《Jack's Journey》 0. Prologue ¡°What can you see?¡± Oscar Ball was running a quite complicated magic, but still had the leisure to answer Arthur¡¯s question. ¡°I think it¡¯s an 8th tier.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± Arthur said with a grimace. ¡°Let me see.¡± Oscar used air magic to lift Arthur up. From a point dozen meters above the ground, the pair had an uninterrupted by the forest line of sight on their target. ¡°So? What do you think?¡± Oscar asked Arthur. ¡°I think you are right. It¡¯s two tiers above us. That will be problematic.¡± Oscar¡¯s spell created a few meters wide telescope in the air. Layers of compressed and decompressed air created lenses, allowing the pair to observe monster¡¯s details even from dozens of kilometers. ¡°It¡¯s some reptile. Seems like a snake, but it¡¯s an 8th tier. After seven evolutions¡­¡± Oscar was carful with his assessment. ¡°Snakes are neither social nor that smart. We may be able to take it down.¡± Arthur was looking a bit excited about the fight. Oscar saw that as an inexperience. He was 195 years old and was nearing his end. Arthur was the same tier as him, but he was only in his fifties. Old age for a second or third tier human, but not for them. ¡°Well, it¡¯s an 8th tier, if you haven¡¯t heard me earlier. Even if it was stupid before it¡¯s no longer the case.¡± ¡°The rest still stands. It should be weaker than an average 8th tier.¡± Arthur was not giving up. ¡°If it survived to this point, it¡¯s not weak. Most likely it has some innate magic¡± Normal magic was highly unlikely in this case. Magical knowledge of humans was accumulation of thousands years of practice and research. Some solitary monster could never reach similar level of magic skill as the pair had. Not unless it was hundred thousand old, which was also extremely unlikely. Even though Arthur was a close combat fighter, and wasn¡¯t interested in research and development of spells, he knew a dozen of spells for practical use. Oscar continued. ¡°We also can¡¯t be certain about its other skills. It could change class skills with each class change. It¡¯s an 8th tier - the snake experienced changing class seven times. ¡° ¡°But you know that we need to do something, right?¡± Arthur asked. ¡°By the way, how long until it reaches the frontier?¡± ¡°It depends how long it will take for sleeping, hunting, and if it change its pace. I suppose¡­ a week. Maybe a bit more.¡± ¡°So, what do we do? I think the reconnaissance is completed.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s engage.¡± ¡°What?¡± Arthur was surprised. He expected Oscar to retreat and inform the king and the rest of dukes. Arthur and Oscar were dukes ¨C people with 6th tier battle strength. Humanity had only 6 such individuals. The king was in the 7th tier. ¡°Plan B¡± Oscar said. ¡°Ok.¡± Arthur was visibly reluctant about that course of action. Both of them started running toward the enemy. After few hours they were close to their destination. The two were very fast. Oscar, even though he was a mage and very old, he was still in the 6th tier. His physical abilities, while not comparable with Arthur¡¯s, were still way above ordinary people in 2nd or 3rd tier. Oscar took a vial from his bag and drank the content. ¡°Are you sure? I will have quite a problem if you die.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Just taking some intelligence enhancing potion won¡¯t kill me. Actually, I am planning a small essence sacrifice, so I will depend on you to take me away.¡± ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t trust me.¡± Arthur said with a tone of joking around. ¡°It¡¯s different.¡± Oscar has a calm and serious face. He didn¡¯t believe Arthur will betray him. ¡®In the imperial court? Sure, we are all backstabbers fighting for limited resources. Here? Never.¡¯ Oscar obviously couldn¡¯t be absolutely sure, but there was no other choice. Imperial court always had been saying that unity is the most important factor, if humanity want to survive. ¡® Even if the empire is only in name, I agree. Arthur also has no other choice¡¯ Oscar thought. ¡°Well, I suppose I should use this,¡± said Arthur while taking few vials and drinking the content. The snake was hundred meters long and a meter and half wide. Its scales were metallic black. The pair was three hundred meters from it. The snake didn¡¯t bother with the pair. Normally, beings one tier lower are most desired prey. The two humans¡¯ tier were lower by two than the snake. They were only some light meal ¨C good enough when you are hungry, but otherwise not preferable. Oscar started drawing a telepathic spell inside his mind. Soon, he connected with snake¡¯s mind. ¡®Hello¡­ I ¡­ talk¡­ you.¡¯ The snake didn¡¯t know any language. Oscar could only communicate with feelings and ideas. The snake felt the intrusion in its mind. It moved its head in Oscar¡¯s direction and hissed. ¡®I¡­ talk¡­ no¡­ fight¡­¡¯ Oscar continued, hoping the monster wouldn¡¯t just attack them. ¡®Weak¡­ can¡­ kill¡­¡¯ Oscar felt snake¡¯s answer, while it started creeping towards Oscar. Unfortunately, Oscar couldn¡¯t just read monster¡¯s mind. The current spell wasn¡¯t much intrusive on recipient¡¯s mind. A stronger spell would probably immediately enrage the monster, as it would take that as an attack. ¡®We¡­ warn¡­ danger¡­ north¡¯ The monster on its current course was heading north, towards the southern border of humanity. ¡®What¡­ danger¡­ i¡­ strong¡¯ Its body was about 15-20 meters from the pair. The snake coiled around them. ¡®Many¡­ us. Few¡­ one¡­ evolution¡­ lower¡­ you¡¯ Snake hissed. ¡®No¡­ warn¡­ threat¡­ you¡­ weak¡­¡¯ ¡®Many¡­ our¡­ strength¡­ some¡­. stronger¡­ you¡­ fight¡­ you¡­ hurt¡­¡¯ Both Arthur and Oscar were thinking how to escape, would go awry. Oscar was occupied with the spell, so he couldn¡¯t cast anything complicated, but Arthur was ready for a dash. Oscar continued. ¡®We¡­ protect¡­ young¡­ you¡­ evade¡­ our.. land¡­ we¡­ pay¡­ tribute¡­¡¯ ¡®Tribute¡­¡¯ Snake asked telepathically. ¡®Food¡­ Essence¡­¡¯ Oscar replied. ¡®How¡­ much¡­¡¯ Oscar replied with some thoughts about quantity. ¡®If the monster agrees to the proposal, both parties will benefit,¡¯ Oscar thought to himself. While both food and essence were in a tight supply, giving some to the monster would be better than taking losses from an eventual battle. ¡®Yes¡­ you¡­ pay¡­ I¡­ kill¡­ no¡­ you¡­ go¡­ through¡­ you¡­land¡­¡¯ Oscar¡¯s heart sank. There was only the king in the 7th tier, Oscar lied. They couldn¡¯t let this monster through their lands. Actually, Oscar would agree if this was some strong 7th tier, but an 8th one? Impossible. It would notice humans are weaker than they stated. They could escort a 7th tier monster, but an 8th tier was too strong. Oscar asked why it wants to go through their lands, but the snake replied that it doesn¡¯t want to take detours. Oscar offered guides to make the journey easier, but it just replied that they should guide it through their lands instead. Oscar even raised tribute, and send an image depicting humanity as a race, that will go to any lengths to protect their young ones, even if they would need to swarm an enemy and die en masse. Nobody wants to fight fanatics.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Unfortunately, the snake was adamant on going straight. Oscar changed a few components of the spell and sent a signal to Arthur. They both kept their poker face, and weren¡¯t giving any signs to the monster. Oscar send some additional persuasion to his enemy. He felt snake¡¯s impatience, the monster were unused to negotiations. Oscar hoped that it would stay still for some time, as he started to crumble the current spell and draw a new one. He left few components so the snake could feel the presence in his mind, though the spell wasn¡¯t working. The three of them stayed in relative silence, while Oscar was stealthily creating a death affinity spell. ¡®Hopefully, this guy is now responding,¡¯ Oscar thought. He didn¡¯t feel bad about ambushing a negotiation partner. ¡®Honour? This monster can¡¯t communicate anyway, it won¡¯t tell anybody, and current negotiations have already failed. There¡¯s no place for honour in the life and death affairs.¡¯ Oscar was close to completing the spell. He created an additional small spell to draw essence from himself, performing the sacrifice. A terrible pain attacked his body, but he kept the poker face. ¡®A little more¡­¡¯ Oscar knew, that there wasn¡¯t enough essence in the air to power up this spell quickly. Only by drawing from himself, he would be able to damage the snake. Oscar hadn¡¯t had a death affinity. The spell also affected his soul, however, to way lesser effect than a recipient of the spell. The monster started hissing. ¡®Come on¡­ Wait a little more¡­¡¯ Oscar prayed. The snake clamped its body, trying to catch the pair. Arthur didn¡¯t wait any longer. He gripped Oscar and jumped up from the encirclement. The snake hissed even louder, when he failed to imprison humans. Both Oscar and Arthur felt a strong force pinning them to the ground, as if they weighed a ton. ¡®A innate spell¡­ It stopped playing around,¡¯ Oscar thought. Not only that ¨C a glimmering white barrier appeared on snake¡¯s scales and even on its fangs and inside its mouth. The monster stopped playing around. Oscar heard once again sank. A second innate spell wasn¡¯t important as Oscar had been preparing a death spell that should temporary deprive the monster of its magic. ¡®The barrier, if it¡¯s an elemental one, then we may be doomed. Come on, a kinetic one!¡¯ Oscar thought while Arthur took him into his arms and started escaping. He was slower because of the snake¡¯s gravity spell, but he could still run, especially when boosted with his own life affinity spells. The snake dashed for them. Oscar gambled everything and used his meditation skill. He lost all his external senses. There were tranquility and peace here. Ironically, Oscar knew he needed to complete the spell, or he would die in a second. He pulled all his mental capabilities into the task and fired the spell in the snake¡¯s previous direction. When he opened his eyes, he saw snake¡¯s maw and heard the hiss of soul mauling agony. Arthur hit the snake with a spear and dodged to the side to avoid still moving snake¡¯s body., though they hit the snake with their bodies in the end and bounced back. The monster temporary gave up on them as he was concentrating on the pain. Arthur grabbed Oscar and thrown him away. Oscar flew for few hundred meters, bouncing from the ground like a stone from a surface of water. That didn¡¯t do much to Oscar, as his 6th tier body was very durable, however, Oscar was in a bad shape. He was barely able to move, because of the sacrifice which caused damage to his body. His soul was slightly injured and he couldn¡¯t cast anything big. Oscar was glad that the backlash from the intelligence enhancing potion hadn¡¯t hit yet. He looked at the fight. The snake was thrashing everything around in its pain. The trees in this forest could be at best 5th tier, probably 4th. They were tore out from the ground and busted apart, incapable of resisting an 8th tier monster. Arthur was throwing spears on the monster. He tried to do it from the trees, as he used water magic to increase the gravitational pull on the spears, but he couldn¡¯t do much from his angle. The spears were being deflected harmlessly by the snake¡¯s scales. ¡®I can¡¯t fly Arthur above the monster in my current position¡¯, thought Oscar. ¡®I could push air mana into him, but he doesn¡¯t have the air affinity. Air mana will harm his body¡¯ Arthur rushed at the monster to attack it from the above. The snake had to get used to the pain, as it came at Arthur. He retreated, incapable of fighting the monster directly. ¡®Let me help you a bit¡¯, thought Oscar and cast some light magic and created illusions of human warriors. They were crude, and any human warrior could see through them, but he was hoping that the snake wouldn¡¯t, as it never saw humans before. Dozens of humans rushed from the forest at the snake from all sides. It hissed and threw its tail in the sweeping attack, obliterating a bunch of illusions. Arthur and the rest of illusions rushed at the snake, climbing on it. It attacked again, sweeping again. Arthur managed to land on the snake¡¯s body, along with some other illusions thanks to distractions. The snake attacked some illusion with its maw, intending on eating it alive, but was enraged, as there was nothing. The monster hissed angrily and stopped attacking. It started observing illusions and entangling its body to scrub everyone on board. Oscar tried to run some distraction with illusions, the spell had a low enough requirement for essence, and he was able to continue even in his current state. Arthur took out a special spear ¨C an artifact ¨C a weapon with inscribed spell and independent source of essence to power it. He stabbed down helping himself with the use of water magic to increase the gravitational pull on the spear. It went in for a half a meter deep. The snake hissed in anger and more pain, but now he knew which figure wasn¡¯t an illusion. It tried to crush Arthur with its body. Arthur abandoned his spear and jumped down, the snake¡¯s body broke off the protruding part of the spear, further aggravating the wound. ¡®It¡¯s time to go,¡¯ thought Oscar. ¡®That spear¡¯s enchantments were in its head, it should still work.¡¯ The spear was producing vibrations meant for injuring internal organs. Oscar started creating a shadow teleportation spell for Arthur. ¡®He won¡¯t be able to escape from the snake otherwise.¡¯ The spell was going to heavy injure Arthur¡¯s internal organs, as he hadn¡¯t had the shadow affinity, but Oscar decided it¡¯s necessary. He also prepared one of his artifacts capable of flight. The snake threw its head at Arthur. He sucked large amount of essence from the air, as neither snake nor Oscar were using it, and there were plenty of essence in the air. Arthur increased gravity of the ground before him. The snake¡¯s descent was faster than it anticipated, its head crashed on the ground, sliding in the Arthur¡¯s direction, as he dashed to the side. The monster attacked with the tail, intending to bisect Arthur. He tried to dodge, but was too slow. His arm was wrested out. He was thrown on a tree by the hit. The snake once again tried to bite him, but a dark substance flowed out of the tree¡¯s shadow and pulled Arthur in. Arthur was spited out from a shadow close to Oscar, due to the Oscar¡¯s shadow teleportation spell. He grabbed Arthur and used his artifact ¨C a carpet. Air started to concentrate under the pair, generating pressure. Oscar also filled his body with air mana, decreasing his weight. The pair started flying. Oscar started casting spells to further increase their speed. Blood was flowing from the Arthur¡¯s injury. The snake spotted them and rushed in the chase. Oscar looked behind, when he and Arthur were hundred meters high. The snake jumped up, like a spring, and was going to catch them. Oscar decided to not risk evading, as the monster could maneuver in the air with its tail. He cast quick air spell, increasing air pressure between him and the snake. Oscar¡¯s injured soul was incapable of drawing large amounts of essence, so he once again took from his own body. Air pressure started pushing him, as the snake was getting close. It hissed, but the air pressure always pushed them a few meters ahead. Gravity finally ended the snake¡¯s jump. The monster landed on the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust. Oscar was lying on the flying carpet. He couldn¡¯t move, as the second sacrifice further damaged his vitality. He could feel, that he had lost even more lifespan. A sacrifice normally wouldn¡¯t take lifespan, but Oscar¡¯s lifespan was near its end, his body was deteriorating, just because of the old age. He still had over a year, though. ¡°I thought I supposed to save the other one,¡± said Arthur. Oscar had no strength to reply. He was glad, that Arthur was conscious. He should be able to heal himself with his life magic. The backlash from the intelligence potion was coming and giving Oscar a sharp headache. The situation wasn¡¯t good, as any flying predator would be able to hunt them down. Oscar could only hope, that they would be able to reach the frontier softly. In the worst case scenario, he was prepared to fight. He would die, but he was an old man anyway. His life was not worth much. Oscar was going to power level some of his descendants and then let the best one to kill him. ¡®Dying from the old age is just a waste of resources. It¡¯s better to give some of my remaining essence to my killer to raise their level.¡¯ Oscar wanted to protect his family, but he knew, that to protect them, he need to protect the humanity to being with. Arthur was a young duke level combatant, someone already vital to humans. Oscar was prepared to give his life to deliver him to safety. Oscar moved his head a little, as strength was slowly returning to his body. He wanted to check whether the snake was chasing them or not. He could not see it. ¡®Good, maybe I have already won,¡¯ thought Oscar. The snake was a major threat to existence of humans. Six dukes and the king would not be able to repel it on their own. Many count level combatants would be needed to operate magical heavy artillery spells. Alchemical artillery should be also used. They wouldn¡¯t be able to kill it anyway, but that was not the goal. Repelling it would be enough. Fortunately, that may not be needed. Oscar lied to the snake about humans¡¯ forces, stating, that they have multiple 7th tier (king rank) combatants. He negotiated transit for quite a time, always in a way that was certifying the presence of 7th tier combatants. There was high chance the snake was successfully deceived. The snake¡¯s soul injury should heal in a few days, but the monster would have it hard to remove the spear. Internal essence in the artifact would end soon, but it should barely work on some essence scraps from the air. It would be mostly annoying, but that was at least something. Oscar and Arthur were only in the 6th tier and they managed to injure the monster. Seven tier fighters should be even stronger, and the snake thought, that there were multiple. There was also magic the snake had never seen before. Oscar hoped, that the snake would just decide to avoid humans¡¯ territory being afraid of possible death. Maybe the monster would just avoid them, knowing that it would be impossible for it to forcefully cross. Either way was fine. ¡°Why do you think the snake wanted to go through our land so much?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± replied Oscar with a tired voice. ¡°Maybe it was in hurry.¡± ¡°Do you think it was escaping from something?¡± ¡°It can also chase after something, or maybe it didn¡¯t want to take the detour out of pride.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope that¡¯s the case¡± 1. Jack Ding ¡­ Your Base strength has reached lv. 7 Jack wiped sweat from his forehead. Finally! Now his strength had reached 7. Not that there was any large difference between 6.99 and 7. There was nearly no difference, but it is nice to have a higher number up front. ¡°That¡¯s nice, but the wheat won¡¯t mow itself.¡± Jack opened his status window with the thought.
Name: Jack
Age: 14
Class: Human Child Level:5 [CAPPED] 1% to next lv
Stats: Base Essence reinforced (5%/level)
Strength 7/10 8.75
Endurance 7.21/10 9.01
Intelligence 9.53/10 11.91
Mental Endurance 8.98/10 11.22
Agility 5.31/10 6.63
Perception 4.02/5 5.02
Class skills Skill level
Charisma Crafting 18 3
Professions: 0/5
Unavailable for the first class tier life forms
Skills:
Analyze Farming Cooking Sword Handling Spear Handling Rune Shaping 6 19 9 8 11 21
Vitality 139/144
Stamina 58/90
Clarity 89/110
¡°It¡¯s good that my strength and endurance are still rising, but until I choose the next class and level up, my intelligence won¡¯t rise more¡­¡± Jack took some wheat and started marching home. The local elder said that in 3 days it¡¯s going to rain. Something about finding weather patterns using 11 different indicators. Elder had intelligence about the level 70 and not much to do. Together with neighboring elders they created the weather forecast system capable of predicting the weather for a few next days. Jack found an elder system and the corresponding village system weird. The imperial court partitioned land to separate villages. Jack couldn¡¯t understand why bother with partitioning. No matter where he directed his eyes, he could only see plains and houses. Well, in the west there was a shadow of the Kenar mountains which were the western border of the interior and place where the imperial court resided. It was a bit depressing that you could see the opposite border of human realm. Here, however, were only plains. Why bother with different villages, when there no difference to placing of huts no matter where you look at? Jack was getting close to his home. It was an earthen hut with a thatch roof. Near the hut there was a single tree. Most houses were near identical. Wood was a precious resource, as all the land was used for farming. Nearby forest, of which Jack only heard stories, was 20 kilometers deep into the exterior, meaning 30 kilometers from here. Land before the forest was once part of the interior and was deforested and used for farming. After the great migration, that 20 kilometers were lost. Jack had heard from the hunters that now, after 10 years from the loss, there were some young trees, but it was still mostly a huge grazing land. Jack was greeted by his 8 years old sister Anne. ¡°Brother, come! I have cooked dinner with Alice. Dad and mom are already here.¡± ¡°Ok. I will just bring this wheat to the storehouse,¡° Jack replied. The storehouse was the same earthen and thatch construct as the home. It was just a one big room, while Jack home had 3 rooms, a living one, his parents¡¯ bedroom, and another bedroom in which he and his siblings were sleeping. In the living room, mom, dad and 3 of his brothers were sitting at the table. Anne and his second sister, 9 years old Alice, were serving dinner, soup with bread and some meat. ¡°There is meat today?¡± Jack asked. ¡°There was a large shipment of meat, skins and furs this morning,¡± his mom replied. ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Most remains of monsters killed at the frontier were send to the interior. ¡°Well, I bought a few furs so as soon as the harvest ends, I will make some new clothes.¡± All clothes locals wore were from monsters. In summer, men and women wore fur loincloths and leather shoes, sometimes, with an addition of a straw hat. Additionally, old enough girls wore some fur to cover their breasts. In winter, everyone wore thick fur clothes. Monster hunters and soldiers mostly wore armors from scales or a metal. Some also wore fur armors from high tier monsters, as their fur were very durable. Humanity had only piece of land of 200 kilometers in diameter. There was a severe lack of resources and everything was used. Jack sat at the table. ¡°So, how¡¯s mowing Jack? Can you complete your part before the rain?¡± Dad asked. ¡°Yes. I don¡¯t have that much to do. My strength hit 7 today,¡± Jack boasted. ¡°That¡¯s good. If we are going to talk about the system ¨C when are you going to choose yours second tier class? Isn¡¯t it already half a year since you are capped and two years since you hit the level 5?¡± ¡°I know dad¡­ ¡° ¡°Just choose something. Whatever it¡¯s going to be the field worker class, or a fighting class, it¡¯s better than being capped. You know, I talked about it with Rick. Even if you want to go fight at the frontier, you will be given the recruit class and a spear. Taking the spearman class today can¡¯t be that bad.¡± ¡°Ok, ok¡­ I will think about that.¡± ¡°Just make haste,¡± replied Jack¡¯s oldest brother Sam.¡±You may die first from the old age, otherwise.¡± Most smirked at that. Jack inability to choose was becoming a joking matter. After a while, rest of the family joined them and they eat dinner while talking mostly about the harvest. After the meal, Jack once again took a scythe and went to his part of the field. While working, he checked possible 2nd tier classes again.
Human
Prerequisites Level 5 Human Child
Increased essence seep when: In place with a lot of humans
Cap increase:
Strength 10 -> 25
Endurance 10 -> 25
Intelligence 10 -> 25
Mental Endurance 10 -> 25
Agility 10 -> 25
Perception 5 -> 15
Class skills Charisma Crafting Pack Instinct
Essence boost
Strength 5% / level
Endurance 7% / level
Intelligence 6% / level
Mental Endurance 6% / level
Agility 6% / level
Perception 5% / level
Base vitality: 200
Most basic - the Human class, was a trash in Jack opinion. A pack instinct skill worked as a natural understanding of a moving group, especially in a fight. The recruit and the soldier class also got that skill, as it helped in battles with a lot of people. Jack felt the charisma and especially the crafting skill wasted, however. Class skills are special, as they feel natural. Wolves know how to mangle a throat and birds know how to fly even without a special teaching. Class skills also level way faster. Moreover, if you do not know some skill, (like the pack instinct in Jack case) you would get it at the level 1 anyway, with some understanding of what it is all about, like that knowledge is part of your being.
Field worker
Prerequisites Level 5 Human Child Farming skill lv>5
Increased essence seep when: In place with much of flora Physically tired
Cap increase:
Strength 10 -> 25
Endurance 10 -> 25
Intelligence 10 -> 25
Mental Endurance 10 -> 25
Agility 10 -> 25
Perception 5 -> 15
Class skills Charisma Farming Crafting
Essence boost
Strength 7% / level
Endurance 8% / level
Intelligence 5% / level
Mental Endurance< 5% / level
Agility 5% / level
Perception 5% / level
Base vitality: 200
The field worker class for Jack felt even worse. He would get farming as a class skill, so nothing new. He wanted a combat class. It was possible to fight with non-combat class, but he wouldn¡¯t get anything from the class skills. They would be unused in a fight.
Cook
Prerequisites Level 5 Human Child Cooking skill lv>5
Increased essence seep when: Well fed Mentally tired
Cap increase:
Strength 10 -> 25
Endurance 10 -> 25
Intelligence 10 -> 25
Mental Endurance 10 -> 25
Agility 10 -> 25
Perception 5 -> 15
Class skills Charisma Cooking Crafting
Essence boost
Strength 5% / level
Endurance 6% / level
Intelligence 6% / level
Mental Endurance 6% / level
Agility 7% / level
Perception 5% / level
Base vitality: 200
Sword warrior
Prerequisites Level 5 Human Child Sword Handling skill lv>5
Increased essence seep when: Killing another life form Physically tired
Cap increase:
Strength 10 -> 25
Endurance 10 -> 25
Intelligence 10 -> 25
Mental Endurance 10 -> 25
Agility 10 -> 25
Perception 5 -> 15
Class skills Charisma Sword Handling Footwork
Essence boost
Strength 6% / level
Endurance 7% / level
Intelligence 5% / level
Mental Endurance 5% / level
Agility 7% / level
Perception 5% / level
Base vitality: 200
The sword warrior class was good, but Jack¡¯s only sword was a scythe handle. He had never got any instructions to swords skills or spear ones, as Rick ¨C his teacher - was an archer. His skills were only from an amateurish training. Unfortunately, you can¡¯t easily make a bow. You need at least some good quality wood and something for the string. In the military, strings were made from monsters¡¯ insides. Jack didn¡¯t have any access to dead animals.
Spear warrior
Prerequisites Level 5 Human Child Spear Handling skill lv>5
Increased essence seep when: Killing another life form Physically tired
Cap increase:
Strength 10 -> 25
Endurance 10 -> 25
Intelligence 10 -> 25
Mental Endurance 10 -> 25
Agility 10 -> 25
Perception 5 -> 15
Class skills Charisma Spear Handling Footwork
Essence boost
Strength 6% / level
Endurance 6% / level
Intelligence 5% / level
Mental Endurance 5% / level
Agility 8% / level
Perception 5% / level
Base vitality: 200
The spear warrior class was one of Jack¡¯s primal picks, if he needed to advance right now. He was reluctant however, as he mostly leveled the rune shaping skill, needed for magic, while working on the fields created his strength and endurance stats. Jack¡¯s agility wasn¡¯t very high.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Rune seeker
Prerequisites Level 5 Human Child Rune Shaping skill lv>5
Increased essence seep when: Channeling a spell Mentally tired
Cap increase:
Strength 10 -> 20
Endurance 10 -> 20
Intelligence 10 -> 30
Mental Endurance 10 -> 30
Agility 10 -> 20
Perception 5 -> 15
Class skills Parallel Thinking Rune Shaping
Essence boost
Strength 4% / level
Endurance 4% / level
Intelligence 10% / level
Mental Endurance 7% / level
Agility 5% / level
Perception 5% / level
Base vitality: 150
The rune seeker class was looking good at the first glance, but¡­ that class looked like a bumbler trying to find some spells with the trial and error method. If he was going to learn spells, then he was going to use them against monsters to level up. If he level up he would be able to learn proper spells from the imperial court or the military. He also didn¡¯t like decrease in the physical stat boosts and the generally lower caps.
Thinker
Prerequisites Level 5 Human Child Intelligence lv>9 Mental endurance lv>9
Increased essence seep when: Mentally tired
Cap increase:
Strength 10 -> 20
Endurance 10 -> 20
Intelligence 10 -> 30
Mental Endurance 10 -> 30
Agility 10 -> 25
Perception 5 -> 15
Class skills Charisma Parallel Thinking Meditation
Essence boost
Strength 4% / level
Endurance 4% / level
Intelligence 9% / level
Mental Endurance 9% / level
Agility 4% / level
Perception 5% / level
Base vitality: 200
This one was a bit similar. Jack asked Rick about these skills. Parallel thinking was giving an ability to thing about two things at the same time. It helped in a fight and with creating complicated runes in your mind. The meditation skill was something the military was teaching mages. In a meditation state, your perception dropped to 0, but your intelligence was raised. When mage cuts all outside influence, he can fully concentrate on drawing spells. Not very useful in combat, but helps with training. According to Rick, it also helps with mental exhaustion. The next one was absolutely no way.
Stud
Prerequisites Level 5 Human Child Endurance lv>6
Increased essence seep when: In place with a lot of humans Physically tired
Cap increase:
Strength 10 -> 20
Endurance 10 -> 50
Intelligence 10 -> 20
Mental Endurance 10 -> 20
Agility 10 -> 20
Perception 5 -> 15
Increases quality and quantity of produced semen
Class skills Charisma
Essence boost
Strength 5% / level
Endurance 15% / level
Intelligence 3% / level
Mental Endurance 4% / level
Agility 4% / level
Perception 4% / level
Base vitality: 200
According to Rick, monsters were taking similar classes quite often, especially, since a female equivalent of the class allows for a shorter pregnancy and a greater liter. Beside that, Rick only heart once, that there were some women in the imperial court with that class.
Scout
Prerequisites Level 5 Human Child Analyze skill lv>5
Increased essence seep when: In place with no humans Physically tired
Cap increase:
Strength 10 -> 20
Endurance 10 -> 25
Intelligence 10 -> 25
Mental Endurance 10 -> 25
Agility 10 -> 25
Perception 5 -> 25
Class skills Analyze Sneaking Tracking
Essence boost
Strength 5% / level
Endurance 6% / level
Intelligence 5% / level
Mental Endurance 5% / level
Agility 7% / level
Perception 7% / level
Base vitality: 200
The scout class was also interesting for Jack, especially, as it increased perception by much. Agility and perception were transitional skills between physical and mental. Agility was a measure how good someone can control their body. Jack trained it a bit with a spear, by trying to perfectly hit the marked point on his home¡¯s wall. Perception worked in the opposite side. The perception stat level measured how much information someone can get from sensory organs. Essentially, the perception cap was depending on capabilities of sensory organs. People trained their perception by distinguishing someone¡¯s voice in a loudly room, or by recognizing specific smells in a place where there were many. Rick said, that some hunters who track monsters can even determine what kind of beast they are tracking from a monster¡¯s shit¡¯s taste. In the evening, Jack went home and ate supper. It was the free time in the evening. His two older brothers went to their respective girlfriends. They both wanted to get married and become farmers. Jack was spending his time rune shaping. It was one of the reasons why he wasn¡¯t very social. After that, he went to bed. Jack was woken up by the sound of buzzing. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Jerry asked. He was Jack¡¯s younger brother. ¡°Stay here. I will take a look,¡± Sam replied. ¡°I will go with you,¡± Adam said. He was the second of Jack¡¯s older brothers. The two oldest persons in the room walked out. Everyone of Jack¡¯s siblings were awake now. The buzzing sounds were growing louder and louder. Jack looked through the hole in the wall which worked as a window. There was nothing to see, as the buzzing sound was coming from the east, while the window was looking on the west. There was some talking in the living room, as Jack¡¯s parents were also awake. ¡°Let¡¯s get outside!¡± Jack¡¯s father shouted. ¡°I can¡¯t see anything! Damn, it¡¯s middle of the night!¡± Sam replied. ¡°Let¡¯s get back inside! Whatever it is, it¡¯s probably way safer in the hut,¡± Jack¡¯s dad said. ¡°Kids! To the living room.¡± Everyone went to the living room. Sam and Jack¡¯s father stood by the window of the living room while looking outside. This window was in north-west direction. The sound was by now almost deafening. The rest was nervous, with Alice and Anne hugging each other. To the buzzing sound was slowly added a chowing sound. Omnidirectional chowing sounds. Sam and Jack¡¯s father both suddenly pulled heads from the window, as a large insect flew inside. It was 10 centimeters long with pair of wings long for 15 centimeters each. It was violet, slim, with large mouth and spiked end. The insect swayed in the air, all Jack¡¯s family members looking at it bewildered. The insect made two small circles and landed on the wooden chair. Then it ripped fragment of the chair and started chowing it dawn. Everyone took a few steps back from the insect. Soon another one of the insects flew in. This one, after looking around, flew towards Sam. Sam took a few steps to the side, but the insect flew straight to him. Sam quickly took another chair and used it as a shield. The insect buzzed angrily and swayed from side to side. It then directed 3 centimeters long sting towards Sam and tried to sting him, unmoved by desperately blocking Sam. ¡°You son of the bitch!¡± Jack¡¯s father took another of the wooden chairs and broke it by hitting the floor. Then, with the newly created stick, rushed at the insect. He hit it in the center. The insect got bisected, his half bouncing from the wall splashed with green blood. The first insect didn¡¯t take that course of action kindly. He started flying toward Jack¡¯s dad. Alongside that, three more insects flew through the window. Jerry, Sam and Jack¡¯s mom broke another chair to use wood fragments as a weapon. Jack also took some fragment, a bit sad about waste of the precious wood. Anne and Alice went to the corner of the room, with Jack¡¯s two youngest brothers standing guard before them with the wooden sticks. Jack¡¯s dad still didn¡¯t kill the first insect as it was ably dogging, the two dancing with each other. The first of the new three insects flew speedily on Jack¡¯s mom. She took a stance. When the insect tried to sting her, she took a step back and hit it precisely in the sting from the side and then quickly hit one of the insect wings. The insect hit the floor without the working wing. She then fallen the stick on it with all her strength, crushing it in the few still twitching pieces. The second went for Sam. He tried to kill it like his father, hitting the monster in the side with all his strength. The insect however, not taken by surprise, dogged. Sam after missing heavy blow lost his firm footing, and was incapable of dogging. The insect stung him in his right shoulder, drew blood with its legs and took a chunk of meat with its mouth from the Sam¡¯s face. Sam fell on the ground with a scream. Jack wasn¡¯t able to observe any longer, as the last insect went straight for him. He opted to solve the problem like mother, and damage one of the monster¡¯s wings. Missing meant death. Fear gripped him hard, his buzzing dead was approaching. He thought of his dreams, about becoming a monster hunter. The real monster was coming for him and he was petrified by fear. The insect moved his end forward, and charged at Jack. ¡®No! If I don¡¯t do something I will die anyway. Even if I die in the end, it¡¯s still worth trying!¡¯ He willed his body to move. He took a step left and swung the stick on the target, the insect slowed a little to change its charging route and luckily took a hit. There was no damage. The carapace of the insect was too strong and Jack¡¯s strength too low. The insect was forced back a bit, but started attacking again nearly immediately. It lunged for Jack to sting him. He once again took a step to the side and landed a hit on the monster. ¡®Damn! If I go for the wing and don¡¯t block the insect, it will sting me for sure. Its carapace is strong enough to take such hits and not break. With only my own strength, I need to hit it with everything I have.¡¯ The monster once again charged, Jack - without any better option ¨C repeating previous maneuver. This time, however, the monster slowed its charge and evaded. Jack quickly brought the stick to his body and blocked incoming insect¡¯s sting, deflecting it to the left side, insect¡¯s side momentary open to him. ¡®But I can¡¯t hit it with the stick in this position, my fist won¡¯t do much¡­ Unless¡­¡¯ Jack threw his right hand after insect with tried to escape. ¡®I need to risk it. If the fight continue like this I will lose.¡¯ He grabbed insect¡¯s wing and jerked it down, the insect lost balance and hit the ground. The insect caught Jack¡¯s arm with its legs and tried to sting it. Jack let go of the wing and grabbed monster¡¯s abdomen pushing it to the ground, insect¡¯s legs scratching and blooding his hand. ¡®I won¡¯t be able to kill it with only left hand¡­¡¯ He placed the stick on the insect¡¯s head and leaned on the stick placing on it all his body mass. Monster¡¯s head was crushed. Ding¡­ You have killed lv.6 Violet Locust Ding¡­ You have unlocked Monster Killer class due to your actions Jack wasn¡¯t interested in the new class for the moment, as class changing were taking a few days, during you went unconscious. Jack started looking around. His right arm was bleeding. The headless insect beneath him was still moving its legs. Jack wasn¡¯t worried about it, since the system confirmed its death. Sam was lying on the ground, convulsing. There was only a sting with a broken sack in his shoulder, as rest of the monster was lying on the ground nearby. Violet liquid was oozing from the wound. Jerry was standing beside Sam, protecting him from another insect. His father was still fighting with the previous one. Or not. There were 2 insect corpses beside him. His mother was protecting the four in the corner against another 2 insects. His youngest brothers were using sticks as spears and were helping their mother. Monster¡¯s fur worked as doors in most homes, but right now some insects were eating those furs. There was a whole swarm behind the door. ¡®There are also windows in sleeping rooms, but the front door should get destroyed the fastest.¡¯ ¡°Roof! These things are eating thatch!¡± Rick¡¯s mother shouted. Sam was no longer moving, blood running down from his eyes and ears. Bob, Jack¡¯s brother who was only 2 years younger than him was fighting in another corner with an insect that had broken wings. New monsters were flying through the window. ¡®I can¡¯t stay still. I need to help.¡¯ Jack rushed to Bob¡¯s side. His brother had wounds on his legs from monster¡¯s bites. Jack hit the insect on the ground from behind. He crushed two legs of the monster. A few more hits on the not very mobile insect killed it. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 7 Violet Locust ¡°Thanks! I have thought that it¡¯s over,¡± Bob said. ¡°It may be.¡± Two more insects were flying in their direction. Suddenly, a bright light flashed. Jack looked at the source. Jack¡¯s dad lit oil and then dipped his stick. He jumped on the table and with the stick high above his head, he lit the roof. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Rick¡¯s mother shouted. ¡°I¡¯m burning the house!¡± ¡°Damn! Smoke should chase away insects, but we will suffocate!¡± Rick¡¯s mother shouted back. ¡°No matter! It¡¯s our best bet anyway!¡± Dad replied. ¡®Well, seems the fire is a valid strategy,¡¯ Jack thought. Meanwhile 2 insects had got to the boys. Jack was replaying his first strategy, stalling for time. He was hoping that the fire would solve the current predicament, as the roof was burning brightly. There was more and more smoke in the room. ¡°They stopped flying in, but roof will soon burn out!¡± Jerry shouted. ¡°We have to do something!¡± Jack¡¯s dad shouted back. ¡°Screw this!¡± Jerry rushed to still burning oil and dipped his stick, then ran out of the door to the outside ¡°Dad, mom, take care of rest of the family!¡± ¡°No, wait!¡± Both Jack¡¯s parents shouted. Jerry got out of the hut. Jack could see dozen of insects attacking him, stinging him, biting him. Soon, the fur- door returned in its place, hiding everything outside. ¡°Mom, what he is doing?¡± Anne asked tearfully. ¡°He went to burn the wheat fields,¡± Jack¡¯s mom replied sorrowfully. Jack felt the urge to cough, smoke was invading his lungs. The room was filled with it. Jack continued his fight with the monster for a moment until his dad killed it, ambushing from the side. Ding¡­ You have participated in killing of lv. 5 Violet Locust Jack¡¯s dad quickly turned around to face two insects chasing him. Jack crouched, and coughed a few times. Suddenly, the roof fell as a wooden frame broke. The frame hit the ground, burning straw was flying in the air. Dozens monster¡¯s wings flying above further blowing it up. Insects started to lower their attitudes, some getting close to Jack. He evaded them to the best of his abilities. Insects seemed dazed from the smoke, incapable of sticking to their target. Jack got lucky and managed to hit a wing of some insect. When it crashed on the ground, Jack landed his stick on its abdomen. When that happened some violet venom flew at Jack from the unlucky positioned sting. He instinctively blocked it with his right hand. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 8 Violet Locust Ding¡­ You have unlocked Survivor class due to yours actions Two insects flew at Jack. He abandoned defense and rolled to the wall. He didn¡¯t want to risk facing two insects at once. Sitting on the ground, back to the wall, he looked around. It was easier to breath close to the ground. ¡®Seems that everyone else grouped together after roof had fallen.¡¯ They were using a strategy similar to his, deflecting incoming insects. Someone else was lying on the ground, but he couldn¡¯t tell who because of the smoke. ¡®Someone from my 4 youngest sibling, judging from the height.¡¯ He looked up. Hundreds of insects were visible in the glow of the burning fields, if not thousands. His right hand started lightly convulsing and he could feel pain spreading through his veins. He looked at his hand. The violet venom was mixed with his blood. ¡®Venom must have gotten in my veins. Shit!¡¯ His brother dying from the venom was still before his eyes. How many would die? Would they all die? His two older brothers were already dead. Pain was slowly spreading through him. ¡®Even though I unlocked the monster killer class¡¯ He was losing control of his body. Left with nothing else he willed his status screen and then possible class advances.
Monster Killer
Prerequisites Level 5 Human Child Kill a higher tier being of not your species
Increased essence seep when: Killing another life form In place with no humans
Cap increase:
Strength 10 -> 30
Endurance 10 -> 25
Intelligence 10 -> 25
Mental Endurance 10 -> 25
Agility 10 -> 30
Perception 5 -> 20
Class skills Analyze Footwork Charisma
Essence boost
Strength 7% / level
Endurance 6% / level
Intelligence 6% / level
Mental Endurance 5% / level
Agility 6% / level
Perception 6% / level
Base vitality: 250
Jack know about the specifics of the monster killer class, and later the monster hunter class from Rick. It was the most popular class unlocked by achievement. Such classes were always a bit more powerful than standard ones. He was already dying, so becoming monster killer was already only a dream. Curious, he looked at the survivor class.
Survivor
Prerequisites Level 5 Human Child Engage in combat with at least 10 times more numerous group and survive, with personally killing at least 3 higher tier life forms
Increased essence seep when: Killing another life form Tired
Cap increase:
Strength 10 -> 25
Endurance 10 -> 30
Intelligence 10 -> 25
Mental Endurance 10 -> 30
Agility 10 -> 30
Perception 5 -> 20
Improves natural regeneration and expands it on all body, including internal organs.
Class skills Economy of Movement Scavenging
Essence boost
Strength 6% / level
Endurance 7% / level
Intelligence 6% / level
Mental Endurance 6% / level
Agility 7% / level
Perception 6% / level
Base vitality: 400
¡®Damn!¡¯ The survivor class looked great, especially regeneration. As Jack learned about the minor regeneration spell from Rick, he also learned the spell shortcomings. Since the spell only boosted natural regeneration, it was impossible to heal an internal damage, as humans do not regenerate internal organs. The class had also higher caps and the essence boost than even the monster killer class. ¡®I never heard about this ¡°Economy of Movement¡± skill and scavenging looks like crap, but regeneration¡­ Maybe that could help me.¡± The pain had already spread to half of his body, and muscles refused to obey. ¡®Whatever. It¡¯s probably better to die in my sleep anyway. I can¡¯t help in the fight in my current situation anymore.¡¯ He chose the class and slowly got asleep. 2. A wasteland A terrible hunger woke him up. Jack looked around and spotted his mother. He was in an unfamiliar place somewhere outdoors with a lot of people. ¡°Here! Eat this.¡± His mother gave his a bunch of meat. He devoured it like there was no tomorrow, his body was demanding sustenance. After a while he ate everything. ¡°Better?¡± ¡°Yes, I ¡­¡± ¡°You have changed your class. I must say, very irresponsibly.¡± Jack nodded. He looked at his right arm. It was healed, not even scars remained. ¡°I got poisoned. I thought I would die and class was offering better regeneration, so I kinda had no choice. ¡° His mother had clenched fists. He was not sure what that meant. Her face was not looking angry. ¡®I feel a bit unfamiliar when talking to mother. Like I can¡¯t understand her, or at least not as good as before. Is it because charisma cased to be my class skill?¡¯ She lunged and hugged him. ¡°We were thinking that you had died. You were wounded and unmoving. Only after some time we checked out and found out that you were still breathing. We deducted that you had to choose a new class.¡¯ She had a bit watery eyes and was smiling. ¡®Ok. She is happy. What about the fists? Anger? Probably not. Wait. I was unconscious for some time, most likely a few days. She was worried. She couldn¡¯t do anything. I see. She felt helpless.¡¯ Ding¡­ Your analyze skill has reached lv. 7 Ding¡­ Your charisma skill has reached lv. 19 ¡®So, I was right. I can¡¯t understand people as easily as before or at least, in interactions I have no experience with. The analyze increase is nice, though.¡¯ The analyze skill was targeted skill, as Rick explained. You wouldn¡¯t get a skill increase from casual thinking. Jack¡¯s environment was limited in various objects so his skill couldn¡¯t get high level. ¡®I suppose I can increase it now analyzing people. It¡¯s still a loss, since I would rather have charisma as a class skill. Well, I hope the new class skills are better.¡¯ ¡°Mom, what happened after I went unconscious? I know that Sam and Jerry¡­¡± She slowly let him go from her embrace. ¡°From when should I start?¡± ¡°Soon after the roof collapsed.¡± ¡°Ok, so¡­ When the roof collapsed ¨C as you should know ¨C insects were free to attack us. Fortunately, smoke disoriented them and we were able to somehow deflect their attacks. Unfortunately¡­ not all of them. Alice and Greg died. There were more and more of smoke and, I think, because fields burned, the swarm moved. There were less insects with every minute. Soon, there were none. There were only me, your father, Anne, Bob and Tom at this point. We checked on Sam, but he was dead. As I said before, at first we thought that you also died. As for Jerry¡­ We have found the skeleton. Seems these monsters don¡¯t like bones too much.¡° In one night Jack become one of 4 siblings, instead of 8. He never loved them very much, but they were still his precious family. He shook his head. ¡°What happened afterwards? Where we are?¡± ¡°Nearly all wheat burned. Beside us, there were survivors, about 30 people from our village. The neighboring villages had a similar number of survivors, but their elders died, only ours elder is still alive. He decided to prepare for the worst ¨C the frontier breaking. Over the 3 days you were sleeping, we build this small earthen fortress.¡± Jack looked around. He indeed was in some earth hole, surrounded by a one and a half meter tall wall from the soil. He stood up and checked what was behind the walls. There was nothing. A wasteland. Either naked earth or bunch of ash. There were no longer any trees. Insects ate nearly everything, only some lone trunks stuck from the earth. Probably only because the fire chased monsters out before they could devour the trees whole. All huts were missing roofs. ¡°What about the food?¡± ¡°We still have some. The dugouts were mostly intact.¡° Farmers were storing meat in the dugouts. In a winter, they dug a hole in the ground and then created a roof. On the roof they were placing straw mixed with ice, then a layer of soil. Side walls in the dugout were treated similarly. On the inside of such a construction were near freezing temperatures and it was possible to store meat. Thanks to the layer of soil, constructions didn¡¯t melt completely even in the hottest summers. ¡®Seems that earth layer saved dugouts¡¯ There were obviously doors, but while some of dugouts had wooden doors, some had a rock as a door. ¡°Totally, about 140 people are in this fortress. It was a good decision to build it, as some wolves were spotted a day ago.¡± From those 140 people, most were adults. There were only about 20-30 children. No elderly people, excluding the elder. Most of them were tinkering with scythes. ¡°What about scythes?¡± Jack asked. ¡°We need some weapons, if wolves will decide to attack us. Metal scythes were the best available. We needed to create a few handles, but there is still wood out there. As for the rest of them, we are straightening up blades on the handles.¡± A class crafting skill most people had, allowed them to be natural about tinkering. Jack used that skill only once, when his scythe broke and he needed to repair it. According to Rick, the skill represented humans desire to create tools for themselves. ¡°Right! What about Rick?¡± His mother shook her head. ¡°Only a skeleton was found. ¡° ¡°But he was a monster hunter!¡± ¡°An old one. Besides, such swarm is not something that you can survive with just being strong. We were lucky, that there was ten of us and we could fight with more insects at the same time. Your father also quickly lit the roof, and Jerry¡­¡± His mother lowered her head. ¡°I see¡­¡± Dead of Rick shook him. Not only as a personal tragedy, his sworn uncle and teacher dying, but also his mindset. Even someone as Rick died. He was at the level 31. These insects were only a few levels in the second tier. ¡°What now?¡± ¡°We are waiting, mostly. Since some wolves were spotted, the frontier was most likely breached. We should probably escape further into the interior, but we are too small as a group. We don¡¯t have people with classes for combat. Fighting at the level 25 against some level 6 or 7 enemies is fine. The difference in stats is great, so even without fighting skills it¡¯s not that hard, but if a sizable wolf pack attack us, we will get exterminated. ¡° Jack wanted to contribute. He was not super helpful in the previous fight. Now he had a combat class. He willed his status screen.
Name: Jack
Age: 14
Class: Survivor Level:6 99% to next lv
Stats: Base Essence reinforced
Strength 5.89/25 8.01 (6%/level)
Endurance 7.03/30 9.98 (6%/level)
Intelligence 10.93/25 14.86 (6%/level)
Mental Endurance 9.88/30 13.43 (6%/level)
Agility 5.94/30 8.43 (7%/level)
Perception 9.43/20 12.82 (6%/level)
Class skills Skill level
Economy of Movement Scavenging 1 1
Professions: 0/5
One available
Skills:
Analyze Farming Cooking Sword Handling Spear Handling Rune Shaping CharismaDid you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Crafting 6 19 9 8 11 21 19 3
Vitality 423/444
Stamina 90/90
Clarity 126/130
His base strength lowered. It was not surprising. In the class change process, muscles, bones and internal organs are upgraded. Muscles became more dense and efficient, bones sturdier, internal organs could work harder now. All of this needed some mass to happen. Since Jack wasn¡¯t fat, his body cannibalized his muscles. He was no longer muscular ¨C he was skinny and unremarkable. ¡®I was also poisoned.¡¯ Base strength 5,89 when he was so skinny was testament how more powerful his muscles became on the base level. ¡®There is slight increase to intelligence and mental endurance. Perception also raised, nothing unexpected¡¯ There was also huge rise of his vitality. For the human child class, the stat caps are at 10, excluding perception which cap is at 5. Meaning, that at 10 strength you can have - for example ¨C the greatest possible strength a child possibly can have. Jack had been quite muscular before change ¨C to get strength to 10 with the human child class, he would need to become extremely bulky. Intelligence was easier to train ¨C at least to Jack. He was proud of his high intelligence. He hadn¡¯t however boasted about that. Most children at his age were at 4-5 intelligence. It was hard for them to believe, that Jack could think two times faster that they. He was thankful for that to the old uncle Rick. The old man taught Jack a lot of things. He was not Jack¡¯s true uncle, but Rick was fond of Jack and requested to be called that. Rick was old, about sixty years old ¨C probably ¨C and a former monster hunter. Jack had never asked about his age. Such age was very unusual. He heard from some other monster hunters that they usually die young or get transferred to more mundane work. Old age actually lowers all caps. Someone who could kill a beast level 40 can only do it, if he is the level 45 or even higher. You get not as much of essence from lower leveled monsters, with means you can¡¯t level as fast as before. You get stalled. Rick retired in his 30-ties and spend some time farming. The Frontier braking 10 years ago, saw him leaving his fields and going with the rest of people in the great migration further into the interior. Later on, he started teaching children and getting some food for that, as land was limited ¨C only the best farmers got some. Jack looked at his skills. Skills are not getting you anything. They are purely informative the same way base stats are, at least, until they hit the level 25. When that happens, you should get some boost. Jack¡¯s charisma being at 19 was actually pretty low. Most people his age had charisma over 25, giving them additional +5% boost to intelligence and perception to interacting with other people. Important thing here is the second word ¡°to¡±. It¡¯s only working when interacting with people and only to improve that interaction. You can find a better riposte due to intelligence and a better control over your face due to boosted agility, but you won¡¯t get better at solving puzzles or with manual jobs, even if you are doing it when talking. Rick once said that it has something to do with change of the essence in you. That with a high level skill some pattern is created, but even Rick admitted that he is not very knowledgeable about essence things. There was also an available profession. Jack checked it out.
Conman I
Requirements Charisma skill lv.5 Analyze skill lv.5
Boost +10% to perception +1% per level to perception
¡®Charisma?¡¯ It was known that class skills can¡¯t unlock professions. It seemed, that pushing the charisma skill out of his class skill gave him a profession. ¡®Ok. I will take it.¡¯ ¡°Mom, so how can I help?¡± ¡°Probably you can¡¯t . We have only around 70 scythe blades. Unless your new class can spawn new weapons¡­¡± His mother shook her shoulders. ¡®Weapon¡­ What can I¡­¡¯ ¡°I know! Rick had a bow. His old one from his monster hunting days. He showed me, but never allowed to use it. He kept it in the case lightly buried in the ground. I will go retrieve it!¡± ¡°Wait!¡± His mother caught his hand. ¡°There are wolves outside. Do you want to die?¡± He looked behind the wall. ¡°I don¡¯t see any.¡± ¡°Wolves are fast. If they spot you, it will be over.¡± ¡°I have enhanced vision now, among other senses. If I spot them, I will run back. I have a combat class now, mom. I will be fighting. If I not level up now, then it will be harder to fight later on. You can¡¯t stop me forever. Rick¡¯s hut is not even far.¡± His mother was still holding him. She looked sad. ¡°I¡¯m going.¡° He wrestled himself from his mother¡¯s grasp. ¡°If you spot even one wolf - return immediately! Don¡¯t try to be a hero, understood?¡± ¡°Ok, mom. I¡¯m going.¡± He climbed over the wall and started running to Rick¡¯s hut. Former Rick¡¯s hut. Running was a bit uncomfortable, like he was doing it wrong. He tried to change it a bit. Ding¡­ Economy of Movement skill has reached lv. 2 ¡®Ok. So that¡¯s my class skill. I need to follow this feeling then.¡¯ He tried to change his running style to make it feel natural. He was observing surroundings meanwhile. He hadn¡¯t trained his perception, but just looking around was easy. His upgraded sensory organs were making his perception better, even without training. His journey was uneventful, excluding notifications of the rising skill. Ding¡­ Economy of Movement skill has reached lv. 7 Rick¡¯s hut was looking the same as others. Inside was a white skeleton, nibbled in a few places. Jack stopped for a while. Judging from the skeleton position, Rick hadn¡¯t died fighting. ¡®Did he just surrendered?¡¯ Jack was afraid of death. He couldn¡¯t fathom how someone could just accept it. ¡®Were you too weak, Rick?¡¯ He shook his head. Wolves could find him any moment. It was not the time to daydream. Jack quickly found the place and dug the wooden case. Inside were a wooden bow and ten bone arrows. Jack took the whole case and started running back. He was getting better at running. He was getting tired more slowly and therefore could run faster. Once again, there were no wolves. He was thinking back about Rick and insects. ¡°Um, uncle¡± At this point Jack still wasn¡¯t used to calling Rick an uncle ¡°Can you tell me more about essence? Why can¡¯t I level beyond 5?¡± ¡°You should know that you raise your level by gaining essence. There is essence in the air, but it¡¯s not very concentrated. Essence is naturally seeping into you, even when you don¡¯t do anything. At some point however, the concentration of essence inside you is the same as the concentration of essence in the air ¨C you can¡¯t get stronger.¡± ¡°What if I kill something?¡± ¡°You should get some essence, but it will seep quickly back. The system won¡¯t even notify you about the temporal increase in your essence. To level up more, you need to change the class. Higher tier beings have an essence pattern inside them. Essence ¨C rather than being equally placed inside you ¨C is concentrated further inside you, while being sparse close to your skin. Thanks to that, you can accumulate more essence. Jack thought for a moment and asked: ¡°Why then you can¡¯t get essence from killing ants? ¡°As you know, ants are level one. Due to their small bodies they can¡¯t accumulate much of essence ¨C because of that they changing their class every level. I know you never have seen a level two ant. Most ants and similar small animals never level up in their lifetimes. Anyway ¨C while a concentration of essence in an ant can reach the concentration in the air, the amount of essence in an ant is very small. It¡¯s opposite with larger animals. An amount can be big, but a concentration is so small that most of essence get dispersed and won¡¯t get inside you. It¡¯s the best to kill similar levels beings to get essence or higher ones, if you can.¡± ¡°Does that mean big monsters should be a way stronger?¡± ¡°Yes and no. Bigger monsters are being born with a few levels and become adults at higher level. Generally, a level is reflecting someone¡¯s strength very well. Two beings at the same level should have the same chances of killing each other. Obviously, there are many various monsters and skills. You may counter a monster ability and easily defeat it, or a monster can counter your abilities.¡± When he climbed back, his mother, tinkering with a scythe, greeted him with a smile. ¡°So you are going to be an archer now?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know yet,¡± he shook his shoulders. He was looking for some weapon, not for the life profession. ¡°I¡¯m going to train a little.¡± He marked a point on the wall and walked away from it for about 10 meters. He nocked an arrow and started to pull the bowstring. It only got pulled halfway. ¡®Ugh, I¡¯m too weak! Damn!¡¯ He loosed the arrow. It hit half a meter from the target. Ding¡­ You have now skill ¨C Archery lv. 1 Jack loosed a few more arrows. ¡®Should I give this bow to someone stronger?¡¯ Jack knew that by keeping the bow he wasn¡¯t acting in the best interest of the group. ¡®I also won¡¯t be able to use a scythe effectively. I¡¯m going to fight and to do that, I need a weapon. Screw it! It is selfish, but I¡¯m not going to give the bow away.¡¯ At some point in the training, he realized that he also could feel a bit unnatural when pulling the bowstring. Jack experimented a bit and was rewarded with notifications. Ding¡­ Economy of Movement skill has reached lv. 11 Ding¡­ Archery skill has reached lv. 6 His aim didn¡¯t change, Jack was still mostly missing, but¡­ ¡®I should be able to draw the bow a bit further with a correct stance¡¯ He continued shooting for a few hours until the evening. His archery skill reached level 13. Most people started eating supper. Jack searched for his family and went to them. His father was looking bad. He had burns on his arms, either from venom or fire. Bob, Anne and Tom were looking gloomy. Jack¡¯s mother distributed meat. ¡°So, what class you have now?¡± Jack¡¯s dad asked. ¡°The survivor class. I got it for killing 3 higher tier beings.¡± ¡°Is it strong?¡± Jack nodded. ¡°Better than the monster killer.¡° ¡°Jack,¡± asked Tom, ¡°does that mean you are going to fight monsters from now on?¡± ¡°Yes. I think so.¡± Tom shivered. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t. You will die.¡± ¡°Tom! Don¡¯t be like that,¡± said Jack¡¯s mother, ¡°there are many strong warriors. I¡¯m sure Jack will manage. ¡°I heard that those insects were only a few levels in the second tier. Jack will die for sure.¡± Tom soon started crying. Anne joined quickly. ¡°You know,¡± started dad, ¡°when the frontier broke ten years ago, many died, including my own siblings. Actually, maybe there is my family somewhere. When we were escaping, we all got separated. Dying is the natural occurrence in this world. Everyone dies sooner or later.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to die!¡± Tom shouted. ¡°That¡¯s why you should raise your level and get combat class,¡± replied Jack. ¡°Didn¡¯t your Rick also died?!¡± Tom shouted. ¡°He was a monster hunter, right!? You will die for sure!¡± ¡°Silence!¡± Dad shouted. ¡°You should not quarrel. Let me finish. As I have said, every one of us will die at some point. Dying is meaningless. The important thing is how we live. I love your mother and I wanted to spend my life with her. I love you guys. I¡¯m going to protect you to the best of my abilities. Four of you were taken from me, from this world. It¡¯s sad. I wasn¡¯t able to protect them, but if I had had a combat class, I would probably never had a family. Everyone should do what they want. If you ¨CJack, want to fight monsters, it¡¯s ok. I¡¯m not saying that is a correct path. Let¡¯s try to be happy. We should concentrate on the future.¡± Jack was not so sure about dying. ¡®I¡¯m not going to die. I will become strong and not so easily killed.¡¯ ¡°Ok. I¡¯m full. I¡¯m going to train spells,¡± Jack said. The rest of the family looked fairy conflicted what to think about it all. He walked away a bit and sat down. Ding¡­ Your Base agility has reached lv. 6 ¡®Only now?¡¯ Changing class is basically gaining a new body, however, since his new body looked and worked nearly the same as his old one, it was expected that his agility would rise quickly to the same fraction of total possible as before, since he was getting used to the new body. Jack started drawing a spell inside his mind. ¡®Damn! I¡¯m close. I think I should be able to cast properly the minor recovery at about 16 total intelligence.¡¯ He continued the training, even though his clarity was a bit on the low side from the previous training. Soon, he got two notifications. Ding¡­ Your Base intelligence has reached lv. 11 Ding¡­ Your Base mental endurance has reached lv. 10 Jack was also positively surprised by another notification. Ding¡­ Your Rune Shaping skill has reached lv. 22 ¡®Is that because I can now create a bit more complete spell, so I got experience of maintaining a bigger spell?¡¯ He continued training until he could barely think, and went to sleep. 3. The siege Jack woke up. There was no attack. No monsters. If not for the view of the open sky above him, he would think that he was still in his old hut. Everyone was sleeping in the fortress or also waking up. A few were keeping a watch, or so Jack thought. Soon, his mother probably prepare something for the breakfast . Jack started a day with the spell practicing. After a while he was called for the breakfast. He looked at his clarity ¨C 87/130 ¨C not that bad. The breakfast wasn¡¯t very gloomy, but his family also wasn¡¯t happy. After that, everyone went their own way, most people still tinkering with scythes. ¡®I suppose if I were in their place I would also make sure that my weapon won¡¯t break in a fight.¡¯ He practiced runes for an hour, and when his clarity fell below 50, his thinking started to be sluggish. He took the bow and practiced shooting. After two hours his archery skill rose to level 13. He started hitting his target from 10 meters. Suddenly, someone shouted, ¡°wolves!¡± Jack stopped his shooting exercises and ran to the wall. On the horizon three wolves were visible. ''Shit! I shouldn¡¯t have spent all clarity on the exercises.¡¯ He had only about 40 clarity and was mentally tired. He sat down and stopped thinking, rather than running into the battle. ''I need to recover as much as possible'' The elder and farmers weren¡¯t stupid. They should do everything they could. After a while, when he was listening to shouts and rapid steps he heard wolf''s howl. He opened his eyes and looked at the clarity bar. ¡¯58 ¨C not bad, not great'' Jack went to the wall. There were around 60 wolves in 3 groups. Farmers took positions close to the wall with their scythes ¨C around 80 of them. The rest ¨C about 50 people ¨C was sitting in the center of the fortress. Straightened scythes were 3 meters long, and while couldn¡¯t be used as spears, scythes still were giving reach superiority. Wolves were running around and most likely searching for a weak point. Jack shot an arrow, but he missed. ¡®It''s way harder to hit a moving target. I will need to predict their movement.¡¯ The first group of monsters tried charging the wall, but they were repelled by the scythe''s blades. Jack shot at some wolf. The arrow hit the target, but it was reflected by wolf¡¯s fur. ¡®Ugh! I need to draw bowstring further, but I don¡¯t have enough arm strength.¡¯ Wolves hadn¡¯t given up yet and tried to attack from different direction, but the fortress was not very big and farmers could defend it, keeping ranks tightly. ¡®Since my arms are too weak...¡¯ Jack raised his left leg and placed the bow beneath his feet, drawing bow with both his arms. This time he could draw it completely. ''I won¡¯t be able to aim properly like this, but as long as I aim in a large group I should hit something.¡¯ He aimed at one point and waited. Some farmers were looking funny at him, and would probably laugh if the situation was not so grim. When a wolfs group approached, he send the arrow. It didn¡¯t hit the wolf he was targeting, but luckily a one beside. Ding... Your archery skill has reached lv. 14 The wolf fell onto ground and shortly whined. Ding.. You have killed lv. 21 Wolf Wolves stopped their assault and every one of them looked at Jack. He could feel creeps on his back. He quickly make notice that half of farmers was also glancing at him from the corner of their eyes. When he had let the arrow go, the bow fell on the ground. He bent over and took it in his hand. It was the first causality, counting for the both sides. Jack felt proud of his achievement, but also threatened by the wolves¡¯ attention. 2 meters long and 1,5 meters tall alpha wolf howled to the sky. Soon all wolves dispersed. They were running around the fortress still, but this time wolves were taking a peek at Jack from time to time. Even standing behind the wall and a line of farmers, Jack could feel he became one of the primary targets of wolves. ¡®I don¡¯t like how they are giving me so much attention.¡¯ He shot an arrow again, but this time a wolf noticed it and evaded. ¡®Even if it didn¡¯t evade that arrow, I would most likely miss anyway.¡¯ Jack had only 6 arrows left at this point. ¡®I need to wait for some opportunity¡¯ The situation looked stable and was more of a skirmish, than actual life and death battle since there was still only one casualty. Jack shot again and while the wolf didn¡¯t notice the arrow, Jack missed. Suddenly, on Jack¡¯s the right side wolves attacked. This time they endured hits, two of them dying, and the rest lunged above the wall. One of the farmers was bit in the throat and fell on the ground. Soon a few farmers from the other sides broke off their line and run to reinforce the right side. ¡®That¡¯s my chance!¡¯ Three wolves were locked in the close combat with farmers and were incapable of paying attention to Jack. They were also fairy close ¨C about 20 meters. He drew the bow and shot. The arrow pierced a wolf¡¯s side. Ding.. You have killed lv. 19 Wolf Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 7 ¡®Already? Killing higher leveled monsters is really rewarding.¡¯ Jack bent over and pulled the bow and nocked another arrow. When he looked up, two wolves were running in his direction. ¡®Crap! That¡¯s why I mustn¡¯t draw attention!¡¯ Three nearby farmers broke off from their line and turned around to face the wolves. Meanwhile, Jack could hear shouts from his left side. Quick glance revealed over 20 wolves, along with the alpha breaking the line in that direction. Jack couldn¡¯t keep his attention on that, as two wolves closed on him. ¡®They are observing me and preparing to dodge. If I want to hit them, I will need to wait unlit they will be closer.¡¯ Jack¡¯s awkward position of shooting using his leg, made dodging nearly impossible. When the wolves were a few meters far from Jack, he let the arrow go. The wolf tried to dodge, but was too close and was hit in its stomach. The second one dodged flying scythes in its direction and jumped on Jack. Jack abandoned bow lying on the ground and tried to roll to the side, unsuccessfully, as he was too slow. Jack desperately blocked the wolf with his right arm, in which the wolf bit and scratched with its claws. Jack fell on his butt, wolf released his arm and was going for his throat. He though that¡¯s his death, his life flashed before his eyes, but splash of red droplets in his face and notification told him otherwise. Ding¡­ You have participated in killing of lv. 16 Wolf The wolf was bisected by one of scythes, its entrails were flowing out. Jack puked. It was the first time he had seen entrails of living being , not counting insects. There were no animals being kept by farmers. Soon, a second notification appeared. Ding¡­ You have participated in killing of lv. 19 Wolf ¡®That arrow haven¡¯t killed it.¡¯ Jack looked at his forearm. It was bleeding and mangled where the wolf bit. His vitality dropped to 385/444. Jack took a grasp of soil in his left hand and spilled over open wounds. ¡®That should stop the bleeding.¡¯ Jack looked around. Main wolf groups were fighting farmers inside the walls, while the rest were harassing farmers from the outside, forcing them to keep defenses up. Farmers were not panicking, there was a scythe wall and wolves were kept at a distance. There were some human¡¯s and wolf¡¯s bodies lying close to the wall in the wolf occupied area of the fortress. Jack tried to shoot some wolves down, but¡­ ¡®Damn! I can¡¯t use my right arm properly or my wounds will get worse, but¡­¡¯ Jack nocked an arrow anyway and once again drew the bow with both arms. It was hard to aim, farmers were in the way, and Jack wasn¡¯t confident to not shoot them when aiming with his foot. In the end, he managed to shoot down a wolf when an opportunity presented itself. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 12 Wolf Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 8 Ding¡­ Your archery skill has reached lv. 15 Jack tried to drew the bow again, but¡­ CRACK! The bow broke! ¡°Damn it! It seems this is the reason Rick never let me use it ¨C the bow was not very durable.¡¯ Wolves were not staying around much longer. Soon, the alpha howled and every wolf took one body in its jaw and jumped above the wall. They ran for around 100 meters and started eating human bodies. Situation gradually calmed down. The elder calculated losses on both side. On the human side ¨C 11 farmers died, while on the wolves side ¨C 19 monsters died. Amount of the fighting force titled even further towards the human side, but that was not a victory. Wolves didn¡¯t go away. ¡°We have limited amount of food,¡± the elder said, ¡°and we won¡¯t be able to last this siege very long. As long as wolves are staying here we can¡¯t go to the dugouts. They also have taken their own corpses, so we can¡¯t even eat them. From now on, we are going to ration the foot.¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Jack was extremely displeased with rationing. He was out of fat, as he recently changed class. He was also wounded and his upgraded regeneration demanded material to do his work. He managed to bargain with the elder for an additional ration, but that was it. Both Jack¡¯s parent took part in the battle, but they weren¡¯t wounded. The limiting factor for farmers was amount of scythes blades. Most of them survived and so ¨C people who were previously in the center were pushed to the wall. Jack was wounded and low leveled, a scythe wasn¡¯t given to him. He was spending his time practicing spells. Lack of foot quickly started a discussion about what to do. The idea of attacking wolves was dismissed, as wolves had a greater mobility than humans. They could just retreat and strike when farmers were unprepared. Similarly any idea of somehow moving to a dugout wasn¡¯t good. There were 30 children in the fortress who mustn¡¯t had been abandoned. Abandoning the fortress with bunch of children in the middle of formation was a recipe for disaster, especially that the dugouts were not in the defensible position and inside was too cold to live permanently. Splitting was also ruled out by the elder ¨C there wasn¡¯t anybody way stronger than others. It was impossible to assemble some elite strike force, and letting normal farmers go was just giving a snack to wolves. In the end, it was decided to wait. There were most likely other people nearby. Moreover, while wolves went through the frontier, it was still not certain that the frontier broken down. Rest of the day was uneventful. Jack practiced spells and tried to stay still as much as possible to conserve his body¡¯s resources. Unfortunately it didn¡¯t help and Jack was roused up from his sleep that night by a terrible hunger. He lost all fat and some muscles in the class change. Now, his body ate itself. He was starving. The pain was unbearable, Jack didn¡¯t go to sleep again that night. He tried to practice the rune shaping, but it was hard to concentrate. Suffering alone in the middle of the night Jack was thinking of the past and about magic. Rick had known only 2 spells ¨C a minor recovery and a reinforce material. The minor recovery boosted regeneration, allowing to close small wounds and speed up recovery of more serious ones. It only boosted natural regeneration however, so it was impossible to recover completely from serious injuries. The reinforce made a reinforced material stronger and sturdier. Rick ¨C as an archer ¨C used it mostly to reinforce arrows. Jack still remembered how Rick explained magic to Jack and other children. ¡°Magic is a use of essence. You can think of essence as a fuel. To make use of it, you need to create a rune.¡± Rick then sketched a complicated symbol on the ground. It was a bit over 2 meters in diameter and had at least hundred lines. ¡°This rune is the minor recovery spell. It is using essence of the world and changing it into a boost to regeneration. To cast this spell you need to create this rune in your mind.¡± Jack was initially excited to learn magic, even if it was only some minor spells. However, now he felt helpless. The rune was super complicated and that was only a basic spell! No wonder most people do not know magic. He and most children felt completely dejected. They most likely wouldn¡¯t be able to use magic. ¡°Don¡¯t be so sad! Even if it so complicated ¨C magic is still possible!¡± ¡°But mister Rick! You are a monster hunter. It isn¡¯t that strange that you can do magic,¡± said one of the children. ¡°When I was a child, I worked in the fields as most of you. I learned magic when I got recruited by the imperial court to the military to fight at the frontier. I remember that I was quite ambitious at that point. Old times! When the officer asked to choose between the recruit class to guard the frontier and the monster killer class to hunt the most dangerous beast who breached defenses, I have actually chosen latter. That was when I get acquainted of magic. Learning it however - took me years! Oh, I remember when I first met with a monster. It was a feline, a level 16 chameleon tiger. Not that high leveled. It actually somehow sneaked past the frontier ¨C that was the reason I was send with 9 others to hunt it down. I was only level 7. After the class change to the monster killer I hadn¡¯t actually killed anything. I get this two level only from the natural seeping of world essence into me. So, when I saw that tiger I actually nearly soiled my pants, and¡­ ¡°Mister Rick! Can you return to magic?¡± Jack was a bit angry at that child. He liked when Rick was telling stories of his past. Jack never left his home or at least he had not had any memories of anything else. The Great Migration happened when he was 4. He only knew what his parents had told him of the outside world, at least, outside of 2 kilometers of the nearby fields. Jack at that time was not very close to Rick and couldn¡¯t just ask him to tell stories. ¡°Oh, yes. Well, as I said, you need time to learn magic. A lot of time. The most important thing is to not surrender and keep trying.¡± ¡°Um, mister Rick,¡± started Jack, ¡°should we learn the rune in parts then?¡± ¡°Yes! But it cannot be just any parts. Learning magic like that can be dangerous. Think about it like that: there is a recovery rune, right? So ¨C there can be an opposite rune ¨C a killing rune. If you sketch some random runes in your head the effect can be unpredictable. Or at least this is what I was told in the military. To rise your skills however, you need to start from something easier than a complete rune. I will tell you now which parts you need to start with, and what parts go next, step by step. I don¡¯t really understand what that all means, but this is the method used to teach magic in the military.¡± Rick explained that rune over half a day. It was a winter that time so there was not much to do for Jack. Learning magic was very tiring. At first, Jack could only practice for about 20 minutes. After that, his thinking got completely sluggish and his clarity dropped to 30%. He and the other children asked about that. ¡°It¡¯s natural. Drawing runes is very tiring for yours minds, because you need to use yours minds completely for that task. Even with that, your intelligence and rune shaping skills are lacking and you can only draw the rune partially. Think about it as using all your physical strength all time. Even with a high endurance level you will get tired quickly. There is also a good side. Practicing rune shaping will not only rise your respective skills, but also intelligence and mental endurance. When you get your intelligence to a high point, you should be able to create a complete spell. Your training of the skill shaping skill will also be more productive. For some things, you need high enough stats.¡± ¡°Mister Rick, what is the difference between intelligence and the rune shaping skill? Which should we concentrate more on rising?¡± One of the children asked. ¡°Both, obviously. Intelligence rises your thinking speed and will help you with drawing a larger fragment of the rune and keeping it in your mind.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t mental endurance do this?¡± ¡°No. Mental endurance will let you keep a rune longer, not create a larger rune. If you want to master strong spells you need to have great intelligence. The skill makes your work more precise. With a high level of intelligence, but a low rune shaping skill level, you will be able to draw large runes, but they will be crude and may backfire. The skill will also help you a bit with larger spells. You won¡¯t need to concentrate as much on keeping lines straight in your head.¡± ¡°Mister Rick, shouldn¡¯t the rune you drew on the ground work?¡± Jack asked. ¡°Yes, it should, but only if a rune is flawless, or close. See that line? It should be perfectly straight. That, that and this line the same. That circle? As you can see, it¡¯s not a circle ¨C more of a ellipse, when it should be a circle. Not only it¡¯s hard to draw on the ground, if there are some mistakes a spell may backfire. Rather than risking that, I made mistakes in most lines to botch the spell. Just remember to draw all this lines as close to perfectly as possible in yours minds. ¡° Most children stayed and continued practicing, a few left. Half a year later a monster broke through the frontier ¨C a mammoth. A few meters tall and super large and strong. Most soldiers at the frontier are not very strong. They are mostly fighting with typical low level monsters at the frontier. The mammoth ¨C it just broke through. Fortunately, that beast is herbivorous. Not ideal ¨C as it still devoured the green spring wheat from the fields and what it not ate, it trampled. The mammoth actually got close to Jack¡¯s neighborhood as it was only about 10 kilometers away from the frontier. Since the monster wasn¡¯t looking aggressive, some children from Rick¡¯s class decided to come close to it. ¡°To find it weakness,¡± they said. The outcome was not great or glorious, however. When the children got close, the mammoth swiped at them with tusks. Only two of them survived and started running away. The mammoth chased at them for dozen meters and killed them off and then resumed eating the wheat. Jack was somehow bewildered by that. Not very sad, though. He had not been a friend to the death children. But the mammoth¡­ Why kill people, though the mammoth doesn¡¯t eat meat? After some thinking, answer was kind of obvious. Why should the beast decline free essence? Even if it wasn¡¯t much ¨C it was free. That thought gnawed at him, because that meant, everything that could kill him ¨C would kill him. Before, he was kind of thinking, that most of the monsters were stupid. That was wrong. Even if a beast or an animal had not been very bright initially, after essence boosting it could be as smart as him or even smarter. After what happened most children gave up. When Jack saw the mammoth chasing and killing his schoolmates, he was also scarred, but when he thought that everything wanted to kill him, he was determined instead. He asked Rick about that. ¡°It¡¯s true that only strong survive. If you stop practicing like others, you will be a weak fighter, but that not necessary a bad thing. You can be useful to the humanity in other ways.¡± ¡°Mister Rick, do all living things get essence for killings other livings things?¡± ¡°Hmm, yes. That is how it works.¡± ¡°But¡­ like¡­ for example, will I get essence for killing, regardless what I will kill?¡± Rick looked at Jack suspiciously for a few seconds. ¡°And what concretely are you asking about? ¡° ¡°I mean¡­ Do humans gets essence for killing humans? ¡° ¡°¡­Yes, but such thing is the greatest crime.¡± Rick had a serious face and talked sternly. ¡°Never even think about it. In this world, humans are besieged from nearly all sides. To fight another human is to fight the humanity itself. You see, humans are pack animals. To survive, we need to help each other. Some people fight monsters, some cultivate fields and produce food. Some people are crafters and brings us tools. As I said, you don¡¯t need to be a great warrior. You can be a great farmer or a crafter. Jack was not too keen on that. Day after some of his friends died, monster hunters came to kill the beast. Jack was looking at the spectacle from about 400 meters. On average. The mammoth had not stayed still. In the fight, the beast trampled 3 huts and killed 2 civilians and a hunter. The lost farmers were a couple staying home with their children. The mammoth trampling their home had killed them. Three children managed to escape in time, but in the end also died. Children died from hunters¡¯ magic. Hunters were concentrated on killing the beast. One of them had been already heavy injured and later that guy died. Analyzing after the fact the whole fight, Jack come to the conclusion that if the hunters held back, most likely another of them would have died. They never wanted to kill the children, but in the end, they chose their owns rather than some kids. So, why should he become a farmer? Only strong can survive. You can be the greatest farmer, but in the moment of danger some hunter may decide, that he rather save his low leveled companion or a family member. Helping humanity was good, but helping yourself was even better. Only strong can kill and steal essence of other living beings. Sure, the field worker and later the farmer class gets a boost to natural essence seep from a hard work and being in place with a lot of flora. To reach the level 5, Jack needed 12 years as he reached the cap 2 years ago. All that boosts meant, that leveling as a farmer would be faster than a human child, but still¡­ His father is 42 and the level 27 farmer. The best local farmer is 56 and the level 41 farmer. Hunters who killed the mammoth were about 30-some in level and age both and they were not even that great, apparently. After this events, Jack was even more motivated to become a hunter himself. After killing the beast, the hunters stayed for the night at Jack¡¯s neighbor¡¯s home. Jack had gone there and asked hunters about many things as Rick¡¯s knowledge about the imperial court, the military and the frontier was outdated by 25 years. Maybe because they lost one of they own, and hadn¡¯t anything to do but mourning, they talked with Jack about a lot of things. That conversation was the source of the most information Jack had about the realm of men ¨C the interior. After that, Jack slowly became the only person coming to Rick. Rick and Jack started to be close to each other. Jack ended his thinking about the past only when the breakfast was served. The starvation pain disappeared and Jack took a nap. He waked up around the midday. There wasn¡¯t anything new ¨C wolves were still besieging the fortress and there were not much to eat. Jack practiced a rune shaping for two hours until hunger returned. I was obvious, that there wasn¡¯t enough food to sustain Jack¡¯s body. He asked for more, his arm was barely getting better. Jack was refused. His parent gave his a fragment of their rations, but it wasn¡¯t enough. He once again was waked up by the pain. This time Jack tried to practice rune shaping, rather than miserably endure until breakfast. Ding¡­ You have now skill ¨C Pain Tolerance lv.1 It wasn¡¯t helping him, maybe after hitting level 25, but Jack wasn¡¯t keen on checking out. The rising skill level wasn¡¯t even caused by the pain lessening with time. Jack was just getting used to it and to doing things despite the pain. He wasn¡¯t able to even get close to a rune pattern he had created previously, but it wasn¡¯t a complete failure. Jack had an idea to sleep when hungry the next night and then eat. He wasn¡¯t able to withstand the pain. He practiced the rune shaping half the night to take thoughts away from the hunger. At the start of the third day of siege, Jack¡¯s pain tolerance skill was already at the level 15. Moreover, the elder decided to lower rations even further. The day was, however, more eventful. 4. To the frontier A loud whining and a flash of light disturbed Jack¡¯s training. Despite the pain, he got up and went to the wall to see what¡¯s going on. The wolves were fleeing. The alpha was lying on the ground, but without the head, which was lying a few meters to the side. Most surprising ¨C there was a guy in the green scale armor. He looked in the fleeing wolves direction for a while and dashed to the fortress. His speed was far greater than that of a running wolf. Jack was barely able to keep an eye on him. He stepped on the wall. ¡°I¡¯m colonel Rudolph Alpin. Who is the leader of this gathering?¡± ¡°It¡¯s me,¡± the elder said. ¡°Is that everyone who survived?¡± ¡°Yes. Everyone from 6 nearby villages.¡± ¡°¡­ I see. Due to migration of locus swarm, large parts of the farming area were destroyed and many people killed. The frontier haven¡¯t broken, however. Soldiers at the frontier went to shelters, as fighting such swarm is an impossibility. Some wolves packs managed to cross the frontier in this mess. Reinforcements from the interior will arrive in the few hours, and sweep local lands while hunting monsters. There will be also recruitment to the military.¡± Colonel went silent for a moment and started speaking again. ¡°Regarding food and seeds, everything will be managed by the imperial court and it¡¯s not my domain, by judging from my experience, you will get meat from the frontier for now and seeds in the autumn from the imperial court storages. That would be all.¡± Armored guy jumped off the wall and ran in the north direction, presumably to check on the others who survived the swarm. Jack was thinking only about one thing ¨C food! An expedition to the dugout was quickly organized. Jack wanted to join as well, by he was barely standing. Half an hour later, 20 farmers returned with meat and another half an hour later Jack was eating with his family. The bliss! Everyone was happily eating. He ate as much as he could, nearly vomiting at the end. After that, Jack took a nap. He was waked up by a marching sound. Hundreds of people marched east. Most were scantly clothed, similarly to the farmers. Each had a white bony spear. A the end were huge monsters, each one pulling an equally huge cart. They were gray furred, 6-legged and 3 meters tall. Their six legs were similar do insect¡¯s legs in arrangement, but not in appearance. They were furry and fleshy, but not like stick-like insects¡¯ legs. That was as close comparison as Jack could make with his limited understanding. After a while a middle aged guy came close to the fortress. He had a fur armor, which protected his torso and genitals, but not legs and arms. On his limbs there were additional armor pieces protecting his arm and forearm each, leaving exposed elbow and flesh in the middle. His legs were protected similarly. He had a bag to his side. ¡°Attention! I¡¯m the military recruiter assigned here and I will conduct recruitment now. Everyone with level 5 and without tier 2 class raise your hand. ¡° Only 7 children raised their hands, including Jack¡¯s brother - Bob. ¡°Now, everyone who advanced to 2nd tier class last year.¡± Four people raised their hands, including Jack. ¡°40% of level 5 children are conscripted every year, as you all know. Eleven in total, so four of you will be conscripted. Any volunteers?¡± Two from the seven children¡¯s group stepped forward. The rest immediately got pale. Jack was familiar with the conscription process. There was a limited number of farmers needed to cultivate fields. The rest usually became crafters or went to the military. Children with lower farming skills were persuaded or even forced to join. It was not very bad, since those children had a low farming skill, because they didn¡¯t like farming and weren¡¯t dedicated to learning it. If they weren¡¯t good at farming, then there was also crafting, but only the best with manual skills could become crafters. Some also thought, that living as a soldier is a better future. Unfortunately, the quota must always be met and if volunteers aren¡¯t enough, people are conscripted by the recruiter from level 5 first tiers, or if they also weren¡¯t enough, then from 2nd tiers who advanced last year. Jack didn¡¯t volunteer himself for the last two years, because there is a test for becoming a monster hunter. Most conscripts would become soldiers defending the frontier. He was hoping to improve his skills and stats before that. There were also enough volunteers. In the current situation, all preparations were destroyed and it was obvious that the recruiter would need to forcefully conscript 2 more from the seven. Lucky for them, Jack waited for this conscription a long time. ¡°Excuse me!¡± Jack shouted. ¡°I want to join. I got a combat class in the fight with the swarm.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± The recruiter looked him over. ¡°That would be one more to go. Anyone?¡± Remaining 5 children looked a bit relieved as probability of being selected just dropped to 20%. ¡°Ok, then¡­. I will choose¡­ you.¡± ¡°What?¡± Bob was flabbergasted. ¡°Why me?! I¡¯m only 12!¡± ¡°Why not? You look fine.¡± Recruiter took a parchment from his bag and asked for their names. Jack didn¡¯t know how to write or read, but he knew that the elder had similar parchment in which he had a list of people in the village. It was a system to prevent escaping conscriptions and most likely more, but Jack had no idea what more use could it have. System information were more like a memory. A memory, which was updating itself, and you could think about any time. Reading wasn¡¯t necessary. ¡°I want you four to appear at that guy¡¯s cart in 30 minutes, otherwise you will get a military punishment,¡± the recruiter said, pointing at one of the guys guiding a gray beast with a rope. The recruiter left after that. ¡°Jack, Bob, come over here!¡± Jack¡¯s mother shouted. Bob kicked the ground and went to mother and the rest of the family. ¡°Bob, I¡¯m sure you will be fine.¡± ¡°I never wanted to be a soldier. I thought I had some time. I was level 4 before the fight with the swarm.¡± ¡°Son,¡± started father, ¡°I didn¡¯t know you hated joining the military that much. You are not the greatest farmer.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that¡­ It¡¯s just¡­¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t want to die,¡± interrupted Tom. ¡°It¡¯s not that¡­ It¡¯s¡­ Ok. I don¡¯t want to die.¡± Jack rolled his eyes. ¡°We won¡¯t. There aren¡¯t even that high causality rates,¡± replied Jack. While monsters hunters died easily, normal soldiers normally lived long. ¡°You see? Stick to your brother, he was preparing for it for years,¡± said father. ¡°I know,¡± said visibly annoyed Bob. ¡°Jack,¡± started mother, ¡°I prepared some jerky for you, since you have recently changed class.¡± ¡°What if I get hungry?¡± Bob asked, annoyed. ¡°Then I¡¯m sure Jack will share. Just don¡¯t eat everything, Jack needs to get some fat.¡± ¡°Thanks mom!¡± Jack replied. ¡°Ok. I think we should go.¡± ¡°Take care!¡± Mother said, while caching Jack and then Bob in the hug. Soon after their father also hugged them. ¡°Go and make me proud! I¡¯m sure you two will be a terror of the frontier. ¡° Bob looked even more annoyed. After making goodbyes two boys went to indicated guy. Two others joined them. Jack hadn¡¯t known these two. Jack wasn¡¯t very popular to begin with, not to mention these two weren¡¯t from his village ¨C they weren¡¯t living in a close proximity to Jack. Bob knew their names, but excluding Bob¡¯s and Jack¡¯s relation, they were all strangers. The girl name was Maria and the boy name was Steve. The conversation wasn¡¯t able to last long as they soon arrived close to a gray beast.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Hello. We are new recruits. We were ordered to come here,¡± said Jack. ?Umm, ok. Wait a moment.¡± The middle aged guy climbed by the ladder on the card pulled by the gray beast. He soon descended holding four bony spears. ¡°Here. Standard weapon. There are monsters still in the interior, everyone needs something to defend.¡± ¡°What about some armor?¡± ¡°Ha, you can stop dreaming. If you are lucky, maybe you will get one in the future. Anyway, we are transporting food, so you know where to get some. We will most likely get to the frontier before the night, but nobody can say for sure what will happen. ¡° ¡°So, what do we need to do now?¡± Bob asked. ¡°Nothing, or at least, I don¡¯t know anything. Just march like the rest, you will get your orders when we get to the place. You know how officers are. They shout orders just because they can.¡± The guy replied with a shrug. The whole column of soldiers never stopped when passing the peasants¡¯ fortress, but supply carts were in the back, so the four weren¡¯t required to run after the column. The spear Jack got was fairly heavy. Jack hadn¡¯t high strength at that point and could feel, he would not be able to use the spear properly. ¡°Jack, you should know what happens next, right?¡± ¡°I do, to some degree. When we get to the frontier they will check if everyone is there. After that, there will be a test for becoming a monster hunter. They limit that only 20% of new recruits can become monster hunters.¡± ¡°What is the difference between being monster hunter or not?¡± Maria asked. ¡°Soldiers are stationary force, they defend fortifications. Monster hunters are mobile force, they hunt monsters both in the interior and in the exterior.¡± ¡°So, which one is better?¡± ¡°It depends. Being a monster hunter is a way more dangerous, but you can level quicker and get better training. Soldiers are in a pretty safe situation, comparing to monster hunters. You can think about it that way ¨C there is only 1 monster hunter on 10 soldiers.¡± ¡°Wait. You mean, half of them dies?¡± Bob asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Shit.¡± Jack shrugged. ¡°Normally, it¡¯s safer to be a soldier, but in case of some serious monster attack, it¡¯s better to be stronger.¡± ¡°So, who are you going to be?¡± Stave asked. ¡°I will try to pass the test and become the monster hunter.¡± ¡°Even if it¡¯s dangerous?¡± Jack shook his head. ¡°If you are a monster hunter, you will die only if you are weak and unskilled. For soldiers, they die when there is a serious attack, like insect swarm. I would say, there isn¡¯t much difference between living as a farmer and a soldier. I don¡¯t want to rely on luck anymore.¡± After that, there was silence, as the three was thinking about their life choices. Ding¡­ Your Base agility has reached lv. 7 Jack willed his status.
Name: Jack
Age: 14
Class: Survivor Level:8 93% to next lv
Stats: Base Essence reinforced
Strength 5.59/25 8.27 (6%/level)
Endurance 6.89/30 10.44 (6%/level)
Intelligence 11.16/25 16.51 (6%/level)
Mental Endurance 10.86/30 16.07 (6%/level)
Agility 7.00/30 10.72 (7%/level)
Perception 9.43/20 15.65 ((10 + (6+1)%)/level)
Class skills:
Economy of movement Scavenging 13 1
Professions: 1/5
Conman I
Skills:
Analyze Farming Cooking Sword Handling Spear Handling Rune Shaping Charisma Crafting Archery Pain Tolerance 7 19 9 8 11 22 19 3 15 16
Vitality 403/448
Stamina 89/100
Clarity 131/160
¡®Damn¡­ My physical base stats declined. If I hadn¡¯t leveled, my strength would have gotten lower. My mental endurance rose pretty nicely, which is a bitter recompense for the pain. I should soon get its base to level 11. Unfortunately, my vitality hasn¡¯t recovered yet.¡¯ Thinking about bars, Jack quickly went with his thoughts to Rick¡¯s lessons. ¡°Uncle, how should I read bars?¡± ¡°Well, stamina and clarity are simple. The maximal amounts are determined by your endurance and mental endurance. Using strength deplete your stamina, using more strength deplete more, using less deplete less. It¡¯s the same with clarity and intelligence. Bars recover relatively fast. Stamina can recover for that much (about 70%)¡±, he showed with his hands a portion of total ¡°a day if you are resting. Clarity recovers even faster, if you are resting your mind. You can recover it two times a day. The best way to recover clarity is sleeping. Some classes can recover the bars faster, but I have no idea which ones.¡± Rick explained, while showing things with his hands. Neither of the two could read, but they could still observe their bars. System had its means to deliver information, though it wasn¡¯t very detailed. ¡°What will happen when stamina or clarity is exhausted?¡± ¡°It¡¯s impossible. When stamina gets below that much (30%) you should feel very fatigued. At that point it¡¯s very hard to use all your strength. At some point you would be completely spent and not able to use your muscles. Theoretically you should still have a bit of stamina, but it would be insanely difficult to spend it. It¡¯s the same with clarity.¡± ¡°What about vitality?¡± ¡°Vitality is a bit harder do explain. Generally, you can think of it as a measure of how resilient is your body. I mean, that¡¯s a max value. When your vitality drops, that means your body is not in the best condition. Think of lacking vitality as a measure of how much energy and mass you will need to get fully healthy. When I say full, I really mean it. Even when you are just hungry your vitality drops a bit.¡± ¡°So, no vitality means I¡¯m dead, right? ¡°When your vitality is low, that means it¡¯s hard for your body to function properly. When vitality drops is no more, that means body can¡¯t function on its own and most importantly, can¡¯t fix itself any longer even with the life spells. Even the best regeneration boosting spells won¡¯t help, since body can no longer fix itself. For example, let¡¯s say your throat got cut. Your vitality would drop a bit, but not completely. Without a healing spell you are already dead, but your status don¡¯t know that. You are losing blood, therefor, your vitality is dropping, as your body will need more energy to replenish it. When you lose most of your blood, your body will not be able to recover, even if someone mends your throat. ¡° ¡°And I will die then?¡± ¡°Yes. I heard once, that there are powerful healing spells not based on regeneration, but healing directly. Such spell could heal someone with no vitality. In some cases a blood transfusion can also help. Obviously, you can¡¯t stay at no vitality for long, and if someone, let¡¯s say, cut you in half, it¡¯s over.¡± ¡°So, how the system determines if someone is dead?¡± ¡°If the essence pattern in you gets destroyed, the system announces your death. Patterns are not so easily destroyed, the only sure death situations are losing a large part of your torso or head. ¡°I will take the test to monster hunters. ¡° ¡°What?¡± Dazed Jack asked. ¡°I mean, I will try to join. I think, since there is a test, being a monster hunter is better than being a soldier,¡± Maria said. ¡°Um, yeah, sure.¡± ¡°Really? I thought that you two won¡¯t try to get there, since it¡¯s dangerous. Actually, why did you volunteered in the first place, you could be omitted by the recruiter,¡± Bob asked. ¡°I haven¡¯t told you I will take the test,¡± Steve said, ¡°Well, I think I will, but you shouldn¡¯t generalize like that.¡± Bob rolled his eyes. ¡°Well, I never liked farming or was good with my hands, so joining the military was the only choice,¡± Maria looked away and continued. ¡°When the swarm attacked, all my family died. I have survived, because I managed to hide. Nothing keeps me in my old home.¡± ¡°My situation is kinda similar, I suppose,¡± Steve said. Bob signed. ¡°Bob, what are you going to do?¡± Jack asked. ¡°Dad told me to keep an eye on you, right? I suppose I will take the test as well.¡± ¡°Great!¡± Jack was asked a few more times about the military by the rest. His knowledge was limited and soon there was nothing to add. Group marched in silence from now on. ¡®I have over 16 intelligence, I think I should be able to cast the minor recovery spell¡¯ Jack wasn¡¯t able to cast it in the fortress, because of the starvation pain distracting him. ¡®It should also be hard to cast it while walking, but I don¡¯t have anything better to do.¡¯ Jack tried to draw the spell¡­ ¡°Where are you going?¡± Bob asked. ¡°Um, I¡¯m sorry. I was thinking about something.¡± Jack said. ¡®It seems I need to pay at least a bit of attention to where I¡¯m walking.¡¯ This time Jack kept a bit of attention on walking and started sketching the spell. Keeping attention to two things at once was distracting, and Jack could feel he wouldn¡¯t be able to complete the spell this way. Ding¡­ You have learned Parallel Thinking skill ¨C lv. 1 ¡®Ok. If I had known I could grind this skill that way I would have done so long ago¡­¡¯ Jack continued to train, keeping minimal attention to walking and maximum to rune shaping. ¡®I suppose this is the skill shortcoming. You can¡¯t do two task requiring active thinking. One task is basically delegated to subconscious and needs to be repeatable and passive.¡¯ Such training was even more mental tiring than normal and Jack was forced to stop after 30 minutes. After dully walking for another 30 minutes some of Jack¡¯s clarity returned and he continued. The weather changed during their march, and it started to rain. ¡®Right. Elders told us about the rain before the swarm. I suppose that¡¯s it.¡± The rain was falling slowly, wetting earth. The column marched unbothered. Jack also didn¡¯t care, unless there was going to be mud. That would be a bother. When he could see fortifications on the horizon, it¡¯s been over 6 hours and quite a few skill notifications. He had also muddied shoes. Ding¡­ Your Parallel Thinking has reached lv. 9 Ding¡­ Your Economy of Movement skill has reached lv. 16 Ding¡­ Your Rune Shaping skill has reached lv. 23 Ding¡­ Your Base Mental endurance has reached lv.11 ¡®It¡¯s seems moving subconsciously is synergizing with my Economy of movement skill.¡¯ Jack now concentrated on the frontier. 5. Test The frontier itself wasn¡¯t looking very impressive, opposite to numerous buildings before it. Jack couldn¡¯t see the exterior, as there was an elevation of the area, which worked as a wall. On the top were 5 meter high wooden towers every few hundred meters. Other than that, there was some sort of bony palisade. It was more of an obstruction than a real wall. Many small bones were protruding from the ground with their pointed ends. Curved ribs pointed in the direction of the exterior, some halved and with sharp edges like blades. Anyone wanting to cross it would get sliced and stabbed. Before it, there was a lower situated area giving cover. People were standing there, one a meter. All of them had a spear ¨C some more than one ¨C and a crossbow, which was also bony. Jack expected to see a steep cliff on the other side. From Rick¡¯s stories and what Bob and the rest learned by asking other recruits while Jack trained, Jack could somehow understood the frontier structure. The frontier was divided in 20-kilometer sections. Each section was commanded by a colonel, 5th tier class advancement on the recruit path, or someone else in the 5th tier with a colonel title granted by the imperial court. In one section, there were headquarters and 9 barracks, each commanded by a 4th tier individual, usually a lieutenant. Each barrack was in about 2 kilometers from each other. Colonel was a leader of the whole section, so there were 10 lieutenants per section. Before Jack were the local section headquarters. There were countless buildings. Most of them resembled the ones Jack knew from home. The difference was, that there were close to each other ¨C only a meter or so. Most of earthy houses were just very long with multiple doors ¨C most likely there were houses sharing a wall. In the center, there were stone buildings ¨C something Jack had never seen before. The biggest was hundred meters wide and 20 meters tall. Many people were moving between buildings and some were standing and chatting. New recruits were supposed to report in. Jack¡¯s group lined up in the queue. ¡°Jack, do you have any jerky left?¡± ¡°It''s the last one. I have eaten the rest on the road.¡± ¡°How about military food?¡± Maria asked. ¡°Do you know where that food guy went?¡± ¡°No.¡± Maria said. ¡°Those gray monsters went there. I think there¡¯s some stable for them or some storage.¡± ¡°They need to give us food anyway, and you will survive a day without.¡± Stave said. ¡°Besides, the bread we got earlier wasn¡¯t even that fresh.¡± Maria said. ¡°I doubt they keep bakers with the column.¡± Bob said. ¡°Fine.¡± Jack said. ¡°I suppose I won¡¯t die without a proper supper.¡± The queue was slowly getting shorter. Jack''s clarity was back up to 130 and wasn¡¯t getting higher. ¡®I won¡¯t be able to get to full clarity unless I take a nap.¡¯ While regeneration of the bars were fairly steady, there are things slowing and speeding it up. For example, stamina recovers slower when hungry, and clarity recovers slower when someone has a poor mental condition, like being depressed or stressed. It¡¯s also impossible to fully recover stamina or clarity without a proper rest. ¡®There aren¡¯t any distractions right now. I should be able to cast the spell. As long as I won¡¯t spend too much clarity it should be fine¡¯ Jack started to form lines and circles inside his mind. Soon he got a notification. Ding¡­ You have acquired a Life mana affinity. The spell worked. It was neither pleasant nor unpleasant, more like¡­ exhausting. Jack could feel his whole body working, even though he was sitting and not doing anything physical. His wound on the arm was itching. He looked at it, but there wasn¡¯t visible progress as a scab was hiding the wound. Jack stopped and looked at his bars.
Vitality 426/448
Stamina 51/100
Clarity 126/160
Vitality was up a bit, and while there was loss of clarity due to rune shaping in his mind, there was also huge drop in stamina. ¡®The minor recovery spell forces body to regenerate faster, but it uses body biomass. I should get some fat before I start use it more. It¡¯s a shame, I know nearly nothing about spell vectors and I can¡¯t direct recovery only to a specific part of the body¡¯ Jack knew spell vectors for a reinforce material spell, but only to cast it on the thing in his hand. He wasn¡¯t able to understand the internal structure. The reinforce spell used without vectors worked the same as recovery spell ¨C it reinforced caster¡¯s body. Unfortunately, while getting a tougher body is nice, spell workings on the internal organs are deadly. Fortunately ¨C or not ¨C for the spell, the reinforcing effect dispels fast and after 30 second is already barely visible and after a minute it completely wears off. Thanks to that, there weren¡¯t any deaths even if you drew vectors wrong. Officer marked out their names on the same parchment the recruiter wrote them. After that all of them were directed to a clear space. A woman in her 30-ties in bone and metal armor was standing on the podium. Her gear looked impressive, the second best after colonel Alpin. ¡°Hello. I¡¯m lieutenant Elizabeth Bonner. I¡¯m in charge of this facility. We will group you all here today. First, 20% of you will become monster hunters. The rest will be distributed across barracks on this frontier section including the headquarters here. There are 1274 of you, so: 254 will become monster hunters, and then there will be 102 recruits for each lieutenant. Now, everyone who wants to be a monster hunter go to the right side. Rest go to the left side.¡± Jack and the rest of the group went to the right. ¡°About four hundred candidates. So, it¡¯s the same as every enrollment, we need a test,¡± the lieutenant said. ¡°Call tower mage Hogan, let¡¯s check his new spell.¡± Soon, a guy in his 30-ties came. He was wearing a robe, the most luxurious thing Jack had ever seen.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Ok. Your test is simple. I will cast a spell on you all. Your task is to just stay standing. Let me begin.¡± That mage Hogan closed his eyes, probably casting. When everyone waited for the spell¡­ Ugh! Danger! Jack could feel it pushing through his chest. Death. Everywhere. From all directions. Waiting for him. Looking for him. He was weak at the knees and he wanted to just lie down to be less noticeable. Jack could still remember the test, but how could he care about some test, when his life was endangered! He could see people falling down from the corner of his eye, but he remembered his fear when insects attacked and then wolves. ¡®This fear¡­ It¡¯s¡­ different¡­ the spell¡­¡¯ Ding¡­ You have now a skill ¨C Mental Intrusion Resistance lv.1 ¡®Right! It must be the spell!¡¯ Ding¡­ Your Mental Intrusion Resistance skill has reached lv. 2 ¡®I¡¯m not in danger! I¡¯m not in danger! I¡¯m not in danger! I¡¯m not in danger! Damn! It¡¯s just a test!¡¯ Ding¡­ Your Mental Intrusion Resistance skill has reached lv. 3 Jack still felt terrible, like some fearsome beast could kill him any second, like he was completely defenseless and alone. He tried to find this danger, to prove there¡¯s nothing. Ding¡­ Your Mental Intrusion Resistance skill has reached lv. 4 There was obviously no danger, no matter where Jack looked, but fear remained. Many were lying on the ground, including Maria and Stave. Bob was still standing, but he was gasping for breath, cold sweat dripping from his chin. Jack wanted to tell him that this was a spell, that there was no danger, but he was afraid to open his mouth and make a sound. Afraid that he would bring attention to himself. ¡®No! No! This isn¡¯t real!¡¯ ¡°Bob!¡± Jack whispered. ¡°It¡¯s a spell. It¡¯s not real.¡± Ding¡­ Your Mental Intrusion Resistance skill has reached lv. 5 Ding¡­ You have unlocked Masochist I profession. ¡°Bob, you hear me? There¡¯s no danger.¡± Jack whispered. Maybe more to convince himself than Bob. Now, when he had done it once it was easier to whisper the second time. Bob looked at him. Jack could see fear in his eyes. He broke the eye contact, since it was only increasing his own fear. ¡®Damn! I know there¡¯s no danger, but even so..¡¯ It¡¯s wasn¡¯t as bad as at first. Jack was still afraid to make a step, his legs were shaking, but he could stand. ¡®This is not real. Even if there is some beast, I¡¯m going to be a monster hunter and I would fight it anyway.¡¯ He was enduring. Ding¡­ Your Mental Intrusion Resistance skill has reached lv. 6 He was thinking about it. Where this fear comes from? How it influences him? ¡®It¡¯s just a fear. It¡¯s putting danger in my mind. It¡¯s influencing my thoughts.¡¯ Ding¡­ Your Mental Intrusion Resistance skill has reached lv. 7 He was trying to analyze this fear in his mind, when suddenly, it just stopped. Jack could feel how irrational it was. He barely could believe now, that he felt something this intense. ¡°Good. There are precisely 254 still standing recruits. The rest, go to the left. Do not try to cheat, or there will be punishment,¡± lieutenant said. Bob was still standing. ¡°Thanks, bro. It helped. I even got a resistance skill. ¡° ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. I¡¯m just happy that I will have some familiar face out there.¡± Bob fell on his knees. ¡°I suppose I can rest a bit now.¡± Unfortunately for Bob, there was already the evening and there were quite a few arrangements to make. ¡°Attention!¡± The Lieutenant shouted. ¡°Everyone who passed the test go to the officer Ryan there. You will be assigned to 5- person groups and your new locum. Similarly, our new soldiers go to the officer Marco there. 102 recruits will be assigned to barracks here. For the rest, you will be assigned to one of the nine barracks of this section. You will be given accommodations for today and expected to travel to your designation tomorrow. People staying here are required to come here tomorrow morning for future assignments. That would be all. Jack and Bob stood in queue to officer Ryan. ¡°Do you think we will be in the same group?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Jack replied. ¡°It would be nice.¡± ¡°We are just one behind the other. That would make us a group, right?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t think so, lad,¡± said guy behind them. ¡°Why not?¡± Bob asked. ¡°It¡¯s pretty obvious. Everyone would just group together in their perfect teams.¡± ¡°And why would that be bad?¡± Bob continued. ¡°It¡¯s kinda obvious you are country bumpkins, you know?¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that?¡± ¡°Just saying: don¡¯t aim to high. You will understand if you survive for some time.¡± ¡°Whatever.¡± After dozens of minutes it was Jack¡¯s turn. ¡°Ok, Jack. Your level, class and origins?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a level 8 Survivor. I¡¯m from the village led by elder Elmer.¡± ¡°Survivor?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a combat class hidden behind an achievement.¡± ¡°Then it must be a fairly rare one, since I don¡¯t know about it. Magic?¡± ¡°I can cast the minor recovery spell. My class isn¡¯t magic oriented, though.¡± ¡°Do you have magical education?¡± ¡°No, sir. I was only taught some basics.¡± ¡°Ok. I will assign you to the group¡­ hm¡­¡± ¡°Sir, can I be in the same group as my brother?¡± ¡°No. Imperial court¡¯s regulations explicitly forbid such assignments. You are going to the group 12. Your new home will be the house 124. Dismiss.¡± Jack stayed for Bob, who was assigned to the group 23. After a few questions and answers from locals, they learnt that their new homes were in the same direction. Apparently, all monster hunters lived in the same area. Even so, their homes had a bit of distance from each other. ¡°It¡¯s going to be alright, bro,¡± Jack said. ¡°We will make new friends.¡± ¡°I thought you weren¡¯t popular.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not, but if I¡¯m going to fight in a team, it¡¯s better to learn something about your teammates, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Fine. See you next morning, I suppose.¡± Jack went in his direction. ¡®House 124¡­ I wonder what¡¯s that Masochist profession is all about¡­¡¯ Jack willed his status window and then possible professions.
Masochist I
Requirements Pain Tolerance skill lv.5 Mental Intrusion Resistance lv.5
Boost +10% to mental endurance +1% per level to mental endurance
¡®Nice! But what does this masochist means?¡¯ Jack picked it. You can always unpick a profession, but you can only choose it when you have less than 5 profession, and you can¡¯t choose a profession you discarded for a month after. ¡®Let¡¯s check my status now¡¯
Name: Jack
Age: 14
Class: Survivor Level:8 92% to next lv
Stats: Base Essence reinforced
Strength 5.6/25 8.28 (6%/level)
Endurance 6.71/30 10.46 (6%/level)
Intelligence 11.21/25 16.59 (6%/level)
Mental Endurance 11.09/30 18.41 (10% + (6+1)%/level)
Agility 7.28/30 11.35 (7%/level)
Perception 9.44/20 15.67 (10% + (6+1)%/level)
Affinities
Life 0.01%
Class skills
Economy of Movement Scavenging 16 1
Professions: 2/5
Conman I Masochist I
Skills:
Analyze Farming Cooking Sword Handling Spear Handling Rune Shaping Charisma Crafting Archery Pain Tolerance Parallel Thinking Mental Intrusion Resistance 7 19 9 8 11 23 19 3 15 16 9 7
Vitality 426/448
Stamina 66/100
Clarity 102/180
¡®The bonus to mental endurance is great! It seems I need my mental intrusion skill at lv. 10 to unlock Masochist II.¡¯ Jack found his new house after some time and questions for directions. It was similar to his familial one. Jack walked in. 6. The first day in the military ¡°Hello¡± There were 3 people inside the room, excluding Jack. ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Stanley Chambers.¡± A boy similar to him in age greeted him. Besides him, there were two girls and only one of the girls was dressed similarly to Jack. Everyone was sitting on the ground in a meter distance from each other. The boy had unimpressive leather armor and trousers knitted from some long fur. The girl had furry robe over her body. That fur was looking delicate and light. Jack could spot clothes from some strange material under that robe. The house itself looked poor. There was only a short table and no chairs. ¡°I¡¯m Jack.¡± ¡°This is Aleena Greene,¡± the boy pointed at richly dressed girl, ¡°and this is Lillie,¡± this time pointing at the girl dressed in loincloth and fur bra.¡° ¡°Nice to meet you too. ¡° Jack walked closer and sat in a meter distance to the trio. ¡°So, you are not a noble?¡± Lillie asked, while moving to Jack¡¯s side. She sit down in about 30 centimeters from Jack. ¡°No. Do you guys are nobles?¡± Jack felt awkward about Lillie girl ditching the other two, but could somehow understood that Lillie was feeling awkward sitting with these guys. ¡°Sure¡± Aleena said. ¡°No, we are not. Don¡¯t trick the new guy,¡± Stanley said a bit sternly. ¡°We were born way higher than these peasants, especially me. It would do you all best to just listen to me and do your orders,¡± Aleena said. In this moment another boy walked into the house. ¡°Hello. I¡¯m Stanley Chambers. Nice to meet you.¡± Stanley said with a smile, completely dismissing Aleena¡¯s words. The boy was dressed the same way as Jack. ¡°I¡¯m Patrick.¡± And then, he just came to Jack and sited down next to him similarly to Lillie, creating a half circle with Jack in the middle. Now Jack felt very awkward. Allena wanted to be a leader, and he was just made a leader of a peasant uprising. ¡°Hi. I¡¯m Lillie.¡± ¡°Um. I¡¯m Jack.¡± He felt forced to continue, and introduce himself. Jack looked at Stanley and Aleena. The boy was still smiling and didn¡¯t seem disturbed by the course of action. The girl however looked furious. There was tension between two groups. ¡°I¡¯m Stanley Chambers and this is Aleena Greene.¡± Stanley than stood up, walked to Jack and sited back in front of Jack closing the circle. ¡°Come on, Aleena. Sit with us.¡± Stanley said with smile, patting the ground to his side. The girl frowned and walked away to one of the two connected rooms. ¡°Please don¡¯t mind her behavior,¡± Stanley said. ¡°Do you have some relationship with her?¡± Jack asked. Situation was still awkward. Lillie and Patrick looked disturbed by close proximity of Stanley. Jack didn¡¯t know what to think about it. It was completely new situation to him. His charisma skill wasn¡¯t helping him. ¡°No, I don¡¯t. I¡¯m just concerned about our team. We are going to stay together for a while. It would be best to learn about each other.¡± Jack opinion on the boy was raising, as he had the same view on the team. ¡°What¡¯s her problem?¡± Patrick asked. ¡°She is from a count household. They have spoiled her a bit.¡± Stanley whispered second sentence. ¡°Um, so, are you guys nobles, or not?¡± Lillie asked hesitantly. ¡°No, we aren¡¯t nobles. Well, I may as well explain to you what nobles are about. I¡¯m from a baron¡¯s house. My father is a baron. When someone gets to the 4th tier, being over level 50, he or she gets a baron title from the imperial court and a few privileges. Mostly, baron¡¯s family can live in the cities close to the Kenar mountains.¡± ¡°Is living in a city better?¡± Jack asked. ¡°Yes. Cities have additional defenses with spells inscribed on the walls, there are more items for sale and greater opportunities. So, barons gets privileges mostly to keep their families safe. It¡¯s better for the imperial court to have warriors who aren¡¯t constantly afraid about their families. Nobles are also wealthier than lower leveled people, obviously, like I got this armor from my dad.¡± He hit his armor proudly. ¡°Ok. So what about that girl? You must know her, since you know she is from a count household.¡± Jack asked. ¡°No, I know her as much as you. There are officially 81 counts and 34 count families. I just know all count¡¯s and duke¡¯s family names by heart.¡± ¡°Why only 34 count families?¡± Jack asked. ¡°Family¡¯s rank is determined by a person with the highest level. There are count families with more than one count and there are also duke families with counts. You get the count title for being over level 100 and getting a 5th tier class. Dukes are in 6th tier ¨C over level 200.¡± ¡°Wow! Over two hundred. I wonder if I reach that level someday,¡± Lillie said. ¡°Only if you are lucky and very talented,¡± Stanley replied. ¡°So, how many dukes and barons families are out there?¡± Jack asked. ¡°There are six dukes, each with his own family. As for barons¡­ There is something about eight thousand barons and five thousand families. I can¡¯t tell you the exact number as it changes rapidly.¡± ¡°That many?¡± Lillie asked. ¡°Yep. Barons are considered minor nobility, not anything special, without great privileges. Actually, as monster hunters enrolled in the military we have high chance to become barons ourselves in the future.¡± Jack could see that both Lillie and Patrick were relaxing and accustoming to talking with Stanley. ¡°Can you tell us about privileges?¡± ¡°Sure. For barons, it is mostly having families in cities, but also they have access to better materials for armors and weapons. They still need to pay, though. A count gets one square kilometer of land. They mostly cultivate they own plants there, for example ¨C Aleena¡¯s clothes are from a plant often cultivated by counts and dukes. Also, some keep monsters there for breeding.¡± ¡°Like those gray ones?¡± Lillie asked. ¡°Yep. They are called Surne. There are others types too. Dukes get fifty square kilometers with people living in that territory. They can conscript them into their own private forces, or make them plow their fields.¡± ¡°Good thing I haven¡¯t been born there.¡± Lillie said. ¡°I heard it¡¯s not that bad. You can mistreat people or they will escape.¡± Group got acquainted with each other. After a hour, they all were talking freely. In the meanwhile, they heard blowing horn, signalizing shift change on the walls. They also talked about their abilities. ¡°I¡¯m level 12 monster hunter. My father took me once to get the achievement.¡± ¡°I¡¯m still 1st tier,¡± Patrick said. ¡°Me too,¡± Lillie said. ¡°You most likely will be sent to shoot from the wall until you kill something. The monster hunter class is standard for monster hunters in the military. What about you, Jack?¡± ¡°I¡¯m level 8 survivor. I got that class in the fight with locusts.¡± ¡°Wow. Is it good?¡± Lillie asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure, but it seems slightly better than the monster hunter. It¡¯s just a bit of bother, as it doesn¡¯t have the charisma skill in the class skills. Therefore, sorry if I say something wrong.¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Sure.¡± Lillie said. Stanley frowned, but soon his cheerful expression returned. ¡°You guys should start learning magic. Most noble children learn it from a young age. I know a minor recovery and a minor strength spell.¡± ¡°You know magic?¡± Lilith asked visibly excited. ¡°Yep. These two are weak spells, but that the start. You need to learn magic too. Even close combat warriors learn magic to supplement their fighting.¡± ¡°Great! I always wanted to do magic!¡± Lillie said. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be so easy. You will need at least a few months to cast even something relatively easy,¡± Jack said. ¡°You have a magical education?¡± Stanley asked. ¡°No. There was an old monster hunter in my neighborhood. He taught me a few things. I can cast the minor recovery spell, but that¡¯s all.¡± Jack replied calmly. Rick¡¯s death was still fresh in his mind, and he couldn¡¯t just be happy about his advantage over Lillie and Patrick. ¡°That¡¯s not bad. Most warriors only learn specific spells and don¡¯t bother with any understanding of magic,¡± Stanley said. ¡°What about that girl? Do you know what she can do?¡± Patrick asked. ¡°No, but it would be the easiest to just ask.¡± Stanley stood up and walked where Aleena had gone previously. There were five fur-beds lying on the ground. Aleena was cross siting on one of them. ¡°Hey. We were discussing our combat prowess and it would be nice if you could tell us about yourself.¡± ¡°Why should I do that?¡± She said with a bit of spite. ¡°We are going to be a team. It¡¯s best to know each other abilities. Lillie and Patrick are still tier one. Me and Jack have a few additional levels and can cast simple spells. Are you similar?¡± She frowned. ¡°I¡¯m a level 12 fire slinger. My class is magic oriented and I can cast offensive fire spells¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure we will all get along,¡± Stanley said cheerfully. ¡°Don¡¯t bother me anymore. Since you fail to see the reason, I¡¯m going to concentrate on training.¡± Aleena closed her eyes, but she continued to sit. ¡°It¡¯s getting dark,¡± Patrick said, looking through the hole in the wall. ¡°Let¡¯s go to sleep,¡± Jack said. He was irritated by Aleena¡¯s behavior, but decided to just keep quiet and observe for now. He didn¡¯t want to pick a fight with a count family accidently, even with Stanley ensuring, that they don¡¯t need to mind Aleena noble origins much. According to him, most nobles don¡¯t interfere with their children military career. It was a bit hard to sleep for Jack in the new place, so he tired himself with rune shaping practice. Jack was woken up by the blowing horn. Everyone in the room was waking. A day was 30 hours long and nights were chilly even in the summer. Everyone was sleeping covered by fur blankets. Stanley took off his armor for sleep, leaving him with naked torso as the rest of the boys. Aleena slept with her clothes on, placing her folded robe on the bed. ¡°We should go,¡± Stanley said while putting his armor on. The whole group 12 soon left the house 124 and went to the plaza. Aleena was walking a few steps away from the group. At the plaza, there was a lot of people. Huge groups were slowly leaving headquarters, traveling alongside the frontier. Jack was looking for his brother, Maria and Stave. After some time, he managed to spot Maria and Stave leaving with other recruits. Jack felt a bit bad about not saying goodbye at least. ¡°Hey, Jack!¡± Jack turned around and spotted Bob with 4 others. There was only one boy with better clothes than standard in Bob¡¯s group. ¡°Who¡¯s that, Jack?¡± Stanley asked. ¡°That¡¯s my younger brother, Bob. Bob, that¡¯s my team.¡± ¡°Yeah, these guys are team 23 together with me.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, I¡¯m Stanley Chambers.¡± Both groups weren¡¯t enthusiastic about making acquaintances with each other, but they introduced themselves, excluding Aleena, who was oblivious to the whole brothers thing. Soon, the lieutenant Elizabeth Bonner came. ¡°Attention! While monster hunters are assigned to the whole frontier section and commanded by a colonel, in practice, you will be using some facilities which are under my direct command, so better listen carefully.¡± The lieutenant explained what happens now. Normal recruits were going to pick their new class, got on the walls, and shot at the incoming monsters. They had access to training facilities, but only if a monster hunter wasn¡¯t using it. There were also some theoretical classes for them. As for Jack and others, they were going to have a half year training before being sent to fight. The training would include stats and skill increasing, tactics against specific monsters, and general knowledge about them. The schedule was fairly simple. After waking up, there was an hour long physical stats training, then breakfast and 3 hour long lecture about monsters. After that, there was another 4-hours skills training with instructors. After dinner, there was 2-hours stats training with instructors, and then free time for the second half of a day. There were also apparently some spell runes displayed publicly in the mage tower for learning and everyone was encouraged to learn. Jack couldn¡¯t wait. Today, everyone was spared the morning training session and the day started with the lecture after the breakfast. ¡°We are classifying monsters in three groups: plants, herbivorous, carnivorous. Most monsters aren¡¯t hunting for essence, they are hunting for food ¨C that¡¯s the same as humans. A common practice used by both humans and monsters is attacking only lower leveled opponents. Let¡¯s start with these three groups. First ¨C plants. Most plants are either low leveled, or are trees. Humans can¡¯t eat most of plants and killing them is generally uneconomical. Low level plants give you a miniscule amount of essence, while higher leveled trees have an extremely durable bark. Cutting down a similar leveled tree takes a lot of time and you can¡¯t eat it. There¡¯s a method allowing to kill a higher leveled tree ¨C you need to pluck all leaves. The tree will start to grow them back, but as long as you are patient, the tree will die after some time. It¡¯s an extremely long method, and giant trees can have so many leaves, that you will never manage it on your own. Generally, we humans aren¡¯t killing plants. It¡¯s similar with fungi. They are dangerous, however, as most of them can blow a cloud of poisonous spores in case their main bodies underground getting damaged. Most plant ¨C with a few exceptions ¨C are totally passive and harmless. ¡° The old, gray haired lectured started telling the names of various trees and other plant commonly seen in the forest in the exterior. ¡°Herbivores are less harmless. They won¡¯t hunt you for food, but if there is being they deem easily killed in their close area, they will usually kill it. They may also attack you if they are threatened or defending their pack or young ones. Herbivores ¨C as they mostly only kill low leveled plants ¨C are not very high leveled themselves. There are exceptions, of course, like for example Hallola birds, who eat trees and can kill them. General idea is: if you spot much higher leveled herbivore ¨C run away, if you spot lower leveled herbivore ¨C you can try to kill it. Most of carnivores do the same.¡± The lecturer one again told about common herbivores. ¡°The most interesting and deadly are carnivores. Similar leveled carnivores generally won¡¯t hunt each other, since it¡¯s always life and death fight. You should do the same. Carnivores are generally highest leveled and most dangerous, and they will be a central point of your lectures.¡± After three hours the lecture ended and monster hunters had a skills training. ¡°We will teach you spear handling and footwork skills here. You will also learn how to analyze monsters¡¯ power level after a few month. The main human strategy when hunting a beast is throw to spears. If an enemy is stronger than you, get more people and throw more spears. If the enemy still stands, throw even more spears. Throwing a spear is your answer for almost everything. If throwing a spear can¡¯t solve your problem, then most likely you are death, unless you have mage in a team with adequate skills to the situation.¡± They all were throwing their spears for four hours. Jack muscles were very sore at the end, but he managed to get his spear handling skill to lv. 19 ¨C earning him 8 levels to the skill, and another one for the economy of movement, which was slightly guiding him through the motions. Patrick and Lillie were much worse than him, but they were also improving fast. Stanley would be the best of the team, but Aleena was even better. ¡®I thought that as a mage she will be weak physically, but her base strength is probably around 10-12. Her technique is also good - she must have been taught that before.¡¯ After the dinner, there was stats training. Strength and endurance training was simple ¨C just physical exercises. For intelligence and mental endurance training, it was recommended to train that by drawing runes. The most arrangements were for training agility and perception. Agility was trained by stretching, precise movement with a weapon and keeping balance on a thin trunk. Perception was trained in two chambers. In the first chamber, there were droplets of water constantly falling on the ground. The task and exercise was to count falling droplets by the sound of droplet splashing on the ground alone. In the second chamber, there were a lot of smells kept in bottles. Instructors were realizing them into the chamber and the task was to name every single smell in the mix. There wasn¡¯t much transitional skills training the first day, as instructors were mostly correcting new hunters about their posture during exercises and the best exercises to train their stats. ¡°What are you going to do now?¡± Stanley asked. ¡°I want to see spells in the mage tower,¡± Jack said. ¡°Me too!¡± Lillie said. ¡°I probably have seen them already. I¡¯m going to our house,¡± Stanley said. Patrick also went with them, while Aleena left earlier without a word. ¡°Which spells are there? Do you know?¡± Lillie asked Jack. ¡°Probably the minor recovery. You should start with it anyway, as I heard it¡¯s segmented into pieces for safe learning,¡± Jack said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound exciting. I suppose the spell is practical, but I hope there will be something more mystical and cool,¡± Lillie said. ¡°I will be glad if I can cast any magic,¡± Patrick said helplessly ¡°How is your intelligence stat?¡± Jack asked. ¡°It¡¯s 8,6¡± Lillie said. ¡°I¡¯m at 8,¡± Patrick said. ¡°You need to have it at least at 16 to cast minor recovery. I think that without 2nd tier class it¡¯s impossible.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not fair,¡± Lillie said with a scowl. The girl was very expressive, even too much. Jack didn¡¯t know if that was her normal behavior, or if she was doing it to copy with change in the environment. It wasn¡¯t bad, but Jack thought that a bit unnatural. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. When you get the monster hunter class, it will be easier to raise your intelligence. It¡¯s always easier to make gains in stats when you are weak, than when you are already strong.¡± The mage tower was the highest building in the headquarters. The biggest building was the colonel¡¯s office, which also worked as an armory and a shelter in case of an unstoppable attack. There was a bunch of people before the tower. They were mostly other new monster hunters. ¡°You guys came for the spells too?¡± Some guy asked. ¡°Yes. Do we need to wait in the queue?¡± Jack asked. ¡°Pretty much. There are ten spells and not everyone can study them at the same time. There¡¯s not enough space.¡± ¡°Where are the spells? Are they in the tower?¡± Lillie asked. ¡°Yes. There a room with the spells just when you go into the tower. We aren¡¯t allowed further inside. If you want, I can tell you about the spells there.¡± ¡°We would like to,¡± Patrick said. ¡°Sure. There is the minor recovery spell segmented in parts to make learning it easier. You should start with it.¡± ¡°We know that already. Get to something more interesting,¡± Lillie said irritated. ¡°Sure, girl,¡± the guy chuckled. ¡°There are all six stat boosting spells, like minor strength, minor endurance and so on. There¡¯s also an additional perception boosting spell that only grants you better vision in darkness, rather than boost all your senses. There¡¯s a handy warming spell, so you won¡¯t freeze to death. The last one is the hardest. I¡¯m not sure you can even cast it in the 2nd tier. It¡¯s an air barrier spell. Apparently, it¡¯s creating a translucent barrier that blocks everything thrown at it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going for that barrier,¡± Lillie said ambitiously. Jack was more restrained. ¡®I need to check how those spells compare to the reinforce material spell. I can barely cast minor recovery. It¡¯s best to choose the next easiest spell and slowly build my intelligence.¡¯ 7. The first days in the military Jack spent the next few days doing his routine training. In the afternoons, he practices rune shaping trying to cast the minor strength spell. ¡®Minor stats spells should be manageable with about 18 intelligence. For the reinforce material spell, I need around 22.¡¯ Jack¡¯s skills were rising rapidly. His spear handling skill was at 24. His gains from a day¡¯s worth of training were declining as he was mastering spear throw. He could throw a spear with confidence, and he always roughly hit the target. Stanley and Aleena were still better than him, but he was catching up. His rune shaping skill reached lv. 25 giving him 10% boost to intelligence to drawing runes. ¡®The skill was leveling more slowly in the past. It must be because there were new shapes in the new spells that I haven¡¯t practiced before.¡¯ With the boost, Jack effective intelligence when drawing spells was over 18. Casting the minor strength was in the realm of possibility. ¡®I need either more familiarity with the spell or even more intelligence to cast it successfully.¡¯ His Parallel thinking skill got to lv. 12 when he practiced rune shaping when working out. Jack looked at his status window.
Name: Jack
Age: 14
Class: Survivor Level:8 91% to next lv
Stats: Base Essence reinforced
Strength 5.79/25 8.56 (6%/level)
Endurance 6.85/30 10.68 (6%/level)
Intelligence 11.42/25 16.9 (6%/level)
Mental Endurance 11.22/30 18.62 (10% + (6+1)%/level)
Agility 10.68/30 16.66 (7%/level)
Perception 9.45/20 15.68 (10% + (6+1)%/level)
Affinities
Life 0.06%
Class skills
Economy of Movement Scavenging 17 1
Professions: 2/5
Conman I Masochist I
Skills:
Analyze Farming Cooking Sword Handling Spear Handling Rune Shaping Charisma Crafting Archery Pain Tolerance Parallel Thinking Mental Intrusion Resistance 7 19 9 8 24 25 22 3 15 16 12 7
Vitality 448/448
Stamina 100/100
Clarity 180/180
His agility stopped raising on its own. From now on, Jack had to train it. Besides that, his highest stat gain was intelligence. ¡®It¡¯s thanks to masochist profession, even though I still don¡¯t know what that means. I have more clarity to spend on training. I should try to raise my metal intrusion resistance to get Masochist II. I don¡¯t think tower mage will agree to cast that spell on me again, but maybe I can find some of his assistants from the tower to do that. Even though that spell is unpleasant¡­ it¡¯s worth it.¡® Unexpectedly, his charisma also rose, and now was at lv. 22. ¡®Well, I was put in a few new social situations the last few days.¡¯ Stanley, Jack, Patrick and Lillie were talking with each other in their free time and could be called friends. Aleena was training most of the time, siting on her bed with closed eyes. Jack hadn¡¯t enough mental endurance to train as long as her. She was not talking with the rest of the team nearly at all. When she wasn¡¯t training, she was meeting and talking with her peers from other teams. Jack met with his brother a few times, but both brothers were staying with their own teams for the most of the time. After morning run and exercises, Jack and company went to the lecture. ¡°There are three serious threats to the frontier. Fist of them are wolves. Their packs are dominating the exterior, and the only reason exterior have other animals is because of infighting between wolf pack for territory. The typical strategy for them, is a surprise attack on a poorly defended fragment of the frontier. They kill soldiers and recruit and leave with their bodies, before a lieutenant or a colonel can intervene. Sometimes, a few wolf packs cooperate and attack together or a pack decides to escape to the interior. Wolves are our most common enemy and they are monsters humanity have most information about. That¡¯s include class trees and estimations of their caps.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°The second threat are swarms. Sometimes a large group of monsters is forced to migrate. Such group have often only low level monsters. They are threat, however, as they can kill higher level individuals, as long as they manage to swarm him or her. There were many breaches made by swarms. Most common monsters attacking us in swarms are mice, rabbits and insects.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°The last serious threat is highly levels singular monsters. They can often be in 4th, 5th or even 6th tier. Even a colonel won¡¯t be able to do anything to a 6th tier monster. Occurrences as such require help from dukes, or pulling together a huge force of numerous counts to hunt a beast. 6th tier monsters are fortunately uncommon, still, 5th tier monster attacks us regularly. Most common animals in this group are: bears, boars, eagles, lynxes and foxes. There are also bisons and deer, which are large monsters, but are herbivores. They attack us very rarely. ¡° ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Military have additional defenses, beside the walls and soldiers. There¡¯s a large scale spell inscribed on the roof of the mage tower. It can be used to strike high level monsters, but also swarms, as it also have an AoE attack. It¡¯s drawback lies in the need of several casters for aiming and controlling the spell. That¡¯s opposite to cannons ¨C our second most powerful defense. They are metal machines. They can be operated by anyone with some strength, and have power of 5th tier person full strike. Unlike the spell, which is only in the headquarters, there is one cannon in every barrack. Unfortunately, there are also drawbacks. Cannons are useless against swarms. They are hard to aim. Maybe most importantly ¨C they use ammunition. Only mage-smiths can sculpt metal smoothly enough to create shells for cannons. Gunpowder requires sulfur, which sources are very limited for the humanity. You should be able to imagine how expensive cannons are.¡± Jack and the rest of the group had the skill training next. ¡°You should have learned basics of spear throwing already. Try to master it in your free time. Today, we will start footwork training.¡± The instructor explained how important footwork is. He showed how quickly attack and dodge. Jack was afraid he wouldn¡¯t be able to learn the skill as he already had the economy of movement skill, but such worries were proven wrong. Ding¡­ You have now skill - Footwork lv.1 They were soon instructed to spar in pairs. ¡°Jack, spar with me,¡± Stanley said. ¡°Won¡¯t you spar with Aleena? I¡¯m too weak for you to learn,¡± Jack said self-consciously. ¡°She went to spar with someone else. Besides, the stronger is my team, the better for me. You are also a quick learner.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Jack knew Stanley was better fighter than him, and Stanley¡¯s praise brought quite a joy to Jack. Stanley asked Jack to stab him. Jack thrust slowly his spear at Stanley, who effortlessly deflected it to the side. ¡°My turn.¡± Now Stanley thrust spear at Jack. The thrust was also slowly, but very steady. Jack tried to deflect, but was forced to take a step to the side in the end. ¡°You are strong,¡± Jack said. ¡°Sorry. I suppose you should train first your footwork, before any spars.¡± Stanley already has the skill. He instructed Jack about correct steps. Soon, they were again lightly sparring. It wasn¡¯t anything serious, just attack-step back-dodge. Jack was gaining footwork skill notifications like crazy. After an hour he was already at the level 12 in footwork.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°You really learn fast! It¡¯s even faster than I expected.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I think it¡¯s because of my class skill.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t understand this completely. I have class skill that helps me with moving around. I thought that it will replace footwork, but it seems that isn¡¯t the case.¡± ¡°What skill? I know about a lot of skills.¡± ¡°It¡¯s economy of movement.¡± ¡°Wow. You are lucky. Normally, you only get this skill after months or even years of refining your movement. I have it only at the level 2. What about you?¡± ¡°Let me check¡­ It at the level 18.¡± Jack felt a bit bad about it. It was more luck than effort he got the skill, and he felt like a fraud before Stanley. ¡°Wow. I suppose that¡¯s why you are moving so swiftly and with grace, even though you hadn¡¯t the footwork skill. You should train that skill as much as you can.¡° Jack could see some envy on Stanley face, but also joy, which was a bit baffling. He wasn¡¯t thinking much about that, though. ¡°But what¡¯s the difference between it and the footwork skill?¡± ¡°Footwork is about knowledge and execution of taking correct steps in fights. The economy skill is about the efficiency and effortlessness of movement.¡± Soon, Jack was getting good at moving around in the fight. Also¡­ Ding¡­ Your Battle precognition skill has reached lv. 1 ¡°Stanley, what about the battle precognition skill?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s also in your class skills.¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s not. I just got that skill.¡± ¡°Well, that skill is a measure of your battle experiences. You will get it to a high level when you can predict enemy movements in a battle. I have it at the level 9. It¡¯s very hard to level, the same way as the economy of movement skill.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± Jack was still surprised by his rapid gains in the footwork skill. ¡®I suppose it¡¯s actually thanks to the economy skill¡¯ Dodging required stepping to the side or even sometimes forward the attack. It was counterintuitive. Jack at first wanted to block or step back from the attack. ¡®As long as I know where I want to step, economy of movement helps me do it flawlessly.¡¯ ¡°Let¡¯s spar a little more serious now,¡± Stanley said. Stanley attacked, but when Jack dodged, Stanley continued assault. Jack was barely able to defend, and even so, he could tell that Stanley wasn¡¯t completely serious. After a while, Stanley let Jack attack. He defended well, and Jack wasn¡¯t able to threaten him. ¡®I¡¯m improving fast. Patrick and Lillie are still at the basics. I really chose a good class.¡¯ At the end of training Jack was tired, but satisfied. Ding¡­ Your Economy of movement skill has reached lv. 21 Ding¡­ Your Footwork skill has reached lv. 19 Ding¡­ Your Spear handling skill has reached lv. 26 Ding¡­ You have unlocked Spearman III profession. Ding¡­ You have unlocked Swordsman I profession.
Spearman III
Requirements Spear handling skill lv.15 Footwork skill lv.15
Boost +20% to agility +10% to strength +2% per level to agility +1% per level to strength
Swordsman I
Requirements Sword handling skill lv.5 Footwork skill lv.5
Boost +10% to agility +1% per level to agility
¡®I may as well take both. I can always revoke some professions if something better comes around.¡¯ Jack also sparred with Stanley in their free time. The next day in the free time Jack was asked by Lillie. ¡°Can you help me with training? You and Stanley are very good at fighting.¡± She was shy about it, and asked hesitantly. ¡°I am not. Stanley is constantly beating me up. Actually, why won¡¯t you ask him?¡± ¡°Well¡­ he refused,¡± Lillie said dejected. ¡°Really?¡± Stanley was very helpful for Jack and he was surprised about the refusal. Jack wasn¡¯t feeling entirely qualified to teach. ¡°Yes. He showed us - I mean ¨C me and Patrick, a few moves when we asked, but he said he won¡¯t get better by sparring with us and we should train with each other. I mean ¨C he is probably right, but it¡¯s hard to improve without someone to point your mistakes.¡± Lillie was talking fast. Jack frowned. He was going to ask Stanley about that. ¡°So, you want me to point them?¡± ¡°Yes. It would be best if you could spar with us, obviously, but it probably also won¡¯t be beneficial to you.¡° ¡°Ok, let¡¯s do it.¡± Jack could see that it wouldn¡¯t benefit him personally, but it still may benefit him in the long term. He was part of the group. Lille also wasn¡¯t asking for much. ¡°So, where is Patrick?¡± ¡°He went to train on his own. He was against asking you. Let¡¯s just train with two of us. I will spar later with Patrick, anyway. Let¡¯s go to the training plaza.¡± Lillie had a smile on her face and was excited. She grabbed his hand and dragged him, half-running to the plaza. Jack was trying not to think too much about Lillie during the spar. She was pretty and ¨C even excluding previous reasons - he felt bad to refuse. It¡¯s not like Jack was in love with her or hadn¡¯t any experiences talking with girls. He never was very popular, but before he started training under Rick, he had played often with other children in the neighborhood. The fact, that pretty girl was relying on him and wanted to spend time with him was boosting his ego. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t take such big steps. It¡¯s better to make a short, quick step while dodging,¡± Jack was giving advices while sparring. ¡°Okay.¡± Lillie was clumsy about fighting and Jack wasn¡¯t putting any serious effort into the spar. ¡°Actually, how about the air barrier you wanted to learn?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not so good¡­¡± Lillie said, while barely deflecting Jack¡¯s spear. ¡°How¡¯s your rune shaping skill?¡± ¡°It¡¯s at level¡­¡± Lillie took a break to parry an attack. ¡°¡­nine. I¡¯m practicing minor recovery anyway,¡± she said the last part in a deflated tone. ¡°There¡¯s no shame in that. I spent months to train that skill. You are faster than me by a lot due to your higher mental endurance.¡± ¡°Faster than you from some time ago. Comparing myself to you now¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not that great.¡± ¡°You are on the similar level to noble¡¯s children. Haven¡¯t you already learned minor strength spell?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m close, but¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s my problem I suppose. I will manage somehow.¡± ¡°Come on. Just say it. Maybe I will be able to help.¡± ¡°¡­Ok. I can¡¯t read or write.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s a problem? I can¡¯t read either.¡± ¡°Well, there are ten spells displayed in the mage tower, right?¡± ¡°Right.¡± ¡°The problem is, I want to learn spell vectors.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°You can use it to direct spells. Like - for example - only use minor recovery on a specific part of your body, rather than all of it.¡± ¡°Why do you need that? Isn¡¯t it easier to just use it on the whole body?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the point. I just want to learn better spells and have better control over them, but I can¡¯t without reading.¡± Actually, ability to direct regeneration was essential for Jack. Due to enhanced regeneration of his body, the spell placed a huge strain on him, as it worked on his full body, and wasn¡¯t usable. To remedy the situation, Jack wanted to get spell slinging skill ¨C learn spell vectors. He asked Aleena about it. She deemed him worthy of getting answer, that yes ¨C she obviously knows the theory, and no, she obviously won¡¯t teach it. Stanley also didn¡¯t want to teach him, saying it is better to concentrate on basic abilities first. Jack options were either asking around other scions, or going to ask in the mage tower. Unexpectedly, the mage tower was offering teachings for everyone. Unfortunately ¨C teachings were in the form of access to the library ¨C therefor Jack¡¯s predicament. Jack also asked about the fear spell. He got an explanation of the mage tower hierarchy structure instead. Generally, there was one tower master ¨C 4th tier individual. The rest of people in the tower were his assistants and attendants, mostly 2nd tier with a few being in 3rd tier. Everyone has their duties given from either 3rd tier or from the tower master himself. It was impossible to make an arrangement about some guy teaching Jack magic without master¡¯s approval. Jack, as 2nd tier monster hunter in training was of too low status to even ask the tower master to lend one of his assistants. As for the fear spell ¨C it was in the library, but he wasn¡¯t allowed until he would be able to make use of it, that is, he would learn to read. ¡°Can you make someone to teach you reading?¡± Lillie asked. ¡°It¡¯s probably easier than finding a magic teacher.¡± ¡°I tried. The only person I know who knows how to read is Stanley. I am obviously excluding Aleena, for the obvious reasons. He said that he doesn¡¯t have that much time and I should concentrate on abilities that will help me in a fight, not on reading,¡± Jack sighed. His road to magical supremacy seemed long and arduous. Jack was angry about the magic. He wanted to learn spells, but everyone was telling him he should just train his muscles. ¡°Hmm. Maybe I can do something.¡± Lillie said after a few seconds of thinking. ¡°You don¡¯t know how to read. Do you know some noble with a lot of free time?¡± Jack asked skeptically. ¡°Actually ¨C yes!¡± Lillie said with beaming smile. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know a concrete person, but I know where I can find them.¡° ¡°Where?¡± ¡°On the walls!¡± ¡°What?¡± Jack made a face of not understanding. ¡°You see, I was spending a bit of my time with a crossbow on the walls to get my new class. I still haven¡¯t managed to kill anything, even though we have a priority for killing to get the class, but whatever. The point is ¨C there are people there from the nobility. I think they didn¡¯t manage to pass the test, or maybe they didn¡¯t even attempt. I will ask around.¡± ¡°Well¡­ Thanks! I don¡¯t know how to repay you¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t! You are helping me already. I will be happy to help you a little instead. If you feel like you owe me just continue to give me pointers. ¡° Jack trained with Lillie for a while that day, longer than he initially promised. However, he wasn¡¯t feeling bad about it. The next day, during training with Stanley he decided to ask him about his help. ¡°I have heard you refused to help Lillie and Patrick. I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°Yeah, well¡­ It¡¯s different helping you compered to them.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°You are good enough to stand on your own. I can train with you and rise my abilities. With them, it would be babysitting.¡± ¡°But you could still help them a little.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand. If you are spending time helping somebody, then you are not training. In the end, it¡¯s your own life that should be the most precious thing to you. Fighting monsters is extremely dangerous. You will need every advantage to can get.¡± ¡°Like good teammates, right?¡± Jack provoked. ¡°Yes. But it¡¯s always better to be stronger yourself, than have stronger teammates. It¡¯s a matter of life and death. Take a look on Aleena, she is only concentrating on her training. ¡± ¡°Are you going to behave like her?¡± ¡°No, just don¡¯t belittle the danger we are going to face. You will do best for the team if you are strong enough yourself.¡± Jack spotted Lillie. She was looking very happy and was running in the boys¡¯ direction. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Stanley asked. ¡°Um, sorry. Lillie was doing me a favor. How it is?¡± ¡°I found the guy! Come!¡± Lillie grabbed Jack¡¯s hand and started pulling him. ¡°Wait. Can I know why we stopped our training?¡± ¡°Sorry, Stanley. Lillie seems to find me a reading teacher.¡± ¡°I see. So you still want to learn better spells?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°By the way, which way are you going to pay for that teachings?¡± ¡°Umm, Lillie?¡± ¡°He wants you to owe him a favor. You can discuss the details when you meet him. ¡° ¡°What about you Lillie? What you have out of this?¡± Stanley asked. ¡°Why do you think that way? Can¡¯t I just be kind?¡± She said with a smile. ¡°Sure. You can. Sorry for asking.¡± ¡°I was teaching Lillie a bit of what you had taught me. I think it¡¯s fair.¡° ¡°I suppose,¡± Stanley signed. ¡°Just don¡¯t arbitrary break my training schedule next time, and remember what I have told you.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t. Sorry.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Lillie was pulling Jack on the walls. Jack hadn¡¯t been here yet. On the interior side there was a pretty gentle slope. It was fairly easy to climb. ¡°Okay. You can let go of my hand.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± She replied playfully. Lillie brought him to the top where soldiers were standing. ¡°Is it alright for us to be here?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry kid,¡± one of the soldiers said, ¡°just don¡¯t get in our way. Now, it¡¯s quiet, but if there is some danger on the horizon you should better step back.¡± It was Jack¡¯s first time looking at the exterior. On the grassy fields, a few groups of bisons were eating. Tall grass itself was swaying to the gusts of wind. In the distance there was green. Huge trees were taking all of the horizon. ¡°It¡¯s beautiful,¡± Jack said earnestly. ¡°That was also my first thought,¡± Lillie replied. Jack looked down through bone-blades and other obstructions. There was a steep cliff at least 10 meters down. Horizontally, it was for about a meter, so the slope was impossible to climb without hands. ¡°Let¡¯s find your teacher.¡± Lillie soon stopped by a young kid ¨C similar in age to them. He had fur clothes, as nearly everyone, but his were covering more of his body and looked more expensive. ¡°Hey. This is Jack I was talking about earlier.¡± ¡°Hello,¡± Jack said. ¡°I¡¯m Rowan Hartman. Hello. I heard you want to learn how to read.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Can you teach me?¡± ¡°Sure, but I want something in return.¡± ¡°Some favor?¡± ¡°You could call it that. You see, I failed the test. My family probably thinks me as a disgrace,¡± he was calm about it. ¡°I want you to help me with leveling.¡° ¡°How?¡± ¡°For now, you can¡¯t. When you start hunting, I want you to bring me some monsters similar in level to me. I will kill it and get its essence. Alternatively, I want you to take me for a day into the exterior for a hunt once a month.¡± ¡°Indefinitely? Isn¡¯t it a bit too much?¡± Lillie asked. ¡°You will be hard pressed to find someone who wants a different payment along soldiers. Don¡¯t even bother to ask monster hunters. I don¡¯t think anyone from them will agree, unless you offer much more. I also don¡¯t want it indefinitely. Only until I get to 3rd tier.¡± ¡°You can go outside?¡± Jack asked. ¡°Everyone can. However, without a good team it¡¯s just a suicide. Unless you have some special methods or you are at least 3rd tier yourself.¡± ¡°What do you think?¡± He asked Lillie. ¡°I asked around and there aren¡¯t many people on the walls capable of reading in the first place. There are a few that may be willing, but they have similar demands.¡± ¡°Many of them have already lost their ambitions. They will be more greedy and they will want you to solve all their problems, like protecting them when the frontier is attacked. I have just joined. It will be easier to work with me.¡± Rowan said. ¡°¡­Ok. Deal.¡± ¡°Great.¡± ¡°Damn!¡± One of the soldiers nearby chuckled. ¡°I wish I knew how to read and got such a deal.¡± ¡°May I know, why do you want such a deal in the first place?¡± Jack asked Rowan. ¡°It¡¯s simple,¡± said the previous soldier. ¡°You also need to fight here. It¡¯s better to be strong. And we can¡¯t kill monsters on our own leisure to level up.¡± 7.5. POV: Stanley Stanley parried an attack and counterattacked. Jack was getting really good. Obviously, comparing Jack to him. Stanley knew that while his skills might have been be adequate to his age and level, he still had a long way to go. He was in the military for a month now. He had to admit, military instructors were doing a better job than his father. He ended the spar with Jack and went to the house. Aleena was meditating. She sat on his own bed, and trained similarly to her. Stanley wasn¡¯t very happy, however. ¡®I don¡¯t like the current situation.¡¯ His own training was progressing more or less as he expected. He already was putting as much effort as he deemed possible. His source of problems was his team. Stanley knew the statistics. His father told him about fighting as a monster hunter. That was the reason he couldn¡¯t stand commoners¡¯ attitude. It¡¯s not like he disliked them per se. ¡®It¡¯s not their fault that they are lacking information. Still¡­¡¯ Jack, Lillie and Patrick weren¡¯t bad in that regard, actually. They weren¡¯t training as hard as Aleena or he, but there wasn¡¯t a large difference. Anyone who knew the statistics could understand their chances. There were about six million people in the interior. Two million were in the military. Every year, roughly 120 thousand new recruits were conscripted. A fifth of them were chosen as monster hunters. That are 24 thousand every year, but there are only about 8 thousand barons. Moreover, not all of them were monster hunters, only majority ¨C probably around 6 thousand. ¡®Only one person in a hundred manages to reach 4th tier. Only one in a fifteen manages to reach 3rd tier.¡¯ ¡®Patrick and Lillie will probably die. Well, it¡¯s not like they have no chances, but¡­¡¯ Forth tier monster hunters were roughly half-half divided by origins, half of them being born in peasantry. Sure, Patrick and Lillie had a theoretical chance to get to 4th tier. ¡®It¡¯s also not like everyone dies. Many are just dismissed.¡¯ To level up, monster hunters needed to fight a similar level monster. Since level is a good measure of strength ¨C such fight were matter of life and death. ¡®Even with numerical superiority, there are deaths. Fighting only weaker enemies make you stagnate. You will only get to 3rd tier when you are middle aged.¡® The military didn¡¯t need such hunters, who were never taking risks. They were just transferred to man the walls. ¡®Statistically, half of 2nd tier hunters die, while other half transfers to the walls. Our group won¡¯t go for easy kills. Me and Aleena know all of this. Jack probably also will want to go for hard targets. Patrick and Lillie will have no choice, but to fight. Unless Lillie become a problem¡­¡¯If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Stanley could already spot a few problems with his team. ¡®First ¨C Aleena. She has already given up on this team. She will most likely always stay in a safe position and do only what is necessary, while waiting until we all die out. She will be transferred to another team, after that. She is one of the geniuses.¡® Stanley didn¡¯t want to be a leader, or rather, he wasn¡¯t trying to be a leader. He didn¡¯t mind being one, but he was concentrated on keeping his team together. ¡®Jack could be a leader, but Aleena isn¡¯t going to accept it.¡¯ Stanley couldn¡¯t let Aleena be the leader. That could placate her, as she might have thought think it¡¯s better to have her own team under control, than a stronger one in which she will need to listen to someone. Unfortunately, she might have also thought the other way. If that happens, she would make decisions to doom them. Such outcome wasn¡¯t good for Stanley, even if he manage to survive. ¡®In a new team I will be outsider at first. As long as I¡¯m friends with Jack, he will be willing to risk his life for me, when I¡¯m in danger. It¡¯s the same with Patrick and Lillie. Jack needs to survive. This way, after Patrick and Lillie¡¯s death, the three of us will be the core and some other two guys will be transferred to us instead. It would be best if Lillie and Patrick were actually competed and survived as well, but this is just a pipe dream. It¡¯s nearly impossible for everyone to survive.¡¯ Some could call Stanley cruel and manipulating, but he didn¡¯t think so. Charisma was just one of the skills. He had high charisma, and he was using it. Why wouldn¡¯t he? It wasn¡¯t like he was going to ditch Jack at the first occasion. He wanted friendship with Jack, so Jack would risk his life for him, but Stanley was also prepared to risk his life for Jack. He wasn¡¯t going to sacrifice himself, and there were risks too great and gambles he wasn¡¯t going to take, obviously, but he would be a friend to Jack. Not the best friend, maybe not even a friend at all. He was going to fight in a team, though, and risk his life for teammates. Stanley knew that a team was part of someone¡¯s strength. Wolves hunted together, the same as other monsters. The same as humans. Charisma skills were part of his strength. He had battle tactic skill, and even Leader II profession. The profession was only increasing his stats, so he was prepared to replace it when anything better show around, but he wasn¡¯t going to give up on using his skills. ¡®Second ¨C Lillie¡¯ It was naturally connected to Jack. He had a potential. ¡®You don¡¯t get a class with the economy of movement skill, and without charisma out of luck.¡® Lack of charisma means a class was suited to work without other humans. A scout class didn¡¯t have charisma as a class skill, because scouts should operate on their own. Jack class was combat oriented, however. Combat class without the charisma skill meant only one thing. Stanley knew, that Jack had something that neither he nor Aleena had ¨C a real life and death fight experience. The problem was that Lillie was trying to seduce and use him. He could easily see it. Lillie was offering her time, some accidental skin ship, small favors, like finding reading teacher. She was already reaping benefits. Jack was training with her, wasting his time. In the fight, he would be putting effort to make her safe, the closer they get, the more effort. ¡®Lucky, Jack seems to be incapable to interpret those small signals, as he doesn¡¯t have the charisma class skill, while Lillie seems to doesn¡¯t know his lack of charisma makes him oblivious to her advances. She is afraid of a bigger move, thinking that Jack doesn¡¯t like her and it will blow up their relationship.¡¯ ¡®The worst aspect of it, is that I can¡¯t do anything directly. If I told him that he is being used, he would not believe. Our friendship would deteriorate and that would push him to Lillie. She will use the occasion and completely wrap him around her finger.¡¯ ¡®Maybe I¡¯m just a pessimist¡­¡¯ 8. The first months in the military ¡°You don¡¯t like visitors?¡± Jack asked. ¡°It¡¯s just unusual. Most visitors are children of nobles. They come to the library from time to time to check something. Besides, the library is used only by the tower people. ¡° The middle aged man was leading Jack through the tower toward the library. Jack had learned how to read in the past month. He was confident about his skill. Writing language used by humans was phonetic, and Jack was able to quickly master reading. He wasn¡¯t quite so confident in writing, as there were some exceptions and funny rules. After Jack had requested use of the library, one of the assistant went to fetch this 3rd tier mage. He was allowed to go in, as long as he could prove he can read. The middle aged man led Jack to a small room. There was a wall of books ¨C around a few hundred. There were also a few chairs and a table in the room. Jack had never seen a book before, he only heard about them. ¡°Read the title aloud.¡± A book cover was presented before Jack. He was nervous that he would make a mistake. ¡°Fire magic: Basic spells¡± ¡°Correct. You can read books in the library from now on. Just don¡¯t damage anything or you will be banned.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± The middle aged man nodded and left. There were no mishaps. Jack priority was to learn spell vectors. He started reading book titles one by one. There were mostly books containing various spells. Curiously, most of runes were broken, so they wouldn¡¯t work. There were books more general on magic, books about fighting, books about monsters and books about politics. Finally, Jack found what he looked for. ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­¡¯ Jack spend an hour reading that book. He even got a notification, just from reading. Ding¡­ You have now skill ¨C Spell Slinging lv.1 While he hadn¡¯t learned anything practical yet, he could already understood theory. Obviously, he still didn¡¯t understand the meaning of various shapes and connections, but he could understand what vectors were about. ¡®It¡¯s practically casting a second spell to direct an effect of the first one, or rather, casting a spell to direct mana. For example, spell vectors Rick was using for the reinforce material spell makes the spell work only in space inside someone¡¯s clenched fist. I should be able, with a few little modifications, to adapt that for the minor recovery spell. That should resolve temporary my problems with the spell. ¡¯ Spell vectors were much smaller and easier spells. However, while normal spells were stationary, a mage needs to adjust direction or placement of spell vectors around a main spell as battle progress. Spell vectors Rick used were stationary in their nature, because their root point was the right hand of the user. No matter where Rick moved his hand ¨C the spell effect moved with his hand. ¡®I will need to test standard way of spell slinging ¨C using a central spell as a root point. Since I cast spells in my mind, should the root point be my head? I should experiment with the minor recovery spell, unless I find something here¡­¡¯ Jack ambitions were greater than the minor recovery spell. He had learned all six minor stat boosting spells already. With a proper spell slinging, he should be able to learn offensive magic. ¡®I should get the Words of power skill.¡¯ Jack wanted to learn proper magical knowledge. ¡®It¡¯s still nearly five months until the end of training. I have time to learn strong spell. Understanding magic should be my priority now, since I have already half resolved my problem with the minor recovery spell.¡¯ Jack spend an additional hour experimenting with the spell slinging skill. He managed to change original spell vectors he got from Rick. Jack made a cut on his arm and used the minor recovery spell. The wound slowly closed and the spell wasn¡¯t cast on his whole body. ¡°Success!¡¯ Ding¡­ Your Spell Slinging skill has reached lv. 5 Ding¡­ You have unlocked Battle mage I profession. He checked that over.
Battle Mage I
Requirements Spell Slinging skill lv.5 Parallel Thinking skill lv.5
Boost +10% to intelligence +1% per level to intelligence
¡®Nice! I need to level up both skills.¡¯ Jack checked his status window.
Name: Jack
Age: 14
Class: Survivor Level:8 72% to next lv
Stats: Base Essence reinforced
Strength 7.84 14.42 (20% + (6+2)%/level)
Endurance 8.16 13.54 (10% + (6+1)%/level)
Intelligence 13.19 21.89 (10% + (6+1)%/level)
Mental Endurance 13.59 22.55 (10% + (6+1)%/level)
Agility 13.48 30.74 (40% + (7+4)%/level)
Perception 10.15 15.68 (10% + (6+1)%/level)
Affinities
Life 2.23%
Class skills
Economy of movementUnauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Scavenging 29 1 +10% to agility
Professions:: 5/5
Conman I Masochist I Spearman VI Swordsman I Battle mage I
Skills:
Analyze Farming Cooking Sword Handling Spear Handling Rune Shaping Charisma Crafting Archery Pain Tolerance Parallel Thinking Mental Intrusion Resistance Footwork Battle Precognition Spell Slinging 8 19 9 8 32 28 26 3 15 16 16 7 35 2 5 +10% to agility +10% to intelligence +5% to intelligence and perception + 10% to strength
Vitality 468/468
Stamina 108/130
Clarity 106/220
Jack¡¯s highest stat was currently his agility. It was mostly the result of his unlocked professions, especially, the spearman one.
Spearman VI
Requirements Spear Handling skill lv.30 Footwork skill lv.30 Parallel Thinking skill lv.5
Boost +30% to agility +20% to strength +10% to endurance +3% per level to agility +2% per level to strength +1% per level to endurance
He managed to push few of his skill above the level 25, giving him additional edge to various activities. Jack thought the +10% boost from the economy of movement skill is the most broken, as it increased his agility when moving. There weren¡¯t many activities that required agility and you didn¡¯t need to move at all. Jack decided to stop his studies for now. His clarity was dropping and he was getting mentally exhausted. Jack returned books on their place and left the library. He planned to train his muscles now, so he went to the training plaza. He was greeted by Lillie. She joined her arm with his. ¡°So, how was the library? Were you successful?¡± ¡°Yep. I learned the spell slinging skill. I¡¯m also permitted to use the library from now on. I¡¯m going in as soon as my clarity recovers a bit.¡± ¡°You must teach me a bit! I feel like I will be able to cast the minor recovery spell tomorrow. I¡¯m getting better by the day.¡± ¡°Why won¡¯t you go into the library by yourself? I know you was looking when Rowan was teaching me.¡± ¡°Mhmm¡­ What if they decide that my reading skill is insufficient? ¡° ¡°I doubt it. Well, I can be wrong, but my guess is that they will allow anyone who can benefit from reading.¡° ¡°I suppose I will try it later. What now?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to train muscles.¡± ¡°Okay. I will train nearby.¡± Jack knew Lillie was making advancements on him. Sure, it took him a week, but he wasn¡¯t an idiot. He had seen his brothers flirting with girlfriends. Dead brothers, now. Jack sighed. No point in looking back. He needed to go forward. ¡®I¡¯m not sure if I should continue this¡¯ Jack didn¡¯t love Lillie. He liked her, but that was it. He wanted to concentrate on his training. He wasn¡¯t sure how he should proceed with a relationship in this circumstances. ¡®Now ¨C sure, but when we cross the frontier, or when fighting a dangerous monster¡­ ¡® He was certain he wouldn¡¯t be able to not care about her in a fight if he continue this. Muscle training was simple. Now, when Jack was way stronger than before, simple push-ups weren¡¯t effective. For every exercise, Jack used additional weight, mostly in a form of stones. After that, he trained his fighting skills with Stanley. Jack could feel that Stanley was fighting for serious. Stanley was still stronger than him, but there wasn¡¯t much difference. Jack gains these days in skills were meager. It was to be expected. Skills numbers rise the fastest when someone learns the basics. Now, Jack was struggling to improve further. The next day in his free training time Jack went to the library. This time, he concentrated on learning the Words of Power skill. He managed to find a few books about the subject. ¡®So, my minor recovery spell is constructed from two components.¡¯ Ding¡­ You have now skill Words of Power ¨C lv.1 ¡®The first one is drawing in essence surrounding me. The second one¡­¡¯ He looked for a similar symbol across books. ¡®That¡¯s it! It¡¯s changing essence into life mana¡­ I need to study that more. And the first component, should I level up faster if I keep that spell up?¡¯ Jack created only the first component in his mind. There wasn¡¯t a difference. ¡®Ok. I will keep this up and we will see.¡¯ Jack continued to study spells. ¡®The minor strength spell¡­ it¡¯s a bit the same. This component is refining essence in the life mana like before, but it is in a bigger one, being part of it.¡¯ Jack compared his findings with books. ¡®Genius! A person who created this spell was brilliant! The bigger part is making life mana increase strength. Unfortunately, there isn¡¯t anything about how it was done, but¡­ ¡® While the refining part was partially inside the bigger rune, the two worked separately. Somebody used the same lines to create two spells. If not for that, everyone would need to create both parts separately, using more intelligence. Not only that, you can¡¯t refine all of the drawn essence into life mana or spells wouldn¡¯t work. Runes need essence to work, without it ¨C there¡¯s no magic. This spell left some of essence for the part that was making life mana increase strength. After an hour Jack started to feel a headache. He checked his clarity, but it was relatively high. ¡®Is that from the rune I keep in my mind?¡¯ Jack checked essence needed for his next level, but it was the same as before. A couple of minutes after giving up on keeping the rune in his mind pain disappeared. ¡®So it was that rune. Seems it won¡¯t bring me more essence to level up.¡¯ Jack spend next days learning everything he could. He managed to unlock a Wizard profession thanks to his increasing skills.
Wizard I
Requirements Rune Shaping skill lv.5 Words of Power skill lv.5
Boost +10% to intelligence +1% per level to intelligence
He chose it over Swordsman I profession, as his agility was quite high. He managed to find the fear spell, but it was very complicated and classified as tier three spell. Jack knew he would need to have intelligence at least over 100 to cast it, probably more. Classification was to roughly place difficulty and complication of spells. Tier three meant, that the spell was suitable to for 3rd tiers individuals, but mages could cast it faster, and warriors less focused on intelligence could only cast such spell in 4th tier. Spells with a need of more than 55 intelligence (25 intelligence boosted with 5% per level boost on the 25 level) were classified as spells for 3rd tiers. The rest of classification was similar: 0 - 12,5 ¨C 1st tier 12,5 ¨C 55 ¨C 2nd tier 55 ¨C 200 ¨C 3rd tier (Counted 6% boost per level.) 200 ¨C 900 ¨C 4th tier (Counted 8% boost per level.) Jack went to local crafter. Headquarters had crafters, unlike minor garrisons. Most of weapons and armors were produced near the Kenar mountains. Here, crafters were mostly preoccupied with repairs and inscribing spells. Jack knew that there were quite a few spells around headquarters. Mostly, there were spells reinforcing walls, and giving enhanced perception for soldiers on lookout towers. There were also spells helping with training in the training plaza. Jack expected, that there were even more spells. ¡°Excuse me,¡± Jack said to one of people in the crafting area. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I have a request.¡± ¡°What it is? Do you have any equipment for repair?¡± ¡°No. I want someone to inscribe a spell.¡± ¡°Sorry. That¡¯s impossible.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Jack was negatively surprised. This was his opportunity to get the working fear spell, but he was denied. ¡°We can¡¯t just create spells here and there. You need permission from the higher ups. Even if you get it, you will need something to pay for the inscription. ¡°What do I need?¡± ¡°Workable monster parts. Here, we don¡¯t use money much, but if you have some money you can also use it.¡± Jack didn¡¯t have money. He went to Stanley for advice. Stanley told Jack to just inscribe it himself in their house. From now on, Jack worked on the spell in the main room. Jack didn¡¯t have a lot of space, he needed to make the spell small. Jack spend next weeks training, learning from the library and inscribing the spell. He was treading inscribing as agility training. Jack was surprised, when he was rewarded with an increase in his rune shaping skill. ¡®After thinking about it, there is some sense in it. If I get to one hundred in a skill, it means I have reached absolute mastery. It would be stupid if rune shaping master couldn¡¯t inscribe a spell.¡¯ One day he was inscribing the spell in the main room. Aleena was meditating on her bed, training as usual. Jack managed to gain one level in meditation skill, but he wasn¡¯t able to use it. He thought that he would need a better book or a teacher. Lillie walked into the room. ¡°We need to talk,¡± she said. ¡°Ok. What do you need?¡± ¡°Do you like me?¡± Lillie asked. Jack was unprepared for this course of action, which resulted in his silence. ¡°You see, I like you,¡± Lillie continued. ¡°Should we talk about it in front of Aleena?¡± Jack tried to evade. ¡°She can hear us¡± ¡°She is in her own world now.¡± ¡°She could have made a break. Right, Aleena?¡± There was silence. ¡°Please, it¡¯s important to me,¡± Lille said. Jack sighed. ¡°Ok. I like you.¡± Lillie walked up and hugged him. ¡°Watch out!¡± Jack half-shouted. ¡°You will damage the spell.¡± ¡°Idiot.¡± Jack walked off the spell space and broke their hug. ¡°Let¡¯s kiss,¡± Lille said tilting into Jack¡¯s direction. ¡°Wait!¡± ¡°What¡¯s now?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think this is a good idea.¡± ¡°What do you mean now? You said yourself that you like me.¡± ¡°I do, but¡­ We are monster hunters now. I¡¯m spending most of my day training. I won¡¯t have time for you. It won¡¯t be fair.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an excuse. We both have some time each day when our clarity and stamina are spent. Tell me your reason. ¡° ¡°It¡¯s¡­ personal, I think.¡± ¡°Come on, it¡¯s also about my feelings. At least, I deserve a proper reason. ¡° Jack ones again sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t want to grow too attached to you guys.¡± ¡°Do you think we will all die?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know! You heard about that locust swarm, right?¡± Lillie nodded, and Jack continued. ¡°It killed four of my siblings. Then there were wolves. My family survived them, but my neighbors died. Two fights, and each one brought deaths. I don¡¯t know how it is here, but I heard that many hunters die. I will be scared that something happens to you.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t we already friends? Would you grief if I died now?¡± ¡°I would, but¡­¡± ¡°Then there¡¯s no point in restraining your feelings,¡± Lillie interrupted. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± He knew, but he was hesitant. ¡°I know that I can die in the next few months. Nobody is safe, even Aleena, or you. Training is good. You know, I think we shouldn¡¯t train that much with each other from now on. It will be fine, if you could just spend a few minutes every few days to point my mistakes. Patrick has been better than me in fighting with spear already, so I can raise my skills with him.¡± Jack could feel a pang of jealousy, even though he tried to reject Lillie. She continued. ¡°I think I should treasure my time. I mean, if I¡¯m going to die, it would be stupid to spend all my time on training. I want to get as much as I can from my life. You also shouldn¡¯t only train, you know? You will have regrets when some monster rip you to shreds.¡± She said with half-smile. Her eyes were sad, though. ¡°I¡¯m not going to die.¡± ¡°Well, I have the same plans as you in that,¡± she said. Lillie leaned on him. This time Jack didn¡¯t try to escape. Their lips joined together in the kiss. Jack spend the next weeks slowly training. His relationship with Lillie was progressing similarly. They were kissing, cuddling and training. Jack didn¡¯t train spear fighting with her as much as before., However, he felt that he was neglecting Lillie. He often gave her advices about magic. Lillie learned to cast the minor recovery spell and was close to the minor strength spell. The pair weren¡¯t able to go all the way. There wasn¡¯t much privacy in the headquarters. Jack also felt very awkward about doing it in front of meditating Aleena, even though Lillie didn¡¯t mind much. Jack didn¡¯t learn any more spells temporary, as he was preoccupied with learning theory. His intelligence was raising and he knew that he already should be able to cast quite a few spells. He was able to use the minor strength spell in spars with Stanley, who, unfortunately for Jack, was much better than him at fighting while keeping the spell running. Peaceful training was interrupted during the third month. The team heard the horn in the middle of day. 9. Rabbits Jack and the team went to the plaza. There had been a lot of hunters already there. Jack looked at the walls, and could see the double amount of soldiers, which was actually reassuring. The third shift had not been woken up, meaning, there was not any serious danger to the frontier. Lieutenant Elizabeth Bonner was standing on the podium with some of her adjutants. ¡°Attention! An average size tide of monsters is coming in our direction. According to scouts¡¯ reports, large amount of rabbits will be here in an hour. Soldiers will be the main defense force, but as reports suggest that the enemies are low leveled, I have decided, that hunters in training will participate in the battle. It will be a good training to you all. Try not to die.¡± The lieutenant left after that. ¡°That could be interesting,¡± Stanley said. ¡°An opportunity to level a bit in relative safe environment.¡± Jack was a bit excited and afraid. It will be his first real fight after joining the military. ¡°Are you sure we will be alright?¡± Lillie asked hesitantly. ¡°I can¡¯t be sure, but the danger is small,¡± Stanley replied. They went to the wall. Soldiers were standing directly behind the bony obstructions, while hunters were standing a few meters behind. Most of the hunters were sitting. The call was in the afternoon, while everyone was training. They wanted to recover both stamina and clarity before the fight. ¡°Should we prepare a bit? Consider some team tactic?¡± Jack asked his team and especially Stanley, who was the only one both willing and capable of being the leader. They had not decided officially anything, but everyone in the team considered him as such. ¡°I don¡¯t think there will be a need to. Let¡¯s just stay together. If there will be too many of them, then we join another team.¡± They sat on the ground for some time. Jack used this to once again look over his status.
Name: Jack
Age: 15
Class: Survivor Level:8 41% to next lv
Stats: Base Essence reinforced
Strength 11.26/25 23.42 (20% + (6+2)%/level)
Endurance 11.98/30 22.40 (10% + (6+1)%/level)
Intelligence 16.83/25 37.02 (40% + (6+4)%/level)
Mental Endurance 17.34/30 31.90 (20% + (6+2)%/level)
Agility 16.28/30 37.11 (40% + (7+4)%/level)
Perception 11.83/20 19.64 (10% + (6+1)%/level)
Affinities
Life Fire Earth Light 7.26% 0.23% 3.15% 0.78%
Class skills:
Economy of movement Scavenging 36 3 +10% to agility
Professions: 5/5
Conman I Masochist I Spearman VII Wizard II Battle mage III
Skills:
Analyze Farming Cooking Sword handling Spear handling Rune Shaping Charisma Crafting Archery Pain Tolerance Battle precognition Parallel thinking Mental intrusion resistance Footwork Spell slinging Words of Power Meditation 9 19 10 8 35 31 29 3 17 17 4 18 7 39 18 12 1 +10% to agility +10% to intelligence +5% to intelligence and perception + 10% to strength
Vitality 486/490
Stamina 168/180
Clarity 259/310
His greatest gains in the last three months was the increase in his stats. He trained every day either his body or mind, never stopping. He still had a long way to go before he would be close to his caps, but he was already strong. Jack spent most of his free time in the library, studying spells and spell casting. His theoretical knowledge increased by much, but he had not learned many spells. He only learned the rest of the basic spells from the display, and the reinforce material spell. The warming spell was the reason for some of his fire affinity. The spell was quite harmful for his body with his low fire affinity, so it was more of a spell to warm his clothes or some food, maybe start a fire.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. He wanted to master the reinforce material spell to appease Rick¡¯s memory, but the spell was also useful. Jack wanted to reinforce his spear to make sure it wouldn¡¯t snap, but spell vectors involved to maintain the spell for a spear rapidly changing positions in a battle were too much for him. He saw a future use to reinforce his armor, but he didn¡¯t have an armor yet. Jack had a bit crazy idea to just reinforce his own skin. It was theoretically possible, but he would need a high earth affinity to not hurt himself. He also had learned two very generic and common spells used primarily as components in greater spells. The first one was kinetic spell. It used a bit of elemental mana and much more of essence to move something physical. It was easy to move solid objects, but liquids and gasses were a nightmare which needed a ton of spell vectors. The spell itself needed 20 of intelligence of its own, so it was more of a future investment, than an immediate boost to Jack¡¯s arsenal. Jack hoped to learn the life variant of the spell, to be able to effectively heal himself. He had already studied anatomy books in the library. The second spell was an investigate spell, or rather a part creating an illusion in his eye. For example, an earth investigating spell could detect earth, how the soil is placed and where, and even differentiate between minerals. This information must be transmitted somehow. High affinity mages can feel mana, like a 6th sense, but casters with a low affinity, couldn¡¯t. Here comes the spell Jack learned. It creates an illusion just outside of an user¡¯s eye, displaying the result of the investigation, or generally layout of mana, as a feedback from a spell. The spell needed 15 intelligence on its own. It could also be done with a life spell, but the component was more difficult. Better light spells could even directly place an information in the mind, but user needed a high light affinity to let light mana into his brain. Jack knew how strong were Stanley, Lillie and Patrick. Stanley was stronger both physically and had a better control over spells in battle. Jack spent much time on the theory. He regretted that a bit in the face of the incoming monster tide. Lillie and Patrick were a bit weaker than him physically, but not much. Patrick could not do much magic, especially in battle, but Lillie was as good with the minor strength spell as he. She wasn¡¯t distracted by learning the theory. After a few dozen of minutes, they could see their enemy. A mass of white and gray emerged from the autumn forest and was approaching the walls. Everyone jumped up and prepared, at least mentally, for combat. Soldiers formed a spear wall. As rabbits were closer to the walls, Jack could spot more of their features. They weren¡¯t big, most were 20 centimeters tall. Jack tried to remember what he had been taught at the lectures. Rabbits were herbivorous. Their main weapon were teeth. Their claws were also sharp, but hardly lethal. Rabbits had been also known for very rapid reproduction. Jack concluded the fight should be pretty safe. It should be a free essence meal, unless there were some higher tier rabbits, or many would manage to cross the wall and swarm him. Some people were shooting from crossbows into the tide. They were mostly hunters of noble origins. Jack was envious of free essence they were getting that way. It was a bit strange that soldiers were not doing the same, as they had crossbows. When the monsters encountered the walls, they tried to jump up. It was of limited success, as many were falling back down. The next obstacle for them were bone fortifications. The ones which managed to get to the top were pierced by the sharp bones. Soldiers had not done anything yet. Jack felt a bit sorry for the rabbits. They were most likely escaping from a predator, they were not trying to attack humanity. Forced to either climb a wall or face a predator, it was only natural to try luck here. The humanity couldn¡¯t allow them a free pass, though. Jack also knew many wouldn¡¯t give up such a chance to level up. In the end, even with some ability to fight, rabbits were a prey. Rabbits¡¯ bodies were piling up on the bone obstructions, hiding blades in bodies of rabbits. Soldiers started to stab alive rabbits with spears. Jack could also imagine bodies piling up below the wall, shortening the wall for a jump. Jack cast the minor strength spell in his mind. Soon, soldiers had it hard to keep rabbits at bay. Rabbits¡¯ bodies piled up before the spear wall, and the live ones used that mound to jump over the soldiers. Now, hunters entered the action. Jack and the rest of team rushed at rabbits. There were only a few rabbits on this side of the soldiers¡¯ spear wall. Jack pushed his spear at a rabbit, but it jumped to the side. There, Stanley stabbed it. Jack spotted a rabbit jumping over the soldiers. He rushed to his landing spot, and stabbed it in the air. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 6 Rabbit. More rabbits were jumping on this side. Jack dashed to another rabbit. It tried to escape, jumping further from the wall. Jack hit the rabbit with his spear, pinning it to the ground. He then stepped on the rabbit and stabbed it to death. Ding¡­ You have killed lv.5 Rabbit Jack looked around to seek a new target. There was a chaotic battle. Rabbits barely resisted the slaughter. Some hunters used magic to attack. He looked at Aleena. She controlled a ball of fire in the air, tossing it at a rabbit at a time, frying them to death. She was standing in a one place, not moving and not attacking physically, only a tendril of fire mana connected her to the spell, which she controlled like a whip. Jack knew, that he wouldn¡¯t be able to control such spell with his current intelligence. He rushed at another rabbit. It dodged to the side, and jumped on Jack¡¯s face attacking with its teeth. Jack caught the rabbit with the left hand and stabbed it with the spear. The rabbit scratched his arm with its claws, but left only superficial wounds. Jack could easily heal them with few seconds of the recovery spell, but he would need to drop his minor strength spell. He was barely keeping that spell in the fight without additional distractions. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 5 Rabbit Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 9. Jack felt a sharp pain on his right shoulder. Some rabbit jumped on him from behind, and sunk its teeth in Jack¡¯s flesh. He grabbed the rabbit and threw it on the ground, stabbing it immediately. He ignored notification. He had learned some time age from the library, that he could postpone reading notifications, with was very handy in the battle. There were a lot more rabbits on this side, and their quantity was increasing still. He decided to join his team. He ran toward Lillie, killing one rabbit on the way, and deflecting to the sides a few more. ¡°We should team up. There is too many of them,¡± Jack said. She nodded and stabbed a rabbit close to her. Soon, Stanley and Patrick joined. They created a circle, standing with their backs to each other and defended. Rabbits were not suicidal, so they didn¡¯t swarm the group. Jack looked around. Most people created small groups. A few of most talented were fighting on their own. Aleena was standing alone, her fireball was flying around her, deterring the monsters. Stanley left the circle for a moment to attack a close to him rabbit. Meanwhile, some two rabbits attacked Jack frontally. He swiped his spear on a left one, hitting him. Patrick helped, and attacked the second one. Jack finished off his rabbit, but he felt a sharp pain on his head. ¡°Damn.¡± Some rabbit jumped on his head! He panicked a bit and his strength spell crumbled. Lillie grabbed the rabbit from his head and threw on the ground. She stepped on it, crushing its spine with a cracking sound. ¡°Thanks,¡± he said, and started to create the recovery spell in his head. ¡°Sorry,¡± Stanley said, ¡°I shouldn¡¯t leave the circle.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s fine. We need to attack more, even if we are going to be bitten,¡± Jack said. ¡°We need more essence. As long as we will be careful, we should be fine.¡± The most talented never stopped killing. Jack didn¡¯t want to be worst. ¡°Ok, but let¡¯s not go too far apart,¡± Stanley said. ¡°If someone in trouble, we need to help each other.¡± They all nodded. There were dozens of rabbits on this side. Jack started to once again cast the minor strength spell now, as his injuries were healed. The spell increased his total strength by 10%. It was noticeable in a fight, giving him more edge. Jack dashed for more kills. He stabbed a rabbit, another one bit his arm. Jack threw him on the ground and crushed under his feet. Two others bit onto his legs. He shrugged them off. Patrick had a problem, he was on his knees, six rabbits were biting him. Jack ran to him and pierced one of the rabbits, and stomped on another one. Stanley hit a rabbit with the blunt side of his spear, breaking the rabbit¡¯s spine and sending it flying. Patrick stood up and killed another one. He had many minor wounds, nothing serious, but he looked bloody. Jack attacked again. He looked towards Lillie. She was fine, but rabbit¡¯s blood was dripping from her, mixing with some of her own. They were swarming her. He moved to her. Rabbits were swarming him too. He decided to just protect vital organs, and let them bite the rest. If he would let his throat get damaged he may die. It would be hard to regenerate that kind of damage. He got to Lillie and helped her out, killing three rabbits, and getting bit multiple time. They were retreating from the walls, now fighting on the slope. It was hard, as rabbits were coming downhill on them. Soldiers were forced to fight back to the wall. Bright fire burned a line before the soldiers. Some 3rd tier intervened. ¡°Soldiers, retreat two meters back and reform spear wall!¡± He heard the command. Soldiers done as ordered. Rabbits couldn¡¯t jump over them anymore, as the distance increased, and were dying to the spear wall, forming another mound. The amount of rabbits on this side of the spear wall started to decline, as they were killed off. Jack and the rest of his team used the opportunity to run the recovery spell. Jack looked around. The ground was littered with corpses, and blood was flowing down the slope in a small streams. Many were wounded. Not everyone knew the recovery spell. Actually, his team was one of the best. There were stronger individuals, often fighting on their own, like Aleena, but team wise ¨C most of them only passively defended and now needed someone to heal them. Not long after, rabbits¡¯ corpses created another mound and situation was the same as before, with an exception ¨C they had less stamina and clarity remaining. Jack lost himself in the killing. Half an hour passed, until the tide ended, but Jack felt like it was much more. His team was all in blood and wounds. He was barely standing. Jack wanted nothing more than a night of sleep, to recover both physically and mentally. He let notifications come. There were a lot of killing notifications, but also a few different ones. Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 10 Ding¡­ Your Spear handling skill has reached lv. 36 Ding¡­ Your Footwork skill has reached lv. 40 Ding¡­ Your Footwork skill has reached lv. 41 Ding¡­ Your Parallel thinking skill has reached lv. 19 Ding¡­ Your Parallel thinking skill has reached lv. 20 Ding¡­ Your Pain tolerance skill has reached lv. 18 Ding¡­ Your Pain tolerance skill has reached lv. 19 Ding¡­ Your Pain tolerance skill has reached lv. 20 Ding¡­ Your Economy of movement skill has reached lv. 37 He was actually close to level 11. He knew, he should be able to reach it within a month just with training. Jack also wanted a bath. He was too tried to draw water from a well. Fortunately, award for the best killers was a bath. Jack thought that pretty convenient, as all best fighters were drenched in blood. All hunters who fought to the end looked at each other with some respect. They were mostly lone individuals, but there were also two other teams, beside Jack¡¯s. The rest were sitting, or lying on the ground, wounded. Jack could spot his brother. He was sitting with his team, and looked at Jack with some envy. Jack couldn¡¯t understand. Why all these guys didn¡¯t learn the recovery spell? He looked at Aleena. She was clean. Her fireball burned every rabbit around her. Jack was impressed. She was able to both defend and attack with this magic. It was a shame she didn¡¯t want to cooperate with them, but looking at the results, Jack was certain she killed more rabbits than him. ¡®Seems I am going to eat rabbit meat for the next week,¡¯ Jack thought, looking at the sea of corpses. Hunters were led to a stone building. Magical inscriptions were drawing water from a well, heating it up, and sending it from above. Jack cleaned himself. Blood water was running down into cracks in the floor. After that, Jack and his team went slowly to their hut. Jack went to sleep, and got up the next day¡¯s morning. 10. Daily live in the military Jack woke up to blowing horn, signalizing morning shift change. He still remembered yesterday fight. He gained two levels, but he thought that there was something much more important he got ¨C fighting experience. He could already point out a couple of his deficiencies. He sat up. Everyone was standing up. ¡°Hey, how are you after yesterday?¡± Stanley asked. ¡°Two levels,¡± Jack replied. ¡°Also two, but I was very close before,¡± Lillie said. ¡°I got only one. I was barely able to fight at the end,¡± Patrick said. ¡°I got only one. How about you, Aleena?¡± Stanley asked. ¡°I got only one.¡± She replied calmly. If it was true, that she was at level 12 three months ago, then it was way harder to level up with those rabbits for her. ¡®She really must have killed a lot,¡¯ Jack thought. The day went as usual. Jack could see corpses being proceeded. Large amount was sent to the interior. ¡®I hope mom and dad will get some.¡¯ Jack was missing his family a bit. Instructors were slowly changing the training. They started to teach the analyze skill, describing how to recognize monster¡¯s tier. There were even some live examples, but they also practiced a bit on monster hunters and soldiers. In the afternoon, Jack was eager to complete his fear spell rune. He nearly finished before the tide. The process was somehow complicated. First, Jack inscribed on the ground simpler spell, meant to harden and condensate soil into rock. After that, he polished the stone and started inscribing the fear spell, polishing down stone every time he made a mistake. Jack nearly finished his work, and with a few more hits, the spell was completed, or at least, Jack thought so. He completed the spell while staying outside of it. Jack managed to acquire a live rabbit¡¯s child from the tide. More specifically, he got it from the tower, when he requested it for the spell testing. It was a standard to test spells with some pitifully weak and without much meat monsters. He tossed the rabbit into the rune. It shivered and curled up. Jack walked closer, and when the rabbit saw him, it jumped out of the rune. Jack cached the rabbit and checked him over. He didn¡¯t know any magic useful for that, but the rabbit was alive and well. It also seemed, that the spell was working as intended. Jack slowly walked into the rune space. He felt the fear. It was similar to what he had experienced during the test for the monster hunter job. He slowly sat down, he was trying to not damage the runes. He spent a lot of time to make this, and he wasn¡¯t going to destroy the lines with some stumbling over. He concentrated on the source of fear. It was hard to specify it. The intense feeling was not helping with rationale and analyzing thinking. He wanted to get out of the spell circle. However, he preserved. Ding¡­ Your Mental intrusion resistance skill has reached lv. 8 Ding¡­ Your Mental intrusion resistance skill has reached lv. 9 Ding¡­ Your Mental intrusion resistance skill has reached lv. 10 Ding¡­ You have unlocked Masochist II profession. Someone walking into the hut scared him. He looked up. ¡°Is it working?¡± Lillie asked. ¡°Umm, yes. It is,¡± he stammered out. The spell was making it hard for him to speak. ¡°Can I try it?¡± She asked. ¡°Sure. Just¡­ Make sure¡­ to not damage the runes¡± She walked closer and slowly entered, immediately shivering. There were creeps on her skin. ¡°How it is?¡± Jack asked. ¡°Hard.¡± She was still shivering. Her fists were clenched. ¡°Hey.¡± Jack said and stretched out a hand. She took it in her own and sat beside him. ¡°I think I know the place.¡± Jack said. ¡°What¡­ place?¡± She asked through clenched jaw. ¡°In which we will be able to do it, privately.¡± ¡°Ugrh. Don¡¯t speak about it now. I am getting fears about it because of the spell.¡± ¡°OK.¡± They sat in silence, until Stanley, and after a while, Patrick went into their hut. They released hands, as it was a bit awkward now. ¡°Can we join too?¡± Stanley said, pointing at the spell. ¡°Sure, but please pay maximum attention to not damage anything.¡± Jack felt the spell was increasing his fears about the wellbeing of the mentioned spell. Jack really spent a lot of time drawing it, and was very protective about his work. He managed to level up his skill in the meantime. Ding¡­ Your Mental intrusion resistance skill has reached lv. 11 Ding¡­ Your Mental intrusion resistance skill has reached lv. 12 Ding¡­ Your Mental intrusion resistance skill has reached lv. 13 Jack was starting to understand the workings of the spell. He even left and entered it repeatedly. ¡®First, it makes me feel afraid. I am starting to subconsciously seek the danger. The spell uses my thoughts and fears, and highlights them. The spell is using light energy. I suppose, it¡¯s bringing attention to fears.¡¯ He tested his theory by thinking about many things that could threaten him, including abstract things, like walls getting alive and eating him.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Aleena also came to the hut, and asked, if she could use the circle. Jack agreed. He wasn¡¯t friendly with her, but also saw no reason to worsen their relationship over nothing. ¡°Hey, do you think, it is possible that the walls will start moving and eat us?¡± Jack joked. He knew now how the spell was working, and wanted to play with unreasonable fears. The team started looking fearfully at the walls. ¡°Can you control the spell?¡± Stanley asked hesitantly. ¡°No. It¡¯s a way too complicated. I don¡¯t even understand the spell workings, except for some minor runes and components. So, do you think it is possible, that your scar on the left hand is a parasite, trying to eat you from the inside?¡± Stanley fearfully looked at his hand, checking it from all sides. Jack couldn¡¯t help not to smile. He reassured himself, that a joke was also practical, as happiness helped in fighting fear. ¡°Aleena, do you really should train as much as you do? What if you over train and damage your body? It could be unhealable.¡± Jack teased. Aleena¡¯s face looked at first like she wanted to scoff him, and she had already opened her lips to say something, but she closed them and started looking pale. And then, even more pale. ¡®This is fun,¡¯ Jack thought. ¡°How are you doing this?¡± Lillie asked. ¡°He must have some control over the spell,¡± Stanley said. ¡°This is not fair,¡± Lille pouted. Jack leaned towards her and whispered the secret into her ear. She made an enlighten face, and then thoughtful one. ¡°Stanley, when have you last checked on your penis? Maybe it disappeared.¡± Lille asked. Stanley got pale and started touching his crotch, checking it out. Patrick soon also got pale and started doing the same. ¡®Actually ¡­¡¯ Jack started to feel fear. He subconsciously checked his jewels. ¡°Damn. That was a bad joke,¡± Jack shouted, while Lille burst out laughing. After a while, however, she stopped smiling and also got pale, her eyes on Jack¡¯s crotch. ¡°Yeah,¡± she said, ¡°it really isn¡¯t funny.¡± Everyone got out of the rune, and everyone looked relived. Aleena seemed irritated a bit, but in the end, she just sighed and went to train. Jack managed to reach level 16 in his mental intrusion resistance skill. He unlocked Masochist III profession, giving him more mental endurance. His training speed should raise now.
Masochist III
Requirements Pain tolerance lv. 15 Mental intrusion resistance lv. 15
Boost +20% to mental endurance +10% to endurance +2% per level to mental endurance +1% per level to endurance
Jack would normally grind his intelligence and rune shaping skill in the afternoon, but he decided to analyze yesterday¡¯s battle. Fighting in a live and death battle is completely different than sparring. Jack managed to learn many things about his deficiencies from the fight. He judged this even more important, than the two earned levels. His parallel thinking skill level was too low. He had problems with keeping spells in the fight. He needed to think less about the fight to maintain the spell, that was unacceptable. It was fine with not an intelligent opponent like a rabbit, but against anything else¡­ He also needed more spells. Area of effect spells were rather out of the question. They required immense amount of essence. It was impossible for Jack to cast something like that on his own. Jack hoped for a strong spell, capable of either assaulting his enemies on distance, and something to fight swarms. Jack was thinking about some kind of detection spell. Common detection spells were sending a flare of sparse elemental energy, sending back information to the caster. A response from a spell still needed to be delivered in a way to be understood by the caster, but Jack already knew the spell. The major weak point of such spells were elemental compatibility. You could cast earth elemental detection spell in the air, but it will have significantly shortened distance, and precision of detection. Earth energy will also disperse in the air a way quicker, than in the soil. In the end, it was a matter of which affinities Jack wanted to acquire. Fire had the greatest offensive power, and it could be used to detect temperature, quite useful for finding monsters. Earth could be used to detect footprints and it had great defensive potential, but the offensive capabilities were lacking and it was nearly impossible to detect flying creatures. Water affinity was primarily useful in the water and to manipulate gravity for stronger hits. Detection in the air was limited by the air humidity. Air had great utility and detection abilities, but was rather weak both in defense and offense. Life energy was good for warriors, but otherwise not great. It was hard to attack with it, and detection practically worked only for caster¡¯s own body, which was good for healing and nothing else. Light and shadow energies were very good at detection, but the problem was, they were too good. The amount of information was causing sensory overload, forcing users to filtrate and potentially miss a monster. Electricity was just terrible at detection, but had strong offensive power. Jack wanted to keep the life affinity, as it was very versatile and there weren¡¯t any conflicts. He needed to choose two more not conflicting affinities. His considerations were interrupted by Bob¡¯s arrival. ¡°Hi, bro.¡± Jack¡¯s brother came. ¡°Can we talk?¡± Bob asked. ¡°Sure. What do you need?¡± ¡°Can you tell me how can you be so strong?¡± Bob asked with hopeful face. Jack frowned. ¡°You need to train more. The more you train, the stronger you are. It¡¯s that simple.¡± ¡°Come on! You were killing rabbits yesterday like nobles¡¯ children. Actually, you were even better. Shaan, a guy in my team killed less, and he is a baron¡¯s son!¡± Bob was excited. Jack sighed. ¡°I told you. I can describe it more to you, but I don¡¯t know if you will like it.¡± Jack said the last part with a smirk on his face. ¡°Say it.¡± Bob said it confidently. ¡°Ok. It¡¯s your fault, that this Shaan, or whatever his name is, had worse results than me.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Bon asked shocked. ¡°I have managed to fight to the end, because my team had my back, and I had their. I am not as strong as the strongest here.¡± Jack explained patiently. ¡°And that was my fault?¡± Bob was agitated and started to raise his voice. ¡°I was barely standing after ten minutes. Those rabbits bit me! I was all in the wounds!¡± ¡°That¡¯s the problem.¡± Jack said calmly. ¡°You are too weak to support your team. When are you going to learn the recovery spell?¡± ¡°I am training every day. Every day, I tried to cast the spell until my clarity depleted. It¡¯s not my fault I am not talented!¡± Jack sighed once again. ¡°Okay, so¡­ Did you train once again those days? Were you trying to cast during your physical training?¡± ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°You should always use all your stamina and clarity. Never let your bars get completely filled, unless before a real fight. You should also go to sleep only when completely spent.¡± Jack taught. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Bob had a helpless face. ¡°Actually, let¡¯s spar a bit. I want to see your skills.¡± Jack forced Bob to spar. Bob was barely able to fight against Jack with his skills. Bob was the most important person for Jack in the military, along Lillie and Stanley. Jack considered Patrick his friend, but the boy was secretive and wasn¡¯t talking much. ¡°Come on! I was teaching you this the previous week!¡± Jack was advising. He wanted Bob to be successful, as much as he wanted to success himself. ¡°Give me a break! You must hate me to beat me up like this!¡± ¡°This is my brotherly love! Our parents told me to take care of you. What would they think when you die because of your poor skills? Get up and fight! Do you think I have an unlimited amount of time? I also need to train myself!¡± The next day Jack asked Lillie to come with him to the library. She gained access some time ago. Jack was thinking for a long time where to find a private place. He knew that many soldiers were just having sex in their homes, not minding their neighbors, but he and Lillie were inexperienced and shy, they wanted a private place. In the end, the library was both private and rarely visited. Jack had passionate sex with Lillie in there. The thrill of possibility of getting caught and banned was only increasing their experience. Jack even tried to learn by heart all important spells in case of being banned, but they were lucky. Young lovers, after experiencing new sensations, made it a routine to use the library together, but not to read, though. 10.5. A few words of introduction to magic for beginners When talking about the magic, it¡¯s impossible to not talk about essence. Many ask, essence of what? The most common answer is the essence of the world, but nobody knows for sure. The most eluding thing is essence¡¯ source. Essence is being used for spells, but there isn¡¯t any decline in the essence¡¯s concentration over the years. Many experiments have been made, countless observation and measurements taken, but still, it¡¯s a mystery. ¡­ Essence is a fuel for runes and therefor ¨C magic. Without essence runes won¡¯t work. While there are many spells that can be run only on essence, most of them also use elemental mana. Mana can be produced from essence, but also occur naturally, albeit only in somehow extreme places. Mana is very unstable ¨C in a minute most of produced mana will disperse, changing in an element. For example, water mana will change into water, fire mana into heat and life mana will change into life. (Life forms created that way are so small that it¡¯s impossible to see them with eyes. Special magical methods are used to observe such entities.) Each mana type has a base effect, but also can be used to create spells with more sophisticated effect. Many spells use basic effect, as only an exposure to some mana is needed for an effect. It must be noted, that such effects (more in Table 1) are only temporary, due to presence of mana. When mana disperses, the effect stops as well. ¡­ Transferring mana through a body is harmful. Fortunately, there are affinities. Mana channeled through a body gives this body an affinity for that mana. Essentially, it could be said that a person with an affinity becomes partially a mana being. A human can have at most around 90% of total affinities, while one affinity cannot be stronger than around 40%. Some mana types can coexist with others, while some another one will create a conflict. All mages and warriors need to know relations between mana types, as it¡¯s necessary for fighting magic users. ¡­ Table 1. Death mana and space mana aren¡¯t included, as the respective schools of magic are not researched very well.
Mana Basic affect Affinity effect on body Conflicts
Life Life mana forces live to grow and regenerate. Excessive exposition can kill due to lack of nutrients for growing. High affinity speeds up natural regeneration of clarity, stamina and wounds.
Fire Fire mana can be viewed as condensed fire of very high temperature. Mana is slowly dispersing, heating everything in the near vicinity. Resistance to extreme temperatures. Water Light Shadow
Air Air mana lowers mass, with applies to both objects and living beings. Lowered mass. A being can survive with less air. Water Earth Electricity
Water Affected material is projecting a strong gravitational force pulling in their direction. Increases resistance to pressure (both gravitational and water pressure). High affinity lets breaths underwater. Fire Air Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Earth Hardens affected material. Hardens body and makes it more sturdy. Air Electricity
Shadow Conceals affected material or life being. It should be noted, that concealment is not only visual, and things under such concealment can evade even physical effects. Makes body less susceptible to shadow mana. It¡¯s more important, than other mana types, because this mana type is used mostly on the caster¡¯s body. Also makes a mage naturally inconspicuous, while light mana makes a mage more charismatic in the eyes of others. Light (Severe) Fire
Light Light have the opposite effect than shadow mana, and brings things to attention. It is used in illusion and mind magic. Shadow (Severe) Fire
Electricity Lightning mana charges material electrically. Such charging works as a marker for lightning attacks. Resistance to electricity. Air Earth
Conflicts between mana types are important in magical battles, especially for barriers. It is also important to choose well your own mana types. A mage using magic from two conflicting elements will never get its affinities above 5%, as using, for example fire mana, lowers the water affinity. ¡­ There are three types of barriers.
  1. Physical
  2. Elemental
  3. Magical
Physical barriers are protecting user from physical effects, like getting hit with a stick. They aren¡¯t protecting against mana attacks. Kinetic barrier would protect someone against hot air from the fire arrow spell, but wouldn¡¯t against fire mana in the spell. Most of such spells creates a barrier resembling a physical material, which can be broken with enough force. Magical barriers are opposite to physical ones. They protect against mana, but not against physical effects. They are fairly simple, as they are basically spell vectors - spells meant to move (in this case ¨C repel) elemental mana. The spells are widely used by 3rd tier and higher individuals. This type of spell can only protect against one elemental mana type, so if you want protection against two mana types, you need to keep two spells. A caster with more intelligence, and capable of creating more spell vectors can overpower defenses of weaker mage. Elemental barriers can protect against both physical and magical attacks, but they have a weak point in the form of non-conflicting mana types. For example, earth barrier will protect against water mana attack, but won¡¯t do anything against fire mana as the two mana types can intermingle. It should be noted, that there aren¡¯t any barriers capable of stopping some magic generated physical effects, for example, nothing can ward water based gravity pull. Someone can try to weaken the pull be reducing mass via air mana, but the effect will still remain, only weaker. ¡­ Spell vectors are simple spell used to move elemental mana. The same spell vectors can be used for every elemental mana type, and with some small modifications, even when moving pure essence. Spell vectors usage can be chaotic, the same kind as any battle. This is opposite to normal spells, which are stationary, or at least predictable and repeatable, if containing moving elements. Ability to effectively use spell vectors is measured by the spell slinging skill. Any channeled spell needs a direct mana route between its effect and a caster. For example, a spell used to levitate water, needs a small water mana link between the water and the caster. The strength of the kinetic spells depends on used essence and distance. Ability to influence mana gets weaker with the distance between caster and said mana. Generally, it is assumed a caster needs two times more spell vectors to move mana with the same force in a meter distance from their body, compared to mana within someone¡¯s body. Difficulty raises sharply with the distance. At 10 meters distance there is need for 100 more spell vectors than in one meter distance. In 100 meters distance, there is a need for 10000 more spell vectors. The kinetic spell are also weaker at the distance, the same as the ability to manipulate mana. Long distance casting also suffers from the lack of precision. It¡¯s hard to provide more essence for a spell. Spells are taking essence from the air, so the power of spells is dependent on fairly stable air concentration of essence. The sacrifice spell can be used to pull essence from a caster¡¯s body to provide more essence, and create powerful spell. Normally, spell¡¯s strength is increased with amount of spell vectors. Each spell vector is a small spell, which is using essence. The more spell vectors, the more essence a spell is using, increasing its strength. In the average concentration of essence in the air, each intelligence point of spell vectors can be used to levitate 5 kilograms of mass. ¡­ Most people believe lines creating a spell must be perfect. It¡¯s the wrong assumption. Experiment of archmage Vladimir (he lived around 600 hundred years ago) shows that¡¯s not true. Archmage Vladimir used small balls of soil (about 5-10 centimeters in diameter, they were not uniformed) to create a spell. He placed balls in a distance of 2 centimeters from each other (from one surface to another) in a spell¡¯s shape. The spell worked, even though there weren¡¯t any direct connection or lines. Archmage named this phenomenon as ¡°the shape from the view of a flaying bird¡±. As long, as you can see the shape of a rune from the distance, it¡¯s means the spell is working. General rule is simple. The lines must be of a certain quality, that is proportional to the spell¡¯s size. It¡¯s an anthropomorphic rule. A shapeshifting being would note, that no matter how big, or small it is, the required precision is always the same (As he would resize the spell to his own size). Humans have it easier to create big spells. Obviously, for the spells in the mind, the size does not matter. ¡­ Essence magic is often described as the most mystical. It¡¯s not true. The most simple form of essence magic is the spell used for drawing essence from the air. A more complicated spells allows for moving large amounts of essence. Such spells allows for a fast levels up, by pushing essence into someone¡¯s body. Unfortunately, such action depletes essence from the air. Moreover, to push someone to duke level, spell needs to draw essence from a large area, kilometers in size. Gigantic spells are banned by the imperial court, and it¡¯s only possible to create them with the imperial court permission. Some researchers claim that it should be possible to forcefully take someone¡¯s essence via essence magic, similar to using someone¡¯s own essence for the sacrifice. Most such attempts were ineffective at best. Generally, essence magic didn¡¯t find its uses in combat, excluding essence drawing spell. Most essence mages are researches. 11. Practical training Jack and his team were escorted by a team of 3rd tier monster hunters into the forest. It was meant to be a practical training. Over five months passed from the moment Jack joined the military. He learned all required theory, and now was the time to put it into a practice. They were moving quickly through the grassland, paying attention to the eating bisons, and looking out for wolf packs. The forest was looking ominously with its leafless trees. Winter was coming, and the snow would fall any moment. Jack and the rest wore thick fur clothes provided by the military. They were giving some protection, but it wasn¡¯t an armor. On their back, fur cloaks waved in the wind. The group reached the forest and entered it. There was some green grass and plants, but most of plants was brown and grey. Jack could hear some occasional bird chirps, something he only knew from the books and lectures. It wasn¡¯t beautiful for him. It was a reminder, that here, they weren¡¯t alone, and this bird could try to hunt him. He could feel, that there was food in some dead tree. Ding¡­ Your Savaging skill has reached lv. 7 He walked closer, and removed rotten bark with a spear, revealing small white worms squirming under. ¡®I suppose the skill is convenient, but I am not going to eat it unless I am starving.¡¯ ¡°We are going to let you hunt some small critters, like mice, rabbits or maybe weak foxes. You have a low enough level to benefit from it, and it will be a good combat lesson,¡± one of the older hunters said. ¡°Do any of you have a detection spell?¡± ¡°I have fire detection spell. I can detect heat in a 200 meters radius,¡± Aleena said. The hunter nodded. ¡°I have air detection spell. I can¡¯t do 200 meters, but I can detect everything in a 100 meters radius,¡± Lillie boasted. ¡°Good. There aren¡¯t much reptiles here, but who knows. It¡¯s always better to have more means,¡± the hunter approved. They seemed a little surprised that two people knew a bit advanced spells. Jack was not going to spare them. ¡°I can detect through earth for 200 meters, but I won¡¯t be able to detect anything small. Only heavy monsters making heavy steps. Alternatively, I could send earth mana through the air, but the range would be only 20-30 meters that way. I can also do some light detection, but it will be noticeable in the air.¡± The most common method of detection ¨C feeling out surrounding with a mana type ¨C had a major disadvantage. Mana was constantly dispersing, changing into an element. Fire mana travelling through the air would leave a wave of heat, barely noticeable with small amount of used mana, but noticeable. Earth mana would leave dust in the air, and light mana detection would create a wave of brightness. In the end, the light was a one of most flashiest elements. Water, and especially air elemental detection, were the most inconspicuous. Water was only increasing humidity a bit, while air mana only added more air. This changed locally pressure for a moment, but the change was minimal, someone would need a huge detection spell to notice. ¡°Oh. Good. But how do you manage the light detection? I thought the sensory overload was too much.¡± ¡°I have modified the spell a bit. It allows me to create 2-3 eyes in the distance. I need to obviously maintain the sparky mana connection for feedback, which leads from the eyes directly to me.¡± You could only detect soil with the earth detection method, but earth mana disperses in the air, creating dust, which works as a suitable tool. It could be detected where dust could get, and where were some solid objects. Light mana method detected light. Light was everywhere, coming from every direction in the forest. It was like seeing in every direction from every single point. Actually, Jack could not even see it, as he didn¡¯t have a spell capable of putting knowledge in his head, only a spell displaying an illusion in his eye. He had very limited space for displaying the effects of the detection spell. The Jack¡¯s light detection was showing him a panorama of a 2-3 point in the left eye, while earth detection spell, showed him overlay of earth in his range. He needed to interpret missing parts of soil on his own. ¡°If you want to find some small animals, I may be able to find their burrows,¡± Jack said and started casting the spell. After a few seconds, a wave of earth mana travelled through the earth. Jack needed to keep mana connection for the feedback, but when the information came, the link broke and the light spell displayed the results in Jack¡¯s eye. Jack had heard that people with a high affinity can feel mana like someone can feel with their skin, but he didn¡¯t feel anything as of yet. Most people used complicated life spell., which displayed results by manipulating eye nerve. The spell used a lot of components that Jack wasn¡¯t able to understand. The light version was simpler and needed less intelligence to cast. Jack could see many shapes resembling underground trees, but he quickly understood, that they were trees¡¯ roots. He looked over, searching for burrows. There were some cavities, but they looked either natural, or dug by a large animal. He managed to find only one place where it was possible to find living animals. ¡°I think there is a burrow 60 meters in this direction,¡± Jack said while pointing with a finger. ¡°You have three mages?¡± The hunter asked. Jack wasn¡¯t surprised. His team trained hard. Normally, only noble¡¯s children could cast some more advanced magic, but judging from clothes, only Aleena counted, as Stanley¡¯s armor was covered with fur. Aleena had a fur half-armor reinforced with bone and metal elements, and with inscriptions on it. That was a magic tool. The hunter must have thought that they were some purpose gathered team, something that was slightly illegal, but apparently dukes had their own way. ¡°Hmm, there are dozens of mice there. I can spot them with water detection.¡± Stanley said, interrupting wanting to explain Jack. Jack knew what he was doing. They would protect Jack¡¯s team better now, as they would think Jack and the rest were some VIPs. Jack didn¡¯t like the manipulation, but he knew, that may help them. He wasn¡¯t going to explain. ¡°Let me check,¡± the hunter said and stopped moving for a few seconds, casting a spell. His teammates were giving each other knowing glances. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s true. Fine, that burrow will be your first target.¡± They closed to the target. Patrick was looking a bit sad, probably since he couldn¡¯t show off. He concentrated on physical abilities, and for magic, he only knew life spells. Unfortunately, life mana detection was kind of not working. It just showed that life is everywhere. It was unusable, as life mana dispersed into life itself, and due to the lack of conflicts with other mana types, life mana was able to get everywhere. It was possible to check on your own body, though, as with such close distance, the results were very sharp. There was a small hole in the place and nothing to indicate mouse nest with only visual looks. Jack thought of using light detection inside the burrow, but he decided he may not like to look that closely at the rodents. He used once again the earth mana, feeling with it the walls of the burrow. He then forced mana into the air in the burrow¡¯s tunnels, producing dust in it. He needed quite a bit of earth essence for that, which needed essence in turn. He was able to distinguish some shapes, but it seemed, he would need more dust, or better proficiency with the spell to be able to spot clearly such small critters. ¡°How are you going to kill them?¡± The leading hunter asked. ¡°I can collapse the burrow,¡± Jack said. It was cruel in Jack¡¯s opinion, as the rodents would either die to suffocation, or be forced to dig out and be killed on the surface. However, it was efficient and safe. ¡°I can send fire mana in and burn them all,¡± Aleena said. ¡°I could stop the air and force them to get out.¡± Lillie said hesitantly. Jack thought it indeed was the worse method presented. ¡°I think we have two options. We can either shoo them out with Lillie¡¯s or Jack¡¯s method, or try to directly kill them. I don¡¯t have a good method without a source of water nearby. I could use a lot of water mana to create the black hole spell, but it¡¯s just not worth it.¡± Staley analyzed. ¡°I also don¡¯t have a good method. I could just dig them out with my spear if everything else fails.¡± Patrick said. ¡°You girl,¡± the leading hunter pointed at Aleena, ¡°let¡¯s start with your method.¡± She started casting. Soon, fire mana came to be in front of her, and started to move in the hole. She didn¡¯t try to squeeze the fire mana into the hole, but just send it in the ground, heating everything ¨C soil, air and mice bodies. Without magical protection, fire mana should be able to penetrate their bodies, burning both inside and outside. Jack cast the earth detection spell and tried to observe. Rather than one strong pulse, he created earth mana to continuously observe the ground a few meters around him. There wasn¡¯t much to see. Nothing was changing, as fire mana wasn¡¯t reshaping the tunnels. He couldn¡¯t use the light detection spell, since there was the conflict between light mana and fire mana. He once again forced earth mana into the tunnels, but there wasn¡¯t much difference to what was before.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Suddenly, the leading hunter dashed at Aleena, punching her in the chest. Surprised, she wasn¡¯t able to defend, and fled a few meters back. Everyone in Jack¡¯s team took a defensive position, startled. Jack didn¡¯t know what to think about it. Nobody moved. Aleena slowly got up. ¡°What was that?¡± She asked with irritated face. ¡°A lesson,¡± the leading hunter replied calmly. ¡°You had completely lowered your guard. It¡¯s fine to kill monsters, but you also need to survive. Always be prepared for being attacked in the exterior.¡± Aleena¡¯s face changed to thoughtful, and she replied after a few seconds. ¡°I would appreciate, if you could deliver your lessons in a less violent manner.¡± She said calmly, and without accusation. Jack thought that it was deliberate, as he would be a bit enraged in her situation. ¡°But that is the best method.¡± The hunter said with the smile. ¡°So, who can check on our little dead monsters?¡± ¡°Everything is heated, so it¡¯s impossible for me to distinguish bodies.¡± Aleena said. ¡°I think, I don¡¯t have enough proficiency with earth detection.¡± Jack said, shaking his shoulders. ¡°Aleena¡¯s fire evaporated most water. Water mana doesn¡¯t like air and earth¡­ I could use more water mana, but the result will probably be similar to what Jack got.¡± Staley said. ¡°Ok. I will do it,¡± Lillie said. Jack thought, he could use light detection, but he decided to avoid looking closely at burned mice corpses in dark tunnels. ¡°Nothing is moving,¡± Lillie described. ¡°I think we got them all, as there is no movement of the air, no one is breathing inside.¡± ¡°The simplest thing you can do to check if you got them all, is to count them before the battle, and then compare the amount of notifications,¡± the leading hunter taught. ¡°The most important advice I can give you, is to always use your brains. Most monsters have higher physical stats than us, but we have higher intelligence. Using your brain and being smart is not being an exceptional or great hunter. It only means you are normal hunter, as without brains, you would be just a failure.¡± They continued to hunt small animals. Aleena had the best detection spell, as her fire detection could find most living things by their heat. Stanley was in the similar situation, as most living beings were in huge part constructed with water. He just had a shorter range. Allena was quite greedy. She always wanted to be the one to kill. Jack admitted in his mind, that her killing power was the best out of the team. The fire mana was the only mana type deadly even in its raw state. She just needed to throw fire mana at monsters. It was only possible, because those monsters were the low leveled ones, and they had neither affinities nor resistances. Starting from 3rd tier, nearly everyone had innate life mana resistance. Jack also could easily kill slow 2nd tiers. He could just send life mana and use the kinetic spell to displace some vital organ in an enemy¡¯s body. Skin of 3rd tier beings had a passive innate spell, using miniscule amounts of essence to repel life mana. It was a form of magical barrier, only able to defend against mana. A common repelling mana barrier who anyone could form with spell vectors could be created a meter or two before the caster, increasing their security. Some monsters had resistances to other elements as well. Affinities were also granting body some resistance against being penetrated by conflicting elements. Ten hunters wandered the forest all day, killing mostly small, burrowing monsters. Any 2nd tier monster which spotted them in the open, immediately ran for its life. Some 3rd tier lynx came closer, but it must have been an experienced one, since as soon as it spotted five 3rd tiers it also immediately ran away with all its might. Burrowing was a good strategy to avoid stronger animals, but human¡¯s magic made burrowing animals essence on a silver plate. At the end of the day, 3rd tier hunters decided to observe from the distance, to allow Jack¡¯s team some battle experience. They have managed to find a 3rd tier boar, but Aleena fried it with her fire nearly immediately after the boar charged at them, gaining a level in the process. Soon, the boar was a dish. As the time was at the start of the winter, the nights were longest in the year, taking 20 hours from 30 hours day time. Jack¡¯s team wanted to continue, a human only needed 10 hours of sleep a day, but older hunters decided to stop for today. Third tier hunters argued, that it¡¯s for the best to take it slow. They told, that Jack¡¯s team should divide into two groups for the night watch. This way, everyone would be able to have proper 10 hours sleep. ¡°You can¡¯t always sleep properly in the wild, but if possible, you should try. Sleeping even an hour or two less will cause sleep deprivation, lowering your reaction time,¡± the hunter taught. Jack and Stanley were holding the first watch. The two of them were sitting with touching each other backs. They were wrapped in their cloaks. The rest of their team were sleeping a meter from them, covered by cloaks. It was early in the night, and the temperature wasn¡¯t that low yet, but after 20 hours of darkness it would be deadly freezing. Unfortunately, they couldn¡¯t just light the fire. It would scare 2nd and 3rd tier monsters, but for a stronger one, it would be an invitation for a feast. New hunters were being taken outside at the same time every year. Jack learned from hunters, that wolves and some other more intelligent monsters living nearby, had learned that, and were often trying to kill inexperienced humans by raiding groups such as theirs. Rather than a fireplace, there was a rune scratched with a stick on the ground. It just created slowly fire mana, heating surroundings like a fireplace, but without the light. Jack was looking into darkness. It was eerie. There was some light from the stars and moons, making it possible for Jack to see things in the dark. The trees were blocking line of sight, however, making it impossible to watch over for large distances. Jack wasn¡¯t placing great importance in his eyes anyway. He had his magic, which he regularly used to make sure nothing was closing on them. The 3rd tier hunters were maintaining their own watch. They were never planning to place their security in new hunters¡¯ hands. Jack looked over his status, as he didn¡¯t have anything better to do in the meantime.
Name: Jack
Age: 15
Class: Survivor Level:11 5% to next lv
Stats: Base Essence reinforced
Strength 15,21/25 31,63 (20% + (6+2)%/level)
Endurance 16,29/30 33,88 (10% + (6+2)%/level)
Intelligence 19,73/25 65,89 (40% + (6+8)%/level)
Mental Endurance 21,76/30 58,96 (20% + (6+5)%/level)
Agility 19,16/30 50,00 (40% + (7+4)%/level)
Perception 12,32/20 25,62 (10% + (6+2)%/level)
Affinities:
Life Fire Earth Light 9,49% 0,21% 5,34% 5,49%
Class skills:
Economy of movement Scavenging 42 7 +10% to agility
Professions: 5/5
Conman IV Masochist IV Spearman VII Wizard III Battle mage V
Fighting skills:
Sword handling 8
Spear handling 37 +10% to agility
Archery 17
Battle precognition 6
Footwork 43 + 10% to strength
Magic skills:
Rune Shaping 33 +10% to intelligence
Spell slinging 25 +10% to intelligence
Words of Power 15
Meditation 1
Parallel thinking 33 + 10% to mental endurance
Crafting skills:
Farming 19
Cooking 10
Crafting 11
Trapping 13
Utility skills:
Analyze 21
Charisma 35 +5% to intelligence and perception
Pain Tolerance 21
Mental intrusion resistance 22
Tracking 12
Sneaking 9
Vitality 563/563
Stamina 306/330
Clarity 486/580
In the end, Jack decided to cultivate the earth and light affinity. There were quite a few reasons for that. Jack thought for a long time how to gain advantage against monsters. He came to the conclusion, that the answer is preparations. Obviously, even skill levels and magic abilities counted for that, but Jack also wanted to be prepared specifically for every fight. Jack considered preparations mostly as a knowledge and terrain preparations, especially traps. Jack was taught tracking, sneaking and trapping skills in the last months. Trapping was only briefly mentioned, as there weren¡¯t many mundane traps capable of harming monsters in 4th tier or stronger ones. Magical traps existed, but the only element from you could create runes with magic was earth. It was impossible to create stable runes with air or light. It was possible, of course, to cast with shape created from light mana, but a trap should work on its own. He needed earth magic for that. He could also use life magic, but earth was nearly everywhere, and he could harden it to make clear lines. With the earth affinity chosen, he had only fire, water and light affinity viable. He decided for the light, as the he wanted light spells ability to directly send knowledge to his mind. While light didn¡¯t have the offensive power of the fire spells, he thought higher level illusion spells would grant him more options. He just liked the trick options more. Jack knew quite a few spells now. He knew mana moving spell vectors for every element. He planned to use them for the repelling mana barrier, but if needed, he could also use some other element spells. It would just mess his affinities and hurt his body, but if it would be his very life at the stake¡­ He could cast earth and light moving spells. He was still unsophisticated with those spells. It was enough to make use of earth, but throwing it at his enemies, but not enough to cast convincing illusions with the light. Even relatively simple invisibility spell was firmly in the 3rd tier spells. Other that detection spells, he also learned a beam spell. The spell was moving light from the caster¡¯s surrounding and forcing it to travel parallel to each other. At the receiving end, the light was strong enough to burn the recipient¡¯s skin. The spell wasn¡¯t very strong, but had extremely long range, unless disturbed. It also had a weakness, that it was unusable in the darkness, unless a caster delivered a huge quantity of light mana to create light. 12. Bear Jack woke up. It was cold. The sun was rising in the east. When he went away from the warming rune, it was even cooler. Not only that. There was a layer of snow on the ground. Jack sighed. ¡®Walking is going to be much harder,¡¯ he thought. The plan was continue yesterday activities. Jack was tempted to use a fire spell to warm himself, but he didn¡¯t want to lose his light affinity. He used the light kinetic spell, and started to redirect light from the surroundings to him. For him, it was like light was coming from everywhere. For others, there was a darkness surrounding Jack. It wasn¡¯t similar to shadow affinity spells. The darkness was attention catching and everyone could see there was something not right. A shadow affinity spell would naturally conceal surroundings, making it inconspicuous. The spell wasn¡¯t giving much warmth, but it helped a bit. Jack was forced to stop it, however, as he didn¡¯t want to spend all his clarity on warming up. After using remnants of the boar for breakfast, the whole group started exploring the forest looking for prey. They hunted down more rodents, finally allowing Jack to gain a level. Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 12 After two hours they managed to find a fox, probably around level 20. The older hunters were keeping a distance, and the fox wasn¡¯t overly scared. It even tried to attack, but Aleena was faster. The fox dodged and increased the distance, trying to come closer from another direction. They started throwing spears, but the fox was agile and used trees for cover. After another fire attack from Aleena, the fox decided that it was too dangerous and ran away. They tried to give chase, but the fox was too fast. Jack cast his beam spell, but the fox used trees for cover, and the spell wasn¡¯t strong enough to kill an enemy instantly. The fight revealed fire mana¡¯s weakness. The mana types were too slow on their own. They could be accelerated further with a lot of spell vectors, but that was tiring. Normally, most mages just used kinetic spells to throw things. It was only natural. Earth mana wasn¡¯t doing much damage to the enemy, while a huge boulder could kill instantly. The fire kinetic spell was a bit awkward. When heat was moved, extreme cold was left behind. The team wandered for some time. After the midday, they found a cave. ¡°I think there is something inside. I mean, some monster,¡± Lillie said. Jack used his earth mana to fill the cave and was able to discover a shape, a meter and half long and wide, high for a meter. ¡°It¡¯s alive. It has a higher temperature that the surroundings, but not much higher¡±, Aleena said. ¡°I think it may be a hibernating bear.¡± Her eyes were shining. A bear could be in the 3rd tier. ¡°Where is the entrance?¡± Stanley asked. ¡°There.¡± Jack and Lillie pointed. They wanted to go as fast as possible and harvest the essence, but they were stopped by the older hunters. ¡°You should be careful with that. Bears can reach 4 or even 5 tier. It¡¯s fairly common. You don¡¯t know how strong the bear is.¡± ¡°So, are we forbidden from hunting it down?¡± Aleena asked. The leading hunter chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s just an advice. A hunter need to risk it sometimes. Well, we are here to provide some safety on your first time outside, but we are not going to die for you. If the bear is 2nd or 3rd tier, we are going to help you. If it is in 4th tier, well, it would depend on the bear¡¯s strength, but we will probably try to help. If the bear is in the 5th tier or higher, we are going to run away as fast as we can, hoping your meat will be enough for it.¡± He said it without a bit of shame. ¡°Guys,¡± Lillie said hesitantly, ¡°I think we should reconsider our plans.¡± Aleena frowned. ¡°Can we somehow check its tier?¡± Staley asked. They were taught how to distinguish the tiers, and even levels of monsters, which was the reason for rise of Jack¡¯s analyze skill. ¡°I suppose we would at least need to see it.¡± Aleena replied. With an evolution, there was nearly always increase in mass and density. A tier could be judged by how deep marks an animal leaves on the ground. ¡°Well, the bear has a standard size for its own kind. Maybe its tier isn¡¯t high,¡± Lillie said. Monsters often grew in size with an evolution. It wasn¡¯t a rule, as humans also had options for increasing size and height, but weren¡¯t taking them normally, preferring classes with good class skills. The boar could have done the same. ¡°Jack, can you send your eye?¡± Stanley asked. Jack frowned. ¡°I could, but I don¡¯t know if it is a good move. The light can wake the bear up.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. It is hibernating, something this minor won¡¯t wake it up.¡± Stanley said. ¡°Fine.¡± Jack cast the spell. Soon, a sparky trail appeared in the air and it was elongating from Jack to the entrance of the cave. ¡°So, what do you see?¡± Lillie asked. ¡°Not much.¡± Jack replied shortly. Rather than describe, he changed his illusion spell, and made a panoramic illusion in the air. The light was made directly from light mana, so the spell was hungry on essence. A small illusion in the eye needed a lot less. Jack could conserve the essence by manipulating the light, but he didn¡¯t have enough intelligence for something that complicated. ¡°Not much for real,¡± Stanley said. The cave was dark. There was some light coming from the entrance and from the Jack¡¯s spell, but the bear was barely visible. ¡°At least we can confirm it is a bear,¡± Stanley added. The image was a bit blurry due to its nature, but there was a shape of a bear. There weren¡¯t much of colors or details, however. ¡°So?¡± Jack asked. Maintaining the spell was tiring him. ¡°We are not going to get anything from that,¡± Aleena said. Jack dropped the spell. ¡°What now?¡± Lillie asked. There was a silence. They wanted essence, but they weren¡¯t idiots. Charging ahead without a plan or even information was a suicide. ¡°Let¡¯s find something else,¡± Stanley said. ¡°I think I know a way,¡± Jack surprised the rest. ¡°How?¡± Aleena asked. ¡°The best method is to check its weight. I can slightly move some soil under it. It shouldn¡¯t notice.¡± Others looked at him. ¡°What If you make too much disturbance?¡± Staley asked. ¡°I doubt it. In the worst case we will have enough time to create a distance, anyway. I mean, the bear is in the cave, and after waking up it will be most likely dazed.¡± Others thought it over for some time and agreed in the end. Jack walked closer and carefully send earth mana to the cave. He kept the feedback component of the detection spell. Now, he added the kinetic spell, barely holding all those spells up. Jack send the kinetic spell, which shape was formed from earth mana forward. When the spell was below the bear, Jack manipulated mana a bit to complete the spell. It started working, pushing the soil to the sides. Jack was slowly adding more mana, and spell vectors, increasing spell¡¯s might. He was getting information from the detection spell about the result. Jack had 65 intelligence, and he needed about 40 for the kinetic spell and detection spell. One intelligence in vectors is enough to move 5 kilograms from a meter, so he could move about 125 kilograms from a meter, and it was 20 meters between him and the bear, meaning four hundred times decline in strength. It was around 300 grams of force, that Jack could project from that distance. The spell wasn¡¯t strong enough to move the soil up, Jack could only deduce from the pressure the bear¡¯s weight squeezed the earth. Moving an element from the distance was hard and complicated. A mage needed to maintain mana link, and calculating all vectors was a lot harder. The effect was meager as well, enough for the test, but unusable in a fight. It was hard to move mana at the distance, but he wasn¡¯t expecting to move the bear.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°How it is?¡± Lillie asked. ¡°Well¡­¡± Jack got his results, but there was a problem. He didn¡¯t know how much a bear should weight. ¡°I need some comparison. Don¡¯t move Stanley. I am going to weigh you.¡± He used to same method on Stanley and compared the results. ¡°I think the bear is in 3rd or 4th tier. It is pretty heavy. Can¡¯t say for sure, I have never weighed a bear before, and you know the math¡± Jack said. The team members were looking at each other meaningfully, as they found the prey. ¡°How do you want to kill it?¡± Patrick asked. ¡°Should we go to the cave and stab it with spears?¡± ¡°I can kill the bear with fire mana. It will be the safest and fastest method.¡± Aleena said. ¡°You are not going to take all essence!¡± Lillie shouted. ¡°Don¡¯t you have the highest level of us already?¡± ¡°It¡¯s unrelated. The military is not essence charity.¡± Aleena replied with a disdain. ¡°Stop.¡± Staley tried to intervene. ¡°Aleena, we are here as a group. You should cooperate. Besides, since you are the strongest, it is possible you will deal the finishing blow anyway. We need to think a plan for killing 4th tier bear.¡± ¡°It could be in the 3rd tier.¡± Lillie interrupted. ¡°We need to have a plan for 4th tier. It¡¯s better to be over prepared.¡± Jack said calmly. ¡°Actually, I have another idea.¡± Everyone was listening to him, since his previous idea was very good. ¡°Lillie can still the air in the entrance to the cave. The bear will die to suffocation, possibly in sleep. I think it will be the safest plan, though it could take a bit long.¡± ¡°It won¡¯t work.¡± Aleena was shaking her head. ¡°The bear will wake up. You could try to suffocate it slowly, the bear is hibernating, it doesn¡¯t need much air. Lillie will spend all clarity before the bear will die.¡± Jack shrugged. ¡®Well, no harm in asking,¡¯ he thought. Plus Lillie was looking grateful. ¡°We need to discuss this with them anyway,¡± Jack said, subtly pointing at 3rd tier hunters. After a quick discussion, older hunters reluctantly acknowledged Jack¡¯s findings, and promised to help with 4th tier, and not interfere with 3rd tier, unless someone was going to die. Aleena agreed to compromise, as it was too dangerous to get into the cave together with a bear. They were going to force the bear out, using Lillie magic to suck out the air. Jack was going to place a trap just outside the entrance, and then Aleena was going to fry the bear. Jack walked to the entrance. He created his own spell for placing traps. He was sure the spell was already invented, but it wasn¡¯t in the library, so Jack needed to create it on his own. Jack was planning to inscribe a spell-trap on the ground. He wasn¡¯t going to manually sketch the spell on the ground, as it would be too time and clarity consuming. His spell was creating automatically runes he created in his mind. The spell was shaping earth mana, which was dispersing slowly on the ground, creating thin earthen lines of the trap. The trap was very simple. It just created fire mana upon activating. The most complicated part was the activator, which still used only a simple detection spell and some magical switches. Lillie cast her spell. Gust of wind from the cave signaled successful cast. ¡°I am not able to totally suck the air, but there isn¡¯t much left,¡± Lillie said. The group waited for a dozen of minutes, until they heard a roar. ¡®It¡¯s coming!¡¯ Jack thought. The bear crawled from the cave and walked into the trap. In a moment, there was blinding ball of fire in its place. Aleena wasn¡¯t idle and started throwing even more fire. For a moment, they thought that was it, but¡­ ¡°There is no notification,¡± Stanley said. ¡°Aleena, stop for a moment. Let¡¯s see bear¡¯s condition.¡± When the fire disappeared, they could see the bear. It heavy breathed, gasping for air, and eying Jack¡¯s team. Its fur was lightly burned, but not much. The bear opened his mount wider, and it breathed fire itself. A lot of fire mana was flying at Jack with greater speed than Aleena¡¯s fire. He immediately started creating spell vectors in his mind to repel the fire. ¡®Shit! It won¡¯t be enough!¡¯ The fire mana hit his barrier, but to Jack¡¯s surprise, the barrier held. He looked around. Everyone had either surprised or serious face. ¡®I see. Everyone created a barrier. It was the team effort.¡¯ He changed vectors, pushing fire mana to the side. The bear slowly marched in their direction. ¡°What now?¡± Lillie asked, panicked. ¡°Why fire affinity!?¡± Aleena shouted. ¡°We need to think of something. The bear is a bit suffocated, but it¡¯s going to get better soon!¡± Stanley shouted. They dispersed, increasing the distance to the bear. Jack threw a spear. Everyone took three spears for the hunt, so he still had two. The spear hit, but it barely drew blood. The spear fallen on the ground, and only the tip had some blood. ¡®Even if I use the minor strength spell there won¡¯t be much difference,¡¯ Jack thought. He was searching in his mind for a method to kill the bear. The bear attacked with fire again, this time, shooting it at Stanley. He evaded, his magical barrier was keeping the mana at bay. Jack cast a spell and lifted a dozen of kilograms of soil and rocks from the ground. He filled it with earth mana, hardening the mass, and sent it at the monster. The flying boulder hit, pushing the bear for some centimeters, but the bear was fine. Jack was depressed. It seemed he could only inflict scrapes and bruises on the enemy. The air blew around the bear, stirring up the snow. ¡°I am going to try to suffocate it further. I am too weak physically to harm it, anyway!¡± Lillie shouted. A spear flew for the bear¡¯s head, forcing the monster to move its head. ¡°Aim for the weak points!¡± Stanley shouted. Jack threw a spear, aiming for the bear¡¯s eyes, but the bear moved its head, dodging. ¡®The beam spell won¡¯t do anything. It¡¯s a light spell, but the light itself is harmless, only heat is dangerous, and this one has the fire affinity. The bear is resistant to high temperatures,¡± Jack thought. ¡®Weak points!¡¯ Jack had an idea. He started creating his beam spell. There was darkness around him, which took bear¡¯s attention. The monster was staring at Jack. ¡®Great! Now, it will be even easier.¡¯ He fired the beam at bear¡¯s eye. He missed, but he quickly corrected spell vectors, sending light into bear¡¯s eye. The bear roared in pain. Others threw spears, hoping to use the moment in which the monster wasn¡¯t paying attention to them. The bear shook its head in pain. A wall of flame surrounded the monster, trying to work as a shield. ¡®Damn!¡¯ Fire mana could block light mana, but there was no light mana in Jack¡¯s attacks. It was just the light. However, heat form bear¡¯s flames created mirages and distorted light. Jack¡¯s beam was changing directions randomly in the heated air. ¡®The bear probably doesn¡¯t even know why it works. It¡¯s just acting subconsciously, trying to defend with its fire. Damn it!¡¯ They were dealing some damage, the bear¡¯s eye was blinded, but it wasn¡¯t enough. The bear started running at Jack. He was surprised that he was calm. Jack moved earth before him, elevating it two meters up. The bear threw fire at him, but Jack filled his cover with light mana, which blocked bear¡¯s fire mana, while the soil blocked heat from the bear¡¯s spell. The monster tried to avoid the cover, but Jack just elevated more soil. The bear decided to climb up. Jack was prepared to form a dome, but the bear was interrupted. Aleena attacked it in close quarters. She was indifferent to the fire, as she also had a high resistance to extreme temperatures from her fire affinity. She was keeping the bear at bay, using her superior reach thanks to the spear in her hands. The bear advances on her, while she was retreating. The bear was heavy breathing, since Lillie was suffocating it by blowing strong winds under its nose. The bear must have decided this cannot continue, and rushed at Lillie. She dropped her spell and started to run away. Stanley rushed at the bear, hoping to pin it down. The bear threw fire at him. Stanley erected a magical barrier, but while fire mana was stopped, how air flew forward. Staley grasped his face in the groan of pain. His face was burned. The bear continued its chase. Now, with full access to the air, it was capable of a very fast run. Lillie was too slow, but when the bear was closing to her, she jumped up. She flew for a few meters high, landing on a tree. ¡®She must have filled her body with air mana,¡¯ Jack thought. Decreasing mass was the air mana base effect. The bear started climbing the tree. The monster threw fire at Lillie, but her fire barrier held fire mana, while she redirected hot air with her air magic. She started climbing the tree, and once again used air magic to suffocate the monster. Jack tried to cast the beam spell to blind second bear¡¯s eye, to completely blind the monster, but when he started, the bear noticed and once again created his flame shield. Jack could only give up. ¡®Damn! It¡¯s my fault!¡¯ He thought. ¡®I should have created an electrical trap, or just a bunch of traps. I have used fire trap, because the fire mana is the most deadly and easy to use, but Aleena can use fire as well. I just tried to kill the beast faster than Aleena.¡¯ Jack was angry at himself. If he had created an electrical trap, the bear would have been wounded. The entire fight would have been different. ¡®The bear is on the tree. This is a weakness.¡¯ Jack had an idea. He ran to the tree, and moved soil, digging with magic a few meters deep cavity. The magic was working slow. There wasn¡¯t enough essence in the air, as everyone was using essence for their own spells. He managed to complete his hole, however. Lillie was already on the top of the tree, the bear was climbing after her. The rest was throwing spears, which were lying here and there after they fallen of the bear¡¯s skin. He ran for 30 meters away from the tree and used once again the earth kinetic spell. He repeated his move from the beginning of the fight, creating a large boulder and he aimed it at the bear. ¡®I need to hit.¡¯ He thought two times about the spell vectors and tossed the boulder. He immediately ran towards the tree. The boulder hit the bear, throwing the bear off the tree with the boulder¡¯s momentum. The bear crashed in the hole. Jack used his spell to close to the hole, the buried the monster under a meter of soil. He used his earth mana to harden the soil and make it impossible for the bear to escape. The bear used his fire, burning everything around. Jack¡¯s hand got burned, as the earth beneath him was heated. His fire barrier was barely able to repel the fire mana from only a meter from an innate fire spell user. ¡°Stop using spells!¡± Jack shouted. There wasn¡¯t enough essence in the air. It was also weakening the bear¡¯s fire spells, but it would be able to dig itself out from the loose soil. The soil was mixed with snow, but now, it was rapidly vaporizing. Hot steam was wetting Jack¡¯s clothes. Jack kept the spells, trying to harden the earth as much as he could. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 34 Fire Bear Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 13 Jack fell on his knees. Only now the exhaustion hit him. He checked his bars.
Vitality 544/563
Stamina 249/330
Clarity 105/580
After all those spells his clarity was low. ¡®I must have ran on the adrenaline.¡¯ He knew about adrenaline from his biology studies. ¡°Congratulations.¡± Aleena said with a bit bitter tone. ¡°Thanks.¡± He replied simply. He didn¡¯t care. He was too tired. He and Staley regenerated burned skin with the minor recovery spell. The group dug out the bear. Its fur, bones and skin were resources. After a few hours of rest, the group continued the hunt. They weren¡¯t able to find much prey. Jack had an idea to kill young 2nd tier trees, as their bark wasn¡¯t protecting against life mana. Everyone killed a few trees, which earned another level for Jack. They returned to the headquarters a few hours after the dusk. 13. An order ¡°How was your training?¡± Jack asked his brother. ¡°I got two levels.¡± Bob said with a smile. ¡°But I don¡¯t think I will be able to keep the pace.¡± ¡°You should learn some more magic.¡± Jack advised. ¡°I started learning fire magic, but it will be a while until I can use it.¡± Bob complained. ¡°You should learn the life kinetic spell. You will be able to kill 2nd tier trees. I think it is an open secret among the nobility. Actually, this may be the cause of lack of trees near the frontier¡­¡± Jack started thinking about the implications, but was quickly interrupted by Bob. ¡°How? You know I can¡¯t read. I can¡¯t go to the library.¡± Bob complained. ¡°Fine.¡± Jack said and started casting. He used his trap placing spell to create the kinetic spell on the ground. When completed, he used the earth kinetic spell to compress the soil into weak stone. The second part took two minutes. After the rune completed, Jack pulled the stone circle from the ground and gifted to Bob. ¡°Here.¡± This is the kinetic spell. It won¡¯t work without spell vectors, but you should start with this spell. I will teach you the rest later.¡± ¡°Umm. Thanks.¡± Bob said, a bit surprised by Jack¡¯s capabilities. ¡°Are you sure you have time for this?¡± ¡°Yeah. I am in kind of bottleneck.¡± Jack said with a sigh. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Bob asked with a serious face. ¡°It¡¯s just that I cannot level fast my skills anymore. I have learned everything from the library about the spell casting and all spear technics from Stanley and instructors. Without better books, or instructors, I can only grind my skills now.¡± His Words of Power skill stopped increasing at the level 14. It was only at the level 15 thanks to Jack¡¯s experiments. There was some easy routes and predictable outcomes, based on what Jack already knew. It would be harder to gain more skill levels, Jack could only try experimenting more in his current situation. His fighting skills, like Spear handling skill, were in the similar situation. Jack could still grind known tricks and moves, achieving greater mastery, but he would be struggling for skill levels. He was still able to raise his stats, which he concentrated on, but this wasn¡¯t a whole day occupation. He needed breaks, or his muscles would be damaged too much from the training. ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t help you with that.¡± ¡°I know. Just train harder, and don¡¯t try to fight anything strong and my life will be easier.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to die. I wasn¡¯t planning to fight anything strong.¡± Bob replied with annoyance. Jack nodded. Bob left Jack¡¯s house and went to his own. Jack was trying to power up his brother, giving him advices and teaching magic. Meanwhile, Jack returned to his own considerations. His professions were boosting his stats considerably, especially his intelligence and mental endurance. It was his edge, allowing his to best monsters in his tier, or even stronger ones. He needed to raise his skills for better professions, though. Jack unlocked a wide array of professions recently. His crafting reaching level 5 unlocked Farmer I profession, and Cook I profession. Due to his new skills, he unlocked Scout I, Sharpshooter I, Ranger II, and Hunter II professions. The boost was too small for him to replace one of his current professions, but it was a possibility. Jack most likely wouldn¡¯t be able to reach Wizard IV profession in the near future, it may be more beneficial to replace the profession. Jack was thinking of leveling Sword handling skill and Archery skill. He wasn¡¯t planning on using such weapons, but he wanted boost from the professions. He also had plans on some heavy weapon like a mace, or a hammer. A profession involving heavy weapon should increase strength. For now, though, he was content with his high intelligence. An intelligence high enough to cast some 3rd tier spells. Jack wanted to increase his offensive potential. The fight with the bear showed, that he can¡¯t do much against defense of 3rd tier monsters. Obviously, when Jack would reach 3rd tier himself, he should have enough physical strength, but Jack also wanted some magic attack. Jack found a drill spell in the library. The spell took some soil, compressed to half-stone consistency, gave high rotational speed, and fired at the enemy. The whole spell took a second, and was in the upper tier of 3rd tier spells. There were many spells in the library like that. Rather than attack manually, someone created complete spells including spell vectors. Such complex spell were ideal for warriors, as they could only learn and cast. There was no need to learn complicated theory, and even spell vectors usage for aiming was very simplified. Jack wasn¡¯t able to cast the drill spell with his current intelligence. He segmented the spell, doing each segment one after another. The casting time increased to 6 seconds, but he was able to successfully cast the spell. The drill spell had a major weakness. Should earth mana in the spell be stopped, the half-stone hardness wasn¡¯t enough to hold the drill complete. There were spells capable of changing soil into a real rock or even iron, but they were higher tier, and everything Jack knew about them, was that they exist. His second problem was with Rowan. ¡®It¡¯s more of a debt, rather than a problem, though.¡¯ Rowan wanted his payment for reading lessons. Jack didn¡¯t bring live monsters from the practical training, and Rowan came to him, demanding his payment. Jack entertained an idea to renegotiate the deal, or just to refuse, but he couldn¡¯t. It would be so¡­ shameless. Jack wanted to be fair. He thought that Rowan wouldn¡¯t be able to do much to him, but that wasn¡¯t the main reason. He just couldn¡¯t be so mean. Jack also wanted to maintain his reputation. He was afraid what his friends and acquaintances would tell. He decided to pay his debt, and catch some live rats for Rowan next time he would be in the exterior. Hunters in second tier were rarely ordered to do something. They were mostly obligated to hunt and reach 3rd tier. From there, hunters would receive orders from the military, like scouting or hunting down some specific monster. There were exceptions, of course, like right now. ¡°Jack, take your spears, we got orders!¡± Stanley shouted. ¡°What orders?¡± Jack asked, while picking weapons from the third room in their house. They were using the third room as a storage area. ¡°A small pack of wolves crossed the frontier a day ago. Apparently, most wolves are in the 2nd tier, while there is only one 3rd tier pack leader.¡± ¡°That¡¯s too much for us.¡± Jack said calmly. They wouldn¡¯t be given suicide mission, the military tried to preserve manpower. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Stanley said simply. ¡°There are no more than ten wolves total, and we are going with another team.¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. After an hour, Jack together with his team was running through the snow. There was another team alongside his. Jack hoped a bit for his brother¡¯s team, but that wasn¡¯t the case. Jack didn¡¯t know anyone from the second team. At the end of the rabbit¡¯s fight, there were few teams above the average, and this one wasn¡¯t one of them. The question was whether the team was weak or mediocre. Jack thought his team should be enough on their own. They would need to plan some strategy, but that wasn¡¯t a problem. Jack thought he may be able to kill that pack on his own, even. He would need to play it slow, bunker in an earth dome and kill the wolves one by one, but it was manageable, or so he thought. There were only ten wolves. Jack looked over the second team. He even used his analyze skill on their faces, as he hadn¡¯t had anything better to do. Excitement, and a bit of fear. Understandable. Technically, it¡¯s going to be their first mission on their own. Jack was confident, but he also felt a bit of anxiety before the fight. There was also a matter of protecting the humanity. Jack wanted to hunt down the wolves, as they were a threat to people. People like his family. They didn¡¯t run in the direction of his family land, so Jack was calm about his family situation. It was already half a year. He missed them. Jack was able to see the wolves. The both groups ran for two hours. Jack could only do so thanks to his high endurance. Running didn¡¯t require much strength. He was still a bit tired, however. The wolves didn¡¯t attack immediately . Wolves strength was higher based only on levels, but not by much. Humans were too slow, they wouldn¡¯t be able to chase the wolves. Jack and other had to use a trick. They started running away, after the initial scouting of each other. They could try to engage from the distance, but they would need to chase the escaping wolves for hours, if not for days. The wolves took the bait and ran after hunters. Everyone was running away, waiting until the wolves were close enough. They even sprinted to show their fear. It was a standard tactic taught at the lectures. When the wolves were ten meters away from them, they turned around. The wolves were spread, half- encircling the human group. The alpha wolf ran at Jack, but he dismissed it. Aleena was in the lead now, and was not going to let go of that essence. He wanted to kill at least one wolf, possibly more. In the end, humans were the hunters right now. He did not see the fire, but alpha¡¯s maw. Jack reflexively raised his left hand to defend himself. The wolf bit in and jerked to the side. He could hear as his bones broke, and felt them moving in his hand. The wolf went for his throat. Jack tried to sidestep, or just escape, but the wolf was too fast. Jack pushed his spear in his right hand toward wolf¡¯s jaw, trying to block, but the wolf raised his head a little in its jump. Jack blocked the wolf with his spear, but wolf¡¯s mass pushed him down. He fell on his back. The monster stepped on his spear, rending it unusable and once again went for Jack¡¯s throat. Jack¡¯s life flashed before his eyes. He searched for a way to survive. He couldn¡¯t move, the wolf was pinning him to the ground with his heavy weight. He thought about magic, but there was no time. Earth? Light is no good. Maybe fire? He could kill the wolf with fire, but he would be heavily injured, even if he would manage to cast the spell. No. Too little time. He started casting the reinforce spell on his body, hoping it would keep his throat intact. ¡®I won¡¯t make it.¡¯ Something struck the wolf from the left side. The monster¡¯s jaw moved in the flight to the right, missing Jack¡¯s throat by centimeters. He quickly used his freed right hand and hit the wolf, using the momentum to roll to the left. Heat flew over his head. He looked over, and the wolf was dead. The rest of the monsters were dying. The leader of the second group used some spell to liquidate snow on the ground and pushed the resulting water into wolves¡¯ noses. The water crystallized immediately after. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Aleena ran over to him. ¡°Sorry, that was my fault. Let me see, I will heal you.¡± She offered, reaching out for Jack¡¯s left hand. ¡°Wait. It¡¯s broken.¡± The hand had to be straightened, so the bone could heal properly. Jack cast the life detection spell. He tried to use a small amount of life mana. ¡®Broken bones, damaged artery¡­¡¯ Life detection spell had too bad resolution to distinguish between bacteria and something bigger from the distance, but used in close proximity, it was enough to check on a caster¡¯s body. He cast few life kinetic spells, moving bones and flesh to their standard place. ¡°Are you done?¡± Aleena asked. He nodded. She caught his hand in her hands and pushed life mana into his. His injuries were rapidly healing. After a minute, there were only a scar. ¡°I am sorry once again. It was my fault. I hope you can forgive me.¡± Aleena continued. ¡°Sure.¡± He replied, still dazed. He came wanting to hunt down some wolves, not to rub off death. He just wanted some time to think everything over. His and the second team were throwing spears and casting long range spells, wiping out remaining few wolves, which ran for their lives as soon as the fight titled to humans side. The wolves didn¡¯t manage to run away. Mission was accomplished. ¡°Let¡¯s talk.¡± Stanley said to Jack. They were slowly returning to the headquarters. Each one of the hunters was caring some part of wolves¡¯ carcasses. ¡°Ok. What do you want to talk about?¡± Jack asked, but Stanley remained silent. Stanley grabbed Jack¡¯s fur clothes and held him, while slowing down. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Jack asked. ¡°Let¡¯s slow a bit.¡± Stanley replied. Jack didn¡¯t understand, but he decided to trust Stanley. Some hunters looked back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I have something private to talk to Jack.¡± Stanley said to the rest. After a minute, they were about hundred meters behind the rest. ¡±What do you think happened with that wolf?¡± Stanley asked. Jack frowned. ¡®Isn¡¯t that obvious? I nearly died.¡¯ ¡°What do you mean? I think it¡¯s obvious.¡± Jack replied. ¡°It¡¯s obvious. To me. I¡¯m afraid, you had not seen what really happened.¡± Jack frowned once again. ¡°So, what happened?¡± Staley took a small break, and replied. ¡°Aleena tried to kill you.¡± ¡°What? No, you must be mistaken.¡± Jack was sure it wasn¡¯t that. Hunters fight monsters, not each other. ¡°I¡¯m not. You can ask Lillie, or Patrick. I cannot be sure they were paying attention, but there are also guys from that second group. Someone must have noticed. Aleena tried to kill you.¡± Stanley explained. He was patient and calm in his explanation. ¡°She helped me after.¡± Jack was shaking his head. ¡°She killed the wolf in the end. And that spear¡­¡± ¡°The spear was mine.¡± Stanley sighed. ¡°She didn¡¯t attack the wolf, because it was charging at you. She probably hoped it would be enough to kill you. She messed up, though. Her attempt was obvious. That was the reason she helped you after. She tried to obtain your forgiveness to come out clean of that.¡± Stanley gave Jack ten seconds for thought, and continued. ¡°She killed the wolf since it was an additional level for her. Trust me. She could have killed that wolf at the beginning. For someone who looked at that, it was obvious she didn¡¯t only so the wolf could attack you.¡± Jack didn¡¯t want to believe. ¡°This isn¡¯t what I signed for. Why would she do that?¡± ¡°She wants a better team. To achieve that, she needs to kill her current team first. Technically, we are all in danger.¡± But Aleena? He was living with her for a half of the year. They weren¡¯t friend, they weren¡¯t getting along, but they weren¡¯t enemies. He thought what he could have done to make her angry at him, but there wasn¡¯t much. ¡°We need to do something if you are right. We should report her. I¡¯m sure the higher ups would do something.¡± Jack couldn¡¯t understand how such a situation could exist. He thought the hunters were united in the fight with monsters. ¡°No. They won¡¯t do anything. Even if you bring up the matter, Aleena is going to claim it was an accident. You have already forgiven her. In public.¡± ¡°But this cannon continue!¡± Jack raised his voice. Lillie was also in danger. The same as Patrick and Stanley. Jack didn¡¯t want to see his friends hurt. ¡°Calm down.¡± Stanley was still calm. ¡°Don¡¯t shout. They could hear us, but I agree, this cannot continue. We need to take care of Aleena.¡± ¡°What? You mean¡­¡± Jack made a gesture, with his hand he showed cutting his neck. Stanley hit Jack¡¯s hand down. ¡°No gestures. I doubt Aleena is good enough with fire detection to read our lips, but she can for sure spot such gestures.¡± ¡°Right, sorry.¡± Jack was now a bit afraid Aleena found out what he was trying to say. She could misunderstand and take some more serious actions. ¡°Have you heard of the black guard?¡± Stanley asked. ¡°No.¡± Jack was surprised about the change of topic. ¡°It¡¯s an organization for criminals. When someone commits a crime too grave to let him go, and he or she is too high leveled, so killing them is a waste, a criminal is sent to the black guard. They are cannon fodder. Always send to the worst of fighting.¡± Jack felt as someone poured out a bucked of cold water on him in the middle of summer. Criminals? Murderers? He hadn¡¯t anything to do with them, at least unlit now. He hadn¡¯t even known the black guard existed, only some rumors of forced service. The black guard? The fact something as this existed was a huge scar on Jack¡¯s image of humanity. He didn¡¯t even want to think about it. Aleena¡¯s attempt pushed him into an unknown world. ¡°You don¡¯t want to be sent there,¡± Stanley continued. ¡°Aleena won¡¯t do anything directly. Nobody wants to be sent there.¡± ¡°What if someone won¡¯t go?¡± Jack asked. Stanley chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s literary a choice between the black guard and death. The imperial court also executes people, and the black guard is policing itself. There are murders and executions regularly there. Generally, the imperial court is sending people for a few years there, like five years or ten years. After fighting for that long, a criminal can return to the military, or just settle down somewhere in the interior. That makes criminals obedient, as they know they have a chance.¡± ¡°I see. So, what do you want to do with Aleena? If what you have said is true, then we are all in danger. She will want to kill everybody.¡± This was worse for Jack. He cared mostly about his team and family. Affairs of humanity were important, but that wasn¡¯t his priority. There were smarter and stronger people to take care of that. He was just 2nd tier hunter. ¡°I have a plan. I will need your help and the rest of our team.¡° 14. Schemes Jack was sitting with Lillie in the plaza. Aleena was sitting in their house, and Jack wanted to talk about Stanley¡¯s plan. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Lillie started. ¡°For what?¡± Jack didn¡¯t know what Lillie was talking about. ¡°That wolf. I should be the one to help you. I thought you would be fine, and¡­¡± ¡°Stop.¡± Jack took her hand. ¡°It¡¯s fine. We have been talking about it. We can¡¯t watch each other all the time. It¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± Lillie was doubtful. Jack wasn¡¯t surprised. He actually wanted to talk about that. ¡°Yeah. We need to talk about Aleena.¡± ¡°What? Are you cheating on me with her?¡± Lillie joked and let go of Jack¡¯s hand. ¡°I wish.¡± Jack smiled. That would place him in a less grave situation. ¡°But no. She wanted to kill me. Stanley claims so, and I believe him.¡± ¡°Kill you? Aleena? Are you sure?¡± Lillie was doubtful. Jack expected this. He was doubtful too, at least at the beginning. ¡°Yes. He said she could have killed the alpha wolf, but she didn¡¯t, because it had a chance to kill me.¡± ¡°You are joking.¡± ¡°No.¡± There was a silence for a dozen of seconds. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°We need to do something with her. Stanley think she is going to try again.¡± ¡°You mean she is going to kill you.¡± She said half-asking. ¡°No. She won¡¯t try to kill directly. Most likely, she will push for a more dangerous hunt, and then refuse to help out. Stanley said, that we should show her, that she won¡¯t succeed.¡± ¡°How? And why would she do that?¡± ¡°Stanley said, that Aleena is one of the best in her generation. Not really the best of the best, but an upper tier. She wants to have a more competent group, filled with people like her.¡± ¡°Then why not? It¡¯s better for her to leave, if she isn¡¯t going to cooperate.¡± Lillie interrupted. ¡°Yeah. I think so too. The problem is, the imperial court thinks differently.¡± Jack said with a sigh. ¡°Stanley tried to explain it to me. I don¡¯t think I got everything right, though.¡± Jack explained the situation to Lillie. Normal hunters, like Jack, Patrick, or Lillie, didn¡¯t know any magic. In the situation where nobles¡¯ children grouped together, the rest would be forced to form weak teams. Young talents from the peasantry would be killed. Secondly, not all nobles¡¯ children were geniuses. There were also young masters. Only fight, sweet, and pain created good fighters. Some nobles changed after getting their titles. They didn¡¯t want their children to fight the same brutal way they had to. As the outcome, they were doting too much on their offspring. Such young masters were mostly mediocre. They had magical knowledge and some strength, but lacked courage. Should the team assignment be up to the hunters, the previously mentioned nobles would most likely pay less wealthy, but more talented to protect their children. The imperial court wanted meritocracy, as they deemed it most promising system to ensure humans survival. There were deals and compromises, especially with dukes, but meritocracy was enforced for most assignments. Even if the whole Jack¡¯s team wanted to trade some teammates, it was impossible. The initial teams were unchangeable, due to the previous reasons. There were only two ways to change a team. The first one was in the case you were too good, for example, you were in late 3rd tier, when your teammates were still in the 2nd tier. The second case was the dead of teammates. If there were only two hunters in a group or less, a team was disbanded. There were situations when 3-hunters teams were also disbanded, if there were many teams with causalities. ¡°So? What we are going to do, since we can¡¯t get rid of her?¡± Lillie asked. ¡°Aleena wants a good team, so she can raise her chances. We also want to be such a team. We just need to stay alive.¡± ¡°And endure? This is stupid.¡± ¡°No. Stanley said, that we need to do the same thing she does. We need to expose her to danger and left her behind. She will either die, and that will solve our problem, or she will decide it¡¯s too dangerous to fight with us.¡± ¡°Or she will be enraged and will escalate.¡± ¡°Stanley thinks she won¡¯t, but¡­ I don¡¯t like it.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°These plots. I feel like a bad person.¡± Jack came to the military to train and fight for humanity. He thought all those plots were meaningless. He would rather train, or hunt. He acknowledged that something needs to be done. He and his friends were in danger. Jack just despised the fact, that the danger was from the human side. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t. I mean, it¡¯s only natural there is competition and conflict between humans.¡± Jack frowned. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I¡¯m from the countryside close to the western cities. We often had traders in our community. The trade is better there. Here, in the local headquarters, there¡¯s nearly no trade, so it¡¯s different.¡± Lillie continued slowly, searching for words. ¡°The best merchant are the ones who can get the best prices. If they try to be kind and lower them, they would have a loss. It¡¯s normal for them to have a competition with other merchants and even try to cheat others with too high prices.¡± ¡°They shouldn¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you trying to be the best fighter? You are competing with others.¡± ¡°It¡¯s different. I¡¯m not trying to kill them.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. You need levels, which you can only get fast by killing monsters.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Which is what everyone should do in the military,¡± Jack interrupted. ¡°Yes, but there is a limited quantity of monsters near the frontier. The best hunters would kill them first, and then, the rest would need to go further in, risking meeting high tier monsters.¡± ¡°But we all are taking risks.¡± ¡°Some are taking greater risks. And think about the magic tools Aleena has. Is that fair? No. There is a limited amount of resources. You need to be the best to get them, and you need to prove it.¡± ¡°So what? You think I should plot like Aleena? What do you think I should do?¡± ¡°Steal kills, earn money and buy some magic tools, and always know people may be shaming against you.¡± ¡°You are one of them. The plotting ones.¡± Jack was disappointed. Lillie shook her head. ¡°I told you. It¡¯s different where I¡¯m from. There are no monsters and more humans. You need to be better than your neighbor, not some monster kilometers away. Please, just think about what I have told you.¡± ¡°¡­Fine. I will think.¡± Jack got up and left for training. Jack planned with his team to go tomorrow into the exterior to hunt, and Jack needed to think over some things before that. Jack really thought that over. He had to admit, Lillie was right. There was a limited amount of resources, and he needed to fight for them. He wasn¡¯t going to kill, or steal anything, but taking resources mean others wouldn¡¯t get them. But if he would win, that means he would be the strongest and the best suited to hold onto those resources. Jack didn¡¯t like it. He was neither good with playing with people, not he wanted to do it. He acknowledged the need to compete, though. He dreaded the next hunt. Not only he had to watch out Aleena, he needed to compete with her for kills, if he was going to stay true to his thoughts. That was another reason for his internal debate. Was it better to let Aleena kill more, and placate her, or be more selfish and risk escalation of the conflict? Jack thought it was a simple decision. He could either help the team, or be selfish and help only himself. He decided to be a good teammate. Which was stupid. Jack could only blame his own stupidity. Three days passed, and the situation was calm. Aleena wasn¡¯t pushing, and she was even helping out. There was competition over the kills, but it was between everyone in the group. Jack also participated. There was no other way. Jack would be left behind, otherwise. He would rather make an even distribution, but Aleena¡¯s aggressive stance forced everyone to compete with her. Jack earned a level in the recent days, similar to his companions. They were fighting relatively close to the frontier. Nobody wanted to push their luck with the situation, when they still were able to level up relatively fast. Aleena was a part of the team. Jack didn¡¯t know whether she was bidding her time, or she just gave up on killing them. There wasn¡¯t much danger until now. This day, the team was looking for wolves, or maybe hiding from them. Some hunters had already died to these packs. The team wanted to kill some of them, but a large pack could be dangerous. ¡°Fourteen wolves. Two hundred meters in this direction.¡± Aleena warned. They were all crouching in the snow, using their detection methods. ¡°We have encountered another group half an hour ago. It is too risky. We should go back,¡± Lillie advised. ¡°Or we might kill them. The previous group was over 30. It¡¯s no wonder other teams had causalities. This one we can kill.¡± Aleena said. ¡°It may be prudent to team up with some other group. Even if we would split that 30 wolves group to 10 people, it¡¯s still three wolves per person.¡± The rest mostly nodded. Lillie didn¡¯t want to risk too much. The rest thought they were safe enough. Their detection methods allowed them to spot wolves before they could spot them. ¡°We need a plan. We won¡¯t be able to take all seventeen at the same time. Some of them may be in 3rd tier.¡± Jack said. ¡°Or in 4th,¡± Lillie reminded. ¡°The chances are low for that. High tier wolves usually travel in large packs, or with an elite team. And no,¡± Stanley continued before Lillie could interrupt him. ¡°If that was an elite pack we would be able to tell. All those wolves look normal with ours detection spells. There are no wolves bigger than normal, for ones.¡± ¡°The plan?¡± Patrick asked. ¡°Allena and I would go and ambush them. Jack, you go there and create a bunker. We will flee to it immediately after the ambush. We should be able to shoot them from a safe spot. We don¡¯t need to kill all of them, so it¡¯s fine if some escape.¡± Jack went with Lillie and Patrick. Lillie and Patrick weren¡¯t good for an ambush, or at least, they weren¡¯t the best in the team. Aleena would be able to kill two or three wolves immediately with her fire. Stanley may be able to kill the alpha with the water magic. If a 3rd tier didn¡¯t have a defense against water mana, Stanley would be able to move the water in their bodies and could just break some vein in a brain. Jack elevated earth, creating a small bunker. It had only a one door in the direction of the wolves. As soon as Stanley and Aleena would get inside, Jack was going to seal the entrance. He only left small, a few centimeters wide holes for throwing spears. Jack cast light detection spell, and searched for the rest of the team. The plan was one thing, but there could be a problem. He wanted to be sure everything was going well. Soon, a light trail flew from the bunker toward the previous wolves location. It was going to warn the wolves, but Jack decided that didn¡¯t matter much. The first eye didn¡¯t show the wolves, so Jack searched a bit further. He was able to find the wolves at the third location. He adjusted the point of view once again. The wolves were startled by the light, but they didn¡¯t escape. Actually, they were a bit of curious. Jack kept this eye and created two more nearby, to search for his teammates. They were 30 meters away from the wolves, sneaking. Stanley made an irritated face and waved at the eye, trying to shoo it. Jack didn¡¯t care. It would be better if the wolves escape, rather than Stanley be killed due to the lack of information. Jack was prepared to leave the bunker any time to save him. The wolves came closer to the eye, some were flanking it. Aleena and Stanley came a bit closer to the wolves and started casting spells. Stanley was the first to attack, as his spell was stealthy. One of the wolves dropped dead. The rest of them saw that, some of them started running around, searching for the danger. Stanley probably tried to kill another wolf with his water kinetic spell, but he was discovered. Aleena threw fire mana at wolves, killing two of them. They started escaping towards the bunker. The wolves noticed the bright fire, as their kin burned. They rushed after the two of escaping humans. Aleena created fire mana, making it impossible to directly assault her from the back, but the wolves were faster and flanked her. Jack stopped his own spell and prepared his new drill spell. A bit of soil was moved up and formed into a drill. Jack continued the cast and observed the terrain with his own eyes. Aleena and Stanley were visible, along with over a dozen of wolves. Wolves weren¡¯t overly aggressive. They had the superiority of numbers and speed, they wanted to kill humans in a safe way for themselves. Too bad it was all a trap. Jack fired the drill spell at one of the wolves. It drilled in¡­ and then out, coloring the snow behind the wolf red. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 23 Wolf Lillie and Patrick threw their spears, killing some more wolves. Aleena and Stanley used the distractions to move into the bunker. Jack quickly sealed the entrance. There were still about ten alive wolves. Two of them came closer to the bunker and tried to dig, but Jack just sent some earth mana, hardening the walls. They were quickly killed by Aleena, now casting again. The rest of the wolves were circling around the bunker, looking for an entrance, but to no avail. In a minute, three remaining wolves were escaping. The rest were dead or dying. The team left the bunker. Lillie and Patrick killed off a few wolves pierced by spears, but still alive. Aleena wanted to be the one, but she gave up under the pressure of the rest of the team. Lillie and Patrick had the lowest levels in the team. These wolves were their target from the beginning. Lillie just lacked strength and aim to kill a wolf with one spear throw, while Patrick hadn¡¯t been able to level up in previous hunts. Jack killed only one wolf more. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 17 Wolf ¡°Shit.¡± Aleena shouted. ¡°To the bunker!¡± Jack cast earth detection, while running back to the bunker. There were heavy footsteps coming at them. ¡°I have counted eight of them, but there is a big one.¡± Stanley said after they got into the bunker. Jack closed the entrance without a word. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Patrick asked. Nobody needed to answer, as a big, two meters tall wolf appeared from the trees, accompanied by seven more regular wolves. ¡°This is an elite group.¡± Stanley said bitterly. The alpha looked at them through the small hole in the bunker. ¡°I think this is a 4th tier.¡± Aleena said, and continued. ¡°We need to find an idea how to escape. Fast.¡± 15. 4th tier The situation was grave. This was one of the situations when whole teams were wiped out. ¡°Can we kill it?¡± Lillie asked. ¡°No.¡± Stanley and Aleena answered together. ¡°How about Aleena¡¯s fire, or Stanley¡¯s water spell?¡± Patrick asked. ¡°It¡¯s a 4th tier. It most likely has some resistances to foreign mana types. The fire and water resistance are most common.¡± Jack explained. The wolves ran around, looking for an entrance. The 4th tier walked slowly, eying its prey. ¡°Ok. What now?¡± Lillie asked. ¡°We need to run away.¡± Aleena answered. ¡°Can¡¯t we defend here?¡± Patrick asked. ¡°We won¡¯t be able to kill the 4th tier. It will get to us sooner or later,¡± Aleena explained. The 4th tier wolf stood calmly outside. It hadn¡¯t attacked, yet. ¡°How do you want to escape? The 4th tier will manage to chase us down for sure,¡± Jack asked. ¡°Lillie will be a bait,¡± Aleena said. ¡°No.¡± Jack replied. ¡°Do you want to kill me?¡± Lillie asked, accusing. ¡°You will be most likely fine. Use your air mana and jump up the trees. Wolves won¡¯t be able to climb. At worst you will need to block some ranged magic attacks.¡± ¡°And then what? Do I wait until it gives up?¡± Lillie asked sarcastically. ¡°You should move towards the frontier. A 4th tier is a good prey for the lieutenant. You just need to bait it.¡± Lillie didn¡¯t say anything, thinking it over. Jack didn¡¯t. ¡°It¡¯s a bad plan. The 4th tier is too strong, there is a good chance it will be able to kill Lillie. Or it will just give up on her. She is one person, but there are four of the rest. We all have more essence than Lillie.¡± ¡°So, do you have a better idea?¡± Aleena asked sharply. Jack didn¡¯t. The smaller wolves came to the bunker walls and started digging. ¡°How long do we have?¡± Stanley asked. ¡°They don¡¯t do much damage. I have inscribed earth mana producing spells on the walls, which are quite hard as the result. With the wolves¡¯ speed of digging, we have at least 20 minutes until they dig through.¡± Jack informed. ¡°How can we get out?¡± Lillie asked. ¡°Jack, can you make an exit?¡± ¡°Sure, but it will be also an entrance.¡± Jack checked his clarity: 456/590. He had been using spells for some time. He would need to ration his clarity in this fight. ¡°How about a tunnel?¡± Stanley asked. Jack groaned. ¡°I could, but it won¡¯t be long enough. I don¡¯t have that much clarity.¡± He added after a moment. ¡°We need to do something about the 4th tier. Al least we need to hurt it, so it won¡¯t chase after us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the hard part.¡± Stanley said bitterly. Jack cast his beam spell. He hoped to blind the wolf. He knew wolves used smells and sounds more, but it was always something. The alpha jumped from the beam course, and hid behind a tree. Jack stopped casting. Aleena sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s do something about these 3rd tier wolves.¡± She created fire mana and pushed it through the bunker¡¯s walls. Jack walked to the wall. The wall was half a meter wide, and Jack¡¯s kinetic spells were quite strong on the other side. He pulled the soil from the ground, and pushed it into wolf¡¯s lungs. It was a bit hard, as he needed to fight against the strength of wolf¡¯s lungs, but his magic was stronger. He left the suffocating wolf, and attacked another one. Earth mana in the walls made it impossible for Stanley to use water mana. Lillie tried to kill with suffocating as well, but the wolves escaped. The ones with the soil in lung were not so lucky though, and died. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 31 Fast Wolf Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 16 Five wolves survived, and retreated. One of them still had soil in the lungs, and suffocated soon after. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 35 Gray Wolf He didn¡¯t get a level. ¡®The second one died too fast after the previous. My body didn¡¯t manage to absorb all essence. Normally, I would try to kill the second one after a few minutes.¡¯ ¡°So¡­ Now the big one should come out.¡± Patrick said. And the big one came. It stopped hiding, and ran at the bunker with anger in its eyes. The team prepared for some magical attack, or maybe for the alpha to try to dig them out, but it was just charging at them. ¡°Shit! It¡¯s going to crash! Help me hold the wall!¡± Jack shouted. He pushed on the wall with his physical strength. ¡°We all need to push the wall with the earth kinetic spell when it will crash!¡± Jack shouted. He was impressed by the wolf¡¯s speed, but also terrified. They would never be able to run away. He wolf hit the wall with its whole body. Tremors went through the bunker, but the wall held, though there was a crack now. Aleena immediately after the hit created fire mana and threw it at the wolf. The wolf jumped back and ran away. Its fur was scorched a bit, but not much. ¡°Fire resistance confirmed.¡± Aleena said. Mana types were created inside a caster¡¯s body. They need to move through a body to be used in most cases. This was harmful, but everyone could move a mana type. This way, everyone in Jack¡¯s team could cast earth kinetic spell without problem, since Jack¡¯s spell on the wall was creating earth mana on its own. There wasn¡¯t a need for others to produce earth mana.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°My spell on the wall is broken. I can create earth mana on my own, but I won¡¯t be able to push the wall with the kinetic spell, if I need to produce enough nama for you all to hold the wall.¡± Jack said. ¡°Can¡¯t you repair the spell?¡± Lillie asked. ¡°I can, but it will take at least half a minute. I don¡¯t know if I can spend that much.¡± ¡°How do you kill such creature, since it¡¯s resistant to the magic?¡± Patrick asked. ¡°The wolf¡¯s skin can repel mana types, but that¡¯s it. I can scorch it to death still, or burn the air it¡¯s breathing. If we could damage its skin, it should be possible to avoid it¡¯s resistance, by pushing mana through the wound.¡± Aleena explained. Patrick took a stance, and threw a spear at the alpha wolf, which was slowly walking outside, looking for an opportunity. Jack didn¡¯t expect much, but the spear flew fast! It hit the wolf, pricing it¡¯s skin a bit. ¡°How?¡± Aleena asked, completely surprised. Patrick was looking disappointed. He shrugged. ¡°Life kinetic spell works on bone spears. I have merged the strength of the spell with my own.¡± Jack was impressed. Throwing a spear, which was propelled by a spell must have been incredibly difficult. Patrick¡¯s agility must have been very high. The alpha wolf wasn¡¯t amused, though. The monster was only lightly injured, but he had not been able to kill the Jack¡¯s team. The wolf howled, and one of 3rd tiers came forward. The wolf cautiously trotted, hiding behind the trees if possible. It came close to the bunker. ¡°What are they trying to do?¡± Stanley frowned. Dust fell from the roof of the bunker. Jack sent earth mana to investigate. Something was pushing the earth mana in the roof down. ¡°The wolf is sending water mana to the roof.¡± Stanley said. ¡°I could keep the mana at bay, but earth mana is blocking me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the roof will hold.¡± Jack replied. The wolf was too far away, his spell too weak. Jack cast his drill spell and hold it, waiting for an opportunity. When the wolf showed itself from behind a tree, he fired. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 38 Water Wolf Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 17 It seemed enough time passed from his last kill. The main problem remained, though. ¡°So, what do you think? Maybe the alpha would give up.¡± Lille asked. ¡°Doubt it.¡± Stanley said sternly. ¡°Everyone prepare for the alpha¡¯s charge.¡± The monster charged again, but toward another wall, which saved the wall from breaking. The wolf started digging. ¡°Shit. It has earth resistance. Its paws are pushing back earth mana. The wall is going to be down in seconds.¡± Jack shouted desperately. Aleena attacked the wolf with fire mana. She kept her attack for a few seconds, heating the insides of bunker in the process. The alpha howled in pain and gave up, retreating. ¡°The next charge is going to be the last one.¡± Jack warned. ¡°Jack, prepare the drill spell, now!¡± Aleena shouted. Jack cast the spell, but he wasn¡¯t convinced. ¡°The wall will fall! I need to repair it!¡± Jack shouted back. The bunker room was small. The alpha wolf¡¯s body was going to crush them. If this was an Aleena¡¯s murder attempt, it was a very bad one. She would die too. Aleena cast her own spell, and created fire mana. She heated Jack¡¯s drill. The earth changed into lava. Some of the liquid splashed around, as Jack was rotating the drill. ¡°Damn. I don¡¯t have experience with handling liquids!¡± Jack shouted. The wolf charged, leaving them a second. Aleena just shook off the lava from her hands. ¡°Fire it!¡± He fired. The lava hit the wolf in the head. It howled in pain and slowed down a little. Patrick threw his spear, which hit wolf¡¯s leg. The spear¡¯s end landed on the ground and blocked itself, stopping completely the wolf in its run and pushing the spear further in. The wolf fell on the ground, shaking its head in an attempt to get rid of the lava. ¡°What was that?!¡± Lillie asked. ¡°Lava. It¡¯s physical, so no magic resistance is going to help it. Jack, once again.¡± Aleena boasted with a smile. He cast once again, this time trying to use more soil. ¡°Nobody impressed by my trick with stopping the wolf with the spear,¡± Patrick sulked. ¡°Do you think the spear blocked itself so lucky on its own?¡± ¡°You are great.¡± Stanley consoled him. Jack threw the lave once again, but there wasn¡¯t much damage. ¡°Once again, Jack.¡± Aleena half-shouted. ¡°I can¡¯t! I¡¯m low on clarity. I can push myself and fire the drill a few more times, but I won¡¯t be able to cast anymore then.¡± Jack was desperate. They needed to escape. The lava might have damaged the wolf, but it was impossible to kill it with so meager amounts of it. And it was getting hot inside. Aleena didn¡¯t care, but for the rest, it was as hot as in the summer. Jack was all in sweat. ¡°Fine. Jack, open an exit. Lille, you will be the bait.¡± Aleena commanded. ¡°No!¡± Jack shouted. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I will do it.¡± Lillie said, surprising Jack. He gritted his teeth and gave up under the pressure of the group. He just punched one of the walls, as it was barely standing already, and he wanted to conserve clarity. ¡°Go.¡± Lillie jumped out. 3rd tier wolves were afraid of attacking on their own, while 4th tier was still lying on the ground in pain. ¡°They don¡¯t follow her.¡± Stanley commented. Patrick threw another spear with his technique. It flew at the alpha¡¯s head, as he aimed at the eyes. The wolf got hit, one of its eyes were pierced, but the spear was stopped by its skull. The monster howled, and got back on its legs. The wolf bit the spear protruding from its leg, and jerked it off. The alpha wolf charged at the bunker, though limping this time, because of the injured leg. ¡°We need to get out!¡± Stanley shouted. ¡°Wait a bit.¡± Aleena said and started casting. ¡°We won¡¯t survive if we stay here!¡± Stanley argued. Jack and Patrick had already left the bunker.¡° Then get out!¡± Aleena snapped. The monster crashed through the wall. ¡°Ignite breath!¡± Aleena said, and jumped toward the exit. The monster was half-buried in the remnants of the bunker, now, and was shaking its head around. ¡°What was that?¡± Stanley asked. There had been a summer temperature around them because of Aleena¡¯s spells before, but now, it was as freezing as at winter¡¯s morning. ¡°A fire spell, using fire kinetic spell as a base. I have forced most of the heat from the bunker into its nose.¡± ¡°That¡¯s impossible.¡± Jack answered shortly. The monster¡¯s skin was repelling fire mana. The team as running in the frontier direction. The three remaining wolves stayed by 4th tier side. ¡°Hmm. I have moved all heat just under its nose, when it was inhaling. Its nose is half ruined, it won¡¯t be able to sniff as out. Now, we need to loss it.¡± Allena replied with a scoff. Lillie jumped down from a tree. ¡°It didn¡¯t try to chase me.¡± She said with a bit of guilt in her tone. The alpha wolf stood up. Its nose looked burned. The monster ran after the team. It was limping, and it was obvious the run was painful for it, but the wolf ran. It was faster than humans. 3rd tier wolves were running alongside the alpha, flanking it. They were prepared to attack from the flank, since the hunters would be distracted by the alpha. ¡°We won¡¯t outrun them!¡± Stanley shouted. He gritted his teeth. ¡°We need to split up.¡± ¡°Are you stupid? We don¡¯t have a chance against wolf packs on our own!¡± Lillie shouted. ¡°We don¡¯t have a chance against the 4th tier! We need to spit up. One by one. Only Lillie has a chance to outrun it. The wolf will chase the main group. There only will be a danger to the last person who will stay with Lillie the longest.¡± ¡°He is right. I volunteer. I have a method to be fast for some time.¡± Aleena said. ¡°No! I will stay.¡± Jack shouted. He was afraid Aleena had nefarious plans towards his girlfriend. A situation, in which the two girls would be alone with each other and a pack of wolves was ideal to kill Lillie. He wasn¡¯t going to risk it. He couldn¡¯t trust Aleena. ¡°You will die.¡± Stanley stated the obvious. Jack gritted his teeth. He wasn¡¯t going to risk Lillie. He would rather risk his own life. ¡°I will manage.¡± Jack said sadly. ¡°Fine. I will be the last.¡± Patrick announced, to the surprise of everyone. ¡°I have some methods. I¡¯m not going to die. You can trust me.¡± Patrick said calmly. There wasn¡¯t much time for the discussion. At first, they had managed to escape for 200 meters from the 4th tier, but it was only 100 meters now. Aleena dashed to the left. After a few seconds, Stanley ran in the right direction. The wolves were only 50 meters now, still chasing the main group. It was Jack¡¯s turn. He dashed to the left, and ran for a dozens of meters. Jack was low on clarity, so he didn¡¯t use a detection spell, but it seemed, the wolves went after Lillie and Patrick. He sighed. Jack couldn¡¯t go after them. He had to avoid them, and return to the frontier. Lieutenant Bonner would probably thank them for a meal, should the wolf appear close to the frontier. Jack ran. He was using neither magic nor detecting spells, which was a mistake. He understood this, as he ran into a small clearing, filled with wolves. He looked at them. They looked at him. ¡°Shit.¡± 16. Betrayals The situation wasn¡¯t good. Jack was low on clarity. Actually, there were about thirty wolves. Even with full clarity, that was too much to take without any preparations. Magic or not. He ran to the side, hoping the wolves would not be interested in his. That wasn¡¯t the case. One wolf jumped at him from the left. He used his spear, trying to kill it. The spear pierced the wolf, but not deep enough to kill. Another wolf attacked from the right side. He hit it with the blunt side of his spear. Pain. Another wolf bit his left leg. He thrust his spear, but the wolf let go and retreated in time. Another wolf jumped at him. ¡®Shit.¡¯ And another one from the opposite direction. His arm was bitten. He ran. He searched for an opportunity. A place to hide, or escape, or.. He was going to die. He ran. He tossed boulders at wolves, but he either missed, or broke a few bones at best. He was bitten. Jack cast the minor strength spell, but the difference was minimal. The wolves could attack more aggressively, but they didn¡¯t want to risk their lives. Jack knew he would not be able to outrun them. He cast minor recovery spell, he was low on clarity, but he still had some.
Vitality 543/565
Stamina 256/340
Clarity 121/590
He stopped. There were two old, big trees. He would have a bit of cover. Not much, but always something. The wolf jumped, he grabbed it and used its momentum to throw the wolf. Ding¡­ You have new skill ¨C Wrestling lv. 1 ¡®That¡¯s not helping.¡¯ He cast magic. It was hard, but he forced himself. Another wolf charged, Jack thrust his spear. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 14 Wolf His calf was bitten in the meantime. He elbowed some wolf. Kicked another one. His economy of movement skill conserved his stamina, but he was more and more injured. His fur clothes were being ripped apart, giving only a bit of protection. He saw her. Aleena. She was looking at him from the distance. He was delighted. Together, they stood a chance. He wanted to shout for help, but¡­ She turned around, and ran away. His heart dropped, and then, he was furious. He slashed at a wolf, he kicked another one. Jack wanted to kill Aleena, or at least, prove her wrong. He would survive. He wasn¡¯t going to die. He had forgotten the pain. Jack killed another wolf, they were a bit wary of him. A wolf jumped at him. He just wanted to ignore the wounds and kill, but the wolf aimed for his throat. Jack dodged, another wolf shredded his flesh, but he needed to defend his vital organs. Cold sweat purred over his skin. He wouldn¡¯t survive like this. He knew he had to be smart. Wolves were attacking, retreating, and biting him to death. He was fighting back, and casting. Suddenly, he felt fear. He was going to die for sure. The wolves backed away. Right. The spell. He managed to finally create the fear rune on the ground below. He fell on the snow. His intelligence raised considerably from the time he was forced to create the spell manually, and he had the dedicated spell for creating runes within the soil now. Ding¡­ Your Economy of Movement skill has reached lv. 43 Ding¡­ Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 22 Ding¡­ Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 23 Jack checked over his bars.
Vitality 218/565
Stamina 126/340
Clarity 57/590
He wanted to cast the minor recovery spell, but his brain refused to listen. He was bleeding. The snow around him melted from his hot blood. He was afraid his own blood would damage the fear spell rune. A wolf tried to attack him, but hesitated as soon as it stepped inside the spell¡¯s effect, and then it ran away from Jack. The spell¡¯s effect was working on him too. He had learned how to overcome it, but this time, he wasn¡¯t even able to think. He fell asleep, full of the fear, surrounded by the wolves. Jack woke up. He felt weak. After he opened his eyes, he saw a bit bloodied snow. A dozen meters below him. Jack groaned. ¡°Don¡¯t move too much, and try not to fall off.¡± Lillie¡¯s voice reassured him. ¡°You have saved me.¡± ¡°You saved yourself. Well, I have healed you, but I¡¯m too weak to defeat dozens of wolves.¡± Jack looked around. He was hanging from a tree branch, with a face toward the ground. He moved, as he wanted to at least sit on the branch. Lillie was sitting near him. Jack was surprised to see Stanley. ¡°How about him?¡± ¡°I found him in a similar situation to you. He seemed to kill more wolves, though. And he was still conscious when I pulled him up.¡± She continued. ¡°I thought when I found you, it had been a very bad idea to split, but I don¡¯t know now.¡± ¡°Why?¡± She sighed. ¡°That 4th tier would kill us all, while now, at least you and Stanley are alive.¡± ¡°What about the rest?¡± Jack asked. It was still hard for him to think. He checked his bars.
Vitality 328/565
Stamina 93/180If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Clarity 98/590
¡®Great.¡¯ She thought sarcastically. ¡°How long have I been asleep?¡± ¡°Not long. Maybe half an hour. I don¡¯t know anything about Aleena and Patrick.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you see what happened to Patrick when you split?¡± She frowned. ¡°Well, the wolves went after him, as he was slower, but they quickly returned to chase me. It was like they lost him.¡± ¡®I suppose he really has some skills.¡¯ Jack didn¡¯t ask about Aleena. The memory of her betrayal was like a dream to Jack. A short dream behind the fog. He even thought for a moment it wasn¡¯t real, but he knew better. ¡°I have lost the wolves by jumping up a tree. They tried to wait until I would be forced to climb down, but when they saw how I can jump between trees, they gave up.¡± Lillie continued. He was happy she was okay, but he wasn¡¯t that much interested how she escaped. Jack still remembered his near death experience, and wanted to concentrate on the current situation. Jack looked over his body. He didn¡¯t want to use clarity for the spell. There were scabs on his hands, and legs. They were hurting. His fur clothes were ripped and he was cold, at least in a part from the lack of proper clothes. Coupled with dizziness, he easily deducted it was from the blood loss. They had to return to the base. Stanley was unconscious. Lillie woke him up, by slapping his face. Meanwhile, Jack thought about using trees¡¯ branches as a route, but he dismissed the idea. He was too heavy to jump from a branch to a branch. Jack was also anemic now, so he was weaker than normal. Only Lillie with her air mana could jump like that. He checked his status. His endurance cap was lower than normal, though the fraction of endurance to the cap was the same as before. ¡®Interesting. I have the same strength, though I feel weak. If I didn¡¯t have the status, I would think my strength is lower.¡¯ ¡°Stanley, are you okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± He said, visibly dazed. ¡°How about Jack?¡± ¡°I have treated his wounds, but he isn¡¯t okay.¡± Lillie answered. ¡°How about you?¡± ¡°I said I¡¯m fine. I have recovered a bit of clarity. Not enough for a fight, but hopefully, enough to avoid wolves¡¯ packs.¡± Stanley said. ¡°Let¡¯s go, then.¡± Lillie commanded. She helped them climb down, by holding them by a hand and lowering it. She just jumped down, using air mana to temporary lower her mass. They ran through the forest. Lillie and Stanley were using their detection methods, so the group could avoid wolves packs. Jack was the slowest, as he needed breaks. He could sprint as fast as before, but he easily tired in his current situation. Stanley even offered to carry him. Jack agreed. He felt a bit useless, but they needed to move fast. ¡°There is a wolf pack in the south-west. We need to go a bit in the northern direction to avoid them.¡± Stanley said. ¡°Wait. I think the wolves are fighting a human.¡± Lillie grimaced. ¡°You know we can¡¯t help anybody in our current state. You can¡¯t even be even sure it is a human.¡± Jack sighed. ¡°I could cast the light detection spell, though it might bring wolves to us.¡± ¡°Use it in the air. Whoever they fighting, I bet the wolves aren¡¯t looking at the sky.¡± Lillie said. Jack started casting. His clarity was low, but it recovered a bit. He often pushed himself to this point in his trainings, so he was able to cast relatively without trouble. A trail of light went toward the sky, above the wolves. Jack saw the fight. He also saw the person fighting with wolves, and he regretted he had cast the spell. ¡°It¡¯s Aleena.¡± ¡°Shit. We need to rescue her. Any plan?¡± Lillie cursed. There was a momentary silence. Jack ended it. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Come on. Speak only about constructive things.¡± Lillie complained. ¡°No.¡± Jack said once again with a sigh. ¡°Let¡¯s not rescue her.¡± Lillie and Stanley both glanced at Jack with a surprise in their eyes. He continued. ¡°The wolves you rescued me from, Aleena was there. She saw I was losing, and she left me.¡± Jack said bitterly. Lillie looked conflicted. Stanley nodded. ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s leave.¡± Stanley continued after he cast his detection spell once again. ¡°She found us out. She is asking for help. I can detect a help word, probably out of fire mana. My water mana cannot get there.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Jack said, pointing his head in the opposite direction. Stanley went there, caring Jack. Lillie took a moment to think it over, and ran after them. Jack didn¡¯t know whether Stanley had thought the same as him before, or maybe Jack had convinced him. After all, it was a part of Stanley¡¯s plan. Jack had to admit, the revenge was feeling good. His body felt cold, but he felt a hot ball of fire in his chest, filing it, and even making it hard to breath from the emotions. He never thought of himself as that kind of man, but he was feeling good about the revenge, despise his wounds and anemia. The three of them walked through the snowy plain. The frontier was visible, and they could expect some help, should they be attacked. Jack already had regrets. The revenge was good at first, but he had probably killed Aleena. The fire in his chest was gone, there was only tight, heavy feeling, weighting him down. Regrets. Would the military learn about it? He didn¡¯t want to be sent to the black guard. Stanley agreed with him, so¡­ ¡®Stanley is more knowledgeable. He isn¡¯t panicking. It will be alright. Probably.¡¯ He had left Aleena to die. What Lillie thought about it? He felt terrible. The anemia was making it even worse. He didn¡¯t want to kill her. Jack wanted a revenge, to leave her when he would be needed. He wanted her to stop trying to kill them and be so arrogant. She was dead now. Probably. Jack thought, would it be better, if she was still alive? How would he talk to her? He didn¡¯t know whether it would be better or worse. There was also Patrick. Jack didn¡¯t know if he was still alive, but he assumed so. Hoped so. Should he tell him what happened? How would he react? This was all a mess. He wanted to turn back time and decide differently. Would that help? They had been wounded and tired, not in a state to fight wolf pack, but they hadn¡¯t even tried. Soldiers on the walls were giving them a pitying look. They were three members out of five, and Jack was even carried, due to his wounds. The team crossed through a tunnel under the frontier. The tunnel was maintained by soldiers capable of earth magic, making it possible to close it during a monster attack. There were military emergency healers on standby, but Jack couldn¡¯t be healed more by magic. He needed a blood transfusion, or a rest. They went to their house. ¡°Hello. What took you so long?¡± Patrick was sitting in the main room. He was fine, there wasn¡¯t any mark of injury on him. Jack was surprised. He expected Patrick to be alive and return, but he thought Patrick would return with another team, or maybe after some time. ¡°How it is possible you were faster than us?¡± Lillie asked the obvious question. Patrick didn¡¯t have a detection spell, he couldn¡¯t evade the wolf packs like they had evaded. Patrick shook his shoulders. ¡°Maybe you were slow.¡± He looked at Jack. The meaning was obvious. Stanley placed Jack on the bed, and went to lay down on his own. They all wanted to have a few hours of sleep to recover their clarity after hours of spell casting. ¡°Patrick, how did you escape from the 4th tier wolf?¡± Lillie asked. Jack also wanted to know. That was interesting, and distracted him from his current problems. ¡°It¡¯s just a trick. Nothing interesting.¡± He said dismissively. ¡°Patrick. Such trick could save our lives, especially if it¡¯s easy.¡± Stanley said sternly. Patrick groaned. ¡°It¡¯s not easy. I mean, only I can do it. It¡¯s¡­ family¡¯s heirloom. A magic tool. Nothing interesting.¡± It was interesting. Jack was sure Patrick was from the countryside. It was unusual for a peasant¡¯s child to have a magic tool. It was either a fortuitous encounter, or Patrick¡¯s ancestors were some kind of nobles, or maybe retired hunters. The possibilities were quite a few. He was too tired to think. ¡°What about Aleena? Is she dead?¡± Patrick asked, the question was a bit indifferent. Jack didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°We don¡¯t know.¡± Stanley started. ¡°We split up. She was chased by wolves, so¡­ we don¡¯t know.¡± Jack went to sleep. Jack was woken up by the creaking doors. He looked up. Aleena was standing there. She had bloodied clothes. Her armor was damaged. Her left arm was unnaturally white. A bit below her shoulder, her left arm had a huge wound, like someone tried to bite the arm off. ¡®Or is that a scab?¡¯ It was dark in the room, Jack couldn¡¯t see clearly, but he could see her face. Tired and calm. It was eerie. So calm, like he hadn¡¯t tried to kill her. Like it was a dream. ¡®Is it a dream?¡± Jack couldn¡¯t tell. Maybe it was. Aleena took a step forward, and swayed from side to side. Her legs were shivering. Jack was afraid. He was lying in his bed, anemic, full of regrets. She was standing there. Calm. He thought her furious, mad with anger. He felt her presence was unnatural, like she shouldn¡¯t be here. ¡°Aleena.¡± Stanley said. ¡°I¡¯m glad you survived.¡± She looked at him, tired, resigned. ¡°We were wounded. We couldn¡¯t help you.¡± This was true, but Stanley voice¡­ was mocking. Jack understood, this was part of the plan, but he envied Stanley¡¯s bravery. ¡°I understand,¡± she replied simply. ¡°I would have done the same in your position. It¡¯s the best that everyone survived.¡± Aleena walked to her bed, and lay down. ¡®That¡¯s it? So simple?¡¯ Jack thought, but quickly understood it wasn¡¯t the end of his problems. ¡°Can I go to sleep? Is she going to kill me in my spell?¡± He thought he may be forced to stay vigilant all night. The current situation had a good side, though. He wouldn¡¯t be arrested for the murder. The black guard was once again something far, and unimportant in his life, rather than a place he might be forced to go. Jack decided to just go to sleep, as he doubted Aleena would directly kill him in his sleep. 17. Tools Jack woke up. He looked at Aleena¡¯s bed. She was there. He had not been dreaming. Jack lay back in his bed. His body hurt, and he didn¡¯t want to get up. The rest of his team got up, with an exception of Aleena. She was also in a bad shape. ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan?¡± Lillie asked. It was awkward sitting in the same room with Aleena. ¡°I talked yesterday with some people. Apparently, there were a lot of casualties among hunters because of the wolves. Most teams want to wait it out. I think we should do the same. We have two injured members, and we need to wait until you recover, anyway.¡± Stanley analyzed. The team dispersed. Only Jack and Aleena were left in the room. Jack started the day with his usual mental training. His body was weak, he wasn¡¯t able to train for long. He checked his status.
Name: Jack
Age: 15
Class: Survivor Level:17 43% to next lv
Stats: Base Essence reinforced
Strength 15.23/25 38.98 (20% + (6+2)%/level)
Endurance 8.16/15.04 18.66 (10% + (6+2)%/level)
Intelligence 19.76/25 82.59 (40% + (6+8)%/level)
Mental Endurance 11.61/15.95 36.8 (20% + (6+5)%/level)
Agility 19.18/30 62.71 (40% + (7+4)%/level)
Perception 12.33/20 31.56 (10% + (6+2)%/level)
Affinities
Life Fire Earth Light 9.89% 0.17% 5.68% 5.67%
Class skills
Economy of movement Scavenging 43 7 +10% to agility
Professions: 5/5
Conman IV Masochist IV Spearman VII Wizard III Battle mage V
Fighting skills:
Sword handling 8
Spear handling 37 +10% to agility
Archery 17
Battle precognition 6
Footwork 43 + 10% to strength
Wrestling 1
Magic skills:
Rune Shaping 33 +10% to intelligence
Spell slinging 25 +10% to intelligence
Words of Power 15
Meditation 1
Parallel thinking 33 + 10% to mental endurance
Crafting skills:
Farming 19
Cooking 10
Crafting 11
Trapping 13
Utility skills:
Analyze 21
Charisma 35 +5% to intelligence and perception
Pain Tolerance 23
Mental intrusion resistance 22
Tracking 12
Sneaking 9
Vitality 332/510
Stamina 171/180
Clarity 125/360
His endurance and mental endurance had been lowered. Training was going to be harder for some time. Jack planned to train his muscles a bit, but he needed to be careful about his condition. Jack sat in the room with Aleena for some time. She was training in meditation, but the situation was very awkward. Jack didn¡¯t know if she knew he had been the one who left her. Jack obviously knew she had left him before. The level of awkwardness reached its limits, in Jack¡¯s opinion. He got up, and walked out of the house. Jack walked towards Bob¡¯s house. Jack was afraid something might have happened to his brother. He went into the house, and immediately got frightened. People there were crestfallen. He looked for his brother, and he sighed in relief when he found him with his eyes. Jack looked around his brother¡¯s house, and counted only three members. It was obvious what happened. ¡°Hey.¡± Jack sat beside his brother with an effort. ¡°What happened to you?¡± Bob asked with worry, seeing Jack¡¯s condition. ¡°I got wounded.¡± ¡°By wolves?¡± Bob asked, and clenched his fists. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Did someone die in your team?¡± ¡°No. We were lucky.¡± Jack replied carefully. He didn¡¯t know what he should do or say. He just sat with his brother in silence. ¡°I suppose we were also lucky.¡± Bob started crying. Bob¡¯s team members followed in his lead. Jack felt awkward once again. He didn¡¯t belong here, but he stayed for his brother. ¡°What happened?¡± Jack asked. Bob shrugged. ¡°We encountered a pack of wolves. About twenty of them. We started the fight, and kept the formation. It was going fine. At first.¡± Bob stopped for a moment. ¡°We killed a few of them, but in a moment, Jeff got distracted, and broke our formation. They got him.¡± Tears reappeared on Bob¡¯s face. ¡°We weren¡¯t able to fight them one on one, there were too many of them. We started running away. They hunted us. Dorothy died in the run.¡± Bob stopped once again for a while. There was an intense hatred in his eyes. ¡°We were lucky. We encountered another team.¡±If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Jack could understand the situation. Bob was able to cast fire magic, but he wasn¡¯t as good as Aleena. A wolf every few seconds was his limit. His teammates were mostly weaker than him. This was a problem. Jack didn''t care about these guys, but his brother¡­ he could not die. Jack was racking his brain for a solution, but he wasn¡¯t able to find one. A week passed. Jack was getting better. He was sure he would be completely fine after another week. Aleena was also getting better. Bob stopped grieving, but Jack still wasn¡¯t able to find a solution to the problem. The high tier wolves had been hunted down by lieutenants and the colonel, while 3rd tier hunter teams had taken care of the rest. Soon, Bob would hunt again. He was waiting for replacements for the death team members. Jack wasn¡¯t able to do anything in the end. Bob went into the exterior, but this time, his whole team was afraid of risks. They only hunted close to the frontier, and retreated at the smallest sign of troubles. Jack was happy about the outcome, even though it was because of their trauma. Jack just hoped his brother would be alright. Jack knew Aleena contacted her family a few days after the encounter with the 4th tier wolf. Stanley said it was fine, and her family wouldn¡¯t be able to do much to them, but Jack was anxious. Today, a travelling trader delivered a package to Aleena. She spoke when the whole team was in the home. ¡°Hey. I got a package from my family, and I have a present for each of you.¡± Aleena said with a smile. ¡®Present?¡¯ Jack was expecting trouble. ¡°I know our relations were a bit cold in the past, but I hope to change it. I was partially my fault, and I¡¯m sorry for that.¡± She explained calmly and her face looked sincere. Jack was shocked. It was the opposite he expected. ¡°So, let¡¯s be friends!¡± Aleena said with a smile. ¡°I have a few magic tools as presents for you. It¡¯s nothing much, but I hope it would strengthen our team.¡± Aleena gave an enchanted flask to Patrick. It collected water from the air and stored inside, so the flash was refilling itself with magic. Lillie got an amulet. The magic tool had a switch, which completed the spell on the amulet. The tool produced fire mana when turned on. It was meant to be used as a mobile fireplace. Both tools were simple. Jack could create both effects with his magic, though he had to admit, the tools were more practical. Jack thought Patrick would not be impressed with the flask as he had his heirloom, but he looked blissful. Patrick treated the flash as a great treasure. Lillie was less impressed, but she was also happy with her new toy. Stanley got a small bone shield. ¡°This shield have a shadow spell inscribed on it. The spell has an effect of weakening magic when triggered. The material itself is from a high tier monster¡¯s bones.¡± ¡°What does the spell do concretely?¡± Jack asked. It was awkward to ask Aleena, but his curiosity was greater. ¡°You should know the shadow mana has an effect of concealing and diminishing . The spell effect diminishes everything before the shield. The effect is very weak against living beings, though. The spell was created mainly to weaken other spells¡¯ effects.¡± Aleena answered without a fuss. Jack was impressed by the spell. There wasn¡¯t much about the shadow magic in the library. Aleena gave a lightning wand to Jack. ¡®Wand?¡¯ The tool created lightning mana, which allowed to cast spells with lightning mana, even if someone didn¡¯t have the affinity. ¡°This wand¡¯s core is a lightning crystal, so it¡¯s quasi-artifact.¡± Aleena said with a smile. Jack didn¡¯t know much about the crystals, only that it was something expensive. He was ashamed to ask, though. ¡°What is a quasi-artifact?¡± Lillie asked a different question. ¡°I suppose I should explain.¡± The statement could be interpreted as a Aleena¡¯s arrogance, but it was a fact that most of the team members were country bumpkins. They didn¡¯t mind. Aleena also wasn¡¯t speaking with an arrogant tone. ¡°Generally, enchanted items are classified into three categories, that is, magic tools, quasi-artifacts and artifacts. The magic tools are the simplest. There are just items with spells inscribed on them. The worth of a magic tool is mostly bound to the enchanting spell. Some magic tools are simple trinkets, nearly useless, some are useful, but not overly so, and there are magic tools with high tier spells.¡± Aleena continued. ¡°Artifacts have their own power source. Magic tools take essence from the air. For casters, most of magic tools are not very useful, as lower concentration of essence means weaker spells. Magic tools usage is mostly situational for casters. Artifacts are a way better in battle. Some artifacts are just essence batteries. It¡¯s useful in a pitch. You can considerably boost your next spell.¡± The ability to store essence indeed seemed useful. ¡°Artifacts don¡¯t disrupt casting, so they are the best, though our ability to store essence is suboptimal. The storing runes are just layered essence moving spells, they use some essence on their own.¡± ¡°Then what about quasi-artifacts?¡± Lillie asked. Jack also wanted to know. The wand was a quasi-artifact after all. ¡°The wand has lightning crystal as a core. Crystals are expensive and rare materials, capable of storing elemental mana. You will still need essence to cast spells, but creating elemental mana is often the process that consumes the most of essence.¡± Jack tried his wand. It was 15 centimeters long, created with two pieces. The handle was wooden, and the rest had been created from metal. Jack could try the earth detection spell, but he was afraid he would destroy the wand, as there was the conflict between earth and lightning mana. The amount of lightning mana in the crystal wasn¡¯t great. It was enough for a one attack, with a strength of a weak 3rd tier spell. Jack was still elated, this wand had just provided his strongest and fastest attack. The drill spell was strong, but the casting was taking 5 seconds with Jack¡¯s current intelligence. He looked at Aleena, and sighed in his mind. These days, talking with Aleena was the most awkward thing in the world. ¡°Thank you for the present.¡± It was proper to give thanks. Jack spoke with Stanley. ¡°I don¡¯t know how she was able to behave like that.¡± Jack complained. The results were obvious to Jack. They had won. Aleena had had to make peace with the team. The gifts were a simple way to do so. Jack agreed to reconcile, as it was part of Stanley¡¯s plan. ¡°Why not?¡± Stanley asked. ¡°She has lost, but she isn¡¯t mad about it, or sad, she just smiled and happily talked with us.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you should think in terms of loss or win here. This is a kind of compromise. She has a good team, though not as good as she wanted initially.¡± Jack frowned. ¡°Maybe. But it feels to me like she won, like she played us all along.¡± Jack didn¡¯t like it. He wanted to see her despairing face. Stanley shrugged. ¡°And she can still try to kill us.¡± Jack continued. ¡°I doubt it. She gave us magic tools, you even got quasi-artifact.¡± ¡°She can recover the tools from our corpses.¡± Jack countered. ¡°Only if she will kill us personally. Let me give you advice. Don¡¯t pick a fight with Aleena. It¡¯s not worth it.¡± Jack looked at Stanley, betrayed. His emotions were telling him to do opposite. ¡°Look. A smart person knows when to fight, and when to retreat. These are just politics. I don¡¯t have much experience myself, but I have been able to see some of it in the past. My father is a baron after all. Don¡¯t let your emotions tell you what to do. Choose the path of the most benefits for you. Fighting still with Aleena gives you nothing.¡± Jack felt hurt. ¡°Take a look at Aleena¡¯s actions. She wanted to kill us, but when she understood it wasn¡¯t worth it, she immediately changed sides, and she is going to be our best friend now.¡± Jack groaned. He didn¡¯t like it, and needed to think this over. Stanley was right. Jack didn¡¯t want to be a hypocrite. He decided to make amends with Aleena, even though he was emotionally against it. ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± Lillie asked. ¡°About Aleena.¡± He said. ¡°I¡¯m thinking how should I treat her from now on.¡± He added with haste, to make sure Lillie wouldn¡¯t misunderstand. Lillie shrugged. ¡°You have a bigger grudge than me. She didn¡¯t attempt to kill me. I can¡¯t advise you, and I got this amulet, so I¡¯m bought, though it¡¯s not as good as I thought. ¡± ¡°Were you scammed?¡± Jack asked. ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­¡± She paused for a moment, searching for words. ¡°The amulet could be better, I suppose.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t turn it off with my hands. It¡¯s super hot when turned on. I need to use something. After that, I can¡¯t place it on my neck, unless I want to be burned. It¡¯s a handy trinket for a fire affinity caster, but no so for me.¡± That was another point to not trust Aleena, Jack thought. He sighed. ¡°What would you do if you were me?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± She said, after a moment of pondering. In the end, it was a matter of choosing between his feeling and being wise,. ¡°No matter what you will choose, I¡¯m going to support you.¡± Lillie said. ¡°Really?¡± Jack was a bit surprised. ¡°Obviously. You are my boyfriend. Even if you will choose wrong, I¡¯m going to support your decision.¡± Jack was very happy about Lillie¡¯s declaration, but¡­ ¡°It can bite you too, you know. It¡¯s true that fighting Aleena is not the best option.¡± ¡°My best option is you.¡± She said with a smile and hugged him. Jack decided to give up. He couldn¡¯t really do anything to Aleena, as his team members would probably stop him. Lillie may be an exception, but it was still three against two. He also didn¡¯t want to kill her. If she wanted to be a normal, responsible team member, Jack wasn¡¯t against it. ¡®Stanley said Aleena presence is beneficial to us, but this is only in fights¡­¡¯ Jack wanted to make a use of her, especially if she was going to cooperate. He went to see her. It was awkward, but Jack managed to convince himself, that it was too beneficial to give up. ¡°Aleena, can I ask you for an advice?¡± Jack thought the answer would determinate if Aleena was going to change her behavior for real. ¡°Sure.¡± She answered a bit surprised, but quickly smiled amiably. ¡°I have a problem with meditation skill. I got the first level, but it kind of not working for me.¡± Jack wanted to get as much information as possible from her, using the opportunity. ¡°The meditation skill is all about the depth. System measured your meditation skill as one, so you can¡¯t go deep in the meditation. There is no trick, you just need to train slowly, and patiently.¡± She gave him a few advices. They talked for an hour. Jack was not trusting her and was vigilant, but it was hard to keep such attitude, when Aleena was smiling and was anything but friendly. Jack managed to level up his mediation skill a bit, though the skill still wasn¡¯t useful. After another week, Jack returned to perfect health. His caps were once again as high as they should be. Aleena also had got better some time ago, but the team waited for Jack. They went into the forest to hunt. 18. Bad luck ¡°Nothing.¡± Lillie said. ¡°Me too.¡± Aleena said. There were no monsters in the surroundings, with an exception of low level rodents. ¡°We need to go deeper.¡± Aleena added. Jack was reluctant. ¡°She is right. We can¡¯t wait, when other teams are taking risks and leveling up.¡± Stanley said. ¡°Fine.¡± Jack agreed reluctantly. They walked slowly. Lillie, Aleena and Stanley were using their detection spells regularly, searching for a prey, and looking out for a danger. The further from the frontier, the greater risk of encountering high tier monsters. Jack didn¡¯t want to risk too much, but monsters were really wiped out thoroughly either by wolves, or hunters. They found something after another five kilometers. ¡°There is a bird in that direction. I think it¡¯s a hallola bird.¡± Aleena said. ¡°Which means a possible high tier.¡± Stanley replied. ¡°Hallola birds are herbivorous, there isn¡¯t much danger, even if the bird is 3rd tier, though 4th one could be dangerous.¡± Aleena said. Hallola birds were one of the relatively rare species which ate trees. They had an acid gland, which they used to damage trees¡¯ bark. ¡°We could get some money for its acid sack.¡± Jack said. He wanted money for equipment, like an armor. ¡°How do we kill it?¡± Lillie asked. ¡°We need a fast attack that will damage one of its wings.¡± Aleena said. The fastest attacks in the team capable of damaging bird¡¯s wing were Jack¡¯s drill spell, and Patrick¡¯s spear throw. ¡°Patrick, you should try. I don¡¯t have a good aim with my spell.¡± Jack said. The drill spell had strong penetrative power, but lacked accuracy from the distance. They sneaked closer to the bird. The monster had an average size for its tier, it was around 40 centimeters long, from the head to the rump. The rest of the team stopped about 100 meters from the prey, while Patrick went a bit closer. He took a stance, waited a bit, probably casting his spell, and threw the spear. It flew fast, but the bird still managed to spot it. It jumped off the tree and tried to fly away, but the spear was faster, and hit the bird. The monster fell down. The team rushed forward, prepared to finish off their prey. The bird run on the snow, flapping its wings. It flew. ¡®No!¡¯ Jack thought the bird would manage to escape, but it fell down quickly. Jack fired his drill, but he missed. The bird had damaged wing, but it still was able to fly for a short distance. Lillie was the fastest of the team and was closing on the bird. She thrust her spear, but the bird dodged to the side. The rest of the team was left behind. Jack was breathing hard, while running after the bird and Lillie. She was slowing the bird down with wind magic and her spear, but the chase continued. They ran for a kilometer, before Lillie managed to hurt the bird enough. She wasn¡¯t able to kill it on her own, but she further damaged its wings. The rest of the team helped out, with Patrick dealing the finishing blow. Ding¡­ You have participated in killing of lv. 48 Grand Hallola Jack didn¡¯t get the level, but he was close. ¡°We need to butcher it. The acid sack is valuable.¡± Aleena said, still panting a bit. Stanley sharply turned his head. Jack was startled and followed his gaze. They didn¡¯t cast a detection spell. Until now. There was a wolf. Huge wolf, with only one eye, and a few burn scars. Jack was surprised, like he saw a ghost. The wolf wasn¡¯t attacking. It was looking at them, with hatred, and pain in its eye. Jack could tell. It looked the same as his brother¡¯s eyes, after he had lost team members. Jack even felt pity for the wolf, it was lone, without the pack. They were most likely killed. The hatred was directed against them. When Jack noticed this, he felt creeps on his back. He knew this wolf. They barely escaped the last time, and now, they are without a bunker. Without any preparations. ¡°RUN!¡± Aleena shouted, and dashed away from the wolf. Everyone ran, they split up. This was the same tactic as before, but the wolf had already healed it injures. He went after Aleena. Before the wolf could get her, her clothes lighted up, and she burned. Her speed raised up, and she was leaving only vapor in her trail. ¡®She really had a method to speed up.¡¯ Jack was running in the opposite direction. Lillie also went this way, Jack knew they were close. The wolf ran after someone else. Jack didn¡¯t stop. He was channeling the minor strength spell, to run faster. ¡°Lillie!¡± He found her. She was looking for him too. ¡°We need to run to the frontier.¡± She said. He just nodded. They ran for a half of a minute. ¡°It¡¯s coming!¡± Lillie shouted. Jack gritted his teeth. ¡°The wolf must be tracking us with the smell.¡± He said. ¡°We need to spit up. I will bait the wolf, like before.¡± She said, and ran to the side. He agreed, but he wasn¡¯t planning to just leave her. When Lillie and Patrick escaped, the wolf went after Patrick. Jack knew the monster would probably go after him. Jack ran in the opposite direction to Lillie. He cast his drill spell. ¡®It wouldn¡¯t do much, but¡­¡¯ Jack didn¡¯t want to see Lillie hurt. He would rather endanger himself. The wolf ran through the snow. It stopped in the place Lillie and Jack split. Fresh blood was dripping from its jaw. Jack fired his drill. It hit the wolf, which glanced at Jack. ¡®Come.¡¯ Jack thought, but the wolf ran after Lillie. Jack was not thinking for long, he rushed after them. He was too slow, though. Jack would never be able to reach them normally, but he ran. He wasn¡¯t going to give up. There was a movement before him. He cast light detection spell over it. Jack suddenly stopped, as he saw what was going on. There was the wolf, and Lillie. She climbed up a tree, the wolf wasn¡¯t able to reach her. Jack thought quickly. The wolf would go after him now. He dug out snow, and started to roll in the soil, hoping to kill his smell. Jack run, trying to circle around the wolf. He looked back, and groaned. ¡®I¡¯m leaving marks in the snow. It doesn¡¯t even need the smell to track me.¡¯ He wasn¡¯t about to give up, though. He was thinking he may be able to climb up a tree, like Lillie. Jack paled. He could see through his light detection spell, that the wolf jumped up the tree, and started climbing up. Lillie jumped to another tree. The monster was forced to drop back, though it was persistent, the wolf jumped up again. Jack would be no longer be safe on a tree. He couldn¡¯t jump from a tree to a tree like Lillie. He thought about retreating. Lillie seemed fine on her own. The wolf jumped once again, this time, it immediately jumped from the tree¡¯s trunk in a seemingly suicidal attack on a branch Lillie was sitting on. Lillie wasn¡¯t expecting that, but she still managed to jump to another branch. The wolf fell on his back. A snow layer was on the ground, the monster was fine. Jack suspected the wolf would be fine without snow too, as it had a strong body constitution of 4th tier being. The wolf continued. He repeated his maneuver, but this time, Lillie immediately jumped to another tree. The monster didn¡¯t continue his attack, but jumped back to the ground, and ran to the tree Lillie had jumped to before. It was faster than her. It jumped up, and caught Lillie landing on a branch, slashing her skin with its claws. She fell from the tree, and started running to the next one. The wolf stood up from his fallen position on the ground, and dashed after her.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. She jumped up again, but the wolf followed after. She escaped unscathed this time, but it was close. Jack knew he had to help, but he didn¡¯t know how. The chase continued for a minute, and Lillie was losing. The wolf had been injured the last time Jack encountered it. Now, it was not. Its leg no longer limped. At some point, she jumped down on her own, and dashed to a big fallen tree. Jack was bewildered, but he quickly understood, and started screaming in his mind. ¡®It¡¯s a bad decision. Don¡¯t do it.¡¯ Lillie lightly stepped on the fallen tree. The wolf didn¡¯t approach, it retreated for a 50 meters. Fungi were on the fallen tree. Everyone with at least a bit of instinct knew to avoid such places. Most fungi attacked everyone stupid enough to damage them with deadly spores. There were no visible spores, though. Lillie must have been light enough. The wolf was reluctant to approach, but was not giving up. Obviously, Lillie had to leave at some point. Jack had to create a plan. He didn¡¯t have an attack capable of stopping the wolf. It was a 4th tier being, while his best spells were at 3rd tier. He thought about the lightning wand, but he wouldn¡¯t be able to kill the wolf, maybe lightly injure, but it was not enough. He searched through all his skills, and only one was capable of changing the situation ¨C trapping skill. He wasn¡¯t able to cast 4th tier spells with his mind, but it wasn¡¯t a problem to create a trap with a 4th tier spell inscribed on the ground. It would take some time, though. Jack crumbled his light detection spell. He wouldn¡¯t be able to observe the situation, but he needed all his attention for the trap. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t spend much clarity, most for the detection spell. In his chase after the hallola, he had been using stamina. Jack planned a lightning trap, since the wolf was resistant to fire mana. Lightning mana was only charging a material. The true offensive force was a lightning, which was physical, not magical. Jack had to move the snow, as he needed clear ground for the spell. Snow wasn¡¯t a good conduit of electricity. Jack worked as fast as he could, but the whole trap took him over five minutes. The trap was pretty obvious, but Jack hoped the wolf hadn¡¯t had experience with traps. The monster could be intelligent, but without knowledge and experiences, intelligence wasn¡¯t worth that much. Jack cast light detection spell. He had to know the current situation for luring the wolf into the trap. He gritted his teeth. Lillie was in the center of green spores cloud, wounded. Some blood dripped down from her chin. The wolf was throwing rocks, twigs and snowballs with its legs at the fungi. Lillie wasn¡¯t idle, she used her air magic to blow the cloud at the wolf. The monster circled around her, avoiding spores, sometimes increasing the distance. She tried to blow herself some fresh air, but the wolf was constantly attacking the fungi, which triggered more releases of spores. Jack deduced she had tried to escape the spores cloud, but the wolf had made it impossible. Jack ran to her. The wolf was conveniently on the other side of the cloud. When he was one hundred meters from her, she spotted him. There was a doubt on her face. He understood. There wasn¡¯t much he could do normally. He gave her confident look. ¡®Come. I have a plan. You can trust me,¡¯ he tried to say it with his eyes. She saw that and trusted him. She ran to him. The wolf rushed after her, but it tried to avoid the spores cloud. Jack ran. He didn¡¯t wait for her, as she was faster than him. They both needed to reach the trap. The monster was fast, too fast. Jack cast the drill spell. The trap was only ten meters before Jack, and Lillie was ten meters behind him, when the monster caught up. Jack fired his spell, and wolf tightened his jaws around Lillie¡¯s arm. It wanted to pin her down, but the spell aimed for its eye startled the wolf, and it tightened his jaws too strongly. Lillie¡¯s arm was bitten off. She did not stop, and ran. Jack caught her and jumped over the trap. Ding¡­ Your Trapping skill has reached lv. 14 Ding¡­ Your Trapping skill has reached lv. 15 Ding¡­ Your Trapping skill has reached lv. 16 They landed in the snow. Jack could hear crackling sounds of lightning. Jack looked back. The wolf was shivering under power of electricity, and giving a smell of burned flesh and fur. Jack didn¡¯t wait for its death, he grabbed Lillie and ran away. She was light, unnaturally so. She must have filled her body with air mana. Her arm was bleeding, Jack started casting minor recovery to tame blood¡­ ¡°No. No life mana. I have inhaled some spores. If you use life mana¡­¡± ¡®I will help spores replicate,¡¯ he ended in his mind. It was bad. The lost arm was recoverable, Lillie would get it back during her next evolution. Jack could also run back for her severed arm, but it wasn¡¯t the priority. The spores in her body were the worst problem. Jack pushed his arm under Lillie clothes, and took out her amulet. He switched it on and placed on her stump. There was a smell of burned flesh. She wriggled in his arm in pain. He didn¡¯t want to bring pain to her, but they both knew it was necessary. Jack ran for some more distance, and placed Lillie against a tree. ¡°We need to do something about the spores.¡± Spores got into her body through the lungs. They moved to the blood, using it to replicate and produce toxins. ¡°Blood transfusion. I need to share blood with you. There is not enough¡­ No, you are smaller than me, and you have lost an arm. Half of my blood should be enough for you. I will use life spell on my marrow to speed up blood production, and I should survive at least a few minutes with only half of my blood.¡± Jack was rambling, looking for a solution. ¡°It won¡¯t help.¡± She said with a feeble voice. ¡°I would still have spores I my lungs, and you would be dying.¡± Jack gritted his teeth. It was the best he could do. ¡°I¡¯m filling my body with air mana to inhibit spores, I would have died otherwise. I wasn¡¯t slacking on lectures, you know? I know a typical warrior would be already dead.¡± He had learned there were two good methods to deal with spores. You can either use an expensive potion, or use a spell with high affinity. Aleena could raise her body temperature and kill all spores, unless they were elemental fire spores. Jack took her up, and ran to the frontier. ¡°Just hang a bit longer. I¡¯m sure they have a potion in the headquarters.¡± He cast his light detection spell to scout ahead. He wasn¡¯t going to repeat his previous mistake. Light detection was not ideal, but it was something. ¡°You, know¡­¡± Lillie started. Jack only half-listened. He was tired. His stamina was lacking. He had been running for a good part of the day, and he was getting tired, even with his Economy of Movement skill. It was a situation he hadn¡¯t experienced in a while, it was always his clarity that got depleted first. ¡°You are really strong, Jack.¡± Lillie continued. ¡°I knew I wouldn¡¯t be able to fight all those monsters on my own from the beginning. So, I have used you. You helped me with sparring and magic, this was what I wanted.¡± She said. Jack felt like someone punched him very hard. He nearly stopped running. He thought about it and refused. ¡°No. You also helped me a lot.¡± He held her tighter to his chest. ¡°I love you.¡± He said, and looked at her. Her eyes and veins were getting black because of spores, and she was crying. ¡°I love you too, but why can¡¯t you understand?!¡± She tried to shout, but she was too weak. ¡°I¡¯m already dead! You can¡¯t help me! I¡¯m dead!¡± He continued to run. There was still a chance. ¡°Leave me.¡± She said. He was not listening. ¡°It¡¯s coming.¡± She said with a dread in her voice. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The wolf. It¡¯s chasing us. It¡¯s not much faster than you, but it is.¡± He held her even tighter. Another trap? He could try¡­ ¡®No. If Lillie can detect the wolf, and it¡¯s faster than me, I won¡¯t manage to complete it in time.¡¯ ¡°Leave me. I will stop it.¡± She said feebly. ¡°I don¡¯t have more than a dozen of minutes, anyway. I¡¯m dead. Let me be useful for the last time.¡± He was crying. ¡°I can¡¯t. I can¡¯t just let you go. I can¡¯t leave you here, in cold snow, and escape myself!¡± ¡°Please. We will both die. I don¡¯t want you to die,¡± she pleaded. ¡°If you truly love me, do as I like. Please. I beg you. Do not take this, my last pleasure.¡± He had to listen. How could he not? He placed her against a tree. He didn¡¯t want to. He knew he couldn¡¯t do anything. He was scared of the wolf, and he was scared of death. He told himself in his mind, that he was prepared to sacrifice himself, but it was a lie. He was scared of death, and she wanted to stay. He felt terrible. ¡°Go. I will stop it. Make sure you will be far enough. I don¡¯t want to hurt you.¡± She said. He nodded with a face full of tears, and ran. She sat there. The wolf was coming, but she had some time. She crumbled all spells inside her mind, she would need all her intelligence. She created the sacrifice spell. She wouldn¡¯t need her essence much longer. She grabbed the air in four meters around her, and squeezed with a spell. Three meters¡­ two¡­ one¡­ it was harder and harder. She was using all her mind capabilities, but she wouldn¡¯t be able to do something like this, if she wasn¡¯t fuelling the spell with all her essence. The spores were no longer inhibited, her skin was turning black. She felt intense pain all over her body, both from the spores and the sacrifice, and she was tired. So tired, but when would be a better moment to give everything, than now? She wasn¡¯t able to squeeze the air any more. She was losing levels, her intelligence was lowering. She crumbled part of her spell, she just wanted to maintain her air bomb now. ¡®Jack is truly lucky. If he didn¡¯t give me pointers, I wouldn¡¯t be able to modify the spell like this. I hope he will be alright.¡¯ She waited for the wolf. It was hard. She wanted to just fall asleep, but she knew it was not the time. ¡®I always wanted to do something like this. An air bomb. What a waste I won¡¯t be able to see the results.¡¯ The wolf came. She was barely able to see it. She will save Jack. Lillie always knew she would die at some point. ¡®This death is not bad.¡¯ The monster walked closer, but she was happy. Her body stopped hurting, it was just numb. She was tired, just so tired, and it was finally the time. ¡®You won¡¯t get him,¡¯ she thought, and she fell asleep happy. 19. Aftermath He ran. He cried. It was¡­ wrong. He wanted to go back, but he knew he shouldn¡¯t. A loud bang and wave of air threw him on the ground. Jack clenched his fist, while lying in the snow. ¡®Screw it. I¡¯m going back.¡¯ Jack ran once again. His legs were killing him, but he didn¡¯t care. There was a small crater. Snow, soil and plants were pushed from the center. He couldn¡¯t find Lillie, there were only blood marks everywhere. She wasn¡¯t where he had left her. There was the wolf, though. It was still breathing. Its skin was mangled, and there were bones sticking out. Adding the previous damage from the lightning trap, Jack judged the wolf won¡¯t survive, nor it was a danger anymore. He searched for Lillie. He cursed himself he had not taken a different affinity, he could have a better detection spell. He found something. A piece of bloodied bone. ¡®I have studied biology, this is¡­¡¯ He searched through his memories. When he found his answer, he fell on his knees. It was a piece of a human skull. Jack lost all strength. He couldn¡¯t do anything. ¡®This¡­ this can¡¯t be true¡­¡¯ He thought the bone may be from the wolf, it wasn¡¯t over. He searched for more. Jack found more bones. He checked blood marks, some of them were guts, or brain matter. He puked. The realization was too painful. Too cruel. He just sat on the ground. He had neither will nor strength to stand. The wolf was dying. Jack thought to kill it, but he hesitated. ¡®One level. I will only get one level.¡¯ His body couldn¡¯t take more essence at once. He started laughing. ¡®One level. She wasn¡¯t worth only one level. She wasn¡¯t. Her life was worth much more.¡¯ He got up, and dug a small hole with his hand. He didn¡¯t want to use magic. It wasn¡¯t intimate enough. All her bones he managed to find, Jack placed in the grave. He wanted to do more, there were few traditional ways to honor the dead. One of them was to eat the corpse. High tier individual corpses had high essence concentration. Normally, an old dying person was doing everything he could for his family, and often humanity before their death. When there was only a month, or a few weeks before the death, the whole family gathered before the old person. A next family leader killed the dying person, earning a level for himself and everyone present, if the dying person had high level. They ate the corpse next. It was often the wish of the dying people. They could help their loved ones this way. This way, a dead person could give their final gift for the living. Eating such a corpse increased someone level. It was only true for corpses of 4th tiers and higher, but sometimes, a 3rd tier person¡¯s corpse was also eaten, as an expression of respect for a well-deserved. Such people were usually imperial court officials and sometimes a family head of commoners. Lillie was not so strong, eating her flesh would give him nothing. Low tier people were buried in the fields. This way, their corpse would enrich the soil, which would give food for people. It was also a form of a final gift of dead. The only way someone could profane a corpse was to give it to monsters, in Jack opinion. Jack could take her remains, but he wasn¡¯t actually allowed to travel through interior. Besides, she left much better gift. The wolf was still alive. Jack wanted to kill it, to avenge her. ¡®Avenge? What stupid nonsense I have thought? She avenged herself. It will die on its own.¡¯ He cried once again. She had saved him. He had been useless. The wolf was her final gift. ¡®No time to cry.¡¯ He grabbed the wolf and dragged it through the snow. His bars were low, but he pushed himself. He dragged the wolf for hundred meters, to a small mound. He used his magic to burrow in. Jack dug a cave, large enough for the wolf and him. He dragged the wolf in and sealed the entrance, only leaving a small hole for the air. Jack created essence gathering runes on the walls, ceiling, and floor. He pushed his hand into one of wolf¡¯s wounds, and sent life mana to its brain. Jack cast kinetic spell, turning wolf¡¯s brain into mush. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 65 Grand Grey Wolf Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 18 Jack sat in his cave, and leaned his body against the wolf¡¯s corpse. The runes should keep a high concentration of essence in the cave¡¯s air. He just had to stay here, and eat the wolf¡¯s meat. He was tired and fell asleep. Jack woke up. He cried once again. It was dark in the cave. He was alone. Jack wanted to be alone. He was hungry. Jack groaned and stood up. He should be able to cook meat with a spell, but he needed to butcher the animal. Its fur and skin were precious material. Jack had to skin the wolf first. Jack didn¡¯t have a knife or a sharp blade, but he had magic spells. Jack pushed his fingers in the wolf¡¯s jaw. The wolf¡¯s skin wasn¡¯t resistant to magic from inside. This way, Jack was able to bypass wolf¡¯s resistances. Jack slowly skinned the wolf. He used both magic and his muscles. Jack had to be delicate, otherwise, he would destroy innate spells in the skin, which would no longer be resistant against mana. The skin had to be proceeded. Not now, though. Jack still had not leveled more. The fur could wait some time before it would rot. Jack ripped some meat and cooked it, or at least tried. Jack had some experience with cooking, but doing it over a fire spell was a first time for Jack. He finally managed to create something edible after the third time. The taste was poor, but for a hungry person, everything was tasty. Jack ate as much as he could. Ding¡­ Your Cooking skill has reached lv. 11 Ding¡­ Your Cooking skill has reached lv. 12 Ding¡­ Your Cooking skill has reached lv. 13 Ding¡­ Your Crafting skill had reached lv. 12 Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 19 ¡®Good, ¡® Jack thought. Jack continued to butcher the animal. Bones were valuable. Tendons, guts, all had their uses. Jack understood he wouldn¡¯t be able to take all. ¡®Fur and bones are most precious, and I¡¯m planning to eat all meat.¡¯ Jack didn¡¯t have much to do anymore. He was sitting in an area of high concentration of essence, he just needed to wait for levels. Jack thought about his capabilities. He thought about what had gone wrong.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡®I was supposed to be prepared, but I wasn¡¯t.¡¯ His plan was to create traps. ¡®I was trying to hunt like Aleena, but it can¡¯t be my style. I need to create a trap and lure a monster in. I wasn¡¯t even using any illusions, even though I should be able to.¡¯ Jack knew how he should hunt from now on, but there was a problem. ¡®To use such style when in a team, all our plans must be centered about my magic and traps.¡¯ Jack sighed. Should he try to hunt alone? Would the military allow this in the first place? Jack knew he could create spells beyond his tier with his earth sculpting magic. A size of a spell in his mind was determined by his intelligence, but the size of a spell used in a trap was only determined by the length of time used to create the spell. ¡®There is a limit, though. Essence in the air is limited. I can create more and more spell vectors, but at some point, the strength of a spell would stop increasing.¡¯ This was the reason high tier spells concentrated on complicated spells creating exotic effects with minimal usage of essence. ¡®Even with a limit, the style I¡¯m trying to use should be more efficient.¡¯ Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 20 Ding¡­ Your Cooking skill has reached lv. 14 Jack thought about the wolf he was eating. Aleena and Stanley had been able to spot it with their detection spells. Jack could do so too, but his detection spells lacked in comparison. ¡®We chased the hallola without paying attention to surroundings.¡¯ Jack came to realization. He remembered how old hunter struck Aleena when she wasn¡¯t paying attention, and his advice. Jack would never make this mistake again. ¡®But why Lillie had to die? Why couldn¡¯t I learn it faster?¡¯ He cried again. Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 21 Ding¡­ Your Cooking skill has reached lv. 15 Jack didn¡¯t know how many days passed. It was either three or four, though. The meat should get spoiled soon. All essence he had managed to trap should have escaped by now. It was only the essence drawing spell after all. Jack tried to create a better detection spell. He had no idea how to do so, nor any help. He could compare his ideas to spells in the library, but the library was far away. There was no progress. Jack¡¯s mind often wandered, he spoke in the darkness to his imaginations. Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 22 There was no more fresh meat. Jack had eaten his last meal two days ago, then he puked. The meat was too rotten. He should go to the frontier now, but he didn¡¯t feel like it. He lay in the cave. The smell was horrible. Jack had pissed and pooped in a corner before, but now, he just pissed as he lay. Jack heard some sounds. Breaching. Digging. He cast earth detection. Nothing. ¡®Right. It¡¯s something above the ground, idiot.¡¯ He created an eye outside of his cave. A small wolf pack was digging him out. Jack started laughing. ¡°Hahahahaha¡± He rolled in his piss and hysterically laughed aloud. ¡°Preparations. Ha. I¡¯m completely unprepared. I should just die.¡± He stood up. He loathed himself, but he wasn¡¯t going to let the wolves eat him. He observed the pack. ¡®A dozen of 2nd tiers. One 3rd tier, seems to be an elemental variant.¡¯ Ding¡­ Your Analyze skill had reached lv. 22 Jack went to the wall. He casted the drill spell, already creating it on the other side of the wall. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 31 Lightning Wolf The wolves were startled. He just continued to cast his drills. It was easy. ¡®I have leveled a few times. My boost to intelligence must have increased.¡¯ Wolves were not able to attack Jack, they escaped after a few more causalities. Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 23 ¡°Time to go.¡± Jack opened an exit from the cave. He took the fur of the 4th tier and many bones, as much as he could carry. The fur looked fine, even after many days, though Jack wasn¡¯t an expert. He went west, to the frontier, to humans. Jack was using his detection spells most of the time. There weren¡¯t many monsters, though. Jack returned after ten, or maybe fifteen hours, it was dark. Healers checked on him, but he was fine. They took part of bones as a tax. Hunters were supposed to bring some materials every hunt. This was the reason Jack had not been able to get some money before. Materials from 4th tier were a lot more valuable, so they didn¡¯t take all of them. Hunters had free meals so it wasn¡¯t unreasonable. Jack went to crafters first. He wanted to get rid of the fur, before it would rot. Jack knew he reeked. It was normal for people to smell, they only washed in the rain, but Jack reeked. He sighed. A crafter was disgusted, though he started doing business, when he saw Jack¡¯s treasures. Jack requested fur armor. It would use only half of fur he had, the second half would be the payment. Jack sold all remaining bones. He went to the bath house. He needed to pay a bit, but he didn¡¯t want to show up like this. Jack slowly walked into the house. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± Stanley asked. He was wary, judging from his voice. ¡°It¡¯s me.¡± Stanley walked out the bedroom. ¡°Jack!¡± Stanley lunged and hugged Jack. ¡°We thought you died!¡± ¡°No. I¡¯m alive.¡± He said calmly. Aleena also appeared. ¡°Good to see you alive.¡± She said with a smile. Jack tried to peek inside the bedroom. ¡°What about Patrick?¡± Stanley saddened. ¡°We don¡¯t know. He hasn¡¯t returned, nor we have found the body.¡± Jack felt a pang of pain. Patrick was his friend. He wasn¡¯t going to grieve over him, or at least not as much as after Lillie. ¡°He wasn¡¯t able to escape the same way as the first time?¡± Stanley shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. After Aleena used her spell to escape, the wolf went after him. It never went after me, I was lucky. We returned later to the place, but we were only able to find Patrick¡¯s clothes and weapons, including the flask Aleena gave him. Besides that, there was only a wolf¡¯s corpse with a throat bitten by the alpha.¡± This was suspicious, though Jack suspected it had something to do with Patrick¡¯s mysterious heirloom. Stanley continued. ¡°We thought everyone alive would quickly return, but¡­ There were only me and Aleena.¡± ¡°What now? How long have I not been here?¡± Jack asked. ¡°Eight days. Is Lillie¡­¡± Stanley asked hesitantly. Jack shook his head. ¡°She is gone.¡± He fought the urge to cry. Jack didn¡¯t want to show his miserable face to Aleena and Stanley. It was a bit easier to not cry now, after a week. ¡°Our team has been disbanded since three days ago. We were waiting for a new assignment. I will make a petition to preserve our team. We will need to wait for new members, though.¡± ¡®New members, huh.¡¯ Jack didn¡¯t want to see new faces. ¡°Fine by me.¡± He lied. They nodded. Jack slept in a fur bed. It was a lot better than sleeping in the cave, though he felt guilty about it. He stood up and went to the plaza to train. He had nothing else to do. Jack planned to go to the library later to find a better detection spell, but he also thought about that as a training. He was interrupted after two hours. ¡°Jack!¡± ¡°Bob.¡± Bob ran over and hugged him. ¡°I thought you were dead!¡± Bob let him go, and punched him right in the face. Jack was completely unprepared for that and fell on his back. ¡°Why you didn¡¯t come to tell me you are alive?!¡± ¡°Ummm¡­. Sorry. I kind of forgot about you.¡± Jack said ¡°Are you an idiot? I thought you died! I have already buried you!¡± Bob was furious. Jack was ashamed. He really forgot people could think him dead. Bob extended a hand, and helped his get up. Jack was surprised when a fist struck him second time, though he didn¡¯t fall this time. ¡°That¡¯s too much! Stop hitting me!¡± Jack shouted. ¡°I thought you died! You told me I should only try easy targets, and then you died! You idiot!¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m sorry. Lillie died. I needed some time.¡± Jack didn¡¯t want to say it, but this was the best way to silence Bob. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Bob said. Jack shrugged. Bob¡¯s words wouldn¡¯t help. He knew now how Bob had been feeling when his teammates died. Jack knew now his words had not been helpful back then. ¡°Let¡¯s spar a bit.¡± Bob said. Jack was surprised. Bob was rather lazy. ¡°Come on!¡± Bob threw a fireball at him. Jack was forced to defend, though he still got lightly burned. Jack healed himself and fought with Bob. He forgot about Lillie for a moment and concentrated on the fight. The next day Rowan came to Jack. He complained about his deal. Jack even wanted to go to the exterior to find his fucking rats, but he decided to just endure Rowan¡¯s complains. It was too dangerous to go on his own. Jack spent a few more days training, and grieving. One day, Stanley came to him. ¡®You need some fun.¡± Stanley declared suddenly. ¡°I¡¯m grieving. It¡¯s not a time for fun.¡± ¡°You are grieving too much. Do you think Lillie would want to see you like this? You need some fun, maybe just for your mental health. Come with me. I know the place.¡± Stanley grabbed him and pulled forcefully. 19.5. About essence and evolutions The way essence can boost living beings was researched long time ago. Basically, everyone has a spell inside their bodies. A spell, that is using essence to form its shape. Nobody ever managed to create something like that. While spells can be created with nearly anything as long as a correct shape is maintained, essence is the exception. Ability to form a spell from shaping essence is something countless researches spend their lives investigating. The main reason is essence economy. Measurements had proved, that spells in living beings are using essence. The amount is very small compared to the effect, though. If someone could replicate that, their spells could be extremely powerful. ¡­ One of changes in a living being during an evolution is a change in the boosting spell. Another is a change of body. It¡¯s most likely related, but it had never been confirmed. ¡­ The possible classes for the evolution depends on four indicators.
  1. Current class
  2. Professions
  3. Skills
  4. Stats
  5. Achievements
General classes as the human child class offers a wide range of possibilities, while a specialist class offers only advancements in that direction. A class like sword warrior offers only sword related classes for advance. Skills, stats and achievements can unlock better classes in someone¡¯s path. Professions can help to change someone¡¯s path. For example, Swordsman VI unlocks the 3rd tier Great Sword Warrior class. General rule states, that level of a profession needs to be two times as great as a tier someone wants to evolve to. ¡­ There are normal and better classes. Standard sets of stats for men are like this: 1st tier: 10/10/10/10/10/5 2nd tier: 25/25/25/25/25/15 3rd tier: 50/50/50/50/50/30 4th tier: 100/100/100/100/100/75 While for women are like this: 1st tier: 10/10/10/10/10/5 2nd tier: 20/25/25/30/25/15 3rd tier: 40/50/50/60/50/30 4th tier: 80/100/100/120/100/75 Women have lower strength and higher mental endurance, making them better mages and poorer warriors. Practically, changed stats are not enough to stop women¡¯s careers as warriors. Most warriors in the 3rd and higher tiers are using magic anyway, only slightly changing women¡¯s tactics. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡­ Better classes can push stats further. It should be noted, that evolution is adding to the caps, rather than changing them. Any ambitious person will want to always pick the best possible class. Such classes are often hidden behind a skill requirement or an achievement. Picking a class unlocked by a profession is disadvantageous, as the class is a basic one. Having four times profession level compared to the tier can unlock a bit better class, but an evolution on the direct path is nearly always better. ¡­ An evolution to strong class can be dangerous. During the process, most of a body mass is used for the upgrades. There may be not enough body mass to complete an evolution. Such occurrences usually end in death. ¡­ An evolution increases lifespan, which is true for both humans and other life forms. Different animals and plants can have a different lifespan, even while being in the same tier. The lifespan of humans is well known, with the exception of the lifespan of 1st tier people. Without killing, most humans can evolve to the 2nd tier at the age of 12-14, and to the 3rd tier at 30-40 years old, depending on the essence concentration in the place of living, and a person¡¯s diligence. Since 2nd and 1st tiers aren¡¯t dying of the old age, it was hard to gain that knowledge. Many years ago an experiment was conducted, in which prisoners were put in a cell with a very sparse concentration of essence, to check when they will die. Similar experiments were rarely conducted for 1st tier children, as it was found too cruel. The maximum lifespans are: 1st tier ¨C 25 years 2nd tier ¨C 50 years 3rd tier ¨C 75 years 4th tier ¨C 100 years 5th tier ¨C 150 years 6th tier ¨C 200 years 7th tier ¨C 300 years 8th tier ¨C 500 years Most people reach the 3rd tier in their lifespan. Reaching 4th tier only on the natural concentration of essence in the air is rarely seen, at least with the normal concentration, but it is possible while living in a place with a high concentration of essence. ¡­ A few years before death, a person¡¯s vitality drops. This results in lowering of all stat caps. The result can be pretty severe, making a strong person completely lose strength of their tier. ¡­ Many wonder if there is a possibility to change species through evolution. Generally, most scholars assume that no, it¡¯s impossible. Possibilities of what may come out due to procreation are quite interesting, however. In nearly all combinations, the outcome is the most generic class - the human child class for humans, or the wolf cub class for wolves. Variations are appearing in some generic classes. One of the most known examples is a practice of Drake dukedom. Many of their members have high tier generic classes, mostly elemental ones. A couple with the same generic class is producing offspring of the same class. Those children have classes like a Great Human Child, a Fire Human Child, a Water Human Child, or a Fire Champion Human Child, and so on. Starting from the 2nd tier, their classes get an essence boost of the original class, of often 5th tier or even 6th tier. Unfortunately for individuals with such classes, caps are raised standard way each evolution. This allows for an easier start, but forbids from being exceptional at higher tiers. When both parents have a generic class, but a different one, the results are mixed. The most children born from such union have standard the Human Child class. Some, however, can inherit a class either from father or mother. Individuals with an advanced class can still go a different route. They get standard choice each evolution, with one of them keeping a current class. ¡­ Most of essence from fallen monsters disperses in the air. The rest goes to its killers, with the most of it to the one who dealt a finishing blow. There is a limit how much of essence a person can assimilate at once. With a high level pray it is actually possible that everyone who helped with a kill will get the maximum amount of essence. ¡­ 20. Tavern ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea.¡± Stanley said to Bob. Jack¡¯s brother tried to visit, but Jack had been already dragged out by Stanley. Bob had decided to join. Stanley continued. ¡°You are too young.¡± Bob rolled his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m only two years younger than Jack. I¡¯m coming with you.¡± Stanley led them away from the center of headquarters, toward less impressive buildings. There was a soldier every meter on the walls, and headquarters area spanned two kilometers. It could be easily calculated, than two thousand soldiers from headquarters always stood on the walls. Adding two more shifts, over six thousand soldiers lived here. This place was a small town. Total population was even greater, as there were also hunters, crafters, and some merchants. Stanley led the trio through streets inhabited by soldiers. Houses were less impressive here. Hunters had better houses. Stanley stopped before a large house, which was located on a border of the headquarters¡¯ town. ¡°We are going in.¡± Stanley went in, and brothers followed. The first thing Jack noticed was a strange smell. ¡°What is that smell?¡± Bob asked. ¡°Alcohol.¡± Stanley replied. ¡°Come with me. I will buy you a drink.¡± Jack looked around. The room was very spacious. There were men and women there. Some of them drank, some were talking over some stones. In a corner of the room, Jack could spot a few couples having sex. There was even a woman who had sex with two men at the same time. Jack had never thought something like that possible before. Stanley bought drinks for them. Liquid smelled like a whole room, just stronger. Jack took a sip and coughed. ¡°You don¡¯t have anything like this in the countryside, right?¡± The selling drinks guy joked. ¡°I want some too.¡± Bob pleaded. ¡°I¡¯m not paying for you. Buy something yourself.¡± Stanley replied. ¡°I don¡¯t have money.¡± Bob said, but Stanley just shrugged. ¡°Not my problem.¡± ¡°Fine! I¡¯m going to win anyway!¡± Someone shouted. Jack was interested and listened. ¡°But I want you to show your breasts when I win!¡± The previous guy continued to argue. ¡°Why would I?¡± A woman asked. ¡°I still have money, unlike you.¡± The man mumbled something under his nose and tossed something on the table. The woman did the same, and jumped in joy afterwards. The guy scowled in frustration and took off his loincloth. ¡°Everyone around the table laughed, and the man was angry. He jumped on the table. ¡°I have nothing to be ashamed of!¡± He shouted and started showing his genitalia. Jack thought the guy was crazy and drank a bit more of the foul liquid. ¡°Why would someone buy something like this?¡± Jack asked Stanley. ¡°It¡¯s helping with having fun.¡± Stanley said lightly. ¡°Just drink it. It¡¯s like a medicine. The taste is foul, but the effects are nice.¡± He merchant selling alcohol praised his wares. Jack just gulped it all at once, he wanted it to be over. ¡°That might have been too much for him, though¡± The merchant said. ¡°Bro, can I borrow some money from you?¡± Bob asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think you should drink this.¡± Jack replied with coarse voice. ¡°No, no.¡± Bob denied his accusations hastily. ¡°I was going to play with these people. ¡° He pointed at the group with the dick showing guy. ¡°They are gambling. I think I can win some money!¡± Jack frowned. ¡°It is stupid. You should just train more and hunt monsters for money.¡± Jack denied his request. ¡°Why those people would even buy this stuff and lose their money with gambling?¡± Jack asked Stanley. ¡°I know soldiers are getting pain some small salary, but they should save money to invest in the future and buy some equipment. ¡° ¡°I don¡¯t think they want to level that much.¡± Stanley replied. ¡°They would rather have fun.¡± Jack thought it was stupid. ¡®Where is Bob?¡¯ ¡°Hey. Can I play with you?¡± Bob asked. ¡°Hello little one. Do you have money?¡± An older guy asked. ¡°No.¡± Bob said sadly, but quickly added more with enthusiasm. ¡°But I can show my dick!¡± The group laughed. A girl about twenty years old went forward. ¡°Do you want this big sister to see your dick?¡± Bob turned red. She patted Bob¡¯s head. ¡°So adorable little boy!¡± Jack was embarrassed for his brother and turned around away from the group. He hoped nobody would find he was blood related to Bob. ¡°Don¡¯t tease little boy!¡± Someone from the group said. ¡°Half of us don¡¯t have any more money anyway. We can play a few rounds without a wager.¡± Jack wished Bob would concentrate on training and leveling more. Bob was only at the level 12. ¡°Are you not going to have fun?¡± Jack asked Stanley. ¡°I have brought you here to cheer you up, not to have fun myself.¡± Jack didn¡¯t know what to do. He wasn¡¯t going to spend money. He wasn¡¯t going to play with girls. That would remind him of Lillie. The world was spinning. His vision blurred. Bob was playing with money. Someone must have lent him money. Jack groaned. Bob was going to make debts. Jack concentrated on the game. It was a bit hard. They were tossing a cube with a different image on each face. It seemed a correct image was winning the game. Jack had to save his brother. ¡°Bob, you can¡¯t borrow money for gambling.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry bro, I¡¯m going to win.¡± Bob tried to reassure him. Jack groaned in his mind. Now, they knew he was related to Bob. ¡°Yeah. Let your brother play.¡± Someone said. Bob lost. Jack groaned. ¡°I still have some money! I¡¯m going to win the next round!¡± Jack thought about the game. Someone with enough agility could easily cheat. Well, his brother had to win. These idiots were spending their money on alcohol anyway. It wasn¡¯t a bad thing to cheat, and win some money, right? Jack cast small earth kinetic spell on the cube and made Bob win. ¡°Hey! The dice was moving suspiciously! Someone¡¯s cheating!¡± One of the players complained. ¡®Ups!¡¯ Jack thought. ¡°I only know some easy fire magic! It wasn¡¯t me!¡± Bob said. ¡°Maybe your brother?¡± Jack wanted to instinctively take a step back, but he tripped and lost balance. He fell on the ground with a loud bang. All players looked at him. ¡°This guy is dead drunk! It couldn¡¯t be him!¡± Someone said. Jack was embarrassed. ¡°How could I lose balance?¡¯If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Let¡¯s play. We will find the cheater sooner or later.¡± Stanley helped Jack stood up. ¡°Are you fine?¡± Stanley asked. ¡°I think you shouldn¡¯t have drunk that much at once.¡± ¡°I know now.¡± Jack replied with an effort. The group continued to play, Jack had to save his brother. He sat down, and tried to use illusions this time. Jack couldn¡¯t use the invisibility spell, because he needed to deceive everyone he could look at him. A minor illusion wasn¡¯t so hard. Jack just had to change light routes, so only people playing would see something different. Light manipulation was complex and hard. There was a need for a large amount of spell vectors, all pulling in different direction, or from different places. Light was easily moveable, but hard to precisely control. This had a good side, as it allowed to create illusions from a larger distance than a different elemental spell. However, illusions required not only complex usage of spell vectors, but also complex calculations to even attempt to create a convincing illusion. Jack didn¡¯t use illusion much in fights. He wasn¡¯t proficient, and was afraid to test a new tactic in a middle of a fight. He also wasn¡¯t in a good state to do math now, but he tried. Thankfully, the images on the cube¡¯s faces were simple, there were just dots. Someone tossed the dice and Jack tried to cast the spell, but he was too slow. ¡®Damn. It¡¯s too hard. I need to practice on something easier.¡¯ Jack quickly forgot about Bob. A debt wasn¡¯t that important. Jack had to cast some small illusion to practice. He looked around. ¡®Something small¡­¡¯ A man was drinking with friends nearby. When the merchant was selling them more liquor, Jack cast the spell. He changed color of the liquor from transparent to yellow. ¡°Yellow?¡± The guy asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were selling new stuff.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about yellow stuff. I only sell normal drinks. The same as always.¡± The merchant said. ¡°So, what are you drinking?¡± One of the drinking person¡¯s friends asked hesitantly. The guy looked at his drink and retched. He poured out the drink. ¡°Someone pissed into your wares!¡± He shouted at the merchant. ¡°What? That¡¯s impossible!¡± Changing the color was easy. Jack thought it was a good attempt. Jack decided for some more complicated exercise. There weren¡¯t many people in the tavern, Jack could only exercise on drinking people, gambling people and fucking people. He concentrated on the last group, or rather, on one man there. It was easy to create an illusion for only one person. Jack made an ass of one of other guys look like a woman¡¯s ass. Other people would only see a distortion. The man Jack was casting the illusion on wasn¡¯t able to see the other guy¡¯s face. He grabbed the ass and felt it out. The second guy looked over and made a disgusted face, when he saw the man who grabbed him. ¡°Hey. Don¡¯t touch me there! I don¡¯t like guys.¡± ¡°Sorry. Sorry. I thought you were a woman.¡± The man said confused. Jack continued, but he added more asses to the illusion. Ding¡­ Your Spell Slinging skill has reached lv. 26 The poor guy looked at other men asses and turned red. He went to the merchant and asked for a drink. Stanley came over. He had been talking with someone before. ¡°Having fun?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Jack answered. He found a nice way to train illusions, it was fun. ¡°Stanley, I have made an important decision. Maybe one of the most important in my life.¡± Jack said half mumbling in a drunken stupor. ¡°Tell me.¡± Stanley said. ¡°I¡¯m going to be the greatest trickster in the history, and will trick countless people in my life.¡± Jack said proudly. It was a good training, and it was fun. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea. You shouldn¡¯t make such decisions when drunk.¡± Jack knew he was making some people lives worse, but he didn¡¯t care anymore. They were soldiers, and they no longer strived for higher levels. Jack thought it wasn¡¯t bad they can help him with training. ¡®Their lives can have some meaning in this way.¡¯ Jack bought another drink for himself, and that was it. He wasn¡¯t able to remember anything afterwards. Jack woke up with a terrible headache. He cast life detection spell to check on his body, but there wasn¡¯t much wrong he could detect. ¡®My spell is too weak.¡¯ He grimaced and just filled his body with life mana hoping for the best. The effect was small, though it helped a bit. Jack¡¯s opinion on the alcohol changed just now. ¡®It has both terrible taste and effect. I am going to never drink it again.¡¯ Jack didn¡¯t remember anything after the second drink, but he was already embarrassed by what he had been doing before that. Jack sighed after a thought. He needed to practice illusions, but it would be better to practice without causing harm. Jack didn¡¯t feel very guilty, though. Jack wanted to train like always, but he quickly gave up. The hangover was too much and Jack just rested. After the half of the day, Bob came to his house. ¡°Bro, can I borrow money from you?¡± ¡°No. You shouldn¡¯t have gambled.¡± Jack was irritated, he would rather rest than talk. The topic was also irritating on its own. ¡°Only a bit! How much do you have?¡± Jack had 53 lesser coins left. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was something. A drink yesterday cost 2 lesser coins. Jack could buy some cheap trinket for 20-30 lesser coins, though such things were useless to him. Jack wanted something better. ¡°I¡¯m not giving you money for gambling.¡± Jack said sternly. ¡°It¡¯s not for gambling! It¡¯s for paying off debt!¡± Bob argued. ¡°It¡¯s the same thing.¡± Jack sighed. ¡°How much do you need?¡± ¡°Twenty coins.¡± Bob said hastily. ¡°I want you to learn the fire whip. You will get twenty coins then.¡± Bob groaned. ¡°I need money now.¡± ¡°They won¡¯t kill you. Learn the spell. Go. I need to rest.¡± Jack threw Bob out. Jack didn¡¯t want to give money, but he thought it would be better spend money. The spell was the same Aleena had been using during rabbits attack. It gave good defense, even against multiple opponents. A caster could still be overwhelmed by being attacked from all sides, though. Jack would rather see Bob master this spell, rather than buy a useless trinket. Bob had to train every day, his low fire affinity was the most handicapping problem. Most mana types had a detrimental effect on a body, but fire mana also burned it. Without high fire affinity, no fire mage could use fire mana much. Jack spent the rest of the day resting. He started training the next day. His main occupation, excluding standard exercises, was searching for better detection spells. Jack was only able to find a bit better light detection spell, called a telescope spell. The spell moved light in a way, that magnified a far object for the caster. It was only possible to observe things visually, Jack hoped for something like fire, or water detection spell. The spell had a great range, though. The spell¡¯s location was near caster, but observed location only depended on line of sight and size of the telescope. Jack noted a similar spell could be cast with other elements as well. Air magic telescope worked similarly. The spell was hard to manipulate. Casting it in a raw version was relatively easy with Jack¡¯s skills, but adjusting the observed distance or size of the spell required a lot of calculations. Jack also made sure to learn fire, water and air detection spells. He could create a respective mana type creating rune on the ground with his originally trap laying spell. He needed a dozen of seconds to complete a spell, and then he had to wait for the spell to produce enough of mana, but it was doable. It wasn¡¯t a mobile solution, something he could use any moment, but it granted him an ability to detect more stealthy foes. Over a week passed, the days were getting longer. There were still no replacement team members. Jack supposed it was a result of confusion with his team history. The team had been already dissolved for some time. One day, Aleena came to Jack with a proposition. ¡°I have a problem and you can benefit.¡± She simply said. ¡°Explain.¡± Jack simply replied. ¡°It¡¯s a bit complicated. I need someone to run an errand about forty kilometers deep into the exterior. It¡¯s a job for my family. You will get a magic tool as a payment.¡± ¡°Why can you do it yourself? Why me?¡± Jack asked. Aleena bitterly smiled. ¡°I need to stay here. Also, I¡¯m at the level 25. I want to evolve soon.¡± Jack frowned. He was surprised she had higher level, but it was reasonable. Aleena had been always trying to a land finishing blow. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea for me to get tangled in nobles¡¯ politics.¡± ¡°This is just a delivery. Nothing political.¡± Aleena assured. Jack wanted to decline, but Aleena continued. ¡°You should at least ask what payment you would get.¡± Jack bit. ¡°Ok. Tell me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fire detection amulet. It has fire crystal as a core, so it¡¯s a quasi-artifact. It¡¯s sending stored fire mana in a detection wave, and receiving the feedback. The engraved runes automatically analyze the feedback information, and they send them to user by manipulating eye¡¯s nerve with life magic. Information about a detected monster contain things like their tier and species, though it¡¯s not extremely reliable. You can also use stored fire energy to blast it at an enemy in a pinch.¡± Jack was moved. He needed a good detection spell, but his affinities were no good in that regard. The quasi-artifact could solve his problems, as it would be mobile devise generating fire mana. That was enough, Jack could cast the rest himself, though automation was nice. It should also be very expensive. A fire affinity caster should need over two hundred intelligence for all these functions. ¡°Fire crystals should be very hot. Would I even be able to wear it?¡± Jack asked. The amulet was a bit too good to be real. Aleena chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The fire crystal is tightly isolated. This won¡¯t be a problem.¡± Jack had another concern, though. ¡°You know, such a nice reward is both an encouragement and a warning. There would be no reward, if the task wasn¡¯t dangerous.¡± ¡°It is dangerous.¡± Aleena admitted. ¡°You need to go forty kilometers deep into the exterior.¡± Aleena repeated. ¡°Though the quasi-artifact is not so precious. It¡¯s worth maybe a grand coin, and only because of fire crystal. Without it, the amulet would cost about twenty or thirty coins.¡± ¡®Not much, huh,¡¯ Jack thought sarcastically. One grand coin was worth one hundred normal coins. One normal coin was worth one hundred lesser coins. Twenty coins were about five years of Jack¡¯s parents¡¯ income. ¡®Only nobles and very successful hunters can afford such items,¡¯ Jack thought. The offer was very tempting, but Jack wanted at least to know the detail. ¡°You need to deliver a package to my family member.¡± Aleena explained. ¡°Your family lives in the exterior?¡± Jack half-asked sarcastically. ¡°Obviously ¨C No.¡± She said while rolling her eyes. ¡°The situation is a bit complicated, though.¡± 21. Delivery ¡°You should know the tier determines lifespan. We have second tier classes, so we can only live up to fifty years, unless we get to 3rd tier. Then, a person can live up to seventy five years. A 4th tier human can live up to one hundred years. A 5th tier human can live up to one hundred and fifty years.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Jack nodded. He had read about it in the library. ¡°There are some means to prolong life without evolving. One of them is secured inside a cave my family owns. We call it the mine.¡± Jack frowned. It was a first time he heard about something like that. ¡°How?¡± ¡°There is a corpse of an 8th tier monster. The innate spell inside the corpse is still partially working.¡± Jack was scared. ¡°Working? That would mean the monster is still alive.¡± ¡°No, no.¡± Aleena quickly denied. ¡°Most of the monster¡¯s innate spell has been destroyed. The monster is dead, and its body is half rotten. Only preservation spells keep its body from crumbling apart, and only a fragment of the beast¡¯s innate spell is still working.¡± Jack sighed in relief. ¡°The remaining part is the reason there is a mine. For some reason, a fragment of the original innate spell is trying to produce its copies around itself. We have created pill factory there. The effect is very weak, so we are placing condensing liquid near the corpse. It condensates in a pill with a spell inside. Taking such a pill can prolong 3rd tier human life for twenty years, or 4th tier human for ten years. Each next pill has a halved effect, though, and the effect on 5th tier humans is minimal.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± Jack protested. ¡°Have you researched the spell?¡± ¡°Yes, but we failed. It¡¯s more of luckily coincidence. A normal innate spell should never create its half copies outside. This one is damaged and possibly somehow mutated. It¡¯s also possible that there are shapes in bones or flesh that take part in the spell.¡± Every being with levels had an innate spell inside their body. It was the reason for the boost in stats. Innate spells were created with pure essence. They were insanely effective with essence usage, and nobody ever managed to recreate such a spell. It seemed it wasn¡¯t enough to create a shape of a rune with essence, even though it worked with everything else. Innate spells inside living beings were also always very complicated, so it was very hard to replicate the effect with traditional spell casting. Jack shook his head. ¡°How would that even work? I mean, live extending. It doesn¡¯t make sense. A person¡¯s lifespan should depend on a body, not on an innate spell. What about side effects?¡± Aleena nodded. ¡°There are side effects. Boosts to stats are more than halved. Professions also often do not work. It disappears after a next evolution. ¡± ¡°Why you haven¡¯t tried to replicate the spell?¡± Aleena sighed. ¡°Do you think we are stupid? I asked the same questions when I learned about the mine. That doesn¡¯t even concern you, but fine. We have researched the spell and it doesn¡¯t make sense. We think the life extending effect is a result of merging of the spell from a pill with an innate spell in a body. You can¡¯t create an innate spell manually, so you can¡¯t replicate the effect.¡± ¡°I see. Wasn¡¯t what you told me a secret?¡± Jack asked. ¡°An open one. Everyone among nobility knows about our mine. We are selling pills after all.¡± Jack smiled bitterly. ¡°Those pills must be worth a fortune.¡± Aleena smiled a bit. ¡°Not really. Barons would sell everything for some more years, but they aren¡¯t that wealthy. The most expensive things are 8th tier body parts and exotic materials.¡± ¡°What about the corpse of 8th tier in the mine?¡± She nodded. ¡°It¡¯s worth a lot.¡± ¡°Ok. So, why is your family there?¡± Jack asked. ¡°We are trying to sell the mine. You see, there needs to be a certain concentration of essence in the cave with the corpse. We have created a magical formation to draw essence from the surroundings, and it was fine until two years ago. The innate spell seems to deteriorate over time and there is a need for an even greater concentration of essence in the cave. We needed to kill monsters there. The mine is no longer beneficial to us.¡± ¡°Really? You just need to drag some monster and kill it. I suppose the monsters don¡¯t need to be high tier ones.¡± ¡°Yes, but there is also a matter of logistics. The mine is forty kilometers deep into the exterior. Ten years ago, it was only thirty kilometers. Ninety years ago the mine was in human controlled lands. It¡¯s getting harder go there and back. A year ago, my aunt died travelling there. We want to just sell the corpse now.¡± ¡°Why not then?¡± ¡°Politics and economy. Some noble houses think they can get more money from the mine, and they offered a prize that convinced my grandfather. My family members are negotiating in the mine with another noble family. It¡¯s a good location as they can appraise goods. Meanwhile, one more family made a bid. I want you to deliver this package to my family to inform them.¡± ¡°Why package then? I mean, it¡¯s a small package, it won¡¯t be a problem, but why not a letter?¡± ¡°Messenger needs an item to validate authenticity of the letter. Did it satisfy your curiosity?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jack nodded. The offer was nice. There was some danger, but Jack thought he could do that. He would be very cautious and use detection spell all the time. He needed better gear. Jack wanted to just agree, but he hesitated. ¡°Can I think some more? How much time do I have?¡± Aleena shrugged. ¡°I suppose I can wait until tomorrow. I would find someone else to deliver the message then.¡± Jack went to Stanley for advice. The boy wasn¡¯t able to help much, though. It was a decision about calculated risk. Was the reward enough to risk solo journey? Jack decided to go to headquarters administration. He was a hunter and he was in the military. Jack wanted to know the higher ups stance on such requests from nobility. Jack didn¡¯t want to have problems in the future in that regard. Jack asked a clerk in there, but she didn¡¯t know. She told him he will be led to higher ups. Jack thought it was a bit too much. He just had a one question, but he followed. Jack knocked, and entered a room. A middle aged man was sitting there and working out. Jack thought an adjutant would do a paperwork, but he understood it was stupid. High tier warriors had to fight, not write. Anybody can write and make reports. It¡¯s obviously a bad people management to make high tiers do paperwork. Jack knew similar situation was in the imperial court. While the king was formally the head of humanity, most of decisions were being made by imperial officials, who were scribes and administrators, mostly in the 3rd tier, or even in the 2nd tier. Those people weren¡¯t warriors. ¡°Excuse me. I have a question.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Oh. It¡¯s unusual for someone to come to colonel to ask questions.¡± The man said with a smile. ¡°Colonel?¡± Jack asked half frightened. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m colonel Christopher Forrest.¡± He was still smiling. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I just wanted to ask a trivial question. I didn¡¯t know she was going to lead me here. I¡¯m sorry for interrupting.¡± Jack wanted to leave, but colonel stopped him. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m not occupied at the moment. How can I help?¡± The man never stopped working out. Jack hesitated for a bit, but he decided he would ask, since he was already here. ¡°Someone asked me to do a task for noble house. I want to know whether I¡¯m allowed or not.¡± Jack said hastily. ¡°Second tier hunters have great autonomy. As long as you do not break the imperial court law and you are following orders you can do whatever you want. I must warn you about nobles, though. Depending on a which house you want to work for, it¡¯s may be a good decision or a bad to have a relationship with them.¡± Jack decided to tell some more. Aleena said it wasn¡¯t a secret. ¡°It¡¯s for the Greene house.¡± ¡°Greene.¡± The colonel said with a thoughtful face. ¡°Not bad, but they also aren¡¯t known for being a very honorable family. Count Greene is old though, they may lose their status soon, though.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Jack didn¡¯t know if the information had any meaning, but he was thankful for the answer. It was a colonel, a 5th tier human. Whatever he said, it was important. ¡°Thank you. I will leave now.¡± Colonel nodded. Jack was excited about this meeting. He met important figure. Jack went to the crafters. A few days passed and he thought they should have finished his fur armor. ¡°Hello.¡± ¡°Jack. Nice to see you. We have finished your armor some time ago, take a look.¡± There was an armor and armored trousers. Both parts were gray, the same color as wolf¡¯s fur. Jack took off his current clothes and tried the fur on. ¡°We made sleeves softer, so they won¡¯t restrict your movements, though it has its own drawbacks. For the torso part, we enchanted it on top of chemical reinforcement. The armor should be enough to stop casual attacks of 4th tier monsters, though not against blunt hits or crushing.¡± ¡°Nice. What about mana intrusion?¡± Jack asked. ¡°The original skin had innate spells inside to protect against all typical mana types, excluding shadow and light mana types.¡± ¡°Why not shadow and light?¡± Jack asked. The crafter shrugged. ¡°Why would I know? I heard it¡¯s about the dangers. Monsters evolve depending on what endangers them the most, I suppose, shadow magic is not popular. Light the same.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Jack was a bit doubtful. ¡°I heard once about a family that wanted all their members to be fire mages. They claimed a hunting ground. After half a year, all 3rd tier and even some 2nd tier monsters had resistance against fire mana. It¡¯s just like that.¡± Another crafter explained. ¡°Right! We enchanted the fur a bit. The armor has a switch here,¡± the crafter showed the switch, ¡°which lets you turn on the spell producing earth mana. You can additionally reinforce armor with earth energy that way.¡± It wasn¡¯t very useful for Jack, but it wasn¡¯t bad either.¡± Thank you.¡± ¡°Hello. I thought it over and I agree to your request.¡± Jack said, while entering the room. ¡°Great.¡± She replied with a smile. ¡°You are my team member, it¡¯s better for me too, that you will get the reward.¡± Jack nodded. Her family could do whatever they wanted, so Jack just took it as a goodwill. ¡°Can I ask you a favor? I mean, nothing serious.¡± Aleena said. ¡°Asking is free.¡± Jack replied with a bit bitter smile. ¡°I want you to greet Landon Hillman, the leader of Hillman house we are negotiating with. I know him personally, it¡¯s just my personal request. I want you to tell him ¡®The one who always win in the end greets you¡¯.¡± That sounded¡­ ominous, and very arrogant. Didn¡¯t Aleena lose her game with the team? ¡®The team is nearly no more, but it still counts. Maybe this is some kind of a threat for me.¡¯ ¡°Don¡¯t tell him it¡¯s me, he will know.¡± She added with a mischievous smile. ¡°Fine.¡± Jack shrugged. He was greedy for the reward and this was a simple thing. Jack had been prepared beforehand, so he immediately departed. It was easy to cross first ten kilometers, as it was a snowy plain currently, everything was visible from the distance. When Jack went into the forest, he created a rune on the ground to create fire mana. He used the mana to cast fire detection spell. Jack found nothing interesting in two hundred meters radius. All of this took him over three minutes. Jack advanced one hundred meters and repeated. Jack was advancing every hundred meters in about five minutes, a kilometer in fifty minutes. ¡®I¡¯m too slow. At this pace I will get there in twenty five hours, assuming I would be able to go without stops. Unfortunately, at this pace, my clarity will deplete in six hours.¡¯ Jack had to risk it. He created a telescope spell above him, so he could look from above the trees. He also used a light detection spell to create an eye at the end of the telescope to look through it. The strongest monsters were usually big. Jack hoped he would be able to find such a monster, before it would find him. Normally, leaves would make it impossible to see anything on the ground from above, but it was winter. Jack travelled without an incident for six hours. He found a few second tier monsters, but he didn¡¯t engage and even tried to avoid them. He didn¡¯t want to get tired. Some more intelligent monsters spotted him, but they were also intelligent enough to know attacking Jack wasn¡¯t a good idea. Jack spotted one 3rd tier, but he also managed to avoid the monster. He was lucky. He also encountered a 3rd tier lynx. It spotted it from over two hundred meters waiting in ambush. The monster attacked openly, when it discovered Jack was physically weaker. Jack was fast enough to erect some defenses with earth magic, and kill the monster. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 39 Big Lynx Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 24 The mine should be nearby. Naturally, Greene family camouflaged the entrance. A random monster could make a lot of damage inside. Aleena had told him how to find the entrance and he managed to do so after dozen of minutes. After the entrance, there was a short tunnel. He crossed it and was able to see the cave. The first thing he saw were two groups of people. Both groups had about 5-6 people. The most noticeable difference between them was age. One group had young members, while the second had mostly middle aged members. Appearance wasn¡¯t a clear indicator of age, though, as forty years old 5th tier could appear young, while forty years old 2nd tier would appear as an old man. Both groups were in the middle of discussion with each other, and Jack interrupted them. They all looked at him. Jack didn¡¯t know which group was from the Greene house, so he just addressed both groups. ¡°Hello. I¡¯m a messenger from the Greene house. Apparently, there was a change in the situation.¡± A man from a younger group frowned. ¡°Give me the message, then.¡± The second group didn¡¯t try to oppose that. Jack thought it would not be funny if both groups try to pretend to be the recipient. Jack walked to the man who seemed like a leader of Greene group and handed him the package. Jack took the moment to look over the cave. There wasn¡¯t much to see. There was a big corpse in the middle, but it was half rotten and it wasn¡¯t even possible to determine species at first glance. There were boxes around the corpse, probably with the live extending pills. A few packs were lying on the ground here and there, signalizing both groups intended to stay here for some time. In a corner lay a pile of animal corpses, most of them burned. The cave was smelling a bit of burned flesh. The most interesting part of the cave for Jack were walls, which had engraved runes on them. Jack could spot a few runes he knew, but he wasn¡¯t able to recognize most of them. Jack thought about what would happen now. Theoretically, his task was done and he should just return to headquarters for his reward. ¡®Right, I should also greet Hillman guy. Ugh. It¡¯s so embarrassing.¡¯ Jack managed to think about it as a job. He had been working in his family¡¯s fields, even when he didn¡¯t like it. ¡°Hello. Are you Landon Hillman?¡± Jack addressed the leader of the second group. ¡°Yes. Have you heard about me?¡± The man asked curiously. ¡°You can say so.¡¯ Jack said with a shrug of his shoulders. ¡°Someone told me to greet you. It was something like that: The one who always win in the end greets you. She told me you would know.¡± Jack said so with a bothered voice, like a child forced to say sorry. Landon¡¯s face showed confusion, though. Jack didn¡¯t care. ¡°It seems there is another competitor for this mine.¡± The leader of the Greene house said with a smile directed at the opposite group leader. ¡°I see. Are they offering better terms?¡± Landon asked calmly without any expression. Jack decided to leave. Nobody asked anything of him, which he feared, and he was free to go. Jack didn¡¯t want to be entangled in politics, or at least, not yet. Greeene group gave each other a small ornate ball, which Jack thought as the prove that the message was genuine. Jack was walking to the exit, when he heard a loud bang. He looked around. Two Greeene family members lay in their own blood with entrails openly displayed. The brain matter was scattered around them. The rest had mostly minor injuries. ¡°Assassin!¡± The leader of Greene group shouted and pointed at Jack. ¡°Catch him!¡± Jack was too stunned to even react. The Hillman group was faster. A one guy knocked Jack down and grabbed his hands. Jack felt terrible pain in them and cast life detection spell out of a habit. His hands were melted together, probably by life magic. Panic gripped his mind, but he quickly calmed down. An evolution would be able to heal everything, even if the damage wasn¡¯t repairable by ordinary magic. Jack was still in shock, though. He kind of killed two people. ¡®It wasn¡¯t me, but it was because of me,¡¯ he thought. Jack didn¡¯t understand what exactly happened. ¡®Why the ball exploded? It was supposed to be the proof. Could someone have misplaced it?¡¯ Someone from the Greene family crouched before corpses. ¡°They are dead. Too much damage. I can¡¯t bring them back. Maybe 6th tier or 7th tier spell¡­¡± Everyone in Greene family lowered their heads. They didn¡¯t have such a spell as their disposal. ¡°What about the assassin?¡± Someone asked. ¡°Killed in action.¡± Leader of Greene group said, while looking at Jack with hatred. 22. Murder ¡°You cannot do that.¡± Landon said. ¡°We need to follow imperial court procedures. I don¡¯t want to have problems later.¡± Greene group wasn¡¯t convinced, though, so Landon continued. ¡°Do you have a method to deceive truth detecting magic tools?¡± That poured a cold shower on them. Imperial court was going to investigate. They would question everyone. ¡°We also need to question him.¡± London said, while pointing at Jack. ¡°Who do you work for?¡± London asked. Jack thought ridiculous, and would probably laugh normally, but this time, his live was at the stake. ¡°I didn¡¯t know there was a bomb.¡± Jack said. ¡°Aleena paid me to deliver the package, but I didn¡¯t know about the bomb.¡± ¡°Aleena?¡± Someone from Greene group asked. ¡°Yes. We are in the same team. I have no idea how the bomb could have been there.¡± ¡°Aleena? Aleena Greene?¡± The leader of Greene group asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Jack confirmed. The man frowned and reread the letter. ¡°You are lying. The message seems authentic, I can recognize her writing style. You must have killed the original messenger and replaced the contents of package.¡± ¡°No! I brought what Aleena gave me!¡± ¡°Are you trying to say my own cousin send a bomb to kill her own family? Your excuses are pathetic.¡± The man said with a disgusted face filled with hatred. ¡°That¡­¡± Jack didn¡¯t know what is going on. He knew the truth, but this guy¡¯s reasoning was solid. ¡°We need to transport him to the frontier.¡± Landon said. The leader of the Greene house nodded. ¡°Give him to us.¡± ¡°Fine, but don¡¯t kill him.¡± Landon said and grabbed Jack. He was about to just give Jack away, but someone interrupted. ¡°Why? He killed my brother. I deserve revenge.¡± A young guy in the Greene group said. Landon stopped. ¡°You can¡¯t. We will all have problems. Imperial court needs to take it over.¡± He tried to reason with them. ¡°He was my only brother. We were only researchers. I have never been in the exterior before. I don¡¯t know why grandfather sent us here, but that was a mistake.¡± The young man was crying. Tears were running down his face and he looked pathetic. ¡°We were only researchers.¡± He repeated. ¡°The killer of my brother is right before my eyes. I will have revenge.¡± His voice sounded pathetic, but he was committed. A lightning materialized around him, and after a second, it struck at Landon. A woman from Hillman group went forward as soon as the first sign of electricity appeared, and took the bolt with her body with only a grunt. Hillman group all prepared to fight the lightning guy, which cast more lightning. This time, though, the lightning wasn¡¯t able to hit Hillman group as they erected an earth barrier. Someone rushed at the lightning guy, while Greene group rushed to his defense. Both groups started to fight each other. Hillman group was stronger. They had one more fighter and Landon was a baron, while Greene group had a mix of 3rd and 2nd tiers. Hillman group victory was a good outcome for Jack, as they didn¡¯t want to kill him outright, but Jack knew he couldn¡¯t stay still. The Greene group literally fought to kill him, they were sending attacks his way. Jack rolled to the exit. He stood up and ran through the tunnel. Jack decided to liberate one of his hands. He was only one level before the next evolution, he didn¡¯t have much to lose. Life magic kinetic spell tore apart his flesh. The pain stopped him for a moment, but he knew stopping there wasn¡¯t smart. He pushed life mana into his damaged hand, but the damage was severe. Jack managed to stabilize his wound and prevent blood loss, but the hand wouldn¡¯t be functional unlit the next evolution. Jack created a fast fire detection spell on the ground. It would be enough to wait for the win of Hillman family. He just had to survive until that moment. It was impossible for Jack to escape. Jack would need to stay in the exterior forever. The whole situation had to be resolved by the imperial court. Jack thought himself innocent anyway. The spell revealed no monsters in his surroundings, though there was a place fire mana wasn¡¯t able to reach. ''Someone is hiding there.¡¯ A conflicting mana type or magical barrier could protect against direct detection.¡¯ A human is most probable, though it could also be an elemental monster.¡¯ Jack looked in that direction, and saw a huge icicle flying right at him. He subconsciously took a step to the side and twisted his torso, avoiding the projectile be the scratch. Theoretically, he had his armor, but it wasn¡¯t a healthy behavior to take all attacks head on. ¡®Should I retreat back to the cave?¡¯ Jack thought it should be a monster. ¡®Humans shouldn¡¯t attack each other like that.¡¯ Jack ran to a tree, to use it as a cover. He used earth magic to create a small bunker around him. Just as he created some basic defense, a few icicles hit the wall of his fort, punching right through them. Jack covered his face with his hands and let it hit him. It was a bit painful, but bruises were the worst of his injuries. The armor done a great job. Jack tried to spot the enemy, but it eluded him, always staying hidden. Jack decided to go to the cave, he thought the fight may be over. Fighting against unknown monster unprepared wasn¡¯t wise. Jack ran to the cave entrance, but a dozen of icicles flew at him, and this time, they were rotating as his own earthen drill. ¡®It¡¯s too many of them. Jack sent earth mana to his armor, hardening it. The drills hit, but the outcome was the same as the last time. Jack hurried over to the cave. ¡°You are quite talented fellow, aren¡¯t you?¡± A voice said behind him. Jack subconsciously turned around to see a white clothed man. He melted snow and created a huge water wave around him. The next thing Jack saw, the wave was moving straight at him. There wasn¡¯t a thought in Jack¡¯s mind to defend, he dashed away, trying to escape to the cave. The wave was fast and was going straight at him. He had no choice and changed his running direction. The wave missed his, but the route to the cave was now blocked by the man. Jack hadn¡¯t any good method to defend, he remembered how a water mage managed to crystallize water inside wolf¡¯s lungs. Would the wave change into ice after engulfing him, it would be his end. Jack hoped to increase distance. It was harder to use the kinetic spell on a distant object. As long as Jack would maintain a large distance from the man, the enemy¡¯s control over the wave would be clumsy. Jack ran ahead. He was actually increasing his distance from the frontier. Jack knew someone from the cave could walk out any moment, but Jack also knew he was too weak to fight the man, which was in 4th tier, judging by his Analyze skill. The man give up on the wave, and just pursued Jack, sending icicles his way. One again, Jack cursed, he wasn¡¯t prepared, he had to improvise. The chase continued, though Jack was temporary fine. He considered finding a powerful monster or fungi, but he knew a monster would either not engage, or kill him first as the weaker party. At some point, the white clothed man just rushed at Jack. ¡®Shit. He wanted me to be away from the cave.¡¯ Jack realized and threw a huge rock from the ground at the man, but Jack¡¯s enemy was too fast, he avoided Jack¡¯s attack. Jack grabbed his spear, which normally was placed on his back with his healthy arm and prepared to fight. The man had no weapon, though it wasn¡¯t reassuring. The man threw his fist at Jack¡¯s face, but Jack blocked with his arms. The man was too strong, Jack¡¯s arms felt like breaking apart. The hits to armor weren¡¯t effective, though, but Jack was totally in defensive.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. There wasn¡¯t much he could do, but still Jack tried. He created a small illusion, hiding his spear true position. It was surprisingly effective, Jack hit the man¡¯s face with his spear. He thought that he won, but the spear didn¡¯t manage to pierce the man¡¯s skull. Jack noted, even his skin was very durable. ¡°You have a few tricks, but this is the end.¡± The man said with anger, while healing his face. His clothes were now stained with his red blood. A foot wide ball of ice was conjured behind the man. The ball was constructed with multiple rotating icy wheels, with sharp razors on the sides. ¡®Shit. This must be a 4th tier spell.¡¯ The ball rushed at Jack. It wasn¡¯t particularly fast, so Jack immediately ran in another direction. The ball followed him, while he felt attracting force, pulling him to the ball. ¡®Gravity effect.¡¯ It was to be expected, the base effect of water mana increased gravity. This killing ball spell was sophisticated enough to only increase gravity between Jack and ball. Jack tried to lure the ball, so it would hit a tree. He succeeded, but the ball slid over the bark without a problem. ¡®How? Ice should be fragile, and there is a conflict between water mana and earth mana. He shouldn¡¯t be able to harden the ice with earth mana,¡¯ Jack thought intensely. He had to find a way to survive. The man created dozens of icicles and threw them at Jack, aiming to slow him down. Jack was forced to defend or dodge, the ball was getting closer as the result. Jack was surprised he hadn¡¯t lost yet. His enemy was a baron. He thought the man was very weak for his level, however Jack knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to escape despite that. The man was stronger, faster, had more stamina and clarity to spend, he knew better spells. Jack wondered about man¡¯s objective, there was a chance he wanted to capture him, but the icy ball of death made it clear. The man wanted to kill Jack, and Jack knew he would die. There was only one way to survive. The man had to leave on his own, and Jack had to die. He could pretend to be dead. There was an option to stop the beating of heart with magic, but the white clothed man would not get the notification. Jack thought about finding a strong monster, but the man would wait for the notification of participation in Jack¡¯s death anyway. The icy ball stopped, the mana inside must have dispersed. The man was recasting his spell. Jack knew he had a limited amount of time, he ran from the man. The ball already existed, recasting would be swift. He quickly took a look on his status.
Name: Jack
Age: 15
Class: Survivor Level:24 91% to next lv
Stats: Base Essence reinforced
Strength 15.36/25 47.92 (20% + (6+2)%/level)
Endurance 16.78/30 46.64 (20% + (6+2)%/level)
Intelligence 20.19/25 104.18 (80% + (6+8)%/level)
Mental Endurance 22.49/30 93.1 (50% + (6+5)%/level)
Agility 19.98/30 80.71 (40% + (7+4)%/level)
Perception 12.39/20 38.65 (20% + (6+2)%/level)
Affinities:
Life Fire Earth Light 10.28% 0.06% 6.48% 6.19%
Class skills:
Economy of movement Scavenging 43 7 +10% to agility
Professions: 5/5
Conman IV Masochist IV Spearman VII Wizard III Battle mage V
Fighting skills:
Sword handling 8
Spear handling 37 +10% to agility
Archery 17
Battle precognition 6
Footwork 43 + 10% to strength
Wrestling 1
Magic skills:
Rune Shaping 34 +10% to intelligence
Spell slinging 26 +10% to intelligence
Words of Power 15
Meditation 16
Parallel thinking 34 + 10% to mental endurance
Crafting skills:
Farming 19
Cooking 14
Crafting 12
Trapping 16
Utility skills:
Analyze 22
Charisma 35 +5% to intelligence and perception
Pain Tolerance 23
Mental intrusion resistance 22
Tracking 12
Sneaking 12
Vitality 589/643
Stamina 269/460
Clarity 489/930
His intelligence was enough to cast a spell from the middle of 3rd tier. Jack knew a spell that may save him, a light magic spell placing information directly in someone¡¯s brain. This was his only option, he had to create the notification of his death for the white clothed man. There was a problem, though. The spell required about 140-160 intelligence. Jack planned to change the spell a bit, he only wanted to deliver the notification, but he would still need about 120 intelligence. Jack had a way to cast it, though. He entered in a half-meditation state. There was also a problem of resistance against mana, as the white clothed man could have resistance against light mana. That would mean certain death for Jack, but he wasn¡¯t able to find another way. He had to risk it. The fur armor he wore didn¡¯t have light mana resistance, Jack just had to be a bit lucky. Jack thought about casting his drill spell, or maybe the light beam spell, but he discarded such ideas. The man didn¡¯t have strong means of attack, but Jack doubted he lacked strong defense. Jack¡¯s armor could withstand his own drill spell, the man¡¯s defenses should be even stronger. Jack had to preserve his clarity, he knew he would need it after feigning death. The man recast his spell and rushed after Jack, who was half meditating. Jack was incapable of effectively dodging or blocking, many icicles hit him. Jack was finishing his spell, now he actually had to take the ball head on. Jack planned to heal himself after the man would walk away, but he had to have convincing injury for that to happen. The ball was incoming, Jack would rather kill himself with something else, but the man wasn¡¯t casting any other spells, and Jack had already proved the icicles were incapable of killing him. The ball hit his stomach area, shredding his armor apart, and drilling into his stomach. Jack concentrated on the spell, this was the most important now. Be couldn¡¯t threat his injury immediately anyway, be had to wait until the man would go away. Jack completely entered a state of meditation, and cast his spell. Jack hoped he deceived the man. There was a possibility the man would loot his corpse, or would like to destroy it. Jack would be defenseless, he could only hope the man wanted to quickly return to the mine. ¡®The man should be somehow involved. The fight there is probably over, but there is a chance the man is actually in a hurry to re-join the events.¡¯ Jack cast light detection spell, creating an inconspicuous, he hoped, eye in his grasp. The view was shocking. The man wasn¡¯t there, he probably had already left. It was a good news, but... Jack looked at his body with life magic detection spell. ¡®No wonder he had left. No normal man can survive something like that.¡¯ The ball drilled through the armor from the front, shredded apart his internal organs, and left his body by destroying his armor on his back. His lower body was lying a few meters from his upper body. His guts were blended and lay on the ground mixed with melted snow. His liver was in parts, the same as his spine, which fragments lay here and there. Acid from his stomach dripped on the mush. The lungs were damaged, though not much, but his heart was in two pieces. His blood wasn¡¯t pumped, rather, he was losing massive amounts of it. Jack felt faint, though he wasn¡¯t sure whether it was because of the shock or lack of oxide in his blood. He thought he might lose consciousness, probably for ever. 23. Return Jack felt weird. Some parts of his remaining body hurt like hell, while others felt numb. He felt faint, but he panicked inside at the same time. Feinting meant death. Ding¡­ Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 24 Jack forced himself to cast. He was going to do everything possible to stay alive. Even if his attempt was doomed from the start, he wanted to at least try. Jack¡¯s class changed his body, he could regenerate any part of his body naturally. The white clothed man might have thought it was impossible to cure Jack, unless a 6th tier magician would intervene, but Jack¡¯s body allowed him to heal with less impressive magic. He cast live kinetic spell, pushing blood in his veins. He immediately felt a bit more clear headed, but more blood gushed from his torn apart body. Jack used kinetic spell and pure life mana to temporarily stop bleeding, by closing all veins leaving his body. He already had too little blood. ¡®I need to repair heart and lungs, the rest is secondary.¡¯ Jack had a limited amount of clarity and he would die without a working heart. He moved his heart pieces to their place, and filled his heart with life mana. Most internal organs of normal people weren¡¯t able to regenerate. A heart of a normal person treated with life mana in this situation would try to wildly regenerate. There was a good chance the heart wouldn¡¯t be even able to even work properly after. The heart muscles would be joined back without an order. Jack¡¯s heart pieces joined together perfectly. There was no problem. The heart was beating again, Jack no longer had to pump blood manually. The lungs were more problematic. Jack knew how they were functioning, but recreating the lost parts was a real bother. Also, his blood lacked nutrients for that. Jack patched up what he could, allowing lungs to work. His panic was receding, as his most important internal organs worked again. Ding¡­ Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 25 He still felt pain, though it was somehow easier to stomach. He checked his status, and discovered he had now +10% boost to mental endurance from the skill to withstand pain. Jack checked his bars.
Vitality 29/643
Stamina 49/159
Clarity 346/930
His vitality was really low, but the most important information was his remaining clarity. ¡®I need to join back my legs. The evolution would fail would I try it with only my upper body.¡¯ Jack groaned in his mind, his situation was horrible. His digestive system was destroyed. Jack wouldn¡¯t be able to increase his mass before the next evolution. He had to evolve quickly, or he would lose weight, and die from starvation. There was a problem. Jack¡¯s blood lacked nutrients, Jack already used them. He could speed up regeneration, but his body still had to regenerate normally. His body needed nutrient to regenerate. High tier magic could take care of this problem, but Jack only had his own low tier spells. ¡®I need to grow back liver.¡¯ Jack picked up fragments of liver from the snow, threw them together and repaired with life mana. It was easy, even normal person¡¯s liver could regenerate on its own. The difficult part was to connect the liver back to his body. Jack used quite a bit clarity for that, but not all. He had a large pool after leveling up, he still had some to spare. ¡®I can either attach back my lower body, or build a bunker for defense.¡¯ Jack was lying in the snow, completely defenseless. His endurance was once again on the low side, as he had too little blood in his veins. ¡®I need to attach back my legs before they start to rot. I need more flesh for evolution.¡¯ Jack made his decision. Without legs, he wouldn¡¯t be able to evolve, or rather, he would die trying due to lack of body mass and energy, since evolution would also try to grow back legs. Jack moved his legs with kinetic spell, and concentrated on mending and connecting veins. There was still a bit of blood in his legs, though too little. Jack cast life spell, concentrating life mana in his bones to boost blood production. A problem quickly became apparent. ''I don¡¯t have enough water in my body.¡¯ The realization struck him. There was a solution, though. Jack created a water mana creating rune on the ground, and moved melted snow into his veins. Jack wasn¡¯t eager to use that water, as it was a bit dirty and very cold, but he had no other source of water nearby. He couldn¡¯t even drink it, as his digestive system had been destroyed. Unfortunately, his veins were a part of his body, and water mana conflicted with his earth affinity. Jack felt terrible pain, but he was able to endure. His life was the stake, he had to fix his body, before spending all clarity. Jack was connecting veins in his legs one after another. He had to maintain blood pressure. Would he just send his remaining blood all at once to his legs, he would lose consciousness, and most likely die. In the meantime, Jack tried to fix his blended abdominal muscles, and close his open stomach. He was doing a lousy job. Jack didn¡¯t care much about it, since his very life was at the stake, his muscles were just a minor matter. After a few minutes, Jack managed to fix all veins in his legs, and stabilize his situation. He still had to join together nerves, bones, and the rest of muscles, though. Exhaustion hit him, as he completed basis repairs. Jack¡¯s mind had to rest, but he forced himself to build a simple earthen dome above him. Sleeping defenseless in the middle of the forest was just courting death. Jack was lucky no monster, lured by the smell of blood, already came. Jack fell asleep. Jack was woken up by growling sounds. There was a dug out hole in his dome, and a wolf was eating one of his legs. Jack was startled, but he quickly remembered he still had to connect nerves. The wolf looked to be in the 2nd tier, judging by Jack¡¯s analyze skill. The problem was, Jack had no strength in his body, he could barely move his arms. He had to use a spell. Jack cast life kinetic spell, and killed the wolf. Ding... You have killed lv. 13 Wolf Jack hastily reformed the dome, and checked his situation over, while healing his nibbled leg. His vitality went up a bit, and he had once again some clarity to cast. Jack thought about his situation. He had to fix his nerves and spine, but also run away from here. The white clothed man could return any moment, either to loot the Jack¡¯s corpse, or to just destroy the evidence of his crimes. Jack had no idea why he had been so unlucky. Humanity had to stick together, a murder was the worst of crimes, but there always had been someone trying to kill another in Jack¡¯s recent past. Threat from monsters didn¡¯t disappear, Jack had to return to the frontier. Even in his prime condition, being in the exterior alone was very dangerous. Now, any 3rd tier was a serious threat. The longer Jack was staying in the exterior, the greater the chance something would want to hunt him down. Jack was healing his nerves, but he encountered a problem. ¡®My body doesn¡¯t want to be healed anymore.¡¯ He was using life mana, but it had a meager effect. The nerves and muscles connected with each other, but the process was a way slower than before. He also felt pain from his whole body while healing. ¡®Is that because my blood doesn¡¯t have nutrients?¡¯ Jack was starving, but he tried to think about something else. His next meal would be after the next evolution, he had no choice in this matter. The pain of healing was different compared to the pain of starvation, though. Ding¡­ Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 26 Jack tried to stand up. His legs were numb, and he had problems with controlling them. ''Nerves must have mended incorrectly.¡¯ Jack cast the strength boosting spell, but the same pain as while healing struck his body. Jack could deduce the reason now, his body reached the mana saturation. Every mana type was harmful to a body without the affinity. Life mana was no exception.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. At the beginning of training, every caster tried to gain affinity by using small amounts of mana. Fire elemental casters had it the worst, as fire mana was destructive, they had to train very slowly. This was the main reason why Bob had not been able to use fire as much as Aleena. He couldn¡¯t force too much of fire mana through his body, as it would cook him. Jack used a huge amount of life mana on his bones to boost blood production. His body gained some life mana affinity, but because the whole process lasted only for a dozen of minutes, his body was harmed by life mana, and reached mana saturation. Jack groaned in his mind. The next evolution would remove this problem, but until then, any mana traveling through his body would be more harmful than normal. Also, life mana would have very limited effect on his body. The outcome was that life mana would harm him more than heal him. The mana saturation was not an instant process. Jack could still cast, but the more he cast, the worse his mana saturation would get. Children of nobles had it better. There was no need to control mana by someone¡¯s own spell to gain affinity, you could get an affinity even from enemy¡¯s attacks. Nobles used mana on their children with a plan for them to reach mana saturation just before the evolution to the 2nd tier. Jack thought previously he may be able to use the earth kinetic spell to levitate a large rock. He could just lie on it, and levitate himself to the frontier, but mana saturation made it impossible. He could also use life kinetic spell, but it was more dangerous, a mistake could rip his body apart, even when in his prime. Jack was able to stand up, but his legs were shaking, he was barely able to move. He didn¡¯t have much clarity, but Jack decided staying in his current position was more dangerous. He could defend here, but mana saturation was a problem, he couldn¡¯t be passive, as the time was against him. Jack also couldn¡¯t just grind the last level and evolve here. Three days in which his body would be defenseless would be enough for any competent predator to kill him, even if he would manage to create some sort of bunker. Jack walked slowly through the snow. He couldn¡¯t use detection spells, or rather, only a limited number of times. He conserved clarity and his body condition for the inevitable fights. There was no way he would be able to walk to the frontier undetected. Jack also went a different route than before, he didn¡¯t forget about the white clothed man who might search for his corpse. Jack thought it¡¯s better to walk a little longer, than be killed due to carelessness. Ding¡­ Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 27 Jack encountered a few 2nd tier monsters. Some escaped from him, but most tried to eat him. Jack used the life kinetic spell to destroy their brains each time. Each time, he had lost a bit of clarity, and mana saturation got worst. Jack encountered a 3rd tier wolf with a small pack after three hours. The wolves dashed at him, but Jack calmly took off his lightning wand and sent electric mana to the 3rd tier wolf, while casting life kinetic spell to kill the rest. As alpha¡¯s body charged, a lightning travelled from Jack¡¯s wand to the wolf. It was still alive, the lightning was too weak. A half of the rest of wolves dropped dead due to the life spells in the meantime. The rest retreated before the unknown threat, dragging back 3rd tier alpha. Jack left the wolves and went ahead. He had to conserve his resources, he couldn¡¯t just fight with the wolves to death. They would probably avoid Jack from now on, anyway. Jack walked slowly for another hour. Suddenly, something appeared from below the snow and jumped at him. ¡®Shit, an ambush predator,¡¯ Jack only managed to have such a thought, before a lynx landed on him and pressed him to the ground. Jack cast life kinetic spell, and luckily, he succeeded. The lynx was only in the 2nd tier, and died. Jack was too weak to move it with only his muscle strength, though. The lynx weight firmly pressed him to the ground. He thought about giving up. He felt cold, but the lynx¡¯s body was warm. He could just rest here. It was hard to move through the snow. The change of failing to reach the frontier was high. Jack thought, ¡®why should I suffer?¡¯ His body hurt. He could just give up. He didn¡¯t. Jack wanted to take revenge. He had Bob to take care, he couldn¡¯t just die. Jack promised to his parents. He used life kinetic spell to get out from under the cat. Ding¡­ Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 28 He walked on, thinking about the lynx. ¡®This is my weakness. Aleena or Stanley could have detected the lynx with their detection spells.¡¯ Jack wanted the quasi-artifact Aleena had showed him even more now, though the situation was a mess. A 3rd tier eagle tried to kill him. Birds used mostly vision, their smell sensory organs weren¡¯t powerful, so Jack used his illusions. The bird hit a tree with its full diving speed as the result. Jack walked on, leaving stunned bird behind. Soon, the night fell. It was getting cooler. Jack regretted not taking the fire amulet left after Lillie. He walked for a few hours. Not many predators hunted at night, but he was still forced to fight a few bats and an owl. As the result, he got an level. Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 25 Ding¡­ You have unlocked Great Spear Warrior class due to your actions Ding¡­ You have unlocked Great Human class due to your actions Ding¡­ You have unlocked Last Survivor class due to your actions Ding¡­ You have unlocked Magical Survivor class due to your actions Jack didn¡¯t check possible classes, there was no reason do it now. Around midnight, it was too cold. Jack felt he might lose consciousness and die in the snow. He had not taken his cloak, he had been thinking he would be able to return before the night. Jack stopped and sat in the snow. He used his hands to clear snow from the ground, and sketched fire mana producing rune. After half an hour, he managed to complete it. Jack knew he would probably have frostbites on his hands, he just hoped he would be able to evolve soon. Ding¡­ Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 29 The night was long, and Jack had a lot of time to think about what have happened. ¡®Aleena gave me the package, she either didn¡¯t know what was inside, or she did it consciously.¡¯ Jack thought about the first option. ¡®The package was from her family, so¡­ either a fight inside her family, or someone misplaced the contents when package travelled from Aleena¡¯s family to her.¡¯ Jack groaned. He had too little information, and he wasn¡¯t good at plotting. ¡®There are two options, either it was someone from Aleena¡¯s family or not. I think it is the most important to deduce why the white clothed man tried to kill me.¡¯ Generally, Jack thought the white clothed man should be from one of three families taking part in the negotiations. ¡®The man could be from Greene family. Technically, the package I brought to them killed two Greene family members. He could want a revenge,¡¯ Jack thought, but quickly dismissed the idea. ¡®People who reached 4th tier are not stupid. They can made a stupid emotional decision from time to time, but this guy wanted to kill me, while he should want to interrogate me first. I¡¯m nobody, it¡¯s obvious a Greene family member would want to know who sent me.¡¯ Jack thought about the Hillman family, but it didn¡¯t make sense. ¡®Even assuming Hillman family misplaced the true contents of package, I know nothing about it. They would have no reason to kill me.¡¯ The third family was similar, though Jack had to admit, they could sent a spy in a form of white clothed man, but that didn¡¯t explain why he wanted to kill Jack. ¡®The white clothed man had to be from the Greene family.¡¯ Jack concluded. ¡®It¡¯s probably an internal fight, and the man knows about it. He wanted to kill me, so nobody would know why those two people died. They would be able to blame Hillman family, or someone else. It also explains why he rushed back after he thought he killed me. His family members fought with Hillman people at that time.¡¯ Jack didn¡¯t understand why the white clothed hadn¡¯t been in the cave. He was the strongest and probably oldest. He should be the leader of the negotiations. This was a hole in Jack¡¯s deductions, but he still thought his previous hypothesis was the correct one. Time passed, and the sun raised above the horizon. Jack couldn¡¯t sleep, he had to be vigilant all night. He didn¡¯t want to stand up, though. It was warm here, thanks to the fire rune, he didn¡¯t want to feel cold. Jack just wanted to stay here a little longer. His body hurt, sitting was easier. Jack thought about Aleena. He tried to kill him once again. ¡®Did she?¡¯ Jack couldn¡¯t be sure she knew about the bomb, but he didn¡¯t want to confront her. He felt betrayed and lonely. Jack knew he had to get up, or he would die, but¡­ Jack told this himself too many time already. He had grown indifferent to his own death. Jack still wanted to live, but he didn¡¯t have enough willpower to get up. ¡®The white clothed man, I want revenge, right?¡¯ Jack wanted revenge. The guy tried to literally kill him, Jack wanted at least send him to the black guard. Jack hated him. ¡®I need to give my testimony, or the man would win.¡¯ He finally stood up. Ding¡­ Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 30 Jack knew he was lucky. A strong pack of wolves, a 4th tier, even a strong 3rd tier monster could end his life, but he had not encountered them. Before the midday, Jack spotted movement. He prepared his wand, but a group of five people came from behind the trees. ¡°Are you okay?¡± A girl asked him. They were wary of him. Jack sighed in his mind. He was suspicious to them. ¡°Where are your teammates?¡± A boy asked. Jack decided to just lie, as it would be more believable. Murder was extremely uncommon, after all. ¡°I was separated with my teammate, they are probably already in the headquarters. I was severely injured. Can you help me get to the frontier?¡± Jack said with an effort. He breathed heavily, his now smaller lungs hadn¡¯t much air. ¡°Sure.¡± They looked at each other with wonder. A boy walked forward. ¡°I know some life magic. I can heal you.¡± Jack wanted to laugh, these noobs were hopeless. It was already over a half a year, and only one person knew life magic. ¡°I have already used life magic to heal myself, but my wounds are really severe.¡± He denied healing. His body didn¡¯t want more mana. ¡°Right. You know magic.¡± A girl said. Jack could deduce a few things. They thought him a noble child. His gear looked expensive. It was also easy to deduce he was 2nd tier by his footprints in the snow. Any person with half decent Analyze skill could do that. Ding¡­ Your Charisma skill has reached lv. 36 They agreed to escort him. The distance to the frontier was only about fifteen kilometers, monsters were weak and most of them escaped from a party of six humans. Jack reached the frontier after four more hours. Jack entered the underground check room, while two 3rd tier looking soldiers drew their weapons. ¡°It¡¯s him.¡± Everyone looked at Jack. ¡°You are arrested for a murder.¡± ¡°Please, be gentle.¡± Jack replied. 23.5. Political and economical history of the empire There is little known about the time before the first emperor. People at that time were forming packs, similar to wolves, and they had conflicts with other. Farming was practically non-existent, and people were eating what they hunted down. The first emperor ¨C Sebastian of Zamora clan, a tier 8th individual, managed to unite humanity. This event marked the first year of the Sebastian calendar. Emperor Sebastian was 180 years old when he reached the 8th tier. In the first years, he consolidated human¡¯s clans and created a government, very crude at that time. He and a dozen of clan leaders started rapidly expanding human¡¯s territory, incorporating dispersed human tribes. Due to extensive hunting and population boom, soon, there was a need for farming. In the 27 year of emperor Sebastian of Zamora dynasty reign, the imperial court had been founded. There was a need to regulate farming and defenses of settled human population. Assimilation of different clans into a one block made clan governments obsolete. In the 42 year of the first emperor¡¯s reign, the first mint had been created. Money was made from stones. A mint engraved a hardening spell on the stone fragments. The whole process was automatized after some time. Mints were working (and still are) fairly on their own. There were spells for cutting stones to right size and a spell automatically engraving the hardening spell. People were concentrating and creating first cities. Money was needed to facilitate trade between cities, farms and frontier areas. Humanity was rapidly expanding and increasing its population. Many packs of monsters were inside human borders. Humans treated them as a wild livestock, always hunting down anything dangerous, but otherwise letting packs prosper. Culture and magical knowledge were booming. Many scholars conducted research, and more importantly, shared their knowledge. The emperor and 7th tier humans were strong enough together to wrestle some territory from other 8th tiers. 8th tier monsters nearly never cooperate normally, unless they are of the same, social species. The first major problem appeared in the year 126. Humanity encountered another civilization. They were called goblins. They had higher strength and lower intelligence than humans. Humanity wanted to trade knowledge, but the initial negotiations failed, goblins, weren¡¯t interested with trading knowledge. Emperor therefor treated them the same as other species. The border conflict ended in a war. Humanity was winning the war decisively. Goblins didn¡¯t have an 8th tier individual. Unfortunately, they were worshiping an 8th tier monster as their god. That monster treated them like a livestock, but preserved their continued existence. Goblins not only managed to get help from that monster, but also asked for help from others 8th tier monsters neighboring humans, which lost some land because of human expansion. In the year 135, the war of the first coalition started. Five 8th tier monster allied against humans, along with many groups led by 7th tier monsters. Humanity were not able to effectively defend their huge territories. Many low tier humans died. Fights against 8th tiers went surprisingly well. One of them even died. After that, the remaining four paired up. Even so, an ambush saw the death of another one. After that, the remaining three were afraid of teaming up, as two of them could backstab the last one. The war was theoretically won, but a large amount of territory was lost. Also, many 7th tier humans died during the fight with two 8th tiers. Humanity entered a century of peace, after the war. We have lost vast territory in the war, but human population was too sparse to use those lands effectively. In this relative peace period, human population boomed. Some previously lost lands were also reclaimed, as 8th tier monster were no longer there. In the year 257 of the first era, emperor Sebastian abdicated to his grandchild, the second emperor Mel of Zamora dynasty. With two 8th tiers, humanity was the strongest in the history. Emperor Sebastian had decided to eradicate goblin tribes before he died, to help the humanity in the long term. Goblins called for help, and the war of the second coalition started. Goblin¡¯s god, an 8th tier in a form of a bear, used goblins not only as a food, but also as a source of magical knowledge. The bear was able to cast spells standard way, and was a formidable opponent. Other 8th tiers fought an asymmetric war, as the Emperor Mel was defending humanity for the most of the time. Humanity was too strong. In the year 278 of the first era, emperor Sebastian fought the decisive battle against the goblin¡¯s god and managed to slay it with excessive use of the sacrifice spell, dying in the process. The war was won, and the goblin tribes were ruthlessly exterminated. In the year 289, emperor Mel started his own plan, which could be summarized, ¡°let¡¯s kill them one by one.¡± He led an expedition against an 8th tier, slaying it and expanding human territories. In the year 298, he led the second expedition. It ended in a disaster, however. The emperor made a wrong judgment, that without goblin¡¯s meddling, 8th tiers wouldn¡¯t be able to unite against a common threat. There was an ambush waiting for emperor Mel in a form of seven 8th tiers. The growing power of humanity scared many 8th tiers, and even 8th tier monsters witch didn¡¯t border humans joined. Emperor Mel barely managed to escape with the sacrifice of 7th tiers from the expedition. Monsters pursued him, attacking the core of the human empire, starting the war of the third coalition. Humanity fought, but was losing. Human 7th tiers were decimated. After some time, the emperor brought a theory, that monsters were able to unite thanks to the previous two coalitions in which there was no betrayal. In the year 327 of the first era emperor Mel send a proposition to one of the seven 8th tiers. Humanity offered a good portion of their lands and help in killing the rest of 8th tiers. The proposition was accepted. In the following twenty years, three of the six remaining monsters were killed thanks to the collaboration. The remaining three gave up, ending the war. Humanity still needed to fight off the collaborating monster, which turned against us, but it was not a major problem. After the war, the emperor¡¯s Mel body was badly injured. Healers were incapable of helping him out. His fighting abilities dropped nearly to the 7th tier. The only think that could help him was the evolution, but that was impossible for him. The rest of his reign was spent on rebuilding. He tried to power level one of his own descendants, but he underestimated the damage to his body, and died in the 467 year of the first era. His heir, empress Raquel, became empress as 157 years old, with the young empress class. This class in only accessible to the children of someone with the emperor class or the young emperor class. The class is stronger than the normal 7th tier king class.Stolen novel; please report. A few 8th tiers attacked humanity, but without coordination between them, they were repelled. In the year 484, empress Raquel managed to advance to the 8th tier. Her reign was extremely calm in regard to fights with 8th tiers. Her politic was to slowly expand, increase population and research new magic spells and technology. Potions were an invention of goblin tribes. After the victory of the emperor Sebastian, many goblin books were looted, however, research in that direction only began in the reign of empress Raquel. During her reign, guns were invented. There were mostly large and crude cannons, which were breaking down after two or three shots, but they were improved over the years. Smaller calibers were ineffective against anything stronger than 3rd tier, but still used commonly, especially after the year 1000. A frontier was created. Fortifications, magical barriers and team tactics were invented to deal with 8th tiers, without a direct involvement of the empress. Empress Raquel died in the year 788. She had not helped anyone to reach 8th tier. She thought, that without 8th tier within humanity, monsters would not band together against humanity. After her death, there were a few attacks of 8th tier monsters, but they were repelled. Empress Raquel politic was successful. Humanity was slowly expanding in the next centuries, and due to the team effort of 7th tiers, 8th tier monsters were kept at bay. Normally, to overcome one tier difference, ten times numerical advantage is required, and some deaths are expected. This is only valid for a whole tier difference in levels, though. Usage of magic formations and superior spell craft allowed 10 7th tier humans to safely repel, or even kill an 8th tier. The lack of an 8th tier emperor led to a change in government. The position of an emperor weakened, leading the government to the form of a republic, in which the 7th tiers ruled, with the former emperors descendants as the first among equals. In the year 1341 of the first era, Edward Brewer managed to reach 8th tier. Many were afraid, that he would start a civil war over the imperial throne. He, however, chose a pure combat class. In the year 1389, he left human territory with a group of 7th tiers, with a goal of reaching 9th tier. He had never returned. In the year 1673, a moment before the great calamity, humanity had the greatest population in the history. An official census counted 1873 million of people. Centuries of careful expansion and management made humanity a great power. Unfortunately, all that were proved not enough. In the year 1674 of the first era, thousands of monster packs and over ten 8th tiers stormed humanity¡¯s borders. Records of that time are sparse, much was destroyed. Apparently, a 9th tier monster had appeared, forcing many others to migrate and escape. It is unknown whatever the 9th tier crossed human territories, or not, but the imperial court was destroyed, as most forms of government. Humanity was broken. Most of the survivors reverted back to the lives of humans before the first emperor. Some walled and heavy defended cities survived, but without effective farming, their population was limited by food supply. This period is called a dark era. It is unknown how long it lasted, estimations are between 600 years to 1500 years. The dark era ended with the appearance of Jasmine Ward, the greatest heroine of humanity. She managed to evolve into a unique class ¨C The Sword class. Classes with the in name are unique, and only one such class can exist at one time. One of requirement for that class, was that nobody else had it. Such classes have a terrifying essence boost, many think that the boost is on the level of the last tier. It helped the heroine to fight and slay monsters with higher tier than her in one on one fights. She reached the 7th tier when she was 47 years old. In the dark age, humans in the 7th tier were food and nourishment for 8th tier monsters. Before the dark age, there were dozens of 7th tier humans, while close after, only about a dozen. To gain foothold against 8th tier monsters, heroine Jasmine Ward fought against 8th tier great eagle, who controlled lands where humans lived. The eagle learned human magic from ruins and its subordinates, who surrendered to it for safety. During the fight, 7th tier Jasmine managed to slay the beast, but she died as well. The most popular theory suggests, that the monster managed to deal some serious damage to her, and tried to escape, hoping to reengage as soon as its own wounds get better. She did not let him. Without the 8th tier eagle, humans quickly used the power vacuum to establish the empire. One of descendants of the old emperors with the young emperor class assumed the leading position in the unification of humanity. Rather than monarchy, the nation was created as a republic. This marks the start of the second era. The newly created state expanded rapidly, reclaiming many of old territories. The government tried to replicate the success of empress Raquel, especially since they did not have someone with 8th tier strength. A law was passed, that any knowledge gained through research, must be contributed to the imperial court. Compensations were given. This was to prevent loss of knowledge similar to what happened when the dark age came. Offenders and criminals were forced to contribute at the front lines, and executions were rarely held. The republic was fairly successful, unlit the year 136 of the second era. In the year 136, the climate got colder. That stopped the expansion of humanity, as the essence concentration in the air dropped as well. Very cold and wet summers destroyed crops and caused a famine. Gunpowder often got wet, and was unusable. Humanity was forced to passively defend its borders. The following period was named a cold time. It lasted until around the year 350, but the ending date was not sharp. Humanity lost both territories and population over that time. The most severe was the loss of 7th tiers. Due to lowered concentration of essence in the air it was harder to gain levels. Old warriors died of old age, while the new ones were not able level up enough. While the strength of humanity dropped by much during the cold time, there were also some positive developments. In the year 178 of the second era, life magic based bone shaping spell had been developed. It was possible from now on, to replace most of the metal equipment with bone weapons. Hand guns were replaced in cold time, as they were suffering from the wet climate. Conservatives and fans of guns managed to invent a cartridge, but that was too costly, as humanity lost many metal and sulfur sources. At that time humanity already used most metal ores from their territories, iron became expensive. Nowadays, metal is only produced by transmuting soil with earth spells. Such a spell uses a high amount of essence, and can¡¯t be placed in populated areas, as it would speed down leveling and weaken other spells. As the result, quantity of iron humans can get their hands on is very limited. However, cannons were improved greatly over that time, as a rate of fire and power increased. The imperial court invested in cannons, even when small arms were pushed out by cheap bone weapons. Guns are still being researched today. The main problem currently is the lack of metal. Experiments with bone cannons were somehow unsuccessful. Low tier bones are too weak, while high tier bones could withstand for some time, but small crack often led to a disaster, as it was impossible to repair small cracks with low tier spells. A damaged cannon had to be brought back to a bone-smithy. Metal cannons could be repaired easily, though. The greatest progress was with gunpowder, as a new recipe was created in the 400 year, which didn¡¯t require sulfur. Many new recipes were created after that, and gunpowder became less expensive, but it is still too expensive for mass equipment. Currently, magical artillery is more popular, but it uses the earth kinetic spell. Those cannons have low fire rate, as there is a need to wait for more essence. Most canons are currently mixed. At the end of the cold time humanity had only two 7th tiers. Fortunately, thanks to accumulated research and experiences, humanity was able to preserve in the face of 8th tier monsters, and it was to be expected, that there would be a comeback. Most historians agree, that the imperial court made a grave mistake when they didn¡¯t push, but remaining a defensive stance. Humanity continued to loss lands. In the year 683 of the second era, Zamora dynasty ended, since no child of the ruler reached 7th tier. As an aura of the ruling class was a major advantage in a group fight, there was a need for the new ruler. In the end, dukes helped to level up a 6th tier to the next one, and gain the king class. The class was weaker than the young emperor class, but it was better than nothing. From this point onwards, nearly all kings were power leveled to 7th tier, rather than reaching it by themselves. This book had been written in the year 1035 of the second era. Humanity now controls territory of 400 hundred kilometers in diameter, and have a population of 11 million. Today, humanity is at the weakest in the history. I, the author of this book, will say even more ¨C we are at the brink of the extinction. Rather than defend, we should do what our predecessors were doing, we need to attack. There will be losses, and many will die. That is a price we must pay. 24. Prison Everyone in the room looked at Jack with fear, especially group which had escorted him here. ¡°Do not resist, otherwise we may kill you.¡± A soldier said. ¡°I¡¯m heavily injured, and not in a state to fight. Please be gentle with me, you can kill me accidentally.¡± Jack said calmly. Everything was within his expectations. Obviously, the winners of the fight in the mine should have reported everything. Two soldiers grabbed him tightly, and one of the healers in the room walked closer to check on him. ¡°My body is saturated by life mana, please use as little life mana as possible.¡± Jack warned. ¡°Wow.¡± The middle aged healed said. ¡°How can you be still alive?¡± He asked. ¡°I have my methods.¡± Jack said with a smirk. ¡°How is he?¡± One of the soldiers asked. ¡°Well, he will die within three or four days, and I can¡¯t do anything. You can be a bit rough with him, but do not use magic on him, unless you want to kill him.¡± The healed said. Two soldiers led him towards the Colonel¡¯s building. The building had an underground bunker, and Jack suspected now, also a prison. They led him directly to the Colonel, though. In the room, Colonel Christopher Forrest sat with Landon Hillman. The soldiers described Jack¡¯s health condition. Colonel nodded to soldiers afterwards. ¡°You can leave now.¡± ¡°Baron Landon Hillman claims you have brought a bomb to their meeting place that killed two members of the Greene family. Is that correct?¡± He asked. ¡°It¡¯s true, but I didn¡¯t know it was a bomb.¡± Jack started telling them everything from the start, by the arrival of the white clothed man interrupted him. The man betrayed a surprised face, but he quickly restrained himself. ¡°Baron Nikodem Greene. Please seat, we just started the interrogation.¡± Colonel said. Jack congratulated himself guessing the man¡¯s identify. He wanted to know Nikodem¡¯s version, and Landon¡¯s version which should be what actually happened. Nikodem sat and looked at Jack, waiting for him to talk. Jack continued. At some point, he told them about Nikodem¡¯s murder attempt. ¡°This is outrageous.¡± Nikodem said calmly, but with a face of someone wronged. ¡°I¡¯m just a humble scholar.¡± He directed his next sentence to Landon. ¡°Not only you have killed my family members, you are trying to sully my name. This person was obviously planted by you. I know about his condition. Since he is going to die soon, you must have bribed him with benefits for his family.¡± Landon was calm, and replied. ¡°I haven¡¯t done such things.¡± Colonel interrupted them. ¡°Frankly, I would probably believe in what you said, Baron Greene, but this hunter came to me two days ago to ask a question. He mentioned a job for the Greene family, and I¡¯m sure he was fine at that time. He didn¡¯t have a reason to throw his life away.¡± Nikodem frowned, with a thoughtful expression. ¡°May I ask, what this guy and Baron Landon Hillman have told you?¡± Jack asked Colonel. He wanted to know his situation. ¡°I see no reason to don¡¯t tell you.¡± Colonel said and retold both versions. In Landon¡¯s version, shortly after Jack¡¯s escape, remaining Greene family members all took a last medicine to boost their fighting prowess. Jack wasn¡¯t much knowledgeable about medicine and potions, but he knew Colonel was talking about a medicine people took in a hopeless situations, hence the name ¨C last medicine. Such a drug boosted someone stats considerably, but death usually followed as medicine¡¯s effect ended. Jack also knew high level individuals could survive with only their lifespan damaged, though. It was hard to acknowledge this version. Essentially, Landon was saying everyone from the Greene family committed suicide to avenge their two members, even though they couldn¡¯t be sure the Hillman family was responsible. After that, Baron Nikodem came to the cave and accused the Hillman family, but there was no fight. They all went to the frontier to report the situation, and let the imperial court make a judgment. Baron Nikodem¡¯s version was very simple, he was busy with research, so he got a bit late to the cave, and all his family members inside were dead. That was it. ¡°You should arrest this guy.¡± Jack said, while pointing at Baron Nikodem. ¡°It¡¯s Baron Nikodem for you.¡± He scolded Jack. ¡°Baron Nikodem is right, we need to respect imperial court titles.¡± Colonel said. ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± Jack snapped. ¡°This psycho tried to kill me! He should be executed.¡± Jack felt betrayed by the Colonel. Colonel Forrest sighed. ¡°I¡¯m afraid your version is also unbelievable. You are only in the 2nd tier. It¡¯s hard to believe Baron Greene wouldn¡¯t be able to kill you, and even more unbelievable is your statement, that you managed to feign being dead before him. Moreover, although your injuries are severe, you shouldn¡¯t be able to recover to this degree after being bisected as you have said.¡± Jack groaned in his mind. He needed more evidence. ¡°I have more evidence. I have managed to land a hit on this guy¡¯s skull. Colonel can check that.¡± Jack said. Naturally, a bone could be mended with life mana, but just like with natural bone regeneration, there should be traces of the damage. ¡°We can check.¡± Colonel said. ¡°Baron Greene, may I?¡± ¡°Sure, but there¡¯s no need. I really was injured a few weeks ago in a fight with a monster. He must have been informed about this by someone.¡± Baron Nikodem said. Colonel nodded, but decided to check anyway. ¡°Yes. There are traces of damage, but as you can hear, young hunter, Baron Nikodem claims the injury had nothing to do with you.¡± Colonel calmly said. Jack just wanted to hit Nikodem in his stupid face, but he knew he wasn¡¯t able to so. ¡°Anyway, I have already requested for the imperial court judgment, and a court official with a truth detecting magic tool will arrive tomorrow. Until then, I¡¯m forced to put you in prison, Mr. Jack.¡± Colonel continued. ¡°I also need to inform you, Baron Greene, that you need to stay within headquarters¡¯ territory. I¡¯m not going to arrest you, but should you leave, I¡¯m going to put you on the list of wanted criminals. I have already told the same to Baron Hillman.¡± Colonel concluded. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m innocent, and I have nothing to fear. I will wait for the official to clean my name.¡± Baron Nikodem said with a face of someone offended by the accusations. Jack was escorted by two 3rd tier soldiers and put in a cell. Jack looked over, and tried to cast some magic, but he failed. ¡®Essence is pumped out from the cell. The walls are also enchanted to repel earth mana.¡¯ Jack didn¡¯t know whether the cell was prepared especially for earth mages, but he wouldn¡¯t be able to move the walls with his magic spells.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Jack didn¡¯t plan to escape, though. He knew it was nearly impossible even in his prime condition. Also, he had nothing to fear from the truth detecting magic tool. Ding¡­ Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 31 Jack felt bitter. He wanted to fight for humanity, but he was thrown in prison. ¡®Even though I only stated the truth¡­¡¯ Jack had nothing to do in the cell, so he thought about the past, and his choices. Jack never had great dreams. He had wanted to be a strong warrior, be safe, maybe be a noble, but who didn¡¯t? Jack never wanted to be a human king, for example. Jack¡¯s dreams in that regard didn¡¯t change, but his image of a noble warrior defending humanity was slowly crumbling down. Jack wanted to defend humanity and his family, but he understood now, that his dreams were idealistic. Humans were also fighting with each other. Jack thought it was wrong, but he was only a small character in the great scheme of things. He had to adapt. Someone interrupted him. ¡°You have a visitor.¡± A soldier said. Stanley came. ¡°Hey. I heard you had a rough day,¡± Stanley said with a bitter smile. ¡°You can¡¯t even imagine. Aleena tried to kill me once again, though this time, he used a baron from her family.¡± Jack described the events that led to his imprisonment. Jack¡¯s friend was from a city, Jack hoped he had some advice. Stanley took calmly most of the events, but Jack¡¯s wounds shocked him. ¡°Well, I would say your legal situation isn¡¯t bad. The imperial court is going to find the culprit one way or another, they are very persistent about such cases. Your main problem is your health and the next evolution.¡± Stanley advised after some time. ¡°I can evolve any time, I have reached level 25. I haven¡¯t checked the evolutions, though, I was kind of busy.¡± Staley shook his head. ¡°You may even die choosing the worst evolution, your wounds are too serious. There is a way, though. Military headquarters and many nobles have an evolution assisting magic spell. The military normally is only using it for the most talented, and you have a chance. Frankly, Colonel will probably give you some leeway, since you are going to die otherwise. Jack frowned. He had never heard about such a spell. ¡°How does the spell work?¡± ¡°Well, the spell is using corpses of higher tier life beings, and changes them to kind of food. The spell is feeding your body directly with it, so you can keep the volume of your muscles. The spell is ideal for the current you.¡± ¡°Why haven¡¯t I heard about it?¡± Jack thought the spell was a little too good to be real. ¡°The costs are too great. You need ten times body mass of the same tier monsters as the tier you want to evolve to for the spell to work. The military can¡¯t just let everyone use the spell, or we would have nothing to eat. Moreover, they only need 3rd tier monsters for your evolution, but a 3rd tier needs 4th tier monsters. It¡¯s not cheap. Generally, only nobles use the spell for their children on the regular basis.¡± Jack sighed. ¡®This is the reason Aleena is so strong physically, even though she is nearly a pure mage. She never had to retrain her muscles after the evolution.¡¯ ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Actually, you should tell the Colonel that you have killed a 4th tier monster. This may be enough on its own.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t.¡± Jack shook his head. ¡°Lillie killed that wolf. I barely dealt the finishing blow.¡± Stanley nodded, but continued. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t forget about your own contribution. Besides, don¡¯t you want to live? You have to compromise sometimes.¡± Stanley advised. Jack replied after a while. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I need to think some more about it. Should the lie be revealed, I would be a criminal.¡± ¡°Just tell them the truth. Nobody would believe you have killed a 4th tier completely on your own anyway.¡± Jack sighed. ¡°Tell me more about the court. I want to be prepared for the trial.¡± ¡°I have already told you, that won¡¯t be a problem. Frankly, I have asked about the Greene family, and I can already tell you the real mastermind.¡± Stanley said with a laugh. Jack was bewildered. ¡®Is Stanley a super detective?¡¯ Jack thought. Stanley laughed once again. ¡°This is a way simpler than you think.¡± He said, and started the explanation. ¡°The Greene Count is dying. This is a public information, I only had to ask a few questions.¡± Jack also knew it, he got this information from the Colonel. Stanley continued. ¡°It¡¯s obvious he will take the blame. He had to be the mastermind. From what you have told me, I can deduce he wanted to take all the blame while making it look like his subordinates didn¡¯t know anything, and were only executing his orders.¡± Jack thought it indeed made sense from a certain point of view, but¡­ ¡°Why would he do that in the first place?¡± ¡°There can be various reasons, but generally, he probably just thought his clan would be better without those guys.¡± Jack shook his head. ¡°This is a madness. Won¡¯t he implicate his whole clan? People may think them a family of murderers!¡± Stanley smiled bitterly. ¡°You are mistaken about the killing. Imperial court and most of nobles don¡¯t care about dying people.¡± Jack was surprised speechless for a second. ¡°But the investigation¡­ What about the imperial laws?¡± ¡°I mean, imperial court is trying to preserve human lives, but they don¡¯t care as much as you may think. Their attitude is a bit like a commander leading his soldiers into battle. He wants his soldiers to survive the battle, but he knows many will die. He won¡¯t mourn for every single one of them. An individual life is meaningless for him or her.¡± Stanley waited a second, and continued. ¡°As for the investigations, this is their way of maintaining stability. You should remember imperial court is executing criminals. They just want to be the only institution with the right of killing other people. Different people have a different view on the world, the value of human life and people worthness. The old Count probably thought those dead guys are worthless and killed them. Many people may think he had done the right thing. He is going to the Black Guard anyway, but this was probably his plan from the beginning. He would sacrifice his life in a fight with monsters, and people would think him a hero who had done the right thing, and then died for the humanity.¡± Jack shook his head. ¡°This is all wrong.¡± Stanley smiled bitterly. ¡°Such is the life.¡± They sat in silence after that conversation, Jack was thinking. Jack had read historical texts, and he could deduce a few facts. People had been most united at the beginning of the first empire, and the current, second empire. Humanity had been on the offensive at that time, increasing their territories. At present, people were fighting each other for resources. Naturally, it was impossible for the situation to deteriorate to a civil war or a rebellion. Monsters were a clear enemy of humanity, that was clear. However, humanity was incapable of easily taking away resources from them. It was easier to take monster materials from a human, than from a beast. Jack sighed. He had no control over imperial court politics, nor he wanted to. Jack was just a son of a farmer, he didn¡¯t know anything about the strategy. He couldn¡¯t tell whether abandoning frontier fortifications and moving ahead was the right way or not, but Jack could at least analyze his own situation. Jack wanted to become a baron and send his remaining family to a city. He wanted more strength, and better magic. He wanted more levels and better equipment. How should he do it? The answer was simple. ¡®I need to take the example from the current nobility.¡¯ Someone had already found a way, Jack just had to follow it. This was an important moment in Jack¡¯s life. He decided to change his priorities. Rather than fight for the humanity, he decided to fight first for himself, then for humanity. ¡®I should behave like Aleena,¡¯ Jack thought. He naturally didn¡¯t like it, but Jack had to acknowledge he was too weak to use emotions in decision making. Half a year ago, there was no possibility for him to make such a decision, but now, after many hardships, he was a way more mature. ¡°I have decided.¡± Jack said. He was resolute, he wasn¡¯t going to say something like: ¡®I¡¯m going to change tomorrow,¡¯ he immediately wanted to adjust, though Jack was inexperienced in such a way of thinking. ¡°What?¡± Stanley asked, a bit startled. ¡°I will no longer hesitate. I¡¯m going to bring down Baron Nikodem. Screw him. It¡¯s no longer about the justice, it¡¯s about my life. Also, I¡¯m going to tell them about Aleena¡¯s attempts on our lives.¡± ¡°She can take revenge by telling the official how we left her before. Moreover, that would create an open conflict between you and the Greene family.¡± Jack smiled. ¡°Stanley, I already have a conflict with them.¡± ¡°Yes, but you were only defending yourself. It¡¯s different from purposely creating problems for them.¡± Stanley said. Jack thought for a while and nodded. ¡°I¡¯m reluctant, since the occasion is so good, but you are probably right. I will be only a 3rd tier hunter, without a backing.¡± Jack sighed. He wasn¡¯t going to hesitate hurt another human, but fighting the Greene family had no benefits for him. ¡°Fine. Now, tell me more. Can the court official be bought?¡± Jack asked. ¡°Theoretically, yes. Practically, any side can protest a verdict, saying the official wasn¡¯t neutral. It¡¯s rarely practiced, as there is a large fine for a protest without a merit, but the Hillman family would do that, if the Greene family had bought the official for real.¡± Jack nodded. ¡°What would happen next in that case?¡± ¡°Five officials, including some trustworthy senior officials would jointly investigate everything.¡± ¡°Is there a way to deceive truth detecting magic tool?¡± Stanley frowned. ¡°Probably, but the spell have to be very advanced, I would say 6th or 7th tier at least. I suppose it may be easier to create a tool to hide half-lies, but in your case that won¡¯t save them.¡± ¡°Ok. Thanks Stanley. I really owe you.¡± ¡°Yeah. I hope you will survive to pay me back.¡± Stanley said with a smile and left the prison. Jack suspected that Baron Nikodem had a tool or a spell to lie successfully to the officials, as he had taken calmly Jack¡¯s words. He even had said he would like to wait for the trial, but was that really the case? 25. Conclusion Jack sat in his cell. He was thinking about his current situation and he tried to place himself in the Baron Nikodem¡¯s place. Jack tried to find out a possible next move of his enemies. Meanwhile, he checked his possible evolutions.
Great Spear Warrior
Prerequisites Level 25 Spearman VI profession
Increased essence seep when: Killing another life form Tired due to spear usage
Cap increase:
Strength 25 -> 50 (+25)
Endurance 30 -> 55 (+25)
Intelligence 25 -> 50 (+25)
Mental Endurance 30 -> 55 (+25)
Agility 30 -> 55 (+25)
Perception 20 -> 35 (+15)
Grants innate resistance against life mana
Class skills Charisma Spear handling Footwork Parallel Thinking
Essence boost
Strength 8% / level
Endurance 8% / level
Intelligence 6% / level
Mental Endurance 6% / level
Agility 8% / level
Perception 5% / level
Base vitality: 300
The first possible evolution was expected. Jack knew about a possibility to use a profession to change class. He wasn¡¯t planning to become a spearman, though. Jack wanted to be primarily a mage.
Great Human
Prerequisites Level 25 Survivor
Increased essence seep when: In a place with a lot of humans Killing another life form
Cap increase:
Strength 25 -> 50 (+25)
Endurance 30 -> 55 (+25)
Intelligence 25 -> 50 (+25)
Mental Endurance 30 -> 55 (+25)
Agility 30 -> 55 (+25)
Perception 20 -> 35 (+15)
Increases height by half a meter and thickens bones accordingly Grants innate resistance against life mana
Class skills Charisma Crafting Pack Instinct Footwork
Essence boost
Strength 7% / level
Endurance 7% / level
Intelligence 7% / level
Mental Endurance 6% / level
Agility 7% / level
Perception 6% / level
Base vitality: 300
This was¡­ unexpected. Jack didn¡¯t think the most basic evolution for his class to be a generalist class. It was somewhat logical, though. ¡®I have already survived, so I¡¯m just a normal human now. I suppose this would be a good method to change once again a specialization, since a generalist class should be able to evolve in any direction, but the increase in height¡­¡¯ Most monsters were going this route, which resulted in bigger bodies. Jack didn¡¯t want to become a giant, or a dozen of meters titan.
Last Survivor
Prerequisites Level 25 Survivor Be the only person to survive an encounter with a higher tier enemy, and kill the enemy in the end
Increased essence seep when: In a place with a lot of humans Killing another life form
Cap increase:
Strength 25 -> 55 (+30)
Endurance 30 -> 60 (+30)
ntelligence 25 -> 55 (+30)
Mental Endurance 30 -> 60 (+30)
Agility 30 -> 60 (+30)
Perception 20 -> 40 (+20)
Grants innate resistance against life mana
Class skills Economy of Movement Scavenging Analyze
Essence boost
Strength 7% / level
Endurance 7% / level
Intelligence 7% / level
Mental Endurance 6% / level
Agility 7% / level
Perception 6% / level
Base vitality: 500
Jack didn¡¯t like this. The class was nice, but his survivor route seemed to require him to survive more and more dangerous situations. It also forced him to be one of surviving people, meaning, the rest had to die. Jack decided to give up on survivor route at some point. He didn¡¯t want to choose the Great Human class just yet, but he would probably take something different for his 4th tier class. Jack¡¯s current long term goal was to become a baron and send his family to a city. Taking a weak 3rd tier class wasn¡¯t going to help with that.
Magical Survivor
Prerequisites Level 25 Survivor Survive a fight and kill a 4th tier life being with a magical spell
Increased essence seep when: Using spells Being mentally tired Killing another life form
Cap increase:
Strength 25 -> 50 (+25)
Endurance 30 -> 55 (+25)
Intelligence 25 -> 65 (+40)
Mental Endurance 30 -> 65 (+35)
Agility 30 -> 60 (+30)
Perception 20 -> 40 (+20)
Grants innate resistance against life mana
Class skills Economy of Movement Scavenging Spell Slinging
Essence boost
Strength 6% / level
Endurance 6% / level
Intelligence 10% / level
Mental Endurance 7% / level
Agility 7% / level
Perception 6% / level
Base vitality: 500
Jack had now a favorite. Unfortunately, the Battle Mage profession was using the Spell Slinging skill. Choosing this class would unpick the Battle Mage profession. Jack would still get a bigger intelligence boost due to his new class, but it would be only 1% for the current level of the Battle Mage profession.
Battle mage V
Requirements Spell Slinging skill lv.25 Parallel Thinking skill lv.25
Boost +30% to intelligence +20% to mental endurance +3% per level to intelligence +2% per level to mental endurance
Jack remembered there was a chance he wouldn¡¯t be able to use the military¡¯s spell for the evolution. He would choose Great Spear Warrior class then. Ding¡­ Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 32 Time passed, and the night fell. Jack wasn¡¯t able to sleep. He wanted to, as this was his second day of staying awake, but his body hurt him. Jack used the night to complete his preparations. Jack heard steps. He looked up, and saw Baron Nikodem before his cell. Baron started manipulating with the lock on the cell¡¯s door. ¡°We can negotiate. You don¡¯t have to kill me.¡± Jack said. The Nikodem¡¯s goal could be only one thing. Baron stayed silent and continued tinkering with the lock. Jack was thankful for cell defenses. Nikodem wasn¡¯t able to kill Jack with magic, as he would need essence to direct the spell, but enchantments on the cell were constantly pumping out essence. Nikodem could use fire mana to flood the cell, but he was water mage, therefor Jack was calm about that. ¡°I know you have some method to deceive the official and make half-lies passable as truth. You can lend me this method, and I would change my testimony.¡± The Baron looked up with a bit surprised expression, but he quickly returned to his task. ¡°You are quite smart.¡± ¡°I also know it was your old count¡¯s plot.¡± Jack added. He couldn¡¯t be sure, but Stanley seemed to back then. ¡°Well, you are smart, but you don¡¯t know everything.¡± Nikodem continued his work.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°You will be the first suspect, you know? Nobody else has an interest in seeing me death.¡± Jack advised. ¡°Well¡­ shut up. You are distracting me.¡± The man continued after a few seconds. ¡°You don¡¯t know everything, and my method of avoiding truth detection is not as impressive as you think. I¡¯m going to the Black Guard this way or another. Your survival ruined everything.¡± The man said with an accusing tone. ¡®I¡¯m not going to say sorry, fool.¡¯ Jack wasn¡¯t giving up, yet. ¡°So, why are you trying to kill me?¡± ¡°I will be able to lessen my sentence.¡± The man said helplessly. ¡°Besides, I have to save Aleena. She was supposed to be nearly completely out of it, but now there is a possibility she will be implicated.¡± ¡°I told you, I can change my testimony.¡± Jack was stubborn. ¡°You know, I admire you.¡± Baron said suddenly. Jack was bewildered. ¡°How about letting me go, then?¡± ¡°I have a 4th tier class, but you still managed to have a fight with me, and even survived. Originally, some talentless idiot should have your place, but we didn¡¯t tell her that specifically. I don¡¯t know why Aleena chose you, but I would choose differently. Humanity needs warriors like you.¡± Jack was completely stupefied. ¡°But you still want to kill me?¡± ¡°Yes. Humanity is important, but it isn¡¯t like we are going to become extinct just because of your death.¡± Lock gave up, and the door opened. ¡°Well, that was me speaking objectively. I¡¯m going to enjoy killing you, though. You fucked me up, after all.¡± Nikodem took out a glove, which looked like a magical tool. He also took out a small ball or maybe a rock, and grasped it with his gloved hand. ¡°Don¡¯t try to resist, or it would be more painful. Actually, you should cooperate. You are going to die anyway, and your death will save Aleena. She is pretty, right? You may think about her while dying.¡± The man walked toward Jack. Jack felt enlightened at the moment. Nikodem was going to heal him, flooding his body with life mana. The glove would produce life mana, and the rock was most likely an artifact core, a device used to store essence. Nikodem had to use it, since there was no essence in the cell. Nikodem may be able to get away with this murder. Everybody would think Jack¡¯s mana saturation got too bad, and Jack¡¯s body gave up. Nikodem would say he didn¡¯t kill Jack, while thinking something like: I only healed him. That would be a half-lie, but he had a method to deceive the court official like that. Without Jack, Nikodem would be able to freely manipulate the story. He still wouldn¡¯t be able to completely change it, but he may be able to lighten his sentence. Jack understood now. It was too late for a negotiation, though. The man was only two meters before him, and was about to start soon. Jack cast the sacrifice spell in his mind. Cell¡¯s enchantments scattered his essence around, trying to pump it out, while Jack felt horrible pain. He wasn¡¯t going stop, though. Ding¡­ Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 33 With essence, inscriptions on the walls were now powered up. A lightning arc hit baron Nikodem with a bang, flexing all his muscles, and stopping him in place. The lightning flashed brightly, and Jack could smell burned flesh. Jack was so concentrated, that he nearly disregarded pain. Jack had spent all night here, he had thought about all eventualities. This time, he was prepared. Jack had used the sacrifice spell to create some dirt, and then to create a small water mana creating rune on his clothes. He dirtied a droplet of water and then used it to paint the walls of the cell. Water vaporized, leaving dirtied traces, which acted as runes. Jack had spent a few hours drawing this 4th tier lightning spell. Ding¡­ Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 34 The pain of using the sacrifice spell was unbearable, but Jack held looking at burning Nikodem. ¡®Did you really think I was going to die just like that?¡¯ Jack was happy with the revenge. Ding¡­ You have reached lv. 24 Jack lost a level, but he was going to continue until the notification of Nikodem¡¯s death. Unfortunately, runes created with dirt were fragile, and malfunctioned. A lightning flew in the wrong direction, and destroyed partially the spell. The Baron was still stunned by electricity, and fell on the ground. ¡®Shit. There¡¯s no stopping now.¡¯ Jack was incapable of moving with his body, but his mind was still working. He cast life kinetic spell on his bones, and tossed himself. Jack landed on the man, and controlled his hand with life spell. He powered down his sacrifice spell, since he didn¡¯t need it for the lightning spell anymore, but he had to continue to cast. His electric spell still partially worked, while Nikodem lost conscious. Jack pushed his fingers into Nikodem¡¯s electricity shut lips. He channeled life mana through his fingers, avoiding Nikodem¡¯s life mana resistance. Jack sent the life mana to baron¡¯s head, a quick kinetic spell¡­ Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 57 Senior Water Mage Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 25 Ding¡­ You have unlocked Great Spear Warrior class due to your actions Ding¡­ You have unlocked Great Human class due to your actions Ding¡­ You have unlocked Last Survivor class due to your actions Ding¡­ You have unlocked Victim class due to your actions Ding¡­ You have unlocked Magical Survivor class due to your actions Jack didn¡¯t pay attention to notifications, but immediately used life kinetic spell to toss himself back. Jack absorbed some essence and gained the level back, but the rest of it spread around, powering back the defunct lightning spell. Electricity erupted from the runes with a sound of thunder, completely destroying the spell. Jack also heard a sound of breaking bones, he was too hasty in his spell. His own body was in a bad condition before, now he was on the brink of death, but he couldn¡¯t do anything about it. Jack felt joy in his heart, he succeeded. Nikodem died. Jack lost conscious. ¡°Wake up!¡± Someone shouted. ¡°Wake up! I¡¯m doing my best, but with such mana saturation¡­ He will live for two hours at best.¡± Someone said, though Jack didn¡¯t know who was talking, nor the person talked to. His felt like in a bad dream, he couldn¡¯t distinguish reality from dreams. After Jack had lost consciousness, a few soldiers came over to check out loud sounds coming from the prison. Baron Nikodem had prepared for Jack¡¯s screams, but thunder sounds had been too loud. Soldiers found knocked out guards, and open cell. Baron Nikodem and Jack were both dead. The soldiers immediately informed higher-up, and healers came over. Baron Nikodem was thoroughly dead, as his brain was destroyed, and his innate spell scattered. Jack died somehow peacefully, his internal organs¡¯ condition didn¡¯t change to before, and his innate spell was still intact. Not much time passed, and Jack¡¯s brain was still working, so the healer forcefully pushed blood in Jack¡¯s veins, but this was a very temporary measure. When the Colonel learned about the situation, he immediately came over. A baron died in his base, that was very troublesome, even more than Greene case. The Colonel had no power to change events in the exterior while staying in the local headquarters, and victims had only low tier classes. Baron Nikodem died in his headquarters. Moreover, the Baron was to be a witness tomorrow, the same as Jack, who was now on the border of life and death. Colonel had to save Jack, or at least prolong his life. ¡®Screw Greene family members!¡¯ He had to at least learn how Nikodem had died. This was more important for him. Colonel used a potion from the storage, as normal magic was no longer effective on Jack¡¯s body. Potions were somehow precious, enough so they weren¡¯t available for 2nd tier warriors, and were expensive for 3rd tiers, but for colonel a potion was a minor cost. He didn¡¯t believe Jack killed a baron. Maybe a healthy 2nd tier genius had a chance, but in Jack¡¯s current condition¡­ Colonel had to know, or repercussions will follow. Unfortunately for Jack, potions were also working partially on principles of magic and life mana. Jack condition improved a bit, but he still was going to die in a few hours. Jack slowly woke up, but his whole body felt numb, it didn¡¯t even hurt him. Jack felt like it wasn¡¯t his body any longer. In the meantime, the Colonel had sent one of his adjutants for the official, who had only 3rd tier class and was quite slow because of that. Colonel wanted to bring the official fast and proceed with the trial. Colonel Forrest obviously asked Jack what happened, but Jack couldn¡¯t even speak. The Colonel could only wait for the court official. After an hour, the official finally arrived. He had been woken up in a middle of the night, his mood was pretty foul. Colonel woke everyone up, and gathered in his office, even Aleena was here. Since Jack was too weak to speak, court official took out a collar and placed it around Jack¡¯s neck. ¡®What¡¯s that?¡¯ ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Jack¡¯s thoughts could be heard from the collar. ¡°This is a tool to interrogate people like you, who can¡¯t communicate normal way.¡± Court official replied. The man had gray hair and looked really old. Jack tested collar a bit, and it seemed he could hide some thoughts from the collar. ¡°Ok.¡± Colonel started a bit excited. ¡°Tell us, how baron Nikodem died?¡± ¡°What? My uncle died?!¡± Aleena shouted. ¡°I want to use the spell used to help people evolve. I can still survive this way.¡± Jack only said this. He didn¡¯t care about the trial, and its outcome. He just wanted to live. The Court official and Colonel Forrest looked at each other, thinking how to proceed. ¡°Tell me! What happened?!¡± Aleena shouted at Jack, but he completely disregarded her. He concentrated on the Colonel and was thinking how to convince him. The Colonel would normally agree, the cost of using the spell for Jack¡¯s evolution should be about the same as the potion he had used before. However, he was in the presence of a court official. He had to at least pretend to follow the rules. ¡°Not anyone can use the spell, there are certain prerequisites... ¡° Forrest started. ¡°I once killed a 4th tier. Is it enough?¡± Jack replied. Most people present were surprised to the point of not believing in it. Killing a 4th tier alone was impossible for a someone with 2---nd tier class. ¡°He didn¡¯t lie.¡± Court official said, silencing the crowd. He had truth detecting magic tool, and he could easily distinguish the truth from lies. ¡°You have to reach level 25 in two months and kill 20 3rd tiers normally. The first condition is pretty much fulfilled, and I think that 4th tier can substitute for the second condition. Very well! You can use the spell, as long as you prove yourself innocent.¡± The Colonel really wanted to wash his hands from the baron Nikodem¡¯s dead. He was happy to use this excuse. ¡°Marco, prepare the chamber.¡± He said to one of his adjutants. Jack knew he should rather evolve first. Trusting Forrest to uphold the deal was trusting him with his life, but Jack had no choice. He had to prove his innocence first, they wouldn¡¯t allow him to use the spell otherwise. ¡°Ok. Tell us, what happened to the baron?¡± ¡°He broke into my cell and tried to kill me. The fool was too stupid, though. I killed him.¡± Jack said plainly. People turned to the judge, waiting for him to rebuke Jack for lying. ¡°He¡¯s not lying.¡± ¡°You motherfucker!¡± Aleena cast a fire spell at Jack. He wasn¡¯t able to do anything, so he didn¡¯t. Someone blocked the spell, the room was filled with veteran warriors after all. ¡°Restrain her!¡± Forrest gave the order. Two soldiers pushed her to the ground and used a few magic tools to lower concentration of essence in the air and also defend against her fire mana. She fought for a while, struggling against soldiers, but she wasn¡¯t able to do anything in the end and stopped. She was only muttering ¡°Uncle¡­¡± under her nose. The room was in disbelief, but they had to accept. ¡°How troublesome.¡± Forrest sighed. At least, it wasn¡¯t his foul, but he would have to write a few reports himself. Judge told Jack to continue, and he did. Jack told them about yesterday¡¯s event, and about Aleena¡¯s offer. Landon Hillman was next, everything he said was true. Aleena was the last. Her eyes were red, but she stood up and answered the questions. ¡°I didn¡¯t know anything. I was only told to offer a deal to someone capable.¡± ¡°Did you have any guesses?¡± ¡°¡­Yes.¡± She said bitterly. ¡°They didn¡¯t tell me anything, meaning, it was something illegal, though I didn¡¯t know to what degree.¡± ¡°Why did you choose your teammate?¡± ¡°I told you, I didn¡¯t know anything, it could have been something relatively minor. The reward was nice, and I wanted it to land in my team.¡± She said with irony in her voice. The official took a few minutes to think . ¡®So, Aleena was pretty innocent in the end,¡¯ Jack thought. It was obvious that Nikodem¡¯s death hurt Aleena deeply. Jack told himself he didn¡¯t care, but he did. He didn¡¯t like it, and he wanted himself to stop, but he was powerless over his feelings. He didn¡¯t regret his actions, though. ¡®Maybe it just had to be this way, that it is impossible for everyone to be happy.¡¯ ¡°Ok. I will tell you my verdict. Hillman family members and Jack are innocent. Aleena Greene will pay a fine of one grand coin. The investigation will continue.¡± The official sighed. ¡°Well, that stupid Greene Count thinks he can do whatever he wants just because he is going to die.¡± He murmured to himself, but everyone in the room heard it anyway. ¡°Also, these two can be separated, there¡¯s no reason to keep them in one team.¡± ¡°Yes, I will tell my subordinates to arrange new teams.¡± Forrest replied. That was the end. Jack didn¡¯t know if that was justice. Was Aleena a victim? Should she get more severe punishment? Jack was happy for his own victory. Justice didn¡¯t matter to him anymore, he only felt a bit of pity for her. He remembered how his own family members had died, and he didn¡¯t wish anyone similar experiences. The times changed, though. He was the reason the man was dead. He had killed Nikodem a while ago, and he wasn¡¯t going to be punished for it. It was a self-defense case, but he had still killed a man. He had done it with a plan, and Jack didn¡¯t regret it. It was a bit funny for him. He killed a man. Everything was going to change. His team was done for good. He was about to evolve, and he no longer cared much about the humanity. His previous idealistic self was only a joke now. Two soldiers carried him to the chamber filled with monster corpses. Jack checked his possibilities again, and found a new class.
Victim
Prerequisites Level 25 Survivor Survive murder attempt of a 4th tier member of the same social species by killing the murder
Increased essence seep when: Killing another life form In a place with a lot members of the same species Wounded
Cap increase:
Strength 25 -> 55 (+30)
Endurance 30 -> 70 (+35)
Intelligence 25 -> 50 (+25)
Mental Endurance 30 -> 65 (+35)
Agility 30 -> 55 (+25)
Perception 20 -> 40 (+20)
Grants innate resistance against life mana
Class skills Charisma Sneaking Pain Tolerance Battle Precognition
Essence boost
Strength 7% / level
Endurance 8% / level
Intelligence 6% / level
Mental Endurance 7% / level
Agility 6% / level
Perception 5% / level
Base vitality: 400
Jack still felt Magical Survivor class was better, so he chose it. Jack fell asleep. The spell was digesting monster corpses and sending them to Jack¡¯s cells in a form of nutrients, directly feeding Jack¡¯s body. After a few weeks, Jack paid some merchants for information about Greene family. He wanted to learn the ins and outs to be better prepared for the next time someone would decide to use him. Greene family had money problems. Current barons in the family wanted a scholarly route for their children, so they didn¡¯t have to fight with the monsters. Most of those scholars had no gains, they were bottomless wells in which family had to pour money. One of them didn¡¯t even research at all, spending all his money for pleasure. There was also a matter of succession, nobody was close to the 5th tier. The Count predicted the family would fragment and sell the mine for the money. Obviously, the money would be squandered for an idiotic research, or outright for nice life by his grandchildren. The Greene count had two objectives. He wanted to get rid of idiots from his family, and create an atmosphere of an controversy around the mine, so that his family would be unable to sell it. He couldn¡¯t for anything in the open, even though he was the nominal head of the family. Servants didn¡¯t want to listen to him, since he was going to die soon. It was better to curry favor with his children who were going to assume leadership soon. The count could either kill them outright, but not all his family was in the same place, someone would have stopped him before he finished. Hence, the Count had to plot, and he had done so with Nikodem who was going to benefit. His family members in the mine had taken too strong medicine, nobody told them they would die after. The old man wanted to take all blame, but Jack partially destroyed his plans. In the end, the old Count was sentenced for the Black Guard. As for Greene family, Jack didn¡¯t care anymore to follow their fate. At that time, he had a way more interesting thing to do. 26. Grinding The forest was green and lush, as it should be in the middle of summer. Alistair Woods walked slowly with his team, looking out for predators. ¡°Nothing big.¡± Adina, team¡¯s water mage, said. ¡°Good. Opal, check with your fire spells as well.¡± Alistair commanded. He was the leader of the team. ¡°Sure.¡± The woman replied and cast the spell. ¡°You know, I think this is the most ridiculous mission we have ever received.¡± The last member of the group said. Their group had only four members. ¡°Andy, we have talked about it. This could be an opportunity for us.¡± Alistair tried to convince his teammate. ¡°I think that guy is just insane or a psycho.¡± Andy said. ¡°We will find out.¡± Their current mission was to fetch their supposed to be last member, someone named Jack. ¡°I heard he is young, and quite talented. I¡¯m 33, and I still need a couple of levels to reach 4th tier. We aren¡¯t bad, but we lack an edge. There are stronger 3rd tier teams.¡± Alistair said. ¡°But Andy is right.¡± Adina interjected. ¡°I have heard that guy went to the forest four months ago, and he hasn¡¯t returned since even once. You know how isolation works on humans. He could be half mad and dangerous.¡± ¡°I doubt it. I have done some research on him. He initially bullied a few 2nd tier teams into transporting parts of monsters he hunted. He let the poor team have some margin, and after a few days other teams fought for the right of transporting goods to the frontier. He is smart, and he wasn¡¯t completely isolated.¡± ¡°But why?¡± Adina asked. ¡°He is an earth mage. You know¡­ fortifications, earth wall and so on. His style is about traps, I have heard. He isn¡¯t much suited for an active hunt, and he could have earned a way more this way. He hasn¡¯t had to share with a team.¡± Alistair explained. ¡°Well, he is gambling with his life for money.¡± Adina said. ¡°And levels, but everyone do that.¡± Opal added. Adina rolled her eyes. ¡°There is a difference between a relatively safe gamble and a recklessness.¡± ¡°This is the reason you are level 32, while 22 years old. That guy is 15.¡± Opal jabbed. ¡°And I¡¯m still alive. You should know how many died.¡± Adina replied irritated. Everyone here lost their original team, while for Adina, this was her fourth team. The group wasn¡¯t much afraid of the monsters, they could take on even a strong 4th tier monster together. A 5th tier was too much for them, but they had a few potions and tool, which should allow them to escape. They were unwilling to use them, though. All of it cost money, therefor, the group used detection spells like crazy. Everyone in their group could use detection spells, so they took turns, preserving clarity. The group travelled for a few hours. ¡°We should be close.¡± Alistair said. ¡°I found something.¡± Opal said. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ a rock? But it¡¯s magical or something. ¡° Everyone in the group looked at Opal, waiting for more information. Opal was both fire and air mage, she could find out rock¡¯s shape. ¡°Its shape is relatively normal. I only found it because I found out fire mana inside.¡± Opal explained. ¡°Let¡¯s take a look.¡± Alistair said, and led the team to the anomaly. The rock was big and looked rather ordinary. ¡°Let me take a look.¡± Alistair took out an earth wand. The team had Andy as an earth mage, but he wasn¡¯t good with precise control. Alistair cast earth detection spell, and sent earth mana into the rock. ¡°There a lot of enchantments inside. I can spot some light magic, fire magic, and a few other areas are inaccessible. I suppose some conflicting mana is there. Most of the spells looks like¡­ detection spells.¡± Alistair told his team about his discoveries. ¡°So, someone is using this rock as a lookout. Anyone want to bet who?¡± Andy said. ¡°It¡¯s obvious Andy.¡± Adina said. ¡°Can you find out where feedback leads to?¡± Opal asked. ¡°Probably.¡± Alistair said and continued with his investigation. ¡°Shit.¡± Alistair swore. ¡°What?¡± Adina asked. She immediately prepared for combat. ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­ I think there is a large spell formation under the ground. I just found stones shaped into something that looks like spell¡¯s lines. ¡° ¡°Aren¡¯t large spell formations illegal?¡± Opal asked. ¡°Yes, in the interior. Nobody cares much about the exterior.¡± Andy explained. ¡°It seems our little friend Jack is quite daring.¡± Opal said with a smile. That guy was going to be interesting. ¡°Frankly, it¡¯s a lot of work, and you should remember we are in the exterior. Laws were probably the least of his worries, when he was building this.¡± Andy said impressed. ¡°I think I found a lead. There is a pipe for light. I think it¡¯s used to transfer information, or at least visual.¡± ¡°So, our little friend Jack can see us now?¡± Opal asked. ¡°It seems so.¡± Alistair said with a bitter smile. They came here to take him back, but they just lost the initiative. ¡°Let¡¯s follow the pipe. We should find Jack at the end of it.¡± The team crossed two kilometers before they found their destination. ¡°Shit.¡± They cursed. ¡°Is it real? That guy should be also proficient in illusions, right?¡± A big fortress was before their eyes. It had two layers of walls, each 20 meters high. At the center, there was an even higher tower. ¡°Are all earth mages like that?¡± Opal asked. ¡°Well, it¡¯s impressive work for one mage. Wasters cities are a way more impressive, though. You haven¡¯t seen much.¡± Alistair said. He was a son of a baron, he was raised up in a city. ¡°Give me a month or two and I will create something similar.¡± Andy added, a bit hurt about his teammates underestimating him. ¡°How are we going to get inside? Do we knock?¡± Opal asked. Her teammates looked at her in a wonder. ¡°I don¡¯t think he will hear us.¡± Adina said the obvious. ¡°I propose an alpha strike. We can check his defenses simultaneously.¡± Andy proposed. ¡°Don¡¯t forget we are in the exterior.¡± Adina scolded. ¡°She is right. Let¡¯s get a bit closer.¡± Alistair led them. He only took a few steps when light appeared on the ground. ¡®What¡¯s that?¡± Adina asked. ¡°Looks like a path. Now when I think about it, if I were in his place, I would place traps everywhere.¡± Andy said casually. Adina groaned. ¡°Maybe we should bombard this fortress from the distance.¡± She said a bit scared. Opal rolled her eyes, though nobody saw that. ¡°This should be a path without traps, right? This means he already knows we are here and he is receiving us, isn¡¯t he? Let¡¯s go.¡± Opal confidently walked ahead.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Andy and Alistair bitterly smiled when looking at each other, sighed, and followed Opal. Adina helplessly shrugged. When they reached the wall, a passage opened before them. ¡°Earth magic. Quite powerful for a 3rd tier.¡± Andy said. The group went through, observing the wall two meters thick. There was another trap area before the second wall. ¡°There are numerous enchantments on the walls and on the ground. Actually, I think that passage was opened by an inscribed spell, not cast in mind.¡± Alistair said. ¡°So, this fortress is controlled by inscribed spells?¡± Opal asked. ¡°It seems so.¡± Alistair replied. They went into another passage, which led them through the second wall. They could see a boy there, fighting against giant bison with a huge stone hammer in his hands. ¡°The bison is 4th tier.¡± Adina said something they all knew. The bison charged at Jack, but he swung his huge hammer from a side and hit the bison in the head. He stepped lightly to the side, letting a bit stunned beast avoid him. ¡°He is using the earth kinetic spell to move that hammer.¡± Andy said. ¡°Can it be called hammer? It¡¯s just a few meters stone handle ended with a huge rock.¡± Adina said dismissively. ¡°That¡¯s not my point. That¡­ hammer should weigh a ton, literally.¡± Andy said. ¡°Wait. One point of strength is enough to hold 5 kilograms, right?¡± Opal asked. ¡°Well, assuming he has 50 base strength, 6% boost per level and he already sits at level 50, that¡¯s exactly 200 strength.¡± Andy made a quick calculations. The team made surprised faces. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m telling you he has to use magic. I doubt he is level 50. Even if, he should be only able to hold that weapon, not to swing it like that. Normally, it¡¯s hard to coordinate someone¡¯s physical strength and magic without very high agility, but I suppose it¡¯s a way easier with a big and crude weapon.¡± Andy explained, while pointing how Jack once again repeated his previous maneuver. However, this time the stone hammer crumbled on the bison¡¯s horns. The beast tried to pursue fleeing Jack, but it suddenly changed direction, pursuing air. ¡°Illusion. He is baiting the monster with illusions.¡± Andy analyzed. In the meantime, a new gigantic stone hammer flew to Jack. ¡°He has created an inscribed spell to deliver new hammers.¡± Andy said, though the team could say he was in another world already, analyzing other applications of Jack¡¯s magic. Jack dashed after the bison, hitting its head from behind. Spell Slinging skill was now his class skill, manipulating hammer with magic was relatively easy. It was harder to synchronize his muscle force with magical force. Ding¡­ Your Mace Handling skill has reached lv. 21 ¡®Good.¡¯ Jack had been recently only training his skills. He had natural understanding of spell vectors now, and he could easily manipulate earth, or light. His illusions were much better than before. He still had to train, though. Instinct was one thing, but his understanding and skill levels were another. He had to learn from what his instincts were telling him, as may lose the skill after the next evolution. He wasn¡¯t going to leave his fortress, and no powerful monster had come in the last two weeks, so Jack concentrated on grinding his skills. His fortress was giving him 5th tier strength. A month ago, he killed a 5th tier beast. Normally, he could at best kill 3rd tier monsters or fight evenly with weak 4th tier ones, like the bison before him. This fortress was his strength he acquired with patience and hard work. Jack still remembered how it had been after the evolution. His physical strength was impressive back then, but his other stats lagged behind. His intelligence was even lower than before the evolution due to the loss of the Battle Mage profession. Jack went to the forest and dug a deep burrow. He knew an encounter with a 4th or a 5th tier was only a matter of time. After that, Jack slowly raised defenses around the burrow. He was killing 3rd tier monsters, and escaping into the burrow before 4th tiers. Jack was anxious every time a 4th tier monster tried to kill him, some monsters were even trying to dig. There was a possibility of encountering a strong burrowing monster, or a monster with strong magic capable of attacking from a distance. Some monsters were persistent, they waited before the burrow entrance for days. Jack was analyzing his inscriptions at that time, trying to upgrade them. After a month, Jack created a small fortress. He no longer escaped from 4th tier, but either killed them or repelled them back. Around that time, a 2nd tier team found Jack, and he made them an offer to deliver monsters¡¯ corpses to the frontier for a part of the money. Jack was able to trade with the frontier this way, he bought a good quality water wand first. Jack had not been able to acquire the quasi-artifact Aleena offered him, and he still had the problem with detection spells. The water wand wasn¡¯t a quasi-artifact, but was a switchable magic tool of excellent quality, it was as good as the 2nd tier spell for producing water mana. Jack could easily cast water detection spell thanks to the wand, though there wasn¡¯t enough water mana for stronger water spells. Jack also used 2nd tier teams to deliver live monsters to Rowan. Jack still had that debt, and he was reluctantly and slowly repaying it. Jack concentrated on surveillance next. He created dozens of surveillance spells on rocks or under the ground in the two kilometers proximity from his fort. It was the most dangerous part, as he was in the open. Jack wanted to risk it, though. His burrow wasn¡¯t that far. He knew it was hard to acquire great gains without risks. People naturally wanted benefits and money. Everyone would try to take an opportunity to make great gains with low risk, but not everyone was courageous to risk their life or possessions, which was the reason most people remained completely ordinary and average in the society, like soldiers, or field workers. Only by acknowledging risks a person could achieve more. However, he or she could also lose everything in the process. Jack had a problem with information transmission. His rocks were detecting life forms, but he wanted to have that information in his fortress. In the end, he created underground pipes, which transmitted images. A spell in the fortress was unpacking that image and sending it to Jack¡¯s brain with a light spell. That included information gathered with water and fire detection spells. Jack wanted some better method of transmitting information, like the light kinetic spell. The spell didn¡¯t require much essence, and could be used from a very large distance. The spell was used to maintain communication between the capital and frontier¡¯s headquarters. The problem was that it was very hard to be precise over large distances without gigantic spells. The military just created a spell, checked where the receiving end was placed and build the receiver there. Jack couldn¡¯t do the same, and his magic wasn¡¯t good enough to avoid the problem. Jack thought about using some kind of encoding to use with the light kinetic spell, but he also wasn¡¯t able to recreate complicated encoding and decoding logic. In the end, he gave up and created the pipes. Even with that, he earned a level in Words of Power skill for creating fancy spells. A 5th tier bear found Jack one day, he managed to escape to his burrow, though. The bear had some innate spell related to sound, his roars damaged Jack¡¯s body. Jack really thought it may be the end. The bear left after a day, leaving the destroyed fortress. Jack had to repair everything, though it was easier this time, since he already knew what to do. With surveillance, Jack was always prepared for an enemy. He started constructing better defenses, and permanent walls. He got a new crafting skill, Architecture, which measured his knowledge of creating permanent buildings. Jack inscribed many spells on the walls, and started creating traps outside the fortress. After defenses, Jack inscribed offensive spells, like a magical cannon, though it was a combination of earth sculpting and enchanting. The spell had a strength of 5th tier, but it was crude, since Jack just added more spell vectors to make it stronger. The spell used a high amount of essence as the result, and wasn¡¯t good for a long fight. Jack managed to kill a 5th tier wolf around that time, and he commissioned a better armor from the wolf¡¯s fur. Jack knew his fortress main shortcoming was lack of complicated spells and high usage of essence as the result. He decided to create a large scale essence concentrating spell. Over the next month, he created an underground spell meant to deliver essence to the fortress area. At this point, Jack could fight with 5th tier monsters using the fortress. The fortress usually ended partially destroyed because of that, but since Jack already knew what to do, rebuilding was faster. Unfortunately, high tier monsters weren¡¯t stupid, and learned the fortress was dangerous. Jack wanted to bait monsters with illusions, but his spells weren¡¯t powerful enough. He had an idea, though. Jack inscribed a large illusion spell in his fortress, which he could freely control. Naturally, the illusions weren¡¯t very flexible this way, as the main spell was literally set in stone. Jack had also a problem with light mana, as average lifespan of mana was a minute. It was impossible to make mana travel for long distance. Jack created dozens of remote controlled light mana producing spells all over his controlled territory. Jack could this way use illusions in the proximity of two kilometers. This increased his gains, but monsters naturally learned that this whole area was dangerous. Fortunately, there were always travelling 3rd and 4th tiers, which didn¡¯t know about it. Jack had nothing to do while waiting for more monsters to come over, so he practiced his skills. Jack changed a few inscribed spells in the fortress and created a prison for monsters. He was able to regularly fight with 4th tiers in a controlled environment. Jack could only fight weak 4th tier monsters that didn¡¯t have many levels, though. One day, a 6th tier lizard attacked him. Jack tried to fight it, but he was only able to inflict some minor wounds with his fortress. He had no choice, but to burrow down. His fortress was nearly destroyed afterward, but he quickly rebuilt it. 5th tiers were his limit, he had to acknowledge the facts. His magical cannons were 5th tier only by virtue of the ridiculous amount of spell vectors and used essence. Jack needed better basic spells. That led him to the present situation. He was mostly training his fighting skills now. Jack also hoped to catch more 4th tier monsters to use them as a fuel for the evolution assisting spell. The military shouldn¡¯t refuse would he provide corpses. He had to address four people who came here. The military had sent messages from time to time. They wanted Jack to return to the frontier, bur he replied with an excuse each time. As a 3rd tier Jack had to participate in obligatory missions, but didn¡¯t want to. He was the strongest here, and he had leveled fast. ¡°Are you Jack?¡± One of the four people asked. The rest warily looked around, maintaining a formation. They were prepared to fight. ¡°Yep. How can I help you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Alistair.¡± The man introduced himself and the rest of the group. ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± Jack replied politely, though he was a bit impatient. ¡°We have orders to take you back to the frontier.¡± Alistair said slowly. Jack was irritated. He didn¡¯t want to and they wouldn¡¯t be able to take him by force. ¡°What if I don¡¯t want to go?¡± He asked a bit drunk on his power. ¡°You will be declared a deserter, and hunted down everywhere in the interior.¡± Alistair informed. 27. Changes The atmosphere was tense. The team was prepared to fight. Jack wasn¡¯t afraid, he was too strong here, but it was a mistake to be nonchalant about the fight. They could have some ace up their sleeves. ¡°So, you are going to hunt me down?¡± Jack provoked. Alistair smiled lightly. ¡°No, no.¡± He denied lightly. ¡°The military don¡¯t have resources to hunt deserters in the exterior, but would you ever want to return to the interior¡­ It wasn¡¯t my decision., b the way.¡± Alistair quickly whited himself out of it, seeing Jack¡¯s grimace. ¡°We are only executing orders. Higher ups decided you have stayed here too long already.¡± Jack pondered the issue. ¡®It¡¯s not a great problem to be declared a deserter. Temporarily, I don¡¯t have a reason to go the interior. Moreover, they would take me back with open arms, if I reach 4th tier. I suppose I won¡¯t get benefits, though. They aren¡¯t going to reward a former deserter.¡¯ That was a problem, Jack wanted to reach 4th tier to learn better spells from the capital and to send his family to a city. These were his current goals. ¡°Do I have to go immediately?¡± Jack asked. ¡°I¡¯m afraid so.¡± Alistair replied. Jack sighed. ¡®It¡¯s hard to find 4th tier these days. My leveling speed is still nice, but it slowed down considerably.¡¯ Jack decided to comply. There were other reasons as well. Jack was lonely here. He also wanted to have some fighting experience in a group and in the open. ¡°Give me an hour. I will go with you.¡± Jack said a bit resigned. Alistair looked at his companions and replied. ¡°Sure. An hour is not a problem.¡± They wanted to go immediately, but were going to accommodate Jack a little. Jack used the fortress spells and brought out the bison back. A cannon moved and shot a projectile at the bison¡¯s head. The head exploded in a dozen of fragments. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 59 Bison Champion Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 40 The Alistair¡¯s team was a bit shocked by the effortlessness of bison¡¯s demise. ¡°Do you think he can create something like that again in a different place?¡± Andy asked. He wanted Jack to use the cannon for their team. ¡°I doubt it, or at least he will need to spend a few hours.¡± Adina replied. ¡°She is right.¡± Jack confirmed, even though he was too far to be able to listen with his ears. Jack waited a dozen of minutes to completely assimilate the essence, and took out a 4th tier snake, which he killed in the same way as the bison. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 61 Heavy Fire Snake No level this time. Jack felt it was a bit of a waste to just kill the monsters, but he had no other choice. He couldn¡¯t just leave them here, since they would escape. It was better to kill them for levels. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 54 Swift Deer Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 41 Jack stood up. That was it. He still had to take his possessions. He had currently an armor from a 5th tier wolf, and three wands. Jack had bought a water, an air, and a new and better lightning wand. He also had numerous weapons, starting from a few standard spears he was taking to hammers and maces created with magic that didn¡¯t. The Mace Handling skill seemed to be for all kinds of large blunt weapons. Most of the skills were similar, for example, the Footwork skill. The skill seemed about moving legs, but it was also about dodging. When someone moved only their head, they had to place more of their weight on one of the legs to make the rest of their body stay still. Jack gathered his belongings that had some worth and turned to the team. He discarded hammers and maces since he could always make them anew. ¡°Can you help me transport these corpses to the frontier?¡± He asked. ¡°I will give you ten percent.¡± He quickly added, since they didn¡¯t seem to agree. ¡°It will be a problem. These corpses are quite heavy.¡± Alistair complained, and wanted to refuse. ¡°I can use air mana on them, though it will lower their value a bit.¡± Opal happily proposed. ¡°Sure, go ahead.¡± Jack agreed. The group of five people walked through the forest, dragging three huge corpses behind them. ¡°I think this was a stupid idea. These corpses are slowing us down. We may need to ditch them.¡± Adina complained. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We are still in the range of my fortress.¡± Jack reassured. It was impossible to send light mana that far, so the light spell in the fortress was molding light mana in Jack¡¯s body into a spell. Jack could detect monsters this way even when outside. Naturally, the spell had its range as well. The team soon walked out of it, leaving Jack with a feeling of vulnerability. He sighed. He had no longer strength of a 5th tier. Right now, he could only survive against a weak 4th tier. ¡°So? What kind of missions we are going to do?¡± Jack asked. ¡°Our next mission is already decided.¡± Alistair said, while casting a detection spell. They were taking turns, Jack was also required to cast detection spells using his water wand. He was a bit displeased by the commanding attitude of Alistair and the rest, as only Alistair had a higher level than him, but he decided to comply. In the end, they were more experienced than he was. His level wasn¡¯t everything. ¡°We have to investigate the nearby frontier section.¡± Alistair said. ¡°They don¡¯t have their own hunters?¡± Jack asked baffled. ¡°They should have.¡± Alistair said calmly, still concentrating on the spell. ¡°Ok. Your turn Opal. I will tell Jack about our mission.¡± Alistair continued. ¡°The problem is that we have lost contact with that section headquarters. We need to get there to check what happened.¡± Alistair explained. ¡°It¡¯s just our neighboring section. Surely, you can just send ordinary soldiers.¡± Jack said. ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s probably something with infected, so you need at least 3rd tiers for that.¡± Andy interjected. ¡°Infected?¡± Jack asked. ¡°Is there some kind of disease spreading?¡± The rest looked at each other meaningfully. ¡°You haven¡¯t heard about the infected?¡± Adina asked for the group. ¡°Well, I know about the four common diseases.¡± Jack defended himself. Their reaction was weird. ¡°You really must have been lonely in that fortress. Everyone knows about the infected now.¡± Adina said with a pity in her voice. Jack was a bit angry, though she just wanted to tease him. Jack knew about the diseases. Many years ago, the study of life magic reached a level high enough to eradicate most of human diseases. A few were altered to be nearly completely harmless. Humans could destroy their own diseases, but not all of them in the world. Someone smart thought it was for the best to leave a few harmless diseases to train human bodies. The decision was proved correct, as a few times in the history monster diseases evolved and attacked humans. Jack suspected it was something similar. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s not a disease in the straight sense of the word, it was just the first impression and everyone is now used to naming them like that.¡± Andy started explaining. ¡°The invasion started around a month ago. At that time, some people started to behave strangely. They were very clumsy and they weren¡¯t even able to walk properly, while others attacked people like monsters, biting and scratching with fingers. Some of them were attacked, but they showed incredible regenerating abilities. After some time, we learned those people were possessed by life elementals.¡± Elementals. Jack knew about them. They were living organisms, though they didn¡¯t have flesh. Generally, an elemental¡¯s body consisted of an element and the corresponding elemental mana type. For example, a fire elemental was a mixture of fire and fire mana. Their innate spells generated fire from fire mana and fire mana from fire, therefor elemental¡¯s life was stable. They used essence to live, unlike humans and most of monsters, which would only weaken in an environment without essence. This was their weakness. An elemental could only be destroyed with one attack by simultaneously destroying both element and elemental mana. Destroying only element or elemental mana resulted in increased consumption of essence, since an elemental was quickly producing the lacking part back. For example, vaporizing water from water elemental forced elemental to heal itself by producing more water. Therefore, it was possible therefor to kill an elemental by starving it to death by grinding it down. Sooner or later local essence concentration was going to lower with constant essence usage after all. Jack had never heard of life elementals, though it wasn¡¯t strange they existed. Jack had thought they were just extremely rare, unlike fire elementals or water elementals. ¡°Life mana had no conflicts.¡± Jack said aloud the main problem with a sigh. ¡°Exactly.¡± Andy confirmed. ¡°It¡¯s really hard to kill a life elemental.¡± ¡°What about its element?¡± Jack asked. Fire elementals¡¯ element was naturally fire, but how life could be an element? ¡°It¡¯s normally in a form of a cloud of bacteria, but the problem is that they like to use living organisms. They possess monsters and humans and they are replicating inside. After that, they attack others. Practically, only life forms with life mana resistance had some chance to avoid being possessed.¡± Andy explained. ¡°Most of their attacks are actually clumsy and rather harmless, should you be absolutely sure you are immune to the possession. Unfortunately, they can also infect you with their bacteria, so they can even possess high tiers.¡± ¡°What about wards?¡± Jack asked. He caught himself that he enjoyed the conversation. Andy similarly to him seemed to be interested in magical theory. Andy also enjoyed the conversation, and they could discuss many ideas. ¡°Life elemental is a way better than you in life magic. You will need to use some sort of feedback, but that means you are leaving an open route to your body, which is bypassing your life mana resistance. On the other hand, without feedback you are fighting blindly. An elemental just has to break the ward at one point. So, you may use the life ward, as it gives a bit of protection, but never with a feedback.¡± Andy explained.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. They also talked about Jack¡¯s fortress. According to Andy, most counts and ducal families had similar fortresses, but they had more complicated spells inscribed. Jack was a bit wronged by the revelation that his fortress wasn¡¯t unique, but he quickly accepted that. He wasn¡¯t an arch mage, it wasn¡¯t strange there were better earth mages than him. Jack checked his status in the meantime.
Name: Jack
Age: 15
Class: Magical Survivor Level:41 86% to next lv
Stats: Base Essence reinforced
Strength 36.19/50 162.13 (20% + (6+2)%/level)
Endurance 37.39/55 167.5 (20% + (6+2)%/level)
Intelligence 41.86/65 362.92 (70% + (10+7)%/level)
Mental Endurance 39.48/65 213.19 (30% + (7+3)%/level)
Agility 42.59/60 295.14 (60% + (7+6)%/level)
Perception 22.98/40 114.67 (30% + (6+3)%/level)
Affinities
Life Earth Light Water 19.89% 12.59% 9.85% 0.08%
Class skills
Economy of Movement Scavenging Spell Slinging 59 29 38 +25% to agility +10% to perception +10% to intelligence
Professions: 5/5
Conman V Masochist IV Spearman VII Wizard III Trapper IV
Fighting skills:
Sword Handling 8
Spear Handling 39 +10% to agility
Archery 17
Battle Precognition 8
Footwork 48 + 10% to strength
Wrestling 1
Mace Handling 21
Axe Handling 9
Magic skills:
Rune Shaping 36 +10% to intelligence
Words of Power 16
Meditation 26 +10% to intelligence
Parallel Thinking 39 + 10% to mental endurance
Crafting skills:
Farming 19
Cooking 14
Crafting 22
Trapping 28 +10% to intelligence
Utility skills:
Analyze 28 +10% to intelligence
Charisma 37 +5% to intelligence and perception
Pain Tolerance 34 +10% to mental endurance
Mental Intrusion Resistance 22
Tracking 12
Sneaking 12
Vitality 1332/1332
Stamina 1426/1670
Clarity 1963/2130
Jack¡¯s stats exploded. He had had very high strength after the evolution, so he had neglected it a bit, and had concentrated on the rest of his stats. This way, he managed to raise them to the current level. Jack¡¯s life affinity was also high. High enough that it was already impossible for him to experience life mana saturation, but the affinity still wasn¡¯t on the level to give Jack additional benefits just from filling his body with life mana. Unfortunately, Jack still had to pay attention to earth affinity and light affinity. He had been using earth mana in the past month, his body deteriorated already a bit, though there wouldn¡¯t be a problem unless his body find itself flooded by earth or light mana for a long time. Jack had lost Battle Mage profession, so he had to choose a replacement. He had currently two candidates for the slot.
Trapper IV
Requirements Trapping skill lv.20 Crafting skill lv.20
Boost +20% intelligence +20% agility +2% per level to intelligence +2% per level to agility
This one was nice because of intelligence, but agility wasn¡¯t very important for Jack. He was currently using it.
Maceman IV
Requirements Mace Handling skill lv.20 Footwork skill lv.20
Boost +30% to strength +10% to endurance +3% per level to strength +1% per level to endurance
Jack liked strength more than agility, and he planned to replace Spearman profession with this one at some point in the future. Jack liked blunt weapons more. In a fight, Jack had to think more while using a spear than a hammer. Jack had high agility, but he still had to think how to maneuver his body. He would rather spend his intelligence on spells. Alistair patted his shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s talk a bit,¡± he said and dragged Jack behind the rest. ¡°You seem to hold some sort of resentment against us.¡± Alistair started. His tone was accusing. Jack kept silence. It was true. Jack would rather grind in his fortress, Alistair¡¯s team had forced him out. ¡°You should remember we are only executing orders. You can always go to the Colonel or one of lieutenants to complain if you feel so wronged.¡± Jack could only sigh in his mind. He wasn¡¯t suicidal. ¡°Let me tell you. I¡¯m not going to lose anyone because of some stupid brat, thinking that we are your problem. These people, they are my teammates and friends. As the leader, I¡¯m responsible for them. If you do something that endangers them, I will get rid of you personally.¡± Alistair threatened and speed up, to catch up with others. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Jack said with a sigh. ¡°I know that, it¡¯s just¡­ You are here, and I have nobody else to blame. I know it¡¯s not your fault. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Jack sighed. He felt his own behavior was stupid, but he had been angry. He still was, but he knew it wasn¡¯t proper to direct his anger and disappointment at the team. Alistair nodded. ¡°Fine. I accept. Come, let¡¯s catch up with the rest.¡± The team reached the frontier after a few hours. They sold the corpses and divided the money, Jack received the most of it. Jack also placed some of his things in the team¡¯s house. After that, the team went alongside frontier to the neighboring section. Jack wondered he would see Maria and Stave. These two had travelled to the frontier with Jack and Bob back then, but they had failed the test for being a hunter. They should be on the wall, or resting in barracks. The soldiers on the walls were chatting, and some were even playing around. They were supposed to stand a meter from each other, but they formed groups a few meters from each other. Jack didn¡¯t blame them. Ten kilometers distance from the forest was enough to form a proper formation in case of an attack. ¡°So, how are we dealing with the infected?¡± Jack continued previous discussion. ¡°Colonel ordered to create inscribed warding spells, which work as barriers for 2nd tier people possessed by life elementals. 3rd tiers have the resistance, so the spell doesn¡¯t work for them, even if an elemental is inside. We are usually imprisoning possessed people and trap elementals in layers of essence pumping out spells, life wards and fire barriers. An elemental can live for a moment only with just mana or an element, so it is necessary to prevent spread of both bacteria and life mana.¡± Andy explained. ¡°As for life mana, the best solution is to use ward AND escape. Elementals aren¡¯t fast. As for bacteria, you can use fire elemental barriers, though any elemental barrier is useful, some more than other. For example, an earth barrier would force elemental to leave behind bacteria, while an air barrier would only slowly kill bacteria with air mana.¡± Andy continued his explanation. Jack took a while to proceed the information. Life elementals were indeed very dangerous. The team wasn¡¯t strong enough to fight a life elemental straight on. The group passed more barracks. Jack didn¡¯t spot his acquaintances, but he could discern the soldier¡¯s mood was dropping as they were moving closer the next section. Jack asked two soldiers about it. ¡°I have heard that the next section is no longer working. Also, sometimes infected are coming from the interior¡¯s side. People feel their backs are no longer safe.¡± Jack was surprised. He expected that the infected problem would be stopped at the borders. ¡°Life elementals spread to the interior.¡± Alistair replied gravely for Jack¡¯s inquiry.¡± Western cities have their own wards to stops possessed people, but the countryside¡­ ¡° That was bad. Very bad. His family was endangered. He wasn¡¯t panicking, still remembering how his village had fought against the wolves, but he should help them. Jack hoped Bob had sent them some help, maybe a few magic tools. Jack had sent equipment and money to Bob numerous times in the past. The group reached the next section¡¯s territory. There wasn¡¯t a clear border between the sections. A soldier from Jack¡¯s section stood a meter from a soldier from the next section. Alistair asked them about their headquarters, but they just told them that they don¡¯t know anything, only rumors. Rumors about headquarters no longer existing, or at least, about headquarters being taken over by elementals. Others disagreed, saying that it was impossible, and most likely there was some accident with the communication spell. The team walked for a few more kilometers. The distance between two soldiers enlarged. Now, soldiers openly talked about elemental attacks. ¡°There are no soldiers ahead.¡± Jack said. He observed the terrain with his light magic telescope. ¡°Can you describe it better?¡± Alistair asked. ¡°Well¡­ Soldiers from this barrack are standing, but their line ends in the place soldiers from the next barrack should stand. Just like that.¡± After a dozen of minutes, they reached the place. ¡°Why is nobody there?¡± Alistair asked soldiers . They shrugged. ¡°They just didn¡¯t appear two days ago.¡± Alistair raised his brow. ¡°Why are YOU here? I doubt they just decided to stay in their barracks out of being lazy.¡± They looked at each other. ¡°We have been coming here every day for years, and we don¡¯t have a reason to stop, at least for now.¡± ¡°How about the infected?¡± Alistair asked. ¡°We don¡¯t fight them to death. It¡¯s alright. Annoying, but fine.¡± The team walked forward. ¡°There are some people ahead. ¡° Jack said. Barracks were only two kilometers from each other, Jack could already observe the next barracks. ¡°Can you show us?¡± Alistair asked. Jack created an illusion of what he saw. While the next barracks were in the distance, many people walked without an order before it. ¡°Infected.¡± Adina stated bluntly. ¡°We should avoid them.¡± Andy said. Most of the team nodded. ¡°Can I have a request?¡± Jack asked. ¡°I would like to see what they can do. I have never fought them.¡± Jack asked. His team was more experienced, it was better to fight infected with them. Adina groaned. ¡°Don¡¯t be selfish.¡± ¡°Wait, isn¡¯t it better her us to let Jack experience fighting them? I mean, it¡¯s pretty obvious there will be more of them as we are getting close to the headquarters.¡± Opal said. Alistair nodded. ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s get a bit closer.¡± Soon, a dozen of infected spotted the team. Jack could now observe them better. They didn¡¯t look much different from normal soldiers. A few had loincloths, while the rest had armors. Generally, most 3rd tier soldiers had some sort of armor, so it wasn¡¯t a surprise. They looked healthy, but their gazes¡­ They didn¡¯t have any emotions visible on their faces. Their eyes looked hollow. They wordlessly moved in Jack¡¯s direction, moving their limbs awkwardly. Some tripped and fell on the ground. ¡°Most of them can¡¯t even properly control bodies they are possessing. Andy.¡± Alistair told them. Andy cast a spell and lifted up a dozen small stones. ¡°Earth magic?¡± Jack asked surprised. ¡°I¡¯m an earth mage, but I have taken it for ranged attacks. I¡¯m not as good as you with delicate inscribing.¡± He cast the spell and rocks flew. Legs of infected blew up, dying surroundings red. Possessed bodies lost their legs, they could only crawl in the team¡¯s direction. A splinter hit one of them in the chest, and Jack could observe how the seemingly mortal wound for a person without magic healed in a manner of seconds. ¡°This is the best way to stop them.¡± Alistair explained. ¡°Now¡¯s the hard part.¡± 28. On the other side Clive hated his life, and he hated duke Drake even more. He had never met him, nor he had even seen him before, but he hated him. He hated the whole Drake dukedom and his neighbor Troy. Fortunately, a white mist had poured inside Troy a few days ago, and he had lost his mind. People in the fortress threw him in a dungeon, since he become aggressive. Clive knew some people sheltered diseased people, hoping to cure them back. Fortunately, that stupid Troy had been unlucky. Unfortunately, Clive wasn¡¯t now in the Drake¡¯s fortress, but in the forest. He was going to die. A few weeks ago, the disease had spread, and many people had died. Frontier sections fell, Clive¡¯s family tried to escape to the Drake¡¯s stronghold, but they didn¡¯t manage to. Clive¡¯s parents died to roaming sick people, while only Clive and his sister Lucy got there. They didn¡¯t find a safe haven. The fortress was packed full with people. At first, they were given food, but it soon changed. His sister was taken by the Drake family. Everybody knew about Drakes. They pursued generalist classes, they often were a dozen of meters tall, and some of them were even bigger. Males in the family often had many mistresses, impregnating them in a hope of siring an offspring with their class. Luck was pretty, and they had taken her. She should get food, but beside that, her life wasn¡¯t going to be fun. Clive had never felt so helpless before. Soon after, there was no more food, while disease reached inside the fortress. Some people ate sick people, and most of them also fell sick. It was a nightmare. Then, a few days ago, someone from the Drake family had told them there was no more food, though Clive suspected there was no more food for them. Drakes could probably swim in food. Clive and many others had been sent out of the fortress, being told to hunt their own meal. Clive was 13, and was lv. 6 Field Worker. The people with him had had similar classes, though most had had higher level. Most of them were dead now. Clive had hoped to grind levels and rescue his sister, to become a great warrior, to have a full stomach. A gaggle of geese had destroyed all his dreams, massacring people with him. They had thought it would be an easy target, but there were two 3rd tier birds. He had escaped with a bunch of others, but a weasel killed a girl, and the group had separated, everyone had escaped in a different direction. Now, Clive was limping and marked by a rat. Clive hated himself. He thought it may be better to die. The rat was too small and weak to kill Clive in one swoop, nibbling on his legs from time to time. Clive tried to hit it with a branch in his hands, but the rat was too fast, or maybe he was just too unskilled with weapons. He had never fought before. ¡®It¡¯s coming,¡¯ Clive spotted his enemy with a corner of his eye. He pretended he didn¡¯t see it, and prepared to strike. ¡®Now.¡¯ He swung his branch, and luckily hit the rat. The rat squeaked, its leg hurt. Clive didn¡¯t stop, he poured all his frustration in strikes. The rat tried to escape, but its bones were broken, and the rat soon became crushed into an unsightly paste of blood, dirt, internal organs and fur. Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 6 Rat Clive fell on the ground. He would be hungry still. He just wanted to die. Tears streamed down his face. He heard a sound, and looked up. A pretty big boar was strolling in his direction. ¡®It¡¯s over,¡¯ he thought. Clive was surprised he was unwilling to die. Now, just as his death was around the corner, he wanted to live. He mustered his strength, and tried to stand up and escape, but the boar dashed at him. Clive felt pain from his legs, and the world turned upside down. The boar hit him again with its tusks, this time aiming at Clive¡¯s torso. He tried to block with his hands, and they broke. Clive was unwilling. It was always the same, he felt so helpless. ¡°Fuck the Drakes.¡± The boar hit him again, breaking his ribs. Clive just wept in the pain and helplessness. A flash of red. The boar fell to the ground. ¡°Hey. Are you still alive?¡± A young man asked him. Clive tried to respond to the fur clad warrior, but only blood gushed from his lips. ¡°Let me see.¡± The man crouched before him and placed an arm on Clive¡¯s chest. He felt an itching in his chest, and his body felt even weaker. He lost consciousness. Clive woke up. He expected to be dying, but nothing hurt him. He just felt a bit weak. The first he saw, was that he was surrounded by people. They weren¡¯t farmers. ¡°Are you awake?¡± A girl a year or two older than him asked. He immediately felt self-conscious, and a bit ashamed of his pitiful state. ¡°Yeah. Where I am?¡± Clive asked. This place was some sort of a camp, but they were in the forest. How could someone live in the exterior? ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You are safe now. You were badly hurt when Hugo brought you here, but Wayne, our best mage, healed you up. I¡¯m Linzi, by the way.¡± ¡°My name is Clive.¡± He responded, still a bit dazed. ¡°Warriors and mages, hear me!¡± Someone shouted loudly. Too loudly. Clive suspected magic. He looked over and spotted a very old man, dressed richly. ¡°Humanity needs us NOW! We might have made mistakes in the past, but this is the time to unite against a common threat!¡± The old man continued. Linzi frowned. ¡°That old idiot. He should just shut up.¡± The man continued. ¡°Do you want to live as cowards?! This is an opportunity for all of you!¡± ¡°How is he?¡± A young man came over, he was in his twenties. Clive recognized him as Hugo, the man who had saved him. ¡°Fine. Wayne healed him, so there are no problems.¡± Linzi replied. Hugo frowned while looking at the preaching old man. ¡°This old geezer is so irritating.¡± He thought for a second, and said with a smile. ¡°Linzi, watch me now.¡± He said and winked at her. She blushed. Hugo went to the old man. ¡°That idiot. Always behaving like that, even though he is too old for me¡­¡± Linzi complained. Clive instantly raised from an abyss to the clouds. ¡°Are you just going to stay here?¡± The old man continued. ¡°What would we have out of it?¡± Someone asked. Clive noticed most of the people here were males. Actually, there was a group of females in a corner of the camp, but they looked dirty and miserable. They didn¡¯t seem the part of the main group. ¡°Rewards! Glory! Nobility! Pardon! For heroes, everything is possible.¡± The old man was speaking enthusiastically. ¡°I agree!¡± Hugo shouted. ¡°I want to join you in your quest! I want the be a hero, and live in a castle or a city. Please, let me join you. I will help you convince the rest!¡± Hugo also shouted loudly, so everyone could hear him. Linzi rolled her eyes, listening to Hugo¡¯s speech. ¡°Who is that old man?¡± Clive asked. ¡°Him? It¡¯s an old Count. He is the strongest in our group.¡± Linzi explained. ¡®Count? A noble?¡¯ Clive only knew about the Drakes, but he instantly disliked that old man. Hugo stopped behind the old count and shouted. ¡°People! Do you want to live like now forever?¡± Many frowned. ¡°No, but what?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the time for a change! This man is right! We can¡¯t be just a cannon fodder any longer!¡± Hugo took his spear and raised it to the sky. Most people didn¡¯t care about count¡¯s speech, but they listened now. The Count looked pleased with the change. ¡°Hugo is kind of our leader.¡± Linzi commented. ¡°He had united most of us and created stability within the group.¡± ¡°Is the Count from the Drakes?¡± Clive asked curious. ¡°No. His surname is Greene.¡± Linzi answered. Hugo continued. ¡°Now in the time for change! Black Guard, join me!¡± Hugo shouted and threw his spear before him. The Greene count was completely surprised , and tried to dodge, but he was too slow. The spear priced his neck.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Shit! He is going to sacrifice!¡± Someone shouted and a dozen of spears flew at Greene count. Hugo jerked the spear back, and attacked again. ¡°You old shit! Did you really think we are going to be altruistic heroes? We are here for the reasons!¡± He pierced the old Count a few more times. Spells flew at the old man. ¡°Villains to the end!¡± The old count shouted through his healed throat. ¡°Die!¡± Fire exploded from the count body, swallowing everyone nearby. ¡°Shit!¡± Linzi shouted and threw herself at Clive, pushing them both to the ground. Ding¡­ You have participated in killing of lv. 145 Arch mage of Fire and Air Ding¡­ LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 7 The fire ceased to be, leaving a bit scorched Hugo above the count¡¯s body. His spear was in count¡¯s head. ¡°You fucking idiot! He had 5th tier class!¡± Someone shouted at Hugo. ¡°And we finally got rid of the idiot, leaving everyone with a level!¡± Hugo argued. ¡°Whatever. We can at least pound those girls without worry now.¡± A middle aged man went to the place with miserable girls, grabbed one and threw her on the ground, while she screamed. The man ripped her clothes apart and fucked her violently. Nobody interfered. ¡°This¡­¡± Clive was taken aback. He liked it when Linzi lay on him for a while, but he was afraid now. Normal people weren¡¯t doing things like that. Linzi frowned. ¡°I also don¡¯t approve, if you want to know. Have you ever heard about the Black Guard?¡± Linzi asked. Clive shook his head. ¡°We are a bunch of criminals. I had been stealing. I even have a specialized class.¡± She said with a bit of pride in her voice. ¡°Unfortunately, they caught me one day. I was sent here after that. Hugo saved me from dying to a random monster.¡± She said. ¡°I had never seen a monster before at that time.¡± She quickly clarified. The man raping the girl finished, and left the weeping girl behind. ¡°Those girls are actually lucky. Most of the countryside around the Drake¡¯s fortress is deserted. We are giving them food and safety.¡± She sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t approve, but we are on our own, and we also need people like that guy.¡± She pointed in the rapist¡¯s direction. ¡°Most people here aren¡¯t like that.¡± She continued. Clive knew subconsciously that Linzi was spewing excuses. ¡°We don¡¯t care much about others. We are selfish, but we are sticking together. Mostly. Because of Hugo. Our motto is to take whatever we need, though some people take it to the extreme. I mean, they could make a deal with these girls. Safety for sex. Most would have agreed. That would be better, I think.¡± Clive could see she was troubled, and looked for excuses. ¡°So, what do you think? What do join us?¡± She asked out of the blue. Hugo, Wayne and Beatrix, the three 4th tiers of the group sat together. ¡°Why did you save that boy?¡± Wayne asked. ¡°He is worthless.¡± ¡°I will explain in a while. ¡± Hugo said with a smile. ¡°What do you two think we should do now?¡± Beatrix shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Since we have completely disregarded the imperial court, they will kill us on sight. We should enjoy our lives in the meantime. I propose to add boys to our slaves, and maybe more drugs.¡± Wayne frowned. ¡°This is exactly like you.¡± ¡°Actually, I¡¯m planning to abolish that system. Linzi proposed forced prostitution for those women. It should be better. An illusion of choose is better than being forced.¡± Hugo said. ¡°Actually, we need to decide something. We are the strongest in the group, and I think we all are reasonable.¡± Hugo said. Some previous members of the Black Guard weren¡¯t. ¡°Reasonable? You know why she is here.¡± Wayne pointed at Beatrix. Hugo naturally knew. She was an alchemist, but she hadn¡¯t produced potions useful in a fight, but pills and potions clouding the mind and bringing ecstasy to the body. This wasn¡¯t the reason she had been sent here, though. One day, Beatrix had set her eyes on a handsome noble boy. Apparently, he had had a big cock and had been very energetic. At first. After four hours, the boy hadn¡¯t been able to continue anymore. Beatrix had used life magic and she had controlled his blood to forcibly make him erect. ¡°Come on! I told you multiple times already that I wasn¡¯t a good mage at that time. It was an accident!¡± She defended herself. ¡°I just¡­ lost control for a second.¡± She said playfully. ¡°His dick literally exploded.¡± Hugo said. After she had told the group her story, most members had joked about it for weeks. The story was a bit ridiculous. Apparently, she was drugged at that time, and didn¡¯t notice, misjudging man¡¯s screams for moans. The boy barely survived, and his family started an investigation, as they had to spent a fortune for them to repair his instrument. The investigation revealed her products, which was the reason she had been sent here. ¡°Accident. Don¡¯t remind me anymore!¡± She pouted. ¡°Aren¡¯t you also here because of an accident?¡± She jabbed Wayne. Wayne had beaten up one guy, who had offended him. He had been too eager, though. The guy had died. ¡°Anyway, the present situation.¡± Hugo redirected the conversation. ¡°We could use the current chaos to raid counts¡¯ fortresses.¡± Wayne proposed. ¡°We will need a good plan. All those artifacts and magic tools should be worth it, though.¡± Wayne didn¡¯t think about attacking cities, or dukes. Those placed were prepared and enchanted to resist an 8th tier monster. They didn¡¯t think about the humanity, or rather, they were sure humanity would survive no matter what. Humans had survived the dark era and cold times. Most people in the Black Guard thought that it was the best to take care of themselves. Humanity would manage. This was the reason they were here in the first place. Hugo took out a map. Wayne frowned. ¡°Beside landscape and borders, this map had only places with 8th tier defenses. Capital and two biggest cities beneath the Kenar Mountains, six fortresses belonging to dukes and the old fortress of the Breaker family.¡± Wayne counted. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Hugo said with a smile. ¡°Join you?¡± Clive didn¡¯t know what to think. He wanted to belong, but he had rather mixed feelings about the Black Guard. ¡°That¡¯s right. We could be friends!¡± Linzi said with a smile. ¡°I¡­¡± He wanted to agree, but¡­ ¡°I have to save my sister.¡± ¡°Can you explain?¡± She asked. ¡°She is in the Drake¡¯s fortress. Someone from Drakes wanted her for breeding.¡± He said with anger. She smiled. ¡°We will help her. Actually, if you join us, you will both have food, and you can become a powerful warrior, maybe a noble.¡± Clive didn¡¯t know what to think. Was it really possible just like that? ¡°Really?¡± He asked. She nodded with a smile. ¡°You just have to help us a bit.¡± She added. ¡°Do you know why Drakes¡¯ fortress is in a such awkward place?¡± Hugo asked. ¡°I know.¡± Wayne said. ¡°They didn¡¯t want to abandon their fortress the last time frontier moved.¡± ¡°Right. That¡¯s because their fortress is too big. Some of them are dozens of meters tall, so they need big rooms, big corridors and so on. As the result, they didn¡¯t have resources to rebuild a similar fortress in a different place. Also, their fortress is the biggest of the kind. Only Capital, Heston and Chiston are bigger. Some cities are of similar size, but they don¡¯t have as strong defenses. Wayne sighed. ¡°So what?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s take Drakes¡¯ fortress.¡± Hugo said boldly. ¡°Are you stupid? Do you control an 8th tier?¡± Wayne joked. ¡°It¡¯s impossible for us.¡± ¡°Yes. It¡¯s impossible to take it forcefully.¡± ¡°Infiltration?¡± Clive asked. ¡°That¡¯s right. We want to get rid of the Drake family and take the fortress.¡± Linzi boldly admitted. ¡°Unfortunately, we won¡¯t be able to get inside. They know our faces.¡± ¡°The one who controls the main spell, control fortress. I know a few things about their core room. It¡¯s very defensible. The boy would need to assassinate 4th tier controlling the fortress¡¯ enchantments, and hold for a minute or two, until we reach the control room. After that, the fortress is ours.¡± Hugo said. ¡°How do you expect the boy to kill a 4th tier?¡± Wayne asked about the biggest problem. ¡°It¡¯s not a problem to power him up to the 3rd tier, and make him learn some magic to control spell formations. Just give me a month.¡± Hugo said. They all knew it wasn¡¯t impossible to assassinate someone stronger, relying on trust or surprise. Hugo had killed a count a few moments ago. ¡°A count could be there. Drakes have two counts.¡± Wayne pointed out. ¡°I doubt that a count would be sitting and maintaining the control room.¡± ¡°Do we really should take the fortress?¡± Beatrix said. She was staying silent until that moment. ¡°You should all know why they expelled all those people recently. They are lacking food.¡± ¡°Drakes are gigantic, so they also need to eat a lot. They should have big reserves, enough for the transition period. Anyway, I want it to be a long term solution for us. Colonels recently retreaded to the line between Northern Lakes and the Green Lake. They have the frontier line imperial court erected ten years ago. You know, they thought Drakes would give up. Colonels retreated at the first sign of trouble.¡± ¡°What about people in the fortress?¡± Beatrix asked. ¡°A purge. We need to kill all giants. We can leave Drakes with normal bodies. As for the rest, we can recruit, but most of the farmers have to die. We can maintain a small town, and rebuild rooms by adding partition walls, but.¡± He stopped for a moment. ¡°We will be only able to rely on hunting. Most of people in the fortress have to be hunters. Also, we need to purge ourselves as well.¡± Hugo said something that startled both his associates. ¡°We need everyone for the assault, but guys like Stan, who only want to rape women, have to go.¡± Suddenly, everyone straightened up as an unpleasant sound spread through the camp. Clive was lost. It was too much for him. The alarm stopped his thoughts. Linzi grabbed his hand and dragged him. ¡°Quick, the elementals!¡± She said with a serious face. Clive immediately sobered up. Everyone jumped into a large circle, which had lines and symbols everywhere. Clive understood it was some kind of a spell. Hugo with two others ran out from one of the crudely erected earthen houses, and joined the rest in the circle. Even poor women came here. They shivered and were visibly afraid of people here, but sick people slowly walking out of the forest were probably more scary. Someone send a projectile, and blown up a sick person¡¯s head. White mist raised up and flew to possess someone in the circle. Someone cast a fire elemental barrier. Clive didn¡¯t know what exactly was happening, but they were surrounded by fire. ¡°We are killing them all. Someone has to. This circle is a powerful life ward, while fire barrier should destroy their physical bodies.¡± Hugo explained. Someone was sending stones with magic through the fire barrier, probably to destroy bodies of the infected. ¡°One down. I got the notification.¡± Wayne boasted. ¡°Why didn¡¯t I get one?¡± Clive murmured to himself. He got one from the Greene count. ¡°Life elementals have too few levels. You need two conditions to get the notification of participation. First, you need a hostile relation. The Count probably thought you a part of our group. Second, there¡¯s a need to be enough of the essence. The count had so much essence it was enough for everyone.¡± Linzi answered without a request. Clive got his answers now, and it wasn¡¯t only about the rules of the world. People in the fortress wanted him dead. Here, he felt he belonged a bit. People were helpful, or at least Linzi was. He wanted to help them in return. Maybe he just wanted to help her, though. ¡°I will do it. I will help you.¡± Clive said decisively. ¡°I also hate Drakes.¡± Linzi smiled, and Hugo nodded. ¡®I wouldn¡¯t have rescued you otherwise,¡¯ he thought. 29. Scouting Jack was disappointed. The whole tactic was only about laying down life wards and an elemental barrier to kill bacteria. They could only wait for elementals to die, or give up. Jack suspected there were better spells, capable of slaying the elementals in one go, but his new team didn¡¯t know them. The team reached the next barracks. The place was fortified from all sides. An earthen wall erected by a mage blocked access from the interior side. They had to hike it, and they could only do so, because soldiers above confirmed they weren¡¯t infected and didn¡¯t attack them. A middle aged woman greeted them. ¡°I¡¯m lieutenant Sidra Craft, in charge of this place. You are?¡± She asked. ¡°We are team tasked with investigating this frontier section. Our colonel lost contact with your headquarters a few days ago.¡± Alistair explained. He woman grimaced. ¡°It¡¯s the same for us. Two days ago we have erected the additional walls, since elementals came from the headquarters¡¯ direction.¡± She said. ¡°I suppose we already know the reason for the loss of contact.¡± Andy said with a sigh. ¡°We still have to go there.¡± Alistair rebuked. ¡°Do you have any more information?¡± The Lieutenant asked. Jack could tell she was anxious. He understood. She probably didn¡¯t know what to do, or rather, every action seemed bad. She could only plan with the meager information she had. There was a high chance an undiscovered variable would ruin any plan. ¡°No.¡± Alistair said. She nodded solemnly. ¡°We will visit on our way back.¡± The team left the barracks, and walked ahead, keeping close distance to the bony walls of the frontier. ¡°Maybe we should travel through the exterior?¡± Opal suggested. ¡°No.¡± Alistair refused. ¡°Monsters can also be possessed. The exterior could be¡­¡± Alistair didn¡¯t manage to finish, as a person rushed at the group from the bony wall. Jack wanted to attack, but he quickly understood that it was infected. He shouldn¡¯t kill it! The life elemental directed the human¡¯s body at undecided Jack, felling him to the ground. The infected scratched with his fingernails, but Jack¡¯s furry armor was too sturdy. The infected tried to bite Jack, the two wrestled with each other. Now, Jack thought about kinetic spells, but he quickly dismissed the idea, as couldn¡¯t use life spell on the infected. That would be courting death. ¡®Fuck. Even though they aren¡¯t that strong overall¡­¡¯ Somebody kicked the infected away. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Alistair asked, but he simultaneously stepped back from Jack. ¡°I think so.¡± Jack replied. Andy shot the legs of the possessed person, but the projectiles didn¡¯t blow them apart. Mangled knees healed in a manner of seconds. Andy repeated his attack, this time separating calves from the rest of the body. ¡°Is Jack alright? Was he infected?¡± Opal asked fearfully. Jack panicked. ¡®I didn¡¯t hold my breath!¡¯ ¡°Shit! What now?¡± He asked. The team looked at each other. ¡°I suppose we wait a bit.¡± Alistair said. ¡°This is my fault. I subconsciously thought it should be safe around the barracks.¡± Jack felt something inside him, though it could be the power of his imagination, he wasn¡¯t sure. He used life detection on himself, filling every part of his body with life mana. If a life elemental was inside of him, it was already too late. ¡°My life mana has spread to all my body parts without a problem. I can¡¯t find anything unusual.¡± Jack said with a bit tense voice. ¡°I should be alright.¡± Alistair said, but everyone still looked at Jack, like he was going to change in the next second. Andy sighed. ¡°I think he should lose control by now, if he had been infected.¡± The group sighed in relief. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Alistair commanded. The group walked slowly, trying to avoid infected, and crippling the ones they didn¡¯t manage to avoid. ¡°I hate it.¡± Adina said. The team looked at her, expecting her to finish. ¡°If a life elemental attack us, we will be screwed. I mean, a real life elemental, not a one in a body.¡± ¡°They all are real.¡± Andy said. ¡°You know what I mean.¡± She replied. Nobody said anything more. Jack paid more attention to crippling infected people, making sure to not kill them. They reached the next barracks after a dozen of minutes. The headquarters were next. They could already observe their target, but barracks were first on their list. ¡°There are a lot of people there, but¡­¡± Adina shook her head. ¡°All of them?¡± Alistair asked. ¡°I can¡¯t be sure, but judging by their behavior¡­ ¡° They all grimaced. ¡°Does that mean all soldiers here have been wiped out?¡± Opal asked. ¡°Some might have escaped to the interior, or they could have hidden in the bunker underground.¡± Alistair said. ¡°I can¡¯t check the bunker.¡± Adina said. It was normal, bunkers were protected by wards. ¡°Let¡¯s take a look around the town. Maybe there are survivors.¡± Alistair decided. The team walked through the streets of town¡¯s outskirts. Buildings were abandoned, some of them damaged by fighting. Corpses lay on the ground, most of them dried up. There were marks of blood. Infected walked around, but Adina kept them at bay with her water magic. ¡°Should we be wary of them?¡± Jack asked, pointing with his head at corpses. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I can distinguish between corpses and living beings.¡± Adina reassured him. ¡°I have detected dozens of infected underground, close to the bunker¡¯s entrance.¡± Adina added. ¡°They must have remembered that humans entered the bunker. That¡¯s a good news.¡± Alistair said. ¡°Actually, there are also big groups elsewhere. It could a coincidence.¡± Adina added. Andy frowned. ¡°It¡¯s impossible to help them anyway. They had a 4th tier lieutenant. It¡¯s better to leave it to our colonel.¡± ¡°Then why are we even here?¡± Opal asked. ¡°It¡¯s creepy here. I want to leave as soon as possible.¡± Jack looked around. Corpses. A town without people, only nearly immortal monsters. Adina kept four of them at bay right now. They were only a dozen of steps from the team. Jack shivered. ¡°Do you think it will be better there?¡± Alistair asked, pointing the headquarters in the distance with his finger. ¡°We need to find the lieutenant¡¯s office. There is a high chance we will learn something from there.¡± Alistair continued. ¡°Frankly, we already know why communication stopped.¡± Opal protested. ¡°You are right, but let¡¯s check the office. It¡¯s better to make sure.¡± Alistair insisted. Jack agreed. He didn¡¯t like the danger, but his family lived close. In the end, this was the reason he had become a hunter. ¡°Guys¡­ I think there are more infected now.¡± Jack said. A dozen more people walked from the front. ¡°Now that you said it¡­¡± Adina said. ¡°They are coming to us.¡± ¡°How many?¡± Alistair reacted immediately. ¡°Every single one in a radius of around one hundred meters.¡± Adina reported. ¡°Shit. How about the ones who can¡¯t spot us?¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°The same, however walls block them. It seems they are too stupid to take a different way.¡± Adina reported. Alistair opened a door of a nearby house and walked inside, leading everyone. The smell of rotting flesh flowed out of the house. Two corpses lay there. Alistair closed the door. Infected were hitting walls from the outside, unable to reach the team. ¡°Jack. Make a hole in the wall. We will move through the buildings.¡± Alistair commanded. The group demolished walls one by one, moving fairly fast. One house was damaged, and two infected were inside, but Jack just mended the wall behind him after leaving the room. ¡°It seems they have an ability to detect us, but only up to one hundred meters. We lost the ones farther away.¡± Adina informed. The team reached the end of the street, forcing them to leave the row of houses. ¡°Around twenty of them on the other side.¡± Adina informed. ¡°Jack, blow up the wall. Try to also push away infected with debris. We are going to the building next street. Immediately repair the broken wall as soon as we are inside.¡± Alistair commanded. ¡°Adina, push away the rest.¡± Jack used the earth kinetic spell, and broke the wall, throwing projectiles at the infected. Adina did her part, and a clear passage opened for the team. They ran to the next building, and Jack mended the wall. ¡°It¡¯s easier than I thought.¡± Opal said. ¡°Well¡­ we still have a long way to go. Let¡¯s recover a bit.¡± Alistair said. Jack was heavily breathing. The run tired him a bit. He looked at his bars.
Vitality 1326/1332
Stamina 1126/1670
Clarity 1756/2130
He still had a lot of resources, but it wasn¡¯t bad to recover a bit. ¡°Guys. One of the infected stopped moving.¡± Adina anxiously said. The team was startled. Jack looked at the wall, which he had mended. A white mist slowly formed close to the wall. ¡°Elemental!¡± Jack shouted. ¡°Run!¡± Alistair shouted and ran to the door, trying to leave the room. The elemental flew to possess them. The door was too small, they could only leave one by one. Alistair and Andy already left the building. ¡®I won¡¯t make it!¡¯ Jack blasted the wall to the next room. He was afraid of destroying the wall the door was in, as the debris would fall on his teammates. He ran to the next room, Adina quickly calculated the situation in her mind and followed him. The elemental went after Jack, which mended back broken wall. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s going after us?¡± Adina asked. Life mana could travel through walls freely, but the physical part of the elemental could not. Jack thought about their speed thought the buildings. Elemental had to produce its bacteria each time it crossed a physical barrier. Could they escape while staying inside? The mist appeared again. Jack quickly calculated. ¡°We won¡¯t make it. We have to go outside.¡± Jack tried to blast a wall, but Adina grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. ¡°No! There are thirty infected in that direction. This way!¡± She pointed the opposite wall. ¡®We will separate with the rest¡­¡¯ Jack though, but he wasn¡¯t going to risk wrestling with thirty infected. He blasted the wall and ran away with Adina, which kept away two random infected on this side. The elemental flew after them, but its speed was slower than their running speed. ¡°Good. We should be able to escape. Where is Alistair and the rest?¡± Jack asked. ¡°They hid in a house 300 meters in that direction.¡± She pointed in the direction elemental was coming from. ¡°We have a problem, though.¡± She said while gritting her teeth. ¡°There is a large number of infected ahead of us.¡± Jack grimaced. ¡°We just need to shake of the elemental and rejoin with the team.¡± ¡°How do you want to do so? All those infected are coming in our direction.¡± She half-shouted. ¡°How many?¡± She took a second to estimate and replied. ¡°Around eight hundred.¡± Jack felt the true pressure of the situation right now. ¡°Let¡¯s use the roofs.¡± He used the earth kinetic spell to lift up a fragment of the ground beneath him, lifting himself and Adina as well. They landed on a roof. Obviously, roofs were connected in the same manner as building, but Jack had to use magic to travel between rows of houses. Jack catapulted them with earth magic, and they jumped from the debris to cross the remaining distance. There was a problem, though. Rows of houses were placed parallel to each other. Jack used an easy path to retreat. Jack and Adina had to jump every hundred meters, but to change the direction they were moving, they had to jump orthogonally to the lines of houses. ¡®It may be easier to just fly,¡¯ Jack thought. It was possible, but his earth flight was very tiring, and not very fast. The elemental still pursued them. Jack changed their moving direction, slowing himself down in the process and allowing elemental to close the distance. ¡°Can we use life magic to fly?¡± Jack knew his new team was more experienced and had more magic spells at their disposal. ¡°Not unless you want to break your bones.¡± ¡°Water magic?¡± Jack asked hopefully. ¡°Are you stupid?¡± They jumped to the next row, and ran to the next edge. Jack already prepared the spell. ¡°Where would you attach the spell? Blood? Internal organs? It¡¯s just a suicide! Use life magic if you have to! There is a bit of water in bones, but life magic would be better anyway!¡± In the end, the problem was about precision. Jack would have to lift at least a dozen of bones. He would have to control the spell precisely. An error with the coordination or a placement of the spell could mean tearing his internal organs apart. They jumped another row. Jack wished he had a fire wand to slow down elemental with fireballs, but there weren¡¯t many materials able to withstand fire mana. ¡°No flying then. What can we do? Hey! Aren¡¯t you the more experienced person here? Why are YOU just following ME?¡± Jack asked. ¡°Well¡­ Your ideas seemed fine. I would have overruled you otherwise.¡± Adina replied a bit ashamed. The elemental was coming closer. They ran to the next edge of the roof. Jack fell. ¡®Shit.¡¯ The roof broke under him. ¡°Got you!¡± Adina caught him and lifted back. ¡°Thanks.¡± Jack looked at the elemental. ¡®We won¡¯t be able to escape back to the team. Not with the current terrain, angles and distances. We can only go forward. Unless¡­¡¯ ¡°I have an idea, but it is a bit risky.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have any. Let¡¯s go with yours.¡± Jack grabbed her hand and jumped down to a street. ¡°Keep infected busy.¡± She nodded and threw back three infected present. Jack grabbed her waist and hugged her close to his body. They both had fairly thick armor, so it wasn¡¯t erotic by any means. Jack cast the earth kinetic spell and dug. The soil beneath his feet parted and flew to the sides. Jack and Adina slowly sunk down. Their heads were under the ground level after four seconds. Jack had now the Spell Slinging skill as a class skill, so digging like that wasn¡¯t hard. He intuitively knew how to maneuver spell vectors. Jack sealed the hole above them, and only moved soil from below up, maintaining a small underground chamber. ¡°We are too slow. The elemental should be already above. ¡± Adina said anxiously. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Jack said calmly. He knew what he was doing. Jack dug for a half a minute and took a break to create a life ward in the soil above them. ¡°This should slow it down.¡° The elemental had to move slowly in soil as bacteria couldn¡¯t move in it. The elemental had to slowly produce bacteria on its way. Jack continued to dig down. ¡°Turn north.¡± Adina said. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°There is an underground river directly below. With my water affinity I can breathe underwater to some extent, but you can¡¯t.¡± Adina advised. ¡°Right.¡± Jack followed the advice and turned. ¡®Good thing there was no river under my fortress.¡¯ He stopped after around five minutes. ¡°We should be around hundred meter down.¡± Jack said. ¡°What now?¡± Adina said skeptically. ¡°It will catch us sooner or later.¡± ¡°Right. I haven¡¯t told you that yet. The concentration of essence is lower here.¡± Jack said calmly. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah. I found out when I dug out my burrow in my fortress. I thought I could dig as deep as I like, but it¡¯s not the case. Anyway, I doubt an elemental can even survive for long here in the first place. It¡¯s impossible for it to get here through the soil.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Adina seemed a bit relieved. ¡°So, how do we get out? What about air? Won¡¯t we suffocate?¡± Adina asked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Jack sat with his knees near his chin due to the lack of space. Adina mimicked him and sat near him. Jack wasn¡¯t that close to a woman after Lillie. He didn¡¯t perceive Adina as a love interest, though. She was ten years older. Jack just treated her as a friend. He wasn¡¯t that close with his new team either, but his escape together with Adina make them closer to each other. ¡°I will inscribe an air transmuting spell.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that spell essence hungry?¡± ¡°It is, normally. Well, humans don¡¯t need air to live, just oxygen. We are breathing out carbon dioxide, so I just have to transmute it back into a simpler form.¡± Adina frowned. ¡°Are you a scholar?¡± ¡°I wish to.¡± Jack sighed. ¡°Frankly, I have no idea what these names mean. I just learnt a simple theory in the library, along with the spell.¡± Jack said helplessly. ¡°Really? You have learned a spell you could never use in your life?¡± ¡°I have learned all spells available. I want to be an arch mage in the future. I believe being able to modify spells on the spot is a key to success. I want to learn better magic theories.¡± Jack heated up speaking about his favorite subject. ¡°I see. Opal, Andy and Alistair know some spells unavailable in our library. You can ask them later to teach you.¡± Adina advised. ¡°How about you?¡± Jack asked, and a bit bitter smile appeared on her face. ¡°I¡¯m more about close combat. I never paid much attention to the magic. Actually, Alistair¡¯s situation is similar, though he has his family¡¯s magic.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°So, what now?¡± She asked curiously. ¡°We will dig horizontally until we are out of the barrack¡¯s area, and then to the surface.¡± ¡°The elemental can wait for us there. It¡¯s only one hundred meters. I bet it can detect us with its magic. No idea how it can use life magic like that.¡± ¡°We can dig down more, but our speed will decline even further. I could also create life wards. Actually, what do you think about the Alistair¡¯s and the rest¡¯s situation?¡± Jack didn¡¯t care much about them, though he cared a little. Also, it would be easier to escape together. ¡°No idea. I lost them some time ago.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your range?¡± ¡°Four hundred meters, but I normally don¡¯t exceed three hundred.¡± The range of detection relied primarily on the amount of used mana. The theoretical limit due to the average speed and lifespan of mana was around five hundred meters. ¡°It seems their limit is really no more than hundred meters. They didn¡¯t gather above us.¡± ¡°Our real problem is the loose elemental.¡± Jack sighed. ¡°I suppose we don¡¯t have much choice.¡± Jack stood up and drilled. Jack hardened soil in which he inscribed the transmuting spell and took it with him. When he thought it was enough, he dug to the surface. Jack dug for hours, the night had fallen already. There was no life elemental nearby, though infected walked here and there. Jack and Adina were in the exterior, between barracks. They decided to return to the still inhabited barracks. They climbed up the frontier. Soldiers let them in. Alistair and the rest of the group were already inside. Opal hugged Adina fiercely. ¡°Damn! We thought you may be dead!¡± Opal cried from happiness. Alistair and Andy also hugged Adina, though they were more restrained. Jack felt out of the place. He didn¡¯t expect them to hug him, he was an outsider, after all¡­ Opal hugged him. ¡°Good to see you too!¡± Jack felt warm inside, even though he felt it was unnecessary. Alistair and Andy patted his shoulders. ¡°We are spending the night here. Tomorrow, we are going back to our headquarters. We know enough, and there¡¯s no reason to die trying to learn more. It¡¯s a mission for someone better.¡± Alistair decided. 30. New spells The team was walking back. Jack felt bad. ¡°Hey, Jack! Do you have some trauma after that elemental or something?¡± Opal joked after seeing Jack¡¯s sad face. ¡°That¡¯s not it.¡± Jack denied. ¡°So?¡± Opal insisted. The rest of the team looked at Jack, waiting for his answer. He sighed. ¡°It¡¯s about what we have seen there. A section isn¡¯t working.¡± Jack replied. Alistair nodded. ¡°It¡¯s bad, but there aren¡¯t any direct threats to our section.¡± Jack shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t mean that.¡± He sighed once again. ¡°It¡¯s about my family. They live near the frontier. Around ten kilometers. Barracks make it actually safe near the frontier, but infected can easily go deeper. It¡¯s only a matter of time for my family to be affected.¡± Jack explained. ¡°Shit.¡± Opal cursed. ¡°I thought first we could help with that section, but¡­¡± Jack didn¡¯t finish his sentence. There wasn¡¯t a need to. Everyone stayed silent for some time. Jack though how to help his family, but teaching them life wards was the best he could do. Moreover, harvest time would be soon, farmers couldn¡¯t ward everything. On the other side, imperial court probably wouldn¡¯t send food to risk an encounter with infected. Jack knew farmers were tough, but elementals had wiped out a military headquarters. ¡°It¡¯s not only your problem. I¡¯s sure our Colonel would do something about it.¡± Alistair said. ¡°By the way, Adina said you wanted to learn our magic.¡± He changed the topic. ¡°I would like to.¡± ¡°Good. I¡¯m a lightning mage. Generally, I fight in close quarters and supplement myself with lightning. I suppose you know the basic spells?¡± Alistair asked. ¡°I know the lighting kinetic spell, and the lighting mana creation spell.¡± Alistair nodded. ¡°These two spells are enough to cast half of my spells. Generally, it¡¯s hard to attack someone from a large distance with lighting. It¡¯s about aiming. Lightning is chaotic, you can guide it, but it¡¯s still a bit unpredictable. My ancestor was a powerful lightning mage, so I can tell you some things that novice lighting mages don¡¯t know.¡± Alistair lectured. ¡°Lighting is everywhere, though it is in balance. Apparently, you can sense it with a high lighting affinity. Natural electricity restores balance. Generally, you have three options. You can disturb the balance by charging something with lightning mana, disturb it with the kinetic spell, or help to restore it. The third option is only viable when balance is naturally disturbed, like when there is a thunderstorm. It¡¯s tricky, though and situational, so it can¡¯t be relied upon.¡± Alistair walked a few meters away and cast some spell. Lightning shot from his finger. ¡°Right now, I created lightning mana and charged myself up. It¡¯s the most reliable way to shoot lightning, but you have to have lightning affinity. To aim, you have to uncharge point in the air with kinetic spell, so they can act like checkpoints. You fire lightning by using the kinetic spell to kick lighting out. You can also continue to charge something up and lightning will appear at some point, but such method is unreliable.¡± Alistair shot lighting which hit the ground in the distance. ¡°A better way for you is to charge an enemy, but if the enemy has lighting resistance it¡¯s impossible. The spell you need is the Charge Condensation spell. It¡¯s meant to seal positive or negative charge for some time. Watch me.¡± Alistair cast his spells. Nearly transparent small orbs appeared in the air one by one. ¡°And when you want a lightning to appear¡­¡± Alistair snapped his fingers and a bolt of lightning appeared between two orbs, which disappeared as the result. ¡°With two orbs, you don¡¯t need to aim. As long as two orbs of opposite charge release their seals, a lighting will appear between them. Naturally, it won¡¯t work if two orbs are too distant to each other. You can also break an orb on an enemy, but that¡¯s less effective, though very handy in a pinch.¡± Jack was very grateful. Alistair not only was going to teach him a spell, he also told him his experiences, which should save him dozens of hours of experimenting. ¡°Lightning is less destructive than fire, so it won¡¯t be very easy to kill a monster with lightning immediately. Actually, in a team the effect of stunning and paralyzing muscles is better. I just need to paralyze a monster and my teammates will do the rest.¡± Alistair advised. ¡°Alistair, is it really okay to tell me this? I mean, I¡¯m sure headquarters¡¯ library doesn¡¯t have many spells for a reason.¡± Jack felt grateful and didn¡¯t want to handicap Alistair, even though it could help him. ¡°It isn¡¯t what you think.¡± Alistair lightly replied. ¡°Monsters don¡¯t cast magic, but they could. They don¡¯t know spells, but many has the capability. There isn¡¯t many spells in the library, since the imperial court doesn¡¯t want to give any spells to a hypothetical conqueror. This is the reason you can¡¯t easily find any ruins in the exterior, or they are completely useless. We try to destroy everything useful as we are retreating. Actually, there are people who call themselves adventurers and think that they can find something useful there, especially in the ruins from the first era, but that¡¯s just a wishful thinking.¡± ¡°Alistair, you aren¡¯t normally that knowledgeable about history.¡± Andy pointed out. ¡°Yeah! That¡¯s suspicious. Tell us what¡¯s going on.¡± Opal demanded. Meanwhile, Jack felt anxious. ¡®I have left my fortress with working spells behind. Some monster can use it as an archeological discovery! Fortunately, spells should crumble in a month or two, while in a year inscriptions would be completely unreadable.¡¯ Alistair sighed. ¡°It¡¯s nothing much. I once wanted to be an adventured myself.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± Adina asked. ¡°Nothing. Parents told me to forget about it. They were right. Once, a group found many items and a new magical theory from the first era, but this is the only successful discovery ever. Most expeditions don¡¯t even reach their target. Some returned, but they brought some magic items or materials, at best recompensing them their expenditures. Our research never stopped, most spells from the first era are outdated. That successful team managed to find a research about something we haven¡¯t researched yet, an exotic magic. They were extremely lucky.¡± Alistair concluded. ¡°Anyway, you can freely ask for spells. I¡¯m sure everyone will teach you if they have time.¡± Alistair encouraged. Jack asked about his worries. Although Alistair and the rest hadn¡¯t told him to destroy the fortress back then, he wanted to be sure. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Those were only low level spells. Most high tier monster know some spells anyway. For example, have you heard about wolf tribes?¡± Alistair didn¡¯t wait and continued. ¡°High tier wolves are very intelligent. They formed something like a primitive tribal government. They can¡¯t speak, but they have their gestures and maybe even some primitive hieroglyphs. High tiers teach each other simple spells.¡± Jack was relived and naturally followed the previous advice. ¡°Ok, so¡­ Do you have any more spells?¡± ¡°I know a 4th tier spell that alters lightning, boosting its paralyzing power, but decreasing overall power. I can¡¯t cast it, but I can teach you, if you want it. I also know the Lighting Avatar spell, but this is a variation of common magic, like kinetic spell. Every element had its own version. The Lighting Avatar would be useless for you.¡± ¡°What does it do?¡± Jack asked. ¡°Avatar spells change temporary your affinity. For example, the Lightning avatar makes your lightening affinity 99% for some time. You have to have at least 25% affinity for being with to cast the spell.¡± ¡°I want to learn anyway. I can always use it as a reference.¡±You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Alistair drew the runes as soon as they stopped for a break, which happened mostly to show spells to Jack in the first place. Soldiers stood on the walls here. ¡°Opal, Andy, do you know more spells?¡± Jack asked hopefully. ¡°I only know something like that.¡± Opal said and started casting. Heat moved and concentrated between Opal¡¯s hands, while frost covered everything around. Opal threw bright point in her hands and it crashed on the ground some distance away. A flash of brightness appeared. Jack felt heat on his face. When he looked at it, soil melted and a small pool of lava remained behind, radiating heat. It was still frosty around. They all moved hundred meters ahead to escape the cold. ¡°The spell is similar to Alistair¡¯s seal.¡± Opal explained. Andy protested. ¡°Opal, your spell is simpler. Alistair¡¯s spell is sealing electric charge, yours is only a modified version of kinetic spell meant to hold heat.¡± Opal shrugged her shoulder. ¡°Anyway, the spell is good to attack monsters with fire mana resistance.¡± Opal similarly showed him the runes. Andy also had a spell. ¡°It¡¯s a 4th tier spell, but it¡¯s the spell I want to cast the most. You should know I want to be a ranged mage. This spell is great for fire ¨C earth mage. Anyway, the spell is used to exchange an object¡¯s internal heat with its velocity and vice versa. An object needs to be already moving, however. On the other side, you can completely stop something by changing its velocity to heat. Naturally, there are limits. For example, there is limited heat in any material, so you can¡¯t accelerate without a limit. It¡¯s also easy for an enemy to stop you from using the spell by filling a projectile with conflicting mana.¡± Andy explained. Jack wasn¡¯t able to cast fire magic on the spot, but he could use the spell in his future fortress. The team continued their journey back. Jack experimented with his new spells. ¡®That seal spell is used on volatile elements, so it has no use for earth or water, but it could be used for light.¡¯ Jack experimented a bit, taking from both new spells and creating a new one. He failed a few times, but he was pretty certain he would succeed, so he didn¡¯t stop. Jack¡¯s team members were startled when the light around Jack started to disappear and something like a black mist blocking light appeared. It flickered rapidly, creating a mystical sight. In the middle of it, a very bright point appeared. Jack was left with a bright point floating in the air. ¡°I¡¯m going to break the seal.¡± He said. ¡°Don¡¯t look!¡± Andy shouted to the soldiers, which observed Jack. The spell erupted in the extremely bright spectacle. Andy averted his gaze as well. When he looked back, there was no evidence of the spell on the ground, but half of the soldiers groaned in pain, or outright shouted. Some of them panicked due to loss of vision. ¡®Shit. I can¡¯t see anything.¡¯ Jack observed the flash as well. He had his magic, so he wasn¡¯t panicking. He was also sure life mana would do its task. After a few minutes soldiers recovered partially their vision. Jack was the same, but the world he saw was still too much blue and green. ¡°Don¡¯t use that spell ever again.¡± Alistair reprimanded him. ¡°It¡¯s a good spell, but it¡¯s tricky to use.¡± Andy said, surprising the rest of the group. Opal still cursed about the spell. She had been too curious to avert her gaze at that moment. ¡°Yeah. Frankly, I should have suspected that. ¡± Jack sighed. Jack thought about shadow magic. The seal spell was only doing anything to volatile elements. The only element that remained unchecked was shadow. Jack knew the kinetic spell and shadow mana producing spell and tested them when he had been in his fortress. The outcome was¡­ strange. Naturally, Jack had started with shadow mana producing spell. After completing it, Jack was distracted by something, and in the end¡­ he forgot about the runes for a few days, which after he discovered that rune. Jack felt a bit intimidated by that. He cast kinetic spell after that, though it was hard to concentrate on the shadow mana. There was no effect in the sun, however. Jack felt skeptical about the spell at that moment. Shadow was naturally the lack of light. It was strange to manipulate a shadow directly and he didn¡¯t expect to be able to do that. Jack wasn¡¯t able to manipulate light. Rather than shadows, a strange dark substance flowed out from the shadow Jack had used the kinetic spell on. Jack experimented a bit, and discovered a few facts. The substance was hard to concentrate on. It dispersed rapidly in the sun, though it could last for a few seconds. Most importantly, its effect on items were scary. The substance destroyed materials, or maybe ate it. Dirt disappeared after being subjected to the substance. Wood, bones, everything disappeared in the substance. It wasn¡¯t very fast, however. Jack had no idea what was happening, he suspected many things, like teleportation, or a direct annihilation, or a invisibility spell. After being injured by his light spell, Jack felt reluctant to test the effect of a shadow spell. Also, he wasn¡¯t able to cast it quickly anyway, he would have to create runes on the ground. Actually, Jack had another encounter with shadow magic. He had literally stepped on a shadow crystal. Jack had found a cave in a vicinity of his fortress. The shadow crystal completely escaped his notice and as the result, he stepped on it. Shadow crystals were the most scarce and precious of elemental crystals. That crystal was currently the most precious object in Jack¡¯s possession. Jack had thought about commissioning a shadow wand, but was afraid he would forget about the wand. He didn¡¯t know many shadow spells anyway. Currently, the shadow crystal was in Jack¡¯s pack, wrapped in a normal stone. The team reached the headquarters in the evening. Soldiers built defenses on the interior side, which made Jack angry. ¡®Is the situation that bad? They should help farmers.¡¯ They went the Colonel¡¯s office and Alistair gave their report. Jack was able to see the Colonel again after his trial. Jack was a bit disappointed the Colonel didn¡¯t care about him at all and only listened to Alistair, but Jack also thought that was for the best. The colonel was relatively calm about the situation, which also calmed Jack a bit. ¡°Excuse me. What about people close the frontier? Jack confronter the Colonel. ¡°We told them to not kill infected, but we can¡¯t do much. Keep the finding a secret for now to prevent unease among the soldiers.¡± The Colonel didn¡¯t say much, which Jack suspected was his normal interaction with his subordinates. The team went to their house. Naturally, Jack was about to live with them. The team didn¡¯t get any new orders the next day. They were supposed to take a break. Jack went to his brother. It seemed Bob¡¯s team survived, as he found Bob in his old place. Three people slept, including Bob. Smell of alcohol filled the room. Jack thought his presence would get them up, but there was no reaction. Jack went to his brother¡¯s bed and shook Bob up. ¡°Fuck off.¡± Bob said and turned to the other side. Jack slapped his cheek. Bob angrily shouted and got up. ¡°Jack!¡± Jack was taken aback. There wasn¡¯t a relive or joy in Bob¡¯s eyes, rather, he seemed to be scared. ¡°Long time no see.¡± Jack hugged his brother despise everything. ¡°Yeah. Nice to see you.¡± Bob said without enthusiasm. ¡°How have you been?¡± Jack asked, as he let him go. ¡°Fine, I suppose.¡± Bob said with the same tone and groaned while grabbing his own head. ¡°Sorry. I¡¯m not in the best state.¡± ¡°I can see and smell.¡± Jack replied. ¡°So? Have you caught something big? What was the occasion to drink? What¡¯s you level?¡± Jack asked. Bob smiled bitterly. ¡°It¡¯s nothing big.¡± He got up and went to drink some water. ¡°Tell me.¡± Jack insisted. Bob sighed and pointed to one of the sleeping boys. ¡°He upgraded one of his professions yesterday.¡± Jack frowned. ¡°And?¡± ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± ¡°Well, I suppose gaining a skill level when it¡¯s already high is a reason to celebrate.¡± Jack admitted. ¡°Anyway, have you heard about the elementals and infected?¡± Bob shrugged. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m not deaf.¡± Jack nodded. ¡°The situation is quite bad. Have you sent anything to our parents? They could use a magic tool with a life ward.¡± ¡°No. I didn¡¯t send them anything. I mean, is it really that bad? I thought the frontier is doing its job.¡± ¡°Not really.¡± Jack sighed. He wasn¡¯t supposed to mention specifics. ¡°There are infected in the interior.¡± He told his brother regardless. ¡°That¡¯s bad.¡± Bob said without emotion and drank more water. ¡°By the way, where are your teammates?¡± Jack asked since he couldn¡¯t find two others. ¡®They should also have a hangover.¡¯ ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°What? How can you don¡¯t know? Did they go missing in the exterior?¡± ¡°No.¡± Bob seemed annoyed. ¡°They should be somewhere in the headquarters, I just don¡¯t know where exactly.¡± Bob groaned. ¡°My head.¡± There was something wrong with this situation. Jack looked over. His old armor lied close to someone¡¯s bed. Jack had given the armor to Bob at first, but his brother had complained in a letter that he wasn¡¯t going to always wear Jack¡¯s hand me down, even in the military. Jack had many 4th tier materials so he had commissioned another armor for Bob, which lay close to Bob¡¯s bed. Someone groaned and slowly got up. ¡°We need to stop drinking like that.¡± He said. Jack frowned. ¡°How much do you drink?¡± ¡°Not that much.¡± Bob said defensively, but his teammate didn¡¯t have a clear mind. ¡°Come on! If that wasn¡¯t much I have no idea how can you increase our drinking time. We are already drinking every day.¡± ¡°Bob.¡± Jack started. ¡°Shut up.¡± He said decisively. Jack frowned. ¡°I¡¯m somehow responsible¡­¡± ¡°You heard me. Fuck. Off.¡± ¡°Where are the wands I have sent you?¡± Jack asked with anger. Bob shrugged. ¡°He sold them to pay his debts and spent the rest on alcohol.¡± Bob¡¯s teammate was quite helpful. ¡°Shut up, you idiot.¡± ¡°Where are your teammates?¡± Jack asked Bob¡¯s teammate. ¡°Not telling you.¡± Jack sighed and took around hundred lesser coins. It wasn¡¯t that much for him. ¡°Answer my questions and you can have the money.¡± ¡°They are probably training.¡± ¡°You traitor!¡± Bob was enraged. ¡°We are not hunting! I need money, and I don¡¯t have an older brother to solve this problem for me. Let¡¯s just share him!¡± Jack was impressed by how shameless that guy was. ¡°Why are you not hunting?¡± Jack asked the next question. A girl, the last person still sleeping in this room, woke up with a groan. She was completely naked. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± She asked, still half dreaming. ¡°Bob¡¯s brother came to gift us money.¡± The previous boy replied. ¡°Nice! Can you gave me too?¡± She asked while seductively walking towards Jack. Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t recover and tripped, hitting the ground with her head. Jack massaged his eyes. ¡°My previous question.¡± The boy frowned. ¡°We don¡¯t want to die. The exterior means death.¡± ¡°You will get demoted to soldiers.¡± ¡°Yeah. The plan is to enjoy ourselves before that.¡± Jack sighed. ¡°I see.¡± He gave the money to the boy and left the house without any more words. He didn¡¯t know what to say. He was furious. His brother was wasting everything. He left parents on their own. ¡®I was at least leveling,¡¯ he consoled himself. Moreover, Jack planned to send something soon. 31. A change Jack went to the library. He wanted to meet Stanley, but he decided to calm down first. Jack already knew all spells in the library. Today, he searched for information about life elementals. Jack was afraid his family would become infected. Jack wanted to find a method to banish an elemental from a human¡¯s body. He also desired a better method to kill elementals. The results were not to his liking. There were three methods to kill an elemental. The first one was to target elemental¡¯s physical body, which was the thing Jack had been doing. The second method was to target mana. Jack thought it was impossible in life elemental¡¯s case, but he was wrong. Apparently, a 5th tier life mage should be able to tear apart 2nd tier life elemental. There were three tiers. Jack would have to reach 4th tier to have a chance against a baby elemental, assuming they had babies. The third method was to use death magic. Jack didn¡¯t know any death spells. Jack though he may be able to exorcise an elemental from a body without life mana resistance by life magic. He would create a powerful spell on the ground meant to move life mana and imprison an infected there. The spell should forcefully move away an elemental from a body, but Jack couldn¡¯t be sure without an experiment or a confirmation in books. He sighed and went to his friend. It wasn¡¯t that easy to find Stanley, since he had a new team, and lived in a different place. Jack didn¡¯t dare to have any expectations after meeting Bob, he even feared Stanley may be already dead. Stanley was training. ¡°Hi.¡± ¡°Jack! Good to see you. How are you?¡± ¡°Fine. Level forty one. You?¡± ¡°Twenty six.¡± Stanley replied with a bitter smile. ¡°How¡¯s your new class?¡± ¡°Good. Nothing impressive, but I¡¯m fine with a solid one. Come inside. Want something to drink?¡± Stanley offered. Jack went inside. Two girls meditated inside. One had already reached 3rd tier. Stanley led Jack to the nearby room. ¡°How did you get so many levels?¡± ¡°I have created a fort in the exterior. I wanted to stay there until my 4th tier, but¡­ infected I suppose.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think the higher ups liked what you have done.¡± Jack shrugged. ¡°I just need to reach 4th tier.¡± ¡°True.¡± Stanley sighed. Stanley behaved a bit strange as well, Jack could tell. He was nervous, though not about their meeting. Something was on his mind. ¡°Leveling may be a bit hard these days, though.¡± Jack said. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Stanley was surprised. ¡°Infected. Elementals. I suppose everyone would fight them for a while.¡± ¡°Really? I don¡¯t think they are that much of a threat.¡± Jack frowned. ¡°Well, I shouldn¡¯t tell you this, but¡­¡± Jack started whispering. ¡°The nearby section¡¯s headquarters in the north have been completely infected. I was on a mission.¡± Stanley grimaced. He contemplated something for a few seconds and sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s go for a walk.¡± He dragged Jack outside. Stanley led him to a street without many people. Normally, Jack would be suspicious, but he trusted his friend. ¡°If what you have said is true, then the situation is much worse than I thought.¡± Stanley half-whispered. ¡°What do you mean? I agree that this is a mess, but I think dukes and maybe even counts should be easily able kill elementals with death spells.¡± Jack presented his opinion. ¡°You are right. Elementals are a mayor threat, but they aren¡¯t enough cripple humanity.¡± Jack frowned. ¡®Humanity? Is the scale that big now?¡¯ He just thought how many people would die. ¡°The capital have fallen.¡± Stanley gave Jack a shock. ¡°You are joking. Elementals aren¡¯t that strong.¡± ¡°Not elementals. The Colonel created an information blockade, but he can¡¯t completely control the spread of information. Not with the way soldiers work. It¡¯s currently an absolute secret. You can go to a jail for spreading that information.¡± Jack was shocked. ¡°That shitty Colonel¡­¡± ¡°No. He is great. I mean, I wouldn¡¯t have given better orders, if I had been in his place.¡± Cold sweet appeared on his back. ¡°Then my family¡­ They may be fine for a while, but where is safe?¡± Jack thought aloud. ¡°What about magic books? Does that mean I won¡¯t be able to learn better magic in the future?¡± Jack panicked. All his plans were about reaching 4th tier and going to a city with his family. ¡°Calm down. All places capable of resisting 8th tiers should have the complete magic theory. In addition, only capital has fallen. Chiston and Heston are fine, the same as ducal fortresses, and many cities near the Kenar mountains.¡± That didn¡¯t matter that much to Jack. Would he be allowed to leave the headquarters in the current situation? ¡°I see. So, what happened?¡± ¡°Two wolf emperors attacked. They broke through the frontier and sieged the capital with their army. I have heard there were around ten 7th tiers. The king and dukes went to the capital to defend it, but¡­¡± ¡°They have lost?¡± ¡°Most likely. There is a high chance they retreated to the Inner Keep, so they should be still alive.¡± Jack sighed. ¡°What now?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Theoretically, we are doomed. It¡¯s impossible to defeat two 8th tier alongside their army with our current forces.¡± They walked in silence for some time. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that elementals destroyed a section. That changes things.¡± ¡°Could the situation be even worse?¡± Jack joked from helplessness. ¡°No, I think it may be better that way.¡± Stanley was serious. ¡°I think the wolves attacked to escape from the elementals. Capital has had enchanted walls, which may actually still stand. There is a high chance emperors won¡¯t leave the capital until elementals¡¯ defeat.¡± ¡°We are still screwed. Besides, why would wolves fear the elementals. I mean, we are talking about 8th tiers.¡± ¡°Infected humans are actually weaker than normal humans with the same level. They can¡¯t cast. Infected wolves should be stronger. A 7th tier infected wolf is probably a threat for an 8th tier wolf.¡± Jack thought it was right. Magic was a huge help for humans, while wolves were nearly defenseless against life elementals. They couldn¡¯t harm them, and their only defense was their life mana resistance. Naturally, 2nd tier wolves were completely defenseless. ¡°So, what now?¡± ¡°I suppose we are waiting and building better defenses. They could use you.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t wait.¡± Jack sighed. He thought it over. There was nothing for him here. Meanwhile, his family could be dying right now. All his previous plans, they were no longer actual. He knew what to do, but that¡¯s a point of no return. ¡®Can humanity even return to how it has been before?¡¯ ¡°I have feared so. I shouldn¡¯t tell you this.¡± ¡°No. I thank you. I will have to somehow kidnap my brother, but¡­ I have to escape.¡± ¡°Good luck, but I won¡¯t help you. My family should be either safe in Heston, or already death. I¡¯m staying here. I have told you. Forrest is a good commander. It¡¯s probably the safest to stay here anyway. A ducal fortress could be better, but it¡¯s not like they would just let me in.¡± ¡°Dark times are ahead of us...¡± Jack sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s meet again in the future. I hope so.¡± Stanley nodded. ¡°Yeah. By the way, I don¡¯t know what are you planning. I didn¡¯t tell you anything.¡± Jack nodded. They separated, both went their own way. Jack had to escape. He knew he should do so immediately. It would be harder as new fortifications were being raised. Jack didn¡¯t have many things, he could take everything he possessed with him. His only problems were Bob and soldiers. He had to take Bob with him. Bob would waste himself here, otherwise. Jack spent most of his money. He bought a few common wands. Jack suspected money would be worthless soon. There was the problem with desertion. Soldiers wouldn¡¯t just let him leave. He had to escape, maybe forcefully. Jack went to the place new fortifications were being raised and offered his help. He placed a few spells under the ground in a place nobody would suspect. He was wary of earth mages like him, but he wanted to prepare. Jack wanted to desert tonight. In the evening, he returned to his new team¡¯s house. He picked up everything that belonged to him. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Andy asked. Everyone was there. ¡°I want to train my brother, so I¡¯m taking wands and spears. I will be back in a few hours.¡± They nodded. Jack hoped they didn¡¯t suspect a thing.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. He went to his brother, but stopped before entering the house. Fortunately, Bob was inside. ¡®Should I convince him? It will be problematic to carry him out.¡± Jack decided for the most effective course of action. He placed a light spell on the walls of the Bob¡¯s house, a modification to the fear spell. Jack went inside. Two people inside looked at him. A girl he hadn¡¯t seen before with a curiosity, while Bob seemed to want to escape. ¡°I want to talk with my brother. Can you leave us for some time?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± The girl nodded and went away without resistance. ¡°What do you want?¡± Bob accused with his tone. He was as unpleasant as he could. ¡°Bob. I have heard you have some debts.¡± ¡°You came to help me?¡± Bob laughed like from a joke. ¡°You can say so.¡± Jack activated the fear spell. ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid they will do something bad to you?¡± Bob frowned. ¡°Infected are spreading. Soon, it won¡¯t be safe here.¡± ¡°So what?¡± Bob asked hesitantly. ¡°We need to leave. Let¡¯s return to our home. To our parents.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± ¡°What about the military?¡± Jack deactivated the spell. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I have it covered. They are too busy to care about us. Gather your belongings and let¡¯s go.¡± Jack cast another light spell on Bob, this time, he wanted to bring his attention to a notion of going home. He tried to channel safety and happiness. He had no idea how successful his self-created spell was, but Bob started packing up. ¡°Good. Let¡¯s go.¡± Jack led his outside. ¡°Wasn¡¯t that suspicious?¡± Opal asked. ¡°I mean, he took literally everything.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like he has a lot of things. Maybe he wants to give something to his brother.¡± Andy replied. ¡°Well. I¡¯m going to introduce myself. Do you know where Jack¡¯s brother lives?¡± ¡°I know. I checked when I have been gathering information about Jack.¡± Alistair told her what she wanted. ¡°I will go with you.¡± Adina joined her. Two women went to the place, but there was only a girl, which said that Jack had been here, but she didn¡¯t know where he was now. The girl told them that Bob was sulking since yesterday, and he hadn¡¯t gone to drink today. Also, Jack hadn¡¯t left anything here and Bob also had taken all his belongings. ¡°His family lives nearby, aren¡¯t they?¡± Adina asked. ¡°Shit. He is trying to desert.¡± Opal connected the dots. Jack and Bob walked dark streets. Jack led his brother. They reached the place. Unfortunately, soldiers patrolled the perimeter. Forrest practically cut the headquarters from the interior. Jack thought about escaping from somewhere between the headquarters and a barracks. Soldiers would notice for sure, but there was a high chance they weren¡¯t caring enough to stop Jack. These ones, their job was most likely to stop people like Jack. He hadn¡¯t thought the security would be so tight. Jack was afraid someone would notice his disappearance, so he decided to act now. Jack cast a spell and made himself invisible. The spell used all his current intelligence, but he could cast it. He dragged Bob closer, so the spell could also hide him. They walked through the soldiers, but not for long. ¡°I detected something! Two people! There!¡± Someone shouted. Soldiers turned their heads, but there was nothing there. ¡°Run!¡± Jack whispered to his brother and started running, but he still maintained invisibility. ¡°They must be invisible!¡± ¡°Monsters?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Jack completed the fear spell he had prepared beforehand in the ground. Soldiers backed off. Some outright escaped from the place. Someone threw his spear. It hit the ground and damaged the spell underground. ¡°There are more spells here! This is a sabotage!¡± ¡®An earth mage.¡¯ This was what he was afraid of. Jack and Bob jumped over the ramparts. Theoretically, they were no longer in the headquarters territory. A fireball went their way. Jack was reluctant to deal with the fireball, as he would have to discard invisibility. He pushed Bob forward. ¡°Deal with it.¡± Bob grimaced, but cast his spells. ¡°I thought we were free to go!¡± He redirected the fireball and it hit the ground. ¡°They have a fire mage!¡± Since the fireball pointed their location, soldiers were throwing spears. Most of them missed, but Jack was forced to avoid a few. Bob got hit once, but his leather armor protected him. More people gathered due to the commotion. Soldiers organized themselves and two groups around twenty people gave chase. Jack discarded his invisibility, it was no longer useful as his pursuers could easily track him with magic. In the end, invisibility only manipulated light. ¡°Damn it. What the fuck was I thinking!¡± Bob cursed. Jack could only sigh in his mind. He noticed Opal and Adina. His heart skipped a beat. ¡®I don¡¯t want to fight with them.¡¯ Jack turned his head over and observed his pursuers. Including his teammates, there were five 3rd tiers. The rest was weaker. Jack could run faster, but he wasn¡¯t going to abandon Bob. His pursuers probably had the same problem. 3rd tiers could catch them, but they had to leave 2nd tiers. ¡®I suppose it is somehow nice that five 3rd tier don¡¯t think they can defeat me themselves.¡¯ Jack joked in his mind. ¡®Well, they are probably just careful.¡¯ Fields close to the frontier never have been very developed, but people lived here. A house was here and there. Jack was curious whether someone is still living here, but that wasn¡¯t an important matter. Currently, high grass grew here. Soldiers started to attack from the distance. Spears flew towards Jack alongside a fireball or a stone. The distance was too big, so Jack was able to avoid the attacks. However, dodging was slowing them down. Adina and Opal rushed forward. They didn¡¯t wait for the rest. ¡°Jack! Stop! This will ruin your life! You will be a fugitive!¡± Opal shouted. She could be faster than Adina, but two women stayed close to each other. ¡°It¡¯s too late!¡± Jack shouted back. ¡®I hope they would give up!¡¯ ¡°Capital have fallen! Nobody is going to save my family! I have to leave. Give up!¡± ¡°What?¡± Opal nearly tripped. ¡°Whatever. We just need to catch him.¡± Adina continued her pursuit. ¡°Stop, or I will attack you!¡± ¡°Make us!¡± Adina replied pridefully. ¡°Do not stop. I can catch up to you.¡± He said to Bob. Next, Jack cast wards against fire and water, and turned around to face two women, now a dozen of meters before him. Jack produced light mana like crazy, and released it into the air, hopefully blocking Opal detection magic. Light mana had a conflict with fire mana after all. He did the same with air mana, though his wand had limited effect. Adina¡¯s water detection should be able to have some effect. Jack rushed at Adina. She brandished her own spear and prepared for combat. Opal jumped to the side and prepared to strike Jack with fire spells. ¡°Shit!¡± Adina cursed and Jack figure disappeared like a dream. Opal shouted in pain. Jack¡¯s spear pierced through her leg, as her armor from 4th tier creature wasn¡¯t enough. Opal released her fire spell in response. Jack covered his face with his hand. His armor protected his to some degree, but he still felt pain from his face and hands. He dashed away from Opal and attacked Adina. This time, he was real. Adina was a close combat fighter, and Jack had to admit, she was better than him. Jack dropped fire ward and cast life spells, boosting his strength and agility, but he wasn¡¯t able to block her gravity spell powered downwards swings. Opal cast her air magic, Jack could feel the lack of the air, but that wasn¡¯t an immediate problem. Opal continued with fire spells, but she was afraid to hit Adina, making her attacks not threatening. Moreover, both women tried to stop him, they didn¡¯t attack his head or chest. Jack looked at the soldiers. ¡®They already crossed half the distance. I have to do something.¡¯ He no longer avoided Adina¡¯s casual attacks, letting his armor do the job. Adina didn¡¯t know Jack¡¯s armor had been created from a 5th tier monster. She failed to pierce through it. Jack tried to stab her legs, but her reflexes were too good, she avoided his strongest attacks, while weak ones couldn¡¯t get through her armor. Jack knew everyone in Alistair¡¯s team had an armor from 4th tier creatures. Jack found a chance and coordinated his strike with the life kinetic spell, swinging his spear with a huge force. Adina¡¯s leg snapped with a cracking sound. ¡°Sorry.¡± Jack immediately disengaged, running after Bob. ¡°Damn you!¡± Opal cast a fireball his way, but it exploded on his swiftly recreated fire ward, he felt only warm breeze from behind. Unfortunately, soldiers caught up. A few of them stayed with Opal and Adina, but the rest continued the pursuit. A dozen of spears flew his way, blocking his potential directions for a dodge, while a huge fireball and a huge stone were to hit him. Jack wasn¡¯t durable to withstand those spells, so he just dodged and took on spears, which weren¡¯t able to pierce his armor, though their momentum interrupted his movement. Darkness of the night helped him, as not everyone could maintain a spell for detection. One of the remaining 3rd tiers rushed forward with a gust of wind, trying to pin down Jack, who grabbed his lightning wand and cast Charge Condensation spell, creating a few orbs with lightning sealed inside. Jack sent two charge seals his way. The lightning struck the man and brightened up the night. The man lost his footing, rolling helplessly in the high grass. Someone approached from a side. Jack sent another seal. A girl got hit and fell to the ground. ¡®Shit. She has only 2nd tier class.¡¯ Jack knew he can¡¯t kill anyone. Desertion is a one thing. Reaching 4th tier should make a pardon a possibility, but killing¡­ ¡®Depending on circumstances, imperial court may not even pardon me after I reach 5th tier.¡¯ Ding¡­ You have killed lv. 14 Monster Killer Jack sighed. ¡®Should I even worry about it? Imperial court is no more. He knew someone else would probably take the mantle, but maybe the new government won¡¯t have an absolute power¡­¡¯ He couldn¡¯t be a fugitive all his life. ¡°She is dead!¡± Someone shouted from behind ¡®It¡¯s too late to regret!¡¯ He cast a spell and sent his drill spell at fire mage, which forced him to evade. The projectile hit a 2nd tier behind, breaking someone¡¯s shoulder bones. The 3rd tiers behind responded with more lethal attacks. ¡®Should I fight?¡¯ Jack knew he didn¡¯t have big chances to win over so many enemies. He had better equipment, normal attacks couldn¡¯t pierce his armor, but his face wasn¡¯t protected. He had better spells, but his clarity was limited. In the end, someone would kill him. Jack expected he could take maybe half of them, but¡­ ¡®I can¡¯t stay here. There is a possibility that their reinforcements are on the way here.¡¯ High level people weren¡¯t invincible against quantity. Jack thought about his spells. He could kill a few with earth magic, but that wasn¡¯t what he wanted. Illusions? 3rd tiers had detection spells, along with a few 2nd tiers. Something bright appeared in the distance, catching everyone¡¯s attention in the darkness of the night. Fire. ¡®What is that idiot doing?!¡¯ Jack ran towards the fire. Soldiers continued to harass him, and while he was getting hit, his vitality lowered at very slow pace thanks to his armor and spells distracting his pursuers. Soldiers also had to conserve their resources, but thanks to numerical superiority, they could as a whole constantly harass Jack. When Jack reached the fire, a path without it opened for him. Bob stood at the end of it. Jack ran to him. Fire was around him, and while the path was clear from the fire, the temperature didn''t lower much. His face''s skin ached from the heat. Soldiers tried to follow. Bob stopped to suppress fire, but the soldier''s fire mage was still there. Their earth mage tried to extinguish the fire with soil. They also had a water mage, but without a pool of water nearby, water magic was ironically nearly useless in that situation. "What made you think burning fields is a good idea?!" Jack shouted. "Come on! I''m saving you!" "Damn it!" This was their another sin. It wasn''t as bad as killing, but¡­ "What if the fire will spread uncontrollably? We can''t stick around to make sure!" "Hey! I''m trying to help! Besides, I have it under control." Jack cursed. Bob wasn''t a better fire mage than his current enemy, their only option was actually create uncontrollable fire. Thanks to the cooperation between the earth mage and the fire mage, they were quickly extinguishing the burning wheat. Unfortunately, fire spread easily to the sides, as a hot summer weather had made wheat dry. Bob was also trying to keep the fire around. ''Whatever. I just need to try everything.'' Jack sighed. "Imperial capital has been taken over! Nobody protecting your family now!" Jack shouted. Someone shouted back it was impossible. They didn''t believe. "Why do you think you have to do your job? Wolves and infected are ravaging countryside! You should desert too, if you have a family out there!" Some stopped to think, but not 3rd tiers. ''Fine.'' Jack cast his drill spell. "Bob, make its temperature similar to fire''s temperature." Bob used his spells, and heated the soil up. Jack could use an illusion to hide his attack visually, but they would find it with their detection spells. Now, it was very hard to spot the projectile amidst raging fire. Jack cast. The drill hit the oblivious fire mage in the shoulder, nearly severing it. The mage dropped to his knees with a shriek of pain. "I''m going to save my family, even if I have to kill you all!" Jack shouted. It was half a lie, but he hoped it was just enough, and they would give up. Jack and Bob ran away, while Bob sent back a few fireballs to ignite more wheat. Jack had to stop him. They have already caused to much damage. Ding... Your Spell Slinging skill has reached lv. 39 Ding¡­ Your Battle Precognition skill has reached lv. 9 Jack was regenerating his skin. He was relatively fine, though his armor had taken some hits. Nothing serious. He knew nothing was eternal, he would have to replace his armor at some point. For now, the armor was still in a generally good shape. Behind them, there was an aurora in the sky from fire ravaging the fields. Jack doubted headquarters would manage to put the flames down before the dawn, maybe it would take even longer. They deserted. They couldn''t join the military anymore, but Jack didn¡¯t want to, anyway. Jack planned to take his family deeper into the interior, or just generally somewhere safe. He still didn''t know where it was. Now, he just had to find them.