The two dug out the corpses of the vipers before heading to the village. Fortunately, they did not meet up with any beasts or monsters on their way, and they were able to reach the outskirts in a few minutes. The two looked wild and deranged as they carried a small mountain of viper corpses in their hand. Robb was especially more on the deranged side as he walked naked from the top while holding his silver katana in his mouth.
When they reached Roger’s house, everyone looked at them with weirded-out expressions. Jacob who was smoking his pipe as usual with Roger opened his mouth so wide that it dropped.
“That’s… a lot of vipers.”
Roy put down the pile of corpses on the ground and grinned, “Well, you told us to bring as many as we could.”
Roger, who was sitting next to Jacob looked at the two young men with a worried expression. “Boys, your clothes are all cut and ragged. Wait here, I’ll bring you something to change—how are you going to fight with monsters naked?”
The chubby middle-aged man walked inside the house while everyone looked at him. As he went upstairs, Jacob turned toward the two and said, “Well, with this much even five bears are gonna fall dead in minutes. I don’t know how strong this red bear is, but it should be effective on him in five to ten minutes. At the very least, it should become dizzy and have a hard time fighting. With a bit of luck, the poison can make it bleed nonstop from any wound.”
Roy’s eyes brightened as Jacob explained the effect of the poison. “That’s amazing. If it works, the raid will be so much easier.”
Jacob nodded with a smile before his eyes stared blankly at the ground. “Ah, I forgot. Yeah, you have to be careful, snake venom usually doesn’t hurt bears for too long, just a couple of hours at best. Yes, we have an abnormal amount of poison, but we’re also dealing with an abnormal bear. Plus, depending on how it lands on the spike and how far they go into its flesh, it might get infected by a lot or not much poison.”
“Don’t worry Mr. Jacob, even if it helps just a little bit, that’s already good enough,” Roy responded with a smile. “Just a little bit of dizziness or slowness can help save one of us from dying.”
Just as Roy finished speaking, Mr. Roger came down with two big shirts and jackets. “Sorry, I couldn’t find my old clothes, so I just brought these. Wear them and see if they help.”
Roy and Robb exchanged a glance before they accepted Roger’s clothes and wore them. Even though the middle-aged man was more than twice their age, his shirts fit surprisingly well at the level of the shoulders, it was just at the bottom where they hung over their pants. The jackets, on the other hand, were way too oversized and made them look goofy with cuffs that reached the palm of their hands and a bottom that closed in on their knees.
Thankfully, the jackets had pockets in them, so Roy did not have to worry about keeping all of their loot in his hand anymore. He then put the four skill scrolls deep inside his pockets so that they do not fall over when he would be fighting.
“Thank you, Mr. Roger, it’s a great gift.” Roy smiled warmly at the middle-aged man. Clothes were not cheap and especially such well-made jackets, it must have cost him a pretty penny.
“Don’t say that, we’re the ones who should be thankful. You’re working day and night to keep us safe, but we can do barely anything in return.” Roger’s eyes looked down at the ground with a bitter smile.
Roy put his hand on Roger’s shoulder, “Our job is to go out there and hunt monsters, your job is to take care of people here and make sure they’re well. We both have our jobs to do and we’re working hard on them.”
Just as Roy finished speaking, a young boy came dashing from inside the house.
“Roy! Can I come with you? I’m bored!” Jaimie stopped in front of Roy and looked at him with hopeful eyes. He no longer looked like a mummy wrapped in bandages, he wore a small yellow shirt and brown pants. Even his dagger was hanging at the side of his pants with cloth ribbons.
“Well, I’ll let you boys have at it. I need to go back inside and help them butcher the rest of that boar.” Roger and Jacob went back inside the house after exchanging small farewells with Roy and Robb.
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Roy then looked at Jaimie, who was staring at him with bright eyes, with a serious expression. “You have just healed from almost dying to the ogre. I can’t let you go fight.”
Jaimie stared at Roy with a crushed expression before his eyes looked downwards. He could not say anything and just stood in silence.
Robb sighed and looked at Roy, “Hey, I know that the same shit was what got him injured last time, but can’t he come? We’re strong now, we can defend him.”
Roy looked back at Robb with a confused expression before shaking his head. He closed his eyes and stood in silence for half a minute.
“Okay, you can come, but I have one condition.” Roy opened his eyes and looked at Jaimie with a firm expression. “Don’t be stupid. Keep an eye on what’s happening around you, and always think about what your opponent is going to do next. Don’t get baited like last time and jump at a monster’s stupid trap, okay?”
“Yes! Yes, I will never get hit again! I will kill all monsters without ever getting hit!” Jaimie jumped into the sky with his arms open. The happiness he felt could not be described and he reached beyond cloud nine.
“Okay, calm down. We will go ogre hunting, but you will not fight any ogre. But, the goblins that we meet up with along the way are all yours, understood?”
Jaimie’s head bobbed up and down. “Yes, I completely understand!”
Robb shook his head and smiled at Jaimie’s absurd excitement and said, “Well, let’s get moving. It’s almost midday.”
As the trio walked further into the village, Robb looked at Jaimie and asked, “Hey, what’s your stats looking like now?”
Jaimie looked up in thought before saying the word “Status” in his mind.
Stats Attributes Rank Level Strength Initiate B+ Constitution Initiate C Agility Sentinel E Mana Sentinel E-
“My Strength is Initiate B+, my Constitution is Initiate C, my Agility is Sentinel E, and my Mana is Sentinel E-.”
Robb nodded his head in amazement. “Nice, your speed is good so you should have no problem dodging attacks.”
Roy’s expression, on the other hand, was unimpressed. “Your constitution is very low, so you need to dodge all the attacks. Else, it’s back to the bed.”
Jaimie grinned with a confident look, “Don’t worry, I will dodge all of them so I will not go back to the bed.”
Roy, whose eyes were fixated on the front, suddenly stopped. “Well, we’re gonna see about that now.”
Jaimie turned back forward only to see a pack of five goblins. Three of the monster were small, while the other two were tall variants. He untied the ribbons that were holding his dagger before walking toward the pack of five.
One of the tall goblins signaled with its eye for the small ones to go take care of Jaimie. The little monsters listened to the command happily and charged with delight in their eyes toward the young boy.
As the goblin was about to slash his neck, Jaimie ducked down and stabbed the goblin’s belly. Without wasting any time, he jumped back out and took a defensive stance.
The two small goblins pounced at him from both directions, but the young boy quickly sidestepped to the right and slashed the monster’s neck. He then pounced at the last small goblin and stabbed it through the back of its neck.
The two tall goblins looked with confusion at the young boy before they took out their sword in rage. Jaimie dashed toward it with incredible speed, but just as he reached the monster’s attack range, he abruptly stopped. The goblin’s slash only cut air and left it open and defenseless, and Jaimie did not squander his opportunity. He charged back in and stabbed the beast through the throat.
The last goblin looked with fear at the little devil next to it and raised its sword to slash it. However, Jaimie used the goblin he had just killed as a meat shield and pushed toward the last monster. As the goblin fell, Jaimie followed after it and slashed its neck open.
With all of his foes defeated, Jaimie’s expression softened and he looked back at Roy and Robb. “So, did I do good?”