Chapter 3

Fairies were flying in and out of the tutorial sect to the transporter and back again in droves. The crystal tower was in an uproar! While the first fairies tried to bring back what little stability that they could. The alpha team department, who usually monitored the screens with the most important of trial runners, was empty. The only two fairies that were there were Sixal and Mr. Fipples. The two were just standing there looking slack jawed at the system notice on the big screen in the center of the room, "The system has taken notice of tutorial number #1331341164. Tutorial has been enhanced, following new protocol."

Mr. Fipples was the first to break the silence. "What in the apple pie does that mean?" He asked, trying and failing to put some heat into it.

"Chief, I don't know, but my team and I should be able to find out fairly quickly if you just let them in to the I.T. department Sir." was the only response that Sixal could manage.

Mr. Fipples wanted to argue with him, but fell short. He couldn't think of any other way that he could get this resolved. Well, there was another way, but he didn't dare get them in on what he's been up to. "Fine, you have five minutes to give me a sugar plum fuck of an idea of what that means. Do you understand me?" he said the last part menacingly.

"Yes, chief!" was Sixal's only response. With that, he went to the transport pad and shot out over to the I.T. department of the sect.

Mr. Fipples needed to calm down. His heart was going a mile a minute, and that was something his doctor warned him not to do. He pulled an old bottle of dragon's breath brandy from his desk and poured himself a glass; he let it sit for a second while he went to the shelf by his desk and brought out a book. In the book he kept a pack of mint leaf cigars, he took one out and put the book back. With the cigar in his hand, he bit off an end of it and took the other and rubbed the tip around the glass of brandy. He didn't do this often but was one of his most favorite past times. He lit the cigar and pulled in a deep breath, letting out an enormous cloud. Switching over to the glass, he took a shot of brandy. The liquid left a fire in his mouth. For about five seconds he felt inner peace, then Sixal returned with his motley crew of nerds.

"Sir, we have a basic understanding of what is going on and what it will further mean in the future, Sir. Pixley, tell the chief what you found." Sixal named a small round fairy with pink skin and purple fluff. Her face was also round but held an elvish appeal to it. Must have gotten a face lift, Mr. Fipples thought.

"Yes, well… It appears that the system has modified the basic structure of the tutorial grounds and added a complex series of code and binary that has made the matrix-" Mr. Fipples cut her off.

"Please, can someone talk in plain sugar for me?" he asked.

"Sir, what she means to say is that when I made the npcs aware of themselves, and had their memories restored to the last full day, they are now no longer npcs but are, in fact, people. They can get skills and a class. But the most important thing that we found was that Zayne's brain waves were no longer the same either. The coding that I put in place for the npcs has also taken an effect on him as well. His brain function is more complex than before, but it might take days or weeks to fully understand it, but he now has the cognitive ability of a normal person or possibly even a genius."

That last part made Mr. Fipple go from wide eyed to mouth hanging open with the look of horror at the man that was grinning from ear to ear. "THAT'S NOT A GOOD THING YOU IDIOT! WE WANT TO KEEP ZAYNE THERE FOR THE BET I PLACED AND FOR THE SKILL HE HAS! Please tell me something good that has come from this?" he asked, already getting a headache from all this shit that's been going on.

"Well, no. I tried to end Zayne's life on a whim, but the system blocked me from it. And it's not like we can also take him out. The tutorial is in another dimension that is in full control of the system now. On top of that, his skill growth will be multiplied by the level of the tutorial. So, if he's been there for a total of 20 years, the exp boost from the difficulty will be the total multiplier of his xp. So, the 20 years is then 20 times the skill gain that he gets from using it. The cap for the boost is nonexistent. The worst part of it is that the system seems to be developing a personality." Sixal said this, turning sickly green as it dawned on him on what that would mean if Zayne escaped, what it would mean if the system continued to develop this personality.

"But he'll die first, right? There is no time length on how long one can be there for. If Zayne never completes the tutorial, he would die of old age. Some of the older humans that we brought from earth already plan on staying there for the rest of their lives. Hell, we even took out the scenario and tutorial rest. The tutorial is cut off as long as it doesn't integrate with the rest of the system, right?" Mr. Fipples said desperately.

"There are a couple of things to look into, so I'm not too concerned as long as nothing major happens. Along with the other I just don't know, but it's had since forever to do this, so this can't be the first time this has happened," Sixal reassured him. When in reality, though, he was just as worried.

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Old Farmer Patrick was standing in the barn, which had a trail of blood that led to the woods. The look of worry on his face was apparent as he contemplated what he should do next. He could tell the townspeople what happen that night, but they would never believe he had died and came back to life. It was just so ridiculous that he, himself, could hardly believe that. He turned to the small home where he, his wife and his two sons lived and decided that he would at least try to warn his family first before the village. They would believe him if no one else would. Farmer Harrison crossed Patrick's mind and thought that he should try to tell Harrison if he would listen. Moving out of the barn, Patrick went to his home to start the horrid story of the dream that he had and the evidence that he found. The sun slowly rising, he caught sight of his loving wife through the window in the kitchen, awake and making breakfast. He wanted to protect his family so if worst came to past, Patrick would defend them. He would just stand guard and wait for the killer to return.

The town hall was a quaint little place that barely fit the entire population of Waterbrook. It placed in the center of the town and was used as a church too. Farmer Patrick ran there to speak with the town's head; he was considered an elder of the town, but he tried not to get involved very often. Getting near the front door, he heard a familiar voice which called out to him.

"Well good morning, Pat. What are you doing way over here in town, at this time of the morning? Did you finally give it some thought about having your boy wed my Sara?" The owner of that voice was the reason Patrick didn't like coming over here. The said voice belonged to Wilkinson, and he was the head of the town council. He was a short stout of a man who was always jolly wherever he went. Short, brown hair sat on his fat head, no beard, just fat rolls that went down his neck. Wearing his bright yellow colors that marked him the mayor, he waddled his way around town, and by the look of him, he was happy at the moment. Too bad that was going to end soon.

Patrick took a moment to think about what he wanted to say and how to not sound crazy. He couldn't think of a way out if it, but he did find an escape of not sounding crazy to the nearby townspeople. "Yeah, I got a thought on that, but we should probably talk about this in a more comfortable place." This way, at least, he could control the number of people that would know what he was about to unfold to the town.

"Yeah, that's not a problem, let's just step into my office and start the negotiation." Wilkinson started to laugh to himself, thinking he made a funny, but he wasn't too far off on what was to come of their meeting.

Three hours after the start of the negotiation and both Patrick and Wilkinson were blue in the face and out of breath. Old farmer Patrick told Wilkinson his nightmare and what he found in his barn, then went on further to explain to him that it was still out there. Wilkinson told him that he was crazy and the marriage with their children was off. He didn't want to hear any more about this absurd story about a killer and people are coming back after they die. Patrick tried to explain the blue screen that he got and what it said but was shortly waved off.

"Listen, what you're saying is that you have a skill, which was told to you by a floating blue page that looks like it came out of a book and that you can see it right now? You know what everyone is going to tell you, right? That you've been working too hard and now you are hallucinating these things from being overworked. Take my advice and just leave it alone. You'll come back to your senses after you had some rest. The last thing you or I want is you going around telling everyone this." Wilkinson was calm about breaking the news to Pat, but it didn't stop him from rubbing it in his face. "Ha, have you told Jenifer this yet? God, I would love to be there to see the look on her face after you give her this fantasy that you have created." Laughter started to bubble out of the round man, but that just made it worse for Patrick. He wanted to help everyone, but who would believe him? It just wasn't going to happen. After the meeting, he made his way to the last stop before his home; the chicken farm.

Farmer Harrison was a longtime friend of Patrick's, but the old goat lived to the east outskirts of the town, so it was a long walk. The hamlet Waterbrook was an estimated population of about fifty. It fit in the valley with about a 1.5-mile radius, not including the farm and livestock fields. It took Patrick about thirty minutes to walk there, but it gave him enough time to think of a way to tell his friend without sounding too crazy. The chicken farm sat on about a hundred acres with the house on the edge closes to the town. It was in good condition. Harrison always took care of his property like any good farmer. The chicken coop was on the south side of the house. That way, if anything came to kill his chickens, his friend would be able to hear what was happening. There was the occasional fox or coyote, but that rarely ever happened, because farmer Harrison had a pack of six blood hounds that would watch the house and chicken coop through the night.

His friend was in his rocking chair, carving up something that he probably didn't need. He was always making things for his three daughters, Lisa, Gwen, and Clair. They were probably out back gathering the eggs. God, did he need to get back to his farm to stop his two sons before they got themselves tired out already. He needed their help to set up some kind of defense for the nights to come. With that thought, he spend his pace so he could talk with Harrison faster.

Harrison was an average short man, with average features. His daughters took after him in the height but had their mothers good looks, god rest her soul. He had a head of long white hair that ran down to his shoulders, which could happen to a man with three girls living under the same roof with him. Patrick thought, chuckling to himself. He wasn't clean shaved either, that man could grow a beard faster than even Patrick could.

"Hey there Pat, didn't know you were coming out this way, would have brought out drinks after your long walk here. Patrick, there must have been a reason that you rushed over here so early in the afternoon. What's going on?"

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Zayne regained consciousness. With the tremendous headache pounding he was expecting to come, the last thing that he remembered was seeing the tree that he parkoured his head into. He turned to the said tree but found nothing. Getting up, he looked around, taking in as much of the surrounding that he could. The woods that he so carelessly dismissed as just trees had an eerie feeling to them. The mist that laid at the forest floor seemed as if it was trying to suffocate the surrounding trees. The sun was barely visible as the day was coming to a close, and the stars were starting to peak out. None of the trees in the forest had leaves on them, but the branches still swayed back and forth as if the wind was making them do it. The floor of the woods couldn't be seen due to the thick mist, but he felt dirt between his toes. Zayne realized this was where he first saw the fluffy thing at.

"Thank god you're up, I hate it when you do that. You know, it's not healthy for us to get our heads bashed in. Wait a second,… there is something different with your head. Something I can't place my finger on." Jiminy intoned with a bit of wonder at that last part. "Zayne, you ok buddy?" the question brought Zayne back from his bemusement of the forest and took the time to think about what Jim had said. There was definitely something different about him, something that he had forgotten or was never there before. It was as if something had come back to fill in a missing piece. Could it have been what his parents had taken from him. The thought of his parents reminded him of all this year in the basement and the flame of hatred came filling back. The burning hate that he felt for humans was hotter than ever, but not the same way that it did before. This hate was old and had an ever burning fire in him, but not one that consumed him entirely. It was condensed and focused, making him more aware of his thoughts and actions.

He was about to try speaking when another one of those blue messages went off in his face, but again, he couldn't read it. Instead, he waited for jiminy to read it out loud to him.

Achievement, for not speaking or saying very little, you have gained the ability- silence. Your stealth skill is 25% better than long as you don't utter out a single word, ever. This will stop existing as soon as you speak.

"Well, that is too fucking funny!" Foulness said after jiminy was done telling Zayne what it said. "So, we won't ever have to hear you speak again in that squeaker tone, HA Ha ha." It sounded like Foulness was enjoying himself a little too much and Jiminy seemed to think so too.

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"That's not even remotely funny. I was so close to breaking him out of this dark and silent, brooding image. Wait, he could still choose to talk. Say something quick, anything at all!"

"Don't be a fool, you know as well as I do that a 25% boost is way better than none at all. Besides, it's not like he talked that much, anyway." For once Foulness seemed to be on to something and that, Zayne thought, was new. Another notification popped up.

Strength +5, Ender +5, Vit +10 Agi +5. React +2. Through the use of your chains, you have gained the skill chain proficiency. You are an apprentice.

Jiminy read this but was stumped on how he got the skill chain proficiency. He has never used the chains at all. "This system is rigged. How the hell did you get that skill. The only thing that you did was run with them dragging behind you."

"Could be because he's stupid, and the tutorial is taking pity on him. I know I do every time I think about what he's done." Foulness said, full of mirth. "Pull up that sheet with all the numbers on it. I want to know how much of a beating he can take before the bitch passes out on us again." After that, he started to laugh. "Can you imagine it taking more than one or two head smashes for him to get knocked out, he could be there for the fucking whole day!" the laughter didn't die down for a few minutes as Jiminy and Zayne waited for him to finish.

Jiminy didn't say a word as he opened up the character sheet that Foulness wanted to see so bad. "Go ahead and try to read it big guy." He smiled in satisfaction as Foul stayed quiet.

Zayne

Class: 90s Slasher

Level: 0

Hp 220 Stam 170 Mp 4,

-Hp regen 16 per hour

-Stam regen 8.5 per minute

-Mp regen 2 per hour

Vit 22 End 17 Str 17

Agi 11 Percep 10 React 14

Will 15 Intell 4 Wisdom 3

Skills-Tracking lv.1 Stealth lv.3 Machete apprentice lv.7 Pain tolerance lv.2 Chain proficiency apprentice lv. 3

Abilities: Supernatural healing lv.4 the ability to heal 50% faster, Silence. Your stealth skill is 25% better.

"Hold on. I found a notification bar for past logs. I think I found what gave you that chain proficiency and why you're level 3 already. It would appear that carrying around weighted chains for an extended amount of time gives you this. That makes sense, not. Wait, there is also a tab on body proficiency as well. You have been a busy boy moving all over the forest to gain so many points for that to happen." Jiminy read out loud for them both to hear.

"Why doesn't it say that in his sheet?" Foulness asked. He was starting to sound smart. Too smart for Jiminy's liking.

"Because it has its own sheet, that's not part of the character sheet. I can bring that up as well if you want me to." Jiminy said.

Body strength lv 10,

Body end lv 10,

Body vit lv 15

Body agi lv 5,

Body react lv 2

Body intell lv 1

Body wisdom lv 1

Body will lv 1

Foulness stayed still in his head for a moment. "Nope, I've got nothing."

Zayne was about to speak, but Jiminy stopped him before he could do it. "Not a single word out of you. As much as I hate to give him the credit, Foulness has a point on the no talking thing. We still don't know where we are and what the objective is, but whatever it is we, you need all the benefits that you can get and that includes not talking." Zayne didn't much care either way. As long as he accomplished his goal, that was all that mattered. What goal you might ask, well that should be pretty obvious. Getting his damn machete back where ever the hell it was.

Zayne was walking through the woods at a brisk pace. He was going to reach the west side of the woods soon, but didn't want to get there before it got dark. Being out in the sun outside of the tree cover made his skin hurt, and he didn't want to do that again. He stepped in spots that the trees didn't quite cover and some of his skin had gotten all misty like the forest floor that he was walking through. The walk to the village was faster than what he remembered and Jiminy advised him why.

"It's because of the increase of agility that you got. Thanks to the big chains that you have hanging from your wrist and ankles, they are slowly leveling up your body stats in all the physical attributes except in the vitality and reaction department. Those were from the fight when you got stabbed by that farmer guy. I still don't know how you activate that mist step because of the stamina issue, but the chain thing should be easy. Just try hitting the trees with your chains as you walk." Jiminy informed Zayne.

Zayne did just that by swinging the chain at the trees that he walked past. The beginning was a little awkward, but the more he did it, he began to have a subtle instinct in how to swing the chains. It wasn't very pronounced, but the more he did it, the better he felt about it. Soon he was snapping the chain like a whip, but he was getting tired fast. When he reached the point that he could overlook the farmhouse he was going to break into, he stopped to spend the time practicing his chain arts. The sun would set soon enough, and he wanted to be ready. He was going to have fun tonight.

As soon as the sun set and the moon rose, Zayne finished whipping the chains with the little fair he had learned and begin moving to the farm. He would check to see if the machete was there or if it was in another barn. He hadn't looked in yet. Either way, he was going to find it, and probably kill a few people here and there on the way.

Zayne crept in close. During the day, he saw dogs about, but he paid them no mind. Animals generally stayed away from Zayne for obvious reasons. Getting closer, he noticed that the barn he saw on the other farm was a lot bigger than this barn. There was some kind of clucking that was going on in there and Foulness was getting excited. "What kind of thing is in there? Do you think it's juicy? Oh, how about when you're in there you feed on it before we leave for the next home." Foulness said excitingly.

"Shut up you idiot, were trying to be sneaky." Jiminy intoned.

"You can shut the fuck up. Zayne is the only one that can hear us, you idiot. By the way, who gave you permission to talk." Foulness snapped back at Jim.

"Yes, but Zayne is tying to focus,” He wasn't trying too hard. "and you're being distracting." He really wasn't about Zayne.

"Fine" Foulness reluctantly agreed.

Zayne reached the barn door without the dogs seeing him and begin to open the door. When it was finally open, there was a notification that came to in front of his face that had Jim questioning what the hell it meant.

System notice. All owned animals of the tutorial have now been added to the system, resulting in the animals having classes.

Chicken Ninja- Hp 20, Class: shadow cluck ninja. The shadow cluck ninja brigade has been honed to perfection from fox and coyote attacks and can take care of themselves, watch out for the chicken feather stars and the knives hidden on their feet.

As soon as Jim relayed the message, no more than a half of a dozen feathers that were colored pitch black came hurdling toward Zayne. He barely had time to dodge most of them. Two hit their mark on his left shoulder as he was backpedaling from the invisible enemy. He knocked over a wheelbarrow on his right when he moved, causing a loud noise, gaining the attention of the dogs. The chickens that came pouring out were all black except for their eyes, they were red. There were over fifty of them and they were still pouring out of the barn when the closest began to circle Zayne as the sound of howls got closer.

"The two feathers that hit you caused two points of damage each, and there are well over a hundred of them. We should pull out while we still can and come back to look for your machete later." Jiminy said, voice riddled with fear.

"Fuck that, let's kill them all! These little things aren't that dangerous." As soon as Foulness said that, the ninja chickens began to do a Krav Maga stance while still circling him, getting closer with every kick and flip that they did.

The mentioning of the missing machete and that he wouldn't be getting it tonight made Zayne see red as he moved into action. He grabbed the two jutting feathers that were in his shoulder and ripped them out, cutting his fingers as he did. He didn't notice the pain from the injury, but was more focus on killing the fucking things that stood in his way. Swinging his arm out caused the chain to snap around a chicken's neck, strangling the ninja chicken. He then pulled back, breaking the chicken's neck. The chickens that had gathered around him all stopped at what happen, cocking their head to the side as they stared at their fallen sister. Then, as one, they all moved on Zayne in a torrent as they tried to kill the bastard.

The shadow cluck chickens unleashed a barrage of feathers in their wake, but he was already moving to the inner edge of the circle they created. The feathers missed their target as he collided himself with the little ninjas. The chickens, which were the closest to Zayne, moved to start kicking him anywhere they could with their unbeatable cluck martial arts. He didn't let them; he slashed his chain across the row of chickens that were in his way, taking a score of them out as he did. The chickens littered the ground, stun from his attack, he began to stomp on them, taking out a few chickens here and there as he continued to whip his chains about. The cluck ninjas that were behind him jumped to attack his back, scoring hits on him before he twirled around, knocking them off him. As the fight continued, a notification popped in his view, but he pushed it to the side. The hampering to his view stopped him from seeing the dog that was leaping at his arm. The hound latched on to him, causing him to cringe from the pain the bite inflicted. He grabbed the mutt's neck in one hand and pulled with all his might, taking it off his arm, snarling the dog snapped at his face but he didn't care. He buried his teeth in the mutt's neck, taking a sizeable chunk out its, shutting the fucker up. Swallowing the piece whole, he got another notification, pushing it aside quickly so that he could go back to fighting. He already accumulated more cluck ninjas on his back and purposefully fell to the grown squashing a few that didn't let go in time.

Getting back on his feet, he swung his chains again in sharp arks, pulling them back, causing them to whip in crisp snaps at the chickens as he continued to shorten their numbers. He was keeping an eye out for the ones that were coming at his back. Every few seconds feather would be sent at his head, but he ducked low or pulled his chain in, shortening it to twirl in a circle to block. The longer he went, the easier it came to block and attack the fuckers, but he was getting tired. There was a third of the chickens left. The dogs were now stalking him, staying out of range of his chains.

The dogs launched together, leaping through the herd of cluck ninjas as they begin their assault on Zayne. They went for the chains that were bound to his feet, grabbing them in their mouths and yanking them, causing him to fall hard on the dirt. The chickens took the advantage of the hounds had left and swarmed on him as he fought desperately to get them off. Zayne threw out kicks and punches of his own, taking off the little ninjas as he fought to free himself. As he was making ground and rise up, the dogs came back.

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Farmer Harrison awoke to the sound of a fucking battle that was taking place on his farm. The chickens and dogs were going to town on whatever it was that had attacked them. "Those damn chickens have always been too uppity to anything that got in their chicken coop." Harrison muttered to himself. He quickly got dressed and stepped out of his bedroom when his eldest, Lisa, came to him. She was 17, about the same age as his friend Patrick's boy Henry. She had her mother's looks, thank god, but was short for her age. However, that didn't stop her from doing anything that she deemed was in her power of doing.

"Pa, let me handle the chickens and hounds and you go back to bed. I've already got the hatchet out and can put out the things misery when I get there." She said it as if it was obvious that he should go back to bed. He pitied the poor boy that would marry his Lisa.

"No, I can take care of it myself. You can go to your sister's room and make sure that they are cared for. Don't want them getting the same ideas you have now done we?" he chuckled when he saw the look on her face, so he moved out of the house as fast as he could so he wouldn't hear an excuse for her to go with him.

Stepping out on the porch, he found the hatchet, setting up right in his rocker. He went and picked it up, placing the small axe in its strap as he walked over to where the hounds were barking. As he got closer to the chicken coop, he spotted several things laying on the ground. They were pitch black and covered in blood. Their bodies resembled chickens, but his were white and not black. There was one of his bloodhounds on the dirt as well, but what caught his attention was the person out in the field that the dogs were fighting. The strange man was covered in wounds all across his body. Chains whipped out at the dogs and chickens that were… throwing their feathers at him at speeds that he couldn't keep up with. The thing Harrison noticed the most was his heart. It was pounding just from looking at the man with chains. He felt true fear start to rise up in him when the last of the hounds and chickens laid dead at the man's feet.

Harrison backed slowly away from the stranger, stumbling as he did. As he turned toward the house, making a break for it when he heard a wet snap and pain overwhelmed him, making Harrison fall. He looked down frantically as he tried to figure out what was stopping him from getting to his girls so they could run away in time. What he saw made the dinner that he had come back up. The nauseating sight that was left of his leg made him sick from looking at it. The bone was jotting out of his calve and the blood wasn't stopping. He tried to cup his leg with one hand and crawl using the other, but the stranger whipped out with his chain again, making a cracking sound that echoed through the night. Zayne did this to hiss back a couple more times as the old man cried out in pain, wishing that his daughters would hear the noise and flee.

The man that he would soon come to resent walked up to him in a leisurely manner. Zayne crouched down next to him and grabbed him around the throat. With one swift motion, he broke Harrison's neck.

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"Oh my god, that was so exhilarating! Come on, let's get to the house before anyone finds out what happens to this sodding fucker." Foulness sounded cheerful with that line. Zayne was beaten and bloody, but for the most part, he was happy. He collected himself and went to the barn.

"Um… Zayne, you ok? I ask because we almost died there for a moment. Doesn't that make you a little worried of scared?" Jiminy spoke barely above a whisper.

Zayne didn't respond, big shocker there, but the feeling of certainty he gave off reassured Jiminy, so he let the matter go for the moment.

"You are about a little under half health at the moment, so just take a second as I read to you the multiple notifications that I tried to block from view of you. Some got through, but I got most of them before you saw it."

Chain proficiency lv +4, stealth lv +2, pain tolerance lv +7, body strength lv +3, Body end lv +3, Body vit lv +5, Body agi lv +5, Body react lv +5, body will lv +3. You have learned the skill Kung Pow Killer; you are an apprentice lv 1. Kung Pow Killer lv +7.

Jiminy then went and opened his character sheet.

Zayne

Class: 90s Slasher

Level: 0

Hp 270 Stam 200 Mp 4,

-Hp regen 20 per hour

-Stam regen 10 per minute

-Mp regen 2 per hour

Vit 27 End 20 Str 20

Agi 16 Percep 10 React 19

Will 18 Intell 4 Wisdom 3

Skills-Tracking lv.1, Stealth lv.5, Machete apprentice lv.7, pain tolerance lv.9, Chain proficiency apprentice lv. 7, Kung Pow Killer lv 8

Abilities: Supernatural healing lv.4 the ability to heal 50% faster, Silence. Your stealth skill is 25% better.

After Zayne spent a short amount of time listening to Jiminy, he went to the barn that would hold the toy he lost. Peering inside, he found the walls were absent of any tools, except for a couple of shovels and pitchforks. Zayne had finally lost his shit; he stormed from the barn and made his way to the house.

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Old farmer Patrick was standing guard at his house, watching with a keen eye for the killer to return and finish the job that he started. His son, Henry, was waiting next to him with an axe in hand. He was 17 now and had the start of a scruffy beard on his face. Patrick had told his wife and Henry about what was going on around the town. They were supportive, as he knew they would. He didn't tell Jacob about what he had seen but told the 15-year-old that it wasn't safe past dark and to stay inside with his mother while she told him stories and sung songs. Patrick loved that she was trying to take Jacob's mind off what his father and brother were doing outside. The town should have taken his warning seriously, thinking of that he thought of his friend Harrison. He took what Patrick said with a grain of salt, but he listened and said he would have his hounds out in case someone did come out to his place. If nothing happened tonight, he vowed that he would make the trip out there to make sure he was alright. He stood there all night waiting for the bastard that had killed him. He wouldn't hear what happen over at Harrison's until a few hours after, when his daughter Clair, who was two years younger than Jacob, would be running on their property screaming for help. This would be the second worst night of his life. If only he had convinced Harrison to be more on guard or if he told him that it was safer at his farm. He could go through all the if's he wanted to, but that didn't change the fact that his friend was dead, along with two of his girls.