But the trail of blood led forward and Randidly felt a familiar thrill growing Against his better judgement he walked down into the gorge around twisting turns through meandering paths until finally deep within the gorge Randidly arrived at a large cave
The trail of blood had long since disappeared so Randidly was expecting an ambush Eyes of the Spear Phantom were activated and scanning around but when he finally spotted the enemy it wasn’t one that he needed to be using any extra skills to see
It was large as large as a short bus Body of a lion head of a woman wings of an eagle Its eyes slowly opened its amber eyes drifting over towards him It lounged in front of the entrance to the cave plain as day
The floating text above its head dominated Randidly’s focus freezing him solid In a bright yellow text that Randidly didn’t recognize he immediately recognized that he might be facing his own doom
The Hungry Tribulation Ep Tal Lvl 30
My my my The creature murmured getting to its feet It seems the sheep have wandered quite far from the shepherd And what soft wool you have Haven’t even received a class yet Well well well
What Are you Your name is yellow
Ah ah ah The creature said seeming pleased It sat on its haunches regarding him with a glimmer of interest So the sheep does know some things Yes I do not fit into the normal hierarchy of enemies you face I am special I am the tribulation that waits outside the edge of the Newbie Zone for freshly formed villages A desolation but perhaps also a blessing The Hungry Hungry Hungry Tribulation
The sphinx flashed its teeth
Randidly remembered now the fear he had learned first in the Dungeon surrounded by enemies much more powerful than himself Although this enemy wasn’t as high as the level of the Boss of the Dungeon the suffocating aura was 10x as great and there was no Shal here to take the brunt of the damage The feeling came wet and raw and fresh The old dread of a predator looming above him His hands were shaking but his smile was growing wider and wider his eyes bright
He might die here But he definitely felt alive here too
In a smooth motion he drew his spear and leveled it towards the sphinx Aren’t you supposed to tell me a riddle or something
Its smile widened and it lowered its stance into a crouch No no no But we shall enjoy our time playing together To a wandering lost sheep there are a few lessons that I am willing to teach teach teach
It leapt forward and Randidly dodged to the side activating Haste Empower Footwork of the Spear Phantom and Mana Strengthening His eyes narrowed sensing rather than seeing that he wouldn’t make it in time
He instantly used Phantom Half Step creating some distance weighing his options
But whereas the cats had been annoyingly fast this creature was mind bogglingly fast and already crossed the distance to him its huge paw swiping sideways
His spear got up in time and he activated Mana Shield and Iron Skin At the same time he used Spearing Roots aiming for its underside while it was distracted attacking him
It laughed as it sidestepped so fast it vanished avoiding the roots and belched fire at him
Randidly felt sweat on his brow as he raised his hand simultaneously channeling Root Manipulation and shooting a fireball to intercept the fireball spat by the sphinx Randidly didn’t doubt that he wouldn’t be able to take many of those fireballs due to his low Resistance
The fireballs met in a huge explosion of roaring flame and Randidly could tell that his was slightly weaker But he leapt over the smoke using the cover to pull out and down a stamina and mana potion Then he narrowed his eyes scanning for the sphinx
Here here here It cooed from behind him its paw smashing into his back
The impact was brutal even with iron skin Randidly could feel that several of his bones had broken and some of his organs were failing He simply pressed his hands to his chest and activated healing palm barely keeping his health afloat Staggering to his feet he drank two health potions feeling his body snap back into place quite painfully but otherwise without any repercussions
Randidly had also come to a realization It wasn’t that the Sphinx was fast it simply used the same skill that Lyra did
It could literally teleport anywhere around him Snickering he felt it move
Rather than trying to track it with his eyes Randidly raised his spear and prepared to receive its attacks If Lyra had taught him anything in the past few days it’s that the things she did came at great cost it was not a move that could be used indefinitely
And when it ran out of mana that was his chance He simply had to survive that long
Chapter 50
Glendel watched the city feeling slightly annoyed
On behalf of the leader of his group he had been sent to investigate the two newbie villages that had sprung up so close together here In the winding 50 mile trek up here their group hadn’t seen a single pillar of light Imagine their surprise when they arrived and found two
Something was different here and their leader was cautiously pessimistic And thus Glendel was planning on making contact with both But when he had originally approached the first village the more civilized seeming one he had been told to turn around and leave or they would shoot As he tried to explain himself they had fired off warning shots sending him scampering back
Although he had put some points into End and Vit from finishing paths he didn’t think he could do something as ridiculous as survive bullets
Just as he was about to give up disgusted something strange happened The bus that acted as a gate to the city pulled to the side and a truck drove out carefully driving in the small thin path free of monster bodies
As it pulled off the road and went around on a path Glendel walked out cautiously waving his arms This was different maybe they had sent someone out to talk with him
But the truck was ready to pull right passed him and only stopped when he shouted Hey
Still it did stop so Glendel walked to the side looking into the driver’s seat A tall athletic looking black man sat there dressed in a police uniform Next to him was a beautiful woman with honey colored skin that looked oddly familiar
Glendel offered a nervous smile Hey uh again I was just wondering how do you get into the city
The two exchanged a heavy glance
The officer turned back to Glendel Unfortunately we aren’t accepting any more refugees at this time If you want shelter we recommend you head to Donnyton Actually we are heading there now if you need a ride
Glendel nodded uncertainly then got into the back of the cab The truck pulled away driving around the hill in a long loop while the two up front talked in tones too low for Glendel to hear Instead he turned and looked at the cargo
It was Glass
Randidly’s left arm hung useless at his side 4 large furrows in his flesh keeping him from being able to move it And the slashes from the Sphinx came faster and faster With only one arm he blocked as well as he could dispersing the force
But the Sphinx just teleported behind him and attacked from a different angle Gritting his teeth Randidly used Spearing Roots starting them behind him so that the sharp attacks rushed towards his back hidden from the Sphinx’s vision As the huge paw descended towards him Randidly raised his spear with his good arm simultaneously guiding those roots around his body hugging him as closely as they could the attacks rushing forward
Because of that the Sphinx’s attack hit him almost square on the training spear given to him by Shal bending dangerously
But at the same time several of the spearing roots landed on the its paw digging into the sphinx’s flesh It tsk’d in annoyance shaking its paw and Randidly used that opportunity to withdraw several potions downing them all
Then as his health surged back upwards his arm healing Randidly leapt forward an Empowered Phantom Onslaught rushing towards the creature
As soon as it ripped through the roots however it teleported away again his attack hitting nothing but air Panting Randidly adjusted his stance and waited The sphinx just seemed disappointed
Heh heh heh you are likely waiting for me to use up my mana correct But it is in vain before the Newbie Barrier drops I have unlimited mana so that I would not succumb to any of the other monsters out here I might not have any regeneration but my well of mana and stamina will never run dry And for you that is bad bad bad
Randidly lowered his spear slowly It couldn’t be accidentally doing this right And what about your health
The sphinx threw its head backwards laughing Hahaha From your face you are wondering if it is a trap yes That I claim to have no regeneration and fail to mention infinite health just infinite stamina and mana It is no trap although I am bound I am still a sphinx I have my pride No challenger will be clueless around me Although it is a broad term isn’t it little sheep Clueless clueless clueless
But but but It continued That is not to say I cannot heal myself But until the barrier drops I am stuck out here and so I might as well play with you for a while It gets so dull out here And the only way to amuse myself is to eat eat eat
Then it stretched in a very catlike manner and began to walk towards him its eyes gleeful
Breathing in and breathing out Randidly looked down the shaft of his spear towards his opponent It blinked out of existence and Randidly relaxed waiting for the sign Then he felt it and abruptly looked up
It had teleported above him and several fireballs shot down towards him God he wished had had a higher resistance right now He shifted his stance raising his spear and spinning it in a Spear Deflect The fireballs crashed against his defense almost causing it to falter And he felt his arm being covered in burns lowering his health
But he simply willed his spells into motion Spearing Roots shooting upwards in the area obscured to him by the flames
Gah The sphinx spat and Randidly grinned
About time the fucking thing didn’t do that dumb three of the same words thing
He rushed through the smoke seeing several long scratches left on the sphinx’s side as it hopped backwards and Randidly pursued rushing forward
The Sphinx teleported a dozen meters backwards but Randidly just used Phantom Half step covering most of that distance his spear lashing out
Roaring its fury The Sphinx spat several more fireballs at him and reared up onto its hind legs ready to meet him
But Randidly had immediately teleported backwards with Phantom Half Step hopping behind a rock to drink several potions and avoid the vicious flames
You You You The sphinx said seemingly amused
Ignoring it Randidly drank the potions and then opened up his menu
Spear Mastery up 1 Eyes of the Spear Phantom up 1 Spear Phantom’s Footwork up 2 Phantom Half Step up 3 Dodge and Block both up 2 Haste up 1 Spear Deflect up 3 Empower up 2 Spearing Roots up 1 Root Manipulation up 1 Mana Strengthening up 3 Physical Fitness and Running up 1 Sprinting up 2 and Fire Resistance up 1
26 pp all told and he dumped it all into his path finishing it off
Congratulations You have completed the The Meditation Path +5 to Perception and Reaction Your mind is clear and your eyes are focused That path lies ahead may be fraught with difficulties but you will meet it directly Effectiveness of Meditation improved Regeneration has increased to +1 5% per skill level
There was a slight hesitation then as Randidly considered what to put his PP into next but that horrible voice spoke again My my my What is taking so long Don’t you want to play Play Play
Grim eyed Randidly looked towards the Frontrunner path Reward path huh Well here goes nothing
He had 17 PP left and put them all into it
To his surprised he received 8 distributable stat points one every two levels If this continued this path would be worth 50 stat points without even including the completion bonus
But then Randidly heard movement and dumped all of it into agility He needed the edge in speed or he wouldn’t be able to handle the teleportation
Rushing forward Randidly was wearing a crooked grin
He had missed this Hanging on by a thread fighting for his life
In moments like this he forgot how much life was lost due to the system and just enjoyed the primal simplicity of it
Chapter 51
Rubbing sweat from his brow Glendel finished helping the beautiful woman Ellaine and the police officer Kraig unload the cases of beakers and test tubes and seemingly hundreds of other glass articles onto the ground finally stopping to glance around and take a look at Donnyton
Honestly while the other city had been the one with more buildings Glendel hadn’t barely been able to see any movement Here people were swarming They were currently in an area that was beginning to form into a small town square sitting down in the valley below the fort from which the pillar of light erupted
There were several foundations being laid for houses and huge tree trunks were laying everywhere seemingly abandoned on the ground Right now they were in front of a rather large longhouse looking building which Ellaine explained was Donnyton’s warehouse for supplies
Although She mumbled looking around with a strange light in her eyes It’s a lot bigger than the last time I was here
Their glassware was accepted by a stern faced woman with a clipboard who took everything in with a glance before turning around and whistling Around a dozen youths crawled out of the woodwork looking surly She frowned at them all
Fine fine finish taking these back to the vats in the back and then you are all free to go watch the spectacle up there
Whooping the youths swarmed around Glendel who stood still so as not to be trampled Very quickly the crates were moved and Kraig and Ellaine got back in the truck the latter gazing wistfully across the grounds towards another large building farther down the valley But then she shook her head and settled into her seat
Before they left Kraig leaned out the window and gave the woman a serious look Make sure the Ghosthound knows that we will forget what happened Let’s take a non interference policy from now on alright Good luck
And with that they drove off Glendel made a mental note about the term Ghosthound because they used it as if it was a proper noun Was it a monster of some sort
Had this village tamed a monster Is that why they had formed so quickly
Not that it would likely be difficult to fight down one of the blue monsters in their area now that they had banded together with a common goal and a leader But they hadn’t
These people had
The woman snorted and then turned to Glendel with raised eyebrows What are you defecting Well I’m a bit busy so
Oh no Glendel shook his head I’m uh from a group traveling up from Franksburg About 60 of us We were looking to trade
Trade Strangely the woman’s eyes began to sparkle What are you looking for
Partially food and a place to stay Glendel admitted And also access to whatever it is you do to get a class Information too And we are willing to give supplies in exchange Clothing Tents Tools
And Glendel added saving the best for last Medical supplies
Hmm Well I’d be willing to talk about the Clothing and Tools We are probably past the tent stage and medical supplies The woman shrugged I don’t think anyone has gotten a cold since they’ve gotten stats and could just raise their Vitality and Endurance
Glendel blinked slightly surprised I mean even without infections keeping health high should be something you’d be interested in right
Perhaps they had miscalculated Glendel thought Perhaps the classes were more powerful than they had thought
Before the woman could answer Glendel heard laughter from behind him and turned to find a lovely girl with sharp features and blonde hair to her shoulders She smirked at him as he turned around
No no She said I’m just here as a spectator this is going to be hilarious I can tell Play this out please and thank you
The woman bowed slightly Ms Lyra Should we expect the Ghosthound
Lyra scrunched her face up and huffed folding her arms The woman straightened and smiled Then she turned to Glendel again Well if you have any examples of clothing I’d love to see them Numbers sizes etc I’m willing to buy in bulk if food and information is what you want As for getting a class there are some rules about that You will have to go check up at the Classer portion of Donnyton
Classer But then Glendel shook his head refocusing No but first I guess I just don’t understand why medical supplies aren’t more attractive You probably didn’t know this but certain plants can be mixed to create potions
Lyra burst out laughing slapping her knee
The woman gave Glendel a kindly smile Mr
Glendel He said straightening
Mr Glendel why don’t you just follow me It would be easier than explaining
Glendel followed the woman as she walked into the longhouse They passed dried meat dried fruit nuts furs Glendel’s eyebrows rose Perhaps the woman was right about not caring about food He had only seen a few dozen people though so it was strange they had so much
Then they passed through to the back where around 20 people were standing by large vats slowly filling the glass containers Some with red liquid some with blue some with yellow Glendel gasped walking forward
The workers moved rapidly some grinding some carefully measuring others pouring water sample and all of them mixing mixing mixing
As Glendel watched he saw flashes of joy on some faces while disappointment colored others Several were carefully filling buckets with powder from the ground up energy crystals struggling to maintain the equality in quantity while upping the scale
No wonder they weren’t interested in medical supplies They had enough potions to solve any problems that might come their way
And also no wonder why they were more interested in the tools portion of the offer Most of the measuring equipment that they had were rather archaic analog scales where they would balance the two amounts of powder on the trays until they reached an equilibrium Only then would they mix No electronic scales seemed to be present
Glendel mentally thanked Alana for insisting Regina bring a few generators Really the only thing this place seemed to be lacking was electricity Hopefully that would be enough to trade for what they wanted
Wonderingly Glendel wandered closer and his mouth fell to the floor as he watched the people work with a closer eyes The speed that their hands were moving They probably all had double digit Agility
Lyra chuckled and the woman just looked on with a tight lipped smile Glendel picked up a vial of the finished potion examining it
68 health He muttered shocked The highest they had been able to achieve was just over 50 And that was only when Regina
The woman coughed into her hand seeming to be embarrassed Yes unfortunately mass producing it wasn’t as effective as we wished Here
She walked over to a smaller space to the side where a cooler sat on the table She filled a vial with liquid from the cooler the liquid glimmering azure and then brought it back to Glendel
Here consider it a gesture of goodwill this was personally mixed by the Ghosthound And maybe this will help you understand why we don’t need medical supplies
This restores Glendel gasped 199 mana That much mana From just this small amount of mana This isn’t this can’t
Glendel stuttered to a stop wanting to deny it but unable to refute the notification floating in front of him
Lyra still giggling wiped the tears from her eyes Oh man I told you this would be good
Chapter 52
Still slightly shellshocked Glendel followed Lyra who promised to take him to someone who could talk to him about getting a class
This the NCC village Lyra explained All the buff and glorious Classers live up there above us on high in Valhalla
Glendel had slowly figured out that NCC was what they called people without a class while Classers obviously had a class
What uh Glendel stammered slightly intimidated by how cute the teenage girl leading him was regardless of her constant stream of sarcasm What’s it like having a class
Oh I don’t have a class I just rely on my charm to get around She winked slyly at him and then continued to walk forward
At a loss Glendel followed As they walked up the hill towards the fort Glendel realized that it was a lot bigger than he had realized And it looked like it was almost completely deserted Lyra continued walking past the gate and Glendel glanced curiously in before following Although there seemed to be a small group of people at tables it really was completely empty Glendel hurried onward Down the hill and round the bend in the valley they went until the sounds of shouting grew louder It was only when they rounded the corner that the sea of people became obvious to Glendel
Probably just short of 800 were around some standing some watching some working The area seemed to have been a quarry and directly in front of them was a slope which lead downwards before leveling off People lined up around the outside of the quarry cheering at the people fighting in the center Off to Glendel’s right there were around 50 people some of them bandaged others running around cutting down trees dragging them and stacking them seeming to be making a rough looking stage surrounded by bleachers
As Glendel watched an old man raised an axe and cut a 10 meter tall tree in half down the middle with a single swing of his axe Several men took the two halves and began assembling the seats while several others set up another section of tree for him to cut
What What is going on Glendel gasped
Lyra shrugged A tournament obviously Want to compete
Gritting his teeth Randidly stepped backwards just beyond the reach of the Sphinx’s claws With a grin it teleported just slightly forward putting him back in the path of the attack but Randidly had predicted this stepping forward and throwing a Phantom Thrust to meet its torso even before it had teleported drawing a long but shallow scratch across its chest
It grumbled its fury spinning quickly Lashing out with its hind legs Raising his spear Randidly dodged the left foot and deflected the right but was still was sent tumbling by the size of the foot
Gritting his teeth Randidly created a wall of thorns between them buying him a fraction of a second Time seemed to slow as he considered his options
Health was still fine but both mana and stamina were nearing dangerously levels Mana was easier to conserve but regenerated much more slowly It basically wouldn’t regenerate enough to matter in the foreseeable future
Stamina on the other hand would regenerate at a tick of about 1 per second but he was constantly using it as he attacked dodged and blocked the fearsome attacks of the Sphinx
Stamina it was
As quick as possible Randidly withdrew a stamina potion and drank it leaping away from the wall of thorns which went up in flames with a roar of heat He retreated further using the cover from the flames to run a small distance up the path away from the cave where the sphinx sat
When the wall of thorns collapsed in a poof of char and soot the Sphinx was sitting calmly in front of the cavern It winked at Randidly then padded back into the cave Several seconds later it returned a half eaten cat in its mouth It gobbled the thing down and as Randidly watched the sphinx’s wounds healed
See See See Plus you are not one of mine so there are certain consequences associated with killing you So feel free to run away away away
For a second Randidly was torn But then he lowered his head and backed slowly away
Only when he was out of sight did he allow himself to turn and then only to sprint for 10 minutes crossing the wasteland and returning to just inside the edge of the Newbie boundary Randidly didn’t trust the creature for a minute but he did believe that the notifications that appeared told the truth and he would be safe within the safe zone from monsters of that level
As Randidly sat and meditated to recover more quickly he wondered what would have happened if he hadn’t followed that cat to find the sphinx If in two days that had simply shown up at Donnyton
It would have ripped through them Especially the NCC village below That was free recovery for it
Ultimately Randidly felt like he and some of the other elites could escape or hold it at bay when it no longer had access to the infinite mana and stamina but most of the village would be ripped to pieces The farms burned The potion brewing enterprise derailed The Wolverine butcheries slaughtered
All of the NCCs that worked for Sam raising skill levels before trying to get a class dead to the monstrously fast sphinx
They would likely survive ultimately but the village would be reduced to a few dozen individuals at best The peace they currently had holding onto the past would be shattered
Narrowing his eyes Randidly smiled
That was of course what would have happened if he had not discovered it early As he had he would murder it ripping the creature to pieces before even the newbie barrier dropped
Randidly removed the materials from his ring beginning to refine and brew more potions He was running low of almost everything but he could gather the things he needed quickly before returning to fight the sphinx It would be slightly slower than just returning to the village but Randidly feared that if he returned Lyra would follow him Although he had been able to scrape by and survive her weaker physical stats and limited mana pool would spell her end rather quickly
It might be a fun game to the sphinx but that didn’t mean it would show mercy when there was prey right in front of it
There was a throbbing pain in Randidly’s forehead right behind his eyes probably due to the extended bout that he had just fought with the sphinx He had struggled against the thing for 5 hours at least The sun was beginning to set and only now was the edge of weariness beginning to fade
But the headache remained
He then opened up his path menu
Randidly had gained 1 level in Spear Mastery 2 in Phantom Thrust 1 in Phantom Half Step 2 in Iron Skin and Dodge 3 in Block 1 in Spear Deflect 1 in Empower 2 in Edge of Decay and Spearing Roots 1 in Healing Palm and 3 in Fire Resistance
In addition he had gained a level in meditation as he sat and recovered With these PP Randidly continued to dump them into Frontrunner and with those stats he raised his reaction by 11 As the fight had gone on and he had gotten used to his increased speed he realized that he wasted quite a lot of time calculating his response His body was still fast enough to barely keep up with the sphinx even so but with an increased reaction hopefully the gap between them would narrow further
Health(/R per hour) 311/303 (+8) (155 (+12
Mana(/R per hour) 501/512 (71 5)
Stam(/R per min) 357/357 (59 (+4
Vit 45 (+4)
Str 28 (+2)
Agi 57 (+10)
Perception 24
Reaction 41
Inteligence 73
Wisdom 39
Control 55
Focus 26
Equipment Average Leather Tunic Lvl 5 (+2 Vit) Gloves of Quickness (Vit +1 Agi +3) Necklace of the Shadow Cat Lvl 20 ® (Vitality +1 Strength +2 Agility +7)
Skills (Soul Skill) Spear of Rot Mastery Lvl 228
Combat Spear Mastery Lvl 44 Phantom Thrust Lvl 44 Spear Phantom’s Footwork Lvl 32 Eyes of the Spear Phantom Lvl 20 Phantom Half Step Lvl 9 Heavy Blow Lvl 23 Dagger Mastery Lvl 10 Iron Skin Lvl 27 Dodge Lvl 31 Fighting Proficiency Lvl 30 Block Lvl 32 Haste Lvl 19 Phantom Onslaught Lvl 10 Sweep Lvl 16 Spear Deflect Lvl 10 Empower Lvl 21 Calculated Blow Lvl 19 Roundhouse Kick Lvl 13 Edge of Decay Lvl 11
Spells Spearing Roots Lvl 6 Mana Bolt Lvl 28 Mana Shield Lvl 24 Root Manipulation Lvl 26 Arcane Orb Lvl 22 Fireball Lvl 22 Magic Missile Lvl 4 Healing Palm Lvl 9 Pollen of the Rafflesia Lvl 8 Summon Pestilence Lvl 15 Mana Strengthening Lvl 13 Wall of Thorns Lvl 4 Soul Seed Lvl ®
Crafting Potion Making Lvl 22 Farming Lvl 20 Plant Breeding Lvl 9 Mapmaker Lvl 4 Analyze Lvl 24 Refine Lvl 6
Auxiliary Physical Fitness Lvl 29 Meditation Lvl 31 Running Lvl 20 Sprinting Lvl 15 Sneak Lvl 22 Acid Resistance Lvl 22 Poison Resistance Lvl 16 Pain Resistance Lvl 11 First Aid Lvl 13 Equip Lvl 20 Pathfinding Lvl 16 Mental Strength Lvl 11 Curse Resistance Lvl 3 Fire Resistance Lvl 8
Spear of Rot mastery was getting close to 250 again which was where it evolved last time but Randidly suspected that it would wait longer on the second time around perhaps to 500 But now that his Reaction was 41 Randidly had more confidence that he could keep up with his own Agility of 67 without making any mistakes
He shook his head ruefully Contrary to his plans he was just raising everything staying good at everything But in this case he had no choice His most powerful quality his spells just weren’t able to cope with an enemy that could teleport freely around him He needed to lock it down before he could smash it with the heavy hitters
Randidly had to rely on closing the distance and attacking it to start the fight and seize the momentum And to do that successfully he needed physical stats
Struck by a sudden thought Randidly checked his pockets and found the soul seed inspecting it again
Soul Seed 91% Nurtured Strongest Influences 1 Spear Mastery 2 Spearing Roots 3 Empower 4 Fire Resistance 5 Refine
It appeared that while he was fighting the sphinx the seed was nearing completion Although he had no idea what sort of result would occur because of it he noticed that Spear Mastery and Fire Resistance became stronger influences due to the nature of the fight
Shrugging Randidly stood and began walking towards the spot he had in mind to harvest energy shards for potions The headache had faded mostly and his heart was tingling with excitement
It would be a long night
But by morning the sphinx would be dead
Chapter 53
Dozer put his hands on his hips and laughed enthusiastically Kukuku what other outcome but this was possible Bask in my radiance I am the strongest
Donny and Decklan gazed hatefully at him but kept their mouths shut To be sure both Decklan’s speed and Donny’s endurance and ability to interrupt tempo and survive damage were intimidating
However this was not a battlefield There was nowhere for you to hide no cover to hide behind There was no press of bodies that ensured that Donny’s devastating Shield Bashes could be brought to bare This was a duel
In an open space Dozer’s larger weapon was at an advantage and after a long struggle he had prevailed
The strongest I would probably rate you as a distant 5th overall But your ambition sure is optimistic
Dozer frowned his moment passed but didn’t say anything as he turned to face the speaker Lyra walked forward her typical smirk in place on her face her eyes glittering
Although she was probably the most attractive woman in Donnyton very few people had the nerve to talk to her One of the reasons was the presence of the Ghosthound but the other was the viciousness with which she could rip through enemies with her magic
The men had whispered uneasily about how when the blood of harpies rained from the skies in that last monster horde there was only one culprit Lyra
The Ghosthound could reduce a horde into nothing with a blast of fire and Clarissa was extremely accurate with her icicles but those didn’t intimidate in the same visceral way as having drops of blood fall on you while fighting A red rain that marked the activity of her cruelly silent birds
Who’s above me Dozer rumbled intimidated but unwilling to let go of the moment
Her smile widened as if this was exactly what she wanted Well obviously myself Clarissa Annie and Sam Can you think of anyone else
The Ghosthound hung between them a name that Dozer would easily admit was more powerful than he But at the moment looking at her small smirk Dozer felt a hot spark of dissatisfaction
But then he frowned Annie What are you talking about She doesn’t even have
But Lyra just waved at him placatingly Yes yes all a big joke Donny boy actually I’m here for you There is a guest
She gestured theatrically to a thin man with long black hair tied up in a bun standing behind her The man was looking around nervously but stepped forward without hesitation when he was indicated
Hello I’m Glendel It’s nice to meet you
Glendel returned to their basecamp quickly hurrying forward through the lengthening shadows It had been 10 days since the world had changed Glendel had thought that as a general rule his group was probably more adaptable than most and had done well for themselves
While others had just wanted to sit inside and wait out whatever had happened in the world Regina had taken a more sustainability focused outlook on the whole situation She had pushed for gathering individuals gathering medicine and food defending themselves actively clearing out monsters in the hospital where they all used to work
She had led them inspiring them to greatness discovering potion making and magic and everything they knew about this world
The casual way that the people had talked about these things in Donnyton had shattered his worldview They were strong far far stronger than Glendel had believed possible During the tournament Glendel had watched as many fights as he could And the casual strength even the one shoulder pad Classer could display was breathtaking
Approaching the camp Glendel stopped and whistled as agreed and heard the counter whistle He hurried forward happy to finally be back
They had set up shop at a gas station their convoy of tractor trailers and ambulances pulling over surprised at how few monsters they encountered in the area In retrospect the reason was obvious the town was already dominating the nearby landscape When even the NCCs had enough strength to handle themselves around a monster the wandering creatures would thin out rather quickly
Remembering the pens where there were some enterprising individuals trying to breed monsters for meat Glendel shivered
As he passed some people he nodded to them and received weary nods in return their eyes hollow following his bulging backpack Unfortunately in this group of 70 the food that he had been given wouldn’t do much to sate their hunger But it would bring hope
Alana the tall woman who handled most of the dirty work for the convoy looked up as Glendel hurried towards Regina’s RV After a second of terse silence she waved him into the interior
Slightly breathless Glendel stepped forward
Regina Northwind former surgeon current leader of their expedition was frowning down at a ledger in front of her She didn’t immediately notice his presence and Glendel hesitated unsure of whether to disturb her But she coughed lightly into her hand and said Report without looking up from the papers in front of her
Glendel recounted his experiences of the day about how the first location refused him entry and how he had gone to the second Donnyton Although they were much more tribal they also seemed more active Most of the other refugees apparently came into Donnyton with the other town closed
He explained how their numbers appeared to be around 1000 and then he showed Regina the powerful mana potion and examples of the different crops that the administrator woman was willing to trade for tools and clothes
At this Regina sighed lightly Not interested in the medicine at all huh I suppose it makes sense How much of this did you say they had
Around a cooler full And from the way they talked about it it wasn’t too difficult to create They are even harvesting the energy crystal trees They are growing a grove
Regina’s eyes narrowed And they have classes yes What do classes do How strong were they
They didn’t all have classes Glendel explained slowly From what I could gather classes gave you something like a special path that also provides skills in addition you get a stat growth rate As for how strong they were
Glendel hesitated After a long pause he just shook his head I do not know how to explain Strong So strong that I can’t comprehend their strength
Regina was silent for a long moment Compared to Alana how strong are they
Glendel reflexively looked back towards the door where Alana sat Then he released a long sigh As far as I can tell there are 3 ranks of people with special individuals above that Alana is likely comparable to the first rank Maybe a little stronger more skillful with her spear But the people at the second level They surpass the human limits
The air was very still It didn’t even seem like Regina was breathing Then something loosened and she leaned back in her chair
How are women treated there
It seemed normal There were female warriors The head of the NCCs they call it non class characters was also a woman I also met a very strange woman named Lyra who seemed to have a fair amount of influence But there were definitely more men than women Outnumbered them about 2 to 1
If that’s the case Regina rubbed her forehead We have no choice and there’s no reason not to trade with them Let’s gather everyone up and head closer tomorrow
Ah there’s one more thing but I don’t know what it means Glendel added
Regina arched an eyebrow and he continued They kept referencing something called a Ghosthound’ At first I thought it was a monster or something but it seemed like they were talking about a person Not to put it bluntly but a lot of the men there seemed like brutes or thugs But as soon as the Ghosthound was mentioned they got as quiet and well behaved as christian school children
You think this Ghosthound is the reason that these villages formed so quickly Regina asked rubbing her chin
Maybe That’s the only thing I can guess
Thank you for your time And for agreeing to scout You are dismissed
Glendel backed out of the room a lump in his throat She made it sound pretty now but Glendel would rather have not been the scout But Regina had a very compelling reason why it had to be him he was the only remaining male in their group
Immediately after the system arrived most of the male doctors has stormed out of the hospital demanding answers only to be mauled by the waiting monsters Regina had gathered up most of the nurses and organized them working through their new series of problems
Most of the remaining men had either died or had run off unsatisfied with taking orders from Regina
At the end of 10 days Glendel was the only remaining man surrounded by 70 women
Chapter 54
The sphinx looked up at him seemingly pleased Oh oh oh you came back so soon Did you miss me me me
Snorting Randidly drew his spear There was no point in talking with this dumb creature
But he didn’t attack quite yet The trick to this fight would be seeing how far he could push the sphinx with small scratches before it began to take him seriously To slowly whittle away at its health and then all at once drop the hammer on it Randidly sincerely doubted that the fireball was the most powerful spell in the Sphinx’s arsenal and if Randidly had a weakness it was to magical attacks
As such once push came to shove Randidly planned on moving fast and hitting hard He wasn’t entirely confident that he could take it down immediately but based on his observations about the way the sphinx thought he could certainly do a lot of damage to it very quickly
Damage that it wouldn’t expect
With a smile the sphinx teleported closer pawing casually at Randidly Already he could feel the difference in Reaction making itself known as he easily sidestepped the blow seeing it coming several fractions of a second more than previously His body finally felt under control rather than the wild roller coaster ride it had been previously
He stepped forward meeting the sphinx with a Phantom Stab to its side drawing a long scratch
It had taken him 2 hours of bitter struggle previously to get such a blow
Although it seemed annoyed the Sphinx’s grin widened and it teleported again directly behind Randidly But as he was spinning to face it it teleported a second time above him and belched a fireball down towards him
Rolling to the side Randidly managed to avoid the fireball but was met by another paw strike
He gritted his teeth and met it with a Sweep empowered and strengthened by Heavy Blow But the Sphinx just seemed to chuckle and teleport backwards lowering its paw and opening its mouth for a fireball
But this time Randidly was ready activating Phantom Half Step he crossed most of the distance to the sphinx and leapt forward a Phantom Thrust rushing forward into its mouth The half formed fireball sparked fitfully and collapsed as the spear pressed through it and Randidly felt the blade of his spear sink into the soft flesh of the roof of the Sphinx’s mouth
There was a moment then where Randidly had a second of clarity The fireball spell backlash was disintegrating and his spear was going to pierce through
This was a little bit too quickly to stick to the original plan But Randidly did not shy away from the challenge Instead he firmed his resolve and through everything he had into this strike
As the soot and flame from the failed fireball faded Randidly could clearly see the sphinx’s eyes as its face changed from one of confusion to shock to a hint of fear and then an overwhelming ancient anger a willingness to slaughter
Randidly supposed he would need to move up his timetable a bit And he really had been hoping to inflict more draining wounds before this happened After all his Edge of Decay would begin to add up in a long fight as the sphinx struggled to continue with several gashes
Before the rage in the sphinx’s eyes could turn to action Randidly flexed his hands tightening his grip on the shaft of his spear casting 4 spells at once First he summoned Spearing Roots ripping up from the ground into the sphinx’s stomach Then he used Root Manipulation to create another Spearing Roots but this time he just pushed them up to the Sphinx’s head height and wrapped the roots around the sphinx’s mouth binding it closed Randidly’s high Willpower and Control were brought to bear as he pressed with everything he had to rapidly effectuate his will speeding the roots movements until they blurred
Randidly wasn’t sure if its mouth was always the source of its offensive spells but better safe than sorry
The third spell was Summon Pestilence most of which Randidly used to attack the still shocked eyes of the sphinx while several small insects were directed to land on out of the way parts of its body burrowing into its fur This was the most difficult because the insects themselves were hard to direct individually and they had very few drives other than to bite and rip flesh But he stilled them with an effort the immensity of which brought on the beginnings of a headache
The final spell was mana strengthening as Randidly then threw everything he had at the sphinx
It reared back on its hind legs seeking to escape from the roots spearing into its stomach and wrapping around its mouth but Randidly rushed forward quick as a ghost Every step was Empowered Haste was burning as quickly as it could and he launched a full power Phantom Onslaught on its chest ripping into its flesh
Before Randidly’s attacks would leave long shallow scratches that annoyed the sphinx but weren’t all that deadly That was because none of his attacks were Empowered up until now Although the bit of speed and strength that it adds is small that small burst is just big enough to rip through the outer skin of the sphinx without slowing down dealing significantly more damage as the blade cut into its body
Furious the sphinx tried to open its mouth to roar and ripped the roots around its mouth slightly but Randidly’s Intelligence was high enough now that the roots were incredibly resilient They ripped at the edges and frayed but held
Which was the perfect opportunity for an empowered Sweep to rip a large gash in the Sphinx’s exposed throat
The blood spurting out of its throat likely incensed it further and it bucked wildly ripping the the roots out of its stomach and slashing wildly at the roots binding its mouth ripping it to pieces During this time Randidly brought a mana potion to his mouth and drank it quickly By the time he had downed the thing the Sphinx had ripped away from most of the roots
Calling another Spearing Roots to shoot up into its flank Randidly surged closer
The sphinx had slightly recovered from its shock this time and twisted out of the way Even though its body was huge it managed to dodge and deflect most of the roots However though some missed Randidly just activated Root manipulation and brought them wrapping around the sphinx’s body
All the while he continued to stab and slash ripping large gashes in the skin of the sphinx
At that moment the sphinx threw itself backwards ripping all the roots to bits It then stood still for a split second and then its eyes widened
Grinning Randidly activated the pestilence he had hiding on the sphinx’s body sending it viciously biting into the open wounds of the creature For the teleport spell to work no foreign materials could touch the body Luckily for Randidly those hungry insects counted
The split second bought by the shock of the teleportation failure allowed Randidly to drink a stamina potion and rush forward Haste and Empower turning Footwork of the Spear Phantom into an impossibly fast and smooth movement technique
Furious the sphinx opened its mouth and shot a fireball at Randidly but he simply sidestepped and kept coming stabbing over and over as fast as he could
Still the sphinx was simply too big There was no way for Randidly to inflict a deadly amount of damage in a short amount of time But the point
The point would be making the sphinx convinced that he could
At that moment Randidly saw his chance As the sphinx stumbled backwards swiping halfheartedly at him to keep him back while shaking its head to rid itself of the pestilence insects Randidly jumped forward and thrust with the spear
Inwardly Randidly grimaced He had drawn a deep gash in the sphinx’s head right above the left eye he had been trying to blind it but it had jerked to the side at the last second
Still this was apparently the last straw With movement borne of panic the sphinx spun around and leapt towards the cave where Randidly assumed he had additional bodies waiting to eat just in case
Randidly’s grin crept higher
Gotcha
As the creature rushed towards the mouth of the cave Randidly strolled after it removing a mana potion from his bag and drinking it
Then just as the creature reached the mouth of the cave Randidly spent all 500 or so of his mana on Spearing Roots
Normally Spearing Roots was an incredibly powerful penetrative attack that had a significant drawback although it wasn’t truly a flaw Spearing Roots could only be produced from the ground Still most everything remained on or near the ground so this wasn’t an issue it just limited the avenues of attack Randidly possessed and on a monster with a huge body like the sphinx limited the areas he could damage easily
Where normally he could only produce the roots from the ground which limited their effectiveness a cave meant the ground was all around you And the Sphinx ran right into the large mouth of its cave only a meter or so of space between its head and sides and earth
An onlooker watching could perhaps believe that the cave had been a mouth this whole time and the viciously sharp roots were the teeth chomping down at the creature that foolishly entered into it
The roots caught it in its upper torso probably only its head making it safely through to the cave proper while wave after wave of root stabbed downward burrowing long holes into the flesh of the Sphinx all around its body Although Randidly hadn’t been able to bring it to bear earlier due to the sphinx’s ability to teleport there was no doubt that his Intelligence was of a level to inflict serious damage on an enemy even if they were Lvl 30
The roots were sharp the force they contained was vicious the wriggling movements of them due to careful use of Root Manipulation insidiously ripped the wounds open even wider
That said Randidly suspected that the Sphinx was still alive Using another mana potion Randidly used the roots to grind around for a bit before throwing the sphinx back out to the ground in front of him Then the roots twisted and settled hardening to block the cave
If the sphinx was still alive it wouldn’t be stopped very long by the roots but it was more than enough to slow it down while Randidly ripped into its back
Mewing in agony the thing staggered to its feet huge holes in its back and shoulders Even though that one portion of its body was a mess of gore that was only about a ? of its body Its head lower back and both sets of legs were fine
The wings however had been turned into broken useless limbs
As Randidly approached a notification popped up
Congratulations Your soul seed has been completely nurtured Upon being inserted into fertile soil the seed shall grow
One less thing he had to worry about then Now was time to finish this
You you you The sphinx said turning towards Randidly
Me me me Randidly said stalking closer This seemed to incense the creature because it opened its mouth again mana flowing rapidly to fill it But instead of a fireball the energy spread and covered a 10 meter area around the sphinx including Randidly
Within a second the air began to vibrate Then it began to twist and rip Jarring jagged vibrations strange movements in the air made it unbearable to be near that strange magic in the Sphinx’s mouth Randidly stumbled to a stop struggling to collect himself
Although he had been through alot this was the most painful experience Randidly had ever encountered It made his bones ache and twist his marrow roiling
After what felt like an eternity it stopped and Randidly collapsed coughing up blood It hadn’t done much actual damage but the pain combined with the strangeness
Randidly looked up just in time to see the sphinx leaping at him mouth wide and teeth bared
Chapter 55
Rolling to the side Randidly managed to get out of the way and then Empowered his hands and pushed off the ground throwing himself almost instantly up to his feet
The paw smashed to the ground leaving a huge crack in the earth and unfortunately Randidly was still too dizzy to recover completely after leaping upwards and could only fall back as the shockwave sent him staggering
Gritting his teeth Randidly forced his trembling hands to still just as another paw swipe came ripping passed This time he wasn’t quick enough and the huge claws ripped through his shirt leaving the flesh of his left shoulder in tatters
A notification came up that his health had dipped below 20% but Randidly couldn’t even focus on it his eyes narrowing to view his current enemy Although the sphinx had taken the initiative now that he really looked Randidly could tell that it too was slightly off from using that spell
It hissed at his close viewing spitting a fireball directly at his face Randidly rolled again his sharp eyes picking up the small form that slipped out of his pocket in the roll Reflexively he reached out and grabbed it his quick fingers wrapped around the small completely nurtured soul seed
Fertile soil huh
Recovering his spear Randidly had a crazy idea As the sphinx opened its mouth again to shoot another fireball Randidly threw the small seed towards its mouth The passage of even the small seed was enough to throw off the flow of mana for the spell and once more the fire energy dispersed
Randidly followed this up with a Hasted and Empowered Phantom Thrust his spear tip hitting the seed midair and driving it forward once more ripping into the wound on the roof of the sphinx’s mouth
Eyes burning Randidly didn’t just withdraw the spear this time but drove it deeper ripping upward through the jaw and stabbing towards the skull hoping he hit something vital
The sphinx began to tremble mewing strangely and Randidly took that time to plant his feet and shove the spear forward even deeper cracking against something with a wet thump
Just when he thought the sphinx would collapse its mouth snapped shut snapping the spear into pieces As Randidly was sent stumbling backwards it raised its head and howled and Randidly could see that half of his spear was still sunk deeply into the roof of its mouth
Spitting out blood from his mouth Randidly dropped the remnants of the spear and withdrew several potions hurriedly raising himself back up to full strength He now regretted turning down Daniel’s offer of a spear from the weapons shop A spare spear would come in handy right now
Apparently realizing that it couldn’t do anything about the pain right now the sphinx turned its red rimmed eyes on Randidly Then it charged all pretense of playing gone just an extremely large angry monster
It was met by a cloud of pestilence to the face blinding it but barely slowing it at all While it couldn’t see Randidly had Spearing Roots rip into it at a sideways angle aiming mostly for the tendons of its legs seeing several satisfyingly deep gashes result
Leaping to the side Randidly felt a hint of confidence that this was in the bag
That was when it twisted midair and leaped after him its eyes glowing golden the light burning through the vicious insects and the huge body smashed into Randidly knocking the wind out of him The two of them crashed into the ground and he felt his ribs scream in protest
Although wounded the Sphinx leered down at Randidly its breath hot and hungry
Now now now wha
Using Root Manipulation Randidly grabbed the sphinx’s feet and dragged it back off of his body The sphinx turned to face the roots kicking and ripping himself free and turned back to Randidly only to be met with a Roundhouse Kick to the face
It wasn’t enough to do any damage but it fell back slightly stunned
In that moment Randidly poured all his mana into Spearing Roots again several sharp spears ripping upward into the earlier holes digging deeper into the torso of the creature ripping through its stomach and puncturing holes in its lungs
With a high pitched screech the air once more began to hum then distort and Randidly had to grit his teeth to stay standing
The back of his head throbbed and the strange pain in the air seemed to be intensifying Blackness ate at the corner of his vision and he stumbled forward his knees weak
This
Not like this
After all this time all this struggle was he going to let it end like this
Biting his lip to keep himself conscious Randidly cracked his knuckles and swayed slowly closer to the Sphinx Even if he had to rip out its spine by hand and
And at that moment the spell broke the sphinx collapsing rolling onto its back and scratching at its own face
Randidly blinked several times A long thorny bramble was sticking out of the Sphinx’s eyeball blood spurting everywhere And as soon as he saw it he felt a strange connection to it He knew that this was hatched from his soul seed
Fertile soil indeed
While it was again distracted Randidly drank more mana potions and speared it with roots again and again and again making sure to rip the muscles of its legs to shreds and then only afterwards attack towards its necessary organs
When he was close to running out of mana he drank a mana potion fueling a constant barrage of Spearing Roots flaying the flesh of the Sphinx from its bones
After several brutal spells covering the nearby ground with gore the sphinx turned to Randidly looking ridiculous its mouth propped open by the spear its left eye currently being popped and drawn back within its body by a thorn creature It was more zombie than sphinx at this point
I’ll k k kill you It whispered and then it spat something infinitely faster than a fireball Then it vomited up a gallon of blood and collapsed Notifications sprang into existence around him but
Randidly had barely enough time to twitch before the impact slammed against him spinning him around He looked uncomprehendingly down only to find a long thin pink thing like a giant leech sticking out of his body The weird part was that the thing was covered in strange markings
Blinking Randidly realized he recognized it it was the sphinx’s tongue
Just as he thought that the thing quivered and then started wiggling working itself deeper into his flesh with a malicious intensity Swearing Randidly reached over with his other arm and tried to get a grip on the thing but the reaching arm was the arm that had been struck by the sphinx’s claws The arm at first spasmed and did not listen and only after he narrowed his eyes and slowly worked his will against the failing flesh did he get the hand to move where he wanted it to
His fingers were wet with blood and by the time he grabbed at it his fingers slipped off and the wiggling pink thing vanished into his shoulder Almost non comprehending Randidly looked down at the gaping hole in his arm that it had left by its passage
He could feel its alien presence in his body and a horrible sense of wrongness spread out It began to move working its way towards his chest
Randidly began to sweat Removing it from him would be
But as he considered the problem a small vine like bramble crawled out of sphinx’s body hurrying over towards Randidly He could sense it strangely he realized and he could feel it what it was thinking just barely Worry radiated out from it It seemed to understand something was wrong
Looking down at the small vine thing only about a foot long several thorn covered tentacles Randidly felt oddly touched Then the tongue moved deeper into his chest and he grimaced Then he had another crazy idea
Crawl in Find it and stop it Go on Randidly encouraged offering the open wound the tongue had used to climb into his body pulling the gory hole open with his free hand The thing rolled around on the ground and confusion radiating off of it
Grimacing Randidly thought with all the force he could muster picturing what he wanted and projected that thought towards the vine thing Instantly it understood and it climbed into the wound wriggling after the first interloper
Honestly the vine creature was even more painful than the tongue leaving huge gouges in his flesh as it moved Randidly drank his last health potion keeping his health at safe levels and he felt the vine reach the tongue just in his upper torso The vine wrapped around it its thorns digging into the struggling tongue
He sensed from the vine’s projected impressions that it was having difficulties but Randidly could only smile grimly at least he had bought some time
He raised his head and looked at the sky The sun was rising Hopefully the village had fared well in his absence during the monster horde But Randidly assumed they would be fine The enemies they faced might be numerous but they were low leveled It was a course designed to fatten people so that the butcher could come and reap them
Randidly spared the sphinx a glance then sat down and began to brew health potions doing his best to ignore the agonizing pain caused by the constant struggle within his chest Little did Shal know but his training all of it even this part the painful high stress potion making would become relevant in the future
When he had finished he walked over the sphinx and placed it into a larger spatial storage ring that he had Daniel buy for these hunts Then he turned and began to trudge home not daring to move too fast lest the tongue slip free and rip through his heart and lungs
Although his stats had improved Randidly was under no impression that this was something he could survive
Chapter 56
Regina Northwind looked around at the battlefield after the monster horde came and the professional way people were already moving among the bodies selecting the ones with salvageable pelts and dragging the rest to large piles where they would apparently be sold to a magical store that made them disappear
Remarkable Regina said calmly and Glendel looked around nervously
Two leaders from Donnyton were walking over the 16 year old chieftain and a huge brute with a steel club the size of a support beam for a house Alana stood behind Regina her arms folded but her still face revealed how shocked she was at the terrible efficiency of the people in front of them
The people here seemed perfectly content to abandon their previous life and pick up this new one filled with violence and struggle Maybe it was just a coincidence but the weirdos that had founded this village were doing something right
In addition the NCC that Glendel talked to was hurrying over talking with a pudgy man with an irritated expression Both groups from Donnyton arrived at once the two duos nodding to each other Then they all turned to the hospital group
The name’s Donny nice to meet you You’re the group that’s looking to trade clothes The skinny kid said with a surprising amount of confidence and maturity
The big one grunted Dozer Strongest Warrior
Alana relaxed in a dangerous fashion next to him and Glendel shivered
And I’m Daniel and this is Ms Hamilton Do you really have clothes God I want to be in something other than furs so badly The chubby one said shivering
Yes we do Regina said with a slight smile And you have two things we need very badly food And access to a class
Donny’s mouth twisted slightly The food
Donny and Daniel exchanged a glance That’s relatively simple Mrs Hamilton has authority to trade as much as she deems fit We will basically take as many articles of clothing as you can spare We haven’t yet found anything like cotton or a monster to farm for wool so we basically can only make clothing from fur It’s been
Itchy Daniel interjected
As for classes Donny continued There are few more strings attached to that
Regina’s smile didn’t change In terms of clothes most of what we have are scrubs used in the hospital but we also have the Hospital’s stock for Special guests and we managed to hit up a department store on our trek up here You say strings though Regina’s smile didn’t change Such as
But as Donny opened his mouth to answer a shout came out from the group of gatherers over by the monster bodies and the group turned to look
Walking slowly across the battlefield was a tall athletic looking man He was young too probably only in his early or mid 20’s but the firm line of his mouth and his piercing green eyes made him stand out
Glendel noticed that Dozer and Donny exchanged a shocked glance Regina also noticed and narrowed her eyes
However the most shocking things about the man were the long jagged wounds on his left shoulder His entire torso was revealed his clothing in tatters His pants were covered with dried blood and his hair was matted and sweaty
The man’s green eyes swept to the side and he beckoned two lounging individuals who wore two shoulder pads each
They leapt to their feet like the ground beneath them became lava and hurried over The man said something to the two and then they saluted and dashed off
Glendel began to hear it then the whispers around them
The Ghosthound
He’s wounded
So this was The Ghosthound Glendel wasn’t sure what he had been expecting Although the bloody man before them certainly seemed like an intense person he didn’t seem to be worthy of the almost worship he noticed in the gazes of nearby people
And The Ghosthound was heading directly for their group his gait still slow and even By the time he had arrived the two men he had sent off had returned with a large table made of thick wood carried between them like it was cardboard It honestly looked like a worktable used to work metal
The Ghosthound climbed up on it grunting
Dozer you have an axe He grunted sparing Regina’s group a glance then ignoring them
Uh yes
Good Split open my chest Right about here You are going to have to pull back the bone but try and snap the ribcage cleanly I don’t want any more internal damage Oh Miranda good Send someone to bring me several jars of the high quality health potion just in case
While the rest of the people looked stunned Mrs Hamilton bowed and made several quick hand gestures at some people standing behind her Instantly several people dashed down towards the NCC village
Glendel looked around abruptly conscious of the fact everyone who was in the area was slowly drifting closer looking intently at the Ghosthound
The Ghosthound seemed rather annoyed and glared at Dozer Well
Uh okay I just
You shouldn’t do that If the strike doesn’t kill you the blood loss will Regina spoke up drawing The Ghosthound’s attention They made eye contact and held it for several long seconds
If you want Regina offered I could handle it I was a surgeon before the world changed
The Ghosthound hesitated and shook his head Impossible Time is of the essence Dozer cut
Dozer raised his axe but Regina stepped forward frowning Glendel sighed to himself If Regina was anything it was stubborn and being so quickly dismissed did not sit well with her
You’ve lost a lot of blood and are behaving foolishly If you insist on this you will die and will have no one but yourself to blame
The air around them stilled Glendel was uncomfortably aware of how many people were looking at them
But the Ghosthound just chuckled You won’t understand easily will you Fine Cut me open Right here I need something removed
The Ghosthound pointed to a spot midway through his right pectoral muscle just above where his lung would be Regina nodded and removed several instruments from her bag A needle scalpels rubbing alcohol
Shaking his head the Ghosthound said Don’t worry about that stuff Just cut I don’t have long
Regina bit her lip but set the alcohol and needle aside Instead she walked forward with her scalpel and stood over the patient’s body her emotions falling away from her face Instead she took on a practiced stance and pressed down with her scalpel
And pressed
The Ghosthound chuckled Now do you understand Yes you would be more exact But you have no strength to wound me even when I’m like this Even with the sharpest knife you cannot penetrate my skin Now Dozer cut
Regina stepped back her face stiff and Dozer stepped forward raising his axe He brought it down in a smooth arc the blade sinking about an inch into the Ghosthound’s stomach
Hissing the Ghosthound narrowed his eyes at Dozer That was close you took it too easy Hopefully you can fit your hand in that small cut to break my ribs yea Reach in and pull them snapping them open Shouldn’t be too hard they are already partially fractured
His hands trembling slightly Dozer reached in and gripped the inside of Randidly’s ribs setting him groaning He tested his strength but to his surprise found the ribs resisted him So he pulled harder and then harder Blinking Dozer readjusted his hands and yanked grunting finally rewarded with a loud snap The Ghosthound’s ribs cracked at the side and opened up revealing most of his chest cavity
He beckoned and a jar of health potion was brought to him which he guzzled down About halfway through the jar he said You should see a pink tongue wrapped up by a thorny vine Pull them both out and throw it on the ground Stay away from it afterwards and don’t touch it for very long
Glendel wasn’t sure what surprised him more the strange things he was saying or that Dozer really did reach into his chest and pulled out those two objects both of them wiggling wildly Dozer hastily threw them to the side and the nearby people scrambled backwards away from the strange things Then Dozer pushed the cracked ribs down back into a semblance of place and removed his axe
The Ghosthound drank the rest of the potion and the wound slowly healed back up Panting he collapsed on the table eyes closed
Doggy how much of that is your blood Unbeknownst to everyone Lyra had snuck through the crowd and was staring down at the Ghouthound
The edges of his mouth quirked up in a grin Less than half only the fresh drops With what seemed like a great effort he heaved himself to his feet
And where is the thing that did this to you Her voice lowered to a dangerous note her eyes beginning to glow a clear blue Strangely as this happened Glendel began to feel the strangest sense of impending danger and had to fight an abrupt instinct to flee But the Ghosthound just waved his hand
The space directly behind the table which was once mostly empty was now filled with a strange creature of mangled flesh the size of a small bus It resembled the top half of a lion with the bottom half of a jellyfish
Glendel paled as he realized that it wasn’t a jellyfish but that most of the bottom half of the body had just been reduced to hanging torn strips of pink flesh
Lyra stilled then giggled rolling her eyes the tension sliding out of her You save all the fun things for yourself
The Ghosthound chuckled walking over towards the tongue and the thorny thing The tongues struggles seemed feeble now and as The Ghosthound approached the thorny thing slid off of it and over towards The Ghosthound climbing up to curl around his shoulders
Blinking Glendel noticed that a strange unassuming man had appeared above the tongue His eyes sparkled as he stared down at it Slowly he reached meaning to grab the tongue
But then The Ghosthound snorted and flicked his fingers an explosion of heat spreading out in a wave the tongue wizened and shriveled disappearing to nothing
My kill The Ghosthound grunted before returning to the table and laying back with a sigh
Chapter 57
Glendel sat inside Regina’s RV Regina’s brooding form and Alana’s pacing one making him extremely nervous
The negotiations for food had gone relatively smoothly but the classes didn’t come cheap Everyone with a class was required to assist with the monster hordes for now Once the Safe Zone for Newbies dropped in the area they would likely have similar duties But the lack of information made Donny unwilling to commit to anything specific in regards to what those might be at least for now
Taking a class was a path to power One that progressed much more rapidly than the actual Paths But it meant tying themselves to this place And in a way it meant that Regina would be subordinate to someone else which didn’t sit well with Alana
We should try the other village again before we commit Alana commented dryly finally done pacing
To Glendel’s surprise Regina shook her head slowly
No this is better than I had hoped for I already planned on accepting their offer for now Settling down will be good The problem is the structure
Rubbing her head Regina gestured at the notes she had Glendel take As far as we can tell they don’t appear to really have any strict hierarchy Warriors are rated on a 1 to 10 scale Miranda Hamilton is in charge of the NCCs Daniel is in charge of supplies and the village growth They have their 3 leaders of the warriors Donny Dozer and Decklan
And why do they all have D names Alana muttered but Regina ignored her and continued
And they have some mages some healers some archers but right now it’s all working And the only reason is because of that man The Ghosthound The problem isn’t him but it also is
Glendel spoke up for the first time Do you think he will abuse his power
Regina hesitated but shook her head I don’t think so But like I said it’s not him The village is growing strong because he is the pillar that keeps them going But that is also their weakness If he weren’t there
Regina gestured It would all fall apart
Leaning back in her chair Regina sighed In addition to that the way they treat them well I suppose there was no other avenue He is their savior They revere him Although he remains fine for now attention like that can change a person
You aren’t making me very excited to stay here Glendel said nervously Alana continued to pace
It’s best to face the ugliest truths first Regina said grimly her eyes narrowed That way you aren’t surprised by what you wake up to find one morning And you are ready for it when it happens
After an extremely long day Randidly finally had a moment alone to turn to his notifications For now he ignored the skill level notifications and focused on the unfamiliar ones
Congratulations Your Soul Seed has sprouted into a Soul Plant Lvl 1 Due to the circumstances the Soul Plant grows by feasting on Blood The Soul Plant option has been added to your menu The Soul Plant can only level when you choose it to Based on the blood absorbed the Soul Plant will have different options for growth
Congratulations Your Soul Plant Lvl 1 has absorbed enough blood to level
You have slain the The Hungry Tribulation Ep Tal Due to you not belonging to the Newbie Village that corresponds to the Tribulation bonuses have been halved All parties involved receive +5 to all stats You have learned the skill Agony Lvl 1
Agony Spend health to inflict mental and physical damage on those around you The ratio of health lost to damage dealt improves as skill level increases Warning you will experience the pain as well
Randidly smiled bitterly So that was the skill the sphinx had started using at the end or at least a version of it He was lucky that it hadn’t used it the entire time it undoubtedly had more health than him The sphinx could have simply ground him to nothing
But Randidly set that train of thought to the side and considered the additional notifications
Due to its Tribulation being defeated all individuals within the Newbie Village receive +2 Levels It’s pillar of light will now pulse blue to warn of the impending collapse of the Newbie barrier which will fall in exactly 24 hours
Warning A Newbie Barrier near you shall fall within 24 hours This means several things First monsters over level 20 may periodically spawn Specifically Tier I Raid Bosses may now spawn in the area These Raid Bosses are extremely powerful and if not eliminated quickly shall form a settlement and spawn additional high level monsters
In addition a wild dungeon will form near any Newbie Village that has survived its past the fall of its Newbie Barrier The dungeon level with grow depending on time and the level density of monsters and individuals with classes in the nearby area
Upon clearing a Wild Dungeon a time will be recorded The quickest time to clear the dungeon will receive SP for their village once a day depending on the dungeon level Wild Dungeons that have not been cleared in a week will periodically spawn monster hordes As the time the dungeon hasn’t be cleared grows so will the frequency of monster hordes
In addition new options for spending SP have appeared in the Newbie Village that has survived its Tribulation
Congratulations You are the first person to slay a Tribulation on your world You have taken the first steps to joining the Nexus More rewards to follow in 24 hours when the Newbie Barrier falls
Randidly frowned slightly It wasn’t that the new changes were especially dangerous especially if they kept up good scouting in the surrounding area And what bothered him wasn’t that the rules were weirdly formulaic and gamelike
Daniel would be excited about the new source of SP by clearing the dungeons with the best time The danger of monster hordes could also be controlled somewhat due to frequent dungeon clears and that would allow the village to relax
Although that depended on what exactly a raid boss entailed but Randidly felt that this change would shift the village Mostly he predicted that the non combat classes and the non Class Characters now without the worry of a daily horde would explode in number Most of the growth would be in non combat areas
They still received a daily trickle of refugees from nearby areas Those people would have the choice to either take a class or take their time It would be good for the town
But the more Randidly thought about the changes coming for the town the more he was bothered him was that none of the people of Donnyton seemed to be aware of these notifications Shouldn’t they have gotten them when he defeated the village’s tribulation
Brooding Randidly looked up and towards the pillar of light
Then the blood drained from his face
Perhaps the villagers of Donnyton hadn’t gotten the notifications because they weren’t within an area where the Newbie Barrier would be falling ahead of schedule But admittedly the barrier would fall in about 24 hours It was now the 6th day and a golden pillar of light stood tall over the village luminous even during the day
Slowly turning Randidly looked at the pillar over the neighboring village where the king was likely sitting on his throne The pillar pulsed blue
It seems that their Newbie Barriers would drop at similar times Randidly wondered if their neighbors would finally stop turtling and come out and help deal with the Raid bosses He also wondered whether the buildings they received for defeating a tribulation were buildings that Donnyton would also receive when the Newbie Barrier fell
The King hadn’t made a move since Randidly had went to his village broken their gates and had Pestilence eat through the king’s tongue and vocal cords Non interference policy the police man had said Hopefully that would continue
Hopefully the new buildings wouldn’t give them any ill advised ideas
Although having more help for the hordes and raid bosses would be helpful Especially since two dungeons would probably spawn one for each village
Then he shrugged So what if they didn’t come help with the monsters More experience for Donnyton
Chapter 58
There was a lot to do but Randidly put it off for a little bit longer looking instead at his skill notifications
In that last bout with the Sphinx he had gained 2 levels in Spear Mastery and Phantom Thrust 1 in Spear Phantom’s Footwork 2 in Phantom Half Step 4 in Fighting Proficiency 1 in Haste Sweep and Phantom Onslaught 3 in Empower 2 in Roundhouse Kick an impressive 6 in Spearing Roots 1 in Root Manipulation and Fireball 1 in Physical Fitness and Pain Resistance and 2 in Mental Strength
These stats he poured into Intelligence Strength and Control raising his ability to do damage which had been slightly underwhelming during the fight against the sphinx The Frontrunner path was only 70/100 and he still had 15 more stats to get from it but his status screen was already starting to become monstrous
Health(/R per hour) 311/340 (+8) (175 (+12
Mana(/R per hour) 501/534 (77 75)
Stam(/R per min) 357/392 (65 (+4
Vit 51 (+4)
End 35
Str 38 (+2)
Agi 62 (+10)
Perception 29
Reaction 46
Resistance 14
Willpower 64
Intelligence 86
Wisdom 44
Control 64
Focus 31
Skills (Soul Skill) Spear of Rot Mastery Lvl 259
Combat Spear Mastery Lvl 46 Phantom Thrust Lvl 46 Spear Phantom’s Footwork Lvl 33 Eyes of the Spear Phantom Lvl 20 Phantom Half Step Lvl 11 Heavy Blow Lvl 23 Dagger Mastery Lvl 10 Iron Skin Lvl 27 Dodge Lvl 31 Fighting Proficiency Lvl 34 Block Lvl 32 Haste Lvl 20 Phantom Onslaught Lvl 11 Sweep Lvl 17 Spear Deflect Lvl 10 Empower Lvl 24 Calculated Blow Lvl 19 Roundhouse Kick Lvl 15 Edge of Decay Lvl 11 Agony Lvl 1
Spells Spearing Roots Lvl 12 Mana Bolt Lvl 28 Mana Shield Lvl 24 Root Manipulation Lvl 27 Arcane Orb Lvl 22 Fireball Lvl 23 Magic Missile Lvl 4 Healing Palm Lvl 9 Pollen of the Rafflesia Lvl 8 Summon Pestilence Lvl 15 Mana Strengthening Lvl 13 Wall of Thorns Lvl 4 Soul Seed Lvl ®
Auxiliary Physical Fitness Lvl 30 Meditation Lvl 31 Running Lvl 20 Sprinting Lvl 15 Sneak Lvl 22 Acid Resistance Lvl 22 Poison Resistance Lvl 16 Pain Resistance Lvl 12 First Aid Lvl 13 Equip Lvl 20 Pathfinding Lvl 16 Mental Strength Lvl 13 Curse Resistance Lvl 3 Fire Resistance Lvl 8
Randidly’s Intelligence Agility and Control all were well over 50 which was probably the line that none of the other members of Donnyton had passed even if they focused completely on 1 stat Combined with a total Vitality of 55 Randidly did it all well even tank and much better than most people did
It was still something of a disappointment for Randidly that his Resistance was still so abysmally low 14 looked very sad surrounding by 46 and 64 But his speed was currently so high and he possessed enough defense skills that he didn’t want to invest the points into it currently
Randidly walked out of his hut and towards the area where they had left the thorny vine Now as he intended to level his Soul Plant he wanted to be able to see it
When he came to the glass container he found the strange being much as he had left it but Randidly was surprised to find Lyra crouching nearby and poking the container
You have weird taste in pets She informed him wonder in her eyes as she gazed down at the wiggling creature She didn’t even seem to mind the long scratches the thorny vines left on her hand as it tentatively prodded her back
He smiled slightly mildly embarrassed and elected not to respond He hadn’t managed to top her in quips yet and after an exhausting day now was not the time to start
Instead he opened his menu and sure enough there was a Soul Plant option He clicked it and a small status screen appeared
Soul Plant (Blood)(Click to Rename)
Lvl 1(Click to Level Up)
Survivability 6
Physicality 4
Magical Aptitude 1
Brain Function 3
Particularity 2
Battle Ability 4
Special Skills Flexibility
Randidly scanned through the explanations for the stats they were all pretty self explanatory Survivability was defense Physicality was physical strength Magical Aptitude magical strength Brain function was how intelligent it actually was like what sort of concepts and orders it could wrap its mind around while Particularity counted any characteristics that made it unique and gave it strength that weren’t really covered by the others Battle Ability was a combination of all the above scores which would equate it to what level monster it could hold its own against
Starting out able to fight level 4 didn’t seem very impressive but Randidly supposed it was level 1 It had time to grow Although it was pretty impressive that this small weird plant with 1 foot long tentacles could manage to surround and strangle one of the Lvl 4 wolverines that were as numerous as fleas
After a slight hesitation Randidly renamed the plant to Thorn due to its prickly appearance Then he clicked level up
Congratulations Your Thorn Lvl 1 is ready to level up Due to its nature your first choice is set Make Thorn either Hungry or Thirsty
No explanations were provided Randidly sighed So it was going to be like this huh The level ups for the plant were much more opaque than his own On a whim he clicked Hungry
Thorn is now Lvl 2 Survivability has increased by 2 Physicality has increased by 1 It has learned the skill Strangle
Congratulations Your Thorn Lvl 2 is ready to level up Due to absorbing the blood of The Smiling Tribulation Ep Tal please choose whether Thorn shall absorb its Body or Mind
After a second of hesitation Randidly chose Body After all he didn’t really need a strange mage plant Although having it be a little bit more intelligent would undoubtedly be useful
Thorn is now Lvl 3 Physicality has increased by 2 Due to increased size Particularity has increased by 2
A gasp took his attention away from the notifications and he turned to see that Thorn had swollen to be a fat bush about 3 feet in diameter bristling with thorny vine tentacles The glass container cracked and fell to pieces He felt Thorn’s pleasure as it stretched its new body flexing its powerful muscles
Lyra turned around and kicked Randidly in the shin Warn me next time Jesus
Then she paused tilting her head and giving him a long look And also I’ve known you for less than a week Randidly If you hadn’t come back it’s not fair to make me cry over someone I’ve known for less than a week
Randidly scratched his chin awkwardly Why does it matter to you
Lyra promptly kicked him in the shin Then she stormed off Scratching his head Randidly turned around shocked He had received a new notification
Congratulations You Soul Plant Lvl 3 has absorbed enough blood to level
He saw his plant some distance away along the treeline ripping through two or three imps
Congratulations Your Thorn Lvl 3 is ready to level up Due to exposure to the forbidden tongue of Ep Tal he has gained profound insights into the world Shall he have mastery of the Land or Sky
Apparently Thorn had done enough with the tongue to get an extra bonus huh As for the choice Although Thorn flying would be amusing wasn’t this also a pretty straight forward choice
Thorn is now Lvl 4 Magical Aptitude has increased by 1 Brain Function has increased by 1 Particularity has increased by 3 Thorn has learned the skill Dig
So now it could dig Shrugging Randidly looked once more at its Status screen
Thorn (Blood)
Lvl 4
Survivability 8
Physicality 7
Magical Aptitude 2
Brain Function 4
Particularity 7
Battle Ability 11
Special Skills Flexibility Strangle Dig
It had certainly been effective at Lvl 1 when it had grown within the skull of the sphinx so Randidly was hoping for something similar in the future What was pretty interesting was that its Battle Ability now put it on the same level as something Lvl 11 even though it was only Lvl 4 by its own standards That was reassuring although it was hard to tell how accurate that was
Obviously Randidly had no level and could handle 100 level 11s It was a question of quality of the fighter rather than level But it served as a decent way to understand strength
After playing with Thorn a bit and impressing on it the importance of not eating humans Randidly left heading to talk with Daniel and Donny about what was to come Better invite Sam too and Decklan and Dozer because they would be the ones on the front lines
Randidly grimaced Why did it seem like the stronger he got the more people he had to talk to
Wasn’t this why he let Donny found the village in the first place
The group of 6 stayed after The Ghosthound left Daniel Donny Sam Dozer Decklan and Mrs Hamilton They stayed silent for several seconds as they listened to his departing footsteps
The first one to speak was Donny who turned to Sam Have you had a chance to look at the body he brought back
Sam grunted Yea and what I’ve seen Let’s just say that unless you have the strength of Dozer it’s a real chore to cut the thing up even the hide And that was mostly turned to swiss cheese almost useless now The bones and claws are a different story and I have a few ideas about how I can use them
Daniel coughed He means if what Randidly says is true and there is another one of these out there waiting can we handle it
After a few seconds of thoughtful silence Sam said If we are there to meet it in formation probably But out of all of us Probably only Dozer Clarissa and Lyra can damage it If we can keep it locked down for long enough sure
The room fell silent at the unspoken truth of that statement if it came upon them in the night while they weren’t ready
Decklan smiled crookedly We still have a day Let’s up the training Daniel how much can we improve the dungeon
Daniel checked his notes We are currently just short of 9000 SP by noon we will get there If you would prefer we focus on the dungeon instead of upgrading the Village itself we can push it up to Lvl 14 That is an almost 3x increase in difficulty Is that What you all want
Donny Dozer and Decklan made eye contact and nodded Mrs Hamilton closed her eyes and shook her head slightly
This might not be quick enough She said But if Ms Northwind’s group joins us a lot of them used to be nurses They could be taught healing palm and become a healing corps Having a designated healer with each squad would increase the success rate
That’s a good idea Daniel said slowly rubbing his chin In addition I think we should initially just raise the Lvl to 10 to let most people go through it Even still I expect some casualties You can’t account for everything For the more elite troops they can wait and head into the Lvl 14 dungeon
Donny laughed awkwardly shaking his head The rest of the group looked at him confused
It’s not the dungeon plan Well not the method It’s just Donny looking suddenly like the teenager he really was scratched his ear awkwardly Can you believe that we are talking about this Risking our lives If this had been two weeks ago
Everyone remained silent as Donny continued to speak And yet I can’t stand still Because I know that if I wait or hide something big and mean is eventually going to show up and I won’t be ready for it So I train and risk just to prepare It’s like The Ghosthound says The only thing a spear can do is move forward thrusting into the future ’ It’s just strange how much we’ve changed in such a short amount of time
After that the group dispersed slowly drifting apart alone with their thoughts considering how the world changed And changed them in the process
Chapter 59
It was around 2 o’clock in the afternoon when Glendel followed Regina and the rest of their group driving their convoy down the road towards Donnyton While it had been cleared by some enterprising individuals in preparation for Donnyton’s expansion but it hadn’t been very professionally done and the road was quite bumpy
But still they made it to the town and slowly headed up a group of 60 some women and Glendel following after Regina
To their surprise the attitude at Donnyton was grim as they arrived Almost the entirety of the village almost 1200 hundred people gathered around a tall pole that was erected on the slope between the NCC village and the Classer Compound
Through the crowd they saw Mrs Hamilton and Regina walked over Miranda what’s going on
Miranda Hamilton turned to the group of new arrivals and smiled I apologize this has just been a very intense morning The kept dungeon was improved to level 10 and when it reached that level there were some changes Increased difficulty but also increased time compression So you needed to spend more time there Apparently up to a week The first group to go in when they realized they weren’t going to be kicked out after 24 started rushing for the boss to escape before they ran out of food
Ultimately they were able to make it but Mrs Hamilton’s eyes were slightly wet as she looked to the monument where three names were being carved into it by a serious faced Sam Their squad leader died defeating the boss He was He was one of the original 12 or so that received a class from Donny on the first day It’s just a sobering experience
Regina nodded slowly a sympathetic expression on her face Death is always difficult
Especially when it comes so cheaply Mrs Hamilton said bitterly But then she wiped the tears from her eyes and turned to the group But I won’t trouble you with the details Come I’ll take you to Donny and Nul
When they got to Donny Daniel was also there and Daniel took the time to explain a little in regards to classes what little they knew about the three options and where they came from He also explained the mentor system Then he proceeded to talk about why some individuals were currently just raising their skill level in the hopes of getting a better 3rd option
Actually Ma’am A voice interrupted If you would like to wait a few minutes and let us ahead of you in line we can finally test this hypothesis
An older man with short grey hair and two axes strapped to his back walked up with a portly bearded man
What do you mean Sam Daniel asked
But Sam didn’t respond He was just smiling slightly at Regina Who in fact was smiling back her mouth creeping ever wider
As long as it’s no trouble Sam said slowly
Regina controlled her face her smile fading to twitching lips No be my guest
If Glendel didn’t know better Were these two flirting
Ah Sam said turning to Daniel Well Jerry just insists he has to know whether this means anything raising skill level I’m telling him patience it’s only been a week but
Someone has to be the first Jerry interrupted and stepping forward towards a blandly smiling Nul
Everyone was quiet for several seconds Then Jerry swore quietly
Well shit Now I feel like an idiot The current power option It’s Leatherworker This shit fucking works Fucking hell man why didn’t you stop me
But Jerry wore a wide grin as he turned around and faced Sam who slapped him on the back
As the two left Sam glancing over his shoulder towards Regina as he walked away Regina’s group discussed their options By the end everyone had decided to wait working their skill level up by helping out around the village
Everyone except 1 person
Are you sure Regina asked her eyes curious
Glendel nodded Yes If we are going to be here I want to get strong as quickly as possible I know I might be able to find something more suited to me if I work at it for a while but I’m just going to go for it
Alana seemed dissatisfied probably because she also wanted to take this option but just folded her arms Nervous but feeling hot with emotions Glendel went up to Nul and asked for a class
Again there was a long silence Finally Regina asked Well
Glendel just shook his head slowly My first option is Lackey my third is Assistant But my 2nd random option
Feeling almost embarrassed to say it Glendel finally stammered out I’m uh p probably taking the 2nd option And it’s it’s called S s s s sovereign of G Ghosts
Randidly looked up surprised that someone had knocked on his door He set aside his ingredients giving up on figuring out how to craft the next tier of potions for now He supposed just under 200 was still a lot health or mana even though his mana pool was over double that
When he opened it he found all of the important figures of the village Sam Donny Daniel Decklan Dozer Mrs Hamilton Annie and even Lyra who was walking over and poking an unnerved Thorn To his surprise Regina was also there the surgeon who recently had her group join Donnyton and that tall pale man Glendel who always seemed to be lurking around
Dozer was hefting a large package over his shoulders but Randidly turned his attention to Sam who had been the one who had knocked
You’ve done a lot for us kid no two ways about it Sam said gruffly So we thought we would give you something in return To show our appreciation You said your spear had been broken by that monster right
Randidly nodded slowly Dozer lowered the large package and unwrapped it revealing a towering 8 foot tall spear made entirely of bone As Randidly looked his eyes widened further He stepped forward and took the monstrosity from Dozer feeling its significant weight Without a strength of at least 30 utilizing this was impossible Even now Randidly made a mental note to invest a few more points in strength so he could control it better
The shaft appeared to be made entirely of linked vertebrae grafted and shaped somehow to flow smoothly together A sharpened spike of bone ran sideways across right before the head of the spear itself a beautifully fanning bone sharpened to a razor edge
Randidly stepped past them into an open space and performed several simple spear moves marveling in the power he felt behind every movement Then he looked at its stats
The Spine Spear of Ep Tal Lvl 30 Agility +2 Strength +10 If you crave something take it
Randidly looked for a long time at the sentence that followed the stats then slowly nodded It would take a while before he raised his equip skill high enough that he could make use of those bonuses but still
You made it from that monster’s spine Randidly asked wonderingly
Sam nodded seemingly pleased Heh don’t think you are the only miracle worker kid
Thanks Thank you all Randidly said truly meaning it It was a beautiful weapon and would help him make up for his previous lack of power His mouth curled up in a grin The next tribulation would be that much easier
As everyone began to drift away chatting with each other some with rather pressing matters to attend to as Donnyton continued to swell like crazy as more and more people attracted to the pillars of light Randidly walked up to Regina and Glendel
I apologize if I was short with you Having that inside my chest Wasn’t enjoyable Randidly said
Regina nodded calmly I apologize as well Perhaps I am just too used to dealing with hot headed young men I didn’t even consider that you might know what you are talking about Although most of who we dealt with were people from the hospital right after the system came a lot of injured people from Rawlands University came demanding treatment
Rawlands Randidly said slowly
Regina blinked and then nodded Oh yes portions of Rawlands’ campus were teleported down there mixed with Franksburg Do you know it
Randidly’s gaze sharpened as he turned away from Regina and looked to the South
Yes He said his gaze unwavering I used to go there
And so did Ace and Sydney
Chapter 60
It had been a little under two weeks since the Newbie Barrier had fallen around Donnyton and it had been an extremely busy time for Sam Much to Sam’s disgust Daniel was pushing very strongly for an increase in the differentiation between ranks So Sam had received the task of creating a new ranking system for the village
Outwardly grumbling but inwardly rather smug that he had another chance to put off all of the other busywork that Daniel demanded and just experiment with Bone Shaping Sam assented
This new push for a more complication of the ranking system stemmed directly from some of the other more pressing activity in the recent weeks the consolidation of the squad system and the preparations for the incoming tribulation
The former was going quite smoothly By and large all Classer’s were separated into groups of 10 9 squad members and a leader There were a few exceptions to the numbers based on need and special interest but by and large this had held to Thus far they were in the mid 20s in solidified squads while there was a pool of regular members and officer track people who were randomly grouped together and made to play war games under the watchful eye of Dozer Decklan and Donny
If a squad seemed to gel they would become an official unit and receive their call sign and their current number The call sign would never change but their number could it was based the the ranking of their perceived strength so that could go up or down depending on the situation
Regina had commented that while currently effective the squad system was only a short term solution As the number of people in the village increased they would likely need to have experience fighting as a larger unit Better to start looking for another tier a Company of men and train someone to manage that many men She continued to point out that the great flaw of the current system is often times the strongest or second strongest person in the squad is the squad leader and at the front lines of fighting constantly This allows for very little tactical deviation once the fighting starts There is just no way for a person fighting to have the vision to spot the enemies weaknesses and exploit them
Sam thought she had a point but Dozer and Donny seemed nonplussed by her words Sam almost laughed aloud at their expressions Sure they were strong but they just seemed so young sometimes
Not that he could blame them for their confusion If things stayed as they have been they wouldn’t need a Company The fall of the Newbie Barrier did indeed mean that more monsters spawned in the area and stronger ones occasionally double as strong but after a few close scrapes they had hammered out a rough patrol schedule and dealt with most of the incursions
Other than that very little had really changed Raid Bosses were a concern but Glendel’s new abilities had been invaluable at finding and identifying them rendering them pretty harmless Other than that there just wasn’t a unifying foe anymore like the monster horde had been to keep them on their toes and make them work hard to survive
There was of course the looming Tribulation but up until now no one had seen it
That Sam reflected was having a strange psychological effect on Donnyton
They were constantly training grinding themselves to a point ready for the oncoming vicious sphinx Vigilant patrols scoured the area Any non domesticated monsters were killed seemingly seconds after they spawned All in all Donnyton had become a very safe and orderly place
Still everyone was waiting for the hammer blow to fall
But Sam shook his head focusing on his current task In order to provide at least a little differentiation he was making several types of pendants created through his Bone Shaping For the general groups that weren’t part of the squads they were given a bone pendant in the symbol of their use These were for the general corps that didn’t yet make it into a squad
A weird flame shaped bone for the mages A cross for the Healers An axe for Dozer’s squad a shield for Donny’s a curved dagger for Decklan’s This group of pendants was annoying to make due to their group size Sam was forced to spend most his mana pool and use mana potions to continue on with the project
Bone shaping by itself was simple Sam used his hands infused with mana to rub the bones It was a gradual process but some of the mana would sink into the surface of the bone and Sam would still maintain a certain measure of control over it
After a sufficient amount of mana was rubbed into the bone he pressed driving the mana up and forward into the shape he wanted The bone slowly twisted and stretched moving to fill that shape
Not enough mana and the skill failed and he was left with a strange twisted bone Too much mana and the bone exploded Press too hard and the bone exploded Press too soft and nothing happened for several seconds and then the bone dissolved into powder as the mana diffused
Sam had practiced obsessively these past few weeks slowly reducing the percentage of bones that he wasted through his skill
Although it wasn’t outwardly obvious Sam was a prideful man Early on when the village had been established his skill with an axe and construction had given him what he thought was a pretty significant head start in terms of paths which translated into higher stats
It was nice in a way protecting the girls and even that asshat Kal wielding his axes with wild abandon running solely on the thrill of adrenaline while monsters rushed forward
But as the Classers leveled that stat advantage disappeared And then Vivian Ellaine and Kal left wanting to flee to civilization All he had left was Lyra but of course by that point she no longer needed his protection Sam couldn’t fathom the extent and methods of her skills but he couldn’t deny the results she had achieved
In fact she had been visiting The Ghosthound these past weeks giving him lessons in the control of mana
Sam chuckled despite himself his smile grim Was even he beginning to just call Randidly the Ghosthound It was a sobering thought Although Randidly was clearly the most powerful and versatile person in the village
He bore so much weight on his shoulders
Sighing Sam turned back to his final project for the new stratification system For the squads he made the numbers 50 11 simple plain numbers of bone which would be worn by the squad leader For the final 10 however he used larger pieces of bone which would be worn on the squad leaders back These took a few tries but make them he did resplendent as graceful bones displayed in roman numerals
X IX VIII VII VI V IV III II and finally I
These would be the pride of Donnyton Sam hoped The honor that all the Classers strived for
And the non Classers Sam supposed There were several competing although there was sometimes some grumbling when they were included on your team It did raise their skills more quickly which was helpful It also was becoming increasingly obvious that having a NCC gave squads certain advantages
Often they knew most basic combat skills and could fill multiple roles in combat Healer Mage Tank
Unfortunately this versatility came at the cost of low health mana and stamina pools they usually rather quickly had to rely on potions
For the I the top ranked squad Sam reverently used a bone from the Tribulation Randidly had killed They were darker than normal bones a grey blue almost resembling metal This after all was the pinnacle It should be worth striding for
Then Sam examined the piece of equipment he had made then chuckled
Livery of the First Squad Lvl 29 A sigil made for the best Wearer receives +50 Health Mana and Stamina Those under the command of the Wearer receive +10 Health Mana and Stamina
Sam nodded pleased with himself The others had granted small amounts of health or stamina but this was a much more significant amount There were after all perks to being on top
They had already arranged a system of challenges so the lower squads could fight to gain rank but it hadn’t been used overmuch thus far Now the pendant wearers would try to obtain a top 10 ranking for the extra bonuses the larger pieces granted And those in the top 10
Would aim for the top
Wistfully Sam wondered how he would fare should he join the pool to be placed into a squad Although he felt he was slightly inadequate in comparison to the top tier he thought that he matched up pretty well in comparison to most people’s physical specs He was nearing 20 in almost everything Perhaps not super impressive but still
A throat clear caught Sam’s attention and he looked up Daniel stood there fidgeting slightly
Sam chuckled How long were you waiting
Almost five minutes Daniel replied probably only half joking Although with Daniel’s patience it would no doubt get spent after even that short amount of time and judging by the way he was bouncing from foot to foot
Well Sam asked folding his arms
The first stage of the Class Trials happened today Daniel gushed his eyes bright I have the results
The Class Trials as Daniel called them were his brainchild were he would take volunteers and oversee their training promising them support in exchange for information about their paths and stats and having control over when they chose a class He had taken in 20 individuals for it 17 men and 3 women and had been working them to the bone since the Newbie Barrier had fallen
Based on the original plan one was long term while the other was short and he had likely made the short term group take a class
Before Sam could say anything else Daniel handed him a clipboard Upon closer examination it was covered in stats lists of skills physical descriptions and measurements paths and general psychological assessments Unfortunately most it was marred with underlines circles and seeming random lines drawn around between strange bits of information
Sam gave Daniel a level look
Shaking his head Daniel said with an annoyed expression Okay okay the short version right The total stats rather than the distribution made a difference in quality of the classes received Due to some variables I haven’t been able to identity some individuals level skills faster generally while others displayed particular affinity toward a certain skill and leveled only that very rapidly It was only two weeks but I was surprised that the difference between the lowest individual and the highest was approaching 20 stat points
Focus Sam growled rapping his knuckles against the wood of the worktable
Blinking Daniel opened his mouth then closed it was a scowl With an exaggerated sigh he said Alright fine As I stated total stat amounts made a difference in terms of quality but stat distribution doesn’t seem to affect class type A person with high intelligence could still become a berserker Class type stems from the Skills you have leveled Heavy Blow leads to warrior Herculean Strength to defender Mana Bolt to mage Healing Palm to acolyte
Perhaps unfortunately Daniel continued The one individual who was best at leveling probably got the worst class out of everyone Jack of All Trades The stat gains are fine but the skills he’s gotten have been lackluster so far Just general proficiencies Since he was good at everything I just had him level everything he could Spells fighting skills cleaning and cooking construction potion making etc But because he had everything he had no dominant skills that lead to his class As such I’ve agreed to take him on as an assistant It seems that in terms of classes what matters is the really is the flavor of the skills
An assistant will be useful for you Sam said half heartedly mulling over the news The stat total increasing the quality was good but the general skills making classes more difficult was not great news to hear After all all of his production skills were spread out quite a lot In addition he had a fair amount of combat related moves If he took a class now what would he get
Not really Daniel’s said with a smug grin on his face Ever since my class granted me the Memorize skill Wait you were being sarcastic weren’t you Well I’ll be leaving then No need to stay around and be mocked
Daniel affronted face as he turned and stalked away was so comical that Sam had to laugh They were embracing this world quickly Sam thought Perhaps too quickly Becoming too used to their positions of power Hopefully this strange pseudo peace didn’t last too long
Oh one more thing Daniel said still hurrying away I’ll leave the pleasure of speaking with the Ghosthound about this piece of news to you Good luck
Now it was Sam’s turn to scowl Randidly was never in a good mood these days He was taking the tribulation absence harder than anyone else Sam knew that he wanted to go out and hunt it down but didn’t know where to start So Randidly could only wait All the while his gaze turned towards the south
In one of their evening strolls through the area Regina had confided in Sam that the strange wistful gaze had started when she mentioned Rawlands Perhaps there was a connection there the past of the man who would become The Ghosthound hidden there Some connection or relationship that could draw him even now
What exacerbated that wistful mood was that apparently the mana lessons with Lyra weren’t going well
Sam walked passed several farmers who were tending their fields their eyes studiously on the ground the raised voices already audible
What do you mean you just do it Randidly growled
I just do it so why can’t you What do you want me to say Lyra answered and Sam could picture her furious face her mouth pressed into a thin line Sam hurried closer
Some instruction would be a welcome change of pace
Okay I have a skill that lets me see mana After that I just reached out and played with it shaping I figured you could skip the seeing step and just control it but I didn’t realize you had a giant dick for a brain
I can feel it’s there sure But I haven’t been able to touch it I just want you to tell me how to touch it
If you can feel it aren’t you touching it already Just do it want it feel it What the fuck are you waiting for
The farmers were beginning to blush Sam arrived at the small gate that surrounded Randidly’s house granting him some privacy and let himself in making as much noise as possible He was met with two hostile glares
Luckily or unluckily those glares quickly switched and settled on each other
Lyra tapped her foot on the ground lightly This is where the teacher has to spank the naughty student right Good thing I’m into role play
Try it Randidly’s voice dropped dangerously and suddenly Sam felt like he wasn’t actually very impressive physically If it came to blows between them
How could you even stop it YOU CAN’T EVEN SEE MANA That’s the whole reason this is so annoying Just
You know what’s annoying Your attitude How am I supposed to just do it’ If you just behaved like a reasonable person just once
Would you even listen Aren’t you too busy treating me like a little girl to take me seriously Oh there’s Lyra again just joking around she’s so snarky and unapproachable I’d rather pat her on the head and then leave her alone so she just
But then Lyra stopped speaking and spun on her heel and walked towards one of the walls With a wave of her hand she conjured a bear made of mana that smashed its paws against the wall and ripped a hole through it like it was made of gauze Lyra calmly stepped over the broken wall without altering her gait and proceeded away passed the area now completely vacated of farmers
Inwardly Sam sighed He hadn’t known Lyra well before the system arrived but he had spent a good amount of time with her since then and Randidly too
Lyra was always raised to be an actress and the best actress She grew up under constant pressure and observation She felt seen constantly and judged and only a stubborn disposition and her natural talent and intellect had helped her through it
Now facing Randidly a person who she was obviously attracted to she was infuriated that he wasn’t behaving how she expected by viewing her as a woman To him she was just a teenager 17 might be old enough for some people but to a 23 year old Randidly that 6 year age difference was more than enough to balk at
Honestly Sam respected that about him And he had some fatherly instincts towards Lyra still so he wanted her to end up with someone her own age But even Sam couldn’t deny that their interpersonal issues were beginning to color their other interactions
These lessons for instance would likely go much more smoothly if one wasn’t clearly broadcasting her sexual frustrations and the other dismissing her outright
So Randidly said turning his furious gaze to Sam What did you come here for
Chapter 61
Randidly sat in his cabin meditating Slowly his eyes opened his piercing green eyes burning a hole through the wall looking towards the South
It had been three weeks since the Safe Zones around theirs and the neighboring village had expired During that time they had scouts combing the surrounding area They had found the two dungeon locations the one near them being Lvl 20 the one West past the other town was only Lvl 14
They had also encountered a few Tier I Raid Boss the most troublesome of which ended up being a Lvl 25 Rhinoceros Pack Leader surrounded by a few dozen of its Rhinoceros children
Almost the entirety of their force had mobilized the 2nd Unit of tanks and both Decklan’s and Dozer’s personal units moving to kill it with support from Clarissa Ultimately it was overkill but Dozer did earn a belt that gave him a huge boost in health regen and they had brought several powerful Rhinoceros bodies back with them
Then next time they found a raid boss as long as it hadn’t established itself they could probably handle it with only one elite unit and mage support
What they hadn’t yet encountered was their Tribulation So Donnyton’s leaders waited Randidly waited his patience dwindling away leaving a bubbling cauldron of frustration
Most people weren’t informed about the details of the Tribulation just the new dangers that might appear anytime so the village continued to grow unabated The greatest change in the past week was the completion of housing for almost everyone involved
Sam’s builders were really starting to click and they could throw up enough rooms to house an extended family in an hour Some of the more enterprising and fed up individuals among them had worked out a pretty sophisticated plumbing system which finally eliminated the need for latrines
They had even figured out how to get a pretty sustainable and working power plant out of mages but they didn’t really have any infrastructure here to make use of it nothing required power
The one change that Randidly did appreciate was that budding mages were forced to repeatedly heat water with the fireballs resulting in a functioning bathhouse It really made a world of difference to wash with hot water
Due to that rising demand an NCC woman gathered herbs planted a garden and began selling soap For the first time in a long time the people of Donnyton were clean
Their numbers were currently just under 3000 with around 800 of them taking classes mostly men although an increasing number of women who had been training up skills were getting interesting classes Many of Regina’s group had gotten healing style classes and were now fully integrated into the regular squads There was even one woman who received the class Green Mage and had shyly come asking him for advice
He calmly told her Practice and returned to his own training
Those of Regina’s group that hadn’t chosen healer had usually gone a mage route quickly bolster their previously pathetic mage corps Just recently after obtaining a specific skill they wanted to base their class on and leveling it a decent amount they were now taking classes getting even more specialized skills preparing to be an active participant in the village’s defense
Over the past three weeks he had also taken Thorn hunting several times The little bugger was vicious moving invisibly underground and springing upward sinking its many thorny vines into the victim’s body and wrapping the unfortunate monster in a death grip on its throat before it even knew what hit it Unfortunately it seemed like it had become very picky about blood after eating the Sphinx and hadn’t leveled again
His own training with the spear had gone very well Although he hadn’t gotten Equip high enough to use the stat bonuses despite a bunch of shitty high level equipment he had gotten from Sam he was now used to the new spear’s weight and rigidity
It wasn’t a change reflected so much in skill level but comfort in battle More than anything Randidly had focused on solidifying the foundations of his spear techniques practicing the strange forms and exercises Shal had taught him
If he were to meet the Tribulation now he had no doubts in his mind that his powerful spear blows would rip wide holes in its body even without his oppressively powerful magic
In terms of productivity of mage skills these weeks were spent mostly focusing on Fireball trying to raise it to the point that it was comparable to Spearing Roots However it seemed like that wouldn’t be the case for a long time Instead Randidly now hoped that he would get a Fireball path and obtain a more powerful flame spell that he could focus on with a higher potential
He did have the option of going and checking if there were any skills he could learn from the Skill Challenges but until he went through the Apprentice path himself he was leery about spending SP to learn something that he might be able to get on his own
What was significantly slowing his progress was everything else Randidly knew logically that his attitude was getting worse and worse He struggled but failed to refine energy shards to a stronger version of themselves allowing him to discover the next tier up from potions
Since their fight a week ago Randidly no longer bothered with lessons with Lyra in regards to mana control and she hadn’t bothered to come and ask about it Both of them appeared to be agreement at least on this subject and for some reason this annoyed Randidly even more than the fight had
He could sense the cool mana and warm stamina flowing through him strengthening him being used for his different skills He just couldn’t Affect it at all and Randidly didn’t know why To him it felt akin to trying to affect the flow of his blood Yes he could feel his heart pound and the blood flow through him That didn’t mean he have any method of interacting with the blood controlling it
These frustrations and the lack of the Tribulation really seemed to sap away the effectiveness of his skill training It just hadn’t been increasing like it used to Something needed to change
Sighing Randidly returned to the present and stood He had waited long enough and he was now quite sure of his theory It was time to talk to the Council
Although Donny was the nominal Chieftain Donnyton was basically now run by three people Daniel Regina Northwind and Mrs Hamilton Honestly although she led the NCCs Mrs Hamilton had the most influence due to the sheer number of people who had chosen not to take a class yet or ever She controlled access to coffee to the baths to soap to the mass produced potions and to the food
Needless to say she usually had the deciding vote
Every night the 3 of them met to discuss the direction the town was headed what resources they needed and what the big project for tomorrow would be There was a standing invite to Donny and Sam and they showed up occasionally but they were largely absent Dozer and Decklan had no interest in it and preferred to spend their nights training
They also didn’t invite Randidly but he sorta assumed that this was because he made his unwillingness to be involved in the small details quite clear to them all
So when Randidly showed up dragging a confused Donny the three were very shocked
They glanced at each other nervously at their luxurious meal of baby wolverine with freshly harvested herbs as garnish The new trendy strain of coffee filled their mugs
Of them all Regina recovered herself the quickest Ah Ghosthound Lovely for you to join us Would you like some
No and I’ll make this short Randidly’s face was grim I’ve put it off for some time but I think something needs to be done I will lead the caravan south to gather additional refugees in Franksburg
The group blinked
But what about the tribulation Daniel blubbered
Randidly grimaced That’s the whole point I suspect it won’t come as long as I am here In fact I suspect it was the reason I discovered the other tribulation in the first place
After picturing the wounded cat that led him to the Sphinx for several seconds Randidly shook his head He had assumed it had died or had been eaten by the sphinx but he had never seen any proof
At any rate we cannot constantly stay at the ready forever I suspect it is a different variety of tribulation than the other village experienced but no less dangerous Just less confrontational For the trip I think Alana Clarissa and Devan will suffice
The three were silent Not because the choices were bad but because the choices were some of the hand picked few they were considering sending south already Had he been monitoring their communications Not that there was anything to hide but
Meanwhile Randidly simply chose those three because it made sense Devan was the first person to successfully complete the mentor system with Donny and was the knight with the highest level other than Donny His squad which would accompany him was ranked 16th currently Alana obviously knew the path and would be a good guide of the area and Clarissa’s magic would be useful as well as exposing her to danger which she had thus far been insulated from due to the structure of their squads
They could take one of the junior squads for manpower and would be able to handle basically anything that Randidly had seen thus far
Besides they were traveling back into a zone covered by the Newbie Zone Any more would be overkill
I’m glad to see you agree Randidly grunted and left them
Donny feeling awkward sat down and began to eat the food
So He asked talking with his mouth open What were you guys talking about Wow this is good
Chapter 62
In the predawn light Randidly’s face cracked into a smile He had just gained a level in Meditation and with it
He finally had enough to finish off the Frontrunner path After putting the final PP into it he received a notification
Congratulations You have completed the The Frontrunner Path The odds were stacked against your race but you rose above the trials and tribulations to give your people a safe place to stay Being the first brings great power but also places a great weight on your shoulders Others are raised but only because you drag them upwards May this path give you the tools to share some of this weight Because beyond this path there is always another
You have learned the skill Blessing of the North You have learned the skill Blessing of the East You have learned the skill Blessing of the South You have learned the skill Blessing of the West You have learned the skill Inspiration ®
The explanations for the first 4 skills were useless just text about blessing a worthy subordinate and granting them power but Inspiration was a bit more interesting
Inspiration ® The next spell you cast will be inspired You will be able to accomplish feats far beyond the limits of your normal mana pool All mana will be consumed You will not regenerate mana for any reason for 24 hours after completion of the spell That spell cannot be used in conjunction with Inspiration for 30 days
So one big spell at the expense of the next day’s worth of spells The cost was extremely high but
Well Randidly supposed it depended on the effectiveness of the spell Making a mental checklist of the two things he still had to do before the caravan headed back South in an hour he walked outside of his cabin and winced
Make that three things
Jeez don’t look so excited to see me Lyra said sarcastically petting a trembling Thorn She had eventually bullied the plant into letting her treat it like a pet although Randidly had no idea how Things had been strange between them In a rare moment of weakness Randidly had asked Daniel who she was or had been before the system and Daniel had gone on a rant about cult classics’ and horror legend’ and a bunch of other pre system fanboying
But Randidly did gather some relevant information from their talk Lyra really was 17 no matter how mature she looked
On the other hand Randidly was 23 Or he was if the time in the dungeon counted Based on the calendar it was still two more months until his birthday But still The difference in age made him uncomfortable and so he was in a weird space where he wanted to see her but dared not seek her out
No it is good to see you Randidly said after a moment of hesitation but Lyra just snorted
Well
Well what Randidly asked frowning
Lyra gave him a withering glance Aren’t you going to ask me anything
Uh
Her eyes narrowed Aren’t you leaving for for a while to go to the south
Well yea
Doesn’t it seem like I want you to ask me something about going to the south Her teeth made grinding noises
Randidly winced Lyra if you want to come fine
I don’t give a shit about coming or not I want you to ask So Ask Me To Come The air around her vibrated dangerously strange mana reverberations spreading in all directions
If you want to come just come Randidly shouted raising his arms
The air stilled Lyra nodded curtly her expression a pleasant smile Sure
Then she turned and walked passed him Not knowing what else to do Randidly reached out and grasped her arm She turned and gave him an evaluative look
Do you have some business with me sir Her tone was low and surprisingly devoid of sarcasm even though the phrase itself seemed designed for it Not knowing what else to do Randidly just looked at her
Then he had an idea and used one of his new skills
At times like these perhaps a gift would help smooth things over
To his surprise Lyra’s puzzled frown turned into a vicious glare Ripping her arm away she spat on his bare feet Do you think I want a fucking blessing from you Is that what you want Another subordinate
She turned and walked away head held high As she passed the gate around his cabin she called over her shoulder Just to clarify I won’t be coming south with you
Randidly scratched his head as he watched her go
But there were more things to focus on In an attempt to distract himself he brought up his Path menu
Watcher 0/ Heretic III 0/ Oathbreaker 0/25 Apprentice Path 0/50
His options had decreased but he already had made a decision It was time to head down the Apprentice Path More skills meant faster gathering PP which was his way of gaining strength
Finally Randidly turned to the final item on his agenda and removed a small seed from his pocket He had created another soul seed after the cooldown wore off and had been nurturing it these past two weeks
Soul Seed 100% Nurtured Strongest Influences 1 Fireball 2 Meditation 3 Potion Making 4 Refine 5 Calculated Blow 6 Root Manipulation
The influences were a bit strange especially for a plant Let alone Fireball how could a plant use Meditation Potion Making Refine and Calculated Blow It was because all he had done was focus on discovering potion recipes and mopping up random creeps in the area with Thorn
Ultimately he was also very pissed off that he hadn’t been able to make any headway on Mana Manipulation Even after Randidly stopped meeting with Lyra still he practiced struggling to find ways to make it work Unfortunately reality wasn’t kind it seemed that his thoughts so much earlier in regards to the way he viewed the system shaping his abilities were true
He could perform skills and he had different pools of resources to fund those skills But he wasn’t able to control those pools directly
Perhaps what Randidly needed was a skill to make these things manifest Like whatever strange skill Lyra refused to name that allowed her to see mana She seemed to think that was a pointless step and maybe it was for her the strange combination of frustration and inexplicable talent that she was but Randidly needed to see it he figured to get a handle on using it
Thinking about Lyra made Randidly oddly morose and he turned and gazed at the bear sized hole in the fence around his house that Randidly had quietly requested remain there marring his wall It had been strangely lonely as most everyone stayed out of his way allowing him to train constantly
The stress had sapped the last tiny bit of effectiveness from an already almost useless few weeks and Randidly wanted to keep this as a reminder Of what he currently wasn’t sure because Lyra and her lessons and her feelings for him were all jumbled up into a ball that Randidly wasn’t sure he even wanted to touch
But he knew he didn’t want to be left alone to slowly wind himself up in his house until he snapped For that Randidly knew he valued Lyra She attacked him verbally which was reassuring in a way The rest of the town basically took everything he said as law and showered him with veneration and compliments
Other people might like that attention but to Randidly it just came off as creepy
The abuse while perhaps offensive to some grounded Randidly by putting him in a situation that he understood and was used too When the three of them Sydney Ace and himself had hung out they weren’t being They were vulgar and caustic constantly engaged in a cold war of banter and and ploys
Ace and Sydney
Randidly’s gaze turned South Which was why he had to go no matter how strangely Lyra was acting And why he refused to think any more deeply on his own feelings no matter how lovely she was when she smiled Randidly clenched his fists and looked down having forgotten he was still holding the small strangely nurtured seed
Still he supposed looking at the tiny seed in his hand it would work out somehow Even if he wasn’t around to see it
As Randidly walked out to the slope between the NCC village and the Classer compound up on the hill he was surprised to find two small children crawling through the fields picking weeds He recognized them too Nathan and Kiersty They were twins and the youngest members of Donnyton at 8
The system hadn’t been kind to children Although from what Regina had said it was less that they were killed and more that the parents of these surviving children weren’t willing to travel with their kids and turtled up in their homes
Ultimately foolish but Randidly supposed he could understand the sentiment
Struck by a sudden notion Randidly walked over to the children When they saw him approach the two straightened uncertainly The girl wiped her nose on her sleeve Randidly crouched before them
I need a favor
Chapter 63
They made good time heading south mostly because everyone other than Randidly sat in the tractor trailer and drove while he roamed through the forest slaughtering anything he came across The monsters were relatively strong for a while in the teens as they traveled through the area where the Newbie Zone had fallen During that time Randidly had mostly worked on his Fireball and Summon Pestilence gaining 1 Level in the former and 2 in the latter
But after the third day they had entered the area where the Newbie Zone around Franksburg and the common level of enemies halved to something like 7 or 8 During that time Randidly started training Agony
It was a vicious brutal skill It drove him insane every time he used it If he didn’t see it ripping apart the will of his enemies by the same token he wouldn’t continue to rely on it In addition he didn’t have that big of a health pool to draw from But against these low level enemies especially in groups it was more than enough
By the end of three days they reached the spot on the highway where they would need to turn east and Randidly had gained 1 level in Roundhouse Kick 2 in Pollen of the Rafflesia 1 in Wall of Thorns 3 in Mapmaker 1 in Physical Fitness 3 in Running 4 in Sprinting 2 in Pain Resistance 1 in Equip 2 in Pathfinding and an impressive 8 in Agony
Randidly had a hunch that the pain you went through as you used the skill increased the effectiveness of the leveling by stressing the body Either way his growth was an impressive thing
As they camped Randidly poured his PP into the Apprentice Path At 10 and 20 he received 2 distributable stat points each but he received a strange notification at 25
Congratulations you have encountered a branching path Choose a patron from the following list and complete your apprenticeship
Randidly idly scrolled through the list but then his eyes widened as he examined the options
Patron of Silence Patron of Frostbite Patron of Nightmares Patron of Crystal Patron of Zephyr
Honestly this seemed like another instance where the system gave him no guidance and being the first one to reach this point came back to bite him Sighing Randidly simply went with his gut he chose Patron of Ash If he really was going to commit to fire as his damage dealing spells
The path you walk has become littered with ash The sky darkens The fire stands before you and you do not blink as you walk towards it Ash fills your lungs with every breath but you dare not falter
Other than the cryptic notification nothing seemed to change so Randidly shrugged setting it to the side He walked towards the group who were gathered around the back of the truck all 13 of them They stood as he approached the squad saluting him Clarissa Alana and Devan simply nodding
You should figure out what your plan is when you enter the area and who your leader is I will not accompany you I have other business
Although Alana seemed slightly unsettled she said nothing and the rest nodded calmly as if this was expected
Anything else Randidly asked feeling quite strange Although he supposed everyone at Donnyton had always listened to him to have them be so deferential to him now was a bit
Ah actually The leader of the squad spoke up adjusting his pendant numbering 16 his eyes bright and nervous We were wondering if perhaps you could give us some pointers On fighting
Alana was unwilling to join the rest in all coming at him at once but at Clarissa’s insistence she relented
You will understand after it starts Clarissa assured her Alana pressed her mouth into a thin line
In the meantime Randidly went and cut down a sapling whittling it into a good approximation of a spear The balance was a bit off but it would be better than cutting someone in half with his huge Spine Spear
Randidly used his Root Manipulation to clear cars out of a 20 meter circle and stood at the far side calmly drinking a mana potion After restoring himself to prime condition he added I won’t use skills to start If you touch me that will change Deal
Alana’s eyes were burning but Devan nodded seriously Randidly was slightly worried it would take a while for them to start but Clarissa was not a shy woman An icicle zipped towards his head
Grinning he spun his sapling and knocked it harmlessly away eyeing the rest They surged forward in neat lines the front with shields raised moving to encircle him As they neared him he simply stepped forward and delivered a non Roundhouse Kick kick to the one on the far right throwing him stumbling back several meters
In that opening Randidly strolled through his sapling lashing out keeping the rest at bay Another icicle rushed at his head which he again knocked away Then he lowered himself and rushed forward putting his significant agility to use Clarissa would make this fight annoying if they ever locked him down enough to use her powerful spells
Gotcha Alana growled lunging forward stabbing towards his side
Randidly only chuckled and spun the sapling to his left hand which he jabbed backward with expertly knocking the spearhead harmlessly to the side
As Randidly turned back to face forward he found a shield bash rushing toward his head He swayed his torso straightening and spinning avoiding it completely and twisting around Devan to have a straight shot to Clarissa who stood with her hands raised above her head a ball of glowing blue energy held at the ready
Frost No
But Clarissa had stuttered to a stop upon seeing her Randidly knew what spell she was casting and leapt back towards the 10 man squad who were hurrying back towards him out of formation desperate to assist
Three strikes had knocked three men to the ground with a 4th and 5th soon following At that point Alana arrived before him furious swinging her spear
Randidly calmly blocked it and watched as she tried to kick him in the chest Randidly sidestepped and then knocked her legs out from under her Before he could deliver a blow knocking her out a shout dragged his attention back to Devan
Grimacing Randidly rushed forward Challenging Shout was a bitch of a move He felt as if he could overpower the compulsion to attack the user directly with his high Willpower but there was also no harm in going along with it to demonstrate the difference in strength
He simply thrust his sapling sliding cleanly through the air towards Devan’s shield having no other choice but to attack directly The wooden imitation spear and the reinforced iron shield collided with a dull boom the force large enough to throw a shock wave outward Eyes wide Devan stumbled backwards his stance completely overpowered
Lightning Bolt The spell shot out catching Randidly in the chest He gritted his teeth slightly to withstand the weird tremors and then rushed towards Clarissa
Frost Nova
Randidly hopped off the ground using the moment of his earlier dash to carry him the rest of the distance towards her A wave of cold hit him creating a layer of frost over his skin but his strength was more than enough to easily overpower it
He landed and punched her shoulder casually then looked around nodding
That should be about it then right
Alana stared at their small campfire her gaze clouded
Devan sat down next to her You’ve never seen him fight before
She shook her head slowly No I’ve seen the monster he killed and brought back but I didn’t know
Ah that’s right You were out on patrol the day he fought against the Kill squad Devan nodded
The Kill squad was the nickname for Dozer’s personal squad It also could include Donny Ptolemy the healer and the Brawler depended on what they needed It wasn’t ranked both because it included people from multiple squads and because Dozer and Donny didn’t join the squad competition but its strength couldn’t be denied Who was there
Everyone Devan’s tone was bitter
How how did they do
Devan offered her a mug of coffee She took it Better than us They started out being brutalized but Donny was guarding Ptolemy full time and they managed to slowly box The Ghosthound in while getting healed and the Brawler was able to touch him After that he used one of his basic skills Phantom Thrust It was impossible to see You saw him raise his arm and then you woke up hours later with a headache This happened to everyone
They sat in silence for several minutes Clarissa drifting over and settling down next to them hearing what they were talking about She leaned forward conspiratorially He hasn’t told anyone but Daniel says that based on his talks with Nul the Ghosthound’s Spear Skills should be around 30 Maybe even higher than that
Is he Alana hesitated then said Is he ever gonna take a class
Devan shrugged noncommittally Does he need to
Chapter 64
Randidly watched with amusement as the group moved towards Franksburg He had detected the enemy scouts around them and faded away avoiding their notice It seems like his party would be ambushed but he wasn’t worried
Alana was a capable leader and Devan’s eyes missed nothing when it came to approaching threats They would find their way out of it
Besides despite Daniel’s groanings they had all been provided with Spatial Rings to store their supplies They would probably be searched lightly but Randidly didn’t think the world had degraded to the point that you would steal dingy rings off of captives All their hidden supplies would be safe
For himself Randidly circled around to the far side of Franksburg his heart beating wildly as he saw more and more Rawlands University buildings Some of them were strangely split in half only parts here with rooms exposed like a giant had sliced them and moved a piece but some people from Rawlands had definitely made it here
Cautiously he revealed himself and began walking towards the interior of the city looking lost Monsters had apparently been cleared out in this area although they were thick outside of the city limits so there was nothing that would force him to reveal himself Eventually A group of people in police motorcycle helmets and full body camo came trotting around the corner
When they saw them they froze the people in the back running into the people in the front and Randidly raised his hands doing his best to look unthreatening
He supposed he should have changed out of his shirt and pants made out of wolverine fur
But before anything else happened one of the figures spoke It that Randidly I can’t believe you are alive
The girl removed her helmet and rushed him wrapping him up in a hug
Randidly coughed awkwardly Uh Yea I made it It’s good to see you too Tessa
Tessa was of course Randidly’s ex girlfriend although it was hard for him to think about her as that presently That was primarily due to the time warping effects of the dungeon however After all Randidly had been walking back from breaking up with her the moment the system initialized So to her it had been only about a month
She chatted excitedly the entire way back hanging right next to him and Randidly was curious to see that none of the other members of the group seemed to care about his presence In fact they didn’t really seem to care about patrolling at all There was no real formation just wandering around in a large square
Still although it was slightly strange Randidly was reassured by her presence She was an influence from the past before the system came She also was proof that more Rawlands University had been here which gave him hope for Sydney and Ace
However Tessa was never comfortable with his relationship with them especially Sydney so Randidly found it difficult to bring up the subject Even though he had broken up with her and didn’t have any lingering feelings he still was slightly cautious
Tessa seemed to notice his frown and gestured awkwardly at the group Oh this sort of job is just a commission thing When they have need they offer food and people do tasks It’s actually my first time patrolling like this haha I don’t know if I could actually kill anything even if a monster attacked me oh But don’t worry I’m still pretty strong I have a skill level of 84 so I’m pretty tough ehehe
Skill level Randidly’s focus sharpened She had a skill at level 84
Yea like the total level of all of your skills leveled up added together Because that’s how many points you have to put into paths What’s yours Randidly
Randidly nodded slowly It made sense that they needed a way to gauge strength without levels here because they didn’t have access to a class I’m about 70
With just two of my skills ’ Randidly thought inwardly but let the number sit out there
Oh wow That’s pretty high actually I guess you’d need to get skills to survive in the wild for so long What are you wearing anyway
The conversation was starting to wear on Randidly and apparently the leader of the patrol too who turned around took off his helmet and sneered at Randidly Don’t let her sweet talk you 70 is nothing I’m 91 and I’m still here stuck patrolling around Some people are born lucky and others aren’t Levels don’t mean anything in front of fate
Oh fuck you Alex Tessa said partially glaring at Alex partially glancing nervously at Randidly
But Randidly just shrugged It would take a lot more than this to offend him especially when he knew that his Intelligence stat was only 1 lower than the total number of skill levels this guy had gained
The group lapsed into silence and soon they arrived at a gated area which Randidly recognized as part of Rawlands campus a bored looking man let them through and then handed out small bags to them all
When her turn came to receive a bag Tessa stepped forward pulling Randidly We uh found someone An outsider
The man’s eyes widened and then he walked over to a little kiosk Been awhile since we’ve seen one of those figured most everyone outside was dead Here
The man handed him a bundle of papers stapled together Randidly flicked through it and saw it was general information about Skill levels monsters in the area how to find work and food in the city etc
Apparently they had gotten so many refugees that this had been necessary at one point But Randidly had to admit that it was a pretty big city People had probably flooded here rushing to escape from the monsters running rampant in the wild
Then the man wished him luck and Randidly followed after Tessa He spared her a glance She had shoulder length brown hair and glasses and a face with high cheekbones What had originally attracted Randidly to her was the small frown that she was perpetually wearing as if every moment was a struggle against the injustice of the world
The first impression that Randidly had of Franksburg was people Whereas Donnyton was cozily crowded tucked into a valley here there were people everywhere filling the streets hanging out windows calling and cooking selling food for tokens that Tessa explained were from the government
Eventually Tessa stopped in front of a building her mouth twisting This uh is where I live I have a bunch of roommates but since you probably need a place to stay you could
Thank you very much Randidly interrupted and Tessa’s smile was wide
But for right now He continued looking around I haven’t seen this many people in what feels like forever I kinda just want to see the city If it’s not too much trouble how about we meet back here tomorrow morning and you can show me what living here is like
Tessa’s face fell slightly but she maintained her smile and nodded Yea sure You should be safe inside the city But my apartment is #576 if you get cold and uh need a bed
After she had left Randidly found himself a bench and read through the packet After reading the entire thing he rubbed his neck and looked around
Honestly it was very similar to the way Donnyton operated just on a much larger scale There were a lot of large short term projects and every day new jobs would be announced for different times People would go and work and receive food or tokens
Randidly was also curious about whether the government’ was making any moves to find a gold coin and found a Newbie Village He assumed they had to be and they should have enough strength to do so after 5 weeks It was only a matter of time before this place became a village too And with the huge population it would gather SP extremely quickly The pamphlet said the population was around 15 thousand here but Randidly had no doubt that it had grown precipitously since the pamphlet was made He wouldn’t be shocked if it was more like 50 thousand now
But for now Randidly wanted to do several things Meet more people and gather information on Franksburg And the easiest way to do that
Randidly stood and walked around heading for a Job Cryer to find a job for the night
Karen frowned down at her two children Nathan and Kiersty They stood guiltily in front of her their faces smudged with soot
Where have you two been And how did you get so dirty Did you wander over by the forge again
Both children shook their heads but kicked the ground remaining silent Karen upped the voltage on her glare
Eventually Kiersty mumbled something
What was that Karen said
We were taking care of a special tree for the Ghosthound
You were what Karen asked skeptically Then she snorted A special tree huh Where is it Let’s see how special it really is
Karen had been expecting her overly curious twins to take her to an old log from a long dead fire but to her surprise they led her behind the farms passed the area where the domesticated wolverines were raised into a small clearing hidden by low hill that should really just be called a mound
There standing in the middle of the clearing was sure enough a tree Its bark was black and seemed to be covered and soot and there were no leaves on it but it had a trunk and branches just like a normal tree
The thing was only about as tall as her chest and was swaying lightly in the breeze moving side to side Karen reached out and touched the bark and sure enough her fingers came away covered in soot The tree began to sway more rapidly buffeted by the wind
Karen let out a relieved smile At least it was just a tree even if it was a scrawny weird one But then Karen froze
There was no wind There hand been no wind this entire time Karen stumbled backwards afraid and almost tripped over her children who were standing behind her arms raised swaying side to side
Karen looked from the children to the tree The children moved left and the tree mirrored them They moved right and it followed
What what are you doing honey Karen gasped
Nathan turned and said matter of factly Dancing The Tree likes it when you dance with it
An hour later after taking Nathan and Kiersty home Karen returned to the clearing and the weird tree with Mrs Hamilton in tow To Karen’s surprise Mrs Hamilton insisted they wait and the portly boy who ran the Classer compound came down to meet them
The three of them proceeded to the clearing and stared at the tree a while
So Daniel coughed impatiently What is this about
Apparently the Ghosthound gave two children a seed And it grew into a dancing tree Mrs Hamilton remarked with a bemused expression Do you know how to make it
Karen just shrugged helplessly You just dance I guess
Daniel snorted and stepped forward up in front of the tree Then he began to perform the robot doing a surprisingly good job Mrs Hamilton chuckled amused
Oh shut up I just But then they both stopped shocked The tree jerky and slow at first but then with increasing proficiency imitated him doing the robot
Well fuck Mrs Hamilton said her eyes wide
Chapter 65
Alana glared up at the man in front of her her hands handcuffed behind her back Although she wasn’t quite sure whether she could break out on her own she was positive that Devan and the rest of the squad could
But they all just sat silently looking at her Sighing inwardly she kept a stern face to hide her indecision
Let me ask again The blonde man asked stepped back away from them Where did you come from How did you survive out there with the monsters
Like I said we came from a town to the North We’ve already established a Newbie Village and so we have classes
The man made a disgusted face Bah Don’t play dumb with me You sound like the Freedom Fighters Guns where are your guns The only way to beat back these monsters is with bullets If you survived it was due to guns Did you hide them before you came close looking to fool me As if ahhahahaha
Alana rolled her eyes and the man leapt forward and slapped her
It felt like a child’s slap to her enhanced body but still her eyes narrowed
The man stood straightening his jacket Then he said Fine keep lying We will let you starve a bit in your cells see if you change your tune If by the end of the week you still refuse
The man’s smile turned sinister Well then don’t blame me for being impolite Men take them away
Randidly to his own amusement was sewing Apparently there was a big event tomorrow night and they needed costumes Lots of costumes Sam had whined about Randidly learning more basic skills recently for PP but Randidly had been so frustrated these past few weeks with the tribulation and Lyra He just was disgusted by the thought
But strangely after leaving the village traveling around seeing so many people running into Tessa feeling close to finding clues about Sydney and Ace Randidly relaxed So Randidly sat hunched over in a dimly lit warehouse stitching clothing together
It was oddly soothing He also activated Root Manipulation making the small plants in the area dance It wasn’t quite as efficient as he normally would want to be but Randidly supposed that this was something of a break anyway
He had initially asked if anyone had known if anyone knew someone named Sydney or Ace from Rawlands University but he had just received blank stares Shrugging he focused on the knitting Randidly supposed it wasn’t surprising that they didn’t know anything There were a lot of people in the city and only a few dozen people here sewing This would take time
Mostly he listened to the people around him talked as they stood walked around and stretched their sore hands and then sat back down to continue to work
Randidly continued to stitch his moves becoming more natural his loops tighter
I heard they are leaving tomorrow morning One woman said but another sighed in response
They always say that The Senator can’t work up enough balls to actually do it and the fire department isn’t going to volunteer to do it on their own
Another woman chimed in The Freedom Fighters would do it if they got enough volunteers
The second woman fixed the first with a long stare And do you know what volunteering means Being a meat shield for the gunners The mortality rate for which is very very high No amount of food is going to make people leap to their deaths Not when easy work like this is available
The woman gestured to the piles of finished clothes next to them all Her own pile was rather large Every other nearby person had about 70% of her pile Except for one
Randidly’s was about double the size of the woman’s
They glanced at him but then ignored him He was just one of those weird shut in types who would come out at night to work and then return to their room to eat It was disgusting to the second woman People like that were exactly the reason why the city stayed bottled up while monsters ran rampant around them
Randidly ignored their stares and waited for the talk to continue intent on his stitching A notification popped up and he smiled His Sewing skill was already Lvl 5 It seemed his increased stats let him grind these finesse tasks relatively quickly
Time passed and Randidly stack of clothes continued to grow After a while a portly man and a taller woman walked around picking people About 1 out of every dozen were chosen The 2nd woman was chosen and also Randidly to his own surprise
Those that were picked The man announced Follow this woman The rest of you come collect your pay
The woman took them back and introduce herself as Cassie This needlework requires a bit more finesse but the pay is better If you are interested I want you to try learning this stitching method
Randidly mastered it the quickest within about 15 minutes and after an hour of impeccable work using that method Cassie was shocked that he had been an amateur The 2nd gossiping woman her competitive spirit rising sewed furiously attempting to keep up
After another hour they asked if anyone needed a break Randidly continued to stitch heedless working on an elaborate hoop skirt The gossipy woman her eyes bloodshot looked at him helpless Then she bit her tongue and shook her head returning to the sewing
Another hour passed Randidly humming softly to himself Truly it was a good thing to relax the body Over training only strained the body having hobbies was very important to your mental and physical health
The woman’s chest heaved her eyes bulging But still she kept herself razor focused never wavering with her needlework
By this time Cassie returned and asked them both if they would like to stay on for another 4 hours doing embroidery She cautioned them that if they started they would need to finish or they wouldn’t get paid
Randidly simply nodded standing and following after her His Sewing skill had reached 9 anyway it didn’t seem like grinding like this would have any more effect The gossiping woman collapsed
Alana looked curiously at Devan You don’t want to escape
He simply shrugged and the rest of them seemed similarly relaxed Even Clarissa had frozen and shattered her handcuffs after the guards locked them in the room pulling a pallet out of her spatial ring and taking a nap
It is not that I don’t want to escape but I want to efficiently accomplish our objective Their leader is paranoid and stressed beyond what he can handle He’s worried about everyone taking his power and thinks guns are his only salvation I have no doubt that such a desperate worried man will want a display of power So we wait and try to recruit there
Blinking Alana asked display of power What do you mean
He means One of the squad members interjected That the idiot might publicly torture us or some shit maybe execute us And he will bring a big crowd together to do it Better to let them do the gathering and then cash in on it
Clarissa rolled over on her pallet snoring loudly
Thank you so much for the work Cassie said handing Randidly several tokens He looked at them rather nonplussed He supposed they were for food but its not like he needed it with his satchel space full of it
Uh thank you it was enlightening Randidly said and meaning it His Sewing had reached 11 by the end of the night Cassie was more than willing to teach such a studious pupil more and more complicated needlework which had hastened the rise of his skill level
No thank you If you hadn’t shown up I would have probably needed to work alone by myself for the rest of the day She said beaming Then she had a sudden thought Oh actually take these too
She offered two slips of paper Randidly took them uncomprehendingly
Don’t look so confused Cassie said laughing You must have noticed the costumes were for oh god you really didn’t haha It’s for the concert tonight Those are backstage passes feel free to come and visit It’s supposed to be a good show
Cassie waved as he left and Randidly wandered away bemused A concert huh
He supposed live music was a fine way to relax But for now he walked briskly back to a job cryer looking for something to do until the time he had to meet Tessa
Hopefully there would be more knowledgeable people at this new job
Chapter 66
Daniel looked at the report slightly disappointed In the wake of Glendel acquiring such a powerful sounding class he had dedicated a lot of resources to leveling him up quickly and finding a suitable protege who would use a mentor stone and gain the same class
They had done it but the difference in classes was staggering The notifications sat before him frustrating him endlessly
Congratulations You have received the class of Sovereign of Ghosts You have gained the Spiritual Communication Lvl 1 You have received the skill Spiritual Merger Lvl 1 You have received the skill Spiritual Summoning Lvl 1 You have received the skill Spiritual Bestowal Lvl 1 You have received the skill Aura of the Spirit Sovereign Lvl 1 You have received the skill Soulbind Monster® You may learn 12 additional skills to these and those you already possess Skills may be forgotten to learn new skills +6 Health per Level +20 Mana Per Level +4 Stamina per level +4 Per WP Wisdom or Focus per level (these points may be distributed between 4)
Glendel’s class was truly impressive 6 skills one of them being what The Ghosthound called a rare skill and a 20 point boost to mana per level In addition 4 stats per level although they were distributed to some weird areas
Meanwhile
Congratulations You have received the class of Spirit Caller You have gained the Spiritual Communication Lvl 1 You have received the skill Spiritual Summoning Lvl 1 You have received the skill Ghost Claw Lvl 1 You may learn 6 additional skills to these and those you already possess Skills may be forgotten to learn new skills +8 Health per Level +10 Mana Per Level +7 Stamina per level +2 Per Wisdom or Focus per level (these points may be distributed between 3)
Nul had said that they could obtain greater or lesser versions of classes through the mentor system but this was oppressively lesser To be fair it was among the higher tiers of the classes they had It allowed them to summon and bind lesser ghosts which were excellent scouts In addition it did also get Ghost Claw which was an offensive move that summoned an ectoplasmic ghost hand to attack with It was scary looking and seemed powerful even at level one
But it was clear that while Glendel had obtained something special The Spirit Caller was a high ranking foot soldier at best
Daniel rubbed his eyes Although increasing his stats meant he could stay awake for longer that didn’t mean he should too often But the reason he was up now was because the hordes used to come around now and he was just used to it
Inwardly Daniel should be pleased at their progress but if anything he felt listless They had survived The tribulation was hanging over their heads but nothing had happened yet The village was growing and prospering Businesses were forming There were weird dancing trees popping up It just felt
Daniel turned to Nul What should we be working towards right now
Nul remained silent
Will we eventually have more direction
This time Nul nodded slowly It is hard to say but perhaps
When will that happen
Again silence Daniel had studied Nul’s reactions for a long time He only didn’t speak when there was a direct answer and he was somehow kept from saying it If the answer was vague he felt no compunction from droning on and one about a subject But when the answer was too simple
A lightbulb went on in Daniel’s head He had planned on purchasing a second kept dungeon with the 12k SP they had but
Nul let’s upgrade to a Trainee Village
Nul’s smile stretched very wide his white teeth glittering in the candlelight
Dammit The man swore his chest heaving dropping his knife and resting his forehead against the counter Randidly continued to consistently slice carrots and move them into the bin He had gained the skill Cutting Vegetables but it was currently only at level 2 Apparently cutting carrots was nowhere near as good experience as sewing The other problem with job was that no one was talking Everyone was just furiously chopping carrots
Which was almost soothing After briefly inquiring to his nearby cutting mates about Sydney Ace and Rawlands Randidly had settled into the monotony of the task without much complaint making him admit to himself that while he still wanted to find Ace and Sydney
Tessa had reminded him of some things that he would rather have been forgotten The long talk with Sydney before Randidly had walked and broken up with Tessa The long walk back from that event where Randidly had wondered the entire time what sort of face he should make in front of Ace
They were his best friends but relationships weren’t simple things And Randidly preferred as little public interaction as possible even at the best of times Besides if they survived this long they probably wouldn’t die from something random right He had time
Randidly looked up searching for the source of a strange pounding noise The man next to Randidly straightened and looked at his hands I’ve been putting most of my points into Agility yanno But It’s like I hit a wall Even though my stat is still going up I can’t get any faster And just a little more and I bet they would move me up to kitchen duty
Randidly stayed silently for a long moment The rest of the workers in the kitchen kept their eyes on their table continuing to cut Feeling bored Randidly began to randomize his cut locations starting in the middle then hopping to one side then back then between them while simultaneously keeping all of his carrots an even size
It was disappointingly easy Stats really started to mean a lot huh
Knocking another two cut carrots into a bin he gave the man another glance He still hadn’t straightened and continued to work
what’s your reaction stat Randidly asked trying to sound casual
The man didn’t move mumbling to himself
Randidly frowned flicking a carrot at the man It ricocheted off the man’s head He straightened shocked and Randidly asked again
What is your reaction stat
The man shrugged What does it matter I’m trying to just move more quickly
Randidly sighed Reaction improves your nerve endings and increases your sensitivity to tactile feedback You feel better More than that you might not be able to control your speed without Reaction No matter how good the acceleration is a car that can’t turn won’t win many races
The man just gaped at him
A small asian woman to Randidly’s left looked up at him Did you hear that at one of the university lectures
Randidly frowned then shook his head No just from my own observations
The woman muttered something and looked away ignoring Randidly again But Randidly made a mental note to as Tessa about these lectures and to go to one Why hadn’t the woman mentioned it when he asked earlier There might be more people he knew there if it was sponsored by Rawlands Maybe people who knew Ace and Sydney
Randidly reached into his unfinished bin and found nothing He looked around the room Where do I get more carrots to him
Everyone looked at him in shock The supervisor saw the situation and came over Then he scratched his head shocked I I guess you can go
Nodding Randidly walked out relieved
Wait you forgot your tokens But Randidly was already gone Shrugging unhappily the supervisor returned to his spot wishing he had thought to ask the guy to come back again tomorrow
The man who had put all of his points into agility looked at Randidly’s neatly cut carrots his eyes bright Reaction huh
As Randidly was walking away a notification popped up
Congratulations Your Arbor Lvl 1 is ready to level up Due to its nature your first choice is set Give Arbor either Vanity or Sloth
A vein in Randidly’s temple throbbed It was bad enough when he had checked the seed he had left which he had named Arbor and saw what it grew off of Randidly brought up its status screen again
Arbor (Attention)
Lvl 1
Survivability 2
Physicality 1
Magical Aptitude 3
Brain Function 7
Particularity 6
Battle Ability 1
It was a hard thing to stomach Randidly wasn’t sure where he went wrong with this Soul Seed Perhaps it was the weird skills perhaps it was the abandoning it and leaving it with those kids but this one grew based off of attention
Randidly swore to himself to not make another Soul Seed until he had time to purposefully nurture it
And now he had to choose between Vanity and Sloth
Sighing Randidly selected Vanity It was better that it like looking at itself in the mirror than it being unwilling to work He supposed Vanity wasn’t that bad of a flaw for a tree thing
Arbor is now Lvl 2 Particularity has increased by 2 It has learned the skill Elaborate Dance
Randidly closed the notification and the Soul Seed Menu before he did something stupid And so with a twitching smile he arrived outside Tessa’s apartment settling down to wait He just hoped that no one gave Arbor any sort of weird attention that would warp its growth
Looking around at the passing people he considered asking around about Sydney and Ace But seriously what was he expecting Maybe there was some sort of giant missing person board
Randidly supposed that he could ask one of these people but decided it was fine to wait for Tessa and ask her It was nice being alone one of the crowd without people freezing up in some strange mixture of awe and fear when he passed
For a while Randidly enjoyed the simple feeling of being treated like a normal guy
Chapter 67
Tessa pulled her ponytail over her shoulder nervously spinning in front of the mirror She felt strange But the world was a strange place now wasn’t it
She had known things were wrong in her relationship with Randidly a long time before he broke up with her but she had wanted to work through it It didn’t seem like he did In the wake of that the system had descended on the world ripping away half of her building and all of her sense of security
The night everything happened both the breakup and the world shaking change Tessa had curled up in her bed and cried herself to sleep trying to ignore the screams
They had been dating for a year and it hit her hard Not of course harder than the system but still
The next month had blended together in a desperate blur of short term jobs and and sleazy guys like that patroller Alex always trying to isolate her and tempt her with cheap beer and free food
And now just finally when she was wavering Randidly showed back up If that wasn’t fate she didn’t know what was
Noticing the time she hurried down the steps To her surprise Randidly was already there calmly eating a hardboiled egg
Oh I’m sorry did you wait long Tessa asked instantly nervous
Randidly was a good hearted person but he did have something of a moody streak Not that he would do anything about it he would just be grumpy but Tessa didn’t want grumpiness to interrupt their reunion
Again Randidly’s even gaze surprised her His eyes calmly looked her up and down as he swallowed the last of the egg Then he shook his head No I just got here
He still had the habit of keeping his face completely still while lying which was slightly relieving Even so though why did he lie about something so simple He always lied for the dumbest reasons Although this definitely was the same man she dated for a year he seemed almost completely different Her eyes had always been drawn to him but now there was something more to that Like his presence drew everything towards him as if he was the center of the world
Tessa shook her head trying to banish those thoughts So uh I have some food tokens saved up I can show you around the city
She trailed off as Randidly gave her the look She felt her cheeks flush slightly It was the look he gave her when he already knew what to do and was about to tell her It was annoying a lot of the time but there were some other times
Actually He said calmly I had a question first What do you know about the University Lectures here
Sam grunted turning over the breast plate Over the last month he had managed to set up something of a forge and they were beginning to experiment with shaping metal The whole ordeal was vastly simplified by when around a week ago Daniel had purchased the Supply shop and they could purchase bars of smelted iron for relatively cheaply
Far far more cheaply than the weapons and armor they would become The only issue left was shaping the metal He examine the breastplate more closely
Novice’s Breastplate Lvl 2 +7 Health
The bonus would be barely noticeable but Sam supposed it was better than nothing An improvement is an improvement Good work
The man who ran the smithy Ceth chuckled bitterly And fucking long hours of work too I need to get some more points into stamina and I should be able to make things like this pretty regularly As my Metal Working Skill improves so should the armor There are even specific skills for each body piece so when we figure out a mold for a helmet it will go even faster We are moving in the right direction Sam Why the rush
Sam scowled powerful Don’t say something like that You know it’s bad luck
A notification popped up silencing him
Congratulations Your Newbie Village has been upgraded to a Trainee Village The chance of obtaining superior classes is slightly increased Raid bosses spawning in your area have a slight chance of spawning as a Tier II Raid Boss at Lvl 30 Dungeons in your area will become active more frequently spewing out waves of monsters This cannot be prevented
Due to your Tribulation remaining the Tribulation has been strengthened Be careful of your impending tribulation
Due to being the first Trainee Village on your world the Soul Skill of Your Village Chieftain has been strengthened The skill level will be reset but all of the gains shall be retained
Due to being the first Trainee Village in your Zone you have become Earth’s Nexus Seed for this Zone 32 Searching for appropriate matching Village
Match found Village is first Trainee Village in zone in world and third in your batch of Worlds Nexus portal has been founded near the center of your Trainee Village In 7 days the portal between your and your sister village has opened
Warning in 21 days a Lvl 35 Raid Boss will randomly spawn on either your or their world Good luck
Sam’s glare towards Ceth deepened But then he snorted and left the smithy heading towards the village center
Daniel owed them all an explanation for this
Randidly glanced around at the students listening to the professor’s lecture This was the 3rd lecture they sat through and honestly most of it was trash More hurtful than helpful although not in any permanent way The 1st professor had recommended gathering as much PP as you could and then spending it all at once to increase the effectiveness of the stat gains
The third professor had speculated on the source of the system and whether god was involved
It was only the 2nd professor of the day a small greek man who Randidly found fascinating
Why He had asked Is this happening
The classroom had remained silent and the professor had continued And I’m not talking the technical details of why but the larger scheme Why Why has this system’ been installed on our planet Why are we pushed towards killing monsters growing stronger and gaining classes There is no such thing as a free lunch What are we losing
A student raised his hand Our humanity We are becoming desensitized to the value of life
The professor waved that answer away Technically correct but you are thinking that humanity is the center of the universe It is clearly not Anyone else
Money
Resources Precious metals
Control Randidly spoke softly but his voice resonated strangely carrying over the other whispers
The professor gave him a long look Control over what
Randidly shrugged After a pause the professor continued to talk moving on to the resemblance to RPGs and what that could possibly mean about the why
Randidly and Tessa went on to the next lecture
After lunch Tessa stood her hands nervously smoothing her hair I need to go Oh but I wanted to ask
She squirmed a bit looking at him and he simply waited Then she said There there’s a concert tonight I have enough tokens to buy us tickets if if you want to go with me
Randidly waved his hand Don’t bother
She visibly wilted Oh then I should really
Ah Tess that’s not what I meant Randidly scratched his head awkwardly uncomfortable at making her upset Even if he wasn’t interested in her now he still had fond memories of their time together He didn’t want to hurt her I uh was given these So you don’t need to buy tickets
He produced the backstage passes and her eyes widened into saucers Shrugging he offered them to her
She held her hands up Oh wow No you keep them I wouldn’t want to lose them at work How how did you get these again
Randidly coughed into his hand For sewing
Sewing
Yes Is it really that strange I can sew
She burst out laughing No It’s strange that sewing can get these I didn’t even know they existed where did you well nevermind I need to get to work Meet outside my building at 8 pm
Randidly nodded and then watched as she smiled at him over her shoulder and left
Bemused at her timid attempts at flirting he turned and walked towards the nearby job crier and swiftly obtained a job on a farm It was apparently how Franksburg supported itself with cutting edge vertical farms but still Randidly was relieved to find an activity he recognized
At least this he had experience with
Chapter 68
Daniel raised his hands helpless a smug Nul standing behind him I didn’t know How was I supposed to know Nul wouldn’t say
You had a theory however Regina Northwind said folding her arms across her chest That something would change if you upgraded the village And you did it without consulting any of us
I yes Daniel visibly deflated in front of the older woman looking frazzled
At any rate Donny said slowly glancing around at them all Decklan was out handling a recently spawned Tier I Raid Boss but the rest of the important people were here Dozer and Annie who had become head of the Archers Regina and Sam’s furious form standing behind her in support Mrs Hamilton and her assistant Ptolemy and Glendel the representatives of their mages and finally Donny himself Glendel it has only been a half hour but what can you tell me about the situation
Glendel closed his eyes and felt the whispers of his bound ghosts Although the Spirit Caller could only manage a finite amount it did not seem like Glendel had that restrictions The spirits floated everywhere giving them an almost perfect picture of what was happening in the surrounding 20 miles
After a few seconds his eyes opened Looks like incidence of Raid Bosses has tripled there is already one directly between us and Turtletown and it looks like another is forming to the south along the route between us and Franksburg Both the dungeons have exploded like volcanos the monsters are numerous but they are still only Lvl 12 or 13 We will take the monster horde from one and looks like most will be soaked up by Turtle Keep and their infinite bullets
Donny rubbed his head Even in the best case it likely wouldn’t be for a few days more before the caravan to Franksburg returned But still I move that Dozer and Annie head to the south to remove the Raid Boss from the route to Franksburg Immediately
Seconded Said Mrs Hamilton
Thirded and Passed Said Daniel with a sigh
Dozer nodded and immediately stood Annie sighing theatrically and following him
Monster incidence is also up generally both in level a little and quantity a lot Glendel added
Donny just rubbed his forehead
Regina frowned and then spoke Samuel what is our perimeter like
Well Ms Northwind Sam said with an uncharacteristic bow Likely quite secure The monsters have never had much success coming up over the mountains and we have small teams on rotation to watch out for such incursions The Arena built up the valley to the North converted very well into a small fort Really the only weakness is the road that leads directly through the Mountains to the NCC village and the new farming expansion down to the South following the valley
Thank you for you analysis Samuel Regina said with a smile
Anytime He replied his smiled widening
Mrs Hamilton rolled her eyes and then said I move for Sam’s men and 4 Numeral squads to move to the Southern Farming expansion and clear the area of trees as quickly as possible Extending the area double as far as the expansion was planned and clearing ground for a fort
Seconded Ptolemy said after a small hesitation
The rest of the table was silent Every few days they held short bouts between the squads If the lower won they switched places If they lost they stayed the same Excluding the irregulars they now had 30 full time squads on call who lived ate trained and fought together 4 single digit squads were 40 of their best men with an average level of just short of 20
I’m not sure if I get a vote but I think it should happen and immediately That’s the direction of the dungeon that will hit us hardest They will arrive in a little over 6 hours Glendel gave Regina a nervous look
After a sigh she just smiled and shook your head Yes you get a vote And that’s three and the resolution passes I move that we send the Heavy Mages to set up a roadblock a little ahead of the NCC village in case something nasty comes down that direction
Their mage squads were divided into two teams The Heavy Squad which was effectively leaderless without Clarissa They focused on pure power breaking through heavy lines of monsters with fire thunder ice or poison
Meanwhile the Light team was lead by Ptolemy although Glendel featured heavily in their operations They were primarily their healers support spell casters and hexers The communication abilities afforded to them by Glendel and the other Spirit Caller were a nice bonus
Seconded
Donny and Mrs Hamilton spoke at the same time then looked at each other surprised before smiling
Resolution passes Regina said with a flourish and Glendel closed his eyes sending a ghost to whisper in the ear of the second in command of the heavy unit
You know Mrs Hamilton said suddenly Perhaps ask Decklan his condition if he seems fine point him in the direction of the other raid boss You know how much he likes to kill the boss type monsters
Agreed Regina said and then she turned and smiled at Daniel who was shivering And now Perhaps you should explain to us all the new options we have as a Trainee village After all spending large amounts of SP should be a group decision
Randidly finished his hole wiped the sweat off his brow and then moved onto the new spot and began digging again The idea was to dig a defensive ditch around the entirety of Franksburg which was an intimidating notion The process was simple if effective
One person in this case Randidly would dig holes to a predetermined depth at predetermined points Then another person would follow and clear out all the dirt between those two holes working on getting it all down to that predetermined depth A third would follow later and make it even and then another crew would come in and reinforce it either as a defensive trench or fill it with stakes
Randidly raised his hand to his eyes and looked behind him His second man was nowhere in sight long left behind by Randidly’s ridiculous speed at digging holes
It was a rather fruitful activity too Randidly had gotten to level 3 in Manual Labor and Lvl 5 in Digging Even Physical fitness had risen by 1 level
To Randidly’s pleasure these skill levels were enough to finish up his Apprentice Path
Congratulations You have completed the The Apprentice Path Applicant of Ash You have walked a path fraught with danger and ash and climbed to summit of the volcano You peer inside and see a face in the lava with closed eyes And as you watch they slowly open
Be ready traveler for you stand to be tested before the Patron of Ash
Commencing Teleportation in 10
9
Randidly’s eyes narrowed This was unique Did everyone who made it to the Apprentice Path get tested like this He supposed it was possible If he had been warned it would be easy to prepare for in advance In a self mocking manner Randidly looked down at his dirt covered furs
Hopefully the Patron of Ash wasn’t a stickler for cleanliness but Randidly felt like he didn’t really need to worry about that
1
The world around him blurred and he was suddenly standing on a huge slab of black stone suspended over a volcano The surround land was covered in surging lava large waves of cooling rock and liquid metal the only landmarks in the distance
Before him high above the slab of rock hovered a face of stone its eyes white hot and dripping its open maw cherry red and grinning
You It spoke slowly almost surprised None have chosen me as a patron in a long long time Apparently My standards are Too high
The face gurgled and spat up a blob of lava You are Lvl you have no Lvl That is unexpected Thus your opponents will be Lvl 25 Survive for 10 Minutes and you may have my blessing
The platform rumbled and began to descend With raising eyebrows Randidly watched as they neared the lava He might be strong but surviving exposure to actual lava was still a little
But around 2 feet above the lava the platform stopped A bubble of lava grew and popped spewing liquid rock onto the platform The area was relatively big but still The heat was almost unbearable Randidly suddenly wished he had heat resistance
Then a glowing form reached out of the lava gripping the platform slowly pulling itself up It was a Lvl 25 Lava Golem Randidly removed his new Bone Spear from his inventory spinning it lightly He would need to be fast with his strikes because he didn’t want to risk his spear melting
A noise from behind him made him turn curious 4 More Lava Golems were clawing their way out of the lava on the other sides slowly standing and turning to face him with burning eyes
Chapter 69
Randidly grinned and activated haste dashing towards the Lava Golem in front of him He used an normal stab to attack it wanting to see how strong it was in relation to him To his surprise the tip of the bone spear ripped into it rather easily The lava just reformed around it and it continued forward
Frowning Randidly backed off a bit Golems Were made of a substance and usually had cores that animated them On this golem his right chest cavity seemed to glow with heat He looked at the others
Left eye left knee pelvis right hand
Shrugging he turned back to the first Could it really be this easy He slashed with his spear again ripping into the golem’s chest He felt it that time as his spear struck something else other than malleable molten rock and melting metal
The entire body of the golem shuddered but then it continued on incensed
Randidly grimaced The heat was really something so much that he was losing more health per second than he regenerated But
Randidly twisted the spear and then just pulled using the spear like a shovel and separated the core from the rest of its body
The body in front of him collapsed and the small golden ball rolled the ground sizzling Randidly walked over to it and crushed it with the butt of his spear
Then he turned to the rest who were lumbering closer Three more had crawled out of the lava to join them He shook his head sorrowfully
What a tiring day At least it was only 10 minutes long
While the adults of Donnyton ran around working preparing for the influx of monsters to the area the children gathered in a certain clearing There weren’t an overly large number of children in the village but enough that there was talk of installing a schoolhouse which filled them all with dread
Luckily or unluckily there always seemed to be another more pressing project so it had not yet happened But that word yet hung over their heads
Nathan and Kiersty were the youngest at 8 and the rest were between 10 and 16 not yet allowed to engage in any of the combat exercises or obtain a class In a rare show of unanimity the leaders of Donnyton had declared that no one under 17 could obtain a class from their village although they were free to stay here
Most of the older kids thought this rule was dumb especially when Sir Donny was barely older than them but the rumor was that he had received special dispensation from the Ghosthound who the children talked of in reverent voices
They secretly hoped they would run into the Ghosthound too and impress him enough that he would order they receive a class
For that very same reason they found themselves standing in this certain clearing at that moment Because against all odds the Ghosthound had spoken to Nathan and Kiersty and told them to protect and nurture a certain seed And now they stood around that seed which had grown into a charcoal grey sapling
But as they watched a small smoking bud formed on the highest branch
Slowly infinitely slowly that grey and smoking bud twisted and wiggled and writhed
Then it fell still
The bud parted and a single burning leaf
Praise the Dancing Tree Kiersty said rubbing her hands on the sooty trunk and then drawing lines on her face
The rest of the kids their faces strange just looked at her Even Nathan gave her a strange look But Kiersty just smiled and looked at the notification that had appeared in front of her
Congratulations You have been offered the Soul Skill Priestess of Arbor Would you like to accept Yes/No
Kiersty nodded and clicked yes The flimsy leaf wavered and then fell as if blow by wind and drifted towards her Reflexively she raised her hand and caught it The fire burned but she didn’t mind Instead she felt something Pulses coming from the tree
Suddenly she knew what to do
Nathan looked at her with a doubtful expression
Randidly moved quickly among the growing number of lava golems expertly smashing their cores and moving onto the next They were strong and basically invincible aside from their vulnerable cores but they weren’t that difficult to deal with
That is until they surrounded you and raised the temperature 150 degrees
So Randidly hurried around at first ripping them to pieces But that seemed to displease the large face and it began sending more at once
It was a number still within manageable limits but it made Randidly sweat literally But he controlled himself and continued to fight while seeming to struggle Only then would the face remain passive simply glaring at him
The time slowly ticked down and Randidly gradually allowed more and more lava golems onto the platform seeming to struggle
5 minutes
4 minutes
Every now and then there would spawn a larger golem still level 25 but one that clearly had better stats Still Randidly kept his mouth shut and swept through them knocking out their cores and crushing them
3 minutes
2 minutes
Randidly blinked The time Had increased
Narrowing his eyes Randidly spared the face a glance But it remained stoic and frowning Still he knew that it wasn’t a fluke Yet he said nothing continuing to kill golems
More and more began to flood upwards filling the stone slab but Randidly just upped his speed to match once more activating haste
A huge 8 meter tall golem pulled himself out of the lava bellowing its fury Randidly allowed himself a tight smile It seemed the big guy was starting to grow impatient Well fine if you wanted to be serious you should have just said so
Randidly had thus far just been using the bone spear as a weapon to deftly scoop out cores but now he lengthened his grip bringing the full 8 feet of Spine Spear to bear He began to sweep expertly back and forth smashing the golem cores with accurate blows
Hissing the large lava golem rushed forward and Randidly raised the spear directly over his head With all his strength he brought it smashing downwards splitting the lava golem in half and revealing a vulnerable golem core Lightning fast a Phantom Thrust flashed forward crushing the core to powder The golem collapsed and to his annoyance some lava splashed on his bare feet
Swearing he hopped up and down and then stamped his feet to get the melted rock off of him But as the stone cooled it simply grafted onto him and would not budge
The lava below the platform began to bubble and several more 8 meter golems heaved themselves upward More disturbingly an even larger scaled creature moved shifting the lava visibly as it swam closer
Randidly just pointed his spear at the giant face The 10 minutes is up Give me your blessing
All the golems stilled The face’s mouth moved soundless as its eyes narrowed
Ahem The time counter
Has been reset and you know it Honor the deal Again Randidly was sweating Because honestly if the giant face refused
If he survived this he was definitely warning everyone away from the apprentice path Whatever rewards he received were not worth this
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