I awoke in the late hours of the night or the early hours of the morning, depending on how you thought about it. Then ... I decided to go back to sleep. I planned on spending the day here and then leaving for the city as night fell to start my regularly scheduled class energy acquisition. A few hours later I woke up to the sun feeling more rested than I had since before the initialization. It felt like it had been a lifetime since I last slept in. I got up and stretched, though I don't actually think I need to anymore, but it felt damn good. I started in on my morning routine, at least the one I did when I wasn't on the move and gave myself a washcloth bath and changed into a new set of clothes from my backpack. I was about to get something to eat out of my bag when I heard a knock at the door.
"Who is it?" I called.
"It's Brielle! I came to see if you were up and wanted breakfast." She said through the door.
Hot damn, no one in their right mind would turn fresh food down, so I zipped up my pack and slung it over my shoulder before going to answer the door.
"Breakfast sounds great." I tell her as I open the door and shoot her a smile.
"Good morning, Reaper." Brielle greats me with a smile of her own.
"Good morning, Brielle." I return the greeting.
After that she leads me to their communal breakfast square where tables are line up with dishes of food with a line of people walking by with plates.
"How did you sleep?" Brielle asks as we take our spot at the end of the line.
"I slept fine, how about you?" I ask in return keeping up the small talk.
It's not long before we've gotten our food and Brielle leads me down the street to a bench as there's not enough room in the square for everyone to sit. She tells me about Liam's reaction to what I said about the smith and how he's grateful to know the benefit someone like that will bring. The breakfast they served is another stew though without a red sauce, I think it's a mix of the various vegetables they have in their gardens and something like venison. Unfortunately, a stew is a very efficient way to feed multiple people with fewer resources, so I may very well be eating a lot of stew or soups until we find a more sustainable way to gather food. Though this particular stew is far better than the one served in the northeastern town, the ingredients are fresh, and it shows.
I tell Brielle my opinion of the stew and she tells me she will inform the cooks on my behalf. I chuckle and thank her, then return to eating. I indulge in small talk with the girl for the next few minutes as I finish my breakfast even though I'd rather just eat in peace. I tend not to be a big fan of small talk, but when I'm trying to make a good impression, it's unfortunately required. Maybe someday I'll stop being such an introvert.
With breakfast over, I'm not sure what I want to do for the day, I don't want to leave until night, and I'll visit Liam and Tristan before I leave but that still leaves the entire day. After a little bit of thought I decide to do pretty much the same thing I did during the days in the northeast town. I'll help patrol for monsters or something. Maybe I can find an expedition or group that ranges further out and go with them, at the least I'll be able to practice some of my footwork. With my mind made up I ask Brielle if there are any expeditions that leave the town to hunt monsters. Surprisingly the answer is yes, Liam decided to allow people to go out in groups to gain levels now that the town is secured.
I'm impressed with this decision from Liam, he sees the benefit in keeping his people leveled. Brielle leads me to the staging ground for the few groups that leave the perimeter. She leads me to a group of two men and one woman. The first man is just shy of six foot and has the build of someone who does manual labor for work instead of someone who visits the gym every day, he's wielding a spear, almost certainly of Tristan's make. The next man is stockier but an inch or two shorter, he surprisingly wields a wooden shield and a hand axe. I'm not sure where he got a shield from. A wooden one can't be that hard to make, but that he already has one is impressive. The hand axe on the other hand is likely of Tristan's make again. The final member of the group, the woman, is five foot seven with a lithe build, she wields a bow and arrow. I wonder if Tristan is making arrows as well.
"Jerold are you still looking for someone to add to your group?" Brielle asks as we neared.
"Yeah, why you got someone for me?" Jerold asks as he spins around to face us, he's the one with the spear.
"As a matter of fact, I do. This here is Reaper, he will only be in town for a little while, but he came from the city on his own." She tells him, waving a hand towards me.
"You came from the city alone?" Jerold asks me.
"I did." I reply simply.
"I see, what do you guys think? He looks competent enough." Jerold looks to his two companions.
"If he made it out here by himself, he shouldn't be a detriment at least." It was the woman who spoke.
"Fine with me." The second man replies without much emotion.
"Wonderful, then I'll leave you four to get acquainted." Brielle says nodding to me before turning on her heal and walking away.
"What's with the name?" The woman asks in a teasing voice.
"It's more of a job description." I deadpan for a few seconds as they stare at me in surprise. Then I smirk and we all chuckle.
"It's actually just my username for most games. Though by now, my first comment isn't necessarily dishonest." I explain.
At that the woman raises her eyebrows as all three cut off their laughter.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"So, I know one of your names, how about you two." I motion to the woman and the man with the axe and shield.
"Names Loic." The shield and axe man says but with a little more emotion in his voice now.
"And I'm Ayla." The archer says.
"Nice to meet you three. Shall we go kill some monsters?" I ask.
"Sure, let's move." Jerold says.
From the gathering point it's only a few minutes walk before we're out of the town, from there it's only another minute before we engage our first group of monsters. It's a pack of Saber wolves, and Ayla engages first with Loic in front of her and Jerold on their left flank. Naturally that means I take up position on the right flank and move in when the wolves engage and try to encircle our little group. I use my prodigious speed to close in on the rightmost saber wolf before it can turn towards me. I precise slash across its throat and I'm moving to the next, I try to focus on my footwork and moving fluidly without tripping over myself, keeping awareness of where I place my feet and how much pressure I exert and at what angle. These are the things I focus on when I fight the weaker monsters, if I was using my Energy Blade right now, I would also be trying to improve my precision, accuracy, and timing of my swings. Unfortunately, I'm using a normal weapon right now so I can't practice my proper style.
I think soon, maybe level 10 or 15 I will reveal my true capabilities to those around me. By then I'll be strong enough that any assassination attempts to kill me while I'm weak will be too late. Maybe by level 15 I will be able to handle Night Stalkers in melee. Either way for now I am seen as a rogue and I try not to display my full speed. Even so I get impressed looks from my new group, I killed 4 of the Saber Wolves by myself, the others only got two each.
The rest of the day goes smoothly, these people are consummate professionals, and I don't need to save them once. I'm impressed with their skill, though at this point most combatants should be able to handle the four monster types with a good deal of proficiency. We stop for a lunch break that has us travelling back into town. I see Brielle during lunch and give her a wave, our group of four eats with each other and then goes right back out to kill more monsters. It's dinner by the time our day of monster hunting is over, I eat well and enjoy the warm meals I've had today. After dinner I say my goodbyes to Jerold, Loic, and Ayla before setting off to find Tristan.
I find him hammering away in his workshop, I wait for him to finish once again. Tristan finishes his work and turns to give me a wide smile and extends his hand for a shake.
"Hello Tristan, I'll be leaving soon, and I wanted to come by and see how you were doing before I left." I say as I shake the man's hand.
"Ah, I'm doing very well. Ever since what you said yesterday word has gotten around, and now I'm treated with a great deal of respect and Liam has given me any resources I ask for. I want to say thank you!" Tristan exclaims.
"Don't worry it's what you deserve! I'm glad you are getting support, if you don't need anything else I should be heading out, I want to speak with Liam before night falls." I say, starting to turn.
"Oh, and don't forget to eat, I didn't see you at dinner tonight." I smile at him before leaving.
"Haha don't worry I was just about to head there. Good luck out there Reaper." Tristan says with a chuckle.
"You too Tristan." I say before I'm out of his shop and moving towards Liam's house.
It only takes me a few minutes to reach Liam's house from here. I find it surprisingly easy to remember the way back to his home through town. When I arrive, I knock on his door and wait for an answer.
"Who is it?" Liam calls from inside.
"It's Reaper, I was hoping to talk with you before I left." I explain the reason for my visit loud enough he can hear me.
A few seconds later the door swings open.
"Ah, of course. Come on in." Liam says with a smile.
He leads me back to his office and offers me a seat before returning to his side and sitting as well.
"What would you like to talk about." Liam asked once he was settled in his chair.
"I mostly just wanted to inform you about my departure and talk to you about Tristan." I respond.
"Indeed, it was very good news to hear how important Tristans class will be to us." Liam said.
"Good, I just wanted to make sure you were aware of his importance, and that he will be extremely useful in the future. I would also like to make sure you know that I will come by every so often to check up on him." I tell him with a smile.
"Of course, we'll take good care of him. I assure you." Liam says, obviously receiving my message.
"Wonderful then I can leave knowing he's in your capable hands." I stand and extend my hand to the man.
"Absolutely, do come back to visit whenever you can." He said shaking my hand.
After that minor implied threat to make sure Liam takes care of Tristan, I exit his home and start my journey towards the city. I think I'll reach the city maybe a half hour after night falls. The trek is easily made without anyone around to watch me, I'm able to move quite fast and kill everything in my way with ease without having to slow down much. Once I reach the city, I head north on the city side of the divide between zones. I'm back to hunting any Night Stalkers I can on my travels.
The night passes quickly, I make good time even detouring often to hunt Night Stalkers further out of my way than usual. The sun is dawning over the eastern horizon as I reach the corner of the northwest zone. I confirm what Liam told me, the zone is/was a snow covered tundra, now it's barely half covered in snow. I also see the rolling hills zone to the north for the first time, whenever I moved between the city and the northeast town, I always passed by the plains rather than through the northern hills. I've officially seen every one of the nine zones that make up this area.
Tired and with my walking troves of class energy running away, I find somewhere to spend the night, or rather to sleep. The next night I'm already prepared to move as night falls on the city, I'm hoping to get my 9th class level tonight, though it will take all night if I do. So, without further ado I start my hunt the seconds I sense the first Night Stalker roaming near me.
It took me all night, and I started favoring speed over being careful by the end, but I hit level 9.
Congratulations, you have reached Level 9.
For reaching level 9, you have received stats according to your class.
+5 Intelligence, +4 Wisdom, +4 Agility, +3 Dexterity, +4 Free stats
Name: Cassius Heart
Titles: Primus
Class: Void Tainted Spell Blade (Lvl 9)
Unallocated Stats: 0
Strength: [20] +20% effectiveness
Vitality: [21] +20% effectiveness
Endurance: [21] +20% effectiveness
Dexterity: [37] +20% effectiveness
Agility: [44] +20% effectiveness
Intelligence: [57] +20% effectiveness
Wisdom: [50] +20% effectiveness
Skills:
Energy Blade
Energy Control
Burst
Void Tainted Sight
Void Tainted Cowl
I sit on the ground looking at my stats as the sun rises in the east. I spent 2 points on Strength, 1 point on Vitality, and 1 on Endurance. I think I'm going to start pumping more stats into Vitality and Endurance now, my strength has gotten to a high enough level I shouldn't need to worry about it in any fights. If I let myself get stuck into a contest of strength I've done something wrong.
With my level up dealt with I stand and start walking into the northeast town. Time to see how my companions fared without me.