Chapter 27 – Sharpening Skills

Even though it was noon, the forest was eerily quiet. Aenon trudged across the thick foliage, while practicing his Mana Manipulation skill. He had always assumed he was great at stalking, but the wolf pack, his pack, had proved otherwise. Which brought him to the realization that he needed to advance his stealth capability to match the packs’. He planned to get his mana manipulation and spells to a higher rank, while also creating new spells and combinations. The beta had detected his presence because his scent had escaped the mana bubble he had made using air manipulation. And Aenon had made the mistake of being upwind, trusting it to work flawlessly.

For now, the pack had settled down in a cave after their filling meal, and so Aenon ventured out alone. It was weird, but he had a clear sense of the direction they were in. Like a built-in compass that pointed to each wolf. He was not sure of the range of his ability, but he was about 50 miles out, and it still worked. He refocused on the badger-like animal hiding in the bushes underneath him. It was much bigger though and had spines in its fur, along with foot-long claws that it was using to tear into a goblin carcass.

The badger had a bunch of Earth wisps floating around and clinging to the spines, which Aenon assumed were valuable since his quest log required him to collect 50 of them. Under normal circumstances, he would have killed it and retrieved those. But since he was practicing stealth, and due to the bonus objective, he wanted to try something different. He pulled up his quest log to read the description.

Active Quests (17/18)

1. Corruption Cleaner

2. Kobold Hunt

3. Gather Wood

4. Dire Wolf Hunt (Complete)

5. Collect Raw Hide

6. Collect Earth Spines

…

Collect Earth Spines:

Collect at least 50 earth spines from Earthen Badgers.

Bonus objective: Do NOT kill the animal.

Reward

· 50 S per spine

· Bonus: 5 G

Completed Quests (1)

1. Goblin Hunt

This was Aenon’s third attempt to get close to the creature. After many trials, Aenon realized the senses the creature relied on. It had a horrible sense of smell and sight, but it always buried itself into the ground in a blink at the smallest of ground vibration. So Aenon had to find a way to dampen his footsteps. His boots could do the trick in a heartbeat, but he wanted to do this without. He focused on the gravity wisps this time around since he had not gained any spell based on it yet. Last time he had tried making an orb using gravity wisps, but it had collapsed soon after. This time, he tried sticking them all over his body in a thin layer. But they kept floating away no matter how many times he tried. But he kept at it for hours until finally he felt them click in place.

System Notification

Spell Learned: Feather Foot (Basic)

Mana Cost: 400

Mana to maintain: 500/min

Spell

Mana Cost and Type

Description

Illusion (Basic)

…

…

Earth Manipulation (Basic)

…

…

Water Manipulation (Basic)

…

…

Overcharge (Basic)

…

…

Blooming Earth

…

…

Barrier -Physical (Basic)

…

…

Air Manipulation (Basic)

...

...

Feather Foot (Basic)

Initial cost: 400

Channel cost: 500/min

Wisp Type Gravity

Manipulate gravity to make yourself lighter. At basic proficiency, reduces your weight by 20%.

Aenon tried jumping with and without the spell active and indeed he felt himself getting lighter. It was exhilarating to keep it active since he was able to run faster and jump higher. The only issue was the constant mana drain. His current regen rate was close to 300 per min, which meant he couldn’t sustain it indefinitely. But it was a great addition to his arsenal, nonetheless. He experimented with his new spell a bit more before using it to get close to the earthen badger. It was an exercise in frustration, as he tried repeatedly for the next 6 hours, but failed each time. Thankfully his soul sense ensured the badger could never truly get away. The closest he got was 3 feet when a notification popped up which broke his concentration, making him stumble. Since this was not a combat scenario, the notification had unfortunately gone through.

System Notification

Feather Foot spell proficiency increased to Minor. Weight can now be decreased by 30% and mana cost is also reduced.

He screamed and stomped in anger, cursing the dumb System and whoever had designed it. Getting within an arm’s reach of his target and failing because of a stupid notification was maddening. Unfortunately, his venting had spooked the badger further, since it refused to surface after that. Aenon decided to review his stat sheet while he waited patiently for it.

Name

Aenon Fenrast (13 yrs)

Race

Ascended Human (F)

Level

1

Class

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Void Stalker

Level

2

Subclass

Abyssal Warden

Level

1

HP

15093

MP

15333

HP/min

302

MP/min

311

Stats

Strength

1509

Intelligence

11533

Constitution

1508

Willpower

1555

Dexterity

1513

Perception

1523

Titles (131 x 6 = 788)

Rebirth

+1344 all stats

Skills/Effects:

(1) Detect and resist the effects of soul attacks and spells.

(2) Double the available Skill slots per evolution level

(3) Ability to fake Titles, stats, and levels. This effect cannot be bypassed even by Overseers.

(4) Can bypass certain System restrictions.

(5) Unfettered: ???

(6) Stat Point multiplier: 2

Alpha

+50 all stats. +30% physical stats when in presence of your pack.

Soul Forge

+80 all stats

(Really) Late Bloomer

+1% stats from Titles

Skills (Free SP: 86)

Weapons (Dagger, Unarmed, Traps)

Savant

Stealth (Woods, Urban)

Savant

Tracking (Woods)

Adept

Mana Manipulation

Adept

Spells

Illusion (Basic) - 120

Earth Manipulation (Basic) - 200

Water Manipulation (Basic) - 200

Air Manipulation (Basic) - 200

Barrier – Physical (Basic) - 200

Feather Foot (Minor) – 400

Overcharge (Basic) - 1000

Blooming Earth - 1200

He made minor adjustments to his stat sheet. First, he displayed his regen rates on a per minute basis, instead of every 10 minutes. This was to better keep track of how long he could channel a spell. He also split his spells into two groups – basic and combinations. Right now, he only had Blooming Earth in the right column, but he intended to make more soon. Lastly, he added the channel cost of each spell and sorted the spells by their mana consumption. He pulled out some System Rations to quell his hunger while waiting for the badger. He didn’t want to attract any sharp-nosed critters if he took out the meat skewers.

After another 2 hours the badger finally came out, putting Aenon on high alert. The elusive creature was more cautious than ever, but so was he. He activated Feather Foot and after 20 minutes of slowly creeping up on his slippery target he finally managed to grab and pull out 2 spines before the creature dove back into the ground. But this time it stayed there, so Aenon had to move on to a different target.

Eventually he found a group of 3 badgers having a tussle to impress what Aenon assumed was a female. The female had a lot more spines and Aenon managed to sneak up to her and pluck 8 in one go. The poor creature shrieked in pain, making the three males charge at him to protect her. Aenon backtracked into the trees, while the males made a defensive circle around her. For whatever reason they did not dive into the ground to escape. And so Aenon spent the next three hours sneaking in and plucking more spines from the female. Unfortunately, he did earn 5 nasty holes in his legs for his trouble.

After losing 25 spines in total, the female finally had enough, and escaped into the ground, leaving the males all confused and lost. Aenon managed to gather 10 more from them before they too escaped. It took him another 5 hours before he managed to collect the rest before nightfall. His ability to sneak up on them had improved significantly. Satisfied with his progress, he ran back to the cave to rest for the night. As he entered, he saw the wolves lazily lying about with Bane sitting in a corner. As Aenon approached, the beta sat up straighter and gave a bow.

“I assume the hunt was successful?” he asked.

“Yes, it was. Needed to collect 50 spines from Earthen Badgers, and boy were they difficult to sneak up on. Learned a few cool new tricks though,” Aenon replied while collapsing on a pile of dried leaves and moss he had placed at the highest platform within the cave.

“Ah, yes. Those are tough to lock down since they bury in at the slightest sound. There is not a lot of meat on them though. So, we generally leave them alone. Not worth the effort,” Bane responded.

“Well, they were good practice. Anyway, I am going to take a nap. What do you plan to do?” Aenon asked while yawning.

“We will go patrol our domain to make sure there are no interlopers. Your recent challenge will attract scouts from the other alphas, and we need to be prepared. I will leave my mate to guard the cave while I take the others to hunt.”

“Your mate?” Aenon asked curiously.

“Yes, alpha. Wolf packs have only one breeding pair, while the others help raise the young and hunt. Since I was the alpha, that responsibility was mine. This is my mate, who is expecting a litter soon,” Bane said as another wolf walked up to them. This one was the second largest of the pack and had a fierce gaze.

“She is not sapient yet, is she?” Aenon asked.

“Not yet. But she understands me, which means she is close. Maybe in a few more levels, she might.”

“She has a fierce quality to her. You two suit each other,” Aenon said with a smile.

“Does the alpha have a mate?” Bane asked nonchalantly, throwing Aenon in a for a loop.

“Ahem. Ummm… yes and no,” Aenon responded uncomfortably.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Bane asked while tilting his head to the side.

“There is someone much stronger than me, trying to force me to accept his… offspring. He even used some soul magic to force the issue. I need to figure out a way to get out of …,” Aenon paused mid-sentence as Bane suddenly stood with his heckles up. Even his mate started growling in anger.

“Who is this creature that dares to use soul manipulation? That too on our Alpha. A soul is sacred, and no one is supposed to mess with one,” Bane said with a growl.

“Why are you so worked up though? Did your souls not get tied up with mine? You even said you can never surpass me because of it,” Aenon was surprised at the angst.

“Soul synchronizing is different than soul domination. We did it by choice. And yes, it limits our growth, but there are two crucial differences. Firstly, should you mistreat us, or we lose faith in you, we can break the pact. A dominated soul cannot. And more importantly, you misunderstand what I mean by limiting our growth. With synchronization, it’s a two-way connection. Our potentials boost each other. You get a boost from us, while it gets easier for us to catch up to you. But in a domination, the dominated soul’s growth potential is shackled without any benefit.”

“What kind of benefit?” Aenon asked with narrowed eyes. He was starting to realize how deep the Overseer’s deception went.

“You are getting a 30% boost as an alpha while in our presence, correct? Well, so do we. But if you had dominated us, then you get the boost, but not us,” Bane replied grimly.

Aenon sat up in his makeshift bed, his sleep disappearing with this new revelation. His anger kept increasing the more he learned about this Overseer. But unfortunately, he didn’t have the resources or power to do anything about this. Yet. Looking at how worked up Bane was, Aenon decided to bury his anger deep, letting it simmer for now.

“Calm down Bane. We are not ready to take that man on. But we will. So, focus on growing in strength,” he said while rubbing Bane’s snout. Bane and his mate calmed down, but he could feel their worry and anger through his soul connection.

“Rest, Alpha. We will be back in a few hours,” Bane said before barking once to gather the 6 wolves while his mate lay down in a corner near the entrance of the cave.

Aenon lay back on his bedding and pondered about his situation for a bit before falling asleep. He slept peacefully before waking up around dawn. All the wolves were back and resting too. They had even dragged in a dead deer with bright red antlers. The antlers emitted small puffs of smoke occasionally, and Aenon found fire wisps around them. There was an entire leg right next to his bedding, which was probably his share of the kill.

Aenon stood up and went out of the cave to relieve himself before returning. He set up a small campfire to roast the meat and sat down next to it. The wolves were curious about the fire and some of them cautiously approached it while sniffing. He threw a cooked piece to the wolf that had bravely approached the fire the furthest. She smelled it a couple of times before tentatively licking it. Satisfied that it was safe to eat, she devoured it one bite and sat down on her haunches right next to Aenon, wagging her tail in anticipation.

He threw a few more cooked pieces to the gathering wolves, before enjoying his own while watching a pair playing tug of war with a piece of bone. Aenon smiled at their antics. They were just like dogs, if one ignored their size and demeanor during hunts. Bane barked once when the rough housing got too bad, immediately ending the skirmish. When Aenon was done with his meal, he stored the rest of the cooked meat into his inventory. It would sustain him for the next three days if he rationed it right.

“What is today’s goal, alpha?” Bane asked while walking up to him.

“Well, yesterday I practiced hiding my footsteps using a crafted spell. Today I plan to focus on hiding my scent. Any good prey nearby that focuses on smell-based detection?”

Bane thought for a while before answering, “There is a particular type of horned rabbit that is rare in these parts. It’s extremely fast and can detect smells from miles away. Normal horned rabbits are white, while this one is green in color. I picked up its scent yesterday to our East. That should be a worthy challenge.”

“Excellent. I will go for that. In the meantime, I have a task for you as well. Here is a list of creatures that I need you to eliminate. It’s part of the System Quests I need to complete for the village nearby. I am assuming it should count as complete, since our souls are linked?” Aenon asked after some thought. He wanted to whittle down these quests while simultaneously finishing his training.

“Yes, it should count. Consider it done. We will also scout out the nearest Alpha predator for your challenge,” Bane said with a bow.

“Sounds good. Do I need to make them surrender or accept me as their alpha?” Aenon asked.

“No, Alpha. Not every predator will submit. The only reason I did is because our souls were similar. Most other duels will be to the death.”

There was no remorse or hesitation in Bane’s tone. Aenon understood this was not out disregard or indifference. This was how wolf packs operated. Fights and attacks on neighboring packs happened all the time. Leading to death and destruction. But it was not out of greed. It was just their territorial nature.

“Gotcha. See you later, Bane. Good hunting,” Aenon said while heading out. It was going to be a long and tiring day.

………………..

Blake

Blake’s eye twitched as he stared at his quest log. The updates made no sense to him. He was getting quest completion notifications one after another, which wouldn’t have been odd if he was leading a full guild. But these were quests assigned to one man, and the locations of the quests were from two opposite directions of the village. How was one man in two places at once was beyond him. But the bigger concern was that he had underestimated the monster again. Some of these beasts were almost level 100 and would require a full party of adventurers to bring down. And he had already received 5 kill notifications in 6 hours. One was in the east while the rest were to the west of the village.

One possibility was that he was a summoner. But only one summon was possible at a time and the summon couldn’t be this far away from their master. Even if you neglect that, summoners were weak themselves and it was not possible to have kills while the summons were elsewhere. While he was contemplating this, his wine bottle forgotten in his hands, the bedroom door opened as Vincent burst in.

“What the hell is going on? I have already had 8 completion notifications since morning. But they are from two directions. Is there a separate team I am not aware of?” Vincent asked in confusion.

“I don’t think so. This man is somehow completing quests by the dozen in two different locations. I am assuming he is some kind of strong summoner type class.”

“But summons can’t be this far apart…,” Vincent tried explaining, but Blake cut him off.

“I know, Vincent. I know. I have no idea what is going on. I just know this. You were right about not messing with this guy,” Blake said as he received another notification.