Part 7 Part A

  "Javen you need to get up," my guide said urgently.

  "Wh-what?" I sat up.

  Its early. Too early.

  And its not light outside yet!

  "I'm detecting a monster patrol coming this way," Alice said urgently whispering.

  "How close are they?" I asked.

  "Half a mile," she said.

  I checked the clock.

  ~5:41 AM.

  So probably another hour or so before sun up?

  That means it will be hard to fight whatever it is that's coming. And I'm also low level and have short sighted human senses.

  This sick survival game is so twisted...

  Last night before bed I'd been so excited at being able to create out of thin air a magic made axe from an industrial era made me unable to get to sleep until around 11 PM at night.

  Alice seems like she doesn't mind being around me unlike the previous guide.

  "I still don't know why your axe didn't fade when you went to sleep," she said.

  "Come again?" I asked.

  "Well matter is required to convert one type of material into another. Yet you had no ore or other material when you used the create skill on the axe. That's why it should have faded. That's also a principal reason why many mage summon items have timers on them. Although bear in mind I'm a newbie guide and not certified to teach magic," she said.

  Why didn't someone say something about that sooner?

  Oh well. I still have my axe. Its not going anywhere.

  "Well we can worry about that now. What's coming this way?" I asked.

  "I don't know," she blushed.

  "But the hornets aren't active in the early hours of the night and morning turning," I scratched my head.

  I folded up my blanket.

  I'd used item create late last night to create a wool blanket also. This had cost me 50 mana. I'd also created a tent kit, which costed more than the axe, and this is setup now with me in it. The tent and blanket were VERY good investments!

  Still, I wonder if it was a mistake to have the tent up outside the pit that I'd sheltered in...

  "Can you tell how many there are?" I asked Alice.

  "It looks like maybe two, but the speed of their movement also doesn't seem as fast as the giant hornets. Since its still dark I can't give you more information right now," she said.

  It was agonizingly slow and worrisome waiting for whatever it was that was coming at me.

  And also it seemed also like using the item create technique took a lot of stamina and magic both. So I couldn't just summon a gun, or create one. I had to try to take baby steps and go from there, working my way up. It seemed like the more complex an item was, the harder it was to create and more costly. This is what I'd found out when using item create on the tent.

  "Enemy closing on our position, at one hundred yards away," she said looking at her own mini-map radar.

  Damn...

  What do I do...

  I suddenly had an idea.

  Its so dark that its likely I can catch whoever it is by surprise. If I use the right tools to do so.

  I hurriedly used the item create skill, and then there was the tug of a huge amount of mana being pulled out of me. Plus, there was some stamina taken out also, where I felt light headed momentarily for a few seconds.

  "I hope you can hurry," she said.

  I created a flashlight!

  The flashlight works! And I'd created a high powered one like what a cop might use that has massive amounts of lumens. It could also be used as a club with the long heavy duty frame body. I covered it with my hand and shirt while under the edge of the pit to test it. With this I'll try to blind them!

  I'd like to use this to blind whatever the hell that is. And then beat the living shit out of it. You know that's not just an idiom... its a goal for adventurers... to beat the living shit out of something so hard that,... that stuff really does come out the back end from their shock!

  Well that's for only evil monsters. I would never do that to a living person. But monsters get a pass for shit beatings! And this is survival man!

  But I'm also curious if it will let me give the flashlight to Alice?

  I can't risk testing that now.

  I soon heard mild snarling and growling. But then I realized the snarling and growling doesn't sound animal like. It sounds almost like some kind of violent creature that's bipedal!

  How can that be?!

  I hugged under the edge of the lip of the pit.

  "They are closing in 50 yards away," Alice warned.

  "I'll need you to distract them like before," I said.

  "O-OK. I'll try but I've never done anything like this before," she said nervously.

  "Like before they can't actually grab you, as you aren't tangible in this world, but a projection. If that failure Lucy can do this, then for sure you can do it better than her," I said.

  She nodded but still seemed a bit fearful.

  No sooner did I say that then the tramping of feet through the meadow grass got closer...and closer.

  To my surprise two creatures with strange grotesque green skin came forward, holding crude weapons. Short. Runts. Ugly. And mean looking little bastards.

  Oh shit! Intelligent monsters! That's bad.

  What the hell?! There are monsters like this?!

  One of them pointed towards the pit, where I'm hiding. I remained low, knowing that Alice would be the best decoy ever.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  They crept closer, walking cautiously with their weapons out.

  Then they see Alice, unarmed and standing there at the opposite edge of the pit where I am.

  "They see me. Hurry Javen," she said without looking at me.

  The two creatures charged forward intending to grab Alice! They reach out, intending to pull her to the ground.

  Before they can actually touch her I'd come from behind and swung the woodcutting axe hard into the back of the first 'goblin'.

  Shpluckkkkkk....

  Damn that sounds awful. But its also satisfying to the rage inside me at being frustrated to fight back against monsters. (-42 damage, 21 bonus damage from sneak attack.)

  The goblin fell flat on the ground wounded mortally and unable to even get up. He'd taken some pretty hardcore damage. But I hit him with a second strike to be sure. (-37 damage.)

  [Goblin 1 is slain!] shows up on my status screen display.

  I charged forward.

  The other goblin has noticed his friend is killed and is now shocked. He stabs out with his spear at Alice, but then is confused and shocked why it goes right through her.

  "@*@(*! W@*#(@*(!!" he said in a strange language.

  Then he snarled and pointed his weapon towards me.

  This is where the flashlight strategy comes into play! I hurriedly pushed full power of the on switch into his eyes as the full battery blasts him, blinding him. As an evil monster night creature, the power of extra lumens in the flash light will be extra terrible to him! And even for a human nobody likes having a full power batteried flashlight pushed into your eyes!

  The flash light model I'd copied using the item create was a powerful high lumen model. It would even blind a human in such surprise conditions.

  He's snarling and blinded trying to whip his weapon around to keep me at bay. I deflected his shabby spear's wild swing easily.

  Then I chopped hard into his spear arm right into the bicep with terrible force! The goblin takes (-22 damage, plus his weapon arm bones are shattered). The axe's power has stopped his defense!

  But to my horror now he's trying to run away!

  "Javen! Stop him! If he gets away he'll tell his friends where 'fresh prey' is!" Alice cried.

  Its shocking how fast a little shabby goblin can run!

  I take off pumping my arms.

  At thirty feet from the pit, I managed to smash blow his back with the axe. (-39 damage).

  Strangely enough he tries to get up still. He even got a few feet but he is going much slower.

  I hit him again. Spluckkkk.k...shhhhh. (Blood spray...)

  [Goblin 2 has been slain!] registers on my status screen system.

  Like before their bodies disappeared. And so did their weapons. Weird energy was dissipating from where they stood.

  Weird...

  But now I'm worried. The system called them goblins. Mean little f----rs.

  Goblins? Here?!

  In most mythology goblins are really evil, and sneaky, and will easily overpopulate and overcome an area fast!

  Plus, they are smarter than giant hornets and others.

  Like, for example by coming at night before sun up to hunt, they'd bypassed the giant hornets nests when the hornets don't like flying in the cold weather! That's a sign of intelligence for them to do that. It also means they are probably more dangerous than the red-orange monster hornets.

  This means I'll have to get tougher and stronger! And it meant that those... goblins... were more of a threat than those giant bugs were.

  I was a little bit disappointed that I didn't level up. But I am still happy that things are OK. And I avoided damage.

  I went back to my campsite. I took another nap until about 7 AM, after which I got up.

  I went to the brook first to bathe and get some water to drink. I also combed my hair.

  The reflection in the water shows a young man, possibly 18 or 19 years old it seems. But overall I just look like me. I guess I'd been too stressed out before to worry about my appearance when coming here. But I like my appearance. This is a real quality face, and firm athletic build but not showy and kind of slender.

  "Alice, I have some questions," I said.

  "Sure. Go ahead," she said.

  "Do you know anything about my skill, the item create skill?" I asked.

  She shook her head, "not anything more than what I've already told you. I'm sorry."

  "But it must have rules right? How do you think it might work? Can you help me work it out?" I asked.

  She seemed reluctant. "I'm afraid I'll give you the wrong idea. In theory it looks like you can create anything you want. But the higher the complexity, mass, and difficulty, the harder its going to be, I think. And the more mana cost. That will cost more mana and you have to be careful of that. If you make something that costs more mana than you have total mana for, you will die. That's how magitek works."

  "..."

  That silenced me. It was good that she told me that.

  If not, I'd have been tempted to make that gun I wanted. Or something else.

  But there was something else I'd missed also...

  [[Axe mastery] skill acquired!] is now showing up in my status screen.

  But when I clicked on the description it says that this skill gives me a very slight damage bonus for using axes, but that the bonus is more limited because I'm a mage.

  "Don't be too discouraged. You'll find a way if you keep trying," Alice said sweetly nearby. She must have seen my discouraged expression when I saw that the bonus was limited because of being a mage.

  I looked at my status screen again.

  Name; Javen

  Race; Administrator class (Censored)

  Job class; Life/Creation Wizard

  Level; 3

  Age; NA

  Health; 49/114

  Mana; 414/561

  Stamina; 110/110

  Health regen; +11 per day

  Mana regen; +51 (hourly)

  Str 30

  Agi 30

  Con 61

  Int 90

  Wis 91

  App 100

  Skills; Survival, Mana Sensing, [Censored], Summoned Danger Sense Turret(human shaped), Smash, Defend, Create Item, First Aid, Meditate, Axe Mastery

  Traits; Memories have been censored, Blessing of the Heavens, Mana Genes, censored skills & traits, Life Affinity, Intermediate Life Affinity, Advanced Life Affinity, Creation Affinity, Intermediate Creation Affinity, Intermediate Creation Affinity!

  I still have a lot of mana. And with +51 mana per hour that means I really should be trying to create something about every 1 to 2 hours, depending on the mana cost.

  !

  I had an idea.

  "Whatever it is you are thinking of please be careful," Alice said nearby.

  I glanced at her suspiciously.

  "What? Your face says it all," she said.

  I turned back to my work, shrugging.

  In theory, whatever I've seen before could be created! And I'd seen some small health and mana potions!

  "Use item create," I said.

  The skill activates by voice. (That was also an experiment, which I was trying; it worked.)

  The skill box opens and then gives me choices of item type classifications. And the category of 'furniture' has appeared as a category, probably because of having created the blanket or the tent last night!

  But I'm interested in something else instead!

  "'Create potion'" I said.

  "The system shouldn't let you do that. You aren't an alchemist. You would have to have knowledge of the items internal workings if it involves chemical or magical reactions," Alice frowned while doing her nails, and looking up.

  But the small acceptance sound has told me that it is letting me create a small health potion! And the window went into a potion type archetype box of choices also!

  I couldn't help but wonder if it did it that way because this small health potion was a match for the other one that came in the black box...

  "No way!" Alice said in awe.

  "It worked," I said surprised.

  "Strange that it did actually. It shouldn't let you do that from nothing without pre-requisite items," she said. But she's not glaring at me but just surprised.

  "..." after that she wouldn't talk but is just watching.

  "Health potion," I said.

  But then I got a negative beep that it won't let me do that. But it does show me the 'small health potion' is doable!

  I also see that there are other choices in the window but they are grayed out, as if they aren't unlocked yet. (I"ll have to figure out why they are grayed out, I thought. But possibly those are the higher grade versions.)

  I clicked the 'small health potion' option.

  Then a warning window pops up. [Due to inefficient stats and skill mixes, the potion will be lower quality than usual. Click yes if OK, no if you wish to cancel out.]

  I clicked OK, despite the system not responding to verbal inquiries of how much lower than normal when I asked.

  Ping!

  [Success!] shows up in a popup followed by [Item has been created]!

  But then I see and also feel that my mana bar has plunged by quite a bit already also.

  "Wow," Alice said. "It worked!"

  In my hand is a small health potion, of a type and size that almost looks like some kind of small pudding packet you'd see in... (ugh, headache interrupted my thought). It also has a red cap on the top of the tiny container that looks like red plas.... (headache).

  I then read the description of the item in the system interface.

  I lost -100 mana, but this small health potion will restore +13 health. I suspsect it costs more than normal because of the idea that I don't have the materials needed for it and its compensating for it.

  So does that mean +10 health +1 per level?

  I'd accept that. I had to. Maybe I can work it up also after this... in fact I meant to try to either way.

  "I'm really amazed. This is working pretty well," she said.

  I did a few other experiments.

  Creating a few tiny blocks of firewood costs me -40 mana the first time. And it did let me. But then I thought that this was a waste since there's so much of it that I can get free anyway. I can gather firewood on my own. And it wouldn't make sense to use all that for something that I can get with elbow grease.

  But it was useful to know that I can do a lot of intersting things.

  Ah! What I really need is more defensive equipment!

  A ton of thoughts are going through my head.

  I need some armor maybe!

  But then I got worried.

  Will the system even let me use armor, because I'm a mage? After all it did tell me I'd get a penalty for making the small health potion with insufficient skills, and not having met the requisites.

  But actually it gets kind of cold up here at night. The wind is there and somewhat fierce. Plus, there's the fact that I'm up on a mountain cliff face. I liked creating that blanket, but just one might not be enough.

  I could make a coat! And the coat should have some defensive ability, though it won't be perfect.

  And I'll need a bag also, maybe a pack frame to hold my gear in.

  I began to work quick...

  Continued in part B.