Chapter 34: Anelia the Clever and Patient

Kicking up her feet on the shaky, unsteady table, Anelia Hellcrest nodded at the barmaid to come along and give her a refill. She winked at the girl, whose face flushed with fear as she rushed over to pour her some more ale. Anelia had to admit: the little harlot was cute in her red shorts and matching red tank top.

“H-here you are, ma’am,” she squeaked fearfully.

Anelia cracked a smile. It wasn’t the girl’s fault for being terrified. After all, Anelia was currently clad in full scale gear with her helm and gauntlets resting on the table. It didn’t take a genius to deduce she wasn’t a One. It wasn’t something she bothered to hide, either. And why would she? After all, with leveling came a sort of “automatic” high-profile status. Simply making it known that you were above level 1 provided more benefits than she could count, and try as she might, Anelia could not stop herself from enjoying the empowered feeling that came with this increase in stature. When 99.9% of sentient beings were level 1, being higher provided one with a certain...well, “respect.”

No matter where in this world Anelia found herself, she was always an instant VIP. At famous restaurants, she never had to wait for a table. At a crowded store, the lines would part to allow her access to the front. If a discount was to be had, hers would be even steeper. If she needed a hard-to-get item, it was reserved for her. If she wanted seconds, she’d instead be offered thirds.

How could anyone not enjoy this? she wondered, suppressing just the tiniest pinch of guilt she felt at the downright unfairness and inequity that came with being a One. It was something she understood, as she'd used to be just like them.

Typically, people leveled because they were either A, an adventurer, or B, a privileged child born into the right circumstances. There was a third option, however: people who wanted it badly enough and were willing to do anything for it. It was this category that Anelia found herself in.

Born to a lower-class family in the Whispery Woods, Anelia knew from an early age that she craved the power and status of those who were born lucky enough to kill mobs and level. At this point in time, she, like most people, had no idea that there were such things as adventurers, and to be honest? She doubted she would’ve gone that route even if she had known. No, she was crafty, resourceful, and she researched almost every member of every guild. Though there was a dearth of information about leveling in general, as the elite kept is mostly secret, there were other interesting tidbits one could find online, such as the fact that Elinarin Fallor, an eighty-eight-year-old guild member of the Children of Order, had become sick and less active in old age. Even more importantly, he had no biological family. His only daughter had fallen in war, and his wife had died of a broken heart.

Borrowing—well, stealing—her father’s emergency gold, Anelia had bought a plane ticket down to the Faded Island. Under the cover of night, she had sneaked onto his private estate, and there, she attacked her very first spawn. She’d been caught, of course, but rather than punish her, the old man simply found her to be amusing, and he even offered her equipment. It was quite the shock.

“I’m too old to care about status anymore,” he’d said to her. “Kill whatever you like. I have no family and my friends have already departed this world. But know this: someone from my guild will be along to claim this land when I pass. Do what you must before I die.”

With his explicit blessing, Anelia had been allowed to train night and day, and to her good fortune, the old man had ended up lasting two years before finally kicking the bucket. The tears Anelia shed at his passing were genuine. It was true she’d had a vested interest in keeping him alive as long as possible, but she’d also formed a connection with him that was as surreal as it had been endearing, especially after he’d sent her parents tens of thousands of gold simply out of a sense of charity. Hell, he’d paid for them to come visit her on his estate, turning what had begun as an act of daughterly treachery into a moment of pride as her parents watched her grow stronger and stronger.

When the man had finally passed, he’d left a note for his guild begging them to forgo custom and anoint Anelia as a member of the Children of Order. Predictably, they refused, but they did honor her by allowing her to keep his estate provided she offer her services to them as a bounty hunter. Thus, her career had begun. And for almost twenty-five years, she had continued to amass coin and power. She had spent her twenties and thirties hunting, training, and becoming the woman she was today.

In truth, her appearance wasn’t exactly feminine. She had broad shoulders, large biceps, thick, muscular legs, and when wearing her helm, she could easily be mistaken for a man. She preferred it this way. She found herself taken more seriously. She found that she tended to frighten others, such as the cherry-haired barmaid, who glanced fearfully at her as though begging her permission to leave and serve other customers. Anelia was used to this reaction. Just to begin with, Ones naturally feared those who had leveled, but in Anelia’s case, her appearance added to the intimidation factor.

Still, that wasn’t why she was here. She hadn’t wasted the last several days of her time in this small, but cozy little town known as “The Den of Ziragoth” for the purpose of upsetting the locals; no, she was here because she was smarter than the average bounty hunter—which was why, in turn, she was more successful than the average bounty hunter.

As the barmaid quietly and cautiously turned to leave, Anelia snapped her fingers at the girl, causing her to stiffen upright, immediately turn back around, and face in Anelia’s direction. “Yes, Ma’am?”

Reaching into her coin purse, Anelia placed a 1000 gold coin flat on top of her thumb, then flicked it over to the woman, who caught it midair with a look of shock on her face. “For me?” she asked.

Anelia nodded. “You’ve got two kids, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then yeah, it’s for you. But also them.”

“Oh, wow…thank you!”

Watching her again spin around and scurry away, Anelia made sure she caught an eyeful of the little strumpet’s backside as she disappeared somewhere behind the counter and into the kitchen. Then she turned her attention towards observing her surroundings.

There were three types of bounty hunters in this world: the stupid, the semi-smart, and the clever. Of these, Anelia was the latter. With the reward on Zachys Calador approaching into the millions as the People of Virtue became ever-more desperate for his head, the number of bounty hunters looking for him had increased tenfold.

The stupid were searching the Tomb of Fire, the Shadowfall Coast, and Varda’s Lair. The really stupid were snooping around Whispery Woods as though by some chance he'd actually still be there. The semi-smart, however, had correctly been lurking around this area, and four or five of them had even found the tracks through the farmland that led to an abandoned bicycle in front of a massive boulder. Yet, all but one of these bounty hunters had determined that the boy had moved on from here—and so had they. And who was that one bounty hunter who had stayed?

Me , she thought with a grin.

See, unlike the semi-smart bounty hunters, Anelia was clever, patient, and open-minded. She knew that the adventurers had some Gods-damned way of vanishing into walls. There was something about them—something only they could do. In fact, she’d once seen it with her very own two eyes. She’d tracked a member of the Explorers Brigade and watched as he simply walked face-first into the back wall of a library in Varda’s Lair, disappearing through it as though there were an invisible passage none but him could access. For three days, she continued to wait. Sure, a part of her thought she might be losing her mind, but an even bigger part of her knew better than to doubt herself. And so she’d waited, and waited, and waited…

And then he reappeared!

That was the thing with these adventurers. Many times—far more often than not—they came back. And given he’d left his bicycle behind, Anelia was willing to bet her time and coin that he’d pass through this town sooner or later. And so, she would wait for him. For she was clever and patient. With that thought in mind, she took a drink, swished it around her mouth, and then downed it in a deep gulp.

I’ll be waiting for you, Zachys Calador.

****

Just from the look on Rian's face, Zach could tell that the more comfortable he grew in the presence of these giant-clawed scarecrows, the more absurd he felt for ever having been afraid of them in the first place. He seemed to be laughing at himself as he lay on his back to catch his breath while he stared up at the mob, which swiped the air above him over and over, clearly unable to bend down to hit him.

“Rian, you’re being so lazy,” Lienne complained. “I know you think this is funny, but it’s not.”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“It actually kind of is,” Zach said. When she glared at him, he held out his hands defensively and said, “Hey. I’m just being honest, Lienne! It really kind of is.”

Right now, Rian was on his back making weak, baby-like chopping motions with his axe as he nipped away at a scarecrow's heels doing between 3 to 5 damage while he “chilled out” on the dirt and giggled like a schoolgirl. Zach couldn’t help but laugh along. It was just such a ridiculous sight and it was totally out of character for the normally stoic boy.

“This feels like cheating,” Lienne said with a grunt. “I’m all for efficiency, but Gods, my brother looks ridiculous right now.”

After a nice, relaxing lunch, She and Zach had sat at the picnic table and enjoyed the warm fire while Rian had aggroed the Aggrieved Scarecrow and had brought it back to just in front of the line in the dirt that Zach had drawn with his foot. Then, Rian had immediately dropped into a prone position, virtually rendering himself invincible to the Aggrieved Scarecrow’s one—and only—attack. This, while he hacked away at the creature with some of the weakest attacks Zach had ever witnessed. Even if he had been managing to do a full 5 damage every single hit—and to be clear, he wasn’t —it would still take around 125 hits to kill the 400HP mob.

“Zach, you’re just enabling him,” Lienne said with a shake of her head. “Stop laughing.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just so funny to see someone fight like that.”

“It’s called strategy,” Rian said with another guffaw.

Despite his heavy stature, Zach knew that Rian was not naturally lazy, and so he genuinely didn’t think he was doing this out of an aversion to putting in effort. It really did seem like Rian was doing it because of how silly and ridiculous it was, to the point he didn’t seem capable of controlling himself. The mob, unable to actually attack someone lying prone, just continued to spin around and claw the area in front of itself while dying very, very slowly.

[278/400]

Aggrieved Scarecrow

Level 10

Zach looked down at his empty plate in fascination. The meal had been incredible. The moment he’d thrown the cube at the floor, a warm campfire and a picnic table had seemingly popped into existence out of nowhere; additionally, a bunch of words appeared in front of all three of their faces. It seemed they could each “touch” a selection, indicating what they wanted and how they wanted it cooked. Zach had selected the 8oz. steak, and he’d requested it medium-rare. Then he’d selected pudding for dessert, whereas Lienne had gone with the salmon and Rian had chosen chicken. Once all three had finished making their choices, their food had appeared in an instant on top of their plates, along with three wooden but comfortable chairs.

Now, as Lienne made a sour expression as she watched her brother “fight,” she rested her chin in her hands and said, “Rian, come on. Just kill the thing normally.”

“Li, I just ate,” he said. “If I start doing squats, I’m gonna vomit.”

“Then maybe you should’ve waited a second to digest. Ever think about that?”

“No.”

“Ugh.” She looked away from him and set her eyes on Zach. “Can you believe this?”

Zach shrugged. “He’s having fun. And to be honest, it’s funny to watch.”

In truth, it only took about two more minutes for Rian to kill the thing, but it was done with so many weak, inefficient hits with his axe that it felt more like ten for how boring it was to observe. Eventually, the creature died, and +100xp appeared above its head.

“You guys should be really close to leveling by now, no?” Zach asked.

Lienne nodded. “We should. Let me see.”

Lienne Astafort: Level 6

(395/400xp)

Armor Bonus: 8

1 strength

8 dexterity

3 constitution

15 intelligence

1 speed

1 luck

“Wow,” Zach said, lifting his finger and pointing at her stats. “You’re just five away.”

Rian, slowly climbing back to his feet, dusted off his leather brigandine and padded trousers, then picked up his axe and shield. “Five experience points away, huh,” he said. “I might as well just kill a pumpkin.”

Without waiting for any kind of confirmation from Lienne or Zach, he bent his knees, raised his arm high, and then leaned forward and threw his axe. Zach watched as it made a fluttering sound in the air as it spun, traveling in an elliptical orbit that led it to smack into one of nearest pumpkins not from off to the left of the picnic table before making its return flight to Rian’s hand. The moment the axe made contact, the pumpkin became animated as though springing to life.

[15/30]

Audacious Pumpkin

Level 4

The purple, arm-having, leg-bearing pumpkin growled and began to run towards Rian, who threw his axe at it a second time, this one putting it down for good and earning all three of them yet another +5xp. This last bit of xp seemed to do the trick, as now, in front of both Lienne and Rian, the words every adventurer craved to see popped into existence.

Level up!

+1 dex (9)

+2 int (17)

Fire Geyser Acquired!

Level up!

+1 dex (4)

+2 con (16)

+1 lck (5)

Zach clapped his hands at the two of them. Then, remembering what was apparently some kind of “custom” among adventurers, he said, “Grats!”

“Thanks,” they both replied. Then, Lienne smirked and said, “I can’t wait to see what Fire Geyser does! Hey, how far along are you, Zach?”

“I’m not actually sure. Let me check.”

Zachys Calador: Level 5

(225/300xp)

Armor Bonus: 8

6 strength

4 dexterity

5 constitution

1 intelligence

3 speed

2 luck

Reading over his stats, Lienne smiled and said, “One more scarecrow should do it for you, then.”

“Actually about that. Here’s what I think we should do.” Zach waited for Rian to sit down at the picnic bench before explaining as the three of them glowed a bright orange from the light of the campfire. “So,” he began, pointing off in the distance towards the path that led to the exit. “First, we should follow along the path in the way we’re supposed to go anyway. We obviously won’t get the early exit bonus, but we should kill whatever scarecrows are easy pickings on the way there. Then we should double back to where we first started, and we should look for the ones that won’t require us to fight hundreds of pumpkins at once to get to.”

“Actually, I’m glad you mentioned that,” Rian said. “Because I was also gonna say that there are a lot of them here we just aren’t going to be able to kill.”

Zach bowed his head in agreement. “Yeah, there’s no way. Like that one over there”—he pointed—“is basically untouchable. We’d end up aggroing about two-hundred of those disgusting purple bastards all at once. But the one up ahead and to the right”—he moved his finger slightly and then watched as Lienne and Rian followed its motion—“that one we could probably get with an axe throw if we kill maybe five or ten of them.”

Getting up from the table, Zach picked his blade up off the floor and then watched as Lienne also unseated herself and retrieved her staff. Rian, having only just sat down, grumbled something and then joined the two of them. Then, together, the three of them set off in search of more experience.