“Gardwin, what is this?” Dayana asked.
Zach wasn’t the only one who was seeing this. Dayana, the boy, Teena, and even Mathias had the same notification plastered across their visions.
‘Unveil,’ Zach thought. His status window emerged before him.
Name: Zachary Gardwin
Level: 1/50
Species: Human
Title: -
Class: -
HP: 190/190
MP: 100/100
SP: 80/80
Strength: 8
Vitality: 8
Defense: 5
Agility: 7
Perception: 6
Intelligence: 10
Spirit: 6
Charisma: 7
Point: 4
Skill: Phlegmatic Will(Lv.Max), Living with the Pain(Lv.Max), Value of Water(Lv.Max), Dominion of Satiety(Lv.Max)
He reached level one and gained four points free for him to distribute. It seemed he had much to learn on how the experience was distributed on this system, but for now, it was fair enough to say that it was quite even as everyone earn their keep despite not putting a hand on the foe.
“Teena!” he shouted. Glancing over at the lass behind the boulder. “Did you see those words in front of you?”
“Yes, my lord,” she replied back.
“Then do as I say,” Zach said. “Imagine putting all four points into perception.”
He waited.
“Forgive me, my lord. But it says here I cannot,” she replied.
“What do you mean?”
“It says that points are insufficient,” Teena said.
He guided Teena to search for the point's variable and mentioned what number it showed. After listening to what it was, he turned to Dayana to his right. “How many points do you have?”
“Same as hers,” Dayana said.
His thought was running wild, and he had to wear a poker face. There was a slight difference between his point gain to the rest. Zach relayed to Teena to allocate three points rather than four, and by then she saw the effects of it.
Teena’s archer class skill, Sharpsight was boosted by the additional points into perception, and she saw them. Her sight was clear, and those bastard hornets were plain to see. Their silhouettes were as clear as day in her vision. Teena informed them where those hornets were, and all three of them were alarmed. The hornets were moving. Jumping from one tree to another. They were trying to flank them.
“Retreat in unison! On me,” Zach said. They moved like a unit, retreating one step at a time with their shields guarding them. Teena provided cover, letting out arrows, one after another at the more visible enemies.
Zach briefly glanced at the pond, and couldn’t see Mathias. He didn’t know where Mathias went, but that lad was smart enough to know not to show his face out in the open.
They regrouped behind the boulder. Zach instructed to them a proper formation. Teena stood in the middle, the boy to her front, Dayana to the left, and Zach to the right. Along with the boulder, they covered every potential side of getting attacked.
“I killed another, my lord,” Teena said. Sending arrows from behind the cover of shields. Her eyes were swift to find those tree-crawling hornets.
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“How many are there left?” Zach asked. Keeping his shield up. For a while, his hand couldn’t stop trembling. The brunt behind those stingers could never be underestimated.
“Far too many,” Teena said. Despite having successful kills, she had more misses than a shot on target. Enough to relay that good eyesight wasn’t a sure success of being an accurate archer.
After Teena’s fourth kill, it greeted them again. The sign of gaining a level lightened Zach’s heart as well as made him more curious about how the experience distribution worked. From the very beginning till now, he hadn’t even attacked once at these hornets much less getting one foot apart from them. Did the system recognize them as a party? Or did the system acknowledge their actions of defending the attacker worthy of experience?
“Milord,” the boy’s voice pulled Zach's attention away from his deep thought. He glanced and saw what the boy called him for. A giant ball of flame hovered above the pond. Mathias was right underneath it as his trembling wand maintained the stability of the fireball.
‘What is he doing?’ Zach thought. Right there and then, the fireball split apart. Exploding small balls of flames, scattering towards the forest like meteorites falling from the skies. Fire razed the greenery as they ate and multiple. Burning them all, and birthing a wildfire.
“They’re coming,” Dayana said. Out from the flames, fire-clad hornets dropped to the ground, skittering towards the pond. Their instinct reached for salvation and the humans barred their path.
“Kill them,” Zach shouted. He took on the right side while the boy and Dayana took the left. Zach spearheaded the attack, and yet he was no fool. He distributed the eight points evenly to strength and agility, boosting his survivability during combat.
His sword met the chitin of the hornet. Slicing them apart into two like melted butter. It was easy picking for him. He cut them down one by one, moving on from hornet to another. They did not resist even once as their instinct prioritized dealing with the flame on their body first over a man holding a sword. He took his fifth kill, pulling out his sword right from the head of the dead hornet.
But out of nowhere, a shadow drew closer. He grew complacent over the easy kill, and he was too slow to react. The air ripped apart, and something went right beside his head. He heard a crack, and then a thud. A barely burnt hornet lay motionless in front of him with an arrow jutting from its head. Zach looked behind and saw Teena with her bow.
‘Damn, she’s good with the bow,’ Zach thought. He shivered thinking about what would happen if the aim went slightly off course to the left. Zach gulped a mouthful and faced back to the burning forest.
He ended another helpless burning hornet, and he hoped it was the last of them. Another level was earned under his belt, and yet he frowned. The smoke from the flames grew thicker, and the reddish flame didn’t seem like it would die at any second.
A scream rang loudly. Zach turned and rushed. People knelt beside someone on the ground as they tried to give aid. Zach arrived and saw who it was. The boy struggled on the ground as Dayana and Teena tried to restrain him still. There was a huge gash on his right thigh, bleeding profusely. Not far from where they were, he spotted a dead wingless hornet with its mandibles dyed in blood.
“We need to stop the bleeding,” Zach said. He tore apart his sleeve and bandaged the bloody wound, nice and tight. His eyes went left and right, searching for the one who wielded the mace. Based on his shallow knowledge, priest or healer-type class tended to use a blunt weapon as their main weapon.
“Take him close to the pond, and give him some water,” Zach said. He left them for a while as he found who he was searching for. A body lay on the ground, face on the dirt. Zach turned him over and felt over the man’s jugular. But there was nothing.
He cursed from the inside and went back to the boy with the flail of the dead man in his hand. They were feeding him water, and yet his eyes were drawn to the clothes he ripped apart turned make-shift bandage. It lost its original color, dyed in the dark hue of crimson blood. Then something crossed his mind.
He knelt beside the boy. “How is it, Calrin?” Zach said. The weary eyes of the boy went to Zach.
“Forgive me, milord, for being this weak,” Calrin said. His face grimaced as the pain came jolting at an interval.
“Hey,” Zach placed his hand over Calrin’s shoulder. “You fought bravely, even better than me when I was your age.”
Calrin weakly smiled. “I’m flatter, milord,” Calrin said. Yet his visage turned gloomier as the pain hit him with reality. “But I was scared, milord . . . If I could run I would have left you all, and the thought was there even as I fought . . . I guess this is punishment for such dishonorable thought . . . Forgive me, milord, but I am not worthy of your praise.” Tears flowed down Calrin’s cheek as the thought of dying plagued his mind.
The air turned solemn as the silence was filled by the crackling ember of the wildfire. Then Zach’s voice pushed it all away. “You’re not going to die, Calrin,” he said. Everyone’s gaze fell upon him, including Mathias who was close to the edge of the pond.
“But milord, I—”
“Remember what I told, Teena?” Zach asked. The boy nodded. “Then do as I say.”
Thankfully, Calrin had not distributed any of his points as he was clueless and too occupied by the fight against giant insects. He followed Zach’s words and distributed all his points evenly between defense and vitality. Immediately, the effect kicked in. The pain was there, yet lesser compared to before. It was enough that it did not make Calrin scowl his face.
“So?” Zach asked. As the rest waited for an answer.
“I think . . . I’m fine?” Calrin said. Even he was confused over what was happening. Not to mention the rest of them who thought they would be losing him to death.
Zach, on the other hand, obtained a little more knowledge regarding the system. It seemed the big injury on Calrin also inflicted some sort of bleeding effect which dwindled down the number of health points. But after allocating the points, Zach was told that the health points had remained stable. Albeit there was still a need to monitor the health points for a longer period. Unlike in a game, the bleeding effect would have shown some sort of symbol in some part of the screen, but here there was none. So Zach couldn’t be sure about it not until he was certain.
But a wary voice questioned him.
“What is going on, Gardwin?” Dayana asked. Her tone alone showed she was dubious of Zach, and he knew it too. It was hard not to notice if you kept doing the right thing when everyone was clueless about what the hell was going on.
He felt the gaze of the others. Some were curious, while some were clad in the air of suspicion. Yet someone smirked alone.
“Rather than babbling pointlessly, how about we figure out how to get through that,” Mathias spoke. He pointed at the fire around them as they grew bigger with each tree and leaf they burned.
As for now, they had no way out.