Chapter Five
"Oomph!" Jason grunted as his rear hit a dirt path. He was still slightly disoriented, his world switched from black to color once more. "I almost wished that didn't work." He said to Selena, yet as he looked around, he noticed he was alone. His phone buzzed once, he had received a message.
"I won't be there in person, but within the tome." He read from his screen. "Stop being a weakling and- Whatever." He sighed as he decided not to read the rest of the message. Instead, he went to his inventory and clicked on his rusty iron sword and leather vest. As he did, the sword appeared in his hand and the vest over his chest. He felt around the vest, seeing that it was snug against his chest and reached down to his abdomen. "Apparently I don't need to change into the equipment." He mused as he raised his head to gain his bearings.
When Selena had mentioned a dungeon, he had originally expected a cave or actual dungeon. Instead, he seemed to have been teleported to another wooded area. The path in front of him was not unlike the dirt rode on the state park property. "I guess the only way to go is forward?"
Jason started up the path. The first difference he noticed in his location was the trees. He had always thought the large oaks on the property were huge in comparison to others he had seen, yet these ones seemed to reach for the sky.
Looking around, he almost didn't notice as four rabbits jumped into view a few feet away from him. Jason raised his sword reflexively. "Like hell I'm going to be rabbit food again!" He activated temporal shift and appeared behind the first rabbit, easily decapitating it, then teleporting back where he was a moment ago. "Okay, that is a little easier." He said grudgingly as he thought of Selena chastising him. "Maybe arcane thrust next time?" He said to himself.
The next rabbit wasted no time as it raced towards its victim. Jason activated arcane thrust with plenty of time to spare. His sword gained a pinkish glow as he thrust it forward. When it connected with the rabbit, it nearly exploded, sending meat and bone flying, spraying an ample amount of blood on him as he dashed towards the last two rabbits, each one getting dispatched by a pinkish blade.
Jason packed the meat and money into his phone. He had become two hundred dollars richer, just by killing rabbits. He whistled a tune as he continued his way through the path. Within ten paces, he met another group of rabbits, yet this time there were five. He practiced hurricane kick as well as temporal shift on the group, soon to be collecting more.
Wash, rinse and repeat. Jason met and fought five more groups within ten paces of the last and continued on. He could feel the experience building within him, the wild energy attempting to tear itself out of him, yet while he fought, it didn't seem as bad as when he was just standing still at home. He felt as though he could continue even with the raw energy thrashing around.
The path wound in a pattern of sorts. He began to predict where the next wave of enemies would be. After practicing his attacks for an hour, he noticed that the energy within him wasn't growing anymore. He decided to sit with his back against a tree and cultivate the raw experience.
'You have leveled up!'
'Current Level: 3
HP: 60
MP: 60
STM: 60
Armor Rating: 8
Current Skills:
English Scribe: Intermediate
Cooking: Beginner
Cardio: Beginner
Hunter: Beginner
Hand to Hand Combat: Beginner
Sword Skill: Beginner
Spellbook:
Novice Fire: level 0.0
Novice Water: level 0.0
Novice Wind: level 0.0
Novice Earth: level 0.0
Novice Light: level 0.0
Novice Dark: level 0.0
Novice Time: level 0.0
EXP Bonus: 20%
EXP to next Level: 3,000
Spells Unlocked:
Temporal Shift: Mastery: 100%
Arcane Thrust: Mastery: 0.60%
Hurricane Kick: Mastery: 0.60%
Flash Heal: Mastery: 0.00%
Revive: Mastery: 0.00%
Other spells may be unlocked upon experimentation and advancement in rank.
INT:7
STR:7
VIT:7
AGI:7
WIS:7
DEF:7
'You currently have 10 attribute points to distribute.'
Balance: $33,159'
"Alright," Jason said as he looked at his phone. "It looks as if I can only hold enough experience to bring myself to the next level."
He looked at the attribute points for the first time. As he did, a prompt appeared.
'Distribute points?
[Yes] [No]
Jason clicked yes, then thought. "So far, I've learned that I have magic and can use a teleport ability as well as a sword technique. Every time I use one of these abilities, my mana goes down significantly. If I want to keep up my attacks, I'll have to be more mana based than physical, yet I also need to use strength if I wish to hold my opponents off." He checked off what he had learned so far.
"Essentially, I wouldn't need agility as much, due to the temporal shift ability. I can disappear and reappear in the blink of an eye, so that would be a moot point. Intelligence and wisdom are directly linked to my mana regeneration and mana pool. I'll need more of that in the future if I'm going to be this temporal mage."
With that in mind, he put three points into strength, then three into intelligence, leaving four to wisdom.
'Are you sure?' The screen prompted and he clicked yes.
Jason could physically feel himself getting stronger and more clear headed. When he looked at his screen again, he smiled.
'Name: Jason Reese
'Current Level: 3
HP: 60
MP: 120
STM: 60
Armor Rating: 8
Current Skills:
English Scribe: Intermediate
Cooking: Beginner
Cardio: Beginner
Hunter: Beginner
Hand to Hand Combat: Beginner
Sword Skill: Beginner
Spellbook:
Novice Fire: level 0.0
Novice Water: level 0.0
Novice Wind: level 0.0
Novice Earth: level 0.0
Novice Light: level 0.0
Novice Dark: level 0.0
Novice Time: level 0.0
EXP Bonus: 20%
EXP to next Level: 3,000
Spells Unlocked:
Temporal Shift: Mastery: 100%
Arcane Thrust: Mastery: 0.60%
Hurricane Kick: Mastery: 0.60%
Flash Heal: Mastery: 0.00%
Revive: Mastery: 0.00%
Other spells may be unlocked upon experimentation and advancement in rank.
INT:10
STR:10
VIT:7
AGI:7
WIS:11
DEF:7
Balance: $33,159'
"I think this should do it for the day." Jason wiped sweat from his face, spreading blood across his forehead. He looked at his hands and could only imagine what the rest of him looked like. When he looked at the time on his phone, he only sighed as he realized that only two hours had passed outside the dungeon. He had noticed time moved differently while in the strange place.
As he got up from his meditative position, he selected [Quit] on his phone. He felt the floor open up underneath him as he was transported through time back to his world.