Stopping to rest, Lucas repeatedly cast his healing spell and the rest of them stood around talking. Felix had already tried to copy down the healing spell formation, but quickly realized Lucas wasn't casting any spell at all, he simply chose the spell in his spell book then The System gobbled his mana and manually healed her somehow. There was no shaping mana into anything, at all.

"You've been keeping up with us pretty well. You were a little shaky with the first moose, but you've really stepped up since then. I think you could definitely become pretty strong one day. If you keep it up, I think you would make a really great addition to the town. You gotta keep up the hard work every day though." Broxus explained.

Minimizing. Lying. Minimizing. Truth. Genuine belief.

This thing hasn't been useful yet in doing anything but making me feel good. I could already tell all of these things by myself. Then again, this guy is not hard to read. I guess making me feel good is useful in some ways, not sure I need it constantly feeding my ego though. I probably just need to talk to more people.

"I really appreciate that Broxus, thanks."

Broxus smirked and nodded then walked over behind some trees to take a piss.

"Don't worry, he's just giving you a hard time so you don't get lazy. He's really impressed, I can tell." Lucas reassured.

"Thanks, I'll keep working at it, I promise. By the way, is his real name Broxus? I've never heard a name like that before."

Lucas rose to his tip-toes, leaned in to Felix and whispered, "Nah, his real name is Brock, he asked us all to call him Broxus around the first week."

"Ah, I see, secret's safe with me." Felix winked.

Lucas smiled and nodded.

Alright what else do I want to learn from these guys? I think they answered most of my questions, except the experience and level thing.

"Hey Lucas, how often do you guys level?"

"Well, recently it's been about 40 creatures, so a level in just under two days or so. It used to be less when we were lower level, but not by much. It used to be much lower before James joined us, but then we couldn't kill them as quickly or safely."

"Wait, when you guys hunted as three, how many kills did it take to level, approximately?"

"About half as much as it does now, so 20 or so. But, it took us much longer to kill them and we had to take many breaks. I didn't get to save mana for healing cause I was using most of it trying to take stuff down. So it took us just over two days to level, and that was around level 20 ish. Overall, it's faster now."

Oh my god, you guys are absolutely fucking yourselves by fighting in a group, the experience sharing is so bad. Remind me to never team up with anyone, ever. I guess it makes sense cause the risk level goes way down. These guys are never in danger. I feel like my life is on the line every damn time I fight. Honestly though I would never trade positions, this is so incredibly, mind numbingly, boooooooring. Do I stick around for a bit or just dip now? Oh one more question, actually two.

It looked like Lucas still had some healing to do so Felix asked him another question he was wondering, "What's up with the ‘conquer the tutorial' thing on your forts note?"

"Oh, Broxus wants to try to take on a world boss and conquer as many forts as he can in the tutorial, those are his two main goals. He's just hoping to recruit like minded people."

"You can conquer another fort?"

"Yeah, that's how Broxus got this place. Some weakling had control of it when Broxus showed up and declared it was his, the guy fought him and lost. I suppose it would get more complicated with more people but that's the general idea."

"I had never thought of that. Last question, I promise, can you guys see my level when you identify me?"

"I don't mind the questions, don't got much else to do while healing Sophia." Sophia waved and smiled before Lucas continued, "Plus I'm hoping you'll share some of your skills and other secrets at some point, so tit for tat. Uh, nope, can't see your level. I just see two question marks. Don't worry about it, you shouldn't feel bad for being a lower level, and Broxus doesn't mind if people hide it. He says you should own it and be confident in the work you've done, but I get some people are just more private than others. Normally you can only hide it from people lower level than you and something with perception though I don't know the numbers on that, we just figured your cloak was hiding it, looks super cool by the way." Lucas gave him a thumbs up.

Oh how tempted I am to reveal my level. I'm happy I didn't change those privacy settings though, these guys might have been mad or something if they found out I was a higher level. I definitely like being anonymous and hidden. They all seem to think they are undoubtedly the top shit. I guess I can see why with how hard they work and how relentless they are. I don't know if I'm lucky or have more ingenuity or just raw talent. Guess we'll find out at the end of and after the tutorial if there's anyone else like me. Oh man, what happens after the tutorial? Do we get dumped back on earth? Will it be the same?

"I appreciate your understanding, Lucas. Look I'll be honest, you guys are very impressive with how much work you put into it, but you guys work way too hard for me. I don't think I can keep going for 16 hours a day then sleep and repeat, it's just too much."

"Hey I get it, no worries. We are usually going for about 20 hours at a time by the way, then only sleep for four. Once you hit your minor evolution at level 25, you don't need to sleep as much. You want me to let Broxus know or do you wanna tell him yourself? He's gonna be pretty disappointed, but he should get over it."

The subtle condescension is getting a little grating. I'm tempted to ask about evolutions, since I missed the stupid tutorial explanation thing, but if I keep talking to these losers much longer, I am going to do something stupid like reveal my level. What if I just cast three full speed, full power Mana Bolts to take out a moose, Lucas' head would probably explode if I did.

"You tell him, I'll just slip out."

Felix turned and left. He ran slightly faster than the fastest he saw any of them ever run, which was extraordinarily slow. Felix was tempted to run full speed and just vanish from in front of their eyes, or fire off a bunch of Fire Bolts from everywhere to screw with them but decided it wasn't worth it.

The only threat these guys pose, is that they may kill the world boss before I get a chance to. Let's say they speed up a little and manage to pull off three levels every four days. We have eighty days left, leaving time some wiggle room, they max out at level eighty. The leveling should slow down though because the forest critters won't be able to keep up. They'll definitely fall behind if they don't seek out better equipment, though maybe they just buy it from taxes? I didn't check his tax rate.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

So, do I think that party at level 70 ish plus a bunch of level 60s will be taking out a world boss? Probably not? I hope not. It would be nice to have an idea how many people are intended to take it down. Maybe The System told us in the explanation part I slept through. Still not sure I buy The System not being able to wake me up. Couldn't it have just blasted me with an air horn?

Felix ran to the north east, straight to the dungeon marking on his map. He encountered moose, wolves, grizzly bears, deer, snow leopards and lynx on the way there. All around level 30 ish.

I wonder if that's what this zone will stay at or if Broxus is influencing it. Maybe it grows naturally all by itself. That seems more likely, Broxus' influence, if it exists, is probably negligible at best.

Felix found a large stone right where the map said it would be. As with all the previous dungeons, there was a small tunnel leading into the rock with a door at the end of it. Before touching the door, Felix quickly approved all the Tripeak-Valley's expenditures.

Quest Dungeon A

You have found a dungeon. Would you like to enter?

Yes

No

Seriously, again? This should be the last one, right? Yes.

Quest Dungeon A

Three tribes have lived harmoniously in The Shivering Expanse for generations. Just yesterday, something has gone terribly wrong. Now, tensions are growing between the tribes and war is on the horizon.

(1/5) Figure out what happened.

Seems kind of similar to the last one.

Felix peered out of his warm and comfortable cloak into a roaring blizzard. He could only see his own body and not much else. Luckily, peering at his map for direction, all three tribes were pinned. Felix headed for the closest one.

The wind was violently pulling Felix from side to side cause him to have to fight against it every step. Every minute or so, it would completely change directions and he would stumble trying to readjust.

I really hope the wind doesn't tear my cloak. I know it's a magic item, but it's so thin I instinctively doubt it.

Felix spent a half hour fighting the storm on his way to one of the three tribes. He knew he had arrived when he walked right into the side of a wooden building. He patted his hands along the wall to keep track of the building and made his way around it to try and find a door. He turned the corner but found no door, he did however, manage to just make out a few more buildings just a short ways off from the one he was at now. He circled around to the next side but stopped short and decided to head for a different building.

He had just gotten a glimpse of a larger building with orange light flickering in the windows. None of the other buildings he could see seemed to have lights on. Felix headed for the building and when he was just a few meters away the door opened and two men in hides hurried out and practically carried Felix inside.

"The hell do you think you're doing out there. Did you not notice the blizzard? Were you trying to kill yourself?" A female sounding voice said.

"Oi, leave him alone. He's probably frozen to the bone. Come, bring him to the fire, thaw him out lest he catch a cold." The man carrying Felix on his right said.

Felix tried to shake off the men pulling him towards the fire, "Uh, I'm fine thank you. The weather just doesn't bother me. I mean the wind is a pain the ass and I can't see anything, but otherwise it's fine"

The men let him go and Felix lowered his hood then scraped away the snow that stuck itself to his brows and lashes so he could see again. Looking around the room, there were about two dozen men and women and just a few children all sitting around a roaring fire set in the center of the far wall. Above the fire hung two large axes with their handles, intricately carved bones, crossed over each-other. All of the people in the building were around level twenty, with the highest at twenty four.

Maybe I should wear a mask, the hood is open. Alright let's get this show on the road.

"I hear you were living peacefully for generations with two other tribes and that something went wrong. I'm here to fix it. So, what happened?"

"The Horde stole the Frozen God's Mercy, that's what happened!" Someone suddenly exclaimed.

"It must have been The Frostmyre Tribe, they are all sneaky little devils."

"They teamed up to take us down, that's what happened."

"Oi, we've been friends for generations. They are both practically family, don't go accusing them of dooming us all."

"Yer just saying that cause you got the sweets for Ralph."

"What if they didn't take it and the Frozen God took it back. He's mad at us, that's why the blizzard's here, we are being punished! We must atone for our sins and pray for salvation!"

"Oh he's mad alright, he's mad cause The Frostman Horde stole his damn item."

"That item was a gift."

"Oh really? Did he hand it to you himself?"

"No, she didn't, but why else would it have stayed here for so long."

"I don't know, it's a god they probably forgot or had to take a shit. Now that they are done they picked it back up and moved on with their lives."

"Oi, there are children in the room, watch your damn language."

"Oh, sorry. I… didn't mean to."

"It's ok, just try to pay attention in the future."

"So we're all agreed then? We sneak in and kill both The Frostman Horde and The Frostmyre Tribe as they sleep? The new guy is wearing all black, he looks like he could handle some skullduggery."

"Woah now hold on a minute, who is talking about assassinating anyone?"

Anger. Bitter. Fear. Anger. Shock. Fear.

Suddenly it seemed like everyone had something to say. Felix had the intelligence and perception to hear all of it, but not to sort through who had said what. He decided to try out a spell he hadn't tried yet, Felix cast a half size Thunderclap. It wasn't quite loud enough so Felix risked it and cast it at normal size but as far away from himself as he could, with his own hands over his ears.

A loud bang emanated through the wooden building and shut everyone up, except for the kid in the corner who was still whispering their newly learned curse-word to themselves.

"Alright so, you guys had an item from some Frozen God that you shared and someone stole it? What was the item, how did you share it and who is the Frozen God?"

After a moment, one of the men who carried Felix into the building answered, "The Frozen God's Mercy is a Divine quality staff that was planted in the ground right in the middle of the three tribes. The staff created a safe area a few kilometers across where the cold didn't exist. We split the area into four parts. A small circle around the staff was dedicated to be a park, a place for kids to play and a meeting place for the tribes. Then the ring around the outside was split in three, one for each tribe to grow food. That's were we would normally weather storms like this, no matter what, it was always warm around the staff. Even if the sky raged down upon the land, no matter how great the storm, around the staff it never rained and the sky was always clear."

"No one really knows where the staff came from, but it rested in the same place for millennia. Yesterday, the staff disappeared. We normally have guards guarding the staff, one from each tribe at all times, but they are missing as well."

They have to be manipulated by The System to be more open right? There is no way a tribe of people who is currently on the warpath and is suspicious of the other tribes is spilling all their problems to some random visitor, right? Same with the other dungeons. Though, I kind of expect the queen would have complained to anyone who would listen regardless. I guess the mercenary thing made Borrugra talk. Maybe it's just these guys?

Felix checked his quest screen.

Quest Dungeon A

Three tribes have lived harmoniously in The Shivering Expanse for generations. Just yesterday, the divine treasure that kept them all safe disappeared. The tribes seem to be blaming each-other and war is on the horizon.

(1/6) Figure out what happened.

(2/6) Talk to The Frostman Horde.

(3/6) Talk to The Ivory Axe Clan. [Complete]

(4/6) Talk to The Frostmyre Tribe.

(5/6) Find the Frozen God's Mercy.

"Gotcha. Is this your entire tribe?"

The one who explained the item to Felix nodded.

"Alright, I'm going to ask you one by one." Felix walked up to the person nearest him. "Did you steal the staff? Do you know where The Frozen God's Mercy is?"

"No." They responded.

Truth.

Felix walked around the room and, from everyone, got some variation of ‘no' with a feeling of truth from his earrings.

"Alright, I'm off to talk to the other tribes. Don't kill anyone or go to war just yet."

"What do you mean, the blizzard is strong as ever right now?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

Felix pulled up his hood and left the building before anyone could stop him. . . . . .