> Level up! You are now Level 29. You gain 2 free points (2 FP total).
>
> You have gained +1 STR from your class.
> You have gained +1 DEX from your class.
> You have gained +1 END from your class.
Mikella put away her notification quickly, not caring the least about her measly gains. Sure, she was just one level away from reaching the Expert stage, but she honestly couldn’t think of that at the moment.
Putting away her axe, she ran towards Zeke who had effectively zonked out of consciousness. She dragged his body over to her lap, holding up his sweat-riddled face.
It was ghastly pale, but she felt that his heat was still there. His nose was bleeding, a small droplet pouring down to his upper lip. His eyes were closed, but they were scrunched up as if in internal pain.
She first checked his heart by closing up her ear to his chest, hearing the very faint but still beating chest.
She finally released her tension as she figured that it was just exhaustion, his breath being dry and haggard. She was starting to form a habit to check his state whenever he goes too far with his magic.
I have every fucking reason to be worried, Mikella thought defiantly. She exhaled through her nose derisively as she glared at Zeke. Then, she softened her glare at him.
“Is he okay?” Myra spoke up, stepping over to Mikella’s side to see if she could offer aid. Mikella nodded as she also noticed the tired Piker coming over, looking over at the downed Zeke.
“He’ll be fine. He’s just unconscious,” Mikella said. “Though I’m not a doctor.”
“I’ll carry him,” Piker said, surprising Mikella once again. She turned to him with a squint in her eyes. “It’s only natural to carry the overworked if one has the energy. I won’t deny that he put in more effort than he should.”
Without really waiting for Mikella’s words, he swooped in and picked up Zeke without batting an eye. He carried him over fireman-style, carrying him with ease. Mikella wanted to stop him for a moment, but stopped after seeing that despite his roughness, he was actually handling Zeke quite well.
“Let him have Zeke,” Myra patted Mikella’s upper back. “We’re gonna need some serious rest…”
Mikella breathed, hearing the word as though it hit her reset button. She was exhausted, and she just woke up from her nightly rest. Almost two hours passed since this entire thing occurred, but she felt like it was a lifetime of agony and panic.
Then, of course, she remembered one soldier who did die during all this. She stared over at the side, noticing that the other soldiers saw the corpse of the once powerful axeman in the group. At first, she couldn’t believe it, but someone really did die.
Did Zeke think it was his fault? It might make sense since he looked rather out of it when she returned. Still, he ended up doing good.
“No way… Mikael is dead?” One soldier, the scout said with a trembling voice.
“What the fuck happened?” The duelist shouted. “Wasn’t the barrier mage protecting them? How the hell did this happen?!”
“Hey, easy, you weren’t there!” The mage, Philip, shouted back at the duelist. “Mikael went ahead out of the formation and got hit by a paralyzer!”
“If it weren’t for Zeke, we all would’ve been dead like Mikael!” Lisa commented, pointing her finger at the duelist.
“What the fuck you on about!? Mikael was my friend!” The duelist shouted, grabbing Lisa’s robed collar and grabbing her up to his face. “Don’t you dare talk like–”
“That’s enough!”
The captain finally spoke up, immediately getting everyone’s attention. Each of them stood resolute, including Myra and Mikella who were ready to jump in to intervene. If anything, Mikella was ready to jump and beat the duelist down and teach him a lesson, but she quickly put away that idea.
Val looked over at Mikael’s corpse, grimacing at the sight. Mikella couldn’t imagine the pain she’s going through. Even if the axeman was part of the general’s retinue, he was still there during the expeditions, helping the city and training with the other soldiers.
Still, she looked back at the living soldiers, her face returning back to her calm composure once again.
“We have lost a soldier today, but there is no denying that the responsibility lies only on him. He went out of formation, ignoring orders, and let himself get struck with a powerful attack. While there was no sign of a paralyzer during their numbers, that didn’t mean that one shouldn’t expect such things to occur. The fact that he died meant that he wasn’t able to focus during the time one should focus.”
Her words were scathing, leaning on insulting the man for his actions that led to his death, but there was no sign of mockery. If anything, the captain was using his death as a lesson for those still living.
“It is a heavy loss for all of us, and especially for those who have lost a friend and loved one. But remember this–we are soldiers, fighters who defend our town and its people. Death is a constant companion that will never go away, no matter how much you want it to. It will always be behind you, watching you, hoping you slip up and reap you for all you’re worth. That’s why you train, study, learn, and grow. Do not let his death get to you. Use it as motivation to remind yourselves why we grow stronger every day, why we work to the bone every hour for our growth. Do not forget what you saw here today.”
The soldiers became silent, lowering their heads in shame. Even the mages couldn’t help but feel guilty despite not doing anything. After all, they were there when he died. It wasn’t just Zeke’s responsibility–everyone could've been able to help him, but couldn’t. It was too much.
Mikella wasn’t there, but even she didn’t know what to do against a horde of monsters if she was paralyzed. Her body shivered just at the sight of that damn Bug-Eater doing the same to her, and seeing her possible future right on the ground there.
But the captain wasn’t just being strict. She offered her prayers along with everyone else who was around, and swore upon Mikael’s corpse that he will not be forgotten. Taking his belongings, Philip and Lisa prepared a proper cremation, as it was a better way to do away with the dead without spending too much time and effort to bury it.
As the flames flickered, the heat making it to Mikella’s eyes as she closed them. She felt the weight of a life passing by, realizing that she would have easily been the same had she not been training and keeping watch of herself. She also thanked Piker in her mind for helping her out that time, even if she was a little bitter about it.
Accepting their losses, the soldiers went over to the campsite where the others were, including the leaders who waited for them.
Then she saw Zeke awake and sitting, Piker standing by as they noticed them coming. Zeke watched the whole thing, probably even heard it as well. His head was lowered as though in prayer.
It was like she thought–he felt guilty for what happened. But she would never blame him. Hell, nobody could after the captain said her piece. She went over to him, flashing a smile to try and dissuade the loss.
He noticed it and despite everything, his exhausted and tired face managed to smile back.
…..
“How are you feeling?” Mikella asked, sitting right near him on the same log. He smiled back, though his exhaustion was making even that action hard.
“I’m tired mentally, physically, and emotionally. I did not want to go through this first thing in the morning.”
Zeke was never really a morning person, so having to go through so much pain, anguish, and emotional stress was not usually his take-away for the morning. It’s like going on a marathon straight after waking up with no preparation whatsoever.
His body was sore in ways he didn’t think was possible. He felt strained, almost stretched beyond measure.
“You really did good, though,” Mikella smiled warmly. “We all would’ve been screwed without you.”
Zeke shrugged. “I’m just glad things didn’t get worse after… after Mikael died.”
Zeke tried to not think too hard about that, but after learning his name, now he felt worse than before. He couldn’t think about how to share the bad news to the folks that knew Mikael from when he was born.
Mikella frowned, rubbing him on his shoulder. “Nobody blames you, Zeke. The captain pretty much said that.”
“I know, I know, it’s… I just can’t stop thinking about how I could do better.”
“You did what you were told to do,” Piker spoke up, getting their attention. “And that’s all you should be worried about.”
Zeke looked up to him, his forearms crossed with a glare as usual. His body was cut up in some places, blood pouring from the small wounds littered on his exposed skin. Yet he still carried a stoic look that could beat rocks in any contest of stubbornness.
“You did good, Zeke,” Piker said, uncrossing his arms. “The rest of the soldiers failed to keep up. All you had to do was ensure our safety, and you did. Nothing else could be done.”
“That’s…” Zeke said without really thinking. Then he assured himself and continued. “But I could still do better.”
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“Then do that,” Piker ultimately said. “I am not telling you to stay the same. All you need to do is follow your role as planned. I’ll give you credit for putting up the barrier yesterday, as that was a good call. But remember to follow as ordered. It would not do us good for you to waste yourself now that we saw your capabilities.”
He turned and walked away before saying: “You better remember this well.”
Zeke stared blankly at the soldier man as Mikella looked ready to exhale a mighty grunt.
She groaned. “Just when he was starting to be likable, he goes and acts like a total douche…” Mikella shook her head. “But I hate to say it–he got a point.”
Zeke let out a deep breath. In the end, both were right. There wasn’t much he could do. Not even in a fantasy world can you go back in time to fix mistakes. No, he knew that this was the best result, and if he wanted better, he needed to do better.
And the first thing he did was open up his status, mentioning to Mikella about his progress.
> Runecraft Level Up! It is now Level 7.
>
> You have gained +1 INT (x2) from your skill.
> You have gained +1 SPI (x2) from your skill.
…..
> Steadfast Mind Level Up! It is now Level 4.
>
> You have gained +1 SPI (x2) from your skill.
> You have gained +1 END (x2) from your skill.
…..
> Barrier Craft Level Up! It is now Level 8.
>
> You have gained +1 INT (x2) from your skill.
> You have gained +2 SPI (x2) from your skill.
…..
> Inscription Proficiency Level up! It is now Level 4.
>
> Increased accuracy with drawing runes.
> Decrease mana consumption when drawing runes.
After compiling them together, it was a lot easier. Throughout his panicked runecrafting, it looked like adding extra stress while ensuring his barrier kept working helped his skills improve quite a bit.
His barrier increase was a surprise, but a welcome one. After getting battered through and through and still holding, including his array along with the soldiers’ attacks, it should be getting beefed up a bit. He was also close to what he supposed would be the maximum skill level, which was nifty for his gamer self.
“Wow, that’s a lot of upgrades,” Mikella nodded in approval. “Nice job.”
“Thanks. But what about you? Anything new?”
Mikella just rolled her eyes, then showed her own notifications list.
> Axe Mastery Level Up! It is now Level 2.
>
> You have gained +1 STR from your skill.
“...That’s it?!” Zeke asked, befuddled.
“Yeah,” Mikella nodded in response to his confusion. “That and a single Spear Mastery level. Can you believe that? Then again, it’s not like I was going all out, but still!”
Mikella crossed her legs and arms in a huff, her lips pursed slightly. Zeke just chuckled, understanding her plight since they did face a Journeyman rank monster.
“Don’t be too upset,” Cloud spoke up, getting their attention. “There’s still plenty more after this.”
“Right,” Zeke and Mikella nodded. “So… what now?”
“We keep going,” Cloud said with a wry smile, pointing ahead. “We still have a dungeon to raid, remember?”
The two groaned, letting themselves fall on top of each other as their exhaustion took on a much grander scale.
…..
The group eventually, with no energy to spare, gathered up their belongings and did cleanup for the monster corpses. Unfortunately, thanks to the wave attack from the giant, most if not all the corpses were left charred and burnt. That made it impossible for the others to use the loot function of the system to pick up anything.
They’ve been using the loot system for as much as they could the past month, but unlike in the tower, most of the monsters around here dropped only hide and edible meat to a certain degree. Sometimes they drop fangs and ore that could fetch a nice price in the market in a larger city.
The bigger bosses like the high level Expert Ranks have a regular occurence of dropping the valuable items, but half the time they’re not really worth it as they’re still just Expert.
That did bring some good news for Mikella. Thanks to the fact that her spear was crowded by the monsters, their burnt corpses provided a much needed defense for her spear. She was able to pick it up with glee, its color darkened thanks to the ashes but otherwise still in near perfect condition.
Then they came across the red maned giant themselves. The leaders decided to let the soldiers handle the drop, and the other soldiers decided who among them should loot the body.
It was decided unanimously that Zeke would take it. At first, Zeke denied it, but unlike anyone else who practically stayed behind and the only four who managed to do anything about it, Zeke put in the most effort to not only protect them, but to provide a way of attack for everyone else at the cost of his resources. In the end, Zeke had no right to refuse so he instead just swallowed his humbleness and took the loot. He couldn’t help but get excited to find what sort of drop a Journeyman Rank monster would give.
> Would you like to loot the corpse of Red-Maned Giant?
He picked Yes, and soon the giant’s mangled body disappeared in a hazy smoke, dissipating into nothing as the contents fell into the storage bag. It was a nifty trick Cloud taught him by focusing his intent with the system. This way, no little twerp would swoop in and take what belonged to him.
Not that he would believe the soldiers here would do anything like that, but it’s better to make this a habit. The other soldiers understood easily as they waited eagerly for him to take them.
Checking it thoroughly, his eyes widened.
> Staff of Undying Flames (Rare):
>
> A staff made by a rampaging arsonist. Through the fire and flames, this staff carries on.
>
> Enchantments:
> Great Fire
> Great Heat Resistance
That was the one out of the two items he picked up. He wasn’t really all that interested, considering it specializes heavily in Fire Magic. He realized it was the same crude staff the giant was using, and hoped that it wasn’t the same size.
Still, it was a fairly good drop, all things considered. It was the other item in his storage bag that nearly made him choke in surprise.
It was a book, a dusty looking tome from the look of the icon. A very familiar looking book that brought back the emotions surging from his tower days.
> Skill Book: Incendiary Grasp (Rare)
>
> You are only able to learn this skill after meeting the following requirements:
>
> INT: 100–ERROR!
>
> Your Otherworlder state changed the requirements. Adjustments will be made.
>
> There are no requirements. You are able to learn the skill.
“Huh… I got a Skill Book,” Zeke said, dumbfounded. That caught everyone’s attention as he summoned the book out of his inventory.
It was a brown leather book as the last skill books he and Mikella found. It did, however, contain some potent Mana within the item, and that Mana felt hot to Zeke’s senses. It was Fire Mana, for sure, but that was that.
The other soldiers quickly ramped up in excitement. Though clearly the ones who didn’t have the affinity for magic, such as the warrior types, weren’t all that keen. But they still looked at the book with excitement, wondering who would take it.
Now that was a good question; Who would learn the skill?
If Zeke was honest, he’d really like to have the skill. However, he built himself up to be a supporter. Most likely, even with his Intelligence being high, he wouldn’t be able to fully use this skill to its fullest.
After showing it to Mikella, whom nobody really called out on since she was his wife in their made up story, he whispered to her about what to do.
“I don’t think I should take this skill,” Zeke said. “It’s good, but I think it’s better if someone else takes it. I got my runes and everything.”
That was also something else he considered. With his runes, with enough of a legwork, he could make as many spells as he wanted. To take a powerful Acquired Skill for himself when someone else who could use it more effectively just seemed shitty in his opinion.
Mikella nodded, understanding what he meant completely. “Good point.”
“What about you?”
“Nah,” Mikella shook her head, surprising Zeke. “Everyone knows I’m more of a fighter. If they find out that I can learn this skill that’s clearly a spell, they’re gonna ask a lot of questions. Plus, fire isn’t my thing. I’m more of a… lightning kind of gal.”
Zeke nodded to her words. Especially that last part as she really liked the Sword of Lightning she had on hand. So with that, Zeke faced the group with his book hanging in the air.
“It’s a Skill Book to learn Incendiary Grasp, which is a fire spell… anyone know if someone needs it?”
That got everyone to quickly divulge into a serious discussion amongst themselves. Though despite the rare and potentially powerful skill, not many seemed to want it.
For instance, while Zeke wasn’t able to see it, the stat requirements were quite high. One needed more than 100 Intelligence points and 50 Spirit and, for some reason, Strength. Considering the skill’s former owner, that might make a bit of sense.
Eventually it came down to only two soldiers available; Myra and Philip, the fire mage.
By all accounts, Philip should have the skill for himself. It seemed like a spell, even with the strange Strength requirement, but to everyone’s surprise, Philip handed the skill to Myra.
“Wait, why?” Myra asked the mage, her head hung back. “I mean, I have a fire attunement, but don’t you want to get better at fire magic?”
“I can, and I will,” Philip nodded. “My Fire Mastery skill is pretty high, and I’ll probably get a spell like that later when I get stronger. It just didn’t seem all that worth it for me to get it. Since the skill also has that Strength requirement, who else is a better fit than you?”
That surprised Zeke, but honestly he shouldn’t be so surprised. It would make sense that for certain skills, having the proper attunement would make learning the skill easier. Even if Myra’s Intelligence stat is poor, if she was lucky, she could learn the clearly fire-based skill thanks to her attunement–especially if her attunement is improved thanks to Zeke’s efforts.
“But… are you sure?” Myra asked, this time acting more demure than he expected.
“Of course. Out of everyone, you worked the hardest. I wasn’t even upset that you got a fire attunement, remember? Honestly, I could be a fire mage all I want, but nobody else here can beat you when it comes to being the most fiery one here.”
All the soldiers that heard him chuckled and agreed wholeheartedly, getting Myra to show a rare occurrence of embarrassment. She smiled at Philip, a sweet one filled with appreciation.
“Thanks, Philip. I’m glad you’re okay with this.
“It’s fine,” Philip shrugged.
“Learn it!” Jackie shouted, getting Maxie to clap along with him. “Show us your power!”
“Yeah!”
“Go for it!”
Despite losing their chances to get a skill, none of them truly felt that it was a loss as they cheered for Myra. Being the one they knew the longest, they were nothing but happy for her. Seeing all this, Myra shook her head ruthfully and took Zeke’s book for herself.
She accepted the prompt and the book disappeared, proving that she did meet the stat requirements.
While they may have lost someone, they have gained a lot of power in return. If Zeke could see it like that, that would be great.
But he knew that wasn’t perfect. He still needed to be better, to be more than he is now. Taking out the staff from his inventory, he turned to the others.
“Alright!” Zeke held the staff up high for everyone to see. “Now who wants the Staff of Undying Flame?”
That immediately got everyone to scream and shout, making Zeke remember that he hadn’t revealed that he got two items.
Whoops.