Chapter 13 – Not everything is trying to kill us

The morning after the visit from a certain scaled visitor, Matt awoke to the sound of Tobias and Van chatting. It seemed they were deep in conversation which means that Matt had overslept since they usually had calm quiet starts to the morning. His side didn’t hurt at all, and his health points were back to full which was nice. Matt did not fancy trying to go through the day with the deep ache that he had last night. He sat up and stretched his back, twisting to both sides as far as his armor let him.

“Rise and shine sleeping beauty.” Tobias said from the side of a small fire.

“Beauty? While Matt is objectively handsome, I don’t think “beauty” is an apt description. Are you attracted to him Tobias?” Van said in his normal sincere voice, clearly not understanding another reference.

“Van, its another earth expression. A lighthearted jibe at people that sleep late and references an old fairy tale about a girl that is cursed to sleep until her one true love awakens her.” Matt said after a yawn.

“One true love? Tobias I am sorry, but this doesn’t answer my question. Are you romantically interested in Matt? Van doubled down on his ignorance.

Tobias, for his part laughed before answering. “No, Van, I’m not. I’m straight as an arrow.”

Seeing where this was going, Matt headed off the follow-up line of questioning. “Van that’s just another saying that I can explain later, or you can piece it together from context.” Matt stood and inspected his rifle and helmet, brushing away as much dirt and dried bits of snake as he could. He really wanted to get out of this armor, just for a little while. He sighed and pushed mana into his armor and rifle, the self-repair enchantment cleaning off all the crap still stuck to it.

Matt moved over to the fire and mad himself a coffee and a bit of ration pack, the coffee was decent, the ration was not so decent. Still, he ate and drank before doing his morning hygiene routine, a habit that he was happy stuck with him. maybe if we are lucky, we will find another creek today and I can wash off properly without the self-cleaning taking care of it, he thought to himself.

While the self-cleaning part of the enchantment was good, it wasn’t the same as having actual water to wash off with. To Matt, even cold water would be nice, and the thought of a hot shower was almost a fever dream at this point.

With camp broken down and the area sterilized as best they could, they set off. Matt was hoping to reach level 20 in the next day or two. He would really like to be level 25 and make E grade before they reached the city but, not knowing how far they had to go, he wasn’t sure how realistic that was. Tobias was earning some decent levels at least, his creator class at level 14 already. It wasn’t surprising since all he had to do while they traveled was work on designs for things.

After about an hour Matt and Tobias stopped to collect some orange herbs growing out of a pile of rocks that had some affinity for earth mana. As they were picking the flowery stalks they heard a noise, or several noises. Deciding to investigate a little they moved toward the commotion on foot hearing yips and growls as they approached. Matt stalked forward staying in the shadow of a large tree then peeking out to get a look. He had suspected wolves based on the sounds, but he wasn’t exactly expecting them to be attacking a small blue-green humanoid creature.

Forest Deep-Dweller. Level: 21

The pack of 20 wolves, all around level 20, were circling the deep dweller, attacking when they had the opportunity. A number of the pack had paid the price and laid dead and bleeding on the forest floor. As the watched, one of the level 19 wolves lunged forward trying to bite at the deep dweller’s ankle. The deep dweller waved its hand in an odd gesture, a spear of wood shooting up from the ground at its feet and taking the wolf in its mouth. The wolf dropped, blood leaking from around the wood spear sticking out the back of its neck.

“What do you say we help the little guy out?” Matt said over the radio to Tobias.

“Sure, then we can see if it is friendly or not.” Tobias said as he crouched and braced his PDW against the trunk of a tree.

Matt stayed standing, bracing his own rifle, and picking some targets on the edges of the pack. He fired hitting the first wolf with 2 rounds to its heart and lungs before switching to his next target. Tobias worked his way in from the other side, firing short bursts at each wolf and moving on as quick as he could. In the opening salvo, they had taken down 6 of the 19 remaining wolves, the rest turned to face their new attackers. The wolves former target took this opportunity to spear 2 more from behind, impaling them on more spears of wood. Down to 10, Matt thought to himself.

The wolves pivoted to attack Matt and Tobias, some crossing the 100-meter distance in a flash, or they would have, if they hadn’t put themselves more in the line of fire. The 3 front runners didn’t make it halfway before they fell to shots in and around the face. The rest began to break and circle, trying to flank Matt and Tobias. The deep dweller managed to take one more before the pack got out of what Matt assumed was its range.

Like the pincers on a crab, both groups of wolves closed in, one group of 4 to Matt and another group of 3 to Tobias. They weaved through the trees on their arcing path, some managed to put a tree between a bullet and themselves. Matt dropped 2 more, hearing Tobias call out that he downed all of his and was changing magazines.

The last 2 wolves closed on Matt, their final approach bringing them out from behind a tree 20 meters away. He put his last 4 rounds into the one in the lead as he felt the bolt on his rifle lock back and had a dead trigger. Dropping his rifle to let it hang on its sling, Matt pulled out his tomahawk, pushing mana into it and igniting the blade. The last wolf closed the remaining few meters with a snarling leap, but Matt pivoted, swinging the tomahawk around in a slash that split it from shoulder to hip.

The smoking carcass fell to the ground, flayed open and sliding across the leaves. Tobias called an all clear over the coms and moved closer to Matt to provide cover. Matt stowed his tomahawk, reloaded his rifle and turned to face the deep dweller. Now that the fight was over, Matt could take a closer look.

The small creature was barely over a meter tall, wounds covering its coarse skin. It wore a simple tan tunic with a satchel over its shoulder and secured with a waist belt. It had emerald, green hair that was muted in color and translucent in the broken light coming through the canopy overhead. The deep dweller held its hands up in a warding gesture as they approached, as if expecting another fight.

Matt tried to radiate a calming aura, putting some emphasis on being honest and trustworthy. He held his hands to his sides, palms showing to the diminutive being. It seemed to work as the deep dweller lowered its hands and blinked large brown eyes at him, looking Matt up and down, clearly curious. Matt decided a little show of faith was in order and slowly raised his hands to his head, removing his sealed helmet, showing his face.

The deep dweller looked shocked for a moment when the helmet came off, probably thinking Matt’s normal appearance was that of angled metal and lenses. It looked between Matt and Tobias a couple times, probably noting they were both humans. Matt decided to try a bit more, not getting any feeling of hostile intent from the deep dweller.

“Hello.” Matt said, as calmly and sweetly as he could. “Are you hurt?”

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The deep dweller didn’t answer with words, instead making a soft trilling noise like a songbird. It made some small gestures that Matt couldn’t figure out before pausing to let him continue.

Matt shook his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Can you understand me?” He started before adding. “Nod for yes and shake for no.” He finished, showing the gesture as he said the words. The creature nodded showing he did understand.

“Are you hurt?”

Nod

“Do you want a healing potion?”

Nod

Matt produced a healing potion from his storage ring eliciting a series of squeaks and a trilling that sounded like laughter as the deep dweller clapped its tiny hands. Matt handed over the potion and it gulped down the red liquid without a moment’s hesitation. The cuts and bruises on its skin began to rapidly heal, restoring a healthy glow to its rough texture.

“Do you need help?” Matt asked once the healing had finished, and the deep dweller looked back to him.

Shake

“Sounds good then. My name is Matt.” He said then gestured to Tobias. “This is my friend Tobias.” He got a nod at each name before it pointed to itself and gave 2 short whistles and a hum. Matt repeated the sound and it smiled, nodding again.

“We are trying to reach a city nearby.” Matt pointed. “In that direction. Do you know about it?”

Shake and a frown. It honestly looked sad it couldn’t help.

“It’s ok, we didn’t expect you to know.” Matt said as he kneeled down. “We are passing through, and on our way, there is all.” The little creature sat down across from Matt and tilted its head. Matt took out a canteen and took a sip of water, he offered it to the deep dweller, but it shook its head at the offer. He shrugged and put it back in his storage ring, getting another trilling at the sight.

The creature clearly like it when things went in an out of the storage ring, so Matt decided to entertain it for a while. He pulled out and put away item after item going from large item to small and back a few times before he produced a long blade survival knife in its sheath. The deep dweller’s eyes lit up at the sight of the knife, so Matt handed it over.

The deep dweller turned it around in its hands, looking more like a short sword for the tiny humanoid. It fiddled with the clasp, so Matt mimed how to open it. Carefully it drew the blade halfway out of the sheath, admiring the blackened metal.

“Tell you what, you can have it.” Matt said. The deep dweller looked at him in shock. “Don’t worry, it’s a spare and I don’t need it.” The creature sheathed the blade again and tried to find a place to put it on. Matt pulled a spare chinch strap out of his ring and gestured for the knife, holding the strap to show what he meant.

After a moment of fiddling to get the buckle through the loop on the sheath, he handed it back and explained how to work the buckle. The deep dweller placed it around its waist and tightened it down before holding up its arms to let Matt see.

“Looks good.” Matt said and gave a thumbs up. The deep dweller mimicked the gesture perfectly just miniaturized. “Well, friend, we should be going. It was nice to meet you and maybe we will cross paths again.”

Matt held out his hand for a shake, but the deep dweller just looked at the gloved appendage, not knowing what to do. Matt then gave Tobias a handshake to demonstrate. He held out his hand to the little creature who took it in a very firm, yet tiny grasp and shook. A big smile showing its teeth, which happened to be a solid piece, completely flat all the way along the arch. Tobias held out his hand and got another handshake before they parted ways, Matt putting on his helmet and waving as the deep dweller watched them leave.

Van had moved closer while they fought the wolves, so Matt didn’t have far to go to reach the mech. The little deep dweller was still standing there when they climbed in, its eyes wide as it watched the hatch seal shut and the mech stand up. Matt waved a hand, getting a small wave back in return before he backed away and started on his path again.

“It’s nice to know not everything on this world isn’t trying to kill us.” Matt said after they had gotten back on track.

“No kidding, but I’m surprised you of all people made a friend.” Tobias said.

“What? Why can’t I make new friends?” Matt asked a little puzzled. “Plus, it was a good test to find out if there is anything friendly out here.”

“It’s not so much that you can’t make friends, more that you don’t make friends.” Tobias reasoned. “Besides a very select few, I don’t think I have ever seen you act remotely chummy with anyone.”

Matt chuckled at the simplified explanation. “Well then, maybe that will be my new life’s resolution. I will try to make more friends.” He paused before adding. “Van was my first new friend, I guess. I can’t count Theil and Edmond since they were just doing business.”

“Thank you, Matt, it’s nice to hear you say that we are indeed friends.” Van rumbled. There might have been some sarcasm in there, but Matt wasn’t sure.

As they moved on, Matt reviewed his system messages that he had been putting off. Besides the kill notifications for a bunch of wolves, he had some other, more important ones to look at.

Class: Pilot – Skirmisher is level 18

Stat points awarded.

Title earned: Friend of the Deep Dwellers

You have shown kindness and honesty to the intelligent denizens of the wilds, marking you as a friend to their race. + 5 wisdom.

Matt thought it was rather nice of the System to confirm that he had made a friend or maybe friends in this case. He was also a bit closer to his next skill and beyond that, reaching E grade. Matt wasn’t sure how that worked or what to expect but was hoping for only good things. A defensive skill would be nice to have or maybe a movement skill.

Matt thought he was a pretty perceptive person, especially since he had a stat for it now. He had been able to spot almost all their enemies before they were attacked thus turning the tables on any foes they happened upon. He also knew that most small enemies would not engage the mech, instead waiting for a softer target. Still, with the use of thermal imaging overlaid on the daylight optics of the mech, targets would stand out allowing him to spot even the small game that inhabited the woods. All these factors led to him being absolutely 100% surprised when a tree they were walking past, suddenly swung a massive branch at the mech.

The natural flinching dodge everyone has as an instinct is what saved Matt from taking the brunt of the impact, instead getting a glancing blow into his right side. The tree, thing, pressed its advantage and kept close, moving on thick stump legs as it swung haymakers at the mech. Matt managed a kick at its center of mass, when it telegraphed another swing, knocking it back to give some breathing room.

Treeant Brawler. Level 31.

Knowing a little lore of Earth fantasy about treeants, Matt didn’t bother much with the autocannon. He fired a few rounds into its leg, blasting bark and wood away but barely slowing it. It didn’t matter much since it was just a few shots to stagger it while he drew the tomahawk. He immediately imbued the blade and met another incoming attack with the plasma imbued edge.

The weapon bit, no, sheared its way into the arm of the monster, damp wood spitting and steam rising as the tomahawk burned its way through the wood like arm. The treeant roared in pain, its canopy of leaves rustling like the tail of a rattlesnake. Matt pressed the attack and swung at its torso, scoring a deep smoking cut deep into its body. The monsters scream cut out and it stumbled back, bending down to cover its exposed chest cavity. Again, and again the tomahawk came in, landing blow after blow, removing chunks of bark, leaving smoking scabs where it had passed.

After a half dozen chops into the back of the monster, Matt got the kill notification. With his adrenalin rush receding, He had the foresight to boot the thing over onto its back, the gaping rent in its front wide open.

“Well, that was, umm…” Tobias began, at a loss for words.

“Messy?” supplied Van.

“Sure, let’s go with that.”

Matt didn’t much care how they describe the fight with the treeant. He was just happy it was over and that he didn’t suffer any serious damage. He scanned the area, looking for any other lurking monsters, putting a few shots from the autocannon into some of the more suspicious looking trees. One of which charged at them, starting another impromptu lumberjack competition. He also flipped the second treeant over and cut it open. Tobias could collect the cores or other loot and Matt could check his System messages.

You have killed Treeant Brawler. Level 31

You have killed Treeant Brawler. Level 30

Class: Pilot – Skirmisher is level 19

Another level, so close after the last one. Matt was starting to have a suspicion about the experience and leveling mechanic to the System. In his opinion, the harder the fight the more experience and the better skills he was offered. When he fought the golems back in the hills, everything had been done at long range, barely a fight because of how far away he could engage them from. Consequently, his skill choices were not the best, no rare skills in that selection. Of course, he now knew that he could select skills he had passed on in the past. He would have to keep that in mind for future leveling.

Tobias had pulled out a couple dark green cores from the tree monsters and a couple gnarled root like things that Matt didn’t even want to guess about. With all the looting and foraging they had done; their storage rings were getting pretty full. He briefly wondered about the trade system that people used, credits, barter, or both. Time would only tell since they still hadn’t seen the drop off in monster levels, so they still had a way to go before they reached the city.