Chapter 4: Congratulations
[Congratulations on your first day! 6 remaining]
XP 30/100
Fay woke up to the status in front of him.
[Rewards: 1 accessory stone (60% COMMON, 40% UNCOMMON), 1 weapon stone (COMMON), 1 armour stone (COMMON)]
The stones appeared in his hand, much like with the skill stone, he could absorb it and it would give a reward. Everyone else woke up to the same status, though Bark only had the weapon stone reward, and Jason had the weapon and armour stone. So Fay lucked out, or maybe it had something to do with who had the most XP. Millie had two stones too, so it would make sense since she didn't fish like he did.
The [6 remaining] didn't fill him with much confidence, but well, nothing here did, so he, unlike everyone else, just ignored it. Jason and Bark instantly sprung into taking out their rewards, looking frantic just like the first day. Knowing there was a time limit certainly made them motivated.
Fay sat upright and absorbed the orange accessory stone first, revealing a gem amulet that was sticky and gross, the chain was made of a nice silver though.
[Amulet of wart beast (UNCOMMON)]
Made from the heart of a wart beast, this amulet has the power of regeneration.
+2 vitality.
+1 defense.
Fay was really hoping for something to increase his wisdom or intelligence, as he kept running out. But this was a nice surprise, he wrapped it around his neck and felt a bit pretty.
Next was the weapon and armor stone, in which he got a small metal hammer, used for punching in nails, and braces for his arm. Since they were common they had no adverse effects, so he put the braces on and held the hammer like a present.
Jason got a pair of scissors and a leather chest set, which was instantly given to Fay. Bark got a wooden club that had a very nice weight to it.
Millie didn't use hers, instead crushing it up with Fay's hammer and mixing them together with her blood. “Oh, sorry.” She passed the hammer back and watched the combination take place, the armor and weapon stone turned into an orange accessory stone, that she later coined in and got a ring. Maybe common, maybe not, she didn't tell anyone.
Jason and Bark were visibly annoyed that they didn’t do the same thing, “urghhh I knew I should have studied more…”
Fay wished he studied more too, because he studied a lot, especially after his dad was sacrified. Nothing gave him the preparation that this was all going to happen, the skills, the leveling system, that was about it. The landscape, the rewards, the monsters were left to rumors that Fay couldn't discern between. Somehow Millie had a good idea on all of it, and luckily she was on their team.
On the other side of the lake they all heard a clear “WOOOOOO!!!!” and then a splash. Everyone turned their gaze to the noise, a group of three were splashing around in the far shallow side of the lake. One coated with armour that shined like a distinct sun. The other team hadn't noticed them yet, and that was by design, why they didn't leave their fire on at night.
“HEY!!!” Jason screamed, ruining any and all surprise they had to their advantage, “HEY!!!”
The other group, so far away that they were blobs in the horizon, must've heard, because their sounds died down and the figures ran around the lake.
“Great.” Fay stood up with his knife, Bark patted him on the shoulder.
“Hey uh… I didn't want to be overbearing while you slept but… where’s my sword?” He asked.
“Fay broke it.” Millie tattled, picking up the club and handing it to him.
“Oh…” Bark wasn't one to pick a fight so he gave up and patted Fay twice on the back and waited for the coming group.
Jason was confused why everyone was readying for a fight, or at least acting defensively, so he just kept waving his arms around, eager to get more people into their group.
Fay got his new armor set on, fastened it just in time for the new trio to arrive, the sparkly blonde fellow with the muddy silver armor stopped first, surrounded by a girl with a twig with a pointy top and a very very tall man, what must've been 6 '5.
“Hello!” The blonde boy spoke and bowed, “Names and levels, please.”
Levels, if they’re talking multiple levels then they must be at least two or three, just how long were they hunting for? Did they sleep?
“I’m level two.” Millie stood forwards and bowed, very much the same as the blonde fellow did, “Fay here, the white haired boy, he is level two as well, and Bark and Jason are level one, close by.”
“Wait hold on-” Jason was silenced by Bark, a mighty thump to the back, that was when he finally got it, he wasn't stupid after all.
“I see!” The man stepped forward again, “pretty lady, what is your skill?”
“Nosey.” She smiled and took a step back to be beside Fay, “surely you don't take us for idiots?”
“Surely you don't have bloodshed on your mind?” He laughed, “I would never assume that from you all, I’m a pure boy, with a pure soul and a pure mind, I simply want to know so we can work together.” He chucked over a stone, an orange stone, “we have plenty of these, give it a whirl.”
Jason stepped forward but Bark stopped him by tugging on his arm, “its a…” he looked irritated, clearly the time limit of six days had made slow and steady seem insane.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“We have a lot already, thank you though.” She walked over to the stone and chucked it back, “may you leave us?” She motioned them away with a shoo, “we are fine on our own.”
Something about Millie's behavior made Fay relax a lot, she clearly found the group she was in useful, which meant that the fear of being killed by her was pretty much zero. But he didn't want a passive role, not right now, these people held very valuable information.
“Did you see that other group?” Fay said.
“Oh? The masons?” He let slip, “we have, of course, of course we have, we are good friends with them. Are you?”
“Considering we saved them from moles, yeah.” Something about Fay’s words made the blonde boy's eyes twitch, he didn't like the other mystery group for whatever reason, that was all he could tell, and the fact that there was another group meant that they had the chance to avoid this completely, let them quarrel while they could relax.
They began to wander off, “well, I suppose this is goodbye, see you soon.” He waved and then walked into their side of the forest, meaning Fay and his group would probably have to go around the whole lake to not run into them again. And the fact that their sleeping spot had been revealed, it was about time to relocate.
So that is what they did, they collected all their stuff and relocated, traveling towards the mountains in the distance which just so happened to be the opposite direction of the group they just met. There was a certain beauty to the world they happened to be in, now that Fay wasn’t sleep deprived and looking around himself he could finally see the organic bark of the trees, the dull but still bright colours of the fauna, the eyes of a few boars in the distance.
“Oh shit.” He managed to get out right before a pack of four boars charged at them, one aiming directly at fay. He reached into his pocket and managed to find loose sand, chucking it right before the animal's tusks would rip him apart.
[Activated Stop Momentum]
[Activated Stop Momentum]
[Activated Stop Momentum]
The sand stopped mid air in front of the boar's travel, hitting it right in the snout and causing it to squeal as it was stopped dead in its tracks by what probably felt like an invisible tree. Its nose bent inward and a deep and guttural thud from bone clashing rang out. Its nose clearly broke with a definite snap and allowed Fay enough time to repeatedly slam the hammer into the head of the boar, knocking it out of consciousness after the second hit.
Fay felt elated for once, before seeing that the entire group besides him was struggling immensely. Bark managed to get a lucky swing with the club and bash the boar on the head, but Jason with his axe couldn't get a slash in, and had his leg impaled and mauled by a tusk. Both Bark and Fay ran over to help, Fay getting there first and slamming the hammer onto the boar's head. It wasn't enough as the creature whipped around and let go of Jason's leg, focusing on Fay instead, who was definitely too close for comfort and was about a second away from being mauled just the same.
Bark slammed the boar in the head, knocking it out and finishing the fight. “Wait, weren't there four?”
Millie pointed at the boar that came for her, “just dropped dead for some reason.” She strode to Jason, taking a gander at his leg. “I suppose I owe you a little.” She touched his leg and it stitched up. Not as good as the potion she made prior, which scabbed and grafted.
[Slain Boar (LVL 2)]
+12 XP
[Slain Boar (LVL 2)]
+6 XP
Jason with a few gulps and winces stood up, and dusted his clothes. “Let's go. Boars are definitely the way to go for XP.” He continued on like a soldier, reaching a motivation that Fay could never even come close to.
[Status]
[Fay]
HP: (77/80)
MP: (22/90)
Urgh, that took way too much MP. From his past experiments, triple dosing a clump of sand only took 16 mana. Was the force applied to the stacked spells automatically draining him since he didn't release the skill? He assumed so, but it was definitely not ideal, that meant there was another restriction on what he thought may have been a good application of it. Everything with this skill was vastly unoptimised, if it was then it could even be rare, the book he read said so. But even experienced mages wouldn't be able to apply it in a serious battle because the scaling against stronger and stronger attacks sucked MP dry like a vampire. Especially when other spells could be used.
He moped around for a little bit, angry at himself, following Millie as she found a small worn down cabin around the thicket, of course she did, Fay thought. They entered the cabin with some genuine crafting tools, something that Bark was very excited about since he had brought along the rabbit pelts. There was enough for mixing, fletching and-
“AH! Don’t kill me!” A girl screamed from the wardrobe that Bark swung open, she fell forward and crawled along the ground, “oh god oh god don’t kill me. I promise I won't kill you pleaaaseee.” Her high pitched moaning was all too similar to Bark when they first met.
“Hey… hey…” Jason crouched down to look her in the eyes, “we’re nice, we’re human, like you.”
“Good humans?” A twinkle appeared in her eyes, “I suppose I like good humans, I know them all too well…” She whispered, “can you let me touch you?” She reached out and Jason had to slap her hand away, “ow! What the hell!” She spurted out and almost bit Jason on the nose before he fell backwards. “Sorry, sorry, okay, okay. I guess you want the same as the others, god I’m being interrogated again, oh god, my name is Lily Talop, and my skill is timeout.”
Timeout… Fay vaguely remembered that one, it is a tricky uncommon skill that allowed its user to forbid, or timeout a single action. If someone were to take a swing at her, she could use timeout and that swing would happen to miss, but since it was very very costly and only really used to get out of a final pinch, it was not considered a good first skill.
There was a slight hiccup with the skill, for it to be used you had to actually predict the outcome, so if you saw someone try to slash at you and you time out that, if that happened to be a feint for a kick, you would be kicked and lose mana for no reason.
“Stand up.” Millie helped her up and took her shoulders, gripping harshly for a moment before letting go, “you want to join us? You look to be very incredibly certainly about to die.”
“Wah… What?” Lily took a step backwards and almost tripped over Jason's feet as he was standing up. “Sorry!” She stood in the corner of the room, “okay, okay, you all are weak, but so am I, and kings fear their citizens because the… the weak are strong, when together. Yes.” She smiled, “sorry.”
Fay noticed a bracelet on her arm, something blue and shiny, he pointed at it, “whats that?”
“Something a nice boy gave to me.” She snatched her arm back, “a pretty boy too, rather.”
Everyone frowned as they realised who she was talking about, Fay spoke up again, “wanna trade? I have this cute necklace, but you know, boys with necklaces, it's not very…”
“Ohhhh it's… right okay.” She hopped up to him and waited for him to take it off.
“Just tell me what your bracelet gives you.” He asked in hopes to somehow trick the girl into getting the worse deal.
“Intelligence and wisdom, two intelligence, one wisdom, yours obviously is red so it's healthy right? I need to be healthy rather than not.”
Oh.
They traded accessories and just like that, Fay had finally got more mana, and more mana regeneration which he assumed came with wisdom.
[Bracelet of Sea Urchin (UNCOMMON)]
Made from the insides of sea urchin, this bracelet has the power of wisdom.
+2 intelligence.
+1 wisdom.
Lily seemed very happy with her choice, deciding she needed more vitality and defence, which was fair as a priority since her skill, even with the bracelet, would really only be a one time use anyway. “Why weren't you with the pretty boy who gave you this?”
“He said I was annoying, but promised to come back tomorrow! So, I’ll be less annoying then. I’m not always annoying, I'm just scared, very scared.” Her eyes drifted across the group Fay was in, they were practically ransacking the place she could call home, instead of that bout of annoyance that Fay expected, she just grew tired. “I’m really scared, neurotic, scared and neurotic. I almost died yesterday from a magic deer, it shot a blue ray at me… pretty boy saved me, like a hero, he sliced the beast down with his sword and with a hunger of a… a hero he killed the beast and saved the princess, me, and you know, you know im pretty scared.”
Her ramblings grew quite bothersome to Fay, so he decided to take a breather and walk outside and get fresh air. He glanced over at Millie who was already getting to work with crafting the mole nails into weapons. A smart idea but probably very taxing and boring. He wanted to fish again, fishing was fun so he diverted off the group for now.
