NOVEL WEB Chapter 4: First step of the Spearman
“How come you know so much about this place?” Lauren asked with a curious gaze.
Zyrus looked back at them and after a bit of hesitation, he replied,
“You guys are far too weak to know. When you become strong enough, I’ll tell you.”
“Okay.” Kyle replied in a firm tone. Although he was curious about the sanctuary as well, their first priority was survival. He understood that if he was in Zyrus's shoes then he wouldn't tell his secret to someone he just met either.
“Can’t you give us some basic information at least? I know we said that we wouldn’t ask questions and always follow your words, but…”
“We’ll talk tonight then.” Lauren’s question was cut short as Zyrus spoke.
After walking for more than half an hour, they finally saw a different environment. The air here felt moist and the smell of earth filled the air.
It was an ideal location to rest in the middle of the day. Thick trees absorbed most of the sunlight, leaving behind some scattered pillars of light that illuminated the forest.
“Shouldn’t we eat our lunch now? This place is so beautiful,”
Kyle didn’t reply to her and looked at Zyrus, waiting for his opinion.
He wasn’t naïve enough to believe that there was a peaceful place in the forest, not after what happened today.
He saw dozens of men being killed like livestock. The crime rate was practically zero since humans left the earth. At least, that's what people knew.
But unlike them, he had seen the darkness that lay beneath the peaceful civilization. The life of a planet wasn't enough for humanity to realize their mistakes.
“Don’t you find it strange?” Zyrus asked, pulling Kyle out of his thoughts.
“Strange? How so?” Lauren looked around with interest.
“There’s no sound,” Kyle spoke as his green eyes darted around the forest.
“Exactly. There’s nothing. Not to mention small animals, there aren’t any birds and insects as well.”
Both Kyle and Lauren’s expressions turned grave. It was obvious why there were no creatures in such a nice place.
‘They are afraid of something here,’ Both arrived at the same conclusion.
*Rustle*
“Be more careful about your surroundings. It’s not that dangerous here, so we can rest for the time being.” Zyrus beckoned the duo as he cleared the thicket.
They sat on a clear ground and took out their rations from the inventory.
“How will we get rations from now on?” Kyle asked after he opened his bag of food.
“We won’t,” Zyrus tore the bread in half and dipped it in the jam.
“What will we eat then?” Lauren felt embarrassed as she was the one who had suggested to eat without any concerns.
“Let me tell you some things first,” Zyrus gulped down the fruit juice and continued,
“This world might feel like a game to you, but believe me, it’s very much real. The faster you accept this, the more chance you’ll have at surviving”
Both of them were deep in thought as they listened quietly.
“Let me give you guys a hint,” Zyrus spoke after he finished his food. He was much faster than both of them.
“Think about the history of mankind, before the start of civilization. How did we become the apex predators on Earth?”
Zyrus took out his spear and continued with a serious note,
“You have to awaken those instincts that lay dormant within you. We were neither the strongest nor the fastest. We could neither swim in the deep ocean nor could we fly in the vast sky. How did we become the ruler of earth then?”
He exercised the basic moves of spears as he waited for their answer.
“Because of our intelligence,” Kyle answered without hesitation.
“You're wrong.”
“What was the reason then? Evolution? Environment?” Lauren asked with uncertainty,
“You have to figure that out on your own. The moment you do that, you’ll awaken your ‘Talent’.”
Of course, it was easier said than done. Barely 1% of humans managed to do that in his previous life.
When they were done with their lunch, the trio finally went to fight their target. They didn't have to go far before they saw an area where trees became sparser and big boulders occupied a quarter of the land.
“They look similar to the ones in games,” Kyle reported after he observed the clearing ahead.
“Yup. And it’s slow and clumsy like in the games too.” Zyrus pointed at the gray stone golem and added,
“However, you have to make sure to not get hit by it. Even though it has ridiculous defense and crappy attack power, it can cripple you in a hit.”
“Isn’t there something that can heal us? I feel like we should focus on that first.” Lauren asked with concern.
“A lot of things can recover HP. Equipment, Potions, healing spells, Regeneration Rate stat, and so on… however I don’t want to focus on that, at least not now.” Zyrus spoke as he readied his spear.
They were just about to reach the golems' aggro range.
“What will we focus on then? Raising levels?” Kyle asked as he believed that focusing on offense was the only other way.
“You’re half right.” Zyrus gave him a knowing smile as he added,
“We'll get our skills first by fighting this guy, and then we’ll attack the ruler of this area.”
“Does this golem drop skill books?” Lauren inquired with sparkling eyes.
“You seem to be enjoying yourself, but unfortunately, it’s not that simple” Zyrus gave her a pitiful glance as he attacked the golem with a stab.
Both Kyle and Lauren looked at his back and then at one another.
They shared the same feeling. They knew enough about VRMMORPG games to figure out how they’d get their skills.
This was going to be a painful day.
…
“Fuck.. Despite all this system bullshit, why does it have to be so goddamn realistic!” Lauren cursed as she plopped down on the grass.
“Is it really that bad?” Zyrus was perplexed as he looked at her.
“Argh.. Of course it is!” Kyle replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Zyrus just sighed as He looked at the horizon ahead with a nostalgic expression. The sky looked the same as that day, The crimson sun met the earth, making the clouds shine brilliantly in the evening glow.
“Are you sure it’ll be helpful?” Lauren asked as she drank the cold water.
“Don’t you guys feel any difference? Even I can see the improvement in your skills.”
“Really?”
“You’ll know when you fight again. Think about what you’ve learned so far, it is just as important as fighting.”
“Fight? Again?” Lauren didn’t give a damn about improvement at the moment.
“Tch.. you guys as are lacking stamina.”
Kyle and Lauren looked at Zyrus with expressions that said, 'You're the abnormal one'.
Zyrus felt a bit guilty after looking at their sore hands, but it was a necessary step. He wasn't any better than them in terms of physique, but his pain tolerance had reached an inhumane level since long ago.
“Kyle, Your swordsmanship has improved a lot. Your main source of attack is your bloodlust, not your ‘Strength’, so focus on that. I expect that you’ll succeed in the next one or two fights.”
Kyle nodded and Zyrus looked at Lauren next,
“Lauren, I don’t have much to tell you. Your aim with daggers is good already. All you need is more practice and with your natural talent, you should be able to create a skill already.”
He gripped his spear and walked towards the golem’s location once again
“Join me when you’ve regained your stamina.”
Zyrus was within the stone golem’s range after a minute passed.
*Sweep*
He moved his spear in a fan-like shape. Ideally, this move is used when fighting against multiple enemies or in a defensive stance. This time though, he was using this move to keep the golem’s aggro on him.
-0
He didn’t pay any attention to null damage. He was thinking about his conversation with the red eyed man.
‘I have to find it, the source of their origin. That’s the only way to slay the eternals’
*Slash*
-0
‘That’s just the first step though. After that, I’ll have to sever their connection with the origin with my source,’ Zyrus thought as he lunged his spear towards the golem's joint.
*Thrust*
-3
‘However I shouldn’t connect with my source of origin now,'
His attacks would become much stronger if he did so, but his life would be in grave danger. Unlike the last time, he knew that creatures from higher rings in the sanctuary were paying attention to the tutorial.
The power of origin was something beyond the system's control. It couldn’t be quantified and therefore, no one can observe it.
No one except those who had that power.
‘I know those bastards have it, their source of origin’
That’s what made them immortals. So long as their source remained, they would never die. They had unique sources, and he could somewhat guess what they were based on their powers.
‘It must be light for that Marcus bastard, and slaughter for Kevah.’
How could he possibly kill light? How could he erase something like slaughter? That’s why he failed. He killed them, sure, but that was just a shell.
As long as light remained in the sanctuary, as long as there was a concept of slaughter, they would never die.
They were immortals.
‘Unless I destroy their connection with my source that is’ Zyrus slashed with a cold glint in his eyes.
-4
He kept using the three basic spear moves, “Slash”, “Sweep”, and “Thrust”, over and over again. By this time, both Kyle and Lauren had started their fight against another golem as well.
Kyle engaged in close combat, using his sword to defend and attack. Lauren stood a dozen feet away from them. She struck her knife with deadly accuracy, hitting the golem’s joints every time.
Despite their commendable teamwork, they barely dealt 1 and 2 damage.
It was to be expected as the golem had a defense of fifty on top of his 50% Physical damage immunity, Not to mention it was level 4 with 20 stats in vitality. As for its weakness? It only had a multiplier of 5 on its joints.
It took them half an hour to bring down its HP from 200 to 0.
Zyrus, on the other hand, kept slashing and thrusting over and over again. Whenever another golem came by, he would use 'sweep' to get its aggro.
-4
Exp +210
He was twice as fast compared to the duo, but still, his Exp increased at a snail’s pace. He only got an extra 10% bonus for killing a higher-level golem.
It was even less efficient than fighting against goblins. However, his goal wasn’t to level up.
Finally, when the sun went down and the forest began to glow with green mushrooms, he saw the text in front of him which made him smile.
He leaned on a tree trunk and looked at the status screen with satisfied eyes.
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Achievement: First step of the Spearman, (E)]
[You have Slashed your spear for 1000 times! You have obtained the Skill, “Spear Slash”]
[+2 SP]
[Note: You can only get an achievement for your first three self-created skills in any tier]
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Achievement: Skilled Survivor, (E+)]
[You are the first person who has obtained a skill in this tutorial!]
[+3 SP]
Zyrus felt giddy looking at the status screen, but it was far from over.
Why did he keep using the same three moves over and over? It was for this moment. His hard work had finally paid off!
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Achievement: First step of the Spearman, (E)]
[You have Swept your spear for 1000 times! You have obtained the Skill, “Spear Sweep”]
[+2 SP]
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Achievement: First step of the Spearman, (E)]
[You have thrust your spear for 1000 times! You have obtained the Skill, “Spear Thrust”]
[+2 SP]
Not only did he get three new skills, he also got the SP equivalent of nearly two level-ups!