There was iron in that voice and the hairs on the back of Randidly’s neck sensed something was coming that he wouldn’t like but he was still taken by surprise when Shal dumped green goop on Randidly’s leg and his flesh began to flake and sizzle
Randidly screamed all hopes for the future and pride forgotten He fell to the ground and clutched his leg the pain overwhelming him
Shal kicked him Stand This is nothing
Hah hah and as the shock wore off Randidly realized that it wasn’t so bad just a jarring burning sensation at the edge of his consciousness
Frantically he checked his health to find that it was rapidly decreasing With wide eyes he looked at Shal My health
You have health potions do you not And you have the materials and ability to make more Stay here and survive
Randidly’s Acid Resistance rose a level and abruptly he remembered why he was here It raise his skill levels to train Although it was slightly barbaric it seemed it might be effective
Hurrying Randidly fixed a health potion and drank it satisfied even though it was only 37 health it was still pretty good for wildly shaking hands The acid continued to rip away at his focus with daggers of pain but the rate at which his health decreased was slowing giving him some hope He still had 60 some health and he drank another 40 potion getting him back over 100
Randidly gained another point in Acid Resistance and cashed both PPs in getting 2 more points of Willpower Instantly he felt slightly steadier able to control the pain It seemed like Willpower was a pretty useful
Another splash of Acid hit him catching him in the chest and face Some of it got into Randidly’s mouth and he began coughing up blood
Acid has reached your blood stream You have poisoned Poison Resistance has increased to Lvl 6
You better hurry It was slightly infuriating how calm Shal’s voice was If you do not work quickly acid and poison shall kill you before you can brew more potions
Gagging on his own blood and bile Randidly forced himself to drink two potions to restore his health to safe levels Even so the acid and poison ate at him pushing his health back below 80 and then 50
He gained a point in Acid Resistance
With shaking hands Randidly tried to mix another health potion He succeeded and his potion mixing went up but it was only for 29 health barely above a failure but he still drank it as quickly as possible and began work on the next one his hands steadying
With a sigh Shal grabbed Randidly and dragged him into the safe room Since it is your first day and you are weak I will be merciful But you will regret forcing me to do this
Even though the movement jarred Randidly’s healing skin it was still relieving to be back within the safe room where regeneration was doubled His regeneration rose now barely letting the poison take away any health at all and Randidly made another potion this time for 50 which he immediately drank
Just as his hands began to work on the second one another wave of acid hit him but Randidly gritted his teeth and did his best to ignore it Just when it ended he began moving again but then another wave of acid hit basically covering every inch of him The pain was an incessant buzzing grinding away at his focus His hands could barely move he wanted to vomit
Shivering it was the best Randidly could do to simply continue to exist
Three things affect how quickly you earn skill levels Shal said simply setting his box down and giving Randidly a long look First repetition More is better That is simple Second The theoretical difficulty The more difficult it should be to accomplish the more of your effort goes towards raising the skill level
Finally And Shal punctuated this with another wave of acid that splashed across Randidly The actual difficulty
His chest heaving his eyes bloodshot Randidly began to slowly move carefully mixing the amounts of ground crystal Although every second was agony he did his best to focus He wanted to live He needed to live Sydney
Ace
There is some disagreement on why it is so Some say that the world knows your true plight not just the theoretical one Others say that the more an individual wants it needs it the more the world responds You warp the world with your wish
Randidly mixed almost ignoring the pain Then a drop of goop slid down his face and dripped into his eye It began to burn like a thin rod of iron was shoved into the soft flesh at the edge of the eye
Even though it was twitching Randidly kept it open He gained the skill Pain Resistance Lvl 1 but ignored it
Both Acid Resistance and Poison Resistance rose a level
I believe that is what it is The want The need Do you want it What did you call yourself Ghosthound Do you really want to get out enough to push through this Do you crave that strength
Randidly was on fire inside and out It hurt and burned and deep down he hated Why the fuck was he doing this Why did he need to go through this Was was every moment longer than the previous one What would be at the end of this road Would he get a rest after this
No it never end Shal answered as if he could read his thoughts If you start walking you continue to accelerate or you die Do you have that strength
Randidly finished the potion The result floated in front of him taunting It would restore 71 health points after drinking it He had gained a level in potion making too
Randidly silently drank it stoically choking down his screams as he was splashed with more acid this dose seemingly more concentrated and vicious than the previous
His pain resistance and acid resistance went up as he brought out more supplies to make the next health potion
Belatedly his poison resistance went up
Randidly wasn’t sure if he had that strength now
He furrowed his brow focusing
But he would find it
Randidly settled in a routine
The morning was acid and agony and potions He would make and make attempting to keep up with the veritable vats of acid that Shal would bring back each a strange painful variation Some days he wouldn’t be allowed to make potions simply meditating Focusing on that hair thin bonus it granted him
Several times it was very close to killing him But Shal somehow knew the edges of his willpower his sanity and endurance even as he pushed him
His health would often drop down to something like 8 and then level off as Randidly trembled and tried his best to ignore the tears in the corners of his eyes
His health would be plummeting below 20 crashing towards 0 and Randidly would finally manage to successfully finish a potion healing 40 health buying himself a brief respite Half of those times he could use that time to recover his mental state
As days passed though more and more that would be when more acid was splashed on him and he frantically would need to brew additional potions
The afternoons were Randidly’s favorite It was spell practice with Shal as the target A target who moved like a ghost dodging Randidly’s Entangling Roots and mana bolts effortlessly closing the distance and brutally knocking the wind out of Randidly or throwing him into the forest where Randidly would be forced to jump up with a yelp and rush back out fearful of the monsters there
This would continue until Randidly had run out of mana and had meditated back to full too many times for Shal’s taste and then would come the third and final training period of the day
And the one that was the worst Spear training
The Spear Shal had explained giving Randidly a simple light weapon that he had been able to identify as being Lvl 10 Is the greatest weapon It is versatile It can be quick it can be powerful It can stab it can sweep But most of all it is wielded by a spearman the most powerful warrior of all
You are weak you have no hope of being a spearman But like my master still dutifully tried to drill the moves into me I shall ravage your body until it knows the moves
So that is how you become a spearman Randidly asked uncertainly This day had largely numbed his fear of pain but still the entrancing grace of Shal handling his spear gave him pause