Chapter 5: Defense (I)

Torin opened his eyes, and felt sharp pains in his chest and left eye. It felt as though a lump was forming up beside his heart, and his eye was being burnt with an open flame. Torin held back a scream, as he started writhing in pain on the ground.

After what seemed like eternity, the pain finally subsided, and Torin felt the flow of a new substance coursing through his body. Mana.

[Mana has increased by 1]

[You have obtained skill: Eye of Glaciaras]

Then he heard the screams.

---

Vivian Lopez was having a bad day. First, she found herself alone in some creepy looking room, with little to no light. She couldn't remember how she had gotten there in the first place. All she could remember was that she was talking to a few of her new friends, and then there was a sudden burst of white light, before she awoke. Weird messages had popped out in her vision, but she thought she was hallucinating and willed them to go away.

At first, she thought that she had been kidnapped by some terrorists, but she found her circumstances weird, as she was not bound or tied up in the room. There were no modern lights either, with the stone walls somehow glowing, and the medieval-like torches providing a dim lighting. The only door she could use to exit the room wasn't locked either. When she carefully opened the door, what greeted her was a dark corridor. Although she didn't know where it led, she had little choice, and wanted to escape as soon as possible.

After some time wandering around, Vivian felt like she was in a maze. Everything looked the same to her, and she was getting both frustrated and tired.

'Am I walking in circles?' It wasn't long before she came to that conclusion. She had yet to see another door, and she could no longer find her way back to the room she woke up in.

If this was a labyrinth, she had to do something to find her way out instead of just walking around aimlessly. Recalling the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, she decided to dismantle the jacket she was wearing and use it as string, unraveling it behind wherever she walked. Surely enough, she discovered that she had kept reusing the same path over and over again, and with this discovery, she avoided the places she had already visited, and started to cover more ground.

Vivian felt the string she was unraveling become taut. Someone must have picked it up. Unsure whether it was friend or foe, Vivian was hesitant on whether to run or go towards the unknown entity. She started to backtrack quietly, coiling up the string she had left. Even if it was a foe, she had to know what was going on. The amount of string she had wouldn't last forever, and it didn't seem like she was anywhere close to the exit. Then she heard the grunts of something that didn't sound human at all. She quickly dove behind a corner, and peeked at its source, only to find a stubby looking creature holding the string in confusion. It was observing the string curiously, and even tried eating it. Vivian was considering approaching the creature and asking it if it knew what was going on, but the creature took out a decent sized rock and started smashing the string violently. Horrified by the savage display, as well as the questionable intelligence of the creature, Vivian had hurriedly left the scene.

After ensuring that she was a safe distance away, More messages popped up in her vision

[Goblin Outcast has been killed. You have advanced to Tier 1]

[You are now eligible to choose a patron deity]

At this point, she could no longer dismiss the messages appearing in her vision as mere hallucinations. A weird window in her sight. Lost in a foreign maze. Confused and stressed out by the situation, Vivian curled into a ball and wanted to burst into tears. "Please, just get me out of here." She willed the messages to go away, but they wouldn't until she chose something called a patron deity. She just picked one at random.

[Gerale, Former of Clouds has been selected]

[Your status menu has been updated]

She then heard talking and footsteps. The voices sound like they belonged to people her age. With nothing else she could do, she had approached the voices, and was pleasantly greeted by people from her college. After a one-sided heartfelt reunion with civilization, she tagged along with the group. Just like that, she had followed them all the way to the sanctuary, where she now resided.

Like the others, she had entered the temple in search of answers, but what she learnt had managed to frustrate her even more. As a history major and a mythology fanatic, she could accept the fact that magic and monsters existed. But to be transported to another world, with no clear goal but to survive? She found it ludicrous that she couldn't be sent back home. And so, she had spent the last few hours sighing and cursing at the crazy goddess who was her patron.

And after going through all that, Vivian was now going to die.

Without warning, a swarm of ginormous insects had rushed into the sanctuary, attacking anything that moved. Like a cross between a fat maggot and a praying mantis, the insects were over a meter in length, and armed with shiny exoskeletons and razor sharp raptorial legs. Although they lacked wings, the insects scurried around at a rapid pace, launching themselves at their foes.

Before anyone could react, the two people on guard duty were already torn to shreds. Then all hell broke loose. Screams erupted everywhere, and those brave enough tried to meet the insects halfway, giving everything they could to protect the rest. In all this chaos, Vivian couldn't do anything. She had zero combat aptitude. After all, she was told by that damn goddess of hers that the string she left behind had contributed to the killing of a goblin by acting as a distraction, enabling her to get a patron. The goddess had also suggested that she put everything into dexterity since she herself specialized in craftsmen, and Vivian had the aptitude to be one.

'Mistakes were made. I shouldn't have listened to that shitty goddess.' Vivian lamented her decision.

The number of insects slightly outnumbered those capable of fighting, leaving a few insects running wild, looking for easy prey. Vivian soon found herself reflected in the six dark onyx eyes of one of them. The insect wasted no time once it had found its desired prey. It clicked its mandibles, and leapt at her, its claws ready to tear her apart.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" She screamed and raised her arms in an attempt to protect herself, closing her eyes to brace for her demise. But the attack never came.

She opened her eyes slowly.

Someone had jumped in front of her, and was swinging a torch at the monstrous bug. Faced with an adversary, the insect backed off slightly, seemingly reconsidering its options as the difficulty of getting to its targeted prey had gotten a lot harder.

Vivian's legs gave way, and she collapsed onto the floor in relief. The relief was short-lived though, as it became evident that the black-haired individual that had saved her was fighting a losing battle. The boy's combat skill was nothing short of ordinary - he looked experienced as he brandished the torch, but it was clear that he had perfectly normal strength and speed, unlike some of the others who had invested points. What caught her attention though, was the boy's eyes. Although one of his eyes was a dark brown, the other one shone a brilliant blue.