Morning. Everything is packed up, and we are ready to leave this temporary camp. We decided to follow the monsters south for a couple hours. Shraaizar, the monkeys and goblins will continue south while the girls, Zahariel and me will move north back to town.
"Marcy, can you add Zahariel to our party?"
"Impossible. First the kid is not registered and second we are not in the guild building. We can only disband party or kick members in the field."
"This will be bad. Zahariel, what is your level?"
"I fought in the great war! I subdued a demon general!"
"That was millenia ago when you had over four feet of height. And yesterday you could only shoot fireworks against a feeble troll. So spit it. Your level."
The seraph hangs his head down. "Level 1 and 1, " he mutters under his breath.
It is astonishing. How can he be level 1? "It is hard to believe... Is there a way to lose levels?"
"There is only one," Marcy interrupts. "Dying," She makes a dramatic pause and continues "there is a story about a guy that could appraise corpses. The guild hired him to evaluate monster bodies. But all corpses were level 1. One day he appraised the body of a well-known B-rank adventurer, and the level came out as..."
"Villager level 1," I complete Marcy's train of thought.
"Exactly. That guy had developed two 4th tier jobs. It would be impossible for his body to be a villager level 1, unless the level is stripped upon death."
I remember something about my own status. "Zahariel, what is your age in the status window?"
He opens the status and checks. His face goes pale "One day. How is it possible?"
It seems that Zahariel died sometime before the chalice broke, and came back to life after I ate the crystal. It could possibly be a crysalis. "You were reborn yesterday, Zahariel. Would you care to write your skills in this piece of parchment? Just to check how many you do have."
"I guess there is no problem." He takes the pen and parchment, and sits on a rock to write.
Holy Magic [C]: 6 Healing Magic (D): 6 Light Magic [D]: 6 MP Pool Increase (E): 3 MP Recovery Increase (E): 3 Seraphic Resistance (innate) [S]: 4 Fire Immunity (innate) (A): 3 Seraphic Aura (innate) [S]: 7
We can't help but oogle that juicy selection of skills. I am envious of his [Fire Immunity]. It is A rank, I should get some Lord or King boxes. maybe I can get lucky. But what are those other innates? Heck, he was born with two S-rank skills. Seraphic Resistance grants moderate resistance to all and any status ailment. It is way less effective than the specific resistance, but it is an all-in-one. The Aura reduces damage received from all sources and also acts as a defensive deflection field.
"Can you turn on your aura? I want to try something."
"Please don't hurt me." He turns his aura. There is a faint glow all around him, and the characteristic halo can be seen from some angles.
I try to scratch him with my claws. There is a resistance, like when you push two magnets with the same poles facing one another. I think I could hit him If I went full throttle, but there is no way I am doing that.
"Hold a second. You said back there that you were level 1 and 1. Do you have both racial and job levels? And what is your job?"
"Seraph 1 and Acolyte 1"
This is very bad. "We can't register Zahariel at the Guild because his status would make everyone think he is an hybrid monster." The very reason I am tangled up in this i-rank mess is because I also have both racial and job levels.
"Acolyte is a religious job, right? I never heard of such type of job," Marcy states matter-of-factly. There are only three kinds of jobs in the guild: Prowess, Agility and Magic.
"Anyway, Zahariel is too young to register. We can think of something later. Let's keep moving."
We made our way south without any problems. It seems the swarm from Beelzebub's Hive is scaring away all the monsters. The goblins were very afraid. Once the sun hit the middle of the sky, we parted ways.
"Do not take too long to return, Grendel. I really dissslike not having you around." Shraaizar says 'i will miss you' her own way. I really wanted to take her with me. She is like family to me already.
"I'll return once I have no more business in human lands. Be careful and stay away from humans."
"Take care." She got soft. Usually this was the time she would ask me not to die to someone else because she would be the one to kill me. Speaking of which, she didn't bite me these days. Is she holding back because of the girls? Not the time to ask now.
"Listen up, monsters. Do not fight humans. If you sense human presence, run away. If humans approach the meadow, burn syrup to scare them away."
The monkeys and goblins growl in approval. Mirfield is the settlement closest to the syrup meadow, and I doubt they have rebuild enough to send an expedition there.
We traveled north parallel to the road for the whole day. Not a single encounter but lots of monster trails crossing the road away from Beelzebub's Nest.
At night while we were setting camp, the insects suddenly went silent. The sky is still overcast and it seems it will rain at most in a couple days. Darkness holds sway of the land.
"I can't hear the crickets anymore. Something is nearby." Marcy shouts. "But there is nothing in the presence detection."
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It might be stealth monsters. We draw our weapons and form a circle. Zahariel is in the middle.
Something pink and gooey stretches out from the darkness, wraps around one of helen's rats and pulls it back.
"Everyone behind me! [Firebolt]!" There is a visible concern in her face as she commands the rats to take cover but she steels herself and shoots a gout of fire parallel to the tongue. The firebolt hits something, and in the flash of light we see the silhouette of several giant frogs as tall as a grown man. "Grendel, please save that child!"
I let out an intimidating roar to the other side just in case this is a pincer attack and run to where the frogs are. My MP goes down a little. It is strange but hardly something to worry about now.
"Illuminate!" Zahariel helps with the only spell he has MP enough to cast. From what we talked and tested before, it seems that his angelic magic is more difficult to use because of the evil shift in the world's fundamental laws.
Marcy shoots the burning frog in the eye now that she can get a clear line of sight. Several sticky tongues stick to me and begin to pull. They might even pin me if some more tongues latch. But they gave me a great opportunity!
"Circle Slash!" The horn spear's tip sings as it is twirled overhead and then around my waist. A few of the rubbery tongues are wounded but not cut off until the blue whistling double trailing after the tip finishes the job.
"Firebolt Volley!" Helen's spell showers the frogs with several flaming projectiles igniting most of them. But instead of fleeing they become enraged and spit lots of green goo on me. Fearing what it might be, I raise my arms to protect my face but the sticky thick goo covers me entirely.
My entire being burns as the acidic goo eats my flesh. I crouch and grit my teeth in pain. Not a sound because goo might enter my mouth. My HP is draining at an alarming rate and I am left with no choice but to trigger [Vitality Booster]. Now I need to remove this goo in seven minutes or its the end for me. Once more I regret rushing ahead without evaluating the danger.
Skill Acid Resistance level 2 acquired. Skill Max HP Increase level 4 acquired. Skill Tough Skin (innate) level 5 acquired.
I crouch in pain, and can perceive only the sounds of fighting.
Skill Acid Resistance level 3 acquired. Skill HP Recovery level 8 acquired. Skill Pain Resistance level 8 acquired.
The damage and recovery even out and I can't hear the sounds of Marcy's bow or Helen's spells.
I feel water splashing over me and the stinging from the acid goo eases.
Helen gained a level! Marcy gained a level! Grendel gained a level! 1 skill point added. Skill Tough Skin (innate) level 6 acquired.
Combat ends before my timer runs out. I focus on not losing my mind to the sudden hunger that follows the end of Vitality Booster.
"Grendel, how are you feeling?" Helen looks at me with a grieving face. My HP haven't dropped below 20% so it is not enough reason for that... The little rat. I think he did not made it.
"I will be fine, just don't get any closer." I hold out a hand to warn them. I dare open my eyes, there are burned frogs all around me. Good. They will do. I grab the nearest frog and begin munching on its flesh. There is a slight numbing on my tongue, but I don't care. I need to sate my hunger before these troll instincts take over and go find tastier morsels.
Skill Willpower level 3 acquired.
Title Burnt One awarded.
Those that take over 9,001% of their Max HP as burn damage.
Half of all burn damage taken is converted to normal HP damage.
Besides the stringy tendons, the frogs taste just like chicken. Even the bones splint like a chicken's. While I am eating, Marcy approaches and guts one of the frogs. She takes the corroded corpse of the poor rat the frog ate. Poor boy. No wonder Helen was sad.
After eating twelve frog legs I am finally sated. My vision is blurry and everything is painted in pretty colors. Our party is now an army. There are twelve people in front of me. So many Helens, I'm in heaven. There are even little angels everywhere.
I stand up and wave at the pretty girls of my harem. There are several Marcys to keep guard. We also have a huge swarm of rats. They are so funny in their colored little armors. It is like one of those 40's cartoons. I get closer because I can't make what the Helens are saying.
"I love all of you too, my pretty band of Helens."
With my long arms I hug all of them and give them a big kiss in the cheek. I didn't know I had so many arms. I am like an octopus. Finally I have evolved. My new species is Octotroll.
I can do those wavy arm dances that require several dancers all by myself. Check my moves! Everyone is amused! Giggling Helen x12 is awesome. I bet this world has never seen such moves. Monster dance!
The world spins. The cotton clouds stretch and bunch, and they also spin.
...
....
...........
Skill Confusion Resistance level 1 awakened.
The sun hits my face and I wake up. Why am I sleeping buried in a patch of dry mud? Heck, there are bits of bone and frog gore everywhere. Where is everyone? Why my nape hurts so much? My mouth is dry. Where is everyone?
"Status!"
Level 33 vilager. 100 unspent skill points. Woot. No new title. I think the new one in the series will only come after a lot more. Can I afford to wait? Several skills hit the cap yesterday. [Skill Growth] only works on skills whose level is lower than this one's. I can always grind levels and the skill point collector title series later. The skill points gained are retroactive anyway. SP-ending time.
[EXP Growth] level 10, 49 points spent. [Skill Growth] level 10, 19 points spent. [Emperor's Might] level 6, 30 points spent. This one costs double. Urgh. [HP Recovery] level 9 and only 3 left. I'll leave them for later.
I stand up and further next to the road there is a camp. It seems Zahariel and the girls are eating breakfast. I'll join them.
"Hey guys, why did you bury me in the dirt yesterday?"
"Pfffff!" "Giggle" "Hahahah" The three of them look away from me and burst in laugh. No fun. I can't remeber anything after the frog ate the rat.
"Hey, did that little one made it?" Their mood sour at once. "Did I do something bad?"
"No. Grendel did nothing wrong." Helen says in a sorrowful voice. "It is just that I never expected to see such a side of Grendel..."
My short-term memory was damaged. I gained a ton of HP-related skills, and a title. I think I burned a lot of HP yesteraday. "Were any of you hurt?" They say no. "Did I attempt to hurt or do something weird to any of you?" They look at Helen. Oh, shit. Did I sexually harass Helen? She is blushing and fidgeting like a maiden in love. "Did I do something bad to Helen?"
"No! nonono! You did nothing bad..." Marcy is giving me a thumbs up. I'll swiftly use my technique {Change Subject}.
"Are we good to go?" Marcy gives me some bread and jerky. "Thanks." I am not hungry though. What did I eat? OH! "Did I eat the frogs yesterday?"
"Yup. Remind me of never let you do it again, G."
"It is probably for the best." Zahariel is holding his laugh.
"Pack up and go."
I'll turn into human by noon, and we should arrive in town before nightfall.