《NeoRealm - Staring back into the Future》 Prologue - Wherein we get the whole reincarnation thing over with I was the friend of a Hero. Not just any hero but a Hero above all with god-given talent, Qi channels so wide you could drive a truck through them, and a body so pure if he takes a bath the water is cleaner after he gets out. Me? I¡¯m common as mud and yet before I ''left'' was on the same cultivation level as him. Yeah, he was a lazy fool who thought keeping up with average was enough. All the while I trained five times more than anyone else. Only with him giving me half his monthly medicine supply did I stay healthy. He saved the world though. Took quite the kick to the rear to get him serious with training. Demon Lords from beyond space and time don''t defeat themselves you know. What caused him to train you ask? Imps, I hate them now. Then again, who wouldn''t after being eviscerated by them for a couple hours only to see your clan head break in to save you before it all goes black. Anyway, if you can''t pick up the hint, I died. This made my friend realize he needed power so that wouldn''t happen again. One 10 year training montage later and he slays the big bad, saving the world. All nice and interesting but where does that leave me? I was dead. How do I even know all that? Short answer is the gods felt sorry for me. They had reason to mind you. It is their fault I died. When my friend was born the gods all got together and obscured the fact my friend was the Hero by swapping our auras. The result being imps mistaking me for the Hero and well yeah. I don''t blame them and the ones I met were nice. They let me watch how it all went down instead of throwing me right back into the reincarnation cycle. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Got lucky with that. When a soul sticks around with some gods long enough the whole memory wipe before being reborn thing goes away. Friends in high places and what not. Anyway, some sad farewells and I got put back into the cycle of life. I will skip my early years. Having grown up in a clan centered on martial arts and cultivation doesn''t teach you math or writing. this made my time as a child average for earth. I tried to cultivate. Sadly the Qi on earth is so thin you can''t even reach the first layer. This is not enough to extend your life by even a decade. The only big thing of note was the development of true VR a couple centuries back. All it took was a giant coffin-shaped box and some advanced energy projectors which beam info straight into your brain. From what I understand it works like those noise canceling headphones. It cancels out the signals trying to enter and leave the brain then replaces it with its own signal. That is interesting, but is not enough for me to be recording. No, why you can read my story is because of what happened when I turned 18 and could play the most realistic and popular game for the last century, NeoRealm. Chapter 1 - 18 going on 36 Finally, Today I am free. Free from the stupid old law that limits VR use for ¡®children¡¯ (as if turning biologically 18 magically makes you an adult) to only educational uses. Even counting since I was born and not my last life I have had more than twice my biological ages experience. It confuses me that other kids didn¡¯t take more advantage of it. My response when I heard I could learn however much I wanted during the night and then just play all day was ¡®sign me up for all I can take¡¯. Eh, not my problem. They will feel the burn when they join the online community and realize that just passing the lessons will limit them to low tier classes. Not that getting good grades equals a good position in NeoRealm. It¡¯s the extra lessons you can take with good grades that matter. With my background I focused on the martial arts. Even in real life during ¡®socialization time¡¯ I took any chance to train my real body as well. Healthy body, healthy mind and what not. Though it is partly because the better condition your body is in the longer you can stay immersed. With a world where every minute away is equal to 5 and full of people who have been in it subjectively for centuries it all counts. Luckily for everyone that was born after the game came out there is several bottlenecks so it isn¡¯t impossible for newcomers. Suddenly a loud shout is heard, ¡°Jason! It¡¯s time to go get your ID upgraded. Stop monologuing in your room. If you don¡¯t make it on time, we will have to reschedule and that could take weeks!¡± With this reminder from his Mom, Jason quickly finishes getting ready. Without an adult ID he wouldn¡¯t be able to join NeoRealm. While he couldn¡¯t help being behind those who had been in the game for years he didn¡¯t want to get behind those in his age range. Even a one week delay is over a month of time in the game. Though why you still have to physically go to a government office and even schedule it despite how except for a few days a year, they are empty is for the sages to ponder. After a quick trip to the local government office and a not so quick wait despite being the only one there Jason arrives back home. A quick scan of his updated ID and his pod unlocks all the fun options. Time to get into the game and join the rest of humanity.
As NeoRealm starts an opening cinematic plays. In the background a small rise with a lonely willow in a field of grass on it spans Jason¡¯s view and an uplifting tune reminiscent of the wind through a field plays. Slowly the scene seems to zoom in on the tree but as it gets closers, he notices more details he missed before. The grass seems spikier and there seems to be a light dusting of snow. The music changes to a more sweeping soundtrack as a fiery bird approaches from the distance only to be met by a roar before it gets to him. From a sliver of water a small eastern dragon rises and meets the bird he can now recognize as a phoenix. A clash between them happens with fire and ice blooming into a cloud of steam. Jason notices that the music has become savage, shifting between a fast paced beat and something that reminds him of a storm. Jason pull his eyes from the battle and sees he is much closer to the willow. The Willow. It now deserves to be capitalized. What was thought to be grass has turned into a world spanning evergreen forest. The light dusting of snow has become the peaks of mountains the likes of which he have never seen. The small rise is now the highest peak of a mind boggling mountain chain. Its gentle slope is now seen to be fraught with steep cliffs. A glance back to the fight and now sees it is a Young Sun Origin Phoenix, and its size will rivals many the mountains. The Dragon again comes into view and its proper name also becomes known, a Young Ice Age Dragon. The water it came from is now a rampant river which can wash away hills like they were small river stones. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. As Jason tries to take it all in he feels a tug and gets pulled away at a speed he now realizes is unimaginably fast. The scene disappears into the distance with only clouds now visible and the music has once again calmed down. Before him the clouds clear away and a giant mural is ahead declaring the name ¡°NeoRealm¡± to the heavens. It all fades away and Jason is now in a blank room. A woman in a plain white dress is in front of him with a slight smile though no matter how he tries to focus on it, her face seems almost blurred and yet shockingly clear. In a clear voice she announces to him that here is where you can create your character but she warns him that any one soul can only have one body in the world below. Having expected something like this Jason wasn¡¯t as shocked by the intro but it took a few moments to catch his breath. That it wasn¡¯t a cinematic but rather a short bit of something another player experienced somewhere in NeoRealm was impressive. That everyone gets a different scene also added to the wow factor but now it was character making time. With a quick glance around the room and at his glowy ball like body he turns back to the lady. ¡°Can you just take the scan of my body? I don¡¯t want any differences throwing me off as I plan to go down the martial path.¡± The women appears shocked for a moment before speaking up, ¡°You¡¯re the first person to ask for that in the last hundred years. Even those who wish to truly explore what their body can do will at least change their face in some way. You aren¡¯t even, and I am sorry if this sounds rude, a beautiful person who might feel they didn¡¯t need to change anything. Your request is possible but do know changes will happen if you choose any race besides human.¡± ¡°No changes at all, please and thank you. I will go the human route if that is my only choice to get it¡± though as Jason says this he admits to himself it was to be expected. A tall dwarf or an elf without pointy ears wouldn¡¯t fit the setting. ¡°Technically there is the doppelganger race which would allow the same look but I am guessing this isn¡¯t what you want.¡± A quick shake of his head and the lady continues, ¡°Anyway your two choices have been confirmed, please wait a moment while we do a quick scan.¡± The room goes dark and Jason can feel something indistinct changing. Then slowly the light comes back first revealing the outline of his body and proceeds to elevate to the earlier level. It takes a long enough time to get boring. With a nod the lady admits, ¡°Sorry for the slowness there. It¡¯s required because just being in a new body without a transition period can screw a person up. Anyway, do you want to do the movement tutorial with starting stats?¡± ¡°How much of a difference will there be between that and my actual bodies abilities? If a lot then yes please¡± With Jason¡¯s question the ladies face goes blank for several seconds. It worries him, but then she seems to be back. ¡°Huh, well you''re an odd one. The canned answer is that this will be like your optimum state at being physically mature. That isn¡¯t technically true as it is actually the average of average humanity if that makes sense. You though fall on the far end of the physical bell curve. At starting physical stats you will be constrained.¡± She then gets a thoughtful look on her face before continuing, ¡°This isn¡¯t the first time it has happened, though you are a bit farther than others. I must admit though that it hasn¡¯t happened in a long time. All those who have been stronger than you came during the first wave and were mostly martial arts masters who had spent decades practicing. That aside, with time and stats you should be able to reach your real abilities and surpass them.¡± She then waves her hand and his view changes to a sports field populated by goblins. ¡°You can run around here and get a feel for your body. After you''re good the goblins can be beat up a bit. Though do be warned while non-hostile they will fight back when attacked and their friends will help.¡± Chapter 2 - Completing the Tutorial It is clear to Jason, even without moving, that he was limited by the stats system. Luckily it isn¡¯t like the system can limit his mind with stats or this might have been too stifling. With a quick look around several screens pop up declaring various challenges. Just looking at some goblins running around the track and three different quests show up.
Outrun the Goblins Look at those silly goblins running around in a circle. You should be able to race them and win so why not give it a try? Difficulty: Tutorial Goal: Come in first place Failure: Congratulations, you aren¡¯t used to your body yet! Try again later Rewards: You beat some slow goblins, maybe a gold star?
Outlast the Goblins They run and run and run. You should be able to outlast them right? Difficulty: Tutorial Goal: Be the last one standing Failure: Well, either you haven¡¯t gotten used to your body or your willpower is lacking Rewards: Still standing are you? Does that even deserve a star?
Tired of Goblins? Try the Hurdles! The goblins aren¡¯t much for hurdles. Show them what¡¯s up and try not to fall on your face! Difficulty: Tutorial- Goal: Run the Hurdles without knocking them over or falling Failure: You get to try it again till you are used to your body Rewards: Nice, you finished an untimed solo challenge. Maybe a star though probably not!
Yeah, you get the idea. All the quests were like that. Mildly insulting and mentions of stars. When the game was new, people thought there were hidden quests in the tutorials. They weren¡¯t wrong per se. If you collect enough stars then the gear you start in is upgraded a little. Almost any gear is an upgrade from even the strongest starting gear. It was a lot more important in the past but now there are vendors set up to sell a set of clothes to new players for their starting money. ¡°Hey lady, can I just run around a bit and ignore all these quests? They aren¡¯t particularly interesting to me.¡± The lady thinks for a moment then responds, ¡°Sure do whatever you want. Most people don¡¯t even take the tutorials anymore, even those that go with strange body shapes. I keep petitioning for better rewards but meh.¡± With the confirmation that he is free to do whatever an hour of general running around begins. Jason¡¯s basic plan here was to just treat it like an obstacle course and that worked decently well after kicking a few goblins. No actual fighting as that wouldn¡¯t be much of a challenge but dodging a swarm of them was decent after adding the rest of them. Now it had gotten a bit boring. Jason had already gathered all the goblins and jumped over or under most of the equipment. He then yells ¡°Guess it¡¯s time to finish this up then. Lady, can we finish this up or do I have to aggressively de-aggro them?¡± With a quick chuckle she assures him they can if he really wants to. Noticing the emphasis but deciding it would be fun Jason gives her the go ahead to move onto the next thing. With that everything pauses and turns grey before fading away. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. They are now in another white room. This one though stretches into the distance with many pillars of light and a light mist seemingly only to stop one from seeing into forever. Turning to Jason the lady proclaims, ¡°Welcome to the hall of beginnings! Here you shall choose your starting weapon.¡± and with that the light pillars dim and each one can be seen to contain a weapon or set of weapons. The closest weapons being the most common with a normal longsword being right next to him followed closely by a book of fire magic and a dagger. With a wave of her hand the lady say, ¡°Once you choose a weapon we can continue. Also congratulations on finding one of the better kept permanent secrets.¡± and with that a couple more quests pop-up
Pick your first Weapon Simple enough, just grab a weapon. If you don¡¯t see what you want, continue on further and you should find what you want. Don¡¯t worry they all have as close to the same stats and damage output as possible. Difficulty: Tutorial- Goal: Get your beginner weapon Failure: Stop playing I guess? Rewards: The weapon you chose
Goblins Added Combat Congratulations, you have found a secret which was actually kept a secret! Goblins you had aggroed in the movement tutorial when you left will follow you to the combat tutorial. Difficulty: Secret Tutorial+ Goal: Defeat all Enemies Failure: Ending the Combat Tutorial while Enemies still live Rewards: ???
Jason takes a quick look around and can see that every pillar of light has a weapon in it. Turning to the lady he asks, ¡°So uh, do I have to choose a pillar? My preference is barehanded.¡± ¡°Hmm, that is a new request. Even the past martial types would want battle gloves or something like brass knuckles. I can¡¯t let you just skip this as it is sort of required. If you keep walking eventually you should find an empty pillar or you might want one of the other options.¡± and having said this she waves her hand at the pillars again. With a sigh Jason starts walking. After a minute the weapon choices have gotten really strange. Various whips and strange multi bladed things. A bit more and a pattern appears, if he follows a type of weapon more similar ones show up. With that in mind he heads toward the more glove like weapons. As he goes it gets stranger and stranger. Gauntlets, gloves, and handwraps of all sorts. Metal spikes all over the place and blades, some for seemingly no reason. Farther and farther, onward and onward. The pillar of lights have gotten sparse. It seems the game knows the sort of thing he wants now but really wants him to have Something. Soon there are barely over 5 light pillars in view at a time and the number just gets fewer. At this point Jason has started to run. Slowly the number visible get fewer as he runs toward the most minimal looking options. Now only one or two are visible at a time and most are barely straps of leather or cloth of various lengths and shapes. Finally no more can be seen as he runs and runs. Eventually in the distance one last pillar of light comes into view. This one is empty. He finally found what he was looking for. A bit more time than he wanted but what else do you expect when using a graphical interface instead of a more direct approach. ¡°This one, I want to go unarmed please¡± And with that the lady appears and tosses a handful of glitter while cheering, ¡°Congratulations, you actually walked all this way! Besides a few who took it at the beginning even the personal user created weapons have a higher rate of being taken. As you likely know, now your main weapon will be your own body and you will get a slight bonus to training it. Do you want to proceed to the combat tutorial?¡± ¡°Sure, let¡¯s rock¡± Chapter 3 - Punching and Kicking Jason appears in a small room made of sandstone blocks except for one wall that has an iron grate. As he looks through them, it can be seen that he is in a giant arena. While it has the styling of the Colosseum, it seems to have been also influenced by Ancient Egyptian architecture. Suddenly a flash of light and his eyes are drawn to an impressive stand on the far side of the arena. The lady is now standing there looking like a cross between a wrestling announcer and Cleopatra holding a golden mic. Suddenly she yells at a non-existent crowd, ¡°Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the greatest show this side of reality! Behind iron bars we have our Challenger! A nameless rookie who managed to piss off all the training goblins yet didn¡¯t kill a single one of them. Will he be able to deal with their reprisal? After all, he still has to fight our main event tonight! The dreaded Hobgoblin! That¡¯s right folks, not only won¡¯t there be any conflict between his two enemies but likely our lovely Hob will be in charge. Also to top it all off he has chosen to go unarmed! A true once in a century even there folks! Now for the main event, let the fight BEGIN!¡± And with that the grate slowly rise into the ceiling. As soon as he can Jason darts out under them and follows the left-hand wall. There aren¡¯t any enemies that are visible but that won¡¯t last long. In fact he hears a shout from behind him. A glance back shows that the goblins are spawning in the room he exited. Deciding to ignore them for now Jason keeps running along the edge of the arena. This enrages the goblins though most of them trip over each other as more and more pour out of the room. Jason makes it to the opposite side of the arena without finding anything. There isn¡¯t even another barred room. ¡°At least the goblins have all spawned. Guess it¡¯s time to head back over there¡±. Still feeling leery about the center of the arena though he keeps following the wall. Not even half way back the goblins who decided on a more direct route to him prove his caution out. Upon stepping into the center area the sand covered floor falls out from under them. Many plummet to their death below. Once the dust settles, it can be seen that the floor is once again raising up, now covered in blood and with a much bigger goblinoid standing on it. This must be the Hobgoblin. Were the goblins are small like children with scrawny arms and bent backs the Hob is quite the different story. He stands upright with proper leather armor and a savage gleam in his eyes. A yell echos from his maw and all the goblins freeze. Gone is their buffoonish sideshow act. Another yell and they start running towards the Hob, but no longer do they fall over each other. Where once was a disorderly mob is now a troop of creatures out for blood. With this development all Jason can think is that this might be a little more trouble than he bargained for. The Hobgoblin gestures towards Jason and a few goblins charge towards him. They are soon upon him and the fight starts. Crouching down Jason lunges at the closest goblin and throws a quick jab at its throat. Not expecting this the goblin stops in place just taking the hit. -8 Numbers appear above the goblins head before it keels over from a crushed throat. Ignoring the body he keeps the momentum going and with a quick spin slams his other arms elbow into the next goblins head -12 This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Sending it flying like a rag doll. For the last goblin a quick knee from his back leg is enough -9 Knocking it over dead. There is a moment of silence. Even the lady is shocked by this display. She recovers, ¡°Amazing! We have a true martial artist with us today folks. Straight for the kill when even those that choose weapons are too passive with them. Despite having no record of fighting outside of sparring for points this man has the killer instinct! I feel we are seeing the birth of a legend.¡± With the silence broken the Hobgoblin recovers itself. Deciding not to go with the classic villains move of only sending a few stronger enemies it shouts and runs at Jason. With this the rest of the goblins quickly charge as well. Though when the goblins have lost it, the Hob slows down, only just staying behind the swarm. Deciding not to be passive about it Jason also yells out before charging as well. Upon reaching them he jumps and connects with his foot on the first goblins chest. -10 As the goblin falls over Jason reaches forward with both his hands and grabs two goblins by their heads. His muscles strain, swinging them outwards while stabilizing himself. Following through on that he brings his back leg forward and steps on the next goblin in line crushing it into the ground with his momentum. -9 -7 -11 Now in the thick of things it becomes a blur with Jason not even being able to distinguish the numbers anymore. A punch to the side into a throat. Using both arms to swing another goblin around like a bludgeon before letting it fly into another group. Just stepping on any goblin that gets in his way. At a shocking speed the goblins dwindle. Finally only the handful of them remain. The goblins suddenly seem more aggressive. Feeling a hint of danger Jason throws himself to the side. Just in time it turns out as the Hobgoblins fist is now taking up the space his head was just occupying. Turning his dive into a roll Jason quickly disengages from the goblins. Not wanting to let him catch his breath the Hobgoblins follows him. Taking this chance Jason comes out of the roll in a crouch and then springs back at the Hobgoblin. As they meet, both takes a swing. Jason connects with the Hobgoblins side while blocking with his other arm. -6 -2 Neither of them backing down and seem focused on brawling it out. However as they move around the arena Jason suddenly dashes to the side and kills another goblin before returning to the fight. This continues till both of the combatants are worn down and all the goblins have been killed. Enraged at the death of all his minions the Hobgoblin¡¯s skin and eyes suddenly takes on a red tint. Jason becomes annoyed at this and shouts, ¡°No, don¡¯t take the easy way out! I wanted a good fight and now you¡¯ve just thrown your mind away¡±. However no matter how much he would wish otherwise this appears to be true. Where once was tactics and strategy the Hobgoblin now fights with savagery and mindless strength. Sighing Jason goes in for the kill. A simple feigned weakness and he easily opens it up for a counterattack. With one well placed jab to the chin the Hobgoblin is stunned -5 *Stunned* and quickly falls to a flurry of blows -7 -9 -5 -11 -9 With that the lady cheers, ¡°Hurrah! You¡¯ve completed the challenge and killed all the foes! See that folks? A legend in the making I tell you. Now to reward our champion.¡± With that the arena seems to fall away and they are both back in a white room. Then for the first time an actual quest complete screen pops up
Quest Complete: Goblin Added Combat Congratulations! You have completed a challenge that few have tried and fewer succeeded at. Rewards: Future rewards dealing with your chosen weapon will be better
¡°How that will work for you only the system knows but it will be interesting!¡± Chapter 4 - Starter Town Choices ¡°Okay, with the tutorials out of the way we have just a few more matters to finish. Easiest is you need a name to go by. Just your first name as any last name or titles will be gained in game. Also, while this warning hasn¡¯t been necessary recently, you can have whatever name you want. You need not do something stupid like adding numbers to it or that good old classic ¡®leet¡¯ speak nonsense¡±. Then the lady mumbles under her breath, ¡°not that, that seems to stop anyone¡± before continuing, ¡°And the other thing is what town you want to start in¡±. Jason had already thought long about what to call himself. From regular names to fantasy name, even some of those so called ¡®leet¡¯ names. In the end though he figured the simplest answer is probably the best. ¡°Just call me Jason. I didn¡¯t change my body so why change my name? As for where to start I don¡¯t have anywhere picked out already. Give me some options please.¡± The lady sighs, ¡°I guess I should have expected this, you haven¡¯t followed the norm with anything else. The names fine if not the most common choice but why don¡¯t you have a starting town chosen? From what I know all of you types get counseled on where to start. Whether a town that specializes in their skills or just the town that the people they live near started with. They all have something in mind even if it is a list.¡± Looking a bit apologetic Jason explains, ¡°Well I did have a lot of people telling me where I should start. There are even towns devoted to barehanded martial arts even if they are just NPCs doing it. But that¡¯s the thing. Those are all places that many before me have chosen. That isn¡¯t a bad thing but I know one important thing. The list of starter towns is constantly changing. When a place gets too populated, it¡¯s removed. If a town loses enough people it become available again. Even unknown towns can get discovered and added once a trade route to it is developed. I don¡¯t mind if I end up in one of the suggested towns but I don¡¯t want to be limited by that.¡± The lady sighs again, ¡°Well at least you have a reason for it. Just by questioning them most people back down and just list a few towns they want. Since you want to go through with this its time for a round of question and answer to limit the list. Anyway let¡¯s start with the simple questions. What do you think about Cardinal direction, weather and seasonal structure, general land features, player density, and relative difficulty?¡± ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t mind the direction. As for the general weather I want a normal season cycle though not getting too hot in the summer. Honestly something that matches my local weather would be fine. I definitely don¡¯t want one of those stupid eternal winter or summer places. Now land features? A mountain nearby would be nice and maybe a big river. Now players are a difficult question. Obviously I don¡¯t want to be in one of the popular towns. They have to build a second town next to it because the first one is constantly filled with new players spawning in and dealing with their month of being stuck there. Also it isn¡¯t like I could end up in a town with no one. Enough people choose random to give any town a decent population in a few days. Meh, just going to go for a town with a lower population of them. Finally I guess just go with a nice area for the first hundred levels. I can move later for better pastures.¡± With Jason¡¯s answer the lady looks somewhat relieved, ¡°Well you aren¡¯t trying to just get a full list of all the towns, not that others haven¡¯t tried. Now with those answered there are only a few hundred towns on the list. Now for more specific things and feel free to just answer yes or no. Do you want there to be a dojo/training hall, nobility, known dungeons, or an official trade route going to it? As just a note, an official trade route means there is at least a gravel road going to it instead of just a dirt one.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Jason answers, ¡°No, yes, nah, and sure¡± ¡°Okay, with that we can narrow it down to 3 towns. Mostly because you didn¡¯t want a dojo. Almost every town has one to train their guards and give the young some basic self defense ability. Anyway your options are as follows.¡±
Town of the Chilled Pass This town is on a major trade route just before the only passage through a mountain range for hundreds of miles around. Though not a safe way through the monsters that inhabit it are significantly lower leveled then the rest of the mountain. Nearby is a river formed from all the outflow of the mountain. Also of note is that the name ¡°Chilled Pass¡± is an ironic name as it is the warmest place in the mountain proper.
Shine Fish Village Placed upon a massive river which flows around the nearby mountain creating a large basin which some are tempted to call an ocean. A unique fish is found there and is the source of this villages name. The forehead scale has special properties and the only reason there isn¡¯t a bigger or more towns is because of the limited supplies.
Jor A small town founded about a millennium ago by a hero as part of a reward from a local king. The kingdom is long gone but the town still stands. Through luck or manipulation it sits on a crossroads of a few major trade routes. Though it has never grown big, the town has always thrived. Nearby is a decent river and in the other direction a small mountain range.
After reading the descriptions Jason asks, ¡°So why don¡¯t these towns have a dojo in them? The first one definitely seems like it should have one.¡± ¡°I can tell you a little of why though not too much, that would be cheating. Anyway the Town of the Chilled Pass is also used as a military training camp. Instead of a public dojo they have a barracks which only the military can use. With such an important place the local kingdom doesn¡¯t leave it up to the locals. Next up is Shine Fish Village. They just have a heritage of staff techniques which is passed from parent to child. No public dojo because they won¡¯t pass it onto outsiders. Finally is Jor. Because of how important the crossroads it stands on is but not being in anyone¡¯s kingdom they aren¡¯t allowed a local defense. All the surrounding people just send their own guards to provide ¡®security¡¯.¡± explains the Lady Jason ponders for a bit before answering, ¡°Yeah, Jor is off the list. I don¡¯t want to step in whatever mess would cause an independent village to not be allowed its own defenses. Similarly with that Chilled Pass place. Sounds like a mess though not as much of one. At least it is their own kingdom that is doing it but still not cool. I guess that leaves me with Shine Fish Village then. Can you tell me any more about it?¡± ¡°Not particularly. I am not allowed to tell you too much. That is why getting counseled on what town to start in is considered so important if you aren¡¯t just going random. Any last questions before I send you off?¡± A sheepish look and Jason asks, ¡°So yeah, what is your name? I¡¯ve just been thinking of you as ¡®The Lady¡¯ till now.¡± ¡°My name? I don¡¯t mind telling you though you won¡¯t be able to pronounce it. Though maybe if you get the right chances you might learn why¡±. With that the lady snaps her fingers and Jason starts to fade out. Just before he is gone he hears her say one more thing. [Starlight](Gentle light, Goddess of Potential, Kind, Moon¡¯s Sister) Chapter 5 - Into Town What first hits him is the noise. Even while his vision is still whited out Jason hears the cry of gulls and numerous people. Soon he can see and his first view is out onto a massive body of water. Likely this is the river but he can¡¯t even see the other side of it. Turning around a busy dock is visible. Though with a second look there seems to mostly be trading vessels. Suddenly a man that seemed to be lazing around nearby shouts out, ¡°Hey you! Newb! Come buy your starter pack here!¡± ¡®Not even a minute here and they spot me. It uses most of the money you start with but the gear is worth it though. Maybe I can haggle him down a bit.¡¯ Jason sighs and goes over to the man. When Jason gets to him, the man drawls out what is obviously an oft repeated greeting, ¡°Welcome to Shine Town! My name is Dall. I don¡¯t know why you ended up here but let me outfit you with a new set of gear. Long as your weapon isn¡¯t too odd I can offer you the whole shebang for only 5 silvers. Anything fancy is extra if I have it and even more if I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Hello Dall. Can I get a bit off, say 3 silvers, if I don¡¯t want a weapon? That¡¯s where most the expense comes from what with every beginner and their pet getting rabbit leather for the armor.¡± Now it Dall¡¯s turn to sigh, ¡°Look kid, you and I both know you aren¡¯t allowed to have friends from outside pop by and gift you a weapon. Even my guild who has been at it for decades is barely allowed to do this and the system limits what we can sell and for how much. If you chose this town just because someone was here you in for a spot of bad luck.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need a weapon. I plan to use martial arts and what not.¡± Dall upon hearing his answer gets a devious light in his eyes, ¡°Ah, you''re cocky! Ain¡¯t nobody get far without a weapon upgrade boy. Even crafter types go for it as early game needs it. However let me give you the deal I have in my pocket for this as you aren¡¯t the first. You offered 3 silver but instead of that I will take 2 but with a condition. Just sign a contract with me that if you need to buy a weapon before level 10 then you will buy one of mine at double the price.¡± ¡°That isn¡¯t a bad deal but I have a condition of my own. Change the wording of the deal to remove that tricky little ¡®need to¡¯ you slipped in there. I wasn¡¯t born yesterday and have read up on the common newb targeted scams. No one wants to be caught by a group of bandits the second they step out of town just to be tied up so they ¡®need¡¯ a dagger to cut themselves free.¡± Looking a bit disappointed Dall shrugs his shoulders, ¡°Well you can¡¯t catch every fish in the sea. Sure here''s the changed deal¡± and with that a screens pop up in front of both of them.
Letter of Agreement Between:
  1. Dall Coppershaver of Gold Mine Merchants
  2. Jason
Agreements: Dall agrees to sell a weaponless beginners set to Jason for 2 silver coins. Jason agrees that if he buys the above set, then if before level 10 he decides to buy a weapon the first weapon he does buy or trade for needs to be from Dall and at twice the listed price. Accept Agreement: YES/NO
After looking it over and making sure nothing else would force him to buy a weapon Jason clicks yes, then accepts the trade request that comes soon afterwards. Now down a couple silver but up a set of decent armor he walks away to look around town. Dall watches him leave and once Jason has left earshot, he bursts into laughter he thinks to himself, ¡°Got another sucker! Everyone knows about that stupid forced buy scam. The money isn¡¯t in that anyway as you still have to hire someone to trap them. I don¡¯t even bother with that anymore. Now I just have my shop only contain a bunch of dirt cheap weapons at ridiculous prices. No one gets past the level 9 bottleneck without a good weapon and nothing has any weapon drops within miles of this place¡±. Sadly for Dall two can play at that game because at about the same time he laughed so did Jason, ¡°As if I can¡¯t tell what''s up. Probably stuffed his shop full of overpriced junk. If I had pushed though he would have backed out of the deal. Now to look at my new getup. From the quick glance I saw in the trade screen it seems he didn¡¯t even try to cheat me on it as they are all top grade commons.¡±
Complete Weaponless Rabbit Leather Martial Arts Beginners Set Set Items: Beginners Rabbit Leather Helm Beginners Rabbit Leather Jerkin Beginners Rabbit Leather Arm Guards Beginners Rabbit Leather Belt Beginners Rabbit Leather Grieves Beginners Rabbit Leather Boots Description: An Exquisitely crafted set of gear made entirely out of the cheapest quality of Rabbit Leather. Only through years of research and many crafters blood, sweat, and tears was this level of quality reached while keeping such a low price. All the pieces of this set have been specially created to be swapped between several configurations and thus there is no step by step set bonuses for it. A pair of boots, grieves, and a bastard sword are just as valid of a complete set as wearing something in every equipment slot. As for how it looks. Best way to put it is they tried. Bonuses: +30 Defense +10 Agility +10 Strength +10 Toughness Set Bonuses: +12 Defense The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. +4 Agility +4 Strength +4 Toughness
¡®Sheesh, I knew what it would be, but it still is quite the impressive setup. Looks like each piece is giving me the max 5 to defense and 5 to something else. Amazing what they can do with no magic involved at all. Well guess I should look around the town a bit if I am going to be stuck here for a month in game.¡¯, Jason thinks to himself before wandering towards the main street. A short walk later and Jason can see all the town has to offer. There are of course shops selling the basics. It wouldn¡¯t be a starter town if it didn¡¯t have them. Besides that though the major locations were somewhat lacking. A small All Gods church, likely only there for players was on the edge of town. The blacksmith was actually decently setup though only because proper ships need a good bit of iron tools and parts to keep them working. Same for the tailor who seemed more setup for repairing sails than turning out clothes and equipment. There wasn¡¯t even proper buildings for the various basic skill trainers. All of them seem to be shoved into the Adventurers Guilds building. Even the rogue trainer was there instead of hidden away in some thieves guild. From asking around he had even found out they could only even do that because the player who setup the connection to this town requested it as his only reward for saving the shine fish population. Having nowhere better to go Jason heads over to said Adventurers Guild. The building itself is relatively impressive being twice as big as a town this size would support. This extra space of course is only there because of the so termed ¡®training emporium¡¯. He had even heard a rumor that if this works many smaller towns may try it as a cheaper way to support more paths. The entrance is a big wooden double door setup which is open and actually doesn''t look like they have closed in years. Heading through the door Jason feels a slight tingle as he passes through the door. While he was expecting it the feel of the magical barrier makes his hair stand on end. That barrier more than anything else will be why other towns will switch over to a centralized training area. Not only does it keep the weather out so the Guild can keep their open door policy but it also detects anyone that has a criminal record with the Adventurers Guild. While not the most expensive magic formation it isn¡¯t like a normal town could afford to upkeep one. Only a monolithic organization like the Adventurers Guild would consider having one on their front door as just a matter of fact. Having that barrier though would let even small towns keep the common ruffians and bandits from getting training. The inside is actually quite lively. Though that might just be because half the main area is a fully stocked bar. This might not be the only tavern in town but it is selling the best brews at a decent price. The floor appears to be made of a single piece of wood and seeing as there isn¡¯t any stains or marks it likely costs more than any other building in town as a whole. Directly opposite to the bar is a relatively roughly hewn arch leading to the Trainers. However most important to Jason right now is a long desk setup like a bank teller''s. There is even a person devoted to questions and people wanting to join the guild. Manning the desk is a harmless looking tortoise girl. However all of Jason¡¯s instincts are screaming at him that of everyone in this room she is the one to never mess with. Not having much of a choice though he makes his way over to her. ¡°Hello Miss, I¡¯m a new player and I would like to join the Adventurers Guild please.¡± The girl looks up at Jason and gives him a piercing glare. ¡°Okay, but first some ground rules. Of course there is the basic stuff like don¡¯t steal from, murder, or disrupt guild employees. Next up while not required we do prefer if you follow the local laws for the most part. Finally for some local rules which all boil down to don¡¯t mess with the shine fish. Oh and my personal rule, don¡¯t be a dick¡±. She then takes out a light blue egg shaped stone, ¡°Now all you have to do is either drop some blood on this or if you know how to, infuse some energy into it. I recommend giving the second option a try just to see if you have a talent for it. If nothing is wrong you will see your character sheet with the addition of being an F rank member of the Adventurers Guild. Don¡¯t worry no one else but me will see anything and all I will see is your name and if it worked. Though do note that while you can advance to C rank with just this any higher ranks will need a deeper identification.¡± Jason takes the stone then concentrates on himself to try and sense any ¡®energy¡¯ that might be in him. This takes a few moments but eventually he feels something in himself and pushes it towards the stone. Suddenly his character sheet pops up.
Basic Info
Name: Jason Level: 0
Legal Status: New Player Title: N/A
Stats
Strength 24
Toughness 24
Agility 24
Defense 42
HP 10
Energy 1
Organizations
Adventurers Guild Basic Member Rank F
Having looked at his sheet Jason mutters, ¡°Huh, a bit empty and my Energy is only 1¡±. Looking up though he sees that the girl is smiling at him with quite the expectant look. Then she speaks up, ¡°Well that''s unexpected. Let me introduce myself. My name is Penny OrichalcumShell, the guild master for this branch. I would like to congratulate you on being one of the few players to manage using your energy before level 10. Now this will not give you too big of an advantage but I do have a quest for you if that would suit your fancy.¡±
Mystery Request You aren¡¯t the first to unlock your energy nor will you be the last. However you unlocked it at level 0 in front of Penny. She¡¯s been looking for someone like you for a long long while now. Difficulty: Unknown until accepted Goal: Unknown until accepted Failure: You gave up and Penny will be disappointed in you though understanding Reward: Unknown until accepted Do you Accept: Yes/No
¡®Well that was unexpected. It isn¡¯t a secret quest, but that is probably because she has been searching for a bit. Probably only still around because of the harsh requirements. Might as well try it¡¯. Smiling confidently Jason starts to accept the quest when Penny speaks up. ¡°I will warn you. Don¡¯t accept this on a whim. Energy is what the stat gets called before you decide on whether to use mana or qi. You could get locked out of both of them. Mana is required for spells and Qi for weapon arts. Losing access to them isn¡¯t a small matter.¡± ¡°Wait so what does Energy do then?¡± Penny thinks for a moment before responding, ¡°It just reinforces the body a bit. Many people have actually gone down this path before. My favorite story is of the blacksmith who felt forging an item out in the air was a bit slow. He went and trained in Energy to the point that normal fires couldn¡¯t hurt him. Apparently it was quite a scene to see him stand in his special made forge. Though do note that it was only like that because he focused on fire resistance.¡± ¡°That actually works for me. I am willing to do whatever you need of me.¡± Penny nods, ¡°Okay then, here is what you need to do¡± Chapter 6 - The Request Penny stops for a moment before continuing to speak, ¡°Most adventurers would spend their first month around town. Even us natives go by that though some fools ignore it. Taking up errands for the first bit. Then graduating to killing the monster rabbits every town keeps around them. This works well enough to get 90% of them on their feet. If you do this though your path will be set. Those innocuous rabbits have a tiny amount of mana or qi in them depending on whether they travel the path of the winged rabbit or horned rabbit. When you absorb the world force or as some of your types like to call it ¡®experience¡¯ that bit of energy would be absorbed as well. It doesn¡¯t matter which. The fact your pure Energy interacted with either will start it changing. That will prevent you from training in Energy as from then on anything you do will speed up the change.¡± A sigh escapes her mouth, ¡°Luckily there is a monster within the town radius which has pure Energy. Sadly, it isn¡¯t a beginner friendly monster. I need you to ignore all the fetch quests, delivery missions, and critter killing. Instead, the Rockback Turtle will be your target. Harmless in most aspects this turtle has instead turned to Energy to makes its shell comparable to rock. They are considered a nuisance as nothing preys on them. For you to kill them will be a grind but I want you to get to level 5 that way. Even if you don¡¯t continue from there, I will consider it as having completed my quest as at that point you can learn a skill I created. If you still want to continue at that point then we can talk further.¡± With that Penny finishes up a few more bits of paperwork before sending Jason away. As he is leaving though she calls outs, ¡°Oh yeah, they live on the beach. Hard to miss, just go the opposite direction of any other Adventurer.¡±
A while later Jason is standing on a beach deserted of any intelligent life. All that can be seen is rock after rock. The entire view is covered in uniform looking rocks of varying size. If it wasn¡¯t for the occasional one munching on vegetation, it would be hard to realize they were all turtles. Hundreds and Hundreds of rocklike turtles keeping the beach to themselves. ¡°At least I won¡¯t have to worry about aggroing something else here. They also don¡¯t seem to be hostile so I should be able to try some things on the edge. My first attempt will probably be the stupidest though. I can break bricks but this is a little silly. Still, I need to know what my normal punch will do to them.¡± With a plan in mind Jason follows the beach looking for a good opportunity. Soon he finds a small Rockback by itself. Not really needing to do anything fancy he just goes up to it and punches it. *-1* The turtle doesn¡¯t even seem to notice as it readjusts itself. The sound of snoring can now be heard as Jason realizes it wasn¡¯t even awake. ¡®Obviously the straightforward method won¡¯t work here. Honestly a spear or similar to at them would probably be best but that would be admitting defeat. Maybe later on weapons would be an option but right now that is out of the question.¡¯ *+1* ¡®And it just gained that life back. Okay this might be tougher than I thought. Penny didn¡¯t seem to think this was impossible. Then again I didn¡¯t exactly advertise I wasn¡¯t using weapons. At this point I am weakest against defense based opponents. My best chance is when they are eating but I need to prevent them hiding in their shells once I get some damage on them. Guess I need some traps and a bit more observation.¡¯, Deciding that Jason spends the rest of the afternoon watching this one turtle. Eventually the turtle wakes up and moves to rejoin the rest of them. It becomes clear though that sleeping is likely their favorite activity. Except for them eating none of them move. However the important piece of information he notices is that they don¡¯t just eat anything. The whole beach is covered in small bluish plants but they don¡¯t eat that. Only every once in a while when a specific plant glows do the turtles eat it. A quick trip back to town to ask around and Jason realizes why. Those plants are a special alchemical ingredient used to enhance recovery potions. Not just Mana, Qi, or Health potions but all of them and the glowing ones have a higher success rate. While called ¡®Blue Weed¡¯ or when glowing, ¡®Glow Weed¡¯ by the townsfolk Jason now has a personal name for it. This plant clearly gathers Energy and when it has enough it glows. After returning to the beach he brings up the system menu and renames it ¡®Energy Herb¡¯ for himself.
Congratulations Despite the common name being purposefully bad you have figured out the truth. Knowledge Bonus: +1% success rate when using Energy Herb as an ingredient. Ability to identify the maturity of a Herb with relevant Identify skills Discovery Bonus: +1% success rate when using Energy Herb Able to get a feeling for maturity of a Herb without a skill
¡®And that will make my plan a bit easier. With the mature Energy Herb as bait I can set up a trap that should let me kill them.¡¯ Now that he has a plan Jason gets to work. A quick survey of the beach and he finds a good place. Some actual rocks are positioned close to each other on the edge between the beach and a forest. While compared to him they aren¡¯t really close but none of the turtles will fit through it without going a bit sideways. Quite convenient for his second step. For that though Jason needs to head into the forest. Not exactly dangerous but still a problem. After all, if anything notices him the only option is to run. Can¡¯t go and kill something that isn¡¯t one of the turtles. As Jason sneaks into the trees nothing much stands out but the farther in the less cover there is for him. Now with only light ground cover and a nearby tree to hide behind he spots something coming into view. A simple boar. Not the most threatening thing but clearly Qi using as it¡¯s tusks have a glow to them and seem sharp even from this distance. Nevermind the fact that it is already many times his level this spells big trouble. Not one to just hide Jason quickly gets behind the tree. Once out of the Boars line of sight he starts climbing. While it makes a bit of noise he hasn¡¯t ever heard of a boar climbing a tree. This thought has a couple holes in it though. The most obvious to him now is that climbing the tree isn¡¯t the only way to get to him. For instance the boar who is alerted to his presence by the noise could batter the tree down. More specifically, it is doing that quite well, what with it¡¯s Qi infused tusks. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Being so close to the boar allows Jason to identify it. This goes a long way to explain its success. Lv3 Juvenile Battertusk Boar definitely sounds like it knocks over trees for fun. Though this might just be the chance he was looking for. A fallen tree or two are what the trap needs and a fresh one would work best. As the tree tilts more and more our hero waits for the right moment. With one final crash from the boar the trees creaking doesn¡¯t stop. Now gaining momentum it falls but Jason was ready for it. A quick leap and he catches a thick branch on the next tree over. Frustrated the boar starts its work all over. Soon the ground is littered with fallen trees. Though the observant viewer would notice that besides a few they all have fallen towards the beach. Now only a short run from his goal Jason doesn¡¯t go for another tree. Instead after the boar crashes into the current tree once more he quickly swings down from the tree. While the boar is still recovering from its head-butting, he makes a run for the beach. Soon he can hear the boar charging at him. Running without looking back he focuses his all on this sound. At the last moment Jason ducks behind a tree as he passes it by. With a loud crash the boar hits it and is once more delayed. Now without certain death as a distraction he puts on a burst of speed and crashes through the dense foliage at the edge of the forest. Right behind him the boar doesn¡¯t give up as it continues to chase him. The boar doesn¡¯t seem to have learned its lesson from the tree much to Jason¡¯s luck. Reaching the nearest turtle he dodges behind it which is quickly followed by a loud crash and some a red number. *-12* The turtle doesn¡¯t take too well to this abrupt form of waking up and bellows in anger. This is soon followed by a number of nearby turtles answering it¡¯s rage with roars of their own. You would think they would be slow but these turtles are anything but when enraged. A flurry of blows and soon the boar has been reduced to nothing but some red spots on the ground. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact you don¡¯t get any experience from it, this would probably be a popular spot. Luckily none of the turtles care about Jason or he would have died even quicker. With this though he had almost everything needed. Just another quick trip to town to buy some rope that he forgot about last time and it was time to set up the trap. A couple trees draped across the top. Tie another up at an angle with a quick release knot. Throw up another on the other side with the same rope. Use some foliage to make a hiding spot and done. Now the just need to get some ripe energy herb as bait to make one of the turtles stick their head into the trap. Now this would normally be hard. The beach is the only place it really grows well and the turtles get a bit annoyed if you take their food. Luckily he had an idea on how to fix that. Using his new ability Jason quickly finds a plant that is almost grown and with no turtles nearby. Placing his hand on it he channels his energy into the plant like he did with the guilds stone. This takes a bit of time but soon the plant is glowing.
Congratulations You have discovered that Energy Herbs growth can be sped up with one¡¯s own Energy. This knowledge is rated as quite rare not because it is hard to find out but rather few have the pure Energy needed to do so. Knowledge Bonus: Bonuses related to the use of Energy Herbs now also affects growing them
And with that Jason gets down to growing some plants. Luckily the turtles aren¡¯t too bright and don¡¯t notice when the mature herb is in his bag. Dropping a glowing herb in the trap he goes off to find a low level turtle. Not the hardest thing to do as the first one he punched is still there. After laying down a path of mature herbs Jason tosses another herb right near the turtle before running towards his hiding place. That herb wakes the little turtle right up, and it is soon following them towards the trap. Upon getting to the boulders without a care in the world it stretches its neck out and takes a big bite out of the last herb. Sadly for it at that very moment Jason pulls the rope. With a loud thud the two logs fall down on the turtle''s neck. While this doesn¡¯t hurt it much the head is trapped and unable to retract or cry out. This isn¡¯t exactly a fair fight, and it takes too much time to be exciting but after what seems like forever he pummels it to death.
Rockback Turtle Defeated +2 Copper coins Because of severely bruised condition of body the loot based on it has been reduced +5 Trash Rockback Meat Chunks +1 Rockback Meat Chunk Because of pristine condition of shell the loot based on it has improved +1 Rockback Shell Plate Level Up x1 You have reached level 1! Congratulations on passing the first bottleneck by killing a monster by yourself. +1 Ability Point +1 Energy +5 HP
Jason thinks for a moment, ¡®Just one point right now but it goes up with each bottleneck. Almost seems unfair that at level 10 you get almost as many points as you got from 0 to 9. Well not that important¡¯, ¡°lets throw that point in Energy¡±.
Warning Energy is an auxiliary stat and you may not have points placed into it. To increase please find a proper training method. From now on Character sheet will differentiate between the two
¡®And there we go. The most basic and annoying character sheet upgrade. I had half a hope it wasn¡¯t but with Mana, Qi, and HP being auxiliary stats as well there wasn¡¯t much chance.¡¯, ¡°Okay put the point in Agility and show character sheet¡±
Basic Info
Name: Jason Level: 1
Legal Status: New Player Title: N/A
Normal Stats
Strength 24
Toughness 24
Agility 25
Auxiliary Stats
Defense 42
HP 15
Energy 2
Bonuses
Knowledge Bonus: +1% success rate when using an Energy Herb as an ingredient or growing one. Ability to identify the maturity of a Herb with relevant Identify skills Discovery Bonus: +1% success rate when using an Energy Herb or growing one Able to get a feeling for maturity of a Herb without a skill
Organizations
Adventurers Guild Basic Member Rank F
¡®Now just to repeat that a few too many times¡¯ Chapter 7 - Energetic Tortoise ¡®5 Days¡¯ ¡®It took 5 whole days just to get to level 5 from grinding turtles. That is even with my near cheat level trap. People manage to grind that out in the first day even after the tutorial. If it wasn¡¯t for the bottleneck for level 10, I would say I am behind. Totally can see why no one has completed this quest. Honestly, I don¡¯t think the entire time you get stuck in town would be enough to complete this quest even with weapons.¡¯, Sighing to himself Jason heads back towards the Adventurers Guild. The place actually looks less busy than it was last time. Even the bartender looks a bit bored. Penny on the other hand seems a bit sad when Jason walked in. As he gets to her desk she asks in a despondent voice, ¡°So are you here to give up now? I can¡¯t blame you if you are. 5 days is longer than anyone else has lasted.¡± Feeling a bit sheepish Jason quickly tries to fix her misconception of his visit, ¡°Um, I actually finished the quest. Killing nothing else I made it to level 5 on just those turtles.¡± Penny gives him a questioning look, ¡°I find that highly unlikely. Even a level 10 adventurer would have a hard time killing a few a day. You would need to kill dozens of them to reach level 5.¡± Jason brings up his game menu and with a few clicks shares his quest screen with Penny.
Mystery Quest You aren¡¯t the first to unlock your energy nor will you be the last. However you unlocked it at level 0 in front of Penny. She¡¯s been looking for someone like you for a long long while now. Difficulty: C++ Goal: Reach Level 5 through only killing Rockback Turtles and not gaining any Mana or Qi Progress: Level 5, Quest Complete Reward: Skill, Follow up Quest
Penny¡¯s eyes widen and a small gasp can be heard, ¡°This is wrong. Even if you have a good weapon nothing at your level should allow you to get past their shell.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t bother with their shells. Just one punch told me that wasn¡¯t the way to go. Instead I used traps with glowy weed as bait.¡± Hearing that Penny rolls her eyes, ¡°Traps take mana to set. You clearly don¡¯t have that or the quest would have failed. Even then traps don¡¯t do enough damage. Good idea on using glowy weed though that should have been crazy expensive or taken a lot more time.¡± ¡°Uh, not Trap traps but just simple hand made traps. A couple boulders next to each other and a few logs. Quick pull of a rope drops the logs on the turtle''s neck trapping it. Then I could just wail away at it.¡± Penny¡¯s eye twitches, ¡°That¡­ Its¡­ GAH, no why?! It can¡¯t be that easy! Your method wouldn¡¯t work on anything else! Something less tanky would die which wouldn¡¯t have given experience since it wasn¡¯t ¡®your¡¯ trap. Anything stronger and normal logs couldn¡¯t stop it. Just to find someone eligible for this quest takes years and yet I lost so many because of the difficulty. Now you tell me a simple no mana trap takes all the difficulty away?¡± At this point her face is flushed, and she is breathing hard through her gritted teeth. Throwing her hands up she collapses back into her chair. ¡°Fine, you completed the quest¡±, growling she adds on a bit under her breath, ¡°Likely changes nothing for me, 5 days is too long for the stupid newbs¡±. She takes a deep breath and calms herself before looking back up at Jason, ¡°Come on then, we have private training rooms underground. It isn¡¯t a secret skill but I know your type don¡¯t like this sort of stuff being common knowledge.¡± With that Jason follows her into the back of the guild and then down some stairs. Eventually they end up at a hall of doors. Turning to face him, Penny starts explaining, ¡°This is the hall of training before the hall of training. I guess we need a new name for it but its just a bunch of reinforced empty rooms. My skill for you doesn¡¯t need any extra equipment but that first room on the right is full of various weapons and armor. To the left a room of training dummies with a range of tricks and mechanical gimmicks. Though do note that while the simple wooden gear and basic dummies are free anything else has a deposit on it. Can¡¯t have you Adventurer types breaking them willy nilly. Anyway we just need the most basic room. Turn around and you will see behind us a wall of keystones. We use enchanted doors as we found magic locks prevent the casually curious thief from picking them.¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. The wall behind them is covered in round stones that just float in from of their number. From left to right the stones are labeled with a letter and a number. All the left side of the door is devoted to F rooms while the higher letters on the other side are in much shorter supply. Penny quickly grabs a stone before turning back to Jason and continuing, ¡°Now it Looks like room F-6 is free. If we were learning some attack skill or doing something damaging, then the Guild requires you take a room at least 1 letter grade above either yours or the skills, whichever is higher. If you can¡¯t figure it out from that the letter just represents how hardened the room is. We don¡¯t have any S or higher rooms listed as anything on that level isn¡¯t allowed to be practiced inside a towns borders. So let that be a warning to you. It isn¡¯t a true law but most people at that level have an agreement about it so breaking it probably is worse than offending a whole nation.¡± A short walk and they arrive at the door marked F-6. Penny goes up to it and taps the keystone onto the door. With that the door pops open and she enters before turning around with an expectant look. Walking up to the door Jason looks like he is about to step through before he suddenly stops. Raising his hand he makes a knocking motion which almost seems like a joke. That is if it wasn¡¯t for the slight shimmer that appears in the air where he was knocking. His actions seem to disappoint Penny though she recovers quickly before saying, ¡°Couldn''t you have pretended not to notice? Whatever, Room F-6 I invite Guild Member Jason to join me in the room.¡± and with that the whole door area shimmers before a message appears before Jason.
You have been granted permission to enter Room F-6 of the Shiny Town¡¯s Adventurers Guild while Penny is present. This permission is valid until the Keystone is returned to the wall.
Assuming that he won¡¯t be smacking face first into an invisible wall Jason finally enters the room. The inside is quite plain though a bit colorful. The floor itself is dark gray while the ceiling is an off white. Each wall though is a different muted color. To the north a soft green, east a fresh yellow, south a warm red, and in the west a cool blue. Penny closes the door and then continues with her explanation, ¡°These basic rooms all look the same. Each surface is a different color to allow the easy differentiation of direction. Above D grade allows visual changes to the wall. B and above will have simple space enchantments to increase the size and some specialty features like increased gravity options.¡± Reaching into a bag that wasn¡¯t there before Penny pulls out a book, ¡°This is the skillbook for Energetic Body Reinforcement. I created this skill and yes I know it is ironic that a tortoise¡¯s personally made skill would be called Energetic. Get over it, the name comes from using Pure Energy. Anyway you don¡¯t get this book. In fact my personal advice is to not use skillbooks ever. I am sure you have heard that some skills are easier to advance when learned instead of granted. That information is actually part of a bigger secret but that can wait until later. For now take a seat and be ready for a nice long winded explanation of the skill in excruciating detail.¡± And so Jason sat there for a few hours while Penny lectured. The skill itself is actually simple. All you have to do is channel the energy into some part of your body and it gets strengthened. The turtles instinctively do it with their shell. However the secret to this skill is you can¡¯t just do something like strengthen your skin or fist. To perform it correctly, you need to get the energy to spread through the whole body using the blood system or equivalent. Only by having it reach every single bit of your body can you learn and improve it. The biggest difference between this and a Qi skill though is that it is passive. Wrapping up her lecture Penny finishes with, ¡°Now while this skill is impressive you currently can only train it up to Initiate. Apprentice and beyond requires something special. To get to that though I want you to complete my next quest. Simple enough, I just want you to get the skill and reach the bottleneck within a week.¡±
Training in Energetic Body Reinforcement Penny has explained the basics of her self-made skill. Now she wants you to not only receive the skill but also train it to the highest possible level you can currently reach Difficulty: C Goal: Reach Initiate Level 10 at 99.99% of the Energetic Body Reinforcement skill within 7 days Failure: Never learn how to advance down the path of Energy from Penny Reward: Learn how to further the skill, ???, ??? Do you Accept: Y/N
Being a bit too far down this rabbit hole Jason just clicks yes. Chapter 8 - Heartcore I Guess Penny suddenly has a spark in her eye that wasn¡¯t there before Jason accepted her quest. She quickly shakes his hand then says, ¡°Thank you so much. Now I gave you 7 days but there is an easi¡­ well quicker method of training it. First though the normal method. Simple enough to train if time consuming. Just inject a small stream of Energy into your heart then meditate while feeling where it spreads. This would take a long time because your blood vessels aren¡¯t exactly designed to hold energy in. Basically, they will leak like a sieve to start with until they are strengthened enough to hold it. The bottleneck is when all your blood vessels can hold it properly. Now before I go into the other method try this out first. So sit over there and give it a go till you get the skill.¡± Sitting down Jason starts to meditate. Breathe in, breathe out. Slowly falling deeper into himself the outside falls away. Breathe in, breathe out. Now there is only his heartbeat. Breathe in, breathe out. Visualize your body. Breathe in, breathe out. Feel your heart, lifes center. Breathe in, breathe out. Channel your Energy towards it. Breathe in, breathe out. See how it diffuses out, ignoring your body. Breathe in, breathe out. Feel the walls toughen. Breathe in, breathe out. Slowly the Energy stops leaking. Breathe in, breathe out. *Ding*
Energetic Body Reinforcement Through a special training method you have infused your very Energy into your cardiovascular system. You have stepped down the path of perfecting your body. As you train further in it, your body will toughen. Most important though is that your body will start to become like an enchanted item allowing you to damage that which is resistant to normal physical damage. Initiate Level 1 0.0% Rank: Unique Type: Passive, Cultivation Effects: Blood is Life and the Heart it¡¯s throne - Passive regeneration .01667hp/second Body/Mind Unification - Despite any stat limitations your ability to fully control your body strengthens Energized Flesh - Can hit incorporeal things for .1% of normal damage with body Material Body - With time your body can become like living metal or hard like a diamond
¡®Right, update notification options is now on the top of my list¡¯, sighing Jason looks up at Penny and informs her of having gotten the skill. Penny nods, ¡°Congratulations, it only took you 5 hours. From my experience you managed it in two thirds the regular time. Though I think that is because you appear to already know meditation. Do you KNOW how hard it is to get you younguns to sit still for a moment? Anyway since you know the normal training method, let me tell you the quicker way. Simply put, I will beat you up while you try and meditate on the skill. From destruction comes creation. Because it took so long you would not have noticed but the act of changing your heart to contain Energy was actually killing it bit by bit. The reason it is so slow is because your body limits how much the Energy can destroy at a time. Combined with the creative nature of Energy which makes it much harder to damage in the first place can hold you back. To get around that all you need is for someone else to mess you up so your Energy can just focus on healing. Specifically I will focus my attack on your blood vessels. Meditating after combat to heal will help a little but my methods allow you to go farther. Do you want to go down this route?¡± ¡°Sure, why not? It¡¯s just a little pain and I suspect you are leaving out that the quest isn¡¯t possible unless you are going this route. I have a bit of experience with this sort of thing and a week is much too short a time even for getting the most basic of foundations through meditation.¡± Penny nods her head, ¡°Yes, what you say is indeed the case. This is actually a place I have had someone fail at before. They wanted a body so strong no one could hurt them because they were afraid of pain. I let them cultivate it the normal way, hoping when they realized it wasn¡¯t possible it would galvanize them. Instead they abandoned the quest. Clearly I had underestimated how much they feared getting hurt. Anyway, try to meditate on the skill again. Once you get back into it, I will hit you until you stop.¡± ¡®Well I guess it is back to breathing slowly¡¯, Breath in, breath out. Visualize the body. Breathe in, breathe out. Feel your heart. Breathe in, breathe out. Channel your Energy. Breathe in, breathe *Smack* *-1* *minor bleeding* out. Let the energy fix the body. Breathe in, breathe out. *+1* *bleeding staunched* Channel your Energy. Breathe in, breathe out. *Smack* *-1* *minor bleeding* Focus on the heart. Breathe in, breathe out. *+1* *bleeding staunched* Channel your Energy. Breathe in, breathe out. *Smack* With each cycle Penny smacks him focusing on attacking his blood vessels. Slowly her face goes through a range of emotions before settling on one of shock and amazement. To herself she can¡¯t help but exclaim, ¡®What has he gone through that this isn¡¯t knocking him out of his mediation. Sure I have had a few stay in it the first hit or two but this guy isn¡¯t stopping.¡¯ Slowly the time passes and Jason progresses with the skill. The hours start to melt away and Penny wonders if she will have to stop him from dehydrating himself. A day passes without notice. Soon another before finally something happens. Jason in his meditation has fallen into his past. A day or two means nothing in cultivation. To him there is just the slow progress of his Energy as it slowly makes it way farther through his blood vessels. First the main vessels are changed, taking over a day. With that though the change speeds up as the Energy can reach all corners of the body. A good portion of the next day was extending it into the smaller vessels. Finally in the last moments and one final smack the Energy charges through the capillaries completing the final change. With that all progress stops and it drags Jason awake, startling Penny. Just to make certain he opens the skill window again.
Energetic Body Reinforcement Through a special training method you have infused your very Energy into your cardiovascular system. You have stepped down the path of perfecting your body. As you train further in it, your body will toughen. Most important though is that your body will start to become like an enchanted item allowing you to damage that which is resistant to normal physical damage. Initiate Level 10 99.99% Rank: Unique Type: Passive, Cultivation Effects: Blood is Life and the Heart it¡¯s throne - Passive regeneration .083hp/second If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Body/Mind Unification - Despite any stat limitations your ability to fully control your body strengthens Energized Flesh - Can hit incorporeal things for 1% of normal damage with body Material Body - With time your body can become like living metal or hard like a diamond
¡°Penny, I finished. How long was that? It didn¡¯t feel like that long for cultivation.¡± Looking a bit frustrated Penny informs him, ¡°It only took about 2 days total. I don¡¯t think that is technically a record. Your ability to meditate however amazes me. While others might have been quicker that only counts the time that they were meditating. The record for shortest total time definitely falls to you. All that aside though it is time for some secrets. The first is free and you could probably find it out yourself but the second I will need an oath to tell you.¡± With that Penny takes out a Poster which is clearly something mass produced. On the poster there are two bodies pictured, both of them purple. The left one has a wizards hat, and the right has a sword. After placing it on the wall where it magically sticks she starts to explain, ¡°Here on the left we have a human on his way to being a Magic User. To the right we have a fighter in training. Through choice or chance they have started their Energy down a path.¡± and with a tap of her finger the left figure shifts to a blue starting centered on the head while the right shifts red starting in the stomach area. She nods her head, ¡°Now they have reached saturation. All their Energy has now been converted to either Mana or Qi. Without outside influence they can stay in this state until breaking the level 100 bottleneck. The true path forward is to start solidifying their energy, centralize it. You can do this in any location of the body as while everyone channels it through their body to some degree, barring some specialized cultivation techniques, there is a specific location for each to form at. Magic Users will form their Mana Well and the best location is the brain. Warriors will form their Dantian, preferably just below the navel.¡± She taps the poster again and both of the figures have the color drain into their respective centers, ¡°The optimal time to do this is before level 10. To get there in that time frame though you need a cultivation technique. If someone makes it to level 100 without knowing any of this, they will have their energy automatically form a core. This core however will be located wherever they channeled it the most often. A lot of fire mages that end up doing this tend to have it in their dominant hand. This is quite the weakness when an enemy can just lop a limb off to disable their spells. It also doesn¡¯t help that they can¡¯t store as much energy because of an unsuitable container.¡± One final tap and the image shifts through a number of common automatic core placements. For the Magic User this tends to be around their arms while the warrior was more varied though still focusing on the hands and feet. Taking down the poster and storing it away Penny continues, ¡°Now neither of those locations are good for us but I am sure you know exactly where our core goes. As so we begin, so we shall end. With how my cultivation technique works we clearly need to form it in our heart. Now the other energies have a fancy name for the location but there are too few on our path. No one has even attempted to place their core elsewhere and to trod this path you can¡¯t not form your core. Thus I call it the Heartcore. As for why you need to form it. Well that is simple. Once you form an Energy Core, it can¡¯t be influenced by Mana or Qi. Without that the first normal monster you kill will taint your Energies purity. Anyway this concept of needing a cultivation method is generally kept under wraps. Makes it a bit harder for the lone person to get too powerful. There is another reason cultivation methods aren¡¯t common knowledge though. It is the big secret I want to tell you and I need your oath. Specifically I will now pass onto you the Oath I had to swear to learn this secret. Here it is¡±
Ancient Oath of Secrecy You have a chance to learn one of the true secrets of the world. You must swear to never reveal this secret to anyone else except for one student per 100 levels. Breaking this Oath will destroy your existence from the very fabric of reality. Even Travellers will lose their immortality over this and even if they break this oath in their own realm, it will take them. [SYSTEM NOTE: Because our lawyers are twitchy, do note that this is not a death threat. However we do track if you tell someone irl and you get permabanned] Those you may tell will be forced into this Oath without the ability to tell others or they too will suffer the consequences. Do you accept: Y/N
Not needing to really think about it Jason accepts it. With such a harsh penalty he figures the secret should be important. Penny seems to get a notification before she nods her head and continues, ¡°Okay with that I can let you know why I wanted you to learn the skill instead of gaining it from a skillbook or similar. To put it simply, gaining a skill from an outside source limits you. With most skills this might be a little hard to notice but it is very important with rarer skills and all cultivation techniques. When you gain a skill instead of learning the skill hmm. How best to explain this. Hmm. Okay since we have skill books I will compare it to books.¡± Taking a second to actually figure out what she wants to say Penny the continues, ¡°Take a regular book that shows you how to fold some origami. Learning a skill is like when you read the book you went from there and figured out how to do it yourself. You don¡¯t need the book at that point and you can more easily make something new or improve your ability to make the stuff you already know. A gained skill is like instead of learning how to fold the origami you just kept the book with you. Whenever you want to fold that crane you have to take the book out and follow the pictures step by step. You can get better but there will always be that limit on how fast you can fold something because you always start with taking out that book. That of course explains why it is generally better to learn a skill yourself, especially easier ones. The reason for not gaining a cultivation method from a book is that you will get to the bottleneck your currently at and NEVER be able to breakthrough. It¡¯s the differences between just making origami from a book and then trying to do blindfolded origami. You can¡¯t fold the crane when you can¡¯t see the page anymore. Worse yet, the world gets in the way because unlike a book the world makes you use it to perform a skill you gained. This would be like the book holding your eyes open and forcing you to stare at the page while using it. A bit forced of a comparison but there we are.¡± Penny looks quite proud of herself before she seems to thinks of something and quickly adds on, ¡°Oh and there are some skills you might want to gain after you learn it. You can do that by the way. If you learn how to do the skill, you can then use a skillbook to gain the systems assistance. This is really important with long or complicated skills. No one wants to mindlessly chant those absurdly long summoning rituals. With the worlds assistance they can space out or meditate. Just gaining a skill is bad as you always follow the guidelines it provides. A particularly poignant example is a long gone sect. They were based around one man¡¯s skills. Because the founder was tired of reteaching the same skills over and over so he made an absurd amount of skills books for those basic skills. That was in the end their downfall. After all, no one is perfect. The founder had a particular quirk and it opened up a small gap in his defenses when he attacked. It was truly small and for a normal person this wouldn¡¯t matter. However every skillbook he made forced that same quirk into all the sects disciples. Eventually as how the downfall of most sects like that happens they stepped on some ¡®mortal¡¯ who had heaven sent talent and a boat load of luck. He trained and after reaching a decent level of power went on a killing spree and took out a lot of the sect. Didn¡¯t fully kill them as he saved his sweetheart from them so didn¡¯t care. However it was the end for that sect because after killing so many he found that flaw. One sold secret to some enemy sects and the place quickly crumbled. So, yeah, learn a skill before you even think to gain one.¡± Jason nods his head. This does make sense, and he had heard of similar stories. Then he realizes something, ¡°Uh, so how do I form a core?¡± Penny nods her head then explains, ¡°Just condense your core. It can¡¯t really be explained which is partly why you get stuck when you gain a cultivation method. Your types generally know a good bit so I can give you a simple example my teacher told me to pass onto anyone I teach this to in case they can understand it.¡± She then takes out a piece of paper and reads it off to him, ¡°Vapor to Water to Ice. Same thing but different states.¡± After putting away the paper she finishes with, ¡°So yeah, just experiment or something, You seem like someone that can figure it out. Anyway, I need to head off and do my actual job so I guess just stick here for a bit and work on it.¡± And she exits the room leaving Jason alone with his thoughts. Chapter 9 - Forming the Cycle Suddenly Penny sticks her head back into the room and says one final thing, ¡°Oh and don¡¯t think I¡¯m an idiot who doesn¡¯t know about the states of matter. I tried that as a base but it wasn¡¯t the key.¡± and then leaves for real this time. ¡®Well of course it couldn¡¯t be that simple. It is called cultivation after all. The only time I have ever heard of something like that being simple is when it is a trap. Anyway, it is somewhat obvious that directly comparing a core to ice or water is wrong. It is denser but those are actually lower energy states. It is only a hint though. Wait no. The hint was ¡°Vapor to Water to Ice. Same thing but different states.¡± but not that the two sentences were directly connected. Sure you could see the second sentence to be just referring to water but what if it wasn¡¯t? Instead of thinking of it as the states of Energy what if it meant the States of energy, the three together and not just one? Qi, Mana, and Energy are all part of the same whole.¡¯ Time passes and Jason ponders. He seems to have a sudden moment of clarity and chases it. ¡®Mana to Energy to Qi! Mana is the gas of energy. It spreads out and fills all the space it can. Qi is the solid state of energy. It is put into a specific thing and can keep an edge. Finally Energy is the liquid. It flows through the body which is like a bucket for it. At least once the body is trained that is. My blood vessels couldn¡¯t hold the Energy at first until I plugged the leaks. The difference between energy and water is that it has a hard time staying liquid. If anything I would compare Qi and Mana to a couple of crystals that are made of the same material but different structures. You touch the liquid Energy with one of the two and it starts to ¡°crystalize¡± into whatever it touched. I don¡¯t need to think of how to Solidify something but rather just how to keep the liquid in one spot. But that wouldn¡¯t explain why that would protect it from turning into one of the other two. It might be not quite so close to the crystallization idea I had, but that felt right.¡¯ Jason takes his time on this. Likely this will shape how far he can go in the future. Soon though he has reached a dead end. ¡®I can¡¯t think of any way to prevent the crystallization of my Energy once Qi or Mana gets into my body. It isn¡¯t like I can avoid killing things with either of them in it. Even the air has all these energies just floating around... in... it...¡¯ Quickly upon this sudden realization Jason focuses on the surrounding space. Soon he can tell that it was true. The air had all three energies just floating around in it. From his original thoughts this should be possible. This means something changes when it enters a body. First though he needs to figure out why breathing in the energies didn¡¯t cause a problem. After meditating on his breathing the answer comes to him. The difference is whether the energy is owned by a will. All the loose stuff in the air can almost be called mana as it is so diffused. Just by breathing it in the energy will convert to whatever the main state of energy in him is. At the moment he has Energy so that is what it becomes. Likely the only reason the energy gained from monsters even matters is it hadn¡¯t diffused into the environment before it was taken. ¡®Of course, as always, purity matters in cultivation. Anyone that tries to take someone else''s cultivation whole will always face problems. I sadly need to go kill another dang turtle.¡¯ No time to waste Jason rushes out of the guild and towards the beach again. Another quick hunting montage and he has a turtle trapped and down to the last hit. Sitting next to it he calms his mind. A quick smack and he focuses fully on his body and its energy. Soon a rush of something beyond his sense goes into him. Along with what he assumes is the ¡®experience¡¯ there are also small packets of Energy woven into it. All this new Energy though feels wrong and he soon sees why. It isn¡¯t his Energy but quickly after circulating in his system this rogue Energy is filtered and converted. Now that he can feel this cycle a realization dawns upon him and the feeling of control envelopes him.
Congratulations You have taken control of how you absorb energy. An ability required for core cultivation but generally only instinctively used. Having gone beyond this you may integrate this into your cultivation skill. Discovery Bonus: Control of Experience intake
Suddenly Jason is thrown into a white room. Along with the change of scenery he can feel a constant stream of Experience and Energy streaming into him like when he had killed the turtle. Opening his eyes he quickly notices that in front of him is [Starlight]. She smiles then greets him, ¡°Well hello there traveller. I thought you would take a bit more time before coming before me. My duty this time is to witness you combining your knowledge into the Energetic Body Reinforcement skill. Sadly you may not leave to your own realm before completing this or you give up the chance. We don¡¯t want you to cheat on this. I am also here to make sure you don¡¯t break any of the soft rules such as breaking the rules of conservation. Your type has tried it before. While the System doesn¡¯t mind a little bit of pulling gold from air or infinite energy, there are some restrictions on the speed you do it at and what you have to pay for it.¡± Jason thinks for a moment before asking, ¡°So I just need to guide this constant stream of xp and energy how I want it to go?¡± [Starlight] smirks a bit and shakes her finger at him, ¡°You won¡¯t get anything more from me. Being vague and trying to get me to fill in the gaps isn¡¯t allowed. Also I neither admit nor deny that you are feeling ¡®experience¡¯ right now.¡± Jason sighs to himself. He wasn¡¯t expecting much but hope springs eternal. Buckling down he starts to play with his control over this energy stream. After a while he realizes something. Maybe it is because of his blood based cultivation system or just how the game works, but it is much easier to get the energy and experience to follow his blood. Round and round it goes but where to lead it now. ¡®I need to keep it away from the heart until all the foreign energy is filtered. With that in mind let¡¯s see what happens if I send it through the kidneys in a cycle¡¯. After a few cycles go by Jason notices it working, ¡®Okay as the energy goes through this cycle it gets purer and purer. Can I get it to just send the pure Energy to my heart?¡¯ Focusing on the cycle he set up, slowly something shows itself. He doesn¡¯t have to separate out the converted Energy. After being fully filtered it actually keeps separate from the rest of it. Taking hold of this stream of pure Energy Jason guides it towards his heart. Before just sending it in though he decides if a little western medicine knowledge worked then mixing in some eastern couldn¡¯t hurt either. As it reaches the heart, he focuses on the Pericardium, otherwise known as the ¡°heart protector¡±. Sending the pure Energy and experience through there he hopes it will work as a last point of defense against any untoward things. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. With this cycle finally completed Jason just lets it run. Slowly he perfects the cycle. Nudging the blood to take one vessel over another. Making the energy stream to form whirlpools in the kidneys to help purify through a centrifugal force. Even something as simple as willing the Pericardium to work more like described in eastern medicine seems to improve things. Finally Jason can¡¯t find anything else to improve at the moment. There definitely is more but his control isn¡¯t fine enough. It also isn¡¯t like there aren''t any downsides. Through this cycle he will lose some experience. Though Jason figures if something is getting filtered out of it then it is probably a good thing to have it gone. Turning to [Starlight] he tells her, ¡°Okay, this is as good as I can do at the moment.¡± Nodding she says, ¡°There doesn¡¯t seem to be any troubles with your cycle. You didn¡¯t even try like some to boost the amount of experience you got. Tell no one but that is a good thing for you. Anyway back to the world with you.¡± and suddenly Jason is back on the beach. After getting up and dusting himself off Jason heads back to the guild and the training rooms. With this cycle he thinks that a core shouldn¡¯t be too hard to form now. Sitting down he takes out a number of mature Energy herbs and places them around him in easy reach. If it is going to work, he might as well go all out on it. Now ready he controls his energy to match the cycle. Soon most of his Energy is circling through his blood but it isn¡¯t enough. He can feel that he needs all his energy. He slowly gathers more as pressure builds. Finally only a small portion remains deep in his heart. With a last pull all Energy is now being filtered through the kidneys. Each cycle reduces the amount but purifies it. This still doesn¡¯t feel right to him though. He can still pull in more. Then it dawns on him. He hasn¡¯t purified his experience pool yet. Taking a mental hold on the xp he can barely feel, Jason tries pulling it into the cycle. At first nothing changes but then PAIN, Searing all encompassing Pain. A soul deep agony from every cell of his body as the xp slowly gets dragged out. Gritting his teeth Jason buckles down and pulls harder. In what seems much longer than it could have been he finally extracts it all. His body feels weak and empty now. It seems to barely contain the raging stream of energy. His blood vessels feel bloated and ready to burst while his kidneys are screaming bloody murder at his brain. Slowly though more and more gets filtered out. Finally just the purest of energy is flowing through the cycle. Deciding he couldn¡¯t do much more Jason first lets the xp flow to his heart. From there it diffuses to the rest of his body. With that out of the way he could now release the Energy. Despite that though he reaches for one of the herbs and stuffs it in his mouth. A new rush of Energy enters the cycle as he swallows the herb but it isn¡¯t enough for him. Slowly he eats the herbs laid out around him. Whenever his veins don¡¯t feel pressured by the Energy another one goes into his mouth. Eventually with only a few herbs left the cycle is fully saturated with pure Energy. Finally ready he lets it flow towards his heart. At first just a small stream, the thinnest of threads. As it gathers in the heart Jason slowly lets more flow in. A sphere of Power forms and grows. Eventually as it reaches the edges of the heart it seems about to destabilize. Clamping down on it he forces it to stop growing. The Energy flows faster and faster into the forming core. It rages against Jason¡¯s control, trying to break out of his control and explode. Now not able to focus on the flow of Energy he has to focus fully on keeping the core together. Sharp pains radiate out from his heart but eventually all the energy has entered the core. Without extra Energy coming in Jason focuses on shrinking the core. Slowly it condenses, becoming like a thick syrup. Then with almost a click it quickly reduces by itself to about the size of a pea. The core was formed.
Energy Core Formed With the formation of your core the cultivation skill ¡®Energetic Body Reinforcement¡¯ has broken through its bottleneck. Also your chosen energy cycle has become an automatic function though you can still actively use it to speed up the filtering.
Energetic Body Reinforcement Through a special training method you have infused your very Energy into your cardiovascular system. You have stepped down the path of perfecting your body. As you train further in it, your body will toughen. Most important though is that your body will start to become like an enchanted item allowing you to damage that which is resistant to normal physical damage. Because of your filtering cycle you will gain less Energy but the Energy will be extremely pure. Apprentice Level 1 0.0% Rank: Unique Type: Passive, Cultivation Effects: Filtering Cycle - Gain only 10% of absorbed energies but they are extremely pure Purity of energy - Because of the purity of your energy higher levels have a lower scaling on what is needed to level it and it does more Blood is Life and the Heart it¡¯s throne - Passive regeneration .083hp/second Body/Mind Unification - Despite any stat limitations your ability to fully control your body strengthens Energized Flesh - Can hit incorporeal things for 1% of normal damage with body Material Body - With time your body can become like living metal or hard like a diamond
¡®Well that ¡°Purity of energy¡± will probably be powerful in the future. Though it makes me worry about my level now. I did put my xp into the cycle. Better check my status then¡¯
Basic Info
Name: Jason Level: 0 - 92%
Legal Status: New Player Title: N/A
Normal Stats
Strength 24
Toughness 24
Agility 24
Auxiliary Stats
Defense 42
HP 15
Energy 2
Bonuses
Knowledge Bonus: +1% success rate when using an Energy Herb as an ingredient or growing one. Ability to identify the maturity of a Herb with relevant Identify skills Discovery Bonus: +1% success rate when using an Energy Herb or growing one Able to get a feeling for maturity of a Herb without a skill Control of Experience intake
Organizations
Adventurers Guild Basic Member Rank F
Chapter 10 - Adventure? ¡®That doesn¡¯t look like a 90% reduction in experience to me. I have no clue what is up with that. Though it doesn¡¯t really matter as I can go wild on some wildlife.¡¯ Deciding not to mind the excessive experience loss Jason returns the training room key to the wall. Then before heading off to the forest he pops by Penny to inform her of his success. She is suitably impressed though he can tell she has been somewhat desensitized to his progress speed. Oh well, tired of turtles and meditating he brushes it off and heads to the rabbit field. A bit of walking and before him spreads out an incredible view. Until now Jason hasn¡¯t actually left through the main gate so the sheer number of people shocks him. Despite being a small town it looks like this is a popular spot for beginning adventurers. Not players mind you. Beginning Travellers are easy to tell from Natives because of the starter set. This field in front of him is filled with npcs and rabbits. Not only are there a lot though, they all appear to be from the town. While none of them are working in teams, they all are using the same spear style. Seeing this Jason gets a sheepish look. He realizes that up till now he hasn¡¯t even gotten a basic combat skill. ¡®Well better see how hard it is to kill a rabbit¡¯, after thinking this he sighs and heads toward an emptier corner of the field. What followed wasn¡¯t combat. It was a culling of rabbits. Maybe someone learning to use a weapon against such a small target would have a hard time. Jason who was fighting with his hands alone faced no such difficulty. The first rabbit jumps at him, intent on head-butting his chest. Then with just a grab, Jason has it by the neck and a simple twist makes it slumps dead. The system doesn¡¯t even bother with damage. Shaking his head Jason continues to kill some rabbits and soon is back at level 2. Knowing you will only get 10% experience is quite different from actually experiencing it. Rabbits definitely won''t do. Luckily it isn¡¯t like the town is an unknown place to the playerbase. After a quick web search Jason finds that there should be an area full of goblins deeper into the forest. Sure the goblins might be 3 times his level but he can tell that any normal animal would lack challenge. His journey to the area proves his thoughts right. The foxes die like the rabbits and wolves are only more difficult in that they are too big to hold. After passing the edge of the forest things clear out and his progress speeds up. Jason soon finds the first evidence of goblins. Small bone fetishes are hung upon the trees and the forest is quiet. Never ones to waste a good skull, some totems are even made from goblins. The discovery of the skulls actually makes things a lot easier for Jason. Goblins are a complex race. A good half of them are savages and a blight upon the land. The other half though have been recognized as enlightened and indiscriminate killing is generally frowned upon. Luckily there is an easy tell between the two. Civilizable goblins have a third eye. Literally an eye on their forehead and these skulls are of the two eye variety. Confidant in his choice of targets Jason heads deeper into the goblin¡¯s territory. At first the forest just seems dead. Not an animal in sight. Soon though he can hear something walking around ahead of him. Deciding that trying to sneak around in such open terrain likely won¡¯t work Jason takes off in a run towards the noise. Moments later a trio of goblins come into view all of them looking quite shocked at his sudden appearance. Taking advantage of this and his momentum, Jason turns his charge into a jump kick at the closest goblin. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. *-13* Seeing that goblin fall the others shake off their shock. Shouting at Jason they both start to swing their crude clubs at him. Dodging out of the way of the left one into the right he takes a hit on his arm. *-5* Having used this to close in on the right goblin Jason elbows it in the gut. *-5 Stunned* The right goblin falls to the ground. However this attack leaves an opening for the left goblin to take another swing. Jason was expecting this though and jumped back towards the goblin, not letting it take a full swing at him. *-2* Now with his back up against the goblin Jason reaches back and grabs it by the arm holding the club. Pivoting his hip and lowering his shoulder throws the goblin right on top of the stunned one. *-3* *-5* Having been stunned, the bottom goblin is unable to defend itself and loses its life. The other goblin despite having a cushioned landing is still unable to get up before Jason follows through with a couple swift kicks to the head and it dies just like the rest. *-6* *-4* Any other player would be quite pleased with themselves for winning against something much higher leveled. Jason however seems quite disappointed in himself. The damage he received was much too high for him to repeat this fight anytime soon. Sighing, he gets down to looting the fallen. Feral goblins aren¡¯t exactly known for being rich and these three prove that out. Each having only a couple copper along with some questionable ¡®jerky¡¯. All that was left was to take some proof which is a bit messy. Unlike all those novels the ears aren¡¯t what he needs. Because they don¡¯t like people killing non-feral goblins, the proof you need is the forehead. ¡®I can see why most people don¡¯t bother with taking goblin proofs. Geh, messy. Anyway those were just the lowest level of goblins. From the information there should be a number of tribes in this area. Tribes mean warriors and at least a witch doctor or two. These fools died easy. Getting surrounded by such fools while a magic user casts at me... yeah not good. Still this is my best bet to level at a non-glacial speed. I guess no decision here. Onward towards victory it is... Though there is one thing I need to do first. It was nifty at first but the damage numbers above the enemies thing is wearing on me.¡¯ With his mind made up Jason then spewed out a stream of words, ¡°System Menu Options Visuals Damage Markers Toggle Enemies Save Confirm Yes¡± and then with a ding the system confirms his settings where updated. With a nod Jason heads off deeper into the forest. Farther and farther in it becomes very evident why feral goblins are considered a plague. While things aren¡¯t dying the animals are pitiful. Any real predator has been chased out. The big creatures are covered in wounds from being harassed and small critters are non-existent, having been hunted beyond sustainability. From Jason¡¯s research, if they weren¡¯t such good targets for low level adventurers this area would have been purged of them instead of just having the truly powerful ones culled. As Jason travels around the area he occasionally meets a lone goblin but those aren¡¯t a problem for him. It isn¡¯t until he finds an area with a small pond that any real challenge comes to his notice. A handful of goblins are standing near it though what catches his attention is one of them differing from the rest he has killed. Wearing a ratty fur shirt and wielding a rusty dagger. This goblin has advanced and became a novice warrior. Not that they magically have some equipment appear on them but more of to advance the equipment is needed. Feral goblins are a bit weird like that. ¡®Maybe a sneakier approach might be warranted this time.¡¯ Chapter 11 - Goblins Goblins Goblins Hah, yeah right. Just a novice warrior? Jason sneers at the thought of needing stealth for such a small fry. A quick dash at it followed through with a nice shoulder bash causes quite the splash. In the pound behind it that is. Jason notes that no damage numbers appear. This pleases him quite a bit as he doesn¡¯t know anymore if he didn¡¯t deal any or the setting he changed was just working. With a quick smirk he then deals with the rest of the normal goblins while the little warrior splashes around. The novice warrior finally gets out of the water and howls. If Jason hadn¡¯t cleared the nearby area, this might be cause for concern. As it is Jason just finishes it off quicker to shut it up. This final goblin runs at him, dagger at ready to stab. Jason steps in and swipes his arm, redirecting the stab. With the attack prevented he quickly wraps the thrust out arm under his own trapping it. Following through on that Jason brings his other arms elbow right into its temple knocking it out. This leaves the goblin defenseless to a quick finisher. At this point Jason can feel what that tricky ¡®Body/Mind Unification¡¯ bit of his cultivation skill does. Before he was getting hurt by even common goblins. It wasn¡¯t because he couldn¡¯t see the attacks coming but because the game was preventing fine control of his body. The game seems to replicate the body down to the smallest detail but he can now tell it isn¡¯t, really. At least not for low level stuff. It¡¯s the difference between being able to raise your eyebrows and to wiggle them. Happy with this discovery Jason decides to challenge himself and heads even further into goblin territory to find a village. Not the hardest thing to do mind you. Feral goblins tend to just set up villages like mold on bread. It isn¡¯t long before a ¡®village¡¯ is discovered. Of course only in the loosest of terms. With 5 basic huts set up around a big campfire and a number of holes in the ground it was the classic goblin homestead. Now was the actual time for stealth. Tutorial aside, being rushed by a horde of goblins doesn¡¯t work out well for anyone this low a level. Through the dying foliage Jason crawls. From tree to tree he circles the place taking a count and the numbers are a bit bleaker than expected. Not a single regular goblin lives here. It seems only once they advance beyond that are they allowed to stay at this village. 31 novice warriors, 8 initiate warriors, 3 novice witch doctors, and the big threat of a single initiate witch doctor, discernible by the human skull he uses for a helmet. Yeah, goblin witch doctor advancement is an interesting path. ¡®Luckily this village doesn¡¯t have any support goblins. Just one initiate blacksmith would turn this into an impossible nightmare. Sharp rusty daggers do not a happy Jason make. With this though I need to work on shaving off a few. I have to wonder how they respond to regular goblins running around their place.¡¯. Having thought of something to try, Jason heads back into the forest to find some regular goblins. Time passes and the goblin village is relatively peaceful when suddenly loud shrieking can be heard. Not far off the novice warriors on lookout spots a lone goblin running all out towards them. Not being the friendly type the warrior shouts at the approaching goblin to make it go away. Seemingly unaware of the threat that regular gob keeps running. The warrior raises its dagger and waves it around but not even this works. This goblin is just out of it and runs straight through the small village. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Not willing to take this affront to their might a nearby initiate warrior points at a handful of novices and yells at them pointing at the escaping goblin. At first they just look at each other proding one another to go first. The initiate doesn¡¯t take this very well. One well placed rock throw and a dead goblin gets them all moving as 7 run off in chase. Through the woods they go. In no time at all they have left the village behind though they are catching up to the normal goblin. It is already breathing hard and starting slow down but it doesn¡¯t get the chance to recover. The novices have caught up to it and begin to just beat it down with their fists. Far as they are concerned this punk got in their way of lazing about and needs a beating before they finish him. Unseen by them as they beat up the poor goblin Jason sneaks up on the group. Finally the normal goblin expires despite the attempts at prolonging its pain. At that very moment the novice at the back falls over. The rest don¡¯t notice anything as it gets dragged away by a rope around its neck. Soon it disappears into a nearby bush and a low noise of bones breaking can be heard. Once more Jason throws his makeshift lasso. This time while he does manage to get it around the goblins neck his target screams in shock. With the element of surprise soon to be gone he gives up on the stealth kill and yanks the rope hard. While not killing the goblin it is out of it for the fight and likely to suffocate if left to itself. The 5 remaining novices all turn towards the bush and ready their weapons. Sadly one of them won''t get the chance to use it as Jason practically flies out of the bush in a leaping tackle. He manages to take the gobbo down and quickly snap it neck before the others can respond. With the ground not being the most advantageous location Jason grabs the corpse under him and pulls it on top of himself just in time to hear a number of daggers pierce it. Taking that as a good sign, he swings the corpse around like a flail. This doesn¡¯t hit any of them but does force them to back away, giving him a chance to stand up. Now, not needing the posthumously bleeding shield, Jason tosses it at the farthest goblin, knocking it over. Then follows that up with a spinning kick to the closest goblin''s face, it¡¯s head turning much too far to be healthy. The three standing goblins finally get to attack Jason straight on. This doesn¡¯t do them much good as he fends off one and ducks away from the other two towards the goblin now under his ¡®shield¡¯. Once near the struggling novice a quick stomp to the neck makes sure it won''t be getting up. Suddenly a stabbing pain goes through his back. One of the remaining goblins managed to get a good swipe on his back. *-3* Not happy with this Jason swings around with his elbow and rams it right into the offending goblins gut. Pulling his arm back as the goblin folds over he finishes it off with another elbow, this one to the neck which conveniently came down to meet it. The two remaining goblins both look at each other before running off screaming in fear. Jason runs off after them and manages to catch one but the other gets away. Luckily it wasn¡¯t running towards the village. This likely does put a time limit on thinning the herd. Then again having 7 novices not return would have done that anyway. Sighing in disappointment Jason goes back and finishes off the lassoed goblin. Chapter 12 - Warg Fighting ¡®7 novice warrior goblins down, way too many left to just keep doing that. A few more should be sent when they don¡¯t come back after a while. I guess I can just deal with that then roll with whatever happens.¡¯ Making up his mind Jason sneaks back to the goblin village. In a bit less than an hour the initiate who sent the first group off has gotten a bit angry. Shouting at all the novices near him he storms over to the initiate witch doctor. After bowing it seems to explain a few things before pointing at the 2 novice witch doctors then in both the direction the regular goblin had come from and departed in. After thinking about it for a while the initiate witch doctor nods. Pointing at another initiate warrior he shouts a bit and then mumbles back at the initiate in front of him. Finally he turns to his students and talks to them a bit before finally letting out a final loud shout. This seems to get all of the goblins in the village moving. The initiate warriors soon collect a group 6 novices each along with a novice witch doctor. After bowing to the novice witch doctor the groups each go off in the two different directions. This development makes Jason quite happy. He can¡¯t exactly deal with the main village still but the two groups should be quite possible. After considering it for a bit Jason follows along behind the group going towards his last battle. They could actually find something that way after all. It doesn¡¯t take long to before they come to where the battle happened. Though it looks like Jason didn¡¯t need to worry about them finding it anything. It seems that while most animals have fled the area, goblins still aren¡¯t quite the top of the food chain. Before them a small group of 5 wargs have snacked on the corpses. Then without warning the wargs all look up at the goblin group and snarl. Not having a choice now the initiate warrior yells at his group before falling back to defend the witch doctor. With someone covering him the witch doctor starts to cast a spell. The rest of the group forms up at the front just in time for the wargs to charge at them. Only 3 of the wargs get blocked by the novices. The goblins barely being able to take on the wargs. The remaining two wargs slip past the line and try to get at the caster. Sneering the initiate slams one of the wargs into the other knocking them both down. A few moments later the witch doctor finishes up his spell and suddenly the wargs all glow purple for a moment before slowing down. With the curse this battle turns in the goblins favor. Watching from the sidelines, Jason frowns. He was hoping for a more even battle so he could clean up easily. Sighing he searches the ground and soon finds a number of small rocks before settling down and waiting for the right moment. The battle continues and the initiate warrior is trouncing the two wargs. Before they stand up a quick kick to the gut sends a warg into a nearby tree. The other warg tries to take a bite but only nips him. The warrior bellows in rage as his leg bleeds. Not willing to take this affront he starts to pummel the warg. Having been distracted by anger the other warg manages to run back over and jump on the initiate warriors back. On the side the witch doctor takes this chance to send a sickly green bolt at it. Whimpering the wargs continues to hold on and try to savage the warrior despite clearly being poisoned now. Luckily for the wargs it appears the witch doctor needs to channel the poison spell. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Meanwhile the novice warriors are doing ¡®okay¡¯. They have actually killed one of the wargs. This would probably put them in a winning position if it didn¡¯t take the lives of two goblins as it died. Wrestling back and forth they fight while Jason watches and waits. Then a goblin starts to step back. One stone throw later and it stumbles and falls backward. Like dominos their skirmish falls over. One warg goes for the throat of the downed goblin. A couple goblins take the chance to stab it while the last goblin is being killed by the remaining warg. Then before dying the stabbed warg takes out another goblin. Wrapping it up the final remaining goblin gets a good swipe on the warg but ultimately falls. Over on the sideline Jason is honestly quite shocked. He had just wanted the goblin to stumble a little. The bleeding warg wines a bit but decides to charge over at the initiate witch doctor. At this point Jason joins the fight. Body close to the floor he runs at the witch doctor from the opposite side of the warg. It isn¡¯t until he gets within a couple body lengths of it that anyone notices. By then it is too late. The warg has just launched its attack and Jason comes in with a quick kidney punch. While not dead the witch doctor goes down while dropping his poison spell. Now left facing a warg alone he backs off quickly and goes into a more defensive stance. Looking somewhat confused at a new challenger the warg lunges at Jason. Having been prepared for it though he is able to knock it over with a sweeping kick. With the warg downed he turns the momentum into an elbow drop onto its back. A loud crunch can be heard. At that the warg stops moving and seems dead if not for some whimpering. Jason not being one for excessive cruelty takes another moment to finish it off with a quick elbow to the head. Then he reaches over and a quick neck snap kills the witch doctor. While this was happening the novice warrior notices it but can¡¯t do much. The last two wargs are ravaging it though they do seem a bit nervous. Now being quite frustrated the warrior grabs the one on its back and throws it over its shoulder onto the other. Following that up with a bellow at them finally convinces the wargs to cut and run. The novice warrior turns to Jason and is clearly enraged. With another bellow it charges at him while slashing its dagger around. As it approaches Jason steps into one of the swings and grabs the goblin in a bear hug. Being already hurt the warrior gives up on living and decides to just not go alone. Dropping its dagger the goblin starts to claw his back to shreds. *-1* *-1* *-2* *-1* *-1* *-1* *-2* *-1* This was definitely not what he planned but Jason couldn¡¯t exactly back down now. With a burst of strength he squeezes it to death. Though not before it gets one final scratch in. *-1* Jason collapse to the ground. Tired and in pain he checks his basic stats sheet.
Basic Info
Name: Jason Level: 3 - 3%
Legal Status: New Player Title: N/A
Normal Stats
Strength 24 (10[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set])
Toughness 24 (10[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set])
Agility 24 (10[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set])
Auxiliary Stats
Defense 42 (30[Eq] +12[Set])
HP 1/12
Energy 2
Seeing it he actually freaks out a little bit. He almost died there. Just one more swipe and he would have died. This however isn¡¯t what is really freaking him out. He reached level 3 just now. He has reached level 3 but he can¡¯t see any spendable stats points. That is not cool. Originally he wanted to finish off this village, but it looks that a bit of questioning of Penny just jumped to the top of his to-do list. Chapter 13 - Downside of Purity ¡°Penny! I have a problem!¡± Behind the desk Penny jerks awake, ¡°I wasn¡¯t sleeping. Totally working.¡± but then realizes it''s only Jason, ¡°Oh, hey, what¡¯s wrong? I didn¡¯t expect you back so soon.¡± ¡°There is a problem and I think it is related to my recent advancement. Here look at this¡± and Jason with a few commands shows her his stats panel. Penny takes a look at it before nodding, ¡°Hmm, you dropped a few levels though that is normal. Why haven¡¯t you spent any of your stat points?¡± Jason just points at his displayed sheet again, ¡°I would very much like to if I could.¡± She finally notices that he doesn¡¯t have any unspent, ¡°Please tell me you just lost some stat points. Don¡¯t make this be something mysterious. I don¡¯t want to talk to him.¡± ¡°I went back to level 1 and hadn¡¯t spent any points at all.¡± Penny sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. Looking up at him she says in a weary voice, ¡°We have to see Andrew¡±. She puts her face in her hands and sighs before continuing, ¡°He¡¯s the head of the local Magus circle. I really don¡¯t want to talk to him. To be honest, he isn¡¯t a bad person. However, I think my master described him best when she visited. He¡¯s and I quote, ¡®like a fruitcake where the bread was replaced with nuts¡¯. Sadly he has studied the system and cores more than almost anyone else. At least that we can ask. While eccentric he actually likes people bothering him. Of course that is only if you can find his tower. Anyway follow me.¡± Without giving him a chance to respond she rushes out of the guild and Jason can only follow in her wake. Soon they reach a run down hut on the edge of the village. Not seeing anything interesting Jason turns toward Penny but she is just standing there looking at something. Jason looks around but can¡¯t seem to find anything. Nothing to the side of the house or anything. Looking away from it he checks the area around. It seems completely normal. However Penny is still staring. Looking back at the house then away from it there isn¡¯t anything around. Deciding there isn¡¯t anything left to do he just stands there looking at Penny. A few minutes pass when suddenly a barely visible wave passes through them. With a nod Penny starts walking towards where the house was. However when Jason looks back, it isn¡¯t there anymore. Instead in its place there is a strange tower. It doesn¡¯t look more than a handful of levels but at the same time the top seems to be in the clouds. Halfway up it tilts towards the side to the point it defies common sense. Despite that Penny is just nonchalantly striding through the front door. Once inside the place is actually quite rustic. A small greeting room with a few nice upholstered seats. The floor is a nice varnished wood and the walls are brick. This would be more comforting if any of this matched what the room looked like before entering it. Even the door they just entered through is a different shape and material. Penny final speaks up, ¡°Welcome to Andrew¡¯s tower. Don¡¯t mind the transition, everyone suspects the tower outside is just an illusion and the door a portal of some sort. Too much magic for anyone to detect what is really up here, but that''s what you get when dealing with these mysterious magic types. Anyway, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Tada.¡± And just as she finishes her countdown an old man walks through the wall next to her and the sound of trumpets play while clearly illusionary confetti falls from the ceiling. The man starts to introduce himself, ¡°Why hello there young one! I am the Amazing Andrew! To have seen through the compulsion you. must. be¡±, stopping his introduction as he notices that Jason isn¡¯t looking at him. Take a peak to the side Andrew spots Penny and sighs, ¡°Do you have to ruin my introduction every time you visit?¡± Penny snorts at this, ¡°Ha, as if you old coot. If I didn¡¯t interrupt, you would have loaded him down with some fetch quest for your groceries or something. All your speak of how ¡®incredible¡¯ someone is for getting through that trash don¡¯t see me enchantment out front tricks enough visitors as it is.¡± turning towards Jason she informs him, ¡°That''s half the reason he doesn¡¯t mind visitors. With his darn research he has figured out how to word things just right that the system creates exciting sounding quests for the dullest of tasks. Just a quick sob story of ¡®Oh no, my personal robe was tarnished and now beyond my grasp. Please oh brave one who could see through my magical guard, retrieve it! I will reward you with money equal to its market value!¡¯ will send a fool off to pick up his robe from the cleaner for a couple coppers. The only reason you couldn¡¯t see through it is you aren¡¯t level 5 yet.¡± Turning back to Andrew she continues, ¡°Anyway we aren¡¯t here to mess around. He has a problem with his status. After forming his core he doesn¡¯t seem to get any free stats on level up.¡± This catches Andrews attention right away. Snapping his fingers and what was once an impressive looking outfit fades away and in its place only some ratty robes remain. The room itself even changes as everything now looks a lot rougher and much dustier. ¡°Are you sure about that? The bonus stats may vary but people generally get at least 1 a level.¡± with Penny¡¯s nod he turns to Jason and demands a look at his stats. Having been prepared for this Jason quickly shares his stat panel. Nodding at it Andrew goes over the screen then starts to tap it. Unexpectedly the screen actually responds to him and changes. Soon it shows various things like the highest level he got to and how much experience he has gained in total. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Raising an eyebrow Andrew turns to Jason, ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re a Traveller? Your core seems to be formed in a way that greatly reduces the energy you absorb from outside sources. Every other Traveller that has let me examine his panel after core formation have optimized it for catching as much power as possible. Quick, show me your cultivation technique.¡± Jason goes to do so but Penny quickly stops him. While giving Andrew the stink eye she goes on to say, ¡°Now Jason, as a lesson I honestly should have already taught you. NEVER just show your cultivation technique to others. It is the one thing you can¡¯t easily change or fix. Someone knows the weakness of your strongest attack? Just train in another attack or modify it to fix it. Your cultivation is fixed barring very rare events. Now you can show Andrew as he won¡¯t tell anyone and if you¡¯re ever his enemy, it doesn¡¯t matter if he knows it or not but the point still stands. Anyway, show him your technique so we can get to the bottom of this.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get over the sheer hypocrisy of what you just said, I will show it to you both and don¡¯t you say anything. You¡¯re here so you get to be a part of this nonsense.¡± and with that he brings up the screen for his cultivation technique
Energetic Body Reinforcement Through a special training method you have infused your very Energy into your cardiovascular system. You have stepped down the path of perfecting your body. As you train further in it, your body will toughen. Most important though is that your body will start to become like an enchanted item allowing you to damage that which is resistant to normal physical damage. Because of your filtering cycle you will gain less Energy but the Energy will be extremely pure. Apprentice Level 1 9.7% Rank: Unique Type: Passive, Cultivation Effects: Filtering Cycle - Gain only 10% of absorbed energies but they are extremely pure Purity of energy - Because of the purity of your energy higher levels have a lower scaling on what is needed to level it and it does more Blood is Life and the Heart it¡¯s throne - Passive regeneration .083hp/second Body/Mind Unification - Despite any stat limitations your ability to fully control your body strengthens Energized Flesh - Can hit incorporeal things for 1% of normal damage with body Material Body - With time your body can become like living metal or hard like a diamond
Nodding his head Andrew waves his hand and with the formation of a small portal, a small table with a trio of chairs pop up. He gestures for them to all take a seat. Time passes as they dissect his technique. First Penny is pointing out that her method has a similar bit to the Material body though it applies to just her shell. Andrew asks back if it is as non-specific and apparently it started as ¡®Copper Shell¡¯ and eventually upgraded to ¡®Orichalcum Shell¡¯. They all agree that with that in mind Jason should probably delay any specialization until it gives a good material. While Orichalcum is a good metal, it would be nice to upgrade it to Adamantine or similar and Penny¡¯s ability seems to be specific to copper based metals. Eventually they get around to discussing ¡®Filtering Cycle¡¯ and ¡®Purity of energy¡¯ which seems to be a pair. Back and forth the trio argues about the meaning behind it. It takes a while but eventually they decide this is the cause. Andrew is actually quite happy with this as it might prove one of his theory. After having studied the various methods of forming a core, he believes that the energy used to raise stats is taken from the so called impurities that people absorb along with the good stuff. He had noticed that the more energy absorbed the more stat points a person gets. This proves it to him though. It doesn¡¯t explain what Jason needs to do though. ¡°Okay, I can get away somewhat with this because of the Body/Mind thing but that will only go so far. I am capable of killing above my level now but eventually without increased stats my damage will fall off and become meaningless.¡± Penny nods, ¡°You can do self training for some stat points and of course equipment will help but that also only goes so far. What weapon do you specialize in?¡± ¡°It took a while to find the option, but I specialized for unarmed combat¡± That stops the conversation. Andrew quirks his eyebrow, ¡°Do you mean you specialized in gloves or maybe handwraps?¡± Jason had been expecting this reaction. For a while he had suspected that the locals went through the same method for specialization or at least their choices affected the weapon placement. With that in mind the fact he had to go so far for the actual unarmed option said a lot more than it might otherwise have. ¡°No I mean actual unarmed combat. Fighting with my body alone though I guess I could use gloves, boots, or similar such things though until I get to level 10 I won¡¯t for personal reasons.¡± Penny speaks up and points out, ¡°That might actually be the solution to your problem. One of the basic upgrades a weapon gets from the system for specialization is better stat bonuses. I can¡¯t speak for what higher grade quests might give you but for simple ones. Those might give you free stat points to spend.¡± Andrew interrupts at this point by saying, ¡°I might have a way to test the theory right away. As Penny pointed out you only need to be level 5 to find my tower. Sometimes though people like you, those who haven¡¯t reached that level yet. These people will either be guided to the tower or have something special that lets them see my place. For them I have a special quest the system actually forced on me because of my rampant abuse of it. The reward is actually a basic weapon so we can try this out. Anyway, Ahem, ¡®Oh great hero, I am in need of a special herb found only within the beast region of the forest. It blooms during karmically significant times and one of those are upon us! Within the next three days I need you to harvest it for me as you are linked to it.¡¯ Anyway accept that. The quest is actually quite useless to me. All this quest does is spawn a blood bloom flower that is system linked to you so nothing else can bother it. I generally just toss the flower if no one needs it. While it says the thing only grows in the forest. The more correct way to say it is that the forest is the only place nearby that it grows. Farther south the thing is practically a weed as karmically significant times are a vague way to say ¡®something important happens between two people¡¯. That translate into basically any place people meet. Hell, the reason it is called a blood bloom flower is that any place an army meets down there will be covered in the things. Big enough battles in an area have actually been known to kill off all other plants because of them.¡± As he goes on and on about the flower a quest screen has appeared before Jason.
Harvest the Blood Bloom Andrew, leader of the local Magus Circle, is in need of a special flower. As it only grows during karmically important times and quickly fades away, this may be his only chance to get it. Difficulty: Tutorial+ Goal: Harvest the Blood Bloom in the beast forest within 3 days Rewards: Basic weapon of your specialized type
Chapter 14 - Teaming Up? Andrew nods when the quest is accepted before continuing, ¡°Okay, now for a slight catch. You aren¡¯t above level 9 nor have you been here long enough. Up till now you have been heading off into the woods and the beach. The shore and any forest next to it is easy to explain. Our town in its wisdom has marked that area as part of the town. Now this isn¡¯t actually a bad idea. The turtles are passive and by making it a part of the town pirates and other unsavory types can¡¯t take advantage to sneak in without the guards being notified. That goblin forest though? You going into it before one of the above conditions is breaking the rules. Travellers like yourself should be prevented from leaving the town. You got through on a loophole. Basically, the System assumes if you formed a core, even if your level ends up below 10, you were qualified to form it. Similar things have happened in the past and if you had just kept hunting with no quests it wouldn¡¯t have changed. Now however since a quest has been given to you, that loophole has closed on you. Don¡¯t worry though as there is a legitimate way to travel into the forest for your quest though you might not like it. That way is to form a party of 3 people and share the quest with them. Then I will be able to give you permission to enter the forest though only when together and for this quest. Least that is what the system wants me to tell you. Finish this quest up and I might throw in a day pass or something.¡± ¡°Do I really have to team up? I prefer to be more of a loner and my ¡®weapon¡¯ of choice probably won''t make me a popular teammate.¡± Penny speaks up, ¡°It¡¯s true he isn¡¯t a social one. I did a little investigation through my Traveller contacts and Jason has always been a loner. Even in their original realm let alone here he has had no true friends.¡± Shaking his head and sighing Andrew goes on, ¡°Duh, Why else do you think the system is forcing this condition on the quest? I have given this sort of quest for years. New travellers ALWAYS have conditions that will force them to face some personal weakness. One bookish little girl with a fear of public speaking who found my tower had to go around town announcing an event. Another time I had twins get quests that forced them to go in opposite directions for over a day. Until then they hadn¡¯t been separated for more than a handful of minutes. After long enough here the system tends to give up on that sort of thing but Jason here hasn¡¯t even finished his intro time. So long story short even if you abandon this quest any you get in the near future will make you join a team anyway. Penny will be the one who can point you to a few mooks. In fact it is about time I did another quest handout as the System is getting twitchy.¡± Penny brightens up on hearing that last bit, ¡°Good, it has been too long since you herded the new Travellers. We might not be a main spawn town for them but there are a good twentyish people hanging around that haven¡¯t gotten a quest from the local crazy wizard. I¡¯ve even had a couple of them asking about it. Though if this is what we will be doing I need to send out a local System message. Should take about an hour to gather everyone that will be coming.¡± Andrew nods his head in agreement, ¡°The newest ones are probably already nearby but the others have probably spread out or might even be ¡®logged out¡¯ as they say. Let¡¯s head back to the guild and you can write the message on the way.¡± and with that him and Penny start to head out soon followed by Jason. As they make their way to the guild Penny finishes up a message directed at any new travellers which of course Jason gets as well
Message The town''s crazy wizard has finally decided to give out a few quests. All new travellers can head over to the Adventurers Guild if you want that. Quest give away will start in an hour from now. Countdown: 0:59:07
0:50:31 0:31:02 0:13:17 0:02:04 0:00:05 ¡°And Done! If you¡¯re here for the beginner quest please gather over here.¡±, Andrew shouts while gesturing at an empty corner of the room. Soon it fills up with an odd assortment of people. ¡°Okay, first there is a special unique quest that I need two people for. First condition is you need to be fifth level or lower so anyone that wants a chance at it and is puny enough can move over to this side¡±, and he points to the left. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Only 7 of the 23 people move over to the side. Nodding at this Andrew continues, ¡°So as to not hold the rest of you unnecessarily let¡¯s give you all your quests now. First you three with the spiky hair, how about a classic? As a team go to the Drowned Cat tavern and tell them you are there to take care of the giant rats in their basement. Next, that team of 5 over there. Friends for life, eh? The librarian wants a word with you all to find some special books that are lost in the Stacks. Now you, yes you, the blue guy. Go learn blacksmithing, you¡¯ve avoided it but time to man up. The remaining 7? Sorry but the system doesn¡¯t have a personalized quest for you. Upside is your quest is to complete one of the guild requests at the same rank as you. The extra system chosen reward should be good enough that you don¡¯t feel left out.¡± With that those people all start to leave. The last seven while looking a bit disappointed do seem to perk up when checking what the little extra they will get. Satisfied with this Andrew turns to the 7 who are still there, ¡°Now to work on deciding who gets the special quest. I guess we can start by noting that the quest will involve going into the animal section of the forest. Yes this means you get a temporary pass to leave the city. Who still wants the quest?¡± A timid looking frogman bows out at this point and gets a quest. Andrew takes great pleasure in telling him his quest is to travel to the forest alone and touch one of the trees. Looking a bit disappointed Andrew goes on, ¡°I was expecting a few more cowards so I could give some actual combat based quests. Anyway now for the stuff I think will really drive you away. First is that this is an escort quest for this level 2 guy¡±, and he gestures towards Jason. With that half of them bow out. Nodding at that Andrew throws one final bit out, ¡°Also he doesn¡¯t use any weapons.¡± This drives away one more person. Smirking Andrew hands out a group quest for the 4 of them, ¡°I don¡¯t know why you didn¡¯t stay in with the quest I gave the last guy. Boom, team quest for you guys and gals. Have fun escorting a sickly cat without touching it but prevent people from messing with it.¡± This new group all sulk off. After all, nothing worse than trying to herd cats. Finally down to only two Jason takes a closer look at them. The first is a female rabbitkin. She puts off a tough image despite only being half as tall as Jason though her ears do reach his chin. Equipped with a sharp looking leather armor set with a strange bow on her back and a pair of curved daggers at her waist she pulls off the ranger look quite well. The only thing off about the whole image is the fact she is colored eggshell white with pink accents. Next to her is a tall dwarf. Admittedly he only comes up to Jason¡¯s shoulders but still, on a dwarf that makes him a veritable giant. Dressed in the classic dwarven full plate, one of the few basic armor sets that doesn¡¯t get one upped by the beginner sets you would almost think he was a tank or some other kind of frontliner. The only thing that even hints that this isn¡¯t true is the Healers guild badge he is wearing. At this point the three are just in a tense stare off. Deciding that this probably wasn¡¯t going to end soon Penny speaks up, ¡°Okay, enough of that stoic silence nonsense. All three of you are Travellers so you have at least that in common. Now introduce yourselves starting with your dwarf.¡± The dwarf is about to speak up when the rabbitkin interrupts, ¡°Wait! He¡¯s a player too? But we always get a weapon! I thought this would be some stupid guide the clueless crafter around quest.¡± She looks like she is about to say more when Penny clears her throat and gives her a harsh stare. This shuts her up right quick and lets the dwarf introduce himself. ¡°Hello, my name is James and I¡¯ma dwarf if you couldn¡¯t tell. My specialty is Healing and staying alive long enough to make sure I can do so. Also I did not start in this town but rather the small dwarf outpost in the mountain. Got the message though, so I headed on down here.¡± and then James gestures to the Rabbitkin to go. ¡°You can call me Rosha, Rabbitkin. I didn¡¯t really intend for it but you can basically call me a bow focused ranger. Me and some friends were going to start here but when I showed up, it was only me. Now it¡¯s your turn to tell us who you are and what your actual weapon is as players can¡¯t not have one.¡± ¡°My name is Jason and I went with a generic human. I guess you could call me a martial artist and I really don¡¯t have a weapon. My fighting style is unarmed.¡± Rosha doesn¡¯t seem willing to take this answer and interjects, ¡°No no no no no. As I said, you are a player. It is literally impossible to leave the tutorial without picking a weapon. No matter how strange or what you desire it is there. Look at my bow, it isn¡¯t part of the beginner set because it is very special. Check this¡±, and she takes the bow off her back and with a quick action grabs both the daggers at her waist and slots them onto it. Now it looks like a single piece with the daggers perfectly fitting it, extending the bows arms outward. She then unstrings it and the bow becomes a bladed stave. With a quick spin that shows a good bit of skill she then restrings, puts away the daggers, and then returns the bow to her back. A nod of her head and she continues, ¡°See that? Took me an hour to find just the right one, but it was there. You want to fight unarmed? There are an unlimited number of brass knuckles, gloves, and hand wraps in that endless white space. Now. What. Is. Your. Weapon!¡± ¡°Woh there, I really truly don¡¯t have a weapon. As you said there are infinite possible weapons in there. Took me a long time but eventually I found the option for unarmed. You can ask the Guild Leader, she can confirm it.¡± At this point Penny speaks up, ¡°Yeah, he really has unarmed as his weapon of choice. There hasn¡¯t been something like him in a few centuries. Don¡¯t worry he can fight though.¡± Andrew then interrupts this amusing back and forth, ¡°Yeah, yeah, unarmed and what not. Quest Time! You two get to party up with that smuck and then go adventure into the animal forest area to pick a mcguffin flower. Ms. Rabbit in particular will like the reward as it is a System generated weapon. Don¡¯t ask us how that will work for weaponless boy there. That is part of why we are doing this quest. Anyway, git, the quest is auto accepted because reasons. Don¡¯t question the System it isn¡¯t healthy.¡± Chapter 15 - Skill Talk ¡°So uh, do either of you need to do something before heading out?¡± Rosha sighs, ¡°Dude, it''s almost night time. I don¡¯t care how awesome you are, we aren¡¯t ready for a night time romp through the forest.¡± James speaks up, ¡°I have to agree with her. At night the real predators come out. Also, while our gear is mostly taken care of at this point because of the newb kit we should make sure our skill layout will work. At the moment I just have a couple passive, one to increase my healing and the other dealing with my dwarven armor.¡± An awkward silence follows this. Both Rosha and Jason share a look that clearly says they aren¡¯t really digging this skill sharing idea. ¡°Since we won''t be going out tonight, we should probably get a team suite at the inn. Though speaking of team we should probably form one. I am personally all down for a classic team name like ¡®Jason and the Argonauts¡¯ though I can understand if neither of you are quite the history buffs that I am.¡± The others groan at the name and James speaks up, ¡°So if I remember the story correctly they didn¡¯t really come to good ends now did they? How about we don¡¯t jinx this quest from the start? Maybe go with something simple like ¡®the Odd Ones Out¡¯ as we don¡¯t really fit the general stereotypes.¡± Rosha nods in agreement, ¡°Yeah that sounds fine by me. Triple O all the way.¡± ¡°Fine, fine, can¡¯t have an intellectual team name. Got to just go with quirky alliterations. [Team Create ¡®Odd Ones Out¡¯][Confirm] [Team Invite Rosha][Confirm] [Team Invite James][Confirm]¡± and as Jason speaks a number of boxes pop up and go away before finally all that is left is for the others to agree. James raises his eyebrow, ¡°Bit of a quick trigger finger you have there now don¡¯t ya? Well I guess we did all technically agree so no harm done, [Confirm]¡± and Rosha nods in agreement with him before ¡®confirming¡¯ as well. With the discussion and team making finished the new group leaves Andrews tower while discussing where to stay. Eventually they agree that the ¡®salted pig¡¯ was a decent choice, what with being right near the gate they need to leave from while still being cheap. Soon they are in a group room waiting out the night. At first there is an awkward silence before Jason broaches the subject of skills, ¡°So James, yeah skills. Um, most people probably see it as a bit rude to just ask about them out of the blue. Admittedly we are a bit low level so generally we wouldn¡¯t have anything unique or interesting. But, hmm, I can¡¯t really tell you my only skill. Likely Rosha doesn¡¯t want to tell us her skills or lack of them either. In fact for mine I am actually under a system backed oath not to talk about it even irl.¡± Rosha takes it up at this point, ¡°We know you meant well enough and I will admit we should probably pick up some of the more common skills. In fact for those common things we should share if we have them if only because it would be stupid to pay for training in it when you already have the skill. But still, all Jason just said was very much true. I don¡¯t know what is up with his skill but I have an inheritance. This isn¡¯t rare, most decent sized families at this point have them and there are native ones just hanging around in ruins but I definitely won''t be sharing what mine is.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. At this point James is looking decidedly ashamed. He had clearly not thought through what he had asked. There is also a slight look of embarrassment which likely comes from him realizing he doesn¡¯t have any special skills yet the rest of his team does. Speaking up he says, ¡°Ah, okay. Sorry about that. I guess I just didn¡¯t really think about it. At the dwarven outpost it is a bit different. Everyone gets set up with their skills by the local trainer before they even are let out of the starting building. I don¡¯t know if this is the dwarves in general or the fact it is a military location but that is just how it was. Everyone there knew what the others had. My question meant more along the lines of asking what your starting skills were as I didn¡¯t expect you to have other ones yet. Now I have to ask something else which might seem a bit rude. As you apparently don¡¯t have the normal skills did either of you actually meet with the trainers? You do realize you get some free training in basic skills while still on your beginners time, right?¡± Jason and Rosha both look away uncomfortably. Clearly neither of them had actually done so. James just sighs at this and then starts going over what they should do tomorrow, ¡°Things might not go how we expected. I have to talk to the trainers to see if they have anything the dwarves didn¡¯t. You both need to canvas what you missed and I am grounding this team until all the basic skills have been learned. Now sleep or log off as you will and we will continue tomorrow.¡± Neither of the two really want to stick around so they both log off to spend about an hour and half irl to let the night pass. Pshhhh swoosh, the lid on Jason¡¯s game pod opens up. This is actually the first time he has been out of it in a day or so. Though being out this soon would be seen as odd anyway. Most people tend to end up in the pod for their beginner month and then some. Deciding he wants to eat something real Jason heads out to the kitchen only to find his mother bustling around making some pancakes. A quick check of the time shows this is a breakfast for dinner rather than the morning. ¡°Hey Mom, got a couple to spare? I have an hour to burn while waiting for morning. The System has me doing a team quest and they don¡¯t want to head out into the forest at night.¡± His mother sighs, ¡°Of course THAT would be your problem. I wasn¡¯t expecting to see you for at least an irl month. Good thing someone is looking out for you and your loner tendencies even if it is the System. You better not ruin this. I don¡¯t expect it anytime soon but I want you socializing. If you don¡¯t then I won''t ever get any grandchildren. Now of course you can wait as long as you want but for some reason I feel you might not be moving out of my house if it isn¡¯t for a lady.¡± She grumbles a bit more under her breath while stacking a couple cakes onto his plate. ¡°Mom, you know I¡¯m not good with that socializing thing. Though I feel relieved. It seems the System is actually trying to look out for me. Apparently someone has been researching it and quests, especially early on, tend to try and get people to face their weaknesses.¡± Giving him a bit of a glare she counters his claim, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how many team quests you get if you don''t try. I love you and all but we both know it takes two to tango and you aren¡¯t one for that dance.¡± In an overly exaggerated exhausted tone Jason responds, ¡°Fiiiine, I guess I will talk to them. It isn¡¯t like I retreated from the game because of an awkward social situation. Totally not avoiding having to sleep in a room with a girl.¡± and he winks at his mom. With a laugh she smacks him on the back of the head, ¡°Don¡¯t you try that one on me. You and I both know the cheap team rooms at the inns don¡¯t allow any such nonsense. Even the most backwater places will have privacy enchantments on their cheap rooms so ¡®special¡¯ clientele have to pay for the good rooms. Now finish your meal and head back to your personal space. No reason to waste this time when you could be looking up stuff on your town and general situation.¡± Chapter 16 - Movement Training Back in game morning has come and the party is all logged back in. Rosha claps her hands to get everyone''s attention, ¡°Ok guys, time to get some skills! I did some research so I know what I want. Hopefully you two weren¡¯t lazy last night.¡± and with that she bounces out of the room. Jason and James both glance at each other before following. Soon they arrive at the Guild and for the first time Jason gets a look into the training hall. The place actually shocked him as he was expecting just a hall with people standing around. In reality, though it is almost more of a hallway as each instructor has walls around their area. At the moment most of the instructors are just standing around chatting. Rosha looks around before striding forward and getting on a nearby box of equipment. Most people in the room at this point are looking at her. Soon though the whole room is paying attention as she starts to speak, ¡°Now I have a weapon here¡± and she holds up the bow in one hand and her daggers in the other. ¡°This is one weapon¡± then she assembles it, ¡°and I would like to know if any of you can train me in the skill for it and its various forms.¡± Her announcement gets everyone arguing. The warrior types want to just have her train in each form separately and aim for a weapon master style skill. All the magic types seem to think she should ignore the basic skills and go for empowering the weapon as then the form won''t matter. However in the end a group of rangers come forward and admit they know a way to get a skill specifically for the weapon. The option will however take all her free beginner skills. Despite having wanted some other things Rosha has to admit what is basically 3 or 4 separate weapon skills is probably worth it. As everyone calms down from that nonsense Jason and James head towards the people likely to have what they want. James finds the trainer for himself easily enough just needing some weapons training. Turns out he uses a whip and shield. After these two skills though the trainers cut him off commenting on how he shouldn¡¯t be greedy. On the other hand Jason has some trouble finding the trainers he needs. While his current armor is leather, that might not be a permanent thing and it isn¡¯t like he is using a shield. That, weapons, and magic covers most what people are teaching for free in this area. Not exactly helpful in this instance. Eventually he works his way over to the rogue style trainers. Since Rosha¡¯s tactic worked so well Jason decides to try it on a smaller scale here. Just heading towards the shady looking types in the corner gets their attention though most don¡¯t show it. When he is close enough that he can easily be heard by all of them without shouting, Jason starts talking. Not having any fancy weapon to show off it takes a bit more of a preamble to describe his problem but eventually Jason gets to his point, ¡°I don¡¯t need the normal starting skills. In fact I likely need nothing from most of you either. While I don¡¯t want to be too cocky or at least more so than I already have been, could some of you explain what you have to offer me?¡± As if on prior agreement a pale man with a rough tan suit steps forward and addresses Jason, ¡°You can call me John and if I don¡¯t miss the mark, you aren¡¯t talking about the more thief flavored stuff.¡± ¡°True, I am a martial artist, not one of the sneaky types either.¡± John nods, ¡°We won¡¯t just give you a list of skills and you very well know why but how about a selection of a few movement skills and maybe a little extra if you show some talent in what you choose. I don¡¯t personally care if you are okay with this. Either you agree and follow me into a more secluded training area or just go somewhere else for all I care.¡± and with that John starts walking away into one of the nearby enclosed areas. It doesn¡¯t take Jason that long to think before he follows. Once he enters the walled off area though he stops in shock. What looked like a small empty training yard from the outside has changed. Instead there is a relatively large yard which appears to be made of all the adjacent areas connected. In the center is a mass of poles stuck in the ground. Starting on one side with decent size logs of a uniform shape though quickly shrinking to willow bamboo shoots of varying heights. John is standing on the opposite side of the room in a dark corner with his hands behind his back. In the time he was out of sight his suit has changed to a mottled black armor that seems to bleed into the surrounding shadows. He gestures at the poles and explains, ¡°Whatever movement skill you choose we will use this field. Now because I am feeling a bit lazy, I will only tell you the names of the three skills. Your options are ¡®Winding Snake of the Forest¡¯, ¡®Desolate Traversal Technique¡¯, and ¡®Swift Footed Passthrough¡¯. Take your pick, they are all about the same.¡± Jason resists the urge to smirk. As he was planning on getting some skills he had already looked into what was available. While the System restricted things like the details of skills, the general descriptions for such common skills were easy to find. The Snake one was a movement skill but focused more on dodging through trees or a crowd of people. Swift Footed Passthrough was a short range movement skill that focused ongoing through the enemies space quickly to set up for something like a backstab or running away. The last one, Desolate Traversal Technique though was the one for him. If he had to compare it to anything, the skill would be like an enhanced parkour which uses a person''s energy to allow for normally impossible things. Stuff like running on the ceiling and such though that was admittedly quite a high level. Speaking up Jason tells him that, ¡°I want to learn the Desolate Traversal Technique.¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. John nods, ¡°Now I am not going to describe the skill, if you didn¡¯t do your homework on what skills are available then that''s not my problem. Anyway I know I said we would use this¡±, and he gestures at the poles, ¡°but that isn¡¯t quite true. For this skill we need to change things, like so¡± and he steps to the side revealing what is clearly a control panel. With the press of a few buttons the field begins to change. First the bigger poles start to shrink until everything is of a uniform size. Next several poles create pairs and boards form between them before raising above the others. Finally several normal poles lean over at odd angles to the rest. After a quick check of the field John nods his head before continuing with, ¡°This is the field we will be using. If you had chosen either of the other skills, I wouldn¡¯t have had to change anything. This field isn¡¯t quite a secret but I would prefer if you told no one about it. Anyway I want you to jump around on top a bit so I can get a feel for your ability to move around like a monkey.¡± Shrugging his shoulders Jason heads over to what looks like the starting area. After a couple of simple stretches he hops up a group of poles set up like stairs and onto the only horizontal platform. Even with most poles being the width it is clear when up this close that these are much stiffer than those farther away. A deep breath and Jason hops onto the closest pole. Seeing no reason to try to impress he decides to slowly ramp it up. A hop to the next pole and then wait to be steady. Taking a deep breath and then onto the next. Slowly he makes his way down the field. While not speeding up he doesn¡¯t slow down either as the poles flex, bend, and tilt from his momentum. Soon he reaches one of the vertical platforms. After steading himself next to it Jason gives it a shove. This one doesn¡¯t bend and stays straight. Nodding, Jason continues and is quickly at some tilted poles. Now he is forced to slow down as the slanted poles don¡¯t just stabilize. Soon however this doesn¡¯t work. The poles are now flexible enough and at odd enough angles that if he tries to stay on one too long he will fall off. At this point he is almost seeming to walk around from pole to pole. Finally however he can¡¯t keep it up and a pole almost seems to collapse under him causing a quick trip to the floor. John is standing next to Jason looking down at him, ¡°Decent skills if a little below what I would require for me to personally train someone. Luckily I don¡¯t have to personally train you, not technically. To get the skill will be simple enough sounding though of course these things are always more difficult in implementation rather than planning.¡± and he goes back over to the control panel and turns back, ¡°I will set it so the poles light up in a pattern. Your task will be to only ever stop on a lit spot. Your current location will flash twice before disappearing so don¡¯t linger because if you aren¡¯t on a spot the pole will become like a wet noodle. Then of course you will have to start over.¡± Turning back to the panel his hand suddenly blurs into action. Presumably he is pressing buttons but Jason can¡¯t make heads or tails but to take long enough for him to even notice it happens shows how many presses it takes. John finishes with, ¡°Start when you want, I will be back when you''re done.¡± and with a wave of his hand Jason loses sight of him. Shaking his head Jason heads back to the starting platform. Farther than the pole he started with last time has a pole with the top lit up. Jumping to it is easy enough but right away another which is back a little bit glows. Deciding to test it he decides to just stay where he is and within a handful of seconds the light under him flashes. Then it flashes again before going dark. The pole just falls out from under him. Being prepared this time he lands a bit more gracefully and looks back at the pole in time to see it right itself. Sighing that this wasn¡¯t going to be one of those limited chances sort of deals. Then it is back to the starting platform. However when he gets there a different pole is lit up. Seems this won''t be a simple memorization of the path. Deciding that was enough testing Jason starts a serious try. From pole to pole he jumps. Slow at first but soon he isn¡¯t allowed to stop as the light starts to flash even before he gets to the next pole. Then he falls. Not because he couldn¡¯t reach the next pole but because one didn¡¯t light up right away and his momentum caused him to slip off. Back to the start and a completely new course of lights. This time he is prepared and doesn¡¯t get thrown by the delay of the next light. Then he falls again. Instead of the top of the pole, one of the leaning poles lit up on the side and went limp when he didn¡¯t land there. Start over but he falls for the delayed light after being distracted by the side light. This goes on and on. New tricks getting him or not over and over but soon he can¡¯t even remember them all. Soon it all falls away and he continues. Back and forth across the field as if he was walking on a flat path. Even when the vertical panels light up it doesn¡¯t phase him and he simply bounces off of them. But all things must come to an end and this time it happens because the lit pole is too far to jump to. Back to the start but this time the lights start off at the higher level and Jason is soon back into the groove. Again a light too far and he falls. Rinse and repeat a few more times but eventually he gets it. The light only matters when he stops on it. This time through when the light is too far away he doesn¡¯t just try to jump to it. Instead he bounces off the poles in the way. They might fall limp but not before he uses them to push off and he makes it. Now the light just appears at the various edges of the field forcing him to criss cross the place. But still he falls. Simply put Jason was using too many poles. They just didn¡¯t recover quick enough and he got trapped with no poles nearby. Not giving up he continues. Falling less and less as time goes on. Then something changes. Jason doesn¡¯t notice it but his last jump brought him to a vertical platform. The next pole didn¡¯t light up right away and so on pure instincts he just stayed on his current spot. Then a light appeared elsewhere and he was off. Over in the shadows John lets a hint of amazement leak onto his face. Jason had finally achieved the first step. Chapter 17 - Skills Get Jason hops back onto the starting platform and no other poles are lit. Suddenly it hits him and he sort of just slumps over. For the first time in this life he felt completely worn out, both in body and mind. From the side John shouts over, ¡°Oy, you should have gotten the skill. Check what level it is at.¡± With a quick wave to confirm he heard him Jason pulls up the messages he had missed.
Extreme Exertion +1 Strength
Completed Guided Exercise +1 Agility
Unconscious Cultivation and Energy Use +1 Energy +6.5% Cultivation Experience
Skill Gained Desolate Traversal Technique A combination of traditional parkour and energy use. While considered a basic skill it is highly ranked among them. Generally learned by rogues it is however open for anyone to learn. Initiate Level 3 - 63.2% Rank: Normal Beginner Type: Passive, Movement Effects: Traction Assist - Based on predicted goal the System will slightly modify the friction between user and any surfaces they are in contact with Powered Grip - Through the use of energy a user can temporarily stick to surfaces
After checking the skill Jason yells back, ¡°Yeah I have the skill and it¡¯s at Initiate 3!¡± He is actually surprised at the stat ups. Those tend to be quite rare and require impressive amounts of effort. Hearing that John is actually relieved. While making it to Initiate rank was surprising the level reached wasn¡¯t too shocking. Satisfied at this he starts filling Jason in on some of the details, ¡°Good job, that is above average. Though you only managed it as you got lucky and triggered Powered Grip. That tends to be a bottleneck for most people. Anyway since you learned it within the first day lets get you learning a second skill. Normally the skill would be something like hidden weapon use and how to hook it up to their main weapon type. You however have something most of our recruits don¡¯t. You have a sturdy body so can probably survive to learn the skill. Now follow me.¡± and he slaps the wall behind his back and a hidden door slides open. After catching his breath Jason follows John through the door. Inside looks more like an alchemist lab rather than a thief hideaway. Though there is a distinct lack of any glowing liquids you would expect in such a place. In fact a lot of the bottled liquids are colorless or look like some common drink. Once he is in the door closes behind him and John continues, ¡°Now as you seem to have half a brain you will have realized this is a lab for poison production. No I won¡¯t be teaching you how to make it, rather to resist it. There are a number of methods to develop the resistance. Most rogues get it from exposure to small amounts when making them. You however get to do it the hardest way that isn''t just getting poisoned over and over. Hopefully you can deal with pain. While my special concoction won''t kill you, in exchange it will cause horrible pain which cuts through all resistances. Honestly if it wasn¡¯t because you have to choose to be affected by it this poison would be impossible to make. That''s the secret though. There is only one chance to learn the skill from this poison and it takes a while. Combined with how the poison stops working the second you want it to, you need to want to keep feeling the pain to gain the resistance. Sure the longer you last the more results you get but most can¡¯t even last long enough to gain the skill in the first place.¡± Then he grabs a small vial and hands it to Jason, ¡°Now do try to last long enough. This isn¡¯t the easiest poison to make and we don¡¯t keep much of it around¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Taking the vial Jason uncorks it. Before he can down it a sickening odor flows out. He can¡¯t even think of what to compare it to. There just isn¡¯t anything in his memory that quite matches it. Grimacing, he quickly downs the small amount of liquid though even once it is gone the vial still stank. Then it hit. pain The Pain THE PAIN and a pop up
Extreme Pain Detected Stop the Pain? Y/N
Jason shakes his head no and the pain continues Then the pain gets worse and the pop up appears again Once again Jason denies it. The last moments of his previous life were still worse. Time seems to trickle by for him. Second after second the time passes and the pain worsens. Yet still he perseveres. He loses 1 hp. Not from the poison but his nails digging into his palms. Then he spasm as the pain starts to randomly sweep through his body. For a short moment it even stops completely though that only makes when it comes back worse. A thought manages to trickle through his mind, ¡®what about the glassware in the room?¡¯ If he could pay attention to the world, then he would notice his worries didn¡¯t matter as he was now in a padded room. The open trapdoor in the ceiling would make it clear that this place was setup with this in mind. Finally after a minute has passed the skill is gained. If only Jason was able to notice it. Unknowingly he continues on past the point he could just stop. Finally the pain reaches a new level of pain. It is now something unknown to him and worse for it. Now without knowing it he selects to end the pain. However it doesn¡¯t just end but rather slowly fade away. Probably best for a person''s sanity that way. Then Jason, finally free of the pain faints. Once again John is impressed as he knows how bad it gets after a minute. Down into the pit he jumps, just to grab Jason and then jump right back out. Nodding to himself he has to admit that this kid is quite the odd one. Just seeing a new traveller getting both his starting skills up to initiate during the training was worth training him for Penny. Jason wakes up in the Guilds bar, leaned up against a barrel along the wall. Quickly he stops himself from trying to remember what happened as he knows that way only leads to pain. To take his mind off of it, he checks out his new skill.
Poison Resistance Does what it says on the tin. A skill based resistance. As there are many types of poison the System has decided it is best like this rather than a stat as this allows more variety without littering the stat line with entries like ¡®elven paralysis poison resistance¡¯. Uses the best percentage for a poison. Initiate Level 1 - 2.7% Rank: Exquisite Beginner Type: Passive, Adaptive Effects: Immunity to Trash rank pain poisons Trash rank non-damaging poison resistance - 52% Trash rank poison resistance - 34% Low Normal rank poison resistance - 10% Normal rank poison resistance - 1%
While he is doing so Penny walks over to him, ¡°So it looks like you had quite the experience there. Don¡¯t worry the rest of your little group is still training. I didn¡¯t want to mention it yesterday but you all will probably only get to head out tomorrow. Unlike you, they seem to be more in line with the average learning speed and will likely have to finish some last things up tomorrow morning. My advice is head back to your inn and turn in early. It isn¡¯t quite night yet but close enough.¡± and so Jason did. Chapter 18 - Out on the town for some Pots Next morning, bright and early Jason is standing around with nothing to do. As Penny predicted the other two will need a bit more training to pick up the skills they want. With nothing better to do he decides that maybe now would be a good time to finally explore the town. While he had walked through the town a bit he hadn¡¯t ever really paid attention. Now the environment and crowd permeates his senses. A lionkin is over there selling vegetables to some elves, across the way a goblin is haggling over the price of some magical gunpowder. However, after walking around for a couple hours a store catches his attention. While he had seen some other potions shops, this was the first one with a nifty little sigil on the sign. Specifically, it was the mark to tell you this was a store approved of by the Adventurers Guild. While the products will cost more in general they are of a guaranteed quality. After all you can¡¯t be traipsing around some ancient tomb just to have your healing potion only healing a handful of hit points. Never mind the inevitable discount potion shop right next door. After making his way through the crowd Jason enters ¡®Dalur¡¯s Certified Potion Shop¡¯. That does make him roll his eyes, don¡¯t want to have people miss that the guild approved of them. As he enters the shop *ding* he finds out they are partial to entry bells here. Taking a quick look around before the shopkeeper shows up it becomes clear that this is more of a display room. Everything is behind some protective barrier or another and they are in odd glass containers which clearly wouldn¡¯t survive out in the field. If he would compare it to anything this shop looked like a jewelry store. Then an old black haired man with a walking stick enters the room through a doorway behind the counter and greets him, ¡°Hello there, my name is Edward Dalur. You can browse my shop though the rarer potions might not be in stock and large orders will of course take time as well. If you have questions then please, feel free to ask me.¡± and then he sits down and is takes out a book, clearly not expecting questions. Jason grimaces a little bit. He had some questions but it felt awkward to interrupt Dalur¡¯s reading. That and he might get a bit irritated so Jason decided that looking around the shop might be a better option to start with. Though all this look around does is show he really will not be buying much of anything. That and the fact that even a gas can be called a potion. Not that Jason minded Gaseous form being an actual gas as it seemed thematic. Finally though Jason heads over to the counter, ¡°I actually do have something to ask you about. You and I both know that it isn¡¯t really possible for me to afford all but the cheapest of your potions.¡± Dalur looks up from his book and raises an eyebrow, clearly communicating that he doubts Jason can even afford those. Ignoring the look Jason continues, ¡°Besides money however I do have a supply of glowy weeds. I know there is a task up at the guild for gathering them and those likely end up going to you. However instead of a bit of gold I would like to trade what I have and some money for some of your novice healing potions.¡± Dalur sighs, ¡°I will need to see your so called glowy weeds first. Of course we can¡¯t just spread them out on my clean counter here so we need to head into my analysis room. You aren¡¯t the first traveller who has tried this. The others however all seemed to think that if the Guild didn¡¯t want the mutilated specimens, then I clearly would. Be warned, I have had enough of such nonsense so if none of your weeds are up to snuff then I won''t allow you to enter my store for a year and a day and anyone found buying for you will be similarly restricted. So. Do you still want to show me what you got?¡± Jason takes one of his mature Energy herbs out of his pack and shows it to Dalur, ¡°This is an example of what I want to trade. Because of a quest involving the Rockback Turtles I have a good number of them leftover.¡± Dalur takes a quick looks at, ¡°Seems fine enough so at least I won''t have to kick you out. Now let''s go check them all out.¡± Jason follows him into a back room. The new place actually looks quite out of place, not only for the shop but the world in general. With clean white tiles covering the whole room and a ceramic table with a magnifying glass attached to it the room is just too sterile. It doesn¡¯t even have the earthy scent of herbs that somewhat permeated the rest of the shop. Not needing to be told Jason unloads his herbs onto the table. There was actually a good few leftover as they worked better as bait than was expected. While not all of them were as nice as the first one Jason pulled out Dalur couldn¡¯t see any that stood out as low quality. In fact as he looked closer and used the magnifying glass the skill used in harvesting them was revealed. Each was clearly picked to allow them to grow back. Looking up from the glowy weed, ¡°These overall are of decent quality. Though this group¡± and he pushes a group of six to the side, ¡°are of lower quality. The other 16 however are in fine condition. A specialized gatherer might have done better but those guys don¡¯t bother with glowy weed. Now I know you asked about spending money as well, however I can¡¯t accept any even if you actually had an amount worth using. To get first pick of gathered herbs at the Guild I can¡¯t buy them for cash from others. With that in mind I can right away offer you a one healing potion for the 6 lower quality herbs and two healing potions for 6 of the other herbs.¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Your novice healing potions only sell for 10 silver each. While the guild is buying the herbs for 50 copper to a silver, they clearly mark it up for you. Also this isn¡¯t exactly the only ingredient being used. I want 4 of the low quality herbs for a potion, the 2 leftover and a good herb for another, and then I want 7 potions for the remaining 15 herbs.¡± Dalur points at the low quality herbs, ¡°No look here, here, and especially here. This has a chance to lower the quality of the resulting potion. I can¡¯t sell something like that. With those I have to stick to the 6 for 1. Now for the good herbs? How about 6 potions for all 16?¡± ¡°I can accept the deal on the lower quality ones. However I want 8 for the good herbs¡± Dalur shakes his head, ¡°No way, I can give you 7 potions for them and only because this is our first deal. As I said they aren¡¯t the highest quality.¡± ¡°That seems fine but I want you to tell me how to harvest them better. While I won¡¯t be making a job of it, I can see myself harvesting more as I come across them. Also maybe how to grow them if I ever decide to try that.¡± With that they manage to agree on the price and Jason gets 8 novice healing potions. He also learns that he actually harvested too much of the plant. To properly harvest them you need to cut it off just under the lowest leaf. Because the roots are absorbing nutrients from the ground, it can muddle the Energy. Only once you reach the leaves does the Energy become pure enough and if you leave the bits below that the herbs quality drops. Also oddly enough the glowing ball doesn¡¯t have that much Energy in it and can be removed without damaging the quality. Combined with the fact that the glowing ball is where the seeds are means you should remove that as well. Then you can either keep it if you for some reason want to try growing it (and Dalur pointed out this is quite hard as trying to grow it doesn¡¯t grow well if your practicing Mana or Qi) or throw it nearby to help spread it around. After leaving the store Jason decides to go buy a small pot. Having just learned that people have a hard time growing them because they don¡¯t train Energy he figures it might actually grow better for him than in nature. If anything spending a bit of time cultivating in his room with the plant can¡¯t hurt. Finally he arrives back at the Adventurers Guild. James and Rosha are still finishing up the last bits of training so he takes a quick once over of himself to make sure he is prepared.
Basic Info
Name: Jason Level: 3 - 3%
Legal Status: New Player Title: N/A
Normal Stats
Strength 25 (11[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set])
Toughness 24 (10[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set])
Agility 25 (11[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set])
Auxiliary Stats
Defense 42 (30[Eq] +12[Set])
HP 12/12
Energy 3
Bonuses
Knowledge Bonus: +1% success rate when using an Energy Herb as an ingredient or growing one. Ability to identify the maturity of a Herb with relevant Identify skills Discovery Bonus: +1% success rate when using an Energy Herb or growing one Able to get a feeling for maturity of a Herb without a skill Control of Experience intake
Organizations
Adventurers Guild Basic Member Rank F
Odd Ones Out Team Member Leader
8 Novice Healing Potions Description: A small set of the lowest quality healing potions. They are stored in tough clay vessels with a wax seal. The vessels are unlikely to break even if thrown around. These potions were crafted by Edward Dalur, owner of ¡®Dalur¡¯s Certified Potion Shop¡¯ an Adventurers Guild certified potion store. Effects: Heals 4d4+4 HP using herbs and Energy
Chapter 19 - Furry Distractions A shout attracts Jason¡¯s attention. Looking up, he sees James and Rosha coming out of the training hall and heading over toward him. Once again together Jason hands out a couple health potions and the group heads out towards the more animal themed bit of the forest. The gate guards send a few strange looks their way but otherwise leaving the town proceeds smoothly. Out in the field though they hit their first snag. A small group of wolfkin have just left the forest and look a bit roughed up. Seeing as their packs are flat it seems they had a less than successful time at it. They apparently want to take their failure out on somebody as they go to intercept our group. The lead wolfkin steps forward blocking the way with his hands on his hips and a smirk on his lips, ¡°Hey you chumps. You look like a bunch of low level newbs. Better turn around and march yourself back into the town.¡± ¡°We have a quest in there.¡±Jason flatly tells them and the team just tries to walk around the wolfkins. Of course when has this ever worked? The wolfkins that had stood back go to surround the group while the leader grabs Jason¡¯s shoulder to stop him. Louder the leader speaks up again, ¡°I don¡¯t think you heard me. You will turn around and go right back to town. In fact, now we¡¯re going to guide you back there and you''re going to pay our bar tab tonight.¡± and he squeezes Jason¡¯s shoulder. The group shared a look. None of them want to put up with this. With the town just behind them they couldn¡¯t exactly go too hard on them. Then again it also meant the wolfkin wouldn¡¯t be able to just kill them either. Overall a good chance to test their teamwork. Then the wolfkin leader hits the ground. Everyone just sort of stops and looks at Jason. Giving a shrug of his shoulders, ¡°It¡¯s obvious we were going to throw down, so I decided to take that literally.¡± Then he stomps on the downed wolfkins neck which knocks it out. Taking this as a cue the others start fighting. Two of the remaining wolfkin go at Jason while the others face off one on one. Being so close Rosha goes for her daggers. Her opponent however already has his club out and takes a swing at her. This forces a quick dodge to the side and prevents her from drawing both daggers. Luckily it seems just one might be enough as she jumps back at him and swipes at the arm holding the club. The wolfkin tenses his arm after seeing the attack coming. With that the dagger only leaves a shallow wound, however it is bleeding. Seeing red the wolfkin charges in with his club. Not being all that skilled though this leaves him full of openings which Rosha takes advantage of. Going in under its raised arm she is able to get a good stab in. Then when she passes around to his back, she slams the butt of her dagger into his head, taking him down. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. James actually has an easier time. His enemy might be equipped with an actual sword but Dwarven armor proves out. Deciding to not mess around he just goes straight into a grapple. The wolfkin tries to break free but finds a dwarven bear hug to be a little too much. This might not take it out but it isn¡¯t in the fight anymore. Jason despite having more opponents has it even easier. Taking out the leader before the fight even started had shocked the rest of them. While the two seem to be coming at them it is clear that both of them are trying to hold back and let the other feel him out. Not giving them a chance, Jason goes after the one that is farther from him that has a spear. The closest wolfkin seems relieved and actually delays going to help his teammate. This is all Jason needed though and he grabs the wolfkin. Having him so close the wolfkin simply loses his head and can¡¯t get any attacks in. At that point it is simple for Jason to knock him out as well leaving just one wolfkin. That one takes a look around and notices he is somewhat alone. Raising his hand he surrenders to the trio. Not long after a group of guards from the town come over and after a few questions they take the wolfkin group back to the Guild for healing and a stern talking to. Rosha sighs, ¡°I don¡¯t even know what to make of that. I really wish we could tell if they were players just so we could rough them up. Not being in starter gear makes it likely they are residents, but that isn¡¯t even certain anymore. I hear the npcs are getting their hands on the newb gear as it is so good for beginners. That group could have just been stupid and sold their gear to some npcs for a lot of cash.¡± James squeezes his eyes shut and rubs his forehead, ¡°I know what you mean. With how the System likes to work we will probably run into them in the future just from quests steering one of our groups into the other. That didn¡¯t even test our teamwork. Our gear just makes facing anyone who isn¡¯t level 10 simply silly. I¡¯m a healer! Sure as a dwarf I have some strength but that idiot couldn¡¯t even break my hold.¡± Rosha nods in agreement, ¡°Lets just ignore this little side adventure and continue on. The forest is literally right there.¡± ¡°If they were players then we probably just won because of taking out the leader so quickly. While he seemed dense, there is likely a reason he was in charge. Maybe with his orders the group might have actually hurt one of us.¡± Rosha laughs at that, ¡°Nah, probably just someone importants child. It¡¯s harder to meet the young master trope but they are still out there. Though I am betting they were residents. Probably some wolfkin tribe nearby. Hell, it could be both with the local tribes young master running around.¡± ¡°Heh, that''s true enough. Anyway before we get sidetracked even further lets head into the forest.¡± With that distraction out of the way they are able to finally enter the forest. The path starts out well kept and the trees are sparse. This shallow in they don¡¯t even see anything besides some normal rabbits. However their goal definitely won''t be so easy to acquire. Chapter 20 - Horned Rabbits The rabbits all stay away from the group but as they go farther things start to change. As they progress groups of rabbits appear that are lead by horned rabbits. Finally though the first fight happens when they meet a group made entirely of them. The rabbits actually get a jump on the group. Everyone had gotten used to having groups of rabbits just hopping around so a group right next to the path didn¡¯t bother them. As they come up next to a relatively large group with 12 horned rabbits the closest one suddenly charges at them. With a quick jump and the benefit of surprise it rams into James. *-5* Despite his dwarven armor it still deals a lot of damage. Luckily for the squishier two, it didn¡¯t target them. The other rabbits seem just as shocked as our group though it seems that won''t stop the fight. Our brave little fight starter will not live to see this. James doesn¡¯t take kindly to the damage and slams his arm down, catching it. Losing its ability to dodge leads to the rabbits ends as James easily bashes its head in with his shield. As if the death was a trigger everyone starts moving. Jason ducks out of the way of three rabbits while Rosha backs up behind James and readies her bow. Another trio of rabbits are heading towards her but get blocked by James shield. Having been stopped in their tracks Rosha shoots a few arrows managing to hit one. James meanwhile uses his whip to scatter the remaining 5. However this causes some trouble with Jason as two of them end up joining his fight with the other three. Luckily as one jumps at him he is able to duck under the rabbit and send a quick chop on its neck taking it out. A second rabbit coming in from the other side takes this chance to get a glancing blow on him. *-1* Off balance from almost missing its hit makes the rabbit an easy target. Rosha shifts quickly from the ones fighting James to fire a shot at it, spearing the rabbit to the ground. Jason is then able to quickly finish it off before it can free itself with a quick stomp. James is stoically blocking the advances of the rest of the rabbits after they grouped back up. One of them gets around his shield and lands a solid hit onto Rosha *-2* Then it for some reason runs away into the forest. A quick sidestep lets the rabbit dodge out of the way of a quick arrow from Rosha as she tries to stop it. As this is happening the other rabbits seem shocked at it running away. Sadly for them James isn¡¯t and takes this chance to shield bash a couple of them. This even kills one of them which had taken a hit from an arrow. The second one isn¡¯t any luckier as the bash slams the rabbit towards Jason who is able to finish it off with an uppercut. At this the small herd of horned rabbits realize they have lost half their numbers. With this the remaining 6 just book it in the opposite direction of the one that had run away.
Horn Rabbit Herd Defeated 7 Rabbits Escaped +6 Copper Coins +3 perfect rabbit hides +1 rabbit hide +2 trash rabbit hides This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. +3 rabbit meat +3 bruised rabbit meat +2 perfect rabbit horns +1 rabbit horn +2 cracked rabbit horns +1 trash rabbit horn
Rosha is quite pleased at the loot and points out how the perfect horns are all because she didn¡¯t just smash the rabbits heads in. The other two shake their heads and after dumping any hides or horns below perfect condition they all head deeper. After a bit they haven¡¯t seen any big herds James stops them and asks a pertinent question, ¡°So, how are we supposed to find this flower?¡± The group just stand there in silence for a moment or two. ¡°Right, I don¡¯t exactly see any quest markers. However today is the last full day we have to find it. I only got three days and we only have a bit of tomorrow before that ends. With that in mind there isn¡¯t really the time to head back to town. If we don¡¯t find it today, then there might be a little camping in our future¡± Rosha grimaces at the mention of camping, ¡°I really don¡¯t want to stay out here overnight. It is a quest meant for beginners so it can¡¯t be too hard. We likely just have to follow the path. Then once we meet a boss of some sort the flower will be next to it.¡± James adds on, ¡°It will probably be a red creature of some sort. My bet is on a wolf variant.¡± ¡°Probably will be that rabbit that did the hit and run or something similarly silly¡± Rosha makes shooing motions with her hands, ¡°Whatever it is we won''t find it just standing here. Onward and quickly at it please.¡± And with only moderate grumbling the group manages to get going again. Along the way a couple more groups of horned rabbits though never more than a handful at a time. They even spot a winged rabbit, though only in passing as it glides by overhead. Eventually though the group notices a clearing just ahead. This is quite obviously the goal to their quest. In the center is a small mound with a deep red flower blooming on it. All around it though are signs of many battles, from the faintest of marks to what are clearly furrows formed just this morning. Likely this was where those wolfkin made it to before being forced to turn back. Not that anyone will be surprised on this location when they get back to town. The glen of beginnings has long been known as any groups first quest goal. Though what might surprise them is the creature which seems barely hurt from the earlier fight with the wolfkin. Some might call it an amber colored fox. They wouldn¡¯t be wrong. Though as Rosha put it, ¡°By the Gods, that fox is made of amber¡±. Though when Jason takes a closer look, it paints a grimmer picture. ¡°Uh, that isn¡¯t a fox made of amber. It¡¯s was a fox and the bones are still there. I think it might be an undead. I will sneak closer and try to id it.¡± So he crouches down and heads into the trees beside the path. Creeping close until he is in the underbrush that grew up on the edge of the clearing. A bit of observation later and his thoughts are proven right.
Amber Fox A fox that died next to a sappy tree that has grown upon a bloody battlefield. Over a long period with the right conditions the skeleton will be coated with the sap which eventually become amber. The crystalized lifeblood of the tree grown on the blood of sentient will then cause the skeleton to revive. An Amber Foxes first actions in undeath will be to kill the tree that formed it to complete its amber body.
Chapter 21 - Boss Fight After having observed the Amber Fox, Jason sneaks back to the group. ¡°Okay, that is definitely an undead. In fact, it sounds like a rare subtype. Not something we should find in this forest at the very least. Here is what I got.¡± and he sends the description to them, ¡°If there was any doubt before I am 100% certain this is our goal now. Also, while I can¡¯t be certain I think that thing is healing a little fast so we might want to get in there quick.¡± Rosha interjects, ¡°But bosses will heal out of combat. Not exactly a new thing though I assume you saw something to mean it is even beyond that.¡± ¡°Yeah, it wasn¡¯t just healing normally. There was the normal wounds slowly closing stuff. However it looked like there was sap leaking into the wounds and solidifying as well. I think it might have a regen ability.¡± James raises his eyebrow, ¡°You sure this is your first quest? From what I have heard, bosses with regen don¡¯t show up till after your level 10 or you¡¯ve tried cheesing how bosses don¡¯t heal in combat. Anyway, I think we should just go in. If we wipe early then there is enough time to talk about it tonight and try again early tomorrow.¡± Rosha seems to realize something, ¡°We should probably get some contact info from each other. As it is, we can only talk by physically being in the same location. Being able to talk out of game would probably benefit us at some point.¡± ¡°Okay first share contact info then just charging into combat¡±, and then Jason sends a quick irl friend request to the other two. After they accept the group starts down the path. The fox notices them soon after but just ignores them as it obviously guards the flower. Finally when they reach the edge of the clearing it turns to them and positions itself to attack. ¡°James, I will try and tank it so focus on interruptions and healing. I think we will actually need it this time. Rosha, just use James as a shield to start so we can get a feel for this. I plan to dodge tank it though if that falls through I will duck behind you, James. Onward, to Victory!¡± As Jason charges towards the Amber Fox, Rosha can¡¯t help but comment, ¡°I thought we weren¡¯t going to plan¡±, before following James in while holding fire so she doesn¡¯t get aggro. The fox seeing Jason rushing towards it hunches down. Then the Amber on the legs seem light up and it pounces, leaving a trail of sparkling amber dust behind it. Jason unable to react in time can only bring his arms up and let himself fall backward to absorb the shock. *-6* When he crashes onto his back Jason goes into a backward roll and gets his feet under the fox. Then with the momentum kicks the Amber Fox towards James. Seeing the damage Jason took James is about to cast a healing spell. However he decides maybe a shield bash might be better for his own health. With a loud crack of metal on crystal the fox is smashed to the side leaving a spray of amber behind. The partly healed wound on the foxes shoulder seems to crack further as it lands. Quickly recovering Jason gets up and positions himself behind James while waiting to see how the fox responds. When the Amber Fox gets up instead of just charging them again it goes to get between the group and the flower. James takes this chance, ¡°[Heal Minor Wounds]¡±, and a few mystical hand motions he raps his knuckles on Jason¡¯s shoulder. *+3* ¡°Now don¡¯t get hurt too much, a bit of a cool down on that before I can do it again¡±, James states before bring his shield up and prepares to attack. With a flip of his wrist the whip quickly slashes through the air and wraps around the foxes injured leg. The Amber Fox tries to pull its leg free but a quick pull by James, trips the fox before it can react. Rosha takes this chance to join the fight. While the fox is falling over she pulls her bow back and shouts, ¡°[Piercing Shot]¡±. After releasing the arrow it develops a slight glow and seems to start spinning rapidly before impacting the Fox¡¯s, cracked shoulder. The arrow barely manages to penetrate but it widens the crack. No longer missing half his health, Jason strides forth. As the fox gets up he just straight up kicks it in the belly. The Amber Fox turns to him and takes a swipe but Jason pulls his foot back before it can hit. At the same time another arrow shoots in, chipping off the tip of the right ear. As the fox turns to look, Jason extends his foot again in a sidekick pushing the Amber Fox off balance. James takes this chance to wrap the other front leg and trips it once again. Suddenly a glow emanates from the Amber Foxes throat and it releases a roar. A visible shock wave passes through the air and pushes everyone back. Given some space the fox ignores Jason and charges at Rosha. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. James doesn¡¯t take this lightly and quickly slams his shield down and readies himself against the charge. A clang rings out as the Amber Fox collides. With that James gets pushed back a couple steps. *-2* The fox staggers a bit and James takes the chance to use a skill, ¡°[Binding Whip]¡±. A quick thwip and the whip coils around the front legs, holding the fox in place. ¡°Quick, it won''t hold it long¡±, Jame shouts. With that prompt Rosha and James both start just bashing on it. Being right next to it Jason just stomps on its back. Rosha however has to rush out from behind James and she takes this time to draw her daggers. Once she is up and close though those daggers seem to just flash around creating numerous white marks. They actually manage to get a lot of damage done in that short amount of time. However even before the binding skill ends things go sideways. The Amber Fox looked very brittle and then suddenly the amber just seems to explode outward off the skeleton. *-3* Jason grunts as he gets sent back down to half health but stands his ground. *-5* Rosha who had gotten right up in its face with her daggers took the brunt of the blast and was knocked over onto her back. *-1* James on the other hand had already been blocking with his shield and only received glancing blows. The Amber Fox is now standing. Most of the amber has come off the bones but still some remain. Now what was once like a sculpture has taken on a much more undead form. While the bones are still coated, it truly looks like a proper skeleton finally. Then if growls and dashes backward. ¡°James, you¡¯re a full tank now, go guard Rosha as she gets up. Losing it¡¯s coat seems to have upped it¡¯s speed. Rosha, you and me need to be behind his shield right this instant.¡± and Jason quickly moves into a defensive position next to Rosha. James clomps into position as the Fox charges back. Getting into position leaves him open and the Amber Fox gets a series of swipes in on his side. *-1* *-1* *-1* *-1* But he blocks it from getting to Rosha. With this chance she scrambles back up to her feet. Not wanting to get into close melee again she puts equips her daggers onto the bow and unstrings it. Jason and James both take a swing at the Fox to give her the chance. The whip is dodged by the Amber Fox as it is clearly averse to being captured again. However this puts it directly in the way of Jason¡¯s punch. *-1* Jason grunts in pain. Where before it felt almost like a real animal the amber is now rock hard. Being down to only 5hp he ducks behind James and asks him, ¡°Can you heal yet?¡± but a quick head shake shows otherwise. While the boys are playing around Rosha takes the chance and swings her bladed short staff. The Fox moves out of the way but still gets glanced. As it is dodging Rosha reverses the staffs direction and turns the swing into a stab. It connects solidly on the skull of the Fox and leaves a gash on the amber down to the bone. James follows this up with a smack from his shield. However the Amber Fox uses this as a chance to get in under his shield and slashes at him again. *-1* Jason doesn¡¯t take too kindly to this and sends a quick kick to knock the fox away. While this works there doesn¡¯t seem to be any damage. Not taking kindly to this though the Amber Fox gets a swipe in on him as well. *-2* Rosha on the other side of James thus gets a nice big opening to take advantage of it. A hard smash down with the staff and a big chunk of amber on the fox¡¯s head shatters off. James seeing this as a weak spot and slams the butt of his whip down on the same spot and Jason follows it up with an elbow drop. As his elbow impacts it the skull of the Amber Fox just shatters into pieces. At this the group all back up and prepare for any death based hijinks. Luckily nothing seems to happen and Jason lets out a breath he didn¡¯t know he was holding. This had been the closest to death he had been since joining the game. The others are relatively okay but he only has 3 hp left. Not wanting to trigger anything they wait till James has his heal back. *+8* James looks relieved at the amount healed, ¡°There we go, that''s more like it. Honestly 3 hp? Such a bad heal. Even this isn¡¯t that good, just average. Anyway, Jason it is your quest. Go pick that dang flower and we can skedaddle out of here.¡± Jason can only shrug at this. It isn¡¯t like he has all that much hp at the moment. Going over to the flower he carefully scoops the flower up along with some of the soil. Being careful with it he places it in a pouch that Rosha is holding out for it. Finally after all of this the victory screen pops up.
Amber Fox Quest Boss Defeated Amber Fox Defeated 1 Blood Bloom 3 Silver Coins 4 Amber coated claws 2 Amber coated leg bones 6 Medium Uncut Ambers 11 Small Uncut Ambers
Besides this Jason also gets another screen popping up.
Strenuous Dodging +1 Agility
Extreme Damage +1 Toughness +2 Hp
Chapter 22 - Another View While our party is celebrating their victory, we find a familiar group of wolfkin being released from the cities free clinic. The various flunkies are trying to kiss up to their boss when he interrupts them, ¡°SHUT UP! I don¡¯t know about the other two but that human beat us up good. Now not that I don¡¯t want to go and beat them up but you''re forgetting we had just tried to steal a quest boss. Likely that trio are the ones it was for so we need to be careful. If we had beat it, no problem but all it takes is for the guild to realize what we did to ruin us.¡± ¡°Yeah boss! We need to skip town, like pronto. Mama didn¡¯t raise no fool.¡± The boss glares at him, ¡°Did I or did I not tell you to shut up? If we ¡®skipped town¡¯ then they know we did it. Plus it took us too long to find where to offload our more choice items. We can¡¯t stop them from reporting so we need to contact some of those people to take care of them. No matter what proof they have on us, if the accusers aren¡¯t around anymore nothing will happen. Biggest problem is that they seem to be Travellers. Though I know just the right group to take care of them but it will cost a bit.¡± and the scene fades away with the group laughing a little too loudly. Back at our group, we were having a bit more trouble returning than expected. Where before most rabbit groups would just run away, now they all seem to want a piece of our group. Luckily they took the time to rest up before setting off or they might be in trouble. Jason is doing all right despite the rabbits speed. As they were just animals, it is easy for him to see when they will attack. The rest of the group isn¡¯t doing to well though. Rosha is hanging in there as while she isn¡¯t a martial artist she has focused on her agility. The glancing blows still hurt but it isn¡¯t a horn to the gut. James however is experiencing exactly that a bit too much. If it wasn¡¯t for his excellent dwarven made armor and shield he wouldn¡¯t be long for this world. Eventually though they get out of the forest though all of them are below half health. Attrition can be a hard opponent. When they reach the gates a few coins can be seen passing between a couple of the guards. It seems some money was riding on if they would make it back today. As they enter the town one of the guards who had been receiving money goes up to them and congratulates them on their victorious return. Rosha recognizes him as one of the guards that helped them clean up the wolfkin group. Seems he used a bit of inside information to make out quite well. Upon reaching the Guild they find Andrew and Penny waiting for them. Walking towards them Andrew greets them, ¡°Welcome back! We received the notification that you had gotten the flower. Congratulations on your first boss kill even if it was with a team.¡± Penny follows up right behind him, ¡°We heard you got into a little scuffle with the local knobs. Just as a warning they got out from the clinic a bit before you got back. They aren¡¯t the type to take that lying down so be on the lookout. Anyway how did your quest go?¡± The group glanced at each other and eventually Jason comes forward to regale them with their tale. He gets a bit nervous though when he describes how they found the boss. After telling Penny of the damage it had already suffered she puts on a very stern expression. Finally after finishing the tale Rosha comes forward with a couple questions, ¡°So, what was up with the apparent regeneration the Amber Fox had that didn¡¯t seem to do anything in the fight? Also why did everything seem to want our blood on the way back? If we hadn¡¯t healed back up after the boss fight I don¡¯t think we would have made our way to town in one piece.¡± Penny looks a bit awkward, ¡°So uh, it is kind of tradition to not tell people about that last one. It is meant to teach people to always stay alert and not carelessly traipse through a danger zone. Basically until you complete your first quest outside a city, the System has less powerful mob groups leave you alone. I hear long ago new Travellers didn¡¯t aggro things unless they were actively aggressive but that was shut down quick. Too much abuse with people just wandering around death zones.¡± If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Rosha nods, ¡°Okay, so what''s up with the regen.¡± Penny sighs, ¡°So, those wolfkin need a bit of punishment. You don¡¯t fight regenerating enemies this early. They are rare even at level 20, let alone below 10. That wasn¡¯t regeneration. That was the System correcting for outside interference in your quest. The clearing you found is basically THE place to do your first quest in the forest. It has got to where the System doesn¡¯t even bother fixing the terrain damage.¡± Andrew interrupts her at this point, ¡°Long story short, those wolfkin messed with your fox boss and the system was trying to heal it before you got there. Now Penny there has a whole mess of work that needs to be done and you three aren¡¯t allowed to leave town for a few days.¡± Penny glares at him, ¡°Yes that is the short of it. Anyway as you didn¡¯t know, if you mess with a beginner quest like they apparently did the Guild gets a bit huffy. More specifically, they expel you and spread it around to not do business with you. Even Traveller organizations follow them on this so it cuts you off from the civilized world. Anyway don¡¯t worry about randomly messing with a newbie quest. The boss won¡¯t aggro unless you attack it and a warning pops up. This of course means they have no excuse and are probably the source of a few other similar situations we have had recently. I don¡¯t care how big pappa wolf is, that snobbish son of his is going to burn.¡± ¡°So why do we have to hang around town for a bit? We made a team so hitting the forest again for a bit of adventure seemed like a good idea.¡± Penny give Jason an apologetic look, ¡°Well we need you three as witnesses. This isn¡¯t the first time that mutt has gotten in trouble but never on something this big. We want to get each of you to tell your story again before a judge while under a truth spell. With that we can finally get through his diplomatic immunity and question him with a truth spell as well. That stupid wolfkin has gotten out of way too many tight situations by having witnesses disappear and dodging truth spells under the guise of national secrets potentially being spilled.¡± James grimaces at that, ¡°So we need to dodge kidnappers for 3 or so days?¡± Andrews shrugs, ¡°Eh, life happens. You could always hideout in my tower for a while or stay in your own world. However I doubt that will suit you three. After all the System has a nifty quest it wants me to give you. Ahem, ¡®Brave Adventurers. While danger stalks you from the shadows let not this threat cause your path to falter. I have for you three a message in need of delivery. Please deliver this to the towns Guard Captain.¡¯ Don¡¯t look down on this quest though. I really do have a message to deliver. Nevermind that I likely would have sent it in a much securer method that would have likely arrived quicker. The important thing for you guys is that it is actually a chain quest. The System seems to want to test your mettle a bit so you¡¯re going to be spending the next couple days wandering around the town with a flashing ¡®gank me¡¯ sign on your backs. Have fun!¡±
Deliver Andrew¡¯s Message Andrew the crazy Magus wants you to deliver his mail. You probably don¡¯t want to turn this down though you could if you really wanted to. Difficulty: Unknown, Chain Goal: Deliver the letter to the towns Guard Captain without letting the message leak and do it before the trial Rewards: a few coppers, Meet the Guard Captain
¡°Wait a second there! What about our dang reward for the last quest? You know the only reason we ended up traipsing through the woods in the first place? Here¡¯s your damn flower.¡± and Jason tosses the Blood bloom at Andrew. Chapter 23 - Finally the Quest reward Andrew freezes for a moment then a grin spreads across his face, ¡°Right you are lad. It had completely slipped my mind. Penny, get us a private room so we can figure out what is up with Jason and his purity nonsense!¡± ¡°Fine, follow me. All of you actually. Might as well keep the rewards secret for the whole group as I think none of you guys have a normal weapon.¡±, and then after saying that Penny leads the other four down to the training rooms. ¡°So this could be an important secret. We can¡¯t use the highest rank rooms but a B grade should be good enough. Especially with Andrew here to pay for it.¡± Andrew has a bit of a sour face at that but then just sighs and grabs a B rank keystone from the wall. Once inside, he closes the door and turns to the others, ¡°Now for the fun part. Each of you will get a special system generated ¡®weapon¡¯. Starting with you James because despite the uniqueness of your weapon it is relatively boring. I know you had to settle for a normal whip, the armorer is a friend of mine. We like to share stories about interesting whelps like you. Anyway, for those out of the loop his weapon of choice is actually a whip sword. Now System, spit out his weapon so I can show it off.¡± Then he holds his hand out and a blue glow covers it. With shocking speed the glow spreads out into a longsword. It stands proud for a moment only to have it slump over and droop to the floor. Soon after the whip sword is fully revealed. Each segment of the blade seems to made of a mix of Amber and Obsidian.
Living Ambersidian Enchanted Whip Sword Description: A Whip crafted from the segments of a longsword. The original blade was made of a clever mix of a Sapling World Tree¡¯s sap and Lava from a naturally spawned Lesser Lava Elemental to create an almost alive mix of Amber and Obsidian. It has been further enchanted to make the concept of a whip sword work in the first place. Furthermore, an additional effect developed from the mix of the magic and living nature of the Ambersidian Effects: 2 Forms - Whip, Sword Being made of a Living ore, any damage that would destroy it instead has a chance to reduce it to an unusable state while it heals itself. Materials related to it can be used to speed this process up. Sharpness - Increased Bleed chance Quest Reward - Can¡¯t be dropped upon death. If it changes hands lose Quest Reward Effect. Damage: 4d4+4[Slashing] Bonuses: +5 Agility +3[Nature] healing to Healing Spells
Andrew switches the Whip Sword back into its sword form and hands it to James. Turning to Rosha he continues, ¡°And now for your little set of puzzle pieces.¡±, This time he extends both his hands. In one two separate glows form while the other clearly has a bow taking shape. The two glows quickly turn into a pair of curved daggers. One of them appears to have a blade made of bone while the other is clearly Amber. After taking this all in the bow has finished forming. A simple bow that is quite similar to Rosha¡¯s current weapon but the wood is a deep blood red. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Bloodoak Bow with twin curved daggers of Bone and Amber Description: The bow is made of a century old Bloodoak from which an Amber Fox spawned while the daggers have been crafted from the bones and amber of said fox. When equipped together they show a synergistic response and this was further improved through a series of simple enchantments. Effects: 3 Forms - Bow and Daggers, Bladed Bow, and Bladed Staff Bloody Bow - Sacrifice HP for random increase to Penetration and Bleed Chance Bone Dagger - Low Chance to lock up nearest joint Amber Dagger - Increased Bleed chance Linked Source Material - Chance to reduce cost of Bloody, Add conditional Returning Returning - When bow and daggers are all equipped the daggers will return after thrown Quest Reward - Can¡¯t be dropped upon death. If it changes hands lose Quest Reward Effect. Damage: Dagger - 2d4+2 Bow - +5 Bladed Staff - 2d10+4 Bonuses: +10 Agility
Rosha reaches for them but Andrew pulls away. Then with a flourish he connects the daggers to the bow. His movements seem even smoother than Rosha¡¯s and he just follows it up with an even quicker unstringing of the bow into it¡¯s bladed staff form. Nodding in satisfaction he returns it to the bow and dagger form before finally giving it over to Rosha. ¡°Now for the mystery gift.¡±, and Andrew turns to Jason, ¡°Your body is your weapon and that means the System will likely have to do some remodeling. Going to assume that means some pain so hold on to your butt, cause ready or not here it goes!¡±, and a glow envelopes Jason. As the glow flows over his body Jason doesn''t really feel much. If anything it felt somewhat like dipping into a pool at the perfect temp. Then once finally covered the pain comes. At first he couldn¡¯t quite tell where it was coming from but then it was blindingly clear. His bones, they itch and boil. Almost like his skeleton was melting away and at the same time freezing solid. Soon though it stops.
Living Amber Skeletal System Description: This masterpiece of magical items is the opposite of the undead. While undead are the living that are killed and turned into magical items, this is a magical item turned into a living piece of a creature. An intricately carved full skeleton made entirely of Magical Amber. It was then hollowed out leaving just the barest of a lattice work. When magically implanted into the host the bone marrow was grafted into these cavities. Because of difficulties and dangers that appear when trying to enchant a living creature they have instead been imbued with magic. Effects: Sap like Blood - The blood produced by the marrow is more viscous and sticky when it leaves the body. Slower bleed rate and more likely to stop bleeding Crafted Bones - Because of the material and structure, the bones are tougher and can take an impact easier One and the Same - Despite being a magical item they will not show up as a separate item and only appear under the possessors character screen. Any attempt at removal will face the same difficulties as removing a person''s actual bones. Soulbound - Not even death will part you from this item Bonuses: +5 [base] toughness +5 [base] hp
Andrew scratches his head as everyone takes a look at the screen, ¡°Well of all the things. Now this isn¡¯t the first magically grafted items I have seen. However this is the most major modification I know of. People lose and replace the odd arm or leg all the time. However to completely replace a skeleton? Even to the point it affects the blood itself? I just have to say you are incredibly lucky with ¡®One and the Same¡¯ because otherwise people would try to dig these out if only just to study them.¡± Chapter 24 - Why Would We? ¡°So my skeleton is now made of amber? It seems the System really wants to give me some kind of item. I don¡¯t see a downside but what about the rest of you?¡± Penny frowns, ¡°If it was normal amber I would be worried about it shattering or something. As a magic item, especially a living one you should be fine. Probably want to keep it under your hat though. New things always attract unwanted attention.¡± James just shrugs, not really having an opinion. Rosha however speaks up, ¡°Being amber you''re fine but what if it was a metal? Would you be weak to magnetic based stuff? Kind of like that one super hero when faced with the magnet based villain.¡± ¡°Phew, that is a good point. Hopefully the System keeps that in mind for future quest rewards. Though from the bit of research I have done, basic manipulation abilities like that are rare at the lower levels. I should be able to cover for that weakness at higher levels.¡± Penny speaks up again, ¡°magnetic control is quite rare. Not rare enough that if someone wanted to target you, they wouldn¡¯t be able to find some. Amber however is incredibly hard to manipulate. Earth manipulation doesn¡¯t work as it isn¡¯t technically an actual jewel but on the other hand plant manipulation has a hard time doing anything to it as it stopped really being a plant. It would be like trying to manipulate charcoal which is another material in a similar position. Necromancy is ironically the only thing I could think as having any chance of affecting it but yours is living so immune or at the very least highly resistant to it.¡± Andrew this whole time has been spacing out but now he seems to have figured something out. Nodding his head, ¡°I don¡¯t think you need to worry too much about this. If I am right, then manipulating your amber bones would be just as hard as a blood mage manipulating someone else''s blood. It can be done but the mage has to be many levels above the target. At that point you likely wouldn¡¯t have been able to do anything about it. From the little bit of magical poking I did right now, the item has melded with your energy field. It truly is a part of you now. More like an actual organ transplant rather than a prosthetic. A metal mage can manipulate a mechanical arm. However a plant mage can¡¯t manipulate a grafted lifewood arm on a person.¡± ¡°Okay, so what I am getting is everything should be fine. Though natural stuff probably will still trouble me, I won¡¯t need to fear someone ripping my skeleton out. I guess we just need that letter you want delivered and we can see if someone bites.¡± and with that Andrew passes the letter over and our trio leave the Guild. As they walk to the nearest guard post Rosha looks a bit worried, ¡°There aren¡¯t that many ways they could keep us from testifying and death is the simplest. Luckily anything too hardcore is restricted but even ¡®softcore¡¯ torture isn¡¯t exactly fun. Though even tossing us into a prison while tied up and leaving us to starve would be tough on us.¡± James grimaces, ¡°Also that wolfkin probably will not let us off. They can¡¯t keep us in the game forever but the pods only require someone to leave once a week.¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°After we deliver this letter, I think we should all get out real quick before the start of the next bit of the chain quest. While it only kicks you out after a week there is one other condition that lets you drop out. We need to remove some of the nutrient gel so we only have enough to get us through the quest. A week doesn¡¯t sound that bad but it would be over a month in the game.¡± Rosha brightens up, ¡°That is a great idea. Wonder why I haven¡¯t heard of someone doing it before?¡± ¡°Well are you going to go and tell others about it? Because I don¡¯t really plan on spreading it around. Sometimes being able to keep someone from getting the word out about what you¡¯re doing is very important.¡± James nods, ¡°True, though you missed one other option which is likely more common. Just having someone outside to force you out. The bigger guilds probably have all their important people in the same space to keep track of them.¡±, and with that they all sigh. Big groups can really get some advantages that solo players can¡¯t make up for. After that the group lapses into silence. It doesn¡¯t take long after that to reach the guard station. The guards there are relatively helpful after finding out they do have a legitimate deliver quest for the captain. Apparently he will inspect the walls today and they direct our group towards one of the wall stations that he should pass in another hour or so. Then our group has a nice relaxing walk over to the station. Or that is what would have happened if not for a certain guard they didn¡¯t meet who after they left snuck off to inform someone of their plan. That someone proceeded to send out a small group of black wearing kidnappers who ran at high speeds through the back alleys until they reached a point ahead of our group where they hid themselves along a side street. Now as our group approaches the ambush Jason feels something is off. Like in the woods when everything goes quiet he notices that the people ahead quieted down. Not only that but they seem to all be avoiding a certain side street up ahead. After informing his teammates of this irregularity they all decide that something is up and they don¡¯t want a part. A quick turn down another road and the ambush is avoided. However they still have a distance to go and a spotter can be seen going to inform the kidnappers of the change in course. Not having any real choice the men decide on a more straightforward snatch and grab. With not much distance left before the wall all these men can do is set up in the middle of the road along the way our group is going. Soon the road is clear and even the shops along it have closed as clearly something is going down. Finally our group approaches them and before they turn down another road, the men shout at them, ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you three even think of leaving. If you make us chase you, we might get a bit rough when we catch up to you!¡± The group pauses and Jason quirks his eyebrow, ¡°Like you weren¡¯t going to anyway?¡±, and with that they just take off running. At least that is what it seems like they are doing. In actuality once out of sight they hide behind a abandoned store stall. All the townsfolk who see what is going on quickly make themselves scarce as well. Moments later the group of kidnappers runs by shouting obscenities. Soon after a small ratkin in similar clothes rushes by almost without any sound. The team waits just until the ratkin is out of view before sneaking back around the corner and then taking off in a run towards the town wall. They do manage to make it to the guard station but this time they are paying more attention and manage to catch a nearby idler sneak off after they arrive. It seems the game is very much afoot. Chapter 25 - Meeting the Captain As the group waits for the guard James goes over their current situation, ¡°So they know we managed to get here despite the goons. Likely next time they will have better idiots to try and catch us. The only thing we got on them at the moment is they shouldn¡¯t know our next step.¡± ¡°True but I don¡¯t trust the guards here to not be in their pocket.¡± Rosha quirks her head, ¡°Well then we just have to make sure no one else hears our destination. Our biggest problem might be getting the captain to go along with it. After all, he might trust his guards on the wall.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°I really don¡¯t want him to consider us obnoxiously paranoid. Having a good connection here will at least be a nice reference when ever we head out to bigger places.¡± James nods in agreement, ¡°Well there isn¡¯t really anything we can do till he gets here¡± After the group falls to silence time passes. About half an hour later they see a group of guards approaching with a stout dwarf at the front leading them. The dwarfs uniform looking almost like the others except for a few medals. Across his back a large axe meant to be wielded with two hands can be seen as he turns and talks to some of the guards at attention along the wall. Clearly this is the person they are here to see. When the dwarf reaches the station, it is clear he is ignoring the group. Rosha looks like she is going to speak up but both James and Jason put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. As this is happening the dwarf goes around to each of the guards. Occasionally pointing out something out of place or wrong but never spending but a few moments on each. Soon he is done with the 10 or so guards currently at the station. Then he turns to our group, ¡°Aye, nice to see some people have a bit of patience. I never know when it comes to you Traveller types. Especially the ones that Andrew sends my way. Now from my understanding you¡¯ve got a note for me as well as being potential solutions to that flea-bitten wolfkin Dale and his insufferable get out of jail free card?¡± The group share a look and with a nod from the others James steps forward, ¡°We do have a note for the guard captain and as soon as you provide proof of your identity we will gladly hand it over. Our trip was less than trouble free as it seems some people don¡¯t want us to be in town a few days from now.¡± The dwarf barks out a laugh, ¡°Hahahaha, so young and you''re already doubting the world. Good on ya. I¡¯ve had enough notes meant for my eyes only end up in the hands of others. Luckily it isn¡¯t like we send anything truly important in such an easy to intercept way.¡± James raises his eyebrow, ¡°Id sir?¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. With a glint in his eye the dwarf beckons them over to [Observe] his badge. It seems they passed some sort of test. After checking the badge a system message pops up informing that the dwarf is Rosswood Bronzebeard and the Captain of the Guard for the town. The captain seems to get a notification himself about the badge being observed. Once everyone has looked, he beckons them to an office, ¡°Call me Ross. Anway come into this office and we can get down business.¡± Following him in the group is greeted by a very dull room. The walls and floor are bare stone. Off in the corner is a coat rack of sorts that is clearly meant to hold more heavy duty equipment. Dominating the center is a desk and a hard-backed chair. While made of wood they are clearly meant to last above anything as silly as comfort or aesthetics. After confirming the group followed him in Ross sits at the desk and folds his hands, ¡°Now you had a message for me?¡± James takes out the message but before passing it to him looks at the door and back to the captain, ¡°Before we finish this quest and get info on what''s next my group has a worry. On the way here we got intercepted quite quickly. When we did finally arrive here one of the people just hanging around the station slinked off. Do you have anyway to guarantee our conversation stays between us?¡± Ross quirks his head, ¡°While I could trust my troops with my life I can see where you are coming from. Especially when dealing with an enemy with a lot of political clout behind them. Sadly we are not at the guards headquarters or else we would be in my personal office. There I have magic formations and other such tricks to keep our secrets close. Instead I can get someone to watch the door and keep people away. The person has a lot of my trust but I guess you do never know. Sadly it''s either that or just hoping no one listens at the door.¡± James looks back at the others. Both Jason and Rosha kind of shrug. It isn¡¯t like they have a better suggestion so James gives Ross the go ahead. With that the captain leaves the room for a moment before coming back with a middle aged human. After the human takes up a position outside the room, the captain goes back to his seat and gestures at the note. James hands the letter over, receiving the coppers promised by the quest. Ross after receiving the note opens it and takes a glance at it, ¡°Yep, about what I expected. Just a moment¡±, and he takes a piece of paper out before scribbling something on it quickly, ¡°There we go. Now your group can take this new note over to the local church of truth. When you get there they will want you to sign some legal paperwork stating you permit them to question you under a truth spell for legal purposes. Yes I see those looks, we have paperwork like that. Now get a move on. Even without my troops or nearby scum tipping them off you will likely get intercepted on the way there.¡±
Quest Update Having delivered Andrews letter to the Guard Captain you are now tasked with delivering another note. This time to the Church of Truth. Once there you will be forced to face the bane of all adventurers, paperwork. Goal: Deliver the Guard Captain¡¯s note to the Church of Truth and sign some paperwork Reward: a few coppers and the next step to the quest.
Chapter 26 - To the Docks? After the group accepts his quest Ross nods, ¡°Good, now get out of here. The quicker you leave the less they will be able to prepare for you.¡± As he says this, he isn¡¯t just sitting at his desk though. He stands up and walks towards the door and his voice goes quieter the closer he gets to it. Then he yanks the door open. To everyone¡¯s pleasant surprise the young man is actually still standing at attention a small distance away from the door. Ross turns back to the group, ¡°Well looks like you might have a bit of time to get there ahead of them. You might want to run though, it¡¯s a distance to the dock.¡± and with a wink and nod he shows them out. Taking his advice our team decides to make haste so a short goodbye and they are off. As they rush through the streets, their enemies seem to have given up on stealth. Everywhere they pass either loud whistles or occasionally flares of magic pop up. It doesn¡¯t take long before small groups of thugs try to block their path. Avoiding them won¡¯t be an option this time. They do run past the first group but the next has started to block the road. Luckily this is distracting them a bit. Rosha picks up a bit of speed while drawing her daggers. As the elf closest to them looks up she slams her back into him before slipping past him with a duck and a spin. The elf stands there for a moment before falling over. A tendon in his leg cut. With that James is able to run through the gap while Jason just vaults the blockade. Next group though isn¡¯t going down that easy. The blockades are set and five thugs are at ready. At the forefront a dwarf stands in a piecemeal set of iron armor. To his sides a couple of elven mages are at ready. Finally off to one side barely in the shadows are a couple of small men that might be some form of kin. They seem ready for some sort of set piece fight. Not wanting to give them that the group just charges straight in. Jason in front this time, leading with a flying kick at one of the elves. A glowing bubble pops up around the elf in time. The bubble shatters but it stopped his kick long enough to let the elf dodge, or that was the plan but James¡¯s whip sword comes in catching his leg. With the elf now on the floor and out of the way Jason continues over him. Then he uses the barricade to jump at the other elf, completely ignoring the dwarf. Not expecting a kick to the back of the head the other elf isn¡¯t able to dodge and gets knocked out. While this is happening Rosha takes the time to ready her bow and aim it at the two in the shadows. Not wanting to be sitting ducks the two scatter. With a smirk Rosha quickly swings her bow around and takes a shot at the dwarf instead. While the arrow does just clink off his helm the dwarf closes his eyes in reaction. This gives James a chance to get into melee range. His whip sword retracting back in time for him to take a swing. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. The conscious elf takes this time to cast a spell from the ground. An array of glass shards shimmer into existences before streaming towards Rosha forcing her to duck and roll. Still as she comes up to her feet her back is covered in slashes which start to bleed. Using the momentum from the roll she continues forward while taking out a dagger. With a quick action she attaches the single dagger onto the bow before whipping it around taking a slash at the elf. As the blade approaches the downed elf, he tries to crawl backward to avoid it. However Rosha does something and the string releases from her end and the dagger whips forward. This unexpected speed lets her slash the elf¡¯s neck. Following through she continues to swing the now spear around and once it is pointing at the dwarf grabs it with her other hand and thrusts. Jason on the other side has finished off the downed elf and is about to join her in the attack. However from the shadows the two men from the other side jump out at him. Jason had already committed to attacking and is unable to stop at this point. Just in time though he swings his arm around and slams it into both of the short swords that are coming at him. *-7* *-6* Massive damage numbers pop up over his head but the blades are stopped by his bones. Using the force Jason rolls backward away from the fight. With this Rosha is able to take over tanking the dwarf while James blocks the two men. Jason luckily didn¡¯t need the potions during their boss fight. Pulling one out he pops the cork and downs the whole thing. *+12* It manages to bring him almost back to full. No longer taking this fight lightly Jason approaches the dwarf. Rosha is holding him back with her spear when he gets there. Not stopping at all or fearing the dwarfs sword and board he wades right in. The dwarf stabs at him but Jason will have none of it. He just grabs the sword. *-3* With his other hand he wrenches the shield to the side and kicks the dwarf in the face. As his head snaps back Jason thrusts, a knife hand strike right into the exposed throat. While not killing the dwarf it takes him out of the fight. When the two remaining guys see their last teammate fall they quickly disengage James and fade into the shadows. With nothing blocking them the group doesn¡¯t even wait for the victory screen before they start running again. As they rush off Jason¡¯s hand stops bleeding. *+1* The group is almost halfway to the docks. They hadn¡¯t seen any other groups though a few abandoned barricades means a big battle is likely ahead. At least that is what their enemies had planned. Likely would have worked too if the groups target was the docks. They can see a big group not to far ahead but the thugs can only be disappointed. The group slows to a walk and with a calm wave our group turns into the Church of Truth. Chapter 27 - An angel and some chatter On the outside the Church of Truth had looked normal. Fitting in quite nicely with the rest of the buildings in the area. However once our group stepped inside a completely different view greets them. The entrance hall before them is the epitome of a silver lining. On the side are Greek style pillars made of marble with silver trim. In the center there is a bunch of couches to use while waiting with silver tassels. At the back it even appears that the reception desk is made entirely of silver. Though it isn¡¯t until Rosha takes a glance up that they notice the most impressive feature. Jason is just standing there, taking in the surrounding scene when he feels a tug on his elbow. Rosha is trying to get his and James¡¯s attention and once she has it a quick point upward shows him why. On the vaulted ceiling above is a mural the likes of which he had only seen in the oldest churches during history class. Even more impressive is it seems to only use silver and yet still shows a massive scene through the interplay of shadows and textures. It takes a while but eventually our group gets distracted from the scene. The System finally seems to admit they are out of combat and the victory screen pops up that they had previous bypassed.
Escape Successful 23 kidnappers avoided 2 kidnappers incapacitated 4 kidnappers killed 3 silver coins 11 copper coins
Near Death Experience +10 HP +2 Toughness
Sustained Sprint +3 Toughness +1 Strength
James and Jason both seem quite immersed in their screens. Apparently something important was gained for both of them. Rosha however isn¡¯t and slaps them both on the back of the head, ¡°We¡¯re here you idiots. Time enough to stare into space later.¡± and she drags them both towards the reception desk. Behind the desk is an angel with silver hair and wearing a silver dress. As the group approaches, she greets them though it quickly devolves into a bit of a rant, ¡°Welcome to the Church of Truth. As you¡¯re new let me inform you right up front, we don¡¯t do healing here. Yes I know our churches offer it in bigger towns but we don¡¯t have enough divine casters here to cover that and our actual work.¡± This outburst stops Rosha in her tracks. Not exactly what she was expecting from an angel. James nudges her to the side and takes over, ¡°Well luckily we are here to turn in a quest and not get healing. In fact we just need to deliver a letter from the captain of the guard though we will need to wait for a response of some sort. Chain quests never end this easily.¡±, Then he holds out the note so as to show the angel who it is addressed to. The angel pauses and takes a deep breath. Looking a bit calmer it responds, ¡°Ah, okay I will call¡±, and it checks the note, ¡°the head of our magical truth department. He is currently¡±, and the angel pulls a planner out of the air. It takes a few moments to flip through the pages before continuing, ¡°in a meeting with some of the other heads but they should wrap up soon. You will need to wait about 10 minutes before he is free. Please proceed through the doorway behind me to the waiting lounge. While the silver looks splendid, I find most people prefer wood panelling and plush leather chairs. Oh and yeah, sorry about the rant. Some days it seems every other request is about healing.¡± and with that the angel motions the group through what they only now realize is a doorway and not a fancy mural. 0nce in the lounge Rosha turns to the other two, ¡°Okay what so enthralled you about your victory screens? Though feel free to keep it on the down-low. Even if we are in the Church of Truth and they have tighter vows on keeping personal secrets than doctors.¡± James shakes his head, ¡°In the long run not much for me. A skill ranked up and I got a bit of a treat with it.¡± Then he turns towards Jason, ¡°You however seem to have all kinds of weird stuff happen to you. Do you feel all right telling us what''s up?¡± With a sheepish grin Jason decides to speak up, ¡°Well I just almost doubled my Hp. Mind you it was under the nice big bold lettered words of ¡®Near Death Experience¡¯ so difficult to repeat. Also it isn¡¯t quite like one of you getting it. This bonus puts me more inline with my level.¡± Rosha looks suitably impressed by this revelation, ¡°You did get right up in death''s face there. Do you think your new skeletal prowess helped you not lose an arm? Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°Not with the big damage blow. It was strong but not completely chop an arm off strong. I don¡¯t think they wanted any of us dead. Never know where we might have our spawn points set after all. Though back to the topic of my skeleton it very much is why I was willing to just grab the sword. I probably would have lost a finger otherwise.¡±, though at this point he runs his hand through his hair and flashes a sheepish grin, ¡°Not that I knew it at the time. I got a little reactive there.¡± James sighs, ¡°They definitely wanted us captured and not killed. Just me alone would be a problem as they don¡¯t know if I still have my spawn set to be the dwarven outpost. If it was a dead or alive sort of thing they would have sent people past the first bottleneck. Though luckily they don¡¯t have any professional kidnappers in whatever organization they have after us. Otherwise they might have been able to send some level 49 monsters packed to the gill with CC skills and spells.¡± Rosha seems to nod in agreement but Jason cuts her off, ¡°Don¡¯t count on that. What we saw isn¡¯t the most they can send at us. Likely all we saw was what they were paid to send after us. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if this was a regional thieves or assassins guild. The wolfkin brat probably hasn¡¯t even told his father yet. What we just saw might be the equivalent of that group throwing their pocket change at us. On the final day we probably will need some serious protection. That is when his father will likely be informed and we get to truly experience what throwing money at a problem is like.¡± After thinking about it they all agree that is the most likely situation. Though now that they got the heavy stuff out of the way the group settles down for some light chatter. With that the ten minutes are finally up and they are called into a meeting room. As they are heading there though Jason remembers he hasn¡¯t looked at his screen in a while and pops it up to take a glance at it.
Basic Info
Name: Jason Level: 3 - 98%
Legal Status: New Player Title: N/A
Normal Stats
Strength 26 (12[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set])
Toughness 31 (17[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set])
Agility 26 (12[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set])
Auxiliary Stats
Defense 42 (30[Eq] +12[Set])
HP 24
Energy 3
Bonuses
Knowledge Bonus: +1% success rate when using an Energy Herb as an ingredient or growing one. Ability to identify the maturity of a Herb with relevant Identify skills Discovery Bonus: +1% success rate when using an Energy Herb or growing one Able to get a feeling for maturity of a Herb without a skill Control of Experience intake
Living Amber Skeletal System Description: This masterpiece of magical items is the opposite of the undead. While undead are the living that are killed and turned into magical items, this is a magical item turned into a living piece of a creature. An intricately carved full skeleton made entirely of Magical Amber. It was then hollowed out leaving just the barest of a lattice work. When magically implanted into the host the bone marrow was grafted into these cavities. Because of difficulties and dangers that appear when trying to enchant a living creature they have instead been imbued with magic. Effects: Sap like Blood - The blood produced by the marrow is more viscous and sticky when it leaves the body. Slower bleed rate and more likely to stop bleeding Crafted Bones - Because of the material and structure, the bones are tougher and can take an impact easier One and the Same - Despite being a magical item they will not show up as a separate item and only appear under the possessors character screen. Any attempt at removal will face the same difficulties as removing a person''s actual bones. Soulbound - Not even death will part you from this item Bonuses: +5 [base] toughness +5 [base] hp
Organizations
Adventurers Guild Basic Member Rank F
Odd Ones Out Team Member Leader
Chapter 28 - Wasting Time on Paperwork Once in the room they meet the person they need to deliver the letter to. Though ¡®person¡¯ is more accurate than they expected. They can¡¯t tell the race or gender as there seems to be some sort of magic blocking such identification. Expecting their reactions the being explains, ¡°All those who belong to my Department are veiled by our God from other¡¯s eyes. This is to preserve our neutral stance for all we care about is the truth. How can we do our job if we have to worry about a disgruntled criminal attacking us or our loved ones? Anyway, I am told you have a note for me? Here is my identification.¡±, and he shows an Id screen similar to the guard captains though this one has only the position on it. After confirming the being is head of the Magical Truth Department James steps forward and exchanges the note for a few more copper. Though even the simple action of being handed, a note creeps the party out. The godly enchantment causes them to even be able to tell how the being is grabbing it. Temporary flashes of all kinds of possibilities flash through their minds. How could they even guess? It might be with a hand, a tentacle, maybe even its mouth, or potentially something beyond their wildest imaginations. Luckily the feeling passes as the being places the note on the table. Their minds no longer having to guess what is happening. A brief pause happens while the being is likely examining the note. Finally it speaks up, ¡°The captain wants to break protocol and get your statements taken now. In a normal case I would deny such a request. However this time the situation involves that wolf pup. Not only has he wilfully twisted the truth in a court of law. There is even the suspicion of silencing of the truth for him by the father. Even then we might have denied this request. However you three are travellers and it is a long standing tradition of our church to expedite all matters involving such things. Your kind has an almost supernatural ability to twist the truth even with your presence.¡± The group can¡¯t help but look sheepish at that. Eventually Jason steps forward, ¡°So what do we need to do for this? Does the statement just work at the court or do we still need to be there as well? We suspect that on the day of we will face the fathers resources instead of just the pup¡¯s¡± The being does something in agreement that everyone¡¯s mind recoils from trying to figure out. Then it speaks up, ¡°Sadly you will have to show up even if it is just to confirm that is your statement. A stupid part of my groups neutrality is that we cannot personally vouch for previously said things. I can understand why. Time can change even truth. The day before someone saying they are 17 could be false the day of. What my group is willing to offer however is a safe haven. The System however decided we could only protect you on the day of the trial. This of course means you need to survive tomorrow on your own. We will pick you up right at midnight if you haven¡¯t been caught or killed. All I can suggest is hiding in the forest so it costs more to try and catch you. Oh and because of our ¡®position¡¯ in the court we have the exclusive right to run a blink formation. You can use it to leave and your group will be placed randomly within the city.¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Rosha blinks a few times. That was unexpected as they had assumed the System wouldn¡¯t allow any help. Not much else to really say so she brings up the next matter, ¡°How do we give our statements? As I understand it, there will be some paperwork involved as well.¡± The being takes a moment to think before answering, ¡°Why yes there is paperwork. Though I will warn you, all papers must be submitted before the front desk closes tonight. While the church will still be open for the taking of statements, we won¡¯t be able to do so without the paperwork and the System won¡¯t allow us to let you back in tomorrow. So no matter how long you take to sign the agreement make sure it is done before then. As for the statement that is simple. In the presence of one the clerics in my Department while they channel our God¡¯s power, tell us what happened. We will use a cheap magic quartz to record what you say and later on tomorrow we will have a scribe transcribe it. Oh and we need each of you to be in a separate room so your statements will not be affected by the others. Anyway you can leave the way you came in and the angel at the front will give you the paperwork. I would show you out but we need you sane for the trial.¡± The group can only agree with that last bit and hurry out of the room and back to the entrance hall. The angel has a small knowing smile as it watches them rush back into the room. However it keeps things professional and just hands them the paperwork that was needed. Then we wait, or more specifically the team reads through the paperwork, signs it, and then waits till just before the desk closes to hand it in. They would be blind to miss what the Head of the Magical Truth Department was trying to tell them. The church can¡¯t protect them but no one was likely to make a mess in the actual temple grounds. Now with the paperwork filed each person is guided to a different room. Mostly the statements they give are the same but for a few key differences. Jason who had snuck up and observed the Amber Fox brought up that it had many mostly healed scratch marks all over its flanks. Rosha noted that on the way to the clearing there was only one other set of tracks going to and from it. James however had an important if speculative point. The big wound on the shoulder of the Fox seemed to matched one of the weapons a wolfkin in the opposing group had strapped to their back. Also the weapon wasn¡¯t being used and seemed much to unwieldy for normal use. He would have gone into his theory for why that was so but the priest stopped him as they only allowed direct truths or the statement would be thrown out. With all of their statements taken they are ushered through the building. In the very middle of the temple was a fortified room with a very complex formation. Runes glowed on all surfaces and even in the air. Everyone whether they used Mana, Qi, or even Jason¡¯s Energy felt as if the air was charged. If the group had check their status, they would have noticed that any energy generation was doubled, even stamina. They don¡¯t get long to appreciate this feeling as the angel who guided shoves them in. A flash of light and their stomachs trying to invert before they appear in an alley. Rosha takes a peak out and finds they ended up a few streets from the gate to the forest. Chapter 29 - Pigs and Squirrels Being placed near the docks works fine for our group. It costs them a silver each but a fisherman agrees to drop them off at turtle beach. From there they slip into the forest and out of sight. Not that they assume this will shake their enemies. After all, they don¡¯t have a way to counter any tracking spells. With that in mind Jason leads them along the half remember path he took way back. This takes them a good distance in before they find their first encounter. Like what Jason ran into last time it is a boar type animal but this one is quite the rarity. The animal looks mostly normal but on its back are a pair of hilariously small butterfly wings. Quite the catch in normal circumstances the Pixy Pig is going to cause a bit of trouble for our group. It charges right at James the moment it sees him. Jason and Rosha, both ignored, take the chance to scatter to the sides. James however prepares to take it head on. Still a good distance away the Pixy Pig jumps. The wings on its back flap fiercely, speeding up the charge. Knowing this was coming though allowed James to slant his shield under it. When he feels the impact instead of trying to resist, with a quick lean back and pop of the shield the Pixy Pig is tossed over his back. At this the Pixy Pig stops and drops to the ground. The wings not quite able to provide lift but the magic still providing some control. The Pixy Pig turns back towards James in a huff only to feel a large weight drop on its back. Jason took this time to scamper up a tree and jump onto it. Once there he takes a firm grip on the wings and rips them off. Now having done what he wanted Jason leaps off rolling on the ground a few times. Losing its wings so suddenly the Pixy Pig is enraged. It would have charged over and trampled him if it wasn¡¯t for a whip wrapped around its hoof. Rosha takes this chance of it not moving to fire a [Piercing Shot] taking it unaware. With the Pixy Pig having focused on Jason she was even able to aim it at the eye. A chime rings out for her like she had set it to do for fatal shots and the Pixy Pig keels over. The victory screen comes up but they hardly glance at it. While the fight didn¡¯t take more than a minute, noise from it would have reached the beach. In fact the party glimpses a flare spell go up from that direction. Taking this as a sign they continue but this time at an angle to their previous course. As they run Jason can¡¯t help but feel a shiver of realization. If he had run into one the first time here that would have been the end of him. The wings might not allow flight but a good jump would be completely possible. Soon he is taken out of his thoughts as they once again change directions. This time heading diagonally to the previous direction, This will actually bring them closer to the beach. They just hope that the flare will have concentrated the search elsewhere. After ten or so minutes and numerous more direction changes they seem to have lost any pursuit. As they take a moment to rest Rosha takes a chance to get her bearings. After surveying the area she turns to the group, ¡°I know where we are in the forest. If we head that way there is a hidden hunters hut. My instructors told me of a few since they knew I would be going into the forest ¡®before my time¡¯. They likely meant it as a place to hide from wild animals or spend the night. I think we can at least use it for that last one. Each one has a simple formation to obscure the presence of anyone inside. It will be fine for the night but after that it would need to recharge. All we need is to cover our tracks from here.¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. James just looks at his armor, ¡°So you be expecting me to sneak?¡± Rosha shakes her head, ¡°Not sneak, cover our tracks. I know part of your kit is snowshoes. Dwarfs tend to live around mountains and deep snow can be a problem for you vertically challenged folk. My research shows no one gets out of a dwarven base without a pair. Snow might be lacking but they will disperse your weight and make it easier for me to erase your tracks.¡± James gives her a look before taking out a pair of snowshoes to put on. Jason to the side flashes a toothy smile before asking, ¡°Do you have any special tricks for me?¡± Not saying a word she heads over to a nearby tree and snaps off a few branches. After handing them to him she responds with her own smile, ¡°Sweep till it looks natural of course. Luckily we are far enough there isn¡¯t too much ground cover. If you can take care of yourself, I will deal with the dwarf.¡± Not taking the bundle Jason walks around her. Rosha tries to stay focused on him but he seems to just end up in her blind spot. After he is back to where he started a simple point at the ground shocks her. Despite having seen Jason walk around her, there aren¡¯t any tracks. Rosha looks up and glares at him. With a shrug he informs her, ¡°I trained irl to be stealthy. Anyone with good skill and they would find my path but I don¡¯t think that is who they sent our way. Likely just a bunch of city folk coming our way. With a sigh of defeat Rosha heads over to follow behind James. Now with the break done they continue towards the hut. Jason actually takes the lead at this point. Good thing too as halfway there he spots a scurry of squirrels. Normally not a problem except this time they are all using needle-sharp teeth to tear into a wolf corpse. Their research on the forest had mentioned tribes of carnivorous squirrels but normally they stayed closer to the goblins. After informing the group all they can do is take a wide detour around them. A single one isn¡¯t a problem. However unlike normal squirrels the carnivorous kind are very social. If they killed even one, then the group wouldn¡¯t give up chasing them till they all were dead. As they sneak around the scurry there are a few close moments. A small rustle in the leaves is sometimes all the group has to alert them to a furry presence above. Finally though they make it around. A short distance later the hut comes into view. Though calling it a hut might be exaggerating. In reality someone probably just found four trees growing in a rectangle and threw some walls up. There isn¡¯t even a ceiling. The group wouldn¡¯t have believed this was the right spot if it wasn¡¯t for the fact they walked past it five times already. Even with Rosha¡¯s exacting directions to find it the place remained hidden. Taking this as a good sign they enter it and bed down for the night. Tomorrow would be a busy day of running and fighting. Chapter 30 - Forest Knock Out Morning dawned and everyone woke up from a good night¡¯s sleep. Rested and ready to face the day. Well, the people back in town do. Our group however is all cranky from sleeping on tree roots all night. They are getting ready to leave only needing a few more minutes. Then a crackle followed by the smell of ozone points out that they are no longer protected by the hut¡¯s enchantment. As the last bits and bobs are gathered, they can hear shouts in the distance. Everyone sighs and heads off at a jog. The first hour goes by relatively quietly. Mostly running and hiding from mooks. After that things kicked into high gear. Instead of single foes the enemies have grouped together. Whatever it was the increased density forced a fight. Dodging a group of seven humans was the correct choice but it did put them up against a handful of wolfkin. The only thing going for our group is conveniently voiced as the fight starts, ¡°Guy¡¯s, the targets are there! Keep the fight on the down low and we might be able to get the whole reward for ourselves!¡± Hearing this Jason and the rest can¡¯t help silently cheering to themselves. Apparently the pup didn¡¯t have enough to pay everyone. While an open hit on the group might attract more people to chase them. With only the people who capture them getting paid the groups are likely to have infighting. With that revelation in mind everyone goes quiet as the wolfkin charge at them. They line up, ready to take the charge when suddenly Jason and Rosha dart to the sides. Not being the most organized of groups the wolfkin split up instead of just taking out James. Rosha has it easiest with only one going after her. As it turns to follow her the wolfkin loses all the speed from its charge. Not one to let any advantage go Rosha fires off a quick arrow while running. A loud thunk and the arrow imbeds itself in the left arm. She clicks her tongue. Even aiming at the center of mass she almost missed. On the other side Jason attracted 3 of the wolfkin. From the chatter it sounds like capturing him is worth more than the others. He can only shake his head. Smacking down that pup masquerading as a leader put a target on his head. Not liking his odds with going off on his own Jason turns back. Bringing his hands up he counter charges. The three mooks coming at him bring their weapons up to block. Jason smiles, instead of using his hands to attack our hero drops to the ground with a leg sweep. A gray wolfkin hops over it though he is off balance. The other two get knocked over and they fall forward. One, a female, goes into a quick roll. She isn¡¯t able to stop and ends up a distance away. The other wolfkin face plants. To the fallen one Jason simply gives a sharp chop to the back of the head knocking it out. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. James is on easy mode. If the wolfkin coming at him wasn¡¯t the leader of the group and a bit more competent, it would be over already. The leader has an actual weapon instead of just his claws keeping the two at a standstill. They trade blows back and forth. James blocking and the leader dodging. Then the leader takes a blunt arrow to the head knocking him out. Rosha took a chance and instead of attacking her opponent decided to help. With the leader knocked out it frees James to go and help Jason. This bit of help though opened up Rosha and she barely dodges a swipe. She snarls at the wolfkin, ¡°Two of you are already finished.¡± She gives him a smirk as she whips out a dagger. The wolfkin backs up in defense. Then he falls over unconscious. Standing behind him we see James also smirking. He had only started to go help Jason. When the wolfkin looked away, he snuck behind it. Instead of using his whip normally James reversed his grip and gave a solid bash to the back of the skull with the butt of the whip. With the rest of their team downed, the girl and the gray wolfkin start running away. Jason tackles the gray one who was standing near him. As they wrestle the girl is getting away. At least that is what she hopes. Rosha however crushes that hope and drops her with another blunt arrow to the head. She might not be that good at shooting on the run but give her the chance to aim and she is deadly. Finally James knocks the gray one out as Jason holds him still. The team is off again. A couple of similar encounters happen though with less enemies. Eventually though it seems the organizers of this hunt have tired of the infighting. Finally after being able to quietly take down so many groups the last one shouted. The rules of reward have changed. Now there is a reward for whoever finds them first when they get captured. With this change in rewards the group runs into a lot more lone enemies. The first one they tried to avoid. Sadly the rabbitkin while not able to beat them was faster than the group. Instead of going for the capture all he did was stay near them while shouting to the world their location. Not being able to shake him Rosha fires a shot. The arrow is dodged but James follows up with his whip. As the rabbitkin trips Jason goes for another knockout chop. Things just get harder as more spotters start searching. Eventually after lunch time the group manages to get some breathing room. With that space they decide to go about their escape with more information. That in mind the next spotter isn¡¯t left behind. Everyone agreed that they wouldn¡¯t use torture. However as Jason pointed out, the elf they caught wouldn¡¯t know that. Now looking for somewhere to hide they find a stream. While not that big the brush next to it has grown big. James places the elf on the ground and then Rosha ties him up. Chapter 31 - Lets Just Hide The questioning of their captive actually goes smoothly. Apparently paying what is this worlds equivalent of minimum wage doesn¡¯t engender loyalty. They didn¡¯t actually even threaten him. The fact they could capture him so easily was enough to get him talking and talk he did. ¡°So like, the guy sort of just opened up a free-for-all bounty. Now if he had been willing to pay you all be caught before ya know it. Like for three times what up for offer and the Cooperative all us types got going would have really let us go ham. As is only a few of us can get in on it at any time. With your knock and leave strategy there hasn¡¯t been any need to up the amount nor skill of those coming in. Been knocking a few groups down a peg or two and honestly they could use it. Though I must admit being on this side of it isn¡¯t too fun. All that aside with such little reward on the line the ones leading us are only using a special method every hour or so to assure you''re still in the forest and get your general direction. Not that it is helping much. You''re moving around so much and all. Expected but once again if the guy wanted results the fool should actually put up some cash.¡± He would have probably gone on a while longer however James just knocked him out as he took a breath. Rosha and Jason both sigh in relief as they toss him out of the bush and high tail it out of there. ¡°The punk was likely trying to delay them so we got caught on the next sweep by whatever magic item was divining our location. If he is willing to try that the sweep must be soon. The moment we hear another group we need to change directions.¡± Rosha waves her hand around, ¡°Yeah, yeah, we knew that already. How else would they have been tracking us so well? Though now we do know they only get a general direction about once an hour. If they¡¯re smart, then it isn¡¯t exactly that. Actually scratch that if they can control this many people they are smart enough so let''s go with motivated. If they are Motivated enough to bother not doing more than firing it off when the cool down is up we can bracket that hour with plus or minus about 10 minutes. Thinking about it, I for some reason doubt the pay is enough to bother. Instead let''s say an hour plus a few minutes or so to represent them not paying attention to the cooldown and the brat having to remind them. Also I will bet that guy was a player like us so he can leave on a whim so won''t be too hurt by spilling the beans. That means he has access to the system time.¡± James raises his eyebrow, ¡°A lot of assumptions there. Though I see where you are going with that. He would have played the silent act a bit if the sweep time was far off. In fact it probably happened before he woke up and he was hoping someone was nearby to receive the directions. Though I will note that it wouldn¡¯t matter if he was a player or native. While we get a nice visual time display, the npcs that live in an area with an accurate method of time keeping all get a time sense skill from the System to keep things fair.¡± Jason chips in at this point, ¡°Okay so while we can¡¯t have an accurate guess of when the sweep will happen it is safe to guess it just happened. With that in mind it will happen again between 40 and 60 minutes from now. Right now it is only two in the afternoon so we have another ten hours to go with this cat-and-mouse game. We do know that the shelter last night protected us but it is not like we can just hole up for another 10 hours and wait this out.¡± The conversation stops and becomes a stunned silence broken only by their rapid footsteps. Finally Rosha speaks up, ¡°So I think the protection only lasts about 8 hours. My teacher warned not to use them too much. However that was more about not depending on outside help for hunting. We shouldn¡¯t use one for the remaining two hours of time. If only so the Church of Truth can find us. Also I am willing to bet they have a better method of scrying us.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Jason shrugs, ¡°I think we should stick around for the next sweep before heading towards the closest shelter. That way we are out and about during the last hour for the church to find us but after the scrying sweep. These mooks aren¡¯t bad at tracking people but the forest isn¡¯t their strong point.¡± The others have nothing to add to the new plan so things once again go quiet as they listen for pursuers. They almost make it to the shelter before they are found again. At first it seems like another scout type. However moments after knocking him out a series of shouts from nearby disabuses them of this assumption. Feeling the first real danger the group takes off at a run. The wisdom of their retreat is clear after running past the third trio of enemies. As none of the mooks had kept up with them it appears someone decided to try quantity instead of quality. With so many nearby enemies it doesn¡¯t provide them with a good chance to escape. As they are running Rosha motions to the others, ¡°We are close but if someone sees us enter, it doesn¡¯t matter how much the place hides us if they carpet the area in enemies. Either of you have a way to ditch these fools?¡± James shakes his head but Jason seems to have an idea, ¡°Well all these guys are low level and not exactly forest experts. We planned already to hide from the more competent enemies with the shelter. However that isn¡¯t really needed for these guys is it? Just choose a bush big enough to hide and let our pursuers pass by. After that backtrack a bit and then we head off towards the shelter.¡± James then brings up one important point, ¡°How am I supposed to hide? While I am not exactly a paladin in shining armor, my full plate doesn¡¯t make hiding easy.¡± Rosha counters this though, ¡°You don¡¯t need to hide well. We just need you out of sight as they run by. While there isn¡¯t an official penalty to any of the skills for spotting stuff it is generally accepted that moving degrades you ability at them. I might not have been in the area before but I do know that close to the shelter there is a big rock. My teacher actually suggested it as a landmark to find the place by. There should be underbrush around it or something. We just have you hide behind that with some brush over you. Our pursuers might not even look back after passing it with how low level they seem to be. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the people in charge of the hunt are using this for training new recruits as we aren¡¯t killing anyone.¡± James shrugs, ¡°Fair enough. If you think it will work, we can try it.¡± With a plan in place they change their heading by a bit so they run into the rock. Not long after it comes into view and seems perfect for what they want. While it doesn¡¯t stick above the trees, the surrounding area is clear of trees, being covered in slightly glazed pebbles and shrubs. With the rocks size Jason and Rosha both decide that the best hiding place for them is on top. After covering James in some of the brush they both ascended it like monkeys and lie down on the top. Soon after a ragged group of people charge past and it shows Rosha to be half right. Most of the gaggle didn¡¯t look back however some of them did. They still fail as none of them even make note of the oddly large and mismatched ¡®bush¡¯. However after the last of them pass and the two on top are peaking over, they see something that makes their hearts stop. A man seems to step out of empty air and look straight at them. They freeze in place but the man only does a short solute to them and with a wink steps back into nothing, disappearing once again. It takes a moment but after they get their breath back Jason smacks his face, ¡°Definitely training. That was ¡®John¡¯ the guy who trained me in my movement skill. I think we are safe to head towards the shelter now.¡± and so they did managing to not be spotted again. Bunkering down they only have to wait and hope no one ponies up enough gold to actually pull in someone who can find them. Chapter 32 - Waiting and Paperwork Their time is almost up in the shelter and the group is in a huddle. As they likely were not getting much sleep tonight, the group had taken the chance earlier to nap through the day. Now a bit more than an hour left till midnight a plan is needed. While people can¡¯t find them in the shelter that didn¡¯t stop them from noticing all the people tromping through the woods outside. Either they figured their general location out or the enemy group opened the floodgates and let everyone in. Rosha is making aggressive chopping actions with her hand while arguing, ¡°We can totally hide for the last bit. Sure James would need to ditch his armor for the moment but we can bury it here. We wouldn¡¯t even need to personally retrieve it. I am sure if I informed my teacher she would come and get it for us while we deal with the court.¡± James doesn¡¯t look too happy about leaving his armor but Jason is the one to speak up, ¡°Yeah we might be able to hide but that isn¡¯t certain. They might send out some better trained thugs or one of them happens to be some redneck forest boy who left for the city. James is our tank and healer. The last thing we need is for him to be squishy if we get caught out. We don¡¯t need to stay hidden till midnight. We need to make sure we aren¡¯t nabbed in that time. Even if we have to fight right until today becomes tomorrow it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± James smacks the ground to get their attention, ¡°Let me lay down the law here. I am not leaving my armor. Later on once we get out of this we can spend some cash on something to muffle it and a nice matte paint job. However this suit of armor is worth way too much. There is a reason that dwarves don¡¯t buy the newb armor. I respect your plan Rosha, but try again.¡± Rosha throws her hands into the air, ¡°Fine you tin can. Two versus one and what not. You want a plan? How about we just run deeper? This place is already on the edge of the mid forest belt. We aren¡¯t exactly prepared for that but then again our enemies will have a harder time. Large groups will aggro the mobs and everyone else will be careful as they won''t be able to take said mobs.¡± Her attitude makes it clear that she didn¡¯t actually mean for them to use this plan. Sadly for her the other two are now nodding their heads to the plan. Jason even gives her a thumbs up. Rosha just sort of slumps over in defeat, ¡°Whatever, at least if we die there they won''t get us.¡± Planning completed they check the barrier and can tell their time is almost up. Only a few minutes before they get revealed to the world once again. After straining their ears and not hearing anyone nearby they decide to take off early. James takes the lead on it and steps through, bursting the bubble that protected them. With that they take off at a slow jog deeper into the forest. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. It doesn¡¯t take long for the sounds of pursuit to be heard behind them. However moments later it stops. The mooks clearly realized where our group is heading as shouting about not being paid enough can be heard. While dangerous the choice to head deeper has cut out the random chaff that was hunting them. Jason even thinks to himself that maybe there isn¡¯t enough money to get anyone to follow them in. Though he keeps it to himself so he doesn¡¯t jinx it. His caution seems to bare out as nothing else of note happens. Even the monsters leave them alone. Time ticks away and then right at midnight a bright flash of golden light streams down from the sky right onto them. It forces the group all to close their eyes and their stomachs all flip like they were on a rollercoaster. As the light fades away the scene has changed around them. Instead of a dark forest they are now surrounded by marble pillars. The angel from the day before walks up to them and welcomes them back to the temple. Jason shakes his head, ¡°when you say the Church is going to help us you don¡¯t joke around. Now do we just wait around or is there something else you need us to do besides more paperwork?¡± The angel smiles at that before handing over a stack of papers, ¡°Sadly emergency escape portations from the forest don¡¯t come cheap. Not in money and definitely not in paperwork. I will need you to read these over and sign them.¡± James groans, ¡°Couldn¡¯t you have just had someone come pick us up? We weren¡¯t exactly far from the city.¡± A raised eyebrow meets this suggestion. With a small shake of its head the angel corrects him, ¡°If you had stayed in the city we would have. However you all headed off into a forest. I will admit that this was somewhat predictable as your team is more familiar with the place. However that doesn¡¯t change where you were. The Church of Truth is aligned with civilization. Our powers drop off the farther we are from places that sentients rule such as, for instance, into a natural forest. If you wanted someone to come pick you up, you should have gone to one of the forest based churches.¡± James sighs, ¡°Yeah yeah, I know. That whole civilization versus wilderness thing. Meh, where we came from the wilds didn¡¯t put up as much of a fight and we conquered them. Course we have let them come back at this point as we didn¡¯t need all that space but still.¡± The angel shakes it head, ¡°Whatever you say. Anyway we have a room over here for you to spend your time waiting and doing the paperwork. Please just stay put if you can? The restroom is across from the room and we have a light dinner read for you. Though tomorrow you will need to fend for yourself with either food you brought with you or by giving us money to go and get whatever you want.¡± Then it leads them a short way down the hall and leaves them to do paperwork in peace. Chapter 33 - Physically Carried to Court Mountains of paperwork aside the groups time at the Temple was relatively pleasant. The night passed quietly and so did most of the next day. Only most as around sunset a couple of explosions could be heard from their room. Nothing came of it and they weren¡¯t informed of what happened. Though it was easy to guess that the papa wolf got a bit of cash together for an attempt on them. Even the meals were better than usual even when ordered from the same place the group usual ate at. Apparently having someone from a major church order your food for you gets better service than a trio of new adventurers. Finally the day of the trial dawned. The actual event was scheduled to happen at midday so about an hour before everyone was preparing to head out. Teleporting wasn¡¯t an option as the local Empire had spent quite a bit to have the system make such places teleport free. This necessitates a bit more work on the Churches part. Besides the group and the angel they would also be accompanied by a full raid group. The lead party of the group was even made entirely of people stuck at the fourth bottleneck. ¡°It seems that there is a bit of history between the Church of Truth and this wolfkin ambassador. Getting together a team like that isn¡¯t easy to do in a backwater town like this. Not that I am complaining. They aren¡¯t expecting us to pay for it and personally not dying appeals to me.¡± Rosha and James can only nod to this as the group starts off. They aren¡¯t exactly far from the court but it could take them a bit to get there. It seems that news of who was going on trial got out and everyone wants to take a look. The wolfkin group had caused all kinds of troubles around the area. Acting like some sort of spoiled prince. As they travel all kinds of rumors about the group is flying around. It seems everyone in the town had been bitten by their mischief at some point. From unpaid meals to vandalizing property they seem to have done it all. The crowd only gets louder and louder until suddenly silence. Of course this silence didn¡¯t come from nowhere. Just moments before 9 crossbow bolts from 3 different directions fly towards the team. Luckily this was planned for as they all crash into what was an invisible barrier. The only one besides the raid leader who was able to even spot them was Jason. Though only because in his previous life such methods had been particularly popular for taking out the weak. Now with the barrier revealed the group picks up the speed. The snipers had already cleared out of their hiding places by the time anyone got to them. This likely wouldn¡¯t be the only attempt and next time they would know to come at it with barrier busting bolts. Not that the barrier was their only trump card but it would be better to not have to reveal anything more. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. They wind through the streets getting ever closer to the courthouse. They aren''t far from the building when another set of bolts fly. This time the first bolt is glowing fiercely. Someone tries to block it with a shield but the bolt swerves around the shield and slams into the barrier. With the sound of shattering glass both the bolt and barrier are reduced to glowing sparkles in the air. While the guards didn¡¯t manage to block that bolt by necessity had to go first and it gave them enough time to activate their shields. Whereas before the bolt avoided them the follow up bolts got drawn to the now glowing shields. Another flight of bolts are fired but this one is clearly just a distraction. The main guards had now gotten our party to the ground and covered them. A couple of shadows seem to brighten as if something has left them. Whatever follow up attack was planned appears to have been called off. Though at this point the raid group is taking no chances. Despite James¡¯ protests all three of them got physically picked up and rushed to the court. It isn¡¯t until they get to the court that they find out what the rush was about. Apparently the enemy had spent a bit more on this than expected. Those shadows where one of the few signs of a high level shadow assassin skill being canceled. It seems that if it wasn¡¯t for the group being literally dog piled, they wouldn¡¯t have survived. Even the smallest gap could have left them open. Luckily once they reach the court things calm down. Apparently they had problems in the past. If a person arrives to give a statement but is killed before giving it the court will accept a previously given statement. After that ruling, cases of people dying while literally on the witness stand declined drastically in the Empire. The group upon learning this finally relax a bit and take in the surrounding. It actually looks quite a bit like the temple. However instead of white stones everything is in some shade of gray. Everything seems to just scream neutrality. Even the various officials are gray though that has more to do with another fancy enchantment. Anyone in the building who is in charge of some decision making have a similar effect to the people from the Church of Truth except less mind bending. Instead of hiding everything about them this only removes all distinguishing features and turns them completely gray. Having let the group gawk enough one of the officials approaches them. ¡°Hello there, I am in charge of getting you to where you need to be today. Hopefully you won''t need to stay long but we can only wait for the actual trial to know for sure. Please follow me this way.¡± and the gray man guides them to a side area. The place actually looks shockingly similar to a modern waiting room. There are even magazines and little info pamphlets. Seeing this the group can only shrug and wait till the trial. Rosha even manages to find an info packet about cases like theirs. Chapter 34 - Shut Up Wolfkin The wait for the trial to start doesn¡¯t take long, and he leads the group into the courtroom. Once in they get to look around as everyone is being settled. Most of this time, though, is because the wolfkin they are here to testify against is making a ruckus. Finally, one of the court mages has to silence him. The group just ignore his threats as they compare the room to what they expected. First thing to stand out is that there isn¡¯t any spot for a jury. Expected as that isn¡¯t a thing most places in NeoRealm but still a shock. The next biggest differences is that the only court officials are a trio of mages, one of which will take the role of the judge. While not all trials will have this such an important one causes them to take no chances. Because this involves an ambassador the head judge had teleported out here specifically to deal with the mess. While no one in town knows his level there isn¡¯t any doubt, he should be the strongest being within not only this town but the next few closest towns. Besides that the room looked oddly cozy. Where most of the courthouse is made of gray stone, someone clad this room in wood. The floor a rich chocolatey brown and the walls being a more vibrant brown that edged closer to a red. It all seemed almost alive. Though before they can take a closer look everyone has settled down and the mage to the judges left starts introducing the case. ¡°Hello everyone, I am the High Magi Doon, my partner prefers to stay nameless, and presiding over today''s case we have Alve the Grand Magi, Lord of the Royal Forest, known as the Sage of Wood. The case brought before us is a situation that is sadly common. One group has been accused by another of trying to poach their beginner boss. However, if it was just that we would not be here. This case involves the son of an ambassador with a history of dodging earlier charges through what I must say is a shocking number of deaths and disappearances. Luckily this time the witnesses stayed around long enough to bring their case to court.¡± At this point the head judge Alve takes over, ¡°To start I will state straight up I will not drop this case.¡± and with a pointed look at the ambassador, ¡°No matter what may be offered for us to do so nor even if the witnesses manage to disappear and come back desiring to do so. It has been brought to the attention of the council of kings that the development of this starter town is being affected by such incidences. Our personal Traveller advisor has even been able to straight up state that the town is getting a bad reputation on their side. While Shine Fish village isn¡¯t one of our main starter towns we do not have enough on our borders as is.¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Head judge Alve now nods towards the nameless man who continues, ¡°Now we know there is a Church of Truth in this town. However, they freely admitted to having a bias against the accused and were instrumental to getting our witnesses here in one piece. With that in mind I will be in charge of the truth spells. Also, because of the seriousness of the case we will bring up many earlier cases in which we have documentation of the many dead accusers testimonies taken by the Church of Truth.¡± At this the ambassador stands up in a huff, ¡°Now see here, I don¡¯t care what you think my boy did but those cases are closed! In fact¡±, A slight flash and he is silenced as well. Alve just shakes his head at him, ¡°You clearly don¡¯t understand how much trouble your progeny has caused", and he takes out a slip of paper. The whole court falls silent as the paper seems to emanate a palpable aura. Alve then puts the paper away before continuing, ¡°That for those who haven¡¯t experienced it before is a writ of investigation signed personally by the local king. While the aura of command it has should be enough for anyone who has seen similar before if anyone has any doubts they may come and personally check it.¡± He waits for a few moments though no one steps forward. ¡°Good, now what that paper gives me the right to do is if this case proves your child guilty we Will dig up those old cases. The laws and rules of an Empire are important but sometimes you need to break a few eggs to make an omelet. In the normal course of things we don¡¯t allow a retrial if proven innocent. However, we don¡¯t even need to really break that rule as your son Hasn¡¯t been proven innocent to these cases. They never went to trial in the first place. Just feel lucky we don¡¯t plan to ask you about the removal of witnesses in consideration for your position.¡± The ambassador slumps over in defeat. He seems to realize that higher powers have already decided the case would go through and nothing he could do would stop it. Alve smiles slightly at this before pounding his gavel to once again silence the court. ¡°Now let¡¯s get this show on the road. You three witnesses, we already have your transcribed reports but as is custom a restating of them is needed. First let¡¯s have the dwarf, James, come up to the stand.¡± James nods and goes up. Once there, the unnamed man asks his permissions to cast a truth spell on him. After he grants permission it all goes about the same as when they were questioned back at the temple. The three of them tell their stories one by one until finally it is time for the wolfkin brat to take the stand. Chapter 35 - Lawyer Wolfkin Jumps Ship The head judge Alve turns to the accused wolfkin, ¡°Now Devon Thornclaw, it is your turn to tell us whatever scintillating tale you think will get you out of this.¡± At this point our group realize they didn¡¯t know his name until now. Everyone had always referred to him as the brat or some other colorful term. While the group is getting over their shock a wolfkin sitting next to the ambassador stands. Unlike the rest of the kin the group had met this one was dressed in a full suit. He clears his throat and speaks up, ¡°If you will judge, my client''s son has had a rough upbringing and is bad with words. They would like me to answer for him and the kid only answer whether what I said was the truth.¡± Alve closes his eyes and rubs his temples with one hand before sighing, ¡°I will have to deny him the privilege of such representation. While I respect a good wordsmith, I am under direct orders to get the story directly from the accused. This is much too serious a case at this point. Any other time I would be fine with you planning out and answering the questions so as to get your client out of trouble. With a truth spell making certain of things I don¡¯t mind letting the occasional criminal go if you can spin a good tale. Keeps us on our toes for when we see the real nasty pieces of work. But orders are orders so I must once again ask, would Devon Thornclaw please come to the stand?¡± The ambassador and the lawyer whisper back and forth. They seem to be unable to come to an agreement on something. Finally, the lawyer throws his hands up and turns to Alve again, ¡°My client would like to object to this treatment of his son. I, on the other hand, would like to apply for asylum. Not only for myself but my family which I would like to be removed from the ambassadors compound. He has not threatened me per se but I would rather not have some promises fulfilled.¡± The wolfkin ambassador looks quite stunned at this turn of events. With a slight sneer the lawyer turns back to him before announcing, ¡°Not everyone is so into the whole ¡®pack¡¯ thing, sir. Some of us just want to live our lives. I brought the only family I cared about when you moved me out here. To be honest, it was surprising how long you kept things going if some of the rumors back home are to be believed. Now with the head judge''s permission I would like to join the general audience.¡± and once again turns back to Alve only to give a short bow while waiting for a response. With a look of surprise Alve chuckles a little before announcing that, ¡°I must admit of all the outcomes this was not one I expected. Being brave enough to abandon your country''s representative is impressive and I see no reason to deny you. Welcome to the country, Doon here will retrieve your family and they can join you in the audience. In fact, after the trial and for all sorts of reasons I must insist you and yours accompany me back to this kingdom''s capital.¡± With a nod towards Doon who quickly leaves, Alve turns back to the ambassador to once more ask for Devon to approach the stand. With only a bit more grumbling the ambassador lets Devon approach the stand. Then the nameless magi finally dispels the silence on the boy. It seems that the seriousness of the situation had finally sunk into his thick head as he stayed quiet until asked if he permitted the truth spell. He scowls, ¡°Not that this is any actual sort of choice but yeah, whatever. Cast your spell and ask me your stupid questions.¡± Okay maybe he didn¡¯t quite get the seriousness of the situation. Alve¡¯s face looks a bit cramped at this but with the spell in place he soldiers on, ¡°Did your group try to poach the boss?¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Devon scoffs, ¡°Of course not.¡± He smirks a bit only to have a red light appear above his head, ¡°Fine, whatever, we tried to poach that boss.¡± and the light goes away. With a clap of his hands Alve looks relieved, ¡°Finally we are getting somewhere! Okay, did your group know that was a designated new player quest zone?¡± Devon rolls his eyes and responds offhandedly, ¡°Of course man, how could anyone not know? If you¡¯ve already had your first quest that is like the first thing you''re informed of here. They even go through the whole spiel about what the punishment is for ¡®poaching¡¯ it. Though if the damn pansy couldn¡¯t get it first whose fault is that, the weaklings.¡± Off on the sideline the ambassador can¡¯t help but facepalm. It even stuns Alve, ¡°Okay, well you answered my next question as well. This is going a lot smoother than expected. It looks like you got none of the proper lessons from your father on tact or following laws.¡± Oh, how Devon¡¯s eyes roll at this, ¡°Man, don¡¯t try to lie to me. Power be everything. Just because this country has a few people with power looking out for the weak doesn¡¯t change that. Survival of the Fittest you low borns.¡± and he shakes his fist at the audience. Alve sighs, ¡°Welcome to civilization boy, we protect the weak because everyone starts there. I am glad that the lawyer wasn¡¯t allowed to talk for you. Otherwise I might have spared some of my sympathy for you. Luckily not only has your talking relieved me of that burden but it has also gotten the main part of this trial over in record time! Now let¡¯s get onto this stack of earlier complaints.¡± and he reads through a few sheets of paper. Each line is another brief description of an incident and the names of who was affected. Devon¡¯s eyes glaze over within the first few minutes and finally he cuts the judge off, ¡°Hey man, yeah I did all that. The ones you haven¡¯t read yet? Yeah, likely me. In fact, those are too few pieces of paper to record all I have done. I¡¯ve poached bosses, harassed shopkeepers, destroyed property both as a punishment for ticking me off, and honestly just because I could. If it wasn¡¯t for my dad¡¯s minder you could add things like taking slaves ¡®illegally¡¯ and abusing the ladies.¡± Finally Alve has to silences him again. The ambassador is honestly looking quite green at this point. They both look at each other for a few moments of silence. Alve finally speaks up, ¡°So I think we can describe this as an open and shut case. I think you should be happy that this doesn¡¯t give us any permission to ask you to the stand. As an ambassador we aren¡¯t even allowed to if we had dire need of information in your possession if only because you also have private knowledge from your country. From my studies of history it seems this wasn¡¯t always the case. Though after a few accidently slipped secrets while under a truth spell an almost realm wide accord was reached on this subject. Your own country might have a few questions for you though. I have personally been in a few meetings with your higher ups about how to guide your country away from exactly the sentiment just on display. We both know the troubles your people have from lack of starter towns just like this one. It seems the reason for that was just displayed. Anyway, I guess we should get onto the sentencing. Sadly, there isn¡¯t much to say. While the Powers That Be weren¡¯t expecting such a cut and dry case they gave orders just in case. He will be shipped back to your kingdom of origin and they will decide the punishment. Case closed!¡± and with that Alve seems to slump down and relax, ¡°Now I have to go make some reports so peace out.¡± Then he raises up the wood gavel he was holding. After swishing it in the air all the wood that was covering the room trembles before sliding off all the surfaces towards him. In moments the entire room is stripped down to the gray stone the rest of the court was made of and the gavel had turned into a gnarled wooden staff. Though it was still too small for the amount of wood it absorbed. He turns to the lawyer, ¡°Sorry your family didn¡¯t make it in time to see this. We can meet up with them on the way out!¡± Then he waves the staff again, and the lawyer seems to float into the air and is carried out with Alve as he leaves. Chapter 36 - Parting Ways Having the trial finish so fast threw everyone for a loop. Rosha had been betting that even with truth spells they would be here for a few days. James had been even less optimistic and thought it might take a solid week. Jason can only shrug his shoulders as they leave the courthouse. ¡°I guess the wheels of justice move a lot faster when greased with the direct orders from kings and emperors.¡± Everyone else including some other people that had been in the room with them can only nod mutely at his words. The gaggle of people leaving the courthouse soon breaks up to go home. Soon after our trio make it back to their loggings. Though it seems not all is well. James with a sheepish look is explaining, ¡°So we sort of have to break up at this point. I know we just got our group together, but that was sort of a sequence break. While I don¡¯t know about Rosha, my level is now at the second bottleneck. We all know you level slower but this is ridiculous.¡± Rosha nods, ¡°Yeah, after this bottleneck, which to note I am at as well, our levels don¡¯t matter as much. However, the game doesn¡¯t expect a team to form before level 10. You can see that just by how the first two bottlenecks require you to do something alone. Going forward none of the others require that. There will always be a way to team up for the task.¡± Continuing on from that James adds, ¡°We can¡¯t even stay together. Shine Fish as a starter town has a glaring flaw. There aren¡¯t any good low level bosses in the area. The only one even close to use is the goblin chieftain whenever one of those pops up. Not that we would have a chance against it. They aren¡¯t technically a raid boss but with all the goblins in the village they might as well be. In fact, the guild has a continual quest out for higher level adventurers to kill them on sight in the forest. They lose too many new people to goblins when one is around.¡± Looking guilty now Rosha chimes in, ¡°James and I PMed about this last night. We plan to head deeper into this kingdom. No matter how much that brat was in the wrong the kingdom next door won¡¯t look kindly on us. Plus, they have some prime dungeons there. The locals can¡¯t use them as there is a few too many instant death traps but players don¡¯t need to worry as much about it.¡± James nods in agreement, ¡°Plus because the traps are so difficult the actual bosses are weaker. With a guide to the traps that the guild provides we can be relatively certain of breaking through.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. A silence fills their room as Rosha and James fidget. Finally, being able to get a word in Jason barks out a laugh before comforting them, ¡°I understand and in fact was expecting this. Hell, there was a guide for this town that said to do just that. You don¡¯t have to worry about me. After all you aren¡¯t just heading off to another plane of existence. If anything comes up, we can still PM each other. When I finally breakthrough we can always meet up again.¡± Then he leans in and whispers, ¡°Want to hear a secret? I was planning on telling you guys I would go on my own way as well.¡± Then he falls back onto the bed laughing at the other twos shocked faces. Calming himself, Jason continues, ¡°I level slow, no question about it. However, I can also punch above my weight. As it is what my plans going forward, involve is heading into dangerous areas. As a team we couldn¡¯t even step foot into higher level areas. No offense James but you''re wearing full plate. As our little romp through the woods proved, full plate does not a stealthy armor make. Also, Rosha, while I respect that your master trained you to be stealthy. However, I was trained in what is basically magic parkour. If anything happened, I am confident in my ability to escape while you are more restricted on that front. To be honest, I am not pushing myself hard enough. I can¡¯t tell you why but I need the stat ups from exerting myself and I have seen none since we got to the temple that first time.¡± Lapsing back into silence the group seems deep in thought. Rosha occasionally looks like she is going to speak up but stops herself. A handful of minutes pass this way before James breaks the silence, ¡°Well I guess that is that. I enjoyed being a team, but the situation is forcing us apart and we all expected it. So yeah, Rosha, later on when you get to the dungeons PM me. I plan to travel with a group of dwarves to continue my training. Now with my actual weapon of choice I have more to work on.¡± After that Rosha finally speaks up, ¡°My master will be sending me off for a similar bit of polishing. There is an elven ranger heading in that direction who while not using my weapon uses a bow and daggers. She thinks that should be close enough to help me get a good foundation.¡± They all share a few more goodbyes and then the two leave. James off back to the dwarven outpost and Rosha to her masters abode. Jason for the first time in an almost a week is alone again. He looks around the room and is struck by a sudden sense of loneliness and he thinks to himself, ¡°Huh, I guess I have friends now. Ever since the stupid hero I¡¯ve kept to myself. During school it was just training and learning. With so much to unlearn from my past and a new body to work with there wasn¡¯t any free time. Mom will be happy I guess. She always was worried I would end up as some lone wanderer or something. Though as I am still living with her at the moment I can¡¯t really say I have spread my wings, now can I?¡± Chapter 37 - Pennys Magical Map Now alone in his room Jason is planning what to do next. The forest was nice but likely the animals will lie low for a few more days. The big ruckus from the kidnaping attempt would have sent everything into hiding. ¡°I want to leave sometime around noon. My pack is all ready as I didn¡¯t have time to use any of my supplies and I replaced the used rations. Now I need a direction to head in. The way the others are going isn¡¯t any good. While they keep some hunting grounds the deeper into the kingdom, it is all controlled. They wouldn¡¯t let someone at my level anywhere near the challenge I want. Sigh, where should I go?¡± After a bit more of chasing his tail there is a knock on the door. This gets his attention as the only ones who know where he was staying were the other two and they left at dawn. Answering the door he is greeted by Penny. ¡°Hello Penny, what brings you here? Specifically, here as I don¡¯t remember telling you I was staying here. Oh, and come on in.¡±, and Jason steps to the side and gestures her into the room. Penny accepts his invitation and enters the room. Once Jason closes the door she explains, ¡°Well I had to rush around this morning. Your friends both wanted to leave at dawn so I had to catch them. The three of you forgot to finish handing in your chain quest about that wolfkin. While I was handing out the rewards, I ferreted out where you were staying. Anyway, congratulations on digging out another bit of corruption from my town.¡± and she hands him a few silver coins. With that the quest complete screen popped up, and it gave him enough xp to hit level 5. Seeing his surprised look Penny smirks before explaining, ¡°The others in your group were level capped. Now that doesn¡¯t change how rewards are handed out however I gave them the option to trade their share of the xp for a proportionate amount of your money reward. Normally I would ask you first but we all know your situation. So yeah, you just got 3 people''s worth of a chain quest completion.¡± Jason is silent for a moment then responds, ¡°Okay, fair enough. It isn¡¯t like I will have a lot more chances to earn money before level 10. Plus, most people would pay out the nose to buy xp. Though since you did this without even asking I have a favor to ask of you.¡± Penny scowls but Jason raises his hand to stop her, ¡°I want nothing from you except some wisdom. At the moment the usefulness of staying in this town has ended. Sure you and Andrew are here but my choices for a fight are the turtles, normal animals, or goblins. None of them are very conducive to what I need. As it is, I have always hit above my level. With my xp reduction the only way I can see to reach the bottleneck in a reasonable time frame is to take advantage of that. Now I can¡¯t just take the same route they did as the farther into the kingdom the more controlled any entry into danger zones is. They wouldn¡¯t let me touch anything too above my level with a ten-foot pole. Can you suggest a destination with some higher level threats for me to test myself against?¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Penny¡¯s face lightens after hearing his request. ¡°Well, I guess I could give you trip advice and that first bit is correct. For the other two it is perfect as several dungeons that way have been groomed into perfect places for Travellers to break through the second bottleneck. You, however, need a different challenge. With that in mind it is sad that you got mixed up with that wolfkin pup. While they aren¡¯t exactly friendly to new Travellers your personal power would have earned you respect there. That and the land is more primal. If I had to compare them with this kingdom, it would be the difference between an old growth forest and a tree farm. Now the actual people with power over there like you. They have been trying to find someone to make an example of for a while. Sadly, the petty local tyrants are who you would meet and you snubbed one of them. Planning your trip is actually hard.¡± Rubbing her head Penny sits down on the bed, ¡°This is a tough one. If it was a few years ago, then I would send you down the river. However, we had a navy detachment pass through and they culled most of the serious threats to ease trade. Let me take out my map real quick.¡± and she reaches into a belt pouch and rummages around. Then with a flourish she pulls out a giant map that takes up an entire bear skin. After spreading it out on the bed she shows Jason how it works. Though he quickly catches on as while magical, the map acts similar to a map app on a phone. After Penny is sure he understands what is going on and mutters to herself how Travellers never get surprised enough at it she zooms in on their current location. ¡°Okay, now this map only shows the kingdom we are in but that shouldn¡¯t be too much of a problem for the moment. Here we are on this river. The source is that big mountain next to those plains. Going that way is useless as that is our kingdoms main farming area. Most of the farmers there don¡¯t even bother breaking through the second bottleneck. The biggest threat there are horned rabbits. I don¡¯t know how they did it but they¡¯ve even routed out almost all the feral goblins.¡± Then Penny gestures upriver, tracing it with her finger, ¡°This way isn¡¯t too helpful either. While the river bends around the mountain, it isn¡¯t enough to stop it from just going straight into the kingdom you want to avoid. That¡¯s why we had the ambassador posted here in the first place. Though I suspect that from now on the kingdom will avoid having foreign officials in any of our starter towns. Besides that, as I mentioned the navy came through so the river itself is peaceful and should stay that way for at least a few more years.¡± Next she points at the mountain which Jason can see is actually a part of a chain. Penny then zooms in on a few, ¡°These mountains here contain dwarven outposts. While technically the mountain chain is in our territory, the Emperor brokered a deal with the closest Mountainhome. In exchange for favorable trade deals the land belongs to the dwarves in all but name and they don¡¯t like people just tromping about their land. The only reason we still even own them on paper is we allow anything produced there to be exempt from tariffs as it is still technically ours. We also look the other way when things made of stuff that can¡¯t be found there somehow pop up in the market. Though that is more so we can have more of the dwarven specialty products. A good set of dwarven style full plate is worth more to the empire than a few gold in tariffs.¡± Penny adjusts the map once again, ¡°This leaves going away from the mountains as your best bet. Still that leaves about 2 routes for you.¡± Chapter 38 - Finalizing the Travel Plans Penny points at the area on the map across from the mountains. ¡°I know you said no to the forest but the first part of your trip is to get through the forest. Just follow the path to the newb boss and keep going straight on through. Oh, and obviously you know this already but if you find a boss there, leave it be. Anyway, once your past the forest you have a choice. This middle region is just plains with rabbits. Mind you, the center region has queen variant rabbits, but it isn¡¯t what you are looking for.¡± She then traces a path going left around the plains. ¡°This way will be annoying to travel but the enemies are good. This route will take you next to a swamp which forms from this offshoot of the river. While most of the enemies are ambush predators, they are easy to spot and relatively weak. Because the land is changing from swamp to plains, the ground firms up and forces the weaker animals into regions that are hard to hide in. Basically, you can see a bunch of alligators and giant frogs sitting on some damp land. Some people find it funny. Though that tends to be more of a gallows humor by those who have traveled through the swamp proper.¡± After noting some points on that path Penny traces the other way. ¡°Now this path is more dangerous but you don¡¯t have to slog through swampland. Since long ago the area has been barren with spikes of stone all over the place. Though after meeting the creatures that inhabit the barrens you might wish for the swamplands. Some people think there is demonic corruption. However several churches having explored it and said otherwise. I personally think some crazy magical battle happened long ago as the creatures seem like something from a wizards experiment. Now any questions?¡± Jason blinks a couple of times before answering. ¡°So first of all, info dump much? It felt like you went on for a whole week or something! Next I can mostly agree with your opinion on my options. My only real choice is to head out through the forest. Though I assume the path will mostly be conflict free?¡± Penny nods, ¡°Adventurers keep the path clear. The plains are a popular hunting spot so the road sees frequent travel.¡± ¡°Okay that won''t be much of a problem. As for the path I will take? The swampy route does not appeal to me. First, marshy ground is no fun to travel across. Though the real reason is I don¡¯t feel like dealing with ambush predators. Not that I couldn¡¯t but that isn¡¯t really the sort of fight I am looking for. However, before I finalize my decision can you describe the monsters on the second path?¡± Rubbing the back of her head Penny avoids Jason¡¯s eyes. ¡°That would be helpful, wouldn¡¯t it? Don¡¯t get me wrong. I would love to tell you what to expect. However, that would require me knowing what is there. The monsters that venture out from the core of the region are varied and random. If not for a couple of churches going through the whole area, I would half suspect a mad wizard was experimenting out there. Even after they finish such expeditions, we can only predict what will come out for a few months before new monsters show up. This is quite vexing for the guild. We send out a team of melee fighters only to have them find a bunch of armadillo-like creatures. They come back and we send out some magic users to deal with the armadillos but they find mobile plants that eat magic. It is quite frustrating and the only thing that seems to get anywhere is brute force through numbers.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Hearing about what to expect Jason becomes conflicted. ¡°So basically I can¡¯t plan for anything except that the terrain will be barren? Are the level ranges for the monsters random as well? I should be able to handle or at least escape from most things within a certain range. However, if I could just stroll in and accidently bump into a level 99 nightmare, there wouldn¡¯t be much I could do.¡± Shaking her head at this Penny explains further, ¡°No the barrens isn¡¯t that bad. The high level monsters stay towards the interior. Most you will find on the edge is around level 10 to 17 with the occasional level 24. Once a monster breaks through the third bottleneck they will either head further in or leave the barrens entirely. We had scholars check it out and there seems to be a strange aura to the place. This aura seems to support the monsters and most of them become dependent on this aura so at higher levels they go inward. However, the occasional oddity will end up allergic to it and leave. Luckily most of the time they head straight into the rabbits because of the easy prey and eventually fall to the rabbit queens. Some don¡¯t and that is how we end up with things like owlbears. Though that only counts for the local owlbears. I don¡¯t know what it is about crazy wizards combining owls and bears. Anyway, with your skills you should be okay if your careful. I wouldn¡¯t advise this route but as your a Traveller a bit more danger will help you progress faster with no permanent consequences.¡± ¡°Right, I got it. More danger and if I die try again. Not exactly the most original plan but then again if it works why change it. Hopefully, I get to fight something that challenges my skills and not just my speed. Though it would be just my luck to show up there and all the monsters are alligators and frogs. Rosha and James would get a good laugh out of that. The very monsters I wanted to avoid only for me to show up at the random monster hotspot and have the barrens covered in them.¡± Jason just sighs after saying that. Giggling at the thought Penny packs up the map. ¡°Well, that is as much as I can help you. While I would love to do more, there is a limit on what I can do because of my position. Can¡¯t be shown to have too much favoritism as the local guild master. You seem packed already so let me congratulate you on having gotten out of a tricky situation and wish you good luck on your travels!¡± ¡°Thank you, I will take all the luck I can get. Have a good day.¡±, and Jason shows her out of the room. Chapter 39 - Jogging All Day Time has passed and we find Jason standing at the entrance to the forest once again. This time alone and ready to strike out for some tougher prey. As he travels along the forest path nothing much bothers him. Even the boss clearing is empty. Though that is to be expected. It isn¡¯t every day that new adventurers head out on their first quest. Once past the clearing he doesn¡¯t even see anything besides some normal wildlife. Finally he breaks through there to the other side. The trees thin out and soon all that can be seen is mile after mile of grass and rabbits. Nearest to him small groups of normal rabbits frolic with the occasional horned rabbit leading a herd. Farther out though it gets more varied. Even a number of winged rabbits can be seen flying off in the distance. After taking a moment to take in the peaceful scene Jason turns right and follows the forest''s edge. After about an hour he takes a short break at a strange tree to think over some things. ¡°Hmm, if what I found out when leaving is true then this tree marks the end of my easy going trip. From the chatter I heard this strange tree marks the farthest adventurers normally travel this way. Likely from here on out the rabbit herds will become bigger as they aren¡¯t being culled as frequently. However, the biggest thing is that at a normal traveling pace I won''t get close to where I need to stop following the forest. Rosha and James both should take about ten days to reach the dungeons and I don¡¯t want to fall too far behind them. Taking more than a day to reach where I will find stronger monsters is a no go. Well, I came out here for training so jogging there won''t hurt. I still will not get where I wanted to by night but running is out of the question. Even a small herd of rabbits could take me if I am tired out.¡± With a plan set out Jason stands up and stretches. ¡°Okay world, here I come!¡±, and he heads off at a steady jog. Tree after tree flash by on his right while the occasional rabbit herd is shocked into scattering on his left. As he goes the terrain changes slowly the farther from civilization he gets. The grass becomes shorter as more rabbits can be seen. Even the trees look different, taking on a darker more aged appearance. Within the shadows he can see small predators waiting for any of the rabbits to stray too far. Foxes being the most common though an occasional wild cat of some sort is hidden among the treetops. At this point Jason starts to worry. It is already halfway to when he has to stop and nothing has attacked him yet. Rabbit herds with tens of normal ones are now common. The foxes have grown bigger and the cats stealthier. Despite all that nothing bothers him. While he doesn¡¯t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, this is just becoming creepy. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. If he had asked around, then he would have expected this but for now he can only worry. How could he know the only adventurers who travel out this way alone are those over leveled for the area? Not only that, but his training from his last life has instilled him with a running form nearly free from wasted movements. As far as the wildlife is concerned he is an expert who would wipe them out without even slowing down. Maybe if there was a pack of wolves around they would attempt it but a single fox or a herd of normal rabbits? They have long ago been conditioned through years of self selection to not even try. Despite how much this is freaking him out he can only continue forward. Soon the grass becoming a uniform height as nature has finally reached a balance. Not too many predators, not too few prey. Even the forest has reached an equilibrium with a much more varied underbrush. Jason can only guess he has gone past the point that allows one to return to town in the same day. Seeing all the plants growing undisturbed sends a small pang of sadness through his mind. ¡°I should have picked up a harvesting skill. Though it isn¡¯t like I can afford to slow down and pick them.¡± Finally, the sun dips below the horizon and Jason starts looking for where to camp. Eventually he settles on a dead tree off by itself. Not quite in the plains yet off from the forest. He approaches the tree stopping a short distance away from it. Jason hadn¡¯t heard of any treant like enemies in the forest but this was suspicious. Picking up a fist-sized rock he chucks towards the tree. He hears a solid thunk, but the tree stays still. ¡°Well, it might still be something but I can¡¯t really do much else to test it right now.¡± Once at the tree Jason takes a quick look around soon finds the overgrown remains of a campfire. ¡°It looks like I¡¯m not the only one who thinks this is a good resting spot. Though the positioning of the fire points to them setting up camp facing the plains. My plan was to set up facing the forest so I would know if any of the predators there were coming. Hmm, I can think of two reasons off the top of my head. Either by hiding behind the trunk any predators are less likely to come out and bother you or at night some bigger rabbit''s head into the forest. Anyway, it looks like they have used this spot multiple times so I will follow the wisdom of those past adventurers.¡± With a tree at his back Jason decides not to bother with a tent and his campsite is quickly finished. Only a small fire to cook by and some bells on a string as an alarm is all he needs tonight. Satisfied he quickly cooks a small pot of soup before going to bed. Though just before drifting off a window pops up saying he gained +4 toughness, +2 agility, and +6 hp for jogging all day. Chapter 40 - An Enemy Appears The night was peaceful enough. Only once did Jason get woken up and only because a normal rabbit got curious and jostled the bells. This interruption is taken care of by scaring it away and he gets back to sleep after setting the bells up again. Next morning he wakes up bright and early. The sun shining into his eyes raising only minimal grumbles. After gathering all the bells up he goes through a quick set of stretches before heading off again. ¡°Okay, today I should reach about where the three biomes meet. From there I will finally get some fights. I don¡¯t know what is up with this area but I won¡¯t complain till I am out of here.¡± Then he settles in for a good jog. Soon he falls into a steady pace and his mind clears. The miles get eaten away with him in a moving meditation. Finally, as midday approaches, the terrain starts changing. Grass becomes sparser and the trees grow a sickly brown. The ground becomes gravelly and then the gravel becomes rocks and boulders. The rocks themselves even change into a burnt looking sandstone, taking on a dark brownish gray tone. Then Jason spots the landmark he was looking for. The boulders that had covered the ground became sparse and were replaced by a new feature. Rising from the ground are stalagmite like rocks spikes. The smallest of which are as wide as a man. What sets them apart from stalagmites is that near the base the width shrinks down before widening at the bottom. This gives them the look of instability but as far as the eye can see there isn¡¯t a single one even tilted over, let alone collapsed. Jason had heard they never seem to fall over and if a fight knocks one down, it will be back in place as soon as no one is observing it. Apparently they also get bigger the deeper into the wastelands you get. The various churches that had explored the area even report the center has a mile high pillar. Though the guild doubts it because something that big should be visible from a distance away yet none of the people they had sent in could find it. Not that they discount it, magic being a thing and all. Thinking it all over Jason can only shake his head. At the moment he couldn¡¯t even get deep enough to confirm that they get bigger let along go searching for the center spike. Turning away from the forest Jason follows the edge of the rock spikes. Though no longer jogging. There is no telling what monsters he might find at this point. Not that he sees anything for the first mile. Even the ever present rabbits seem to have abandoned him. Though off into the plains some of the biggest horned rabbits he had seen up until now are grazing. ¡°It looks like even they have to be careful of the wastelands. Penny seemed to think highly of the rabbit royalty so maybe those guys are something like guards. If the queens are intelligent, I might have to visit them at some point. That however is a good deal in the future so I might not be able to get back here easily.¡± Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Shrugging his shoulders Jason continues onward. Though soon he spots some monsters in the distance. At first they seem like normal panthers lazing in the shade of a couple spires. However, after getting closer he can see they have 6 legs and the front pair appear to be partly scaled. As he gets within a few hundred paces of them the most bizarre things happens. The closest three rear up. Now standing on their back 2 sets of legs they appear almost like a centaur. Then the front pair of legs twitch and the paws distort painfully with each digit stretching outward turning into a grotesque skeletal claw. This new appearance reminds Jason of an Aye-aye¡¯s hands he had seen once on a nature documentary. The only thing reminding you they once were normal paws are patches of black fur at each joint. Finally ready they spread their arms and hiss, ready for a fight. It is only this that lets Jason realize it wasn¡¯t just the paws that are odd. When the arms extended outward, they kept going. A whole extra section of arm pulls away from the body, completely clad in scales that let off a pale sheen. Fortunately for Jason the remaining 4 creatures dash away, further into the wasteland. Jason takes a moment to think, ¡°Well I guess I can handle three of them. Though it might be tough as I don¡¯t know their levels.¡± Then with a shrug he races towards them. They might be at home in the spires but it was also good terrain for him to fight as well. The panthers seeing his approach charge forward as well and soon the distance between the groups vanishes. Finally, being close enough the system tags the enemies as Warped Wasteland Panthers. Jason takes a moment to check the levels before sighing in relief. The one in the lead ended up being level 13 while the ones following behind only ranked in at 11. ¡°Thank goodness they aren¡¯t some level 24 monstrosities. This is the edge of the wasteland but Penny didn¡¯t really seem confidant when she told me the level range.¡± His mind now at ease Jason suddenly crouches down and turns his forward motion into a diagonal jump. With most of his momentum disrupted he lands on the side of a spire. Then he clambers upward to about two third of the way to the top. Down below the Warped creatures try to follow his movement. However, they aren¡¯t able to stop their charge in time to find where he landed. With only the sound to go by they are all nervously glancing around at the base of the spire. Satisfied with this result Jason gently leaps into the air once more. Chapter 41 - Warped Panther Fight Jason almost seems to float through the air. Without a sound he lands on a nearby spire before putting all his strength into a mighty leap. The sound of which alerts the warped panthers, but it is too late for the weakest looking one. The panther turns to look but all there is to see is an elbow fast approaching before being knocked out. With his elbow drop complete Jason turns his momentum into a quick roll. The lead panther takes a swipe at him as he gets closer. However expecting this he jumps out of the roll early and glides over the attacks. Then using the lead panther as a springboard Jason body slams the other follower. This weaker panther was ready and managed to get glancing swipes in but is bowled over without doing too much damage. -4 Feeling an odd pain from the cuts on his arm Jason takes a quick look. The wound looks normal enough but a strange battle is taking place on top. As the blood oozes out like sap and tries to scab over a nauseous purple substance is breaking it down. The blood is winning for the moment but he worries. Their claws have a poison on them and the leader¡¯s will be stronger. Though now isn¡¯t the time to be lost in thought so he delivers a swift chop to the downed panther¡¯s neck. As the leader charges over Jason dashes to the side, kicking up sand as his movement technique gives him more traction. Getting a good distance away from the weaker enemies he settles down into a defensive stance. Side on to the lead panther he breathes in. As the body slammed panther gets up in the background the lead panther lunges at Jason. Lifting his front foot and pushing off with his back foot he meets the panther head on. Sliding in he lowers his shoulder and bringing his arms under the front. A claw rakes across his armor while he gives a shove upward. Despite the panthers weight the forward momentum combined with the push forces the torso over Jason¡¯s head. Ducking to the side out from under the panther he delivers a straight punch as the panther collects itself. Behind them the other panther is sneaking up on him. Before it pounces though Jason bursts backward slamming his elbow into its face. Following that up he pivots around and brings his knee into its jaw. As the lead panther is about to slash into his back Jason grabs the now stunned panthers left paw and jumps to the side. He swings around as the grabbed arm snaps and the lead panther cannot stop itself and claws up the other one. Continuing around the panther he jumps onto its back. The hurt panthers howls and wraps its arm around, the third joint allowing a grab at Jason. Not expecting this he is wrenched off the panthers back and tossed onto the sandy soil skidding a short distance. -1 The lead panther follows close behind him and prepares to stomp Jason when he stops. A quick roll gets him out of the way of not only that but a follow up swipe. Continuing his roll he pops up onto his feet and brings his back foot up around in a high kick. It stuns the panther for a moment and Jason steps back then turns around and jumps. Using a spire that ended up behind him to bound off into another direction he land feet first on the neck of the unconscious panther. A loud snap sounds out and the two other panthers both howl out. Their eyes go red and the farther away panther drops onto 6 feet. The panther charges over at a greater speed than before and Jason dodges but even then he still gets swiped. -3 Jason steadies himself then bounds back at the panther. A swift gut punch as it tries to turn towards him, followed by a knee to the back leg. The leader is coming but despite that Jason continues and sends a flurry of punches at the same leg. A final elbow and another snap rings out though this time only crippling his enemy. The lead panther goes for a bear hug but Jason dives under the crippled panther. While under there he rolls onto his back and kicks out with both his feet. The blow, while unable to lift the panther off the ground is enough to finish it. This leads to a slight problem for Jason as the now dead animal falls down on him. Not having the time to be picky he has to roll back out the way he came, towards the last panther. Now enraged the panther blindly tries to stomp on Jason. More rolling around is only barely able to keep him out of the way though he still takes some scrapes. -1 -1 -2 After that barrage of stomps the panther pauses for a moment to catch its breath. Taking advantage of this Jason gets up. As the panther swipes out, he grabs the arm and ducks around the back, breaking a joint before letting go. Now behind the panther he gets up on the back and after a couple of kidney shots he starts to choke it out. The panther''s rage fades away and panic takes over. With one arm dangling useless now there isn¡¯t much chance. After a failed attempt to knock Jason off with the good arm the panther claws at his arm. One good swipe goes bone deep before the panther loses consciousness. -12 Not wanting to take any chances Jason holds the choke until he gets the message that the fight was over. Along with rewards he is informed that he gained 3 Toughness for running and 5 Agility for the fight. Not wasting any time he grabs out one of his 3 healing potions and downs it. +16 With that most of his wounds heal though his arm is still messed up. While out of immediate danger Jason retreats into the plains for a while to heal more. Once settled down he goes over his spoils. Though there isn¡¯t that much that dropped from the warped panthers. The only thing worth much is the pelts which seeing as he hadn''t used piercing or slashing attacks are in near perfect condition. While he is doing this Jason notices something he had forgotten. At the bottom of his bag a pot and some Energy herb seeds are laying there. ¡°Huh, I was planning to grow these while cultivating in my room. Guess now is a good a time as any to work on that. The grass around here seems to grow well, so the soil is probably of good quality.¡± Soon enough Jason has a small pot filled with a rich black soil. With care he plants 3 seeds in the pot and settles down to meditate. Though before he starts something tickles his brain. ¡°Oh right, System Show Character Sheet.¡± A quick look and he notices that his movement skill leveled up and his poison resistance even got a couple of percent. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Basic Info
Name: Jason Level: 5 - 63.1%
Legal Status: New Player Title: N/A
Normal Stats
Strength 26 (12[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set])
Toughness 38 (24[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set])
Agility 33 (19[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set])
Auxiliary Stats
Defense 42 (30[Eq] +12[Set])
HP 30
Energy 3
Bonuses
Knowledge Bonus: +1% success rate when using an Energy Herb as an ingredient or growing one. Ability to identify the maturity of a Herb with relevant Identify skills Discovery Bonus: +1% success rate when using an Energy Herb or growing one Able to get a feeling for maturity of a Herb without a skill Control of Experience intake
Living Amber Skeletal System Description: This masterpiece of magical items is the opposite of the undead. While undead are the living that are killed and turned into magical items, this is a magical item turned into a living piece of a creature. An intricately carved full skeleton made entirely of Magical Amber. It was hollowed out leaving just the barest of a latticework. When magically implanted into the host the bone marrow was grafted into these cavities. Because of difficulties and dangers that appear when trying to enchant a living creature they have instead been imbued with magic. Effects: Sap like Blood - The blood produced by the marrow is more viscous and sticky when it leaves the body. Slower bleed rate and more likely to stop bleeding Crafted Bones - Because of the material and structure, the bones are tougher and can take an impact easier One and the Same - Despite being a magical item they will not show up as a separate item and only appear under the possessors character screen. Any attempt at removal will face the same difficulties as removing a person''s actual bones. Soulbound - Not even death will part you from this item Bonuses: +5 [base] toughness +5 [base] hp
Organizations
Adventurers Guild Basic Member Rank F
Odd Ones Out Team Member Leader
Skills
Energetic Body Reinforcement Through a special training method you have infused your very Energy into your cardiovascular system. You have stepped down the path of perfecting your body. As you train further in it, your body will toughen. Most important, though, is that your body will start to become like an enchanted item allowing you to damage that which is resistant to normal physical damage. Because of your filtering cycle you will gain less Energy but the Energy will be extremely pure. Apprentice Level 1 - 16.2% Rank: Unique Type: Passive, Cultivation Effects: Filtering Cycle - Gain only 10% of absorbed energies but they are extremely pure Purity of energy - Because of the purity of your energy higher levels have a lower scaling on what is needed to level and it does more Blood is Life and the Heart it¡¯s throne - Passive regeneration .083hp/second Body/Mind Unification - Despite any stat limitations your ability to fully control your body strengthens Energized Flesh - Can hit incorporeal things for 1% of normal damage with body Material Body - With time your body can become like living metal or hard like a diamond
Desolate Traversal Technique A combination of traditional parkour and energy use. While considered a basic skill it is highly ranked among them. Generally learned by rogues it is however open for anyone to learn. Initiate Level 4 - 1.3% Rank: Normal Beginner Type: Passive, Movement Effects: Traction Assist - Based on predicted goal the System will slightly modify the friction between user and any surfaces they are in contact with Powered Grip - Through the use of energy a user can temporarily stick to surfaces
Poison Resistance Does what it says on the tin. A skill-based resistance. As there are many types of poison the System has decided it is best like this rather than a stat as this allows more variety without littering the stat line with entries like ¡®elven paralysis poison resistance¡¯. Uses the best percentage for a poison. Initiate Level 1 - 5.1% Rank: Exquisite Beginner Type: Passive, Adaptive Effects: Immunity to Trash rank pain poisons Trash rank non-damaging poison resistance - 52% Trash rank poison resistance - 34% Low Normal rank poison resistance - 10% Normal rank poison resistance - 1%
Chapter 42 - Nubbed, Fledgling, and Spiky Jason wakes up from his meditation, though, stays still. It seems he forgot a very important step before starting. He opens one eye just a slit. All around him many rabbits are also waking up from their own meditation. A quick inspection shows that none of them are normal rabbits. In fact, most of them are the either Nub rabbits or Fledgling rabbits, the rank just before Horned and Winged rabbits, respectively. Though amongst them a handful of them are different. Instead of a horn or wings these few rabbits are exceptionally fluffy. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact their fur had a glint to it and the system calling them Spiky rabbits, no one could resist petting them. Keeping still and forcing his face to not show his dismay Jason¡¯s mind races. ¡°I could take them? There aren¡¯t that many and all of them are below level 5. However there is a good reason you don¡¯t see these type of rabbits just hopping around. Their parents might be nearby and to have so many energy-based rabbits means they should to be at least above the normal adult rank. I might be able to take on normal Horned and Winged rabbits but anything above that is beyond me. Either an Ace Wing or Spiral Horned rabbit would kill me ten times over. Hell, even a Middle Aged rabbit could take me, what with them being the size of a wolf. Though speaking of energy-based rabbits those Spiky rabbits must be the Energy version.¡± Taking another look at this point and Jason can¡¯t help but let out a sigh of relief. It seems they were there for the Energy rich environment his cultivation caused. A single Spiky rabbit remains, frozen in place. Jason actually caught it going for a bite of his Energy Herb. Noticing his attention the rabbit puffs up its fur then turns tail and hops off. Though it was faint Jason could see small sparkles when the rabbit had puffed itself up. The closest thing it reminded him of was how static electricity looks in the darkness. ¡°It seems trying to pet one might be a shocking experience. Anyway, that comes as close to proving my thoughts as anything. If I had to guess there are several warrens in the area about to get a big uptick in the number of special rabbits. My meditation provided them with enough energy to rank up. Most of them had already experienced Mana or Qi but those Spiky ones probably came from places without a Horned or Winged rabbit.¡± Shrugging he checks on his pot of plants. They aren¡¯t grown yet, but they grew faster. All five plants had already advanced to having multiple leaves. In fact they seem, oddly enough, too far along. While his meditation had upped the ambient Energy, it wasn¡¯t by much. When he force matured them with his own Energy, they comparatively didn¡¯t grow as much. ¡°My Energy is purer than not yet it wasn¡¯t as effective. What is special about my mediation that would cause the Energy Herb to grow so well? Now that I think about it, how well did my meditation help me anyway¡± and so with that in mind he queries the System, ¡°System Show Cultivation Skill With Growth Since Last Checked¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Energetic Body Reinforcement Through a special training method you have infused your very Energy into your cardiovascular system. You have stepped down the path of perfecting your body. As you train further in it, your body will toughen. Most important though is that your body will start to become like an enchanted item allowing you to damage that which is resistant to normal physical damage. Because of your filtering cycle you will gain less Energy but the Energy will be extremely pure. Apprentice Level 1 - 16.5% [+.3%] Rank: Unique Type: Passive, Cultivation Effects: Filtering Cycle - Gain only 10% of absorbed energies but they are extremely pure Purity of energy - Because of the purity of your energy higher levels have a lower scaling on what is needed to level it and it does more Blood is Life and the Heart it¡¯s throne - Passive regeneration .083hp/second Body/Mind Unification - Despite any stat limitations your ability to fully control your body strengthens Energized Flesh - Can hit incorporeal things for 1% of normal damage with body Material Body - With time your body can become like living metal or hard like a diamond
¡°Okay, the only thing that changed was I gained .3% towards the next level. Honestly, that is decent progress for three hours of cultivation. Though of course it will go down with time. Same old story there, doing it the safe way is slow as all get out. Not like I have hundreds of hours to work on it. Mom is currently fine with me bumming a room for the moment but even at 5 times speed I won¡¯t be able to meditate my way to greatness. Anyway, there isn¡¯t much more I can discover at the moment. After my next mediation I will check the surrounding space after finishing to find out what is different. If I can improve my use of Energy when growing the Herbs it will probably help me in other ways.¡± Standing up and stretching Jason looks around. All the rabbits are gone. Though the thought of them causes a small twinge in his mind, ¡°Right I created those Spiky rabbits. Now I haven¡¯t heard of that type of rabbit before. Though Energy is rare someone will have had to used it on rabbits before. I would love to assume that it is just hard for them to pass that onto the next generation. However, I may have just shifted the entire biome by adding a fourth rabbit type to the area. Not that I can help it at this point and it won''t stop me from meditating here.¡± Shrugging to himself he dismisses his worries. A couple of low level rabbits, even with their proclivity to increase in numbers won¡¯t be able to change the entire plains for quite a while. It might be callus of him but by the time things change around here he should be long gone. Chapter 43 - Punching and Rabbits Putting the rabbits and his worries behind him Jason heads back into the wasteland. He takes a little time to find something to fight. Despite being sparse the rock spires are placed just right to prevent someone from see too far. However Jason does eventually find another of the Warped Panthers. Though this one is alone, so he decides to try something new. Until now Jason had been using simple martial arts. While there were more advanced techniques in his new world they aren¡¯t something a school kid could get a hold of. All that is left is to decide what to try. As he approaches the panther Jason goes through a few options. ¡°I don¡¯t want to do anything too fancy. While Energy is like cultivation, some fun things probably fall under what the System calls Mana or Qi. It would probably call foul if I try any energy blasts. Anyway, that would tie up a lot of my current Energy and I can¡¯t afford it. As it is my movement technique takes 2 of my 3 when being used and for a short while after. I almost wish I went for Qi or Mana because I could do as much as I wanted and only worry about using it up. Hmm, with the limitations in mind probably the only good move is Spirit Fist. Yeah that seems decent enough to fight these panthers.¡± At this point the warped panthers have noticed him. The closest runs towards him while the other slinks off to the side, hiding behind some spires. As the panther approaches Jason, he settles into a stable stance prepared. Then with the panther reaching out to rend and tear he seems to flow though its arms. Just three steps and he goes from in danger to a flanking position. Now ready, Jason throws a simple punch. The hit is solid, directly to the ribs. Bones crack and the panther coughs up blood. Another punch lands and the panther has now been knocked down. A roar sounds out behind Jason. However, he was prepared for this flank attack and threw himself to the left. Claws flash through the air where he was just moments before. Going into a roll Jason then kicks off the ground at the right moment and flies back toward the panthers. He goes for another simple punch but the panther blocks with its arm. It can see a brief glow extending from Jason¡¯s fist and the sound of the panthers bone creaking. The arm is knocked away allowing him to continue his attack with a solid uppercut, knocking its head back. With the throat undefended he throws a final punch, and the panther collapses to the ground gasping for air. Now neither of the panthers can fight back so Jason is able to finish them. After a few moments, the system rewards him with some nice pelts but the meat is ruined. Along with that the system also reward him +1 to Agility. He can only sigh when it comes to his stats. His Toughness and Agility have been going up all right but Strength is lagging far behind. Though nothing can bring him down after finding out his attack worked. It hadn¡¯t become a skill yet but since he managed it in a fight; it is only a matter of time. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. With nothing else to do here Jason continues on along the edge of the wasteland. Along the way he meets more of the warped panthers though these are all alone. He even played around with the last one so he could train his attack more. As these fights weren¡¯t exactly stimulating he only gained a single point in Agility. Luckily the difficulty didn¡¯t change the xp gain, so he finally reached level 6. He almost felt disappointed by the warped panthers though in the end he decided they were not in the right environment to shine. Those long arms would be great for stealthily reaching down from a branch and grabbing someone. In the brightly lit and barren wasteland they didn¡¯t have anywhere to hide. He has hope for a better time in the future. This is only the edge of the wasteland so likely the place with the weakest monsters. There are many days of traveling before getting past it. Both the plains and wasteland are large expanses of territory. Going by the Penny¡¯s map the plains is shaped somewhat like a triangle. The only reason he arrived at the edge of it so quickly is the forest meets it at a point. On the other hand, the wasteland is more of a lopsided circle or egg shape. In fact, Jason is just traveling along the trailing edge. While the people back at the town aren¡¯t sure Penny¡¯s pet theory is that the place is slowly moving. This side disappearing as the center of the corruption moves farther from the plains. Jason still has a few weeks before he can get to the next town with most of it near the wasteland. Though for now he heads back into the plains for the night. Remembering to set up his security as it is he prepares a simple campsite and sets out his plants before another round of meditation. Not exactly trusting his proximity to the wasteland Jason decides to forgo sleep. While he isn¡¯t sure if his techniques can replace sleep at the least going a couple days shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Then once he has immersed himself in his meditation the surrounding area becomes lively. Like the last time he cultivated in the plains rabbits from all around gather once again. This time though something is different. Before it was very much at random. A few local dens noticed the increase in Energy so had their young gather around him. This time though there is an order to it. Off in the distance a cow-sized rabbit sits. The glint of intelligence scurries behind its eyes as it commands Adolescent rabbits to cycle through. This giant rabbit is a rarity. An Elder rabbit, the highest position a normal rabbit can get if it doesn¡¯t get any energy type before level 10. While not truly sentient it can plan and plot. This one though is here on orders. Jason had dismissed the few Spiky rabbits as unimportant but they didn¡¯t go unnoticed. In the background the rabbits moved. This Elder rabbit is in charge of the local dens and when he noticed the new rabbit type, it was reported upward. Now Jason has a shadow. This Elder will be tracking his trip and preparing the local population to take advantage of him every time he meditates. Then once he passes beyond this rabbits area of control, another will take charge until Jason no longer is around the plains. It seems the rumors of intelligent rabbits at the center isn¡¯t an exaggeration. Chapter 44 - Long Legs and Insectoids Next morning Jason awakens from his meditation to a few rabbits running away. Ignoring them he checks the environment. At first there doesn¡¯t seem to be much difference with the World Energy but then he notices. The area in front of him, towards the Energy Herbs, the Energy field is purer. Behind however it is murky and almost seems polluted. His biology classes come back to him in a flash. He exclaims allowed, ¡°Of course! A plant doesn¡¯t just take sugar from the ground and store it. They gather the components and turn it into sugar. My growth method was just pumping the herbs full of sugar. It helps a little but my meditation is different. Before I didn¡¯t think about it but I must leave behind all that mess I don¡¯t absorb. If I had to compare it to anything it would be breathing. I breathe Energy and put out impurities while the Energy Herb does the opposite just like humans and plants with oxygen and carbon dioxide.¡± This comparison gives Jason a pause. He muses to himself, ¡°The impurities aren¡¯t spreading out quickly. I pull in the Energy from the surroundings but that only reaches so far. My meditation would for lack of a better word, suffocate, without the Energy Herbs. I need a portable garden or something. Does this world have portable gardens? They should if only so other players who want to try gardening don¡¯t get locked into one area. I clearly need a lot of money just in case I see one.¡± As he finishes his thoughts, a system message pops up.
Congratulations You have furthered your knowledge of Energy Herbs. Through experimentation and connecting past knowledge you figured out what nurtures them. Your past bonuses in Knowledge and Discovery related to Energy Herbs has been boosted by 1%.
Congratulations You have deepened your knowledge of your cultivation technique. Through observation you discovered the effect your mediation has on the environment. Gain +25% towards next skill level. Knowledge Bonus: Through observing the local energy field you can tell how suitable it is for cultivation and how long you can cultivate there Discovery Bonus: Through observing the local energy field you can get a feel for if any energy techniques or cultivation has happened there recently If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Jason pauses after reading the message, ¡°I wonder if it will take into account my Energy herbs when telling me the time.¡± Not having an answer to that he can only shrug and continue exploring. On his way there isn¡¯t much happening, even the warped panthers seem to have disappeared. Taking this as a good sign, likely meaning he has left their territory Jason prepares for whatever monsters he might find next. He doesn¡¯t have to wait long as just before midday the sounds of fighting ring out ahead of him. Taking this as a cue to be sneaky Jason works his way towards the noise. He peeks out from behind a spire and finds what is causing the ruckus. There are 5 hound like creatures with disturbingly long legs surrounding a spire. Fighting them off is a pair of insectoid emus. Though the real centerpiece of this fight is atop the spire. Another insectoid emu is perched up there. This one is half the size of the other two. The small emu appears to be more beetle based as compared to the two below which are more wasp like. What sets it aside however is the fact it is every occasionally spitting out an acid like substance that catches fire. All 5 of the long-legged hounds have burn marks that sizzle from the acidic heat. Despite this, they aren¡¯t losing. Their legs look normal enough on first glance if long. However when Jason looks closer a different story appears. The legs seem to gain and lose joints as needed. One hound even seems to lose rigidity in a leg before using it as a whip. Their exoskeleton might protect the two emus on the ground but both are missing chunks of it. As the fight between the group''s progress a gap between them forms. The insectoid emus are pulling ahead. Jason sneaking around the perimeter finally gets close enough to peak at the combatants. It calls the hounds ¡®Long-Legged Hounds¡¯ and are all at level 13. As for the emus the two on the ground are called Vespula Emu and both are only level 14. However, the real danger is the perched small emu. That one is called a Bombardier Emu and has a level of 17. Noting the name Jason can only be thankful it is spitting the substance. Though with that difference in levels the outcome of this fight is clear to him. The hounds haven¡¯t even hurt the small emu yet. Of course if there is one thing fate likes to do it is to screw with things you think are certain. From the opposite direction that Jason is in a loud growl can be heard. From behind one of the spires a new hound emerges. This one about twice as big as the others with a bright yellow coat it contrasts with the five original hounds. The original ones are a dusty sand color and only about as tall of Jason. However, the new one despite having the same size body is twice as tall. Even just standing there the legs gain and lose joints at a rapid pace. This new hound charges over and in the first attack squishes one of the waspy emus. Taking this chance Jason inspects it. While a similar name there is one important addition. It calls the animal a Long-Legged Chaos Hound, and this one is level 20. Much too high a level for Jason to even consider sticking around to see what happens. As he skedaddles away a last glimpse back catches the Chaos Hound wacking the small emu off its perch. At this point he books it out of there. As he runs away though he can¡¯t help but be excited. What things might he find now? Is it two monster groups fighting for the area or does this place have a large selection of monsters? Chapter 45 - Variant Skill Jason goes only a short distance before running into a trio of the insectoid emus. Luckily these three are the wasp type so he gives it a shot. Turning his run into a charge he barrels into the group. The three scatter in different directions with only one of them staying. Not what he was planning, but a fight is a fight. The emu throws a kick at him on his approach. Tossing himself to the side he avoids the kick. Crouching down he focuses on his fist and throws a quick jab. The emu stands it ground trusting its exoskeleton, but this trust is misplaced. His fist connects and he can hear a crunch and a web of cracks spread out. The emu staggers back and prepares to run away but Jason drops down and swings out with a ground level kick. His enemy slams into the ground and he finishes it with another special punch, this time to the head. As he finishes the skirmish Jason hears the fight, he ran from get louder. Thinking about it, he realizes, ¡°If the fight isn¡¯t over then more creatures have joined in. That is definitely a territory dispute or why else would level 20 creatures show up?¡± With that in mind he runs again, barely taking time to check his gains from the emu. Not that he got much from it as he had busted the chitin up on the one side and head. ¡°Can¡¯t help that though. Finishing the fight quickly at this point matters more than perfect drops.¡± After having run away for a bit he can no longer hear the battle but all along the way he meets small groups of monsters. All these groups avoid him or have a single member stay behind with the rest heading towards the battles direction. Jason even ran past a couple of level 20 and up creatures though luckily they ignored him. As he begins to feel tired Jason reduces his speed to a walk. Checking the sky he figures one more fight before he heads back into the plains for the night. With that in mind Jason scouts the area. Spotting a couple of spires that are close together he first tries to climb one. This doesn¡¯t quite work as his hands aren¡¯t able to get a grip on it. Shaking his head at this he can only hope that after ranking up his movement skill will let him stick to stuff with his hands as well. Then with a leap he sticks to one spire before jumping to the other. Back and forth a couple times Jason bounds before reaching the top. Standing up there he observes things for a great distance around. After jumping back down Jason can only shake his head. While he didn¡¯t see any enemies, he noticed one important thing. His running had taken him farther from the plains than he would have liked. The grassland was barely visible from up top. Though now with a bearing on his location he heads out of the wastelands. Jason even thinks about not bothering with another fight but fate has other plans. As he is about to enter the plains a long-legged hound attacks from behind a spire. While this one isn¡¯t too high of level, it takes Jason by surprise. Until now none of the monsters had been hiding, not even the panthers. Though while the attack is shocking he still dodges to the side. However, as he dodges he hears a slight popping sound like when someone cracks their knuckles. A new joint has formed on the attacking leg and the swipe at him changes directions. Searing pain flairs out from his side as a large wound is ripped into his side. Luckily the hounds don¡¯t seem to have any poison on their claws and the wound closes itself as his sap like blood hardens. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. -9 +1 Stunned for a second by the strike Jason is grabbed by the hound. Popping rings out as the four legs wrap around his torso leaving one arm free. All wrapped up he falls back onto the ground. This new position making it all the harder to keep the hound from biting his face off. Then in his moment of desperation all his actions crystalize and he throws his punch. With a loud thud his fist slams into the side of the hound¡¯s head knocking it out. Jason isn¡¯t even thinking at this point as he throws another punch. This time the thud is paired with a crunch and a squish as the hound dies. After Jason extracts himself from the legs, he runs into the plains. That was much too close for him to want a repeat. He keeps running farther into the grassland until he can¡¯t even see the spire anymore. With a sigh of relief Jason takes the time to check his rewards. Besides a couple more points in agility, the hound itself gave the same drop he had been getting from them. A set of 4 leg bones that don¡¯t seem to have any joints. However, the real prize this time is in the final window. The System has finally recognized his punch as a skill.
Blast Punch (Variant) The normal Blast Punch is a ranged mana based skill similar to burning hands. A magic user would concentrate pure Mana around his fist then punch the air sending out a glowing ball of pure magic. Someone developed this skill to help fire mages counter low level fire based enemies. Preferred over the mana missile skill as the user does not have to focus on guiding it and thus allow dodging directly after use. However, that is not this skill. Not only has it been changed to use Energy instead of Mana it is no longer ranged. This Blast Punch is like the classic one inch punch, trying to get the most out of a short distance. However, instead of focusing the body¡¯s explosive strength into a small burst of motion this skill focuses the users Energy. While someone can use it with a regular punch as long as the fist is punching the skill will work. This change causes the skill to no longer be ranged but as a tradeoff the Energy will only be used on a hit and some Energy will be pushed directly into the enemy providing armor piercing. Novice Level 1 - 0.0% Rank: Variant Beginner Type: Energy Attack Effects: Frugal - This attack only uses energy on a successful hit Pure Force - Not affected by most types of resistance Armor Piercing - As the attack partially forms inside the enemy some damage will ignore armor. At the current level this distance is short and so will not pierce equipment or exceptionally thick natural armor.
Chapter 46 - Truth of the Body Happy with his new Skill Jason spends the rest of the day in practice. While there isn¡¯t anything to use the move against this won¡¯t pose a problem. His Variant Blast Punch might not be as flashy as the normal version but it took one important aspect from his past. Using the punch did not waste a person¡¯s energy. Honestly, the move was labeled as a poor person¡¯s technique because of this. Now using a Skill in combat would improve it quicker making his decision less than efficient. However Jason is in one of the instances where that isn¡¯t true. He had already experienced another that of being taught by someone. Now on the other side he has to teach the Skill. Not to a person but rather the System itself. If the punch had already been a Skill, then the System would have judged his Skill in it and set the starting level just below his current ability with it. That is how things work when someone enters already knowing stuff like Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai. Jason however has created an entirely new Skill as far as the System is concerned. By practicing it as masterfully as possible the System can even potentially upgrade its rank or improve future level¡¯s benefits. Knowing this Jason isn¡¯t willing to leave it up to chance and let the System see anymore rushed combat use. Practicing the heart of the technique in the plains will provide much longer-term benefits. Though he admits to himself it isn¡¯t just for a better technique. If the move is good enough once he gets to level 10 the System might offer to buy it to teach to others. Nothing says well off like having a popular Skill that people want. A constant trickle of income from people buying it will help in his future budget. Jason shakes his head, ¡°Enough daydreaming about living off royalties. I need to focus on what differences this body has from mine and my past. Meridians aren¡¯t a thing here though the blood vessels can work. However, this game body isn¡¯t full of those either. As I understand it, the higher my level the closer it is to reality but there is a limit. The System isn¡¯t simulating every single blood vessel in everything. In fact, I remember it is possible to have ¡®meridians¡¯. Though it is also possible to have chakras, magic vessels, or even stranger fantasy internals. If you try hard enough and explain it with sufficient detail, the System will let you have a go at it. Nevermind the fact that all the different systems hardly ever match up from one person to the next and only the most classical systems have any degree of repeatability. For this I can¡¯t depend on that. It might be time to research.¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. With that in mind Jason decides to do a Home only log out. That way instead of fully logging his avatar stays in the game but he can¡¯t leave his pods Home space. This will let him do some internet sleuthing and if something threatens his body he gets sucked back into the game. Soon the 5 minute timer on it ticks down, and he is out. Now in his Home space he calls up a screen and starts searching. The first things that come up is that he was partly right. While a character doesn¡¯t naturally have meridians, they don¡¯t need to just make it themselves. When you try to generate them, the System gives the option of having the most common way. Looking into it further though soon proves that like most things here it has nothing to do with what he is familiar with. Anyway, a bit more digging shows that even in-game the system is unnatural. Shaking his head, Jason changes his searches up. Now instead he checks on high level characters. He couldn¡¯t be the only one looking into what the System considers natural. This new track proves correct. The first info found is some autopsy videos of powerful monsters that a famous hunter did a decade ago. While the insides seem to be all meat, blood, and bones the hunter would point out on each creature how there was nearly microscopic filaments spread throughout the bodies. Others had tried to follow up his work on lower level monsters but the corpses despawn too quickly. This was enough for Jason though. Cultivation isn¡¯t cut and dry. Each person will be different and that isn¡¯t even considering any of the special body types. Unlike some novels he had seen there isn¡¯t a true path to it. While the experience of others can help. Each person must at least in part forge their own way. So what if instead of meridians the game has strange filaments? That isn¡¯t even the strangest thing he had seen in his past. Satisfied with his results Jason returns to the game just as the sun is setting. After a quick meal he settles down for more meditation. Delving into his sense of self Jason feels his body''s condition. The flow of his blood is powerful. Each vein a path for his energy but at the same time unnatural. Now that he is feeling for it the concept of fleshly tubes in this body is foreign. A reality imposed upon it by his earlier methods. However, within this he notices a truth. Each vein, vessel, and capillary has a thread of rightness to it. He can¡¯t quite make it out yet but this is the lead he needs. If his concepts from real life aren¡¯t true in the game, then Jason would rather throw out all his cultivation so far and start over with the truth. While only a game he can¡¯t let go of his past instincts. To fight the heavens, one can¡¯t be bound by mortal misconceptions. If the truth of his new body is these filaments, then that is what he must cultivate! Chapter 47 - Only Death or Rebirth Next morning as the last rabbits hop off Jason wakes up from his introspective meditation. Relief flows through him as while his concept of blood being wrong he wasn¡¯t completely blind. Breaking it into the game''s terms, most of his cultivation technique is all right. It is only the ability of ¡°Blood is Life and the Heart it¡¯s throne¡± that rings false. The description of his skill is mostly fluff so while the skill will need to be broken he won¡¯t be starting over from scratch. Shaking his head as there isn¡¯t much he can do Jason packs up his camp before heading out. ¡°With this new knowledge I have to change how I am cultivating. The training trip can still continue but I need to focus on discovering myself. At this point I don¡¯t even know how having the magic bones will affect me let alone what I need to do with my cultivation. Now that I think about it, I didn¡¯t feel those bones in me. Sure when that warped panther savaged my arm the bone was visible, but that doesn¡¯t mean much.¡± Then Jason smacks himself and shakes his head. ¡°No, stop trying to go down another rabbit hole. We will get to it when we get to it. First and foremost I need to train my punch during the day and self-discovery at night. This might slow me down but I need it. Oh, and while I am planning this out maybe some Strength training? That stat has barely gotten above base. I can see why people rarely get any growth even for stats they don¡¯t put points into.¡± With a final shake of his head he sets off back into the wasteland. Back out among the spires he continues his travels. Avoiding groups of monsters while training his punching skill on those that are alone or in pairs. A swift strike from the shadows is enough to remove an enemy from the fight and so his time isn¡¯t too stressful. Though this does translate to almost no stat growth. Gaining only a single point in Toughness simply because he never stopped. Finally, about 4 hours before sunset he heads back into the plains. On the way he grabs a large rock. Once settled down and with his camp set out this rock becomes an impromptu weight, he uses it in between intense sessions of punching. This boosts Blast Punch up two levels and nets him +2 Strength. Decent gains though likely only so good as it is his first day of this training. After cooling off and eating dinner he settles down for his mediation. The night passes but the vital threads in his body still escape his grasp. He even stops all his cultivation besides the purification to further his grasp on his body. The surrounding rabbits couldn¡¯t be happier as he puts off more and more loose energy for them to rank up with. Next day as he comes to he doesn¡¯t even pay attention to a few rabbit stragglers. He collects up his camp in a daze before dragging the rock back into the wasteland. This cycle continues and the days pass him by until a week and a day later it happens. During his mediation the flow of blood goes away, his veins disappear, and his heart becomes silent. All that is left in his mind¡¯s eye are nearly invisible filaments. Many times smaller than he saw in that hunters film. They are spread throughout his body. Way too many are caught up in the shape of his imaginary circulatory system with a knot of them where his heart was. This differs completely from what he saw in the high level monster¡¯s body. There the threads were spread out and evenly distributed except around areas of interest like natural weapons. Satisfied with this Jason ponders on what his next step needs to be. ¡°I can¡¯t keep them bound up in their current form. These threads must be important and I can¡¯t have them tied up in a mockery of life. It even seems like threads in the heart¡¯s knot are getting stiff. If I continued to cultivate as I was there would come a point that things would become permanent. I can¡¯t be the first person to be unsatisfied with how a skill works so there should be some method to change it. First though let¡¯s see how far I have progressed this past few days.¡± Then he says aloud, ¡°System Show Character Sheet and Display Changes since last Viewed¡±
Basic Info
Name: Jason Level: 6 - 73.7% [+1lv 73.7%]
Legal Status: New Player Title: N/A
Normal Stats
Strength 33 (19[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set]) [+7]
Toughness 39 (25[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set]) [+1]
Agility 37 (23[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set]) [+4]
Auxiliary Stats
Defense 42 (30[Eq] +12[Set])
HP 30
Energy 3
Bonuses
Knowledge Bonus: +2% [+1%] success rate when using an Energy Herb as an ingredient or growing one. Ability to identify the maturity of a Herb with relevant Identify skills Discovery Bonus: +2% [+1%] success rate when using an Energy Herb or growing one Able to get a feeling for the maturity of a Herb without a skill Control of Experience intake
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Living Amber Skeletal System Description: This masterpiece of magical items is the opposite of the undead. While undead are the living that are killed and turned into magical items, this is a magical item turned into a living piece of a creature. An intricately carved full skeleton made entirely of Magical Amber. It was then hollowed out leaving just the barest of a lattice work. When magically implanted into the host the bone marrow was grafted into these cavities. Because of difficulties and dangers that appear when trying to enchant a living creature they have instead been imbued with magic. Effects: Sap like Blood - The blood produced by the marrow is more viscous and sticky when it leaves the body. Slower bleed rate and more likely to stop bleeding Crafted Bones - Because of the material and structure, the bones are tougher and can take an impact easier One and the Same - Despite being a magical item they will not show up as a separate item and only appear under the possessors character screen. Any attempt at removal will face the same difficulties as removing a person''s actual bones. Soulbound - Not even death will part you from this item Bonuses: +5 [base] toughness +5 [base] hp
Organizations
Adventurers Guild Basic Member Rank F
Odd Ones Out Team Member Leader
Skills
Energetic Body Reinforcement Through a special training method you have infused your very Energy into your cardiovascular system. You have stepped down the path of perfecting your body. As you train further in it, your body will toughen. Most important though is that your body will start to become like an enchanted item allowing you to damage that which is resistant to normal physical damage. Because of your filtering cycle you will gain less Energy but the Energy will be extremely pure. Apprentice Level 1 - 63.4% [+46.9%] Rank: Unique Type: Passive, Cultivation Effects: Filtering Cycle - Gain only 10% of absorbed energies but they are extremely pure Purity of energy - Because of the purity of your energy higher levels have a lower scaling on what is needed to level it and it does more Blood is Life and the Heart it¡¯s throne - Passive regeneration .083hp/second Body/Mind Unification - Despite any stat limitations your ability to fully control your body strengthens Energized Flesh - Can hit incorporeal things for 1% of normal damage with body Material Body - With time your body can become like living metal or hard like a diamond
Desolate Traversal Technique A combination of traditional parkour and energy use. While considered a basic skill it is highly ranked among them. Generally learned rogues it is however open for anyone to learn. Initiate Level 4 - 45.35% [+44.05%] Rank: Normal Beginner Type: Passive, Movement Effects: Traction Assist - Based on predicted goal the System will slightly modify the friction between user and any surfaces they are in contact with Powered Grip - Through the use of energy a user is able to temporarily stick to surfaces
Blast Punch (Variant) The normal Blast Punch is a ranged mana based skill similar to burning hands. A magic user would concentrate pure Mana around his fist then punch the air sending out a glowing ball of pure magic. Someone developed this skill to help fire mages counter low level fire based enemies. Preferred over the mana missile skill as the user does not have to focus on guiding it and thus allow dodging directly after use. However, that is not this skill. Not only has it been changed to use Energy instead of Mana it is no longer ranged. This Blast Punch is like the classic one inch punch, trying to get the most out of a short distance. However, instead of focusing the body¡¯s explosive strength into a small burst of motion this skill focuses the user''s Energy. While someone can use it with a regular punch as long as the fist is punching the skill will work. This change causes the skill to no longer be ranged but as a tradeoff the Energy will only be used on a hit and some Energy will be pushed directly into the enemy providing armor piercing. Novice Level 5 - 72.05% [+4lv 72.05%] Rank: Variant Beginner Type: Energy Attack Effects: Frugal - This attack only uses energy on a successful hit Pure Force - Not affected by most types of resistance Armor Piercing - As the attack partially forms inside the enemy some damage will ignore armor. At the current level this distance is short and so will not pierce equipment or exceptionally thick natural armor.
¡°Nice to see my level is getting up there. Though the cultivation skill is as slow as ever. Knowing what is up with it now this isn¡¯t a bad thing for me. Too quickly and I wouldn¡¯t be able to fix it. However, looking at my sheet reminds me. I have a magic item taking the place of my ¡®bones¡¯ at the moment. Problem is I don¡¯t have bones. Didn¡¯t feel them earlier when I was checking my internals so where are they?¡± After thinking about his bones for a while Jason just sighs and shakes his head. ¡°No point in worrying about it. Since I can¡¯t sense my bones they shouldn¡¯t interfere with what I want to do. Guess it is time to restructure my insides.¡± Goal in mind Jason sinks back into meditation. The filaments now standing out starkly against everything else in his body. As he sits there letting the local energy flow through he tries to move the weakest of the filaments. Through will alone a lonely thread at the end of his pinky toe twitches. Not enough though to make any permanent changes. In fact, if a sensitive enough healer had observed they would have seen a blood vessel burst there, though quickly healed by his natural regen. Experiments, one right after another. Jason sits there lost in the process. Finally, after a day and a night passes him by, a breakthrough happens. When using his Energy with his will the filaments can be scattered. It isn¡¯t quite a purposeful movement but in Jason¡¯s deep meditative state he notices something. While the filaments do randomly scatter, they keep moving till they fall into a new order. Proceeding along his toes he continues to break up his cardiovascular system. Once he reaches the foot proper though, he takes a hit of damage. Despite the veins being false the System still counts them as vitals. At a deep level Jason now understands how hard this will be. As his HP heals the filaments in not only his foot but the toes as well return to the old positions. He needs to change things quickly and not die from literally destroying his own heart. In fact, if he dies there is a chance that it will lock his system down. Deciding not to rush into things Jason takes the time to slowly go over every vein in his body. Two more days pass as he is familiarizing himself with his internals. Then he is ready. Like a bomb going off in his chest Jason detangles his heart threads and instantly takes 5 damage. Using the force of this energy release he continues through the rest of his chest and down to his waist as another 4 damage ticks away. Splitting his focus now he has the process travel up his limbs. Like a string of firecrackers, blood is bursting out all over his body and is now working its way down his arms and legs. Another 6 damage ticks away, both from the damage and the bleeding. Completing his feet and hands brings him down another 7. On the last bit he works his way up his neck as another 3 HP flies away. Finally, all at once he scrambles his head losing 4 HP and his thoughts become blurry. Through sheer will alone, he stays awake long enough to see his work complete. However, one last HP bleeds away. Now dying he forces himself to stabilize. Seconds pass by and become minutes as he lays there half dead at zero HP. Chapter 48 - Taking Stock and Renaming Drip drip drip, the sound of liquid falling into a puddle causes Jason to stir. His body feels pain and yet relief at the same time. Like a snake having just shed he feels like a restriction on his growth has been lifted. Opening his eyes he takes note of and swipes away an alert about gaining 5 Toughness, 10 HP, and strangest of all 1 more Energy. Next another pop up greets him though this time he pays attention.
New Title: Willful Survivor Having survived at 0 HP through sheer will alone the System will more easily bends to your will. No Title Equipped - Willful Survivor has been equipped
Now titles aren¡¯t rare but getting one before level 10 is. Willful Survivor isn¡¯t a unique Title by any stretch of the imagination. Many others had gotten it before though mostly wizardly types. After all that is basically what spells are to some extent. Especially once a person gets into making their own magic. However getting it below level 100 and through forcefully keeping yourself alive at 0 HP? Jason is probably the first on both accounts. Not that 0 HP is an automatic death but unless you have a healer, then even someone with regeneration will soon bleed out. The hair on the back of his neck stand up as he realizes how close he was to failing. ¡°That was a little close for comfort. I wonder if¡­ No going down the ¡®what if¡¯ rabbit hole won¡¯t help anyone. I lived and it should have worked. Getting a Title for it is nice but I don¡¯t do magic so the use of it will be limited for me. Not that I will complain if it helps me in creating new skills but that is a way off.¡± Looking down at himself Jason notices everything is covered in his blood and his whole body looks like one big bruise that is slowly healing. ¡°Yep, definitely healing slower. It appears I lost the regen ability. Though it still seems faster than normal. I guess I can¡¯t delay it anymore.¡± Looking up again he checks out the final screen.
Energetic Body Reinforcement Accepting only purity of body and mind you have given up past concepts of self for the uncertainty of truth. Initiate Level 1 - 0.0% Rank: Truth Type: Passive, Cultivation Effects: Filtering Cycle - Gain only 10% of absorbed energies but they are extremely pure Purity of energy - Because of the purity of your energy higher levels have a lower scaling on what is needed to level it and it does more Stolen story; please report. Body/Mind Unification - Despite any stat limitations your ability to fully control your body strengthens Energized Flesh - Can hit incorporeal things for 3% of normal damage with body Material Body (Leather) - With time your body can become like living metal or hard like a diamond Untainted Core - No longer does your body attempt to mimic internals, status effects like broken bones heal twice as fast because you have none
¡°Okay, not as bad as I expected. The skill only went down a Rank. No starting over from the complete beginning. Though the rank of the skill. God that is awkward, should probably be something like rarity but historically that is how such things were called. Let¡¯s just change that.¡± Then aloud Jason says, ¡°System Rename Rank of Skill to Rarity of Skill¡± ¡°Anyway, back to the RARITY of the skill. It changed from Unique to Truth. If I had to guess this means that instead of being something only I can use someone else could now cultivate this skill. Just going to file that under Dao for now. Besides that two of the effects have changed. Energized Flesh has gone up to 3% despite losing the Rank. Looks like fighting ghosts won¡¯t be as much of a problem in the future. Also, Blood is Life and the Heart its Throne or whatever that was called no longer exists. In its place is Untainted Core which would explain the bruise healing faster. I wonder what exactly counts for this. If my eardrums burst do they heal twice as fast? What about charms that affect the mind? My brain is after all internal. Meh, I can figure it out with time. For now, I should continue on my way. The only reason my blood wouldn¡¯t have despawned by now is if something in the area is paying attention to it. Also, more Strength training. My Toughness is far and away the leader and I would much prefer to equalize them out.¡± Standing up Jason stretches and mumbles to himself before packing up camp. After a sweep of the area to check for any ambushes, he heads parallel to the wasteland while carrying his training rock. Even if the monsters in there aren¡¯t willing to enter the plains that doesn¡¯t stop them from gathering on the border. Better safe than sorry. Though Jason admits to himself, he also spent way too much time sitting around doing nothing and probably needs some training time. Even if only to get used to the changes in his body. That and a quick glance at the sun shows him it is well past midday. An hour goes by and Jason sets up camp again. This should be far enough that tomorrow he can enter the wasteland without being dog piled. Shaking his head, he gets down to training. Eventually as night falls, he stops and nods to himself. The changes to his body did not radically alter his body. Even if he doesn¡¯t technically have bones or muscles in his body, this doesn¡¯t allow him to just bend his body willy nilly. Everything seems to be under the same limitations as reality. Though the joints are a lot smoother and he would probably be called double jointed by others. He even picked up a point of Agility from testing his flexibility. Satisfied with his results Jason settles down for a night of meditation. Only tomorrow will tell how quickly his cultivation will improve now. As Jason drifts off though not all is peaceful. Back at his previous camp the area is swarmed with rabbits of all types. Instead of the young that would swarm Jason during his mediation these are fully grown. Tens of these rabbits are taking turns at licking up the blood that was left behind. While that is happening off just out of sight a battle between wasteland monsters and some other adult rabbits is taking place. Finally things calm down at the last of the blood is consumed and the rabbits disperse. Each one though carries a slight glint of red whether on the tip of a horn or the at the edges of their wings. While not enough to cause a variant rabbit Jason¡¯s blood which was packed with purified Energy assisted many a rabbit that night. Chapter 49 - Picking on Birds Coming out of his meditation the next day Jason checks his progress. His cultivation had reached Initiate level 2 over the night. Happy with his progress he packs up and heads back toward the wasteland. Taking a day to get used to how the changes affected him would work, battle experience at this point should provide a better foundation for later. Once out of the plains it doesn¡¯t take long for a couple wasp-like emus to find him. They both charge at him. Not being ready to take both head on Jason dashes to the left putting a spire between them. Seeing this the emus split up to take him on. After a short stop though Jason continues moving to keep the sheltering spire between the right emu and himself. In moments the left emu is able to reach him with its charge. Ready for it Jason braces himself against the spire then brings both feet up for a powerful double kick. Not expecting this the emu easily falls prey to the kick and gets knocked out by the headshot. Now facing a single enemy Jason prepares to drag out the battle. The remaining emu comes around the side of the spire just to be met by a normal punch to the gut. While its carapace protects it from the blow both Jason and the bird take a couple of steps back. Not letting this stop him though Jason steadies himself and punches at the emu again. This time instead of trying to get a solid shot or even make sure he hits instead Jason is focuses on his own body. The blow collides with the emu once again though this time the bird gets a kick in. -4 Ignoring the pain Jason continues to observe his body while fighting. Unlike his past battles, this one quickly devolves into a in your face back-and-forth match. Two sides clashing with each other over and over. -2 -3 -2 -4 -2 -3 While not getting hit with every exchange the damage soon builds up on Jason. However, even with a lower level and stats each of his punches packs a lot of power. Not liking how hurt it is the bird bugs out leaving not only Jason but its fallen comrade. Surprised at this Jason stays ready for a few more moments before accepting it really did just run away. After quickly finishing the downed emu Jason sits down with his back to the spire. Taking his time he reviews the fight. ¡°While it lacked tactics, this was the first straight up brawl I have gotten into. My equipment, even with my odd leveling should put me on even grounds with most normal enemies up to maybe level 12. HP doesn¡¯t exactly skyrocket to extreme numbers too quickly but that emu still should have only been down a third at most. If my team was here, the fight would be easy even with how stupid I fought it. However the emu should have stayed. It was going to win with how the battle was going. I might even be wrong about its health as I don¡¯t know how much protection the exoskeleton provides. Meh, doesn¡¯t matter. What is important is that even without using any Energy or Skills I could feel a difference. I can¡¯t really put it into words but the movement and attacks themselves felt more free. It was like before now I was wearing a tight suit. The strength would travel in small spurts and now it is like my whole body is carrying it. I need more battles before I finalize my thoughts on this but I have a theory.¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Satisfied with his introspection Jason quickly leaves the area. That emu might have gone for help. He doesn¡¯t even stop to fight a few lone enemies as he continues onward. Choosing instead to sneak past them for the moment. Eventually though he feels that he has gone far enough away and looks for another fight. This doesn¡¯t take long and soon a lone emu is within his sights. He had wanted to try fighting one of those long-legged dogs but there have been none around. Shrugging away these stray thoughts Jason silently approached the bird. As the emu strutted around almost at random, he is able to get behind a spire in its path. Just short of a minute later everything is in place. The emu comes around the spire only to be met with a blast punch to the neck. While the area seems more armored than elsewhere that just proves it is a vulnerable spot. At least it is if you have an armor piercing attack. Unable to even react the emu drops to the ground dead. Jason shakes his head at this. While it will be good for some XP grinding, he was hoping for more of a fight to get a feel for his attack. With a sigh, he moves onto the next target. Only a short walk away another emu is resting below a spire. Tucked up under the slight overhang to get out of the sun it seems to be sleeping. This doesn¡¯t fool Jason as he had already scouted the area and knew what was up. The ¡®sleeping¡¯ emu was bait. If anything tried to get the drop on it, miraculously the bird would be wide awake and attacking back. All the while the emu Jason killed would have either joined the fight or if too much then run off for help. With the sneaky guard taken out though Jason walks towards it announcing his presence. The bird takes his slow approach to squawk for help but the call is only met with silence. Freaked out the emu prepares to fight. Jason on the other hand prepares to grind his skill against it. The only worry he has is the enemy might not be a tough enough grindstone to sharpen his attack against. His worries are proven out soon enough as the emu only survives 5 attacks. It wasn¡¯t even much of a fight as the first hit threw the emu¡¯s mind into chaos and the second crippled a leg. Jason can only shake his head at this before sitting by the now free spire to go over how his skill felt now. Chapter 50 - Fluffy Bird in Charge Using Blast Punch had felt almost completely different. Before his Energy flowed naturally along with his strength. Travelling down his arm it would burst out of his fist after having followed what to Jason had been the natural path for it to take. Now though if before the skill was like a meandering stream the current feel was like a broad river. Straight from his core the Energy rushed down the filaments directly to his fist. The whole arm being used to move the Energy. While this might only speed up his skill imperceptibly right now Jason can tell it will be of great help for anything with a longer activation time. Satisfied with what he has found Jason continues onward. While he debated for a moment whether he should stay and fight in this area for a while. His skill was very effective against the emus. However only being in advantageous fights would not be good for his progress. Though he needn¡¯t have worried as the emu territory doesn¡¯t seem to end. The wasp style emus however get phased out. Sadly for the birds what replaces them is an even worse match up with Jason. While being based on a heavily armored beetle would normally make them safe. With how slow they are the Blast Punch combined with Jasons maneuverability hard counters them. They don¡¯t stand a chance against him and the minuscule amount of XP they give him shows even the System knows it. After the first few he doesn¡¯t even bother with them and instead makes his way through the area. Not even minding if they see him Jason makes good time. Running past the slow moving birds he weaves between spires. Though the emus eventually stop him. A fight soon develops after Jason barely avoids a shot of acid. The enemies finally had variety to them. Instead of just the slow beetle emus a new type and two of a returning old type. On top of the two biggest slow birds are a pair of Vespula emu. The same type that had been leading the first fight he saw between the dogs and emus. Just this alone would temp Jason to avoid them but it seems that isn¡¯t an option. Only one of them fired a shot at him, the other is holding back, likely to prevent his escape. Holding this group together is the new emu. Being close enough Jason can glimpse its name and what the System tells him doesn¡¯t look good. The ¡°Lesser Swarm Node Emu¡± weighs in at a poultry level 10 but if anything this only makes it more dangerous. Jason is already a good example of why level do not mean everything. Any creature staying in an area like this and under leveled? Especially with terms like ¡°Lesser¡± being thrown on? Though to top this cake of bad times off the thing looks the least insectoid of the bunch. In fact, if it wasn¡¯t for the name you might mistake it for a baby. Being half the size of even the smallest emu Jason had seen yet and covered in the fluffiest of down this critter does not look dangerous. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Looks like I found why the emu¡¯s have such a large territory. Hiveminds are not a thing to joke around with. That thing isn¡¯t even up to my knees yet the surrounding emus are positioned with military precision. They are looking for a fight so I can¡¯t stop it but I need to decide now. Do I kill it or not?¡± Jason doesn¡¯t even get to finish his thoughts though. This enemy isn¡¯t willing to let him gather wool. The 5 slow emu take up a star formation around the Node with the acid emus on the back points. Ready they approach him at a slow jog. Jason makes motions of running to the side but a sizzling glob of acid blocks his path. Shaking his head, he gets into a stable stance and waits for them. Moments later the front emu arrives before him with a kick. While Jason is deflecting it the other two riderless beetle emus fan out into flanking positions. However, just as they get into position Jason uses the force from blocking the others kick to spin around with a high kick. While the armor protects his target, the bird is dazed for a moment putting it in a bad situation. Jason doesn¡¯t take this chance though and instead moves on to attack the other flanker. A good decision as another glob of acid slides right past him through his previous position. It comes so close that some acid splatters him in passing. -1 Ignoring the pain Jason continues his attack with a Blast Punch at the unhurt flankers body. Unlike in his previous fights though, this emu blocks his blow with a raised leg. Generally, a smart choice in other situations. However, the sound of a breaking bone and the emu falling to the ground proves otherwise. While emus in real life have stronger bones than most birds, especially in the legs, these gave up some of that strength for their exoskeleton. With one of their numbers unexpectedly taken down the two emus in melee range retreat. Taking this chance Jason finishes the downed one off. As he turns back to them a surprise acid shot falls behind him. The ranged emus seem to have taken on using a more artillery style of combat. Lobbing shots of acid up over his head to force him to come at them. The group now in a square formation with the Node between the spitters they seem ready for him. Taking a cue from them Jason approaches the formation at a slow pace. He throws a half hearted punch to the left emu before turning his motion into a back kick. This takes the emu to the right by surprise as it tries to attacking him. The kick doesn¡¯t do much damage, but this was the dazed emu from before and it cringes from the attack. Taking a chance the left emu whips its head at Jason in a fierce pecking motion. Not having expected this attack it wings him as he staggers back. -3 Both the groups are once again standing apart. The Node and Jason stare at each other waiting for the other to make a move. The barest of movement from one of the acid birds and Jason tenses causing the bird to stop. Both of sides are now stuck in a standoff but Jason is running out of time. This is the birds territory so they have all day to wait and may receive reinforcements. Finally, Jason release all the tension in his muscles. Chapter 51 - Honorable End The emus shift around uneasily as Jason stands there defenseless. His arms hanging at his side limp as the stress and tension from the fight leave him. Then one of the front line emus is dead. Jason is standing over it stable like a mountain having completed a side punch. His attack wasn¡¯t that fast but his actions seemed to slide past the emus. Focusing once again Jason tries to replicate what happened. His front foot almost imperceptibly lifts off the ground. The back foot digs in and with a push sends him towards the remaining front line emu. He feels the ground slide by underneath his one foot as Desolate Traversal makes the action even smoother. Then almost at the other bird he brings his other fist out to the side. In passing he slams a hook right into the emus neck dropping it. This second attack breaks the remaining emus out of their daze. The Lesser Hive Node emu retreats to a nearby spire while the remaining two Beetle emus close ranks. On top of those two the acid emus don¡¯t like their chances so they hop off and follow the Node as guards of sort. Working together the Beetle emus kick at Jason, not giving him a chance to approach. A few test punches by him show they are not doing it randomly. One can guard the other while it kicks so he can¡¯t cripple them. Then a splash and the ground to Jason¡¯s left is covered in acid. Unlike the previous times though the splatter remains. A glance at the source and he can understand why. One of the acid emus is now squatted on the ground breathing heavily. Jason smirks at this. ¡°Finally got them to use one of their trump cards. Though I need to finish one of these big boys before it recovers. I don¡¯t want to stand around only to find out that isn¡¯t a one off ability. Getting stuck in the middle of a pool of acid doesn¡¯t exactly sound like fun.¡± Then with a resolute nod Jason once again punches at one of the kicking emus. This time however he doesn¡¯t pull back when the other defends it. -10 A massive wound opens on his shoulder but his Blast Punch connects. Being a higher level the attacking emu doesn¡¯t have its leg bone completely broken but there is a fracture. Not giving them a chance Jason pushes the attack. Bringing his other fist around he lands a solid uppercut to the wounded emu. A crunch rings out and the emu dies, falling over backwards. The remaining Beetle emu scores another attack having been ignored in favor of taking the other out. -5 This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. This time the slashing kick only cut along the surface but the damage is still severe. However Jason now turns his sights to it. Off to the side Node emu paces back and forth. The acid emu that is still up can¡¯t be used or she wouldn¡¯t have any defense. This great enemy of hers has likely already notice the time needed between shots. One wrong move and that crazy human is likely to charge right at her to finish the fight. Having the Beetle emu go on the defensive helps. A few more punches from the human miss and another kick even gets through even if only scratching the leather armor. Back and forth the fight continues as the Node emu nervously checks on the exhausted acid emu. Still too long before it recovers. Looking back and she realizes that waiting isn¡¯t an option. Those gaping wounds on the human aren¡¯t looking as dire anymore. Instead of bleeding out they seem to have scabbed over already. Even the blood that is coming out looks more goopy than bloody as it quickly sets. However the Node emu realizes the human isn¡¯t attacking with that arm. A quick order and the Beetle emu goes in for an all out attack on that side. The attack works but not enough. It adds another large gash to the human but this time observing it shows the truth. How can something take bleeding damage when the blood pools on the wound and hardens? Worse yet, the Beetle emu¡¯s all out attack left it open, and the human killed it with another of those strange punches. All the Node emu has left is a couple acid emus, one which can¡¯t even run away. Fear runs through her head as the human turns towards her, how could she fall here? Then the oddest thing happens. He looks straight into her eyes. Then with a small bow he turns around and leaves back towards the rabbit¡¯s land. The remaining acid emu sends a spike of desire. It wants to use its daily to take out the human. Not knowing why she orders it to stop. That human demands respect and oddly enough she is willing to give it to him. Anyway, despite losing to Jason the Node emu got boosted two whole levels. Time enough to try again later. Now she needs to recover from her loses and find new members for her hive. However, for some reason she waits till the human has gone out of sight before heading off. In the distance Jason is ruminating over the fight as well. Blast Punch isn¡¯t a sure kill move. If it wasn¡¯t for his magic bones, he would have bleed out twice over back there. Deciding to stop the fight was the best thing he could have done. That Node emu let him go so he didn¡¯t have to deal with the remaining acid emu and whatever tricks it had up its sleeve. It seems a little respect can go a long way. Though he has an inkling that the so called ¡°Node¡± emus are more than they seem. A true node in a hive would sacrifice itself to remove a threat like him. Though those are thoughts for another time. Back in the plains he settles down and once again starts cultivating. Only stopping shortly before nightfall to prepare a meal. All the while off in the distance a slow change is occurring. Imperceptibly the very fate of the region has shifted once again. Chapter 52 - Thinking about Stats Next day Jason continues further along the wastelands border. As he travels there are a few fights with lone emus but anytime a group comes into view, they stare at him then leave. Weird but not being able to do anything about this he shrugs. In fact, this continues for several days. After over a week Jason sits down in camp and thinks about the situation. ¡°I am not sure how to feel about this. On one hand, this is horrible for leveling. That situation has stagnated so hard. On the other hand, my few skills are shooting up. I even gained two levels in my cultivation plus enough experience to almost get another. The only thing I am not progressing in is poison resistance. I would almost call this week a waste if I hadn¡¯t figured out the scaling of Strength for unarmed damage. The stat seems to provide about 1 damage to 10 points in it. At least that is what I can figure out from only gaining a single point in Strength. I know that with weapons like a sword it has a diminishing return though the extra helps with penetrating Toughness. Blunt attacks however tend towards Strength staying effective longer and I would put unarmed more under that category. Though now I think about it, I need to confirm Toughness for myself. Because human skin isn¡¯t exactly the best at defense, it has a bad ratio for us. A normal human character tends toward only having Toughness prevent 1 damage for every 40 to 50 points. With that I am right on the edge of either having a point of damage reduction from it. However other races get different conversion rates. Elves unless playing specific sub races might as well not bother with about 100 needed. Dwarves, Goblins, and the Yet are better off with 30 for the first two and the last one being quite the tank race weighing in at 10 Toughness to a point of DR. This also has diminishing returns but less so because of how many skills and attacks pierce it. Hell, my Blast Punch can and I am not even level 10 yet. However, those are all just the racial standards. Skills both passive and active can change how much damage reduction that Toughness gives. From what I have experienced so far I will bet my skeletal magic item provides a last line of defense boost to mine. Otherwise those assassins or that panther would have gone right through the bone. Also, for all intents and purposes I am a body cultivator here. With my skill so low at the moment it isn¡¯t doing much, but I can see my cultivation boosting damage reduction later on. Not that I can test my Toughness right now. The only thing keeping me alive is the newb armor. Defense is too OP at low levels. Not that I can blame the game. If it wasn¡¯t for everyone basically cheating the System having over 10 Defense would be a dream. Without my armor I am too much of a glass cannon. Worse yet, a melee range glass cannon. Now I don¡¯t want to start on another skill. Even though it should be relatively easy to get something like a metal skin skill, I did not finalize Blast Punch in the System yet. Trying to split my attention between two skills will just result in one of them being horrible or both mediocre. With Penny basically being my Master in this world I don¡¯t want to sully her name by having a sub par metal skin. She has reached Oricalcum with her shell after all. That isn¡¯t a bad path for me to go down either. Copper is flexible enough compared to other metals so basing a skill on it shouldn¡¯t limit my mobility too much. Gold would normally be a great choice but oddly enough the more magical the metal gets the less flexible it is. Whatever, I can look into this more at the next library I find. There are probably materials I can¡¯t even imagine available in the game. Back to stats so I can finish this introspection I seem to be stuck on. Though the only one left to go over is Agility. If I were one to use the System assists, then it would correct my aim and such. As I don¡¯t then at most it is more forgiving with what counts as a critical hit. That combined with my accuracy means I am probably getting a lot of crits. Luckily the System doesn¡¯t display it by default or the message spam would have become annoying. Anyway, the other thing Agility does is to allow one to move their body easier. Another waste as not only do I not use the System assists for that either but my cultivation lets me ignore the restrictions somewhat. Now the System is fair so it should be doing something else for me. To find out though I probably have to get the stat appraised by some professional in a big city. It might surprise me. After all it was only just a few decades ago that a person gave it a whirl and found out what Toughness did for his fire elemental friend. Surprised everyone involved that while it didn¡¯t provide damage reduction, it gave them a boost to their resistance against water. Though it is still odd to see a fire elemental playing in the rain. Meh, not much I can do except maybe more weight training. My Strength is still low. Though it is catching up to Agility now that I think about. In fact, let me check how I have progressed.¡± [System Show Character and Changes Since Last Displayed]
Basic Info
Name: Jason Level: 7 - 34.5% [+1lv 16.9%]
Legal Status: New Player Title: Willful Survivor
Normal Stats
Strength 34 (20[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set]) [+1]
Toughness 44 (30[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set]) [+5]
Agility 38 (24[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set]) [+1]
Auxiliary Stats
Defense 42 (30[Eq] +12[Set])
HP 40 [+10]
Energy 4 [+1]
Bonuses
Knowledge Bonus: Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! +2% success rate when using an Energy Herb as an ingredient or growing one. Ability to identify the maturity of a Herb with relevant Identify skills Discovery Bonus: +2% success rate when using an Energy Herb or growing one Able to get a feeling for maturity of a Herb without a skill Control of Experience intake Titles: Willful Survivor - Increased ability to affect the System through your Will
Living Amber Skeletal System Description: This masterpiece of magical items is the opposite of the undead. While undead are the living that are killed and turned into magical items, this is a magical item turned into a living piece of a creature. An intricately carved full skeleton made entirely of Magical Amber. It was then hollowed out leaving just the barest of a lattice work. When magically implanted into the host the bone marrow was grafted into these cavities. Because of difficulties and dangers that appear when trying to enchant a living creature they have instead been imbued with magic. Effects: Sap like Blood - The blood produced by the marrow is more viscous and sticky when it leaves the body. Slower bleed rate and more likely to stop bleeding Crafted Bones - Because of the material and structure, the bones are tougher and can take an impact easier One and the Same - Despite being a magical item they will not show up as a separate item and only appear under the possessors character screen. Any attempt at removal will face the same difficulties as removing a person''s actual bones. Soulbound - Not even death will part you from this item Bonuses: +5 [base] toughness +5 [base] hp
Organizations
Adventurers Guild Basic Member Rank F
Odd Ones Out Team Member Leader
Skills
Energetic Body Reinforcement Accepting only purity of body and mind you have given up past concepts of self for the uncertainty of truth. Initiate Level 4 - 91.2% [+2lv 90%] Rarity: Truth Type: Passive, Cultivation Effects: Filtering Cycle - Gain only 10% of absorbed energies but they are extremely pure Purity of energy - Because of the purity of your energy higher levels have a lower scaling on what is needed to level it and it does more Body/Mind Unification - Despite any stat limitations your ability to fully control your body strengthens Energized Flesh - Can hit incorporeal things for 12% [+6%] of normal damage with body Material Body (Leather) - With time your body can become like living metal or hard like a diamond Untainted Core - No longer does your body attempt to mimic internals so status effects like broken bones heal twice as fast because you don¡¯t have any
Desolate Traversal Technique A combination of traditional parkour and energy use. While considered a basic skill it is highly ranked among them. Generally learned rogues it is however open for anyone to learn. Initiate Level 6 - 14.02% [+2lv 14.02%] Rarity: Normal Beginner Type: Passive, Movement Effects: Traction Assist - Based on predicted goal the System will slightly modify the friction between user and any surfaces they are in contact with Powered Grip - Through the use of energy a user is able to temporarily stick to surfaces
Poison Resistance Does what it says on the tin. A skill based resistance. As there are many types of poison the System has decided it is best like this rather than a stat as this allows more variety without littering the stat line with entries like ¡®elven paralysis poison resistance¡¯. Uses the best percentage for a poison. Initiate Level 1 - 5.1% Rarity: Exquisite Beginner Type: Passive, Adaptive Effects: Immunity to Trash rank pain poisons Trash rank non-damaging poison resistance - 52% Trash rank poison resistance - 34% Low Normal rank poison resistance - 10% Normal rank poison resistance - 1%
Blast Punch (Variant) The normal Blast Punch is a ranged mana based skill similar to burning hands. A magic user would concentrate pure Mana around his fist then punch the air sending out a glowing ball of pure magic. Someone developed this skill to help fire mages counter low level fire based enemies. Preferred over the mana missile skill as the user does not have to focus on guiding it and thus allow dodging directly after use. However, that is not this skill. Not only has it been changed to use Energy instead of Mana it is no longer ranged. This Blast Punch is like the classic one inch punch, trying to get the most out of a short distance. However, instead of focusing the body¡¯s explosive strength into a small burst of motion this skill focuses the users Energy. While someone can use it with a regular punch as long as the fist is punching the skill will work. This change causes the skill to no longer be ranged but as a tradeoff the Energy will only be used on a hit and some Energy will be pushed directly into the enemy providing armor piercing. Novice Level 8 - 2.33% [+3lv 2.33%] Rarity: Variant Beginner Type: Energy Attack Effects: Frugal - This attack only uses energy on a successful hit Pure Force - Not affected by most types of resistance Armor Piercing - As the attack partially forms inside the enemy some damage will ignore armor. At the current level this distance is short and so will not pierce equipment or exceptionally thick natural armor.
Chapter 53 - Impossible Creatures The sun rises on the horizon as Jason stretches. Satisfied with his growth so far he heads back into the wasteland. Even with how big the emu area has been so far he feels that it will end soon. Of course ¡®soon¡¯ is relative as he takes another three days before he encounters something besides a bird. Though once he does a smile steals across his face. Up ahead lays a giant monitor lizard. In fact, the System identifies it as a Giant Monitor lizard with a level of 15. No strange animals spliced in or warped visage. Just a big lizard. Mind you, it isn¡¯t joking about the ¡®Giant¡¯ part. From Jason¡¯s position he can¡¯t even see all of it because of the spires. Though laying down it is at least twice Jason¡¯s height. This actually disappointed him a little. In an open field or even a normal forest the fight would be much more difficult. As it is though the spires will restrict the lizard¡¯s movement. Picking up a nearby rock Jason gives it a solid throw, plinking the lizard¡¯s head. Opening a single eye and glancing at him it seems shocked. Then again, few things out here would challenge it. With a grunt the lizard stands up and with a flick of the tongue walks away. Jason sort of stands there for a moment before asking aloud, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to fight me¡±? This doesn¡¯t change the lizards mind and even just walking the lizards pace has it disappear from Jason¡¯s view in moments. Shaking his head, Jason can only continue onward. Soon though his worries about not getting any good fights are relieved as some smaller enemies seem to be ahead. Maybe the Giant Monitor lizard was a one off or something as he now faces a new enemy. Before him is a trio of goat snakes. With bodies of a serpent and head of a goat the creatures look quite weird. Especially as this doesn¡¯t seem like a beneficial combination. A head of a herbivore with a splendid set of horns attached to a carnivores body that slithers. Jason still carefully approaches them ready for a fight. Magic can plaster over a number of inconsistencies. Not that it does this time. While able to slither along their ability to charge Jason is quite low. Along with that when Jason is close, he can see that their bodies belong to venomous snakes. Now if Jason had to make something like this, the horns would be venomous or something but the heads just seem like that of a regular goat. Without venom, a powerful charge, or a constrictors squeeze they easily fall. It honestly makes him feel like he was picking on a child. Shaking his head at his sympathy for a monster he avoids the next few groups. They likely only still exist because they nested next to that Giant lizard. Jason is honestly getting frustrated at this point. He checked his progress and knows what he needs to work on but he can¡¯t find a good fight to save his life. The next creatures just make him angrier. A tortoise¡¯s head and feet on a wolf. What is that even supposed to do? These are clearly just impossible creatures. Sure at higher levels even these could be a threat. A snapping turtle''s head would do massive damage. But as it is Jason is clear on why the wastelands monster population changes so much if this is what most of them are like. Instead of swapping out body parts whatever causes this should focus on properly mixing monsters. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Not that the System is listening to his internal monologue as the next creature is just as pathetic. With a body of a hydra you would think thing were looking up. Having a different head on each of its 5 necks gives the chance of not being completely useless. Sadly, each of those heads seem to have a mind of their own. Jason doesn¡¯t even need to fight it as an owl head is trying to swallow a mouse head. Besides those two an alligator head is munching on two dead antelope heads. Not being able to help it any longer Jason shouts at the sky, ¡°If you aren¡¯t going to do it right then STOP MIXING PREDATORS AND PREY! Goodness gracious, this is just getting silly!¡± Days pass and Jason is absolutely fuming. The only thing close to a challenge was a herd of tiny hippos. Even that was only because hippos are evil creatures to begin with. Making them tiny, just removed one of their best features. Jason however has some hope left. He crossed the halfway mark in the wasteland a day ago so maybe things will change. These monsters don¡¯t have to fight anything as the rabbits stay in the plains. Now though they will likely have to face adventurers more often. After all the other sides of the wasteland has a town right on the edge. Even though it isn¡¯t a beginner¡¯s town the monster population likely changes more often because the higher level players will kill the leaders further in. Jason even suspects that these outer monsters are simply the dregs of better tribes that live deeper in the wasteland. Calming himself down with these positive thoughts Jason sets out his Energy Herbs and starts his meditation. A small corner of his mind is at least happy with his cultivations progress. Someone else is happy as well. A Silver Antlered jackalope sits by off in the distance. A small fae can be seen perched between the rabbit¡¯s antlers stroking the soft fur. The rabbit guides the local young to absorb the energy being dumped into the local area. The fae pouts as some of the jackalope¡¯s brood become regular Nubbed rabbits. It flies off its perch and goes around tapping the remaining adolescents before they can finish changing. Then where a single horn was forming it splits off into two. With the faes blessing the rest of this powerful rabbits young become Nubbed jackalopes. A smirk spreads across the faes mouthless face and it returns to the Silver Antlered jackalope. As the new jackalopes leave the area small lights blink on and off. Easily mistaken for fireflies these low fae gather and each chooses a jackalope to partner with and their glow stabilizes. The Silver Antlered jackalope nods its head. Having just taken over the post of watching this strange human it is quite pleased. Being the third Elder level rabbit to watch over this event nothing much should change but life isn¡¯t always that simple. Being a fae variant the jackalope develops its mind a lot quicker. Mentally at the level of a child this Elder of the rabbit community now plans to extend the reach of which young get pulled in to be evolved. In the background fae dance around and play. Chapter 54 - Wolves but Different The next few days pass with more of the bizarre and unworkable monsters. Finally, after setting off again for the fourth day things are different. Before despite the weakness or strength of the monsters they would be one right after another. Now though Jason travels for half the day without meeting anything. He takes this as a good sign. This lack probably means a competent monster cleared out the area close to their territory. A quick check of the sky and Jason decides he would rather start on whatever is out there after a full rest. Heading back into the plains he spends what is left of the day doing Strength training. Next morning Jason finishes up mediating and stretches. Happy that his Strength almost matches his Agility he packs camp and heads out. Once in the wasteland it still takes him a quarter of the day to find something. A predatory smile steals across his face as the new enemy comes into sight. Unlike the useless monsters of mashed together creatures Jason had been seeing this pack was mostly like regular wolves. The biggest difference is that down their spine grew a line of stone spikes. Though when they notice him and howl he can also see their teeth appear to be crystal. That howl breaks him out of his observations and Jason settles into a defensive stance. However, moments later the sound of other stone wolves can be heard howling back. Taking this as a sign Jason retreats out of sight before running away. Fighting a small team alone isn¡¯t hard. However fighting a running battle against a large amount of wolves would be a death sentence. Back in the plains Jason takes a moment to ponder his option. Though in the end his best choice is to enter the wolves'' territory from a different position and be extra stealthy. Putting his thoughts into action Jason travels further before trying to sneak back in. This time the stone wolves react even quicker. It looks like there is an alert up already for him. After thinking about it, the problem is clear. With the scent of a human this fully stealth option just will not work. Not only will they smell him coming but they are now on alert for him. Waiting till tomorrow likely won¡¯t even drop their alertness. If these wolves control any amount of territory, then they aren¡¯t dumb. Jason can only shake his head at his situation. Going from enemies that are the absolute bottom to those who can wipe the floor with him. While cheap the only tactic he has left is skulking along the edge of the plains and wasteland while waiting for a lone wolf. Though he quickly revises that plan. Most of the lone wolves are actually quite a high level. That makes sense to him after thinking about it as only the strong would stray from their pack. In the ends he can only chance a fight against a pair of mid-level wolves. Anymore and they would have time to call for help. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Jason ends up travelling in the plains until mid day before spotting such a situation. A pair of rock wolves can be seen ahead skirting the edge of the plains. One of them carrying the corpse of a rabbit. This duo seems to be trying for some easy pray. Not only does this group give him a chance to attack but being so close to the plains Jason has an easy escape path if things go pear-shaped. Not having been spotted yet Jason ducks into the cover of the wasteland. The spires quickly hiding him from sight. Wetting his finger and holding it up shows luck is with him as the wind comes from his back. Against predators like a wolf starting upwind is always good. With that confirmed Jason jogs parallel to the wolves¡¯ path. Once this gets him close to where the wolves had been he quietly walks towards an outer spire and take a peak. The wolves haven¡¯t made it that far. They seem to be leisurely travelling while looking for prey. They have split the rabbit one had been holding and both are slowly chewing on it. Jason heads even farther into the wasteland and runs like the wind making use of his movement skill for traction on the sand. Getting to about even to them he onces again sneaks to the edge. This time going even slower. With the wind still at his back he is now in danger of being scented so Jason takes no chances. Once at the edge another peak shows the wolves are just a about next to him. Though they are now farther into the plains making Jason¡¯s plan less effective. He can only sigh in his head before dashing out at them. Both the rock wolves notice his approach and split. One to his left and the other to the right. The pair seems to want to disrupt his charge but Jason stays straight on course seemingly intent on passing right between the two. Though just as he passes the two he acts. Now no longer on sand he is able to turn his forward motion into lateral with a powerful push off the ground. His shoulder slams into the leftward stone wolf dazing it. This gives Jason just enough time to slam his fist into its head knocking it out. The other wolf leaps at him to protect its partner. Meeting this leap with his other shoulder Jason pushes back. -7 Claws rip into the shoulder but the wolf is stopped. Having been unexpectedly slammed back into the stone wolf yips in shock. Jason follows up his slam with a hook punch to the wolf¡¯s leg. This doesn¡¯t work though as while shocked the wolf still keeps its head and dodges. Pulling back the wolf breathes in deeply. Jason doesn¡¯t let this slide. It is clearly preparing to call for help so he slams his fist towards the rock wolf¡¯s throat. Another dodge but the wolf misses its chance to howl. Angered it backs up from Jason and circles around him. Chapter 55 - New Skill Get Jason and the stone wolf circle around a couple of times. Stuck in a standoff the two stare at each other waiting for the chance to attack. The wolf flairs the stone spikes going down its back. With this the natural energy in the air moves as earth related Mana gathers while pushing everything else away. Not liking where this is going Jason charges at the wolf but gets to it moments too late. All the loose earth Mana gets absorbed into the spines as the wolf¡¯s claws and teeth glow. As Jason launches an attack at it, the wolf growls which sends a small shock wave through the surrounding ground. From that a haze of sand raises off the ground and coats the wolf blocking much of Jason¡¯s physical attack. Though the wolf¡¯s shocked expression at the Blast Punch¡®s penetrating damage almost makes Jason break into laughter. Now worried the wolf goes on the aggressive. Nipping at Jason it tries to harry him. This doesn¡¯t work that well with only one wolf and Jason can keep up with it. The sand coating drops away from the wolf as it tries to go faster but all this accomplishes is using more of the Mana it gathered. Then Jason drops down and sweeps out with a low kick. Unprepared for this the wolf goes face first into the ground. Taking this chance a follow up kick using his momentum crashes down on the wolf¡¯s spine. Just in time though the rock spines along the wolf¡¯s back flatten down protecting itself. At this point the wolf¡¯s teeth and claws have stopped glowing as the buff seems to fall away. Taking this as a good sign Jason presses his attack. A flurry of regular punches batter the wolf¡¯s head knocking it into a daze. To finish it Jason winds up and launches a full power Blast Punch right on the wolf¡¯s neck. A loud splintering sounds can be heard as the wolf dies. Satisfied with himself Jason stands up and heads toward the downed wolf. However, before he can finish it a chorus of howls ring out from the wasteland. Hearing that Jason abandons his thoughts of finishing the wolf and takes off at great speed further into the plains. As he runs Jason goes over the fight and concludes, ¡°That shock wave wasn¡¯t to defend itself with the sand armor. Hell, the whole buff thing might have been a bluff. It knew I would stop it from calling for help so it used an alternate method. The buff was something it did hoping to survive. In fact, most of that gathered Mana probably went into the shock wave now that I think about it.¡± Having come to this conclusion Jason can only shrug. If he has to fight them again at least he will know about it. This could have ended a lot worse if he didn¡¯t know about it and attack a wolf deeper into the wasteland. In there the backup would arrive even quicker. Checking the sky Jason decides it isn¡¯t time to run in yet. With a sigh, he sets off at an easy jog. Though still looking for a fight nothing comes from it. All the wolves in the area seem to have disappeared. to where the fight was. The shock wave apparently has a much greater range than just a howl. Finally, though things seem to return to normal. Medium to large groups of wolves can be seen as Jason travels further. However, no more small groups. Then suddenly nothing. There isn¡¯t even any signs of wolves having been in the area. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Slowing down to a stop Jason observes the area. After some thought he decides this is likely another border area. The bigger groups of wolves is likely because of a danger and after this gap of no-man¡¯s-land will be another great enemy. After checking the sun once more he can only shake his head. It has gotten much too late to try for another fight. Whatever mystery lays ahead will have to wait for the next day. Turning away from the wasteland he heads deeper into the plains before setting up camp. Having time before night Jason sets about training his Strength. After much effort he raises it by one. However, now he has a feeling that the regular rocks found in the area probably won¡¯t help anymore. Sighing at this he can only shake his head. He expected this but now there is a need to find actual training equipment if he wants to proceed. While his cultivation should help later on for now he doesn¡¯t have much of a choice. Now with nothing else to do Jason turns his attention to his plants. The Energy Herbs have been growing quite well. One plant in particular has been part of an experiment. Whenever the herb gets enough Energy, it will start to form a berry. Until now Jason has been letting the others go to seed and building up his stock for later. This one however he has been trimming off the bud before it can even get started. Along with that instead of letting the plan grow upward on a single stock he has been using a technique he had read about. After a pair of leaves form and the herb tries to grow upward again, he snips it just above where the leaves meet. This forces it to grow two new stems from the leaf joint. With that and the sped up growth the herb is now much more of a bush than any of the other plants. In fact, without a berry to send all the Energy to it has grown even faster. At this point the herb bush is processing more waste energy from the area than all the other plants together. Satisfied with these results Jason turns to the other herb plants and culls all the older ones. Knowing how to get what he wants Jason treats them in the same way. With a good supply of his herb bushes Jason won¡¯t have to fear having his cultivation rate slow down because any build up of unwanted energies. Then out of nowhere as he finishes pruning them an alert pops up informing him of having gained the Farming skill.
Farming You have shown yourself to be proficient at this classic skill. Don¡¯t look down on it as these lands contain many mysterious plants with uncountable effects. Novice Level 5 - 0.0% Rarity: Normal Type: Passive, Production Effects: Sub-Skill Acquisition (Farming) - Allows one to gain the sub-skills related to farming Land Sense - Grants a sense for the condition of any area you could grow your plants Growth Assist - Plants under your constant care grow up to 10% faster Specialty (Energy Herb) - Having gained the skill through exclusively growing one type of plant all effects of the Farming skill and Bonuses are doubled for it
Chapter 56 - Not Going in There ¡°I was not expecting to get that skill¡­ Maybe I should try my hands at doing more with farming later. At the least I need to check into the sub-skills for it at the next town. Though I do wonder if any spatial farms exist. Bags of holding become common enough once you break through level 100 but that is quite a distance away for me. Besides those can¡¯t hold living things in them. Meh, there is a reason farmers tend to be stuck in one place. Best way to level the skill is with a giant plot of land. Though I can benefit from any harvesting skill even out picking wild herbs.¡± With that taken care of Jason settles down to meditate for the night. With him once again out of it, Adolescent rabbits gather and rank up. Nubbed, Fledgling, and Spiky rabbits abound as the night wears on. Then as the sun is about to rise as if on command they all flee further into the plains. A bit after dawn Jason gets up and putters with his plants. While a little hard to tell the plants grew more overnight compared to before. Satisfied with the results he packs everything away and moves out. With the gap in monsters from yesterday something new should be ahead. Being careful he goes at a steady pace however the nothing seems to show up. He isn¡¯t near the end of this wasteland so something should be here. Though Jason fears he knows what it is. An ambush predator is waiting in the spires. Not only that, but either whatever in there is dangerous or there is a lot of them. After all, the Rock wolves haven¡¯t taken the area. In fact, not only haven¡¯t they taken the area but the lack of any fights means they have given up on doing so. Jason spends a bit of time considering if he should head in to check it out when another option comes to mind. ¡°Yep, not going to head in there. So far it seems like all the dangers are from creatures. However, to assume that is the case everywhere in the wasteland is foolish. What might be happening is a giant cloud of poison gas. Then again, to be honest with myself I am totally looking for any reason to not fight an ambush predator.¡± Shrugging Jason decides to skip whatever is going on in. The risk is not worth it. A couple days go by and Jason become more assured of his choice. This might be a magical wasteland in a video game but there has always been sense to it. While he hadn¡¯t been paying attention to them until now while the main monster ruled the roost there was always small life forms. Weird birds, scurrying rodents, and the ever present buzzing bugs. That natural background noise had always been around even if the bird tweeting had two heads. This area though was silent. No predator is that efficient. Though Jason admits to himself that if there was one he didn¡¯t want to fight the thing. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Finally, midway through the third day life returns to the wasteland. At first just a few bugs but soon numerous small critters are once again infesting the area. After a few moments of this Jason spots an actual monster and what a monster it was. With the body of a goblin the head of an elephant and instead of hands it had tiger claws. Not the best mix up but this was the first potential herbivore. ¡°Though I can¡¯t assume an elephant head means plant eater. Maybe the elephant head has a nice set of shark teeth in there. Then again, I also can¡¯t assume this elephant goblin will be hostile like the rest. First because of the goblin body so it might be sentient. Secondly, because I notice the critters aren¡¯t avoiding like they did with the other monsters.¡± Jason starts to shrug when he catches himself. ¡°I have been shrugging at things way too much recently. Then again, I have had a lot to shrug about.¡± A shake of his head to wake from his wool gathering and he approaches the creature while making sure not to walk silently. Even then the sand does a good job at muffling his approach. Though those ears seem to work just fine as the creature perks them up. Slowly it turns to face Jason who is eminently thankful that the elephant goblin seems to have been provided a loincloth at some point. They both stand there frozen in place. Finally, the elephant goblin reacts. Slowly and while being careful not to make any noise it backs up. Then once past one of the spires the elephant goblin ducks behind it. Jason stands still for a bit more listening to the sound of it retreating. He can¡¯t help but shrug at this, ¡°Welp, they aren¡¯t aggressive when alone at least. Though I have to wonder if there is a full tribe to worry about. Even the meekest of creatures tends to be a bit miffed when children are involved. Thinking about it that loincloth could be a problem. Tiger claws aren¡¯t known for their opposable thumbs. So not only did it not produce said loincloth, but it is completely unable to even put it on. The System isn¡¯t kind enough to bother with spawning monsters like that pre-clothed. In the end all I can assume is something is helping that elephant goblin and either the creature itself or its keeper knows to hide the dangly bits.¡± Not having anything better to do Jason heads into the plains again and watches the area. After a while and the complete lack of a tribe of elephant goblins coming to attack he calls it a night. Retreating into the plains even further he sets up camp before once again meditating the night away. As always, the rabbits crowd around him but something different from usual is happening. Over at the wasteland a small monster hides behind the farthest spire. With the head of an elephant and claws of a tiger this little goblinoid spies on this going on. Eventually though it retreats back into the wasteland. Chapter 57 - Hypocrites Cookies Morning dawns and instead of the peaceful return to normal awareness that normally follows a night of meditation he was instead jarred awake by a system message.
RLMessage From - ¡°Mother¡± To - ¡°That idiot son of mine¡± Subject - Don¡¯t make me come in there Hey Idiot, I expected this to happen but still. It has been more than a few days since you last came out. Goodness knows the game is engrossing but to spend a month in there? I will not ask much but maybe consider coming out once a day irl? You might be an adult now but as long as you live in my house you follow my rules. Oh, and this will be incredibly hypocritical of me but my company are doing an extended exploration trip that won¡¯t allow logging out. I won¡¯t see you irl until a week from now. Finally, going to get me that promotion now that I don¡¯t have to be always available if something happened to you. Hugs and Kisses, Your Awesome Parent
¡°I definitely let time slip away from me. This felt too much like a standard journey for experience the sect would send people on and I got caught in the atmosphere. Besides that what is up with this message? The only system generated bit of it is the ¡®RLMessage¡¯ part at the top. Seriously Mom, if you¡¯re going to mimic the form of a letter be more serious about it. Meh, guess I can spend the game day outside. There is stuff I need to look into, anyway. I want to figure out what was up with that elephant goblin but it can wait.¡± After a quick check of the area to make sure it is safe Jason logs out. Greeting him once he is out of the pod is a cheery little note stuck to his door. A strained smile graces his face as he reads it, ¡°You actually came out? Wow! When I first got access, my parents had to cut off the nutrient pipe so it would force me out. Guess you¡¯re a better kid than I was. Anyway, I made cookies for myself. They are in the fridge and not for you. Oh, and since you came out, I am totally holding you to that once a day thing.¡± ¡°Welp, guess the first order of business is eating some cookies. After that though I need to do research on the town I will be getting to after passing by the wasteland. By then I should hit the level 9 bottleneck and will need a boss to fight. While I can solo a boss in general the specifics can be tricky as something like a flying boss with ranged attacks would hose me.¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Heading over to the fridge Jason pulls up a wiki on his phone. A handful of cookies later and he has found some of the info he needed. Specifically, the next town over was called ¡°Wasteland¡¯s Edge¡± for, you guessed it, being on the edge of the wasteland. Its specialties are importing supplies for adventurers and exporting mob drops. The only thing stopping the place from being a dungeon town is several well-paid lawyers so they don¡¯t have to pay more taxes. That and of course the fact that the wasteland isn¡¯t a dungeon but reality rarely gets in the way of laws. There is a natural dungeon nearby but they strictly control access so they don¡¯t earn too much money from it. Of course if it was a True Dungeon then the local kingdom would take over no matter how much screaming happened but that is life. However, that is all outside of what Jason needs at the moment. Without a dungeon he will have to find a field boss of some sort or keep moving. This gets him thinking about his other options. ¡°I don¡¯t want to head to the next town. The travel would take too long and once at the bottleneck you don¡¯t gain any experience. With my already restricted ability to gain it that isn¡¯t a good idea. Besides, there has to be bosses around that are newb friendly. If anything, the locals need them to break the bottleneck as well. A town on the edge of a danger zone like the wasteland will need as many people past the first divide as possible.¡± Jason digs deeper into the info available to him. While not the most popular town players have visited it enough in the past. Eventually though he gives up. Nothing is recorded on the local low level bosses. This makes sense of course as none of the visiting players would be so low a level. However, that isn¡¯t going to help him. Nibbling on his last cookie Jason pulls up a rough map of the area on the kitchen wall. Looking it over just frustrates him even more. ¡°There isn¡¯t a sewer so no rat kings. The wasteland bosses are all at a significantly higher level than me so that wouldn¡¯t help either. Rabbit plains isn¡¯t somewhere I want to mess with as I seem to be somewhat peaceful with the place. I guess this forest over by the wasteland might have something? That is much too small though to sustainably produce bosses. All that is left would be this scrubland that just covers the area around town. What I read though puts aerial enemies as being top of the food chain here. People from the town have an easy enough time with them as they are all trained with a crossbow. As I have admitted to myself though flyers are not my best match up.¡± Looking up at the clock app on the wall Jason realizes he doesn¡¯t have much time left. It is almost night again in the game and he doesn¡¯t want to miss out on his cultivation. Not having a choice about it he goes to log back in and hope for the best. Once back in the game his body unfreezes, and he takes control. Opening his eyes and to his surprise there is several rabbits all around him. Jason freezes and hopes they notice and just leave. Finally, one rabbit does and after freezing it bolts out of the clearing. This sets off the rest of them and soon Jason is once again alone in his camp. ¡°I did not expect that! This place should not be safe enough for the game to leave my body around. Then again, since it did I guess I am wrong? Though this definitely means I will not be messing with the plains. Somehow I count as being friendly with the rabbits here.¡± Chapter 58 - More Animal Headed Goblins Not knowing what to do about the rabbits Jason settles down for another night of meditation. This time though he keeps a shred of his awareness to see what happens. Then the nightly gathering of young rabbits happens, and he is almost shocked out of his cultivation. Within a half hour tens of rabbits have surrounded him. Throughout the night while he can¡¯t tell that they are evolving he notices them switching out with new rabbits. Unnerved by this Jason shuts off his perception of the world and focuses on meditating. Next morning he comes to like usual and after a quick look around checking for rabbits Jason scratches his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know why the rabbits where here last night. In fact, I don¡¯t know if this has happened before. Though I will have to remember to check in the future. As it is however I can¡¯t focus too much on that. There is still that goblin mutant to worry about. I can¡¯t be certain it had others. For all I know whatever creates things in this place gave it a loincloth. That assumption though is risky and the more likely situation is there are more of them with other animal parts.¡± With those thoughts out of the way Jason cleans up his camp and continues his journey. It is not long though before he notices the elephant goblin trying to shadow him. The rabbits had kept it away but now that Jason is on the move it follows close by. Wanting more insight on the goblinoid Jason continues on as if he hadn¡¯t seen it. This pays off as more goblinoids join in following him. At first, just a couple of other herbivore headed ones. A sheep here, a lama there, and even what Jason identifies as a fruit bat. Then the group stops growing. Half an hour passes and still they follow him. Jason ignoring them and the goblinoids trying their hardest to be stealthy. Things come to a head when in front of him Jason spots another similar-sized group of goblinoids. This gathering though is comprised of carnivores. The herbivore group shift around and shiver but do not back down. Now standing between the two groups Jason comes to a stop. There isn¡¯t any hiding that he notices them now. For a few minutes that seem to never end everything stops. Even the ever present insects quiet down as a palpable tension fills the air. Eventually the deadlock is broken by a third group of goblinoids. From the side next to Jason a smaller group makes themselves known. While they somewhat follow the apparent theme by being mostly composed of omnivores but mixed in are several elders from the other two factions. From among this new group three of the oldest-looking goblinoids step forward. The first among them has the head of a monkey and to its sides are an elephant and an owl. If before things were quiet they are now completely silent. Neither of the other sides move as this trio of elders come forth. Once the elders are only a few paces from Jason they stop. Then from behind the owl and elephants back the two take out parts of a staff and hand it over to the monkey goblin. Without turning to them it receives them and with a well-practiced twirl they snap onto something behind its back. A slight twist in opposite directions and a couple clicks follow before the monkey goblin release the bottom section and brings out the completed staff from behind its back. Connection the two pieces is an elegant construction of metal seemingly made of gold and silver. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. With a look of satisfaction the monkey goblin taps the ground three times with the staff. Nothing happens. A look of frustration and three harder taps. Still nothing. The monkey goblin now looks angry. Grabbing the staff with both hands the monkey goblin slams it into the ground 3 more times leaving visible dents in the ground. Finally, this is enough as the staff glows. There are a couple of flickers but a stern glare from the monkey goblin and the staff glows steadily. Satisfied the monkey goblin talks. While what it says sounds like any other monkey howling through the staffs, magic Jason understands what is being said. ¡°Okay man, listen up. You seem like a decent sort, what with not killing my nephew and how the rabbits chill with you. Our tribe has been at this here wasteland for much too long. I won¡¯t lie and claim we used to be three eyed goblins. Enough searchin would find you info on how this place doesn¡¯t affect the ¡®noble¡¯ races or whatever other jank term you want for it. However, the way this place changes you be special. While we are still ¡®monsters¡¯ as you travellers so love to call use it has given us a path towards greater things. If that is we can get out of here. As you came from that direction then you have seen the dead area. Yeah, that just cycles through the wasteland clearing out the ¡®failed¡¯ experiments as it were. Least that is how I understand it. Far as I can tell failure means developing a mind of your own. Course this is mostly my speculation. Could just be some poison beastie meandering around. Though it seems to target any thinking sorts. Used to be a nice little village of pygmy land sharks that had the tail of a chimera in that dead zone. Weird sort, the snake tail was the smart bit. Makes you wonder about an actual chimera doesn¡¯t it? Anyway I have a bit of a quest for you. No not a System quest, this isn¡¯t concrete enough for that. By the Realms there might not be an actual way to complete it. However we can¡¯t do anything. Our contradictory nature sort of hobbles us though I have a sneaking suspicion it is also what stops our elimination. If we could get along whatever runs this place would recognize us as being ¡®wise¡¯ or something. Anyway we are getting away from what I want of you. Once you leave the wasteland, please get us some help!¡± Chapter 59 - Not a Quest Jason stands there and stares at the monkey goblin for a moment. Being asked for help isn¡¯t the strangest thing. Despite the System trying to run this world like it was ¡®real¡¯ it is still a game. Not getting a Quest isn¡¯t that out there either. After all it is hard for the System to generate a Quest off of something so vague. It would have to decide what constitutes ¡®help¡¯ and they would need how much of it to complete the Quest. However, having a monster request help and that monster being cognizant enough to ask for something so open-ended? Weird doesn¡¯t even begin to describe it. Jason had heard of similar quests before but it was always specific and most likely guided by the System. Stumped by this odd turn of events he can only ask for clarification, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind helping but what do you expect? I am not that strong you know? Just traveling along the edge of the wasteland is as far as I can manage. Sure I will be able to pass through but that doesn¡¯t help you.¡± The monkey goblin nods at this, ¡°True what I ask is hard to put down in words. As my tribe is now, we are fragmented. It would be helpful if that was not the case but I don¡¯t know how you would begin with breaking our instincts. Along with that we are trapped in this wasteland and the constant threat of death is over our head. In fact, our first problem as I already mentioned may be what keeps this second one at bay. However, to get out of here we need to come together. I have laid this out to other Travellers that pass by and they referred to it as a Catch 22. None of them even knew where to start either and without a real Quest declined to help. I suspect the only reason they didn¡¯t just wipe us out is their level was too great to get anything from killing us. Maybe a scholar could figure out the answer but why would they come out here? This might be our home but we can admit it is a dangerous and forbidding place.¡± That bit about a scholar tickles something in Jason¡¯s mind. He asks the monkey goblin to give him a moment to think. After sitting down he starts turning something over in his mind, ¡°I know someone who might be able to help. Andrew back in Shine Fish Village could figure this out. However, he is the head magus there so must have some kind of responsibility. Plus his area of study is the System so I need a hook to get him to even consider this. That crazy old man is powerful enough to traipse out here, but he needs a reason to do so. Though this is perfect now that I am thinking about it. One of the weird things about the System is how if categorizes whether a species counts as monsters. Being on the outside and knowing this is a game makes it clear. Some species are labeled monsters just so the System doesn¡¯t have to work too hard and can just give them low quality AI. No matter how real the world seems there still has to be a limit of how many child or greater level AIs it can run. However, there must be an ingame reason for this as well or it would fall apart. Though you can somewhat consider it to have fallen apart already just from this tribe. They aren¡¯t feral goblins but they aren¡¯t civilized either. If they get out of here, then that might change but for now they straddle the line. Now all I need to do is figure out if I should help them. From what I can see they have no one besides the three leaders above level 20. That could be a ruse though. If they hid a bunch of high level animal goblins deeper in the wasteland, I wouldn¡¯t know. All that might be stopping them from reeking havoc on the surrounding area is that they are stuck near the wasteland. Though if I hand it off to Andrew that might be for the best. I can¡¯t properly judge this but he should have spells that will let him know what is up. As long as I tell him my worries then if he comes out here it will be on him. Well I guess that does it. Since I can¡¯t decide, calling in someone else wiser than me isn¡¯t a bad choice.¡± Stolen novel; please report. With his mind made up Jason gets back on his feet and turns to the monkey goblin, ¡°I know someone who might be able to help you. Now I can¡¯t tell you if he will but when I get the next town, I will send him a message. That is the best I can do for your tribe.¡± The monkey goblin tilts his head, ¡°Can¡¯t you Travellers just send messages wherever you are? We would like the help as fast as possible.¡± Jason stops himself from frowning. That was a bit pushy and makes him think his suspicion might not be that far off. Still, he responds though not giving the whole truth, ¡°The person I know is an important researcher, and I only did a simple Quest for him as part of his studies. While we can send messages from wherever we need more of a connection than that.¡± A slight frown followed by a sigh are all the monkey goblin shows before continuing, ¡°Fair enough, I guess we can wait. While small my tribe controls this next range of space for a couple of days in the direction you¡¯re going. Continue your journey and hopefully you will get us the help we need.¡± With a simple nod to the three animal goblin elders Jason heads further into their lands. All the while thoughts of how fishy this is percolated in his head, ¡°A small and weak tribe yet controlling this much land? Saying they are the same tribe when the herbivores are practically driven out of their area if where they met me is anything to go on? Sure they made a scene of having that elder herbivore but thinking back there was a clear imbalance. Most of the non-omnivore elders in that middle group happened to be of the carnivore variety. Something is clearly rotten. I suspect if I could have messaged someone my life would be measured in how long it took to relay the message. Still going to tell Andrew of course. He will love this excuse to make a small trip. All I have to do is relay my suspicions and things should be fine.¡± Chapter 60 - Trimming Buds The animal goblins did not lie. It took almost four days of travel to leave their territory. When even the hidden watchers left Jason couldn¡¯t help but sigh in relief. ¡°I wasn¡¯t in danger that whole time. Though that is part of the problem. My cultivation continued on at a steady pace sure but the only other thing that grew was farming. Less than a percentage of experience point in my Blast Punch Skill? No stat gains at all? A waste of my time out here! It is almost to where I should have just fought the animal goblins. They won¡¯t be the only somewhat intelligent monsters I will encounter. I can¡¯t exactly stay my hand if I am fighting a sphinx and it starts having a conversation with me. Meh, lets see what is next. Though with my luck it will be the land of cute puppy kitten hybrids who want to have a tea party with.¡± Then for the rest of the day despite his attempts to jinx himself nothing of note happened. Jason even let it get darker than usual trying to bait an encounter out. Disgusted with the lack of enemies he can only turn in for the night and cut short his nightly training. Frustrated he spends a bit of time trimming his plants to settle himself. The six short and pudgy Energy Herb plants all are coming along quite well. His careful trimming over the last couple of days and the extra growth speed from his Farming Skill has caused them to form buds. ¡°Hmm, at this point I have a choice. If I let them bare fruit, a lot of their energy will go towards growing it. Especially since with my trimming there are many more blooms than would be usual. My guess is this will cause them to for a night or so absorb much more energy than usual as they work on maturing. Then that will be followed up by either the plant outright dying or at the least going somewhat dormant. On the other hand if I trim the buds before they can get going things might not work out how I want either. There is no way to know how much the plants natural cycle requires the berries. I don¡¯t even know if it is a perennial or not. In fact, this is a ¡®magical¡¯ plant so maybe without berries to grow it combusts from too much Energy stored. An unlikely outcome but possible. I guess this means I need to experiment some.¡± With six plants to mess with, Jason decides there isn¡¯t room for some control plants. He can only shrug at this before proceeding to count the number of potential blossoms on each plant. The results while expected are still somewhat shocking. During his time hunting turtles, he had noticed most Energy Herb plants would have one to three berries. Rarely would he find a plant growing a fourth berry on it. With that in mind it is easy to see how unusual it is that even the plant with the least number of buds has 17. The rest all break 20 buds with their counts being 23, two at 24, 28, and the last with a shocking 37 buds. While uncertain Jason suspects that last one was his original test plant and so had been trimmed for longer. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Okay now how many buds should I trim off? Obviously I want one with no buds left. That should be one of the 24 count so there is a similar plant to compare it to. With that in mind the other plant with 24 will have the second highest number of buds remaining. Besides that I obviously want to leave Mr 37 alone. Though I must admit I wish it had an even 40. Anyway, that is half the plants accounted for or almost. That 24 count plant, hmm, I think I will trim down to 20 buds. A nice round number even if my most prodigious plant won¡¯t fall in line with that. Though I could trim it down to 35 but I really want to see what it does with as many as possible. Meh, moving on I think I will trim the 28 count plant down to just a single bud. That way if the plant with no buds dies I can check if leaving even just a single bud will prevent problems. After that I guess the remaining two will be 5 and 10. That way I almost have a doubling pattern.¡± Plan in mind Jason starts to trim. Being careful he finishes just before it is time for his nightly cultivation. Now after a quick recount to make sure he missed none his plants have 0, 1, 5, 10, 20, and 37 buds. All as evenly spaced out around the plants as he can make it. Though while observing his plants something pops into his mind that he had forgotten about. ¡°Right! I need to check the rabbit situation tonight. Was that one time just a fluke? That whole thing flew my mind because of the animal goblins. I need to keep an eye out tonight anyway to observe how my plants are absorbing waste natural energy from my meditation. With that already being needed me sparing a bit more to check for rabbits shouldn¡¯t be much of a problem. Besides, there should be about three weeks left before I am out of the wasteland area. Though thinking about that I am worried I might not cap my level at the bottleneck before being done here. If I find a place with good enemies, I might need to camp out in one spot for a bit and grind. Not exactly one of my favorite pastimes but after reaching the next town I want to focus on boss hunting. Besides Blast Punch is close to ranking up and I want to see what the system thinks of it. I have put a lot of work into it and should be able to profit from it.¡± Finally, after tossing these thoughts around more and getting nowhere Jason settles down to meditate. Chapter 61 - Buds the Morning After Settling into his nightly cultivation Jason keeps his sense on the surrounding area. Soon enough the Adolescent rabbits gather and he is once again treated to the sight of them ranking up all around him. This goes on for a time before Jason remembers he was also going to check the plants. As usual, he had placed them around himself evenly to provide the purest atmosphere to cultivate in. Though this time with the differing number of buds he also alternated them between the plants with many and those with a few. In front of Jason was the Energy herb with 37 buds. He didn¡¯t even have to try that hard to sense what was happening. The natural energy in the air was being pulled in at a crazy rate. Comparing it to before and Jason got the feel it was somewhere around 20 times more energy being drawn in. Even natural energy in the earth below the plant was being drawn in. Satisfied with his observations Jason switches to sensing the plant behind him. This one was the Energy herb that was trimmed of buds. Despite this though it was still drawing in extra natural energy. However, it was only doing so at about one and a half times the usual speed. A drastic reduction from the 37 bud plant. In fact, while Jason isn¡¯t able to quantify it even in this short amount the speed reduced further. Jason almost nods to himself at this observation before remembering the surrounding rabbits. Still, he mentally pats himself on the back before moving onto the 20 bud plant. This one is important to him as it was the pair to the no bud plant before trimming. Observing it returns an interesting result. Instead of a linear match to the 37 bud plant this herb was drawing in 13 or 14 times the natural energy. With time the rate drops more towards 13 times. A quick check on the 5 and 10 bud plants shows similar results with rates of eight and ten. Though once again the rate is dropping and the 5 bud plant feels like the absorption is falling faster. Finally, Jason checks on the plant with a single bud. This one unexpectedly was at five times the rate and dropping fast. Having already studied the other plants Jason takes his time on this one. After a few minutes the absorption rate had dropped to four times but the rate it was falling had slowed down. This pattern continued on for almost a full hour before it stabilized at around the rate of one and a half. With this Jason goes over the rest of the plants one more time. They had all stabilized their rate of absorption. The herb with no buds was down to the usual rate while the 37 bud plant was stable the absorption speed of every other plant was down by one or two. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Satisfied with his observation Jason turns his attention back to the Adolescent rabbits around him. While they seemed to also be evenly spread out around him after a while Jason noticed some differences. The rabbits ranked up into all the energy types but there was a pattern to it. The ones nearest the plants with low bud counts ranked up the slowest. Not exactly at half the speed but enough to be noticeable. Counter to that though the few in front of the 37 budded plant where ranking up at least twice the speed of all the others, even those near the 20 bud plant. Almost ready to be done with the night and focus on his cultivation Jason notices one final thing. The rabbits near the lower count plants had fewer rank ups into the Spiky rabbit variety. Though at this point despite his mediation Jason was tired and had to stop his observations. Then the night passes on without his notice. Next morning comes and once again the rabbits leave. All around Jason the herbs show different levels of development as he comes to. Putting them away one by one he checks their growth. ¡°The plant with no buds looks greener, maybe? Not that I was expecting to see the difference right away. I don¡¯t even know if they can continue to produce fruit after the first. Anyway, the plant with a single bud over here has fully bloomed. However, I don¡¯t see the fruit starting to grow. Now the plants with five and ten seem to have matched its growth. Though the ten count plant might be further along. Next I have the plant with 20 which from my quick glance around seems to be the furthest along. The flowers seem to be wilting and the parts that will grow into the berries are swelling. Finally, is Mr. 37 who is the odd one out. While most of the buds have bloomed none of them seem to be fully there. Along with that six of the buds haven¡¯t bloomed. In fact, three of them seem to even be wilting slightly. Combining these observations with last nights and I have an idea of how this works. With more buds the plant will absorb more natural energy. However, while it scales up, it isn¡¯t linear and each new bud has diminishing returns. Now I can¡¯t assume everything from just this. First my farming skill probably improves how well the plants do. Next not all plants will be the same. Having 37 buds is out of reach but with breeding things might change. However this gives me a starting point. I won''t change the plants at the moment but next time I should try to get a plant with 30 buds and see how it does. Though likely the best count for growing the berries is around 20, maybe a few less? Anyway I can try that later. These plants haven¡¯t even started to glow.¡± Chapter 62 - Venom Made Him Flesh Again Jason stands up and claps his hand, ¡°Welp, enough gardening! I can worry about the plants later. For now civilization and experience points call me. Now I am out of the animal goblins territory there should be critters to fight.¡± The wasteland passes by when up ahead Jason is relieved to see a normal monster. With the body of a lizard and the neck of a snake the creature lazes in the sun all alone. Excited to fight after such a long time Jason advances quickly. Not exactly a stealthy approach and the monster notices right away. The snaky lizard raises its head up almost to shoulder height and hisses. Jason continues takes this as a cue and speeds up. It shocks the snaky lizard that he doesn¡¯t run away so in response it charges as well. While slow Jason becomes more cautious of the creature. With how it was surprised at being attacked this was likely a top predator in the area. Normally a large and slow lizard would be an easy target. However, the head and neck was not so limited. The speed the snaky lizard could move its head combined with being able to attack even things behind it would be deadly. As they get close the snaky lizard snaps out with a bite, the neck stretching even further than seemed possible. Jason is not ready for this and the snake head lands a solid bite on his right arm. -9 *Paralyzing Venom* A burning pain runs up his arm as the System message alerts Jason. The snake head packs more of a punch than just bite damage. Even just moments after the attack his arm numbs at the bites location. Jason now realizes the fight is on a timer. If he can not finish before the venom paralyzes him it is lights out. Angry now that he can¡¯t enjoy a good fight Jason jumps forward. With so much neck to target how can he not send a knee at it. As Jason¡¯s knee connects the near constant hiss from the snaky lizard gets choked off. Not happy with this the snaky lizard swings it around like a whip and smacks Jason¡¯s side. Ready for a counterattack he braces himself with his arm tight to his side. -2 Jason doesn¡¯t even feel the damage as it hits his right arm. This time he follows up with a chop across the neck as he turns into it. The snaky lizard then tries to wrap him up, but he continues his rotation moving towards the body. With the momentum he then drops a nasty elbow onto the point the neck connects to the body and the System chimes to alert him of a critical hit. The head and neck of the snaky lizard goes limp, but the fight is not over. In pain the monster rocks its body forward knocking Jason back. He stumbles and this is enough for the snaky lizard to recover. Another swing of the neck and it lands a glancing bite on Jason¡¯s left shoulder. -4 *Paralyzing Venom* Not a good turn of events for Jason. While the damage is low, the venom will be deadly. Now steadied he pivots to swing another elbow. This time at the head. The snaky lizard avoids this but Jason expected this. The elbow was a feint and his real attack, a back kick, slams once more into the area the neck and body meets. Another chime proves this is a vital point for the snaky lizard. The neck and head once more falls down and it tries the same trick. However, this time Jason is ready and instead of being bumped back he throws a Blast Punch powered uppercut with his left arm. While the paralysis spreading in it reduces the power some Jason still hits his target. A crunching noise and something gives in the snaky lizards neck. Continue his attack on the vital point keeps the System chimes going off in his head and the snaky lizard never recovers. By the end though Jason is limited to kicking it as both his arms have stopped moving. After confirming the kill Jason runs at full speed back towards the plains. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. After he goes even further than usual Jason unable to even remove his pack, drops to the ground. Both his arms cannot move and even his neck is just about numb. Now out of danger Jason sends his senses into his body. What greets him is an odd mix. Most of his lower body and his head are just a shell with the lines. However, were the venom is flesh and blood is mixed in with the lines. The biggest problem though is the venom attacking his heart. He doesn¡¯t have a heart, but the venom is forcing its own reality on his body. Even the lines respond and move around as if to reform the knot that had been his original cultivation. Flooding the space with his will Jason fights back. His lines shimmer as they stop moving. With an effort the flesh and blood that infests his body recedes. Time passes and the venom has been pushed into only his arms. Left in the rest of his body is once again a void filled with lines. However, at the edges instead of flesh forming a swarm of violet-colored lines are twinning around his white lines. The effort he put in holds back the physical venom but the concept of it still lingers. Jason however grabs onto this as an important discovery. Physical matter would need to be represented inside things and more lines makes sense. Though one thing can prove this theory better than just some venom. While until now Jason had only seen pure white lines in his body he hadn¡¯t been looking for anything else. Now he knew what to look for and had a place to start. Right at where flesh met void. He ignores the violet lines and pushes his inner sight to view where the bone was. The sight expands and the white lines become clearer. However, there is another color of lines interspersed. An amber-colored set of lines follow a straight path through his body. Jason follows these amber lines and proves to himself what they are. The amber lines represent his skeleton, a magical item grafted into his body. While it will show up if something cuts him deep enough most of the time it is just another set of lines. With this new knowledge Jason pushes back on the flesh and blood. Instead of an attempt to remove the venom he returns it to a void. The violet lines still infest his body but the void is a better battlefield for him. Once his body has once more returned to being his the next step starts. As the violet lines wrap around his white and amber lines Jason sends a jolt of Energy down his lines. Even just this test is enough to disintegrate some smaller clusters of the venom¡¯s lines. Satisfied with this Jason hunkers down and rotates his cultivation base. His Energy cycles through his body and the violet lines retreat. He had heard of cultivation methods that could protect from all sorts of venoms and poisons; it seems his could do so as well. Less than an hour passes before his body is clear of the venom and he can feel his arms again. He doesn¡¯t believe this method will work for everything that will try to intrude on his body but that doesn¡¯t matter. Even the extra point of Toughness he gained doesn¡¯t sway him. The System message updating his Poison Resistance skill though? That brings a smile to his face.
Energetic Poison and Venom Resistance One of the rare active skill based resistances. While still able to passively provide benefits this skill really shines when directly used. As there are many types of poison and venom the System has decided it is best like this rather than a stat as this allows more variety without littering the stat line with entries like ¡®elven paralysis poison resistance¡¯. Uses the best percentage. Initiate Level 5 - 0.0% Rarity: Exquisite Beginner Type: Passive/Active, Energy, Adaptive Effects: Willful Purge - Able to send charges of Energy through the body to break down poison and venom in the body Poison Resistances - Immunity to Trash rank pain poisons Trash rank non-damaging poison resistance - 52% Trash rank poison resistance - 34% Low Normal rank poison resistance - 10% Normal rank poison resistance - 1% Venom Resistances - Trash rank paralysis venom resistance - 72% Trash rank non-damaging venom resistance - 22% Trash rank venom resistance - 10% Low Normal rank venom resistance - 1%
Chapter 63 - Almost Fights ¡°Energetic Poison and Venom Resistance is a weight off my shoulders. While poison resistance was nice a lot of the bigger threats are venom based. Snakes, spiders, and bees use it and they are popular monster types. Poison would have been more likely if I was into political intrigue. Then again, I am apparently a farmer and plants are all about that poison. Meh, having both in one skill is best. Though if I could get the overall Resistance skill, it might get split into two sub-skills. Later I need to level it in case that happens. Right now I can level one or the other to increase my resistance to both. Once split, each will need to be leveled.¡± Lost in thought Jason continues on his journey. Noon passes in peace, a wasteland is not known for animal density. Then just before night he spots something. Another mixed monster that has a mouses body with a tigers size and head. Jason however ignores it. A glance skyward tells him now is not the time to start fights. ¡°With the sun setting any combat would stray into the night. Now it isn¡¯t true that monsters at night are always stronger. However, this wasteland¡¯s night is when the real predators come out. Any creatures out during the day cannot handle the night. Not that the monsters at night are higher leveled. Those at night have been better mixed. A mouse with a tiger''s head is dysfunctional. Can the mouse body even handle the carnivorous diet of a tiger? The only thing keeping it alive is the wasteland¡¯s magic. At night however you won¡¯t find a predator head grafted to a rodent body. Instead, you might not be able to tell what something is made from. Each bit of the combined creatures blended sensibly. The only thing keeping the night time creatures from causing problems is they depend more on the area to support their bodies.¡± The tiger head glances at him as he leaves but otherwise ignores him. It too needs to find a place to spend the night. Next day comes around and Jason head out again. At first he takes his time. However, he isn¡¯t able to spot any sign of the tiger-headed mouse. All he can do is shrug and move on looking for more prey. To his disappointment though the day passes peacefully. Then the next as well. Finally, on the day after that he finds another monster to fight. A trio of oddities laze around not seeming to notice as he approaches. With a body of some cat and the head of a squid they almost look like a strange copyright infringement. Luckily for Jason they aren¡¯t as he has no mental protection at the moment. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! As he gets closer, the reason for the monsters not noticing him become clear. From a distance the squid heads looked normal but now Jason can see the truth. The skin is dry and cracking while the eyes are hollow sockets. Even the tentacles are worse for wear, appearing more like jerky than a living body part. The monsters don¡¯t even react once he is standing right next to them. While this isn¡¯t a fight Jason can¡¯t stand to leave them suffering. A swift Blast Punch to each of their heads finishes them. Once more traveling Jason has become frustrated. He should be finding something to fight. The snaky lizard was nice so why can¡¯t there be more like it? Of course he has an idea why things are like this. Now being within a couple weeks of the next town means that the weaker monsters will have been taken care of already. Sure he takes a while to get here but stronger people have better methods of transportation. Though being honest with himself if he had focused on his movement technique more even he could do so. Jumping from one rock spire to the next like he was taking a brisk walk. Then again, he could not deal with some of the monsters if he had. At this point Jason gives up and settles into the flow of things. A week passes him by as similar events happen every day or so. The only monsters he finds being those too weak for stronger people to bother with. He feels like he is following behind some rich guys picking up pennies none of them deigned to bother with. Even reaching level 8 doesn¡¯t lessen the sting. Though with the morning greeting him once again A pleasant event greets him. His Energy herbs have all fully matured. Some of them had been mature days ago, especially the plants with fewer berries. Now however the final one had finished growing. While it disappointed Jason that his plant which started with 37 buds had lost a few and was now down to only 32 berries it was glowing. Technically halfway through the week they had fully matured. The berries plump and ready for harvest. Jason however knows they only reach the true final stage they have gathered enough Energy to glow. In the wild this isn¡¯t always possible thus the disconnect most people have between ¡®blue weed¡¯ and ¡®glowy weed¡¯. In nature fully mature Energy herb is more likely to be found around stronger creatures. This in turns makes it seem like a rare variant. However, in reality it is those creatures that let the plant mature. While monsters don¡¯t cultivate like humans and such they take in the natural energy, leaving the waste energy for the herb. More cunning monsters even settle near the herb to help their progress. Jason smacks himself lightly. Now isn¡¯t the time to get lost in thought. He needs to figure out how he wants to harvest the berries. From what he learned about ¡®glowy weed¡¯ most people just take the whole plant. But that seems a waste. Chapter 64 - Considering the Future With all six of his plants set out Jason examines them and ponders how many berries to harvest. ¡°The one without berries can be left alone. With the five berry plant, hmm, let''s leave it alone too. I ¡®know¡¯ that this is a fully mature plant. Then again, that is like how everyone else ¡®knows¡¯ blue and glowy weed are different plants. The fact the leaves are glowing means not as much Energy has gathered in the berries as possible. Next for the ten berry plant I will harvesting five of the berries. In fact, I will bring the 20 berry plant down to five as well. Besides that I will leave the other two plants alone. I doubt that the single berry plant will supercharge the berry but life is full of surprises. Huh, guess there will not be much harvesting after all. Oh well, from the ten count plant I will harvest the berries by taking some stem with it and the 20 count plant by only taking the berry. If I ever get a real garden to work with there are other ways to try but this is good for now.¡± With his mind made up Jason proceeds with his harvest. The small glowing berries are easy enough to collect and he is soon ready to move on. With a sad sigh, he heads out for the day. While watching for monsters to fight Jason laments to himself. He has no way to keep the berries fresh or even identify them. His current observe skill has limited ability to check things above the level ten bottleneck and the berries count. ¡°Then again, being able to get a general idea of an enemies level isn¡¯t bad. While getting to level ten isn¡¯t a tricky bottleneck and everyone manages eventually, they keep things under wraps about it. It is the point you can do RMT. Though can it still be called that when the ingame currency is the same as the irl currency? It is not like the dawn of video games when you had to spend national based money illegally to buy gold. Gold is the standard now. Though I do kind of wish the Scifi games won, and we had credits instead. IRL gold isn¡¯t even worth a gold anymore. Not after some disgruntled asteroid belt miners went rogue and crashed the market for it. I can¡¯t blame them though. After mining out there for years and knowing how much of the stuff corporations had squirreled away, it would tempt anyone. It was worse than diamonds. Meh, at least I know about that change. What happens to stats? How does the lauded item quality system work? Why keep these things secret?¡± ¡°Well, okay that last one isn¡¯t hard to figure out. They needed someway to equalize the starting point for everyone. While everyone is a part of the game, some people know more than others. If the big clans could teach their children from birth how to get ahead in the game, no one could touch them. It is already bad enough with how much help they get. The bigger clans set aside whole kingdoms to nurture their up-and-coming talent. Can only blame luck and meddling gods for not having been born to some higher up in a clan. I would not like it, anyway. Those kids are raised from young to be the ¡®hero¡¯ and I have had enough of that nonsense.¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Then again, that is only in this realm of the game. If I compared it to my past life, this would be a mortal world. Nothing here is past level 499. The moment anything breaks through they get transported to a ¡®higher¡¯ realm. Though you need not wait till then. Even getting to level 100 is enough to let you go to other realms. You can even come back if you want and haven¡¯t become too high a level. Not even one percent of players can manage level 500 in their life. Life extension is easy to get but the lower quality treatments most can afford don¡¯t last forever. Beyond that some people can¡¯t make the cut. Half of those who reach level 99 don¡¯t even break through to 100. Apparently the System makes a personalized quest for that bottleneck. I have to hand it to the company though. They locked so much content behind a wall that even with the entire human population pounding at it most can¡¯t reach. Even the clans lack enough of a presence in the higher realms to take a kingdom.¡± ¡°If I can make it to a higher realm, than I am set no matter what else happens. Though I should wait to reach the next bottleneck. While higher realms still contain a lot of ¡®mortals¡¯ the quantity of high tier people is astounding. Having anyone above 99 in a smaller town is unheard of here that is the level of a village chief up there. Then again, my use of the word ¡®mortal¡¯ isn¡¯t off point. While players have our normal life spans the locals get a boost from passing bottlenecks. Level 100 doesn¡¯t make them immortal, but it puts them on the same level as us players despite the five times difference in time between irl and ingame.¡± ¡°I should consider seeing how viable actual cultivation is irl. I heard the System hasn¡¯t set a level cap on the game so there could be a lot more than even the original designers know. Not being able to see it all just doesn¡¯t feel right. The extra years from a breakthrough or two combined with a good life extension could let me really dig into this game. I wasn¡¯t planning to bother but what I have seen changes things. The biggest downfall of anyone even close to calling themselves immortal is boredom and the insanity it breeds. NeoRealm however looks like it can entertain me for Millenium to come if I play my cards right. After all it is a game. If I reach a new height alone, the System might not care. However, if others can get there as well then no matter how far I go there will always be more for me to explore.¡± Chapter 65 - Moving Further Over the next couple of days Jason continues his wool gathering about cultivation. In the end though all he can figure is the next time he is out of his pod he needs to test things. Not that all he did these few days was walk and think. A couple creatures annoyed him. However, a snake with a sloths head isn¡¯t exactly threatening. Now though he is out of things to focus on and is skimming through the wasteland. The spires pass by on his right beyond counting and the grass waves never ending on his left. This scenery lulls Jason into a thoughtless mediation. Movement without intention crossing distances at a walking pace. Each step passing by the mundane. Never stretching too far yet traveling full distances. Most of the day passes without conscious notice when a ding breaks Jason out of it and he stumbles. Not a normal noise of course as his trip wasn¡¯t exactly silent but rather a System notification.
Comprehension Based Skill Breakthrough
Desolate Traversal Technique A combination of traditional parkour and energy use. While considered a basic skill it is highly ranked among them. Generally learned by rogues it is however open for anyone to learn. [This skill has ranked up through comprehension of parkour being about efficiency of movement. A rare feat as it has been noted by an unnamed master that, ¡°teaching a man parkour isn¡¯t about how to jump over walls. Rather it is beating into them that most of the time you should just walk through the gate¡±.] [Initiate Level 6 - 14.23%] -> Apprentice Level 1 - 0.0% Rarity: [Normal Beginner] -> Uncommon Type: Passive, Movement Effects: Traction Assist - Based on predicted goal the System will modify the friction between user and any surfaces they are in contact with Powered Grip - Through the use of energy a user is able to temporarily stick to surfaces [Distanceless Step - A combination of efficient movement and unconscious Energy use makes each step travel just as far as it needs to, including farther than it visually should have]
Where the ding didn¡¯t cause him to fall over this message did. While skills breaking through because of someone¡¯s understanding isn¡¯t unknown. A beginner skill doing so is unheard of. Beginner skills are thought of as just that, skills to use at the beginning. While solid and something you can always fall back on, they generally are passed by for newer skills. To advance one in rank through knowledge and a deeper understanding, even to the point of changing the rarity? If any other player has managed it they haven¡¯t said a word about it. Besides that the effect gained from the breakthrough was quite a high level. Any ¡®ground shrinking¡¯ effect is rare below level 100. Sure the skill will not let him travel miles with a single step, at least not yet. But you have to start somewhere. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Besides, this is my first Apprentice rank skill! With how things were going I was certain it would be Blast Punch that ranked up. Even if it didn¡¯t, farming seemed in line for it next with how fast it is growing. Not that I get anything for reaching Apprentice rank. That is after all only the rank at which for a crafting skill you can work in a shop on actual products. Everything before it can be seen as purely practice. Even if you lived in a small village, it is hard to make a living off of an Apprentice rank skill. Though I guess that does make sense. The natives learn a trade skill from around puberty so by the time us players come into the picture we are way behind. The only reason farming is doing so good right now is I am growing alchemy materials and experimenting with the process. If I had tried to grow wheat, it would take me over a year just to reach the Initiate rank let alone Apprentice. I fear that us players wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up with the natives if we didn¡¯t come back from the dead. Without the boost that danger gives to skill advancement there is no way we could keep up.¡±, Jason shakes his head at these thoughts. Even with their advantage of always coming back player still aren¡¯t able to completely pull ahead of the native population. That and it doesn¡¯t help that there are old natives running around keeping things in balance. You can¡¯t ¡®catch up¡¯ to some monster swordsman who has been training for the last couple millennium. After a quick check of the area Jason realizes he progressed further than expected. While not mile wide steps his breakthrough took him far. With that in mind he tests the new skill effect. The first few steps are awkward. Trying to step farther doesn¡¯t seem to work with his steps just going wider. Then he gets the feel for it. Instead of activating it on purpose the skill just works. He facepalms after the realization because duh, the skill was still a passive one. In the end though practice makes perfect, so he continues his tests. Night comes before he settles down, happy with the results. Not only can he travel twice the distance at a normal walking speed but another aspect of the skill effect showed itself. While the skill directly calls out being able to step further it actually says ¡°each step travel just as far as it needs to¡±. This shows itself in that he can take a full step yet not move forward. Though the real benefit comes from his close observation of it in action. Other movement skills known to him will put energy into the hands and feet. Maybe a little into the limbs for strength but that is about it. While that is also happening here the real surprise is that on an almost unnoticeable level his whole body is being affected by his Energy. Instead of a better grip on a surface or a small push against the ground for more distance it goes so much further. The very Energy of his body is grabbing the natural energy and air then pulling. His steps look normal because they are. The extra distance comes from pulling himself through the air a short distance. At a higher level and a better understanding Jason even dares to hope this will let him fly or at the very least step on air. However the skill isn¡¯t there yet. He can¡¯t even boost his jumping power with it yet. Well except in the dead obvious method of pumping energy out of his feet but that is inefficient. A Qi user might manage it with their large pool of energy to work with but Jason wants to follow this skill further. Getting to the heart of efficiently moving places feels right to him. Satisfied with his new ability Jason settles down for his nightly cultivation. All the while in the distance a silver horned jackalope fumes. Chapter 66 - Traveling Far and Vine All night while Jason mediated an irritated silver horned jackalope can be seen hopping all over the place. Until yesterday Jason had traveled at a relatively sedate pace and the adult rabbits of nearby dens could bring their young over to evolve. With his experiments in movement though he moved beyond what a normal rabbit could cover while carrying a child. Not wanting to be scolded for causing dens to miss out the jackalope had to gather the farther away dens. Next morning Jason wakes up extra refreshed. While his plants do a good job at absorbing the waste energy from his cultivation, they leave enough around to bother him. However, last night there were more rabbits to use it up. Overall, a much more restful experience. Not knowing the reason he can only shrug his shoulder as he checks his plants. The berryless plant has just kept on growing. For the other plants though things have changed. On all of them the leaves have dimmed while the berries appear fuller. Satisfied with these results Jason checks on the berries he had already harvested. The ones picked with a bit of stem and a few leaves are still plump. Those picked by themselves while still glowing look a bit shrunken. Not really sure what the result will be Jason can only pack them back up and head out for the day. After a few stretches Jason heads off at a great pace using his movement skill. At first his speed of travel is slower than yesterday. Having to balance thinking about the skill and yet not actively trying to use it is a hard juggling act. Though as the day goes on and any monsters, he comes across avoids him the old axiom of ¡®practice makes perfect¡¯ proves itself. Frustrated at nothing wanting to fight him Jason throws his full attention behind improving. Moments of clarity pass through him as he gathers a feel for the terrain. ¡°The last step slid on the sand a bit too much. Should have used that to slide down the slope instead of trying to kick off.¡± ¡°Okay, too much power behind that jump. Going to overshoot the next hill peak and I better prepare for the landing.¡± ¡°Too much grass here so I didn¡¯t slide like I wanted. That dumped too much speed so I should use the next slope to build momentum.¡± On and on he travels until his speed exceeds yesterday. At this speed he will cut the time to reach the next town down to around a week. Though not everything continues to go his way. As night comes closer he gets smacked out of his movement training. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. -5 What had been a graceful leap turns into an out-of-control tumble as a lion seemingly made of vines chases after him. Jason regains control of himself and turns his tumble into a proper roll then jumps to his feet. The vine lion crashes into him while he connects with an elbow to the throat. -4 Sadly for Jason the vine aesthetic the lion has going on isn¡¯t for show. While it does take damage the vine lion just shakes off what others would find a debilitating blow. The one thing it does do is anger the vine lion who roars. Then from the wasteland 5 vine lionesses come out. Off to the side Jason steadies himself and checks them. The vine lion is the toughest at level 14 while the vine lionesses are quite weak for the area being only level 10 each. Not an impossible fight for him so he takes a small step and is suddenly besides the vine lion. His target not expecting this is completely unprepared for the following uppercut as Jason slams his Blast Punch into the vine lions gut. As the crit notification rings the vine lions screams in pain. It seems something inside there was important as it slumps over, knocked out. At this the formerly ferocious vine lionesses let out a squeak before retreating into the pillars. Jason now with nothing else to fight finishes the vine lion. As it dies, the vine lion does something different from most other monsters. Instead of disappearing or leaving a corpse the vines that had made up its body unravel and shrink. Soon all that is left behind is a real lion¡¯s claws and teeth, a small cracked spherical gem, and a dead vine. Then everything disappears as normal and Jason gets the fight notification about receiving claws, teeth, and what the system calls a ¡®cracked dryad seed¡¯. Jason takes the seed out and tries to examine it but once again the item is considered too high level for him to check. He can only shake his head and put the seed back into his pack. There is not much else to do, and the sun is setting so Jason turns in for the night. Though as he sets out his plants a few things do flit through his mind. ¡°I am too close to town now. All the monsters I do see are capable and not just stupid mixes. Anything too weak is culled by adventurers and those that are left end up wary of lone humanoids. After all while I do say this is too close that only applies to those strong enough to get out here and back to town in a decent time frame. Even with my improved movement technique it is still a good few days away. Only that vine lion was brave enough to try me and that might just be because it is new to the area. Though those vine lionesses should be better off now. The vine lion was probably hoarding all the kills.¡± As he falls into his cultivation, a certain silver horned jackalope is already hard at work jumping around. A look of clear frustration is painted across its face as it has to spend another night ferrying the farther warrens young. Chapter 67 - Electric Tricycle Once again Jason wakes up refreshed, the excessive number of rabbits having taken care of the waste energy. A quick stretch and he heads off once again. The first hour out is plagued with glimpses of green shapes hiding in the wasteland. However, these are soon left behind as Jason¡¯s movement technique proves out over what was likely the vine lionesses. Not that he much put them in his mind. He only felt caution coming from the stalkers. What he meets him next though makes no bones about their aggression. From the spires swarm a motley collection of small predators. The only thing that connects the group is small bolts of electricity that zaps between them. Though as they approach this connection proves more literal as a fox bursts into many bolts that spread out through the rest of the group. For a moment the rest of them get bigger before releasing twice as many bolts out. These bolts come together at opposite ends of the group in the form of two new foxes. ¡°I don¡¯t want to mess with that. If there is one thing electricity is known for in games, it is stun effects. That whole group screams stun-lock to me. At least some of them are slower things like badgers and what not so I should be able to outrun part of the swarm.¡± This is a reasonable plan and seems to work for a while. The swarm of electric animals gets pulled apart and only a few of the cat and fox monsters reach Jason. Though even those few causes him problems. Weak individually he easily kills them with a punch or two. However, each time he even so much as touches one, his body becomes numb. Then as he pulls ahead things turn for the worse. All the slower critters burst apart into a cloud of lightning. This cloud of energy soon catches up to the rest of the hoard. Though instead of reforming the electric mass sweeps up the rest of the animals. He continues to run and the last couple foxes that kept up with him are yanked back into the mass as well. Jason runs without looking back as a monstrous thunder roars out. From the side a creature charges past him. Instead of taking the form of actual animals the electricity has condensed itself. With three limbs sprouting from the center mass and what can only be described as a maw the electric mass appears oddly warped. ¡°Welp this is not my day. I don¡¯t even have leather gloves to protect me. Guess today is going to be all about training my ability to dodge.¡± Then one limb of the electric mass thrusts at him. Jason throws himself to the side but the limb curves at him. He expected this move, so is able to respond in time. By twisting his waist Jason brings his left knee to the ground. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. -1 The abrasion is enough to damage him but it turns his fall into a tumble as he goes under the lightning limb. A quick hop back to his feet and Jason continues to run. For the first time since starting the game, he has found an enemy he can¡¯t win against. However, he will not let it win against him either. To send out that attack the electric mass had to stop and Jason is using that moment of stillness to get ahead. He leaps across the landscape each step traveling yards at a time. He takes a half step to the side as the electric mass barrels through the space where he just was. Surprised at the mouthful of sand instead of the expected human it roars. Not caring for sand the electric masses body goes frizzy for a moment and everything falls through to the ground. Another thunderous roar and it swipes at Jason again. This time the end of the limb splits into three claws that splay out to cover as much space as possible. Jason isn¡¯t quite able to dodge this time. He twists but the edge of a claw still sends a charge through his body. -3 His body jerks around but Jason forces himself to progress further as he thinks to himself, ¡°Each monster in this area might have a large hunting grounds but something should be able to counter the electric mass. Though if worse comes to worse I can try the plains. This isn¡¯t a new monster so something must have been keeping it in the wasteland.¡± Unrelated to this a certain tired silver horned jackalope feels a chill go downs its spine. ¡°But I would really like to get away without straining whatever relationship I have with the rabbits. Plus, who knows how long it can keep that form up. There has to be a reason it stayed in the shape of small animals. Though I guess to be bait is a valid reason.¡± He tucks his head, lowers his shoulder into the ground, and rolls across his back as a lightning paw spears over him. Rolling back up to his feet Jason jumps diagonally to the left covering the distance between one rolling dune to another. As another paw thrusts in front of him a wide step barely moves him, then he is off again. The electric mass is faster than him but lacks the mind to use that advantage. Though as the chase continues the difference in speed shortens. While Jason feels somewhat sad at this sort of ending, he outpaces the thing. He doesn¡¯t even have to check his sheet to know what happened. Throughout the chase Jason dodge and weave around all the while using his movement skill. In such a life and death fight Desolate Traversal Technique must have leveled up multiple times. He almost wishes he could go back and bait the beast into another chase. Another go would not provide such amazing progress for his skill. If the System message from when he got away was anything to go on though he even got a hefty chunk of experience as well. Chapter 68 - Tired Jackalope Another night passed by and Jason is able to set out again. Yesterday¡¯s chase was exciting but in the end not the kind of fight he was looking for. In fact, it has filtered through to him that there won¡¯t be a good fight until he leaves the Wasteland. While the level range of the monsters hasn¡¯t changed the balance between the top and bottom end has. Jogging across the barren landscape Jason can only avoid most monsters he sees while thinking to himself. ¡°Everything is out of my range. Sure I can beat up on the few low level monsters but even those now have a high level defender lurking nearby. This is interesting to observe of course. While not helping me level being able to witness, the effect adventurers have on an ecosystem is cool. My guess is that even the locals see this area as being best for a certain level range. Parties might come through this area once every week or so and clear out anything in that range or lower. In response, the high level monsters guard the young even if the actual goal is to kill any distracted adventurers. This in turns gives the low levels monsters enough leeway to grow in level. They get killed next time a party comes through and only the strongest, smartest, or luckiest survive to the higher levels. This balancing act will continue until the Wasteland recedes from the area. Players like me likely only spend a little time here and disrupt it. However the locals probably spend years at this location if they don¡¯t have some sort of background. After all only a rare few know a method of coming back from the dead at this level.¡± And on and on he ponders. All the while he sets a distance eating pace as the day continues onward. His new levels in Desolate Traversal once again boosting his travel speed and cutting another day off his journey. An occasional creature will chase him but they all give up. While he isn¡¯t the fastest none of the monsters here are focused on chasing down their prey. Even with their higher levels Jason still receives a small trickle of experience for escaping. The night comes and while Jason cultivates a certain Jackalope is working double time. With the way things are looking Jason will reach the town within only a few more days. The fairies that hang around the Jackalope are having the time of their lives. Back and forth it has to go traveling many multiples of the distances Jason has gone in less than half the time. All throughout the fairies hang on to its antlers screaming in excitement. Normally no matter how much they prod the Jackalope he tends to just lie around. Now though they get a taste of its power and speed. Luckily for the Jackalope these fairies are only the lowest of fae and will soon forget or else it wouldn¡¯t get another peaceful day in its life. As with most fae touched creatures, great potential but the Jackalope would much rather play around. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. The day dawns and off Jason goes. Behind him the Jackalope gets to lie down and sleep. Not that this will last long enough for it because once again the day passes peacefully for Jason. In fact, this cycle continues until Jason is a couple days out from town. The Jakalope is now thoroughly tired and quite ornery. Though a small bit of luck goes its way. A couple hours after noon Jason runs into another group of people. Jason seeing them not that far ahead slows down and approaches with caution. Once the group of five are close enough so they do not need to yell he greets them, ¡°Heyo, haven¡¯t seen anyone for a while. How close are we to Wasteland¡¯s Edge?¡± After the greeting both sides stop and the group confers with themselves. Then a lionman in full plate responds, ¡°Our group took 4 days to get here but judging by your speed you can cut that in half. Now our group doesn¡¯t want any nonsense. Our scout doesn¡¯t feel any pressure from you so either you can hand us our butts or you used that speed of yours to stay out of trouble. I don¡¯t care which it is but we would be grateful if you filled us in on what we can expect to see.¡± With an assurance from Jason that he doesn¡¯t want to start anything they all sit down and share what they have seen. News of the electric beast especially riles up the group. The last team through had seen a few electric herbivores but it seems the monster has since evolved into its current much more threatening form. Jason on the other hand is disappointed in what he hears. Any monsters he could fight got culled by the group as they passed through. With nothing else to say Jason and the group continue on their separate ways. The lionman¡¯s team seems like they want to try their hands at some of the higher level monsters and Jason wants to sleep in a bed again. It isn¡¯t until just before he slips into his cultivation that he realizes they never shared their names. He isn¡¯t even certain if they were players or locals. Not that he cares about such distinctions but still. Normally something comes up that would tip a person off. Not just for the players either. Most locals are quite capable of pointing out who is a player. Especially at the lower levels. Now in the higher level dimensions this isn¡¯t quite the case anymore. Though to be fair at that point anyone there will have lived most of their mental age in NeoRealm. You don¡¯t get through the higher level bottlenecks without having devoted much of your life to the game. Those players can only thank their lucky stars that in-game and irl money is the same. While Jason¡¯s current VR pod and internet connection is good enough for the moment it takes a lot more at that stage. Some of the highest level players even buy special pods built right into the physical servers for the game. Even high level crafters and gathers needs this because the smallest imperfection or mistake will ruin the highest level of ingredients and materials. Chapter 69 - Forgotten Bonuses Not long after Jason separates from the lionman¡¯s group he settles down. While not night yet he knows there will not be any monsters ahead today. Maybe tomorrow more will come from within the wasteland. For now, though the other group will have cleared the way. With little else to do Jason settles down to check over his progress. Pulling up his character sheet he reads through everything.
Basic Info Name: Jason Level: 9 - 0.52% [+2lv 0.52%] Legal Status: New Player Title: Willful Survivor Normal Stats Auxiliary Stats Organizations Adventurers Guild - Basic Member - Rank F Odd Ones Out - Team Member - Leader Bonuses Knowledge Bonuses: Discovery Bonuses: Titles: Skills Energetic Body Reinforcement Accepting only purity of body and mind you have given up past concepts of self for the uncertainty of truth. Initiate Level 9 - 7.12% [+5lv 7.12%] Rarity: Truth Type: Passive, Cultivation Effects: Desolate Traversal Technique A combination of traditional parkour and energy use. While considered a basic skill it is highly ranked among them. Generally learned by rogues it is however open for anyone to learn. This skill has ranked up through comprehension of parkour being about efficiency of movement. A rare feat as it has been noted by an unnamed master that, ¡°teaching a man parkour isn¡¯t about how to jump over walls but rather beating into them that most of the time you should just walk through the gate¡±. Apprentice Level 6 - 12.9% [+5lv 12.9%] Rarity: Uncommon Type: Passive, Movement Effects: Energetic Poison and Venom Resistance One of the rare active skill based resistances. While still able to passively provide benefits this skill really shines when directly used. As there are many types of poison and venom the System has decided it is best like this rather than a stat as this allows more variety without littering the stat line with entries like ¡®elven paralysis poison resistance¡¯. Uses the best percentage. Initiate Level 5 - 0.0% Rarity: Exquisite Beginner Type: Passive/Active, Energy, Adaptive Effects: Blast Punch (Variant) The normal Blast Punch is a ranged mana based skill similar to burning hands. A magic user would concentrate pure Mana around his fist then punch the air sending out a glowing ball of pure magic. Someone developed this skill to help fire mages counter low level fire based enemies. Preferred over the mana missile skill as the user does not have to focus on guiding it and thus allow dodging directly after use. However, that is not this skill. Not only has it been changed to use Energy instead of Mana it is no longer ranged. This Blast Punch is like the classic one inch punch, trying to get the most out of a short distance. However, instead of focusing the body¡¯s explosive strength into a small burst of motion this skill focuses the users Energy. While someone can use it with a regular punch as long as the fist is punching the skill will work. This change causes the skill to no longer be ranged but as a tradeoff the Energy will only be used on a hit and some Energy will be pushed directly into the enemy providing armor piercing. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Novice Level 8 - 30.68% [+27.71%] Rarity: Variant Beginner Type: Energy Attack Effects: Farming You have shown yourself to be proficient at this classic skill. Don¡¯t look down on it as these lands contain many mysterious plants with uncountable effects. Novice Level 8 - 63.65% [+2lv 63.65%] Rarity: Normal Type: Passive, Production Effects: Equipment Living Amber Skeletal System Description: This masterpiece of magical items is the opposite of the undead. While undead are the living that are killed and turned into magical items, this is a magical item turned into a living piece of a creature. An intricately carved full skeleton made entirely of Magical Amber. It was then hollowed out leaving just the barest of a lattice work. When magically implanted into the host the bone marrow was grafted into these cavities. Because of difficulties and dangers that appear when trying to enchant a living creature they have instead been imbued with magic. Effects: Bonuses: Complete Weaponless Rabbit Leather Martial Arts Beginners Set Set Items: Description: An Exquisitely crafted set of gear made entirely out of the cheapest quality of Rabbit Leather. Only through years of research and many crafters blood, sweat, and tears was this level of quality reached while keeping such a low price. All the pieces of this set have been specially created to be swapped between several configurations and thus there is no step by step set bonuses for it. A pair of boots, grieves, and a bastard sword are just as valid of a complete set as wearing something in every equipment slot. As for how it looks. Best way to put it is they tried. Bonuses: Set Bonuses:
The growth in both Energetic Body Reinforcement and Desolate Traversal Technique shocked him. Both advanced by 5 levels and Desolate Traversal was even Apprentice rank. His best guess is the area matches where it was developed. After all a wasteland is quite desolate. Outside of that his cultivation¡¯s Energized Flesh ability has advanced linearly with skill level. To have his ability to hit the incorporeal go up by 3% every level is impressive. Other similar skill effects tend to front-load the increases early on. However after 50% the increases decline at a significant rate. Few ever get beyond 66% ability to interact. The linear increase of his effect provides hope of reaching 100% interaction. Though all this fluff gathering by him on his skills is to distract himself from a realization. He had been going about something the hard way. Every morning he would guess and theorize about it. However Jason had the ability to remove all that guesswork. All of his trial and error to figure if his Energy Herbs had matured. He needed none of it because of the Discovery Bonus that would let him judge the maturity of a plant without using a skill. An actual skill might provide more solid info but that wasn¡¯t needed for this. Jason takes out his six Energy Herbs and sets them out. As the ability is not a skill, he will need to figure out how to use it. First though is to check on how the berries, both those he picked and the ones still on the plants, are doing. He had picked 20 berries. Five of them harvested with a bit of stem and a couple leaves still attached. This seems to have worked the best. The remaining 15 that had just been picked already started to wrinkle and lose their glow. On the other hand the five are looking fresh still though the leaves have dimmed. Jason nods to himself. While he never studied herbs in depth what he does know is special plants need special harvesting techniques. He turns his attention back to the plants themselves. The Herb without any berries looks impressive. While Jason had been pruning them to make them more bush like this one expanded even more. It was the only Herb that overflowed the pot he planted them in. The plant with a single berry still had glowing leaves. The fact the berries absorb Energy from the leaves was clear as a darkened area spread out from it. A good thing too as the three plants with five berries each had completely dark leaves. While Jason assumed the berries absorbed more Energy the single berry plant actually proved it. With the five berry plants it could have just been that Energy dissipates off the leaves. The last plant stabilized at 32 berries and the leaves had lost their glow days ago. The part that makes it different is that unlike the other plants it has gone further. Not just taking the Energy but with how the leaves are shriveled up the berries have sucked up the liquids as well. Though while it does not look healthy, the plant should survive for a while longer. Finished with a visual check up of the plants Jason turns to his ability. It would have been easier if he had a skill to try it with first. However life happens and he can only grope in the dark with this problem. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be too hard. I have had the ability for a long time. With the bonuses they don¡¯t get handed out unless you can already use them. Thinking about what I had shown to the game there wasn¡¯t much. This Discovery was right when I first entered the game. All I had done was sense my Energy and push it into the Guild¡¯s Id stone thing. I can try something similar with the plant but pull the Energy back.¡± Jason sits down in front of the plant with one berry and begins to meditate. Instead of cultivating like normal he instead swirls his Energy around. At first his control is shoddy. Until now he just used it through skills. While gaining the skills at first he had to move the Energy afterwards, the System took care of it. Now he was moving it free-form. Not being satisfied with this he settles in to practice. After a couple hours, he has it under control. While rough, Jason¡¯s Energy is flowing in a tight whirl around his heart core. He pulls a sliver of Energy away from this whirl. Guiding this sliver of Energy out to his hand then back. Another sliver, this time smaller, gets pulled out and returned. A couple more times he repeats this until the slivers no longer shrink. His control at its limits and a slight pounding around his temples he judges himself ready. Jason raises his hands up on opposite sides of the plant with a single berry. Ready he once again extracts a sliver of Energy and sends it to his hand. This time though instead of just returning it Jason sends it out of his palm. He can still loosely feel the Energy as it loses coherence and passes through the plant. However as soon as it reaches his other hand and re-enters his body a burst of information filters into his mind. While this information is flowing Jason struggles through it to make sure the Energy returns to his core. Then he relaxes and lowers his hands before going over what he has learned. A flavor, a sound, a color, something in between? Whatever it was Jason could only label it as trippy. In this barrage of strange a few points stood out. A cold winter¡¯s wind for something dead or dying. The smell and color of a cherry blossom of a thing filled with life. The final sensation is the crunch of a ripe melon of something ripe to bursting. Overall, not very helpful. Then an idea strikes him. Repeating his actions but this time instead of his palms around the whole plant he puts 2 fingers on both sides of the berry. The sliver of Energy flows through the berry and with less distance stays together better. With its return besides a few faint sensations it immerses Jason in the feeling of a crunchy melon at the peak of ripeness. Chapter 70 - A Kit Jason murmurs, ¡°interesting¡±, before he tests all the other parts of the plant. Even going as far as to put his hands on both sides of the pot and try the roots. It all works out with the roots feedback being the oddest. They smelled of being content with a slight color of dryness. Besides that the leaves made up for the rest of the burst he got for the whole plant. The glowing leaves matched the cherry blossom, those no longer glowing was winter winds, and any part way dimmed had a collection of odd sensations. Satisfied with the results Jason tests the rest of the plants. The Herb without berries felt similar to the first except without the winter winds. Those with five berries had an odd aftertaste to the ripeness. Sort of like the expectation of a watermelon. His best guess is that the berries aren¡¯t fully ripe yet but close enough that it is hard to tell with his current control of the ability. The final plant with 32 berries challenged him the most. When Jason tested the whole plant, there wasn¡¯t anyone stand out sensation except the desert like leaves. Further tests end up with each berry having a different feel. The only constant was berries close to each other were less ripe. With these results Jason gathered his thoughts and planned future tests. ¡°Okay first is I should water them more. Not by much but I want that slight dryness out of the roots. Second is I should not bother with growing another plant with massive amounts of berries. Well, I guess if I need to bait something again or some such, but less berries of a higher quality will do me better. Though if I grow bigger plants, then I can test growing more berries. Anyway, the third thing is I don¡¯t know if five berries to a plant is the right amount. My current five berry Herbs weren¡¯t able to finish growing the berries. However they also need more water. All I can do at this point is test some four and five berry plants next time. Though one more important question has not been answered yet. What happens to the plants once I pick the berries? The leaves that got sucked dry by a berry had a dead feeling to them. It is quite possible that the moment I remove the berries everything else just curls up dead. For now though I need to be able to cultivate and they seem to be holding on. When I reach town, there will be enough time to figure it out and an actual bed to sleep in. Now what is this System notification I have been ignoring.¡± Jason looks up at the blue screen that popped up right after he finished checking the plants.
Stat Unlocked Control
¡°Huh, not unexpected but still. To bad there isn¡¯t anything special for unlocking stats before level ten. Then again, probably another thing to prevent those from powerful families getting too far ahead. Still, I find control of energy being under soul a weird choice. I guess with mind being taken by skill control left them with little else. At least I won¡¯t have to worry about picking this up later. The Stat itself doesn¡¯t do much but a lot of interesting things are gated by Control. Most useful for me is I will be able to mentally control the minimap at level ten. Not that I blame them for locking those type of things behind an otherwise useless Stat. Apparently early testers of this tech would occasionally have fatal problems. Unexpected results to everyone involved at the time since they had ¡®mind¡¯ controlled stuff for a while with those funky sensor caps. They had missed the simplest thing. With the VR tech it becomes a two-way street and the feedback was causing problems. In the end Control is a placeholder for how much feedback you can take. Makes enough sense and it prevents just anyone from creating a massive army of personally controlled minions.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Satisfied with his results Jason settles down to cultivate for the night. This works just fine for a certain Jackalope. Not only has Jason traveled less than yesterday but by stopping early gave it a chance to gather some of the further burrows that it totally didn¡¯t miss yesterday. Now with Jason cultivating the Jackalope once again starts work. Back and forth to gather all the local adolescent rabbits. Of course nobody¡¯s perfect. After the last few nights of hard work the Jackalope had gotten sloppy as evidenced by having missed places last night. Lazy by nature the Jackalope hadn¡¯t been all that careful gathering those burrows today and an unexpected addition came along for the ride. Now the fairies had seen this and they found it just hilarious. Though the Jackalope won¡¯t find it funny later on when they get punished. Without notice a small rabbit makes its way to the front. The youngest there the adolescent rabbits pushed her to the back. Now though she was at the front without a clue of what to do. For you see she isn¡¯t an adolescent. Rather that lazy Jackalope accidentally snagged a few kits while gathering the others. She however was the first to the front. Now kits aren¡¯t able to turn into fledgeling, nubbed, or spiky rabbit. After all those stages come after being an adolescent rabbit. Being so young the kit wasn¡¯t able to understand what the Jackalope wanted let alone know to stay away from Jason. With the adolescents shoving her from behind the confused kit hops forward. The adolescents all glare at her for breaking the rules and getting too close but she doesn¡¯t notice this. Now away from the others her full attention is on the Energy Herbs right in front of her. A few hops and she reaches the Herb with the most berries. After a few nibbles the plant is now down three berries and the kit is full from such an energy-packed snack. She turns back to leave but none of the adolescents will let her through. At this point they just want her to stay in the circle to take the blame for breaking the rules. Not understanding and with nothing else to do the little kit hops around the area a bit more. Then all that is left to explore is the strange creature in the very center. Without a care in the world the little kit hops right into Jason¡¯s lap. Jason of course is quite shocked by this turn of events. Not sensing any hostilities he only stops cultivating for a moment to see what it going on. When he notices it is only a baby rabbit in his lap he continues on with cultivating. The kit is quite happy with this arrangement as well. Jason¡¯s lap is a warm spot to rest during a cold night. Soon she falls asleep. Chapter 71 - Totally a Normal Rabbit As day approaches a certain Silver Antlered Jackalope worries itself to pieces. Somewhat halfway through the night it returned with another group of adolescent rabbits only to be shocked out of its mind. Somehow a kit had ended up sleeping on the human¡¯s lap. At double speed the Jackalope grabbed any other kits that were in the area and returned them. No need to have anymore nonsense happen. After that though there wasn¡¯t anything it could do. Under orders not to reveal itself to the human all was able to do was to continue its work. Now with all the rabbits returned home except for a certain kit the Jackalope fidgeted. They had already known the human knew the adolescent rabbits were there. However the two sides had kept up the illusion of ignorance. No way to keep that up now. Not with a rabbit sitting on him. As dawn drew closer, the Jackalope had no other choice, then to give up. More important was to report this incident and so with one final glance back the Jackalope bounded off. Jason continues his cultivation a little later than usual. Still though the rabbit was on his lap. The kit would not leave so after a few more minutes he opens his eyes. There it was, sitting on his lap. The kit was even looking up at him. A quick look around shows nothing except his one Energy Herb missing a few berries. Looking back down at the kit he asks out loud, ¡°Well little fella, how in the world did you get here? You''re too young to be out and about on your own.¡± With little else to do Jason picks the rabbit up and puts it down to the side. Now unencumbered he packs up his camp. As he does this the kit munches on another berry off the same plant before it gets packed up. Shaking his head Jason once again asks the rabbit, ¡°What am I to do with you? Not that you can understand me but still.¡± Jason packed the last thing and looked around once more. Still no other rabbits around to take back the wayward kit. With a sigh, he decides to see what happens if he leaves. A glance at the kit shows it to have hopped up next to him. Then he dashes off into the distance. After Jason crosses a couple hills he turns back. The young rabbit is slowly hopping towards him. Minutes pass and still no other rabbits. Not hard of heart Jason only lasts so long before he heads back. With another sigh he picks up the tired kit and pets it. He then gets one of the leafed berries and fed it to the kit. This perks it up right away. Though not able to use the Energy it still helps. ¡°I guess you¡¯re going to be following me? Tomorrow night there should be more rabbits for you to follow home.¡±, having said his piece Jason cradles the kit and jogs off with it. When he notices the kit is not surprised by the speed, he ramps up until he is traveling at his best sustainable speed. The kit is unfazed by this. Then again, last night a certain Jackalope had taken it for a much faster ride. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. As the hours pass Jason is both pleased and disappointed. Pleased because nothing came to attack him while he was carrying the defenseless kit. Disappointed because it seems this close to the town the monsters stay farther in after a clear. On the other hand the rabbit is having a great time. Unlike last nights Jackalope ride today it is kept safe and warm. There is even another of those delicious berries for lunch. Then night comes once again. Jason sets the kit down on the ground before once again setting his camp up. All the while the curious kit explores this new area. Finished with his chores Jason settles in to cultivate once again. Though before he can start the kit hops right into his lap again. A look down and a sigh is all Jason has to say. Internally he questions what he will do tomorrow if the kit is still there. He should get to town by the next night and he can¡¯t take a wild animal in with him. A now very cowed Jackalope is back once again. This time focusing on his job. Oh, the scolding he received. It had pinned his ears back right good. Still it would occasionally glance at a certain kit as it slept content on Jason¡¯s lap. A few times the Jackalope even dared to quietly call out to the kit. Eventually though it can only give up. The Jackalope had brought the last few warrens over and dawn was near. Its orders were clear. If the kit stayed with the human overnight again finish early and report back. With a rabbity sigh the Jackalope goes off while it hopes to not receive another tongue lashing. After the Jackalope has made its report a normal rabbit can be seen hopping towards Jason. At least it would seem normal if it wasn¡¯t for how far it is moving. If what Jason does with his Desolate traversal is seen as shrinking ground then this rabbit is shrinking miles. With a final hop the rabbit is next to Jason and the kit. Then a strange event happens. For the first time since he arrived at the wasteland Jason falls asleep. On the other hand the kit wakes up with a jolt. The strange rabbit the proceeds to snoot boop the kit. This seems to daze it before once again it slips into slumber. With a satisfied nod the strange rabbit heads off. Though she turns back one final time and syas, ¡°Goodbye young one. You don¡¯t come from a special background but life has thrown a great boon your way. That young man has accidentally connected your lives through bounds of karma and tomorrow you will complete it. I wish you luck and a happy life!¡± Chapter 72 - A Serf After the strange rabbits visit no other creature dared even move in the camp''s direction. Jason for the first time in days has a decent night¡¯s sleep. He wakes up an hour after sunrise to the rabbit kit nudging him, whining for more berries. A little groggy after the unexpected sleep he takes some time to remember where he put them. After feeding the kit he stops, frozen in place by a thought. As far as it concerns him he should not have fallen asleep. Breaking out of his shock Jason goes over all his gear. A relieved sigh escapes his lips after he confirms nothing is missing. Still freaked out about the situation he packs fast and readies to leave. Jason turns to the kit, ¡°You¡¯re still here? I guess you get to come with me. Though I know you won¡¯t understand I might as well ask just in case. Do you want to join me on my journey?¡± To his surprise, a prompt from the System pops up.
Unnamed Rabbit Kit has agreed to serve you Do you accept? Y/N
Jason stands there for a few moments as the prompt blinks to get his answer. He looks back to the rabbit kit, ¡°I guess that answers my question, huh? Well, I see no one else here to take care of you so¡±, and he presses the ¡®Y¡¯. With his answer entered the System pops up more and more screens. None of it is too important. Just things about unlocking the pets and companions tab for his character sheet and how he is limited to a single non-combat pet before level 10. Luckily a baby rabbit is not the most combative creature. While it might rank up into something combat ready that is still in the future. After Jason closes all the screens, he notices something odd about the kit. The best he could describe it is the rabbit looks to be bowing to him. Not sure about what to do he firsts [Observes] it and gets back [Female Rabbit Kit Lv1] so nothing odd there. Then he remembers the message had mentioned it wanting to serve him. With no better ideas he verbally replies to it, ¡°I accept your service.¡± A slight glow surrounds the rabbit. However as the glow fades nothing seems to have changed but another [Observe] proves different. The results he gets back this time is [Female Rabbit Serf Lv1]. A single word has changed but it makes a world of difference. This is the second new rabbit rank he had seen. Though he guesses that, ¡°it might just be a path for non-combat rabbits since that would not be all that common out in the wild. Even if such a thing existed naturally, they would likely stay in the burrows doing things like taking care of the young.¡± Without a better answer and without any other tasks Jason picks up the rabbit and proceeds towards town. The rabbit on the other hand is having a confusing time. Ever since Jason accepted her, screen after screen has been popping up in front of her eyes. Now in normal situations any creature in the game unable to understand the screens wouldn¡¯t ever see them. However fates have aligned. The strange rabbit from last night had placed a seed in her mind to ask to serve Jason. All it took was for him to ask to trigger the prompt. The barrage of screens slow down as the young rabbit slowly tries to make sense of what is going on. She takes most of the trip to town before she figures out how to close the informational prompts. After a while it leaves her with a single screen. Without a clue of what to do she just stares at it for a while. Another seed left by the strange rabbit comes to fruition. The option on the screen is declined for her and all the System screens have gone away. This leaves her to enjoy the scenery. Though oddly the trip stops for a while before it continues. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. This stop from Jason¡¯s side is not odd at all though. After all it is normal to stop and check when a System screen pops up for no observable reason. Odd that it is asking to name his companion. This comes from the time it happened though. Most would expect this sort of prompt to come up right away. Not really sure what to make of it combined with the fact it has the option to minimize the prompt to answer later causes Jason to put it off. After all, he has the rest of the trip to town to figure it out. The trip flies by as Jason mulls over this choice. No way is he going to name her one of the ¡®descriptive¡¯ rabbit names. No thumper, fluffy, or anything with the word ¡®bun¡¯ in it. He also wants to avoid the joke names like bouncer or dust bunny. While they seem cute enough whenever he has seen someone use it for a normal pet rabbit. This is a game and pets have a shockingly high tendency towards developing at least childlike levels of sentience and intelligence. No, Jason will not saddle her with some odd name because it makes a good pet name. However he also has never been that good at naming things. Eventually he gives up on thinking of it on his own. While still jogging along he pulls up a browser screen off to the side and does a quick search of ¡®names for a girl rabbit¡¯. Lots of results pop up and reinforces his decision to avoid most of them. Halfway down the page he finds what he wanted. A simple list for a few good and most importantly ¡®normal¡¯ names for a girl rabbit. From that he picks out five names that fits what he wants. Lily, Melody, Tina, Roxy, and Gloria. He took the rest of the trip to decide between those five. First to go was Gloria. Nothing against the name but for some reason the young rabbit in his arms didn¡¯t feel like one. Tina and Roxy went one right after another because they had a harder sound to them than he wanted. This left two names to pick from and it stayed that way until the walls for the town come into view. His final decision is to name the rabbit Lily. In the end Jason went with the shorter name. Melody is an interesting name but despite his attempt to stay away from generic rabbit names he picked the flower. Chapter 73 - Scratchy Pinecone With the town in sight Jason slows down. Before him spreads out a rock wall. While the wall is rough, he can tell that is only because it sees constant use. Over two stories tall, and yet there are scratch marks showing that almost reach the top. Not just small scratches either. One particular mark he can see from here goes from near the top to the bottom of the wall. Along with that there is also an occasional spot on the wall that looks melted. Both from acid and heat. Just from the part Jason is close to he can see a story of many years of constant struggle. While now the Wasteland has receded some, there are still fresh marks decorating the wall to show it still faces nightly conflict. Easy to understand why as well. All along the stretch Jason had traveled was up against the rabbit plains. While the outskirts of it are easy to deal with deeper in lives much greater threats that do not let the fiercer Wasteland creatures enter. All those monsters having nowhere to go and end up coming out here. Near endless waves of the Wasteland mutants every night. It is quite impressive that they manage to hold out despite this. Though after a closer look Jason can tell why. Most of the guards are the type you see around these parts. Rough from years of defending the town but still not that advanced in level. However though it was only a glimpse Jason noticed someone on the wall. The man was wearing the same uniform of the rest of the guards. What caught Jason¡¯s eye was his stance. He stood on the wall with a hard-won grace and despite looking relaxed there wasn¡¯t a single opening. While not able to [Observe] him from this distance the man screamed ¡®expert¡¯ to Jason. If during the day they still had someone like that man on guard then the night is well taken care of. Then Jason was at the gate. Despite taking more time than he wanted it was still an hour before they close for the night. After showing his Adventurers Guild card and paying a silver, he passed into the town. Quite the rough and tumble place. While everything had a smooth and polished exterior, this came from time and wear. Unlike a more peaceful town like Shinefish village where buildings and such had a nice polish to them to attract customers here they just use something till it stops working. Very few wood buildings are around and they clearly make the stone buildings from the local earth using magic. Even the wall is locally sourced though using more powerful magics. Jason finishes his observations and heads off to the left. He might not know much about the town but he has an inn in mind for the night. Not the best name but from what he had heard the Scratchy Pinecone was the place to stay on his budget. Though thinking of budget Jason realizes he doesn¡¯t actually know how much money he has. While he didn¡¯t kill much, the Wasteland monsters should have left something for him. A glimpse into his pack however sends him running off in a different direction. While under level ten you do get some drops none of it is worth much except to turn into the Guild and right now his pack is overflowing. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Jason gets to the Guild with a half hour to spare before closing. As luck would have it though the place is not busy at the moment and he can turn in his pack full of junk. The receptionist with a practiced poker face sorts through the strange and random assortment of drops. Though a look of disappointment slips through at some of the furs. If gathered by someone through the level ten bottleneck, they would have made the Guild a pretty penny. It still will but now just for the novelty. The combinations of fur that come out of the Wasteland are hard if not impossible to mimic without high levels of skill. Then after everything is sorted, she congratulates Jason on ranking up in the Guild, ¡°You¡¯ve made it to E+ rank! In fact, once you break through to level ten come back here and we will upgrade you right to D-. You qualify but your level limits you. Also, while it is not much here are your earnings¡±, and she puts 53 silver coins onto the counter. With a nod she adds one final thing as Jason gathers the coins. ¡°It was 52 silver and some change but it is our policy to round up when reasonable.¡± With all the money packed away Jason gives his thanks and starts his way towards the inn again. The sun is almost set when he arrives at the Scratchy Pinecone. The sign out front is easy enough to identify. A giant pinecone with the words Scratchy on it. It hangs in front of a two-story stone building. While all the buildings in town are worn, this one has the weight of time on it. All the corners are worn down into curves and even the doorway is more of an oval. The door is the newest thing having been fitted to the frame but even that has to be over a decade old. As Jason walks into the building, he takes in the room. A smattering of tables are spread through the common room. While not crowded most of them have at least a couple people sitting down talking or eating a late dinner. Against the back wall stands a female elf. Though in contrast to the usual image this elf looks like a professional bodybuilder. None of the grace Jason associated with elves can be seen but instead a raw force flows off of her. Dressed in a classic waitress outfit this lady clearly broke whatever mold she came from. Jason tears his eyes away from her long enough to glance around the rest of the room. Each of the walls is decorated with the bones of Wasteland monsters. From the finest of bones to one across the top of the doorframe Jason just entered through which is thicker than his waist. Distracted by this it takes him a moment to realize the elven lady has walked over and was asking him what he wanted. Only a great effort of self control stops him from jumping out of his skin because he did not notice her approaching him. Chapter 74 - She was here first The buff elven lady ignores Jason¡¯s surprise and continues her introduction. ¡°Welcome to the Scratchy Pinecone! I am the owner of this fine establishment and you can call me Fern. A room for you and your companion there will run you a silver a night including breakfast and dinner. Though only if you have that cute little bundle of fluff with Her permission. I¡¯ve been running this place here longer than there has been a town and I don¡¯t want to leave quite yet.¡± Jason is about to ask who she is talking about when Fern holds up a hand and continues. ¡°Yeah, yeah, you don¡¯t know who I am talking about. If you did, I wouldn¡¯t have to ask in the first place. Just a quick bit of magic¡±, she swishes her finger in the air and boops Lily¡¯s nose. ¡°Will tell me what I need. Good for you though, I can sense her mark in the rabbit here so your fine. Don¡¯t ask, cause I won¡¯t tell. Anyway, how many nights do you want to rent a room?¡± Jason stands still for a moment to collect himself before responding. ¡°You do know that asking me to not ask makes me want to right? Meh, sign me up for 7 days and we can see where I am after that. Anyway, since you¡¯re from around here, I have some questions about the area.¡± Fern nods, ¡°Sure, you can ask me a couple question. In fact, how about a question for each day you signed up for? Though of course you need to pay for your room first.¡± After Jason hands over 7 silver he considers what to ask. 2 things stand out. ¡°What is a good place nearby that is not the Wasteland to fight monsters around level fifteen and do you know of any bosses around for me to breakthrough after I hit my bottleneck?¡± ¡°Good questions to start. Anyway stand still so I can get a feel for you.¡± Then Fern steps back and stairs at Jason. All around the room the various conversations die off as an intangible pressure builds. Everyone turns to look at what is happening though they don¡¯t linger on the scene for long. After having seen what is up they now avoid it. Jason feels as if the world is pressing down on him and as the seconds tick by, he breaks into a cold sweat. Then after about 5 minutes the pressure disappears. Time passes as she considers what to say and the chatter returns to the room. She nods to herself, ¡°Okay, first let¡¯s set you up with a room. Follow me!¡± Fern turns around and walks over to a door in the back wall. When she opens it the sight shocks Jason. This building is not what it seems because the door does not lead to a staircase up. Instead, it leads into what looked like a separate building from the outside. Even if this is the only surprise this building has, it will triple the number of rooms available. Fern giggles at his thunderstruck look, ¡°I own everything around my inn. When this place developed in to an actual town, the other innkeepers that moved to the area complained about my original building. Nevermind the only reason anything developed here in the first place was because of my inn. They did not want buildings that stood out so much. I didn¡¯t care, so I just split it up a bit. Now your room it right over here. Because of your circumstance I am giving you a good position though with it comes some limitations. Though what it boils down to is, don¡¯t go past your room. Let¡¯s step into your room for a moment so I can actually answer your questions.¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Once they are both inside the room, a rather plain affair with a simple bed being the only furniture, Fern waves her hand then a pulse can almost be seen emanate outward to the edges of the room. ¡°You are in an odd circumstance. Your core technique is unlike any I have seen before in a sentient. Except for a rare few high level Energy based monsters what your doing is unheard of. However you didn¡¯t ask about that. Instead, you currently want to know about how to get through to level 10 with this town as your base. Beyond that you clearly don¡¯t want to fight some weak monsters to grind it out. I will use another of your question allotment to give you a proper answer to the boss question. After all you would have asked anyway if I only told you about the newborn ratking in the nearby alchemist¡¯s basement. You don¡¯t want to just fight some level 10 boss with a clear weakness. First though is what to fight for that last bit of experience you need. Your best at fighting humanoid enemies so I am not going to suggest one of those. Even if the enemy is a much higher level the System will still gimp your xp gain if you have too easy of a time. I am thinking you should kill about twenty Snarltails. They live on the opposite side of the town from Wasteland. The terrain is loosely forested with sections of clear ground and trees in an almost checkerboard. Not the most normal place but you spent time in the Wasteland so you should be fine. Anyway the Snarltails stick out like a sore thumb. About as tall as your hips with four legs and they are a brilliant shade of blue. Their name however comes from the unique part, the tail. It snarls at you. There is a tiny mouth on the end of it which is constantly looking for food. Those who care about such things have figured out that mouth is an adaptation to a past problem they faced. Some other monster would attack them anytime they let their guard down to eat. So in classic monster style adaption, instead of just gathering in larger packs to hunt they grew a mouth on their tail to eat for them.¡± Chapter 75 - Jarr, Twig, or Nameless Fern shrugs, ¡°The Snarltail in the end is just something to get some xp. Small groups of a challenging level 14 monster. The boss is another thing entirely. Mostly because if you are fighting a boss to breakthrough the System isolates you and messes with the monster. Take the ratking I mentioned. Newly born ratkings are 5 rats stuck together by their tails. I would rather fight one than 5 separate rats. The only leg up it has is the ability to control other rats. If a normal melee fighter was to fight that ratking the System would give it some magical ability to test them. A magic user? The ability to summon extra rats. Anyway, you get the picture. The boss you fight will get an ability that is hard for a person of your level and fighting style to beat. The System doesn¡¯t even care if you game it with this fight. There are even some sects out there that because of their training and a boss farm have guides of what the boss will gain and how to counter it. For you however it might pose a bigger danger than normal. Purity combined with hand to hand combat? That is just asking for a ranged corruptor. Worse yet, you have your core already which gives the System more leeway. The corruption would damage your foundation and take a long time to fix. You Travellers don¡¯t worry about the solo boss battle. Even if you lose and die, there is always next time. Corrupting your foundation though is a whole other matter. It won¡¯t get fixed by dying. To counter that danger there is one option if you''re willing to risk it. That of fighting something high enough in level that even with your core the System can¡¯t justify corruption. I would go for a monster of at least level 20. To be certain, though one stuck at the next bottleneck would be best. In this area I can count the number of level 24 bosses on one hand including the two only I know about. Out of those one boss is protected by the town because it produces an ingredient that improves health potions. Another is in the Wasteland and part of a group with an even higher level boss. That leaves three bosses you could choose from. Jarr, a goblin warboss. Twig, an abandoned treant, and the remaining one that only I know about, a nameless wolf shifter. Pick your poison!¡± Jason rolls his eyes, ¡°Your just assuming I would choose the higher level bosses. You aren¡¯t wrong mind you but you still assumed it. Anyway, I don¡¯t want to fight the treant. That sort of monster is already a major weakness for me. I can cripple a limb or bleed an enemy out if given time. However none of that works on a tree. Also, I don¡¯t care how much your trying to hype the wolf shifter that one is out as well. Seriously? ¡®Ohh so mysterious! A boss only you know about and its nameless?¡¯ Sure half the other Travellers would jump on that bait without a second thought. Not me though, it is a trap of some sort by you or just an attempt to get me to do a quest free. Now my next question is for more info on this Jarr.¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Fern pouts at him, ¡°Ah come on! The shifter would have been so much fun and include literal poison. Most people would assume shifter means into a humanoid form and I so wanted to see your surprise when it shifted into a giant scorpion. I guess if you want the boring option I can give you the lowdown on Jarr. He is still a goblin despite his power. Part of why he is stuck at the bottleneck. Not that a goblin can¡¯t go all the way but it takes heavenly talent. Jarr is very much not talented. In fact, he is a solitary type despite being a warboss. He¡¯s the best option for you. The System will have to spend a lot on fixing his stupidity to throw on any abilities that are too disruptive. That idiot goes it alone despite being a warboss. The classic goblin hoard commander. Simple buffs and moral boosting abilities for days. Even just a simple battle-cry would cause other goblins to fight with ten percent more power. Meh, can¡¯t help a two eyed goblins idiocy. You can find him tromping around the border between were the Snarltails live and the grasslands. No not the rabbit plains but another grassy field which is on the opposite side of the forest. I know, confusing. It doesn¡¯t even have a name because it is so small. Though some of the adventurers call it Wasteland Edge¡¯s backyard most just say the place with all the goblins.¡± Once again Jason rolls his eyes, ¡°As if a goblin would show up in the rabbit plains. I don¡¯t know what is going on there but I know enough. Only thing you find in there is what it says on the tin. Rabbits and plains. Anyway, besides that nonsense I still have three more questions. First is how do I identify which one is Jarr. Second is are there any trainers in town with skills that would be useful for me and the last is for any general advice.¡± Fern smirks, ¡°You¡¯re no fun! Though I promised seven questions so neither here nor there. Jarr himself is easy enough to tell as he is the only goblin with a full body tattoo going on. Be careful as some more advanced goblins will have a tattoo or two on them. As for skill trainers? Bad luck for you on that front. There are a few, but none you afford. This isn¡¯t some beginner town after all. Everyone else that comes here for fighting is near or past the level 25 bottleneck. Finally you want some ¡®advice¡¯ from me in general. Not very specific there are we? I guess my biggest one is if you haven¡¯t you should contact your teammates. You seem like the kind of kid who ends up going it alone and forgetting to update their friends. I know there are limits on even Traveller communications but my inn should be enough. Now we both need to get back to the dining room or you will miss lunch and my man will complain my ear off for leaving it unattended.¡± Chapter 76 - Letters Dinner was a soup made of a potato analog and some kind of meat with a side of buttered bread. Overall, a decent meal. Fern even provided a few leafy greens for Lily to munch on. Though she ignored them until Jason had fed her one of the Energy herb berries. Both now full went to their room and Jason settles down for his first full night of sleep in a long while. Next morning after a quick breakfast salad Jason heads back over to the Adventurers Guild. Not on a time limit Jason takes a look around the place. With how the Guild works, there isn¡¯t much difference from the one in Shinefish village. In fact, being so close the floor probably was the next slice off of whatever giant tree provided it. Jason pauses for a moment before he heads over to the message center. Being far enough away he can no longer contact the others through team chat. However the Guild¡¯s message center will get a letter to them and will receive it the next time they visit a Guild building. It frustrates him to have to do this as you actually need to write the letter. No typing it out or letting the System transcribe what you say. With a sigh Jason gets down to writing a couple of letters.
Hey James, We haven¡¯t talked since separating. I did well in the meantime and I hope you did too. Just finished traveling through a stretch of wasteland. Almost gotten to level 10. I just need a few more mobs and a boss. Luckily I found a contact in the town I got to who pointed me towards what I need. How are you been doing? Good Luck, Jason
Hello Rosha, Sorry for not contacting you sooner. I am close to reaching level 10. The inn I found in Wasteland¡¯s Edge had a knowledgeable owner who pointed me to a few monsters to kill and a boss to finish it with. Besides that I actually got a cute animal companion. A rabbit, I named her Lily. Attached is a picture of her munching on a berry. Anyway, I picked her up while traveling along the edge of the Wasteland and rabbit plains. Though I got lucky. The innkeeper was leary of me having a rabbit with me until she used magic to detect ¡°Her mark¡± on Lily. Sounds mysterious doesn¡¯t it? Anyway, how have you been doing? Good Luck, Jason If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Satisfied with the two letters, Jason sends them out. ¡°Maybe by the time I am finished here they will get in contact with me. It would be nice to get back together again. Though this kingdom isn¡¯t rich enough to own a gate network. Well, with my speed I could get back to Shinefish in next to no time. Actually, we might want to just head towards a similar end point instead. I can¡¯t leave the kingdom anytime soon after that stupid wolf caused me problems. With that in mind we should head towards a nice hub city in this kingdom. We would get our choice of where to go from there. Oh well, can¡¯t plan anything till they contact me back. I do have their irl contact info but it would be rude to call them out of nowhere. It was fun to group up with them but I don¡¯t know them well enough out of game.¡± Done with his messages Jason heads over to the quest board. As an E rank adventurer he can take quests for monsters of level ten or higher and the + on it will let him go up to 24. While unnecessary to hunt the monsters it is always nice to get some extra income from what you already plan to do. Not every monster has a quest but Jason has a hunch. Fern didn¡¯t just give an appropriate monster level wise to hunt and after a short search it proves out. Both the Snarltails and Jarr have quests out for them. From the info on the board Jason now knows that the tail of the Snarltail is more special than just having a mouth. When treated and enchanted the tail makes for a high quality quiver. If you want to spend enough money, it can even become a quiver of holding so you never seem to run out of arrows. The quest is only for 15 tails but Jason figures he can offload the extras. Though after he thinks about it for a moment, he might keep one for Rosha. After Jason thinks on it though that likely won¡¯t work. As he has taken the quest then the tails will probably drop for that at a decent quality. However any extra tails will be a pre-10 item. However even if he can¡¯t offload the extras getting a gold and 20 silver from the quest is good enough at this point. Jarr¡¯s quest on the other hand is much more straightforward. Just a simple elimination quest. The goblin had been causing troubles for the lower level groups. Because he wanders around alone Jarr trips up people. A goblin warboss should be surrounded by at least a few regular goblins and that is just a new one. Any warboss that has reached Jarr¡¯s level should have his own village worth of goblin followers at this point. This quality makes him perfect for Jason to fight. Even better, the reward is not only 3 gold but the System has tacked on an extra mystery reward because no one has been bothering with it. After all, anyone who is here to fight a warboss are targeting those past the level 25 bottleneck with a large group of followers. Without followers a warboss doesn¡¯t have any worthwhile loot. Jason finishes and takes them to the reception desk. After a short minute or two wait, he is able to sign up for the quests and can even reserve Jarr¡¯s quest. By reserving it, the quest won¡¯t go back up onto the board until a week passes without him completing it. After that week while he won¡¯t lose the quest others might pick it up. As luck would have it, the quest had no one with it still recorded. Jason doesn¡¯t know if anyone had tried it yet but at least any that did had dropped it. Chapter 77 - Plants Unlimited Satisfied with his visit to the Adventurers Guild Jason heads off towards the shopping district. After his rewards yesterday his silver total come out to a nice round 120. ¡°No gold yet but that most common of fantasy currencies only becomes common at level 25. The only reason my two quests even offer a little bit of gold is because one has a special drop and the other has been around too long. The Guild looks incompetent if the situation lasts too long. If I had the time I could have waited another week and the reward might have doubled. Then again, someone might run into Jarr by accident and kill him. Not that the money is actually worth anything to me yet. While I can use it for regular ingame stuff, the coins I get before level ten can¡¯t be use irl. To be fair, this is because until that point monsters drop money and are auto-looted. Once I get past the bottleneck, I can¡¯t just leave the corpses where they lay. Meh, the market is up ahead and I can think about this later.¡± Jason turns a corner and is greeted by a multicolored chaos. They lined each side of the street with stalls and stores all trying to grab his attention. However he has a list for what to do and moves past the first street. Beyond the entrance the shops are a lot more laid back. Jason turns down a side street and enters the second shop on the right. While there wasn¡¯t a sign this was one place he had planned to visit even before he began his trip here. Inside the shop they stacked each shelf high with a variety of plants. From potted plants to dried and powdered the shop has everything. Though Jason hadn¡¯t known how well his Energy Herbs would grow, he would want some guidance with them. After a short while Jason has skimmed most of the shelves and made his way to the counter which is flanked by some chairs. A small bell sits there with a note to ring once for assistance. However when Jason does so not a sound is heard. A look underneath shows it should have worked. He decides it is magic or some such and with care places bell back on the desk. Without another thing to do Jason sits off to the side on a chair to wait. Less than 10 minutes pass before someone comes out from the back. The man would look like a normal human if not for the green skin and grass for hair. He bustles around the counter for a few moments before he turns to Jason. With a warm smile the man greets him, ¡°Ah! A new customer perchance? Welcome to the shop. You may call me Nole. Thank you for only ringing the bell once. It gets annoying when rung multiple times and we here at Plants Unlimited tend to not do business with those who can¡¯t help it. Now if you would inform me what your visit pertains to?¡± Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Jason gets up from the chair and shakes the Nole¡¯s hand. ¡°Nice to meet you Nole. I have been growing some plants while traveling around and pots are just getting a little cumbersome. Plus I am about to hit level 10 and my backpack won''t keep everything so tidy after that. Do you have a better solution? Also, besides that could you check the plants I am growing and give me your opinion on them?¡± Nole nods while he scratches his head. The man mutters for Jason to wait a second before going back into the rear of the shop. Sounds of objects being moved around and jostled can be heard for a few minutes. Then Nole comes back through the door with a tiny planting tray about the size of a shoe box, the upper half a glass dome. After he places it on the counter and clears anything else off, Nole presses a couple of buttons worked into the design on the boxes side. The planter expands outward to about the size of half a door and the height of Jason¡¯s knee if it was on the floor. With a gesture at it Nole explains, ¡°This here is a portable planter. Yes, the creator named it that just so the initials would be PP. No we employees here do not find it funny. However the boss is the boss for a reason. It should be able to grow a small herb garden no problem and our biggest buyers of this product are traveling chefs. While we do have better options, you can¡¯t afford them. There are no bells or whistles with this except a small bit of security. The expanding feature is controlled by customizable buttons so you can lock out others. If you keep it till you form your core? Then you will be able to use whatever energy type to interface with it and the buttons will stop working. Besides that it functions the same way your backpack currently does. The space inside it does not get jostled around when closed and it provides light for the plants when the sun it out. Normally they cost a gold to buy but since you are a first-time customer and said you had plants for me to judge we can adjust that. I will lower the price if you have kept good care of your plants. However if you did not care for your plants? I reserve the right to raise the price or even ban you from the store. So, are you going to take a chance or just buy it? It matters not to me but while well behaved I would prefer you decide quickly. Because of the local situation and how well behaved, she is your rabbit is welcome here. Still though this shop has too many delicate plants that her kind have a history of wiping out.¡± Chapter 78 - Judgy Nole Jason can understand not wanting a rabbit in a plant store. So as not keep Nole waiting a simple nod and Jason brings out his herbs. Jason points at each plant in order and explains what he did, ¡°This first herb I pruned off any flowers so it couldn¡¯t develop any berries. The plant itself has grown well without any berries. However I don¡¯t know if this plant can continue to grow like this. The next herb I only let a single berry grow on. I found the way the berry absorbed the Energy from the leaves interesting. Besides that it forced the berry to the fullest maturity possible. Now these three plants all currently have five berries a piece. Only one had that number to start. The other two had 10 and 20 berries. When they were classically mature, I harvested berries till they were down to the five.¡± Then Jason takes out the picked berries he has left. The ones without stems have dried because of the backpacks properties while the stemmed berries looked freshly picked though the leaves had almost no glow left to them. Gesturing to them Jason explains, ¡°These are the berries I harvested. As a test some I harvested with a couple leaves still attached. It worked out to keep them fresh. However I don¡¯t know what the properties of the dried berries will be. This is actually part of why I came here. I wanted to learn how to harvest the berries. Anyway on to the last plant. This one I let grow as many berries as it very well pleased to. It actually grew a few more than currently on it. When maturing some of the berries too close to others did not grow and came off. Also a few are missing because I fed them to Lily, my rabbit. After this I plan to grow more of the herbs. Though I want do grow other plants. Some herbs that would grow well with these and not compete. So what is your opinion on them?¡± All throughout Jason¡¯s explanation Nole had been poking and prodding the plants. After Jason finishes, he looks up from the plants and gestures to Jason to inspect something. He points at the stem of the plant, ¡°I like your pruning method but you started too late. The stem here has signs of buckling. If you want a bush, grow a bush. Next time start before it grows too tall.¡± Nole turns to the berryless plant and has Jason touch the leaves. There is an almost dry texture to the leaves. Nole nods, ¡°Yes, your instincts that the plant would not last forever was right. Already you can tell that the leaves cuticle has decomposed. While they look full of Energy, this is a hollow promise. The Energy is attempting to balance with the atmosphere and when leaving the leaves strips the protections. They burn so bright but will soon snuff out. For future attempts let every plant grow at least a few berries as their presence will extend the plants lifespan.¡± Finished with that plant Nole taps one leaf next to the solitary berry on the second plant. Even though he didn¡¯t tap hard, the leave almost shatters as bits break off. Nole then has Jason rub the still waxy leaves with a healthy glow on the other side of the plant. He explains, ¡°Your berry is over mature. The leaves next to it got sucked dry as while it is taking from the leaves further away it still is absorbing from the closer ones. These leaves are worthless because it has taken even the moisture in them. On the other side however the leaves are pristine or so you would think. They will last longer than the previous one but are starting the process. I don¡¯t expect you to be able to tell this as I have an advantage from my species.¡± Jason knows what is coming so touches a leaf from each of the five berry plants. Nole smiles at this and explains, ¡°They feel the same as the other far side leaves on the last. However it is not an illusion on these. While they are drying out a little bit the plants will last at least twice as long. In fact I can tell this plant on the left was the one that started with five berries. It will last 3 times as long. If you reduced the number of berries down to 3 or maybe 4 they can last 5 times as long.¡± Jason goes to poke the last plant but Nole stops him, ¡°Not this one. If you want to know how it feels then touch the dry leaves on the plant with a single berry. These won¡¯t shatter mind you. However because there are so many berries the only thing keeping them intact is the plants desire to finish growing the berries. This one is almost a little sad, the plant is dying to grow the berries and by doing so they cannot finish growing the berries. My advice is just keep feeding them to the ra¡­ to Lily. Once the last berry is gone, the plant will die. No question about it. I am tempted to ban you for growing a plant like this but you were clearly experimenting with something new to you. If you had been trying to grow as many berries as possible you would be out of the store in 5 seconds flat. Anyway all that is left are these harvested berries. The dry ones are amazing but that is how cheaty the backpack is. These are very hard to dry properly. Keep them in your backpack as it prevent most of the Energy loss while letting the moisture to leave. As for these other berries? Clever of you to harvest with a couple of leaves. While most people use containers made of special materials, this will work in a pinch for almost every energy bearing fruit to preserve them. The bigger the fruit or the more energy dense it is the more leaves you want to take with it. This of course means that at a certain point you can¡¯t use this method anymore. If only because you would need to take the whole plant or more than the plant to keep it fresh.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Chapter 79 - Volcanic Rose Creeper Jason packs away the plants and berries. While this happens Nole goes into the back again to get another item. When he returns, it is with a book and a small pair of silver snips. He re-shrinks the planter and lays the items out. Nole points to the book and explains, ¡°This is a book on harvesting plants in general. The first half is an in-depth guide on the basic methods and how to judge what to use each method on. Read that part and the System will add a suggestion on the method to us on any low rank plant you Identify. For instance, after reading the book it would suggest the ¡®leaf on¡¯ method for the berries. Also, it will note that they only require it if you don¡¯t have an appropriate container. Now because of how many types of plants there are if there is any doubt the Id may not suggest a method. It could also point out methods to not use even if it doesn¡¯t have a suggestion. You don¡¯t have to depend on some Id skill and instead just observe plants yourself. In fact, I advise you try this even if you have such a skill because doing so will improve the experience gain on the skill. The second half of the book is special. This edition of the book has the oddities of any special low rank plants found in this kingdom. However if you later get together a couple thousand gold and plan to travel, then I advise you get the ¡®complete¡¯ edition of the book. While the complete edition has the same first half, the basics don¡¯t change after all, the second half is simply magical. Literally in fact. Within the second half, despite not being any bigger, is every low rank plant on the planet. This includes even normal plants. Now it doesn¡¯t always have all the information on a plant. Some are just too rare for that. However the Alchemist, Farmers, and Adventurers Guild all collaborated on a godly divination ritual. Because of that every complete edition will have at least the name of any such plants that grow naturally here. Along with that if you someday do find one of those rare plants and discover new info or if you get a living specimen or seed your in luck. Those guilds will greatly rewarded you and all complete editions will automatically update with the new info. Sadly in this realm there is no similar book for higher rank plants. They do exist however the very laws of the realm itself do not allow someone to show them to others. The System itself will step in if someone tries to pass on too much information not found here. these troubles are not limited to plants. It limits most info from higher realms. Anyway this non-magical edition doesn¡¯t cost much and if you buy the planter I will throw it in for free.¡± With that said Nole puts the book on top of the planter. Nole then moves the silver snips to the center of the counter. ¡°They cost 10 silver but only because the Farmers Guild has frozen the price. The supply is small and those capable of crafting them are few even if we ignore the rare material. Now the core is made of common iron. You can buy a normal pair from any blacksmith for a couple copper. They plate these in a very special metal. They call this metal ¡®Sealed Silver¡¯ after its property. Anything cut with Sealed Silver has energy flow blocked at the cut. This means if you snipped off a berry with these it would take days before the Energy pours out the cut. The only reason Sealed Silver is not worth astronomical sums is because resisting the seal bursts it instantly. Even an unconscious, normal animal will remove the seal in moments. This makes the material perfect for harvesting energy rich plants or butchering monsters. While this small pair of snips won¡¯t be cutting branches off the tougher plants, it will at least give you a starting point. You don¡¯t need them to harvest anything but the most delicate plants. They will however improve the quality of what you collect after you reach level 10.¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Nole puts the Sealed Silver snips off to the side again. He reaches under the counter and pulls out a number of small seed packets. Nole places them out one by one and explains each one. ¡°This first packet has gloom weed. You already grow ¡®glow weed¡¯ so this plant will be familiar enough to you. Grows the same and yet is the opposite. Instead of glowing with Energy the plant absorbs light around it. Interesting and yet completely boring because it contains an energy void. The gloom comes from the surrounding energy in the air trying to enter the plant. It pairs well with ¡®glow weed¡¯ because it pushes the absorbed energy out into the surrounding soil. This will help speed up the growth and sustain the plant as that seems matter to you. This is generally a good plant to grow around other plants of this level. Higher rank plants won¡¯t mix well with it because it pushes all the energies out. For instance, one of the best-known examples is the Volcanic Rose Creeper. Not only does it require the environment it grows in to only have Mana but fire aligned Mana. Even a trace of Energy or Qi will cause it to die. It could be the purest Yang Qi and it wouldn¡¯t matter. The only reason the plant is so well known is because the flower isn¡¯t the part you harvest. See the flower grows on the top of magic volcanos and only matures when the roots reach a lava or magma pool. The rose will then develop tuberous growths along the root system to pull the Fire Mana from the pool up to the plant. It takes a while to grow but the bigger the difference in height from flower to pool the more of those tubers form. This means the Farmers Guild has staked out the tallest magical volcano and filled the top with these flowers. One of the most beautiful sights this side of the world. Even if you don¡¯t want to continue growing plants, you should go and see it.¡± Chapter 80 - A Log and Blood Nole places the Gloom Weed seed packet to the side. With an embarrassed cough he grabs the next packet. ¡°Got a little away with my explanation there. I will try to keep more on topic. With that in mind this next seed would help with that. A cultivar of the common tea plant. Luckily despite this cultivar of tea plant being developed using Mental Mana it doesn¡¯t have any special growth requirements. Named Focusing Tea the plant forms traces of Mental Mana. As you aren¡¯t a magic user, this might not mean much to you. Let me tell you that normally only sentient magic users past the fourth bottleneck will have Mental Mana. The trace amounts found in the tea plant improves your ability to concentrate. A popular drink among students right before exams. Not only that, but the living plant releases particles of the Mana into the air. It only provides less than a percent of the effect of the tea but it creates a nice atmosphere.¡± He places The Focusing Tea seeds with the Gloom Weed and Nole brings forward the next packet. ¡°This is the one plant you want to plant now because it won¡¯t be ready for years. It is the common ginseng. Despite being a normal plant it picks up the energy from the land. One of the few normal plants that can rank up as it grows you will want to surround it with Gloom Weeds. At least three years to mature as a normal herb and three or more after that before it ranks up. Gloom Weed is actually one of the sure ways to get it to develop it into Universal Ginseng. Though it is not as impressive as the name suggests. All the ¡®Universal¡¯ bit means is that it contains all three basic energy types in balance. Used in recovery medicine meant for when you don¡¯t know what the user¡¯s energy type is or they have a rare affinity. It takes breaking through the third bottleneck before someone requires such medicines. Until then any healing potion will work as your body hasn¡¯t integrated with your energy type.¡± Nole adds ginseng seeds to the growing pile and grabs the last seed packet. ¡°The last few have covered a number of things. Energizing the soil for your other plants, calming the mind, and recovery. However we have one important thing left. This last packet contains something for the body itself. You will need a little more than just the planter to grow it. See this packet doesn¡¯t contain seeds but rather spores. You will need a log to grow this fungus on and blood to water it with at first. A classic medicine used to improve the marrow and blood. The Bloody Lingzhi! Most of the other plants take whatever energy is around so they won¡¯t cause any problems. However the Focusing Tea only absorbs Mana which would cause an imbalance. Bloody Lingzhi is a Qi based fungus and will allow you to keep the energy in your planter balanced. Better planters will remove unwanted energy types but this one over here is just the most basic model. For every three Focusing Tea plants you will want two Bloody Lingzhi growths. Anyway, if you buy the spores, the shop will provide a couple logs and enough blood for free. Don¡¯t worry about needing a constant supply of blood either. The fungus only needs the log soaked in blood to start growing. Quite the interesting fungus. Some have theorized it developed on some ancient battlefield after a battle between Qi based armies. Though I don¡¯t need to go into the history or we would be here all day. Suffice it to say a plant that grows in blood does not have the most peaceful of histories.¡± Nole moves this last packet over with the others. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Nole flashes a well-practiced smile, ¡°And that is that! A perfect kit for any beginning farmer or alchemist on the go. I assure you growing these plants will rocket your related skills up to Apprentice rank so you will be able to just sail through the third bottleneck! After all while beating a dungeon with only a team of those below the bottleneck is hard it isn¡¯t the only way. At the third bottleneck the System already knows you can survive in the world so you can progress through having a high enough rank in a production skill. This whole kit together including the discount on the planter would be about a gold and change. However to be nice let us just say it is an even gold to buy it all!¡± Another salesman¡¯s smile finishes the spiel. Jason digs out enough silver, ¡°I have enough though it is close. Besides that you haven¡¯t actually explained what they use my berries for. As it is Lily enjoys eating them but for something packed with Energy there must be some use.¡± Nole¡¯s cheeks blush a deeper green, ¡°Ahem, right, yeah, the berries. Well, they actually tend to be used for just that. As it is so ¡®packed¡¯ with Energy makes them perfect feedstock for most animals. Though most people who use it like that just spread the seeds in their fields and let it grow along with the grass. Now I noted that your dry berries are special. When you keep the Energy in them as they dry it becomes worth something. The powder you can produce from the dry berries is an excellent spice to add to deserts. That stored Energy gives dishes a bit of a zing. They can also use it to produce Energy recovery medicine but that is a rare and expensive potion compared to the other energies. Too few people use Energy to make it worth it so anyone that carries the potions will charge a large markup on it. Though I don¡¯t blame them as while potions can last awhile they do get stale. They need to include the loss from potions not being bought in time to make a profit on them. Anyway, thank you for your purchase. Give me just a second and I will retrieve a couple logs and a skin of blood.¡± Nole grabs the silvers off the counter and goes into the back one last time. Jason can faintly hear things banging against each other for a few minutes before Nole returns. In his arms are two smaller sized logs with a wineskin on top. Jason grabs the skin before he puts the logs into his backpack followed by everything else. The two say their goodbyes and Jason heads out into the market once again. Despite his time in Plants Unlimited having seemed to take forever he still had more daylight to burn. Chapter 81 - The Spies Left Already Jason¡¯s next stop in the market is simple enough. A quick stop in a grocer fills his pack back up with food for a couple of silver. Most of the money spent on jerky. Jason was tired of soup after his trip through the Wasteland. To have some food with actual chew to it tops his list of things to not be without from now on. Next stop and he buys even more ingredients. This time spending 8 silver to buy spices. Jason had to stop himself before he spent more. With 10 silver left he would need to be careful with spending. It hurt him a little to spend so much. Especially when he had a room rented for the week and should not need it. However he doesn¡¯t trust that he won¡¯t get stuck somewhere for the night or similar problem. With ten silver left to his name Jason escapes the market area. He glances at the sun and decides there isn¡¯t much time left to the day. Satisfied with what he bought Jason heads back to the Scratchy Pinecone. Jason had planned to head to bed. However dinner isn¡¯t served for another hour and Jason doesn¡¯t have spare cash to eat out. As he takes a seat Fern stops over at his tables. She grabs the seat across from him and smiles at him. They sit there for a while in silence before Jason asks, ¡°What?¡± Fern smiles even harder but as time ticks by she relents and answers, ¡°So you visited Plants Unlimited? Don¡¯t answer, I already know. People who go there fall into two categories. The famous and the powerful. You, sir are neither. Someone guided you well to have ended up there. They actually have a slight enchantment up around their places. Does that old classic of causing your eyes to slip over it. Anyway, you would not believe how many spies came by here to get the scoop on you. Not that they care who you are now. You''re in luck with that. After they found out you were a Traveller, most left without a second word. The others left once they knew you had no connection to the major Traveller guilds. Though where I got most of my information was Nole himself. I was out and totally not avoiding my work here.¡± As she says that last bit a faint shout can be heard from the back, ¡°Yes she was!¡± Without missing a beat Fern picks the salt shaker off the table and throws it over her shoulder. The shaker flies straight through the open door to the kitchen and a loud thunk and a cry of pain. Fern continues, ¡°As I was saying, I was not avoiding work while out and about when I met him. Nole doesn¡¯t talk much but few people grow glowy weed on purpose. Now he never said who you were but let¡¯s be honest. A man who is not only new to town but with a rabbit? Not a common thing. Anyway you walked in here and did not seem to expect anything. You Travellers all have this problem at first. You guys don¡¯t realize when you¡¯re out of place or doing something that will cause waves. The original ones caused so much chaos. They appeared at level 1 but within weeks the best of them got past the third bottleneck and some were even knocking on the fourth. So many died to even rabbits yet they showed up the next day ready to try again. Others instantly became murders. It was a glorious time let me tell you! Anyway I was losing myself in the past there. Basically you caused waves and should have been expecting the outcome. Now I don¡¯t blame you as whoever told you to go there didn¡¯t inform you of Plants Unlimited¡¯s fame. Depending on who did it they either wanted you to learn a lesson or they had something out for you. By your expression it was likely that first one. I don¡¯t blame them either. Starter towns are setup to deal with this. Now that you are out in the real world things are different. If you go to a high class store, people will notice. If you win a tournament, people will ask who you are. You are like a stone thrown into a pound. Literally as you appeared out of nowhere like the stone. The only saving grace is the pond is more like an ocean and you aren¡¯t the only stone. So just be more aware of this in the future? Please? I don¡¯t want to field spies constantly no matter how well they pay.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Jason holds his hands up in defeat, ¡°I understand the concept and I get how it catches all of us Travellers. Just appearing here out of nowhere affects not only those native here.¡± As he takes a breath to continue Fern stops him, ¡°Don¡¯t bother explaining. I have heard many different reasons. It doesn¡¯t matter why as long as you learn from this. Now you can¡¯t go to far and try to disappear. Partly because that does the opposite of remove you from the limelight. If you try to hide, that just makes you stand out even more. Also, it removes you from the view of any allies you might have had. Stand up straight and live your life. Just be aware of how you are causing waves all around you. Anyway, dinner will be ready soon. I know tomorrow you will head out early but don¡¯t worry. We serve breakfast even earlier. Many of our clientele are adventurers or traveling merchants. Bright and early is too late for most of them.¡± Fern stands up and heads into the kitchen. After she goes everyone else leaves Jason alone until they serve dinner. A nice savory soup with some kind of pork. The side dish is a fruit salad. Unexpected with the lack of local orchards. Jason went to bed with a full stomach even if he ended up having to share half the salad with Lily. Chapter 82 - Roshas Letter Jason wakes up next morning bright and early. Not that he had a choice, what with the loud knocking at the door. Groggy from his forced wake up he gets dressed before he answers the door. Behind it, about to knock again, is a chipper young man dressed in the Adventurers Guild uniform. With a short bow the man greats him, ¡°Hello there! Could I see your Guild card to confirm your are in fact Jason? I have a letter for you that someone paid to get to you at the earliest possible convenience.¡± Jason with a yawn stumbles back into his apartment. After he digs around for a moment his mind catches up with him. After retrieving his card from yesterday¡¯s pants, Jason presents it to the Guild runner. The man takes out a small pearl and waves it over the card. Once the pearl turns green the man smiles, ¡°You are indeed Jason! Let me grab the letter out of my Space and we can both be on our way!¡± A small black hole appears next to the man, just suspended in the air. He reaches into it and pulls out a rough envelope with Jason¡¯s name on the front. Jason takes the letter from the man and takes a look at the envelope. When he looks up to thank the man, he finds himself now alone. With a shrug Jason closes his door and locks it. Not having many people who would bother paying for delivery means this letter comes from one of three people. His mom wouldn¡¯t bother with an ingame letter and the writing doesn¡¯t fit James¡¯ style. Though why Rosha would need to spend money on the letter is a mystery. Not much of a mystery as it will just take opening the letter to find out. The envelope opens and Jason spreads the letter out.
Hey Jason, I hope this reaches you before you head to the Adventurers Guild next. Hate being the bearer of bad news but it is better if you hear this ahead of time. James sort of became a jerk since we went our separate ways. Though with how fast he changed I have to wonder why he was even nice to us to start with. The second he hit level 10 the boy joined up with a nasty group of dwarves. Apparently it is a family tradition or something? I did a little internet sleuthing. Don¡¯t know who he is but James likely comes from a nasty family. Former politicians who after losing power irl went and started a cult ingame. I wish this was just his family pushing him into it but god he had that ¡®young master¡¯ snear down pat. Luckily the cult is not in this area. Read they spread out the new members around to recruit more Locals. Going by how the dwarven guides he had to the dungeon left while we did our first dive it didn¡¯t work out for him. Anyway, bad news aside I would love to meet up with you again. Do you mind if I bring a friend with me? Someone I knew from school so they won¡¯t heel turn on us. Wasn¡¯t planning on meeting up with her this early but I kind of needed a healer. You can bring a friend to the group as well! Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Hugs and Hope, Rosha
¡°Well, that¡¯s a message. I guess I will wait till I actually go read James¡¯ letter at the Guild. Hopefully things aren¡¯t as bad as the letter makes it. I didn¡¯t get a sense that James was like this at all. We spent a night in the woods together. Then again, that is about the only point we spent any significant time together. Yeah, now that I think back on it we didn¡¯t hang out much did we? I need both sides of the story because it also means I don¡¯t know Rosha very well either. I didn¡¯t want to head back to the Guild before heading out today but this is a bit of a situation. Oh, and if James¡¯ letter doesn¡¯t change the story, I need to agree to Rosha bringing her friend. Healers are in short supply no matter where you are. Doesn¡¯t matter how important they are, too few people have the personality for it. Anyway, time for breakfast¡± After cleaning up a bit Jason gets his meal. Today it is an oddly classical dish of eggs, hash browns, and sausage. Of course the hash browns are made from a bright pink potato equivalent so it isn¡¯t exactly the same but the flavors match. While he finishes the dish off Jason catches Fern for a quick question about the Adventurers Guild delivery guy being able to just show up outside his door. The answer doesn¡¯t exactly surprise him though it seems he needs to pay Rosha back for the message. It seems the Guild offers multiple levels of speedy delivery and Rosha spent at least 10 gold. That guy didn¡¯t just seem to disappear but rather literally did so as the ritual formation that sent him in the first place pulled him back. Fern offered to for a price upgrade my room security so any incoming teleports get redirected to the front desk. Though after a bit more questioning she admitted that only pre-approved teleports can get through in the first place. Jason easily declines this offer to double the cost of his rent with that last bit of information. Someday he might annoy some organization big enough for this to be a worry but that time isn¡¯t now. Finished with breakfast Jason heads out at a jog. The visit to find out what James¡¯ response put him behind on his schedule. Not that much is in that schedule but he really wanted to be out of town before the heavy traffic starts. Then as Jason arrives in the Guild, an alert pops up that he has a letter from James¡¯ waiting for him. This actually causes him to relax because at least he will have an answer about what is going on. He heads over to mail desk and receives the letter then heads over to a stool in the bar to read it. Chapter 83 - James Letter Sat at the bar stool Jason looks at the letter in his hand. Rosha¡¯s letter gave him a hint of what was to come but he just didn¡¯t want to look. They hadn¡¯t been a team for long or done much together but Jason liked to believe that facing troubles together could create lifelong friends. However the letter was already written and so he didn¡¯t put it off any longer.
Scum, Our time as a team was interesting. It proved all that my family had taught me. You common folk are so disgusting, hiding out in the forest overnight? Why even bother with such primitive things when a word from my family would have gotten that cur to plead my forgiveness? What court of law would bother questioning me if they knew who I actually was? My word would be law. If we meet again, my sword whip will be around your throat. James Pyrebeard
¡°Well, that wasn¡¯t as bad as I expected. He had a good time with us at least. Still would be nice to meet him again. In a controlled and combat free environment. Brainwashing from childhood is a hard handicap to beat. Rosha had it worse as she was there when he stopped acting. If his family was there to pick him up, it was probably worse because of their expectations of how he should act.¡± Jason puts down the letter. As he sits there a System message blinks off to the side but he ignores it. He sighs before he picks himself up and closes the message without a single look at it. Jason already knows it was to alert him to his teams change in status. Why the Devs decided they would only change team status when you get the info has always been a mystery. Sure, don¡¯t update stuff like health when you''re apart but if someone leaves a team, the others should know. As Jason leaves the Guild, he tosses the letter out. It is time for him to head off to the checkerboard like forest area. There are monsters to hunt and a bottleneck to breakthrough. As he leaves most people step out of his way and the gate is soon in front of him. A quick check in with the guards and they let him out onto a dry grassland. The land looks almost like a mix of the wasteland and plains he had just left only days ago. Boulders stuck up at random everywhere in sight. The grass was brown and brittle while the soil was loose and closer to sand. Jason can¡¯t even see any trees with the biggest plants being some shrubs. Those don¡¯t even reach his knees. Overall and infertile dust-bowl of a land. Jason however smiles after observing this all. A perfect land to work on his movement technique. Though after that thought he looks a little sick. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Eh, maybe today I will just run. Now that I think about it the last week has been working on Desolate Traversal non-stop. At least with my cultivation part of it is letting my mind free under the repetitive task of having my energy cycle. It might be fun to hop around on the stones but eugh. Analyzing how much force I use, the angle I jump from, and all that to perfect it. I want to run without thought. Bound across the land. Probably that will come around Journeymen rank in the skill. However by that time I might have upgraded, changed, or switched away from Desolate Traversal. It is only an Uncommon skill to begin with and impossible to reach Master rank without doing something anyway. If I upgrade it, then the rank will go down to match the higher requirements. A change will make the skill progress much slower because I have to forge ahead on my own. The skill fits what I want from a movement skill so for now there is nothing to do. Still doesn¡¯t make the grind any less sickening at the moment though.¡± A deep forlorn sigh escapes from Jason as he takes off at a jog. His skill obvious to the other nearby travelers. Each step he takes a muted thud. His foot lifts from the ground without a grain of sand flying off to give away his path. Before any of the observers even noticed it he was off in the distance. Whispers spread out about the expert who just left. Someone questions the tight-lipped guards on who he was but they stay silent. Not that they don¡¯t want to talk about it but who would believe someone not even past the second bottleneck would be that talented. Jason had looked down on his skill being Uncommon because that is the base rarity for most people. However he missed that was the standard for those already past level 10. They call Beginner skills that for a reason. Below Common they are what most people learn first. They get stuck at Initiate rank. Some skills just upgrade to Common rank with help of a trainer or just automatically. An example of this is his Farming skill. He skipped a few steps by getting it at Normal rank. People start with a skill like the Beginner skill ¡°Farmhand¡±. This would change into the Common rank skill ¡°Farmer¡± if you worked under another Farmer at any point. Farming is an upgrade from Farmer and the biggest change is it allows for Sub-skills. Jason already having an Uncommon skill shows how much work he put into training before entering the game. While not all lower rarity skills capped out at a certain level that was the norm. With how some bottlenecks could be surpassed with high enough ranked skills we can see clearly the importance of rarer skills. Why bother capping out on a Common skill when you can get just as much benefits from a lower level of a Normal skill while still having room to expand. Besides that so few people in this realm even touch the edge of the rank past Master the only way to improve for some is with better skills. Chapter 84 - Bunny Talk Ahead trees rise to the sky as Jason slows down to a jog. Despite what he expected the view shocks him. Copses of trees are growing close together yet none of them have grown together. A tree or more of space separates them from one another As Jason approaches he catches glimpses deep in as the gaps line up. To the side a glimpse of blue draws his eye but a single step closes off his view. A Snarltail is close. Jason moves into the closest copse of trees before he sets Lily down. Until now she had been on his shoulder or being held. Jason pats her on the head and starts talking to her, ¡°So I haven¡¯t really done anything with you until now. You¡¯ve been satisfied with nibbling my greens during meals and scarfing down Energy berries. I don¡¯t expect you to understand me but a decision needs to be made right now. There is not a good way for me to carry you into battle. Sadly, I lack any red and white balls at the moment so we have to figure out what to do about you. My style of fighting is to be jumping around all crazy like so I can¡¯t even just place you behind me. As luck would have it though this area has only one predator and we are here to hunt it. They are solitary creatures so as long as I am fighting one you should be safe but it worries me. It has only been a few days but I must admit petting you before going to bed is incredible for stress release. Maybe with a few levels under your belt we can see what your capable of outside of being fluffy. Though, I guess in a roundabout way I talked myself into what to do with you. I can¡¯t keep you with me nor just set you on the sidelines. The only thing left I can think of is have you hid nearby. Good talk Lily!¡± Lily nuzzles his hand as he pets her some more. Jason picks up Lily and continues into the trees. When he gets to the meadow Jason follows the edge until he can enter the next set of trees. While the meadows in between the copses would be easier to travel, he does not want to risk being found. The farther in he gets the trees change. They grow thicker and taller. Expected with older trees but what gets to Jason is each stand of trees is bigger than the last. However still there is the gap between them. The hair on the back of his neck stands up. A forest grows bigger and smaller naturally. However the areas should have grown together. Besides that Jason has seen no smaller animals. Some boars off to the side but that is it. The animals only get bigger from there. With these realizations Jason slows down. He has been in here for about half an hour at this point and each copse of trees is now taking over a minute to travel through. He stops and holds his breath. Silence is all he hears. Jason stalks over to a tree. With Lily in one hand he makes his way up into the branches and hides among the leaves. Moments later the sound of leaves being stepped come from the side. Below him a short distance in the direction he would have traveled a blue cat crosses. Along its side are deeper blue stripes and on its head are a series of thick tendrils below the eyes. The stand out feature however was the tail. Swaying back and forth it looks normal enough. Every few steps though the illusion is broken. The tail flexes and what looked like another stripe parts. Going down about a third of the tail is a mouth. Between each jagged tooth is a joint which causes the mouth to flex in ways that looked uncomfortable and disturbing. Everything about it appears designed to rip apart meat and devour it. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Not ready to encounter it Jason stayed still. Luck is with him as the Snarltail saunters off, either not noticing him or just not caring. Jason waits a minute longer before he climbs down. The hunt was on. From tree to tree he moves. If the monster is out, it is hunting. They might eat without letting their guard down but there should be a chance when focused on the hunt itself. Jason is not trained to track creatures but the Snarltail doesn¡¯t sneak around. The beast¡¯s trail is obvious though how deep the prints are worries him. A couple hops to check and he knows the ground is not that loose. The Snarltail is heavier than he expected. While mass is not strength, it is a form of protection. He won¡¯t be knocking this beast back and the solid muscles will protect the vitals. Jason sighs, he can¡¯t do anything about it except try his more penetrating attacks. A smile forms as he realizes this might be the thing to push his Blast Punch to completion. Just two more levels in it and the skill will rank up, being completed in the System. After he reaches level 10 the skill should provide a tiny stream of passive income. Then Jason stops and ducks behind the nearest tree. Ahead is the Snarltail, now moving with some stealth. Beyond it Jason can just make out a small herd of deer. Things were about to go down and Jason had to be ready. He grabs a low branch and hauls himself up. With care he works his way up into the crown of the tree and hides Lily among the leaves. A final pat on the head and he moves back down to the ground. The Snarltail is now behind a tree a few paces away from its prey. With the monster so focused on the hunt Jason stealths up to the tree just behind it. Things were ready to blow up. Chapter 85 - Too Easy? The herd of nine deer move into the clearing. Off to the side the Snarltail tenses up ready to pounce. Jason, a few trees back tenses as well. Seconds trickle by as the deer situate themselves in the clearing and start to graze. The Snarltail crouches even lower to the ground in preparation to attack. A slight twitch runs down its leg and Jason attacks. He charges out from behind the tree and aims a flying kick at that leg. The Snarltail is part way through its pounce when a sudden force slams into its back leg. Not enough weight behind it to budge. However the blow strikes at the right moment to interrupt its attack. Instead of a great leap at one of the deer it instead stumbles. The Snarltail whips its head around to discover a young human is the cause. As it turns to face him its back leg cramps. Its roar turns into a howl of pain. In the background the deer all flee away from the battle. Jason recovers himself from the jump as the Snarltail howls. A jump kick is not the most stable of moves to use but it does put all his weight behind the attack. The angered cat rears up and tries to rend him with both its claws. Its injured back leg slows the attack down and allows Jason to dodge to the left. As he circles around the Snarltail, he slams an elbow blow into its hurt leg. The Snarltail tries to turn and maul him but the leg gives out on it. Jason continues to circle the cat and this time throws a Blast Punch to the kidney. The strike causes the cat to collapse to the ground. With this chance Jason goes in to finish the fight. Blast Punch rain down on the Snarltail. Not all of them connect but enough do. Through his effort Jason has crippled the front right leg. While this is happens the cat tries to strike back. However Jason dodges back and forth away from the Snarltail¡¯s bite attempts. Now unable to move the cat is at his mercy. Jason much to the cats sadness has none for it. With it immobilized he jumps onto its back. From there he once again throws one Blast Punch after another. This time the target is a bit more vital and soon the Snarltail falls to repeated blows to the head. Jason steps back from it and slaps himself. He grumbles to himself, ¡°I messed up. The only reason I just won is the element of surprise. If the cat had not been so injured, it could have attacked me with its tail mouth. I might have done that without taking damage but that means nothing. With its high level if that tail chewed on me I would not last long. Next time I might not be as lucky.¡± Then aloud he queries the System for his progress in Blast Punch and level. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Blast Punch (Variant) - Novice Level 8 - 35.69% [+5.01%] Level: 9 - 5.72% [+5.2%]
¡°Good progress in Blast Punch. I have to be careful though. If I continue to attack so rapidly, the System might add that as a feature of it to the description. While I can¡¯t stop people from attacking as fast as they can I don¡¯t want it pointed out to them it is possible. At least with others their energy resource will limit them. I just need to worry about not using too many different abilities at once. Good thing my Energy is four and can support my movement skill and Blast Punch. Besides my punch the xp wasn¡¯t bad either. About 5 percent will get me to the bottleneck with only 20 SnarlTails. I have to say Fern scares me even more now. She guessed or maybe knew just about what I would need. That was without me telling her about my xp penalty. Well, one kitty down and 19 more to go.¡± Jason returns to the tree he left Lily at and climbed up. As luck would have it, she was still sat there up in the canopy. While Jason had been sure nothing would happen to her this forest was weird. There had to be a reason he could find no smaller animals and Jason wouldn¡¯t put it past the game for the trees to be carnivorous. He knew that if Lily died, then he only needed to wait a few ingame days. Pets, even combat ones, can be brought back at a temple. This is not limited to players either. The locals can bring their pets back as well. Apparently this was the only way the System could keep enough of them interested in it. Being an animal tamer is a lot harder with levels and such. Not that people would stop attempting it but not enough to pass down higher level knowledge to the players. Though it caused some interesting rules on how you can give pets to others. People have not understood all the rules even to this day. In general it seems to reset the pets level to ten below the new owner if it was too powerful. However this varied with player level, skills, the pets level, and even how well trained the pet was. Overall, the results are agreed upon as fair even if some still complain about it. In the end everyone else is just happy any old enough clan does not own an army of realm capped battle beasts. Not that they don¡¯t have one or two around. Just that those are owned by someone of a similar level. Though all this thought about pets reminds Jason of a funny story from when the game first was being developed. Right after they introduced resurrecting pets the devs were happy with the adoption rate of taming professions. To test it the world was fast forwarded only 50 years. When they checked back in on it, everyone had become almost exclusively tamers. Honestly, a result that in hindsight should have been expected. Who would risk their lives when they could just make a pet do it? This was fixed up soon enough with a wait time in days equal to the pets level. That and a hidden ¡®relationship¡¯ rating that could cause the pet to run away if it died to much. Chapter 86 - Not Many are Around Jason continues his travel through the trees. Despite his worries the Snarltails just are not prepared to have the tables turned on them. His sneak tactics net another four of the cats easy enough. The only problem is how long it takes to find them in the first place. Those four took him the rest of the day and halfway through the next. As it is he would take longer, then he has time left on his room at the inn. Disappointment all around as far as it concerns him. ¡°Today is the fourth day since I rented the room. I should finish today and go two more before heading back. After that though I will have to be a bit more risky. Good thing the tail quest lets me turn them in as I get them.¡± The day passes by and Jason only finds one more Snarltail. At this point he doesn¡¯t even have to think about it. Hide Lily in a tree, sneak up behind it, when it goes to pounce land a kick, and beat it down by crippling the limbs. While the fight takes longer than the first, that is because he spaces his Blast Punches out. Even the System can see the fights are no longer a challenge. The xp he gets has stayed the same but Blast Punch has gained a little more over the last 5 fights than it gained with the first. Jason throws his hands up at the problem and settles in for a night of cultivation. Although he bought the portable planter Jason had yet to use it. His plants still are just the potted Energy Herbs. Though at this point two of them are mostly dead and the other four are not much better. Jason grimaces at them when he sets them out. The last few days had been nonstop for him and the chance to farm had not come up. At this point the herbs did not even do much for his cultivation. The more alive ones barely able to keep the berries preserved. The only upside is his attempts to keep them alive has benefited his Farming skill. With the plants set out Jason settles down in the center. Lily after she eats one berry and hops over to settle into his lap. He smiles down at her and after a few pets starts to meditate. All around them trees sway in the wind and the peaceful blanket of night settles over the land. Half way through the night a deer stumbles upon their camp. As it approaches a slight jingle breaks the silence of the night. Spooked by this the deer dashed off away from the meadow. A closer look reveals a bit of twine circles the camp at shin height. Along that piece of twine small brass bells are hung. Then if one was to look a couple strides further in another circle can be seen. Though this one is made with a thread and Jason has blackened the bells. Jason had considered a tree to camp in but in the end tossed the idea. While he had yet to see a Snarltail climb one, it made little sense for them to not be able to do so. With that in mind a clearing would allow for better security measures. Because he cultivates out here instead of sleeps, the soft tinkle of the bells is enough to alert him. The outer ring is to warn off things like deer as was just seen. The inner ring was to catch those that meant harm. If both rings went off, it was likely a Snarltail out past its bedtime. However if only the inner ring sounded out it would mean either a person or a flier. With the outer ring being easy to see Jason expected anyone who meant him harm would miss the inner ring. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The next couple days go about the same except he finds even fewer Snarltails. Jason can understand this as they are larger predators so spread out. However after only three more over two days it hits home for him. While he had understood this was a living world Jason had still somewhat expected some sort of respawn. All he can do at this point is sigh. After he finishes back in town, the next destination will be closer to the goblin infested plains. Jason had wanted to stay away from there until he was ready to make the breakthrough but population density will force his hand. Next morning Jason decides to finally take care of the Energy Herbs. He harvests the last few berries that have survived and turns the pots out into the clearing. After considering the pots for a while, he keeps them for the moment. Even after his backpack changes at level ten they won¡¯t take up much space. Plus he can use them if he finds any live plants to gather and his planter is full. Finished with packing up Jason picks up Lily and heads back towards town. As he runs through the trees and meadows more animals can be seen. There are even some smaller herbivores around. Jason can only guess that the Snarltails might prefer smaller prey. He can see how that would work as well. If their tails can work like a snake, then a squirrel would slip right in no problem. With the return of small critters though the area will repopulate with Snarltails in a season or two. Jason remembers the guild only had a single quest for the tails up and it was not a repeatable one. He must have gotten lucky to grab it. The tails have a decent value to them so they might only put the quest up when the population has recovered. There might even be quests to check on the population at other times. After all not much stops others from hunting them. It is only their lower levels compared to the adventurers in the area that likely keeps them around. Chapter 87 - Follow Up Letter It is around an hour before noon when Jason reaches town. With a quick check of his Guild card and he is able to enter. His first stop today will be the Adventurers Guilds because there are a few things to take care of and some tails to turn in. Jason is actually a bit embarrassed at one task he needs to do. When he visited to read James¡¯ letter Jason had forgotten to send a confirmation back to Rosha. Things were a bit of a trouble for him that day. Now with a couple nights between then and he has had some time to dwell on the situation. Not that it doesn¡¯t stop him from worrying about it as he heads to the Guild. He turns it over in his head, ¡°Did I really think of him as my friend? Why would I do that? Until now I have known a lot people but few were my friends. At least Rosha is turning out all right. Even before this life only the hero could really count as my friend. I guess I just don¡¯t connect with others easily. Though if so why did I accept James? We only spent a handful of days together. Then again, I guess someone raised to lead a cult would be good at emotional manipulation. There is not really much I can do about this problem. If I see James again, I can figure it out then. Anyway, the Guild is right there.¡± Jason sighs and jogs the final distance to the Adventurers Guild. His first stop inside is to turn in the tails. As luck would have it, the same receptionist, A female red foxkin, he registered the quest with is on desk today. With 8 tails he has a little over half the requested amount so the receptionist is happy to hand over 60 silver coins. That complete Jason asks the receptionist, ¡°Has there been any news on what Jarr the goblin warboss is up to?¡±, and he hands her 3 of the silver back. With a smile the foxkin pockets the money before answering that, ¡°We had a small party confirm seeing him farther away from the town than usual. Still sulking by the checkerboard but nothing new about that. You don¡¯t really need to worry about someone sniping him on you. Word has gotten around someone is questing for him. As the checkerboard only really has Snarltails in it most people stay away to begin with. However don¡¯t think that means you can wait on it. People are coming into town all the time and you never know what newcomers might do.¡± Jason thanks her for the information and heads over to the mail desk. No alerts had popped up when he entered so a letter was not waiting for him. However his response to Rosha was much overdue.
Hey Rosha, The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. Your letter was a much-needed warning. James¡¯ letter was like a punch to the gut. After reading it I just left town to beat up some cats. Still haven¡¯t settled with the nonsense but that is life. Anyway, feel free to bring your friend. At least this time you know what they are actually like. On my side I don¡¯t really know anyone I could invite to the group. Besides, I feel three people is a good low level party. With your healer friend we would actually have the holy trinity of dps, tank, and healer. Though I must admit I am more of a dodge tank at the moment than a traditional one. I need to work on my HP but then again I never heard a tank complain about having too much of the stuff. Besides that I should breakthrough within the next week. Afterwards I will head out. Do you have anywhere we could meet up at? I haven¡¯t really had the time to check on the towns that are around the area. Thank you, Jason
With the letter done and rent money gained Jason heads back to the Scratchy Pinecone. When he gets to the inn the owner, Fern, seems to have been waiting for him. She greets him with a wave and gestures to enter. Once inside, she still keeps quiet and guides him to his room. Now in the privacy of Jason¡¯s room she speaks up, ¡°So trouble seems to follow you. Those first spies came from groups in this city. Nothing to important to speak of with them. They shut up and moved on after you left town. However it looks like they sold info on your location to some information broker. There are now two groups in town on a lookout for you. The first one I expected and you should have too. While Shinefish village is not directly connected to us they are close enough, I pay attention to what happens over there. Your little legal scuffle with that wolfkin of course has caused waves and that resulted in the second round of spies. You shouldn¡¯t worry too much about them because they won''t do anything to you as long as you aren¡¯t going into their kingdom. The third group is the one that should worry you. They just showed yesterday and all the spies were dwarves. I can see by the look on your face you likely know the source. I haven¡¯t really looked into it because they aren¡¯t from any moderately sized power. If they don¡¯t know to keep their heads down in my inn then more fun for me. However they are the least informed about you so the dwarves shouldn¡¯t cause you any problem. The idiots couldn¡¯t even find where you¡¯re staying! That is a simple matter of spending some money in the right places. Though speaking of money, tonight is your last night. Would you like to extend your stay?¡± Jason looks up from facepalming and sighs, ¡°Yeah, sign me up for another week. The Snarltails are almost too easy to kill but they are spread out a good bit.¡± Chapter 88 - Binding Jason sits in his room with a stress headache. ¡°I am not even level ten and three different organizations tried to spy on me. Seriously need to wander off in the near future. Though I do have to wonder if the dwarves are here under James¡¯ orders or his family wants to make sure he broke contact. This does make me feel like a bit of a flip-flop because it makes we reconsider him. From friend to enemy and now what? If he sent them nothing has changed. His family sending them on the other hand means he might not be as brainwashed as they would prefer. It doesn¡¯t forgive him of course. At this point in time if you don¡¯t like your situation there are enough social programs to get you out. Probably he doesn¡¯t care about the cult but still doesn¡¯t want to live poor. Quite a foolish idea from my point of view. The poorest person in the world lives in luxury compared to even the middle class only a couple hundred years ago. Compared to my old life the difference is even starker. Then again I guess I have an outside perspective on this.¡± With a sigh Jason retrieves the portable planter from his pack. In its travel form the planter takes up little space and looks like a miniature diorama. Except of course for the fact it is empty. Jason sits down next to the planter and takes a closer look. The buttons stand out from the side ready for him to input the code. Not that he plans to use them. As the salesmen said, he can bind it with his Energy. Specifically, once he formed a core but as luck would have it that had already happened. Now the only question is how to do so. Jason first tries the classic blood binding. A single drop of blood from the tip of his finger falls onto the planter. While there is a slight reaction but beside some sparkles the planter does not change. He shrugs, ¡°Qi users probably use this method. On the other hand my Energy does not stay attached to my blood like theirs would. This means my next test probably won¡¯t work either. Still worth a try.¡± Jason release his Energy in a cloud and surrounds the planter. More sparkles appear but still the planter is unchanged. ¡°Yep, that is likely the way to use Mana to bind items. My Energy can form a cloud but decays away just as quick. This might be a little tricky. I guess I could ask Penny how to do it. However I want to try my own methods first. At least with her I have a backup plan. Now what to try first?¡± Jason ponders the planter and his Energy for a while. Then he tried laying his hand on the planter and pushing his Energy into it. When that doesn¡¯t work Jason sits back. His Energy needed a more direct connection to work. Blood failed because that wasn¡¯t where it resided. Just pushing it out failed as it lost something the moment it left his body. This is good because no one can affect him through any residual Energy he leaves around. However he needed some method to bind the planter and any other similar item in the future. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Then an idea struck him, ¡°If the blood could almost work all I needed was a more direct connection! In fact, why did I try with blood in the first place? I don¡¯t have blood in this world anyway. What I do have is the threads and they transfer my Energy quite well.¡± He already had experience with moving his threads and so after only a handful of minutes a thread in his finger moves. It extends to the tip of his finger but then stops. A few more minutes pass as Jason tries what he can but while the threads move freely in his body, his skin stops them. No matter how much his insides are a void there is too much of an expectation for him to have skin. Maybe once his threads are strengthened more, they will be able to pierce his skin. However for now it is like trying to pierce his skin with a real piece of thread. With this in mind, Jason can only resort to another cut on his finger. With the barrier that was his skin removed the thread leaves Jason¡¯s body. Like a spider web the thread is almost invisible with only the occasional glint of light catching it. He reaches out to the planter and with his finger only moments from touching the thread makes contact. Despite the physical nature of the thread it seems to phase into the planter. His Energy flows through the thread into the planter and for the first time something clicks. A burst of information backflows into him and directly to his mind. Compared to when he checks a plants maturity this was small fries. A simple confirmation he had bound the planter and a tutorial on how to shrink and grow the planter. After Jason goes over the simple instructions, he can only sigh. Until now, all his skills and abilities had been passive or easily activated by thought. This planter however would likely always require him to speak aloud to activate it. Not that he would use it in a battle or other stressful situation but still. To need to say a command aloud for anything besides the menus feels so unskillful to him. Maybe if he practiced with the planter a couple hours a night for a couple weeks, he could get it down. That would take too much of his time though. Even if he just spent the time in cultivation instead the time would have been much better used. In the ends Jason can only sigh and look back to the planter. The buttons that decorated the side had sunken into it replaced with a continuation of the design. From now on until he removed his binding from the planter, only his command can control it. Chapter 89 - Leather Jason focuses on the portable planter and says aloud, [Planter Activate]. With the now familiar sparkles the planter expands to full size. It now takes up a good third of the apartment. After a look inside Jason removes all the seeds and a handful of the berries from his pack. He considers the seeds for a moment before he starts with the Bloody Lingzhi. There is not much choice with them as Plants Unlimited only provided two logs to plant them on. He considers the two logs and places them on opposite ends of the planter. If the Lingzhi is supposed to balance out the energy levels, they should be spread out. Happy with the arrangements Jason takes the leather wineskin of blood out and sprinkles both logs. Once the logs are soaked, he snips open the seed, or in this case spore, bag and gently sprinkles the contents along them. Next up he opens the Focusing Tea bag. With two Bloody Lingzhi then going by what Nole had said Jason needs to plant three. Balance in mind he plants one seed in the middle of the planter. He plants another behind the left side log and the final in front of the right side log. The seed bag still has some seeds left but he doesn¡¯t need them for now. As luck would have it, the planter has a small drawer you can store seeds in. Jason could only guess Nole didn¡¯t mention it because it requires the planter to be bound. With a shrug he commands it to [Open the Seed Drawer]. With a click the small drawer pops out and Jason is able to slip in the bag. Jason decides to plant the remaining area with alternating Gloom Weed and Energy Herb. Though along with the Gloom Weed he will also plant his normal Ginseng with it. After he measures out the space left Jason figures out that six of each plant will fit. He sighs, despite having more space he ended up with the same number of Energy Herbs. However he admits that 23 plants is enough work for the moment. Jason places the rest of the seeds in the drawer before closing it. Then he commands the [Planter Deactivate] and it shrinks down into the portable mode. With the planting finished Jason takes out the book on harvesting. After laying down on the bed Lily joins him for some pets while he settles in to read the night away. Jason had been working his way through the first half of the book and that was enough to finish it. Now knowledgeable of the basic methods of harvesting the System dings as his Farming skill updates. Jason however ignores this as he drifts off to sleep. Next day the update slips his mind until just after breakfast. Jason is about to head out and is only waiting for Lily to finish her salad when the leafy greens jogs his memory. He pulls up the Farming skill and is surprised it had advanced a level and 25.3% experience since the last time he looked. The actual change he had looked for was less of a surprise. Nole had already said that the book would allow him to know how to harvest stuff. The fact it appeared as an effect of his Farming skill just made sense to him. Still just to make sure he missed nothing Jason carefully read the effect. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Harvesting Common Sense - With the knowledge of all basic harvesting methods you will be prompted with the best way to harvest plant that you know of and slightly increase the success rate of harvesting It does what he expected though the slight increase to his harvesting success rate was a nice addition. The fact it did not actually say how much of an increase it provided actually made him smile. Some skills are able to provide specific percentages to what they do. As an example, his poison resistances are listed by what percent of the poison¡¯s effect they allow him to avoid. This is easy for the System to do. However some skills provide bonuses that can¡¯t be nailed down. Like this effect there are too many variables to it for an actual number. For instance, it doesn¡¯t matter how perfectly he harvests a plant if a worm had gotten into it. What this ¡®slight¡¯ increase will instead do is nudge chance in his favor. If when he harvests a berry if it accidently falls when it comes off it is more likely to fall in a way that keeps it intact. While there isn¡¯t a luck stat these effects are like a specialized version of one. Quite satisfied with his gains Jason picks up Lily and heads to the door. While he would like to head towards the forest right away another matter needs taken care of. Once more he heads towards the market. What Jason needs won¡¯t be ready today as it needs to be specially crafted but they should finish it before he leaves town. Though right before he leaves a quick question to Fern points him towards a good leatherworker. Navigating the market he soon is in front of a simple shop. The only sign it belongs to a leatherworker is a small hide hung out with the image of various leather products burned into it. Once inside an overpowering smell, no, stench of leather assaults Jason¡¯s nose. Every surface has some form of leather good laid out on it. While not that odd for a shop to fill their gallery space this one took it to the extreme. Someone made even the shelves themselves out of leather. Behind the leather counter sits a small ork. Clad in what would be normal clothes for the area except for being made of leather the ork itself even looks a bit like leather. Though this is mostly from age instead of some ability or magic item. The ork looks up and greets Jason with a bright smile which turns his face from almost a doll-like appearance to that of a kindly old grandpa. Chapter 90 - Cool Scanner The small elder ork gestures for Jason to come to the counter. Once Jason takes a seat on a leather chair the ork nods, ¡°So you need something custom? Don¡¯t look confused. While I do have a lot on my shelves, no one comes here for that. There aren¡¯t even prices on them though like everyone else on their first visit, you didn¡¯t notice. My leatherwork isn¡¯t the best and you can get better work for less elsewhere. Custom designs is where I shine. Now what nonsense do you want me to make for you?¡± Jason points to Lily on his shoulder, ¡°I need a carrier to keep her safe. As it is, I have to hide her off to the side anytime I go into combat. This works but if I ever get ambushed, we would both be in trouble.¡± The ork taps the counter and it folds away to the side. As he steps out from behind the counter the ork flips a switch. Along each wall the shelves lift up and leather sheets fall down over the windows. Across the ceiling magical lights turn on moments after the shop goes dark. Behind Jason a table rises out of the ground though only to waist height, perfect for the ork. With his workspace setup the ork grabs out some paper and starts to sketch. He gestures at Jason to set Lily on the table. Once Jason has done so the ork nudges Lily onto a square section marked out in one corner. Then small metal pillars pop out of each corner of the square. Red beams connect them and a screen of light passes over Lily a couple of times. The ork nods as a row of numbers start to scroll across the edge of the table. He once again dives back into the sketches and minutes pass. Jason and Lily just stand around until the ork looks up. He nods at them and tells them, ¡°You can leave now. Got what I need, come back in three or so days.¡± With that the ork ignores the two as they leave the shop. Though once they are gone a slab of leather over 5 inches thick lowers down over the front. Outside Jason can only shake his head at this. Whatever creature could provide a single piece of leather that big was not some normal monster. ¡°This town is just filled with hidden masters. Nole at Plants Unlimited would of course have a minimum of ability to work at a place like that but it seems everyone else I meet is up there too. Then again, it mostly stems from Fern. Having her guide me to various places is why I keep bumping into these people. With her power and influence it would make sense that she knows all the other monsters in town. Anyway, he said about three days to complete it, whatever ¡®it¡¯ ends up being. That is not much time so I need to change my plans. Instead of going off to the forest area near the goblin plains I should go to the other side. Once I reach the forest there should be enough time to hunt five or so Snarltails. It depends on the density of the stupid cats over there. Still need 12 of them total to cap myself so the timing should work out. It will be close though. Probably should extend the time I am renting the room by a couple days.¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. With a plan in mind Jason walks back to the Scratchy Pinecone. A quick exchange with Fern who gladly extends his stay and he is ready to head back out into the wilds. Before that though Fern stops him from rushing off. She gestures at the bones on display across the inn walls. There are a special series of bones in specific she has him focus on. Before he hunted them, it would just seem to be a strange eel or snake skeleton. Now Jason can clearly tell it is a tail off of some Snarltail. When Fern sees he understands what it is, she lectures him, ¡°none of the bones here belongs to a monster below level 100. You obviously recognize that tail now having hunted them. As it is they are culled as often as possible so none have developed to this level. However I have seen too many adventurers assume after they fight a monster they know all there is about it. Snarltails did not conquer that forest region in the past with their current strength. Around most towns, even relatively new ones, you will only find weaker monsters. This doesn¡¯t mean their levels are necessarily low. Rather, they will fight purely with instincts. To even set up a town in the first place requires people to come through and kill or bargain with all the elder beings in the area. Without the wisdom gained with time even if the area had high level threats they will end up blunted and unable to threaten the town itself. This is the very reason the relatively peaceful rabbit plains that your little Lily there comes from exists in the first place. Not all creatures gain intelligence with level or evolution. However time can change all things. The Snarltail those bones came from might not have been able to look in a mirror and recognize itself but it was wise. Even to this day the forest bears the mark it has left. No other predator willingly enters and yet herbivores don¡¯t seem to notice anything. I don¡¯t think you will have any problems out there. They get culled often enough most don¡¯t even evolve once. However don¡¯t let your first fight with a monster bind you. I would rather fight a high level monster who was only a few years old to a low level one that has lived for over a hundred years. Not that you would find many low level creatures over a hundred years old. That tends to be somewhat of a bottleneck in monster development. Pass it and they easily level up. Otherwise they tend to get frantic and end up dead. Anyway you can get on now. Your burning daylight standing here listening to me ramble.¡± Chapter 91 - Lily Hides Jason retreats with Lily from the inn post haste. One lecture a day was more than enough for him. If it wasn¡¯t for how cheap the room was and how Fern kept referring him to the good shops, he would consider a new inn. Though this thought brings another matter to mind, ¡°the ork never mentioned how much his work would cost. I am certain Fern will have told him I would be around. Even if she didn¡¯t my presence in town is not exactly a secret. While the spies might not be able to find their butts with both hands the local population should know who I stay with. Besides, if Fern can tell what level I am at he should not have too much of a problem with it either. He is not as strong but with age comes wisdom as I was just advised.¡± The guards at the gate only take a cursory glance at his guild card. As Jason left a few of the people recognized him and started to point and whisper. Once he started to run the whispers turned into a general ruckus. The guards at the gate can only shake their heads at the nonsense. What is the point of so much noise over a decent movement skill? While they aren¡¯t the highest leveled guards in town, they had seen much better. Though one of them was keeping it together only because that is what they think is expected of him. Everyone was new once after all. As Jason runs through the rocky plains, he notices the monsters that lived there for the first time. Just imagine a boulder with six legs made of sod and that is what he can see. Not all the boulders are alive but he does make a note to be more careful about using them to jump off of. Though after that he does not see any others around. Either they are very rare or almost never move. Could be both, especially this close to a town. Areas next to population centers tend to be depopulated of any monster no matter how low level they are. Jason angles towards the forest area next to the rabbits. As he jogs most of the day passes by. A quick check of the sun and he knows that there will not be much time to hunt. Luck however is with him. As Jason prepares to settle down for the night a bit of blue flashes by off to the side of the clearing he chose. It appears this time the tables have turned on him. Instead of hunter, Jason has become the prey. Good thing he saw the Snarltail before it pounced. Forewarned is forearmed and he doesn¡¯t plan to let this chance go. One exaggerated yawn and Jason turns away from where he saw the cat. He crouches and puts his hands onto the ground. Jason motions with his head for Lily to hide under his bedroll. Afterwards he shuffles around until a slight sound catches his ear. Just the quietest crunch noise but it is enough. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Jason tightens his hands into fists then whirls around. As soon as the Snarltail is visible, he opens his fists and sand soil flies into the cat''s eyes. With the distraction Jason continues his rotation, lowers his shoulder, and rolls on it. As the roll completes, he pops back up onto his feet while the Snarltail shakes its head to get the sand out of its eyes. A glance around the clearing and Jason backs up towards the forest. While an attack might be a better use of the Snarltails distraction, he wanted to move the fight away from where Lily was hidden. The bedroll would not provide much protection. As the Snarltail clears its eyes, it spins to face him. With a growl followed by a pounce, it forces Jason to duck to the side and closer to the forest. The cat does not seem to have many attack patterns as it once again crouches for another pounce. Jason shifts to the side and the cat corrects to pounce at him. As it soars at him he shifts back to his original position. While the Snarltail goes past him Jason continues his movement to bring a solid elbow into the cat''s side. This force is enough to cause it to wing the nearby tree. The Snarltail lands hard just short of another tree and tries to pivot. It lets out a pained howl as it stretches the side that just winged the tree. Jason charges over at this point and lands a straight punch on the cat''s other side. As a short burst from his Blast Punch lights the clearing the Snarltail falls over onto its side. With the vulnerable belly open Jason follows up with his other fist, dropping onto the Snarltail. Another small burst of light visible only in the gloom of night. The Snarltail attempts to scamper away but another tree blocks its way. This gives Jason the time to land one more Blast Punch and the cat falls down again. Though now more permanently as the Snarltail has died. Jason stands there over it. He takes a deep breath to steady himself. Over at his bedroll Lily pops out from under it. With a twitch of her nose and a glance around the clearing she goes back to munching on the verdant greenery. Jason relaxes with this and after patting Lily on the head he gets the portable planter out. Once the planter is activated, he settles down to observe it. The Energy Herb has already started to grow. Though that probably has more to do with his bonuses. Besides that there are some Bloody Lingzhi starting to form on the logs. At this point only the vaguest of fungal threads but it shows the planter works. Satisfied with his purchase more than ever Jason is able to drop into his nightly cultivation. As he does so the small Energy Herb sprouts filter the waste energy. Lily on the side stretches out then hops up into Jason¡¯s lap and falls asleep. Chapter 92 - Squirrel? Morning comes and Jason puts away his planter. Not much had changed in it overnight, even the Energy Herbs stayed the same. He expected different last night but after his cultivation session he was not surprised. In the plains they had grown fast because there was enough excess energy in the air. This place however lacked the energy density. Jason had noticed this back in town but had thought that was just because so many higher level people in one area would absorb most of it. Now his thoughts on the matter changed. Back between the wasteland and plains some factor should have increased the amount of energy in the air. ¡°Andrew would know more about this. Though thinking about Andrew reminds me, I never got around to sending a letter to him about the animal-headed goblins. That matter needs to be looked into so next time in town the letter will be first on my list. A quick little addition of my question on energy density won''t hurt anyone. If I had to guess it might be powerful monsters that causes it. Both the plains and the wasteland areas were centered on such entities. Though that fact could just result from powerful monsters seeking such areas. Plus I don¡¯t have a good sample size to be making an informed guess at this point anyway.¡± Jason shrugs and moves on with breaking down his camp. The bell alarm takes a good while to set up and take down but worth it in this forest. Ready to set out now he stalks onward. Last time in here he had done his best to go deep. With his plan to head back to town in a few days that would be less than ideal. Instead, this time he would zigzag through the forest. As he makes his way through the trees, the forest is quiet. Jason got used to the lack of birds last time but having been away it caught him by surprise again. It does make it easier to find prey animals. He is able to track down a small sounder of boars. They are snuffling around the base of a couple trees. With so little animal life in the forest a snarltail should be by here soon. To ready for it Jason climbs one of the nearby trees. With the better view he is able to spot that he was wrong. There already was a snarltail. On the other side of the boars one crouched behind a tree. As he was up a tree already Jason takes the chance to hide Lily among the branches. However by the time he is back on the ground the snarltail has attacked. The stealth pounce is enough to bring down an older boar while the rest scatter. Jason holds back at this point and watch. Undisturbed the snarltail is able to kill the boar. Once it is dead the snarltail backs off and watches the clearing with caution. Then ready for an ambush its tail rips into the dead boar. The sound is reminiscent of a chainsaw without the engine noise. With each tooth able to move separate of the others they are able to rip into the body with ease. Segments of meat disappear one by one down the tale¡¯s throat. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Still Jason watches on, he waits for what would cause this caution. The snarltail continues to stuff meat down its tail throat. Then the tree Jason is next to rustles. The hair on Jason¡¯s neck stands on end. Without even a thought he practically throws himself up the tree. Moments later he has Lily cradled in his arms as he drops out of the tree. He hits the ground with a loud thump. However the nearby snarltail doesn¡¯t even bother to look at him. Instead, it is focused to the left. All around the trees shudder. More so to the left than the other directions. The snarltail tenses but for some reason it does not seem ready to fight. The tree farthest out into clearing shifts. It is not just a shudder but the tree moving back in line with the others. A horrible yowl comes from the snarltail as it abandons the boar corpse and makes for the opposite side of the clearing. Then out from the crown of the tree that moved a blur flies towards it. Not a bird yet feathered the creature glides at a high speed. The snarltail almost gets out of the clearing but the strange agglomeration of a gliding squirrel and a bird catches it. Not with claws or jaws but magic. Roots pop out of the ground around the snarltail and grapples it down. Unlike the monsters from the wasteland this beaked squirrel felt more natural if that makes sense. Though the only creature it makes Jason think of is the famous fantasy creature, the owlbear. It of course doesn¡¯t help that when he observes it, the name is squirrelraptor. Not that he plans to tell it his opinion of its name. What with the question marks in place of a level next to it. While Jason is sad about his loss of xp, it is better to be safe sometimes. With that in mind he creeps away from the two monsters. Before he can even leave sight, the snarltail has died to a root through the neck. For a moment the squirrelraptor glances back at him. A chill runs down Jason¡¯s back but luck is with him as it turns back to the snarltail corpse. Then from the trees many other squirrelraptors come down and joins it in the feast. A few are late to the party and have to settle for the boar corpse. After Jason is out of sight he jogs away from that clearing. Happy that he waited to see what hunted the hunters he decides to only go after snarltails before they make a kill. He had not seen one before and with how they had some sort of nature magic all trees were suspect. Likely they hid inside the trees or had some sort of teleportation ability. Most confusing for Jason however was why the snarltail tried to escape into the forest. Chapter 93 - A letter to Andrew The next couple days are stressful. Not the hunt as the snarltails are easy enough. Rather each time the trees blow in the wind or something rustles on the ground he jumps. The squirrelraptors may only attack snarltails but there has to be a reason for the lack of birds. He no longer feels safe to leave Lily in a tree but where would be safe? The monsters came from the treetops but used roots from the ground. Over those days Jason hunts three more snarltails. Not his target number for this trip but better safe than sorry. Once he has whatever the ork whipped up to keep Lily safe things should go smoother. Like the trip back. That empty plains where the only thing in it is boulders and boulder monsters makes getting back to town easier. He has more tails to turn in for the quest but he doesn¡¯t want to turning them in yet. ¡°Only three to go and there is still enough silver left from the last seven. Though my money situation might change if the ork charges a lot. That or he has some ridiculous quest for me to complete. I can totally see a quest that ends up costing me more than if I paid in gold. Have to be careful about that as I need to be out of here to meet up with Rosha and her friend. Best-case scenario is he might just have me send him leather from any interesting monster I might kill in the future. Though first I need to get to that letter to Andrew.¡± A quick trip through the town and Jason is once again at the Adventurers Guild. He heads directly to the letter station and settles down to write. Hey Andrew, Ran into a weird thing in the wasteland. Since you¡¯re into researching the System and such it felt perfect for you to check out. I met a bunch of animal headed and pawed goblins. They seem to be civil enough though more primitive tribe as compared to the three eyed goblins tech but they aren¡¯t monsters. At least that is what they would like me to tell you. The herbivore-based one''s fit that bill well enough and the omnivores might slip in to. However the carnivore based ones where hiding something. Mostly certain they dipped into some less than sociable behavior. A trio of elders rule them. One from each of the groups though the carnivore elder did not hide his control over them all that well. Honestly, don¡¯t remember it very well but I don¡¯t trust them. You should be able to figure it out and maybe help with their request. Which reading back on what I have written I did not mention. They want help in reclassifying themselves as sentient''s instead of monsters. Though the elders would settle for just not being wasteland monsters. Apparently they can¡¯t leave there. Must suck as if I remember correctly there was literally a death zone right next to their area at the moment. Seems the wasteland kills off any monsters that get to cultured or some such. At least that is what they thought. Oh and besides that I had another question. Thinking about it, I could probably ask someone else or find it in a library but meh, you probably know more. Anyway, I noticed that around where I am the world energy is lower. Is there some reason for that? Does anyone actually know? It doesn¡¯t really matter but it stuck out to me (and made it harder for me to cultivate out here). This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Thanks and what not, Jason A little informal but Jason felt that Andrew would respond to it better. He seemed like a decent man who would be fine with everyone leaving him alone while he researched the System. Though with the letter sent he needed to get over to the ork¡¯s leather shop. The ork had said it would take threeish days so whatever he made should be ready. Jason makes his way through the afternoon traffic towards the shop. As he approaches it, the crowd dies away until he is alone on the street. The reason is easy enough to tell. A nasty odor permeates everything. While he is uncertain what it is Jason has a guess. From history class he remembers that processing leather is not a pleasant activity at this level of technology. Magic might help but sometimes the classic route helps. Specifically Jason knows that enchanting something is easier the less energy is already in it. If the ork wants to enchant whatever he made for Jason, then this might be the result. Smelly chemicals that stink up the street and a bigger bill for the product. He cringes at this thought. For his level Jason is rich but that doesn¡¯t really say much. Wealth only counts in NeoRealm after you hit level 10. The leather shop in front of him looks to be closed like when he left. Then again, with how some crafters are it might not have opened since. Though this brings up the question of how he is supposed to pick up his order. Jason walks up to the door and is about to knock on it. Before he can though the leather sheet that covers the door lifts up on its own. Behind it the shop is dark for a few moments. Jason can hear someone snoring then lights come on and it wakes the ork up. Because of course the ork is asleep at his worktable. Jason can only sigh at this. The ork probably did not sleep a wink after Jason left until he finished the project. With a grunt the ork looks around in a panic. After he finds nothing is out of place he turns to the door and a light seems to glow in his eyes. He charges over to the door and slams it open then greets Jason, ¡°Ah! Your here already! Come on in so I can show you what I whipped up. You should be thrilled with what I thought up.¡± Chapter 94 - Leather Harness The ork guides Jason into his shop. Behind them the thick leather sheet lowers again as the worktable disappears into the floor. The ork now in the center of the room turns back to Jason. His eyes sparkle and the lights focus on him. Off to the side a pair of drums start to play themselves and the ork pulls a leather box out from behind his back. With a flourish the box unfolds and inside it a strange harness. Jason takes a closer look at it but can not see how it will protect Lily. As he points this out the ork laughs. The ork motions for Jason to put it on while he explains, ¡°It took some work to do but the magic is solid. I used leather from a descendent of Fenrir by way of either Skoll or Hati. The bloodline might have lost their ancestor¡¯s ability to eat suns and moons but the hides still contain some of those mysteries. Luckily for us instead of the destructive part of those myths the weakened bloodline kept mysteries related to space and containment. Useful for the mutts running around this world as it lets them eat many times their body weight and store up for hard times. Useful for us because unlike a lot of devouring based monsters the magic is spread throughout their whole body instead of just their stomachs. Chefs love the meat¡¯s ability to pack in more flavor and I love it because the leather allows for so many nifty tricks. Plus it is cheaper as you can¡¯t make storage treasures as the magic is to diffuse. Anyway, now that you have it on let me show you what I mean. Now I noticed you keep her on your right shoulder so to activate the magic tap it.¡± Jason follows the instructions and once he taps his shoulder extra leather pop out of the harness. To start the device was a loose arrangement of straps. Only enough to keep it securely attached to him and at the same time not get in his way. Now though the area around his shoulder is covered with overlapping leather plates reminiscent of a pauldron. However instead of the classic shape the leather has formed a dent lined with fur on top. The ork beams at this, ¡°excellent! It worked just like I wanted and didn¡¯t slice your arm off. Now put her into that little bed up there. Yep, just like that. She seems to like the bedding, which is a relief. Took some work to get it like that and I had to call on some help to get the fur to mimic a rabbit. For normal everyday stuff this should be fine but we both know an open bed would not work in combat. Another tap on the shoulder will fix that though she needs to stay still while you do so.¡± With the second tap hardened strips of leather pop out of the sides of the depression. They curve up around the bedding and overlap each other to form a cage. As Jason marvels at this, the ork reaches over to the wall and grabs a stick. With a swift swing and a solid thwack he hits the cage over and over. Lily goes still in fright as this happens but even Jason¡¯s move to dodge do not seem to affect her. The ork tosses the stick to the side and explains that, ¡°the cage is slightly off from this dimension. Once engaged the bedding and anything else in there will be as if ghosts, intangible to the rest of us. Though do note it is in a different direction than ghosts. Otherwise she would be in danger if you ever met any and weapons meant to harm them without the use of a god¡¯s power would work on the space. Of course nothing is foolproof. Weapons meant to damage intangible things in general would still work though they are rarer here. That and it is still harnessed to this dimension so enough damage or force applied to the right place can still get through. Heh, harnessed. Anyway another feature is the cage will activate if you move around too quickly. This does not mean if something attacks your should it will deploy. Only if you yourself are moving violently will it work. Any dodging you do should set it off but keep it in mind. Now the last bit about it and what took me so long to figure out is activated with another tap.¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Jason once again taps his shoulder and the cage sinks down into the harness. He can¡¯t feel any movement but it has sunk far enough only the very top is still visible. It is to the point that if a coat was worn over the harness, you could not tell something was there. The ork whoops while he jumps up and down, ¡°It worked! I thought it would but it actually worked! The protective cage subsumed into the rest of the leather without any shearing this time. Excellent, amazing, spectacular! Congratulations young man, you now have quite the advanced spacial device. I wasn¡¯t sure if it could work with multiple unconnected straps but here we are. Now don¡¯t give me that look. She wasn¡¯t in danger at any point. I put in so many safety measures over two-thirds the magic involved was for it. If you try to take if off right now the rabbit would be ejected automatically. There is a slight danger that if an attack did enough damage, it would put her into danger but honestly at that point she was already in danger. Magic on such a low class material can only go so far. For a beast that had not even reached level 150 it is a miracle this works at all. Just goes to show why Skoll and Hati ruled the wolven monster population for so long after their father ascended out of the next realm. Without him around they soon got in trouble with one of the pantheons. Eating moons without finding out if a greater power owned it is not the smartest thing to do. They ran for a while but are under what I would call house arrest until they can ascend themselves. A bit of a laugh when they can¡¯t even eat asteroids right now. Then again the pantheon can¡¯t kill them because Fenrir would call a hunt on them from even beyond the beyond. Scholars claim they will be let out after a millennium but we are only halfway through their sentence if that is true.¡± Chapter 95 - Kids like Him The ork slaps himself, ¡°Ok, a bit off topic there. Anyway, to take the harness off you need to first undo the cage. Just tap the opposite shoulder to undo the changes by a step. From the sunken mode to the normal cage, then the open bed and lastly the regular harness mode. Oh, and the sunken mode is for combat so it doesn¡¯t get in your way. I had first just done the normal cage setup but it would cause problems when you lift your arms. I leave the form in because it is still useful in dangerous situations that are not hostile. Traveling in the wilds and other such nonsense. This should cover everything you need from it and then some. Though I can tell by your face the ¡®then some¡¯ is troubling you. Now work like this costs a pretty copper. Your face really cramped up when I mentioned using leather from the spawn of legendary creatures.¡± The ork at this point slaps his knee and bursts out a loud barking laugh. He wipes a tear from his eye before he continues, ¡°ho boy, that was a great look! Anyway, you don¡¯t need to worry about the materials too much. While primordial monsters like Fenrir have a hard time with kids, their spawn are not so limited. The problem is not to find a descendent but rather find one with a dense enough bloodline. I made your harnesses leather from an only slightly rare wolf variant so I won''t charge you for it. Of course if you ever kill some critter with an interesting hide I don¡¯t mind a piece. Can never have to much material. Hell, if you ever do kill an elder glutton wolf with red or blue streaks send it to me and that will replace the material I used. Might even be useful now that I proved what it can do. Now back to the cost. With materials taken care of there is still the cost of labor. My skills are high enough that even an hour of my time can bankrupt a town and here I spent three days without rest on that harness. Without some absurd background you can¡¯t afford that. Luck is with you though as I have a bit of a habit. See I prefer to work on new things and stretch my imagination. If someone came looking for the usual leather armor setup, I would charge them upfront and that would be that. Interesting projects however I treat differently. First is that payment comes after I complete the work. Partly so if I can¡¯t make what they want people still come to me for that sort of stuff. Though mostly so I can work on the project even when the requester can¡¯t afford it. A few kids that lived here a couple decades back would request weird things despite not having two coppers to rub together. One of the better times for me, kids have the best imagination! Sadly their parents caught them at it. Scared them silly and they all moved to a new town shortly after. Guess they didn¡¯t believe me when I said I didn¡¯t mind? Meh, nothing lasts forever I guess. Anyway, the second difference is I adjust the cost depending on how much I enjoyed the work. Those kids actually got a couple of the smaller projects for free because it was so fun to do. Who else but a kid would want a toy butterfly with transparent wings and can fly despite being made entirely of leather? Now your harness is not the most unique thing. Others have wanted similar projects before. What is different about yours is the material used. Before now the diffused energy was of not much use. I took this as a chance to experiment with the stuff as your request practically begged for it. Every other request always involved the inside being bigger than the outside. Not a problem for other materials but the glutton wolfs ability is a package deal. Just one part of it would not do so most people ignore them if they are not causing problems. With that in my first discount is I will only charge you for the time to make that harness, an hour and a half. I will not bill for all the other prototypes and such. Still too much as you don¡¯t look like an entire town.¡± Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. The ork draws a breath to continue but Jason interrupts him, ¡°All right, I get it. I¡¯m a poor boy from a poor family. Even with your massive and generous discounts on the project I could never afford even one percent of the bill. Neither of us is dumb. Equipment like this is a niche and can only be called complete once someone actually uses it. Chances of you finding someone in a similar situation as me who can not only afford this harness but doesn¡¯t have a better option is slim to none. I don¡¯t mean to be rude but come on, what do you want?¡± Visibly deflated the ork sighs, ¡°Fine, take all the fun out of it. Nole didn¡¯t mention this side of you to me. Then again, anyone who can put up with Fern¡¯s attention can¡¯t be too normal. Anyway, you caught me. The material was scraps and even if you had decided not to ask me to make something after hearing the idea I would have tried anyway. Never was much of a business type myself so screw it. You don¡¯t need to pay me now. In fact, I would rather you not pay me at all, at least not with money. Your one of those traveller types so since you haven¡¯t already joined some group it is 50 50 of you being a nobody or a hero. I will take that bet. Later on when you kill some high level beasties send me the leather. If you find some stash of ancient leather gear, I will buy it. When you meet some weird hidden master of leatherworking by accident on your trip, send them my way. Now get that smirk off your face and id the dang harness so you can bask in its glory.¡± Chapter 96 - Ork without a Name Small Critter Protection Harness Description: An odd harness made by an odder ork. Built into the shoulder is a protective cage meant to shelter small animals. When in use the cage is shifted away from the current dimension to provide an extra level of safety. While the harness itself looks average, the material used is leather from an elder glutton wolf, a distant relative of Fenrir by way of Skoll and Hati. The creator has focused all magics woven into this device on the safety of the animal and so provides no bonuses to the wearer. Because of this you can wear the harness over or under other magical gear with no fear of unexpected interactions.
After Jason brings up the harnesses info, the ork rubs the back of his head. With a nervous laugh he explains that, ¡°normally you would get some kind of bonus from everything you wear. Even beginner gear has a few stat ups attached. Hell, if you wear a sheet like a toga the System will give you a couple points of Defense while penalizing your Agility. I was personally expecting to need to put numerous restrictions on the use and requirements just so you could wear it right away. Instead, we get this thing. Lack of unexpected interactions is nice but misleading. For the harness it means if you ever get some leather armor that bursts into flames when your attacked the harness won¡¯t take damage. I never liked how it is called unexpected because the descriptions always mention possible interactions. Then again, if you don¡¯t use common sense, some things would catch you by surprise. Sure the fiery leathers won¡¯t melt your chain mail but it also won¡¯t protect you from being burned by the heated metal. Meh, anyway there you have it. Will do what you need without any problems so now get out of here. I need to go and organize the back or something.¡± The ork then waves Jason out of the shop before closing up again. Jason takes a look back at the store and shakes his head, ¡°Well I gained a big ol¡¯ debt. Don¡¯t know his level but his skill should be high journeyman if not master. Plus he doesn¡¯t have a name. Only two types of ork don¡¯t greet you with their name. It has been over a thousand years since the orks became a sentient species and earned their names but they won¡¯t let anyone forget it. He clearly is not one of the rare ¡®wild¡¯ orks still out in the deep wilds. That leaves an ork from before then. Jeeze, this town is full of monsters. Going to guess there is more to the wasteland than others think. Yep, going to leave here soon as possible. All these OP locals are interesting but you don¡¯t get such a buildup of power without a reason. Thinking about it these people might be why the wasteland is retreating. That or the rabbits, they get enough respect here from the people that matter. Gah, this place is a giant puzzle box filled with mysteries and ancient powers.¡± Without him realizing it Jason picks up his pace and hurries back to the inn. Tomorrow wouldn¡¯t come soon enough as far as he was concerned. This place just kept ringing his instincts bell. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. A restless night sleep and Jason is once again ready to head out. He tries to sneak out of the inn and thinks he might have managed it. Of course that hope died in a fire with the first tap on his shoulder. He turns around stiffly to find Fern standing under the inn¡¯s sign. She smiled a toothy grin, ¡°I see you met that old ork? Heheh, fun boy to have around. Only guy in town to refuse to make something for me. Said it went against his principles or some such. He gets so worked up over his view on what leatherworking should be. Needs to spread his wings more if he wants to climb higher though. Who cares if darkness isn¡¯t a living creature, I still had some leather made from it. Grumpy fool should have tried. Conceptual items might be rare here but not unheard of. Whatever, I don¡¯t actually have anything more to say to you. Just wanted to see you jump, happy hunting!¡± Jason fled at great speed. ¡°Do I need to stop by the inn before I leave? I still have what, 7 or 8 more snarltails to kill and a boss? A few days camping and a quick trip to the Adventurers Guild should do it. Though me and Rosha did not plan where to meet up at now that I think about it. That means I do have to stay somewhere for the night. She needs to pick the places as I don¡¯t own a map and well Fern. Rosha should be able to get info on a good place anyway. No need to ask Ferns help. I don¡¯t want to end up somewhere just as bad as here. Oh, please let the next town I stay at be normal. I want elders that count their age in the low hundreds and low journeyman crafters if not apprentice.¡± As Jason babbles in his head the town gate passes him by. Unnoticed by him in his rushed escape he movements became smoother. The energy manipulation of his movement skill flow through him. While it wasn¡¯t raising desolate traversal¡¯s level to much, the insights gained from this would help him advance later on. The forest now looms in front of him, the day gone by without his notice. Still, he doesn¡¯t stop though his mind has come back to him. All the worrying in the world won¡¯t help anyone and the forest will need his full attention. It takes the sunset to finally bring his flight to a stop. Not that he could really run from his worries. They are too high a level after all. Could catch him in a moment even this far from the town. With a sigh, he sets up his camp. First the wards go up for protection. Then out comes the portable planter and his bedding. The last step with all the gear out is to let Lily down and start meditating. With his chaotic mind it takes longer to get into it but finally he settles down. Chapter 97 - Forgotten Tab Morning dawns bright and early for Jason. The night passed without interruption much to his relief. After he packs up his gear he places Lily on his shoulder and activates the cage. Jason is quite happy with its performance so far. While he was out of it yesterday Lily seemed to have no trouble as he ran. Though he scratches his head on how to help her level up. Even if she isn¡¯t a battle pet Lily should get some experience somehow. Whenever Jason gets to the higher levels, she will need the levels just to survive in some of the environments. While levels cannot prevent damage, they do allow a person¡¯s body to adapt to new places better. You still need strength to survive increased gravity but levels will stop it from wearing you out as quickly. Thousands of points in strength would do a level one no good as they would collapse from the strain in seconds. Jason goes over the problem in his head for a time. Though in the end he can only assume the answer will also come at level ten. That is the point most people can get pets so this might just be something else to add to the list of gated features. Nice that the System still let Lily join him. Though now that he thinks about he has yet check the pets and companions tab in his character sheet. In fact, he can barely remember much of what happened. He had just woken up when Lily ambushed him with her request to serve him. With a wave of his hand he brings up the tab to see what he missed.
Pets and Companions Non-Combat Pets [0/1] Combat Pets [Locked] Companions
¡°Okay, not the most useful of tabs. I have to assume I either need skills or levels to get more. Though most shocking is Lily and her being a companion. Fair enough, not expected but would explain some things. She has less protection and it will be harder to revive her if she ever dies. The System does not give companions as many privileges as pets. They can still come back but more in line with what locals normally have to go through to do so. My harness is just that much more important. Wait, getting sidetracked there. With this I still need to wait till level ten. However now it is because that is when I can share my xp with her. Though once she is a high enough level she should be able to join some fights and earn her own. I do have to wonder how she will fight. She has already left behind the chance to be a horned or winged rabbit. Spiky rabbits were the Energy based rabbits or at least I thought so. Not much left for Lily as the four other types cover all the energies plus not using any. Meh, time will tell I guess.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. A flash of blue interrupts his thoughts. A snarltail is nearby. Jason crouches behind the tree next to him and holds his breath. Moments later the cat can be seen sauntering out of the trees on the opposite side of the clearing. With no prey nearby this is not the time to fight it. Jason prepares to sneak away when the cat lies down in the center of the clearing and yawns. Jason freezes again and waits. Minutes pass by and the snarltail falls asleep without a care in the world. It would make sense for them to sleep in the various clearings. They would have the most warning about the squirrelraptors. Of course it also provides the cat with a warning if he attacks as well. Jason turns it over in his head a few times before he tries it. He should be able to sneak up close enough before his attack. The snarltail will still notice him but not before he gets in range. That is all he needs to make the attack work. His mind made up Jason creeps into the clearing. One foot after another he avoids twigs and dry leaves. The cat flicks it ear and he freezes again. Seconds later he resumes his advance. When Jason reaches halfway though things go south. A partially buried stick snaps under his foot. He had tested the ground but could not detect the danger. Alerted by the noise the snarltail is up in moments and announces its annoyance with a hiss. Jason is ready though and literally jumps into actions. As he lunges at the cat, he spreads his fingers out like claws. The snarltail turns to him which was just what he hoped for. Now instead of being aimed at the cats flank he connects with its face. He puts all his strength into his fingers and scratches downward. Overall, this doesn¡¯t do much to the cat¡®s skin. Its eyes on the other hand are a different story. The snarltail retreats in pain, its eyes blinded for the moment. Jason with fist in palm he thrusts his elbow at the cat to follow up and bashes its shoulder. A quiet crack and a pained yowl. It tries to chomp at him but without sight the attack is way off. Jason takes this moment to get into a proper stands and focus on his fist. Then in perfect form he fires off a textbook cross punch. As it connects, once again on the snarltails shoulder, his blast punch goes off. The penetrating force cripples the cat¡®s front leg. The other front paw swipes at Jason as the snarltail falls over. However losing its leg takes all the force out of it and while it scratches him that is about it. -3 Unfazed by the damage Jason slides to the side and corrects his stance. This time he goes in with a quick jab. The snarltail turns to him but he has already returned to his stance. Now faced with the crippled cat he goes in to finish it. One step forward and he drops his back arm. Then he follows the flow and brings his fist crashing up into the cat¡®s jaw with a perfect uppercut. The snarltail doesn¡¯t die from this but is knocked out for the count. Satisfied with this Jason stands over the cat¡®s head then finishes it. Another straight punch directly at the top of the head is all it takes. The blast punch shatters it brain now that it isn¡¯t protected by the monsters defenses. Chapter 98 - Brambles With the snarltail defeated Jason checks his blast punch progress. Though he shakes his head a moment later. It is currently Novice level 9 and 2.79% which is good. However he had forgotten to check before he worked on the skill so it shows the progress as +1 level and 2.79%. He feels that his use of proper forms and punching skills helped but will need to try again to confirm it. Jason can only shrug and continue on his search. He still needs to kill seven more of the cats before he can go after Jarr. That and he has to get where the goblin boss is in the first place. The travel time alone if he went straight there would be four days. With hunting the snarltails he would be close to his time limit. While he would rather head straight out and not go back to the Scratchy pinecone that just is not an option. While it would not be hard to get another room, the extra effort would a drag. As it is, he hasn¡¯t used the room much. Though now as he thinks back on it his choice to rent the room is questionable at best. He should have rented a room as needed. It is not like he stored stuff in the room. It would have saved so much money if he didn¡¯t rent the room for the past couple weeks. This train of thought was going nowhere good, so he put extra effort to track down another snarltail. Still took him a couple hours to find the trail for his next target. This one was out on the prowl so Jason decides to go back to his tried-and-true tactic. Wait till it goes to pounce then ruin its day. Though this one seems to want to foil his plot. After he followed it for about an hour Jason is about to give up on it. The only consolation is the cat was going in the right direction. About 10 minutes later, the snarltail has finally found some prey. A small herd of deer grazes at the edge of a clearing. The cat crouches in the trees on the next side of the clearing that is closest to them. The powerful muscles in its legs tense as it readies itself. To its left Jason jumps out with a kick. The snarltail howls in pain as he starts to systematically take it apart. A leg sweep to bring it down followed by the classic one, two punch. The snarltail reacts too late to this as Jason swings around its side and delivers another straight punch. A low kick follows this up to keep the cat down. Then as it tries to turn to face him, Jason delivers a final strong cross right into its head. With each punch having delivered a blast punch the fight is over before the deer have even got away. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Jason swings his arms back and forth to relieve his tension. ¡°Yep, this is why I wasn¡¯t bothering with proper forms. It is a little stiffer but worst of all the game really boosts your power. If this was a fighting game I would be getting an A or S rank for technical skill. Boring but dependable I guess. Now how has my skill progressed?¡± While this fight he did not quite reach the level of the previous fight he still followed proper form. He checks the skill. His guess is proven right. From 2.79, blast punch had raised by over 11% to 13.99%. While just following proper forms should not boost it so quickly after novice rank this will help him complete the skill. Satisfied with his progress Jason continues on through the day and kills another two snarltails before night. A great surprise for him as that means he only needs four more to cap his level. Not that he expects to manage that too quickly. The fact he found so many close to town means something likely pushed them from deeper in the forest. That thought causes Jason to worry even more than the squirrelraptors. At least with the squirrels he knows what to expect out of them. However they are not what has forced the snarltails out. All their presence did was causing the cats to be more cautious. He really should have realized it before now. It is just the squirrelraptors came at the right time. Jason was questioning what would cause the snarltails to develop a tail mouth and the squirrels popped into the scene. As simple as one plus one equals two, it seemed to work. As his mind runs off Jason stops himself. ¡°Woah there! I am guessing about all this. Maybe they just gathered together. Who knows what the snarltails migration pattern is? Definitely not me. It is time to get to sleep and I can¡¯t be spending all my time wool gathering. If anything, I should putter around with my plants a bit. They have all started to grow at this point.¡± With a nod to himself Jason goes to find a good clearing. The last few had been mostly brambles which are not the best for a place to sleep. The area seems to be tilted towards them though and it takes till after sunset to find a place to camp. Not wanting to stay up too late Jason quickly sets up his alarms and planter. Then with everything finished he opens the harness and sets Lily in his lap. After feeding her some minor herbs in the clearing he starts to meditate. As the night passes all around him the brambles he had seen in the other clearings started to grow. These new plants are centered on him and proceed outward. A few herbivores edge along the clearing but avoid entering. Lily caught in the center of the brambles with Jason burrow further into Jason¡¯s lap. She worries as a strange smell permeates the air in the clearing. Chapter 99 - So Close Bright and early Jason wakes up to a prickly situation. All around him the brambles have covered the clearing. The only areas free of the plants are the very corners and under him. He worries about his plants for a moment but the portable planter appears to have kept itself free of brambles. Jason can¡¯t help but feel guilty. While he can¡¯t prove it his cultivating here likely caused this mess. Worse yet, he can¡¯t even fix it as he doesn¡¯t own even a simple knife. Jason can only sigh then pack up camp. Though worry strikes him when he packs up the alarms. All those brambles had grown up around the bells and only a vigorous tug caused them to jingle. ¡°Yep, going to have to set aside some cash for a real alarm setup. Enchanted items work best for it but cost the most. Not that the items themselves necessarily cost too much but I can¡¯t power them. Energy might be able to turn into Mana but mine has crystalized because of my core. The Mana crystals alone would bankrupt me. The other commercially available option would be formations. Despite being Qi powered they are able to syphon more power from the world. The downside is they are more passive. An interesting dichotomy, especially when my pasts formations could do anything. I guess that just comes from this being a game world.¡± ¡°Anyway, the two powers are a tradeoff between internal versus external when used on a personal level and active versus passive in items. Energy on the other hand is a strange middle ground now that I look at it. Both the other powers are pools that get depleted when used and then refill with time. For me at least Energy is more like a stream of power. A constant flow I can use on what I want. There are items that use Energy as well but because so few people use the stuff is all specialty work. That and expensive as all get out. Though I guess if all Energy works for everyone else like it does for me it is easy to explain. It is a lot easier to make an item to hold a pool of water then it is to make one to hold a stream. Wait, duh, that is why most of the cheap Energy based items are large and stationary. They must be built on top of some well of power. After all it is a lot easier to create a channel off a river, then try to move a stream wholesale. Though that means I can get something created that uses my power. Later, much later of course. You know, once I have more money than king Midas. For now formation flags everywhere.¡± Lost in his thoughts Jason has gotten farther into the bramble controlled area. Soon it becomes as thick as the clearing he stayed at had been and he started to pay closer attention. The density increases the deeper into the forest he goes. While Jason wanted to cut across the corner of the forest to get to where Jarr had last spotted but that might not be possible anymore. ¡°Then again, it would take me much longer to go around this mess. I am not on a hard timeline but goodness gracious do I want to keep to my schedule. Straight ahead it is!¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Jason continues deeper into bramble territory. The only relief is in the forested areas it was clear of undergrowth. The downside is that there are no animals around either. However the brambles soon start to thin out after a couple hours of travel. As Jason leaves them he takes a look back. ¡°Those brambles could be a problem. Not for me but the forest. I should report it to the guild when I get back. They will have to set up quests to figure out the extent of it and what not. Still, not my monkeys, not my circus. I will be well out of here before they get around to sending some poor fool to find the source of this mess.¡± With the brambles no longer holding him back Jason is able to make good time. While jogging was not good to hunt snarltails, he was more worried about his schedule. Plus he had gotten enough the last day. Then again, if they had been avoiding the brambles, he figured tomorrow might have another glut of cats to kill. They proved this thought true the following day. Not an hour after dawn Jason had already found one and many more followed it. By noon, Jason had killed two more. Not quite the haul from the other day but good enough by any measure. After that though he didn¡¯t find anymore. It frustrated Jason as he settled down for the night. A quick check of his level shows how close he is. At level 9 and 99.32% he is less than a percent away from the bottleneck. Sure one more snarltail will get him there but so would any regular monster at his own level. He can only sigh and be thankful that he will be capped by the time he finds Jarr. To relieve his frustration, Jason takes a few extra minutes to check over his planter. The Energy herb has grown in fine. Not that he expected much trouble with it. It is some of the other plants that worried him. However it seems it all has sprouted by now, even the ginseng. Of particular note, the Gloom weed has grown in almost as exuberant as the Energy herb. Oddly, the slowest to grow is the Bloody lingzi. Though Jason has a guess on why this is. The other plants are in the soil. This puts them in direct contact with the Gloom weeds energy output. The lingzi on the other hand is on a log that is sitting on the soil. Not much he can do about this and they should all grow in their own time anyway. With a shrug Jason settles down for the night. Chapter 100 - The Nine is Repeating Morning comes around like it always does, much too early for Jason¡¯s tastes. With a yawn and a stretch he glances around the clearing. To his relief he can see not a single bit of bramble. That and Lily seems better rested. He hadn¡¯t been paying much attention yesterday morning but she had seemed a bit wound up during the rest of the day. ¡°Just one more snarltail and I can focus on getting through this strange forest. As it is, I am cutting a corner to get to the location Jarr was last seen. Still a couple days from there but if I jog, it should save some time. That all depends on how fast I find the next cat.¡± His day planned followed by one final stretch and Jason sets out. As he gets farther from the brambles life, as much as this place ever had, returns. It takes Jason much to long to realize this though. He can only shake his head at how he let such a simple thing slip by him. While the forest doesn¡¯t have normal critters populating it, there are bugs. How he missed the lack of crickets chirping and flies buzzing around is a mystery. Even his arcology hasn¡¯t kept them out. For the bramble area to be so dead ratchets the threat level in his mind way up. Then much to his relief he spots some blue off in the distance. Jason stops in place. A deep breath and he calms himself. Now with his target in front of him he continues. This time at a slower more stealthy walk. He had started today walking at this pace but his worries had caused him to increase his pace. He still catches up to the snarltail which appears to be stalking some prey. The best option at this point would be to wait for it to get in position itself. Jason however has his worries nipping at his feet. He follows for a minute or so but nervous energy takes over at that point. Jason picks up speed. The snarltail stops and cocks it head to listen. Jason breaks into a full out run at it and attacks with a kick straight to the cat¡¯s gut. The snarltail jumps back but not quite in time, Jason¡¯s foot still clips it. Hardly a wound but enough to enrage it. The cat pounces back at him and swipes out with a claw. -2 Jason blocks it with another kick. It cuts his foot up but the snarltail¡¯s paw isn¡¯t doing any better. It recoils back now with a limp. Jason however doesn¡¯t let it get away. He crouches down and springs forward. With his fists up he gets back into range and jabs out twice. It avoids the first but his second punch catches the cat. A spark of energy fires off as his blast punch partially connects. Suddenly teeth are in his face as the cat pounces. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. -5 To avoid the attack, Jason drops backward and with a well-timed slap on the ground breaks his fall. More scratches across his body bleed out for a moment before his blood hardens. While he avoided the bite, the claws still scored furrows across his chest. Now on the forest floor with the cat just past him a sliver of worry invades his mind. The snarltail turns back to him for another chomp at his head. Jason lays there for a moment. -1 However once the cat has committed to the attack, he slaps the ground again and uses the momentum to roll out of the way. His arm still marked by its teeth but he survived. Jason continues his roll and pulls his legs up to his chest. As his roll finishes he is now on his knees and inline with the cat''s side. He punches out with a straight and then jumps up to his feet. The snarltail hisses and slashes at him. This time Jason is ready for it and dodges back, taking no damage. Then he ducks right back in and goes at it with a flurry of punches. He isn¡¯t even able to make each of them a blast punch as he goes to fast. -3 It still has the effect Jason wanted though. Punches rain down on the snarltails head. He even takes damage from accidentally hitting its teeth a few times. However the blast punches that do connect knock the cat silly as he rings its head like a bell. With the snarltail stunned Jason slows down to make each punch count. He focuses right below the eyes and can feel the bones in its face shatter under his assault. Not long after he gets his first system message in a long while that he didn¡¯t call up himself.
Second Bottleneck Reached To level further please complete one of the following tasks:
Tough Self Imposed Battle +5 Hp +1 Agility
Jason plops down onto the ground and let''s out a weak chuckle. Just because he pulls up his level info and there it is, level 9 and 99.99%. He is now infinitely close to joining the game as a full citizen. As his body relaxes his chuckle turns into a laugh as he opens the harness. Lily now in his lap Jason spends a good ten minutes petting her. With his mental training he had kept a lot of his worries buried until now. He had never heard of cores in this world and just treated it like his past. Purity? Who knows if that was a good choice, there wasn¡¯t a guide online for it. Sure everything seemed to work. He was fighting enemies so many levels above his! Now though he reached the first milestone. One boss kill away from him having made it. Even if everything proves to be a shoddy house of cards, he will have a foundation to rely on. Jason places Lily back on the harness and stretches. Ready to take on the world, or at least a boss he jogs towards his goal. Jarr won''t know what hit him. Chapter 101 - Not Going to Lie, No Fighting This Chapter ¡°Yep, Jarr won¡¯t know what hit. Just as soon as I can find the damn blighter.¡± At the moment Jason is wandering along the edge of the forest. It had taken him only a day and a half to get out of there. However he had now been wandering for another day and a half trying to find his target. There were a lot of goblins around but none of them were even worth his time. Sometimes quantity has a quality all its own. Too bad for the goblins, most of whom were lower level than Jason, that only goes so far. The first half day he spent here since getting through the forest were calm enough. Now though Jason can¡¯t seem to walk half an hour without some gaggle of goblins charging him. For someone who didn¡¯t even have a problem fighting all the tutorial goblins at once this was a joke. Sure every group had at least one goblin at level ten or so but still. As of this morning Jason had jogged. Stealth doesn¡¯t matter when you''re just as likely to hit a goblin as not when you throw a rock over your shoulder. This isn¡¯t even hyperbole. The previous day around noon Jason gotten bored and tried it. Out of five throws he hit a lone goblin three of the times. They infested this place beyond belief. The only reason it is still a plains instead of a desert is they seem to avoid eating the kneehigh grass. Not that Jason can blame them. Stuff is tough as boot leather and textured like sandpaper. Noon has come and gone while Jason wanders. His only lead is that Jarr likes to go it alone. Something that must be quite hard in this place. Non-sentient goblins naturally gather around stronger goblins. As Jarr is a boss any goblin within a mile will swarm on him. To be alone would mean he must be not only avoiding others but killing those that find him as well. That in mind Jason has been going in whatever direction had less goblins. Now at sunset on his second full day in the plains, he was close. No goblins had attacked him in the last hour and the ever present noise of lone goblins scratching the dirt in search for bugs was gone. With how late it was Jason makes camp with the plan to finish things tomorrow. The night passes peaceful enough. Only twice did Jason have to get up and kill some goblins. Much better than the last two nights which where more fighting than sleeping. Jason stretches and lets Lily out to eat and frolic. He hadn¡¯t even bothered to take her out with how hostile the area was. Jason was honestly safer here than in town but a level one rabbit? Not so much. He feels bad for her as she isn¡¯t getting enough exercise but will have to make it up to here later. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Now ready Jason sets out at a ground eating jog. Though soon he finds that his estimations on how far he needed to go to find Jarr was quite wrong. Something seems to have cleared the area of any goblins. It does make some sense. After all, if the moment you find a goblin free area Jarr was in the middle he wouldn¡¯t catch anyone. For the guild to put up a quest he would need to make a nuisance of himself. Noon comes and goes before Jason finds something. There is a goblin corpse underneath a tree. With how the game works that means this is a fresh kill and by how there is nothing else here it had to be Jarr. While goblins are aggressive and will fight each other, this area doesn¡¯t contain enough of them to have that happen. Jason crouches down by the corpse and examines the area. By the blood marks that have to fade it seems the goblin died by being flung into the tree. With that Jason finds were the grass has been knocked over. It looks like the fight took place a decent distance away from the tree but the goblin tried to flee at some point. There are a couple marks that might be where some dead bodies had rested till they despawned. Jason turns back to the tree and the goblin body that was there took the chance to disappear while he had looked away. He shakes his head at this; the System loves to despawn stuff when no one is looking. Then Jason sighs, with the sudden despawn this was an older fight. Though things are looking up. While bodies and such go away, the grass will stay bent and blood takes much longer to go away. For this very reason actually. Hard to track something if the tracks magically disappear in a few minutes. The tracks lead back the way he had come from. Jason has a desire to facepalm. They had at some point passed right by each other. For all he knew Jarr might have been asleep in the grass just steps away at some point. With a sigh, he follows the tracks. As luck would have it though he soon catches up with whoever left them. Jason can hear something in front of him that moves in a very unstealthy way. He ducks down and approaches whatever it is. Through the grass Jason spots a goblin. Not close enough to inspect but that doesn¡¯t matter. The two defining features he was told about Jarr was one, he liked to go it alone. Lack of other goblins fawning over it covers that base, and two, a full body tattoo. While Jason cannot tell if the goblin¡¯s tattoo is fully full body as it where. He can see it covers everything visible. The goblin in front of him has to be Jarr. A goblin warboss stuck at the third bottleneck. Best of all it doesn¡¯t know Jason is behind it yet. Jarr won¡¯t fall to a single sneak attack of course. The game isn¡¯t that realistic but this provides the best chance to beat it and survive. Chapter 102 - Fighting Jarr Of course the System might have other ideas. While Jason tries to sneak up on the goblin warboss, Jarr, it notes this will be his bottleneck boss battle and responds accordingly. A loud noise like a gong being rung sounds out, alerting Jarr of his presence. Then to make matters worse fractal patterns of pixels cover the warboss obscuring him from Jason. As they clear up what was once a normal enough goblin is revealed to have changed. The first thing Jason notices is the tattoos now glow a sickly green color. Then Jarr stands up straight, something normal goblins can¡¯t do. He stretches out and reveals thick corded muscles in place of the stick-like appearance he had before. Beyond that once Jason looks past the tattoo¡¯s glow it is clear, the skin tone has gotten darker. A shocking change because he knows that the lighter a goblin¡¯s skin is the closer they are to being a three-eyed sentient. To have gone a darker green means Jarr has become more savage. Jarr turns toward Jason and reveals the final shocking change. The Guild had been wrong about the path he had been going down. Right in the center of his forehead is a double-sized eye. Instead of going down the goblin ruler or the hobgoblin evolution tree, Jarr was heading full tilt towards being a cyclops. A relative of the more noble giants only second in their cruelty to the worst of the giant kin, the hideous fomorians. The only creatures a cyclops will tolerate is food and blood relatives who are also cyclops. Jason settles into a side stance to ready for Jarr¡¯s charge. The demi-cyclops obliges him after a loud roar into the sky. As Jarr rushes up Jason squats deeper and winds up his back arm. Before they collide, he unleashes a powerful punch. Jarr is furious that Jason is attempting to fight back and swats the punch away. -3 Jason goes flying and lands in an uncontrolled roll a few bodies lengths away. He takes control of his roll and gets back up only to be smacked back again by a backhand slap. -4 This time Jason is ready for the unplanned flight and lands on his feet. Just in time to bring both his arms up and block a one handed shove. This pushes him back, his feet digging furrows in the ground. Now though he has a chance to counter attack and brings his back leg up around in a high kick that Jarr was not ready for. The strike knocks his head to the side and stuns him long enough for Jason to retreat and steady himself. Jarr bellows in a rage then pulls a giant club out from the ground as pixelated fractals scatter around. With a hideous smirk he charges again, this time swinging his new club. Jason mentally sighs as the System keeps pushing him. He knew that it would change stuff up so that the boss fight would be suitably difficult but this was getting ridiculous. Though this charge is easier to dodge as he had time to prepare. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The wooden club swishes over Jason¡¯s head as he drops into a crouch. Then he spring back up with an uppercut onto the arm that swung the club. His blast punch connects to the arm and Jarr looks like he is about to drop the club but holds on to it. Jason follows this up with a spin into an elbow strike to the side. Jarr recoils and gnashes his teeth at Jason. He grabs the club in both hands and slams it down. It pushes Jason back by the force of the blow. Jarr lifts the club up high and pounds the ground over and over. Jason dodges back-and-forth so as to not be crushed by the crazed pummeling. As Jarr lifts the club for another ground pound Jason dashes in with a shoulder bash. With the club well over his head, it throws Jarr off balance and tips over backwards. As he crashes into the ground Jason pushes his advantage and stomps down hard on his ankle. Jarr cries out in pain then scrabbles backwards on the ground. Jason tries to follow but even prone Jarr is able to swing the club around with one hand and ward him off. As Jason backs off Jarr¡¯s tattoos glow brighter and he lifts himself off the ground. With great force smacks his back against the ground. Though instead of the expected thud the ground makes more of a wet noise. Before Jason can try and stop it the very dirt crawls up over Jarr¡¯s body and forms a large depression in the ground. It takes mere moments to solidifies into crude armor plates and the club has gained a number of rock spikes. As Jarr stands up, he cackles at his new found protection and slaps his club against the chest piece a couple of times. Whatever magic is at work here the dirt has condensed enough that this sounded more like it was hitting a rock and not earth. Now better protected Jarr tries to charge again, however the heavy armor slows him down enough Jason has no problem dodging. Even his swings with the club are more ponderous with the addition of those stone spikes. This worries Jason as a single hit from the club would not be devastating. That and Jarr won''t stop cackling which grates on his nerves. He needs to remove that club from the fight. Jason backs away as Jarr tries to run around and bash him flat. Then an opening as Jarr once again goes for a ground pound. Werry of a trap though Jason lets it go by. The club shatters the ground where it hit, sending dust into the air and pebbles flying. Jarr pauses for a moment and snarls. He raises the club again, this time with a pause at the top of the swing before it smashes the ground. An even bigger crater is formed by the strike as a flash of irritation can be seen on Jarr¡¯s face. Chapter 103 - Lily Wins Jarr had been trying to lure Jason into a trap. Now frustrated at his failure Jarr swings the club wildly. Jason takes the smart approach and stays out of the spiked clubs way. The fight continues on with this stalemate for a while longer, Jarr unable to connect and Jason unable to counter. Then it happens, Jarr swings the club so fiercely he almost loses grip of it. Jason takes this opening and jumps in. While the stone plates cover the demi-cyclops well enough, it shares the same weakness all plate does. It leaves the armpit open to allow movement and Jason goes straight for it. His back arm swings up and around with such force his back leg slides around as well. A fierce upper cut with a dose of blast punch slams right up into the weak point. He can hear a loud pop as Jarr¡¯s shoulder dislocates and the club sent flying off into the distance. Jason retreats as Jarr goes into a frenzy from pain. The right arm now hangs down at his side but not for long. Jarr goes to his knees and slaps the ground with his good hand. With a flash of his tattoos a pillar rockets out of the ground and slams into the dislocated shoulder. Another pop, this time with the sound of bones grinding together and it is back in place. Jarr swings his right arm around but the movement is a lot rougher than before. Still enough to be a threat though as he rushes forward going for a tackle. Jason tries to dodge to the side but Jarr¡¯s arms are deceptively long for his body and it catches Jason. -3 They both slam into the ground hard. Jason tries to break the grapple but Jarr just squeezed tighter. -1 Unable to breathe now Jason panics. He wiggles back and forth under Jarr. then as the demi-cyclops tries to bite him he goes for a headbutt. -2 It connects with Jarr¡¯s mouth and knocks a couple teeth out. This shock loosens his grip on Jason who takes advantage of the chance to get an arm out. With his arm now free Jason goes for a cyclops¡¯ obvious weakness. He grabs Jarr¡¯s head with his hand and gouges the singular eye with a thrust of his thumb. Jarr releases him only to slam Jason in the chest with a punch as he scrabbles back. -11 The blow knocks the wind out of Jason but gives him the chance to stand up. Jarr is a distance away crying tears of blood. The injury isn¡¯t enough to blind him for good but Jason has enough time to get his breathing under control before the fight restarts. Once Jarr gets his sight back, he roars and his tattoos glow once again. The armor plate on his chest thins a little as a helmet forms over his head. Jason notices this time though that the glow was dimmer than previously. Whatever power Jarr has been using is running out. Not to let this chance go Jason circles around the enraged demi-cyclops while he approaches. Jarr spins in place to keep a line of sight with him then lashes out. Jason reverses the direction he was circling and jumps in. Jarr takes a moment to reorient himself but this is enough to let a punch through. This is just too much for him and all remnants of sentience flee his mind. Jarr screams out his rage with the ending of it being that of a wounded animal instead of a thinking creature. He drops onto his knuckles as his tattoos glow one final time and his very body changes. Whatever else happens Jarr has now lost his chance of advancing. His body warps with his arms elongating, the spine curving, and his legs shortening. The last of the glow fades away and with it the tattoos. Jarr now looks like a shaved great ape more than anything else. Even the plate armor has changed and melded into its flesh, now looking more like strange bone spurs. Its knuckles dig into the soil as it throws itself at a shocked Jason. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. This knocks Jason out of his daze and he can barely dodge out of the way in time. However Jarr doesn¡¯t stop and with its now massive fingers gouges out the ground and tosses itself at him over and over. Each dodge is closer and Jason is breathing hard from the exertion. With no other option it forces him to attack before he runs out of stamina. Jarr is in the air going for him once again when he strikes. A short jump back and Jason makes enough space for a knee to the jaw. More of Jarr¡¯s teeth fly out of his mouth. These though are jagged and malformed. Regular goblins aren¡¯t known for their straight teeth but this is way beyond normal. Even though he doesn¡¯t have the time Jason still takes a moment to wonder if Jarr could even survive if it has mutated his whole body like this. Then a wide swing from Jarr brings him back to the fight. Jason dodges back then steps in with a cross punch to the ribs. -1 The stone plate hurts his hand but at the same time shatters. When Jarr had made the helmet it had thinned out the sides of the plate too much. More howls of pain come from Jarr but Jason now has a target. After he dodges a couple more swings, he gets another shot at the ribs. This blast punch shatters the plate even more and blood is oozing out from between the cracks. With victory in sight Jason becomes even more cautious. He lets Jarr swing wildly as much as it wants. While the transformation seems to have increased its stamina, he knows it won¡¯t last forever. Jason just has to stand back and take his shots when safe. Each punch damaging the mad monster. Jarr no longer roars but is instead coughing up blood and each swing takes it longer to recover from. It drops onto all fours and can barely swat at Jason with one claw. With a close dodge Jason gets right in and blasts one final uppercut right into its chest. A flash of light from his blast punch and the entire chest plate shatters with bloody chunks dropping away. However Jarr with its final breath lunges at Jason who is has gotten right in its personal space. -17 Jason crashes down backwards and is trapped under the now dead Jarr. System message after System message are popping up and chimes are going off non-stop. However they will have to wait as Jason is unable to stay conscious. The last thought that goes through his mind as blackness overtakes him is thanks that nothing else is around to kill him after such a hard fight. Lily is now alone with Jason unconscious. She can only sit there and worry as she observes him. A red three is flashing over his head. -1 Then a couple minutes later it falls down and becomes a blood red two. However after a couple more minutes the strange monster on top of her master despawns and the number stops flashing. She sighs in relief as while she doesn¡¯t understand what it really means the flashing worried her. With nothing else pressing to deal with she snuggles into the soft bedding and falls asleep, hoping Jason would wake up soon. Chapter 104 - Just Messages Intense Boss Fight +10 HP +3 Agility
Second Bottleneck Broken Congratulations on reaching level ten! Your gameplay options will experience one of the most drastic changes and many new things will be available to you. However in exchange for the new you will lose some of the old. First and most noticeable will be your backpacks downgrade. While the inner space will still be greater than the outside, it will function like a normal bag from now on. This has caused some confusion in the past. We at NeoRealm HQ would like to point out that food will go bad. Also, putting heavy items on top of glass bottles (such as the common health potion) will cause the bottles to break. The upside is various restrictions on what equipment you can use are lifted. You can now buy a bigger and better backpack when you can afford it. Besides equipment changes you also can no longer view your current HP as a number. Only the pain you feel will guide you on how well you are doing. This also includes a removal of the pop up damage indicators. Don¡¯t worry, other combat pop ups such as when you land a critical hit will still show. Lack of HP indicators might lead you to experience the next change. New players have various limits on what death penalties they can experience. Not being a new player anymore you may now lose levels when you die. Also some of your items can now drop on death with money being the most likely to do so. Speaking of money, you¡¯ll notice that we have downgraded all your coins. Gold to silver, silver to copper, and well, copper to nothing. This change will also affect any quests currently in progress that are rated for players below level ten. Sadly, if you completed any higher rated quests previously and received the reward money already that money will receive a downgrade as well. The upside is that once you connect your game account to your bank, the wealth tab will be available so as to allow easier money management. On the other side of the scale now lets go over all the new exciting features and opportunities you can now explore! First off, for those of you interested in pets you can now control combat oriented ones. Over the years many of our users have found great joy in trying to be the very best. However do note that there is no official organization for this in game no matter what others might tell you. All current tournaments are based around NPC and player guilds that the company does not support. For more official competitions please check out all the channels now unlocked for you in whatever video streaming service you might use. Our sports channel will have pet assisted tournaments at least once a month! Though speaking of unlocked features, most will be connected to a change in legal status. No longer are you a [New Player] as that pesky modifier has been dropped. In game and on the web you now display as a regular [Player]. The most important of features connected to this change is you may now transfer money between your accounts! Play the stock market in real life to fund your adventures or maybe let your adventures fund your attempts at the stock market. Whichever way you want to go no longer is your wealth limited to either the game or in real life. Speaking of your adventures you have now gained the ability to share them to an even wider audience. Whether it is just ingame where you can now join a guild and have NPCs in your party or online where you can now stream whatever you''re doing. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Addendum: Because of your personal experiences in the game some special changes have happened to you! Control Stat unlocked! This stat allows for many interesting features in the game. First that you will experience is the ability to control the minimap mentally. You may not have unlocked the minimap yet so as a hint, try buying a local map! Of special note for you, your ability to shape Energy is controlled by Control. You may sell your self-created skill Blast Punch (Variant) to they System. Because of it ranking up to Initiate, the System would like to spread your skill to others and provide you a cut of what people pay to learn it. Warning, if you do sell your skill to the System, they will change it to make it fit better. You formed a core before level ten. As a reward for such an early core you have received the title ¡°Core Genius¡±. This title will provide feedback on how suitable your current location is for your cultivation technique and hints on how to improve it. While the use of this title is unlimited, it is an active ability. Also, since your energy type has already been unlocked as a onetime bonus your Energy will increase by 1. Purity based body cultivation detected during breakthrough. The title ¡°Body Cultivator of Pure Energy¡± has no additional effects but is used by various NPC and Player organizations for various purposes. An example of this is the numerous dojos that only accept those with the ¡°Body Cultivator¡± title or its derivative. Lack of stat points from level up has negated the penalty of lowered stat gains. The System has also determined that despite the lower average stat total combat effectiveness has not been affected. Corrective measures applied - Level suppression from powerful enemies increased
Bottleneck Breaker Bonus For breaking through a bottleneck beyond the first we grant you a choice of three special abilities determined by your play style. For your constant travels through sandy terrain [Sand Step - Under your feet even the loosest sand will provide traction] Because of befriending a rabbit and your peaceful relations with them in general [Rabbit Kin - All rabbit based beings look upon you more favorable] As a result of your attempts to grow plants while traveling [Roaming Loam - The material you grow plants in will absorb nature based energies from the land as you travel]
Unlocked Equipment You may wear equipment with restrictions on them. Along with this, all basic accessory slots are now available. The opened slots are as follows; a necklace, two rings (on any finger or finger-like appendage), two earrings (on any body part), one small mystic tattoo, and a bracelet. Chapter 105 - About Money Jason groans while he stretches out his arms. He just finished a once over of all those System messages and is a little disappointed. For most people it would contain all the info they need at this point. His special circumstance and the bit of research done makes them not as comprehensive. For instance, it mentions that the level suppression from powerful enemies was increased. It hints at what it does but doesn¡¯t actually tell him anything. As luck would have it, the info was not locked behind the level ten blackout. Jason had looked it up before he even started the game or rather it came up in some of his other searches. Level suppression is why he didn¡¯t try to fight enemies over one bottleneck ahead of him. Jason big trick is to use targeted hits to cause fatal damage. What level suppression does in part is to prevent that. The devs didn¡¯t want some lucky level one character to get teleported into a dragon¡¯s brain and kill it. Mostly because one particular alpha tester did just that. So the game now provides an innate shield against physical trauma against anything to low tier. Now not only won¡¯t a level one character kill a dragon if they teleport into its brain. That same dragon won¡¯t die from an entire mountain crashing down on them unless there is a stalactite made of high grade ore right above them. Jason not being able to deal extra damage from targeting organs made it impossible for him to kill anything past the third bottleneck before. Now that they have increased the suppression for him it will be harder to jump levels. And that is just one example of what isn¡¯t being said. After all, at what point can he no longer use his tactics? Before he knew it would be at two bottlenecks ahead of him. It could now be anything in the next bottleneck or maybe halfway between the next bottleneck and the one after? Plus he now has access to the full breadth of the VRnet. Like the classic internet it has everything on it though unlike it the VRnet limits what you can do by if you have reached level ten in NeoRealm. Now when NeoRealm first came out, you could find all kinds of stuff about it but once it basically took over so much info is under lockdown. It is kind of hard to keep stuff up about them they don¡¯t want public when they control the money you use. Every government was kicking themselves really hard when they realized it had happened. Once you could easily convert every type of currency into NeoRealm gold and then back into any currency gold became, well, the gold standard. Some places tried to fight back against it. However once NeoRealm offered a better rate to turn that currency into gold but did not offer to convert it back they soon stopped. Mostly after a couple smaller third world countries had every cent of their money not held by the government or collectors turned into NRGold. The world is lucky that those behind VR technology and NeoRealm itself where very against how disgusting corporations had gotten. Unlike that search engine based company who originally had the motto to not be evil, NeoTech wrote into their core laws what they believed. At first they had a problem with making sure corruption didn¡¯t sneak in but once again controlling all the money helps. That and having advanced near AI level assistants monitor all the high-level employees doesn¡¯t hurt either. ¡°Welp, I can¡¯t lay here on the ground forever. Need to head back to town and finish up there. Sooner I can get on the road the sooner I can meet with Rosha and her mystery friend. That and I have heard rumors on what happens to your body on logout is tweaked. Before level ten for the most part your body just vanishes. Not sure about now, so when I am back in my inn room a little searching of the net is called for. Honestly, if I wasn¡¯t in the middle of nowhere, it would tempt me to log right now. There should be some kind of ¡®so you hit level ten¡¯ welcome post on just about every forum.¡± Jason stands up and stretches out again. He has noticed a few oddities in his body but that can wait. For now he can only jog off at a nice ground eating pace. No matter how much he would prefer to avoid it, Fern back at the Scratchy Pinecone will be his best source of info on that sort of thing. Jason might have preferred to ask Andrew about it as he was well informed about System related thing. However he had sent that letter which basically told him to fly off to the middle of the wasteland. Fern has been around long enough and knew some interesting people. She will be able to help at least point him in the right direction. With his mind busy Jason passes through the goblin free area. Soon enough though his pace gets bogged down by the green little nuisances. With a sigh, he cuts back into the forest and heads directly towards town. The trees make his speed a little slower but without the interruptions he gets back to Wasteland¡¯s Edge within half a day. It is amazing how much faster he can travel when not stopping to hunt. Lily is a bit disgruntled at this point, not having been given much of a chance to come out but that is just how it works out sometimes. As Jason approaches the gates, he realizes he forgot to do something when he first woke up. With a quick command he brings up his character sheet and looks it over. He already knows most of what will have changed but it is still good to check. He did get some titles and such.
Basic Info Name: Jason Level: 10 - 0.0% [ +1 Lv ] Legal Status: [ New Player -> Player ] Title: Willful Survivor Normal Stats Auxiliary Stats
Organizations Adventurers Guild - Basic Member - Rank [ F -> E+ ] Odd Ones Out - Team Member - Leader
Bonuses Knowledge Bonuses: Discovery Bonuses: Titles:
Skills Energetic Body Reinforcement Accepting only purity of body and mind you have given up past concepts of self for the uncertainty of truth. Initiate Level 9 - 52.62% [ +44.5% ] Rarity: Truth Type: Passive, Cultivation Effects: Desolate Traversal Technique A combination of traditional parkour and energy use. While considered a basic skill it is highly ranked among them. Generally learned by rogues it is however open for anyone to learn. This skill has ranked up through comprehension of parkour being about efficiency of movement. A rare feat as it has been noted by an unnamed master that, ¡°teaching a man parkour isn¡¯t about how to jump over walls but rather beating into them that most of the time you should just walk through the gate¡±. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Apprentice Level 6 - 99.3% [ +86.4% ] Rarity: Uncommon Type: Passive, Movement Effects: Energetic Poison and Venom Resistance One of the rare active skill based resistances. While still able to passively provide benefits this skill really shines when directly used. As there are many types of poison and venom the System has decided it is best like this rather than a stat as this allows more variety without littering the stat line with entries like ¡®elven paralysis poison resistance¡¯. Uses the best percentage. Initiate Level 5 - 0.0% Rarity: Exquisite Beginner Type: Passive/Active, Energy, Adaptive Effects: Blast Punch (Variant) The normal Blast Punch is a ranged mana based skill similar to burning hands. A magic user would concentrate pure Mana around his fist then punch the air sending out a glowing ball of pure magic. Someone developed this skill to help fire mages counter low level fire based enemies. Preferred over the mana missile skill as the user does not have to focus on guiding it and thus allow dodging directly after use. However, that is not this skill. Not only has it been changed to use Energy instead of Mana it is no longer ranged. This Blast Punch is like the classic one inch punch, trying to get the most out of a short distance. However, instead of focusing the body¡¯s explosive strength into a small burst of motion this skill focuses the users Energy. While someone can use it with a regular punch as long as the fist is punching the skill will work. This change causes the skill to no longer be ranged but as a tradeoff the Energy will only be used on a hit and some Energy will be pushed directly into the enemy providing armor piercing. Initiate Level 1 - 0.0% [ +1 Rank ] Rarity: Variant Beginner Type: Energy Attack Effects: Farming You have shown yourself to be proficient at this classic skill. Don¡¯t look down on it as these lands contain many mysterious plants with uncountable effects. Novice Level 9 - 84.6% [ +59.3% ] Rarity: Normal Type: Passive, Production Effects:
Wealth [Locked (requires linked bank account)]
Equipment Living Amber Skeletal System Description: This masterpiece of magical items is the opposite of the undead. While undead are the living that are killed and turned into magical items, this is a magical item turned into a living piece of a creature. An intricately carved full skeleton made entirely of Magical Amber. It was then hollowed out leaving just the barest of a lattice work. When magically implanted into the host, the bone marrow was grafted into these cavities. Because of difficulties and dangers that appear when trying to enchant a living creature they have instead been imbued with magic. Effects: Bonuses: Complete Weaponless Rabbit Leather Martial Arts Beginners Set Set Items: Description: An Exquisitely crafted set of gear made entirely out of the cheapest quality of Rabbit Leather. Only through years of research and many crafters blood, sweat, and tears was this level of quality reached while keeping such a low price. All the pieces of this set have been specially created to be swapped between several configurations and thus there is no step by step set bonuses for it. A pair of boots, greaves, and a bastard sword are just as valid of a complete set as wearing something in every equipment slot. As for how it looks. Best way to put it is they tried. Effects: Bonuses: Set Bonuses: ¡®Sealed Silver¡¯ Snips Description: A pair of gardening snips meant for harvesting plants. The snips are plated in Sealed Silver. This metal when used to cut something prevents the flow of energy though the slightest resistance will remove this effect. Perfect for harvesting plants as it stops the leaking of any natural energies. Small Critter Protection Harness Description: An odd harness made by an odder ork. Built into the shoulder is a protective cage meant to shelter small animals. When in use the cage is shifted away from the current dimension to provide an extra level of safety. While the harness itself looks average, the material used is leather from an elder glutton wolf, a distant relative of Fenrir by way of Skoll and Hati. The creator has focused all magics woven into this device on the safety of the animal and so provides no bonuses to the wearer. Because of this you can wear the harness over or under other magical gear with no fear of unexpected interactions.
Pets and Companions Non-Combat Pets [0/2] Combat Pets [0/1] Companions Chapter 106 - Small and Loud ¡°Oh hey, my boots actually have an effect attached to them! A 1% jump height bonus isn¡¯t much but still more than nothing. Still not a reason to keep the gear once I find more post-bottleneck appropriate stuff. Welp, off to the guild before night falls.¡± Jason passes through the gate and jogs off. The Adventurers Guild is packed to the gills when arrives. He had somewhat expected this but the number of hunters is still impressive. From the various goods they are hauling around most of them must have come from the wasteland area. Jason is about to get into the line for quest completion when a couple letters pop up. The first is simple enough, Andrew just confirms he plans to go and check out the animal-headed goblins. The second letter however makes Jason feel a bit guilty as it reminds him he still had confirmed nothing with Rosha. It is simply a letter from here dated a couple days back asking if he has a plan on where to meet up at. With a bit of shuffling Jason reaches the letter station and grabs a piece of paper and borrows a magic pen for a copper. That gathered he joins the correct line and writes a response.
Hey Rosha, Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. Just broke through so everything is fine on my side. I will stay the night before I head out. However I don¡¯t have a map yet. Since you went to a more standard place, they should have something. Pick where you want and I will meet you there. I will swing by the guild tomorrow morning so you can send me another letter. Also, it might interest you to know I got Andrew to check something out for me. Found a tribe of animal-headed goblins who wanted to be people. Don¡¯t know what will happen but we should keep it in mind next time we find something interesting related to the System. We might not be able to do anything but Andrew fits the classic saying of ¡°A Wizard did it¡±. Sorry for the late reply, Jason
With the letter done all he can do is wait in line. Time passes and he reaches one of the quest turn in desks. The tails change hands and he receives the remaining sixty silver. A trace of sadness flows through him because of the lost money from the earlier turn in. Nothing he can do though so instead grabs the last automatically harvested goods he will get from the System. It surprises the receptionist with how dark green the ear is. After confirming that I was indeed turning in the Jarr elimination quest they call over a manager. From the back a portly halfling waddles out. The shadows cling to the pseudo elemental and his steps are still as silent as any other of his kind despite his bulk. As he approaches the counter the receptionist pulls out a small set of stairs built into it to accommodate shorter workers. The steps creak as he climbs them but he is soon inspecting the ear. The halfling manager hums and haws while muttering under his breath. Then with a sharper glare than Jason expected he looks up and asks, ¡°So boy, this is what the System thought appropriate for your second bottleneck?¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Jason stutters, ¡°uh, well yes? It was suggested, I mean Jarr was suggested to me. Fern at the inn gave me, well informed me of my choices for local bosses. Jarr was, err, seemed the most straightforward?¡± With a deep sigh the halfling messages his temples, ¡°Boy, listen to me. You likely already planned this as does anyone that crazy elf puts her eyes on but if you want a good life avoid her. Not that you may have that much choice in this. However, let me tell you, we have bosses galore. Fern told you of what, two bosses I would guess?¡± Then he stares directly at Jason. This was not a rhetorical question. Jason steadies himself under the piercing gaze, ¡°She mentioned five but only suggested three of them.¡± The halfling manager stair gains a steely look, ¡°The two likely are the towns boss and some critter in the wasteland. Besides Jarr, who else did she suggest?¡± Jason feels pressed down at this point but manages to answer, ¡°Twig, an abandoned treant and a nameless wolf shifter she said was only known to her. However she revealed that what it shifted into was a giant scorpion.¡± The manager yells, ¡°JERA! Upgrade the subjugation quest reward and danger level for Twig! SAM! Send out the scouts yesterday! There is an unknown wolf shifter whose alt farm is something Fern described as a ¡®giant scorpion¡¯. Level 24 but you know what that means when that elf is involved.¡± Then the manager seems to think of something, ¡°Boy, what else did she suggest for you to do and what happened?¡± Jason is just standing there while one of the other adventurers in line is supporting him. Being addressed again snaps him out of it and he responds, ¡°The snarltails, she had me reach the bottleneck off of them. During the last bit while I was heading towards Jarr there was an odd bramble area. While I cultivated near it, the whole clearing grew up overnight with the stuff.¡± With a loud smash the halfling bashes his fist through the counter, ¡°SAM, cancel that last order! The brambles are back in play! We need a map of the affected area ASAP! We have confirmed sightings near where Jarr was last seen! An insectoid shifter no matter how ¡®interesting¡¯ it is to Fern can wait.¡± He turns back to Jason and stares directly at him as if to see through his soul. This ends up being truer than Jason would prefer. With a sigh, the manager eases up on his presence, ¡°A heart core, eh? Good job, looks like Penny was right about you. Though that will just mean she will boast our ears off next meet up. Anyway, sorry about that. I don¡¯t know why but Fern seems to only be able to tell us about these things through nonsense roundabout ways. Oh, and you should equip the title you got for the core. Some people might be a bit curious about you if you don¡¯t. Not a problem with most but some are more hands on with their curiosity.¡± He turns to the receptionist everyone had forgotten about. He is just standing there like a statue. The halfling sighs, ¡°What, never seen a guildmaster take charge? Like I would let a manager deal with anything involving a demi-cyclops. Don¡¯t worry about the boy, mark the quest complete and upgrade him directly to D rank. You can skip the minus under my authority. The system might have upgrade Jarr because of his bottleneck quest but he was likely on his way to begin with. This is probably the best outcome anyway. Jarr might have gotten away after his breakthrough and this way it is taken care of.¡± With a final hmph the local guildmaster stalks off into the back again. Chapter 107 - A Little Rusty The Adventurers Guild lapses into a moment of silence as the local guildmaster leaves. This doesn¡¯t last long as the chaos soon returns. Now with an extra surge of energy as the two guild officials who he gave tasks to sprung into action. Soon everyone forgets about the boy has started the whole mess and Jason is able to finish what he came to do. Three gold richer and a promise of some reward back in his inn room Jason drops off the letter to Rosha and leaves. Not rich enough to upgrade his though so he heads back to the Scratchy Pinecone. As he rounds the corner Jason can see Fern waiting for him just outside the way in. Neither of them are surprised by this event so he heads over, dragging his feet. With a sigh, he asks one simple question, ¡°Why?¡± Fern giggles like a little schoolgirl as she grabs his shoulder and drags Jason into the building. With one final laugh she speaks up, ¡°Did you see his face? Shar always has the best expressions when one of my plots gets revealed! A shame I had to give up on my little shifter but that¡¯s life. Though I do hope they take care of those nasty plants. Last time I had to step in for them was a drag.¡± It takes a lot of willpower for Jason to not ask why she didn¡¯t tell them about it. Fern just laughs some more before telling him to head off to his room to get his System reward. Jason almost runs to his room at the suggestion but catches himself. He does however allow himself a shuffling jog and a nice door slam when he gets there. In the center of his room is a small metal sphere, hovering just above the floor. Jason shrugs his backpack off onto the bed before taking a closer look. Not much to see though as it is a perfectly smooth sphere. With no other choice Jason pokes it. This brings up a nice little prompt that asks if he would like to accept his reward now. A little leary of it he first takes off all his gear and lets Lily out onto the bed. Another poke brings back the prompt and this time he accepts it. The orb shivers and ripples spread out from where he poked it. Without warning, spots of red rust appears all over it. The ball of what Jason can now identify as iron rusts away. Each flake of rust that falls off only travels a short distance before joining with other flakes and swirling around. In minutes what should have taken years has happened and the sphere has been reduced to pure rust. The swirl so thick now it looks like a dust devil. Then it stops in place. Jason braces himself for whatever is to come next and a good thing he did. The frozen rust swirl flies at him tip first. He raises his hands in reflex. Not the worst idea as it saved his undershirt. Though it ends up causing him a boatload more pain. The rust flakes pierce his palms and they stream directly into his bloodstream. It feels like tiny knives are attacking his blood vessels as the rust rushes towards his heart. At this point Jason loses control of his body and falls over as the last of the rust swirl infiltrates his body. Barely conscious Jason is just able to focus on his cultivation path. The pain recedes as the torn veins stop existing. However on top of his core his heart remains. Inside it he can make out that the rust flakes have formed another swirl, this time much smaller. As the rust moves round and round each flake scrapes against one another and shrinks in size. An hour passes and every bit has been reduced to near invisible specks with the swirl now more like a fog. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. It leaves Jason on the floor panting. The pain is gone but so is all his stamina. Lily hops down and nuzzles him in worry. He is about to assure her everything is fine when his lungs started to burn. The rust fog is gone from his heart and he has a guess on where it went. Jason rolls onto his side facing away from Lily as he coughs up blood. He can just barely keep track of what is happening. The rust fog is sand blasting his lungs. More coughing and he can see bits of flesh mixed in with the blood. The pain shifts to more of a stab as the rust crystalizes in his chest with the lungs regrowing around it. Soon each iron crystal connects to another and arcane symbols form from it. Sparks of static start to zip around his lungs before it settles down. Now the metal has lost its redness and shifted to a deep blue green. It forces Jason to cough more as a sludge like black substance spills out from his mouth. This leaves him exhausted and gasping for air. A System message pops up to inform him what this mystery prize was that caused so much pain.
¡®BlueIron Rust¡¯ Electrolysis Ritual Circle Description: An impossible ritual that crystallized directly in the lungs of the Traveller Jason. Through BlueIron¡¯s innate electrical nature this formation can break down water into its components and capture the resulting breathable elements. This will allow for sustained underwater activities as long as Energy flows through it. As a side benefit the ritual will also expel any unwanted matter from the lungs at an additional Energy cost whenever desired. Best used when leaving the water to expel any remaining water. Effects: Bonuses:
Stamina Revealed Through a System reward you have had the Auxiliary Stat of Stamina revealed. Originally with a starting amount of ten but because of being a body cultivator raised it to 20 points. Stamina determines a number of interesting effects which are in place to make the game fun while not making everyone a super man. The most obvious effect you will notice is that stamina is connected to faster travel. When using System recognized roads everyone will be able to travel at an increased rate. The System restricts this fast travel to an amount of time determined by a number of factors of which stamina is a core part. Another freebie bit of info is that stamina reduces the strain of traveling over difficult terrain such as sand dunes or swamps. Chapter 108 - New Backpack ¡°System Damn it! What is with it and rewarding me with pain? Just because I¡¯ve felt worse doesn¡¯t mean smaller amounts of pain suddenly hurt less. Sure I can take it but that only means I don¡¯t get to sink into the glorious blackness of unconsciousness.¡± Jason stands up and takes a few deep breaths. The first couple he can hear an odd crinkling from his chest. However after a couple short bursts of pain that sorts itself out. Now each breath feels like a whale swallowing the sea as his chest expands still it strains his shirt. ¡°Better lung capacity is a nice side benefit. Though of course I would prefer a better stomach. You need air to live and admittedly my cultivation is partly based on it at the moment. However energy rich herbs, pills, and elixirs can do more for me and being able to digest them fully would be better. Sadly, I never learned the techniques for improved digestion as they all required more than a mortal body. Sure I can practice some meditation techniques to help with digestion but most of those are just about relieving stress. Probably be better for me to cultivate a little before taking any cultivation resources. Anyway, I need to get to sleep soon.¡± Next morning rolls around and Jason readies to leave the Scratchy Pinecone for the last time. Everything is packed away, not that he ever left his stuff in the room, and Lily was in the harness munching on some spinach. With quiet steps Jason enters the dining area and sighs in relief when he doesn¡¯t spot Fern. Still vigilant though he eases the exit open. However as it opens Jason nearly jumps at the sound of it creaking. For some reason though it doesn¡¯t sound quite right. Almost as if the noise was coming from behind the door instead of the door itself. Once fully open this suspicion is proven true. Right behind the door crouched down out of sight is a silently giggling Fern. She jumps up and slaps Jason on his shoulder. Back in the dining hall the guests all turn away and studiously ignore this turn of events. Fern, now finished laughing, advises him that, ¡°didn¡¯t someone already warn you to change your title? Mister stick in the mud at the guild should have mentioned it. Very important because only those who manage it on their own get the title. Only important families have various ways to cause a kid to form their core early. If you don¡¯t use the title, then some powerful people will think you belong to one of them and that can only cause trouble. You already have me so you definitely don¡¯t need others meddling in your life.¡± Jason tries to leave but Fern blocks his way and looks down at him expectantly. He can only sigh and tell the system to switch his title to ¡®Core Genius¡±. Once that is done Fern lets him through. Though not before one last offer that he, ¡°can stay here anytime you want! Same price, same meddling!¡± Jason just books it. No looking back, no slowing down, all the way to the Adventurers Guild. Once inside, he takes a moment to catch his breath only to find that he doesn¡¯t have to. The enhancement to his lungs already proving their worth. Then again, that might just be the roads at work now that he is level ten. He doesn¡¯t care to delve into it too much and instead turns to the System message alerting him to a new letter. Rosha had gotten back to him it seems. Her suggestion on where to meet up was convenient for Jason. She had decided on a trade city, deep enough into the kingdom so it isn¡¯t an easy invasion target. However close enough to two other kingdoms, one being the place with the nobles that hate him, to allow an easy passage for caravans. Better yet there is a major road connecting Wasteland¡¯s Edge to it in a straight shot. Apparently while the wasteland extends into another kingdom only on this side are the monsters low enough level to make material farming worthwhile. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. With a target now Jason takes a look at the quest board. It would be perfect if he could find some escort mission to make some pocket change on the way. Of course it is wishful thinking on his part to expect that. While there are protection details they aren¡¯t looking for him. With such a flood of adventurers who have broken through the third bottleneck coming and going all the time no caravan would bother with someone who hasn¡¯t. In the end he asks around and finds that for one of his three gold he can ride along with a caravan leaving just before noon. Most other groups have left already and this one caravan was still in town because of a broken axle. It confused Jason why it would take so long to fix in a world of magic. That is he was until the receptionist explained that they had to replace the axle because they were enchanted to handle the load. At least it meant he wasn¡¯t going to be traveling alone. With only slight trepidation he hands over almost a third of his money to reserve a spot. Done with the guild Jason heads over to the market again. While he could not upgrade his armor, there was one thing that needed to be changed right away. His backpack was holding together for the moment but the tutorial magic was quickly fading. The System message might have made it sound like the thing would stop working right away there is some leeway built in. He didn¡¯t need anything too fancy. With his portable planter taking care of his plants one of the basic models should work just fine. Though in the end he includes one nice feature. They enchanted the side pockets to hold three times the volume and with a stasis effect so food will take longer to spoil. Besides that the thing barely holds twice the volume. Compared to the luxurious tutorial packs ten times this was nothing. However he didn¡¯t particularly use the space to begin with so it all works out. Works out to a whopping two gold and 23 silver. Even that is an incredible deal. Places where people go to break the second bottleneck would price it at least ten times that amount. Wasteland¡¯s Edge only has them so cheap because this is where people tend to trade them in for an upgrade, not buy them.
Modified Spacial Backpack (Leather, 2x Volume) Description: A generic backpack with spacial magic enchanted on it that increases the inner volume to twice the expected amount. It has been modified so the two side pockets have thrice the volume and non-living items inside them degrade at half the rate of the stable dimension it currently resides in. Chapter 109 - The Wagons With all his gear packed and the addition of leafy greens worth 6 silver and 25 copper Jason is ready to leave. Of course he still has to wait about an hour for the caravan but that is better than having to stay another night. Anyway, the gate that he will meet up with them at is interesting enough. While the gate he had been using was busy, it was mostly hunters and adventurers coming and going. They might be of all the various races but when it comes down to it they blur together. After all leather armor is the main type of gear, even for spellcasters, until after the fourth bottleneck. Only at that point can they afford to splurge on better stuff. After all, what good is a steel plate when for about the same price you can get leather gear that is about the same and so much lighter? Sure, once you can afford things made of special materials or enchanted the classic fantasy gear shows up. However the only people who would prance around in metal armor at low levels are dwarves. That and those who are filthy rich. You still see the occasional foppish young master flouncing around in gleaming white metal armor trimmed with gold. Here at the trade gate however you can see real variety. Small groups of traders are constantly entering and leaving the gate. Each one like a glittering gem as they try to outdo one another for who can look the best. Only nobles could see this view and be unimpressed. That and the many people. Sure the other gate had a lot of different people but they all fit the general mold of either agile or brawny. The traders and their company are spread throughout the spectrum of body types. Under this barrage of colors, smells, and sights Jason lets the time slip by until he felt a slight rumble through the ground. He turns to the main road and his ride comes into view. Monstrous six wheeled wagons trundle down the middle of the road towards the gate and just make it under the two story opening. The guards get to work and clear the way as Jason moves over to the area they told him to wait for them. A line of seven such vehicles, each one carved into an impressive tapestry move past before stopping to let the guards inspect what they are transporting. From the wagon second to the front, a wall of a man dressed up like a peacock steps out to greet the guard captain. As the man who is clearly the caravan master gets down to business, a slim little three-eyed goblin comes out from behind him and heads toward Jason. The goblin stops short and inspects him before she speaks up, ¡°so you''re the passenger then? Don¡¯t answer that.¡± she waves her hand to silence him, ¡°here¡¯s the deal. You paid a single gold to ride along with us. A little cheap but we needed to make up for the delay and replacement part. The trip will take just shy of three days including enough leeway for about three bandit ambushes. Should be about right as they seem to space themselves decently on this stretch of road. Anyway, you don¡¯t need to help. In fact, I would rather you not do anything at all. Just stretch out inside the barracks wagon, that¡¯s the one which is second from the back, and sleep the trip away. I don¡¯t mean to be rude but you''re a weakling. We have stronger guards and porters so you would get in the way.¡± Jason had been planning on doing that so shrugs and says, ¡°sure, I can stay put for the trip.¡± The goblin lady looks at him skeptically, ¡°whether you can has yet to be seen. Whatever else don¡¯t come out when bandits are attacking. You would only do something stupid. Oh, and since you do plan to sleep the trip away let me tell you your bunk. Once you enter the wagon turn left and go up the stairs to the third floor. Head all the way to the back and turn left again. The door will be marked 3L20. Your bunk is the second row back on the bottom and marked b2. Don¡¯t try to trade, we do frequent checks to make sure people haven¡¯t infiltrated the caravan. Now skedaddle, I need to keep track of how much the guards find this time.¡± She takes out a pair of glasses and puts them on. A dim glow covers them for a moment before they go dark again. With one final nod to him the goblin lady scurries off to yell at some guards for improperly opening a crate. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Jason stands there and blinks. ¡°Welp, that was an experience. Luckily I need some time irl to sort stuff out. I think the System has a function that will let me know when the caravan is almost to the destination. Going to just use that and skip out on having to deal with her again.¡± With nothing else to do Jason heads over the barracks wagon. While there are doorways all around it only one is open at the moment. As he approaches it though he has to wonder how much room there is in it. The lady had said his room was on the third floor, not the top. Sure the wagon was big but not four or more flours big. There must be spacial magic going on. Not unexpected and shows all the more why an axle would need to be heavily enchanted. Even the best enchantments Jason had heard of couldn¡¯t reduce the weight of what was being carried. The bottom of the wagon must be plastered with weight reduction enchantments to make this at all feasible to move. This three-day trip must cost a fortune in magic crystals to power it all. That doesn¡¯t even mention the horses being used to pull it all. Jason was mostly certain not a single one was less than quintuple his level. That and the occasional flash of scales which hint at a special heritage shows just how expensive they must be. It all makes him wonder why they bother with passengers. At least he does until more passengers start to show up. About 20 had already entered the wagon while he stood there dazed. Not wanting to appear like more of a fool he steps up into it. Inside is somewhat cramped corridor. To the left is a staircase as expected and the rest of the hallway is taken up by relatively few doors. Each one ornately carved with a nameplate made of semi-precious metals marking who it belongs to. Jason can only guess these are the rooms for the strongest guards or high quality rooms for rich passengers. Not wanting to be seen staring at them he climbs up. The next floor is similar though with twice the number of rooms and the doors are not marked with names. Up another floor and now the doors are packed tight and uncarved. The stairs continue upward confirming Jason¡¯s suspicions of a fourth floor but that doesn¡¯t matter to him. Down 20 doors and on the left, is his room. Behind the door marked 20A is a squat room filled with bunks going back about seven rows. They stacked each set of bunks three tall with just enough space for a human to squeeze into the bed. His bunk is easy enough to find and he figures out what the b stands for. Each of the three bunks is from the top are labeled t2, m2, and b2. Seems the marks are for top, middle, and bottom with the row number. Just as efficient as Jason would expect from that goblin lady. Now situated in his bunk Jason thinks of something. He pops the shoulder cage open and places Lily on his chest. With a serious look he explains that, ¡°I won¡¯t be awake for a while. That means I will have to keep you in there. There is enough food that won¡¯t spoil in three days to keep you well fed. However you have to pace yourself. Now I don¡¯t know if you can understand me but you have been overall too chill not to at least a little. Sorry about this next time I will try to figure out a better method to keep you occupied when I have to be away.¡± Then he puts a bunch of food into the cage¡¯s fluffy bed with Lilly and closes it up. Now with nothing else to do he sets up an alert for his phone to tell him when the caravan is almost to the destination, Orla Tor, and logs out. Chapter 110 - Andrew Out on The Town Andrew¡¯s Adventure (1/2) ¡°Tower feels a bit lonely today. Penny hasn¡¯t been by since bringing that interesting lad to me. To think the System would replace his whole skeleton with only a single reward! Not that bone replacement was out of my expectations but I expected either a single bone or a set of bones. Maybe I can find some more interesting scamps around the guild!¡± Mind made up Andrew pops to the entrance of the Adventurers Guild. A small party of adventurers get pushed out of the way as he appears there but are easily ignored. He strides confidently into the guild and glances around. Not much happening and all the parties inside know to not make eye contact. Sometimes Andrew just has to question his past decision to only give out wacky quests to those who do but Penny has kept him to his word. Speaking of Penny, there she is rushing out from the employees only area. Penny jogs right up to him and grabs Andrew by his sleeve to drag him into the back. As this was basically his goal in the first place Andrew takes the time to read the message, he got when he entered. Once they are out of the common room Penny turns around with her hands on her waist, ¡°what in the world are you doing here? You go through all the effort of hiding your tower only to just show up at the guild? I don¡¯t have anyone interesting for you to play with so go home!¡± Andrew chuckles, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t need to stick around.¡± Penny gives him a death stare. He rubs the back of his neck, ¡°well not anymore! Something came up which should distract me a day or so. Received a letter when I got here. It was from that boy, Jason I think? Anyway, the guy who got a new skeleton sent a letter and there is a doozy of a research opportunity for me out in the wasteland!¡± Penny just shakes her head, ¡°you were planning on having me pawn some newbies off on you to mess with. It has only been a few weeks since Jason and his group left. That little kerfuffle should have given you enough to study for a long while.¡± He waves his hands around, ¡°bah, it should have in theory. However a single data point no matter how tasty doesn¡¯t a study make. But this new thing is even better! Jason found three tribes worth of almost civilized goblin sub-species. Beyond that they have animal heads. There are enough species with stuff like that. However all the other species stick to a single family of animal forms. The Anubi, for instance, all have jackal heads no matter what. These goblins however have all kinds of animal heads! In fact, the three different tribes are split between the common dietary types. Carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores.¡± Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Then get out of here you old coot!¡±, and Penny shews him out of the guild. Andrew just laughs it off and pops over to the edge of the wasteland. He takes a quick look around and nods his head, ¡°not much has changed here. A little farther away from the rabbit plains but that is to be expected. The forest and the mountains also ran away from her area long ago. Some upstart wasteland won¡¯t be any different. Now I just have to find the little blighters. From the letter I assume they will be closer to Wasteland¡¯s Edge than they are to Shinefish. Welp, better get a move on!¡± Andrew lifts off the ground and rockets forward, the land below streaming past at absurd speeds. At the halfway point Andrew slows down a tad and strange runes start to drip off his fingers. The runes float up in the air forming intricate circles. Moments after each circle is complete they zoom off to each side of him not to be seen again. At least until one returns and inside of it is the frozen image of a goblin. Not just any goblin but one with the head and feet of a deer. A smile spreads across his face, ¡°perfect! They truly are as he describes. Now to gather a little bit of intelligence on the situation.¡± Andrew reaches into the frozen image and pulls the goblin out. As he does sickly green runes emanate off his hands and burrow into the monster¡¯s head. ¡°I hate using aggressive mind magic on something so close to being civilized but it is the quickest way to find out what is going on. Tribal monsters, especially anything goblin based, are irrationally fearful of their higher ups. Probably wouldn¡¯t spill the beans if one of those carnivore-headed goblins told them not to. Thank goodness the System restricts actual mind control style magic from targeting civilized sentients.¡± It takes a few more moments for the goblin to stop freaking out, that and Andrew landing them on the ground again. Neither goblins nor deer are known for flying. With it no longer screaming in terror Andrew opens up with a barrage of questions. ¡°Do you have a name and if so what is it? How many are in your tribe? How many are in each of the other two tribes? Who is in control of your tribe? Does your tribe want to become civilized? How about the other tribes?¡± The goblin stands up stiffly and answers in a robotic fashion, ¡°No name, 43, 22 in meat eating tribe and 37 in the tribe that eats all, meat eater elder controls everyone, yes, meat eaters want to so they can get out and eat other civilized being while the tribe that eats all are split on it.¡± Once done speaking the goblin slumps over and goes into a panic attack. Revealing the carnivore tribes plan pushed it into despair. Andrew smiles down at it, ¡°don¡¯t worry little one! I am here to figure this mess out. Everything will work out fine.¡± He waves toward the runic circle that had just been floating off the side. It swoops back down and the goblin is once again trapped in it. ¡°Good! This makes my time here worth it all that much more. No one knows what prompted the formation of the three-eyed goblins so it will be nice to personally witness what changes might happen. First though I need to gather them all. Only 102 of them so this should be easy enough!¡± Chapter 111 - Andrew Gets Ranted At Andrew¡¯s Adventures (2/2) Andrew rises up into the air and starts to spew out runes like the first set. This time though each circle created has a deeper red color to them. Once there are exactly 101 of these new rune circles floating around him Andrew sends out a burst of pure mana. Each rune circle absorbs a massive amount of mana and right before they can¡¯t hold anymore go screaming off into the distance. In less time than it took for the original circle to retrieve the deer-headed goblin they all return. Andrew waves his hand again and the circles sort themselves by tribe and then the elders of each tribe come to the forefront. This time as Andrew draws out the goblins he doesn¡¯t try to settle or control them. The two herbivore elders curl up into balls of panic. The two from the omnivore tribe hold themselves together a little better. However it is the three from the carnivores that surprise Andrew the most. They stand there in midair as if this was how they were meant to be. Without waiting for Andrew to say anything the head elder from the carnivore tribe starts to speak, ¡°You must be the one that boy sent! Thank you for coming out to our humble tribe. Can you really help us become a civilized race?¡± Andrew just has to laugh at his brazenness. Especially with how the truth spell above its head glows a deep sinister red at his thanks. He shakes his head, ¡°you really don¡¯t know what you got yourself into! There is only reason one I have not turned you into a puppet. That is that I really do want to discover how to turn your people into a civilized branch of the goblin family. You¡¯re all out of my circles only because I feel each of you need to be judged for your people to move forward. Don¡¯t worry about the rest of your people. They can see and hear all that is happening right now. Anyway, first up is to get some actual truth out of your mouth!¡± Ribbons of golden light fly out of Andrew¡¯s forehead and wraps up each of the elders. ¡°Those ribbons of forced truth should be enough to get it out of you. Now starting with whoever is in charge please start explaining the scheme and once done speaking let the next elder in importance say their piece.¡± A rough voice speaks out but the source shocks all the still trapped goblins and even Andrew. The young herbivore elder expounds upon his great plan, ¡°our people are trapped in this wasteland. Such a horrible place to be and they don¡¯t even realize it! If it wasn¡¯t for that group of adventurers who enslaved me as a pack mule, I would have been ignorant of it as well. Instead, I learned the truth of our world. Instead, I lived long enough to know what needed to be done. Those foolish adventurers believed me when I sent them into the death zone while I stayed back to ¡®take care of the camp¡¯. However despite knowing what to do, I didn¡¯t have anyway to do it. So much frustration until it dawned on me. If one group of adventurers can enlighten me another could save us!¡± If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°But how was I supposed to get their help? Back then I wasn¡¯t even an elder yet. I thought maybe being an elder would be enough but after an ¡®unfortunate¡¯ accident came through to open a position for me I found otherwise. I spit on my tribe! Just because we eat plants does not mean we have to be so weak! They didn¡¯t even let me become head elder despite my wisdom. I spit on them again! So what if the eldest is has a few years on me? I realized that they could never fulfill my plans. Instead, I needed to depend on the stronger tribes.¡± ¡°I first thought to use the omnivores. They eat meat and plants equally so I thought that they would at least sympathize with my plight. A rejection and another ¡®accident¡¯ later moved me to a more drastic measure. I realized I had been going about it wrong! Why bother with trying to get others to see it from my point of view? One captured carnivore youngling later and my plan could continue. With the mask of a greater predator I convinced the muddle-headed sprog that I was the highest elder. Over a few nights I fed my version of what the outside world was to it. How weak most of the civilized people where and most importantly how tasty! With my knowledge of cooking from my slave days I easily turned dead adventurers into kingly feasts for that stupid kid.¡± ¡°It worked perfectly! Once I released him back into the tribe the rumors of the outside world spread. Soon enough as if by magic the elders of the carnivore tribe subjugated the other two tribes. Even my pitiful tribe was able to shape up with the threat of death hanging over their heads. Most adventurers were too powerful to take on so we simply let the weak and the sick meet them. Nothing came of these sacrifices until that boy came along. Finally someone weak enough that we could force them to do our will! One sob story later and he was off on his way. However you showed up and I fear my plan might have fallen through. Screw the rest of my tribe! I just wanted to be civilized so I could break free of this cursed place. That¡¯s all I ever wanted.¡± Not even Andrew knew how to respond to this rant. In fact, even with the magical compulsion the carnivore head elder took a few moments to start talking. His story was a lot shorter though and boiled down to wanting a bigger hunting ground without any real understanding of what being civilized meant. From there, the rest either parrot the carnivore elder or simply state they wanted to become a civilized sentient to escape this place. Andrew still not sure what to do with this mess ends up shoving them back into their circles and popping back home with them. After that no one would see the animal-headed goblins for a long, long while. Though some adventurers would notice Andrew had added a couple more floors onto his tower. Rumor is he has some sort of special breeding project going on up there though of what no one really knows. Later on once Jason reaches his destination he would find a letter waiting for him from Andrew at the guild. Chapter 112 - James and Rosha Meet Some Bandits James & Rosha James and Rosha are traveling down a road with a small group of guards. Most new players might think this was to protect them but Rosha knows the truth. As a wayward uncle put it, ¡°They are there to be buzzkills¡±. Her aunt was quick to correct him and tell her they are there to prevent new players from joining a bandit group without the authorities knowing. Then she thwacked him when he started to complain about it. What is confusing Rosha at the moment though is how few dwarves are accompanying them. Even if they aren¡¯t strictly there to protect them, they still are there as a deterrent. However the dwarves only sent a couple of low level soldiers to travel with James. Rosha on the other hand has a full complement of 6 guards with a nice mix of professions. James on the other hand is cursing his rotten luck. The fool''s back at the mountain settlement where blind! He barely started to preach the truth to them before the elders forced him out. Even now they shame him with the two idiots sent to ¡®guard¡¯ him. When the other players where learning the secret dwarven teachings he had to travel to the nearby village. His natural charisma allowed him to con a couple of fools into carrying him through the newbie content but even then one of them was useless to him. How can anyone level that slowly? And the fool thinks he will grow into a power later! James can only thank his lucky stars that he ditched the idiot. During their travel, neither James nor Rosha are particularly talkative. For one, the split from a friend was saddening while the other was planning how to convert his guards. It isn¡¯t until they set up camp that they talk. Rosha starts, ¡°I will miss Jason. He was a fun guy despite not being a myconid.¡± James doesn¡¯t even bother to respond beyond a groan. Rosha assumes this is just his disapproval of the pun and attempt to lighten the mood. While partly correct James is more annoyed that she actually misses the idiot they allowed to be the leader of the party. Not to reveal his hand too soon he eventually speaks up, ¡°We can only try and breakthrough as soon as possible. When he breaks through, we will need to be able to travel wherever he is if we want to meet up. Until then being with him would waste everyone¡¯s time.¡± With a sigh Rosha can only agree with him before muttering something about going to bed early. This suits James just fine as it will allow him to work on the two idiots barely worthy of being called dwarves. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Next morning they both wake up refreshed. James feel he has made headway with the dwarves and Rosha got some extra sleep. With such a nice start to the day things soon sour. Bandits show up and shake them down. Of course not before offering them a job. The guards stand to the side and chat with the person leading the bandits. They very obviously know each other quite well. James just curses his incompetent guards. Rosha on the other hand can only sigh. She rightly assumes with how smoothly this went that this was a planned part of their trip. Though unlike James she spent most of her money on some new armor before they left so she didn¡¯t lose much. After the shakedown, Rosha notices that James seems to have changed a bit. Instead of sitting back, he tries to order the dwarven guards around. At first she assumed the robbery shook him. However as another day passes she notices there is more to it. He seems smug every time they do what he wants and devolves into cursing if they don¡¯t. The fourth day and he gets worse, even trying to order her guards around. They of course are having none of it. Once they put him in his place Rosha hears something she wasn¡¯t meant to. Under his breath James mutters, ¡°useless plebs, only dwarves are worth my time anyway!¡±. As her uncle would also say, ¡°something is rotten in the state of Denmark¡±. He always enjoyed old literature though that describes the current affairs for her so she doesn¡¯t mind using it. There is only one more day before they reach their destination so she decides to get some answers tonight. As usual Rosha claims she is going to hit the hay early. She heads into her tent and lies down, letting her breathing settle. She doesn¡¯t go to sleep though, instead using her ranger training to reduce her presence and focus on what she can hear. Even going as far as to activate a skill the others didn¡¯t know she had. Mouthing the words ¡°Enhance Hearing¡± is enough for her to hear everything going on in the camp. She hadn¡¯t planned to hide the skill but it never came up after she got it. The last bit of training with her instructor brought it out. Enhanced Hearing isn¡¯t even a skill the instructor was trying to teach but her rabbitkin nature upgraded the less powerful ¡°Careful Listening¡± to it. Out in the camp not much changes right away. The guards are all talking among themselves. Mostly observations about their trip so far. Things like how the grass was browner over the last day and that means summer was coming early this year. Very useful stuff for a ranger to know. This casual conversation is more than worth staying up later to Rosha. She does generally prefer to get to bed early and sleep in late but the game might just break that habit. Her mother would surely be ecstatic about this. In fact, the conversation is so interesting she almost misses what she stayed up for in the first place. Chapter 113 - Who Actually is Rosha? James & Rosha The two dwarven guard breakoff from the group and head over to where James was lounging. He commands them to kneel before his greatness and to prepare for his teachings. Listening to this Rosha is shocked. His voice doesn¡¯t sound any different but unlike usual every word from his mouth oozes a sleazy atmosphere. Unnoticed by James though Rosha picks it up both the dwarves sigh under their breath and mutter about how, ¡°it¡¯s only a job¡±. Clearly there is more to this than James realizes but before Rosha can ponder on it more James starts to preach, there isn¡¯t any other way to describe it. In a hushed tone James raves, ¡°dwarves are the bones of the world! All others are just a plague on our property! We stay deep in our homes satisfied but should we do that? NO! All that gold they blithely throw about should be ours for it comes from our home! They prance around using OUR property! Last night I enlightened you on how this is true and so now I will take you farther! The rotten elves claim the forest as their homes. I spit on their puny delusions. Their ¡®world trees¡¯ which they take as sacred are plagues upon the land which should be reduced to charcoal for our furnaces. Those sticks with aspirations send roots deep into the ground disrupting our lands! Underneath each one of those blasphemies our tunnels cannot stay stable as even the smallest roots easily penetrate our toughest supports!¡± He takes a breath and a gulp of beer, ¡°It isn¡¯t just the elves though! Those blighted beastkin ruin the world as well! Take the rabbitkin I travel with. Instead of giving me the money it earned as everyone of them should it wasted it on armor for itself! Worse yet instead of proper armor forged from metal it insisted on using leather. Such a waste! That leather would be better used to craft furniture for a dwarf to use.¡± He turns on the two dwarven guards, ¡°Though don¡¯t think I have forgotten you two and your disrespect by letting those worthless mongrels rob me! I don¡¯t care what deals you have with the curs! How dare you let them take metal from any dwarf let alone ME! Once we reach the next town and we have some privacy I shall whip you for this disgrace! Don¡¯t worry I won''t use this puny weapon here to do it. I will use a proper metal weave whip to rend flesh from your bodies so you will never forget!¡± And on and on he goes. Rosha turns a bit green from what she hears him say. Whatever is going on with him it is imperative she figures it out. Before now she had let the other two be and hadn¡¯t bothered to look into who they might be. That policy needs to change starting tonight. Instead of just going to sleep she logs off. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Rosha appears in her private room and right away pulls up a couple browser windows. She doesn¡¯t have that much to go on but there is enough. Especially after hearing that rant. Just the first bit was enough to lead her down the right path. Every major race has some racist group who thinks they are superior. Very few besides the humans however have player created racist movements. That one statement about the dwarves being the bones of the world leads her right to it though. The ¡°Worldbones¡± cult. Started by a political family when they lost power in the real world. All the rhetoric she heard James rant fits with their beliefs. Apparently at first it was a facade by the families¡¯ elders. However they did too good of a job at it. When the older generation died off, some in suspicious circumstances their goals changed. Originally the cult was to funnel money into the revival of their legacy. Now however the younger generation seems to believe in the nonsense they spew. The family has even gone so far as gene-mod themselves to match what they believe is the ideal dwarven form. Luckily despite how venomous the organization is their reach is small. The cult only controls a single mountainhome. Impressive yes, those great dwarven strongholds have delved deep into the earth and risen far above ground with gravity defying structures. In the end though the Worldbones cult only converted one of the newer mountainhomes. Of course newer is subjective as the place is still over a thousand years old but when the older ones only have legends to go on, it means something. Especially for a long-lived race in a world where there are people older than all of irl record human history Rosha, or more properly Rachel since she isn¡¯t in the game at the moment can only shake her head. NeoRealm really went the extra mile when setting up its world. Then again, they almost had too for it to saturate the world so completely. Other games come and go but when players, even after hundreds of years, have only explored part of a single world in game that has almost uncountable other similar ones along with who knows how many higher planes of existence with their own worlds? Well, suffice to say all others pale before it. Though like everyone else who knows this, she has to wonder how NeoRealm is able to simulate everything. Every single moment of every single world and realm being simulated down to the smallest particle? The company claims their special array of quantum computers can do it but clearly something else is going on. About the only thing her family is sure of is that they aren¡¯t somehow poking into an alternate dimension. It took a lot of work but they couldn¡¯t let something like that continue. In fact, now that she thinks about it this is partly why there are no competitors for NeoRealm. All the others cheat in some way which ends up connecting them to somewhere else instead of making a place whole cloth. Chapter 114 - Fern and a Tree Fern Jason has visited Plants Unlimited and we find Fern sitting at a small desk. The room she is in has dirt walls and the floor is solid rock. On the table sits a small tree with leaves of amber and a deep golden bark. You would almost mistake it for a normal bonsai tree if you didn¡¯t look under the table. Underneath it can be seen that the tree isn¡¯t on the table. Rather it has grown through the table with a root piercing down into the floor below, cracking in the floor. Fern is sitting there twiddling her thumbs while she waits. A knock at the door is heard before a small golem made of twigs and dressed in a maid¡¯s uniform enters the room. With a bow the twig golem hands Fern a small packet of letters and backs out of the room. Fern opens up the letters and runs her hands over each of them, reading the text by touch while she stays focused on the tree. Not that she had to at this point. The local spies just used form letters at this point when they wanted to ask her something. She couldn¡¯t really blame them for it. After the first handful of spy organizations got uprooted to the last man when they got too nosy the bunch got a lot more careful. She chuckles to herself, uprooted was the best way to describe it. This time though she expects to have some fun. The boy would bring in outside forces and those types never knew how to limit themselves. In fact, it seems like it is time for her to act. One of the amber leaves shows the scene of a man attempting to rent the room next to the boy¡¯s. The person at the desk of course has their orders and the spy will have to settle for a place a few rooms away. In another leaf it disappoints Fern to see they must have sent idiots. The fool spy actually tried to make a move on Plants Unlimited. Their gardens were always looking for more fertilizer. Almost a waste to harvest the idiot¡¯s life at such a low level. Then again, even if they are known for their specialty plants, they still need to grow the more normal stuff. Time passes as each leaf shows scenes from near and far though Fern currently isn¡¯t looking. Instead, to show the minimum amount of face for the local powers she is composing response letters to the local spies. Mostly informing them of the outside powers who would be looking into him. Then she is drawn back to the amber leaves. The spy who rented a room was finally making his move. Idiot wasn¡¯t even going to try a normal approach. Instead, he is trying to go through the walls. Fern shakes her head, that won¡¯t get him far without her permission. Still this is more excitement than she has had in a while. With a mental command the wall gives way to the spies ministrations. Then it makes more sense. They spent a good bit of money on this mission. The spy was actually carrying some high grade repair scrolls and those don¡¯t come cheap. Not only that, but it seems he plans to use it both ways as he repairs the wall he just broke through. Fern chuckles to herself at this. Makes her plan that much easier as she settles in to see how long it takes for the spy to notice. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Five rooms is the answer. The fourth room confused the spy when it wasn¡¯t the Jason¡¯s but they still tried to go one more. Nervous the spy backtracks or rather attempts to. Six rooms in the opposite direction and they start to panic. This turns into a mind breaking fear after going down ten floors and breaking through a door only to find themselves in another room. It honestly disappointed Fern when he finally can¡¯t take it anymore and brings out an escape talisman. She shrugs, playtime is over. The wooden walls of the room the spy is in all wriggle. What looked like a normal wood grain is actually an uncountable number of roots, all of them now streaming at the spy. Before he can even think to activate the talisman, it is taken from his hand as the rest of his body is bundled up. The room fills up with roots and the spy is gone. Fern ponders for a moment on whether to ask the guy some questions but decides against it. No longer held back roots so fine as to be invisible to the naked eye slip through the spies skin. Not long after all the roots retreat back to their previous form. It leaves nothing of the man, not even a single bone. With that done Fern congratulates herself on being so kind. He didn¡¯t even feel any pain from that. From what she could see the other foreign spies were not so lucky. Though a few lost spies doesn¡¯t stop the idiots. All the way up until Jason leaves Wasteland¡¯s Edge they keep trying. Those that tried their hands at Plants Unlimited ended up as living planters for some nasty funguses. A couple went to the leather ork. Normally that would be a swift death but they sent halflings. While frowned upon the ork can never hold himself back when provided with special materials. Sadly for the spies to keep the mystical connection to shadows a halfling has to be alive when the future leather is taken. Though most amusing is the idiots that had gone into the merchants¡¯ district to ask around. They were technically still alive. If they had just paid the price offered or left it, the group would have even been fine. Instead, when they found the price not to their liking, they tried to strong arm a discount. The devil is in the details as they say. More Specifically ¡®details¡¯ is the name of the place that sells info in town. Though now that the boy has left with those traders Fern sighs. She knew he wasn¡¯t going to stay around but still. Most people know not to mess with the area and those bumbling spies had stirred things up. Not much she can do. Fern stands up and stretches before leaving the room. As she does a pulse surges through the tree and into its roots. Unseen by most others this pulse surges through the whole inn and spreads out. If looked at from the sky, an observer would see it spread for hundreds of miles only being stopped at the wasteland and the rabbit plains. Up in the inn proper Fern excuses herself from the tavern. She goes into the kitchen where she promptly unravels into the finest of root filaments as she steps out from the cellar door. She grabs a plate of food and then goes back out into the tavern. Chapter 115 - Johns Journal ¡°John¡± Today was going to be a normal day of turning down newbies who thought I was just another skill trainer. Oh, how happy I am to be proven wrong though. A trio came into the hall and caused a bit of a stir. The girl had one of those legacy weapons that the travellers show up with occasionally. An impractical affair combining a bow, staff, daggers, and doubled bladed spear. Of course it works just fine and with System rewards viable. Be a problem to get crafted ones though. Not my problem and not what I found interesting. The dwarf in the group was boring despite the interesting combination of whip and shield. Bit of a mystery as to why in the world is he out of the dwarven outpost without his skills already. Still not interesting enough for me though. If I wanted to dabble in dwarven politics there are better ways to do that. Especially when I came to this out of the way place to avoid politics. At my level it is hard to do so but, well, life happens. Anyway, what caught my attention was the third kid. A human with no visible weapon that wandered around yet not finding a skill he could use. Found out right quick why though as he ended up coming to my corner. Not quite as bombastic as the rabbitkin but he had a nice little speech for us. Apparently he doesn¡¯t have a favored weapon or rather his favored weapon is his body. Not some weird gloves, not spiky shoes, nothing external. That is a first in a long while. There are some of us locals who travel the path of a pure body cultivator but I wouldn¡¯t quite say that is what this kid is doing. Not that it matters, I signaled the others to stay back. This fish was mine and minnow he might be but interesting, nonetheless. That and I promised Penny to teach him a thing or two if he couldn¡¯t find anything. Knew exactly what to teach the kid after a few words. He was confident in his martial arts so I offered a movement skill. Not the usual ones though. Sure silent step and bounding leap are great beginner skills but I wanted to have a little fun with the kid. I could practically hear the other rogue trainers screaming inside as I led him to my private training room. Can¡¯t blame them, not like I let them in it. As we walked to the room, I observed the way he walked from behind. He didn¡¯t even notice when I switched out for my double so I could change into my special gear. Not his fault of course. Anyway, I couldn¡¯t give him the really interesting options for a skill so it was a bit of a challenge to decide on what to offer. Now most trainers would offer just one of these skills if the trainee had particular promise or some other outside factor. Instead, I just belted out the three most appropriate for him. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Seemed he knew what was what, so I tweaked his nose a bit by questioning his prep after he chose Desolate Traversal Technique. Then of course I set the course to what someone at the height of the Novice rank with the skill could manage. He was a little rough to start but picked it up quickly as the challenge ramped up. I ducked out near the beginning to enter the control room proper. I could tell when he got it. Almost made me want to take back my previous statement to him about not personally training him. It was hard to resist the urge to offer him a place as my apprentice. Only thing that kept me back was the fact he didn¡¯t seem like the type who would enjoy sneaking around. At that point I could only keep upping the difficulty of the course to see how far he would go. When he finished and told me that he got to Initiate level 3 I couldn¡¯t hide my surprise. Embarrassed I covered it up with talking about how it was only luck that he activated powered grip. Never mind the fact that there are people at Apprentice rank of the skill who can¡¯t master it. As if luck would let someone use that ability. Okay, I admit he got my blood pumping. Right then and there I made a bad decision. What I am best known for isn¡¯t my sneaking but my alchemy. After watching him complete the trial at such a low level I knew he had a tough body and couldn¡¯t help but offer what shouldn¡¯t have been offered. The System actually issued me a warning for it. Still, I brought him into my personal poison lab. May the gods have mercy on my soul I offered him poison resistance through the hardest method. He accepted of course. At that point I couldn¡¯t back down. I brought out That poison. My masterpiece which I declined to allow a name. I joke about how it isn¡¯t the easiest to make. Easy? Each dose takes ten years to make and I only ever have three made at a time. It isn¡¯t even meant for others to use but rather to train the alchemy skill. The fool took it in one gulp. You can tell sometimes when the System offers a choice and boy was it obvious when the first offer to stop the pain popped up. Still, he persevered. I had to drop him into the lower padded room. In the end though he lasted. Boy, did he last. Got the skill and then some. You get the skill after one minute but he kept going. He must have been so focused on resisting that he missed getting the skill. I have a hard time past four minutes and this kid actually lasted over two. Each minute when first taken is worth a skill rank. This nobody without a background got farther than some of the monstrous apprentices that other masters have sent to test it. Well, Penny can¡¯t deny that I tried my best training her little disciple. She was a little distraught when I dropped him off at the guild bar but she will get over it. Chapter 116 - Youre Forgiven* Jason stretches as he steps out of the VR capsule and grumbles to himself. ¡°So this is the legendary gnawing hunger you get after a long stay in VR. The capsule might keep you fed but it isn¡¯t putting anything in your stomach. It might keep everyone thin but goodness gracious, this is the first time I have felt real hunger in this life. I have a better understanding of why all the adults were so irritable during the yearly mandated week of no VR. Even if you are used to eating tons of food a day in NeoRealm, you can¡¯t eat hardly anything out here. Especially with how shrunken the stomach must get. Nevermind that is one reason they force everyone out of VR in the first place. The capsule might keep your muscle tone to a degree but it still isn¡¯t advanced enough to truly work miracles.¡± In the kitchen there is a new note on the fridge. Less of a message this time though and more his mom chewing him out for eating her cookies. Jason just smiles to himself as he opens the door. However only disappointment meets him. There isn¡¯t anything in there. The freezer, while sparse, has a few things but they are all tv dinners that his mom loves. Though Jason sometimes wonders if she loves them because he hates them. Jason can only shrug. He would have to go out anyway to link his bank account. After technology got too good at faking people, the concept of online banking went extinct. You can¡¯t even do anything over the phone anymore. A nice meal after having to deal with bank security will be just the thing to destress. Mind made up he gathers the few things he needs. Before he can leave Jason spots another note, this one on the door.
Yo Jason, Don¡¯t buy more stuff for the fridge. I considered letting you learn that lesson the hard way but I would have to deal with all the rotten food as well. Also, I am actually out of the house atm. Dang company wanted me to go in person to check the new server location. Then again, if it got to this point, I don¡¯t know why they are even going through with this. Why buy a new location if you can¡¯t trust the seller? Whatever Love, Your awesome and forgiving* Mom
On a hunch Jason flips the note over and on the back it says ¡°*except for eating my cookies¡±. He can only facepalm. It has been days, weeks even if you count VR. Still she has to bring up the cookies. Nothing he can do about it so he brushes past the note into the hallway. Rather bland to look at but an apartment on one of the nicer hallways in the arcology costs an absurd amount. If he really wanted a riot of color, he could always turn on the AR feature everyone gets installed as a child. He doesn¡¯t need to for this trip though. Just a half hour later and he finds himself in front of the local bank branch his family uses. A quiet trip with only a handful of other people out and about. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Once inside the bank though he is pinged to activate it. With a sigh Jason turns on AR. Just a thought and the boring gray bank transitions into an opulent scene. They covered the ceiling in a fresco. The walls flow with scenes of a simulated alien ocean. Most important though is the blue screen right in front of him. A different shade and frame to keep it distinct from a NeoRealm window for legal and sanity reasons but no one would mistake its origin. On that screen is information on how long his wait time is. Jason¡¯s shoulders slump as he trudged over to a bench. After he sits down with a sigh, he tries to console himself that at least he will have time to search the forums. Though the timer counting down from two-and-a-half hours taunts him. You would think all the technology would make things quicker and wait times shorter. However when the only way to get people to work somewhere physically is to provide VR capsules and generous play time that all goes out the window. Not that Jason begrudges the employees. Everyone, even parents know nowadays that you can¡¯t pause an online game. NeoRealm especially isn¡¯t something you can just pop out of whenever you want. He admits to himself that he might be lucky. The bank will only schedule one of their employees to come out once a person shows up at the branch. If he showed up at a bad time, it could have taken twice as long to get assistance. With nothing else to do and all his grumbling worked out Jason opens up his browser. The first thing that greets him is a congratulations on joining the greater community along with a few links. The first feels particularly targeted, ¡°So you¡¯re waiting in a bank and want to know what else is new.¡± Seems he isn¡¯t the first to follow this path. The page loads and right at the top a big counter shows how true this is. Going by the number there are almost a thousand other people on the page at this very moment. Below that though is some incredibly helpful information. Though the first bullet point just tells him that if he isn¡¯t physically at the bank waiting, he should do so right now because it can take forever. However right below that is the most important tip. It simply tells him that when he sets up the NeoRealm connection to not use a pre-existing account. Rather than using his savings or debit account he should set up a specific NeoRealm account. Apparently banks have special features when you do so but they don¡¯t advertise it. Something about NeoRealm requiring them to have the features but the banks not liking it so they pushed back. If you don¡¯t ask for it right at the start, you lose the qualification. Chapter 117 - Golf Cart Ride Time passes as Jason surfs the web. The benefits of reaching level ten in NeoRealm are sort of ridiculous. If from a nation¡¯s standpoint reaching a certain age was adulthood, then level ten was NeoRealm¡¯s version of it. Which with how the internet works now was basically reaching the age of majority on the web as well. Jason can only shake his head at how pervasive the game is. Even in his old life cultivation wasn¡¯t the end all be all. Wizards, artificers, and alchemists to name a few had all vied for that position. Here though it all has been reduced down to one path to power. Jason can only assume there must be a reason for this. Whatever the secret was would just have to wait. Maybe with a higher level he would figure it out. A glance up at the timer shocks him. Despite all the nonsense he just read there is still an hour and a half left. Jason is about to read some other stuff when an idea hits him. He hadn¡¯t tried to cultivate outside of the game. There isn¡¯t anything that passes time quite like cultivation. Jason settles down into a comfortable position and mentally reaches out. At first there is nothing. In fact, second and third there is nothing as well. Not that he was expecting to notice anything in this short amount of time. So without any shock on his part the timer finishes counting down and an alarm goes off. It is right at that moment something glimmers on the edge of his mind and promptly disappears. He can only sigh and head over to the desk. Once he is face to face with the clerk things go shockingly fast. It honestly makes the wait time feel worse. Just a yes and a no and this is what I want followed with a handshake sets up his new NeoRealm connected account. To be fair, it is one of the streamlined processes which the banks got leaned on hard to create. It raises the question of why this would suddenly let him do bank related things in NeoRealm. Especially when banks went through so much trouble to make sure you had to make normal changes in person. Strange but Jason can only file it under ¡®worries for later¡¯ as the convenience is near essential. Besides that he is hungry and such deep thoughts can wait until after lunch? Dinner? He shakes his head and checks the time. ¡°Brunch it is. Going to get some waffles.¡± Jason travels down 11 floors and hops onto one of those moving walkways and jogged along it for a few minutes. This brings him to a nice little shop just a few main hallways away from the center park. It actually doesn¡¯t have a name and survives on word of mouth alone. The fact it is still around says something about the quality. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Jason enters the shop and waves at a camera in the corner. The menu has changed a little since the last time he was here but they still have his favorite. A stack of large pancakes marbled with caramel. He doesn¡¯t know how the owner manages it but that topped with vanilla ice cream is divine. Once his order is in the gas grill in the center of the room turns on and a robot rises from the floor. A wonderful connection between NeoRealm and the real world. The owner is still in VR running his restaurant there but when he gets a customer irl, he can hop into an ingame capsule and control the robot to cook. The original purpose of telepresence doctors is nice but at the moment Jason is here for pancakes. Anyway culinary magic happens and soon a steaming stack of pancakes appears in front of him. Jason takes his time enjoying the pancakes. Few places in the arcology that he can get food this good for this cheap. If the shop wasn¡¯t the owners passion project, he could have gotten a place in the geosync station above or in one of the secondary parks. Apparently his mom got introduced to the place by her boss''s boss after she closed a linchpin deal for the company. Jason doesn¡¯t even dare bring his closest friends to the place, so it doesn¡¯t spread. Apparently the owner has closed up shop before and moved to a new secret location when it has gotten too busy. Finished with that and quite full Jason decides to take the slow way back. He orders a ride back and after a few minutes a golf cart shows up. He stretches out on the seat before trying to cultivate again. As the cart trundles along and up ramps Jason reaches out with his mind. The world seems barren compared to even the worst lands from his past. If there was enough energy in the environment, there would be actual cultivators. However he knows there is something out there. He had felt it at the bank at the end. Jason had looked into it and while some of the older stories about monks and sages existed, it was all from long ago. There must have changed with this world in the past. Then once again just as he senses something an interruption happens. The cart has arrived at his house and was jerking forward and back while beeping. This wasn¡¯t how they used to work but a few too many people would end up passed out on the carts. Either the movement would wake them up or the noise would get someone to come and get them off. A little annoyance was a lot cheaper than adding more carts to make up for it. Sure fusion power was cheap but they take materials to build and require maintenance. Even with telepresence so people can do the work from VR it adds up fast. Chapter 118 - Grain by Grain Jason stands in front of his house as the cart drives away. He had planned to go right back into NeoRealm but a quick check of the time shows that there are still a few days left to the trip. With a sigh, he sets an alarm to tell him when he has half an hour irl left then sets up a trip to one of the secondary parks. With a beep that almost seems irritated the cart he had been riding turns around and comes back. Another peaceful ride later and Jason is dropped off at a small indoor park. Not as big as some of the outer parks and not open to the sky like the central park but more peaceful than either. They designed this one to be more like a forest and once inside the trees covered up the roof with their canopies leaving the illusion of a natural landscape. Not needed for what he wanted but the forest setting was less likely to have kids in it. You can¡¯t play any of the popular sports without an open area. Jason had actually been here himself a few times in the past. Then again, he had visited all the parks in the arcology at some point. He had even convinced his mom to take him to the rooftop gardens. An impressive if almost pointless show of power to keep the air up there thick enough to breathe while still having it open to the outside. Even then it required a special shield of sorts. Not like you see in sci-fi which can block weapons¡¯ fire but rather more like hardened air which restricted air flow and blocked the harmful sun rays. As he reminisced about the various other parks Jason had made his way towards the back of the forest. A small artificial brook flows to his left and a well-shaped stone sits next to it. The perfect place to meditate by yourself and a big reason he came to this specific park. There are others like it but he had checked but the arcology¡¯s system had informed him they were already occupied. No skin off his nose as any of them would work just fine. Jason takes a moment to do a few stretches before he sits down on the stone. A thin layer of moss covers the inner part as he knew it would, providing enough cushion to not hurt. Situated Jason sinks into his cultivation for the third time today. It comes quicker this time for him to sense the energy in the surroundings. This isn¡¯t his first time and so instead of trying to do something he lets the energy flow around him. After observing the energy, he notices something off. From his memories while the world¡¯s energy would flow it would follow a pattern. Here it is chaos. Sure during a storm it might have gotten stirred up like this but he had checked. The weather outside was clear. Instead, this felt more like multiple flows of energy were competing against one another. This would make the next step both harder and easier for Jason. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Unlike his first thought back when he was young the energy wasn¡¯t sparse. There were too many types of energy. He was attuned to one type so it felt like a desert at first. Now he realized instead of sand, the grains where actually rice. Though without his connection to the hero in his last life and the gods in between then and now he would still be stuck. It was an honest mistake when he was younger that you couldn¡¯t cultivate in this world. His time in NeoRealm had reminded him to look for other energies. Now with the insights of the hero and the random comments he picked up from the heavens Jason started to draw in the surrounding chaos. Not to keep, just to let it pass through his body. In the game he could start collecting right away because it sped everything up. His real body however is a different story. Sparks of pain pop up all around his body as things are healed and hurt almost at random. Some energy types even seem counter to his body. Others like a balm for the body and soul. Most however just are and pass by almost without notice. However time passes and over the last couple hours before he has to head back his body starts to alter. Almost below a physical level things are correcting themselves in his body. His skin isn¡¯t smoother, his life isn¡¯t longer, however even if he never tried again he would stay healthier for longer than he would have before. Still not what he would consider a cultivator but at least now he has a chance. If only he could figure out where all these energy types came from because they can¡¯t be natural here. It reaffirms to him that something happened here to change things. But that can wait because his alarm has gone off and he needs to get back to NeoRealm. While sharpening an axe doesn¡¯t delay the work. Not having the strength to use the axe in the first place because you can¡¯t afford food is also a problem. A cart-ride later and Jason is back home. He has gotten a bit hungry but he doesn¡¯t have the time for that. It is his own fault anyway. Even with the 1 to 5 time difference between irl and NeoRealm he had been meditating in the park for almost ten hours. Next time he will have to give himself a little more time at the end. As Jason gets into the capsule, his body complains. He adds exercise to the list of things to do next time he is out. As he goes under Jason can¡¯t help but shake his head. Even with five times the time there still isn¡¯t enough of it to go around. Then he is in his buffer room. With thoughts of exercise in mind Jason heads over to a panel on the wall and brings up some options for his capsule. His account is now connected and he has a little money so he decides to splurge. Under the body maintenance options he turns on a more intense care package for a day at a cost of ten silver. Still not as good as an hour of real exercise but sometimes you can only do so much. With one last look to double check the settings he heads right through the portal to NeoRealm. Chapter 119 - Whos Your Daddy Jason wakes up in the wagon with only a few minutes before they reach his goal. Important as this was an actual city and they wouldn¡¯t have let him in without going through the gate check. He highly suspected the goblin lady would have him thrown on the side of the road if he couldn¡¯t disembark under his own power. As the caravan slows to a stop at an area set aside for such things Jason stands up and stretches. A glance to his shoulder and Lily is giving him the stink eye. There is still food left but it can¡¯t have been a fun few days. Good thing it is a game. Rabbits need to run around irl or they can die. What likely won¡¯t be for the last time he wishes she was an actual pet under the System. A player¡¯s pet hibernates whenever they are logged out and haven¡¯t set something up for them. Of course he admits as a companion she will be more useful. Fewer limits on what she can do and such but boy does she know how to stare him down already. He comforts her and promises to look for a better solution next time he has to be away. She finally forgives him as they get to the front of the line at the gate. A couple of energy berries doesn¡¯t hurt either. There aren¡¯t many left in his backpack. Most had vanished over the trip. One of the nice things the System provides for players so they don¡¯t end up back in the game with a backpack full of rotten food. The gate check went well. He hasn¡¯t been around all that long so the kingdoms info on him is still spotless. Even the nonsense with the diplomat¡¯s son doesn¡¯t change things much. Even if the small time nobles might want to slag his name, the kingdoms in this area are particularly careful to keep the records accurate. Too many times, even before the players came, the various kings found in the past that the slub they leaned on for some petulant noble suddenly becoming a national level threat. They might not protect someone from a noble but every sensible ruler makes sure it doesn¡¯t go into the official records. Even if he traveled to that kingdom the gates would be open to him. Just the ever present dagger hidden behind the local nobles back would be a bit nerve-racking. Through the gate Jason can see a wide street. In fact, off in the distance he could see the gate on the other side of the city. Impressive when you consider how big a city like this is. The gate he came through isn¡¯t directly connected to that road. They only use that gate for caravans like the one he just left. Three of their wagons could fit down the main road with elbow room. Of course anything along it is going to cost an absurd amount of money and so when he asks for directions to the inn Rosha was at they directed him to an area as far away from the road as possible and yet still in the city walls. A glance at the sky shows it to be past noon so Rosha should be there already. Though as he enters the inn, he can¡¯t spot her in the tavern area and so heads to the front desk. A few questions to the receptionist and after showing his guild card they direct him to the smaller private tavern area. Not the most common feature for an inn but people pay extra for it to have semi-private conversations or just to get away from the crowds a trade city inevitably has. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it In the smaller private area Jason instantly spots Rosha. Sitting at a small table in the corner she is enjoying a cup of tea with a small catkin. The catkin while short seems normal enough with black fur. Jason nods to himself as that must be her friend. He waves at them to get their attention and walks over to join them. Rosha stands up and hugs him out of nowhere. The catkin frowns but then realizes who he must be. Rosha realizing what she just did, she lets go of him and acts as if nothing happened. Instead, she turns to the catkin and introduces Jason to her. With a short bow he joins them at the table while the catkin introduces herself, ¡°Hello Jason, Rosha has told me a bit about you and your adventurers. Shame about that other jerk though it did let me meet up with Rosha so I can¡¯t be too sad.¡± Rosha laughs at this and interrupts her, ¡°and the fact you were already in the dungeon town waiting for me means nothing? I wanted to explore a bit before meeting up with you and the others. At least they let me spread my wings a bit more.¡± The catkin snorts at that, ¡°As if your father would really let you out and about alone. If it wasn¡¯t for your mother keeping a tight leash on him your starter town would have doubled in population because of all the spies and secret guards. You need to thank her twice over next time you''re out.¡± Rosha goes to interrupt again but the catkin shushes her, ¡°Quiet now, you haven¡¯t even let me introduce myself yet.¡± The catkin turns back to Jason, ¡°As I was trying to say, my name is Courtney and I am a pantherkin. Don¡¯t worry about thinking I was a catkin. Yes, your face gave it away but besides that everyone thinks that. Especially since for a supposed big cat I am, well¡± and she gestures at herself and how she barely reaches Rosha¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Anyway, nice to meet you. Sorry once again about that James fellow. I half suspect Rosha¡¯s father might be part of why you got such a vehement letter. Anyway, I have been friends with Rosha since we were both about ten and I feel I should warn you¡± Rosha¡¯s hair stands on end and tries to cover Courtney¡¯s mouth. Courtney however has no trouble fending her off, ¡°if you haven¡¯t gotten the clue yet this little princess has a bit of a background. Now out of respect for her wishes I won¡¯t go into it but her father is a little protective. If that scares you at all now is the best time to jump ship.¡± Jason is somewhat surprised by this but it would explain Jame¡¯s letter being so extreme. Sure the guy probably felt that way to begin with but he was a lot better at hiding it than the letter portrayed. He takes a moment to consider Rosha¡¯s likely status while over to the side she fidgets. It doesn¡¯t take long though. Compared to what he had experienced in the past whoever her father might be it isn¡¯t much. With a smile he chuckles, ¡°No, I am fine right where I am. We got along just fine before and that hasn¡¯t changed.¡± Chapter 120 - Lets Go Thataway After Jason¡¯s declaration Courtney can only shake her head, ¡°Fine, whatever. Stick around if you want. Just remember she was my friend first.¡± She then grabs Rosha and forces her to sit back down at the table. With a slight blush from that small kerfuffle Rosha gestures for Jason to join them. He sits down and they start to hash out their plans for the future. Though inevitably James is the first thing that comes up. Jason starts the conversation off with how he hasn¡¯t received notification of James leaving the party. Courtney is actually the first to speak up, ¡°He might use it to manipulate you two. Until he is kicked out, there is still that last connection.¡± Rosha shakes her head at this suggestion, ¡°He probably only forgot to remove himself. I had forgotten that I was still in the team till it was brought up. We still need to kick him out though.¡± Courtney backs her up on this and explains, ¡°He can¡¯t do anything directly by being in the same team. However you could take a reputation hit if he does something stupid like try to spread his cult.¡± Jason nods, ¡°Plus we need to add you to the group anyway, so first thing tomorrow we should hit up the guild. After that I need to pick up throwing knives or some such.¡± Rosha tilts her head, ¡°But you don¡¯t use weapons? Like, that is your defining trait. We went on that whole quest because of it in fact. You know, the source of all our troubles?¡± Jason waves his hand around dismissively and explains, ¡°I had a contract with the guy who sold me my beginner gear. He was certain I wouldn¡¯t be able to make it to level ten without a weapon. In exchange for a cheaper price for not buying a weapon with the clothes I would have to pay him back if I used one to do it. Looking back, he was probably trying to scam me with that deal. He ¡®knew¡¯ you couldn¡¯t reach level ten without a weapon and I didn¡¯t see him around town afterwards. The guy probably skipped town and was planning to show up after I broke through. With how money changes for travellers he would make ten times the amount in cash he can spend however he wanted.¡± Courtney facepalms, ¡°Yah think? Those traders basically make nothing with that job. I could almost compare it to being an unpaid intern position. Sure the actually companies behind them make good money on it but that is because they have the supply. They can use newb money to make large profits and then turn around and launder it into actual gold. Anyway, you sort of skipped the part where I agree to join your group and why is it ¡®your¡¯ group in the first place?¡± Rosha smirks, ¡°So you aren¡¯t going to continue following us?¡± Courtney waves her comment off, ¡°That still leaves the second part. Why isn¡¯t it Rosha¡¯s group or even just ¡®the group¡¯?¡± Both Jason and Rosha lapse into silence as they try to remember the answer. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it It takes a moment but Jason remembers, ¡°It ended up being my group because we formed it for my quest. Andrew, Shinefish¡¯s crazy researcher, gave me a quest with a System provided weapon. Since it was my quest I formed the group and was the leader. We had meant it as a more temporary thing but well, yeah, stuff happened.¡± Rosha nods in agreement, ¡°It wasn¡¯t really a planned thing. But hey, at least it wasn¡¯t Jame¡¯s group, right? That would be awkward. Besides that we really need to talk about our actual plans. We gathered here at this trading hub. There are quests to go places but the local area is locked down. All those trading caravans pay more than enough to keep it that way and there is no chance for us to get a piece of that pie.¡± Another moment of silence happens. Courtney doesn¡¯t let it last though. She slaps the table, ¡°neither of you had any plan for this did you? Just showed up and expected the other to know what to do?¡± She throws her hands up, ¡°argh, I should have expected this. Here I was expecting to join a group and instead I get to drive a clown car. That¡¯s right, look down at the table in silence. Let me grab my map out and plan this road trip. Jason, I assume your level ten still. Don¡¯t answer, Rosha told me enough to have expected it. She is level 12 because she wanted to get out here and I am right between the two of you as I spent most of my time looking for her.¡± She spreads out a rough map of the area on the table while the other two just get out of her way. Courtney stabs the map with her finger, ¡°This is where we are. The town of Passthrough. Set on a major road with a bunch of minor paths branching off from it. Developed because of its location directly between two other major cities. We came from this direction over here. Both the newb dungeons and Wasteland¡¯s Edge with this place form a triangle. Since some people didn¡¯t plan anything we might as well take that as an arrow pointing us on where to go.¡± Jason speaks up at this point, ¡°we can¡¯t really go in that direction because¡±, Courtney stops him right there. A glare to keep him quiet and she continues, ¡°Yes, I know about the groups little trouble with that kin kingdom. If you actually would trace out the path notice how we never actually enter there. We clip the edge here but a short detour will keep a safe distance from the border. Past that though we head into a third kingdom. This one is nice for a human centric place. However if you will notice most of this party isn¡¯t human. Despite pissing off the nobility of one kin centric kingdom that doesn¡¯t really limit us. Especially now that you aren¡¯t dragging a dwarf around. This next country will be perfect for us. Ruled by a council of elves and kitsune we should have a good time there. Most of the population is made of foxkin and humans while at the center is a massive forest populated more so by elves. Go figure right?¡± Chapter 121 - Talk of Kitsune and Spells Rosha tilts her head, ¡°are they real kitsune? I thought most of the magical sentient creatures like that are more one off type things. Like how there are dragons. They aren¡¯t a race so much as there being a dragon connected to a specific volcano with each having its own unique thing going on. Sure there are enough partial dragons living out there but the actual thing is more singular.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°that¡¯s mostly true. The biggest difference comes from the myths more than anything else. A good example is there are a few lower tier dragons who came about from a carp leaping over waterfalls and such. With kitsune they tend to just be old foxes who gained their tails with age. Now there are some actual foxes who have managed this feat but a lot more come from the foxkin. Of course a fox turned kitsune is more powerful like how a naturally formed dragon is stronger than a carp turned dragon. Anyway, foxes and foxkin can grow more tails with both age and level. At 100 years old they gain wisdom, really helpful for a fox who plans to live longer. Hitting the big two double O and level 50 gives their original tail magic and their race changes to kitsune. Then if they can manage to reach 300 years old and level 75 do they get their second tail. This age gating is quite popular with the devs so you get things like lamia being able to turn into a medusa and other similar evolutions. Lets us players dream of gaining that power while making sure hardly anyone actually does before they matured enough to handle it.¡± Rosha tilts her head to the side, ¡°oh¡±. Jason can only sympathize with her over getting stunned by the sudden info dump. Then he thinks of something, ¡°Your a black catkin. Does that mean if you ever team up with a witch you gain the ability to curse others with bad luck?¡± Rosha smacks the back of his head, ¡°She¡¯s a pantherkin. Plus your thinking of familiars. The source material for that says they aren¡¯t actually normal cats but rather a demon in the shape of an animal. You better not be saying my cute little healer is a demon!¡± Courtney smiles while Jason holds his hands out defensively, ¡°of course not! She is clearly an angel, it was just a random thought.¡± Courtney¡¯s smile turns into a smirk at this, ¡°of all the things I could be an angel isn¡¯t one of them. I duel focus in magic as a healer and and illusionist and I must admit guiding us there is partly selfish. Kitsune both in myth and NeoRealm have spectacular illusion magic. Rumors of illusions so elaborate as to be indistinguishable from reality abound. We are too low a level to even think of getting that but it shows the potential for their magic. You can develop any spell into a more powerful version. It doesn¡¯t take a genius to throw more mana at a fireball to make it bigger. However if you want a specific version which splits into multiple fireballs. It would be a lot easier to learn it if you use the fireball spell whoever created the barrage spell started with.¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Rosha wants to interrupt the info dump at this point but Courtney seems really passionate about the subject so she can bring herself to do it. Courtney seems to notice this and almost stops there but can¡¯t help but continue. ¡°This is not much of a problem with simple spells like fireball as they are now standardized. From fire starter, to fire spark, to fire bullet, to fireball, to fireball barrage, and so on. Basically, any spell you can learn free at the guild when you start will have many paths you can take it down without worry. No need to worry that the fire spark you learn from one person will be incompatible with turning into a meteor spell later on. Only mostly though and that is why kitsune illusions are important to me. There are some special versions of even basic spells that can be worth seeking.¡± She pulls up a window and then only shows the name of her skill to the two. ¡°For me in particular I have the basic silent image spell. Nice enough, just does what it says on the tin. What I really want though is, ahem, Silent Image (Variant). Now neither of you will have seen a skill like that yet¡± Jason narrows his eyes, ¡°but if the skill is different enough while still warranting the same name the System will slap variant on it. Then in the description it will explain what this variance comes from. The silent image variant I want will mention the kitsune origins of the spell and how it more closely matches reality.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°so what does that actually mean for you?¡± Courtney smiles in a way that just screams ¡®so glad you asked¡¯ and she continues. ¡°Most players avoid illusion magic unless they start in some position to learn such specialized magic. Locals have an easier time with illusions because the System can read their minds. We however have to train very hard to project our thoughts out to the System. Even with a telepathy biomod the needed detail to make illusions work how you want is crazy. The best most people can do looks like those historical examples back from when they first used CGI in movies. Horrible messes that clash with reality so no one will mistake them for real. Learning the kitsune illusion spells will cause the System to smooth things out for me. It is the mental equivalent of going from having to draw a circle freehand to having a compass to do it with. I still get to decide the radius but it is harder to make it anything but a circle. My illusions of a black cat will be what the System considers a generic black cat instead of an attempt at sculpting the black cat my neighbor had when I was growing up.¡± Courtney almost starts to explain further but Rosha covers her mouth with a hand. Jason pats her on the shoulder, ¡°yes yes, a very good reason to go there. It sounds like we have a direction to go. Tomorrow we can check the Adventurers Guild for any quests that direct us out that way while updating the party. However, I think we can all use a good night¡¯s sleep. In fact Rosha looks like she is ready to turn in right now so let''s split up for the night.¡± Chapter 122 - Graded Daggers Early next morning Jason, Rosha, and Courtney meet up at the Adventurers Guild. The building is crowded and they almost despair at the lines. Even though there is a desk set aside for non-quest related help the wait still takes what seems like forever. Once the team gets to the desk even more troubles pop up. It was simple to add Courtney to the team but removing James was an annoyance. Not hard to do, just a lot of paperwork. If he had been there to agree with the removal, it would have been streamlined. However, without him they need to sign so many things to declare they were not removing him for many reasons. The biggest one and why so many papers needed signed was to make certain they were not ditching him just before turning in a quest to screw him out of rewards. With the paperwork done they went to check on the quest board. After going over all the requests with a fine-toothed comb though none of them found a workable quest. While the way they wanted to go wasn¡¯t pure wilderness, it was close. Any town there would bring their goods here instead of a caravan going to them. Rosha looks a bit down but Courtney interrupts her gloom by reminding her that, ¡°this just means we have more freedom in our travels! Until now you have stuck to the roads and tamed forests. A little wildness will be perfect to work on your ranger skills.¡± Without a quest to hold them here the group heads right over to a weapon store so Jason can pick up his daggers. Despite their rush it still takes a while to find a good shop or rather a bad shop. Jason only has 20 some silver and the others are worse off. The group ends up in the closest thing to a slum the city has before he can afford even the cheapest of throwing daggers. This confused Jason so when he bought a set of five throwing daggers he asked why 15 silver was the cheapest around. The clerk sighed at the question, ¡°Look at the store. Average place isn¡¯t¡¯ it? You could run a place like the fancy stores on the main strip in another town with how much it costs the owner to run this joint. Biggest problem is who owns the land or rather who doesn¡¯t. We are a ¡®city¡¯ but not officially. The actual population here is at the level of a town. Even most of the workers in the fancy shops are just people passing through. Now what is the biggest defining feature of this place?¡± Our team makes a few suggestions. However once Courtney mentions being halfway between a couple of big cities, the clerk slaps his hands. ¡°That the thing. When this place first got set up that didn¡¯t matter because no one would bother to tax somewhere so small. As it grew that little detail provided a golden age for the town. Neither of the major cities will let the other have the tax money if they couldn¡¯t. One thing led to another including a small war or two and then suddenly the kingdom decreed both cities can tax the place. Oh, and the kingdom obviously needs in on it so they get tax us directly as well as if we were a city. It costs so much for a shop to be run here that they can only afford to sell the good stuff.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He sighs again, ¡°don¡¯t know why I am telling you this. Guess I just want to get it off my chest. Anyway, the taxes are based on how much you sell which is stupid but I don¡¯t make the laws. We lost money selling you those daggers but now they are gone. Don¡¯t know why the owner tried to set up this place anyway. All the big stores are run by large organizations. Some silly dream of having a local owned place. Doesn¡¯t mean squat when your opponents spend more in a day on bread for their workers than we do in a year. Anyway, here are your throwing daggers.¡±
Throwing Daggers x5 Description: Basic iron throwing daggers crafted by a journeymen smith. While the material and shape are nothing special, the smith used a special heritage technique in the crafting of this set of daggers. This elevates them to the status of graded items. Grade: Low Normal (technique) Effects:
The group leaves the shop quickly. That clerk was a bit too depressing. It almost makes you wonder why the various organizations set up shop here. When Rosha vocalizes this thought both Jason and Courtney glance at each other. Jason gives first and explains that, ¡°likely as a status symbol. To be able to afford to have your shop on the main street is an amazing feat.¡± Rosha stares at him skeptically for a while before he gives in, ¡°and smuggling. I stayed on a wagon owned by one of those big caravans. That thing was so laced with space magic and other such enchantments they could smuggle a lot of good stuff through. All that magic would interfere with whatever methods the guards used to check for that kind of stuff. The triple tax nonsense is just the governments demanding their cut. Though besides that my daggers are apparently graded? I saw that mentioned in the newbie stuff but it seemed less official than being in the items description.¡± Rosha was looking down at all the nonsense people had to deal with in this town but the mention of graded items distracts her. Courtney takes this chance to keep her thoughts away from the darker side of things and is about to explain it all when a thought occurs to her. She turns to the other two and asks, ¡°So how much do you understand about all the various grades and ranks that stuff has in NeoRealm?¡± Both Rosha and Jason suddenly find something interesting in the distance to stare at while whistling. Chapter 123 - Courtney Explains Courtney slow blinks, ¡°You both do realize NeoRealm is more important than irl at this point right? This isn¡¯t someplace you can go into blind! And you¡± she points at Jason, ¡°are doing some strange weapon nonsense so of all the people you should have looked into it at least a little. NeoRealm gold is the backbone of all other money at this point.¡± Rosha opens her mouth but freezes for a moment before closing it again. She glances at Jason and he shrugs back. More silences while Courtney¡¯s anger simmers. Through clenched teeth with a gesture at Jason she mumbled something about Rosha¡¯s ignorance being partly her fault. He takes the hint and explains that he, ¡°focused on training my martial arts. While I checked around some after I hit the info block because of level ten, I sorta just stopped. The tutorial stuff was in depth enough or so I assumed.¡± Courtney throws her hands up, ¡°fine! Here I was thinking you both wanted to stop me and my info dumps.¡± Rosha blushes while Jason looks away. ¡°That¡¯s right, don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t notice. But on with the info! First off, you both probably noticed quest difficulty is nonsense. They are made up on the spot and depend on what the system thinks of your capabilities. Got that? Good, now skill ranks are as follows; Novice, Initiate, Apprentice, Journeyman, Master, and the wildcard. Close your mouth Jason. I don¡¯t care if you already knew this, it doesn¡¯t change the other stuff. Anyway, each has ten levels except that last rank. That will be named after the source used to breakthrough. Did a god of blacksmiths decide to bless you? You''re now a godly blacksmith. Maybe instead you made a deal with a devil? Demonic blacksmith it is. Rarest though is those who breakthrough on their own. They get to be a supernatural blacksmith.¡± Courtney boops Rosha on the nose, ¡°I see it in your eyes. Yep, that is what''s up. Anyway, besides rank skills also have rarity. Besides the base five though it falls more in line with quest difficulty. You should know the base five but in case you''re both that dense they are Beginner, Common, Normal, Uncommon, and Rare. This says nothing about how good the skill is. Just how many people have or can learn it. There are probably a few others things I forgot but I don¡¯t feel like racking my brain over it so onto the item grades! Jason, share the weapons info with us.¡± After Courtney takes a look at it she nods, ¡°okay, not the most impressive things but a good example. All of our current equipment except those daggers is trash. Literally, that is the grade name for any item that doesn¡¯t have a grade. The defining feature of the trash grade is they are the only items you can sell to people who are below the second bottleneck. Yep, you only have trash items because there wasn¡¯t any choice about it. Even Jason¡¯s fancy skeleton and any other similar quest rewards are trash. The biggest difference with those is that the System has nerfed them so they can still use all kinds of materials and techniques. Trash isn¡¯t even a good term for it and most people just call them unranked items. Trash was what the developers termed it because they thought people would switch to better stuff.¡± ¡°Though speaking of materials and techniques that brings us to the dual nature of item grades. Both the material and the technique used can change the rank. With these daggers the material was trash grade iron. Another example of why trash is a bad term compared to unranked. Anyway, unranked iron is simply iron processed by anyone with a skill of apprentice or less and no special techniques for it. If the daggers had been crafted normally, they would have ended up unranked as well. However the person who created the blades used a special method to forge them. It wasn¡¯t an especially rare or challenging technique as there are no requirements to wield it but enough to upgrade the daggers to normal rank.¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°However, the low quality materials both for the daggers and the leather grip made for a Low normal item. Yes the grip counts, likely unranked leather but since they change nothing, the system omits it from the description. Not to be distracted by that the low part is important. It describes how well the materials matchup. Low means no match at all. There are four compatibility terms; Low, Mid, High, and Top. Low is no compatibility as I mentioned. Mid is when you have some things that match but some things that don¡¯t. For instance, if they refined the iron with a fire-based technique but they crafted the dagger for cold damage. High is when most things match up. The materials used mix well, the techniques match the material¡¯s properties, and any requirements are similar.¡± ¡°To get a top-ranked item basically requires a recipe to be researched for years, potentially centuries if there are enough components. Even then it has to be manually crafted without system assistance so there is still a high chance for it to be high ranked instead. You don¡¯t sell top ranked items, you auction them. Though that is just all about compatibility. It says nothing about the quality except that all its features will be extreme. For instance, a top-ranked plate armor will not only have the most extreme defense but the highest strength requirement to use.¡± ¡°For quality you need to look at that normal mentioned on the daggers. There are three actual ranks of which unranked doesn¡¯t get the compatibility modifier. If you''re not idiots, you will have figured out that ¡®normal¡¯ is one of them. The other is Exquisite. The System ranks items by what it feels another item with those requirements would look like. Unranked is an item below average for what they require to use or an item that doesn¡¯t need a requirement. A good example of that second bit is a chair. Anyone can sit on a chair so 99 percent of chairs are unranked. The only example of a ranked chair I know of off the top of my head is a true throne. While anyone can make a chair that looks like a throne. Only one crafted with special techniques will have the requirement that the user be the ruler of the surrounding area. They provide extra management based System tools so a ruler can more easily well, rule.¡± ¡°Anyway, the highest rank is Exquisite. The devs included it as a sort of joke at first. Items originally only would be ranked by material compatibility which is why these daggers have the awkward sounding low normal rank. Exquisite is still nearly impossible so people call them low ranked daggers. The reason it is so rare is the System generates requirements based on the items abilities, both positive and negative. Iron Plate armor will require a high strength to use and any similar piece of armor would require about the same strength to use. If they enchanted it to be lighter, it might seem to be just better. That is until you notice the system added a requirement because of the enchantment, either to power it or just a generic level requirement. Exquisite items break these rules. If there wasn¡¯t already rumors of real artifacts existing people would have labeled exquisite items as being the games artifacts. The extreme cases even had the System make changes so it would no longer be possible to repeat it.¡± ¡°The spear Sun¡¯s Ray is the most famous example. Some rich tycoon got a high level local crafter to make a spearhead with a special metal which naturally stays at a super high temperature. Originally the requirements needed someone with near fire immunity and a level north of 300. Then the clever tycoon got a special enchantment placed on it. All it did was keep the heat inside. However, instead of being powered by the wielders magic it used the heat from the metal. Because it is using the heat to keep that very heat in, the barrier was super weak. Even a child could poke a hole in it. Just like the Tycoon wanted. See, while the barrier was weak it could reform instantly when whatever disrupted it was removed. So for instance, you stab someone. Their flesh would of course break the barrier. Then whatever was close to the spear head would be reduced to ash if not a high enough level or resistant to fire. Nothing would be disrupting it then so before the heat could escape and fry the user as well that weak barrier would reform. Think saber made of light but on the end of a stick. The moment they finished it the System wacked down changes that made any future enchantments reform slower without more magic to power it. Anyway, that about explains it so how about we leave town and start our adventure?¡± Chapter 124 - Boopable Snoot Jason looks around sheepishly, ¡°Uh, I actually thought of something while you explained that all. Just need to nip back over to the guild because I have someone to add to the party.¡± Courtney looks at him with an eyebrow raised, ¡°and when were you planning on telling us this? Besides that who is it in the first place. We haven¡¯t seen you with anyone while you were here and while you can remove someone without them around the same isn¡¯t true for joining a party.¡± Jason turns to Rosha. At some point in the mini lecture Lily had gotten out of the harness and was now being petted. He gestures at them, ¡°Lily there is actually a companion and not a pet. I need to add her to the party so I can distribute some of my experience towards her. I suspect outside interference caused it to turn out this way. My best guess comes from what I learned about the rabbit plains and then experienced at the last town I was in. Verbal clues the people in Wasteland¡¯s Edge dropped lead me to believe the rumors of a rabbit queen are true in some form. Whoever that being is set up the situation either from the start or after Lily ended up in my lap when I was cultivating there.¡± Rosha continues to cuddle Lily though she glares up at Jason. ¡°How dare you not introduce her to use right from the start. After all you¡¯re the cutest wittle wabbit aren¡¯t you Lily? Oh yes you are, yes you are!¡± Lily leans in to the well-placed scritches. Courtney sighs, ¡°welp she will be useless for a good while so you might as well get to it. There¡¯s a reason she chose to be a rabbitkin.¡± Jason and the group all head back over the guild though this time the line is much shorter than the first time through. The whole room is actually much emptier now. One adventurer in the next line over notices his glance around and laughs. The bearkin goes to slap Jason¡¯s shoulder but at the last minute stops himself and turns it into a gentle pat. With a grin that shows way to many teeth he explains that, ¡°since the caravans leave early all the good quests are out early. You just caught up in the rush and if you give it another half hour for the lines to clear the guild will be practically dead.¡± Jason thanks the man and settles in for his wait. The actual task to get Lily added to the party takes longer than he expected. Though this is mostly because she isn¡¯t quite sentient enough for the System to give her prompts about this kind of thing yet. In the end he had to go with her being a temporary addition. The paperwork for it was actually what parents had to fill out when they wanted to do NeoRealm¡¯s equivalent to take your kids to work day. This was oddly appropriate as far as Jason was concerned and it was enough to let him adjust his experience share with Lily so mission accomplished. The only catch is once Lily is aware enough to answer prompts they have to visit the guild again add her. If they don¡¯t, the System will remove her from the team if they had the chance to complete things. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Jason thanks the receptionist and heads back to the other three. Courtney stands over the other two who have at some point decided to just sit on the floor and cuddle. Jason had not worried if they would accept Lily but this was going a little far. Courtney shrugs, ¡°She¡¯s always loved rabbits but her parents would not let her have any as pets. Fair enough to them, their house was a bit fancy to have pets in it. Still, they should have let her go to the petting zoo more often. Anyway, she has had enough time and Lily isn¡¯t exactly leaving us. Just let me get her moving and we can head out, finally.¡± Courtney crouches down next to Rosha and whispers to her, ¡°time to head out Ray... Rosha. I¡¯m sure Jason won''t mind you holding her while we are on the main roads.¡± Rosha just cuddles Lily tighter. ¡°It is very cute that you both have matching colors but Jason might feel nervous letting you hold her if you can¡¯t pay attention to your surroundings. You wouldn¡¯t want Lily to be hurt by your inattention now would you?¡± Rosha looks up with tears in her eyes, ¡°But it''s a bunny! Look at her cute little paws and her boopable snoot! Ever since I turned 12, my father wouldn¡¯t let me go see the reals ones anymore.¡± Courtney smacks the back of her head, ¡°Stop the play acting. Jason is looking nervous over there. I don¡¯t mind playing along a little bit but your just making him uncomfortable now.¡± Rosha rolls her eyes and stands up. ¡°Fine, ruin my fun then. Let¡¯s head out and get on the road.¡± She leaves with Lily cuddled in her arms. Courtney follows her but Jason is frozen on the spot. It takes a moment for the events to parse through his head but once it does he sighs. As he rushes to catch up to them, he can only wonder to himself what he has gotten into. Back with the group Jason takes out the last few of the original batch of energy berries. As he hands them to Rosha he tells her, ¡°here, you can feed Lily breakfast while we are leaving the town. While I can agree with you holding her as we travel the main roads I got this protective harness for a reason.¡± Rosha pouts a bit but gives in after Courtney punches her shoulder. She rolls her eyes, ¡°fine, I don¡¯t want her to get hurt anyway. However can I wear it instead?¡± Rosha is quick to backpedal on that though with just a glare from Courtney and Jason. This doesn¡¯t stop her from complaining as they exit the town and travel down the road. Of the four, only Lily was having a very good day so far. After all, this new lady knew just the right places to scratch! Chapter 125 - Setting the Split The main roads were safe this close to towns. Not that there weren¡¯t bandits and beasts. Rather, they focused on the larger caravans and to attack small groups would alert their real prey. This made for an uneventful start to the trip and provided Jason enough time to check his wealth and companion pages.
Wealth Money Property Businesses Bank
Pets and Companions Non-Combat Pets [0/2] Combat Pets [0/1] Companions
Yep, a bit empty. They served more as a summary page than a place to see the information in depth. That depth was what he needed at the moment though so he dug in to the most mysterious bit first. Where in the world did that 10 gold in his bank come from? When he opens that up it leads directly to his bank page. This made the mystery easy enough to solve. His mom had at transferred the gold to him the day he joined NeoRealm. Nice of her but not that generous. He was only so low on money at the moment because of it all being downgraded at level ten. More important than that was the next one to check. The Lily¡¯s companion page.
Basic Info Name: Lily Race: Rabbit Serf Level: 1 - 0.0% Legal Status: Local Companion Title: Serf Normal Stats Auxiliary Stats
Organizations The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Odd Ones Out - Team Member - Mascot
Experience Split None
Jason was happy to see that Lily already had the defense stat. Many animals do get the stat because of things like tough skin but it wasn¡¯t assured. With the stat already in place it would experience growth as she leveled. Besides that though Jason was amused to see that they listed the temporary team member position as the mascot. It made him wonder if there were other position titles for it depending on who it was. More important than all that was the experience split at the bottom because otherwise it was a normal status screen. Part of why it is so hard to get a companion in the game. No one, npc or player, likes to have that all out in the open. Not to get distracted though if he hadn¡¯t looked it up the split option would look boring. That was because it had nothing set up yet. You could turn it into a giant stack of conditionals. Jason wasn¡¯t going to go that far but he had a couple conditions planned. First, he set it so 100 percent of his experience went to Lily. Simple enough but not the final setting he wanted for it. However to go further he needed to confer with the others. ¡°Hey guys, I am working on my experience split with Lily. I set it to 100 percent to her at the moment. At what levels should I start to lower it?¡± You could almost see the question marks above Rosha¡¯s head. Courtney however was on top of it and chimed in. ¡°With animals, level five or ten is generally a breakpoint. If I remember correctly small mammals like rabbits have the first one at ten so you might give her it all till then. On the other hand you do have trouble with gaining experience. You might consider a lower split at five just so you don¡¯t fall too far behind. Once she can join in with combat, it won¡¯t matter as much.¡± Jason and Courtney go back and forth on this a while when Rosha interjects, ¡°why don¡¯t we all just give Lily some of our xp?¡± Record scratch. The two turn to her and ask, ¡°what?¡± She explains further, ¡°well she isn¡¯t our companion but Lily joined as a temp member and that lets us direct some xp to her. Not a lot, only like five percent from each of us but the System matches it. Jason pops open the Odd Ones Out page and there it is. He shares a look with Courtney and after a few mumbled agreements they all put in five percent. With that Jason can complete the companion split.
Experience Split
Good enough for now if a little simple compared to what he had seen online. He was originally going to give 50 percent to Lily after she hit level ten. However, with the team setting she would receive the equivalent of 30 percent from them so he lowered the companion split to 20. She should receive the same amount, just spread out. After she reached level ten, the System would set the new split and remove that second line. The third condition is important and nifty all in one. When Lily matched or exceeded his level the split would be set to zero temporarily. The temp part was very convenient as once the condition is met the System changes the line to read the opposite. In this case it would be if her level was below his it would reset the split to 20%. Happy with what he has Jason informs the others of it. Both of them agreed that should do for now. With that out of the way there isn¡¯t much else to do. Lily was happy being doted on by Rosha and of course Rosha was happy as well. Courtney seemed content to just walk in silence so it left Jason to his thoughts. The sun passes overhead and starts to set before the group would have to leave the main road. There was actually a nice little nameless inn off to the side at that point. It made sense for it to be here as while the main road continues many smaller roads split off here. The group enters the inn and ask about a room. They should have realized with the size of the place, single rooms were not on the menu. Instead, they each hand over nine silver to stay in the common room overnight. Lily gets to stay for free as a small pet. Jason of course forgot to mention the mistake and how she was a companion. Chapter 126 - Road Quality As luck would have it there were no other guests at the inn so our group was able to relax overnight. Rosha and Courtney decided to just sleep through the night while Jason had other plans. Cultivation was cultivation, whether it was in game or out of game so he had decided to split the night up. For the first hour and a half he cultivated as normal though without his planter out. That would have just been tempting fate to bring out here. When that time is up an alarm he set with his menu logs him out automatically. Now in his personal zone Jason starts the process to get out of his capsule right away. While he might have five hours in game to work with that only gives him an hour outside of VR. Jason doesn¡¯t even bother to dress or leave the capsule room. Instead, he sits on the floor right there and starts to meditate. With the last couple of attempts he now knows what to sense for and all the energies that flow around him become visible to him. Quite the mess really. He can¡¯t get a good count on it but there seems to be around 57 different mystical energies. Give or take three which may or may not exist. They sort of phase in and out which makes it hard to know what type a particle may belong to. One particle is quite familiar to him. How could he miss the Qi from his previous life? Of course it had to be one of the rarest types. That would make his work a lot harder as he could not just travel a path he already knows and do it in any reasonable timeframe. Plus it wasn¡¯t like he was the best with it to begin with. Jason has a better plan though. If he didn¡¯t match his old world¡¯s energy why not look for what fits him? Why not look for multiple energies? This would take time but he felt it was worth it. However time passes and soon the hour is up so he has to jump back into the game. He comes to, still leaned up against the wall shared with the inn¡¯s kitchen. Then of course settles back into his ingame cultivation for another hour and a half. His night was a bit groggy but that was bound to happen with his rest being so broken up. Rosha and Courtney both are annoyingly chipper as well. This would be a perfect time for some coffee except for the fact that the inn didn¡¯t have any and he hated coffee. He had tried to get a taste for it because of how pervasive it is but some things just aren¡¯t meant to be. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. One cheap breakfast later and the party is once again on the road. A dirt road this time so Jason takes Lily back for safety reasons. Rosha sulks for a while but as the day wears on, it is hard for her to keep it up and soon she is back to enjoying the scenery. Time passes and the day draws to a close. Despite Jason¡¯s stamina stat the group traveled less distance than the day before. Courtney and Rosha didn¡¯t know why either so while the two set up camp he checked online. The answer pops up early enough in his search so when Jason waves the web browser away the camp is still a work in progress. Random info can wait so he jumps in to help. Especially since this time he would have his portable planter out as well. As they finish up and Courtney cooks their dinner over a campfire, he fills them in on the details. ¡°The answer feels obvious in hindsight. Apparently that road was enchanted. While it doesn¡¯t show up in your status page when you travel on the road it sets your stamina to 15 or provides a plus three if you already have the stat. That road is actually somewhat low tier. For instance, there is a special road paved with precious metals that stretches between the capitals of two empires. Stretches farther than I care to think about and sets the stat to 100 or adds 33 as a bonus. Caravans on it travel around like they were using a plane. In more ways than one as large sections of that road are suspended in the air.¡± ¡°Causes quite the weird situation were for a number of places it is faster to travel to the capital than to the other instead of heading directly between cities. Not that weird of course since that is sort of the point of it. Much easier to tax trade when it has to travel through the capital. That and it stops enemy armies from abusing it.¡± Rosha opens her eyes wide and goes ¡°ohhhh, that explains some of the rumors I heard floating around a few gatherings I went with my mother to. The main player hubs should be like swiss cheese because of all the secret roads that crisscross the areas. Teleporters either require a lot of mana or a high level person to use like those judges that came in for our trial. Roads on the other hand are more passive about it so are easier for those with low levels to use. Even the empires would be under a lot of strain if they tried to teleport messengers everywhere.¡± The two go back and forth with a number of theories. This goes on until Courtney interrupts them and tells them it is, ¡°time for dinner. Just some chicken and greens. You can both wonder about the mysteries of fast travel later.¡± They shrug and sit next to the campfire with her. The food is better than the meals at the inn but only just. It could be better but they decided on decent food for longer instead of stuff like fresh spices for only the first part of the trip. Of course depending on how well they can hunt after the fresh meat runs out will affect this but that is life sometimes. Chapter 127 - Ritual in the Dirt Dinner has finished and the group discuss the watch schedule. Jason volunteers for the mid-shift as the interrupted sleep won¡¯t negatively affect him. The other two are fine with that but have a problem with their own shifts. Mostly because neither have much of a preference as long as they don¡¯t need to do the mid-shift. In the end they go with two out of three at rock paper scissors with the winner taking first shift. Rosha starts strong and beats Courtney¡¯s paper with her scissors. Then Courtney turns it around and wins the next two rounds by throwing scissors twice more. Rosha sulks at this and punches her shoulder while complaining that she always does that. Courtney does an exaggerated shrug at this and turns to Jason, ¡°Your little bells are a nice warning system but I think we can do better.¡± Jason makes a face like he just sucked on a lemon before he responds that, ¡°I had meant to get something better. It appears this slipped my mind. Next city we hit make sure I remember to do that. Anyway, what do you suggest?¡± With a big toothy smile Courtney spreads her hands out while she wiggles her fingers, ¡°Why magic of course! I am not just a healer, you should remember my talk about the kitsune.¡± Jason facepalms and sighs, ¡°right, illusions.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°I can¡¯t make it look like we aren¡¯t here. Mostly because we make noise and anyone with a nose can smell the campfire. What I can do though is set up a small ritual to make your bells invisible. It would let me set up a silent image but to last through the night I would have to put most of my mana into it.¡± Rosha raises her hand and waits. Both Courtney and Jason turn and look at her. She sits there for a moment in silence. As she starts to twitch Courtney gestures at her, ¡°yes Rosha?¡± She giggles and asks, ¡°when you say you won¡¯t have much mana, how much healing is that?¡± Courtney raises an eyebrow, ¡°hmm, a good question though a little hard to answer. It depends on how fast I need to do it. I should be good for ten or so in combat but if I have a few minutes that can be stretched to a good 30 hit points.¡± Jason nods, ¡°That should cover the night. We haven¡¯t hit the point that hp starts to inflate. Of course by then you should have better spells or more mana to make up for it. I say go for it.¡± Rosha agrees with a thumbs up so Courtney gets down to her ritual. As it only needs to last the night, she just carves it in the dirt. To cap it off, she places a tiny gem at the end of a thick line that snakes through the whole thing. For a moment it glows with mana but soon fades though a tiny flicker remains at its center. All around their camp a number of small bells and a string disappear from view as the magic takes hold. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. With their defenses now settled Rosha settles into her sleeping bag and dozes off. Jason however wanted to learn about the whole ritual thing and stayed up a bit longer. He knew the basic breakdown. Magic has rituals, Qi has formations, and Energy has workings. The specifics however escape him. As luck would have it though Courtney is fine with explaining so they both sit down across from Rosha and she whispers to let her sleep. ¡°What I just did would be classified as a simple ritual. This covers any ritual that only needs a power source and copies a low level spell. That ritual over there copies my silent image spell and uses a tiny mana crystal to power it. I could manually power it which is useful except I do want to sleep tonight. You can cast attack spells through a ritual but most don¡¯t bother doing so with a basic ritual. Sure rituals are more efficient which is why that one can keep going all night. However they are slow and with a spell that are not continues like an illusion there is a long reload time.¡± ¡°That brings us to regular rituals. These all require special materials to use. This could be as simple as having it carved into stone instead of scratched into the dirt but it matters. What it allows for is worth it though. Whether it is to use a high power spell, keep a ritual going until it is no longer powered, or to modify a spell this is how you do it. However this is not enchanting. To enchant something you are putting the magic in that item. Rituals are the thing that puts magic into stuff. High level enchantments are generally placed by special rituals so as to reduce mistakes as a magic user can check over the ritual before using it.¡± ¡°To make it even more confusing, you can enchant a ritual. This is popular with any rituals that are meant to last. An example of this is teleportation rituals. Twisting space is not the most healthy thing for solid matter like the material you carved the ritual in. To counteract this, they will enchant teleportation rituals to be sturdier. Stretches their lifespan from a decade at most to centuries or even longer if they keep the enchantments repaired.¡± ¡°Anyway, rituals are very free form if your rich. You can take a fireball, make it ice based, contract instead of explode, and then bonk the enemy on the head. Problem is at that point the material costs of the ritual would be so exorbitant you would be better off finding a spell closer to what you want. In fact, this brings in the last category of rituals. It fits under regular rituals but is not based on any specific spell. Witchy types love this sort of ritual. Most magic based curses that aren¡¯t a spur-of-the-moment thing, like a death curse, will be ritual based on some level because of this. There is of course a lot more to it but that would go much too in depth on it.¡± Chapter 128 - Mantis in the Trees Morning dawns and Rosha wakes Jason and Courtney up for breakfast. She isn¡¯t the best at cooking but was able to throw together some soup. Easy enough with what they had left over from last night¡¯s meat plus beans and a couple herbs that were around their campsite. The mint wasn¡¯t the best choice but it woke everyone up the rest of the way and they could set off bright and early. As the day goes on the land, they travel through changes. It goes from plains of grass to a few scraggly trees and now a few hours before sunset it is more like a loose forest. The trees aren¡¯t quite right next to each other but they are never more than a few strides from one. Jason gets the feeling that if he had traveled this way alone, there would be more trouble at this point. Just over the last hour he spotted not one but two foxes of greater than expected size and a small squad of goblins. Night comes along and the group settles down. Rosha and Courtney decide to swap shifts but once again the night passes in peace. This pattern of travel continues until the fifth day. They have settled down for dinner when a growl alerts them to danger. From behind a thicker copse of trees five mangy wolves step out. The group relaxes at this. Regular wolves in this quantity stopped being a threat to them long ago. These wolves wouldn¡¯t buck the trend either. Not that they get the chance as from within the trees a pair of green scythes sweep down and crush two of them. Quite spooked the other three hightail it away. What looked like another bit of green foliage bends over and takes a bite out of the dead wolf that was farther away. Now that it has moved the group can now spot the giant praying mantis hidden between two trees. The question marks that show up instead of a level when Jason observes it warns them off an attack. Instead, as the mantis feasts on the wolves it had killed, they pack up and move out. They don¡¯t stop until half an hour has passed and they find an area clear of trees. Still, they take their time and check the area. After they are assured that there aren¡¯t any giant monsters standing over them the night once again passes in peace. If with a little more stress to sleep off. A couple more days pass but the group is finally forced into combat. It is another giant praying mantis though compared to the last one, Jason was tempted to call it a medium praying mantis. Only a head taller than him with a level just north of 20 he figures the group can take it. Not that they have a choice about it as the monster flies right at them as they cross a clearing. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. It comes down from the sky and blows up a cloud of dust around the group as they fall back into a defensive position. Jason tosses out a dagger as it lands but the winds from its wings rebuffs the attack. This does however force the mantis to react and gives Rosha enough time to get her bow ready to shoot. The mantis¡¯ scythe slaps out and cuts a deep furrow through the ground as Jason throws himself out of the way. He scrabbles up under its feet and grabs another dagger then plunges it into a leg joint. The mantis rears back only for Rosha to sink an arrow into its chest. As green blood pumps out, it slams both scythes down on Courtney who had stayed near it. At least that is what it thinks it did. When the scythes touch her though the illusion disappears. Jason has made it through the mantis¡¯ legs and is now behind it. The previous mantis just outclassed the group but this one was perfect for him. His legs tense and as he jumps the ground beneath him cracks. As he flies through the air, his fist seems to glow with internal light and he smashes down on the monster¡¯s back. He slams the mantis into the ground. The arrow stuck in its chest gets thrust deep as the exoskeleton shatters. Rosha rushes up, her weapon now in its bladed staff form, and she grabs it with both hands by one of the ends. With a stomp she stops a distance from the mantis with her staff stretched out behind her. Then she takes all that momentum and whips her staff up over her hand. It whistles through the air and on impact the blade slices through the mantis¡¯ neck, decapitating it. The fight did not take long but the cleanup was a slog. Now no longer coddled by the System they have to harvest their rewards in a more visceral fashion. The body was a complete loss with cracks spread over much of the chest area. Besides that when the exoskeleton was cut away Jason¡¯s blast punch had wrecked even the organs. As they did not know what was valuable inside a mantis despite all the mess, the only treasure retrieved was a small monster core. It was one upside of bug monsters beyond a certain size. Even the near infinite numbers you find in a giant ant nest will all have cores. For the bugs, while mystical energies have reduced the square law restrictions, beyond a point they just can¡¯t live without help. In NeoRealm that assistance comes from their monster core as it will actively circulate oxygen through their bodies for them. However their relief and cheer from victory falls away like a rock off a cliff. Lily wheezes in her cage, clearly in pain. Courtney rushes over and uses her magic to scan Lily but her hp is full. Whatever has gone wrong comes from some other source. Still she casts a small heal to see if it will help. When that doesn¡¯t work Jason goes through his menus one by one to try and find the source. Then when he opens her status menu, he finds something. Where before she was level one with zero progress towards level two. The progress now reads ###.###%. Chapter 129 - Lilys Problem It is only a couple hours past noon but both Rosha and Jason decide they need to set up camp. With much pain Lily seems to be in neither of them want to stress her anymore. Courtney wanted to move somewhere without a corpse in it. Not that she bothers to mention this as it is clear they¡¯d have overruled her. In the end she rationalizes the giant mantis should be the apex predator in the area so the corpse might keep other animals away. While the two worry over Lily Courtney sets up camp. The first order of business though is to move said corpse out of the way. They had killed it in the center of the clearing but that is now inconvenient if this is their campsite for the night. A task that in normal circumstances would not be hard. Without Jason¡¯s help it ends up a monumental challenge instead. The mantis corpse now off to the side leaves enough space in the clearing to set their bed rolls out and light a campfire. Once that is done though she doesn¡¯t have much else to do and wanders back over to where the other two are. With enough sarcasm to strip paint she thanks them for their help with setting up camp and moving the corpse. Still distracted Jason mumbles your welcome and continues his worrying. Courtney sighs and asks him if he has any clue of what might be wrong. He responds that, ¡°the only clue I have is in her status page the experience value is wonky. Instead of numbers it is a bunch of the number symbol thing.¡± Courtney nods, ¡°Yeah, the octothorpe or hashtag if you prefer. Now if you would kick your brain into gear that should hint to what the problem might be. First, there is something wrong with her experience. Since you said nothing about the level being weird, then it is not her leveling too fast. Besides, we just finished a fight, so the problem is the experience we received. Now there isn¡¯t anything weird about the mantis. It wasn¡¯t corrupted or some such so there is more to it than that. I never heard of a serf rabbit so it might have something to do with that. How did she evolve?¡± Jason takes a moment to remember back on it, ¡°honestly she just offered to serve me. When I accepted her service she evolved right there.¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°and what were you doing before that?¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°She woke me up and I fed her some energy berries.¡± Courtney waves her hand, ¡°I suspect serf is an energy-based evolution. The key to her evolution though was likely the whole serving you thing. It is called serf after all. My guess is not only does the evolution require energy, but a master who also is energy-based. That however brings us to her problem. Actually, if you get up close I suspect¡± she leans in with her nose almost pressed into Lily, ¡°yep there it it. See? There are black wisps coming off of her right now. We have to turn off the experience share.¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Or rather me and Rosha need to turn off our share to her. That and you need to turn off the team-based share as well. Most creatures can take whatever experience you give them. My bet is a serf rabbit require their masters experience which has been filtered by them to be energy-based. You with your crazy low experience gain might make you the only person capable of raising one. Since it exists in the first place, they must be somewhere. Likely at the center of the rabbit plains? Whoever is in control there probably raises them.¡± Jason facepalms, ¡°so we poisoned her with our experience?¡± Courtney shakes her head, ¡°no no no, I suspect that is what happened. We won¡¯t know until after we turn off the experience share. But yeah, tainted xp. Worse yet, all we can do is wait. She took in A LOT of xp from that fight. Sure the System has some stuff in place so she wouldn¡¯t have rocketed right past level ten or anything but yeah. Those wisps coming off of her at least mean she is getting better. By tomorrow things should be fine though I foresee her not keeping much if any of the experience. Any experience that was pure enough probably mixed with the rest of it since the xp all went to her at once.¡± With an actual plan the rest of the night goes by in peace. The team turns off the team experience split right away just in case they get attacked but besides that things crawl by for them. Jason is out of it and it takes Courtney reminding him three times to change Lily¡¯s experience split from being his companion. Not into it he just sets it to 100% and 50% when she hits level ten. Though when he did that a future problem popped up in his mind. Animals will level up as they grow even if they don¡¯t do anything for experience. This natural level growth side steps the usual bottlenecks. Once a creature has enough sentience or reaches their species soft cap will the bottlenecks affect them. Lily fit neither of those but because of being a companion she technically was under that first one. After all, someone can only become a companion through their own conscious acceptance of it. What this means is that they will have to find a low level boss for Lily to beat up in the near future. When he told Courtney about this she only laughed. Jason got the feeling that Lily might be stuck at level nine for a little while. Of course that might not matter if she is allergic to all experience she doesn¡¯t earn herself. He was willing to hold her paw through fighting sub level ten mobs but he didn¡¯t want to have to hunt them out. Sure you could find a large variety of different leveled mobs around but low leveled ones tend to be focused in more civilized areas or oddly enough the danger zones. Chapter 130 - Folk on the Edge Night drags by as Jason worries over Lilly. For the first half nothing seems to change, but as midnight passes a puff of black smoke rolls off of her and she settles down into a fitful sleep. By morning, only the most immaterial of black wisps still come off of her. To Jason she seems to sleep much more peacefully. Breakfast is tense but they need to continue onward. To stay in the clearing would be asking for trouble. There was no attacks last night but with the praying mantis dead this situation would not last. The group packs up and Jason puts Lilly in her harness. Whatever else happened they lacked any way to help her while out here in the wilderness. Much to the groups relief the day passes peacefully. Not that they expected much with how the previous days had gone. With a predator like the giant praying mantises flying around, especially that big one, the group can only assume they have culled the area of most dangers. The next several days proves this out as things go peacefully now that they know what to look out for. While praying mantises are excellent ambush predators their ability to hide does not scale up so well and the group just stays away from thick foliage. A few do pass over the group but Rosha is now knows to listen out for them and they manage to hide each time. It has now been a couple days since they last saw one and the forest is both thicker and more active. They can see deer and rabbits along with a few smaller predators like foxes and bobcats. Lilly had recovered after three days of rest but the group still felt pressed to continue forward at a sped up pace. Rosha doesn¡¯t even complain about not being able to hold Lilly. Three weeks into their journey and not much had happened. While Jason and Rosha are bored with it Courtney is happy. As she puts it, ¡°a boring trip means you''re doing it right.¡± While there are monsters around the group is too much trouble for too little benefit. Barely past level ten and traveling as a group makes them a tough nut with too little meat. They know that is about to change though. The tribe of boar folk they planned to stay the night at informed them of it or at least they did after the party got used to how they looked. Unlike the animal kin, those races named animal folk took more after the animal than not. Though the group expected something to change even before they met the trip. They had seen a giant wall of trees since a couple of days ago and the boar folk just enlightened them to the significance of the strange feature. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. About a hundred years ago, this entire forest was like the coming area. A deep dark and ancient forest with trees wide enough to need a family joining hands to reach around it. The human kingdom was constantly under threat because of this. Monsters bred at a great rate in such a primal land. Before because of various border conflicts they put the forest on a back burner but with a peace brokered by a traveller it came to the forefront. They declared a great crusade with promises of land to those who pushed back the wild. This battle with more in common with a massive lumber camp than an actual war proceeded with great success. Trees older than the kingdom itself fell one after another as wave after wave of monsters got put down by an endless supply of adventurers looking for levels and loot. Then of course after the kingdom declared the crusade a roaring success it all went downhill. That wall of trees marks the edge of something above the petty squabbles of kingdoms and man. With the first axe strike on one of those trees the very land rose up. No one is sure what lives in there though some guess a treant of some variety. Not willing to be defeated that easily they kept felling any tree outside of what was revealed to be a giant circle. High level monsters are more akin to natural disasters than a solvable threat so after sweeping the massive number of deaths under a rug it was still declared a victory. The boar folk elders where more at home in the forest so had requested their land be next to the remaining forest. Of course the so-called victory did not last all that long as within a couple years trees started to sprout in the previously forested areas. They made a few small attempts to keep the land clear but nothing worked. Most of the newly made villages had to be abandoned with only a few more forest ready races staying. The only good news was that the new trees slowed their growth after reaching a normal height. Ever since this tribe of boar folk had actually been living decent lives out here. The tribe''s shaman had a theory. The monster at the center of it all had paid little attention to what happened in the forest. However once the kingdom made that effort to cut down the forest it woke up to the fact that all those monsters just leaving the forest might bring back trouble. Now it must cull them to keep attention away from itself as no true threats had left the forest ever since. Of course the kingdom won¡¯t forget what happened so they actually pay the tribe to monitor it. Lucrative for them when they would have done it anyway while out foraging. Besides that the group learned the common monsters they would be facing. The giant praying mantises kept away from the deep forest. In fact, most ambush predators seemed to have disappeared. Not that the boar folk were complaining. Only the giant spiders stuck around. Besides that though most of what they would fight is plants. Venus fly traps, sundews, and more active hunters like the assassin vine. About the only thing lacking are the fungus based monsters. Chapter 131 - No Actual Rams Involved The day dawned bright and early with a surprise for the party as they are woken by a commotion. The tribe¡¯s scouts had spotted a mossram which despite the name had nothing to do with rams. Rather it was a giant mound of moss that would ram things. But yeah, it had crawled into a nearby pound and the tribe wanted to know if they would be willing to take care of the mossram. The pond is out of the way for them and they would prefer they killed it before the monster reproduces. Which is apparently what the thing going into a body of water means. The boar folks have a team that could take care of the mossram but they offered the group a chance at it because the group would get more out of the combat. After the group confers they decide this is a good chance to make sure Lilly will be fine. With the tribe nearby they can just retreat to the relative safety they represent if something goes wrong. A decision made and the elder agrees to send one of the scouts with them to point it out. A good thing too as when they get to the lake the group doesn¡¯t see anything to start with. It took the scout pointing the mossram out for them to spot it. Though in hindsight the giant mass of moss should have given it away. The scout, now done with his task, makes a hasty retreat to observe how the fight goes down from a distance. Rosha is a bit miffed about this but Courtney is able to explain it to her. After all, the tribe needs to know if they win or not. Without that knowledge their home could be overrun with mossrams. As the group approaches the mossram it becomes more obvious. While it looks like the moss and algae at the lakes edge its color is too varied. At a distance this let the mossram blend in but now the color is disconcerting. Streaks of vibrant green with an almost blue tinge right next to old brownish yellow blobs. Little streamers of the beast extend beyond the main body to better blend in but that soon changes. They tried to sneak up on it but the mossram had expanded farther than the scouts thought. The group isn¡¯t sure who stepped on a tendril but with a roar, string sized bits of moss that extends out far enough to even reach the scout pull out of the ground and retract. What was already a big mossram grows larger and the lake''s water level visibly drops. The scout falls back even further as the team readies themselves. Rosha backs up to a sturdy tree, Courtney positions herself behind Jason, and he takes a set forward and drops into a deep stance. With the mossram now up the blob of moss has taken on a more animal adjacent shape. It stands on four limbs with a dense clump of seemingly dead moss being the only thing to show front from back. It roars once again and that dead mass splits open to reveal a massive maw. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. The mossram now ready charges at Jason. With Courtney behind him he can¡¯t just dodge out of the way so instead he counter charges. As the two are about to meet Jason dashes to the side. With a dagger in a reverse grip he drags it behind him across the mossram¡¯s front leg. While this doesn¡¯t cause too much harm, where the dagger passes by a great burst of water comes forth from the cut. The wound seals fast but Jason can tell the leg is smaller. He yells to the others that, ¡°it looks big but most of it is water! Rosha, normal arrows probably won¡¯t do much and fire is likely a no go. Courtney we need a chance to gather ourselves. Can you stop it for a moment?¡± The mossram angered slides to a stop. The dead moss maw swivels around the body so it was faced towards Jason and stomps the ground. Now behind it Courtney starts to chant and runes glimmer in the surrounding air. Rosha over to the side sighs, she had been hoping to have a nice ranged fight. Jason throws out the dagger and nails it in the same leg. He hoped that the dagger would keep the wound open. To his disappointment water soon pushes the dagger out. It also doesn¡¯t stop the mossram from another charge. As it comes upon him the mossram lowers its front and shovels up a large shower of dirt. Jason was readying to jump on its back but is rebuffed. With an arm across his face the dirt wave shoves him back and rocks slam into him. -4 The mossram goes to stomp him when with a swish Rosha is at his side swinging her weapon in an upward slash. A large cut appears on the leg being raised and water splashes out. This doesn¡¯t stop it but gives Jason enough time to scamper out of the way. The limb crashes onto the ground and spreads out across the ground. Some water escapes before it reforms. Then Courtney finishes her spell and the mossram stops in place as sparkles dazzle over it. Rosha and Jason back away as it slumps down and spreads out. Courtney dashes over to them and whispers that, ¡°the mossram thinks it is back in the lake and nothing is around. We have until its tendrils reach the lake and breaks out of the illusion. The beast might not have much of a mind but I can¡¯t copy water close enough to fool the monster if it touches the actual stuff.¡± The group spreads out around the mossram. On one side Courtney casts a quick heal on Jason topping him off. Now ready Jason takes out a couple daggers and Courtney flexes her hands into fists. As she does claws pop out of her knuckles. On the other side of the beast Rosha grabs her staff with both hands. Chapter 132 - Violet Mass Jason holds up his hand with three fingers out, two, one. On both sides of the mossram the group stabs their weapons into it and run towards its back. Jason is able to open up a couple of shallow slashes down its side. Effective but Rosha is better. Her long staff blade is able to sink into the monster and cause a long-lasting cut. She even manages to half cut through the back leg. Above them though Courtney does the most. While her claws are the shortest weapon, she has five on each hand. Instead of opening up a slice of the mossram her claws shred it. Jason¡¯s slashes soon close. Rosha¡¯s cut doesn¡¯t heal right away but the water flow lightens. Courtney¡¯s damage however isn¡¯t healing. In fact, now that they can see what happens it looks less like regeneration and more like the edges are being held together. The mess Courtney has left on the mossram¡¯s flank on is so messed up the beast can¡¯t hold it together. The monster wakes up with a pained roar. Courtney and Jason both jump back but Rosha stays in close to work on the leg. She pulls back her weapon and swings it down hard on the leg she half cut off. Before the mossram can react she hacks it off. Water is now streaming off the monster in great quantities. In fact, more water than its size would seem to be able to hold. Task complete Rosha also backs off as the group plays at passing around the aggro. Confused the mossram keeps turning from one to another as they take turns attacking it. While this goes on Rosha notices the leg she cut off has lost its shape. While the mossram never had that much of a defined shape the leg is now more of a puddle on the ground. In fact, the only thing that separates it from a puddle of algae is the massive amounts of water pouring off of it. Besides that the stump has proven what they suspected. Instead of healing the edges of the wound are pulling together. Water still pours out of it and combined with the other wounds the mossram has shrunk. However the area they are fighting in has now flooded. Despite the lake nearby over an inch of water covers the ground. Courtney goes in for a quick slash and as she backs out she yells to the others. ¡°This thing must have gotten water from other lakes before this. I don¡¯t know what this means but we might be here a while if we have to bleed it dry. We might need to get a deeper hit on it. The damage we are laying down is just not enough. I will back up and cast an info spell on it. If nothing pops up, we can ask the scout but I would like to handle this by ourselves.¡± She backs up even further and makes some gestures. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Now with Courtney ducked out aggro stabilizes on Rosha. While Jason is attacking more her spear lays out more solid hits. As it readies to charge at her Jason puts away his daggers. While the obvious spurts of water feel cathartic the mossram is just shrugging his attacks off. As the mossram charges he runs at it and jumps. Rosha grabs her staff in the center and as it gets to her she jumps under it. With the blade she hooks the leg on the side she cut the other off of and swings around out of the way. Jason is mid leap at this point and as the mossram skids to a halt he slams down on its back. A small wave spreads out from his impact and then a second wave as he uses his momentum to punch down with both fists. His double blast punch causes a much greater reaction from the mossram. It tries to rear up but with only one back leg this doesn¡¯t work. Instead, it topples over to the side and Jason is forced to bail. As he goes to jump off though his feet are somewhat trapped on the mossram¡¯s back. He still makes it off but it forces Jason to go into an emergency roll as the ground rushes at him much too soon. -1 The ground scrapes at his arms but he makes it out of the way as the mossram tumbles onto its back. As all this nonsense happens Courtney is able to get her spell off. A screen pops up for her about the monster. After she reads through the info, she nods and then yells at the others. ¡°The dang thing isn¡¯t what we see! Mossrams are like an organic type of golem. Somewhere in the center is a blob of violet moss. All the outer stuff is just normal moss it has collected with time. The fact it has so much water in it makes the tribes worries quite valid. Mossrams reproduce by mitosis of that center mass and they need lots of water to do it.¡± Jason nods, ¡°cool, sooooo how do we kill?¡± Courtney coughs, ¡°ah yes, to do that we need to damage the violet moss clump. While us hacking away at the outside can deal some damage, it would take us a long while. Rosha, go back to arrows and try penetrating arrows. Jason, your last attack did more damage than anything else so I guess just do that again? The center mass doesn¡¯t move around and should be a little behind the hardened moss head.¡± Rosha nods at her and retreats as she adjusts her weapon back into a bow. Once the bow is ready, she climbs a tree to get a better shot at the mossram¡¯s back. Jason on the other hand doesn¡¯t have to anything and just shrugs. This leaves Courtney to stand to the side and twiddle her thumbs, waiting to heal someone if they need it. Though she does promises herself that she will find some extra methods of attack because at the moment she can¡¯t help at all. Even her illusions would not work anymore as the mossram could shake it off much easier now. Chapter 133 - Monkey on Its Back Up in the tree Rosha pulls a piercing arrow from her quiver and draws the bow back. Ready she waits for the right shot and Jason plans to give it to her. He approaches the mossram and punches over and over to keep the monster focused on him. This might not do much damage but the monster doesn¡¯t like it either. It catches Jason by surprise and smacks him away. The mossram had been on its back but that is apparently a meaningless distinction as the legs just bend down and picks it off the ground. However the missing back leg proves more of a weakness as its front is lifted first. This gives Rosha the shot she was waiting for and the arrow screams off. With a solid thunk the shot pierces deep into the upper back of the mossram. Courtney yells out, ¡°good shot, you dealt a lot of damage so you probably hit the core. We can use that arrow as a guide on where to target.¡± Another arrow thunks into the monster while Jason rolls around on the ground to avoid being stomped on. The arrow distracts the mossram enough to let him get up and back off. However when the mossram readies to charge the tree Rosha is in he doesn¡¯t have time to catch his breath. Back into melee he charges. With another leap Jason lands on the monster''s back and he smashes his fist next to the two arrows in its back. The mossram screams and instead of rearing up it rolls to the side. Ready this time Jason uses his movement skill run up the side of the mossram and over the top. Rosha meanwhile thunks two more piercing arrows deep into it next to the previous two. As the mossram rights itself once again she yells at Jason to, ¡°get it back on the other side. Those arrows where a good marker on where to hit.¡± Jason punches again and yells back, ¡°sure let me just politely tell it how to fight us.¡± In response, an arrow sprouts out of the mossram right next to his foot. He laughs and slams another punch into the mossram¡¯s back. This time though the monster doesn¡¯t deign to roll over again. He laughs again, ¡°I guess it doesn¡¯t want to. Let me try something real quick and see if it works.¡± With a couple steps he is back at where the leg stump. It still pours out water but only a fraction as the mossram has managed to tighten the wound. Jason however undoes all that work by grabbing the edges of the hole and ripping the wound open again. The mossram couldn¡¯t help it at this point and started to roll over again. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. This time Jason is on the wrong side of it. Instead of just some tricky footwork he has to really work for it to stay on the mossrams back. Just before the mossram slams down on him he uses his hands to pull himself over onto its other side. Now with the arrow side up Rosha uses her piercing shot skill and lands an exceptional shot on it. The mossram¡¯s whole body shivers and instead of water a violet ooze seeps out from where the arrow hit. Jason takes this as a hint on where to hit and winds up a blast punch. With his other hand grabbing onto the mossram he puts his whole body into a straight punch right next to that arrow. The slow trickle of violet ooze becomes a steam as the monster drops to the ground, its legs unable to keep it up. The mossram weakly tries to get up while Jason yells at Rosha to, ¡°save your arrows. I should be able to finish this now.¡± Rosha has another piercing arrow drawn but she holds off. Jason soon proves out his claim as it only takes a couple more punches on that spot to kill the mossram. As it dies all the previous wounds, they had done to the mossram burst open again. In fact, it seems the mossram had been actively holding the water back as the water now bursts out like a firehose. In moments multiple inches of water are on the ground. Jason and Courtney are forces to higher ground while Rosha works her way through the treetops away from the area. A good thing too as moments later whatever was left holding the moss together gives up and it bursts. A giant wall of water pours out as the entire valley fills up. The group gathers back up with the scout as they watch this deluge of water. Jason raises an eyebrow, ¡°I guess I don¡¯t get to see how looting works until the next fight.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°you just take stuff off of them. A lot more free form but the materials and such actually have a quality depending on how you fought. Can¡¯t expect to slash up a wolf and still get a perfect pelt after all. Plus money is both harder and easier to come by. Once again with the wolf you won¡¯t be finding gold pieces in their stomach unless they had swallowed some. Money no longer appears out of nowhere.¡± She turns to the scout, ¡°so I think we took care of this problem. If what I read the worry about a mossram swarm wasn¡¯t too far off. They don¡¯t take on that much water unless they are going to mass spawn. I probably don¡¯t need to say this but your tribe will need to be extra careful. Something must have been preying on them quite hard to force this.¡± The scout makes a noncommittal noise, ¡°eh, probably just one of the few surviving herbivores coming around. The only ones that can survive in the forest are massive tanks who have been alive since before the kingdom tried to clear the forest. Anyway, you beat the beast and so you guys can consider yourselves even with our tribe. Feel free to come back when you''re stronger. We can always use help from those past the fourth bottleneck. We can handle most things but it is always nice to reduce the risk to our lives.¡± Chapter 134 - He Forgot about It After they say goodbye to the scout, the group all sit against a tree and discuss how to continue. Jason starts off with the worry they all had thought of, ¡°if the plant monsters are more active should we do this? That fight wasn¡¯t hard but mossrams are a passive monster. If the scout was right and a herbivore is on the move nearby it won¡¯t be a small fry like that.¡± Courtney pulls out a rough map she had sketched out, ¡°our trip through the deep forest here was to shave a week off of the trip.¡± She points to their current location and traces out where the deep forest should be on the map. ¡°With our current path it still takes us three weeks to get through the forest with most of that being in this danger zone. If we had known about it ahead of time, we might have planned differently but here we are.¡± Rosha chimes in that, ¡°we are already in for three weeks so an extra week to that so we can avoid the deeper forest area would be worth it.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°no, if we do that the danger would still be there. If we skirt the deep area of the forest we are still next to it. The mossram was on the edge so this could hold true for the rest of the area. In fact, our original path doesn¡¯t go that deep into the forest. While it is a lot to use if the area was an orange we still are in the outer area of the peel. It only cuts so much time off of our trip because of how big it is.¡± Rosha fires back that, ¡°if we are going to face easy stuff like a mossram out here then think of what might have taken their place. I got the feeling from the scout¡¯s words that this is nonsense happening deep in the forest. Nonsense like giant herbivores with hundreds of levels which make those trees over there look normal size. Why we stick to the regular forest area only is so we can stick to things on the level of the mossram.¡± Both Courtney and Jason pause at this. Then together they both make noises of comprehension. Jason shrugs, ¡°good point there. With that in mind I vote we stick with the edge as well.¡± Courtney only nods in agreement. Rosha claps her hands and declares, ¡°Now that is decided I say we get started going that away.¡± and she dramatically points in the direction they came from. ¡°We can exit this deep forest first and once out as long as we keep the trees visible on our right hand we should be fine.¡± Courtney points on the map, ¡°since we are not going straight through we need some way to figure out when to stop following the trees. This point right here is not quite where we would have come out but close. Most importantly though is there is a ruin marked right here. A boom town called, in the imaginative way things get names, Forest¡¯s Edge. With where Jason came from and some of the other names on the map I think there might be a council somewhere that gets to name stuff. That or they let the simplest farmer who settles in a place to name stuff. My bet is on the council naming things though as there aren¡¯t any repeats.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. With a plan in mind the group starts their journey. After the small bit of backtracking they need to do to get out of the deep forest their pace becomes steady. Whatever the kingdom did out here it most assuredly involved a lot of earth magic to flatten the land out. Only the occasional stream breaks up what, now that they are looking for it, is clearly an artificial landscape. Terrain this flat just does not happen. A couple days pass before Courtney brings up something with Jason while around the campfire. They had just beat up a pair of wolves and she had noticed, ¡°do you only have one combat skill? We might not use our skills much but both me and Rosha have shown a couple. Are you hiding skills or what? I know skills are rare but the average after the second bottleneck is two to three active combat skills. If you were a crafter one or even none would be fine but you aren¡¯t.¡± Jason smacks his fist into his palm, ¡°That¡¯s right, I need to sell my skill to the System. I had completely forgotten to do it.¡± Courtney scrunches her face and rubs one of her temples, ¡°As interesting as that is it doesn¡¯t answer my question.¡± ¡°Eh¡±, Jason shrugs, ¡°I already know five skills. One attack skill feels decent. Plus I am somewhat of a resource monkey. You couldn¡¯t have missed my little garden right?¡± ¡°Five skills! You have five skills?¡± Courtney rubs her temple harder, ¡°How do you even get five skills without at least two of them being combat? Don¡¯t even try to put it under your little garden. Resource farmers of all types tend towards even less skills as they focus on their bread and butter skill. Next town we get to the party is putting down cash to get you another skill.¡± Jason leans back, ¡°fine, I know when I¡¯m beat. Next time in town I will get some stomp skill or what have you. I don¡¯t feel right using everyone''s money though, so let¡¯s restrict it to what we earn on the way there. I know that is basically the same thing with our current financial status but please let me keep this at least.¡± Courtney turns back to the fire, ¡°whatever. You''re our tank so just stay up front.¡± Now free of the conversation Jason brings up his Blast Punch skill and queries the System about selling it. The skills screen closes and up comes the text from when he hit level ten as well as asking what he would like to sell it for.
You may sell your self-created skill Blast Punch (Variant) to the System. Because you ranked the skill up to Initiate, the System would like to spread your it to others and provide you a cut of what people pay to learn it. Warning, if you do sell your skill to the System, they will change it to make it fit better. Please Choose what you would like to sell this skill for. Chapter 135 - Cutting Hundreds of Skills Jason lays back on his bedsheet and considers the System message. He can right away think of a few things he would want to sell his skill for. The question is which would get him the best power boost. About the only certain thing is that he doesn¡¯t want money for it. That will flow in as he gets royalties from it. The upfront sale of Blast Punch however is worth more elsewhere. After a few more minutes of thought he whispers, ¡°System, can you list common things that they sell skills for?¡±
Specific examples are private. However, below is a list of options though amounts vary depending on how the System evaluates your skill.
Jason glances over the list and thinks to himself, ¡®Courtney is going to hurt me if she finds out I had the choice to get another skill and turned it down. Besides, the rest of the options aren¡¯t exactly tempting right now. Equipment would be nice but yeah.¡¯ ¡°System, I would like a skill. How would I go about choosing one and training in it?¡± The System then explains many things in a nice long box of text. What it comes down to though is he can either wait until he finds someone with an equivalent skill to learn or get trained in a dream. While the dream method removed any time limit on learning the skill, there were a couple downsides. First among them was if he chooses to learn that way it reduces the quality of skills him can learn. This wasn¡¯t going to stop him from using it though. In fact, the biggest downside for him was it would compete with his cultivation at night. For the moment though with his split shift for night watch it would be easy enough to deal with. Then he pulls up the list of skills he can learn in his dreams. The best way to describe the list is information overload. Especially as skills like his clutter it up. While the System does only pick up skills with some appreciable difference it stacks up over time. The skills you learn in person will be much more limited but here is every possible skill since the beginning of time in this world. Specifically, this world as well. Jason figures he must have missed it in the long explanation but at the top of the list it specifies the skills are only from the current world. With the mess this list currently is he can only imagine how bad it would be if it covered all of everything. After all, despite how much time had passed since the players joined in, those players known to have left the main world can be counted on one hand. Of course that is only the known players. Big guilds and corporations likely had people out there but non-disclosure agreements had a lot more oomph behind them when made in-game. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Random thoughts aside Jason gets down to reducing the list. First up was to remove any option that did not fully use his trade value. That cut down on the page count to under a hundred. At a hundred skills a page this was still obscene numbers of skills to go through so he continues. Next because of Courtney¡¯s desire for him to increase his combat tricks he cut out any non-attack skill. This did not do that good of a job at removing skills, only taking out five pages. On one hand, that is a lot of skills removed. On the other, out of just shy of a hundred pages this doesn¡¯t do much. After Jason thinks on it some more he facepalms. He had missed the most obvious restriction. With this restriction the list drops to only ten pages. How he forgot to remove skills that used mana or qi escapes him but what can you do. Now though it becomes harder. A thousand skills is still too many to dredge through. He considered removing any skill that didn¡¯t use energy but that didn¡¯t feel right to him. Regular martial arts are an important foundation you can build on. Jason passes some more time before giving up. He had wanted to keep around weapon based skills but at the moment he only has some throwing daggers. With that in mind he removed any skill that used weapons besides said daggers. Down to one page now he glances over what is left. A large variety is what was left. With the removal of classic magic and qi powered martial arts being the likely source of this. For now that glance was able to point out a few more things to remove. In quick succession he removes skills dealing with extreme range attacks, poison skills, and anything that doesn¡¯t do damage. This reduces the list to a good forty options. Not that he wasn¡¯t interested in artillery but that was outside of his current situation. Though thinking over it again he also removes any skills that require expensive components. Another ten skills knocked off the list but Jason knows how the human mind works. If at all possible, he would like to reduce it down to seven skills so he can keep them all in mind at once. Only then will he be able to figure it out. Five skills gone after he removes fist based skills, he already has one of those. Three gone as Jason vetoes biting, six removed for the below the belt style attacks, and just two for headbutt shenanigans. He is now almost to his goal. Halve the list and he is there. Removing any skill that uses an actual item knocks five off and now Jason is stuck. He could be fine with nine skills but that doesn¡¯t feel right. It was to the point in fact he could likely remove two by hand but at this point he has gotten stubborn about it. Almost time for bed when he removes another with the restriction of team-based skills. Then as he is falling asleep, he knocks two skills off, getting him below his desired 7 skills. However, he didn¡¯t really want any skills that would cause a massive amount of blood splatter when used anyway. Chapter 136 - The Six Skills War Stomp A classic powered kick attack. Despite the tendency for it to be use Qi the skill can be used with any type of resource pool. The different power sources will cause different effects to happen and so the possibilities of this skill are technically unlimited. Rarity: Common Type: Powered Attack Tystufus¡¯ Energy Darts While not a rare type of skill this version of a manifested weapon has been specialized. Its original creator, Tystufus, spent over a decade to take a run-of-the-mill Mana dagger skill and turn it into an Energy based throwing dart. However in consideration of future users, the weapon templates available has been extended to include many types of small throwing weapons. This includes throwing daggers, needles, throwing axes, and similar. The only real limit on what weapon it can form is the weapon needs a blade or point, be a single mass, and it can only form the weapon with a single point of Energy. Rarity: Rare Type: Energy Manifested Weapon Body of Blades This skill comes from a sword master taking the concept of being one with the blade too far. While this state refers to being able to use a sword as if it were a part of one¡¯s body this skills unnamed creator felt differently. He took the concept of the finger blade and other similar skills but pushed it farther. The result was this skill. Instead of just a temporary replacement for when his sword was unavailable the creator turned his whole body into a blade. While successful in the development of this skill the creator died soon after as brawling is quite different from their original sword style and so their attempt to cut enemies with their fists was less than successful. This skill is prized by martial artists as many have found the ability to cut without a blade quite helpful. This skill is particularly popular with any species that has natural weapons as it provides an extra bonus to their already dangerous bodies. Rarity: Rare Type: Body Buff Elbow Piercer Elbow strikes are already used as a piercing attack and this skill just takes it further. A person who specialized in elbow strikes made this skill after they learned over a hundred different elbow strike skills. This is not some perfect skill, however it does take the lesson that master learned from those other skills. The biggest benefit from this combination is that it allows an adaptable approach to your attack. So adaptable in fact, despite elbow being in the skill''s name it can be used with knees or similar body parts just as easily. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Rarity: Exquisite Rare Type: Powered Attack Carl¡¯s Double Bash The one, two punch is a common concept and Carl took it a step further. He combined the classic combo into a single punch and extended that to any bashing attack. While the concept behind the skill is simple enough. Use your energy as a second hit. The actual implementation was tricky enough to hold back others from doing so before Carl. In fact, he didn¡¯t figure out all the tricky nonsense either. Instead, Carl just trained his body enough that he could attack with his body first and then bring his Qi in as a second hit. Though it is important to note that while this sounds simple, there are some special details which have caused it to be one of the few skills like it in this world. Rarity: Rare Type: Powered Attack Flying Kick Not the classic jump kick but rather a confusingly named skill that involves extending the range of your kicks. While this skill does not allow you to kick people across the room, it gives you the range of a spear. Rarity: Uncommon Type: Powered Attack
These are the six skills Jason is met with when he wakes up for his watch. With how he cut down on the options the selection was just about what he expected. Not too boring but any unique skills at this level of power would be kept and not sold. Jason can only shrug as he is doing about the same thing with his blast punch. The skill itself isn¡¯t all that exciting. After he sells it is when the real fun starts with it. After all, why limit how he sends out his Energy to only his fists? Though that limits what skills from the list he would want. For instance, Carl¡¯s double bash is almost just like his blast punch except limited in another fashion. An easy skill to cross off the list. Elbow piercer is about the same as well, except instead of sending out energy it sets it in place. Though from the sounds of it the elbow piercer also includes lessons on how to use elbow strikes in various situations. For some that would be quite useful and is probably where the exquisite part of the rarity came from. Flying kick on the other hand might be useful to Jason depending on how it actually works. This potential is soon proven wrong though when he pulls up a clip of the move being used. If it had been an attack that projected out a burst of energy that would have been convenient. Not even for the skill itself but rather as a guide for how to send out his energy at range. Instead, the kick is has more to do with tricky movements and over extending on the kick. Half of the skills gone but that leaves a much harder choice. Each of the remaining skills does something different that even if the actual skill isn¡¯t useful would help him later on. The darts skill does what he had hoped the flying kick might though a little more disconnected than he wanted. Body of blades was a lesson on how to change his energy into different concepts. Last but not least, the common skill, war stomp. The shortest description but in his eyes it has the most potential. Chapter 137 - Stoic Trainer The energy darts and body blades while nice are something Jason can figure out on his own. War stomp, despite its common rarity has one special little quirk to it. Everything else on the list would use his Energy. Full stop, nothing more. War stomp on the other hand says it can use any resource pool. This means not only energy, qi, or mana but also things like health, stamina, or experience. As it stands he already knows how to use energy so manipulation of it is only a matter of practice. A skill which would let him use everything else? That is a completely different kettle of fish. Energy came easily enough to him from his past experience. Other resources like health had been abstracted by the game though so Jason didn¡¯t have a clue where to start. War stomp was more than just a clue though. It was the Rosetta Stone of resource use. He could use the stomp with anything he wanted and feel how they worked. The only thing that held him back from picking it right away was the common rarity. If it was a skill basically anyone can learn, then he could pick it up in the next town. What tipped it in the end for him though was while he can learn it in town the lessons would only be until he picked up the skill. With the dream learning he would get what would amount to personalized lessons for at least a week. Though with his sleep schedule that might be stretched to a couple weeks or even a month. This might even be better for him as it would let him digest what he has learned and potentially use it in a fight. One session with a trainer would never match this. Plus it would let him test the skill with stuff like experience which would be a bit too expensive to use in practice. In a dream that wouldn¡¯t be a problem and he could find what each thing did to the skill. With his decision squared away the rest of his watch passed. He trades off with Rosha and is soon asleep. However a peaceful night''s sleep is not what he gets. Instead, Jason is soon stood in the middle of a large dojo. To each side are numerous practice dummies. A quiet cough comes from behind him. There stands a woman. Her skin weather-beaten with a deep tan. Scars criss cross her body or at least what can be seen of it. An intricate leather and metal armor cover her. She keeps her head down as Jason stands there. Jason has experienced instructors like this before so he doesn¡¯t try to speak up. Instead, he respectfully kneels down on the wooden floor then lowers his head and meditates. An hour passes and the both of them have stayed still and silent. Another hour and the night is half over before the trainer speaks up. ¡°So the System has found someone with enough patience for me to bother with before I leave. Let us both hope you can manage as I don¡¯t have many centuries left here and few pick a common skill when given a choice of rare ones. Now stand up and stomp that dummy furthest back.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Without a word, Jason stands up and heads to the back of the room. Off to one side is a simple wooden torso. You could barely even call it a dummy. Jason had never trained in any special stomp but he knew the basics. Knee comes up and he slams it back down. His heel shatters the chest as his strength is great enough for ordinary wood to mean little to him. The trainer bends over to inspect the shattered dummy. Jason stands to the side unfazed by her suddenly being there. It had been a common tactic among trainers in his past life to get a jump out of new trainees. She flips one shard over and nods, ¡°Decent strike with an actual force behind it and not just a mindlessly increased strength stat. You¡¯ve either spent more time on training than fighting or not put points into it.¡± She turns to him, ¡°which is it?¡± Jason bows, ¡°Respected teacher, my cultivation technique gives no stat points on level up.¡± The trainer glances over at him, ¡°Well at least you can¡¯t ruin yourself with false power. Though I guess I should teach you some of what it will mean for you. But first look at this piece of the dummy.¡± She picks up the shard and hands it to Jason. He turns it over a few times. ¡°From what I can see it comes from near the center of the chest. The one end has a slight dent which should be where my foot impacted and the other was crunched from being forced into the ground. As a whole the shard is about as long as my hand and three fingers across. Along the edges I can see it was half tore away from the rest and half sheared.¡± The trainer nods, ¡°good, you have excellent observational abilities. Though you did not mention at what point it was sheared. Right at the top, the force of your blow was able to separate the wood cleanly. However as the force of your kick was transmitted, it weakened to where it couldn¡¯t just separate the wood. This is unavoidable. A physical attack will face the restrictions of the physical. More force would just put this off. Even a god¡¯s strength can¡¯t split a moon-sized chunk of wood. Technique can go a long way in solving this problem.¡± She lightly smacks a nearby dummy without any technique. The dummy shatters to the same extent that his had. The trainer picks up a piece. Unlike the shard Jason was holding, this one was clearly just tore apart with no shearing. ¡°I used the same amount of force you did. This shows two things. First you can shatter a bigger chunk of wood without any problem. Second your training is decent enough that we might be able to get deeper into the skill with the time we have.¡± Chapter 138 - Testing it in the Real The trainer focuses on Jason. A sensation he recognizes as being analyzed purely through a greater powers perception sweeps over his body and his hair stands on end. She nods and hides a smile behind her hand but her eyes show her glee. ¡°Yes, we will be able to get much farther. It rates my skill common because anyone can get their hands on some partial version of it. Mostly because I had hoped someone would advance it on their own so I could find someone worthy that way.¡± ¡°You, however might be able to make use of some of the deeper aspects. At the very least you don¡¯t seem like a fool who will only use it with the first resource they train it with. Anyway, the first step is to improve your technique a bit. Not that what your currently doing is bad but my skill requires a little more finesse from you. Watch this.¡± She knocks one of the nearby dummies over and stomps on it. Jason was watching but the sheer speed used was too much for him. He could only see vague shadows of her motions as it reduces the dummy to sawdust with a single strike. She knocks another dummy over and this time she does the stomp at a more reasonable speed. This still reduces the dummy to sawdust but Jason is able to pick up more this time. The motions are like his, but perfected. He can however notice a couple changes he can make. In fact, Jason is about to go attempt what he has learned but the trainer has different plans. She waves her hand and over ten dummies are now on the ground. One by one the trainer appears over them and stomps down. Each time from a different angle. A layer of sawdust covers the floor but she doesn¡¯t stop. Now not even bothering to knock them over she starts a display of acrobatics as she stomps them from all sides. Jason is frozen before this display of prowess as every dummy in the room is broken one by one. Each stomp a work of art and it reduces him to a state of shocked absorption. He doesn¡¯t even notice when she finishes. Instead, Jason collapses to the ground as insight after insight assaults his comprehension of how to fight. The trainer stand off to the side with a smug little smirk on her face. For the rest of the night Jason stays there unresponsive. Even when the morning comes despite his body waking up, he stays unresponsive. That is until Rosha smacks him a couple of times. While this gets him up Jason spends the rest of the day shambling around in a daze. Luckily nothing attacks them that day. As night comes though he makes a decision. When night comes and it is time for his first sleep period he doesn¡¯t settle down into cultivation. Instead, he logs out because he has to know. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Jason crawls out of his pod and heads into his living room. From the corner he grabs a beat up punching bag leaned up against the wall and drags it to the center of the room. He just had to know if what he had seen was possible outside of the game or not. Sure once you cultivate enough power even the impossible becomes possible but at the core of his being, he felt that what the trainer had showed him was different. The punching bag now positioned he wails on it. One stomp after another but they all lack something. However with every move Jason changes something. With time his stomps become more refined though still not quite what he had seen. It almost feels like he reached a peak. He knows though that is just a limit and not the true end. Stomp after stomp he continues to attack the punching bag which has now started to lose some of its filing. A half hour has passed for him when there is a breakthrough. With one final move he raises his leg and it descends like a meteor from the heavens or divine lightning coming down to challenge a mortal. The punching bag, despite being constructed of a high tech composite, shatters. A cloud of fibers rise up as the filing falls down. Ignoring it all Jason steps away from the mess and sits down with his legs crossed. As he meditates on what happened he can sense all the energies and they more in a natural spiral around him. He ignores it all and focuses on the move just now. NeoRealm is beyond the real but real in a strange way. Obviously most of the normal skills and powers would not work outside of the game for a normal person. Jason also has to admit he is not quite a ¡®normal person¡¯ but for now he is close enough. The pure physical techniques though can crossover. That shouldn¡¯t be possible with his current understanding of the game. Something is different and his core cultivation in the game might be in danger. On the other hand it works so he will have to delve into it deeper. Time passes and his alarm to get back in the game goes off. As he opens his eyes, he is just in time to watch the little automatic cleaner robot finish its job. Now there is no evidence of what he had accomplished. He can only shrug at the impermanence of modern society despite how they have built such edifices to their future. As he gets into his pod, he leaves a final command for the house to order him a new punching bag. Back in the game he comes to just in time to start his watch. Rosha grumbles a little at him that she worried he wouldn¡¯t be back in time but otherwise the camp seems to be fine as he starts. Things can¡¯t always go his way, so all throughout his shift various wildlife decides to drop by. Nothing threatening but enough to keep him on his toes. Chapter 139 - Impressing Teacher After Jason wakes Courtney to take her watch shift, he rushes off to bed. While he doesn¡¯t hope to have the same level of epiphany as last night, to study under such a great teacher can only be seen as a blessing. As soon as he appears in the training room he goes down into a seiza and gives a deep bow to the trainer. ¡°Master, your student has made a breakthrough in his technique.¡± The trainer has a look of shock but schools her face and does a shallow bow in return. ¡°Congratulations, please show me what you learned.¡± Jason stands back and goes to the nearest dummy. He still isn¡¯t able to use a stomp from any position and so knocks it over first. Once it is down, he takes a moment to steady himself and starts to stomp. At first the trainer is disappointed as while his technique is good it isn¡¯t quite what she expected. However her disappointment changes to one of greed like a kid who just received some candy. Jason had been stomping at the level he had been for the last bit of his real world training when he felt it again. Before to preserve the dummy he had been only lightly tapping it. Now though that he feels it again he puts his strength behind it. Once again his foot is like a heavenly object descending on the world and the wooden dummy is turned into sawdust. He lacks the control of the trainer so this dust spread out through the room like an explosion. As it approaches the trainer this light cloud of dust flows around her but never quite reaching her body. She laughs and claps her hands, ¡°wonderful! To reach this level you must have experienced many other high level martial arts. It is such a shame the System doesn¡¯t recognize them as skills. Hardly anyone bothers to work on the basics to such a level. For showing me such things are not dead in the world I will see how much I can wring out of this training session.¡± The trainer moves over to another dummy and stomps it. This move looks almost like what Jason had managed but there is a mysterious intent about it. This make his stomp like an amateur¡¯s drawing of the move, flat and lifeless. Her foot slams into the dummy¡¯s chest but nothing changes. The dummy just stand there. It takes a moment but Jason finally sees what has changed. Behind the dummy she had attacked every single other wooden dummy has been erased from existence. Not even sawdust marks their passing. ¡°With my skill whatever you fuel it with will change the effect. I can¡¯t tell you what I used to do that. The System almost did not let me show you that in the first place as it touches on matters beyond this realm. No one else can ever manage exactly that attack with my skill because of how personal this skill is. You already formed a core so have touched on some of the deeper matters of the realm and peeked behind the curtains of existence. You should be able to cultivate your own ultimate use for the skill.¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°However!¡±, and she stares down at him with a fierce glint in her eyes, ¡°Never! Never reduce this skill to just a simple ultimate attack of some sort. You have seen so much more so don¡¯t be held back by what is what others consider powerful. The road is endless, the goal always in front of you, and there is always a taller mountain to climb. Some of my contemporaries would only look for those with great potential.¡± ¡°They would choose the archetypal hero to grant their legacy. Forever they teased me for not passing on my core teachings and yet after all these years, long after they have ascended the world has forgotten us all. Those heros they chose left their own names behind but soon enough their road ended. A hero rises out of need and once that need it fulfilled most will just stop.¡± ¡°A hero who has rescued their princess, brought peace to their kingdom, and vanquished their great foe is done. I wish them peace for that is what they truly want. What I want from you is different. You''re not like them, driven by some ulterior goal. To have reach so far before your first century of life without some great goal means one thing. Your goal is the simplest one, to continually improve yourself. Where heros are pushed, you are the one who had to shove.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t give you my legacy like the fools gave theirs to those heros. Instead I will let the System manage it. Exceed yourself or you will never hear from me again. But that is all in the future. For now there is some training to do. You learned the physical aspect but as you I showed the metaphysical part is just as if not more important. Now, many common skills will have you push your power into a limb and strike out in some manner. I guess this works well enough. It certainly makes it easier for someone who hasn¡¯t manipulated their energy to learn.¡± ¡°I believe in a different methodology. If you start someone on such a brain dead method how can you hope for them to reach for more later? Sure, there are some interesting variations on how you push that energy around but there is a reason that magic users tend to be seen as more powerful later on. They start with front loading the complexity of manipulating mana so later on casters can focus on other aspects.¡± ¡°Luckily for you I have taken a page from their book so we need a bit of a change in scenery.¡± She snaps her fingers and the surrounding blurs out of focus. Next thing he knows Jason is sat at a desk in a rustic classroom. The only thing that breaks this impression is the blackboard has been replaced with some form of 3d display that shows a nondescript human body rotating slowly. Chapter 140 - Everyones Different The trainer is standing next to the displayed human body and she points at it. ¡°We are both human and so have humanoid bodies. That is the theory most others agree on and by that frown you clearly have different opinions on this subject as well. So do I in fact. If all humans were the same then why do cores get formed in different places when not controlled? Why are certain methods of moving energy more effective for some and not others?¡± ¡°Simple enough to understand if you throw out the idea that a human is the same as every other human. I don¡¯t know how this became popular anyway. A tall person can reach items on a high shelf. Now every human is still a human. You aren¡¯t an elf if you¡¯re skin is lily white or a dwarf if you''re shorter than normal.¡± ¡°However, each person is unique and their body will have some differences from the classical model for how a human''s energy system should work. There are numerous charts for the so called qi channels, chakras, dantien, and so on. Bloodlines will tend towards being similar to one another and are a better indicator for what you look like on the inside.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t help that you travellers came along and decided to just upended everything by seemingly being able to choose how your insides work to a certain extent. Everyone missed an important little detail though. Well, I say missed. Been forever since I started shouting at all the other elders here about my realization. I can¡¯t help it if they build their whole foundation on certain incorrect ideas.¡± ¡°What is important for you to realize is that all the different mystical powers are not physical. Sure, earth attuned mana will tend towards become rocks when not controlled and lightning attuned qi tends towards flowing through stuff like electricity. None of that matters though because when kept under control they flow through everything that is physical, equally well. Whatever mental construct you make for how your insides work is your mind putting up barriers made of whatever energy you are using.¡± ¡°Now I won''t say there isn¡¯t body parts that can interact with stuff like mana. In fact, I can with 100 percent certainty say there is. A good example of this is the scales of anything related to dragons. The scales are tough but the biggest feature of them is their ability to stop mystical energies from passing through them. This of course works both ways which is why dragons are so famed for their breath weapons. With a creature so magical and only one proper outlet what else can they do?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t even say there aren¡¯t any sentients lacking in such body parts. The goblins third eye and halflings in their entirety are good examples. A goblin¡¯s third eye has a mystical construct in it which allows for various vision modes such as magnification. Halflings are their own can of worms as at any point in time their whole physical structure into a mystical structure.¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°You''re a human though so we can ignore those exceptions. If it wasn¡¯t for your mind imposing a basic level of resistance energy would just flow through you like, you weren¡¯t there.¡± At this point Jason raises his hand. ¡°You have something to say?¡± With a nod Jason explains that, ¡°I have a movement skill that does something like that. After some training my skill desolate traversal gained the effect distanceless step. The description doesn¡¯t explain it. When I use the effect, it feels like I am not only letting the surrounding energy pass through me but pulling myself along.¡± The trainers gestures and all the other chairs and desks in the room are moved to the side, ¡°show me.¡± Jason gets up from his seat and moves around the room. He takes a moment to get into a groove. Once his pattern is set he starts to actively use the skill. At first he steps farther and farther. The energy in the air flows through him. Unlike usual though because of the trainers explanation he is able to improve. With the same effort he would move three steps with one Jason with his new understanding is able to go five steps. That improved he shortens the distance until he looks like he is walking in place. Then with his improved control of the effect he moves backwards with each step forward. He takes a moment to get used to this new way to use the skill. Happy with his improvements Jason turns back to the trainer and bows to her before returning to his desk. The trainer holds her chin with one hand and has the other rested on her hip, ¡°hmm, that is interesting. It is quite similar and I think you should train that effect more. At a high enough level it might let you pass through magic before it finishes. Now you won¡¯t be able to jump through a lightning bolt as that turns into lightning as soon as it leaves the mage. However you should be able to pass through a fireball before it explodes and other similar effects. Basically, any spell that activates on impact or when a person enters its range. For a certain subset of barriers you would be their bane. Just have to watch out for any mage who can trigger their spells early.¡± ¡°Anyway, since you can already display the concept, this will be a lot easier. Mages and some Qi users have a tendency towards using runes. The biggest problem for them is they need to form them outside of their body in fear of messing up their internal energy structure. Guess what we don¡¯t need to worry about? At the most basic level my war stomp guides whatever power source you use into a self organizing rune. Too many people who have gotten ahold of the skill take this the wrong way and form it outside of their body. If you ever see some idiot shouting war stomp and having a giant rune appear below their foot, you know what is up.¡± ¡°With this skill you are limited to letting the rune form by itself. One of the earliest travellers called it a procedurally generated rune and after he explained it I agree. While the effect you can get out of a power source will always be the same, everyone will get a different effect. I could change the skill to let you form the skill and others have. Mostly because without forming it inside one¡¯s body the skill level is limited so they make a variant. However that is the wrong path.¡± Chapter 141 - Three Runes The trainer pulls up a basic rune on the 3d display, ¡°Anyone can form a rune like this with a thought. If the rune you formed with the skill was only this complex, then changing it would be fine. It isn¡¯t of course. The procedural rune you form with the skill is so complex that to try to change it would either slow the activation down way too much or reduce the power.¡± ¡°At the core of this subject is the difference between ranged and melee combat, at least in my opinion. The power of a mage comes from their vast array of powers which can let them destroy entire cities if given enough time. A martial artist however must live in the moment. When you are fighting someone in melee, there isn¡¯t time to take a few seconds to form a complex rune.¡± ¡°Now there are some types who manage this but neither of us are the tanky type so we can ignore them as well. No disrespect to them. A proper wall of heavy defenders will win a war faster than the same number of martial artists but that isn¡¯t what we are training for. So for this skill we let it form the runes. You will get more power at a faster speed than those fools who can¡¯t see what the actual core of my technique is. Nevermind the fact that when I put it out, I might have left out were to form the rune on purpose. Anyone who looked into the skills background would have found my personal biases and figured it out.¡± ¡°But yeah, there is so much space inside of you why have the runes be external? I put it in the same category as having to say a skills name. Sure some stuff you just can¡¯t help it, for everything else, why give your enemies a heads up?¡± With a nod to complete her thoughts she turns to the display again and highlights the figures heart. ¡°Your core is located where your heart is. A very common location. About one in five humans who get their core will have a heart-core. Technically, this would mean that just from the perspective of distance any use of your energy in your hands or head would be faster than a foot related use. Luckily since your physical body won¡¯t impede the power this doesn¡¯t matter in the least. Plus that doesn¡¯t even go into any of the other power sources like your health. In fact, depending on if there are any field-based skills your power can move faster inside your body than through the air. ¡± ¡°This quirk of my theory allows for a more circuitous route without a loss in activation speed. Now I said that the rune forms itself. That was a half lie. The rune which attacks is self forming. However to get your power to do that you need to nudge it in the right direction. For that you will have to form a few runes yourself.¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°If you just learn how to use the skill through other methods, this step will be offloaded to the System. In fact, with how the System works, unless you specifically start with this it will be immensely hard to ever do the skill right. Much too hard to turn off the System assist for some things.¡± ¡°Now there are three simple runes you need for this. Technically, you only need two runes, one to draw on the power and the other to start it turning. In fact, that is part of the problem with the System learned version of the skill. See those two runes are specific to the type of power you learn to use it with. This means you¡¯re stuck and unless you get the System to recognize you attempts to use it with another source that is it. The two rune method also balloons out of proportion if you try to learn it my way. After all to use two powers that is four runes you need to know.¡± ¡°I actually started out that way which is why I was able to only give that away to the System. Once I mastered the skill, I spent a couple hundred years to perfect it to the current state.¡± She gestures at the simple rune on the display. The lines of the rune twist and turn as they shift around. As it comes to a stop, it has taken on a depth as the lines no longer restrict themselves to a 2d plane. ¡°This is the first rune and second most complex. It is what lets you use any power you want with the skill. One traveller I worked with on this specific rune commented on it. He said it looked like a combination of the symbol used for a power source called a battery and a transformer that have overlapped and intertwined with each other. This of course isn¡¯t an accident, she was testing what symbols from your world would do here. The most important thing to note about it is how it is all one line to draw the rune. For some reason it would not work if the lines didn¡¯t connect. That traveller had theorized that because the world recognized the two symbols separately, it wouldn¡¯t read them as one unless connected.¡± ¡°The second rune is the easiest. Just a spiral three lines deep with an arrow at the center. In fact, you could use any number of runes here but this was the most efficient for the skill. All it does is get the energy moving the correct speed and direction.¡± She motions the first rune over and has the second rune form next to it. With it on the screen what she meant by three lines deep becomes obvious. The arrow tip ends exactly where the outer part starts so that you can count three lines whichever way you go from the center. ¡°Last but not least is a rune I can¡¯t teach you. Don¡¯t need to either. This could actually be considered a hidden third rune in my original skill and why everyone has different effects develop for the same power source. Now this will sound cheesy but you need to look into your heart and find yourself.¡± Chapter 142 - Core Rune The trainer points at the figure on the 3d screen whose heart is still glowing from when she commented on Jason¡¯s heart core. ¡°Everyone, well, almost everyone has a core rune. Various shenanigans involving cloning magic and various methods of reincarnation will mess with that plus magic in general but for you it is true enough. Also of course you need to form your core before you can learn the skill. A core is actually a hidden requirement to learn my true skill.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, in case you didn¡¯t realize this yet, I am actually teaching you right now. While this is a projection I am personally forming it instead of you just being provided a System created teacher. If you hadn¡¯t formed a core, you would have gotten the skill everyone else has access to.¡± ¡°Now where was I? Right, the core rune. It is a personal identifier. You don¡¯t need to be cautious about others learning the rune. This isn¡¯t some devils truename. At most what others can do with one if they learn it is send messages through magic. They can¡¯t even point out where you are. In fact, most beings at my level of power tend to use our core runes like a business card.¡± ¡°You can find it, guess where, your core! Woo!¡± and she does jazz hands. ¡°Though for some that find is a big stumbling block. The rune is in there somewhere but will move around and change size. Once you do find yours, you can never lose it again. I can¡¯t say much more than that without the System breathing down my neck so yeah. With your perception it shouldn¡¯t be a problem to find.¡± ¡°While they are one of the most complex runes you can experience in this realm it is also easy for you to use. Others might have trouble with your rune but it is a natural part of you. Literally the core representation of who you are. Just tack it on at the end of the spiral so the arrow points towards the center and your good. You form the runes with whatever your powering the skill with and the power source changes as it passes through them. First rune to draw upon the power and regulate it into a stream. Second to get the power moving correctly and lastl your core rune to personalize it so the power forms into the attack rune.¡± ¡°These three are the minimum number of runes to cause the greatest effect. Over the years of study I have had anywhere from hundreds of runes down to trying it without runes at all. You get to benefit from my studies, though I will caution you. Just because this is perfect for me does not mean you can¡¯t improve it for yourself. However this is a stable foundation to build on.¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Now I want you to use your main power source which you formed your core with to draw the second rune in the air. I know I just went on about how you should do it inside of yourself. Problem is I can¡¯t see inside of you to enough detail that I would be much help. You can come up here and trace it with your finger first to get a feel for the shape.¡± She steps to the side as Jason approaches the display. Compared to the first rune the spiral is easy enough to understand and with his control skill the first trace comes out nearly perfect. Just to be sure he traces it a couple more times and tries it without the display. Drawing a perfect circle, or as in this case a spiral, isn¡¯t easy but Jason has great control of his body. The free drawn attempts tend to be a bit lopsided but not to far off. He turns to the trainer, ¡°You specified that the spiral had to be three deep but said nothing about size. Obviously it can be made smaller as this spiral would barely fit in my chest by itself. Is there anything that I have to look out for?¡± She waves his worries off, ¡°The spirals depth and there being an arrow at the end is all that matters. Smaller or bigger does not change the power though technically if you made it big enough the activation would be slower. Most mages aim for the extremes because of practical reasons. Smaller runes let you fit more of them and bigger runes let you put more mana into them. With my skill and the self organizing nature of the final rune if you use to little power it doesn¡¯t work. Too much and it will let the rest escape and fade away.¡± ¡°Anyway, now that you have the spiral down, work on the first rune for the rest of the night. I can¡¯t help you with the core rune so you will need to find that on your own. In fact, until you do find your rune there will be no more lessons. Even the System agrees with me on this. Though I suspect the System just doesn¡¯t want me to tell you anymore stuff you shouldn¡¯t know. With your perception this shouldn¡¯t take more than a week. Though my money is on it being closer to three days.¡± With that she disappears from the room, leaving Jason with his thoughts and the rune diagrams. He stands still for a moment grumbling, ¡°Of course it had to be runes. I wasn¡¯t bad at them but I wasn¡¯t good either. Plus what is up with her actually being here? That isn¡¯t how I understood this as working. You only get someone like this if you find an inheritance site or some such. Even then it tends to be soul shard with barely enough to teach the inheritance.¡± Not much else he can do though, so he settles down to work on drawing the first symbol. He was tempted to take a snapshot of it but being 3d, pictures wouldn¡¯t do much good. It was almost enough to have him spend some gold on the 3d snapshot feature. Chapter 143 - Chatting with Rosha Another day passes Jason while he tries to focus on the runes. Three runes a spiral, an electronics diagram, and the mystery in his core. Practice continues on the first two but the third eludes him. If this section of forest had been any more active, he would have been in trouble. His distraction though goes unnoticed as whatever had caused the mossram to flee the deep forest wasn¡¯t in the area. After the group sets up camp Rosha sits down next to him and holds Lily. With a look of concern she asks him if everything is alright. This shakes Jason out of his daze, ¡°I remember if I told you or now that I think about it Courtney but I was able to sell my punch skill to the System. Courtney had been complaining about how I don¡¯t have any other attack skills and so I traded it for one. Far as I can tell I made out like a bandit on the deal because of some outside influences.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s good¡±, Rosha chimes in, ¡°you¡¯re a decent fighter already so did you go for an attack with your feet or a ranged attack?¡± Jason turns to her, ¡°why would you assume I would take one of those two options?¡± She waves it off, ¡°I have been around a few high level martial artists in the past. You already have a movement skill and something to do with your hands so your good on those fronts. With your fighting style a defensive skill isn¡¯t likely, so it was easy enough to guess. A skill for kicking to deal with shorter enemies or something ranged as you have shown interest in that direction ala your knives.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°fair enough. You analyzed that decently though I considered some elbow or knee strikes. Anyway, I chose a stomp attack which uses runes. Not that I knew it used runes until after I chose it. Not personally interested in them no matter how much the world might try to drag me into the subject.¡± Rosha nods, ¡°I had noticed you tracing in the air. Couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of it so left you alone but good to know you aren¡¯t going crazy. Two runes isn¡¯t that much to deal with either.¡± Jason throws his hands up, ¡°if only it was just those two runes. The third rune is what is giving me trouble. Dang skill needs me to use my personal rune so I have to go through the effort of finding it.¡± ¡°Oh wow¡±, Rosha¡¯s eyes go wide, ¡°quite the restrictive skill. Though the fact you are qualified to even look for your core rune is amazing. Not much else you can besides hammer away at it. I know that dream learning has a limit though, will that be a problem?¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°That is one spot of luck for me. My trainer and the System put the lessons on pause until I find it. I think I might lose some sleep over this just to extract as much time as I can. Anyway, it is about time I get to bed, night.¡± With a yawn Jason slips into his bedroll and falls asleep. It leaves Rosha on the log they had used as a seat. It takes a moment for her to digest everything she had just heard and in the end can¡¯t keep it to herself. She heads over to where Courtney is perched on a rock and joins her. Courtney scooches over to let her on the blanket she was using to keep the chill off. Rosha leans up against her. In a low voice, she drops bomb after bomb. ¡°Just keep quiet till I finish because he has a lot of nonsense going on. Jason sold his punch skill for a stomp skill which uses runes.¡± Courtney quirks her eye and Rosha nods, ¡°yes likely that one but don¡¯t look down on him for the choice. I think he is learning the original one from its creator. Directly from the creator! Why do I think that? Because whatever version he is learning requires his core rune.¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t say that directly but when I called it that he just accepted it. Apparently his trainer and the System agreed to pause his dream training until he learned it. I haven¡¯t heard of anyone else in a position to sell the skill who could make any decisions with the System. Besides that he didn¡¯t learn how to form his core from her. In fact, since nothing has changed drastically about him since we first met up he likely formed his right away.¡± Courtney can¡¯t help but interject at this point. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have any background though! The fact we even know about the core is purely because of your family. To form it so early on needs special training from an early age that he just couldn¡¯t have!¡± Rosha nods her head, ¡°I know that. He must have had some lucky encounter but I think most must have come from his relationship with Shinefish village¡¯s guild master. He was close to her and from what I heard she was a rare bird, err well turtle, who used Energy. We haven¡¯t talked about it but Jason probably uses it as well.¡± ¡°I hadn¡¯t wanted to ask as it is personal but that makes sense¡±, Courtney mutters. ¡°His attack patterns didn¡¯t really match what you would expect from a Qi user this early on and don¡¯t get me started on Mana. Dang it, this means I have to research that now as well.¡± Rosha squints at her, ¡°don¡¯t go shorting your sleep for this. Just hand it off to whoever father assigned as an assistant. Yes, we don¡¯t trust them completely but this should look like a test assignment. After all, who would expect us to be hanging out with such a rarity? Plus you can always fact check what they give you. We don¡¯t need to know everything. He is our teammate after all.¡± Chapter 144 - Courtney and Rosha Courtney throws her hands up, ¡°fine, he¡¯s our teammate.¡± Rosha wraps her arms around Courtney before she can stop her, ¡°there there. It would have been nice to go off on our own but Jason seems like a nice enough guy. At least he isn¡¯t constantly staring at your butt like the idiots from school.¡± Courtney grumbles, ¡°you just didn¡¯t have to deal with that nonsense. Who would dare stare at you after all?¡± Rosha lifts one of her arms and puts her finger over Courtney¡¯s lips, ¡°I still insist they just wouldn¡¯t bother with someone flat like me when put next to someone like you. Now this is nice and all but I need to get to bed. That and you need more time to ignore my orders to not obsessively research Energy users. Don¡¯t give me that look. We¡¯ve known each other since childhood. With such an interesting thing popping up how could you not check it out? Though I expect you to be asleep when it is time for my watch.¡± Rosha stands up and stretches. With a drawn out yawn she heads off to bed leaving Courtney alone on her perch. Up on the rock Courtney pulls the blanket up around her having felt colder. Left with her thoughts she pulls up a browser and starts her research into Energy. It doesn¡¯t take long though before she hits a brick wall. Energy users are a rare breed indeed. Some call them the force users of fantasy because of the perceived mix of ranges and how past players had a tendency to at some point play around with laser swords. Qi and Mana users had limited success with it as their pools ran out too quickly. Only a couple of very, shall we say, themed Energy users ever succeeded at it until matters of copyright and lawyers came for them. Them not having a pool so much as a fount of power let them manage it. The difference between a squirt gun and a hose. This however is about as far as it gets. Even those original forces users are now gone as they had already been old when they started. Medical technology is good now but not that good. She sighs and types up an email. Courtney might not like to use her connections with Rosha¡¯s father but some things are just beyond her current network. Especially when over half of that came from him already. Once again she makes a mental note to start anew in here as she doubts she can weed all the double agents out. Not that it would stop new spies from infiltrating her group but at least they wouldn¡¯t be so open about it. ¡®And send. There, that wasn¡¯t so hard now was it? ...Nope that¡¯s a lie. He is a nice guy but such a helicopter when it comes to Rosha. If not for her mother, I doubt she would have come out so nice. When she first started here, I missed her. Just glad she didn¡¯t question me turning up at the city she went to. I can forgive her father for quite a lot after his assistant dropped that little tidbit of info on me.¡¯ The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡®I do have to wonder about her time with Jason. She isn¡¯t lying about him being a nice guy. Though that may have more to do with how he seems entirely focused on his training. Rosha might have been confused at his recent behavior but she will get used to it. From even the little time I personally looked into him this is a common enough thing. Anytime he has some new insight about his martial arts he gets like this.¡¯ ¡®Good thing her father has reigned himself in. He never reacted this well to what amounts to a guy ignoring her. On the other hand he would also react when they didn¡¯t either. Almost feel bad for our male schoolmates. There was just no winning for them. It raised the number of couples if only because already being with someone else was a good excuse for them.¡¯ ¡®That all aside I need to get Jason off to the side at some point and grill him. We already know of a few of his skills but I should know more. He just isn¡¯t follow any of the guides. Not that I blame him with his combat skills and Energy use. Though really it just comes back around to that. The only normal thing he seems to do is grow plants and even that isn¡¯t normal, not really. Who ever heard of someone so low level taking plants with them. Sure some druid types bring the occasional plant with them but not like he is.¡¯ Courtney spends the rest of her shift analyzing every scrap of information she could get her hands on. Even going so far as to reread the entire file she had gathered on Jason. While she rationalizes it as being professional in the end she doesn¡¯t want to see him hurt Rachel. While Jame¡¯s cult has suddenly developed a number of financial problems, it doesn¡¯t heal what has already happened. Rachel might have tried to hide it but that fool of a cultist had hurt her. To have the very first group, she joins after getting out from under her father¡¯s constant surveillance contain such element scarred her. Courtney suspected that half the reason she was so set on staying with Jason stemmed from this. To prove to herself that not everyone is out to betray her. It doesn¡¯t matter that she had no real choice in the group composition she still felt it was her fault. Though the rabbit helps as well. Nothing like a cute bundle of fur to brighten the mood. Courtney already has a source for another rabbit if things with Jason does fall out. Just one at the moment but she has been on the side of adding another so they can both have one. Rabbits are quite cute in the game when you don¡¯t have to worry about any of the extra nonsense with owning one. Chapter 145 - IRL Cultivation Jason wakes up to Courtney poking him. He never liked being woken up and this is a particularly irritating way to do so but the middle of the night isn¡¯t the time to be grumbling. The rock Courtney had been on isn¡¯t too cold yet so Jason decides to perch atop it as well. The shift is peaceful enough but he ends it quite irritated. Jason couldn¡¯t help but think about the runes however he needed to pay attention to his job. Since nothing happened though it felt like a wasted night. While it is easy to understand something might have attacked there is still that little voice in the back of his head. Whispers of how he should have practiced the runes, there wasn¡¯t anything to worry about, and things are peaceful. Those voices get quashed with impunity by him. To give in is just one long or if unfortunate quite short slippery slope to your doom. Now though it is Rosha¡¯s turn to deal with such things as he wakes her up and logs off again. Back in the real world Jason clambers out of his pod and stumbles into the living room. In the same corner as last time a new punching back is sat. He had just spent all his watch worrying about the runes but he still can¡¯t put down the physical aspect of the skill. In fact the more he thinks about it what he learned isn¡¯t even technically a part of the skill. Rather, he will be able to just fire off the attack anytime he puts his foot down. What he had learned was more along the lines of being taught how to punch properly but at a much higher level. The stomp was way beyond the equivalent of knowing to put your thumb over your other fingers when you make a fist. It wasn¡¯t even something as stupid as how to move each muscle. Rather she had instilled in him though just a short demonstration an ethos of how one should stomp for the best effect. Not just how to stomp but when and where. The memory of it from in game is nice but as a martial artist and cultivator Jason has a deep desire to grind the move into his muscles and bones. To take the memory and make it a reaction, both in and out of NeoRealm. So once again a punching bag suffers for his art. This time even with Jason holding back the bag breaks sooner than the last. ¡°I can see where this is heading. Punching bags are cheap but that is the second one in only a handful of hours. Better make a slight change to before I order the next one. Probably the military¡¯s standard bag will do at only ten times the price. Still cheap but the next grade of punching bag after that is a hundred times the military bag¡¯s price. Understandable, that is getting into the realm of being used to test exosuits but I would have to make some gold to afford it.¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. His bag order changed and a cleared floor later has Jason cultivating once again. He might need a more lengthy rest in the future but for now he can hold out. Instead, all those energy types in the air are calling his name. The last time he had only sensed for them, tonight he wanted to draw them in. Seated on the floor Jason relaxes. The energy in the air just on the edge of his senses as he waits. Breathe out through the mouth and feel the air leave. Breathe in through the nose and hold it. Tongue on the roof of the mouth and once again breathe out. Keep breathing out till there is nothing left and hold. Through the nose breathe in but keep going till it naturally stops. Hold it again and then, tongue in place, breathe out all the way. Repeating the last bits over and over Jason continues until he feels it is time. Now for the secret to properly cultivating. He hadn¡¯t bothered with it in NeoRealm. In fact he might have mistakenly assumed it wouldn¡¯t work in there. NeoRealm was a product of this world¡¯s imagination so he had figured any cultivation in the game would be based purely on the fiction as well. That one genre defining mistake that limits what this world has done with cultivation. Jason breathes out fully and is ready. He closes his mouth and makes the action of breathing in. However he does not let any air enter him. The suction force can be felt in his chest and most importantly the pit of his stomach. As he holds this suction for as long as he can the energy in the air around is jostled. Then he has to breathe in again. As he repeats the energies all around him diverts from their natural paths. The energies already inside of him are the first to join but soon the air within a couple inches of his skin has lost most of its energy as well. In the pit of his stomach the various energies gather. Some escape his grasp when he has to breathe but part has formed a small flow inside of his body. Like a slow whirlpool it catches the energy, becoming a part of his body¡¯s natural energy field. Jason measures the amount with care. Moments before he has enough to advance himself he stops. In fact he starts to do the reverse. With his lungs full of air he gently does the action for breathing out without actually letting any air go. Throughout his body loose energy from the outside is pushed away from him. What was caught in the pit of his stomach does get pushed on as well. However he is gentle enough that none except that which was on the very edge can escape. Now clear of the excess energy Jason has a much more difficult task to accomplish. Separating any energy types which don¡¯t fit him from the rest and removing it. Chapter 146 - Go Away Corruption Jason sits there in the center of the living room focused on himself. In the pit of his stomach his captured energy rotates. In his last life they would call this his dantian and he sees no reason to change that tradition. This world already has that concept even if they do get some things wrong. For now he needs to do some spring cleaning. From afar everything seems alright. However the closer you get to the whirlpool of energy the more easy it is to see something is wrong. Slow moving energy like boulders in a stream causing eddies. Particles that move erratically and disturb their neighbors. Even some bits which are working their way out. The whole thing is a mess and if Jason wants to get anywhere he needs to judiciously go through it all and remove the dross. Easiest for him are those particles that are escaping. So close together Jason isn¡¯t quite able to get a feel for them individually but he has a good clue to what they represent. Energies from various forces inimical to human life. Stuff like an undead¡¯s miasma. With just a mental shove these particles leave his body. Those distractions taken care of Jason focuses on the most important energies to remove. Miasma and like would make him sick until removed or some other energy changes it. The particles stuck in his whirlpool are another story. His only comparison is a devil¡¯s corruption. Those boulders in his path would stick around and absorb other energy types to grow. The problem is that while the energies where willing to enter their removal is not so easy. Jason tries to just shove them out but all that does it prevent them from progressing further. In fact any attempt to mess with the energy stops it dead. He can¡¯t even push them further into the whirlpool. They only move when left alone. It doesn¡¯t take some elder to enlighten him to the fact that if they get there things will be bad. Jason can sense more of those energies out in the air flowing freely so this is purely because of it being in his dantian. Though this is also the solution to his problem and why he didn¡¯t stabilize the whirlpool. With a careful shove so the core of his dantian doesn¡¯t touch any of the corruption he moves the entire mass of energy. The whirlpool loses cohesion but the unwanted energies are no longer a part of it. With pure force of will Jason keeps a slow swirl going as he watches left behind particles. At first they stay still like when he tried to move them. Then in a burst of movement some of the particles dart off to join the natural flow around him. Only a portion remains behind, all of one type. He has experienced it before but these particles soon show that they are much worse than the others. Instead of staying still or joining up with the outside flow they start to spiral. At first barely a vibration but soon it is clear each particle is searching for his dantian. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Jason frowns, ¡®not only do they corrupt other energies but actively try to do so to anyone who cultivates. Depending on when this particle got introduced that would explain why there are no more cultivators on this world.¡¯ Now wary of them Jason doesn¡¯t even try to touch them. Instead lying back while moving his whirlpool out of the way. Whereas before the particles had stayed in him now that they moved around on their own he was able to leave them behind. Ever careful Jason rolls out from under them and backs away. With an eye on them he watches until they settle down once again and join with the natural flow. That isn¡¯t enough for him though so he approaches one of the particles before it flows out of his sight. A small hop and he thrusts it through the edge of his whirlpool. One hundred percent focused on the particle it relieved Jason to see it not respond. At least that is what he appears to feel as he turns his back and leaves the room. However the whole time he is tensed and ready to react. Only once most of his hour has passed does he relax. If it had tried to join back up with his dantian or pursued him Jason would give up on cultivation right then and there. He had no way to protect himself while in the pod and who knows how many of those particles might infest him while he is in the game. With the little time he has to spare Jason moves his energy whirlpool back to the center of his dantian and steadies it. Next time he will still have more work to do but he has cut out the rot so things should keep for now. Only a couple minutes to spare, he enters his pod and the game. Once in game three more days pass him by. Practicing runes during the day and cultivating at night. As night comes upon the group again Jason is happy. He hasn¡¯t tried proper cultivation yet but his runework has improved. While he might not be on the level of what a professional calligrapher could do, he can manage the first two runes. All that alludes him is his core rune and that is just a matter of time and study. Tonight though he has other plans. More specifically, Rosha has other plans for him. She stares him straight in the eyes at the campfire. ¡°You are running yourself ragged! I know you can manage the split schedule but you aren¡¯t doing that are you? Instead your off practicing runes or what have during one of your rest periods. Not tonight though! Tonight we are switching shifts. I take the middle watch and you take the first and you won¡¯t be doing anything else with the rest period but sleeping. No cultivation, no leaving the game, just sleeping on your bed roll. Both me and Courtney will make sure that you do! If you so much as twitch wrong so that we think your awake we are going do everything tomorrow to prevent your runework.¡± Chapter 147 - Connecting the Runes Jason wakes up the next day well rested. He would have spent most of the day sheepishly avoiding Rosha and Courtney if not for one fact. Having gotten a good night¡¯s rest after learning about the core rune had nudged something loose in his mind. With a new fervor he went at searching his core. Now he didn¡¯t find the rune right away or anything however by the time night rolled around again there it was. A complicated 3d nonsense squiggle which nevertheless felt like a complete representation of him. In fact, it felt almost too much like him. Jason puts this thought aside for the moment though. His elation knows no bounds as he will be able to continue his lessons and had managed it in less than a week. Sure his teacher had said he should be able to but life happens sometimes. For now, all that matters to him is finishing dinner and going to bed. He doesn¡¯t even taste the food and is in his bedroll before the sun sets. As soon as his jitters settle and he drifts off to sleep Jason is once again in the training hall with his trainer in front of him. She nods at him, ¡°decent time. Now that you have found your core rune we can continue. I won¡¯t ask you to draw it for me. In the future you might want to be able too but for now it isn¡¯t needed. Instead just hold it still in your core and have the System share what it looks like with me.¡± A thought later the rune stills and is shared with her. She takes her time to examine it but in the end sighs. ¡°I still can¡¯t make heads or tails of these things. Would never mistake who the rune is for but it might as well be a child¡¯s scribble. Anyway, here and here are the endpoints of the rune.¡± She projects his core rune up on the display and highlights two areas. At first Jason isn¡¯t able to see what she means. The trainer has to zoom the image in about 10 times on those two spots for him to see it. In the middle of some of the gnarliest of tangles Jason can barely make out the two spots where it looks like a three way intersection. Now knowing what to look for, he turns to his core and explores it. This still takes a while as the rune shifts around but after he catches hold of the two ends there is a sense of an intuitive grasp on their locations. Not only that but he can tell the one is the start and the other the end. When Jason looks up she continues. ¡°Okay, you¡¯ve found them inside that snarl of a rune and should know which end is which. The next step should be easy enough if you''re at all able to draw the other two runes. Chain the first two together and have the spirals arrow point at the core runes start. Because you always know where that is now this shouldn¡¯t be too hard.¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°With that in place it is only a matter of sending your main energy through it a few times. Nothing will happen at first but keep trying. You will know when it works. Until proficient enough, the internal runes will make a foot tingle like it had fallen asleep. Oh and the foot it affects is random to start. At about the same time you lose the tingle is when you get enough control to decide which foot to use it with. Now give start practicing until you succeed. You already spent most of our time on your core rune so there isn¡¯t anything else to do.¡± This is easier said than done Jason soon finds out. Yes he does know where the start of his core rune is at all times. Problem is that location changes. If he tries to hold the rune still though he isn¡¯t able to focus on forming the other two runes. When Rosha wakes him for his watch Jason is still stuck on that step. The two runes form and connect but the spiral only points at the core rune when he first sets it. All there is to it is he needs to make either the core rune or the spiral lock onto the other. He doesn¡¯t want to be forced to have a good night¡¯s sleep again though so surrenders to the night once his watch is over. Next day doesn¡¯t provide him with any more insights either. Just wolves, lots and lots of wolves. There must be a monstrous den nearby as they hound the group non stop and even forced to travel through the night. Not attacked as they are just normal wolves. Even Courtney can handle a few alone but as a pack they drive the party away. Next day dawns to them dragging themselves along. They all agree that they can¡¯t stop yet. Wolves might not be endurance hunters but whoever is in control of this pack has a nice relay team set up. The fear of being attacked by an uncountable amount of wolves the second they go to sleep is too real for the party. However this new day passes by peaceful. Then again not much would stay so near such a fierce pack. Tonight everyone needs a proper sleep. Rosha was going to take the middle shift to let the other two get just that but neither would let her. Instead Courtney brought out a scroll of warding. An expensive one use item but no wolves would be able to find them once they lay it down, let alone enter the camp. She declared right there in no uncertain terms that they were all going to sleep the whole night through. Rosha only shrugs, Jason however speaks up. ¡°Those scrolls aren¡¯t cheap, are you sure this is a good situation to use one in? A few wolves won¡¯t get us and a normal watch should do. I¡¯ll even take the middle watch as usual.¡± Courtney scrunches and scowls her mouth, ¡°I bought this to use, not to let it rot in my pack. They might be expensive but once it isn¡¯t, we won¡¯t need it. Now is the time to use it when it will protect against monsters on and slightly above our level. Not later on when it might as well be some glorified bug net.¡± Chapter 148 - Only Sorta Mortal In the end Jason wasn¡¯t able to persuade Courtney to not use the scroll and so is once again forced to have a good night¡¯s sleep. He wakes up refreshed though sans any new insights. The thought of being lucky enough to have it happen again is enough to make him laugh. Only a hero gets to go to sleep and then wake up knowing some new universal truths about the world. As the party sets out for the day Jason spots a couple of wolves behind them but no longer are they being hounded. At noon only a single wolf is still on their tails and when it comes time for bed even that one is gone. The forest is once again alive with animal life. Despite this though Rosha insists once again that she takes mid shift. Different from last night Courtney agrees with her. Jason can only sigh. It is nice that they care but the lack of progress on the runes frustrates him. More days pass for the group before something clicks for Jason. Until now he had been taking his body as his point of reference. Because of this his core rune would have moved before he could do anything with it. His realization from this was simple yet had profound implications. His image of his inner body was just that, how he imagined it no matter how close it was. Instead of trying to stop his core rune why not set it as his point of reference? The answer is cause a massive headache. Yes, the core rune is now still at the center of his inner view. However the rest of his body was twirling around like a maniac. Not easy on the mind, that¡¯s for sure. Jason however takes this as a challenge. While his core rune was a free spirit he had taken control of his body in a way few could. As he concentrates on his body¡¯s image the movements become less frantic. Time passes and Rosha takes up first watch while he sits still by the fire, dinner uneaten. With an effort his visualized body is no longer moving so fast it blurs. Rosha glances over at him and rolls her eyes. She doesn¡¯t even bother trying to get him up, instead going to Courtney. With a shrug the watch is passed and Courtney shakes her head at the situation. Meanwhile, Jason has come to an important point. His body now hardly moves but there is still a slight jiggle. Almost unnoticeable but the movement is still there and would disrupt the alignment of his runes. He clamps down tighter so that even his physical body is affected. With no one noticing, the steady beat of his heart goes silent and his breath stills. On one hand, this is good because his inner world has gone completely still. On the other hand, his health starts to fall. Of course that tends to happen when your heart stops or you can¡¯t breathe. In fact, anyone else would be shocked at how slow his health is dropping. Not only that, but the speed at which he is losing health is slowing. Jason¡¯s health dips below ten before it stabilizes and then climbs. His natural healing now greater than the damage. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. This goes on for a while, his health recovering before with a gasp his eyes open. His heart doesn¡¯t start but he still has a pulse. It takes a moment for him to notice this but when he does all he can think of is his cultivation. To still be alive without a heartbeat there isn¡¯t much else he has that could do it. Jason pulls op the info on the skill only to be shocked even more.
Energetic Body Reinforcement Accepting only purity of body and mind you have given up past concepts of self for the uncertainty of truth. Apprentice Level 1 - 0% [+1 rank] Rarity: Truth Type: Passive, Cultivation Effects:
He had skipped through the last bit of initiate and into apprentice rank. Not groundbreaking as Desolate Traversal had already reached it but the cultivation skill had been much slower to advance. Besides that the changes to untainted core and body/mind unification are important in ways he isn¡¯t even sure of yet. ¡®No longer a normal mortal? My inner self has stabilized? On the surface I could explain them. A normal person has to have a heartbeat to live so without one I am not quite normal anymore. That and you could describe everything I was just working on the stabilization of my inner self. With what I know of NeoRealm though it goes deeper.¡¯ ¡®While no one has gotten a strict definition from anyone that knows what¡¯s up with it, the word mortal has a deeper meaning here. To not be a normal one will be an interesting experience. Besides that nonsense I still need to figure out¡¯ and then his thoughts are interrupted as Courtney taps him on the head with a stick. He waves it away but she just pokes him again. ¡°Hey, You missed your watch. Don¡¯t worry though because Rosha woke me instead. However now it is definitely your turn. I saw you wake up from whatever you just did. Now get up so I can go to sleep.¡± Chapter 149 - Rhythm of the Body Jason takes his watch but there is one final thing to check out from his recent experience. He hadn¡¯t noticed it before but there was a System pop up off to the side of his vision. It had been a good long while since the last bonus and almost all of his had something to do with plants so one from a different source would be interesting.
New Knowledge Bonus Gained For finding a method of controlling your inner self, future such manipulations will be easier.
¡®Huh, got a knowledge bonus without a discovery bonus. It even points out I found the method. Whatever, I can look into it later. For now, I should focus on my watch.¡¯ Jason¡¯s watch and the next day drags on. Then again, even he can¡¯t go a full night without sleep and come out of it fine. In consideration for this Rosha and Courtney generously give him last watch again. He wasn¡¯t awake enough to say otherwise so they assume he agreed with it as well. Next day though he is ready. He can form the first two runes and now that is core rune is stabilized there shouldn¡¯t be anything to stop him. As the group marches through the forest Jason connects the runes together. For the first time everything aligns for more than a moment and his Energy flows through the complicated shapes. First Energy rushes into the transformer rune and as it travels through it, the flood becomes a river. Next into the spiral the river of Energy travels. As it goes around the spiral, the energy becomes aligned. What was a rushing river smooths out and becomes placid as all the power goes in the same direction at the same speed. Then it hit his core rune and things go crazy. The placid river of energy gets sped up and flies through the core rune. Farther into the rune his Energy condenses down from a river into a stream and finally a thread. As it reaches the end Jason¡¯s water metaphor has broken down and the Energy looks more like a laser. It does reach the end though and without a single problem. At first as the Energy leaves the rune it remains in a tight beam. This doesn¡¯t last long as the beam breaks apart in a chaotic mess. Each new beam of light going off to form more runes and from those runes more beams shot off. Where the original beam was a blinding white, these new beams all shine with different colors. They don¡¯t last long though before each one develops into a new rune. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. This creation and splitting off of new beams goes on twice more. Each of the runes creating a seemingly random number of beams leads to an uncountable number of runes. Then it all fizzles. Jason tries it again with the same result. As the group walks, he examines what is happening and it always fizzles at about the same point. As he digs further into the original three runes the problem becomes clear. He doesn¡¯t know how to guide the resulting power into a stomp. If it had been just a single flow he could direct it out his foot no problem. However with it going all helter-skelter on him there is no chance. Jason can only sigh and wait for night. The System will have picked up on what he accomplished so next time he sleeps it will send him to the training room. Night comes and the group settles down to camp. Courtney and Rosha are a bit skeptical when he asks for the mid-shift again but relent. Then it is time for his first sleep period. Jason however doesn¡¯t go to sleep. While he has learned what it needed, he doesn¡¯t feel ready so instead he spends the time in cultivation. A good thing even if only because he hadn¡¯t done so since his technique had ranked up. As he settles in to mediation everything seems as normal. At first it does anyway but soon a difference spreads across his awareness. Before his Energy would flow out with every pump of his heart. It had kept that rhythm, likely out of habit, until he started to cultivate. Now though his heart is still and without a guide Jason¡¯s Energy flows freely with its own pattern. When he first notices it he lets the energy do as it wants but there is a certain lack of beat to it. Part of the benefit of basing the flow off of his heart is that was the natural rhythm of his body. Now without the heart to guide Jason¡¯s body each little system in it has started to diverge. He shudders at the realization. Any creature''s body is a careful balance between chaos and order. Each part fits together in just the right way and yet constantly changes. Even with how his path is leading towards a more immaterial based form there needs to be a balance or else like a balloon with a hole in it he would burst or at the very least lose power. ¡®I need a new pattern to base my body off of. As I mediate some of the new chaos in my system is being worked out. But that is like using a finger to block a hole in a dam, a stopgap at best. Though that is a good starting point. If I could get my Energy to flow to the rhythm of my cultivation things should work out. While my heart is gone, the core still exists there and can become my new heart.¡¯ ¡®Wait a second. That¡¯s a thought! What if I started using my actual cultivation method in-game now? There is a risk if it doesn¡¯t work of course but I would feel more comfortable basing my body off of a method that has followed me through two lives. Though I guess technically depending on how you count NeoRealm you could even count it as a third life. Put that way and despite the risks, there is no way I can¡¯t attempt this.¡¯ Ready to try he whispers a command, ¡°System, set an alarm for a few minutes before my watch¡±. The alarm might interrupt him but he isn¡¯t going to shirk his duties again. Chapter 150 - Power Cycling Jason¡¯s whole body tenses and then relaxes. His breath takes on the steady in and out pattern that had drilled itself into his being since long ago. When the time was right, he breathes in without breathing and the world responds. Three types of power flow into him only for two of them to eat the third and then be repulsed by his core. This doesn¡¯t stop him though as he continues. At first this new yet old method fails him. It might draw all the surrounding power in but the Mana and Qi mixed in devours the Energy he needs. With time though dribs and drabs of Energy start to make it through. Then as his body acclimates to the technique, the other powers become less able to convert the Energy within him. Finally it reaches a tipping point as a concept, a rule, a law of great importance becomes realized by Jason in this new reality. He had heard it before in both lives. The classic concept that from nothing came one and the one, two. The two begot a third and from those three, all else. How from nothing came the primeval chaos and how that chaos split into two, Yin and Yang. Then from the two sides came harmony and the three together allowed for all of creation. Jason was not willing to get into the quagmire that was religion but in NeoRealm he now had a unique perspective on this worlds conceptual creation. Energy divided into Mana and Qi. Together all else was created and thus why Energy use is so rare. How can one use that which has already been transformed? However there was Energy still around. How could that be? Jason¡¯s answer was simple enough. While the Energy currently in the world isn¡¯t as powerful as the original primeval Energy through the other two it formed. After all, if everything else came from the two would that not also include the original source? Maybe the devs had originally only meant for there to be Mana and Qi. With the support it gets that would make some sense. They likely meant Energy to be some form of divine pre-world energy that formed everything so they could slip in some powerful artifacts or some such and not have them duplicated. Of course as with any act of creation it never goes how they planned. All this and more is pouring through Jason¡¯s head but he recenters himself. These ideas and concepts are important for now he needed to focus on the thing which would improve his cultivation. That simple realization that while Energy can make Mana and Qi. Mana and Qi together can make Energy. With this mental model of how the world works his cultivation changes. Whereas before the two would suck up Energy and be forced out his core they would instead stick to one another. A particle of Mana would hit one of Qi and become stuck together. These packets of power would then combine with other packets and so on. Finally their combined mass causes them to fall towards his core like meteors to a planet. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The impact against his core would force some of them apart. Sending loose bits of Qi and Mana shooting out of his body. What remains behind though is pure Energy which is assimilated into his core. Not perfect but nothing in nature is anyway. It is enough for Jason that his bet paid off in not only an improved method of cultivating but a moment of inspiration as well. Now that he has settled on the rhythm though he comes to the hard part. Jason needs to integrate the flow of his cultivation into his core to such a point it keeps the circulation going. As it is, the power comes into his body and falls to his core. From there he has to split off the Energy and spread it through his body. He has a plan though. An imbalance of Energy will attract the other powers. Until now his body was acting as a spacer between his core and the outside world. Like someone had stuck a magnet in the center of a big rubber ball. There might still have been a little bit of power attracted but for the most part everything stayed as it was. In fact it should have made him stand out to anyone who could sense the powers in some way. Around most people, the free floating energy should be slowly absorbed into the body. Not enough to advance but at least better than being a blank space. Now though he can fix this. From his core Jason stretches out streams of power towards his skin in every direction. As it reaches the skin, nearby power is attracted into his body by it. These new energies might not have going fast but as they ram into his streams of Energy it imparts enough momentum to turn the streams back inward. The Energy joins with the streams while the Qi and Energy gathers together and rains down on his core. All the while Jason focuses on keeping those streams cohesive. Soon the force pushing the streams inwards is enough to pull out more Energy from his core which extends the streams of power. This cycle continues until instead of a line the streams become a loop. With great caution Jason releases his grip on a single small stream. To his relief nothing happens at first. The outside power still hits it forcing the stream ever inward while the force continues to pull more power from his core outward. His theory confirmed Jason releases more and more control over the process until it fills his body with a natural flow of Energy. In fact, he can feel his pool grow and the power available to use increase. However just as he relaxes something happens. That first stream of power he released bloats outward and comes apart. Then another and another follow it. Jason is about to take a firm grip on things when it hits him. This isn¡¯t a bad thing. Chapter 151 - Frustrating His Teacher The streams of Energy he had created aren¡¯t coming apart. They are splitting into more even finer streams. From the width of his little finger they split into three streams each half that size. More power enters his body and it happens again. The streams split into three and again and again. This splitting continues beyond the point that he could control any individual thread. Then it goes even beyond the point that he can see any one stream. So fine as to be invisible and smaller than what he had thought of as the size of a single particle of Energy. This goes well beyond what he had hoped for but Jason fears it was too good of a result. If before he was a ball of rubber that energy bounced off of then now he was like a blackhole. Still, he can only shrug as this is well beyond his ability to control. It might even be beyond the System as well if such a thing was even possible. So of course this is the perfect time for his alarm to go off. The blaring noise that no one else can hear resounds in his ears as he is forced out of his meditative state. Jason shuts off the alarm and looks inward again only to sigh in relief. Whatever has happened to his cultivation method had stayed in place. The haze of Energy streams leaving his core and then return is still in place. Satisfied he stretches and gets up just in time to see Courtney come over to get him. They both give a short wave as they pass each other, one to bed and the other to work. The same exchange happens again only with Rosha when Jason ends his shift. Though this interaction makes him realize he had been an idiot. The other two had likely been using System alarms the whole time. One facepalm later Jason is in his bedroll and drifting off to sleep. And right into the training room with his teacher waiting. She took one look at him and sighs. ¡°What did you do? One day you have a new core, next you¡¯ve set up a power cycle. Do you know how rare that is? Damn it and your an Energy user as well. Whatever, I don¡¯t actually want to know. You¡¯re here because you can form the runes, set them up, and start the process. As I didn¡¯t get a message of you earning the skill, I will assume you managed to at least get that far.¡± Jason nods, ¡°I found my core rune and it was in constant motion. I couldn¡¯t figure out how to stop its motion, so I instead used it as my point of reference and stopped everything else in relation to it. With the motion out of the way I was able to line up the runes and send my Energy through it. That caused a cascade of beams and runes to form before it all fizzled out.¡± The trainer rubs her eyes. ¡°Well that is one way to do it. Of course most people die when their heart stops.¡± Jason nods again, ¡°Yeah it go really close there. I only glanced at the logs but my health dipped pretty low. Though I guess I should mention I don¡¯t have a heartbeat anymore?¡± She glares at him, ¡°You¡¯re doing this on purpose, aren¡¯t you? Show me you character sheet. I need to know what nonsense you have gotten up to.¡± Jason opens his mouth but she cuts him off, ¡°No buts! Show Me Your Character Sheet. [I swear by the System] that I mean no harm.¡± Jason closes his mouth with a snap then quietly shares his status with her.
Basic Info Name: Jason Race: Human Level: 10 - 4.13% [+4.13%] Legal Status: Player Title: Core Genius Normal Stats Auxiliary Stats Organizations Adventurers Guild - Basic Member - Rank [ E+ -> D ] Odd Ones Out - Team Member - Leader Bonuses Knowledge Bonuses: Discovery Bonuses: Titles:
Skills Energetic Body Reinforcement Accepting only purity of body and mind you have given up past concepts of self for the uncertainty of truth. Apprentice Level 1 - 1% Rarity: Truth Type: Passive, Cultivation Effects: Desolate Traversal Technique A combination of traditional parkour and energy use. While considered a basic skill it is highly ranked among them. Generally learned by rogues it is however open for anyone to learn. This skill has ranked up through comprehension of parkour being about efficiency of movement. A rare feat as it has been noted by an unnamed master that, ¡°teaching a man parkour isn¡¯t about how to jump over walls but rather beating into them that most of the time you should just walk through the gate¡±. Apprentice Level 8 - 0.3% [+2lv 0.3%] Rarity: Uncommon Type: Passive, Movement Effects: Energetic Poison and Venom Resistance One of the rare active skill based resistances. While still able to passively provide benefits this skill really shines when directly used. As there are many types of poison and venom the System has decided it is best like this rather than a stat as this allows more variety without littering the stat line with entries like ¡®elven paralysis poison resistance¡¯. Uses the best percentage. Initiate Level 5 - 0.1% [+0.1%] Rarity: Exquisite Beginner Type: Passive/Active, Energy, Adaptive Effects: Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Blast Punch (Variant) The normal Blast Punch is a ranged mana based skill similar to burning hands. A magic user would concentrate pure Mana around his fist then punch the air sending out a glowing ball of pure magic. Someone developed this skill to help fire mages counter low level fire based enemies. Preferred over the mana missile skill as the user does not have to focus on guiding it and thus allow dodging directly after use. However, that is not this skill. Not only has it been changed to use Energy instead of Mana it is no longer ranged. This Blast Punch is like the classic one inch punch, trying to get the most out of a short distance. However, instead of focusing the body¡¯s explosive strength into a small burst of motion this skill focuses the users Energy. While someone can use it with a regular punch as long as the fist is punching the skill will work. This change causes the skill to no longer be ranged but as a tradeoff the Energy will only be used on a hit and some Energy will be pushed directly into the enemy providing armor piercing. Initiate Level 1 - 0.0% Rarity: Variant Beginner Type: Energy Attack Effects: Farming You have shown yourself to be proficient at this classic skill. Don¡¯t look down on it as these lands contain many mysterious plants with uncountable effects. Novice Level 9 - 85.9% [+1.3%] Rarity: Normal Type: Passive, Production Effects:
Wealth Money Property Business
Pets and Companions Non-Combat Pets [0/2] Combat Pets [0/1] Companions
Equipment Living Amber Skeletal System Description: This masterpiece of magical items is the opposite of the undead. While undead are the living that are killed and turned into magical items, this is a magical item turned into a living piece of a creature. An intricately carved full skeleton made entirely of Magical Amber. It was then hollowed out leaving just the barest of a lattice work. When magically implanted into the host, the bone marrow was grafted into these cavities. Because of difficulties and dangers that appear when trying to enchant a living creature they have instead been imbued with magic. Effects: Bonuses: ¡®BlueIron Rust¡¯ Electrolysis Ritual Circle Description: An impossible ritual that crystallized directly in the lungs of the Traveller Jason. Through BlueIron¡¯s innate electrical nature this formation can break down water into its components and capture the resulting breathable elements. This will allow for sustained underwater activities as long as Energy flows through it. As a side benefit the ritual will also expel any unwanted matter from the lungs at an additional Energy cost whenever desired. Best used when leaving the water to expel any remaining water. Effects: Bonuses: Complete Weaponless Rabbit Leather Martial Arts Beginners Set Set Items: Description: An Exquisitely crafted set of gear made entirely out of the cheapest quality of Rabbit Leather. Only through years of research and many crafters blood, sweat, and tears was this level of quality reached while keeping such a low price. All the pieces of this set have been specially created to be swapped between several configurations and thus there is no step by step set bonuses for it. A pair of boots, greaves, and a bastard sword are just as valid of a complete set as wearing something in every equipment slot. As for how it looks. Best way to put it is they tried. Effects: Bonuses: Set Bonuses: ¡®Sealed Silver¡¯ Snips Description: A pair of gardening snips meant for harvesting plants. The snips are plated in Sealed Silver. This metal when used to cut something prevents the flow of energy though the slightest resistance will remove this effect. Perfect for harvesting plants as it stops the leaking of any natural energies. Small Critter Protection Harness Description: An odd harness made by an odder ork. Built into the shoulder is a protective cage meant to shelter small animals. When in use the cage is shifted away from the current dimension to provide an extra level of safety. While the harness itself looks average, the material used is leather from an elder glutton wolf, a distant relative of Fenrir by way of Skoll and Hati. The creator has focused all magics woven into this device on the safety of the animal and so provides no bonuses to the wearer. Because of this you can wear the harness over or under other magical gear with no fear of unexpected interactions. Throwing Daggers x5 Description: Basic iron throwing daggers crafted by a journeymen smith. While the material and shape are nothing special, the smith used a special heritage technique in the crafting of this set of daggers. This elevates them to the status of graded items. Grade: Low Normal (technique) Effects:
They both look over the sheet and Jason comments. ¡°Huh, my Energy went up a little and there is a new title. I need to unrestrict my System messages. And where did that point one percent increase to my poison resist come from? Does pollen count? Maybe we passed a mildly poisonous plant. Does NeoRealm have poison ivy? Oh and I really need to work on Lily¡¯s level and my farming skill. Actually, I feel like I am forgetting something to do with that skill now that I look at it. No clue what at the moment.¡± The trainer lets him babble as she goes over it with a fine-tooth comb. Done she raises a finger and Jason smartly shuts up. Her lips are pressed tightly together for a moment and then sighs. With a crooked smile she turns to face him, ¡°I have a side quest for you. Next time you find anything with poison or venom you¡¯re going to eat it or poke yourself with it. Also why isn¡¯t your ritual circle in your lungs soulbound? It should be.¡± A ding can be heard and she looks smug. ¡°That¡¯s right, I noticed another of your mistakes System! You might seem all-powerful but I know you¡¯re not.¡± Jason looks at her with an eyebrow raised. She fakes a cough and continues, ¡°anyway it should have soulbound on it now. Besides that your cultivation technique is unique and I doubt anyone else could develop it. Can¡¯t help you with that but you¡¯re doing a good job if you¡¯re already beyond a purely mortal body.¡± ¡°Besides that you seem to be doing all right if a little low level. Once we get you hooked up with the skill, though that should fix itself soon enough. Don¡¯t spread it around but the System holds off on the monster attacks and what not when in the middle of learning a new skill. Some nonsense about it not being fair. Utter rot that but life happens sometimes. I haven¡¯t personally experienced it as I always kept to a safe location when doing such things but you can¡¯t always manage that. Anyway, I should really get around to telling you the secret to activating War Stomp. You¡¯re going to feel really stupid once you find out.¡± She smirks and gestures for him to sit down as she pulls up a display. Chapter 152 - It Really Was Simple The trainer smirks as she points at a 3d display of a generic body with the three runes connected at the heart. ¡°The war stomp is a simple enough skill for all it uses internal runes and has so many years behind it. See, to activate it you take the output of your core rune.¡± She makes the display highlight the displayed core runes output and draw a small arrow coming off of it. ¡°And you point it at your leg.¡± The trainer snaps her fingers and the display animates. A stream of power enters the trio of runes and when that power comes out it follows the same pattern Jason had seen enough already. One beam becomes many through the creation of more runes. The difference is that instead of petering off this mass of power seems more guided. The general direction the beams all fire off at tends more towards the chosen leg. However when the first beam reaches the leg everything changes. It stops right at the entrance to the limb and forms a rune twice as big as any other. The other still active runes all become directed towards this one big rune and every new beam is now directed towards it. One multiple beams of power has hit the big rune a beam of power as wide as the rune fires off towards the knee. Once there another rune which just barely fits there takes shape like a giant sphere. Then a series of beams fires off from the edge of that rune towards the ankle where they meat. Jason barely has time to see a tiny rune form there before a spike of power extends out of the foot from the heel. The trainer pauses the display, ¡°that¡¯s it. Just point it at the leg and your golden. Maybe literally depending on how your powers react with it. I know one guy using the publicly available version has their skin turn into ironwood when he uses it with his nature power. Someone with a more gold aligned metal power could turn into gold I bet.¡± Jason nods, ¡°yeah that would be interesting. Though I have to ask, what happens if you point the core rune towards somewhere else?¡± As his question the trainer smiles and claps. ¡°A good question! It is possible to use this skill with other limbs, eventually. Now it has to be a limb because as you might have noticed, that focuses the power. Though most sentients have a few limbs or at least some limb stand in so that isn¡¯t too limiting of a factor. However you won¡¯t be able to use it like that without a lot of practice and training.¡± She taps the display and it replays the previous example except point at the arm. When the runes reach the arm though the rune formed is too big and the skill fizzles. ¡°With no control over the skill that happens. The reason I use it with the leg is because on most humanoids that is the thickest limb. Now this isn¡¯t a problem if you''re using the skill with external runes but then you get limited by the skill forming them at your feet.¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Oh, and don¡¯t try to use your head until you master the skill. While on the inside your power generally won¡¯t hurt you, this is a lot of juice being pumped through. Scrambled thoughts are only acceptable when being figurative, not literal. Now step over there and try the skill on that dummy.¡± And she points towards one of the training dummies that is already laid down on the floor. Jason bows towards her and moves to stand over it. After a moment to steady himself Jason forms the runes pointed in the right direction and inserts his Energy. The new runes and beams of power form as the display had shown. When the multiple beams collect at his ankle though nothing happens. They stand there for a moment until the teacher facepalms. ¡°Oh right, once the power gathers at the end of your leg it is ready and you just have to stomp on something. If you wait too long the runes will start to fade and the power will decrease. But hey, that¡¯s a lot better than when it just exploded!¡± Jason rolls his eyes at that. ¡°Yes, fading away does tend to be better than explosions when dealing with internal energies.¡± Then he stomps the dummy. At this point what happens differs from the example. Instead of some spike his Energy flows into the dummy and seems to shatter into thousands of threads. The dummy is completely unable to resist of course and is soon reduced to scrap by Jason¡¯s Energy. Jason turns to the teacher to ask something only to find her right next to him with a piece of the dummy in her hand. He keeps quiet and just observe for the moment and is shocked by what he sees. The piece of dummy she holds is still being broken down until the chunk is reduced to dust. She nods, ¡°Good thing you only got around to learning the skill just now. Whatever you¡¯ve done with your cultivation has affected your Energy to the point that even your results with war stomp have been altered. If you had managed the skill before whatever you did the System would have set the outcome of the skill and I doubt it would be as useful as this.¡± Turning to Jason she dumps the dust out of her hand only for it to disappear before it can hit the floor. He glances back at where the dummy was only to find there is nothing left of it, not even a speck. She sighs, ¡°don¡¯t expect this sort of outcome. Using it on living beings or really anything with its own energy field which would include the world itself will stop the attack after a while. These dummies are just hunks of powerless wood to allow a better understanding of how a skill works.¡± ¡°This result takes Energies endless cycle and combines it with whatever you did to turn your own energy into threads to create endless destruction. Endless of course only in theory as I have already said. While if there is nothing to stop it the attack will keep damaging things but any other power will oppose it with both wearing themselves down. Against weaker foes even if it doesn¡¯t kill them they will run out of power. Against stronger foes it might not even cause damage though will force them to move their own power to fight it so could provide a distraction.¡± Chapter 153 - Well Rooted Stamina Jason is about to ask something when the trainer smirks, ¡°Now you might ask why you don¡¯t have the skill yet. If this was the regular war stomp, you would have. However because the real version of the skill is so focused on using it with multiple powers you have to do just that. Energy is the easiest for you to use with it because you¡¯re already used to doing so. The next source you might use should either be something like your hp which you are already used to losing or one of the other auxiliary stats.¡± Jason tilts his head to one side and asks, ¡°why specifically the auxiliary stats? Won¡¯t the main stats work just as well?¡± She shrugs, ¡°less detrimental to you. Auxiliary stats tend towards being things you use such as your Energy or hp. Even defense can be used such as a berserker getting stronger the less they have. Your normal stats on the other hand are less something you use up and more of something you check against. Are you strong enough to lift the boulder, is skeleton tough enough to not break when hit, and are you agile enough to dodge the blow.¡± ¡°Not saying you can¡¯t use them as a source of power for the skill. In fact, besides maybe your Energy they will be some of your more powerful options. On the other hand they don¡¯t recover as fast. In fact, some of the things you can use won¡¯t naturally recover at all. As a traveller you don¡¯t have a lifespan like us natives do but that is the best example. Once someone uses some of their life up, it isn¡¯t coming back. Maybe with training and levels they will increase their remaining amount but what has been used is just gone. Oh, and I guess xp counts as this sort of thing? Just so easy to get more of it I don¡¯t really count it and it isn¡¯t as powerful as most other permanent losses tend to be.¡± Jason nods, ¡°Okay, so avoid using strength because I end up being a wimp until it can recover. Though wouldn¡¯t this be the perfect time to use them? We are in a training dream after all.¡± The trainer shrugs again, ¡°you could. I wouldn¡¯t advise it though. Yes, using strength to power it in here won¡¯t have lasting effects it won¡¯t be any good for training. You need to actually use it for real to get the full effect. Otherwise when you do use it the unexpected results of losing strength or whatever can knock you out of the fight quicker than any enemy.¡± Jason rolls his eyes, ¡°fine, lets just go with stamina. Just give me a second.¡± He sits down and focuses on himself. While traveling on the roads before there was just a touch of something happening. He already knew it was from his stamina being used but now he needs to find the source. It takes time but he is able to find his stamina flowing through his body as faint green streams even as he rests. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Having gotten ahold of it Jason is able to follow it back to the source or at least where it all gathers. There is a point between his lungs that every stream of his stamina goes through on its path. He nods to himself as that would be good enough to use the skill. Jason stands up and stretches. Ready he moves over to another dummy and sets up the runes. With that he pulls off a stream of stamina from the crossroads between his lungs and feeds it in. As it travels through the three runes its green color intensifies and then bursts out as a beam the same color as the greenest leaves on a tree or the freshest grass. This beam follows the same sort of pattern as the other times except with new runes and instead of every possible color the new beams are all shades of green. Once the power reaches his leg an even bigger change happens. Instead of normal runes the stamina runes take on shapes more reminiscent of roots. Then when it gathers at his ankle the rune there takes on the shape of an upside down flower bud. With the skill now ready Jason stomps on the new dummy. As his foot descends the flower bud rune blooms outward, a brilliant shade of ruby red. Each petal razor sharp, slicing through the wood as if it wasn¡¯t even there. Then as his attack ends the bloom rapidly turns black and wilts away. The teacher claps, ¡°Wonderful! With Energy your skill is useful but quite dependent on how your Energy compares to the enemy''s power. Stamina however has taken on a more physical approach. Maybe not as useful against enemies made of stuff like metal but more useful against the classic glass cannon caster types. Also, it is a little hard to tell with the wooden dummies but I suspect there might be a touch of rot or stagnation incorporated in that last bit. You need to test it on real enemies to know for sure but it will make healing wounds dealt by it much harder. Though the plant iconography it has taken on is a little weird. Do you have some connection with plants?¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I have the farming skill from raising glowy weeds.¡± ¡°Hmm¡±, she holds her chin and thinks for a moment, ¡°that could do it. I always find it interesting to dig into what each manifestation of the skill means. Likely something about your farming skill has deeply affected your stamina on some level.¡± Jason combs his fingers through his hair as he thinks. ¡°Well, I do most of my cultivation with my little garden out. In fact, the reason I use the glowy weed is to help filter out the power in the air that I don¡¯t need.¡± The trainer smacks her fist into her palm, ¡°that explains it! You¡¯ve absorbed more than your fair share of plant filtered power through your body. You should consider picking up a defense skill like barkskin as I think it will synergize with you quite well. Try to find something like that which uses stamina to power it. Your stamina is already changed to be closer to plants so you can probably use such a skill at less of a cost and to better effect.¡± Chapter 154 - Lots of Effects War Stomp A classic powered kick attack. Despite the tendency for people to use Qi the skill can be used with any type of resource pool. The different power sources will cause different effects to happen and so the possibilities of this skill are technically unlimited. Novice Level 3 - 21.3% Rarity: Common Type: Primal Energy Attack Effects:
Jason can only let out a long drawn out whistle when the skill pops for him. It had seven different effects, one of which had sub effects. His cultivation technique had six effects at the moment, but that came from gradual accretion as he worked on it. War stomp had nowhere to go but up from here. The trainer takes a look over his shoulder and nods, ¡°You got a few good options there. That otherworldly one is lovely. Then again, it might just be because I enjoy messing with the technical fighters who dissect their opponent''s skills. Seriously, where¡¯s the fun in trying to put everything into numbers? The System already does that for us!¡± If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. With a shrug Jason turns back to the skill window. ¡°So we have already gone over how I¡¯ve gotten a few special effects from having done some things with my Energy and Stamina. You also mentioned that when you first use the skill with a power source it locks in. Should I wait until something special has happened with my other stats before I try it out with them?¡± The trainer stops her rant about min maxing nonsense fighters and turns to him, ¡°Well yes but don¡¯t let that kill you. See my previous rant. If you just try to get the best out of everything, the fun and adventure will soon drain out of it if you aren¡¯t that type of person. No matter how much I hate them, those guys who enjoy it are amazing but you don¡¯t seem the type.¡± ¡°Also using a new source at climatic moments is a tempting gamble as the situation can fuel it as well. Some idiot with the public version of the skill ended up wiping out an entire army by himself when he channeled the last dregs of his life into it. He just stomped the ground and everything exploded. Stupid choice though. That wasn¡¯t the only army and his kingdom was still doomed. Would have been better if he had stayed alive to try and improve their circumstances after the defeat.¡± And she shrugs, ¡°anyway, get back to training. You¡¯re only a novice and I want you to get it to initiate rank before our time is done. You only have another two nights left.¡± Jason blinks, ¡°goodness, we only have two more nights?¡± She shrugs, ¡°Time flies when you¡¯re having fun. Plus you seemed to grind yourself down to a nub there.¡± ¡°Wait a second¡±, Jason looks up at her, ¡°how would you know that?¡± The trainer laughs, ¡°You think someone gets to my level without learning a few tricks? The second you showed up here I had tracked you down and monitored you. Now don¡¯t assume I will keep that up. Once we are done here, you¡¯re on your own. The System doesn¡¯t like us top dogs watching our trainees too closely. Got to let you all make your own mistakes.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°Of course you tracked me down. What¡¯s the point of godlike power if you can¡¯t take advantage of it?¡± She laughs, ¡°Gods wish they had my power!¡± Then she sighs, ¡°Of course I wish I had some of their power as well. Everyone has their own niche in the world. Not that I want the responsibility that comes along with their power nor the restrictions on it. Once I am done with you and leaving a few other legacies stashed around, I will leave this world. A god is intrinsically bound with their world of origin. At least that is how it works under the System. Who knows what it will be like if I ever find somewhere beyond it.¡± Jason looks down and thinks for a moment, ¡°So, outside of the System you say?¡± The trainer rolls her eyes, ¡°When you get to my level of power, and no I don¡¯t mean the literal level, you learn some things. I know you travellers come from a place without the System. That means it isn¡¯t the end all be all of reality. Don¡¯t think it isn¡¯t possible here. I¡¯ve heard rumors that if you go far enough and reach high enough, you can escape it. Now get back to training!¡± Chapter 155 - Did You Notice What He Had Forgotten? Next morning Jason wakes up with the oddest combination of being well rested and totally knackered. His trainer had run him ragged after he got the skill. Room after room full of practice dummies reduced to scrap wood until it had reached level six with ten point nine towards the next level. It was all in a dream but darn it; it was like that joke about just getting back from a vacation and now needing another one. The other notice and Rosha is the first to mention it. She sits next to him and glances over, ¡°so did you sleep?¡± Jason rubs the bridge of his nose, ¡°yeah, but my training was intense. Got the skill at least. Though my trainer brought up something. You know how we have not gotten into fights as of late? It is likely because I was learning the skill and we might get some actual action today.¡± Courtney nods her head, ¡°that would make some sense. It might be easy to forget sometimes but this is a game. Despite how real it can feel, there are some protections in place. Though I did just remember something. This whole skill thing was some holder over from when you hit level ten. Is that everything? You aren¡¯t forgetting anything else?¡± Jason rolls his eyes and waves his hand, ¡°of course I am. I went through all the bottleneck notifications and this was the only actionable thing I needed to deal with.¡± Courtney raises her eye, ¡°What about the bottleneck breaker bonus?¡± He tilts his head to the side, ¡°the what?¡± She sighs and Rosha answers for her, ¡°You get a bonus every time you break a bottleneck after the first. I guess it is safe to assume that if you don¡¯t know what it is you haven¡¯t chosen yours.¡± In the background Courtney throws her hands in the air, ¡°why wouldn¡¯t he forget it!¡± Sheepishly Jason pulls the options up and looks over them. ¡°Well, only one of these is worth looking at.¡± Courtney shakes her head, ¡°it bases every option on what you have done so they won¡¯t be worthless. Tell us what you got and we will be the judge.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°First there is sand step and it provides traction on sand. That came from all my time in the wasteland, but the utility is too limited. Next is the confusingly named rabbit kin. Two words, not one like the race. It makes all rabbit based beings look more favorably upon me. I am sure we all realize why I got that.¡± And he gestures at Lily who is currently munching on some leafy greens and a couple Energy berries. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Once again it would have been useful if I had stayed around the rabbit plains. The last one and the one I am considering going with, though I am kicking myself for not having gotten it already, is called roaming loam. It lets the material where I grow my plants to absorb nature based energies from the land as I travel. Oh, and I got that one because at this point it almost feels like I have spent more time farming on the go than I do anything else.¡± Courtney keeps a straight face for a moment but then breaks into a giggle, ¡°I guess you do have little choice. Your forgetfulness did hurt you there with how far we have traveled in such a powerful natural area.¡± Jason rolls his eyes and sighs before he selects it. ¡°Okay, with that out of the way can we head out? I know my mistakes can be amusing but daylight is burning.¡± Rosha shakes her head, ¡°sure we can head out. Though only after Lily finishes her breakfast, most important meal of the day after all!¡± Jason has nothing to say to this and so they sit around and wait for Lily. It doesn¡¯t take long for her to finish though she acts a bit shy with everyone watching her. Breakfast over, the group gathers everything up and Lily goes in her little seat. Thus readied the group heads off into the forest once again. Jason having just chosen the roaming loam decides to pay attention as they travel. At first nothing much seems to happen, but he knows that can¡¯t be true. What he hits upon is connected to another recent discovery. As his new skill had shown him, his stamina was now aligned with nature and he already knew what that felt like. In fact, it was already cycling through his body because they were currently traveling. Last night he had only focused on the crossroads of his stamina but now looking at it as a whole the plants influence is more obvious. The area between his lungs is like the trunk of a tree with the stamina branching off like roots and branches. That didn¡¯t matter to him for the moment though and instead he focuses on the feel. Then with that in mind he turns his sense outward. Now knowing what to look for it becomes obvious. All the plants in the area have threads of power, but it was more than just them. The ground and the air has a palpable glow to it and some of those threads and the glow are being funneled into his pack. Presumably towards his portable planter. It was an interesting thing to witness. So interesting that it completely slips his mind that they were likely in a lot more danger of being attacked. Courtney didn¡¯t forget, but her wariness was unrewarded. Not a single monster attacked them. She was actually half disappointed at the lack of action. Unlike Jason, she wasn¡¯t used to such a slow leveling speed. Courtney had actually joined the game after Rosha because of her age. That didn¡¯t hold her back though and to catch up to her friend she had rushed through the early levels. Rosha off to the side noticed her feelings when they stopped for lunch. With a good guess and some intuition the reason became obvious to her so she sat beside her friend. ¡°It¡¯s okay. We will have enough fights in the future. The System probably kept an area around us cleared. Once we pass beyond it things should pass up.¡± Rosha¡¯s prediction was proven true later that day. Chapter 156 - Oh Hey, Look, Combat ¡°You know? I don¡¯t think their attempts at cutting back the forest was all that peaceful.¡± Jason ponders aloud. Courtney rolls her eyes and blocks a blow, ¡°Really, you don¡¯t say?¡± All around them a group of undead have risen from the soil to attack them. Courtney is able to identify them and points out one in particular, ¡°That is a wight and we need it dead Now. It¡¯s the only sapient one I can see so is likely in charge of this mess. The rest are just skeletons and zombies.¡± Then her hands glow with darkness and she backhands a zombie rising behind her. The zombie falls back as the dark glow spreads like fire over it, burning away the flesh and bone. The last zombie moves in on her but the rest of the group has their problems to deal with and she seems to be able to handle herself. Rosha was fighting a minotaur and warhorse skeleton duo and not having a good time with it. While her weapon is a decent enough blunt weapon in the staff form both opponents have dense bones. The minotaur was just naturally tough while the warhorse showed signs of extended training to improve its bones. Only heavy overhand swings even leave a mark on them, but she can hold them off. Jason is having a much better time at it with three humanoid skeletons being his opponents. Already proficient at breaking bones, having them out in the open made his fight that much easier. Even if it didn¡¯t kill the undead, broken legs and arms made it much harder to fight. More importantly, it made it very hard for them to protect the wight. Now freed up Jason leaves the skeleton clean up to Courtney and he moves on the wight. A little obvious in hindsight that it was the leader as it was the only undead wearing armor. Backing this up, the wight suddenly lets out a horrible shriek when the skeleton horse fell, ¡°My steed! I could drain the life from you all and it wouldn¡¯t be worth my loss!¡± Jason raises an eyebrow, ¡°well you attacked first so deal with it.¡± And he swings in with an elbow to the shoulder. The wight hisses and drops its weapon. Claws free, it grabs at Jason¡¯s arm. It only holds on for a moment but that one moment hurt and Jason recoils from a searing pain. -7 ¡°I should have expected that!¡± Jason howlers as the wights life drain ability ravages his arm. Oddly, instead of showing the classic signs of wasting away, the arm seems to almost unravel. Stolen novel; please report. This could have been bad for him, but the wight wasn¡¯t having a better time of it. ¡°What are you made of boy! It pains us! What rot is this?¡± And the wight¡¯s hands can be seen to bubble as the outer flesh sloughs off. Jason recovers quicker and raises his foot high. As he stomps down a brilliantly green flower bud forms. The tip of the bud pierces the wight¡¯s shoulder and blooms outward while spinning. This doesn¡¯t do as much damage as desired. That is until the bloom wilts. The wight¡¯s well preserved flesh suddenly isn¡¯t looking so preserved anymore. It draws back and lets out a half hiss before its throat is ruined. Jason not letting this go follows up with a blast punch and blows off the wights now rotten arm. Off to the side Rosha is still fighting the minotaur skeleton but Courtney has been freed up. She runs over to the fallen arm, her darkness burning up the arm so the undead can¡¯t reclaim it. The wight unable to talk normally lets out a ghostly wail, ¡°I will make you mortals suffer!¡± Jason scoffs at this as his upper body dips and he spins around slamming another flower into the wights other side. ¡°I am highly offended by that comment. I am not just a mortal anymore!¡± The flower scythes into the wights spine and the undead falls over as it loses control of its lower body. One more flower to the head and the wight dies. The only monster left is the undead minotaur, but without a guiding intelligence they easily kill the skeleton. The group lets out a collective sigh of relief. This fight wasn¡¯t a tough one, but it had been a little while since the last surprise combat. Still, life goes on and they get down to looting the corpses. The skeletons were a wash. Some low level bone materials, too old to be worth anything as fresh material but not old enough to be good for anything. Jason took care of the zombies and he did a little better. While not in armor the two had been in clothes and with the two of them burned away by Courtney nothing stopped him from rifling through the pockets. He didn¡¯t do that much better though, one had a handful of copper coins and the other had that and a few silvers hidden in the boot. Split up Jason got a silver and 53 copper. Courtney is over taking care of the wight. Basic stuff like making sure it was really dead by burning it all down with her holy darkness. And looting. Can¡¯t forget the looting as this was the boss of the group. They threw its armor in a bag. The metals in it corrupted by undeath. Not a bad thing, but not useful for anyone in the party so they just plan to sell it at the next town. Same with the sword it had dropped early in the fight. What was most valuable at the moment was an unassuming bag at its waist. Three times as big on the inside, it was a classic example of a bag of holding. Nothing much was on the inside, but that didn¡¯t matter. The bag itself was worth even more than the backpacks the group had. While the backpacks technically had more space, but the portability and hidability of a sack made them only second to storage rings. It wasn¡¯t exactly needed, but the group wasn¡¯t going to turn it down. Chapter 157 - So That Armor the Wight Had On Looting finished, Jason noticed he had gotten a system message. It had been a while since one popped up, so what it might be for interested him. It was a simple message. He had gotten two hp, one stamina, and one control for the fight. It had been so long since the last time his stats grew that the message shocked him. Not that he would complain, though the boost in control was weird. Finished with everything the group moves on and nothing else happened that day. Now with camp set out Courtney takes out the armor. She had done little research on the area, but knew about the common artifacts. After a more in-depth look over it, Courtney lets out a low sigh. ¡°Originally this was armor for a low to mid range officer, likely higher than level 35 but below 50 so well into the third bottleneck. Also likely a mercenary as the armor isn¡¯t local. Should sell easily enough, but is worth less than 30 gold. For something like this I advise we just sell it to the guild. It would take too much effort to find a good buyer.¡± ¡°Though if there is an auction house that might be a better choice. I bet there are a few necro types near here on the lookout for gear of this specific vintage. However as it isn¡¯t locally sourced gear that might knock a few gold off the price.¡± Rosha tilts her head, ¡°Why would it matter where it came from? Armor is armor isn¡¯t it?¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°for the most part it is. However with undead some factors tilt the scale. Even though their levels can grow, sentient undead work best with stuff they did before death. This means that local undead will be able to use their armor skills best with local armor. Best of course would be to have the armor they wore in life, but not always possible. Next best will be stuff like what we have here. Armor from that time period. Of course we have foreign armor which is less than stellar but as one of the first groups we met was mercs there should be enough need for it.¡± ¡°If this armor was in original condition, it would be worth a lot more of course. But undead tend to be used in a swarm style of combat. You can¡¯t be outfitting every skeleton you have in armor worth 200 gold a pop. Instead, you throw most of them in cheap leather gear and the few sapient undead in cheap stuff like this.¡± ¡°Though there is one final little quirk that can make armor like this worth it. Sadly, this one doesn¡¯t have it, but some of them will develop effects specific to the undead. The best known one is that armor made for a specific regiment can develop bonuses that ease the skill penalty non-sapient undead have if the undead had been in that regiment in life.¡± Stolen novel; please report. ¡°For instance, there was a well-known group of heavy infantry made of rhinofolk in this one country. We don¡¯t know when, but the country fell and this group all died at once from a magic tsunami which washed them out to sea. One of the first players to be a necromancer found their final resting place and of course raised them all. Normally heavy infantry isn¡¯t that good of an undead option as they rely heavily on skills. However, the armor found at the site spurred him to raise them. It allowed any undead raised from a member of that group to use their heavy armor skill at 75 percent of what it was in life. Rich players skipped trying to offer gold for that group of undead and went straight to offering kingdoms and positions of power. It was a big deal to say the least.¡± Jason nods, ¡°Yeah, I watched a video of some guy analyzing that during school. If that happened now, it is likely that major corporations would fight tooth and nail for it. The person who found it would come out with the wellbeing of their families guaranteed for a few generations, no matter what happens. Good thing if you try to kill people for this purpose, it doesn¡¯t work out. The armor just won¡¯t pick up the effects when you try.¡± ¡°It seems the company didn¡¯t want anyone to gain an immortal legion too. Then again, I never really understood the idea behind trying that anyway. Either the group would be too low level to be worth it or they are high enough level that you¡¯re better off just letting them continue to grow.¡± Rosha shrugs, ¡°fair enough. I can see there is much more to this subject than I care to know. Anyway, what I got out of that is we can sell it for less than 30 gold and if we get lucky who can guess. Maybe we get lucky and there is a collector or some other nonsense in the town. You both explained some stuff, but what I want to know now is when do we eat?¡± Courtney and Jason are both struck silent. Jason blinks a few times, ¡°I guess we can eat right now.¡± Dinner finished Jason putters around with his garden. It is now his first day of travel with his new bonus, and he wanted to see what it did for the soil. The answer to that though is nothing much. Through his new sense of nature he can tell it is good soil, but he realized his mistake. Jason hadn¡¯t actually checked what it was like this morning. The good news is that his Energy herbs had matured so he could feed Lily fresh berries. Plus the other herbs are nearly mature as well. Not that he had any clue what to do with the others. Though speaking of Lily, he checks on her again. After the xp poison nonsense she had gotten better, but the strange number signs in her xp values hadn¡¯t gone away. At least not when he had checked last night, or the night before, or the night before that. Chapter 158 - Lily Grows Tonight was different though. Lily¡¯s status page showed a cheery zero point zero percent next to her level which was still a one. Even the experience split he had set up was still stored, just grayed out. Jason pokes the panel for it and that brought up a message asking to confirm that he wanted to reactivate the split. Another look over of Lily¡¯s status to make sure nothing else was out of place, and he confirmed it. ¡°I bet you level up real quick now!¡± And Jason scritches her behind the ear. Though to himself he tacks on his worries of if she will be poisoned again. Lily situated the night passes. The first part taken up by cultivation and the second on intense training. The only interruption is when he mentions the fight with the undead to his trainer. She makes him go into excruciating detail on what happened. When morning comes, Jason wakes up and stretches. He isn¡¯t as worn out as the day before and ready for whatever they day might throw at him. So of course it lobs a slow pitch right over the plate. Just a couple of half-starved wolves show up at lunch. Not much for most people, but Jason¡¯s worries over Lily are set to rest when he checks after the fight. Lily¡¯s level was now three with 21.1 percent progress towards the next. Alongside that it looks like she is gaining a point of strength and toughness as well as two agility every level. This brings her up to 5, 4, and 14 in the respective stats. Besides that, though, nothing else changed on her status page. Good, because there wasn¡¯t any more glitching out. Bad because it means her hp hadn¡¯t increased, so she was still way too squishy. Though if anyone else heard him say that they would throw their hands up at his own 57 when an average level 10 player has hundreds of hp. The next three days pass similarly, which brings Lily to level seven. At level five she had finally gotten a boost to her health. In fact, it doubled the same with her defense, though going from one to two doesn¡¯t feel like it deserves to be called a doubling. What was interesting was that she had grown some for the first time since she joined him. Not by much, and not like the other variants. Apparently serfs weren¡¯t the fastest growing of sorts. Besides that, it interested him that her increase in defense got marked down as an increase in her base defense instead of a stat point like the rest of the increase. It made sense to Jason. Her other stat points came from level up. The defense however seemed to come instead from her growth spurt instead of the levels. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Next day the peace is over. It starts early the next morning with a zombie popping up. An easy fight, but it ramps up as the day goes on. At first the rare mix of zombies and skeletons came at them throughout the morning. After lunch it becomes groups of two to three. Then, just before they start to look for a place to camp, a big group of undead attacks them from an ambush position behind a bluff. At the front are eight ghasts, behind that a trio of ghouls, and at the back in the command the troupe is a ghoul lord. The lord¡¯s long rasped tongue seems to taste the air as its knife like claws click against each other. It lets out a hiss and commands the other undead in a voice half realized through telepathy, ¡°Kill the healer first!¡± The ghasts in front charge forward their nature as lesser undead limiting their mental capacity. Rosha doesn¡¯t even bother trying to attack with her weapons bow form, the enemy too close. Jason steps up to hold them off alone while she readies her weapon. One ghast makes it to him ahead of the others, but alone stands no chance. Jason¡¯s war stomp had leveled up three times over the last few days thanks to the training. The animalistic ghast doesn¡¯t even get to stand up from its hunched over gallop. A boot to the head empowered by stamina blooms into a swift death. The ghouls laugh at this and their lord urges the rest of the ghasts to stay together. Those ghasts are slowed by this command which gives Rosha the time to join Jason and he smirks at her. She rolls her eyes, ¡°I guess it gets to stay in this form for the rest of our time in the forest.¡± From behind them Courtney sighs, ¡°you should know this but their attacks can paralyze. Try not to get hit because I would rather deal with the enemy instead of keeping you two moving.¡± Then she says a short chant and darkness forms over the head of two of the ghasts who stop in confusion. The five ghasts still charging over arrive in a jumble. Rosha takes a step back and lowers her stance. With a sweep of her bladed spear, three of them tumble backwards. Beside her Jason knocks the other two down with his arm guards. The ghouls just laugh at this and continue to saunter forward. Then they stop laughing when Rosha swipes her spear over the two ghast Jason dropped and off comes their heads. The lord hisses, ¡°stop dawdling you fools or do you want me to come over there!¡± This gets them moving, but not before Jason punches another of the ghasts who have tried to charge back in. The headshot is enough to kill it and the final two start to crawl backwards until the lord orders them to stop. He rages at them, ¡°damn you! Mindless undead at least would be fearless. You cowards have just enough of a mind to show fear when least needed.¡± Jason laughs at this, ¡°maybe you need some better help.¡± The lord snarls, ¡°hopefully you three will do better once I turn you all!¡± Chapter 159 - Resisting the Ghouls The ghoul lords threat signals the start of the second part of this battle. The regular ghouls now join in. Courtney at the back lets her blindness spell drop from the two ghasts and chants again. Jason stomps forward and delays the ghouls while Rosha the two ghasts on the ground. The lord hisses at the ghouls in irritation, ¡°you keep letting the idiots die!¡± The left ghoul shakes its head, ¡°we just have to kill them and things should be fine boss. Weaklings are everywhere so we can collect more minions later.¡± Then it dodges around Jason and goes at Rosha. She takes another step back to keep the distance, but now is behind Jason. While a line of two isn¡¯t much of a line, what little benefits it gave was gone. The ghoul on the right side is able to use this to try and make a run around and attack Courtney. However this is the point when she finishes her spell. With an obvious target, she waves her hand at the attacking ghoul. Another globe of darkness forms on the ghoul''s head but this one is much darker. Unlike with the ghasts, though, it isn¡¯t quite as effective. The ghoul is smart enough to keep going. Though speaking of ghasts, the last two finally make it into melee range. They don¡¯t in and of themselves provide much to the fight, but the new element allows the center ghoul to land a hit on Jason¡¯s arm. Not even enough to deal real damage, but it left a red line as a few small drops of blood oozes out. Normally not a problem, but with ghouls not so much. As Jason pulls back, his arm feels stiff. He just manages to get out, ¡°Courtney, I got got!¡±, before his jaw seized up as the stiffness spreads throughout his body. Jason¡¯s arms and legs are able to move, but just barely. This allows him to continue to block the ghoul in front of him, but leaves the Rosha to hold the front. In the back Courtney doesn¡¯t have time to cast an antidote spell on him. The right ghoul might not be able to see, but he can hear her and has taken to swinging in her general direction. She can¡¯t drop the darkness illusion or it would deal her with. Jason isn¡¯t completely left out to dry. He can feel his energy circulate on its own, something he hadn¡¯t felt in a long while. It was his poison resistance skill activating. The ghouls ability to paralyze was a poison. He doesn¡¯t have much room to split his attention, but that little bit is now focused on his skill. The passive resistance is enough that his limbs don¡¯t lock up, but he needs more to win this fight. That little bit of mental space is enough to look into himself. His inner space has a cloud of dark threads coiled around his normal lines. Some dark threads are even attempting to bind his core, but from the looks of it they had no chance of that, even if he didn¡¯t have the resistance skill. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Now that he knows what is going on, he can work on fixing it and he has just the tool. The recent change to his inner cultivation has left him with many loops of Energy cycling from his core. With a thought, he grabs a loop and swings it over a nearby dark thread. Originally, he only meant to try and pull the thread away from his body¡¯s line. Instead, the Energy loop slices right through the thread. This doesn¡¯t destroy the dark thread, each side of it continues to strangle the line it is on, but with a lot less vigor. This discovery however pulls him out of the fight too much and the ghoul scores another hit on him. -3 More black lines invade his body from the site of the wound. Now though, he had a plan to deal with it. This probably wouldn¡¯t work for everything, but these threads are weak enough that he has an easy solution. With only slight mental effort, he starts to spin his core. This spins all those loops of Energy and his body becomes a blender. It shreds those dark threads down to the point they can no longer affect him. Outside of his body, the fight continues. The first thing to come back from the paralysis is his jaw. Convenient as it lets Jason inform Courtney of the situation, ¡°Just focus on your fight, I got this now.¡± And he did. Jason only had a single ghoul to fight and if there is one thing he is good at it is fighting humanoids one on one. The ghoul goes in for another claw attack. No longer fearing the poison though, Jason takes it with his armguard. -2 With him not dodging like expected, it throws the ghoul off balance. Jason takes advantage of this and ducks into its chest. The ghoul reacts by wrapping him with its arms in a bear hug. Just how Jason wanted it. He pulls his arms in and spins around. One arm grabs the ghoul¡¯s left shoulder while the other grabs lower down on the same arm. A small bump from his rear to knock the ghoul off balance. Jason grips the arm to his chest and drops his left shoulder towards the ground. This action effortlessly pulls the ghoul over his shoulder and slams it into the ground in front of him. Stunned, the ghoul is unable to react as Jason follows up with war stomp to the head, putting it down forever. To his side one ghast tries to take advantage of him being crouched down. Jason just takes the claws across the back of his jerkin. -1 Then with hand on fist he rams his elbow up into the ghasts stomach while standing up. It knocks the ghast back and it stumbles into the ghoul fighting Rosha. Ghoul distracted, Rosha jigs her bladed staff up and over through the throat of the other ghast, decapitating it. She continues her swing around and slides her hands to the other side of the staff. This brings the back ends blade right into the now downed ghast, finishing it. The ghoul lord screams, ¡°You fools! Now I will have to come in and do it myself. This is going to hurt and you¡¯re going to suffer for it later.¡± Out of the deeper shadows the lord strides. He might not be a vampire, but the light of the sun clearly hurts him. The lord hisses as its pristine skin discolors. Chapter 160 - Oh, That Had to Hurt Jason looks up and frowns, ¡°well, the real threat has joined the battle. Rosha you help Courtney and I will tank.¡± Then he sweeps low with a kick. This knocks over the ghoul in front of Rosha before it can stand up and allowing her to disengage. The ghoul frowns, ¡°You know we can hear you right?¡± And it scuttles back on all fours to give it some distance to stand up. Jason ignores it and instead takes a step back and spins around with another low kick. This time knocking the blinded ghoul over. As he completes the spin he smirks at the now standing ghoul, ¡°and that matters why?¡± The ghoul hisses and charges over, though not alone. The ghoul lord has now made it to the fight and does not look pleased. ¡°I have minions for a reason! How dare you three make me come over here.¡± The lords attack though makes it clear why he doesn¡¯t like fighting. He sucks at it. While his claws are longer and sharper than the rest of his crew, that doesn¡¯t help when the swing goes wide. It looks more like a child trying to bat away someone. Jason isn¡¯t able to relax though. While the lord is bad at attacking the sound, its claws make slicing through the air is enough to tell Jason he does not want to be hit. Those knife like fingers can probably slice through him like he was butter. Plus despite their leaders horrible combat skills the ghouls aren¡¯t half bad. In fact, the one attacking him was putting pressure on him. Jason blocked its blows, but the ghoul knew about his bosses difficulties. Not going for damage anymore, the ghoul instead tries to knock Jason into the lords attacks. Jason blocks high with a wrist guard and drops to the ground in a crouch. From there he kicks back like a mule right at the lord¡¯s knee. A flower blooms and the knee shatters, though unlike the other undead the lords flesh holds up better to his war stomp. However, while the lord might have bad aim, putting a leg right in front of it was tempting fate just a step too far. The ghoul lord starts to fall over from a shattered knee and its claw swings down, accidently slicing into Jason¡¯s leg. -13 The claw cuts through the meat of Jason¡¯s leg as if it wasn¡¯t there, his wood-like skin barely even slows it. When it hits his bone, though it is blocked, Jason once again saved by his amber skeleton. The attacks momentum has to go somewhere though and it tosses him to the side like a rag doll. The one leg bleeding profusely. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. -3 The lord isn¡¯t having a much better time itself. It howls in rage while it clutches its knee. ¡°How dare you injure me! My mother wouldn¡¯t even let the fighting instructors hit me. I just want to build a large army and take the kingdom. Serves them right for letting me die! Father said this was supposed to be an easy posting to get achievements. I¡¯ll show them what a minor noble can do!¡± -3 He pauses a moment before opening his mouth to continue. Then with a solid thunk a dagger sprouts from his mouth. Off to the side Jason has thrown one of his daggers while still clutching his leg with his off-hand. -3 The ghoul about to attack him pauses for a moment to look over at the lord, ¡°Thank the god of death you shut him up. The idiot can scream about the stupidest things for literal days.¡± -3 This pause gives Jason enough time to crawl towards the rest of the party but the ghoul doesn¡¯t seem bothered by it. Instead, he turns to the blinded ghoul and shouts, ¡°Hey Carl, the newb lord has a critical case of something long and hard choking him. Time for operation nobles first plan.¡± -3 Carl laughs, ¡°I always said something in his throat would be his death. Though I expected it to be more along the lines of a red smile. Good thing the idiot still hasn¡¯t figured out giving order with telepathy despite having decades to do so. You start the operation and I will follow.¡± -2 The other ghoul starts to sing a raunchy soldier marching tune and runs off into the forest. Right behind him is the blinded ghoul follows the sound and only crashes into two trees before he is far enough away that the spell drops. Both now free of the fight, they drop down on all fours and book it in silence. -2 Back at the fight, the lord is trying to scream around the dagger. It sounds like orders to stop and fight, but the group can only guess this because of context. In rage the lord forgets his knee and tries to stand up, probably to chase after them. This doesn¡¯t work as he falls back over. -2 Rosha hops into action and uses her staff to decapitate the lord before he can try anything else. The lord doesn¡¯t die to this though and his body flails around searching for his head. Jason doesn¡¯t give it a chance though, as by this point he has crawled back over to the lord. -2 Laid out on the ground Jason positions himself and stomps down on the head as a flower blooms. This shreds the skin off of half the lord''s face, but still he doesn¡¯t die, and so Jason continues to stomp him until it does. -2 Rosha and Courtney slump as the stress leaves them. Then Rosha notices that Jason is still bleeding. It has clotted a good bit thanks to his skeletons ability which is likely the only reason he lived but the blood hasn¡¯t stopped. -1 Her eyes go wide, ¡°oh, oh my! Courtney, Courtney, heal now!¡± Jason laughs, ¡°that would be much appreciated. I only have like seven health left here.¡± -1 ¡°Make that six.¡± Chapter 161 - The Lords Coin Purse Courtney rushes over to Jason and pulls out a quartz crystal with black streaks of some mineral. The quartz had been mostly rounded into a sphere except for one bit that sticks out in a point. She kneels down next to him and places the point of the quartz right at the start of the cut. Then after she pools some mana in the crystal so it glows, she pulls it along like a zipper. Color drains from her face as her magic drains her but just like a zipper the wound closes up and the bleeding stops. +10 She settles back on her heels and sighs, ¡°Well, that takes it out of me! I don¡¯t think that would have worked without the focus. Gross physical injury like that tends to be harder to heal. Now let me see about fixing up under the surface now that you aren¡¯t spewing blood everywhere.¡± Courtney¡¯s hand glows black and she places it where the cut had been. +5 +5 +5 A minute passes as Jason¡¯s health slowly ticks upward. Courtney frowns, ¡°you don¡¯t seem to be injured underneath anymore. You¡¯re just low on health at this point. Don¡¯t know why. I was just trying to do a slow heal to get more bang for my buck. Should have been healing in increments of one or maybe two.¡± +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +1 Another couple of minutes go by before Jason is back to full health. This is enough for the System to give him the stat rewards for the fight. Overall, he goes up five hp, one stamina, and one toughness. He stands up and stretches, ¡°woof, leastwise my health is getting closer to what it should be at this level.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°not our fault you chose the hard way. I didn¡¯t even know you could give up on stat points. How did you do that anyway?¡± Jason shakes his head to clear it, ¡°sorry, System backed non-disclosure with my first teacher not to reveal it. Well, now that I think about it, I am not prevented from telling you how I did it. Rather, I can¡¯t tell you what I did it with so once you reach that point it should be fine.¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Rosha claps, ¡°Oh, I think I know! Daddy got me a tutor once who taught me a few secrets. Though I had to promise not to try anything with it till level 50. Impressive that you got one this early if it is what I think it is.¡± Courtney facepalms, ¡°Right, of course. Yeah if it is that you¡¯re a stupid, lucky idiot. We can¡¯t come at it directly but you should be able to tell us if it is the level 100 secret.¡± Jason takes a moment to realize what she meant by that. Then he remembers that anyone without a core forms one automatically at level 100, and so he nods that it is. ¡°I had almost forgotten that you got it at that level. I technically had mine at level zero.¡± Courtney rubs the bridge of her nose, ¡°are you insane? That is an excellent way to ruin your character. Many people who find out about it still wait to receive one from the System. If you fail when forming it the level one hundred bottleneck becomes your end point. Sure being level 99 is quite the achievement but anyone with the potential to get there wouldn¡¯t want to stop there.¡± Jason slow blinks, ¡°huh, didn¡¯t know that. I had some special knowledge which pushed me towards it. Well, it worked out so no point worrying. Instead, let¡¯s get down to looting. The ghasts probably aren¡¯t worth a thing, but that lord should be stacked if he was a noble before death.¡± They turn to the corpses and it is at this point that they notice the one ghoul they had downed is gone. Where it had been laid are just a few claw marks from it dragging itself away. Once the marks reach the trees, though, it seems to have stood up and made a run for it. Rosha cocks her head to the side, ¡°Well, I guess we were a bit distracted there with the healing. At least the lord is still where we left it.¡± Jason kicks the body over and reveals a coin purse on the lord¡¯s belt. ¡°Sucks that they don¡¯t use weapons but hey, I would rather not use undead sourced gear if at all possible.¡± He picks up the purse and dumps the contents out. 28 gold and 36 silver coins fall out into his palm. His eyes go wide, ¡°well, we hit it rich with this guy. Nine gold for me and Rosha, Courtney you get ten for holding down your side despite us front liners not keeping the enemies at bay. Besides that 12 silver to each of us as well. No copper though, I guess he was one of those nobles that didn¡¯t deign to use peasant coins.¡± Rosha nods, ¡°that, or he just got money in from his father. I almost want to look up what happened to his family after he got killed. The guy seemed like the type that would have ruined them.¡± Courtney examines the buckle on the lords belt, ¡°we can totally do that, it seems this buckle has his family crest on it. Must have been a very low rank noble family not to have an actual signet ring.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°that buckle isn¡¯t even a precious metal. God, what a poor fool. Either his family was the bottom of the barrel or he was sent out here to die. While I am sure the common people didn¡¯t have a clue what would happen, the nobility should have gotten a warning before things truly hit the fan. Something as big as the forest¡¯s core doesn¡¯t pop up out of nowhere. They might not have known how bad it would be, but they should have expected something would happen. I would be willing to bet not a single important heir from any decently connected family was within a hundred miles of the forest line.¡± Chapter 162 - Jasons Harvest They gather around their campfire for the night. Courtney is sorting out the loot, mostly throwing away decrepit gear. Lily is being pampered by Rachel. Jason however has his back to the fire as he gets a little gardening in. The ginseng is coming along fine, but it still has a couple years left till it has matured. The focusing tea plant has a faster growth rate than normal tea, but it is still a few months out before he can harvest some. However the other three plants are all ready for harvest and so that gives him a bit of work to do. The energy herbs had been ready already, but he had waited for the bloody lingzhi and gloom weed. The bloody lingzhi is the easiest to harvest. While his snips are not the best tool for the job but being made of sealed silver made them the best he had. After a bit of work, he cut the mushrooms off his two logs. The only catch is he has to turn the cut end upward after he harvests them. When on the log, the bloody lingzhi acts just like any other mushroom of the type. However after detached the insides liquefies leaving only the wood like exterior as a sort of cup. Jason waits five minutes to make sure the insides had all been completely reduced to the blood like liquid. Then from his pack he takes out a couple empty glass bottles he had saved from the health potions he got way back at the start. Ready, he tips each mushroom into the bottles until just a smidge of liquid is left in the last lingzhi. That last few drops he pours into his mouth to get a taste of it. As it touches his tongue there is a small jolt as the Qi in the juice is drained away by his cultivation. Otherwise it tasted like the richest of lingzhi tea. Though that makes some sense as the liquid skips the whole brew it in water step. Lingzhi done, Jason decides to try a different method of harvesting the energy herb. With great care so as to not break the roots, he digs up one of the plants. Herb in hand, he shakes and rubs the roots to drop the soil back into the planter. Once the plant is free of dirt, Jason bundles the roots together and sets it aside and repeats it with three more of the energy herbs. Going by the book, this was the best way to preserve the berries for drying. Though he kicks himself for not having bought anything to store the various herbs in. The dry berries are nice, but keeping them preserved when fresh would be more useful for feeding Lily. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The last two energy herbs he leaves alone with plans for harvesting them later. Because of how the various plants interact with one another, he didn¡¯t want to mess the balance up. Though speaking of balance, he still has the six gloom weeds to harvest. Gloom weeds need a different method to harvest. Energy herb did best when leaving as much of the plant attached as possible so it could funnel more Energy into the berries. The point of gloom weeds is that they lack power so instead he has to trim as much of the plant off the berry in one go. In one go because the plant itself still contains power. That power is being kept out of the berry only because of the plants suction. This means that when the piece is detached the power in the stem will rush into the berry and if there is enough ruin it. Honestly, for gloom weeds a small paring knife made of sealed silver would have been better, but Jason can mimic that with his shears. It''s a little difficult, but it will work. He holds the black strawberry-like fruit and inserts the tip of one of the shear¡¯s blades into it at a shallow angle. Then in one smooth motion he spins it around the entire top and pulls the berry away quickly. The first few berries he harvests end up wasted. Their light absorbing black turns a reflective gray color as power enters the berries. His actions are just a touch too slow. After that though he gets the hang of it and harvested 28 berries total with each plant bearing only four to seven berries each. Once harvested though, storing them is as easy as putting them in his pack. The berries won¡¯t last as long as they would if kept in a power tight container but unlike the other plants their nature prevents rotting. In fact, each berry seems almost more crystalline than fruit after harvested. All the berries harvested Jason busies himself with weeding and planting. He uproots four of the now berryless gloom weeds. With his fingers Jason turns the soil to ready it for the next plants. Unhappy with the results though spends some more time breaking up some clumps of dirt left over from his less than careful removal of the gloom weeds. Now happy he plants four each of gloom weed and energy herb. Jason considers switching the places he plants them, but shrugs it off. Next time he can mix the dirt around a bit, plus he has the roaming loam bonus to fertilize it. All that is left is the lingzhi which is taking care of itself already. The small stumps left attached to the stump have completely turned into blood like liquid. Most of that is nutrients and power, but a small portion is spores to spread the plant. Even if the stumps weren¡¯t already colonized by the fungus, they would be now. The package of spores he had received might have been dry, but this liquid is their natural way of spreading. They grow on trees and when disturbed enough the inside and bit that they attach to the tree turns to liquid. The scavengers will feast on the liquid and spread the spores to other places suitable to their growth. An ingenious way of spreading as scavengers would very much be in prominence around battlefields. Chapter 163 - You Will Like the Tea Jason stretches and turns back to the fire. ¡°No real tea yet but if you¡¯re partial to traditional medicine, I can make a mean lingzhi tea.¡± Rosha shakes her head, ¡°Not my cup of tea. Plus there should be something better to use it for.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°You could look at these two bottles as a form of unrefined potion of Qi. Actually, now that I think about it, do you use Qi? I know Courtney uses Mana and I use Energy.¡± ¡°Huh¡±, Rosha tilts her head, ¡°I guess I didn¡¯t tell you, have I? Anyway, those potions won¡¯t be of much use to me as I also follow use Mana. While Qi is useful for a lot of ranger type stuff, my main weapon in theory is a bow.¡± Then with a dark look she mutters, ¡°not that I ever get to use it that way it seems.¡± Though she recovers her smile after that, ¡°so yeah, Mana was the better choice. While Qi can be attached to an arrow, Mana just does the job better!¡± Courtney pats her shoulder, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we just need to stop fighting fair. Once we can start doing the ambushes instead other way around, you can fire all the arrows you want. Though if we could pick up another frontliner, preferably someone with a taunt, that would be nice.¡± And she turns to Jason, ¡°So what did you get from your harvest anyway?¡± Jason sighs, ¡°mostly low normal ingredients. My glowy weed came out better.¡± He takes a breath to sigh again and Courtney interrupts him, ¡°Just call it Energy herb. I know it is polite to keep such little hidden knowledge tidbits hidden so others can discover it. Neither me nor Rosha will ever deal with the stuff and we both got a proper education on the various basic herbs. We might not have gotten the discovery bonus but there are other benefits we have received because of it.¡± With a smirk Jason continues, ¡°well they came out as mid normal. So none of the stuff is trash but none of it has any mentions of bottlenecks and definitely no exquisite results.¡± Courtney scoffs, ¡°as if you would be getting exquisite results when you can¡¯t even grow a high normal grade plant let alone a top normal. Maybe once your farming skill ranks up more and you grow a second break plant, we will talk about exquisite plants. Now how about you share the stats on your harvest?¡± ¡°Oh huh¡±, Jason leans back, ¡°I guess I should have expected you to know something about exquisite requirements.¡± Courtney scowls at him, ¡°mostly worthless to grow them. An exquisite plant might be useful in niche markets but at that point you should be able to grow second break low normal plants instead. Rule of thumb is when you can make something of low quality for the next bottleneck it will be better than most exquisite things of the previous. Now show us what you got please. I need to do some research so we can make best use of what you are growing.¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Jason scratches his chin, ¡°I didn¡¯t really tell you what¡¯s in my garden, did I? Quick rundown then. There is energy herb, gloom weed, bloody lingzhi, focusing tea, and ginseng. Also let me [show the party my harvesting results].¡±
Bottle of Bloody Lingzhi Fluid x2 Description: A potion bottles worth of the liquid that bloody lingzhi produces when harvested. Has the same look and feel of whatever blood was used to fertilize the mushroom colony, human in this case. The lingzhi however was harvested after peak maturity and the quality has suffered for it. Because of the bloody lingzhi¡¯s nature this fluid is packed with Qi. Grade: Low Normal (ingredient) Effects: Energy Herb Bush x4 Description: A glowy weed bush that has been harvested in such a way as to allow the preservation of each berries Energy supply while being dried. On the bush are 20 berries. The grower has experience with this type of plant boosting the results. Grade: Mid Normal (ingredient) Gloom Berries x28 Description: A type of berry that looks like a black strawberry with a crystal-like feel and is void of power. This specific berry has been harvested with sub-optimal tools though the method used was correct. Instead of the proper black void color the berry has absorbed small amounts of power and so are only matte black. Grade: Low Normal (ingredient)
Courtney looks them over and nods, ¡°good results over all. Most new farmers tend to just get trash grade plants for the first few months. Plus you aren¡¯t working with stuff like normal wheat. Getting breakless trash wheat can suck the enthusiasm out of even the most hardcore farmer.¡± ¡°Though that said, I can¡¯t wait till your tea is ready. Properly brewed that stuff will be an amazing boon for us all. You can even use it as you cultivate Energy. It just won¡¯t be able to improve your resource pools. Though I will have to pick up a proper tea set in the next town. Maybe a spell to dry the leaves quickly? No, that can wait for now. Fire isn¡¯t exactly in my portfolio.¡± ¡°For now a simple Yixing teapot will do since there are three of us. Though can it really be called Yixing when there is no way the clay came from there? Oh well, as long as the clay they use is close enough and the teapot isn¡¯t glaze whatever they have suffice. It isn¡¯t exactly our culture but when there has been so much thought put into such a simple thing as brewing tea you might as well learn from it.¡± Jason grimaces, ¡°I, ah well, am not exactly a uh, fan? Of tea?¡± Courtney rolls her eyes, ¡°let me guess, you think tea only comes in a bag?¡± Jason shakes his hands, ¡°no no no, I know about loose leaf tea and all. I just find tea a bit too bitter for my taste.¡± Courtney looks quite disgusted at him but Rosha interrupts before she can say anything. ¡°Let me head this off at the pass. She really likes tea and preparing it. She will take your tea leaves, prepare them, and brew the most luxurious cup you will probably ever have. If the tea you had before was too bitter that just means whoever made it didn¡¯t know how to brew tea. Either used water that was too hot or let it steep for too long. Just keep an open mind and let her take care of us when it comes to tea.¡± Chapter 164 - Visitors at Night Tea fiasco over not much happens so Jason turns in early, wanting to get some time to cultivate outside of the game. With a warning to the others, he lies back on his sleeping bag and logs out. Waking up in the pod is as discordant as always. ¡°They really should do something about the design inside these things¡±, Jason muses. Of course, that isn¡¯t really an option, every surface designed to facilitate the signal transfer. If they left the head out, it might be possible, but all the connections, especially the ones for the eyes, are quite finicky. Jason stands up with a groan and stretches. ¡°Whew, my body feels better than when I left the coffin last time. If anything, irl cultivation might catch on even if it only reduces that nonsense. Be a lot easier to hop out of them if you didn¡¯t need a good few minutes for your body to feel human again. They try, but there is only so much electric stimulation and the various other tricks can do for the body. It might keep the body in decent shape, but that¡¯s it. Though now that I think about it, this might be because I spent the extra money for better care? Meh, next time I come out should tell me one way or another.¡± Out in the living room, he finds a nice surprise. His punching bag has been changed out for a better if slightly used one and there is a small note on it from his mom.
Yo, Noticed you started kicking butt even harder. Here¡¯s a nice mil spec special that the company gym was planning to replace. Should be fine for you, but some of the securabots wouldn¡¯t be able to use it anymore. Can¡¯t have those guys pull their punches when practicing. Whenever you get a couple hundred gold, maybe slide them my way to pay back the expense of making people look the other way? Chao, Your Favorite Mom
Jason snorts, ¡°and you¡¯re also my least favorite mom as well. You¡¯re my only mom after all. God, already in debt for hundreds of gold and I didn¡¯t even mean to be.¡± He pulls the bag to the center of the room. Though unlike last time, he struggles with the bag. It might be the same size if not smaller, but the thing weighs four or five times as much and the old one was already heavy. No picking it up for Jason any time soon. Jason cracks his knuckles and goes through a stretching routine to warm up. That done, he punches the bag to test it. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Oh, Golly Golly Googly Moogly! Gah, this sucker¡¯s hard!¡± He shakes his hand as the two front knuckles turn a bright red. ¡°Guess I need to work my way up to use this thing properly. Time to try a stomp, the foot is generally tougher after all.¡± A little more careful this time, he stomps his foot down on the bag. Lack of pain convinces him to stomp it again harder. Then harder again and again until he is using his full strength to pound away at it. ¡°Memo to self, I need to work on my fists.¡± A quick check of the clock shows he spent a little under seven minutes. He doesn¡¯t have much time, only about 48 minutes total so he can only shrug. Next time he can practice war stomp, but for now he wants to cultivate. After pushing the bag back into its corner, he sets an alarm, sits down, and calms himself. Breath in and out, in and out. Jason falls into his meditation and is ready. The surrounding power has more fire in it. This distracts him for a moment until he realizes that given the time the actual sun is up outside. That out of mind he breathes out and then pulls in without breathing. The power all around him streams into his collected whirlpool in the pit of his stomach. Today it is easier as he already has a base sum of power to work with. Only a couple times does he have to stop so as to prevent one of the corrupting powers from entering him, but overall a successful session. 30 minutes pass by and the alarm goes off. Another minute is spent on assuring his gains wouldn¡¯t fade away and Jason is ready to head back in. NeoRealm is calling. Though just before his pod puts him under a stray thought crosses his mind. How close is his mom watching him for her to have known about the punching bag? Like seriously, it might have been a while for him in the game but it wasn¡¯t even a full day outside. Back in game Jason turns that thought over in his head a few times as he relieves Courtney and takes over the watch. He doesn¡¯t get much of a chance though as only a handful of minutes in the party is attacked. The three ghouls from earlier hadn¡¯t actually left, instead choosing to follow them. Only attacking now that it was deep into night and the sun wasn¡¯t restraining them anymore. Jason Shouts an alarm to the other two and Rosha wakes up easily enough. Courtney however must have logged off by the empty look in her eyes. Still, a healer at three quarters strength than no healer at all. Jason and Rosha stand to the sides of Courtney next to the fire. The ghouls might not be afraid of it, but they were weak to it. Their skin though not as dry as a mummy¡¯s was much better preserved than a zombie and so lacking that half rotten liquid defense. Two of the ghouls attack right out while the third holds back. That last one is clearly the one Jason had downed early as while up and about there are clear signs of damage on its head from his attack. Combat starts with a wide swing of Rosha¡¯s staff to force them back and give the party some space. The two ghouls, irritated that their attacks were so easily fended against, mocks the group. ¡°Can you even fight with your healer so out of it? Aren¡¯t you going to go crying to your parents while you and your soulless companion there die by our claws?¡± Chapter 165 - Dont Do That Except Maybe You Can Sadly for the ghouls, their banter has little effect on the party. Instead, they double down on their defensive and wait for the undead to attack. The ghoul at the back clicks its tongue and joins the other two in attacking. Jason swings around to the side as it joins the skirmish. He faints an elbow blow to the head and the ghoul wants none of that, practically falling backwards to get out of the way. Jason however continues his rotation, ducks down, and with the much longer reach of his foot slams a kick into its side. Already off balance, the ghoul is unable to stay standing. Rosha swings her bladed staff over Jason¡¯s back as he goes into a roll to meet the other ghouls. With her staff picking up speed she turns the sideways rotation into an overhead swing. Her hands slide back to one end of her weapon and the other side falls down on the ghoul. The attack comes too fast. Unable to react, the ghoul¡¯s head is split down the middle. Behind her Courtney under the Systems control casts out a small puff of black holy flame which sets the now dead ghoul on fire. Jason has finished his roll and ended up between the other two ghouls on his feet. They both go at him. Though instead of dodging the attacks, he focuses on the one to the left. His left hand darts out barely touching the ghoul''s arm and in a snakelike motion wraps its right arm up. The other ghoul lands a harsh strike to his undefended side. -8 But still Jason ignores that. The other ghouls claw has passed over his shoulder and he tightens down on it. Then with a twist of his arm and a palm thrust from his other hand, he slams the ghoul onto the ground. The other ghoul still ignored at this point attacks again. -3 This time though Jason¡¯s movement brings him away from the attack so it only grazes his back. Then from behind that ghoul Rosha lines up her attack. With one strong thrust she rams the point of her spear right through the ghoul''s head. Courtney off to the side finishes a spell and Jason¡¯s back glows black for a moment as the bigger wound seals, the smaller wound having already clotted. +4 Jason smirks down at the ghoul on the floor. ¡°Did you really think you would win after your whole group didn¡¯t manage earlier?¡± And his heel smashes into the ghoul''s face before it can respond. He rolls his shoulders as another heal lands on him, this one a more efficient over time spell. +2 ¡°Welp¡±, Jason sighs, ¡°not that I wasn¡¯t expecting this. Night and the undead do sort of go together. But really, maybe I should have let him answer my question? They didn¡¯t even stand a chance against us. Hell, just the two of us could have taken them.¡± +2 Rosha shrugs, ¡°Even the sapient undead aren¡¯t exactly known for their intelligence unless they are a lich or some such. Anyway, it looks like the System has gotten Courtney back into bed and I think I will get back to sleep as well. Wake me when it¡¯s my turn.¡± And she joins Courtney on the sleeping rolls. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. +2 With a sigh and a shake of his head Jason heads back over to his watch post. The fire is warm, but not the best for night vision. +1 ¡°Oh, there¡¯s the last of the damage healed. Though dang it, I need new gear. This stuff is the best you can get as a newbie but I¡¯m not exactly one anymore am I?¡± He sighs again. As luck would have it, the rest of his watch is peaceful. Though once the alarm he set for his watch goes off, he is well and ready to be done. Sure he will not get to actually sleep but his nightly training will let him work out the stress. When it comes time to switch, Rosha is less than appreciative of being awake. But otherwise, they trade off just fine. Then Jason¡¯s head hits his pillow and he wakes up in the training room. The trainer is standing at the front of the room as always, though tonight she sports a frown. ¡°What is your progress on war stomp?¡± Jason pulls up the skill and is slightly shocked. He had gained a few levels since the last time he checked. ¡°War Stomp is novice level nine with 18 and some change percent progress.¡± The trainer nods and sighs, ¡°That means tonight is likely our last. Once you hit initiate rank, the System will consider you to have fully learned the skill. Honestly, our time has extended well beyond what is normal but all things will end, eventually.¡± ¡°Now for higher ranks you might bottleneck but going from novice to initiate is just a confirmation you¡¯ve trained enough. That means we need to make the best use of our remaining time. Specifically, while you stomp on those dummies, I will lecture you.¡± Jason does as ordered and practices the skill. The trainer uses the time to go over a number of subjects. Some of them weren¡¯t anything new to him. For instance, she explained some nuances of the Adventurers Guild. Locals might not know all the twists and turns, she explains, but players had figured out and shared most of it already. The modern world¡¯s interconnectivity once again showing off. What does catch his attention is when she starts talking about item quality. ¡°So you have a lot of first break items. Even your skeleton is one which is honestly a nice head start. However you¡¯ve passed through the second bottleneck so should start trying to get second break items. You know this already. What is important is you understand exactly what higher break items mean. Once you hit level ten, the only limits on what you can use are practical. An ogre for instance would have a hard time using armor that was sized for a halfling.¡± ¡°Now some items will have recommendations such as the mentioned armor stating its sizes. However there is nothing to stop you from using a fourth break item before you even hit the third bottleneck. My advice? Don¡¯t do it. Each bottleneck will cause a change to your core being, and items of higher breaks depend on those changes to work. This is why your armor has sufficed till now. Better defense doesn¡¯t really depend on your own body.¡± ¡°Though I guess you are uniquely suited to break these rules? One of the classic changes that makes an item sixth break is to connect to a core which you already have. But yeah, there is other stuff. Having the good stuff might seem nice but it just makes you a target for those who can actually use it properly and you might even hurt yourself by using it.¡± ¡°There aren¡¯t many but an acquaintance of mine managed to get their hands on a ninth break pill. It wasn¡¯t even a good quality, just low normal. I don¡¯t know what change happens after the ninth bottleneck. If I did then I bloody well wouldn¡¯t be here now would I? But whatever it is it must do something with how you can handle power. That fool took it himself to try and breakthrough to level five hundred. Instead, he broke his own body. There was a horrible build up of energy before he exploded.¡± ¡°Good thing he did it over one of the bigger seas or the casualties would have been horrendous. As it is if you ever see a map where the sea seems a little too circular, well now you might just know why. Now that is an extreme example as you aren¡¯t exactly eating a sword and level five hundred is literally out of this world but still. Limit yourself because it took me way too long to find a potential inheritor.¡± Chapter 166 - How Can She Fight a Boss? Jason wakes up the next morning, half sad and half happy. Sad because he won¡¯t see his trainer again anytime soon. Happy though as when war stomp ranked up it gained an additional effect called ¡°Free Form¡±. The skill was useful, but the free form effect raised its usability to the level of his blast punch. Before he could only use it with a stomp attack. Now Jason was able to use it just like his blast punch. Even just standing around idly, he can tear up the ground below him at a moment''s notice. He still can¡¯t use the skill with his fists like the trainer said would be possible. Then again, she said it would take more control so he can only shrug and move. It isn¡¯t like he has used blast punch with anything other than his fists yet either. Breakfast is had, the group packs up, and Lily is in the harness. The only thing left to do is take care of the harvested Energy herb bushes. Jason had left them strung up over night and while they might be safer in his pack, the berries would take longer to dry out. Rosha laughs at the situation, but helps him tie them to the back of his pack. The roots get tied to the top and small loops of string hold it to the pack at the bottom. Courtney stands to the side and shakes her head, ¡°why didn¡¯t you just tie them onto the pack before you put it on?¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°Lily would have been at them so I wanted to get her into the harness first. Just look at her now. Normally she would be looking forward but she can¡¯t help but stare towards the berries.¡± Lily flicks her ears at him and hops a couple of times to face forward again. This doesn¡¯t last long though as it tests her willpower and soon she is gazing over her shoulder longingly at the berries. Rosha covers her mouth with both her hands and squees. ¡°Oh, look at her! She¡¯s so cute!¡± Jason has a toothy smile, ¡°I know, right? Though I have a bit of a troublesome problem relating to her. Lily is now at the level nine bottleneck. Do either of you know how to help her breakthrough?¡± Rosha turns to Courtney. She shrugs, ¡°Lily is important to you so of course I looked it up. A normal beast will generally have different requirements than the sapient races. With rabbits the second bottleneck isn¡¯t strictly at level ten, but rather just experiencing enough of one type of power. If they do manage to hit level ten, then they just evolve from an adolescent rabbit into a teen rabbit.¡± ¡°Lily however is a companion. Besides that, she is a type of rabbit that I have found no information on. My guess is it has to do with Jason being an Energy user. Though even that doesn¡¯t quite line up. My research suggests that the energy evolutionary line still has the adolescent stage and instead become a spiky rabbit when introduced to enough Energy. Jason, you have more experience with the rabbits, any clue about this?¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Jason nods, ¡°from what I saw that should be right. While I was cultivating in the rabbit plains, a few around me ended up as spiky rabbits.¡± Courtney raises an eyebrow, ¡°not even going to ask how you had adolescent rabbits around you. But since that seems to be the case, this is likely a rabbit line similar to the jackalopes.¡± Rosha frowns, ¡°wait, jackalopes are real? I thought they were just as much myth here as they are irl.¡± Courtney waves her hand dismissively, ¡°While the world is real to a point, they still made it to be a game. Myths from our world are more likely to be real here than not. Jackalopes are just rare because they are a fae variant of the horned rabbit and so spend most of their time in the fae realms.¡± ¡°Anyway, that is all besides the point. That sort of thing is only for regular beasts, after all the devs couldn¡¯t expect them to know to go look for a boss to fight on their own. Lily however is a companion and for that to be the case requires one special little detail to be true. She needed to be sapient to initiate the connection. That is honestly the biggest difference between a pet and a companion.¡± ¡°Since she is sapient as evidence by being a companion, she also has to follow the rules of the System. In this case that means to break through her second bottleneck she has to beat a boss on her own.¡± Rosha gasps, ¡°but she¡¯s just a cute little rabbit! How can she fight a boss, let alone defend against one?¡± Courtney rolls her eyes, but Rosha pouts at her and her ears droop down. Courtney holds her stare for a few moments but eventually gives in. She collects Rosha into a hug and boops her on the nose. ¡°Sigh, you don¡¯t have to worry. I know it doesn¡¯t seem like much, but she is level nine. Plus the System isn¡¯t cruel. What we need to look for isn¡¯t just any boss but rather a boss for her.¡± ¡°No matter how strong she is, Lily is still a rabbit. We aren¡¯t going to go out and find some level ten wolf boss for her to fight. What we need to find likely won¡¯t even count as a boss for the rest of us. While for us players a boss is a boss is a boss that isn¡¯t really true to the natives. After all, take that hypothetical wolf boss. For Lily it might actually count as a raid boss, if not something worse. To a bear though even with the rest of the wolves pack the encounter might not count as a boss fight.¡± ¡°The way the System decides on what counts as a boss for locals has to do with the difference in stats and any affinities. For instance, a wolf will have many more points of strength than a rabbit, even if they are the same level. Combine that with a wolf naturally preying upon rabbits tends to make even a lone half starved wolf a boss encounter for any normal rabbit. If however the rabbit has some levels on that wolf and enough stat points, well it isn¡¯t a boss anymore.¡± Chapter 167 - Lily is a Smart Girl The group stands there in silence. Courtney looks back and forth between the other two until Jason speaks up. ¡°That is interesting. Now how do we find a boss battle for Lily if we can¡¯t see what counts as a boss? Also from the sounds of it we can¡¯t cheat and find her a level one carrot boss for her to gnaw on.¡± Courtney coughs, ¡°Well. Yes. There is a reason that less locals make it past the second bottleneck beyond just the fact that death is slightly more permanent than it is for us. You probably went for an edge of your seat boss battle but many players, especially the more casual ones, just beat up on a low level boss. Dungeons are popular with the locals because even if they have to fight a tough enemy, at least the dungeon boss is a known quantity.¡± ¡°That is also why we haven¡¯t had much troubles on this trip. Even the undead are relatively weak sauce. At the start of this little forest jaunt we were worried, but that was because of potential overflow from a dangerzone. Since that doesn¡¯t seem to be the case. Knock on wood.¡± And she raps her knuckles on the logs she is on, ¡°we just need to search out a plant monster who can be a boss for Lily. Not because she is a rabbit but because they tend not to move, instead depending on stealth. This is not true at higher levels but for Lily right now I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if we couldn¡¯t find a nice sedentary sort of boss.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°that would make sense. Lily¡¯s best stat is agility, so a fight where she can use it to the utmost would be best. But once again, how do we know what counts as a boss for Lily?¡± Courtney¡¯s face scrunches up, ¡°Uh, well, hmm. You see, normally this is the sort of thing the locals can tell you, but Lily can¡¯t quite manage that yet.¡± Rosha slaps her on the back and laughs, ¡°Luckily we don¡¯t necessarily need her to be able to talk no matter how awesome that would be. Though some spell or ability to speak with animals would be nice.¡± She turns to Lily and smiles, ¡°You don¡¯t need to talk because you¡¯re a clever little bunny, aren¡¯t you? All the monsters we have been fighting, except maybe the ghasts should have counted as bosses to you. Did you notice any difference between them?¡± Courtney rolls her eyes, but Rosha doesn¡¯t mind her and instead continues, ¡°Did the ghouls have an aura of sorts that the ghasts lacked? Nod your head if they did or shake it if no.¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Courtney is about to say something when Lily nods her head. Rosha smiles from ear to ear as she turns to Courtney, ¡°see? Lily is a smart girl.¡± Jason laughs at this as Courtney asks Lily to answer the question again because she obviously couldn¡¯t be smart enough yet. Lily nods her head again. Not willing to let it go, she starts to ask Lily to lift one paw or another and do a couple of minor tricks until Jason stops her. He shakes his head, ¡°While this is cute and Lily seems to enjoy playing along with you, we need to get a move on. Tonight you can play with her if Rosha lets you, but for now we should head out.¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°fine. We can apparently just ask her if any specific monster is a boss or not. Though we should probably let her fight a few low level monsters first. Lily might be at level nine, but she doesn¡¯t have any combat experience yet.¡± Rosha pouts at this but Jason agrees that Lily needs to get a few fights under her belt before they throw her at a boss. Even Rosha has to admit that would be a bad idea. Though she would prefer if Lily didn¡¯t have to fight at all. This proposition is somewhat harder than expected. There are weaker monsters around, and they can even see normal animals. Not anywhere close to the group, mind you. It might have happened over a century ago, but the forest remembers when men came with axes and fire. Either that or maybe all those undead have made the local critter nervous around humanoids. Take your pick. Whatever caused it doesn¡¯t really matter. Either way the low level mobs wouldn¡¯t approach them. Lunch time comes around and everyone brainstorms how to deal with the issue over the meal. It takes longer than they had wanted to rest for, but in the end it comes back to plant monsters. After all, most can¡¯t run away. Now it is just a matter of finding them. Lunch finished, they stand around until Courtney shrugs, ¡°I could probably log out and look up what plant monsters live in the area? It could take a while even if I stay in the personal room so there isn¡¯t a time differential.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°not much else we can do, unless you know more about it Rosha. You¡¯re a ranger type after all.¡± And he turns to her with a questioning look. Rosha shakes her head, ¡°If we were back at Shinefish I could be of more help. I haven¡¯t seen any of the plant monsters I know about. After we find a few, I should be fine to find more. As it is though, my skill has a penalty because I haven¡¯t gotten familiar with this forest. Plus that nonsense in the center adds a fat penalty as well. Whatever lives there must have some sort of aura that helps plant monsters hide.¡± Courtney rubs the bridge of her nose, ¡°right, still a game. Never mind that your skills should let you find weak plant monsters, even if you¡¯re new to the place. It is still a forest after all! Sigh, these are even the same sort of trees from what I can tell. Whatever, give me an hour.¡± And she logs out. Chapter 168 - Its a Flower, Its a Slug Courtney exits the game and appears inside her waiting room. Though if others were to see it, they would more likely call it an operations headquarters. She had spent a lot of both hers and Rosha¡¯s father¡¯s money on it. While you can make almost any cosmetic change to the room within some limits, the sheer size of the room alone has gone beyond those limits. She floats in the center, having paid to remove the limits on using earth-like physics. All around her is a giant web of research and intrigue. To the left is the newest area. She had devoted one large section to her research into Jason and James. Jason¡¯s section now taking up most of the space as Courtney had offloaded her efforts on James to other helpers. For now, though, this isn¡¯t her goal. Instead, she pushes it to the side allowing access to her research on the forest the group is currently traveling through. There is a lot of information on the undead threat in the area, which she stares at for a moment before sighing. ¡°Of course we need information on low level plant monsters. System, activate multi command and note taking functions.¡± A soft ping follows to alert her that everything she says will be taken as a command. Another sigh and she fires off a string of orders. ¡°New message to monster research group C with a request for information on low level plants in the outer circle of the forest I am in. Have a focus on those that a level nine rabbit could fight and an extra focus on such monsters that would also count as a boss. Send early results after half an hour and spend only a minor task worth of work on the topic. End message and send. Open a new note section next to the undead in the forest note and title it plant monsters for Lily at level nine. Create sub-note titled bosses for Lily to break the second bottleneck. Set a temporary nickname for the new note to plant notes and the sub-note to boss notes. End multi command and note taking functions.¡± With each sentence, the area in front of her changes. Her message writes itself in front of her and flies off into the ether. Then a new bubble expands next to the undead notes and another bubble appears inside of it. With her commands finished, the System pings again and Courtney sits back to wait. While Courtney could have opened up a browser and done some research herself but she knows her limits. Her training was focused more on being a bodyguard and head of Rosha¡¯s people, especially the ones she didn¡¯t know about. Group C will be able to find out more in the next half hour than she could find in half a day and with a lot more accuracy. Instead, Courtney leans back and yawns. Another look around the area confirms that she really needs to clean up the space. Because of all her time in game she hasn¡¯t been organizing her collected notes as well as she used to. Not much else to do at the moment, though she after a couple stretches she gets down to it. Cleaning up not only physical messes but digital ones as well has been drilled into her since young. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Half an hour later, right on the dot, the System alerts her to a new message. Courtney opens it up and nods. The body is a quick overview with two attachments at the bottom containing a majority of the information. She grabs them both and drags them into the bubbles. Once the attachments enter the bubbles, information populates the space. As the notes grow too big for the bubbles, the shape stretches and expands outward into sheets of data like the undead notes next to it. Courtney nods again, though frowns at what she sees. There is too little known about the plant monsters in the area. Though the notes about there being a bonus to their stealth in the area confirms that suspicion. Over the next fifteen or so minutes she pours over what the research team had provided her. Courtney has spread everything out like a cork board with articles thumb tacked to it and strings connecting them. To the left are the useless monsters. Things like a phytofae enclave known to be in the area. Their stealth is heads and tails above anything else in the area, and their ability to fly makes them a bad matchup for a rabbit. On the right is a much smaller selection of useful monsters with one circled. Things like carnivorous stumps and leaf walkers populate the list. That circled monster though is a jackpot and a lucky break all in one. The research team had unearthed a potential boss monster for Lily to fight, and it was probably near the group. The redeath rose slug however is listed on the left side as well, and so Courtney pulls up the specific information on it. What she finds is annoying, to say the least. The plant starts its life as a rose plant, which will only grow near sites where the undead frequent. After the roses bloom, each of the flowers will curl up again as if blooming in reverse and fall off. These fallen flowers are the adult form of the monster, named a slug as their form now mimics the animal. Freshly fallen, the flowers are weak and don¡¯t even count as monsters. However they can rapidly grow more powerful if there are enough undead in the area. The flower will crawl onto undead and slowly suck the death energy that powers them out. This is where the ¡°redeath¡± in the monster¡¯s name comes from. Each time the rose slug devours an undead, they will leave behind a seed and extend their life. Most important though is that they grow in size and power. When large enough the rose slug will require more than a single undead to leave a seed as more of the death energy is needed to support itself. For Lily, they only need to find one about her own size. With how many undead there in the area, this shouldn¡¯t be too hard to find. That is the problem. There are too many undead in the area, so chances of them finding one that small isn¡¯t very high. At the early stages they tend to die, but after they grow to about the size of a fist natural selection is finished with them. The few that make it to that size will rapidly grow bigger unless there is a concerted effort by the local undead to wipe them out. This is enough for now though, so Courtney logs back into NeoRealm. Chapter 169 - It was Your Plan Rosha and Jason are sitting around the dead campfire when Courtney re-enters the game. They look at her expectantly and she sighs, then explains what she had found out. Rosha in particular asks a number of pointed questions about the looks and habits for each monster. The leaf walkers interest her. It is a plant that mimics the walking stick insect, which mimics a stick and leaves. The creatures form when a tree experiences a spike in mystical energy. To prevent negative mutations it will push the excess power into an old branch which will then break off and come alive. Most other forests rarely have them unless something major happens. Of course this forest has some odd nonsense going on and so they are much more common here. The plant monsters are overall non-violent with a preference of standing still and absorbing the power in the air. A perfect monster for Lily to practice on. Especially when, despite their magical origins, the leaf walker lacks any powered attack. Instead, relying entirely on physical attacks to defend itself. Rosha nods her head, ¡°now we just have to find a couple for Lily to play with.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°that will be hard. Unlike the insect, these things are literally just a twig and some leaves. Though if any of us are going to spot one you would be it. But we really do need to get moving. With how the day has gone, we will probably only travel half the distance we expected. Good thing I added some wiggle room to the schedule.¡± Jason frowns, ¡°when did we have a schedule? I thought we were just adventuring.¡± Courtney laughs, ¡°well yes, but no. If you two had wanted to just head off in a random direction and travel till something happens we definitely could have. Instead, you both chose a destination.¡± She is about to say more but Rosha pokes her cheek, ¡°No we didn¡¯t. You¡¯re revising history there a little bit, don¡¯t you think? Might I remind you that while our plan was basically that you stepped in and changed it. Our current goal is a certain elven kingdom because there is a kitsune tribe with a variant spell you wanted.¡± ¡°Not that I am against it, mind you. At least we do have a purpose for our travels at the moment. However, I know how you act when in charge of my schedule. Don¡¯t think I am going to let you start to micromanage my game time!¡± Courtney rubs her cheek and pouts, ¡°but you always procrastinate so much if someone isn¡¯t keeping you on track!¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Rosha rolls her eyes, ¡°I get what needs done, done. My schoolwork was never late once!¡± Jason claps, ¡°Now I don¡¯t want to get in between you two and your old couples argument, but a little structure isn¡¯t a terrible thing. Courtney hasn¡¯t really done much yet to push us in one way or another on the trip. I think we give her a chance to keep track of our travels. Rosha, you know she would do it anyway, right?¡± Rosha sighs, ¡°she is the person in charge of all my irl stuff.¡± Courtney nods, ¡°and this is an argument as old as our relationship. Right from when I met her at five, her parents have pushed me towards keeping her in line.¡± Jason nods, ¡°there we go. Now I feel it is an agreeable thing to at least keep track of where we are. If we end up being in here a month longer than expected, I want to know about it and why. If not for Courtney, I bet we wouldn¡¯t even realize it. So let¡¯s get a move on. While I don¡¯t mind losing the entire day, I don¡¯t want to rest in the same campsite two nights in a row. Who knows what might decide to come check us out because we stayed too long.¡± The others are going to speak up but with a grin Jason interrupts them, ¡°also I noticed neither of you denied the old couples comment.¡± And he takes off at a jog. Behind him Courtney blushes fiercely while Rosha chases after him, yelling incoherently. This calms down soon enough and the day passes peacefully. Rosha doesn¡¯t see any of the plant monsters, though she spots a few other low level monsters. Nothing that Lily could fight, if only because they would run away. Night passes as well. Courtney uses her sleep time to compile all the info that the research group had. This was the real breakthrough as the group provided a number of examples for Rosha to look over later that night. With one last check, she packages up everything Rosha needs and sends it off. That done, she logs back into the game to finish her night¡¯s sleep. When Jason wakes her up later to take her shift, Courtney feels a bit bad. But from plenty of childhood experience she knows that Rosha didn¡¯t check her messages. With a sigh, she goes over to Rosha and shakes her awake. Rosha cracks her eyes open, ¡°sun not up, sleep now.¡± Courtney pats her head, ¡°you didn¡¯t check your messages again.¡± Rosha tries to turn away, ¡°just sleep now.¡± Courtney shakes her head and rolls her back over, ¡°you want to help Lily, don¡¯t you? I sent you a message that will help you spot the plant monsters.¡± Rosha rubs her eyes, ¡°hate you.¡± Courtney rubs her head, ¡°no you don¡¯t, silly. You just hate early mornings. Now I have to get around to my watch. I will be disappointed if you just go back to sleep.¡± Rosha falls back onto her bedding, ¡°I know when I¡¯m beat. Go do your watch. [System, log me out].¡± And her body goes limp as it transfers her consciousness to her waiting room to look over whatever Courtney had sent her. Courtney giggles at Rosha¡¯s antics. She really does not like being awake early in the morning. It does make her wonder why she is willing to take the early morning shift. Courtney can only shrug and continue her watch. Chapter 170 - Roshas Waiting Room Rosha yawns and stretches as she looks around her waiting room. Not too long ago it had been done up like some scifi thriller. With her family, it was assured that she would end up playing NeoRealm. So of course she rebelled by reaching for the stars. Sure some of the more classic works were a little sexist for her taste but the space opera genre sang to her soul. Past tense though because of NeoRealm or more specifically Lily. All around her is a peaceful forest scene. A relatively cheap option. What wasn¡¯t cheap was the inhabitants. All around her are small groups of rabbits living happy little lives. Rabbits with horns, rabbits with wings, and there are even more silly rabbits like a group of living plush rabbits. She lies back and the rabbits closest swarm her. Now under a pile of fluffy rabbits Rosha yawns and is about to fall back asleep. The only thing stopping her is the flashing light telling her that she has a new message. A disgruntled sigh and she swipes open the message and the attachments on it. The initial message is brief and to the point. Blah, blah, blah, Rachel read this all despite being sleepy time, blah, blah, blah, have a good night, love Courtney. Just the sort of message she has come to expect from Courtney. To the point while still being polite. Behind it though are the two attachments. Monstrous works of writing and images. She has seen enough quick research results to recognize it for what it is. A mass of work which hasn¡¯t been properly trimmed to the essential bullet points. Sure, Courtney had done some work on it and only sent on the needed data, but it was still a lot to read. Rosha slumps back and waves her hand and grouses, ¡°Welp, my nights gone. Bring on the beanbag rabbit and the blanket rabbit!¡± From behind a dense clump of trees a loud wump can be heard, and then another. The rabbits between the trees and Rosha clear out of the way as a rabbit twice her size jumps into sight. It hits the floor and flattens out as it hits the ground. Two more hops brings the rabbit right up next to her. She grabs the two attachments and pulls them over with her as she flops onto the beanbag rabbit. Once she is settled in, another rabbit enters the clearing. Though it is stretching what you can define a rabbit as even more than the plush and beanbag rabbits. This rabbit doesn¡¯t even need to land once. Instead, being able to glide right over like a sugar glider, landing on her. Rosha pulls it tight around her and pages through the research results. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Next morning she wakes up quite groggy after a night of dry research notes interspersed with way too many images that were way too similar to one another. At least, she comforts herself, she now knows what to look for. That and Lily is still the best snuggle bunny. All the waiting room rabbits are fluffy, but nothing beats an actual creature no matter how digital. Off to the side Jason sighs. He doesn¡¯t mind that Rosha is so attached to Lily, but he doesn¡¯t get to spend much of the group¡¯s down time with her. At least Rosha will likely stay in his team for a while. He doesn¡¯t think she plans to leave like a certain someone, but low level teams tend not to have the best track record when it comes to staying together. He could have joined Rosha in pampering Lily, but Courtney¡¯s warning glare to keep his distance made him decide otherwise. Lonely breakfast finished and Jason packs everything up so they can be ready to travel. Rosha, still out of it from the overnight study time on the other hand is the last to be packed, but sooner than she would prefer the group is on the move again. Good news? Rosha is able to start spotting some of the hidden plant monsters. Now the problem is finding some of a low enough level. Not just for Lily either. Good thing they are leaving the group alone because the level thirty something monsters would have wrecked them. Not even an hour goes by when she doesn¡¯t spot some powerful plant. Courtney shakes her head, ¡°I guess the monsters are being pushed out from the forest¡¯s core. We just couldn¡¯t see them.¡± Rosha sighs, ¡°All that research you had me read said we should see plants with an average of level five. This is just nonsense!¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°What can you do? At least they leave us alone. Plus we might just need to travel some more. All these plants should be why we have only encountered undead. Any living monsters have hightailed it out of here. Once we find other stuff again, the vegetation should go back to normal.¡± Rosha raises an eyebrow at her, ¡°So I didn¡¯t have to stay up and study those notes? I could have just read them at my leisure?¡± With a shrug Courtney shakes her head, ¡°we couldn¡¯t have known. Better that we can now see the danger.¡± Jason shakes his head and sighs, ¡°well, what is done is done. Tonight you should be able to get a good night¡¯s sleep.¡± Rosha nods, ¡°yes I should. Right?¡± And she folders her arms while glaring at Courtney. Courtney covers her mouth and laughs, ¡°well, I did get the rest of the research notes. Might be useful if we had the full picture. Maybe it says something about these high level monsters?¡± Rosha powers up her glare, ¡°How about maybe we don¡¯t? I know you¡¯re joking with me, but I¡¯m not like Jason. A good night¡¯s sleep is one of my favorite things.¡± Courtney giggles, then reaches out and pats Rosha on her head. ¡°Fair enough. I probably took it a little far. There shouldn¡¯t really be anything to get in the way of your beauty sleep. The notes are being summarized and should come back tomorrow. You should be able to peruse them during the day.¡± Chapter 171 - Lily Wins Again A couple more days pass for the group with only a spattering of undead to disturb them. Not that it is peaceful. Every day Rosha gets better at spotting the plant monsters and this just reveals higher and higher leveled threats. None above level 49 yet, but if things don¡¯t change, they feel it is only a matter of time. On the third day, things change for the better. The hidden plant monsters for the first time go down in level despite her skill¡¯s level increasing. She is almost disappointed by this change as the high level mobs had been great training for the skill. On the other hand, she is relieved that she is now likely spotting all the hidden monsters. After all, she couldn¡¯t be sure that level 49 was actually the strongest plant around and not just the limit of her skill. Plus, she only had information on the lower level monsters. It was entirely possible that 50 was some break point in the local plant''s evolution and she just had no clue what to look for. The fact that she could see such high level monsters after all was entirely from knowing very specific things to look for. In any other location it is entirely possible she wouldn¡¯t even be able to spot hidden monsters of equal level. Still more days pass before Lily has a chance to fight. Rosha had spotted a few lower level plants early in the day but held off on telling the group until now. The others Lily should have been able to handle, but their tactics and tricks didn¡¯t match what she wanted for the first fight. Now though, she has spotted a level seven leaf walker. Rosha turns to the group and motions for them to stop. She turns so her back is to the walker and points in its direction so the monster can¡¯t see that she has spotted it. The rest of the group takes a few minutes to spot the creature. If only because they are searching for it out of the corner of their eyes. A surprise attack would be of significant benefit to Lily, so they try their best to let her get it. The monster itself is holding position at near the edge of a clearing. It was spread out on the ground, basking in the sun but has tensed up and carefully drawn its legs under itself. While the leaf walker hasn¡¯t realized they spotted it, just the fact that people are so close has it nervous. Courtney walks over to Rosha and stands shoulder to shoulder with her. Jason then stands with them between him and the walker. He crouches down and opens up the harness to let Lily out. She hops out of the harness and into his hand. Jason holds her up to his face and whispers to her that, ¡°we want you to fight the plant monster over there. Did you spot it when Rosha pointed it out?¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Lily nods her head and Jason pets her before continuing. ¡°Good! Now we haven¡¯t done any combat training because honestly, I wasn¡¯t expecting this. Sloppy of me not to have done some with you in the last few days. Don¡¯t worry though, if anything looks like it is going wrong I will jump in. Now go and show me what you can do. I believe in you!¡± Lily tilts her head to the side and then hops out of his hand. She looks at the others and wipes her face off with her paws. Ready, she hops off towards the leaf walker. Still trying to hide the walker stays still, hoping the approaching rabbit just goes by. At first this seems to work. Lily hops a little past it and out of sight. Internally the leaf walker relaxes but this is a little too soon. From it¡¯s blind-spot a soft furry paw slams down and smashes the monster¡¯s head into the ground. The leaf walker forces its head off the ground from beneath her paw. It should have been defending itself. Lily takes the time it took to stand up to attack again. This time though she brings into play her best weapon against a plant. Lily takes a great big bite out of the plant. Her teeth are perfect for slicing through the branch-like structure of the monster¡¯s body. This doesn¡¯t kill the leaf walker, but with its main body almost snapped in half, it doesn¡¯t have much of a chance. While it is a plant, because it has gained sentience, the branch needs specific body structures to stay intact to survive. With a leaf walker, this body part is the main stem. The offshoots and leaves can grow back, but when the tree created the monster, all that magic was anchored in that main branch. With one more bite, Lily snaps this leaf walker¡¯s main body in half and finishes it. Monster dead, Lily starts to snack on the tender, newly grown leaves. She seems to even like them more than the berries of Jason¡¯s Energy herbs. Jason walks over and kneels down next to her. ¡°Well, I guess we didn¡¯t need to worry too much about you, did we?¡± Courtney laughs, ¡°From what I just saw she has been watching you fight and learning from that. Then again, she is in the perfect place to observe. Still, you should follow through on that training thing.¡± Jason nods, ¡°That was a good sneak attack but a straightforward fight isn¡¯t as easy. I bet the leaf walker ignored her only because she is still quite small. It likely thought she was a lower level than itself. Besides that though I think no matter what we do, she will want to fight more going by how happy she is munching down on the monster.¡± Rosha walks up next to them and shrugs. ¡°The normal vegetables are just that, normal. Those berries you grow have Energy in them. Monsters? Monsters, especially higher level ones, have so much more power in them. The same is true for plants grown by more skilled growers. In NeoRealm, the power in food is like salt to bland food. It makes even the toughest cut of meat a joy to eat and the bitterest herbs edible.¡± Chapter 172 - Not a Plant but Still a Fight Jason rolls his eyes, ¡°Of course magic would make food taste better. Do the different power types do different things to flavor? I am sure that fire attuned stuff is spicy or some such nonsense.¡± Rosha chuckles, ¡°And what? You have personal experience with how powered food would taste? But you aren¡¯t wrong. Mana tends to give things a lighter complex flavor. High class chefs from our world are really enamored with what it does. Qi goes in the opposite direction and creates a more robust though still complex flavor. Energy is rare enough, even in plants, that even the locals haven¡¯t pinned down exactly what it does. Oh, and yeah, the fire equals spicy is in full force.¡± Jason scoffs, ¡°As if reality would be that kind. Fire attuned stuff tends more towards an overcooked flavor. Think roasted instead of spicy.¡± Rosha rolls her eyes, ¡°Cool story. Though we should move on. Lily has finished what she plans to eat and we can move on. There should be enough time for another fight if we find anything.¡± They did not find another fight. The rest of the day goes by smoothly, much to Lily¡¯s disappointment. Next day however has a lot more fun and fighting for her. Next morning Jason is actually the one to spot the first monster for Lily to fight. Rosha and Courtney had focused on plant-based monsters which wasn¡¯t a terrible thing. Jason however had gained a bit of horticultural knowledge and so was able to notice when a mushroom wasn¡¯t just that. Named ¡°Orange Mushroom¡± this monster looked just like any other mushroom except for a false face on one side and the fact that it wasn¡¯t connected to the ground. Instead, this mushroom monster hops around and attacks through, trying to land on its enemies. Once pointed out to Lily, she hops down off of Jason¡¯s shoulder on her own and goes on the attack. The mushroom now recognizing it was spotted hops out of the way. Frustrated, Lily tries to kick out with her back legs as the monster bounces away, but the mushroom simply jumps too high to be hit. For the next few moments their fight devolves into the two hopping after one another. The orange mushroom will try to jump on Lily and she easily moves out of the way. Lily bats at the mushroom with her paw, and the mushroom responds by trying to jump on her again. Back and forth this goes on until Lily figures out the solution. The mushroom gets one more jump in, but this time Lily hops a slight distance to the side. While the orange mushroom¡¯s attack still misses, Lily can now attack right away. She lunges forward and sinks her teeth into the monsters. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. It tries to jump away but despite the two being of similar size the mushroom is actually quite light with most of its attack power coming from Qi. With Lily hanging on the orange mushroom simply cannot jump away. Lily shifts her weight onto her back legs and bats away at the mushroom with her paws. The fight is for all intents and purposes over. Her hold on it with her bite is draining away health while her paw attacks are just piling on more damage. Soon enough the orange mushroom dies to the continual damage, unable to do anything once it couldn¡¯t jump. With the mushroom monster dead Lily nibbles at it but breakfast was not an hour ago, so she soon hops back to Jason. She looks up at him with teary eyes and he laughs. Jason reaches down and pets her. ¡°All right, we can harvest some of it and cook it up at lunch.¡± Jason walks over to the dead mushroom and turns it over. After he looks it over, he smiles. Despite having been a monster, it was really just a regular mushroom an excess of Qi had animated. Not the rarest of things. The leaf walker from yesterday was basically the same thing. However it does make his job of harvesting materials from it easier. He takes out one of his throwing knives and gets to work. First, he slices off the mushroom¡¯s stalk as close to the cap as he can manage. There is nothing wrong with it, but it is simply too tough for a quick fry. Stem out of the way Jason with great care peels away the skin of the mushroom cap and scrapes out the gills. At the end all that is left is the meat of the cap. Jason wraps it up in a large leaf from a nearby tree. The next couple of fights follow a similar pattern. Lily would charge at the monsters and after much dodging, sink her teeth into it and finish the fight. Rosha was happy that she could win without being hurt, but after lunch Jason shuts this down. He looks at the two of them and raises an eyebrow. ¡°No more biting.¡± Lily tilts her head to the side and Rosha freezes. Once she processes it she complains, ¡°but that¡¯s how she fights! It isn¡¯t like it has been doing badly either. Her bite attack is actually quite successful.¡± Jason nods, ¡°exactly the problem. Lily, your bite attack is too good against these minor plant monsters. What happens when you fight the boss and it just shakes you off? Take the orange mushroom as an example. What if it had even just twice your mass? How well would the fight have gone if it could just have continued to jump around with you dangling off of it helpless?¡± Rosha crosses her arms and frowns. ¡°I guess that is true enough. However! However, you should let Lily use her bite attack if it seems appropriate. She probably has a biting skill of some sort being a rabbit and all so she should train it up some.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°Lily, do you have a bite skill?¡± Lily tilts her head to the side again. Jason laughs at this, ¡°I guess we¡¯ll just have to wait till you can share your status screen with us to know that. Now I know the fried mushroom was delicious and filling, but we shouldn¡¯t laze around. Instead, let¡¯s set out and walk it off.¡± Chapter 173 - Fox Fight More days pass for the group. Lily gaining more and more combat experience until she passes an important point. After having beat up on plants and other similar monsters, Jason sets up a fight with a fox the group comes across. While lower level than Lily, the predator and prey relationship is hard to surmount. This challenge generally left to those who have a bottleneck over the predator or enough friends. The fight starts with the fox¡¯s confusion. Why was this prey coming at it? This didn¡¯t last long though as the fox shrugs it off. Who would complain about food delivering itself to you? Then Lily smacks it in the face with a roundhouse kick. Yeah, the fox wasn¡¯t expecting this at all. Lily had been gaining more than just combat experience. The fox stumbles back in shock, and Lily follows up by batting at it with her front paws. The fox steadies itself and bites back at Lily. She dodges back but is still nipped. -1 A spot of blood appearing on her side Lily charges forward takes a savage bite out of the fox. Though unlike earlier fights, she lets go right away and bounces to the side as the fox takes a swipe at her. Lily hops over the fox and as she lands on the other side she fires off a powerful double back kick and knocks the fox off of its feet. At the same time the fox manages to get another swipe in one her and connects, slashing across her left back leg. -2 This throws her off balance and causes her to fall down on her side as she draws her legs back. The fox seems to recover first from the exchange and hops at her, going for a killing blow. Lily however was ready for this and only pretending to still be down. She pushes off the ground with all four of her feet and propels herself to the side flipping onto her feet. This caused the fox¡¯s attack to miss. Back on her feet, Lily pushes off with her back feet and charges forward. She slams into the fox before it can respond, and she sinks her teeth deep into its neck. This time though she holds on using her front paws to steady herself. Then she uses her position to kick her back feet into the fox over and over. The fox tries to shake her off, but it doesn¡¯t have the time. Lily¡¯s powerful back legs chunk away its health while her large incisors pierce through the important blood vessels in the neck. Just moments later it drops to the ground, dead. Lily now sitting on top of it in victory. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Over with the rest of the group Rosha is hanging off Courtney begging her to heal Lily. While Jason had been ready to jump in at any moment, Rosha couldn¡¯t help but worry when she saw Lily getting hurt. Jason off to the side laughs and walks over to Lily. ¡°Outstanding job, Lily! Now let¡¯s get you healed and cleaned up. Courtney will fix you right up.¡± Courtney walks up next to them while dragging Rosha along with her. ¡°She took a bit of damage there but easy enough to fix. Though I hope she gains more hp after the bottleneck. Ten at level nine is trash.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°Whatever else she is a rabbit. Their stats skew heavily towards agility and being able to dodge.¡± Courtney just shakes her head and gets down to casting a couple of spells. First is a cantrip to clean Lily and her wounds. Then a heal to bring her back to full and last another cleaning spell to remove any blood that she had bled between the first clean and being healed. Lily hops around the group before she jumps back into her shelter on Jason¡¯s shoulder. Jason closes the shelter and turns to the others. ¡°So I think she might be ready for her boss.¡± Rosha grimaces and then sighs, ¡°yeah, she probably is. Though only if we find a plant boss. No more predators until she gets some more stats under her belt!¡± Jason spreads his hands out and shrugs. ¡°There isn¡¯t much that I can do about that. Presumably if we let her fight some more, Lily will get stats through training. Also, she will probably evolve into a new race at ten. Who knows what benefits she will get from that. Though I do agree with the plant boss thing. No matter how much the System tries to balance the challenge compared to her actual strength, a rabbit will always have a leg up against a plant.¡± Courtney shakes her head at this. ¡°That isn¡¯t entirely true and you know it. A poisonous plant would be a good counter against her bites. Add in some nasty thorns and you have a good counter to rabbits.¡± Jason rolls his eyes, ¡°now you¡¯re just being pedantic.¡± Rosha stretches, ¡°of course we need to find a boss for her to fight in the first place. If anything, we might need to backtrack a little. All the monsters I have been spotting over the last day or so have been low level. Like, that fox was the highest level monster all day, and even then it was only a six. Six! When before we had to worry about monsters with multiple breaks under their belts we aren¡¯t even seeing those of equal level to Lily anymore.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°we just need to continue on. I looked into situations like this over the last few days and we should pass through the disrupted zone soon. The over leveled monsters have eaten or driven away other lower leveled monsters that lived here. The original monster wave should have passed through this area as well. If we had come here a month ago there would still be post fourth break plants loitering around. As it is the local ecosystem hasn¡¯t rebalanced itself. We travel a couple more days and there should be a much more normal spread of monsters.¡± Jason sighs and shakes his head, ¡°everything just comes down to time doesn¡¯t it?¡± Chapter 174 - Roses Everywhere And a couple more days it was. The only real difference from previous days was their diet. Instead of dried soup blocks and meat, there were a lot of fresh vegetables and mushrooms as Lily continued to beat up on the local plant monsters. But then on the third day they saw signs of what the group had been searching for. Jason is the first to see signs of it because of his skills with plants. The scene was common enough. A small thorny vine the others overlooked. It was a wild rose missing its bloom. After he points it out Courtney smiles, ¡°We should start seeing more of this if the quantity of low tier undead is anything to go by. The redeath rose slug isn¡¯t a rare monster. Our problem will be more on the end of finding one big enough to count as a boss.¡± That prediction proves true enough. For a while now the group would run into the occasional lone mindless undead. Some they wouldn¡¯t even bother with as the monsters had rotted away enough that they couldn¡¯t even keep up with the groups pace of travel. Now that they are looking for a monster that eats the undead the group takes the time to kill those strays. After a careful search they find that some of them have weak rose slugs stuck on them. In fact, any of the undead which start off above ground has at least a slug or two on them. All of them weak, barely bigger than a normal rosebud, but the group has just entered their territory so they aren¡¯t worried. Though soon enough they aren¡¯t able to monitor the growth of the slugs. For the first time since their original encounter with the undead, they stop seeing them. A day passes and while there are piles of bones occasionally scattered around that might have one been animated. The weak skeletons and zombies are no longer bumbling around. That and there are a ton of blooming rose plants around. It isn¡¯t even the season for them to bloom, but it seems monsters don¡¯t care about that. When the group settles down for the night Jason takes a closer look at one of the rose plants. Just [observing] it doesn¡¯t show the plant to be anything other than a rose, but that clearly isn¡¯t the case. Not only is Jason sure all these roses are the precursors to the rose slug, but his farming skill is nudging him towards harvesting the plant in an interesting way. To satisfy his curiosity Jason peels off the sepals, those leaves that protect the flower itself, one by one until all five are removed and it leaves him with just the petals. Unprotected now, the petals rapidly curl up as if to close. This is a sign that a new redeath rose slug is about to be born, but Jason is quicker. A single snip of his sealed silver scissors and the flower comes off the plant. The curling petals freeze at the moment. Now unable to complete the transformation as it isn¡¯t connected to the plant and can¡¯t draw on the stored power. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Jason holds the frozen flower up to his eyes and takes a closer look. The rose doesn¡¯t look too different from any other half bloomed flower, but this close he can detect the subtle difference. The bud is packed full of Mana. As the flower closes up, it will draw heavily upon the plant for whatever power it has but will only use said power once ready to transform. Until that point it just stores and stores. In fact, if Jason had waited until just before it changed to snip off the flower, it would have been packed with even more Mana. That isn¡¯t so important to Jason though as he smiles and turns to the group triumphantly with the flower in hand. ¡°Well, we won¡¯t have any more troubles fighting the undead from now on!¡± Courtney frowns, ¡°I didn¡¯t read anything about the slugs flower being of use against the undead? Did you find something else online?¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°nothing like that. Rather, I have a hunch that I can use these flowers for something special. I am going to collect a basket full of these first and then on my watch do a small experiment. Saying we won¡¯t have to worry about the undead might be a bit premature but if my plan goes well, it won¡¯t be too far off the mark.¡± With a shrug and a sigh, Courtney gestures for him to continue. Rosha giggles at this, ¡°don¡¯t worry about the camp and dinner. We can take care of that for tonight. A little research and skill progression never hurt anyone.¡± Courtney scoffs at that, ¡°It very well has and you know it. Though I highly doubt Jason is going to summon up eldritch abominations while messing around with flowers, there are things that can do that. Even irl research can be dangerous. Think about those early people to look into radiation. They had no clue what they were dealing with and some of their original research notes are still radioactive.¡± Rosha goes from giggling to a full-blown laugh. ¡°True enough! Though I wouldn¡¯t put it past him to manage to summon something with a rose. That would be quite the sight. I wonder if the monster would be an undead or a plant? A sacrifice of undead eating monsters could go either way.¡± Courtney rubs the bridge of her nose and sighs. Though she doesn¡¯t manage to fall too far into her annoyance as Rosha stalks right up next to her and glomps on with a hug. A quick squeeze and she lets go, ¡°don¡¯t mind it too much! We have a camp to set up and dinner to make¡±. Courtney blushes at the unexpected hug but can only sigh once more before getting down to the job of making a campfire while Rosha pulls out the bedrolls. Jason off to the side shakes his head at Rosha¡¯s antics and goes back to harvesting roses. Chapter 175 - The Scent of Roses in the Morning Dinner passes uneventfully for the group as Jason spends most of his time with the roses he collected. He pulls each flower apart and keeping only the petals. With that finished he turns to the group, ¡°So can I take last watch? I want to give the petals a little time to dry some before the next step. Though you can both watch for a quarter of the night and leave the last half for me. I will probably need the time.¡± Neither Rosha nor Courtney have anything against this so after spreading the petals out Jason hits the sack early. Once Jason is asleep, though the other two have a bit of a conversation. Rosha starts it off with her worry that, ¡°Jason doesn¡¯t really have a good sleep cycle.¡± Courtney shakes her head, ¡°no, he doesn¡¯t. Beyond that, he also isn¡¯t one of those lucky people who can get by on four hours of sleep either. Not that we can do much about it.¡± Rosha sighs, ¡°still I worry about him. Hanging out has been fun and I don¡¯t want to see him run himself into the ground again. I know he has been occasionally logging out as well instead of sleeping.¡± Rolling her eyes, Courtney lets the statement hang. For anyone who is half observant, the change is obvious enough. Even someone who sleeps like a log will twitch and move a bit while the body of someone who is logged out goes completely still except for their breathing. Even that though is a giveaway as each breath is exactly the same as the last. Humans just aren¡¯t that perfect. Still, they let the conversation drop and the night passes quietly until it is time for Jason to take watch. Ready for his watch Jason stretches as he gets up from his bedroll. A quick check of the moon shows they did actually let him take a full half of the night, which he is thankful for. There is a lot of work he needs to do. A quick sip of water to wake up fully and Jason goes about getting the fire going again. The others hadn¡¯t really noticed, but when gathering firewood he had collected more than they would normally need. With the fire revived, Jason takes out their biggest pot. A semi fancy affair with a minor compression enchantment on it that allows it to be shrunk when not in use and he fills it halfway up with water. He looks at the water and sighs. ¡®This would be so much easier if I had a source of summoned water so I could just dismiss it after I am done. Going to have to pick a shower stone up next time we are in town. Not only does it make taking a shower on the road easier as dismissing the water instantly dries you. I can only see me doing more stuff like this in the future. Though on that note I should also look into alchemy lessons.¡¯ With a shrug Jason putters around with his rose petals, making sure each one is clean and free from any extra plant matter. Then when the pot of water is about to boil, he puts all the petals in and grabs his rain cloak along with a couple wooden sticks. He thrusts those sticks into the ground around the fire pit and drapes his rain cloak over the pot so that the steam will condense on it and drip down into another pot. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Stepping back, Jason feels both pride and ridicule. ¡®This would work so much better with glass equipment though, even metal would be a step up. At least whatever the cloak¡¯s leather is made of is very hydrophobic. It should be able to absorb any of the water or more importantly the rose smell. Wouldn¡¯t do much good to try and hide if my cloak smells like a field of roses.¡¯ Nothing else to do with the setup, Jason sighs and gets down his actual job of watching. The only thing he needs to be careful of now is making sure the fire stays hot enough to boil the water. That and to stir the petals every once in a while so they don¡¯t clump up. Besides that the night passes like any other and as the sun comes up the other two wake up to the heavy scent of flowers. Inside the pot much of the water has boiled away at this point and seeing the others wake up, Jason takes it over to the nearby stream to dispose of it. Curious about what Jason has done, Rosha and Courtney gather around the last remaining pot and wait for him to come back. When he comes back Jason notices their questioning looks so with a smirk he completely ignores them. Instead, getting out a small porcelain container and with care skims a layer of something off the second pot into the container. With that done he turns to the two, raises an eyebrow and asks, ¡°So, what¡¯s for breakfast?¡± Courtney facepalms and Rosha growls at him, ¡°how about you explain what that all was about and how it relates to dealing with the undead?¡± With a wide smile, Jason laughs before he opens the tiny porcelain jar and [examines] it. ¡°Good, it worked! Here, let me show you the fruits of my labor.¡± Then he shares the results with Courtney and Rosha.
Small Porcelain Jar of Redeath Rose Essential Oil Description: Oil that has been steam distilled from the immature flower of a Redeath Rose Slug. This oil contains a large amount of Nature Mana and is aligned with countering the energies related to the undead through subsuming said energy to fuel its own growth. If sprinkled on a corpse, the oil will prevent it from rising as an undead for ten days. When applied to a weapon while the oil remains, any undead hit will receive extra damage and the weapon will ignore any defenses based on the undead¡¯s natural powers. Can be used as an ingredient to add anti-undead properties into other things. Grade: Normal (ingredient, magic oil) Effects: Chapter 176 - And You Didnt Tell Us? Rosha smiles at the oil¡¯s description. ¡°That is handy! I bet we could sprinkle some around our campsite at night and it would keep the undead away. I don¡¯t know about the rest of you but early morning has had a stray zombie wander in a time or two.¡± Courtney is happy about the oil, but Rosha¡¯s words cause her head to snap up. ¡°Wait a second. You¡¯ve been fighting undead while on watch? I haven¡¯t seen hide nor hair of them. You better have an excellent reason for not telling us about it.¡± Rosha shrugs, ¡°meh, it was just some zombies off in the distance. Just a couple rocks thrown and they fall over dead so it isn¡¯t a problem.¡± Courtney grabs Rosha by her ear, ¡°That is very much not a meh situation! How long has this been going on?¡± Rosha holds Courtney¡¯s hand so she can¡¯t pull on her ear anymore. ¡°It was just a few weak undead!¡± Courtney glares at her and in a flat voice asks once more, ¡°how many days?¡± Rosha blinks a couple times and then stammers, ¡°uh, about a week ish?¡± Courtney tilts her head to the side, releases Rosha, and crosses her arms. ¡°Well, that is a bit of important information. Jason, I assume you didn¡¯t know about this?¡± He nods but keeps his distance. Courtney gives him a quick glare to check if he is lying. ¡°Good, now Rachel, if I haven¡¯t seen them and Jason hasn¡¯t seen them that means they are keeping their distance. You¡¯ve noticed them because of either a skill or your ranger training in general. Can you guess why undead that for all our knowledge of them should just charge at us have taken to standing just far enough away that most of us can¡¯t see them? Especially now that we are in an area that is so deadly for them?¡± Rosha looks away and rubs the back of her head, ¡°Well I haven¡¯t seen them since we got close to the roses.¡± Courtney raises an eyebrow, ¡°that is good information to know, but would you kindly answer the question?¡± Rosha keeps turned away, ¡°I guess, well, yeah they are non-sapient? So not attacking right away probably means being under orders from something that can think?¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°yeah, just maybe. So please, from now on report any sightings at night that aren¡¯t just normal animals. Though of course report if the same animal shows up multiple nights in a row. Really, I would like to say use your common sense, but here we are.¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. At this point Jason steps forward, ¡°Well lessons have been learned here. Though Courtney, I think you used Rosha¡¯s irl name. Just a heads up on that. Besides that, I feel the undead watchers aren¡¯t there for us. This area is filled with predators that eat the undead. Just like towns will keep watch on nearby monster infested zones, the smart undead likely are doing just that as well. If anything, they need to keep track of if it has spread.¡± Courtney grimaces, ¡°oh, I didn¡¯t mean to that.¡± Rosha smiles, ¡°I guess we¡¯re both in the doghouse then!¡± Courtney glances back over at her which is enough to make Rosha deflate again. ¡°At least I didn¡¯t go for the full name. Anyway, I feel that is a good summation of the situation. Also, if the undead were on the lookout for us, we would have likely been attacked by them after Rosha pinged them the first time. No use hiding if we already know they are there.¡± Then she looks at the oil¡¯s description again, ¡°Though I don¡¯t think this, by itself, would keep the undead away. The description doesn¡¯t say anything about normal contact being a problem for the undead. While it has the gentle repose effect, I think that comes more from it absorbing the undead energies before it can enter the body. Not drawing the energies out. Still, if we have to fight any more serious undead threats, it will be helpful. The jar should have about ten doses, right?¡± Jason nods, ¡°give or take a use and what we use it on. Having made it, I get some sense of it beyond the description. The gentle repose effect will take more for a bigger body and coating a weapon would be the closest to a standard dose. The protection is actually just dabbing some on your temples so unless we use it often, that doesn¡¯t even really take up all that much.¡± Courtney nods, ¡°This feels like something we should keep for later. Will it go bad? While that damage boost is decent the two situational uses are the strongest. We have had no necromancers to fight, nor anyway incorporeal undead, but both are the much greater threat. Regular undead we can just bash away at.¡± Jason takes a moment to stare at the jar, ¡°The oil itself will last about two years. Though the magical part looks like, it will only last half that. However it seems that if we can get someone to channel nature attuned mana or undead attuned mana into the magic will last as long as the oil does.¡± ¡°Hmm¡±, Courtney raises both her eyebrows, ¡°that is impressive. Most magic oils only last a few months from what I understand. Do you have a skill for it somehow?¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°sort of? At some point I got a ping about my farming skill so I assume it used that. Though I can tell you why my oil lasts so long compared to other magical oils you might be familiar with. Simply put, this isn¡¯t a magic oil. This is oil that is magical. While I haven¡¯t looked too much into alchemy. Things like an oil of barkskin are not pure oils. Rather, the oil is used to suspend magical components. I can tell that just from the fact that most of the oils I saw when shopping cautioned to shake well before you plan to use them.¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t the oil itself going bad but rather the additives to it either losing their effects or no longer being suspended. This redeath rose oil is purely that, oil of a rose. It just happens that the roses used had magical properties. There isn¡¯t any magical reaction going on to wear out or components to settle. The oil will last as long as normal rose oil would and the magic only goes away faster because I don¡¯t have a proper container. If I had something that could seal magic in as well, the oil would stay effective until it goes rancid.¡± Chapter 177 - Explaining Sub-Skills Courtney nods at Jason¡¯s explanation but then remembers something else he had said. ¡°Your farming skill advanced?¡± Jason pauses at the sudden change in topic. ¡°Uh, well, I did get an alert about it. Actually, let¡¯s take a look at it.¡± Jason goes to pull up the skill but Rosha stops him, ¡°I know we get along pretty well but sharing a skill is, well, yeah.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°I trust you both enough to share my farming skill with you two. Plus with all the hints being dropped my guess is that Courtney there already knows exactly who I am. Though it probably doesn¡¯t help that like her I used my actual name for this.¡± Rosha frowns, ¡°She wouldn¡¯t have¡±, but stops and sighs. ¡°Okay, yeah, Courtney should already know all about who you are. It is basically her job.¡± Courtney comes up behind Rosha and hugs her, ¡°I¡¯m not just doing it because of the job. I really do care about you. We¡¯ve been friends since forever and the job just lets me take care of you.¡± Jason takes this moment of distraction to pull up his skill and share it with them both.
Herb Farming You have shown yourself to be proficient at this classic skill. Don¡¯t look down on it as these lands contain many mysterious plants with uncountable effects. Though you seem to have already taken a step towards understanding this. Apprentice Level 1 - 13.2% Rarity: Uncommon Type: Passive, Production Effects:
He takes a look over it and nods. ¡°Nice, it went up both a rank and a rarity! Better yet, the specialty effect broadened. Instead of just the glowy weed, it now works on herbs in general. That likely is what caused the name change, though I am happy to see the more general effects haven¡¯t been limited to herbs.¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Rosha glances over the skill and asks, ¡°what¡¯s up with the sub-skill thing, those curly braced ranks, and the plusses? I have nothing like that.¡± Courtney squeezes Rosha one more time before letting her go. She turns to Jason, ¡°let me take this. I¡¯ve done some research on it.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°well at least one of us has. I know what it means, but I don¡¯t know why.¡± Courtney smiles, ¡°then this is a learning experience for the both of you! Anyway, what Jason has there has a number of names but it all comes down to his use of the skill being more of a side job. He isn¡¯t a farmer, but he does farm. For someone who focuses on farming as their primary thing, they would be getting all those sub-skills as actual skills with their own effects.¡± ¡°However, Jason is a fighter. He has a herb garden, so he does get a skill for it, but he isn¡¯t focused enough to get more. If later on he focuses on farming instead of adventuring, those sub-skills that he uses the most are likely to split off and become their own thing.¡± ¡°For now the System puts them all under his farming skill. They have their own ranks but herb farming both limits and lifts them up. His new sub-skill of distillation would only be at initiate rank since he just learned it. Because it is a sub-skill of farming though it gets a boost and will perform at a higher level. On the other hand, it lists his harvest skill as apprentice plus. This means that the skill on its own is higher than apprentice rank but has been capped.¡± ¡°I am going to guess you read one of those special skill books that are all linked up? Anyway, having read that book if he was an actual farmer, Jason would have received the skill at journeymen rank. Not master though, each plus represents how many ranks it is being suppressed by, so for that it would have to be apprentice plus plus.¡± ¡°Of course that isn¡¯t possible. Book learning will at most get you to journeyman rank in a skill like harvesting. Though the plant specific analysis skill could have hit master rank because it is what most people like to call a knowledge skill. For locals, math is a popular example of this. Being able to have a new clerk ready to count stock or make change by simply cramming the rules of addition and subtraction along with the times table into their head is quite useful. Players actually can¡¯t get the skill though, that is more because if we want a math problem solved we can just check online. No need to give us a skill we have basically had ever since the spread of smartphones came about hundreds of years ago.¡± Jason nods his head, ¡°fair enough. There is a lot more to my skill than I thought, but then again I hadn¡¯t really thought too much about it. Still, I am a bit sad about not being able to get special effects for all the sub-skills. That would have been amusing.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be apprentice rank in farming right now if you did. As it is all the experience from those tasks have gone to a single skill. Think of where you would be if instead you had to split it between three or four other skills. In fact, that is how you split off the skills later on. You have to earn enough experience with them that they can stand on their own while not advancing the primary skill.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°at least this has corrected how I thought sub-skills worked. I guess that¡¯s a thing.¡± Rosha pats him on the shoulder and nods, ¡°we both learned something new today and that is an important thing to do. My plan is to never stop learning until I die!¡± Jason laughs, ¡°I won¡¯t let death stop me from learning.¡± Chapter 178 - Not a Secret Recipe Courtney nods, ¡°Now the question is, do we want more of that oil?¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°This amount should last us a couple fights if we need it. However the jar is half full so I could spend another night filling it and we should be good for a while. Of course we don¡¯t know how much it is worth in the next city so any excess we make is betting on it being worth something.¡± Rosha takes a last look at the description before closing it. ¡°It should be worth something. At the very least, an alchemist will want it as an ingredient. I think it''s worth is less going to be determined by the oil and more by the availability of it. After all, the entire area seems to have a low level presence of undead. Besides that¡±, and she turns to Courtney, ¡°we can look into what it is worth?¡± Courtney smiles, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be too hard. We don¡¯t have anyone in the next town that can help, but one of the house butlers is a decent alchemist and should be able to find out for us. Jason, will you let me send the description to him?¡± Jason laughs, ¡°this isn¡¯t exactly some secret recipe. I might have been the first person to distill the slug in this way but any professional who looks at the oil will know what I did. Send it on and we can figure out if we can make some pocket change on it or not.¡± With his answer Courtney taps the air a few times, ¡°There we go! I sent the request away. I hope you don¡¯t mind but I also asked him if there was anything else we should do with it. Though I agree with you that this likely isn¡¯t some secret. Since the monster is one of those that spontaneously generates they should exist anywhere that undead and roses are. Now I think we should be ready to head out?¡± Jason and Rosha both nod and the group heads out for the day. As they travel Jason keeps an eye out for the roses which are about to change into the slugs. There are a lot of them around, but unlike last night he plans to conserve them. Jason had stripped the clearing of the mature buds and if he continued to do that, the undead could see a resurgence in the area. Now he is just harvesting a single bud off of any plant with more than one flower. Throughout this the group is able to spot a number of plant monsters and even a couple of the slugs, but everything is too young. However, that doesn¡¯t stop Lily from playing around with them. The low level slugs are all much smaller than her but the group figures they should provide a learning experience to help with the actual boss fight. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. As night rolls around and the group sets up their camp Courtney tells them she has gotten a response from the butler. ¡°So Jason was right that people know about the oil. While he didn¡¯t know what the prices would be in the next place we visit. It tends to be worth at least a handful of silver, even without an alchemist to buy it.¡± ¡°We might even make more if we stumble across a village between here and the next town. Anyone that lives this close to a place like this will want gentle repose in some form on hand for emergencies. Apparently the biggest use for it isn¡¯t any of the listed ones, but rather for those who have been attacked by one of those undead strains that infect others. If dead, gentle repose will of course prevent them from rising. But more important for a small village, is it can save someone who is still alive. A splash of oil on the wound will eat the infectious energies and cure them.¡± Rosha claps, ¡°Well that just shows we should have at least a few jars on hand for ourselves. I think that for our personal use we should have five jars. One for each of us and two spares in case we have anyone else join us or we come across an emergency. Though I did just think of something. Jason, are you okay?¡± Jason tilts his head to the side, ¡°huh?¡± Rosha waves her hand at his arms, ¡°aren¡¯t ghouls one of those undead types that have a corpse poison that creates more ghouls?¡± ¡°Ooohh¡±, Jason smacks his palm with his fist, ¡°no, I¡¯m fine. One of my skills resists it. That is why I was able to shrug off the paralysis so easily. It even went up a few levels and change going by the Systems alerts, though I haven¡¯t checked. Though that brings up the question of what happens when a player gets turned into an undead.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°I looked it up and the answer is that it depends. Though mostly it depends on whether a local can be cured of it. The two classic examples are of a skeleton and a vampire. Skeletons have completely lost any connection to their past life. Even the highest level of spells can¡¯t cure a skeleton, even if they can bring the person back. For that a player doesn¡¯t even get a choice, they are sent to respawn while it leaves the skeleton behind. The only special thing to note is that the remains become generic. The company didn¡¯t want someone turning a rival into an undead and parading it around naked without the person¡¯s permission.¡± ¡°Vampires are on the other side of the scale. They aren¡¯t even fully dead which is where the blood thing comes from. If a vampire doesn¡¯t drink blood, they lose that last spark of life and become a different type of undead. My guess is the devs wanted to allow people to lean into the whole angsty vampire thing. But yeah, a combination of high level remove curse and heal effects will return them to normal. Though that can cause trouble if the person has been a vampire for longer than their natural lifespan.¡± Chapter 179 - Shaped like the Magnetosphere Jason shrugs, ¡°so we won¡¯t know what will happen till it happens. Better to just avoid turning into an undead if at all possible. Though I guess it is lucky that ghouls depend on a poison to change others instead of a curse or some such. But that does put a focus on being prepared. I am up for spending a week or so distilling the stuff as long as the supply lasts. Though I am not too sure about making any more than that. The oil could be worth a lot, but since it is so basic it might not be.¡± Courtney frowns, ¡°we also might not want to have an overabundance of it anyway. The slugs do keep the undead in check, so harvesting too much of the stuff might be frowned on by the people who live near here. Not everyone has high enough adventurers nearby to keep them in check by more aggressive means.¡± Rosha nods, ¡°now the question is how do we deal with sleep? Yes Jason, we know you can stay up for half the night with no trouble. However you won¡¯t be able to do any of your other stuff if you constantly have to deal with distilling the oil.¡± The group falls into silence as they all consider the problem. Courtney gestures to the campfire, ¡°Jason, do you actually need to be the one tending the fire? I am sure that you have to be the one to set it all up and take it down. Fire tending however seems more like a thing some alchemist would set their disciples to do.¡± Jason pulls up the skill again and gives it a once over. ¡°Nothing on it says one way or another. We could probably ask that butler, but I feel we can just test it out. After all, the game tends to reward self-discovery.¡± They lapse into silence again until Rosha laughs. ¡°I just realized! If we do this you won¡¯t get the middle watch. In fact, you have to take the last watch now. You will set up the distillation just before the first watch and then have to be there at the end of the second. I volunteer for the first watch tonight.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°that does seem to be the case. Wake me up at the start of the second watch so I can check on it though.¡± Rosha nods in agreement and Courtney doesn¡¯t have any particular opinions on the matter so just goes along with it. Everything finalized, Jason sets up his improvised distillation equipment and heads off to bed. Courtney stays up for a bit longer to chat with Rosha, but soon enough she hugs her good night and goes to sleep as well. Time passes for Rosha as she tends the fire while keeping an eye out. She doesn¡¯t even see any undead skulking about, though she hadn¡¯t seen any last night either. Though once she wakes up the other two and tells them they both make an enormous deal about it. Rosha shrugs, ¡°they must be watching the slug zone so now that we are in it they aren¡¯t around.¡± And she goes to sleep, leaving the two to argue. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Not that they do. Both Jason and Courtney agree with her assumption, though they are still a bit annoyed that she had kept it from them. In the end though nothing can be done about it so Jason checks the distillation and refills the water before heading back to his bedroll while Courtney goes on watch. Jason doesn¡¯t go back to sleep, of course. That would be a waste of time. Instead, he logs off. Once out of his capsule, Jason stretches and groans in pain. ¡°Right, I need to be more careful with my exercise. While it might have been a full day in NeoRealm, it hasn¡¯t really been all that long out here. Better leave more time between my training sessions or I am going to wreck myself.¡± Jason heads out to the living room and walks over to the punching back out of habit. He grabs the bag but the first pull brings him out his rut as his arms scream at him. Eyes scrunched, he rubs the bridge of his nose and sighs. ¡°And I just got through telling myself I wasn¡¯t going to exercise.¡± Post VR fog now well and truly chased out of his head, Jason sits down in the center of the room to cultivate. At first things went easily enough. Halfway through Jason notices that it was actually going too easily. The corrupting energies would interrupt previous sessions. This time though they haven¡¯t shown up. The realization shakes him out of his cultivation. ¡®Where has all that corruption gone?¡¯ Cultivation forgotten, Jason settles back in, this time to sense the surrounding area. Nothing. There wasn¡¯t a lot of it to begin with, but he had always sensed at least some around. Eyes scrunched, he reaches out further and still there is none to be found. Jason moves to the corner of the room and then to the kitchen. In the end he has to leave the house entirely to find any corrupting energies. Jason sighs and goes back into his house. ¡®This is troubling. The corruption is avoiding my house. Good for me because I won¡¯t have to deal with it. Bad because something is causing it to react. The fact it was able to hone in on me is already a problem, but this means some sort of guiding hand. I¡¯m uncertain if it would be worse if that was some literal entity or the energy itself. Though this discovery gives me a chance to figure some things out.¡¯ For the rest of his time out Jason travels around his house, mapping out the corruption¡¯s disruption. From this he discovers that it isn¡¯t a sphere of disruption but rather shaped like the earth¡¯s magnetosphere. The corrupting energy is rebuffed just outside of his home and in the opposite direction of his door a corridor of space is free from it for quite a distance. This would point more towards the energy reacting to him or something about his cultivation disrupting it, but he doesn¡¯t have the time to go deeper into. With a sigh, Jason lays back down in the capsule and logs back into NeoRealm. Chapter 180 - Debating about the Undead Jason wakes up in game just in time to take over Courtney and decant his oil. Because he wasn¡¯t like a locust upon the land, there was less today. Enough though that the jar was filled to his satisfaction. If anything, his previous night¡¯s harvest would have overfilled it. That finished there isn¡¯t anything left to do, so he settles down to watch and the night passes peacefully. Next day the group gathers around the campfire and despite Rosha¡¯s protest they talk about the undead watchers. Courtney is sure, ¡°we need to be careful when leaving this area. If there are watchers on this side then the other side will have a similar setup. If not the undead, then whatever lives there. This could be a natural barrier to them and whatever is over there has a keen interest in what comes out of it.¡± Jason has a similar view on it, but he arrives at a different opinion. ¡°The undead had hidden watchers. That implies to me that there is no other side to them. This is where the buck stops. I have been on the lookout for the roses and besides the ones that are flowering another thing has caught my eye. There are a ton of roses in the detritus.¡± ¡°From how I understand it when the roses bloom into a monster the actual plant dies from dumping all of its resources into the new slug. If it wasn¡¯t for thorns composting faster than the rest of the plant. Likely because it stores a lot of the anti-undead magic there as a defense. We would need thicker boots to deal with all the thorns under us.¡± Courtney shakes her head, ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean there aren¡¯t more undead on the other side or another faction trying to keep watch.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°I think it does. The undead aren¡¯t defending an incursion. Instead, they are keeping an eye on a border. That line in the sand means something has stabilized the situation. The undead aren¡¯t coming in here so as to not rile up whatever is here and the slug''s territory has stopped expanding. Sure the most basic undead still rise up here but that is going to happen no matter what happens. You would need some purification focused clerical type with a few hundred levels under the belt to come out here and cast spells for days to clear it up.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not the only one that has done a little research. Mind you, I haven¡¯t done more than a little research, but I looked into why other major battlefields don¡¯t end up like this. Normally a battle happens and after it¡¯s done everyone pitches in and cleans up the battlefield. In fact, anyone who doesn¡¯t allow for that gets dogpiled even by close allies.¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°What happened here was the land reached up and pulled the combatants under. Even the ocean doesn¡¯t have this trouble despite the difficulty of body recovery because there are monsters that eat the bodies wholesale. Here? Plants don¡¯t actually eat them, they use the bodies as fertilizer. I am actually surprised we have seen so many zombie style undead. Everything should be skeletons because the plants would have taken the flesh.¡± ¡°There will be skeletons at the very least rising from this land for hundreds of years. Maybe even longer as I am willing to bet the non-sapient undead are all newer. Those ghouls we beat up? They came from the vegpocalypse. The zombies and skeletons? Who knows? In fact, that would be a good reason there are so many zombies.¡± ¡°All the heavy hitting plants have already retreated to the forest¡¯s core because to be honest? This area isn¡¯t energy rich enough to support them. Give this land a few decades more and we might see some liches rising up from the depths. All the casters that came along for the fun had to go somewhere.¡± Courtney laughs, ¡°To be organized enough to have a line of hidden sentries would mean there already is at least one lich out and about. A lich wouldn¡¯t let something like a slug stop them. The only reason the forest isn¡¯t full of dead trees should be because of the core suppressing any miasma.¡± Rosha had been listening to this for a while now and finally had to interrupt. ¡°You¡¯re assuming there is a large coordinated effort to monitor this area. What if those sentries are just put in place along a small section by the local undead leader? There doesn¡¯t have to be any bigger agenda. No liches need to be hiding in the shadows. Just some ghoul lords scheming against one another or even a necromancer of some flavor using the place as a source of fodder.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve finished breakfast and can head out now. If you want to find out more. Well, Courtney, you have the contacts to find it out if you really want too. Jason? You¡¯re just arguing to argue at this point. I can respect that you enjoy the act of debating but drop it. Go find a forum thread about the place if you want to continue.¡± Both Courtney and Jason freeze with their mouths hanging open. Jason recovers first and nods, ¡°yeah, sorry about that. I have a bad habit of getting stuck in an argument and enjoying it for the act itself. If it ever happens again, please bring it up to me or maybe just smack me upside the head.¡± Courtney sighs and leans back to stare up at the clouds. ¡°Honestly? I don¡¯t really care all that much either. We can just deal with whatever happens later when it happens. There isn¡¯t any reason to look into this deeper. This is not our problem to solve or even figure out. The surrounding kingdoms know this is here and so will deal with it how they deal with it.¡± Rosha smiles and nods, ¡°Good! We should get a move on then because this has eaten more of our morning than it should have. We¡¯re not exactly on a timeline here, but I don¡¯t plan to stay in this forest for the rest of my life.¡± Chapter 181 - Signs of the Undead The next handful of days pass in a similar fashion. This includes Jason logging out to cultivate and check on the situation with the corrupting energy. After the fourth night though, Jason gives up on figuring it out. Whatever the reason is, his house is now being avoided by the muck. His only remaining worry is if there is someone out there tracking the energy flows. If there is, then the house now sticks out like a sore thumb. In game the group has almost thrown up their hands on finding a slug of the right level for Lily to fight. Either the slugs were newborn or the size of a fox and a few years old. Courtney shrugs at this, ¡°The undead, even the non-sapient variety, aren¡¯t going to just let themselves get snacked on. Either the slugs die young or become strong enough to live for the long haul. We just need to find one slug still in the growing stage.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°that means we need to find a site with active undead. If your guess on their life cycle is correct, then I have a guess of my own. Part of the reason we only see the young and the old here is with how the undead rise up. They probably come in waves as groups of undead work their way up to the surface. There aren¡¯t any undead in the area so all we are seeing are the starving young and the slugs that survived the last outbreak.¡± Courtney nods, ¡°That would explain why we are only seeing two sizes of slugs.¡± Rosha shrugs, ¡°So we just need to find an area with only the young slugs and then wander around a bit. That should represent an area between undead attacks. Follow along a place like that and we should pass by a few zones.¡± The group agrees that Rosha¡¯s plan at least gives them a direction and so they continue on their way. Though even with a plan it still takes a few days to pass through the current zone. But they do finally come to a place with only young slugs. Once there it only takes them half an hour to reach another region but it was even worse than the last. There are even less young slugs and the older slugs are bigger. Jason shakes his head at this, ¡°Either it has been longer since the last unearthing or more powerful undead rose up here.¡± Courtney agrees with this and adds on, ¡°you were probably right about needing to find some undead. The slugs here are too uniform so unless we find a place full of the exact size of slug we need that is our only hope.¡± The group backtracks a little and follows the edge of this new zone. Over the next couple days they find four more areas that have stabilized. On the fifth day there are signs of recent undead activity. Still just bones on the ground but they still have the unhealthy glow the group had come to associate with the recently redead. It isn¡¯t undead energy. The slugs would have eaten it already but felt more like their unnaturalness bleeding into the surroundings now that it wasn¡¯t kept in by whatever animated them. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. They continue further into this new area and soon find signs of something, presumably the undead, clawing their way out of the ground. This guess becomes almost a certainty when Rosha inspects the soil. She grabs a handful and shows it to the group while pointing at some marks. ¡°These little dots should be moving. They are just some simple soil mites, but I can¡¯t find a single living specimen in the holes. For most living creatures, their own innate life force will protect them from brief exposure to an undead¡¯s miasma. Stuff like these mites aren¡¯t so lucky. Honestly? If it wasn¡¯t for some heavy duty magical nonsense from the core forest this entire area would be dead. You can¡¯t just kill off all the microbiome of an area and not have it die as a whole.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°still no actual undead though. Plus we haven¡¯t even seen slugs. You would think the area would be crawling with them.¡± Rosha shakes her head, ¡°This site isn¡¯t recent enough for that. There are tracks left by both the undead and slugs all over the place, but they aren¡¯t from today. The oldest marks come from the undead. Those are followed by a multitude of slugs. My guess is that the smaller slugs are being supported by a passive leak of miasma when there isn¡¯t any undead to nom on.¡± ¡°Whenever a batch of undead pop out the area stops being able to support the slugs and so they all leave. We just need to follow the tracks and we will find more slugs. Though even without that the slugs would likely go after the undead. When they have been living on the equivalent of broth and suddenly a bunch of juicy stakes pop out of the ground how could they not?¡± Courtney nods, ¡°that would make sense. Though that is just one assumption piled on another. The only thing we know for certain is the undead dug their way out of the ground here and when they left the slugs followed.¡± Off to the side Jason has been observing the holes and decides now would be an excellent time to interrupt. ¡°So this is interesting to woolgather over but it is getting late and I don¡¯t want to sleep next to an open grave. Yes I know it isn¡¯t technically a grave but we should probably get a move on anyway. Unless either of you think this would be a delightful place to spend the night?¡± Rosha bites her finger, ¡°I really don¡¯t want to sleep here? But it might be the safest place, so there is that.¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°The undead close to the surface are all gone. Even the slugs which are by far the largest monster presence have left. So yeah, in theory this spot would be the safest to stay overnight. On the other hand, I don¡¯t want to sleep here either.¡± Jason claps his hands, ¡°So it¡¯s decided! We travel a bit away from here and then sleep.¡± And so they did. Chapter 182 - Slug Hug Next day the group takes the short hike back to the undead escape point and follows the obvious tracks. For the first half of the day not much happens, but right after lunch they come across their first undead. A dead undead, mind you, but still enough to prove they are going the right way. That and the redead rose slug on it was of a higher level than a newborn, so their theory on that wasn¡¯t too far off either. Less than a mile and a number of dead skeletons later has the group find the first animated skeleton. It is on its last leg, both literally and figuratively, as the last flickers of baleful fire can be seen in its eyes while it drags itself along. The skeleton¡¯s last remaining leg barely holding together itself with horrible fractures running its length. A quick smack to the skull puts it down as the group passes by. After the first handful though, they don¡¯t even bother. The holes those undead had crawled out of hadn¡¯t looked too big. But if the sheer number of fallen is to go by, a lot more came out than they expected. Still, the slugs are going up in size and level which is all that matters to the group. Any undead in this area will either be dead or gone soon enough. Though either this slug area isn¡¯t that big or this group of undead is doomed to wander ever deeper into their final death. Soon though, any worries about the undead slip their minds. Ahead of them there is a pile of dead skeletons, all having dropped at the same time. Besides them, the group can also see a handful of slugs which are about the right size. One by one they point the slugs out to Lily, starting with the smallest. Well, they do that after first trying to get her to just point out the weakest boss. Lily might be a smart bunny, but she isn¡¯t quite at the point of understanding numbers. Once the weakest boss has been found the next step of the group¡¯s plan is to separate the slug from the rest. Traditional methods of doing so unavailable as any damage they do could make Lily¡¯s fight count as not being solo. Jason however has a brilliantly stupid idea on how to deal with it. ¡°How about I just go and pick it up then carry it over here?¡± Rosha raises an eyebrow at him and Courtney just has to ask, ¡°so you want to die to a slug?¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°well we can¡¯t aggro it with damage and the only bait they want is undead energy which we lack. I figure if it deals too much damage I can just drop it and retreat.¡± Rosha laughs, ¡°at least they aren¡¯t the classic acid slug. I don¡¯t know what it is with games and making their slugs acidic, but that is one popular combo.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. They talk about it for a bit longer until Courtney admits she can¡¯t think of a better idea either. She throws her hands up in the air, ¡°fine, go and hug a slug. I¡¯ll just be over here ready to heal you when it all goes wrong.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°that¡¯s all I ask.¡± Then he turns to Lily, ¡°okay now, I am going to grab one of those redeath rose slugs for you to fight. After I drop it, wait until it starts to crawl back towards the others. I don¡¯t know if having it focused on me would change anything, but it is better to not take chances.¡± Plan hashed out Jason walks over to the selected slugs, wraps his hands around it, and picks the slug up. The slug isn¡¯t all that heavy. Unlike actual slugs, most of the redeath rose slug''s body is made of empty space between the rose petals. Then the pain starts. -3 Jason isn¡¯t some abomination power by undead energies so it isn¡¯t much. However, the rasp-like teeth are very much an unpleasant experience. Jason ignores this though it is a new interesting twist on causing pain. As he walks away the other slugs for the most part ignore this event. The only change is a few of the nearer ones move around to expand their feeding grounds. -3 -3 -3 -3 It doesn¡¯t take him too long to drop the slug off, but when you put a monster¡¯s mouth next to your hand it doesn¡¯t take much for it to attack. The slug now free trundles after him. Being a slug though, even with a few levels under its belt, it has no chance of catching up to him. To keep it in place, he literally runs circles around it until the slug loses interest in him. As the slug makes its way back to the skelly pile two things happen. First Jason gets a notification that he has gained three hp and a point of toughness. The other thing is the start of Lily¡¯s boss fight. She pounces on the slug but despite being slow it is able to roll out of the way. Lily slams down on the ground with her front paws and kicks up a cloud of dust. The slug wriggles back and tries to wrap around her but is unable to do so. Her back legs come down and push against the ground, propelling her out of the way. The redeath rose slug rears up, spreading its tentacles out. At the end of the four tentacles instead of eyeballs there are rose buds. Aimed at Lily, the four buds bloom and send out green rays. She bounces out of the way again, but one ray nips her flank. -1 The green magic flashes down her leg and grounds itself into the earth below her. Puffs of black smoke rise up from the ground and the slug¡¯s petals lose some of their brightness. The slug screeches and the tentacle flowers close up again. It moves to bash down on the ground, but this leaves it open and Lily pops in. She grabs one of the petals and hops away, ripping a chunk out of the slug''s body. Chapter 183 - Charging Slug Injured the redeath rose slug shudders, shaking the petals of its body. A sound like metal leaves can be heard and all the petals that make up the slug¡¯s body shift around. While it becomes a fraction smaller, the wound has vanished as if it was never there. Off to the side, Jason is biting his lip while holding in his desire to shout out advice. The System doesn¡¯t care if all he provides is a little advice, but if judged to have planned out too much of the fight it won¡¯t work. So off to the side he stands, quiet and nervous like a parent. Back in the fight, Lily uses her movement advantage to dodge circles around the slug as it fires a staggered volley of rays at her. As the last tentacle fires off a ray, Lily hops over it and tackles the slug. This doesn¡¯t work too well as the slug just rolls with it and tries to bash her with the tentacles. Luckily for Lily because the slug rolled with the tackle she is able to continue her forward momentum and avoid the attacks. With her back to the slug now, Lily thrusts out with a back leg and gouges into the slug with her paw¡¯s claws. The furry little feet hiding sharp danger. Damaged once again the slug shakes itself but is unable to remove the damage. Off to the side Courtney nods and whispers to the others, ¡°it doesn¡¯t seem to actually regenerate. Rather, the slug repositions the petals to protect its inside. This time Lily only damaged a petal instead of ripping it off.¡± Still injured, the slug hisses and fires off a single ray, seemingly more out of frustration than an actual belief it will hit. Then the strangest thing the group has seen in a long while happens. The slug coiled back on itself and like a spring jumped at Lily. -2 Lily is taken by surprise as she had just dodged the ray and is rammed into a tree. She squeals in pain. The slug tries to take advantage of this and pummel her with tentacles again, but this isn¡¯t her first time taking damage. With her head still in the game Lily squirms out from under the slug, retreating behind the tree she had just bashed into. The slug, despite its unnatural bulk, crawls up the tree¡¯s trunk and around to attack Lily from above. Lily isn¡¯t expecting this angle of attack but has dealt with other mobile enemies before and dodges the slugs attempt to grapple her again with the tentacles. She doesn¡¯t dodge far though, just enough to avoid them because she has a plan. Lily approaches just close enough to tempt the slug into another grapple. This time though she just scooches backward before striking forward. The tentacle she targets isn¡¯t able to retract fast enough and she gets a good hold on it with a nasty bite attack. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Lily braces against the ground and gives a mighty yank. This rips the slug off of the tree as it spasms from the pain of its eyestalk being bitten. Lily continues the motion and slams the slug against the ground behind her and then bites down hard. The slug is paralyzed from pain as Lily bites the eye stalk off. And then the screaming starts. Before the slug had made all kinds of noises, but this was the most unearthly yet. It rears up with its mouth open and howls. Little wisps of rose-tinted fog pulses out of the mouth and starts to seep around the edges of its petals. As the fog boils over the ground hints of blackness and a bone chilling blue flair up and burn away. Lily is freaked out by all of this and jumps away a good distance to watch. Jason and the rest all face palm at the obvious transformation sequence going uninterrupted. Back with the slug, the petals are leached of their red as the fog escapes. As the last hint of color escapes the slug shrinks in size. The outermost petals harden like scales or a shell while the inner layers mold together like some invisible hand was smoothing out clay. All around it the light pink fog has spread out quite a distance though is slowly being used up as one spot or another flairs up with black and blue. At the center, the slug has finished. Now bone white with randomly placed patches of scales, the slug charges at Lily. Twice as fast it takes her by surprise and while she dodges it catches her with a sideswipe. The scale patches slicing into her and drawing blood. -2 This rightly freaks Lily out and she hops around erratically to avoid it. The slug continues to charge around in an attempt to grapple her so it can grind her down with its scales. With only half her health left, Lily stays on the defensive. Though the citation can¡¯t last and the slug takes too sharp a turn. Slowed down by this, Lily is able to get a bite in again in an unscaled area. This time when she rips a chunk out of the slug, the piece comes away like flesh instead of a flower petal. The hole left behind in the slug''s side bleeds out a translucent yellowed ooze. Beneath this the others can see a flesh-like interior with pulsing green roots that even from a distance seem to be withered. Unlike the other times being injured, the slug remains silent as it continues to charge at Lily who has to do some tricky maneuvers to escape. Then the slugs three remaining tentacles open up again, the insides like someone took a metal rose and partly melted it. Each tentacle emanates a pale gray ray that spreads out as it travels. While of a much shorter range, the rays are able to cover much more ground. Lily can only save herself by hopping straight up as high as she can. Even then she barely escapes the rays. As she comes back down the slug charges over. She manages to get her back legs below her and spring off of its head but she slams into another tree from the uncontrolled escape. -1 Chapter 184 - Violently Neutral Lily picks herself up from the roots of the tree she just slammed into and jumps out of the way of another charge. The changed redeath rose slug bashes the tree but doesn¡¯t seem fazed by it and continues its rage filled assault. A few quick hops gets Lily the distance she needs to stabilize even though the slug doesn¡¯t let up on the attack. Another charge from the slug and Lily is backed up against a tree but this time she planned it that way. A quick hop up and she slams her feet into the tree which sends her off at an angle. The slug tries to compensate for this sudden change but another tree allows her to stop and then fly off in another direction. She lands behind the slug which tries to turn around but the scales on that side get in the way. Lily goes in with a charge of her own and bites deep into the slug''s underbelly. She isn¡¯t able to take another chunk out because of how far her teeth penetrated the slug, but when she pulls back a new situation develops. At first the wound bleeds off yellow ooze, but that is soon replaced with a black globby substance that shatters away and falls sideways into the nearby tree. Courtney hisses through her clenched teeth at the sight. ¡°Lily must have punched through to the stomach somehow. That black stuff should be the undigested undeath.¡± Lily isn¡¯t happy about the stuff either as a few of the gloopy shards are on her teeth. With great haste she hops back and chews on a clump of grass to wipe it off. While the stuff doesn¡¯t wipe off the grass seems to absorb it much more readily than her teeth and it is soon gone. The slug on the other hand is freaking out. Instead of chasing her, it spasms back and forth as more of the blackness escapes. It only stops when it twitches into one of the remaining spots of pink fog. While the wound doesn¡¯t seal, it starts to just bleed the yellow ooze. With that, the slug continues its rampage and charges after Lily again. She is ready for it though and dodges to the side and takes another swipe with her back leg. This time though she hits one of the scales and can barely leave scuff marks on it. The slug in turn sends a tentacle back and makes a grab for her leg. It almost gets a grip on her but she jumps away before it can tighten up. Lily doesn¡¯t take damage from this but the move clearly hurt and caused some sort of status effect as she now moves with a limp. The slug is hot on her tail to take advantage of this but all her agility isn¡¯t for nothing. Even with just three able legs she can dodge the slugs brash charges. This is especially true as the damage seems to be catching up with the slug as it becomes slower. It¡¯s vital fluids pumping out of the wound on its belly, kept raw from being dragged across the ground. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Then Lily pulls one last trick out of her hat. With an effort she pushes off with her front feet as if to tumble backwards. The slug right behind her braces to hammer into her but at the last moment Lily pumps her back legs and goes into backflip. She lands right behind the slug but her injured leg can¡¯t quite keep her up but it is enough. As the slug slows down to turn back and attack, she pounces on it. Her claws dig into the flabby flesh as she sinks another disastrous bite into the monster¡¯s flank. A ghastly howl vibrates through the slug but she stays clung on until a large hunk of gelatinous flesh is dragged out by her teeth. At that point her claws alone can no longer keep her anchored, but as they rake through the slug, it is enough. The ghastly white redeath rose slug rears up one final time and releases a noise half between a cry and the sound of a balloon having the air let out. Then it falls forward and the clay smooth flesh flakes away as if petals dropping from a flower. All that is left behind is a small organ-like sack made of pulsing roots that almost seem to be sewn through translucent petals. There is a scar across the lower side where petals appear to have been torn and then glued back together. Though this fix seems shoddy. Inside the sack the group can just make out more of that black gloopy undeath that had leaked from the belly wound the slug had suffered. It seems to struggle against being confined as it bubbled and seethes about, though the gloop is unable to even move the sack. Only the damaged area even shows signs of being affected by it. Then everyone¡¯s attention is drawn away from the sickening sight as lily lets out a shriek. When they turn to her though it becomes obvious that it was a sound of relief. Around her there is a white glow as she evolves from hitting level ten. The group stands there for a good half hour before Rosha coughs, ¡°so I think this might take a while? Maybe we should do something with that organic sack of evil?¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call it evil? Violently neutral, maybe. While many undead tend towards being aggressive and the sapient ones skew towards evil, it isn¡¯t. Unnatural definitely, but that doesn¡¯t cause it to side with a moral standpoint. The angels every good pantheon has on tap could be seen as being just as unnatural. Anything from outside this dimensional space is.¡± Rosha rolls her eyes, ¡°fine, can we deal with the organic sack of neutral?¡± Jason laughs, ¡°we really should do something about it. I don¡¯t personally want to carry that around even though it is Lilly¡¯s boss loot. We can probably empty it out and keep the sack itself.¡± Courtney nods, ¡°that should work. Though we need to be careful where we empty it. I don¡¯t know how potent that mess is but that tree over there that got some on it looks sicker now than it did before the fight.¡± Rosha just points at the pile of skeletons, ¡°if the slugs eat it in the first place we can just empty it over there. They shouldn¡¯t have a problem dealing with it.¡± No one else has a better idea, so Jason gingerly picks the sack up and brings it over to the other slugs. To not make any more holes, he pries open the healed scar and pours it over the skeletons. Chapter 185 - Free Lily As Jason pries open the pulsating organ the contained gloopy black crawls out of the opening. Free of the sack, it snaps onto the three nearest skeletons and bubbles out with a loud crack. The bones of those skeletons turn a couple of shades darker and start to shake viciously. However before anything too serious can happen the goop runs out and the bones settle back onto the pile. The only reaction from the nearby slugs is that the closest one moves over and slurps on one of them. Jason observes the skeletons for a few minutes before he returns to the group. ¡°We might have been worried for nothing. Now what to do about Lily? Do either you have any idea how long her evolution will take because I definitely don¡¯t.¡± Rosha shrugs and Courtney shakes her head. Jason sighs again at this, ¡°I guess we get to settle down here until she finishes. Not the most scenic place, but life happens.¡± Rosha chimes in, ¡°at least we don¡¯t have to set up on top of the skeleton pile!¡± Courtney laughs, ¡°that pile might be the safest place nearby. As long as we don¡¯t bug the slugs nothing should bother us.¡± Jason nods, ¡°they do seem to be at the top of the local food chain, as sparse as it is. And it is a bit too sparse. There aren¡¯t even that many plant monsters, just slugs and skeletons.¡± With a sly smile Rosha shrugs, ¡°maybe the next area will have things like tarantulas and tortoise.¡± Jason tilts his head to the side, ¡°how would that even make sense?¡± Rosha laughs at this point, ¡°well we are fighting the S monsters right now so next should be T monsters!¡± Jason just groans and gets to setting up a campsite. He glances at the sky. It isn¡¯t night yet, but in another couple hours it would be. ¡°So I think this might just be our campsite in general. No point in packing up and then only having to set it all out again in an hour or so.¡± Rosha stops laughing at this, ¡°dang it, you¡¯re right. We just keep finding the creepiest safe spots, don¡¯t we?¡± Courtney shakes her head, ¡°what do you expect in a place rampant with undead and plants? The one tends toward body horror with a hint of the uncanny valley and the other goes the other direction into eerie inhumanness.¡± After that, the chatter winds down as everyone settles in to wait. The night passes with the only thing of note being that despite glowing like the sun, Lily doesn¡¯t actually give off any light. Next morning comes around and Lily¡¯s light show finally dims. Once the light is gone, Lily looks mostly the same if a bit bigger. Though once Jason picks her up, it becomes clear that most of that is pure floof. Courtney off to the side raises an eyebrow, ¡°I thought rabbits got bigger when they evolved?¡± This breaks Rosha out of her shock at the new Lily and she squeals. Jason has hardly picked Lily up when Rosha rushes over and grabs her away from him. He stands there for a moment stunned, but eventually shrugs and turns to Courtney. ¡°Well, that¡¯s a thing. Give me a second to check Lily¡¯s new stat line.¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
Name: Lily Race: Free Rabbit Level: 10 - 0.0% Legal Status: Local Companion Title: Normal Stats Auxiliary Stats
Jason tilts his head to the side, ¡°well that doesn¡¯t really tell me much. Apparently she is now a free rabbit? Also, her stats got quite a boost. Her health in particular is triple what it was. Still don¡¯t have a clue about any skills or what have you. Even the title she had is gone now. Though I guess dropping a title like serf isn¡¯t the worst thing to have happen.¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°I guess we just have to wait for her to be able to share her actual status with us. Though her new species is a hint to what her path is. Going by the context, the free is likely being used in a manner similar to a medieval freeman. It didn¡¯t really happen much in real life but going by fantasy game logic she will probably end up a noble somehow.¡± Rosha squeals, ¡°she can be a pretty princess rabbit!¡± Jason nods, ¡°that is a possibility. Though whatever she turns into doesn¡¯t seem to be the physical sort. Other rabbits would be cat sized at this stage. I just hope she gained some method to use her Energy now.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°she should have. Most monsters gain some special ability at level ten or so. It can be a bit boring, mind you. Lily might now have the ability to clad her claws in Energy. Taking rabbits as an example it is well known that a level ten horned rabbit use Qi on their horns and winged rabbits use their magic to fly.¡± Rosha looks up, ¡°wouldn¡¯t a rabbit with wings be able to fly in the first place?¡± Courtney shakes her head, ¡°you would think. Except of course their wings are nowhere near big enough to support actual flight. This is true for many of the flying monsters. If you look up the dynamics of flight, the size of wings that silly things like gryphons would need is crazy. I looked into it at one point. Apparently the largest flying animal in real life was a Quetzalcoatlus which is theorized to weigh 200 or so kilograms and had a ten meter wingspan. Simulations say it could fly just fine, though some doubt it.¡± ¡°A rabbit doesn¡¯t really weigh all that much but they don¡¯t have anywhere big enough wings to fly naturally. Now higher stats can offset this but lower level rabbits definitely don¡¯t have enough. Plus they would look like hummingbirds, which would just be silly. This is actually part of why anti-magic effects are so rare. The devs didn¡¯t want a majestic swoop by a dragon to turn into an uncontrolled nose dive. That and so much of the defenses used in towns and castles rely on magic to work it would be like an emp during the early information age.¡± Chapter 186 - Magic Swords Generally Not Magic Jason sighs, ¡°fair enough. Though I do have to question why they use magic for the defense. You would think that at the very least they would diversify.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°it¡¯s the cheapest. While Qi formations can do just about anything that Magic¡¯s enchantments can, the requirements are different. They can set formations up on just about anything but requires you plan it out and is more rigid. That means once you set up a formation on a castle, to expand it at all, you need to redo it. With enchantments you need the material your plan to imbue to be of a high enough quality. However once in place can be expanded as long as the new bits match the old material.¡± ¡°This is why the so-called magic swords tend to be done with formations. The sword can be crafted out of regular iron by a low level smith. To put an enchantment on it, they would need the material to be of a higher quality and a decent smith. From how I understand it, the original developers actually took this pen and paper roleplaying games. Making a magic sword requires said sword to be a masterwork already. In the source material for Qi, while formations needed a lot at the high end there are enough instances of someone drawing one in the dirt.¡± ¡°Of course the other matter is powering the setups. Formations passively draw Qi from the air and land around them. Enchantments on the other hand require an active infusion of power. Someone with a flaming sword doesn¡¯t mind if it only sends out a burst every few seconds. A lord of a castle would rather pour mana crystals into their defenses when needed so they don¡¯t fall at all. To them it would be like having a solar-powered flashlight.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°fair enough. Though I notice you didn¡¯t mention Energy at all.¡± Courtney rolls her eyes, ¡°any proper lord would give most of their wealth for an Energy shield on their castle. Problem is it needs to be set on an Energy node or source and good luck finding one of those not already taken. Now we should probably head out.¡± Rosha perks up on hearing this and growls. Courtney shakes her head, ¡°You can keep holding Lily. She needed to be in the harness because she was too weak. Now she might not be the strongest one here, but we are all at the same break.¡± Rosha sticks her tongue out at Courtney but doesn¡¯t say anything against the group moving on. Off to the side Jason sighs as he apparently doesn¡¯t get a say in how they deal with his companion. Still, it will get them on the road and that works for him. The forest isn¡¯t an unpleasant place to be, but they¡¯ve been in this one for a good while now. There aren¡¯t even any proper monsters in the area. Where are the wolf packs and goblins that media had prepared him for? This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Courtney seeing both of them off in their own worlds, she takes the lead with the other two following behind. There isn¡¯t much danger in the area to bother them. Though she would feel bad for anything that decided to interrupt Rosha¡¯s cuddle time. Though her fingers itched to pet Lily as well. The bunny just looked ridiculously fluffy now. More days pass for them in relative peace, the occasional skeleton not even counting as a speed bump. Rosha is eventually convinced to let Lily have some time to herself, but not much else of note happens until they have nearly passed through the slug¡¯s territory. Over the course of one morning the roses become less frequent. The group rightly assumed this meant the end of the slug''s reach, but then a more aggressive announcement of this appeared before them. As the group exits a thicker section of trees they spot the first instance of something eating the redeath rose slugs. Everything else avoids them as the undead mana they store would kill the usual predators. In front of them is one of those exceptions. A large and intimidating moose made entirely of stone. There the stone moose stands with a few young slugs corned, it holds another between its teeth. The stone moose turns its head towards them as it crunches down on the slug. There is a puff of sickly black sludge that bursts out of the slug and tries to coat the moose. The ooze tries to sink in but can¡¯t find any weakness before it evaporates into the air. In the moose¡¯s eyes there isn¡¯t any glint of awareness. Just a dull sheen that gives the feel of having seen the ages pass greets them. Jason whispers to the others, ¡°so I think this is when we back away.¡± That isn¡¯t going to fly with the moose though, which bellows at them and paws at the ground. ¡°Guess we don¡¯t have a choice then¡±, Jason sighs and steps in front of the others. Courtney shakes her head, ¡°I don¡¯t think you can block this one. Rosha, I want you to keep a couple trees between you and it. I will stick near Jason to heal, maybe try some illusions.¡± Then the stone moose charges and the group scatters. Rosha¡¯s face flickers with discontent as she retreats away, but there isn¡¯t time for her to voice her disagreements with the plan. Courtney dashes behind a nearby tree and holds up both her hands. One glimmers with a light while the other drips with the night sky as she readies two spells. Jason does the opposite of the other two and charges towards the moose. This move confuses it but there isn¡¯t much going on in the moose¡¯s head so it focuses on him for being the closest. The rock moose lowers its head and prepares to ram into the enemy. Even more confusion enters its mind when nothing can be felt. Charge over the moose raises its head and scans the surrounding. The other two have vanished while the one it had been attacking was right back where everything started. The moose grunts with the sound of a mudslide and without even thinking charges again. This performance repeats a couple of times. Jason dodges out of the way for like the fifth time, ¡°so I think this isn¡¯t an elemental but rather some kind of golem. An elemental would have realized what is happening by now. Though that might be worse off for us.¡± Chapter 187 - Lily Helps Jason doesn¡¯t get much of a chance to say anything else as the stone moose mechanically charges at him once more. Off behind a nearby tree Courtney drops the night sky shadow around her one hand and sighs. ¡°I have to agree with you. The illusion I was going to use won¡¯t be of much use so wait a moment while I prepare another. Can¡¯t cloud a mind when there isn¡¯t one there in the first place. Though my other might not be of much use either. Golems are known for being resistant to mystical nonsense.¡± From farther away Rosha yells over that, ¡°my arrows won¡¯t do much good against a golem either. Unless I know where the core is I would have just as much luck trying to shoot a needle in a haystack.¡± Courtney nods, ¡°Jason, I think you might be the only one with any way to hurt it. That punch attack you do seems to have good penetration.¡± Jason yells back at them, ¡°I would love to punch it. Problem is the thing charges faster than I can dodge. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact it doesn¡¯t actually change directions once it starts I would be dead. The trees likely can¡¯t stop it, let alone any attack I throw at it. Worse yet, if it is a golem it isn¡¯t exactly going to get bored with charging me. And I thought humans were supposed to be the persistence hunters.¡± He continues to dodge the moose while they try and has out a plan of action. They try it against a tree by having him duck behind one before the moose charges. Though all that proves is the moose don¡¯t care about them. Without even slowing down the moose charges right through and wood shards explode outward hitting Jason. -1 This continues until even Jason¡¯s stamina stat can¡¯t keep him dodging for much longer. Scraping the bottom of the barrel Courtney finally suggests something she had thought of a while ago but was hesitant about voicing. ¡°Lily might be able to help?¡± The indignation that rolls off of Rosha for even mentioning it is palpable. Jason however has to agree, ¡°that might work. Lily doesn¡¯t have quite as much agility as me, but she should be able to dodge just fine. But if we were to do that, why not just have Rosha do it?¡± A silence hangs between the three of them until Rosha sighs, ¡°I don¡¯t have that much agility, all right? I¡¯ve focused on strength because apparently that is what my weapon uses since more of its forms are melee. Even beyond that it just needs a lot of strength in general to pull because it also has to work as a staff. I can¡¯t dodge the moose.¡± More silence, Jason shocked at the revelation while Courtney sighs. Rosha glares at her, ¡°you knew?¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°did you think you¡¯re the first one to use a combow? So few people use the original name now that even the system calls it what the players do. Don¡¯t hold Lily back. She isn¡¯t weak. Besides that, she¡¯s a companion. Even if the worst happens, Jason can bring her back. It might be harder than if she was just a pet, but not by that much. Now let her go, I can hear Lily whining from here. She wants to help just as much as the rest of us.¡± The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Rosha sighs, ¡°fiiiiinnnneeee¡±, and she lets Lily go. Lily hops to the ground and wiggles her nose. Being held is nice, but she can finally help. After beating up on so many weaklings, she can finally join in while the group fights and that excites her. Off she goes, bounding towards her best friend Jason and that annoying statue that moves. He nods at her and says that she should distract it. Apparently he plans to attack it, but Lily feels she can do more than just distract it. Though attacking it should distract it, right? With that line of reasoning down, she pounces at the lower left portion of the moose¡¯s back where she can see something odd. On the way she passes some of her power through her fur, which poofs it out. As this happens Lily can hear a loud and annoying squeal back from the direction she came. Yep, not going to look back. Fur charged Lily notices she still has more power left so sends the rest of it into her paws. Moments later she latches onto the stone moose¡¯s back, her empowered nails scouring marks into the magically reinforced stone. Once in place Lily gives herself a shake, her extra fluffy fur sticking out straight without any sign of shaking or swaying with the movement. Instead, it gouges out the stone all around where she has anchored herself. Until this the moose had ignored her as even the claws to the back were inconsequential. Now though, it roars like an avalanche and stone spikes sprout out of its back. Lily isn¡¯t there to experience this though. She had hopped off after finishing her shake. Not much point sticking around as her fur has gone back to normal. Satisfied that she has distracted the moose Lily hops a distance away so she can dodge when it charges. Now ignored by the moose, Jason takes a moment to stand still and catch his breath. He can¡¯t help but shake his head. To each their own. He would have a problem actually damaging the rock and here was Lily leaving deep marks in it with her fur. Still, it would let him get a solid hit in, so there is that. The moose has now taken a couple charges at Lily, which she was easily able to dodge. This puts the moose back by Jason so he readies to attack the moose as soon as it turns around. The marks left on it an excellent target for him to aim for. If anything, the already damaged stone might be easier to break through. He stands there with the moose not even a few paces away from him. Breath out, breath in. He calms himself and everything fades into the background as he focuses on his target. It had charged him enough that Jason had seen through the golem¡¯s movements. No matter how natural it seemed to move, it was like watching a looped gif. The same steps every time. Then his chance comes and he darts forward. Jason¡¯s movement technique going full on, his one step bringing him right up to the moose¡¯s side. His arm cocked back, he plants his feet firmly on the ground and increases their traction. Ready, his whole body swings around as he uses all the torque he can. With the most amount of force he has yet to bring to bear in the game Jason¡¯s fist lands right in the center of the mark and his blast punch activates. The power in his punch alone is enough to chip the stone and the blast of power easily breaks through whatever natural resistance it had. Through a hand-span of stone it travels until it reaches something different. Everyone can hear it as a quiet click comes from beneath Jason¡¯s fist. Unseen by them, a sphere of crystal that was buried in the stone has developed a hairline fracture across its surface. Chapter 188 - Not in a Ring but a Balloon The stone moose lets out a bellow, but the sound is cut off halfway through as the perfectly chiseled hide cracks open. Chunks of stone are blasted off as Jason throws in a follow up punch and the rest of the moose crumbles away. Jason takes a step back and looks at the pile of rubble. It isn¡¯t hard for him to spot the core and he plucks it out of the stones. He turns to the group and lifts it up. ¡°Moose is dead.¡± A distance away, Rosha steps out from behind a tree and cheers. Courtney comes out and shakes her head, ¡°we couldn¡¯t really do much in that fight. Still, it is a good thing you took it down. It didn¡¯t seem like the type of golem to give up when chasing.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°looked like a natural spawn. With no orders otherwise, it would have followed us to the ends of the earth and beyond. Of course it could have been someone¡¯s creation, but whoever could make a golem look that natural wouldn¡¯t just leave it out here.¡± Courtney picks up one of the stones and rubs it. ¡°Yeah, with how smooth this is either a high-ranked earth made it or the moose spawned here. Going by how we found it, I see no plausible way it was created. No one would leave a golem of this quality alone in the wild.¡± Rosha walks up next to her and pokes the stone. ¡°Could be some sort of ruin or what not around. Maybe even a dungeon. Being a golem, it wouldn¡¯t have exactly been worn away by the weather.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°that would be nice though I don¡¯t think I want to fight more of these. However, this area isn¡¯t some ancient forest. Sure if we were in the core area that might be a thing but the kingdom clear cut the area. Strange that a golem would spawn here though. There isn¡¯t really anything around that would encourage it.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°golems are one of those things that can pop up almost anywhere given half a chance. All it takes is an accumulation of elemental power. Since the slugs eat undead, they likely digest it into earth based power, which in turn gave rise to that moose.¡± Rosha tilts her head, ¡°so what about up in the sky or deep underground?¡± With a smile Courtney gestures up at the clouds that can just be seen through the trees. ¡°Why do you think airships aren¡¯t a common sight? Air elementals of all sizes float freely up there. To travel by flight you either need to ride a monster, be powerful enough on your own, or use one of the giant airships out there.¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Jason walks over and hands her the core. ¡°So I can understand riding a monster. Being a natural part of the sky, those elementals likely aren¡¯t triggered by them. Self flight, especially at the level of reaching the clouds, is at the point you should be powerful enough. What I don¡¯t get is that last one. I didn¡¯t question it in the past. After all, what fantasy game didn¡¯t have giant steampunk blimps. How do they work though?¡± Courtney laughs, ¡°giant elementals. Like level 100 monsters shoved into the balloon. Technically regular hot air balloons work just fine, just like regular aircraft. They get shredded by said elementals and other miscellaneous monsters. Instead, they use the big elementals because not only do they provide free lift but at that level its presence drives away the general swarm up there.¡± ¡°While there are a lot of monsters floating around, most are just low level nothings. One large elemental is enough to drive them away. Of course it wouldn¡¯t keep an elemental of equal or greater power away, but those tend not to wander around. Now let me take a look at this core.¡± She pulls out a jeweler¡¯s loupe and inspects it. Turning it one way and another, Courtney takes a good ten minutes to examine it while the other two shift through the rubble. They find nothing by the time she finishes. she announces that, ¡°the core is near worthless now. It is hard to see, but there is a hairline crack right along here.¡± And she runs her finger over the core. The other two can just barely see it. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like much, but the problem is with the supply. There isn¡¯t really anything else that can drop from them and like I said, they appear everywhere. A complete core is worth over a hundred times one with even the slightest chip.¡± Courtney hands it back to Jason and he puts it away in his backpack. Courtney continues, ¡°part of that is how hard it is to get a core whole. You need to remove all the rest of golem first and they don¡¯t exactly like that. People still farm the cracked cores. Powdered golem core is one of those ingredients that can be used in many different mystic inks and dyes. The whole ones? Those are excellent batteries. They power a lot of one time use artifacts and enchantments, especially the smaller high powered ones. Most other options grow in size with the power they contain while the golem cores tend not to.¡± Jason nods and asks, ¡°so what should we do with it?¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°the core is probably worth less than the rubble. The only difference is the one you can carry in the palm of your hand. We can just sell it in the next town for a silver. Not like it takes up much space in your pack. In fact, just hand it to me and I will take care of it like I have been with Rosha¡¯s vendor trash.¡± Jason had just put his pack back on so he sighs and takes it back off to retrieve the core. He hands it to her, ¡°sounds like a plan. Just tell me if we pick anything else like this up in the future.¡± Chapter 189 - Elven Earings Finished with the moose, the group as one turns towards Lily. Courtney is the first to broach the subject. ¡°So I don¡¯t really want to bet on luck with this. She clearly was able to pinpoint where the core was even if we want to ignore her ability to shred through stone.¡± Lily just sits there and stares up with her head tilted to the side. Jason picks her up and sighs, ¡°she probably has some form of mystic sight ability. We already know she really enjoys eating special herbs. It only makes sense that she would have some method to spot them. The other types of rabbit don¡¯t get this but we already know Lily¡¯s path is different.¡± Rosha nods at this as it seems obvious enough but Courtney shakes her head. ¡°If finding a golem core was as easy as just being able to see magic they wouldn¡¯t be so hard to kill. Like I said during the fight. Golems are quite resistant to mystical powers, and part of that includes trying to see their core. While the core is magic, the stone works like a nice coating of lead does against radiation.¡± Rosha shrugs at this. ¡°Maybe she can see Energy? Being able to see mystical nonsense isn¡¯t common in the first place and so the much rarer Energy should have even less people who can see it.¡± Jason takes a glance at the rubble again, ¡°hmm, that could be the case. Despite being a fantasy world, it tries to follow the whole conservation of energy thing. The golems must get power from somewhere, so maybe they absorb Energy to do that. If Lily can see Energy then all she would need to see is where it is being sucked up the most.¡± Courtney shakes her head again, ¡°golems absorb energy from other dimensions. That stone golem would have had a pinhole-sized gate to the elemental plane of earth. With the crystal cracked or if the golem dies, that gate destabilizes and collapses in on itself. I don¡¯t know why Lily might have been able to see where the core was. Might is the keyword there. We can¡¯t be certain yet. She attacked about the right spot, but that could have just been chance.¡± ¡°Now I would like to continue talking about this but we need to decide. Do we continue or retreat till tomorrow? It isn¡¯t that late but there might be more golems ahead of us. I personally think we should retreat a bit and make camp.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°we can probably continue on. Even if golems can pop up anywhere, I figure the local plants would keep them in check. That one likely survived by living on the edge between the slugs and whatever comes next.¡± If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Both of them turn to Rosha, who has scrunched up her face. ¡°Well. Both sides have good points, I guess? We aren¡¯t on a timeline though so better safe than sorry is probably the safer bet. Half a day later won¡¯t change much for us. So I guess what I am saying is I side with Courtney.¡± Jason nods, ¡°fair enough. I can get behind being safe.¡± The group retreats into slug territory and passes the night. Next morning they head out and pass by the spot they had killed the moose. Most of the rubble is gone except for a couple square stones which Courtney picks up. She takes a look at them and nods. ¡°This handful of rocks is worth twice the damaged core. We actually got lucky here, likely because of how little we damaged the rest of the body. These cubes are energized stone. While the core is the source of a golems power portions of their body will end up continually absorbing the excess output. When being damaged, the golem will first use them to speed up repair. It is just stone but some people find it useful.¡± Lecture over, the group continues. By the time night rolls around again they can¡¯t see anymore roses and the normal plant monsters have returned. The forest is still eerily quiet from the lack of normal animals, but they had almost gotten used to it by this point. Day after day passes for them until finally they can see the end of the forest. The trees have gotten less dense and off in the distance there are small pillars of smoke rising into the air. Clear signs of someone either setting up camp or maybe even a small village. A few hours pass and finally the group leaves the forest. Grass extends as far as the eye can see and not too far off a small gathering of huts is built up around a fancy way station. With a goal, the team makes good time and arrives at the buildings a couple hours before night. Though long before they reached the place the people living there had noticed them. Waiting for them is a group of three people. At the front is a young tauren, one of the cattlefolk. The man is broad shouldered with a chocolatey brown fur and wearing leather armor. His horns extend a hand-span outward and then curve up a half-span. Across his back is an enormous wood axe that shows signs of having been used on more than just trees. Behind him to the left is an elderly lizardkin in a robe. He holds a gnarled staff studded with shards of quartz. To the left of the tauren is an elf. He wears normal clothes and has that ageless face that most elves do. The only feature that stands out is a pair of vibrant earrings. They are both made with three rings connected by silver chains. At the bottom is a small ruby. Jason and Rosha only notice them as nice jewelry, but Courtney has done more research on the area and she knows what it represents. The earrings represent the man is married and has been for a while. Each ring represents a hundred years and then after three each gem is another hundred. That means this elf has been married for at least four centuries. Chapter 190 - My Name is George The tauren steps forward, ¡°Welcome to our outpost. Normally we wouldn¡¯t come out and greet visitors like this. However, you just came out of Forester¡¯s Folly and there have been no reports of adventurers entering it from our side that match your group. If you wouldn¡¯t mind telling us your reason for being here? I know it isn¡¯t likely that you all came from the racist kingdom, but crazier things have happened.¡± The group looks at one another. They hadn¡¯t exactly planned for something like this. When neither of the others seem to want to step forward, Courtney shrugs and takes the lead. ¡°Hello, our group entered the forest from straight back that away.¡± And she points in the direction they came from. Courtney turns back to the tauren, ¡°we cut through the forest both so we didn¡¯t have to go through some unsavory kingdoms. Our group is made entirely of travellers. We traveled here because I had heard of this kingdom¡¯s tradition with illusion magic.¡± The tauren gives Courtney a glare, but the elf taps his shoulder with two fingers. With a shake of his head the tauren breaks eye contact with her and sighs. ¡°Our magical heritage isn¡¯t that easy to gain little kitty. Though you panthers have a bloodline suited for illusions we don¡¯t hand it out like some places!¡± Behind him, the elf scrunches his face and rubs the bridge of his nose. With a sigh, the elf whaps the tauren on the back of the head. ¡°Let me do the talking from here. I know your father wants us to help train you to take over his position, but you just can¡¯t seem to learn when to shut up. They¡¯re travellers with a double L! Don¡¯t give them a hard time for no reason. They aren¡¯t from our enemies and just want to learn some magic. I know you folk and kin have a chip on your shoulders over the heritage of any myth bloodlines, but travellers are above that. If anything, they are their own type of myth race. Once we get back you better be ready for an intensive training session on the balance of power between them and towns.¡± The elderly lizardkin chuckles at this display. While the elf continues to lecture the tauren, he steps forward and does a shallow bow to the group. ¡°Welcome to the kingdom of the Nine Bamboo or as some more proud types would prefer us call it, the realm of the Nine Sky Breaking Purple Bamboo of Tribulations and Illusions.¡± Behind him, the tauren does a half turn before being cowed by the elf again. More chuckles from the lizardkin before he continues, ¡°my name is George, the elf goes by Peter, and as is tradition fuzzy there goes by Gold-Fur. Nevermind his hair being more tawny than gold and his parents having named him Bill. That and the tradition is for the kitsune to earn the name after gaining their second tail. Just humor the fool. Anyway, if you¡¯re wanting illusion magic, you¡¯ll be heading to one of the bamboo. Closest one is that way¡± and he points behind him to his left. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Just follow the road going that way and you should be fine. My only advice is not to mention your goal if asked when there are only kin or folk around. Not everyone is as bad as fuzzy there. Some are worse. Now do you plan to stay the night? There aren¡¯t any large caravans here at the moment so you would each get an actual bed. Though I think we don¡¯t have any individual rooms available at the moment as they are first come first serve.¡± Courtney looks back at the others, but Jason just shrugs while Rosha gives her a thumbs up. She turns back to Georges and nods. ¡°Sure, we can stay the night. Anything we should know about the place?¡± George shrugs, ¡°The stay is free, subsidized by the kingdom. Food on the other hand is out of pocket. That will hold true for any of the waystations. Also, if you want to sell anything, Peter over there is related to the general store¡¯s owner and he can help you with that. As for rules? I would like to say just use your common sense but you¡¯re a traveller so who if that would be right. You started in a decent enough place so most of the rules will be similar, though we have more laws around not being a dick to others.¡± Courtney nods, ¡°reasonable enough and I do have some things to sell though I don¡¯t know if this is necessarily the best place to sell some of it.¡± George smiles, ¡°just talk to Peter about it. Him and his husband like to travel around so he should be able to tell you. Though the prices are relatively stable at any of the waystations as we have traders always flowing through, buying up anything new and selling what needs selling. Anyway, Peter can take care of you from here. I¡¯m going to save fuzzy from getting his ears scorched black and then go back to lazing in the sun. Good luck with your trip!¡± The elderly lizardkin saunters over to the other two and with a swift grab has Gold-Fur by his ear. ¡°Now you can follow me back to your father. He will want to hear a report of how this went. I am sure Peter will be in later to correct any misremembered sections so do try to keep it straight.¡± Then with a tug, leads him towards a small office building built off the side of the waystation. Left behind, Peter shakes his head and turns toward the group. ¡°So you want to sell some stuff? General stuff or as some of you travellers call it, vendor trash, can be sold here no problem. Honestly? You might get a bit more if you went to an actual town or city, but why bother? Though since you asked specifically about it I assume you have a few specialty items, likely from the forest itself. Undead related, perhaps?¡± Chapter 191 - No, I Dont Want to do Alchemy Courtney nods and swings her backpack off onto the ground. ¡°Now I won¡¯t be bringing out the biggest item. Jason over there. Oh right introductions, the human is named Jason if I didn¡¯t clue you into that. My name is Courtney and the rabbitkin goes by Rosha. Anyway, as I was saying Jason has a set of armor in his pack. We picked it up off of a wight. Good quality undead gear which we should probably wait for an auction house or a collector though it is local so you would know better. Besides that, he also has some alchemy ingredients that he grew himself.¡± Then Courtney opens up her pack and pulls out one of the spare bottles of the redeath rose essential oil. ¡°This though is the one I am more unsure about. For a time we traveled through an area with redeath rose slugs. Jason had the skill for it and the knowledge, so he harvested roses whenever there was a plant with multiple buds. He was careful not to affect the balance there so you don¡¯t have to worry about that. Then he distilled them into this.¡± Peter takes a closer look at the bottle and uses some form of identification skill. With a nod, he pulls out a small booklet from his back pocket and pages through it. And pages through it some more as he continues to look, turning more pages than the book should be able to fit. Eventually Peter finds what he is looking for and nods. ¡°Okay, don¡¯t sell it here. It looks like some of the local tribes frown on people making their own. While it sounds like you harvested responsibly, they probably wouldn¡¯t believe that. They take it very seriously as apparently a couple decades ago the last generation spent a good bit of cash to import some. There was quite the undead problem back then. Though I wasn¡¯t in the area at the time, so I can¡¯t confirm this. It hasn¡¯t completely gotten rid of the problem, but on this side we didn¡¯t put too many people into the effort. Only the bare minimum, so there are less undead to deal with in general. ¡°Anway, just wait until you reach the bamboo city George pointed you towards. Even if the quality is just normal, someone should want it. A bottle like this should sell for a gold, if only because the people over here are touchy about people having any at all.¡± And he turns to Jason, ¡°so are you planning on learning alchemy? There are a few decent master alchemists in the place you are heading.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°I just grow and harvest the stuff. Alchemy is an interesting subject, but if I was to learn any crafting discipline, it would be related to Energy. If only because otherwise getting anything that would work for me will cost an arm and a leg.¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Peter squints at him for a moment. ¡°I guess you do use Energy. Fair enough on that then, though I think you¡¯re missing out. It looks like you have the basics down already, even if you don¡¯t have a skill for it.¡± Jason denies it again, ¡°yes, I know a bit about alchemy. No, I don¡¯t want to touch it. There are reasons, but mostly I just do not want to mess with it. I will keep puttering around with my garden and growing things, even going as far as to make stuff like this but that¡¯s it. I don¡¯t know how it is here, but to me alchemy is the poorest rich occupation. Failure after failure sinking your money while only the people at the top of the field really make any decent amount of cash. As an adventurer I won¡¯t likely be in any place long enough to truly perfect it and even growing my own ingredients it would just lose me money.¡± Peter sighs, ¡°I can see you¡¯ve thought about it some and you aren¡¯t entirely wrong. Though there is always a demand for basic recovery potions!¡± Jason scoffs, ¡°and get trapped in that grind? If there is any potion that trains the skill less than the basic healing potion I don¡¯t know what it is. Almost every variation of it with nearly every ingredient has been tried and perfected. The only thing that stops people from automating the creation of them is you need a sapient to be involved or it fails.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°well, I tried. My alchemist friends are always looking for new blood. Anyway, let¡¯s head to the general store so you guys can sell your loot. Even if it isn¡¯t a lot, I know how nice it is to turn all that weight into money after a lengthy trip. Do you have any guess on how much you¡¯re going to make?¡± Courtney takes a moment to think it over and nods as the group walks toward the waystation. ¡°Undead don¡¯t have the best drops and we ended up eating a lot of the plant drops. Overall, I expect each of us to earn about a gold. Which saying it out loud really feels bad. Those little bottles are worth that much! If it wasn¡¯t for the armor, we would have really lost out on this trip.¡± With a grin Peter waves his hand, ¡°such is the life of people like us! You kill all the monsters only to find out they aren¡¯t worth it. You gather odd plants only to find everyone in the next town has a small garden of them. You pick through the remains of a millennium old civilization only to find the results only worth coppers and even then only to collectors. Still, sometimes, just on occasion, you find treasure. Me? I found a husband!¡± And he gives Jason a sly elbow and a wink. Rosha just sighs while Courtney rolls her eyes. Though over all he lightened the mood so the trip to the store doesn¡¯t drag on. Chapter 192 - Peter Figures He Would Drop In Peter and the group arrive at the general store. While Courtney haggles over the vendor trash the rest of them take a look around the store with Peter as their guide. Nothing too shocking, though much of the food available differs from their starting kingdom. Back there the people had a lot of rice, but it was more based on spicing the rice while it cooked. Over here while rice was a common dish it seems to be served plain with heavily sauced vegetables or meat. As they fall into the new variety of spices Courtney finishes up with her haggling. In the end she sells all the random drops as well as Jason¡¯s harvest. Both the first harvest and the second one he had squeezed out just before they got to town. All added together each of them got a gold coin and three silver while Jason received 32 silver more. Finished with the general store, Peter guides them to the subsidized inn. He points out a couple of swankier places but the group declines as the kingdom wouldn¡¯t pay for their night. Peter shrugs, ¡°fair enough. Though do note that the free night is just that, a single night. The crown only covers a quick stop on your travels and not you settling down.¡± Courtney nods, ¡°we hadn¡¯t planned on staying more than the night anyway. We¡¯ve been here for a couple months and are a bit behind the curve.¡± Peter shakes his head and sighs, ¡°you travellers fly through the early levels. Not all of you, but more than reasonable. Anyway, if you¡¯re leaving tomorrow do you have an idea of when? There aren¡¯t any quests to go that direction at the moment.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°likely after sunrise unless either of you have a reason for a different time?¡± And she turns to the other two. Jason shakes his head and Rosha says she doesn¡¯t care as long as they have breakfast first. Courtney turns back to Peter, ¡°sounds like sunrise then. Though I would like to know why you¡¯re asking about it.¡± Peter laughs at her obvious suspicion, ¡°don¡¯t worry. I just plan to head that way as well. My next question was going to ask if you would mind me tagging along. My husband, Gregor, is a few stops thataway and I haven¡¯t seen him in a while. Figured I would drop in and surprise him. Plus with what you want you¡¯re going to need someone to vouch for you so having me along would help. After all, you don¡¯t seem like the types to want to wait around a couple of months.¡± Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. With a harsh glare Courtney stares him down, but Peter doesn¡¯t flinch. As they reach the inn, she sighs and looks away, ¡°whatever. Meet us here tomorrow and we will let you know our decision. We have to discuss this.¡± And the group enters the inn without Peter. He just shrugs and wanders off. Inside the inn, the group books their rooms for the night then settles down at a table. After ordering the soup of the day and some rice with lamb for ten copper each, they sit there silently. The food arrives and they eat in silence as well. Not that the inn is quiet. While there aren¡¯t any caravans leaving in their direction tomorrow, one is heading out in the other direction. Being free the inn is filled to the gills with guards, haulers, and even a few fellow travellers. Rosha is the first one to break. ¡°So are we going to let him come with us?¡± Jason sighs, ¡°I don¡¯t think we have a choice. I couldn¡¯t tell how strong he was. It is making me wonder if I am some sort of magnet to eccentric high level locals.¡± Courtney laughs at this, ¡°unless you¡¯ve met tens of them you¡¯re doing all right. While people with over a hundred levels are not that common. It also isn¡¯t that rare, partly because they live longer. If I had to guess there should be three or four people who are past the seventh bottleneck in this place. The lizardkin George, Peter, maybe someone with the caravan which is staying over, and Gold-Fur¡¯s father.¡± ¡°This comes mostly from where we¡¯ve been so far. It has all been on the borders of the various kingdoms. While higher level locals do tend to be sprinkled throughout, the majority are in the capital and on the borders. If you had gone a handful of days deeper into your starting kingdom, it would have been hard to find someone with 50 levels under their belt, let alone 100.¡± ¡°As for Peter? I¡¯m not getting any bad vibes from him, though I¡¯m not getting any good vibes either. That¡¯s the thing, really. He just happens to be one of the first people we met once we left the forest. It makes sense for that to happen too. He seems to be known by the local leader, Gold¡¯s father, as well as being high enough level to keep us in check if we got rowdy. Him going in the same direction as us isn¡¯t that hard to believe either. There are only two roads out of here.¡± Rosha shrugs, ¡°at this point I don¡¯t think we can avoid him. Unless we change where we plan to go we will be going in the same direction and he knows when we plan to leave. Combined with the fact he can apparently wipe the floor with us, I think it is better to keep him in our sight.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°once you catch the attention of someone like Peter it is shockingly hard to drop them. We probably have a tail all the way to the bamboo city. Though that brings up the question of what the city¡¯s actual name is.¡± Courtney rubs the bridge of her nose, ¡°no choice it is than. Tomorrow we let him follow us. Now there isn¡¯t much time till night but if either of you need to do something in a town, this would be the time.¡± Chapter 193 - Pest Removal Up in the inn room, Jason stretches out and yawns. After so many days in the wilderness, the group can finally have a good night¡¯s rest. Sure, in reality they probably should still have someone stand watch. On the other hand, none of them can be bothered. Even if they do get killed their respawn point would be the inn. The only thing that would stop that is if the inn gets destroyed and at that point them staying up likely wouldn¡¯t have done anything. For Jason, a good night¡¯s rest doesn¡¯t quite mean the same thing as it does for the girls. Instead of an invitation to sleep the entire night, he instead plans to keep about the same schedule as usual. First he logs off to cultivate, then he cultivates in game, and for the biggest change Jason gets some actual sleep instead of keeping watch. The only downside to the inn is what they generously call a bed. It isn¡¯t quite as bad as some cheap inns where the difference between a pile of hay and the beds is the pile being fresher. Instead, the hay is fresh and on top of it sits a layer of moss and lavender. Even fancier, the inn has spread a cheap sheet over the pile. Jason stares at it in contemplation. The lavender should keep things like fleas away, but he doesn¡¯t want to chance it. Courtney could probably do something with her magic, but he wants to figure something out for himself. All his current uses of Energy are either passive or destructive. Beyond that he has made sure all his attacks can even hit things that aren¡¯t alive because of the undead. ¡°Hmm¡±, Jason rests his chin on his fist, ¡®I should be able to figure something out. If anything, it would be helpful for hitting people behind stuff. At the moment my blast punch penetrates but will still damage what it passes through. That would not work here because I don¡¯t want to spend the night on a pile of dust. Though it is an excellent place to start.¡¯ ¡®I already know I can make my Energy pass through things. All that needs to be done is make it ignore stuff that isn¡¯t alive. If anything, with my current string based cultivation, I have the perfect tool to sweep this mess clean. Now just to test it.¡¯ He pulls out a bit of straw that was sticking out and holds it in his off-hand. From his core Jason gives one segment of threads a push and they extend out of his shoulder for the briefest of moments. Another try and now the threads are the ones going to his arm but he hasn¡¯t given it enough of a push. One more attempt to get it right and a bundle of threads too fine to see extends out of the palm of his hand. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. With a sweep of said hand he runs them over the top of the straw and nothing happens. A good sign as it means his Energy isn¡¯t naturally harmful to matter, but that doesn¡¯t mean it will work. With his pinky extended, he runs the threads over the very tip of the finger. Once again nothing happens, though that could just be because his own Energy can¡¯t hurt him. The only thing left is to test it on his actual target and he knows just where to find a subject. In the room''s corner is an old wooden chest. Put there in case anyone wants to leave something in their room, it is easy to see few do so. Jason pulls it away from the wall, revealing a few bugs. With a wave of his hand once again nothing happens except for a frown appearing on his face. With a sigh, Jason focuses on his core again. This time instead of just pushing the thread out he infuses some of his core¡¯s Energy into them. A wave of his hand and a couple mites are reduced to dust, but the move leaves some minor scratching on the floor as well. Not even as bad as the marks left by the chest, but still unacceptable. A little less power and it seems to work until he tests it on the straw again, which gets cut part way through. He takes a handful more tries to perfect it. It removes the tiny insects; the hay isn¡¯t marked even when put in front of the mites, and it still does nothing to his own body. A convenient thing, though it would be awkward if he burst it outward from his entire body. After all, his clothes aren¡¯t exactly his body. He glances out the window and sighs, ¡®well I guess there goes the evening. At least I didn¡¯t waste any of my night. Though I do have to wonder where the girls are. They said that they were going to stroll around the outpost but it isn¡¯t that big. Maybe they¡¯re shopping or something.¡¯ Halfway across the outpost, Rosha sneezes just as she is about to take a sip of tea. Courtney laughs, ¡°someone must be talking about you.¡± Rosha rolls her eyes, ¡°at least I moved the mug away. This tea costs just as much as our dinner did. I have no clue how a small tea shoppe like this can stay in business.¡± Back in the inn Jason shrugs, ¡®oh well, guess I will clean up all the beds. Wouldn¡¯t do me much good if I cleaned mine only for bugs to come over from the other beds.¡¯ He focuses on regulating his Energy use and gives a harder shove to have more to work with. Ready, Jason waves his hand across the beds until he has covered every inch. ¡®That should do it. If there were any pests in there they aren¡¯t going to be bothering us tonight. Though I do have to wonder why I didn¡¯t do this sooner. It isn¡¯t like the wilderness lacks bugs. Then again, you can¡¯t really prevent them out in the open. I should probably pick up some lavender seeds to grow as well. The stuff does wonders to keep pests away.¡¯ Chapter 194 - Strings Within Strings Pest removal finished, Jason lays down on his bed and logs out. Back in his room, he crawls out of his pod and stretches not only his limbs but his awareness. All around the apartment not a single particle of corruption. Whatever has shielded his house still stands, and if his guess about his cultivation being the cause, it should keep going. With a groan, Jason sets an alarm and goes to the kitchen. He might have just eaten in game but his pod must not have fed him yet. He looks in the fridge. Nothing has changed there. ¡°Welp, instant ramen it is then.¡± And Jason throws a pot of water on the stove to boil and pulls out two random packets of the college student special. ¡°Looks like I get to experience the culinary fusion of shrimp and roast chicken, today? Tonight? Meh, whatever.¡± While he waits for the water to boil Jason pulls out his bowl and opens the seasoning packets into it. Then from the cupboard he pulls out a few things. A dash of sesame oil, a sprinkle of garlic powder, and a generous glug of hot sauce. At this point the pot is boiling, so he tosses the two noodle bricks in and grabs an egg out of the fridge. Jason cracks the egg into the measuring cup and with his fork gives it a good mix until the noodles have softened up. With the fork he gives it a stir and drizzles the egg into the boiling water. Once the egg is in, he cleans out the measuring cup. This is just enough time for the noodles to finish cooking. Turning off the stove, Jason pours some of the water into the bowl first and uses the fork once again to stir in the seasonings. Then the rest of the liquid and noodles go in as well. From the fridge he dispenses a couple ice cubes which go into the bowl as well as he cleans out the pot. A bit of stirring later and the dish has cooled down enough and Jason chows down. Meal finished, Jason goes back into the living room and after a quick stretch sits down in the center. He feels slightly bad that he hasn¡¯t used the fancy new punching bag all that much, but it can wait. Settled on the floor, Jason closes his eyes and cultivates. The energy in the air is more responsive than ever before and though it might be his imaginations, he feels it might be denser as well. Excellent conditions to cultivate in. This allows him to go into a deeper state of mediation. Time is lost to Jason until the alarm he set goes off, waking him up. He yawns, ¡°never enough time in the day. Welp back to the game. Though can it really be considered just a game when I spend more time in it than out? Meh, philosophy can wait until I have greater accomplishments both in and out of NeoRealm.¡± You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Back in the game Jason stretches out on the bed and glances around the dark room. Courtney and Rosha had both made it back safely. Another stretch and he sits up on his bed. ¡®No rest for the wicked and I know nothing more wicked than a cultivator.¡¯ With a silent sigh, he focuses on his core. Not much has changed, right where his heart would have been is a crystalline ball of Energy made solid. Coming off of it almost like fur are loops of Energy turned into a thread finer than the System let him handle normally. Over their time in the forest his constant cultivation had brought it to the point that they spread through his entire body. Within this sea of gossamer threads are thicker, sturdier strings. The lines that Jason has decided are the internal structure for all things in NeoRealm if no one is looking. Now that he is in a safe place though, he has an experiment to try. Those strings from what he can see are made of Energy. Whether this is true for others doesn¡¯t matter to him. What matters is if he can replace the rougher strings with his own cultivation. Tonight though Jason doesn¡¯t plan to go too overboard, just his off-hand pinky. Worse comes to worse, it is easy enough to deal with. Jason focuses on said pinky and observes the lines going through it. While it doesn¡¯t need to follow the vascular system, they seem to stick close to it. Though that might have more to do with how he formed his core in his heart. In the pinky alone there are eight lines, four for the veins and four for the arteries. All around these visible strings is an almost mist-like cloud made of his threads. Circulating the threads give him an excellent place to start. He guides a small bundle of them up one artery and down a connected vein. The misty quality solidifies some becoming more like a small stream or a waterfall of fog. It takes some of his concentration to keep the bundle in place, but he can manage. The next step is to fold this bundle into the string. Jason wraps the string up and, almost more by touch than sight, infiltrates it with the threads. This action brings a realization to his mind that almost knocks him out of his cultivation, but by letting everything else fall away he holds on. What Jason has realized is that the strings are exactly that, strings. They are made up of many smaller strings twisted together. Beyond that he is willing to bet that if he dug deeper those strings would be made of threads, just like what he is using right now. Though no matter how hard he tries to dig deeper, he can¡¯t. There is a feel that it should be there but his control is lacking, both figuratively and possibly more literal. With this last discovery Jason gives up on his test for now and instead goes back to normal cultivation. Though once he comes out of that to catch some shuteye a single System message is there to greet him. All it says is that through practice his control stat has improved by 1. This only strengthens his belief in what he saw. Happy with the results, Jason drifts off to sleep in no time. Chapter 195 - Peter Argues With the System Next day the group eats their breakfast with the sunrise. Once finished they leave the inn to find Peter waiting there for them. He has a set of leather armor on that is dyed green with darker speckles and on his back a chocolatey brown backpack. The pack is obviously empty and has been tied down to his back so it doesn¡¯t flop around. On his head is perched a jaunty little hat in the style of a bycocket, though most would recognize it as robin hood¡¯s hat. Though instead of green the hat is a pleasant shade of blackish gray. His thumbs under his backpack¡¯s straps and a lopsided smile Peter asks, ¡°so can I come along then?¡± Courtney scrunches her eyes shut and rubs the bridge of her nose. ¡°I am sorely tempted to tell you no right now. However, however, we decided to let you come along with us. Though I will note, this has more to do with how us saying no likely wouldn¡¯t stop you anyway.¡± With a wide smile on his face Peter shrugs, ¡°I can neither confirm nor deny your guess. Though since I am going to be coming along let¡¯s set some ground rules, shall we? First up, I¡¯m not going to babysit you all on the way. If something gets out of hand? Sure, I¡¯ll dabble but otherwise just consider me an observer. Secondly... Secondly... You know what? I only have the one thing. It sort of covers all the extra nonsense.¡± ¡°About the only other thing to mention is that the path we are taking has a problem with Swarm Cats. Think of them like ants that are cats. The only catch is they have extra long prehensile tails which they use in concert with others to drag food which is too big to carry normally. Now Tally Ho!¡± Courtney raises an eyebrow at him, ¡°These swarm cats wouldn¡¯t happen to be swarming at the moment, would they? Might you have been here in the first place to travel this path and clear out the extras? Because it seems like, you might be foisting your own work off on us.¡± Peter laughs and nods, ¡°totally. Think of it as paying for your lessons!¡± Courtney just shakes her head and turns to the others, ¡°well let¡¯s set off then. Going by the rough maps I¡¯ve seen, this kingdom is actually quite small and we should only be a week or so away from the bamboo city. My guess with this surprise quest which isn¡¯t is that there is probably a singular nest between here and our goal. Likely we will be able to get information on when we should see the monsters from the way stations.¡± Rosha nods, ¡°quite possible. Though if they are like ants, then in all likelihood it is mating season for them so we should see multiple packs. Either that or the largest swarm you ever did see. Reminds me of when father bought that one vacation house. He went to stay there right as the local ants did the same thing and one entire wall inside the place was just covered in winged ants. It was crazy and because it was an actual house and not in the arcology, he had to hire specialists to move as many as possible.¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Rosha continues her story for a little more but when she takes a deep breath to continue Peter interrupts her much to Jason¡¯s relief. ¡°While that story is quite interesting, Courtney reminded me of something I needed to do. After all, it isn¡¯t fair if I give you a quest without actually giving you a Quest. So I, Peter Grey-Tail, request your service in culling the swarm cat outbreak between here and the bamboo city thataway. Do you accept?¡± Courtney crosses her arms, ¡°well, what are the rewards? We could always take a longer route that goes around that nonsense.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°I don¡¯t know, like ah, well I¡¯ll vouch for you? Get you some help from my husband, he¡¯s an enchanter and all your gear is trash. Maybe some cash, though the System can deal with that bit. I could even throw in some general helpful tidbits while you¡¯re fighting them as long as you accept.¡± Courtney smiles at the last bit and nods, ¡°deal! You seem like a ranger of some sort and Rosha could definitely use some extra lessons.¡± The others nod in agreement and there is a ding as the System pops up a quest window.
Cat Culling The Swarm Cat nest is once again preparing to split and Peter has kindly offered to let you do his work for him. As a bonus just for accepting this quest Peter has promised to provide helpful advice on the way. Difficulty: Second Break+ Goal: Kill at least three quarters of every Swarm Cat group you meet between your current location and the City of the Grey Bamboo Failure: Peter won¡¯t vouch for you and he will have to go back and actually do his job Reward: Peter vouches for Courtney when she goes to learn Kitsune illusion magic; Peter will badger his husband, Gregor, to enchant some gear for the party; System determined amount of money taken from Peter¡¯s pay
Peter looks at the quest and scowls, ¡°no fair System! I wasn¡¯t offering any of my money. And what¡¯s this about badgering Gregor? I was just going to ask him nicely for some stuff!¡± He pauses as a screen only he can see pops up, ¡°what do you mean my pay will be determined by how well I give them advice? My job had a predetermined payout already and you weren¡¯t even in on it.¡± Another pause, ¡°fine, whatever. I better still make enough to make my time worthwhile! After all, I can¡¯t give them too much advice.¡± One last message pops up for him. ¡°Okay, I can agree to those terms. It won¡¯t take me long to clean up like that anyway. You better not upgrade any of them though! I know exactly what kind of Swarm Cats should be along this route. Others have taken up the more core areas around the nest already.¡± With a sigh, Peter turns to the group, ¡°well with that out of the way, let¡¯s head on out!¡± Everyone just gives him a deadpan look. Chapter 196 - Bringing a Bow to a Swarm Fight With Peter along for the ride, their days go by quickly. While he isn¡¯t directly helping because of Peters constant travels, he had upped his stamina stat enough that traveling on a road was like a dream. The miles flew by as they passed a waystation and made it to the next just as night was coming. An impressive distance to cover when you take into account the waystations are placed two to three days of normal travel apart. Over just one day the group had covered half a week''s worth of travel, just because an elf tagged along. Though the next morning dawns with a more somber mood. Last night the group had asked around about the swarm cats. Apparently they had last been seen right past the next stop. None of the people here are worried because that is still three or four days away. For the group, that means they will have a fight on their hands right after lunch. Plus, if they are going to be fighting, the group won¡¯t be traveling. Either they have to backtrack to the next stop or camp out. Back in the woods that was bad enough with a semi-normal monster presence. Swarms on the other hand are a whole different kettle of fish. Going from a few monsters attacking at night to a swarm is more than just adding monsters. As Courtney explained to the group last night, monsters don¡¯t just become a swarm if enough gather. To count as a swarm, the monster has to have a certain level of connectedness to the other monsters in the group. For the players it could get confusing when a swarm of bees isn¡¯t actually a Swarm of bees, but blame pen and paper rpgs. The three glance at each other as they set out. Peter was behind them, looking around like a tourist. Taking him into account it wasn¡¯t a choice. They would retreat tonight. For now, though, the group gets to watch the terrain fly by. Jason had experienced this sort of thing on a smaller scale with his movement skill. For the others, though, even the second day of it is quite the thrill. Of course no plan survives contact with the enemy and even before they reach the next waystation monsters attack. To their left is a large patch of brambles and out of it scrambles almost a good fifty or so cats. Each one with a tail at least twice as long as its body. Though with how fast the group was traveling, they could have ignored it. By the time the cats had made it to the road, they were already past them. Peter looks back at the cats and laughs, ¡°looks like there are still more than three quarters of that swarm left.¡± Rosha rolls her eyes, ¡°it¡¯s not our fault we are going so fast they can¡¯t catch us in an ambush.¡± The three turn around to face the swarm as Peter steps back to watch. He even pulls out a three-legged camping stool to sit on. Jason ignores this nonsense and charges out ahead. Behind him, Rosha takes aim while Courtney channels a spell. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. As Jason reaches the swarm Courtney finishes her spell and he can feel his skin toughen as it takes on the look of bark. An arrow flies low at his side piercing one of the cats. It falls, but the rest of the swarm ignores this and jumps at Jason. Ready for this Jason pivots and lets loose a sidekick. While the kick slams into one of the cats, it doesn¡¯t end there. With how many enemies were attacking, Jason had gone right to one of his more area based skills. The kicked cat bursts apart as an uncountable number of translucent threads fly into the cats behind. Momentum carries them into Jason, but they are dead before they can even attack. With his arms up, he swats them away as the next wave of cats reaches him. They swarm over him, biting and clawing at his skin, but it resists most of the damage. Though through the magic of swarms, some of the attacks still get through. With enough attacks, they will find some weakness. -2 Rosha continues to fire arrow after arrow into the cats, one shoting them. Behind her Peter shakes his head, ¡°first bit of advice. When fighting a swarm your arrows aren¡¯t going to be doing all that much. Look at the cats you killed. Notice how that first one has stood up? Yeah, they aren¡¯t dead. Swarms have a shared health pool because why not?¡± ¡°Jason¡¯s attack took care of the ones he killed. Honestly, I am surprised he has access to a skill like that. To be able to tear them apart like that is generally limited to special spells in your level range. Anyway, you would be better served using your weapons staff mode. Not because it would necessarily do a better job on any one cat. Rather, you can use it to sweep multiple enemies at once. Even if the damage is reduced to each single target, you deal more overall.¡± ¡°Oh, and Courtney, splendid choice to buff him. Illusions aren¡¯t exactly the best choice against a swarm. Too many minds effectively fool. It just takes one of them saving against your illusion to break the entire swarm out of it. This is actually part of why the kitsune here developed the illusion variant you want. While they are already good with illusions in general there are a ton of swarms in the area.¡± ¡°These swarm cats just happen to be the active species on the road we are taking. Go another direction and you might run into bat swarms. Not swarm bats, mind you. Just normal bats, which have formed a true swarm. Come down this road another time of the year and you would get to experience phrenic frogs. Lucky for the country, their psionic abilities are limited to inter-species telepathy.¡± ¡°Though if we let their swarms grow too big, they form a hivemind which sucks. Not because they are harder to kill. Rather, we have to go through the effort to determine if they have developed sapience or not. One way we can just deal with them and the other we have to deal with them.¡± Peter was going to continue rambling when he noticed the group had stopped paying attention. He shrugs and sits back again to watch. Chapter 197 - System Suppression While Peter was providing tips Jason had continued to lay the beat down on the cats. While the monsters climbed on him, the buff on him continued to do its job. Ignoring them, Jason stomps around, bursts of Energy going off as he kills the ones not on him yet. Off to the side Rosha has stopped firing, now knowing that her arrows are less than useful. Jason continues to take a steady stream of damage over this time but Courtney lays down an overtime heal on him. Better used as an efficient after fight healing, the swarm is dealing so little at such a constant pace she is able to match it no problem. Then something happens as Jason kills about four-fifths of the swarm. All the swarm cats that have clung onto him scatter as well as the few still at his feet. Off in all the direction they flee, any semblance of order or cooperation gone. At the back, Peter claps for them. ¡°Congratulations on defeating your first swarm! A little small, but we are on the edge of their territory after all. Don¡¯t mind the ones that have escaped. This is part of why the quest only wants you to defeat three fourths of every swarm. Once you kill enough of a swarm it loses cohesion. Those cats might end up joining another swarm but are more likely to become prey for something else.¡± Courtney nods, ¡°I thought animals from a disbanded swarm just end up dying? As this place was a goal of mine, I did a little research and that seems to be the case with stuff like a bee swarm and similar.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°different types of animals. It bases an insect swarm around being controlled by a queen, even if she isn¡¯t there with it. Once such a swarm disbands, they lose that connection and each individual insect becomes like a puppet with its strings cut. Swarm cats? Those are just normal animals that have developed a special form of communication. Over time they have become more dependent on having others around, but in the end they are still cats. Leave a cat alone and it isn¡¯t going to just die.¡± Courtney pauses as she thinks about Peter¡¯s answer. It makes sense to her but then she realizes that during the fight he had said something else about swarms and hadn¡¯t explained. ¡°I just remembered. You said that the kitsune developed their illusion variant because of the swarms. What¡¯s up with that?¡± With a laugh Peter congratulates her, ¡°good on you for catching that. I sort of got sidetracked there with the other stuff. Swarms are hard to effect with illusions because each individual monster has a chance to see through it and once one does it passes it on. What the kitsune did was focus on making their illusions as real as possible in response. Sure, there were other forces at play, but the swarms are a politically correct excuse for it.¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Anyway, what creating a more realistic illusion does is make it so the swarms have a harder time realizing what has happened. As my husband explained it, normal illusions are great single target spells. You cast an illusion on one guy, and it is easy to make it seem real from his point of view. Swarms on the other hand have so many members looking at so many points at once they notice the irregularities.¡± ¡°As an example, take a brick wall. You make an illusion of one in front of someone and the farther above or below their line of sight the less real it has to be. So what if the shadows that should be cast by the bricks sticking out that little bit aren¡¯t there under a certain height. Unless the person gets down on the ground to check, they won¡¯t even see it, and if they do, you can just shift your focus there and fix it.¡± ¡°Swarms, especially any of the flying ones? They get to look at your illusions from every angle. If you make the illusion authentic enough the difficulty of affecting them actually goes down! It isn¡¯t like swarms can be made of any animal with too much intelligence of their own. Those swarm cats? Compared to regular cats they are dumb as a sack or rocks and half as clever. If it wasn¡¯t for being able to see so much of a normal illusion, they wouldn¡¯t even get a save unless they touched it. The only reason the kitsune¡¯s variant illusions aren¡¯t 100 percent effective against swarms is because at low level there are still some errors.¡± Jason off to the side looks gobsmacked, ¡°huh, that would explain the difficulty in fooling swarms.¡± Then shaking his head he thinks to himself, ¡®that would also explain why insects always managed to get into places they shouldn¡¯t in my last life. Too bad I can¡¯t tell them. It would be hilarious to see those high and mighty experts realize why insects keep beating them.¡¯ Back with Courtney, a radiant smile has spread over her face. ¡°Well, even more reason I have to get their illusion variant. Not only will it fix a traveller¡¯s problem with casting illusions, but it has even more uses besides.¡± Peter raises his eyebrow at her, ¡°what? You thought they developed it just because they could or something?¡± She shrugs, ¡°well I knew some of the other uses but most of what I could find just talks about making it harder to see through. A useful thing and I suspect the only reason the variant hasn¡¯t become the main form is because of System based suppression.¡± Peter nods his head and sighs, ¡°you aren¡¯t wrong there. The System isn¡¯t too keen on the variant spreading, though of course there are political reasons as well.¡± Courtney scoffs, ¡°as if that would stop the spread of something like this. Like seriously? Oh no, they won¡¯t teach us, so we totally can¡¯t learn it some other way! Get real. It just takes one corrupt trainer, one well-placed spy, one slip in your security and the secret gets out. The only way for a variant like this to stay so limited is either through the System or because it isn¡¯t as applicable as the main form of the ability. A variant where the only difference is it is more realistic? Fat chance of it being anything but the System.¡± Peter just shrugs. Chapter 198 - Peter Might Actually Have to Work The swarm must have been one of the first to branch off as the group doesn¡¯t meet anymore before they reach the next waystation. Once there Peter goes off to report the encounter while the group settles down at the free inn. They look back and forth. All of them want to talk about Peter, but none of them want to start. Rosha in the end shrugs, ¡°so he looks to be upholding his end of the deal? Then again, it is System enforced, so it wasn¡¯t likely he would break his word.¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°I checked up on the information about the illusion spell that he provided. Not only is the System suppressing it, but it extends quite far. When I tried to post asking about it every single forum I tried it on shadow binned the post. Not just the usual shadowban either. Even if I logged out and checked I still could see it, but when I had some others check on it, it was gone on their end.¡± ¡°This includes the special forums that open up once you hit level ten so this is beyond the usual NeoRealm secret. Even with all of my resources and the resources behind Rosha, I am a bit worried about digging more. Some things just aren¡¯t allowed to be shared.¡± And she shakes her head in defeat. Jason purses his lips and takes a moment before he speaks. ¡°You both know more secrets about this than I do. However, I have some of my own insights. The illusion variant from what I have heard must extend beyond the System. There are more things in heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, or so the saying goes. In NeoRealm the System claims to hold absolute control, but is that really true? During the time I have been in here I have met a couple people that seem to be in some ways outside of it.¡± ¡°In particular, there is my teacher for war stomp and Andrew. My teacher was on the edge of going beyond this world. Something very few players have managed, yet all that did are super important in their families, guilds, and corporations. As for Andrew? Well, he was basically the classic fourth-wall breaking character. For the System to allow him to delve so deeply into the secrets meant only for players is suspicious.¡± Courtney leans back in her chair and runs a hand through her hair. ¡°We are way too low a level for this nonsense. Me and Rosha should only be about 15 at the moment and with your leveling speed you¡¯re likely around level 13.¡± Jason rubs the back of his neck and laughs. ¡°Well, not really. Both me and Lily are level 12. I¡¯ve slowed myself down even more by sharing with her.¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Courtney rubs the bridge of her nose, ¡°fair enough. So I think if we meet more swarms like the last, you should take them. It is clear your new skill is almost tailor made for tearing up swarms. From the looks of it, they try to share the damage but your Energy just keeps ongoing until it has to ditch the bodies you hit.¡± ¡°Though we won¡¯t be seeing too many of that size. Along with looking into the illusion stuff, I also checked on the average size of a swarm cat swarm. Looks like during this season they tend to contain over a hundred cats on the low end. Our only saving grace is that unlike other times, each individual cat is on the low end of levels. These are all newly born swarms spreading out to find new areas to nest. The high level swarms stay at the old nest.¡± ¡°The biggest difficulty with these swarms is their health pool. Even if every cat only has a single hit point, that would be a hundred for the swarm. They won¡¯t have just a single hit point so the number just inflates form there. Plus my specialty is healing and illusions. The first bit is still good to go, but all of my offensive options have gone kaput. A large swarm is going to break my illusions just because there are so many that some will interact with it, let alone what Peter explained.¡± ¡°In healing I picked up some buffs as Jason experienced. Good ol¡¯ barkskin is perfect for your style of wading in. Rosha, given that you will need to go melee, I plan to drop a strength enhancement on you. With a staff, your best bet is sweeping strikes to keep them off of you. Being able to send the cats flying will be important. Just keep Jason between you and the main body of the swarm.¡± They talk a bit more but then Peter arrives at their table. While he has a smile, it looks a little strained. ¡°Welp, update on the quest. Looks like I might have to roam around a little. Shouldn¡¯t change your plans too much. I will still travel with you, though on occasion I will nip off to clear up some cats. Seems some idiot fools that got hired to help decided it would be quicker to go to the source. Suffice to say, their area hasn¡¯t been cleared. The guild is sending in a trustworthy party to clean up, but it means a few more swarms wandering around.¡± ¡°Like I said, though. Not going to change what you see or do. Just keep killing the swarms that meet us on the road. My job will be to keep the general density down outside of that so the swarms you kill don¡¯t instantly get replaced. Anyway, since there is a chance of more danger, I figure I should preemptively give some tips. First though, let¡¯s keep this part private.¡± Peter pulls a small shell out of his pocket. The shell has been polished down to a pearly finish and across it has been carved runes that glow with power. As the three look closer they can see the runes spiral towards the mouth of the shell and that the inside is pitch black. Peter places it on the table and pricks his finger on the pointy end. It catches a single drop of blood on a rune right at the tip and small threads of blood spread across the shell. Once the blood reaches the shells opening a membrane forms over it. This crystal clear membrane quickly expands outward like a bubble to cover the entire table they are sitting at. As it slows to a stop, the membrane itself vanishes into the air. Chapter 199 - What Kind of Ranger are You Peter smirks at the group. ¡°Do you like my privacy screen shell? My husband made it for me on my 400th birthday! He personally collected the shell from the shore of the Silent Sea. As long as I channel my magic into it not only won¡¯t others be able to hear us but it removes the very concept of us talking. Very effective!¡± ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s start with you Jason. Keep doing what you¡¯re doing!¡± He shrugs, ¡°from what I saw you¡¯ve got an enormous amount of combat experience under your belt. Combined with whatever that skill is you used, you¡¯re good. The only advice I have is let your rabbit fight with you.¡± Peter stops talking for a moment under a burning glare from Rosha. She crosses her arms and is about to speak up when Peter raises both hands to stop her. He shakes his head, ¡°from the looks I am getting there is a history behind this. Let me explain myself, though. Your rabbit there is of equal level with Jason. This means it can in theory fight on an equal level with him.¡± ¡°Beyond that though she is small. Part of what makes a swarm effective is being smaller than their target. Against your rabbit, the swarm cats won¡¯t be able to do that constant damage trick. Each individual cat would have to try to hit it. Their chances of damaging your rabbit let alone hitting it is phenomenally low.¡± ¡°Seriously, a level one trying to hit a second break? That¡¯s just silly. Sure a person can manage it, but swarm cats are idiots so don¡¯t even have a cat¡¯s cunning. But I will leave the decision up to you. The rabbit is your pet after all.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°We will see what happens next time we meet a small swarm like the last.¡± Though in his mind Jason scoffs, ¡®well, getting one out of three doesn¡¯t exactly make you seem like a fount of wisdom. At least not all high level NPCs I meet have the magical ability to see through my secrets.¡¯ Peter raises an eyebrow at him but then shrugs, ¡°Think what you will. Now let¡¯s talk about Courtney!¡± He turns to face her, ¡°more buffs. Healing and illusions are good focuses, but any true support mage needs buffs. Even a slight increase to a person¡¯s chance to hit is powerful in the right situation. Debuffs are cool too, but you have that somewhat covered with illusions so we can ignore that for now.¡± ¡°Now my specific advice is that when fighting a swarm you should have damage reduction on everyone. Yes, even yourself. While you don¡¯t plan on getting into melee range of the swarm, life happens. A couple points of damage every few seconds is bad enough. Take away that defense though and suddenly the swarm is doing five to ten damage just as quickly. If a swarm got to anyone not buffed even higher level people would seem to just melt away.¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Courtney nods, ¡°yes, I understand this principle.¡± Peter smiles, ¡°if so then why didn¡¯t you buff yourself and Rosha in the last fight? What happens if a swarm came up behind you two? I know you travellers are functionally immortal, but that shouldn¡¯t be used as an excuse to let your guard down.¡± Peter sighs, ¡°before I comment on Rosha, I guess I should give one of my canned pieces of advice. I tell any travellers I like this little tidbit. The biggest barrier to your continued advancement will be not taking this seriously. Too many times I have seen a promising traveller stall out because they treat life as a game.¡± Peter shakes his head, ¡°anyway, Rosha! Not only are you a ranger like me, but you use one of those unique traveller weapons. Now I don¡¯t know if you can tell from my tone there but I do not approve of them. You have a weak bow you hit things with, some sub par daggers, and if any of it breaks you¡¯re out of all your weapons.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t fix that right now. I advise you just pick up a couple weapons at the bamboo city. The one thing I do approve of is when it comes to these unique options is that it provides a weakened main weapon bonus to all the forms. I actually really appreciate that when it comes to being a ranger. You should be able to ghost your way through a forest while taking on your enemies at all ranges. Though I guess I should ask one pertinent question of you. As a ranger, are you a Ranger, a Hunter, or a Huntsman?¡± Rosha tilts her head to the side, ¡°what¡¯s the difference?¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°Some rangers would say it is a question of if you¡¯re going to be good, neutral, or evil. The truth is a little deeper, though. Let¡¯s start by saying they are all rangers. No one denies this. They receive almost the same training and can do the same sort of things. Rather, each one is based on the focus of the person.¡± ¡°First we have the hunter. They focus on hunting quite appropriately. A hunter goes out into the wild, whether that means deep wilderness or a well-kept nobles garden forest, and hunts. Generally, this is done with the goal of protecting civilization. For instance, they will cull a wolf pack that has gotten too big and started to prey upon farm animals.¡± ¡°Next is the evil option, the huntsman. What they focus on is in their name, hunts man. They hunt men and so are evil. In reality, I would call them a form of bounty hunter that seeks out their targets in the wilderness. They would probably have a better name if they targeted bandit groups more actively. Sadly, being a one-man army isn¡¯t easy, so they tend to leave the groups alone.¡± ¡°Finally the so-called good option, the classic ranger. If the hunter focused on animals and the huntsman focused on men, then the ranger is in between. What gives them a good image is that they are focused on the wilderness itself. Not protecting it like some seem to think, though they will do so as needed. A ranger has their finger on the pulse of the wild through observation and experience. Unlike the druid which has a mystical connection, a ranger lives it.¡± Chapter 200 - I Was Straight Laced ¡°Huh¡±, Rosha puts her hands behind her head and leans back. ¡°That is a question. None of them stick out and I didn¡¯t really have plans of specializing like that. Though I guess that just means I am sticking with the ranger option. So yeah, if I had to choose, I would go with a plain ranger.¡± Peter smiles, ¡°I see you are making the mistake most do. The ranger isn¡¯t the middle road without a specialization. They don¡¯t have a favored enemy as you travellers like to refer to it, but they do have something else of equal or greater value. Don¡¯t look down on that connection to the land I mentioned. Many people discount the ability because it always talks about the wilds.¡± ¡°Yes, the ability is a connection to nature and similar to a druid except for one detail. Instead of direct communication, the ranger¡¯s connection is all through experience and skill. Now I won¡¯t claim you¡¯re going to be just as good in a city as a forest but the closer it is the more effective you will be. This is part of why Rangers are a popular choice to scout out corrupted lands. We don¡¯t lose any effectiveness in those areas like a druid would. Anyway, since you chose this path, you get a crash course in the basics of being a ranger!¡± Rosha tilts her head to the side. ¡°Didn¡¯t I already get that sort of thing already? I had a trainer back in my starter villager after all.¡± Peter sighs, ¡°if only it was that easy. Did they teach you about stuff like tracking and surviving in the forest?¡¯ Rosha nods, ¡°well yes. That is a big part of being a ranger.¡± Peter shakes his head, ¡®no, not really. It is important, but that would fall more under basic woodscraft. Being able to track a deer is nice, but if I showed you a print, would you be able to judge if it was sick? The age? How long has it been traveling? You might get lucky with one of those, but I doubt you could answer them all.¡± ¡°Show me some prints of an animal I don¡¯t know and I likely wouldn¡¯t do too much better. However, for any animal I have experience with? I look at the deer print and can tell it is sick by extra drag marks. The age through the size and condition of the foot that left the print. That the deer had been traveling for a short amount of time because of the depth of the track telling me how long it lingered on each step.¡± ¡°Of course I can¡¯t impart this all on you. That would be tedious and in the end futile. My job will be instead to guide you towards your own realizations. Maybe you have a sharper eye and note some fine visual details. Maybe your senses towards the mystical are top-notch and you literally see how much power they have left in each print.¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°You are the one who gets to find all these slight details while I guide you. Then later on when you find some odd five-legged half-deer nonsense monster you will be able to do it again but faster. With each new area you will discover the secrets that the land has to tell you.¡± ¡°And all of that? Just about what I will teach you on tracking animals. There is still all the rest of nature to dive into. When we get back on the road, you and I are going to roam out ahead of your group. In a larger group you should be doing that anyway to scout. Just as important though less viable in a group as small as yours, but that¡¯s life.¡± ¡°Now do any of you want some extra info?¡± Courtney raises an eyebrow, ¡°how about what lit the fire under your butt? I was mostly certain we all understood you only planned to put in the bare minimum of advice during this trip.¡± Peter suddenly becomes very interested in something off to the side but Courtney doesn¡¯t drop her glare. He sighs, ¡°the System may have gotten one over on me again. I don¡¯t know what the quest said on your side for me there were all kinds of clauses. One of them was related to how much advice I was to give you, and the System connected it to how dangerous the job is. So yeah, the System knew about the mess we are walking into. Guess you get to benefit!¡± Courtney shakes her head, ¡°has anyone ever told you that you shouldn¡¯t argue so much with the System?¡± Peter laughs and laughs and laughs. ¡°You sound just like my husband! And my teacher, and my parents, and you know what? Just about everyone who knows me, now that I think about it. Maybe someday I will consider it, but for now? I¡¯m going to argue, haggle, and be contrary with the System as much as possible!¡± Jason rubs his forehead with his palm, ¡°heehhh, so you¡¯re that type of person. I almost want to go separate ways right this second. I¡¯m sure your antics have gotten no one hurt yet, but then again, I don¡¯t want to be the first.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°I¡¯m strong enough to hold up my end and that¡¯s all that matters. I wasn¡¯t always like this. Straight laced didn¡¯t even begin to describe me. Not because of any outside nonsense, mind you. I just was that way. The teacher¡¯s pet and a hundred other names for doing what I was told and at a high level of quality.¡± ¡°Looking back it seems so boring though I know it wasn¡¯t. At the time, getting everything lined up right was my world. Now though, I¡¯ve broken free and have been able to explore what else the world has to offer. I don¡¯t have time to draw inside the lines as it were. Not say I go against stuff for no reason. I can still grind out my work when needed, but this doesn¡¯t really need that sort of thing from me and so here we are!¡± Chapter 201 - Fraying String After Courtney grilled Peter a little more the group splits up for the night. Jason goes to his bed and with a yawn, lays back and logs off. Out in his pod, he rubs his eyes and stretches out. In the back of his head the question of if he should have just gone to sleep tries to take hold, but he doesn¡¯t let it. Up and out of his pod, Jason heads into the restroom and takes a shower. That wakes him up right quick and he goes through a proper stretching routine instead of letting himself get away with a couple shoddy arm stretches. Joints properly loosened, he heads out into the living room and settles in to cultivate. Not much happens during the time he had set aside for it. The corrupting energies are still staying away, and he grows ever closer to the first step on his journey. Though as he wraps up the very fact nothing has happened causes Jason some worries. While cultivation isn¡¯t actually going against the heavens as some claimed, it definitely causes a reaction. If the so-called heavens existed then it was very much a believer in tough love. As Jason lies back down in his pod, he takes his time to consider what he has discovered so far. First is that his world as it currently exists has too many types of energy, some of it even feels like it comes from his past. Second is that corrupting energy which despite how virulent it seemed the stuff hadn¡¯t taken over yet. Lastly, he could cultivate and that experience can translate over into NeoRealm. Taken together with the general sense of reality around NeoRealm just raises even more questions. Questions which he will have to shelve for later. Whatever secrets the world and NeoRealm have, they can wait. With half the night left Jason plans to spend a quarter of it cultivating some more while trying to combine more of what he has discovered irl. Or that was the plan. And it doesn¡¯t survive long when he realizes he still needs to dig deeper into his body¡¯s lines. Though as mentioned this wasn¡¯t his original intention but his body pressed the issue. At his pinky, the lines had frayed where he had been experimenting. Just the barest hint of fuzziness, but there it was. Plain as day now that he was looking. Worse yet, it was fraying at a level he couldn¡¯t work with yet. Jason didn¡¯t know what the results would be if he left it alone, and he wasn¡¯t going to take chances. He dives right in to try and halt the spread. With his own cultivation wrapped around the strings, it feels like the process is if not stopped than significantly slowed. But he can¡¯t leave it at that. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Back up the string Jason goes until he notices a juncture. Unseen from outside, there was a hard crystalline form right at the point that the strings from his fingers meet up. There he can feel a sense of pain coming from his pinky. Not much he can do at the juncture though, so he ties some of his cultivation around the point just before where the pinky¡¯s strings meet with the rest. Jason returns to the pinky and dives into the strings. Down to the point from last time and further he presses. Not able to see what is happening yet still going smaller by feel alone. With a sense of urgency hounding him and the fraying itself as a guide, he breaks through. His inner vision sharpens and is refined as he forces it to observe the strings within strings even closer. His visualization of the situation becomes more exact until Jason can see lines the size of his own cultivation that make up the strings. There might be a deeper layer, but this is enough for now. This level of magnification is where the fraying is happening. He can see the threads unwinding from one another. His prior attempts having released the tension that they had been under. Now that he can see it, he can do something about the fraying. Grabbing all the loose threads, Jason pulls it back together. With each one he gives it a twist and after they are gathered spins the string tight again. Then he repeats this with all the strings until once again his pinky¡¯s lines are back in place. Problem is this solution won¡¯t hold forever. Jason has taken a peek at his other pinky. While he did a good job, his twist was nowhere near as tight as the natural strings. For now, though, it will have to do. There is still some night left but he knows to quit when ahead and so just goes to sleep. Next morning he takes a moment to check on his pinky and the repair seems to hold. Though he can already see the end has loosened some. Jason shakes his head. Tomorrow night he will have to do more about it, but for now there are cats to kill. Downstairs, he meets up with the others for breakfast. A savory dish made with some kind of root vegetable they had set under some meat that was being slow cooked for tonight. The cook had to cut off over half of the root because it had burned, but what was left tasted decent. The drippings from the meat had imparted a deeper flavor that complemented the roots already earthy taste. Finished with breakfast, they head over to the gate. Once there though, Peter stops the group. ¡°This is where we split up for the moment. Jason and Courtney? You two stay here for about ten minutes, then you can head out to catch up with us. I plan to give Rosha here a bit of a crash course on what to look for to determine when you¡¯re near settlements and such. An important thing to know not only because it can lead you towards civilization if you get lost but also point out wild tribes.¡± Peter claps his hands and nods before walking off. Rosha stands still for a moment but is quick to catch up with him while the other two just stand there like lumps on a log. Jason turns to Courtney and shrugs, ¡°so, you have anything to spend the time on?¡± Chapter 202 - Hide and Seek Courtney doesn¡¯t have anything for them to do either, so the two of them just stand there awkwardly for about ten minutes before they set out. As they travel things seem normal at first. Then things get weird. Courtney had been passively paying attention, looking for signs of when Peter and Rosha had come through here. Seeing as they both were rangers she spotted nothing directly, but what she did see was astounding. Peter must have been setting up examples because packed right up against one another are tracks of various animals. More than she can even begin to identify. Then after the tracks, there are a series of evenly spaced trees, each one a different type, though the more magical ones are already showing signs of dying. Jason shakes his head at this, ¡°Well, Peter is apparently more than just a ranger.¡± These odd scenes continue for a little longer. Each new section displays some feature of the kingdom¡¯s wildlife. After that, new scenes appear. Instead of just single things it appears Peter has gone as far as to create full sized dioramas that depict various natural scenes. The two have a hard time deciphering anything from them though because of how decayed they all are. If the magical trees had just started to die, these scenes look as if they had been dead for days if not weeks for the ones farther from the local areas norm. Courtney rolls her eyes, ¡°You would think that someone from an illusion focused kingdom would use illusions for this sort of thing.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°You just want to see the magic in action. We both know that you won¡¯t get anything out of just seeing the magic. If all it took was to see someone cast the illusions, it would have gotten out no matter what the System wants.¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°Still, I would like a chance to examine it. The entire group has come out here for me to learn this magic, and I¡¯ve only heard of it online at this point. It feels like we¡¯ve come too far to ¡®give up¡¯, but that is just the lost cost fallacy rearing its ugly head. Everything about this special illusion magic has been hyped, and honestly? It is making me feel a bit leery at this point.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°It¡¯s just a variant. If it doesn¡¯t work out for you, go back to the normal stuff. Me and Rachel have been enjoying ourselves on the trip. Hell, Rachel is even getting personal instructions from what from all indications is an amazing ranger. For that alone, the trip was worth it! He isn¡¯t absurd as some of the people I¡¯ve met, but he must have learned something in the half a millennium he has probably been alive.¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. This gives Courtney something to think about so the rest of the time it takes for them to catch up to the other two is passed in silence. When they do meet up at first they can only see Peter who is just standing in the middle of the road. He waves them over. ¡°Take a moment and try to find Rosha. I¡¯ve given her a few tips on hiding and she wanted to test what she has learned.¡± Courtney glances around. There are a few trees near the road and a bush or two. Since Peter didn¡¯t say she had to stand still, she looks behind the trees and in the bushes but can¡¯t find her. All the while Jason stands next to Peter with his arms crossed. When Courtney turns to him he pushes Peter to the side and reveals Rosha standing behind him. He shakes his head, ¡°The first rule of hiding is that the best place is where people assume you wouldn¡¯t hide.¡± Peter laughs, ¡°I told you he wouldn¡¯t fall for it. He has old eyes. Next time you¡¯ll have to try and actually hide instead of trying to win through simple tricks. Not that I am saying you shouldn¡¯t use those tricks. Just don¡¯t depend on them. First hide properly and then you can throw some tricks on top of that.¡± Rosha harrumphs, ¡°I still hid from Courtney.¡± Peter rolls his eyes, ¡°Half of that was because of my work. If I hadn¡¯t misdirected her, chances are she would have seen you. It isn¡¯t like you can make your feet invisible. People just have a tendency to look at a person¡¯s face when they are talking and so didn¡¯t see them.¡± Rosha shrugs, ¡°Fine, you made your point. Now where would you have hidden?¡± Peter smiles, ¡°Not here! I only told you to not be found by them. Not that you had to hide here. While what Jason said was a good rule for when you have to hide, the best way to not be found is to not be there in the first place.¡± Jason laughs and claps his hands, ¡°That¡¯s a classic! Should have let her go on for a bit longer so she has a chance to catch on.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°I¡¯m more on the side of letting them know early so you can trick them later after they forget. I¡¯ve found it makes them remember the lesson better. Plus there is nothing funnier than when you remind them of it.¡± Rosha gives them both the stink eye. ¡°I¡¯m sure this is all fun for you both but maybe we should get a move on. The swarm cats aren¡¯t going to kill themselves. Plus our goal was to head to the bamboo city in the first place. Let¡¯s get a move on!¡± The other three laugh at this but none of them disagree. With the little game of hide and seek out of the way the group gets a move on and continues down the road. Soon after, though, they find their first swarm to fight. It was almost as if someone had been clearing the road ahead of them until it was time to get some fighting in with how fast they came upon them. Chapter 203 - That Doesnt Stack The swarm cats that approach the group can be seen from a distance away. Over a hundred cats form a roving carpet of fuzz and claws. At first they are moving slowly, but that changes as soon as the monsters spot the group. The cats change direction and charge toward the group. Seeing this Rosha feels the urge to facepalm. After Peter¡¯s talk, she had left her weapon in staff mode. Of course, the first fight they find starts at an extended range. By the time she could have the weapon changed back to bow mode, it would be time for her to change it back. Of course this does make her realize his point about just having multiple weapons, though it really burns her. She really liked the concept, even if the practicality has been called into question. Off to the side Peter smirks. The emotions washing over Rosha¡¯s face tell the tale of sad revelations. This isn¡¯t the first time he had seen a traveller realize how bad their fancy weapons actually were. One final shake of his head and Peter ghosts backward, fading from sight and mind of both the group and the cats. Only Rosha notices it happening and even then, just barely on the edge of her consciousness. She doesn¡¯t let it distract her though as she stands up front with Jason. Her hands choked up towards one end of the staff as she readies for a wide swing. She stands there in a state between tense and loose, ready. The swarm cats spread out to surround the group and she lets swing. The staff comes in low and the cats in the front jump over it, but the ones behind cannot dodge in time. Those hit are swept back, knocked into the cats behind them. While the swarm isn¡¯t stopped by this, the bunching up throws their movements into chaos. Around comes her staff again and she rebuffs them once more. To her side Jason is actually having a worse time of it. While he isn¡¯t in too much danger, the cats have swarmed over him. Rosha¡¯s wide sweeping attacks have kept them back. While this is less effective at killing the swarm, her attacks are much better at crowd control. Behind them, Courtney finishes her first spell. A wave of fire streams over everyone¡¯s head and the swarm cats pull back in fright. It frees Jason from them and Courtney takes this chance to release her second spell and once again Jason¡¯s skin takes on a bark texture. She had been preparing it for Rosha, but she was doing fine enough as it was. From besides her comes the sound of clapping and she jumps a little at the sudden appearance of Peter. ¡°Congratulations on finding one of the loopholes to a swarms resistance to illusion magic! They can¡¯t tell it isn¡¯t real if they can¡¯t interact with it. Of course that wouldn¡¯t work on any flying swarm but that isn¡¯t what we are fighting, now is it? Did you get the discovery bonus? Don¡¯t mind them, they can deal with the current swarm.¡± You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Courtney narrows her eyes, but in the end can only sigh. ¡°Yes, I did get a discovery bonus along with the knowledge bonus. Not the rarest thing, most people have one, but still nice to have more of.¡± Peter has a large toothy grin, ¡°Yes, most people do get a bonus or two as they grow up. That isn¡¯t what is important. The important thing is that while an illusion based discovery isn¡¯t required to get my nation¡¯s illusion variant, it makes it easier. That means that when it comes time to decide if you will be permitted to learn it giving proof of such a discovery will boost your chances. Oh, and this knowledge is also a kind of discovery thing, so it will mark any illusion discovery you find after learning this as such. We don¡¯t discount those discoveries, but they count for less.¡± Back in the fight Jason is once again swarmed, though with the barkskin buff he is able to focus more on suppressing the cats. Rosha on the other hand has changed up her strategy. Instead of focusing on the cats in front of her, she has turned to supporting Jason. With wide sweeps, she throws the excess cats away from Jason. While a few cats try to attack her the swarm has focused on Jason because of being able to crowd him without fear. Then Jason brings his arms in, with elbows tight to his chest, and he lets the cats build up on him. ¡°Rosha, back off a sec!¡±, he yells and gives her a couple seconds to react. His elbows, fists, shoulders, head, and back glow. Then with a violent jerk he throws his head back and arms out. The glow bursts out and rampages through the cats on him without being blocked. The cats below his waist are still clinging to him, but his upper body is bare of them. Rosha takes this chance to sweep the floor again and soon enough the swarm disperses. With the cats running away, the two of them turn to Peter. He claps, ¡°Once again your group has killed a swarm! This time you did some things right. Still did some things wrong as well. For instance, Courtney, I know I told you to buff them, but there is one little twist. Jason there has probably forgotten about it, but he doesn¡¯t need your barkskin. Jason, might you have some sort of passive skill that toughens your skin?¡± ¡°Huh¡±, Jason leans his head back, ¡°I. Might have? Give me a second to check.¡± Jason pulls up his character sheet and glances down through it before he facepalms. ¡°Yep, here it is. It is actually my cultivation skill. Makes my body as tough as wood at the moment.¡± Peter whistles, ¡°Ooh, that¡¯s nice! Good defense buff there which should grow with you. It also makes the barkskin buff useless on you. The buff doesn¡¯t add to your skin¡¯s toughness, just makes it like bark, which your skin already is.¡± Chapter 204 - Orange, White, and Tortoise Shell Then Peter turns to Jason. ¡°Don¡¯t think that means you did everything perfectly. Your little burst there was nice and all, but you kept it hidden too long. Going by how the other two reacted, you¡¯ve done nothing like it before. Trump cards are nice and all, but stop being an idiot about it. I don¡¯t know how Energy works, but you don¡¯t seem tired or worn out so you could have been doing that sort of thing more.¡± ¡°It is so much harder to help you when you¡¯re covered in the enemy. Don¡¯t let them swarm you like that for significant periods of time. Anyway, you¡¯re hurt like crazy. While the damage is consistent, it does get worse if you let them literally crawl all over you. Now let Courtney heal you up. You appear to have a crazy small health pool. Swarms could honestly be seen as your counter. Then again, they tend to be for any dodge tank which seems to be the role you¡¯re currently filling. Consistent damage instead of large dodgeable bursts of it really mess with agility focused people in general.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t feel left out Rosha, good job? Not perfect of course but meh, nothing to point out that is too important. I can go over the small stuff when I am training you one on one. Just keep sweeping the field and you should be fine.¡± Peter crosses his arms, and with his eyes closed, nods at them. Jason narrows his eyes, ¡°I guess that is a fair assessment. The swarm just didn¡¯t feel like much of a threat.¡± Peter laughs, ¡°Of course the swarm didn¡¯t feel like a threat. Swarms are the classic example of death by a thousand cuts. They aren¡¯t some leviathan that crushes you in a single blow. In fact, no known swarm has members past the third bottleneck.¡± Courtney scoffs, ¡°If that was the case, why are the swarms in this country so powerful? The swarms don¡¯t have all that many members. Last I checked, the oldest swarms capped out at just under a thousand members.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°A matter of terminology. We still call them swarms, but technically they aren¡¯t swarms anymore but rather hiveminds. Apparently whenever one member of a swarm on our planet breaks through the third bottleneck, the System elevates them. The swarm shifts from being a bunch of individuals to being a single being. An odd bit of System nonsense there. As far as our scientists can tell there is no reason for this. In theory, a swarm can continue to grow and level just like any other monsters. I guess it might just be a form of control so a swarm doesn¡¯t go out of control?¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Jason nods, ¡°A swarm going out of control can kill worlds. Sometimes quantity is the only quality you need. Combine that with growing levels? Honestly? Even level 24 seems a bit high. If I was in control, I would probably limit it to level nine. Making a hivemind is the best answer because then there is something in control with more of a survival instinct. Mobs and swarms tend to have a bit of a problem with realizing when to pull back.¡± Peter raises an eyebrow, ¡°Well, I wasn¡¯t wrong about you having old eyes. Anyway, look over there! Another swarm is coming.¡± The group turns and yep, another swarm is on the way. Only catch is this one is three times the size of the last. Over three hundred cats are now bearing down on the group as Peter laughs. ¡°I guess we are starting to see the results of that other group failing. This is a little bit much, though. Courtney, you cast barkskin on Rosha right now. Rosha, you¡¯re in front to hold them back as long as possible. Jason, whenever they try to flank I want you to dive in and kick them back. Don¡¯t question my orders for now. I¡¯m here to help in the first place. After the battle we can go over this though honestly we shouldn¡¯t have to. All three of you are smart cookies so should realize what my orders are about.¡± Courtney just nods and starts to cast her spell while Rosha prepares. The spell will let her hold position, but three hundred cats is just too much to keep them all back. Jason stands to the side and sighs. He has his throwing daggers, but there are only five of them. Not exactly going to help. The swarm is still a distance away, so Jason looks around, but there isn¡¯t a better place to face them. It might be a large open area, but this part of the road is on top of a slight rise. Everything else close by is flat with maybe some shrugs. Even the trees are more spindly. While you might be able to hide behind them, climbing them would be out of the question. Jason can only shake his head. Apparently Peter had planned this out to an even greater extent than he had expected. Jason shrugs, to only be expected. Peter must have traveled this route many times before. The man was over four hundred years old, for goodness sakes! He seems to be at least somewhat connected to the country. Maybe not in an official position, but you don¡¯t have someone as powerful as he is slumming around your country without some kind of deal. The cats are close now, so Jason drops the idle thoughts and focuses on them. As he takes a closer look, though he notices one final random thing. The last couple swarms had been a contiguous color throughout. This one he can tell it was made of a few combined swarms because there are orange, white, and tortoise shell colored cats. It actually feels a bit strange now that he notices it. Why would the swarms be a single color despite the other swarms being a different pattern? There must be a reason, but he can ask about it after the fight is over. Chapter 205 - You Forgot Something The leading edge of the swarm slams into Rosha¡¯s staff. To start it goes just like the first attack. Her swing throws them back with small masses trying to flank. Jason keeps those flanking attacks under control, his movement ability being shown in full as each step brings him in and out of combat at a whim. There are just too many cats in the swarm though and even with Jason making use of both his attack skills they surround the two. Being attacked from all sides, the swarm¡¯s damage kicks in. Cat claws sneak in between armor sections and slash at open flesh. Both of them are fine for the moment, Jason¡¯s naturally tough skin winning out and Rosha having barkskin cast on her. At this point Courtney comes in with another fire illusion overhead and the swarm flows back off of the two. The reprise is short though, and the cats are soon on the attack again and the two get covered once more. Another illusion comes, but the swarm is less affected, only doing enough to get the cats off the two before they resume. A third illusion and it is clear the swarm has realized what is up as they don¡¯t even twitch. This delay is enough though for Jason and Rosha to kill a good sixth of the cats but now they are into the slog. A good 250 swarm cats remain to harass them with the only saving grace being they aren¡¯t targeting Courtney because she is standing far enough away to not aggro them. Unnoticed by the three, Peter has his own fun to take care of. While the nearby area is flat, the area in front of the group rises like a wave frozen in earth. Just beyond it are three more swarms coming. Each of the swarms are of similar size to the one the group is currently fighting if not bigger, and Peter has snuck off to deal with these groups. He strides over the ground as the brush in his way flows out of his path. Behind him, the grass removes all signs of his passing. Peter arrives at the closest group and the grass extends out of the ground as hardened spikes, piercing most of the swarm cats. Only ten survive his culling and they try to escape towards another swarm. Peter isn¡¯t going to allow this and with a gesture the very earth rises up. Frightened, the swarm cats change direction and run away from not only the group but the other swarms as well. Peter nods at this and draws out a bow made of a glass-like bone. The third swarm is farther away than he wants to bother with, so he decided to go with a ranged option while he waits for the second swarm to charge him. From the ground, the grass once again rises up. Though this time instead of just spikes it takes the rough shape of arrows. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. He plucks the first one and fires it. The grassen arrow strikes one of the cats in the swarm. Peter clicks his tongue. He had been aiming for the center cat. That had been a ranging shot so to not hit the target wasn¡¯t out of the ordinary, but he knew these lands quite well. Peter shakes his head and reaches down for another arrow. As he lifts it up, the rest of them come up with it. He knocks the arrow and goes to pull back the string. The muscles on his arm strain and the bow creaks ominously. He releases the string. All around him the various grass arrows fly out, each one at a slightly different trajectory. The arrows streak out in straight lines. With a whisper quiet sound, they all strike at the same time. In the third swarm all but ten cats have been pinned to the ground with an arrow through the head. Moments later the arrows all shrink back down into normal grass stems that have planted themselves into the ground. Peter puts away his bone bow and turns to the remaining swarm. The cats have just reached his location and he shakes his head at them. With a wave of his hand this swarm as well is left with only ten members, their necks having all been broken by a sharp twist to the right. He shakes his head and sighs, ¡°I don¡¯t really like doing this.¡± With another wave of his hand, the grass pulls all the dead cats into the ground and he heads back to the group. Back with the group, things aren¡¯t going too badly. Not good, but they are still winning. The swarm has encompassed Courtney now as well, and she has moved to the center of the group to provide close healing support. There are only 50ish cats left and with each passing moment another one falls, the swarm hp no longer to support them. Jason steps forward, ¡°Rosha, guard Courtney. I plan to burst down these last few like last time!¡± Rosha backs into Courtney and sweeps out her staff to clear the area. The two retreat as Jason body blocks them and only a handful of cats decide to follow. 40 some cats crowd onto him as he crouches down and pulls his arms in tight. Once surrounded, Jason glows bright before he bursts outward. The cats on him go flying as the last of the group¡¯s health is blasted away. Those last few cats that had been chasing after the other two change direction and just scamper off into the distance. Escaping away into some nearby brush. Peter claps at their victory and to draw their attention to him. ¡°Wonderful! You actually communicated your plans. Though Jason, you¡¯re still missing one little detail.¡± Jason stands there in the center of so many dead cats and turns toward Peter with an eyebrow raised. ¡°Mostly certain I¡¯ve done everything you¡¯ve suggested. If I am missing something it is a thing you haven¡¯t said yet.¡± Peter gives him a big toothy grin. ¡°You¡¯re forgetting one little piece of advice I gave way back at the last inn. You haven¡¯t let your rabbit join the fight yet!¡± Chapter 206 - Breaking Peter Jason pauses for a second. ¡°Huh, you¡¯re right. I guess I¡¯ve just gotten so used to her not being a part of the fight I just jump right in without thinking about it. Going to have to work on that. I don¡¯t want to reduce her to just a shoulder accessory or something. Anyway, I¡¯m going to check my gains from the fight.¡± Peter laughs, ¡°Unless you were right at the edge of gaining a level I don¡¯t see how it could have given you anything.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°Well lets just see about that then. The fight wrap up seems to have a few gains on it. Now what do we have on it. Hmm, a point of control! That¡¯s a tasty little treat. Ooh, and a couple points of toughness doesn¡¯t hurt either. Though what is really tasty is the five extra hit points. Probably going to come out with a decent amount because of the swarms. Haven¡¯t really been gaining in that because my fighting style is so focused on avoidance.¡± Peter throws both his hands up. ¡°What is with that gain! And Control? Where did that come from? Seriously, what is up with you?¡± Courtney and Rosha laugh at this while Jason shakes his head. Once the other two calm down Jason explains, ¡°I¡¯m actually quite behind because I don¡¯t gain stat points on level up. As for control? The skill I keep using is only a variant of blast punch meant to be used with Energy. It just happens that I always knew how to use it anywhere on my body. Now that I¡¯ve codified it as a punch skill the use of it for non-punch attacks is stretching it and my ability to control the Energy.¡± Peter scrunches his face up, ¡°You what? Everyone gets stat points at level up!¡± Jason shrugs again, ¡°Not me.¡± Peter is practically shaking at this point. ¡°That isn¡¯t how that works! I could accept that you had a core already. While a bit rare for a traveller to get one this early it is common enough in royal families and such. But not getting skill points? Who would do that? HOW, would you do that?¡± ¡°Sure you can gain points naturally but that is so slow! You shouldn¡¯t be even half as effective as you are if that is the truth. In the name of the fox goddess, how do you even have enough Energy to make it through a fight? How did you keep using that burst skill when you shouldn¡¯t have more than, like, ten Energy?¡± Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Jason laughs, ¡°I¡¯m almost there. Got eight Energy at the moment. Hopefully with all the use I am making of it during these fights it will go up again!¡± Peter shakes his head, ¡°You did this on purpose, didn¡¯t you? This doesn¡¯t seem like a thing you would fall into. You¡¯re a traveller and while rare I know you types can on occasion reincarnate into a new body. If this was a curse, I am certain you would have done so already. With such a low level you couldn¡¯t have here for all that long.¡± With a smirk, Jason drops another bomb on Peter. ¡°Yeah, I haven¡¯t been here long, only a few months I think? Haven¡¯t really kept track of it now that I think about it. Still took me a while to get to this level. I only receive a tenth of the experience from stuff.¡± Peter¡¯s eye twitches, ¡°Are you. Why would? GARARA heeeeh, WHY?! HOW?! You¡¯re already past the second bottleneck! At a tenth the experience point, just ignoring how in the world you did that, you shouldn¡¯t even be at the bottleneck, let alone past it!¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I just had to go exploring along the edge of that wasteland with the spires in it. Fighting monsters above your level provides a good boost in xp. That¡¯s actually how I met Lily here.¡± Peter freezes in place. A few moments pass before his eye twitches again. Then a look of realization crosses his face. ¡°Wait, hold up. That rabbit, the one on your shoulder. It. No, She, is from the rabbit plains? You made a pet out of a rabbit from There?¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°No, that would be stupid. She¡¯s my companion.¡± All the muscles in Peter¡¯s face go slack. ¡°She¡¯s a companion. Of course she would be a companion! Of all the things about you, why does that make the most sense? Of course the rabbit from the rabbit plains isn¡¯t a pet. You¡¯d be dead a thousand times over if you had a pet rabbit from there. No, it would have to be a companion.¡± Peter¡¯s breath is ragged at this point and there is a crazed look in his eye. ¡°Why? Just Why?¡± He turns to Courtney, ¡°Do you have secrets to drop like a supercharged fireball on me? Rosha already has one of those odd weapons, and Jason there kicked it up a notch too far with all that nonsense. Please tell me you¡¯re normal! You just want the kitsune¡¯s illusion magic, right? You aren¡¯t trying to collect some set of variants or something, right?¡± Courtney laughs, ¡°I guess not being as intimately familiar with the world as you are let how odd he is slipped by me. It doesn¡¯t help that from what I¡¯ve heard, all the other locals who found out about this stuff have been rather lax about it. We should probably keep it under wraps in the future. Anyway, no, I am not going after other variants. I just want to improve my illusions, and this was the best way within any reasonable distance from where we started.¡± Peter closes his eyes and rubs the bridge of his nose. ¡°Thank all the gods and goddesses! I don¡¯t think I could have taken anymore of this. And yes, don¡¯t tell anyone else. Now I need to rest for a bit. I don¡¯t think my heart can take much more of this.¡± Chapter 207 - Courtneys Research Backlog Increases Peter closes his eyes and rubs the bridge of his nose. ¡°Thank all the gods and goddesses! I don¡¯t think I could have taken anymore of this. And yes, don¡¯t tell anyone else. Now I need to rest for a bit. I don¡¯t think my heart can take much more of this.¡± Peter walks over to a nearby tree and leans up against it. Once he has gotten comfortable, he yells at the group, ¡°I¡¯m going to put up a sound barrier and take a nap. There shouldn¡¯t be any monsters worth note nearby so we can continue once I have recovered.¡± Then he pulls out his shell and sets it down. Back with the group, Jason shakes his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t even tell him my biggest secrets. I think my concept of normality might be a bit warped because of the locals I¡¯ve been having to deal with.¡± Rosha laughs at this, ¡°You think? Just Andrew alone is like a fourth wall breaking comic book character already and from what I¡¯ve heard of your time after the rest have just been even worse. While it isn¡¯t rare to experience the higher level locals, you¡¯ve met up with some of the odder ones.¡± Courtney shakes her head, ¡°I think we all might have a bit of a warped perspective honestly. I had heard of people getting more experience and so just assumed being able to do stuff like that wasn¡¯t too out of the ordinary. With how Peter reacted, I am going to have to go back over the data. My original thought was no one bothered with reducing the amount received because that would be stupid for most people but there might be more to it. Maybe it is something people can¡¯t do, at least in normal circumstances.¡± Rosha raises an eyebrow, ¡°And you aren¡¯t going to look into that variant set thing? Don¡¯t tell me you missed how he said it.¡± Courtney rubs the back of her neck. ¡°Well, I was going to look into it. If I had to guess though it is probably like a set of gear. Must be hard though because it didn¡¯t come up in my research for the kitsune¡¯s illusion variant.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°Taking a long time to complete is honestly a good quality to have in NeoRealm. With who you are there is every chance you will be in here an easy five hundred years or more. A hundred years chasing something that will let you stand above your peers will be worth it. Especially since you never know what kind of life extension tech will be available in the future. Just look at the larger families in NeoRealm. No king from what I¡¯ve seen will be less than a hundred years old.¡± Courtney raises an eyebrow, ¡°With how he mentioned it, I don¡¯t think this will be a matter of just a hundred years. It sounded more like one of those fairy tales.¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Jason smiles, ¡°But you¡¯re missing a key element, we¡¯re travellers! There are plenty of examples of other travellers getting previously impossible things just because we don¡¯t stay dead. So many things require you to do things before specific bottlenecks that the locals can¡¯t focus too heavily on. For those that go out and adventure, the gaining of levels is a matter of life and death. They can¡¯t just not break a bottleneck because they want to farm achievements or some such.¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°You¡¯re not wrong. There are people who spend over a decade at the second bottleneck just to maximize some specific rewards you can get. You can even find rumors of people in the early days who tried to never level up once. Ironically, you are the closest I¡¯ve ever seen to that being a viable strategy. Though that brings up the question of if you could have throttled your experience gain down to nothing.¡± Jason nods, ¡°Totally could have done that. Though ten percent was enough for what I wanted. It would have been interesting to try if it wasn¡¯t for the fact I can only have one avatar. If it wasn¡¯t for the level suppression, which is harder on me I might add, I could see myself having no problem.¡± Rosha looks up, ¡°Why would you be hit harder by level suppression? Isn¡¯t that just to keep a level ten character from killing some level one hundred dragon and other silly situations?¡± Jason laughs, ¡°What do you think I¡¯ve been doing? I¡¯ve fought third break monsters before I had even passed the second bottleneck. Part of my reward for hitting level ten was a harsher suppression.¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°You¡¯re still not having much of a problem hitting above your level.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°You should have seen me when fighting the wasteland monsters. Though I honestly don¡¯t mind the restriction that much. It honestly makes sense to me because what it does is protect the monster¡¯s vital areas. With magic and what not, you have to expect creatures to passively have those areas protected. Plus it isn¡¯t some omnipotent thing. My fist doesn¡¯t hit a brick wall just because I try to punch a monster¡¯s kidney.¡± ¡°Also, I think there is a secret to it. Have you ever thought about why travellers have an easier time fighting monsters? Some of the locals seem to be just as competent if not more so than us. Yet they all seem to be under the threat of death if they aren¡¯t careful. I would have to watch some of them fighting monsters of equal or greater level than themselves, but I suspect it isn¡¯t the System adding more suppression to me. Rather, I think it might be that the System no longer holds back the monsters as much against me. My increased suppression might actually be a matter of having less System aid.¡± Courtney holds her chin with her thumb and rests her index finger on her nose. ¡°Hmmmm, Hmmm, I¡¯m going to have to watch a bunch of videos this next break it seems. Though this shouldn¡¯t be something that no one has found yet? I don¡¯t think so, at least. Then again, people might have noticed it and just thought it was a mechanic to suppress the locals instead of coming at it from the opposite direction. Scratch that video watching. I need to get a team on this because it could have quite the fallout. This might even explain a couple mysteries people have had about NeoRealm for a while.¡± Chapter 208 - Lily Joins In Peter grabs his shell and stretches while yawning. ¡°So after that quick break we can head out. There should be some more swarms just out of range that you guys can play with. I want you to try and not get surrounded this time though. Be more proactive and keep mobile. You guys apparently have some ridiculous stuff going for you, so give it a shot.¡± Jason rubs his eyes, ¡°Will we even be able to reach the next waystation today? I know we suspected that we would have to camp out overnight, but honestly it feels like we haven¡¯t gone all that far. We could probably retreat to the previous one and be back within a few hours.¡± Peter laughs, ¡°We totally could. In fact, it would be quite reasonable. If anything, the guild would prefer that as it would lead to you culling more swarms. That isn¡¯t what we will be doing though. Since I¡¯ve been committed to helping you three, we will rough it tonight. I need to see how you guys handle camping out. When it comes time to set up camp, I will disappear into the background so just do whatever you guys usually do.¡± The group look at one another and roll their eyes before they begin to travel again. Not for long though as they soon meet another swarm just as Peter had predicted. This time they knew it was coming, so had prepared better for it. Courtney had already buffed Rosha while Jason opened up the harness Lily was staying in. They walk over a small rise and there are the swarm cats. This time unlike the previous swarms, the cats had all laid down and were stretched out in the sun. While this was unexpected Jason didn¡¯t want to lose a chance to get a solid hit in. He crouches down and takes a flying leap. The swarm is a distance away but with the difference in height and some surreptitious use of his movement skill to stretch out his air time Jason makes it. He comes crashing down on the edge of the swarm just as the threads burst out of his war stomp. Caught unaware, the swarm is unable to protect themselves properly and a good thirty of the cats are pierced by the threads. Of those cats twenty of them die while the other ten vomit blood and bits of their organs as the swarm¡¯s collective health pool heals the continuous damage being dealt out. Behind Jason, Rosha slams into the swarm just moments later. While the cats are more aware of the threat, she still sweeps away a good 12 or so cats. Three of which are directly killed. Then they both pull back and start to move around the swarm in opposite directions. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. With their attention split, the swarm takes a few crucial moments to decide which of the two to target. Taking this chance, Courtney sends out another stream of illusionary fire over their heads. All the while Rosha continues to sweep her staff into the mass of cats, bashing away three to five a swing. Jason has a harder time of adding to this but he can still duck in a couple times to blast away at the cats nearest him. This disparity in damage dealt the swarm as a whole turns toward Rosha after it recovers from the fiery distraction. Jason was waiting, though. Now ignored, he drops low and sweeps low with a blast empowered kick. It throws tens of cats into the air and more than a handful suffer the brunt of his skill, dying from the massive damage. This sudden explosion of damage attracts aggro right away and the swarm turns back towards Jason. He was expecting it though as the cats bunch up to attack him the foot he used to kick out finishes its rotation. Jason pivots and adds on to the momentum, slamming his heal out towards the piled up cats. This time though, instead of never ending threads, a flower blooms. With the cats gathered up, the razor-like petals are able to pierce through multiple targets. This attack really stacks up the damage. It is to the point that the swarms health pool backfires as overkill damage is transferred over to cats that didn¡¯t get hit. Off to the side Peter whistles. ¡°Nice! You generally need some swarmbane gear to get damage to transfer. That¡¯s a killer skill you have going on. Now hurry up with the cleanup. I¡¯m going to watch the rabbit so don¡¯t get yourself killed or some such.¡± And Peter turns away from Jason and back to where they first hit the swarm. Lily had jumped off of Jason¡¯s shoulder at some point while he was there and she stayed behind to fight. With her being so small, much of the swarm¡¯s offensive power has been robbed. Having to actually try and land their attacks shows that individually the cats aren¡¯t worth all that much. Lily though is having just a ball of a time. Back and forth, to and fro, she hops and bounces around. The cats can¡¯t stop her and with paws sheathed in Energy, Lily attacks with wild abandon. While she isn¡¯t a skilled fighter her high levels of agility make up for it. Her attacks aren¡¯t quite enough to burst down any specific cat but she is adding a steady stream of damage and chipping away at that pooled hp total the swarm has going on. Then, as the fight continues, the cats start to run out of that health. Jason and Rosha don¡¯t notice too much of a change but to Lily it is blindingly clear. Now despite her claws not doing all that much damage, the cats are falling right and left. With this the swarm just isn¡¯t able to stay cohesive and the cats break apart, fleeing off into all directions. This could even be seen as them having fled too soon as it forces Peter to deal with a couple stragglers to get the numbers down enough. Chapter 209 - How the Monster Tamers Do With the latest of swarms defeat, Peter goes back into lecture mode. There wasn¡¯t much to go over for Courtney except a few mentions of when she could have distracted the swarm better. Rosha also did her job for the most part. When it comes to Jason though, Peter has a good bit to say. ¡°You keep pulling out new tricks. You¡¯re like a small pond which actually keeps going deeper and deeper. That isn¡¯t necessarily bad, but it isn¡¯t good either. Presumably your skills have been growing?¡± Jason pulls up his combat skill real quick. His cultivation skill, Energetic Body Reinforcement, has gone from up by two levels and 37.5% so it now sits at Apprentice level 3 and 37.5%. Desolate Traversal has only gone up 80.01% and is now Apprentice level 8 and 80.31%. The new skill to the list, War Stomp, has grown quickly already having ranked up to Initiate and on top of that gained a level and 17.3% since he last checked. The winner though is Blast Punch, which has gotten three levels and 31.6% putting it at Initiate level 4 and 31.6%. Now not all of this is from the swarms as Jason hasn¡¯t checked the skill levels in a while but still impressive. He doesn¡¯t even have to speak up though as Peter just sighs. ¡°You don¡¯t have to say anything. Just by the look on your face, I can tell you gained at least a level in all your combat skills. Going by how good you are I also have to assume these aren¡¯t Novice skills either.¡± ¡°I counted you using either three or four skills depending on if that was two different stop skills or just one. Seeing as you didn¡¯t just go for another punch skill though I will assume your got lucky again and that is just one skill. You also have that body based passive skill which gives you the tough skins. Probably does more so lets say four skills? And no, I don¡¯t want to know if I am right or not. The bottom line though is you¡¯re lacking. I don¡¯t want you to have 20 different skills but rather just eight to ten combat focused ones if you¡¯re going to keep adventuring.¡± Jason looks at Courtney and Rosha, then back to Peter. ¡°I don¡¯t think they have quite that many skills? Why should I specifically have so many instead of focusing on improving what I have?¡± Peter laughs, ¡°Oh, they have quite a few skills for combat. Though admittedly magic skews things. Courtney¡¯s illusion magic would count as three to four skills because of how versatile it is. Rosha on the other hand just hasn¡¯t had much of a chance to use her various skills. Remember, her weapon is like four or more different things in one. She should have a combat skill specific to each form. Plus a couple bow based tricks because those are easy enough to learn.¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Once she gets set up with a selection of weapons Rosha will really be able to take advantage of her abilities. About the only thing she has that might go to waste is if there is a specific skill for a bladed staff. While those are splendid weapons my advice on that is just get a wood staff. Important as there isn¡¯t much blunt damage available in the other forms and you don¡¯t really want to be lugging around two staves.¡± ¡°Plus that¡¯s just more gear you would have to upgrade. Yesterday this would be the point that I¡¯d ask what all you have to upgrade, but let¡¯s just skip that question. You do you and I keep my sanity. What I really want to talk about is the rabbit. Not much technique, though she is clearly copying you. Decent agility, going to guess around 40 points in it, though the rest of the main stats likely haven¡¯t hit twenty.¡± ¡°All around a decent stat line for a rabbit barely into her second break. I have no clue why she is so small. Though this might be getting repetitive I also don¡¯t want to know. The real question is what happens to the extra experience she gets that can¡¯t go into leveling? More to the point, I know what happens, but do you?¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°Experience isn¡¯t set to transfer if she is equal or greater level to me.¡± Peter nods, ¡°A decent setup, but that misses one key point. She isn¡¯t a pet. When she fights, she gets experience for it yet is unable to actually gain any progress towards the next level. Technically, some of it will sit in a pool, stored till she can gain a level. Anything past gaining the next level however has to go somewhere. That place is her stats. With how slow you level this will be a great boon for you as you don¡¯t have to hold yourself back.¡± ¡°Some monster tamers will actually hold back on leveling as long as possible to get the max amount of stats for their charges. They set the transfer to be 100% at the pets and grind. Some of the longer-lived races have the scariest monsters. Taking my own race, the elves. We have literal behemoths that were raised from birth by promising tamers. Depending on the specific monster¡¯s threshold for stat growth, they can have four to five times the stat points of a wild one.¡± ¡°These are creatures that grow to the final bottleneck naturally. Beings who age can be uncountable and that consider most other beings on the planet as mere annoyances. Even the short-lived people like the goblins will have some sort of monstrosity to back them up. Higher levels do allow for a longer life so they might not have quite maxed out their pets growth, but they get close enough. The aquatic races in particular have some horrifying things under their control. Though it doesn¡¯t hurt that in the water things can grow much bigger.¡± Chapter 210 - With a ★ Jason thinks over what Peter had just told him when something stuck out to him. ¡°How does that xp overflowing into stats work exactly? You mentioned it started at level ten, but Lily is already level 12. Did she miss out on a lot of stats because I didn¡¯t know about this? Also, how many more stats can she get? Delaying my levels isn¡¯t hard, what with how I¡¯m not really going all that fast to begin with. On the other hand, how would I know she has gained as much as possible?¡± Peter laughs, ¡°Yes, everyone asks those things when they first learn about this. No one likes the answer either.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°There¡¯s no way to know, is there?¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°Every being that the System counts as alive has its own potential. Even you travellers can¡¯t escape this. Though I must admit the limits are a lot looser on you guys. As for how you can tell? Look for a star. Any stat that has reached its max base value will get a little star next to it. Sadly, there is no way to tell if you¡¯ve always maxed the stat in the past as it only represents current possible max value.¡± ¡°Speaking of the current max, there are two things that determine this. Going up in level will increase your possible max. On the other hand, each bottleneck will cut off your potential max. If a person got plus one max agility every level then at level 24 they would have an additional 14 potential for it. If they never gained a single one of those points and broke through to level 25. They would have only a single point to gain because it has cut the previous potential off.¡± ¡°Of course that is just your natural potential. Stat points from leveling up aren¡¯t affected by it. You¡¯re looking only at the base stat. Also, there are things that can increase a creature¡¯s potential, but they tend to be rare and highly sought after. After all, those clans with behemoths and leviathans will spend fortunes to increase their guardian beast¡¯s potential. Even the low end treasures are rare. In fact, they are even more sought after. Those same clans will be trying to raise the next generation of guardian, and other clans will want to be raising their own.¡± Jason nods, ¡°Okay, so the important bits is I should try and get stars on her and my own stats.¡± Peter rubs the bridge of his nose, ¡°Like, no one goes for maxed personal stats. I don¡¯t even necessarily advise it for your rabbit. Monster tamers are a special case. They will have skills that scale off of their monster¡¯s stats. Even with that, most only max a single monster, the one that they have chosen as their life partner. Now a person maxing their stats? How in the heavens is someone supposed to do that?¡± ¡°For most people the points from gaining levels outweigh any gain through training or experience. Starting with level ten people are getting five points a level and it only gets crazier from there. People find it more than worth their time to just increase their level. Sure a person will eventually get stuck behind a bottleneck but earned points overwrite gained points so they won¡¯t experience an increase in ability. People of course have tried for it, but there aren¡¯t any rewards. Not even a title. About the only stat people even consider maxing is control.¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. At the side Rosha tilts her head to the side. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t people want to max something like mana?¡± Peter pauses at this and thinks back. ¡°Oh right, I forgot to mention this only counts for normal stats, not auxiliary stats. Aux stats can be trained as high as you want, but they have diminishing returns. This actually makes it popular for people to work on them when at a bottleneck. Normal stats might not be worth it because it won¡¯t actually boost them, but aux stats just are weird.¡± Jason thinks about this new info. It makes some sense to him because most of the auxiliary stats seem to be pools. Though a couple things stick out to him. ¡°What¡¯s up with defense and any normal stat you get later on?¡± Peter laughs, ¡°You seem to have figured out most of the aux stats. Basically the various pools, stuff like Mana and Stamina. And that has you wondering about defense. After all, it isn¡¯t exactly a pool. Yeah, someone sundering your armor can reduce it, but that isn¡¯t really what we are talking about. What you¡¯re suffering from is a lack of information.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, most travellers don¡¯t bother with the difference in the first place so not knowing it is normal. Speaking of normal lets put a solid definition to what normal stats are. The so-called normal stats represent when your body is no longer normal. Ironic, isn¡¯t it? Though I guess with you travellers, it isn¡¯t so much the case as you all start with the basic three. Anyway, stats, all of them, only show up once you have developed them enough to be beyond the norm. What makes normal stats normal is they represent your body.¡± ¡°Your body? You might ask. Isn¡¯t defense a part of my body? Let me learn you some facts. Defense isn¡¯t actually your body¡¯s defense, or even how much a piece of gear can protect you with its natural material. Otherwise a sheet of leather would be able to protect you just as much if not more than a decent suit of leather armor. After all, it covers more. Defense represents a non-specific mystical force. Some have called it the concept of protection.¡± ¡°If you want to talk about how much your body can take that would be toughness. Hp is actually similar to Defense, except it is more ablative. Now don¡¯t get me wrong, zero hp still means dead unless there is some magic involved or very special skills. Anyway, you might have cottoned onto what aux stats represent already and yes, they are the external to your body. Now there are rumors of some people who have made stuff like their mana a normal stat but those all involve maxed locals.¡± ¡°Oh, and as for the normal stats you get later? Best scholars can figure is that they have all the potential you would have gotten in the last break available. So take that example with agility before. If he only gained agility after hitting level 25 he would have the 14 potential as well as the one for that level. Not perfect, so you still want to aim towards getting any important stats on a pet before they break the fourth bottleneck.¡± Chapter 211 - Exit Stage Nevermind Jason sighs, ¡°So suffice to say I have a lot of work to do.¡± Peter laughs, ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much. Since you¡¯re on the same break as the others but still at a lower level you will get a boosted amount of experience for your work.¡± Jason just shakes his head at this. ¡°I¡¯ll still probably have to wander off on my own whenever we reach a bottleneck.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°The next one you reach isn¡¯t all that hard to get through. You just have to beat a dungeon which you can do with a team as long as they are all below the third bottleneck as well. Oh, you can also reach Apprentice in a production skill if that¡¯s your jam.¡± Jason is about to say something else when a shocked look flashes across his face. ¡°So uh, what happens if you happened to have a skill of the right rank but don¡¯t want to break the bottleneck that way? Oh, and does a farming skill count as production?¡± Peter levels a piercing gaze at Jason. ¡°Well, you produce produce when farming, don¡¯t you? Of course it counts, though the fact that you have a production skill and a farming one at that shocks me. The kicker of it apparently being already at apprentice is just icing.¡± He pauses and shakes his head. ¡°You know I promised myself that I wouldn¡¯t be so easily surprised by your nonsense? Why do you, a melee fighter, have a production skill famous for being sedentary already have it at apprentice? Now of course farming based skills aren¡¯t rare among fighters. Too many people start their lives as farmers to not have it.¡± ¡°But you, you¡¯re only just past the second bottleneck! By the time you get to the third, you¡¯re supposed to just begin getting your most used skills up to apprentice. Most crafters and harvesters still end up having to wait awhile once they hit the bottleneck. Farming isn¡¯t even your primary focus and you¡¯re that good already?¡± With a sigh, he throws his hands up. ¡°You know what? Don¡¯t tell me. But yeah, you can choose to go for the other method to breakthrough. While the third bottleneck doesn¡¯t have too many specialized rewards, there is a difference between beating it by combat or skill. Though just so you know, most people go about it the opposite way. They end up beating dungeons with their group of friends but want to wait for their skill. Oh, and while it won¡¯t matter much for you, I should note that once you decide to delay, you can¡¯t take it back. Now what were we doing again?¡± Jason thinks about it. But he had also lost what had started the discussion. Off to the side Rosha laughs while Courtney shakes her head and tells them. ¡°Peter was going over the last battle. You both got sidetracked from talking about pets and then stats. We should probably continue on to the next swarm or we won¡¯t ever get through here.¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Jason and Peter both look away while whistling. Courtney rolls her eyes, ¡°I don¡¯t think there is much more interesting combat today. We have a fighting style figured out and now it is just a matter of refining it.¡± Courtney wasn¡¯t wrong either. Throughout the rest of the day the group would come across swarm after swarm. Courtney would stand back to buff and throw the occasional illusion. Rosha and Jason continue to flank the swarms. While Lily would get up and close with the swarm cats. Lily even received her first stat boost from experience, upping her base toughness by one. Not a lot, but when the enemies she is fighting aren¡¯t high level you can¡¯t expect much. No day can go on forever though, and soon the night is upon them. As the three look around for a campsite, they do notice that at some point Peter had left. He had promised he would, but it is still creepy to not know when he did so. Especially with how chatty he could be. Jason just shakes his head at it. In all the experience he has had both now and in the past, stealth types just can¡¯t help but do disappearing acts. After a certain point in skill he hasn¡¯t seen a single one of them just walk out of a room normally, always with either the sudden disappearance or the mysterious vanishing. Of course what none of them had considered was the other classic stealth move, hiding in plain sight. Peter was still there right next to them. The group just couldn¡¯t spot him. What better place to observe how they dealt with the night? And maybe, just maybe, answer some of his questions. For instance, Jason¡¯s farming skill. That got answered right quick when the boy pulled out one of the better entry level portable planters. Not only was he growing stuff on the road but it was all interesting things though the presence of glowy weed was a bit confusing. Another question was answered when Rosha finished her chores. Peter had felt some negative vibes from his accidental trainee, and now he knew why. The second she was free, Rosha rushed over to Lily and started to snuggle with her. Peter can only shake his head, ¡®Yep, not going to be dissing the bunny anymore.¡¯ He hadn¡¯t been planning on doing it much since he learned of her origins. Other than that, not much happens until it comes time to set up watch. Courtney is up first but that isn¡¯t what draws his attention. Instead of sleeping, Jason was meditating, no, cultivating next to his planter. Though Peter wasn¡¯t the best at sensing the atmospheric power but even he could tell that from all around Energy was being drawn. The area around the boy was filling up with Mana and Qi. Now normally that would put a limit on how efficiency the boy could cultivate. Instead, Peter finds the reason for his garden. All that built up power was being sucked into the waiting plants. This likely also explained why the skill was already so advanced. Unorthodox uses can boost skill growth something fierce if it is particularly clever, and Peter has to admit that using farming to increase your cultivation speed is new to him. Chapter 212 - Someone else is home Peter continues to watch Jason cultivate for a little longer before he turns his attention to the others. He is after all, supposed to be watching how they handle camping out. Though not much else attracts his attention as the group cycles through a bog standard night. The same sort of setup and schedule as anyone else would use when they only have three people. Back to Jason, he has just finished taking his turn at watching for danger. After handing off to Rosha, he settles down and logs off. As Jason wakes up in his capsule though something is different. In the corner of the small screen just above him there is a small alert going off. He pops the lid and stretches. ¡°Welp, guess mom is home.¡± When he leaves his room, he can hear the sounds of stuff banging around in the kitchen. Jason can only shake his head before heading over. Inside, he finds her rooting around in the cupboard for something or other. ¡°Mom, you ran out of your hidden snacks last week and haven¡¯t picked up more yet.¡± She turns to him with a big smile and goes after him for a bear hug, ¡°What are you talking about? I don¡¯t have a hidden stash of snacks!¡± Jason ducks to the side and counters with a normal hug. ¡°And that is exactly why you don¡¯t have any. We both know you have to go and buy the stuff yourself. Can¡¯t have others finding out through the re-order history. Not that anyone cares that you splurge on imported chocolate.¡± She crosses her arms, ¡°Local chocolate just tastes like vomit!¡± Jason lets her go and shrugs, ¡°I won¡¯t deny that. Why they still use that acid even though they switched to use fresh milk long ago is a mystery to me. Well, I guess not actually. Nostalgia is a powerful force sometimes. The fact that only one company had the process to use rancid milk yet the other local ones copied the flavor anyway shows that. And it was hundreds of years ago. That original company has been dead for ages yet there are people who still mourn for it, nevermind they¡¯ve never personally had their stuff. Cultural icons die hard.¡± She nods, ¡°One guy I work with has a collection of vintage souvenirs from the places park. Their mascots were literally just anthropomorphic candy, and the stuff is legit hilarious. He takes it seriously though, and it isn¡¯t like I don¡¯t have a hobby or two myself. Now how about you tell me how you¡¯ve done? It hasn¡¯t been all that long, just a week or so, but with NeoRealm¡¯s five times nonsense, that¡¯s a few months already.¡± Jason takes a moment to think while he grabs the last chocolate milk from the fridge, studiously ignoring his mother¡¯s pout. ¡°Just like you¡¯ve always said, I¡¯ve taken the slow and steady approach. Only up to level 12 at the moment. Got the control stat already as well. I actually checked it just before logging out and I¡¯ve increased it to 16 and I even have a 25 stamina.¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. His mother nods, ¡°Tracking pretty well there. Too many people try to rush through the early content when that is actually the best time to pick up quests and such. Did you get the weapon you were hoping for?¡± Jason nods, ¡°Yeah, I just had to walk far enough to specialize in truly unarmed combat. Though you were wrong on what the System would give me as weapon rewards. It didn¡¯t default to giving armor instead, but rather is upgrading my body. Traded out my skeleton for a soulbound magic item and my lungs now have a ritual in them that will let me breath underwater as well as expel unwanted matter from them for an Energy cost. Oh, and I ended up with Energy instead of Qi, so that¡¯s a thing.¡± She sighs and rolls her eyes, ¡°Of course you would choose the rarest of the three. Not that I could have helped much, even if you had gone with Qi. Mana¡¯s my thing. Now that was all interesting and some of it had real long-lasting benefits, but I can tell you left the best to last. What¡¯s got you so smug?¡± Jason smiles, ¡°You¡¯re already a high enough level to know so I guess I can tell you. Guess which lucky fool formed his core at level zero?¡± She pauses and then gives him that mom look with one eyebrow raised. ¡°You do realize that is impossible, right? You can¡¯t gain anything like that at level zero because you don¡¯t leave the tutorial till level one. Plus as you pointed out, that is sort of a level based thing. Sure if you know about it then you can form it early but it isn¡¯t exactly something anyone in the know can talk about.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°It isn¡¯t impossible if forming it takes all your xp and drops your level. Though I will admit that I stumbled upon it completely by accident.¡± She shakes her head, ¡°And of course because you formed it early means you have an actual cultivation technique. One of the rarer skills to pick up and a clear divider between the strong and the weak. I guess I can reinvest the gold I have been saving to buy you one in a couple years. Not like both of us together would have been able to buy one like you¡¯ve got now. Truth rarity cultivation techniques just are not on the market.¡± Jason raises an eyebrow, ¡°How did you know it was Truth rarity?¡± She shrugs, ¡°The only way to get a core early if you aren¡¯t taught a method is to develop a technique of that rarity. Though I guess I should warn you about that. What it refers to when it says truth isn¡¯t necessarily a fact of the world, but rather something that is personally true for you on a deep level. Its like if someone says they are a lesbian. That is a personal truth and doesn¡¯t mean everyone else is also a lesbian. Other people can share that truth and sometimes it is even connected to a broader thing like how it is true that humans can love their own gender, but not always.¡± Jason nods along, but something catches his attention. ¡°How would the System in NeoRealm know if something was true for a person on a deep level? It isn¡¯t supposed to be able to read your mind.¡± Chapter 213 - A Goofy Situation Silence falls over the kitchen as Jason waits for an answer to his question. It drags on for what feels like a long time before his mother rubs the back of her neck and answers. ¡°Well, uh hmm. I guess to start on your question, the technology and machinery used for full immersion VR is incapable of reading your mind. Even now scientists cannot interpret the fine details of what each neuron firing in the brain would mean. In any other VR application, that is where you can stop. Just not possible. The pods only send and receive nerve signals to fool you into thinking you¡¯re somewhere else.¡± ¡°NeoRealm is an odd duck though. There are reasons it has dominated the world. Though let me reiterate, the machinery can not read your mind and no one could pull up what you are thinking, NeoRealm or not. The System can¡¯t even read your mind or anyone¡¯s mind, actually. That includes the locals, by the way. Though that isn¡¯t a rare thing. Once any program reaches sapience, the signals get too complex for others to parse. Makes it really easy to test for it, which is nice.¡± ¡°Anyway, as I said, none of our technology can read your mind. Now I can¡¯t talk too much further on the subject except to say that a truth rarity skill really does represent a personal truth. That the System gets this information from NeoRealm and as far as researchers have been able to find they aren¡¯t faked through extended observation by the System. You¡¯re a smart boy, so I am sure you can fill in some of the blanks on your own. For now though, I should head out and pick up some more choc... groceries.¡± And she slides around Jason. With eyebrows raised, Jason watches her leave the apartment. Once the door is closed, he shakes his head and checks the time. ¡®Well that took a bit of time. Though it was interesting to find out that the locals are actual people. It does make you wonder how the company has gotten away with basically letting people go around killing others. Probably at the start it was under the general ignorance of people saying it was just a video game.¡¯ ¡®Still the mind reading thing is a bit disturbing. Though honestly it sounds more like the will of heaven from my old life. Some mysterious non-entity sitting on high, which judges you. I never worried about it and I know the gods can¡¯t read your mind either so until I get more powerful it is probably best I drop this line of thought for the moment.¡¯ Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. And with that, Jason files it all away. Sure, just like anyone else it doesn¡¯t want to stay out of mind like when you tell someone to not think of a pink elephant. Through the use of some common meditation techniques, he is able to clear his mind. This however takes up the rest of the time he had out of the pod. Jason looks down at his half drunk bottle of chocolate milk and shakes his head before chugging it down. Time waits for no one and that is even more true at NeoRealm¡¯s five times speed. A few quick stretches later and he is back in the pod and then back in the game. As Jason gets up off his bedroll, he can smell some meat cooking over the fire. Peter noticing he was back waves him over. ¡°Got breakfast going! You alright with some meat to start the day? Don¡¯t worry, it isn¡¯t a cat. I know you travellers have a bit of a hangup on eating them. Though mind you, we don¡¯t eat actual cats here either. What we do eat are the swarm cats but that doesn¡¯t really count. There isn¡¯t enough of a mind in there to even cover all of sentience, let alone a spark of sapience.¡± Jason laughs at this, ¡°I¡¯m good for some, smells good after all. Though I think with the cat thing it has more to do with their looks and how many people have kept them as pets in our history.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°That sounds true enough. Not that we don¡¯t have people who keep pets. I even know some kitsune who like to keep foxes as pets. That just freaks me out though because if they live long enough the fox can turn into a kitsune. Like, really? You¡¯re keeping them as a pet and then at some point they might just turn into someone from your own species?¡± Peter shakes his head, ¡°I just can¡¯t get over it. Sure, not every fox can turn into a kitsune but those kept as pets are actually more likely to do so. Something about sympathetic magical connections, or some such.¡± Jason grabs one of the cooked skewers of meat and takes a bite. Decent flavor, but a little under-salted for his taste. Finished with the bit he sighs, ¡°Well with my people some have claimed a pet is like a child that never grows up. At least here the pet grows up. Though if I had to guess this probably comes from far back in the kitsune''s history. Since it is more common for foxes to become a kitsune when around other kitsune tribes might have kept them to bolster their ranks. It definitely doesn¡¯t hurt that a kitsune born from a fox will be more powerful than others.¡± Peter nods his head as he takes a couple more skewers off the fire. ¡°That actually would make sense. Though it would have to have happened a looooooong time ago for us to not know the why of it now. Most people can live quite a while already with just the lifespan gained from levels. The kitsune have a leg up on them because they have a lifespan similar to my people¡¯s. That is actually part of why the elves and the kitsune have been able to work so well together here.¡± Chapter 214 - Oh, Theres the Next Outpost Breakfast over, the group heads out. Over the course of the day, they meet up with four more swarms. There were more around, but Peter kept the bigger groups out of sight and under control. Through his masterful guidance, the group soon comes up on the next waypoint. Of course, nothing can ever be that easy. Around this outpost stands a sturdy stone wall, and why is obvious enough. There are numerous swarms gathered at the place, all trying to scale the wall. This would look like a horrible situation if it wasn¡¯t for how bored the people manning the wall looked. Peter shakes his head and sighs, ¡°I was hoping they would have cleaned up the mess by the time we got here. Looks like the garrison is being a bit lazy about it.¡± He pauses for a second and shakes his head again. ¡°Not that they aren¡¯t usually, I guess. Just that normally there would be less swarm cats around. Welp, if we want to sleep indoors tonight, we have to help out with cleaning up their mess. You guys head in to start and I will stay back in case any of you need help or it gets late.¡± Courtney nods and turns to the others. ¡°Jason, you head out first while I buff Rosha. We can¡¯t treat this like a normal swarm and I have no clue how they will react to you so stay safe.¡± With a simple thumbs up, Jason turns and jogs toward the undulating mass of cats that are doing their best to flood over the top of the wall. With so many swarms overlapping, there is a danger of stacking damage. Luckily his main defense after dodging is more inline with damage reduction instead of blocking, so more minor hits are just fine in his book. Behind him Rosha waits. Having worked with Courtney over the last few days, she has gotten a sense for how long the buff takes to apply and so knows when to move out. With her ears up, she measures the distance and then she hears it. Not any specific part of the whispered chant but just a general feel and with that she¡¯s off. Ahead of her Jason has already reached the swarm cats and is fighting along with Lily. Rosha pulls back her staff and just moments before she reaches the fight Courtney¡¯s buff lands on her. With a smirk and a small hop, she crouches down before springing up in the air. All the momentum from her run turned into vertical motion. Both hands stretched behind her head and clutching the staff, she rotates in the air. Down she comes with the staff swinging forward. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The tip of the staff makes a resounding smash as it hits the ground first, the rebound enough to cancel out Rosha¡¯s downward motion. While this pushes her back a little the swarm cats in front of her are much worse off. The attack isn¡¯t able to transfer the excess damage to other cats like Jason¡¯s war stomp had but the ones it does hit are finished. No amount of communal health pool can make up for how damaged the cats within a pace of the strike have taken. Definitely overkill, but as Peter at the back commented to himself, ¡°if it works, it works.¡± Back with Jason, he is sticking closer to Lily this time. Can¡¯t really flank them this time. This decision proves more beneficial than anyone could have expected. With Lily at his side the swarms are disrupted. While they can still get swarm damage in on the other side, Lily forces them to come at her as individuals. A real lifesaver when the damage is already double ticking away at Jason¡¯s life. With the interference Lily is throwing up for him Jason is able to really let go on the swarm. Instead of waiting to use his various skills as finishers, he throws them out left and right. While he doesn¡¯t notice it himself, this is the first time he has used all his abilities to the max. Until now Jason had always relied heavily on his martial arts. Now he is throwing out blast punches and blasting away the enemies with war stomp almost non-stop. The deeper he falls into the groove of fighting, the more deadly he gets. Inside him though, a shocking change is going on. At the core of his being burns the sun that represents his Energy. If Jason could see it now it would shock him. Never has it roiled and rioted as it does now. The constant draw upon causing chaos as he for the first time pulls upon his full Energy capacity since he stabilized his cultivation. More and more Energy is pulled out through the threads, smaller than the System would normally permit. Slowly, to make up for this massive draw, more and more threads split off from existing ones as they grow fat on the sheer quantity of power being forced through them. Outside, Jason is too focused to notice the changes, but Peter isn¡¯t. While Rosha¡¯s fight by herself is like a masterful dance and Lily¡¯s ability to destroy swarm cohesion is amazing, he is almost forced to watch Jason¡¯s fight by his instincts. The flashes of Energy from Jason¡¯s punches not only become shorter but the brightness of each strike intensifies. More amazing though is how down below the war stomp has changed. Instead of being distinct releases of the skill both his feet are now ensconced in swirls of power. The left covered in an ever blooming lotus. The right seemingly covered in fuzz, though Peter can see this is actually innumerable threads, all of which seem to reach out towards the nearest enemy. If Rosha¡¯s fight is a dance, then Jason¡¯s fight is like a walk in the park. While his fists and feet do lash out his movements are calm. With his movement technique Jason walks around and each movement spells the end for numerous swarm cats. Chapter 215 - Have a Cookie Through waves of cats Jason strides. A backhand clears the way as his steps purge the crawling carpet below him. Left behind is Lily and Rosha as he proceeds deeper into the swarms. The only connection to the others is a small stream of magic coming in from Courtney as she does her best to keep his health up. Next to her Peter shakes his head, ¡°Keep the healing up. The longer he can stay like that, the better. My guess is that after this fight he is going to be even more ridiculous.¡± Jason continues on, his entire body a weapon as cats try to attack from all angles only to find themselves blasted off by bursts of Energy. Below his feet death spreads as each step deals damage that chains through the nearby cats. Behind him a carpet of dead cats grows with each step. In this brief span of time he has killed more of them than the group had killed over the last couple days. Up on the wall, the guards at first just sat back and watched the fun. Once things heated up though they couldn¡¯t not join in. None of them wanted to be shown up by a couple of adventurers and a rabbit. So with great haste they deploy the weapon of choice to deal with this yearly plague. From behind the lip of the wall, they haul large metal grates up and over. With some effort on the guards part, they drop one after another all around the wall. These grates don¡¯t kill every cat, but it takes a significant chunk of the ones right up on the wall out. Then, with bulging muscles, the guards all drag the grates back up the wall by the heavy ropes that are attached. And again the grates are dropped on the cats and again and again. Over and over the large metal grates are released upon the cats until the swarms break. Hundreds of swarm cats are still alive but too spread out to form up again and so they flee. As the cats flee Jason stands still unable to move as his stamina has run dry. He lets out a long breath and thinks to himself, ¡®Well, that¡¯s a thing. Who¡¯d a thunk my first battle trance would be against some cats? I normally don¡¯t do this but stuff like that is the always sought after way to boost yourself like crazy. Or rather, that¡¯s how it was in my last life.¡¯ ¡°System, show me how much I¡¯ve improved from that fight.¡± {Level increased from 12.5005 to 13.4163 Strength increased by 5[Base] from 37 to 42 Toughness increased by 7[Base] from 49 to 56 Agility increased by 8[Base] from 45 to 53 Control increased by 4[Base] from 16 to 20 Stamina increased by 7[Base] from 25 to 32 HP increased by 36 from 70 to 106 Energy increased by 2 from 8 to 10 Title Gained: Combat Monk - Increase gains from mediation while fighting Energetic Body Reinforcement increased from Apprentice 3.375 to Apprentice 6.6553 This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Desolate Traversal Technique increased from Apprentice 8.8031 to 9.3112 Blast Punch (Variant) evolves into Body Blast at Apprentice 1 War Stomp increased from Initiate 2.173 to 7.2232 War Stomp gains Effect: Clad - For double the expenditure and an upkeep cost, this skill can become a continuous effect Knowledge Bonus Gained: +5% damage bonus against cats Knowledge Bonus Gained: +5% damage bonus against swarms Companion Lily: } As Jason goes over his gains, the others walk over to him before checking their own improvements. Courtney in particular has seen a massive increase in her healing skills from having to throw so much of it at Jason. Once Jason finishes he stretches out and sighs, ¡°So uh, either of you have a stamina potion or some such? My tank is sort of running empty at the moment and that means either a long wait or someone will have to carry me into the outpost.¡± Courtney rolls her eyes, ¡°Of course your extravagant display would empty your stamina. Of all the pools to empty, you chose the one that makes it so you can¡¯t really move around when low. Oh and of course it''s the one pool that once empty takes forever to start filling again.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I wasn¡¯t exactly thinking about that during the fight. Plus my one skill gained a boost but at the cost of an upkeep and can you guess what it uses?¡± Peter shakes his head and laughs, ¡°Of course you would develop your war stomp to gain the Clad effect. One of the most popular and yet at the same time most wasteful effects for a skill like that. At least you have a good way to train your stamina now. Though burst uses can help gain stamina, a continual draw just seems to work better. Anyway, here, have a stamina cookie. It isn¡¯t much, just gives you five but at your level that should be enough to remove the slowness.¡± While grabbing the cookie Jason yawns. ¡°Down the hatch!¡± And he throws the small flower shaped cookie into his mouth. He gives it a few chews before his face scrunches up and the others can tell it is taking a lot of willpower to not spit the thing back out. After a bit more work, Jason forces it down his throat. ¡°Blah, the hell was that? That wasn¡¯t the most vile thing I¡¯ve tasted, but it definitely ranks up there!¡± Peter takes a moment to stop laughing before he answers. ¡°Oh my, exactly what I said! That was a stamina cookie. Cheap buggers because it uses the leftover dregs that get filtered out at the last step of brewing a stamina potion. Just enough of the potion remains in them to give you the boost. Sadly the reason alchemists leave that little bit is because one of the plants used to brew it has a very, hmm, well you just tasted. The plant is vile. Common as blue weed and perfectly fine to use as long as you don¡¯t press on the fibers too hard. To avoid tainting the potions with that flavor, basically everyone agrees to just lose some of the potion instead by not extracting all of the potion. The stuff is fine to eat, healthy even, but that taste! You can¡¯t get used to it.¡± Chapter 216 - Because They Wanted it that Way It takes Jason a good half hour to get the taste out of his mouth. The worst part about it though was it wasn¡¯t just one flavor. As time passed new and uniquely disgusting aftertastes would assault his tongue. In the end it took a good number of drinks of dubious origins. So much so that his poison resistance skill ticked over to level nine at some point without his notice. Next morning as he nurses a hangover he pulls up the skill just to check on its progress. {Energetic Poison and Venom Resistance One of the rare active skill based resistances. While still able to passively provide benefits, this skill really shines when directly used. As there are many types of poison and venom the System has decided it is best like this rather than a stat as this allows more variety without littering the stat line with entries like ¡®elven paralysis poison resistance¡¯. Uses the best percentage. Initiate Level 9 - 1.53% [ +4lv 1.53% ] Rarity: Exquisite Beginner Type: Passive/Active, Energy, Adaptive Effects: Jason whistles, ¡°Well, it has been a while since I looked at this. I really should try to keep better track of my status. Though it is a little strange, that alcohol has its own section instead of just being under poison.¡± Peter rolls his eyes, ¡°Of course you would get alcohol resistance. Anyway, that one is simple enough. Most poison resistance skills at this point have been made to differentiate between booze and run-of-the-mill poison.¡± He shrugs, ¡°After a certain point a body processes the stuff fast enough anyway so those ancient fellows at the top of the world have done everything they can to make sure they can still enjoy getting buzzed.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Jason shakes his head, ¡°Fair enough. Though that reminds me of another question I had about the skill. It only separates the various types of resistance by rank. I¡¯m sure a low rank poison made from high level ingredients would be able to lay me out just as easy as not. How does that work?¡± Peter nods, ¡°A good question and it has two parts to the answer. The first is that a godly poison with a normal rank would be doing hundreds of points of damage if unresisted. Even if you are resisting most of that you¡¯re still going to be taking a ton of damage. The other side is that better ingredients, recipes, and techniques will imbue the poison with the ability to pierce resistances. That is why it is very hard to get true immunity to any poison. Instead, the percentage you can resist will just keep going up. Though it is quite hard at that point because you only get experience when affected by a poison. A little hard for that to happen when most poisons of the specific type just don¡¯t affect you.¡± Jason has a slightly cramped smile at this point. ¡®Peter doesn¡¯t need to know about me already having immunity to some types of poison.¡¯ Then as he is about to close the window, he glances a short distance up and face palms. ¡°Dammit! I could have gotten rid of the hangover already. I completely spaced that I could use the skill to speed up the purging of poison.¡± Off to the side Peter releases a strained sigh, but Jason is too distracted to notice this. He focuses on his body to purge the hangover when another thing comes to his attention. Last night he had basically just checked out after the drinks so hadn¡¯t checked his body. Now though that he is looking, the state of his cultivation shocks him. There are half again as many threads cycling out of his core. Jason is about to go off and discover what this means when a particularly sharp stab of pain hits him as a reminder of what the original goal was. He shakes his head and refocuses. Through all of his bodies¡¯ lines, Jason searches until finally he pins down the hangover. Adjacent to his body¡¯s threads and barely visible is a shadow of the alcohol from last night. He might have even missed it if not for the concentration of this shadow in the area his liver would have been. With a target and his improved control over his threads, Jason is able to purge the last remnants of the alcohol. Of course this doesn¡¯t remove the headache completely, but it lets his body start to recover at a faster pace. As Jason is recovering from trying to drown out the stamina cookies flavor Courtney turns to Peter. ¡°So are we going to have to fight our way through a siege this morning? I don¡¯t expect that build up we saw last night to be a one time thing.¡± Peter closes his eyes for a second to gather his thoughts and then sighs. ¡°There might be a few, but overall swarm cats don¡¯t move around at night. Only the ones that were close last night will be able to make it to the outpost this early and there won¡¯t be that many. The kingdom makes sure to remove any suitable resting places nearby so they either make it to the walls or will retreat. Just enough to give any caravans a chance to set out. Though we are leaving later on than a caravan would, so there should be a swarm or two at the gate.¡± Courtney nods and goes back to her planning for the day. Though she isn¡¯t free of distractions either. Rosha playing with Lily is just too cute not to pay attention to. Chapter 217 - Just Hop on Down Breakfast finished, the group has gathered on the wall above the gate. Peter had been right about there being a swarm or two, as below them there are about four hundred cats. Off to their side is a couple of guards. One of them occasionally throws a rock tied to a rope at them. More as to amuse herself as she isn¡¯t really doing all that much damage. The other guard is talking to Peter. He points down at the cats, ¡°No we can¡¯t open the gates right now. Just jump down, not like any of you would take too much damage from that and even if one of you would, someone could catch them.¡± Peter shakes his head, ¡°Why though? There is no reason to risk dropping in on the swarm if we don¡¯t have to. You even have that double gate design so you could easily let us out!¡± The guard shakes their head, ¡°Your group is all on foot so no can do. We¡¯re only allowed to open the gate for people who actually need it.¡± Peter throws his hands up and turns to the group. ¡°So we are going to have to take the quick way down.¡± None of them really have much to say about this. As the guard had pointed out, a fall of this distance isn¡¯t exactly going to be dealing too much damage. Before they do jump though Jason brings up something. ¡°So I want to send Lily down first and let her fight the cats for a while. We won¡¯t get much from just one swarm and this would be good practice. Courtney can focus entirely on her for healing and Rosha. You can use your bow for once to keep some of the heat off.¡± Rosha glares at him while Courtney just raises an eyebrow. He holds up both hands, ¡°Like I said, we won¡¯t be getting too much from this fight. Lily on the other hand gets a nice little bonus for fighting a predator, and she just picked up a title that removes some of the suppression from that. We have the literal high ground right now and they can¡¯t swarm her so this just feels like the perfect setup.¡± Off to the side Peter nods, ¡°This would be an effective way to train. The rabbit was able to hold their own when fighting with you guys, so if anything happens you can all just jump in. Death from above might not be quite as effective against a swarm because some of them will see you coming, but it still builds up momentum.¡± Courtney just shrugs at this so everyone turns towards Rosha. She sighs and rolls her eyes, ¡°Fine, we can try this. If anything happens, though I will hold you all responsible!¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Jason shrugs, ¡°As if you weren¡¯t going to already. Look, Courtney can buff her agility and with that she should be able to more than outpace any of the cats down there.¡± Rosha slowly nods, but then something hits her. ¡°Wait a second! Courtney, why haven¡¯t you been buffing Lily?¡± Courtney freezes, ¡°Uh, hmm. I guess it didn¡¯t occur to me? She is just always in the harness until right when she joins the fight. I will put forth more effort to make certain she gets buffed going forward.¡± Then she quickly casts the buff on Lily. Rosha stares at her for a moment longer before turning back to Jason. ¡°So how do we get her down there?¡± Jason laughs, ¡°I¡¯ll just put her down, no problem! Here watch.¡± Rosha raises her hand to stop him but Jason has already dived over the wall. She is barely able to get there to look over before he reaches the bottom. Instead of just hitting the ground though, he shifts his body and kicks off of the wall. Then another kick off the ground turns his vertical fall into a full out run. He dashes around the swarm to the wall on their other side. Once there he just keeps running right up the wall. The others don¡¯t get how this is happening, but Peter notices a slight shimmer coming from his feet and rolls his eyes. ¡®Of course his movement skill would let him wall walk¡¯. Once Jason is back up top Rosha is about to ask why he didn¡¯t put Lily down. Of course, the question becomes redundant when she notices that Lily isn¡¯t with him anymore. Everyone turns towards where he had first landed and yep, there she was. Lily had jumped off at some point and no one had noticed. This included the swarm cats as she gets the first attack on them. Not having to worry about any others being around, Lily goes right for the kill. Her fur stands on end with a shimmer while her paws glow. With a hop she is in the thick of things, her fur gouging angry red lines in the cats she barrels through. As Lily lands, both her front paws land on a head, smashing them into the ground. Now the swarm knows she is there but that doesn¡¯t necessarily help them counter her. Not like she is in one place long enough for them to bring to bear their full force. Just moments after Lily lands, she hops away, deeper into the swarm. This time she doesn¡¯t even try to aim her attacks. Instead, the enemies are so closely packed she does full damage just by landing. At the same time as the cats turn to attack, they experience for the first time the consequences of being so tightly packed. Normally through the magic of swarms they are guided to attack around their own. Since the swarm doesn¡¯t affect Lily, this isn¡¯t the case and they end up falling over each other as they try. Without that guiding influence, Lily easily hops again and again, unhindered by their attempts. Her charged fur spreading massive amounts of damage while her paws deal finishing blows left and right. Chapter 218 - Kingdom Origin Story As Lily wreaks havoc at the center of the swarm, cats start to pile up along the edges. Soon, while Lily can hop around freely, the swarm has built up the edges enough to prevent her from leaving. Up on the wall Rosha turns to Peter, ¡°I thought they wouldn¡¯t be able to do stuff like that because of her being the same size as a cat.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°Being the same size only removes a lot of the correction a swarm gets when attacking. Against a human-sized target, every swarm cat close enough to attack would be able to get a swipe in. With a rabbit? Just look at how the cats next to her are flailing about, some are even hitting other cats. Without the System guidance, that is what happens.¡± ¡°If you remove that it doesn¡¯t make a swarm stop swarming. This isn¡¯t even some clever surrounding tactic. The cats are just trying to climb over one another to get to the enemy. If she wasn¡¯t moving around so much the swarm would have already collapsed in. Anyway, even with that there isn¡¯t much danger. I don¡¯t know what specific skill that is, but empowering her fur lets her just barrel through the cats.¡± Jason scratches his head, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t this be at least a little more dangerous for her? Like, I¡¯m not trying to raise a flag, but that is a lot of enemies.¡± Peter raises an eyebrow at this, ¡°Would you have any problem fighting that swarm? You¡¯re both the same level after all.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I¡¯ve had a lot more combat training.¡± Peter laughs, ¡°Fair point, but remember, because they can¡¯t tap into swarm mechanics against her this isn¡¯t one high level encounter. Rather, this is like fighting a bunch of chumps. Those cats are all super low level compared to her. If I tossed you in a room of infinite level one goblins I bet exhaustion would be a bigger threat to you. This is the same sort of thing, only better experience.¡± Courtney turns away from the wall and asks, ¡°Why would it be better experience?¡± Peter gestures at the rapidly depleting swarm. ¡°Even though they can¡¯t fight as a swarm against her, the System doesn¡¯t remove the experience gained from fighting the swarm as a unit. Of course with how easy it is there is a penalty on how much she gets. It will be better than if it was just a group of regular cats of the same level.¡± ¡°This is actually why my kingdom has a good relationship with the halfling nation off thataway.¡± And he points vaguely in a direction opposite of where the group came from. ¡°We have a swarm over there of wolves. The younger halflings are small enough that, like with your rabbit, the swarm can¡¯t actually swarm. Since the swarm wolves, yes I know a unique name that, are like the swarm cats and not too bright they easily deal with it. Combined with a halfling¡¯s natural ability to hide in shadows, very few of the young they send over die.¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°A good trade for both of us. They can have their young experience real danger without it being too life threatening, and we don¡¯t have to deal with a freaking wolf swarm. Like seriously? Wolves? In normal circumstances, a wolf pack already has enough coordination. If the swarm wolves weren¡¯t so dense I don¡¯t think my kingdom could handle them.¡± Courtney slow blinks, ¡°A wolf swarm? Sigh, of course there is. I know this is sort of the area for swarms, but that is just getting silly. What¡¯s next? A bear swarm?¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°No, those are dead.¡± Courtney just stares at him until he continues. ¡°Yeah, there used to be a bear swarm at the center of this area. Well before it was settled, of course. This actually has to partly do with the bamboo our kingdom is famous for. The first ruler, Queen Jessica the six-tailed prodigy, planted the nine bamboo. She was a Realm Breaker Illusionist and a Godly Alchemist.¡± ¡°Over the course of 99 years she grew the nine sky breaking bamboo. Through secret means she was able to infuse her knowledge of illusions into them forming one of the largest formations in the known world. In the 100th year the System tried to smite the nine stalks with regal lightning for breaking through the sky. Normally at this point sky breaking bamboo would be shattered, spreading their seeds above the sky.¡± ¡°Queen Jessica the six-tailed prodigy however accounted for this. Her Godly alchemy should not have been able to stop the System¡¯s wrath, but through the illusion formation she had set up something special happened. Through her skill that was beyond this realm, she was able to trick the system. The purple lightning fell like a waterfall from the clouds that had gathered for months.¡± ¡°Now she couldn¡¯t entirely trick the System or it would have sent another tribulation so her nine bamboo were baptized in the lightning. However they only experienced the edge, like feeling the splatter of a waterfall it isn¡¯t going to kill you. Still enough to temper the nine stalks and change them on a fundamental level into their current form, Sky Breaking Purple Bamboo of Tribulations and Illusions.¡± ¡°And where did the main deluge of lightning go, you might ask? Though by this point you¡¯ve probably guessed already. The six-tailed prodigy had tricked the System into smiting the main swarm bear nest, killing the level capped six-armed swarm bear matron. Of course there was clean up to do. While none of the other swarm rulers had hit level cap, they were all quite high up there.¡± ¡°That and the swarm bears aren¡¯t exactly pushovers even without their leader. Sure, they don¡¯t get the benefits of being a swarm against most sapients but that doesn¡¯t really matter. Taking such a powerful lone predator and getting them to work together in large groups is horrifying. That and without the matron¡¯s buff which had reduced their need for food they were ravenous. Honestly, all of this is almost too crazy to believe. After all, how could the Queen even have six tails? Five is the limit for our world. If it wasn¡¯t for a grand illusion over remembrance lake that the System admits as being an accurate representation of what happened we wouldn¡¯t know about it. Oh, and that lake? Half our kingdom is taken up by it, and apparently it is the result of water filling the crater from all that regal lightning.¡± Chapter 219 - Still Cant Do That The nearby guards all clap at the completion of Peter¡¯s re-telling of their kingdom¡¯s founding. He turns and bows to the crowd, and it is a crowd. At some point, the nearby people had all come over to listen. Jason shakes his head and sighs, ¡°That was a delightful story. Though it looks like that was enough time for Lily to finish up.¡± Down below what had been a four hundred strong swarm is now reduced to only a few stragglers running away as Lily hops around a carpet of gore. Courtney raises an eyebrow, ¡°Well, that¡¯s a bit more disturbing than usual.¡± Rosha nods, ¡°Yeah, we don¡¯t exactly leave a smaller body count, but her energized fur really does a number on them. That would be annoying to clean up without magic. Though I have to guess going by how they dealt with the swarms last night they must have some method of cleaning this nonsense up.¡± Peter scratches the back of his neck, ¡°That went quicker than I thought. She really put them through the meat grinder down there. Anyway, we can head off now and we better get going before one of the other swarms around the wall come by to see what¡¯s up.¡± No one else really has anything to add, so they move a bit further down the wall to avoid the mess and jump off. Jason tries to be fancy and run down the wall, but his movement skill isn¡¯t quite to that point and he has to hop off after the first couple steps. With everyone on the ground, Lily finishes her victory dance and hops over towards Jason. As she approaches Jason has a bit of a forced smile, ¡°Hey Lily, you got a little something on you.¡± Lily stops and looks over her shoulder and yep, just a bit of blood. Or rather, quite a lot of mess all over her body. Literally using her fur as a weapon doesn¡¯t exactly keep it clean. Lily snorts and pumps all her Energy into her fur, not just on her body but everywhere. Charged, it all stands on end as she huddles down. Then with a flash the Energy discharges outwards from her body, pushing all the blood and gore off. The explosion isn¡¯t too powerful so the others don¡¯t get splattered, but it was definitely unexpected. All clean, Lily hops the rest of the way to Jason and jumps right into the harness. Peter sighs, ¡°I guess she has been watching you fight. Welp, let¡¯s move on out. There are more swarms to fight out there. We¡¯re doing good so far and I think it is time to kick it up a notch.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Jason nods, ¡°Fair enough, I¡¯ll just check what Lily has gained from that fight. Seeing as she hasn¡¯t gained too many stat points in the past beyond leveling, it should be too bad of a haul. [System, show me Lily¡¯s gains from the fight].¡± {3[SP] Toughness converted to 3[Base] Toughness} As the group moves out Courtney gestures at Lily, ¡°I did some research last night. Problem with Lily is the fact she is a companion.¡± Jason looks up from the blue screen, ¡°How do you mean?¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°Everyone knows how a pet works. There are people who specialize in raising pets to very specific standards. Honestly, there has to be. After a certain point, even if combat pets aren¡¯t the most popular, the non-combat options are way too useful. Who wouldn¡¯t want a small tortoise that spawns drinkable water if you can¡¯t do that yourself?¡± ¡°Companions on the other hand have much looser rules. Mainly because the thing that separates a pet and a companion is that companions are sapient. This means it can be anything from basically a pet, but sapient all the way up to just another person. And speaking of being able to have just another person as a companion, this includes both locals and travellers.¡± ¡°Through some weird formula the System judges where your companion is along that spectrum and gives you different features. Lily is currently closer to the pet side of things as evident by the fact that you can give her experience. Besides that, there isn¡¯t much else we can figure out at the moment because she can¡¯t talk to us. After all, how are we supposed to know if she can turn off the automatic placement of stat points from leveling? About the only thing I can tell you is to try and think commands at her. Apparently with a close enough bond and some work you can talk to a companion through thought.¡± Rosha and Jason both stop and turn to Courtney. Peter notices something is odd and is about to ask when Courtney waves him away and explains, ¡°We have some traveller business to talk about.¡± Peter shrugs and continues forward to scout around some, leaving the others to whatever important matters need to talk about. The other two both try to speak at once but Courtney shooshes them, ¡°Wait till he is further away.¡± They stand there and wait until Peter has left sight. As one Rosha and Jason turn back towards Courtney. She looks away and brushes some stray hair behind her ear. Jason squints at her, ¡°So, what¡¯s this about being able to talk mind to mind? Mostly certain the main byline for full immersion VR was it can¡¯t ever read your mind, Ever.¡± Courtney fake coughs, ¡°Welllll, it can¡¯t. The VR pods read the signals off your nerves. The most troublesome part of this is between the brain and eyes because the connection is so tight. Don¡¯t ask me how they got that working, it just does. Think mad science and you would be shockingly close. Very few people can understand it, even after learning all the parts of it. Only a handful of people in the world currently can make the mental leap to connect all the parts together.¡± ¡°Those few people have of course tried to work on the holy grail of a mind reading device ever since the mechanics for immersion were ironed out. The ones in the more public sector have had no success and from what the family has found out the secret government research isn¡¯t doing any better. So that¡¯s the end of the story. Our technology cannot read your mind.¡± Chapter 220 - Her Names Different Rosha squints at Courtney, ¡°Then what about this telepathy nonsense?¡± Courtney coughs, ¡°The technology that we use to get into NeoRealm can not read minds. In NeoRealm, however, there are very rare instances of reading surface level thoughts. Most times this isn¡¯t even caught. After all, when a player hears something like what Peter just said, they would dismiss it. They think that of course the locals would have the ability to talk telepathically to their companions, have to balance players and their special methods of communication.¡± ¡°Now Jason, why didn¡¯t you just let it drop? Rosha¡¯s family is a bit deeper into things and so from a young age she has been learning a few deeper truths. We both know I¡¯ve done a thorough check on your background. There is nothing in your past going back five generations that would indicate this.¡± Jason puts his hands together flat and rests his head on them with his thumbs under his chin. Time passes by slowly as he weighs a few things in his head. ¡®I can¡¯t really tell them about my reincarnation. While ever popular as a story genre no one really claims it anymore, not even the religions. Plus I really don¡¯t want that sort of thing recorded somehow.¡¯ Courtney frowns, but Rosha motions her to let Jason continue. And continue he does, for there are other things he could tell them about. For instance, ¡®Even if I don¡¯t tell them about that I could mention my irl cultivation. I would prefer to keep that under wraps, at least until I¡¯ve formed my core. As the first step, it shouldn¡¯t take me much longer.¡¯ ¡®However it would be the perfect method of explaining things. After all, being able to detect mystical energies outside of VR would explain me being more open minded about this kind of thing. However how would I explain starting to cultivate in the first place? While I have to assume someone out there has discovered the energies, why would I have done so? Courtney just flat out admitted having checked my family back at least five generations.¡¯ His thoughts spin in circles until Courtney is past waiting. She stomps the ground, ¡°Why did you not instantly drop the idea? Schools have a very carefully modulated lesson plan around VR, made to make even the mildest infringement upon the mind unimaginable. If you were the type that could just throw off that level of indoctrination without proof otherwise you wouldn¡¯t be here. The government would have picked up you for special training and you would have ended up starting in one of the few player controlled cities.¡± Jason lets out a long sigh. He wasn¡¯t quite sure about the path he had decided on. But he also didn¡¯t want to find out what methods Courtney had when defending Rosha. ¡°So I technically formed my core at level zero, right? Sure, at the start I had a few levels under my belt, but the process I went through to form the core stripped those levels away.¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Jason stops there for a second when a thought flashes through his mind. While he does still want to eventually tell them about cultivation, a much better reason popped into his mind just now. Before the pause gets too long he coughs and continues. ¡°Sorry, I was just recalling how it happened there. Anyway, soon after I formed the core I also created my cultivation method. To finalize that it sucked me into a white room and in there with me was the person who guided me in the tutorial. Now let me ask you, did you get yours to share their name with you?¡± Courtney frowns, ¡°What does that have to do with anything? Sure they are gods, but everyone knows their names already.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°There is an enormous difference between their actual names and what everyone calls them.¡± Courtney rolls her eyes at this, ¡°Unless they literally are sending the name directly into your head I don¡¯t see how whether a god of war gets called Ares or Mars would make a difference.¡± Jason clasps his hands behind his neck and leans back. ¡°I can¡¯t say her name correctly. None of us can, that¡¯s why the religions use a different name. My guide was Starlight, goddess of potential. Now this might take a few tries and you know what? Going to pray to her real quick just to let her know what is going on.¡± Courtney laughs, ¡°As if she would bother listening to such a nonsense prayer. Sure, the AIs in charge of the gods are powerful, but that doesn¡¯t mean they can listen to everyone.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°We will have to see, though I did think of something else.¡± And he turns towards the direction Peter left then yells, ¡°Hey Peter, about to talk something super sensitive, can I borrow you silence shell?¡± Off in the distance Peter shakes his head before yelling back, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just ask for it in the first place? But yeah, sure.¡± Then he lobs it towards the group. After hearing Peter¡¯s response, Rosha and Courtney turn to watch for him to arrive. Jason on the other hand had a better idea what would likely happen and watched the sky. When the shell falls down towards them the other two are surprised by Jason¡¯s sudden movement only to find him holding the shell. Rosha frowns, ¡°You would think he would treat a sentimental gift better.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°There isn¡¯t anything within who knows how many miles of us right now that could damage it. Did you think his husband was any lower level than he is? The materials it is made from might not be the toughest things around, but the guy¡¯s an enchanter! If you bet on anything besides it being near indestructible to anything below their level you aren¡¯t thinking it through well enough.¡± Rosha is about to say something else but then realizes the implications of what Jason just said. ¡°And he probably doesn¡¯t have to worry about losing it because there will be an enchantment to find it.¡± Chapter 221 - Starlight Kind Jason activates the silence shell and the trio are encapsulated by the bubble. ¡°There we go, a little privacy. Now first to pray!¡± And he puts his hands together and raises his head, ¡°Hey Starlight, going to attempt to say your real name a little. Sorry if this bothers you. Once again, thank you for the help you gave me!¡± Courtney slow blinks at him, ¡°And you think she is going to hear such an informal prayer?¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I have faith in her!¡± And he laughs at his own joke before shaking his head. ¡°Even if she doesn¡¯t get the message right away as long as I get close with her name, I am sure she will pick it up. Anyway, time to try saying her name the right way.¡± Of course Jason has no illusions that he actually will succeed, but he has an inkling on how to start. From his core he draws out a bundle of Energy threads and feeds them into his throat. Then intones her name, ¡°[Starlight], Hmm, not right there. Close, but more like a System call than what it should be. Need more than just my Energy. Okay, maybe if I, yeah that might work!¡± Jason drives his mind into the structure of his throat and saturates where his voice box would have been. ¡°[Starlight]¡± Another failure, but he felt the threads of Energy slightly move on their own. ¡®Hmm, how do I talk anyway?¡¯ To test it out Jason focuses entirely on his throat and repeats the word ¡°Testing¡± a few times. ¡®Okay, the air passes through this area when I speak and it imposes the vibrations on it. A little odd, but I guess that is what I get for giving up on a normal body. Though it might also help with my attempts. Lets try using my Energy to pass on the vibrations instead.¡¯ ¡°[Starlight]()¡± With that everyone can feel something has changed. Something is on the edge of their awareness. Jason shakes his head and moves more bundles of Energy thread towards his throat before trying again. ¡°[Starlight](Kind)¡± Jason sighs, ¡°Well, that¡¯s as much as I can do for the moment. My cultivation isn¡¯t high enough to do any more.¡± Courtney grabs his shoulders, ¡°What was that? All you said was Starlight, but as clear as day I could hear something more, a deeper meaning to it. How did you do that?¡± Rosha nods, ¡°If you can, of course. That was, that was beyond normal. I can understand why it would make you doubt the claims. Courtney might not have noticed, but what you said wasn¡¯t said. I fully expected you to have something odd going on. That takes the cake, though. You didn¡¯t technically speak mind to mind with us or anything. However, at the same time as you said her name, my mind automatically filled in some of what was meant to be said.¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Jason shrugs, ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone else could do that. There are a few unique aspects to both my body and my Energy that others simply could not replicate. Also, I don¡¯t think the name can be said without Energy, so that¡¯s a thing.¡± Rosha frowns, ¡°I thought the gods would generally be just placed on one side or the other. After all, Energy doesn¡¯t even have enough users to support a god from what I can tell. Be much more useful for one to be either Qi or Mana users.¡± Courtney shakes her head, ¡°I know this one. Gods are actually all Energy users. No one knows why, but even the literal god of magic spells doesn¡¯t have a lick of Mana on them. He still manages to cast spells.¡± Jason smiles, ¡°That actually supports my theory. Did I tell you guys what I had thought up? Anyway, just in case I didn¡¯t, my idea is that Energy wasn¡¯t supposed to still exist. My guess is that the developers originally just wanted the classic Mana versus Qi thing going on. You can see this with how quickly it turns to one side or the other.¡± ¡°Energy was supposed to be the devs version of a god particle. For them it was likely a handy tool they could just use no matter the circumstances. Then once done, they can store it away. Something went wrong though. Instead of being just a primal power that they can later throw in the bin, it became more. Energy spread through the world.¡± ¡°With the new knowledge that gods use Energy, they are the likely vectors for this. The devs must have given them Energy because they are supposed to create miracles. Harder if you are being limited to just Qi or Mana. After all, how would a war god raise a monument to his victory with just Qi. Sure they can do things manually, but what god does backbreaking labor? So they opened the door and Energy wasn¡¯t being shy.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°Not the craziest theory I¡¯ve heard.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°We likely won¡¯t ever know the actual answer. This would have happened thousands of years ago by NeoRealms count and not much can survive that long. Though an alternate take on my part is there could be a Prometheus type figure. Someone who stole the flame of Energy and brought it to us mortals. Interesting, yes, but not on the level of figuring out my body.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°Probably just from the giant dragon veins deep underground. After all, the Energy in those giant power pathways doesn¡¯t just stay there nice and obediently. So because of those veins, there is always some Energy in the air all over NeoRealm. Sure, there are some places that it doesn¡¯t go, but those tend to be relic sites anyway.¡± Rosha frowns, ¡°Well, those were two very different experiences. Now the question is do we need to talk about anything else privately? Rarely do we get to be alone in the middle of nowhere with a magic silencing device.¡± Chapter 222 - I Couldnt Tell Anyone After Rosha¡¯s question if there was more to talk about, Courtney turns to Jason. ¡°Don¡¯t think I forgot about how you said that god¡¯s name. You clearly know something about it. I don¡¯t want to brag, but I know more about NeoRealm than probably 99% of our generation. And of all that knowledge? Never once have I heard of this.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°Can we forget it for at least a little while?¡± Rosha laughs while Courtney gives him the stink eye. Jason just sighs. He had wanted to keep irl cultivation out of it, but Courtney was definitely not going to let things go. Gears click by in his head as he figures out what to say. Then an idea hits him. ¡°I won¡¯t reveal my sources, you wouldn¡¯t believe me anyway.¡± Jason pauses to gauge how they take it. The statement was completely true, no way was Courtney going to believe the old god told me line. Even with NeoRealm having actual gods running around, they don¡¯t exactly talk to people all that much. Courtney still looks suspicious of him so Jason continues, ¡°If I had to call it something I would refer to it as the language of intent. Though language isn¡¯t quite right. A language would have defined words. I suspect that a god wouldn¡¯t even need to use words. Basically, the language is a way to get your actual intent to someone without going through all the filters people normally have between them when communicating.¡± ¡°An example of what I mean by this is the word cat. I say it and what I am thinking of when I say it is likely completely different from what you think of. For me, I think of a black cat a local couple owned. Maybe you instead thought of a fat orange and white cat. Though even with those additional modifiers to the words don¡¯t make us think of the same cat.¡± ¡°If a god wanted to tell you about a cat, they just say the word and the intent behind it would bypass the messy steps of translating it into thought. You don¡¯t think of a fat orange and white cat or a black cat. Instead, you picture the grey cat they are talking about. Of course, this is mostly a bunch of guesses on my part. The only reason I can even attempt to say Starlight¡¯s name is because I had heard it before and my unique Energy setup.¡± Courtney shakes her head, ¡°I don¡¯t doubt your explanation, just your source. Sigh, I guess you can take the time you need, but your reason better be a good one.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I need actual proof first. If I told you right now you wouldn¡¯t be able to confirm what I tell you.¡± Courtney is about to say more but Rosha interrupts, ¡°Enough! Courtney, I know you don¡¯t trust him still. That¡¯s your job, but we are a team. I know James spooked you, but that doesn¡¯t mean everyone I met in Shinefish is a traitor.¡± You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Courtney frowns, ¡°I don¡¯t think that. You just went and started in a town without talking to me!¡± At this point, Jason notices the change in the air and backs out of the area of silence. Back in the bubble, Rosha puts her hands on her hips. ¡°If I had told you where I was going to start, half the locals would be paid off by my parents! I would have just walked through the starter town without any difficulties. Even the players would have been planted or being paid to not get close to me. Any chance of gaining a team would have been tainted. Even if I found someone who claims to not be connected to my family, how could I believe them?¡± Courtney throws her hands outward, ¡°And you think he will be any better once he learns who your family is? At least if we had inspected the village first you wouldn¡¯t have come into contact with that cult brat. You even ended up traveling alone with him!¡± Rosha facepalms, ¡°I can¡¯t be sheltered forever! My entire life has been handled with silk gloves. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that mom took me outside of that comfort zone I would be like one of those young masters in the stories. You know, the ones that get destroyed by the story¡¯s main character for being such clueless antagonists!¡± ¡°The worst part is that basically all the kids I hung out with before I figured it out? They fit that mold completely! All the friends I hung out with are insufferable now. I don¡¯t have friends now because I never had friends. Those scum were just bootlicking minions either trying to suck up to my family or waiting to take advantage of the smallest mistake I might make.¡± Courtney waves her hands at Rosha, ¡°You¡¯re still weak here! After you build up some power, you can go out and explore. So what if your family eases the way?¡± Rosha scoffs at this. ¡°I played SciFi game after SciFi game. Every time I would show up and the starting town practically worshiped the ground I walked on. By the time I get to the point that I can travel the galaxy, it was too late. I move in a direction and a golden road would unfurl before me! Every step I took was paved well before I took it. This was in literal space! I could go in any direction and yet he still managed to remove any challenge.¡± ¡°It was only once I managed to get into a game without him knowing that I had any real fun. Stomping on others when they can¡¯t or won¡¯t fight back is boring. From that I can even understand why my former friends ended up so twisted. If everything you do has no push back a person is going to keep reaching, keep pushing.¡± ¡°Eventually you hit an iron plate. So many of those young masters I knew ended up hitting that plate, and a rare few even learned a lesson from it. I wouldn¡¯t call them good people now but I could stand talking to them. For me, especially in the small space games I played? There would have been no iron plate. Some of the smaller ones I half suspect he even bought and had the companies change the game to serve me!¡± ¡°With all that in mind I couldn¡¯t let you or anyone else know where I would start.¡± Chapter 223 - Hugs! Rosha¡¯s arms drop to her sides as she breathes hard from her outburst. ¡°I just couldn¡¯t let him know!¡± Courtney stands there for a moment, arms still out. Then with a sigh, she steps forward and wraps her arms around Rosha. ¡°I just want to protect you and not knowing where you were? It wrecked me. Especially after learning who you ended up spending time with. It was like my worst nightmares coming true!¡± Rosha just stands there before admitting that, ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell you no matter how much I wanted to. It is literally your job to inform my parents about stuff like that.¡± Courtney squeezes her tighter and shakes her head, ¡°It won¡¯t be much longer, I swear it. Because we are both adults now my contract will come up for negotiation. You father plans to wait till the beginning of next year like he does with all his contracts. However my contract is with both him and your mother and they have equal rights to negotiate it.¡± Courtney takes a step back and grabs Rosha¡¯s hands, ¡°The second I can I will be talking to your mother. There shouldn¡¯t be such intrusive things in it anyway! Especially now that you are an adult. Just wait a little longer and I will escape from under your father¡¯s thumb.¡± Rosha stays silent and just leans up against Courtney. The two of them stand there as time passes without notice. Without notice for them, that is. Jason, Lily, and now Peter are all loitering a distance away from the two, purposefully not looking at the two. Eventually as all things must their moment ends and Courtney picks up the silence shell. Peter walks over and nods to them before mentioning, ¡°So I scouted ahead. A bit obvious, I guess, but along the way I set it up to be interesting. Since we aren¡¯t on a time crunch or anything I organized the swarms through a bit of baiting. Things will start at about where we were yesterday and go up from there.¡± Then Peter turns to Jason, ¡°I also set up encounters for your rabbit along the way. While she helps in your fights, it isn¡¯t needed at the lower end so I figured you would prefer her working on her stats. Even with how easy it is for her to fight a swarm on her own, the solo fight is great for experience. Fighting not only a swarm but also a natural enemy will do that.¡± No one in the group had anything else to do, so they set off right away. Not that they go far as right over the next rise is the first set of swarms. To the left is a gathering of two swarms, and on the left a single swarm. Peter points to the left, ¡°That group is for you guys. I want to see how quick you can take it on compared to the rabbit. Mostly because that full body empowerment is viciously effective at destroying the swarm cats. Since neither group is an actual threat to you all unless an accident happens consider this a race. So on your mark. Get set. Go!¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The group stands there looking at him. Peter motions his hands at them, ¡°Go on, the swarms aren¡¯t going to kill themselves. The clock¡¯s ticking.¡± Jason rolls his eyes and lets Lily down. ¡°Go on, those swarm cats over there are for you to take care of.¡± Lily does a small loop of hops around Jason and then bounds off towards her swarm. Jason watches for a second before turning to the rest of the group. ¡°So I think we better hurry or she might end up getting bored waiting for us to finish.¡± That gets them moving and the three of them charge off towards the two swarms milling about. They slam into the small gap between the two with a splash. Jason leading the charge has clad his feet in Never Ending Threads and each step sends Energy threads outward pushing the swarms apart. Behind him Rosha follows with her staff swinging. What was a small gap is pressed back even farther as she forces the two swarms to fully separate. Then, just after her, Courtney comes in. She had been standing back and just providing ranged support but had decided to get into the thick of things. Now in melee for the first time since Jason met her, she shows off one of the activistic traits that makes her species, pantherkin, stand out. Most kin will be fairly humanoid in form, keeping to things like plantigrade legs and nails instead of claws. That second one is where pantherkin differs as Courtney well proves. From what had looked like normal enough hands, if extra fuzzy and a bit short, extends out some wicked sharp claws. As any of the swarm cats try to come up and attack the group from behind, she swipes out, her claws glowing a paradoxical white. They radiate both life and death as one cat after another is sliced through. Then moments after every successful attack, a flash of healing magic sparks off of her and onto whoever in the group needs healing more. When Jason reaches the other side of the swarm he jumps and then lands in a deep squat, spreading threads as far as possible. He braces his legs and then leapfrogs over both Rosha and Courtney. As he sails through the air, he removes the current clad War Stomp and charges up a double dose of Runic Bloom. He lands near the center between the two swarms as the others get out. From under his feet the petals blossom outwards, shredding the ground as he lands and the petals fly outward, slicing through both swarms. With the Runic Bloom discharged, he clads his feet once more in Never Ending Threads and drops down low for a spin kick. The kick itself doesn¡¯t actually hit all that many cats but each time he connects his foot releases a shower of threads. All around him cats fall to the ground as the Energy threads tear through them and the damage spreads outward. Chapter 224 - More Frustration for Peter As Jason stomps around in the middle of the two swarms, Courtney doesn¡¯t slow down either. Nipping along the edge with her claws with Rosha going in the opposite direction to her. While Rosha¡¯s sweeping attacks are able to deal more damage, Courtney¡¯s healing lets them keep it up against the swarms unending damage. Her claws slashing through cat after cat with the drained life transferring to where it was needed. With the three working together, the two swarms scattered quicker even than when Jason and Rosha had been fighting just a single swarm. They even manage to beat out Lily, though only by a hair. Seeing the results, Peter claps while walking over to them. ¡°Wonderful! Excellent teamwork there.¡± Turning towards Rosha, Peter nods, ¡°Rosha, your ability to restrain the swarm into a tighter area has improved. Both boosting your ability to tank as well as manipulating them so each swing does the most damage. After all, why only hit three enemies when you can hit five for just as much damage to each? Still, you need to work on your control. You threw a few cats behind you on your backswing. Not much of a problem here, but there will be some smaller monsters you don¡¯t want to show your back to.¡± ¡°Jason, take some lessons from your rabbit. Hop around a bit or something. Your clad feet are nifty, but you don¡¯t move around in the swarm enough to make best use of it. Especially with whatever the strings are. They destroy any of the cats that get hit so you can afford to spread the love. You have a decent movement skill so make use of it.¡± Then Peter turns to Courtney with an eyebrow raised. ¡°Courtney, Courtney, Courtney. Do you know what you did wrong?¡± Courtney grimaces, ¡°Eh, I should have probably stayed back and focused on healing. That is my role after all.¡± Peter shakes his head, ¡°No, the problem is you kept back all the previous times.¡± Courtney frowns, ¡°I¡¯ve always been taught to keep to the back. If I can¡¯t be on top of healing, it could doom the party!¡± Peter sighs and shakes his head again. ¡°In a larger group, you wouldn¡¯t be wrong. If there were enough party members that you could all have a defined role then I would agree with staying back. Problem is that instead of the classic six-member team, there are three of you. Jason there is doing a valiant job of being a dodge tank while also laying down the dps. Rosha makes a good off tank and is developing her skills at crowd control. Though honestly she would be better at ranged dps in any other situation.¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Not really a possibility with just the three of you, but the same is true for you. Which brings us back to your combat abilities. You need to use that! Do you know the best way to keep up with your teammates¡¯ health is? Make sure they don¡¯t get hurt in the first place. It¡¯s like that saying about offense being the best defense. Of courses the opposite is also said but in this case we will go with this version.¡± ¡°Not only that but you¡¯ve got a siphon going on there. Your attacks can heal doing double duty. That means you can already fill two roles. Why hide that? Until now I¡¯ve let you just sit there in the back. Just buffing and healing away while the other two do the fighting. No longer. You get to go in there and fight along with them. It would have been fine if buffing and healing were all you can do, but that isn¡¯t true. Get in there and duke it out with your friends.¡± Peter claps, ¡°Anyway! Let¡¯s move on. There are more swarms to fight and I expect you all to get through more of them now with Courtney¡¯s help. With that in mind you guys can start following the road. I have to skip ahead to juggle the next encounter. I was gonna keep you guys split up, but it seems I need all of you working together.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re keeping this hidden, it seems I need to be more specific. Sure, keep your secrets hidden. But I want you all to put your best foot forward. I don¡¯t need you to use finishing moves or the use of limited resources, but don¡¯t hold back with your normal moves. Time after time you three have pulled some nonsense move out of nowhere. If it was to defeat some powerful enemy and you brought out some ancestral skill or a scroll of ultimate power, fine. This is not the case here. Now, do you all agree with this?¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°Nothing more from me at the moment.¡± Rosha laughs, ¡°You¡¯ve taught me all my new stuff so nothing hidden here!¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°I¡¯m not really supposed to yet.¡± Peter glares at Courtney, ¡°Not supposed to? Why aren¡¯t you supposed to? You¡¯re all friends.¡± Courtney shakes her head, ¡°Where we come from, I work for her parents. I¡¯m actually her maid, and that puts some shackles on what I can do.¡± Peter groans, ¡°You travellers always claim to have no royalty so let me guess, old money right?¡± Courtney and Rosha nod in agreement. Peter sighs, ¡°What am I going to do with you guys? One thing after another! The System got a good one over on me here.¡± He shakes his head, ¡°Way not worth the rewards. Though I do now understand why there were a couple stingers in the failure penalty. Lets just go onto the next encounter. So frustrating to be used as a troubleshooter. I don¡¯t even leave the kingdom all that often because of this.¡± ¡°Seriously, would you leave your country if every time you ended up in some hair raising adventure? Cause that is what happens! I used to love to travel around and now I just wander the borders. Even then people like you crop up way too often. I just want the System to give me a break! No way this kind of thing can happen so much like clockwork.¡± He shakes his head and walks down the road. Chapter 225 - Throwing Lily The group makes good time in silence for the next half hour. Then Peter stops them just before they go over a rise. With an effortless toss, he throws a boulder taller than he is and waits for a moment. ¡°Okay, just over this hill is another selection of swarm cats. There are five swarms that did have about 300 cats each, though one is now down a good 50. We wait just a little more and they should be all grouped up, ready for the four of you to go and fight them. Do as much as you can so I can hopefully give you all a bit more advice so the System gets off my back.¡± Peter holds his one hand up while bobbing his other to an unheard beat. After a small bit of time passes, he holds up his hand and counts down with his fingers. Five, four, three, two, one, ¡°And go!¡± Then, with a flourish of his raised hand, he gestures for the group to go beat up on some swarms. As the group charges over the hill Courtney asks Rosha, ¡°So I should have talked about this earlier, but do you need my buff? If he wants to see all I can show then I need to keep my mana open.¡± Rosha laughs, ¡°Optimally it shouldn¡¯t matter because I wouldn¡¯t be getting hit. Not an option against swarms and their stupid continual damage thing. Still, I should be fine as long as you keep me healed like you did last fight.¡± Courtney nods, ¡°Will do.¡± Off to the side Jason laughs, ¡°Three dps formation go!¡± While a little sarcastic he isn¡¯t wrong. The three of them slam into the near thousand and a half cats. Rosha goes to the left with her staff swinging. It must have been the side that the previously separated swarm had joined on because the cats were much looser. She would not stand for this and so the only thing to do is corral them all in. Courtney having noticed this as well goes right. With her claws ready, shadows start to leak out of her joints and her speed picks up. Swipe after swipe cleaves through the cats at her side with much of the healing heading towards Rosha who without the buff is taking double damage. Jason jumps straight into the middle of things. Though before landing he tosses Lily to the side away from him. That taken care of, he focuses on where he is about to land as flowers bloom on his feet. Like a silent explosion, cats fly out in a bloody mess. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Lily has her fur charged up well before she lands. Not on the ground, though. Rather there are so many cats and she weighs so little Lily ends up balanced on top of numerous cats that all turn to attack her. She doesn¡¯t give them the chance and bashes through the swell of cats that tried to trap her down. Once free nothing the swarms could do can hold her down and she hops freely through the chaos. Though unlike previously she isn¡¯t completely unharmed but Courtney is on top of it. Back with Jason, his Never Ending Threads are clad on his feet and he has taken Peter¡¯s advice to heart. Each step is like three or more as he waltz through the swarm. Punches being used whenever some cats try to collapse on him but otherwise limits himself to his legs. Any cat that tries to climb up him is blasted off by the pointed application of his blast skill. Though those that try to get under his feet and trip him are much worse off. His threads constantly seeking the next monster to infiltrate any cat foolish enough to be underfoot is minced before his foot hits the ground. Courtney seeing that the situation is stable judges she can kick it up a notch. Quite literally, as she shows why instead of boots, she has been wearing sandals. Because of course it would be stupid if pantherkin only kept the claws on their hands. So with claws extended on both her feet, she wades into the edge of her side. Each step shredding a cat as she crouches down to swipe at any cat trying to climb on. Out of all of the party Rosha is having the hardest time. Her decision was right to go left, but it prevents her from using the most recent advice from Peter. It¡¯s a little hard to hit as many monsters as possible when they aren¡¯t bunched up. Instead, she spends most of her time on crowd control. Each sweep knocking a few cats deeper into the swarm. Luckily, her efforts are not in vain. While she is taking a lot of damage on a constant drip Rosha has solidified the swarm. Less and less cats are spread out though she can¡¯t wait to really be able to let go. At the back, Peter shakes his head. ¡®Welp, Courtney is defo hiding something. Of all the common sapient races, pantherkin are only second to halflings anything shadow related. With the darkness literally dripping off of her right now she has to have something more that would help with the fight. You just don¡¯t get shadows to act like a liquid without some nonsense.¡¯ He sighs, ¡®Though it would better explain wanting our variant illusion magic. Shadows mean her illusion magic already has a foot half in the door on being real. Just a little more and it would be near impossible for anything within spitting distance of her level to spot one of her illusions in a shadowy space.¡¯ ¡®Though I will have to mention that little quirk of shadow magic. She might already know, but you can¡¯t ever tell with travellers. Their world is just too strange compared to our own. Sometimes it just seems so odd that they can come here at all. Not that I would ever say anything of the sort out loud. The System wouldn¡¯t like that too much, luckily it doesn¡¯t care if I think about it.'' Chapter 226 - She Isnt That Dense Peter sighs, ¡®Still, I need to get a better feel for the situation before I tell her. Meh, Rosha can deal with it. She¡¯s the one I¡¯m more invested in teaching anyway.¡¯ He sits back as the group finishes cleaning up the swarms. Peter nods at them, ¡°Much better. While I think you guys can improve your clear speed that was about the same speed as the last group despite having more swarms to deal with. Jason, good movement but try and be more elegant with it. A smoother path will not only make you look cooler but improve your pathing as it forces you to think ahead more.¡± ¡°Courtney, much better this time. Though I will admit that with your current equipment you aren¡¯t the most effective at fighting things so much shorter than you. While that is the classic clothing for a healer there is a good margin of leeway with it. When Rosha goes to get a selection of weapons, you should get some custom tailored gear. You don¡¯t have to completely give up the robe look, but some belts can help. Positioned right, they would let you cinch up the clothes when expecting combat.¡± ¡°Rosha, your attack pattern is stagnating. I have some more advice, but that mainly falls to teaching some more moves. That however isn¡¯t something we need to stand around for. Though now that I think about it we didn¡¯t have to stand around for any of this. It¡¯s just that this one means we will be going ahead so I can teach you. Now lets move out, the two of you can walk. Rosha, jog ahead with me so I can train you some more.¡± Peter and Rosha jog for a while, with Peter teaching a few things here and there. It doesn¡¯t take long for him to finish passing on what he had planned on teaching. There is still a bit before the next gathering of swarms, and so the two of them lapse into silence. Peter wants to talk to Rosha about Courtney, but he is lacking a good way to start. There seems to be something complicated between them, and it really isn¡¯t his place to bud in. Still, he doesn¡¯t want to tell Courtney directly at the moment. However Rosha isn¡¯t dense. She can tell something is up and so after Peter stops talking she is the one to break the silence. ¡°So, what¡¯s the real reason for us going ahead? None of what you just taught me was a secret. I could go to any trainer and most of that would be thrown in for free within the first few lessons. Since you wanted to talk to me alone, it is either some catch about how I am doing, which I don¡¯t quite believe. That or it is about someone else in the group and not only is my bet on this one but specifically on Courtney. Though admittedly that hunch more comes from the nonsense that just happened between us.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Peter laughs, ¡°Well, you¡¯re not wrong. I have a thing to tell her but with the trouble in your group I don¡¯t feel like sharing it at this moment. At least I don¡¯t feel like sharing it with her directly. Can you relieve my worries?¡± Rosha stays silent as she thinks. She looks down and sighs, ¡°I can¡¯t¡±. Peter nods, ¡°That¡¯s what I was afraid of. Well, I can¡¯t rightly advise her at the moment. Now she might already know about it. Courtney does seem to be your group¡¯s information gatherer. Though with how you travellers have to handle illusions, it might not be well known. Anyway, I¡¯ll tell you and when you feel you can trust her with the info will be up to you. Give it to her the second we meet back up or never, it will be on you.¡± ¡°Now this might shock you, but shadows are good for those who deal in illusions. I can tell you¡¯re rolling your eyes. Yes, this is well known, but that is only the surface. Without magic involved, light level is all that matters when it comes to how bright or dark a place is. Magic takes that concept and throws it out the window. Light still illuminates, but darkness is also a thing in and of itself. With magic, light and darkness in an area will fight for dominance. The light of day will find itself unable to win against the darkness of a deep cave, even at the entrance.¡± ¡°Courtney will already know that bit, though. Well, she should or she isn¡¯t worth being in charge of information gathering. I just needed to lay it out for you so that the secret will have the proper weight for you. Anyway, shadows are neither light nor dark. They stand between the two. Unable to exist in one or the other, yet unable to exist without them. Within a shadow, darkness seems to come into being, yet instead there is a lack of darkness magic. In other words, a shadow is like a void between the light and the dark.¡± ¡°Oh hey, that last line was superb. Use that one to explain the first part. Anyway, that void lacks magic and yet is magical. What is important here is that it fills shadows with some of the purest natural illusion aligned energy. Shadow magic at its base is an illusion that has been accepted as real by everyone. It is an accepted thing that shadows are real, and so the magic behind them has become just as real. Courtney wants to use the kitsune¡¯s variant illusion magic to break through the divide between travellers and locals. If she uses shadows as well as the variant skill, good things will happen.¡± Rosha sighs, ¡°And now I have to choose when to tell her that nonsense. Though I guess it doesn¡¯t matter too much at the moment. I can wait until she gets the variant skill at the least, and maybe whoever you find to teach her tells her in our place.¡± Peter coughs, ¡°Yeah, they totally could, yeah.¡± Chapter 227 - Magical Shadow Evasion The group joins back up at the next convergences of swarm cats. Looking over the squirming mass, Courtney raises an eyebrow and turns to Peter. ¡°So this looks like about the same number of cats as the last fight. What is special this time?¡± Peter laughs, ¡°Good eye, this is a different sort of challenge as compared to the last. Instead of increasing the number, I increased the damage output. This isn¡¯t a bunch of 400 cat swarms. This is a gathering of more but smaller swarms. At about 200 cats to a swarm I¡¯ve doubled the damage you will be taking. Even with your effective damage reduction options this will still hurt.¡± Courtney groans, ¡°Of course, tell me to do something besides healing and then throw a heal check at us.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°Not like I planned it that way. You just had to go and show your hidden cards. Still, that means this will be an excellent training exercise. A good healer should be able to do other things anyway. Even if your job was to literally just stand there and heal you should be doing other things. For instance, a common side job is to act as a caller. You¡¯re already there watching everyone so extending that to relaying what is happening just works.¡± Courtney sighs at this but doesn¡¯t have anything else to add, so she turns to the others. ¡°Well, if there is going to be more damage coming down on us, I will have to buff Rosha for this one. My healing was keeping up in the last fight but with the extra damage that isn¡¯t likely to be the case now.¡± Jason scratches his head, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you be able to prop that up with spot healing?¡± Courtney pops out one of her claws, ¡°The healing from the last fight depended on me constantly dealing damage. If I stop to cast a healing spell then I fall behind even more. If the fight lasts long enough I would end up only healing. My buff won¡¯t quite cut the damage taken in half but will give me more of a buffer.¡± Peter claps at this explanation. ¡°Good! At least I won¡¯t have to ding you on not knowing your own limits. Whether you researched the subject or just knew enough about your healing, it doesn¡¯t matter. Being able to judge the trade-offs is very important, and people who use draining attacks to heal like you do tend to be the worst at it.¡± Courtney nods, ¡°A popular subject and of much debate. While I have read up on the various trade-offs of healing, some elder travellers in Rosha¡¯s family have advised me on it. Basically, all the reading is worth nothing without actual experience. So while I do have an excellent base of theory on it, I have been going off what I have actually experienced.¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Peter nods, ¡°A good stance to take. You received some excellent advice there. Now do any of you have some other thing to bring up, or are you all going to stop stalling and go fight some cats?¡± Rosha shrugs, ¡°I¡¯ve been ready. It was you all chatting it up. Lets go!¡± And she moves off to attack the swarms. Courtney reaches out to stop her but gives up and starts to cast her buff. Jason shrugs and hustles to catch up to Rosha as well. Seeing this as well, Courtney rolls her eyes and moves to catch up as the buff finishes. Of course having cast the buff Courtney doesn¡¯t have as much mana this fight as she did the last. In fact, as she tears into the swarm while flanking to the left, she doesn¡¯t have enough mana to start up her draining aura on her claws. Not that she would have cast it right away even if she did. With the extra damage, she had decided to hold off until she had enough for a healing spell. Even without the buff on her claws that still didn¡¯t stop her from activating her bloodline shadows, reserving away a portion of her mana pool and regen rate. There was no way she could avoid it, after all it was her defense. The other two had gone with damage reduction, but as an illusion user and a part of an agility based race Courtney was much better built for avoidance. Not even Jason¡¯s dodging skills could avoid a swarm¡¯s continual damage, but Courtney¡¯s abilities were based more on magic than actual physical dodging. The cats would swipe at her only to have their claws pass right through. It wasn¡¯t perfect but just as well adapted to dealing with the multiple minor hits as damage reduction was. In fact, off on the sideline Peter is shaking his head. ¡®They can deal with this alright, but I really wish I could get some hard hitting enemies on our trip. Jason should be fine, the slippery dodge tank that he is. Those other two however would have trouble with. Even the pantherkin¡¯s shadow evasion can¡¯t stop every attack. Maybe all the rest of the attacks phase through her but one good hit and she would be down for the count.¡¯ ¡®Still, I have to figure out what to advise them to do. I am sure Courtney has an inkling about it, but as their temp teacher, I need a direction for them to go. Yes Jason is the tank and should be the focus, but that won¡¯t always work. Though I can¡¯t go too far or that could stunt their future growth.¡¯ ¡®With that in mind my advice for Rosha is easy enough but Courtney is still a conundrum. In fact, for all I know, she might already have an answer. She is an illusionist after all and hasn¡¯t really had the chance to use it because of fighting swarms. I guess I can just bring it up and see what they say. Nothing much else I can do about it, really. Plus the System isn¡¯t exactly telling me to hold their hands all the way to max level or some such nonsense. Yeah, this is probably one of those situations where I should point out a problem instead of solving it for them.¡¯ Chapter 228 - Types of Defense Peter shakes his head. This is the second time today that he had to consider what to share. For what was supposed to be a simple quest things have gotten oh so complicated. He sighs and watches the group wrap up the fight. Courtney never does get her drain spell up and running. She just has to focus too much on spot healing and never gets the amount of Mana saved up that she wants. Still, that doesn¡¯t mean she is doing a bad job at it. While drain isn¡¯t happening, she is still adding a lot to the fight. Rosha on the other hand is having a grand time. With the additional methods to attack under her belt, the cats are being thrown around at an unprecedented rate. Before, she had focused most of her attacks on battling similar sized opponents and it is amazing how just a few tips on fighting smaller foes has helped. Jason is Jason. Even though it tends to be subverted on occasion, fantasy tends to have bigger meaning more powerful. He was under no such delusion and had trained in fighting multiple sizes of enemies. With just the few tips from Peter, he was able to adjust to fighting the swarm cats. And honestly, most of his troubles came from not having experience with feet based auras. Peter claps his hands to draw their attention away from the fleeing cats. ¡°Okay, your teamwork is coming together alright. I have one more thing to guide you guys on at the moment. Jason. Yeah, you¡¯re fine. It¡¯s you other two that I have guidance for. Jason, Mr. all arounder over there has cornered the market on defense tactics.¡± ¡°There are innumerable methods to defend against attacks, from the most general to the most specific. For this though, we will talk in broad strokes. Jason has reduction and avoidance covered. This is important because of said broad strokes. Against the swarms and honestly any enemy that likes to go the route of death by a thousand cuts. His other defense is avoidance, you know, being a dodge tank. This means when a giant tries to flatten him like a pancake with a literal tree he can just get out of the way.¡± ¡°Courtney, you aren¡¯t too bad on this front because you technically cover the same two parts. You have that shadow thing to avoid damage and your barkskin spell to reduce it. However both of them are temp buffs. You are one dispel away from being basically defenseless. Yes I know you all have armor but that is the base level stuff. Unless it has a special defense effect, I am not counting it. Everyone has armor or some armor analog that can afford it unless they are stupid or a traveller doing something stupid on purpose.¡± ¡°Rosha, you kind of suck on this matter. Rangers do tend toward being dodgy fellows, badumtisch. You haven¡¯t really focused on it, so are mediocre at best. I don¡¯t really want to compare you with Jason because he breaks the curve, but even compared to others at the same stage of development, you aren¡¯t doing too hot. Your only real defense is when Courtney buffs you. If there is ever a fight that you end up alone for, well, yeah.¡± Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Now, I am not going to tell either of you how to fix this. What I am going to say is that like Jason you should try for two forms of defense, one of which is passive. I won¡¯t leave you completely hung out to dry though. And by that I mean I will go over a few other forms of defense because neither of you can likely develop a skill to toughen your skin up like Jason has.¡± ¡°Let me lay it out. You already know reduction and avoidance. Besides that off the top of my head there is absorption, transference, and parrying. Absorption is based on being able to just take it. Transference is to transfer the damage you take to something else. And of course parrying is a more active defense of countering the attack itself. These are not the only types and you can be sure there is a mix of these and other defenses making for a near infinite amount of options.¡± ¡°For instance, absorption can be just taking the hit because you have a lot of hp. Having some form of ablative shield. There are even some monsters that can literally absorb certain types of damage as a source of food. Suffice it to say whatever you come up with will be interesting and only grow stranger as you gain in power.¡± ¡°Now let¡¯s move out. No talking about defense, though. Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t expect the same level of teamwork as you figure it out. You both have special characteristics that need you to think it about it and figure it out on your own terms. Of course if we were in a big town with a plethora of trainers I would point you towards someone to start you on this road. Hell, I could step in and help Rosha, but I want to see what you both come up with on your own. Over the next few fights, I don¡¯t plan to interrupt. Only once we get to the next waystation will I go over what you have managed.¡± Courtney frowns, ¡°How much farther until the bamboo city?¡± Peter laughs, ¡°Look over there.¡± And he points off into the distance, just a smidge to the left of the road. ¡°Right there you should be able to barely see the purple bamboo. Can you see it?¡± The three all strain their eyes and Rosha is the first to spot it, followed by Jason. Courtney doesn¡¯t manage to spot it at all. Peter shrugs, ¡°Now it looks quite far away, doesn¡¯t it? Well, it isn¡¯t. It isn¡¯t Purple Bamboo of Illusion and Tribulation for nothing. I¡¯m actually surprised two of you can see it at all. Anyway, most people below the fifth break can only see any of the bamboo once you are within a day¡¯s travel. Basically, at the end of tomorrow we should reach the city. You¡¯re lucky the System is holding my feet to the coals on this or I would have run ahead. It has been years since I last saw my husband. I¡¯m so lucky he understands my need to wander, just like I can understand his desire to stay in one place. That¡¯s part of why my privacy shell is so important. He personally retrieved the shell for it! I can barely stay in one place for a year and he went and got something that even with our level of strength still took him five years.¡± And Peter sighs as he looks off in the bamboo''s direction, which is oh so visible to him and calling his name. Chapter 229 - Shadow Fur The next bunch of swarms the group arrives at is different from the last. Mainly the fact that each swarm is at an arm¡¯s length from one another and while there are ten swarms each only has about 150 cats. Peter points at them, ¡°You know how I said I wasn¡¯t going to care about how your teamwork was in this fight? That is because you won¡¯t be fighting as a team! There are two swarms for each of you. I¡¯ve included the rabbit, though I¡¯m sure with Jason¡¯s ability to dodge will rub off on her. Rabbits are kind of known for their massive amounts of agility. Anyway, go and fight. I will be very disappointed if you guys can¡¯t manage this.¡± Of course he needn¡¯t worry about that. The four of them tear through the swarms he has lined up for them. About the only one that has a problem is Rosha because she isn¡¯t really used to fighting without a healer at this point. This really brings her lack of defense into stark contrast to the others. Though Courtney herself isn¡¯t doing too hot either. Through a desire to grow, she has chosen to not use either of her buffs. Peter does have to shake his head as she doesn¡¯t seem to realize that on her own she already has a third avenue covered. By being able to heal she actually has absorption covered because she can just take the damage. Jason is of course Jason and Peter is honestly getting tired of him. Peter shakes his head, ¡®How can a traveller have such old eyes? Even the eldest of them that I have met all have young eyes.¡¯ Though Jason isn¡¯t the only one doing much better than their level would indicate. Lily is hopping along just fine. Peter hadn¡¯t talked much about her because even knowing what he did, he mostly just lumped her in with Jason. Even now despite how well she is doing he has fallen into that trap. Mostly because she seems to be following in his footsteps almost exactly. Of course, her ability to dodge isn¡¯t unexpected. Not only do rabbits naturally go hard into the agility stat but she has been on Jason¡¯s shoulder for so long it would be hard for her to not pick up some tips on dodging. Besides that her charged fur did more than just damage others. Despite appearing just as soft and fluffy as before, the Energy surging through it turns it hard like steel wire. It could even be said that her fur provided more protection than Jason¡¯s own hardened skin. Lily really was like a mini-Jason as far as Peter was considered. It didn¡¯t hurt that for the most part the two were inseparable, barring when Rosha manages to get her cuddle time in. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Peter watches this all, not just this fight but the next three as well. Courtney develops the quickest. In fact, so quick Peter assumes she already knew about the issue and just had done nothing about it. Though her solution shows another shocking turn. Instead of going off on some other method of defense, she has doubled down on her shadow defense. By digging into her bloodline, she had turned the buff into an innate ability. Instead of just misty shadows on her joints, the shadows now sprout all over her body like fur. This caused her to appear more like a panther than even the panther folk. Of course from what Peter can see it still takes up her Mana, but because of how it is interwoven through her body it would be near impossible for any reasonable threat to dispel it. Not that the defense is perfect, but then again no defense is perfect so she should be good. Rosha on the other hand isn¡¯t doing so hot. She has improved on her ability to dodge, but of course that is a long term goal and not the most applicable for a swarm. Where she has spent most of her efforts is in parrying. Starting from zero isn¡¯t the easiest thing to do, but the cats give her more than enough chances to practice it. Now they are heading towards the last waystation before the city, and we have wrapped all the swarms up. Peter stretches and yawns, ¡°Lots of work today! One more fight though and for this one I want you guys to work together again. Not that you will have much of an option on that. Just like last night you will have to help clear up the area around the base of the wall. This time though, I expect more of you all. We should see the waystation wall any moment now so be ready.¡± The rest of the group roll their eyes at his comment about there being a lot of work, but still they ready themselves. Of course, it would be too easy if things always worked the way Peter wanted. Because he didn¡¯t have to do anything with the swarms around the waystation he hadn¡¯t checked ahead. This comes back to bite him as when the place comes into view there is a distinct lack of cats around the base of the wall. In fact, there isn¡¯t even the usual splatter of gore that would accompany the guards having already cleaned up the area. The area is just empty. Of course, it isn¡¯t just the group that are confused by this. On the wall there are half again as many guards as they saw at the last waystation. All of them standing around with a nervous energy to them. As the group reaches the wall a jumpy young wolf folk greets them at the gate. ¡°Um, hello! Have you seen anything strange out there?¡± And he shifts from one foot to another while turning his head to and fro while sniffing the air. Peter steps forward, ¡°There has been nothing strange in the direction we came from. Just the usual swarm cats.¡± The young wolf folk takes a deep breath and plants both feet on the ground. The group can still see his hands shaking. Still, he gets himself under control and gestures the group through into the station. Chapter 230 - What Ate The Swarm Cats? Once inside, Peter points to the inn. ¡°You guys go ahead. I want to go find out what is up and the local head is the best place to start. After my meet and greet with them, I will come back to critique your defense.¡± Jason shrugs at this, he doesn¡¯t need to worry. Rosha and Courtney on the other hand are a little tense, but before they can respond Peter has already left. Off across the waystation, we catch back up to Peter as he is knocking on an office door. Just a small two-room building with one room having been taken over by paperwork. There is a loud grumble, and the door opens to reveal an elf with bags under their eyes and a pen clutched in their hand as if they were about to write something. In fact, Peter catches the pen twitch a few times as they speak up, as if to write out what they are saying. ¡°Whowah? Already enough nonsense today so better be a good reason.¡± Peter laughs, ¡°Su! You haven¡¯t changed a bit. Paperwork isn¡¯t the end all be all you know?¡± Su squints their eyes at him. ¡°This close to the city it bloody well is you fool. I don¡¯t know what Gregor saw in you, but here we are. So let me repeat, you better have a good reason to interrupt me or you¡¯re going to have a good reason to go visit a healer.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°Su, you know I wouldn¡¯t interrupt you without reason.¡± Su squints harder at him and Peter looks away before continuing. ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t right now because I¡¯m on a bit of a System quest run around. So I was heading back to settle in with Gregor for a decade or so until the wanderlust returned and got the swarm cat cleanup pushed onto me. Along the way a few stations back, I ended up helping another station head intercept a group that came out of the forest.¡± Su waves their hand, ¡°Backstory, blah, blah, blah. Get to the point.¡± Peter smirks, ¡°Well then, long story short, I fobbed off the pest control quest on them but the System turned it around on me. Now I have to guide them while we make it towards the city. So here we are coming up on your station and yet there wasn¡¯t a horde of swarm cats around the walls. As the System has me by the short hairs on this, I remembered I had a friend here to ask what¡¯s up.¡± Su shakes their head, ¡°Of course you would. Let me guess? You argued with the System again for no good reason?¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Peter is about to answer, but Su cuts him off. ¡°Don¡¯t bother answering. I can see the answer on your face as clear as day. Though since you¡¯re sort of a captive audience at the moment, let me tell you about my troubles.¡± ¡°It started as most truly troublesome things do. With an unnatural silence. Lunch came and went, yet the midday swarms didn¡¯t show up. Any other waystation would sit around on this, but I¡¯m not an idiot. I messaged the city right away to get some scrying done. Seeing as I am sort of a big thing, they didn¡¯t complain too much about the cost. Anyway, you¡¯re sort of screwed and have a lot of work to do.¡± Peter groans, ¡°What¡¯s eaten the swarm cats.¡± Su laughs, ¡°What else besides the classic pseudo-swarm menace, predator of massed monsters, and now your problem. The yubjub! As the station head, I officially change your quest from controlling the swarm cat population to exterminating all the yubjubs that popped up between here and the city.¡± Peter massages his forehead, ¡°Yubjubs? Seriously? Sigh, that means I have a busy night ahead of me.¡± Su grins and wags their finger, ¡°And miss such an excellent learning experience?¡± Peter hears a nearly silent ding but avoids looking at his new message. Instead he sighs and shakes his head at Su. ¡°You had to go and say that?¡± Su shrugs, ¡°You and me both know the System would eventually pick up on it. I sped up the process of you being alert to it. Much better than being out in the middle of the night only to find out the trip was wasted. Now let me get back to doing my paperwork. While a natural predator to swarms a yubjub outbreak doesn¡¯t just appear.¡± Back with the party, Rosha is complaining about Peter¡¯s guidance today. ¡°Isn¡¯t he supposed to be guiding us? Then he goes and tells us to just figure it out! What¡¯s up with that? He points out all the different ways to defend yet doesn¡¯t give a suggestion on what to start with.¡± Courtney shakes her head, ¡°He did more than most would. More than attack, more than your special moves, defense has to come from the heart as it were. So many idiots come into NeoRealm thinking they will rock the classic sword and board. Yeah, that doesn¡¯t work. Peter wasn¡¯t lying when he told us to figure it out on our own. You can¡¯t be fumbling around with a shield you thought would be cool to use.¡± ¡°Plus, he didn¡¯t even list half of what is common knowledge. Instead, he left things as vague as possible. Pointing you in a specific direction, even just slightly, could cause troubles later on. Many larger sects and families have a problem getting high break powerhouses because of this. Their foundation allows them to build up many decent elders. But you will not cap out by following your ancestors and elders.¡± Rosha rolls her eyes, ¡°You think we have a chance of capping? Well Jason might but you and me?¡± She shakes her head, ¡°I¡¯m not saying I won¡¯t go far, but there are some limits you need to admit to. We might not be part of one of the big families, but we aren¡¯t going it on our own.¡± They move onto another topic but don¡¯t get too far when Peter shows up. Chapter 231 - The YubJubs Did Peter claps his hands and sits down at the table. ¡°Sooooo, tomorrow will be interesting. If you¡¯ve gotten sick of swarm cats, I have some good news for you! There aren¡¯t any between here and the city.¡± Jason raises an eyebrow, ¡°So what is between here and the city?¡± Peter grimaces, ¡°Well, whenever there is an excess of one type of monster, a predator tends to show up. For the most part, that isn¡¯t a problem around here because we keep the various swarms balanced against one another. Sometimes things don¡¯t work out how a kingdom might want. So yeah, there is a herd of yubjubs between us and the city and it¡¯s now our problem.¡± Courtney squints at him, ¡°They aren¡¯t native to the area.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°To be fair, they aren¡¯t exactly native to NeoRealm. yubjubs are outsiders, coming quite literally from outside of our dimension.¡± Courtney shakes her head at him, ¡°You know what I mean. Like you said, your kingdom has done a good job of keeping things steady. yubjubs only show up in areas that are overrun with swarms. From what I read, even before the kingdom¡¯s founder cleared out the area, it wouldn¡¯t be enough for them to show up.¡± Peter shrugs again, ¡°At least they aren¡¯t high level threats?¡± Courtney stops him from saying anything else, ¡°Of course it isn¡¯t, NeoRealm doesn¡¯t have high-level swarms. We went over this already. But since you want to pussyfoot around the subject, let me explain it to the others.¡± Courtney turns to Jason and Rosha, ¡°So yubjubs are bad news. They only partly exist in this dimension with the bulk of their body hiding in any of the countless temporary dimensions that overlap NeoRealm. The basic shape of that hidden body is that of an eyeless elephant, though three times the usual size. Though the freaky part about it is the yubjub¡¯s feet and trunk. Or rather trunks, as they have a large number of them. As for the feet? They look like a star-nosed mole¡¯s nose.¡± ¡°Now not much is known about them, and what I know is only the overview. Sort of just came when I was researching this area and swarms in specific. Partly because there was a mention that this kingdom did a stellar job of making sure not even a single one of them would come here.¡± ¡°Anyway, what I described above is something we won¡¯t be seeing. After all, it exists outside of our dimension. No, what we will see is a bunch of meatballs with three legs and a way too large mouth. The mouth opens directly into one of the yubjub¡¯s many trunks. Of course, because of dimensional shenanigans, you can¡¯t cut them off without doing enough damage to have already destroyed them. But yeah, that is how these things go.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°If we are going to end up fighting a yubjub, those meatballs are what we will fight. Just a pure dps slugfest. Peter over there will be the one who does the actual killing, mind you. We can¡¯t exactly reach into alternate dimensions yet to finish the job. Now killing the meatballs, or yubs as they are more properly called, isn¡¯t a make task. You can think of the yubs like seeds. If Peter was to just kill the main body, all of those yubs would disconnect from the trunks and burrow into as many sub-dimensions as possible. Even Peter would not be able to find them all, and no one wants more yubjubs. Though that is true for any invasive outsider.¡± Jason rolls his eyes, ¡°Not that us killing them isn¡¯t make work. Mr. ranger there could kill all the yubs with a single shot and then another shot to kill the main body.¡± Peter laughs, ¡°True that! The most annoying part about the yubjub is it has a tendency to hide a couple yubs. So while I could do that and not because the System is forcing me. Instead, I will get you guys to kill the yubs so I can be on the lookout for any hidden yubs. Make work? Yes, but it makes my job easier.¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°Fair enough, so how many do we have to fight and how many yubs?¡± Peter rubs the back of his neck, ¡°I ah, I¡¯m uncertain? I didn¡¯t ask for specifics because my friend was under a bit of stress from paperwork. Partly because of the yubjubs that showed up. Don¡¯t worry though, we just need to kill them. All the paperwork and digging into why they showed up is someone else¡¯s job. We don¡¯t even have a quarter of the skills to deal with it.¡± Courtney glares at him, ¡°You will ask tomorrow before we leave, right? Because it would be stupid to go out without an idea of what we will be facing, right? You can¡¯t be planning to wing it despite having set everything else up until now?¡± Peter nervously laughs, ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll be asking what''s up. After all, it is important to know how many yubs the yubjubs have. Not only will that let me know if any are hiding, but it is about the only reasonable way to tell how strong they are without seeing them in person.¡± Courtney nods, ¡°Good, now you were going to go over our progress in defense?¡± Peter rolls his eyes, ¡°You didn¡¯t need my help, anyway. Don¡¯t try to say otherwise. A person doesn¡¯t just learn how to turn an active bloodline ability into a passive one. I know you travellers get to choose your body when you come here, so I bet you had this planned out even before you came to NeoRealm.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°Not specifically, though once I was here I searched out that kind of thing. Honestly, I chose to be a pantherkin because it felt right. If I had been trying to optimize it, I would have ended up with a race specialized in healing.¡± Peter shrugs back, ¡°Well I guess we can go over your defense quickly and I will go into depth on Rosha¡¯s defense strategy.¡± Chapter 232 - So You Arent Going To Just Disappear? Peter fixes Courtney with a stern look, ¡°Courtney, your defense is stealth based. Yes, I know, you¡¯ve been forced into a more upfront style of combat as of late. Still, you would be better off hidden in the shadows and using a more roguish style of combat. At the very least go for a more agility based dodging defense as your first line of defense. A chance at shadow phasing is only that, a chance. Of course you knew this already, so now onto Rosha.¡± He turns and fixes his gaze on Rosha. ¡°Sigh, you aren¡¯t doing bad. In fact, you¡¯re doing above average. It¡¯s these two who are breaking the grading curve.¡± And he points at Jason and Courtney. Rosha rolls her eyes, ¡°As if I didn¡¯t already realize that.¡± Peter spreads his hands and shrugs, ¡°Sometimes it doesn¡¯t matter how good you are, just how good your friends are. Though I heard your talk about not being able to cap. Yes, you have that solid foundation from a decent family. Yes, that tends to restrict people from going all the way. However, I do not want to hear you say that about yourself. No matter what others say, that is external. When you say things about yourself though, that brings it inside of you. To internalize such a thing is a tragedy.¡± ¡°While I haven¡¯t known you for long, I watched your hard work to get better. I believe in you, so I want you to believe in yourself as well. Your friends care about you, I care about you. Please return the favor and care about yourself as well. Keep reaching because I can see a bright future for you. I wouldn¡¯t personally train you if that wasn¡¯t the case.¡± The table falls into silence as Peter finishes his speech, and it remains quiet for a short while. After the awkwardness starts to really ratchet up, Peter fakes a cough. ¡°Okay, anyway, about your growth in defense. The two both follow a similar path. The ability to dodge a blow along with damage reduction. You however took a different path.¡± ¡°You have decided to go on the offensive with your defense. To parry attacks is one of the most active of defenses. Technically some people turn it into a passive defense but that requires near insane amounts of muscle memory and practice. However, it can also be one of the more powerful forms of defense. Not only does it use your defensive skills, but parrying also uses your offensive skills to work as well. Being able to double down on it is powerful.¡± ¡°Though of course I need to point out you still don¡¯t have a passive defense. And as I mentioned, parrying will not help with that. However, it matches with your dodging. Honestly, your group is made of agility types, so I don¡¯t know what I was expecting.¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Not quite a defense, but I¡¯m going to train you further in stealth. You¡¯ll find a solution for passive protection, and I can¡¯t do much to quicken the process. However, not being seen in the first place can go a long way in not taking damage. Also, all your friends seem to be doing it already. Courtney is an illusionist with shadow powers while Jason is Jason. My bet is after a bit of training your entire team will be able to sneak through the forest if you wanted to go back that direction.¡± Rosha scrunches her eyes, ¡°When we are in the city? I figured you would just be off after getting there. The quest only requires you to help us on the way.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°Well my husband lives there and I plan to stay in the city for a while. Plus I said I would introduce Courtney to a teacher of the kitsune variant illusion spell so it isn¡¯t like I was going to disappear once we get there. Besides that refer back to what I just said earlier. I see a bright future for you and chose to personally train you. Even with what the System wants, I could have just kept it to how I taught the others. There is a good chance of you going far and I want to help with that. So yeah, I plan to teach you stealth as long as you want to learn it.¡± Rosha shrugs, ¡°Sounds like something decent to learn anyway, so I don¡¯t see why not.¡± Peter claps his hands, ¡°Wonderful! Now you all can head to bed or whatever it is you want to do. I plan to take a quick hop down the road to check on how bad this outbreak of yubjubs is. They should be good training on fighting a mass of enemies that don¡¯t count as a real swarm. Believe me, it is oddly even harder. Sure, a swarm has that constant damage output, but masses of enemies all attacking separately yet at the same time can be devastating. All it takes is enough of them hitting to wreck a man¡¯s day.¡± Jason frowns, ¡°Why don¡¯t they count as an actual swarm? From the sounds of it, the jubs all gather together, forming a writhing mass that any other time I could just obliterate it.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°Can¡¯t be a swarm if there is only one monster. While the yubs look like an absolute swarm of toothy meatballs, it all leads back to that interdimensional elephant. Calling them a swarm would be like calling the heads of a hydra a swarm. Anyway, before it gets too late, I¡¯m going to head out. Have a good night and see you all in the morning!¡± After Peter has left Jason turns to Rosha, ¡°I agree with him by the by. You can go as far as you want. Even if you have a foundation based on your family, you went your own way. An important part of gaining strength is to be true to yourself. You¡¯ve gone out and done things your own way instead of just assuming what your grandpa and father did is what you should do as well. Mind you, sometimes that works. You never know what might be scoured into your very being. Some families will just be excellent archers and that is it.¡± Courtney also chimes in and after more pep talk for Rosha, the group heads off to sleep. Chapter 233 - Mind Pearls Peter leaves the inn and is standing on the wall. With a glare out over the plains around the waypoint, he takes a step onto the nearby hill and shakes his head. ¡°Who¡¯s trying to mess with my kingdom? Yubjubs don¡¯t just show up. Meh, the sages and scryers can look into it.¡± With a sigh, Peter walks off into the distance. As he moves through the hills and forests, he counts the various monsters in the area. Though this only confirms the fact that their presence is unnatural. Even if they are multidimensional horrors that doesn¡¯t explain them only being along the road. Still not his problem though, and he makes it to the city and turns around. Along the way he only counted about 35 of the beasts and all of them quite young, each having less than 50 yubs a piece. Just another marker that this isn¡¯t natural. A true herd of yubjubs would have at least two mature members. Not that he will have Rosha and her party fight them all, even if they are quite young. Plus a few had wandered a bit off the path, so had to be culled, regardless. It would leave enough for the three to get an excellent series of fights in though so no harm no foul. A shake of his head and Peter steps down from the city¡¯s wall to next to the first out of place yubjub. All the yubs turn towards him and hiss. Peter rolls his eyes and takes out his bow. No need to waste actual magic on this. His bow has the right enchants on it to deal with this kind of nonsense. He fires one arrow off, and it covers the distance to the closest yub in a slow and lazy fashion. The yub jumps away to avoid the arrow and easily dodges. Then the arrow pierces it through the eye and sinks all the way into its body. Moments later a storm of arrows spews out, tearing the yub¡¯s body to pieces. These many arrows fly out and pierce the other yubs. This time though, instead of sinking in like a pebble into a lake, these arrows shred the flesh. No calm disappearance, just pure violence. The yubs don¡¯t stand a chance as their bodies seem to melt away. This isn¡¯t the end, though. Once the arrows finish with the yubs all but one of them fades away. The last arrow, which was the original one Peter had shot is now half gone, stuck floating in the air. What Peter sees isn¡¯t such a mundane scene, though. Instead, he can see beyond the surface level of what is happening to the levels below. The arrow isn¡¯t stuck, but instead the front half is burrowing into the cross-dimensional hole through which the yubjub¡¯s trunk had connected to the yub. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. While the arrow¡¯s rear seems to be stationary, that is very much not the truth for the front half. Through an impossibly long tunnel smaller than a hair it flies with magical certainty. On the other side of the tunnel, Peter can see the yubjub trying to pull its trunk away. Shame that part of the magic in Peter¡¯s arrow is keeping the tunnel open. Then the arrow is through and the back half shots into the hole, no longer needed to keep it open. On the other side, the arrow flies out through the trunk, piercing into the center of the yubjub¡¯s blank forehead. Its fortyish trunks all flail about with blood splattering off the ragged ends. Though this could be seen as more of a dying gasp. Peter stands back and shakes his head. While he can see it, he is unable to loot the body. The yubs aren¡¯t worth anything either, so today and tomorrow is going to be a wash. At least with the swarm cats he could extract the mind pearls. Though that reminds him he needs to tell the group about them. The System won¡¯t look too highly upon him stealth ninjaing the loot of their kills. He stretches and walks off to the next yubjub that needs his personal touch. Next morning the party wakes up and gathers around a table for breakfast. Peter joins them and sets a small semi-transparent ball that seems to be made of a pink gel. ¡°So since we won¡¯t be fighting swarm cats, I can divvy out the loot. This here is the only thing of worth on a swarm cat besides the simple value of the meat. Though that doesn¡¯t have much value and is only used as feed for the more carnivorous livestock.¡± ¡°Anyway, this is a mind pearl and I am sure with a name like that you probably have a guess on where it forms. You¡¯re wrong, but you had a guess, so that is better than nothing. These pearls of brain matter form at the base of the spine, right where the back legs begin. The pearl helps all the swarm cats work better together. Not all swarms need a thing like this. A good example is that most insect swarms aren¡¯t even a special monster but just a lot of some specific insect.¡± ¡°Cats on the other hand need all the help they can get on working together, especially with how dense the swarm cat is. While these pearls have a few different uses the most common one is the potion of instinctive teamwork. Very popular with armies as it can let an entire army work together like never before. It isn¡¯t telepathy or anything, but just enhancing the parts of you focused on cues in the environment.¡± ¡°Now these pearls aren¡¯t worth hundreds of gold or anything. At least not here. We are the local leader in all things swarm related. Anyway, I plan to turn them into one of my contacts in the city to sell them. Do you want to wait to see what they sell for, or do you want to sell it to me directly?¡± Chapter 234 - Four to Five Tails Jason frowns, ¡°Let me see that.¡± And he picks up the mind pearl Peter had put on the table. While he inspects it, Courtney steeples her fingers. ¡°So you¡¯ve been picking these up the entire time?¡± Peter rubs the back of his neck and laughs. ¡°Yep, not too many were salvageable. You guys were efficient at pulping the swarm cats.¡± Courtney raises an eyebrow, ¡°And you planned to tell us about this loot now?¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°Well, I had to at some point soon. While I got most of them from side trips on my own, there are some from your fights. To not share the wealth wouldn¡¯t be fair from the Systems point of view. Plus, they aren¡¯t worth that much. For someone like me, these are like pocket change.¡± Courtney rolls her eyes at this, ¡°If they are like pocket change, why does it feel like you want them a lot? In fact, was this trip just so you could gather them?¡± Peter looks away but answers, ¡°No. The trip wasn¡¯t only to collect them. Though they aren¡¯t the easiest thing to get a hold of. I wasn¡¯t lying when I said they are cheap. Their effects and uses wouldn¡¯t allow them to cost anymore than they do. The problem is with supply. Even though we have to cull back the swarms all the time, most of those pearls go to the kingdom.¡± ¡°They are a pseudo-restricted item. You aren¡¯t allowed to just kill swarms willy nilly when it isn¡¯t time to cull them. Like we brought up when we talked about the yubjubs. The swarms are carefully maintained so the ecosystem doesn¡¯t change too much. Besides that, some queens, hiveminds, and so on have deals with the kingdom.¡± ¡°Plus, like I said, most of the mind pearls go to the kingdom. This isn¡¯t by chance. My contact in the city I was going to sell them through is an official. Because of their effects, while our kingdom doesn¡¯t mind small numbers getting out, no one here wants large batches of them to be smuggled out to enemy nations. Anyone who takes a quest to cull the population has to turn in a large portion of the haul.¡± ¡°Not at some awful price, mind you. There are competing state sponsored alchemists and they all want to be the one to brew the next batch of potions. After all, an interesting potion that has some restrictive requirements to brew will net anyone who succeeds a hefty amount of experience to their alchemy skill.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Rosha nods at this, ¡°I can understand, but you didn¡¯t even show me how to harvest them when we had been training. You must need the few you get to keep pretty badly.¡± Courtney taps the table to gather the table¡¯s attention back to her. ¡°Besides that, you¡¯re hiding something still. They must have another use that is useful to you in particular.¡± Peter laughs again, this time a little more strained, but Jason interrupts everyone. ¡°And I might have the answer. I scanned this mind pearl and while calling it brain matter isn¡¯t wrong, that is only the surface. That would be like calling modern chips just some transistors. The brain is a chaotic mess of connections which grows with us. This pearl? Ordered to the extreme and I don¡¯t even think this is the result of the System tampering.¡± ¡°It is a connection between the swarm and the monster. To do that, this little sphere of brain is like the ultimate receiver with every single connection placed with an exact purpose in mind. Peter, your husband was a kitsune, right? They wouldn¡¯t happen to be a four-tailed kitsune, would they?¡± Peter deflates when Jason says that and shakes his head. ¡°Well, you probably just figured it out. Though tell me what you think is wrong.¡± Jason smiles at the confirmation. ¡°My guess is your husband is approaching his 600th birthday and has at least 300 levels under his belt. I haven¡¯t had much time to research anything and have mostly left that to Courtney. However, this one little fact has stuck in my head.¡± Though as he says that Jason mentally crosses his fingers. His previous life¡¯s knowledge doesn¡¯t necessarily apply in NeoRealm, but he has a hunch it does in this case. With barely a pause, he continues, ¡°He¡¯s at the edge of gaining his fifth tail. While this isn¡¯t all that hard. Tails only require time and power to grow. No complicated requirements, at least this is mostly true. The problem stems from the fact this is the fifth tail.¡± ¡°Kitsune like most humanoid sapients have four limbs, two arms and two legs. Our minds are just wired to handle signals from four limbs and foxkin are no different. Kitsune however can use their tails like limbs and even cast spells and abilities from them. Like extra arms attached to the butt.¡± ¡°Now the fifth one coming into being shouldn¡¯t do much, after all they already broke that four limb limit with the tails in the first place. Except of course they didn¡¯t. The tails act off of a mystical shadow of the mind. Now for most kitsune the fifth tail isn¡¯t too much of a problem. They lose some fine control of all their tails as the brain jumbles them up, but that is it.¡± ¡°Your husband however is a crafter. If all he was doing was going out and fighting, it wouldn¡¯t matter. Whether the third tail or the fifth tail that fires off a beam of frost who cares. He however likely uses his tails in crafting. Even if it is just to hold something down, mixing up the tails for even a moment would ruin his work.¡± ¡°Maybe not the worst thing for someone carving wood. But your husband is an enchanter. Not only does that mean extremely fine carvings, but potentially energetic accidents if even one line is off the mark.¡± Chapter 235 - Pseudo-Soul Jason holds up the mind pearl, ¡°This little pearl solves that problem and why your kingdom is so keen on keeping the ecosystem balanced. From what I can see, someone skilled in alchemy should be able to create a potion from them and some other stuff to fix the problem. These mind pearls can control the swarm cat¡¯s body. A tail or two wouldn¡¯t phase it.¡± Peter takes a deep drink from his mug. ¡°Well, you found me out. How did you figure it out? You said you examined it, but I didn¡¯t detect any skill use.¡± Jason places the mind pearl back on the table. ¡°A skill to assay the pearl wouldn¡¯t bring up what I just talked about. Instead, I used my Energy to examine it. I¡¯ve trained to control it at a very fine level of detail. While I can¡¯t project it too far from my body, I can infiltrate such a small bauble with ease. Now I couldn¡¯t tell you too much about the mind pearls. If it wasn¡¯t for one specific quirk, I might not have even known.¡± Courtney rolls her eyes, ¡°Don¡¯t leave us hanging. It is obvious you are going to tell us what it is so out with it.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°Simple enough, I need them myself. In fact, I could use whatever potion the kitsune uses to adjust to their tails. See, I control my Energy as threads and I¡¯m reaching the limits of controlling them.¡± Peter nods, ¡°Yeah, it would help with stuff like that. While not well known, the potion of limb compatibility is always in demand. There aren¡¯t many who grow extra prehensile limbs, but skills that create fake limbs are a dime a dozen. Though that is likely because of this problem. If they set the skill up to get around the limb limit, they would be so much harder to figure out. Any fool can copy their arms, but with mana. It takes a genius to figure out how to use them and their real arms at the same time.¡± ¡°Since the potion is a shortcut to that, of course people want it. And it is a shortcut, mind you. It isn¡¯t like you can¡¯t train to get the control you need. This isn¡¯t the physical brain being used to control the limbs, but the soul. Though I wonder if it will work on you. Travellers don¡¯t have the connections needed to get a potion. That and the ones that do, don¡¯t believe it will work on them.¡± Jason smiles, ¡°So does knowing you count as having connections?¡± Courtney shakes her head, ¡°Does it matter? You should know better. Mind modification does not work on travellers.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Jason gestures at the mind pearl on the table. ¡°The thing is, these don¡¯t affect the mind despite mind being in the name. They should instead be soul pearls or some such.¡± Peter laughs and shakes his head, ¡°Can¡¯t hide anything from you. The swarm cats aren¡¯t too different from other cats. They keep all their thoughts in their head. These pearls,¡± And he grabs the pearl off the table to put away. ¡°The way they connect to the other cats is allowing the influence of the swarm¡¯s soul to take control.¡± Rosha frowns at the mention of souls and interrupts them. ¡°I thought a soul meant being sapient. The swarms we are fighting aren¡¯t sapient. Plus, doing things like culling sapients will not make you popular.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°Swarms don¡¯t have souls, at least not to start. The mind pearl provides the connection, and a pseudo-soul of sorts forms within the swarm. That decides in which direction the swarm will develop after going past being a swarm. If one specific member of the swarm monopolizes the pseudo-soul, then it becomes the queen of the swarm. When the pseudo-soul has spread out over the swarm, it becomes a hivemind.¡± Rosha fixes everyone else with a glare, ¡°And what might be the difference between a pseudo-soul and a genuine soul?¡± Peter looks away and Jason coughs. Only Courtney answers, ¡°That, that¡¯s a little tough to answer.¡± Rosha crosses her arms, ¡°Is this one of those we want there to be a difference circumstance?¡± Peter shakes his head, ¡°I can promise you that is not the case. They are not sapient, they do not have a soul. The gods can vouch for me, even the System can vouch for it. My kingdom has even had some of the most powerful travellers come by and check for us.¡± ¡°The swarms do not have souls. The pseudo-soul that they have is to regular souls like dirt to stone. It has all the components of a soul but isn¡¯t one. When a person dies, their soul goes to whatever afterlife they earned. When a swarm dies, all those little particles of not-soul drop to the ground.¡± ¡°The way the System stops a swarm from becoming too powerful is by putting pressure on those particles. Should the swarm fail in becoming sapient? That pressure will blow apart the particles. Should they succeed, those particles will collapse inward, forming a soul. You could almost see that moment as when they are born.¡± Rosha keeps her glare up for a moment more before nodding. ¡°I can accept that. It wouldn¡¯t have felt right if we had been killing a sapient.¡± Jason raises an eyebrow, ¡°What about if we fight bandits?¡± Rosha shrugs, ¡°They are asking for it. With how Peter was lining up the swarms, that would be more like being part of a firing squad. Shooting fish in a barrel except the fish are people.¡± Jason nods at this, ¡°I can respect that.¡± Chapter 236 - Why Walls? Peter signs, ¡°So can we move out now that we¡¯ve figured it all out?¡± Jason tilts his head to the side with an eyebrow raised, ¡°That would be nice but we haven¡¯t figured out what to do with the pearls. That and I¡¯m sure there are more of them than you let on. While we did a good job of gibbing them, we focused on the head. What can you offer?¡± Peter closes his hand and covers his mouth with it. ¡°Sigh, of course you wouldn¡¯t forget that. Since you want a potion, we can consider it your payout in this. Though it could cover all three of your rewards. Rosha, you want anything in particular?¡± Rosha scratches her head, ¡°Well, you suggested I outfit myself with some new weapons. How about you go out with me and find me what I need? The place you will bring me to look outweighs any other reward.¡± Peter nods, ¡°And I¡¯ll pay for some of the cost as well. While the connections to get into places is worth more than money, it isn¡¯t costing me anything. Now Courtney, how do you want to do this?¡± Courtney frowns and taps the table while she thinks. Rosha shakes her head, ¡°This will take her a while. How about we clean up the meal while we wait?¡± They clean up the rest of breakfast while she takes her time, and then they sit down to wait. It doesn¡¯t take too long, but enough time has passed that Rosha has started to fidget. Though that has more to do with Jason putting Lily in the shoulder harness so she can¡¯t pet her. Courtney shakes her head and sighs, ¡°To be honest, I think I will avail myself of the same thing Rosha chose. You¡¯re married to an enchanter and with the level he is at, only the best things will be used. Because of him you should have access to the high end shops in a way we can¡¯t even dream of at the moment.¡± Peter claps, ¡°Well, that¡¯s another simple request there! You had me sweating there. Figured you were going to think of something torturous for me to do. So can we head out now?¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°I don¡¯t see why not.¡± With a smile, Peter gestures for them to leave the inn. Once outside he explains how the day will go. Though there isn¡¯t much to it. He will leave the yubs to the group and once those all die Peter will snipe the yubjub¡¯s main body. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. The group arrives at the gate and evidence of Peter¡¯s yubjub killing spree last night is present in the form of swarm cats. With all the ones that had wandered off the road taken care of the cats had poured in from the sides. Seeing them, Peter sighs, ¡°Ignore them. They seem to only be at the gate right now so we can do a run around on them. All of us can jump off the walls after all.¡± The others don¡¯t mind skipping another swarm fight until Jason stops them. ¡°I want to let Lily take care of them. Every bit of experience for her is worth it in my book.¡± Peter rolls his eyes but says nothing against it. With no opposition, Jason opens up the harness and lets Lily jump up and over the wall. Fur charged, she lands in the center of the swarm and goes at it. Of course, since there is only a single swarm down there, Lily rips right through them and in no time has cleaned up the entrance for everyone to leave. They of course just jump off the wall themselves. No need to waste time going down the stairs. Though this makes Jason a little confused, ¡°So why walls? Here it makes sense, but that is because of the swarms. Walls seem to be overall a popular feature, although I could get over them in seconds, and I¡¯m nowhere near being powerful.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°A lot of times it comes down to animals. Not that the walls would stop them. Rather, it is more there to discourage them. As you pointed out, you could just go over the walls. But every time we get to an outpost, we enter through the gate. Though I will note that in the swankier cities the walls will have a massive number of runes, enchantments, and rituals carved into them. The end goal of any city is to have walls in the shape of a circle that can project a spherical shield.¡± Jason nods, ¡°Fair enough. I can see why such a thing would be desired. Let me guess, it is one of the more common uses for Energy based rituals?¡± Peter laughs, ¡°I see you have some working knowledge of the power you have chosen. But yeah, because they build most places in areas with natural sources, the massive Energy ritual is very popular. Though not for the shield itself. That they go for Mana because it lets them keep it powered off and only use some Mana crystals to turn it on when needed. No, the Energy rituals they use are the ones for preventing teleportation and such.¡± ¡°Those sorts of applications not only fit the power source better, a long term small draw of Energy. But they also fit in with how Energy works. With teleport denial, it is stiffening the fabric of reality so people can¡¯t just pop in. In the capital there are multiple layers of denial rituals, all building on the last. I hear reality is so solid in the personal space for the royal family that storage devices do not work. That is very much beyond the level of a simple teleport denial.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°I would be disappointed if they didn¡¯t have at least that much protection. There are just too many ways to get in and cause trouble. Adding in teleportation would make the job of keeping people out so much worse.¡± Chapter 237 - First YubJub Peter nods, ¡°Protection against teleportation is very high on the list of things to have. No king would stay over in a place without it. The only reason teleporting assassinations isn¡¯t more frequent is that anyone worth being targeted knows better. Now form up, the first yubjub is right ahead. Only one to start, but after that you get thrown into the deep end.¡± Courtney raises an eyebrow at him, ¡°Yeah, we can sort of see that. It isn¡¯t like earlier with the rolling hills. There they, right over there.¡± And she points down the road a couple hundred feet where they can see a swarm of meatball creatures. Peter shrugs, ¡°Well then, what are you waiting for? If you can see them, you can attack them. Remember, despite there being a lot of the buggers it isn¡¯t a swarm. In fact, it is only a single creature and even with all the eyes it is much more susceptible to your illusions.¡± Courtney blinks, ¡°Huh, I missed that last bit. Well, good to know.¡± With that, Courtney starts casting a spell as the other two stand in front of her. And of course, if they can see the yubs, the yubs can see them. As the yubs reach half-way to the group Courtney finishes the spell and they stop in their tracks. Courtney nods, ¡°Okay, they should be out of it for a minute or until we attack them. Speaking of which, we should go with the attack option. Since we have a moment, I¡¯m going to strength buff us all so we can alpha strike them. There are only forty and change yubs, so I want us to clean up quickly.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°Fair enough, I won¡¯t mess up the one time your illusions are the perfect solution.¡± Courtney rolls her eyes, ¡°Yes, this is the perfect setup for my illusions, but that means nothing if you can¡¯t follow through.¡± Jason shrugs and walks off towards the collection of yubs. Rosha and Courtney follow behind, and the three of them position themselves within the group. Rosha crouches down and pulls back her staff, ready to swing it as hard as she can. Courtney stands on the edge and with a hand on the closest yubs¡¯ shadow begins casting. Jason and Lily go right to the center and spread out a small amount. Lily of course charges her fur up while Jason does some charging of his own, pulling energy from his core and cycling it through his body. Everyone ready, they wait for Courtney to finish her spell and conveniently she holds up her other hand to countdown. 3, 2, 1, and they begin their attack. Stolen novel; please report. Rosha¡¯s is the most straightforward, her staff whistling through the air as she charges forward. Before the yubs can even respond to her, she has completed three rotations of the staff around her body and moved a good five paces forward. This clears the area nearby as she pulps the yubs. They actually fall easier to her attacks than the cats did. Courtney¡¯s spell this time isn¡¯t an illusion, or at least not directly. Instead she focuses on her shadow element and raises up spikes of twilight piercing out of every connected shadow within a good distance of her. This move fells ten of the yubs even quicker than Rosha kills her own. Lily on the other hand has a harder time of it than anyone else. When fighting the swarms, her ability to negate their biggest advantage put her heads and tails above the rest. Now that the enemy doesn¡¯t face such a hard handicap, the fight is much more even than any of the group would like. Of course, this doesn¡¯t stop her from killing a good four or five of them. Jason, unlike the others, holds onto his attack a few moments more. Waiting for until he has a good idea of how the alpha strike is going. He doesn¡¯t wait long though and bursts out with a flurry of kicks. Each one produces a series of runic flowers that bloom and start to wilt near instantly. As the rune carved flowers wilt though they send out a cascade of razor sharp petals. The petals arc out and decimate any nearby yubs that get in the way. Within moments Jason has cleared the area around him and he crouches down and springs forward towards the only remaining yubs. He pulls back both fists to his side and plants his front foot into the ground, driving up a shower of dirt as he drops into a deep stance. Then thrusts both of his fists forward, blasting away two of the monsters in front of him. With the arms still extended, he swings them outward to his sides and hammers the last three remaining yubs. Peter fires off a single arrow that penetrates through the space where the last yub died. Satisfied he laughs, ¡°That went better than I expected. You¡¯ve been fighting swarms so long I half expected you all to fall flat on your faces. Instead, only the rabbit had troubles, which is completely fair. A lot of her combat potential came from swarms not working on her. Now where did she get to?¡± Peter and Jason turn around to find that Rosha has Lily off to the side out of the gore. Courtney is next to them, rolling her eyes, casting prestidigitation to clean them both off. Rosha for the most part ignores this as she cuddles Lily and comforts her about how she did in the fight. Peter shakes his head at this but Jason just shrugs, ¡°What can you do?¡± Peter sighs, ¡°Not much. Anyway, you seem to be able to fire off attacks at a greater distance than I would expect. While it has more range than Qi, Energy isn¡¯t known for ranged attacks.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°If I was using Energy for the runic blooms, I would agree the range is too much. However, runic bloom is the stamina based effect of my war stomp.¡± Peter raises an eyebrow, ¡°Still, war stomp also isn¡¯t known for ranged attacks in general. Even people who channel Mana through it generally do not get projectiles like your flowers throw off.¡± Jason just shrugs, ¡°I guess I¡¯m just odd.¡± And he smirks. Chapter 238 - Actually A Shadow Pantherkin Courtney interrupts the two of them to ask, ¡°So do these things have any drops? We didn¡¯t ask with swarm cats and look how that turned out.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°Yubjub¡¯s drop some great loot and their body has natural spacial magic in it. The yubs on the other hand are worthless. All the valuable stuff is on the other side of a dimensional wall from us and I can¡¯t get to it.¡± Rosha shakes her head and laughs, ¡°Of course it would be. Though we weren¡¯t going this way for money in the first place, it would be nice.¡± Jason nods, ¡°The skin would be useful to help pay off a favor someone did for me.¡± Peter rolls his eyes, ¡°What? You expect me to carry the heavy duty magical equipment needed to bridge dimensions everywhere? These things aren¡¯t even supposed to be here.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°Whatever, it doesn¡¯t matter for us. You¡¯re the one taking a loss right now because we won¡¯t be getting mind pearls from them. Though I¡®d say we should pick up the pace.¡± Peter laughs, ¡°This was just a single yubjub. Things get harder much quicker than you expect with multiple master minds involved. Look at the fight. Part of what made it so easy was only one of them to four of you. Once we get more yubjubs in on the action, they will focus their efforts. Swarms are bad because an outside force allows them to work together. These things don¡¯t need an outside force. They already are one being.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°At least they get affected by illusions and can miss their attacks. As you¡¯ve pointed out, our group is very reliant on avoidance to reduce damage. That my shadow form will work at 100% against the yubs is a thing to rejoice about.¡± Peter scratches the back of his head and grimaces, ¡°Yeah, about that. So you might have noticed the yubjub is a multidimensional horror? Well, your shadow stuff is also multidimensional. While it can work, all it takes is for the yubjub to notice and shift itself closer to the shadows. Then your defense won¡¯t be doing so good.¡± Courtney throws her hands in the air, ¡°Of course they can get around my defense! How am I even supposed to defend when nonsense like this keeps popping up?¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°At least you learned this early on. I¡¯m sure you already realized shadow creatures could get around it. Now you know more of the things that can get through your defenses. Also to add on, magical light and darkness based attacks can deal about half damage to you. There are also some other elemental magics which can pierce it because of them drawing from their own elemental planes of existence.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Courtney rolls her eyes, ¡°So what I hear is that any attack which draws on any other dimension will be able to pierce my defense?¡± Peter laughs, ¡°What? Did you expect your defense, especially at this level, to be perfect? Or even near perfect with a few edge cases? Look at Jason. His ability to dodge is breaks ahead of where it should be at his level. Yet here we are in a kingdom whose dominant form of monster negates it. No defense is perfect, and that is why I wanted you each to have at least two forms of defense.¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°Of course I knew it wouldn¡¯t be that easy, but still. I was hoping a racial defense would do better.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°The benefit of it being a racial defense is it will scale will you. The more powerful you are, the deeper you will hide in the shadows. You¡¯ll end up better at hiding in shadows than the halflings. Though that isn¡¯t the most fair of comparison for them. They cut themselves off from the shadow plane. It would make no sense if they then in later levels connected to it.¡± ¡°While you are a pantherkin, I am going to guess the actual specifics would be a shadow pantherkin. The system just doesn¡¯t show that kind of stuff until enough of the bloodline activates. But let me tell you about the deep rainforests of the shadow plane. While there are some larger threats, it is the shadow panthers who control the place. So while the halflings escaped the plane, your ancestors still rule a corner of the place. One of your direct ancestors might even still be alive there if such a thing is possible with travellers. This means there is no problem with you delving deeper into it.¡± Courtney frowns, ¡°What do you mean I might have an ancestor there? Of course, that wouldn¡¯t be possible. While there has been a rumor or two of our bodies coming from actual beings in NeoRealm. Those rumors are all disproven and came from idiots trying to claim being a direct descendant of some ruler.¡± Peter with a small smile shakes his head, ¡°Not those idiots. Rather, people like you. People who have taken on the bloodline of a peak existence. Even the System can¡¯t just replicate a bloodline like that. Though I guess the way I said it gave the wrong impression.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mean the System literally had your body birthed and grown for you with a family tree behind it. Rather, during the creation of your body, the System interwove in some of a shadow panther¡¯s bloodline. You have an ancestor just like some have an ancestor because they absorbed a drop of blood from some peak existence to gain their power. About the only bloodline out there that comes from interspecies shenanigans is from dragons. And that comes from their ability to polymorph being a non-magical ability. You can¡¯t just use normal magic to turn into something and spread your bloodline like that.¡± Chapter 239 - Peak Existence Panthers Rosha asks, ¡°So if the System can¡¯t replicate peak existences, how does it get the essence if the being is still alive? A dead being would be easy enough for the System to snaffle up some blood. But I would think anything called peak could keep track of their blood. Also, how does being a peak existence work in the first place? I doubt they get born at the top.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°I can answer that first one. The System makes deals with them for essence occasionally. What does it mean? I¡¯m also uncertain. As for how the peak thing works? I assume monsters evolve into it. Though I can¡¯t be sure. All I can say is all peak existences are beings past the eighth break. This does give a lot of wiggle room. For instance, me and my husband both count as peak existences. With that in mind, you would think I¡¯d know more, but it isn¡¯t my specialty.¡± Courtney coughs, ¡°It might not be your specialty, but knowing things is mine. Peak existences while technically count for anyone past the eighth break, the context narrows down exactly what it means in this case. The peak existences being referred to in this are not normal people like use. Rather, this is a specialized use to refer to monsters who have evolved after the eighth break. This is incredibly rare as most evolutionary lines are broken before then.¡± ¡°Part of what makes the higher levels so slow is that few monsters on NeoRealm proper get up there. Notice I said NeoRealm proper. Places like the shadow plane are not on NeoRealm proper and so have a much higher quantity of high level threats. The problem with this is at those levels even the non-sapient monsters will have enough intelligence they can work together to defend their territory.¡± ¡°So not only are there more eighth break threats, those threats all will gang up on you, so it isn¡¯t exactly a good place to train. You might fight a monster who just broke through only for the neighboring level capped monsters come join in the fun. I have to guess shadow panthers are one of those evolutions that returns to a simple name. With how the System likes to do names, most peak monsters get like four to six modifiers on their name. So you would expect it to be called a Savage Deepest Shadow Panther of Assassination and Stealth or some other nonsense.¡± Peter claps, ¡°I can answer that one! The shadow panther is one of the rarer forms of evolution. Monsters have a level cap based on their form. They either evolve or get stuck in almost every case. Panthers for instance go down a darkness based path. In a normal situation, a panther would evolve into a dark panther. Shadow panthers are a third path.¡± ¡°In nearly every case, monsters will be level limited based on their current form. With enough persistence, time, or luck, a monster can break through this limit. Now before I say the next bit, let me say right out, darkness is not evil. However, a dark panther is evil by most standards. They torture their prey through hours of hunting.¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°From what I¡¯ve seen, this is almost certainly something forced on them by the System, as once they become dark panthers they can no longer gain sapience. A clear sign of System tampering. Anyway, if a regular panther stays a normal animal, break the bloodline limit, and get all the way through the eighth bottleneck. Then finally it will evolve into a shadow panther.¡± Courtney frowns, ¡°So why do you know so much about shadow panthers?¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°Because you aren¡¯t the only one who can do research. After I found out about your little shadow trick I went and got my friend to send me some info on what might be going on. That is where I got the original guess from. Then I ended up going a little deep on the shadow panther.¡± ¡°Did you know they can¡¯t breed? Every single shadow panther is its own unique bloodline! This is one of the rarest things for a species. So if you do find your ancestor, you will be like a child of the panther, as beings like you are the only descendants they can have. Beyond that, a pantherkin having the bloodline is so much rarer than a pantherfolk having it. Really fascinating what the System has done to you.¡± Courtney purses her lips as a few emotions flow across her face. In the end it lands on annoyance, ¡°Well. Well, I do like the ability. My shadow form is quite handy. However, I am not sure how I feel about having a panther ancestor somewhere in the shadow plane. That sounds like all kinds of trouble as it is very much the type of thing the System loves to throw around quests about.¡± Peter laughs at her response. ¡°I bet the moment you gain the ability to plane hop, you will have a never ending flow of quests. Each one trying to get you to either meet or avenge your ancestor. After all, once a monster reaches that level of power they don¡¯t just die of old age. Not that they can¡¯t mind you. There is still a limit to their lifeforce. However, at that level of power even one sign of weakening will be met with old foes showing up to challenge you. Unless a monster has capped out, the chance at a higher leveled monster who has weakened due to age is the ultimate target.¡± Courtney rolls her eyes, ¡°And what about the whole coming together for defense stuff?¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°That is to defend against outside sources. They will all pounce on any human coming in and disturbing everyone with annoying dimensional magic. A peak death¡¯s shadow elk coming in to fight an old shadow panther to the death because of a grudge is just another day in their life. Not that you would have a better chance when they are fighting. The second they notice you are there, both of them will turn against you in a temporary truce.¡± ¡°Though while it has been fun to talk about this, the next group is in a dip in the ground not far ahead. There are only two yubjubs there, but I expect better results from the two of them in their fight against you. Not that I expect them to win, but that¡¯s life sometimes.¡± Chapter 240 - Two YubJubs and Forgetfulness The group comes in on the next group of yubjubs and right away they can tell it was two. With the swarms, even if there were multiple swarms, they would flow together. With the yubs, despite there being over a hundred of them, the two separate groups were obvious even when mixed. They had gotten used to swarms flowing and while the yubs flowed it was two separate flows. Of course, this interesting observation doesn¡¯t stop the yubs from charging, so the group gets into position. Courtney casts another illusion spell, but it doesn¡¯t work as well this time. While half of the yubs stop dead in their tracks, the other half continues on without pause. Worse, the jostling of the moving yubs wakes up the enchanted yubs and those soon continue their charge. Courtney shakes her head and switches to casting her shadow form. Rosha strides forward to cover for Courtney. With staff raised, she lands the first blow across the front of the herd. Several yubs go flying, but the ones behind try to take advantage of her while she is recovering from the swing. Jason won¡¯t let this happen though as he ducks in under her staff and lashes out with a blast punch. It knocks more yubs back and before they can even bounce back, Rosha comes in with another swing. Then from their flank the yubs that got charmed come in and Courtney intercepts them. With shadowed claws she shreds the two leading yubs and continues deeper into the herd. While she doesn¡¯t have her life drain up, it doesn¡¯t matter if they don¡¯t have time to hit her. She dashes back and forth as her shadow fur sways to an unseen wind. Off to the side, Peter just thrusts his hands out, palms up. ¡®Really? Really? I tell her about the whole shadow planes thing and she already has a connection? Every single one of them is absurd, even for travellers! Sure, the connection isn¡¯t that deep, but the fur is already being affected by the shadows.¡¯ He pinches the bridge of his nose, ¡®I knew the System was making the deal unfair but I don¡¯t think even it realized how lopsided it was. Who could predict every single one of them would be so ridiculous?¡¯ Back in the fight, Jason has rushed out from Rosha¡¯s side to stomp around in the front herd, distracting them. Rosha takes this as a chance to split off and help Courtney cull the other herd and provide a way out. Courtney graciously takes it, ducking through a gap created from one of Rosha¡¯s powerful swings. With a moment to catch her breath, she fires off a heal spell at both of the other two before jumping back in. This time Courtney joins Jason to help shred the herd in front. Claws on both her hands and feet slicing through the meatballs one after another. While most of her attacks don¡¯t kill the yubs her shadows delve deep into their mass causing more damage than just the surface wound would suggest. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Rosha soon joins them by jumping into the thick of it. Behind her the flanking herd tries to follow, but the herd they are attacking isn¡¯t paying attention enough to let them through. With the three of them together, they blast a way out through the back of them. Now across from them, the other herd tries to move around to the left. The group isn¡¯t having that though and smash any yubs that get in their way as they move to keep the other herd across from them. Two revolutions later, the frustrated herd dives into the uncooperative herd, even going so far as to attack any yubs that don¡¯t get out of the way quickly enough. With no reason to continue their movement, Rosha plants her feet on the ground and with rapid swipes flings back the encroaching yubs. The much diminished herd at this point feels that the chances of victory are slipping away and so tries to run. This doesn¡¯t do much good as the larger herd has engulfed them, preventing escape. Even with a few vicious attacks, the other herd keeps them pressed up against the group. Then Courtney gets another illusion spell off. This time though, instead of a more generic illusion to stop them, she has clouded their vision to see the other herd as a mortal enemy. Even with the charmed group taking attacks, they stay under. After all, you would expect your enemy to attack you and the bigger herd is doing just that. Jason all the while has returned to circling around the mass of yubs, picking off those that get too far out of line. Otherwise the group stands back, watching as the two groups kill themselves. Jason still does sneak in to get a kill or two. Though more to keep the fight balanced than any actual desire to help one side or the other. With this tactic properly being run, the group can keep things confused until there are only a few left in either herd. As one last yub falls and the enchanted group has the illusion wear off, there are only fifteen left in total. The clean up at this point is almost too easy. Still, this doesn¡¯t stop the group from taking it seriously. Though the biggest tip that they had cleared the entire field of yubs comes instead from Peter firing off two arrows. One for each of the main bodies hidden behind the dimensional wall. They pierce through where the last of both yub groups are dying. The arrows reap the monsters, and soon the space is clear of the living. Rosha claps her hands, ¡°I think that fight went well enough.¡± Peter nods, ¡°I can agree, though there were a couple missteps. Jason, you forgot to let your rabbit out to join the fight. Rosha, actually you did fine. Courtney, while keeping people topped up isn¡¯t bad you overhealed Rosha. You could have instead just healed Jason and then maybe had enough Mana to get your life drain going. After that you would have been able to top off Rosha with no wasted healing.¡± Chapter 241 - Just A Few Yubs Peter laughs, ¡°But those are small things. Overall, the three of you did fine in your fight. Especially with how fluid you guys were in switching between herds. And Courtney, don¡¯t feel bad about only getting one herd with your illusion and how it woke up so quickly. Even though it didn¡¯t stay under long, it ended up behind the other herd. This let them separate. If they had stayed together, things would have been much more difficult.¡± ¡°Now let¡¯s repeat this a couple more times before your final exam. I set up a bit of a fight to challenge you all, and I can¡¯t wait to see if I will need to step in and help. Anyway, on to the next set of yubjubs!¡± The group continues on and over the next handful of hours they go up against three more pairs of yubjubs. Under Peter¡¯s guidance, the group improves their coordination once again. While they had done alright against the swarm cats, they were a little too coordinated. Even the yubjubs don¡¯t provide the best experience with fighting a large number of opponents, but at least they can react differently between groups. Then, as the day is closing, Peter stops the group. ¡°Okay, this upcoming fight will be the last. I hadn¡¯t intended for such a battle, but life doesn¡¯t always give you what you want. My guess is that whoever placed the yubjubs here put a large grouping by the city to make it look like more of a problem then it is. Anyway, this will be the biggest fight of the entire trip.¡± ¡°Unlike the previous fights, I won¡¯t be judging you by how you clear the monsters. Rather, I will judge you by how long you can last before I have to step in. There is no chance of the three of you beating them all.¡± Rosha rolls her eyes, ¡°Okay, out with it. How many of them are there?¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°Not too many when you compare it to how the yubjubs normally gather. The herd has 30 in it and they have between 50 and 80 yubs a piece. So say about two thousand yubs? While the number of yubjubs is high, they have less total yubs because they are all young adults. A natural herd will have about 16 yubjubs but almost ten thousand yubs.¡± ¡°So yeah, just a few to fight. You are going to be beaten down by attrition. I doubt enough of them can attack at once to alpha strike any of you down. I¡¯ll be off to the side anyway, so I can jump in as needed. Now we are only a few minutes away from them, so get read.¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Jason looks at him with an eyebrow raised. ¡°You¡¯re actually giving us a heads up instead of telling us right as we get there?¡± Peter laughs, ¡°This time I don¡¯t have to tilt things more in the monster¡¯s favor. After all, they have quite the numbers advantage.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°Fair enough¡±. As they walk the last few minutes to the fight Courtney prepares her magic. Her shadow form and life drain are sustained buffs, so they go last. Besides that, she has several other buffs that only last a certain amount of time. While casting them now means they won¡¯t last as long during the fight, she feels it is a decent trade off. Then the massive herd of yubjubs comes into view. It isn¡¯t quite a carpet across the landscape, but they sure are attempting to be one. Courtney shakes her head, ¡°I don¡¯t think my illusion spells will be much use. While there aren¡¯t that many enemies, they are way to spread out.¡± Jason nods, ¡°It would be ridiculous if you could cover that much area at this level. Your spells would fall more under siege warfare at that point.¡± Courtney nods and finishes out her buffs. With that, the group is ready and they charge forward. And though it only has half a minute left, they are much faster because of one of the buffs. Enough time for them to break into the large herd of yubs, penetrating well into the center of the monsters. Leading the charge is Courtney. While she isn¡¯t the tankiest of the trio, she has the best sustain, especially with the life drain. While it won¡¯t recover her stamina, she will at least be able to keep her health topped up. Right behind her is Rosha, who is using her staff to keep the flanks clear of monsters. Though unlike usual, she grips her staff near the center. With much more control, she can keep the area right next to them clear. While this sacrifices keeping a broader area free of enemies it is more important to her that she can keep both sides clear instead of one at a time. Then of course bringing up the rear is Jason and Lily. Jason is focusing on his punches. While having his feet clad in his war stomp is effective, he doesn¡¯t have as fine a control of the Energy being used. In fact, he is restricting himself to punches as he has the most practice with it. Lily on the other hand isn¡¯t holding back at all. Not that she doesn¡¯t understand the situation. Rather, she has a different strategy worked out for the fight. Because she has a place to retreat to, the harness, she can go all out and then rest when needed. With her fur charged, she romps around at Jason¡¯s feet, taking on a similar role to what his war stomp had been covering. For the first part of the fight, things go smoothly, if slow. With none of them going all out the yubs are much slower to die but that is fine for the group. At the moment they can keep the yubs at bay while preserving their stamina. Still, as the fight drags on, more and more yugs crowd around them, ready to strike. Chapter 242 - Those Last Few Lily, with her unreserved aggression, is the first to tire out. This was planned for though and she hops into the harness which closes behind her. While they had planned for this, that didn¡¯t change what had to happen. Without Lily at his feet, Jason had to use war stomp. Not too much of a change, but it adds yet another drain on him. This change does however allow for him to spread the damage around even more. He drives the yubs further back as petals rain down upon them. Still, Jason knew this wouldn¡¯t last and signaled to the others. Up till now they had continued to move through the yubs to prevent a buildup. With Lily dipping out, the trio change up the strategy. Jason and Rosha go back to back with Courtney moving between the two of them. What Jason and Rosha are doing is simple enough. By being back to back, they can preserve their strength and focus attacking in front of themselves. Now if Courtney had joined them in this, it would work better, having less to focus on. However, she has a more important job. By moving around, she can respond to any sudden changes. As the yubs ebb and flow around them, she ducks out from the protection of the other two so she can claw any brave yubs. Over and over she ducks down between the two, using her claws to shred and the drain to heal. All the while she monitors everyone¡¯s health so she can respond to any dangerous dips that might happen. Rosha takes to this new formation the best. With her grip centered on the staff, she can fend off the monsters with minimal movement. In fact, this style of fighting is much more relaxed for her. Jason on the other hand is having a much harder time. Since his last life, all of his training has been focused on being a lone wolf. Fighting off in the wilds with no help. There was some training on how to fight in formation, this close-knit group fighting against the world style of combat is new to him. Every previous fight, even with the others, has been alone and now he is feeling the gap in his knowledge. Jason isn¡¯t the only one to notice this. Off to the side Peter smirks, ¡®Finally, something Mr. perfect isn¡¯t quite so perfect at!¡¯ Of course, there is a difference between not being good at it and being bad at it. Having to stand his ground with an ally behind him prevents Jason from dodging around as much as he could if up against a wall. Still with his tough skin, he can use his hands and arms to deflect blows that others couldn¡¯t. This is especially true with the yubs, as besides their teeth the rest of the monster¡¯s body is flesh. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. More time passes for them and by the time Lily has caught her breath they have killed a good three hundred jubs. Lily opens up the harness and jumps out to rejoin the fight. At this point, the group can¡¯t go back to roaming around inside the herd. All around them the yubs have piled up, preventing any chance to escape. With that in mind, Jason shouts at Lily and Courtney. Once again their formation shifts with Courtney joining the other two, going back to back with them. Lily with her smaller size is more able to fill the role, anyway. Hopping around the group¡¯s feet, she is now more able to preserve her strength, striking out only as needed. Still, she isn¡¯t fresh by any means and only lasts for another hundred yub deaths before she has to retreat to the harness again. By now the group has been fighting for longer than two of any single fight in the past, and it is wearing on them. Jason shouts about going back to the previous formation, but Courtney denies it. Even just standing there, the constant fighting has gotten to her. Though it doesn''t help that to attack, she has to duck down every time. With how tired she is, there is no chance of her being able to go back to ducking around the other two. Jason sighs at this, but there is nothing he can do about it. As it is, he is at about the same point as Rosha. Even then that is only because of his stamina stat, otherwise Rosha would be the only one still fighting in top form. Though for how long, neither of them can guess. One hundred, two hundred, and then three hundred more yubs die. However, with every hundred their killing speed drops. Lily joins in again but doesn¡¯t last even fifty yubs and Jason tells her to stay in the harness at this point. The group is only 300 yubs away from the halfway point, but each kill makes that goal seem farther away. As if by agreement, the group pushes on. They want that halfway point. At the start there might have been a glimmer of hope. That foolish idea that maybe, just maybe, they could do it. Now halfway is a stretch which drags them past their previous limits. Two hundred more yubs die, and against Jason¡¯s orders, Lily joins in on the fight again. Though being honest, at this point she is the freshest one in the group. Those two hundred yubs took almost as much time as the first five hundred did. Off to the side Peter is tapping his arm, waiting for them to call on him or for one of the group to fall. 50, 60, 70, 75 more yubs die and Jason is breathing like a bellow while Rosha is seeing spots. The only thing keeping Courtney standing is her constantly funneling the healing into her body. This isn¡¯t quite able to restore stamina, but it is healing the damage being done by overdrawing herself. 80, 85, 90, 91 and Courtney¡¯s shadow fur fades. 92, 93, 94, and Rosha is standing only with the help of her staff. They can¡¯t go on for much longer and their health is dropping. 95, 96, and Jason sees the end in sight. With a furious yell, more Energy than actual sound, he drops to the ground and kicks both his feet out. Flowers start to bloom on his feet but almost fade before they can. Jason pushes through and blasts down six yubs. Chapter 243 - Meeting Gregor As Jason falls, Peter pulls out his bow and releases six arrows that glow green with magic formed vines. Even if the group had been watching, they would not have been able to see the arrow paths. They do however notice where the arrows land. In a hexagon around the group, the vine arrows pierce into the ground. From the smoking holes much more material vines burst out and form a dome, protecting them and also killing any yubs that are inside the dome with them. Seeing the group safe, Peter pulls out arrow after arrow, firing them into the yubjubs. Like the night before, these arrows fly into the yubs and multiply from there, ending by piercing into the dimensional tunnel that connects to the main body. Within moments, what was just a handful short of a thousand yubs are wiped out. Peter sighs and shakes his head. ¡®Surprised they could kill half of them. Though it was quite the reach and I¡¯m going to have to say something about it.¡¯ He walks over to the vine dome and taps on it, dispelling them and revealing the trio. ¡°So are any of you still conscious? Looks like the rabbit is still fine, but the rest of you are just out of it, huh?¡± He shakes his head again and gestures at Lily to get back in the harness. Lily gives him the side eye but complies with his request. Peter rolls his eyes at this and picks all three of them up and heads off towards the city. An indeterminate amount of time later, Jason wakes up in a small room on a comfortable bed. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t remember this room so I must not have died.¡± Off to the side, Lily hears him talk, and she jumps up on his chest and nuzzles him. Jason sighs and spends some time cuddling with her as he gathers himself. Though all things will come to an end and eventually he feels hungry enough to head out and look for food. When he opens the door to the room, a sight he wasn¡¯t expecting greets him. This isn¡¯t an inn, but a house. Outside the room is a short hallway with two doors on each side and another door on one end. The other end opens up into a small den. Though in this case den is a little more literal than normal with the room made up to look like a cozy little cave. Beyond that, Jason can make out a kitchen. But what draws his attention more is that Courtney, Peter, and a kitsune are in the den sitting on what looks like beanbag chairs. Jason stretches and then walks over to join them. ¡°So I guess we ended up in the city after blacking out?¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Peter laughs, ¡°Yep, I threw the three of you over my shoulder and hauled everyone here. Oh, and let me introduce my husband! This is Gregor, the love of my life and a large reason I haven¡¯t ended up going too far and dying out in the wilds. Having someone to come back to is an important thing for anyone planning to go out adventuring!¡± Gregor rolls his eyes, ¡°As if you would let the unknown kill you. Dying would prevent you from exploring more. If anything, I keep you from diving deep into places outside our knowledge.¡± With an awkward grin Peter shrugs, ¡°Still, I always come back for you! You¡¯re the center from which I draw my map. Without you I wouldn¡¯t even know where to go because without you I would be lost.¡± Gregor shakes his head, ¡°Well that aside, welcome to our home, Jason. I¡¯ve heard a bit about your group while the three of you recovered. Speaking of which, going that far isn¡¯t all that smart. Even travellers like you can develop injuries that never recover. From the condition you were in when my husband dragged the three of you in here, things could have the potential to go badly. If it wasn¡¯t for the restful night enchantment, I put on all the bedrooms in our house. It could have taken days for your group to recover. Still ended up taking the night and most of today for you to wake up and Rosha is still down for the count. In fact, Courtney only woke up an hour ago, and that is because she had channeled a lot of healing into herself.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care how much my husband egged you guys on. Know your limits! I¡¯ve talked his ear off already for letting you guys go as far as you did. He should have stepped in much earlier and you know what? I should have waited for the other girl to wake up first because I am going to end up repeating this for a third time when she does.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°I was going to step in before they got any permanent injuries.¡± With one eyebrow raised, Gregor gives him a piercing look. ¡°And you are an expert healer with the abilities to see through body and spirit so as to watch for such things.¡± Courtney shakes her head, ¡°Hearing this all for a second time makes it even more embarrassing. We can drop it for now and go back to talking about our requests. Jason there wants a dose of that potion you need for your fifth tail and I want to learn the kitsune variant illusion spells. Peter there said he would vouch for me on the illusion thing, but how will the potion play out? From the sounds of it, this is quite an important thing around here.¡± Gregor rolls his eyes, ¡°Let''s actually start with the illusion bit. My husband,¡± and he gestures at Peter, ¡°Left out one small detail about that. And what was it he left out? Well, the fact that I am the one he was going to pass you off to for training. See, not only am I an enchanter but also an illusionist. While I have to talk to a few other people to get it okayed. I would say that teaching you the variant spell is the least I can do after putting up with him.¡± Chapter 244 - About The Potion Courtney looks a bit stunned at this revelation, but Gregor doesn¡¯t let her dwell on it. Instead, he claps his hands and continues. ¡°Now for the potion.¡± Turning towards Jason, he gestures towards an empty chair, ¡°Take a seat. We will have to talk this over. As I am sure you¡¯ve figured out, they are important to the kingdom. In the normal swing of things, the chances of you getting one is near zero. The fact you helped with the situation around those unfortunate adventurers is in your favor. The biggest thing though is the fact my fool of a husband there is vouching for you. Now we both know why he is doing that, but his word still has pull.¡± ¡°The final little quirk to your situation is what you are. Travellers haven¡¯t been around all that long. This potion hasn¡¯t been tried by a traveller. In fact, a lot of potions like this have not been tried on your people. Normally stuff which affects the soul doesn¡¯t work on travellers. Sometimes they do, though, and everyone wants to know when it does. Basically, you get to be a guinea pig for the kingdom.¡± ¡°Luckily my husband wasn¡¯t a complete fool about offering you a potion and told me about it ahead of time, so I gathered a little more info on it. First of all, they will want you under an oath to tell them about the changes the potion caused to you. Second is you need to hand over all the mind pearls your group has. Though they will pay for any not used in your potion, so there is that. Third, they want you and everyone else in your party to swear not to reveal you have taken the potion. That one is its own oath and non-negotiable, by the way. They are a bit picky about keeping every secret they can about the potions.¡± ¡°The fourth condition is they want you to stick around under observation for a week. Finally, their fifth requirement is a bit complicated because we can¡¯t just out and say it. To brew the potion, there are some special things we need. We can¡¯t tell you about those things until you are sworn to secrecy in general. Then after that we need to get you under an even more comprehensive oath for this fifth bit. Now, after hearing all that, do you still want a potion?¡± Jason leans back in his bean bag and stairs at the ceiling. ¡°Hmm, since the third thing is non-negotiable, some of those others likely are. Not the fifth obviously, whatever it is you need for the potion must be a key ingredient. Luckily, only the first and fourth conditions bother me. And that fourth one? Depends, how long will we be sticking around for Courtney to learn the illusion stuff?¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°Longer than a week if that¡¯s what you¡¯re asking.¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Jason nods, ¡°Then the only thing I want to talk about is the first condition. I don¡¯t want to reveal everything the potion does for me. I have a core, as anyone who does even a basic assay on me will find out because of my title. This comes from some unique circumstances and while I am fine revealing any generic effects, the potion has on me, I of course have some secrets.¡± Gregor sighs, ¡°If anything, your special circumstances will make the people in charge more interested in learning everything. Especially since we need to know if the potion ends up working or not because of that. It would be annoying to claim the potion can work on travellers only for us to find out you just were different from the rest.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I can see why they would want that info. In fact, I would be willing to share if the system tells me one way or another. Still, my bet would be on any traveller who wants this potion being special. While we do end up as any type of being, we tend not to change our form once we¡¯ve picked one. That means you would have to wait for a traveller who is a foxkin and can get a high enough level. There might be some out there, but for one to be of the right age and level to need the potion as well as being located here isn¡¯t the highest.¡± Gregor rolls his eyes, ¡°I know that and you know that. Hell, even the people who make the decision know it. Now we just need someone to explain it to the military people breathing down our necks to keep the potion secret. And it isn¡¯t like we would want any of the travellers who want to sell themselves for stuff like this. Every one of you has a very laissez-faire attitude about stuff like this. Hells, the only reason you¡¯re bothering with this is the fact you¡¯re going to be stuck in town for a while and heard about it. You probably aren¡¯t even facing any actual problems with it yet.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°You aren¡¯t wrong about that. If it wasn¡¯t for Peter¡¯s slip up, I wouldn¡¯t even know about it. Beyond that I have ways to fix the problem, they just take time. After all, I got myself into this problem with my cultivation technique and I can very well get myself out of it as well. This potion just seems like a viable shortcut. I don¡¯t advocate the use of shortcuts, but I assume this thing has had a bit of testing done on it already.¡± Off to the side Peter sits up, ¡°You can¡¯t know that. We could have invented this potion in the last few hundred years.¡± Jason gives him the side eye, ¡°And you would be willing to risk your husband over that? I don¡¯t know you that well, but I know you well enough. This thing has a history behind it. In fact, I would bet this nation¡¯s founder picked here for the swarms so the potion could be reliably made. At the level of power needed to found a kingdom in the wilderness, you don¡¯t just plop down your claim at random. This potion either is much older than the kingdom or the founder developed it and so chose this place to test it.¡± Gregor slaps his knee and laughs, ¡°He has you there! And he isn¡¯t wrong either. While the potion is older than the kingdom, it wasn¡¯t very popular because it needs so many swarms to sustain people using it.¡± Chapter 245 - Fancy Neighborhood Jason stretches back and yawns, ¡°Well, so how are we going to do this? I assume you need to go and talk the change over with someone. What now?¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°You get to walk around the city and sightsee? Rosha and Courtney will train, and Peter gets to do some of that training. I will also set Courtney to do some practices while I talk to people about our deal. By dinner I should be able to give you an answer.¡± At this point, Rosha walks out of her room and looks around. ¡°Did I miss something?¡± Peter squeezes his eyes shut and sighs. ¡°Just about everything.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°Welp, I¡¯m going to start my sightseeing.¡± He gets up and looks around, ¡°So uh, where¡¯s the exit?¡± Gregor laughs and points towards the kitchen, ¡°Through the kitchen and down the hall. It is the door in the back on the left.¡± Jason waves goodbye and heads out of the house. Once he is out of the house, he looks to the left and then right. ¡®Huh, I guess I should have asked where some of the sights to see are in the first place. At least I have a decent sense of direction, so I should be able to make my way back. That and I can probably ask almost anyone where Gregor lives and get pointed back here. The Grey-tails should be well known, even in a city like this. Guess I need to pick a direction and go.¡¯ And he does just that. Off to the left is the massive bamboo, so he goes in the opposite direction. As he walks down the street, Jason can tell this is the fancy part of town. Off in the distance he can see the more classic scene of tightly packed houses, but over here the houses are big and well spaced. The Grey-tail household has a bunch of decent sized herb gardens spaced out around the house, but the rest of the houses have much less utilitarian lawns. One has rare flowers, some of which are so special they require a unique environment. Even fancier about it is that instead of isolating them with greenhouses or what have you, they each are in their own enchantment. One flower has a foot of snow at the base of the plant, and a pace away is a flower growing out of a piece of obsidian with a small pool of lava beneath it. Another house has so many sculptures. Each of them is made of a different material, all of them rare. All of them except for a few select pieces. Despite being made from common stone or metal, these pieces clearly transcends normal art. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Of course, not all of them are so specialized. In fact, most of them just look like the yard of a rich person. There aren¡¯t any big differences that he could point out that tell him this. Rather, it is the small things that when added together give this impression. Every little detail is taken care of in a way that either requires obsessive gardeners or daily upkeep via many spells. Honestly, with skill involved it could be either or even a clever mix. Seeing all this art in fact makes Jason wish he had picked up a side skill like sculpting, painting, or an instrument. He had been so rushed just to stay in place that there wasn¡¯t a chance. When life is measured in hundreds of years, even the most single-minded person will pick up side skills. Find a heavenly herb, but have no one to refine it for you? Get trapped in a profound array alone? Many things can happen to you, and so a broad knowledge base will only help. Still, he can use NeoRealm to push himself harder. With the five to one time dilation even a normal person¡¯s lifespan will be extended to seem as if they lived for hundreds of years. As he thinks about this, the area around him changes. In place of fancy houses there are large shops. Not busy places of business, though. They all use an excessive amount of glass to display large rooms filled with all kinds of luxury goods. No one shop has over ten people in it. Not that the shops need or even want a large number of shoppers. Each item on display is worth over ten times what Jason has. And that is just for the cheaper goods. Still, this display of wealth doesn¡¯t last long, and soon these ritzy shops give way to regular high-end stores. The street traffic picks up but it isn¡¯t until he finds himself surrounded by normal shops does the city feel alive. Jason looks into a few shops but can only shake his head. There isn¡¯t much he needs at the moment, and there isn¡¯t even Lily to keep him company. He had left her back in the Grey-tail house so no troubles would pop up. While familiers and pets are common enough, Jason felt it better to be safe than sorry. After all, if something happens, and he dies, he just respawns. If Lily dies, there are all sorts of hoops to jump through to bring her back. Still, after ruminating over his lack of things to do for a while longer, Jason reaches the inner wall. All around him are normal houses, if packed a little tight. Through the nearby gate he can see the next area and the wall beyond it. He isn¡¯t sure, but this city probably only has the two walls, inner and outer. At least this is his best guess going by the housing that he sees in the next area. If the center area was planned out and well designed, the next area is more chaotic. It isn¡¯t a slum, all the houses are respectable and the shops are decent. They are mixed together and all the styles are mashed up. Even the craziest display of wealth around Gregor¡¯s house still fit within the area¡¯s style. Through the gate just in front of him, Jason can see building styles that must come from all the kingdoms within a large radius. Not even houses themselves stick to a single style. Some places will have the bottom floor differ from the top. Others have that crazy grown over the years look that happens when a family keeps adding on to a place with time. Chapter 246 - Shopping for a Skill Through the gate just in front of him, Jason can see building styles that must come from all the kingdoms within a large radius. Not even houses themselves stick to a single style. Some places will have the bottom floor differ from the top. Others have that crazy grown over the years look that happens when a family keeps adding on to a place with time. If Jason was to be honest with himself, the next area is where he would shop if that was his plan. Instead, though, he walks over to one of the guards idling next to the open gate. ¡°So I¡¯m new to the city and forgot to ask my friend before I went out. Where is the Adventurers guild at?¡± The guard smiles and shakes his head and laughs in a good natured sort of way. ¡°It is easy enough to miss. Despite their attempts to make every guildhall look the same, they still made it match the style. Anyway, you weren¡¯t actually all that far off. If this main road is like the spoke of a wheel, you need to go one spoke over to the right and then back some. Since the area next to the wall is kept clear, you can follow it to the next gate. Now have a good day.¡± While the guard seems happy enough, his words are that monotone ¡°I¡¯ve said this a million times¡± vibe to them and the smile was just a bit too plastered on. Still, Jason doesn¡¯t take offense to this. The guard¡¯s job is basically to repeat similar things every day. Can¡¯t really blame him for being tired of the script. Though as Jason walks along the wall, he considers what he can actually do at the guild. It isn¡¯t like he can pick up a subjugation quest and skip town. He could always leave for the day, but any quest for within a day of a city like this isn¡¯t going to be of much interest to him. The next gate is ahead of him and Jason sighs as he turns onto the road. One of the two guards at the gate notices this and laughs. ¡°So I guess I don¡¯t need to tell you the Adventurers guild is down the road?¡± Jason rolls his eyes but after another sigh shouts back with a heavily sarcastic tone of voice, ¡°Adventurers Guild? Could you give me direction?¡± The guard just laughs and shakes his head as Jason continues walking down the road. The other guard at the gate rubs the bridge of his nose, ¡°Seriously Jerren, you need to stop that.¡± Jason, however, is out of range to hear any follow up though and is left to his thoughts again. As his mind wanders, one thing keeps popping up to the top. ¡®I should use this time to work on my irl cultivation. While I haven¡¯t been doing too much with it, I might reach the doorway within this training montage of a week.¡¯ Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Then, before he can think much deeper on it, he spots the guild. Or rather he spots several adventurer looking folk all walking into the same building. While in the more crowded area, the guild was able to take up several spots without looking too out of place. Jason might have even walked right by it if no one had been entering the building at that moment. Still, now that he has spotted it enters the place and looks around. Not that there is much to see. Even with the design restrictions implicit with having a place within the inner wall, they¡¯ve managed to keep the heart of the guild hall. Off to the side is the bar, at the back a door leading to all kinds of things, and across from the bar is a hall for skill trainers. Almost without thinking, Jason¡¯s feet take him towards that last one. All of his current skills are increasing in level, but he didn¡¯t have all that much versatility. While he wasn¡¯t sure if he could find a skill that will work for him here. It is a better use of his money than buying cheap stuff to haul around. Inside the hall everything looks similar to the shinefish hall, the groupings were even similar. Still, none of this organizational effort will be too much of a use for him. What Jason needs right now is some training for his Energy and he can¡¯t feel a single Energy user in the hall. It is worth a look around though, as not every skill needs to pull on one¡¯s power pool. After idling in the training hall for a while, Jason finally finds something to learn. On the edge of the ranged and magic area there is a lady teaching the power expulsion skill for ten gold. This is almost all his coins, but since the skill works with any power. As he walks towards the lady for what must be the fifth or sixth time she cackles, ¡°Well, are you going to buy or just window shop some more? Not that either of us seems to care one way or another. I have nothing but time on my hands and you apparently aren¡¯t much better off.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°Lucky you, this time around I actually am going to be buying a lesson. After spending way too much time wandering around here, I¡¯ve decided to learn power expulsion.¡± The lady nods, ¡°Okay, one lesson on power expulsion. While I don¡¯t guarantee you will get the skill, I offer a discount on further lessons for the skill. Though I must admit, if you can¡¯t pick it up by the fifth lesson, the skill just isn¡¯t for you.¡± Jason raises an eyebrow, ¡°I would assume you would want people like that to earn some more change.¡± The lady shrugs, ¡°I don¡¯t work on commission. All the money goes to the guild and I just make a salary. Mind you, I prefer it this way. Sure, some of the other tutors might do better on commission, but the skills I teach are all auxiliary and relatively low cost. And it isn¡¯t like we aren¡¯t being well paid. We wouldn¡¯t stick around otherwise!¡± Jason shrugs in return, ¡°Fair enough¡±. Chapter 247 - One From The Deep The lady nods, ¡°Anyway, do you want to learn power expulsion now or are you coming back later?¡± Jason laughs, ¡°As you pointed out, neither of us have much else to do! Might as well get to it right now. Here¡¯s the ten gold.¡± And he pulls the money out of his coin purse. She smiles and receives the money, ¡°Since this is going to be a thing, I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Jenny, I¡¯m a deep one hybrid, and I specialize in support skills. While I don¡¯t know many active abilities, the ones I do know are boosted like crazy. Now while I am sure you¡¯ve learned all about Power Expulsion, I will go over my personal understanding of the skill.¡± Jason holds up his hands, ¡°Woah there, now I don¡¯t care much about a person¡¯s species but travellers have a few stories related to deep ones.¡± Jenny gives a sad smile, ¡°At least from what I¡¯ve gathered from other travellers, they are only stories in your world. Yeah, deep ones aren¡¯t a friendly race. Then again, none of the races created by a god to worship said god has turned out well. Luckily, I¡¯m a hybrid and not a spawn or pureblood. Otherwise there wouldn¡¯t be any hope for me. Instead, I need to worry about a many times removed relative coming along and trying to turn me. At least there are now seals that prevent the change, so I¡¯m basically a human. So now that we¡¯ve gone over my dark past, can we get to learning the skill?¡± Jason rubs the back of his head and laughs, ¡°That was a bit rude of me. But yeah, we can continue.¡± Jenny waves it off, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say it if I wasn¡¯t willing to explain. Besides, I¡¯ve found it is a lot better to be upfront with it when talking to travellers. Otherwise your kind ends up finding it out on your own. That and for some reason once they find it out they assume the guild doesn¡¯t know and I¡¯m some kind of spy.¡± ¡°Anyway, as I was saying. I will go over my personal understanding of Power Expulsion. First of all, way too many people get the skill and end up trapped in the assumption it only works for the power source they learn it with. An easy mistake to make when most assume when it refers to power it means Mana, Qi, and Energy. Instead it counts any usable pool including health.¡± Jason holds up his hands again, ¡°Before you get too far into trying to convince me of that, I already know. I have war stomp and can use it with not only Energy but Stamina as well.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Jenny raises an eyebrow, ¡°Well, that makes things easier on both of us. For most skills I wouldn¡¯t try to push this knowledge so hard, but if you use multiple power sources to practice the skill, you learn it quicker. Since you already have experience doing so with another skill, I would almost be willing to guarantee you will learn it. No promises though.¡± ¡°Now the second half of what I believe about this skill is that you need a system to how you do it. Most people just shove their power out and the skill obliges them. The problem with this is that a lot of the skills assistance goes to helping guide the power, and so there is less help in pushing the power. I will not ask about specifics, but do you know such a system already?¡± Jason nods and Jenny smiles in response. ¡°Good, you seem to have all the boxes checked for making this skill easier to learn. Now let¡¯s move over to the magic training area. While the skill isn¡¯t specific to magic, that is the best area to train it.¡± With that, she guides Jason into one of the side rooms. This time, the training room isn¡¯t behind a door and instead just through an open archway. Jason shrugs at this. It isn¡¯t like this is some secret skill. Jenny looks around and chooses an empty corner, ¡°Okay, now sit down on the mat while I explain how we will start. There are some catches to learning the skill, which is why people need a trainer to learn it. With how simple the concept is, everyone would pick the skill up if that wasn¡¯t the case.¡± ¡°Now you know how you have a system for moving your power around? Don¡¯t use that. At least not to start. There is a process to this and the first step is trying to do it in the most direct way possible. I want you to grab a small chunk of your Energy and shove it out of your body. Just keep trying that until you succeed. With your experience, this shouldn¡¯t take all that long.¡± ¡°Once you succeed with Energy, give me a thumbs up or some such sign to tell me you did. Then do it all over again with a second power source. You can use your stamina or what have you, just don¡¯t use health. This first method is more literal with health and will force a large quantity of blood out of you. Magic can clean it up, even so, not a good look. Now give it a try.¡± Jason shrugs and settles down to try. He hadn¡¯t done this, but with the general practice in moving Energy around it should be quick to pick up. With eyes closed, he looks toward his Energy pool. Where his heart used to be is a white fuzzball. Normally at this point he would draw off some of the threads. Instead, he just grabs a small chunk and pulls. As the Energy separates from the fuzzball, Jason can see a smooth sphere in the center, presumably his core. Now while this is interesting to him, Jason can feel the handful of Energy trying to escape his grasp so he refocuses on the task. With the chunk already separated, it is now just a matter of pushing it out of his body. This proves easy enough, and so he gives Jenny a thumbs up and moves on. Chapter 248 - Finding A Pool Having notified Jenny of his first success, Jason settles back in for the more difficult step of moving his stamina. Energy was easy enough as While it was spread through his body, most of the Energy was centered on his core. Stamina on the other hand is diffused through his entire body. To move it would be like trying to hold on to the air. ¡®There should be a central location for the pool, even if stamina seems to be diffused through the entire body. Once I find the pool¡¯s location, I should be able to do something with it. All I know though is that my stamina¡¯s pool isn¡¯t located where my heart was, if only because I¡¯ve examined that area quite a lot.¡¯ To start, Jason does a quick sweep of his body. He hadn¡¯t done this to look for stamina before, but he found about what he expected. Stamina was spread through his body, keeping it working. That confirmed Jason double checks his core area. Yes, he didn¡¯t believe the pool was there, but that would be a stupid reason to miss it if it was. Though a few sweeps of the area later proves his assumption right. In fact, within the area of his core there is less stamina than anywhere else. The next least likely area is his head and so he does a quick scan, finding less stamina as well. His mental power enthroned in his head instead. Unlikely areas finished, Jason settles in for the long haul. The rest of his body will require a much deeper observation to figure out. Starting at his fingers and toes, he observes his body using up stamina. Everything is draining away at it, yet since he is resting there seems to be a never ending supply replacing what I have used. It takes Jason a good few minutes to notice a pattern in this movement of stamina. At first this seemed random. But the longer he observes, the more obvious the situation becomes. While each spark of power can move in any direction, they all seem to move away from one point. Not as helpful as it might seem, as that point is the center of mass. Learning this only removes his limbs as potential locations for the pool, and he had already figured out his head. Now focused on his chest, waist, and hips, Jason hits another roadblock. While stamina appears to be moving outward from one location, it is much less obvious. In the limbs, because of the constricted space, the flow was obvious. With basically a large cylinder of space to wander around in this pattern has once again hidden itself within the random movements. After more time passes, an idea comes to Jason. If he can¡¯t tell where the stamina is coming from because the flow isn¡¯t obvious enough, he just has to use some stamina. And not just use it anywhere but in one hand. That way there is a draw towards his arm. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Not wanting to cause too much of a commotion, Jason settles on opening and closing his hand repeatedly. At first not much seems to happen, but he perseveres and soon enough it rewards his efforts. As he continues to clench and open his hand, it pulls in more stamina until the flow within his body becomes much clearer. This still isn¡¯t enough to pinpoint the location, but Jason already has the solution. He stops clenching the one hand and switches to clenching the other. Once that gets going, the draw moves from one location to another, revealing new patterns in the flow. Back and forth he switches between hands until the location becomes clear enough to search for it manually. And the area where Jason now believes his stamina pool to be is right near if slightly below his belly button. He really wants to facepalm at this. Of course his stamina pool would be located right where the lower dantian would be. Even with pure meditation based practices, they consider the area special. Beyond that, it just makes sense. That is the area around where all the intestines are located and most of the body¡¯s energy comes from there. Still, Jason needs to pinpoint the exact area of his stamina pool. Now looking at it closely he can see that stamina only ever seems to be used or leave the area so another factor confirming this location, but he needs more. This doesn¡¯t hold him back long though, as soon enough he centers on an area about the size of a small egg. The pool isn¡¯t quite centered in his body being more forward rather than back, but this is what he has been looking for. As he watches, Jason clenches and unclenches both his hands. The stamina doesn¡¯t move all that much more, not that he was expecting it. Instead, the movement let him observe what is happening. Within that egg sized area, sparks of stamina just pop into existence. Now with that found Jason attempts to just grab stamina from that area. This is about as effective as trying to grab the air. So instead of that, Jason concentrates and tries to isolate the stamina pool. At first, not much happened. With time, his attempts prove fruitful. While dribs and drabs of stamina can still escape, enough of it stays to become concentrated in the pool. Not enough to make the power easy to handle, but enough to try. Cupping his stamina pool with his mental force, Jason pushes outward. Before the stamina can be pushed out, it all dissipates into the rest of his body. Close, but not quite enough. Still, he figures he is going in the correct direction, so he traps the stamina again. This time, he lets the power build up even more. However, this proves to not do too much more. After the power gets denser than the previous attempt, the pressure stops building. Jason figures this must just be the limit and so focuses on making sure he traps it all with his mental force. If the previous attempt was like using his hands to hold the power. This time he focuses on it until his mental force is more like a balloon. Then he pushes outward once more. Chapter 249 - Jenny Rants Against The System As Jason pushes the stamina out, he loses some power like last time, though at a much slower rate. In fact, slow enough that he manages to push some of it out. Only about a pinky tip¡¯s worth, but enough to count. Overall, this took half an hour to complete the task, so he stands up and stretches while yawning. Off to the side, Jenny nods, ¡°Good job. While not the quickest I¡¯ve seen, it was far from the slowest. Anyway, now that you¡¯ve finished the first step, time for more step-by-step stupidity! Since you¡¯ve just grabbed the power and shoved it out, I want you to do the same thing except push the power out of your hand. Then the third step is to push it out your foot. I expect this to take about the same time. If you finish and I¡¯m not here, just wait. I will be back soon after. You aren¡¯t the only one I am training and now that I know you can take the first step, I don¡¯t need to be hovering over you.¡± Jason shrugs and settles in. His Energy is as easy to move as ever. Stamina on the other hand is more annoying. With a longer distance to push the power, there is no chance of any being left over. He struggles for a while before hitting on a solution. While his stamina pool has a limited density that isn¡¯t the limit of stamina itself. It is just that his body¡¯s generation of stamina has a limit. To get around this all, he has to do is move the power to the side. Jason might not be able to hold on to stamina without losing some. He can however hold on to the power tight enough that his body generates it quicker than he loses it. With that figured out, it reduces the task to a waiting game. Once finished, he has to wait a few minutes for Jenny to show up. ¡°Ah, good! You¡¯ve finished about when I expected. Now, since you jumped through the hoops without questioning it too much, let me explain why you did those three steps. Why I didn¡¯t explain it before now and what the next thing is.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll start with that middle one because of how simple it is. If I explained why you needed to do those things, they wouldn¡¯t work anymore. Everyone has their own way of pushing their power out. Some grab it like they had a spectral hand, others scoop it up with pure mental force, and some even convince the power to just move for them. None of these methods are better than any of the others. It all comes down to your own personal abilities. What matters is that you do this most basic level of power manipulation multiple times with multiple powers.¡± ¡°After years of teaching foundational skills like this, I¡¯ve found one thing to be true. The less you know about why, the more likely you are to gain the skill. Three times is the optimal number of repetitions. And unless the skill calls for more powers, a second power used provides as much boost to learning a skill as three or more.¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Jason frowns, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t telling me this make it harder for me to learn future skills like this?¡± Jenny shrugs, ¡°Don¡¯t ask me why the System works the way it does, but it only needs ignorance for the first time you learn a skill like this. In fact, check your status. You¡¯ll find a discovery bonus for it has been added, so it isn¡¯t even hidden.¡± Jason scrunches his brow and asks the System to show him his last discovery bonus. {Increased chance to learn power manipulation skills} Jason nods, ¡°A little vague, but it is there.¡± Jenny smiles, ¡°Of course it¡¯s vague. Otherwise it wouldn¡¯t have taken me years and the help of many other skill trainers to figure out the optimal numbers. Anyway, now that you have the foundation, things will be easier to explain. Especially since you already know a system for manipulating power.¡± ¡°At this point all we have to do is work on making your system cover all the power types you use and to respond automatically when you need the power. With that first one, I assume your system is only working for Energy. Honestly, I will not be able to help you with it anymore. If you hadn¡¯t had a system, I would now be teaching you a basic method, but you are past that. Later on you will just have to set it up yourself. The second part is what will get you the skill. At this point, I assume you¡¯ve only ever used your powers by actively pulling on them?¡± Jason frowns, ¡°Well yes, but how did you now?¡± Jenny rolls her eyes, ¡°If you had been able to set up an automatic system, you¡¯d have the skill already.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°If all it took was to set up an automatic system, the skill wouldn¡¯t be that hard to get.¡± Jenny shrugs, ¡°You aren¡¯t the first traveller to say that. This should be simple enough. Your system might even technically be able to do it. Except it won¡¯t. The System won¡¯t let it work for,¡± And she does air quotes, ¡°Balance. Apparently the System doesn¡¯t think it is fair if someone can just set up an automatic power system. So instead we get to jump through some arbitrary hoops to get a skill.¡± ¡°Not only that, but the skill doesn¡¯t even do all that much. Sure, it removes the limits placed by the System, but does that really count as gaining a thing? After all, if someone ties your hand behind your back, you don¡¯t gain a new hand when they untie it. Of course not! You always had the hand. Anyway, life isn¡¯t fair to begin with. Why bother with this one specific ability? It very well doesn¡¯t prevent people with money from boosting their children.¡± ¡°And here I am with a horrible race. If my parents had the money, it would have been possible to change early on. But no, have to pay out the nose for the fix. Sure, I understand. The ritual magic to make the change costs a fearsome amount. And yes, I could afford it now, but it¡¯s no good. I needed the ritual when I was young enough that my soul would reshape itself to the new bloodline. Now all a race change would do is make a deep one hybrid soul in a fancy new skin suit. I would still have to use the seals or my body would slowly turn into a deep one spawn.¡± Chapter 250 - Now Go Home Jason just stood back and let Jenny finish her venting. Once she stops talking, Jason coughs. ¡°Well. That sucks. Um, so, what does the skill do?¡± Jenny lets out a heavy sigh and shakes her head to clear it. ¡°Still a useful skill, even if it is just giving you back what you should already have. I would much rather use both my hands free in a fight. So even if the System was the one to tie the hand back there in the first place, I want that hand free.¡± ¡°As for the mechanical part of the skill? Simple enough, it controls how much of your power can respond automatically to your needs. Seeing as you use Energy you already have an idea of how this will work, unlike Qi and Mana users. They use their pools up as they go, while you get less total power in your pool, it constantly refills as you use it.¡± ¡°For most people, the biggest benefit of this skill is it allows for indefinite buffs and more passives. Take a mage casting cold resistance on you before heading into an ice dungeon. Helpful, but at some point that resistance will wear off. Either the mage has to be on the ball and reapply the buff or you end up freezing until they notice.¡± Jason frowns, ¡°I¡¯ve heard of people doing stuff like that even without this skill. In fact, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard of this skill as some kind of must have before.¡± Jenny shrugs, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call it a must have. If anything, using it for bigger groups can be a downside. One example is if a group is big enough, the person buffing everyone will drink a mana recovery potion afterwards so they can cast combat spells as well. No need to reserve some of their pool for the buffs.¡± ¡°As for people doing it? What they are likely doing is reserving the entire buffs cost and manually feeding the spell. You can only keep up as many spells up as you can concentrate on at one time. With this skill, it only reserves a fraction of the cost and is not a burden on your mind. As long as you have the power to cast another spell, you can cast it. Now, any more questions?¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°Not really, you¡¯ve covered it enough.¡± Jenny nods, ¡°Fair enough, now for the big secret of learning Power Expulsion. You need to know the skill exists and then try to set up an automatic system.¡± Jason waits, but she doesn¡¯t go on. ¡°Anything else?¡± Jenny shakes her head, ¡°Nope. You only need to know the skill exists and try to use it. Though unless you get that foundational discovery bonus, you aren¡¯t too likely to get it.¡± Jason frowns, ¡°Then why isn¡¯t the skill more well known?¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Jenny shrugs, ¡°Asks the core genius. What do you think people see when they check your title if they aren¡¯t in on the secret? And that is a secret that automatically is revealed when you hit level 100. Kind of makes you think about how much the System controls what we see.¡± Jason purses his mouth and scratches the back of his neck. ¡°So uh, what do I need to do?¡± Jenny sighs, ¡°Honestly, you don¡¯t need me at this point since you already know a system. If the price wasn¡¯t regulated by the guild, I would offer you half the fee back. You can stay here if you lack a quiet place to work on it. Otherwise you can just go home and practice there. While I can¡¯t return any of your money, if you come in later with some questions about the skill. So, do you want to stay or go?¡± Jason stretches, ¡°I think I will head back to where I am staying at the moment.¡± Jenny nods, ¡°Sorry for the disappointing lesson. I hope the next time you make use of the guilds¡¯ skill training services, we can provide a better experience.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°You¡¯ve been a decent teacher, and it netted me a discovery bonus. Have a good day.¡± And Jason heads out of the guild. Back on the street, he looks left and right before shrugging. If Jason knew the area better, he could take a crossroad. Overall though, he feels it better to be safe than sorry. Plus, if there is one thing he is good at, it is backtracking. ¡®If I need to head back to the guild, I will try taking the first crossroad and see where it takes me.¡¯ Mind made up Jason heads back to the wall and across to the road that Peter lives on. From there it is a quick trip back to the house. Once there though, Jason ends up standing outside the door for a solid minute as he wonders if he should just walk in or if he should knock. It isn¡¯t his house, but he is staying there. The decision is taken away from him though as the door opens up, Gregor ready to head out. Seeing Jason there, he smiles, ¡°Getting back already? You seem a bit conflicted about something?¡± A little uncomfortable, Jason pauses for a moment, ¡°I just hit up the adventurers guild and received training for the skill Power Expulsion. Apparently all I was missing was knowing the skill existed in the first place. I wanted the skill, but it has made me a bit short on gold.¡± Gregor nods, ¡°That is a useful skill. If I hadn¡¯t gone for another method of enchantment, the skill would be a core one for me. Though now that you mention money, we agreed to buy the mind pearls off of you. Have you turned in the quest yet?¡± Jason has a stunned look on his face before facepalming. ¡°Yes, I could have done that.¡± Gregor laughs, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, everyone ends up forgetting to turn in a quest one or twice in their life. Don¡¯t tell him I told you, but Peter forgot to turn in a quest for an entire year. It took him stopping by here and me asking him what he got to remember.¡± ¡°Anyway, you and the other two can hit up the guild at the end of your time here. I presume you will stop by the guild before leaving to see if there are any quests to pick up so you can do it then. Though I can pay you right now for the mind pearls. You got about 415 of them on your way here, so that adds up to exactly 138 gold and 34 silver. Split between the three of you means your take is 46 gold, 11 silver, and 33 copper.¡± Gregor pulls some coins out of his pouch and hands them to Jason. ¡°There you go! Now have a good day. I¡¯ll be back later tonight with an answer.¡± Chapter 251 - Improvised Mana Wood Crafting Jason waves bye to Gregor and steps into the house. With the door closed, he deposits the money and then calls up his wealth tab to check how he has done since last checking. {Wealth Money Property Businesses ¡®Huh, I haven¡¯t looked at this in a while. Then again, I haven¡¯t had to use my money yet either. Being in the middle of a forest crawling with undead doesn¡¯t give you the chance. That and not having done any guild quests makes for an anemic wallet.¡¯ Jason walks into the den room and finds Courtney meditating on a candle flame. The only quirk is that the flame is a cyan blue color. As Jason looks closer he notices that instead of a white flame at the center it turns black. Jason jumps as a laugh comes from right next to him. Off to the side, barely outside of view from the doorway, is Peter sitting cross-legged on a beanbag chair. He gestures for Jason to join him, away from Courtney. Once Jason has sat down on a nearby beanbag, Peter smiles, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about disturbing her as long as we stay on this side of the room. She has my shell set up.¡± Jason nods, ¡°So she gets to start with a meditation technique? I¡¯ve heard of using a candle for that, though I assume the candle itself is special as well.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°Just a foxfire candle. While foxfire isn¡¯t required to learn the variant skill, it increases the chance by so much. Kitsune have such an easy time with a built-in source of the stuff. Hell, that is why they are the only race with the variant as a racial tradition.¡± ¡°Oh, and before you ask, Rosha is in her room doing some training. I¡¯ve set her the task to learn basic fletching. Well, I guess I shouldn¡¯t call it basic fletching. That is an actual skill name. Rather, I want her to learn improvised mana wood crafting. The ability to create a serviceable bow and some arrows only her mana can be quite useful. Not with active effects, mind you. Rather, the ability to form branches and such by hand with only a slight coating of mana on the fingers.¡± Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Jason raises an eyebrow, ¡°That sounds situationally useful. We have ended up in the wild a lot, it seems, but our weapons aren¡¯t falling apart. Though of course you can always use more arrows as long as you aren¡¯t using special tips or fletching.¡± Peter smirks, ¡°You would think it is too niche but there are two important details about the skill that lifts it up. If you are caught and have everything confiscated, the skill will let you create a weapon as long as there is wood around. Some goon locked you in a room with just a bed? That bed is probably wood. Get caged by some monster tribe? The cage is probably wood.¡± ¡°Anyway, the other detail is that because the skill uses only a trace amount of mana on your fingers, it doesn¡¯t show up as magic being used. In fact, because it doesn¡¯t use a full point of mana, you can even use the skill if your mana pool is empty. So as long as you don¡¯t end up in a null magic zone, you can use the skill. Doesn¡¯t matter if you¡¯ve emptied your pool or someone is draining your mana. With just the mana in the atmosphere, you can use the skill.¡± ¡°The biggest downside when compared to normal mana wood crafting is you need to touch the wood you want to shape. And I do mean touch the wood. With the normal version of the skill you could, for instance, hold one end of a plank and have the other end change shape. With the improvised version, the area you can mold is very close to your hands. Though one side benefit of this is that it makes climbing trees stupid simple. Activate the skill and your fingers sink into the wood with no thought involved.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°Well, that sounds way too useful. There has to be more downsides.¡± Peter nods, ¡°The skill depends a lot more on actual ability to craft an item than other similar skills. Part of the appeal of many powered crafting methods is the ability to craft an item through pure will. This skill requires you to actually shape the item you want.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°You know what? I love it! A crafting skill where the downside is it requires you to craft something. Mind you, I understand why that is the case. Most mages won¡¯t be able to focus on crafting enough to get any good at it. Though I can see Rosha getting really into it. Plus, it seems like a decent campfire hobby.¡± Peter leans back into the bean bag, ¡°That¡¯s how I¡¯ve always used it. Even if I¡¯m not making new arrows or what have you, I would do a quick once over on my bow and arrows to make sure everything is still sturdy. Nothing worse than having a bow break in half as you try to draw it or an arrow snapping as you try to fire it. Can throw quite the wrench in a fight.¡± ¡°Sadly, I can¡¯t teach you the skill since you don¡¯t use mana. Though I wonder what the Energy form of the skill would do. I know that qi users have qi woodcarving where instead of shaping the wood, well, it carves it. Beyond that, though, it is more useful for smoothing out rough spots. With the mana skill, you need to work much harder to flatten the rough areas. The qi skill lets them use their hands like sandpaper down to however fine a grit you could want. Of course you need higher levels in the skill below a certain grit size.¡± ¡°Now what have you been up to?¡± Chapter 252 - The Stamina Pool Jason shrugs, ¡°Picked up the power expulsion skill at the guild.¡± Peter frowns, ¡°There¡¯s a skill for that? Seems like having a skill for walking.¡± Jason raises an eyebrow, ¡°Honestly, a walking skill would be useful. One of the things adventurers spend most of their time on.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°True enough, though at that point you¡¯re going to want a breathing skill. Well, a normal breathing skill. There are enough breathing based skills. Things like breath control and being able to hold your breath or silly amounts of time. Anyway, I have no clue about your new skill, so I guess you can train in your room.¡± Jason nods, ¡°All I need is to train some more to get the skill so I should be fine. Plus the next step involves more personalized training, so even if you knew of the skill it wouldn¡¯t be of much help.¡± Peter waves him off, ¡°Go and train then. I need to stick around here and make sure nothing burns down.¡± Jason shakes his head and walks around the edge of the sound barrier, down the hall, and into his room. As he settles onto the bed, he sighs. At least for his Energy it would come down to his usual cultivation. For stamina, things could get tricky. With that in mind, the obvious choice is to start with Energy so he has more of a clue on what to do. That isn¡¯t what Jason does. ¡®I already know what needs to be done with Energy, but who knows if that would work with Stamina. Instead of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole because the round peg fit, I might as well grope around for the round hole first.¡¯ Looking inside his body, Jason first takes the time to feel his stamina pool, though he is tempted to call it his dantian. The location is so perfectly placed that he can¡¯t help but guess that somehow he affected the placement. Still, this makes the pool easy to find. Observing the pool, he can see the stamina diffuse outward to the rest of his body. But that isn¡¯t how things really look. At least not for Jason. He switches to how he visualizes the body, a void filled with threads so numerous that counting them all would be folly. Jason focuses on his stamina pool and feels at the threads in the area. There isn¡¯t any sort of collection of threads, at least not anymore. If such a thing had existed, his core and cultivation had wiped the tangle away long ago. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Still, now that he knows where to look, Jason can feel something. While the threads are his Energy, there is more to it. Starting at any of the threads within the pool, tiny pulses radiate outward along the lines. On yet not of the threads, stamina trickles through his body. The pulses jump between threads at random, but eventually get to where they need to be. Now all Jason has to do is figure out what to do with the power. Minute after minute ticks by as Jason spends the time just observing the process. While his Energy has taken the form of threads, stamina has taken another form and now is the time to decide if the power should stay that way. Observation makes clear that stamina is more like a wave, but is that the best form? Even if he controlled the stamina waves, the power would still take longer to reach where it needs to be than his Energy does. On one hand, stamina is the kind of thing you want to come at a steady pace. The continual replenishment of the body. On the other hand, to use the power of stamina in skills and abilities requires him to deliver the power right away. No time to let the power seep through his body. ¡®I can¡¯t just replicate my Energy system. Hell, I could almost view this like body cultivation as compared to Energy being a more traditional cultivation technique. In fact, that isn¡¯t the worst idea. The body needs to be firm to resist attacks, yet at the same time one needs to be able to punch. Now I need to figure out if the form will fit. The waves are too random and easy going and threads will not work either.¡¯ Jason lies back and stretches out. ¡®Waves can be powerful and my threads can weave together for strength, but they are inherently separate, even if the waves are currently riding the threads. What goes with thread? I need a form to assist my stamina getting where it needs to go as soon as the power is needed.¡¯ ¡®Wait, waves! My stamina isn¡¯t acting like waves, but rather the pulses feel like that. My threads are like a wick, absorbing my stamina. This makes sense. Stamina is connected with the blood and my core is my heart. With threads replacing the vessels and stamina the blood itself. Not that the stamina takes too long to reach somewhere in my body. Rather, my threads aren¡¯t as efficient as the circulatory system would be. But how to fix this?¡¯ ¡®The waves are just the result of the threads being unable to contain the power. Each thread is so small that it makes enough sense, but I can¡¯t change the size part. Too much of my cultivation right now depends upon it. Though I guess if the problem is the threads needing more throughput I could always make it use more threads.¡¯ ¡®In fact, now that I think about it, the gut is a hot spot for blood vessels picking up nutrients. The intestines absorb what the body needs and passes it on to the blood. I bet if I went back to before I formed my core there would be as many if not more of the threads centered on the region than even the heart. That means the answer is obvious. I need to create a confluence of my Energy threads in my stamina pool.¡¯ Chapter 253 - Oh Right, My Pinky Jason pauses and facepalms, ¡®Though I might want to finish up with what I was trying to do with my fingers. Gods and Goddesses, I can¡¯t even remember exactly what I was doing.¡¯ Jason shifts his attention to his pinky and the scene there brings it all back. He had been observing the lines in his pinky and when experimenting the one line untwisted and frayed. After that he had put in a temporary fix. But like most temporary fixes, since it worked, he forgot to go back and fix the problem. Now he can see that while the line hasn¡¯t frayed at the end. The whole string has started to untwist and loosen right up until the crystalline node at the joint. Give it another month or maybe even just a couple weeks and it would have fallen apart. Jason¡¯s eyes have gone wide at this discovery. ¡®Well. I guess it is a good thing I remembered. And I guess it is a good thing that I have time to work on this nonsense.¡¯ Jason settles back in and observes the threads again. Since the last time, he had experienced new things and learned more about his energy. In particular was his ability to clad his feet with his war stomp. The ability to keep what was a temporary effect going was an important breakthrough, even if at the time he didn¡¯t notice how he did it. Now though, he turns his sight towards the threads and nodes of his pinky once more and goes over the area with a fine-toothed comb. He looks closer and closer, noticing the threads within threads and deeper beyond that. Eventually he reaches the end, but this time Jason is willing to believe that he has found the true end of it. Now each individual thread is the size of his finest threads off of his core. At this level of detail he still isn¡¯t able to manipulate them with the detail Jason would like, but that¡¯s life. What is more interesting to him is when he turns his sight to the crystalline nodes. Now viewing the node at such a level-of-detail Jason can see what the crystals actually are. Of course he had somewhat expected it, but confirmation settles him. The nodes are just the finest of threads packed into a solid form. Twisted so tight that even on the end where the line has loosened the crystal shows no sign of coming apart. At least not yet. Or that would be the case if Jason didn¡¯t have a plan. After looking at the node, it is clear that the threads don¡¯t have to follow the rules that an actual thread does. The connection between the node and line seems to phase through itself. With a light hand, Jason begins to spin the node connected to the loose thread. Faster and faster the crystal node spins until it reaches a critical point. Along the edges of the crystal, threads start to expand outwards as it comes apart. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. With a deft probe, Jason enters the node with his mental power. On the inside now he experiences an epiphany. The structure, the divine structure! Like a crystal spun from heaven¡¯s firmament. And then the crystal bursts apart, the threads no longer able to maintain cohesion. With this development, a stabbing pain radiates out from his pinky. Jason clamps down on the thread leading to the next node and opens one eye. He looks down to find not only does it hurt, but the pinky is in fact bleeding. He shakes his head and pulls out gauze to wrap it. While the damage itself doesn¡¯t worry Jason, he doesn¡¯t want to bleed all over the bed. Back to the thread, Jason notes that even with it clamped down, things are still unravelling. Besides that, all the threads now released from the crystal node are now floating freely. This more than the unravelling is the likely source of the damage. Whereas before the space was mostly a void, these threads had started to knock against the edges. But Jason has a plan. He already had tested spinning the crystal to take it apart. Now he grabs the blob of threads and gathers them together before spinning it all once again. This stalls the rest of the threads unravelling, but that is all. Jason expected this because if spinning the threads together could fix things, he would have been done with it last time. While he hadn¡¯t spun it during the last attempt, he still twisted the threads together to quite a degree. The structure of the node was more important than spinning the threads. In fact, now that Jason has had a close look at the process, it is quite possible he could do so without a spin if his control got just a bit better. For now, though, he needs to fix what damage has already been done. Still spinning the threads, Jason makes a single tweak at the core of the mass. Then, like a real life crystal, that single seed grows as the threads attach to the pattern laid out by him. Soon enough, a crystal node like the one he had deconstructed was once again located in the last knuckle of his pinky. And now with the node recreated comes the task he had failed at before, reforming the thread. But he doesn¡¯t stop spinning the node. Instead he keeps it spinning at a speed barely below the point at which it had come apart. Jason focuses on the threads coming out both sides of the node. With each thread spinning on its own, he groups them together in threes before making the bundle itself spin in the opposite direction. This forms them together into a string. Jason holds the string there, continuing the new direction of spin and watching for the threads to come apart. After a minute of waiting though, the new string stays strong and so he repeats the act with the rest of the threads. And again, but with the strings this time. And finally once more, recreating the original lines, tied just as tight as they had been. Chapter 254 - Micropig Soup But this new node and lines are not enough for Jason. He can tell that even though they look like the rest of them, they aren¡¯t. Instead of stopping there and congratulating himself, Jason repeats the process, taking apart the node and nearby threads before putting it back together. This is repeated over and over until Jason is satisfied that to his current sense the new node and lines are the same as the others in his body. Jason stands up and stretches before checking the time. ¡®Huh, that took longer than I thought. Guess it¡¯s dinnertime. Definitely not enough time to do any extreme changes.¡¯ Jason leaves his room and joins the others out in the den. Courtney is still meditating on the candle. Rosha is sprawled out on one of the beanbags, napping. Peter and Gregor are sitting together, though when Jason enters Gregor gets up and goes to the kitchen. Jason nods at the others while joining them in sitting down. From the kitchen Gregor calls out, ¡°Dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes.¡± Peter leans back and turns his head towards Jason, ¡°So, how did your training go?¡± Jason sighs, ¡°I spent the entire time taking care of some problems I had left on the back burner till now. Now, I did get to the bottom of what I needed for the skill, but there is more to do.¡± Peter tilts his head to the side, ¡°I don¡¯t think you had any internal injuries?¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°It has to do with my internal structure and my cultivation.¡± Peter raises an eyebrow, ¡°Did you fall for one of the scams that tries to explain away some System based nonsense or another?¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°If I fell for some scam or another it was of my own making and the System recognizes it for me.¡± He holds up his pinky, ¡°I was testing something while still in the forest. Accidentally messed up a line in my pinky. Put a stopgap measure in and like most temporary fixes, it became more permanent than it should have been. Anyway, long story short, I spun things back into place and everything is fine now. Though of course I can¡¯t leave well enough alone, so I have plans to mess with it more later.¡± Peter closes his eyes and sighs, ¡°You travellers lack respect for your own body. Death might not be the end for you, but what about permanent damage? Messing with the lines? I don¡¯t want to know more, but if you mean what I think you mean, that is messing with System stuff.¡± Jason shrugs again, ¡°I have a plan.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Peter shakes his head, ¡°Well, I can¡¯t stop you. Just don¡¯t bleed all over the bed or something.¡± Jason laughs, Peter laughs, they can hear Gregor laughing in the kitchen. Then Gregor sticks his head into the den room, ¡°And by that he means don¡¯t bleed on the bed when messing with the System. Normally magic makes it easy enough to clean up nearly anything. When you mess with the System though, it likes to leave behind reminders to not do that.¡± ¡°Oh, and once dinner is ready, let me take a look at your pinky. Peter there might not want to touch anything System related. Not that I blame him, mind you. My husband hasn¡¯t exactly had luck when dealing with the System as you personally experienced. I do not have as much of a hang up over it.¡± With that, the den settles into an easy silence. Jason uses the time to take another look inside, finding nothing out of place. Though Peter¡¯s words tickle his mind. He hadn¡¯t been planning on doing much more with his lines. But they are the System¡¯s lines. More literally than he would like. Throughout his whole body a system of lines that aren¡¯t actually his. What would happen if, for instance, he just happened to replace all the lines with his own Energy? What if he ripped out all the Systems lines and before the System decided he was dead, his core¡¯s Energy replaced it. The problem is Jason doesn¡¯t have enough Energy yet. When the tip of the single line, which his pinky alone had multiple of, could fill the space up with threads. To replace every line in his body and still have Energy left over to use his skills is going to take a lot. He sighs as he realizes that means actually training his Energy. Until now, he had been doing just fine with whatever the System awarded him with. Before he can make any plans of what to do, dinner is ready. Gregor comes back into the den with a big pot of soup. Behind him held by his tails are enough bowls and spoons for everyone. Once he has set everything down, the kitsune gestures towards the candle Courtney has been staring at. The flame wavers and then goes out, breaking Courtney out of her meditation. She shakes her head and looks around. When Courtney notices that food is being set out, she picks up the shell and yawns. ¡°Is that lunch or dinner?¡± With another yawn, she forms an illusionary ball and tosses it at Rosha. The ball bounces off Rosha¡¯s head and disappears, but this is enough for her to wake up. She rubs her eyes and sits up. After looking around she asks, ¡°Dinner already? Feels like I just fell asleep.¡± Courtney rolls her eyes, ¡°Well, that answers my question at least. I guess you had a fun time training?¡± Rosha laughs, ¡°I can hear the sarcasm dripping off that fun. But I have to say, it was interesting. Now what¡¯s for dinner?¡± Gregor gestures toward the pot, ¡°A traditional shared dish. Soup made with newly sprouted bamboo shoots, onions, a few other vegetables, micropig meat, and herbs. Mostly it is traditional because if there is one thing we have a lot of, it is bamboo and micropigs.¡± Rosha frowns, ¡°What are micropigs?¡± Peter laughs, ¡°A monster you will hunt later. Not because they are tough, but because they live up to their name. About the size of your palm, they form swarms in the fields outside of the city. At least that is where the meat for our soup comes from. There are of course citified micropigs, but you wouldn¡¯t want to eat them. They taste like their diet, trash.¡± Chapter 255 - Oh, Youre Home Dinner over, Jason heads to his room and logs off. As the pod¡¯s lid cycles open, he is stuck thinking about his new goal in the game, to convert all the lines in his character¡¯s body. A longer term goal than any of his others. While a mage might get thousands of mana in their pool, Energy if different. He shakes his head and crawls out of the pod, game matters can stay in game for now. Jason walks out into the living room only to hear an odd noise. Someone is in the kitchen, raiding the fridge. Then the noise stops. ¡°Heyo! Jason, you out there? You need to hop out more often, almost missed you.¡± Jason¡¯s mom walks out of the kitchen with a brownie in her hand. ¡°I¡¯m here on a quick stop over. The company wants me down at the equator. You would think with fusion power there would be more progress towards routine space travel. Finally, some companies are getting to work on some active support mega structures. No clue what my job will be. It isn¡¯t like my company has anything to do with any of those things.¡± ¡°Now before I head out, how about you show me some moves against the fancy dummy I got for you. You¡¯ve always been one for martial arts, but it is still surprising that you need the thing already. Even in the military people generally hit 30 before needing it unaided.¡± Jason raises an eyebrow, ¡°I thought these were specific for people using powered suits? Why aren¡¯t you more surprised about me needing one?¡± His mom laughs, ¡°You aren¡¯t wrong! The people who need them when not in a suit don¡¯t exactly advertise it. Then again, how many people do you know that actually focuses on personal real world strength? Not strength in NeoRealm or something like political power, but muscle strength? I¡¯ve been around my company¡¯s security department a few times and seen those who actually do. Sure, they still focus on NeoRealm, but that doesn¡¯t stop them from being some of the most chiseled people I¡¯ve ever seen. And not in the body builder sort of way. Rather that deadly look of muscle trained towards actual action and not simply to look nice.¡± ¡°Now I will admit, you did surprise me a little. You don¡¯t hang out irl long enough anymore to really get there. Plus, we don¡¯t have any weight training equipment. Still, you seem to have forgotten one little tiny piece of history. The good ol¡¯ biowar.¡± Jason frowns, ¡°They did brush over the biowar. Far as I can tell, it just involved using all kinds of sterile engineered animals in a near global fight. Though the teacher did stress that this happened over such a short period, that not much came of it. The monstrous animals all died, and the world got their heads out of their butts and brought more intensive gmo stuff into the light.¡± This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. With a shake of her head, his mom sighs, ¡°They still haven¡¯t figured out the whole thing with not learning from history dooms you to repeat it. While that last part is true, until that point gene engineering was so looked down upon by the masses, large corporations and governments got away with many things in secret. The biowar wasn¡¯t over in a short time span, just the open stuff. And not all of those animals were sterile.¡± ¡°The actual war? It started over a decade before the visible bit. One corp had a small scuffle with another corp. No one knows the specific corps involved anymore because both are long dead and for some reason the people in power wanted it forgotten. Anyway, the big difference between that fight and others of the era was the spiders. Though admittedly, calling them spiders is a little reductive but once again, no one really knows exactly what went into them.¡± ¡°They were however much more than just bio-engineered monstrosities. Cube square law kicks the butt of anyone wanting to make giant insects. Who would have thought that raising giant bugs in an oxygen rich environment and surgically installing oxygen dispensers throughout their body could get around it? But yeah, corps and governments alike all took notice.¡± ¡°Looking back, it was honestly all a bit stupid. Sort of like mechs before full dive VR tech came along. But I guess boys will be boys. And with that in mind, the coming decade was inevitable. All kinds of nonsense beasts got pitched against one another. Luckily they stuck to arthropods because that was what they had the tech to speed up the growth of. Or rather what they stuck to with one major exception.¡± ¡°Insects are nice, but you need someone to be in charge. Some guy stood out there, surrounded by bugs and calling the shots. Of course they would work on all kinds of modifications. I¡¯m sure you at least learned the biowar was the source of modern prosthetics and artificial organs. The real fun stuff however never got used. The big dust up that brought this shadow war into the limelight happened well before we could get juicy stories of child soldiers.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right, they modified humans! Kind of sad that they got found out so soon if you ignore the human element. They only played around with the basic things. Stuff like muscles that are easier to strengthen and what not. Anyway, all the kids involved got dumped into the foster systems around the world at that point, so this has been a sort of long way of saying maybe you got the genes for super strength?¡± Jason rubs the bridge of his nose, ¡°That was really interesting, but I¡¯m mostly certain that I¡¯m just awesome. Plus, I would think you would already know if that was in our ancestry.¡± His mom shrugs, ¡°Why rain on my parade?¡± Jason rolls his eyes at this, ¡°Because neither of us are protagonists in some popcorn web novel. Plus, the end of the wasn¡¯t long enough ago to have spread into a family tree like ours without being noticed.¡± His mom sighs, ¡°You used to play along with me when you were a kid.¡± Jason fixes her with a stare, ¡°Now you¡¯re really stretching it. Even as a kid I know when you got going on your nonsense.¡± Chapter 256 - Beating Up the Dummy Jason¡¯s mom shrugs, ¡°A girl can dream. Anyway, don¡¯t try to dodge out of my request. Show me why you need the new punching bag. Display your martial prowess!¡± Jason sighs and drags the punching bag out of the corner. ¡°You want to see what I can do? Well, here it is.¡± And he takes a step back. He hadn¡¯t really planned on doing an exhibition of his skills right at this moment, so closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths. This calms him down and provides a chance to plan his routine. Jason opens his eyes, ¡°Here I go, going to start slow.¡± He pulls back his fist and stretches it out, placing his fist against the dummy. Then he pulls back his fist again and lands a solid punch. The dummy stands tall with no indications of movement. Jason punches out with his other fist and the dummy rings out a little louder. Pattern set, he punches with alternating fists, each time with a little more force behind it. Within a minute the dummy begins to sway but Jason stops and lets the dummy settle down. He stands in a relaxed pose and waits. Off to the side, his mom frowns and is about to speak up when he blurs into action. One moment his hands are at his side and the next his elbow is sunk into the dummy, a good bit. The dummy itself has even tilted back, not by much but enough to be visible. Jason pulls back his elbow and looks to be resetting but when he seems to be in an awkward position instead swings out his other elbow. This time, instead of a stab, his elbow slams out into the side of the dummy. Jason doesn¡¯t wait and reverses to bring the first elbow up and across as the dummy rights itself. With the extra force coming in, the dummy rises off of its base. Just a smidge, but when the dummy comes down, it makes a solid thunk. He backs up as the dummy settles down. Jason had punched it around a little, but even with his strength that wasn¡¯t ever going to do much. Sure, with a good rhythm he could knock the dummy over, but he was sure his mom would consider that cheating. Since that would not do much, it was time to switch to kicking. While Jason is taking a moment between sets, his mom is standing back and shaking her head. With a sigh, she is stuck in her thoughts. She had originally been humoring him by acquiring the dummy. After watching his display, that idea was knocked out of her head. While for some slightly knocking around and deformation as deep as his index fingers first joint might not seem like much to others, she knows better. This was about as much as those 30-year-old military guys could manage. Then Jason kicks the dummy, and she focuses back on the action. Stolen story; please report. To start, he decides to go easy again. Instead of the heavy hitter kicks, he goes to smack it some with a few roundhouse kicks. Still, each kick causes a reaction from the dummy. After ten quick kicks, Jason turns his last kick into a jump and kick with his other foot. Then he continues to roundhouse kick the dummy, except with the other foot. Ten kicks later, Jason brings his leg down and pivots his waist before slamming the dummy with a sidekick. This doesn¡¯t just push the dummy around, the stomp actually causes it to rock back by a little. Jason switches legs and sends another sidekick at the dummy, causing a similar reaction. Jason steps back and stretches. His mom is about to speak up again as he grabs the dummy but stops when instead of putting it back he lies the dummy down on the ground. He smiles as he takes a step back. Now was the time to really impress. With a burst of motion, Jason brings his foot up and stomps down. His heel slams into the dummy, causing a major deformation as it slides back a smidge. And again, he stomps the dummy and again. Over and over Jason bashes the dummy without stop as it slowly is pushed back. By the time he has finished, the dummy is a third of the way to the wall. Jason stands back and stretches before struggling to prop up the dummy and roll it back to the corner. Dummy put away, Jason turns to his mom. ¡°So, I guess I¡¯ve proven myself then?¡± His mom rolls her eyes, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to ask more about all that nonsense I said? It isn¡¯t like saying that people in the military can explain people being able to use a punching bag meant for mechs.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°You think I haven¡¯t been handling the thing? Every time I move the dummy out from the corner, I have to struggle and end up basically rolling it over. The material that the outside is made of basically doesn¡¯t give and whatever is used to stuff the thing isn¡¯t much better. I honestly wonder if it would be easier to punch a similar bag but entirely made of lead.¡± ¡°Clearly something special has gone on with the materials used in the dummy, despite that, I¡¯m not using it like a mech suit would. The corners clearly have loops to attach the thing to a frame or some such. When the mech suits are training on this thing, the bags must be strung up so they don¡¯t fly all over the place. If I had to guess, the more important thing with this is its damage resistance. Being able to punch it is hard, but not that hard.¡± His mom shakes her head, ¡°You¡¯re still monstrous. There is a decade between you and the next youngest person I¡¯ve seen using one of those. But yeah, you¡¯ve proven that you needed it. Now I¡¯ve got to run. Technically, I had to run like a few minutes ago? I¡¯m sure they can wait, though. They need me to finish the meeting anyway, so if anything this will let me skip the boring stuff.¡± And she hustles out through the front door. Jason can see around her and notices the self driving taxi already parked out front with red lights showing she was very much late. Chapter 257 - She Knows More Than He Suspects Once again alone, Jason sighs. ¡®That wasn¡¯t really in my plan and cut into cultivation time, but what can you do? Plus, it reminded me I need to keep up my real life, no matter how much that and NeoRealm might overlap.¡¯ Jason shakes his head and settles in to cultivate. Outside of the apartment, his mom is riding away in the taxi. Her phone rings and she goes to answer it. Or tries to, at least. Instead of answering, it releases a series of beeps that causes her to sigh and rub the bridge of her nose. She pulls up the cab¡¯s special options menu and scrolls all the way to the bottom of the list and selects the most expensive option. This option is listed only as ¡°true privacy¡± but costs a hundred gold coins a minute. The cab¡¯s windows go black as she stands up in the moving vehicle. Around her, the side walls of the car opens up as special plates are swung out on mechanical arms. By the time she can sit back down, the entire inside of her cab is completely covered in thin metal plates. Still, the process isn¡¯t done as a loud whine comes from the bottom of the cab and she can feel the little cabin she is in bob upward. Once the metal cabin has become suspended at the center of the cab, a much louder noise overpowers the magnets being spun under the car. It¡¯s the sound of a high power vacuum system coming into play. While the vehicle isn¡¯t capable of a true vacuum, it can get pretty darn close. Of course it takes a minute or so for it to get there, but once it does the vacuum cuts off. And with that a tastefully hidden and fully gear driven timepiece starts ticking to represent how much time has passed. With a roll of her eyes, Jason¡¯s mom runs the phone over all the surfaces, taking up a good couple minutes before finally her phone gives the option to pick up which she does. From the phone comes a jovial sounding voice, ¡°Hey! Jenny! How you doing?¡± Jenny rolls her eyes again, ¡°Company paying for the privacy Conner?¡± Conner makes a fake pained noise and Jenny can just tell he is covering his heart on the other end of the line. ¡°Jenny! Can our relationship really be reduced to money? A number?¡± Jenny sighs, ¡°Of course it can¡¯t. If it was just money, I could pay you to go away. Now the next words out of your mouth better be a yes or a no on whether this is being paid for or I¡¯m hanging up.¡± Conner hesitates for a moment but in a defeated voice says, ¡°Yes. Yes, the company is paying for it.¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Jenny leans back and taps the phone screen a few times. ¡°You really need to stop betting with the others on me forgetting to transfer all these fees back onto the company. Speaking of which, I sent the transfer for the payment your way. Better answer it quickly or I might go through a tunnel and lose the call.¡± Conner laughs, ¡°As if there are any tunnels on the route you¡¯re taking. Now just let me answer it and we should be good. Did you get the confirmation on your end?¡± Jenny glances at her phone. ¡°Yeah, the running cost has been transferred over. So let me ask, what¡¯s the call for? Why couldn¡¯t it wait until I got to the office?¡± Conner tuts, ¡°And what? I might be calling to ask about the anomaly at your house? That is important in and of itself. Others must have noticed and the sooner we confirm something, the sooner we can get to work on securing the apartments around your place.¡± Jenny rolls her eyes, ¡°You might have been calling to ask about that, but you aren¡¯t. And don¡¯t try to trick me. I know very well the company already has control of all adjacent apartments to my house.¡± ¡°Though since you asked, I can truthfully say I have no clue what is up with that. The extra-dimensional pollution just avoids the place. What takes stacks and stacks of cash to create in a small, barely room sized containment area seems to be a naturally occurring event. I¡¯ve even checked the house¡¯s feed. Nothing really has happened of note except for my son¡¯s advancement. Though for all we know that might be part and parcel with whatever is going on.¡± ¡°Like seriously! All he does is practice a little bit and meditate like he always has done. It is no way fair that he can be as strong as I was at 25 when he is only 18. I was supposed to be the genius martial artist, but he seems to know how to fight like a fish knows how to swim. The brat with a punch alone can deform that punching bag, I got him as a joke. His kicks? They can knock it around, not by much, but still. Worse yet is his damn ability to stomp the bag. Took him hardly anytime at all to kick it a couple paces.¡± Conner whistles, ¡°He really has you beat there Jenny my girl! If that is what humans can do with clean living.¡± Jenny scoffs, ¡°As if. Humans lived without all the extra-dimensional goop for thousands of years. While there are some myths of people who had above human strength, and even if those cases were real, it would have been more widespread. My son has something going on and I have no clue what.¡± Conner rolls his eyes on the other side of the phone. ¡°If he has something special going on, then how can you be sure he isn¡¯t the cause of the exclusion zone?¡± Jenny sighs, ¡°It can¡¯t be ruled out, but do you really want to admit that a child was able to do something all of our labs couldn¡¯t? What would you say to those scientists you¡¯ve kept working on the problem for the last decade?¡± Conner goes silent for a few moments, ¡°I must admit that would be painful. On the other hand, it would be good science if we discount something just because it would be personally humiliating. Anyway, we really should get on to the main topic.¡± Chapter 258 - Incompatible Energy Removal Back with Jason, he is preparing to breakthrough. It¡¯s only been a short time since he started cultivating in the real world, but then again, the first step isn¡¯t the hard part. That would be knowing which road to take and working up the nerve to do so. As Jason had already gone through this twice before, the start was more like walking home at this point instead of an overgrown path leading into the darkness. Jason had set up the whirlpool of energies in his dantian, and with the corruptive energies held at bay was able to let it passively absorb the various types of energy he desired. Now, at the center of the swirl of energy, an eye in the storm has formed. A calm pool of many different energies resting in harmony. He doesn¡¯t trust this though and watches closely. Like when he cleaned up the whirlpool of unwanted energies, Jason dives into this pool of energy to observe it. Since it was still various types of energy, he knew the corrupting powers hadn¡¯t infiltrated, but that didn¡¯t mean everything was fine. As if with a fine-toothed comb, Jason searches through his dantian. On the surface, the various powers are mixed perfectly. Just under the surface, though? All illusions of homogeneity fall away as small pockets of odd energies can be seen, like a drop of oil in water. Not many, but all of different types. This is not what Jason wants, so with great care he forms his mental strength around one of the smaller blobs. Not perfectly, some of the energy he wants to keep is trapped in with it. However, he would rather lose some of what he wants if it means removing all of what he doesn¡¯t. Uncooperative energy now caught, Jason lifts it with a gentle touch. Out of his dantian and out of his body entirely. Though once it leaves his body, Jason can no longer keep his mental strength solid and the energy puffs out on its own. At first this stray energy seems to want to re-enter his body. This notion is soon rebuffed, though with no similar energies inside of him anymore, all that is left is the ones that reject it. Jason sits back and observes these reactions, giving his body a moment to adjust. Though in the end mostly nothing happens. Some of the other blobs of energy shift, some as they realign, but otherwise things stay the same. Not quite what Jason had hoped would happen, but that was only the smallest bit of unwanted energy, so he hadn¡¯t particularly expected much. Now though that he knows it works, Jason sets himself down to remove all the remaining strange bits of energy. Not the easiest thing to do, as while most of the energy blobs are just that, blobs. Some of them however aren¡¯t so simple. One particularly tough bit of energy is shaped like a complex root system, spreading through a quarter of the pool. To remove it, Jason had to section off each branch of the root, one by one. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Eventually, though, every bit of incompatible energy has been removed. Sure, his pool shrunk by a good ten percent, but he didn¡¯t want that excess energy, anyway. Maybe if he had mixed it all together, it would have been suspended with the rest, but he didn¡¯t want salad dressing in his dantian. Tired, Jason moves over to the couch and sprawls out for the last ten or so minutes before he has to get back into the game. The time passes quickly and before he is ready, the alarm he set goes off. With a groan, he rolls off the couch and heads back into his room. After going through the rigamarole of entering the pod, Jason appears inside his personal room. ¡®Nothing has changed in here since I started playing NeoRealm, not that much changed in it before that either. Still, this place is my personal domain, the only place on the entire net completely under my control.¡¯ Jason frowns and shakes his head, ¡®Feels weird in here not having any cultivation. I¡¯ve got more money so I could afford to pay a little to use my NeoRealm avatar while here. Then again, I¡¯m already spending my gold, so my pod keeps my body condition in top shape. Hell, once I get a bit more I should look into upping that.¡¯ A look of realization washes over his face, ¡®wait a second. Once my real cultivation advances enough, my body will be able to maintain itself to a much better degree. After all, how else are you supposed to close up for years at a time to meditate if it couldn¡¯t. Maybe I won¡¯t have to up the service after all. Though that is a while off, especially since unlike in NeoRealm, the first steps aren¡¯t so easy.¡¯ ¡®Doesn¡¯t help that I don¡¯t know what the next step will be out there. Not that I know too much about where to go next in NeoRealm. I just expect more guidance to be available there even with how rare Energy use is. Though back to using my avatar in here. I wonder how much it costs, anyway?¡¯ ¡°System, how much does it cost if I wanted to use my avatar in my personal space?¡± {The cost to use NeoRealm avatar in Personal space per a real world month in gold coins is as follows: Zero Breaks: 1, One Break: 2, Two Breaks: 4, Three Breaks: 8, Four Breaks: 16, Five Breaks: 32, Six Breaks: 64, Seven Breaks: 128, Eight Breaks: 256} Jason looks over the prices and laughs, ¡°I¡¯m both happy and disappointed that they didn¡¯t go with it being based on how long you are in the room. Then again, they probably wanted to, but the people that spend the most time in their room would be the ones with the least amount of money. After all, kind of hard to keep cash on hand when you keep dying.¡± ¡°Anyway, it only costs me four gold at the moment. That isn¡¯t too bad, so why not. System, I would like to use my avatar here for a month.¡± Chapter 259 - How You Considered Buying Avatar+? {Warnings: Use of NeoRealm avatar in your personal room does not affect the avatar in NeoRealm. Nothing new can be done with the avatar while in your personal room and skills can not be used. If you would like to practice with skills or try new things, you may instead pay for the Avatar+ package. This will increase the cost you pay by a break. Avatar+ still affects nothing in NeoRealm. It is purely to get used to the movements of your skills.} {Would you like to continue with the purchase of the regular avatar package or would you like to upgrade to Avatar+?} Jason laughs, ¡°And there¡¯s the stinger! Trying to trick me? Well, let me tell you, I have eyes and basic math skills. Don¡¯t try to pull that bit with increasing the cost by a break. Each break doubles the cost of the previous tier. Still, sign me up for a month of the normal avatar package.¡± {Would you like to sign up for a year of time at a 20% discount?} Jason rolls his eyes, ¡°No, I just want to buy a month of the normal avatar package.¡± {1 month of the normal avatar package purchased for 4 gold coins. Would you like to activate the package or instead pay 3 gold coins and 20 silver coins in a one time offer to upgrade your normal avatar package to the Avatar+ package?} Jason sighs, ¡°Well, I found one of the places where the marketers got their grubby mitts on the game. Just activate the normal avatar package that I bought, please.¡± {Normal avatar package being activated. Please lay down to be rendered unconscious so that the changes can take effect.} Jason rubs the bridge of his nose, ¡°Can the changes just take effect while I¡¯m playing NeoRealm?¡± {Activation of the Normal avatar package can be done over the time while one is within a game. Do note that the month you have purchased starts when the package finishes activating and not when you next enter your personal room. Knowing this, do you still want to activate the package while within the game NeoRealm?} Jason nods, ¡°Yes, activate the package when after I enter NeoRealm.¡± {Desire to activate the package upon entering NeoRealm has been confirmed. Have a nice day.} Jason shakes his head. ¡®That took more effort than necessary.¡¯ If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. He stretches and with a yawn hops into NeoRealm and wakes up in the room Peter and Gregor allowed him to use. From the den, Jason can hear some chatter so heads out to see what is up this early. Though once he opens his door, he doesn¡¯t have to wonder as the smell of something delicious washes over him. Jason wanders into the den and plops down on one of the beanbag chairs. On another chair Peter looks up, ¡°Not much sleep last night?¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°Had some stuff to do on the other side. I actually plan to spend most of this week handling some things there. I can catch up on sleep later.¡± Peter laughs, ¡°Isn¡¯t that how it always is? Anyway, breakfast is some leftover soup from last night over some freshly baked buns. Oh, and how are you doing with your new skill? Gregor brought me up to speed on it and I have to say, you picked a good one.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°Technically I can get the skill any time I want. In reality, while working on it, I dug up some troubles that will take a good deal of time to sort out. Because of that, I¡¯m going to take a little time to work around the nonsense.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°If you don¡¯t end up with some hidden problems from when you first start out, all that would mean is you haven¡¯t found the problems yet. At least you figured it out early on. So what went wrong? It¡¯ll be nice to hear how you failed for once.¡± Jason leans forward to grab some bread and soup before responding. ¡°Meh, you wouldn¡¯t want to hear about it.¡± Peter takes a moment to think about it and then recoils. Gregor off to the side chuckles, ¡°You knew what he was going to be messing with and you still asked. Oh, and Jason, once everyone has gone off to do their thing, let me take a look at your pinky. We sort of forgot about it last night.¡± Jason nods, ¡°I don¡¯t see any reason why not.¡± Peter sits back up, ¡°Why you gotta mess with the System?¡± Jason laughs, ¡°Because the System messed with me first? But if I was to be serious? I don¡¯t really consider it messing with the System. After all, the System is quite vocal when you start doing that. I have gotten no messages, warning, or pokes from the System about what I am doing. Honestly? At this point it should know exactly what I am doing.¡± Gregor shakes his head, ¡°Peter, Peter, Peter. Not everyone is antagonistic with the System. I¡¯m sure whatever Jason is doing is within what is allowed. Plus? He¡¯s a Traveller. They always get the silk glove treatment.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I would more say we play under a different rule set. There are things you can get away with that we wouldn¡¯t even get a warning over. Of course, that is because every one of us should very much know about it. No need to warn if the rules are written out for us ahead of time.¡± Gregor nods, ¡°It is interesting what us Locals can say as compared to you, Travellers. You guys clearly know more about the origins of the System, yet at the same time seem to have a very limited knowledge of the current System. Even now, hundreds of years since you all showed up and despite what is clearly some kind of highly sophisticated method of communication, you just miss some things. Not that I can tell you. The System doesn¡¯t just limit what knowledge Travellers can pass on.¡± After that the group chatter stears more towards what the others plan to do today and before they know it, breakfast is finished. Everyone else heads out or returns to their rooms while Jason and Gregor stay behind in the den. Chapter 260 - Gregors Workshop Gregor coughs, ¡°So yeah, before I examine your finger we should move to my workshop. Not only is there more privacy, but I store my tools in the room. Mainly the observation tools, since while I have trained my eyesight, some things you need a bit of magical assistance.¡± Jason nods, ¡°That would be fine. Lead the way.¡± Gregor gestures toward the hall with the bedrooms. ¡°My workshop is at the end of the hall. This shouldn¡¯t take all that long, as I¡¯ve already taken out the tools I should need last night.¡± Jason follows him down the hall and into the room all the way at the back. Gregor continues further into the room, but Jason stops just inside the entrance. Across the floor, ceiling, and every wall are uncountable numbers of runes carved in innumerable styles. From a flowing script that most would mistake for cursive and looks more like runes had been melted into the black rock. To a blocky yet powerful font that looks like someone took a straight chisel and pounded lines out with it. On the wall to the left, tens of hooks have been incorporated into the runic design. Hung up are tools, most clearly for inscribing objects, though varied such that there is even a hammer and chisel on the farthest hook which gives credence to the guess about the one set of runes. To the right are shelves placed upon rock spurs which have been pulled from the wall. And by the looks of it, this isn¡¯t too far from the truth as the runes carved into the wall are stretched out and distorted along the spurs. Either magic was involved or Gregor had purposefully carved the runes to appear like that. On the shelves are samples of everything under the sun. Rocks of every color, dried plants, plants magically suspended at peak maturity, fruits and tubers, fabrics, metals, and hundreds of niche things. Though at first there appears to be no order, Jason can feel that things have been placed to prevent negative interactions. This alone would have impressed him as every one of the pieces has a powerful aura and he can tell that a single out-of-place object could cause a chain reaction leading to massive destruction. The last thing to draw Jason¡¯s attention is the back wall and ceiling. While he had been taking them as separate things, it isn¡¯t really clear. The back curves up and becomes the ceiling. Built into the back wall is what must be Gregor¡¯s workstation. From the ceiling, several stone wires come down to support a slab of rock that looks like it was peeled off of the wall. Across the surface of this slab are several lenses. Some supported by mechanical arms, others floating through magical projects, and one which looks just like a magnifying glass, which is simply laid out on the surface. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Jason is about to come back to reality when he notices the pulse. At first he thought the runes across every available surface were simply there and not doing much. Now though, as he looks closer, Jason catches a glimpse of some underlying activity. Starting opposite of the door, right where the slab connects to the wall, a nearly invisible shimmer spreads outward. Like a wave it travels across the entire room, pausing at every hook and spur as it rotates around the structures. Finally the pulse reaches the doorway, Jason turning to keep it in view and he just manages to catch the glimmer wave stretch off of the opening to cover doorway for the briefest of moments. Gregor chuckles, ¡°Quite a set up, eh? I¡¯ve moved my current projects out of here for the moment or it would be a good bit messier. Peter was getting on me to clean up the area, anyway. He might have found a good bit of this black stone stuff, but he can¡¯t exactly go and get more of the stuff. I wish we knew the name of it so I could research the stone some more. Really cool stuff my wonderful husband literally stumbled into. Now I know you¡¯ve noticed the glimmer but take a closer look at the stone because there is more to it. Get real close and examine whatever you¡¯ve done.¡± Jason shrugs and takes a closer look at the area right next to the doorframe. At first he doesn¡¯t see it, and Gregor rolls his eyes before gesturing to come further into the room. Since nothing was going to go forward without this happening, Jason goes right up to the back wall and really gets in there. Then he notices it. With his hands held up to try to block out some of the other stuff, the stone is dark enough to bring out the underlayer. As if there was a thin layer of clear material over top, a bottom layer of near perfect black. And across that black layer are small sparkles. Some people might wonder what was special about this. Others would assume this was a night sky, speckled with stars. But Jason has had a lot of time staring at the void when he was hanging out with the gods. This wasn¡¯t just a scene of dim sparkles, nor was it a pleasant night sky vista. Instead, it was the closest representation he had seen of the void between dimensions. A void which even the gods could not cross. Of course, for something like that, no visual display can ever hold it all. The void is beyond a simple visual display. Now the real question is how it got into the game. Jason turns to Gregor with a surprised expression, ¡°Where did Peter even get something like this? This shouldn¡¯t exist here. This shouldn¡¯t exist in any relation to my home either. I am beyond surprised, beyond shocked, just beyond everything.¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°He would like to figure out the same thing. All I know is the stone came from somewhere between when he was getting gated somewhere and that it does an amazing job isolating my workspace.¡± Chapter 261 - Pinky Checking Time Gregor waves Jason over to the slab, ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s take a look at that pinky of yours. I¡¯m interested in what you¡¯ve managed to do. The whole System lines thing isn¡¯t new. You find them in every creature, especially monsters. The stronger the monster, the more lines and the thicker the lines. At this point everyone basically agrees they must have something to do with controlling things, like with how you are prevented from telling me certain things. Fun stuff that, and even if you got around it all that would likely happen is my own lines would prevent me from hearing what you said.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that also prevent you from seeing anything interesting?¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°You would think so, but if that was the case, why would we be able to see the lines at all? My personal guess is it comes from a limitation built into the System itself. Not the most popular opinion though, as it implies the System isn¡¯t all powerful. Of course you travellers were never ones to go with that explanation in the first place, so I feel like I am at least stable if not solid ground. Now put the correct pinky under this first device here and we can start.¡± Jason walks up to the sphere held up by a metallic claw and holds out his pinky. Gregor taps the sphere and a ray of teal light sweeps across his finger. As it reaches the end of its run, the ray swings upward and projects an enlarged image of Jason¡¯s finger. This image takes a moment to build up, but once it is finished, the layers are peeled back. Or at least that is what Gregor expects to happen. Instead, once past the outer layer of skin, there appears to be just a void underneath. He scratches his head, ¡°Well, this is the first time I¡¯ve had my x-ray device fail. Not that it would have shown the lines, mind you, need more sensitive equipment for that.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°That is, well sorta, hmm. It isn¡¯t exactly wrong.¡± Gregor narrows his eyes, ¡°Does this have anything to do with what you did?¡± Jason shakes his head again, ¡°Unrelated except that both involve my cultivation.¡± Gregor rolls his eyes at this, ¡°Well then we need to skip right to the fancier equipment.¡± Gregor taps the slab a few times. Across it, many of the instruments zip away to various unused hooks on the left of the room. Four devices are left on the table. The plain magnifying glass, a ruby orb floating with no visible support, a hoop of metal gears on top of three metal support beams, and some runes with no visible material to support them. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Gregor gestures at the four and sighs, ¡°These are what we are left with. Since you are a traveller, I assume you¡¯ve already realized the plain magnifying glass is the most powerful item here. That will of course be left till last. We will instead start with the runelight analyzer. Stick your finger into the mess.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°Yeah, I expected that. Now lets see what this thing has to say about my pinky.¡± And he shoves his finger into the floating runes. The runes spin around his finger, even floating through it. It takes about five minutes to complete a careful dance that, going by what Jason could sense, used more mana than his party had ever used ten times over. As the runes slow down and stop, row after row of symbols and numbers are displayed with lines going to various points on his finger. Gregor off to the side already has a photosphere out and snaps a picture of the whole mess. And a good thing too as the displayed values fade away within a few seconds of the runes having completed their task. Gregor taps the photosphere and has it projects out the 3d capture it had taken of the scene. He spins this around a few times and sighs, ¡°Well, it detected your lines and power flows, so that is a thing. Of course, it can only display the types of power you have unlocked, so there are a ton of mysteries in there. The biggest thing I got from this though is that we can actually see the lines. Which, as you pointed out, isn¡¯t a certain thing. Now hold your finger next to the orb.¡± Jason shrugs and does so. The ruby orb glows red, and from the center a blue spark appears. Nothing visibly targets his finger, but unlike the previous devices, he can definitely feel it. A deep sense of something looking at the deepest part of his pinky. This goes on for almost half an hour before the orb returns to its passive state. No visible display pops up, apparently unneeded as Gregor starts asking Jason some questions related to what the orb had detected. Nothing really unique, just confirming some basics of his stats. In particular, the orb had managed to detect his control stat¡¯s exact value. Though Gregor did not know why this would be the case. With a shake of his head, Gregor sighs, ¡°Lets try the geared piercer. Place a drop of blood on the biggest gear and hold your finger under it.¡± Jason nips his finger with his teeth and smears the blood that oozed out onto the indicated gear and holds his finger under the ring. At first nothing seems to happen, but then the gears start to turn. As they speed up, layers of Jason¡¯s pinky are stripped away. At first it is just skin, but muscles and blood vessels soon show up. Among these more physical aspects, though, they can spot the white lines. Then the muscles and bones all blink out of existences leaving behind only the various lines and energies within a shell of skin. Gregor frowns at this and smacks the gear ring. Two smaller gears pick up speed, but nothing else changes. Further smacks do even less as all the gears appear to be up to speed. Chapter 262 - Secret Of The Magnifying Glass Gregor shakes his head, ¡°Back to the void, I guess. You have a messed up cultivation method.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°I guess we get to use the special magnifying glass.¡± Gregor laughs with him but then shakes his head, ¡°That¡¯s actually a regular magnifying glass. It¡¯s just that anytime someone gets to see all my tools laid out, they assume it is something special, so I¡¯ve started to go along with it. Still, I¡¯ve seen enough with the last one to say I can¡¯t really see any difference. There is something there, but the variance I detect is in line with what naturally occurs. Basically, a clean bill of health.¡± Jason nods, ¡°Good to know. I couldn¡¯t feel any difference. But then again, if I felt any difference, I wouldn¡¯t need to ask about it.¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°Yeah, welcome to the club. If you aren¡¯t following a pre-set path, then the farther you go, the less others can help. Not that a pre-set path is necessarily all that good either, as they tend to make it much harder to breakthrough. Following a path doesn¡¯t always take you where you need to go.¡± ¡°Someone good with swords might start out quick when following a sword master, but if they don¡¯t branch out their advancement might stop if they end up being more attuned to fire when the master is all about water. Anyway, it seems you didn¡¯t even start on a path so I can¡¯t even begin to help. Maybe the person who started you on using Energy might have a clue, but even that is up to chance. Though if you don¡¯t mind, what did you do and or plan to do?¡± Jason scratches his neck, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect any help to be honest. Just a quick sanity check in case something obvious was going wrong. As for what I am doing? Hmm, I¡¯m going to be a little circumspect about it.¡± ¡°To start with? As my titles might hint at, I started on my core quite early. And by early I mean once the core had formed I was level one. At the start I wasn¡¯t, but I based my foundation on purity. With time, I have come to realize this was the best choice for me and my understanding of Energy.¡± Gregor nods, ¡°Getting a core from the start is powerful. From what little I saw of you moving around, it looks like you¡¯ve put a ton of points into agility. If I had to guess, part of your purity thing was to jettison any other placed points.¡± Jason smiles, ¡°You would think that. For me, purity meant no stat points. In fact, the reason I lost so many levels was because I ditched everything that wasn¡¯t pure Energy. With my cultivation technique, I gain only ten percent of the experience I could absorb. Every single stat point has been trained by me!¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Admittedly, I need to work on that more. If it wasn¡¯t for some stuff that allows me to move more inline with what my mind can keep up with, I probably would suck right now. Of course, I would have also likely gained a boat load more stat points because it would force me to push harder.¡± Gregor frowns, ¡°That¡¯s a rare effect to receive. Mind you, this is first I¡¯ve learned of that specific one. But I do know of other similar ones, though. Let me guess, the System has also upped the level suppression?¡± Jason nods and so Gregor continues, ¡°You sir, are what we locals like to call an outsider. I don¡¯t know why that was what people landed on for a name, but here we are. You are outside of the Systems predetermined range of capability. Someone like you pops up every once in a while. The only real limit on what can be an outsider is you have to be sapient. Though only because the System can erase potential outsiders which aren¡¯t.¡± ¡°Swarms are actually the most visible example of this idea. If they could grow without limit and not develop into a hive mind or whatever, they would count as an outsider. Technically items can also be outsiders of a sort, but that is a lot harder and we have another term for it. Maybe you¡¯ve heard of them?¡± And he smirks to clearly communicate that of course everyone has. ¡°We call them artifacts. Yes, I can see it in your eyes, the realization. Artifacts are all unique because the System prevents what allowed them to exist in the first place, but can¡¯t do anything about the one which already exists. Outsiders on the other hand are sapients, and while the System has nearly ultimate power, when it comes to sapients that very much is not the case.¡± ¡°The System making it easier for you to control your body despite the low ability scores, was to nerf some part of you that would have blown everything else out of the water. With that in mind, you should look into what exactly made the System adjust those factors. Why is it afraid of you?¡± Jason smiles, ¡°Well, I can think of a thing or two. Anyway, besides that, we haven¡¯t really gotten to the fun part of my cultivation. Though some of it as of late has been percolating at the back of my head as being wrong, at least in part.¡± ¡°To start is that Energy is the power of creation and it wasn¡¯t meant to still exist like it does now. Place the slightest whiff of Energy near some Mana or Qi and it quickly gets changed. Yet despite that, the stuff manages to exist as one of the three major power sources and even just floating free in the air.¡± ¡°From this, my concept of purity has grown to see Energy as a sort of Ur-source. To be purely Energy is to embody the purity from before what is. Despite being so easily changed, this kernel of truth has prevented the complete wiping out of the stuff.¡± Chapter 263 - Realization Crystallization ¡°In fact!¡±, Jason laughs, ¡°In fact, the fact so few things use Energy is proof that the System actively works against it. Of course, the System can¡¯t tell people not to use it. Otherwise everyone and their uncle would give Energy a try.¡± ¡°Anyway, through that purity I have observed my body as a void. Unless something is actively trying to view inside my body, there isn¡¯t anything except the threads. The thing is, I don¡¯t just believe this about my body, but rather all travellers. In fact, to start I thought this was true for everyone in NeoRealm. Now though, I¡¯ve refined my ideas on this. The realization came over me slowly, but now that I am here saying this all it has crystalized for me.¡± ¡°Every creature that the System personally creates will share this quirk. So for the most part travellers and pop up quest bosses. Why? Because the System is strategically lazy. No matter how powerful the System is, it is not infinitely powerful. There is a limit and even if the System is less then a single percent towards that limit, it has already put in place things that will save the System later on.¡± ¡°For me though, it gave me a way in. A way to push forward in a different direction from anyone. My inner void gives me several special things that I won¡¯t be going over, but this stretches beyond itself. Some of my skills are even affected by it.¡± Gregor sighs, ¡°Yeah, this is well beyond anything I¡¯ve worked with in the past. While enchantment is my focus, all of these observation tools that I¡¯ve squirreled away have led to several strange cases arriving on my door to be observed. Don¡¯t get me wrong, your nonsense isn¡¯t the strangest. Your situation is however unique in ways that I don¡¯t have other things to compare it to.¡± Gregor places his thumb on his lips, chin resting on the rest of the hand with the fingers curled into a loose fist. He hums a few bars to himself as he thinks over something. Jason just stands to the side. He had honestly dropped more on this guy he just met than any other person. It honestly was a relief to get it off his chest. Gregor drops his hand to his side as he shakes his head. ¡°What you have told me is amazing. Simply astounding, and it provides me with information that is worth more than anything else you could give me. However. However, you still haven¡¯t told me what you were doing with your pinky. We got a bit off topic.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°We did get a bit sidetracked. In fact, we didn¡¯t even talk about the threads, which are the basis for why we wanted to investigate my pinky in the first place. This will come a little closer to my cultivation and core than I would want to say.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°The first thing to understand is that my cultivation makes use of Energy as threads. Yes, I took this from the threads, but I went further. My threads are smaller than the System wants to handle. Or rather, smaller than it wants people to mess with.¡± ¡°The threads you find in people are big. Not because it has to be that way, but because each thread is exactly that, a thread. And threads are made up of smaller strings. My cultivation uses those smaller strings. So of course, like an idiot, I used my strings to poke at the threads in my pinky.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t completely an idiot though, because I started on the pinky. A good choice on my part as the thread started to unravel. The only thing that stopped it was the ^@%&$. The #%^$. There is a $&^#$@. Welp, I guess we¡¯ve found the first thing I can¡¯t tell you. Anyway, suffice to say the fraying was stopped.¡± ¡°Now the important part I finished once we got here. Using my strings, I re-spun the frayed thread in my pinky. Then, of course, because bad decisions are one of the constants in the universe, I undid all my work only to spin the thread back into shape again. Repeat that again a few times until I got the string in my pinky to look exactly like the rest of System threads in my body. All the work was worth it since you scanned it and couldn¡¯t tell the difference.¡± ¡°This leads me to my final goal. I want to &#@^%&$. For each thread I @#^%$&*. Meh, increment the counter for things I can¡¯t tell you. Looks like I¡¯ve started to touch on the Systems bottom line. I don¡¯t think it can stop me though. Especially once I really get started. It will however take a lot of work, if only because I need to excessively boost my Energy pool.¡± Gregor rubs his ears, ¡°Oh Founder Fox, I wish the System would silence stuff it doesn¡¯t want others to hear. That nonsense always just causes the worst ear aches. Though I guess that is sort of the point. Classic operant conditioning.¡± Jason nods, ¡°If the only downside of saying stuff you shouldn¡¯t was silence, that would make people push the boundaries. Though I assume there are penalties if someone tries to use this offensively.¡± Gregor laughs, ¡°You better believe it. And the System gets quite creative with the punishments as well. Now I did get a feel for what you intend to do. Luckily, even though the System could judge me for my thoughts, it chooses not to. As long as I say nothing about what I learned, I will be perfectly fine.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°I actually feel the System is unable to really read any sapient¡¯s thoughts. At least the deepest thoughts. Sure, if you¡¯re screaming your thoughts to the world, the System will know. You however don¡¯t seem quite like the type of person who would do that. In fact, I bet anyone that has gone through training to prevent telepathic snooping will be quite frustrating for the System.¡± Chapter 264 - Tiny Library Gregor shrugs, ¡°You might be right. It would make some sense if the System couldn¡¯t. If only because I doubt there would be so many examples in history of someone who goes against the System,¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°Past examples, especially if they all come from before travellers started to pop up, aren¡¯t exactly things you can go off of. Our appearance is basically the start of a new age for the System with how much it pays attention to us. Things that the System might have let slide in the past.¡± ¡°Now though, who knows if the System will let disasters in the making go that far. If I had to compare it to something, it would be how some people deal with cleaning their houses. They don¡¯t bother with stuff until something becomes an obvious problem to deal with. But when someone is coming over, they will race around to get everything clean and keep the house that way while the visitors are over.¡± Gregor takes a moment to think about it before bursting out into laughter. ¡°Oh, Founder! That is an amazing example, comparing the System to how so many bachelors and such deal with cleaning their houses is amazing. Peter is the same way and the only reason his house never got truly disastrous comes more from him always being out of the house than anything else.¡± ¡°But thankfully that isn¡¯t quite how it happened. Stuff still breaks out and such. Though the System might be less chill on stuff now, as most of the truly big situations do seem to have stopped. That, however, might have more to do with the fact there is only so much one person can do. The System doesn¡¯t need to read your mind if you are going around explaining your plan to others.¡± Jason nods, ¡°Which is exactly why I¡¯m not going to go around talking about my plans all that much. After all, loose lips sink ships.¡± Gregor nods back, ¡°Plus, the System has a lot more power to punish me than it does you. Wherever you guys come from, something there has the System by the short and curlies. No other way to explain why the System is so careful around you all. After all, the System likes to make its presence known if Travellers aren¡¯t around. Some people even set up near where you guys gather just to avoid the System. Luckily that for the most part means any major city, so it isn¡¯t too hard to do. Now do you have any other questions?¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°Not at the moment. We¡¯ve discovered what we can and all that is left is for me to work on it. Though actually, now that I think about it, I do have one final question. Do you know of the ways that Energy users increase their Energy pool? I¡¯m going to need a lot of the stuff for what I plan and while ten is more than enough for combat, my current pool won¡¯t cut it. I suspect I¡¯m going to need at least a hundred spare Energy.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Gregor scratches his head, ¡°Let me take a moment to think. While some basic methods work for all the power types, I think I might know where you can find a better answer. In fact, come with me across the hall.¡± Jason follows him out of the enchantment workspace and into the room directly across from it. The room is much smaller, just big enough for a couple of bookshelves and standing space for four or so people. Even with just Jason and Gregor in there, the space is starting to feel tight. Gregor is taking his time scanning over the spines of his book collection. While the shelves aren¡¯t filled to the brim, over three fourths of the space is taken up. Then he pulls a book from the shelf and opens it up towards the back. Gregor turns a few more pages before finding what he wants, ¡°Here it is. While Energy is more known for something people don¡¯t cultivate, that doesn¡¯t mean it hasn¡¯t been studied. This is an older book of mine that goes over the basic methods of creating objects of power with each power source. Not that useful in and of itself for you, except whoever wrote the book was kind enough to include a bunch of asides.¡± ¡°In particular, they seem to have partnered with at least one Energy user to write that section. Because of how novel this was to him, the author included a bunch of random points on how the person would gather Energy as well as how others do it. While not as direct as a book based around Energy use, this book is probably the best you are going to get. Plus, if you ever want to try your hand at making some stuff, it won¡¯t hurt to know more. So yeah, you can borrow this book as long as you¡¯re staying here.¡± After being handed the book, Jason takes a quick look through it. ¡°Huh, not exactly the best laid out book I¡¯ve ever seen. Feels more like the author is trying to have a conversation with me instead of informing me about the topic.¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°And such is the problem with so many such manuscripts. Nothing against them. Writing a proper textbook takes so much effort to get right. Still, this can make it hard to extract the information you need. On the other hand, it can provide important insights into the original author¡¯s intent. That is actually why I bother keeping this book on my shelves. After all, I am a bit beyond Insights into the TriPower Crafting Methods.¡± ¡°Where the value in this book comes from is all the little side notes that show not only the success but the failures as well. If given the choice between a book with ten perfected enchantments and another with one good enchantment but a hundred ways, the author failed when trying to use it, I will take the second book any day of the week.¡± Jason nods, ¡°No one is ever going to have things go perfect a hundred percent of the time. The value in knowing how it can go wrong and how to work around it is immensely useful.¡± Chapter 265 - Not Feng Shui After a little more back and forth with Gregor, Jason heads back to his room to read the book, Insights into the TriPower Crafting Methods. Not just the section on Energy though, but rather he plans to skim over the first two parts as well. If only to get a feel for how the author likes to write down his knowledge. Though right from the introduction, things get interesting. ¡°To any who may be silly enough to read this book. Know well that I don¡¯t actually bother with using any of the Powers. I¡¯m more writing this because my son wants to make stuff, so I wanted to help him figure out which way to go.¡± As Jason continues to read, some of his past thoughts are proven to be true. Mana and Qi are opposite forces. One external, the other internal and once put into an item, active and passive. If you want a necklace that shoots fireballs, it is going to be powered with Mana. On the other hand, a necklace that gives you fire resistance is more likely using Qi. Of course, with some work the same effect technically can be done with both, it just takes a lot more skill and power. Fire resistance is actually given as an example of this. With Qi, the person wearing the item just is resistant to fire. Not only that, but it will make them more able to handle hotter temperatures. That second one alone makes the Qi version more popular, as while it doesn¡¯t actually cool the body down, the person will still feel like things are at a decent temp. The only downside is that Qi will be constantly used, even if it isn¡¯t needed. Mana based fire resistance on the other hand is more active. It will only trigger when needed and so you can wear the enchanted item and it will not run out of power. Of course, this also means that it won¡¯t make hot weather any more comfortable. This difference means that while both versions of fire resistance are used, they have their own niche. The Qi based resistance for keeping people healthy, and Mana is for keeping items safe from burning. After all, a library doesn¡¯t care if a book is a little warmer, they only care if the heat would damage it. Besides confirming his conjectures, though, this also jogged another memory for him. Specifically that he still hasn¡¯t gotten a better alarm system. At the moment, Jason still only has his bells on a string. Though he brushes that off for the moment. After all, he might be able to figure out his own thing with the help of the third section of the book. With that in mind, Jason flips to the last portion of the book. To his disappointment, though, this section also confirms what he had thought of before. The easiest thing to use Energy for is mega-projects like shielding large areas of land. To use Energy for a sustained effect, it needs a constant flow of Energy and besides Energy users, you only get that from fonts of Energy. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. One interesting bit of info gained from the sections introduction is how there is still Energy around for people to use in the first place. Those fonts of Energy are what constantly pump more of the stuff into the atmosphere. The book claims no one knows how, but apparently deep underground there are massive aquifer like areas that are saturated with Energy. Through some process, Mana and Qi sink into the earth and are reduced back to the stuff. Next up is an overview of the easiest form of using Energy. It doesn¡¯t even directly handle the Energy and honestly sounds more like Feng Shui. Not a copy, mind you, rather it is just similar because it is all about placing buildings and such so that the Energy from a font will flow in a beneficial way. Not a bad subject, but the author definitely liked the subject because it goes on much longer than needed. If anything, Jason will be able to set up any future base to take advantage of any nearby font. Though most important from his point of view is that he will be able to choose the best place to cultivate when out in the wilds. After the Feng Shui chapters comes more active methods of harnessing an Energy font. A short section as there are only three examples because that is all the author knew of. The first is more of a myth, but the rumors were from second-hand accounts so close enough for the author to include it. A massive scrying shield, raised across an entire island kingdom. Apparently the island was situated upon one of the bigger known Energy fonts and they had turned a large portion of the outpouring Energy to power the shield. The second formation in the book is on a much smaller scale, meant to be used on any conveniently placed smaller font. What it does is inline with Jason¡¯s interests. Over a relatively small area, that of a few farms, it will increase the growth and yield of any plants within designated areas. Though there is a note about how it can be set to grow everything in the area. It is just that the effect will be reduced and everything will grow faster. At first that second bit doesn¡¯t sound too bad. But you soon grow sour on it as mold and fungi burst up in every dark corner and buildings crumble as seeds take root in them. Good thing it is stupid simple to set the areas you want the growth effect in. Just three or more wooden stakes carved with matching symbols and the growth effect will be constrained to the space within the area marked by them. This includes the height of the stakes as well, creating a box shaped area when you use four stakes. Of course even with this not all things are perfect. Everything still grows within the marked area, so farmers will have to be quite diligent in their weeding. Chapter 266 - The Notes The third example in the book covers an area the size of a town and requires a moderately sized Energy font. It has an effect that is both the simplest and yet at the same time most useful for the people able to afford these things. All the ritual does is keep track of when sapients enter and leave the area it covers. What raises this above similar things is how encompassing it is. Doesn¡¯t matter if someone walks in, sneaks in, or teleports in. The ritual can detect the intrusion. Even if someone attempts to control an animal or construct to enter the area, they will be detected. And because the ritual is based on Energy, it is extremely hard for any of the normal stealth skills to bypass it. Even if Jason can¡¯t use anything else, just that last bit would have been worth the read. It isn¡¯t exactly shouted from the rooftop that Energy is hard for the other two powers to deal with. Sure, attacks can be countered easily enough. But the more passive uses of Energy can both bypass others while at the same time being hard for them to bypass. Of course, this is not too overpowered, just enough that someone close in level will be out of luck. The third ritual is so pervasive only because it uses the world¡¯s Energy which puts its quality a step above mortal reach. Then after the extravagant uses the book gets into the juicy bits. That of small scale Energy enchantments. Jason hadn¡¯t been wrong with his original ideas on it. Because Energy doesn¡¯t pool like the other powers do, you can¡¯t use the same battery design. The simplest method of making a ¡°magic¡± item that uses Energy is to make it so only people with Energy can use the item. By hooking the item into the users own Energy flow like a farmer digging a small irrigation ditch, it simplifies so many things. Of course, you can do the same thing with the other powers. In fact, it is kind of standard. Except of course for the fact that with the other items the power is fed into the batter to be used later. In turn, the battery acts like a surge protector so it doesn¡¯t matter if the user is barely trickling in power or their power is like a flood. As long as the user isn¡¯t trying to overpower the device, any modern enchantment will be able to vent excess power. With Energy you don¡¯t have that option. The flow of power goes directly into the device. This means that in most cases, Energy based items will have an Energy range instead of a level range. The only way around this works just fine for Jason. When a device is created by someone, their Energy signature will be ingrained in the item. While not perfect, it gives a larger margin of error. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. There are ways to make an item only take what is needed. Jason has an example of this in his lungs at this very moment. The only problem is that doing so takes what is in the end a simple ritual and transforms it into a complexity that requires a master rank skill to create. Well beyond Jason who doesn¡¯t even have a single journeyman skill. But then Jason reaches the end of the book and he hasn¡¯t found what he had been looking for in the first place. He trusts Gregor wouldn¡¯t tell such a pointless lie though and settles in to comb through the last third of the book. On the fourth pass, he finally figures it out. No one particular note has the solution. Instead, the method to increase his Energy is spread across about half of the notes. Not maliciously or to hide the information. Rather to Jason, this feels more like the author had taken a letter and broken the text up into parts to be used where it fit the best. A section about a person¡¯s energy total attached to one of the small scale rituals, some about the nature of Energy at the front, another bit thrown in with the big rituals to explain a detail. Separated, the notes mean little. But once Jason has gathered them together, it provides not quite an answer, but at least a path towards his goal. While cultivation uses free floating Energy and can help grow the total. This doesn¡¯t take into account the actual source of a person¡¯s Energy. Jason feels particularly dense once it is pointed out. He feels deeply that he should have noticed that his constant flow of Energy wasn¡¯t coming in from the outside but rather flowed out from his core. While before he formed his core, the Energy was gathered from without that wouldn¡¯t be able to explain why this would prevent conversion by Mana or Qi. The reality of it is that forming an Energy core opens up a connection to some source of pure Energy and the other powers can¡¯t convert you just like you can¡¯t pour dye into a hose if the water is flowing. The dye will be expelled before it can do anything, and the same is true with Mana and Qi. Whoever wrote the notes admitted to not knowing the actual source of a person¡¯s Energy but this idea of drawing upon another place is key to increasing the Energy one has access to. After all, no matter how much water you push through a garden hose, only so much can go through it or else it will burst. Luckily, unlike a literal hose the connection to this source of Energy can be grown to allow more through. The trick of it is how to grow the connection. The author of the notes talked shortly about their own experiences, but in the end their biggest tip is that the process is personal. They weren¡¯t even sure if everyone connected to the same source or if it was a personal realm of Energy. Magic and Qi don¡¯t work this way, and so few people use Energy to a large enough extent for a comparison to be made and mean anything. Chapter 267 - Unexpected Ease Of course, the author of the notes didn¡¯t just leave things at that. It is just the needed part to make the information all come together was of course in a different location than what it went with. The author¡¯s method of growing his Energy was treating the process like digging a ditch off of a river. The more that was dug out the more would come through. What is important about that isn¡¯t the actual visualization, but rather the fact that a visualization worked. You have to find something that is consistent with your internal view of yourself. This would make most other players laugh and then begrudgingly start adding points to their Energy. After all, Power stats can be increased with stat points and it isn¡¯t like the System can read their minds. Except of course Jason knows better now. Somehow players are connected to NeoRealm and their thoughts can affect it. Still leaves him to figure out his own methods, again. Honestly, he should be used to it at this point. Taking the path less traveled means you don¡¯t have others to lead the way. At least with this, he has the natives treading the path before him. Any fellow players who did so in the past obviously won¡¯t be sharing. And he has a decent starting point for his visualization, so there is that. What with already having viewed his Energy as threads and string. Jason just needs to figure out where the source is and braid some more lines onto it. Jason puts the book away and sits back. ¡®The source of my Energy shouldn¡¯t be too hard to find. It has to be in my core after all. Of course that brings up the problem of figuring out how to look inside the core in the first place. Viewing the core itself is a bit hard right now. Even with how little Energy I have, it sure has coverage. Well, not much else to do but try.¡¯ Jason closes his eyes and focuses inward. Shifting away from physical senses, to a more mystical view. And there his core is, looking more like a fuzzball than the perfect sphere he knows the core to be. Before he had pushed aside his Energy to get a glimpse of the core, but that won¡¯t work this time. At least not for his first attempt. While he didn¡¯t have a solid plan, Jason did have a loose strategy for his first foray into his core. After all, his threads of Energy came from there, so why not follow them? It takes him a hot second to separate out a single thread to follow. Though most of that time was more because he would get it mixed up with a neighboring thread. By the time he managed to follow one to the core, the process had become a training session for his mind¡¯s eye. Still, with perseverance he manages. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Not only does he manage though, he overshot the goal. Without noticing it at first, Jason has followed the string down to his core and right through the shell. While this was his goal, Jason had not expected it to be that easy. Especially as his previous pokes at it had failed utterly. In the end he can only chock this up to the fact that this time he did follow a thread instead of clearing them out of the way. Maybe they create some sort of passageway through that he can follow, or they go out of phase with the core. What really matters is that Jason is now in. In where though is the question as it very much does not look like the inside of a sphere. At least it answers the question of where he connects with the Energy source. His core is in and of itself the connection point. All that encompasses the inside is a direct view into wherever Jason¡¯s Energy comes from. The only confusing thing is that it should be a completely foreign place. From what Jason can feel though that isn¡¯t the case. Something about the place he is pulling the Energy from feels familiar. Not in a way he can put his finger on, but enough that it isn¡¯t his imagination. Familiarity aside though, this view into the outside and otherness of Energy¡¯s source gives a good reason for all the water analogies used in the notes. Going by the rest of the book and his personal guesses on the subject Mana is like a gas, Qi is a solid, while Energy is a liquid. The three most common states of matter you will find on an inhabited planet. Sure there are some fun extra stages out there, most common of which is plasma. But a potential fourth basic power source won¡¯t help him much right now. Instead, Jason either has to figure out how to confine a liquid into thread form or completely rethink how he looks at it. Because as things stand, either reality has to admit it is wrong, or he needs to admit the views he based his entire cultivation on is wrong. At the most basic level, his threads exist as a solid and yet are made of Energy. And this isn¡¯t as simple as comparing it to water and claiming the threads are ice. In such an example Qi would be ice, Energy is instead the liquid form of the mystical water all of NeoRealm¡¯s mystical side is based on. Still, this isn¡¯t the first time he has heard of personal views being at odds with how reality seems to think things work. With the right finagling, neither sides have to be wrong. Now he only has to figure out how. And Jason has just the starting point to continue his search for the truth of NeoRealm¡¯s most fundamental parts. He had focused on the System¡¯s threads and since they completely matched his Energy had figured, they had to be just that. What if the structure of the threads were instead like roots? Before starting NeoRealm he might not have thought of this, but for some reason things keep coming back to plants for him. Chapter 268 - Split The Party? Sure, the fact that his lines aren¡¯t one solid structure and instead string makes the metaphor a little strained. All that matters though is if it makes sense to Jason. Plus, it isn¡¯t like you can¡¯t braid the roots of a cultivated plant. But what makes up the outer wall? It can¡¯t be Qi because that would turn the Energy into Qi at the far ends. Jason focuses on the raging river of Energy his core connects to and attempts to view where it goes from liquid to thread. A difficult task made harder by the fact that the point of change is constantly shifting. And the fact that Jason just can¡¯t quite see things small enough yet. In fact, it feels like this is one of those things he could get lost in, so Jason takes the time to check the time. A good thing too as it is almost dinner, going by the smell wafting from the direction of the kitchen. With a stretch Jason stands up and heads out to the den where he finds everyone else is already gathered. Peter sees him enter the room and laughs, ¡°I thought we were going to need to send someone in to wake you up!¡± Gregor hears them and shouts from the kitchen that, ¡°We wouldn¡¯t actually enter the room. We would have knocked really loud and left you alone if that didn¡¯t work.¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°Well maybe we would if you didn¡¯t leave for a couple days.¡± Gregor enters the room with a big tray of roast meat and veg. ¡°I would be a bit worried if you ended up in there more than a week. Though I do understand getting stuck in research mode. Sometimes things just line up for you and knowledge flows. Still, even if you are an immortal traveller, that doesn¡¯t mean you don¡¯t need to eat. Starving yourself to death is more of a learning experience than it is for others.¡± Jason nods, ¡°I got a bit stuck because I couldn¡¯t see something in enough detail. I probably wouldn¡¯t have come out if I hadn¡¯t realized what I was doing probably was going to eat up time like crazy without my notice. But enough about me.¡± And Jason turns to Rosha and Courtney, ¡°I¡¯ve mostly gotten on track myself. How has things been going for the two of you?¡± Rosha dramatically slumps to the side, ¡°Oh woe is me. Truly Peter is a cruel master, driving me hard every day.¡± Then she sits back up, ¡°But in all seriousness, a lot of really high quality training. Though me and Courtney do have a certain worry.¡± Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Courtney sighs, ¡°Anyway, good news is that I¡¯ve been allowed to learn the variant illusion magic. So yeah, been focused on that.¡± Jason raises an eyebrow, ¡°And what¡¯s the worry?¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°Remember how you had to separate from Rosha previously? You needed to go off and level on your own because of how much slower you level. Well me and Rosha have both hit twenty and last I knew you were still level 13.¡± Jason grimaces, ¡°I¡¯m 14 now.¡± Courtney nods, ¡°Nevermind the fact that even if you could level up at a normal speed, Lily is taking your xp until she has capped for the current level. Now I don¡¯t really want to split the party.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°You mean Rosha doesn¡¯t want to leave Lily.¡± Courtney narrows her eyes, ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t want to split the party. However, the way to beat the next bottleneck is to complete a real dungeon. And by real the System means that the final boss has to be level 25 or higher. Otherwise, the System calls it an intro dungeon. The important thing to note about this is that you can complete the dungeon with a party. The only catch is that no one in the party can have already passed the third bottleneck.¡± Jason nods, ¡°I am a bit behind but that doesn¡¯t matter all that much. As long as I complete the dungeon with you guys, it will count as having done it. That way I can just move on past the bottleneck without a problem.¡± Rosha shakes her head, ¡°As much as I want to keep Lily around, you need to catch up with us. If only because Lily isn¡¯t as OP as you are. She is doing fine right now but if we want to continue to level at a decent pace, the monsters we fight will way over level her. You need to head off on your own for a little bit again and take the time to catch up.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°You know? I didn¡¯t originally plan to team up with anyone. Teaming up was completely a System enforced thing. Of course I don¡¯t regret it. Being with you two has been a blast. But yeah, there are a couple of things I need to catch up on. Do you have any idea what dungeon we should aim for so we can plan when to meet back up?¡± Gregor coughs, ¡°Well I might have a few suggestions. We can go look at my map once dinner is finished. Wouldn¡¯t want the food getting cold, now would we?¡± Everyone else realizes that the food has been set out already and they really should dig in. Jason nods, ¡°Food first then. What kind of meat are we eating today? Going by the cuts it isn¡¯t mini-anything.¡± Gregor smiles, ¡°Tonight is a simple selection of roasted roots and beef. Nothing fancy about the meat this time. The cows aren¡¯t even a swarm despite what it can look like when being herded. After all, not everything is swarm based here. Just most of it.¡± Peter laughs, ¡°Yeah, not everything is a swarm. But that is only because people brought in things from the outside. Something with the area really pushes things towards forming a swarm, even now with the large swarm threats dead or culled. Even the trees from before the kingdom¡¯s formation were swarms. It was kind of silly.¡± Chapter 269 - How About Monsters We Are Strong Against After dinner, Gregor tells the group to stay in the den. ¡°I have a map, but it is currently in my library. As Jason learned earlier today, there is not much space in there at all. Just stick tight and I will bring it out here so I can show you what is up.¡± It takes him a minute, but soon enough Gregor is back with a large sheet of vellum and spreads it out. As soon as the sheet is flat, the markings on the surface come to life and a shockingly accurate looking map is projected just above it. Gregor smiles at the looks on everyone¡¯s face, ¡°You won¡¯t find another map quite like this one anywhere in the entire realm. Not because of accuracy or anything mind you. This is a collaborative project with my husband. I enchanted it, and he is the one that filled in all the details with his travels. The areas right around our city are of course filled out in decent detail but the further out you go it becomes more obvious. Especially once you can start finding the blank spots on the map and it devolves into a mess of wandering lines.¡± ¡°Still, this will show what your group needs as he makes it a point to at least come within sight of all the nearby towns and villages. Even in places where he isn¡¯t quite welcome. I really wish he would stop, but I think you would have more luck telling a cat to not knock over things. Peter goes wherever he wants to, irrespective of nations and kings. Anyway, can you describe a little bit more on what you three are looking for?¡± Rosha shrugs, ¡°Last time we split up because I was almost at the bottleneck and Jason was well behind that. My trip was basically all main roads to the nearest beginners dungeon. Along the way I picked up enough experience to hit the bottleneck and so it was just a matter of beating a boss. Still took a decent amount of time.¡± Jason nods, ¡°And on my end I skirted along the edge of the Wasteland and the rabbit plains from Shinefish to Wasteland¡¯s Edge. At night I would camp in the plains to care for my plants and cultivate. During the day I would explore into the Wasteland itself. It was hit or miss. Nothing was too strong as far as monsters go but the environmental hazards were quite something else. That and I found two different potentially sapient species in the making. One more along than the other.¡± ¡°To break through I ended up fighting a loner goblin warboss, which was around level 20. Now I might not be able to level skip so hard against bosses, but regular monsters five or so levels higher than me shouldn¡¯t be a problem. So a path that starts with me fighting level 20 monsters would be nice.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Gregor nods, ¡°And what do you guys want for a dungeon? I know that some people don¡¯t care one way or another but that isn¡¯t always the case. Wouldn¡¯t want to send you to a spider dungeon if you had arachnophobia.¡± The three look at each other, but no one speaks up. Courtney shrugs, ¡°We don¡¯t have any particular fears I guess. Besides that, I guess just don¡¯t send us into some foul smelling pit. There are enough dungeons out there that we don¡¯t need to go tromping through a sewer or some other decaying mess.¡± Gregor laughs, ¡°Fair enough. Luckily, that doesn¡¯t narrow things down too much. While such dungeons do exist, they tend to be on the high end. More because low level dungeons like that get destroyed more often than not unless they provide some unique resources.¡± He turns to the map and pokes a few spaces on the actual vellum. On the projected display, the map zooms out and red circles appear across it. Gregor pokes his finger into the display and draws a rough circle around the city, and all the red circles within the area fade out. ¡°Okay, the circles are dungeons. I¡¯ve nixed all the nearby places as a matter of fact. The question is, how long do you think it will take to finish leveling up?¡± Jason leans back and thinks about it. ¡°I want to work on my stats so that would take up some time. Oh, and Lily¡¯s stats as well. Besides that, I want to wander around the wilderness a bit, anyway. I¡¯ve got a really cool ability to improve the dirt in my portable planter, and I haven¡¯t really had much of a chance to do much with it. What good is absorbing nature¡¯s energy from the places I travel if I¡¯m not travelling through all that many places.¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°On our end I have to admit this is going to take a while once it is just me and Rach... Rosha. Don¡¯t listen to that idiot¡¯s worry about taking too long. You and me both know the only reason our levels skyrocketed on the way over was because those swarms were out of our league big time. Without Jason¡¯s help and Peter¡¯s guidance, it would have taken us weeks to get here if we made it at all.¡± ¡°Most importantly, losing Jason means we lack a pure frontliner. Rosha can and has managed during our fights with the swarm cats. But with just me and her that would be asking for it. We need to fight enemies within a couple levels of our own. That and they need to be enemies that our strengths work against. No more swarms or undead. Some nice normal living targets that Rosha can sneak attack from a distance and I can cast illusions on. Though even with all that I expect, it will take a few months or more to hit the bottleneck, and the only reason why I expect it to go that fast is we are travellers. I know that a local in our position could take more than a year, even if they can manage constant adventuring.¡± Chapter 270 - Magic Map Functionality Gregor laughs, ¡°I¡¯m glad you have a good head on your shoulders. Way too many travellers seem to think that the trip to 25 is still the early levels. Even with the whole not dying thing you have going on a decent number of you guys can¡¯t manage to beat a true dungeon. Level 25 is a watershed moment for dungeon bosses.¡± Jason nods, ¡°So, I¡¯m sure at least Courtney knows what you mean. I however am a bit in the dark.¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°To end up as a true dungeon boss, a monster has to have some form of protection against lower leveled foes. The same is true for level 100, but you¡¯ve already gotten that nonsense out of the way. I bet you end up having an easier time fighting level 100 dungeons when you get around to it, then you do level 25 dungeon bosses.¡± ¡°Anyway, the protection they have could be just about anything. There is an iron hog in one of the nearby dungeons which can just stand there and let creatures beat on it without being damaged in the least bit. Another nearby monster is a bird that unlike the hog would probably go down in a few hits. The problem, of course, is hitting it. The dang bird can even dodge AoE spells if the caster isn¡¯t skilled enough.¡± ¡°So yeah, not only do we need to figure out where you guys want to go. We should also probably look into what kind of dungeon you want to conquer. We can already rule out a few types. Not that there are many undead or slime dungeons around to worry about. Plus most of them would fall under your restriction on sewer style dungeons. Any other things you want to restrict now that you three have a better idea of what a true dungeon represents?¡± Rosha shrugs again. She doesn¡¯t exactly have many requirements. Courtney on the other hand nods as she has more to add, but she seems to need a moment to think about it. Jason seeing no one else has anything to say right away rolls his eyes. ¡°I want to avoid dungeons that are based around the more intelligent monsters. Fighting a goblin warboss when it was alone was easy enough, but I wouldn¡¯t want to try that in a dungeon where they would work together. With this in mind, maybe something with a solo predator as the boss? So not a wolf, but maybe one of the big cats.¡± Rosha shakes her head, ¡°Not a cat. All the solo hunters are big on ambush tactics and I want to get a drop on them and not the other way around. My ability to attack from the shadows has not really come up, and a dungeon seems like a good place to start. The restricted space would allow me to hide without worrying about something coming up behind me and spoiling the shot.¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. They both turn to Courtney who sighs, ¡°Well first of all, don¡¯t trust that nothing would sneak up behind you. Not only because once out of the dungeon it wouldn¡¯t be true and it would be bad to get in the habit. But also because even with an older dungeon that has stabilized you can still run across new tricks. It would be just our luck for you to try it and suddenly a secret passage opens up behind you, disgorging monsters right into your lap.¡± ¡°As for my own restrictions? Most of the important ones have been covered for us. Though I guess I should come right out and say it, don¡¯t face us against any enemies that straight up counter us. You should have a better idea in that regard than us. Until Peter told us, I wouldn¡¯t have realized why swarms are so resistant to illusions. Of course I knew they were, just not why. I guess what I want to say is please guide us on this. We would appreciate it if you would advise us on what dungeon you think would be best for us to dive.¡± Gregor smiles, ¡°Congratulations on asking that. Most people who look for advice forget to actually ask for it. Instead going off on what they want to know. Since I work with the government here, I¡¯ve had my fair share of that kind of thing. So many people ask stupid questions like what is the most powerful spell they can learn when the right question is what would be the best spell to learn. Anyway, I think this dungeon would be a good goal.¡± And he pulls his finger across the map from the city, away from the forest at an angle. As Gregor¡¯s finger reaches the edge of the map, the map starts to scroll. After a bit of time the map reaches wherever he wants it to and he pokes the display, stopping it. With that, the map zooms out to display the entire path from start to stop. Gregor nods, ¡°A bit of a distance but you wanted months of travel, anyway. For this first part,¡± and he points at a section towards the start of the journey, ¡°Jason will actually be taking the shorter route. Mostly because this is still within the kingdom¡¯s borders and since the two of you don¡¯t want to face swarms, you will be skirting along it. He of course can just head straight on though, be good training for him.¡± ¡°After that though, you two will basically be following the route my finger traced, heading straight towards the dungeon. Jason on the other hand will be veering off in this direction into this area of rolling hills and small forests. Because the terrain is so broken up and random no one monster has quite taken over like the swarm bears did here. That means that while the high end is lower, the low end is higher. All the monsters have to fight a lot harder, and if any particular monster starts pulling ahead, the others will drag it down. A real cutthroat area. A lot of fun for you, I¡¯m sure.¡± Chapter 271 - Name It With A Portmanteau! Jason nods, ¡°So what are we going to be facing at the end of this journey? Of course a dungeon, but any specifics you want to share?¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°You wanted a bunch of things. None of them are hard on their own, but together it limits us a little. You wanted the monsters to be susceptible to sneak attacks, yet not intelligent. A little hard as the easiest things to target, especially at the level of skill shown by Rosha, will be humanoid in form. After all, you know your own weak points more than that of, for instance, a lion. On the other hand, most monsters with a humanoid form tend more towards the intelligent sort.¡± ¡°There was also the desire to not face a swarm or swarm like tactics which further restricts our options as most humanoid monsters that aren¡¯t too clever will be hordes. Goblins without something like a warboss are actually a good example of this. Luckily, I know a good dungeon that will work within the constraints.¡± ¡°Ever hear of the water bear? More properly called tardigrades they right away seem to not be what you want. Even the larger, more magical forms of them aren¡¯t strong but rather resistant to most damage. What the dungeon I am sending you towards has in it though are a unique form of the tardigrade. The name of the dungeon is Invasion from the Deep Sky.¡± ¡°Travellers nicknamed it the Dumb Alien dungeon. I can tell by your faces you have some understanding of what that means. Anyway, the monsters in the dungeon are mostly based on tardigrades turned into a humanoid form. Though more on the folk side as compared to the kin side of things. Of course if they were actually a folk species not only wouldn¡¯t I suggest it to you, they wouldn¡¯t be a dungeon monster either, what with folk being sapient. No, these stupid monsters have taken on a humanoid form, losing a number of their defenses, for none of the benefits such a form would normally give. They¡¯ve even gained a skeletal system which seems to only be there so the bones can be broken.¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°Let me guess, they are a little taller than a goblin but constantly stopped over? Probably a very unhealthy color of gray with very forlorn eyes?¡± Gregor laughs, ¡°Actually a bit taller. You forgot that tardigrades have eight limbs, so if you stretch these monsters out they have a bit more of a length to them than you would expect. Almost a centaur like quality to them but they can¡¯t even manage that. So what do you think?¡± Rosha raises an eyebrow, ¡°Inoffensive I guess? I don¡¯t know if I would want a full dungeon of them. Plus, what would the boss for that even be?¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°Meh, while a lot of the dungeon is taken up by them there are still some other monsters. A mix of the usual strangeness you get whenever there is mention of the deep sky. And no, the deep sky isn¡¯t space as you travellers understand it. We call that the void and while most of the stuff you find in the deep sky can be found there as well, it is more spaced out.¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t so hard to survive there in the first place it would actually be a pretty calm place. What with being able to see what is coming from so far off. Anyway, you can expect spidersytes, solarworms, and a few other common creepy crawlies. None of the intelligent pests though.¡± Jason frowns, ¡°Spidersytes?¡± Gregor nods, ¡°A portmanteau of spider and parasites with a y thrown in for flavor. Honestly, I don¡¯t know why they didn¡¯t just call them spider mites as that is closer to what you are dealing with. Basically the deep sky seems to favor eight limbed spidery forms when it comes to critters that live on other critters.¡± Rosha frowns, ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like something I can sneak attack.¡± Gregor shrugs again, ¡°most of the monsters are tardigroids, another portmanteau. This time of tardigrade and humanoid. That is another common thing with the deep sky. Someone got way too clever with combining names up there. If there was a panther in the deep sky that used shadows, it would probably be called something fancy like Shadther or some such nonsense. You know, instead of the more down-to-earth way of naming it like Shadow Panther.¡± ¡°But yeah, most of the enemies in there are tardigroids. Honestly, I don¡¯t think I could find you any dungeon that doesn¡¯t have a few animals and insects kicking around. At least there aren¡¯t any plant monsters to deal with. Except for a few, plants are up there with slimes and swarms when it comes to lacking weak points.¡± Rosha sighs, ¡°Well, I guess that will have to do.¡± Jason laughs at this, ¡°I think it will be fine. At least there will be something for me to fight. Would be a boring dive if we spent the entire time sitting back as you snipe everything. Anyway,¡± and he turns to Gregor, ¡°What do you have for me on my path?¡± Gregor smiles, ¡°As I said, the terrain is all mixed up. Expect most creatures you face along the way to be averaging around level 20 plus or minus about three. To start you can stick to the edges. While that doesn¡¯t guarantee lower levels, most of the more experienced monsters will head deeper into their own regions.¡± ¡°Once you have some more levels under your belt, you will be able to start heading towards the center of those regions. Now, I don¡¯t advise you go right through the center. That is just asking for trouble. Rather, you can skim along the edge of the center to get some decent fights in. You can expect 3rd break to be the starting point. Though nothing that hits the next bottleneck. Anything getting too close will be killed by all the nearby monsters ganging up on it.¡± Jason smiles back, ¡°That sounds like fun. Any chance they will gang up on me?¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°If you wanted to stay in the same area for more than a day, sure. While you aren¡¯t anywhere near level 50, they would consider you an enemy monster of the same power range if you are as good as Peter thinks you are. After all, it isn¡¯t like they can check the actual levels of those they fight. You setting up shop to kill them en masse? All they will understand is that you Must Die.¡± Chapter 272 - Its Been A While Jason frowns, ¡°Wait a second. If they can¡¯t tell the level of other monsters, how do they know when one is about to hit the fourth bottleneck?¡± Gregor rolls his eyes, ¡°The same way they will be figuring out that you are at the same level of power. The fourth break might not be as big a jump in power as the third, but there is certainly a ramp up in power there. While a fourth break monster might not be able to rule the area by itself, they could take control with even a moderately sized following of third break monsters.¡± Courtney fake coughs, ¡°So what about our side of the trip?¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°You¡¯ll be travelling on a road. Not a main road, mind you, but still a well-travelled road. Now you could follow that road straight to the dungeon town, but you wouldn¡¯t be picking up too many levels. It isn¡¯t like the road has a difficulty set for it. You have a few options such as just diving a bit at the dungeon or exploring around the town, but I don¡¯t advise that. Instead, you and Rosha should take a couple of detours on your way.¡± ¡°These alternate routes are less travelled, but most of them are there specifically for people like you. Technically, they aren¡¯t even real roads and instead are just well worn dirt paths. At the end of them you will find various hunting grounds. Though calling it the end is a bit wrong. The way they work is the dirt path diverges from the road, goes through the hunting ground, and then reconnects to the road. So you can take as many or as few as you want and still end up where you were going.¡± Courtney nods, ¡°Makes sense. You wouldn¡¯t want a normal road to go through a monsters nest if you can¡¯t help it. But that doesn¡¯t tell us what kind of monsters we would be fighting, and for some reason I don¡¯t think they will be quite what we asked for.¡± Gregor laughs, ¡°Well you got me there. About the only kind of monster that would fit everything you want is in the dungeon you¡¯re heading to. For this I erred on the side, less intelligent as compared to more humanoid. After all, if it was goblins they would just follow the dirt path to the road itself. Maybe even put up a few ambushes and traps. Really annoying to deal with, so people just don¡¯t bother with real paths in their regions.¡± ¡°I decided you two would be best served with monsters more on the animal side of things and mostly below your levels. Along the way you will have a nice selection of various boars, some territorial deer, and even some carnivorous squirrels if you¡¯re up for it.¡± Rosha sighs, ¡°Well, at least they don¡¯t sport an exoskeleton or some other nonsense. That and the neck and head should be lethal enough for all of them, so I have a target.¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Gregor¡¯s lips curl into a cruel yet mischievous smile. ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry! Peter has some training for you during the back half of the week. You shouldn¡¯t have any trouble finding weak points. In fact, you might even get a skill depending on how suitable it is for you.¡± Rosha squints her eyes at him, ¡°Well. That sounds pleasant.¡± Jason snorts, ¡°It sounds like you will be busy. So Gregor, is there anything else we should know about this trip you¡¯ve planned out for us?¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°Not much else to tell you. Though I do have one last surprise. Here, have a System quest!¡± {Journey to the Dungeon ¡°Invasion from the Deep Sky¡± Gregor Grey-Tail, the Enchanter and Illusionist, has heard your plea to plan out a path to the 3rd bottleneck. Through his wisdom he has agreed to assist and so has laid out a path for your party. While this path may split you apart, the end goal is to bring you together once again to face the challenges in conquering your first real dungeon. Though for some of you this path will be tougher than most souls can handle. Difficulty: 2nd Break(3rd Break-) Goal: Reach the town built up around the dungeon ¡°Invasion from the Deep Sky¡± after having followed the path laid out for you by Gregor after having reached the 3rd bottleneck Rewards: Peak 2nd break weapon that will automatically upgrade to entry level 3rd break if the dungeon ¡°Invasion from the Deep Sky¡± is used to breakthrough the 3rd bottleneck} Gregor shakes his head, ¡°Been a while since I could do that. While I do meet enough travellers in my line of work, most of them want an enchantment. Sure some of them need to be sent a questing, but overall I just take money. A lot easier and more dependable that way. Never know if they will actually come back. Though at least the System alerts me to when they abandon the quest. I do wish they would come back and tell me to my face. Way too many slink away into the night.¡± Jason looks up from the blue screen, ¡°What is up with the weapon upgrading?¡± Gregor frowns and takes a look at the screen. ¡°Oh, huh. I haven¡¯t actually personally seen that one. Though I guess it makes sense for you guys to get it. This is basically a quest to break through even if technically it isn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Anyway, it isn¡¯t quest specific. Some items can upgrade over time or under certain circumstances. Though I must admit that quests are the largest source of them. The only catch is that upgrading quest items are quite limited. For instance, the reward for this quest can only upgrade once.¡± ¡°Oh, and the thing I hadn¡¯t seen was one of them as a quest reward. I have seen a few upgrading items. Important to note is that these growth items are the items that can grow on their own. If someone takes a bow and restrings it with a higher quality string, despite the bow being better, it is not a growth item. If instead the bow absorbed the higher quality string and its current string got better for it, that would be a growth item.¡± Chapter 273 - Show Me The Status! Gregor shrugs, ¡°Anyway, this is just the System rewarding you for the quest and providing you an incentive to follow through on the dungeon once you are there.¡± Jason raises an eyebrow, ¡°So what I¡¯m reading into this is there is some kind of catch to the dungeon?¡± Gregor chuckles, ¡°Why yes, yes, there is a catch. I¡¯m not going to tell you what it is of course. That would ruin the fun.¡± Jason rolls his eyes, ¡°So I noticed that while I have the tougher side of the quest, the rewards are the same?¡± Gregor nods, ¡°You might have the tougher quest, but as far as the System is concerned the subjective difficulty will be about the same. Also, don¡¯t assume the easy path is actually easy. Part of why I went with a quest is it will assure a smooth leveling experience for them. They won¡¯t show up at the first detour only to find a third break monster chilling out. On the other hand, it won¡¯t just hand them the reward.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°Whatever, from what I can see the plan is good enough. If there isn¡¯t anything else, I want to get back to my room. I have something to check on.¡± Courtney looks at Rosha who nods back at her, ¡°We should be fine with this. It sounds like we have decent control over our trip. That and while Gregor,¡± and she glares over at him, ¡°Isn¡¯t going to tell us more about the monsters along the way. There isn¡¯t anything to stop me from researching it on my own. If anything, it will probably be considered as part of the quest.¡± Jason stretches and stands up. ¡°Okay, sounds like a plan. See you tomorrow for breakfast.¡± Once back in his room Jason sprawls out on the bed as he mutters to himself. ¡°Been a while since I¡¯ve checked my status. [System, show me my full status please.]
Basic Info Name: Jason Race: Human Level: 14 - 3.63% Legal Status: Player Title: Core Genius Normal Stats Auxiliary Stats Organizations Adventurers Guild - Basic Member - Rank D Odd Ones Out - Team Member - Leader Bonuses Knowledge Bonuses: Discovery Bonuses: Bottleneck Bonuses: Titles:
Skills Energetic Body Reinforcement Accepting only purity of body and mind you have given up past concepts of self for the uncertainty of truth. Apprentice Level 8 - 1.41% [ +2Lv 1.41% ] Rarity: Truth Type: Passive, Cultivation Effects: Desolate Traversal Technique A combination of traditional parkour and energy use. While considered a basic skill it is highly ranked among them. Generally learned by rogues it is however open for anyone to learn. This skill has ranked up through comprehension of parkour being about efficiency of movement. A rare feat as it has been noted by an unnamed master that, ¡°teaching a man parkour isn¡¯t about how to jump over walls but rather beating into them that most of the time you should just walk through the gate¡±. Apprentice Level 9 - 99.99% Rarity: Uncommon Type: Passive, Movement Effects: Energetic Poison and Venom Resistance One of the rare active skill based resistances. While still able to passively provide benefits, this skill really shines when directly used. As there are many types of poison and venom the System has decided it is best like this rather than a stat as this allows more variety without littering the stat line with entries like ¡®elven paralysis poison resistance¡¯. Uses the best percentage. Initiate Level 3 - 2.67% [ +1.14% ] Rarity: Exquisite Beginner Type: Passive/Active, Energy, Adaptive Effects: Body Blast What started as just a variant of Blast Punch meant for Energy Users has evolved into something much less restricted. The biggest feature of this new skill is the ability to any part of the body as a weapon to project the blast from. Not much else is known about the skill yet as the creator is still shaping it. Apprentice Level 3 - 31.18% Rarity: Variant Beginner Type: Energy Attack Effects: Herb Farming You have shown yourself to be proficient at this classic skill. Don¡¯t look down on it as these lands contain many mysterious plants with uncountable effects. Though you seem to have already taken a step towards understanding this. Apprentice Level 3 - 74.23% [ +2Lv 74.23% ] Rarity: Uncommon Type: Passive, Production Effects: This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. War Stomp A classic powered kick attack. Despite the tendency for it to be used with Qi the skill can be powered with any type of resource pool. The different power sources will cause different effects to happen and so the possibilities of this skill are technically unlimited. Initiate Level 9 - 41.63% [ +2Lv 41.63% ] Rarity: Common Type: Primal Energy Attack Effects:
Wealth Money Property Businesses
Pets and Companions Non-Combat Pets [0/2] Combat Pets [0/1] Companions
Equipment Living Amber Skeletal System Description: This masterpiece of magical items is the opposite of the undead. While undead are the living that are killed and turned into magical items, this is a magical item turned into a living piece of a creature. An intricately carved full skeleton made entirely of Magical Amber. It was then hollowed out leaving just the barest of a lattice work. When magically implanted into the host, the bone marrow was grafted into these cavities. Because of difficulties and dangers that appear when trying to enchant a living creature they have instead been imbued with magic. Effects: Bonuses: ¡®BlueIron Rust¡¯ Electrolysis Ritual Circle Description: An impossible ritual that crystallized directly in the lungs of the Traveller Jason. Through BlueIron¡¯s innate electrical nature this formation can break down water into its components and capture the resulting breathable elements. This will allow for sustained underwater activities as long as Energy flows through it. As a side benefit the ritual will also expel any unwanted matter from the lungs at an additional Energy cost whenever desired. Best used when leaving the water to expel any remaining water. Effects: Bonuses: Complete Weaponless Rabbit Leather Martial Arts Beginners Set Set Items: Description: An Exquisitely crafted set of gear made entirely out of the cheapest quality of Rabbit Leather. Only through years of research and many crafters blood, sweat, and tears was this level of quality reached while keeping such a low price. All the pieces of this set have been specially created to be swapped between several configurations and thus there is no step by step set bonuses for it. A pair of boots, greaves, and a bastard sword are just as valid of a complete set as wearing something in every equipment slot. As for how it looks. Best way to put it is they tried. Effects: Bonuses: Set Bonuses: ¡®Sealed Silver¡¯ Snips Description: A pair of gardening snips meant for harvesting plants. The snips are plated in Sealed Silver. This metal when used to cut something prevents the flow of energy though the slightest resistance will remove this effect. Perfect for harvesting plants as it stops the leaking of any natural energies. Small Critter Protection Harness Description: An odd harness made by an odder ork. Built into the shoulder is a protective cage meant to shelter small animals. When in use the cage is shifted away from the current dimension to provide an extra level of safety. While the harness itself looks average, the material used is leather from an elder glutton wolf, a distant relative of Fenrir by way of Skoll and Hati. The creator has focused all magics woven into this device on the safety of the animal and so provides no bonuses to the wearer. Because of this you can wear the harness over or under other magical gear with no fear of unexpected interactions. Throwing Daggers x5 Description: Basic iron throwing daggers crafted by a journeymen smith. While the material and shape are nothing special, the smith used a special heritage technique in the crafting of this set of daggers. This elevates them to the status of graded items. Grade: Low Normal (technique) Effects: Small Porcelain Jar of Redeath Rose Essential Oil x2 Description: Oil that has been steam distilled from the immature flower of a Redeath Rose Slug. This oil contains a large amount of Nature Mana and is aligned with countering the energies related to the undead through subsuming said energy to fuel its own growth. If sprinkled on a corpse, the oil will prevent it from rising as an undead for ten days. When applied to a weapon while the oil remains, any undead hit will receive extra damage and the weapon will ignore any defenses based on the undead¡¯s natural powers. Can be used as an ingredient to add anti-undead properties into other things. Grade: Normal (ingredient, magic oil) Effects:
After looking it over, Jason scrunches his eyes shut. ¡®Okay, my cultivation technique has advanced nicely. Though I have a feeling the last level mostly came from messing with my lines. Besides that, my movement skill has been bottlenecked it seems. I must be missing something. On the other hand, herb farming has come along nicely. Gaining almost three levels for something I do in my ever limited spare time is impressive.¡¯ ¡®And of course most important is my attack skills. Body blast has shot up a couple levels and change. More interesting is war stomp, though. Just a bit more experience and the skill should rank up. Though I fully expect it to bottleneck for a moment as well. I will probably need to add at least one more power type to it.¡¯ Jason shakes his head and sighs. His current abilities are advancing alright and he can expect them to really bloom on the trip. It however doesn¡¯t change the fact that except for a few numbers getting bigger not much has changed. He hadn¡¯t even managed to finish learning the power expulsion skill. That will have to change, and quickly. Jason hasn¡¯t felt the pressure yet, but at the very least the System won¡¯t let him ride on the coattails of his previous life¡¯s experience. But not much he can do about it tonight. Instead of turning the problem over in his head some more he closes his eyes and logs out. Waking up in his pod, he doesn¡¯t waste time. With the time ratio between NeoRealm and real life, it hadn¡¯t been even six hours since he stopped cultivating and he really needed to strike while the irons hot. Jason had just removed all the incompatible powers so before more could sneak in he should figure out how to solidify his first stage. If he was back in his old world, that would be straight forward enough. If he tried to copy his foundation from his previous life, it would be wishful thinking on his part. With so many powers, something has to be different and finding out how to properly build upon that will be the biggest hurdle yet. Jason moves to the living room and before settling down goes through a series of stretches. Not the routine he would use before exercising, though. Rather, he focuses on loosening up his core muscles and making sure his spine is relaxed. He sits down and with a deep breath, turns his mind¡¯s eye inward. As luck would have it, his dantian is exactly how it was with no new powers. The perfect starting point. Not knowing what all the powers do he settles in for the most tedious and stressful thing. One by one he separates out a small section of each power and tests them. Not only to figure out what each does, but to do a final removal of any undesirable elements. Maybe break down some composite powers as well, or build some composite powers. No way to know till he tries it. Then in what feels like way too short of a time Jason¡¯s alarm alerts him that he needs to get back to NeoRealm. Though the feeling isn¡¯t quite wrong. He had set up the alarm earlier than usual so he could get some natural sleep. Though how a full night of sleep in NeoRealm works as well as irl sleep is another fun mystery that pops into his mind just as he goes under. The question is interesting, but even with the time difference back in his favor Jason just does not have enough time to think about it right now. Instead, all that he can afford is some shut eye. His final thoughts as he drifts off is that once he is rich, he should look into the accelerated sleep options. Because apparently the pod can¡¯t be satisfied with a normal amount of breaking common sense and can give you at least twice the ratio for sleep. Ten times if you are comparing it to real life. An absolutely silly thing that for some reason Jason can¡¯t remember ever heard be questioned. Chapter 274 - There Are Natural Lines Next morning Jason wakes up and shakes his head. ¡®I should look into the sleep option. The time ratio between NeoRealm and irl is nice, but doubling it would be better. Though I do wonder how it works. In fact, why haven¡¯t I questioned it before?¡¯ Then he stands up and ignores the question. Out in the den, a decent breakfast of fried noodles and vegetables is being served up. Jason joins them, but the meal is silent. A comfortable silence as everyone has something to do this day and they are ready to head out. Well, Jason is heading back to his room, but everyone else did leave the house. Back in his room Jason refocuses on where he left off the day before. After following a thread back down into his core, he lets himself drift in the Energy that flows past in an unending stream. Thoughts of roots, thread, and rivers larger than oceans dance in his head. Time passes as glimpses of truths and revelations of fundamental law that have gone into NeoRealm, the world not the game, slowly accumulates for him. Just the edges of leftover crumbs, but more than most people would touch on before the seventh or eighth bottleneck. Like a clarion call, one fact rings out in his mind. The System is using Energy for the lines. While he had guessed at this, Jason had not been sure before this. Now from his drifting it has become clear that there is a smaller, denser flow next to and yet not fully connected to his own. From it, in ways he can not fully see, the System is pulling on the unending source of Energy. A flow that Jason has started to connect to the planet itself. Beyond that, he can also tell that the lines are not how it is meant to be used. Rather, they are simply the way that the System forces it to form. While not entirely wrong, Jason can feel that there is a better way. A way that would sidestep the difficulty of forcing the Energy into thread in the first place. His deepest of revelations, the strangest eonic truth. The living Energy, blood flow of the planet and guide to life does not turn into Mana and Qi. Mana and Qi are byproducts of Energy escaping back into the primal flow Jason has now immersed himself in. Strange powers that do not change Energy but rather are part of what keeps the flow of Energy so close to the surface of the planet instead of dormant down in the core, waiting for something truly beyond Jason¡¯s comprehension. Still, despite knowing this Jason also knows he could never use either of them. This one fact everyone knows about, only being able to use one of the three prime powers is not a System restriction. Rather just a truth of how the world works. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. However, it does open up the path for creating his own lines, to return to the natural order. The System, despite appearing to be omniscient, is very much not all seeing. All players and the important natives will have System formed lines. This does not mean that there are living beings without the lines. Rather, that which is not deemed important enough will still have its original, most primal, lines. Close to Jason he can already feel an example of this. Not his own plants. By planting them and his continued care for them, they have been imparted importance by the System. No, a simple green little plant on a shelf off to the side. A bit of decoration to add a more vibrant feel to the room, has the key. The plant is barely within his ability to sense it from the Energy flow, but there it is. On the edge of his range a small pull on the flow. Until now Jason had assumed that because he couldn¡¯t detect anything from plants or animals, they didn¡¯t have any lines. That is not true. Rather, he just was not able to sense the natural lines. The System lines are so obvious because of how artificial and foreign they are. Like someone spray painted bright orange lines on a tree, they stand out. Following the almost unnoticeable draw that the plant has, Jason reverses out of the flow. Not into his own body, but into the decorative plant. And if not for this act, even knowing it had to exist, Jason would have never found the natural lines. They didn¡¯t just blend in. The natural lines existed as one with the plant, and only from the inside was he able to notice them. From this the natural form of the threads is revealed to him. Though he doesn¡¯t get long to memorize it. His attention alone is enough for the System to take notice of the plant. Starting at the flow, things begin to crystalize. First it is the opening, a natural looking mostly circle. Within moments the edges of the opening start to straighten until all that is left is a perfect hexagon. And from this newly reformed hexagon a surge of interference creeps along the natural lines. As it passes through the looser and more flowing lines, the interference fritzes them out and once passed like some kind of industrial spinning machine, those threads are spun tight. At every junction that looks more like a root ball, the lines fly apart, re-twist, and then spin together to form the crystalline nodes Jason is more familiar with. Maybe if it had been a more powerful being, this process would have taken longer, but that¡¯s the point of what the System is doing. The moment anything becomes ¡°interesting¡± it is assimilated into the System¡¯s Energy cycle and control. What Jason had managed to see wasn¡¯t much, but he now had a way to find out more. While he didn¡¯t doubt that, the System would catch on quickly if he tried to examine each stalk of grass one by one. He could instead wander around to find examples of plants and animals not under the Systems thumb. Because what he had seen was enough to know that there was a better way. Not because the Systems method was wrong, but because it would only work for a god-like being. Which honestly made Jason wonder if the gods and goddess had their own sub-system for their followers. Thought the question there is if anyone true believer would really let Jason examine them closely enough to find out. Chapter 275 - I Love The Scamps, But Can You Kill A Few? Religious questions aside though, Jason had a new thing to do for the day. It wasn¡¯t even lunch yet, and his plans to stay in and rest were down the hole. Instead, it would be a thrilling day of walking around and looking for plants and animals to observe. Though that did bring up the question of if pets would have been infiltrated by the System. Animals controlled by a Tamer or Summoner would likely be, if only because part of the skill there probably comes from the Systems manipulations. But just the family pet should still be... Safe? Free? Jason isn¡¯t sure what would be the best way to describe it as the System isn¡¯t likely to do anything with the new threads, but it could. Jason stands up and stretches, ¡®Meh, I¡¯m not exactly in a position to stop the System from doing any of this. If anything, learning about the process could help me free beings in the future. Not that I¡¯ve necessarily seen anyone that needs to be freed. Hell, Andrew is off delving the secrets of the System and doing just fine. I guess maybe there might be some odd situation involving dungeon monsters or some such. But that can wait for the future. Right now I can only help myself.¡¯ With a shake of his head, Jason heads out. Though stops once he is on the street. The big question now is where to go? There are a lot of plants in the area. Problem is that all of them are well cared for, which in this case means spelled or maintained by highly Skilled workers. Even with Jason¡¯s low level farming skill the System has already infiltrated his own plants. It wouldn¡¯t be out of the question for a master to be in charge of the nobles district. Maybe not for day-to-day care, but they definitely have touch upon every single plant here. There isn¡¯t even a single stalk of grass out of place. Jason sighs, ¡°I guess I need to go to one of the other districts or maybe even out of the entire city. Who knows if there isn¡¯t some kind of city wide aura effect in place. Though I guess if I wanted to find normal animals as well, I would have had to leave, anyway. Of all the animals that might be free of the System lines, farm animals are the farthest from it.¡± Decision made Jason starts walking down the street towards the walls. When he reaches the gate to the trade district one of the guards motions at him, ¡°Wait a second sir! Are you heading out to shop or planning to go out of the city and fight some monsters?¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I was planning on doing a little hunting.¡± The guard nods, ¡°Okay, please take this pass.¡± And the guard hands Jason a thin stone disk. ¡°This is your pass to get back in the city without having to wait in the line.¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The guard sighs, ¡°Normally getting this would take a bunch of hassle, but someone up high found out who brought you in. It wasn¡¯t even requested, they just decided to hand one out to anyone in your group that is leaving. I¡¯ve gotten chewed out something fierce the last couple days because the rabbitkin in your group is leaving with Peter the Wanderer, and of course we can¡¯t exactly stop him. Doesn¡¯t change the fact that apparently I¡¯m supposed to give her one somehow.¡± The other guard nods, ¡°True enough. Anyway, have a good time! Happy hunting.¡± Jason waves at them as he continues on his way. Through the trade district and past the homes of the commoners until he comes to the large gate to leave the city. Jason looks around for a moment and then shakes his head. At this point he has no clue which ways is which so with a shrug he heads off towards a nearby field being worked by a lizardkin. When he gets close the lizardkin looks up, ¡°Whatcha you want?¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I¡¯m heading out to test a new thing and wanted something easy to test it on. Any pests nearby you need taken care of but aren¡¯t dangerous enough to bother with getting someone else to take care of?¡± The lizardkin scratches her head, ¡°Interesting request. Though useful enough for me, I guess. Didn¡¯t bother reporting it to the guild as no one there would bother with it but the scamps are getting out of hand. Love the little suckers, but they love my crops more than I love them.¡± Jason frowns, ¡°What¡¯s a scamp?¡± The lizardkin laughs, ¡°Sorry, I guess if you had to ask what was around you would be new. That¡¯s just the term me and the other lizardkin call them. They actually come from my ancestral home in a stinking swamp a good distance off. My tribe brought them along as pets and like us they are one of the few types of warm blooded reptilians around. That of course let them adapt to the area well enough.¡± With an embarrassed grin she admits, ¡°Well, more than well enough. Apparently part of what kept them under control in the swamp wasn¡¯t the predators. Rather, it was the soil. So yeah, they nest in firm ground. Not much of that in a swamp, not much but that here.¡± Jason nods, ¡°Okay, lizard pets that got out of control. Invasive species are a bit of a thing. So what do they look like? Oh, and where do you want me looking for them. I could obviously just wander around till I find some, but presumably you only want to cull a few.¡± The lizardkin shrugs, ¡°Give it a hundred or so more years and things will balances out. You can find the ones I want culled over in that rocky area over there. They really like nesting under the boulders. As for what they look like?¡± She turns toward a sturdy shed on the edge of her field and does an odd almost whistle. Being a kin her face is more human than not but her lips are still more lizard than not. This prevents her from doing the traditional whistle, but what she manages is quite haunting. It has a much deeper tone like the wind whipping through the eaves of an old wood building. Chapter 276 - Balsa Bones Out of the well kept shed comes scampering a lizard. Smaller than your average dog, but larger than your average cat. The scales across most of the body are quite fine, but grow in size and roughness up across the back. On those larger scales, the lizard¡¯s special color pattern is much easier to see. Overall, a muddy brown, but across the entire body random scales will be brightly colored. The lizardkin smiles as the lizard buts its head against her leg. She bends down and strokes it before turning back to Jason. ¡°This is a scamp. Specifically, a pet breed of scamps most like to call the flowering scamp. In the swamps there would be the occasional mass bloom of tiny flowers that exist on top of the mud flats, and wild scamps would gain this sort of pattern until the flowers went away. So of course when my kind took to keeping them as pets we bred them to keep those colorations year round.¡± ¡°Now, the wild scamps you will be culling might come from pets, but they reverted to being less colorful. Just take what little Ssro looks like and remove the fancy bits. Oh, and their browns will more closely match the dirt. Ssro here is one of the classic variations with scales the color of a well-kept mud bath from the swamps. If my grandpa wasn¡¯t friends with one of the long time breeders, I wouldn¡¯t have such a fine-looking companion!¡± ¡°Anyway, you can go play with the wild scamps over that away. And if you do see any with similar colorations to Ssro here, check if they will approach you. Pets are lost every once in a while. Oh, and if they don¡¯t approach you, still try to catch them. Worth more alive than dead. From what I¡¯ve seen, there should be five or so flowering scamps out there. Sure, they have the local dirt color, but if you need to ask for something like this, the pay won¡¯t be bad. In fact, if you look over there, that should be one of them right now, sunning itself. Can¡¯t really tell from this distance, but it looks like the green one that has been around. Definitely a wild one.¡± Jason nods, ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡± The lizardkin shrugs, ¡°Whatever. If you succeed, good. If you fail? Just means I need to go and get some of the local wannabe adventurers to swarm the place. Now I¡¯m going to get back to farming.¡± She waves him off so Jason returns her shrug and heads off towards the large field of boulders. A bit of an odd area. Looks like fertile farmland and it isn¡¯t like it would be hard to find someone to move the boulders for cheap. Sure, with skills and magic they need a lot less farming area, but letting such a large area go to waste, especially when it doesn¡¯t seem to have any valuable monsters to hunt, doesn¡¯t line up. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. As he gets closer, more details become obvious. Still no clue why it is so barren but there are lizards to cull. If only they would stick around. Then again, since they get culled semi-regularly, it would make sense that they know to run when someone approaches. Still, seeing all the visible lizards suddenly scamper to hide behind and under the giant boulders is super annoying. Jason sighs, it wasn¡¯t a real quest, so he didn¡¯t know how many to kill. But going by the number that were around the boulders just near him, he needed to kill a substantial number of them. Of course since it isn¡¯t a real quest he also doesn¡¯t feel pressured to do too much. Still, he did accept her request, so he wasn¡¯t going to phone it in. That does raise the question of how to catch the scamps in the first place. Calling in a swarm of new adventurers would be the most effective method of dealing with them, if only because there would be nowhere to run. Jason of course does not have this option. Another sigh, ¡°I guess I can try the simple approach and go from there.¡± Jason glances around to take in the position of the closer scamps still sunning themselves before settling on one of the braver specimens just a few boulders away. Settling his breath, he waits for their vigilance to go down a bit. Seconds tick by and then the scamp closes its eyes for a moment. When it opens its eyes again, Jason is gone from the position. Before the scamp can react, he appears from behind the closest boulder. Jason strikes out with open hands. While the idea of being able to knock someone out with a blow to the head is nonsense, that doesn¡¯t mean there aren¡¯t other options. Especially when you don¡¯t particularly mind if they live after you¡¯re done with them. Jason¡¯s nimble fingers dance over the scamp¡¯s legs, popping the limbs out of joint. He wasn¡¯t exactly delicate with it. With how health and healing works in NeoRealm, they probably would be fine if he left them alone, but in real life these injuries would have caused long-term issues. From there Jason streaks off towards the next. Though now that he has a subject, they don¡¯t need to stay alive. Restrictions lifted Jason¡¯s speed picks up and his hands flash out one after another. Each scamp receiving what from the outside would look like a gentle tap to the back of their necks. If only it wasn¡¯t for the sound of bones shattering, you could almost believe Jason had accomplished movie magic and knocked them out. This would never have worked against a real monster, if only because they tend to have reinforced bones. Not specifically to protect against this kind of thing, but purely so they can keep up with their increased strength. Having muscles of steel is worthless if the bones are like balsa wood. Chapter 277 - Testing the Systems Response Jason would have had to worry about his bones as well if it wasn¡¯t for his system granted skeletal system. Though he does make note that he should look into strengthening them, anyway. Especially since he plans to work on his strength during his coming journey. However, that can wait for later. All the nearby scamps besides the first he had attacked are now either dead or in hiding. Along the path Jason had taken eight lay dead. There were a few that escaped and of course a bunch further away, but overall the attack was successful. Jason heads back to the first scamp and picks it up. A quick scan of the body with his Energy reveals the lizard still had natural lines. With a nod, he sits down on top of the boulder and focuses within himself once again. While it still takes him a moment to enter the Energy flow each time, the act becomes easier. Still, analyzing this can wait. Jason turns his attention from himself to the surrounding area. Though he barely has to look. While the small houseplant took some time to find, a bigger and much more active specimen is taking in a good bit more Energy to sustain the natural lines. Jason pauses before entering the scamp and readies himself. The System isn¡¯t going to give him much time, so every moment counts. Once ready, he bursts into the lizard¡¯s body and takes in the sights. Here, unlike with the plant, much more of the setup is familiar. While there are structural differences because of things like the scamp having a tail more closely matches what Jason has seen in himself. As he races through the natural lines, Jason can feel the change begin just behind him. Once again the hole into the flow becomes stabilized by the System and the much denser if subtly wrong Energy rebinds all the lines. This time, though, Jason is ready for it. He watches from further in to absorb every detail of how the System takeover works. Especially at the nodes. From a ball of roots to a refined crystal, they fall one by one. More than that, the natural lines resist. Obviously not enough to make a difference, but Jason can see it. The System of course doesn¡¯t even notice as more and more Energy gets pumped through until the entire scamp has been taken over. At that point Jason backs out and finishes the lizard painlessly. Jason looks up at the sky and sighs as question after question pops up. Did the System always hold sway? Are there beings before him that have freed themselves? And many more. Most of them are likely beyond answering at this point. Some are just pointless. For now though Jason has a plan of action which is always better than waiting. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. He stretches and stands up to take stock of any nearby scamps. The lizards are plentiful enough so there is no end of creatures to continue his tests on. With a light hop, Jason gets down off of the boulder and charges right into the next gathering of scamps. This group suffers a handful more deaths than the last. Though it has more to do with scamps from where he was moving in, than any improvement on Jason¡¯s part. Still, he isn¡¯t going to complain and settles down to examine his next ¡°volunteer¡±. This time he plans to examine another factor. How much does it take to trigger the change? Until now, he had just rushed into the natural lines without any thought. As he approaches the scamp from within the Energy flow. Jason stops right outside of it. From there he isn¡¯t able to actually see in, though he can tell there is a place to enter. So of course, like the polite boy he is, Jason knocks. Or at least the closet equivalent you can come. Not entering, but still brushing up against the portal before backing off. Jason waits a minute, but not once does the System come around to assimilate the scamp. Not finding any reactions he places his awareness up against the opening. Still not entering but not retreating either, and yet still nothing happens. Next he pokes some of his Energy in. This time the Energy flow around him swirls oddly but soon enough it settles down. Finally, after not getting a takeover event even after metaphorically putting his foot in the door, Jason peaks his awareness in and then ducks back out. That single moment however proves to be enough. The surrounding Energy once again swirls up but this time from within the swirls, strange counterflows emerge and rush towards the scamp. Jason sits back and watches carefully as he sees for the first time what a takeover looks like from the outside. There is more involved than the single flow of System controlled Energy that enters and takes over. Three other flows surround and circle around the opening, holding it in place before the fourth flow pierce into the scamps body. After the change is complete, the Energy around Jason returns to normal as those strange flows of power assimilates back into the rest of Energy. Still, now that Jason has seen them act they stand out. Not by much though, just enough that he can now spot them. And it is very much a Them. Besides the four that changed the scamp, Jason can see countless other System flows around him as every major stream of Energy seems to have a couple kicking about. Only the smallest trickles of Energy are free of the Systems interference. Despite how limitless the System seems Jason smiles. If it was truly limitless, there would be no need for the natural flows. It could have instead supplemented the entire process. In fact, there wouldn¡¯t be any difference between the natural lines and those the System creates. How could there be if the System could control all Energy. The System has limits and for something like this it isn¡¯t going to be somewhere the developers had decided to cut corners. The control provided by the lines are just too important to skimp on. Chapter 278 - What Happens When Lines Are Broken Still, this view into the System¡¯s limits has little short-term value besides proving his path has a chance. Not a small thing, but not a certainty. It will take more testing to actually prove one way or another. Though if Jason was to be honest with himself, it wouldn¡¯t be certain right until he tries it for real. After all, who knows how the System will react? All he can do for now is continue testing things out. Which Jason does for the rest of the morning. In the end, he manages to kill somewhere between 200 and 250 scamps. He had been expecting to start running out of the things after 100, but they kept popping up. Still, it had provided him with more than enough samples. The first thing is that he doesn¡¯t have to actually enter the scamp for the System to start taking over. While just hanging out right outside of the lizards wouldn¡¯t cause the System to react right away, if he loiters there long enough they will be assimilated. Next is the fact that breaking the lines is not healthy in the least bit. In an attempt to stop the conversion, he had unraveled the lines at various points. Doing it right at the source kills the scamp, though it is insanely hard to do so. Jason doubted he could have even gotten a start of it if they had been actual monsters. On the other hand, if he broke the lines going to one limb or another, the limb would become disabled. Of course, this meant that attempting it with lines going to things like the heart will kill the lizards as well. Beyond that, it also did nothing against the Systems takeover. A final bit of info he took away from the line severing experiment was that putting them back together badly was almost worse than not putting them back together at all. When broken, the affected part will just stop as if you had cut a nerve. Putting it back together wrong would cause a lot of nasty side effects, like knees forcing themselves to bend the wrong way. Overall, an unpleasant experience. Also of note was that ¡°useless¡± specimens that got systemized seemed to turn into death seekers. Unusual scamps, if released, would return to their normal life. The dime a dozen scamps all turned on Jason and attempted to attack him. Jason¡¯s best guess on this is that the System doesn¡¯t want them and so is prompting the animals on how to remove themselves quickly. That or survive through adversity to become special. The System likely doesn¡¯t care which. Jason looks out over the boulder and sighs. The only thing he didn¡¯t manage to do was catch the fancy scamps. Though after observing them for a bit he doubts anyone who would bother with this could. They have either been in the boulder field for quite a while or aren¡¯t actually wild. In fact, he is half certain they are actually raised by the farmer as bait for the new adventurers. She can promise a good bit of money for one of them alive and so they all do the task despite it not being worth anything otherwise. He shakes his head and heads back towards the farmer. She looks up from her farm and asks him how he did then looked suitably impressed at the number before hinting at the fact he could leave. Not the most polite response Jason had seen from someone that wanted free labor, but that¡¯s life sometimes. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. With nothing else to do out here, Jason trudges back to the city. It might have taken him some time to finish playing around with the scamps, but at least the gates are still open. And of course with his badge getting back in is easy enough. In fact, the hardest part of returning to the Grey-tail¡¯s home was passing by all the food stalls and restaurants. He had missed lunch completely without even some tough bread to gnaw on. Once back to their home, though, he is thankful that he held off. Gregor had done another stew, and everyone had decided to wait a little for him to return. After taking care of Rosha and the whole badge thing, they settled down to eat. Though despite the scrumptious and filling stew in front of them, Gregor seems to more quickly dig into asking Jason what he had been up to. After all, he hadn¡¯t planned to leave the house originally. Jason shrugs, ¡°I figured out something that needed some testing. Ended up in a big field of boulders, catching scamps to figure it all out. Though I¡¯m sure that since the System is involved, I didn¡¯t figure out quite as much as I think I did.¡± Gregor nods, ¡°It is about time that those pests would need to be culled. Personally, I hate the things. I know it¡¯s something purely me, as intellectually I know the little lizards aren¡¯t any different from cats or dogs. Just another common pet people have. I can¡¯t stand them. Anyway, what did you discover?¡± Jason laughs, ¡°I think they¡¯re kind of neat. As for what I figured out? Well, you know the lines?¡± Gregor rolls his eyes, ¡°You mean the thing you¡¯ve already talked about?¡± Jason laughs though this time with a good bit of embarrassment. He had forgotten about it. ¡°Anyway, there are of course creatures without them, right? A normal house plant that hasn¡¯t been specifically raised with a skill or those scamps out there that are animals and not pets or monsters. That and basically every single blade of grass ever?¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°Not much reason for them to have lines. What¡¯s the System going to do with a blade of normal grass? Tell it to grow taller? They do that all on their own.¡± Jason smiles, ¡°Well the thing is, they do have lines. Just not System lines. Though once I take a look at it from the inside to confirm the System quickly takes over.¡± Gregor frowns, ¡°I guess that is good to know. Does it help you, though? You¡¯ve already got the System throughout your body. It isn¡¯t like you can remove the lines and start over.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I have a plan. Just knowing it is in fact possible to have them without the System was an important enough discovery for one day.¡± Gregor nods, ¡°So what do you plan to do tomorrow? While I don¡¯t plan to just kick you out once the rest of your team heads out. I don¡¯t exactly get the feeling that you plan to stay around much after that.¡± Jason scratches the back of his neck, ¡°Technically I could leave right now and be fine. What I need to know has been learned. Sure, being here gives me access to a lot of potential knowledge. On the other hand, the kind of thing I am looking for will probably only get harder to find, if it exists at all.¡± Chapter 279 - People Worship the System Apparently Gregor leans his head back and stares at the ceiling for a moment before sighing. ¡°You aren¡¯t lying about that. Even if someone else has done the research, I doubt we would have it heard. People around here, thank the gods, don¡¯t worship the System. But the number of people who would support it against any perceived slight is much higher than I would prefer for this kind of thing. Just the idea that it could be wrong about something or missing anything is nearly taboo.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°Easy enough to understand that. People have a hard time with the whole idea that correlation does not imply causation.¡± Gregor nods, ¡°As far as most of my fellow locals are concerned, since the System shows them their stats and abilities it must be the thing providing them. Not hard to connect either, as the System gives out stat points and such. Nevermind that you can train stats without the Systems help. And as you prove, more does not always equal better.¡± Jason scrunches his face at that. ¡°I¡¯m not exactly the best example, though. The System did give me a leg up through my cultivation technique. I sort of side-step the issue of stats because my abilities where I come from could in theory match or exceed what I can do here. Maybe not physically, but I can process it well enough and our bodies can handle a lot more here.¡± Gregor sighs, ¡°Well that¡¯s cheating.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°With the line stuff, I¡¯ve gotten a new take on it. First off, I¡¯m special. And not just traveller special.¡± He turns to Rosha and Courtney, ¡°Give me some time to figure it out irl and I might thing of something for you to try out. If I don¡¯t have some spec ops fall down on my head. Not illegal, mind you. Just probably touching on some secret stuff.¡± Jason turns back to Gregor, ¡°All that traveller nonsense out of the way, there is one important thing I take from that one little quirk. The System didn¡¯t give me that effect on my cultivation. I bet if given half a chance, the System would strike it from existence. It had no choice because I break the rules. My very existence breaks some basic parts of how the System controls NeoRealm.¡± ¡°You might have heard of it from other travellers, but our world doesn¡¯t have stats. As I¡¯ve now found that the System¡¯s control isn¡¯t in everything and there is instead a natural form of lines, I came up with another guess. Stats aren¡¯t real. Not as in some sort of thing were, they are an overlay representing reality. Rather, stats are not connected to reality. The System instead is forcing them upon reality.¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Without the System, all the extra points added to the stats would vanish. Like an illusion being seen through, they would cease to exist. Of course not everything would seem to disappear. But that wouldn¡¯t be added stats. It would be trained stats, and honestly? Going by how slowly I am advancing, I would bet not even all of the so-called trained stats would stick around either.¡± Jason goes silent to see if anyone has something to add. If he was hoping for someone to pick the conversation up, though, he was destined to be disappointed. The other four all sit there frozen as they go over what he had just revealed to them. Even Courtney is struck by the revelation, and she has a much deeper understanding of some of the oddities the world has to offer. Though someone has to eventually break the silence and that person ends up being Peter. After absorbing the crazy ideas, he eventually shrugs, ¡°Well. I didn¡¯t want to get involved with the System, anyway. Never have really. Still, I can¡¯t seem to avoid getting into trouble. Left, right, and center has me falling into System mess after System mess. All of that? I really would like to forget, and yet there it is. I bet now the System will be even more annoying and it¡¯s going to be all your fault.¡± ¡°Though the worst part? It all makes sense, just way too much sense. My husband there might deal with many travellers, but that is mostly through impersonal judgement type situations. Me? I¡¯ve dealt with a lot of you guys on a more one-on-one basis. With all my experience, a number of sensitive things have crossed my ears. Things that if I tried to repeat them would likely get me censored by the System.¡± ¡°The idea that the very basis of our lives is a falsehood isn¡¯t even the strangest thing I¡¯ve heard. Not by a long shot. And you know what? No matter how many monsters, beings, and other miscellaneous living objects are under the System¡¯s control, there are way more normal things which are not. For every monster there will be tens of normal critters to feed said monster. It isn¡¯t until you get deep into some local tyrant¡¯s domain that the normal flora and fauna starts to take a back seat. After all, you need so many animals to feed even the basic level of monster.¡± ¡°You three haven¡¯t really seen it much, but most of the world is safe. There are of course areas of extreme danger, but they are spread out. If only because monsters capable of causing such areas to develop have quite a wide range even if the danger zone is small. Even if the danger at the center of the forest you came through doesn¡¯t leave the old growth, if a similar level of monster came too close it would attack. ¡° ¡°My only question is, why are your stats different? Whether it is the beefiest adventurer or the willowiest child, a person¡¯s strength and agility can pin down what they can do. I can understand the fact that you aren¡¯t getting extra System provided points in the stats. But you are still hitting just as hard, if not harder than others of a similar or higher level despite such a clear lack of stat totals.¡± Chapter 280 - Secret Behind the Stats Jason doesn¡¯t have an answer for Peter¡¯s question. The fact that his physical stats seem to count for more really doesn¡¯t make any sense. Gregor on the other hand has an idea of what might be going on. Gregor shrugs, ¡°Stat totals aren¡¯t the end all, be all. A person might have 11 strength while his friend has 12 and yet they end up lifting about the same amount of weight. Only once you get to one having 110 and the other 120 does the gap begin to widen, and even then there can be an upset. The difference only seems so set in stone because people tend to compare warriors to wizards. Of course someone with 110 or 120 strength will be obviously stronger than the guy with 20 to 30 strength.¡± ¡°People who are going to advance in levels don¡¯t tend to stick around any specific stat total long enough for this to really show itself. Randomness being what it is people are more likely to believe they got beat at arm wrestling by the wizard early on by chance and now that they can win every time that proves it.¡± ¡°I admit that it hasn¡¯t been tested so I can¡¯t say anything with 100% certainty, but there are some things I feel comfortable saying. One of which is that a person¡¯s point of strength is not equal to another person¡¯s point of strength. Now that I¡¯ve said the thing I am most certain of, let me go over some guesswork.¡± ¡°The System is not fully in control of the system. A point of strength represents something other than a universal truth. Rather, it is a personal truth and the system in charge of stats displays it as such. As if there was a hidden modifier on your strengths effectiveness. So some people lack a modifier at all, a simple 1. For 10 points of strength their strength remains 10 after multiplying it by that modifier of 1.¡± ¡°Someone like Jason on the other hand is blessed and has a bigger modifier. I don¡¯t know what it is, but let¡¯s say 1.5 or so. His 10 points of strength would then be worth 15 points instead. Likely most people have a modifier very close to 1 though not quite. What the System does for everyone else is add on a couple more points of strength so if Jason was a normal person, that would display as 15 instead.¡± Jason nods, ¡°That would explain why I¡¯m so strong despite lacking Strength.¡± Courtney on the other hand shakes her head, ¡°Nope, doesn¡¯t make sense. If that was the case, what about creatures with lower natural strength? What about creatures with extreme strength? Some of them are sapient so we can compare their stats. You would think people would notice the difference.¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Gregor shakes his head, ¡°That would be where fake training bonuses would come in. The strong creatures get them more easily, and the weaker creatures gain them slower. My bet is that there is some sapient race with the slowest advancement that all else is based around. The reason I think this is Jason there is gaining stats much too slowly. A magic user who is as physically active as him would have near 100 points by now despite not putting a single point into strength.¡± Courtney frowns, ¡°It still doesn¡¯t make sense. The System could have just added a secondary stat to represent a stats effectiveness. Easy to understand and would allow it to normalize the stats better.¡± Peter cuts in at this point. ¡°You¡¯re missing an important factor or purposefully avoiding it. The System isn¡¯t natural. Anyone who manages to get as far as me and my husband, knows that. The way it reacts is too similar to the more advanced golems we can make. There have even been some Magi who simulated something similar to the System. While this is not proof, per se, it would make sense of a number of the System¡¯s reactions.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°Even with that accounted for, it doesn¡¯t explain why it didn¡¯t just use something like my suggestion.¡± Peter rolls his eyes, ¡°Whoever made the System probably decided how it would work. The discrepancies in stats and other such things are the result of it trying to compensate for the nonsense.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°While all of this is interesting we¡¯ve kind of gotten off track. Whatever the reason, my stats are apparently worth more than others because the System can¡¯t mess with them. In fact, what even was the point of this?¡± Gregor frowns, ¡°I honestly don¡¯t remember. I kind of got distracted by the topic. Though there is one take away for you. Levels don¡¯t matter.¡± Jason raises an eyebrow, ¡°And where did that come from?¡± Gregor laughs, ¡°I was being a bit facetious, but it is kinda true. The levels are worthless for you. For most people, levels are equal to strength because that is how you get stat points. You on the other hand? You¡¯ve given up on stat points so about the only thing your levels do is let your rabbit level.¡± ¡°Bottlenecks on the other hand are different. They represent a qualitative change instead of just another brick on the wall. For the first bit, it can be hard to tell. After all, you don¡¯t really get all that much directly from the first few bottlenecks. You only recently received your first bottleneck bonus, and those are always weird and niche.¡± To the side Courtney nods, ¡°While most of our fellow travellers see the bottlenecks to be more of a thing to stop you from leveling, the rich and important know differently. The challenges measure more than just basic game skill. They actually test things that can¡¯t be increased with stats such as reaction speed and adaptability. The bottleneck after this one is to complete a System quest. You do have a selection to choose from, but that tends to be more a matter of flavor instead of content.¡± Chapter 281 - Is It The Soul or The Connection? Courtney continues, ¡°The quest isn¡¯t random. Rather, they are generated to test you against a weak point. As an example, someone who has bad reaction time and makes up for the lack by spamming attacks will probably face a challenge where there are things they aren¡¯t allowed to kill mixed in with their targets. Though don¡¯t think you can display a certain weakness and get a quest for it, only to reveal the weakness is actually a strength. The System can figure that trick out easily enough, and from the records I have access to has never fallen for so simple.¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°The System just knows too much. Try to pretend you have bad reaction time? You¡¯ll still react to things even if you aren¡¯t acting on the fact you noticed. The act itself of not acting on knowledge will show up to the System. It would be like trying to pretend you are blind by wearing a blindfold. Your eyes are still functioning, so how could the System not realize it?¡± ¡°But that is just a part of the test and not what changes. Each bottleneck is like the foundation for the next series of levels. Some people try and cheese it by doing things like beating a weak boss. Well, travellers do that. Us locals don¡¯t get much of a choice. Anyway, there are a hundred and one ways to get through your bottlenecks and the System doesn¡¯t completely stop them.¡± ¡°The most common way this is done is with people who have taken the crafting path. For them, the third and fifth bottlenecks are a matter of getting the right skill level. If you¡¯ve already hit the bottleneck, chances are it will just take a moment of inspiration to breakthrough. Rich families with a child who went this route and stalled out, they just buy some lessons from a master of the skill. Or if that isn¡¯t available they buy a lot of examples of the craft for them to grind the levels out.¡± ¡°It works, but is a lower quality method of breaking through. That will probably be the last bottleneck they ever breakthrough. Same for the rich kid who buys gear well beyond reasonable. If you can¡¯t beat the bottleneck through your own personal effort, that is probably the end of the line for you.¡± Courtney takes over again, ¡°And that isn¡¯t even mentioning the sixth bottleneck. For the people actually stuck at a bottleneck, most of them are level 99. Whether that is us travellers or the locals. If you took the easy way during any of the previous bottlenecks, the very personalized quest you get will stop you dead in your tracks. It is a hard stop and every bottleneck after will only get harder. If the previous ones are like climbing a mountain, the last few are like trying to build a ladder to the heavens. If you chose a short mountain, then you have so much more to make up for and likely can¡¯t manage the next step. After all, you probably chose the shorter mountain for a reason.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Gregor nods, ¡°Though we still haven¡¯t mentioned what changes and there is a reason for that.¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°It has to do with a difference in opinion between locals and travellers.¡± Gregor laughs, ¡°Us locals believe that beating a bottleneck will strengthen our soul.¡± Courtney continues, ¡°And us travellers believe it is a strengthening of our connection to NeoRealm.¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°For all we know both could be true. You travellers are a strange breed, after all.¡± Courtney nods, ¡°Both sides have some proof of our views. Powerful locals have ways to measure a soul and note an increase after breaking through. While on our end there are things unlocked that improve our connection. Though it isn¡¯t anything, we can really talk about to locals. The System doesn¡¯t approve of that subject.¡± Jason frowns, ¡°A little unspecific. Does this do anything beyond allowing you to break through later bottlenecks? Not that I am looking down on that. But it sounds like it should do more.¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°The easiest way to say it is just that, breaking through strengthens your foundation. Of course, the meaning of foundation is important and represents a doubling down on what someone is already good at. I have no clue what that will mean for you. Most people get some bonus points into their main stat.¡± Jason rolls his eyes, ¡°Meh, I can figure it out on my own.¡± Peter nods, ¡°Not much you can do besides that. Though I do know of one other thing that an improved foundation does in theory. It increases the cap on your stats. Though that might be a System based thing, as you¡¯re the first person who could really test it. Even those tamers who star their pets can¡¯t exactly get the full detail of what is going on.¡± ¡°In fact, let me spice up your trip a bit. You¡¯ve already got the quest from Gregor, but let me add a bit of optional fun you can try for. During your trip, I want you to try and star your own stats! Give it a good try and figure out something no one else reasonably can. You¡¯re finally getting to the point that these things matter, so why not try?¡± {Quest Update: Journey to the Dungeon ¡°Invasion from the Deep Sky¡± Optional Goal: Cap at least one of your stats before conquering the dungeon Reward: System weapon may be selected from three basic examples} Jason shares the update to his quest with the group and Peter smiles, ¡°Decent reward for that! Mostly when there isn¡¯t really any added danger the System doesn¡¯t bother adding an additional reward.¡± Jason nods, ¡°While getting a choice doesn¡¯t make the reward more powerful, it does allow me to make a choice of what to get. If anything, being able to choose whatever will allow me to synergize the reward with how I plan to develop. The System has done a fine job choosing for me so far, but it would be nice to choose my own.¡± Chapter 282 - The Three Elements of His Foundation The group talks a bit more, but the meal is finished and soon enough everyone splits off to do their own thing. Jason doesn¡¯t have much more to do with the day besides think over what he has learned and so retires to his room. Though even with some time to himself nothing new bubbles up in his mind. With a sigh as he checks the time, Jason logs off. While the new discoveries he has made in NeoRealm are important, his real life body takes precedence at the moment. Jason wakes up in his pod and takes a deep breath before relaxing his entire body. Things are coming close to a breakthrough on both sides and it is quite stressful trying to juggle them. Especially with the time difference. With that in mind, Jason pulls himself out of the pod. While comfortable, he can¡¯t be wasting time. Out in the living room, Jason doesn¡¯t even bother stretching or anything. He just plops down in the center of the room and begins to meditate. On the edges of his dantian there are smudges of various powers he has kicked out, but nothing has gotten in yet. Things are almost ready for the first true bit of danger. First, though, Jason takes five minutes of time to top off the tank. While it was a good thing when he removed any of the powers he didn¡¯t want. It did empty some of his dantien and the first step is the safest when you¡¯re full. Not straining, though. He had seen his fair share of nervous young cultivators ruin their chances by overfilling their dantian. Then, as Jason feels the barest amount of strain on his dantian, he lets out a deep breath, releasing that last little bit of power. Just enough to remove the strain, but not the feeling of being full. With his difficulties in the last life, he had practiced this technique enough to have ingrained it into his mind. But now that everything was in place he can¡¯t delay any more. The first step, the foundation of his future. Jason focuses on his full dantian and considers it. During his time between lives, he had seen more than just his original cultivation method. Not too many, he hadn¡¯t been allowed to cheat that much, but enough to know he had options. In fact, with how the powers were in this world his original method would have been wrong. No, for this he needed to build his own legacy. After all, he didn¡¯t plan to keep it to himself. It would be impossible anyway. Even if humans here had figured out some tricks with life extension, they hadn¡¯t gotten anywhere near what was possible. Maybe true immortality is out of reach, but after a certain point most people don¡¯t bother making a distinction. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Jason takes a long view of the gathered powers, feeling for a theme. There is of course his focus on purity, but that doesn¡¯t have much to do directly with the powers. No, underneath it all three things stand out to him despite having many more powers than that. Rather, what powers he gathered have coalesced into three groups. He can feel it but it is just out of his reach to truly say. [Civilization](Order, Technology, Progress, Community, War, Peace, Protection) [Ascendance](Power, Potential, Purification, Rising Up, Magnitude, Beyond, Will) [Substance](Body, Solidity, Reality, Earthly, Vital, Physical, Grounded) While unspeakable, the core concepts imprint themselves into his mind. This is better than Jason had hoped for. In his past, this step involved much too long meditating on his old world¡¯s Daos. The path might exist but the roads are all different. Beyond that, he can feel that while he could go down one of three paths that isn¡¯t the end. Instead, he can choose to forge ahead. To follow through on all three at once. Of course, the choice was obvious. He didn¡¯t have some ancient texts that go over each of the roads before him. The only option is to advance on his own. To create his legacy. With a twist, the energy in his dantian begins to rotate. Slowly at first, but faster with time until the different concepts have separated out into three blobs. There is of course still a few specks of unwanted powers but there was no helping that. Three layers now float within his dantian. Each one represents a different concept. Civilization on the outside, acting as walls to protect. Substance within to give the walls a deeper connection to reality and his soul. Finally Ascendance, much smaller than the others, has gathered at the very center. Less than a third the size of the others and yet amazing, it contains a will to reach higher. Seeing this order, Jason lets out a sigh. If it had just been two elements, it would only be a matter of balancing the two. Not necessarily one to one, but simple enough. Three elements? Each one needs to balance singularly against the other two as well as all three at once. Anymore than three and things quickly get silly. In his past life there were some people that managed it but through using a preset elemental system like this world¡¯s four element system of fire, water, earth, and air or the five element system of earth, metal, wood, water, and fire. Those elemental systems would probably work here now that he thinks of it. A large part of what made the similar ones work in the other world was belief. While in this life, they don¡¯t quite have as much time for the beliefs to be set in stone. The fact people still keep them despite modern technology and them not actually doing anything is amazing in and of itself. It isn¡¯t simple like the myths say. The systems don¡¯t work because of some underlying truth. Fire can burn water despite how it always seems to be put in a weaker position and coldness isn¡¯t actually the opposite of it. Chapter 283 - Even The Dark Revelations The truth of the matter, at least as far as Jason can tell, every path can lead to the highest levels of power. The trick of it is to not limit yourself. Someone who focuses just on fire and heat will end up being limited as they are neglecting the other side of the temperature scale. On the other hand, a person who has focused entirely on chess and is able to see the world as a game can move others like a god on high. Jason¡¯s arrangement of powers has a truth hidden in them that he can feel. While [Civilization], [Ascendance], and [Substance] are each elements on their own, he can see them connecting. A stagnant civilization will fall so must ever be reaching upward while at the same time needs to be grounded in their past and present. The path to ascend is easiest with a community to support you and to go any distance needs a proper foundation in reality. One¡¯s substance can only shine forth when compared to others around you and will quickly fall apart if you don¡¯t have a goal. But within those truths are darker revelations to be had as well and Jason does shy away from them either. To uphold civilization, even in the face of people being raised up unfairly and the corruption. To drag yourself to the top by using your community and building a foundation based upon arrogance. Having a foundation so set in its way that you hold back others around you to keep your world level. Beyond that, Jason sees the face of some of the elements he has rejected. Those that mirror his current three. That of the wilds, falling, and the aethereal. These are not the corruptive elements that he took care of first. Rather, they are just views, not even necessarily opposite but generally in opposition. The wilds push back against civilization for space and the two represent the ever-present struggle of nature. Those who fall might be seen as evil and like darkness does tend to gather less than stellar characters. Still, digging deeper can gain just as much power as rising up and sometimes you need both. Plains aren¡¯t built of clouds, but rather the metals from beneath. Finally, aethereal would honestly be a better pair for ascendance if not for his connection to civilization. Seemingly as separate from the more material earth below as possible. In reality they both make up the earth as a whole and through the combination of the two, life is possible. Stretching before Jason is an expanding realm of possibilities. If he was willing to take in, only one of those concepts would radically change his future. In fact, taking in all three would bring much greater power. A world realized with the earth below and sky above. Civilization rises up out of the wilds and spreads before time passes and it falls once again to be reclaimed. A cycle that some would view as perfect. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Also a vicious trap. Looking at substance and the aethereal, you might think they would be all you need to form the world itself. But if you think of them as solids and gasses you realize what is missing. Where is the liquid? What world could actually live without water? And plasma, a sky with the sun or stars, a world without fire. Truly a dead place. Once you think about it deeper, the idea that you can build a world by only adding three more elements is worse than a joke. Hubris of the highest degree and he had seen it play out many times before. Both in story and when watching from between. But the realization itself is an important step. Noticing what you lack and then realizing even after filling in all the holes there would still be something missing. While Jason would like to believe he won¡¯t get caught by the classic tropes that litter the path behind hubris. But the only true way to make sure you stay away from the traps is to know they are there in the first place. Sure, luck can guide you through a minefield, but Jason does not want to tempt fate like that. His cultivation base will be the protection of the common so that the extraordinary can be found and raised up. Maybe in the future he will be able to hold the common within himself as a world onto itself, but for now what he has will do. The path to power is an endless affair. Trying to rush it when time isn¡¯t pressing would be foolish. Then Jason¡¯s alarm goes off. He had set it to alert him when there was half an hour left. His pondering had taken up more time than he could afford. Of course he also couldn¡¯t afford not to so he can only shake his head and continue. Luckily he isn¡¯t quite needed in the game at the moment because things have advanced too far to stop. Once again he focuses on his dantian and the three elements that are spinning there. With the pattern in mind, he starts to work. The outer layer, that of civilization, he compresses into a shell for the rest. Thinner and thinner until it becomes as if there is no divide between what is inside and the hostile outside. A bubble around the rest and yet more solid than a brick. With proper protection from civilization, Jason turns toward the next layer. Here he spreads it throughout the entire inside of the shell. Like hard soil, he tills it into a rich loam from which his future can grow. Both the good and the bad mixed to produce a fertile soil into which he plants a seed. The seed of ascendance. The last element is taken by Jason and compressed into a single small dot of potential. A seed that will grow into his future, planted in the center of a rich field protected by the walls of civilization. All around Jason the wild powers still. Then a small shock wave emanates out from him. Like a ripple in a pond, it spreads out, seemingly innocuous. It hits the edge of the area kept free of the corrupting powers that formed when he first pushed them out. Chapter 284 - Impurities Dont Work Like That At first the ripple is stopped and corruptive power gathers. Slowly the ripple begins to be devoured, weakened, transformed, and ultimately corrupted into those powers Jason first rejected. But just like Jason¡¯s new foundation, this ripple is not alone and from within the space all the elements provide support. Even those powers that had been pushed out later on. And from each of those powers, a spark rises up and joins the wall created by the ripple. A glow develops that should have been unseen if not for some very high-tech energy monitors surreptitiously placed around the home after the exclusion zone first formed. All along the edge this glow spreads as more sparks form and join in until finally the corruption can no longer hold the line. If before the area around Jason¡¯s house was free of the corrupting energies because it was trying to avoid his attention, now it was being pushed back and could no longer enter even if it wanted. The ripple continues outward for quite a distance, eventually covering the entire arcology. Along the way, its progress is almost unnoticed except for a few strange happenings. The shadows seem to grow darker and yet less sinister. Various seedlings that had been failing for no discernable reason perked up. The water purification plant saw a sub-percentile rise in efficiency and the fusion reactor experienced the slightest moment of lowered output almost not detected by the instruments before returning to a hair above normal. Though not all the results are good. Some healthy seedlings died. Older trees all started to lose patches of leaves early. The condition of a handful of elderly people worsened, and a number of very secret experiments suddenly failed. All of this the result of those corrupting powers being expelled. Things that had gotten a dose of them and resisted like the dying seedlings would suddenly be freed. Others that had been taken over by the powers would in turn be hurt as they get stripped away. And around the entire arcology in a great sphere there is a layer of those expelled powers. But it doesn¡¯t last long. Those powers quickly disperse themselves and fade into the background once again. For that short period of time, though, a number of sensors are going crazy and more data is collected than had been in the last few decades. To say that there were some excited scientists is underselling it. Of course, none of this is known to Jason. During those moments his entire attention is turned inward, even the thread of consciousness he usually keeps watching for threats. Everything is in place and stabilizing but Jason waits until he can feel the change. The first step isn¡¯t the hardest but for someone who hasn¡¯t ever walked before it is going to pretty darn difficult. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. But with time the energy in Jason¡¯s dantian settles down and solidifies and the shock-wave happens. Still, he is turned inward, missing the havoc his first step into cultivation causes. He can feel the power start to flow through his body without prompting. The energies nourish his muscles, supports his bones, his brain begins to shift as the pathways within it optimize, and so much more. Jason isn¡¯t stronger or tougher and he isn¡¯t smarter. But from now on, all those things are more easily within his reach as his cultivation base can finally support him. While the stage has many names and isn¡¯t always the first step or even done, he finds this step the most important. The stage has so many names but Jason prefers the simplest one, body building. Where one forges the physical form in all aspects. Preparing oneself to handle the later stages and the power that can bring. And while Jason would love to spend more time observing the changes happen. Partly to make sure nothing is going wrong and mostly because while nothing is changing too quickly it is the most magical of changes he will experience for a while. Time will not allow it. His alarm had gone off at some point to indicate he needed to get back into NeoRealm. Worse, it didn¡¯t just go off but had been ringing for a while. Jason cracks an eye to check the time only to find he is almost an hour overdue. Doesn¡¯t sound like much until you realize that with the time difference he is now five hours late. A quarter of the day is gone, but not wasted. If he stuck around any longer though, it would be going into waste territory so Jason stands up. There isn¡¯t anything to clean up, luckily. Unlike how some of the novels portray it, you don¡¯t excrete impurities out of your body like crazy. While the body will become more efficient at removing things it isn¡¯t to that extent. Plus, the body has a number of much more efficient ways to remove waste. With a quick stretch, Jason heads back to his pod and gets in. Through his waiting room and directly into NeoRealm. He might have missed breakfast, but that doesn¡¯t mean he has to miss the rest of the day. Not that he is going to do all that much. After his discoveries the day before, it is going to take some introspection to figure out how best to rid himself of the System¡¯s lines. After hitting up the kitchen for some vegetables, Jason settles back down on his bed. Because of the houseplant, he already has something to try things on so doesn¡¯t need to head out. Though speaking of the houseplant, it is looking a bit sad and reminds him of the scamps who turned aggressive on him. Perfect for him to examine and figure out what exactly is going on. At least with an animal, it is easy to turn aggressive. How is the System cursing the plant to just die? First Jason takes the plant and examines it manually. All the special examinations in the world won¡¯t help if the reason it is dying is because of some other reason. Of course, with his farming skill and some miscellaneous knowledge Jason easily crosses that out. Not that he expected otherwise, but checking simple things like that can save a lot of time in the long run. Chapter 285 - Supporting The Lines With the simple options cleared Jason settles in to check on the plants inner-space. Though that thought gives him pause. How is he doing that? Generally, such places aren¡¯t exactly open for others to peek on. The plant is easy enough to explain; it doesn¡¯t exactly have a will to keep him out. The scamps on the other hand are at least sentient and so should be protected from that kind of meddling. Going through the World¡¯s Energy flow is like a backdoor in. Though that might have something to do with the System itself. After all, it needs a way to get in to replace the lines. Maybe if the System wasn¡¯t around, he would not be able to get in like this. Not that Jason can test the theory. And though it isn¡¯t something he can test, Jason assumes that it would take a lot more work to infiltrate a sapient or even just a more powerful sentient. Jason shakes his head. New information on the System and how the world works is good but it can wait till later. The plant in his hands is actively dying. Sure, he could use his farming skill on it but that would defeat the purpose of this whole exercise. Once interest is shown in the plant, the System would likely stop whatever it is doing. In fact, if Jason waits too long the System might stop anyway because he has spent so much time holding it. He focuses back on the task and submerses himself in the Energy flow. Right next to him is a tiny triangle portal into the houseplant. Coming from between currents a small trickle of the System¡¯s Energy enters it. While Jason would like to follow the trickle back, the System might pick up on what is up so he dives right into the plant. Once inside, one thing becomes obvious. While the System hasn¡¯t retracted the lines, it isn¡¯t supporting them. Though thinking about it, Jason guesses it probably can¡¯t just retract its control. After all, while they are the System¡¯s lines, it isn¡¯t creating them. Rather, the System uses the pre-existing lines and re-spinning them. What the System can do however is limit its support. Instead of a free flow of Energy, the plant is basically living on starvation rations. So despite what Jason had observed with the Scamps the System isn¡¯t changing them so they die. Rather, the System just isn¡¯t providing help. With the plant here, it doesn¡¯t really have any options so wilts. The scamps on the hand are capable of going out and finding food. Because the Energy is likely part of what supports all the creatures. While things are relatively alright from the common perception on how much food an animal needs, that isn¡¯t really true once you look at it deeper. Monsters aren¡¯t just bigger animals. They have enhanced stats and various powers they can use. All that power has to come from somewhere and their connection to the world¡¯s Energy flow is likely that source. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Suddenly lacking the free flow of Energy the scamps likely lost their minds to a sudden hunger. Because while the scamps are relatively normal animals, they still have been bred over the years by highly skilled individuals. Even if the animal itself doesn¡¯t have much use for the three powers, their bodies are probably at least partly supported by one of the powers. Though there were a few scamps that did not seem to have been affected in that way by the change. But Jason has a simple answer for that. Those few unaffected scamps had something special about them. Maybe they had stepped onto the path of becoming a monster or had some hidden bloodline kicking about. Whatever it was, was enough for the System to not pull back its support. And all things considered, those crazy scamps would probably return to normal if they had managed to not die. Still, this leaves Jason with a very important question. He hadn¡¯t really paid attention to it, but the System might have him with the same sort of control. After all, his current lines are provided by the System as well. They might even be under a tighter control since the body likely was created with the lines already under System control. Jason shrugs, there isn¡¯t much he can do about that for now. Though it does point him towards creating an entirely new series of lines before trying to remove the old one. Would suck to start converting it only for the lines to pull out given that his tests have shown that is a sure way to deadsville. Then Jason focuses back on the plant and it is as he feared. Even in just the time he had spent wool gathering the System had started to throw some more Energy at the plant. This in and of itself isn¡¯t a bad thing. Rather, it makes testing any guess extremely hard. After all, how would he be able to tell if what he did is working or if the System put some more Energy in? Though it does mean that Jason doesn¡¯t have to try anything tricky with the plants he tests stuff on. It would be quite the pain if every time he needed to do a new test it required an untouched plant. As things stand, he can use one of the plants in his planter. With that in mind, Jason is tempted to start playing with his plants, but in the end decides to put that off for a little. His current crops are nearly ready to harvest. While the age of the plant doesn¡¯t matter except, maybe if he wanted to haul a tree around. He does want to watch the seeds germinate. Until now, everything that has been checked has been mature. Who knows how the first lines show up. Jason won¡¯t be able to prevent the System from taking over right away of course. Anything in his portable planter is obviously of great interest to him and thus the System. Still, the lines have to form somehow. With the player avatars Jason is willing to believe they appear ready to use, he doubts that would be the case for a freshly germinated plant. Chapter 286 - Its Jennys Son Who Did It While Jason is playing with the houseplant, things are rapidly happening outside of the game. His mother is once again brought into the mess as the event did originate from where her apartment is. Though even with how quickly they add her in, the massive gathering of experts has already been going on for hours using a special emergency VR room where they crank up the time ratio to just below what everyone can manage safely. There are even a few of the less important people who get kicked out because they can¡¯t handle as much. One corner of the meeting hall has a gaggle of scientists. An arcology already has an unbelievable amount of sensors and since the event that number has tripled. With the current time ratio, it allows these eager knowledge seekers to go over every bit of data that is coming in with a fine-toothed comb. Displays float freely in the area and with each new selection of sensors that comes online another one comes into existence, soon to be grabbed by someone to fit into the chaotic order they have settled on. Around a large table that is projecting a real time display of the arcology, stands a mix of people. From whatever scientist they can pry away from the data stream, to military personnel, company representatives, and of course a few politicians. And of course the question that is on all their minds, what happened? Jason¡¯s mom stands to the side, observing this whole mess and shaking her head. Still, she can¡¯t stay aloof from it too long before one of the more senior members from her company turns to her, ¡°So, Jenny, do you have any insight into why this is happening around your house?¡± She scoffs, ¡°How am I supposed to know? It isn¡¯t like I¡¯m one of those researchers. Yes, something did happen recently that caused the problematic energies to avoid an area centered on my house. And yes, that small area has not somehow become large enough to cover the entire arcology. But with what we deal with, if I had some answer I would have shared it already. Hell, with a method capable of doing this it wouldn¡¯t be out of the question to have been promoted so far up we would be equals.¡± The senior executive sighs, ¡°Jenny, you and I both know you wouldn¡¯t have accepted that. You like playing around at your current level too much to allow yourself a promotion. Besides, the only person who was in your house for the original event was your son. If it was something to do with him you¡¯d deny it till the day you died until he talked about it himself.¡± Jenny shrugs, ¡°What can I say, mother bear instincts or what have you. Anyway, there is no proof he is the source of this disruption.¡± One of the scientists who got pulled away laughs, ¡°And you expect us to believe that? Sure, with the original event, he wasn¡¯t the only one in the area. Since then, though, we¡¯ve cleared out all the nearby apartments. Your son is literally the only person who was within the area. This isn¡¯t rocket science. I should know, that is my field after all.¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Jenny laughs, ¡°So you¡¯re saying someone who just became an adult can solve a problem that has been plaguing us since before NeoRealm during the time span he sets aside while he is logged out? You¡¯ve seen the numbers despite my protests for his privacy. Sure, he has been out a bit more over the last few NR days but that is because he¡¯s in a city at the moment. In fact, have you asked the System if it has any clues?¡± One of the military personal sighs, ¡°If only it was that simple. You and I both know that if we could collect data from NeoRealm, there would be a lot more real world nonsense. All we know is he has improved his real body some. My job would be so much easier if I could just query the damn System to find out who among the citizens in my sector has the best real world abilities. Ever since they stopped letting us recruit within the schools, it has gotten so much harder.¡± Jenny¡¯s superior rolls his eyes, ¡°Yeah, amazing how when you aren¡¯t allowed to manipulate the impressionable minds of children it takes more effort to recruit.¡± The military personnel holds up both hands, ¡°Hey now, I don¡¯t disagree. The fact that it wasn¡¯t even a thousand years ago that schools were such a cesspool of insidious influences disgusts me as well. I don¡¯t miss the days when you could set up shop in the school for recruitment itself. Rather, I miss how much information was gathered from that. While a lot of conflicts happen in VR now, it is still important to have physically fit people in case something goes down irl.¡± Everyone else rolls their eyes while Jenny sighs, ¡°That is exactly part of the problem. Now I will admit it wasn¡¯t just the military, especially at the end there. Everyone was in the school trying to poach talent before they could really find out what they wanted to do with their lives. But when you aren¡¯t paying teachers enough to care about what others are misinforming kids about things can really snowball. If it wasn¡¯t for how tragic the situation was, I would almost thank that stupid cult for bringing the problem into harsh relief so people would finally do something about it. The fact it took tens of thousands of young adults being brainwashed and causing a worldwide incident is a black mark for our race. It took an incident like that to finally get some real worldwide protections for children and their mental health is crazy.¡± One of the oldest men at the table shakes his head, ¡°It only looks so cut and dry now but you have to remember. At this point that event is closer to the foundation of our country than we are to it. My great grandfather talked to me about it a bit when I was really young and let me tell you, things were seen much differently back then. Everything was all or nothing. If a situation had two main sides, then politics wouldn¡¯t allow you to be in the middle. You were either one or the other. To kick recruiters out of school was to be against your country, full stop. A really strange time in our history. We still aren¡¯t perfect but at least we have depolarized many of the issues now.¡± Chapter 287 - Before The System? Beyond The System? Someone claps their hands, ¡°But that is besides the point. We are here because a bunch of foreign energies have suddenly decided to vacate an entire arcology. Energies that we have been hassled by ever since they got let in. Now, they aren¡¯t some primordial evil, at least not as far as we can tell. It is just that those energies come from somewhere completely different from our universe.¡± Another scientist sighs, ¡°We have enough energies from completely different dimensions hanging around. If that was all they were we wouldn¡¯t care beyond the basic research. The problem is how they have a tendency to capture and convert other energies. If it wasn¡¯t for the discovery of counter energies, I¡¯m afraid how much of the world would be dead right now. In small amounts the stuff isn¡¯t too harmful. But from our studies after a tipping point that is different for every living creature, the stuff takes over and whatever it is dying. This isn¡¯t even one of the scary horror tropes where people turn into monsters, you are straight up dead. And here we are, sitting in the largest area free of them when until now we have struggled to keep a single cubed meter free of the stuff.¡± Jason¡¯s mom, Jenny laughs, ¡°I guess my property value has gone up then.¡± Her superior glares at her, ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that we suspect your son has something to do with the incident you wouldn¡¯t have the apartment anymore. And it isn¡¯t like you can sell it either at this point. The arcology has a freeze on all the originally affected properties and you better believe yours¡¯ is included in that as it is at the center of this mess. Now we really need to figure out what to do about this.¡± Someone from another company shakes their head, ¡°If this was just the monitored energies leaving the area it would be easier, but I just got a report back that throws another damn spanner in the works. The arcology isn¡¯t just free of the corruptive energies. The sphere around it literally prevents the entry of them. I ordered a few test animals to be brought in and it was physically hard to move them into the area and once in they were free of the energies. There is a physical reaction! That¡¯s big, way too big.¡± As soon as the company man announces this, a frenzy spreads through the room as people ask for confirmation. Even the scientists glued to the data feeds are drawn away and more tests are lined up. Some of the more grey companies and research institutes even call for their human volunteer test subjects to be brought in despite previously having denied their existence. Jason of course has no clue about any of this and instead spends his time testing his new understanding of the System and its control over NeoRealm. As dinner time rolls around, he leaves his room and joins the rest. Not because he was hungry, but because of a question. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Jason turns to Gregor and asks, ¡°Has the System always been around? I know that the story is it created everything. I even have some guess about Energy and how it remains a major force in the world. But I keep coming back to the fact that there is a natural set of lines separate from the System.¡± Gregor leans back and sighs, ¡°An interesting question. On one hand? The answer is yes. The System has always been and always will be. But there is more to it than just that. For instance, there are rumors that the System doesn¡¯t exist outside of our planet and part of breaking the ninth bottleneck is to free yourself from the System. Though I think Peter is the better person to answer these questions. While I am the more scholarly sort, my husband¡¯s wanderlust means he has seen things I can¡¯t even begin to imagine.¡± Peter nods, ¡°Our planet is called NeoRealm. For the longest time there was of course much debate on the origin of the name until you travellers showed up. Before that we didn¡¯t have the word part neo. When you all showed up though we soon found that it was actually from one of your groups language and means new. Taken at the most basic level and with how things are capitalized in the System our world¡¯s name means this is a new realm, a new world.¡± ¡°A strange name for a place so old no one has an accurate idea of when it began. There are lost eras we can¡¯t even put a name to and I have personally explored ruins from those eras. Every single one of them has evidence of the System existing. In fact, in some of the oldest tombs I know of there are creation myths of how the System made everything.¡± ¡°With this in mind, it seems cut and dry that the System always has been and always will. In fact, most of my colleagues have fallen into believing that any rumors of anywhere not having the System as pure fantasy. Terrible show from them as there are things not of the System. Problem is they aren¡¯t from any specific era. Rather, they support the idea that those who break through the final bottleneck ascend to somewhere free of the System.¡± Courtney frowns, ¡°How would you be able to tell?¡± Peter smiles, ¡°I¡¯m sure you have an idea of how artifacts come into existence, right?¡± Courtney nods, ¡°Artifacts are the debris left over from when the System is forced to change the rules. Objects that someone made which using the rules, breaks the balance. Whether it is an item able to be wielded by anyone yet having the power to slay things over a hundred levels higher or something as simple as a ladle with an unlimited ability to turn water into soup. Once such a thing is created the System will swoop in and change the basic rules of reality so such an item can no longer be created and those items that remain are what we call artifacts.¡± Chapter 288 - A Deeper Look At NeoRealms Structure Peter nods, ¡°Mostly correct but not entirely. For instance, there can be artifacts that aren¡¯t items. An example of this is artifact spells, though most call them lineage spells. A spell which broke the rules and so now only direct descendants of the original creator can use it. Sometimes to the point that it becomes a bloodline ability.¡± ¡°Those, however, are just the homegrown artifacts, if you will. I¡¯ve found artifacts that couldn¡¯t have come from our world. Take the example of the ladle I mentioned. Once it was created the System changed it so that using the same method to create another would instead create a ladle capable of turning a limited amount of water a day into soup. I won¡¯t mention what artifacts I¡¯ve found, but it would be like finding a brand new ladle artifact which was created exactly like the original artifact. It should not be possible and yet I will occasionally find such things.¡± ¡°Even more telling is when I find a collection. After all, the second one of those ladles is made, you¡¯re done. It doesn¡¯t matter how many similar ladles you have that are almost complete, they won¡¯t be like the first. Even if you try to complete a batch of them all at once, it still doesn¡¯t work. One becomes the artifact, and the rest become what is the new norm. So when I find a crate filled with duplicate artifacts they couldn¡¯t have been made on NeoRealm. The System would not allow it. Especially when those duplicates were finished days apart.¡± ¡°Since that kind of thing is impossible under the System, they either came from before the System or outside of the System¡¯s control. You would think such discoveries would convince my fellow explorers but they always find some excuse. But I don¡¯t buy it. Now back to the question of if the System has always been here.¡± ¡°NeoRealm, new realm. Our planet, maybe even our entire universe is new. I don¡¯t know if the System created it but I have never found something from NeoRealm that was from before the System. Therefore while I am not 100 percent certain of it, my guess is that the System was there from the start.¡± ¡°However, the System isn¡¯t the end all be all. For instance, you can¡¯t tell us but I am mostly certain that you travellers come from a place outside of the System¡¯s control. My guess is that the System is even more limited than most would suspect. Going by the terminology we¡¯ve gained from you travellers, the System probably only controls our solar system and the local sub-dimensions.¡± Courtney frowns, ¡°Why would you say just the local solar system? Oh, and what do you mean by local sub-dimensions?¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Gregor motions to Peter before taking over, ¡°I can explain the local sub-dimension thing better than he can because it relates to my own area of study. Our universe is our dimension. However, we have other dimensions that we regularly deal with and travel to. Things like the elemental planes and the dreamlands. Simple enough.¡± ¡°Except there is a problem with that. We know our sun is a giant ball of flames and that at least some of the stars in the sky are the same but farther away. The sun has a major presence in the plane of fire. It is the center of everything there and all the most powerful pure fire elementals make it their home. Problem is, at the edge of the plane of fire there is not even a hint of those stars. You can¡¯t even see them like you can see them in our sky. The plane of fire just ends in dimensional flux.¡± ¡°Similar things are true for the other elemental planes. That means they aren¡¯t all encompassing like most people believe. In fact, part of my studies into storage devices; natural, crafted, and system made; has led me to something different from the mainstream belief. All these tricky sub-dimensions and hidden realms? They are all limited to this solar system. A true plane of fire should be an infinite realm that captures all of what fire has been, currently is, will be, and is imagined to be. A true plane of fire won¡¯t have such limited beings as those fire lords who sit at the level cap. If anything, the sun itself should have an elemental entity representing it!¡± Peter nods, ¡°Well, there is another good reason to believe it is limited to just our solar system. Besides that, though, I¡¯ve seen things out on the edge. Not the edges of NeoRealm but rather the edge of the solar system. Through powerful relics, crazed diviners, and peerless seers I¡¯ve spied on what I believe to be the edge of the System. The System, if finite in scope and greater beings, skim along in the darkness, kept away simply because of some unknown rules that govern beings beyond us. After all, if part of breaking the final bottleneck is to throw off the Systems yoke, what is to stop someone who has done that to just stick around or come back when they are more powerful?¡± Rosha whistles, ¡°Well, I wasn¡¯t expecting lovecraftian nightmares but here we are. NeoRealm is very much deeper than I ever thought, even with my background.¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°I¡¯m going to have so much more to look into now. All of that is a good point, and it makes my job so much harder! What am I even supposed to do with knowledge about things beyond the edge of the System?¡± Jason cuts her off with a laugh, ¡°There isn¡¯t anything you can do with that besides keep looking. We are so far away from even touching the edge of that kind of nonsense. Even those who strive to cap out their levels don¡¯t always make it. Though things are coming along well on my end so I might have something to nudge things in your favor if you want to live to see those edges. Last night I completed an important step and tonight I¡¯m going to go over my gains so we shall see.¡± Chapter 289 - They Dont Have To Be Evil Courtney rolls her eyes, ¡°You should have realized that Rosha isn¡¯t exactly ordinary. Her chances of living long enough to cap out is greater than yours.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°Give me a night and I¡¯ll give you forever.¡± Rosha laughs at this, ¡°A bit melodramatic there, don¡¯tcha think?¡± Jason shrugs again, ¡°It sounds cooler that way. Some of my other options were things like, I¡¯ve got what money can¡¯t buy and I know things beyond what mortals dream. So yeah, melodramatic. But that should never get in the way of a good line.¡± Rosha nods, ¡°It is a fun line if a bit cheesy. You would half expect the line you used to slip out of some romance novel.¡± Rosha starts to speak in a fake male accent, ¡°Oh Sandra! Sandra! Give me a night and I¡¯ll give you forever!¡± As a whole the group finds this funny and the conversation derails into spouting horrible pick up lines because if there is one constant in the universe, it¡¯s bad romance novels. And with that, dinner passes quickly. Back in his room Jason yawns before going to sleep. He hadn¡¯t done that in a bit and wanted to be fresh when he took a look at his foundation. Later that night, after a good four hours of sleep, Jason yawns and wakes up. While he feels well rested now it does mean he has less than an hour now to check out how things worked out so without even bothering to straighten out in bed, he logs off. Jason comes to in his pod and for the first time feels that it takes too long to open up. A gentle shove convinces the lid to swing open faster, and he stumbles out into the living room before sitting down on the floor. Because he is in such a rush, it takes him a few moments more than usual to settle into meditation. Once Jason does, though, he turns his attention to his dantian. And there it is, the seed that will sprout into all his future achievements in cultivation. A sphere of the three concepts he has based himself on in this life. While it is constructed of all the power he had cultivated before creating his foundation, that power was now solidified into the meta-construct and no longer available to use. In other words, he¡¯s now running on empty. There is a little bit of power kicking about, but that is all just passively gained and not much time has passed. Though before he starts to cultivate again, there is one other thing to check. Before Jason was able to sense the world around him to some extent but that was more passive than he would have liked. He wasn¡¯t actually sensing things directly. It isn¡¯t a bad method and like using one¡¯s eyes. The problem is you need light to see. Now though, he should be able to become more active in his sensing. Now he has a flashlight with him, no matter how small it is. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Like a bat squeaking for their echolocation, All it takes is to vibrate his foundation slightly and Jason creates a wave in the surrounding energies. This wave spreads outward, not responding to the actual physical structures but rather any concentrations of specific powers. The large sphere around the arcology would have likely surprised him but Jason isn¡¯t able to detect out even half that far yet. Still, with how far he can sense the lack of those corruptive energies is quite clear despite how imprecise the mystical echolocation is. However, unlike all those people gathered to figure out what happened, he isn¡¯t surprised by it having gone missing. Jason might not be familiar with those specific powers but he does know about similar things. As for why those energies retreated? Even if he didn¡¯t sense the shock wave he released when forming his cultivation he knows the mechanics behind it. Those powers aren¡¯t evil or corrupting, though he will continue to use the second one to define them. Rather, they represent alternate power structures. Like how there are multiple belief structures, cultivation can walk down many paths. Those powers Jason pushed away just happen to represent things that don¡¯t react well with normal life. They could represent any number of things like radiation, the concept of early death, or even just the universal constants from a place that doesn¡¯t support life as humans know it. With the completion of Jason¡¯s foundation, though, he asserted his dominance on the local area. If there were other cultivators, this wouldn¡¯t have had such a huge effect. But like a match being lit in a dark room, he is the only light source and so shines brightly. And part of that is chasing away the darkness. All those powers that represent things counter to his own existence are thus pushed away and as long as he lives, like the lit match, the room around him will be bright. Satisfied with what he can detect, Jason turns inward once again and begins to cultivate. There isn¡¯t much time but unlike before, things go much quicker. His empty foundation fills up well before he has to log back into NeoRealm. It is only once full that things slow down and the true work begins. At such a low level refilling, his dantian takes almost no time as he now has the structures to properly pull in the energies around him. But that isn¡¯t moving forward. That only starts once full and the powers no longer have somewhere to go. At this point, Jason takes a more active role and makes a choice. There are three key aspects to a person. Body, mind, and soul. To advance one¡¯s cultivation is to refine these elements. His previous experience with cultivation involved first tempering the body and for the situation that made sense. When you might bump into a fire breathing beast when just travelling around, a sturdy body is a must. That isn¡¯t a rule though and in fact you can cultivate any of them, just so long as you are improving one of them. Chapter 290 - A Strange Connection To The Past Of body, mind, and soul, a person can start with any of them or all of them. The only important point is if you can survive long enough to progress. And the order they are listed in isn¡¯t just because it sounds better when said. It also represents the speed you can advance each part. The body is the easiest. Even without the advanced medical knowledge Jason has access to, the concepts behind improving the body aren¡¯t hard to grasp. You put repetitive stress on certain parts of the body and it might get stronger after a while. Obviously this isn¡¯t true for everything, though it is much more the case once you introduce some kind of mystical energy to help heal any bad outcomes. The mind always lagged behind in his last life. People just didn¡¯t have as much knowledge available to learn. The only people who ended up practicing this aspect with any regularity were the tacticians and those interested in board games similar to chess and go. Of course, Jason doesn¡¯t have to worry too much about this side of it right now. Just the mathematics he has available to learn would outstrip anything from before. Finally the soul, both easiest and hardest to train. While all three can bottleneck your progress, the soul is the one that shackles people. You need a combination of taking in novel experiences and mediation. Not cultivation, mind you, but pure meditation. The act of sinking below the distractions of the body and mind is like watering the soul, while experiencing the novelties that the universe has to offer is like fertilizer. Oddly enough, his current life could almost be seen as the complete opposite of his last one. Most people ignore the body while the mind and soul grow. Just the required learning puts even the most recalcitrant of learners above even relatively powerful cultivators. And the soul? The fact that science allows anyone who desires it the ability to gaze into the mysteries of the cosmos is like a booster shot for the soul. About the only problem, of course, is finding time to meditate, though everyone has some experience with mindfulness because at some point it got added to the school curriculum. Now, though, he has to decide how to proceed. With his foundation in place, Jason needs to take stock of where he is and plan what comes next. Of course there isn¡¯t some nice scale to judge his progress against. It isn¡¯t like in NeoRealm where he can just look at a number that tells him how strong he is. Rather, he needs to stretch his body, mind, and soul to feel for the limits. And this process is one way in which his previous life had a better handle on things. The idea of standardized tests and what not had been dropped from schools for a while. Not that they would have helped, anyway. Those types of things don¡¯t test knowledge, but rather memory and the ability to guess. And anyway, they can only test specific pieces of knowledge and not whether you are knowledgeable. While the method from his previous life is vague, someone with a high attainment in cultivating the mind had passed down a simple test. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Not that the test itself was simple, rather maybe elegant would be a better term for it. The test involves a chant that guides a person into an introspective state of mind while also reaching out to the truths of the Dao. If one isn¡¯t too self-delusional, this will allow a person to feel how small they are compared to what can be known. The only problem with the test is that it can take a while the first time you use it. As luck would have it though, Jason has already experienced it in the past. Though he admits to himself that it might take a while because of his circumstances that doesn¡¯t stop him from trying it. He sinks into a meditative state of mind and chants in a language unknown to the world. Not that he doesn¡¯t want to use his current language. There just isn¡¯t the correct vocabulary for the chant to work. Though he doesn¡¯t have long to consider those things as he falls into the enormity of what is and can be known. At first everything feels like a new experience. As if everything he had known was now defunct. As if the very underpinnings of the universe have changed on him. But the deeper he sinks, the more things line up. Math is still math and from there his horizons expand. As if he was one of the blind men feeling the elephant only to gain sight! While he can¡¯t see the entirety of everything, his new view allows him to notice the paths leading to his previous life and the knowledge that bridges it. Besides that, he can feel the connections to other realms beyond his reach and yet connected through the energies he has cultivated. Because of his condition in his last life, Jason had learned many things to make up for it and had felt quite knowledgeable. In this life he has gone through a systematic learning experience, putting him a few magnitudes above where he was. Despite that though, with his expanded vision it feels as if he has gone in the opposite direction. Worse yet, those connections hint at other realms of knowledge or equal or greater size to what he has right now. Jason falls deeper and deeper into this rabbit hole before his alarm forces him to snap out of it. Shocked, he lays out on the floor. He hadn¡¯t been prepared for that, and it almost cost him. While the normal process of judging himself was quick enough, that last bit could have caught him in an unending spiral. Sure, hunger and thirst would have awoken him if the house didn¡¯t alert someone before that. Even so, that would take too much time. Though now that he knows, he can ignore those deeper levels for now. It will take more than his current resources but those areas will open up for him at a later time. He isn¡¯t going to tempt fate though and so pulls himself up and heads back to his capsule to return to NeoRealm. Chapter 291 - Courtney Looking Beyond The System Going back to the end of the meal right around when Jason logged off, Courtney was doing the same thing. Except of course she didn¡¯t have time to waste on the real world. Instead, she was back in her personal space, where she did all of her research. What she had just learned from their conversation broke a lot of assumptions of hers. Just the concept that NeoRealm natives could go beyond the System upended many things. Given her position and relationship with Rachel, she could dig out a number of secrets. The reality of all the other games that came before and after NeoRealm and how they connected to pre-existing dimensions was not new to her. The idea that there would be more to NeoRealm than the System controlled areas however is shocking. While it was a dimension of its own, the NeoRealm dimension should have been created specifically through the development of the NeoRealm game. Every crumb of information that Courtney had found points towards the System being the underpinning of the entire dimension. There should be nowhere free of it. Yet here she is, stumbling upon this information, pointing towards that not being the truth. And Peter, with his artifacts, helped prove it. The thing is, Courtney knows she isn¡¯t the only one who has this kind of information. While few in number, there are people who broke through the ninth bottleneck. Those people will know for certain one way or another as they get shoved out of the star system that the planet NeoRealm resides in. Besides that though, Peter and Gregor can¡¯t be the only npcs who discovered stuff like that. Others, both players and npcs will have found hints towards there being more beyond the System. And Courtney knows exactly why she has found no clues about this yet. Just like there is a restriction on the information you can look up online before you hit level ten. There must be other similar restrictions for more sensitive information. This of course makes exploring this lead so much harder. Her personal network and the one she has access to through Rachel¡¯s family will be useless to her. For something like this, Courtney won¡¯t be able to even query others about it without it being blocked and her being punished. Before she could even chat with someone about the topic, she would have to know that the person already knows about it. A little hard to do when you can¡¯t even poke around at the edges. Frustrated, Courtney gestures all her current research windows away and creates a new screen. On it she writes out everything she has learned about what lies beyond NeoRealm. She even includes the recording of the entire conversation as well as a transcription to which she applies a heavy layer of highlighting. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. From there she pulls apart individual facts that have built up this crazy assumption. Things like duplicate artifacts and the limited elemental planes. These are all things that, while related, are not in fact restricted information. Each thread of information is teased apart by her to find out what she can confirm. With each new safe question, she sends out requests to her information gatherers. Though she makes sure to spread the questions out among various organizations and under many pseudonyms. While individually the questions might be fine, she doesn¡¯t want to tempt fate and assume that asking them all together would be fine. She takes most of the night to finish up her frenzy, leaving little time to sleep. Not that she isn¡¯t used to all nighters. While Courtney makes sure to be in top shape to serve Rachel, being able to stay up a night or two was drilled into her since young. So, like any other skill, it was trained until she could do it at the drop of a hat. Pulling back from the many screens that had piled up, she takes a glance around the room at all the other islands of information screens before sighing. Still more work to do before returning to NeoRealm. While not obvious at the moment, there might be connections between this new piece of information and any of the other things she is keeping track of. With that in mind, she focuses in again and sifts through the other things to try and connect them. A fruitless task, though. Even if there are connections, she isn¡¯t able to see them. Though it does reveal a strange occurrence with Jason. For some reason, the information she had been receiving about his location and house had stopped updating. Something should have happened where he lived that the government wants to keep under wraps. Since he didn¡¯t mention having to move or anything, it didn¡¯t directly affect him. A strange occurrence, to be sure, but not the first time Courtney had seen something like this. Sometimes, from what she can tell, there isn¡¯t even an actual reason. Rather, the government will set up information embargos just to misdirect people and make sure they don¡¯t only do it when something really important is happening. After all, sometimes a lack of updates is just as much of a clue as whatever the updates might have told someone. But none of that really matters at the moment. She fires off a quick message to her sources in the area for an update before returning to NeoRealm. There is less than an hour before she needs to be up and about, which provides just enough time for a quick nap. Courtney might not have ever mastered the ability to fall asleep at a moment¡¯s notice, but she had trained herself to wake up on the first ring of an alarm. When she wakes up a quick note from her contacts will inform her about the lack of information from the entire arcology. Something that Courtney finds highly annoying as she and Rachel currently live in said arcology, but once again, not a new thing to her. Still, this makes it harder for her to keep track of any potential trouble herself. The government does a decent job of holding down the fort when they do this kind of thing. Though it makes Courtney nervous when she can¡¯t keep her finger on the pulse. If it wouldn¡¯t take so long and alert others, she would consider getting Courtney to move to another arcology. Chapter 292 - Hug It Out Rosha just spends the night sleeping. While the idea of there being more to NeoRealm than the System is interesting, she knows enough to accept it and not question the implications. What interests her more is Jason and his promise. While she doesn¡¯t have all the information that Courtney has searched up on him, she knows enough. There should be no way for him to know something to help her reach the level cap. Whether that is through living longer or leveling faster. But he promised to tell them so it doesn¡¯t particularly bother her enough to stay up. Nevermind the fact that even if she learned it right now, it would take some time before Courtney okayed it. As the next morning dawns, Rosha wakes up with a yawn. After a pleasant night¡¯s sleep, she has made up her mind. Since whatever Jason has to say won¡¯t be of much use to her right away, she is going to have him tell Courtney. Why bother hearing about something that might not even work out? She isn¡¯t exactly yearning to hit level cap, but adding in an unneeded bit of hope to the mix is asking for trouble. Ready to face the day she heads out of her to have breakfast and tell the others her decision. An easy enough thing as they all show up for breakfast. Rosha turns toward Jason, ¡°You can tell Courtney about whatever it is you know later. Not that I don¡¯t trust you but she would never let me try anything until she checks it out first, anyway.¡± Courtney smiles at this, ¡°Very much true. Both her parents would be very cross with me if I let her try some unproven nonsense.¡± Jason raises an eyebrow, ¡°Seem¡¯s you already assume it is going to be nonsense. I¡¯ve actually managed to gain some tangible results. Not just outside either, I got some benefits in NeoRealm as well. Apparently it keeps track of your body and if you improve something it can translate over.¡± Courtney rolls her eyes, ¡°And about the only people this would ever affect is mages who start pumping iron after joining NeoRealm. You¡¯re more likely to get stat boosts in NeoRealm for doing stuff.¡± Jason just smiles and shares the System messages he had received when logging back in last night. {Increased power levels detected in real body Calculating growth... Rounding results to whole number} {Energized in Real Life +5 Energy} Courtney takes a moment to read them before smacking him on the head, ¡°What kind of crazy nonsense are you trying to pull? How could you even get a boost to your Energy from growth outside of NeoRealm! We don¡¯t have Energy. Unless you hooked yourself up to the wall outlet and somehow got around all the safety precautions, I don¡¯t see how you could be energized over there. Yes, I guess there are some mysterious things in the air but none of that does anything.¡± This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Jason rubs his head and laughs, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later! Rosha doesn¡¯t want to hear about it yet and to be honest? I want to let you stew on it a little because you look so frustrated. Anyway, I¡¯m going to go and finish up some experiments in my room real quick. See you in an hour.¡± Then he gulps down the last few bites of breakfast and skedaddles, leaving Rosha with a fuming Courtney. Rosha giggles a little before pulling her maid into her lap, ¡°Calm down. You¡¯re letting him get to you and it has been forever since that¡¯s happened.¡± Courtney tries to get up but Rosha has a good bit more strength than her. She can only sigh and complain, ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be possible! Yet that is a System message so he isn¡¯t lying.¡± Rosha nods, ¡°Like I said, its been forever since something like this has happened. Remember? I used to have to calm you down like this when we were both really young.¡± And she starts to rub Courtney¡¯s back, ¡°The fact someone knows something you don¡¯t, frustrates you. Recently all that means is you go and research it. You¡¯re just anxious because so many new things have been happening as of late. You haven¡¯t had even a week between major discoveries. No matter how good your team is, they still take time to learn things and pass it on to you.¡± At this point Courtney has calmed down so Rosha gives her a hug before letting her down. Courtney shakes her head, ¡°But this one really takes the cake though! What he¡¯s done is well past our normal ideas of impossible.¡± Rosha rolls her eyes, ¡°Apparently. After all, it can¡¯t be impossible if he¡¯s done it. Now don¡¯t get yourself worked up again. If you do, you¡¯ll have to work it out yourself as I¡¯ve found hugging you again will take up the entire morning.¡± Courtney hangs her head, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind that. At least time would fly by until that annoying nuisance gets around to telling me what is up!¡± Rosha laughs, ¡°Maybe later. For today though, Peter is going to take me out somewhere new to train. We always end up in the oddest of places. Though it helps that he has a skill to average out our travel speed. Otherwise it would take way too long to get to some of the places which would be sad. Only so many days left before it can be just you and me, traveling to our next adventure.¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°I guess I can handle it. Though it has been a while since I¡¯ve gotten this frustrated. I¡¯m going to blame it on Jason for dumping us into one impossible situation after another. Starter towns of course will have their fair share of high level natives, but he seems to bump into them one after another! If luck was a stat, his would be off the charts.¡± Rosha shakes her head, ¡°You¡¯re still not quite calmed down yet I see. He¡¯s been in places that will have higher level people hanging around. A starter town, the edge of a magical disaster, and now one of the nine main cities for an entire kingdom? And with him cultivating Energy the chances for him to not run into high level people is crazy low. Now let¡¯s get on with our day. We can¡¯t spend the entire hour before he tells you just talking. Things need to be done and stuff prepared!¡± With that, the two of them leave the den. This leaves Peter and Gregor alone as they both glance at one another. Gregor shakes his head, ¡°Well, I think they might have forgotten we were even here.¡± Peter laughs, ¡°Ya Think?¡± Chapter 293 - I Dont Expect You To Believe Me Jason idles in his room for an hour. He didn¡¯t actually have anything to finish up, but he did want some time to get what he was going to say in order. Since it is going to be Courtney, he will be telling that means he needs to take a different approach to it. With Rosha he could have probably just explained cultivation and how to start. Courtney however will want a lot more info before she even thinks of trying it. Plus, he doesn¡¯t really want it to spread out too much yet. Telling his party feels right to him but anymore is tempting fate. Without his experience to guide them who knows what might happen. Besides, Jason readily admits that he isn¡¯t some great talent at cultivation. All his experiences might have paved the way for him to be a lot better than last time but he still doesn¡¯t measure up to a true genius. If cultivation gets released to the world too quickly, someone is going to catch up and pass him in no time. Not that Jason particularly minds if someone eventually outpaces him. Rather, he would prefer it to happen much later on as after a certain level of power, one¡¯s will start to affect the world around you. In a world full of cultivators, everyone balances themselves out. With only a handful of people at the top though? Especially without a tradition behind them? That is just a recipe for chaos and Jason doesn¡¯t want to wake up to someone accidentally creating monsters in the real world. A fun trope to read about in a book but in no way does he want to live through one of those ¡°and the magic returns¡± novels. Especially since probably the first thing that would form is a System analog. Too many people have been influenced by NeoRealm at this point for it to not happen. Now of course Jason does enjoy NeoRealm. It is just that the System is highly restrictive and very much the work of mortals. Not that he would trust gods to do a better job either, but that is neither here nor there. For now all he can do is keep real cultivation a secret and make use of the power dense environment before everyone and their cousin starts slurping up the stuff. With those thoughts in mind it doesn¡¯t take long for the hour to pass and Jason invites Courtney into the library since as the room has the best sound proofing of the public areas. Courtney had calmed down but now that it is almost time her nerves are a bit frayed as she tells him to get on with it. Jason shrugs, ¡°You aren¡¯t going to believe me. Though I guess more properly, you already don¡¯t believe me. Let me say everything first and then you can complain. Anyway, you already know that in NeoRealm I¡¯ve developed a cultivation technique. Nothing too rare, as enough people enjoy those stories. The thing is, I didn¡¯t take that from anyone in NeoRealm or any of the books.¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°My secret is the fact that I¡¯m actually a cultivator in real life. Or at least now I am. Just finished the first step which is why my Energy grew. Wasn¡¯t expecting that bit mind you. I was as shocked as you were when I first saw the message. Not that I¡¯m going to complain mind you. Gift horses and what not. Anyway, I¡¯m willing to tell you how I managed it. My experiences with it in real life and answer your questions in general.¡± Courtney stands there for a moment, waiting for him to admit to joking or some such. Jason notices this and sighs, ¡°Nope, not joking. Literal cultivation irl and I¡¯m willing to share it with you and Rosha. Oh, though I do hope you will keep it on the down low for a little bit. I want a good head start before others find out.¡± Courtney squints at him, ¡°And why should I believe this nonsense? I¡¯ll be honest, I was expecting you to have fallen for some kind of scam. Every scammer out there wants to claim they know some secret method of extending your life without the expensive drugs and yet here you are promising a fantasy so out there even their usual targets wouldn¡¯t believe it.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°I don¡¯t expect you to believe me. I do however expect you to test things out. The real world is way too chock full of so many different types of power for it to not be known. Given the mystery around Rosha, you should know at least a little bit about it. I¡¯m just laying my cards out on the table letting you decide on your own.¡± ¡°If you end up denying what I tell you, well, no skin off my nose. If however you do confirm it? Even in the real world we have a hundred or so years ahead of us and in NeoRealm that bloats to five hundred. I¡¯ve read the stories, I¡¯ve seen the tales, and you better believe I¡¯ve paid attention to the drama.¡± ¡°Bottom line? The only thing that survives that long seems to be companies and countries. Friendships fray, love grows distant, and even families can break apart. Five Hundred Years! Humans aren¡¯t exactly designed to live that long and all those people at the top are way too lonely. What I want is a couple friends that can survive through it all and this is the best way I know how.¡± ¡°If age scrubs away connections, then I¡¯m going to counter aging. Cultivation is not only for power but to reach towards immortality. No one ever reaches there but living longer irl than our current expected time in NeoRealm seems like a good start.¡± Courtney frowns, ¡°And you expect me to believe you have somehow extended your lifespan five times over in less than a month?¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°Hah, as if it is that easy. No, rather I believe in the potential of it. Maybe the first step only steals back a few days from the reaper, but that is why you keep moving forward. One step after another until they add up to something more than the sum.¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°You aren¡¯t wrong about the power in the air. Though you could have learned that from your mom, so don¡¯t think I believe you. However, for Rosha I¡¯m willing to try. Tell me what you know and I¡¯ll test it out.¡± Jason smiles and goes on to explain all the basics. While it might not be needed, he holds nothing back. After all, if he can¡¯t trust the two people he chose to spend so much time with, who can he trust? Chapter 294 - Another Way The System Keeps Energy Down In the end, it takes Jason a few hours to fully convey everything to Courtney. And honestly? If not for the record function this is the kind of thing that would have taken much longer. Even then he leaves it open for her to contact him with follow-up questions. Being new to the subject, she didn¡¯t really have many questions after the first few, from sheer disbelief. Afterwards Courtney wanders off to her room. Not to try it herself, but rather to set up yet another set of screens for research. That and the fact that even information on the edge of what Jason had revealed is locked down tight means it will take a while before she is willing to even try. Still, despite her training Courtney decides to keep things under wraps for the moment. As long as he doesn¡¯t try to pass the knowledge onto Rosha before she can finish her research, it isn¡¯t like anything can go too wrong. Jason, on the other hand is left with some free time. Okay, that¡¯s a lie. Free time is the last thing he has. He didn¡¯t really get a chance to check it out before but suddenly gaining 50% more Energy because of his real world cultivation was in no way expected. The question is, how did that Energy get added to his core? He can only shake his head and retreat to his room as well. Back in his room Jason doesn¡¯t waste any time, getting right to exploring the changes. Not that it is hard to notice the surface level changes. With more Energy, his core is now putting out many more threads, allowing for a better coverage of his inner self. But there should be more to it and Jason really wishes he had paid more attention the previous times he had gained more Energy from the System. Obviously the Energy comes from the flow his core connects to, but why is more being let through? As Jason dives into his core, he can¡¯t see any physical difference. Rather, it looks like more Energy suddenly decided to come on through. With a mental sigh, Jason dives into the flow before turning around to see what things look like from the other side. And once he does it becomes blindingly obvious. Apparently the System has more than one way to keep Energy users down. Jason isn¡¯t sure how, but the System appears to be limiting how much Energy he has. His connection to the Energy flow is more than able to take in many times what it currently is. Not just an additional five, the System could probably reward him an additional fifty and still have some wiggle room. It still wouldn¡¯t be enough to rebuild his lines but this shows him another way to improve. As long as his real world cultivation continues to advance, the System should release more of his avatar¡¯s capabilities. Then the only question would be what to do once he maxes out his connection. Though since his core is his connection, the answer likely starts there. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. At the moment, his core is exactly the same as when he formed it back at the start. He hadn¡¯t heard anyone talk about improving their core. But then again, people don¡¯t really talk about cores in the first place. Jason can only shrug at this and go seek out Gregor. If anyone was to know, it would be him. Though after a quick check of the house, Jason can only give up on the subject for now. Gregor seems to have left to do something for the day. Reasonable enough, though, Jason does feel a bit embarrassed for assuming he would always be around when needed. Even though Gregor has his personal workshop in the house doesn¡¯t mean there aren¡¯t things he needs to do out and about. A little lost on what to do Jason returns to his room. Knowing that there is a limiter on his Energy doesn¡¯t mean other things didn¡¯t change as well. Specifically, how is the extra Energy affecting his cultivation as a whole? He had seen that more of his inner space was being covered by it, but what does that do? The answer isn¡¯t obvious at first. After all, not much time has passed so there hasn¡¯t been too much change. But change there will be. As the Energy threads wash through his inner space more frequently, the walls toughen up. Metaphysically, his defenses are increasing. Not yet to the point of being an actual stat, but that may be in the cards once he gets even more Energy. A happy surprise for Jason as the usual way to gain natural defense to mystical attacks is to suffer from them a lot. While almost a necessity past a certain point, Jason had not been looking forward to having to borrow his mom¡¯s cursed ring set. While quite an effective method of training, one of the curses makes it feel like ants are constantly crawling on you and that is just one of the more mundane effects. Still, he needs more Energy before that becomes possible. While his real world cultivation will be going up quickly enough early on, he can¡¯t depend on that for the long run so all there is to it, is to actually get around to training his Energy. Something he had been meaning to do but seems to keep slipping through the cracks. At the moment, he has all the information he needs to make an attempt. Despite that, for some reason he can¡¯t quite work up the nerve to. Confused, he decides to do that one thing he hadn¡¯t got around to doing in a while. Plain old meditation. Not viewing his inner space, not cultivating, just simple meditation to let his mind ease up. If anything, it will be good for the soul. Though that does bring up the question of if he can train his soul in NeoRealm. Which he realizes is another attempt to avoid the subject. Strange. Chapter 295 - Cheating Herb Growers Realizing that things aren¡¯t quite kosher at the moment, Jason ejects himself from NeoRealm. Skipping all the transitions meant to make coming out of VR palatable and not a barf fest. Not that he plans to be sick from it as the effect is purely mental disorientation and even if his cultivation isn¡¯t that high, such a small disruption should be easy enough to handle. Should be, being the key phrase there. Jason managed it, but keeping the contents of his stomach in place was much harder than it should have been, at least if the process really was just a mental thing. The fact he had such a hard time points to that ¡°fact¡± not quite being as true as he was led to believe. Not that he can do much to test that at the moment as to do so would require ejecting himself again and at the same time paying attention to his mind and soul. Jason of course files doing such a test away until he can eject out of VR without needing his entire focus to prevent messy results. Still, now that he is out of his pod those ideas about mediating come easily to him. In fact, he doesn¡¯t even bother getting out of the pod and drops right into it. A couple minutes pass by before he stops but within that time his brain had a chance to sort things out. Specifically, Jason is now a lot more worried about the System messing around with his head. Furthermore, this couldn¡¯t have been the first time and the only thing to change outside of his avatar was setting his foundation. Jason can¡¯t help but groan at this. He already had proof that his cultivation could affect NeoRealm, what with the gain in Energy. If it can also prevent his mind being messed with, then it becomes even more important. Still, the time difference between being in VR and out of it is too great. Even setting his foundation, a relatively quick step took up more time in NeoRealm than most would spend in their early stages. He scrunches his eyes and sighs. There isn¡¯t much he can do about it yet. The biggest problem isn¡¯t even getting some way to have the same time dilation outside or VR, but rather a matter of there not being enough power around. His speed of cultivation is inherently limited by how much power he can absorb at one time. With higher levels of cultivation that amount increases as he can reach out further, but those later steps still take longer. If he figured out something to replace all the convenient alchemy products, things would go faster. But that would take either buying things sight unseen to test them, or finding some place that actually lets him see the products in person. Maybe at some point in the past you could just go and pick stuff off a shelf but those days are long gone. If you want to experience an item, you¡¯re going to be doing so in VR. Jason has nothing against this practice. They¡¯ve gotten their scanning technology to a point that the physical aspects of the item you plan to buy are nearly identical to the VR version. It doesn¡¯t help him now as he wants to sense for items that are saturated in power and for some reason he doubts their scanners will include that. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Sure, things like old plants will have developed a build up of power. But Jason needs it to be the kind of power he is cultivating. Plus, even with all the protections against scams and what not, people will still be people. Who knows if something someone calls a decade old ginseng is actually a decade old or if they just used some products to speed up the growth. Something that doesn¡¯t matter too much for others would defeat the entire purpose for him as it takes time, not growth, to stockpile power. Thankfully there are still traditions that focus on using older plants so such things aren¡¯t completely missing from the market. It really just comes down to price. Buying such things in the first place is already out of Jason¡¯s price range, let alone buying them on the regular. This of course leaves one last potential source, the military. Or rather, military surplus. Courtney had offhandedly revealed that all the strange powers were a known quantity. Even though she said there wasn¡¯t a known use for them, Jason finds it hard to believe that the military won¡¯t have tried stuffing some supplement or pill full of the stuff to see what happens. There would be bad results from the corruptive elements, but they should be able to sort such things out to some degree. Though this once again falls to him having to show up somewhere in person to judge the available items for power content. As luck would have it though, that is a much more doable thing. As ever, military surplus is at least in part catering to the preppers so of course they would have an in-person location for people to ¡°avoid¡± the government surveillance. Completely nonsense, as even if they don¡¯t record what is going on inside, they definitely know who is going in and out of the place. Plus it is surplus, they already know everything in there because they didn¡¯t need it anymore. With a sigh Jason adds a note to his scheduling app to look into military surplus stores in the arcology. This is going to put him on so many lists but he can¡¯t really help it at this point. Then with that nonsense out of the way, he activates his pod and logs back into NeoRealm. Right after this there is a bit of a disturbance right outside the arcology as the people responding to the expelling of the corrupting energies receive notice of Jason¡¯s note. After some back and forth between the researchers and the military, a decision is made. See, Jason wasn¡¯t entirely correct in his assumptions about the military surplus stores. They aren¡¯t actually third party entities but rather directly owned by the military. Both to get rid of surplus but also to release fake surplus to give a false image of what tech they might have. Not the most important thing in the current age, but the spooks need to justify their budget somehow. Of course what Jason will be finding if he ever does head over to the surplus store won¡¯t be that. The decision they made was to put a few special toys there at a decent price to see what his reaction will be. Off to the side, Jason¡¯s mom Jenny just laughs and laughs. Her main thought on the subject is hopefully Jason does go and ends up picking out all the cool stuff for cheap. Some of the things they talk about putting in aren¡¯t even available to her at any price and if it wasn¡¯t for how closely they are observing him, she would be shooting him a message right now to give him a heads up. Chapter 296 - Ruffles Her Hair Back in NeoRealm, Jason once again starts to question if he can train his soul or not instead of just trying. Now though that he has cleared his head irl and has a tighter grip on himself this doesn¡¯t deter him. If the soul can be trained in NeoRealm that would be a major breakthrough and another oddity. He had already tried some basic things in his VR room, as well as some of the other VR games that he had access to before becoming an adult. None of them worked, but the excessive resistance he is experiencing right now points to a more positive outcome this time. Jason however recognizes these tangents of thought for what they are, more delicate attempts to delay him. With a shake of his head, Jason settles in and begins to meditate. He doesn¡¯t have anything else planned for the day, so decides to go with the flow and see how long it can last. The answer to that turns out to be quite a while, ending up barreling right past lunch and nearly to dinner. He only stops because Courtney knocks on his door to tell him food will be ready in half an hour. Not that he couldn¡¯t have ignored that and continued, but he felt enough time had been spent on it to know if the test worked. All it will take is to check if his soul has grown faster than it should have and he would know. Though can you really check your soul while in a VR game? Sure, in the other games he could but NeoRealm was special. In the end he decides to put off checking until after dinner. He had things to ask Gregor, anyway. With a shake of his head, Jason gets ready for dinner. Out in the den, things smell amazing. Peter had taken over dinner and had somehow set up a firepit in the center of the room with a number of skewers grilling various meats and veggies. Every once in a while he would sprinkle on a spice or slather on a sauce. Though unlike how Jason is used to this kind of cooking, the food is kept a lot farther away from the fire itself, allowing for a much slower cook time without burning everything to charcoal. Though to finish up Peter does bring the skewers right down to the fire to add a nice char. It is only then that Jason notices he spent half an hour watching the process. He isn¡¯t alone in this, everyone else was there as well. Though now that the food is finished they suddenly realize how hungry they are from watching food cook and they start to dig in. Jason isn¡¯t sure what everything on their skewers are, but it all tastes amazing. Though some of that praise definitely goes towards the various spices that had been added. One of the sauces especially caught his attention as it didn¡¯t stay a sauce. Instead, the liquid had cooked off and left behind a crunchy shell on the meat that Peter had put it on. It had just the right balance of sweet and salty, which combined with the mild flavor of the meat to electrify his taste buds. Luckily for him, this was a bit too much for the others so Jason only had to fight with Peter over those tasty treats. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Now full, everyone sits around the fire in silence. Soon enough though Courtney turns towards Jason and sighs, ¡°I¡¯ve done some preliminary research.¡± Jason nods, ¡°And by that I assume you mean looking up stuff while in VR? Nothing against that, but you can¡¯t really test the basic bits out that way.¡± Courtney rolls her eyes, ¡°No, but I can check if you plagiarized your idea from somewhere. Though I must admit, it looks like a large portion of the process is completely new. Each element of course has been seen before, but that would be like saying a new song was copying another because it used music notes.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°It would be hard to have a completely unique thing related to the body. If anything, most basic actions have been tried at some point or another. What I¡¯ve told you is unique and I only assume this because it hasn¡¯t become a thing yet.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be looking into it more but I likely won¡¯t be able to pass it on until after we¡¯ve left.¡± Jason nods again, ¡°I expected that. This kind of thing has been the realm of scammers and cults for way too long for you not to be cautious.¡± Off to the side Rosha pouts, ¡°I understand, you¡¯re talking about the thing I¡¯m not supposed to learn about yet. Don¡¯t just talk about it right out in front of me! You¡¯re both teasing me something fierce right now!¡± Courtney smiles and laughs, before reaching over and ruffling Rosha¡¯s hair, ¡°Consider us even for earlier!¡± Rosha rolls her eyes, ¡°As if even or not matters. We¡¯ve been friends much too long for such things to matter. That and I¡¯ve lost count, anyway.¡± At this point Gregor coughs, ¡°Do me and my husband really have that weak of a presence to you guys? Hello, we¡¯re sitting right over here. Yes, your drama is amusing but if I wanted to watch a drama, I would go to the theater. At least there I would be assured an ending.¡± Jason laughs a couple times and then sighs, ¡°Sorry about that. Just some traveller nonsense. We¡¯re just used to locals not being able to notice when we talk about stuff like that. Sort of slips our mind sometimes that personal things originating from us being travellers doesn¡¯t get forgotten.¡± Gregor nods, ¡°I must admit I have noticed this. Too many times I¡¯ve come upon a couple travellers talking about personal foibles in the middle of a busy street. They only shut up about it when another traveller is nearby so it isn¡¯t hard for locals to listen in. Amusing? Yes. But if I have to be honest, I would much prefer not to be included in such nonsense as deeply as some of them seem willing to share.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°This is a good warning for use I guess. Anyway, I have something to ask you after dinner. It involves cores so while everyone here is knowledgeable, it is probably better to talk about it in more privacy.¡± Gregor nods again, ¡°No problem, we can make use of the library. I was going to be looking for something in there, anyway.¡± Chapter 297 - An Ancient Technique And Gregor wasn¡¯t lying about looking for something in the library. You would think that with such a small library he would know where everything was. Jason however learns upon them entering the library that there is more to it than expected. What had looked like normal shelves soon prove otherwise, as magical runes light up and they start to rise upward. The books on the top shift back and out of the way for the ones below. And it isn¡¯t even just a simple doubling of shelf space as the books keep rotating out well past the time that Jason expected the original books to come back into view. Clearly there is a lot more space hidden within the shelves than Jason could have ever guessed. Still, he isn¡¯t here to look for a book. While he was willing to wait for Gregor to find what he had come in here for, it now seemed like that might take more time than he was willing to waste. With a cough Jason asks, ¡°So, I¡¯ve been working on my Energy. Something I plan to do is going to require an absolutely massive amount of the stuff so I went in search of how to get more. Apparently I currently have the capability to channel more of the stuff and all that will take is some training which I already figured out from the book I borrowed.¡± ¡°The problem is that I can see the limit of how much Energy I can have in the short term and it is too low. I don¡¯t know how it is for Mana and Qi cores, but my Energy core determines the max amount I can channel. Is there a way to improve my core? It does seem to passively get cultivated with time but despite me having nothing but time at this point, I¡¯m in a bit of a rush.¡± Gregor nods as he watches the books cycle through his shelves, ¡°I can confirm that Mana and Qi cores are connected to the size of the power¡¯s pool. With that in mind, of course, there are numerous ways to expand and improve a core. The problem for you is that most of those are not meant for Energy cores.¡± ¡°In fact, even the passive improvement method for Mana and Qi cores differs from Energy cores. After all, Mana and Qi make use of a pool and so many of the methods involve getting the pool to stretch and accommodate that little bit more. There is, of course the danger of bursting a pool, but that is actually quite hard to do with just your own personal resources. Such dangers generally come from using things like medicines and such to give an unnatural boost.¡± ¡°Now despite the fact that I don¡¯t have an Energy core improvement technique, I have one method you should be able to use. This is an ancient method though and in this case, old doesn¡¯t mean mysterious and powerful. Rather, it is slow and steady. There are no hidden secrets. All the methods of improving the technique have been tapped. This might not be the very original method of improving a core, but it is definitely one of the oldest still in use.¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Jason nods, ¡°While I would like to improve quickly that doesn¡¯t mean I want to ruin my future prospects. If this is what you have for me I assume the more public libraries won¡¯t do me much good.¡± Gregor laughs, ¡°They¡¯d do you the same once you¡¯ve proven you have a core. The name of the technique is Basic Core Refinement and though you might find it under slightly different names, this is the technique everyone has. In fact, I¡¯m a little surprised you weren¡¯t given a copy when you originally formed your core. Though that might just mean your mentor was part of the natural development belief camp. That or they also didn¡¯t get a copy. No matter how common, some people will still slide through the cracks. Maybe send them a message to see which it is.¡± ¡°Anyway, the basic principle of this technique is right in the name, refinement. When you form a core it gathers up what was loose power and puts it in one place to make the power easier to use. At the same time, though, the core becomes the thing that determines the nature of your power. If someone finds a method of making their core ice aligned, then their power will naturally be aligned towards ice and cold.¡± ¡°Most Mana and Qi techniques focus on increasing the capacity of the core. This leads to a simple one-to-one growth. Increase the core size by one and you have one more Mana or Qi to use. Energy cores can¡¯t use this sort of cheat because it doesn¡¯t use a pool. No matter how much Energy your core can hold is meaningless if you aren¡¯t also gaining that much Energy at the same time. In fact, it will actually hurt your ability to make use of it.¡± ¡°Mana and Qi can be seen as a trough of water. They can use their power a bucket at a time and eventually it will empty. For them, a bigger trough just means the longer they can go without refilling it. Energy, however, is like a flow of water. It starts out as a small flow and over time the flow increases. From a creak to a river. What increasing your core would be like is adding a dam to the river that has to fill up before the water can continue. This messes up the flow and creates problems down the line.¡± ¡°Basic Core Refinement on the other hand focuses on the fact that changing the core, changes the power. So instead of creating a bigger pool it makes the power worth more. Because unlike water, the powers can be condensed, refined, and just made better in general. Going back to the river analogy, this is like increasing the flow. You don¡¯t technically have more water in the river at any point. Yet you still end up with more Energy in the end.¡± Then Gregor coughs, ¡°Though uh, this is basically all explained in the techniques book. I wanted to give you a little primer and I seem to have gotten a little caught up in it. Anyway, I pulled the book out when it was going by so here you are. And even though technique is quite common, I would like the book back before you leave. I¡¯ve made some notes in the margins from when I studied the technique and I don¡¯t want to have to redo it all.¡± Chapter 298 - It Is Boring To Watch Jason Jason thanks Gregor for the book and heads back to his room to give it a read before he logs off for the night. No matter how interesting it is, he will have enough time to read it tomorrow and in the future. The book itself isn¡¯t too big and since it is so common he can probably pick one up for cheap enough so should provide some light reading material on his journey. Once back in his room a quick read of the intro section for Energy users basically just rehashes what Gregor told him. Though it did go into a bit more detail of what refinement could mean. While Gregor had only given the example of faster, the book also goes into making the Energy denser and a few other interesting tidbits. Jason gets the feeling that Gregor¡¯s example was mostly restricted to things easy to explain with his river example. Because a number of the examples definitely had nothing to do with the physics of water. Of all the simple examples, the one that catches his eye involves a qualitative change to the Energy. As if switching out water for mercury or copper for gold. An interesting idea though it is one of the few that takes supplementary materials to use. After all, no matter how much you refine a piece of copper, it isn¡¯t going to turn into a piece of gold. Still, despite this requirement, Jason really wants to try it. If only to find out what the resulting Energy is like. Up till now Jason hadn¡¯t really bothered with the mental image of his Energy all that much. It was in threads, yes, but qualities like color and opacity didn¡¯t seem all that important. Going by what the book is telling him, those ignored qualities actually can cause a big change in the Energy. At the moment, if Jason had to describe his Energy, it would be a dull silver color. While what he currently needs is more, better might also help. With a sigh, Jason closes the book and logs out to his personal VR room. As much as he wouldn¡¯t mind falling into a book, there are things to do. Specifically things like looking up the nearest military surplus store and other such odds and ends. If a personal VR room could be spied upon, the people outside would be very excited to see him looking into it more. As it is though they can only watch the physical world and so Jason¡¯s secrets are safe for now. Though they don¡¯t have to wait long for him to leave his pod. And then they promptly end up bored as he seems to be meditating in the middle of the living room, like always. Now out of NeoRealm, the System is unable to blur his mind and the first thing Jason does is actually mediate. While unlike with the mind, he doesn¡¯t have some clever method to check his progress, He still can get a feel for his soul and is able to determine that yes, mediating in NeoRealm does improve his soul. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. This little fact is a double whammy for him. Not only does this allow him to take a more active role in improving his real body, but it also means that exploring the wilds of NeoRealm will help him just as much as exploring nature irl would. This lifts a weight off his shoulders as it means he only has to deal with training the body and his cultivation when out of his pod. The five times difference being way too much of a penalty otherwise. That little check up finished, Jason settles in to cultivate the rest of his time away. Now that he has a core, that means he can focus on gathering power and growing the seeds of understanding that had been planted within him. With the three core concepts of Civilization, Ascendance, and Substance he can finally start walking down the path towards enlightenment. This starts out simple enough, drawing in more power of the appropriate type. Though that alone is enough to cause shock for the researchers. They had of course had a number of sensors set up already, but they hadn¡¯t been detailed enough, or focused enough to detect the changes. Now though, they can scratch their heads in wonder as energies that normally take a massive amount of effort to affect are now calmly streaming into Jason¡¯s body. Jason does at this point feel like something is watching him. A bit nebulous and he assumes it must be the house¡¯s surveillance system, so puts it out of his mind. After all, once enough power is gathered, it is time to put it to use. By being pulled into his foundation, the powers all mix together to make the three concepts naturally. From there, though, Jason needs to pull out these new portions of power and run them through his body. Cycling the power of Substance through his muscles, bones, ligaments, and skin to refine both the physical and the concept. Moving the power of Civilization into his brain to reinforce one of the main advantages of the concept, that of knowledge passed down from the previous generation. And of course the small trickle of Ascendance based power is fed slowly to his soul. Not that he had originally intended to break up the pieces like that. At first, the three powers just cycled through his body. But soon enough it became clear where each power wanted to dwell. The fact that it matched up with the delimitation between body, mind, and soul likely just a matter of his own understanding of the subject. While his cultivation isn¡¯t high enough to warp reality yet, it does fudge things. In this case, since he had just been worrying about the three his dantian had responded to this worry and the power within aligned itself with the three. Jason in turn makes note of this and while allowing it to continue never stops trying to spread the three concepts through his entire being. Specialization can allow one to go farther down a path, but without some breadth most will find themselves reaching a dead end they have no hope to breakthrough. Chapter 299 - Conceptual Percentages Unknown to Jason and quite luckily for him as well, those researchers and such that are observing him are incapable of detecting the three conceptual powers. To them it looks like a lot of power is entering his body only to disappear. This is of course strange, but not on the level of ¡°bust down the door and take him in for questioning¡± strange. While not public, the idea of conservation of energy has been called into question because of the strange powers and so the stuff just vanishing isn¡¯t new to them. Though eventually all good things come to an end and Jason¡¯s alarm goes off. With a short stretch he heads back to his pod and logs into NeoRealm. Once there, he is greeted again with a system message saying another change to his body¡¯s power has been detected. This time though it doesn¡¯t detect enough of an increase to add anymore Energy to his character. Sad, but on the other hand this means that if he keeps working on it, the System will notice and increase his Energy when appropriate. Still, he doesn¡¯t know how efficient it will be so can only throw it to the back of his mind. For now, what is most important is to work on his Energy total in-game and he happens to have a book just for that. But before he can even get out of bed another System message pops up. {Real Body Energy deviation causing mirrored deviation to Avatar Analyzing new Energy make up... Tripartite Conceptual Energy detected Analyzing first part... Concept based upon the idea of order, technology, and community Tentative name: Tradition Analyzing second part... Concept based upon the idea of advancing, purity, and willpower Tentative name: Growth Analyzing third part... Concept based upon the idea of vitality, solidity, and physicality Tentative name: Earth Analyzing synergy... Tradition protects the Earth, allowing Growth Bonuses from Energy specialization: +10 Defense, +20 Stamina, +60 HP Readjusting Base Control to 34 as Energy specialization would require at least that much Rename Conceptual Energys? Y/N} {New Title: Energy Specialist You have managed to gain at least two different Energy specializations without System assistance and thus have greater ability to manipulate your own Energy} ¡°Huh¡±, Jason stares at the screen as he lies on the bed. NeoRealm just seems to get deeper and deeper. Still, the System prompt is flashing there and since it is giving him the option, ¡°System, rename Tradition as Civilization, Growth as Ascendance, and Earth as Substance.¡± {Renaming in progress... Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Additional understanding of Civilization, boosting from 0.05% to 0.06% Additional understanding of Ascendance, boosting from 0.07% to 0.1% Understanding of Ascendance reaching 0.1% detected Boosting Strength, Toughness, and Agility by 1 Additional understanding of Substance, boosting from 0.05% to 0.07%} Upon seeing the new message Jason shakes his head, ¡°How does it even know what percentage to give? That doesn¡¯t make any sense! Well, I guess if it isn¡¯t. Hmm, yeah, if the System is judging the understanding against the max you can have in NeoRealm that would make more sense. It would be prone to not detecting the stranger things one might figure out. Though that would explain why changing the name was able to give me a boost in understanding.¡± ¡°Probably not going to be able to boost that in game either. Or at least I¡¯m not going to work too hard on it. I did get a bonus for Ascendance reaching a tenth of a percent, but who knows how regular those rewards are. Plus a pure bonus to stats isn¡¯t exactly the most exciting thing. Though speaking of which, System, show me my stats please.¡± {Normal Stats Auxiliary Stats Tripartite Conceptual Energy ¡°Huh, it includes the concept percentages in the stats. That¡¯s weird when it doesn¡¯t even title the section as a stat. Though I guess Energy itself is a stat so it kind of makes sense. Anyway, just another thing I can¡¯t do anything about. Except I guess tell Courtney? This would be more proof that cultivation in real life does something.¡± Jason stops talking and stares at the ceiling for a moment, ¡°Guess I should get on with reading the book. Gregor did say he wrote notes in it so that might help me. Might not as well. It isn¡¯t like he uses Energy so except for the more generic bits. Though I feel like I am forgetting something?¡± ¡°Right, better check on the house plant. It has been a day and I wonder if the System has starved it of Energy again. While that is possible I suspect that my continued interest combined with my farming skill means the System might have just decided it was important enough to keep going.¡± Jason goes over and picks up the house plant to examine. It does look slightly wilted, but that might be from the day before. The only way to tell for sure is to check the Energy flow and see if the System has cut it off again. This doesn¡¯t take long, and the answer is sorta. The System hasn¡¯t cut the plant back to starving, but it hasn¡¯t exactly opened the floodgates either. Instead, it is feeding in barely enough Energy to cover the plants upkeep. However, now that Jason is poking around again the amount of Energy being fed to the plant increases once again. Though this points to another potential explanation for how the plants stay good as long as someone with a skill looks after them, but return to normal when left alone. The System just stops supporting their growth if someone hasn¡¯t used a skill on them recently. It doesn¡¯t try to kill them but you wouldn¡¯t be able to tell it from a normal plant unless you were like Jason and checking the plant¡¯s inner space. Jason eventually puts the plant down and returns to his book. All the while the System is working overtime. Because of Jason¡¯s cultivation from the real world leaking through, he has started to notice some of the restrictions in place. While the System is incapable of straight out mind control, it is more than capable of causing people to forget a few lines of text or the last thing they thought of if it isn¡¯t too stressful. This doesn¡¯t prevent the players from thinking about a subject but does allow the System to nudge them down the path of considering other things. So many thoughts are spur of the moment that just making Jason think about how he can¡¯t do anything with the new bit of his stat panel was enough to stop him from realizing he could tell Courtney. The connections weren¡¯t made, as he wasn¡¯t considering that too deeply. Like a moment of inspiration, blink and it¡¯s gone, so the System steps in and throws some sand in your eyes to force the subject. Chapter 300 - More With Less All that aside, Jason now has two methods of improving his Energy. Both to grow the amount the System allows and the untapped base amount as well. Though looking more closely at the first technique, Jason notices that it isn¡¯t really a technique per se. Rather, it feels more like a couple of exercises out of a routine. As if he had a ripped piece of paper that only said pushups and squats. Good exercises but alone they aren¡¯t worth as much. Jason turns back to Basic Core Refinement. Before, he hadn¡¯t really paid attention to the different sections of the book. Instead choosing to read the generic technique and the Energy specific chapters. Now with an eye towards seeing if something is missing he carefully reads through the entire book. Even with the extra parts, the book isn¡¯t the biggest of things and so it doesn¡¯t take long for him to notice something. The Energy section doesn¡¯t have as many steps as the Mana or Qi parts do. Of course this could be a simple matter of it needing less steps. Except that what he got from the other book overlapped, though not completely. Rather of the four steps the first book had, three of them were repeated in the second book. The fourth step, however, was missing. The problem is that even with that extra step added it still doesn¡¯t match with the Mana and Qi parts. Jason sighs, ¡®For an ancient technique without any secrets it sure feels full of holes right now. Though the fact I got a hold of Basic Core Refinement in the first place is probably a miracle. I have had little experience with other Energy users but I have a feeling about the guy in the first book. I don¡¯t think he had access to the Basic Core Refinement technique and I know Penny didn¡¯t.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s two for two. This might just be that Energy users are so rare they don¡¯t tend to have someone to give them the technique. Except for the fact that apparently every library should have a copy. More to the point, Penny was the guildmaster for a starter town. The chances of her not being important to the guild is low to none so someone there should have mentioned it to her at some point. Hell, the guild should have a copy of the technique in every guild hall. She should have easy access to the technique and it isn¡¯t like she hasn¡¯t been looking into Energy.¡¯ Jason shakes his head and starts to dissect the Basic Core Refinement, getting down to the most basic understanding of what each part does. Easy enough for the generic section. It deals more with the core itself. While placement and the power used can vary, there seems to be an underlying principle. As if someone was describing a bucket and how to improve the design so it can hold more without going into things like material or what is meant to held. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Helpful to know and the section is the one with most of Gregor¡¯s notes but it really lives up to the techniques description. There are no hidden paths or shortcuts as far as Jason can tell. Leaving any of it out would be like leaving off the bottom of a bucket. Once he gets into the power specific sections though is when things get interesting. If the generic was about increasing the volume of a bucket, the specific sections were about tricks to make the bucket pour better. Whether that was being more precise, faster, or smoother. Basically turning the bucket into a watering can or some such. Even Energy could be looked at from that point of view. Except that wasn¡¯t how Energy worked so Jason dug deeper into the descriptions. But no matter how much he compared the parts this seemed to be the extent of it. That is until he went back to the more general section. It had a small part that talked about regen rates. Basically how you want to fill your bucket. Mana and Qi both involve pulling in the power around you. Like filling a bucket from a well leaving it out in the rain. Energy though? You just hook that right up to the garden hose. And that is what allows Jason¡¯s view of the metaphor to change. Energy was more like one of those nozzles. While you could look at it as a watering can, Energy works off of the control of a constant flow instead of needing to refill it yourself. This is of course obvious in hindsight but Jason can only shrug. Sometimes when reading you can get stuck in the author''s mindset. Now though, with a new outlook on how this might look Jason dives back into the book. And not much changed. But that is alright because a couple of small details made all the difference. Going much too far into the bucket metaphor, a bucket only has to be able to hold the weight of the water. You can make a bucket out of paper as long as it can handle the weight when wet. A nozzle on the other hand needs more than just that. It needs to be able to handle the pressure as well. So while Mana and Qi users only need to strengthen their cores when increasing the size of their pool, Energy users need to constantly be strengthening their cores to advance. The upside of this is that Energy users can do more with less. Jason hadn¡¯t really looked into how the number values for the three power types compared but it is apparently a lot closer to one to one than he would have thought. After all, a mage with a similar level to him would have well over a hundred Mana, a few even edging towards the four digits territory. All the while he has been tooling around with a magnitude or two less. Chapter 301 - Steps One Through Five Jason can only shrug and continue on with his research. Everything is almost complete and he just needs to fill in the gap. Mana and Qi both had seven steps specific to them, so Energy must as well. Though in the back of his head Jason did admit that this wasn¡¯t necessarily true, he was willing to run with it for now. Of the seven steps, the technique had five which should correspond to the first four steps and the last step. The first book, on the other hand, had four steps of which the first three lined up with steps two through four, so that meant the step without a match should be the missing fifth step. Leaving the sixth step to figure out. And of course, from the looks of it, that would be the most important step. Jason shakes his head and lays them out one by one. Step one is easy enough. Just take control of the power in your core and shake it around. Basically, act like you are mixing up some salad dressing. All three powers have their own special little techniques to it of course. Energy specifically involves stirring it around counter to the general flow. The second step is both easier and potentially dangerous. You have to empty your pool. For Mana and Qi this involves emptying it out by more than 50%, though if you are safe enough, completely emptying it all is better. For Energy this involves discharging at least the capacity of your core, though up to ten times the amount if you want better results. Comparing notes between the three powers brings Jason to believe this step is to refresh the core. Any power that has been in your core long enough will prefer to stay in the core. So if a mage only ever uses 10% of their pool in any one fight, there will be some Mana in the core that is never used. By combining the results of the first step with releasing a lot of power at once those bits that aren¡¯t generally used will be pulled out as well. Of course using up all the resources would assure this but that isn¡¯t really advisable out in the wilds. A mage without Mana isn¡¯t worth much in a surprise attack. With the third step, if Jason had to pick a theme it would be refreshing the area around you. Apparently just because you got rid of the power doesn¡¯t mean it would stop being attracted to you. For mana, the book tells you to go and get some kind of mediation mat that creates a mana flow to push the old away. Qi on the other hand has a harder time following the user so all you need to do is move to a new location before continuing. Energy also has its own quirks that both make it easier and harder to manage. Apparently the easiest way to clear the area is to get the dispersed Energy to be turned into Mana and Qi. Easy enough since the Energy will naturally attract the other powers. Hard because that would in turn push out the natural Energy in the area from the oversaturation of the other two powers. With a laugh after reading that, Jason continues on. His farming activities provide the best environment he could wish for when it comes to the third step. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. For step four, you have to actively work on gathering power back into your core. Mana and Qi have their own problems with this step but Energy definitely got the short end of the stick. The other two powers can actually empty their pools, which allows greater control of what they subsequently draw in. And going by Gregor¡¯s notes, this is actually one of the ways the users of the two powers can align themselves with a specific element or what have you. Instead of just drawing in whatever power is available, they need to only refill with power of the type they want. Easy enough to do in the right place. So much so that many people that live around stuff like volcanos will end up partly aligned to the dominant element by accident. Energy, however, is a constant flow and while the power does come from the area around you, there is a catch if you want to be aligned with an element. The world¡¯s flow is in constant motion so barring special circumstances, the Energy you absorb won¡¯t be aligned. This makes it much harder to be a fire Energy user or what have you. Besides that, the Energy from the flow comes in at a constant rate and you need more than it provides to complete this step. To do it right, you need to also pull in Energy from the atmosphere around you. Which, following the third step, has gotten a lot harder. So while the flow is always there, free floating Energy can be hard to grab onto. Jason once again smirks as not only does his plants fix the problem, but he had been pulling in the loose Energy from the start. Jason sighs, with the first four steps done he is now onto the missing steps. The fifth step at least was found in the other book and matches with the theme of the other two powers. That theme is retention. Like a pool of water, the powers dissipate from your pool. This just isn¡¯t generally noticed as the passive regen rate everyone has is calculated to account for it. Basically, in the fourth step you packed your pool full and in the fifth you hold it to familiarize the power with your core. This is similar to the power you expelled in the second step except for one key difference. Since the power is for lack of a better word ¡°fresh¡± it isn¡¯t lazy. Where the expelled power could be compared to silt that settled out of the water, the new power is water that has taken on the regional flavor. Though thinking about this, Jason grimaces. No matter how much they process the water and add in all the right stuff, it just doesn¡¯t quite taste right. There is something about the water from the area that you grew up in that unless there is a problem with it, will be what you think water should taste like. And though they try here, the natural power from his old life gave the water a certain tang. While the hodge podge of powers irl makes the water taste cluttered and almost greasy. Chapter 302 - The Seventh Step Jason shakes his head and refocuses on the last two steps. For the sixth he is still missing the Energy equivalent so for now can only write down how it works with Mana and Qi. And what there is to write down just makes him realize how tricky it is going to be to figure out the Energy equivalent. Because this is the one step with the most variance. From the two powers he does have, the idea behind this step is specialization. Not that he had to guess too much about that. Gregor¡¯s notes for this section were more extensive than any other. Mostly because the methods in the book only really work if your power isn¡¯t aligned. Someone with fire aligned Mana would need to tweak the step to work with their particular variant. Nevertheless, the basics are there. With Mana the specialty is range and planning. While the other two powers can mimic some of these things, Mana is the power bombardment and contingencies. From the famous magic missile to the classic explosive runes spell. So to finish this step a mage has to command the mana in his pool to explode outward and then rush back in. All the while maintaining the hold on regeneration from step five. The key in completing the step is having control of your Mana and understanding of your limits so that you can repeat this process at least three times. Though the further you can send the Mana out and have it return as well as the more times you can repeat the action, the better the results. Qi, on the other hand, is all about sudden bursts of power and passives. While magic is well known for its many buff spells, Qi doesn¡¯t bother with such things because the power itself boosts so many different things, even if it is limited to the user. The same is true with bursts of power. Everyone knows about the fireball spell but that isn¡¯t really a burst of power. Rather, it is a constrained seed that smoothly activates to release the contained power. Qi is about being able to punch out at any moment and have your fist suddenly emitting a piercing glow. The serenity of standing there for hours motionless only for your hand to suddenly be grabbing a leaf that was falling next to you. Which is actually a decent method of training during this step. Unlike with Mana, you need something outside of yourself for this step. Though just about anything that happens at random moments will do, including the wind and the rain. To complete the step, Qi users will mediate, letting their power sit still in their core. The moment whatever they are paying attention to happens, burst out with a limb and at the last possible moment, charge the limb with Qi. It doesn¡¯t have to be an attack, just instant and at full strength. In fact, some of the notes included in the book¡¯s text itself, mention how sometimes a gentle action is worth more than an all out attack. As long as you fully activate your Qi before the action completes, you repeat it. Of course the goal is to do a number of successful reps and stop. Though apparently early on it is considered lucky if you can manage to complete the action once, let alone multiple times. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it This leaves whatever the Energy equivalent is supposed to be. Jason however decides to skip it for the moment. Some of the past steps informed the later steps, so it doesn¡¯t hurt to move onto number seven, the consolidation step. Because all those fancy steps are useless if you let your core return to its previous state. Mages have it easy. Because of how Mana acts, the power helps consolidate the core. They still have to infuse some of the familiarized Mana into the core, eventually. But they can get away with only doing it every so often if they aren¡¯t completely emptying their cores. Qi, on the other hand is the complete opposite. You let that go even a moment and all advancement will be lost. Though instead of any fancy infusion, Qi needs you to shove a bunch up against the core walls and let it sit around for a while. This does take up about ten percent of the pool but is brain dead simple. Energy on the other hand is a whole nother kettle of fish. Because Energy is continually flowing, you can¡¯t just shove some of it up against the core walls. Though things aren¡¯t too bad. To make it work you spin up the Energy in all directions so the power presses up against the core walls evenly as long as you keep the spin going. This means you aren¡¯t wasting any of your potential power, a good thing when Energy doesn¡¯t exactly stack up. The problem is that unlike other cores; you need to consciously keep the spin active, so no doing the technique and going to bed like the other two can. At least it only takes about an hour for the gains to be locked in place. Jason sighs, ¡®Well that didn¡¯t help with figuring out what to do for the sixth step. And the three generic steps aren¡¯t exactly going to help either. Just pour your power into the outer layer of the core, shrink that layer while keeping the power in place, and when the power and outer layer of the core are about half overlapped, jostle it a little to start a crystallization process.¡¯ ¡®While useful for expanding the general capacity and toughening the core, it is too generic. Going by Gregor¡¯s notes, the method even works with aligned powers. I guess the only way to go about it is a little more look into the first book. What I need is to pin down the core specialty of Energy like it did for Mana and Qi. At least with that I have a place to start from.¡¯ Chapter 303 - Prodigy Title Long story short? The other book didn¡¯t have any further help for Jason. He read the whole book and then reread the Energy specific parts but nothing jumped out at him. Despite the person assisting the author having put down a few of the steps that is as far as they had gotten it seems. Jason can only shake his head, ¡®The System is most definitely screwing over Energy users and I doubt the other players are doing much to help the situation. I give it fifty fifty odds of a local even remembering any of this if I told them. It isn¡¯t like this is hidden.¡¯ ¡®Now, let¡¯s focus in on the basic components of the other power type¡¯s sixth step. Mana has a bunch of fancy ways to describe it but the focus is on sending the power outside of the body and having it return. Basically, it all comes down to external control. Qi, on the other hand involves keeping the power inside and instant action or like how I simplified Mana, internal control.¡¯ ¡®Which, thinking about it does make some sense. Mana is meant to shoot things while Qi is meant to punch things. They both have various functions on both sides of creation and destruction. It isn¡¯t yin and yang, those concepts already exist here. Rather, Qi and Mana seem to take the place that yin and yang took in my old world. The first paths to split off from creation and thus favored by later creations as the power of creation itself is beyond most. Taken from that viewpoint the number of Energy users is actually quite shocking.¡¯ ¡®Then again, I doubt most are following the true original paths of Energy, Mana, and Qi. Rather we should be following the path of post-world powers, tainted by mortality. Does that count for me though? I¡¯ve already gotten the one message that told me I had taken a step past the mortal. What does this mean about everyone else?¡¯ ¡®First, everyone starts with mortal powers. I didn¡¯t break this paradigm, and neither did any other mortal in this world. Some exceptions may apply here depending on if something like a phoenix counts as mortal or not. Outside of that I have somehow taken steps towards refining my Energy into primordial Energy. In fact, the System seems to like to hide certain differences unless you prove you know about them. Let¡¯s test this.¡¯ ¡°Mortals start with post-world power, which could be referred to as mortal powers. Primordial powers, immortal powers, or pre-world powers. However you want to refer to it is power that existed before the taint of mortality reduced things to a sane world. Having taken a step beyond mortality something has changed with my Energy.¡± {New Title: Immortal¡¯s Prodigy Having trained under an Immortal and with your talent the path towards the top appears smoother than for most. Your senses are more attuned to the difference between mortal and primordial powers.} ¡®Well, not what I expected. I guess the System didn¡¯t really know how to handle my knowledge. Though this does prove something about my mysterious master. Makes my war stomp that much more valuable as well. Not often you get to train a skill under an immortal. Or at least I assume that to be the case. Don¡¯t exactly hear much about them.¡¯ ¡°System, show me my stats.¡± Stolen novel; please report. {Normal Stats Auxiliary Stats Tripartite Conceptual Energy ¡®I was expecting something to have happened to my Energy stat. I guess it was worth a percent of a percent in my Ascendance stat. Though that might have more to do with my understanding of the three powers growing. Except I just realized something. Though let¡¯s test if I have to verbalize my understanding for it to show up in my stats.¡¯ ¡®People who align their power with a specific thing like a fire mage transitioning to fire Mana are cutting themselves off from primordial Mana. This is not cutting off their path but as long as they don¡¯t try to advance down the path of fire itself their path will be much longer and hard fought. Fire Mana is a dual path of the concepts for fire and Mana and thus requires understanding both paths individually and figuring out how to perfectly merge them.¡¯ ¡°Now System, show just my conceptual stats.¡± {Tripartite Conceptual Energy ¡®Hmm, just thinking about it worked but instead of Ascendance my Substance improved, and by twice as much as Ascendance had. Either I got something wrong or. Hmm. The previous understanding was directly related to the differences between mortal and immortal. This, however, was related to the differences between pure and mixed powers.¡¯ ¡®What am I missing? The concept of mixed fire and Mana is there. Wait, can you have pure fire? Or rather Fire. That would make sense but would throw out the entire concept of the System, locking us into one of the three original powers. So that means as long as one is chained to the System those alternate paths are locked off because you can never throw off your original power to focus purely on something like Fire. And that is why so few people tread on the path to immortality. It already took great talent and luck in my past life to take a step onto the road with just one focus. Here, unless you remain true to one of the three original powers, you will be stuck following a mixed path. And it isn¡¯t like following an original power is easy either as they tend to be a pain in the first place.¡¯ Jason looks over at the blue screen to check it. {Tripartite Conceptual Energy Chapter 304 - Lily Is More Civilized Than Jason Jason frowns at Ascendance only going up 0.003 percent. ¡®Well, at least now I know it isn¡¯t locked at two decimal points. Though yeah, I can¡¯t just mull over stuff like this until I max it. I already had some understanding of this sort of thing and this was simply connecting it together. An important thing to do and if it was entirely new information or realizations would likely be worth more. Hell, the fact I gained so much is saying something. Substance going up more than a quarter is already well worth it.¡¯ ¡®Though thinking about it, aren¡¯t I doing exactly the same thing as I said the Fire mana mage was? In fact, I have three concepts being mixed in with my power instead of one. But it doesn¡¯t feel the same. If it was like fire Mana, I would have something like Ascendant Energy instead of just Energy. Except I already know the answer to this, don¡¯t I? I¡¯m not adding in another form of power like a fire mage is. Rather, I am cutting out parts of Energy itself to limit myself so I don¡¯t have to comprehend Energy as a whole.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ve touched the immortal by starting smaller. This is like how in my old life someone would focus on understanding the minor path of Fire before they would attempt to understand the main path of Yang.¡¯ A quick check of the blue screen shows this truly was just reiterating what he already knew as none of the concepts improved. ¡®With Ascendance and Substance, I already have a good idea of how they are a part of Energy. Mana and Qi, while being original powers, are not the original power. Energy is The original power and each understanding raises you up. Besides that, the world doesn¡¯t have Mana or Qi in its core. No, Energy makes up the world and so provides the Substance to this reality in a way that neither the more ephemeral Mana or Qi can.¡¯ ¡®But how does Civilization fit into this? My concepts aren¡¯t even from this place in the first place! I built them up out of the random stew of powers that is my life outside of NeoRealm. Why does it even transfer in the first place? And it isn¡¯t like I have other Energy users to compare with. All I have is Lily with me.¡¯ Jason pets Lily who at some point had ended up in his lap while he was meditating. ¡°Though that does bring up the question of how you are doing. We haven¡¯t really been able to hang out as much recently, have we? Sure, you hang out with me when I cultivate every night but Rosha has really been monopolizing you during the day whenever she can. Not that I blame her of course. It must hurt having to separate in a few days. Anyway, System, show me Lily¡¯s status please.¡± {Basic Info Name: Lily Race: Free Rabbit Level: 14 - 99.99% Legal Status: Local Companion Title: Breaker of the Natural Order - effects of predator suppression decreased This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Normal Stats Auxiliary Stats Jason smiles, ¡®Seems like you¡¯re doing alright. I am holding you back a smidge but that will let us try and star your stats. Just looking at it seems you¡¯ve gained a few strength from somewhere which is nice. I guess being level locked will allow that kind of thing. Though how does that work with bottlenecks? Couldn¡¯t someone perfect their stats by not breaking through? I guess I have something else to ask Gregor about later.¡¯ ¡®Still only three Energy though. Speaking of which, why does it seem different? The word Energy seems to almost be shaking when I¡¯m not staring directly at it.¡¯ ¡°System, show me Lily¡¯s Energy stat¡± {Energy: 3} ¡®There is something going on with that! She doesn¡¯t have a conceptual panel like I do. Or at least not one I can see. But what if it was there? I clearly don¡¯t get to see all of her info because the skills and such are missing. That sadly will have to wait for her to be able to open them herself and share. But my concepts panel is just another part of the stats page.¡¯ ¡°System, show me Lily¡¯s conceptual stats.¡± {Conceptual Energy ¡®How does she have a better concept of civilization than I do? That doesn¡¯t make any sense! Even if she was gaining something from me, she would be stuck behind me. Unless. Unless, this isn¡¯t related to me. Just like some monsters naturally are born with fire Mana, what if Lily had naturally gained the concept of Civilization?¡¯ ¡®While with me she has evolved from a serf to being free. What if her variant of rabbit continues with that? The current percentage is equal to a fifth of her level so maybe part of her natural advancement involves a deepening understanding of the concept? That would explain the fear everyone has of the rabbits. If there is one thing worse than a strong monster, it is an organization of monsters. One goblinoid monster isn¡¯t scary but once you start getting higher variants to organize the mess the resulting army is apocalyptic if not taken care of.¡¯ ¡®But Lily isn¡¯t just an Energy variant. If she was, she would have been like the other rabbits that evolved around me, a spiky rabbit. Something caused her to evolve into a rare variant of Energy rabbit. The only problem is that even at max level she won¡¯t have gotten a full understanding of Civilization. Says the guy who can¡¯t even get a full percent of it, but yeah, there must be something missing there. The System must be messing with things to prevent a complete understanding while still here.¡¯ ¡®Oh hey, just realized something. That strange flicker with her Energy stat must be because of my new title. Concepts are related to advancing towards immortality. I was able to notice something was up because her Energy stat wasn¡¯t completely mortal anymore. It was different enough that the System couldn¡¯t hide it from me. Though that does bring up another question. Does everyone have a concepts panel?¡¯ Chapter 305 - You Really Shouldnt Have That Jason completely forgets his original goal of figuring out the sixth step for Energy and continues to wool gather over concepts and how they fit into NeoRealm and the System. Though the only advancement this provides him is 0.001 percent to his Civilization concepts and Jason admits to himself, that was likely related to his first thoughts about Lily and not any day dreaming on his part. Lily is happy, though. She really hasn¡¯t been spending as much time with Jason as she would like and having a day with the two just sitting around, him petting her, is wonderful. Dinner eventually comes through and interrupts their time together. Not that Lily has anything against Rosha. It is just that she has pledged to Jason. An idea she isn¡¯t too sure about the meaning of, but there it is. Though Jason does make an effort to come out of his room early, there are things to talk about after all and so he hands Lily off to Rosha. Gregor is baking in the kitchen tonight and so a perfect chance to talk to him. There isn¡¯t much in the kitchen as most of the normal cooking is done out in the living room. Mostly serving as a place to store ingredients and prep food there is a small oven which Gregor is currently watching over. Not because the thing he is baking needs constant watching. Rather, since they bake so rarely, the magic oven they decided to buy requires a constant trickle of magic to run. A bit tedious but cleaner than an oven that burns wood and way cheaper than a magic oven that doesn¡¯t need constant input. Gregor looks up from the book he is reading, ¡°So you have something to ask about that needs a little privacy?¡± Jason laughs, ¡°Maybe, maybe not. One of those, better to ask before I spill the beans, kind of things. So, seeing as the both of you are decently leveled and Peter is constantly exploring you¡¯ve probably dealt with things related to immortals.¡± Gregor groans, ¡°So what mess have you gotten yourself into?¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°No mess yet. Just some things that touch the topic. Well okay, I guess I might have received training for a skill from one but that was through the System connecting us and I don¡¯t know their name. Though that is only a guess because of a title I just got. Anyway, the actual question relates to concepts and mainly does everyone have a conceptual panel for their power of choice? Both me and my rabbit do but that could just be me.¡± Gregor takes a look into the oven as he hums. ¡°That is a question. And like most life related questions the answer is it depends. Or more specifically, I don¡¯t have a good grasp on what that panel even represents and suspect the System is preventing me from knowing more. Though the fact I can even guess at System intervention is a warning in and of itself.¡± The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°As for everyone having the panel? All it represents is what you understand about the world. The panel doesn¡¯t mean anything except as a way to track progress. So technically everyone could have such a panel, but they won¡¯t. The System only has it show up once you have a percent of a percent of understanding and of course you have to ask for it. The System doesn¡¯t feel in any way obligated to tell you about it unless you¡¯ve had a legit epiphany that forces the panel out.¡± Jason nods, ¡°So it isn¡¯t too odd to have the panel then. That¡¯s good to know. Though it does just create some more questions about how my advancement transferred over to NeoRealm.¡± Gregor shakes his head and laughs. ¡°You misunderstand, though I don¡¯t blame you. The fact you have it is completely and totally unheard of. Your level is too low and you¡¯re a traveller. Both of those by themselves would remove any chance of you having anything to do with conceptuals.¡± ¡°Of course a big thing about conceptual things is that each instance is unique so I guess there aren¡¯t any rules technically. Still, being a traveller should really lock it all away just because you aren¡¯t connected enough to the world. And I suspect that if I try to go too much deeper into this, I won¡¯t be remembering it. Do you have any other questions?¡± Jason takes a moment to think, but comes up with nothing new to ask. ¡°Everything stems off of that so not particularly. Wait, just realized, not a question but the book on Basic Core Refinement isn¡¯t actually complete. The Energy section is missing a couple steps. It was easy enough to find by comparing it to the Mana and Qi sections as they are supposed to have the same number of steps.¡± Gregor nods, ¡°No more questions than? Fair enough, I¡¯m about done with baking dinner so you can go out and I¡¯ll be right behind you.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡®Well I guess the System is keeping things under wraps.¡¯ ¡°Actually, I do have one more thing now that I think about it. People can get caught at bottlenecks, do they all just end up with starred stats if they stay there long enough?¡± Gregor laughs, ¡°Good question! The answer is a little tricky because the System obfuscates it. After all, you can¡¯t really keep track of what part of your stats are actually a part of your base stats. But yeah, the general consensus is that things get a whole lot harder once you cap out, which is why most people only bother with starring pets and such.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I¡¯m sure the fact I have a surprise for you won¡¯t surprise you so much. Anyway, my stats page does show the difference between the various elements going into my stats. Same with when I look at Lily¡¯s page. I honestly don¡¯t even remember when or how I got it to do that. Though I suspect it has to do with my choice to focus on purity.¡± Gregor sighs, ¡°Fun. So dinner is ready, and this isn¡¯t exactly a secret. Let¡¯s go out and share the shock with my husband.¡± Chapter 306 - Apparently His Stats A Decent The meal was nice but Dinner focused on Jason and his question. Peter was suitably shocked at Jason¡¯s status, being able to show the difference between his base stats and bonus stats. Of course things like equipment bonuses would be shown broken out but that would be easy enough to figure out by just taking the stuff off. After that, though, things got down to brass tacks. Everyone went back and forth over earning stats and starring them. In the end it is Rachel who ends up with the most accepted idea. As she put it, ¡°Levels get you stat points and experience gets you levels. What if earned stats come from experience more directly and there is a limit on how much extra experience you can gain after reaching a bottleneck?¡± A reasonable enough guess and everyone else agrees that they likely aren¡¯t going to think of anything better. Though Peter does have one extra quirk to add. ¡°Beyond just increasing stats, practicing a stat does something on a more physical level. A magic user who hasn¡¯t ever lifted anything heavier than a book takes a lot more effort to gain a point of strength. My guess is that even if a person can no longer gain more strength, working out will still tone their body. This should relate to how much experience is needed to increase a stat.¡± Back in his room Jason sighs. Starring his stats should technically be possible for him at the moment. The problem is, it isn¡¯t likely going to continue for too long. Right now it takes so much more effort to level and so he has the time. That effort however won¡¯t be ramping up like it does for everyone else and so later on the levels will be flying by compared to others. Especially since he doesn¡¯t seem to be gaining them that fast in the first place. Which, as he thinks about it, is strange. Not that he is gaining stats so slowly, but that he gains them at all. The entire point of his cultivation technique is stripping out the extra fluff and taking in only the purest power. A side effect of this was his complete lack of stat points at level up. Jason had reasonably assumed he would make it up with earned stats and personal skill. But if experience was still the source for earned points that throws a wrench into his understanding of how it should work. If that is how it works he shouldn¡¯t be gaining stat points at all. Then he stops for a moment to consider how far behind he actually is from the expected curve. To start, everyone has ten points in the three basic stats and health. Until level nine, a person gets one stat point and some amount of whatever power type they chose. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Jason frowns, he doesn¡¯t actually know how much Mana and Qi a person would be gaining. Beyond that he doesn¡¯t even know how much those go up starting at level ten. Though as he thinks about it, the power increases mean less because everyone gets access to some kind of training technique to improve that on its own. With that in mind, he takes a moment to look up the increase and has to whistle. From a single stat point you jump to seven. After that though the numbers seem to stabilize at the previous amount added to two and the number of breaks you¡¯ve gone through. So 12, 18, 25, and so on. Of course after 25 anyone who hasn¡¯t developed a core will do so and the number will fluctuate but that is the baseline. Since Jason is currently at level 14 an average person would have gained 44 stat points from leveling. After a quick check Jason has the base stats of 28 strength, 42 toughness, and 39 agility. Taking away the original base ten and adding it together gets you 79. Almost double what the average player would have. Jason can¡¯t believe the math and so goes over it a couple more times. He had honestly believed that he was behind the curve when apparently he was just comparing himself to others in the wrong way. His base health is definitely below the average at only 106. Other people get a minimum of five a level, modified by toughness. This means an average melee fighter is going to hit 200 and a pure tank will be at over 250. Jason¡¯s health is more inline with a back line magic user. Jason shakes his head and goes back to the stats. To find out that not only has he been gaining stat points, but at double the rate others would, is inconceivable. Why is he gaining stat points at such a crazy rate? Especially since most of those points happened early on. No wonder why he has been crushing content. But Jason can¡¯t just leave it at that. He has decent stats but they¡¯ve slowed down. Someone at level 19 will match the number of stat points he has now and have been able to place them where they want. If something doesn¡¯t change, Jason will fall behind and that could cripple him at later stages. With a shake of his head, Jason can only focus on something that has been with him since before he had met with Rosha. The source of this confusion has to be his cultivation technique. Something is off with Energetic Body Reinforcement. He dredges up what he can remember of when he formed the technique. Then it hits him. He didn¡¯t make the technique. This had completely slipped his mind until now. The technique was originally Penny¡¯s, and she had requested he train it to the highest level he could. The whole filtering thing it does for him only developed afterwards when he had formed his core. Of course something would be off about the technique! How could he truly know what it does when he wasn¡¯t even the one to make it. Jason can¡¯t change it out for another technique. That ship has long sailed, but he can definitely dive into what is going wrong with it. Chapter 307 - Dissecting Energetic Body Reinforcement With a starting point, Jason can finally dig into what is up with his stats. ¡°System, show me Energetic Body Reinforcement.¡± {Energetic Body Reinforcement Accepting only purity of body and mind you have given up past concepts of self for the uncertainty of truth. Apprentice Level 8 - 33.41% Rarity: Truth Type: Passive, Cultivation Effects: Jason focuses on each line of text. Much has changed over time, especially the description, so every piece needs to be understood and compared to what Jason felt Penny represented. Though speaking of the description, that right there rang the first warning bell. To give up your concept of self is something very in line with Jason, but the opposite of Penny. Going by her name of OrichalcumShell, Penny had placed great importance on her body. Instead of Jason¡¯s path of abandoning the System¡¯s view of him, she had focused on improving the one thing the system glorified with her race, the shell. If Jason had taken a similar path, his circulatory system would have stayed the focus of his Energy instead of being cast off. This one difference alone could be the source of his problems. While early on, he mostly followed the technique and thus gained stat points, later on as he diverged the increases slowed to a stop. But it couldn¡¯t be that easy. For something so simple, the description would have changed to reflect that. So while it was a good starting point it only began the story. With that in mind, what he is looking for must be in the effects. The first couple hadn¡¯t changed at all, but then things diverged completely. It took him a bit to remember but originally the third effect wasn¡¯t body/mind unification but rather blood is life and the heart its throne. A simple enough effect that would increase his passive health regen. Taken with his previous thoughts from the description though and he catches a glimpse at what might have been. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. To have continued training in that path would have led to a sickeningly unkillable play style. Growing back arms that had just been cut off within moments and other such things except without the classical weakness found in similar creatures such as trolls. But still Jason continues to examine the effects. And the unification skill isn¡¯t unchanged either. In fact, with what he can remember from what the effect originally said, the new text could almost be an entirely new effect. Gone are the mentions of stat limitations, replaced with talk of how his inner self has stabilized. After that is energized flesh which thankfully is the same, if more powerful. A straightforward effect that will help in niche circumstances. Likely incredibly useful for Penny so that ghosts can¡¯t just phase through her shell. Then comes material body, which is honestly the same sort of thing and would explain Penny¡¯s name. To follow that all is untainted core. A completely new effect based entirely on the change in direction his cultivation has taken. A complete 180 on Penny¡¯s use of the technique. Going from the most powerful mortal form and taking that one step past into the immortal. To reject the physical form given by the system and in its place a personal truth of emptiness filled only by his own Energy and thought. All of this together paints a picture of radically changes despite some basic parts of the technique not changing. What good does a tougher material body do for Jason when his focus is on Energy. Sure, Jason doesn¡¯t want to completely abandon flesh and become one of those hokey energy beings you see in science fiction. But that doesn¡¯t mean he wouldn¡¯t want his physical form to be made of his Energy. In fact, from a certain point of view his attempts to change all his lines to use his own Energy could be seen as a step in that direction. After all, once the lines are made of Energy it is only a short step towards making his shell out of that Energy as well. In fact, energized flesh might be a shortcut towards this. As it is, the lines from his core extend outward and tickle his skin like one of those plasma globes. Through advancement of the effect there might come a time when his skin is equally flesh and Energy. From there it would just take pushing it farther than the effect originally would stop at. To have 100% ability to damage incorporeal beings would just be the start and more like 50% of what he wants. Half his skin, flesh and the other half Energy. Though even an effect that would seem perfectly suited for his path like body/mind unification is flawed. For Penny the effect likely allowed greater control of her Energy by bypassing the control stat and its limits. For Jason, however it attaches him to his flesh in a similar fashion to material body. It right out declares he will be both mind and body. Once again, while it can be said that Jason doesn¡¯t want to abandon his form, he does want to change the basic structure of it and has been working towards that. Which when Jason ponders on that further, the core of his problem becomes clear. He plans to go beyond his body and yet that is where the stats are. His strength, toughness, agility, and health all are contained within his flesh. While his cultivation technique is still slowly working on it, his body is very much not the focus. Now the only question is how to balance the two concerns? Chapter 308 - Let Me Ask Again, How About Some Lunch? It takes Jason a good portion of the next day to finally come to a decision. His stats are wrong. Technically, before level 100 what he currently has would be fine. Everyone will have just core stats to provide a good base for the future. After level 100 however, they start to unlock special stats depending on what they¡¯ve done. A wizard focused on rapid fire spells would get stats focused on faster cast times while one focused on a specific element would gain a stat representing their connection to that element and allowing them to do more with it for less. Even melee fighters who don¡¯t use any of the powers will gain stats like rage or enhanced crit chance. The thing is, there are records of people getting stats like that earlier. No explanation, of course, but Jason has a theory. Level 100 is when you get a core if you haven¡¯t managed to get one yet. Auxiliary stats suddenly appearing for most people when they gain a core? Sure, it could be a present for breaking the bottleneck but then people wouldn¡¯t get those stats before then. With that in mind, Jason certain those specialty stats come from a person¡¯s core. The problem is, he hasn¡¯t gained any despite having had his core since almost the beginning. With Jason¡¯s fighting style even if you ignore the Energy part he should easily qualify for something related to hitting weak points. He could understand not getting them right away. It should take some time for the System to analyze a person¡¯s fighting style as well as giving them some time in case some other style comes up they prefer. Now though, it is well past the point of learning his methods. So there must be something holding the System back. And what do you know? Jason had just discovered that his cultivation has been divided by his approach and the System¡¯s expectation. But that doesn¡¯t mean he can¡¯t fix it. He even has an idea of where to start. See, every one of the specialty stats is built on top of something else. Take a fighter¡¯s rage as an example. While a player can add points to it, the stat is also based on their toughness and, ironically, their control. With Jason, however, he isn¡¯t developing something based on a pre-existing stat. Rather, he is creating something whole cloth and the System likely doesn¡¯t have a clue what to do with it. The fix should be easy enough in theory. Jason just has to discover the source of his body¡¯s prime stats and transfer that to his void. He even has examples of this because his bones already do this since he can sense them as a part of his inner space. To make it easier, he doesn¡¯t even have to search his whole body. Just the surface layer because that is what is left of his original System provided body. But to do so will require more than his normal meditation. He needs to be moving to observe the changes and that will require the use of a moving mediation. Basically going through martial forms and letting his body move so his mind can unfocus. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. The problem is that such a technique requires enough space in a place he won¡¯t be interrupted. With a sigh, Jason leaves his room to find Gregor whipping himself up some lunch. Gregor looks up and gestures at the food, ¡°Want me to pull out some more for you?¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°Not right now. I¡¯m onto something and need to find an open place that will let me move around a bit.¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°Fair enough. I guess you need somewhere a little more safe? Because last time I checked the fields outside the city are plenty big enough and if you need a bigger space than that I have some questions.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°No, I don¡¯t need somewhere too big. I just need a decent size flat area that I can zone out with a moving meditation.¡± Gregor nods, ¡°Not the easiest thing to find. Most areas with enough space are going to be a bit too distracting. Peter should be back soon and he might know a place. The open areas I know of are spaces for testing ranged attacks.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°Yeah, wouldn¡¯t exactly be conducive to meditating if I have to be mindful of dodging spells and arrows.¡± Gregor gestures at the food again, ¡°How about some lunch to pass the time?¡± Jason rolls his eyes, ¡°Fine, you can fix me up with something quick to eat.¡± Gregor smiles and shakes his head before pulling out some more ingredients. By the time Peter shows up, Jason is almost done with a bowl of noodles. Finishing quickly Jason asks if he knows a place. Peter shrugs, ¡°That¡¯s a bit of a complicated question. The walls aren¡¯t for show and while the city isn¡¯t as bad as some of the truly ancient places we do try to make the best use of the space we have. Even the nobility aren¡¯t just wasting the space with their display of riches. Though a lot of that is based around personal defense. You¡¯ve been in the guild¡¯s training rooms, right?¡± Jason nods and Peter sighs, ¡°Since you didn¡¯t go there that isn¡¯t enough space. Or at least the cheap rooms aren¡¯t. I¡¯m sure if you wanted to spend over a gold an hour you could rent out one of the bigger rooms but for what you want that would be wasteful. Honestly, your best bet would be one of the sparring yards just outside the city where the guards train.¡± ¡°They¡¯re right next to the wall, so safer than not. Especially since a good number of farm fields are nearby. While those areas don¡¯t have the best soil, the constant training keeps away many of the pests. You aren¡¯t going to find stray animals nibbling on the crops with so many people pounding around in armor at all hours of the day and night.¡± ¡°Though that might be a problem. They do end up with at least a few groups training almost every hour. Understandable though. If you want your guards to be able to fight at night, then you train them at night.¡± Chapter 309 - Martial Meditation Jason sighs, ¡°Any advice on which yard to check out?¡± Peter nods, ¡°I actually do. Not all yards are made the same. You¡¯ve seen one without realizing what it was already. Or at least you should have seen as you¡¯ve been outside the walls. The one outside the gate closest to here is mostly what you¡¯re going to find. A large empty field you likely mistook for fallow farmland.¡± Jason frowns, ¡°That does sound familiar, but I don¡¯t remember seeing anyone training there?¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°While I did say they are in use most of the time that doesn¡¯t mean all of the time. If I remember correctly, you ended up hunting scamps, right?¡± With a nod from Jason, Peter smiles, ¡°Well that explains it. You actually missed one of the best chances to use that field. When the time comes to cut back on the scamps, the guards will avoid training nearby for a couple days. Kind of hard to hunt something that is being extra careful to avoid a bunch of guards stomping around.¡± ¡°Anyway, right now, your best bet is the main gate to the left of that one. That yard is big enough that the usual training doesn¡¯t take up hardly any of the space. The full thing only gets used every once in a while when it is safe enough to get most of the guards together in one place. While they aren¡¯t the army, sometimes you want the city guard to be able to assist. And let me tell you, being a part of an army takes a different skill set than being a part of a small unit of guards.¡± Jason stands up and stretches. ¡°Makes sense. Well, since I know where to go I¡¯m heading out. I should be back for dinner.¡± Once out of the house Jason has an easy enough time getting to the correct gate and with his pass is allowed out. From there the practice yard is obvious enough. If the large area of packed dirt wasn¡¯t enough of a clue, the group of ten guards and a leader doing combat drills gave it away. Off to the side, Jason spots an official of some sort. Convenient for him as he didn¡¯t really want to just go out on the field and start practicing without saying something. Sure, he could have asked the person in charge but they were in the middle of leading the drills and Jason didn¡¯t want to interrupt. Of course just standing there isn¡¯t exactly stealthy so everyone already knows he is there but lets just ignore that as Jason walks over to the official. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m looking for somewhere to practice a couple forms. Is it alright if I use some of the empty field?¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The official looks up from some paperwork on a clipboard. ¡°No large-scale exercises are planned for today. Though if you cause any interruptions, the guards are right there to arrest you for interfering with their duties.¡± Jason wasn¡¯t planning to interrupt them and so agrees to the condition easily enough and heads over to the other side of the field from the guards. For a moment Jason stood there collecting his thoughts, calming his breathing, and relaxing his muscles. Speed is both important and unimportant for what is to come. Fast when necessary, slow when needed, but most important is the flow and allowing his body to move so his mind can be still. Arms at his side, hands making fists, with his feet shoulder width apart. Step forward with the left foot. Left hand coming up and into a forward punch while the right arm is brought tight to the side. Shift stance to reverse facing while left arm goes to the side and the right arm swings up in a block. Left leg comes up into a kick and is brought down next to the right leg. Right hand opens and is brought down to cup the left hand. Left leg steps back and the right hand assists the left arm to throw an elbow behind. From one move to the next, Jason moves. At first his moves are stilted, his NeoRealm body not being used to these movements. But soon enough he has smoothed out the transition from one action to the next. Punches, kicks, elbows, blocks, and more are mixed in with one another until the flow takes over and the form becomes formless. His body moves on its own as one action follows another. Freed his mind at first floats, unencumbered by the usual troubles, not more or less than his regular meditation. Just in a different way. But that was the easy part. Now he carefully tries to thread the needle that is paying attention to his body while not actually thinking about his body or else the flow would be broken. Over and over he fails and is broken out of his meditative state. But eventually Jason manages to observe his body. Wrapped around him like a shell is what¡¯s left of his original System provided body. Only the barest wisps of it remain and yet as he moves, power flows through it. Below that, though, Jason can detect a slight interchange between the old and the new. A few of the flows don¡¯t just follow the surface. Those flows also sink into his body, past the shell of flesh and breaking into the void. In the past he had observed his Energy and picked out what might have been his bones. Now though, there isn¡¯t much of a question. A solidness suffuses most of these bits of power that aren¡¯t satisfied with just the surface. This, of course, is only a start, but a good one. The solidness of Jason¡¯s bones that supports his body would be a perfect mechanism to start a change. But first he plans to observe the entire body. Not that he has to, but rather to find out the structure behind his stats. He has no illusions of being able to figure out the language used to provide stats. Chapter 310 - Viewing His Stats But Not His Status By the point Jason had gotten into the flow, though, it was almost dinnertime. So, with a bit of regret, he finishes up and heads back to the house. After a delicious stew, Jason spends a bit of time with his regular meditation to see if he can now pick stuff out but without the movement everything is blank. Just another example of the System being lazy. Still, it does put a timer on his attempts because in a few days it will be time to leave. Not only that, but irl it is going to be Sunday soon and Jason wanted to take advantage of them dropping the time dilation. While the government did that so people would actually spend time together and make real world friends, Jason just wanted to focus more time on cultivation. Plus, the only people he would actually call friends are in-game. During school he had a few buddies but Rosha is really the only person he feels a connection to at the moment with Courtney taking up a distant second place. Jason shrugs, it isn¡¯t like he can¡¯t hang out with them, that is why the government didn¡¯t fully shut down NeoRealm, but having just started his path this slow day would be particularly important to him. The slow advancement of cultivating an hour here and there is fine to build upon a solid base. Now, though, he has just advanced and needs to do more work so his foundation will be just as steady. But that is for the future. The night passes uneventfully and once again Jason heads out towards the training field. Yesterday was a good bit of practice but now with a full day Jason has a lot of hope that he can discover the basics. Back out on the field a new group of guards are training but the same official is there from yesterday so it is easy enough for Jason to get back on the field. From there, he once again falls into doing his forms. Still, it takes him a while to once again fall into his moving meditation. It never was his favorite way of doing things. Once Jason is in the flow, things smooth out and he is able to return to the state from yesterday. The power granted by his amber skeleton flows in and out of the outer layer where the System stats are and his inner void. The solid golden orange of ancient tree sap formed into strange strings. But Jason has been dealing with strings and thread for a while now. And that is important because whether on purpose or not, the System is trying to hide something. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. The stat boosts from his bones are strings, just like any of his Energy strings and that means they aren¡¯t indivisible. Each of them is once again made of smaller threads. At first, this didn¡¯t seem to be the case but with time Jason was able to notice the signs. The barest amount of texture on the surface, the ends twisting, and of course a wisp of deja vu. And the closer he watched them the became clear. The power didn¡¯t just go between the System layer and his void. As the strings transferred between one to the other, the barest slice of the string was unwound and rewound in a new pattern. Most important to Jason however wasn¡¯t the strings winding and unwinding but rather the strings that brushed the edge. If the string of amber wasn¡¯t angled to fully enter the other side, it would touch the boundary but be repelled. This was important to Jason because it means the System was also in charge of this transfer. For a boundary like this, Jason would expect it to just transform the string as long as it attempts to enter the other side. Only the System would bother to prevent the strings from weaving back and forth. Of course, Jason admits he could be wrong about it, but a gut feeling tells him he isn¡¯t. This, however, is a much worse outcome than just a natural boundary. Since the System is monitoring the separation, that means it could have changed his stats and chose not to. To fix the problem is either going to be a quick thing once the System realizes he can or it could be a painstaking grind, as the System fights him every step of the way. The first step though will be to view the stats when not in motion because even with his stamina Jason can feel his body start to drag. It isn¡¯t even lunch time yet. And that kicked him out of his meditation. Then it really hits him and he sits down hard. Out of breath for what might be the first time since he started playing NeoRealm, Jason can only chuckle as the System rewards him. {Excessive Continued Exercise +2 Stamina} Soon his rest is over and he gets back up to continue. This time, though, he begins on a different form. The one Jason had been using was meant to continue at the same intensity all the way through after a short warm up. Of course, no form is long enough to have spent hours but the way it chained to the next move encouraged that continuance. If he had been actively practicing, of course, Jason would have been able to change things as needed. That, of course, is the opposite of the point of a moving meditation. This new form, on the other hand, had a natural chain to it. Each new link on the chain is just a touch slower, just a touch less intense. Not completely new forms, just the same handful tweaked. After half an hour, Jason should be left standing nearly still with his hands barely moving between a set of blocks. The perfect thing to make sure not only doesn¡¯t he run himself completely ragged, but that he should have enough time to try and see his stats without moving. Chapter 311 - Scattered Goals It once again takes a good bit of time for Jason to fall into his moving meditation. He really just does not jive with it. Still, he powers through and returns to watching the flow of his stats. Then it vanishes barely a few minutes later as the first change to the next form happens. Jason shakes his head and centers himself again before restarting. Another failure and another happens one after another before he manages to pass over the first slow down. Of course, he then falls at the second but progress is progress. And with time manages to keep track of his stats as they dim with the reduction in speed. Hours later, Jason wakes from his most recent attempt to realize success. Even his hand movements had stopped. So, of course, after a moment to consider what he has done, Jason dives right back in because true success only comes with being able to repeat it. He fails halfway through and starts over. Still, after a few more tries, he is able to replicate his success not once, but twice more. Jason would have continued until he managed that consecutively but each attempt by now was taking up quite a bit of time and dinner was soon. Of course, he could ignore dinner but it was a good way to keep in touch with the others so Jason wraps up his practice for the day and heads back to the house. Once dinner rolls around, Jason is very much glad he did come back. Gregor managed to score a good deal on some quality fish. Relatively rare in the area as most of the native species are bottom feeders, which are really hard to remove the muddy taste from. They are some of the best fish Jason has tasted in a while and they aren¡¯t even cooked in a special manner. Just salted half an hour before, then cooked with a good squeeze of lemon juice and a few scrapes of zest. Of course, Gregor did an amazing job making sure they were cooked just right but the simplicity really brought out the flavor of the fish. After dinner, Jason settles down to see if all his effort during the day was for naught. He sinks into his usual meditation and gazes outward. Right away, he notices a difference. Before, the separation between what he had come to realize as the System layer and his inner self was hard to separate. Now, having spent so much time observing it, the dividing line is sharp. But that isn¡¯t the most important thing. Rather, the fact that Jason can see glimpses of his stats is more important. Not as clear as earlier but it is there. Nobody is perfect and Jason is just glad he won¡¯t need to attempt moving meditation out in the field. His regular meditation wasn¡¯t the safest but it allowed him to put up defenses. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. And that reminded him that he still hadn¡¯t upgraded his alarms for when out camping. Really should get around to that sometime this century. Tomorrow. For now, what matters is cementing his gains with his stats. There are too many things he has started to dabble in over this time of rest. Plans to restring his entire body, starring his and Lily¡¯s stats, improving his Energy, and now transferring his stats over to his real self instead of the System¡¯s attempt at containing him. Jason pauses as he realizes the System really does seem to be holding him back. Not on purpose, mind you, but that doesn¡¯t make it any better. Jason sighs as he lays back in bed to consider his situation. Something has to give and despite the power it has, Jason is betting on the System tapping out first. Just going by the master he accidentally picked up through the System and some of his other guesses the System already will let people leave. The problem is that Jason doesn¡¯t want to leave, at least not prematurely. If he was on the edge of 500 instead of 25 things would be different. As it is, though, he needs to make sure his foundation is strong enough in the main game area, if only to support himself. Jason rolls onto his side and considers the various goals. The quest to break through the next bottleneck is his overarching short term goal. It also puts a time limit on starring his stats so that can be a part of that, especially with the optional goal of the quest already to cap one of his stats. The long term goal is replacing the System strings with his own and part of that was improving his Energy because he just doesn¡¯t have enough of it at the moment. In fact, this recent bout of nonsense got started because of the goal to improve his Energy. He hadn¡¯t even completed the sixth step because of where his thoughts took him. Jason groans, this free time has really scattered his brain. Without one goal to work towards, it had all twisted apart. Though that really does bring up the question of where he should place transferring his stats. It might have something to do with capping a stat as he felt part of the slowdown of growth comes from the problem. On the other hand, one of his stats is already Energy so maybe this transfer plan is connected there as well. Could it be that part of the restrictions on his Energy use comes from not truly controlling his own stats? At the very least, Jason wasn¡¯t able to tell yet. Still, the discovery that he can observe his stats in action was an interesting one. Especially since it doesn¡¯t seem to be limited to the main three. So far he had been focused on Toughness because that is what his bones grant. But the rest of them seem to be there as well. If anything, this concept might be used to connect all his current goals. A connecting line through the entire mess he had allowed to develop. Happy New Year! [Not A Chapter] Hello! Welcome to one of my rare ¡°not a chapter¡± posts. A new year is upon us and if you¡¯re only reading this novel here, don¡¯t worry, nothing is changing. I can guarantee weekly releases for the next year! What will be changing is my Patreon. Because I¡¯ve gotten a third book started, I¡¯ve finally gotten around to updating the tiers. You might have noticed this already as a little while ago I added a new tier. Now, I¡¯ve gone and renamed them as well as removed the book specific tiers. Right now there are 5 tiers, though the fifth is just a super supporter tier with the same benefits of the previous. The tiers are thematic to me; being Hatchling, Dragonet, Dragon, Ancient Dragon, and Greatwyrm. So, seeing as the names have changed I¡¯ll give a quick run down of what each tier gets, with any later tier having all the content the previous tiers get except for one specific thing I¡¯ll mention right away. Hatchling: This tier has a 7 day free trial and is the only tier with one. As for what it gives you for $1 USD? You get five chapters of NeoRealm, two chapters of Dungeon¡¯s Path, the 20 most recent short stories, ability to vote on any polls, and right now it has one chapter of my newest book Banished Talent Dragonet: This was the $3 USD tier I added just recently so you can read a good chunk of content. So, on top of everything from the previous tier; you get 25 more chapters of NeoRealm, 10 more chapters of Dungeon¡¯s Path, and 2 chapters of Banished Talent Dragon: This is replacing the previous two novel specific tiers. So for $5 USD you get content from all my novels. The main reason for combining the two is that I didn¡¯t want to make a new tier every time I start a new story. Thus, instead of adding a tier for Banished talent, I removed a tier. Unlike previous tiers, at this point NeoRealm and Dungeon¡¯s Path goes from a specific number of chapters ahead, you get an extra chapter every week or so depending on the story involved. NeoRealm will get an extra chapter every other week and Dungeon¡¯s Path every third week. Uh, and Banished Talent does get a straight plus 2 chapters because I¡¯m not exactly writing weekly chapters for it. Also, this is the first tier in which you get to help suggest prompts for my monthly short story instead of just voting on one of the prompts. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Ancient Dragon: This tier is exactly the same as it always was. For $8 USD, you get to read every available chapter of all my novels. This means an extra chapter of NeoRealm every week instead of every other and Dungeon¡¯s Path goes from every third week to every other week. Also, at this tier, you gain access to all the archived short stories. The most recent 20 monthly stories are available to any patron, but after that I move them here as well as any random short stories I might have written in that time period. Greatwyrm: Literally the same as Ancient Dragon. This $15 USD tier is simply for those who want to help support my work a bit more. Now that all the official stuff is out of the way, let¡¯s talk a little about what has happened over 2023! Over the year, I¡¯ve released 52 chapters of both NeoRealm and Dungeon¡¯s Path here (which makes sense with the whole weekly chapter thing) and I wrote 104 NeoRealm chapters and 78 Dungeon¡¯s Path chapters. On top of that, I wrote 12 short stories off of patron prompts and started a third story, Banished Talent, which now has 12 chapters though I wish I could have written more of it. Though I will note, I mean Banished Talent to be a regular length book and so it is actually between a half and a third finished at this point. I actually plan to always have a third story going on the back burner with a slow release. Chapter 312 - The Three Laws Jason slaps himself. He had been getting way too introspective. His tests and research instead of revealing a path forward had started him down side roads. First, the sixth step to improving his core was related to the essence of Energy. Second, his stats had always been like a cloak he put on instead of a core part of him and why should he care so much about it when he has body/mind unification? Third, there is no third because everything comes back to Energy. His core, his stats, his cultivation, and most importantly his inner void and strings. Jason forcefully separates himself from his senses and dives into the core of the problem. ¡®What is Energy? The origin power of this realm. What is the core feature of Energy? It isn¡¯t the opposite of Qi or Mana, but rather the source of them. I can¡¯t say that Energy is mid-range power because Qi is short and Mana is long. Especially when even with the short time I have been looking into NeoRealm exceptions to most rules related to the two are easy enough to find.¡¯ ¡®But I do have a skill meant to take a power source and exemplify it! My war stomp already has an Energy mode which is called never-ending threads. The threads are obvious enough, but why never-ending? What is represented in the skill is how it will continue to attack until countered. The good old first law of motion, that of inertia except limited to reactions between the three powers instead of against everything. Wait, is it that simple?¡¯ ¡®Energy represents inertia so what if the other two are also taking after the laws of motions? I could see Qi being the second law easily enough. Acceleration generates force in the same direction equal to the mass times acceleration and thus the whole burst power. But can I really put Mana in the third law¡¯s box? The law of action and reaction. The fact that when two objects interact, they will apply force to one another equal in magnitude but opposite in direction.¡¯ ¡®Except that would make sense! It would even explain why curses generally fall under the umbrella of Mana by taking on a more mystical bent to the rule. But if this is the case why would they try so hard to restrict Energy? It might be the source power but if it is just one of the three laws of motion, there shouldn¡¯t be anything too special about it.¡¯ ¡®Unless, unless you take into account the fact that the three powers aren¡¯t pure implementations of the laws. The programmers who designed it all might have started with the three laws but that wouldn¡¯t make a magical world. Even in the real world, all the original physical laws have been warped, bent, and broken by the new powers invading the dimension. So what changes were made when they implemented the laws?¡¯ The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡®Mana is easy enough to figure out. A simple voodoo doll curse shows this change. Mana doesn¡¯t just allow action and reaction physically, but mystically. So by connecting the doll to a person you can act on the doll and have the person react. At first I thought the sixth step was about planning, but what if that wasn¡¯t true? Rather, the act of having the Mana leave and return is creating a cycle of action and reaction. The Mana should just continue outward but instead you force a reaction of returning with a force of equal and opposite force.¡¯ ¡®Qi. Hmm, Qi, how do you work? I could easily force an explanation on it but that would be a false truth. Honestly, I am tempted to just put down that Qi messes with good ol¡¯ F=ma but that would match what I am seeing with Mana. It would be all too easy to just say they exert more force than the inputs would result in. Too boring for a game designer. They would have done a similar thing as with Mana were they stapled on some magical principle.¡¯ ¡®The secret is in the burst. It isn¡¯t adding any extra force into the equation. Or maybe it is? Mana had a magical addition but Qi is based more on the concept of cultivation. At least how it is in the stories. So what if the wait for the burst was just as important as the burst itself? The stories they have about cultivation are focused on building up power after all. I thought the idea was to be able to burst out with a full power strike at any moment. But if that was the case, then the practice should be about bursting out over and over instead of waiting for the right moment.¡¯ ¡®So yeah, it¡¯s all adding up but that still leaves me with Energy and how they screwed up inertia. Except they didn¡¯t mean for people to have Energy. Of course, they would have meaning in Qi and Mana as they are meant to be used. Energy though? Just a way to start the world and generate everything. Inertia is all about continuing until stopped by something and I made an assumption about it and the other powers. The idea that they aren¡¯t being affected by the other powers but that can¡¯t be true. A fireball can be blocked by a dirt mound without a drop of power inside it beyond the atmospheric power and a Qi empowered punch would just blast through metal armor without leaving a mark.¡¯ ¡®No, the powers must be affected by everything, even if less so by the other stuff. So what if the change they made to inertia was that instead of continuing at the same speed until stopped it actually multiplied. Not the force, but the mass. A perfect way to make everything from nearly nothing would be if the starting seed was able to create infinite materials. The counter to this would be the other two powers and so why my Energy stomp is never-ending until resisted. Even though the threads are worn down in their interaction, they are growing at the same pace.¡¯ Chapter 313 - Snowball Stats Jason pauses as another thing becomes clear to him. ¡®In fact! In fact, this would be the difference between mortal and primordial Energy. My mortal Energy is able to replace itself in equal amounts to it being destroyed, converted, or otherwise neutralized. That is why the threads in the stomp can continue to attack but they don¡¯t ever grow beyond their starting amount. This would explain why Energy still exists, even with the world¡¯s core and all that mess. My core, the environment, and the world¡¯s core Energy are all being changed into Mana and Qi.¡¯ ¡®There isn¡¯t some recycling happening where Mana and Qi return to being Energy. Well, there might be but not the extent needed. Rather, as the Energy is reduced the mortal Energy replaces itself. When I cultivate the density of Mana and Qi, it doesn''t just go up because I am removing Energy but because I am likely putting off a ton of the stuff.¡¯ ¡®On the other hand, primordial Energy should be able to more than replace itself. The mortal stuff is already a never-ending wellspring of power but it requires investment to get a return. Primordial Energy would just grow on its own and can only be contained by Primordial Mana and Qi. Though I don¡¯t know what those two would do in primordial form.¡¯ ¡®But how does this translate into a sixth step? I need to represent an ever-growing mass of power and obviously I can¡¯t exactly do that or I wouldn¡¯t need to train my Energy in the first place. If I already had as much as I wanted, that would remove much of my problems right now. So instead, there must be a trick to it. The other two methods end up replicating both the rule and the magic. Energy, however, is all about continued motion and replication.¡¯ ¡®Though if I take it all as just being a pantomime of reality. If I don¡¯t require a literal replication, there is a way. There might even be many ways, not just for Energy, but the other two as well. Why limit yourself to the basic examples if another method would work better for you? But I can ignore the other powers. All I need is to figure out Energy and I think I have an idea.¡¯ ¡®The idea of inertia is easy enough. I already have a cycle going, so I can just use that. For the replication, though, I need to hack things a bit. As I can¡¯t literally duplicate my Energy what I can instead do is continue to add more strings to the bundle, I am cultivating. So I take one string and cycle it through, then pull in another for the next cycle. Just repeat that until I am no longer able to add on more strings.¡¯ The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡®I just need to figure out if I should just be adding strings one at a time or instead should be doubling or using the Fibonacci sequence. With mortal Energy just adding another string after every cycle should be fine but I don¡¯t want to limit myself. Plus, that seems like a good way to spend way too much time on the sixth step. If I instead double the number of strings held, I would soon reach my limits. Which if anything is important in its own way.¡¯ Jason sits back and relaxes before realizing he still has another foundational question, what are stats? ¡®Like, given previous knowledge from my current life, stuff like strength is the power of one¡¯s muscles. But that can¡¯t be true, at least not at the higher levels. In my previous life, physical strength would turn into an energy all its own. Being able to move worlds sounds cool but someone pushing with pure force just turns the person into a drill.¡¯ ¡®Generally, the body cultivators end up depending more on life energy to get things done than actual physical strength, even if that is how they describe it. While NeoRealm is a game, it is also its own reality and some rules are constant. One of those is that purely physical structures all have a limit before they just break. Even if a person could have the strength to move a mountain, they are much more likely to break their own body first without some kind of mystical support.¡¯ ¡®With that in mind, stats are not physical representations of the body. Obvious enough when a person who looks like they are just skin and bones can be a magnitude stronger than someone shaped like a bodybuilder. But shouldn¡¯t there be some base level of physical strength? How can everything be dependent upon mystical power! Yet here we are.¡¯ ¡®While there does seem to be some admittance to physical strength, toughness, and agility that is quickly overwhelmed by stat gains. Even for me it was the same, though I might have the sturdiest physical body that means nothing. True power in this realm comes from being empowered. About the only exception is that monsters that haven¡¯t gotten the attention of the System will be limited to their actual bodies.¡¯ ¡®But there is a problem with the System granted stats. Not just the ones gained from levels, but from those gained by effort. The System doesn¡¯t weave them into our bodies, it simply squashes the power into us. Sure, a snowball will smack someone pretty hard. But there is a reason you don¡¯t put ice into them. While both are frozen water, the snow is much less compact, not to mention how much more sturdy the ice is.¡¯ ¡®Right now, my stats are like loosely packed snow formed on a balloon. Even the bits gained from my bones are like that even if they have managed to get inside the balloon. But ignoring all that ice metaphor, there is one final reason that I can¡¯t stand this to continue. Like with my strings, the System controls the stats. Not quite on the same level, but if I can manage to capture and weave the loose stats into my inner void, I will have taken away one more point of control the System has over me.¡¯ Chapter 314 - A Choice He Already Made Jason sighs, ¡®With that I have two interconnected goals. Gain control of strings and my stats. Of course I can¡¯t do either in the short term but there is one thing I can do tomorrow. I gained a bit already from continued exercise but there should still be a point or two I can grind out. The problem is, if I keep gaining stats like freshly fallen snow it will just make my job harder. Using that point or two, I need to observe how they form and figure out if I can force the new stats to take shape inside of my void.¡¯ Plan in place, Jason logs out. He hasn¡¯t slept properly in a while but a wild energy has taken his mind and held him. Even now that he can¡¯t really do much sleep just isn¡¯t an option. While being out of NeoRealm is a bit of a waste when Sunday is so close there isn¡¯t anything else he can do in game. Jason crawls out of his pod and staggers into the kitchen to look for something to drink. Though once he notices a note on the fridge he groans. There had been some orange juice he was saving but no chance of that surviving a visit from his mom. Even after they had bred the excessive amounts of sugar back out of fruit, juice was still quite sweet. His mom didn¡¯t have the worst sweet tooth but if she can help it she goes for sweet drinks. He ignores the note for the moment and opens up the fridge to see what is there. Surprises abound for him as while Jenny hadn¡¯t replaced the orange juice, she had gotten some grapefruit juice for him. Not his favorite drink, but one of the few Jenny wouldn¡¯t drink. Jason shrugs, at least his mom understands her failings. And of course since only he drinks the stuff he indulges into one of his own failings and drinks straight from the bottle. Satisfied Jason turns to the note. {Heyo Boyo, Strange things happening and for some reason higher ups suspect you. Go figure. Anywho, I know you¡¯ll probably be doing things Sunday. Don¡¯t worry about me bursting in and ruining your ¡°alone¡± time. Heh. But yeah, work has me working. They even authorized 5x Sundays until stuff gets figured. Oh, and as your mother I feel the need to shake my finger at you with an eyebrow raised over drinking out of the bottle directly. We both know you ignored this note and went right to the juice. Good luck with whatever you¡¯re up to, Love Mom} This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Jason snorts at the message. To allow people to use the full time ratio on Sunday means someone is serious because the 5x doesn¡¯t just mean the VR time. It is also the overtime rate they get. It might have taken a little time but people realized that unless enforced, companies would pay the penalties to work people at full speed on the day of VR slow day. Juice put back Jason goes into the living room and actually uses the couch for once. Of course, he knows what they are frantic about. While he wasn¡¯t one hundred percent certain it was almost certain that people were researching the various powers. While a bit of a worry early on as he didn¡¯t want to be interrupted, it would be useful in the long run. At the very least, Courtney should be able to find out about the powers and help her believe him. Jason frowns, he never was one to have friends but Rosha and Courtney seem like worthwhile friends. At the moment, he is holding onto them like a drowning man, a piece of wood. If he was to be honest, there are more reasons why he should go out on his own. Still, if friendships needed to be rational, that would be quite the shame. He won¡¯t compromise his core principles but for now sticking with them for the quiet nights around the campfire just sharing each other¡¯s company is well worth the cost of entry. With a shake of his head, Jason gets up off the couch and moves to the center of the room. NeoRealm is an important base of power for him but this body in this world is his true base. Through it, he gained not only a longer life to further his goals in NeoRealm, but just cultivating has shown to help. Through the [Substance] of this [Civilization] he lives in, Jason will strive for a true [Ascendance]. His knowledge from beyond combined with the fruits of this realm breaking the barrier between other places of stranger qualities and rules will propel him. Jason sits and, with the barest of effort, wills the various powers that make up his three energies to saturate the world around him. Powers of earth and steel, flesh and bone, and other esoteric representations of reality given form settle into the very structure and material of his room and beyond. Further out representations of order, kindness, knowledge, and togetherness permeates the normal families and patches up the holes left behind. And directly upon Jason, being fed by all that is around him, the seed of growth, both physical, mental, and the soul itself begins to develop. And so, as the environment conforms to his cultivation, his cultivation conforms to the environment. In his core, the walls of civilization grow stronger. The fertile land becomes richer. And of course the seed to his future ascendance, the plant that will reach ever upward through all of reality like Yggdrasil itself unfurls broad leaves meant to absorb the purest of the worlds power. At this point, all the power around him resonates with him and presents a choice. Not much of one for Jason, though. He is no defiler, leaving behind barren lands. While the powers are constantly invading into this realm, at this point, he can feel their finite nature hidden within the infinite measure. For a realm without true cultivation, he will be the first and lay down the path. Of course, there will always be those darker parts of society where people will learn to take. Chapter 315 - Mystical Integration Jason, however will not start that way. His very path of cultivation forbids it! How can he truly be supported by civilization if all he does is blight? The fall of the early mega-corps proved that no amount of power can truly insulate you. Maybe if this world was a source instead of a sink. But even then, Jason knows it wouldn¡¯t have changed his answer. The powers around him vibrated and with a single decision would have all streamed into him and supported his cultivation. Without another to contest it, he could have grown at speeds unheard of. But that would have left behind a broken world and broken lives. In fact, this amount of control disturbs Jason. In his last life, even the gods lacked the power to do anything quite like this. Sure, there are enough beings who try to devour all but they are resisted or at the very least ignored. This realm lacks something. Not will, but rather that will lacks an understanding. Any realm that provides its own power has a natural defense against truly ruinous exploitation of it. Here though? All the various powers are external. Maybe when they first entered someone could have come and taken it all away without negative side effects. Now, though, it has all infiltrated the very underpinnings of reality. While not as extreme as NeoRealm, this realm is slowly transitioning to being power based. The very way reality works has changed. Not by much, Jason can at least feel that. Gravity is still king and there won¡¯t be animals flying around with wings that could never support their weight. But that single bit of power that has infiltrated the rules of reality means that at some point in his cultivation, Jason will be able to fly under his own power. Before the powers invaded, only someone truly beyond it, all would be able to. For now, though, Jason lets go of all these considerations. Instead, he needs to take the second path. To grow civilizations? He had already started on this by sharing cultivation with Courtney. Beyond that, his very act of cultivation had opened some doors to the scientists trying to figure out what had happened. The substance of reality? Before, many powers had fought for control. Those corruptive elements on one side. Not evil, of course. Rather, they just represented realities different enough to cause harm. Power from a realm with gravity just a touch stronger might have radically different results, but in the end compatible. Not so for energy from a realm where gravity was one of the strong forces instead of a weak one. Without the realms¡¯ will helping, it had all been mixed and now with him as the center those truly foreign powers were being pushed out and reality becoming more substantial. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Cultivating and ascending towards immortality? What wasn¡¯t now is. The most difficult step achieved. To go from zero to one cheated into existence through his knowledge. It is almost a shame as who knows what paths this change might have cut off. There is no telling what humanity might have accomplished with the various powers that will now be devoted towards pushing the individual forward. But that¡¯s fine and what once could be may become real in the future. Through Jason¡¯s acts, he had started to grow these concepts and changes allowing the powers he chose to join with reality on a deeper level. Others will come later and choose their own path but he was the first. Even if he was to vanish nothing would change this and through this the powers grow. And through this, a harvest is upon him. Jason¡¯s efforts both purposeful and accidental, have sown a crop that is now ready for the first harvest. Around him, the powers settle down and continue to integrate with reality while at the same time within Jason¡¯s core his own understanding grows. The walls structure become orderly as if before it was made of random stones and now is made of bricks. Within that, the soil gains a vitality seen only in the most fertile lands. And of course, the plant that is his understanding of ascendance rises higher. Without taking in extra power, Jason is able to improve his own cultivation purely through the act of solidifying his foundation, helped by the changes he has sparked in the realm. For what was once foreign, both energy and his memories are connected to the greater whole. Through this, limits begin to grow and paths close off. The first people to notice the changes are the scientists who got the short of the stick when Jason first pushed the corruption away. Stuck back in the labs where they studied those powers instead of being able to go out and explore the new phenomena they witness micro portals close early. Because of course, despite how bad the stuff is, it didn¡¯t stop anyone from opening portals to study it even more. Not that the larger portals were affected yet. Rather, just the smallest temporary portals meant to last days started to close early. The time those connections could last cut in half as for the first time the realm realized it didn¡¯t have to put up with those influences. What would be unnoticed except as statistical anomalies are the after effects of Jason spreading out his concepts of civilization and substance. Without families living next to him anymore, no one is around to realize that general wear and tear of things has been reduced. And beyond that, who would pay attention to the fact that kids are a little more willing to learn or that arguments don¡¯t become as toxic? Only years later would anyone even notice these changes by searching through logs about how often lights had to be replaced and other similar logs. Though most important for Jason at the time was he finally managed to complete a session of cultivation without interruption. Having started early and not logged in over the entire night he managed to carve out more than an hour to cultivate. Chapter 316 - No Buts Beneath his skin, Jason¡¯s muscles squirm like snakes as he flexes them group by group. Jason breathes out and his breath flies across the room like an arrow as vapor condenses around it. The dust in the air sparkles with energy and dances around as his vitality surges. He opens his eyes and a slight glow permeates the room. If only the scientists had a proper detector in the house to pinpoint these events. They don¡¯t, and they won¡¯t because Jason¡¯s mom put her foot down. Jason stands up and all the strangeness vanishes like a midsummer night¡¯s dream. Sure, if the scientists were to test the materials in the apartment they would be tougher by an almost imperceptible amount but that could be down to differences in manufacturing. Jason doesn¡¯t care about these external matters as he goes through a light stretching routine, taking note of his suddenly greater range of movement. Satisfied, Jason goes into his room and slides back into his pod. The personal room loads up in an instant and almost as quick he hops into the portal to NeoRealm. Once in a quick check tells him it is now very early in the morning. He had been living a very chaotic life ever since the group had arrived in town. While travelling, Jason might have been in the wild before, it was organized. Each day moving forward with a clear goal in mind and he can¡¯t wait to get back to that. And checking the calendar shows he has two more days before it is planned for the group to leave and five more days until the Sunday slowdown. Seeing that Jason laughs when he realizes it was literally midnight irl. Just have to finish out Saturday, though it does bring up the question of what to do. On the previous Sunday, Jason had ignored it. He was busy and hadn¡¯t really noticed it as the group was still in the forest and having a good time. Now he is going to be alone once again but there are new questions raised. The good news is that none of those questions involve where to log out or what to do with Lily. Sunday was meant to let people get out of the game and interact. If it wasn¡¯t for the heavy pushback everyone had when it was first introduced, the company had considered slamming the ratio into reverse, so only a fifth of a day would have passed. Instead, they allowed certain rules to be bent for the day. Biggest for most is that the logout rules change and a person can choose to vanish instead of leaving a body behind even if they aren¡¯t in the safest of locations. Sure, you aren¡¯t going to be allowed to log out in the middle of a war but otherwise it is loose enough. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. What is most important for Jason however isn¡¯t that. If he was worried about his body, he could just stay in the city until Sunday and out in the wilds he has a few techniques to be safe. No, what is important to Jason is what happens to companions while he is out. Here in the city, Jason has to admit he has offloaded much of Lily¡¯s care onto the enthusiastic Rachel. Jason feels a bit bad about this. Now some would expect that sentence to continue with a ¡°but¡± but Jason isn¡¯t one to make such excuses. Sure, he had a lot of stuff to do all day and night. That doesn¡¯t excuse him not spending enough time with Lily. If he had tried harder or spent less time on something else, he could have. And of course now Sunday is coming up. While he had been spending less time with Lily, that doesn¡¯t mean he had been spending no time with Lily. In theory, Sunday would be the first time he had spent a day away from her. But that brings us back to the important part about Sunday to Jason. Companions who aren¡¯t intertwined with something time sensitive and are actively in a player¡¯s party while away from civilization have the option to vanish as well. Of course, if the player stays out past Sunday they will reappear as soon as midnight hits and a player can¡¯t vanish hundreds of locals like this. But none of that matters, as Jason only needs enough space for Lily. The rules for it might be a bit wishy washy and under the System¡¯s control, but being on the road with just Lily is good enough to take it out of the System¡¯s hands. Not that Jason worries too much about that, but he has been basically tweaking the System¡¯s nose as of late so better safe than sorry. Jason doesn¡¯t believe the System would go out of its way to mess with him mind you. But better to not give it a chance to try. For now, though, Jason decides to focus on what to do over the next two days. Today is mostly going to be focused on finishing his look into stats and testing the sixth step. Tomorrow, however, is the last day in town and he doesn¡¯t really want to have been in a major city without having taken a look around. Though for that, Jason decides to talk it over with the group. With the loosest of plans in place, Jason settles back into the bed he logged off on and thinks over the sixth step. Pulling a thread through and adding more with each cycle makes sense to him. He couldn¡¯t quite remember if he had decided on how much to increase the number of Energy threats but an idea had come to him. If he doubled the number of threads, it would work, but not as perfectly as he wanted. Optimally, using the golden ratio would be for the best. Nature loves that ratio as plants will attest. He couldn¡¯t get that but the Fibonacci sequence has a relation to it that should count for something. It isn¡¯t perfect, but any two successive numbers in a sequence will be a ratio that is shockingly close to the golden ratio. Chapter 317 - Skip The Tourist Traps As Jason considers using the Fibonacci sequence for the sixth step, another quality of it jumps out to him. It is a small thing, but the classic sequence starts 0, 1, and then 1 again. The zero would be the beginning when settling down. Then, with one being repeated it adds an important step. It recognizes the core law that states an object in motion will stay in motion. None of that magical pre-world nonsense, with one becoming two. A pure and simple repeated cycle. Of course, the Fibonacci sequence doesn¡¯t grow as quickly as just doubling would but Jason is fine with that. As it is, controlling individual threats is hard enough, so trying to double it every round would be unnecessary difficulty. Jason shakes his head and gets up, he can always try it one way and if it doesn¡¯t feel right, try the other. It is still a bit early but when Jason gets to the den but Rosha and Courtney are already out there. He sits down and looks at the others, ¡°So, any plans for tomorrow? I haven¡¯t really taken the time to look around and figured resting before heading out wouldn¡¯t be the worst plan.¡± Rosha shrugs, ¡°I haven¡¯t really had a chance to look around either. Peter has been dragging me outside the walls everyday he can. Not that I am against it. While the training is hard, the skill gains are worth it! I even managed to level up one of them to initiate.¡± Courtney politely claps, ¡°That was quick. Most people get stuck trying to figure out what separates one skill rank from the next and so stalling out.¡± Rosha smiles, ¡°Well, when you have a personal trainer with as much experience as Peter does, it is a massive assistance. While not everyone is suited for a particular path forward, he was able to guide me.¡± Courtney nods, ¡°I don¡¯t think your family has quite the power to get you this much personal training this early on. While one of the elders might deign to give a few tips over email, you aren¡¯t going to get anyone strong enough to help. Sure, if someone decided to take you as a personal disciple they would, but no one is going to do that.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°That is how it usually works. The people actually able to help are too focused on trying to get ahead themselves. My two initiate skills both came from stupid luck and godly teaching moments.¡± Rosha rolls her eyes, ¡°Of course you have two skills at initiate rank.¡± Jason smiles, ¡°Well, I can¡¯t exactly let you get ahead with skills when you¡¯re ahead of me in levels.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Rosha blows a raspberry, ¡°As if you ever let levels or stats hold you back.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°I actually did the math and figured out I¡¯m ahead on stats. The biggest difference between me and others is that they are evenly spread out. So while no single stat of mine is better than a focused build, added together I¡¯m better.¡± Courtney frowns, ¡°How would you not notice that?¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I gained most of the points early on before it fell off. With that in mind, I assumed I was behind the curve because I stopped gaining points, when in reality I had just ran ahead of everyone early on. Anyway, if you two didn¡¯t have a plan, I figure we could walk around the city. Maybe ask Gregor where we should visit?¡± From behind them Gregor speaks up, ¡°I can definitely tell you where the tourist traps are, if that is what you want.¡± Rosha turns around, ¡°Those are boring. Tell us a few decent landmarks. If we wanted to rubberneck, we could look up a guide.¡± Gregor laughs, ¡°To be fair there aren¡¯t that many tourist traps. Really, the fault of the defining landmark. Kind of hard to develop other features when you¡¯ve got a giant stalk of bamboo in the middle of the city. Of course that itself could have turned into the tourist trap except for the fact we don¡¯t exactly let people get close to it. There are a couple viewing platforms of course and I do advise you check one of them out, but yeah, mostly pointless once you¡¯ve been there. ¡°Instead, I would say go hit the art gallery. We don¡¯t quite have museums but the gallery could be seen as a similar experience except most of the pieces on display can be bought. If you had been staying longer, there is one of their big auctions coming up where they put up some of the good pieces. Not that I expect you to be buying any of the stuff, but the energy of an auction is really worth the experience. They even have areas set up for people who don¡¯t want to bid so you don¡¯t have to worry about accidentally bidding. ¡°Besides that, I would say a quick look at the memorial celebrating the defeat of the swarm bears. The Founder commissioned some masters to design and make it. I won¡¯t say more about it as the place is quite surprising. The oddest part is that not many visitors, well, visit it.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°Memorials are important and it is a shame more people don¡¯t go to see it.¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°I suspect the Founder wasn¡¯t exactly proud of how the fight went. So while she made the memorial, she didn¡¯t exactly emphasize it. Anyway, I think I came in during the middle of the conversation and while it seems the decision was made, have you all decided to actually do this?¡± Jason and Courtney nod while Rosha answers that, ¡°Yeah, we might as well take a chance to rest before we head out.¡± Gregor sits down and starts a fire in the firepit. ¡°Honestly, once you¡¯ve gone to those few places, you will be better off just wandering around this ring of the city. The nobles aren¡¯t shy about using their money to show off and what better way to do that than a fancy yard.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°Just the yards nearby are already amazing in their own ways. It would be a shame not to see more¡± Chapter 318 - Something Forgotten As the group settles down, Courtney coughs to get everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°So there is one other thing that needs to be done. Or rather, I guess I just want to confirm if it has happened or not yet. I noticed that Gregor doesn¡¯t have his fifth tail yet. Does that mean Jason hasn¡¯t gotten his potion yet? After all, while I don¡¯t know what Jason has done so far, but me and Rosha have already taken an oath not to share the fact he has taken the potion. Be a bit of a waste to have made those oaths if he doesn¡¯t actually drink the potion in the first place.¡± Jason frowns, ¡°That did sort of slip my mind. I know that one of the conditions was to stick around a week but that is a bit unreasonable at this point.¡± Gregor freezes. ¡°Oh, right, that was a thing. The good news is we got permission and after that I put it aside and forgot about it because there wasn¡¯t anything I could do until the potions came in. I might be a top tier enchanter, but I don¡¯t know much of anything about alchemy. And well, it hasn¡¯t come in yet?¡± Peter laughs, ¡°There is a reason I got you that schedule calendar thing. Nothing escapes your mind, but sometimes you just let things go after taking a look. The good news is I just heard about a delivery that was coming in today so chances are it might be in. While not the easiest potion to make, much of the difficulty comes from gathering the ingredients. The actual brewing is relatively quick. Not like some of the fancier potions that might be on the boil for years.¡± Gregor coughs, ¡°Ah yes, that¡¯s a good thing. Jason, if you don¡¯t mind heading over to the adventurers guild with me after breakfast we can check.¡± Jason frowns, ¡°Why would it be at the guild?¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°The guild has the best public delivery service. Sure, organizations of a larger size will have gates and other nonsense in their back pockets. But those are stupid expensive to set up. Our kingdom has a few gates, but we can¡¯t justify using them to travel between our kingdom¡¯s cities. We can¡¯t even afford to use them to travel to any kingdom touching a kingdom that borders our kingdom. ¡°No, if we want to crack open a gate, it will be to some far away destination with something of critical worth to us. And when we do open a portal, the event will be a kingdom shaking affair. You could even say it is bigger. Large merchants from all the nearby kingdoms will line up for what might be a once in a decade event. See, opening a gate is the most expensive part and while keeping it open definitely isn¡¯t cheap, it is comparatively. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°The last time we opened one of the gates it stayed open for a full month as people poured into it and out of it non-stop. This would be a lot harder to manage if it wasn¡¯t for gates working from both sides so we can have one side be an entrance and the other an exit. Anyway, I got a bit side tracked but suffice to say, the guild is the better choice and ranks quite high when it comes to security.¡± ¡°That would make sense¡±, then Jason stops for a moment to consider his plans. ¡°So, while I do have something to do, it doesn¡¯t need to be done first thing in the morning. I can definitely make a quick trip over to the guild with you so we can check. Though I haven¡¯t actually had to make any oaths yet so we should probably get that out of the way.¡± Peter rolls his eyes, ¡°Of course we managed to get oaths from everyone involved except for the person who plans to actually take the potion.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I will admit I spent a lot of time off doing things on my own. Both Rosha and Courtney spent time with the two of you to learn. Anyway, back to the subject of how long I need to stick around. If I promise to stick around for a couple more days past when I originally planned to leave, will that be enough? Four days from now I have a hard cut off for when I need to be free to go.¡± Gregor waves his hand as if to sweep Jason¡¯s worries away. ¡°We know about how you travellers as a group tend to mostly vanish every four weeks or so. While a little rushed, that should be fine. In fact, while side effects of a potion can appear days later, the things directly related to the potion will generally appear the day of or at the latest the next day.¡± Jason nods, ¡°But it is better to be safe than sorry. I¡¯m already going to swear to inform you about the non-personal matters that come up from the potion. If some side effect does pop up down the road, I¡¯ll send you a letter.¡± ¡°Sigh¡±, Gregor shakes his head, ¡°I can¡¯t really ask for more at this point. Didn¡¯t really expect the potion to take this long to get here.¡± Peter nods, ¡°The only reason I didn¡¯t completely shut down the whole potion thing was because I expected it to be done in a day or two. It has now been over a week and the potion still isn¡¯t in. There must be some kind of problem either with the rest of the ingredients or the alchemists that would usually be tapped to brew it. ¡°The kingdom usually has a better turn around time if only because it keeps us higher level types happy. I wish I could say I¡¯ve learned patience with my years but all time did was allow me to gather more power so I don¡¯t have to wait.¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°I personally have developed my fair share of patience. But yeah, a bit odd that it took this long for the potion to get here. Though that is why I¡¯m willing to believe the potion is arriving today.¡± Chapter 319 - Non-Stat Statistics Breakfast over, Jason and Gregor head out towards the adventurers guild. Of course, with Gregor leading the way the trip is a lot faster as instead of going to the wall and back, he knew which street to cut across after all. Though the time saved ended up mostly being wasted as the delivery hadn¡¯t shown up yet and the two ended up waiting there for a good bit. Still, for Jason the time wasn¡¯t wasted as it let Gregor take his oaths and gave Jason a chance to question Gregor some more about the potion. He already knew that it would allow his soul to help control things to make up for the limits of a person¡¯s brain. Useful, especially for someone who just happens to be moving away from dependence on the System provided body. But Jason had doubted that would be all. And he was right. The potion is one of the rare permanent boosts to non-stat statistics. There are enough potions of plus five strength in the world. Sure, the System limits how many stats you can gain through those kinds of things but by level 100 most people will have gotten one or two. Much rarer is the potion that gives a permanent boost to things that the System doesn¡¯t attach a number to such as intelligence or life span. The benefit of control that the potion gave was just a side effect of the boost it gave. Of course, since the System doesn¡¯t give an actual stat for it, there isn¡¯t a set name but most people agree on calling it soul mobility. And like the name suggests this boosts a person¡¯s soul such that the soul gains the ability to move around, or rather increases its ability to move around. With the right training, a person can already improve it on their own but that first step from zero to one is the hardest. As luck would have it, though the potion sidesteps this issue. For most, though, having a more mobile soul isn¡¯t going to be of much help. Some kitsune train in it with the practice gaining in popularity as the availability of supplements like the potion declines. After all, each one of a kitsune¡¯s tails is packed with mystery and not being able to control them would be a travesty. Jason, on the other hand is quite excited for the potion now as he has a suspicion. In his last life, a powerful cultivator could examine their surroundings without the classic senses through the use of a spiritual sense. A special ability that lets their spirit blanket an area and relay information back. This is quite useful as mundane materials are unable to block it and when strong enough it could envelope an entire kingdom or more. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Of course, you have to be strong enough first, but spirit and soul are awfully close. So what if the limit isn¡¯t the power itself but rather a strong enough soul? This potion might be a shortcut to gaining his divine sense. This only leaves the question of if this use is widespread or not. The kitsune have their own needs and so it sounds like they don¡¯t but Jason is highly doubtful that others haven¡¯t discovered it. Though he does admit this is all built upon the assumption that it works, but going by what he has observed, it should. And with that, Jason¡¯s train of thought is interrupted as a ruckus distracts him. The mail had arrived and had done so in style. While he doesn¡¯t personally see it, he can tell from the noise that is drowning out the crowd that it had arrived by way of some form of flying monster. The sound of wings flapping but as loud as a helicopter takes up the area for a good minute or two before receding into the distance at quite the pace. Gregor, of course, was expecting this and his only reaction was to sigh and complain about the build showing off. When even someone like him isn¡¯t allowed to fly within the city, it really shows the power the guild holds. Still, flying monsters is one of the better methods to get things from one place to another so he can only shrug and wait for his name to be called. This doesn¡¯t take long. From the office area, another receptionist walks out and opens up the desk set aside for mail. Once ready, they pull up a list and starts to call off names. Gregor isn¡¯t the first name called, others had been there earlier, but after four names it is his turn. Though, unlike the previous people, the receptionist didn¡¯t just pull a letter out from under their desk. No, Gregor had ordered more than just the potion. Instead, from the office, another receptionist steps out with a crate packed full of stuff he can¡¯t get locally. Then after confirming the bill of goods has everything he was expecting Gregor smiles and gestures for Jason to take the crate. Jason rolls his eyes and takes the crate. A little cautious at first but the box doesn¡¯t weigh too much. After that, with the package secured, the two of them walk back to the house. Quite the boring walk, not that Jason is sad about that. The trope of meeting someone who tries to steal from you right after getting a macguffin had been played to death long ago and with the System watching way too likely to happen. In fact, Jason is willing to bet the only reason things did go so smoothly is because of Gregor being there. It would be a good bit harder to get someone in place to try and steal the goods with him around. Once back at the house, they bring the box to Gregor¡¯s enchanting room and crack it open. Well, more like Gregor casts a few spells on it and drips a drop of blood on it to identify himself and then the crate falls open, but you get the idea. Anyway, inside is a lot of smaller boxes, each one labeled with what it contain with the two biggest boxes being labeled ¡°Tail Control Potion¡±. Chapter 320 - To Change A Soul Gregor picks up one of the boxed potions and hands it to Jason. ¡°Looks like we got lucky! The potions did come in today. Now, there aren¡¯t any special preparations needed to drink the thing, so just sit down in that corner. The only thing to keep in mind is to drink it all in one go. Unlike some potions, you can¡¯t take your time. ¡°Once you start the potion activates and if you stop the rest of it will instantly evaporate away. Mind you, the potion won¡¯t fail, it just won¡¯t be as effective and since you can only use this potion once it would be a waste.¡± Jason raises an eyebrow, ¡°Any particular reason to have me drink it here?¡± Gregor laughs, ¡°You and I both know it is to try and observe how the potion affects you.¡± Jason just shakes his head, ¡°And we both also know that isn¡¯t going to do much good.¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°True, but when your kingdom asks something as simple as this there isn¡¯t a reason not to do it. Plus, we truly don¡¯t know what it will do to you. This room is the most secure in the house and has survived an explosion or two. Not that I expect you to explode after drinking the potion but I¡¯m sure you understand being cautious. I would hate for my neighbors to think less of me if you end up screaming bloody murder for hours on end because of soul tearing pain.¡± Jason rolls his eyes, ¡°I¡¯ve experienced soul tearing pain before and I highly doubt your potion will manage much on that scale. Plus, it isn¡¯t like it affects the true soul. A simple potion to advance the soul¡¯s shell should cause too many problems.¡± Gregor raises an eyebrow. ¡°So I didn¡¯t say anything about it not affecting the soul.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°The number of things that can affect a true soul are vanishingly small. So much so that it is to the point that there might not be a single thing in all of NeoRealm capable of it including the System. And don¡¯t try to act surprised and say you didn¡¯t know that. Anyone who has played around with souls enough to make a potion like this will know the truth. ¡°The true soul is immutable. What this changes is the shell that forms around it that is made up of our experiences and such. Basically the bit of a soul which makes you who you are. Sure, the true soul is a decent identifier. But if you die and the soul¡¯s shell has been worn away, it won¡¯t matter if someone pulls that exact soul back to resurrect you. Without the shell, even if you had all your memories and experiences intact in your head the new you would be completely different.¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Gregor scratches his head, ¡°Well that was a better way of explaining it than most people manage. Strange seeing as no other traveller seems to have even a portion of the knowledge so it is unique to you in particular.¡± Jason nods, ¡°I¡¯m sure the whole soul thing is of great interest to you guys after the travellers came around. We treat your world as a game so anything to prove that isn¡¯t true would have been quite important. The fact that everyone¡¯s soul is the same probably went a long way towards settling down the higher ups of the world.¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°That was before my time when it all went down but that covers it pretty well. Of course, just as the System has a chokehold on us, it can in some circumstances have an equally tight hold on you travellers. No System skill that a traveller has will be able to show the souls of a fellow traveller. Anyway, you seem a bit knowledgeable on the subject. Do you know why the System is so picky about who can and cannot be brought back?¡± Jason sighs, ¡°The System isn¡¯t all powerful and I am certain that the soul is one of those things it barely has a grasp on. Like I said, the true soul is extremely hard to change. Bringing someone back from the dead requires a soul to not go directly into the more general cycle of reincarnation. ¡°True gods manage this through a person¡¯s faith. By setting up a place to act as an afterlife, they can cause newly dead souls of those faithful to them to redirect to that afterlife. While the faith of a soul isn¡¯t as powerful as the faith of a living sapient, it is better than nothing. But as with all things, this state of being dead yet holding onto their old life must eventually end and the soul will fly away to true reincarnation. ¡°If I had to guess the System has done something similar except instead of based on faith, it is based on importance to the System. So when a random farmer dies their soul likely just flies away. On the other hand, when a king dies the System will redirect them to whatever it has decided an afterlife should be. Though travellers should be different. ¡°While we might die in NeoRealm, these bodies aren¡¯t truly our bodies. Instead, it is more like we are puppeting the bodies. So when we die here our soul snaps back to our real bodies. In fact, seeing as this is a different dimension from our own it might be even trickier than that. For all we know, the System might just be overlapping the dimensional boundaries so that a traveller¡¯s soul is in both bodies at once. Either way, the System isn¡¯t actually in control of the souls.¡± Gregor smiles, ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. For some reason I wouldn¡¯t feel comfortable if the System could actually play with my soul.¡± Jason scoffs, ¡°It might not control our souls but it definitely has its hooks into our bodies and minds. All it not being able to mess with our souls means is that death will eventually be an actual escape. After all, while a faithful can last quite a while in an afterlife, they do eventually fade as the soul shell gets worn away and their faith is forgotten.¡± Chapter 321 - Changes Happened Jason claps his hands, ¡°Anyway, I was about to take the potion? Going to just sit in the corner and chug it like you advised.¡± Gregor nods with a look of deep concentration on his face. ¡°Yes, fine, you do that. I¡¯ll have to think about this new information a bit more. It isn¡¯t really new information but the fact you knew about it means something. After all, I highly doubt someone else got to you first and pumped you full of info to prank me. Anyway, your ideas are different enough that I doubt someone familiar with our current understanding could fake it. ¡°Sure, it isn¡¯t my focus of study by any means, but as a kitsune with access to a strange potion to help with the tail problem, I¡¯m not uninformed. Plus, the kingdom has a few researchers on the subject that are recognized as true Philosophers. A bit of a rarity, not just because most wise ones tend to be either magi or sages, but because not many bother with the soul.¡± Jason rolls his eyes and sits down in the corner, ¡°Yep, sounds cool. Drinking my potion.¡± Gregor continues to talk, though he lowers his voice and is clearly talking to himself. Jason, on the other hand, is unpackaging the potion. The box it came in was a bit smaller than he expected, but once opened reveals the reason. The potion bottle is rectangular in shape so the box is just barely big enough to fit it. The fact that the bottle has been filled up with more potion than any other potion he had seen yet means there is more potion by half than normal. The liquid is literally just below the stopper and Jason gets the feeling that the little bit of air left in the bottle is only there because the maker had tired of trying to remove that last bit. Jason shrugs, the potion is probably air sensitive or some such. He shakes his head and unstops the bottle. A quick sniff brings to mind fresh blueberries, ground thyme, and wet cat. Because, of course, the potion had to have a nasty kicker to it. Nevermind the fact the potion itself looks a bit too gluggy. Eyes closed, he tips his head back and starts chugging. That lack of air in the bottle made it harder than it should be. That is, of course, if you ignore the texture and consistency. It didn¡¯t just look gluggy, that¡¯s for sure. Really one of those things that make you second guess your choices at the moment. Jason powers through it, though when for a moment it felt like the potion was trying to crawl back up his throat incited quite the urge to help it. And then he waited. Jason could feel things happening but the System wasn¡¯t saying anything. An hour or so passed as a non-specific feeling of wiggling. Like, it felt as if he was wiggling an arm or some such but he wasn¡¯t moving. Then finally as it settled down, the System started to flash up a blank screen. This gives Jason a headache but after a few moments the System calms down and decides on what it wants to say. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. {Tail Control potion consumed +104 [Base] Control Changes Happened} The massive boost to control is overwhelming but that balances how underwhelming the message is as a whole. Jason sighs, ¡°Well that is a less than useful message. Hey Gregor, take a look and tell me what you think. [System, share this message with Gregor please.]¡± Gregor looks up from the book he is reading and glances at the message. ¡°Huh, that¡¯s a good portion of control. Most kitsune who take the potion only get around 50. Besides that, though, the System really has no clue what to do with you. Locals generally get some form of unique skill or bonus that is completely random as well as a number of other interesting little tweaks.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°My guess is since my soul isn¡¯t native to NeoRealm the System doesn¡¯t have a good enough view of what happened to put it into words yet. Of course, that means I get to play twenty questions with myself to try and figure out what I got.¡± Gregor nods, ¡°That would make the most sense. Of course, it is also the answer that will frustrate the researchers the most. I can just imagine the look on their faces. Their current guess on the ability is that they are based on the soul and they very much wanted to know what you would get out of it. The funny part of this outcome is that later on when you do discover what the ability is, you won¡¯t even be able to say for certain it came from the potion. After all, adventurers awaken strange powers all the time. ¡°I¡¯ve seen a gall who could turn an appropriate sized pebble into an acorn once a day. Not from a potion or anything mind you, she just had always been able to do it since before she could remember. Mind you, the ability gained from the tail control potion all tend towards being more useful than not so you will notice it. The only question is if it will be useful to you. ¡°My favorite cautionary tale about expecting too much is a kitsune mage who put all their hopes on gaining an elemental ability of some sort because everyone else in their family had. Instead, they got a bonus to Qi manipulation. An almost completely useless bonus for a Mana user. About the only use is fending off attacks where Qi is injected directly into your body.¡± Jason leans back against the wall, ¡°Whatever I got is probably even weirder than that. I bet the System does some work behind the scenes to make the abilities match NeoRealm better. This isn¡¯t a bad thing, mind you. I could have totally gained a bonus similar to that mage except for a power that doesn¡¯t exist here.¡± Gregor laughs, ¡°True enough.¡± Chapter 322 - Not My Problem Of course, that isn¡¯t the end of it. Jason is put through a number of tests by Gregor just in case something would show up. Maybe it would have worked on another Traveller but Gregor already knew the results for this. A blank result. The difference was this time the alchemists and government were payrolling it so Gregor had gone all out. Gregor and Jason had a good laugh over it while they wrapped the tests up. Jason stretches as he readies to leave. Gregor stops him, ¡°So all the tests are over and everything I have to report to them has been gathered. Of course, if the System decides to tell you anything and you feel it is directly related to the potion make sure to drop me a line. ¡°Off the books, I¡¯m guessing you know some of the benefits you got. If the people I report to can unstick themselves from their rut, they will too. You clearly gained something related to your core and conceptuals. I don¡¯t expect them to realize that because as far as they are concerned you¡¯re just a low level nobody. I don¡¯t expect you to tell me anything but any hints? From the results, you clearly are delving interesting paths¡± Jason laughs, he had kept something back. So much so that until the tests were finished, he hadn¡¯t even allowed his conscious mind to realize it. An interesting use of meditation techniques, but when truth spells exist, it has some extra value. Though there is one bit that doesn¡¯t need to be hidden. ¡°I won¡¯t know for sure until I go back to my world but the potion should cross over. If any other traveller can make use of this will depend heavily on what kind of training, they have over there. But I¡¯m sure you already knew that was potentially true. After all, in theory, just about any soul effect should transfer to some degree. ¡°I must admit that this one might be more effective because of what it does. The System likely dampens the effects that would target the soul shell of travellers. This potion? If I had to pin down what it does, I would say it forces your soul shell to move. Of course it does more than that but the extra stuff seems to have to do with increased learning ability. Like, if you wanted to waste the potion you could probably use it to teach just about any mental or physical technique which can take place while the potion is working.¡± Gregor laughs, ¡°We don¡¯t even have enough for the kitsune that need it.¡± Jason looks over at him, ¡°But we literally just gathered the main ingredient as almost a side thing.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Gregor shrugs, ¡°While it is the main ingredient, it isn¡¯t the rarest ingredient. They have to add stuff that allows the effect of the pearls to transfer over to a sapient.¡± Jason frowns, ¡°Then why was everyone so keen on grabbing the mind pearls we had?¡± Gregor pulls out a gold coin, ¡°Can anything you can buy with common coinage truly be rare? Sure, the mind pearls might drop from most swarm cats and so in theory far outstrip the supply of the other ingredients. But even if the other ingredients require you to kill hundreds of naturally spawned bosses to get even a single set of ingredients, that is just a matter of having enough money. ¡°Even if it requires multiple parties of level 100 plus adventurers, that is just a matter of putting up a quest with a decent reward. I spent a few magnitudes more on the supplementary ingredients than those mind pearls cost. And that¡¯s the thing. These potions aren¡¯t for just anybody. ¡°They¡¯re meant for four-tailed kitsune who are advancing to their fifth tail. That means someone who is at least 600 years old and level 300. Oh, and before you ask, yes, if you only needed the mind pearls your group had gathered for a single potion there would be way more than needed. Sadly, you need a mountain¡¯s worth of them to make one potion. ¡°Peter has been gathering them for a while. It would have gone quicker if we had been willing to use the kingdoms but it imposes a few restrictions on any takers. The restrictions aren¡¯t really all that bad but while I like the kingdom, I prefer being as free as possible. Like, half the reason I¡¯ve ended up with such a high level was to gain enough power for more personal freedom.¡± Jason stands there for a moment before nodding. ¡°Fair enough. Though it definitely sounds like I came out with way too good of a deal here. Why would they waste a potion like that on me? Someone who isn¡¯t even level 25, let alone 300.¡± Gregor laughs, ¡°No matter that we call them pearls, they aren¡¯t actually pearls. The things have a shelf life to them and the same is true for the supplemental stuff. It was less of wasting a potion on you as it was making use of some things about to spoil. Even the non-data they got from you is important. ¡°While it doesn¡¯t seem like much, every bit of data will help. Next time they try it they can compare what the traveller experiences . Even just the fact you gained so much control will mean something if others don¡¯t have a similar gain.¡± Jason nods, ¡°I can see that. Though I can almost guarantee no other traveller will see such a large jump for quite some time. The reason I gained so much is because I already had excellent control and it was just a matter of giving me access to my soul. About the only way someone will be able to match that is through training their soul before taking the potion. And of course for travellers, that basically means it is impossible. Soul training isn¡¯t exactly a thing where we are from and without something like that potion would be useless, anyway.¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°Not my problem. But even if you are the exception, you would be there to prove the rule, as it were.¡± Chapter 323 - Frustration All Around Gregor coughs, ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m sure you want to go check out what has changed more in depth so don¡¯t mind me. I¡¯ve got to put everything away and I like to take care of that personally.¡± Jason shrugs and heads out of the house. Not because he doesn¡¯t trust them or anything. He just wanted to go and do a final bit of moving meditation. Though with just the breakthrough Gregor knew about, things would be different. Outside the city, Jason finds only a small contingent of guards training, less than a third of what had normally been there. Still, the usual official was in charge so there wasn¡¯t any hassle getting his usual spot to train. That is where the usual became unusual. For the last few days of going here, Jason would start with the moving meditation, if only because that was how he had figured out to view the inner representation of his stats. This time, however, he started by standing still. With the success of the last session, he had gained the ability to see without moving. Now, though, he needed the movement for a different reason. At rest, while he could see everything, the stat threads moved slowly. For what he wanted to try, the movement, or rather movement at the right time and place, would allow faster progress. To start involved an unplanned bit of practice. While Jason¡¯s soul shell was now mobile, it acted more like the subconscious mind than a proper extension of his active will. Sure, if he was a kitsune looking to control an extra tail this would be enough. But to Jason, a tool is only truly yours if you can actively use it. Otherwise, you¡¯re dancing to the whims of something else, even if that something is your own subconscious. So there Jason stood, focused on his inner realm and the stats floating around outside of it. Then, with great force, he scatters it all. The representation and his view of how his body in NeoRealm worked crumbled as he crushed it all. To the finest powder and even further. Why? Because now his understanding had changed and something better was available. His soul, of course, was out of reach but a connection to the shell was needed. If only to put his inner self into order. In his past life, some would form the shell into versions of themselves, others would solidify it into a golden pill, and some even created altars of it to godly beasts. Here, though, he had an advantage. Those other methods could be seen as a method to gain what a simple potion had granted him. Whether it was to allow it to move like him through mimicry, solidify it for easier handling, or using belief in a higher power to force movement upon it from the outside Jason had no need of any of those techniques. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. This could almost be seen as a negative as by the time someone had gained the ability to truly move the shell their training would be advanced enough to make use of it. Yet here Jason was without a systematic way to use it, a blank slate. Untapped potential paired with no clear path to use it. Worse yet, he couldn¡¯t only think about NeoRealm, but also had to consider the ¡°real¡± world. Not that he had any illusions of how real NeoRealm was at this point. Still, he couldn¡¯t just optimize for the System. Jason needed a method that would crossover just like his soul did. After all, while unlikely, there is a slim possibility that a soul technique too closely tied to NeoRealm might mean that trying to log out would leave him in a coma with his soul shell ripped out, stuck in NeoRealm. As luck would have it, though, he had shaped his cultivation in both places down a similar path. While in NeoRealm, the core might be more of a conduit for Energy it was close enough to work with. And of course, the biggest help will be another thing that has crossed over, his understanding of the concepts of Substance, Civilization, and Ascendance. The System might not be able to understand the full immensity of them but that was okay. It only needed a corner and that corner was also enough for Jason. From there, it was just a matter of rebuilding his inner world and core around the concepts like he had outside the game. So, with great care, he began to reshape his understanding of his core. From a simple portal that Energy comes through to imagery both more profound and intimately familiar to Jason. The walls of civilization to mark the boundaries of the core. A fertile soil to give substance and provide a place to grow. And of course a tree, growing towards the sky. Though this one was shaped so as to form a portal exactly like what had been there before. Of course, if these changes had just been mental things would have been a lot easier. No one in the area was able to spot what happened but some sneaky spying magic caught it all. Jason had underestimated how closely his view of his inner realm matched the real thing. Despite being the one who developed it, he hadn¡¯t fully internalized that his body was a void because that is what he believed. Now? He believed that he had just torn it all down and started fresh. So of course those sneaky spying spell managed to observe this was a bit more literal than intended. While not unheard of, you don¡¯t see many cases where a person destroys their own core and then rebuilds it. Almost a fluke that the people behind the spell even managed to catch this change. Any number of things could have put out a similar power signature and it is only their knowledge that Jason had a core already that meant they had been looking for the right kind of thing. Though upon observing this it is frustration all around. While the researchers, of course, are happy to catch such a rare event, it also completely invalidates any future report from Jason. After all, it would be near impossible to sort out what the source of any change was. When dealing with something as extreme as reforming a core, there is just too much that could change. Chapter 324 - Just Go Around The Wall Ignoring the outside world, Jason continues refining his core and cultivation technique. While the outline stays the same, he plans to get his soul¡¯s shell involved in some critical parts this time around. So as he rebuilds the containment around the hole into the world¡¯s Energy flow he weaves wisps of the shell into the structure. And in doing so, he learns more about the very foundation of NeoRealm. For each being has such a connection and yet when he took down the core¡¯s structure, the hole remained. Sure, he had understood that beings without a core very much had a connection despite that. But now the artificial nature of such a thing sticks out like a sore thumb. Another feature that the System has put in place. Though this time Jason doesn¡¯t get the feeling that it is meant for control. Rather, while in every being he had tested the containment did feel like it restricted Energy flow, reconstructing it changes that view. Now all he can see it doing is expanding as needed. While Jason is sure the System could likely mess with it, the structure doesn¡¯t lend itself to change. Then it hits him. While Mana and Qi can convert Energy, a pure enough flow could overpower the others. Plus, what you start with will tend to be what you go with. If the System hadn¡¯t put up the containment instead of Energy users being the exception, they would be the majority. After all, when every being has a literal font of Power within them, no reason to look outward for other sources. So while the containment doesn¡¯t control anything, it does prevent the proliferation of Energy users. Of course, since he has a chance, Jason isn¡¯t going to leave it so limited. First was to remove any last instances of System control. The last thing Jason wants is for the System to try and slam the gate shut on him after all. But beyond that, he integrates the opening into the flow with the core¡¯s structure itself using his soul¡¯s shell to weave the two disparate parts together. And from there, it was just a matter of continued integration. By combining the two, Jason was able to change the relationship between his Energy and his core. If before it was like someone had attached a larger bore nozzle to a small hose, now the hose size will match the nozzle. And of course, all of his work on figuring out the missing steps to advance his core will now do double duty. In fact, as he finishes up the System dings, though if a ding can have an emotion this one was begrudging. {Energy +15} Jason can¡¯t help it and laughs. Quietly, mind you, he didn¡¯t want to disturb the guards. Even so, this day was just one massive stat boost after another. First control skyrocketed and now his Energy doubled. Of course, Jason doesn¡¯t plan to end it there. If his guess is correct, his other stats should be seeing some growth soon enough. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. To do that would require him to finally start the moving meditation. All throughout this, he had kept an eye on his stats flowing along the edge of his being. Not actively, as rebuilding a core isn¡¯t exactly easy. But still enough that as he begins to move, he can see the change. From lazy ropes of power that barely wiggle, the stats break down into strings that move toward areas of high activity. And there among the chaotic mess are the stat boosts from his bones, weaving between his space and the System shell where the rest of the stats stay. They would be the key to his goal of uniting his power. The only real question is if the barrier completely blocks the others or if it is more of a one way sort of deal. Of course, the only way to find out is to try. And fail, of course. At least to start Jason¡¯s attempts don¡¯t go too well. Whether it was attaching the other stat threads to the bone stats or trying to just force them through the barrier it all fails. Not that he expected anything else, but if one of the easier methods worked, it would be embarrassing to have tried a bunch of tougher ones first. But now that the easy options are gone he has to get a bit tricky. Those options fail as well though so Jason can only resort to the boring option. If the System wants to keep the stats outside of the barrier, just make the area outside of the barrier part of the inside. As the very fact he can manipulate stuff out there shows, it isn¡¯t like the System is able to stop him messing with the stats. That being the case, why bother trying to siege a wall when you can just go around it? With a mental heave, Jason extends his aura far beyond his skin. While this is something Energy users can normally do, he put a twist on it. Instead of just his aura Jason had clamped down on the System threads and forced them to extend with it. In normal circumstances, this would be a stupid risk. An analogy would be to force your nerves out of your body. A painful experience that also robs you of the ability to move. Jason¡¯s body however is a little more forgiving of such affronts. He still wouldn¡¯t have tried it anywhere but here. Even back in the house would be a danger if only from any passive defenses. This training field is specifically set up for melee types to practice, and so is little more than a field of packed dirt. So while the area is safe because of the nearby guards, there isn¡¯t any power that could snag the lines. Well, that isn¡¯t entirely correct. Rather, there is one thing they can snag on and that is exactly what Jason wanted to happen. The fact the stats had been just floating around was odd and while he hadn¡¯t done any tests, he had a guess that just proved itself right. In a normal person, the stats would be integrated with the lines. So the moment any line touched a stat thread, the thread would be sucked in. Then Jason pulled his aura back in. As luck would have it, he was quick enough to catch himself. Because while his body wasn¡¯t harmed by the threads leaving, that doesn¡¯t mean he was able to continue his moving exercise and so his body started to fall over. Chapter 325 - ★ Jason, having saved himself from falling over, recenters himself and begins his moving meditation again. But now there is a difference. If before it felt like moving with a loose set of clothes on, now it feels like wearing a skin tight leotard. Not quite literally, mind you, but that is the closest he can come when he tries to explain it. And then the System dinged. {Energetic Body Reinforcement modified +14 [Base] Strength +21 [Base] Toughness +20 [Base] Agility [Energy] Defense bonus set to total Energy times 2 [Energy] Stamina bonus set to total Energy times 2 [Energy] Health bonus set to total Energy times 2 Stat bonuses from Equipment negated up to total Energy times 2} These changes, of course, raised an eyebrow as he called up his stats. It didn¡¯t really show things how he wanted, though there was one little important addition to Toughness that he plans to deal with later. For now, without an easy fix, he went with the old fashion method of pen and paper to scribble down the values before and after. The normal stats were easy enough to figure out. His current equipment gave him 14 to each including the set bonus. That means that Strength stayed the same while the other two went up by a few points. Laying it out like he did also revealed all the boost did was increase each stat by 50% of the base rounded up. And of course, the auxiliary stats just came out and said what they added. Though he isn¡¯t going to complain as the only one that didn¡¯t increase was HP, but at least he didn¡¯t lose anything as it had already been getting a 60 point bonus from Energy. Defense was the middle child with an eight point boost. Though Jason is quite alright with that when he remembers that the loss of his equipment bonus there had taken 42 points. But what really skyrocketed was Stamina. From a decent 54, it went all the way to 94 points. Though the best bonus from it all was two unmentioned changes. First was in the Tripartite Conceptual Energy. Across the board they increased by a tenth of a percent. Quite the hefty boost for what was in the end just reforming his NeoRealm core to match the structure of his cultivation irl. The boost to ascendance gave another point to the three basic stats while the other two added their own specialties. The bonus from Civilization was easy enough to find as it was literally under bonuses, the knowledge bonuses to be specific. And it was a doozy. Sure, the 1% it was giving wasn¡¯t too powerful right now. But when you have a growing bonus that can go up to %1000 you¡¯ve hit gold. And this particular bonus was a percentage swing to every production based skill. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Jason hadn¡¯t even heard of swing bonuses and had to look it up. It was a simple enough concept. Instead of a simple plus or minus, a swing bonus can provide a bonus ranging from negative the amount to positive the amount as appropriate. A power type of bonus that means if a master smith wanted to make some normal grade nails the bonus would adjust so that is exactly what he would make. Whether that meant adding a little because he was being sloppy while crafting or taking away some because of how skilled he is. Substance was almost boring after that. Still, it provided a welcome bonus to Defense, Stamina, and HP in similar amounts as Ascendance provided to Strength, Toughness, and Agility. A small bonus for the moment, but the other unmentioned change made the bonus from them all the more important. He had starred toughness. A nice big ol¡¯ ¡ï was plopped right down in front of the stat as apparently his body¡¯s current max was 60. Of course, there is a slight problem with that. His base toughness was already above that. Luckily, he didn¡¯t lose the three excess points but rather it just wasn¡¯t able to improve his stat total anymore. But that Ascendance bonus? Well, here is what his stat panel is showing him. {Normal Stats Strength 44 ( 42[Base] + 2[Ascendance] ) ¡ïToughness 60+2 ( 63[Base] + 2[Ascendance] ) Agility 61 ( 59[Base] + 2[Ascendance] ) Control 138 ( 138[Base] ) Auxiliary Stats Defense 61 ( 60[Energy] + 1[Substance] ) Stamina 55 ( 34[Base] + 60[Energy] + 1[Substance] ) HP 167 ( 106[Base] + 60[Energy] + 1[Substance] ) Energy 30 Tripartite Conceptual Energy Civilization 0.161% Ascendance 0.213% Substance 0.19%} Yep, the bonuses from his Conceptuals could break the limits. Though it also looks like his body is naturally more agile than it is tough as Agility hadn¡¯t starred yet. It could be that the Conceptuals didn¡¯t go towards it at all, but Jason had a feeling this wasn¡¯t the case. From his point of view, it wouldn¡¯t make sense for the System to include the conceptual points in with the total to begin with. Even now, the total for Strength and Agility was just a straight 44 and 61. That aside, having starred toughness means that he had already completed the optional goal on the quest Gregor had given him. Jason hadn¡¯t even left the city before completing something that had likely been expected to take the entire trip. This might not be a good thing. While the optional goal only said he had to cap one stat before completing the dungeon, the main goal was to reach the town around the dungeon after following the path laid out by Gregor. And after capping but the first after was the important one. Depending on how the System interpreted it, and he wasn¡¯t willing to bet on the System being kind, the quest might not officially start until he started following that path. So while he had a capped stat, Jason couldn¡¯t assume that fulfilled the optional goal since he hadn¡¯t done so during the quest. This was just another thing to add onto his worries though and wouldn¡¯t affect him too much. After all, Jason planned to star all three of the main stats. Chapter 326 - Negated Vs Nullified Jason shakes his head, while starring his own stats is important, Lily also needs a good bit of work. Though he suspects it will be much easier. After all, it seems the System somewhat means for people to star the stats of their pets and companions. Otherwise, why would it be a known thing among the locals? The question is why that is the case, especially when you include companions in on it. With just pets, it would make some sense. Pets by the System definition are not sapient. Once they become so, they have to shift into some other category. Not always as companions though or else it would be more clear cut. Jason sighs, it really comes down to why some sapients gain recognition from the System, while others do not. It could easily just come down to the whims of the System or some nonsense rule set by the original programmers. Jason reaches the gate back into the city but takes one last look back. It isn¡¯t really important in the wider scale of things and he didn¡¯t spend much time there, but the training ground was now an important place to him. Not many places would have allowed him to advance his understanding as much as such a simple area of flattened dirt. And he might never see it again. Jason sighs as the feeling of impending change settles on him. He doesn¡¯t need a steady life like some, but once he gets into a rut the path he wears walking it goes deep. There isn¡¯t anything left here for him as any further training would be wasted from lack of inspiration but a small part of him does wish he could just keep staying with Gregor and Peter, keep coming out here and practicing his moving meditation. Jason turns his back to the training field and after showing his pass, enters the city. Then the noise hits him. He was definitely not made for city life as the noise and the bustle was not going to be missed. Now, with no hesitation, he makes it back to the house and looks for Gregor. Once found, Gregor is suitably impressed by the fact Jason managed to star a stat already. Gregor can only shake his head, ¡°That was meant to tide you over on your travels. I¡¯m not going to be able to give you a new quest just because you completed the optional bit before starting the quest itself.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°So this does count as completing the optional bit? I figured the System wouldn¡¯t count it as I suspect it might have it slightly out for me now.¡± Gregor sighs while rubbing the bridge of his nose. ¡°What else did you do? You weren¡¯t even gone for the full day.¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Jason laughs, ¡°So a part of what allowed me to star my toughness was I took the control of my stats away from the System. It changed a few things including making it so my cultivation technique changed and now I don¡¯t get stat bonuses from equipment until they are greater than my Energy doubled.¡± Gregor lowers his hand and looks up at Jason, ¡°So did it say that it negated the bonuses or that it nullified them? And what changes happened to your technique? That doesn¡¯t sound like something the System should be able to do willy nilly. Also, what is up with taking control of your stats and how did it help you star toughness? That doesn¡¯t make any sense.¡± Jason frowns, ¡°Huh, I hadn¡¯t actually gotten around to checking my technique yet. I sort of lost track of it while dealing with everything else. Anyway, the bonuses are negated and by taking control of my stats they got a set bonus equal to half the stat rounded up.¡± Gregor throws his hands up, ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense! How does the System even control the stats in the first place? Isn¡¯t it just our bodies¡¯ toughness and what not?¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I¡¯m sure the System doesn¡¯t control all of a person¡¯s stats. I didn¡¯t really look into the exact details of it, but thinking back, the representations of my stats didn¡¯t add up to equal my actual total. If I had to guess, even when training the base stat, the System is partly responsible for increasing the stat. Those bits that it adds are still under the System¡¯s control, of course. But yeah, what is up with negated versus nullified? You sort of left me hanging.¡± Gregor rolls his eyes, ¡°Just that the difference is how equipment will affect you from now on. Oh, and you got the worse end of the deal. Nullified is simple enough and shows up regularly on abilities that scale from one stat or another. The way it works is you add up all the specified bits of a stat, equipment bonuses in your case though it could just be the stat as a whole, and subtracts the amount nullified. ¡°So say you had a skill that nullified ten strength from equipment bonuses when using it. For equipment, you had a sword that gave five, a shield that gave three, and boots that gave four. Those together equal 12 points to strength and then you nullify ten from it and the skill thus can use the leftover two points of bonus. If this is what you had, I¡¯m sure at least defense would still be getting a few points from your equipment. ¡°Negated, on the other hand is a lot easier to explain. You just take the amount negated away from every source it applies to. Using the above example you would get no bonus to strength as ten would be subtracted from each piece of gear. So yeah, at least you don¡¯t have to worry about balancing how much of a bonus any gear you find gives to stats anymore.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to worry about that, anyway. My cultivation already allows me to somewhat ignore stats in the first place.¡± Gregor coughs, ¡°Speaking of which, you might want to check that technique. After all, if it already was giving you a bonus related to stats this new thing might override it or something. And don¡¯t leave me hanging.¡± Chapter 327 - In With The New, Out With The Old {Energetic Body Reinforcement Accepting only purity of body and mind you have given up past concepts of self for the uncertainty of truth. Apprentice Level 8 - 51.33% Rarity: Truth Type: Passive, Cultivation Effects: ¡°Huh¡±, Jason scratches his head, ¡°Well, a new effect did replace the other. I guess this would be another reason that my body felt slightly constrained. And the new effect doesn¡¯t really seem to do much besides negate the equipment bonus.¡± Gregor shakes his head, ¡°What does it say? While you might have made some choices that took away from the previous effect but I doubt what did would have only downsides. In fact, tell me a bit more about what it was like when you made the change and the wording of the previous and the current effect.¡± While the question is a bit personal, Jason relays it all. Besides, it was a bit too late to start worrying about keeping things secret from Gregor. He has placed what some would think of as an unhealthy amount of trust into the foxkin. This introspection had almost made him pause but the reason was mostly obvious as well. Simply put, in his last life kitsune who survived to their third tail were all considered highly trusted sages. Gregor takes his time thinking over the information Jason had just told him and misses the pause. ¡°Okay, I think I know what is up. Because of how your cultivation worked the Systems external boosts that come even when you trained the stat were blocked. The System being the System was able to make it still work by making the external power even more external. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°You didn¡¯t notice this because the previous effect obfuscated it. Even if the stats were awkward to use, you mostly sidestepped the problem. The recent change threw this careful balance out the window. By pulling those energies into yourself, you have cut yourself off from whole mess. Even external aids are being prevented at this point unless they are powerful enough. ¡°The System, of course, took this chance to knock a certain pesky effect off the table. In its place, though I think you came out ahead. The first bit about growth from within is both a limit and frees you from a limit. Now instead of depending on System provided power your stats will grow through the use of your own Energy. ¡°This limits you because unlike the System you only have so much Energy throughput whereas the System can throw the stuff around like it was going out of fashion. On the other hand, you¡¯ve released yourself from another diminishing return scheme. No more do you have to do increasingly incredible feats to gain a bonus. Instead, when you have enough Energy a stat will be boosted. ¡°Now, the rest of the sentence? That¡¯s where it gets really interesting. Of course, there is the obvious disclaimer that you¡¯re giving up outside bonuses. This goes for both the boost to stat gain and equipment bonuses. However, the bit about gaining control means you might start gaining stat points you can spend.¡± Jason raises an eyebrow, ¡°How would that work? I gain agility for being agile. Sure, others get stat points to spend but that comes from the System provided bonuses.¡± Gregor smiles, ¡°Yes and no. The stat points for leveling up are that. With what I know, I believe that earned stat points do the opposite and instead the System fixes the gains to the specific stat. After all, while there is a base level of the stats which comes from the body itself. Most of the stats actually are just properly formed power. ¡°Since you have control now, the System can¡¯t limit where the new stat points go for you. So you should not only be gaining stat points at a more regular interval, but they should be actual stat points instead of just boosts to specific stats.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°This does sound useful but if I was to be honest, I don¡¯t plan to focus on any particular stat so it isn¡¯t the most useful.¡± Gregor shakes his head, ¡°This is actually more important than that to you. For instance, right now, you have toughness capped and you might even have some overflow. If the System was still controlling your stats, then you wouldn¡¯t even be notified if it tried to give you a point of toughness and failed. Now though, you just get a stat point to throw on the pile.¡± Jason nods, ¡°That does make sense. Having such specific control over my body in NeoRealm will be useful over the long run. And if anything, getting even more of the Systems control will almost always be worth it. For most people, the System just is. For me, well, limits might improve growth early on, but in the long term not so much.¡± Chapter 328 - Youre Still Wearing That? Gregor shakes his head, ¡°Most people think about how to cajole the System into giving them favors. This isn¡¯t even a bad idea as it can work. While the System isn¡¯t affected by emotions or similar, it does understand that rewarding people for doing its will allows for greater control. There are entire guilds based around teasing out whatever the System is currently annoyed with and using any means necessary to fix things.¡± Jason¡¯s eyes go wide, ¡°Well that sounds important. Last time I checked I don¡¯t have the best relationship with the System. Will I have a bunch of crazed System lackeys coming down on my head?¡± Gregor laughs, ¡°Luckily you don¡¯t have to worry about that. The kind of things they manage to figure out are at a much larger scale. After all, they aren¡¯t System worshipers, they¡¯re mercenaries who believe they are working for the biggest wallet. If the things they found to do could be accomplished by a smaller group of people, they wouldn¡¯t have formed multiple guilds. ¡°No, what they deal with isn¡¯t on the individual scale, ever. I will be honest that I don¡¯t know the most about them. We run a pretty tight ship in this region of the world. In fact, most places do. From what I¡¯ve heard most of the guilds like that are on the edges of civilization. Most of the jobs they end up figuring out involve things like rogue kingdoms, liches who have gone too far by building empires of undead, and new monster varieties that break the rules in a way that the System isn¡¯t allowed to mess with but would very much prefer to not exist.¡± Jason raises an eyebrow, ¡°Yeah, any job that requires a guild would involve their guild. What if when individuals found out something they can take care of on their own we don¡¯t find out about it? After all, people kill monsters, locals, and players all the time. I doubt the System rains money from the heavens on them.¡± Gregor pauses, ¡°Good point. I still doubt it will be much of a problem for you. After all, you aren¡¯t actually breaking the rules. Sapients have a lot more leeway on what they can do on a personal scale and you travellers go above and beyond that. Take my lich example. The System doesn¡¯t hate necromancers. Most nations do but you won¡¯t ever see the System discriminating against them. ¡°It is only when they go too far that the System cares. After a certain point, they just ruin entire ecosystems and that would require fixing once they¡¯re gone. If a lich could be satisfied with a kingdom, they would be fine. And there are some that are like that, though mostly the rare non-evil ones. Too bad they aren¡¯t the most stable. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Most liches end up evil not because they intend to be evil but because they lose any interest beyond self interest. You know the story, some super powerful being that feels they are beyond mortal concerns. I¡¯ve heard travellers refer to it as blue and orange morality. Something so far beyond mortal understanding that we just can¡¯t relate. ¡°Our answer to that is to laugh of course. We don¡¯t have some set morality system here and things will vary from place to place but that doesn¡¯t mean you get to claim your own unique morality. If you do things I consider evil, you aren¡¯t beyond comprehension, you''re evil. Anyway, was there anything else you wanted to talk about?¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°I¡¯m going to hang out with the others when they get back. We might be hanging out tomorrow but that will be more of a sightseeing thing.¡± Gregor laughs, ¡°I know how that is. Peter would occasionally drag me to one place or another. They were, of course, lovely places. But I would have preferred to just spend the time with him. I think he has figured that out after being told a few hundred times. Now he just brings some interesting trinkets home and tells me about his trip.¡± Conversation finished Jason goes back to the den and settles in to wait for the others. It doesn¡¯t take long, though. While they did have some things to do, they had been mostly ready to begin. In fact, most of what Rosha wanted to do involved bringing Lily around the place to get as much rabbit time in as possible before they had to separate. Jason didn¡¯t mind it too much, but as the time to leave got closer the time he spent with Lily had decreased at a sharp pace. It was even to the extent that if he didn¡¯t specifically ask for her back, Rosha would have her ¡°sleep over¡±. Much to the annoyance of Jason, Lily, and even Courtney. Still, they put up with it. While it would be hard to describe Rosha as neglected, her family background isn¡¯t exactly the easiest to deal with. Even Lily could tell something wasn¡¯t right and so put up with her. Not that Lily didn¡¯t enjoy her company. But she definitely enjoyed sitting with Jason while he cultivated as it pushed away all the other powers in the air. Like a breath of fresh air, it allowed her to relax before bed. Not that she fully understood what was going on, but the difference was obvious enough. Though now that Lily can see Jason sitting down by the firepit, she takes the chance to jump out of Rosha¡¯s arms. Rosha frowns but Courtney is the one to speak up. ¡°You¡¯re back a bit early? Did everything go alright?¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°Just subverting the System¡¯s control over me. A few other things happened and my stats are overall higher but I basically can¡¯t get stat bonuses from equipment anymore. Any equipment bonus needs to be silly high to work for me.¡± Rosha rolls her eyes, ¡°Like, you¡¯re still wearing your beginner gear.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°You don¡¯t look to be doing much better. I might not be the best judge of quality but you¡¯re still in the patchwork special.¡± Chapter 329 - All About What The System Hates Rosha shrugs and pulls back a sleeve to reveal a bracelet. ¡°We¡¯ve gotten some jewelry to help with that. Not everyone goes through the pointless action of cheaping out on their starter gear. Sure, the coins are worth something even once you hit ten, but why hold yourself back?¡± Courtney coughs to draw attention. ¡°It isn¡¯t really fair to compare the two of you. Even if your father can¡¯t directly give you money from the outset he still passed on some quick and valuable quests. By the time you had met up with Jason, you had already made back all the money you spent on gear.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°I don¡¯t really care one way or another. I still have better stats than either of you. In fact, one of the things that happened was that I starred my toughness. I¡¯m as tough as my body can handle.¡± Rosha rolls her eyes, ¡°Of course you would manage that before even leaving the city.¡± Jason gestures at his armor, ¡°Sure, but like I said, I can¡¯t use the gear bonus stats anymore. I¡¯m sure someone out there has better stats than I do.¡± Rosha squints at him, ¡°Of course there are people with better stats after their equipment is included. But we all know that gaining power and being able to fully use it are two different things. Your strength is all natural. Nevermind that the people with better stats are either like me but they did let their parents deck them out or got stupid lucky with a drop. And last time I checked drops are already so rare as to almost be non-existent.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I¡¯m sure hundreds of people in our level range get loot drops.¡± Courtney looks at him with an eyebrow raised. ¡°Not really making your case there. Modern Archaeologies can hold an astounding number of people and even limiting it to people at our particular rate means that even a few hundred people receiving drops would make the event a heaven defying chance. ¡°Sure, you can still collect whatever random gear the monster had and coins do sometimes spawn in, but loot loot is special. This is especially true since the loot system bypasses the System itself. That is why it can still work despite the world being against it. While the original designers thought it was cool to have special drops that completely fitted your circumstance, it was proven to cause too much of a problem. But like any project, everything is built on top of one another and so trying to remove the system might make it all fail.¡± This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Huh¡±, Jason pauses, ¡°I guess that makes sense. Still, you would think loot would be more common. Making stuff from raw ingredients is nice but can take significant time.¡± Courtney nods, ¡°It definitely takes its fair share of time. On the other hand, this is a world where some people spend a vast majority of their time. When running a game and people have a limited amount of time to do stuff, just having the gear ready at dawn makes sense. Here though? ¡°It¡¯s all about immersion. You can use a blacksmith to make a sword but it is going to take just as long to make as a mundane sword back home. Sure, with skills and magic, some things can be improved. A magic kiln that near instantly dries the wood you need means that whole obstacle is gone. But in the end, metal working comes down to hitting the metal with a heavy hammer. Plus, that is when the System reveals the stats.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°I guess I can see where this is coming from. Still, it would have been cool to watch a master blacksmith just hammering away at it going super fast.¡± Rosha nods, ¡°It is fun and I would like to see it for real instead of just on a video. One of the few things I saw before joining the game proper.¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°There¡¯s always a loophole to make use of in this kind of circumstance. The video Rosha saw involved someone buffed up with a haste spell. And not just one haste spell, either. Throughout you can just barely notice buffs kicking in or wearing out.¡± Jason settles back into the beanbag chair and focuses on petting Lily. Rosha, on the other hand moves the subject along. ¡°Did you find anything else about starring stats?¡± Courtney nods, ¡°I learned that you need truly special circumstances for a person to acquire even one. However, despite how rare it is and how important it could be seen as, the System would really like to just sweep it under the rug. It¡¯s just that it can¡¯t. The whole starring thing comes from before the System was even created. ¡°Those bits and pieces hanging out underneath the surface tend to lack rewards of their own. Mind you, starring a stat is pretty worthwhile if you¡¯re truly thinking long term. Mind you, I¡¯m only talking about a normal sapient being. Lily might actually receive something depending on how close she is to still being a pet.¡± Rosha frowns, ¡°But if the System just wants to shove it under the rug, why would it reward the use of the system as well?¡± Courtney rolls her eyes and does air quotes. ¡°Because they aren¡¯t ¡®real people¡¯ to the System. With pets, the System seems more able to provide the circumstances to star stuff and so the idea behind it is widely known. Nevermind whatever stuff they might receive on top of congratulations.¡± Jason frowns, ¡°The System better hope that Lily doesn¡¯t get any extra stuff from starring her stats then.¡± Courtney glances over at Rosha before looking back at Jason. ¡°Well, just be civil. Lily is a clever little bunny and I would trust her in a fight. However, we don¡¯t really know what they judge by.¡± Chapter 330 - Gilded Cage Jason sighs, ¡°Well, whatever happens I¡¯m more than willing to reach into the System¡¯s core and pull Lily back out.¡± Courtney raises an eyebrow, ¡°A bit extreme, but okay.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°If you aren¡¯t willing to go against the heavens once in a while what is the point of being strong? I¡¯d do the same for the both of you. Though luckily enough you¡¯re doing better irl than I am. Be a lot tougher for me to do anything there than it would be in NeoRealm.¡± Rosha laughs, ¡°The only trouble I have outside of NeoRealm is a clingy father. Thank goodness I got away from him and my mother has mostly kept him at arm¡¯s length. It would be nice if she could visit more but when lawyers get involved in a relationship, you don¡¯t always have a choice in such things.¡± Courtney growls, ¡°For all he claims to care it sure doesn¡¯t seem like it.¡± Rosha puts her arms around Courtney. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Courtney tries to push her away, ¡°You¡¯re the one who should be comforted. It isn¡¯t me who has to deal with your dad.¡± Rosha shakes her head, ¡°We both know that everyone around me has to deal with him. There aren¡¯t any court orders for him to avoid you after all. We should really consider getting a restraining order for you.¡± Jason coughs, ¡°Ah, I¡¯m not exactly a part of this but I would guess that isn¡¯t really an option for her.¡± Rosha sticks her tongue out at Jason, ¡°That shouldn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m going to make it happen!¡± Jason puts on a tense smile and breaks eye contact with her. Courtney picks up where he left off, though. ¡°I¡¯m employed by both your parents to be your maid. Trained and brought up as a part of your family¡¯s help. Even if they aren¡¯t together, their businesses are still integrated. The maid services are a part of that and I don¡¯t see that changing because of the history behind it.¡± Jason coughs again, ¡°So while I agree with you that you can¡¯t just get a restraining order I have to stop you right there. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re under an ironclad contract with them but your claim to not being able to do anything is false. Even though the world is a lot better now than it was before The Uprising, I do understand that money can buy most things. However, part of what was clawed back was safety from your employer. ¡°While you might not be able to do anything to him. You should be able to prevent him from doing anything to you in turn. And those contracts? Screw them. Rosha can¡¯t be poor and even if she doesn¡¯t have her own money, I¡¯m sure her mom would be willing to give her an ¡°allowance¡± to pay you to continue being her maid.¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Courtney shakes her head, ¡°I need to stay connected to the web of contacts the maid service allows me to access.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°I¡¯m calling you on that. Part of your training should have been on how to expand on your network. Anyone in your position who can¡¯t do that isn¡¯t worth the time spent on training you, let alone the money. Turn that into making your own network. Your contacts have contacts and if you can get to them, then you don¡¯t need the job¡¯s network.¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°It isn¡¯t that easy. I¡¯ve been working on it but ever since the trouble started her father has done what he could to prevent that. I¡¯m caged in the digital realm even more than she is in the real world.¡± Jason smiles, ¡°You¡¯re only caged by your own limited view. Of all the places that are free, more than any city state or arcology, the internet don¡¯t care how rich you are. The people in charge of the backbone are insane! If Rosha¡¯s dad tries to actually block you off on the web, they strike him from orbit. I don¡¯t care who he is. You don¡¯t mess with freedom on the internet.¡± Rosha hugs Courtney tighter, ¡°You know he¡¯s right?¡± Courtney lets out a whine, ¡°But my entire work will crumble! My kingdom will vanish!¡± Rosha shakes her head, ¡°If he can take it away then is it really yours?¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°But I¡¯ve spent so much work on it!¡± Jason laughs, ¡°That is part of what started the fire, you know? Making something that isn¡¯t yours and having no control over it. If Rosha¡¯s father controls the network and you¡¯ve spent so much work on it on your own time, you¡¯re just like those employees who got forced into unpaid overtime. Sure, breaking free of a gilded cage will break the cage. But it is a cage in the end.¡± Courtney leans back into Rosha, ¡°Truly, the prison you build yourself is the hardest to break out of.¡± Rosha gives her a squeeze, ¡°I think we both have a few self built walls to knock down.¡± Jason nods, ¡°My promise to battle through the heavens is honestly easier to make because it is an outside enemy. Sometimes the worst problems come from within. It isn¡¯t evil that conquers good because the difference is so obvious. It is neutrality that conquers good. The so-called sides of Good, Neutral, and Evil honestly are like a game of rock paper scissors. Good endures evils, evil overwhelms neutral, and neutral infiltrates good.¡± Rosha frowns, ¡°I get the good and neutral, but how does evil win against the neutrals?¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°Neutral is willing to do everything evil does, but they prefer to keep the status quo. Evil, on the other hand, is fine with just going straight in with the nasty stuff. A neutral is willing to go to war when pushed far enough and negotiations fail. Once evil wants to go to war, it does it. They might pretend to negotiate but if they want a war that is just a cover. The tanks are lining up as the diplomats smile and shake hands. I honestly prefer evil over the neutrals because at least they are true to themselves.¡± Rosha nods, ¡°Huh, that actually makes some sense. Though I¡¯m sure history is full of exceptions.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°For almost every rule there will be exceptions, especially when dealing with human nature. These are just general trends.¡± Chapter 331 - Just A Letter Courtney sighs, ¡°I hate what you just said because it means I can¡¯t look at Rosha¡¯s dad as evil.¡± Jason holds both his hands up, ¡°Woah there! Even if I haven¡¯t heard much, I¡¯m more than willing to bet he is evil to some extent. Rather, he seems more like one of those people who try to claim to be beyond morality. Sure, in this universe, morality isn¡¯t an absolute thing. But claims like that are a lie because morality is partially subjective. They can¡¯t claim to be beyond morality when it is to some extent decided between the two sides.¡± After that, there isn¡¯t much else to cover of the heavy stuff and the three hang out in the den till it is time to head to bed. Courtney however has something else to do. Things hadn¡¯t been settled during their talks but she knew one thing. Jason had been right about her being in a gilded cage but also that Rachel¡¯s father could actually stop her. The cage door was open, she just had to step through. In fact, it didn¡¯t even mean she had to abandon the cage. After all, it still had worth. But she couldn¡¯t limit her resources if she truly wanted to protect Rachel. While Courtney doubted that her dad would ever actually do anything harmful, there was some debate as to whether his opinion on what was and was not harmful would match her own. To limit herself to information filtered by a potential source of danger was intolerable. Until now, all the training and propaganda had limited her view. Like standing on top of a hill, it appeared she had the best view but since she never looked behind herself, she missed the wall that Rachel¡¯s father had built. Now was a time for change and after logging out she spun up her private instance. Even though it had all the connections provided by her employers, it was still private. That, however, doesn¡¯t mean she isn¡¯t going to set up a new section. Because while once someone has left they can¡¯t check on what is going on, anyone else who ends up in the room would be able to update Rachel¡¯s father. So one hidden room later and Courtney is ready to start. And that is where she pauses. As she thinks about it, while she was trained to expand her network, none of it involved starting from scratch. The first step was always either using pre-existing connections or going to the other maids to see about their contacts. Even if that failed, the answer wasn¡¯t to find your own help. It was to talk to whoever the head maid was. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Maybe even the head maid didn¡¯t know the answer. It was entirely possible that they would just have connections to their masters¡¯ actual spies. This didn¡¯t stop her, though. Even if unintended, Rachel had actually provided a way out. While it wasn¡¯t a deep connection, she knew a person in NeoRealm that could cut through the nonsense. Better yet, because it was before they met up and Rachel¡¯s direct orders Courtney hadn¡¯t personally researched the man. She had read the report on him but there wasn¡¯t anything to connect her personally with the man. So while having to communicate through NeoRealm would slow down things it would be worth it. After all, who better to try to start real world shenanigans than someone well known as the fourth wall breaking mage, Andrew. That figured out, Courtney looks around the empty hidden room and laughs. She had been prepared to do an all nighter and now it was going to be a simple matter of writing a letter. Sure, that will take some time, but nothing like setting up an entirely new web of contacts. Courtney sighs and logs back into NeoRealm. From there, it is just a matter of putting word to paper and she can get to sleep. Then early next morning, before Rachel, no, Courtney shakes her head and corrects herself. Once in game you have to keep names straight. So before Rosha wakes up, Courtney goes out into the den and hands the letter over to Gregor to get to the guild. While it would have been nice to have Rosha¡¯s personal introduction, she couldn¡¯t risk it slipping out to anyone else. Letter taken care of there isn¡¯t much else for her to do but wait. Not for long though as it seems the idea of sightseeing has everyone up early. And as luck would have it, Gregor had predicted this and so had breakfast ready early as well. Not only that but the breakfast truly fit the fast part. The meal wasn¡¯t anything fancy. Just some oatmeal with fruit. An easy to eat meal that doesn¡¯t feel like something you need to linger on. While that was going on, Peter was out on the town. Gregor had given him a task and he planned to get it done and be back to the house before the group left. It shouldn¡¯t take long but since it involved bureaucracy you could never be certain. While the passes to get through the city gates worked for most things, sightseeing within the town wasn¡¯t one of them. It wasn¡¯t too big of a deal except for the noble section of the city. While the nobles have some of the most amazing displays, they also prefer to have it all to themselves. For most cases, if you¡¯re just walking through the noble district, nothing should bother you. Just standing around and observing fancy displays on the other hand is going a little far. At least to the nobles. Of course, the royal family in charge of the system is very much against the nobles turtling up and not going out anymore. So the day passes were invented, allowing non-nobles to go out and enjoy the crazy creations that some of the nobles have managed to come up with. Chapter 332 - Noble Houses The trio were just about to head out when Peter finally made it back with the passes. While it wouldn¡¯t have been the end of the world if they missed him. Peter did have one other thing that proved well worth the wait. Unlike Gregor, Peter hadn¡¯t grown up in the city and was gone often enough not to be jaded. This meant he actually knew the good places to check out and what path to take. Sure, Gregor knew all of that. But like any other local, even the good attractions ended up being more of a hassle than something to see. So, with quickly scribbled out directions, Peter was able to give them a decent route to take for the day. After a parting thanks, Courtney grabs the passes and directions, then leads the party out into the streets. And, of course, the first stop is one of the bamboo viewing platforms that Gregor had previously mentioned in passing. Though just because it was the first stop didn¡¯t mean it was the first attraction. Peter had woven the path back and forth through the center of the city so they would pass as many noble homes and their yard displays as possible. Throughout the day, the strange and marvelous displays of obscene wealth would dazzle them. Yards with living treants paid to take on the form of topiaries. Strange environments made to keep even stranger beasts alive, from the deep sea to floating rocks over an illusionary void. While most of the houses tended to be of the same style, others had clearly decided to make the house itself a part of the display. Houses built on top of trees, houses made of trees, and even a house made of water for some reason. Then there were the historical houses. Monstrous affairs that the only theme appeared to be that whenever a new housing style came around, they would add a new wing in that style. Though speaking of history, there were a few families that focused on that specifically. Whether it was illusionary scenes of some past triumph or miniature landscapes shifting over time through magic so as to show how the lands had changed. There were even some honest to goodness fossils. A true rarity when any half decent necromancer, alchemist, or bone carver would commit crimes just to hold, let alone own. Then spaced out here and there were the truly strange houses. The party only saw three of them and for all they knew, that might be it but it was well worth the time spent to see them. The first that they saw was a marvel of dimensional magic. Center stage was a small ornate door standing on its own. But the group could only see it from the entrance. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Even then, they needed to look directly at it. Not because they could look at it from the side, but rather because doing so caused actual damage. There was just a single path, no longer than expected going directly from the edge of the road to that door. All around it though was a vast grass covered field. Try to view the door from some other direction and you would need some serious magnification. The problem came from when you tried to view the short path to the door and the vast field at the same time. Space itself seemed to rub against itself and fracture. Jason managed to look at it the longest before taking a point of damage while the other two had to look away almost instantly. Even if it was just a giant field of grass, the sheer amount of magic that must be needed to keep the space stretched like that might bankrupt most of the other nobles. The other two houses, of course used some spatial expansion magic but only doubling the available space, which while still expensive and a waste, was still within reason. They, however, made up for it with their own oddities. Green, before anything else, that is how the second house would be described. And not just a specific green, but every green. Think of all the shades of green you know and they had more. Despite the shades being similar to one another, they managed to make each one pop. No shade of green ran into another even when whoever designed this place mixed them. Beyond that, there were shades of green that should not, could not exist. There were true greens and not just yellow blues or blue yellows. There were anti-greens that, despite seemingly the opposite of green still managed to be green. Greens that seemed to shift between every other color and yet never not be green. And when you consider the whole place was covered in plants with every single leaf and branch a unique shade, you begin to get the picture. What was most impressive though was how whoever owned the house was able to make it so you couldn¡¯t mistake it for an illusion. This was real with not a single speck of illusion based magic. And of course the third house wasn¡¯t going to let itself be outdone. This noble¡¯s house worshiped the idea of going fast. The concept of speed itself, with even the land under everything moving. Like a giant treadmill set to go way too fast a grassy yard zooms by underneath. On top of it, various vehicles, animals, and other assorted strangeness moved as fast as they could to stay in place. The house was on tank tracks. A herd of blue and yellow cattle stampede alongside it, never slowing. In the air, strange birds seem to levitate if not for how hard they are flapping their wings. There is a horse drawn carriage being pulled by an eight-legged pitch black horse. And of course among it all there is a horde of quicklings maintaining it all, zooming around as if everything else was standing still. Though Rosha does catch a glimpse of what were probably dwarves on the house itself to take care of the mechanical bits. While the fae might be alright for dealing with animals, gears tend to be a bit beyond them. Chapter 333 - The Platform And The Gallery But that was just the nobles showing off. Sure, the three special ones were an astounding display all on their own and each place was constructed to show off. But the nobles didn¡¯t really care if you understood what you were seeing. They just cared about the other nobles who would understand it all, even if just through rote memorization. In fact, Jason had a feeling that they probably missed quite a bit from not getting the in-jokes. The actual stops on the route went in the opposite direction. While not always the most exciting, each location had at least one bard hanging around to describe what the location represented and any history. Though their first stop needed no introduction. It took a handful of minutes in line, but soon enough the group was climbing up a spindly tower. Said tower is crowned by a large platform shaped like a half moon so as to provide the best possible view of the Sky Breaking Purple Bamboo of Tribulations and Illusions. Though even being so high up, the bamboo looked as if they hadn¡¯t left the ground. You still would just look up and up and up until the stalk seemed to vanish from view into the sky. Though the view was clearer from the platform. Not from height, but rather the function of the platform itself. Each of the nine bamboo naturally prevented people from seeing it too well and the nation¡¯s founder had set up formations that improved this function. Only the special magic of the platforms that were set in place before the bamboo had grown was capable of piercing it so well. Of course, nothing is perfect. While the tower itself, along with the other similar ones, spread equidistant from the bamboo had been set up by the founder. The viewing platform itself was a later addition and so if you went too far to the edges the illusion piercing effect would lessen. Though that too was an interesting experience that allowed visitors to slowly shift between shrouded and not. From there, they hit a few smaller shrines, memorials, and so on. Important pieces of history though only the fact that each had a bard to extol the virtues of whatever was being celebrated kept things interesting. There was more variety but you can only do those types of things so many ways before you start to repeat yourself. The art gallery, on the other hand, had no such problem. Every surface of the building was etched, sculpted, shaped, and smoothed into strange designs. Famous craftsmen, artists, sculptors and more had been working on the gallery itself since just after the founding of the nation. True masterpieces that if auctions would be worth thousands of gold, even if they didn¡¯t provide any special effects. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Upon entering, the group found the security to be beyond top notch. Not only were there guards but they had even managed to get the System to help them. Or at least that is what the group assumes happened as a message alerting them to all forms of recording being disabled within the gallery. Still, the walk through is worth every second. Paintings of every style under the sun are hung out for sale. Sculptures that feel like they should be able to step down off their plinth and walk away. Calligraphy so smooth and flowing that it urges the whole group to try and learn the traditional language most had been written in. Though what first catches the group¡¯s attention has nothing to do with the art but rather the price tags. As Gregor had said, this wasn¡¯t an art museum, but rather a gallery. Except for a few accent pieces near the reception desks, everything could be bought. And if the bards could be trusted, had been in the past. And those prices aren¡¯t cheap. In fact, the group didn¡¯t once spot a single item selling for below 100 gold. This is partly because each piece in the hall is just the cream of the crop. The gallery had a reputation to uphold, after all. But the reality of it is that unlike the exterior art, much of the pieces within the hall had extra effects. Whether through magic, qi, or pure skill, the various works of art had the ability to provide buffs. One depiction of a doctor allowed people to gently recover from injuries when around it. A pair of paintings that worked similar to paired portal gates. And, of course, way too many combat sculptures meant to both look amazing and put up a fight against any intruders. After all, if you are going to have golem based defenses, you might as well make them look good. Not that such beneficial buffs are the only things in the hall. Some works are simply that good, having been created by at the very least masters of their particular skill. And of course being in a place so focused on illusions there were a decent number of anchored illusions for sale as well. Focused on an anchor stone they provided an excellent combination of art and conveniences. A simple stone on a table won¡¯t get in the way. But once you don¡¯t need the table anymore it is easy enough to activate the stone and have the entire space taken up by intricate displays of art. Though none of the illusions offered any extra effects. Jason had figured someone would be selling a vastly overpriced art piece to cover up a wall safe or what have you. Instead, the illusions mostly stuck to their lane. It took Jason a while to figure it out but Rosha beat him to the punch. While people could create shockingly realistic illusions, they were also really good at seeing through said illusions. Anyone trying to hide their valuables with an illusion in this city was just asking for people to know and call them out on it. While illusions aren¡¯t an everyday thing for most, enough have trained themselves if only to avoid scams. Chapter 334 - Painful Memories Now, having seen the fancy houses, extravagant art, and the breathtaking view from the viewing platform the group approaches the final place marked for their trip right as the sun is about to set. It isn¡¯t central to anything, in fact, the final point is out of the way and very much off the beaten path. Still, the place has great importance for their final place to visit is the memorial to remember what defeating the swarm bears cost. From what Gregor had told them, it was crafted by true masters and yet the founder had purposefully hid it away. Though at first glimpse, they wonder how even with being out of the way it wasn¡¯t more of an attraction. Surrounded and hidden by a collection of two-story buildings the group first catches sight of the memorial halfway through the only path, a cramped zigzag alleyway. They turn the corner and there it is, a massive display of artistic talent and practiced craftsmanship. The first they notice is the nine pillars rising up to just below the surrounding buildings. Each one a vibrant purple stone carved to mimic the nine bamboo stalks raised up by the founder. A short way down from the top is a crystal dome acting as the ceiling with each facet placed exactly right to make it appear as if the sky was filled with shifting clouds. Sparks of light occasionally catching here and there to simulate the appearance of thunder crawling across the underside of said clouds. Closer up the ceiling takes on an even more impressive significance as the group realizes that it wasn¡¯t like stained glass, a bunch of plates fit together. The huge dome about the size of a city block is a single chunk of crystal and the ceiling isn¡¯t just quartz or some other common gem. Rather, Courtney is able to recognize it as a form of elementally aligned sapphire. Rare not only for the size but the fact that to gain an alignment with a mix of elements such that it replicates a storm would require the original ore to have been open to the sky. Sure, it also needed to be either high enough to be the main target of lightning strikes or in a place where such storms are common. But that doesn¡¯t change the fact that the ore would have been out in the open for thousands of years. Suffice it to say the crystal wasn¡¯t from the area and would have cost a kingdom¡¯s bounty to acquire. And the closer look also reveals further detail to the pillars. Those appear to cheat a little by using material from the same sort of bamboo as the actual things. While a very rare material, it would be a lot easier to get a few stalks of the stuff when you own nine fully grown stalks. They didn¡¯t cheat, though. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Each of the pillars is a carved replica of the nine bamboo stalks on the day of the founder¡¯s victory. Every single leaf right down to the vein patterns is carved into the wood. If this was normal wood, the fact they managed to do that without them snapping off at a slight breeze would be amazing. With this wood, though, the amazing part is that they even managed to carve it in the first place. Even young shoots of the stuff would require someone of six breaks swinging an ax with most of their power to chop it down. For a person to be able to carve such small details into it? Some mix of godly tools, monstrous skills, and titanic strength all backed up by a hand so steady an earthquake wouldn¡¯t shake it and the patience of an immortal. Then they walked into the memorial proper. It was hard to see as of course there was a bit of an illusion effect in place. But the second they passed between the pillars it was like a curtain being pulled back. And what a scene. Jason sighed, Courtney¡¯s face hardened, and Rosha covered her mouth. It was a recreation of the battlefield, a battlefield that covered much of the area their kingdom now claimed. At the center of it all was the broken remains of a mountain that must have been more cave than stone, and all around it the bodies of bears that going by the scale must have been thrice the size of a house. But what truly grabbed their attention was a giant collection of bears that appeared to have been sewn together. Like some kind of undead abomination that had been stitched together, and yet some primal reaction told the three that this was a living being that had melded together through some natural yet at the same time unnatural process. Like a rat king, but on a scale so large and horrifying it defies understanding. Rosha is forced to look away by some primal urge and so is the first to notice the true extent of the carnage. While the bears¡¯ size had caught their attention first, they weren¡¯t the only bodies lying around. For each bear, there are at least a few humanoid bodies around it. The death total involved is horrifying in the scope and scale. While none of them can be certain, Jason at least gets the feeling from the memorial that none of the fallen had been below level 100. If he is right, that means this isn¡¯t just an army but a gathering of the truly powerful. All dead, all fallen to threat that they likely only acted as a short-lived meatwall while the founder fought the warped body horror display at the center of it all. As they stand there, more reveals itself to them. If they focus on one body or another, an illusion with their name pops up. Pay too much attention to one scene or another and it will be overlaid with a short description of how that fight went and each one was just as depressing as the last. No expense was spared on this memorial. The group stands there as it all crashes down on them. They can finally claim to have seen a true artifact in NeoRealm but even Jason, who had seen horrors in his last life, wasn¡¯t able to process it yet. Chapter 335 - Talking Around Rosha The memorial would never be a popular attraction. The very work put into that pushed the limits of illusion and craftsmanship so far that the rules broke made sure of it. Once seen, a person would feel unwilling to point others towards it. This memorial truly kept the memory alive in all of its gory and horrific detail. Most definitely not a place to bring the family as it were. After experiencing it, the group understood exactly why Peter put it as the last place to visit. Such a powerful scene would have ruined the rest of the day. As it is, it will only make whatever dreams come tonight be of the unwelcome sort. Nightmares are a near certainty after seeing something like that giant bear horror. So after spending less time than they felt it deserved and yet more time than they ever wanted to spend on it the trio heads to the house as the last rays of light come across the top of the surrounding buildings. Back in the den Peter is waiting for them, stretched out over a number of the beanbags yawning. He turns his head when they enter, ¡°Well, took you long enough to get back here. The memorial really takes it out of you, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Rosha sticks her tongue out at him, ¡°You knew what was up. Hell, Gregor downplayed it as well when he described it. Of course it isn¡¯t a tourist attraction!¡± Gregor walks in from the kitchen laughing. After placing down a small pot of soup, he shrugs, ¡°Didn¡¯t want to scare the three of you off seeing it. While you guys don¡¯t treat our world like a game as much as other travellers do, you still had some of that view. I¡¯ve found the memorial tends to knock it out of all except the delusional.¡± Jason grabs a bowl of soup and sits down, ¡°As a famous playwright in our world once said, ¡®All the world¡¯s a stage, and all the men and women merely players¡¯. Some of us merely take it more literally here than they should. And it isn¡¯t hard to see why. When death is merely a suggestion instead of a stopping point, many things get exaggerated.¡± Peter rolls his eyes, ¡°Of course you quote Shakespeare at us. We might not get many more recent references, but you travellers seem to need to share as much of your culture as possible.¡± Rosha laughs, ¡°I don¡¯t know if you could understand our modern references in the first place. We¡¯ve crafted the art memetic self referential in jokes to an incredibly fine edge. We would have to explain over a hundred years of history our people just seem to pick up by osmosis. Like, I don¡¯t even know where to start to try to describe the whole joke category of bone hurting juice. That meme has centuries of history behind it at this point.¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Gregor squints, ¡°I assume that the name doesn¡¯t describe it or some such?¡± Jason laughs and shakes his head, ¡°Oh no, the name describes it perfectly. It is an image set where a character drinks bone hurting juice and then their bones hurt.¡± Gregor squints harder, ¡°That. That isn¡¯t funny?¡± Courtney sighs and rubs her temples, ¡°There is a reason we would be here all night explaining why a joke that old still survives. Let¡¯s instead refocus on tomorrow. Me and Rosha are leaving. Jason, are you heading out?¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I¡¯m sticking around until Sunday break. I don¡¯t want to come back only to find my campsite surrounded by wolves or some other nonsense.¡± Rosha nods, ¡°I guess that is a potential worry for us as well. Of course, we are taking the safer route. Or at least for whatever quantity safer means for us. Still traveling through the wilds. We aren¡¯t exactly trying to never die as without Lily there isn¡¯t as much penalty.¡± Jason grimaces, ¡°Yeah, I wouldn¡¯t trade her for anything but I¡¯m running in hard mode right now.¡± He turns to Courtney and in reference to what he told her about irl cultivation asks, ¡°Any progress on what I told you?¡± Courtney nods, ¡°I had a few small-scale tests of the first part and have seen the results. Though even that has attracted too much attention.¡± She sighs, ¡°I¡¯m going to have to personally test it at this point to go anywhere without letting the family know as it were.¡± Rosha looks worried, ¡°I know I¡¯m not supposed to know but this doesn¡¯t sound all that safe?¡± Jason laughs, ¡°From my point of view it is safe enough. Admittedly, it would be safer with my guidance since I¡¯ve already walked the path. You don¡¯t have to worry though, I¡¯ve told her the signs of danger and with my help anything she gets into should be fixable.¡± Courtney glares at him, ¡°That is yet to be seen! What you suggest has truly world altering consequences even if only the first step is helpful. You don¡¯t alter the world without breaking things.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°As luck would have it most of the eggs that need breaking for this omelet have already been cooked up and eaten years ago. There are even already methods of life extension sitting around. The early steps could be seen as that but cheaper.¡± Courtney shakes her head, ¡°There is a large difference between cheaper and literally free to anyone with a bit of time on their hands. Like I said, world altering.¡± Jason rolls his eyes, ¡°It was bound to happen. As it is, anyone half lucky here can live twice as long in our world. If anything, this would distract people from here for a short while.¡± Gregor coughs, ¡°So I can¡¯t help but overhear this and might have some points to make.¡± The two turn towards him as one and he laughs, ¡°Don¡¯t think that despite how short your kind¡¯s time has been in our world that we haven¡¯t noticed. Wherever your main form lives doesn¡¯t have quite the lifespan, even normal humans and goblins have here. Of course, most die young, especially the goblins, but even the most basic power training can help extend one¡¯s life to about three hundred years.¡± Chapter 336 - Jason Rants Gregor laughs, ¡°You travellers just have the benefit of coming from somewhere that is temporally out of sync in your favor. Now if I understand things right what Jason there has to offer you would be like someone coming to NeoRealm before the power systems were figured out. ¡°On the other hand, it also sounds like some of you have the benefit of a longer lifespan. I¡¯m going to assume a normal human life of about 80 to 110 years? Anyway, some of you already double that through wealth and politics. What Jason isn¡¯t offering is free life extensions. You make it sound so simple and it might seem like it since every one of you travellers gain the ability to cultivate power here. ¡°Why would you assume everyone would be able to just sit down and extend their lives a couple hundred years? You two have a special background and Jason is just weird. So in the end, what he actually offers is the addition of a third pillar of life extension, that of personal power. Sure, some people are going to be on top with all three, but they¡¯re already there with the first two, anyway. ¡°What you likely don¡¯t realize about our world is that there are more than one way to extend our lives. Some races live longer, like elves and kitsune. The three powers are a classic way to get there. Being important to a church and even without power gods may favor you. And of course there is alchemy, which sounds closest to what you travellers already have. ¡°So while it will cause a problem? I suspect that things will settle down quickly enough. You already have a form of life extension and so having another won¡¯t completely break things.¡± Courtney shakes her head, ¡°He promises absurd levels of personal power to our world that only leaders of nations and international organizations have held in the past.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°Don¡¯t try that! We both know that the rich could have any of those so-called strengths. And now? We might still not have replicators like in science fiction, but 3d printing up some very dangerous weapons is well within the common man¡¯s ability.¡± Courtney whines, ¡°But it¡¯s Different!¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°Is it really? Who would gain access to the power that could already have it?¡± Courtney freezes. Everyone waits for a moment before Rosha breaks the silence, ¡°They do sort of have you there. I still have no clue what this is about but when whack jobs have had access to nukes in even the recent past, I don¡¯t know what kind of power Jason could offer that isn¡¯t already out there with detailed plans of the construction and use.¡± Courtney sighs, ¡°The magnitude he promises outstrips EVERYTHING I have seen both in our world and in NeoRealm.¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. It is everyone else¡¯s (except, of course Jasons) turn to freeze. Gregor spoke up first, ¡°That, that shouldn¡¯t be accurate. A level capped individual can alter entire kingdoms with just a bit of personal effort. A capped wizard could permanently change the weather across regions. A capped warrior can split mountains or just crumble them with a well-placed strike.¡± Courtney scoffs, ¡°We might not have that level of personal power but without magic or any powered tricks we altered the climate of our entire planet, not once but twice! And the first time was an accident. A single button press could spell the end of a mountain easily enough and through purely physical strength and machines we have extracted mammoth pits in the ground to get at various resources. When there was a worry of the sea level rising too much, there was a legit suggestion to just dig a big enough hole to hold the extra water. While we might not have the personal power you have here, we do have the brute force and technology to do just as much if not more.¡± Gregor holds up both hands, ¡°Fair enough. Everyone probably has their own specialties. But I still don¡¯t see how he could promise power beyond that. It isn¡¯t like he has any experience with the capped and those who have broken through. Sure, you travellers have a handful of people that have reached that level but he doesn¡¯t have your connections. Even just listening to the three of you banter has told me enough to know that.¡± Courtney stares him dead in the eyes, ¡°He promises a level of power such that one could pluck the stars from the sky and juggle moons.¡± Gregor turns to Jason, ¡°What nonsense are you trying to peddle?¡± Jason laughs, ¡°You could have that power! I might not have her connections but I¡¯ve been trained by someone I suspect to be capped. Besides, NeoRealm is just a small bubble being held together by the System and the few truly powerful beings who have gone beyond it yet still want to keep their old cage safe.¡± Peter slaps the ground, ¡°How would you even know that?!¡± Jason leans back and stairs up at the roof with dead eyes, ¡°You¡¯re gods are small, the System is a toddler in time out, and you don¡¯t even face the true brunt of the universe¡¯s displeasure here for the power you gain. I can¡¯t be certain until I experience it myself of course but the very bamboo stalk this city is based around tells me a different story. ¡°Why are there only bottlenecks and yet I¡¯ve never heard of a tribulation? You do a few make quests for the System and suddenly can grow in power again? Where is the struggle! Sure, people get stuck at the various bottlenecks, but there are way too many powerful people. ¡°I¡¯ve been sitting back on this for a while. I haven¡¯t really had enough data to be honest. Fine, you want me to say it? Maybe I¡¯ve just been holding it in, but every town I¡¯ve been to has involved me getting involved with people many times stronger than someone at my level should be involved with. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m special, but not that special! I even end up being instructed by someone at the top end by accident. What is wrong with this world? The System event tries to nerf me and suppress me for my abilities yet allows for an absurd density of the powerful to exist. The fact most of NeoRealm isn¡¯t just a loose collection of enormous craters is amazing. ¡°There are even monsters like those swarm bears just hanging out near normal kingdoms. Like, a monster of that level should either have a giant realm to itself or in a place where similar leveled creatures gather. NeoRealm is broken and it is only through what must be constant System interference that the whole mess hasn¡¯t exploded spectacularly.¡± Chapter 337 - Pre-History Ages Mentioned Jason is panting as he finishes his rant. Everyone is looking at him strangely. He hadn¡¯t really revealed any of this before, even to Rosha and Courtney so it all came out of nowhere. Gregor tries to say something a few times but can¡¯t figure out the words. Rosha and Courtney are mostly just stunned that Jason broke down that way as he seemed to always be solid as a rock. So it falls to Peter to pick up the conversation. Though Peter has his own bombshells to drop. ¡°Well, it wouldn¡¯t be the first time.¡± Everyone turns to him and he shrugs, ¡°I mentioned it just recently, didn¡¯t I? I¡¯ve found ancient ruins and duplicate artifacts. The System hasn¡¯t always worked the way it does now. But that is only the surface. ¡°The world is decently sized, right? In fact, from what I have gathered from other travellers who are more of the exploring bent, it is bigger than what you guys have to work with. The mountains are higher, the depths are deeper, and we even have an entire Underdark area that travellers don¡¯t have. But it was bigger. I find ruins in collapsed spaces. ¡°There are maps I¡¯ve found that suggest some sects of prehistory covered lands taking up what would be large percentages of our world and yet also claim they existed with many similarly sized sects. Barely understood treaties around naming conventions that suggest a king can only call themselves an emperor if they control three digits worth of other kingdoms. ¡°Then it ends, at least twice in fact. First was the split off of mana and qi. Then a mass extinction that wiped out numerous empires, which I remind you requires over a hundred kingdoms, of beasts ruled by things like large families of dragons or phoenixes. ¡°That means there were at least two eras before recorded history. And you know what? I suspect both of them lasted longer than our entire recorded history so far, including the bit that isn¡¯t prehistory but isn¡¯t that well recorded. An entire epoch of time where the power of creation ran rampant and then another ruled by mythical beasts.¡± Jason gestures at Peter, ¡°See? This is what I mean. Let me guess, while there are mentions of powerful beings they were either gathered together like those mythical families or individually as the ruler of the local kingdoms?¡± Peter nods, ¡°Despite all my research pointing to there being at least a magnitude more power back than, the truly powerful were spread out. The bamboo our kingdom is so proud of is one of the things to survive till modern day and we only have nine small sprouts of the stuff. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°I know where the founder got them from. There used to be a forest of the stuff that rose past the skies despite it being referred to and quite literally being nine skies. And part of why such a large forest of them managed to grow? There was only a small family of Royal YingYang Pandas that could even break the surface of the things. And that was within the nearest few empires. ¡°Our modern situation where we have to be careful that some enterprising kid doesn¡¯t start cutting them down is the outlier in all of history. Too many powerhouses are too close. Not just because our world is smaller, but also because people as strong as us should be more, well, everything! ¡°More people reach our level of strength without our level of mental fortitude and strength of personality. There are those past the sixth break who still work as guards and officials! In the past, that not only was a level of power denoting the ability to rule a region. But to reach that level would mean either an unwillingness to join a power structure or at the very least to not do menial chores. The powerful now have weaker minds, personalities, and wills.¡± Jason sighs, ¡°It¡¯s the System¡¯s fault. I wouldn¡¯t change a thing in the past because it all led up to where I am now. But the System has made advancement too easy. It is all gifted power and levels. Over 90% of people would be struck down by what I consider a proper bottleneck. ¡°You should need talent, willpower, and luck to get to the levels you two have. Not saying you both haven¡¯t gotten that with time, but enough others clearly haven¡¯t. If the System ever fails to protect this little bubble of the universe, the population would take a disastrous dip, especially on the higher end.¡± Courtney is frowning quite hard at this point. ¡°NeoRealm isn¡¯t a cultivation novel. While there are some similar elements, that is true for most rpg systems. A gradual build up of power is just how it works. Just because the bamboo has the word tribulation in the name doesn¡¯t mean the heavens will be literally striking us with lightning after breaking certain bottlenecks.¡± Gregor coughs, ¡°Ah well, technically that does happen? Just not for the normal bottlenecks. But if my sources aren¡¯t lying, that sort of thing does happen to someone trying to break through the ninth bottleneck and hit level 500.¡± Jason nods, ¡°As it should. Tribulation lightning is always seen as special lightning, right? That is because it represents stress between a person¡¯s internal world and the external. Instead of being electricity or whatever other form the tribulation takes, it can be seen as a form of dimensional power in a similar vein to an earthquake. ¡°This power just takes the form of natural phenomena because that is the path of least resistance. Try and breakthrough in the void and you would have to deal with whatever counts as weather there. The stress must be released in some way or bad things happen. The 9th bottleneck¡¯s tribulation is likely extra hard because the System has kept everyone safe from any previous advances. Everyone is like whales in the ocean and level 500 involves leaving the water. You¡¯re going to need some special training to get past that.¡± Chapter 338 - Pantheons and Heavenly Courts Courtney gestures in the direction of the bamboo stalk, ¡°Then what about those things? They have tribulation in their name.¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°They can generate a burst of lightning that those who have observed agree that it is like tribulation lightning. I don¡¯t know if it is exactly the same mind you. That would require me to both have witnessed someone breaking through the ninth bottleneck and the founder needing to use the stalks again. As it is, the nine bamboo have been used to bring down a tribulation twice. ¡°The first time was obviously used to make taking down the swarm bears possible. As for the second time? Well, the forest didn¡¯t just try to mess with the kingdoms cutting it down. I was alive for that second one but not living near any of the bamboo so I didn¡¯t see it. Scholars admittedly can¡¯t agree on how close it is either but when the System uses specific names like tribulation, it tends to not be misleading us. If only because if it did mislead people that would cause quite the backlash.¡± Courtney rubs the bridge of her nose, ¡°But how does that explain having multiple high-level people crammed into a small area?¡± Jason sighs, ¡°You know the heavenly court? Big ol¡¯ myth from our world about there being an ultimate ruler of all the gods?¡± Courtney shrugs, ¡°Sure, it isn¡¯t exactly local but there are enough pantheons.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°No, not pantheons, heavenly court. It is a matter of semantics, but that is only because cultures in our world tended to have one major religious group or another so no one had to make a difference. So for most, the heavenly court is just another pantheon but that isn¡¯t true. ¡°Look at all the major pantheons, they have anywhere from just a family of gods up to a decent collection of gods. But the one thing most of them have in common is that it isn¡¯t really a system. Hell, most of the pantheons are ruled by a god who can be described as the head of the family instead of any actual political position. ¡°There might be other religions like the heavenly court in our world, but I¡¯m only familiar with it as of now. Anyway, the heavenly court is not like that. It is a true bureaucracy. Each river has a god to make sure it runs properly, every mountain a mountain god, and even a small town could have a local protective spirit. ¡°The Emperor is a true ruler and when a heavenly figure breaks his rules, it isn¡¯t because they are following their own system. It is because they are breaking the heavenly laws. While the System is much more hands off, it is filling a similar position. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°But notice how I mentioned that basically every place had some kind of heavenly being? That is what we have here! Every random town we visit seems to have at least one person with a level in the three digits. The System might not be literally placing people everywhere like the heavenly court did, but I¡¯m willing to bet it acts behind the scenes to make sure this happens.¡± Gregor nods, ¡°While I can¡¯t be certain of the gods in your world but we have a few similar situations here. An orderly heavenly bureaucracy will always lead to more gods, especially on the lower end. But while I¡¯ve been with you until now, why do you consider this a bad thing? At least it sounds like you aren¡¯t too into there being so many high-level people around.¡± Courtney frowns and interrupts, ¡°I think I might understand. While the larger heavenly court has more beings that are called gods and here we have a ton of beings with a triple digit level, these things do not represent true power. Smaller pantheons might have less gods, but the quality of each god is that much greater. Especially when in the heavenly court someone could just be granted a position. ¡°And that is exactly the kind of thing the System must be doing to have the high level people so evenly spread. Nothing against you, Gregor, but to gain levels in theory should require someone going out to gain said levels. Someone who would just stick around in a random town or city isn¡¯t going to level at the speed necessary to outpace their age even if they do have hundreds of years. No, the System must be boosting people it knows will stick around in their home base.¡± Gregor gestures at Peter, ¡°I¡¯ve gained so many levels because of his adventures. He brings me back all kinds of interesting enchanted things and components to further my craft. Though because of my youth I¡¯m on the adventurer¡¯s path and not the crafter¡¯s path when it comes to breakthroughs.¡± Courtney shakes her head, ¡°How you breakthrough doesn¡¯t matter. At least it shouldn¡¯t if what Jason has guessed is true. The System itself allows you to breakthrough despite not being ready either way.¡± Jason nods, ¡°If anything, the crafter¡¯s path is more natural. No matter how you advance it is partly a practice of sharpening your will either through repetitive practice or continual failures from reaching beyond your own abilities. But no, the real problem is gifted experience. Just like in a bureaucracy where someone could be lifted to a position beyond what they can handle just by being favored, the System is doing something similar.¡± Courtney continues, ¡°And while our group hasn¡¯t done too many quests, the amount has always seemed equal to the effort or luck required. That is not the case for locals. You guys might get almost nothing from a quest while another guy could get to level ten just by delivering letters around a city in relative short order. ¡°Isn¡¯t it strange that travellers seem to get compensatory amounts of experience while locals almost seem to get random amounts? That¡¯s the System manipulating things so those it favors rise while those it doesn¡¯t have to work for it all the harder. If I had to guess, government officials and other similar positions probably get quite a hefty amount of experience just for doing their jobs.¡± Peter raises an eyebrow, ¡°I can¡¯t confirm or deny this, but why does this matter?¡± Chapter 339 - That Would Be A Problem Jason gestures at himself, ¡°A large part of my current path is separating as much of the System¡¯s influence from me as possible so I¡¯ve seen a few things. But the short answer is, who defends NeoRealm if the System ever fails?¡± Peter shrugs, ¡°Well, like mentioned we have a good number of high-level people around, anyway.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°No, you won¡¯t. If you build your house on a rock and that rock vanishes, what happens to your house? The System is supporting all those people it has pushed forward. They don¡¯t have as much combat or crafting experience as they should and without the System propping them up I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if their levels didn¡¯t drop drastically. Nevermind the whole tribulation thing and that without the System, levels wouldn¡¯t be a thing.¡± Peter frowns and everyone goes silent. Gregor and Peter as they consider what Jason just said, while the others wait. ¡°Well¡±, Gregor begins to say, but stops. Peter sighs, ¡°That would be a problem.¡± Gregor nods, ¡°I understand that the System isn¡¯t inherent to the world, but it is built into all of society. Hell, a major part of how we decide if a being is sapient enough to be a citizen is completely based on the System.¡± Jason frowns, ¡°Yeah, that might not be the best decision as it is. But I can understand falling into it. Not having to judge each new being individually would make things a lot easier. Though I guess the System might be suppressing anything, it doesn¡¯t want to be sapient. It does that already with swarms.¡± Peter rubs his neck, ¡°I¡¯ve definitely seen some non-sapient beings building up their own civilizations deep in the various wilds.¡± Jason nods, ¡°If we¡¯re going off of that, I¡¯ve seen two myself on the edge of the nearby wasteland. Bunch of psychic emu beings and some really messed up mix between animal and goblin.¡± Peter grimaces, ¡°Yeah, goblinoids are like a weed. They just pop up everywhere.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°These weren¡¯t gobliniods per se. Rather, they were more like animal folk with goblin bodies. From how I understand it, the word goblinoid more covers a bunch of goblin style spawn that happens despite not being. Like how there are a bunch of crabs that aren¡¯t technically true crabs. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Anyway, from my observations they would be more in line with mutated animals if not for the fact they were one species. Of course, when dealing with that magical disaster I guess just about anything is possible.¡± Gregor shrugs, ¡°While you aren¡¯t wrong, you also brought up the perfect example for why you aren¡¯t right, either. Just like crabs, if a creature appears similar to a goblin, people are going to call it a goblinoid. But that is besides the point. ¡°There is a large difference between a sapient and a being capable of building a society. Though when they are making literal houses and stuff, it makes things a little harder to tell apart. But you just have to look at ants. They have a society that if anything, is more organized than most sapients. The real difference is a bit more ephemeral and so we just accept what the System says. Otherwise, we would go crazy trying to figure it all out. ¡°Of all the changes that travellers brought, the change to sapient goblins was, in my opinion, one of the best. Being able to tell a goblin was sapient from the presence of a third eye just made everything so much easier. Though I¡¯m sure any sapient goblin from the time would have enough complaints about the change itself. Brains aren¡¯t exactly designed to go from bifocal to trifocal.¡± Jason stretches and yawns, ¡°Yeah, any kind of extra senses will mess you up, but that is especially true of trying to extend a limited sense like vision taken from some eyes. Would have been much easier to add more to the sense of touch. After all, people growing up rarely gain more eyes but the body does increase in size drastically.¡± Gregor yawns in response, ¡°True enough. Though from my understanding, it had more to do with people on your side. How you travellers had people already set up for three eyes is beyond me as you all seem to come from the same species.¡± Peter nods, ¡°Just the fact most travellers end up as a core humanoid species would point towards that. Though the most obvious thing that points towards that is whenever one of you guys does end up in a non-humanoid form. I saw a new centaur traveller once and they wobbled around like a newborn foal for days. But while this has been exciting, I think it might be time to wrap this up. I¡¯m going to be heading out within the next couple days and you three will be gone soon enough as well.¡± Courtney stands up, ¡°I can agree with that. Me and Rosha will be heading out early.¡± Rosha stands up with her, ¡°I have no clue exactly what just happened? It just went from a topic I wasn¡¯t supposed to know to this odd mess where Jason went a bit ranty. But yeah, I¡¯m good to be done for now.¡± Peter gathers up the dishes, ¡°It has been fun, but I¡¯m used to being alone for the most part and any longer would start to drive me crazy.¡± Jason nods, ¡°I don¡¯t ever see myself being around a lot of people for too long. Though even now I can see a future where I might end up in a guild. It would just have to be my own.¡± Rosha rolls her eyes, ¡°You¡¯re just willing to put up with others to continue hanging out with us. While I don¡¯t want to, we both know that at some point I¡¯ll probably have to start my own group, if only to stay out of my family¡¯s group.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°We will just have to see how things happen. While in our world it isn¡¯t quite as true, NeoRealm is definitely a place where enough might can make right to a certain degree.¡± Chapter 340 - A Gate The next day Rosha and Courtney head out together while Jason sticks around until Sunday rolls around. At some point between those two times, Peter managed to sneak out. Jason wasn¡¯t able to pin down when, but he didn¡¯t really try too hard, either. Sunday was a big day. A day that had finally arrived. The only thing to note was a message from the System, but with that message, the number of active travellers plummeted. Sure, many of them stuck around. Not everyone needed to leave and some will be attempting to take advantage of those who left. In the end, though, when the five to one time ratio is dropped people flocked to the real world. Even if NeoRealm felt exactly the same as their home reality, it didn¡¯t feel the same. So as Jason steps out of his family¡¯s apartment he is met with a crowded hallway... Well, that is what he expected to find. Except, of course, all the nearby apartments had been cleared out by the government to try and figure out what was up with the corrupting powers fleeing the area. Still, it isn¡¯t like they stopped ride service and so a quick call and Jason is off, riding towards the park he had gone to last time. A nice quiet forest park with a gentle stream. The rock next to it had been perfect when he had first discovered that the power of this world was in chaos. Though what was in chaos, this visit was the park itself. Despite being out of the way, there was still a large number of people hanging around. There are a few groups meeting up, but overall it seems Jason is very far from the only loner who had found this place. That, of course, made this a less than optimal location, but he had expected this outcome. There were only so many parks, even in a full sized arcology. What was really the biggest problem for Jason was that someone had taken the spot on top of the rock. It was really a small thing and almost inevitable, but he had really liked that spot. Pettiness aside, there wasn¡¯t really a good reason to change locations at this point. All the parks were going to be like this or private affairs. So, in resignation, Jason chose a relatively peaceful location right up on the inner edge of a bend in the stream. Damper than preferable, but there was a decent sized group of elderly doing tai chi between him and the rest of the park. They had been a bit leery of him at first but once they realized Jason was just there to meditate an understanding was formed between them. After all, they hadn¡¯t ended up in that location by accident, either. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Location situated, Jason is able to swiftly fall into a deep meditation. Though, unlike his previous times, he doesn¡¯t go directly into cultivation. Within NeoRealm he has had ample time to go over his cultivation with a fine-toothed comb, out here? Not so much. Jason can tell he stumbled into some deep and meaningful paths, but his actual cultivation is still at the most elementary level. So he meditates and allows his dantian to slowly come into his awareness. The outer shell, a defensive wall. Yet at the same time, it can act as a gate, allowing that which brings benefit in. Within those walls are lush fields. While there are some pseudo-crops growing as if in a well cared for field, much of the center has been taken over. For there proudly stands a plant which now has both the characteristics of a vine and a tree. It stands tall, reaching upward in a way that, despite going beyond the wall, still stays within the center area. A deep breath out and Jason focuses on that second thing he had noticed. His wall, the defensive barrier of civilization, allowing the farmland within to be peaceful. But now he can sense the gate-like nature of it. Of course, this always had to be the case or else he wouldn¡¯t have been able to cultivate further. Jason had seen cases of walled off dantians in his last life, though all born in that condition. Those people could not even take the first steps of cultivation themselves. With only a few being able to start through powerful relatives who either directly inserted power or used medicines to do it. While on one hand pitiful as they never managed to advance too far, always being stuck behind whoever allowed them to advance in the first place. However, this state wasn¡¯t without benefits. Though keeping out the power used to cultivate was bad, it also kept out harmful elements. That last bit clues Jason into why his wall ended up like it did. From the start, he had been fighting against the rough and chaotic powers. The wall was just a more concrete visualization of this, allowing the process to be smoothers. Now, though, the second part of his walls has come to the forefront. While the outer shell doesn¡¯t literally have gates and in fact, can all act as a gate, the symbolism is clear. A fortified position through which the outside can be screened for who can enter. At the most literal level, this would mean filtering out any corrupting element that might try to enter. Though of course it goes deeper. Not just good from bad, but also that which has beneficial meaning to it. To the point that just like in NeoRealm, his cultivation here isn¡¯t taking in everything that is available. Not quite to the same extent, but the intent is there. Beyond that though Jason notices another thing. A cycle between the fields and his walls. For as the walls protect and allow the good in, the fields in turn support the effort. Vague feelings of spiritual crops take up the entire outer area of the fields and those in turn provide for the wall. Chapter 341 - And The Road Even the plant at the center, despite being a lone pillar extending into the sky, has been hooked into this cycle. For while the fields can provide the foundation, it takes the plant to provide the finishing touch. Like a toy car, the walls are the body and the fields are the batteries. But the controller is needed to truly bring it to life. A single will to pull the various parts together and give order. While Jason can¡¯t quite see it yet, this small peak has allowed him to feel the vast undercurrent. All of the potential connections, just beyond his reach. It is just a feeling, but he suspects he could sit in this spot till the sun dies and still have more things to learn. And while that might be an exaggeration, the potential was certainly expansive. Still, he needed the next step. For the moment, if he had to label his current achievements it would be the peak of mortality. Even in his past it had more than enough names. Things such as the mortal stage, the body development, and fancier phrases like Houtian. Areas with few cultivators would split the realm into steps, but the reality of it is just to advance a core characteristic into the superhuman. Whether this is the literal body, the dantian, or even specific body parts like the eyes. Of course, that was under conditions that allowed a being to just use whatever power is in the air without a care. Even if Jason had wanted to go another path, the dantian is likely the only way forward at the moment until the chaos can be cleared up. Now, though, he needs to take that one step beyond. Anyone with exercise and normal supplements can gain what he has gotten so far. Some lucky ones might even absorb some of the power into their muscles, refining their body some. What comes next goes into the realm of super human. Not impossible, but strange occurrences or purposeful and invasive measures would need to be taken to do so. For all of that, the path remains hidden. Jason pauses and focuses on that idea. The path remains hidden. Paths! He had just discovered the gate in his walls and any proper gate should have a path leading to it. While not analogous to what he had known, the stories of this world had enough examples. Spirit roots, meridians, and more. Even his cultivation in NeoRealm is following this course. The idea of the body having innate paths for special powers to flow through. Now the question of the hour. Does his body have said hidden paths? In NeoRealm, the lines had originally been a natural phenomena before the System had usurped them. Here though, there was no System and if the meridians do exist, they aren¡¯t physically present in any way. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Jason however had a cheat, a shortcut, an in that others wouldn¡¯t. His dantian has a gate. While a gate doesn¡¯t require there to be a path connected to it, chances are it does. So focused on the wall, Jason opens the gate. Half training, half sensing to see what happens. Nothing. He tries again and still nothing. Another angle and still he lacks results. Five more tests, still negative. Over and over, Jason does his best to suss out a path, even just the edge of one. And it is there. Instead of being any one particular technique or test that revealed it, this was all familiarity. There is a large path leading upwards. Where upwards? Jason still can¡¯t tell, even if he suspects the region around or in his heart. This is enough, though. If the mortal stage involved gathering, the next was discovery. To seek out all the meridians his body contained and opening up roads from his dantian out into the rest of his body. While Jason was strong, his body wasn¡¯t tough enough as he couldn¡¯t put any true effort into tempering it. Now these meridians, and he was definitely going with that term for them, would be his path towards fixing that deficiency. Maybe he wasn¡¯t going to have sword wielding bandits jumping out at him, but if anything the physical dangers were worse as machines had an uncaring strength. Even with all the safeguards, you can only do so much to correct for happenstance. Nevermind how ridiculous firearms are. So, with a new way forward, Jason begins to explore it. From his dantian, Jason rallied his power and sent it out into the meridian he had discovered. Then everything fell into place and it lit up, is what Jason would have liked to happen. Instead, it was like he had rounded up a bar¡¯s worth of drunken adventurers and told them all to walk in a straight line. By chance, a few might start going the right direction, but that didn¡¯t last. At least, this helped illuminate more of the meridian¡¯s path. Beyond that, Jason could even feel that minor muscles across his body seemed to have been toned. This is both wonderful as it means the lost power didn¡¯t go to waste. On the other hand, it meant that the meridians were even less physical than the dantian. While the dantian was centralized on the gut, Jason could feel from just this little experiment that the meridians likely managed to cover the entire body in their own special way. This called into question his use of the word meridian to refer to them but he decided to stay the course, at least for the moment. It wouldn¡¯t be too late to change it later if he tells others. Then he felt another round of small improvements across his body, despite not having tried again. Before today, it would have taken Jason long hours to figure out. Now, though, he already had the beginning of it figured out and his test basically unlocked the gate. What was happening was that as the field supplied the wall with power and the plant guided it, the excess was sent out into the meridian he had just tested. It wasn¡¯t quite automatic cultivation as the path didn¡¯t seem to be advancing, but his body was tempering itself. If he had to compare it to something, it would be like a town sending out patrols along a road. The patrol isn¡¯t going to go off the map after all. That is the job of a scout, while the patrol is just to secure what the town already controls. Chapter 342 - Chef Skills As Jason focuses inward and works on opening his first meridian further, the world continues around him. Time passes and the elderly come to respect him all the more for his dedication. While they aren¡¯t powerful, the long years and for a few of them, time spent as teachers, has taught them to recognize when someone is actually focusing instead of just snoozing off. Not that Jason is in any position to notice this besides the fact he isn¡¯t being bothered. Jason finds the simple act quite relaxing. Unlike the rest of his time, both here and in NeoRealm, there wasn¡¯t any heavy pressure on him for this step. There was only the steady flow of his power, like the tides lapping at a beach. Though, as with most things, this too reached its end. The first section of the meridian was easy to clear, like water sweeping away sand. As Jason progressed further, though, the inevitable happened. That which blocked his way became harder and harder to clear. Sure, he could have continued working at it as with enough time water can wear away even a mountain. Time, however, isn¡¯t something he has on his side for the moment. Sure, Jason could faff around a bit more than he has. He isn¡¯t in dire need of advancing as quickly as he has so far and with each new breakthrough the time he has increases. Still, Jason knows that he can¡¯t keep everything under wraps, even if he hadn¡¯t told Courtney about cultivation. It would be like a caveman thinking they could keep a fire secret while out in the middle of a field. The modern world just has too many methods to detect things and someone must have let all the strange powers in. So no, Jason doesn¡¯t feel he has much time at all, despite not knowing what activities are going on in the background. Background activity which has gone into overdrive. Though to be fair, since they had been authorized to stay at 5x time compression, it would be hard not to with how much time Jason just spent. While his new actions during his cultivation hasn¡¯t been disturbing the surrounding power as much, it still has an effect. With Jason cultivating in a new location, it even allows them to notice the source of the disturbance had moved. Not where, much to their chagrin, but the fact it moved at all tells them it isn¡¯t centered on Jenny and Jason¡¯s apartment. The downside for the researchers is that the powers had started to fluctuate, almost like waves hitting a beach. Now, normally ripples going out from a central location would allow them to pinpoint things even better than it had been before. As it would happen though, not everything transmits the ripple at the same speed with some materials even bouncing it. Even worse, they aren¡¯t able to make sense of the reflections because even identical looking bricks have different behaviors. One might slow down the wave, another sends it off at an angle, and a third absorbs most of it. To begin making headway would have required an up to date and detailed scan of how the various powers were scattered around the entire area. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Then, of course, the waves stopped with them not even half done getting such a thing set up. All because Jason had reached the point of diminishing returns with his cultivation. While he didn¡¯t quite know what was blocking up his meridian and would have to explore that more, he could tell that it would loosen up if left alone. So, without a clue that a bunch of researchers and military personnel are cursing him, Jason leaves the park and heads toward more exciting locales. His cultivation had only taken up some of the morning and so there was the rest of the day to do with as he will. First goal? To get something good to eat and today was the best day for it. Not all the restaurants might go to live service, but the old-fashioned ones all do. For most people, this is actually a drawback. The piloted robots have so many swanky features that it makes it near impossible for a good chef to mess up a dish. Try to put too much salt in? The robot stops releasing salt after exactly the right number of grams have gone in. Even if the chef disables all those guides, the exact amounts being used are constantly being displayed and there is never a worry of a hair getting in the food. For most people, a person physically making them food is almost sickening. For Jason? As he steps into the burger joint and the smell hits him, it is all worth it. The restaurant looks chintzy, but that is the historic style. While not using actual recipes from back then, the owner had styled the place like one of the last fast-food franchises of old. All of the originals long gone from the triple whammy of the fall of franchises in general, truly unbiased studies on just what effect the fast food had on people, and the invention of a cheap open source multipurpose device capable of producing equal quality food. None of that matters to Jason as he approaches the counter. Being one of only a handful of teens in the packed place draws attention. Unaffected by the stares, Jason orders a plate stacked high with a large selection of burgers and a flood of fries. The few other teens, all dragged here by their grandparents, look on in confusion as he takes a single seat table. They had figured Jason was ordering ahead for some older relatives. Jason ignores them and starts to chow down. A plate with enough food for three people, generous proportions all around, is quickly vanishing. Not that Jason is trying to eat fast. Rather, the hands-on skill of the chef shines through. Unlike skills in NeoRealm, a chef¡¯s skill isn¡¯t able to pack more power into each bite. But what it does do is create order. A leaf of lettuce, even when cloned and grown such that it would look exactly like every other leaf in its batch, will have chaotic and jumbled energy. Don¡¯t even bring up a burger patty. Already chaotic meat being ground up and mixed together? It never had a chance. But through the care and attention lavished upon the burgers. Through the time worn and perfected actions, the recipe passed down, these chefs had created a true symphony within their food. Jason truly feels sad that everyone else in here can only taste the surface level of their dishes. Chapter 343 - Kicking In The Gate The tasty food and its ordered energy wasn¡¯t some kind of cultivation aid. Jason just truly enjoyed the artistry within it. Satisfied, Jason leaves behind a crowd of clapping elderly and stunned teens. The older crowd appreciating his ability to put down food and complimenting him on his strong body. The teens were shocked and disgusted that one of their own would show such unchained gluttony and eat food that might have come into contact with the skin of someone not in his direct family. All that behind him, Jason takes a quick jog to a nearby public gym. Well, a semi-public gym. The back corner of the place is set aside for military and mercenaries to work out, separate from the general populace. Not from any worry of them starting something, but when the lowest weight dumbbells require two hands to lift for most normal people, you keep things separate if only to prevent accidents. A broken foot might not be the hardest thing to fix, but better safe than sorry. Of course they aren¡¯t exactly checking everyone¡¯s military id either. In fact, the biggest thing that keeps the back corner private is how heavy the gate is. Sure, you could just hop the fence, but everyone would see you do it. Though when Jason approaches, a couple of the ladies pumping iron near the gate put down their weights. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time some cocky kid had tried to open the gate and got themselves trapped. While it wouldn¡¯t squeeze someone enough to injure them, they definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to get out on their own. If more of the people in the corner had been regulars, they wouldn¡¯t have worried. Even before moving up to military grade training dummy, Jason had been able to get in on his own. So while the people who only visited on Sundays watched on for a show, the few regulars and the owner all went back to their activities. Jason, of course, can¡¯t let things go at just this. As with anytime there is a strength challenge, people compete to see who can make it look effortless. Sure he hadn¡¯t ever been in the running before. Now though? Sure, Jason¡¯s strength hadn¡¯t actually jumped by too much no matter what those who observed his dummy might think. All of that seeming jump in strength came purely through his realizations from training the war stomp skill. A skill created and improved by a being that Jason now believes was close to throwing off the yoke of NeoRealm¡¯s System. Something so special that even now the move was still mostly an enigma to him. So he strolled right up to the gate. The two ladies smirked as they low key flexed their impressive muscles. Jason didn¡¯t even pause as he brought up his right foot and kicked aside the gate, which narrowly missed the lady on the left. Sure, Jason wouldn¡¯t have been able to put on such an act if he tried to shove the gate open, but that doesn¡¯t matter. What does matter is the look of appreciation from the owner who glances up and the cheers from the handful of regulars. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. They hadn¡¯t seen Jason in a while as he had been focused on finishing up school. Now, though, they cheered him on for not having lost his edge. They cheered him on for advancing, maybe not to their level, but ever closer. Because while they appreciated his stick with opening the door and all but maybe the owner hadn¡¯t a clue how he did it. They could see it wasn¡¯t strength that opened the gate. Though the cheering is short-lived. While seeing such a promising youth return even stronger brought a tear of joy to the owners eye, no one here was going to waste their Sunday. Jason was fine with this and made his way over to the lightest equipment. Sure, he could kick the stuffing out of even the heaviest dummies, but that would really be training. No, Jason spread the training out over his whole body. Even if the weights on his legs seemed light, that didn¡¯t matter. If anything, Jason was upset that his legs had advanced so much. A balanced body might not have a particular strength, but it also didn¡¯t have glaring flaws. It would take a while to rebalance his body but the few hours spent today had set him well on that path. So, with only a minor bit of embarrassment, he uses the button next to the gate that would open it for him. As while everyone inside the area could open the gate coming in, sometimes leaving just isn¡¯t in the cards without help. They might not be overexerting themselves, their personal trainers would be happy about that, everyone that came was serious about getting a proper workout. Out on the streets again, Jason considers going back to the burger joint for a few milkshakes, but decides against it. Instead, he grabs a couple of sour drinks from a vending machine. Jason, having just been at the burger joint laughs as he watches the drink be dispensed. The machine had a direct hook up to more flavors than even the most specialized franchise machine had ever even dreamed of including alcohol if one was inclined. Just a simple hook up to a bunch of special chemicals and this machine could dispense everything from half decent coffee to one of those milkshakes he had been craving. It wasn¡¯t quite scifi magic, and the multipurpose part was more about replacing most of the insides, but the machines had really taken over. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that half decent was the limit of what they could do, Jason wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the art of cooking didn¡¯t die out. Though Jason didn¡¯t buy into the conspiracy that the government was locking the machines down to not produce better. To perfect a single recipe would require the opposite of multipurpose. With a final look back at the machine and a small smile, Jason walks off having realized another factor. Since knowledge of cultivation was going to get out, there would be even more demand for hand cooked food. No chance of automating the act of smoothing out the power within food. Chapter 344 - Serious Spy Energy Sour drinks packed away, Jason arrives at his next location, a massage parlor. After all, what better way to chill after hard training and a big meal? Oh, and the massage was training as well. With his cultivation, a normal person trying to massage him would feel like they were pressing on the tensest person ever and not be able to get anything done. So Jason has to actively relax his muscles as they perform the massage. Not only does this allow Jason to enjoy a massage from someone who isn¡¯t a retired soldier, but the control gained from it helps in taking a hit. After all, while tensing up can provide some defense, being able to roll with a blow is just as important. Practice through a massage not only provides the ability to loosen up as needed, he also needed to predict the next move the person massaging him would take. Not the hardest thing to do but oddly difficult as it isn¡¯t like the person has any intent to hurt. Of course, a massage doesn¡¯t take all that long and so soon Jason leaves the massage parlor satisfied and relaxed. Though now he doesn¡¯t exactly have anything planned and so checks if anyone he knows has contacted him. They didn¡¯t. An expected outcome even if Jason can¡¯t help but blame the fact that all communication is digital nowadays. If there is one thing Jason has learned about himself, it is that chat programs and forums aren¡¯t exactly sustainable for him. He¡¯ll stay active for a while but soon enough fade away. If anything, NeoRealm is a godsend as it requires a more personal touch to communicate. Then, as he is about to close the app, his mother messages him. [Jason! Not too much time left to the day and I know you tend to leave the last bit free so how about we hang out for a second? Bunch of people I would normally be bossing around are stuck in extended VR time that they want to blame on you. So yeah, they sort of want me to spy on you or some such nonsense? They¡¯re paying so I figure we can hit up that one park/restaurant up top that you liked. There will be a couple buff types with us and they know how much you already ate so it will be funny to watch them react to your order. I¡¯ll give you half an hour to get hungry if you agree. Love and serious spy energy, Mom] Jason rolls his eyes though he admits it is nice to know that while someone suspects something, they aren¡¯t certain. Still, that restaurant up there has an unbroken history almost a thousand years long. Not a direct family type of thing, but each head chef was personally trained by the previous head chef for years before taking over. On top of that, after all the nonsense with franchises, the head chef of the time managed to gain full control over the restaurant and had kept it that way ever since. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. In other words, this was an easy yes as it would not only have some of what Jason considers the best food available in the world, but a chance to poke around and find out what is suspected. He trusts that Courtney hasn¡¯t spilled the beans to anyone yet, at least not in a way that leads back to him. So this must have something to do with the corrupted power. More important, though, free food. Jason laughs to himself as he sends a quick affirmative to his mom. He felt it was safe to assume whoever was funding dinner saw him pack away lunch. A normal person would be, at most, eating a small dinner. In fact, Jason had originally been planning to do just that. Now, though, it was time for a trick. While not strictly cultivation, Jason knows of a way to speed up digestion. A clever technique to get the most out of low quality spiritual food that only requires a person to be sitting down. An easy enough thing for Jason right now as the sides of the street have a bench every few stores. Half an hour later, an open air transport pulls up with Jenny and a couple of serious looking guys. Jenny is in business casual at best while the other two are done up in suits though the look just exaggerates their bulk as the two are built more like gorillas than humans. Jenny waves for Jason to get on and laughs. ¡°I guess we need to make a quick stop by the house so you can change into something more appropriate.¡± The two men grimace at her smile. Jason just rolls his eyes, ¡°You know I don¡¯t have anything fancier than this. The last time we went was before my growth spurt and we couldn¡¯t be bothered to get another set of formal clothes.¡± Jenny¡¯s smile almost seems to extend to her ears as she turns to the guy in front of her. ¡°Sounds like we can¡¯t do dinner after all. You know their rules about being dressed for the occasion.¡± The guy pushes his glasses up, ¡°We expected this would happen. Along the way, we will be stopping by a place and there will be a set of clothes for him to borrow. Because no, we aren¡¯t also going to pay for a brand new set of clothes for him. The meal is free but if you wanted more, you should have asked for more when we were bargaining.¡± Jenny laughs, ¡°You can¡¯t blame a girl for trying! Anyway, Jason, you heard the man. Let¡¯s set off!¡± And she points forward. Of course, the transport waits for Jason to get seated so her enthusiasm is a bit mistimed but soon enough they are on their way. After that, it just takes a quick stop a few floors down from the top for Jason to change into his loaned business casual clothes. Then it is straight to the home of the best steaks in the entire arcology. Chapter 345 - Quality Noodles Surf and Turf, a classic combo of red meat and seafood, but also the name of the restaurant. Simple and to the point, that is what they have been preparing for near on a million years. The only shame is that sourcing lobsters isn¡¯t exactly an option at the moment. Jason isn¡¯t particularly torn up about it as the shrimp taste divine. Of course, Jason and Jenny know not to start ordering like crazy. Wouldn¡¯t want to let their observers notice anything. With that in mind, Jason starts with a shrimp pasta appetizer and Jenny goes for a fish soup and lets the waiter choose an aperitif to go with it. The two toughs, on the other hand, are more frugal, both choosing pasta with a creamy seafood sauce. The waiter is polite about it but you can tell she knows who is going to be buying most of the food tonight. With everything ordered, the guy who had settled Jason¡¯s lack of formal clothing spreads his hands, ¡°So, we all know what is going on here. Especially since if this operation was a ship it would have sunk in the harbor.¡± Jenny laughs, ¡°As if we would get down to it right away! We haven¡¯t even received our appetizers. If Jason just spilled his guts right away, we might not get past it. Though we can start on the simple stuff.¡± The man shakes his head, ¡°Can I at least get some assurance we will learn something from this?¡± Jason puts on an innocent face and in a sing-song child¡¯s voice asks, ¡°Whatever do you, mister?¡± The man adjusts his glasses, ¡°You¡¯re as strong as someone taking mil-spec supplements and are using a training dummy that should require an exosuit to train with.¡± Jenny shrugs, ¡°Well I didn¡¯t give him any supplements. My boy¡¯s all natural.¡± Jason nods, ¡°Just a bunch of exercise!¡± This goes back and forth until the food arrives and of course Jason and Jenny aren¡¯t going to ruin such an excellent meal by talking through it. Jason, in particular, is fully focused on his pasta. The shrimp are nice, but the pasta! Oh goodness, the pasta! Kneaded by hand and stretched out using a technique they swear was passed down unchanged since before the industrial revolution. Jason doesn¡¯t have a clue if this is true or not and doesn¡¯t care. What matters is that the belief that it was is enough to actually impart trace amounts of faith into the pasta. Not being a god, Jason can¡¯t exactly use it, but the presence is like the difference between pasta with and without salt. It really just elevates the natural flavors that come from the ingredients. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. With appetizers over, Jason turns to the only guy of the two that has been talking. ¡°So just to confirm, you¡¯re paying for everything we order?¡± The man squints, ¡°Everything you eat while here. We aren¡¯t covering for you to get all your meals for the coming week.¡± Jason waves his fork at the guy, ¡°So you¡¯re only paying for what I can eat while I¡¯m here?¡± The man squinted harder, ¡°Everything you eat while here tonight with me, with tonight meaning until an hour before when time compression is turned back on.¡± Jason rolls his eyes, ¡°Of course you¡¯re going to put so many limits on it.¡± Then Jason smiles and high fives his mom before turning towards the waiter and ordering three steak and shrimp platters while Jenny orders a few specialty t-bones. The man snorts, ¡°Even if you don¡¯t take it with you, if you order something and don¡¯t eat it you will still pay for it.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°Obviously! Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll see whether I can eat it or not. For now though, I¡¯m sure you want to hear about my training?¡± The man brings his hands together as if to pray, but just rests his forehead on them with his thumbs supporting his chin. After exhaling, he puts them back down on the table and looks up. ¡°That is sort of what we are here for. There is, of course, more but I can¡¯t say anything directly because just knowing whether you know about it in the first place is important.¡± With one last chuckle, Jason leans back into his chair and shakes his head. ¡°There had to be more no matter how you slice it. Even if my mom over there didn¡¯t let you watch the security footage from inside the apartment, you would have had enough of a look into my training. ¡°But that is all besides the point, isn¡¯t it? After all, I didn¡¯t promise to say anything but rather was just invited here to eat some nice food. On the other hand? I¡¯m about to show you my mastery over eating. ¡°Heh, overeating. I just realized that was a pun. Overeating, like when someone overeats instead of the fact that I have mastered eating. Though I guess by most standards what I¡¯m about to do would be covered under both. ¡°Anyway, back to my sudden jump in strength, or rather my new ability to better use the strength I had. I was already top of my age group when it came to strength. Not that you would have found that odd. I actually tried when so many neglect their bodies because it won¡¯t be needed in VR.¡± The man shrugs, ¡°From our data you weren¡¯t just top of your age group. You were top of almost every other person on the planet who wasn¡¯t in some sort of military group or taking special supplements.¡± Jason shrugs back, ¡°Eh, neither of us really care about that. I¡¯ve had enough doctors appointments that we both know that my training methods don¡¯t stack with the other stuff. I could release a training manual that would get others nearly the same results and practically no one would care. ¡°While the ability to have the strength of a low-mod through natural means is interesting. It is interesting in the same way that people find it interesting that you can vacuum tubes instead of transistors to build a computer. Sure it works, but why bother? Like I said, most people already neglect their bodies, why would they care? The only people who would want my routine are those rare ones who want the results without being rich and are unwilling to join a company who would sponsor them for it.¡± Chapter 346 - Telling Mom Jason goes back and forth with the man in between bites but eventually all good things have to come to an end. Though with strategic breaks between dishes, what gives out in the end isn¡¯t Jason¡¯s appetite but rather the man¡¯s patience. As they leave the restaurant, Jason flashes the two men a cheeky smile, ¡°Boy, maybe just a bit more food and I might have quote unquote remembered something.¡± With a raised eyebrow, the man snorts, ¡°As if at this point we could trust anything you said. Your mother didn¡¯t tell you anything important and yet you managed to dodge around all my questions. So either you know something or your mother has coached you in the past in how to answer. Either way, we aren¡¯t going to get a straight answer out of you.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°Okay, you got me. I¡¯m actually a reincarnated cultivator. The gods themselves placed me here to make up for having to die for the hero.¡± Jenny and the men start to laugh with him. Though as they reach the transport, the man shakes his head, ¡°At least you have interesting taste in literature. Cultivation novels are more of a niche genre around here. Anyway, me and my partner need to get back to the office to make a report so this is where we separate. Have a good night.¡± From there, it takes a bit of time for Jason and Jenny to get back to their house, mostly because it isn¡¯t like they can really talk about much. Even their apartment should be bugged by this point, let alone the transport that was picked out for them. Though as they split up to go to their own rooms, with a double thumbs up, Jenny congratulates Jason and tells him, ¡°I¡¯ll meet you in VR.¡± Then cheekily turns towards one of the newly added hidden cameras and gives it an exaggerated wink. Jason just shakes his head at her antics. Once in his VR room, though, he invites her right away. There is still a couple hours before the ratio is back to 5x and so now is the best time for them to touch base. Jenny can¡¯t just show up through a door like a normal person. At some point, she must have spent a good chunk of change because her entrance is a showy display of special effects. She bursts up through the floor like some kind of infernal being with cracked ground and spurts of fire. Of course, after such a bombastic entrance she can¡¯t not ruin the mood it set by twirling around and throwing out a peace sign like some kind of stellar based anime sailor girl. Jason facepalms, ¡°Heh, well, that¡¯s a thing. So where do you want to start?¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Jenny throws her head back and laughs, ¡°With you admitting how stylish I am!¡± Jason sighs, ¡°I¡¯m not exactly the best person to judge that. Though going by the fact you¡¯re imitating a show that the most recent remake, let alone the original, are so far in the past that you need three digits for the number of years.¡± Jenny laughs some more, ¡°Fair enough. I guess I shouldn¡¯t really be asking my own son, you¡¯re going to be biased one way or another after all. Anyway, you¡¯ve managed to get yourself into the middle of something pretty hush-hush. They¡¯re going the extra mile with this. All that aside though, I¡¯m not going to make you say anything. I¡¯m mostly here to grind their gears as while they can tell I¡¯ve visited, they obviously can¡¯t learn anything except how long I was here.¡± Jason nods, ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to of course keep some things to myself. Though mostly because I have other people working on it right now. To start, I guess we need to go into how I wasn¡¯t lying quite as much as most would believe with that parting quip. ¡°I am a cultivator, as it were. More specifically, through an unspecified manner, I came into possession of knowledge that led down that path and have cultivated to the first step. After a number of misadventures, this led to my ability to detect the milieu of energies present in the air, most of which I assume are foreign. To cultivate, I ended up causing a chain reaction that forced elements of that mix away from me, which is what I assume was detected. ¡°On the other side of things, I accidentally teamed up with someone important in NeoRealm. I don¡¯t know who they are irl, but they do live in this arcology. From there I ended up telling her maid who ended up also joining our party after our original third member turned out to be a cult member who promptly ditched us. That maid should currently be in the middle of reorganizing her spy network but has also been testing what I told her about cultivation.¡± Jenny just stands there for a moment with an eyebrow raised. ¡°I did tell you to lay it on me, but that is going a bit further. Do you plan to keep this whole cultivation thing, and yes I did have to query my assistant about it, a secret?¡± Jason sticks out his tongue, ¡°Meh, too much effort at this point. Enough people know something has gone down in this area that, at the very least I¡¯ve set them down a path that would lead to it. Plus, there are those people who the maid has set up to test what I shared before trying it herself. ¡°This is going to get out one way or another. Though even if I didn¡¯t, something would have happened soon enough, anyway. From what I can tell, most of the powers mixed in aren¡¯t natural, so someone must be playing with the fabric of reality and opening up holes. ¡°Either I spread cultivation or someone else figures out how to throw a fireball and at least my method mostly involves self improvement of the body at the early stages. The concept of mages is fun to play around with but I wouldn¡¯t want to live it. That or superheroes and their ilk. Uncontrolled power manifestations are too much of a dice roll.¡± Chapter 347 - Lunch First Jenny shrugs at Jason¡¯s worry over uncontrolled powers showing up. ¡°While I won¡¯t claim to know everything, what I do know is that instances of the supernatural haven¡¯t been on the rise for the last few hundred years.¡± Jason shakes his head, ¡°The natural level of supernatural events for this universe is zero. Having any at all is a bad sign. It is like saying the water from the tap tastes sweet. It¡¯s water, it shouldn¡¯t have a sweet taste. Sure, that might be sugar mixed in but it could also be lead.¡± Jenny shrugs, ¡°And what would releasing info on cultivation do about it?¡± Jason sighs, ¡°Part of the problem is there is too much power hanging around and not all of it is good. What I¡¯ve done has already proven to chase away the bad and besides that it will also suck up the good as well. You want to cultivate, you¡¯re going to need to absorb some form of supernatural energy. ¡°Though calling it supernatural isn¡¯t exactly correct. It is natural, just not to our universe. And what even is natural, anyway? Humans are a part of nature and we let it all in. That could be seen as a natural function and so it would be natural.¡± Jenny smacks him upside the head. ¡°Cut it out with the philosophizing, especially as you already told me the answer to it when you were younger. Free will puts us above nature. This is a little more cut and dry in NeoRealm and the like, but at the very least humans have free will. Even if this is all a simulation, we can only go forward with that notion. ¡°Besides, the divide between natural and artificial is a crummy thing to worry about in the first place. If something has happened, it has happened and all you can do is deal with it. Now do you have anything else to add or am I free to go back to my own room and do a whole lot of research on this nonsense.¡± Jason laughs, ¡°For some reason I doubt most of the sources available on this kind of thing aren¡¯t going to help much for my specific stuff. Not that I¡¯m telling you to stop. I don¡¯t believe you would in the first place. Besides that, though, I don¡¯t really have anything else to say on the subject for the moment. After the test subjects get back to the maid, I¡¯ll see what I can do for you. ¡°Though I am going to try to keep it all under the covers for at least a bit of time. Right now I¡¯m in the rapid growth stage and I want to get a bit of growth under my belt. Once people start trying it en masse, the real freaks will show up and I don¡¯t want to be left in the dust despite being the first person to start on it.¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Jenny laughs and shakes her head as she slowly sinks into the floor, leaving Jason¡¯s instance. Jason just shakes his head as he checks the time. Their conversation hadn¡¯t taken long at all and so he still had a couple hours to waste. Sure, he could just log into NeoRealm, but he figures the time is better spent practicing. Not that those hours progress him much, but every little bit counts. So with just a smidge more of his meridian excavated Jason once again enters his pod and logs into the game. Back in NeoRealm he goes to pet Lily only to notice his hands are shaking. It takes him a moment but then it dawns on him. Today¡¯s the day. While he has enjoyed his time in a city, the open road and high adventure onces again calls to him. In a few more hours, that is. The time is still near on midnight and the city gates won¡¯t be open at this hour. At this point, Jason also notices that Lily is still asleep and so pulls his hand and settles into bed. He felt he had already done enough cultivation for the moment and settled in to sleep the rest of the night away. Next morning dawns bright and early as it is wont to do. Not that Jason pays it any mind as apparently he had been running himself a bit ragged. His body decided that since a trip was upcoming, it was going to have a nice long sleep right now. What finally wakes Jason up is the smell of food cooking. Out in the den, Gregor is simmering a stew for lunch and when he spots Jason, invites him to join in. After Jason sits down on one of the beanbag chairs, Gregor smiles, ¡°I was wondering when you would get around to waking up. I figured you might end up sleeping in a little today but half of said day is already gone.¡± Jason laughs weakly, ¡°I did sort of run around a good bit the last few days.¡± Gregor raises an eyebrow, ¡°More like all the bits, not just the good. Still, I feel better about sending you off after a good night¡¯s sleep than not.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I needed to pick up a few things. I¡¯m not like the other two. Courtney has in-depth training on whatever stuff they might need. Me? I just had a little under 50 gold to throw around.¡± Gregor smiles, ¡°And you have what, ten of it left now?¡± Jason laughs, ¡°Not like I can use it in the wilderness. I would have spent more if it didn¡¯t have uses on the traveller side of things. Besides, it is more like 20 gold. Though if you want to get precise, I have 18 gold, 21 silver, and 120 coppers left. Nevermind most of what I bought was miscellaneous stuff like rations and rope.¡± Gregor waves off Jason¡¯s put down on what he bought. ¡°An adventure isn¡¯t an adventure unless someone brings some rope. Though I notice you¡¯re sporting a pair of new pants there.¡± Jason shrugs, ¡°I got them really cheap for only ten gold. They have an effect that works great for me and the near total lack of stat buffs doesn¡¯t matter because of my situation.¡± Chapter 348 - But How Fast Gregor rolls his eyes. ¡°Well, don¡¯t keep me waiting. Are you going to show me their panel or not?¡± Jason laughs, ¡°These things break up my current set and I¡¯m really going to miss that one percent increase to jump height, but I figure these pants are worth it. [System, share the stats of my pants with Gregor].¡± {Pants of the Royal Gardener Description: Day after day, a king¡¯s personal gardener, whose name has been lost to time, would have to traverse vast distances to make sure their king¡¯s many rare plants stayed healthy. As you might guess, this wasn¡¯t the easiest thing and as they grew older, they feared losing their position and so embezzled large sums of money to find a solution. These pants are the last project though that royal gardener never had a chance to wear them as their king didn¡¯t take too highly of the embezzlement. Though their successor made good use of them and, having learned from their predecessor, made sure to embezzle only lightly so as to have a retirement fund. Grade: Exquisite Normal Effects: Bonuses: Upon seeing the bonuses given by the pants, Gregor laughs as well. ¡°You weren¡¯t lying about why no one would want them. Though I assume that scaling movement speed boost would be quite powerful for someone taking care of a king¡¯s garden.¡± Jason shrugs. ¡°Apparently there is an unstated cap on it. After all, this wasn¡¯t technically the final product, but rather just the last experiment before the dude got caught. The skill side caps out around Journeymen and Exquisite grade normal herbs. What I¡¯m more than happy about is the immaculate effect. ¡°My current armor was already patchy before I got it and has only gone downhill from there. With immaculate rolling all those quality of life enchantments like self repair and cleaning into one, at least my pants won¡¯t look like they lost a fight with a moth swarm.¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Gregor nods. ¡°While that is true, there is only so much a simple immaculate enchant can do. Get a large enough hole or piece cut off and the enchantment breaks. You would need a ranked enchantment for that.¡± Jason shrugs again. ¡°The only reason I got this for ten gold is because the use is quite niche. Actual royal gardeners have much better gear than this by now. Hell, if that fool in the description had asked for better gear, the king would probably have had some hand-me-down from one adventurer or another to palm off on him.¡± Gregor shakes his head. ¡°If only that sort of thing were true. While I will admit, the state of non-combat gear has improved, basically everyone is still in an arms race over what enchantments they can fit on their military. ¡°Since that first effect requires non-combat related conditions, I¡¯m going to guess the actual boost is higher than it could have been without those conditions. You just happen to be one of those edge cases that happily brings your farm with you into the wilds. Even farmers with portable farms will tend to only use them to get the best possible growing conditions.¡± Jason waves the screen away. ¡°I can see that. Farmers aren¡¯t exactly the most mobile of professions to start with and by the time they can, it isn¡¯t exactly top of their list. Though I¡¯m sure there should be one or two out there with special situations, like a field near a dungeon or some such. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ve stayed at your house long enough by now and should get going or else I¡¯ll end up here another night. Not that I¡¯m against it, but both my friends and your husband have all left, and it is beginning to be a bit awkward.¡± Gregor sighs, ¡°I must admit I¡¯ve been craving some peace and quiet, so I won¡¯t bother with false assurances that you can stay as long as you want. Besides, you¡¯re a new adventurer. While us locals tend to take things slow, your kind jumps in power more quickly early on. Now get out there and show me how far you can go. I have high expectations for you.¡± Jason smiles and nods, ¡°Glad I could meet you and before I end up extending this goodbye any further, farewell, goodbye, and good luck!¡± Of course, then the two of them have to awkwardly walk to the door together. Once there, Jason leaves and waves goodbye as Gregor locks the door behind him. Not that Gregor has any hard feelings over the group¡¯s stay, but he really wants some peace and quiet. Part of what makes his relationship with Peter work is the fact Peter leaves for extended periods of time and this little sleepover was way too much social interaction and he felt like he would be good for another decade or so. Jason, on the other hand, doesn¡¯t even notice a thing as he feels a warmth fill his body. Much like Peter, he is the type to be out and about instead of sticking around in one place. Maybe not to quite the same extent, but even with the size of the arcology, it had already started to feel confining. As luck would have it, though, NeoRealm is the perfect outlet for his desire to wander. Not that moving between arcologies is hard, but more of the fact that he just doesn¡¯t want to bother with it. Visiting anywhere in the world is almost completely hassle free. To move to a new place, though? That is a whole nother kettle of fish and involves enough paperwork that, if printed out, would stack higher than he is tall. Of course, Jason could have just had a bunch of vacations to other places, but that thought hadn¡¯t really crossed his mind and so he was stuck with the idea that he would need to move elsewhere to experience it. Chapter 349 - Rearranging Plants Once again on the road, Jason quickly makes his way towards the gate in the direction he needs to head. Even though he had already starred a stat, Lily still needed to work on it and Jason wasn¡¯t planning on stopping at just one star either. Of course, the rest of that day¡¯s travel was peaceful. Jason had stayed in the city long enough they had cleared the recent swarm problems. In fact, it takes a few days of travel before Jason comes across the first signs of trouble. Even then, it is only on the level of trouble that he feels safe with leaving entirely up to Lily. Something Lily is more than happy to manage. The poor swarm of flies never stood a chance as she charges her fur and hops right through their space. Each bounce killed hundreds of the bugs. While she doesn¡¯t clear them up as fast as a fireball or similar. She doesn¡¯t then have to rest to recover her Energy either and so the two continue on their way. Though that was truly just the first signs of trouble. From then on, one swarm after another would be found wandering the area. Some familiers creatures such as cats, flies, and other natural animals changed by the area. Some less so as strange monsters swarm around the two. From a scaled pseudo-cat mixed with a toad to a much more frightening collection of random disembodied mouths that floated there and used acid attacks. As Jason and Lily settle down to camp again, Jason can¡¯t help but grouse at Lily. ¡°I¡¯m getting tired of swarms, you know? The kingdom has completely culled any of the larger predators, thankfully as I don¡¯t think we could have handled them. But on the other hand, my best techniques are meant for fighting more powerful folks. It¡¯s a little hard to get a combo off when the enemy dies in the first couple hits.¡± Lily, of course responds by just looking up at him while munching on some grass. She had a vague understanding of what he was ranting about but none of it particularly pertained to her and so she ignored it. Though she too felt the swarms were a bit tiring. Jason settles down soon enough after spending some time petting her and then turns his attention to his portable planter. While he had been keeping things in order, his time at Peter and Gregor¡¯s house had other worries. Now, though, after a few days on the road to clear his head, he settles in to do a little spring cleaning. Despite the lack of any knowledge of the local seasons, and how it was actually mid summer irl. The plants being grown hadn¡¯t changed, with the planter still containing Energy Herb, Gloom Weed, Focusing Tea, Ginseng, and Bloody Lingzhi. Even the location of each plant had stayed the same, and it was this that he felt needed to change. While his skill Herb Farming had only gone up a couple levels, the time spent using it had given him more insights. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. When first placing all the plants, he had some vague idea of how the powers should flow. Now though, after increasing his understanding of the world and his own cultivation he had a new plan. One much more inline with his core. Gloom Weed to represent the outside and so he transplants it to make a perimeter. His favorite Energy Herbs inside of that to make a wall. Within the Focusing Tea and Bloody Lingzhi representing the duality of life as well of the mind and body through the affiliations with Mana and Qi. Then at the center of it all the humble Ginseng. Currently, the most normal plant in the whole planter, yet they contain so much potential and so would represent future potential. Satisfied with his work, Jason sits back and observes the planter. ¡°Much better¡±, Jason nods, happy with the results. Sure, the current flows were messed up and lacking compared to the previous set up. However, that was more to do with him needing to transplant so many of them to new locations. Once they settle down, he can tell that things would be improved. Not that his previous set up was wrong. He could tell that wasn¡¯t the case. Jason had seen to the core of some basic concepts of the power being used back at the start and placed things accordingly. In fact, he highly doubts that this new set up would be of much benefit for anyone else. An ice mage might grow magma lotuses but they would never be of the same quality as those taken care of by a fire mage. This would be true even if they did the same things and didn¡¯t use a single iota of mana around the plants. So while this new layout will show great returns because of Jason¡¯s cultivation technique. Others would find chaos as the various elements fought each other without his presence to mediate things. In fact, the longer Jason observes the planter he can feel a greater connection to the Ginseng. Maybe it is his Herb Farming skill that he can tell has gained a couple levels or it could be his cultivation reaching out. Whatever it was, he feels that the Ginseng will grow faster the greater his own cultivation is. Still, there is something blocking his way from fully embracing the plants and he knows the answer. Not only has the System infested both the plants and his own body, but it also is acting to keep the two separate. While Jason isn¡¯t sure of the details, something tells him it is in the name of a so-called balance. An act by the System to restrict his ability to affect plants outside of his farming skill. With time, this attempt to block him will prove futile. For now, though, Jason is willing to let things settle for the moment. Yet a promise burns in his heart alongside so many others, that to come back to this and correct things to match how he feels they should be. Chapter 350 - Ape Attack Jason sits back and laughs. To force things to match how he feels they should be? Classic arrogance, a common trait among cultivators. More impressive than the arrogance is that in theory they might just gain enough power to do so. Jason shakes his head. He is still a good bit away from that level of power no matter how you slice it. Plus, now is time to rest and he figures getting as many nights of sleep as possible could save him trouble later. After that bit of introspection, Jason¡¯s journey proceeds at a decent clip. Not much disturbs him and Lily till even the main road seems small, then the fun starts. Maybe it is something to do with the natural magic of the road or how often people travel it but mostly only pests had been annoying them. Now out in the wilderness, taking advantage of the path laid out for him Jason has found excitement. An ape twice his height attacks from the side, too bad Jason had heard it coming and with great finesse dodges out of the way. Not expecting this, it takes the ape a moment to realize that it didn¡¯t have Jason grappled. Enough time for him to slide around its back while using one of his throwing knives to slice both achiles tendons. The ape falls over but Jason isn¡¯t done with it and proceeds to stick his throwing daggers into key points around the body so as to prevent it from attacking him. Once fully locked in place, Jason finishes it with a simple slice across the throat. Then he gets the message he was waiting for. {Skillful Movement: +2 Agility} A lovely message informing him that his work had paid off. Sure, Jason could have handled the ape in a more straightforward manner. That wasn¡¯t the point though, the increase in Agility was. While he hadn¡¯t ever gone too much into using his toughness to fight, Jason also doubted he had too high of a cap in the first place, so of course it starred first. Still, now that he was hunting those elusive stars it was going to take more than his usual combat style. Not even this time was good enough. While Jason doubted his strength had too high of a ceiling either, it was about 20 points down to start with, so would require more work as well. That meant fighting in a way that not only required great finesse, but overbearing strength. The ape was just a stepping stone towards that goal and of course you generally don¡¯t find stepping stones all by themselves so not too long after Jason and Lily are once again interrupted on their trip. Though this time, the monster was polite enough to not attempt a sneak attack. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. More so because it had just recently killed some form of deer and was munching on it in the middle of the road. Of course, it might not have been the centipede¡¯s kill. While they are predators, for some reason Jason just can¡¯t see one a thick around as his own chest being able to manage killing a deer in such an open area. Then again, as Jason looks closer at the mandibles a slight green glint catches his eye so maybe this is just where the deer died after being poisoned. Either way, as compared to the random wildlife Lily had been fighting since the ape, this was a Jason sized challenge and just right for his own training. With a spring in his step, Jason dashes at the monstrous centipede as it turns toward him and brandishes its mandibles. Jason shifts his shoulders slightly to the left and dodges them as they clash closed. Then up and under as he slams an uppercut into the underside of the monsters. This doesn¡¯t result in quite the armor crunching that Jason had expected, but he had still felt there was some give to the exoskeleton that shouldn¡¯t have been there. This does not a happy centipede make and so it waves its head around as the poison gets sprayed everywhere. Quite forcefully as well and going by how even the supernaturally tough surface of the road begins to sizzle Jason is doubly glad he focused so much on dodging. As while the highly acidic poison did end up with near total coverage, it wasn¡¯t all at once. By staying close in and just out of reach of the many legs, Jason is able to dance with death. Then just before it finishes he jumps back, hopping between a few areas still untainted. Jason laughs, ¡°It seems this won¡¯t be quite as easy of a fight.¡± He isn¡¯t wrong either. While not uncommon, centipede monsters in the area generally don¡¯t grow quite this large. Not that this centipede is the exception to prove the rule either, it just isn¡¯t from the area having accidentally migrated as it followed a herd of pseudo-deer that it had taken a particular liking to. The centipede, unsatisfied with the results of dumping out most of its poison and ruining the delicious deer it had been chomping on, strikes out at Jason. The maw extends outward towards him in a way that seems to defy gravity. Though only seems to, as once Jason sways to the side it curves back towards the earth. The centipede¡¯s landing causes a solid thump even with the weight distributed across so many legs. Still, the move requires a moment to recover and Jason doesn¡¯t feel like giving it that moment. So if an uppercut wasn¡¯t going to cut it, an elbow drop might just do the trick. Jason slams down on the back of the bug quite viciously, his elbow sending cracks skittering across the exoskeleton. Not enough to fully break it and expose the insides to the outsides, but close enough to be impressive. Chapter 351 - Smashing Victory Not that it mattered to Jason whether the wound itself was fatal or even all that successful. Just the fact that the hit had caused visible damage was enough. The centipede was not having it however, and while Jason dodged out of the way of the mandibles themselves, some of the acidic venom sprayed out and landed on him. Jason however fought through the pain and bashed the mandibles away. This was not how the fight was supposed to go. He was supposed to constantly be plagued by the centipede and forced to dodge around like never before. Then finally, after managing to wear the centipede down, he would deliver a mighty final blow, shattering the monster¡¯s armor for the final time. Instead, here he is, nearly getting covered in the venom as he tries to adjust to the surroundings once again. That just won¡¯t do. So if before he had focused on the fight, now he bent his will towards it. Jason danced around the bug, ducking in to take a swing. Back and forth he weaves around the centipede. Venom flies less than a finger¡¯s width from his face but he doesn¡¯t back down. While part of this bravery comes from there not being any true consequences if he died, even Lily could be brought back if the true worst outcome happened. Though it wasn¡¯t that which let him dance with death so closely. He had made up his mind and in doing so, entered the zone. His movement was art in motion as his mind meditated on all that happened around him. While Jason wouldn¡¯t ever claim that he had been able to keep track of all the limbs and such during this time, he was keeping track of much more than a normal person even twice his level could. From his newfound confidence, Jason knew he could lash out and eventually beat the centipede, but that wasn¡¯t what he wanted. There were already two weak spots on the creature. The place he hit underneath that was weakened and the plate on top that was cracked. Jason wasn¡¯t going to hit those places. After all, it would have been a shame to pass up such a perfect practice partner. He needed to work on his hard hitters and this centipede was able to at least partially keep up. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Elbow after elbow rains down on the monster. Jason punches and jabs at the sides and underbelly, sharing the trauma. Not that the centipede was out of the fight. Any one piece of its exoskeleton being blasted into shards was near meaningless as it continued to fight and slowly recover and Jason was quite far from destroying the segments that thoroughly. So the monster, in its own mindless and cornered fashion kept slashing out well after the poison glands had dried up. Still, it fought with Jason as he started to methodically break the joints and more important bits of the body. After all, hands-on biology is an excellent way to learn, even if it tends to be messier. By the time the centipede expired, there wasn¡¯t much left to recognize it as a centipede. Every single leg had ended up broken off and the mandibles were more inline with mandiwonts. The System thought this was all grand and rewarded Jason appropriately. {Smashing Victory: +2 Strength, +1 Agility} Jason groans as he reads the pun it had decided on. Still, though, his hopes had been realized. While the monstrous centipede didn¡¯t exactly give him all that much experience, the stats boost was divine. A near perfect sparring partner to fuel his growth. So of course there aren¡¯t any more of them around. Jason tries to track the one for a while and does find where it had been watching for prey. The little hidey hole was only a few hundred paces away from the road. Quite the advantageous location for a lair if it had been able to stay hidden from the powerful. Though going by the amount of remains inside the lair, it was quite proficient at that. At least because of the acidic nature of the venom, there wasn¡¯t anything left to putrefy. Though it also meant that the quality of left behind loot is quite low. None of what were presumably packs and bed rolls had survived. In fact, about the only thing that did survive was stuff like gold. So while anything of true value was destroyed he was left with a bunch of jewelry and coins. Of which the coins were the easiest as all 54 gold coins go into his pouch and are basically the same as his other coins. The jewelry, however, is more of a problem. Each piece is a work of art. Maybe a bit scratched up or dinged, but not something he can just unload at auction. Well, he could, but he didn¡¯t want to because of the potential problems. There might be relatives looking for the lost family member. Someone else might try and claim it from them. There are just so many for things to go wrong. At least Jason has something of a plan for it. This wouldn¡¯t be the first odd thing the two had had to deal with and it wouldn¡¯t be the last. So, after a quick burial of the victims, Jason and Lily head back out onto the road. Chapter 352 - Combine It With An Owl Jason sighs, by now the owlbear is basically a universal monster despite having its origins being completely within the realm of the earliest rpgs. A strange experiment that at the most basic level glues the front end of an owl onto the back end of a bear. Dangerous but not particularly spectacular as the two animals have different hunting strategies. The owlcelot, on the other hand, is a much better combination with what Jason considers a pithier name. Because of course, once one mage combined an owl with something others would soon follow in their footsteps. So thus was born many an abomination of which the owl and ocelot combo in front of Jason is one of the saner attempts. In the normal swing of things, it wouldn¡¯t even bother Jason. After all, owls and ocelots tend to prey on small rodents and even with the magically enhanced size the original creator graced them with, they only got bumped up to eating rabbits. In fact, in NeoRealm only newborn rabbits would be of the right size for them to hunt. Lily, unlike every other variant of rabbit, hasn¡¯t grown too much in size leading to the scene that Jason now watches. Not that he worries too much. This is after all the fifth time over the past few nights that an owlcelot has decided she would make a nice snack. The first time was a surprise, the second expected, and now more of an annoyance than anything else. Owlcelots might be extremely stealthy but Lily¡¯s ears aren¡¯t just for show. Jason even suspects that they are quite the step up from most other rabbit variants. Whatever the reason now that she knows what they sound like the fights have been mercifully short. Lily hears one of the catbirds nearby, wanders off to the edge of the camp, and then provides a face full of fur that is acting more like needles. This was only enough to one shot the third ambush, mostly from it being unlucky and going straight for a bit instead of a talon attack. Still, not much of a fight even when they survive, as it is a little hard to fight when both front talons of the enemy are riddled with holes and not in any shape to fight with. The owlcelot Lily was currently fighting wasn¡¯t going to be any different. So let¡¯s ignore that. Jason also isn¡¯t a slouch in his ability to detect things. He certainly isn¡¯t as good as Lily at hearing things but he has his own senses and abilities. Which is why, despite Lily having no problem with her fight, he has just thrown himself across the campfire. From an area between two trees, a shadowed figure swoops down with its talons aglow. It would seem that owlcelots have a variant more heavily steeped in mana that hasn¡¯t sacrificed the ability to fly. While the wings on the creature¡¯s back aren¡¯t big enough for physics alone to hold it aloft, magic can make up for many such shortcomings. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. It is unfortunate for the winged owlcelot that the coverage only extends so far as Jason turns his hurried move into a drop kick, and drop it does. Though it does explain why the other owlcelot this time didn¡¯t seem to be all that high of a level. The two had apparently been working together as when Jason so easily took out the flyer, the catbird fighting Lily tried to run. It had apparently forgotten the terrible wounds that Lily¡¯s fur had caused to its talons. Thus distracted, Lily is more than capable of finishing the fight. Jason sighs and settles back into his spot to continue meditating. While they had been consistently attacked by the annoyances, the owlcelots were territorial enough that they hadn¡¯t even seen more than one a night before now. With that in mind, Jason was more than willing to assume the pair they just fought had been just that, a pair. Whether it was mother and child or a couple, he didn¡¯t know nor care. What did matter was the rest of the night should be free of such things and Lily seemed to agree as she took her place on his lap instead of idling around the other side of the campfire. Though he didn¡¯t go directly to meditation. He had already thrown the normal owlcelot quite a distance into the woods so nothing would bother them for it. The second one however still had a few things that Jason wanted and it was the perfect time to try something new with his Energy. From the nail of his left pointer finger, Jason extended a blade of Energy. Then, without any hesitation snaps the talons out of joint so he can carve around bone instead of through. Not that he couldn¡¯t, just that this leads to a smoother finish and extracts only the claw of the talon. After that, it is a simple matter to pluck out the biggest flight feather from both wings. Jason knows there is more he could be looting from the monster, but he doesn¡¯t particularly want to be crowding his pack this early on and so only takes the choicest bits. If the talons hadn¡¯t glowed when attacking, he likely wouldn¡¯t have even bothered with them and instead only taken the two feathers. Though since magic had been channeled through the talons, they should be good for something. A sentiment that the System seems to agree with when Jason checks on the loot after throwing the last body into the woods. {Winged Owlcelot Claw x8 Description: The claw of a lv10 winged owlcelot that was used to channel wind blades Grade: lv10 Low Normal (Ingredient)} {Main Winged Owlcelot flight feather x2 Description: The largest flight feather of a lv10 winged owlcelot upon which air magic has been focused from the rest of the wing Grade: lv10 Normal (Ingredient)} Chapter 353 - Why Run When You Can Brachiate? Jason rolls his eyes at the low normal rating on the claws. While he didn¡¯t exactly have a butchering skill, he should have more than enough ability to get better. There was likely some sort of catch to harvesting them that he had missed. Though, after a closer look at the description for the two feathers, another idea comes to mind. They specifically mention that the magic from the wing has been focused on them. With that in mind, Jason guesses that he had made a mistake in harvesting all the claws. Rather, he should have only taken the primary claw from both feet. Though he can only shrug and promise himself to test it more later. After all, it doesn¡¯t really make sense why the magic would get concentrated in one place so it had to be something the System was doing in the background. After that though Jason doesn¡¯t see anymore the next day. Of course there is a good reason for this which becomes clear the day after. They had managed to run across the territory of a small bandit camp. The problem with this is that while the number of bandits was small, their levels weren¡¯t. Though Jason was happy to see the classics were alive and well. Not that the downed tree across the road tactic was going to do much to him; it still marked the location of the ambush. Jason clearly wasn¡¯t their main target but the bandits also weren¡¯t going to turn down an easy mark. This could have gone quite badly if not for their arrogance. While four of them only felt a break ahead of Jason and something he likely could have faced two at a time, the leader had a much deeper feeling of power. It wasn¡¯t concentrated so they should only be a couple breaks ahead and not three. A mostly pointless distinction, as it would have just been a matter of how easy it was for the bandit leader to beat him. Good thing the leader was more of the sword and board type with heavy armor. Jason raised both his hands and seemed to be going along with the leader as they started their spiel. Then Jason sprang to the side. He had already been mostly to the edge of the road in preparation to go around the downed tree and that got him close enough to reach the trees. The two bandits with bows didn¡¯t even get a chance to react as they had lowered their weapons when Jason had seemed to give up. Jason wouldn¡¯t have blamed them, though whether their boss will or not is up in the air, just like Jason, in fact. Even with all that gear on he had a feeling that the bandit boss would be able to keep up and they definitely knew the area better. So taking advantage of his Energy, Jason did his best impression of returning to monkey. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The slightest of Energy coating his hands and feet allow for unprecedented grip on command as he makes use of his movement skill in a way unlike anything before. He stuck tight to the first tree and scampered right up it before throwing himself to the next branch over. From there, it was just a matter of swinging from branch to branch. Not a moment too soon as just behind him, the bandit leader slams into the first tree in anger before ordering the two archers to try and catch him. Jason, of course wasn¡¯t going to stay around for this and while being a couple breaks ahead made the leader heads and tails ahead, the archers weren¡¯t as fortunate. So, with the advantage in overall stats, even if his agility might be lower, Jason pulls ahead. From there, it was just a matter of keeping as many trees between him and the two bandits as possible as the duo wasn¡¯t above sending out a pot shot now and again. None of the shots came close, but they were in the right ballpark so Jason couldn¡¯t slack off. Nevermind the fact that despite likely being well ahead of them in stats, brachiating took a lot out of him. Humans might be endurance hunters, but they weren¡¯t meant to give chase through the treetops. At least, that is what it seemed to the bandits chasing him. So as he slowed down they felt a thrill of excitement. They expected an easy fight with decent rewards, after all, why else would he have run so hard? That isn¡¯t what happened. Jason had been waiting for the other bandits to fall far enough behind to no longer be an issue. That out of the way, he took a couple of branches to find the right one and grabbed onto the far end. The branch bent deep but held before all that stored up potential was released. Before the two bandits can react to the change in circumstances, Jason is flying straight at them, feet first. With a starred toughness, likely double or even triple his enemies, Jason¡¯s feet reduces the head of the first bandit into a red mist in passing. The bandit never even got a chance to fight back before being reduced to the state of requiring a closed casket funeral. Jason uses the sudden jolt to swing his arms forward in time to hit the ground and roll. Not too far, though, just enough to bleed off any dangerous momentum. Then it is back up on his feet, one heel acting as an anchor into a spin and Jason pushes off. Like a gymnast, Jason soars through the air as he pulls his limbs in tight to increase the rotation. At the last moment, though, his leg flies out to complete a flying axe kick. The second bandit manages to react but this only means that Jason¡¯s foot lands on his shoulder and shatters his collarbone. Jason retracts the foot but this only causes him to pop up over the bandit as he had hooked his heel after impact. Then, as his momentum takes Jason up over the shoulder he brings his arm out and grasps the bandit¡¯s face. One small crack later and the bandit dies while facing the wrong way. Chapter 354 - Conceptual Imbalance With both the bandits dead, Jason takes a moment to loot them, but doesn¡¯t find much. He can only shrug, assuming if he wanted more than 12 coppers and a couple bows of worse quality than beginner gear he would need to manage the leader. A thing he very much does not want to try at the moment and so continues his escape on foot for the extra speed. Though not before dismissing his gains from that short fight. {Brachiating Break Away: +3 Agility Double Header: +2 Agility, +1 Strength, +1 Toughness} Quite the jump in his Agility, though after Jason checks his stats, it still isn¡¯t starred. Not that he expected it to be, but you never know. What is known though is that he can¡¯t stick around. While Jason doesn¡¯t believe they would be able to beat him, there isn¡¯t a good place to heal up. He has a good long while left to be on the road and to be wounded this early in the trip could cause a downward spiral to death. After all, even with his personal ability to ignore broken bones to an extent you never know what might be behind the next turn. So finished with looting, Jason takes off at a loping run. Nowhere near as fast as his previous speed, but much more sustainable and spends the rest of the day eating up the miles. It isn¡¯t until near dinner time that he joins back up with the main road and settles down. After a quick look around, Jason is happy enough with the location. The road is curving enough that you can¡¯t see too far in one direction or another and there is a campsite cut out of the trees on both sides of the road. He doesn¡¯t believe the bandits will bother going this far to look for him, but just in case he sets up camp on the side that doesn¡¯t allow incoming traffic to see him. A larger group would likely feel safer on the other side as whoever was on night watch would be able to see for a good distance but being alone removes that possibility. Jason nods at what was clearly a sign of decent planning by whoever laid out this road originally. Though he admits that it might just be this way so that multiple parties can camp out at once as well. Not that it matters to him for the moment. Instead, Jason focuses on his portable planter. After having rearranged the plants to match his cultivation, there was a slight uptick in growth. Not much, though, likely because it only grew faster when he was actively cultivating with it. Still, when the growth cycle of a plant is measured in years like with the ginseng, any little bit can show amazing results. Stolen story; please report. More interesting is said ginseng, even if the interesting part is how its growth was sped up. All the rest of the plants had been growing almost evenly. Only the ginseng seemed to have had its growth kicked into overdrive by the change. Of course, it was a plant that took years to grow so it wasn¡¯t like it would be ready anytime soon. However, there was definitely something going on that caused it and Jason¡¯s guess was that most of the extra energy from the new formation had been focused there. Sure, the center of the planter as that makes some sense, but more specifically to the herb he used to represent his understanding of [Ascendance]. This would make some sense as his cultivation did focus on it by using the solid outer wall for defense and most of the space within to cultivate. However, this does cause him to reconsider. Jason does not want ascension to come out on top. In his last life, the idea that might makes right and the strongest rules was the way things worked. It didn¡¯t feel right to him, though. Even in his new life despite the various upheavals to the status quo, those at the top still gripped power beyond what is reasonable. Not that Jason believed a ruler should not be able to make decisions. Rather, a proper joining between the will of those who are ruled and those who rule is needed for the best outcome. His cultivation had strayed from this path. At the start, he had tried to make the three pieces equal if uneven. Now, though, his planter had shown this was no longer the case. Over the many nights of cultivation, Jason had strayed and he knew why. If his cultivation was a village, he had been focusing on the village head. Sure, Jason admitted that the farmers were important to keep everything running and the guards were needed to keep everyone safe. However, the idea of advancing faster had overtaken him. So, in courting the head, Jason almost lost the body. Good thing he managed to catch it now before he went too far with clearing his meridians irl. The foundation of his first realm was sturdy but Jason had almost built the next on loose sand. This revelation shook Jason such that he didn¡¯t even try to cultivate or even look into it that night. His mind just wasn¡¯t ready. Then, throughout the next day, Jason spent the time walking at a slow pace. He could afford the slower pace after the rushed flight from the day before and the extra time to think was needed. Just looking at the percentages the System had for his three concepts already showed the imbalance. Sure, [Substance] was close enough to [Ascendance], but [Civilization] had lagged behind by a massive amount. On one hand, it felt odd to Jason that this would be the case. He had lived in two very different civilizations, soon enough three if you count NeoRealm itself. There had to be something missing in his understanding of the concept. A very hard thing to remedy as if he knew what was missing, it wouldn¡¯t be missing. Still, now that he knew about this oversight, he could start to ponder on what a civilization actually was, at least from his point of view. Chapter 355 - Backsliding Percentage Jason mentally took a step back and observed his path. A wall to protect. A field to feed. A pillar to support. The walls protect the field that feeds the pillar and in turn the pillar supports the rest. Jason freezes. ¡°Wait, support. I¡¯m missing support. I¡¯m missing the virtuous cycle. My concept of [Ascendance] includes things like power, magnitude, beyond, and will. There is even a bit of purification in there. However, nothing in that is used to benefit the rest. Just like with the planter, all the growth is being funneled into it. ¡°What good is ascending alone? Being at the top is a lonely thing if no one is there to support you. The problem is that my understanding of it seems to be purely a matter of selfishness. Was it like this when I started?¡± Jason ponders on this as the sun swings across the sky, but despite it being so recently isn¡¯t able to come up with an answer. Though his lack of understanding when it comes to the concept civilization makes all the more sense. His substance is being protected some and so can support his ascension. Ascension, of course, has the other two feeding into it and so has grown. But civilization is a bare wall standing against the outside without any support. Even the strongest wall would fall if not supported from within. He needs something to change about his path ever upward that allows it to support those behind it. To raise not only the ceiling, but the floor as well. After all, while a pillar can rise up quite high all on its own, mountains tend to be a much more stable structure. Though while in stories a mountain might support the sky, they don¡¯t support much else. At least, not without the cost being that of the mountain itself. So while Jason does want it to help the rest, he isn¡¯t willing to strip mine his own advancement for it. No, there needs to be something more mutual about the exchange. The various words he associated with [Ascendance] cycle through Jason¡¯s head like puzzle pieces. Power, Magnitude, and Beyond are about having advanced past others. After all, having a magnitude more power puts you beyond others. For Jason, it represents how already he is better than most in his level range. After that, yet before in conceptual space comes Potential, Rising Up, and Will. The state of improvement that would lead to the previous three words. You need the potential and will to rise up. Then all that is left is the oddball of purification. A part of his path because to truly build to the sky you need a strong foundation and for that you need to work with the best materials you can. Though being the odd one out means there should be room to extend it. The only question is how. As an idea, purification can be pretty lonely. To take away that which isn¡¯t what you want to be left with a singular pure object. However, as Jason mulls it over a second understanding of the word comes to mind. To improve, and not all improvements happen by just taking. Steel needs carbon to be added to iron and so on. Stolen story; please report. Jason frowns as he tosses around this new angle. Just ¡°improve¡± isn¡¯t enough though. There needs to be more behind it than just that. No, he needs another word for it. Specifically him, others might be able to use ¡°improve¡±, but to Jason it doesn¡¯t feel right. Then it hits him, upgrade. While improvement is important, it has a lower level feel to Jason than upgrade. To him you would improve by a level but an upgrade would be a matter of innate quality or in a more NeoRealm centric view, of breaking through a bottleneck. From level 23 to 24, it won¡¯t be of much matter to Jason, but from 24 to 25 is a whole different matter. As this realization crystallized though, Jason feels a slight weakness spread through his body. While the addition of the ability for his ascension to upgrade his walls was important, it also took something from him and a quick check of his stats shows the reason. {Normal Stats Auxiliary Stats Tripartite Conceptual Energy His understanding of [Ascendance] had dropped from 0.213% to 0.183% and along with it all his stats also dropped. Even though this was only by a single point, Jason had still felt the difference. Something vaguely odd to him as the feeling of gaining stat points doesn¡¯t exactly trigger anything for him, but obviously this was a different matter. Still, Jason isn¡¯t sad about this. Rather, he understands why the drop happened and is happy about it. Because, in the end, Jason hadn¡¯t actually lost any understanding of [Ascendance] but instead had increased what it covered as a concept. The fact he lost so little actually points towards him having gained more than enough insights. To Jason this was like believing you were halfway through counting your money only for someone to show up and drop a couple more stacks of money on the pile. Yes, Jason would now have to work harder to understand it better, but in the end he would know more than if this hadn¡¯t happened. Also, while the benefits from the understanding hadn¡¯t changed, Jason had a feeling that if he continued to expand his understanding of what the three concepts meant, more benefits would surely come. After all, the System was limiting itself to percentages and obviously 50% of 200 would be more than 50% of 100. Though in the end, all that mattered to Jason was that he had managed to fix his understanding of his foundation. Chapter 356 - He Bought The Sugar In Town The night passed quickly as Jason finished meditating on his new understandings and was ready to test them out the next day. Not that anything happened the next day. While the wilds are dangerous, it isn¡¯t like he is currently in an actual danger zone, like last time. After all, these might not be the most traveled roads but they are traveled. If someone on the road was attacked literally every day, the nearest kingdom would send an army out to clear things up. Jason can only sigh. Things had been so eventful right up until he had something new to try out. So, without a more violent method to play with, Jason focuses on his plants. After all, they were the source of his inspiration. The first thing he focused on was the gloom weed. Jason had originally placed them around the outside just because there wasn¡¯t really anything else to go there. Sure, he had a few reasons but now he had a better understanding. While the plants themselves were void of power, the main reason he had them was that they pushed any energy they did absorb into the soil. Jason had been using that to help the ginseng grow, but now he took a closer look at it. After all, no matter how much he had a theory based on his own cultivation, that doesn¡¯t mean reality has to conform to what he believes. Though his idea was mostly correct, except for some of the small details. First was that while the gloom weed pushed power around, it was still restrained by local fields. So if there was a Mana based plant on one side, only Mana would be able to drain in that direction. This was able to combo with the second thing, that the roots were what moved the power into the earth. Not exactly groundbreaking findings, but apparently, the System thought it warranted a knowledge bonus. {Knowledge Bonus Earned +2% success rate when guiding Gloom Weed roots} Another small bonus that will help smooth things out. Though Jason does feel a bit disgruntled. Sure, he knew that the System was only going to give these types of things out for known things, but he had discovered so much dealing with the nature of the System itself. In the end, he did admit that giving out bonuses for screwing around with the System probably wasn¡¯t the smartest thing for the System to do, but he still wanted to be rewarded for it. Besides that, Jason also felt the recent lack of such bonuses in general. The entire spectrum of play was covered by those little bonuses. From the bonuses he got to growing Energy Herb to the bonus damage he receives against cats, basically everything has its own quirks. While the setup could get cluttered, it was the best way the System had found to recognize the small differences between people and yet at the same time not handing out a skill for everything. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. After all, his minor bonus to damaging cats could have just as easily been a passive skill. He was so distracted it took Jason much too long to realize exactly why he hadn¡¯t been receiving more bonuses. Of course, the reason was also incredibly simple and obvious in hindsight. Why in the world would the System give out bonuses to messing with itself? Good thing Lily is there to comfort him for being such a blockhead. To give such a bonus would be like the police providing lessons on how to pick handcuffs. Sure, it would be useful for some, but definitely not in their best interest. So with that minor epiphany to the back of the head Jason returns to his discovery. Since the Gloom weed would guide the power through its roots, guiding its roots would guide the power. Not only that, but his other plants could be used to block off two of the three powers. Which also explained why the center was doing so good while the outside was not. His circle of Energy herbs was blocking off most of the other powers from getting through. So while the ginseng was happy to use all the Energy it could get, everything else was suffering. And just like the answer to why he wasn¡¯t getting bonuses, the answer for how to solve this problem was just as obvious. So obvious, in fact, that he had already used it within his own cultivation irl. Just open up some gates to let the power through. Though Jason didn¡¯t stop there. He had just received the bonus to guiding the roots and he planned to take full advantage of it. The first step was to bring order to the roots of all the plants in his planter and after a quick internet deep dive into bonsai, transplanting, and such he felt ready. With his sealed silver snips at his side, Jason began the process of digging up all his plants once more. This time at his side was a towel soaked in a water and sugar solution. Then, one at a time, starting from the center, he dug up each plant. Any roots that had grown too long or too tangled got snipped. Jason did try to do as little of that as possible as even if they were supernatural plants, transplant shock was a very real danger. Before, he had been a good bit more callus, and it was only a miracle that prevented any of them from dying. Though seeing as one of the big things with transplanting was to disturb the roots as little as possible, this time had a much bigger risk. Jason couldn¡¯t help it though, as the next step required it. Whereas before he had just worried about the location of the main plant, now each root represented a potential disruption to his Gloom weed plans. Though that thought does stop him, well, it does after he finishes his touch up on the bloody lingzhi. He has been calling the gloom weed a weed for too long now. Just like the Energy herb is referred to as a glow weed, the gloom weed should be similar. Chapter 357 - Not A Tree, But A Herb The problem Jason had with naming the gloom weed however was that none of the names he could think of quite fit and he had a good few. Null, Void, and Guiding herb to name a few. That last one in particular floated up when he discovered the most recent use for the plant. Sure, anyone of those names would work, but Jason felt it needed something better. ¡®What is the core of a gloom weed? A lack of power, a redirection of power, or even just an imbalance. The plant acted in a way so different from all the other supernatural plants that he knows of. All the others grow by pulling in whatever its power of choice is. The gloom weed, on the other hand, allows the powers to flow around it and whatever stumbles into it is shifted away. ¡®Actually, now that I think about it the plant is sort of the reverse of an Energy spring. Those bring up the planet¡¯s Energy and spread it above. The gloom weed, on the other hand, takes the power and directs it back into the earth. On a much smaller scale, of course. In fact, it does about the opposite of what Jason figured a world tree would do.¡¯ Jason pauses, why did he think of a world tree? ¡®What would a world tree be, anyway? Well, it would be. It would be a tree of the world? A tree hooked into the ley lines, dragon veins, or whatever you call it. A direct connection into the planet¡¯s Energy that would allow it to enrich the environment around it. ¡®The gloom weed goes in the opposite direction. It takes from the environment and puts the power back into the earth. While this wouldn¡¯t do much, there must be a reason. These things are all over NeoRealm, being one of the basic plants any newb adventurer will be tasked with harvesting and a new alchemist would use. No matter the environment, you will find them, even more widespread than Energy herbs. ¡®World herbs¡¯ ¡°World herbs¡± {Discovery Bonus Earned +2% success rate when using a World Herb or growing one} {Knowledge Bonus Earned +2% success rate when using a World Herb as an ingredient or growing one} ¡°Though I¡¯m guessing the berries are going to be called void berries.¡± ¡°Void berries¡± ¡®Guess I¡¯m not going to get any extra bonuses.¡¯Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Jason shrugs and goes back to working with the plants. The sugar water soaked towel is used to cover the roots so they stay damp while he manipulates them. For the ginseng, it was simple enough. Most of the roots were spread out evenly while two main branches of the roots are directed towards the lingzhi and the tea. From there, it was just a matter of digging up each plant and arranging the roots to help channel the various powers. The result looked like some strange being¡¯s circulatory system. Only the outer edge broke away from the design. There, the roots of the Energy herbs were formed into a wall with evenly spaced gates. Not just gaps, but actual openings with a special design. It took some time but Jason figured out the exact distance an Energy herb¡¯s roots need to be from a World herb¡¯s roots to allow Mana and Qi to flow freely. Happy with how it looks, Jason places the last bits of dirt back into the planter and waters it heavily with more sugar water. Then comes the painful part. The plants had been growing decently, especially with the ever-increasing quality of the soil. Now, though, he reaches for his sealed silver snips and with a heavy heart, begins to trim all the plants back. From everything he had read, trimming back the plants by a third would greatly increase the chances of them all living. Besides that, though, all he can do at this point is keep it well watered and wait. About the only good news is that while not quite mature yet, the tea bush clippings gave him a chance to test it. Not right away, of course. That would be too easy. No, lacking the proper skills Jason has to wait for the leaves to dry out the normal way. So, with a sigh, Jason packs everything up and continues on his journey. As luck would have it, or not depending on your view of it, things didn¡¯t stay peaceful. Jason isn¡¯t sure which side to take as it was just a monster attack. Not even an exciting monster. Just a bog standard goblin ambush. Suffice it to say, Jason did not have a problem with this. He didn¡¯t even wait for them to scream their presence. No, he jumped right into the mini horde of about thirty of the green nuisances. The fight wasn¡¯t hard but it was oh so satisfying for him. Even when the goblins stopped trying to fight back, likely in response to his slightly unhinged laughter, he continued. It just felt good to move freely without having to think about it. The goblins all had only two eyes and so, despite being humanoid, were free game. In the end, he might have taken it a little too far. Only a trio of goblins ended up escaping from Jason¡¯s little side adventure in stress relief. Even then, it was only because he caught himself. This wasn¡¯t like him at all. Not now, not when growing up, and not in his last life. Something was wrong. Jason crouched down as those three goblins ran. All around him, things seemed normal enough but there was a feeling about it. Then he started to see it. Most of the trees and many of the bushes showed signs of violence in the recent past. Others might be willing to just shrug and chalk it up to the goblins. There was more to it, though. Sure, goblins tend to have a less than positive effect on their territory, but not like this. There were markings of combat from the ground all the way up to the canopy of the trees, and not goblin specific ones either. No, it seemed as if everything was fighting everything else. Chapter 358 - A Couple Bears While it would delay him, Jason wasn¡¯t exactly planning on speed running his trip in the first place. So with great care, he backtracked to determine the exact start of this strange area. Even just that though isn¡¯t without trouble. His guess that everything was fighting hadn¡¯t been wrong as groups of small animals threw themselves at him twice before finding the end. Jason felt it odd that he hadn¡¯t experienced this on his way in but could only assume nothing had been along the path. More disturbing though was how abrupt the end of the chaos was. Even the Wasteland wasn¡¯t some sort of perfect circle, one side desolate and the other grassland. That wasn¡¯t the case here. One tree half in and half out was the perfect example. The side outside of the area was perfectly normal. The other side? All scratched up and battered. Then it hits him. Why it took so long for him to notice and the creatures to notice him. There had to be some form of enchantment or illusion going on. Though that was just the start as there was no way that normal animals and monsters would be able to so totally savage the land. Jason approaches the tree that was half in the area and takes a closer look at the marks. The scratches at first appeared to be from all kinds of things as the size varied wildly. Too wildly now that he thinks about it. Then he spots it, some of the scratches stop right on the boundary. This causes him to look deeper and the marks all start to look the same. Sure, some of them are clearly just animals having scratched the tree. Most of them though? No, despite the difference in size the closer he looked, the more they seemed to have been made by the same thing. Thing because Jason was beginning to doubt any actual entity caused these marks. Some sort of magical aura was ripping up the area and causing all the animals within it to go wild. All the while also hiding this from outside observers. This all led him to believe someone had purposefully set this up. Which instantly tanked Jason¡¯s desire to figure it out. Sure, it sounded like an interesting secret of some sort. On the other hand? While this did affect travelers, it didn¡¯t target them. Whoever was going it might not have even intended this effect. He had heard stories in his past life of people who ended up comprehending more violent elements causing danger zones by accident. This could be something similar.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Still, that didn¡¯t mean Jason was going to put up with this nonsense. Nevermind the fact that whoever caused this might be camping on the road itself. That would make sense if this was an accidental breakthrough of some sort. The only thing saying this wasn¡¯t an accident would be the illusion barrier thing, but that could be explained away by a travel companion. So instead of continuing on the road, Jason starts to follow the edge of the area. Easy enough now that he can see where the effect starts. This wasn¡¯t peaceful of course. Even though the effect abruptly ended, monsters and animals didn¡¯t magically become peaceful beings just because they left it. That doesn¡¯t even count the normal rate of encounters from wandering through a forest. Animals of all kinds with the occasional monster would attack him over the coming days as he follows the edge of the area. Overall he didn¡¯t mind this too much. The curve of the edge wasn¡¯t too crazy so wasn¡¯t too large, otherwise Jason would have cut through it. All that aside, this little forest trek was enjoyable. While the previous forest was just as nice it had that underlying sense of danger. Of course there was sufficient danger here to keep Jason on his toes but a threat of instant death wasn¡¯t hanging over his head. At least not so oppressively as the danger at the center of the previous forest had. This led to what Jason would later call a fun romp through a nice forest. He even got to ride a bear! Mind you, the bear wasn¡¯t too happy about it, but being a relatively young one did not get to have a say in the matter. Though the fact it survived the experience put it ahead of the earlier bear Jason had found. In the end though, all things generally have an end and soon enough Jason arrived at the continuation of the road. He was almost sad about this as if he was to be honest, it was some of the more carefree traveling that he had done. While it definitely took at least three times the time and a lot more effort from the lack of the road buff, the experience had been refreshing. While technically following the road was safer, in theory. That wasn¡¯t quite true. Sure, it was safer than heading off into the wilds like the group had done in the last forest. The safest way to travel was parallel to the roads and not actually on them. The roads suffered from their own success. Their buff was too convenient, allowing beings to travel farther and faster with less effort. So every road became not only an easy way for people to move about, but animals and monsters as well. This in turn meant that for a good distance around, the road is where everything focuses. If a being was in any way above an animal, they would make use of it and thus why there are so many dangerous encounters along it. So yeah, as long as you move out of sight of the road, things get peaceful enough. Except you lose the road buff. Jason had heard of at least three traveller based companies that tried doing just that to move valuables. In the end it just took too long and anyone capable of going faster would generally be strong enough to just take the road and go even faster. Chapter 359 - Just Chilling Back on the road Jason takes one last look back at the ravaged area and shakes his head. The area it took up was too large for him to do anything much about, but he would pass it on to the next settlement he came across. While it wasn¡¯t his responsibility to take care of, someone would probably care. At least enough to go and check it out if they didn¡¯t already know about it. Jason shrugged as he let Lily out. The world was full of mysteries and not all of them were meant for him to delve. Instead he focused on allowing Lily to play. She hadn¡¯t been able to get out much as Jason was leery about if the aggression effect might do something to her. Now clear of that hidden danger, Lily was able to play around with the local animals. Like the friendly group of badgers that ended up dead. The carnivorous deer that stopped by for a bite to eat and ended up dead or the pair of bobcats with ice powers that tried to ambush them and ended up dead. Yeah, she had a bunch of fun. Though Jason still had to step in when another bear made itself known. Despite being a normal animal, their stats more than made up for it. Jason¡¯s only disappointment with this is that he was hoping to come across a hindbear. A fun species of bear able to stand on its hind legs. It was honestly shocking that he hadn¡¯t seen one with how many bears seemed to be around. While hind bears weren¡¯t an actual evolution of normal bears, they tend to show up in the same areas. Not that Jason completely believed this. The main difference between the two seemed to be more related to the bone structure of the back legs than anything else. Plus, the two sides went in separate directions with regular bears ending up as Mana users while the hind bear will use Qi. Then a jackalope attacks. Not Lily of course, but rather Jason and to be honest, he doesn¡¯t really want to fight it. The rabbit seemed like it was defending Lily or some such. Combined with the fact they tend to be heavily influenced by the fae. Not something anyone ever should have to deal with. If only because they liked playing pranks and a lack of understanding that claiming something was a prank would make everything better. Jason danced around with the poor jackalope for a little but he didn¡¯t feel like dancing to the whims of the fae all day. So once a chance presented itself he struck. A quick hand chop, snuck in right behind the antlers, knocks the rabbit out. Of course NeoRealm follows how stuff like this would work in reality so Jason hightails it out of there, the rabbit waking up moments later.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Off to the side of the road a small collection of fae laugh and cheer. An unexpected result being worth more than their bets over what would happen. That is, until one of them points out that they had bet on a tie. The others in on the bet all argue back that if anything the jackalope had lost. Maybe if everyone or even a majority of the group had been in on the bet it would have ended there. Instead those just hanging around to watch fanned the flames. Off to the side the clueless rabbit shook its head and hopped off, hoping those annoying bugs would keep away this time. Its escape didn¡¯t go unnoticed, but the actual owners missed it and of course the best pranks are the ones with maximum chaos but minimum personal effort. Back with Jason, Lily has decided to get back on his shoulder. While being able to hop around is fun, the area smells of the fae and her bloodline has nothing good to say about those nuisances. A sentiment that Jason agrees with. So without needing to really think about it, Jason picks up the pace. Of course this doesn¡¯t scale up the speed too much. While the road¡¯s bonus does scale with the user''s speed, it is a flat bonus based on an innate speed and not the current speed a person is moving at. Still, through a combination of that and Jason¡¯s movement skill he makes good time. So good that he decides that the next day should be used to rest up. Until now he had been traveling almost continually, barely sleeping in between cultivating both in game and irl. Jason also understands that if he spends the day doing just that it wouldn¡¯t be much of a rest day. Instead after a full night''s sleep he spends the time lazing around. His time partly spent on his puttering around with his garden and partly hanging out with Lily. The garden was simple enough. By using the small amount he could extend his Energy, Jason was able to spot any problems beneath the soil. Problems that were both expected and severe. Even after so many days the newly transplanted plants were all still not looking too hot. Jason could tell they were recovering but they required a lot of babying. A thing he had somewhat been provided but for the first time had really focused on. As for hanging out with Lily? Well, she actually was more into getting out and doing things. Something Jason had basically decided against doing so it was a slight discrepancy between what they both wanted. Still, Lily had some ability to read the room, as it were, and settled down quick enough. After all, while she would very much have enjoyed the chance to fight more. Lily was perfectly fine spending some time just letting Jason pet her as they watched the birds flit around the tree tops. The sun sets on this with Jason once again settling in for a good night''s sleep. Tomorrow the trip could continue but for now? Jason felt a wonderful sense of fulfillment. Chapter 360 - Breakfast Visitor The next day passed peacefully for Jason so of course it was time to ramp things up again. There was a split in the path and it was easy enough to tell which way saw more people. This is a great indicator for him and so resolutely he turns and takes the road less traveled. Though, unlike the previous bits of fun, Jason actually knows what he will be facing. This path was specifically in place for the occasional adventurer to go through and cull the hindbear population. He had wanted to see one earlier, though that was mostly to get a feel for them. Nevermind the Adventurers Guild will be happy to hear they weren¡¯t just wandering around the rest of the forest. Of course, since the day had already passed at this point Jason didn¡¯t get far and had to leave his adventures with wrestling bears for the next day. A disappointment for sure but even he can admit that every night less he has to spend in an area saturated in anything bearlike is probably for the best. Jason doesn¡¯t have to wait long to fight a hindbear either way. In fact, one shows up for breakfast. This was entirely his fault of course. The roads provide a bit more security when it comes to food prep than a usual trip in the wilds so Jason had gotten into the habit of having a hot meal. He didn¡¯t go too far down the road but he was still very much in an area that most people didn¡¯t travel along, so of course the local wildlife hadn¡¯t realized how bad of an idea it is to attack at the scent of food cooking. Good thing this particular hindbear apparently didn¡¯t believe in any kind of stealth as Jason heard it crashing through the underbrush well before it got to him. While this didn¡¯t give him the ability to ambush the beast, he was more than ready when it showed up. So there Jason was, standing behind a small campfire as a large bear charges into the clearing while up on its back legs. Over the last couple days, he had gotten a decent look at what a bear was supposed to look like so the differences stood out starkly in his mind. In fact, if you had had just shown a picture of the hips Jason would have guessed it was from a primate of some sort. More on the ape side of the family, maybe gorilla, but certainly not bear. Except, of course, the legs keep going. Where a gorilla¡¯s arms are the clear winner in length, the hindbear¡¯s back legs match the front in size. At the end of those ungainly long limbs, are a set of paws. While some claim they have near opposable thumb-like forepaws, Jason sees the truth of it. Those side paws might look opposable but the reality is they have the ability to stick out to the side. Jason isn¡¯t quite sure what this does for the hindbear though it might be helpful when used with Qi to dig into stuff. Besides that, the only other large difference is the face structure.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. The hindbear¡¯s muzzle is much wider at the back. While it doesn¡¯t quite turn the face into a triangle, it comes quite close. Not only that, but the eyes are further apart, as if the change to the muzzle had pushed them to the side. This creates quite the disturbing picture, so close yet so far from what a bear should look like. Not that the hindbear gives Jason all that much time to consider the aesthetics of it. No, the hindbear just charged right through the campsite, even ignoring the campfire. Jason had expected nothing less, so was ready for the bearhug. Going by the jaw shape this was likely the attack of choice for the beast as it clamps its arms down and tries to take a bite out of Jason¡¯s head. This would have been a devastating attack as even just the strength in the arms could have snapped Jason¡¯s spine. Good thing he ducked in under the left side just before those arms of steel tried to steal his life. Besides that, it certainly didn¡¯t hurt when he added in a quick blast jab to the armpit, well, it certainly didn¡¯t hurt Jason. The hindbear wasn¡¯t too happy about it. Of course, Jason didn¡¯t care about what the bear thought and just continued around the side, avoiding the firepit. The hindbear was quick to turn with his movements. Not quick enough though as Jason is able to, with a light toss, land Lily on the back of the hindbear¡¯s neck where she promptly dug her claws in. With a touch of Energy on said claws, she is more than able to draw blood. Jason didn¡¯t stop there, though. Since the hindbear is just a regular beast, it is easily taken in by a faint as he fakes a direction change, only to duck back into the left. This time, the hindbear is able to clamp its limb to its side. This doesn¡¯t prove to be a problem for Jason. His aim hadn¡¯t been a repeat attack in the first place. Instead with a blast from a hammer fist, he attacked the funny bone. Mind you, it isn¡¯t actually a bone that causes this, but rather a nerve that passes along the outside of the elbow. While sensitive, this would normally not be the easiest thing to attack. Jason sidesteps this all as his Body Blast skill bypasses armor. Now, he isn¡¯t certain that the hindbear¡¯s nervous system is close enough of a match to the human one that they have the same weakness. What he is certain of is that he certainly touched a nerve with his attack. The hindbear¡¯s arm flails outward and its head rears back as it roars in pain. Lily, clinging to the back of its neck, is more than willing to take this chance to attack, shocking Jason at the same time. With supernatural ease, she moves around the side of the hindbear¡¯s neck and after stretching her body across the front of said neck, pulls back. This left the neck shredded as copious amounts of blood came pouring out. After that, the hindbear soon bleeds out. {Agile Escape: +1 Agility} Chapter 361 - Adding To The Stew With the hindbear dead next to his campfire, Jason has no problems processing it. Though, to be honest, he is quite far from being able to take it for all it is worth. Just the hide itself would be worth a decent bit but is way too cumbersome to handle so instead he focuses on distinct features. For this particular hindbear, that meant three incisors as one had been knocked out at some point in the past and the side claws, which were significantly bigger than the rest. Not that Jason particularly cares about them, either. While the owlcelot parts from before were interesting, this hindbear had been just a normal beast with nothing special. So while he kept the parts all together when put in with the rest. He had been doing that for all the claws and such. While not quite as aggressive as it could be in some stories, the idea that pieces from the same animal would synergize with each other was very much a thing. Sure, Jason could probably just sell them all in bulk but he suspected that sets would be worth more. Though he does make a mental note to expand his knowledge of what to grab from the monsters he meets. That and maybe invest in some kind of spatial or compression storage. Loot squared away, Jason sits back and looks over at Lily. It wasn¡¯t the easiest thing to notice, but he suspects she had managed to learn some form of movement technique. She had moved around on the hindbear much too easily. He had only expected her to hang on while clawing up the hindbear¡¯s back. Instead, she goes and skitters around to the front before, in a show of gravity defiance, stretches out across the front of the neck as if she was stretching on flat ground. Though the one thing Jason tries to not be is a fool. So while he could try and interrogate her about it or force her to repeat the act, he instead settles back. Lily is still quite young, no matter what her levels or species rank might say. This was likely just another ability like her Energy charged fur and trying to force it would just cause trouble. At best, the stress might block the normal development of the skill. Not that Jason has any clue of what skill she has at the moment. As noted, Lily is still young and so hasn¡¯t quite figured out how to share her status with him. Though Jason isn¡¯t pushing her too hard on that. He would rather her not be able to do it than share it with someone she shouldn¡¯t. So in the end Jason can only sigh and hope she continues to develop the skill. After all, while he has an idea of how to duplicate such an ability with an example to work off of, it would be a lot easier. That and having the ability to walk on walls would make things all the safer for Lily.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Jason sighs again and puts his pot back on the fire. He still had breakfast to finish and there wasn¡¯t likely another hindbear quite close enough to bother him. Not that he has much choice on the matter. While Lily had already had a decent meal of leafy greens, Jason hadn¡¯t had a single bite to eat. Though seeing as there is such a convenient source of protein nearby, the boring potato stew gains an extra source of protein. Jason admittedly doesn¡¯t have quite the spice loadout to make the most of the new ingredient, but the morning meal still manages to be elevated over the usual. Now with breakfast and the camp packed away Jason heads deeper into hindbear territory. Though the rest of his day ends up being a disappointment. While yes, he does meet a handful more of the beasts; they aren¡¯t really worth it. He doesn¡¯t know quite what he was expecting, but the same fight over and over wasn¡¯t it. One of the latter fights even went exactly the same way as his breakfast brawl. Whatever else might be up with the hindbears, they are truly just beasts in the end. Not even on the level of rabbits, though Jason suspects that has more to do with their backing. After all, last he had heard there wasn¡¯t some bear head honcho to keep them in line. Jason does have to admit in the end that the fights have their own charm. While it isn¡¯t what he is looking for in a fight, nevermind the constant drip of Agility, others would probably enjoy being able to perfect a routine against an enemy. Sure, the hindbears aren¡¯t acting like low-level bots by any stretch of the imagination. They truly seem to be acting like bears. The problem is that the System has taken whatever hesitancy that might be there when it comes to starting a fight and mostly removed it. Most of the large carnivores seemed to suffer from this problem in fact. See a person? Attack a person! It seemed to be just that simple. Sure, the smarter critters knew what was up and wouldn¡¯t attack out of the blue. Problem was, what was considered smarter was exactly the kind of critters that Jason wanted to fight. In fact, if Jason had to rank the owlcelot against one of the hindbears he had been fighting? It wouldn¡¯t even be a competition. The owlcelot was the hands-down winner. For some players, this might be hard to accept. After all, the hindbears seemed to naturally end up between level 14 to 17. Not only does this mean that even on the low end they match Jason¡¯s level, but they also have a fair number of levels on them. In the end, though, there is only so much a bear can do compared to a monster that was fully capable of using a power skill. While being able to use a wind blade doesn¡¯t require the owlcelot to have more of a mind. Those sort of advancements tend to come hand in hand. Chapter 362 - Lily Is Actually Kind Of Strong Suffice it to say, despite how threatening the hindbears might seem, they very much aren¡¯t. At least not for Jason. So it is a good thing that he doesn¡¯t intend to personally use them for training. Sure, the first couple fights had netted him a few ability points, but that wasn¡¯t likely to hold out. Those points came more from experiencing a new situation than any actual difficulty on his part. Instead, the hindbears made a perfect sparring partner for Lily and so Jason decided to leave them all to her as much as possible. With that in mind, Jason takes the time to set up System notifications to tell him about her growth while he cleans up. And with breakfast over, Lily soon gets her chance. While the forest isn¡¯t packed to the gills with hindbears, if only because they would soon have thinned themselves out. Hindbears are quite a big thicker on the ground here than would be natural At least than what would be natural, if it wasn¡¯t for the massive infestation of boarfu. The name being a simple portmanteau of boar and tofu, yet at the same time being neither. Their shape isn¡¯t even all that boar-like except for the relative size and two tusk shaped growths on what might generously be called the front. Though their name gets the point across decently and prepares you for what to expect. While the boarfu are in actuality, a form of fungus powered by a diffuse Qi field, they have the texture of tofu and taste almost like pork. Not exactly a strange thing as even irl there is a mushroom that tastes shockingly similar to bacon. Either way, right in front of the two is a hindbear chowing down on a boarfu, presenting the perfect chance for Lily to try a stealthy approach. Lily, well, Lily isn¡¯t quite certain how to do that. However, she is more than happy to try. This mostly involves hopping along quietly towards the hindbear. A hindbear that clearly knows she is there after only a few hops. Good thing the big ol¡¯ bear isn¡¯t exactly worried about a rabbit that doesn¡¯t feel all that powerful. After all, Lily might be close in level to the thing but the predator-prey relationship would normally keep things in a more ¡°natural¡± balance. This doesn¡¯t work out for the hindbear. Even if you discount the fact that Lily has a title devoted to breaking that balance, her race isn¡¯t a normal one. So with one final hop, Lily turns into an Energy charged spiked ball of death and brains the hindbear just as it looks up in confusion. In normal circumstances, it would have put up some of a challenge. This was not a normal circumstance as Lily is easily able to send a burst of Energy outwards from her needle sharp fur, piercing through into the hindbears brain and creating quite the mess of it. That was not a stealth kill. Lily might have managed the assassin¡¯s specialty of one hit one kill through an assassin approved method, it wasn¡¯t what Jason had meant. The System, of course, doesn¡¯t care what Jason thinks and so rewards her for such a stunning achievement.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. {Lily: +2 Toughness Lily: Title Gained: Deceptive Assassin - Increased chance of a killshot against enemies that seriously underestimate you} Jason, of course is a bit ticked. While the result is nice, especially the improvement to toughness. He doesn¡¯t really want to call what Lily just did an assassination. Sure, if she had purposefully hidden her power and then managed it or even just meant to do that he would be fine. Lily had not meant for that to happen. Though the wording of the title quickly distracted him. Others might think it caused a strike to do more damage or some such. Jason however had a different idea based on his understanding of how the system affected the body. To be specific, he was thinking about the methods that the System had in place to prevent bosses from suffering a cheap death. Combine that with the level suppression and Jason suddenly has the motivation to hunt down a few assassinations based titles. The titles really shouldn¡¯t do anything. After all, the System had specifically reached down to nerf his ability to take advantage of such things. On the other hand, wouldn¡¯t it be just so unfair if he had decided to go down the assassin path and everything shrugged off headshots? So Jason had a hope, a hope that the System wasn¡¯t sapient or in control enough to realize the interaction. Sure, the titles wouldn¡¯t completely remove his penalties, but he was willing to test things. There are just too many martial arts moves that deal with hitting weak points to succeed. This new plan, of course, temporarily suspends his plans on training Lily. Though it does open up a new path. After all, he clearly needs to teach her at least a little about stealth. That and get her a couple more assassination based titles under her belt. Good thing the path is just lousy with hindbears to test things on. It takes Jason three of them before he finally succeeds. For each of them, he has Lily sit to the side and watch how he sneaks up on them. Though that isn¡¯t the hard part. With Jason¡¯s control over his body and planning to make sure the hindbear won¡¯t smell him, he is more than capable of sneaking up on them. The tough part is getting a kill shot when the System is quite insistent that he doesn¡¯t do that anymore. On the third hindbear, it all falls into place. The third hindbear had set up shop next to a small patch of berry bushes and was just loafing around after having a filling meal of boarfu and berries. Those bushes provided a decent screen for Jason to approach from and the hindbear had lowered its guard. So like a ghost, Jason stealths up next to the vicious predator and with silent easy slips one of his throwing daggers right into its ear as another is plunged through the artery. Jason makes a swift escape, leaving the one dagger in the ear while blood spurts out wildly as the one from the neck is removed. While not the kindest or quickest kill, the System counts it and summarily awards him a title. {+1 Strength Title Earned: Stealthy Assassin - Increased chance of a killshot against enemies that is unaware of you and not on alert} Chapter 363 - There Is A Connection Of course, after earning a new title Jason can¡¯t help but test it and so the next hindbear the two meet suffers a similar fate. Only the next though, as Jason can easily tell the difference. For the very first strike of the knife to the temple, it goes in much easier. While Jason wasn¡¯t exactly all that skilled in daggers, but this didn¡¯t feel like the System had made the dagger sharper or the target weaker. Rather, it felt like the hindbear just wasn¡¯t as able to absorb the damage. Now that sounds weird, but Jason just couldn¡¯t really think of a better way to explain. It was as if before the hindbear¡¯s skull was covered in a non-newtonian fluid like oobleck that he had to pierce through before actually piercing the skull. Before, he hadn¡¯t noticed it. In fact, it was very odd that he hadn¡¯t noticed it and even now it wanted to slip out of his mental grasp. When Jason realizes that he slams the log out and ejects into his personal space. Even as he pulls up his notes app, the information seems to almost gain a will of its own as it tries to escape. Like a talisman, though, the more he writes his observations down in the note, the more it comes back to him. No matter how special NeoRealm is, the personal space is sacrosanct. That observation recorded, Jason logs back into the game. It is only moments later but with such a simple action his thoughts stay clear. Clear enough to realize this shouldn¡¯t have been the first time, just the first that he had captured. Jason shakes his head and laughs at himself. It should have been obvious after he learned of the state of the world. The fact everyone knew, that the VR capsules can¡¯t mess with your mind. Of course, NeoRealm would break it. The System was godlike in scope and power within NeoRealm. If NeoRealm had just been another videogame it wouldn¡¯t have mattered. But this was a true realm and the System had true power. Jason was too low on the scale in his last life to have a good idea of what it means but one particular myth now rings true. With enough power, one can control their own karmic ties. The System, through its own power was simply not allowing people to remember things about it and NeoRealm was in a sense the System. It didn¡¯t help that every player was inherently hooked directly into its power through the System¡¯s Energy lines. If anything, it made even more sense why so few players even touched Energy. Just the fact he had managed to train in it was a miracle all on its own. Jason sits back and sinks his sense into himself and observes. Soon he finds evidence of what had just happened. While his cultivation is mostly just rough Energy, the concepts behind it still have a mental form and they tell a story. The walls are scarred and a portion of the gates had been broken.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. His cultivation had protected him and would only become more able to do so with time. Beyond that, though, there is a connection. Whatever sends his consciousness into NeoRealm leaves a path back. Thinking about it, of course, this would only make sense. There is a connection. Whatever sends his con. scious. ness. There is a connection. His cultivation had protected him, and it seems to still be under attack? Not only that, but there is a connection within the walls. Jason¡¯s thoughts feel slow to him but he pushes on as he focuses on the connection. He realizes it should be a connection back to the outside. He turns to the gates and focuses on them, fixing those already busted. From outside, endless waves of thread flow back and forth as his walls hold them back. Jason squints as he says something while also writing it in the soil with his finger. ¡°There is a connection between this body and my other. It is within my cultivation and should be what allows my soul to be in two places.¡± Even as he speaks, though, the words become muted and fade away in an unnatural manner. Jason doubts that even Lily heard him. While he writes out the words, the soil smooths out behind his finger as if he hadn¡¯t touched it. He can feel the knowledge rest uneasily in his mind and can sense that if he tried the logout trick, it would be wiped in an instant. There is a connection but that connection is too core to the System. Right now, he just doesn¡¯t have the power to remain conscious of it. He, however, is fine with not being conscious of it right now. So like a seed, he takes that small nugget of info and buries it under his cultivation¡¯s field. There it rests beneath a [Substance] that even the System can¡¯t deny. His cultivation had protected him and would only become more able to do so with time. Beyond that, though, it seems the gates are being repaired so at least that is somewhat automatic. Still, it would be nice to know about it when they are being attacked in the first place. As it is, it feels like he was some town¡¯s mayor sleeping in bed as the town falls to bandits. He can only shake his head, stuff like that will come with time. After all, the System isn¡¯t acting like some raiding party, but rather a thief in the night. At least it should be limited to only things directly related to NeoRealm and then only when physically in game. That, of course, brings up other questions. Simplest among them is what happens with the players who managed to break through the final bottleneck? When someone hits level 500, they should, in theory, go beyond the System¡¯s control to at least some extent. While likely this isn¡¯t entirely true, there should be something to it. Jason shakes his head, which he just now notices hurts a bit. There are just too many things to consider at the moment and none of them are going to help Lily turn into the fluffiest assassin this side of reality. With a sigh, he stands up and stretches before heading off. He didn¡¯t get around to harvesting this hindbear, but he just can¡¯t seem to care. Chapter 364 - Not A Bug, But A Feature After whatever that nonsense was, Jason was a tad bit fed up with things for the moment. Good thing the plan at the moment was to leave everything up to Lily. A task that might seem out of place. After all, a rabbit versus a bear? Though as she had already proven, once she gets on the bear, the equation changes. A fact she is soon enough able to prove wasn¡¯t because of Jason¡¯s help. Sure, when he threw her on that one hindbear helped. It wasn¡¯t necessary though. Next fight, even if Lily did forget to even try stealth, went quickly. In the end it was a simple matter of her hopping over and barreling into the hindbear¡¯s gut. Like a cannonball covered in needles Lily is more than able to use the impressive strength of her legs to burst the hindbears gut. The hindbear didn¡¯t die the quickest of deaths, but after that shot, it wasn¡¯t living. This scene would repeat itself over the next few days as Jason tries to get her to be just a bit stealthier. Not that she needs to. With how the hindbears view her, Lily¡¯s assassin title is basically always active. It kind of hurts Jason¡¯s head. If he tried something similar with spiked brass knuckles it wouldn¡¯t work half as well. The hindbear¡¯s hide would work a lot harder to redistribute the force and prevent some of the piercing damage. Still, Jason continues to coach Lily in how to sneak and as they are almost finished with hindbear area, she gets it. And let me tell you, Lily doing a little crawl along the ground is the cutest thing. Jason however realizes one small problem that tanks the whole plan. Lily is stark white. Just a pair of red eyes away from being albino. While it is possible to be stealth in white, that takes years of training or snow. Neither of which Lily can currently take advantage of. Not that she minds, playing around with Jason was fun enough. Jason on the other hand is just a little bit frustrated at being so blind. That however was easily taken care of through wrestling with the last couple hindbears they met. Of course he didn¡¯t let them get a bearhug on him. He might be tough, but he isn¡¯t that tough. Instead, Jason took them down through judicious use of chokeholds. A difficult proposition with how thick a bear¡¯s neck is, but he managed it. Not through choking them out mind you. Rather, he made sure to focus on the veins and restricting the blood flow to the brain. Even that was difficult though. At least until he started to cheat. The System was a little loose with the assassination titles. This likely came from needing to account for poisons and stuff, but the first attack kept the killshot bonus as long as they were ongoing. So all Jason had to do was land the chokehold on the bear as the first attack. With that, suddenly all the resistance vanishes.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. This little quirk is almost enough to drop Jason back into his irritation. When he checks the stat growth for the both of them though, it all feels worth it. {+7 Strength +3 Toughness Lily: +3 Strength Lily: 4[SP] Strength converted to 4[Base] Strength Lily: +2 Toughness Lily: 2[SP] Toughness converted to 2[Base] Toughness Lily: +7 Agility Lily: 9[SP] Agility converted to 9[Base] Agility} Jason¡¯s own growth was decent with most of the Strength coming from his bear wrestling stunt. Lily, though, showed the greatest growth. Of course, her Agility, as always, grew by a significant amount. With the rest growing though, it felt amazing. More important though, is how many of the System based stats got converted into her own power. Lily¡¯s stats had been converting slowly with each level of course. The problem was it had been doing so much too slowly. Strength and Toughness at the rate of about one every other level and Agility double that. Those stats however had been growing at the rate of one a level and three a level respectively. So basically she was slowly digging a hole she might never get out of. Jason wasn¡¯t happy with that but until now hadn¡¯t really seen a way out. Now though it seems that there was a way. This was especially true with Agility. Lily¡¯s natural leaning towards the stat combined with the stealth training had provided just the right amount of oumph. Despite this Jason didn¡¯t have any plans to continue down that specific path. Good thing there were more than enough ways to train Agility. With that tucked away for later, Jason continues onward at a relaxed pace. While it wasn¡¯t exactly stressful to fight the hindbears, the area behind them just had way too many of them. Couldn¡¯t go a day without at least a few of the things popping out, sometimes more. Not that the main road didn¡¯t have its own troubles, but there was some variety there to play with. Though Lily was a little disappointed at having to go back in the harness. Jason had felt alright with her staying out in the hindbear¡¯s territory as not much else was there to worry them. On the main road though, who knows what might pop out? He trusted her to be safe as possible, but that didn¡¯t cover as much as he was willing to risk. In the end this precaution proved more than worth it. Not because of an encounter, but rather an encounter missed. Jason only caught a glimpse of the monster off to the side of the road but it was more than enough to justify his worries. The creature was a worrying mix of a fox, snake, and praying mantis. Small enough that it didn¡¯t want to bother with Jason, but the thing was only just below his worries about birds of prey grabbing Lily. While she might be much better off when facing natural predators than most rabbits, a quick grab or grapple before she can straighten and Energize her fur would be devastating. Authors Note: Just 2 days left to the Banished Talent Kickstarter Today and Monday are the last days of the Kickstarter and we''re only $91 away (as of my writing this post) from hitting the goal! I am a little worried about it though, so if you''d be one looking for an ebook version of my story, Banished Talent, please check the Kickstarter out now! For only $3 you get the finished ebook and if you want to put in even more, $12 will get a name of your choice on the acknowledgements. You can also pledge for $36 to have your name at the top of the acknowledgements page with a short message of thanks, though I did limit this reward. Not that I expected to reach the limit, but I am both shocked and honored that a decent number of the slots have been filled.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2116937393/banished-talent-ebook