Jeb remained still and silent, pulling in Myst and burning it, rebuilding the corona of energy around his star.
The krusker went still, sniffing around for Jeb.
Jeb used the distraction to pull the shortsword out before he released control over his shortsword and reached out for the iron spike, yanking it forcibly out of the krusker’s skull.
The Krusker’s struggling redoubled as blood began to pour out of its face.
Whenever the creature stopped to smell for him again, Jeb directed the spike to stab it in the nose, using the noise of the resulting tantrum to hop further away, making sure to keep thick trees between himself and the monster to ward off stray hoof-kicks.
It wasn’t a fair fight. It wasn’t graceful. It was long, protracted, and ugly, but it got the job done.
Finally, after over an hour, the Krusker died of its wounds. Jeb knew because of the onslaught of levels.
You have gained a level!
You have gained a level!
You have gained a level!
You are now level 13!
Congratulations! You have Beaten the Krusker lord, Montero, in a one-on-one duel. Your Physical Might is beyond reproach!
“My physical-“ Jeb glanced up at Jessica, who was approaching from the side, inspecting her dinged and dented blade. It wasn’t going to put up with much more abuse at this rate.
“Is anyone actually watching these tutorials?”
Krusker’s Brawn Accolade Granted!
+5 Body
Jeb held his breath, waiting for the pain, but nothing came.
“Huh, maybe it’s –“
His jaw started to cramp. Jeb reached his hand up to massage it, and that started to cramp.
“Aw, shit,” he bit out the words through clenched teeth as his entire body tightened up in one massive, painful cramp.
It wouldn’t hurt so damn much if his muscles would just relax, but they were rolling up like a shade with the counterweight cut.
“Son of a bitch!”
“Yeah, first couple points made me pretty sore,” Jessica said, sitting down next to him. “It’s best to take some cooldown time between them.”
“Five,” Jeb panted through his lockjaw. “All at once.”
“Damn.” Jessica said, her eyebrows rising. “That’ll be interesting.”
Jeb laid there, in the middle of the chaos and dozens of dead Kruskers, waiting for his body to come to terms with its newfound power.
While he was waiting, he decided to assign the extra three points from his levels for killing the boss. If he was gonna be in pain, might as well get it all taken care of at once.
He put them in Myst, obviously.
Jebediah Trapper
Unclassed, Level 13
Body 10
Myst 28
Nerve 8
Once that was done, Jeb tried to distract himself by focusing on drawing in Myst to build his inner star.
Bigger and bigger, baby.
The ability to move things at about walking speed was cool…but…nowhere near exploding heads or mind-bullets.
Every confrontation always uncovered flaws in your thinking, unseen depths to your situation, and it was a wise man that stopped and took the time to stop and reflect on them at the end of the day.
1. Is it possible to control more than one object at a time?
2. Is it possible to move a floppy object, or one with joints?
So far he’d only moved stiff unyielding object, or chunks of dirt with no articulation.
Gotta work on that.
After about fifteen minutes of agony, Jeb’s muscles slowly relaxed, allowing him to get to his feet. It was surprisingly easy, like his body had been turned into a beach ball or something, and the slightest push sent him reeling several feet in every direction.
“You get used to it,” Jessica said, looking amused as he toppled to the ground, his missing foot making adjusting harder than it had to be.
Ding!
Your party has cleared the western woods dungeon! Please take your rewards.
“I thought we got our rewards.” Jeb said, glancing at Jessica. “What rewards is it talking about?”
“If I had to guess, there’s a separate reward for soloing the boss, and clearing the whole place.”
No sooner had she said that, than the Myst convulsed around them, condensing to form a massive ten foot wide sphincter beside the defeated boss which then proceeded to shit out a chest.
Jeb blinked.
“Ah, there it is,” Jessica said, approaching the Myst-turd, popping open the lid with a firm tug.
“You didn’t…see how that thing was made, did you?” Jeb asked.
“What? It just manifested out of twinkling light, like it was three-d printed or something.” Jessica said, glancing back at him. “Oh, what’s this?”
As she spoke, another sphincter appeared next to Jeb, causing him to flinch backwards as it…deposited…a chest next to him.
“Well,” Jeb said with a shrug, “When in Rome.” He opened the chest, ignoring its origins.
Inside was a slightly curved longsword made of blue steel, with jagged lines, thorny, as if it had been violently bent out of shape and then returned to form by a drunk, angry blacksmith.
He picked it up, and information flowed into his mind.
Longsword – Razorback.
+3 Body
This sword was made by a possessed smith who summoned demons specifically to hunt down the Krusker who killed his love. The sword survived, He did not. Its reliability in battle is unquestionable, repairing itself over time with the blood of the vanquished.
The sword has a legacy of blood and violence that runs deep.
He glanced over at Jessica and spotted her looking at the sword longingly.
In her hand was something that could be described as a…ah hell, it’s a magical girl wand. It was bright pastel yellows and pinks with a star at the top. It might even be made of plastic.
Wordlessly, the two of them tossed the items in their hand
