Drake sat down, crisscross applesauce as he raised the crystalline stone into the air, inspecting it.

 

 

 [Skill Stone: Debuff] [Uncommon]

 

• Unlocks a random skill from the Debuff tree

• Requirement: Open Skill Slot]

 

 

He had gotten a couple more Skill Stones and one Sub-tree Stone from the fight, but this was probably the most valuable out of the bunch. But it hadn’t come from the Apes, at least that is what he suspected. He had gotten one from Bear earlier, but since this one was right outside of the hole he had dug for the nameless person, his mind connected the dots to something he would rather not think about. 

When he finally got done and buried the corpse, marking it with the sword that was lying right next to the stone. So he presumed that people could actually drop stones as well. It was a chilling thought he would have to deal with later, the implications of it not exactly being very pleasant if it was true.

Drake had managed to reach level 7 after the fight and was now only 3 Vampiric Apes away from completing the quest. He hadn’t received a new title so not much had changed outside his base stats rising and him uncharacteristically putting his free points into Intelligence, even though he was barely hovering over 30% health.

The sun was now setting but Drake was in no condition to move yet. His arm was actually broken, but he could feel it slowly mending thanks to his large Vitality stat. The feeling of the bone healing underneath his swollen black and blue arm was unsettling and itchy but he was honestly just happy he wouldn't have to splint it and possibly have to fight with one hand from now on, or at least until he found someone who could heal it. He had also broken a few ribs from the monster’s swing but they had healed fairly quickly.

The stats assistance to healing him was amazing but although it healed him to peak condition, there was surprisingly a type of phantom pain from the larger wounds, like he had noticed when Bear had saved him. So he now guessed that he had most likely broken several bones previously, before breaking his current ones.

Drake wasn’t going anywhere soon, so he kept himself occupied by staring at the brush line in the waning hours of the twilight. Honestly hoping something would come out of it so he could at least finish his first quest. He could feel that he was pretty close to level 8 and he would like to see how the reward system worked for these quests.

And as if the system had heard him, out of the tree line walked a singular Vampiric Ape.

Drake smiled. "Hey there, beautiful," he whistled at the monster to get its attention, chanting out a Mana Bolt quickly after not bothering to get up from his sitting position. Hitting the monster right through the chest.

 

[You have subjugated Vampiric Ape level 7] [Experience Earned, 45 Tutorial Points have been awarded]

[18 of 20 Vampiric Apes have been Subjugated]

 

Drake sighed a breath of relief.

"Two to go! Hopefully, they all just come one by one like that..." he muttered.

But a rustling of the bushes on the tree line dashed his hopes away as two more Vampiric Apes walked out from the foliage.

"Mannnnnn.... I really hope making flags for myself doesn't become a habit," Drake scoffed, a cold sweat forming on his face, as he glanced at his status, then back at the pair of Apes.

The Apes soon noticed Drake, one nudging the other then pointing with its finger, a hungry smile creasing its thin lips as its long fags gleaned in the twilight of the day.

Drake was in trouble, he had no stamina to move and was stuck in a sitting position.

The Apes gave no quarter and dashed forward, quickly trying to close the distance to their fresh meal given to them on a silver platter.

"Oh fuck! No way in hell am I dying after all that!" Drake snapped, propping up his useable arm as best he could with the weight of his staff, taking aim and waiting for the faster of the two to get into range.

He quickly chanted his spell, but held the activation word until the Monster was almost upon him, "Manifest my power," the first Ape only a few steps ahead of the other, closed in only a foot away from Drake, "Mana Bolt!" he shouted the ape colliding into him a second later.

The bolt shot out piercing right through the Ape's chest, as they both tumbled across the ground, then finally coming to an abrupt stop. The dead bleeding Ape on top of Drake with his staff stuck in the small hole his spell had created, sticking right through its body.

Drake shook his head to rid himself of the disorientation just in time for the second Ape to rush to him, clawing and scrapping to pull its dead comrade from on top of his meal.

"Don't you have any respect for the dead!" Drake screamed, fighting to orient his staff to aim at the beast. But the Ape's weight locked it into place underneath the dead monster.

Drake grit his teeth and tried his best to maneuver the staff even a small amount.

Suddenly the staff gave way underneath the monster as the remaining Ape, slightly lifted the body. Drake's staff smacking it on the side of the head.

The Ape gave an irate growl from its throat as it grabbed the staff in its hands, pulling it down enough to aim at its own chest for a moment.

Drake grinned noticing the movement, and took advantage as he chanted as fast as he could.

"Manifest my power. Mana Bolt!" he shouted.

The staff glowed for only a second before the blast of mana shot forward piecing the monster's chest just like it had the previous Ape, it slipping down lifelessly on the staff like a shish kabob on top of Drake.

Drake grunted with an 'oof' as the monster fell on top of him.

"F-fucking filthy a-animals! Uhhhh..." Drake struggled to roll the dead monsters over to get them off of him, but thankfully his vitality was paying dividends as it finally allowed him to recover enough to do the task after a time. But not without a significant amount of pain to boot.

 

[You have subjugated Vampiric Ape level 6] [Experience Earned and 35 Tutorial Points have been awarded]

[You have subjugated Vampiric Ape level 7] [Experience Earned and 45 Tutorial Points have been awarded]

 

[20 of 20 Vampiric Apes have been Subjugated. Quest Complete]

[You have been awarded Experience]

 

[Congratulations! You have increased to Mage level 8] [14 Free Points have been rewarded]

 

Drake's eyes widened as he sat upright, bugging out at the experience he was just handed.

 He quickly put the points into Intelligence again, ignoring the blinking message for the moment. Bringing his Intelligence to a whopping 137, now comfortably outpacing his Vitality.

Finishing up his stats, Drake brought up the flashing prompt window in anticipation.

 

[Vampiric Ape Subjugation Quest Complete. Accept Reward?]

[Yes] [No]

 

Drake mentally selected yes and another prompt filled the window.

 

[Reward Accepted. Please roll twice for the Rarity of items.]

 

Roll for Rarity? Roll what? Drake thought. Then suddenly remembering the black die he was given at the start of the introduction. He willed it into his hand from his inventory and rolled it out in front of him without preamble. Not willing to wait any longer for his sweet, sweet loot.

The die jumped and bobbled until it stopped, a 3 facing upwards.

"Fuck!" Drake cursed, picking up the die for his second roll.

Dropping the die again in front of him he began to sweat as it rolled. His head crept downward as he prayed for a high roll. Finally, the die stopped, a 7 glaring back at Drake.

"NOOOOOOOO!!" Drake wailed as if something had struck him in the chest, dropping onto his back. Two stones materializing above his head, dropping right onto his face.

Drake rubbed his nose incredulously, picking the crystalline stones off the ground next to him.

 

[Subtree Stone: Soul Mastery] [Uncommon]

 [Unlocks Soul Mastery Sub-tree branch]

 [Requirement: Have one or more empty Subtrees. Have a Mage-based Main Class tree unlocked.]

 [Subtree Stone: Weapon Mastery] [Common]

 [Unlocks Weapon Mastery Sub-tree branch]

 [Requirement: Have one or more empty Subtrees. Have the Main Class tree unlocked.]

 

 He continued to lie down for a moment while he went over the descriptions. He was really starting to get impatient. Wondering when he would be able to use these Stones and gain some other skills. Mana Bolt had done right by him, but he was ready for some new toys.

 Drake glanced at the top left of his vision at his health, it was now hovering above 60% which Drake thought was good enough for him to get going, it would be dark soon and he needed to find a place to hole up.

 He put the stones and die into his inventory with the rest of his spoils. Rolling his previously broken arm to get a feel for it. Unfortunately, a sharp pain shot up it as he did. It wasn’t broken anymore but it was still very tender, the swelling and blue coloration going down.

 Drake grunted a bit, not entirely surprised by the pain after he had almost died again. He was sure it wouldn't be the last time either, he just had to get used to the pain he thought. As they say no pain no gain.

 Looking to the grave next to him marked with the sword, and put his hand on the hilt.

 "Thank you for the lesson, person I don’t know. I’ll be sure to live for the both of us." Drake said solemnly.

 Walking towards the treeline of the clearing, he looked over his shoulder one more time,

 Goodbye, my weak old self. I hope to never see your stupid face again. Drake thought, going into the sea of trees that were the forest.

 Drake aimlessly walked through the forest for around an hour before he had a resounding thought go through him.

 I’m so lost. He cried internally.