Chapter 26 A Hikin' We Will Go Go GO!
I thought the pace Crue had set was brutal, it was nothing compared to Sturgis. Everyone could keep up but me. It was obvious that I was slowing them down. He had us going at a fast loping jog. It was easier for him, he had legs as long as trees. He could go at a ground eating pace, Illia who was literally half his size had to run double the steps he was taking. Even still, it was me who couldn't keep up. If not for my pausing to recharge I wouldn't have lasted. I used the excuse of checking the map in order to make him stop, but the truth was I was able to run and check the map at the same time. As long as I didn't have any trees in my path. Running into a tree was a legitimate safety hazard.
It was at one of these stops that I noticed something bizarre.
“Something weird is happening,” I gasped. Shit, I sounded like a porn star gasping for breath like this. Doubled over I grasped at the cramping of my side. No, don't focus on the pain in your side, focus on the map.
“What?” It was like they all asked the same question at once. They were used to my breathy antics by this point.
“The Death Bee nest, I think it's moving? It's not where it was when I looked this afternoon and it hasn't moved a lot just about a mile west and sort of south.”
“What would cause that?” Illia asked.
“The Queen is moving the nest,” Sturgis said.
“It's not a new Queen?” Crue asked.
“It's not splitting up into two groups right?” Sturgis asked me.
“No, it's just one group. Looks like there are some stragglers, but they are all heading in the same direction. Just really slowly.”
“The Queen is moving her nest. Whatever is up there has upset the hive enough that the Queen has decided to swarm. She'll keep moving the nest until she feels like she's out of danger,” Sturgis explained.
“I've only heard of them doing that when they are in the path of a forest fire,” Crue commented.
“They do it when the Queen feels they are in danger. If that's a fire or a mysterious monster, it doesn't matter. Good news is that since they vacated what have they left behind?” Sturgis grinned a devilish grin.
“Oh, sweet Amoris,” Crue cackled with glee, Lotte joined him in an almost reluctant way.
“Clue me in?” I requested.
“The honey. The honey hive will still be there. The bees are leaving and they are leaving the honey behind and with your inventory we can collect it all!!” Crue was practically dancing around like a kid.
“An entire hive's worth of honey...” Illia looked like she was in shock. Crue grabbed Illia's hands and spun her around in a circle.
I knew the honey was valuable but was it worth this reaction? Apparently. Since I didn't really know how much the honey sold for I was sort of in the dark about their enthusiasm.
“I hate to burst your happy moment but have you thought about why they are moving. The mystery monster is enough of a threat to Death Bees they are running, and not much can threaten them. They have super death stings.” I moved my finger in the air mimicking the erratic motion of a bee.
“Yes, but we don't have to engage the creature if it's one of the really strong ones. Our job is to find it, identify it, kill it if we can, if not go back and get more people. Since you can track the mysterious monster, we can take a very small detour and gather the honey safely.
“I know it might sound careless of a Captain saying this, but I have more practical reasons for gathering the honey other than profit. If we leave it, and someone else finds it, there will be a rush to the area to gather it. All those people who can't track the monster could encounter it, attack it, and make it aggressive. Right now, we don't know if it's hostile or not, but having a human attack it will obviously make it aggressive. If the human escapes, it can lure the monster closer to the town which, depending on what it is, could be a disaster. Getting rid of the temptation of the honey would keep idiots from running all over the area.”
He did have a solid point, we didn't want a bunch of random people crawling all over the area where the monster was. If we leave it there, find the monster, and return to the Guild, in that span of time one of the wolf hunters could find the abandoned hive and word would spread. Everyone would be wanting a piece of the free pie. It would be very easy risk-free money, or so it would seem. That was until the mystery monster crashed their party.
The creature wouldn't be able to sneak up on me and we'd be able to avoid it while we got rid of the honey. It really was a safer solution to have me take in all the honey rather than to let it draw in potential victims for the monster.
“Should we get the honey before or after we figure out what it is?” I asked.
“I think we should wait and see how things look in the morning. We still have some distance to go before we make camp and the situation could change a lot in a few hours,” Sturgis answered pushing himself up from the tree he was leaning against. That was the sign that we were going to be running again. Shit, I hated running.
The way to the campsite wasn't without attack. We had been hoping to avoid most of the wolves, but we would be nearing the frontend of the wave by the time we made it to camp. That was just the main wave, there were still some wolves that had started ahead of the rest and they were the ones that attacked us. We were hit by a group of 3, then again right before we reached camp by a group of 4. Single wolves passed by us as our group was too large for them to risk an attack by themselves. We let them go knowing that the adventurers and the guards near the town would catch the stragglers.
It was just amazing how I managed to only get my sword lodged into a tree once. I was really trying my best to keep up with everyone in terms of skills, but I still made a fool of myself when Illia had to zap the wolf I'd been aiming at when my sword got stuck. She managed to kill it before it ripped my face off.
*Illia level up~
Sturgis' campsite was on a flat expanse of rocky hill. We had a location advantage since we could see anything trying to make it's way up the hill to attack. We had to hurry and set up before the main wave of wolves passed by. We needed to have everything in place before that happened. While we weren't going to go out and hunt any wolves that ignored us, we were certainly going to defend against the ones that tried to attack.
No fire was set because we didn't want to attract any attention if we didn't have to. The tents were put up, and the bedrolls were placed out. Crue and I would be sharing a tent, Illia and Lotte sharing, and huge Sturgis was by himself. He offered to share with his brother, but it was obvious that we'd all have more room if Sturgis was by himself. Crue gave me a comedic suggestive eyebrow wiggle when the rooming arrangements were made.
We sat around on the ground waiting for the wolves. We shared Tuck's sack lunch while we waited. It was more ham sandwiches, apples, carrots, and cheese. Then Crue reminded me of the cake, and Illia wanted some of the fried veggies she'd gotten at Hat Yai Fried Chicken. The group of us ended up devouring the fried chicken and veggies. Plus, a few of the cakes. It was sort of a morbid quiet party. We didn't drink Marge's ale because we had to stay alert, but it was still a little fun to be eating with so many people. Even if they were all tense about being attacked at any moment.
I was keeping an eye on the wave of wolves. Most of them were ignoring us and running by. The ones who smelled us came close and were shot down by either Sturgis, Lotte, or Crue. My job seemed to be to run down the hill collect the body and run back up. Once the bulk of the wave had passed, that's when Sturgis set up a watch.
I'd be on the first watch since there were still a significant amount of wolves directly south of us. They had passed us, but it was possible they could circle back around. Once they were further out I'd wake Sturgis and Lotte. I'd sleep, they would keep an eye on camp. Then they would wake up Crue and Illia who would take the last watch until morning.
A not insignificant part of me was glad I wasn't on the morning team. Those two seemed to sparkle in the mornings, all high and giddy on sugar most likely in Crue's case. I was not a morning person. I was cranky, absent-minded, and a real ass when I didn't get my sleep.
I sat outside and monitored the map. At the same time, I kept myself awake by reading some more of the books I'd added to my inventory. The great thing about it was that I could read in the dark.
I had to get up twice to kill a wolf. After the second kill, I got a notification.
*You have leveled up please check your status~
We'd all gained some serious Exp teaming up to kill the wolves today. Crue was nearing 10,000 Exp. It was far more than either of them would have gained just killing the wolves without the Party skill. We were going into an unknown situation. Should I allocate their Exp without asking? It's not like I could ask them in front of Lotte and Sturgis, but if they could get stronger it might be the key to keeping us all safe.
Did I do it without their permission though? Earlier had been an emergency situation. In the heat of battle they could trust me to do what was right. Did that trust work in this situation too? Should I wake them and ask? No, Lotte was sharing with Illia. I could wake Crue, but we'd placed our tent right beside Sturgis. If we talked it might wake him. I was in a dilemma.
I decided to start with my own status. I glanced over my passive skill list. There were four that I could activate and it would strengthen my combat abilities. Restraint, telekinesis, piercing, and slicing were all activated. I tested out restraint and telekinesis, not being able to do much at level 1, I brought them both to level 2. I tested it out again.
I was able to float rocks in the air and launch them a short way, but that wasn't going to be helpful enough. I leveled up telekinesis to 3. That was better, I could pick up bigger things and had some control over how far they flew. The key was to picture the object in the air, then picture the object moving in the air. You could picture the object being thrown, but you lost control of the object once it left your 'hand'.
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Restraint was harder to test. I finally found that if I rolled rocks down the hill I could stop them with restraint. It took a while, but I learned that you imagined a bunch of ropes wrapping themselves around the rock. Once the rock was 'bound' it would stop. Still, I wasn't sure how big an object I could stop. At level 2 rocks were fine, but if I had to halt a wolf or something bigger would level 2 be enough? I brought it up to level 3 just to be safe. If it wasn't enough, I could push more Exp into it if I needed to use it.
I leveled up my archery. As long-range attacks went I didn't have many. I had this kick-ass bow but I tended to use my sword more. There was just this boy's childhood fantasy to run around being the best swordsman. There wasn't much call for that in archery, unless we were playing Robin Hood.
I had to be practical though. Ranged attacks were safer. Close combat had its place, but so did ranged. I shouldn't neglect one over the other.
Out of pure vanity, I leveled up my running. Hopefully, this would help make up for my lack of being able to keep up with the group. I knew my body wasn't fit, and pushing my status wouldn't fix much, but I was hoping it'd be enough not to have Illia poke fun at me.
I still had a decent chunk of Exp left that I could play with in case of emergencies. Keeping that in mind, I looked at both Illia and Crue's status.
Illia's main attack power came from her magic. I gave a level up to her lightning magic, static shock, earth magic, and unsteady ground. She hadn't used her earth magic around me yet, so I wasn't sure what that actually did, but I figured that leveling it wouldn't hurt. I also pumped some Exp into her overall magic level. With it higher she could cast stronger spells.
She didn't have much in terms of close combat stuff yet. She was very good at whacking things with her staff if they got too close. Should I make that her go-to main close range attack? I went ahead and did it. I brought her staff fighting up to level 3 and her skull bashing up to level 2. Hopefully, with this, she'd be able to beat off anything that got close enough to attack her. Drunken men, beware.
Illia did have the archery skill, but she hadn't brought her bow with her. Her primary ranged attack was her magic after all. She'd said that she only really used her archery to hunt for food on her journey to Yellow Springs. For all I knew she was out of practice, so I didn't bother with it. No, her magic was the main thing and I'd leveled that up with Exp to spare.
Crue was a bit tricky. Unlike Illia, Crue's main ranged attack was archery. He had some magic based attacks, but he'd left them at a low level. He had a water-based healing skill and healing hands. Lotte and I both had healing hands, but it was obvious that Crue would be essential if any of us were hurt. I leveled up his healing skills and his water magic because it was a part of his water healing.
His sword, martial arts, and archery were all set to level 5. From what I understood level 5 could be considered black-belt level or the lower rungs of master class. I'd just pushed Crue into master status on most of his primary skills.
This Blessing cheat was really starting to show how problematic it could be if not careful. If Crue were to show up and suddenly be at master level on all those things. People would begin to ask some serious questions. Illia's and my status still looked rather normal, sort of on the great side for adventurers, but not outstanding. Crue had started out better than both of us and was now at a level where people would take notice. He'd have to be cautious when he got back to town. Even with all the Exp spent Crue still had a decent emergency chunk left.
Done with my shift for the night, I got up from my spot on the hill and woke up Sturgis. Then I crawled into the tent with Crue and fell asleep, hoping that things would work out for the better when they found out I'd allocated their Exp without asking. Before I nodded off I remembered to push some Mp into the Succuba Star. So there was a least a small reservoir for me to tap into just in case.
Name- Eri Veritas
HP 3234/3234
MP 95/95
Level- 14
Age- 18
Race/Species- (Human) Unknown
Gender- (Male) Unknown
Occupation- Surveyor of Adventurers Guild
Exp- 5837
Physical Power- 289
Stamina- 312
Defense- 393
Agility- 574
Intelligence- 105
Magic Power- 8
Metal Rain Lv 1
Lightning Magic Lv 1
Healing Hands Lv 2
Telekinesis Lv 3
Restraint Lv 3
Paralysis Resistance Lv 3
Mind Magic Resistance Lv 1
Skills
Staff Fighting Lv 2
Basic Sword Lv 4
Skull Bashing Lv 3
Slicing Lv 1
Piercing Lv 1
Martial Arts Lv 3
Stance Lv 2
Smooth Movement Lv 2
Archery Lv 3
Spear Lv 1
Stalking Lv 1
Scouting Lv 1
Jumping Lv 1
Running Lv 3
Pain Tolerance Lv 3
Deception Lv 2
Intimidation Lv 1
Poker Face Lv 1
Etiquette Lv 3
Public Speaking Lv 1
Dismantling Lv 1
Appraisal Lv 1
Cooking Lv 1
Leather Work Lv 1
Metal Work Lv 1
Replication Lv 1 (Lv 10 for Succuba Star only)
Rock Throwing
Dancing
Singing
Harvesting
Empathy
Small Talk
Discretion
Party Tricks
Alcohol Tolerance
Monster Biology
Entomology
Zoology
Botany
Special Skills
Abyss Walker
Racial Ability-
Hidden Among the Masses- 20
Stealth- 95
Party- 10
Items Equip
Inventory Bracelet
Succuba Star
Gold- 1g 4s 09c (1409c) (6570c yet to be divided.)
Blessing 1- All Map Exploration
Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level
Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level
Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses
Titles- Emissary of Amoris
Devotee of Amoris
Devotee of Edomael
Oracle of Amoris
Oracle of Edomael
Prince of Dreams
Grateful Petitioner
Lover of Leaves
Enemy of Apes
Name- Crue
HP 4734/4734
MP 1845/1845
Level- 29
Age-20
Human
Male
Occupation- Priest of Amoris, Surveyor of Adventurers Guild
Exp- 4978
Physical Power- 345
Stamina- 337
Defense- 223
Agility- 398
Intelligence- 233
Magic Power- 198
Water Magic Lv 5
Healing Waters Lv 5
Bubble Bomb Lv 1
Liquid Bullet Lv 1
Healing Hands Lv 3
Poison Resistance Lv 1
Skills
Basic Sword Lv 5
Skull Bashing Lv 2
Slicing Lv 3
Slash Lv 2
Martial Arts Lv 5
Stance Lv 2
Grappling Lv 1
Smooth Movement Lv 2
Blocking Lv 2
Archery Lv 5
Shooting Lv 1
Aim Lv 2
Sniping Lv 2
Stalking Lv 2
Jumping Lv 1
Running Lv 2
Scouting Lv 4
Eyes of the Hawk Lv 2
Distant View Lv 1
Telescopy Lv 1
Trap Detection Lv 2
Empathy Lv 2
Therapy Lv 1
Etiquette Lv 2
Discretion Lv 1
Mediation Lv 1
Organization Lv 1
Dismantling Lv 3
Alchemy Lv 2
Pharmacology Lv 2
Scribe Lv 1
Special Skills
Sexual Healing- 223
Items Equip
Succuba Star
Titles- Priest of Amoris
Devotee of Amoris
Oracle of Amoris
Dedicated Runner
Name-Illia Cloverheart
HP 2235/2235
MP 278/278
Level- 12
Age- 19
Race/Species- Zyanthrope- Rabbit
Gender- Female
Occupation- Yellow Springs Assistant Librarian
Exp- 3785
Physical Power- 179
Stamina- 213
Defense- 167
Agility- 243
Intelligence- 262
Magic Power- 402
Lightning Magic Lv 4
Static Shock Lv 3
Earth Magic Lv 2
Unsteady Ground Lv 2
Skills
Staff Fighting Lv 3
Skull Bashing Lv 2
Basic Knife Lv 1
Blade Work Lv 1
Archery Lv 1
Jumping Lv 3
Running Lv 2
Tracking Lv 1
Enhanced Hearing Lv 2
Trap Detection Lv 1
Etiquette Lv 2
Appraisal Lv 2
Scribe Lv 3
Teaching Lv 1
Cooking Lv 2
Leatherwork Lv 1
Woodwork Lv 1
Sewing Lv 1
Knitting Lv 2
Special Skills
Fertility
Beloved in the Forest
Item Equip
Party Piercing (Succuba Star)
Lightning Staff (low quality)
Titles- Devotee of Zyanthis
Cloverheart's Hope
Sheltered Child
Lover of Books
Prolific Knitter
Teacher of Children