New System

In the middle of a snowy field was a still figure of a knight dressed head to toe in armor known of the middle ages. He was still like a corpse when a small flock of ravens landed on his body. They pecked and searched for space between the thick metal plates, but they found none.

One bird hopped onto the helmet as its beak glowed a light green. It was about to peck through the eye socket to pull out at least an eye, but the man reached up and grabbed the Raven by the neck. The bird was shocked that a corpse would come alive, but before it could try to escape its neck was broken by the man's iron grip.

This caused the rest of the birds to flee as their leader had just been killed. The killer rose to his knees as his breath turned to mist in the cold as he looked around. The bite of the cold was the first thing he felt so he rose to his feet while he tried to find some answers.

"What is going on?"

He looked at the now-dead bird in his hands as if it had the answers.

[Congragulations survivor. You have killed your first creature of your new world. 5 XP awarded.]

Seeing that made Michael realize that he kind of recognized what a system was. He did not know from where, but he knew how to use it.

"Status."

...

Name: Michael

Age: 28 Years old

Level: 1 ( 5/10 EXP)

Health: 30

Mana: 5

Strength: 25

Stamina: 12

Agility: 10

Perception: 8

Endurance: 10

Physical Damage Reduction: 50%

Magical Damage Reduction: 20%

Seeing his stats made Michael curious.

"So killing this bird gave me 5 XP, and I need to kill one more or others to gain XP?"

He looked around and saw nothing but snow. It was not snowing at the moment, but it was terrible cold. He knew that he was wearing metal which would make him freeze up like a popsicle in minutes, but he did not feel that.

He was just cold, but not unbearably cold. He looked at his side and saw he had a longsword and on his hip was a large knife so he was not defenseless.

"Now what to do with this bird? Scan? Analyze? Status?"

That one worked as the system brought up a prompt.

[Gust Raven. They are fast, and smart birds that live in large flocks. Adults can coat their beaks, claws, and feathers in mana to pierce through thought bodies.]

Michael pulled out his knife and cut off the bird's, beak, claws, and even a few feathers. He opened it up and next to the heart he found a pinky nail-sized green stone.

"Status?"

[Weak Wind Elemental Mana Stone.]

[Collect 1,000 to make a Blitz Gem. Boost Agility by 10 points.]

[Store in Inventory?]

"Yes."

The things he collected entered his inventory which made things easier. He began to leave the snow field he was at as he did not think staying at one place would do him any good. He had no destination in mind as at this point he had just woken up.

"System, are there any settlements nearby?"

[100 Miles North is a Village.]

Michael sighed as he began to walk North or where his system told him was north. He looked around and saw how the trees were sparse as it was mostly just snow. The sky was clear, but he could see those Gust Ravens that wanted to eat him.

They were fleeing into the distance which made him give up to get their mana stones. It would take forever to hunt them down as they were flying creatures. No way in hell was he going to be able to hunt them down so he put them to the back of his mind.

Little to his knowledge those ravens were not happy with what he did. They were going to do what ravens do best. Call their palls the wolves, to take out the human who dared to harm one of their own.

They flew for several minutes before they came across a large pack of huge wolves. Each wolf was twice the size of a Dire Wolf so these were big dogs. There were around 30 of them and they were laying around relaxing until the flock of ravens landed amongst them.

One raven landed on the snout of the Alpha waking him up. The bird made strange sounds as it informed the wolf of what had happened. Hearing this made the Alpha rise to his feet. He howled to inform the pack about the hunt they were about to go under.

Those wolves rose to the order of their leader while the ravens began to lead the wolves to Michael. As for Michael himself, he was currently getting small pop-ups from his system.

[You have walked 10,000 steps with heavy armor. You have gained the skill, Second Skin, armor feels more like a part of you and does not impede your movements as much. Level 1.]

[You have swung your sword 1000 times. You have gained the skill, Swordsmanship Level 1. You can better use a sword than before.]

Once he gained these two skills he began to feel information being poured into his brain. He knew more about swords and armor than before which was great.

"This is more like it."

Before he could keep going his system gave him one more prompt.

[You have pissed off the flock of Gale Ravens. They have informed their wolf allies and they are coming here to slaughter you. Survive the wolf attack]

[Rewards]

-Wolf Lord Ring

-Wolf Lord Cloak

-Wolf Lord Medalion.

Seeing that made Michael forget about the danger. Rewards were always good were they not? Let the wolves come, how bad could it be? He had to prepare a bit. He looked around looking for anything he could use as an ambush only to find none.

"Damn, no trees at all."

He did not have time at all to set up a proper ambush so he decided to just face the music. He pulled out his sword and his knife from his waist as he waited for the wolves. He closed his eyes as he focused on his body.

His status had said that he had 5 mana, so he wanted to see how he could use it. He ignored everything around him as he took deep medative breaths. His perception was fully in use as he focused on even the smaller detail.

[You have felt your mana. New Skill, Mana Sense, Level 1 has been gained. You can now sense mana to a lesser degree.]

When he opened his eyes he could feel the mana in his body which was not much. However, he also could feel the mana he was breathing which just as the system said was not much. The skill was only level one after all, but it would have to do.

He also did not have any more time as he heard the howls in the distance. He gripped his weapons tighter as he waited for the dogs to come. He did not have to wait much longer as he saw the wolves running at him in the distance.

"Now those are some big boys."

He took a deep breath as he used his new Mana Sense skill to draw mana from the air. He did not have much on hand, but using it was the best way to get it to work.

[Mana Breath skill acquired Level 1. This skill helps recover mana faster than normal.]

Michael did not move as he waited for the wolves to come in range. His eyes dilated, and his heart pumped while his muscles tensed. The wolf pack began to run around Vander as the Gale Ravens circled in the air.

Seeing them made Michael swear to himself to slaughter than all to get that gem. He looked around and saw that he was surrounded by 30 giant wolves. They were larger than mountain lions which made this more dangerous.

Michael was surrounded and from what he knew about wolves they used group tactics to hunt. Plus if the ravens were anything to go on these wolves also must be able to use magic. Instead of waiting for them to attack him, he used the mana in his body to boost his strength.

He rushed forward and swung his sword down on the first wolf. Before the canid could react Michael's sword cut it's head off its body. The EX from the kill was more than enough to level up, but he did not check his stats.

He could not if he did not want to die so he instead attacked again. He stabbed down with his knife which pierced straight through the neck of a second wolf. He ripped out the knife as more wolves were rushing him.

"COME ON!"

He charged at the wolves who were now using thier magic. They grew larger, faster, and stronger which made things more dangerous for Michael. Michael did not panic as he kicked out kicking a wolf on the side of the head.

He spun around and coated his sword in mana. With that mana-boosted swing he cut through three wolves, but he was already running low.

'Shit.'

He stopped using his mana as he jumped back to avoid the bloodthirsty wolves that were biting and clawing at him. Of course with being only one man fighting many he was bound to take some damage. One of the wolves lunged at him and grabbed his knife arm with its teeth.

Michael did not panic as his armor held so he stabbed his sword into its chest.

"DIE!'

The wolf's mouth went slack and released his arm. Under his helmet, his face was pulled back into a grin as he hacked, stabbed, and slashed at the wolves. With each one he killed he was getting stronger, but weaker.

He had already leveled up a few times, but the Alpha of the pack had not moved just yet. It was watching how it's pack fell one by one while Michael just kept going. The once 30-member pack was reduced to just 12 the Alpha roared and called the rest off.

The wolves ran behind thier leader who was twice as large as the rest of the wolves already. It lept in front of Michael as it also grew larger than even the biggest of the wolves Michael had killed.

Michael swung his sword to the side to remove some of the blood from it. His armor was covered in blood, but he himself was not unscathed. Some of the wolve's teeth and claws had pierced through the gaps in his armor or sometimes right through it.

He brought his knife up while he pointed his sword at the Alpha.

"Come."

The Alpha roared and rushed at Michael who used the mana he had recovered through his Mana Breathing skill. He boosted his speed as he clashed with the giant wolf. The wolf used its speed, and power while Michael used his knife to parry while his sword was swung, stabbed, and slashed against claws

The wolves watched on as their leader fought the human in a dance to death. Michael weaved to the right as the wolf's deadly claws cut open the ground. He swung his sword down, but the wolf jumped out of the way.

Using that chance it lunged at his throat using his sword's momentum against him. Instead of holding on to his sword Michael let go of it and crouched down. The wolf leaped over him while he stabbed up with his knife.

He stabbed it into the beast's neck and with the wolf's own momentum cut itself open from throat to belly. Its blood and organs spilled on Michael's armor as he yelled at the rest of the wolves in a dominance display.

"COME ON!"

Instead, they whined and ran away as even their leader could not defeat the human. Once the wolves had run Michael fell to his knees. He was exhausted so he reached up and removed his helmet. He had short black hair, dark green eyes, and a gnarly scar that went from his chin, lip, and right eye.

"These rewards better be worth it."

He also had to check up on his levels as he had killed plenty of wolves so he was excited.