As the arrow flew, the creature suddenly jerked to the side with inhuman speed, ripping free of the bonds of Nature's wrath. The arrow landed with an explosive force, almost severing the arm entirely as it smashed through the entire shoulder, bone and all. Zalia knew she wouldn't survive in hand to hand combat with the beast, even with it being one arm down. Instead, she threw her bow to the side, pulled out her new long bladed dagger and ran. She just needed to survive thirty seconds for her ability Kill shot to come back up. With Hunter's mark she could vaguely sense the being, knowing it had started moving after her. She sprinted through the forest, desperately trying to keep ahead but even poisoned, the creature was much too fast. It caught her, five seconds before the ability came off cooldown and she used her Protection of the wilds. A shield of thick roots grew over her as the creature slammed into it. She saw it start to rip through the shield, light shining back onto her as it got through. Luckily, it was just enough time. Dropping the magic of the shield just after a last strike by the creature, she burst through the now weak and disintegrating roots, got extra height by pushing off its knee and slammed her dagger up through its mouth into its brain above, using the power and extra damage from her just off cooldown Kill shot to drive it home. The two fell backwards, Zalia pulling the dagger free, jumping off and rolling back to her feet as they hit the ground.
Zalia looked at the host of messages in front of her. The Flame-root had died down shortly before killing the creature, its thirty second timeframe having run down. She had quickly gone back and batted down any remaining flames, her heat resistance and constant low healing providing enough protection to stop her being seriously hurt. She really didn't want a forest fire on her hands after the fight. She had seventeen kill notifications, seemingly having miscounted by one originally. Most of them were of Tin rank, three of Iron and the single one of Bronze. Reading through her level gains for her abilities she saw quite a few level ups,
Congratulations! Kill shot has increased by five levels reaching Tin 20.
Congratulations! Kill shot has reached Iron 1.
Kill shot will not increase in rank until all classes have reached Iron 1.
Congratulations! Hunter's mark has increased by six levels reaching Tin 19.
Congratulations! Escape has increased by three levels reaching Tin 8.
Congratulations! Hunter's Sight has increased by five levels reaching Tin 14.
Congratulations! Survivalist and associated skills have increased by three levels reaching Tin 13.
Congratulations! Hunter class has increased by three levels reaching Tin 8.
Congratulations! Flora identification has increased by two levels reaching Tin 10.
Congratulations! Preparation has increased by four levels reaching Tin 13.
Congratulations! Stasis has increased by three levels reaching Tin 9.
Congratulations! Harvester has increased by three levels reaching Tin 12.
Congratulations! Herbal magic has increased by eight levels reaching Tin 14.
Congratulations! Herbalist class has increased by three levels reaching Tin 9.
Congratulations! Nature's wrath has increased by six levels reaching Tin 11.
Congratulations! Protection of the wilds has increased by three levels reaching Tin 13.
Congratulations! Healing presence has increased by four levels reaching Tin 19.
Congratulations! Druid class has increased by six levels reaching Tin 11.
Kill shot - Iron 1
Tin - Enhance an attack, go for the kill. This ability deals a tiny amount of damage. The damage of this ability scales exponentially with targets remaining health.
Iron - Kill shot deals increased damage based on how many separate effects you have active on the creature.
"Well, fuck me. That was a lot of levels," Zalia thought.
She had felt the surge of power as the battle ended as her attributes increased greatly all in one go but she hadn't expected that much. It seemed like the kills had given enough experience to level everything at a base of three levels each, plus more for whichever skills were used during the fight. The massive increase in her Herbal magic skill she gave to the fact she used Iron rank herbs in a ritual therefore skipping her rank of ritual magic. She had a look at her status page.
Profile - Zalia Taori
Health - Excellent
Mana - Near empty
Stamina - High
Class one - Hunter - Tin 8
Linked attributes - Strength, Dexterity
Active skills
Kill shot - Iron 1
Hunter's mark - Tin 19
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Escape - Tin 8
Passive skills
Hunter's Sight - Tin 14
Survivalist - Tin 13
Class two - Herbalist - Tin 9
Linked attributes - Vitality, Resilience
Active skills
Flora identification - Tin 10
Preparation - Tin 13
Stasis - Tin 9
Passive skills
Harvester - Tin 12
Herbal magic - Tin 14
Unity class - Druid - Tin 11
Linked attributes - Wisdom, Intellect
Active skills
Nature’s wrath - Tin 11
Protection of the wilds - Tin 13
Passive skills
Healing presence - Tin 19
General Passives
Heat resistance - Tin 13
Cold resistance - Tin 13
Aura observation - Tin 3
Low light vision - Tin 3
Poison resistance - Iron 1
She didn't know what had caused the initial explosion in that cave but had an inkling it probably had to do with the smell. Very possibly the accumulated gases in the space had ignited. She had to put down her quick victory to the damage that had very visibly caused the creatures in the first place. Not having known there was a bronze rank creature in there she couldn't have been sure of her victory. Simply having the time to prepare all of her tricks, some now exhausted, had given her this one more than anything else. Having a supply of higher ranked herbs definitely helped, their one time use magic providing a powerful boost to her ability.
Zalia also noted, that despite Glemp's insistence, the magic of the herbs seemed to just provide a broad definition and her intention caused the specific effect, no in depth testing needed.
In her bags, she now had no more Flame-root, a small amount of Bitterbalm, Snow-leaf, Poisonous berries and Dodge-vine. She had slightly more of those of Frozen Heart left as well. All in all her stocks were looking low after that fight and she'd need to go back up north at some point to get a bigger stock of the berries and Snow-leaf both. Each of them were integral to her ability to both slow and damage enemies.
Zalia slowly walked back to the farmhouse, quickly finding Darren and Juniper,
"I assume by the blood on you and the fact you're still alive that you managed it?" Darren asked.
"Oh you, always so rude," Juniper said, whacking Darren's arm.
She gestured and the grime and blood on Zalia quickly dissipated, herself feeling a little more energetic,
"That's a nice bit of magic," Zalia said, "and yes, come, I'll show you."
Zalia led them back to the combat zone she had created, showing them the Bronze rank creature. She found her bow and to her dismay, one of the limbs had cracked when she'd thrown it aside. She also showed them the clearing filled with charred and poisoned bodies, warning them not to enter due to the poisoned spikes all throughout the area,
"You did all this?" Darren asked.
"That's right, a little preparation goes a long way. Do you doubt me?" Zalia asked.
"Not anymore, no," Darren said, admiring the carnage.
"Are you secretly a higher rank?" He asked, squinting his eyes at her.
"Not that I know of, all three classes are still at Tin," she responded.
"Three?" Both Darren and Juniper asked in unison.
"Ahhhh, that's not normal?" She asked.
"No," Juniper responded.
"People only have their main class and specialisation class, at least that I've met," Darren added.
"Uh oh," Zalia thought.
"Well ah, I've got two main ones and a unity class," Zalia said, feeling a little worried.
"Well, that explains why you are able to hit much above your rank then. I can't think of any other Tin ranker I've heard of being able to pull off something like this," Darren replied, "doesn't matter to me though, I'll take what you've given us no questions asked."
"I want to give you something extra for the work you've done here Zalia," Juniper said, looking thoughtfully at her.
Juniper led them back to the house before going into the sitting room and taking down the artfully crafted bow from above the mantle,
"The bow of my late husband, it will see much better use in your hands then either of ours. A relic of a time long past I'm afraid," Juniper said, handing it over to Zalia.
Hunter's bow (Heirloom) - Unbonded.
"Oh that's new, no rank," Zalia thought.
"Heirloom, Unbonded. What does that mean?" Zalia asked, admiring the craftsmanship of the bow.
"Well, as a base these types of items will self repair from most lesser damage. Otherwise, the thing will grow with the user. It's anyone's guess what types of abilities it may form, though some theorise it's usually affected by the users needs," Juniper said.
"I'm not sure I can take this from you," Zalia said.
"Oh nonsense, I'm giving it to you. Besides, you took care of quite a bit more than the notice described, can't go underpaying you," Juniper responded.
"They're not that rare darling, most households formed by prominent or powerful people have a few lying here and there gathering dust," Juniper continued at Zalia's still unsure expression.
"If you're sure, Juniper. How would I bond it then?" She asked.
"Not rightly sure, you'll figure it out," Juniper responded, "I'm going to make some lunch, will you join us?"
"Sure, if you'll have me," Zalia replied.
"Are you ok with this?" Zalia asked the characteristically silent Darren.
"Not like I'll be using it, us farmers are a pragmatic bunch. If you can go out there and help a bunch more others the way you helped us, sure, why not," he answered.
Zalia wasn't too convinced of his apparent lack of concern and she decided she wouldn't get too attached just yet in case they changed their minds.
After a pleasant lunch with the duo, they still insisted Zalia take the bow and even still paid her the two silver coins promised. She gathered her things, collecting a few of the poisoned spikes from the clearing that remained undamaged. After a brief but warm farewell, Zalia left in the direction of the next town over, pointed the right way by the farmer duo.