Stygian Mage

[Insufficient energy; Internal energy source unable to satisfy the requirements, going into hibernation mode until an ample energy source is found]

[External energy source detected! Checking for any unstable element… No unstable element found.]

[Starting the process….]

[……]

[Bloodline Activate - Activation complete]

[Bloodline Talent found!]

[Talent type: Auxiliary [Passive]]

[Bloodline Talent taking effect]

[Error: Bloodline talent could not take effect totally; partial bloodline talent taking effect.]

[…...]

[Process Complete; Partial Bloodline Talent Activated]

[…..]

[Requirements met for Secondary Bloodline Talent; Secondary Bloodline Talent Activating.]

[Secondary Bloodline Talent Activated.]

[Talent Type: Auxiliary [Active]]

[Error: Bloodline talent could not take effect.]

……..

So these are supposed to be some kind of the system messages. Error? Why is it showing an error?

Soren thought as he looked through the messages that had displayed in front of his eyes before. Even though he could see every message he had no idea what they meant and how to access what seemed like his bloodline talent.

After reading through them, he started to organize everything. He braced himself and started to go through all of the dead bodies one by one.

He checked every one of them very carefully not wanting to miss a single thing.

Plundering the dead bodies; who knew I will be doing this someday.

Soren sighed, releasing a long breath.

Once he reached the red-haired man, he stopped and stared at the dried dead body.

He muttered in a low voice, “You wanted to kill me. While I don’t know why but it seems the reason is not important in this world. I don’t feel guilty at all for your death. I’ll be taking your stuff so…R.I.P. asshole.”

He started stripping the dried mummy leaving a bare nude dried body. Maybe it was anger or maybe it was something else but Soren didn’t even leave his underpants; taking everything off.

He kicked the dried body a few times, venting the pent-up anger. After that, he gathered all of ‘his’ stuff and put everything in the cart.

Since it’s getting dark now I should not move aimlessly. This cart is as good as any other place. I will just stay in it for tonight and think about where to go tomorrow.

As Soren thought all this, he removed the locks which bound the headless horse to the cart and moved it off the path, dragging it through the forest.

He didn’t go far as he didn’t want to lose the direction and had to come back to the dirt path next day.

………

After dragging it for a while, he parked it near a big tree. Gathering some big leaves and wood, he covered his cart with them, trying to make a camouflage. Although it was clumsy and bit of a mess, it was at least something.

After finishing everything, Soren entered the cart and locked the door from inside. It was completely dark inside the cart but amazingly…Soren could see just fine. It was like his eyes had gained some night vision ability.

Upon noticing this, he rubbed his eyes finding it hard to believe. After thinking it through, he soon found an answer.

It must be related to those messages saying something about bloodline. Going through the words, it seems like I have some kind of bloodline and it was activated because of that ‘shit-bag’. First one said that the bloodline was activated only partially so this night vision ability should be from that….*Sigh*It would be really hard to believe if I didn’t experience this personally.

Soren contemplated while sitting in the dark on the cart’s floor, leaning on the wall. He leaned his head back on the wooden wall as he stared at the cart’s ceiling.

It really is funny. I always wanted to experience all those stuff from the novels like transmigration, reincarnation and all but now that it really happened, I can say…this is not fun at all. Seems like life will be hard no matter where you go.

……

He tried to take his mind off the depressing topic as he started looking through all the stuff he got from plundering.

After going through all, he finally had his inventory list: A dagger, a short sword, a water bottle, a utility knife, one blue crystal, one gray heptagon shaped rock that seemed like some token, clothes from the red-haired man and two pouches that looked like money pouches.

As he looked through the stuff, his stomach growled. He had arrived here in the afternoon and had vomited quite a bit afterward. His stomach was completely empty now.

He took out the water bottle started to drink water hoping to fill his stomach from the water. He felt the cold water going down from his throat which gave him a little comfort.

If I don’t reach any town or settlement tomorrow, I will start looking for food in this jungle.

Soren decided on future plans for food.

After calming his stomach down slightly, he once again turned his attention to ‘his’ inventory. He had not brought the ax, hammers and the big weapons as they were quite heavy for him to wield, and looked very cheap so the price he could get from them was not high; though he had no idea about anything right now.

Picking out the only expensive looking thing from the bunch; the blue crystal, he remembered the words the bandits had said at the beginning of the clash.

Is this what they called Initiation Stone? Looks quite expensive, should I sell it or keep it? ….Going by their words, it seems very useful and something that is not available to buy easily.

After thinking for a while he finally made a decision.

I am going to keep it for now. I’ll see in the future if I can find any use for it. If not I can sell it then.

He then put it aside and opened the pouches. He found a total of 6 white color crystals in them. They looked quite similar to the Initiation Stone but were of different color.

After he touched them, he felt a cool sensation spreading from his fingers to his body. It only stayed for a moment though. He was a little startled but given the things that had happened to him in one day, he didn’t panic.

After waiting for a while and seeing that nothing happened to him, he finally heaved a sigh of relief.

He looked at the white crystals again and thought about what to do with them. He had no idea what they were so he couldn’t really make any proper decision right now. So he put them back in the pouch again. He would decide after getting enough knowledge about this world.

After checking everything, he looked at the gray colored heptagon token; he had found it on the bald-headed bandit.

It was amazing that this thing had survived after being hit by that fire. He checked it thoroughly but couldn’t find anything special about it.

He then laughed in a self-mocking manner; it was already established that he knew nothing so there was no point in checking the items thoroughly right now.

He put that aside and finally took a rest.

Looking through all the stuff made his eyelids heavy and after a while, he could not resist and finally fell asleep.

Going through all that in one day could be hard on anyone let alone an inexperienced young man.

He slept in that dark space not knowing what was to come or what will happen to him.

……..

The forest had an eerie silence which was in contrast to the serene atmosphere of the day. Nocturnal predators were the kings of the night.

Night embraced them, hiding them from the world as they hunted through the forest.

A sound broke Soren’s sleep and woke him up. He suddenly sat up and focused on the sound which sounded like someone scratching on the wood.

He slowly moved his hands towards the dagger that he had kept on him for protection. He grabbed the dagger so hard that his knuckles turned white.

His back was completely wet from the cold sweat. His hands were shivering from the fear of unknown danger in the dark. He tried hard to control his breathing; at one point even holding his breath.

He was hoping that whatever was outside would just go away after a while.

Alas… hope seldom turns to reality.

Suddenly, as if whatever was outside had found its prey, it started banging on the wooden cart’s door trying to break in. The wooden cart was not that strong but it held on—at least for now.

As the banging got stronger, the wood splintered and started to break. Soren held on to the dagger getting ready to fight to the death if he had to.

The fear he had before was now gone; he had to suppress it to live on. His demeanor was calm as a lake, completely hiding his emotions in the depth.

He had already braced himself for what to come in this strange world. His breathing stabilized and his eyes turned emotionless.

He held the dagger in reverse grip with his right hand, blade in front of his forearm, crossed both his arms in front of him, crouching low, getting in a defensive position yet ready to attack at any moment if the beast entered the cart.

His heart was beating rapidly yet his mind was calm; calculating every possibility, trying to find the best way to win.

Right now I am in a small space, so if whatever’s outside tries to put its head in I can stab its weak points. The wood might not be able to hold on though and break apart completely. Then I will be completely in the open, without any defense. I can see in the dark but so can ‘it’, so I don’t have any advantage in that.

Soren tried to run every possibility in his mind in that small time. Making a plan, he slowly closed his eyes and tried to focus and listen to the sounds.

In a situation like this, it can be deadly but he had to do it if he wanted to live. He listened to the sounds trying to remember and analyze everything.

After about 8-9 seconds, he opened his eyes and released a long breath; getting ready to make his move. The wooden door was already splintered quite a bit; it seemed to break at any time now.

Soren dropped the dagger and picked up the short sword grabbing it in his right hand, its tip facing forward.

“2^nd beat,” He said in low voice.

The beast once again banged on the door. Soren was waiting for it and counted the beat in his mind. He waited till it reached 2 and suddenly stabbed forward with sword aiming at the place where wood was splintered the most.

The sword stabbed through the wood and the creature which was banging on the wooden door. The force from both the parties made the sword go through the creature’s third eyes on its forehead, stabbing in deep.

ROAAR!!

Following that, a howling sound resounded in that forest area. The sound was full of pain and rage.

Soren quickly took back the sword which was covered in blood and white gooey substance. The creature was howling outside; going completely crazy. It wanted to tear apart the enemy who did this to it.

It quickly dashed towards the cart wanting to break that damned door. But Soren was one beat faster than it.

Soren suddenly opened the door and jumped out on the ground, matching the timing of the collision. He put the blade tip in front of him and using the force from the jump combined with the momentum of the creature—he stabbed forward.

The creature was also a predator though; how could it fall into other’s traps so easily?

It tilted its head towards its left and suddenly opened its mouth, wanting to tear Soren apart.

Soren had already expected the creature’s counterattack and was unfazed.

He moved forward, putting his left leg forward and twisted it clockwise. He used his left palm to hit his right wrist, changing the sword’s alignment to the right; completely catching the beast by surprise.

The beast was unable to stop himself on time and could do nothing but watch as the sword got closer and stabbed through its mouth; piercing the brain.

Everything was over.

It had died at the hands of an inexperienced young man who was as weak as a grass blade.

Slowly, white colored mist; completely invisible to human eyes, rose from the dead body, dispersing in the wind after a while.

Soren stood there panting; his sword had stabbed the beast in its mouth but he was not unscathed either.

As he stabbed the beast’s mouth, its canine tooth also stabbed Soren’s forearm; piercing through.

Blood dripped from his elbow to the ground. He slowly moved the creature’s head and removed its tooth from his arm.

“AHH! It fucking hurts. FUCK! Why couldn’t it just die! Fucking asshole”

Soren cursed as he felt the stinging pain coming from his arm. As he removed the sword from the beast’s head, the beast fell down with a thud.

Soren looked down at the beast which had disturbed his sleep. The beast looked like a black panther with some differences. It had a vertical slit on its forehead that looked like a third eye which Soren had stabbed before. The stab wasn’t much deep but it had destroyed its third eye, making the beast go crazy.

Soren looked upwards towards the dark sky which was completely covered by the forest.

When will the sun rise?’

Soren sighed and thought.

He looked down again towards the beast and said, “I shouldn’t stay here now. The blood will attract other beasts…. But I don’t want to move through this forest at night. Should I just hide in the cart again? That wooden door might not be able to hold on though…. I can’t move so the cart is my only option for now.”

After deciding to stay the night in the cart, he pressed the wound on his right arm with his left hand to slow down the bleeding.

He moved towards the cart holding the sword in his injured right hand. He slowly dragged the cart and turned the damaged door towards the tree, leaving only a small space for him to go in and out. The tree blocked the door from the beasts.

This was the only measure he could take right now in his condition. He slowly got into the cart and locked the door from inside. He tore off a piece of cloth from the clothes he picked before, using it as a bandage; he wrapped his wound.

He tried to forget the pain and went to sleep while holding the sword.

He closed his eyes, trying to get some rest but he could not relax. The pain and the danger of unknown made it impossible for him to sleep.

He winced in pain as he moved his arm, trying to get in a comfortable position. Groaning in pain he thought: Hope I can get out of this forest tomorrow.

Keeping that hope in heart, he lay in the darkness, his eyes closed.

……..

Time passed and soon he could hear the sound of birds chirping signaling the rise of the sun. It was the first time he had looked forward to seeing the sun this much.

As he got up and opened the door; getting out of the cart, he looked towards the rising sun which was covered by the trees. He could not see the sun properly but he could feel the warmth slowly replacing the cold darkness.

He looked towards the beast which was now only a skeleton with some flesh and meat scattered around with dried blood. He had already checked before getting out of the cart so he knew the other predators had already left.

He could see the scratching marks on the cart; he had heard them through the night.

He opened his water bottle, drinking big mouthfuls of water. After drinking his fill, he exhaled a long breath as he closed the cap and wiped his mouth.

His face was pale white from the blood loss. If he didn’t treat the wound properly by today, most probably, he would die. Hoping for the best he gathered all his stuff and got ready to move ahead.

His first night in this world was over; he had already become a survivor. He moved forward step by step, closing towards his destination.