LoRG 1

Calculated Blow Lvl 1 Passively begin to see weaknesses of creatures after fighting them Their weaknesses become visible to you Hitting those weaknesses slightly increases the damage dealt Effectiveness improves with skill level

Randidly was rather pleased with his previous decision Not only had it net him a fair bit of strength and stamina but it also gave him two skills The passive would slowly add up especially now while he was absolutely ripping through large groups of enemies But Randidly was far more interested in the first skill that would let him empower any moves

He experimented with it for a few minutes empowering strikes and leaps Even the few attempts he did pushed it up to Lvl 3 of the skill Although it was nowhere near enough to equal the extra strength that was added to an attack by heavy blow it was just enough to give him an edge

Randidly grinned And combined with Haste The sudden shift in speed was enough to leave most enemies he would encounter dazed he was willing to bet

Randidly then used the remaining 6 PP he had to start and finish Monster Slayer III

Congratulations You have completed the Monster Hunter III Path +3 stat +3 to Health Mana and Stamina Sometimes the path you walk is stained by the blood of those who would stand against you but you must continue

Having a sudden thought Randidly turned back and regarded the Newbie Village He had seen Decklan Tera and a few of the survivors going off together into the woods but Donny had remained behind

Donny had been rather unpredictable thus far and it worried Randidly He wanted the village to prosper generally but specifically he wanted them to grow so he could learn more information about classes and villages As it currently was Donny didn’t appear to appreciate either the gift that Randidly had given him or the danger of the world even now that he had a class

It was time to change that

Although it would be a hassle taking Donny hunting was the smart long term play the kid needed to survive Honestly with the gains he probably made last night and a few more levels today his increase in health would be enough to sustain him as long as he didn’t do anything stupid

as long as he didn’t do anything stupid

Sighing Randidly walked over towards Donny who was standing with Chubbs

Ahaha Well Donny was saying but then his eyes brightened as Randidly approached Ah Here let Randidly handle this I’m just off hunting

Randidly grabbed him by his dirty t shirt before he could skulk away Perfect I was just thinking the same thing Let’s hunt for a few hours

As Donny nodded uncertainly Randidly turned to Chubbs What is it

Oh I got a class and my first class ended up being Quartermaster The stat gains are pretty small but I got the skill Insight that let’s me intuit things based on the amount of information I have So I was wondering if Boss Donny had any ideas on what

Randidly interrupted him Track down everyone with a class and interview them Find out classes and stat gains Also ask them about weird Skills they gained and what skills level up the fastest Then ask about Paths and skills gained from those Then ask about class specific paths Then ask after habits of enemies Then local flora and fauna that have changed since the system appeared Understood Good I will speak to you later

Randidly pivoted on his heel and walked away Donny trailing along behind him

Donny stabbed his sword into the neck of another lizard its struggles against the roots binding it completely useless

A small ding notified him he had leveled up again and he brought up his status screen

Donny Parke

Class Knight

Level 6

Health(/R per hour) 100/122 (22 25)

Mana(/R per hour) 25/25 (3)

Stam(/R per min) 11/70 (9)

Str 15

Agi 4

Resistance 11

Willpower 3

Inteligence 2

Skills Hiding Lvl 7 Running Lvl 5 Grappling Lvl 3 Club Wielding Lvl 2 Wood Working Lvl 2 Construction Lvl 3 Labor Lvl 5 Heavy Blow Lvl 3 Mana Bolt Lvl 1 Ride Lvl 1 Honorable Charge Lvl 2 Stalwart Defense Lvl 5 (1) Sword Master Lvl 3 (2) Shield Mastery Lvl 6

Even though Randidly had told him to keep his Vit and End high for survivability Donny had decided that what a true leader needed was not the ability to Endure but the Strength to do something about problems

Still this sort of hunting was very unsatisfying for Donny and seemed to be so too for Randidly Earlier Randidly had asked whether Donny wanted this to be hard or easy Donny had naturally chosen easy and this had followed for a boring 45 minutes

Looking at his double digit strength Donny hefted his shield and bumped it lightly against a nearby tree enjoying the way the trunk shook He turned to look at Randidly who as always was in a constant state of motion

Whether to it was practicing with the spear mixing weird chemicals shooting off spells or striking trees he always maintained constant motion Inwardly Donny was slightly worried about Randidly’s mental health but was pleased he had such a dedicated subordinate

But then the Randidly of last night flashed before Donny’s eyes a man soaked in gore and moving like wind and he couldn’t help but shiver

Shaking his head Donny said I uh changed my mind This is too easy Can we do this faster The hard way maybe

Shockingly Randidly stopped and turned to Donny his gaze placid Perhaps But once you choose the hard way you won’t be able to stop it halfway It might take a few hours

Ha that’s fine Donny said scratching the back of his head The longer I am away from that creepy Village guy the better

Randidly gave Donny a small smile Nul I also find him rather creepy Follow me

Randidly practically disappeared even though he had been right in front of Donny not seconds ago Donny hurried through the brush kicking it aside and cursing trying to keep up Uh Randidly So why are you helping us You seem so strong already And you don’t want a class

As if by magic Randidly stepped out from behind a tree to Donny’s left causing him to jump How had he

I am looking for my friends But I do not know where to start This Section’ as the announcement called it It’s too big Trying to find two people Randidly shook his head

So you are giving up Donny asked mouth gaping Randidly gave him a sharp look

Of course not But if I cannot find them alone I have few options One of them is to grow the village so much that it attracts them Another is to recruit people to help me in my search Randidly hesitated then said Or I wait long enough that most of the population is concentrated and then search those locations After all the Newbie Village mechanic will drive people to gather around an area they can receive classes Only waiting that long worries me

Then Randidly blinked and grinned turning and looking deeper into the forest

Ah here is the first batch Let the hard way begin

Chapter 29

Uh minion Shouldn’t we

No we continue

Ah but my Health is low and my regeneration

I told you to invest in vitality did I not When you level next do so You need the regeneration

Well just for now GACK YOU KICKED ME

You would not advance Raise your shield the imps are coming

Ahh THEY ARE THROWING FIRE

If nothing else your class gives you resistance which should weaken the effect of magic

Ahh

enough for you to survive this Don’t worry 10 more seconds and I will intervene

WHAT YOU ARE STILL JUST STANDING THERE

how else would you learn how to defend yourself Careful they are aiming for your legs

Just barely passable You survived for the 10 seconds but you passed out immediately afterwards Drink this and then we continue

Noo oo just let me die

Did I hear you correctly You want the difficulty to be raised Although your performance is shit your attitude can be considered barely deserving of a compliment Let us go then

Put Me Down

Ah good here is a large group Careful of the lizard bites their teeth are very sharp Hum perhaps we should gather some and take them back to Sam

Do you really want to kill me

Obviously not But let me ask you a question

SHiiITT ITS BITING Mee

You want to be a knight yes The Dusk Knight To have the strength to be the Village Chieftain and lead us

Haa Haa DIE YOU FUCKING SHIT

With your level of strength anything other than defense is inadvisable You are like a turtle Even now you can only knock them backwards with your shield and wait for my help

BECAUSE YOU BRING 20 OF THEM AT ONCE

But can you deny that they are weak They have no weapons they have no skills they are common fodder Yet you struggle Is this what you want To struggle against these forever

Ha ha ha haah

What I’m saying is this we have a relationship I have strength but no ability or willingness to deal with people You have little strength right now but you can handle people Well handle might be a strong word but

Fuck It hurts so bad

However that was just in the old world When that police officer came from town he did not back down after you refused them He postured with force For sure he will return seeking what he wants And what will you as village chieftain do

fuck

What will you do

What will you do Donny

Damnit

What will you DO

I’ll fight if I have to I’ll stare down a gun I’ll throw him back until he agrees to call me boss

Aside from the boss comment Good But you remain too weak for me to believe you I’ll kill most but these last 5 I shall leave for you After you finish them we shall immediately continue

Haah Is this Really necessary

Did you think it was easy Finding strength I mean You must sweat for every ounce of it

Ugh

Don’t worry that Decklan character seems promising If you die he will just be the figurehead of my new Newbie Village

Ha ha That prick

He seems charming enough Did you know that Tera has taken to sleeping with him

WHAT HOW DID THAT GaaH

That’s what you get for letting your attention wander Focus ahead I’ve brought more monsters

Although Donny was sure he was going to die he couldn’t deny that the training was effective

Level 9

Health(/R per hour) 100/217 (52 25)

Mana(/R per hour) 25/45 (3)

Stam(/R per min) 11/120 (19)

Str 18

Perception 6

Resistance 16

Skills Hiding Lvl 7 Running Lvl 5 Grappling Lvl 5 Club Wielding Lvl 2 WoodWorking Lvl 2 Construction Lvl 3 Labor Lvl 6 Heavy Blow Lvl 5 Mana Bolt Lvl 1 Ride Lvl 1 Honorable Charge Lvl 2 Stalwart Defense Lvl 9 (1) Sword Master Lvl 5 (2) Shield Mastery Lvl 11 (3) Shield Bash Lvl 3 (4) Aegis Lvl 1

After looking at his status screen for a long minute Donny turned to Randidly What level are you

Randidly stopped moving through the spear forms and turned to him shrugging I do not have a level

Then Donny looked at him with wide eyes Your strength

Randidly just smiled and said Skill Now let’s head back You need to rest before the people from town return

Chapter 30

Randidly didn’t gain anything for 4 hours aside from the profound satisfaction for finally getting to experience the perverse joy of forcing someone to go through the torment Shal had subjected him to It was also nice to reassure himself that Donny wasn’t just a sack of shit and also possessed some backbone but really the profound joy from stepping into Shal’s brutal shoes was the true reward at the end of the day

That and of course some skill levels

He had decided to put more effort into increasing the utility of his Root Manipulation skill and had begun allocating stat points into control to increase its usefulness This also seemed to have a very small effect on the mana expenditure using the roots although once more Randidly was confused whether his control made him more efficient or his higher control made the mana use more efficient

He was quite pleased with the 2 skill levels he had earned in 4 hours on that front Calculated Blow had risen to 4 and Randidly was beginning to sense the weak points of the imps and lizards that he fought Not that he really needed them

In addition Empower had increased to level 6 and Randidly was swiftly learning that although the stamina cost was pretty debilitative in an extended fight it was oppresively powerful He planned to practice using it while performing spear forms and spear footwork If he could master it

But Randidly knew that the real way to grow was not training here And to that end after dropping off a sobbing Donny onto Chubbs lap Randidly headed due east away from the town towards what used to be a lake

Now there was only sloping hills that gave way to a cracked plateau noticeably devoid of people Randidly suspected there must be an edge to the safe zone He didn’t think the entire map was really a safe zone just that many probably sprung up around people giving them a chance at life

But beyond that in this wide area

Randidly gained a point in Pathfinding and Mapmaking as he reached the edge of what the map was telling him was a place that was safe to be Beyond that point the map was tinged red

Grinning Randidly stepped over the line and began to creep forward falling into habits he had picked up in the dungeon Spear out Eyes of the Spear Phantom constantly activated scanning the surrounding ground

And it was a good thing that he was prepared because when the enemy came it came fast

It was a bolt of fur and snarls rushing at Randidly’s blindspot He spun quickly Mana shield activating instantly but the creature smashed through the shield within a second

Randidly’s eyes narrowed his blood roaring in his ears But all he felt was elation

Yes it was always like this wasn’t it

His spear shot forward utilizing Heavy Blow and Phantom Thrust the attack almost impossible to see with the naked eye but the black bolt simply flowed around it a flash of light on its claws the only signal that an attack was coming

Entangling Roots activated huge roots rushing upwards to grip the slippery thing But it hopped to the side its momentum almost completely maintained as it rushed forward

But this time Randidly was ready As the creature made its leap to the side Randidly attacked again throwing everything he had at the monster Phantom Onslaught Haste Empower A dozen stabs ripped forward towards the ever so slightly off balance creature and although it was slippery several long gashes were left on the creature’s body slowing it

Although Entangling Roots made roots and grasped with them they slowly stiffened after the spell was cast until the mana supporting them disappeared But as he wounded the creature Randidly activated Root Manipulation causing the roots from the previous spell to grow forward and slam down on top of the creature

Somehow Randidly had again underestimated its speed as it slashed at his throat before the roots could arrive aiming for the kill Only a Empowered Spear Phantom’s Footwork enabled Randidly to dodge and even then a long gash was left in his shoulder his health dropping a good 30%

The roots smashed against the creature and it seemed to sway concentrated on speed rather than strength and it was able to twist so it was facing forward to slash at these new foes The creature hissed in pain as its movements caused blood to pump out of the long scratches Randidly had left on its torso and that was all the change Randidly needed

While its head was turned only half a meter from this speedy death machine Randidly raised his hand and activated Arcane Orb at close range

He could feel his finger break from the force of the explosion but when the smoke cleared it had apparently also been enough to shatter the spine of the thing finally killing it

Randidly had around 60% of his health remaining but 20% and 5% of mana and stamina And when the second two ran out the first would be swiftly devoured by another weird creature like this He swiftly picked up the body which only seemed to weigh around 80 lbs and the small necklace it had dropped while dying and returned to an area not marked red

Licking his lips Randidly couldn’t suppress the strange emotions running through him The thrill of a fight when his life was on the line The fear of death The responsibility he had towards the strange Newbie Town he had created

The need to find Ace and Sydney and the slowly growing anxiety as no easy way to do so presented itself

He sat down to meditate setting aside the body for now Although the battle was short it was incredibly fruitful Not only did he sharpen the little bit of an edge he had lost since coming here he had gained a skill level in Physical Fitness Iron Skin Entangling Roots Mana Shield Dodge Phantom Thrust Spear Phantom’s Footwork Root Manipulation Arcane Orb Phantom Onslaught and Empower

All in all that was 11 PP in 23 or so seconds Randidly’s face split into a grin but then he grimaced Although this was good improvement the problem was the risks associated with it He wanted to continue to go out and farm in this zone but

If he encountered a second one at the same time

But then he remembered one of the last pieces of advice Shal had given him right before they had made their final successful attack on the boss

A spear can only go forward and thus a spearman must hold tight to the shaft and support it or he will lose it and become just a man Shortly afterward he will undoubtedly die

Chuckling to himself Randidly looked out towards the cracked plateau with its strange cat creatures with excited eyes

Chapter 31

During the course of recovering he had gained another point in meditation which was always a pleasant surprise Every point in that increased the effectiveness of his regeneration especially while training As he stood preparing to head into the plateau again his stomach rumbled

Annoyed Randidly looked at the horizon It was a few hours passed noon and he had not bothered to take a break after training Donny to eat And he had not thought to bring food with him

His stomach rumbled again

Grumbling Randidly turned away making a promise to himself that he would return tomorrow But there were several reasons he wanted to return early to the camp

One was to witness Donny’s resolve and the other was hold up his end of the bargain if it was a contest of strength Randidly was not yet willing to let the Newbie Village be on the losing end of it If it was to grow into something that would be a useful platform for him it needed to survive these earlier encounters

Randidly opened up his Path screen as he walked He had already put a few points into Monster Slayer IV and the amount he currently had enabled him to finish it

Congratulations You have completed the Monster Slayer IV Path +4 stat + 5 to Health Regen Mana Regen and Stamina Regen Sometimes the path forward leads through blood and gore

Randidly’s eyes immediately sharpened as he examined this notification An increase in regeneration Although the costs for the Monster Slayer path were getting higher these increases The stat was small but he had never gotten regeneration before

Interested he poured the rest into Monster Slayer V raising it to 7/25 Then he took out the necklace that the monster had dropped It had simply been a common level 33 enemy apparently on par with what Randidly faced in the dungeon but its speed was so overwhelming that it seemed more powerful than that Although that was compensated by having a relatively weak body A single direct spell from Randidly was able to kill it

It was to a weak point and his intelligence had increased since the beginning of his journey but it still wasn’t oppressively high enough to one hit most monsters of that level Or any of them to Randidly’s knowledge Considering this Randidly looked at the item

Necklace of the Shadow Cat Lvl 20 ® Vitality +1 Strength +2 Agility +7

Randidly was still quite a few levels away from being able to equip the item and take advantage of the stat boosts but the possibility tantalized him Just the boost to agility alone Then he grimaced and shook his head

Frustrated Randidly wondered how you could ever obtain items you could use by fighting monsters Shaking his head he jogged back towards the Newbie Village

Luckily it seemed he had arrived before anything had happened The sun still remained high in the sky Randidly estimated it to be around 4 pm Quickly he went to check on his plants

He harvested the ripe ones and replanted them checked on his second series of fields then started opening a 3rd field where he began to place stranger combinations of plants next to each other Although he didn’t have much hope that he would find more recipes for potions it didn’t hurt to try

While munching on some Halnuts Randidly considered his stats

Health(/R per hour) 206/262 (+6) (109 25 (+9

Mana(/R per hour) 139/249 (51 75)

Stam(/R per min) 105/233 (39 5 (+3

Vit 32 (+3)

Agi 42 (+3)

Inteligence 54

Control 31

Focus 17

Equipment Average Leather Tunic Lvl 5 (+2 Vit) Gloves of Quickness (Vit +1 Agi +3) Necklace of the Shadow Cat Lvl 20 ® (Locked)

Skills Running Lvl 17 Physical Fitness Lvl 25 Sneak Lvl 19 Farming Lvl 20 Mana Bolt Lvl 28 Heavy Blow Lvl 22 Acid Resistance Lvl 22 Poison Resistance Lvl 14 Sprinting Lvl 13 Iron Skin Lvl 25 Equip Lvl 16 Plant Breeding Lvl 9 Meditation Lvl 27 Dagger Mastery Lvl 8 Entangling Roots Lvl 28 Mana Shield Lvl 23 Dodge Lvl 26 Potion Making Lvl 19 Analyze Lvl 24 Pathfinding Lvl 8 Mapmaker Lvl 4 Spear Mastery Lvl 38 Phantom Thrust Lvl 38 Pain Resistance Lvl 11 Fighting Proficiency Lvl 27 First Aid Lvl 12 Block Lvl 24 Spear Phantom’s Footwork Lvl 22 Eyes of the Spear Phantom Lvl 16 Phantom Half Step Lvl 4 Mental Strength Lvl 8 Curse Resistance Lvl 3 Root Manipulation Lvl 24 Green Spear Mastery Lvl 224 Arcane Orb Lvl 17 Haste Lvl 10 Phantom Onslaught Lvl 10 Sweep Lvl 9 Spear Deflect Lvl 5 Empower Lvl 7 Calculated Blow Lvl 4

Randidly knew he had grown stronger and it was due to a variety of things The sheer quantity of skills he knew gave him a natural advantage over most others when it came to paths and that was one that he would never lose He could always level these skills And based on what he had heard from Shal he could forget them to learn others

It made him wonder whether it would be worth it to take the time to learn a bunch of skills and keep them at low level It probably wouldn’t be hard to ask around especially to Chubbs now that he had put him to work and find some that wouldn’t be too hard The question was simply whether it was worth the time spent and right now he wasn’t sure It was only just now coming up on 2 days since he had left the dungeon

The other big help had been the addition of Green Spear Mastery It basically leveled when anything else leveled And every 5 levels he would get one of four rotating things 5 mana 1 Vitality 5 Stamina and finally 2 distributable stat points Which meant that as his skill was now past 200 hundred

10 Vitality 50 mana 50 stamina and 20 stats to anything Mostly Intelligence Agility and most recently Control Although it was slight Randidly was really beginning to appreciate what Control could do for his Root Manipulation Especially after that fight with the cat Speaking of the cat

Randidly made a mental note to take the body to Sam later

Then his mind drifted back to his status screen Although his current build made him strong now he was slightly worried that if he attempted to keep this up it would ultimately lead to weakness He couldn’t stay good at everything And the choice of what to specialize in

Shaking his head Randidly took a rare break leaning back against the ground feeling the warmth of the sun and hearing the movement of the trees

Men were shouting good naturedly up around the Newbie Village where Randidly believed they were play fighting trying to relieve stress and get a handle on the new determinative factor in their lives strength

Randidly heard the steps before the body had approached him but Randidly didn’t move Chubbs sat down next to him and it was easy to sense the apprehension that the kid felt

Speak Randidly said simply

Chubbs nodded and opened his mouth Um I did as you requested and asked around about

Anything unexpected or interesting Any powerful seeming classes

Uh Chubbs hesitated Well no Donny’s is the best but I think Decklan’s might even be better if

Anything else Randidly didn’t really mean for his tone to come off as sharply as it did but he couldn’t deny that hearing the mundane details wasn’t something he wanted

But finally delightedly Chubbs surprised him actually Yes I wanted to talk about the growth of the Newbie Village

Growth Randidly asked sitting up and turning towards the other man

Chubbs nodded Yes Nul Doesn’t like you I think because you didn’t get a class from him and I have some theories as to why that is but I also believe that due to that same fact he has no need to be honest or forthright with you But when I asked him things alone he was more than happy to assist me

You see Chubbs continued It’s like a currency system Donny as the boss gains points when people he gave classes to level up and when they kill monsters Those points can be spent on buying buildings for the Newbie Village or buy upgrading the village which I believe is basically upgrading Nul He’s like the spirit of the village Which is why he doesn’t like you Your strength does nothing to bring Soul Points to the village

Randidly nodded slowly buying buildings for the village

Oh yes That’s what I wanted to talk to you about We have gathered around 500 Soul Points and that’s enough to buy one of the basic shops Weapons Armor Accessories Potions or the Marketplace I wanted to know well Donny says he’s going to save up for the upgrade but I think it might be better

What’s your name Randidly asked looking at Chubbs directly for the first time Although he was heavy for his age he was still tall and strong looking His hair was light brown and his eyes were the same mild color

He blinked at the question Ah Daniel

Daniel what currency would we spend at these shops

Daniel opened his mouth then closed it Then he got up and hurried up the hill

Shaking his head Randidly walked back over and continued to expand his fields planting more food He had a feeling that soon they would need it if he was going to support all these mooches for much longer

Chapter 32

As Randidly had expected the police officer returned What he hadn’t really anticipated was that the group of them would drive over in a police van and hop out in full swat gear They strutted forward heading once more towards the main building where Donny stood his arms crossed and looking petulant

Slipping closer Randidly wondered idly how much health a bullet would deplete Probably not a large amount especially if you had some endurance to toughen you up A human started with something like 20 health and were pretty easily killed by bullets But it wasn’t even the impact it was the internal damage the bleeding

So maybe vitality would be more useful for surviving a bullet

Decklan lounged on one of the wooden chairs that Sam would trade for a certain number of wolverine or lizard carcasses considering the approaching police force Based on their stature and stance the first 3 or so were well trained but the rest

Well they were likely newly deputized Their hands kept jumping to their guns and their helmeted heads flicked back and forth scanning the rather sizable crowd

Decklan was extremely disappointed that he had missed the chance to be trained by Randidly like Donny had but he had made himself useful in other ways Him Tera and some of the other survivors from last night had made rounds through some of the nearby valleys looking for small hamlets that used to be there Some were there some weren’t

Sometimes the ones that were there were covered in gore but others had survivors either looking up at the pillar of light from the Newbie Village with suspicious eyes or cowering in their cellars Either way when Decklan arrived he gave them a greasy smile and gave them something they hadn’t had in a while the chance for human interaction

They managed to gather 20 odd people during the day and about the same amount had drifted in seeking the light

What was most pleasing was that their group now numbered 8 women not including Tera More disappointing was the fact that none were as young and fresh as Tera looked except for one that was firmly under the arm of a rather special individual who called himself Dozer

Dozer was built like a linebacker and had a forehead that could crack granite What was more annoying was that he obtained the class Brute which apparently gave +2 Str per level +1 Stat and +4 health/mana/stamina

The flat strength bonus was a lot less useful than Donny’s split among three stats but even if Dozer wouldn’t grow up to be tough he could hit hard

Right now Decklan Dozer and about a dozen other sat in chairs watching the police approach lounging lazily like the group that knew they were effectively the strongest of people who were here currently

Decklan and the other survivors hadn’t joined in the sparring but Dozer had Decklan had no doubt that he had put everything he could into strength with the way he had thrown another man like a rag doll taking his chair as spoils and joining Decklan’s circle his raven haired female friend under his arm

But that event did have a positive consequence one of the newer individuals who wandered up a thin man with glasses revealed himself to have the class Disciple and possess the skill healing palm mending the wound making a recovery that should take weeks only take hours

That man Ptolemy also sat in the circle of chairs albeit nervously

One of the newcomers shifted uneasily as the police stopped in front of Donny who stood alone by the Village Chieftain’s House

Think uh think we should go help The man asked uncertainly

They have guns just sit down it will sort itself out Another hissed

Decklan just chuckled It’s fine Nothing will happen as long as the Ghosthound is watching

The four individuals who had taken classes to fight and survived last night nodded fervently having witnessed his strength

Dozer grunted and tilted his head

Who is The Ghosthound The girl under his arm asked her voice slightly petulant

Closing his eyes Decklan ignored the question and the talking ceased as the head police officer removed his helmet revealing his dark skin and serious face

Kid I’m only going to ask you once

And I’m going to say this once Donny interrupted his voice nasally but lower and more controlled than Decklan had been expecting If you refuse to come under my flag why should I help you The more people who take classes from here the more monsters assault us every night

The group around Decklan started muttering shocked at this news but Decklan saw Dozer open his mouth in a tiny little tooth smile To Decklan’s surprise Donny continued to speak wiping away any positive goodwill he had built for his calm demeanor

We could barely make it through last night alive It’s too much of a risk to allow more people to get classes

The answer is simple The policeman responded Move into the city We have set up a defensive perimeter The monsters will be easily slaughtered

But Donny was shaking his head already The Village needs to be defended If the monsters make it to the center and destroy it it becomes

Then we will give you that protection Police Officers will be stationed out here You might have classes but we have guns Why are you being so stubborn We are trying to help

Donny just stared him down You might have guns but you are not strong If you were you would just kill a blue monster yourself and obtain a coin to found your own Newbie Village Do you think you can hide and still benefit from those of us who risk our lives

You fucking little The head policeman stepped forward but his instincts stopped him dead

There is another option The voice was mild but the fact that the 20 something man in front of him had appeared there without any warning cooled the police officer’s temper

was this ’ He wondered The power of a class ’

Decklan leaned forward and waved his hand lazily his eyes glued onto the action enters the Ghosthound

Dozer frowned and squinted at the figure Decklan admitted he wasn’t anything much Tall but not too tall Athletic looking but in a wiry way with the long arms of a swimmer Short dark hair Cold eyes the color sunlight on grass a vivid warm green that strangely filled you with a deep fear

His trademark spear was nowhere to be seen but Decklan had seen it appear from thin air before He was wearing tan shorts and a brown shirt with a satchel over his shoulder His feet were bare and dirty and it looked like he had been bleeding because his left shoulder was stained red

Another Way The policeman repeated eyeing the figure in front of him His initial instincts from 10 years on the force told him that he wasn’t a threat but something deeper more primal made him cautious And the possibility of a class gave him pause

But then the man did something the policeman hadn’t expected He flourished his hand and produced a golden coin

Most of the watcher’s eyes went wide as saucers

I was worried that you would press so I had insurance There should be 4 blue bosses in the area I’ve taken the goblin and the wolverines The imps possess magic and you are too fearful of the lizards underground dens to challenge them right You were at a loss right

The police officer’s fist tightened Randidly tilted his head to the side and looked at them You can have it All I want in exchange is glassware

Glassware The policeman repeated in a disbelieving tone Randidly nodded

Beakers vials jars That sort of thing Anything glass and sealable Plastic will not work Deal

The police officer stood still towering a good 5 inches above Randidly But Decklan had watched people all his life and the police man was the one who stank of fear

what is your name The policeman finally asked

Ghosthound The word was soft but Decklan felt himself and several others mimic the word saying it silently feeling it out with their mouth echoing it so it hit the Police officer again in a soundless wave

Ghosthound

Fine Ghosthound you have a deal

And with that Randidly flipped the coin to the police officer and walked away heading towards Donny After an unwilling few seconds as the Police Officer struggled over the fact he had been clearly dismissed he turned and walked away the rest of his group following

Decklan watched it all with sparkling eyes Humans were complex and simple at the same time

They had 1000 motivations 1000 justifications 1000 reasons They struggled and fought for all of them or none of them

But sometimes it only took one powerful ideal one object one symbol for all the complexity to fall into line It didn’t seem likely that anyone in the village would act out too much with this powerful figure lurking in the shadows

Decklan found his lips moving again almost against his will

Chapter 33

Randidly walked towards Donny annoyed that he stepped forward and was forced to deal with the cop but glad that it had turned out simply He was slightly worried about making sure that the town honored the deal and brought him glassware but if they dragged their feet he started actively taking it and they wouldn’t be able to say anything about it

Mostly Randidly just wished the system included some skills that helped with interpersonal skills at this point it was halfway between something he didn’t want to deal with and half something he didn’t know how to deal with He had been a quiet gamer before the system came He wasn’t equipped for this

Still once he had all those containers he could really up his potion production which would benefit the whole village

But for now Randidly went to speak with Donny who appeared to be still glaring after the police and Daniel who had walked out of the Chieftain’s House and was speaking rapidly Awkwardly rubbing his neck Randidly approached After today he was done interacting with people

After a short discussion Randidly believed he had made himself clear

The first building they would buy was the Recycler building which would buy certain parts from the corpses of monsters in exchange for currency they could spend at other Shops This would build excitement for the eventual shops to come and give the people an immediate goal which would keep them satisfied

These justifications were Daniel’s and Randidly agreed He in fact agreed so much that he directed Donny to concentrate solely on leadership leaving Daniel to make the bland decisions about construction

When framed as construction Donny seemed to agree whimsically smiling as he recounted his heroic stand against the police to himself

The final order of business Daniel wished to discuss was food Specifically they had meat but were any of Randidly’s crops able to be eaten

Annoyed Randidly dumped most of his first haul onto the ground the non potion making items and returned to his fields and watch stand exhausted mentally

But just as he settled down into his spot to train he saw the corpse of the cat he had killed in the cracked plateau and groaned at the memory of one more discussion he had to have before he could focus on training

Grumbling he walked over towards Sam’s campsite the cat laying across his shoulders He thought about the three crouching bodies of who he assumed were Sam’s daughters Unbidden the words of the teenager rose to his mind

It looked like fireworks ’

Randidly looked down at his hands as he crossed the clearing He hadn’t even stopped to consider the beauty of his magic just its utility He had come into this world with the system an inch away from death It was hard to see these skills as anything but tools of survival and survival meant killing others for strength

But his strength remained insufficient Outside of the safe zone he was once more an inch from death This small cat was enough to force him to go all out

Sydney Ace

Randidly’s hands tightened into fists It was hard to realistically think that he could find them before they were forced into a situation where they would die Without Randidly here the group probably wouldn’t have had a village for several days or a week tops The police probably would have made a concerted effort to hunt down the goblins at some point

If they were out there now without classes But there was no way to find them in the huge area of the map It was better to operate on the assumption that they would survive They both were strong Far stronger than Randidly had been prior to his experience in the dungeon They would live

The logical conclusion was that they would group up with people to survive So his best bet would be to find other Newbie Villages looking for rumor of them

Randidly stopped

Honestly he hadn’t even thought to ask around here or in the area the policeman controlled They might even be there

Feeling a small flame of hope for the first time in a while Randidly walked into the area of Sam’s fire As he did so a glowing blue butterfly floated up towards him

Instinct took over and Randidly’s spear appeared in his hand a Phantom Thrust ripping through the thing dispersing it into glimmering motes of light

Told you it was a bad idea Sam stood over the fire slowly rotating some wolverine meat Next to him stood two figures To Randidly’s surprise neither were cloaked nor hooded but instead wore strange dresses made from stitched together wolverine pelts

How was I supposed to know he would freak out and attack it What was up with that anyway The smaller figure spoke tilting her head to the side and regarding Randidly She had medium length blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail Her cheekbones were sharp and her lips were expressive She was honestly one of the most beautiful women Randidly had ever seen in a girl next door kinda way And it did seem like she was the same figure who spoke to him last night

What was more intriguing was that it seemed like she had created that strange butterfly it was a construct of mana But what sort of skill could it have been Perhaps some sort of scouting

Randidly put his spear away still regarding the girl thoughtfully She was starting to glare at him and Sam looked up from the meat and was also regarding Randidly coolly Randidly opened his mouth to speak

What sort of skill was that

Like what you see The second figure spoke tartly and then froze hearing Randidly’s words

Randidly turned to regard the second woman who stood six inches taller than the first almost as tall as Randidly himself Full figured with golden skin that looked like honey this woman was also beautiful Her heart shaped face was of the style that modern culture found most attractive where the other girl’s features were too sharp and impish Even as she blushed she looked incredibly attractive

Turning to Sam Randidly said I assume you made these clothes to ugly them up a bit Really great effort But I can see why they would prefer not to just walk around

Sam gave Randidly a wry smile and Randidly turned back towards the first woman The skill

Oh this She said shyly raising her hand producing a glowing orb It instantly sputtered and disappeared and she shook her head in annoyance Fuck shit out of mana It’s just called Mana Manipulation I can basically do anything if I have enough mana Cool right

Mana Manipulation Was mana something that was really that easy to manipulate Randidly basically just focused on the skill and it would occur He couldn’t tell without looking at his status what his mana was at there was no sensation of loss just a weird sensation of inward movement Even when his mana pool was empty he didn’t really feel it just noticed based on the ease of skill use

Setting that information aside for now Randidly just nodded and placed the cat at Sam’s feet You’ve been working on making clothes right Make me something with this It should be much higher quality than the wolverines

Sam grunted and then said Alright I’ll work on it for tomorrow For now did you bring any food You don’t eat for free around here

Helpless Randidly produced more of his farmed fruits and nuts making a mental note to make a 4th field

Chapter 34

During the meal some rudimentary introductions were made

This is Lyra Sam said gesturing the blonde girl who was ripping chunks off of her meat She flicked her hand dismissively at them and then continued to eat Then Sam pointed to the other woman That’s Ellaine The other two won’t join us tonight We were all traveling together in the truck when the system came online I hit a wolverine and got the skill Driving Lvl 1 I knew something had changed

Ellaine voraciously ripped through Randidly’s fruits seemingly glad to eat something aside from meat Besides that the meal was relatively quiet all three of them giving Randidly strange glances He ignored it preferring to wait for them to just say what they were thinking But considering their complexions it didn’t seem like they were his daughters Then who were they

After the meal Sam gestured him over to talk about equipment They walked behind the truck to an area where several small wooden tables had been erected On them were various garments made of Wolverine pelt Most of them appeared to be shoulder pads

It’s surprisingly difficult to work to make armor from these creatures body parts Part of it is the difficulty in manipulating the fur and scales but the other part is my own body I need points in strength just to handle it I’ve worked out a pretty good system for making them and made a few discoveries

Before that try this Randidly reached down to the cat he was carrying and held it up by a paw Then he pulled ripping out one of the claws After brushing off the gore covered tendon he offered it to Sam

Sam took it with a frown and then pressed the claw one of the shoulder pads he had made It passed through it like it was nothing

Higher quality eh Sam grunted shaking his head Then he said Well thank you Anyway I made some discoveries You have the Equip skill right I got it too Still I can see all the stats of the equipment because I’m the creator Take a look at it

Randidly took the shoulder pad and examined it

Poorly Made Shoulder Pad Lvl 11 An amateur’s work +2 Health

Randidly frowned Much worse than receiving a single point in vitality And its level was so high

But then I did some experiments I can’t get the bonus because my equip level is too low but the girls can without the Equip skill It gives you vision but it also limits you Not that the PP isn’t useful but that most people should just not learn it and trust the sellers for the information about it More importantly though once I told the girls that none of them learned it even though I’ve had them wear all that stuff for hours Do you get what that means

For the first time ever there was a hint of excitement in Sam’s voice It means that we influence what we can and can’t learn By our beliefs

Randidly nodded slowly that skill of Lyra’s Mana Manipulation I’ve thought about it a bit and I don’t know if I could learn it I’ve thought of this like a game an rpg You learn skills and use mana to cast them that’s it I can’t sense mana Just finding her own understanding made her discover her own skill Makes you wonder about the usefulness of trying to help others at all

Exactly Which is why I think we should keep the information we share with each other general if we do it at all Sam said I have an idea for what I want to do And if it works out

A woman’s hiss and hurried footsteps interrupted their discussion All the excitement disappeared from Sam’s face and he sprang into motion rushing back towards the fire Randidly followed closely his eyes narrowing but they only found a nervous looking Daniel who was staring at the two women

Luckily it looked like they had gotten their hoods up in time because Daniel turned back to Randidly rather quickly

Ghosthound There’s been we unlocked Well follow me I’ll show you

The Killer Decklan was standing smugly in the middle of a circle of people when Randidly approached His eyes flitted across the surrounding men almost 50 of them Their group had really grown today They all parted as he approached and he walked forward finding Donny standing with Decklan and a mean looking brute with dull expressionless eyes

What’s all this for Randidly asked directly

Nul stepped forward with a happy expression Finally one of the villagers has reached Level 10 As such I can now provide a new function for the Newbie Village and Other guests He said giving Randidly a distasteful look

But at least he was now willing to talk to Randidly so having some people here getting classes and leveling must put him in a good mood

Players may use me to transport themselves into far off parts of the Nexus competing in what are called Skill challenges The Prizes are self evident Skills

Randidly straightened his eyes narrowing at Nul you can earn skills

Nul nodded But of course the usefulness depends on how many skill slots your class provides in that way production focused classes have a definite edge In addition your options are limited by what Tier you are in

Tiers Daniel sounded like he was salivating at the thought

Yes Nul continued No doubt you have noticed that there are certain main’ paths that unlock naturally based on total stat value For example you start with Newbie Path and Trainee Path unlocks at 100 Apprentice is 400 Journeyman 750 So although the Skill challenges provide breadth of skills they won’t give anyone a skill more powerful than they are

Nul made a strange gesture with his hand and a notification appeared before Randidly He instantly clicked skill challenges

Newbie Running 5 SP Jumping 5 SP Dogding 5 SP

Trainee Slash 10 SP Endure 10 SP Roundhouse Kick 10 SP Sneak 10 SP Magic Missile 15 SP Healing Palm 25 SP

Apprentice (Locked)

Randidly did some quick math His current total stats were 358 not including items which Randidly suspected did not count That meant he needed less than 50 to unlock the Apprentice Path But for now

Of the available skills some Randidly already had Others like Jumping Slash and Endure seemed like they would be easy for some levels but he ultimately wouldn’t use them On the other hands Roundhouse Kick Magic Missile and Healing Palm intrigued him The first for some variance in his fighting style the second for another spell and the third for the utility it could bring should he ever be injured while alone

How do you get SP Randidly asked shortly turning to Nul

Nul’s lips pursed in distaste Normally you would earn it passively by gaining levels and killing a certain number of enemies You will need to trade in especially rare items in order to gather it

Will this suffice Randidly produced a third gold coin this one taken by killing the rare boss of the lizards Nul’s eyes widened and he nodded happily accepting it

Yes this is good for 500 SP Randidly’s eyes narrowed at the amount but he didn’t ask for the coin back If Nul was so willing to part with SP it was probably a treasure

But Randidly knew nothing about the system so it was hard to gauge Still the smug grin on Nul’s face did not sit well in Randidly’s stomach

How does it work Daniel inquired Most of the other nearby people had turned away uninterested After all although the skills would give them variety they would take up a valuable skill spot As their class advanced they would naturally unlock paths relating to that class giving them skills As such this was a cost they weren’t willing to pay

Simple just select the skill and the trial begins Time will flow differently there so if you pass others will think it took you but a moment But of course if you fail Nul snorted giving Randidly a glance

But Randidly flashed him a grim smile and selected the Roundhouse Kick skill

Chapter 35

The world around Randidly warped and he suddenly found himself in an archaic stone room lit by torches A notification hovered in front of him

Defeat the Guardian and gain power But be careful it will not be easy

A dark figure stood in front of Randidly regarding him coolly As Randidly dismissed the notification the figure exploded into motion rushing towards him

Or at least the figure exploded as much as he could with his seemingly low stats Randidly stepped to the side avoided the roundhouse kick the figure aimed at him and lashed out his hand slashing at the opponent’s throat

When the blow landed the dark figure shattered turning into a black mist that flowed into Randidly’s body

Congratulations You have learned the skill Roundhouse Kick Lvl 1

And just like that Randidly found himself back in the dark clearing the group of people slowly dispersing Daniel was giving him an uneasy look

Perhaps you should go first He said his brown eyes nervous If there is danger

Randidly snorted I’ve already returned from the Roundhouse kick challenge If you are prepared and have at least 10 in Strength and Agility the Trainee challenges shouldn’t pose a serious problem to anyone here

To demonstrate Randidly performed a slow and controlled roundhouse kick Then he accelerated enjoying the explosive power He might need to increase his flexibility a bit to use this effectively but otherwise it seemed incredibly useful

After a few strikes the skill increased to Level 2 and Randidly ceased kicking the eyes of the watchers wide from the speed of the strikes

Randidly glanced around Even if the skill level was low his agility of 42 probably was a level higher than any present here were used to They obviously hadn’t seen Shal’s casual grace or the vicious speed of the orcs Even the cat beyond the safe zone was an impossibly powerful existence for them

Sighing to himself Randidly wondered if it really was possible for Sydney and Ace to still be alive If they were at this level of strength But then he quieted that thought and turned back to Nul

After obtaining both the Fireball and Healing Palm skills and raising them both to level 2 Randidly decided to take a quick nap The fireball skill produced a ball of flame that would explode on contact Although the explosion was small now the heat was already impressive Randidly was curious how much more powerful the explosion would get

Magic Missile cost the same amount as mana bolt and was slightly weaker but the dart like like missiles could be controlled somewhat causing them to avoid shields defenses or terrain and home in on the enemy

Still even though Randidly wanted to train these useful skills he decided to nap If the enemies would come at the same time as the previous day they wouldn’t come for 6 or so more hours anyway which would give him time to rest

Although it was clear that Randidly didn’t require nearly as much sleep as an average person there was undoubtedly a limit to that and as he planned on once more to go beyond the edge of the safe zone tomorrow he didn’t want to encounter that limit

So he slept

When he awoke it was to a long slow stretch and to a familiar sensation of danger it appeared the horde was coming Randidly stood and moved smoothly out from his cabin drawing his spear Activating Eyes of the Spear Phantom he scanned the edges of the valley

His frown deepened Although he had expected it it was still somewhat intimidating to feel the movements of almost 500 enemies beyond his vision It seemed like the enemies were still gathering so Randidly spared a glance for the forces of the village

Sam had been busy today and it looked like he had help because they managed to set up a fence around the entirety of the village and dig a trench outside that There was a wide gate area but the rest would serve as a way to funnel the enemies into a place where they could be slaughtered

Or at least that was the plan

Turning away Randidly sat and filled his empty potion vials making as concentrated a mana potion as he could His greatest success was a potion that would restore 91 mana but he had several others that would restore 80 at a time Pleasingly his Potion Making skill improved another level the first time in a while

Not today because he wanted to go out beyond the boundary but tomorrow Randidly made a mental note to visit the village of the Policeman and make sure he held up his end of the bargain providing glassware to hold more potions With those Randidly could afford to be much more free with his spells making hordes of low leveled enemies like this dead meat

Rising with glittering eyes Randidly smiled in the darkness

Well it wasn’t like they would be much challenge anyway

As the sun dawned Randidly surveyed the battlefield The fence had certainly bought time during the beginning of the fight but the sheer numbers of monsters had eventually overrun it making it useless and the villagers as they had taken to themselves had been swamped by all sides

Surprisingly they didn’t break Donny’s skills made him a great force for locking down large numbers and focusing their attention Decklan came and went freely wolverines and goblins and lizards falling to the side dead Dozer wielded a huge club smashing at least two or three enemies with every strike

Randidly had started the fight by taking it to them throwing out Arcane Orbs and drinking mana potions like water rocking the enemy lines Of the 500 some probably only 200 made it past him to assault the village But that was still 200 enemies rushing against 50

Casualties had been prevented somewhat by Daniel and a slight man named Ptolemy who gained the Healing Palm skill naturally from his class

But then something happened to the defenders or at least most of them they ran out of stamina

Most of them chose either of Decklan’s or Dozer’s paths focusing on strength or speed Very few chose to invest a heavy amount of their points into Vitality or Endurance resulting in a steep drop off in their skill usage after a few minutes of hectic battle And although they would only need about 2 minutes to recover their stamina fully there was no time for that with a wolverine slashing at your throat

All in all 13 people died their total number of individuals with classes falling to sit at 41

With the sun at his back Randidly stood before the exhausted individuals covered in blood and grime looking at the ground

I’m sure you all noticed it Randidly said speaking softly But most people looked up at him The limits of what you can do without a true tank What you do is your business but you need to be strong enough to defend the village

Inwardly something clicked and Randidly offered a rare smile I will not be present for tomorrow’s horde I hope you manage to survive in my absence

Donny’s face twisted in horror and there was shock and worry on most faces Randidly simply shrugged turning away As he departed he turned and spoke once more over his shoulder Perhaps you should consider forming divisions underneath Donny Decklan and Dozer Specialize but cover all your bases And become familiar with fighting together If you don’t have sufficient individual strength at least come up with a plan Good luck

Randidly knew this would seem like an impossible challenge to them but a day’s worth of leveling especially with some points going into Vitality or Endurance could do a lot And without this prodding they might grow too reliant on him leaving them useless in the future

Chapter 36

As for himself Randidly was quite pleased with the night’s haul although he was slightly perturbed by his lack of reaction to death But he supposed that was just the world they were currently living in

Dodge Fighting Proficiency Spear Phantom’s Footwork and Haste had all improved by 1 level In addition Arcane Orb Empower and Sweep had improved by 2 The biggest gains however were in Roundhouse Kick Healing Palm and Calculated Blow which improved by 4 3 and a staggering 7 respectively

Apparently killing large amounts of low leveled opponents did a lot for Calculated Blow As it was currently it was almost effortless for Randidly to see the weaknesses of the 4 enemies that populated the area

The skill gains were enough for Randidly to finish off Monster Slayer V

Congratulations You have completed the Monster Slayer V Path +5 stat +1 to Health Regen Mana Regen and Stamina Regen Sometimes the path forward leads through blood and gore and sometimes the path is long But you cannot hesitate

But the completion of the path left Randidly with several choices He had unlocked The Monster Slayer Path which would take 50 PP and also still had the Watcher Path but he had also earned Potion Making I Path after getting the skill to lvl 20 It cost 25 but Randidly hesitated because of the real possibility that a skill lay at the end of it

Ultimately the lure of that skill was too great and Randidly chose to pour his remaining 14 PP into Potion Making I As he did so he was delighted to find that after putting 5 in he got a point in Focus and 10 gave him a stat in control It was a nice surprise after the Monster Slayer paths that only gave a completion bonus

After Randidly put the 12 of his 14 PP into Potion Making I path something else happened that gave him pause

Congratulations Your Soul Path Green Spear Mastery has reached level 250 You have followed this path for a long time yet now it forks On your left lays the Waning Rafflesia and on your right lays the Blooming Hydrangea Choose where you wish to Walk

Randidly wasn’t overly familiar flowers but he understood Waning and Blooming as adjectives He briefly considered trying to perhaps consult Sam on what exactly the flowers were but they didn’t seem very important Instead Randidly went with his gut

Waning Rafflesia The other path seemed to be the softer sides of plants growth and healing But Randidly knew that to possess the strength he desired to protect the village to find his friends he needed the strength of rot and death

You have chosen the path of the stinking corpse lily Green Spear Mastery has become Spear of Rot Mastery Skill level has reset to 1 You retain all the benefits of Green Spear Mastery

You have learned the skill Pollen of the Rafflesia Lvl 1 You have learned the skill Edge of Decay Lvl 1 You have learned the skill Summon Pestilence Lvl 1

Pollen of the Rafflesia Release pollen from your spear spreading the scent of spiciness and rot Enemies caught inhaling your pollen will experience drowsiness nausea and minor hallucinations Costs 50 mana Effectiveness depends on Intelligence and skill level

Edge of Decay Passive ability Wounds you inflect contain a hint of Rafflesia’s Rot often leading to increased infection and necrosis of the wounds Frequency of rot and speed of rot depend on skill level

Summon Pestilence The Rafflesia has a strong relationship with hungry insects Summon a group of those hungry insects to unleash upon your enemies Number of insects depends on Intelligence and Skill Level Concentration of Insects depends on Focus Wisdom and Skill Level Control over insects depends on Control and Skill Level

Randidly smiled reflexively then shook his head sorrowfully There were just so many skills he had to grind now There simply wasn’t enough time in the day for them But still

Randidly adjusted his plans and looked South towards the area that the fireball casting imps came from Perhaps he should try out these new skills before anything else

After sneaking past their patrols and earning himself another skill point for sneak Randidly stood in a ruined building that served as their base While he had been getting in position another pillar of light had risen up into the sky and a notification about the Policeman’s Newbie Village had appeared before Randidly but he dismissed it focusing on the task at hand

As he stood hidden he activated Pollen of the Rafflesia and could sense rather than see a cloud of something the pollen spreading out around him

Randidly’s eyes narrowed as two imps walked forward or rather floated right into the pollen At first nothing happened and Randidly was slightly disappointed But then he noticed some strange movements and activated Eyes of the Spear Phantom his vision instantly sharpening

The left Imp still seemed fine but the right imp was twitching And as Randidly watched it seemed to be talking to itself As it walked deeper into the cloud of pollen the twitching got progressively worse

Two more imps who had been out of Randidly’s vision around the corner appeared heading in the opposite direction of the first two and the twitching imps response made Randidly gasp

It raised its hand and blasted its compatriots in the face with a fireball They fell back shrieking but it just aggressively rushed forward and blasted more

Randidly’s Pollen of the Rafflesia improved to Lvl 2

The right imp finally responding to the horror grasped at the other imp back but missed and fell to the ground where it vomited up the contents of its stomach The one imp continued to roast the other two imps but Randidly was impressed His Intelligence stat probably made up for the lower skill level and was pretty effective against the imps when they didn’t know what was happening

Randidly flexed his hand summoning pestilence a swarm of buzzing insects the size of his fist appearing above his hand They instantly began to fly everywhere and Randidly frowned pressing down with his will and they unwillingly gathered back up

While doing so the skill improved immediately to Lvl 4 It seemed that his control was helping him gain levels more quickly Randidly then pointed and the pestilence surged forward albeit haphazardly hitting the imp that was vomiting on the ground The flies and wasps instantly dug their greedy mouths into the Imp’s flesh causing it to roll around screeching Within seconds half of its head was missing eaten away by the pestilence

The Imp who was flaming the two other imps turned its eyes dull and confused Randidly reached out and pressed and the pestilence rose up off the first imp and attacked this second imp or at least most of the insects did Some admittedly stayed gnawing on the imp on the ground It even earned Randidly another skill level

After watching them for several minutes Randidly concluded that it was a useful skill but currently not deadly Although they could eat a lot of the imps flesh it was mostly just superficial wounds He suspected that the skill would fare slightly better now that it was Lvl 5 but not enough to make a difference

Still it would be excellent at distracting enemies and reaching hard to catch enemies like the cat With Magic Missile and Summon Pestilence Randidly felt much more confident about facing the enemies beyond the edge of the boundary

Chapter 37

Sweat dripped down Randidly’s brow as he faced the enemies in front of him he had made a terrible mistake

If he had encountered a singular cat there was no doubt in Randidly’s mind that he would have been able to handle it easily And indeed there was only a single cat in front of him

But of course there were also two lizardmen wielding scimitars Randidly had stumbled across the lizardmen and decided to risk a fight But coincidentally Randidly and the cat appeared at almost the same moment ambushing the lizardmen and had both frozen Now an uneasy and aggressive truce existed between the three parties

However it seemed that the lizardmen and the cat had both come to the same conclusion and turned their eyes towards Randidly He was the weaker party They advanced quickly rushing towards him the cat turning into a blur of sharp claws and death

After a half second of hesitation Randidly gritted his teeth and removed something he had hoped to never use again the strange invigorating juice of the origin banana It would leave him extremely weak but

The only path for a spear is forward A man holding onto a spear cannot hesitate ’

Randidly gulped it down and almost immediately relaxed a smile spreading across his face Why had he even been worried

The cat screeched closer its claws ripping towards him followed by the grim eyed lizardmen

Spinning his spear Randidly yawned casually And then he stepped activating the Phantom Half Step closing half the distance to the furthest back Lizardman phasing entirely through the cat and appearing next to the closest lizard man

Phantom Half Step gained a skill level Randidly made a pleased noise this one was very hard to raise

The lizard man’s eyes widened then narrowed but Randidly had already delivered a kick to the side of its knee sending it stumbling

Randidly harrumphed his spear stabbing forward catching it in the shoulder Although the lizardman was knocked backwards there was only a small amount of blood from the wound It seemed like the scales were tougher than Randidly had anticipated But Phantom Thrust had gained a skill level so he didn’t concern himself overmuch with the lack of damage

He glanced casually to the side his left hand twisting and summoning Pestilence the insects then exploding towards the eyes of the 2nd lizard man who was rushing forward his scimitar raised The insects sank into the soft flesh of its eyes and nose causing it to open its mouth and roar and then the remainder of the insects ripped into the soft flesh of its mouth and throat

It fell back senseless

All in all Randidly gained 5 levels for Summon Pestilence controlling the insects so acutely Raising a mana potion to his lips Randidly turned to regard the vicious blur that was almost upon him

He instantly activated Spear Phantom’s Footwork and Haste throwing himself to the side almost amused by the cat whizzing past Strangely and disturbingly the cat changed directions midair rushing towards Randidly’s face

Frowning he summoned Entangling Roots completely filling the space between himself and the cat But the cat just slashed with its claws easily ripping a hole in the roots

Fortunately Randidly had anticipated this and an empowered Phantom Onslaught rumbled forward towards the newly made hole the dozens of stabs ripping small gashes in the cat But still its preternatural grace overwhelmed the opposition and it just slid cleanly through

Only to be smashed to the side by the Magic Missile Randidly had summoned and left hidden behind the entangling roots The cat hit the ground for the first time off balance and Root Manipulation exploded upwards grasping its limbs and holding it down

For safety Randidly hit it with two Arcane Orbs basically emptying his mana pool Then he strolled forward ignoring the Lizardman that had gotten up and was hurrying to his friends side trying to figure out why it was screaming

Randidly deftly cut off one of the cats claws and raised it to the sky admiringly Then he turned to face the two lizardmen who were staring daggers at him Apparently the shock had passed or the Lizardman’s vitality was more impressive than Randidly had thought because his connection to the pestilence had been cut He considered summoning some more than laughed aloud Ah his mana was all gone

Instead he spun his spear and smiled at the approaching lizardmen They spread out to surround him but Randidly rushed forward towards the left one that he had stabbed previously with his spear lashing out with a Phantom Thrust

The lizardman took it on the chest and pressed forward swinging his huge scimitar But Randidly calmly deflected the attack then stepping to the side with Spear Phantom’s Footwork positioning himself so that the lizardmen couldn’t attack him at the same time Then he continued to attack and dodge and block weaving his way between the two with Spear Phantom’s Footwork

It was strange this focus this confidence This was probably what Shal felt all the time Randidly thought his smile widening This is what he needed this strength

They continued to fight Randidly’s stamina decreasing but his smile never wavering until one of the Lizardman took a huge gulp of air and spat poison splashing it all over Randidly’s arm

The lizardman’s eyes curved upward in gleeful anticipation of victory but Randidly simply laughed ignoring the poison and the lost health and instead stepping closer too close so close that both the scimitar and the spear were useless

The 2nd lizardman circled around trying to assist his friend but the first just hissed in a gloating fashion dropping its scimitar and reaching forward with its scaly hands confident in its strength And it was right to be Randidly reflected the strength of the lizardman was undoubtedly higher than his

But Randidly simply reached out and drew a smile across the lizardman’s neck with the claw of the cat the scales parting slightly unwillingly but cleanly Looking down at the blood spewing from its own neck the lizardman stilled then fell forward

Randidly slipped out of the way and cast Entangling Roots on the other lizard man his mana finally restored to a small amount after the long few minutes of scuffling with the lizardmen

It hissed and almost instantly ripped the roots out of the ground with brute strength surging forward Randidly shook his head sorrowfully there was no rest for the wicked he supposed Relying on the distracting explosion Randidly used the rest of his mana to hit the lizardman in the face with a fireball

The flash of light smoke and heat caused it to stumble and Randidly rained empowered Phantom Thrusts upon it ripping hole after hole after hole in its skin

After several desperate swipes it finally gave up on Randidly as prey and turned and ran abandoning the body of its comrade Randidly watched it go admiring how much health it must have for it to shrug off all of those attacks

The timing was good too because the last few Phantom Thrusts were just for show Randidly’s whole body was trembling and he could hardly stand The banana serum had run off Inwardly Randidly resolved himself to never use it again It could become like a drug if he relied on it too heavily

More than that he wanted the strength to succeed on his own not strength by relying on a strange potion

Still the results were pretty compelling

Aside from the skill levels he had noticed at the beginning of the fight he had also gained 1 Level of Haste 3 of Spear Phantom’s Footwork 1 of Physical Fitness 2 of Dagger Mastery 1 of Phantom Thrust 1 Arcane Orb 1 Entangling Roots 3 of Magic Missile 1 Fireball and 2 for Edge of Decay

Randidly considered his status screen

Health(/R per hour) 206/279 (+6) (114 (+9

Mana(/R per hour) 139/273 (53 25)

Stam(/R per min) 105/247 (41 5 (+3

Vit 33 (+3)

End 30

Perception 23

Inteligence 56

Control 36

Focus 19

PP 21

Skills Running Lvl 17 Physical Fitness Lvl 26 Sneak Lvl 20 Farming Lvl 20 Mana Bolt Lvl 28 Heavy Blow Lvl 22 Acid Resistance Lvl 22 Poison Resistance Lvl 14 Sprinting Lvl 13 Iron Skin Lvl 25 Equip Lvl 16 Plant Breeding Lvl 9 Meditation Lvl 27 Dagger Mastery Lvl 10 Entangling Roots Lvl 29 Mana Shield Lvl 23 Dodge Lvl 27 Potion Making Lvl 20 Analyze Lvl 24 Pathfinding Lvl 8 Mapmaker Lvl 4 Spear Mastery Lvl 38 Phantom Thrust Lvl 40 Pain Resistance Lvl 11 Fighting Proficiency Lvl 28 First Aid Lvl 12 Block Lvl 24 Spear Phantom’s Footwork Lvl 26 Eyes of the Spear Phantom Lvl 16 Phantom Half Step Lvl 5 Mental Strength Lvl 8 Curse Resistance Lvl 3 Root Manipulation Lvl 24 Spear of Rot Mastery Lvl 11 Arcane Orb Lvl 20 Haste Lvl 12 Phantom Onslaught Lvl 10 Sweep Lvl 11 Spear Deflect Lvl 5 Empower Lvl 9 Calculated Blow Lvl 11 Roundhouse Kick Lvl 6 Fireball Lvl 3 Magic Missile Lvl 4 Healing Palm Lvl 5 Pollen of the Rafflesia Lvl 2 Edge of Decay Lvl 3 Summon Pestilence Lvl 10

Randidly certainly had a lot of skills now And some PP saved up But first things first he picked up the cat body and the lizard man grunting at the surprising weight and began to trudge back towards the boundary

Chapter 38

After meditating back up to full health mana and stamina Randidly distributed his PP finishing the Potion Making I Path As he had suspected he earned a skill Refine which let him use mana to refine materials to more purified versions of themselves

Immediately Randidly tried it making more concentrated versions of the potion ingredients and producing a mana potion that would restore 130 mana in a single drink Over the course of it Refine increased by 2 levels and Potion making by 1

Now he was really looking forward to obtaining more containers to hold potions

Randidly then started on The Monster Slayer Path which would take 100 PP He was leery about it but the fact that the previous rewards were regeneration rates made him commit to it

He put the rest of his PP in but was pleasantly surprised to find he also got 1 stat every 10 pp

Even more pleasantly surprising was the gains from Spear of Rot Mastery Like Green Spear Mastery it gave out benefits every 5 But the rotation had changed to 10 mana +1 Vitality and Control +10 Stamina +2 stats Basically the only thing that hadn’t changed was the 2 stats everything else had doubled in effectiveness Randidly once more pulled up his status screen and this time focused on his stats

Health(/R per hour) 206/283 (+6) (120 (+9

Mana(/R per hour) 139/291 (54 25)

Stam(/R per min) 105/267 (43 5 (+3

Vit 35 (+3)

Inteligence 60

Control 37

His current stat total was now at 378 which put him very close to gaining access to the Apprentice Path and the related skills What he needed to do now was focus or at least make a decision in regards to how he wanted to distribute his stats from now on

Recently he had been putting points into Intelligence to keep the power of his spells high and to raise his mana pool In addition Spear of Rot Mastery would passively give him an acceptable amount of Vitality and Control What was increasingly becoming clear was that the benefits of not having a class would become more and more evident as he gained more and more skills and could accomplish more paths

It was frustrating that it seemed like most of the higher level paths gave out fewer rewards In addition unlike an individual with a few skills that they would polish repeatedly Randidly spread his attention across a wide variety of things His skills would be weaker even if his bag of tricks was larger

Sighing Randidly settled back leaning against a tree That probably wouldn’t be true until the end game but it was good to be aware of the drawback now He needed to choose his direction

Randidly spent a few minutes reorganizing his skills sorting them into categories Then he examined them again

Skills (Soul Skill) Spear of Rot Mastery Lvl 35

Combat Spear Mastery Lvl 38 Phantom Thrust Lvl 40 Spear Phantom’s Footwork Lvl 26 Eyes of the Spear Phantom Lvl 16 Phantom Half Step Lvl 5 Heavy Blow Lvl 22 Dagger Mastery Lvl 10 Iron Skin Lvl 25 Dodge Lvl 27 Fighting Proficiency Lvl 28 Block Lvl 24 Haste Lvl 12 Phantom Onslaught Lvl 10 Sweep Lvl 11 Spear Deflect Lvl 5 Empower Lvl 9 Calculated Blow Lvl 11 Roundhouse Kick Lvl 6 Edge of Decay Lvl 3

Spells Entangling Roots Lvl 29 Mana Bolt Lvl 28 Mana Shield Lvl 23 Root Manipulation Lvl 24 Arcane Orb Lvl 20 Fireball Lvl 3 Magic Missile Lvl 4 Healing Palm Lvl 5 Pollen of the Rafflesia Lvl 3 Summon Pestilence Lvl 10

Crafting Potion Making Lvl 21 Farming Lvl 20 Plant Breeding Lvl 9 Mapmaker Lvl 4 Analyze Lvl 24 Refine Lvl 3

Auxiliary Physical Fitness Lvl 26 Meditation Lvl 27 Running Lvl 17 Sprinting Lvl 13 Sneak Lvl 20 Acid Resistance Lvl 22 Poison Resistance Lvl 14 Pain Resistance Lvl 11 First Aid Lvl 12 Equip Lvl 16 Pathfinding Lvl 8 Mental Strength Lvl 8 Curse Resistance Lvl 3

All in all he currently had a lot of combat skills which meant that would be a good area to focus At the same time he recognized the utility that being a mage gave him especially for now No one else aside from that girl Lyra with Sam could use spells It gave him a power that no one else had

Also like Randidly had discovered previously it wasn’t difficult to practice Mana and Stamina things at the same time The issue would be to integrate them well

From the combat type skills he would continue to focus on the spear and the Spear Phantom Skills In addition working on Haste and Empower would yield benefits all around

Crafting was a separate category and when he had spare time he would work on farming plant breeding and potion making to provide utility for the rest of his skills

The other decision would be what he would focus on for spells Randidly really enjoyed his new spells and suspected that they would level up to become increasingly powerful In addition Entangling Roots and Root Manipulation were the things that lead him down this path and he would continue to work on those

What it really came down to was which of the offensive spells would Randidly focus

After quite a bit of thought he chose fireball even though it didn’t make sense No perhaps he chose it exactly because it didn’t make sense A green mage spearman who also wielded fire That was almost counter productive

Randidly smiled to himself It also seemed really cool And he supposed after all of his hard work he could choose to be willful at a time like this

With those in mind he would concentrate his stats on Agility Intelligence and Control He would harass and dominate with skill levels of spear skills and follow it up with restrictive spells Finally he would have a high intelligence to unleash powerful flame spells to crack enemies with tough defenses

Randidly nodded to himself satisfied Looking at the sky it still seemed like it was before noon Inwardly he wavered but then his eyes narrowed He could not run from danger He would go back beyond the boundary seeking more challenges That was the only way he could grow

Randidly returned to the camp at around 4 PM hungry and exhausted

Within him he had two cat bodies two lizardmen and a strange scorpion the size of a large dog Of them all the scorpion had been the most dangerous it had stung Randidly before he had even seen it and a creeping paralysis came up his leg Luckily his poison resistance was so high to begin with because he was barely able to crack the scorpion’s shell and burn its brain with a fireball before he had become almost rigid from the poison

The paralysis had lasted several minutes and had put an end to the adventure beyond the boundary After that Randidly was ready for some rest

He had gained 2 levels in poison resistance 1 in Running Entangling Roots Summon Pestilence and Meditation and another 6 in Fireball He had focused on fireball using it to secure most of his kills

When Randidly returned to his cabin he was surprised to find several men tending his fields After watching them for several minutes determining they weren’t doing that badly of a job Randidly retired to his cabin

Strangely it was already occupied

Lyra sat on the pallet that Randidly used as a bed in those rare moments he actually rested moving multicolored balls of mana in strange patterns He coughed lightly to get her attention and she sat up and gave him a withering look

Get mugged on the way home You look like you lost a fight with a homeless man

Randidly ignored her dumping the bodies in the corner of the cabin They would probably smell eventually but for now

Actually would they rot faster because of his edge of decay skill That was slightly worrisome for providing good materials for Sam to craft But Sam had mentioned something about a way to preserve the bodies so

She gave the bodies a glance and hopped up flouncing past him Sam wants to talk to you And Donny And Daniel And Decklan has been making eyes at your cabin Is it nice being popular And with that she left

Sighing Randidly rubbed his head and grabbed a glass for water

He had noticed that there were a lot more people hanging around the village seemingly almost 100 Although he wasn’t sure why this was if they all got a class and tried to hold off against a wave of over 1000 enemies

Shaking his head he picked the bodies back up and went towards Sam One thing at a time

Chapter 39

Randidly was glad that he went to Sam first because he had good news He had created boots from the cat fur and claws Randidly had given him previously and they seemed to be of decent quality

Unfortunately his Equip level still was too low to take advantage of the bonuses For now he didn’t even bother looking at them refusing to allow himself to be excited over nothing

He put them on and left Sam with the bodies heading back up towards the village As he walked passed his cabin he once more gave the men tending his fields long looks But ultimately they seemed to mean well as they at least had a basic grasp of harvesting the fruit without destroying the plant so he once more held his tongue

In the area between the cabin and the village around a dozen lean tos of a much lower quality than Sam’s had sprung up Much more official looking was the wall that was being erected around the village At this point it was made of stacked logs and mud chest height Apparently one of the new arrivals had some ideas about construction because there was also a shoddy looking gate

There were even a few people hanging around the gate as if they were guards making this seem like a much more official village They all hurried out of Randidly’s way however as he approached

Even he wasn’t prepared for what was awaiting him within the wall His initial guess had put the people around the village at 100 but there were more than 300 people sitting around crouched in groups whispering to each other

Daniel who was talking to a large group of people saw Randidly arrive and hurried over to him Thank god you are here Big news Bad news apparently the mayor over at the town went crazy after obtaining his class and is driving a bunch of people away Donny is just letting everyone get a class if they wish but

Daniel looked at the ground and then finally said are you really not going to help at all tonight

No I’m not Randidly confirmed eyeing the people around him critically So there had been some sort of shift in power over at the nearby base huh Going tomorrow to investigate and see about the glass containers was even more important

But for now

Randidly turned back to Daniel I didn’t want to do this but talk to Donny and get him to purchase the miscellaneous shop and buy vials for potions I won’t participate but that doesn’t mean I won’t help prepare you

Decklan narrowed his eyes looking at the tide of monsters rushing towards the village There were a lot of people dead weight in Decklan’s opinion who didn’t choose to take a class and attempt to grow stronger These people were just here for a place to rest so the final count of individuals with classes was 77 There were even several newcomers with rather interesting classes

But Decklan didn’t give them much attention even the pretty girls who came over After all without the Ghousthound this would be a long night It was hard to tell how many of the 77 would remain in the morning A monster wouldn’t check how pretty you were before it ripped your face off and munched on your organs

As instructed by the Ghosthound they had spent most of today sorting themselves into groups based on how they would build The results were skewed 34 most of which were people who survived the earlier days were going a strength build and were under Dozer’s lead They were a rough looking group but honestly everyone was after several days of killing monsters without showers

Decklan had 27 men under him focusing on speed scouting hiding and of course killing It wasn’t true that stats had to follow body type so it was slightly surprising how many huge men had chosen to build speed their bodies now rushing around with an unnatural grace

10 had chosen or been pressured into the roles of damage soaks most of their points going into Vitality and Endurance They followed Donny and were standing rather nervously with their shields made by Sam standing behind the gate

The remaining 6 were Mage types with a rare useful individual who had a rare Blue Mage class She was a woman in her 40’s that had apparently been a rather avid Dungeons and Dragons player at the local library and had surprisingly embraced the new world quite quickly chopping at the bit to get herself a class Two of the other mages were Ptolemy and an individual who got the class Herbalist which meant they would mostly focus on healing

Ultimately their long range fire power amounted to three dunces throwing Mana Bolts and the Blue Mage tossing icicles It was a far cry from the devastation that the Ghosthound could cause

The one bright spot was that the Ghosthound had provided potions A lot of them Decklan reached down and felt the 10 at his belt 5 stamina 4 health 1 mana

But then someone on the wall began beating a drum signalling that they were coming

First group to the front Donny shouted leading a group of 8 people including Dozer to the front These were the veterans who could take the brunt of the damage while the 20 or so people behind them would rotate in to give the village’s ringers a breather

Behind them the rest of the class individuals waited in reserve with Daniel in case monsters scaled the walls The NCCs or non class characters as they had been jokingly referred to huddled around the central building and the two strange shops that Donny had purchased

But Decklan shook his head and gave a hand signal to the 20 men with him As a unit they scaled the wall which was rather easy from the inside and crouched low on the outside of the wall waiting Once the fighting started Decklan’s job was to sweep the stragglers who couldn’t make it to the fighting at the gate ones that tried to surround the village

Although the term used was stragglers Decklan was under no impressions that his job would be easy If anything it would be the hardest But he just grinned That’s how he wanted it

He heard it the moment that fighting started There was a slam and defiant shouts from the defenders and growls and hisses from the monsters

A golden glow exploded from the gate Donny using his skill Aegis to boost the health and stamina of those around him Decklan didn’t like the punk but had to admit that his class was incredibly useful Especially in larger fights like this

After a few minutes Decklan heard the sounds of approaching monsters Smiling slightly he drew his daggers and gestured to his subordinates They had work to do

Donny couldn’t breathe and hadn’t been able to for a long time He also didn’t have time to check his status he just kept his shield up with one arm downing mana potions with the other and activating Aegis

Three wolverines and a lizard rushed into the man to Donny’s left sending him stumbling back

I can’t ’ Donny thought to himself just wanting to drop and let it all go but instead he found himself stepping forward The step was unwilling and he could practically feel Randidly’s foot against his back shoving him forward And the question that had kept Donny up these past two days rang incessantly in the back of his mind

What will you do Donny ’

His shield bash took the lizard in the side of the head stunning it his sword whipping out to stab into its shoulder Stab and retreat sidestepping and stabbing again The man behind the guy who was knocked back had been blocked by the displaced person but the individual behind Donny had not

Grecko had been one of the first people to get a class and was a grizzled man just south of forty When Donny shifted over to the left Grecko shifted up his huge axe smashing down towards an unsuspecting Wolverine

It was Daniel’s idea originally Following a front line strategy similar to roman legions No one had been an expert in history but they had muddled their way through to a working concept And it had been working well enough for the first 20 minutes or so But now everyone was losing their edge as the battle dragged on longer than they had anticipated

Donny felt three taps on his back and stepped back gratefully two people moving forward to take his place After about 10 feet Donny felt confident enough to turn around looking at the resting warriors Dozer was there his chest heaving throwing back two stamina potions at once

Seeing him do so Donny blinked then considered his own status screen

Level 15

Health(/R per hour) 92/358 (63 25)

Mana(/R per hour) 8/75 (3)

Stam(/R per min) 11/211 (22)

Vit 19

End 13

Str 20

Agi 11

Perception 9

Reaction 11

Resistance 22

Skills Newbie Village Chieftain Lvl 84 Hiding Lvl 7 Running Lvl 9 Grappling Lvl 7 Club Wielding Lvl 2 WoodWorking Lvl 2 Construction Lvl 3 Labor Lvl 11 Heavy Blow Lvl 15 Mana Bolt Lvl 1 Ride Lvl 1 Honorable Charge Lvl 5 Stalwart Defense Lvl 13 (1) Sword Master Lvl 8 (2) Shield Mastery Lvl 16 (3) Shield Bash Lvl 9 (4) Aegis Lvl 9 (5) Legion Thrust Lvl 4 (6) Sidestep Lvl 5

Donny blinked slowly looking at his status No wonder he felt completely wiped he had almost used up all of his stamina He slowly removed his last three stamina potions and drank them all Ptolemy trotted up to thim and looked at him in askance but Donny just waved him away One of the new recruits was vomitting off to the side

Everyone’s eyes looked dead The way Donny felt on the inside

But still for some strange reason he found his feet moving and he was walking over towards Dozer A notification popped up but Donny largely ignored it aside from an annoyed grunt that another one of his skill slots was taken

Congratulations You have learned the passive skill Leadership Lvl 1

It’s either this or death And I refuse to die a virgin Donny said awkwardly patting Dozer on the back Dozer’s body stilled The other veterans barely catching their breath without the aid of the huge supply of stamina potions Donny and Dozer had been given stilled

Then they all began to laugh

Your skill Leadership has grown to Lvl 2

Do not worry I’ll have my girl personally suck your dick if we live through the night Dozer said slapping his knee and guffawing The surrounding men chuckled Even the few women seemed slightly amused

Uh Donny said wondering if it really worked like that Would girlfriends suck the dick of other people if their boyfriend asked them to

Then he shook his head and accepted a non cracked shield from another NCC who was hanging around as well as a health and stamina potion

This is the last of it The NCC said his expression nervous But Donny just smiled and turned to Dozer

Ready to get back to work

Randidly returned to camp with a heavy heart heedless of the wanton celebration around them From what he gathered the Newbie Village had done well with less than 10 people dying For a system enhanced world that was worthy of celebration People were already cutting down more trees and carrying bodies away even though it was barely dawn

But Randidly ignored them Over the course of the night he had gained two levels in Equip a level in Sneak and Eyes of the Spear Phantom and 3 in Pollen of the Rafflesia He had stood among the monster horde heading towards the nearby town letting his pollen passively fall curious on how the nearby town would handle the monster wave Based on the number of monsters they had let at least 180 people get classes

But they didn’t use their people They used guns

They had two heavy mounted machine guns blasting the entire time Although it seemed reasonable based on Sam getting the Driving skill there were probably shooting skills But guns required bullets Unless something very weird happened with the geography there shouldn’t be a facility to produce more bullets near here

But still Randidly supposed that was a possibility So they either had bases very near a person who could mass produce bullets or

A person who didn’t care that they would soon run out

Either way it was a worrisome sign for the future Randidly returned to his cabin but once again was stopped before he could retire for his night training

A tall man stood in front of his cabin leaning on the door He was wearing one of Sam’s sewed together cloaks but it looked like this one was of much higher quality than most Randidly could tell that some of the cat fur he had brought back had been used around the throat

Perhaps the most distinctive feature about the man was his face He had deep brooding eyes and a chiseled jawline He also seemed oddly familiar but Randidly set that aside for now

Yes Randidly asked annoyed

The man chuckled and it was a warm and attractive sound Inwardly Randidly’s dislike grew Maybe it’s my vanity but I’m surprised well nevermind The world really has changed I’m Kal Drake I was wondering if you could do me a favor

A small lightbulb went on in Randidly’s head at the name He dimly remembered that Kal Drake was a rather famous action star in

there definitely was a movie

Seeing Randidly’s confused expression Kal smiled helplessly Seems that doesn’t mean anything to you Well that’s fine It’s simple Sam seems to like staying with your group but the rest of us aren’t so comfortable I would like for you to take us to the other village in the morning

After Kal had left Randidly sat down for meditation and pondered it in the dark So this famous action star was one of the hooded figures that Randidly had seen It also explained why both Lyra and Ellaine were so attractive they were probably all actresses

And the fact that he came himself without using Sam probably meant they were leaving without telling Sam

Should Randidly let it happen like this

His meditation skill level increased distracting him and he sighed

The whole point of letting Donny be Village Chieftain was to avoid dumb problems like this How did it end up happening anyway

Why did people not just leave him alone

In a few hours the 4th day would dawn Over halfway towards the end of the Newbie Zone Although he would likely be able to survive he had less hopes for the rest of the group Perhaps this village was doomed to fail Perhaps this whole world was a death trap

Chapter 40

Randidly only had around an hour before the sun fully dawned but it was enough to level up Empower and Summon Pestilence He stood slowly considering Kal’s request It’s not that he minded fulfilling it but the real question

His eyes sharpened as someone walked up to his cabin Randidly exited finding Sam

Sam simply grunted Based on your face Kal came and saw you right And you were wondering whether to tell me

He spat off to the side As if I give a shit about that primadona The real problem is he is insisting that the rest go with him so they don’t get so separated from the real world that they start to think this is what life is like

Randidly chuckled What does he think is out there A place where monsters don’t exist A place where the weak don’t die

Yea honestly

They stood in silence for several seconds Randidly rubbed his neck uncomfortably Well I’m going to the town to get those potion containers The 50 we got for last night were helpful but a surprising amount were just dropped on the ground after use If they want to come I’ll take them there But there is something strange about that town

You believe the rumors that the mayor has gone crazy Sam asked

Randidly shrugged I guess I’ll find out today

The group that went with Randidly to the nearby town ended up being Kal Ellaine the 4th still cloaked woman and Decklan who caught them as they were leaving It seemed to be a sore subject that Lyra wasn’t coming based on the grim line of Kal’s mouth but Randidly made no effort to talk with the group anyway and let it slide

He was slightly more perturbed by Decklan who followed him closely with his eyes the entire route Any enemies they encountered Randidly dispatched quickly with a powerful mana bolt Perhaps no one noticed but Decklan but his intelligence and skill level were combining to make the mana bolts instantly deadly One struck a lizard and smashed it into the tree behind it cracking the tree The group watched the tree slowly topple and then continued on in silence

Randidly knew that the town itself was back towards the location that he exited the dungeon and didn’t have any better idea on where to approach to enter it so he walked back towards the area with the machine gun nests The rest followed Honestly it was something of an oversight that they hadn’t at least sent someone out to scout the nearby Newbie Village

Nul’s attitude towards the other village seemed to indicate that there was some kind of competition between the the villages but it was hard to tell anything with him He still didn’t act the same around Randidly as he did for the rest

Nul was also completely tight lipped about his own origins although Randidly didn’t doubt that Daniel interrogated him on the subject at every chance he got And if Daniel couldn’t drag the answer out of him

They crossed through the forest with only one small incident A group of imps had been lurking below a hill hidden from Randidly’s sight When they walked over the crest of the hill the imps rushed outward with gleeful shrieks

There were 7 and 2 were close enough that Randidly moved instantly to them his spear flashing out before they could even attack 4 more were instantly crushed by Mana Bolts

Only 1 had enough time to get off an attack in this doomed ambush a blast of fire that missed Randidly completely rendering his peremptory Mana Shield useless Instead the fire rushed towards the still cloaked figure

At that moment Decklan stepped forward and used his small buckler shield to take the brunt of the force grunting and getting slightly burned but surviving Within a second the offending imp was dead

The issue arose when the surprise of having a ball of fire thrown at her caused the cloaked figure to shriek and fall backwards her cloak unraveling around her head revealing long blonde hair and a beautiful face

Decklan turned with disdain towards the weakling he had been forced to save and then froze as he saw her face

You aren’t you Vivian Plath

Randidly scratched his head awkwardly unsure of what was happening It seemed like she was famous too but he had never been one to pay too close attention to actors And what with the system taking over their lives

Kal stepped forward Yes but now’s probably not the time for this Let’s continue to safety

Oh yea I’m just such a huge fan of your work Decklan said lamely still staring at Vivian She kept her eyes on the ground as she stood pulling her hood back up over her face Decklan’s gaze followed her as they began to move again heading deeper into the town

Randidly had gained a level in Pathfinding by the time they reached the area he had spawned and they wordlessly followed the weird half street in the woods to a cross street letting them head deeper into the town

Bodies of monsters just littered the streets rotting a testament to the town’s victory last night over the monster horde The group was oddly silent even Decklan’s fixation on Vivian swayed as they stepped over the rotting flesh

Annoyed Randidly waved his hand and used Root Manipulation to lift bodies out of the center of the road clearing a path They walked down the road for about 300 meters before they came to a bus parked sideways effectively blocking the road The area around the bus had boards nailed up It likely wouldn’t withstand an actual assault by monsters but an intimidating mounted machine gun sat on top of bus a hefty warning to any who wanted to approach

When they were about 20 meters away the guard who had been sitting at the gun straightened his eyes widening as the bodies in the road shifted pressed to the side by Randidly’s roots

Stop right there

Decklan was bored The guard had hailed them to stop then sent for someone higher up on the food chain to deal with them As it was they were simply standing in the street stinking of rot

Decklan glanced at Vivian again his heart thundering in his ears Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that the weirdos that hung out with Sam were famous actresses and actors And of all people Vivian Plath

Movement on top of the bus brought Decklan’s attention back around The tall black police officer looked over their group

You shouldn’t have come He said simply a small hint of something in his voice It wasn’t fear it was more like dread

And it seemed like the Ghosthound had heard it too because when he spoke his voice was sharp Some of our camp preferred yours And also we had a deal

That is true but The police officer hesitated He opened his mouth to speak but another voice overrode him

Hahaha we have guests Well well well

An average looking man stepped forward His face was unoffensive but also not very attractive There were only two distinct features of his countenance

The first was his sneer The second was the huge tacky crown he wore

Almost unwilling the police officer stepped to the side and the crowned man stepped forward We get a lot of refugees coming to my town what makes you different Why should you be allowed entry

Decklan wrinkled his nose at the arrogance and it seemed like it didn’t sit well with Kal either The Ghosthound seemed rather bored his eyes scanning the nearby rooftops But Vivian wasn’t dissuaded stepping forward and removing her hood

Please there’s no civilization out there We just need a place to stay that’s all we ask And afterwards Vivian smiled Decklan didn’t know how she did it in the post makeup and showers world but she looked stunning

The crowned man seemed similarly taken with her Oh wow you’re beautiful Hey aren’t you that actress

A satisfied smile spread across Vivian’s face Haha those were different times It’s honestly embarrassing I’m not sure what to do when the world is like this

Oh no worries The crowned man’s smile was huge now You and your friends are more than welcome Come in all of you

Eager Kal and Ellaine walked forward following Vivian Even Decklan felt a strange regret a weird compulsion to follow He shook his head ruefully Vivian had apparently really done a number on his head

Ellaine The Ghosthound spoke shortly as the tall honey skinned woman passed him She stopped almost unwilling a hint of disgust turning the corners of her mouth down

Yes

I have two friends Sydney Harp and Ace Ridge While you are inside Ask around to see if anyone knows anything about them Please

Ellaine blinked and then laughed her eyes crinkling up at the corners You honestly every time I assume something about you you end up proving me wrong I’ll look for your friends but you protect Lyra alright I can’t tell if she’s spoiled or playing the fool but she really has no self preservation instincts with the world like this

I will The Ghosthound responded and Ellaine turned to follow Kal and Vivian The Ghosthound turned and gestured to Decklan who followed behind him as they began the long walk back through the streets filled with rotting flesh

Oy where are you two going The voice was cold enough to make the hairs on the back of Decklan’s neck prickle Glancing over his shoulder dismissively Decklan saw the crowned man was still leering at them The Ghosthound didn’t even bother to respond

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I give you a personal invitation and you blow me off Interesting Interesting How about you kneel and beg for my clemency

Decklan stopped abruptly and dropped to his knees as if his legs had lost all of their strength

He blinked slowly looking down at his legs which refused to move

What what was going on

Interesting

Decklan looked up to find the Ghosthound still standing turning and measuring the crowned man with his eyes I assume you would be the mayor I’ve heard rumors about you

The man bared his teeth Call me Constance And I am the King So KNEEL before royalty peasant

Chapter 41

Congratulations Your skill Mental Strength has increased 1 Lvl

The notification took Randidly by surprised He had a weird pressure in his head but hadn’t imagined that he would encounter an enemy that could use mental attacks And this enemy was the leader of the nearby Newbie Village

Due to the presence of a bunch of random people including the eccentric seeming leader Randidly wanted to leave for now and come back later to confront the Police Officer It wasn’t worth the hassle of dealing with this many people to resolve this Not when he could simply sneak in and steal what he wanted But if the other wanted to be an asshole

Interesting Randidly said turning to look back towards the ridiculous man wearing the crown who he assumed was the source There had certainly had been something strange about the way he spoke but without the notification Randidly probably wouldn’t have noticed it was a skill The combination of his high Willpower and the Mental Strength skill made most things like that useless

I assume you would be the mayor I’ve heard rumors about you Although his tone was light Randidly was inwardly pondering how to handle this situation If the mayor’s skill was enough to control basically everyone else having a base next to them would certainly make things difficult On the other hand he certainly could use his influence to obtain what Randidly wanted quickly Was it worth the risk

Perhaps killing him was the best option

Randidly frowned No it definitely was the best option But there was a certain part of him the remnants of the person he had been before who was repulsed by the thought of killing another man in cold blood In self defense perhaps but an anticipatory killing

Although it was pretty obvious this guy was deranged

A slight tremor went through Randidly’s body and then he laughed aloud amused at the fact he had gained another skill level in mental strength and by Constance’s words

Did you seriously call yourself king I suppose the world has a definite fantasy cast these days but I wouldn’t have imagined someone would be willing to take it so far so quickly

Randidly supposed he should be happy that so many people were willing to fight against monsters so quickly after the world changed Admittedly the presence of rabid wolverines and fire throwing imps helped but still

Constance was just looking at him in shock seemingly lost Something in Randidly’s mind abruptly clicked

Oh your random class it literally ended up being King That explains your strange skills but not your behavior Randidly remarked shocking himself with how chatty he was today He supposed he was just in a good mood from gaining two skill levels so quickly

A king has three burdens and three tools Constance said slowly his eyes malicious The first is the Will of the People In my hand I hold their Hammer By their will you will Kneel

Randidly snorted shrugging off the mental pressure almost instantly You can only throw as much of that will as you can handle and I guarantee you can handle less than I can I was raised for this

Grinding his teeth Constance stepped forward to the edge of the bus and pointed at him The King’s second burden the second tool The Weight of their Country On my shoulders I bear its mantle It will Crush you

This time Randidly staggered taken slightly a back by the immense physical pressure that fell on him Ultimately it didn’t seem to be so immense at it felt initially but the fact it was able to catch him off balance was impressive

Although his Strength was only 18 so perhaps it wasn’t so surprising

And now you die Guards gun them down Constance remarked coldly and two guards stepped forward with submachine guns The guard at the mounted gun pulled its barrel around aiming towards Randidly and Decklan The three individuals heading into the embrace of Constance had thrown themselves into the piles of body lining the road terrified Randidly’s eyes flashed

Roots ripped up through the bus and grabbed the ankles of the two sub machine gunners twisting and throwing them to the ground The roots also rose up and gripped the mounted gun ripping out the bullet belt and forcing the barrel to point towards the sky

You Constance’s voice was furious but Randidly’s eyes were already cold and determined he had made his decision

No second chances

Randidly produced an Arcane Orb in each hand and pressed them together the combination sputtering and twisting violently and the collision of energy shot itself towards the bus It was difficult to maintain the projectile the energies wanting to violently explode on any contact even with each other But Randidly forced his will on the object as it shot forward

He ignored the two skill levels he received for this action and closed his eyes

The explosion rocked the road turning most nearby corpses to mush The bus was thrown backward ripping the boards off from their hastily made nailings ending up about 5 m further away a huge hole in the middle of it

With a grinding noise the bus rocked backwards and stilled

Through it Randidly could see the crumpled form of Constance who had been thrown off the bus and onto the ground The weight lifted from his shoulders Randidly wasted no time in rushing forward The King would die this day

As he burst through the hole in the bus he was met with a hail of gunfire as the nearby guards had enough presence of mind to pull out their small caliber weapons and fire Randidly’s mana shield took most of the bullets breaking after 10 or 12 and by then he was already through the choke point and rushing towards Constance

Randidly saw the head police officer off to the side scrambling to his feet but he wouldn’t make it in time

But in a move that surprised Randidly immensely Constance sprung up to his feet whirling around and grabbed Randidly’s hand

The Final Burden The Final Tool The Mandate of God Geas On my head I wear their crown You belong to ME

This time Randidly shook a huge mental attack slamming against him Grunting Randidly tried to withdraw his hand but the flesh of his and Constance’s seemed to have been bonded

For several seconds he futility struggled attempting to pull his hand away But whatever it was this skill was somehow preventing it And Randidly was beginning to feel that the mental attacks were growing stronger originating from that hand contact

His Mental Strength improved once more but still the attacks came Narrowing his eyes Randidly focused and poured all his mana funneling it all into Summon Pestilence creating a huge humming cloud of flesh hungry insects

He directed them towards their stuck hands and told them devour

Constance began screaming as the bugs attacked both of their hands but still the bugs were deaf to his cries a powerful Willpower pressing them onwards Even as he maintained his will Randidly swayed unsteadily But then he gritted his teeth and marshalled himself enduring the next wave of mental attacks

The insects ripped and tore digging their pincers into the flesh to rip it away bit by bit Bite by bite they feasted

And then their hands finally parted Constance’s hand having been picked clean of any scraps of flesh leaving only bone The insects hadn’t let them alone either and they all sported visible tiny teeth marks and scratches

Randidly directed the insects to continue attacking Constance and looked at his hand steadying himself

There were some small marks but the difference in their Endurance made Randidly’s hand a much more difficult meal for the insects and thus they opted for the soft flesh of Constance’s body

Wait You must stop

The policeman shouted running forward Randidly regarded him coolly his head still pounding from whatever skill Constance had tried to use on him Constance continued to scream clawing at his mouth and nose as bugs burrowed their way into them directed by Randidly’s will All in all it was quite satisfying He pressed them onward aiming to devour his tongue completely

He even got a skill level in Summon Pestilence

Please You must let him live He is the only thing holding this town together If it falls really want the burden of all these refugees on your shoulders

The bugs continued to buzz ripping small pieces of Constance’s flesh away

You want the glassware right That is only possible with him If he dies things will be too fractured for you to get your glassware

Randidly thought about it for a bit but did not call off the insects The screams from within the buzzing cloud grew louder and louder

The police officer stared on helplessly but a new voice cut across Let the man live and I will give you this

A strange man appeared with a serious expression offering Randidly a large black coin There was something familiar

But then Randidly stilled This was the same emblem that was on the golden coins used to found Newbie Villages Except the design on this coin was larger and more complex

A black Nexus coin

And as Randidly studied the figure he realized why he looked familiar Even though this figure had different mild features their was the same vacuous smile on his face the same empty eyes This was the village

How will that help me

The screams now grew hoarse the volume dropping precipitously to rasping moans

The Village Spirit paled but shook his head I I cannot Please You must understand we can only walk on the paths in front of us To tell you is not my path I am but one half of a whole But if this man dies

Something cracked on the Spirit’s face and his whole form shimmered then refocused There were no tears in his eyes but his eyes were empty Please

The only noise that Randidly could hear now was the buzzing of insects

But then to his own surprise Randidly sighed and then snapped his fingers He didn’t know why really Part of it was the lack of threat and part of it was the glassware and part of it was some sliver of him that hesitated in taking another’s life

But a bigger part of it there was something about this Spirit a sadness over its own fate that swayed him

Even still Randidly rumbled taking the coin You owe me

This Nul’s eyes widened looking at the black coin Randidly regretted taking it because Constance would undoubtedly become a problem in the future If his skill was already at a point that it could threaten him

Randidly’s eyes narrowed But he would not make the same mistakes twice Next time the King would die before he could activate his strange abilities

I hope its worth the trouble that asshole is going to be Decklan mumbled his arms folded across his chest

Of course it is Nul insisted his eyes glittering This will let us found the Town’s Dungeon an entire tier early With this our future is assured You must give it to me

Chapter 42

Answers first Randidly said firmly tightly gripping the coin It was around 10 am and they had successfully made it back to their village after his light assault of their nextdoor neighbors Hopefully that demonstration was enough to cow Constance but Randidly wouldn’t bet on it Although in the short term his revenge was not likely to be forthcoming he would want to grow much stronger before he dared reveal himself in front of Randidly again

Maybe his eviscerated tongue and vocal cords would give him pause however

Nul nodded rapidly his excited palpable Yes yes Each Village may form its own kept’ Dungeon typically in the Trainee Tier

No Randidly shook his head slowly his gaze never leaving Nul’s eyes Bigger answers How could their guide have this coin

Nul stilled his expression instantly becoming bland and noncommittal I don’t know what you mean

I think you do Randidly saw Daniel gasp making the same realization he did He held up the coin I haven’t seen one of these And not to be arrogant but if I haven’t been able to find whatever is making these and kill it I doubt anyone over there has either And if it didn’t come from the any of the people here

Nul looked troubled This is not something I can speak of I promise you I am bound But suffice to say Your suspicions are not unfounded All guides are not created equal Which brings me to the perfect opportunity to bring you the good news I too have a gift and it has just been unlocked as your Village Chieftain got his Soul Skill up to Lvl 100

Nul’s smile did nothing to dispel Randidly’s suspicions If it didn’t come from the people it came from there guide All guides weren’t created equally He was bound

But Randidly supposed it would end up being worth it if the dungeon warped time like the dungeon he had been stuck in So what is your gift Is it as valuable as this

Perhaps you should be the judge of that you seem rather intelligent Nul said smartly smirking at him It is something called Class Inheritance Very simply due to my influence there is an item you can purchase from the Accessory Shop called a Mentor stone Using that will force a connection giving an individual a path Disciple of the Individual who used the stone When that path is complete if you bring them to me and the mentor was from my village I can make sure they can obtain a similar class

Randidly stilled This was obviously a similar method to what Shal had used with him If it were true and they could reproduce classes with more powerful growth rates

But the fact that Shal could do it made Randidly’s eyes narrow with suspicion Was it really something due to Nul or was it something that every village unlocked at a certain level

What do you mean by similar Daniel asked

Nul shrugged mysteriously It is hard to say But there is some potential for change The higher ranked the class the higher the possibility is that the class might degrade into a less powerful subset But conversely the lower tiered classes might evolve

So Nul asked turning to Randidly Will this gift of mine be useful

Do you have nothing else Randidly asked his voice light

Nul’s face soured and for a long time he said nothing And then he finally said There is a path you may take were balance is ended and one half may feed off the other to grow stronger If you do so and afterwards I am still alive I will be able to answer your questions

At the end of this small speech Nul’s face was red and his whole body trembled Randidly suspected it was a ruse bu in a way there were similarities to what the other spirit had said about being one half of a whole Thoughtfully Randidly handed over the large black coin

The easiest way is to just give the different ranks tiers of equipment but I simply don’t have enough high quality materials Sam said unhappily

Randidly rubbed his chin He had planned on training for longer beyond the boundary today but it seemed like he needed to go on a more harvest focused mission Sam required supplies to test his new theories about preserving bodies Brooding he turned only to find that Decklan was still following him

A perfect packmule

After assuring Sam he would handle it and requesting Decklan’s aid Randidly left the village glad to be away Their village had grown again swelling to around 600 people and based on the talk more would be coming The most recently arrived said that they were in a moderately sized city to the south when the system arrived and had largely hid within their homes When the first pillar of light appeared with the notification they were the brave souls that ventured forth wanting to survive

They believed that more would follow when they saw the second pillar appear and the monsters only growing more frequent

That meant there were more varieties of monsters and golden coins just 4 days travel south Randidly grinned 4 days for an average person

The other strange part about the influx of people was that the entire valley around his house was being slowly cleared and a NCC (non class character) village springing up near his cabin They relied on the skill system for strength but were scared away from getting a class based on the responsibility to the town involved

Some people didn’t have the guts to fight off a horde of monsters every morning That might change as Daniel figured out the logistics of the Class Inheritance method that Nul talked about but that would take some time

In addition there were about a dozen full time farmers who had completely taken care of nurturing and harvesting Randidly’s plants He felt a pang in his heart at the missed opportunities for skill levels but he supposed that he had other skills which were more necessary to train Survival came first Besides Farming was rather boring activity

They were doing a good job too the fields were currently 5x the size of Randidly’s original 4 fields a huge sea of rapidly rising food

As they left the village an annoyed voice stopped the duo Someone else beat me to it huh Well whatever Wherever we are going take me with you I’m ready I think

Lyra stepped out from behind a tree her hair pulled up into a practical ponytail

Decklan gaped at her Lyra Silver

She gave him a dismissive look and then held up a hand to Randidly silencing him even before he spoke I know what you are thinking But look

And just like that Lyra teleported 5 meters to the right her body instantaneous switching positions

My mana pool is big enough to do it twice as long as I’m casting basically nothing else I can control the direction and distance although this is about my limit Should be enough to stall long enough for you to protect me right So lead on leader Lyra said with a smile

Her smile was sharp sweet and sour like a knife just used to cut out the core of a fruit

Randidly opened his mouth to say something but he saw something in Lyra’s eyes as he did so a fear of rejection Almost helpless Randidly turned away and walked forward ignoring her

She laughed quietly and followed Decklan still staring and following her

Watch out for her ’ Ellaine had said

So of course the first thing Randidly was doing was taking her to the most dangerous place he knew of currently He scratched the back of his neck feeling slightly guilty

Chapter 43

Ultimately Randidly decided to skirt the edges of the boundary and head towards the area he knew was controlled by the lizardmen Although they were strong and resilient they didn’t possess the oppressive speed of the cats

Randidly spared his followers a glance Hopefully that would keep the mortality rate to under 33% He gave them both a max strength antidote too in case they encountered one of the scorpions But Randidly wondered if either of them would have time to drink it if it was a strong enough poison to paralyze him for several minutes

But then some of Shal’s callous acceptance settled over him and he stopped fussing they would either grow stronger or die He wasn’t so capable that he could afford to worry overmuch about anyone other than himself

We are out here looking for lizardmen The couple I encountered used scimitars which we should gather and carry back Mostly we want their scales Incredibly hard to penetrate great for cushioning blows too Other than that we might see scorpions which we should avoid I was stung once and it isn’t fun The other monster I’ve encountered here are hyper quick cats They are fast Way too fast Honestly

Randidly hesitated then said If we encounter them just run

Then he narrowed his eyes activating Eyes of the Spear Phantom and began to search

They found a pair of lizardmen rather quickly Randidly rushed forward and distracted them while Decklan danced around and slashed at them with two small knives made from the claws of cats Randidly had killed Even with Decklan’s low strength they were enough to leave shallow cuts which was a testament to the sharpness of the claws

Perhaps he would have to come back later and harvest more cats for that reason

Lyra was also surprising in her usefulness She created realistic bird of mana that flitted around the heads of the lizardmen distracting them

Randidly kept them mostly at bay with spear movements but when the would lapse there guard he would blast them in the face with a fireball leaving them snarling

After 5 minutes of tussle they had managed to kill them both Randidly had even let Decklan finish one off which let him gain stats from killing the stronger enemy The growth rates weren’t that much higher than the lowered leveled enemies but they were still something

So now what Head back with the bodies Decklan asked panting

Randidly snorted and gathered the bodies into his satchel Then he began walking

Mana potion Lyra said holding out her hand Randidly gave her an annoyed look but handed several over

Decklan gritted his teeth wiped the sweat from his brow and followed

Such a well mannered delivery service Lyra said wiping her mouth and returning the empty vial with a smile

Randidly sighed He could already tell that it was going to be a very long day

Daniel considered his options Donny spent most of his time training with the recruits and left all of the decisions up to him Nul somehow sensed this and let Daniel have access to all of the Village Chieftain functions without having to receive constant permission

They currently were at a staggering 2400 Spirit Points which were gained whenever a person who had received a class leveled whenever they killed a monster or when they brought back certain items to trade

It didn’t really seem like items were dropping that they could trade in but Nul assured Daniel they existed He also informed him that stronger enemies gave more points but your average enemy at this level was only 1

The problem was how to spend the Spirit Points 10 000 would upgrade them to a Trainee Village but Daniel was the type to build a solid foundation rather than rushing up towards the upgrade

The most attractive choice were the Mentor Stones which would cost 100 SP a pop but they would allow more people to inherit Donny’s class of Knight There were other valuable options like Ptolemy’s Disciple or Clarissa’s Weather Witch but most of the men clamoring for classes wanted to take a more physical role

Nodding to himself he walked over to the Shop and purchased 4 before he could second guess himself they needed the bulk at the front lines He had already talked to Donny about it and he had identified likely candidates 3 men and 1 woman tall and grim steadfast even in the face of danger They had been some of the first to move their families up from Franksburg to the South

Which left 2000 Sam had spoken with Daniel earlier recommending they finally purchase the weapon shop Although he was getting pretty confident shaping armor making weapons required a forge which they weren’t currently equipped for The Basic Weapon Shop would cost 500 SP

Sighing Daniel wandered around looking at their bustling village The Outer wall had been raised to 2 meters giving additional protection to those within the village They even had several places where there was a mini rampart that defenders could stand on to attack invaders

An archery range had been set up in the far side at the urging of Sam and those who were willing to wait a bit and level skill before getting a class attempted to gain archery skills Even if they didn’t end up having a class related to archery having the skill would still mean they would keep that and continue growing

Daniel really wanted someone to unlock and finish the Archery I path based on his talks with Randidly about what paths did but it was a little much to ask for absolute beginners It would be much easier if someone with experience arrived

Most of the NCCs had moved down to the farming area lower in the valley but groups of them were walking around with One Shoulder Pad Warriors as work groups It was how the NCCs could earn themselves food while staying here

Daniel made a mental note to talk with the man they put in charge of farming to see their yields Sure the crops grew fast but Daniel wanted to save up some food for when the Newbie Zone dropped around them in case monsters wouldn’t just attack the village He already had consulted a few people about where to set up a defensible perimeter around the NCC area

A group of Two Shoulder Pad warriors walked past heaving huge logs like it was nothing laughing all the while The current class system in the village was simple but he already spoke with Dozer and Donny about raising the criteria now that there were so many people showing up There was effectively a two day waiting period provided you were seen participating in the nightly defense

If you lived through your first night you got the first shoulder pad You lived through the second and either Dozer Decklan Donny or Daniel himself noticed you you received a 2nd shoulder pad Above that there was the tooth necklace level group that was currently only Decklan Donny Dozer and Sam But there were plans in the works to make that the level of the squad leaders

So one shoulder pads could be trusted two shoulder pads were as close as they had to veterans Necklace wearers had some authority and Daniel sighed

Randidly didn’t really fit into any of the typical classification systems

It was a rather loose hierarchy but it worked Daniel couldn’t help but wonder how long that would last He already voiced his worries to Sam that someone would start stealing the items to signify higher status but Sam just snorted

Maybe that would have worked a week ago but now without the strength to back it up they would get seen through instantly And it’s a mark of pride earning it Don’t treat it like just an item

There had been a growing number of thefts but the community reacted strangely to it rather than getting angry they just shrugged and stole whatever else they found unattended It was an open secret that basically everyone would take something of yours if you left it alone And it worked currently because no one really had anything worth getting upset over

But that would change Daniel rubbed his eyes They currently just exchanged things by bartering which was another vote for getting the Basic Weapon Shop most people had traded excess bodies into the Accessory shop earning small amounts of bronze and silver coins that they were currently casual about But once they could be used to purchase weapons

The economy would come alive Which would drive up crime which is why they should really create a firmer hierarchy

Looking up at the glowing pillar of light that broadcast their position to the world Daniel sighed again

Daniel went over to Nul and bought the Basic Weapon Shop and then wandered past the group training area to a jutting pillar of stone that had sprung up next to the statue of Donny In it was a large wooden door covered in runes

Their kept’ dungeon

Time was so accelerated for the people within that it basically didn’t pass 10 people could go in at a time however they would get kicked out after 24 hours if they didn’t complete the dungeon before that time Completing the dungeon would earn a number of points equal to the level of the dungeon for the town It was currently level 1 and Randidly had recommended raising it to 12 before leaving

Daniel grimaced Raising it to Lvl 2 cost 200 Sp then Lvl 3 would be 300 Sp

But Daniel supposed he wasn’t doing anything else with the SP He directly raised the dungeon Lvl to 5 spending 1400 SP Then Daniel went over to Dozer who was throwing large boulders gathered by his crew to raise the skill Herculean Strength

The Dungeon is up Level 5 Don’t take anyone near that level in with you alright No casualties If there is danger just wait out the 24 hours

Dozer snorted and gestured and 8 of his subordinates swaggered forward heading towards the dungeon Surprisingly the 10th was Clarissa the Weather Witch Daniel supposed that Dozer wasn’t as dumb as he looked

The whole party disappeared walking through the door into a glowing portal of light

But as soon as the door closed it opened back up the group trotting smartly out They were all there the only difference that Daniel could see was that Dozer was holding a large wooden club Caressing it even

Loot Daniel asked excitedly and Dozer nodded

Pah Clarissa spat God it smelled in there Got some silver coins too No wands though Or Staffs Or crystal balls

I’ve got a pair of meaty balls right here if you need them A man muttered and the rest guffawed Clarissa pointed at the speaker’s feet freezing them to the ground then walked coolly away The men around the guy laughed even louder as he struggled to break the ice

We have the weapon shop now so the money has its uses Although the cheapest weapons looked to be 30 silver Daniel said but Dozer just grunted and went back to the dungeon pillar touching the door

Bah 24 hour cooldown Alright rest up you lot Next big thing is the horde Dozer said wandering away His men dispersed a few wandering towards the weapon shop but most heading out to gather wood and build themselves some sort of houses Sam had a few assistants with Architecture and construction background and they were getting pretty effective at throwing shacks up

But it would cost you something whether it was labor or money or monsters

Daniel looked down at the NCC village which was mostly tents and looked like it could blow over any moment He wondered whether in a month there would be something like an aristocracy here Technically based on merit Daniel supposed but still The world was changing

But that didn’t mean there wasn’t work to do Donny had informed him earlier that they had two interesting classes come up earlier Brawler and Ranger and Daniel wanted to ask them about their stat gains and skills

Chapter 44

After killing their 9th lizardman for the day Randidly was rather pleased Almost enough to return back to camp Most of the bodies were intact and they hadn’t encountered anything but lizardmen Although there had been a couple times that they had to flee taking the freshly killed bodies as patrols passed by

But it had been fruitful for him 2 Levels in Spear Mastery 1 in Phantom Thrust 1 in Footwork of the Spear Phantom 2 in Eyes of the Spear Phantom 1 in Fighting Proficiency 3 in Block 1 in Haste 1 in Sweep 3 in Roundhouse Kick 2 in Edge of Decay and 4 in Empower

Entangling Roots Root Manipulation and Mana Shield Rose 1 level while Fireball rose 5

Meditation Equip and First Aid each increased a level but the big gainer for the day was Pathfinding which rose 7 levels

Randidly supposed they covered a lot of ground but this was a bit ridiculous Still he wasn’t complaining

Ghosthound what is your agility at Decklan asked timidly Randidly saw Lyra roll her eyes at the term and felt slightly awkward It wasn’t his fault he had inherited a weird last name from his father’s family

Randidly considered lying but decided it wasn’t worth it 46 plus a few bonuses Why

Decklan shook his head wonderingly My agility reached 39 with that last level But it’s basically my only stat that high above 20 Still you seem quick Impossibly quick Those few points sure mean a lot

No I suspect it’s not that Randidly said simply

Decklan frowned Then what is

Ugh It’s the skills obviously Lyra interjected Doggy you have a skill to speed up your movements right

A vein in Randidly’s forehead twitched are you talking to me

Of course I am Now answer I’m making a point about how beautiful and farsighted you are

Slightly confused by her statement Randidly said yes actually two of them

Uh huh and you have other passive physical skills right Physical fitness Probably spear mastery

And what level are those

Randidly paused considering Around 30

Lyra nodded sagely now pointing at Decklan No one else is as advanced as the doggy not even Sam so it’s hard to tell but this is where skills really start to shine Taking a class gives you fast growth but he has top end utility Your stats might be similar but he will have 4 skills enhancing his stats at all times The conversion isn’t clear but it adds up

Decklan nodded thoughtful and Lyra extended a hand towards Randidly saying the words he was beginning to dread Mana Potion

Sighing Randidly sat down on the ground gathering the material and crafting more potions He went for enhanced versions so he got another skill level in Potion Making and Enhance

You aren’t wrong Decklan said slowly But we also receive class related skills every 10 levels We have tried a couple times already and it doesn’t look like these are skills you can learn through practice You can get variants sure

Randidly continued t make potions tuning the two of them out Academically he was interested in Classes but for now he wanted to find out how long he could survive without one Even if he waited too long he wouldn’t have a chance to regret it he would simply die

But halfway through the 7th mana potion he froze It had been a good thing that he had sat on the ground for this Otherwise he wouldn’t have felt it coming

Randidly instantly activated Haste and Empower pushing Decklan to the side and wrapping his arm around Lyra’s waist leaping across the dune

The sand underneath where Randidly had been sitting exploded a huge centipede rippling outward its legs making a vicious chittering grinding noise that set your teeth on edge It screeched and shot towards Decklan

Excuse me but the first dance is mine

Roots burst out the ground wrapping around the Centipede’s trunk but it just ripped through them after a slight struggle But that moment was enough for Randidly to cover the distance to the centipede and hit it with an Empowered Phantom Assault

Randidly’s brow furrowed as most of his blows skittered off its chitinous shell and even the direct attacks barely cracked it He would need a few direct hits to get through The centipede spun its body smashing outwards and Randidly easily dodged it landing on its back Its head twisted and smashed towards him but was met by a fireball in the face

While it was hissing in pain Randidly looked at Decklan Aim for the legs When it’s looking at me get close and try and cut them off Watch out for when its body spins

It’s legs Decklan’s eyes were confused But there are so many Cutting off a few

I’m not talking about a few Randidly said grimly dodging out of the way of another diving bite Then the head twisted and spat acid at him He spun his spear in a Spear Deflect and knocked away most of it but some still landed on him Randidly grimaced

Why always acid

I’m talking about them all Randidly finished grimly It’s gonna take a while to wear down its health And I feel like this will finally shut up Sam about his needing new materials And you

He spared Lyra a glance She just smiled cheerily and waved at him well don’t do anything stupid

The centipede screeched and attacked Randidly spread his hands wide roots springing out of the ground to seal its movements fire in his hands to cause it pain A small smile played across his lips

This was what he lived for now this thrill

Carefully keeping an eye on his stamina and mana levels Randidly rushed forward dodging closer The centipede could spit acid and writhe its powerful body but it couldn’t do much else

Decklan stayed to the side and would rush in severing one or two legs with his blades then hurry away If the centipede noticed this Randidly hit in the mouth with a blast of fire earning its ire

The battle dragged on minutes crawling passed Minutes clumped together until the total time they were fighting neared an hour and a half Randidly continued to swallow potion after potion maintaining a reasonable condition

Every few minutes Decklan would stop and take a break his chest heaving Only after his stamina recovered did he rejoin the battle

There were several large holes on the Centipede’s torso now ichor oozing out It’s hisses became more and more wrathful however as fury at its attackers overwhelmed any self preservation instincts

Eventually after a battle so long that even Randidly was reaching the end of his potion fueled stamina the creature swayed and fell one of Lyra’s birds perched on its head

Randidly collapsed 2 whole levels of Physical Fitness 1 of Spear Deflect another 2 in Fireball 2 in Haste and Empower 1 in Running

Just enough PP to finally finish off The Monster Slayer Path

Congratulations You have completed the The Monster Slayer Path +10 stat +5 to Health Regen Mana Regen and Stamina Regen + 5 Health Mana and Stamina Regen per level Although the path before you is long you cannot stop You can only drink the blood and bath in the gore You may emerge changed but you at least you will be alive

A growth rate that includes regen stats Although this wouldn’t help him currently the other bonuses were enough of a boost to his current abilities that he didn’t mind It was a good haul Randidly slowly got to his feet and grimaced looking at the huge body

Annoyingly it looked like most of these points would go into Strength just so he could bring the thing back

It started as a low noise pretty similar to the usual bustle of activity at the Newbie Village which people had begun calling Donnyton a grunting and dragging But it had a strange way of spreading As if everything nearby the source of the noise went quiet

All in all it was extremely annoying to Daniel who was working out schedules for the Dungeon They had split their now almost 200 strong Classers into 20 person groups putting veterans with some fresh blood sending them into the Dungeon for tempering as most of the nearby monsters had been pushed back by their expansion

There had been a few casualties which made Daniel regretful but it was hard to take it too much to heart so many people had died since the System came to this world and more would die tomorrow That was just the way the world worked

And why this was necessary they needed to gain strength to survive

Now though Daniel was stuck with the annoying task of scheduling it all Theoretically they could have it in use almost constantly except for the 24 hour cooldown But they would need more people for that So for now

Daniel looked up Finally the strange dragging reached the front of the village and everything else seemed to have fallen completely silent Annoyed he walked out to see what all the lack of fuss was about

The sight made Daniel just as speechless as the rest of them

Randidly walked forward a veritable Atlas carrying a huge centipede body on its shoulders He appeared to have looped it several times around himself so he could carry a larger portion The body of it was thicker than most men’s torsos and stretched for 30 meters The tail dragged on for about 20 of those the rest on Randidly’s shoulders a exhausted Decklan pushing from the back

A lovely girl with blonde hair appeared to be napping on the middle section of that thing’s back heedless

Randidly looked at them all and grunted Dozer give me a hand Decklan isn’t pulling his weight

The joke earned a few nervous chuckles from the crowd and Dozer walked forward gesturing for several people to follow Dozer went to the middle of the body and lifted Immediately his expression changed He shifted his stance and picked up again taking the weight onto his shoulders Two of Dozer’s men nervously approached the lovely girl unsure of whether to help or leave her alone but her eyes snapped open and she snorted

Hopping off the Centipede she blew a kiss at Randidly It’s been fun Let’s play again Doggy You take me the most interesting places Then she walked away

As Dozer’s men came to the centipede Decklan collapsed grateful

Randidly grunted again and began walking Taking this to Sam’s Let’s see him complain about materials after I drop this on his fucking doorstep

Almost all of Dozer’s men holding the Centipede gulped and began to sweat

It wasn’t a far walk but

But more importantly how the hell far did you bring this thing all by yourself

Daniel could hear it too The whispers

Ghosthound Ghosthound

That’s the Ghosthound

Slowly those individuals who were new to the town looked on with bright awestruck eyes

Chapter 45

Sam didn’t even bat an eye he just scratched his ear noncommittally

You’re gonna have to take it around back Can’t work on it here Sam commented Dozer stay for a bit too Gonna need you to smash the joints so we can work on it one segment at time

Scowling and more drained than he had ever felt Randidly left He could have at least been a little surprised But at the same time Randidly had gotten his own reward on the way back

Congratulations You have learned the skill Mana Strengthening Lvl 1

Mana Strengthening Channel mana through your body to slightly increase physical attributes Effect increases with Skill Level and Intelligence Mana cost decreases with Skill Level

Just on the walk home chugging mana potions he had gotten the skill to Level 7 It was the only way he had managed to drag that huge body back to the Newbie Village

It also made Randidly excited for the future When he had both Haste Empower and Mana Strengthening going his consumption of Mana and Stamina would be prodigious but he abilities would also be impressive

After returning to his hut avoiding the wondering and slightly fearful gazes of the people he collapsed finally alone He rubbed his eyes incredibly weary Slowly but surely he was finding strength He raised his hand still laying on the ground reaching for the ceiling

More people were pouring in every day More and more chances to find Ace and Sydney

And beyond that Once I find them what will I do What am I looking for ’ Randidly thought to himself And the answer rose unbidden

Strength

The answer was simple it was an answer learned from 7 long months of struggle Randidly shook his head a rueful smile forming Then he opened his path screen and froze

Watcher 0/ Entangling Roots 0/40 Meditation 0/35 Heretic I 0/ Oathbreaker 0/25 Apprentice Path 0/50

The Watcher and the path were there before but Randidly had earned every other path since he had started the 100 PP Monster Slayer path Entangling Roots and Meditation came from skill level Randidly guessed And Apprentice was unlocked when his stat total got to 400 But Heretic and Oathbreaker

Randidly grimaced Once more he would wait on the first two And the ones with an unknown source probably weren’t worth the PP investment at this point while he had so many options That narrowed his choices down to Entangling Roots Meditation and Apprentice

All three had their strong points Apprentice would likely give skills but was the most expensive Meditation would likely further improve his regeneration abilities which he needed but probably wouldn’t result in a skill and might not give many bonuses until the completion

Meanwhile Entangling Roots was Randidly’s go to skill when encountering a new opponent slowing and tying down the enemy while he repositioned Any improvement in that skill or availability of a similar more powerful skill would be worth it

But he could only pick one And all were significant investments the lowest being Meditation at 35 PP

Well let’s look ahead a bit What would he be doing tomorrow He would participate in the monster horde later After that should he return to the other Newbie Village for the glassware Perhaps not so soon give them time to gather and to forget he attacked their boss

Instead might be better to head back to the boundary head in a different direction Take a tankier group with him and fight cats

No the cats would probably kill most people instantly aside from Donny Even Randidly felt chills as those claws ripped towards him Back to the lizardmen then That was fine he had gained a lot of levels fighting against them Perhaps rely more on his spells and let some people practice tanking

Then if he wanted to focus on his spells

Ultimately Randidly set the Apprentice Path aside Better to focus on improving his current skills either by Meditation or Entangling Roots than learning new skills RIght now he needed to see immediate improvements in his strength if he wanted to survive for longer beyond the boundary

For several long seconds Randidly teetered between the two options But he finally settled on the Entangling Roots Path His immediate concerns were increasing his strength and harvesting more materials to keep the rest of the people in what they were now calling Donnyton alive So Randidly put his 6 leftover PP into the Entangling Roots Path

At 5 he earned himself 1 in Control and Focus so at least the Path was going to be a rewarding one He then looked at his full status screen

Health(/R per hour) 206/291 (+6) (137 (+9

Mana(/R per hour) 139/347 (60 75)

Stam(/R per min) 105/307 (53 (+3

Vit 39 (+3)

Str 27

Agi 47 (+3)

Reaction 26

Willpower 55

Intelligence 68

Control 43

Focus 20

Skills (Soul Skill) Spear of Rot Mastery Lvl 120

Combat Spear Mastery Lvl 40 Phantom Thrust Lvl 41 Spear Phantom’s Footwork Lvl 27 Eyes of the Spear Phantom Lvl 19 Phantom Half Step Lvl 5 Heavy Blow Lvl 22 Dagger Mastery Lvl 10 Iron Skin Lvl 25 Dodge Lvl 27 Fighting Proficiency Lvl 29 Block Lvl 27 Haste Lvl 15 Phantom Onslaught Lvl 10 Sweep Lvl 12 Spear Deflect Lvl 6 Empower Lvl 16 Calculated Blow Lvl 11 Roundhouse Kick Lvl 9 Edge of Decay Lvl 5

Spells Entangling Roots Lvl 31 Mana Bolt Lvl 28 Mana Shield Lvl 24 Root Manipulation Lvl 25 Arcane Orb Lvl 22 Fireball Lvl 15 Magic Missile Lvl 4 Healing Palm Lvl 5 Pollen of the Rafflesia Lvl 6 Summon Pestilence Lvl 13 Mana Strengthening Lvl 7

Crafting Potion Making Lvl 22 Farming Lvl 20 Plant Breeding Lvl 9 Mapmaker Lvl 4 Analyze Lvl 24 Refine Lvl 4

Auxiliary Physical Fitness Lvl 28 Meditation Lvl 30 Running Lvl 19 Sprinting Lvl 13 Sneak Lvl 21 Acid Resistance Lvl 22 Poison Resistance Lvl 16 Pain Resistance Lvl 11 First Aid Lvl 13 Equip Lvl 19 Pathfinding Lvl 16 Mental Strength Lvl 11 Curse Resistance Lvl 3

His Intelligence was already impressively high making his spells hurt Perhaps it was time to funnel some points into his other stats keeping his physical capabilities high In the fight with the centipede if he hadn’t been as fast as he had the overwhelming power of that large body would have killed him

Randidly got up and walked outside finally grounded and with a sense of direction Now it was time to train To his annoyance people scurried around like diligent worker ants near his cabin making preparations for the night The farmer’s continued their grim eyed vigil nurturing the plants even now And everyone gave Randidly a wide berth

Sighing Randidly slipped away into the darkness through the trees following a path up the nearby mountain When he found a relatively clear area he began a new type of training even though it made him nervous blasting himself in the chest with a fire ball

The first explosion sent him stumbling a large chunk of his health gone and with a burn status inflicted Touching the wound Randidly used Healing Palm twice restoring the health and removing the burn status but the skin still stung lightly

He did the same thing again

After around 10 repetitions Randidly was forced to take a break to hit up all of the places where blue energy shards grew He had marked them previously on his map for ease of gathering After mopping up the monsters that inevitably cropped up around them he returned to the clearing

Fireball

Healing Palm Healing Palm

Healing Palm

Potion Making

Some Empowered Spear Phantom’s Footwork to break up the monotony and burn through his stamina

Although Randidly had already gotten 2 points in Fireball and 3 in Healing Palm now was when he got the notification that made him smile the widest

Congratulations You have learned the skill Fire Resistance Lvl 1

Chuckling Randidly continued with the rotation his eyes firmed

Strength For everything he needed strength He could not slack off now

Chapter 46

Annie blinked her eyes prettily pretending to just wake up as Dozer leaned forward holding his forehead Although Dozer had started to fall asleep quite earlier the pervious night mostly due to Annie’s intimate ministrations he still found getting up so early for the beast horde to be difficult

But still he stood strapping on his leather and furs lowering his necklace of teeth over his head

This is how Annie liked her men Big brooding and direct She admitted to herself this made them quite a bit easier to control but that wasn’t the reason she liked men with those certain traits

Although it was a nice side effect

Yawning for effect she allowed part of the blanket to slide off her left nipple poking out from behind the blanket She liked the way his eyes followed it for several seconds before grunting and turning away scratching his groin and reaching for the huge club he had found within the dungeon

Not that she would have let him take her right before he needed to fight against the horde But she liked to make him want it

Stay here He intoned seriously giving her a look over his shoulder as he left Wait for me

Annie nodded her eyes bright

As soon as he left she snorted kicking off the blankets and finding some of the spandex she had scrounged up since the system came Not that furs weren’t great for the whole tribal vibe but she felt next to naked without her leggings

Tying her hair up in a practical ponytail Annie walked out of the hut and around to the small space in the walls where she had stored her bow She didn’t like to brag but she was probably obviously the best archer in the village right now Sometimes other people got lucky and hit the target but she could loose an arrow and hit a target at

She scratched her head then shrugged Basically further than anyone else

She had even started getting skills for it Archery Mastery Hawkeye Snipe Power Shot

For now though she hurried out and towards the wall she had somewhere to be As if she would just stay in and let her Dozer handle a problem himself

And after several awkward bouts of flirting with Daniel he had finally succumbed and allowed her to be up on the new ramparts shooting arrows She was the best archer after all They just both mutually agreed not to tell Dozer He was surprisingly sensitive about some things

Annie arrived at the area near the gate where groups of Classers stood faces grim

Sam was shouting around passing out new shields that he had managed to make from the giant bug the Ghosthound had brought back It was honestly kinda cute the way so many crowded around and jostled to get a piece of dead bug skin

Largely ignored in the milling crowd of warriors Annie gathered some arrows from Sam’s people and then climbed up the side of the ramparts by the gate lifting herself up onto the vantage point To her surprise there was already someone up there

It was the older magician lady who had gone into the Dungeon with Dozer and his men Annie smiled sweetly at her but said nothing Clarissa just nodded at her then turned back to look out over the valley In the NCC village below the fires and lights were being snuffed out one by one so as not to attract the monster’s attention

Alright First Squad to the front Second Squad ready to switch Donny shoulded sporting a new shiny black bug shield and a mean looking iron sword that he probably got from the new weapon shop Then he turned to the milling group behind those first 10 squads The rest of you listen to Daniel He will set you up in squads We will do one full rotation with the regulars then work in the fresh meat every other squad alright

Daniel nodded and Donny turned back to the front squads grinning Most people had to stand on tiptoes straining to see his gangly teenage form But then he lifted the huge shield almost 3/4th of the size of a door like it was nothing revealing his power

So now He drawled slowly walking to the front You regulars The final count is 260 classers here Honestly we might have bad news for the fresh blood Who knows if there is even going to be any monsters left by the time we get through a full rotation right boys

They all howled and hooted men and women young and old pounding their chests Even Dozer his adorable smile stretching wide as he pounded the ground with his club

Annie shook her head slightly If he had enough ambition Dozer could be double the leader that the little dweeb Donny was But honestly he was happy now so it was fine And if they ever wanted to take out Donny

Narrowing her eyes Annie could just make out a figure strolling up from the NCC village his spear spinning as relaxed and casual as can be The Ghosthound To her surprise he kept to the shadows walking calmly up If someone didn’t have a vision skill like Annie had

Then she blinked shocked Suddenly there was another person with him a lithe girl her blonde hair pulled up into a bun The Ghosthound gave her a look but just turned back

The two were quick too Within 10 seconds they had crossed the distance from the village to the wall and scaled it silently hopping up onto the area further down the ramparts from where Annie and Clarissa stood Calmly the Ghosthound walked over his eyes flicking past Annie and Clarissa and scanning the waiting classers

As they walked closer the noise attracted Clarissa’s attention and she turned and hopped slightly shocked by the two individual’s sudden appearance

Ah oh it’s you You You’re the Ghosthound right Clarissa said nervously fear and wonder and excitement warring across her face I’m uh Clarissa The Weather Witch

She extended her hand but the blonde girl stepped in front of the Ghosthound taking it for him

Can’t you see he’s in prime brooding mode Let’s wait until he acknowledges us before we get too friendly shall we The girl said brightly flashing a cheeky smile

This was the first time Annie had seen the Ghosthound up close He was tall but not too much so He obviously was athletic but was not overly muscular But there was something She could feel it Maybe it was the way his eyes swept over her registering her and then dismissing her instantly Maybe it was the unnatural stillness about him like he was asleep or dead until he moved with an unnatural speed

Maybe it was the piercing green of his eyes Like they could rip through your soul and rifle through your thoughts at will When the Ghosthound finally turned away from her Annie released a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding The blonde girl gave her a knowing smile

All I’m saying is if you are going to ask me for mana potions all night just take them now The Ghosthound said his voice amused looking at the blonde girl

She shook her head vehemently But where would be the fun in that Imagine how epic a moment it would be for you to pass me the mana potion right when I need it and then I cast the best spell ever and save the world Try and think a little bit about someone other than yourself Doggy

Besides The blonde girl added her smile turning wicked I obviously have mana potions of my own I’m not an idiot I’m just giving you the chance to feel involved in my life Aren’t I generous

This time Annie was the one to flash the blonde girl a knowing smile and for a second their eyes met

This girl talked a big game and played the part of arrogant princess pretty well but Annie could tell rather easily how much she wanted the Ghosthound’s attention No matter how skilled an actor or whatever she was she was still young

Scratching his head The Ghosthound nodded to Clarissa to acknowledge that he heard her but then stepped forward to the edge of the ramparts

Donny Daniel Dozer It was in his voice too a low baritone that resonated in your chest The crowd fell silent looking up at the figure who appeared above them holding a plain looking spear and looking down towards them with serious eyes

The three men walked forward frowning

Randidly Daniel said Are you fighting

Just as artillery The Ghosthound replied with a smirk Annie blinked It was the first time that she had heard his real name She should have known Ghosthound was fake but

It just fit him

No but there’s something else The enemy is bringing air support I suspect we won’t be able to keep them outside the wall as much as we have previously Handle it

Daniel’s eyes went wide his panic clear but the Ghosthound had already turned away and Donny and Dozer were both nodding their eyes firm

What Annie didn’t expect was that Randidly would immediately turn and look her straight in the eyes You are an archer

A little nervous Annie nodded I don’t have a class but

He just shrugged his emerald gaze turning back towards the darkness That’s fine But when I point it out I’d like you to make the shots Prepare your bow

He glanced at her and then added They are coming

Sure enough when Annie looked out a veritable sea of monsters were rushing forward And above them smaller swooping forms could be seen and larger colossal shadows

Those Annie muttered

Looks like giant condors right They are pretty tough too Doggy’s Mana Bolts don’t take them down in one shot and those things have some juice The blonde girl said enthusiastically

The Ghosthound was already looking at Clarissa Use your mana sparingly on the ground the warriors below can handle it Take out the air support If you need more mana let me know

And then the Ghosthound pointed a bright flash of fire shooting forward to the approaching mob When it hit the monster’s line it exploded outwards in a blast of flame knocking everything in a 3 meter area the monsters in the epicenter burnt to a crisp

It really looked like artillery had struck

Then he pointed again and again and again and the front line charging towards them was ragged and scattered Donny sighed theatrically Welp let’s pack up boys looks like this is going to be an easy one

There were a few chuckles and the tension was largely out of the first few squads but they weren’t relaxed They were stretching muscles and tightening shield straps squeezing the shafts of their axes and adjusting their fur and snakeskin armor These were the men that had survived at least two nights

Although they hadn’t been at this for long they knew their business If they didn’t they would be dead already

The front runners of the monsters had slowed scared but the second wave surged forward running past screaming their fury Again and again the Ghosthound pointed his finger the harbinger of death

But there was a 3rd wave of monsters and a 4th and 5th and the Ghosthound drank a mana potion and broke them all

10 more surged forward Grim eyed he reached up and cracked his neck Above a bird screeched and a strange winged creature with a woman’s head and torso dove towards them talons flashing

Clarissa

Oh doggy The blonde girl interrupted batting her eyelashes How about you let me go first

A strange glowing hawk condensed on the girl’s outstretched arm and threw itself up wings beating Then it streaked upwards meeting the harpy creature midair The screeching was abruptly cut off and the harpy fell down in two pieces The hawk swooped around ripping through some of the approaching harpies but there were dozens

The Ghosthound rolled his eyes looking surprisingly human as he grinned at the blonde girl If that’s all Clarissa

Would it be that uncomfortable to give a compliment every once and awhile The stoic type is cool and attractive but a lot of people are drawn to the gap too The blonde girl muttered But then she stamped her foot and waved her arms and suddenly a crow a hummingbird a goldfinch and an eagle sprung into existence all made of that strange glowing energy and flew up joining the hawk

Each of them seemed to be more weapon than natural creature ripping holes through the harpies just by flying into them Harpy bodies fell like rain The bird bodies sizzled and flickered but they silently screamed their fury and slaughtered their way through the harpies

But as soon as they appeared they faded the blonde girl collapsing in a sweating heap

I suppose that’s my cue Clarissa said stepping forward and summoning icicles which she began to throw expertly spearing a flying harpy

You too The Ghosthound rumbled and Annie started Her

He wanted her to hit wildly flying birds

At night While they swooped down and tried to kill her

Admittedly the Ghosthound shot any down that came too near all the while throwing fireballs at the ground army leaving wide gaps in the flood of monsters

Gritting her teeth Annie knocked an arrow and raised her bow taking aim But as she tried to track the Harpies her vision just blurred their movements too confusing

So she just closed her eyes and loosed hoping for the best

She was rewarded with a screech She opened her eyes shocked to find an arrow through the eye of a harpy the body crumpling and falling to the ground She gained a level in Archery Mastery

Feeling giddy she quickly knocked another arrow and shot it That one ripped the throat out of one harpy and ricocheted away taking another in the chest

She gained another level in Archery Mastery

The Ghosthound gave her a long look

Nice shots

But then he was turning away glaring towards the sky Still too far away He muttered

Aegis The call came a golden light suffusing the first squad as they ripped easily through the first wave of enemies and then the second But as more came they came more thickly Wolverines and Lizards and Imps

At this point the people in the first squad were all above level 10 and could take several of each enemy on at once But if there were 100

They weapons slashed forward in short brutal strikes Admittedly they were still pretty clumsy but they were getting the hang of roman legion style fighting

Annie killed another harpy and shook her head sadly That was another reason why her Dozer wasn’t in charge his fighting style didn’t match the strategy

Finally the Ghosthound said looking up towards the sky Here they come

Chapter 47

Randidly gathered fire and released it aiming upwards He didn’t bother with calculating wind or speed but just reached up and adjusted the flight path slightly with his extremely high control stat backed by his willpower

His fireball struck the wing of the first huge condor the bird screaming and sliding sideways losing its ability to glide with a huge chunk of its wing blown off But dozens more cruised lower aiming for the base

First Squad switch Donny called his squad sliding back one individual at a time a member of the second squad It was a smart ploy Having the first squad at the back to deal with what came would be smart

Randidly threw several more fireballs upwards The first condor crashed into ground its fully 30 meter wingspan smashing dozens of monsters on the ground It didn’t appear to have a high level or any offensive weapons but it was able to carry around 30 monsters on its back while gliding Randidly had seen them hoping off the mountain looming Donnyton them to get up speed and slowly gliding down here

It was annoying but the condors themselves weren’t too big of a problem it was what they represented that was scary Randidly activated his Eyes of the Spear Phantom and looked the back of the horde But low leveled monsters rushed out unendingly

Not yet huh

Randidly drank a mana potion and tossed a dozen more fireballs up into the air ripping holes in wings and blowing heads entirely off bodies Most crashed into the monster mass sowing chaos but there were far too many of the condors Several times the condor crashed on their side of the wall around two dozen groggy monsters staggered off the condor met by the newer squads backed by the 1st squad

The only problem occured when a condor crashed onto the wall splintering the wood and giving the monsters hand holds to crawl over the tall walls

Luckily Decklan’s group appeared like ghosts ripping through the distracted monsters while Sam gleefully had his men drag the condor over the wall Shaking his head Randidly admitted to himself that Sam’s pursuits were getting decidedly strange Randidly saw Sam just a small gash and his head and rub blood on the body before looking at it with greedy eyes

The way he looked at a fresh monster body he had never seen before it wasn’t moral

Randidly continued to rain fire down on the attacking monsters his skill level increasing the explosion getting marginally larger inch by inch

The squads rotated smoothly the fresh recruits stumbling but surviving Ptolemy was there healing scratches bandaging wounds replacing any wooden shields that broke

Randidly spared a glance for the Weather Witch and the Archer Both possessed a surprising amount of mettle standing tall while harpies attacked the group of them up here Not that he would let any get close enough to matter but still Both were accurate Both were practical Both were blessedly silent

Mana potion Lyra chirped playfully poking Randidly’s side Shaking his head he tossed her a mana potion As annoying as he thought he should find it it was hard to be too put off when every time she summoned those glowing birds of hers she ripped through a dozen enemies clearly demonstrating her skill It was almost nice Randidly admitted to himself to have someone who didn’t look at him with fear and awe She treated him like a person

The fact that she was a lovely teenager who managed to master skills that Randidly hadn’t managed to imititate didn’t hurt her appeal either

After dealing with Lyra he turned back and scanned the battelfield a long slow smile forming

Looming at the back crouched down but abundantly clear was a large wolverine Too large And Randidly could clearly see it’s name and Level glowing blue

Godmother Wolverine Lvl 19

Randidly prepared to go meet it then thought better of it Instead he turned towards the forces below Half of which were grunting and fighting half of which were bent over and panting

Dozer time to live up to your namesake Clear a path directly forward into the enemy Donny get your most durable people and follow him We have our first boss

Dozer’s squad wearily got to their feet hefting their shields and drawing their short swords Randidly chuckled then shook his head slowly

No no leave those twigs here I said clear a PATH not thread a needle Give Donny a hole large enough to stumble through

The whole group stilled Dozer shifted looking up at Randidly Then his ugly flat face split into a huge grin He dropped his short sword and shield and drew the huge club that he had obtained in the dungeon All around him men shed armor and small arms drawing axes clubs halberds and spear Huge weighty weapons that were meant more to bash and slaughter

Dozer strode forward his 10 man squad following him The 4th squad was currently at the front holding back the monster horde

SQUADS 6 through 10 Dozer belowed PART

Confused they shuffled to the side revealing Squad 5 who nervously glanced backwards while the 4th squad struggled with grim expressions Donny formed up a group of 25 or so people hurrying after Dozer

Dozer and his group began to run

Randidly threw down handfuls of fire not at the area near the gate but in a line directly forward thinning enemies in the way

His huge thighs bulging Dozer crouched behind the 5th squad their eyes wide and then leapt his huge 2 meter club held high overhead His squad loyally followed roaring Their huge muscled forms reached the apex of their leap then fallin weapons swinging

Most nearby monsters were meat paste before they understood what was happening Dozer rumbled forward his huge club swinging 4 or 5 monsters crushed or smashed backwards with every blow His men charged after him swinging like mad themselves and the monster horde was quickly bulldozed before them

Donny followed the golden glow of Aegis suffusing his group as they walked forward mopping up the mess left by Dozer Feeling that the time was right Randidly bombarded the area around the Godmother Wolverine with flames killing the weaker monsters and antagonizing the boss

It roared and stood on its hind legs shouting its challenge towards the sky Then it lowered itself again and charged forward heedless of its minions it crushed Within seconds Dozer had caught sight of the charging wolverine and laughed wildly raising his club

The two forces met with a huge boom Dozer staggering back several steps but the Godmother Wolverine stopped dead Its face was confused and then furious and it reared up again but suddenly Donny was there shield blazing with golden light and Shield Bashed it directly in the face Stunned the thing stumbled and Decklan was there sweeping in his knives leaving long scratches on its flank

Their squads spread out around them knocking the monsters back and forming a loose defensive circle letting the powerhouses meet

Randidly felt slightly disappointed that he wasn’t a part of the struggle but he sensed that this enemy was not one that would get his blood flowing Although it was as high of level as the things beyond the boundary it just had a prodigious amount of health It was enough for the three of them to defeat it And also they would be further reassured of their ability to survive without him That was very important for the future

Instead Randidly drew his spear and hopped off the wall Now was time for him to play

Randidly had a satisfied expression as he watched the sun rise For one there were only 3 deaths this morning and 1 of them was an NCC who got too curious and wandered too close to the horde

In addition Randidly experienced an enjoyable amount of level gains Spear Mastery increased by 2 Phantom Thrust by 1 Spear Phantom’s footwork by 3 Heavy Blow and Fighting Proficiency by 1 Haste by 2 Sweep by 4 Empower by 3 Calculated Blow by 8 Roundhouse Kick and Edge of Decay by 4

Fireball also increased by 3 with Root Manipulation going up by 1 Pollen of the Rafflesia and Summon Pestilence both by 2 and Mana Strengthening by 3

And the ever important Equip went up putting it at 20 and giving Randidly a nice surprise He was finally able to identify and equip the necklace he had gotten from the first cat he had killed

Necklace of the Shadow Cat Lvl 20 ® (Vitality +1 Strength +2 Agility +7)

He certainly savored that Agility boost after wearing it without any effect for long Then Randidly’s eyes widened as he wondered if the habit of teeth necklaces denoting authority came from imitating him He shook his head ruefully

There was no way that was the case right

Chapter 48

He certainly had earned quite a lot of PP in the battle but he supposed that was understandable Part of it was the huge library of skills he currently possessed Odds were one or two would level up constantly

Additionally no matter how strong you were being surrounded added a lot of mental pressure raising the stakes In addition his higher recovery rates combined with his constant potions meant that he could continue far longer than others out grinding skills levels with the sheer amount of time spent fighting

Still the rewards this time were large and the completion notification for Entangling Roots was a welcome sight followed by a flood of additional notifications

Congratulations You have completed the The Entangling Roots Path +3 Int Wis Control and Focus +25 Mana Where you walk the earth comes alive heeding your beck and call You have learned the skill Wall of Thorns Lvl 1 You have learned the skill Soul Seed Lvl ®

Wall of Thorns Produces a bristling wall of thorns Size and sharpness of thorns based on Intelligence and skill level Shape of the wall and distance away based on Wisdom and Skill level

Soul Seed A rare skill that will not level Nurture the seed with the essence of your other skills and different plants will grow Effects of the plants will be determined by the level of skills used to nurture them Plants grown from Soul Seeds will have intelligence and level and will be capable of growth

Congratulations As the first member of your race to unlock a rare skill you have received the reward path Frontrunner 0/100 Use this path to lead your race to salvation

For finishing the Entangling Roots path your Skill has evolved Synchronicity with Soul Skill Spear of Rot Mastery detected Calculating mutations

3 mutations found Forking Path Choose which skill Entangling Roots shall take on characteristics of Pollen of the Rafflesia Edge of Decay or Spear Mastery

Randidly looked at the notifications and blinked The new skills both intrigued him Looking at Wall of Thorns he was excited to go cat hunting today trying to find and kill the annoying things Soul Seed was a little more nebulous

His confidence was also boosted by the reward’ path he received although he was a little leery about another 100 PP path right now

But for the moment his attention was on the ways that Entangling Roots could evolve He hesitated for a half second but really he knew immediately as he saw the options what he would choose

Congratulations You have chosen Spear Mastery Your skill has evolved into Spearing Roots Level has been reset but benefits from the previous skill’s skill level have been retained

Immediately Randidly walked out into the forest and tried it The sight of dozen of sharpened roots shooting upward boring holes in the wood of an unlucky tree set him laughing Although he would now need to rely on root manipulation for his control the increased strength and power of the stabbing roots were more than enough to make up for it

Anyways he had been using root manipulation to touch up on the accuracy of Entangling Roots anyways And now for the big control he had Wall of Thorns

Curious Randidly used that and a short waist high hedge of sharpened thorns springing up Randidly pressed his finger against a thorn and pulled back impressed If it was sharp enough to get through his endurance most low leveled monsters would tear themselves to pieces on it

Finally Randidly looked at his hand concentrating and summoned a Soul Seed A small wizened looking nut appeared in his hand weirdly maroonish in color A small bar hovered over the seed

Soul Seed 0% Nurtured

Randidly scratched his chin Nurtured was it The notification had said I nurture it with skills so do I just

As he focused on the nut he felt a strange connection forming He knew instinctively that while he had the seed on his person it would grow based on any skill he activated So for now he put the seed away and turned back to his spare PP He immediately poured it into the Meditation path and was rewarded at 5 with 15 mana and at 10 with +2 Wisdom

Yawning Randidly rubbed his stomach Today was a good day And every good day deserved a good meal to start it off

Leaving by a side path Randidly escaped from Donnyton without any more questions from Daniel or any strange followers

Lyra was beautiful sure And useful Her spells were powerful too And she was a non classer like him so they had that in common

Randidly froze And she was here

He spun around expecting to see her standing there her mana birds fluttering around her But there was nothing the path was deserted Randidly frowned then chuckled nervously shaking his head

Even if he had grown definitively stronger he wasn’t so strong that he could just have his head in the clouds while searching for these cats And today was the 5th day

Looking at the sun Randidly wondered again what would happen once the Newbie Zone walls fell and the monsters from beyond the boundary roved towards the village

Clenching his fist he turned and began to walk He would meet whatever came with strength

And so for now he would work on sharpening that strength

Daniel glanced up at the nervous man annoyed

What is it He snapped

Uh S sam wants to speak with you sir The man stuttered and then hurried away

Sighing Daniel wiggled his fingers at his assistants who tiredly took the paperwork from him as he stood to leave Despite what the rest of the people here seemed to think a society required bureaucracy to function You couldn’t just steal whatever you needed from wherever you wanted That wasn’t a sustainable economy

However

As he walked towards Sam’s settlement down by the farming area Daniel rubbed his temples It was becoming increasingly difficult to find a way to actually base their economy on something They had no real production besides food and animal pelts and the slightly more sophisticated armors that Sam would produce but still

Gold was becoming increasingly popular as a currency but none of the Classers even took it seriously they gambled it away on dumb ridiculous bets like arm wrestling contests or who could cut down more trees with a single swing They were like children and their increased physical prowess was their shiny new toy

Sir Daniel A woman said hurrying next to him struggling to keep pace with his long strides Although Daniel hadn’t really gained very many levels he had gained quite a few skills during his duties As such he had seen it prudent to put some into physical attributes So the woman who was one of the designated NCC representatives was struggling to keep up

He had to admit being call Sir Daniel certainly was better than Chubbs’

What is it Daniel said lengthening his stride

We would like permission to extend the current farming plat Probably by double Moving further south down the valley A recent arrival brought coffee seeds and

Fine fine Daniel said waving his hands Draw up a new map and send it over for approval

Yes sir The woman said peeling away gratefully She began shouting to the nearby Classers offering food bribes for labor A lot of single shoulder pad classers having nothing better to do agreed and began to follow her

Daniel arrived at Sam’s area shocked at the changes that had occurred The ground had been flattened and around a dozen wooden tables were covered with monster parts Some tables were covered in monsters being skinned others were skins drying others were stacks of sorted bones still others had men stitching away creating armor and clothing from the furs of monsters

A lot of people had taken to wearing it especially the Classers but Daniel still preferred the feel of processed cotton

Sam and Dozer stood over to the side surrounded by several of Dozer’s brutish henchmen as Dozer hefted what looked like the giant skull of the Wolverine he had killed last night As Daniel watched Dozer lifted the object and placed it onto his head

Narrowing his eyes Daniel walked closer Although it was definitely a wolverine skull there was no way it should fit his head so regularly with the eye holes wide and spaced so it’s easy to see out from within

Heh as expected you can see immediately Sam said positively glowing as he regarded it He jerked a thumb at the skull covered Dozer That’s the work of my new skill Bone Shaping Can’t do much of anything impressive with it yet but if I keep working at it we will have whole suits of armor soon Imagine

Dozer grunted happily clearly excited but Daniel just rolled his eyes So how quickly can things like that be made

Well Sam hemmed It’s not like it takes too long but it’s not short either And it needs to be personalized by me

Shaking his head Daniel reached into his spatial backpack which had been purchased with 50 SP and removed a pile of folders I look forward to seeing them in widespread use In the meantime I took the liberty of drawing up some evaluation forms for you two and Decklan to handle

Evaluation Dozer muttered staring uncomprehendingly at the tiny words covering the pages handed to him

Yes Evaluation I know you are tired of me harping on the ranking stratification and I am too I made a rubric for you to grade each Classer by Strength Utility Teamwork Leadership etc Just fill all the columns in and add them up and you will have a number between 1 and 100 Obviously we will just being going by the 10s digit for the specific rank but specificity is always preferable Daniel explained with a smile Then he turned and walked away leaving the piles of paper with the two men

But then he turned and called over his shoulder Oh and I expect it done by the end of today Until it gets done I’ll probably be too busy to work out the schedule for the dungeon

The cat quickly sidestepped avoiding the wall of thorns but the Spearing Roots shot upward leaving several scrapes across its body

And in that moment it stumbled

A Phantom Thrust ripped into its neck spraying its blood over the ground After a few wobbly steps it collapsed spent

Pleased Randidly sat too beginning to refine Blue Energy stones to make higher tiered mana potions He had been hunting cats for around two hours and had caught 6 The Wall of Thorns really helped but even more important were the points that he had started putting into strength Where as before he could leave small scratches now his blows actually would send the cats stumbling with the force In addition the extra Agility from the necklace had done a lot to even out their difference in speeds

Honestly it was mostly perception and reaction that was holding him back now He was slowly beginning to realize that his body was faster than he could handle Ruefully Randidly put that on the list of things that needed to be worked on as he progressed

So far today he had gained 3 Levels in Wall of Thorns but only 2 in Spearing Roots even though he used it much much more Apparently in addition to the skill level bonuses carrying over the difficulty in leveling also increased Haste also went up by 1 and Refine by 2

Randidly also noticed that although evolving the skill had increased the mana cost to 45 his mana pool of 450 still meant he could cast it 10 times before he needed to break for mana potions The rate at which he could improve spells was improved enormously by the larger mana pool

As he began to move forward through the strange wasteland he wondered if he had gotten to a level of strength that he would get an impressive class Probably something related to his Spear of Rot Mastery

But he still wanted to push his fire magic forward to a higher level before trying it The combination would be deadly in a class But currently he was leery about using fire magic so that would take a back seat

Randidly removed the Soul Seed from his pocket

Soul Seed 22% Nurtured Strongest Influences 1 Spearing Roots 2 Wall of Thorns 3 Haste 4 Refine

Randidly wasn’t sure what to make of the strongest influences information but he supposed it was still interesting More interesting was that it had gotten to 22% in 2 hours so it would roughly take 8 more hours to be nurtured

And after that

He would plant it

Chapter 49

Movement caught Randidly’s eye and he saw for the first time two cats streaking across the wasteland together He supposed they had to breed somehow so it wasn’t surprising It was honestly more surprising that he hadn’t seen it before

Monsters did breed That’s why some of the Classers had captured some Wolverines and Lizards and were starting a farm for meat They even apparently accepted domestication well enough as long as someone with a level over 10 was there or equivalent strength They had some intuition about who could kill them

But the two together made his hunting more dangerous but also doubly as efficient

They hadn’t appeared to have noticed him so Randidly crept forward hiding in the shady side of a large crack in the earth As he moved into position he received a level in Sneak which made him chuckle it certainly had been awhile since he used this skill

As they came hurtling past a Wall of Thorns sprang up which the first one plowed right into setting off a series of long yowls Spearing Roots rushed up silencing it quickly

The other dodged to the side narrowly avoiding the thorns and was caught in the back leg by a Spearing Roots Already the next Spearing Roots was rushing towards its hobbled form but this cat did something that Randidly had never seen before

It swayed its upper body receiving some scratches but largely dodging the attack Then also contrary to form it leapt away streaking back from whence it came leaving a trail of blood

Strange usually they would attack him on sight regardless of their injuries

Randidly collected the body of the first cat and squinted at the fleeing one Shrugging he decided to follow it Although it would be increasingly dangerous if it returned to a den or warren of the things it would also speed up his hunting quite a bit

A smile tugging at the corners of his mouth Randidly loped silently after it

Dozer Donny and Decklan glanced fearfully at each other and then down at the stack of papers in front of them The immaculately scaled and designed forms were soggy and wet from coffee

When the man who wanted to grow coffee had arrived he had sweetened the deal by offering some of his already roasted beans Naturally those bribes slowly percolated up the chain of command until they arrived at Donny

Only 16 years of age and not such a coffee drinker he had turned to Decklan and Dozer for their expertise on the subject All and all the two had assured him it was an excellent strain

Unfortunately they had knocked over the pot spilling all of the remaining coffee

Unfortunately the sheets they were supposed to rank all the classers with had been ruined

I mean What can he really do I’m the village chieftain Donny said uncertainly

Good you take the blame Decklan said crossing himself

He distributes the food Dozer mumbled He controls who gets weapons from the shop with SP rather than having to save up gold themselves Wood that comes up from the NCCs He controls that You wanted to start to build a house didn’t you Donny

The three considered the issue solemnly picturing Daniel’s pudgy face contorted in fury It was honestly difficult to imagine It really couldn’t be that bad right

Well Dozer said uncertainly He did mention that all he really needed was a 1 10 ranking we could just

Rank everyone Today Decklan snapped

But then Donny blinked then laughed

Yes That’s exactly what we do With the most efficient method for determining strength

The other two looked at him He smiled widely and spread his hands With a Tournament

The three of them straightened their worried looks turning into flinty evaluative ones

A tournament Decklan said calmly making a knife dance across this hands

A tournament Dozer agreed his chest heaving his eyes bright

I’ll go tell the squads and grab Sam I’m sure we can assemble a stadium or something by the time we get to the top 16 People who lose in the preliminaries need to build Donny said picturing himself being crowned champion

Ah Dozer said blinking Will the Ghosthound be participating

They mulled this question over for several seconds

Let’s not bother him with this Donny said After all it is purely administrative work It is being done to rank the Classers nothing more

Nothing more The other two echoed eyeing each other

Randidly had followed the trail to the edge of a small path leading downwards into a ravine before he hesitated the hair on the back of his neck tingling There was something strange here Something wrong