I ignored the pain and quickly rushed out of the goblin mob. A few more attacks hit me, but they did superficial damage. exiting the mob I quickly hid myself.
Taking out the small first-aid kit I had, I treated my shoulder.
I disinfected the wound and put a bandage around it, but it wasn't anywhere close to healed; the bone wasn't broken but a giant hole in your shoulder isn't something you can just shrug off.
I looked at the others and found that one of them had died. The four who were left over were busy fighting the goblins.
The goblins weren't organized anymore and those that were far from the fight lost interest and started walking about.
I approached small groups of goblins and started killing them off. After a few minutes the last goblin finally died.
There were just 5 of use left, me included.
We looked over the battlefield littered with corpses. Of the once one hundred people only 5 were left.
"This is fucked. This is so fucking fucked!" The only survivor who hadn't joined the initial fight screamed. He was the boy who had pointed out the gloves I was wearing.
"Is that reward thing going to come up again?" Rock asked, he didn't seem to care much about all the corpses.
"We'll probably have to loot all the bodies first, like last time." Hugh spoke up as he started to walk around, looking for loot.
"What a bother, you guys do it." Rock sat down where he stood and started cleaning his weapon.
The four of us, me, Hugh, Amy and the boy, Sting, started looting the bodies.
We looked through the weapons the goblins were using and occasionally found coins or other items.
Sting had gotten a title when he found the gloves after the first wave called 'first hunter'. He would find items and coins much more than us, apparently he could somehow 'feel' where they were.
I picked up the last item and a notification appeared.
<Second wave complete, providing rewards>
<Reward is based on contribution>
<1st Hella, 5 days’ supply of food, 5 days’ supply of water, Weapon(unique)>
<2nd Amy, 3 days’ supply of food, 3 days’ supply of water, Item(rare)>
<3rd Hugh, 2 days’ supply of food, 2 days’ supply of water, Armour(rare)>
<4th Sting, 1 days’ supply of food, 1 days’ supply of water, Armour(common)>
<5th Rock, 1 days’ supply of food, 1 days’ supply of water>
"What! Why! Why does this bastard have more contribution then me? I killed more of them goblins than him." When Rock saw the rewards, he got angry. He started swearing and eventually approached Sting. "You better give me that armour, you don't deserve it."
"Calm down, it's probably because you didn't do any of the looting. That might count as contribution as well." Hugh tried to defuse the situation, but it only made Rock angrier.
Sting stepped back, startled. "You're not gonna give it to me? I'll just take it then!" Rock said as he pulled out his weapon and swung it at Sting.
'Bang!'
Before he managed to hit Sting, a sound rang out. Since he ignored my earlier warning I shot Rock. A hole opened in his chest and blood poured out.
Sting got covered by it and sank to his knees. Rock collapsed, and it fell silent once again.
<Congratulations! you have earned the 'Executioner' title>
<Congratulations! you have earned the 'High judge' title>
Notifications appeared in front of me and I remembered the titles I'd earned during the earlier fight.
Titles
Assassin
Description: take 10 lives in a row without entering open combat. Time between kills can not exceed 60 seconds.
Effect: Sneak attacks do 5% more damage. You are less likely to be discovered when hiding.
General killer
Description: Kill the commander of an enemy army whilst surrounded. Commander must exceed your level.
Effect: When fighting against a large group, strength, endurance and dexterity are increased by 10%.
Executioner
Description: Kill someone who is lower level than you with a single attack. Opponent can not be hostile towards you. Opponent must be warned of the attack.
Effect: Obtain 10% more exp when killing creatures lower level than you.
High judge
Description: Be the first of your race to kill someone of your race in the arena.
Effect: Obtain 100% more exp when you kill someone of your race. When you kill someone of your race you will absorb one of their titles or skills.
'They're really good' I thought as I studied my new titles.
We gathered the loot and sat down, Hugh didn't seem happy with how I had handled the situation but didn't comment on it.
I first looked at the weapon I got as a reward. It was a black dagger with a dragon engraved on the hilt.
Fraelrir's claw(unique)
Attack: 35-40
Effect: Any wound caused by this cursed blade can not heal by natural means.
It was a great weapon, especially in combination with the 'first blood' title, if I cut an enemy even slightly when ambushing them, they could bleed to death.
I sheathed the dagger and put it on my hip.
I took a look at the other items, there were some swords and spears that seemed pretty good, but I don't know how to use those, so I put them aside.
One thing that stood out was a small crossbow, my gun's bullets would eventually run out so it was a good idea to get another ranged weapon.
I grabbed the crossbow and inspected it.
Goblin's crossbow(common)
Attack: 10-14
It wasn't anything special, but I decided to take it. I grabbed the quiver that was lying beside it and tied it to my belt.
Hugh had found a small club that he liked, and Sting had picked up a short sword and a shield.
They were both wearing the armour they got as a reward and seemed like they belonged in the middle ages.
Amy was wearing a pair of gauntlets, they apparently didn't have a lot of defence but increased her attack damage when she wasn't using a weapon.
Her combat style, being a professional kickboxer and all that, didn't involve weapons in the first place, so it was a perfect fit for her.
The item she had gotten as a reward was a small hammer. It didn't look like much but could apparently enchant weapons with the 'burning' effect; the weapon would become burning hot to anyone besides the wielder.
She didn't use weapons though, so it was useless to her. I traded it with her and gave her a pair of greaves I'd found. Just like the gauntlets she was wearing, they increased unarmed damage.
Finally, we ate dinner and went to bed. We were tired and figured we would get a warning before the next wave started, so everyone went to sleep without anyone standing guard.
<Warning! third wave starting in 120 seconds>
The warning appeared, and we moved to our positions.
There were only 4 of us so we didn't have to worry about protecting anyone who didn't fight.
Hugh, Amy and Sting formed a triangle formation, each facing away from the centre, and I moved a few meters away.
The plan was for me to hide and ambush the monsters repeatedly while the three of them would focus on staying alive and looking for important targets among the monsters.
If there was a monster that was controlling the others like before they'd point it out to me and I'd kill it.
2 minutes had passed, and a new line of text appeared.
<The ruler of the deserted forest has appeared>
Unlike the first two waves only a single monster appeared.
The monster stood roughly 5 meters tall with green skin and red eyes.
It held a giant hammer with both of his hands and was looking around.
It spotted Hugh and the others and started running towards them.
The monster was surprisingly fast and would reach them in just a few moments.
I wouldn't be able to reach it in time, so I grabbed my gun and quickly fired. Along with the sound the bullet pierced the monster’s skull and he collapsed onto the ground.
We stayed alert for a while until eventually Sting spoke up. "He's like a boss monster, right? It should be over, right?"
We looked around for more monsters but couldn't find any.
Assuming Sting's idea was correct we approached the corpse. I stayed a few meters away from them, so I could quickly get hidden if anything happened.
The three of them reached the monster and Hugh poked it with his club.
"I think it's dea...." Before he could finish his sentence, a giant hand closed around him.
The hand opened and Hugh fell to the ground. Ribs could be seen poking through his skin and his head had split like a watermelon.
Sting and Amy, who were standing right next to him, panicked and froze.
The monster got up, the bullet wound had disappeared, and he swung his hammer at the two; Both flew upon impact and hit the ground several dozen meters away.
I quickly lowered myself to the ground and disappeared from the monster’s sight.
'The wound has completely healed? how is that possible?' I thought as I moved closer to the monster.
I unsheathed Fraelrir's claw, the dagger that prevents wounds from healing, and stopped right behind the monster.
The monster was 5 meters tall, there was no way I'd be able to directly cut its throat.
'It is a humanoid, it might have the same weaknesses.' I thought as I stabbed the dagger into its knees.
I cut through a tendon and the monster collapsed, the muscle I'd cut off had shot into its lower leg, like a rubber band that snapped.
Since I'd attacked, the monster found me and swung its hammer. But because it was injured it had slowed down and I managed to dodge.
I moved away from the monster and tried to hide myself, but because there was nothing to hide behind and I was its only target I failed.
The monster kept following me with its eyes as it waited for its wound to heal.
Blood started pooling up and the monster eventually looked down at the wound. I took this opportunity and hid myself.
Thinking that the monster wouldn't be able to move I made my way over to where Amy and Sting had landed.
Amy had landed on her head and her body weight had snapped her neck. I closed her eyes and looked over at Sting, who was still alive.
He didn't look good either, his arm was broken, and the bone punctured his skin. He also seemed to have some internal injuries.
"Miss, I'm going to die right?" Sting asked as I softly touched his arm. Not intending to hide it, I responded with a quick 'Yes'.
"It hurts so much, I can't take it anymore." He tried to lift his head but was forced to give up.
"Please... Just kill me. I don't want to slowly bleed to death. If nothing else, I want it to be quick." The look in his eyes told me he was serious. I hesitated for a few moments but eventually agreed.
Placing my dagger against his chest, I pushed down and punctured his heart.
<You have absorbed the 'First hunter' title>
I sat for a moment, quietly looking at Sting.
After a few seconds I stood up and walked towards the monster. The monster seemed panicked, it was probably the first time a wound wouldn't heal.
It held its knee and tried scooping the blood, that had formed a puddle around him, back into the wound.
I deliberated whether or not I should just let it bleed out but decided to kill it quickly in the end.
I reversed my grip on the dagger and jumped up. Because of my increased stats I could jump nearly twice as high as before.
The monster was bent over so I was just about able to reach his neck.
I stabbed the blade into its nape and fell back down to the ground, making sure not to injure myself upon hitting the ground.
The monster started bleeding again and he weakly lied down on the ground.
Not wanting to fall for any surprise attack, I made sure to keep my distance and after a few minutes the bleeding stopped.
<Congratulations! you have reached level 10, you can now choose a class>
I slowly approached the monster and made sure it was dead.
An item had appeared next to the monster and I picked it up.
High troll's blood(unique)
effect: Permanently increases regeneration rate
'Does that mean my wounds will heal quicker?' I hesitated for a while but eventually put it away.
<Last wave complete, providing rewards>
<Reward is based on contribution>
<1st Hella, 5 days’ supply of food, 5 days’ supply of water, armour(unique)>
<You are the first to enter the arena>
<Congratulations! You have earned the 'The pioneer' title>
<'Map of the explorer' granted>
<'Sage's knowledge' granted>
I looked at all the new things I'd gotten.
Titles
First hunter
Description: Be the first of your race to loot a creature in the arena.
Effect: You will find higher ranked loot more easily. Dismantling becomes easier.
The pioneer
Description: Be the first of your race to successfully enter the arena.
Effect: Stamina regenerates faster in unexplored territory. People of your race will feel compelled to listen to your orders.
Items
Map of the explorer(unique)
Description: A map that always contains information about your surroundings. Up to a 2 kilometre radius.
Sage's knowledge(Legendary)
Effect: Upon drinking this you will obtain the knowledge of the saint
Hermes' boots(unique)
Effect: Stamina does not decrease from running. Speed increased by 200% when out of combat.
My jaw dropped in surprise. I didn't know much about the arena yet, but I knew that all these things were amazing.
'Obtain the sage's knowledge? That doesn't tell me a lot. Should I just try it? It probably won't kill me, right?' I hesitated for a bit but eventually uncorked the small bottle.
I quickly drank it all and was forced to fall to the ground.
Incredible amounts of new information were wreaking havoc inside of my brain and it felt like my head was going to explode.
After a few minutes, the information settled in place and I sat up.
'It's like I suddenly have access to a library full of information. It feels odd, I don't 'know' most of it but it's like I can look it up.' I tried to make sense of all the new information that had appeared.
'Let's try it for this High troll's blood... Hmmm... It's pretty good; My wounds will heal quicker and there doesn't seem to be any downside. Let's drink it.' I drank the blood and after a few minutes it started to take effect.
Scars I've had for years faded in front of my eyes and my eyesight, that had been deteriorating lately, cleared up. Even the wound in my shoulder I had gotten yesterday started closing and in just under a minute it had vanished completely.
I studied myself some more until a message appeared
<A god has summoned you>
Along with the message my surroundings disappeared.
Sooo she is woman. I don't think there was any indication of her gender before.