Two weeks passed in a blur. Red stayed with the Lufthynsth elves, learning as much as he could from them and taking a much-needed break from the constant exercise. That didn’t mean that his skills didn’t improve.
[Lufthynsth Language Proficiency 7 → Lufthynsth Language Proficiency 8]
Simply immersing himself in a culture that spoke a different language did wonders for his language skill. He was still pretty terrible, but at least the system thought that he’d improved. It would probably take months of this kind of immersion to become fluent, but for now, he could get by.
He also didn’t just chat while sitting idle. Athleticism remained stubbornly dark in his status, but there were plenty of other skills to be gained. The elves had a form of horticulture that was rather extensive and fed their entire community with plenty of excess. With nothing else to do, Red integrated into their lives, which naturally led to a notification and several level-ups a few days later.
[New Skill → Gardening 3]
Aewyn clung to him like a glove, acting as a self-appointed guide for anything and everything elvish. It was kind of cute how seriously the little girl took to her role, which led to plenty of hair tousles—much to Aewyn’s displeasure.
It was practically school, and Red learned much. This planet, for instance, was called Shoal — which, as far as he could tell, was the elven word for steady. Shoal had seasons, though they were massively impacted by the sister planet, Makket — which oddly enough was named Sibling in Elvish.
Makket rose every day to cover the sun for around three hours. Tides were likely the most heavily affected, though none of the elves of Lufthynsth had ever seen the ocean and were dutifully amazed by his stories.
It was pleasant in the village. Not as high stakes, nor as varied as anything else he’d done — whether on earth or on Shoal. Days passed languidly and instilled upon Red a deep sense of peace. That was, it would have done that if not for the archways.
Red glared at the glowing portal to who knew where around fifteen days after his initial arrival. This marked the tenth such monolith of frustration within the bounds of the elven village. It taunted him with its slowly moving glyphs. It is as if it was saying that no matter how slowly it moved, it would eventually catch him. What made it worse, was that in a forest, the portals were viciously hard to spot until it was too late.
“Whatchya lookin’ at?” Aewyn bounced into his lap, forcing him to catch her lest his chair tip over.
“Nothing much, just coming to a decision,” Red smiled and pulled her onto a more comfortable spot on his lap.
“Momma says that if you frown like that, a Meersha will come in the night and land on your eyes,” Aewyn said matter of factly. She pinches the sides of her canted eyes to give herself crow’s feet. “And then you’ll look old forever and ever.”
“I’ll make sure to remember that,” Red said. He allowed his gaze to return to the archway and let his frown fade. He’d already come to a decision.
“So?” Aewyn said after a moment, spinning in place to look Red in the eye.
“So what?”
“So, what decision did you come to?”
“Mhmm,” Red stalled for a moment, then sighed. “I’ve got to go.”
Aewyn’s response was instant. Her eyes grew wide as saucers, and her shoulders slumped miserably.
“Did I...” Aewyn whispered pathetically. “Did I make you mad? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
“No, sweetheart,” Red pulled the little girl tight to his chest. “It’s not your fault. I just have a job to do that means I’ve got to go.”
“You’ll come back, right?” Aewyn perked up.
“Of course.”
“Right away, though. Okay? And you’re not allowed to get grabbed by a wyvern. It’s against the rules.” Aewyn said sternly.
“I’ll try my best,” Red smiled.
Aewyn turned around so that she could lean into Red’s chest. Her golden locks tickled his nose, but he resisted the urge to scratch. It filled his nose with the clean and slightly spicy smell of the soap they made in the village. Something he didn’t know if he’d ever be able to get used to.
“What’s your job?” Aewyn asked after a bit.
“I’ve got to save a bear.”
“Oh...Cool. Can I come?”
“No, sweetheart. I’ve got to do this alone.”
----------------------------------------
A nestling chirped pathetically in the distance.
Red’s eyes flared as all the progress of the previous loop vanished. He sighed, coldly realizing that perseverance even worked to dim the sorrow of loss.
The death to the Forest Adder had been deeply unpleasant, and it hadn’t even given him venom resistance for the trouble. A shame, but he had bigger fish to fry.
A deep subsonic growl pulled Red’s attention back to the present.
“Why hello there,” Red said. “You know? This is all your fault.”
The bear huffed threateningly and swatted at the ground.
“I’m glad you agree,” Red cracked his neck in preparation. “Ready or not, here I come.”
Red charged at the bear, and it rose up onto its haunches to greet him. The fight was short, brutal, and ultimately one-sided. If all Red cared about was winning, he might have stood an even footing. Especially with athleticism at tier two. But he wasn’t going for the kill. He was trying to incapacitate the stubborn mother bear so that he could go treat her cub. A feat that was an order of magnitude harder.
And it was the reason Red had reset. The archways said: Save a Child. Clearly, saving Aewyn was enough to progress, but ever since that first archway spawned, Red couldn’t get the image of the small suffering cub out of his head. Wasn’t it also a child? If so, wouldn’t the archway unlock as well if he managed to cure it somehow?
It was time to find out.
Red died, and the loop reset. Stab resistance was already at the limit of the first tier, so it couldn’t be improved to make things easier. Athleticism was likewise locked for a reason he couldn’t fathom. But brawling wasn’t. Nor was power strike.
[Brawling 7 → Brawling 8]
[Power Strike 6 → Power Strike 8]
The increased levels provided a minor bonus that allowed Red to fight just a little more evenly with the massive bear. Athleticism synergized incredibly well with brawling. The two skills fed off of each other, allowing Red to do some practically inhuman feats of agility and strength during the fight.
It wasn’t enough, though, so Red died once more.
Dozens of loops passed as his skills slowly rose. Fighting the bear definitely yielded diminishing returns over time, but it also meant that he was perfecting his battle strategy while fighting it. By this point, Red could predict each of the bear's attacks. Every twitch of its ears or vocalization meant something, and Red was slowly becoming a master at interpreting.
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[Brawling 8 → Brawling 10]
[Power Strike 8 → Power Strike 10]
But these levels were only enough to kill the bear. Not to subdue it. That was a far more difficult task, so Red had to resort to finding more power. Which meant returning to the elves.
Saving Aewyn again was simple, if not easy. Athleticism at the second tier meant that scaling Barrier Ridge didn’t leave him wheezing and in pain. It also allowed him more energy to chat with the little elf girl who had become a sort of niece. In due time, they arrived at Lufthynsth, and Red swallowed the bile in his throat as he once again accepted the fizzy juice.
[Brawling Evolving → Skill Lost]
[New Skill → Brawling II 1]
[Skill Locked → Pending Admin Approval]
Then, after begging off that he needed to go, he did it again.
[Power Strike Evolving → Skill Lost]
[New Skill → Power Strike II 1]
[Skill Locked → Pending Admin Approval]
And again.
[Navigation Evolving → Skill Lost]
[New Skill → Navigation II 1]
[Skill Locked → Pending Admin Approval]
And again.
[Stab Resistance Evolving → Skill Lost]
[New Skill → Stab Resistance II 1]
[Skill Locked → Pending Admin Approval]
And one last time.
[Lufthynsth Language Proficiency Evolving → Skill Lost]
[New Skill → Lufthynsth Language Proficiency II 1]
[Skill Locked → Pending Admin Approval]
Red died one last time and faced the bear again. The difference in his body was immense. He was stronger, tougher, and more skilled by an order of magnitude compared to before. Even though all his skills were locked, jumping to the second tier meant that he hadn’t just outpaced the bear. He’d surpassed it.
The bear seemed to sense this, and its approach was more careful. Red marched toward it with measured steps as it took a hesitant step backward. It huffed, letting loose an intimidating roar that silenced the incessant chirping of insects. Red couldn’t be less bothered, however, and he lunged.
A power strike to the nose had the bear reeling, and he twisted underneath its predictable swipe. That put him on the side of the bear, and four rapid-fire power strikes to the flank had the bear coughing blood. It spun on him, enraged, and did a full-body lunge. Despite all of Red’s skill-ups, he still wasn’t fast enough to get out of the way, and the bear took him to the ground.
Which is where it discovered that its claws couldn’t pierce him. Red grinned as the bear’s claws scraped uselessly against the surface of his skin. They dug in, making him bleed, but no more than a quarter inch at a time. It would take the beast minutes to deal enough damage to slow him.
Minutes that it didn’t have.
Red kicked up, infusing the blow with a power strike, and started pounding on the bear’s face. Nose, throat, jaw, eyes, ears. Whichever was more available. The bear snarled, struggling to use its teeth on him, but he’d grown strong and agile enough to prevent the death grip of those jaws.
The bear whined, backing off and letting Red get back to his feet. He examined the creature carefully. He’d done damage. A lot of it, but mostly it was superficial. Bruises that would heal in time.
It growled, threatening him to stay away.
Red pursed his lips and stepped forward. The bear stepped back. Red cracked his neck, then walked to the cave.
Another short scuffle at the entrance had the bear fleeing to safety, and Red ducked into the dark. He didn’t know if this was the best way to deal with the beast. Probably not, in all honesty, but he didn’t have a better idea.
Inside the cave, Red kneeled beside the huffing bear cub and gently touched the little one’s head. It mewled, eyes locked shut by phlegm. Carefully, Red pulled off his shirt, and did his best to clean the cub’s eyes. It took a while, but eventually, the cub managed to open its eyes.
“Ahh, balls,” Red murmured to himself as he examined the cub’s milky white irises. Blueish-gray veins criss-crossed across the white sclera, giving the creature an infected look. The cub struggled weakly, trying to get away from the weirdo holding its eyes open, and after a second, Red let go.
He had no idea how to fix this.
But he did know who could.
----------------------------------------
“You wish to learn of the healing arts so that you can save a bear cub from an illness?” Elionor repeated his words calmly in a way that made him feel like an idiot.
“Yes, there is a bear mother who won’t let anyone near her cub even though it is sick,” Red replied doggedly.
“Then perhaps alchemy, child. There are plenty of rejuvenating concoctions that even a novice alchemist can create. The field might even allow you to create a temporary ward against the mother without...more aggressive methods.”
“Okay,” Red nodded, ignoring the motherly humor in the old elf’s words. “How can I learn alchemy?”
“Go speak to Miriel’s sister, Mearia. She is capable of all you need and more.”
So Red spent two weeks in Lufthynth learning under the tutelage of Mearia. Mearia was younger than Miriel. By almost a century, apparently, and it showed. The bubbly, distractible elf was more than happy to teach Red alchemy, but at a price. She wanted him to help her with her own alchemy experiments.
Experiments that frequently didn’t go so well.
[New Skill → Explosion Resistance 1]
Red was more than happy to help out, though he had to be extra careful since Aewyn insisted on joining the ‘lessons’. Regardless, Red learned, and the system soon responded.
[New Skill → Alchemy 2]
At the end of the two weeks, Red restarted the loop for fear that he’d fall through the archways. Then, he followed in his footsteps for more tutelage. With a larger theoretical understanding of how alchemical concoctions functioned, the skill levels rose sharply.
[Alchemy 2 → Alchemy 5]
[Explosion Resistance 1 → Explosion Resistance 2]
In the third two-week loop, Red went out into the forest with practically the entire family as he grew better at locating the local herbs and plants required for his plans. They made it into an adventure, but Red thoroughly enjoyed his time with them.
But the archways were multiplying, and Red was forced to bid the elves goodbye.
He spent a full loop exploring the valley around his spawn. He found a crag from which he could collect water. A glade with several of the required herbs. And even several scraggly ferns from which he could extract sap that could waterproof his briefcase.
[Foraging 5 → Foraging 6]
He then scaled the wyvern cliff and reset one final time.
----------------------------------------
A nestling chirped pathetically in the distance.
Red backed away from the bear, and once he was safe, he jogged through the forest, preparing his two concoctions. His briefcase was waterproofed and then filled to the brim with a novice-level rejuvenation potion. Then it was set aside, and he sprinted as fast as he could deeper into the forest to create the alchemical bear spray ingredients.
Mashing them together formed a foul paste that smoked slightly. It made Red’s eyes water and apparently was even more effective at deterring bears.
He then ran back to where he had stashed his briefcase and approached the bear’s cave. Big momma was back, but simply holding out the alchemical bear repellant was nearly sufficient to get her to back off. Trying to enter the cave led to a short scuffle. A scuffle that ended the moment Red smeared some of the paste on her nose.
Inside, Red cleaned the phlegm from the cub’s eyes, then very gently started dabbing at it with a potion-infused rag. The effect was immediate, and the blue veins slowly started retreating. The cub started whimpering, so Red dripped some of the potion into its mouth.
The cub’s mother returned after a few minutes and let loose a stone-rattling growl. Red glanced back, but to his surprise, the bear didn’t attack. Not willing to look a gift horse in the mouth, Red shrugged and continued working.
A rag wasn’t the most efficient method of administering a potion, but after fifteen minutes of ministration, Red was done. The tiny cub was blearily looking around while occasionally rubbing at its eyes with a paw.
The archway on the side of the cave flickered, the locked portion fading.
Save a Child to progress
Red backed away, and the bear shouldered past him. It nuzzled its cub aggressively, knocking it over and generally making sure it was okay. Red left her to it, sneaking out of the cave and taking a deep breath of fresh air.
Suddenly, he heard a familiar sound.
The pathetic chirps of a nestling.
Red paused, then followed the sound. Deep under a pile of leaves, a small bird, no more than a finger length in size, was struggling. It was brown, with a single majestic blue tail feather brightening it up.
“Another one, huh?” Red murmured, and gently picked up the tiny fragile thing. He looked around but had no clue where it had come from. There weren’t any nests in the trees, nor other birds with a similar plumage pattern that he could see.
Before he could unravel this particular mystery, the territorial cry of a wyvern echoed across the valley. Red’s head snapped upward, as the shadow of the beast flickered overhead. The tiny glimmer of Aewyn’s golden hair could be seen in the wyvern’s claws.
“Ahh, balls,” Red groaned. He’d run out of time. In his efforts to save the bear cub, he’d sacrificed Aewyn. He needed to rethink his overall strategy. Or just be faster somehow.
Red cracked his neck, and a tiny grin raised the corners of his lips.
He could be faster.
Stab Resistance II 1, Crush Resistance 7, Brawling II 1, Athleticism II 1, Power Strike II 1, Navigation II 1, Slash Resistance 1, Lufthynsth Language Proficiency II 1, Stealth 3, Foraging 6, Gardening 3, Explosion Resistance 2, Alchemy 5