Eritance - Chapter 47

So, this is what being dead was like. It was definitely dark but it was a lot. heavier than I thought it would be. It was also smellier. I didn’t expect the underworld to be a walk in the park, but I thought I’d be able to at least see. I felt like I was covered in pins and needles and then I suddenly realized, I really was covered in pins and needles.

I struggled to move my body and the weight started to shift. I pushed against the needles and the weight continued to lessen. Finally, the weight was off me. I opened my eyes, but it was still dark. I realized though that the body of the elder spine bear had fallen on me. Apparently, the spell Commander Aegis had cast to create the light orb had worn off.

I wasn’t sure how long I had been out, but it was long enough for the corpse to grow cold. I was feeling much better than I should have, given the battle that I had been through. I wasn’t feeling completely recovered, but I had enough energy to create a focus punch.

While it wasn’t as good as knowing light magic, my fist always gave off a faint glow when I made a focus punch. The glow was only enough to illuminate a very small space around my fist. I reached out towards the elder spine bear and confirmed that it had in fact, died.

I was lucky. If there hadn’t been that mini crossbow, or the sacrifice of Commander Aegis, I wouldn’t have survived. It was unfortunate though, I wouldn’t be getting that recommendation after all. I could still get some good merits by bringing back the head of the elder spine bear. I moved around in the dark and looked for my sword.

I found it some distance away from where I had woken up and I picked it up. I proceeded to walk back over to the elder spine bear and hacked its head off. I wasn’t sure how I was going to use my fist to light the way and defend myself if I had to carry the head with me. I then realized, that I still had the magic pouch from the man with glasses.

I didn’t know if it would work or not, but I tried to shove it inside the pouch. The huge head fit into the small pouch easily. I was surprised at the ability of this magic pouch. I had wondered how it was possible, but I didn’t understand enough magic theory or enchantments to guess at it.

After fitting the head into the bag, I had another idea. I remember that Commander Aegis had said that the dragon bones would be useful for many things, and the skin could be used to make strong armor as well.

I went to the pit and crawled back into it. I then proceeded to start collecting all the loose bones and scales that I could find. I may not be able to make use of these now, but I could trade them for other things I needed or even sell them in the future. I would need that money to be able to seed my independence after I was done with the rebels.

After collecting many of the bones and skins of the dragons that remained I exited the pit. I had looked to see if there were anymore cores left, but apparently, I had gotten the last one.

I slowly made my way into the tunnels. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed but I had to find my way back to the academy. As I moved around I found a few corpses scattered here and there, some were of the other recruits, and others were of spine bears.

It seemed not all of the spine bears had been killed though. It was no matter though, I was able to kill the spine bears that I came across now with a single focus punch, each time making me a bit stronger.

I didn’t see any signs of the other recruits, so I could only surmise that they had been wiped out, or that they had retreated. No others were here yet, so no more than a day or two could have passed while I was knocked out.

I finally found my way to the hole that led to the cave from which we entered before. A small amount of light was coming from the hole, so it must have been day time. I quickly scaled the wall and left that place.

I ran back to the entrance of the academy that we had left through in the first place and went inside. The academy representatives were shocked when they saw me. “We thought that the rest of you had all died” said one.

I explained what had happened to Commander Aegis and my story of survival. I also pulled out the head of the elder spine bear to show that I had completed the mission. This was very impressive to them there.

I was awarded the mission reward points and found out that around half of the recruits had survived and came back. I even received a bonus 1000 points for bringing back the head of the elder spine bear. It seemed that I would be looked at more closely from then on.

My life at the academy became less exciting in the following months after that. I trained a growing number of students in sword craft after tales of my exploits had circulated the school. I no longer needed to go on missions to get points, but I still went on large scale missions to gain merits and achievements.

I took many interesting and useful classes in the next several months as well. Some classes were focused on enchantments, others on survival, magic casting, beast taming, and other courses that I felt might benefit me.

I also found out from Ross that if I ground up the dragon bones into a tea and drank them, it would help me increase my magic power. So everyday I drank a tea and felt the magic in me growing stronger bit by bit. The best part about magic power is that it is something anyone could improve, regardless of how big their vessel is.

I was quickly becoming renowned for my prowess at the academy.