My hand hurt, the pain surging like a massive wave. While I dealt with the pain in my hand, the last bandit struggled on the ground, screaming in agony. He tried to get up and escape, but all his efforts were futile. The Achilles tendon in his right leg had been torn, and he could not use that foot.
My fingers were not bent at odd angles, indicating that the fracture had not shattered the bone, or that it was a crack rather than a break. One thing was certain: my current medical knowledge would suffice for a crack or a hairline fracture, but if my fingers were broken, I would have to seek a maester's help.
Because I had read books, I knew in theory how to treat this kind of injury, but having theoretical knowledge did not mean I had practical skills. I wrapped my right hand with some strips of cloth and twigs to keep it still and prevent it from getting worse.
Bandaging my hand was not easy. Fine work was difficult with these claws. I could not make myself return to normal, because I felt clearheaded, yet bloodthirsty and excited at the same time. After bandaging my hand with considerable effort, I turned my full attention to the bandit writhing on the ground.
"Please spare my life. I'll do anything you want. Let me serve you, please. I can even be your slave. I'll bring you more people so you can hunt more easily; please forgive me." He writhed on the ground in pain, begging me nonstop.
"Why are you so afraid? What did you do when those poor women begged you to spare them?" My words startled both him and me. My voice had completely changed; the child's voice was entirely gone, replaced by a rasp that bordered on a growl.
He covered his head with his arms and wailed on the ground, refusing to answer me. I actually resembled a werewolf somewhat. I thought anyone would be too frightened to respond if a werewolf stood over them asking questions. I looked like a hairless werewolf, one without supernatural strength. I still did not know why I had become like this, but this form gave me nothing besides sharp teeth and claws. My form might have changed, but my physical strength had not.
"Let me quiet you down a little, so you won't have to struggle too much while I tear you to pieces. Letagon (Trap)."
"Aaah! Please spare me!"
After immobilizing his body, I slowly, gently inserted the claws of my left hand into his body, without forcing them, because I did not want to injure my left hand. After piercing him with my claws, I slowly moved my hand, forming deep wounds.
"Don't worry. I'll show you the same mercy you showed your victims when they begged you for mercy; I'll make you experience a death a thousand times worse than the ones you gave them. Rest assured, a cruel and horrific death awaits you."
After torturing the bandit for another ten or twenty minutes, my anger toward him had subsided, and the sadistic pleasure was beginning to turn my stomach. But I did not want to give him a quick and painless death; just then, I remembered what had happened to another bandit.
"Bo, Erebus, do you want to eat this man?"
"Dad, I'm not hungry."
"I, on the other hand, don't like human flesh at all. I never eat it unless I'm starving to death."
"Then order your killers to eat him; tell them to start with his limbs, not his head."
When I finished speaking, Bo and Erebus began cawing, and soon afterward, about forty birds flew from the trees onto the man. His agonized screams and groans continued for about ten minutes, and I rewarded him with a death he deserved.
He might have suffered a heart attack from the pain or passed out from blood loss. When I realized he was dead, I suddenly felt a sense of relief wash through me. The membrane covering the primal rage inside me was rapidly trembling and vibrating.
I knew that if I touched that membrane, I could discover something, but the real question was whether I could control that discovery. Six months ago, I had nearly died because of healing magic, so I did not want to interact with this membrane at all before reaching level three. Whatever had transformed me and caused me to pass out had to be connected to this membrane.
Now that my hunt was over, I began to feel calm, and I could feel myself returning to normal. The transformation of my hands caused some pain, and it really hurt when my face reshaped itself in particular. I meant, considering that the shape of my entire skull had changed, that seemed normal. As this change took place, the pain suddenly became a burning sensation.
It felt as though my hands and face were on fire. As I remained calm, my body continued to revert, but the injury to my right hand did not heal. There was still pain in my hand. When my hand returned to its original size, it was almost half the size of its clawed form, so the bandages and twigs came loose and fell to the ground.
Once I calmed down, I realized that the battle had exhausted me, and that I could probably fall asleep if I curled up on the ground. I hurried back to where the caravan had been ambushed. I could not let these poor people become food for wild beasts, apart from the bandits.
I did not care what happened to them. I used Formotegon (Shape Earth Spell) to dig a deep, long grave at the edge of the forest, arranged the bodies neatly inside one by one, then used Formotegon (Shape Earth Spell) again to cover the grave.
"I'm sorry. I don't have the time or mana to prepare a separate grave for each of you. I hope you can be happy in the other world."
"Now I'll take all your valuables as payment for burying you. You won't need them where you're going anyway."
There was a bag of jewelry, some valuables in the saddlebags, and eight horses. Four of the horses were hitched to the merchant's wagon, while the other four belonged to the guards. The bandits had actually had horses too, but I had ordered two of them to leave to prevent the leader from escaping. It was better than nothing; I could exchange them for money in Winterfell.
I did not even have enough strength to go to my cabin in the forest, but I did not want to sleep out in the open either. Considering the bodies lying around, predators would arrive here soon.
About a hundred or two hundred meters from the bodies, I climbed a large tree and used Formoheba (Shape Plants) to make its branches envelop me like a cocoon. This would keep out the wind and other creatures, and from below, it would look like a tree with dense foliage.
Of course, the horses indicated that someone was here, but it would be almost impossible for anyone to find me. You never knew whether the bandits had other accomplices; it was always good to be cautious.
After sleeping for about five hours, I woke up clearheaded but ravenous. I had my sword and dagger at my waist, but I did not know where my bow and quiver were. I had still been holding the bow when I charged at the bandit leader, but I must have thrown it away when I passed out and went berserk.
Since hunting without a bow and arrows was difficult, I chose the simplest method: magic. After finding a rabbit, I immobilized it with the Inretio (Entangle) spell, and then all I had to do was walk over and cook the paralyzed rabbit.
After eating my fill, I felt something different about my mana heart. When I focused on it, all the mana in my body was suddenly sucked into my heart, then abruptly spread through my body like a massive explosion. For a moment, I thought I had advanced to level three, but neither the quantity nor the quality of my mana had increased. Only information about some level two spells flowed into my mind like water.
Eludo Jelmio (Wind Shield) was a defensive spell that could form a sphere of wind around me, deflecting projectiles flying toward me to prevent them from hitting me.
At present, casting this spell cost me ten mana and lasted twenty minutes, but I did not think it could deflect unlimited projectiles for twenty minutes. It should have an upper limit, and I could not just have people shoot arrows at me.
First, that would be dangerous for me, and second, it would be too strange. People would not shoot arrows at a child.
Perzys Egros (Blade of Flame). The name of this spell was easy to understand, but why would I want to set my sword on fire? Wasn't this a buff rather than a debuff? If the sword was on fire, that meant every cut I made would be cauterized, which meant there would be no bleeding. On the other hand, if the flames were strong enough and the cut was deep and large, perhaps the wound would not be cauterized. That would be more painful; this needed more testing. It might also be useful in dark places.
This spell had the same cost and duration as the first: ten mana and twenty minutes.
Nocturvisio (Night Vision). The spell's name was self-explanatory. The only thing I had to add was that, unlike ordinary night vision, it would not blind the caster if the light suddenly intensified.
If the light suddenly brightened while this spell was active, the surroundings would become brighter, but it would immediately adapt to that brightness without harming the eyes. Casting this spell cost ten mana, and it lasted ten minutes.
Inanis Motu (Traceless Movement). With this spell, I would leave no traces when moving through the forest.
I could move without leaving any scent, footprints, sound, or disturbance to plants or animals. Even if I stepped in mud, there would be no footprints. Even if I walked past the most timid birds, they would not fear me, plants would not be crushed beneath my feet, and bushes would not break because of me. While this spell was active, they would all make way for me.
The only drawback was that the spell would end as soon as I made any aggressive move; the upside was that it had a cooldown of only two minutes. Casting this spell cost ten mana, and it lasted twenty minutes.
Protego Narys (Resist Toxins) was both an active and a passive spell. For me, it was passive, but for others, it was active.
I did not think this granted complete immunity to toxins; it was more resistance than immunity. I would have to start experimenting with nonlethal toxins. Many rabbits would die for this. Casting this spell cost ten mana, and it lasted five minutes.
The final spell was Mino Depuro (Lesser Purification). We could say that this spell was used to filter liquids, eliminating all organisms within them.
Of course, this spell did not work on chemical contamination, nor could it distinguish between the chemical structures of water and other chemicals. This spell cost one mana for each liter of liquid purified. So I could use all my mana to purify ninety-one liters of water.
There were still two hours until sunset. I had to catch as many rabbits as possible over the next hour. That way, I could experiment when I returned to Winterfell, and I also had to buy every kind of poison I could find.
However, I already had twenty nonlethal plant varieties and nearly twenty lethal ones. Over the past year, I had collected not only medicinal plants but poisonous ones too. You never knew what would be useful, or when. Sometimes being a hoarder was not bad.
When I entered Winterfell with nine horses, everyone looked at me strangely. I had already had one horse, and with the eight horses I had collected as spoils, they made for a sizable convoy.
Although the guards recognized me, they did not let me in and demanded an explanation. After I explained what had happened, I suddenly found myself getting a scolding from Rodrik.