I awake the next day motivated and ready to get grinding with as much of the available time we have left before the Contest starts as we can.
But first, breakfast!
Artemis practically vanishes as she zooms off to do her business and hustles to meet us as I grab our food from a fairly empty mess hall. Suppose most folks want to relax a bit and have a lie in after the battle, can’t say I blame them. If I hadn’t been so clearly placed into a position to help our race’s survival, I would likely be among them, snuggled amidst my sheets.
But that is simply not the reality. I have a job to do.
We have a job to do.
I have Horus quietly swoop in to Belina’s longhouse and rouse her.
She exits a moment later while stifling a yawn and rubbing the grit from her eyes and without a word she heads to the mess hall to fill up a mug of coffee before saying a thing.
I suppose even the apocalypse has to make way for some of that morning joe, even with our enhancements.
After we clean up our used plates and utensils then exit out into the dawning light of the sun, we set out once more into the great expanse that feels more and more like home, a neighborhood almost, even if it is the Great Forest full of yet untold mysteries and wonders.
Or so I like to daydream, anyway.
Our course takes us toward the deep, unexplored area of the region, beyond even where we encountered that annoying swift. The hope is, we will find more and better challenges there to help us catch up to the other top Players that have reached the Journeyman tier.
After over a half a day’s travel, we really encounter no hostiles, any likely scared off by the large force that moved through and the subsequent bloodshed that likely spread a wave of the scents of death and carnage that has held even the most ambitious of Beasts at bay from coming anywhere near the settlement.
Finally, mid-afternoon comes and brings with it—paydirt!
{Majestic Mountain Lions, Levels 20, 21, 20}
The Beasts, worrying at some carcass they likely hunted down, turn at our appearance from the dense foliage and advance upon us, threatening growls filling the air as they posture in their dominance.
So, when Artemis adds her voice to the cacophony, they are taken a bit… aback?
Her deep, nearly earth-shaking growl seems to rattle my very ears!
The lions, heads cocked in surprise and no small amount of painful deafening, recover and rush at us with jaws opened wide to feast!
Our approach to battle remains mostly the same since our rigorous training time, Belina drawing the attention of the two weaker lions with Artemis supporting by guarding her flanks and lashing out at any offending paw or maw that comes near our Bulwark. The two begin whittling away at the Beasts, drawing blood with near perfect consistency.
Meanwhile, Horus and I handle the big boy, this lion’s mane marking him as the pride’s king.
I have Horus dive bomb the Beast’s sensitive nose and wing away as soon as possible, enraging the creature and, more importantly, drawing the majority of its attention.
I circle him, watching as he keeps part of his awareness on me even with Horus’ distraction, until my patience is rewarded as the perfect moment arrives when he commits to a leap at the currently downward swooping hawk.
Even as I warn Horus to dodge, I’m already halfway through my attack, a great swing with my hatchet empowered by a hefty HP’s worth of Wild Rampage.
My blow, aimed at the side of its chest, strikes true but only moderately deeply, the difference in strength between tiers evident. As the Beast whines and retreats a step, I capitalize and with a jab with my free hand as a feint, I draw his defense away from the wound and deftly land another strike in the same spot, pulping the heart and causing the lion to fall off my weapon and collapse, boneless, to the ground.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
I turn my attention to the other two and see they are on their last legs and, as they notice the fall of their mate, they clearly seem in doubt of victory but their nature forces them to attack all the same.
With Horus and I merely taking a few threatening steps towards their flanks, Belina and Artemis take advantage of the distraction and land finishing blows each: a Shield Bash and Arctic Claws, respectively.
Congratulations! You have killed 3 Majestic Mountain Lions of various levels for a total of 15,000 XP!
Some solid XP too, with levels like this, we should be able to reach Level 20 before the end of the month.
All it will take is some hard work and some handy scouting by our resident eyes in the sky.
As the thought enters my mind and our bond, Horus nods his little beak and flies off, sending regular updates as he searches out the most opportune battles for us and our growth.
An hour later finds me elbow deep in the now segmented corpse of a {Brutal Bear, Lv. 21}, hand blindly searching for my hatchet somewhere inside its chest cavity after splitting it in half.
Belina and Artemis finish off another of the Beasts on the other side of my kill’s bulk, leaving me to find my wayward weapon and check my notifications.
Finally, my fingers close around the handle of my weapon and as I pull it out, dripping in unfortunate fluids, the notification I have been working toward over the last hours’ worth of sporadic battles, carefully curated by our trusty scout, appears in my vision!
Congratulations! You have killed a {Brutal Bear, Lv.21} for a total of 8,000 XP!
You have leveled up!
You have 2 free Attribute points and 1 free Spell point available!
Constitution +1
My free points I use to hit the couple of stats I neglected last level up, increasing Strength to 12, the second highest behind Constitution, and Soul up to 11. Perhaps I could specialize more, but my stats are already fairly impressive and with my efficiency percentage from my new Skill, they will only grow more powerful as time goes on.
Plus, with Constitution as my eternal dump stat thanks to my Class, I will likely be able to survive beyond what most would consider possible. Even if they take in to account my other stats as outliers for my level. Speaking of, only another level and I will drop an extra point into Con to bring it to 20, see if that gives me any good rewards!
Could probably have done it now but there is still nearly 5 days until we ‘ship off’ to wherever the Contest will take place.
I check on my Party and, seeing they are busy with notifications as well, if their vacant expressions are anything to go by, I continue to my final ability unlock of this tier--Spells!
Spells List
Forest Fade (99%)
Claws of the Wild (98%)
Bark Bite (95%)
Earth Tremor (94%)
Power Strike (92%)
…
Wrath of Cans (53%)
…
Judgement (23%)
…
Environmental Agony(-21%)
A few new additions, only one with a compatibility that I can accept, so I pull up its description.
Bark Bite(B): Can be cast onto any tree, being or inanimate, to form a large fanged set of jaws jutting from bark. Does moderate damage and costs high amount of Mana to cast. Every 10 levels will increase tier and unlock additional benefits.
Hmm, now that one is interesting, if pretty situational and limited. I do like the idea of the trees becoming our very allies in the defense of our world, but how often will I realistically be able to use?
We could battle in a ring, a city, a stadium or some other random locale lacking the necessary arboreal spread to make the Spell useful.
So, I move back to a choice I have passed up pretty much every time since the System arrived.
Forest Fade(B): [Active] Casting this spell will shroud the caster in a visual haze that will blend into the shadowy gloom of the forest floor. Costs 8 Mana to activate and 1 mana every minute to keep [Active]. Will reduce with tier. Every 10 levels in Spell will increase tier and unlock additional benefits.
Well now….
I passed this up before because it just felt too passive for my liking, Artemis and I were on our own and going all out in frontal assaults as we progressed. But now, more and more, we have been using Belina and/or Horus to draw aggro and then coming to attack from the flank.
Artemis is naturally at home in the forest, moving quietly and staying low in shadowed areas but while I too feel more and more at home here, I do not have the same instincts to safely stay hidden.
So, with this ability paired with my ever more threadbare cloak, I can much more easily disappear into the shadows to attack unsuspecting prey and best utilize my Party’s distraction.
Talking myself into it with that line of thinking, I choose the Spell and sit down to await what has, at this point, become ritual agony.
After a suitable amount of tensing, teeth clenching and softly cursing, I am now another Spell richer, if a bit poorer in terms of sweat and energy thanks to the oh-so-wonderful implementation process.
Artemis has her eyes closed, her slow breaths blowing dirt and pine needles away from her head in a circle of expelled air while said head bears our hawk Companion, nestled safely between her ears as he dozes as well.
A soft smile graces my lips at the simple peace of the moment and I wish that every day could be like this…
But that will have to wait, as before we can truly rest, we have a job to do, one that will hopefully bring a similar peace to thousands, ideally millions, if we succeed.
I intend to ensure that we will.
I do not wish to lose anyone else, not when I can grow more powerful every moment of every day, until I get to the point where nothing and no one can take someone from me.
Not even time itself.
My Party, my family will survive, will outlast, for one reason and one reason alone:
I will it so.