Chapter 5 - Billy Finally Guides

Billy was woken up at the hairy ass crack of dawn by a smiling Farmer Tim. The old man ignored the boy’s cursing as he spoke over him.

“We gon’ put that Gift of yer’s to the test today, boy.” In a fantastic display of farmerness, Farmer Tim punctuated his statement by spitting off to the side and slipping a long stalk of grass in the side of his mouth. “Grab yer’ gear, boy. I thought about it all night. You’re gonna be a compass today.”

Billy slid out of bed bonelessly, like a gelatinous horror from the stories the older urchins told during the rare campfire nights. He rolled over to his clothes and dramatically slid them on, one inch at a time.

“Well, now, young feller. Best be hurryin’!” Farmer Tim said in what Billy suspected to be an ever increasingly fake country accent. “We’re goin’ monster huntin’ today. Gotta boot scoot in a hurry if we’re gonna nab us a big’un’.”

Billy groaned, but noticeably perked up at the mention of a monster. “If I hurry, will you stop talking like that?”

"Of course, of course!" Farmer Tim chuckled, "Now let's go!"

When Billy was dressed and ready, Farmer Tim brought him to the edge of the forest, roughly in the direction of the town of Deez where Billy had come the day before.

“Now, boy, there’s been a dire wolf prowling these parts lately. If my hunch is right, you left it a right good snack down here in these woods. You’re gonna track it and I’m gonna nab it. Capiche?”

Billy’s eyes went so wide, the old farmer almost worried that the boy would lose an eye. “A DIRE wolf?” Billy exclaimed incredulously. “Not even just a wolf-wolf, but a DIRE one? Aren’t those, like, deadly?”

Farmer Tim nodded, not seeming to care all that much. "Yes, dire wolf. Big, mean, and dangerous. More dangerous than a wolf or a frightful wolf, less dangerous than a harrowing wolf. Well, for you, at least. For me, it’s just annoying to have to buy more and more goats. Think you can find it? It’s a sneaky bugger."

Billy gulped and nodded. He was scared, but also excited. This was the kind of adventure he had always dreamed of. He would accidentally kill an S-rank wolf, which would catapult him to A-rank. The loot would keep him afloat until he cemented his position, righting all of the wrongs that had ever been done to him. He would use his new senses to discover that his old family heirloom was actually a key to a magical vault of a long-deceased race of… Ok, hunting time.

He focused on his Gift, trying to sense the direction the dire wolf had gone or would be. After a few moments, he pointed to the left, a grin spreading across his face. "I think it’s this way." His Gift was working, and it was becoming easier and easier to use.

Farmer Tim nodded and began to lead the way, with Billy following closely behind. They walked for almost an hour before eventually coming across a large clearing. And there, in the center of the clearing, was the dire wolf. It was a massive beast, with fur as gray as steel, almost shiny in what little sunlight could peek through the trees. It was conveniently lying down, its back to the two of them.

Farmer Tim motioned for Billy to step into the clearing quietly while he circled around a bit. Billy took two steps forward, his arms outstretched to each side as if he were ready to pounce. Then he froze. What was he going to use as a weapon? He quickly looked around for a branch, a stick, anything that he could use. He had gotten so caught up in using his Gift that he had blanked on what would happen when they actually found the beast. There must be a conveniently located sword somewhere in the brush…

As if it had been waiting for him, the wolf sprang to its feet and turned around, saliva dripping from its mouth. No, mouth wasn’t the right word. It was more of a maw. It cocked its head to the side, as if taunting Billy, saliva dripping from its maw.

Right! His Gift. Billy focused as hard as he could on his Gift, trying to see what the best plan of attack would be. Nothing. Again. He doubled down, straining, sweat pouring down the sides of his face. But his Gift refused to work. A horrible realization dawned on Billy as the dire wolf took a step forward. His Gift didn’t seem to work in combat.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The dire wolf took another step forward, seemingly relishing in watching Billy squirm. Right, the slow villain walk to give time for the deus ex machina… Just in time, vines the thickness of Billy’s legs shot out from underneath the wolf and pierced its body. Once, twice… Billy lost count after a dozen vine spears pierced the dire wolf’s belly, almost passing through and out its back. Billy fell backwards in shock and landed hard on his tailbone. He winced in pain as Farmer Tim sauntered into the clearing.

“Well, I’ll be!” He was beaming. “Finally got this sucker.”

Billy picked his jaw and the rest of himself off the floor. “You… You can… do that? With your plant Gift?” He stammered, trying to process what he had seen.

“Ah, yeah.” Farmer Tim chuckled as he walked over to the dire wolf’s corpse. “I’ve been practicing for years. As you know, my Gift allows me to manipulate and enhance plants. The more you use your Gift, the stronger it gets. And the more you focus on certain aspects, the more specialized it becomes. Like I said. I focus on growing a few plants really quickly. A few ability stones help, too.”

Billy watched in amazement as the farmer pulled a knife from his belt and began to try and skin the dire wolf without much success. “So you’re saying… I could do that too? You turned a gardening Gift into a weapon. Do you think that I…”

“Well, maybe not that,” Farmer Tim said, gesturing to the dire wolf’s remains. “But you could certainly do something. Probably something really cool, considering your particular Gift. You just have to focus and use your Gift in different ways until you find something that works.”

Billy nodded, taking in the old man’s words. Sure, his Gift didn’t work in combat, for now. That didn’t mean it never would. That didn’t mean he couldn’t fight, just that he had to prepare. When he became an overpowered death machine, at least he would have a nice story arc of clawing himself up, bit by bit, from F-rank. He resolved to not be caught off guard like that again. With renewed determination, he focused on channeling his Gift.

Now that the dire wolf was dead, it seemed as if his Gift leapt to him. There was… something. It wanted him to inspect the dire wolf corpse. Farmer Tim raised an eyebrow as Billy approached. “You want to try skinning it? Its fur is too tough for my knife.”

Billy shook his head. “It’s not that. But I’m getting a feeling that I should… There!” Billy pointed at the beast’s chest. There was a slight bulge under the skin, like something was pressing up against it, pulling it taught.

Farmer Tim nodded and stepped forward, knife in hand. He sliced open the dire wolf’s chest, revealing a small, glowing crystal embedded in the wolf’s heart. “Well, I’ll be,” he muttered, picking the gray crystal up and examining it closely. “This is a monster core. Nice size, too. Good find, boy.”

Billy grinned, feeling a surge of pride. Using his Gift had paid off again. He was starting to understand his Gift more, and that was a great feeling. He looked down at the monster core. “Do you know what it does?” He asked.

Farmer Tim nodded his head slowly. “Did you notice how shiny and durable the wolf’s fur is? I bet it’s some sort of extra protection. The core’s the same color, so I figure it’s linked. It’s probably got some durability-enhancing mana, like some sort of warding or some reinforcement-type mana. It’s hard to pin down the exact nature, but the function should be the same. We should bring it to my enchanter friend in town. They owe me one. It would make one hell of a shield or breastplate for ya.”

Billy’s mouth dropped open again. “For me? What do you mean? It’s your kill. I just walked us here. It would have eaten me in a split second and not batted an eye.”

The old man shook his head. “I’ve been after this one for longer than I care to admit. You’re saving me money, long term. Plus, this fur’s gonna sell for a pretty copper if I can get it before it dissipates. I’ll probably get a good 5 silver or so. More, if it’s as infused with mana as I think it is.” With that, he pinched his face in concentration, his hand still gripping the wolf’s corpse. Vines shot out from beneath the dire wolf, some grabbing, some slashing.

Billy just sat there and gaped as the forest seemed to come alive and dissect the dire wolf bit by bit, eventually separating its pelt from its body. Farmer Tim wiped sweat off of his face when he was done, looking drained. “Phew, that was something. Yep, definitely reinforced. I almost didn’t manage it,” he said, as he pulled out a water skin and drained it. He walked over and picked up the wolf’s pelt. As he did, the rest of the wolf’s corpse started dissipating into tiny motes of light.

“Would ya look at that,” he said smugly. “Just in time.”

Something clinked as the dire wolf’s corpse disappeared. In its place was a small pile of loot. The old man bent over to examine the pile. “Yep, typical,” he grunted. “Claws and teeth,” he tisked. “Not worth a whole lot, but money is money.” He scooped up the pile and placed it into a bag at his hip.

“Alright, boy. Time to head into town. I reckon we could get you an item imbued by the end of the day if we hurry.”

Billy nodded eagerly and followed along as they made their way towards the town.

Step one: acquire overpowered loot. Check.