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His head hurt like hell.
“He’s awake!” a voice yelled.
Groaning, Rowan opened his eyes, then closed them back as the whole world whirled in a maelstrom of colors, the blue of the sky mixing with the green and the yellow of the leaves.
“C’mon, sleeping beauty, rise and shine. We don’t have all day.”
Someone patted his cheek. Opening his eyes anew, Rowan heaved. Leaning above him—and exposing an enticing decolletage through a beige shirt opened at the two upper buttons—was a striking woman. Tall, blonde, tanned, sexy, with gray-blue eyes, full lips, and that type of severe expression that makes men try to soften it with declarations of love and boxes of chocolate.
“Ouch!” Rowan blurted.
Thomas has inflicted you with a Kick to the Ribs. Stunned for 1 second. Internal Bleeding: 0.05 HP/second.
“Don’t stare at my mom’s boobs, you pervert!”
“You idiot, I just finished healing him!” a girl yelled, kneeling near Rowan. Out of a sudden, he began to feel better.
An unknown Apprentice Healer is applying Minor Healing to you.
“Turn your Emotes off. You had a ton of hearts emojis erupting over your head,” the woman said, offering a hand. “This is an obstruction to justice. Joking. But seriously, put some order in your Settings.”
“What happened?” Rowan mumbled, trying to get his wits together and raising on his buttocks after accepting her help. Which was the best moment for Lizzie to jump on him, hugging him awkwardly over the throat. He returned the hug. “Hey, sweetie, I’m so happy you’re all right!” Lizzie was about to climb into his arms again, but he pushed her away gently, ruffling her hair, intending to concentrate on the story.
“Short story: I heard Lizzie screaming, then my partner—a total idiot—told me a passenger also pretended to hear screams, and,” the woman’s voice choked for a second, “I remembered Thomas had a school field trip here. I rushed up, found him wrestling with an alien, and put a few bullets its brain. I thought you were a goner, but that kid,” she pointed to the Apprentice Healer, “kept at doing her mumbo-jumbo over you and raised you back to life. Thomas explained everything to me… but it’s really hard to believe, even if I see those numbers with my own eyes.”
Enforcer, level 17. That was the tag floating over the woman’s head. Only then did Rowan recognize her. It was the policewoman from the road, the one dealing with the bus’s passengers. Notification flooded him, and he read them starting with the most recent, ignoring the agitation around—mainly kids asking Thomas questions about their Classes and Stats.
You have Cleared the Ominous Grove mini-dungeon, the first Dungeon to be cleared on Earth. +1 Free Attribute Point, +1 Level. You have reached level 21. Reward: Your contribution was judged the most important, as such, a Core, Legendary Artifact, has been transferred to your Inventory. The default setting has been applied: the Dungeon Core has evolved into a Town Core.
You have slain DireDeer, Elite Lvl.20 (5/5) XP received (divided between you, Thomas, and Isla Culloden). You have leveled up x 0.05. 0 APs received.
“Turn your notification settings on private,” the blonde woman said and accompanied her words with a mild squeeze on his shoulder. “We can all see them.”
Putting the notifications off was simple, thinking about it popped up the option with Yes or No beside it. He reviewed the next message, which was older than the previous one.
You have slain DireDeer, Elite Lvl.20 (4/5) XP received (undivided). You have leveled up x 6. 6 Free APs are available. +2 AP were invested in each stat on reaching Lvl. 20
Overall, he had eight free points to invest. He put one in Strength, and on a whim, one in Charisma. The rest went into Will, his strongest stat, and then Rowan inspected the numbers.
Name: Rowan Allinder. Class: The Indomitable, Unique, Level 21
STR: 30 / DEX: 27 / CON: 27 / INT: 16 / WIL: 60 / CHA: 13
Will Perk, Threshold 1: Will and Wilt: Your Will replaces Strength as your Critical Damage multiplier (1% per every Will point) and inflicts an Unavoidable DOT every 2 seconds. The Critical Chance still depends on your Dex (+1% for every Dex point).
Will Perk, Threshold 2: Locked.
Strength Perk, Threshold 1: Miss? What miss? Your strikes have a 25% chance to ignore Evade, Dodges, Parries, or Blocks.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Constitution Perk, Threshold 1: Tough Cookie. +25% all physical resistances, +25% to Natural Regeneration (HP)
Dexterity Perk, Threshold 1: Subconscious Fighting. Even if you’re sent flying in the air, your body can move on its own, striking the enemy.
HP regen: 1.25%/minute MP regen:1%/minute
HP = CON x 10 / MP = WIL x 10
“Why didn’t I leveled at all for the last beast?” he asked himself aloud.
“Check your detailed logs. This System favors challenges,” Thomas said. “The bigger the difference in level between you and the foes you kill, the bigger the reward. Mom was level zero, I was fourteen, and you twenty… You’re following, right? You look a little st... confused.”
Rowan’s head was hurting from all that nerdish thrown around, but he wasn’t going to let himself be insulted by a kid. “Because you broke me a rib or something, you little punk!”
“Auntie Isla, Thomas uses bad words when you’re not around,” Lizzie reported, obviously siding with Rowan.
“You little rat!”
“Enough!” Thomas’s mother clapped her hands. “We need to return to the road. Kids, you know the drill. Hold hands two by two, like the ants are marching on. I’ll be in the front, Thomas with… err… what was your name again?"
"Rowan."
"Rowan, you cover the back. Yell if you need help. Now let’s go. Left, right, left, right, left, right!”
She offered her hand to Rowan, helping him raise to his feet, then started stepping in a cadence, showing the way, followed by the orderly column of kids.
“She’s great at organizing things,” Rowan noticed.
“Yeah. Inhale, exhale, left, right, those are her favorites,” Thomas sighed, before darting on to the front.
Tiger mama, obviously. Rowan smiled and started marching after the last kid, which was Lizzie. When he took back his backpack, he facepalmed. Fuck, there was a trail!
Hardly visible, but clear enough, the path waved through the trees. If he’d taken the time to inspect the surroundings, the path would have eased his climb a lot, the first time. When passing the blue line of the forcefield, a notification showed:
You are leaving a High Mana Density Area, tier A (Glade, Place of Power, former Mini-Dungeon) for a Minimal Mana Density Area, tier F. Warning: Your stats and skills will remain the same, but your HP and MP will regenerate 60 times slower, at 1% / hour instead of 1% / minute.
“Noooo,” Thomas wailed. “Mana isn’t everywhere?”
“Is this bad?” Rowan heard Isla ask.
“For my skills, yes, they are Mana-based. You know, Dash, Stun, Off-Tank stuff.”
I wonder if I have Mana skills… But before Rowan could inspect his Character Menu, they reached the road. The obstacle, the fallen tree, had been removed, and all cars were gone except for the bus and the police vehicle. That meant engines worked again.
“You can’t go until Isla comes back,” the policemen argued with the bus driver and some vociferous elderly ladies. “There's a passenger lost in the woods, she's gone after him. Oh, here she is.”
Pretty name for a pretty lady, Rowan thought. She has the weirdest kid, though.
“You won't believe me, but a bunch of aliens attacked the school trip. We'll talk in town. Kids, go on the bus. You, the tourists, make some place for them,” Isla ordered.
"You poor things… Attacked by aliens? Come inside and tell us all!" The same talkative old lady from before said, and Rowan would have bet that at least fifty percent of her interest was more for gossip than for the kids.
“Thomas, go in the back of the car," Isla. And no, you can’t ride in front, it’s illegal. And don't try again to mess with the door locks or I'll handcuff you.”
“Police brutality!” the boy shouted but obeyed.
“We’re heading for Elkins to let off the kids, what you do after that it’s your own business,” Isla informed the bus driver before returning to the police car and taking the lead again.
For the next half hour, Rowan dozed on and off, his mind spinning wild about the changes he knew so little about. Lizzie had climbed in his arms, sitting quietly and looking at the landscape: rolling hills, the valley, a still sunny sky, and the usual sheep-shaped clouds. There was a permanent buzz in the bus and a vibe of creeping anxiety: people chatting, the elderly asking the kids what had happened up there.
“After we let off the children, we continue to the resort,” the driver announced in the speakers as they entered the town. “CB Radios are working, and I have good news. The Internet is on. Phone networks are still off but there are hopes to restore them soon.”
The bus stopped in a parking lot, with its asphalt starting to turn dilapidated. The late August was still offering its summer light, an hour or maybe two until sunset. There was a brick church to the Northwest. And another, smaller, to the Southeast. Across the street, a coffee shop, and many cars parked in front of it. Overall, the small town with a rural vibe.
When the bus’s doors opened, adults ran forward, screaming names, almost in a stampede.
“Calm down, everybody’s safe!” a bullhorn roared with Isla’s voice. She must’ve called the parents in advance, somehow, Rowan realized. “Kids, come out. IN ORDER! Don’t push each other.”
Lizzie hugged him, tears in her eyes, and went out last.
“Mommy!”
“Honey!”
The girl jumped off the bus like a released spring, the woman barely catching her in time. Lizzie started to chat vividly, her words swamped by the surrounding noise of people moving again to other chairs, and discussions. People were eager to finally go to the resort and check on their loved ones themselves. There were a few words Rowan did catch.
“But Mommy, he’s so nice! Let’s take him home! He’s daddy material.”
He repressed a laugh. Then Lizzie screamed.
“Rowan, please stay!”
You are affected by debuff: Scream for Attention. Your WIL check failed. Unable to control your actions for the next 10 seconds, and compulsion to follow the Taunter’s orders.
Fuck!
His feet were dashing on the aisle without any control. At the last moment, he grabbed his backpack and then started to bang his boot on the middle door.
“Calm down, moron!” the driver yelled, opening the door.
“Such a weirdo,” Rowan heard the old lady who tried to make conversation earlier.
The debuff ceased only when he was out, panting in front of the girl and her mother. Meanwhile, the bus had departed in a hurry, tires screeching. For sure, to escape the madman, meaning him.
“I’m so happy you stayed!” Lizzie screamed, jumping up like a blissful whack-a-mole character. “You can live with us, Mommy has a hotel.”
“Bed and breakfast. I’m Grace, Lizzie’s mother,” the woman offered a hand.
“Rowan Allinder.” Her handshake felt frail, somehow like her. Three to four inches shorter than Rowan, cute, as graceful as her name suggested, with hair flowing down to her shoulders, in between straight and curly, light brown and auburn. The most striking detail was her skin, living porcelain, its white and rose color surreal, too delicate. Her light green eyes looked tired, and that added a sense of normalcy.
“Thank you… I don’t know all the details, but Isla told me the kids were in danger and you helped. Oh, sorry. Of course, you can spend the night at our place.”
“I’m good, just drop me near the next bus station.”
“No!” Lizzie stomped her feet, but this time Rowan’s will resisted, and he frowned back, putting his fists on his hips like an old grandmother.
“Look, young lady. Using your magic on friends is a big no, do we understand each other?”
“M-magic?” Grace stuttered.