NOVEL FROG Chapter 3: The Adventure Begins
While all this information and more was flooding my brain, I was lying on a dirt path through a forest. Slowly opening my eyes I looked around. I still had a major headache from all the things I learned. It was strange to suddenly have all this knowledge. I could picture an enemy, like a wolf, and I just knew where I would have to strike it. My mind was filled with knowledge of fighting, yet there was no real memory of an actual battle.
My body felt strange yet familiar. My senses were so much better. I enjoyed the smell of the forest, listened to the sounds of animals but I was not overwhelmed.
Slowly I stood up and began to check my gear. I had my elven blade from the game. It had the blade of a katana but the hilt and crossguard of a western longsword. The blade was black, forged from adamantium and covered in silver runes. The blade would never need sharpening, repair itself and was able to pierce even the hardest materials. I could also use it as an extension of my body to channel spells through it.
The armour I had was a breastplate of hardened leather. Of course not from a cow but made from the hide of a magical beast. There were silver runes covering the armour. It was tougher than steel, would also repair itself and provided amazing protection. Unfortunately this was not a game. So in reality it only protected my torso. No matter how tough it was, it would be useless if someone stabbed me in the leg. I also had a pair of bracers from the same material. My clothes consisted of black woollen pants, a black short sleeve woollen shirt and black leather boots. The boots were magical and allowed for increased stability to prevent slipping on a slick surface. They were also magically comfortable. I had a ring to empower my illusion magic, a necklace with a magical storage and a hooded cape. The cape was black with a purple cat on the back. It magically repaired itself, looked stylish and could summon a shadow demon to fight at my side for 10 minutes. The ability took 24 hours to recharge. The shadow demon had the shape of a large purple cat.
I had a modern bra and panties and while I was curious about my new female body the current situation did not really make me horny. Thankfully my storage amulet contained a lot of things from the game. Food and drink that I looted, some weapons and armour that I collected, many potions, scrolls, herbs and other things that games throw at you. What I did not have was a change of clothes. In games you just tend to always wear the same thing, clothes wise. You just upgrade your armour when something better comes along.
There were no camping supplies. In the game you did not need anything to rest, just click a button. So I did not have a tent or sleeping bag with me. Also no cooking gear. The already prepared food in my amulet would last a while, assuming it did not go bad. Thinking about it, my magical knowledge confirmed a spatial item would preserve food.
Unfortunately I had no idea where I was. Well there was a dirt path and I was in a forest. But I had no idea about the geography or politics of this world. The path was wide enough for a wagon and it should lead me to some form of settlement. I seriously hoped I could buy some more clothes and gear there. I did have money from the game. But it was all gold coins. Roughly one million gold coins were in my amulet. That was a lot in the game but could I use them here? Let’s hope so.
And now for some magic! At first I tried to use a simple spell to summon water. I could create a small flow, enough to have something to drink. Being a simple spell it was not that impressive but it was magic! I stared at it in awe.
Let’s try something bigger! Destroying the forest would probably not be a good idea so… a shield spell. Maybe a fist circle magic shield. It would provide a floating disk with a diameter of 80 cm. It should automatically intercept an attack but could be manually controlled as well. I focused on the spell in my head, forming a clear picture of it and after 5 seconds it completed. I could feel the spell slot being consumed and saw the shield form. It looked like it was made from blue glass. Really pretty. I played around a bit with my shield. Turns out it could be no further than 2 m from me. Hm. Could I bash things with it? That was not possible in the game but what would stop me now? Let’s try it with a tree. Focus on moving the shield…
*crash*
Yeah that works. I wondered how effective that would be? Anyway I dismissed the shield for now. Time to become a cat! I mean a black panther. Focusing on the ability my body started to shift and within 2 seconds I was in my new form. Thankfully it came with an understanding on how to move on 4 legs. Also the gear I was wearing got transported into my storage amulet. The pendant itself turned into a collar that I was still wearing. Curious.
The amulet was the only soul bound item I had. A soul bond meant that no one else could use it without my permission, as long as I lived. The amulet was a teardrop amethyst attached to a mithril chain. In my animal form the chain changed into a collar.
I really want to have a look at myself now. Wait a minute… I did have a mirror. Now why would there be such a thing in my necklace? In many video games you just loot everything you can. So I carried things like paintings and even a 2m tall mirror with a timber frame. I went next to a tree and summoned the mirror so it would lean against it.
The silver collar looked nice on my black panther form. The amethyst was now embedded in the front of the collar. I preened in front of the mirror a bit. Time to change back.
After 2 seconds I was an elf again. A naked elf. I looked in the mirror and blushed. Also I did admire my new form. Gently touching my skin and tracing my pointy ears. Elves are cool. But I should put on some clothes. Could I do that from my storage? Let’s imagine wearing my clothes while I pull them from my storage.
And it worked! Oh wait.. I am wearing the shirt the wrong way around. After 10 minutes of practising I got the hang of equipping items from my storage. Ok how about a quick meal before I continue my explorations. Grabbing some bread, cheese and an ale from my necklace I enjoyed a nice picnic. Also, I did not feel any of the alcohol. Was I immune? In the game your character could still get drunk, even with a high poison resistance. Let’s experiment. I did grab some whisky from my amulet. Ahhh… a nice smokey flavour. Also I did feel a bit of the alcohol. Apparently I could still get drunk, I just needed to drink more.
Time to start my adventure! I stored the mirror again and transformed into a black panther. In my animal shape I was faster, stronger and had a tough hide. I still had access to all my abilities and magic. Even talking was possible in this form. The real downside would be the lack of gear. That also meant no dirty clothing though. I really did not want to travel for days with only one set of underwear. So cat form it was.
I ran through the forest parallel to the road. I had no idea how a traveller would react to my form. At least the collar might make them pause before attacking me. Not that I worried too much considering my ridiculous strength. Very few beings should be a threat to me.
I was running at the speed of a car and barely making any sound. Probably due to my high stealth skill. I ran for hours while the day came to an end. Unfortunately I had no clock or any way of tracking the time. Somehow I knew that the world had a 24h day, just like my original one. A year consisted of 13 months with 30 days each.
So what should I do for dinner? While I still carried food in my storage, maybe I should give hunting a try. Still in my black panther form I went deeper into the forest. After a short while I found a deer. Time for more experiments. I focused on my 4th circle teleportation spell. It would transport me to any place that I could see with a maximum range of 500m. Envisioning myself right next to the deer I concentrated on the spell in my mind.
*blink*
Suddenly I found myself right next to a startled deer. With my superior reflexes I unsheathed my claws and swung at its head. Before the deer had any chance to react my paw connected… and the deers head exploded.
I probably should have attacked with less strength. Now my magnificent fur was covered in deer bits. *sigh* That would take a lot of grooming. Maybe I should be more horrified with what just happened. It was the first time I killed anything. Well aside from bugs I suppose. Yet I seemed perfectly fine. Once again I wondered how the whole transformation affected my mind. My mental abilities certainly changed. All the knowledge about fighting I now had might have desensitised me to violence. Then there is fear. A game would treat that as a mental status effect and it could be resisted. Did that mean I was now brave because of my stats? Was I still myself? I think the core me was still the same, I just looked at the world through different eyes. I suppose I was fine with that.
Anyway, time for food! In my feline form raw deer tasted surprisingly good. Afterwards I used create water in my paw and licked it to quench my thirst. Having successfully concluded my hunting trip I went back towards the road. I chose a spot that would not be easily seen from the path and started grooming myself. It’s important to have nice shiny fur before I go to sleep!
Should I be concerned about being attacked at night? Probably. I guess I could summon an elemental to stand guard. There was an elemental summoning spell every 2 circles. They were small, medium, large, elder and lord. So elemental lord would be a 9th circle spell. They all had a base duration of 2h. That would not do for a whole night. By pushing a spell in a higher slot I could extend the duration by 2h. So a medium elemental, a 3rd circle spell, could last 8h by using a 6th circle slot.
That should do it. After concentrating on the spell for 5 seconds, while focusing on the increased duration, a water elemental appeared. Why water? I wanted to know if I could also use it for a shower. The elemental looked like a swirling tornado of water. It was about the size of a human and hovered slightly above the ground. There was a quiet sound of running water coming from the elemental. Like a gentle stream. It was quite soothing.
I could command the elemental with my thoughts. While it did not talk it was able to understand my commands. I wondered if an elemental lord would have a personality? Something to test another time.
I was delighted to find out that I could get a shower. The elemental summoned a gentle stream of water on top of me. The water was not really warm but I did not mind. With my cold resistance even an ice bath would be ok.
After I moved to a dry spot I curled up on top of some leaves. My elemental was commanded to wake me in 7,5 hours. What a crazy day. I quickly fell asleep.