The Eternal: A Boxed Set (World of Ga'em Book 6) Read online

  Definitely Wind Arts. I grinned.

  The gales rushed around the beast and kicked up dust, hiding it from sight. The silhouette of the ogre, though, stood clear behind the screen, and the beast’s shadowy figure stood defiantly against the attack.

  Just how strong is that thing? I stared at the ogre, at the shadow of its head.

  DING!

  A screen of translucent white opened.

  Race

  Forest Ogre

  Level

  12

  What? I blinked.

  DING!

  Congratulations! You have learned a new skill

  Analyze!

  Due to your intense desire to know more about the enemy, you have obtained the skill of analysis. You will now be able to discern information about other people and objects by concentrating on their form.

  Effect 1

  None

  Whoa. I grinned.

  The wind attack stopped and the Nymph Mother hunched down to the ground, breathing heavily. The ogre, on the other hand, stood as it had before and glared at his opponent.

  The beast stepped forward and smacked its club into her, sending her flying into the air and crashing to the ground. She rolled and slid, breaking through leaves and branches. The coarse objects cut into her skin before she came to a stop, mere steps from me.

  She lay on the ground, her form trembling. My chest tightened, but my heart beat in excitement. This is playing right into my hands. And I didn’t even try anything.

  I stepped over a bush. “Mother.” I knelt beside her heaving body.

  She looked up at me. “Please…” Her voice trembled. “Help…us.”

  Perfect, I thought. I nodded. “I will help you.”

  Relief washed over her face. “Thank—”

  “But I have some conditions.”

  She frowned, and her fists quickly clenched.

  Did I miscalculate? I wondered.

  The other nymphs yelped as the ogre chased after them. The beast thudded his club on the ground, smashing wildly at his opponents. The nymphs retaliated but their trembling bodies held them back. Their stray spears and arrows flew all over the place, many sticking into the ground a few feet from me.

  Wow, that’s a mess, I thought. I looked back at the fallen Nymph Mother. The steely glare in her eyes had now softened.

  Another yell came from a nymph, and she winced. “What do you…wish of me, human?”

  “A gift.” I smiled. “The Forest Scimitars.”

  Her eyes widened. “But that is—”

  “A weapon that can be forged only by the nymphs,” I said. Thank god I remembered that, I thought. “Promise me the Forest Scimitars, and I will save your people in return.”

  Her teeth clenched. Her head arched up for a moment, catching a glimpse at the battle behind us. A sigh left her lips. “Very well,” she said, her voice a whisper.

  “Pleasure doing business with you.” I smiled and stood up.

  DING!

  You have been offered a quest:

  Save the Nymphs I!

  An ogre has attacked the nymph colony. Be their savior and rescue them from their attacker! Reward: Forest Scimitars

  Yes

  No

  Two buttons sat at the bottom of the screen, one with the word Accept and the other with the word Decline.

  Let’s do this. I hit Accept and dismissed the prompt. I stepped to the battlefield, and my gaze locked onto the ogre and the nymphs. My hand latched onto a small spear sticking out of the ground, and I pulled it out.

  DING!

  You have obtained new equipment.

  Nymph Spear!

  A bow made from simple wood. Its size may be small, but it packs a hard punch. Never underestimate the weapons of a Nymph. Would you like to transfer the equipment to your Equipment Inventory?

  Yes

  No

  I hit No. Why would I give up a perfectly good weapon? I chuckled.

  I looked to the ogre and saw a health bar fade in next to the beast’s head. It was a full green and had the words Forest Ogre displayed atop it. The beast growled and thrashed through the nymphs again. I hastened my footsteps, hustling faster toward it.

  Ten yards, I noted. I sprinted forward. “ARRRGGHHHH!” I yelled as I ran into the battlefield, and the ogre instantly turned around to me. My heart froze. Was this a good idea?

  I was a Level 2 player taking on a Level 12 ogre. It was not the smartest thing to do, but I wanted to do this, as if I knew I was going to win.

  Too late to back away, I thought, so I pushed ahead. The ogre stepped up and swung its club at my body. I waited till the very last moment and threw myself forward, rolling on the cold ground. The wooden weapon thundered into the surface and sent vibrations through my body. I slid through the beast’s legs and pushed off a split-second later, bringing myself back onto my feet. I twirled my torso and threw my spear hard, forcing it with every bit of strength I had.

  The weapon thudded into the ogre’s back, but the tip didn’t even pierce its skin, and the spear fell to the ground. “Figures,” I muttered.

  The beast growled loudly and turned around, swinging its club. The air shook as the massive weapon came at me. I dropped to the ground and it passed over me, smacking into a nearby nymph instead. She went flying away, crashing into a treetop and thudding to the ground. From a glance, I could tell she was still alive, but badly injured. I winced.

  Sorry!

  Another whoosh sounded as the ogre’s club swung down at me. I immediately dived back, evading the attack by inches. The weapon thudded into the ground, and the impact cratered the surface, sending shockwaves through it. I slid away, putting distance between me and the creature. I knelt as I came to a stop and grabbed the nearest weapon—an abandoned archery set.

  DING!

  You have obtained new equipment.

  Nymph Bow!

  It is said that the spirits of the wind blessed the bows of the Nymphs. Arrows will fly faster than you expect, and they will strike harder than they could before. Would you like to transfer the equipment to your ‘Equipment Inventory?’

  Yes

  No

  DING!

  You have obtained new equipment.

  Wooden Arrows (x3)!

  Simple arrows made from forest wood. Unfortunately, there’s nothing special about them. Would you like to transfer the equipment to your ‘Equipment Inventory?’

  Yes

  No

  I quickly tapped No on both screens and looked up at the ogre, just as the beast charged at me. I swiftly loaded an arrow into the bow and fired it, but the projectile went astray, completely missing the target.

  Okay, so I’m not good at archery. I ran into the trees. The ogre, however, came after me fast, throwing down trees and branches as it rushed through the woods.

  How do I take this guy down? I squirmed through the trees. The level difference between me and the ogre was far too big for me to easily land a direct hit on it. The Ga’em awarded bonus damage and critical hits for either attacking an opponent’s key vital body parts, like the throat, or for using a perfected technique to take someone down. I needed something like that to win, but I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to pull it off.

  The beast growled. I turned around, and a massive tree flew my way. I ducked down but kept running. The projectile soared over me and crashed into the ground. I leapt over it and hastened my steps. The ogre was catching up to me, and its wild-swinging club was smashing into the trees all around.

  He’s definitely not happy, I thought. I drew my bow and fired an arrow at its body again. The close-range shot hit even with my bad technique. However, if its health bar was accurate, I hadn’t done enough damage to even see a decrease in its health.

  I forgot ogres are great tanks, I muttered. Another challenge. My weak arrows were no match for the beast’s large health reservoir. I wouldn’t even dent it with an arrow, even if I fired it at point-blank. This fight was turning out to be much
harder than I’d expected.

  Don’t regret it, though. I grinned. The Scimitars will be worth it.

  A blue light glowed around me, and warmth sank into my skin. What the heck? I tried to shake it off, but then my eyes widened. A speed buff, I realized.

  The blue glow turned faint red a second later, and ended as a vibrant violet. I looked toward the trees to my left. The Nymph Mother stood there, gripping her glowing staff of light.

  I nodded. I won’t let this go to waste.

  The ogre’s angry growls echoed behind me, and another tree went flying through the air, but to my side instead of right at me. I sped through the forest, and with my enhanced speed I put a large distance between me and the ogre.

  I need to find a way to take it down, I thought. I was far too weak to defeat it with a direct attack, which meant I had to find something more unconventional.

  A shadow loomed over me and a massive club swung into my body. The weapon thudded into my flesh, rattling my bones. I flew toward a tree trunk and thudded against it. I collapsed to the ground, spitting out blood and gasping for breath. I tried to stand up, but pain held me down. Definitely broke something. I clenched my teeth. The green fill of my health bar quickly reduced, turning to red as it sank down to just over a tenth.

  The ogre walked toward me, its wooden club slung over its shoulder. Its body now glowed with a violet hue as well.

  Damn it. I gritted my teeth. It has a speed buff too.

  The beast raised its club, and the heavy head hovered above me, ready for the killing blow. I tried to get up, tried to dive, but I was far too injured.

  My limbs went limp. The world faded in and out of my vision, and shadows quickly overtook everything I could see.

  Zoran.

  A faint voice called out to me.

  The club swung down on my body. Who are you?

  The voice didn’t speak again. A word faded into my mind. A word that felt both familiar and alien at once.

  Heat stirred inside me, boiling the blood within my veins. My vision immediately cleared, just in time to see the ogre’s club inches away from smashing into my face. I jerked my half-broken hand up into the air, with my palm facing the beast.

  “Levieris!”

  A blast of smoky-gray light shot out of my hand and rammed right into the ogre. The air heated up and trembled, as though a fissure were quaking through it. The attack cut off a second later, and wisps of smoke rose from the field.

  My eyes widened. Whoa. All that was left of the ogre was a dusty skeleton and a worn-out club lying on the ground.

  What did I just do? My shoulders tightened. What was that spell? How had I even cast it? Questions flooded me, a new one forming even before I could think about the last.

  DING!

  Warning!

  You have reached critical health. Take evasive action immediately.

  Oh yeah, I realized.

  A ray of light caught my eye. A glittering object sat at the base of the abandoned club, sandwiched between the wood and the ground. I dragged my body forward, wincing as my fractured bones scraped against each other. I reached out and grabbed the object. A cool sensation spread under my fingertips.

  It was a glass vial, about as tall as my hand, with a wooden cork sealing it. Red liquid sloshed inside, and I cringed at the sight.

  DING!

  You have found a new item.

  Warrior’s Restoration Potion!

  This special potion is for tough, battle-loving warriors and restores part of one’s Health and Stamina. Would you like to transfer the items to your ‘Item Inventory?’

  Yes

  No

  Why does it have to look like blood, though? I gazed at the vial of red in my hands, watching as the liquid swirled inside. I uncorked it and a sweet scent immediately wafted toward me. I hesitated for a moment, but then put the potion to my lips and downed it all in one go.

  A warm feeling passed through my body, as though I had drunk a cup of hot, melted chocolate. The throbbing sensations of pain in my body died down, and a soothing calm came over me. My health bar quickly filled up, and the red changed to green as it increased to more than half of the max.

  DING!

  A screen came up again.

  You have consumed a Warrior’s Restoration Potion. Health and Stamina have been partly restored!

  I slowly stood up and flexed my arms. Pain and hurt had dissolved away from my body, and my limbs were no longer broken.

  Amazing, I thought. This thing heals fractures too.

  DING!

  Congratulations! You have completed the quest:

  Save the Nymphs I!

  Your bravery and strength have aided in the defeat of the ogre. The nymphs owe you their gratitude. Reward: Meet the Nymph Mother to obtain your reward. Reward: Unlocked Save the Nymphs II.

  DING!

  Congratulations! You have obtained the quest:

  Save the Nymphs II!

  The Nymph Mother’s successor has gone missing in battle. Aid the nymphs by finding her and bringing her back to them. Reward: Unknown.

  Oooh. This might get even better. I smiled and hit Accept. Another quest, and more rewards to reap. Wonder what kind of reward I’ll get for this one, I thought.

  The Nymph Mother’s successor was a very important person in the colony and was second-to-none, other than the Mother herself. Rescuing someone like that should get me a very good reward, I thought.

  I still needed to work on the rescuing part, though. The Ga’em prompt hadn’t given me any info on what exactly had caused this successor to go missing, but it did mention “missing in battle.”

  Maybe she got separated, I thought. Or did the ogre take her away?

  Going deeper into the forest seemed to be the best option, and so I headed forward, following the trail of snapped tree trunks and broken branches in front of me. The wind slithered past my body and sent crushed leaves into my hair.

  I’d walked a few minutes more when something caught my eye. I stopped myself short and looked down to the ground. A patch of footprints lay in a wet part of the forest floor. They started from my right and disappeared a few feet to my left, at the point where the ground hardened again.

  That way. I glanced up and walked.

  DING!

  Congratulations! You have learned a new skill

  Tracking!

  For millennia, tracking has been the way of the new man. You will now be able to observe your environment more intimately and gain greater information about it.

  Effect 1

  The chance of finding target’s trail increased by 1%

  Nice. I smiled.

  I walked for another minute before I saw an odd structure from the corner of my eye. A large pile of branches and leaves lay half a hundred yards away. A pyre? I looked closer. The body of a small girl lay beside it, silent and immobile.

  Is that…? My eyes widened. I ran to the girl, my heart beating faster with each step. Her olive-skin blended into the light mud, but her dark hair stood in stark contrast against it. She’s definitely the one I’m looking for, I thought.

  I knelt down and lifted her up. Her body was light and frail in my arms, like a baby deer. The sickly scent of blood came from her skin, masking us both in it. The girl’s black hair was shorter than the Nymph Mother’s and was wet with her own blood. I could see cuts and bruises on parts of her body, but they didn’t seem too severe. I leaned closer to her face, and the sound of rough breathing whispered into my ears. I sighed. She’s still alive.

  I held her firm in my arms and walked back through the trees. I treaded past the ogre’s skeleton a few minutes later, and the questions I had held back all came crashing through.

  What was that voice I’d heard? I wondered. Why had I even heard it?

  I pondered for about ten minutes more, stopping only when I finally found the nymph group again. A few of them were conscious, the others not so much. I held the nymph girl in my arms and stepped towards them.


  “Kione!” the Nymph Mother stumbled toward me. I laid the nymph down on the ground and backed away. The Nymph Mother held the girl’s hands in hers, and a warm smile shone on her face.

  I sighed and let myself slump to the ground, exhausted. My back rested against the forest floor, and my eyes looked up at the still-cloudy skies. I exhaled in relief. That was harder than I expected, I chuckled.

  A drop of cold rain hit my cheek, and a few more followed. A grin curled onto my face. I’d just walked into an unnecessary battle of my own accord, taken on an ogre, summoned some weird spell, and escaped death by the slightest of margins.

  And yet, this was the most alive I could ever remember feeling.

  ***

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Water struck the leaves above me.

  The Nymph Mother knelt beside Kione, unbothered by the scant rain. She reached out and gripped the girl’s limp hand. A dull white light glowed around their fingers, and a gentle warmth radiated from them. The girl’s health bar slowly increased, and in a minute, it reached a fourth of its max capacity. Her yellow eyes fluttered open, and the Nymph Mother hugged her tenderly, tears of relief sliding down her cheeks.