Chapter 18- Truths Revealed
"It just a bag enchanted to hold….. Well other enchanted items" The slightly disabled man said to the hulking Viking after he tossed the enchanted chair Ivar's way. He raised his eyebrow as if I wanted him to sit on the chair.
"Break that up into firewood and toss it into that corner" I said as I began massaging my damaged ankle. It was rather poor luck that it was busted and I didn't want to put more points into endurance to try and alleviate it.
But it was lucky I even survived the fall and the wound on my head closed up before I bled out. Oddly enough my ankle hurt more, it was just a mild headache in comparison.
"Thanks" I responded after he managed to break the chair into a few suitable pieces. With a mental command, a fireball hit the corner wall. Soon a small fire was raging in the corner but what mattered were the small golden coals that appeared at the base of the flame.
"Here, put it on your foot" it was my turn to be confused as Ivar offered me the handle of his large war hammer. I raised an eyebrow as I grabbed the weapon, more in curiosity about what his equipment was like. I realized what the enchantment was as soon as I took hold of the pure white war hammer.
I jerked slightly as the iced head of the hammer touched my leg. It was extremely cold but I knew that it would help heal the leg enough so I could walk on it.
"Thank you Ivar, now look into the fire," I said as he nodded and sat in front of the fire. Obviously, I was extremely curious so I peeked at the center of the fire.
"What am I supposed to be looking for?" Ivar asked as turned back to me with a raised eyebrow but before I could answer the fire fluctuated to form a scroll in the center
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{Essence: 1,013,500}
Lvl:1
Name: Ivar Ragnnarson
Mana: 50/50
Class: N/A
Rank: Human
Strength:19
Agility:8
Endurance:18
Dexterity:10
Intelligence:5
Faith:5
[Statistical Upgrade Cost: 500]
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To say I was shocked would be an understatement. The amount of essence he has acquired was impressive, easily double what I managed to acquire. But that took a back seat to the man's name.
Anybody who has seen anything related to Vikings and Norse history would recognize the name. Whether that be games, movies, or even books. He was one of the most famous Norsemen ever to exist.
It made me question every interaction we've had with each other until now. Ivar Ragnnarson was usually portrayed as a rabid battle-hungry man, like many of his people.
He was a king killer, some even claimed him a psychotic villain who ravaged medieval England. I would need to keep my guard up around him more than before. Surely history becomes muddled after a thousand years but some facts have to remain.
"Oh….." Ivar said as he noticed my look and turned back to the fire, I couldn't tell what the man was thinking but he seemed to go over what was in front of him in great detail. It seemed he cared little that I recognized his name.
"Mind explaining what I'm looking at Ace?" The man asked as he kept his back to me.
"I've taken to calling it a stat screen. The counter at the top rises with every monster we kill, thus we use that essence to strengthen ourselves. The cost of each upgrade or 'level' is stated at the bottom. I've noticed It will gradually go up at a set pace but then change after a certain threshold is met." I gave the most detailed explanation I could of what I've learned.
"So it turns your physical abilities into... numbers? That seems far-fetched, and I can just raise that number after fighting enough creatures" Ivar said as he scratched his tangled dark blonde hair.
"We're in a dungeon tower, in a world probably filled with races we've never seen or heard of. Leveling up will probably be one of our more tame experiences" I said with a sigh as I watched Ivar raise his strength stat until he couldn't anymore. I tried to warn him to put a little more thought into his 'build' but the man was a trained warrior. He surely knew what he needed to do to become a better fighter than I probably ever will. Thus I just remained silent as the Norseman dropped one million essence into one stat.
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{Essence: 13,000}
Lvl:45
Name: Ivar Ragnnarson
Mana: 50/50
Class: N/A
Rank: Human
Strength:63
Agility:8
Endurance:18
Dexterity:10
Intelligence:5
Faith:5
[Statistical Upgrade Cost: 42,000]
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There was another reason I didn't offer any advice and that was because I was curious about how much of a difference focusing completely on one stat could make. I also noticed that even though he passed level forty the increment didn't change. It still only went up by a thousand per level.
Even so, I realized I was around six hundred thousand Essence behind Ivar. Which funnily enough account for exactly twenty levels.
A minute or so after spending his essence Ivar began flexing his arm in curiosity. Out of nowhere, he flung his log-like arm towards the stone wall. I'd lie if I said I wasn't shocked at the spiderweb of cracks that covered most of the formerly pristine stone surface.
Surely no human no matter how hard they worked could do something like that, at least in my world. Obviously, there had to be a balance because each stat cost exactly the same. Even a novice like me could shoot out a fireball, though that did account for my equipment but the point that there were likely mages still stands.
My weariness of Ivar kept growing by the second but I wouldn't act on it. Less that I probably needed him to kill the ogre but because of how amicable the guy seemed to be. It was strange to watch the man begin to laugh maniacally as he stared at his busted hand. Gushing blood and if I was a little closer I was sure I would see a few bone-bare knuckles.
"Now that is fucking something….. Ace!" The Viking yelled with enthusiasm as he jumped to his feet.
"Yeah?" I awkwardly asked.
"Thanks for being straight with me, now let's go kill that giant" Usually I would've chuckled and said it was not that simple but as I looked at the shattered wall and massive war hammer on my foot. Well, I felt the ogre wasn't as scary as he first seemed, I did kill him at level twenty after all.
"Surely we have to go over a strategy first," I said with a smirk at how childlike the man was acting. "Plus you need to scooch over, I killed a good number of those frogs earlier so I probably have enough essence to give myself a little boost before the battle" I said as I managed to get up and limp over to the fire. In a few moments, I came to a quick decision and leveled up my intelligence three times. Now with five fireballs at my disposal, I was a little more confident to fight that damn ogre with a busted leg.
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{Essence: 4,000}
Lvl:28
Name: Ace Lothbrook
Mana: 250/250
Class: N/A
Rank: Human
Strength:8
Agility:17
Endurance:20
Dexterity:13
Intelligence:25
Faith:9
[Statistical Upgrade Cost: 25,000]
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