A burst of green hexa particles(the digital hexagonal particles) surged past Zalroth(without his school blazer) as he walked along the unnaturally flat path adorned with flattened tree tops. As Zalroth continued to walk, the triumphant tune signalling a level-up played in Zalroth's mind.
[Zalroth's Level Increased]
[14 -> 15]
Zalroth stared at the pop-up before waving it away and stopped in his tracks as he heard a meek exhausted huff. He turned and watched the exhausted Kel-Ku(wearing Zalroth's school blazer) staggered up to him.
"How're you not tired, when you haven't spent any of your stat points yet?" Kel-Ku whined as she limply held her arms by her side.
"Stats aren't everything," Zalroth stated unamusedly. Kel-Ku gave Zalroth a puzzled stare while slowly tilting her head to the side.
"But they are though...," Kel-Ku mumbled.
"If our physical states are anything to go by, I assume the stamina from the screen doesn't refer to how long someone can run for right?" Zalroth asked. Kel-Ku shrugged while saying she wouldn't know given she's a goblin living in the forest.
"That's fair, I suppose," Zalroth stated before he noticed Kel-Ku twiddling her thumbs with her head held low, "Something wrong?". Kel-Ku shook her head before raising it.
"No... it's just, are you really ok with me tagging along with you?" Kel-Ku mumbled meekly.
"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't," Zalroth stated before he turned away from Kel-Ku, "Her level hasn't changed even though we're in a party," Zalroth thought as he looked at Kel-Ku's status in front of his face.
[Kel-Ku][Level: 1]
[HP: 10][Hexa: 10]
[Class: ]
[Vitality: 1][Stamina: 1]
[Attack: 1][Hexa Attack: 1]
[Defence: 1][intelligence: 1]
[Agility: 1][Speed: 1]
[Avalible Points: 5]
"Oh...," Kel-Ku uttered before rubbing the back of her head, "I guess it was a dumb question.". Zalroth opened up his map before looking at his icon with a black border and Kel-Ku's icon with a green border.
"So... mine has a black border, people classified as party members are green, and my classmates are blue," Zalroth uttered mentally as he followed the map.
After a little walking, the duo arrived at a clearing in the forest before a large chunk of earth appeared in the air and crushed a monster-type goblin as it plummeted to the ground. The impact shook the ground, making Kel-Ku stumble and almost trip over her feet.
"Alright, level eightteen!" Ardentus exclaimed cockily from the other side of the mound of earth. Ardentus opened his status and quickly applied his points.
"I shouldn't be surprised you'd be doing something like this instead of looking for the others, but at least it kept you in one spot," Zalroth remarked unamusedly as he and an apprehensive Kel-Ku approached while holding Zalroth's hand. Ardentus maniacally laughed at Zalroth's verbal jap before turning to face the duo.
[Ardentus Koihouza][Level: 18]
[HP: 100][Hexa: 10]
[Class: Condense]
[Vitality: 10][Stamina: 1]
[Attack: 22][Hexa Attack: 35]
[Defence: 22][intelligence: 1]
[Agility: 1][Speed: 1]
[Avalible Points: 5]
"Well, it's not like I had a choice, a whole horde of goblins was in a camp here but one of them spotted me," Ardentus remarked before he noticed Kel-Ku, making her flinch, "Are you a short girl magnet or some-". Zalroth bonked Ardentus on the head with his bare hand but Ardentus didn't even flinch as a floating digital 0 made of hexagons appeared by his head.
"Hah, you're gonna have to get strong-gah!" Ardentus managed to say before Zalroth bonked him on the forehead with the pummel of his stone knife, making a bold 20 appear by his head. Ardentus cursed under his breath, clasping his forehead as red hexa particles spewed from his head.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"So, weapon boosts only apply when using the weapon itself, and the particle blood splurts must be a critical hit indicator-" Zalroth managed to say himself before Ardentus grabbed Zalroth by the collar of his shirt.
"Don't think I won't beat your ass, just because we're not enemies anymore," Ardentus barked moodily.
"I'd prefer if you didn't, you could probably one-hit me with your current stats," Zalroth remarked, making Ardentus raise an eyebrow and ask Zalroth to show him his stats. Zalroth obliged and Ardentus amusedly gasped at seeing Zalroth's unmodified stats.
"Waiting till you figure out what your class means aye?" Ardentus asked, "Shame I don't.".
"You're was Condense, correct?" Zalroth asked. Ardentus smugly smirked before he placed a hand on the earth mound. Ardentus encased the mound in ocean blue hexa particles before the mound was compressed into the size of a marble. He picked up the earth marble before tossing it to Zalroth, who caught and lifted it with no problem.
"Conservation of mass be damned, right? But, it makes throwing them easier at least," Ardentus said cheekily as Zalroth passed the earth marble back.
"I believe it would be for the best if we got everyone together in one place" Zalroth suggested. Ardentus nodded before agitatedly rubbing the back of his head.
"I know but how are we going to find them?" Ardentus remarked, eliciting an unamusedly dumbfounded look from Zalroth, "What?".
"With the map?" Zalroth uttered unamusedly.
"We have one of those?" Ardentus asked, before his own ocean blue boardered map appeared, "Oh...". Ardentus checked the map before getting an idea.
"Do you think we also have a messaging or chat thing-ado?" Ardentus asked.
"Given there's a party system I wouldn't doubt it," Zalroth stated before he felt a tug on his arm. He glanced down at Kel-Ku and asked what's up.
"Are you talking about the party communication or the clan communications?" Kel-Ku said.
"Is there a difference?" Ardentus asked. Kel-Ku swiftly shook her head.
"Other than a few extra things for the clan one, they function the same way," Kel-Ku explained. The duo nodded before Zalroth and Ardentus opened their respective clan menus. The duo stared at their screens before Ardentus snarkily glanced at Zalroth.
"It says here you're the Clan Leader," Ardentus remarked.
"I can see that," Zalroth replied before he noticed Kel-Ku flapping her ears as she listened to the duo.
"If you're the leader or vice-leader then you're able to send telepathical thoughts, or messages to all members of the clan without needing to form a connection with the person," Kel-Ku stated.
"At all, the most terrifying power anyone can have," Zalroth uttered defeatedly. With some help from Kel-Ku, Zalroth managed to send a simultaneous message to his classmates telling them to head towards himself and Ardentus since they were the closest to the edge of the forest.
"Did you get the message?" Zalroth asked, to which Ardentus nodded.
"And now all we have to do is wait...," Ardentus remarked before a loud thud reverberated from the nearby bushes.
"You just had to jinx it didn't you," Zalroth uttered as he got into a defensive combat stance with his stone knife(uncommon) and a stone knife(common).
"Hey... I wouldn't count this as a jinx since I never finished my sentence.".
"....here and relax," Zalroth said while mimicking Ardentus' voice.
"Shoot...," Ardentus uttered as he heard Zalroth finish his previous thought. The rustling bushes continued as a low growl accompanied the rustling. The growling seized for a second, making Kel-Ku relax a little before a large dark red-furred wolf bursted out into the clearing. The wolf monster slammed its feet onto the ground, unleashing a deafening howl. Zalroth sighed before Ardentus waved his hand at him and directed his attention to the small square in the corner of his eye. Zalroth glanced at it before two RPG screens appeared.
[Zalroth's Status effect]
[Weakening]
-Minus defense by 50%-
[Direwolf][Level: 34]
[HP: 300][Hexa: 10]
[Vitality: 30][Stamina: 1]
[Attack: 20][Hexa Attack: 25]
[Defence: 40][intelligence: 1]
[Agility: 25][Speed: 31]
"This monster might be a problem," Ardentus remarked smugly.
"You don't say," Zalroth uttered before he opened his own status and reluctantly began distributing his stats.
[Zalroth Akikou][Level: 15]
[HP: 10][Hexa: 10]
[Class: Creation Crest]
[Vitality: 1][Stamina: 1]
[Attack: 30(+20)(+7)][Hexa Attack: 1]
[Defence: 1(-0.5)][intelligence: 1]
[Agility: 18][Speed: 25]
[Avalible Points: 5]
"That debuff sure is petty," Ardentus remarked, making Zalroth glare at him. Zalroth told Ardentus to protect Kel-Ku and find a way to limit the direwolf's movement before he took off towards the direwolf. Ardentus amusedly sighed and jokingly said Chronia seemed to have rubbed off on Zalroth, given how he was running straight towards the direwolf.