With the stab of betrayal deep in his heart, Jacob channeled that feeling of betrayal into his actions so that he can stay alive and exact his revenge. He entered a calm rage similar to when Flowing Water churned furiously but stayed in its shape.

This time Jacob conciously funneled more essence into his limbs and held Flowing Water awkwardly on his right hand, he stabbed his left hand into the nearest and tallest tree with the thickest leafage his hand was able to exert much more strength and he managed to have a firm purchase as a result pieces of tree bark fell. Next was his left and right leg he tried to focus more essence into his toes for better grip as he also stabbed them into the tree, even more crumbles of bark fell. Feeling confidence as he managed to stay on the tree even while he was holding Flowing Water, he made his way up the tree as the screams of the kobold horde neared. Not letting the screams rattle him with revenge on his mind he kept his sole focus on holding Flowing Water and climbing with that focus, Jacob successfully climbed the tree and hid into the foliage with time to spare. As he shivered within the leafage hugging the now serene Flowing Water his only source of comfort right now even thoughts of his three friends that are still around somewhere did not stop the sting of betrayal from the people he recently met.

But the traitor plan to use him as bait failed and they would be the only ones being chased and Jacob could wait it out now if the horde passes by without catching on that he was on top of the thee, as thoughts ran around in his mind. The first of the horde of kobolds arrived with their horrid screeching and screaming grating upon Jacobs’ ears causing his head to throb even harder than when Brian rubbed Jacobs’ head across his rock hard chest. As Jacob sat on the branch shivering, the kobolds arrived near the tree he was sat on sniffing the ground and air with their long snouts as more kobolds ran past them in pursuit of the group the few who were around the tree continued sniffing, they moved to where Jacob rolled around in the dirt clearly giving them a hint that Jacob was there very much recently. Sweat lined his back and his dripped down his dirt filled hair, his arms tightened around Flowing Water in anticipation of being discovered causing red lines to appear on his flesh. Drips of sweat dropped onto the branches and leaves none of them fell to the ground and amidst the loud noises of the rushing kobolds it masked the sound from the ones sniffing around.

Thankfully after a few more sniffs around the base of the tree finally confirming that no one was around the sniffing kobolds ran off with the horde as they were the last of them, Jacob released the breath he was holding when the last of the silhouettes disappeared amongst the thick undergrowth below a few more prints marred the already thoroughly trodden floor. While was hiding in the treetop he saw hundreds of kobold ran past his location some of them were mages and some seemed to be twice as large as a normal kobold. Jacob did not wish to stay here any longer but if the kobolds did not manage to catch the group they would be back shortly after, so he decided to stay on the tree for the rest of the day after he confirmed the results of the kobold chase when they returned he would set off and hunt a few more deer but now he could finally check his status

Name

Jacob Castus

Titles

First Adventurer of Earth

Luck of the Draw(D)

Race

Human

Grade

1

Level

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

10

Job

Squire

Vigor

35

Endurance

18

Strength

40

Dexterity

21

Intelligence

15

Mind

30

Luck

27

Free Points

19

Jacob marveled awhile at his new stats without vigour and strength he definitely would not be able to exert as much force as he could, he was still puzzled why Squire does not just focus on purely physical aspects if he had more endurance the group would have been left in the dust. Mind definitely affects mental fortitude so it was most likely the reason he did not just collapse on the ground after being pulled backwards and stumbled onto the floor. Now he would have to decide how to spend his points, the Suzerain did mention that if he followed along with his Job provided stats there would be no trouble but right now he definitely needed a larger capacity and faster movement speed so he spend 10 on endurance and 9 on dexterity. He would worry about compatibility later when he manages to survive. As he confirmed the stats distribution he felt himself growing more solid as if he was hardening as a whole, he exulted in the feeling. Slowly the feeling of increasing sturdiness faded and along with it Jacob exultation.

With the increased endurance and dexterity Jacob felt like he would be able to perform more superhuman feats like a 1 kilometer sprint without breaking a sweat but there was no rush, he definitely would need to put his speed to the test sooner than later. If he was ever chased by a horde again though he would at least be able to put some distance between himself and them, he could not imagine being an Adept without a single form of power learned Jacob would be meat paste by now if he had chosen Adept but he definitely would not have sought out the group if he chose to be Adept. Chucking that slight distraction aside, he thought of his immediate future helping Alexander and Turner to gain their Job would count towards his own achievements during the calculations of the first part of the Tutorial. Jacob would like to exact his revenge on one of the two as only they would have the strength to pull Jacob back at his full speed or maybe both were in on the plan while they were colluding behind Jacobs’ back while running. But 2 against 1 or even worst 4 against his 1 would be hard even if he ambushed them and killed the two Grade 1 quickly, his heartstrings were tugged a little remembering Riley he did not want to drag her into the fighting. So Jacob would have to put his revenge behind him for now, they would meet again in the second part of the tutorial and Jacob would be even stronger then. Then there would be no fight merely an eventuality of Jacob slaughtering the 2. A grim smile donned his face if they could be this heartless to someone who was essentially their saviour, they did not deserve to live in Jacobs mind.

With that thought burning within him Jacob slowly simmered and went to check his skill and ability progression. With some of the roars he made in an attempt to complete Rousing Shout he got it up to 9, Sword Mastery got up to 62 and Swift Slash lagged behind at 61 as he made sweeping his exclusive move for now in a bid to complete the skill as quickly as possible. What was surprising was his Squire Determination which stood at 2/10, Jacob guessed that the back to back fights and the escape from the kobold horde was what got it up to 2/10 but he still did not understand the criteria the battle fulfilled.

However progress is progress and he would figure it out sooner or later, but as he was not planning on meeting up with the group again Blessing and Rousing Shout would unfortunately be stagnating once again. Jacob once again bemoaned the lack of an appropriate solo combat Job he could choose but such was his lot and he could only suck it up for his future. However his future was still bleak, the kobolds were far too large in number for Jacob to finish them with his current skill he could only push his skills completion higher by killing.

With the sake of progression and a better reward in the end, Jacob needed to find more of the other races to kill. Throughout the wait Jacob smile never faded as thoughts of murder and slaughter filled his mind and this time there was no one for him to keep up a façade for this time, the taste of blood as he slaughtered the floaters still deeply imprinted into his mind, he looked forward to seeing how Alexander and Turner blood taste once he runs Flowing Water through their body. Their betrayal merely stung Jacob but it would be their death