They walked for a few hours before passing the cave that had goblins in it. Serena smirked and tilted her head to Victor before shaking her head. “It’s only been a day since you freed me but I feel like I’ve known you for so much longer.”
“It’s probably because I’m honest with you.” Victor nodded. “If people have been cruel to you for years it doesn’t surprise me that you latched on to the first kindness shown to you.”
“Son are you saying she doesn’t really love you because she’s only just been rescued?” Gargrim looked up at him as they walked before accidentally kicking a rock so hard it cracked a small tree causing it to fall in the distance.
“I meant that I’m worried Serena only wants me because I rescued her.” He turned from Gargrim to Serena “I don’t really know much about what you like or what you want from life.” Victor hung his head somewhat worried about the answer.
“Then why not ask?” Serena tilted her head.
Victor looked away and asked. “What do you like? What does a good life for you look like?”
“I enjoy being outside. I enjoy spending time with people like you. I enjoy hot food and a warm bed. I enjoy running as fast as I can. I delight in our conversations since it’s been years since I could speak freely.” She paused outstretching her arms. “A good life to me sounds like an unexpected adventure with people who care about me. Not something regular or day to day. Adventuring with you for the rest of my life sounds like a really enjoyable life to me. You freed me and there’s nothing more unexpected than that, or that would be true if everything that followed hadn’t shown me just who you are. As your traveling companion, or as your future wife it doesn’t matter to me as long as you stick around.”
Victor didn’t know how to reply delving deep into his own thoughts. ‘That didn’t relieve me concern. I don’t know what to do. I know she says she wants to be around me for my whole life but what if we get together and she decides I’m not right for her.’ Victor realized he should simply consult Swordie. “Swordie what is your advice when it comes to love and relationships?”
Serena peered over the book as it wrote out. “In all this world there is no greater treasure than love, and no greater a fool than one who spurns their own feelings. There is no need to make the mistake of a lifetime this early in it. You have been alone. Do you enjoy that or companionship more?”
“I definitely enjoy spending time with her more than being alone.” Victor nodded looking at her now walking almost giddy. “I’m willing to try being your boyfriend.”
Serena jumped nearly 8 feet into the air her fist so high it blocked the sun when Victor looked up. She landed almost perfectly in front of him grabbed his collar with both hands and pulled him down kissing him passionately on the lips. “YES!” She bounced along lighter than air.
‘That was my first kiss.’ Victor paused completely stunned. ‘It was pretty good.’ A smile spread across his face as one hand reached for his lips.
“Get him girl!” Gargrim laughed. “You found a good man.”
Cawthorn woke up a few seconds ago but said nothing until the smile spread across Victors face. “DID YOU MAKE YOUR FUTURE WIFE YOUR PRESENT WIFE? NO!!!!! DID I SLEEP THROUGH THE WEDDING OF MY MAGE?!”
“Calm down Cawthorn you didn’t miss the wedding. I agreed to be her boyfriend and she immediately kissed me.” Victor explained only for Serena to pull him down for another kiss before bouncing along. Her were footsteps suddenly so light that every step brought her to eye level with Victor.
“Ah you’ve confessed your feelings to her. I am sorry to miss any milestone but it was so obvious that you two would end up together a child could see it. I don’t feel I missed much. Wake me if you need me my mage.” Cawthorn closed his eyes nestling on his shoulder again.
Luzuzal Approves
Achievement: First Kiss – Have your first kiss. Gain 1 Stat point. Gain 3 Luck.
‘Seriously? Is everyone onboard this ship?’ Victor tried not to say it out loud but once again his filter failed. “It seems I’m the last one able to see how well you fit me.”
“All I’ve ever wanted was my freedom. I never expected to be freed much less to fall for the man who freed me.” She bounced up once again kissing him on the cheek. She was so fast she could easily sneak a kiss if she wanted.
“All I’ve ever wanted was someone to share my stories with. I was always too poor to do much in life. I am happy to be with you and I don’t want to ruin that.” Victor couldn’t control his smile.
“Nothing you could do or say would ruin it.” Serena bounced again.
“It’s got to be his mysterious past.” Gargrim nodded still smiling at the girl practically jumping with every step brimming with energy.
The girl who clearly broke free of gravities grip exclaimed. “I know! It’s something he thinks is devastating I bet he thinks I’ll learn something horrible about him.”
“That much is obvious. The question is what would make a young girl such as yourself hate the man who rescued her?” Gargrim stroked his beard deep in thought.
“Nothing! Nope he could turn out to be a demon, devil, or an elf and I’d still want him.” She declared.
“Now that is some high praise son. Elves are the worst.” Gargrim nodded.
“Why does everyone seem to hate elves?” Victor asked.
“Elves are immortal. Immortals tend to be afraid of death to an almost paranoid level. Unlike angels which are created with a single parent in the Golden Goddess and are all a facet of her the other immortals are selfish, greedy, and often dangerous.” Gargrim noted.
“I’ve never met a devil but an elf once owned me and he was by far the cruelest owner I ever had to endure. He told me he was over 1000 years old. After he… did what he did to me I felt close to death every day while he owned me and only due to boredom did he sell me.” Serena stopped bouncing. “You aren’t secretly an elf are you?”
“No, I’m definitely human right down to the bone.” Victor nodded causing Serena to resume smiling.
“So his secret isn’t that he’s a devil or an elf or some horrible race bent on domination and destruction.” Gargrim continued stroking his beard. “I’ve got it! What if he wasn’t in a mage tower before? What if he’s an avatar for the goddess or an angel possessed his body?”
“THAT WOULD MAKE SO MUCH SENSE! HE’S AN ANGEL IN DISGUISE!” Serena shouted.
“He’s way too nice for a human. He has seemingly perfect aim with his spells. He knows nothing of this world like he was literally born the day he saved you it makes total sense!” Gargrim proclaimed.
“I can’t comment on theories you two have. I can only comment on the race thing because if you look at my status sheet you can see my race.” Victor noted.
“Well that’s true but the skill False Identity would let you hide that if you had it.” Serena noted. Victor pulled out the book and brought up the skill
False Identity Rank 1
Rarity: Common
Requirements: Level 3, Cost 3 points.
Passive skill
Allows hide or alter any part of your status sheet.
“I don’t have that skill.” Victor noted.
“Well yeah but there’s not a great way for us to know that you don’t have it.” She noted.
Gargrim added. “He might have the skill but he’s either an angel or not an immortal. No chance he’s a devil, demon, or an elf. He’s definitely not an elf.”
“Honestly I hadn’t thought my past would be such a mystery but it does seem to be more interesting to you than I thought it would be.” Victor smiled. “You’ll never guess the truth.”
“Aw come on how would I know if you won’t tell me if I get it right?” She asked.
“Fine if you guess it precisely right I will be forthcoming with you and you alone.” Victor shrugged before wiggling his shoulder. “Cawthorn it’s time to wake up.”
The bird sleepily asked. “My mage why do you wake me?”
“I took the familiar skill. Will you be my familiar?” Victor turned to him.
“OF COURSE I WILL MY MAGE!” Cawthorn head butted his cheek and cawed again. “YOU SHALL BE THE GREATEST MAGE WHO EVER LIVED AND I THE GREATEST BIRD TO EVER LIVE!”
Victor smiled. “You shall be the greatest bird and best familiar to ever live my friend.” The gentle pets caused Cawthorn to close his eyes and coo gently falling back asleep.
Familiar Acquired: Crow - Cawthorn
“Now that he is my familiar we can continue that line of thought. I refuse to give you any assistance on that because it appears dangerous to inform you of it.” Victor insisted.
“Gargrim and I are both curious about your past but I don’t think there is anything that could change how I feel so I’m not worried.” Serena smiled.
“Son I’m not worried about your past because I’m worried you’ll betray her or me. That ain’t in you. I’m worried for you. If it is something that dangerous it’s dangerous for you too.” Gargrim noted. “Try to get the curse removed by a high level cleric. You need between 0 and 3 ranks higher of the remove curse skill to remove curses. If yours is complex and dangerous then paying for the removal will be expensive. Even if the curse was only tier 2 or tier 3 you’d be looking at minimum 8000 gold, and leaving it is extremely dangerous. Curses always seem to flare up at the worst possible moment.”
“How am I possibly going to earn that much gold?” He asked.
“Searching for artifacts and quest rewards are the only possible way you’d ever get enough gold.” Gargrim noted. “Being an artifact hunter is definitely the best paid profession but that is only because it’s absurdly dangerous. The normal process is that you either search remote areas on your own or you buy information from a respected information broker for locations of dungeons. Dungeons may not have an artifact in them but it is really rare not to more than make your money back on a dungeon. After you get one either it can be sold directly to a major organization like a church, mage tower, barracks, or rogues guild member or auctioned. How cleanly you clear the dungeon is almost as important as if you clear it at all because consumables are expensive and necessary to keep you alive, at least for profit.”
“It’s part of the reason I try to adventure alone. I try to find areas which are low level with gold that would be at the upper end for level appropriate groups of level 7 to 11 parties and go in there solo. Those tend to have reasonably good loot like this artifact I showed you.” He pulled out the green stone. “While being so easy I don’t even need to use a potion.”
“Can you give me some guidelines on more or less what is considered impossible from a level perspective?” Victor asked.
“Well more than 8 to 10 levels makes 1 on 1 impossible even in the best matchups. A level 20 against a level 8 is just impossible. The stat difference is too large. A pair of level 10s could in theory beat a level 20 but they have a disadvantage, where as 4 level 10s would be a pretty reasonable matchup against a level 20. Generally speaking for every 5 levels difference double the manpower you need to win.” Gargrim explained. “That is just a guideline of course. 4 level 10 deep mages against 1 level 20 rogue with the precise killer specialization would be a level of comical suicide for the mages that their loved ones would stop them far before they reached the rogue.” Gargrim noted.
Cawthorn woke up. “MASTER I SHALL PATROL!” He immediately began flying ahead.
“That bird is rather dedicated.” Victor noted.
Serena interrupted. “Anyway!” She grabbed him for a kiss and went back to bouncing along. “Goddess that feels so satisfying.” She suddenly stopped dead on the road. “Wait we’re on the road with Gargrim for 10 days.” She put her hand on her chin deep in thought as she slowly started walking again.
“What’s wrong with that? We bought items to make a tent. We’ll still have shelter and food and since it’s just walking that’s not so bad right?” Victor asked.
“I guess…” Her shoulders sank visibly disappointed and frustrated.
Gargrim laughed out loud. “Son, I genuinely believe you’ve never interacted with a woman your age before. That part of your past I am absolutely sure is true.”
“That part I will confirm as correct.” Victor returned putting his hand over his mouth chuckling a little. “I don’t really understand why her attitude changed.”
“You could ask her.” Gargrim with a devious smile on his face added.
Victor shrugged. “Am I supposed to?” Serena just glared at him clearly annoyed. “Why did your attitude change suddenly?”
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“I honestly feel like he’s too innocent to answer.” Serena looked at Gargrim.
Gargrim doubled over laughing. Cawthorn screeched overhead. “BRIDGE AHEAD!” He swooped down and landed on Victors shoulder. “My mage we have a problem ahead. Beneath the bridge a troll is eating a boar and if you cross the bridge it will attack you. The river runs as far as my eyes can see in both directions and it is rather wide. Recommendation, MAKE THE DWARF KILL IT!”
Victor turned to Gargrim. “There is a bridge up ahead with a troll under it according to Cawthorn.”
“A troll?” Gargrim tilted his head. “I guess the mountains aren’t that far and if he just followed the river he could end up at that bridge. They are fairly dangerous because their level varies wildly. That said around here between level 15 and 19 seems like a good guess. I can probably beat it on my own but the two of you should try to hit it at least once. A creature like that might give you a level with minimal contribution.”
“Wait why wouldn’t everyone do that then? If you can level up with a single ranged attack while someone strong kills the target doesn’t that mean money makes you more powerful?” Victor immediately realized.
“Generally speaking that’s why nobles end up in the level 20 to 35 range. They can almost always afford a group to level them to 20 or so since it would only be 40,000 to 60,000 gold. I strongly recommend against this though. All of them have compulsive contract magic. You cannot break it in the same way a slave contract can’t be broken. They can’t break it either but generally their end is basically ‘we can’t force you to kill yourself and we have to pay you.’ Your end is significantly worse.” Gargrim explained. “More is better and if you actually kill the target more than 10 levels higher than yourself that’s about the only way you’ll get more than 1 level from a single kill.”
“Why help us so much?” Victor asked.
“Consider it an early wedding present.” Gargrim smiled. “Just in case I’m not around for the bells.”
“Why is everyone so sure of this?!” Victor started turning red. “Am I really that bad at reading the situation?”
“YES MY MAGE YOU ARE! YOU REQUIRE MY GUIDANCE TO KNOW SHE IS YOUR FUTURE WIFE!” Cawthorn squawked.
‘I wonder what Luzuzal thinks of her.’ Victor thought to himself.
Luzuzal Approves
‘You’ve got to be freaking kidding me.’ Victor looked at the words in front of him. ‘Wait is that bad? Oh no! He’ll endanger her to get his way and force me into more deals. Shit! Do I have to be alone? If I am not alone will I kill those around me?’
Luzuzal cautions you. It isn’t for that reason. It is because your happiness feeds your delusion.
Victor sighed relieved as he actually believed Luzuzal on that note. “Well Gargrim how should we deal with this troll?”
“I’ll get it to turn around. Both of you use ranged attacks. I will slice off its limbs and if Serena is willing I don’t mind you taking the killing blow if possible.” Gargrim nodded.
“Really? Why not her, she’s higher level than me.” Victor noted.
She ran her hand over her face. “Just take the gift.”
Gargrim started to pick up speed and moving toward the bridge ahead of them. The forest fenced in the road as they approached the rushing river. Gargrim walked to the bridge and across the far end a roar from beneath it echoed across the river. A massive grey troll grey with leathery patches of flesh on its back and chest brandished a tree without leaves at them. “It’s a rock troll. It followed the river here. Do not attack it until I call for it.”
Serena pulled out three daggers holding them ready to throw. “Will do, but we need to be closer.”
“We will stay a little less than halfway across the bridge.” Victor nodded.
Gargrim walked slowly across the bridge with the others trailing behind. The troll roared charging with immense force. The bridge shook with every step and the spray of the river gently hit their cheeks. The swing from the troll was so wide it hit the railing on the bridge crashing through it sending debris at Gargrim. Gargrim swung his axe with incredible strength and split the tree in half sending it flying back to the side they came from. The trunk crashed into two other trees knocking them over. Gargrim braced himself for the next swing still not going on the offensive. Another swing this time from overhead, the troll tried to crush him into dwarven paste but his upward slash split the log down the middle causing the troll to drop the log. “NOW!”
“JOLT!” Victor shot his spell at the creatures head only for it to land on his neck. Serena’s daggers hitting an eye with one of them, unfortunately the other two bounced off of a small grey patch on his neck.
The troll screeched in pain taking its fist and punching Gargrim and sending him flying back behind them. A careful block with his axe kept him alive but bloodied. He quickly downed a potion and ran forward at the charging troll as he reached the two of them he suddenly took off far faster for a few seconds. The troll suddenly lost a hand as it landed behind Gargrim. It roared in pain suddenly losing its left leg as Gargrim slid under it. It crashed to the bridge and without missing a moment it lost another leg then its last arm. “QUICK IT’S NEARLY DEAD!” Gargrim shouted.
“Jolt!” The bolt of lightning raced toward it and connected with the dagger sticking out of its eyes electrifying it. It sizzled and fell flat with a resounding bridge shaking thud.
Troll 20: Experience Increase: 72%
Level 7 Reached!
Troll 20: Experience Increase: 100%
Level 8 Reached!
Troll 20: Experience Increase: 100%
Level 9 Reached!
Troll 20: Experience Increase: 53%
Achievement: Against all odds – Kill a foe more than 10 levels above you. 10 Stat points. Gain [lose] 2 luck. [ Claim ]
Current Exp to Level 10 53.0%
“THE GREATEST MAGE STRIKES A DEVASTATING BLOW!” Cawthorn announces.
‘WHAT!? Unbelievable Gargrim basically took out the creature on his own but the killing blow was worth that much experience?’ He quickly pulled out Swordie to check. While Gargrim was still on the other side of the massive troll he whispered “Status Sheet.”
Race Human: Victor Vance Vogal
Class : Mage
Level : 9
Base Health : 90
Stamina : 10
Mana : 15
Vitality : 9
Speed : 6
Strength : 5
Prowess : 17
Endurance : 5
Rigor : 2
Willpower : 17
Flow : 22 (+50%)
Luck : -90
Resistance : None
Skills: Speed Reading Rank 2, Academic Rank 2, Familiar Rank 1
Hidden Skills: Memory Retention , Luzuzal’s Delusion Rank 1 , Luzuzal’s Devout Rank 1, Luzuzal’s Promise Rank 6,
Spells: Barrier shield Rank 1, Jolt Rank 1, Speed Boost Rank 1, Magic Writing Rank 1, Vitality Boost Rank 1
Current Exp to Level 10 53.0%
’25 stat points in an instant! Unbelievable! Rich kids get to do this until level 20?’ Victor didn’t want to dwell on it too much. 25 stat points would more than double his flow edging him nearer to being able to sustain the stat boost spell. ‘Huh I gained a luck. I guess killing a larger creature or higher level creature can effect luck and Luzuzal’s skill doesn’t reverse that. So I gained 3 luck losing 1 overall. Given the passive increase to prowess, willpower, and flow of 1 per level at the moment I need to put these points all in flow until I reach 66 or 67 so I can maintain the vitality boost passively and swap to the other boosts when needed. “All in flow.” Victor clicked yes and his flow rose to 47 +50%. His mana spent had already hit full and so he decided to turn on “Vitality boost.” He watched it slowly tick down and then disabled it watching his mana bounce back to full in less than 30 seconds.
Serena just nodded as to say later tonight while looking at Swordie. Gargrim returned a bit bloodied and planted his axe in front of him to lean on. “For the happy couple and their long life together I present to you charred troll. Delicious when roasted.”
Serena burst out laughing. “I’ll carve it up you two gather wood for a fire.”
“I don’t know how to thank you for that. That gift was incredible!” Victor practically shouted.
“Ah don’t mention it.” He downed another potion and gripped his arm. “I might have broken my left arm though.”
“Can’t you just heal it with the potions?” Victor asked.
Serena shook her head. “Ouch that really sucks. No potions will stop it from bleeding but broken bones are effectively status effects you can only get rid of them by either running the duration out letting it heal naturally, or by using status removing magic which is usually for broken bones tier 3 or 4.”
“We will definitely need to avoid any encounters then. Is there anything we can do like create a sling or splint?” Victor asked.
“It’ll be fine I need to eat and get some rest. It’s approaching nightfall anyway so we will be fine camping on the far side of the bridge.” Gargrim nodded. “I just have to wait a month or so.”
The two of them quickly went to the other side and started gathering wood. “It was level 20, 3 times my level. It granted me nearly 4 levels.” He turned to Serena. “That is insanity.”
“Don’t get used to it. Without him there’s absolutely no way we kill it. We’d be going down stream and trying to find a way to swim across.” Serena added. “He’ll probably decide to stay at the border town of Tinik until he recovers.”
“I’m under no illusion that I could compete with something like that. That gave me an idea. We could get someone who was proficient with traps and trap powerful monsters then use ranged abilities to shoot it to death safely.” Victor pointed out.
“That wouldn’t work. Take the troll for example. If you trap it somehow it will throw rocks, trees, or just rip off its trapped limb to reach you. Unlike Gargrim when it reaches you without 1 limb it will immediately flatten you. Traps work on very low level monsters like gnolls, goblins, and wolves.” Serena explained. “Any higher level trap would require higher level magic than we possess.”
“What if we-” Victor started.
“Trust me, if you can think of it someone else already thought of it. Millions worldwide search for methods to level up faster and more effective but no one has ever found one. Getting free kills from things many levels higher does work but it’s not something that is sustainable. By level 20 to get 3 levels from one kill you probably need a level 40 or even higher monster. When we reach Peria we can gather a party and begin artifact hunting. That said I doubt we can get a cleric, which will slow us down significantly.” Serena noted.
The two gathered firewood and stones to make a circle around it. Gargrim sheathed his axe and threw a slab of meat nearly as large as him over his shoulder bringing it to the two of them. “My flint is in my pocket.” Serena pulled out Gargrim’s flint and lit a fire. Gargrim mounted the meat on his giant axe and placed it over the fire.
“I must be getting old.” He shook his head. “I should have been able to dodge that.”
“Does age effect stats?” Victor asked.
“No.” Serena noted.
“It doesn’t but you feel it. I feel like I’m over thinking everything.” Gargrim shook his head. “Sorry, just the grumblings of an old dwarf.”
“I’ve been told old age never feels good.” Victor noted.
“Such is the way for mortals.” Gargrim smiled. “At least I’ll die before I do something monstrous like an elf.”
“I really appreciate your gift. You’ve helped us both so much.” Serena nodded. “Hopefully those levels help keep this headstrong hero out of danger.”
“It won’t, but he seems to have the best luck on this side of the world. I expect him to be fine.” Gargrim nodded. They ate with much revelry and setup their tents against some trees nearby. Gargrim nodded to them after finishing his tent and took off his helmet before crawling in his bedroll.
Serena laid out both of their bedrolls next to each other and crawled in one before fidgeting and turning to Victor. Victor crawled into his bedroll and turned to her. She kissed him. “Good Night.” She quickly started turning red and flipped over. “9 more days of travel until we reach a warm bed.” Even Victor understood now what she was waiting for, his nerves and a bit of excitement filled him making it hard to sleep before he inevitably fell asleep facing the back of her bushy unkempt hair with a smile feeling as though he finally started to make the right choices in his life.