Shin pulled out a loaf of manna from his wooden perch and took a bite. He had decided to travel through the night instead of returning to his base, only a light jog with breaks to walk so he could conserve stamina but he found nothing but monsters. This area was massive, he had learned. Even from the branch of this towering tree he could see no one else, not with his normal sight nor his spirit eyes, although he could only see reasonably clearly for several miles at most, and his spiritual vision not much better, anything beyond that quickly devolving into a sludge of indistinguishable colors.
Shin took another bite before letting himself fall from the branch, swinging and somersaulting down gracefully to the ground. It was finally time to do something he had been putting off for three days. Shin channelled his mana and cast Call Petty Spirit. Mana coalesced just off the ground and through it came a snake-like creature. Short, about 3 feet long, wide and fat, it was light brown with a darker swirling pattern on its back and a look of impish intelligence in its eyes.
[Tsuchinoko (common) - Intermediate Peasant]
Strength - 27
Agility - 35
Constitution - 30
Vitality - 31
Dexterity - 32
Perception - 29
Force - 34
Spirit - 37
Control - 33
Willpower - 24
Skills:
Venom Spit lvl 7, Dig lvl 6, Tackle lvl 8,
Traits:
Lesser Venomous Fangs (common), Slick Scale (common), Petty Poison Resistance (common), Petty Disease Resistance (common),
Shin had visualized summoning a pixie but it seemed like the spirit the skill called was random, just as Summon Wisp had been. Its rank might be tied to his own based on this sample size of one, but its skill levels weren’t tied to that of Call Petty Spirit. Advantages and disadvantages, though the randomness meant he wouldn’t be able to rely on it in a pinch.
On the positive side, the tsuchinoko had a decent balance of physical and magical stats and a caster and melee skill, which meant he could test something else. He first held out his arm but changed his mind and instead cast Holy Screen with his arms at the side. A translucent yellow square about three by three in size appeared two feet from his torso, exactly where he had envisioned it.
“Shoot venom at the screen.” Shin told the spirit as he equipped a shield.
The tsuchinoko’s expression turned a bit more mischievous as its stomach swelled and a glob of viscous purple liquid struck the Holy screen. The screen shuddered under the impact but held up as the poison slid to the ground, although Shin didn’t put much stock into the accomplish as venom spit lacked the direct potency he saw from Mana Ball and Fireball. Still, it was something.
“Now tackle.”
The tsuchinoko’s face had a flash of determination as it held its head back and curled its tail up, biting deep into it to form a hoop with its body. The snake spirit started to rotate in place, slowly at first but quickly picking up speed until it burst forward suddenly, a thin layer of mana coating its body. It shattered the thin yellow screen instantly and struck Shin’s shield, knocking him half a dozen yards through the air and sliding on his feet for a moment.
The tsuchinoko uncurled itself and waited with a proud expression. Not without some justification, Shin thought. Although he had made his body limp to absorb the impact and took no damage, the force of that strike was greater than any he could produce. It would likely rupture organs of any lesser rank monster or player he had faced up till now if it hit unguarded. It was too dangerous to test Cushion on himself with, at least.
“Let’s go.” Shin ran off through the forest.
He could feel the mana slowly draining from him to maintain the tsuchinoko’s presence so there was no time to spare. The spirit in question caught up immediately and kept pace, living up to its stats. They travelled hardly a minute before Shin whistled sharply and came to a stop. Two goblins turned at the sound and charged at the sight of him, but Shin remained still.
“Kill them.” On command, the tsuchinoko’s belly swelled and shot out another glop of venom, catch one in the face.
The goblin fell to the ground in pained yelps, trying to wipe away the poison. The second came to a halt, seeing the fate of its partner and fled. But a second venom spit caught it in the back. It too yelled in pain and swatted at its back, although remained standing unlike the first goblin.
Shin turned to the first whose poisoned status was now visible apparent. Thick purple veins bulged over its face and neck as it thrashed around, blind, Shin guessed from its bloodshot eyes and foolish movements. It soon started to gasp and choke, clawing at its face and throat before slumping into a spasm, foaming at the mouth.
The other goblin wasn’t in as dire straits but it had also started to thrash around and yell more, the poison likely having seeped through its skin. The tsuchinoko rolled towards it in a hoop with increased speed and rammed the goblin square in the chest with a tackle. Shin heard the snapping of bones, but the spirit didn’t give it a moment’s break, slithering over and biting into its flesh. Purple bulbous veins emerged from the bite mark and the goblin soon met the same fate as the first.
The tsuchinoko slithered back over to Shin’s side, looking quite pleased with its work. Shin was losing about 1.5 mana a minute by his guess but he still remained to watch the full effects of the poison. 98 seconds in total it took for the first goblin to die and 127 for the second. Although the second had been poisoned twice, Shin supposed getting a wad in the mouth counted for more.
A fierce squeal in the distance to the left alerted him that their next opponent had arrived. Shin had spotted the creature approaching their direction a minute ago, and now it seemed like it had finally spotted them. It was a large warthog like beast with long tusks pointed upwards, and sharp quills coated its back and to a lesser more sporadic extent, its sides.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
[Barboar (common) - Intermediate Peasant]
The barboar let out a roaring squeal and charged at great speed, and Shin rolled out of its path just in time to dodge. By the clumsy attempts to stop, the beast wasn’t too dexterous, slamming its side into a tree, but it turned rapidly and burst forth again as a venom spit struck the tree behind.
Shin dodge rolled a second time but the timing was rather tricky. Although not to a great extent, the barboar could alter its course, so dodging too early would just be courting a disastrous end, forcing Shin to continue cutting it close. The biggest issue was its utter refusal to stay still, charging and ramming without break.
Shin had a solution for that, though. He drew the greataxe and darted back to a tree, angling it just off the ground. The barboar barrelled towards him without hesitation as he expected and impaled itself on the greataxe. Not deep enough to kill instantly, but the wound through its throat would end it quickly, especially with its reckless attempts to shake the weapon off, only serving to worsen the injury.
A glob of venom struck its face, The tsuchinoko seemingly having no desire to let the beast’s initial charge go unanswered. The barboar’s intensified squeals were met with two more venom spits and a third would have struck had the tsuchinoko not disappeared. Shin guessed the spirits he called operated on the same logic as Grace’s sylphs, once they used up their own mana, they returned.
[Call Petty Spirit has reached lvl. 2.]
A productive first attempt, Shin had learned exactly how the skill would work and that spirits summoned wouldn’t be blindly obedient as his angel would. Just as he prepared to be on his way, he caught notice of the quills of the barboar, on its last legs, point erect and quiver. Shin drew his shield immediately and slammed it into the soft ground, dropping flat on his stomach behind it.
The shrill whistling of countless needles cut through the air as a dozen impacts rattled against his shield. Just as suddenly as the burst of noise flared up, the woodland went quiet. Shin peered around his shield and then rose to his feet, plucking out the quills stuck in his shield as he walked towards the barboar.
Along with its quills, the fierce beast had lost all its vigor, motionless on the ground, even the foaming from its mouth had ceased. Shin carefully avoided the quills peppered all over the ground and cut out the flesh around his great axe enough to withdraw it.
[Barboar (common) - Intermediate Peasant]
Strength - 51
Agility - 29
Constitution - 49
Vitality - 36
Dexterity - 14
Perception - 30
Force - 23
Spirit - 26
Control - 29
Willpower - 27
Skills:
Bump, Sprint,
Traits:
Tough Hide (common), Petty Poison Resistance (common), Petty Disease Resistance (common),
Shin wiped the blood and flesh off his weapons before storing them. It had truly been a productive session but he had to get back to the main priority, finding a party. He could trade for the privilege of getting several hours of guarded sleep or use force if necessary, but he could do nothing if he failed to find anyone to begin with. A cursory glance with spirit vision gained nothing new, so he continued in the general direction he had been going, his speed a bit brisker now.
---
“Cover!”
Anton swung his longsword to keep the attacking goblins at bay. There were too many to focus on. Should his weapon get stuck in one, he would be helpless against the rest. Celene’s arrows came in response but strayed from their mark, her aim was not at its best under the night.
“Vines!”
“I’m out!”
Anton cursed. Another day of walking and fighting in this hellish forest and now they were beset by a dozen of these green demons, tired and half blind in the dark. He swung his sword again, sloppy and uncertain, the best he could manage with his fatigue.
A scream to his right struck from of the exhaustion from his body as he turned to see his fellow vanguard clutching a severing arm before his skull was caved in. Anton’s legs moved before his mind, rushing to intercept the overflowing goblins’ path to their druid. Even if they survived this, they wouldn’t survive another day without their healer.
“Fill in the gap!” He told the three other melee classes.
They were outnumbered greatly, a dozen goblins against their now seven, having lost the only other warrior besides him, and the only one with a shield. How much better two monks and a rogue could do the job was not an encouraging thought. They needed a miracle.
Shin watched the battle from beside a tree behind them with indifference. Weak and amateurish was his only assessment. Even if it was night and there were twice as many, it was still only regular lesser rank goblins. All they had was stats over the average player, lacking intelligence and skill beyond the most basic of it. To struggle against them by the fourth night was embarrassing almost. Shin couldn’t imagine the second iteration of his starting party losing more than one or two under the same conditions in the worst case. However, their ability wasn’t important, only that they were alive and able to stand watch.
“But…” Shin glanced at the blonde archer.
At this rate the whole party would wipe before the ranger died. The exact number that survived didn’t matter, but the ranger couldn’t be one of them. Even he would be helpless against an archer while he sleeps. It was just too risky to have someone like that looming over him. If things weren’t going in his favor he would have to rig the game, a sizable throwing stone appeared in his hand.
Opportunity came sooner than expected. One of the monks was cut down and two goblins darted towards the ranger. She caught one in the chest but before she could take aim at the other, something heavy and blunt struck the back of her head. She stumbled, disoriented and weak. Before she could figure out what happened or remember where she was, a blunt stone axe buried into her skull and she had no more time to think.
“Celene!” The druid yelled, alerting Anton to the tragedy.
He knew immediately the fight was hopeless now. Anton cut the head off one goblin then grabbed Mariana by the waste over his shoulder and ran, spurring his legs to move past their limits, the remaining rogue and monk falling to mob tactics seconds later. He knew there wasn’t much chance he could outrun them, even without the extra weight, but he had no other option.
“They’re getting closer!” Mariana yelled in a panic. Facing the creatures straight on, she knew better than him how fast their time was running out.
A figure burst suddenly out of the tree line in front of him, a girl with long black hair wielding a sword and axe, sprinting faster than the goblins. Anton’s mind froze for a moment, but the girl ran straight passed them into the fray of the goblins. Anton turned around on reflex just in time to see an axe cleave through the neck of one goblin and then a sword another, and another and another, the flurry of weapons reaping the lives of the greatest threat they had come up against with ease.
Shin danced through the crowd of goblins, twisting and turning, dodging and feinting, never failing to take the life of a monster when it gave an opening, and goblins were full of openings. Mere seconds was all it took to reduce ten to three. And with the death of one, the rearmost goblins who had stopped in their tracks at the carnage finally turned tail and run. An axe struck the back of the head of one and the other turned its head in fear just as a sword took it from its body.
Shin swiped the blood off his sword and pulled his axe from the goblin’s head, doing the same. Anton and Mariana stood in shock at the girl standing among the bloody corpses like it was her home. Shin glanced over making a chill run down their spine, feeling like they had encountered a true predator.
“I killed the goblins so the loot is mine.” A casual tone, utterly at odds with the situation, made their minds go blank.
Mariana was the first to snap out of it, not wanting to offend this monstrous stranger. “Y-yeah.”
As if given permission, Shin started rummaging through the spatial bags of their dead comrades and looting the gear he wanted straight from their bodies. Profane almost, but neither of the survivors dared to speak up. Shin finished up quickly, knowing exactly what he needed, before walking over to the warrior and druid. The two flinched on instinct, fearful of what the stranger would do next.
“Watch over me while I sleep.” Shin’s tone more of an offer than an order from their expressions it didn’t seem like they understood that. “I’ll give you items.”
A silence took hold again for a few moments before Mariana broke it once more. “Okay.”