Over the course of the next few days, the man, the hound and the giant hunted, tanned hides, sang and told stories to one another. Joe earned the second tier of Jotun as well as memorizing Gharak’s familial song. They were both surprised at how well their voices blended when they sang it together. Even Bixby let off a howl or two to join in. For Joe’s part, he decided for something a bit more uplifting and taught Gharak to sing the Beatle’s Here Comes the Sun. Joe had spent the nights carving on his piece of wood and within a few evenings, he presented his finished product to Gharak.
Next to the fire, Joe finished running a long length of paracord through a loop carved in the top of his handiwork. He then held it up for Gharak to inspect.
“What is it?” Gharak asked.
“It’s a carving of you. I even tied a rope around it so you can wear it like a necklace if you like.
Gharak took the tree stump sized carving and held it close, turning it all around. The carving was of Gharak sitting cross legged with his hands in his lap. Joe was not a master carver by any means, but the likeness was undeniable. Joe saw tears in Gharaks eyes, “This is a gift beyond compare, friend Joe. I thank you and I will treasure it always.” He placed the loop of paracord around his neck allowing the carving to rest just below his collarbone.
Joe was pleased with both the size and that he cut the loop to the correct length. “It was my pleasure my friend. It suits you.” Joe beamed.
The next morning, Joe awoke to new notices.
Congratulations! You have survived two weeks in a Level 100+ Zone! Exp earned, 50,000 (Banked).
Achievement Unlocked! No Rest for the Wary! You have survived two weeks in a Level 100+ Zone! Rewards Unlocked! You and your companion gain +3 Strength, +3 Constitution, +3 Willpower. Exp earned, 20,000 (Banked). Gold earned 15,000.
Title Unlocked! Apocalypse Master! Survive two weeks in a Level 100+ Zone. Rewards Unlocked! You and your companion gain +3 Strength, +3 Constitution, +3 Intelligence and your Survival skill has earned another tier. Exp earned, 25,000 (Banked). Gold earned 15,000.
Jeez! Two weeks already? It seems like a lifetime. Joe closed the scrolls and allowed the statistic boosts to wash over him. Close by, Bixby awoke from a nap as his body was quickly improved as well.
Over the next days, Joe also earned some new skills such as Carving, Tanning, Leatherworking, Hunting and Tracking. His Spear and Axe skills went up a tier each as well as his Identify and Inspect abilities and he gained quite a bit of gold and experience, which, of course, he could not use. He also earned an ability called Physically Fit that raised his physical statistics considerably and made him brawnier and he thought maybe made him taller. But when compared to Gharak, it was an insignificant adjustment.
They ranged their hunts out further and further until one day they came across a clearing at the base of the mountain with a tall standing stone in the middle of it. The stone was about five feet wide at the base and tapered up to about two feet at the top which was about seven feet. It was covered in glowing glyphs.
Joe pointed it out, “What is that?”
Gharak led the three of them closer to it. “That is a Travel Stone. It allows the chosen races to travel instantaneously from any Travel Stone they have encountered. Most larger towns and cities have one. I do not know how they work though as my kind are forbidden from utilizing them.” Gharak saw Joe’s hesitation. “You are free to touch it if you will. There is no harm there.”
Tentatively, Joe approached the stone and laid a hand on it. It was warm to the touch, and he could feel it trying to draw upon his innate Mana. He allowed the contact and a screen opened before him.
Congratulations! You have just found your first Travel Stone! Exp earned, 5,000 (Banked).
The scroll then shifted and asked.
Would you like to attune to the Elder Mountain Travel Stone? Y/N?
Joe chose Yes and felt a small amount of Mana drawn from him and into the stone. The scroll was replaced by what resembled a star map with a glyph in the center representing the Elder Mountain Travel Stone. The rest of the map was hazy and undefined. Joe supposed it was because he did not have any other Travel Stones attuned. He removed his hand and closed his screens. “Huh. That was easy. Does that mean that if I ever find another stone that I can come back to this one?”
“It does.” Gharak replied.
“Well then,” Joe smiled, “If I decide to travel away, I can always find my way back.”
Gharak was pleased with that, and Joe made a mental note of where it was in relation to their camp. They continued hunting and eventually came to the westernmost part of the range as it slanted back down into the bowl of the valley. Gharak had never ranged this far and was eager to look beyond the mountain, so they decided to cross to the southern side of the mountain and camp overnight before returning home.
The crossing here was less rocky and was more high desert style landscape with short stubby trees and bushes. Upon reaching the short summit they could see beyond the mountain a bit and Joe was slightly dismayed to see more forest and no sign of civilization. That is until they stumbled upon the stairs.
A wide trail had led them around to the south side of the mountain and back upwards. After only a half hour of casual walking they came across stairs carved into the rock. They were man-sized and wide, maybe six feet and they took a gentle incline up the mountain. Seeing something manmade caused Joe’s spirits to rise and Gharak agreed that it would be good to investigate. The stairs took them swiftly up the mountain and Joe noticed that they were fairly old and damaged. Every once in a while, there would be what Joe thought of as rest stops where a small circular area was paved, and a few standing stones could be seen. One such area had a stone bench which supported Joe’s theory. They had made it halfway up the mountain when they heard a faraway noise. All three stopped to listen again, but the wind on this side of the mountain was loud and stole the sounds away rather quickly.
They proceeded with more caution until they heard the sound again, this time it was louder and seemed to echo off of the rocky walls. The noise stopped Gharak in his tracks. “We go back now.” He stated with some urgency.
“What was that?” Joe asked.
“Dragon.” Was the answer as Gharak spun on his heels and moved down the stairs with some speed in his stride. That one word caused Joe to pale. He had seen some of the monstrosities this world now held, he absolutely did not want to see a dragon. They all moved with more haste than they had in a while and soon were back on their side of the mountain where they camped in the forest overnight before heading back home.
The next morning, as they traversed the forest looking for game, Gharak found some edible vegetation and showed Joe what to look for. Joe was more than happy to add something other than meat and the fibrous onion-potato thing that Gharak favored in his stew. Joe even found a few things that he recognized and soon the two were in a debate over the merits of balancing proteins with greens. Eventually, the two split up to cover more ground but stayed within shouting distance. Even Bixby got in on the hunt and was exceptionally good at finding something that resembled strawberries.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Joe and Bixby had come to a small stream trickling through the forest that emptied into a large pond. Joe was excited when he found a small trove of mint. He began gathering it while Bixby ranged around, sniffing, and prodding the dirt here and there, his tail wagging occasionally. Slanted rays of sunlight poured through the leafy canopy above them, and Joe took some time to sit and enjoy the moment.
He had his back to the pond when he heard a splash behind him. “Bath time again?” He addressed Bixby as he turned around. Something warm and wet hit his face and clung to it. He was instantly blinded and muffled by whatever this was. He tried grabbing it to pull it off of his face, but it was sticky and damp and hard to grasp. Suddenly he was yanked forward off his feet and dragged into the water by his head. He also realized that this substance was covering his mouth and nose and he could not breathe.
In a panic, he placed his fist against the thing, I hope I don’t shoot myself in the head, and fired a void bolt point blank into it. The sticky mess immediately dropped away from Joe’s face, and he flopped into the water. He shot up and got to his feet as quickly as he could and shook the water from his face to see what he was up against.
Rising from the middle of the pond was a frog the size of a VW bug. Its tongue hung partially out of its mouth and Joe could see blood spilling from it. It was staring at him obviously stunned that its prey had damaged it.
Froghemoth (20)
HP: 2500
Status: Angry
Resistant to Fire and Lightning damage
Joe backed up onto solid ground just as Bixby appeared out of nowhere on the frogs’ back and tried to take a bite out of it. As his teeth bit into the frogs’ flesh, Bixby let out a yelp and leaped off. The frog let out a loud croak and the pond began to bubble. Joe stepped back even more and pulled his axe as a dozen frogs the size of medium sized dogs rose out of the pond.
Giant Frog (8)
HP: 500
Status: Angry
Poison tongue attack
The Froghemoth croaked again and several of the giant frogs jumped at Joe while a few more shot their tongues out towards him. He activated his mantle spell and blink stepped to just behind and to the side of the Froghemoth. He then brought his axe down on the exposed joint of the things back leg with the intent to cripple it straight away. The axe impacted the frog and dug deep, and Joe was rewarded with a loud croak of what he hoped was pain from the thing. The other frogs leaped and flopped around to try and get to Joe, but he used his far superior maneuverability and the speed he gained from his boots to dash around and stay out of their immediate range.
He began systematically to pick off the giant frogs one at a time. He dashed in and with a few strikes of his axe, he could end one before becoming a target for any of the others. As he did this Bixby also used hit and run tactics, but Joe noticed that after a few, Bixby began distracting them and not actually attacking them. This caused a bit of concern for Joe. Enough that a sharp pain in his thigh and a notification let him know that he was poisoned. Damn! Got cocky and distracted!
Congratulations! Your ability, Poison Resistance has increased to 26%.
Joe swiftly dispatched the offending frog and went back to methodically culling the rest. The Froghemoth, seeing its minions being slaughtered tried to move but its injured limb kept it from going anywhere. It occasionally spat out its bloody tongue to try and snare Joe or Bixby, but they were both far too fast, even wading knee deep in the pond.
Once the giant frogs had been dealt with, Joe took a break far enough away from the Froghemoth to check his status. The poison had run its course and he realized that he had taken more hits than he had thought because his mantles’ protection was depleted. No wonder that one got a solid hit. I need some way to better manage that. Fortunately, Joe was only down about a hundred health from his overall eleven hundred and thirty. Man, that is a far cry from the two hundred and fifty that I started with. Squaring his shoulders, Joe checked his remaining mana and satisfied with the amount, he stood just inside the Froghemoth’s tongue strike range and waited for it to open its mouth to attack. It did not take long before it took the bait and opened its mouth and flicked out its tongue. Joe blinked to just in front of the monster and a bit to the side and fired a void bolt directly into its open mouth.
The beast gagged and made a weird gurgling sound and its eyes rolled up in its head. With its mouth hanging open, Joe took the opportunity to fire twice more into the amphibious maw before the entire monstrosity seemed to deflate and sink slightly into the pond. The tingling at the back of Joes mind told him that the fight was over. Joe yelled out, “That’s how it’s done!” and looked on proudly at the carnage he left in the pond. The water that was once tranquil and reflected the trees above it was now swirling with a combination of mud and blood. The shore was torn up from the fight, and frog carcasses were strewn about. Joes’ celebratory mood quickly dissipated. He looked around with a different set of eyes this time and was saddened to see the damage he had done to the environment. Huh. Why am I sadder about the pond than about killing a bunch of giant frogs? Fucking System.
A slow clap sounded off to Joe’s right and he saw Gharak at full size kneeling between some trees. “A level twenty monster and its spawn and you killed them all in less than five minutes. And you are still level zero. I have never seen the like.”
“Um, yeah. Once I realized how to fight them, they really didn’t pose a threat. Oh, shit, Bix!” Joe scanned about for Bixby who was at the ponds’ feeder creek alternately licking himself and drinking from the stream. Joe moved over to him and began checking him for damage. He called up Bixby’s status and saw that he was poisoned. Immediately, he pulled his flask of healing water from his inventory and fed that to Bixby all while watching for his status to change from poisoned to none. Once that was done, he poured some on his thigh and drank some himself to remove his own poisoned status.
Happy that Bixby was taken care of, he ruffled Bixby’s fur and went back over to the pond. He waded in and began to loot the corpses. “Hey, Gharak, any need for these bodies? Are they edible or anything?”
Gharak thought for a moment, “I do not think eating them would be prudent, however, if you found an alchemist, they could potentially create a poison that you could coat a weapon with, or perhaps an antidote to the poison. That is, assuming, of course that you can find an alchemist.”
Joe nodded and decided to gather the corpses, just in case. Once done, he motioned for Gharak to wait a moment while he checked his notices.
Congratulations! Your skill, 1 Handed Axe, has increased to Tier 3.
Achievement Unlocked! I’m Not Kissing that! You have defeated a Froghemoth 20+ levels higher than yourself. Not every frog turns out to be a prince. Rewards Unlocked! You and your companion gain +2 Strength, +2 Constitution and +2 Agility. Exp earned, 15,000 (Banked). Gold earned 5,000.
Joe chuckled to himself, Yeah, no, I will definitely not be kissing that. Next, he opened his inventory. He hadn’t checked the amount of gold he had in a while and was very pleased to see that he had almost a quarter of a million. I wonder if that’s a lot? He checked the two newest additions to his inventory.
Amulet of Major Mana
While wearing this no-nonsense necklace, the wearer will recover Mana four times faster than normal. Additionally, the imbedded Mana stone can be filled by the wearer with up to 400 Mana which can then be used as the wearer needs.
Spell Tome: Pass Without Trace
With this spell active you make no sound as you move and leave no trace of your passage be it through the woods or a dusty dungeon. Natural obstacles such as vines, bushes and ruins do not hinder your movement and you may not be tracked except by magical means. Mana costs 100 points for one hour.
Joe immediately donned the amulet and looked up at Gharak, “Can you use spell books?”
“Alas, no. Only the chosen races may read them.” Gharak replied. “Are you ready to continue home?” He seemed impatient and idly toyed with his necklace.
“Yeah, one more sec.” Joe answered. He pulled the spell book out and focused on the swirling script and he felt the knowledge flood through his mind. He instantly cast Pass Without Trace on himself and as an experiment he also cast it on Bixby and Gharak. Surprisingly, it worked on both of them as well. As they moved out to return home, Joe was pleased to see Gharak move with ease through the forest. He no longer pushed trees aside or left enormous footprints in his wake. He was completely silent as he glided through the trees. Gharak looked back at Joe with a smile. Oh, yeah, hunting just got easier, thought Joe. On the way back home, he began pushing Mana into the amulet and found it was second nature to him to use his Mana. The amulet was full, and his Mana was completely restored by the time they sat at their fire and unloaded the day’s hunting bounty.