Chapter 11

  Technically, I was not allowed to go hunting in the Night Glen Forest alone. I was always supposed to have father along with me to watch my actions and make sure I was safe, but for what I was doing today neither father nor mother could know what I was up to.

  After getting a ways into the forest I slowed down to catch my breath knowing that if I encountered a wild animal or monster before I was prepared, it could result in serious injury.

  While I was catching my breath, Adam had a few questions to ask of me. “So, Callum, what is your plan? Just go tromping around in the forest until you find a monster we can test our new skills on? And what will you do if the monster you encounter is too powerful for your current strength?”

  I just pondered the questions because Adam brought up some good concerns. Past this point, I did not give it really any thought as to how I was to go about finding a monster to do battle with. The last time I was in the forest to perform a monster hunt, father was with me and even then, it took everything in my power to defeat a lone weak goblin that father had scouted out for me.

  Hearing a sigh echo in my mind Adam spoke up again, “Lucky for you, while you were sleeping, I was practicing with the spell diagrams you acquired for me in the Records Hall. I wanted to get a head start on a way for us to navigate a path forward on getting stronger without putting ourselves at too great a risk. To that end, I got the hang of one of the utilitarian spells called Sound Wave.”

  I remembered that diagram and thought it was such a random spell, that I had no idea why Adam insisted on having me pull it from the shelves. Sensing my confusion, I heard a smug expression come across as Adam said, “Oh… you have so much to learn. There are so many concepts from my world that was common knowledge, but in your world, they are not even known about.”

  “One of which is the concept of ‘echo location’.” The term meant absolutely nothing to me, but Adam continued as he adopted the tone of an academic lecturer. “You see my young grasshopper, in my world there were certain animals that could find prey at night using sound waves. They would send out a sound wave and when it intercepted their prey, the sound wave returned to them and allowed them to pinpoint exactly where their prey was.”

  “It was also a concept some people, who were blind, utilized to navigate their surroundings.” Suddenly it all made sense what Adam’s plan was. “You’re going to use the Sound Wave spell to pinpoint where monsters are located without me having to stumble around to find them.” “I knew you were a smart one, give you the barest information and you connect the dots right quick.” Adam replied with a somewhat condescending tone.

  Giving Adam the mental equivalent of sticking my tongue out at him, I then waited for him to enact his plan. Soon enough I could feel a spell diagram being formed within me and then I felt a burst of sound expanded outwards from me in all directions.

  I never truly though about it, but I guess this would be how Adam would use his spells. Most magic practitioners formed their spells from their hands or staffs, but since my Skill did not allow me to utilize spell diagrams, but Adam’s did, he had to internally form the diagrams within me since I had the physical presence in the world.

  After a few minutes Adam spoke up, “Okay, the sound wave came back with several targets. I can’t tell how strong the monsters are, but I can tell how big they are. Callum, what is the smallest and biggest monsters found within the Night Glen Forest?”

  Only having to think about it for a second, I answered, “The smallest monsters found within the Night Glen Forest are Goblins. They are rated as a F-Rank threat by the Adventurers Guild. While the biggest and most dangerous monsters are Murder Apes. They are listed as a B-Rank threat.”

  In response to this information Adam replied, “I know what Goblins are, there were many stories in my world that featured them, but what are Murder Apes because they don’t sound fun.”

  “They aren’t. They are massive primate type monsters that are humanoid in shape with humongous strength that live in packs. The accounts I read said that a single punch from one can turn a ten-foot-thick boulder into gravel. They are also known for going into berserk states when the pack is threatened resulting in decimation of everything around them.”

  My explanation got a whistle out of Adam that sounded extremely annoying when it was coming from inside my head. “Okay.” Adam said with a high degree of exaggeration. “That must be the several big hits that were altogether deeper in the forest. We will have to stay clear of those, but I did locate several smaller targets nearby that must be the Goblins.”

  “From your current position if you walk due east for a stretch of one mile you should encounter a lone Goblin just stomping around.” Looking towards the direction Adam outlined I began a slow march towards the mentioned target.

  It was not long before I spotted the Goblin. It was the typical type of Goblin I had encountered before with their stout green bodies, pointed ears and nose, and sinister mouth full of sharp teeth. The grotesque figure was further accentuated by the stick thin arms it was dragging along the ground and its stubby legs that looked like they had been broken at some point in the past and never set properly.

  As I positioned myself behind a tree nearby, I peeked from behind it and observed the Goblins’ movements. True to what Adam had said the Goblin was just stomping around the forest with no clear purpose as to why it was doing such.

  Adam then said, “All right, I am going to use my Scholar’s Eye skill on the Goblin, but I am going to try to have the information also show up in your vision so you know what we are facing.” Nodding my head internally to Adam, I prepared myself for what was about to happen. Not a moment later a paragraph of text appeared in my line of sight.

  Goblin

  This monster has limited instincts and weak defenses. Their main attack comes from their sharp claws found on their hands. Caution should be taken when injured by said claws as these monsters are not known for being sanitary and wounds inflicted by such may become infected. Only leader class Goblins are cognitive enough to utilize crude weaponry against their prey.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Str: 5

  Agl: 4

  Dex: 5

  Mana: 2

  Int: 0

  Wis: 0

  Seeing this much detailed information about a monster displayed in my vision was a new experience for me. I quickly got used to it though, as I realized how this information would become critical to how Adam and I would conduct ourselves in battles.

  Adam then chimed in, “So, which one of us is going to get to test their skills first. With how weak this monster is compared to our new stats I don’t imagine this creature can take more than one hit from either of us.” I found myself agreeing with Adam’s assessment as this was a very weak Goblin. I then voiced my desire to go first so I could see how far I had come from when a Goblin took everything I had to kill.

  I also proclaimed to Adam that I wanted to try one of my new soul-based skills to see what ‘exactly’ it did. I had been unable to find any mention of soul skills in the Record Hall and thought it would be ideal to test them out on a weak opponent. It was better than trying them out in the heat of battle only to find the skills didn’t do what I thought it would or left Adam and I in a state that ensured we died by our opponents’ hand.

  Pulling my sword out of its scabbard and gripping it in both hands, I took a deep breath before emerging from behind the tree where I had been spying on the Goblin.

  The Goblin took notice right away and began gibbering at me while it began charging towards where I was located. Its arms were moving up and down as its claws raked through the air in its pursuit of the human before it. All the while its red eyes locked on to me never once looking anywhere else and holding nothing but death for the human it had its sights on.

  Taking a steady stance, I then raised my sword in front of me and said in my head Soul Slash. All at once I felt a pulling sensation from within me and then an ethereal sliver-white glow wrapped itself around my sword. I then swung my sword in a diagonal slash in front of me as that same silvery glow then projected itself out of my swinging sword in a crescent slash that raced forward to meet the Goblin.

  The attack moved with such speed that the Goblin had no time to dodge the slash and soon it collided with the Goblin’s body. The Goblin was then flung back from the force of the slash as its face morphed from snarling, to an expression that was as if it had been punched, hard, in the stomach. It then landed in a heap on the ground with a smack only making a few final twitches before going still.

  Holding my sword in front of me, I carefully approached the downed Goblin. And as I got closer, I realized that the Goblin was indeed dead. Knowing I was not going to be further attacked, I then sheathed my sword and started to inspect the monster’s corpse.

  The slash my skill had created left no physical wound on the Goblin’s body leaving me confused as to what had killed it. Inspecting the corpse further I found that there was not even any broken ribs or internal damage done to the Goblin. “Just what did my skill do to this monster?” I said out loud.

  “I think your attack destroyed the Goblin’s soul.” Adam replied in response to my query. “What makes you think that?” I swiftly responded back. “Frankly, it is the only thing that makes sense to me given what I have seen of the corpse. There is no physical damage to the body. In fact, the only thing about the Goblin that has changed, is the fact that its red eyes are now completely white.”

  Inspecting the corpse, I saw what Adam was talking about and he was right. Of every monster corpse I had seen before, every single one still had their trade mark red eyes. The fact that this Goblin’s eyes had changed after my skill hit it was the only sign that something different had occurred.

  “I think we are beginning to discover the nuance of what your Sub-Skills are ‘truly’ about.” As I began to ponder what Adam meant by that, he continued explaining, “What I am about to propose may be incorrect, but it is the only thing I can think of at the moment.”

  “In my world there were many stories and beliefs about the soul. In some of those references, the soul was a physical force that could be quantified and projected. Furthermore, the fact that you and I possess a stat labeled as ‘Soul’, where no one else has ever had such before, implies that it is a key part of your Sub-Skills.”

  “I would surmise that the Soul stat is a measure of how powerful your Sub-Skills are and that if our soul is more powerful than what the skills are used on, then they can cause significant damage. Additionally, I would conclude if the strength of our soul is less than that of our enemy, then it would take several strikes to end an opponent rather than the one strike it took to defeat that weak Goblin.”

  As I listened and thought about Adam’s reasoning about what had occurred, it all made a great deal of sense. Here I was with a unique Skill and Stat that no one had ever heard about. Not to mention the peculiar ‘situation’ I faced with a single body housing two souls. Of course, it would make sense that all the effects my skills caused would fly in the face of conventional beliefs.

  “The only way we will know for sure if that is indeed what is happening, is to try more of my soul-based skills and see what occurs.” I felt a nod of approval from Adam about my suggestion before he said, “I have another idea that might help shed some light on what is happening. Use your Spectral Sight skill on the Goblin’s corpse.”

  Adam’s suggestions had never been disruptive to our progress thus far so I went along with his request. Speaking within my head, Spectral Sight, I activated my skill and all at once my vision changed.

  All around me the world glowed in vibrant hues of colors. Everything from the grass and trees, to the air and rocks had some sort of glow to it. Raising my hand in front of my face the glow that radiated out from it was a warm golden glow that made me feel at ease.

  Turning my sight towards the Goblin corpse, I saw no glow at all. In fact, what I observed was a black void of nothingness that gave off a deep cold of despair. If what Adam suggested was true, then this cold absence was the result of my skill destroying the Goblin’s soul.

  Willing my skill to cease, my vision soon returned to normal and the glow of the world vanished. “I saw the same thing you did when you activated the skill. Now remember what you saw and the next time you come across a monster use that skill before you engage it and we will see if there is indeed a difference.” Adam explained.

  Adam and I must truly be the same soul because I was thinking the exact same thing he just said. My life had certainly taken a turn for the strange. Reaching into my leather boot I retrieved a dagger from it and began to carve into the Goblins corpse.

  “What are you doing?” Adam asked. “I am retrieving the Mana Stone from the Goblin’s corpse. All monsters have them. It is said they are a crystallization of all the mana a monster absorbs in their life. And the more mana they absorb the bigger and purer the stone becomes.”

  “Higher rank monsters can produce better quality Mana Stones than this lowly Goblin, but the Guild will still purchase this stone for some coin.” The sound of squelching could be heard under my explanation as green blood oozed out of my incision cut until a ripping sound was heard as I pulled a rough, thumb sized purple crystal out of the dead Goblin.

  “Is there a reason the Guild purchases the stones?” Adam asked. “Yes, because these stones are pure mana they make great crafting material. [Enchanter]’s, [Blacksmith]’s, and magic practitioners use them all the time to enchant everyday items, craft more powerful weapons, and boost the effect of their spells.”

  Cleaning the blood off the Mana Stone by rubbing it in the grass, I then began to do the same to my knife before returning it to my boot. Stowing the Mana Stone in my pack I then said, “Okay Adam, lead the way to the next monster so we can practice some more.”