The new chapter in our lives turned out to be much more boring than I expected. Now that I had unlocked, I could finally get a job, and we badly needed the money. I became a courier, carrying things all across town.
It was boring most of the time, but it was good experience. Sometimes I would deliver things in stealth just to help level; species experience was slow-coming when you weren’t in mortal peril or anything. Plus, it was fun to run around all day. It was also decent pay; I eventually became one of, if not the, fastest person in town, so I could do a lot of jobs in a day.
Sometimes I’d take alternative pay for delivery. Mr. Bo paid me in food a lot of the time; Sool the guard gave me an iron sword one time. Sool and the guards also let me and Corby join training every now and then in exchange for deliveries.
Corby spent most of his time hunting with Mrs. Clea or woodworking with Mrs. Scully. I occasionally joined him in the forest to practice my
Muscular and adorable at the same time. How does he do it?
Unfortunately, I didn’t get any taller either. I wasn’t even able to pass Mom. The final nail in the coffin was that the twins had also passed me by the time they unlocked.
How could they betray me like this?
They, the lover of apples that they were, got jobs with Mr. Bo. Which meant I got to see them a lot and give them sneak attack hugs. I wasn’t able to keep much money for myself, but I still made sure to spoil the twins. I had learned my Big Sis duties from the best. The rest of my money went into saving for travel.
Bellum and Milly had both gotten a special twin skill that gave them boosts to all stats if they were close together, so they planned on sticking together. They didn’t have the same love of bonking things Allie and I did, but they did have the same urge to see the wonders of the world…and the same sweet tooth. They were hoping their jobs with Mr. Bo would help them get a [Merchant] class.
I was pretty excited about the whole idea. If they were traveling too, I’d have a lot more opportunities to catch up with them and spoil them.
I had also decided to start praying to the god of truth. But I didn’t really need anything, so my prayers were mostly just one-sided conversations.
Hey, Crayon. Just had a yummy apple. Do you have a favorite fruit?
Crayon, my little brother and sister are so dang cute. I love them so much.
Crayon, today I saw a cloud that looked like a cinnamon bun. It was amazing, but it made me hungry.
I never got replies, but my mana would always drop afterward, so I assumed the messages got through, and he was just busy.
Mom and I still didn’t talk much. She worked a lot of nights, so we barely saw each other at home. I don’t think she hated me, but she couldn’t forgive me. I thought that was fair—I couldn’t forgive me, either.
The final year of my Tutorial felt both lightning-fast and painfully slow. Corby and I had already maxed out levels for the Tutorial, so we were just competing to see who would end up leveling the most off the stockpiled experience.
As the final month approached, I was increasingly anxious for three reasons. One, I wanted to go out and have all kinds of fun adventures and bonk and stab all kinds of interesting things. Two, this was the same time of year Allie had disappeared, and it always made me tense. I’d stealthily check on the twins every chance I got just to be safe. Three, It was Stampede season.
The Crazy Ass Undead Assault had disrupted the usual migration, but we were getting closer and closer to my first Stampede, and I wasn’t the only one who was tense.I could see it every time I talked to the guards. The older residents were also pretty wary. They all kept glancing toward the warning bell at the edge of Town at the slightest noise.
I was on my way back from a delivery when I heard it finally ring. I’d never actually heard it before, so it took me a few moments to realize what the sound even was. When the realization dawned, I bolted towards Mr. Bo’s food cart. I didn’t even stop to explain as I grabbed both twins and started hauling ass towards Corby’s house. The sudden movement may have been a bit too much for them because they both threw up once we stopped.
I considered trying to clean it, but first I had other priorities. I looked around the room and saw Mrs. Clea, Mrs. Scully, and Mom.
“Where’s Corby?”
“H-he’s in the forest today. He said he was going west of the river today.” Mrs. Scully’s eyes were wide with fear.
Shit.
“Okay, don’t you worry. I’ll bring him back to you. Promise.” I gave them a reassuring grin and ran off before they could protest, shutting the door firmly behind me.
I had gotten pretty good at moving around over the past few years. Jumping off a few buildings to save time as I cut through town, I quickly made my way to the other side of the river. I tried to focus my senses as I ran, looking for any clue where he was. I soon heard him, but it didn’t sound like he was alone. I quickened my pace and came to a clearing. I hid on top of a tree as I surveyed the surroundings.
There was Corby, swinging his now very large axe and bleeding much more than I was comfortable with. There were the ostrilorpe corpses scattered around missing legs,heads, and tails; there was also a lot of bird blood littering the ground—I was more than comfortable with their amount of bleeding. There were the three ostrilorpes that were nipping and clawing at him, standing a little taller than he was with their gross necks. And then there was the biggest damn ostrilorpe I had ever seen. It was like a house had turned into the world’s ugliest and most pointless bird.
I steadied myself. I couldn’t afford to panic, even if I felt like I was boiling over with a combination of worry and rage. I found my target: the smaller ostrilorpe at the back of the pack.
Or is it a flock? Herd? Doesn’t matter. Kill the stupid birds hurting my Corby.
I unsheathed my trusty iron sword and launched off the tree toward the dumb bird. I landed with a slice and the bird’s head fell off its neck. I didn’t stop there. The birds were startled, so I took the time to try and finish a second one. I went low for this one, sliding past its leg and chopping it. I kipped up and finished the job.
Corby also took advantage of the moment to split the skull of the last small ostrilorpe. I wanted to take a better look at him, but the giant ostrilorpe screaming furiously needed my full attention.
“Can you fight?” I asked.
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“Yes!”
“You go left leg; I go right.”
“Got it.”
Years of training together had finally honed us into a, well, not great, but at the very least competent, team. We both zigged and zagged as we tried to close the distance. The ostrilorpe was angrily pecking at the ground trying to stab us with its massive beak, leaving small craters in its wake. It also started spitting globs of dark-green fluid at the ground that made it sizzle; I shuddered and remembered what had happened to my family's field.
I got to my target first. I was able to land a clean strike, but it hardly made a dent in the tree trunk of a leg. This isn’t going to work.
I shouted back to Corby. “Change of plan. Focus on one leg.”
I barely had time to get that out before I had to roll out the way of the ostrilorpe trying to crush me under its leg. I was dancing and weaving around the leg, peppering it with strikes. If nothing else, I seemed to be annoying it enough to get the thing’s attention off Corby as he made his way over.
It was getting harder and harder to dodge the stomping leg. Fatigue was beginning to wear on me. There was a reason Tutorial kids weren’t sent out to fight monsters without a Class. But I kept dodging and sliding around the leg. I was slowly chipping away at it, though I wondered if my sword might just break first.
Corby finally made his way under the ostrilorpe and managed a chunky swing against the leg, digging deep into it, but not enough to fell the bird. It screeched and stomped in rage.
I leapt out and tackled Corby to save him from being smushed. “I’ll get you close. One more hit from you should do it. I’ll handle the rest.”
He nodded at me. I picked him up and threw him on my back. I was slower with the extra weight, but having two running skills was showing its value as I sprinted towards the leg, dodging swipes of its beak and jumping over puddles of acid. As we got closer, Corby jumped off me towards the leg. The force of his jump shoved me to the ground, but I quickly scrambled to my feet.
Need to practice that one more.
I looked over and saw as Corby landed one last solid hit, sliding through the leg, before falling on his face. The ostrilorpe screeched at a deafening volume. It moved its head under its body to look at us, and all the hairs on my body stood up.
It wouldn’t do something that stupid, right?
Not willing to risk it, I bolted from out under the bird, barely escaping before it unleashed a flood of acid. Its own body was sizzling now, but the damn bird had found its mark: Corby.
No no no no no.
My mind whirled. I badly wanted to rush to his side, but years of training had drilled in that I needed to finish this thing off first or we were both dead. I tried to ignore the sounds of his screaming and the tears running down my face as I charged toward the bird. It tried to swing its neck like a whip across the ground, but I jumped over, landing on its neck. It shot upward, trying to throw me off, but I managed to lodge my sword in its neck as a grip point and hung on. The force of its shaking pushed me further down the neck as the sword sliced through.
The screeching of the bird turned into sickening gurgles as it choked on its own blood. Unfortunately, it didn’t finish the job. My sword snapped at the hilt, part of it still lodged in the neck, as I landed on its back.
I had a stupid idea, but it was better than no idea. I took off sprinting back up the neck. Then I jumped as high as I could and landed with all my strength on the piece of the blade. It stabbed partway through my foot, even with the resistance, but it did the job as the rest of the blade penetrated through the rest of the neck. The familiar ping of notifications let me know the job was done, and I hurried over to Corby.
He was still screaming, but at least that meant he was still alive. I ran over and pulled him out of the acid. My bare feet and hands screamed at me, but I ignored them.
I didn’t know what to do. Couldn’t carry him anywhere. Couldn’t heal him.
Oh gods. Please, somebody help.
Oh, alright, I suppose I could lend a hand.
I blinked and looked around. No one else was around.
Hesitantly, I tried to respond to the strange voice.
Hello?
You asked for help from a god. Did you think I’d just show up in person?
You’re a god? Um, nice to meet you? Are you Crayon?!
The voice sighed.
I am the god of truth and trade, CRADON. With a D. Do you know how many prayers you’ve sent mispronouncing my damned name?
Huh. I kinda like Crayon better.
Anyways, I’ve come to offer my help.
You’ll help Corby?
In a way. You’ve offered me enough mana over the years to warrant a small boon, so I can help facilitate a trade. Restore his life force with some of your own. He’ll be in perfect shape when you’re done. Simple as that. Good deal, yeah?
I accept.
I could practically hear him grin.
Marvelous. Just put your hands on him; I’ll do the rest.
I complied and felt more blistering pain from the acid. I pushed through it and I could feel the life leaving me. Like my energy was getting sucked through a vacuum. First, my mana. Then it sucked deeper and deeper.
I think Corby stopped screaming, but it was hard to tell because I’m pretty sure I was also screaming now. I threw up from the pain. I kept my hands on him till I blacked out.
…
…
…
“Nym!!!” I could hear Corby shouting. I didn’t have the strength to open my eyes.
Shouting is good. Must be better…
“Nng…”
“I have an idea to save you, but I need your consent for it to work. Do you trust me?”
Of course, silly.
“Mhm.”
I drifted back to sleep.
Name: Nymia
Age: 17
Species: Rabbitfolk yuongin' Lv. 10 (max)
Class 1: Locked
Class 2: Locked
Stats:
Bonk: 12+1
Zoom: 24
Beefy: ??
Senses: 22
Brain: 10
Mana: 10
Willpower: 25
Free points remaining: 0
General Skills
* Blades
* Dodge!
* Barefoot
* Sneaky
* Edible Cooking
Species Skills
* Rabbit’s Foot
* Enhanced Senses
* Forage
* Burrow
* Cuddles