Day 10

The weather calmed down a few hours after the wolf attacks, and in the interim, I managed to buy a chainsaw and woodworking tools. The forests were a problem I needed to get rid of sooner rather than later. Harvesting the wood would be useful for almost anything I wanted to build, chicken coop included. With that in mind, I watched a few tutorial videos while Gwen stared over the chainsaw manual.

After living here for more than a week, I was beginning to understand why no one wanted to land in the Rasputin territory. While it was cheaper than any land around, I was close enough to the Bright Mountain range to get hit by skills from greater monsters. The peak of Mt. Red was far in the distance, but my whole land was affected dozens of miles away.

Solving a problem like this would normally require the services of an expensive enchantment-specialized mage. Still, I was sure we could handle it ourselves. For six easy payments of 2000W, we could purchase a primer on magic runes. I saw it in the shop and couldn't believe my eyes. While the book was out of date by a decade, I recognized it as the same primer my cousin bought to help his enchantment studies. From what I could tell, it really helped him out.

"You're remembering that wrong," Gwen said.

"How so," I said.

"It was the busty witch tutor that helped him reach a passing grade. You blocked that part out along with the noise coming through your wall." Gwen said.

"Am I blocking anything else out?" I asked.

"This is really a nice chainsaw; it will really make short work of those trees."

I rolled my eyes and gave more of my attention to techniques to dry logs properly for storage or preparation for weatherizing. Building a log cabin and moving up in the world might be a good idea; I couldn't stay in a tent forever. Solid walls might protect us from the next windstorm.

Gwen decided my relaxed state was the perfect time to drop a bomb. "What are you going to do about the dungeon in the southern woods?" Gwen asked.

"How is there a dungeon here? The surveyors should have picked it up and reported it." I said.

"It only just formed after the psychic winds bathed the area, and so many monsters died to fuel it. When you added monsters back to the soil, it helped finish a process that should have taken decades." Gwen said.

"What have you been looking up on my computer?"

"Skill drops appear in dungeons, and you need those, don't you."

"I do; why am I missing 200W from my bank account. There was a sale for deer monster attribute growth potions."

Far into the corner behind my punching bag were a few empty glass bottles. It seemed while I was working, Gwen had herself a shopping trip. She must have snatched my bank information from my mind. The fact the bottles got here would make it difficult to declare fraud. Basically, I was in a position where she could steal from me with impunity.

"Don't dungeons drop local currencies."

I nodded slowly and let the petty theft go. "They are also greatly impacted by the catalyst of their growth. Since it was a psychic attack that killed all the monsters that fed it to awakening, I wonder what we will find."

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"You could get a psychic skill like me, and then when you're strong enough, we can fly together." Gwen leaped in the air and pranced while levitating. "This is going to be great."

"My class is based on endurance and vitality. I won't have the Willpower to power Psychic like you."

"I thought you were going for a willpower build anyway. The farming class was just a happy accident that brought us together." Gwen said.

"The Monster Tamer class grants 5 Willpower and 4 Intelligence per level. That is on top of any training, attribute potions, or skill trees a monster tamer will take. At lvl10, which is the bar to enter the Qualifier, we watched Lourie, who most likely has over 200 willpower. I simply can't compete as I am now. The act of controlling Mai acts as excellent training for Lourie's Willpower. If they knew about the training skill, which they probably do, then her Willpower is possibly 250. I have 15 willpower compared to them. I'm a joke." I said.

Gwen stopped prancing in the air and landed softly, clacking her hooves on the hard ground. "I know it's going to be a long road, but that isn't any reason not to travel it. The first steps are hard, but we're worth it."

She was so optimistic I couldn't argue with her. I rolled my eyes and finished my video.

"I doubt we'll get the skills we want in the first run. We'll run the dungeon a few times to see what kind of drops we get." I said.

Gwen jumped on my bedroll and shoved her way into my lap. "Let's cut down some trees. I can't wait the eat the shoots on top of them," Gwen said.

A few hours later, I pulled the chainsaw out of its box and inspected it. The motor was a tiny but power bit of magic in the form of a cube on the side of the blade. Enchantments ran over the saw blade linked to the cube. The long bottom heavy handle gave great control over the tool and housed two emergency stop buttons. After reading the manual carefully, I flipped on the machine, and the chainsaw buzzed to life.

The forest was an eyesore, the place where the wolves hid between raids and chasing deer. Before I approached the first tree, a two-foot-tall rabbit leaped from its burrow and stared at me with small black eyes. The monster slammed its feet on the ground in agitation before leaping at me. Without a second thought, I slashed with the chainsaw.

I felt the saw hit soft cottontail fur and felt blood splatter my face and the tree behind the rabbit. There wasn't even a shriek before the rabbit was in half. I barely felt it touch my saw. My chainsaw motor really was a powerful monster. Most of the blood had flown through a vent on the side of the tool. That kind of power was addictive; maybe an actual chainsword was something I should think about getting my hands on. I took another step toward the tree, and more rabbits peered from their burrow before charging me.

Ping!

+1 Perception

Perception 4

The real question was how I was going to get a chainsword mastery skill. Chainswords weren't a thing, and no monster on a tamer's team would use one. Fatal battles were severely frowned upon outside of war, and skills that couldn't be practiced outside of niche circumstances were considered wastes. As for dungeon clearing, I could think of no weapon better than a chainsword and maybe a war hammer for hardier opponents.

Forget sharpness saw away at a soft spot. With that in mind, I moved in, cutting down sweet-looking rabbits as I approached the tree. They were fast, but their leaps were predictable. The tree in question was a great ancient thing that had drank in the magic of the land for generations, choking out as much of the area around it as it could to stave off competition. Old white wood bigger around than my arm's length looked like it would make either great furniture or logs for my house.

I eased my saw into the side of the tree and watched sawdust fly as my long chainsaw ate cleanly through the wood. Before I made it halfway through, I withdrew and cut at another angle before pulling out a massive hunk of wood. Then, I began the long cut to ensure it fell right where I wanted it to. The tree fell slowly at first, snapping limbs up above as bird monsters fled before crashing heavily. It was just one of many trees I would fall before finishing up on this forest. Five little forests on my property needed to be cut; only the forest with the dungeon would be left alone. I planned to cut out a trail leading to it before I finished off the week.

Slowly, I cut the limbs from the great tree and carried them off. I felt sweat bead down my face, and all the monsters in the forest were watching me, but this was also training. Several hours later, I received a message.

Ping!

+3 Strength

Strength 9

Berserk lvl25

Regeneration lvl19

Training lvl15

Adapt lvl15

Skill Points: 26

I had just enough to finish off Black Rage. That would give me another 5 points in Willpower or more since I was finishing off the skill tree. My gaze lingered on the pile of stacked limbs; there was still so much that needed doing. This wouldn't take much time, hopefully.

Skill Tree Black Rage I 50/50 Complete

+10 Willpower

Willpower 25

New Skill

Lingering Will lvl1

That skill was something I'd never heard of. For the first time since gaining access to my system, I looked up a description.

Lingering Will lvl1

Description: The barest presence of a will that is more than mental. As this skill levels, that lingering presence will increase, baring a shape based on the form of the user's psyche. Every step forward is a step in the right direction; while passive the effects of this skill will appear more active as time with this skill moves forward. Higher Willpower will greatly empower the effects of this skill. Effects of this skill can be different for different users and are undetectable at lower levels. This skill is considered the perfect addition to any willpower-focused class with low physical attributes or a class that uses both Willpower and strength.

I felt different. The feeling was like there were extra arms inside my arms, barely physically moving with me. My hand closed around a limb, and I lifted it. 300lbs of limb flew over my head with little effort it was so strange. The presence in my arms remained, but it felt a little diminished.

Ping!

Lingering Will lvl2

Skill Points 2

A smile spread across my face; this would make cutting down trees and cleaning up so much faster. Who needed construction worker monsters when I was the construction monster.