The war was over.
That was the first bit of good news Lee had heard in the entire month since his return to Felispar. His efforts in the proliferation of healers turned the tides of battles, causing formerly mutually destructive battles into slightly risky but rewarding wins. Bardum had been repelled, treaties and compensation were being written into being, and those healers, who had taught others the life saving magics, were soon to return home to live the lives Lee wanted of them.
Over the past month, and curing the climax of the unseen war, Lee could visually see when skirmishes, battles, or giant pushes were being done solely by checking his XP. When a battle was well underway, healers were putting in their work, which earned him a frankly egregious amount of experience.
Level: 57
XP 5433/10000
Twenty seven levels… passively gained through his skill Life’s Guidance and his Path of the Healer class quest. It was legitimately cheating, as far as he could tell. Yes, a kingdom at war was ripe for experience, but he wasn’t even there on the battlefield. His experience gained from those veterans of the war would dwindle to next to nothing as they returned to a more civilian lifestyle, bereft of constant battle, but it still felt surreal to have benefitted from doing what he did—Doing what he wanted.
In a sense, it felt like the world itself was on his side for once—ignoring the fact that a dragon still needed to be taken care of—but his goal of spreading healing was working and showing results.
Right now, as he sat at his small table in his room, which was covered in wads of paper with faulty plans, copy-scrolls to be in contact with members of the military near the front (Not Fatalina herself, she was much to busy putting an end to the war.), Lee stared at a part of his status and thought deeply about what to do with his influx of points.
Name: Lee Barnes
HP: 350/350
MP: 515/515
Level: 57
XP 5433/10000
STATS:
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 20
Constitution: 30
Wisdom: 30
Intelligence: 43
Luck: 10
Unused Points: 81
Eighty-one points to spend… if he was being honest, he still barely felt the actual effects of spending points. Although, that may be due to not getting severely injured since the Basilisk, along with the only purely physical stat he’d invested in being his dexterity.
Was he quicker on his feet? Yes, most definitely. Was he suddenly Usain Bolt? Debatable at best. Despite his frail appearance, which had certainly improved, he was quick. But, feeling the effects of wisdom and intelligence was… difficult.
Wisdom had alerted him time and time again, and that alone made it useful, but intelligence had nearly imperceptible changes. Oh yes, he could launch a miniaturized yoga ball sized chunk of earth now, compared to the baseball it had been, but that was one of the easiest spells to gauge effectively.
Lee was curious about what adding a few points into strength was like, as he’d been frail for such a long time, but it wasn’t strictly necessary, nor a priority. His ‘build’ felt like it was pretty solid. So far, he hadn’t felt as if he lacked in anything, and it wasn’t like he was one to put much use into his stats in general—being a peaceful (When he could be), non-adventuring healer did that, he supposed.
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In the end, he liked how his stats were distributed. So, with only a mild amount of anxiety, he simply ratioed his stats to improve them all equally across the board, keeping them in the same spread. It left him with four points remaining, but his new HP and MP scores were comforting.
Name: Lee Barnes
HP: 525/525
MP: 800/800
Level: 57
XP 5433/10000
STATS:
Strength: 15
Dexterity: 30
Constitution: 45
Wisdom: 45
Intelligence: 70
Luck: 15
Unused Points: 4
There wasn’t any spectacular surge of strength coursing through his body. There wasn’t much of… anything. Anticlimactic, he supposed.
Soon, since the war had ended, a proper plan from the kingdom should be in store. He wasn’t the only one who wanted to put an end to the exorbitant prices of healing—war being over or not.
With a sigh, Lee rose from his seat and prepared for bed. Soon, a duo of long awaited quests were due to arrive. Hopefully, they would be able to help with the big lizard.
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With a flick of her wrist, the blood coating her blades whisked away, leaving her twin khopeshes unsullied by the taint and filth of a common foe—Goblins.
It was no surprise that the lowest of the low, when it came to monsters, that is, called Thexis their home. They were a plague upon the earth. A never ending tide of experience, but vicious and meant to cull the population, no doubt.
Long ago, Neia had asked her father about the origins of monsters, with the naivety of a child who thinks that their parents are all knowing. They bred, that was for certain. Raping the peoples of the world, enslaving them, then eating their corpse there after birth. It was something she was warned of young, having been told that suicide was the option should that ever come to pass.
But even if they bred like Jackalopes, which they did not, why did their numbers swell to such heights? To her, and she was sure of many others, it was confident that they had to come from somewhere. And, not just Goblin’s either. All monsters had to begin somewhere.
“Neia, you’re thinking again. It’s best not to do that. Bad things happen when you think.” Called Ruven, irritating her out of her scientific and curious thoughts.
“I’ll take your damn hat and leave you blind.” She barked out as she sheathed her blades. Looking around at the corpses of their ambushers, she sighed. Looting goblins was never fun.
“Ar—Are they all de—dead?” Harper, their guide along their journey towards Felispar asked. For a warrior of their kingdom, he was meek. Even Lee, as afraid as he was when he first arrived on Pallesia, was willing to confront those before him if need be.
“No, they’re still alive.” She droned out, answering his question is sarcasm. She hopped back into the back of the wagon, dipping her head to make sure her hat didn’t rake against the top, and plonked herself down back into her seat. “Go ahead and loot them, Harper. You have higher luck.”
Well, that was a lie, but baby steps.
It was a solid fifteen seconds before she felt the gentle rocking of the wagon, indicating that Harper had grown the courage to approach the dead she’d left behind. From the corner of her eye, she could spot Ruven’s glare, directed right at her. She decided to speak before he could yap about her methods. “He’s soft. It’s good for him.”
Ruven’s glare didn’t fade. “The people here are softer because they have the opportunity to be. It’s best to not force your ideals upon others. He’s just a boy…” He shifted as he looked out the back flap. The sun was beginning to set. “I recall a conversation in the past about how a certain human was basically a child. Tell me, would you have Nymie Springs do what you asked of that boy?”
She saw where he was going with this, but it wouldn’t work. “Harper is a man in a position meant to defend others. If Nymie was the same, I would. She would need to learn, as if she didn’t, she would die.”
Weeks of traveling through the hellscape that was Thexis alone with Ruven cramped in a wagon not large enough for his stature grinded down their nerves. “Also, he is not a child. We have learned otherwise. Lee wasn’t a child either, and I was wrong to think him so. It was ignorance. And like always, ignorance is dangerous. He needs to learn to conquer his fear.”
“Whatever…” Ruven slumped back. They were both on edge, it was clear to them both. It was probably best for them both to drop the conversation before yet another harsh argument erupted.
“I—I got them all. Do you want me to hold onto the coins again?” Harper’s voice said, from near the front of the wagon.
“Go ahead. Tell me, how far are we from our destination?” She asked, hoping it was sooner rather than later. They were close, that was for sure.
“Two days. If you look closely, you can see the mountains already.” Harper’s voice was losing its unease as he took his rightful seat—the drivers.
“Good. Because we’re going stir crazy and a dozen or so goblins wasn’t enough to ease our frustrations. Does Felispar have hunting grounds?”
The wagon rocked as their extremely suspicious beast of burdens tugged it forward, setting them off on their journey once more.
“I don’t know. Maybe? I’ve never been there to be fair. I would assume the nobles go out to hunt, as many are wont to do. We’re talking animals, right?” Harper asked.
“Either or. Monsters are fine too. Find a camp site and we’ll set up for your sleep. We want to head out before the sun rises yet again.”
The conversation ended with a groan, but he’d listen. She was sure of it.