“I’ll take a look, you guys go ahead.”
Jean ceased all body movements as he stared at the approaching cat-person who held out a spear before him.
*SCHWIP*
Several branches and vines were sliced off in one clean stroke of the cat-person’s spear causing Jean to hold his breath in fear.
*ding*
From your attempts to hide, the skill [Stealth] has been granted to you.
Without even identifying the newly acquired skill, Jean immediately decided to activate it.
‘Stealth!’
Jean’s body gradually melded with his environment until it completely disappeared from sight. The spear-wielding cat-person stopped in his tracks as he looked around while sniffing the air.
“Ah, the damned wind.”
*SCHWIP*
After making one last swing that passed inches away from Jean’s neck, the cat-person gave up his search and decided to follow after his fellow kin off in the distance. Jean immediately released his breath and his body once again became visible. After he had fully recovered his breath and his hearth stopped beating out of his chest, Jean looked over the new skill he had aquired.
‘Identify.’
Stealth (Active)
- While no movements are being made, applies camouflage and scent masking to the user.
- While moving, applies beginner detection skill nullity to the user instead.
- Consumes one point of mana for every minute [Stealth] is active.
While reading the last point on the panel, Jean noticed that the swirling energy he had previously gathered had completely disappeared.
‘I really am lucky, aren’t I?’
Jean realized that if he hadn’t tried meditating earlier, then even though he had [Stealth], it would’ve been utterly useless to him since it required mana to activate. Jean lightly rubbed his throat at the thought of a spear blade slicing through his neck and severing his head.
‘I’m actually really weak, aren’t I?’
Taking [Plant Manipulation] out of the picture, it was rather apparent that Jean had no means of protecting himself from harm. Since he hadn’t encountered any other creature until this moment, Jean had supposed that the [Beginner’s Protection Buff] was keeping all the dangerous creatures at bay.
‘But how do I get stronger?’
Jean pondered this question for a few moments. If this world Jean was brought to was at least similar to the ones written in the light novels back on Earth, he would’ve interacted with someone who knew about the world they were in and skills by this point. However, the first sentient creatures Jean had encountered were hostile towards him and had now disappeared off into the distance. Suddenly, a crazy thought entered his mind.
‘Maybe I should follow them?’
If this were a world similar to those in light novels, then this would’ve been the opportunity to make allies with others in this unfamiliar world. Having more knowledge in a strange new place was equivalent to having a higher chance of survival and having a higher chance of survival meant Jean could live his life without having to die again.
After making his decision, Jean decided to follow after the trail of the cat-people who were now far off in the distance.
‘I feel like I’m forgetting about something though…’
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
* * *
“Priestess! We’ve brought back the sacrifice.”
“Mmmmf! Mmmf, mmmf mmmmmf!”
Now adorned in jewels, gold, and a fine robe of red, purple, and blue, the sleepy lady from before was no more and she now had a more priestess-like appearance. As she looked at the tied up boy before her, the priestess made a motion for a man holding a golden scepter and a bowl of metallic fluid in his hands.
“We will now begin the purification of the sacrifice, bring forth the scepter and cleansing fluid.”
Stepping forwards, the man besides the priestess handed over the scepter and metallic fluid before stepping back. The priestess then moved closer to the tied up boy as she dipped the tip of the scepter inside of the bowl while stirring it gently.
“Emundare, et mundaret!”
“Emundare, et mundaret!”
When the priestess chanted words, the surrounding crowd would echo after her flawlessly causing the air around to be filled with vibrations.
“Lorica, et operimentum!”
“Lorica, et operimentum!”
The priestess lifted the scepter from the bowl silver liquid and waved it over the sacrifice’s head causing silvery drops to fall and coat his face.
“Mire factis et luceat!”
“Mire factis et luceat!”
Holding the bowl out, the priestess slowly tipped the container holding the silver fluid over the boy causing the liquid to pour out and cover his entire body.
“Solidatur et aridam!”
“Solidatur et aridam!”
“Mmmmf! Mmmmmmmff-”
The silver fluid rapidly solidified around the young cat-person’s body, restricting his breathing and stopping all sounds from coming out of his mouth. Soon, the boy’s entire body was covered in a solid silver shell and no more movements could be seen coming from the silvery figure.
“Nos complevit factum.”
“Nos complevit factum.”
The priestess pressed the scepter forwards and lightly tapped the silver covered boy once. A bright light shone from the boy’s body as the silver slowly cracked off piece by piece.
“Now, take the boy and set him up on the moving platform. We will head off for the altar before Mount Feros tomorrow.”
Several men stepped out from the crowd and removed the cracked pieces of silver as they pulled the boy out of the silvery rubble. The boy’s eyes were now grey and hollow as if his soul had been removed from his body.
* * *
*knock* *knock*
“Come in.”
A pair of double doors opened, revealing a rather large room with fanciful artifacts lining the walls and a small tea table with black leather sofas which sat before a mahogany colored desk with a turned black leather chair behind it. Seated in the chair was a man with pointed dog-like ears and a rigid tail who held a fat cigar in his mouth.
“President. The local tribe of felisophia have begun preparing a sacrifice in response to the recent tremors.”
The seated man turned around and looked over the man with floppy ears and a thin tail who dressed in a butler-like attire.
“Have the humans done anything?”
The butler shook his head sideways.
“It appears as if they didn’t realize an earthquake occurred at all.”
The president let out a short yet resonating laugh.
“Sounds just like those humans! They stay holed up in their bunkers while paying no attention to the outside world whatsoever!”
Suddenly, the president’s face transformed into that extreme seriousness.
“Ken, how much water do we have left in this oasis?”
The butler paused for a short moment before giving an answer.
“The earthquake took a huge toll on our water supplies, nearly half of our stored fresh water was spilled into the ground. If we don’t take into consideration the growth rate of our cities, we have approximately a half year’s worth of clean water left.”
“So including all of the pups that will be born in the few weeks, we won’t even last six months?”
The butler nodded sadly.
“…damn it. I didn’t raise up this city from nothing just to watch it fail from water problems. Have our researchers come up with any solutions?”
“None so far, president. We’re already recycling all the water we can and there haven’t been any developments on finding new water sources. Other than the ones underneath oases, we can’t seem to locate any new water veins.”
The president let out a long sigh.
“If we can’t find a way to get more water in two months, we’re going to wage war on a nearby oasis. If this city is going to fall, I’d much rather have it go down in war than in drought. Contact General Winston for me and tell him to come up here in an hour.”
The butler bowed as he exited the room and left the depressed president in the silent office.
* * *
Name Jean Kwon Age 31 Titles Earl of Plants (Rare) Condition Health: 100/100
Stamina: 90/90
Mana: 0/1 Status Effects Beginner’s Protection Buff Attributes Strength: 8
Constitution: 9
Agility: 9
Dexterity: 10
Perception: 10
Willpower: 11
Intelligence: 11
Wisdom: 12 Skills Alchemy (Expert) 73.22%
Botany (Master) 56.18%
- Dendrology (Master) 23.09%
- Herbalism (Master) 100.00%
- Mycology (Master) 43.98%
- Pomology (Master) 57.67%
Identify (Beginner) 39.00%
Library (Beginner) 3.59%
Meditation (Beginner) 0.00%
Plant Manipulation (Beginner) 2.50%
Stealth (Beginner) 1.00%
Synergy (Beginner) 24.00% Traits Calm Mind (Uncommon)
Green Thumb (Common)
Beginner’s Protection Buff
- Grants protection for a period of time (22h:37m:02s remaining).
- Reduces effects of negative status effects by an enormous amount.
- Lowers the requirements for learning new skills by an enormous amount.