A Warrior's First Battle! (Double-Length Chapter)

Achilles drew his father’s sword, and one thousand eyes spread from his shadow onto the ground and the trees and the rushing water.

He didn’t know how he could count the eyes so fast, in an instant, but he somehow knew there were exactly one thousand there!

New information poured into his head. He realized truths about himself that had been invisible before.

He had a “class” that was called “Human.” Of course, he’d known he was human before, but now he understood that it granted him certain abilities.

He had the trait “Human Versatility,” which gave him a bonus to all experience points he earned.

However, he saw that humans gained Hit Points, or HP, at a very slow rate. They got 1 at birth and then 1 additional HP for each ten years they lived—until they faded with the weakness of old age. He understood that HP referred to how many solid hits from any enemy a person could take before dying.

And as the orcs burst through the tree line toward the stream where Achilles was standing, he could see their own classes.

There were seven orcs, six of which only belonged to the basic Orc class. In an instant, Achilles understood that orcs were also born with one HP, but gained between 1 and 8 HP every time they gained a level, though they gained no more simply by aging.

Because these orcs had only one level each, they had between 4 and 7 HP each.

There was one enormous figure at the front of their group, and he wore a spiked helmet which gave him an air of menace.

He was 2nd Level, and his class was Orc Captain.

His HP was 15!

Achilles’s head whirled with all this new information, this new way of looking at the world.

Time seemed to have slowed to a crawl.

<Don’t let yourself be paralyzed!> screamed Virgil.

The orcs didn’t react to his voice, and Achilles realized that only he could hear Virgil.

<Activate the first level of darkvision!> said Virgil. <Do it quick!>

Achilles suddenly understood how to do this.

He extinguished one of his thousand eyes and then could see clearly in the darkness, up to ten meters away!

<Now use your darkvision to run away,> said Virgil.

‘But can’t I fight them now?’ asked Achilles, even as he was turning to dash away. ‘This is amazing! I feel like I could conquer the world!’

<If I gave you enough power to win right here, you’d certainly become an abomination and be lost forever. Run for a bit and get your bearings! Darkvision grants you a significant advantage. You don’t stink enough for them to track you by smell, and they can’t see in the dark!>

Though he felt unstoppable, Achilles saw the logic. Holding the sword in one hand and the sheathe in the other, he splashed through the stream and disappeared deeper into the forest.

Because he could see up to ten meters away, it was simple to dodge between trees and boulders. He knew these woods well, even so far out, and quickly regained his bearings.

The orcs fell farther and farther behind, unable to even track his footsteps in the middle of the night.

Achilles stopped and breathed hard behind an enormous boulder in the middle of the forest. His eldritch eyes slithered all around him in the shadows cast by moonlight on the trees in the rocks. Achilles realized he could probably only see them also, just as the orcs couldn’t hear Virgil’s voice.

‘This is incredible!’ thought Achilles. ‘I can’t believe I can see in the dark.’

<You’ll do far more than that, eventually,> said Virgil.

<However, you’ll need to be cunning to survive tonight, let alone to defeat your enemies. You ‘had’ one thousand eyes, which are the thousand pieces of my power I took with me from the other world—but once you spend one, it’s gone forever.>

‘If one can let me see in the dark,’ thought Achilles, ‘then I can’t even imagine what the rest can do.’

<I’m afraid your darkvision is not permanent,> said Virgil. <Most of your powers which are temporary, like this one, expire at midnight. If you spend additional eyes, you can expand your darkvision, but I don’t recommend it. This advantage is probably all you need right now.>

Achilles nodded.

<Did you notice any of their other system traits?> asked Virgil.

‘Yes,’ thought Achilles. ‘I saw that they deal 1d2 damage. That means either 1 or 2 damage. I don’t know what that means, though. I wasn’t able to think about it for more than a few moments.’

<It means that, most of the time, they’ll swing and either miss you or only graze you. Most times when creatures fight each other, their attacks are only light, if they hit at all.>

<But if a creature lands a solid hit, they deal their base combat damage in HP. Orcs are naturally skilled in combat, and when they land solid hits, they do either 1 or 2 HP of damage.>

<That means with one blow they can kill many human children under the age of twenty. As they level up, they can hit many times in quick succession.>

<A 4th Level orc, far more powerful than even the leader that was back there, could probably kill even an Imperial Knight like your father.>

Achilles hated to hear that, but he knew in his heart that what Virgil said was true. ‘Then they can easily kill me.’

He could see all his own system attributes. He only had 2 HP, and so only had a 50% chance to survive even a single blow from one orc. And there were seven of them!

<Yes,> said Virgil, <you’re very weak. You’re about as worthless as a human can get without being an infant. But you can grow stronger. I told you I’d help you, and I will! The safest thing would be for you to abandon the weaklings of your village and escape. You could easily do so… but I have a feeling you won’t.>

‘No!’ thought Achilles. ‘I’ll be a hero. I’ll become an Imperial Knight, like my father was.’

<I was afraid you would say that,> said Virgil. He sounded irritated. <If you want to save everybody, you’ll need to use a lot of eyes.>

‘Then I’ll just have to do that.’

<Such a waste. You could’ve used the same number and killed a much more powerful creature, one that might have won you fame and fortune!>

‘Well,’ thought Achilles, ‘there are more eyes. I’m going to save my mother and sister, no matter what.’

So Virgil revealed several enhancements which Achilles could access with no risk of being corrupted by the eldritch power.

First, he spent an eye to increase his sprinting speed by one meter per second. He was already an agile boy, but now he could keep out of the orcs’ reach much better.

Next, he spent two eyes to increase his Armor Class, or AC. Virgil claimed this measured how easily he could dodge solid hits. He’d started with an AC of 10—what most humans had—and raised it to 12.

‘I should probably go even higher,’ thought Achilles. ‘If I raise it enough, can I make it impossible for them to hit me?’

<Yes,> said Virgil, <but then you’ll far surpass normal human capabilities. The further you get from your ordinary potential, the closer you come to corruption. Leveling and gaining other intrinsic power will also raise this threshold.>

So they stuck with those defenses.

<These last elements,> said Virgil, <are very tricky. They’ll require many eyes and will bring risk. Even this step might corrupt you, which would surely result in you slaughtering your friends and family!>

Achilles’s heart went cold, but he realized it was a risk he had to take. ‘I’ll do it anyway,’ he thought.

<Then hold still,> said Virgil, <while I infuse your body with magical energy!>

Achilles braced himself, but was unprepared for the overwhelming pain which freezed and burned his whole body at once.

His brain itched worse than anything he’d ever felt, then seemed to have melted inside his head!

And then… Achilles had lost ten eyes, but knew how to use a sword.

It was as though someone had long ago taught him all the basics of swordsmanship, having embedded them into his muscle memory.

All Achilles’s practice in the village had been childish stupidity. Even if he’d fought a mere eleven-year-old who’d practiced for a single year under a proper teacher, that child would’ve defeated him!

Now, Achilles could probably beat most other ordinary humans who’d been taught for even five years.

<Don’t get too cocky. Anyone with an actual class could still defeat you. Even now, you’re at the bottom of the ladder! Now, finally, we must attune you to me. Most mortals can only attune to three magical items at a time, though you can grow in that area as well. But it takes twenty-four hours to attune to a magic item, and we don’t have that time!>

Three eyes burned away and Virgil’s blade ignited with a black and purple fire that drank in moonlight, leaving perfect darkness in the shape of a blade above the hilt.

Achilles smiled. His new vision that he received from the eyes, which showed him the system attributes of people, also showed him the attributes of Virgil as a sword.

<<Virgil: Artifact longsword. Chaotic. Intelligent. Grants level drain resistance when wielded. Deals 1d2 cosmic damage on hit.>>

With this blade in his hands, Achilles felt unstoppable. The terror of danger, of being unable to protect the people he loved, receded as determination filled him from head to toe.

<You’re not unstoppable!> Virgil barked. <Fight two orcs at once, and they’ll surely murder you, then take me! I could… work with that, I suppose… but I’ll give ‘you’ a chance first! For reasons I don’t want to get into right now, I’d rather work with humans than monsters.>

The casual admission that Virgil didn’t exactly ‘need’ Achilles to live was disturbing, and Achilles wondered if he was making a mistake.

But, as Virgil had said, there was no going back now. Achilles pushed his trepidation aside. ‘Then I need to fight them one at a time,’ he thought.

<Exactly. Try to lure one from the group.>

Achilles crept in an arc around the path the orcs were obviously taking toward him.

He watched from ten meters away, using his knowledge of the surrounding forest to stay hidden. For almost fifteen minutes, the orcs wandered in a loose cluster, but eventually split up.

Achilles longed to attack as soon as they divided, but controlled himself. Patience was the key.

One orc wandered about fifty meters away, and Achilles finally took the chance to sneak up behind him—

Then, despite his darkvision, he tripped and cried out!

The orc spun and hefted its greataxe!

Achilles swung Virgil up and parried the first blow. Despite the orc’s force, his training allowed him to redirect the force, so it didn’t crash down on him. Certainly, as a human teenager, it was impossible for him to block altogether!

He swung and hit directly, digging Virgil deep into the orc’s arm.

The enemy’s system information changed, its health dropping 5 to 3.

<Run! Lose him in the darkness!> screamed Virgil.

Achilles scurried away, dodging the orc’s awkward, one-handed axe swipe and disappearing into what would be, to the enemy, blinding darkness.

It staggered after him, but Achilles was waiting behind a shadowed tree. He swung with all of his might at throat height as the orc ran past, and the advantage of his position gave him what the system called a Critical Hit.

A surge of adrenaline and glory filled Achilles! It was as though some supernatural force had filled him at just the right moment, letting him throw more weight and power behind the blow than was physically possible.

The orc’s head flew off.

<Brilliant!> said Virgil. <You’re more full of fighting spirit than I’d realized! Sure, it was beginner’s luck, but there’s more to luck than many people believe! I’m tempted to say Fate is on your side.>

As the orc died, light manifested around its body, then coalesced into a ball that slammed into Achilles’s chest!

Achilles braced himself, but rather than being an attack, he realized the ball was a bunch of Experience Points, or XP. It was as though all the orc’s strength and power had become energy, which he absorbed.

<<LEVEL UP>>

<<Choose a class upgrade.>>

<<1. Warrior>>

<<2. Rogue>>

<<3. Mage>>

Achilles trembled, awed by the vast potential which Virgil’s eldritch sight trickled into his brain at the sight of these options. He instinctively realized that he was now offered a choice that would change his life. It felt unreal.

‘Virgil? What do these mean?’

<That orc gave you far more experience than most humans will ever gain in their life! The ones who don’t fight monsters, that is. This is your chance to enter a whole new world. You’re adding a class to your base Human class, one that will strengthen you.>

<Warriors have the most HP of the three basic classes, and they excel in using swords and different weapons. They learn many techniques and are amazing athletes, but hardly ever use magic. They must take the path of the Arcane Knight to use spells, and they’ll never be as powerful as Wizards if they do it.>

<Rogues are stealthy and sneaky, and they can become master assassins and can steal things without other people ever knowing. They don’t use swords very well, preferring easily hidden weapons, but I can change my form to be that of a short sword or a dagger if you become a Rogue.>

<Mages learn arcane magic and cast many spells—but they can’t wear heavy armor while casting, and they have very poor HP. If you hit a Mage just a few times, he dies quickly! Arcane Knights can at least wear armor while casting, even if their spells are more limited.>

Achilles’s heart pounded. Though he’d heard all the explanations, he knew there was only one path for him. The ability to cast powerful spells, like wizards in ancient legends, intrigued him… but magic was a consideration for the future.

‘I’ll become an Imperial Knight, like my father. I choose Warrior.’

His muscles expanded, as though he’d spent dozens of hours exercising with wonderful nutrition, and he grew several centimeters. Virgil became even lighter in his hand, and he suddenly understood how to perform several advanced sword techniques.

He saw that Warriors gained between 1 and 8 HP with each new level, the same as orcs—but he was less lucky now than he’d been before. With this new level, Achilles only received 3 additional HP, for a maximum of 5.

And if he survived that long, someday Achilles might become an Arcane Knight and gain even more magical power than Virgil currently gave him!

But he’d worry about that later.

Achilles realized the orc’s axe was so big compared to his body that he could use it as a shield. He hefted it and carried in his left hand, gaining +1 AC.

<Look how easily you take to it!> said Virgil. <You just might have a shot at this after all!>

Before Achilles could answer, two more orcs sprang from the undergrowth nearby! They roared war cries and raised their axes high!

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Achilles

1st Level Human Warrior

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HP 5/5

AC 13

Eyes 983