Cam put his hands out in a calming gesture as Ted walked back to him. ‘Hey now, let me explain.’ he said. Ted was holding the now bloody dagger in what could only be called a threatening manner. ‘And I’d recommend you get your spear from the poor thing’s stomach.’
Ted looked around, having completely forgotten about the weapon he’d won the fight with.
‘Okay, but we are having a conversation before we go anywhere else.’ he said, turning round angrily and heading back to the stomach of the Burner stag. The spear was buried deep, the shaft covered in soil and mud; when he pulled it out of the stag it came with a spurt of blood and gore. Ted screwed up his face at the smell. He turned, and jumped when found Cam just behind him.
‘We should take what we can from the body; there’s some relatively valuable ingredients and materials from these stags.’ he said.
‘How do you keep doing that?’ Ted shouted. ‘And stop doing it! Also, I’m not carving this thing up.’
‘We should not let the beast’s death be a vain one’ Cam said.
‘It wasn’t in vain, it was in order to keep me alive. And you, by the way, not that you helped at all. Where were you?’ Ted said accusingly.
‘I have very few combat skills, especially against one such as this.’ he said. ‘In addition, I did not See myself fighting, or in fact killing the beast; only you. I therefore made sure that this wasn’t because I was dead, by making sure I wasn’t in danger.’
Ted eyed up the man, suspiciously, before making a decision.
‘Right. Okay. You can explain this to me on the wagon. But I’m not happy right now. Let’s go.’
‘After we’ve stripped the beast down.’ Cam insisted.
-
It took just over an hour for them to be done, which was longer than Ted wanted to spend in the gore of the Burner stag he’d just killed, but less than he’d expected it to be. Cam had wanted the antlers, the hooves, and most troublingly the skin. While it made sense, as even on Earth you’d use deer skin for leather, obtaining it was messy and arduous, due to the size of the beast. Cam had coached him through how to do it, taking the lead whilst Ted supported. It wasn’t simple, but after focusing on Cam’s advice and getting stuck in, Ted found it starting to become much easier, and the last half hour was much more efficient than the first. He used Identify on all items, to see if any information on the items were provided, but all he got was what he saw; Burner stag poison antlers, Burner stag coat, Burner deer hooves.
They walked back to the wagon together, Ted holding the antlers, small sponge-like items that Cam had provided on each prong to protect against being accidentally poisoned, while Cam carried the skin and hooves. The wagon driver was whistling to himself happily.
As they dropped the goods into the back of the wagon and climbed onto the front seat, Cam patted Ted on the back.
‘That’s a good haul we’ve got there; those antlers will fetch us some good coin. The fur too, if kept in good shape. The hooves are a bit more common, but still useful for alchemists and smiths who can use the fire-based properties.
‘You’ve probably got a few notifications worth checking; once you’re done you can ask me any questions. I’m guessing you’re still a touch angry.’
Ted was still a bit angry, but the hour of cutting up a dead animal had blunted the sharp point of it a little, and though he tried to regenerate the heat of the original anger, it refused to come. He bit his tongue and checked his notifications; Cam had been right, he had quite a few.
____________________________________________________________________________
System Message:
Your use of the spear in real combat with an enemy stronger than yourself has given you greater insight into how to effectively wield and attack with the spear.
Your Spear Mastery has risen to Level 8!
System Message:
Your repeated use of Dash in combat and high risk situations has improved your abilities.
Your Dash Technique has risen to Level 8!
____________________________________________________________________________
The messages continued, and he ran through them all. He was pleased to see that everything he’d used in the battle had improved greatly, taking him to Level 5 in Drifting, and Dodge and Break-fall to Level 6. Despite only using it twice, his Light spell had increased by two levels to Level 10; this would allow him to create up to three balls of light, or significantly increase the brightness of one. This also came with a level up to Level 5 in Basic Magic. He tried, unsuccessfully, to see if this came with any more benefits or understanding of magic in general, but noticed little difference.
Stand Your Ground was now Level 5, another large improvement from a single use; Ted was interested to see whether the shockwave/shield benefits from it actually had some effect now.
Interestingly, Timing had levelled up significantly in that fight; much more than any of the other skills, and had an interesting descriptor with it.
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System Message:
Timing is a key part of every action and move you make; this is even more important when in battle. Your choice of the correct action, at the right time, has won you a battle against a much stronger opponent. Your understanding of Now, and what should and shouldn’t be in the present moment has improved. Your understanding of Cause and Effect has improved.
Your Timing has risen to Level 6!
____________________________________________________________________________
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
The writing behind this Skill was much more effusive than any others had been, which tended to be slightly nuanced to the event that caused them to rise, but nothing more. It gave much more of a hint of what Timing was, and reassured Ted that this Skill was indeed linked to Time magic. As he had with Basic Magic, he tried to see if he could feel the ability somehow, to see if he could notice the improved ability to find the right time, the right moment. He thought that maybe he could sense something; a silence, perhaps, behind the noise of the wind and trees surrounding him. But then it disappeared.
He shrugged, and looked through the rest. There’d been no difference to his Shield Mastery, left at Level 5, but he was disappointed to not have any Techniques linked to it yet. Shouldn’t Block be a Technique? He couldn’t remember whether any of the other combat recruits had gained it.
He’d gained a new Skill entirely, he was surprised to see, called Looting, that would help him scavenge materials off defeated enemies; it was paired with a Technique called Animal Harvesting, which was specifically for taking materials and meat from dead animals. It explained why harvesting the materials had suddenly become much easier mid-way through. It raised something in Ted’s mind though.
‘Hey, Cam. Why didn’t we take the meat from the deer?’ he asked, curiously.
‘Burner stag meat isn’t good for eating; the poison that exudes through its antlers runs through dozens of these capillary channels through its body. You could use it as bait, if you’re hunting and not wanting to eat what you catch. But that’s not what we’re here for.’ Cam replied.
‘Makes sense.’ Ted said, continuing to read his notifications. As he got to the end of them, he saw that there were two unfamiliar notifications; one linked to a Mission, and one linked to some sort of achievement? He’d not noticed the Mission one before, having already built up a habit of dismissing notifications if he was focussing on other things, but the Achievement was entirely new.
____________________________________________________________________________
System Message:
New Mission:
You have missed your transport to the Front. Make your own way to the Front and report to the Outpost at First Frontier Town.
Reward:
New Level 1 Technique in one Skill you already have or 1 Level Increase to an already owned Technique upon completion.
System Message:
New Mission: Burner Stag
You have encountered an aggressive Burner Stag on your travels to the Front; it intends to ensure that you don’t encroach on its territory or its future mating partners using all means at its disposal. Defeat the Stag and continue on your journey.
Reward:
100 Centrals and New Level 1 Technique.
System Message:
Mission Complete: Burner Stag
You have challenged the Burner Stag, braving life and limb, and emerged victorious. No febrile deer can stop you!
Reward: 100 Centrals and you have learnt the Technique: Charge, Level 1!
End of Messages
____________________________________________________________________________
‘It’s just more and more bloody stuff.’ Ted muttered under his breath. He’d received Missions before, but there’d never been rewards, and it had never been made clear that you could gain whole new abilities by receiving them. But who had given him this quest? Had it been the woman working at the outpost? There wasn’t a named quest giver.
And an award for killing the deer? Why? And what the hell were Centrals? Not that he was going to complain; it came with a whole new Spear Technique. Basic or not, any additional ability in the warchest was a good one.
‘What’s that, friend?’ Cam asked. Ted hesitated before answering, trying to remember his annoyance. But he did have questions that needed answers.
‘I’ve got a mission, to go to the Front. And a reward of a level or a Technique. Plus I got a reward for killing the deer.’ he admitted.
‘That’s quite common.’ Cam said. ‘You’ll be given plenty of missions in the early days, and Levels are a nice reward to newly graduated. Once you’re trained up you’ll be much less likely to get a free Level. Techniques, you may still get, back at Level 1, but it’ll more likely be temporary skill boosts, Centrals, or reward missions. What was your reward for killing the deer?’
Ted just looked at Cam, bewildered, throwing his hands out to indicate that none of this made sense to him. ‘I got 100 Centrals. But I don’t know what they are either!’
‘They really didn’t teach you much at all at that camp, did they?’ Cam said, smiling just like he had in the hours before he’d almost got Ted killed. ‘It’s okay. We’ve got at least a day left until we hit Brookfields. I’ll pass on what I can.’
‘Thank you.’ Ted said. ‘Let’s get back to the Missions in a bit. First of all, tell me the hell you pushed me in front of a poison fire deer and then fucked off.’
‘Ah.’ Cam said, and he chuckled, though perhaps less comfortably than before. ‘Well, there is a real explanation there, I promise. I told you I had the power of Foresight?’
‘Yes, that’s how you saw the deer.’ Ted agreed.
‘Well, I actually saw several flashes; I don’t get full visions as the level isn’t very high. And the flashes I saw showed the Burner just around the corner from us; you sliding under the charging stag; and then the stag dying on the spear. So I knew that you would fight and win. What I did not see, at any point, was myself.’
‘So?’ Ted asked.
‘So I was concerned that the reason I didn’t see myself was because I had been killed by the beast, and you were fighting not far from my charred and poisoned corpse.’ Cam said, levelly.
‘Oh.’ Ted said. He didn’t know what else to say.
‘However, because I knew that you would win, I figured the best thing I could do was stay around the edges, using some Skills and Techniques I have to remain invisible, staying uninvolved until we’d reached the end of my visions. If you were injured, I’d be able to help then.’ Cam continued.
‘I… see…’ Ted said slowly, trying to process this. It was like being abandoned by a mate just before you went in on a job, with them waving off the danger saying ‘Oh you’ll be fine.’ He’d had it happen before, being left casing a whole house solo with no one looking out or helping locate and lift the goods. He had not appreciated it, and never worked with that guy again.
But Cam claimed to actually know that he’d be fine. Did that change things? He felt like it probably should. But it didn’t feel right. And considering he had only just been introduced to seeing the future, like it was just a normal, everyday thing, he didn’t feel quite able to accept it straight away.
‘I am sorry.’ Cam said, and Ted could hear he was being sincere. ‘But I really did know that you were going to be okay.’
‘If you really can see the future, why aren’t you out helping out in the war? Surely that’s an incredibly useful skill to have in a war?’ Ted asked.
‘Ah, I’m more of a lover than a fighter, my friend!’ Cam laughed. Seeing Ted’s serious expression, he sighed.
‘It’s a long story. We’re all helping the war in our own small way, even if we’re not on the Front. That’s an important lesson to learn, and a surprisingly hard one. You think that a war is just the soldiers, but you’ve got to think about who supports the soldiers? Where does the food come from? The weapons, the armour, the vehicles. And then you need the supply chains to support those, and those people settle down and start families and have children, and they need support too. So even people like me are helping, though you may not think it. But as for fighting at the Front, well. I was there, many years ago. Sent to be an Infiltrator; that was the Class I was given. Aligned to premonition and stealth magic, they said, and it turned out to be true. I learnt to fight, blend in, see the future in stutters. The thing that I learnt quickly was that I couldn’t change the futures I saw; they weren’t there for me to change, just to see.
‘And there’s only so many times you can watch your friends die in your minds eye, only to then have to helplessly watch it repeat even as you desperately try to stop it.’