Really, I needed to get out of here as soon as possible. There were three corpses near me, and the couple minutes I'd been around them, trying to scavenge as much as I could, was already too long.
The smell of the bodies would probably attract something soon. I didn't want to just leave the corpses of my two companions out here to be eaten – they deserved a proper burial – but I just needed to leave, for now. Maybe if I survived, I could give a eulogy to their families.
I couldn't help but have the thought of 'why not me?' I didn't have anyone to miss me. No parents, no siblings. These people, they had lives that they'd built up. I was only just beginning mine. I'd barely leave anything behind. But I set my jaw and closed my eyes. No helping it, I pushed the thoughts from my mind. I was here now, and I was going to survive.
I fled from the scene, trying to remember any landmarks I'd seen before but finding none. The forest that was once gorgeous and full now felt disorienting and claustrophobic. All of the thick trees somehow looked the same, and so different I couldn't tell where I was at any time.
I'd occasionally come across the long-dead corpse of a Rabbit or some other animal, reminding me of how everything out here wanted nothing more than to kill me. The once beautiful sound of leaves crunching under my feet now felt painfully loud, and the once nice, warm heat felt blistering now that I knew I'd have no solace from it.
Eventually, I found a small, unnaturally round alcove in a hill. Probably the remnant of someone casting a Spell that launched a boulder or something else that flew fast and hard. At least, it seemed like someone shot a circular object into the hill. That would be the only thing that could've left a perfectly circular indention in it.
However it got there, I was just glad to find something that resembled shelter. I sat down, closed my eyes, and focused inward. I'd be totally defenseless until I got my one Spell. Until then, I was just a swordsman who was physically incapable of holding a sword. I scowled again at my shit luck.
Swordplay was beautiful. The interlocking of blades, the infinitely-complex mind games of feints and counters, the test of raw strength and willpower than went along with it. I'd studied it, fallen in love with it. And now it was gone forever.
Shaking my head, I tried to clear my mind. I couldn't meditate while angry – that went against the entire point. After about ten minutes, I was there. I could tangibly feel the Spell choice – and Stat Points, for that matter – waiting for me. I tentatively focused on the Spell.
Choose one Spell to learn:
Holy Strength
School: Alteration, Divine
Type: Activated
Cost: 15 Mana
—
Choose yourself or another being you are physically touching. For the next 10 seconds, the chosen target gains 5 additional Strength.
Firebolt
School: Fire
Type: Activated
Cost: 30 Mana
—
Shoots a small ball of fire that travels up to 30 paces, exploding when it collides with something. Deals up to 75 damage, depending on where it hits, on a direct collision with a being.
Noxious Grasp
School: Poison
Type: Toggle
Cost: 3 Mana/Second
—
While active, any being you are physically touching loses 10 Health and 5 Stamina per second.
…Hm. Upon looking at the three Spells, I suddenly realized how difficult it was to make a choice that could be the difference between life and death.
I had to think short-term for this; if I chose something that didn't do as much as I needed it to right now, I'd die. I could only have a maximum of 20 Mana, which made me immediately think that Firebolt wasn't an option.
But then I remembered that I still had 3 Stat Points that I could distribute freely among any of my Stats. Each point of Conjuration increased maximum Mana by 10 – I knew that much from common knowledge – so I had potentially 50 Mana at my disposal.
Since I couldn't immediately eliminate Firebolt, I instead looked toward Holy Strength. Without the ability to hold any sort of melee weapon, adding to my Strength was of dubious use, to say the least.
I could still punch, but I felt like that wouldn't be utilizing a Magic Class to its fullest. I wasn't a Melee Class anymore, and I never would be.
I had to keep that in mind. Even if I used 45 Mana to stack three casts of Holy Strength on myself, I would still only have 25 Strength, which still wasn't enough to beat a high-Level monster, especially when I was without a weapon, and even more especially when that boost in Strength only lasted 10 seconds.
So, the choice was down to Firebolt versus Noxious Grasp. The latter was risky; Noxious Grasp only dealt damage to things I was touching.
Not being able to deal damage at a range would make it difficult for me as a Magic Classer. But then again, most magic users had someone on the front lines to keep the monsters away from them. I didn't have that luxury, so I would probably need some way to deal with a monster that got up-close.
I liked Firebolt. It was a Spell that Wizards and Sorcerers also got access to, and it was very popular among them for a reason. Solid damage at a decently-far range was a useful tool in any mage's belt. That said, when looking at how it would immediately help me…
At most, I could have 50 Mana saved up at any given time. With that, I could cast Firebolt once, which would deal up to 75 damage to an enemy, depending on my accuracy.
With Noxious Grasp, however, I could use 50 Mana to keep it active for 16 seconds, which – if all 16 of those seconds were spent with me in physical contact with an enemy – would deal 160 damage, plus drain away 80 Stamina.
Now, holding onto a rampaging monster for 16 straight seconds without dying would be challenging, but I really didn't like the concept of having absolutely no way of dealing with anything that had more Health than a Level 3 Deer.
At least with Noxious Grasp, I'd have a chance of killing the monsters that roamed the forest. A single Firebolt wouldn't do anything more than annoy them.
With that in mind, I selected my Spell.