Dante, still smiling from his notifications, paused for a moment feeling a tug on his mental link with Prism.
Refocusing on the link to see through Prism's eyes allowed him to see the grasslands stretching out all the way to the horizon.
Quickly he made note of several natural landmarks, a river, a watering hole, lots of normal tree's spread out here and there, and a moderately tall but very fat tree about 2-3 miles out.
Skill, Cartography, has leveled! Lvl. 31...
Feeling a mental nudge from Prism he allowed him to refocus on what he had signaled him about. He saw Prism refocus on what at first looked like a large number of broken trees.
Some were tall, others were stout. But they didn't look like wood, they looked like...
+1 Per...
"...mounds? Termite mounds?!" Dante muttered to himself then smiled. Feeling a hand on his shoulder he motioned with a hand for everyone to hold while he used his cartography skill to help him plot a route to the mounds.
Skill, Pathfinding, has leveled! Lvl. 9...
"Gotcha!" he said as he blinked, returning to his own senses.
Looking around at the others around him throwing questioning looks he smiled and spoke.
"Who wants to become an exterminator?"
------------------
10 minutes of walking later and they had arrived at the nearest of the many termite mounds.
Upon a closer inspection they found the mounds were currently being constructed at a visible rate. A disturbing development.
The Termites having grown to tremendous size, each about 2 inches tall and 3 inches long now, had found it prudent to expand their home to accommodate their increased size.
Hannah, looking a bit nauseous from the sight of the numerous crawling bugs, decided to hang back and not participate.
"So Dante, why kill the bugs?" James asked, arching one eyebrow.
"Because it appears I was correct. They have been monsterized and therefore should be a good source of exp due to their numbers." He said indicating their greatly enhanced size.
"Fine, fine, Let's go over a couple things before we go attacking a nest of monster bugs first..." James, Dante and the others began a discussion only to notice one of their number missing.
"...Wait...Where's Jacob?"
------------------------
Skill, Wisdom of the Land (L), has leveled! Lvl. 7...
Jacob smiled as the skill leveled. Still he tread onward, following his skills directions.
He had heard Dante talk about termites in the few minutes it took them to walk to the mounds. His skill had self activated giving him direction to something that could help him.
It wasn't precisely a voice that spoke to him or even a notice from the system.
It was something...different. As if the land itself were imparting a fragment of what it knew to him.
He didn't know what it was leading him to, only that it was a creature.
Something that naturally preyed upon termites and ants primarily.
'Am I going to see an ant eater?' He mused in his mind, wondering how it would look.
Wondering if it had become a monster, and if so, could he still use his skills on it?
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts he felt his destination approaching and so he activated his skill.
Shaman's Totem...
He paused for a moment examining his totem.
By all appearances it was just a small piece of carved wood made to resemble a bear standing on its back legs. Small enough to fit in one hand.
This was the first part of his totem and the first animal he had obtained, the Mother Bear.
She was his strength and his comfort.
He had wanted to get the golden rabbit but the other's had shot down that idea as the group needed the experience and the money more.
He stirred as he saw a plume of dirt fly out of the ground at an angle.
Slowly he approached as he saw a large hole almost as wide as he was tall, leading down into the ground at an angle.
After a moment of silence he felt something begin to click in the back of his mind, a skill.
Aura of Animal Friendship...
Slowly he felt a connection form between him and whatever was in the rather large...burrow it was called?
The Mother bear bid him caution as the burrow's occupant slowly made its way out.
What walked out was quadrupedal as he had expected but which stood nearly as tall as him.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
It had the ears of a donkey, the tail of a rat, and a body very similar to that of a common pig. A long narrow snout with a nose and small mouth at the end.
It was kind of cute when he thought about it.
What really scared him was its claws that were as long as kitchen knives.
Jacob took a breath and fear flowed away.
Breath in, breath out...
He remembered his grandfather's teachings, even as Wisdom of the Land fed him information about the creature.
It was awake in the day despite being nocturnal, because day and night can't pass properly here in this dungeon.
It had definitely grown due to the presence of mana.
Slowly he pushed feelings across the tentative connection created by Friend of Nature, being fed bits and pieces of information by Wisdom of the Land to help him in the task.
Slowly they were able to communicate their wants and needs in vague terms.
The Dire Aardvark expressed hunger from its rapid growth. Tiredness because the sun would not set, its head hurting. It was not able to properly adjust to such a long day period.
Jacob returned the feeling of hunger followed by satiation. Pushing across the connection a memory of how the bugs had grown.
The Dire Aardvark raised its head to look at him, regarding him for a moment.
Then it knelt its head and with a mere tap from the totem it was done.
The Dire Aardvarks form became a wind of golden light that coalesced and reformed upon his totem.
Now instead of a lone bear now a Dire Aardvark stood upon the shoulders of the Mother bear.
A feeling of contentment washed over him through the connection and he smiled as he scrolled through his notifications and began jogging back.
------------------
After Jacob's return the discussion of how best to kill the many insects began anew.
Though while the other's discussed how they would execute the numerous bugs Jacob decided to activate his astral form skill and in seconds the form of a Dire Aardvark coalesced around Jacob. His true body lifting into the air within the form of golden light.
"All you can eat..." Jacob said with a smile and arms raised, allowing the spirit to do as it pleased and oh did it feast upon the numerous insects.
All the while the others including Dante simply watched as Jacob and his astral form tore through the termite mounds. Its claws near effortlessly bringing down the towers the termites had been quickly erecting.
Its apparently sticky and obscenely long tongue whipping out again and again to slurp up the insects like they were spaghetti.
Jacob Ashwin has slain...
Jacob Ashwin has slain...
Jacob Ashwin has slain...
Notices rolled in by the dozens as monster termites were devoured by the Astral form of the Aardvark.
Watching for a moment Dante spoke up.
"Hey Jacob! Yeah, go that way! Yeah, along the edge! We'll follow! Be sure to come back to us before you run out of mana!" He exclaimed, directing Jacob down the edge of one side of the field of Termite mounds.
"Looks like he went and got a new creature I suppose...So why send him that way Dante?" James chimed in.
"Simple, he seems capable of killing a lot of those bugs really fast while his mana holds. He clears one mound at a time and when he moves to the next we mop up. That is until he runs out of mana. It's also a stalling tactic till we have a proper discussion of how WE are going..." Dante paused, interrupted by Jacobs exclamations and the sound of a system notice.
Jacob Ashwin has leveled up!...
"HAHAHA I leveled up! Holy shit this is good exp!" Jacob shouted in glee.
"...How are we going to kill the remaining bugs? I'm fairly certain none of us want to just stomp them all to death. That seems tiring and inefficient." Dante paused, allowing the others to give their commentary on the matter.
Everyone nodded, having distaste for the thought of simply stomping the bugs to death.
"We can leave that as a last resort. But aren't you a wizard? Don't you have spells for stuff like this?" David asked, eyeing Dante up and down.
"I am but I don't have any spells that can deal damage to a large number of small things. I could buy some though maybe..." Dante thought aloud before his father spoke up.
"Dante don't you have that skill that lets you move things with your mind? Can't you just...smash the bugs with your mind then?" Frank asked, reminding him that he did actually have Telekinesis.
"Oh shit that's right! But that doesn't...How about this? Each of you guys get the spell burning hands. And I will give you guys..." He paused, pointing to his parents.
"...The money to buy the control flames cantrip. That way we have at least 3 people..." Dante paused as Herald raised his hand.
"I know that cantrip." Herald spoke meekly, raising his hand.
"...At least 4 people know the spell so we don't start any fires we can't put out. What do you guys think?" He asked, finishing his idea.
"It's not a bad idea. It's a bit expensive now, but should be a worthwhile investment for the long term. Let me discuss this with my group. I suggest you do the same." James spoke as he and his friends took a few steps away.
Skill, Burning Heart, has leveled! Lvl. 3...
A few minutes of discussion later and everyone in the Legion had purchased Control flames and Burning hands, even Dante.
You have taken my gift and with it spread magics reach ever farther...
Skill, Student of Magic, has leveled! Lvl. 21->25!...
He smiled hearing that voice again, seeing his skill level. He did mind that he was apparently being watched, but there wasn't much he could do about that.
The cantrip, Control flames had only cost 10 small gold to learn. While Burning hands, a first level spell had cost 100 small gold to learn.
Control Flames, Lvl. 0
You choose nonmagical flame that you can see within range and that fits within a 5-foot cube. You affect it in one of the following ways:
* You instantaneously expand the flame 5 feet in one direction, provided that wood or other fuel is present in the new location.
* You instantaneously extinguish the flames within the cube.
* You double or halve the area of bright light and dim light cast by the flame, change its color, or both. The change lasts for 1 hour.
* You cause simple shapes—such as the vague form of a creature, an inanimate object, or a location—to appear within the flames and animate as you like. The shapes last for 1 hour.
If you cast this spell multiple times, you can have up to three of its non-instantaneous effects active at a time, and you can dismiss such an effect with 1 second of concentration.
Cast time: 1 second, Duration: Instantaneous or 1 hour, Mana cost: none, Range: 60 feet Gold cost: 10 Small gold
Burning Hands, Lvl. 1
As you hold your hands with thumbs touching and fingers spread, a thin sheet of flames shoots forth from your outstretched fingertips. Each creature in a 15-foot cone must avoid the flames or take damage. A creature takes 150 +(caster level x10) fire damage when struck.
The fire ignites any flammable objects in the area that come into contact with the flames unless otherwise noted.
(Variable) Damage increases for each level it is upcasted. Range of cone increases by 10 feet per upcasted level of the spell.
Cast time: 1 second, Duration: Instantaneous, Mana cost: 100, Range: Self (15-foot cone) Gold cost: 100 Small gold
All and all everyone considered it a worth while purchase to add to their arsenals.
After reconvening Dante spoke up once more.
"So, shall we begin?"
---------------
Notifications streamed in. Dozens, hundreds, thousands of notices.