Chapter 6

It took a while for Leo to stop swearing, cheeks flushed with embarrassment from the ‘achievement’ that he viewed as shameful. First Goblins had challenged his masculinity and now he had a bit of fame for crushing balls?!

“Stupid game….” he grumbled for the umpteenth time.

[It's done now…You can’t change the past. Just don’t end any more bloodlines and it will be forgotten...probably?] Astra tried to console him but was clearly not very good at it.

“Shut up about it!” he hissed back, the fur of his tail puffing up, showing his extreme agitation.

[Umm… uhh, well you did level up so maybe take a look at that? That might cheer you up] Astra said in an attempt to distract her angry partner.

“Ahh?! Thats right!” Leo shouted, his eyes gleaming in interest as he remembered that he did hear a notification that he had indeed leveled up. Somewhat excited, he opened to his status to see how it had changed. Now that he had upgraded Astra and leveled up, his stat page showed a little bit more detail.

Character Status

Name: Leo

Race: Adaptive Beastfolk

Title: Cruelty of Man

Class: N/A

Age: 18

Level: 2 (10/200exp)

Status: Sickly (Body Upgrade in Progress)

Health: 70/70 → 90/90

Mana: 30/30 → 40/40

Strength: 4 → 5

Endurance: 2 → 4

Agility: 10 → 12

Dexterity: 9 → 10

Intelligence: 7 → 7

Wisdom: 3 → 4

Charisma: 10 → 11

Luck: 10 → 10

Free Points: 2

Fame: 5

Attack: 50 (+5)

Defence: 15 (+10)

Dodge: 22

Resistance: None

Skills: Chimerafication (Innate Racial), Invocation of Evolution (Low), Bond of the Zodiac (Low), Appraisal (Innate), Battle Sense (Innate), Elemental Conversion(Unique), Shield Arts (F)

Equipment: Astra (R)

Leos tail twitched as he saw that dreaded title on his Status page but quickly became distracted by the other changes. He noticed that the new stats like Attack had correlations with his direct stats but didn’t know what Fame did or how to obtain a class.

With no one else to ask, he turned to Astra and asked “So do you know how Free points work? I have a vague idea but I could be wrong…” he said hesitantly.

[Hohoho~! Our time to shine! Just call us Teacher Astra! Our Pupil shall shine under our guidance!] Astra huffed, their self esteem skyrocketing after their partner had asked them that question.

“Nevermind. I will go back to the village and ask” Leo interrupted before beginning to walk back towards the village, not all that willing to entertain the egotistical brat he was bound to.

[W-wait! I’ll explain! Let me do it!] Astra whined.

“Alright. I’m listening” Leo sighed, feeling like he was bullying Astra but knew that if he wasn’t tough now, they would most likely become unbearable in the future.

[Free Points are Free Points. You can use them however you want!] Astra explained.

“.....Are you an idiot?” Leo asked, his expression changing to look at Astra as if they were mentally challenged.

[H-how Rude! Learning Skills, Investing in Stats, Trading for money. You can do all that with Free Points! You can also receive Free Points as rewards from Quests!] Astra added, feeling offended by Leos reaction.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Leo remained silent as he digested what Astra had told him. If his deductions were right Astra would become incredibly versatile in the future so he had no need for other weapons. What he would need though were skills that complimented those various weapons!

Mentally taking note that he would most likely need to save up Free points to learn skills, he chose not to invest them at the moment. Preparing to leave the clearing, Leo noticed a shabby looking necklace made of teeth and animal bones in the grass and picked it up.

Obtained Goblin Necklace

Quest item.

Description: A necklace of a Goblin Supervisor that was recently defeated in the Beginner Forest. Turn into Village Elder for a reward.

He was surprised when a screen popped up stating that the necklace itself was not equipment but something that could get him a reward despite not receiving an actual quest from the Village elder before.

With his curiosity burning him up inside, Leo took off in the direction he had come from, humming a tune as he ran off at a brisk pace.

Leo had been lucky that he had left when he did as not even a minute after leaving, over 10 goblins charged into the clearing, each one wielding weapons made of iron like the Goblin Supervisor had been wielding. At their head was a goblin more than twice the size of the others and had adorned itself with a crown made of thorns and twigs.

“KRAAAAAAAAA!” it roared into the air, bloodlust emanating from its whole body. When its voice was met with silence. With no leads, the crowned goblin turned back, heading back deeper into the forest, its men following it obediently.

The return journey was relatively uneventful from Leos perspective as he tried to communicate more with Astra, trying to see if he could hear anything about their past. Unfortunately, every time Astra tried to say anything of importance about itself, something seemed to interfere as all he heard was static noise. Upon exiting the forest, he saw the village and felt a strange peace wash over him. It was a quaint village but from a distance, it looked beautiful, calm and relaxing. A place to call home.

Leo shook his head at that thought, shrugging away that notion as a passing folly since anything would be better than the hospital he had been chained to for so long.

“Who goes there?!” a booming voice rang out, causing Leos ears to ring in pain, flattening against his head as he turned to the source of the voice. He saw a burly bear of a man standing a short 20 meters away from him in front of a log cabin that lay on the outskirts of the forest. The man was shirtless which showed off his bare chest, though his chest hair and unkempt beard made him look a little bit grizzly. He held a massive lumber axe in his hand and radiated bloodthirst that made Leo feel a little bit scared. The man was clearly on guard against Leo.

Leo wasn’t sure why that was the case until he took a better look at his current appearance. His shirt which had been a thin white linen material had become dark red after being coated in blood. His clothing was also torn, making him look disheveled, having barely escaped with his life from the forest or in the worst case scenario, a bandit who had wandered into the village.

Realizing this, Leo held up his hands, signalling he meant no harm as his gauntlets glowed before transforming back into bracelets. “I just want to let you know the blood isn’t mine” he began but realized that it was a stupid thing to say, that only made him look more suspicious! He became flustered as the other man seemed to become even more vigilant of Leo “I-I mean I just came from the Forest. The blood is goblin blood!” he hastily explained which caused the bear mans already furrowed brows to become even more pronounced.

“What? Goblins? So close to the village? How can you prove it.” The man questioned, not bothering to hide his skepticism at Leos explanation. With no other choice, he pulled the necklace out of his pocket and showed it to the burly man. Seeing that necklace, the man scowled before breaking out into a boisterous laugh, the bloodthirst evaporating nearly instantly.

“My apologies little one! I thought you were a bandit! I almost chopped you in half with my axe!” he guffawed loudly. In a single moment, the man had gone from intimidating brute to easygoing giant. The man walked up to Leo who was still trying to comprehend the sudden shift in attitude and patted the young man on the head.

“Not many young ladies like you have the guts to go into the forest alone and kill goblins. Consider this uncle impressed” he said brightly. Hearing the man call him a lady made Leo want to cry. Where was his masculinity? He didn’t want to be cute! He wanted to be cool! With tears threatening to form in his eyes, Leo looked up at the man and growled

“I am NOT a GIRL! I am a MAN!”

The burly mans hand froze at that statement, his expression becoming awkward as he looked down at the cute young boy(?) before him.

“I am sorry young lad…I just thought you were a girl because you were uhh…cute?” The man said, retracting his hand to awkwardly scratch his head.

Being called cute was like an arrow to the heart for Leo who felt like he was going through an identity crisis. He didn’t like the idea of being considered cute by a macho man.

“The name’s Barry. The local Lumberjack around these parts. Nice to meet ya kid. ” the man said with a smile. Holding out his hand for a handshake. Feeling it would be rude not to, he reciprocated the handshake and said “My name is Leo. Nice to meet you too. Oh and this is Astra”. While using his free hand to point to his bracelet.

“Firm Handshake. I like it…Barry had confusion on his face as he looked at the young man before his gaze became somewhat pitiful. “I see….well tell Astra that it is nice to meet her too”.

Leo felt like something wasn’t quite right with the way that Barry had begun to look at him but for his own mental sanity, decided to pretend he didn't see it.

“I would offer you some food lad but I don’t have much to offer you. I have sent out my newest apprentice to go pick up some supplies for me. If you want to stick around for a bit, this old man can teach you a move or two” Barry said with a soft laugh before looking into the distance, perhaps looking for that apprentice he spoke of.

“She shouldn’t be too much longer. What do you say lad?” Barry asked, turning his head back with a smile.

Barry the Lumberjack has issued you the quest: Guidance

Quest Details: Receive guidance from Barry (Gorillakin) on the method of using axes

Difficulty: F

Completion Reward(s): Axe Mastery (Passive), 1 Free Point

Requirements: Strength 10, Dexterity 5

Quest Failure: None

Additional information: Barry feels sorry for you. He mistook you for a bandit and then a girl. He is also wary of your mental state and feels it would be best to teach you something while you reside in the vilage

Do you wish to accept the Quest [Accept/Decline].

Looking at the additional requirements, Leo couldn’t honestly say that it didn't irk him but the reward in itself was something that he couldn’t quite possibly ignore. However the requirements broke his heart.

Groaning, he looked Barry in the eyes and said through clenched teeth. “I-I’m sorry. I don’t think I am strong enough to learn from you yet.”

“Haha~! No worries Kiddo. Feel free to come back when you think you can handle it!” Barry said, not taking offence, unaware of Leo's inner turmoil at being unable to initiate his quest. Barry smacked Leos back as a form of encouragement but his massive hands and strength made it feel like he smashed a block of wood against his back.

“Oh look who's finally back. Took you long enough!” Barry remarked, raising his voice as he noticed someone approaching the cabin.

“You really like to complain for an old man…” a cool voice responded nonchalantly. “Who’s this? A guest?” they said.

The newcomer's voice was something Leo knew all too well. Turning around, he saw a beautiful young woman wearing a brown leather vest, black leggings with 2 small axes attached to her waist standing there. One of her hands was on her hips, her face was frozen, eyes widening in shock when she saw Leo.

“Uhhh…Hi Sis..Hehe….” Leo chuckled nervously.

He never expected that the apprentice Barry was speaking of was his own sister!