“A… demon lord?”
The acting bandit leader seemed completely flabbergasted, which went a long way toward convincing Nick that there was not, in fact, a demon lord that he needed to beat.
The bandit shook his head, still looking a bit dazed. “No, sir. No demon lords here. Just the usual assortment of beasts, monsters, and free wealth advocates.”
Nick raised an eyebrow, a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “‘Free wealth advocates’, eh? That’s a funny way of looking at it.”
The bandit grinned, a bit of confidence leaking into his voice. “We’re all about universal wealthcare, here. Just trying to make a living in a world of monsters and… well, whatever you are.”
Nick chuckled, but his eyes remained sharp. “And what about this… vampire that your boss went off with? You think it’s still around here somewhere?”
“I couldn’t say, sir. It’s always hard to tell with monsters. One moment, they’re your best friend, the next they’re spouting some nonsense about ‘invaders’ and ‘evil gods’. I try to keep a safe distance from the crazies. Helps me wake up every morning and all that.”
Nick considered the bandit’s words, his smirk fading into a thoughtful look. “Sounds like there’s a lot going on. Anything in particular going on around here, or is it business as usual?”
The bandit shrugged. “For people like me, it’s more of the usual. An esteemed sir like yourself needn’t worry too much. But there’s always something out there stronger than you, so it doesn’t hurt to be careful.”
That told him a decent amount. It was enough for him to justify sending the bandits packing, and he didn’t want to keep them around for too much longer. Nick stood, signaling the end of the conversation. “You can take a third of the supplies and get out of here. I doubt we’ll cross paths again, but if we do…”
The bandit gave a hasty salute, a hint of relief battling with eagerness in his voice as he said, “Of course, sir. Of course. If I have such ba…good luck in the future, I’ll be sure to make the most of it.”
As he was about to turn away, Nick paused, his expression softening just slightly. “You come across as a person who wants to live a long life, so I’ll give you a piece of advice.”
“…huh?” The bandit leader blinked in surprise.
“You can live your life as a parasite, reliant on the wealth of those around you. But true wealth…”
He stopped, the words dying on his lips. His heart ached as he tried to finish his statement.
“True wealth is…”
After another short pause, the bandit chimed in. “I think I understand, sir. You’re saying that a humble thief like myself should settle down, make a family, and make something of myself?”
Nick smiled bitterly. “Maybe, if that’s what calls to you.”
It was easier for him to lie and accept the bandit’s interpretation than it was to finish his intended statement. He’d thought he was over the past, but clearly he was wrong. He always wanted to be a hero—the knight in shining armor, the savior, the legend. He wanted to be the kind of hero people would tell stories about for generations, fighting against impossible odds and winning through sheer guts, determination, and plot armor.
He had his chance… and he didn’t want that anymore.
He considered what he would do next as he watched the bandits shuffle about, carefully gathering a third of the goods. Since their lives were on the line, most of them were conscious of not taking too much—so much so that some of them erred on the side of taking too little, but Nick wasn’t one to complain when others screwed themselves over in the name of caution.
His actions weren’t very ‘heroic’, but they had a quality that he always wanted in his previous life, A quality that he never figured out how to capture:
Control.
Determination.
As a hero, his destiny was in the hands of the people.
But this time…?
“Status.”
===Status===
Name: Nicholas Draegan
Age: 26
Race: Overseer (Human*)
Health: 100%
Mana: 7%
Magic Systems:
Lesser: Echelomancy, ???, ???, ???, ???.
Mind: 20 | Body: 20 | Soul: 20
->Echelomancy
->Skills: Fireball (3/-), Reincarnator’s Privilege (1)
->Bloodline: Avatar Rank 1 (Hidden – Basic), Human (Pure)
->Traits: Faith Empowerment (Basic), Inspiring Presence (Basic), Rapid Growth [Avatar] (Basic), Rapid Growth [Human] (Intermediate)
There were a lot of terms that he didn’t understand yet, but the key points were obvious at a glance. Assuming the bandits were around the level of normal humans, he knew that his stats had to far exceed theirs.
He first looked at his ‘race’, his smile widening as he read the description that popped up:
=Overseer=
An architect and custodian of reality that wields godlike powers accessible through the accumulation of faith and souls. Overseers can originate from any race, the term acting as a racial modifier.
->Characteristics: Immortality, Avatar Creation, Locked, Locked
‘Holy shit…’ he thought.
For some reason, he reincarnated as a god. Other reincarnated protagonists would roll over in their graves if they knew about this. And that was just the description—the important part was obviously the characteristics:
=Immortality=
-Passive Trait-
->Description: Complete immunity to the ravages of time and disease.
=Avatar Creation=
->Description: The ability to create an Overseer Avatar.
->Number of Active Avatars: 1/1
->Available Forms: Human
=Locked=
-Unknown-
->Conditions to use this skill have not been met.
‘Well damn.’
That was one hell of a list of starting abilities. Sure, most of them were locked and he had no idea how to get access to them, but he had Immortality! Somehow or other, his starting skills were way above any expectations he might have had.
The bandits finished gathering up their third of the supplies and loaded them onto a cart that they managed to scrounge up from somewhere. Nick ignored them as they left the clearing, pausing only to give a nod toward the acting bandit leader as he saluted before leaving with his men.
Once they were all gone, he examined the supplies that they left for him. Most of it was food of one kind or another—cured stripes of beef, smoked fish, dry biscuits, a few sacks of oats and flour, an assortment of nuts and seeds, cheese, and a few sacks of potatoes, carrots, and onions. There was even a jar of honey and a few pouches of some herbs and spices like thyme, rosemary, and pepper.
All in all, it was food that he could use for a good while before it went bad, except for the most pressing issue…
He had no way to move them.
That was one of the reasons he let the bandits take a third of it—he simply had no means of transporting this much food himself. By ‘spending’ a third of his profit, he bought possibilities. Whether they would ever bear fruit or not… well, he wouldn’t lose anything either way.
Nick glanced at the forest around him, considering his next move. The supplies would keep for a bit, but he needed a secure place to store them. A bandit tent was an option, but there was always the possibility of them coming back while he was asleep.
He needed to scout the nearby area. Learn more about his surroundings, and maybe find another base of operations.
After the twenty or so minutes it took for him to move everything into one of the tents, he set off into the forest, taking care to examine his surroundings for landmarks so that he could find his way back. The forest was thick, with gnarled trees and tangled roots slowing him down.
As he moved deeper into the forest, he listened through every rustle of leaves and snap of twigs, searching for any sounds that seemed out of place in this new environment. Pushing through a particularly dense thicket, he emerged into a small clearing. The light here was dim, filtered through the thick canopy above, casting everything in a strange, greenish hue. Starting near the center of the clearing, he spotted large, deep indentations in the earth, as if something massive had struck the ground.
He knelt, examining the tracks. They were something he had seen a few times before, though the animals he knew of were much, much smaller than this. The prints were paw-like, an ovular shape with four distinct toe marks at the top. The toes ended in sharp, claw-like indentations that dug into the ground.
A faint rustling drew his attention to some nearby branches. He carefully stepped away while preparing to leap in any direction depending on what came out of the bushes.
With another rustle, a white blur hopped out of the bushes. The cute little rabbit raised itself on its hind legs and stared at Nick with the most innocent look it could muster.
Without hesitation, Nick raised his hand and pointed a finger at the rabbit.
“Fireball.”
The spell shot forward like a blazing orb of concentrated heat. The rabbit exploded like a grotesque balloon, its body expanding in an instant with a sickening pop. The air was filled with the stench of burning fur and wet tearing sounds as the creature’s charred flesh stretched and split, its body rapidly inflating to a size that dwarfed a sedan.
Nick’s eyes widened in horror as the creature’s fur rippled unnaturally, revealing burnt, writhing muscles underneath, oozing with dark, viscous blood. The rabbit’s massive, bloodshot eyes gleamed with predatory hunger as they locked onto him, its gaze burning with fury. The ground beneath him trembled under the creature’s sheer weight, the vibrations sending shivers up his spine.
He stumbled backward, his heart pounding as the monstrous rabbit loomed over him, casting a shadow that blocked the little light that managed to reach the clearing. Roots and branches clawed at his legs as he scrambled to retreat, his breath catching in his throat. The air was thick with the metallic tang of blood and…
The sickening squelch as he stepped on a chunk of bloody flesh echoed in his ears, pulling his mind back to reality.
“Fireball.”
Another ball of flames erupted from his fingertips, blasting the giant rabbit with a force that sent a shockwave rippling through the air.
“Fireball.”
One of its eyes exploded, and the creature crumbled to the ground with a pained cry.
*Ding*
=You have defeated (1) Vampiric Rabbit-Bear.=
=You gain 0.03 skill points=
=Current skill points: 0.3=
=Level up! Fireball is now Rank 4/-=
“What the actual f*ck…” Nick cursed as he stared at the massive truck-sized rabbit corpse. If he’d let that thing touch him, he probably would have died in one hit. He stumbled away and sat down on a relatively clear patch of grass, taking a moment to catch his breath.
There was a lot to unpack from this encounter, but he decided to focus on the key points for now:
This creature had the term ‘vampiric’ in its name. Considering there was supposedly a vampire in the area, he didn’t think that was a coincidence.
If there were more creatures like this nearby…
He couldn’t wander around blindly. If he had stumbled into the rabbit before seeing the paw print, he very well might have died. With no way to meaningfully drag the massive corpse back to the bandit camp, he decided to return without it, leaving it for nature to reclaim.
The way back to the bandit camp was uneventful, but Nick’s mind was anything but calm. Every shadow, every rustle of leaves… everything was a potential threat, a reminder that this was a fantasy world that he didn’t understand yet. The forest seemed to watch him, a cruel judge gauging his right to survive.
He didn’t relax until he stepped into the camp, the cool, evening air brushing against his skin as he settled down next to the supplies he’d stashed earlier. His mind raced as he reevaluated his plans from earlier.
This wasn’t just a new world; it was a world with rules and threats that he didn’t understand.
The thing he needed the most was knowledge…
He opened his status window again, his eyes scanning the details with a new intensity. The Overseer abilities were locked, and he didn’t know how to go about unlocking them yet.
The threat of the vampire lingered on his mind. He either needed to get strong enough to beat it, or he needed to run and hope he was lucky enough to avoid it. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he centered himself.
This world was a second chance, of sorts. He wasn’t going to let some overgrown leech ruin his first real chance at freedom.
His eyes settled on the mysterious ‘skillbook’ that the bandits handed over. Assuming that it was in any way similar to the concept of skillbooks from games and stories, he had no way to know what sort of skill it might grant. He also didn’t know if there were any sort of penalties, like only being able to learn a certain number of skills.
But even so, the more he thought about it, the more he felt like it was a good idea to take the risk.
He picked up the skillbook and opened it, his eyes scanning the pages.
“How do I use this…” he muttered.
After a few seconds, a prompt appeared:
=Would you like to absorb and learn the skill Execute?=
-Yes / No-
“Execute…”
From the name, it sounded like a combat skill.
‘Well, no going back now.’
He tapped ‘Yes’ without hesitation, and the book turned transparent, quickly losing its shape as wisps shot out and entered his chest. A subtle jolt of energy pulsed through him.
=New Skill Unlocked: Execute=
=Execute=
-Active Skill-
->Mana: 5
->Rank: 1/100
->Description: Execute a wounded enemy.
There is no room for mercy, only the certainty of an ending.
The weight of the new skill hovered at the edge of his thoughts—like a loaded gun in a jacket pocket. The extra note in the skill description bothered him a little bit. But this was also his first skillbook, so for all he knew, this was how things normally went.
Satisfied, he moved on to the next section of his status window that he was curious about:
“Reincarnator’s Privilege…” he read aloud.
A window appeared in front of his eyes. The corners of his lips turned up as he read the description:
=Reincarnator’s Privilege (1)=
-Active Skill-
->Mana: Free
->Rank: N/A (Cannot be quantified by Lesser Echelomancy)
->Description: The ability to select one skill with three enhancement modifications from a curated list. The created skill will be a utility skill that enhances the quality of life of the user.
->Options: Infinite Wardrobe, Enhanced Health, Resource Generation
“This…”
Moments ago, he thought he needed knowledge more than anything else.
But there was always another option:
Power that surpassed all reason in a world where magic exists.
Project Knightfall 