The next day, Val and Mikella gathered up the team that will follow Mikella down a path deeper into the forest away from everyone else. Mikella expected a lot of backlash and a lot of complaints coming her way and to Val proving her favoritism.
Instead, what she got was a lot of agreement. The soldiers who were told about Mikella’s solo group expedition agreed that this was a better choice, not really giving much of an issue. Of course, some complained, but it leaned more on grumbling and half-joking, already accepting the separation.
Her own group, which unsurprisingly were Myra and the two brothers, agreed wholeheartedly to travel with her, agreeing that she was too strong for their expeditions.
Of course, they also joined to have as many experience points as possible, and with someone like Mikella on their side, they won’t run into any issues. Though the brothers were ecstatic, Myra however, seemed apprehensive as she approached Mikella.
“Hey, Mikky,” Myra said, showing a deep look in her eyes at her own. “Any reason why you want to get stronger quickly?”
That took Mikella by surprise. She figured it was expected to want to get stronger, but apparently even her own drive to get stronger was surprising to Myra.
“Not really for any reason,” Mikella said, a half truth and a half-lie. She knew exactly why, though she realized it’s not such a high priority. “I just felt like I was too slow yesterday, and it aggravated me. I don’t blame anyone here, though, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
Myra nodded. “I get that feeling. Just… if there’s something on your mind, you can talk to me, y’know? I know with Zeke not being here, it would be hard to talk to anyone else and all…”
Mikella grimaced. It was so hard to explain that the two weren’t like that when they showed that they were married, and that most of the issues that would come to her aren’t really because Zeke isn’t here…
Or was it? It’s been a while since they last hung out, and she honestly did feel a little uneasy without having his barriers around for a while.
She shook her head. That was precisely one of the reasons why she wanted to get stronger. She didn’t want to heavily rely on Zeke’s magic. It would only hamper her own progress if she always had a safety net underneath.
“It’s fine,” Mikella answered. “If anything, not having Zeke around can only help me get stronger. You know how powerful his barrier is.”
“Yeah…” Myra looked like she considered exactly what Mikella was implying. “I get that. Having him around would just make things too easy. Though, if we’re talking about some easy XP, that’s something.”
“Once I get better, I’ll consider it,” Mikella nodded, then showed a solemn look. “But for now, I want to get stronger.”
Myra nodded, showing the same look as Mikella in her eyes. Val called her special team over to talk about the conditions to train in, and even put up a time limit to meet up with the rest of the expedition later on.
Val explained that Mikella’s team will head over to the northwestern side of the forest, where it was reported that several tougher monsters traveling alone were around. It would be easier to face as Mikella specializes in attacking solo opponents. She didn’t have any skills that focus on a wider range, so while she can take out each enemy at once, going against a group would still be an issue.
But that was also a reason why Val put them with a time limit, each time as the few hours passed in the day, they would return to the center of the forest where they usually rest up, once the monsters were cleared. After that, Val would take a look and say whether they can continue or not. Then the schedule will proceed as it was yesterday should Val find the team lacking. Mikella will make it so that she will be fine when approaching Val.
Then, as soon as the soldiers were ready, Mikella set off with her team towards the northwestern side.
…..
About an hour passed since they separated from the group after leaving the town. The silence sometimes filled the air as there wasn’t a big group as before. Though Myra and the brothers, being close as they are, talked easily as Mikella listened. She never really was the sort of person to enjoy in small talk, though circumstances in the real world helped her learn how to navigate it.
“So Zeke’s learning more runes now, huh?” Myra said, sounding impressed as she nodded. “That’s double useful.”
“So a guy who can make barriers, can heal now, and now he plans on making some arrays? What is he trying to be, the ultimate support?” One of the brothers, Jacky, said. “Doesn’t he plan on learning any attack spells?”
“I’m not sure,” Mikella shook her head. She didn’t know why it resulted in talking about Zeke’s progress, but apparently they were interested in why Zeke wasn’t coming with them. She already explained, well Val did most of it, that Zeke began training his runecrafting in earnest.
But still, the fact that Zeke was still trying to learn more useful magic didn’t escape their fancy.
“Apparently,” Mikella said, continuing since she did have some interest in this sort of talk. “His barrier is useful to use with runes.”
“Ah,” The other brother, Maximillian, or Maxie for short, responded with a nod. “That’s true. That barrier was pretty strong. Everyone still loved that shelter he made for us.”
“Yeah,” Myra nodded. “Can you imagine the shit we can pull off with that sort of tactic? Wait for the monsters to come, trap them in a barrier, then kill them all? I can smell the XP coming for us!”
The brothers nodded in return, easily eager for when Zeke returned. Mikella couldn't help but smile. Despite Zeke’s assurance that he wouldn’t be useful if he kept staying at home, his barrier magic alone is already being loved severely by the other soldiers.
Then when healing would come and soon magic arrays, Zeke is the emergency aid kit that everyone needs to bring along. That’s why Mikella wanted to keep getting stronger.
But now that Zeke’s magic came to mind, she turned to the others with a question.
“So I get why Val needs to stay behind and let everyone else fight, but how come Cloud doesn’t come by to help? With his magic, wouldn't it make fighting hordes easier?”
“Oh that’s obvious,” Myra waved. “He can use healing magic too, and it’s decided amongst the military force to leave Cloud as a last resort. There were times when the soldiers got hurt so badly that our usual healers can’t keep up, so that’s when Cloud comes in with the muscle–his huge ass Mana pool and control. Thing is, depending on the injury, the mana can get costly, and who knows what might happen in a battlefield?”
The more Myra explained, the more Mikella understood. There was also that issue with the Orb of Inheritance, something that they started for their daughter and happened to get caught in a bad time. With their stats and power almost cut in half, they had some issues keeping up with the horde that they normally would have settled by now if they were in full force.
If Cloud used his magic all the time, it would come to the point where he would run out of Mana and end up with casualties on their side. So like this, not only can the soldiers gain more power and experience points, they can also save for when Cloud comes in to pull their asses out of the fire–AKA when the monster horde got too strong and he had to come in so he could finish them off.
“Guess it’s pretty serious,” Mikella said dumbly. Myra only nodded.
“It’s a rough place out here in the sticks,” Myra said, smirking. “Still, I love this town. I can’t wait for it to become a metropolis someday with the Captain and Cloud at our side.”
“If only the other provinces can just get off our asses,” Maxie added, getting Jacky to agree with a nod.
“The other provinces?” Mikella asked. Suddenly she was somehow embroiled in the small talk, not letting it go as more new information came in.
“You don’t know?” Jackie added with a question and a tilt of his head. “Everyone wants this town for themselves. It’s settled in a large land filled with resources. The other powers are basically drooling to get their hands on Eve Glade.”
“Sometimes one of the knights from another territory comes in just to harass us,” Myra said, a clear irked look showing on her face. “They like to make a mess of things with us and then try to pull a fast one so they have a clear reason to occupy. Though no matter how hard they try, the Captain and Cloud never lets them have their way.”
“Wow…” Mikella said, lowering her head. “They’re really working hard for Eve Glade, huh?”
“It’s the only place where nobody has to bother with taxes, or any of those stupid mandatory policies each citizen has to do,” Myra said.
“You’re talking about that Aetheric Federation with their resource tax?” Mikella asked to be sure, getting Myra to nod.
“Everyone in the town are basically refugees from the other territories,” Jackie said. “They couldn't handle living in those places, and they come here to take a break from it all. They don’t get as much coin, but nobody’s complaining as far as I know.”
“Why should they?” Maxie asked. He seemed pretty invigorated from his tone of voice. “Even with the hordes attacking us daily, it’s mostly peaceful, and for us soldiers, we can get as much XP as possible. Do you think the other provinces’ military forces would even let us have a scrap of XP for all the work we do?”
“Wait,” Mikella asked. “How does that work? Can’t anyone just go out of the city and hunt monsters?”
“Man, you really did live under a rock all your life, huh?” Jackie asked, sounding almost impressed. “Your parents must have really sheltered you if you don’t know that much.”
“Quiet, Jackoff,” Myra interrupted, showing a glare at Jack who received what appeared to be a regular insult to him as he grimaced. “So what if she’s home-schooled? She’s better than some damn scion of a major family. Cut her some slack.”
“Whoa, whoa, I meant no offense at all,” Jackie quickly waved his hands and even apologized properly to Mikella in assurance. Mikella just waved it off as she egged him on to explain. “It’s obvious that XP is the most sought after commodity. Not to mention killing monsters gives you loot to take, so anyone who plans on hunting monsters and gaining XP in any of their territory needs to get a license. Even if you join the military or the knighthood of the province, you still need to get permission from the territory arbiters who decide the best spot for leveling.”
Mikella widened her eyes at that. This talk truly felt like one of those communities in MMO’s where they take advantage of a place to level their beginners, keeping out the other players that aren’t part of the guild. She remembered Zeke talking about that possibility becoming an actual thing in this world, what’s with the levels and the monster zones. She didn’t think Zeke hit it right on the mark.
“That sounds like a major pain,” Mikella grimaced. The three were truly lucky to land in a town where they didn’t care much for that.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“You gotta remember that if it weren’t for the horde attacking, we’d still have to ask the Captain for permission,” Myra explained, getting the brothers to nod. “But it is true that it’s more lenient. Otherwise, we’d be fighting with the other folks who planned on doing the same, and that often end up with actual fights to the death.”
“People are willing to fight to the death for some experience points?” Mikella asked in horror.
“It’s how anyone gets stronger,” Jackie shrugged. “But it depends on the province’s laws based on their territory. Still, it’s better to avoid all that. There’s even bandits out here trying to raid on a party or another for some easy XP too.”
“Tch, don’t remind me of those guys,” Myra clicked her tongue. “Damn bastards still left a bad taste in my mouth.”
“That was half a year ago, let it go already,” Maxie added with a bit of annoyance.
“They thought they could try and do whatever they wanted to me just ‘cause I’m a woman. I can’t exactly ‘let that go’ so damn easily.”
“You certainly didn’t let go of that guy’s head even after you beheaded him,” Jackie chuckled darkly, a brazen smile on his lips.
“It’s to send a message,” Myra smirked with ease.
The talk eventually got too gruesome for Mikella to even continue listening. She knew there are bad people, even in this world just like in her old world, but to think that killing is accepted so easily in this place.
She knew this, but whenever she thought about facing one of those bandits, she just froze.
She was prepared to kill ever since the time she thought Zeke would kidnap Clara for his own devious ends. In the end, he was just a sweetheart who loved Clara like a brother she never had, but that thought still got stuck inside her head.
Not out of guilt, but out of necessity. She knew that as long as Clara is involved, she would do anything to protect her, even if it truly meant that she would have to kill a human being.
But with it actually happening at some point, would she be able to aim her sword at them? To end their lives knowing that she took a living and intelligent person’s life away from them?
Then, some shaking occurred around the shrubbery surrounding them. Mikella instantly stopped and pointed her weapon at the source of the noise, followed along with the others who unsheathed their weapons.
A small quadraped animal appeared out of the bushes, snarling at them. It looked more like a panther if anything. The dark fur and yellowish slit eyes were clear enough indicators that it was more felyne than canine.
She Identified the creature, showing it was a Dark Panther as she expected, being at level 32.
“So these are the strays left behind?” Maxie spoke, keeping up his longsword and shield. “Captain was right, it’s at a pretty high level.”
“It’s easy,” Myra said, pointing her sword down. She turned to Mikella. “So, this is all for you anyways. You think you can keep up with it?”
Mikella nodded, and then she pointed her Sword of Lightning at the creature who snarled back and pounced at her.
Of course I will, who do you think I am?
The thought passed through her mind like wildfire. A twinge of pride, annoyance, and drive whisked her by.
She filled herself with the drive to get stronger, and as the monster approached her, she steadied herself with a solid brea–
No weakling will get in my way. I’ll take care of this myself.
Something passed through her mind again. Her eyes narrowed as they glowed with Hawk Eyes, turning bright yellow before lunging herself at the beast.
…..
Another month passed after the horde battle, causing everyone to work overtime as they never know when the next horde will attack.
Still, everyone went on with their days, knowing that they can’t do much other than their best to help the soldiers with their training.
Zeke was well and truly going down the path of a Runist. He started to learn with visual runes, something to distract Clara and Ana. Of course, he made sure to only do so outside the house. He didn’t want to get yelled at again.
With Cloud’s input on the intricacies of rune-crafting, he learned quite a bit. He learned that while runes are normally archaic, one can actually shift their design just slightly. Even one stroke out of the original rune letter could turn it into an entirely different meaning.
He learned there were a variety of ways to use runes effectively and, more importantly, efficiently. Even with Inscription Proficiency making things easier for him, he found runes that worked like synergy runes used to enhance the magical effect, such as adjacent runes to divert the power properly and giving the intended result more form, such as making the image better unlike how he summoned the butterbirds.
The entire process of drawing runes is basically bringing thoughts into reality, or at least a certain part of them. Though the created magic still has to be confined within the laws of the system, and the system empowers everything.
So one can’t just simply draw runes to transform a simple rock into a gold coin for instance. While that was possible, in a way, anyone who has ever dealt with coins can easily tell when something has been tampered with, and could even be judged by the law and hence, by the system. On that note, even if one can replicate spells with runecrafting, they can never truly replace the spell itself, as it would always be more efficient and potent under the system’s guidance.
Another clear hurdle for runecrafting is that compared to doing the skill’s version of a spell, runecrafting a spell is incredibly mana hungry, causing any mage with more of a focus on Intelligence than Spirit to get drained immediately after just a few rune drawings.
Still, that didn’t mean Zeke was shit out of luck in creating custom made magic for his own purposes, something that he learned can be done by studying rune-crafting further.
True runists could even make their own runes, something that can work just for them. But that alone is practically at Master stage, at level 100. One has to truly understand the runes to the point where they can find meaning in magic itself, not just from the ancient letters. It was too high of a concept for Zeke who could only read a fraction of the amount of runes there were right now.
It took up nearly all his time just studying the runes’ meaning alone, much less how to incorporate it into his own design and create reasonable magic with it. Still, it filled him with determination knowing that each time he learned something new, he could increase his own capabilities as well as his level.
He even gained some skill levels for not just from his General skills, including Meditation which he needed to recover his spent Mana, but also for his Class skills as well, proved from his notifications.
> Internal Senses Level Up! It is now Level 5.
>
> You have gained+1 INT x3 from your skill.
> You have gained +1 SPI x3 from your skill.
…..
> Runecraft Level Up! It is now Level 5.
>
> You have gained +1 INT x3 from your skill.
> You have gained +1 SPI x3 from your skill.
…..
> Meditation Level Up! It is now Level 5.
>
> You have gained +1 INT x2 from your skill.
…..
> Runic Library Level up! It is now Level 2.
>
> Increased capacity to learn runes.
> Increased recall speed to draw upon runes.
…..
> Inscription Proficiency Level up! It is now Level 2.
>
> Increased accuracy with drawing runes.
> Decrease mana consumption when drawing runes.
…..
> Level up! You are now Level 27. You gain 14 free points (14 FP total).
>
> You have gained +7 DEX from your class.
> You have gained +7 INT from your class.
> You have gained +7 SPI from your class.
Needless to say, he improved a lot… and he felt shitty about it. He hasn’t earned these levels, at least not some of them. He perhaps may have gained a level or two with his rampant studying, but he knew that the rest were from Mikella’s hunting.
Over the past month, he heard that Mikella have been going rampant on the horde’s remnants, and the rumors were spreading like wildfire around the soldiers. They say that she had been possessed by a rampaging berseker, killing every monster she came across. Some would say that even a person wouldn’t be safe in her path, but Zeke refused to believe that.
After all, she still treated Clara as lovingly as any sister would… though he wasn’t sure how she saw him now.
Lately, the two have been a little distant. He may have gotten a bit too into his studying runes, but whenever he tried to open up a conversation with her, she always seemed rather cold, often either answering in short sentences or just denying to talk outright, saying that she needed to rest from her hunt.
Sometimes, he felt that she was judging him, which only increased the tension between the two.
He knew the reason why though. It was because he wasn’t hunting outside at all. He always spent his entire time studying runes. Even if there was a good reason, the fact that she’s out there gaining experience ripping monsters apart while he was studying ancient letters felt extremely unfair to him.
So who knew how she felt? Clara even started to notice the difference, asking whether Mikella was mad at him for something. He would be honest with her, saying that he was being lazy while she was doing the work, and his heart warmed when she would reply that he has been studying lots, which is something her sister has never done even in the old world.
Still, he desperately tried to raise his own levels whenever he could, but it just wasn’t as fast as killing monsters. Not to mention being a Runist is actually taking more experience to level up than average, at least to Cloud’s knowledge, so that was even worse.
So even with all these notifications, he only saw it as a reason to get better. He didn’t just study runes either–he also helped with the town with his Recovery skill, as well as helping with his Barrier Craft. It wasn’t much, but helping someone lift heavy stuff after a cart broke down did make him feel a bit better–more useful.
Putting all that aside, he wondered what he could do to make it up to Mikella. It’s been a month now, and considering that most skills at level 5 are considered decent enough, he decided it was better to actually start hunting monsters. That, and he swore he had taken up all the knowledge of runes out of Cloud’s study, squeezing them out until there was no more of it.
He looked at this status screen, and saw his stat spread. His Spirit was incredibly high, according to Cloud when it came to average mages. At this level, his Intelligence and Spirit are pretty much the opposite of an average mage, and he had plenty more points on his other attributes despite that. Probably thanks to the horde experience as well as his experience in the tower.
His Strength attribute was still piss poor, and even Cloud suggested to bump it up to at least 10 just to make it average, so he did just that. He didn’t need to be a perfect mage, and quite frankly, Zeke felt a bit ashamed as a man for having such low Strength. He would be embarrassed if Ana or Clara can lift heavier things than him in the future.
Taking into account his Class level ups, He was certain his Dexterity, Intelligence, and Spirit had quite a bump. So he spent the rest of his points on the fundamentals–Dexterity, Vitality and Endurance. Vitality was important for several reasons, most of them due to him having some seriously bad luck. He had a feeling that falling on his barrier and breaking his leg wouldn’t be the last dumbass thing he would do in his life.
Endurance was actually a rather useful attribute than he expected. Not only does it increase his stamina, allowing him for longer traveling and the like, but it also increased his body’s physical defense. His skin would be more durable, and he can take a better hit. Dexterity was, by all accounts, useful for more than just a speed increase.
Not only did it increase his casting speed, it also increased his movements, made him more balanced. It was something he talked with Mikella as a joke from the horde battle, but he did actually took the advice and poured some points in Dexterity as well. It certainly helped her out, and he didn’t see any downside to being faster and nimbler.
As a support mage, none of this should matter, especially with his barrier–but he and everyone else know that specializing completely in one attribute is suicidal.
Zeke knew it by heart thanks to his experiences, and everyone including the lords believed that having a decent general spread across all stats was more important than min-maxing. Though he was tempted to try and see if he could put his Spirit over a hundred–he planned on living long enough to reach it slowly than end it all from being too tired and sickly to dodge a blow to the head.
So with all his free points poured in, he looked at his stats once again.
> Name: Zeke Parlow (Savior)
> Race: Human
> Runist: Level 27
> STR: 10
> DEX: 50
> INT: 55
> SPI: 70
> VIT: 25
> END: 25
> Free Points: 0
>
> General Skills:
> Mana Perception (U) Level 6
> Runecraft (U) Level 5
> Internal Senses (U) Level 5
> Pain Resistance (U) Level 4
> Meditation (C) Level 5
>
> Acquired Skills:
> Barrier Craft (R) Level 6
> Recovery (R) Level 3
>
> Class Skills:
> Runic Library Level 2
> Inscription Proficiency Level 2
>
> Title Skill:
> We Stand (T), Level 1 (Maxed)
He hoped that Mikella would be impressed with this. In one way or another, he wanted to prove that he can pull his own weight.