The First Time Hurts So Much

As Justin deliberates what to do, he slowly opens the door to view the outside world. Half expecting to see fire and brimstone, burning husks of trees and dead bodies; he is mildly surprised to see nothing different with his farm. The sun is just shining over the tree tops as he makes his way outside. Scanning his surroundings, however, something bothers him. There is a silence he isn't used to. Living on the farm he has gotten used to the chirping of birds in the morning, the sounds of coyotes in the woods and the huffing of the horses in the barn. He hears none of that as he plods his way onto the front yard.

"My God it's quiet. Something is definitely wrong." he murmurs to himself. Making his way to the barn he is struck with an awful sight. Two of his 3 horses are laying on the ground in their stalls, dead. The third one kneeling and breathing heavily seems to be struggling.

"Scout!"

He rushes over to the light brown horse to cradle his head in his arms. The horse neighbor quietly a bit of foam sloughing off of his mouth as Justin strokes his forehead. After a few minutes of this The horses breathing slows down to a comfortable rhythm and he slowly gets back to his feet.

"There you go boy. I know it's scary. Shhhh..shhh. Just breath."

After some time, stoke his mane, and lots of treats Scout slowly begins to calm down. Grabbing his riding gear, Justin begins to saddle up Scout.

"We have to make it to town, big guy. I don't know if we will see any monsters, but I Have a feeling there will be some."

Leading Scout out of the barn, he slowly guides him to the end of his drive. A long dirt road winding through the trees, about a quarter of a mile long. Giving Scout one last pat on the side of the neck, Justin begins inching his way up the saddle. Just as his first foot lands in the stirrup he hears the cracking of twigs on the other side of Scout along side the road in the trees. A feeling of dread hits Justin in the pit of his stomach. A palpable pressure exudes from the tree line. Peaking over the side of the horse he watches the trees in panic. After a few minutes go by he starts relaxing, when a heavy foot step draws his attention back. A paw the size of his head slides out of the bushes. Attached the paw going up and up to a majestic mane of Grey silver hair. A wolf the size of a horse strides confidently out of the brush. Fresh blood dripping from its mouth. Dripping from the body of a much smaller wolf, still held in a vice grip between its powerful jaws.

"Jesus fucking christ!" he thinks "Oh God what is that!" Frozen with fear he watches in horror as the wolf gazes out over the road. It's eyes slowly roaming over the land until they lock onto him and Scout. There is a moment, between them as time seems to freeze. And in that moment Justin knows he is going to die. The moment is broken suddenly as the wolf bursts forward. It's loping gait eating the distance between them in the blink of an eye. Justin doesn't have a chance to react as the wolf's mouth opens dropping the wolf's carcass, and slams down on the back of Scouts neck. Yanking up hard the stirrup catches onto Justin's foot dragging him into the air with the screaming Scout. Fear and anger flood Justin's mind. desperation managing to let him free his sword enough to widley slash at the chest of the wolf as he hangs upside down. The wolf yips in pain and drops the horse. Skipping back as a large gash drips down the front of its chest.

"Scout! No!!" Justin screams in desperation. The wolf not waiting a second seeing his hesitation slams back onto of the horse wrenching it's neck with a disgusting squelch.

Hot anger and sadness flood Justin. That was the last friend he had in this world. The last piece of his family. Rage guiding his hands, Justin lunges at the Wolf with his sword. The tip sinks deep into the wolf's neck and gets lodged. the wolf jerks away hard yanking Justin back with it. His tight fear driven grip not allowing him to let go. Desperately trying to pull the sword out of its chest he out. Suddenly realizing his left leg is still stuck in the stirrup. There is a sharp crack and sudden pain as he pulls it out as hard as he can. Screaming as he kicks the at the wolf with his good leg. The wolf whines in pain as it struggles to pull away from Justin. The wold suddenly reaches down and snaps at Justin's left arm. The iron armor crushes around his arm as it's mouth grinds down onto it.

The sword finally comes free only to be jammed back into its chest. A soft wet sound coming in the heat of the moment as Justin feels a slight resistance. Shoving as hard as he can, the wolf finally collapses with a heavy sigh escaping it's mouth.

Tears stream down his face as he lays there grinding his teeth in horror. He looks down at his leg and arm whining in pain. Looking up he sees Scout laying in front of him, his chest heaving with exertion and feeble strength. Desperately crawling to him with his good leg and arm he lays a hand on his chest.

"It's ok boy. It's ok. You will get through this. WE will get through this." He cries, softly laying his head on Scouts neck.

"Wait! I have a Heal spell!! How do I use it! Heal! Heal!" he cries sobbing as he does. "Concentrating hard on his hands laying on the horse. He pushes his will towards the horse. Desperately pleading for it to work. A soft glow begins to fill up the bottom of his hand where it lays on Scouts neck. The glow begins to spread across him. Like a liquid fire, it starts pooling up on the wounds on Scouts neck. Screaming in joy Justin concentrates even harder, willing the wound to close.

It's minutes later, when Justin lays panting with his back against the horse. Fatigue and mental tiredness drag his consciousness in and out. Groaning he drags himself to his feet. Glowing droplets drip from a fresh scar on Scouts neck but the tender flesh is healed; leaving him woozy and light headed.

"That used every drop of my mana" Justin whispers as he examines his character sheet.

[Skill level up: Minor Healing 2 +10xp]

[x1 Dire Wolf Defeated +95xp]

[TITLE AWARDED!]

[Title: I will survive!. For surviving and even killing an attack from a monster 10 levels above you you have been awarded a unique title. (I Will Survive) +2% dmg against enemies a higher lvl than you]

[LEVEL UP! Stats pre allocated you have 3 unallocated Stat points and one spell/ability point. Would you like to distribute them?]

Lvl: 2 Paladin

Race: Human

Health: 550/550

Mana: 400/400

Strength: 16

Endurance: 17

Agility: 10

Intellegence: 14

Wisdom: 10

Charisma: 10

Luck: 10

Stat points: 3

Exp: 5/200

Skills: Minor Heal (2/20), Minor Remove Curse (1/20), Counter Strike (1/20)

Justin slams the ability point into Minor Heal without even thinking.

[Minor Heal (3/20)]

Heals 15 hp/level + (Int x.25). Requires physical contact until higher levels.

"Let's see if this is like my games Wis should bring up my mana pool while Int should bring up the effectiveness of my abilities and spells. Let's try it out.. he puts one point into wis to see the change. "Ok so I gain 15pts of mana for every point into wisdom. Should I bring up my Agility or maybe Charisma? Aren't paladins suppose to be good with people?" He thinks for a while about it, but in the end he decides to wait. "I just don't know enough yet."