Shin sliced through the pack of intermediate rank goblins with a dagger in each hand. It would be easier with axes but he had been relying on them too much lately. Shin sidestepped a goblin who fell for his feint and kicked him to the ground. In an instant a brown wide snake burst out of the soil and sunk its fangs into the goblin’s neck before retreating back below. A different tsuchinoko than the first, Shin could tell, and one that seemed to relish ambushing vulnerable targets. It took only seconds to wipe out the latest batch of Shin’s unfortunate training partners.
[Advanced Martial Combat has reached lvl. 3.]
[Call Petty Spirit has reached lvl 8.]
What Shin wanted to do most of all at the moment was upgrade Summon Angel, however preliminary attempts not only failed but drained mana at a decent clip. As such he changed his immediate plans to acquire stat points. More mana to work with meant more attempts at upgrading. Following the logic of how skills worked, the upgraded angel would be uncommon intermediate rank, as strong as a normal tree goblin, bringing him one step closer to the apex he had come face to face with.
[Goblin (common) - Intermediate Peasant rank]
Strength - 34
Agility - 39
Constitution - 26
Vitality - 35
Dexterity - 36
Perception - 44
Force - 25
Spirit - 28
Control - 22
Willpower - 23
Shin glanced around with spirit eyes and unsummoned the spirit. The most efficient path he had determined was to focus his energy on leveling Combat and Call Petty Spirit. The sole uncommon tier skill in his repertoire was rising stubbornly even with Shin devoting the better part of his efforts since fleeing the wood goblins yesterday.
Shin sped off in a random direction. This twelfth day was half spent already, his seventh day in a row spent awake. The increase in Vitality helped with fatigue but the strain on his mind was getting worse. Focusing so much on magic skills didn’t help either. He needed to rest again. Soon.
Something caught Shin’s eye in the flash of colors, a small figure huddled under a grove of brambles. His normal sight revealed a girl no more than ten in blue robes much like Grace’s, sitting curled up with her face in her knees hiding from the rest of the world, her whole form transparent and faint.
“A ghost?” Shin changed direction towards the girl.
[Human Mage (common) - Intermediate rank]
“Guess not…” Shin continued on all the same and crouched down in front of her, making no effort to be silent. The girl tightened further into her huddle.
“Hi.” The girl flinched a bit but didn’t respond. “I can see you, blue hair.”
She started trembling a little, probably on the verge of tears, Shin suspected. That wouldn’t do.
“What’s your name?” Shin sat in his crouch and patiently waited for many moments. “I’m Shin.”
He waited longer until she finally peeked out from under her arms and calmed down a little at the sight of his casual slight smile. “...Daphne…” A soft and very quiet response came from the huddled up little girl.
“What are you doing by yourself?”
Shin already had a few guesses as to why. Either her party got wiped or she got left behind, though given her rank it was most certainly the former. Whatever the reason, it didn’t really matter. Shin just needed to get her talking and to lead the conversation to where it needed to go.
“There were… a lot of big goblins… Mei… told me to run. I don’t want to be here anymore…” Tears welled in her eyes and her voice cracked and sniffled as the more she talked, burying her face back in her robe and breaking into a cry.
Shin put a hand on her head to comfort her. “Come on. I’ll take you somewhere safe.” Though Shin wouldn’t call anywhere in this zone safe, she’d actually had a chance to survive in a party than out here by herself.
Daphne calmed down enough to wipe her eyes and look back at Shin, holding out a hand. She paused for a moment, in quiet stammers, then took it.
---
Shin walked through the forest at a pace fit for a child with low physical stats. He would have pushed for a brisker speed though nerves and fatigue prevented her from doing so. Shin felt her grip tighten a little as the dangers lurking behind the trees crept more into her thoughts. He glanced at their hands, somewhat disapprovingly. It only made it harder for him to react properly to problems but comforting the kid came first. He needed only bear with it until he found a party to take her in.
“What skills do you have?” Shin asked the girl, partly to reduce the stress she was inflicting on herself, partly because he was genuinely curious.
“Um..” Daphne was caught slightly off guard by the sudden question. “Invisibility, Mana Shot, Mana Screen, Summon Wisp, Floating Eye, Search. Should I use something?”
“No, it’s fine. Did you learn Invisibility?”
“Yes, um, I studied it from books in the house. My house, before this.”
“You started with it?”
“Yeah.. yes. Also Loved by Magic. It’s a trait.”
Something clicked in Shin’s mind. “Are you from the Rhun house?”
“Yes.” Daphne showed surprise that he knew and thought for a bit. “What house are you from?”
“Igarashi.”
“Oh, Japan. The assassins…” Her voice warmed a bit at first then grew smaller at the knowledge.
“Yeah. I’m strong so I can kill any monster.” Not that that was true, nor did he intend to try on this escort mission, having been using his eyes to avoid any fighting at all.
“How many skills did you max?” Shin inquired. She was intermediate rank so she clearly hadn’t been wasting her time.
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“Everything except for Invisibility. It’s epic tier and costs a lot of mana.”
Her answer piqued Shin’s interest. He hadn’t spent his time as efficiently as he could have, but he knew the constraints of leveling skills that cost mana. She must have put much more into Spirit than he did. But there was something else he was interested in.
“Does the trait let you level skills easier?”
“No. It makes it easier to control. Only magic, though.” She was very eloquent for someone only nine years old, something Shin had learned earlier, a fact that become apparent the more comfortable she became talking. The Rhun must value qualities like that. He did feel like Yuna mentioned they were old fashioned.
“You worked hard back home to learn Invisibility, right? Good job.” There were other things Shin wanted to say but decided to compliment her instead.
Daphne almost seemed pleased but a worried expression returned to her face. “Do you think my sister is here, too?”
“Everyone on earth is.”
“...do you think she’s okay?”
“Is she older?”
“Yes. Raina’s nineteen.”
“I’m sure she’s fine.” The same age as himself and from the house of witches. Most members of murim likely adapted quickly. Barring serious misfortune there was a high chance she was still alive. “You’ll find her.”
“Mm…” The girl was less tense now, the conversation seemed to have done her good.
Shin was about have her pick up the pace but saw something unusual in the spiritual sight. A building it looked like, from the hazy space it occupied, and human shaped mana, some walking around the top but most of them active around the ground.
Shin picked up Daphne and rushed in its direction, right up to near the end of the forest line. He could see it clearly now, a wooden fort, simple in design and not too impressive in size but it was barricaded and the walls tall enough to be a problem. The people he saw on top looked to be guards walking on platforms behind the battlements.
[Human Warrior (common) - Lesser Peasant]
[Human Ranger (common) - Lesser Peasant]
The lumber of the barricades and the fortress walls itself looked to be fresh. The system could have placed such buildings around, but it wasn’t infeasible for a large group players to build something like this after nearly 2 weeks. Depending on who ran the place, it was much better than a party.
Shin put Daphne down behind a tree. “Wait here. Turn invisible, I’ll be right back.” Shin sped off before she could respond.
Shin rushed to the tree line then slowed his pace to a walk as he entered the clearing. One of the guards snapped out of his daze and peered at him.
“Mid rank!” The warrior yelled behind him. The ranger rushed to the center over the gate beside him. Shin observed both closely as he continued to walk.
“Don’t move!” The ranger ordered, drawing an arrow aimed at him.
“Who are you?” The warrior asked with a loud authoritative voice.
“I wanna look inside.”
The banality of Shin’s demeanor threw him off for a second before the warrior returned to his interrogation. “State your class and rank.”
“Priest. Intermediate.” Shin played along.
He needed only wait a few seconds for another man to appear along the wall.
[Human Rogue - Intermediate rank]
“Intermediate priest.” He told the warrior, though his interest remained on Shin.
“You need to meet the captain first.” The warrior shouted at Shin, less on edge. “Try anything funny and it’ll be the end for you.”
“Okay.” Shin walked on towards the gate that had started to open, through the thin path left between the barricades, glancing around.
The closer he looked the more he could see how well constructed it was. At either side of the path immediately behind the wood barricades was a trench four or five yards wide and twenty feet deep spanning the whole length of the walls. Wooden spikes lined the bottom and what looked like guts and other filth smeared on them. If attackers didn’t die from the fall, they would pick up a nasty infection.
The rear bank of the trench was lower than the front by a significant margin, hiding the trench itself from those rushing in until they tried to jump over the barricades. A sly bit of deception to make falling in more likely. The walls were adequate at best, about 25 feet tall and one log thick it seemed, but there were clearly walkways behind it all and several modest watchtowers among the surface.
Shin was no expert in construction or premodern fortresses but even he could tell this was the work of someone who knew what they were doing. The guards were competent by normal standards and clearly had instructions on how to act. The initial interrogation was likely just to check outsider’s honesty before the intermediate rank arrived to actually inspect them.
Shin passed through the gate and the interior was less impressive. Buildings were basic and sparse, making it obvious where the priority laid. The number of players were also less than he expected, 30 or 40 at a cursory glance, although there were a number of people ‘working’. That was how best to describe the ones weaving cloth, stirring small cauldrons, crushing plants, hammering metal, sawing lumber, and wielding mana towards items.
“They told me you’re a priest?”
Shin turned his head in the direction of a woman in her late twenties, light brown skin with short dark brown hair and orange eyes. She wore leather armor over cloth and carried herself with an air of authority and discipline. Behind her followed a far less impressive pudgy man.
[Human Bard (common) - Intermediate Peasant]
[Human Mage (common) - Intermediate Peasant]
“Yeah. Shin.”
“We can never have too many healers, especially mid rank. Chavez.” She greeted. A surname, Shin believed, recognizing her having same naming inclination as the soldier leader but a passing notice was all he gave.
“What are they doing?” He pointed at the workers.
“Working on their professions.” The captain of the fortress rolled with the punch of Shin’s rudeness.
“Profession?”
“An extra class for crafting, basically. All kinds. Crafters built this fortress, though Paul here designed it. You can acquire the one you chose after passing the dungeon trial.”
“Where?”
“Half a day away. We can give you an escort to get their safely. What do you say to joining the garrison?”
“I can get there myself.” Shin doubted there was anyone stronger than him here.
“It’s a dangerous trip.” She warned.
“I’ll be fine.”
“If you say so…” She didn’t seem too convinced in his ability. “The garrison can provide shelter and safety. A healer at your rank would get special treatment.”
“No thanks.”
“Your choice.” Chavez didn’t sugarcoat it. “You can see if there’s anything you want from our workers but as an outsider you’ll have to trade for it.”
“I want to bring in someone else.”
The woman stopped her leave. “You have others?”
“Just one.”
“Alright. Bring them in then.”
“Wait here.” Shin said before walking off.
---
Daphne sat curled up, her face buried in her knees once again. She hadn’t been that scared at first but then she started hearing noises in the forest. Rustling trees and crunching leaves. Mei usually told her it was the wind but sometimes it wasn’t. Shin had been gone a while. She didn’t know he’d be gone this long.
“Hey.”
She looked up to the voice right beside her, crouching down with a slight smile. Daphne clutched onto him on reflex, teary eyed. “I don’t want to be alone…”
“You won’t. I found somewhere safe.”
Shin consoled the sobbing girl and led her quickly back through the gate and towards the garrison captain, who had not moved. The captain glanced at the girl, some slight surprise showed on her face, likely having Identified her.
“This is her. Look after her, alright?”
“I’m busy, you know.”
“She has useful skills. You should keep her safe.”
Shin felt a tug on his shirt. “You’re leaving?”
“Yeah.”
“Take me with you, please.”
“It’s too dangerous. You’ll be fine here.” Shin glanced over at Chavez as he spoke.
She sighed. “Yeah.”
Shin turned back to Daphne. “Tell her all your abilities and stick with her, okay?”
“Okay…” Shin patted her head.
“Ah..” He turned to bard. “You can upgrade skill tiers.”
“What? How?”
Shin thought about how best to explain. “Just do it? Which way is the profession dungeon?”
“At the base of the cliff behind me. About skill t-”
“Bye.” Before she had time to inquire any further Shin waved goodbye to Daphne and headed off, rounding the corner of the building section at a decent clip.
“Hey, priest.” Shin stopped at the whispered call of the intermediate rogue who had inspected him at the gate. Behind him stood three others in imposing demeanor, lesser rank Shin inspected. “Got something to tell you.”
Shin walked over to see what the rogue had to say.
“You can handle yourself in a fight, can’t you?” The rogue was blunt. “Ain’t no other way you could just walk through this forest protecting a kid.”
Shin didn’t answer.
“You got a summon skill right. Priest in my first party had one. Listen…” The rogue turned a bit more serious. “I’m taking over this garrison. We can do it on our own, quick, but with you it’d be a sure thing. You can have anything you want under me, yeah? I’m talking anyth-”
Shin glanced to the left and the rogue’s eyes followed on reflex, and Shin took his head. He had stopped listening the moment the man made his intentions known, simply waiting for an opening. One that didn’t take long to come, as sloppy and unguarded as the amateur was. He was obviously only on the lookout for a summon and little more. Shin dispatched the other three before they could so much as yell.
He walked through past the bodies and turned to a fat man whose legs had given out, the same one that was with the captain initially. The mage faced Shin with a stammer and the fear of certain death.
“You can make this place safer, right?”
The architect forced an unsteady nod.
“Okay. I’ll come back eventually.” At those casual words, Shin took off, looting a few things from the dead traitors, the profession dungeon the only thing on his mind now.