"We have a visitor?" I asked.
What did he mean that we had a visitor? There shouldn't be anyone around for miles and even then they would have to trek through a forest filled with monsters to get here. The only thing that I could think of would be if someone from a pylon nearby sent a scout or something to contact us. The only question then would be why.
"Yes, he showed up not that long ago and he was brought to the cabin so he and Granddad could speak in private. Abigail is in there with them but that's it. Kyle saw his level and he's already level 10 with a different class than the starting five." He said.
"Wait there's a level 10 visitor in there and he's alone with only Granddad and Abigail, what if he kills them, or takes them hostage?" I said starting to panic.
My Dad just gave me a curious look before saying, "How far do you think humanity has fallen, it's only been two weeks and you already jump to murder."
Huh, why did I immediately go dark? It would be nice to think that my first thought wasn't immediately murder but that would be a lie.
"Well, what are they doing in there anyway? And how can we trust this guy?" I asked.
I felt that it was a little too trusting to let this guy into our camp just because he said he was a visitor from another pylon. This was technically the apocalypse, and every movie ever made about the apocalypse says to be weary of outsiders.
"Son, he's surrounded by all of us, even if something goes wrong we have him surrounded, not that it will. Plus all those movies are getting to your head, they only highlight the bad things about the situation." Dad said.
"Also a man's word means more now that there are no laws to protect you, if it's broken then it's never coming back. He is a guest and as such we must treat him accordingly." He added.
"What is this 'Game of Thrones', where there are certain rules of hospitality implied while one is a guest? It isn't the middle ages, I don't think those exist anymore." I said back.
Dad just looked at me, "Even in ancient times there were rules that were followed and they were followed for a reason. Imagine if there weren't, everyone would be suspicious of everyone else, no one would leave their settlement. Everyone would hole up inside and never allow newcomers in. Is that what you want to happen?" He asked.
"No, but how do you know that this visitor is worthy of trust, or anyone else for that matter?" I asked back.
"You don't son. That is why a man's word means so much now. Once it is known that you are a person to go back on your word or do something like kill a guest, it will never go away. Word will spread and everyone will know that you are unworthy of trust." He said.
I wasn't inclined to believe him, people could do some truly awful things, and being too trusting was asking for something bad to happen. I wanted to reply that word couldn't spread if you killed everyone who knew, but didn't wish to continue this argument, there were more pressing matters.
"What does this guy want exactly?" I asked.
"I don't know for certain, since I'm clearly not in there to hear the conversation, but from what I heard from before they went to the cabin they wish for an alliance. I think that their camp isn't handling this whole thing very well and are seeking help from anyone nearby." He said.
What does he mean by not handling it very well, the guy's level 10. Austin and I were the highest level here and we just hit level 7 today. The only way he's already level 10 was through a lot of blood. Some that could be human.
I was extremely against anything to do with outsiders, especially anyone who was stronger than me. At least this proved that there was a class evolution at level 10 and we got some useful information out of this. Seeing other people out-level me showed that I needed to put more effort into hunting, I wasn't fast enough.
I separated from my Dad and tried to stand as close to the cabin as I could without looking suspicious. It didn't take long for their conversation to end and soon I saw him leaving the building with my Grandfather and Sister in tow. I used Identify as soon as I saw him.
[Human – Level 10]
The amount of information that the skill gave was lackluster but it confirmed his level. We had used the skill on each other before and it always gave the same information. It was still at its lowest rarity and we thought that higher levels of Identify would tell you more.
He seemed like a normal guy that you could see anywhere, he had short brown hair with the beginnings of a beard growing on his face. He was a couple of inches shorter than me just under six foot tall, and his armor looked in worse condition than mine.
My armor had seen better days, there were scratches all over it and there was a hole in it from where a boar's tusk stabbed through it, but his was even worse. His looked mismatched and some were definitely from different sets, he had a bow on his back but he was covered in the full leather of a warrior. There were deep scratch marks down the breastplate and the bracers had a huge bite mark on it that looked like it hurt. There were other marks and blemishes but none that stood out like those, but even that proved the amount of battles he had been in.
He didn't stop anywhere else and continued out the gate before disappearing into the forest, presumably back from where he came. I, and everyone else, had a host of questions about the whole interaction and Granddad took the time to explain it to everyone.
Apparently, this guy was part of another faction to the south that was made up of a bunch of college kids who were all a part of the same club. After the wave of boars, where we lost Derek, they ended up losing four people to that wave alone.
After the battle, there was a huge fight between everyone where friends of the people who died blamed the others and it all escalated to the point where some refused to fight together and wouldn't contribute points toward defensive structures for the camp. Supposedly, they didn't even have a wall yet.
It only got worse after the last wave where they didn't participate in the fight and watched as the rest of the group fought the wave alone where another person died. Now that it had gotten so bad, instead of fighting the waves with half of the group, the leader of the fighters sought out nearby pylons to see about joining with them instead and leave where they were.
Granddad went on to say that he had refused the offer and said that it would be a bad idea to allow outsiders in. I agreed with him but some thought it was the wrong decision. I knew that the more people we had the easier the waves would be, but there was no guarantee that more people wouldn't make the waves harder.
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Also, we had no idea who these people were and we had kids here that we had to think about. We all spent the time until dinner talking about the whole thing but it didn't interest me as much as other people. All I saw was someone who was higher level than me and was stronger than me.
I could say that I wasn't jealous, but that wouldn't entirely be true. A part of me wanted to go back into the woods and keep hunting down boars but I stopped myself from that idea. Being impulsive was bound to result in wounds and those wouldn't help in catching up. It was already dark and hunting now was asking for an injury.
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I took to the hunt the next day with more intensity than before and Austin did the same. I could tell that he was feeling behind as well and we both did our best to catch up. We stopped using the spikes and stuck to hunting with just our weapons and javelins. The spikes took too long to set up and we had enough experience now that we could fight without them.
We started targeting higher and higher level boars and we were currently looking at the highest level one yet.
[Earthhide Boar – Level 10]
After easily handling the level 7 and 8 boars we moved up to level 9's. With some good first shots with the javelins, we could then take it down easily with our weapons. With the confidence of killing a level 9 we thought to increase to a level 10,
This boar was different though. We already knew that our class evolved at level 10 and it seemed that animals got a mutation as well. This boar was different from the others in that its skin looked like hardened earth packed onto it. It looked like it was wearing a layer of earth as armor and that wasn't the only difference. It felt strong. I don't know how I felt it but something about it was telling me not to mess with it.
I looked at Austin to make sure we were on the same page and he nodded.
"No pain, no gain." That was all he said.
We both took aim and threw the javelins with all our might. It would take all we could to get through the thing's armor.
Watching the javelins bounce off should have been our first clue to run away, but we were committed.
I ran in front with Austin behind me, as we had done countless times before, and charged toward the boar who just now noticed us. Over the countless fights with the boars, we found that the easiest way to keep them from charging you was to close the distance first.
We both ran full speed toward the beast and reached it before it could build up much momentum. I went to block it with my shield, while Austin went around the side to stab it. When the boar collided with my shield it hit so hard that it nearly flew from my hand. I had learned early that deflecting attacks was way better than taking them head-on. Even though I angled my shield so that the boar wouldn't hit head-on, I still felt the impact go through my whole body.
My arm felt numb and the shock jarred the rest of my body. I still blocked the charge but it was way more powerful than I thought it would be. The boar had only just begun to build up speed yet it felt like the full-tilt charge of a level 6. That should have been our second clue.
After the boar's charge was negated, Austin's glowing spear came in from the side hitting right in-between where its ribs should be. With the amount of practice that we had we had gotten pretty good at hitting the spots we were aiming at.
When the tutorial first began I was lucky to land a blow within a couple of inches of where I aimed, now it was within an inch. There were times when the angle was off, but those were few and far between.
Austin was even better with his spear. The consequence of lunging so hard with Piercing Strike activated and missing was devastating. If he hit a bone, his spear would get stuck and the unexpected stop would leave him open to a counterattack he had no way to block.
After a few times of getting launched in the air after a bad attack, he learned quickly. He could now attack with such precision to go between the ribcage, leading to some truly devastating attacks. Watching the spear that would normally go almost a foot into other boars stop after only a few inches should have been our third clue.
It was too late to disengage now and we were in it for the long hall.
"Conserve your strength, we are gonna have to whittle this guy down," I shouted to Austin.
My attacks were less powerful than his full-powered spear and that barely did anything. We would have to chip down and see who ran out of strength first. Endurance was one of my highest stats and I could only hope that I could outlast it.
Every time I blocked with my shield it felt like stopping a bus, the impact wasn't confined to my arm, it spread through my entire body. I was determined to block it and had to use a lot of effort and the boar wasn't making it easy.
When the boar turned toward Austin I would swing my axe as hard as I could, only to watch the glowing axe chip off some earth. It felt like I was hitting a stone wall its hide was so hard. I concentrated my attacks in the same spot and I knew I would eventually break through, but it would take time.
Austin wasn't faring any better than I was and he couldn't block as well as I could so he had to keep dodging out of the way.
"Focus on its leg so we can cripple it," Austin shouted from the other side of the boar.
"Oh thanks, genius. I thought I would try to decapitate it instead." I said back.
This was no time for jokes but that was just too stupid a comment to not be sarcastic about. We both knew what we were doing by this point and focusing on the leg was common sense. If we could cripple its movement it was only a matter of time before we killed it.
It was the longest fight we had been in so far, and I would go as far as to say the strongest foe we faced. We usually fought the bosses of the wave with overwhelming numbers and this thing felt stronger than them.
Even when it felt that my body would give out, I kept going. Even when I couldn't activate Fortified Body anymore, I kept going. I would not be defeated by a mere beast, and I certainly wasn't going to lose to a boar of all things. If I was going to lose to a beast at least make it a mythic one, like a dragon or something.
I know that's just hubris talking, but who wants to say that they got defeated by a boar? Austin was all but dead on his feet by this point but I pushed through, I wasn't going to lose. The boar was sluggish and late to turn in between us and I used that to my advantage.
When before I had to be quick and attack before it turned back around, now I could take my time. I couldn't dilly-dally or anything, but I could make sure that all of my swings landed precisely where I wanted them to.
It was reminiscent of working my way through the trunk of a tree. Every inch of hard-packed dirt I made it through was one less between me and my goal. Something would have to give eventually and I was damn sure it wasn't going to be me.
Every thud from my axe resulted in dirt crumbling off.
*Thud*
*Thud*
I was in the zone, I blocked out everything that was unnecessary. The sounds of the trees blowing in the breeze quieted and the chirping of birds fell away. The only thing that mattered was me and the boar.
On my last swing, it finally revealed the prize I sought after. Bare skin.
My next swing drew blood and the boar went into a frenzy. It probably thought that nothing could make it through its armor of earth. It didn't expect some crazy person to relentlessly chip away at what was keeping it safe.
I was through the hard part now, all I had to do was finish it. It didn't take long to make it to bone after that and the boar completely disregarded Austin to focus on me. I could only pray Austin had enough strength left to cripple the limb because the boar wasn't giving me a chance to continue hacking at its leg.
It was taking everything in me to keep my shield up and not fall over in exhaustion. I could catch glimpses of Austin behind the boar but they never lasted long enough to know what he was doing. He must have hit something important because the boar let out a particularly loud squeal and spun around to face him.
With the new wound facing me, I now saw a fountain of blood running down the boar's leg. It looked like he hit an artery by the amount of blood coming out.
It would take time to die, but it wouldn't be able to survive the blood loss. It must have come to the same realization because it started going into its death throes. I didn't know if we would be able to last long enough until it bled out and there was only one way I could think to speed it up. To take off the leg.
I gathered every scrap of mana left in me and shoved it all into Power Strike to deal one last blow. The skill wasn't designed to take this much mana, but I didn't much care right now. I was either going to remove the leg or die trying. It was time to find out what I was made of.
After I gathered every scrap of mana I had, I pushed my body for all it was worth. I let out a primal roar before bringing my axe down onto the boar's leg.
I don't know if it was all the attacks we already made in the same spot, or if this one was particularly powerful but it cut through smoother than before. It sliced through what was left of the muscle and bone and stopped just short of exiting out the other side.
The last thing I saw before blacking out was the boar's leg flapping around like a flag in the wind.
I did it.