Novels by zogartha

BloodJake felt good. Incredibly good, in fact. The sensations that came from facing down certain death and coming out on top were wonderful. He didn’t notice the weird look Jacob was giving him, nor did he notice that the other people in his group had made their way over, though some of them quickly turned right back around when they saw the scene.Among the new arrivals, Caroline looked at Jake with a mix of concern and fear."Are you hurt? There is so much blood…" she said in a quiet voice. She looked pale as she stared at the image of Jake standing beside a man full of arrows, the blood gleaming as it reflected the moonlight."I’m good. None of it is mine." Jake said this casually, with a light smile. He was hoping to finish up any potential conversations so he could move on to more important things. He had gotten several system notifications that he was more than eager to get to."Oh… okay," she answered tentatively.Caroline didn’t seem inclined to ask any more questions, while

A wonderful nightThe night was quiet, far quieter than one would expect from a forest filled with borderline mindless beasts who wanted nothing more than to munch on human flesh. There were no roars, no howls of wolves or hoots of owls. No sounds at all, really, except the breeze rustling the trees and bushes, and the crackling of the bonfire.The responsibility of the person on watch was quite simple: keep an eye out for things trying to kill them, and keep the bonfire lit. Jake checked his stamina, seeing it up to 135/140. Nearly maxed out again by around three hours of sleep. It had only been at around half when he went to sleep, regenerating far faster than he had predicted.The need for sleep being reduced with levels was certainly a possibility, or perhaps the introduction to the system had changed something fundamental that simply made sleep less important. For example, Jake was wondering what would happen if one just chugged down stamina potions whenever it got low. Perhaps o

Training & rest"OW! For fuck's sake, that hurts!" Jake growled after being hit by yet another arrow."Jake, are you sure about this?" Casper asked, genuinely wondering if Jake was actually a masochist. He had been shooting padded arrows—which used dulled arrowheads wrapped in cloth—at Jake for nearly three hours already. The cloth had come from Jake’s own jacket, which he had been wearing under his cloak this entire time."Yeah, just give me a second," Jake said, getting ready once again. He had wrapped the torn sleeve of his jacket around his eyes, acting as a blindfold."Are you really sure this is doing anything? Well, I guess it’s good target practice for me, but…" Casper mumbled the last part.Jake’s plan was rather straightforward. He would have Casper shoot arrows at him while blindfolded, then try to react to them without relying on sight.While Jake certainly had reservations about his own plan's veracity to begin with, he had made progress throughout their training session.

QuestioningJake was taken aback as he looked at Jacob with confusion clear on his face. "Why did I do what?"With a lowered voice, making sure no one else could hear them, Jacob elaborated. "Why did you decide to provoke the boars without any thought, not consulting anyone in the group? Look what happened. Joanna lost her damn leg, Jake. We are in a god-forsaken forest filled with monsters that want to eat us, and within mere hours, one of us is crippled."What do you suggest we do now? Bunker down and hope nothing finds us for over two whole months? Or, what, leave Joanna behind to die? What exactly was your plan when you decided to shoot into a bush, without having any goddamn clue what was in there? There are other people in this forest too—what if it had been one of them? What the fuck is wrong with you?"Jacob’s face got visibly redder as he kept barraging Jake. He also grew louder and, of course, got the attention of the others. Everyone was staring at them by now, and, looking

Big pigAs Jake was still basking in the feeling of his level-ups and post-battle euphoria, he opened his status window. The reverie of his colleagues was of little interest to him, as while he enjoyed the victory, he didn’t exactly view it as some monumental achievement. They were overgrown rodents… Badgers are rodents, right? Probably not. He moved on.StatusName: Jake ThayneRace: [Human (G) – lvl 1]Class: [Archer – lvl 2]Profession: N/AHealth Points (HP): 130/130Mana Points (MP): 120/120Stamina: 111/130StatsStrength: 13Agility: 14Endurance: 13Vitality: 13Toughness: 11Wisdom: 12Intelligence: 12Perception: 18Willpower: 10Free Points: 3Titles[Forerunner of the New World]Thinking back, he hadn’t opened the window since the introduction. Not even to confirm his class or title. And it sure had grown. His Agility alone had nearly doubled with the title and levels added together, going from 8 to 14. With Perception being the stat that increased by 2 points per Archer l

First battleThe group had previously considered their immediate plan of action upon reaching the ground, with the first objective being to find somewhere safe to set up a camp. The artificial sun in the sky seemed to have moved a bit during their short stay, indicating a day-night cycle.Bertram had made the educated guess that nighttime would prove even more dangerous than daytime. If beasts filled this forest, they guessed some of them had to be nocturnal. One couldn’t ignore the threat of other humans taking advantage of the cover of darkness either.After walking out of the clearing where the pillar had sunk into the ground, they wandered into the forest. The tension of everyone increased as they found themselves in a far more confined space. The first objective was to hopefully find a source of water to place their camp close to. Due to the trees' dense crowns, it was impossible to spot anything from up on the pillar, so they had to go in blind.As they walked, gawking at the en