Chapter 10 – Ants (3)

Chapter 10 – Ants (3)

After a few minutes of rest, he stood. At least, he tried to.

Instead, Rowan let out a strangled cry as his injured leg gave out beneath him. Gritting his teeth against the sudden surge of pain, he inspected his calf.

He tore his already tattered pants out of the way, giving himself a good look at where the ant had struck.

The gouges weren’t deep, but they were wide. A steady trickle of blood flowed from where the insect’s mandibles had torn out several inches of his flesh.

After staring at his wound for a few moments, he began doing everything in his power to bandage it.

He used what remained of his pant leg, tearing it into long strips of cloth.

Taking a larger chunk of fabric, Rowan pressed it against his calf before binding it there with the strips he’d made.

After he had a few layers, he stopped, satisfied with his work. It was by no means perfect, but it seemed like it’d stemmed the bleeding well enough.

With a grunt, he slowly stood up, putting as little weight on his leg as possible. The adrenaline of the fight had allowed him to ignore the injury and kill the ant, but now that it was gone, each step was agonizing.

With a sigh, Rowan watched as an ant skittered by the intersection. With his leg already injured, he’d need to be more careful from now on.

—

Rowan let out a breath as he leaned against the cave wall. Only two more ants to go. He considered going right back to fight another ant, but he stopped himself.

The constant feeling of hunger and thirst made it hard to resist, but he knew that rushing himself was too big a risk. Entering a fight when he was still winded from the last was too dangerous, especially with his already injured leg.

So Rowan got to work, dragging away the carcass of the insect he’d just finished off and piling it with the others back in the main cavern.

They were heavy, but slowly, he made it work, relying mostly on his unharmed leg.

Then, when it was done, he let himself relax, lying down on the cool stone floor. Then, he opened his status screen.

Name: Rowan Crowe

Race: Human

Class: Chained Lord (Inheritance)

Level: 2

Stats:

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 7

Toughness: 8

Vitality: 8

Mana: 6

Free Points: 0

Active Skills(2/10):

Bind lvl 1

Mana Manipulation lvl 2

Passive Skills(0/10):

Quests:

Defeat the Guardian of the Forest or Defeat the Leviathan(Layer Quest)

Defeat 10 Enemies

Reach Level 20

System Credits: 75

The fights since he’d leveled up had been significantly easier. His increased strength made quick work of the ants’ thick armor. It had been such a big change that he had even put his free point into strength.

Taking a deep breath, he searched for the feeling of mana within his body. He’d been practicing [Mana Manipulation] between fights, and while he hadn’t gained any levels since he’d first used the skill, he could feel himself getting close to something.

Just like before, Rowan guided the mana through the pathways inside his body. Once he knew they were there, it was so much easier to move the energy than before.

When it got to the tip of his finger, he mentally prepared himself. Then, he pushed it out, a wisp of blue forming before him.

Gritting his teeth, he fought with everything he had to exert his influence on the mana before it could dissipate. The blue light fought against him, trying to spread out into the air, but Rowan held steady. One second…two…five…

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[Mana Manipulation lvl 2 → Mana Manipulation lvl 3]