“So what now?” Liria asked.
“Do you know the recipes for a Tier 4 healing potion?” Tiri questions Hilde, our sole crafting course student.
Hilde fiddles with her fingers and said in a dejected tone, “ No, sorry. I'm only good at metal- and woodwork.”
“Well fuck, what now?” Walt commented.
“We could try to steal a finished potion from the other teams,” Plinch suggested.
“I wouldn't recommend that. Clair already said that every team is as strong as us, except for the Odys teams,” Baldrich countered.
“Then we just have to steal it from a Odys team,” Jore states likes it's natural.
“But other teams will try the same and it would end in a bloodbath,” Ley said.
“Hm, we could try to follow Odys team, wait for them to brew the potion and look out for an ambush. When they get ambushed, we'll just take the potion from the winner. Even Odys team has some fighters, so it will be easy to get the potion from the tired winner,” Alfred comes up with a different way.
“That might work,” Hilde thought out loud.
“I think we should just look out for the ingredients and brew the potion,” I said and they looked at me as if I didn't listen.
“We already confirmed that Hilde can't brew potions, who else could do it?” Liria asked.
“I could do it, I just need the ingredients. I want to brew a Tier 4 potion for quite a time, but had no ingredients. They are hard to get and mostly regulated by the government,” I said.
“Of course, how could we forget our goddess? It's only natural for her to know how to make potions,” Ley said relieved.
“You sure you can do it? I mean it sounded like you never brew a Tier 4 potion,” Baldrich asked worried.
“The schools have to be fairly confident in this forests ingredients, if they give this task for 20 groups, so I think we will be ok with the ingredients, even if I fail once or twice,” I said.
“Do you also have the skill for finding the ingredients? I think the skill was called [Herbalist],” Plinch asked.
“Sure,” I said, knowing that I don´t have the skill but will get, the moment I spot a usable ingredient.
“Then let's go, we're only losing time,” Walt said eagerly.
“Wait a moment, it has to be a healing potion, am I right?” I asked and they nodded.
“Good,” I said and took a alchemy book out of my inventory, it's about the higher Tier potions and has descriptions about the ingredients and brewing method.
“A dimensional pocket?” Hilde asked excited.
I ignored her and looked through the pages, looking for a Tier 4 potion that uses herbs, which are growing in a forest environment.
“Here is one, it's called [Limb Grower] it regrows limbs that were cut or ripped off,” I said, showing the picture of a green potion.
“The herbs we need for it are mostly growing in dense forests and are seemingly rare,” I further said and started to put the names of the herbs in my search option.
The results were good and bad at the same time, they are inside the forest but fairly deep.
“One of the herbs only grows in soil with a high amount of mana, so we might have to go deep into the forest,” I said.
“The monsters at the middle of the forest are said to be Tier 4,” Jore.
Monster have almost the same rank as materials. So there are 5 different Tiers, the fifth is, here again, only a rank of myths. They are said to be devastating cataclysms, normal dragons are also only ranked at Tier 4. I think the Dragon God would have been a Tier 5 monster.
But Tier 4 monster don't have to be strong, they can also be dangerous to it's environment really rare some.
There is a Tier 4 monster that has no fighting capabilities at all, but was ranked with such a high Tier, because it has a seducing odour that leads it's victims into a field of carnivorous plants.
The plants will then eat the prey and in return give the monster shelter and it's fruits.
But normally Tier 4 monster are known for their strength, a normal Tier 4 monster has the same fighting capabilities as a whole S-Rank group of adventurers. Some are even as strong or stronger than SS-Rank adventurer.
I would like to know why this school has a forest with such monsters inside of it, and how often do they come out.
“Does anyone have any knowledge about the monsters inside of the forest?” I asked.
“We only scouted the outskirts of the forests, the monsters got too strong as we walked further inside,” Plinch said while shaking his head.
“So we're walking blind,” Ley said not amused.
“It could be worse,” Hilde said.
“How?” Baldrich asked.
“Well, we could not have an almighty Clair with us,” Hilde said with a wide grin, as the others looked at me with hope.
“Clair are you able to fight Tier 4 monster?” Ley asked hopefully.
“Don´t know, never really fought one,” I said, not really lying, as I didn't fought the dragons in a real fight, it was more like a one-sided slaughter.
The idea to kill all the dragons at once was good at first, but now I realize that it can be boring to know everything by simply putting points into the skill.
There is no thrill of the adventure life. I have to amuse myself with jokes and other none fighting things. But then again, I never really fought in my life before, only a few brawls in school. A bloody nose here, some almost lost teeth there.
“We can only hope for the best and try to evade most of the monsters and teams,” Ley concluded.
“Yes, then let's go,” Jore said and began to walk inside the forest. We said nothing and followed him.
The forest was kinda eerie.
At first it was like every normal light forest. You were able to see up to 50 meter until a tree blocked your view. The sun was able to shine through the canopy and it felt like a simple walk.
But half an hour later, we saw tracks of fighting, some small trees that were broken, and sometimes a dead monster, mostly Tier 1.
The trees got bigger and the sun rays smaller, while the terrain got more impassable. The dead monsters got up to Tier 2 and some different blood was present. But not much.
“This forest gets more creepy, the farther we go in,” Walt said grumpily.
“True, and the slow walking speed with the constant need to be wary doesn't makes it better,” Plinch agreed.
“But it's good that we are behind another group, they fight for us,” Liria said.
“But they will be a problem, when they start to rest, we will walk into them,” Walt spoke his concerns out.
“We just have to walk around them or take them out, They'll be tired, when they rest,” Baldrich
“How often are deaths during this round?” I asked.
“Hmm, they are quite common, mostly because of the monster, but also caused by fights between teams, why?” Jore
“So how do you want to proceed with them? Kill them if they are from another school and try to form an alliance if they are not? Should we walk around them and risk that they do what we plan when we rest? Or should we make a wide bow around them?” I further asked.
“To hear the suggestion of killing from the goddess of Caring, spoken out so casually,” Ley said baffled.
“Don't get me wrong, I'm not the happy go lucky lover of all living things, you do believe I am. I'm just doing what I want and the help of the people of the slums are more in the open,” I said.
“So you do kill people?” Hilde asked with an raised eyebrow.
“Why do you think there are no bandits around Turonis?” I asked with an evil smirk and Hilde shuddered.
“I don't want to think about the unfortunate souls that get your wrath,” Plinch said pale.
“I´m mostly quick, only those who really annoy me have a hard time,” I said.
“And what do one has to do, if he wants to annoy you?” Hilde asked warily.
“Hmm, hurt someone I like or if I'm hungry and they steal my chicken,” I said and looked at Hilde with a grin, who also got pale and starts to shudder.
“PST, I think we'll reach their camping ground,” Walt said and crouched down, the others did the same.
“I´ll scout them out, Clair, do you have the [Sneaking] skill?” Walt asked.
“Sure, I'll follow,” I said and activated the skill and followed Walt who sneaked in their direction.
He motioned me to sneak around them and I did.
A few moments later I was on the other side of a small camp, looking at the resting students. Walt was not visible, so I looked out for him, he should have been faster than me.
I found him on a tree, almost not visible, two metre away from the camp.
Skill:
Perception
Find that what does not want to be found.
The hidden things will be in plain view.
And hiding stalkers will have a hard time
to sneak on you. LV: 0
I maxed the skill and suddenly saw glowing lines around Walt and even on the ground. The glowing lines turned out to be wire traps as I looked at them. The whole clearing is full of traps.
“You think we´ll find some Odys guys?” one of the students asked, he has a small wound on his arm.
“I'm sure, there are five teams of them and they are the best if it comes to crafting,” a different student answered him.
They are not from Turon and also not in the elite unit of Max, so they have to be from Malindor.
They status further indicates that most of them are mages.
We listened a little longer until Walt started to look anxious, it looked like he is looking for something.
And I realized that he might not know where I am, my [Sneaking] skill is higher than his [Perception] skill, which is on LV 4.
I walked around the camp and taped Walt on the shoulder who jumped a little but kept quiet.
He looked relieved as he saw me and motioned me to sneak back.
I followed him to our group, where he revealed himself to them, I kept hiding, I have a small plan....
“Where's Clair?” Hilde asked as she saw Walt.
Walt turned around and saw nothing.
“Strange, I was sure she's behind me. Well I was also not able to spot her as we looked at the camp,” he said.
Suddenly a loud °KIAA° sound erupted from the middle of the group. Everyone got ready for a fight and looked at the source of the sound.
Only to find me, fondling the breasts under Hildes shirt. Hilde was beet red and already down at the ground, slightly panting.
They looked at me, dumbfounded, not knowing from where I came, as Hilde was in the middle of the group.
I stopped the fondling and stood up, letting go of a twitching Hilde at the ground. Lilia, Tiri who also grabbed her tail, and Ley were red and the boys stood in an awkward position.
“So, they are from Malindor, what do you want to do?” I asked as if nothing happened.
They looked at me, as if I'm crazy until Ley finally managed to ask, “ Why did you do that? They might have heard us.”
“She tried to steal my chicken, and they are not able to hear us, I made a soundproof wind barrier around us, they are not even able to see us, as long as they don´t come too near. A light spell turns the light around us,” I said.
“You are able to make us invisible?” Jore asked.
“Not rally invisible, I´m only braking the light around us, it looks like we are not here but they will see us if they come into the barrier. So what do you want to do?” I explained and asked again.
“Well.... They looked tired, we might be able to ambush them,” Walt said still looking at Hilde, who is now lying on the ground.
She managed to regain a little of her composure, and looked at me with slightly hateful eyes.
But she knows what she gets, she's a trickster and should know the risks.
“I think we should kill them, that would be the fastest,” Tiri said.
“But they are nobles of Kirk, we can't kill them,” Baldrich disagreed.
“Why does it matter if they are nobles? I'm sure they would not think twice about killing me, Plinch, Hilde and Clair for not being human,” Tiri rebuked. Baldrich looked like he wanted to say something but was not able to find a counter argument.
“Okay, who's for killing them? And who's against it?” Ley asked. Everyone except Baldrich and Hilde, who's not yet ready to move, raised their hand.
“Didn't think that killing other students will be so normal,” I said.
“Why?” Plinch asked as if it was obvious.
“I mean we are students, isn't a school for learning and not killing?” I explained myself.
“Isn't it normal? I mean it's the perfect opportunity to reduce the potential fighting power of other countries. Everyone knows that they might die, but the potential gains outweighs the risks and nobles use this tournament as a potential reputation provider.” Plinch.
So that's the reason why Pia said she won't survive that, it wasn't just a saying, she meant it.
“Hmm,” I said thinking about it and we began to move.
“How did you do that to Hilde?” Liria asked me from the side.
“I have a [Petting] skill, it amplifies the pleasure you get from petting, should I show you?” I said.
“I don´t want to end like her,” Liria said and pointed at Hilde who tries to get up.
“I did it with the full skill level, I would only pat your head,” I said.
Liria pondered a bit but then agreed. I motioned her to crouch down a little, as she's too tall for me to pat her head. She got down and I patted her head a little.
I stopped after a while and she looked at me a little disappointed.
“That was true bliss, and only by petting a little, I shudder by imagining what happens if you pat an erogenous zone and with a higher skill level, say how much did you turned the skill down?” She said.
“I only used a quarter,” I said and her eyes got wide, she then shuddered a little.
“Can we move?” Ley asked impatiently.
“What about Hilde? She's not yet ready,” Tiri asked.
“I´ll take her,” I said and flung a slightly protesting Hilde over my shoulder.
“You sure you can fight with her on your shoulder?” Walt asked concerned.
“Yup,” I said and began to skip in the direction of the camp.
“Hilde and I will come from the back, you can attack them when they look at us,” I said and activated my sneaking skill.
Skill:
Abducting
Hijack cars or abduct people.
This skill makes it easier for you to
carry people, who are unwilling
to come with you.
"If she says no it does not must mean no,"
Is the motto of most skill users. LV: 0
Okay... why not, one skill more maxed. Hilde suddenly stops resisting. Or at least it doesn't feel like resisting anymore. When I looked at her she still struggled but I didn't feel a thing, this skills defy logic.
We “both” sneaked around the camp and got in position. I stepped out and made us visible.
They quickly noticed us and jumped up.
“Who're you?” one questioned us.
“We? I'm Clair and this is Hilde,” I said and patted Hildes butt, who looked at the guys with pleading eyes, trying to say something but I held the sound barrier around her up. She looked like she would scream.
“Why does she look like she's screaming something?” One of them asked.
“Oh she is screaming something,” I said and undid the barrier.
“~elp me, please. She did gruesome and embarrassing things to me!” Hilde pleaded, now with tears in her eyes.
“Shhh, everything is alright,” I said and fumbled her ass a little, this time not with my skill. She began to squirm but was not able to free herself.
“You did bring this upon yourself, no one tries to steal my chicken and comes out unhurt,” I further said, with a tone that would indicate that it hurts me more than her. The group stepped back a little.
“What are you doing? Stop,” a female said.
I looked at them, noticing that the others are in position and said, “ oh right, please die.”
They looked confused but got ready to fight, as suddenly the forest behind them sprung into motion and the other attacked.
An arrow from Walt impeded into the head of the female and she fell down. She was instantly dead.
Health means nothing if you don't have high strength. Strength also determines the sturdiness of your body. And vital arrears can double or triple the damage.
My research so far indicates that the body kinda fuses with mana and makes it possible to get stronger, faster and sturdier than normal. And that by far. Strength of 50 is normal for a earth human male.
But here, a trained male can get way stronger.
But not everyone can get strong, it has something to do with the mana inside the cells. Ilza, for example, grows so fast because I pushed mana inside her cells. You could say I raised her capabilities.
Everyone is different, some can take more mana and some less, the amount shows how strong they can get and how fast. Mana amplifies the cells, they grow faster and are more efficient.
The body fuses automatically with the environmental mana. It's just slower than my infusion and most people can't get more than a certain amount. It's like a muscle, you grow stronger with time, but it stagnates and you have to train. Some people get stronger way faster than other.
I think it's determined by genes. Genes regulate how much mana you can take and how fast it will get absorbed. This shows itself with all the nobles, they are mostly stronger than the common folk, which is only logical. All their breeding through arranged marriages helps a lot.
Most people could get to stats with 10.000 if I give them the mana infusion. People who already have high stats can get stronger. But all has it's limit. Drull for example couldn't get much mana. His stats were already almost at the physical limit, like he calls it.
We think that the body uses the [Mana Manipulation] and [Bodyenhancement] skill subconsciously. It speeds the natural absorption up. [Mana Manipulation] for intelligence and wisdom, [Bodyenhancement] for agility and strength.
For example, my foster dad who is as common as possible, has strength around 70. He might train a lot but won't get stronger, his body just can't get stronger. He has neither [Mana Manipulation] nor [Bodyenhancement]. So his body stopped after a certain amount.
Everyone with high stats had either [Mana Manipulation] or [Bodyenhancement] just with different levels.
But I can't find a real connection with the amount of mana a person has. The headmaster who's 3 LV above Lilia in [Mana Manipulation] and over 100 normal levels, as well as almost 30.000 more in his stats, has only 200.000 more mana than her. It might also has something to do with the genes or maybe more with the race.
Lilia is an half-elf, Ilza also had 1.000 mana without [Mana Manipulation], stats and level. So the race, skill, level and stats can raise the mana a person has.
Anyway, while I thought about that and grobed Hilde absent mindedly, the fight was already finished. Here is a quick summary.
A fireball from Baldrich roasted a guy, who then set the person next to him on fire, killing both.
A lightning bolt from Liria fried two other.
Ley used earth traps to bury two
Plinch and Alfred hacked two in half and Jores hammer rushed down at the last unfortunate student, turning him into a bloody pulp.
“Well that was fast,” I said as I let Hilde down, who quickly hid behind Ley.
She looked at me and said,” I'm sorry.”
“Just don't do it again, ask I might give some away,” I said.
Hilde nodded and helped by sorting the belongings of the dead students.
“You did a good job by distracting them,” Liria said with a wry smile.
“You think we should use their already set camp? I mean we just have to wash the blood away and bury the bodies,” I asked.
“I don't know, I think we should move away from the camp, it doesn't feel right,” Baldrich said while looking at the dead bodies.
“I have to agree, let's just take their supplies and move on, we have a few more hours until it gets too dark to move,” Ley agreed and we began to walk after we packed their supplies together.
We walked for a few more hours and stopped under a tree that is larger than it's neighboors.
“I think we should stay here,” Walt said.
“Hmm, you think we could go up there?” I asked and pointed at the tree.
“It would help us to stay undetected,” Tiri agreed.
“We could but does anyone have ropes, so that we won't fall down?” Alfred asked.
“I have some,” I said and took 40 metre rope out of my inventory.
“Is there something you don't have?” Jore mused.
“Tier 4 healing potions,” I said and began to climb the tree.
“Hahaha, would be too easy if you would,” Alfred commented with a laugh and followed me.
Walt stayed down, placing traps, while we all used the rope to build a net in the branches, where we'll sleep.
“I'm hungry, what's for dinner?” Ley asked.
“I think a fire would be bad, the smell of food would attract monster and other teams,” Plinch said.
“We could make sandwiches,” I said and took a plate and ingredients out. I then started to make sandwiches.
“Oh food from the goddess, I heard from Kira that it's the best,” Hilde said, who seemed to already have forgotten what happened.
I distributed them as Walt came up and we ate up in the tree.
“It's really peaceful up here,” Jore said.
“If you ignore the possible threat from monster and other teams,” Baldrich added.
“Yeah but with Walts traps and some watchers we will have a good night, I don't think that many had so much rope with them,” Jore continued.
“Who'll be the first watch? Two would be good with 5 rounds, so each watch will only be a little more than an hour” Ley asked.
Our watch list was as followed, Ley+Jore, Alfred+Plinch, Baldrich+Hilde, Tiri+Walt and Me+Liria.
I only felt asleep after Alfred and Plinchs turn and was woken up by Walt.
“Night,” I whispered to Walt and got a little down the tree, where we have our watch post.
Liria was already there.
“Morning, do you want something warm to drink?” I greeted her and sat down beside her.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“You have something?” She asked, looking expectant.
“Yeah, here,” I said and took two cups and a Thermos out of my inventory.
“Thanks,” she said and drunk out of the cup I gave her.
“That's good, what is that?” She asked.
“Cacao, you have to melt chocolate in milk while heating it,” I said.
We were sitting in silence or a few minutes until Liria asked,
“Say is it true what they say about you? That you are a god?”
“Why is it that everyone asks me that?” I asked.
“Well people like to hear it from the source,” she said with a small smile.
“Only if you agree to answer one of my questions,” I said.
“Okay, what do you want to know?” She agreed.
“Why are you dressing in such revealing clothes with so much visible skin?” I asked directly.
“Well, there are more than one reason. It gives you discounts by a lot of shops. It boost your self-confidence if you know that they look at you because you are pretty and I think I like the attention,” she said earnestly.
“Didn't expect such an earnest reply,” I said.
“Well I want an earnest reply so I have to give you one by myself first,” She said with a grin.
“Well, I'll say the same I did to Ley. I think a god is something that is unexplainable strong and good in everything. A god is relative, someone who doesn't know mana would think that mages are gods when they create stones and water out of nothing.
A person who calls himself a god is just self-loving and a person who is called a god by others is someone much, much stronger than the people who call him a god.
So I don't think that I'm a god, as I'm able to explain my strength and have flaws.
And yes, that would make me something akin to a god for normal people, who don't know me, but only as long as they don't know the origin and reason for my strength.
Everyone has to think for himself and I they come to the conclusion that I'm a god, then let they think do it, if it helps.
I know of someone way stronger than me, who made me like I am now. In my opinion he is a god, while I am just someone stronger than the people on this planet. Keep the last part for yourself please,” I said.
“Thanks for the answer and I'll do,” Lilia said and leaned back.
It got silent again and I started to look at my map. A few teams were already gone, I don't think that 14 teams will come out, more like less than 10 will survive if it goes on like now. 3 Teams were already dead and quite a few have lost someone. Max was in a group of 50 people, There were other alliances but not more than two teams at once. It seems like they hunt in a large group. For now I'll mark everyone of Maxs group and have my map open over Max.
I then looked at the overall map and could see that, we'll have to walk the whole day and will be deep enough for the ingredients tomorrow morning. The ingredients start to grow at ¾ of the forest.
Liria and I stayed in silence for the rest of the time and woke the others after an hour and a half up.
We packed our things and began to walk in the direction I pointed out. Our day went by without any major events, only some monster I quickly killed before Walt could notice them. Maxs day on the other side looked like it was quite eventful.
The dots of his team had often moved fairly quick around a place. So changed my search options and included monster with a strength over 10.000 and another option for monster above 20.000 and their large group attracted a lot of them.
Over the day they were attacked by 100 monster with stats over 10.000 and 15 times by monster with stats in the 20 thousands. Do they stay in the large group on purpose? Are they training or do they need the materials, such monster would give?
Tier 4 monster are not common. And only life in places with dense mana. But this much is really uncommon, almost a third of the monster around them start to attack them when they come near enough, like they had to attack them. Do they use some kind of attraction?
They also actively seek other teams out and killed them. They changed their path when it looks like they spotted another team, they're even walking back. So far they killed 4 teams.
“Isn't it strange that we didn't see one monster ?” Jore said his worries as we walked.
“Yeah, I noticed it too,” Tiri agreed.
“I didn't spot even one animal that could harm or even attack us,” Walt said his part.
“The only thing I noticed were some sounds that heard like someone would mash fruits,” Plinch said.
“Mash fruits?” Tiri asked.
“Yeah, as if someone would mash a whole melon with its shell at once,” he explained.
I only listened absent-mindedly and killed another monster that tried to sneak on us. I'm killing everything that comes near us, doesn't matter which Tier.
“THERE! I heard it again, it came out of this direction,” Plinch shouted and pointed in the direction of the now dead monster.
Dammit he and his spoon like ears.
“Let's look,” Baldrich suggested and we had to walk in a formation, directly to the dead monster.
“I think something is there on the ground,” Walt said as we came nearer.
°BLEARGH° Hilde puked as she saw the monster.
“Ugh, what the fuck?” Jore said.
Everyone looked at the bloody puddle of the dead monster. Only a circle with red goo. Blood, bones and rests of its food and intestines were visible.
“That looks like the work of your hammer Jore, just way more stronger. It even smashed the bones to small pieces,” Ley commented.
“Whatever did this, kept the monster from us,” Baldrich concluded.
“But is it friendly or does it just not want to get its prey stolen,” Tiri asked worried.
Just smirked, standing behind them. Should I tell them? Naa, it's funnier that way, where is the strife if they walk through this like nothing?
“I think we should continue,” I said and they turned around.
“Why are you not worried? The monster here have stats in the ten thousands and something does smash them to a bloody pool,” Liria asked.
“Or do you have something to do with it?” Ley asked, squinting her eyes.
“Nope, how could I kill them from this distance, you would have noticed me doing it. I mean you can feel it when someone casts a spell can't you?” I lied.
“You're right, I didn't feel you casting any spells and were with us as we heard it the last time,” Liria said.
They can't feel it because of my [Ultra ultimate high Mana Manipulation] skill. My mana is practically invisible for everyone without the [Ultra ultimate high Mana Sensitivity] skill which not even I have. I couldn't think of a way to brake the normal skill until now.
“It disturbs me to know that something is out there following us and killing these monsters in such a way,” Hilde said after cleaning her mouth with water.
°flatsch° Another monster I spotted died.
“There, I heard it again!” Plinch shouted a little frightened.
“I can't feel or sense anything,” Walt said worried.
“Let's just hope it's friendly,” Tiri said with a hopeless smile.
“I don't like that, but I'm also not eager to find out what kind of thing follows us,” Ley agreed.
“We have to ignore it and move on,” Baldrich said and began to walk, but fairly stiff and anxious.
Another weaker monster walks in our direction and this time I let it nearer, but not near enough for Walt to spot it.
°FLATSCH°
“Now I heard it as well,” Jore said.
“”Yeah,“” the others agreed.
“It's nearer,” Hilde said and came near me.
“What?” I asked her, as she's now almost hugging me.
“The safest place will be near you,” She said and moved a little nearer.
The rest of the day consisted out of loud °FLATSCH° noises, while my team got more and more frightened. Is it sadistic to do this? Yes it is. Do I care? No I don't. It's too much fun to stop now.
We built our camp in a tree and I made some more sandwiches.
The night was uneventful, only a few °FLATSCH° sounds and Hilde, as well as Liria slept almost on top of me, so near were they.
The next morning I checked the map and was right with my assumption that less than 14 teams will survive. All in all 10 teams were dead.
Why would someone do this whole tournament on their on will? I mean I can understand why Max and his team do it, it's their job as a special unit. I'm even able to understand the student councils, as they have to represent the school, but why are there students who are willing to risk their life for this? I mean a death count of around a 45% on the first two days? Isn't that normally deterrent? Or is the granted wish so big that it's worth risking your life?
And why does every team consist out of students with at least one first year, one second year and one third year? Aren't they killing the students with this rule?
“Hey Ley, why is there a rule that states the requirements of one first year, one second year and one third year in each ten man group? Isn't that a death sentence for the students?” I asked as we began to walk to our first ingredient.
We need three, two flowers and a beast core of a beast with intelligence over 10.000.
“I think it was because it shows the strength of the coming generations and for gaining experience.
And most students are already adults you are an exception. Almost all first years are 16 or older,” Ley explained.
You're an adult with the fifteenth year of life. So effectively with fourteen.
“Still the death count must be quite high,” I said.
“Normally around 5 to 8 teams,” Ley said, which makes this year abnormal.
“But aren't this a fifth of the whole teams? Is the wish so great?” I further inquired.
“Yeah, you can wish for almost anything. Only exceptions are none slaves and things that will endanger the whole country. You could even wish for nobility and the right to govern Turonis. Most students wish for money or nobility. There were even some who wished for land, which he turned in his own kingdom,” she said.
“And did he got it?” I asked.
“Yeah, it was small, not larger than a small town and it's outskirts but the kingdoms don't like it to lose land, so the kingdom which previously owned the land started a war at the slightest chance and got it back. The wish only grants one thing, he couldn't wish for land and a peace treaty,” Ley said.
“Now I kinda understand the reason why so many apply for the tournament,” I said and killed a monster, which let the group twitch from the °FLATSCH° sound. They are significantly more nervous and have some dark bags under their eyes.
We reached the first ingredient shortly after, it's a red flower that grows on the bark of a tree. The tree is special and is used as a den for a monkey like monster. The flower only grows on this specific tree and is so high ranked because it has high healing potential, even unprocessed.
The monkeys use the flower for their own needs and protect it with their lives.
They are not really all to powerful on their own, but are intelligent enough to use crude weapons and swarm their enemies with numbers. This team mentality and their intelligence makes them strong Tier 4 monster. Tier 3 if they are alone.
°CRUNSCH°
“What was that?” Alfred asked.
“It didn't sound like the normal flatsch, more like wood that broke,” Plinsch said.
“It came from the front.” Walt said and we sneaked to the source of the sound.
We came into a larger clearing and found the normal puddles, but also a few standing logs with flowers on the bark, the logs were once trees. Yet now they only are logs with clean cut marks, where once the branches were. A few branches at the top are left. The puddles around the logs are filled with pressed wood but also with some red between.
“Did the thing flatten the whole tree with the monkeys in it?” Walt asked pale.
“But this clearing has enough room for more than this few trees, where are the others?” Hilde said.
“I think the thing killed every monkey in this clearing and the logs who are left were the trees, where no monkeys were at the middle section. Look these puddles have only wood inside. They must have had a monkey at the middle section, which we are not able to see from all the wood,” Baldrich said and pointed at a few puddles.
“But if this thing kills all the monster we come across, how can we get the monster core we need?” Hilde said realizing their problem.
“Fuck,” Jore said what most thought.
“I have a monster core from our school dungeon in my dimensional pocket,” I stated, I didn't want to stop this only for one monster, it would look strange. I had enough luck with these trees.
“That might work, the boss monster from the 40th floor on are strong enough to give the needed cores,” Hilde said.
“You sure it has the needed requirements?” Alfred asked me.
“Yeah, it was some kind of magic casting monster,” I said.
“True, monster which can cast magic have high intelligence, we can try and only hope,” Ley said.
“Then let's go and plug a few flowers, let's distribute them evenly,” Tiri said and we plugged the remaining flowers, each of us got 40 flowers.
“Can I buy your flowers? My brother is an alchemy freak and loves to try new potions. These flowers are hard to get, as they have to be used when they are still fresh,” I asked.
“Sure, how much do you think they are worth?” Jore said.
“The book said a gold coin each flower, that's because they have to be transported inside a dimensional pocket, so that they don't wither. The monster doesn't make it cheaper,” I said and their jaws dropped.
“Ähm, how many does your brother intent to buy?” Walt asked.
“Let's say, as none of you have a dimensional pocket except from me, 15 silver each? They would be withered when we're back and useless then,” I said and they looked as if I had stole all their hope.
“But aren't that only a sixth of the original worth?” Liria asked.
“Yeah, but you won't get anything if I don't buy them now, I could take them in my dimensional pocket but only for 90 silver each,” I said with a smirk.
“That's a rip off,” Ley protested.
“Well either that or nothing. I could have said 5 silver but that would be not enough. Think about it, each one of you has 40, that would be 17 gold,” I said with a wide smirk.
“At moments like this you aren't cute at all,” Ley grumbled.
“I agree, I mean it's money I wouldn't get if I say no, better some than none,” Jore said and gave me his flowers as I gave him 17 gold coins.
“How much money do you carry around with you?” Baldrich asked stunned, as he saw the money.
“My brother said to buy whatever I like and he gave me some extra for things he likes, when I see them.
“How rich are you?” Baldrich asked, not believing me.
“Fairly rich, I mean we have a mansion with maids. How else would you think I have a dimensional pocket this things are expensive,” I said.
“How come that I don't know you or your brother? I mean you just popped up from nowhere,” Baldrich further inquired.
“From far, far away,” I said.
“From Schwarzwald? Are you an elfen noble?” He asked, persisting to know more.
“So what do the other say?” I asked, ignoring him.
“You mean you could buy all of the flowers?” Hilde asked.
“Sure, and I need something of this tree, maybe a seedling. My brother would like to grow this flowers,” I said and looked for a seedling, which I found.
“Well I think I'll also agree,” Hilde said and gave me her flowers. At the end, all of them agreed and I got 400 flowers and some seedlings.
“Good, the next flower is somewhere near flowing water,” I said.
“So we have to find a creek or small river, Plinch are you able to hear flowing water?” Walt asked.
“Some hours agoo, I think I heard something like that, we have to look,” Plinch said and we walked back.
Three hours later we really reached a small river, but not before some loud °SPLASCH° sounds.
“You think it killed all the monster in the river?” Walt asked.
Most of them nodded solemnly.
We reached the river, it was red on some parts of the riverbank and the river itself had red patches drifting down with the water flow.
“I hope it won't kill us when it notices that we try to leave the forest,” Liria notes.
“You mean it could get the idea to kill us, when it realizes we want to leave?” Baldrich asked with fear in his voice and Liria nodded.
“We'll see, I for myself don't plan on staying in this forest any longer than we need,” I said.
“I hope we'll be allright. Clair, where did you say is the needed flower?” Ley said, trying hard to change the topic.
“Inside the water, it's almost the same like the other flower, a monster likes to eat the flower that grows in a riverbed, where the water has a high mana density. The flower looks like a blue alga and is around 30 cm long.” I said.
“So who'll jump inside?” Jore asked, not eager to go in.
“I'll do it,” I said, conjured a earthen wall around me and changed into a bikini.
“You're really prepared for everything,” Liria said as I undid the earthen wall.
“A woman has to be prepared for everything,” I said, which sounded creepy in my head, as I still have a mentality of a man.
The guys just stared at me, which got them a hit on the head from Ley.
“So keep watching,” I said and jumped inside the water, looking for the flower.
I found some, fairly quickly and put them in my inventory, but I wanted to have at least the same amount as my other flowers, so I kept looking for them. Not coming up once, as my [Diving] skill allows me to stay under water for a long time.
At some point I noticed someone else inside the water, so I swum to him and came up.
It was Ley, who sprung inside, fully clothed.
“Ley why are you inside?” I asked her.
“You ask? You were under water for 10 minutes, I thought you cot caught in some seaweed and are drowning,” She said relieved.
“Why would I drown from seaweed? I mean I should be strong enough to free myself if I get caught. This should be easy with my strength,” I said.
“It's just.... I was worried,” She said and got a little red as she realized that it's highly unlikely for me to drown from something like seaweed.
Hilde who stayed at the shore was now laying on the ground, laughing and holding her stomach.
“Can I go back? I need a few more?” I asked and Ley gave me a slight nod. She then turned slowly around and walked likewise slowly out.
I finished my flower gathering 30 minutes later and came out.
“So do you have enough?” Walt asked, near a campfire.
“Yes, why did you make a fire? Didn't you say that it would attract monster?” I asked him while changing, inside another earthen wall.
“We thought the thing that kills all the monster will kill those that come near,” Jore said.
“And what if the thing itself gets attracted?” I asked, coming out of my earthen wall.
They looked at each other and then hurriedly threw large quantities of sand on the fire.
“Well shit, we didn't thought of that,” Jore admitted.
“Anyway, where are the others?” I asked.
“They are washing themselves a little higher the river. We were just waiting,” Walt said.
“Pretty carefree aren't you?” I asked.
“Well the thing is strong enough to kill every monster instantly if it wants it can kill us the same way, so we thought we might as well ignore it,” Jore said and scratched his head.
“If you say so, then let's go, I want to brew the potion and then get out of this forest, I miss my bed,” I said and started to walk the river upstream.
We found the others a few hundred metre later, they were finished with washing and made a camp.
“Hey, I have the necessary ingredients, I'm going to brew the potion and then we'll get out of this forest,” I said and took the necessary utensils out of my inventory.
I had to grind the core and the tree flower and mix both with the detection of the water flower. Then I must distil all of it and the distillate is the finished potion.
The others kept watching me during my work and the whole process took me four hours but I finished 10 Tier 4 healing Potions.
“And?” Ley asked.
“She finished, they are perfect Tier 4 Healing potions, made by a master alchemist,” Hilde said for me.
“Thank god, now we can get out of here,” Plinch said.
“Yeah, but let's go tomorrow, it got late,” Walt said while looking up at the already setting sun.
We all agreed and stayed another night. Maxs group was still fighting monsters on mass as I looked at my map, but they were also near places where they could find necessary ingredients for healing potions. Strangely they got more, their group now consists out of 57, did they catch an Odys group so that they will make the potions for all of them, in return for promised safety?
Anyway, we slept and walked back to the entrance of the forest, I stopped with the killing of monsters as their stats shrunk down under 5.000, so we had to fight a few monster on our way back. They were quickly dealt with, as they were too weak and largely outnumbered.
Max group changed back to 50 and was walking back as well, only two other groups were also walking back. The other groups were either dead or too few to complete the task, they were on the way back, as we were half way back. I think 4 more groups were completely gone and the other groups only had 7 or fewer members left.
It took us two days to get back and we were the first. All in all, we needed four days to full fill the given task, this is fairly fast and the teachers were impressed.
Max's whole group came the morning after, all of them had battered clothes and looked worn out. The group after them was the Malindor student council and then the Odys student council group. They came in the afternoon. They had some injuries and battered equipment but still finished the task.
The teacher told us the day after, that the tournament will only have eight groups and not fourteen. They didn't expect to loose so many groups but had to follow the rules.
My group was relieved to get away from the thing that hunted them, as they said.
Our first enemy will be an Ecus group....
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Well, this is a fairly long chapter 8k of words, a normal one only has 3,5 - 4k. Please inform me if I have some logic mistakes in my explanation with the status. Or other things, I also tried to use ' more often.