Message known user Phil.
Waiting… Connection established.
It was extremely bold to do this while Eve walked right next to him, but Devon wanted to get this out of the way as soon as possible.
[Phil]
Something tells me I’m not going to like this conversation.
[Devon]
Yeah, sorry but I want you to do some work for me.
[Phil]
Some work you don’t want Eve to know about then. I hope you aren’t going to be doing anything shady.
[Devon]
Not at all. All I want you to do is continue to work as a provider of services within Arkania. I want you to pass along any interesting info you hear to me through these messages.
[Phil]
You want me to work as a spy? Devon, you could just settle down within the camp and hear everything yourself, why go through all this trouble?
[Devon]
I’ll be spending a lot more time over in Plainstown, so I might not make it around to Arkania for long periods of time.
[Phil]
Alright, but why do you want to keep Eve out of the loop? It makes it seem like you’ve got something nefarious going on.
[Devon]
Because she hates me, and it’ll be a massive headache if she decides to cause problems because of personal differences.
[Phil]
Hm… Alright, fair enough.
Connection closed.
Good, now I have reliable sources of information from both camps. I still need to figure out what it is I really want to do though…
They arrived back at the outer wall of Arkania, and Devon stopped to take his leave.
“I’ll be heading back to Plainstown. I need to get my clothes fixed up, and I don’t trust anyone other than the guy who made it to do it.”
Phil took his hand, “Any time you swing by I’ll treat you to whatever you want, free of charge. It’s the least I can do to repay you for helping get me out of that place.”
“Sure, but he’s got better things to do than hang around here, right?” Eve said from behind Phil, shooting Devon a glare.
Devon gave Phil an ‘I told you so’ look before he said, “We’ll just have to see.”
Phil walked through the gates and Devon turned to head back to the plains when Eve called out to him, “Hey, let’s go do more of those spirit dungeons or whatever that was tomorrow.”
“I don’t think we can,” Devon said honestly.
“What? Why not? Those places would be amazing to grind out levels.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think I’ll be able to find them at the drop of a hat. The only reason I even knew to look for that one is because I already knew it would be there. Wandering around aimlessly in the hopes of finding another one? Forget it, it’ll be a waste of time.”
“Hmph, fine,” Eve said with a look that told Devon she thought he just wanted to hog them all to himself, “Be that way.”
“That doesn’t mean I don’t know any other places that might be good spots to gain levels,” He said as she turned around to start walking away.
Devon couldn’t help smiling as she turned back around, “What? Where?”
He just smiled at her and waved as he started walking off, “Tell ya later, okay?”
“You little…!”
The walk back towards Plainstown was much longer than it should have been since Devon was reduced to walking. He’d shouldered his way through the intense muscle pain to put on a brave face in front of Eve and Phil, but when he was alone he was reduced to a hobbling mess.
----------------------------------------
Yur Kuzak silently watched the human hobble through the forest. Yur Kuzak had actually been assigned to watch over the human known as Eve, but this one had drawn her attention for two reasons.
She had been amazed when it had managed to force its way into a spirit dungeon. That was something not even their chief, the only one among them who had managed to awaken their spirituality, could do.
But then, when they had returned with the old one in tow, she had noticed something far more significant. She checked the ladder again, just to make sure.
[Level Ladder]
1. Zane - Level 35
2. Eve - Level 35
3. Ray - Level 34
4. Stein - Level 33
5. Ingrid - Level 32
6. Trey - Level 32
7. Ash - Level 32
8. Devon - Level 32
9. Licht - Level 32
10. Vanir - Level 31
Nowhere on the ladder was a level 32 human named Erik, and yet she was looking at one as she stalked along through the woods. More importantly, there was the one they sought most of all, finally back on the ladder…
Still, she wasn’t entirely sure. Of the five level 32s, only two of them were actively being monitored. The other three had managed to slip their tail.
Do I dare report in? If I’m wrong it could mean my head, but if I’m right this could be the chance to lessen the punishment that will fall upon the rest of us from the chief for failing to protect his daughter.
Nothing was going as it should have been. They’d been told that most fledgling initiate races were weak, pathetic things that usually scurried back to their home planet as soon as they could. They were supposed to be a chance to give the younger generation, the ones around level 20 and 30, a chance to gain a huge burst of experience in one decisive swoop, with the bonus of an entire world to explore and expand upon.
But the humans were not what they expected. Instead of floundering in their new reality, they seemed to strive. Several of them displayed potential that far exceeded any of their clan’s own talents, and they were starting to scare her. Even knowing the tutorial procedure would place a hard cap on their growth, the raw aptitude they displayed meant they wouldn’t be so easy to quell.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
It was also starting to seem like she and the rest of the lower levels, who’d initially been planned to reap the biggest harvest of human experience, were going to have to resign themselves to only going for the minority that had decided to invest in crafting instead of strengthening themselves. She estimated if things kept going at this rate the average human’s level by the end would be somewhere around 20-30.
This is going from the easygoing mission we were promised to one where we’ll be the ones on the back foot if we aren’t careful. To make matters worse there’s the incident with the chief’s daughter. And Kal’o Dar still hasn’t checked back in, even after 8 days. If something happened to him too, I don’t know what Kal’o Kir will do.
Kal’o Kir was Kal’o Dar’s soulbonded, and the two shared a connection worthy of the name. So if something truly had happened to Kal’o Dar then it was entirely possible that Kal’o Kir would do something drastic.
I want to go home, Yur Kuzak thought sullenly as she continued to observe the human.
Except the human wasn’t there.
She stopped, not believing her eyes. Her ability Danger Sense suddenly flared to life, and she instinctively dodged to the side right as a golden spear shot through the air where she had just been standing.
It detected me? Shit, now I don’t have a choice.
She opened the messaging function and tried to open a line to Val Kazar, but an unexpected notification popped up.
[Notice]
Jamming in effect. No Messages can be sent or received until user in possession of Jamming skill is defeated, or area of effect is left.
WHAT?
The idea that a human could get their hands on such a high tier skill within the tutorial was absurd, and yet she couldn’t deny the reality before her.
The human came into her view as it pursued her, and beside it she saw its tile floating. A strange pulsing was coming from within the system-given device, indicating that it was, in fact, the one who was jamming her.
It had discarded its cloak, and she could see the battle-worn clothing beneath revealed. She’d assumed the human known as Eve had shouldered the brunt of the burden in the spirit dungeon, but it seemed that may not have been the case.
Still, it had lost the advantage of surprise, and she was 4 levels above the human. It shouldn’t be an issue to eliminate it by herself now that it had come to it, but some itch at the back of her mind told her to be careful. She had failed to listen to her instincts in the past and paid the price. She wouldn’t be making that mistake today.
She brought out her axe and immediately activated both charges of her defensive skill.
Two floating opaque shields sprung to life around her, and she readied her axe, preparing to strike back at the arrogant human. As a strength based clan, the shields were extremely effective at shoring up on their otherwise lacking natural endurance. And she was grateful that the human seemed to be a physical fighter, so she wouldn't have to deal with any annoying spells.
----------------------------------------
More fucking shields, seriously?
Devon brought out the hammerhead attachment with a scowl. He didn’t have a lot of mana regenerated yet, so he needed to open the overseer up before he could deliver a fatal blow.
He still couldn’t believe how stupid he’d been. The defeat of Irin and the completion of his plot had blinded him to the fact that those escapades had catapulted him straight onto the ladder. Devon hadn’t understood why the overseer that had been tailing Eve had suddenly switched over to him at first, but it had become obvious once he’d pulled his head out of his own ass.
It was a bad habit of his that he tended to zone out the immediate surroundings when looking at the state of the board as a whole.
He moved in towards the overseer again, bringing his hammer to bear against one of the floating shields that surrounded the Vishan. The overseer was 4 levels above him, but he was so used to hitting above his weight by now that it barely even registered.
The floating shield moved into place to block his attack, and Devon felt a ripple in the air as hammer and shield collided. The clash lasted for only an instant, and the shield shattered into a thousand pieces. But it had managed to completely negate the force of Devon’s attack, leaving him open.
The overseer didn’t miss that chance as it stepped toward him and brought its axe down. Devon desperately raised the golden pole of the hammerspear and blocked the descending strike. The resulting clash was far more impressive than what he’d done against the floating shield.
Devon was forced to his knee as his already abused muscles screamed out in agony at the strain of the contest.
He bent one of his elbows, angling the shaft of the trick weapon to force the axehead to slide along the length of the golden spear. Devon knew if he faced the Vishan head-on in a challenge of strength he’d lose, badly.
Devon moved his hand out of the way as the axe slid down the trick weapon, but it hit the connecting mechanism of the hammerhead, decoupling it. With it free Devon shoved the rear end of the spear into the overseer’s face, but the blunt attack was blocked by the remaining floating shield and didn’t have nearly enough force to break through it this time.
Devon leaped back, wincing as every muscle in his body screamed in agony. He needed to end this fast, or his body wouldn’t last. But he’d left the hammerhead lying in the dirt, and trying to retrieve it would only leave him open to another attack.
I’m not sure if it’s just a coincidence, but these people seem to heavily favor strength as their primary attribute. If they take a similar path to Eve, then I may be able to exploit that.
He didn’t have much mana left after the dungeon, so he’d have to take a gamble on what he did have.
Activate magic; Lightning Imbuement.
A thunderclap sounded out in the forest as his weapon received the magical electric charge. He didn’t bring out any other attachments to put on his weapon, he wanted to see if he could overwhelm the overseer with the speed afforded him by a spear.
He stepped towards the vishan and thrust his spear forward, and it clashed against the remaining shield. The floating visage wavered, but it didn’t break. However, he saw the overseer flinch back as some of the electric charge was transferred directly through the shield to the lizard behind it.
The overseer only allowed itself to be stunned for a mere moment, however. In the next instant it seemed to activate some kind of skill, and Devon felt a blow in his abdomen, as though somebody had snuck up behind him and punched him in the gut. When Devon looked to see what the cause was, he saw nothing and the pain faded almost instantly.
He realized it had only been some kind of underhanded illusion, and the overseer was already bearing down upon him again. Devon wildly swung as he moved his body, and by some miracle managed to hit the axe mid-swing, knocking it aside.
In the split-second opening the Vishan gave as it tried to recover its balance Devon spun himself around and slammed his spear against the shield again, whirling it like a quarterstaff. This time the shield broke, and the effect of lightning imbuement was fully transferred to the overseer.
As the overseer’s body was racked with convulsions from receiving an electric shock Devon stepped forward and stabbed his spear forward, impaling the Vishan in the neck. Again the overseer’s body was wracked with spasms, but it fought through the electric torture, reaching a hand up and grabbing the spear, stopping Devon from pulling it out.
Devon let go of the trick weapon and stepped forward, pulling the curved sword attachment out of his inventory as the Vishan was continually wracked with spasms from having the still lightning imbued spear stuck in its neck.
Devon grunted as he used the last of the strength in his arms to stab the curved sword into the overseer’s chest. He felt a bit of the shock from his own lightning imbuement travel through the Vishan’s body and into the curved sword.
Still, it was enough. The overseer coughed up a mouthful of blood before its eyes rolled up into its head and it lost its balance, falling over onto the ground.
Kill – [Overseer Yur Kuzak – Level 36] - 2794 Talons
[Level up. Level 33 obtained.]
Devon didn’t waste any time, quickly retrieving his spear and curved sword, as well as the fallen hammerhead. Next, he grabbed the tile that had appeared by the fallen overseer’s side and took the fallen axe as well. This one didn’t seem to have a spatial bead on it, so Devon simply left the corpse as it was and pushed his screaming muscles to run.
He didn’t bother continuing towards Plainstown. He turned right around and made for Arkania as fast as he could. It was closer, and the trees afforded him much more cover than the open plains. His jamming skill had notified him that the overseer had tried to open a line of communication at the beginning of the fight, so Devon reasoned it was unlikely it had done so earlier. But there was no way to tell.
The people standing watch at the gate of Arkania gave him strange looks as he ran past, but they made no moves to stop him. Their job was to fight off monsters, after all. In their minds, there were no enemies among the humans of the tutorial.
He made straightaway for the terminal, and didn’t relax until he teleported back to his hidden cave of safety, where he immediately collapsed on his cot.
Groaning from the pain of the immense muscle fatigue he was suffering through, he took a moment to thank his lucky stars the teleportation lockdown had finally been lifted.
Devon tried to go over the encounter in his mind, but his body was racked with constant spasms and pains that endlessly distracted him, so he simply took his second healing item in the past hour and passed out.