Hey Dad, what if there's more than one other novice village near that Iron Town? James's smile immediately turned sour. Then instead of forming a larger group with another town, we would have to fight to determine who is allowed to stay and the rest would have to survive outside in the wild if they could no longer go back to their novice village. Draven said finishing his own thought.

Dad, I'm fine with talking whoever you want with us, but we need to go now and claim that town before someone else does or our group might not have a spot. We are taking the initial group today and I will leave some XP orbs for everyone to take to level so they can hit level 5 and we can pick them up after the rest have settled in. However, we are leaving right now. Draven said with determination. He handed his dad all of the Novice Veteran XP Orbs that he had left totaling 315 Orbs. They were useless to him now so he told his father to pass those out to the next batch of people. Those those at level 5 are to be ready within an hour after that he would leave to claim the Town. Draven refused to sleep in the wild again. James was about to disagree and take the time to get everyone ready to go as one group but seeing Draven no longer had a home to go to, he was not willing to babysit others until he took care of his own the others could wait. Firm in his resolve James entered the Village and was planning to be back well before the hour to get a move on.

System can you calculate how many Iron XP Orbs I will need to hit level 15?

Holy Shit System! What is up with those numbers? That's nearly all my Orbs! Here I thought I had enough to get My Dad a few Others and myself to 15 easily.

Draven thought about this, and it made sense to a degree, in the game you needed more and more experience for each level as you went up, but this still feels like a huge jump.

Now Draven was able to connect the dots, not only was there a large increase in XP Orbs required for each level, but Draven also probably had a 3x multiplier on top of it all. Frustrated with the amount of work his future self would have to put in for levels Draven grabbed all the iron orbs including the veteran orb in his inventory and downed them all.

Congratulations User has Reached Level 12

Congratulations User has Reached Level 13

Congratulations User has Reached Level 14

Congratulations User has Reached Level 15

Congratulations User has met the requirements to reach the next Rank.

Initiating advancement to the next Rank.

"Here we go again…" Draven whimpered as he braced himself for the inevitable Pain that was about to assault him. Draven collapsed instantly to the ground as he could feel his Scales growing but that wasn't the worst of it. With every breath, flames would uncontrollably escape from his mouth as his body began to rise in temperature. Steam began venting from between his scales. No matter what Draven did he couldn't get his flames under control as he let out a Dragons roar in both pain and anger. His teeth grew a bit longer and became sharper than the point of any sword. Draven clutched his head as if to prevent it from splitting in half as 2 Horns began to grow and curve back and then near the tip curved upwards again.

Draven!! Someone yelled out causing Draven to spin around in the direction of the voice as he saw Jennifer Dawson the Fox Girl Sprinting towards him.

"Stay AWAY!!"

Draven Roared at her with a voice much more beast-like than before small jets of flames escaped from the corners of his mouth. Jennifer stopped dead in her tracks with a look of Worry on her face, but she did not dare take another step forward.

Seeing that Jennifer was present Draven hunched down and held his arms as tight as he could to prevent any wild flailing for the next 5 minutes until the pain began to subside.

As the Pain finally passed Draven fell to the ground once more drenched in sweat. At least he managed to keep control of his bladder this time. Draven thought.

Beep! The user has successfully advanced to the Rank of Iron Veteran.

Djinn DNA 5% installed.

Due to the User's level further installation is not possible.

Ancient Dragon DNA 5% installed.

Due to the User's level further installation is not possible.

Raiju DNA 5% installed.

Due to the User's level further installation is not possible

As soon as Jennifer noticed it was safe to approach, she ran over to Draven, lifted his upper body, and allowed him to rest against her as she wiped off the sweat from his forehead.

What happened to you? What's going on? Are you OK? Are you Hurt? So many questions came pouring out of the usually shy Fox that it made Draven chuckle a bit. I'm OK, he said. I just ranked up and since I started in the forest, I don't get to use the fancy pods you guys have that sedate you when the changes occur in your bodies. So, I get to live through the experience like this.

Draven made sure not to mention anything too secret but that was the best answer he could give that didn't raise any flags. Jennifer seemed to accept what Draven said as she nodded in understanding. So that means you are ok then and nothing is wrong with you?

Yes, I'm ok I just need a few minutes to recover from that ordeal, and I'll be stronger than ever. Draven replied with a smile. Jennifer let out a big, beautiful smile that pulled on Draven's heart. After she gained a few levels, she looked a lot healthier and after she ranked up, she also got a glow-up that made her very pleasant to the eye. He was even more surprised to see that she now had two tails which he had to restrain himself from touching. But what was most important to Draven was that she seemed to be genuinely happy to know that he was okay.

"Um, Draven do you mind if I touch it?"

Draven could instantly feel the blood rush to his cheeks. "Uh sure if you want to, I don't mind," he said as his heart began to pound out of his chest. Just when Draven thought this moment couldn't get any better, he felt a tug on his head. WOAH these are so cool! Jennifer exclaimed. As she ran her hand along the length of one of his new horns. Draven felt his spirit leaving his body as he came to terms with what Jennifer wanted to touch compared to what Draven imagined in his head. But after a quick recovery, he was also curious as to how they felt and looked like. So, he stood up and conjured a mirror of water, and looked at himself. Draven had to admit he was sure he was going to look weird with two horns but he kind of looked majestic like a demon lord from some anime.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The Horns grew straight out and curved slightly back towards the rear of his head and then curved once again towards the sky. They were mostly black with a bit of red that got deeper towards the tip. He also noticed the white strands in his hair were now tinted red instead of white which was a large improvement to the Skunk look. Draven took his shirt off to examine his scales and sure enough, they now covered most of his torso and arms. After a few more Ranks he was sure he would be fully covered. As he was admiring his scales he suddenly felt a hand on his chest and saw Jennifer had also wanted to feel these scales but instead of loudly saying how cool they were it was her turn to circulate some blood in her cheeks. As she couldn't resist touching his bare chest.

"Am I interrupting something?" Came a voice all too familiar. James had returned and many of the villagers from their group were in tow. After realizing what she was doing Jennifer quickly pulled her arm away from Draven. A lot of the men started laughing while the rest gave Draven a thumbs-up. At this point, both of them were as red as a tomato. "What happened to your head Son" James yelled out. He ran up to him and yanked on one of his horns. I just ranked up now I have these… could you let go they are attached to my head…" Draven winced as his head was being yanked in every direction. "I know I didn't allow you to get your ears pierced or tattoos, but this is taking it a step too far," James said jokingly. Yea get it all out. I bet you will have a pair of these when you are level 15 as well. Draven said with a smirk as James instinctively touched his head to check if he could feel anything. Jokes aside if this is everyone, I would like to get going I assume my dad filled you all in on the situation?

Everyone nodded in response. Hold on Son the rest will be here soon I told them we would wait another 15 minutes some of the crafters had some things to pack and others needed to get some wagons prepared. Draven was anxious to get a move on, but he could understand that people needed to pack as they were moving out and were not coming back. As no one had a system with inventory space like him. Draven put his shirt back on and dropped his water mirror spell. Jennifer had also ran over to her friends that were in Draven's training group and she got a few thumbs up from the girls as well making her mad while quickly glancing over to Draven to see if he saw any of that before playfully hammering on their heads with balled fists. Draven spent the next 15 minutes going over the fastest route they should take to get to the split mountain that would be wagon-friendly but Draven insisted that he would just break anything that was in the way so a straight line would be best. They should be strong enough to pull the wagon through any terrain. Sure enough, after 15 minutes the rest of the group had arrived totaling around 1452 people. Some stayed behind to help prepare the next group.

Okay, I want healers in the center, then caster, utility classes, and then the ranged DPS while melee and tanks loosely surround our group. We will maintain this formation all the way to our destination if the wagons are moving slowly then help out so they move faster we are in a rush. Let's get in formation. Draven yelled out his orders and people rushed to get roughly in the position Draven wanted them to be in. Dad, you take the rear ill lead the group call out if something pops out that you need help with but I doubt we will come across anything you can't handle. After everything was cleared up they began their Journey to the Iron Town. Draven decided it was best to cut through the woods until he reached the mountain and then hug the mountain until they reached the split. After trekking for what felt like forever but in reality, was roughly 5 hours. The group came upon the split of the mountain. Other than some random goblins and spiders that came out of a cave they passed; the walk wasn't all that bad. Draven made sure to mark the cave on his map to check later for resources. The spiders were disgusting but in every game with spiders came the chance for rare silk so definitely worth checking out. Okay, ima explain something before we go through the split. Draven yelled out.

We are almost there but the last time I walked through here I was attacked by a shadow monster. I know that might sound scary, but I had no idea it was there until It was almost too late. It will attach to your shadow and very slowly drain your energy until you die without you ever knowing it was there. If you start feeling weak for no reason at all do not panic and let me know I will check and kill the creature for you. If for whatever reason I'm not around when this happens the trick to killing them is to place yourself into a spot where there is no light at all. I made a dome of earth around me and with no shadow for the creature to latch on to and hide I was able to then kill it. Without another word, Draven turned around and started walking through the split. Luckily no one started feeling weak so perhaps that was the only shadow creature in the split. It took another 2 hours to reach the other side. Monsters took immediate notice of the large group but shied away after Draven killed a few that were getting too close for comfort with wind blades. He didn't want to use Draconic Aura as that would just scare the group along with the monsters. It was now only a short trek along the path before reaching the Iron Town.

"Ahh, It burns!" Someone further in the back was yelling out. Draven had to run to the side of the group in order to see what was going on. A large man with bull features was set ablaze. It looked like he had separated from the group in order to pick some herb for his profession and aggroed a fire elemental that was lurking in a nearby cave entrance. Draven was already running towards the elemental and called for a healer to get to work on Bull Man. James had already engaged the Fire elemental but was attacking the fire on its body rather than going for the core inside. Attack the core! Draven yelled out to his dad. What the hell is a core?! He yelled back.

Fucking noobs Draven muttered under his breath as his left eye started to twitch. Fuck it! ill do it myself he ran by the bull-man and dropped a bathtub's worth of water on him before creating a spear made of water and launching it with enough force to pierce a tank. The spear zoomed through the air and struck the Fire elemental's core dragging it outside of its flaming body and piercing it into the stones of the mountain behind it. After a loud shriek, the Elemental faded away dropping two gemstones that it used as eyes. "This is a core!" Draven said pointing to the large red Orb that had fallen to the ground after the water spear spell faded. "All elementals have one of these inside them. Other than earth elementals' physical attacks on the body will do absolutely nothing to it. Always fight an elemental with the goal of damaging its core." Draven felt the need to not only tutor his father but the entire caravan while he was at it.

Draven then turned to all the other members of the group who were much closer to the action than he was when the fight started. "Can any of you explain to me why James was the only one to act from all of you in the rear and I had to run from the front to kill it while all of you just relaxed and enjoyed the show? Bull-Man over there was literally on fire and none of you did anything! Get your act together or get the fuck out of my group! I don't need people whom I can't trust to have my back when shit goes down!" Draven was out of breath and his heart was racing he was super pissed off at this moment. Almost everyone in the back had expressions of shame on their faces and didn't dare try to give any excuse for their inaction. But of course, like always there is that one guy that has something to say. "It was Jordan's own fault for leaving the group to pick that herb! He knew the risks of straying from the group why do we have to take the blame for his stupidity?" A much smaller man nearly half of Draven's size with amphibian features cried out. Draven walked over to Frog-Man and took a knee to be at his eye level so he could see the anger radiating from within the windows of his soul.

"We are going to be here for a while to level up and gather materials this area is rich in resources which is one of the reasons why we rushed over here to claim it before anyone else did. If it's not safe to pick a flower in a group of over 1400 then how could any of you ever manage to gather anything in a group of five? Not only that everyone here is your comrade in survival, we all have to place our trust in each other to wake up tomorrow. If he can't expect us to have his back when picking a flower then why should he or anyone else have your back when you need to do something or are in a situation you can't handle by yourself? Why should any of us do anything for anyone? Maybe we should all just do our own thing?! Maybe I shouldn't have brought you all with me and should have just taken that town for myself and left all of you to rot in Novice Village? Wouldn't you agree? Isn't that the way you think?

Draven couldn't hold himself back anymore and completely allowed his emotions to take over the conversation. "I have my eye on you now if I ever hear that someone died and you didn't do the best you could to save them I will kill you where you stand like the useless waste of space you are." Draven had enough of these selfish ideals it's one thing to go out solo and risk your own life to gain more rewards but it is entirely different to go out with party members and act only in self-interest those were the people Draven hated the most. So Draven was going to force camaraderie down their throats if he had to. James had come over and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"I think he understands now." Draven snapped back to reality and saw the fear and panic on the face of Frog-man as he nodded several times. "Yes I understand it won't happen again please don't kick me out." He begged. Draven stood up and walked back towards the front not wanting to waste any more time with him. Draven was too angry to notice but everyone had paid very close attention to what he said as everyone looked at the person next to them as not just strangers but as people who were needed to survive. Draven picked up the pace and the last half an hour of the journey ended without further incident and in total silence. The group had finally reached their destination and Draven walked up to the edge of the barrier and placed his hand on it.

" Yes, I will claim Iron Town," Draven answered the system.