“So, uh, elder, I’m wondering…”

“Hmm?”

“Why do you have to hunt and farm for your food? Aren’t dryads, like… one with the nature? Couldn’t you just ask the trees and animals?”

Reinhard asks as they pass by the slaughterhouse with the two snakes they just hunted earlier.

“You were asking about the time before the elves? Yes, it is true that a very long time ago, even before I was birthed by the forest, dryads were said to be physically and spiritually immortal to the point that even if their bodies get destroyed, their souls will just be transferred to another body made by the earth. However, that time has long since passed. We have already lost the favor of nature ever since a small group of dryads got blinded by the outside civilization and decided to imitate them and their cities and castles of stone and marble. Mortal vanity…”

The elder began to narrate in an obvious angry tone.

“Look at them now… Fashioning themselves with gold and silver while the rest of their fellow brothers die for them in battle against the human kingdoms. Repulsive.”

“I see. So when the group of dryads that would later become the elves left, they doomed the entire race along with them…”

“Well, enough of my ramblings. First of all I have to ask you, did you really make that staff by yourself?”

“Huh? Oh, well, yes. Is something wrong?”

“Ah, hah! No, nothing is wrong.”

The elder smiled.

“You know, staves are… well, let’s say incredibly sought out by anyone… I trust you know at least why, no?”

“I’m… afraid not…”

The elder laughed at to what would count as a face palm.

“Staves, unlike wands, do not use their caster’s mana when casting spells. Instead, they have their own mana much like any living being. Mana that can be used to cast and when drained, would regenerate in time. That is why staves are incredibly rare. That, and the fact that not many people know how to create them. In fact, I’d say only two individuals exists that can create staves, three including you.”

“Wait, are you saying that—“

“I’m saying that if you want to hide the fact that you’re in possession of the branch, avoiding attention from the warring states is of utmost importance. If they learned that someone other than the two could make staves, the humans, the elves, even the drakkens would definitely look for you. We dryads would never tell anyone that you hold the branch because it’s in our nature to protect it, but I don’t know if they can hide the fact that you can make staves.”

“Well, that’s… So I can’t use my staff after all?”

Reinhard disappointingly sighed.

“What? No, no, you can use them normally. Many mage adventurers use staff as their weapon. What I’m saying is, you need to keep your ability to create one a secret.”

“…”

“Do you understand, child?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Thank you for escorting me all the way to my house.”

The elder patted Reinhard on the back and proceeded to enter his home.

Reinhard, on the other hand, decided to go outside of the village to test his staff, but when he was about to cross the barrier that separates it from the outside, he was stopped by the child-like voice that morning.

“Halt!”

The voice shouts. It attempted to be commanding but utterly fails to do so due to the childishness of its voice.

“Dusk is falling, monsters become more aggressive at night. What is your business outside, possessor?”

The female child revealed herself from inside the tree house closest to the barrier.

“Tylla, is it? I was just thinking if I could practice my abilities by hunting monsters.”

“No can do.”

“Eh? B-but, I can protect myself!”

Tylla thoroughly looks at him, from head to toe.

“I have judged that you cannot.”

“Ehhhh? C’mon, I won’t be long. I’ll be back before nightfall.”

“Nnnooo, nu-uh. It’s dangerous outside.”

Reinhard sighed.

“Alright, fine. What do you want me to give you?”

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Suddenly, Tylla looked at Reinhard, dumbfounded.

“Are you bribing me?”

“Uh, well, I was just—“

“I’ll have you know, child, that despite how I look, I am a hundred years older than you!”

“Seriously?”

“Your dark intentions will never corrupt me, the trusted gatekeeper of Garden!”

As they were conversing, a dryad woman carrying an empty basket suddenly came.

“Hey Tylla, I’ll be out for a while collecting nightshrooms, okay?”

“Sure, be careful!”

“I will!”

Then she passed through the barrier uncontested.

“Huuuuuh? Why can she go but I can’t?”

“Hmph~”

“Eeeeeeh?”

“It’s because… you have dark intentions!”

“Wha—. I was just trying to test my abilities!?”

“You tried to bribe me!”

“Because you wouldn’t let me out!?”

“See? I told you, you have dark intentions!”

Reinhard noticed that another dryad was approaching. It was the woodworker, carrying an axe.

“He must be going out to collect wood. This is my opportunity.”

He immediately ran towards the approaching woodworker.

“Hey, wa—“

Tylla shouts as Reinhard run.

“Hey, sir… uh…”

“Oh hello there, Reinhard. How may I help you?”

“Crap, what’s his name again? Wait, did I even ask for it? Bah, never mind that.”

“So, you going out to collect wood?”

“That, I am!”

“But isn’t it dangerous with all the monsters around?”

“Monsters? Oh, no.”

He laughed.

“There’s a magic within the hut just outside the village that repels all monsters away. It should be safe if you’re within fifty meters of the hut.”

“Wha—…”

“That little kid…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, uh, nothing. Thank you for that!”

“Okay… then… Hey Tylla, I’ll be out getting wood!”

“Okey-dokey! Hey, you!”

She points to Reinhard.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Going out?”

“I told you, it’s dangero—“

“You lied.”

“What?”

Tylla replied, utterly shocked.

“The hut prevents monsters from getting near… doesn’t it?”

“How did you—? That Lem…”

She then began to mumble to herself, although her mumblings can be easily heard by Reinhard.

“So the woodworker’s name is Lem…”

Reinhard thought as he slipped past Tylla outside of the barrier without her noticing.

*Ping!*

[SYSTEM]

[Stealth 1] Leveled up to [Stealth 2]

The sun hasn’t gone down yet, but the sky is definitely turning black.

Not far to the right, across the creek was the woman from earlier, gathering what looks to be mushrooms that glow. Even further than her, within the trees was Lem, chopping down a tree.

Reinhard decided to go west, the same route that he had taken when he was running just yesterday. With the map interface, he doesn’t have to worry about getting lost.

After about a minute and a half of walking, he finally spotted his first prey, a horned warg. It had spiky fur that runs from its nape all the way across its spine to the end of its long tail. It seems to be eating a corpse of a goblin.

“Phew. Okay, stay calm. It’s defenseless, so it doesn’t know I’m here. Don’t mess this up, Reinhard.”

Reinhard materialized his [Earthwood Staff of Venom] and wielded it on his right hand.

“Breathe in.”

“Breathe out.”

“Breathe in.”

“Breathe out.”

After trying to ease his nerves, he pointed the staff’s orb towards the feasting warg.

Upon a closer inspection at the warg, Reinhard noticed that it was a level three, with a leaf symbol on the left side of its name.

“What’s that? Is that its element?”

“…”

“Well, whatever.”

“…wait, how do I use a staff anyway? Is there some kind of trigger or something? Do I just will it?”

Upon saying that, a small, purple magic circle appeared on the orb pointing towards the warg. It didn’t give off a sound, but it did give off a light. Fortunately, it was not bright enough to alert the warg.

Then, after a split second of appearing, the magic circle sprayed a line purple liquid all the way towards the warg that’s about five meters away. It was caught so off guard that it was pushed away towards the ground by the force of the impact. It immediately tried to get up and run towards Reinhard, but only three to four steps later, it began to significantly slow down and pant heavily.

“Its stamina was drained, huh?

Not long after the attack, Reinhard fired off the staff again. This time, killing the warg for good.

“So it’s one of those types of games where the enemy doesn’t have HP bars, making it rather difficult to ‘min-max’ your attacks…”

*Ping!*

*Ping!*

“It looks like there’s a charging time of 0.5 to 1 second before being able to fire again.”

Reinhard looked at his staff and noticed that there was a blue bar with numbers hovering on top of the staff.

MP: 80/100

“80/100? So every shot costs 10 mana?”

He observed at it closely, wondering at the rate at which the staff recovers mana. About three seconds later, the bar changed.

MP: 82/100

And then it changed again after another second.

MP: 84/100

MP: 86/100

MP: 88/100

“I see, it appears that there’s a three second delay after casting before mana would start regenerating at a rate of 2 mana per second…”

“Well, time to head back. I hope that warg isn’t too heavy.”

After dragging the warg by the hind legs for more than fifty meters, Reinhard finally reached the barrier to Garden, past the hut.

“Good thing my stamina regeneration was able to keep me from getting tired. I’m surprised I didn’t get some kind of strength-related passive skill for doing that though…”

“Tylla, it’s me, Reinhard!”

However, there was no response.

“Maybe she didn’t hear me?

“Tylla, I’ve c—“

Suddenly, the barrier warps open, letting Reinhard enter.

“What took you so long?”

Tylla complains by the entrance.

“Well, I was dragging this.”

Reinhard then showed her the warg that he had just killed.

“Eh, it’s not that heavy…”

She retors smugly.

“This girl…”

“Well, whatever.”

He brought it to the slaughter house to have the body looted. The fangs, spiked fur, tail, claw, horns and orb were all taken by Reinhard. The rest, he has no need for.

[SYSTEM]

Obtained: [Warg Fangs x2] – Common, [Warg Fur x10] – Common, [Warg Tail x1] – Common, [Warg Claw x4] – Common, [Warg Horns x2] – Common, [Earth Orb] – Common

He then returned to the tree house that he was staying on to check on the notifications.

[SYSTEM]

You have acquired the following:

[Staff Proficiency 1] Passive Skill

You have leveled up to level 2!

+1 skill points

“Skill points?”

[SYSTEM]

Skill points can be used to instantly level up a skill or learn a new skill from the available ones.

“Hmm, what should I use it for? Should I learn a new one? Well, for now let’s see what the available skills to learn are.”

[SYSTEM]

Learnable skills:

[Weaving 1] Passive Skill

[Metallurgy 1] Passive Skill

[MP Regeneration 1] Passive Skill

[Fortify 1] Passive Skill

[Clarity 1] Passive Skill

[Enduring 1] Passive Skill

[Enchant] Active Skill – Learned at [Arcane Artificer Level 10]

[Dual Wield Staff 1] Passive Skill – Learned when [Staff Proficiency] Passive Skill reaches Level 20

“…”

“This is going to be a long night…”