Asunder [litRPG] Chapter 2 (Patreon)

Brilliant colors exploded forth from the darkness. Thane blinked, holding up a hand to protect his eyes as the glaring sunlight threatened to blind him. His toes pressed against something prickly.

Thane slowly moved his hands away. He was standing in a large grass field peppered with huge sunflowers. The sun was directly overhead. In the distance, he could see several the rooftops of what was likely a human settlement.

Instead of his battle armor, he wore light cloth clothes and had a bag with a few vials of liquid in it thrown over his shoulder.

He rubbed his eyes. A large part of him wanted to fall to his knees and beg the Father to allow him to return to his duties, but Thane suppressed it. He had been ordered to go on vacation, and so he would. The Father could not be let down.

The angel turned human took a single step forward, then promptly tripped over his feet. He tried to drop into a roll, but his new body was clumsy and slow. Instead of popping back up in a single smooth motion, he fell flat on his face and let out a pained grunt.

Slowly, Thane pushed himself upright, not allowing his annoyance to show on his face.

“I knew that the humans were weak, but this is just something else,” Thane said to himself, standing up carefully. “How do they avoid breaking when they get up in the morning?”

Thane mentally summoned his status page.

Thane

Race: Human

Class: Dawn Guard

Level: 4 (0% Progress)

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 10

Endurance: 10 (1 / Minute)

Magical Energy: 28 (2.8 / Minute)

Magical Prowess: 15

Will: 10

Luck: 18

Unassigned Status points: 8

Thane quickly assigned four of them to dexterity and left the others alone. He closed the status window and took another step. His body was a little more responsive, but he could tell that it would be a very long time before it got anywhere near what he’d gotten used to.

He closed the window again and drew a deep breath. The faint smell of honey and what might have been some sort of fruit entered his nostrils. A small grin tugged at the corner of Thane’s mouth. For the first time in… well, a long time, his stomach rumbled.

The angel’s musings were interrupted by a shrill scream. He spun, nearly tripping over his own legs, as a human woman dashed towards the town with a huge rabbit in tow behind her. The creature was almost five feet tall, with a massive glistening horn on its head.

There was a small text box floating in the air above it.

<UniBunny – Level 8>

“To me!” Thane yelled.

The woman caught his gaze, then turned towards him without a second thought. Thane reached for his spear, only to realize that it was still on the ground before God’s Throne.

“Uh oh,” Thane muttered.

The woman and the rabbit were fast. Within seconds, they were nearly upon him. The woman dove to the side as the rabbit leapt forward, nearly impaling her with its horn.

Thane braced himself and leapt forward, ducking to avoid the creature’s horn and ramming his shoulder into its exposed belly while it was in the air. The force of the strike knocked both Thane and the monster to the ground.

He rolled to his feet, once again reaching for a spear that wasn’t there. The bunny flipped itself upright, its beady red eyes focusing on Thane.

It pawed the ground and bared two fearsome looking teeth. Thane cracked his neck and swallowed. Hopefully the Father would forgive him for such a shameful death. The UniBunny leapt towards him.

Thane stepped to the side, but he could already tell that his new body wasn’t fast enough. The horn was on a collision course for his chest. Then, with a scream, the woman dashed past him and copied the move he’d done moments before.

She slammed into the rabbit’s stomach from below, this time driving a short sword into the creature’s belly.

It let out a furious cry, its powerful legs lashing out and sending the woman flying several feet into the air. She lost her grip on the sword, leaving it lodged in the creature’s chest.

Thane took advantage of the reprieve that the human had bought him. He staggered forward, barely avoiding tripping over his own feet, and threw his weight behind the sword.

The UniBunny thrashed one more time, then fell still. A rush of energy traveled through Thane’s hands and into his chest.

Level Up!

Achievement Unlocked: I Fear No Man (1) – Kill a Monster a higher level than you. Reward: +1% Damage to enemies higher level than you.

“Are you okay?” the woman asked, dashing over to his side.

“I am not injured,” Thane said, shaking off the shock of leveling up. His hands had been flecked with the creature’s blood. He wiped them off in the grass. “Are you injured?”

“No, luckily. You really saved me there,” she said, kneeling to pull her sword out of the monster’s chest.

She had short black hair and wore leather armor. Her skin was slightly tanned, although Thane was unsure if it was by race or by sun. She had several vials and daggers hanging off her belt.

The woman got her weapon free and wiped it off with a cloth. She sheathed it, then turned around and gave him a sheepish smile.

“I’m very sorry for getting you involved in that,” she said, panting to catch her breath. “I went a bit deep into the forest and this UniBunny chased me out of it. I’ve been running for nearly fifteen minutes. I didn’t think I’d make it.”

“You should be more careful,” Thane admonished her. “Don’t try to fight monsters stronger than you are without backup.”

“They give a lot of experience,” she muttered. “But at least I’ve got a weapon! Why are you out of town with no way to defend yourself? Are you a mage?”

“I… don’t know, actually,” Thane said. For a moment, he thought he might have heard someone chuckle. “I’m on vacation, I suppose.”