Chapter 15
He stood still, his eyes focused on a single point off in the distance. There was nothing there that was worth taking note of, it was just Billy lost in his own thoughts. Everything he knew about the beginning of this place was turned upside down. It was all because of him.
'This is a change, a major one at that. What's going to happen next? Are the wolves still coming? Is this still the same place as before?'
Question after question popped into his head. All left unanswered and may never be answered.
Billy stopped thinking, he could not lose himself to his own thoughts. Instead, he took in his surroundings.
Many people stood armed with weapons, more than he saw in his previous lives. Some men were changing out of this clothing, putting on new ones. The new ones looked extravagant and Billy wondered why he never grabbed a shirt or two. There were even a few females who snagged themselves something new to wear, although they had yet to put it own. He doubted any would be brave enough to strip with so many prying eyes.
From what he could make out, there were people with sacks. He knew what was inside those sacks as he himself grabbed one before. That's when he noticed it. Something different than before, something unexpected.
It was a blue scroll. The scroll had some fancy designs on the outside, but Billy was curious as to what it had inside. There were a few people holding them in their hands, some even opened the scrolls to read them.
'Why are they here? Why weren't they there before?'
Billy questioned himself as he thought back to his past lives. Maybe they were there but he merely overlooked them.
No. That was not the case, they just were never there.
'Status.'
Name: Billy Hartwell | Age: 25
Class: | Year: 0
Affiliation:
Trait: Regressor [4th life]
Title: [The Crazy Fool] | [Tutorial Upsetter]
Prestige: 0
[Stamina] 10 | [Mana] 0 | [Sense] 0 | [Luck] 25 | [Potential] 250
[Attack] 5 | [Defense] 5
[Physical Resistance ] 0 | [Magical Resistance] 0
[Critical Chance] 1 | [Critical Damage] | 200% [Critical Resistance] 0 | [Dread] 5
[Blade] | [Spear] | [Sword] | [Shield] | [Bow]
[Fist] | [Palm] | [Finger]
[Fire] | [Water] | [Earth ] | [Wind] | [Thunder] | [Darkness] | [Light]
[Points] 0
There was a new line on his status. Titles. Billy's eyes hovered over the first title he had, 'The Crazy Fool'.
[Are you losing your insanity or are you just a fool? Maybe you are both, whatever the case may be few dare to approach. To them you are a walking time bomb just waiting to explode. You passively accumulate Dread.]
[Dread - a passive aura that emits from your body. It causes others to fear you.]
Billy was stunned after he read his title description. The only title he ever received was when he died and came back. But it never did anything for him, it only allowed him to see how many lives he has lived before.
This was new, and strangely exciting.
Swiftly he checked his status window again and noticed he had overlooked the new stat. He switched focus and went to his second title, 'Tutorial Upsetter'.
[Your actions have upset the administrator, none of you are protected. Nothing will ever be the same.]
This title was different. It did nothing for him, but he did wonder what it meant by they would not be protected.
It's not like they were given any protection before. They were literally thrown to the wolves. Some protection that was.
Now that he knew why no one was approaching Billy felt something in his chest. Was it sadness? Maybe, but when was the last time he ever felt this way?
His eyes looked through the crowd of people that were chatting away, and some were leaving. He could not see him. Chang.
The young lad who approached him twice now was gone.
Sighing, Billy left.
They were not that close anyway, this was for the best.
Many of the monsters in this place was still unknown to him, but he would not actively seek fights as before. There was no need to.
He already had a plan, and he did not have any thoughts of deviating from it.
First he would find some wolves and kill them to upgrade his stats a little. Then he would hide in a tree until this was over.
There was little need to worry about food or going to the bathroom. Sure, he would be bored but this was precious time he would have to himself. He would be able to think, jot down all that he knew and try to understand everything.
No one followed Billy. Few saw him leave as they were too bust with their own goals. And it was not long before his figure vanished as he went into the forest.
It was not even five minutes before he found himself stopping. He was alone in the forest and could hear growling. A twig snapped as a bush moved.
There was constant movement going on, but the growling only came from in front of him. In the thick forest, Billy could not see what awaited him. But, he knew it was a wolf. And wolves do not hint alone.
It was odd. He stood still about to face who knew how many wolves, but his mind was calm. In a situation like this, a person would be afraid. They would be panicking but him? He thought little of these beasts.
They were not attacking him outright. Instead they watched him, assessing his strength. Seeing what Billy would do. If they sensed fear, then they would strike. However, they did not.
After a dozen seconds, a wolf emerged from the forest. It was large with black thick fur. The wolf was baring its teeth at Billy was it growled deeply.
Three more growls entered his ear and Billy knew he was surrounded.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Come on!"
Billy taunted the beasts as he cracked his knuckles.
It worked too as they lunged at him. The strangest thing was, these wolves seemed to move slower than before. He could see a gap in the defense.
Billy had nothing to harm them with, all he had was his fist. In his entire life, he's only punched five people. There was no telling if he would be strong enough to kill these wolves, but he was not going to go down without a fight.
At this point, he let go of his fear. Death for others meant they were dead. For him, he would just restart.
It was painful sure. But so was living. He could not die like everyone else, so why not act like it? Death changes people, and Billy was already changing. His mental state was not the same.
As his body moved to the left, Billy grabbed the wolf in front of him. Wrapping his arms around the creatures neck, he squeezed it tight.
The beast snarled and tried to bite him but failed. It's companions attacked Billy, but he used the wolf he captured as a shield.
One wolf bite into the one Billy had hostage drawing blood and causing the wolf to whimper in pain. The other one circled around Billy going for his open back.
Swinging the wolf he had in his grip, it slammed into the wolf aiming for Billy's back. The beast was knocked away and the other one was in pain.
It's whimpering continued as it kept trying to bite Billy. Grabbing it by its mouth, Billy pulled its jaws open with his hands. Blood leaked from his palms as the canines on the wolf dug into his skin. But the one in the most pain was the wolf not him.
It's body wiggled in the air, the whimpers it was letting put before turned into cries.
"Argh!"
Billy shouted as he pulled with all his strength. With a loud crack, the wolf's body twitched before it went limp.
A few yards away from Billy were three people. They were gazing at Billy and the wolves he was facing. There was no thoughts to help him, instead they only observed. What they saw was shocking.
A young boy covered his mouth as he turned his head away from the small group. The sound of him throwing up could be heard.
The other two were not much better.
"That motherfucker is crazy. Bat shit crazy!"
"I only came this way because I thought he would be long gone by now. I think I will take my leave. Have fun..."
One of the three males scurried off with his tail between his legs after the sight he saw.