Alex was in a massive amount of pain, so much so that he could barely focus. He used his free hand to grip the beast, easing the pain as he slowly lifted himself. The horn piercing his shoulder had been holding him up in the air, all of his body's weight held by the wound.

  Tucking his blade under his arm, he grabbed the creature's horn with both hands and hoisted himself up onto its head, entirely relieving the pressure on his shoulder.

  The beast wasn’t exactly letting this happen. The moment Alex got stuck onto its horn, it had been trying to remove him. The creature shook its head back and forth, attempting to fling him off. Unsuccessful, it had moved to the forest's edge and started to scrape its horns against the trees.

  Still boosted by his wind magic, this all happened fast. On top of the beast's head, Alex grabbed his sword with his free hand and thrust it into the bovicus’ eye. He had tried to add some mana to the blade, but was unable to do it quickly enough. Between the pain and the wind magic already enveloping him, it was too much for him to handle at that moment. So while the sword did massive damage to it, it hadn’t been enough to finish it.

  When the sword went through its eye, the beast violently shook its head, redoubling its efforts, trying to stop the pain. Only holding on with one hand, he felt his grip slipping. Fingers no longer able to keep their placement, he was thrown off the creature's head, which also removed the horn from his shoulder. The throw had been strong. Alex slammed into a tree with such force that it knocked the wind from his lungs. He lay there gasping for air, bleeding and swordless, the blade knocked loose from his hand.

  Damn that hurt. Another damn tree.

  He only had a moment of peace. The bovicus was still shaking its head, trying to throw away the pain from the gouging of its eye. The creature had saved itself from instant death by throwing Alex off before he could push his sword deeper into its brain.

  Alex knew his time was limited, before it came after him. The beast had lost an eye and wouldn’t ignore him now. He couldn’t see his sword anywhere from where he was lying. Magic was all he had left.

  He couldn’t move his right arm too well, the shoulder having a large hole in it. Even if he had his sword, he would have to use his non-dominant hand.

  It's now or never, I guess.

  Using the precious seconds he had left, Alex focused on his wind magic. He hadn’t been able to make the wind arrows very well earlier. But he didn’t have a choice now. It's the only thing he could think of that could pierce its hide enough.

  So he dove deep. The wind boost he was using before had ended when he hit the tree and lost his concentration. He channeled the [Wind Magic] now, trying to focus it into a single point. The wind fought him; control was against its nature, even more so to such a fine degree. It raged and howled like a hurricane, it pushed against him, and he pushed back.

  But wait… the wind is free, right? It doesn’t want to be controlled; it abhors control. So I won’t force it.

  He tried something different, rather than forcing it… he coaxed it. Gently guiding it towards what he wanted, letting it be free, but only free in the shape Alex wanted.

  The spell was draining his mana at a rapid pace. He could feel the strain on his body from holding such a spell while he was in a weakened state. He pushed, and pushed, guiding it into what he wanted… What he needed… What he commanded.

  Alex was unrecognizable, lying against the tree, drenched in a mixture of his own blood and the creature’s. While the gore masked most of his features, his eyes remained piercingly clear. They glowed strangely, black with white speckles and gold rims. Mana was violently surging throughout the area and pulsed from his body in waves. It would have been impossible to ignore for any nearby mage. The mana was coalescing into a burgeoning spell above him. Wind whipped through the air, shredding and cutting anything in its path before sucked into a single point, like a black hole in the middle of a storm.

  The shape taking form looked to be a spear. A spear made of wind. The inside of it spun so quickly and violently, while the head of the spear appeared solid and firm. You couldn’t even tell it was spinning.

  Feeling his mana almost bottoming out, Alex took all his Willpower and pushed it into the spear, commanding it to launch at the bovicus, which had started moving towards Alex again.

  Flying through the air, the massive wind spear sounded like a tornado. It was so loud, he was afraid that his eardrums might burst. When it collided with the creature, it was beyond anything Alex had expected. He had put all his remaining mana, focus, and willpower into it and wasn’t disappointed by the outcome.

  Upon impact, it pierced into the bovicus’ neck, drilling into it with a vengeance. It dropped instantly, mid-run, and kept sliding on the ground from its momentum. It finally stopped two feet from him, horns almost stabbing him in an area he would like to avoid at all costs.

  Thank god... Kids are still a possibility someday.

  The damage to the bovicus was extensive. Biting into its neck, the raging wind spear kept going, gouging out a large hole in its chest, three feet deep.

  I must have gotten its heart. So glad that worked… If it hadn’t, I'd be splattered all over this forest. That definitely is not an attack I can repeat much. It took everything I had to do.

  You have slain Iron-Hide Bovicus (Level 8)

  Experience and SP gained

  Willpower really came in clutch there. I still have eight unused points, and I’m going all in. It helped a lot with keeping concentration through the pain and manipulating that mana.

  Alex put his remaining 8 points into Willpower and then pulled up his status.

  Stats

  Strength: 18 (20)

  Agility: 14 (18)

  Endurance: 10 (13)

  Toughness: 13 (20)

  Perception: 7 (12)

  Wisdom: 10 (17)

  Intelligence: 10 (22)

  Willpower: 26 (30)

  Free points: 0

  Ah, yes, beautiful. So awesome to see my power quantified into numbers, and then seeing them go up! Numbers must always go up!

  Alex continued to lie there, not moving a muscle; he knew it would take a while to heal the large hole in his shoulder.

  I wasn’t gone long, but it would be quicker to walk back to camp and get Sarah to patch me up, assuming she's not inside the dungeon. Maybe Korgrith’s people have a healer?

  After lying there for another ten minutes, he slowly stood up.

  Fuckkk that hurts.

  Alex quickly retrieved his sword, looted seven coins from the beast, and decided to come back for the core later. He began walking back towards camp. It was a slow trek for him, taking him longer than usual, taking almost an hour. Most of his body had healed from the minor wounds, but his shoulder was still in rough shape. It would have taken several more hours to heal on its own.

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  Once he made it back near the camp, he waited outside. He knew that if he walked in looking like this, people would panic.

  I doubt it, but it's also possible that some stronger individuals might try to take advantage of my weakened state and attack.

  He activated his stealth and slipped into the camp. He couldn’t find Sarah, or any of his team, or even Korgrith.

  They must still be inside the dungeon.

  But Alex did see Rykos, who was Korgrith's right-hand man. Going to where he was, but staying hidden from most of the camp, Alex unstealthed, startling him.

  “Are we under attack?” Rykos snarled, instantly alert, looking around for an enemy to fight.

  “Don’t worry, we aren’t. And the thing I fought is dead. I had a little accident while playing,” Alex said, smiling. “Are any of your people support classes? I would normally ask Sarah, but she is inside the dungeon with Korgrith, I assume.”

  Rykos nodded, “Yes. Wait.”

  Alex chuckled. Doesn’t talk much, does he?

  Rykos returned a minute later with another beastkin, one who seemed much older, with a deer-like face and antlers.

  Myris Meadowtail - Level 3

  Some kind of deer beastkin? Alex thought to himself.

  “Healer,” Rykos said, seeming bored with the situation.

  She shook her head and gave a small laugh. Stepping forward, she bowed lightly to Alex.

  “It is good to finally have a chance to meet you, Alex. I am Myris. Though I wish it weren’t under these circumstances. Please allow me to tend to your wound,” She gestured towards his shoulder.

  “Nice to meet you, Myris. I would appreciate that, thanks.”

  “Don’t take Rykos’ personality the wrong way. He’s always like that. You can trust him, but he never talks much. He’s more of a wolf of action.”

  “It's fine, I don’t mind. You’ll never hear me complain about someone not talking enough.”

  She placed her hands near his wound, and he saw her channel the mend spell. Instantly, he felt some relief, but he knew it would take a few minutes for this kind of wound to close. He’d seen Sarah healing Derek several times in the dungeon.

  “What did this kind of damage to you?” Her focus and attention staying on his wound.

  Alex winced at the pain. “I fought an Iron-Hide Bovicus. It was a good learning experience, that’s for sure.”

  Rykos growled in his wolf-like way. “You killed one alone?” He asked, doubt in his voice.

  “Yep. It's definitely dead. Big hole in its chest,” Alex smirked.

  He grunted, “I will send people to recover the body.”

  “Yeah, go ahead.”

  Rykos nodded and left to gather some people to bring it back to camp.

  “Your wound is much worse than I thought. I’m surprised that you walked back here from the plains with something like this.”

  Alex laughed a little, then sucked in a breath through his teeth at the pain, “Yeah, well, it wasn’t a fun walk, that's for sure.”

  “I imagine not. Now stay still and let me work. It will take a few more minutes to completely heal this. But the giant hole in your clothes or armor… There is nothing I can do about that.”

  Alex sighed. “I really wish we had someone here to repair it. My armor isn’t looking too good.”

  “Hmm yes. It is definitely not. You look like a wild bear mauled you.”

  Alex snickered at the thought, causing Myris to look at him, her eyes silently telling him to stop moving.

  After the healing was all done, Alex hung around camp for a bit longer. He ate some food, even though he wasn’t hungry.

  I noticed my hunger has lessened, and so has my need for sleep. I still need both, but definitely less than before. Is it the stats? Even if I had super high stats and didn’t need to eat… no way I would stop. Bacon is life. He thought as he popped a piece of pork into his mouth.

  While around the camp, he checked on things. He spoke to some of the earth mages. They discussed building defensive walls around the camp to enclose it and protect it from attack. Adding more defenses inside the cave entrance would come second. It would give them a fallback point if the outer walls failed. Alex agreed and approved their ideas, telling them to go ahead.

  He went to Rykos next and talked about guards or patrols. They agreed to post a few guards along the new walls being built and to send patrols into the forest around the camp. Alex also suggested sending out scouts to search the surrounding area in stealth; they were low-level, but the stealth should keep them safe.

  I really have no idea what this event will be. We need to be as prepared as we can be, and most of all, I need to be stronger. I will never be too weak again.

  Alex spent the next few hours around the camp, helping the earth mages with the living quarters and defenses. He also went on a few short patrols around the forest. During this time, the dungeon group, Derek, Sarah, Sam, and Korgrith, had returned. All except Korgrith had reached level 7. The minotaur gathered some of his men, Rykos included, and planned to take them back into the dungeon. They wanted to get as many higher-level people as they could before the event started. They only had one more full day left.

  Derek, Sarah, and Sam spent the evening helping around camp with Alex. Increasing their defenses was a priority. The evening passed quickly as everyone helped improve their temporary home. Plenty of meat to go around, everyone ate their fill, and some of the Beastkin told stories of their home. Many of the humans took great interest in the stories, Alex included.

  Later in the evening, with free time to himself, he did what he always did… practice his Celestial Control and Eyes of the Cosmos abilities, combined with his magic. He slept only a few hours, using the rest to continue his practice.

  I didn’t have time to practice this kind of thing during the fight earlier. So let’s try some stuff.

  He began by summoning his wind enhancement, letting it bolster his body as he sat outside the cave, feeling the cool night air. While enhanced, he tried to use the wind magic to attack, spawning wind blades. It split his focus a bit, but it was doable.

  It's not too bad. I should be able to manage that in a fight. Now for a different element.

  Releasing the wind blades, but keeping up the enhancement, he used fire magic to spawn fireballs and floated them around himself.

  The strain is greater when two different elements are used together. I can barely do it. I definitely can’t do three at once yet. He grinned. But I will, and even greater than three.

  The real question… Can I combine elements? Technically, lava or magma is fire and earth together, right? I remember feeling it down in the dungeon.

  So Alex tried. And failed. Miserably. His first attempt caused a minor explosion of fire mana, right in his face. It didn’t hurt him, but it definitely woke him up.

  Hmm… the mana doesn’t want to mix. They flow together well and even connect, but remain individual.

  Alex closed his eyes and remembered his time in the dungeon. He thought about the magma he'd seen down there and how it felt through his [Eyes of the Cosmos] ability. The flow and movement of it, the heat, the fire, and the earth had combined into something new. He could feel it, imagine it, and knew with his [Celestial Control] ability, he could manipulate his earth mana, mixing it with the heat from fire mana, and make a magma-type magic.

  He was unsure if there was an actual Magma or Lava Magic skill. He knew instinctively that he could make and control the magma through a mixture of earth and fire magic if he used both at the same time. Though at his current level, he wasn’t sure it would be worth using in a fight, at least not yet. He wasn’t even sure he could.

  We’ll have to table this until I'm at a higher level. Just that little bit of practice combining the elements took vast amounts of my mana and concentration. I couldn’t do that on command, let alone during a fight when I need my mana to last.

  Alex decided to lie back down and try to get more sleep. He had only one day left to train and get ready for the event, so needed rest. Lying there, his thoughts wandered.

  I hope my dog is alright. That dog’s the only family I have left in this world, aside from a few friends. Definitely worried about those friends, too. Everyone better survive this stupid tutorial, so I can find them when this is done. Before then, I need to make sure I become strong enough to protect everyone. I have to be. His thoughts drifted back towards his little brother again… Flashes of him falling. The confusion on his face, fear in his eyes.

  Alex growled and shook his head. No. Never again. I WILL be strong enough. With a new fire burning inside him, he refused to sleep. He left the cave again and went off into the woods.

  It's time for more hunting.

  Casting his wind magic enhancement, he took off through the trees searching for prey.

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