《Heart of the Forest (Hiatus)》 Prologue So here goes my first Fiction! English is not my first language so if you find any spelling or grammar mistakes point it out!
There were lots of books describing the end of the world (now they''re considered research material), and most were wrong. Hell, even most movies didn''t get it right (and we all know that movies, like TV, are always accurate). It wasn''t a natural disaster, electricity didn''t stop working and at least for the first few days there weren''t any zombies. So, what happened? Well, every Government that survived the beginning ( that''s what we are calling the first day but only because D day was already taken) exhausted every mean known to man to discover the truth but only discovered a few facts: It''s interesting to note that most highly militarized countries maintained their structures despite the high death toll while in third world countries the results varied. The consensus is that the organizations left behind weren''t governments but people''s armies or tyrannies. In other words, West Europe (like France, Germany and England), United States, Russia and Japan were able to restore order after the shock and countries like China, India and East Europe had mixed result (they restored order but with such a high cost that it wasn¡ät necessarily a good thing). Regions like Africa that had an abundance of weapons but lacked highly trained personnel didn¡ät fare well, but were in a better position compared with countries and regions where guns weren¡ät common. Considering this, it wasn¡ät hard to imagine what governments would do¡­ Yes, a new arms race opened with the objective being to develop individuals into operatives well versed in the System, nuclear weapons were no longer important. It may sound illogical until you realize than a single high level ¡°Player¡± can decimate a well organized military base by himself without destroying it and so retain the base utility.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Another point of interest is that some psychologists theorized that the system must have decreased human fear of death and modern inhibitions toward violence as a mechanism to cope with reality¡¯s new brutality. For those of us that are still alive, however, the only important fact is that to continue breathing, there is an extreme need of strength. Extract from the diary of an ex bureaucracy wizard turned wizard apprentice. Chapter 1 Chapter 1 There is something about forests that Luke found charming, he was not exactly sure what, the smell, the everlasting shade, the small environmental noises that seems to almost form a song or the sum of all this things, but it made forests sacred for him. Especially the one that surrounded his father''s house in the countryside. Sure that is expected seeing as he has spent an average three months per year walking (or running) between its trees. However there was something amiss about the forest today. The day had began like any summer day: waking up early to train with the staff (I mean the Bo kind no the working kind of staff), then he had a light breakfast and decided to spend the rest of the morning walking towards a small clearing an hour of slow walking away. When he arrived at the clearing, he sat against one of the nearby trees put the staff he always carried around next to him and started to feel that something was wrong. ¡®hmm, must be my imagination¡¯ After that he closed his eyes and tried to get a little nap before lunch. You must be thinking why did he come so far just to nap, right? Well here the thing, the forest soothe him and beside this particular tree (an oak he guessed) has a spot the perfect size for him, and that is worth walking any distance. So, he was there, just about to fall asleep when he heard hooves resounding through the forest. ¡®that¡¯s weird, I don''t remember any horse since the neighbor (neighbor is a way of referring to the closest human being which isn''t necessarily close) sold his land¡¯ And then he saw IT. Platinum white fur, slender but with strong muscles visibles and the biggest antlers he has ever seen. If there was an elks Olympics team, it would be its captain. In one word it was extraordinary. He was so stunned that he couldn''t close his mouth, he was obligated to use his hand to accomplish that task. Soon he noticed something strange: the fur seemed speckled with red above the hindquarters and in the neck too. Giving it a closer look it appeared to be wounded. At that point, Luke looked at its eyes and saw pain and panic, the pain was quite obvious but the panic was although understandable strange. After all it only had light wound that must hurt but weren''t life threatening. A deeper look also revealed a pleading that Luke was unable to comprehend. Suddenly, Luke heard The Beginning. DING
Congratulations! You have found the Ancient Guardian of the Forest The Guardian favors those close with nature and with a kind heart
Beware If there is darkness in your heart it may attack without provocationIf you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
For being the first in encountering an Ancient level creature you receive +5 to all stats +1 level Runic language
¡®What the fuck!¡¯ Luke was astonished. He had read about worlds turned into games, even dreamed about it happening a few times, but never believed it possible. It has to be understood that despite his athletic look and his love for martial arts, Luke was at heart a nerd. This reached the level that he learned everything he would need if he went to a middle earth like environment. This included blacksmithing, leather working, carpentry and more. So even though he knew the cruelty this type of world connotes he was happy (or he was a couple second after he recovered from his stunned state). The Ancient creature moved and then collapsed, it seemed like meeting Luke had sapped what strength it still had. Luke looked down and saw that both wounds were deep and appeared similar to a knife wound. Abruptly he heard more noises coming from where the deer (let¡äs call it Bob from now on) came. Turning around he saw five of the ugliest creature he had ever seen: they were short like a three year old child, the skin was grey and the ears slightly pointed. Their body movement suggested they were high or had drank too much coffee. All in all they were disgusting. Their short knives suggested that they were the ones that wounded Bob. DING
New Quest!
Protect the wounded Ancient Guardian of the Forest (Bob) from the goblins and continue to do so until it regains it health Reward: Unknown
Luke was stumped, he wanted to protect Bob but he also wanted to ran away taking into account that there where five of them with pointy shivs confronting his humble self with a staff and an unmoving white furred deer. ¡°What was that?!¡± yelled Luke gaining the attention of the goblins. They yipped and giggled and started aggressively inching towards Luke. Luke was still confused about who was talking to him but he suspected it was white and big and it''s name began with B. Soon he stopped thinking about it as the goblins were at striking distance from his staff. ¡äWell here goes nothing¡ä Quickly, he striked to the leading goblin with a speed he did not have before. His opponent were trying to surround him but the sides of the semicircle they formed hadn¡ät moved forward yet so it was the perfect chance to disrupt them. The strike was not some special technique, it was a simple downward strike but it used to the maximum the reach and the weight of the staff. Luckily it connected with the top of the goblin head and caved it in, killing it instantly. ¡äthis is too easy¡ä he thought with a nasty grin when he felt one of the little runts stabbing him on the leg. In his gloating he hadn''t realised the four remaining were quite close. ¡°Fuck¡± Luke saw red and forgot everything he had learnt about using the staff (8 years of training and counting) in a fight and started swinging it like he was trying to score a homerun with their head. By chance, he connected once more, hitting the neck of the one to his utmost right, crushing its windpipe and sentencing it to death in a few seconds. However, his rage was costly, he had several cuts and scratches in exchange for that hit and the three remaining goblins had positioned themselves to attack at the same time from three opposite locations aiming for his vitals and he would only be able to defend against one, maybe two of the strikes if he was lucky. Out of nowhere a sound was heard that seemed to make the ground shake and the sky to fall. It completely stopped the movement of the goblins, making them look dazed. Luke wasn''t affected and he still was furious about being hurt, so he took the chance to strike at his opponents fast. First he hit the last goblin to his right with the butt of his staff in the knee shattering it and making sure it wouldn''t stand on that leg again. Then he twisted the staff as fast as he could and used the momentum to knock the head of the two disoriented goblins on his left with excellent results. Lastly, he turned to the one with the shattered knee, ending its moans of pain with a thrust to his head that destroyed its cranium depositing bone shards in its brain. Looking at what he had done, Luke turned green and proceeded to vomit most of his breakfast next to the cadaver except for the eggs, he loves eggs and he wouldn''t allow a single egg to escape. DING
Level up!
Chapter 2 Luke felt how his wounds slowly closed while silence returned to the forest. DING
Quest Completed!
You have successfully defended the Ancient Guardian of the Forest in its hour of need The Guardian has deemed appropriate to reward you
Reward: +2 to all stats Mana Control Beginner lvl 1
New Quest!
The Guardian has consider you worthy of protecting the forest from the goblins that have invaded. Reward: Unknown
Do you accept?
Luke stared deeply into Bob¡¯s eyes and hesitantly responded ¡°I would gladly help you not because you ask but for my love for this forest. However I don''t think I will be able to do it and survive¡­ I mean if they''re a plague there must be at least a couple dozens of them and it proved difficult for me with only five, so it should be out of my league¡± ¡°But how? How could a little mana make the difference?¡± ¡°Hmm, fine¡± Luke was rather surprised by Bob''s rant as it came out of nowhere DING
Quest Update!
The Ancient Guardian of the Forest has not set a timeline for the completion of the quest but has warned that the difficulty increases with every day that goes unresolved. Beware that the reward may change depending the time spent and the damage done to the forest by the goblins
Quest has been accepted
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Luke quickly left, partly as a consequences of being intimidated by the creature but mostly because he was worried about Jack and Sarah, the couple that lived and worked at the house with him (Sarah was an excellent cook and Jack knew how to repair or build almost everything to live in an isolated place and do so comfortably). He was also worried about his father, Richard, but seeing as he was in a business trip and there was almost no cellphone signal in the property it was not practical to drown himself in worry about a problem he wasn''t able to resolve. There was also the fact that his father has been military, worked out regularly to keep fit and that he wasn''t that old (he had Luke right after he finished college) so he had good chances to survive whatever life threw at him. Luke didn''t run home, there was no point in tiring himself trying to reach the house and not being able to do anything as a result, he just walked at a fast pace making the same distance he did previously in half the time. Just before arriving at the house, he realized his failure as a nerd and a gamer: he hadn''t checked his attributes yet! Full of anticipation he shouted ¡°STATUS¡±
Name Luke Thorn Race Human Class None
Level 2 Health 180/180 Mana 250/250
Stamina 180/225 Strength 22 Agility 23
Dexterity 25 Vitality 18 Intelligence 25
Wisdom 21 Luck 17 Unassigned points 5
Skills
Mana Control Beginner lvl 1
Staff Mastery Intermediate lvl 4
Blacksmithing Intermediate lvl 1
Leather Working Intermediate lvl 1
Carpentry Intermediate lvl 1
Tracking Beginner lvl 7
Runic Language Mastered
Affinities
Nature 48%
The stats looked high if this worked like other games and the human average was 10 but then he remembered that meeting and protecting Bob has given him 7 extra stats points and his attributes didn''t look so high anymore. ¡®interesting, the System considered everything I know how to do and put a number on it¡¯ This was in reference to the tracking skill and the various production skills. Luke didn''t know what to think about the affinity thingy but he has a feeling it would be important after all the notification when he met Bob had mentioned it. He thought about using the points he got when he leveled up but decided against it. He knew too little about the System, about what was important and which path he would follow to make a decision. Luke has never stopped walking paying very little attention to the way he traveled (so close to the house it was not possible for him to fell, he had memorized even the places where roots protruded from the ground) and could already see the house between the trees. The clearing where the house resided had a 100 mts. radius and looked out of a fairy tale. It was surrounded by a small garden with flowers in full bloom. There were two buildings: the first was the house and the other was a greenhouse where they grew some vegetables. Luke¡¯s home had two stories and a basement. In the ground floor was the kitchen, the dining room and a workshop with the tools necessaries for Luke¡¯s hobbies. The upper floor had four dormitories and two full baths with another room useful for reunions or tea time snacks. Lastly, the basement was divided in two compartments: half was a walk in freezer (a must if you live more than an hour away from any town and you don''t want to make that travel constantly) and half was a storage space turned training room. It was mostly free space with a couple of fitness equipments. On the other side of the forest from where Luke came out was an old dirt road that led toward the closest town and civilization. Luke didn''t notice anything out of place but the goblin well could have come in (doors and windows were never closed for obvious reasons) and left by now. So he was relieved when he found Sarah in the kitchen with lunch almost ready and then Jack watching TV in the dining room. ¡°Luke, go wash your hands lunch will be ready soon, you too Jack¡± Sarah said ¡°Hey, have you seen¡­¡± Luke started ¡°What the fuck!¡± shouted Jack before Luke could finish. ¡°Watch your mouth!¡± Sarah shouted back ¡°Wait, honey something is going on. All the news have been going crazy about humanoid monsters appearing everywhere around the world¡± Jack answered ¡°What! Stop messing around and go set the table you lazy bum¡± Sarah ¡°Come and see if you don''t believe me you crazy woman¡± Jack ¡°Who are you calling crazy, stupid monkey!¡± Sarah ¡°You of course¡­¡± Jack ¡°STOP¡± Luke interrupted. Both turned to look at him surprised. Now Luke could let them go on and they would continue shouting at each other, even when they both had the same opinion, for hours without end unfortunately time was pressing. ¡°That was what I was trying to say before you started going at each other throat, I encountered some of those monsters in the forest and I can guarantee that they aren''t friendly.¡± Chapter 3 If you see any mistake, point it out in the comments. I made a few changes in the previous chapter but if you read it yesterday don''t bother it isn''t anything major.
Luke stared at both of them and proceeded to narrate his recent adventure in the forest. After finishing he drank a glass of water that was on the table. ¡°Let me get this straight, you saw those monster in this forest and even fought them and then awakened some game like system?¡± Jack said agitated. ¡°Yeah, that''s pretty much it. I think we should¡­¡± Luke ¡° Awesome! I was really bored and there was nothing to see on the TV¡± Jake. Yes, this was the problem with Jack, he was an infant trapped in a grown-up body. He was fun to have around until he started making pranks to you and then the joke want on you. Despite this he was quite useful in the isolated style of life they were used to. ¡°Jack this isn''t a game even if it looks like one. We need to defend ourselves and defend the house. The greenhouse is also important but it can wait until later.¡± Luke With that Jack sobered up and put his head in the situation. ¡°I think we still have some boards in the basement, there aren''t many but should suffice for covering the ground floor windows¡± Jack said, no hint of his previous playful manner present. ¡°Great I leave that to you, I have my old staves, they''re a little short and they don''t carry much weight but they should be enough to make improvised spears if we add a knife. One of us should stay upstairs all the time to make sure the goblins don''t ambush us.¡± Luke ¡° I''m on it. You can use some of my knives for those spears.¡± Sarah Now, it may (and should) seem strange how fast the couple accepted the new reality however if you take into account that they live in the forest with minimal human contact and not much to do but read novels, you can begin to understand. If you add that they all became fans of the Lord of the Rings after Luke introduced them to it and that Luke made some mediaeval weapons from time to time, it wasn''t strange at all (and before you think about it, only the staves remain from the weapons made by Luke. Swords and bows and other popular weapons where gifted or sold after being made). After organizing the house defense, Luke decided it was time to experiment with Mana Control. He wanted to acquire two things: a long range attack and a way to heal himself and others. It wasn''t necessary for the attack to do lots of damage from the beginning, but the distance was key. Specially against the weak goblins whose power lie in numbers and not in individual strength. So he stopped trying to put it off, went outside through the backdoor (he couldn''t risk destroying a wall while experimenting), sat down and closed his eyes. First he did a breathing exercise to relax and then concentrated on feeling anything inside himself. After ten minutes he came to the conclusion that he was doing something wrong. ¡®what¡¯s wrong? In most games and books the old master tells you to look inside for the energy usually some kind of well. Hmm, the System started just an hour ago more or less so maybe it hasn''t integrated into my body¡­ then, if I¡­¡¯Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Luke changed his focus from inside his body to his environment. He felt the sun on his skin, the whisper of the wind and the sound of the grasses synchronized dance. Abruptly he felt IT. It was like discovering a part of himself that have been severed when he was born. Slowly, lovingly, he pleaded through his will to the energy in the air to fuse with his body and the Mana did so willingly. It was slow at first but faster and faster the longer it went. After some indeterminate period of time, the process finished and he discovered his inner Mana repository. It has always been there it just was missing some external Mana to make the connection. DING
Mana Control has leveled up to Beginner lvl 2
+1 to Wisdom
Luke was exhilarated with the result but knew it was only the first step so he concentrated on how to use this ability. He decided to first try to make the long range attack, after all they could heal by leveling up and if the skill proved effective he could take care of the goblins before they were at striking distance. Quickly, he closed his eyes again and started to recall the basic magic skill he knew: Magic Missile, Magic Bolt, Magic Dard and others came to mind. Then he started to imagine how would they work: first he grabbed a little energy from his repository and made a ball, secondly he remembered that arrows were always spinning to add penetrating power, so he put some spin to his ball. Lastly he opened his eyes, pointed his finger at stump 25 mts. away and commanded the energy to go. The result was better than expected: the bolt overshot by 5 mts. Before rapidly losing strength and disappearing before reaching the forty meters mark. DING
Skill Created!
Mana Bolt Beginner lvl 1
Fire a bolt of energy to a 30 meters away target. Damage 5 (+1.0xIntelligence). Cooldown: 5 secs. Mana Cost: 5 MP
Mana Control has leveled up to Beginner lvl 3
That looked good enough. He imagined than in the future he could spam the skill almost without stopping and the fact it added his Intelligence meant the skill would remain useful for long while. Before going over to research the heal skill he wanted to test one more thing. This time instead of using his own energy he tried to use the Mana in the around, but he failed. It didn''t seem possible to make it take form although he suspected there was a way. The last trial was to see if he could make the bolts remain formed around him in a passive state so he could shoot them at a later time. To his joy, he discovered that he could maintain up to three orbiting bolts without concentrating and spending extra Mana. The orbs were really attention grabbing with their soft blue light and slow pace. Having the long range took care of, he moved his brain to how to develop a Heal skill. It turned out to be simpler than he could hope for: he started by visualizing his body and checking it up with his Mana to see if there was any wound but didn''t found anything. Without disrupting the image in his mind, he grabbed his small utility knife and made a small cut on his finger. His Mana immediately flared up and pointed the cut out. With a little mental effort he directed his energy to the area and used it to close the scratch. And then he heard the good news alarm DING
Skill Created!
Minor Heal Beginner lvl 1
Heals up to 5 (+1.0xIntelligence) to a target 5 meters away. Cooldown: 10 secs. Mana Cost: 10 MP
It wasn''t optimal but it would have to do for now. Happy with the success he went toward the house to grab a bite when he heard Sarah screams. ¡°Luke! They''re coming! I can see them just behind the treeline on the side of the road." Chapter 4 Like always if you see any mistake or have a suggestion leave it at the comments.
All traces of the joy his previous successes had brought, were gone by the time he arrived next to Sarah in front of a ground floor window waiting to be covered. Looking outside everything appeared calm. ¡°Where are they? What did you see? And where''s Jack?¡± Luke fired rapidly. ¡°There were three ugly things that looked close to how you described goblins in a straight line from the front door (the front wasn''t aligned with the road. It was on the right side of the house, at the same distance from both doors). They never broke from the cover of the trees but I could feel them watching the house, it sent shivers down my spine. I can''t see them anymore so they should have left¡± Sarah said with a distracted light in her eyes. She was so lost in her thought that she didn''t ask Luke about the three balls of blue light orbiting him. ¡° And Jack?¡± Luke said trying to soothe Sarah. ¡°He is in the basement, finishing the spears. I hope they''re enough¡± Sarah Now Luke was worried. From the attitude this goblins displayed, they should be scouts and if they left, it means they went back to notify their tribe. So there could be dozens of goblins here at any moment. ¡®No, they''re settlement should be at least half an hour away. We should have a little over an hour to prepare.¡¯ Luke was no genius but with the information he had he could make a few educated guesses: when he met Bob, they came from the other side of the clearing from where he had entered it. That meant that they were deeper into the woods. This theory was further confirmed by the fact that it took the goblins scouts this long to come across the house and that when Luke was returning from the clearing he hadn''t discovered any track that he didn''t know to what it belonged. So it was pretty safe to say they weren''t that close. Luke didn''t know how fast goblins travel through a forest but if he took as reference his speed, he could estimate that it would take the goblins scouts half an hour to go back, some time to prepare the troops and another half an hour to arrive in front of the house. If they spent the time to surround the residence, Luke and the couple would have a few more minutes to get ready. Anyway, they needed to act fast. Luke was feeling depressed. The time they had was almost useless. Don''t be mistaken it was enough to finish covering the windows (even the ones upstairs) and block both doors, but that wouldn''t necessarily suffice to protect themselves from the goblins. And even if it did then what? If they didn''t kill every creature they would be sieged. Yes, they had food to last for a while but so many hours of tension would make them prone to mistakes and that mistake could cost them their lives. No, they needed a different plan. Luke was in deep thoughts so he didn''t heard when Jack came and Sarah update her husband of the situation. ¡°I believe that if the two of you help we can easily finish covering the windows but I''m not sure how to block the doors. And what''s the deal with the orbs?¡± Jack. ¡°They''re my new skill. I can''t shoot them at a target up to 30 meters away. And don''t bother with the doors. Do we have any gasoline left in the basement?¡± Luke thought of using the typical fire trap where you lead your enemies into a place bathed in fuel and then you ignited it and watched your opponents burn. ¡°I see where you''re going but unfortunately the last of the gasoline was used when I took the car to town for some repairs¡± Jack pointed out. They kept some fuel in the basement for any need that could arise. Also, they didn''t need more than one car and the few times they had to leave in town they could make the way back walking without much difficulty even though it did take some time. ¡°Well, shit. That leave us without much choice.¡± Luke ¡°Luke, do we really need to fight? We could try to go toward the town or deeper into the forest and it wouldn''t be easy for them to find us¡± Sarah ¡°No, we don''t know where their base is nor if their scouts are still around. We could try to do that and get caught unprepared or somewhere they could use their numbers to overwhelm us. Let''s finish covering the windows and then we will see¡± LukeThis story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. The next twenty minutes went by in a flash. The monotonous and repetitive labor helped Luke clear his mind and come with a possible solution that he explained when they met in the kitchen after the three where done. ¡°Jack, have you been to the old tree house next to the road recently?¡± Luke ¡°Ehh, yes, you know that I use it to nap some afternoons. I make sure to keep it in a good condition. It wouldn''t be nice to be napping and have a board falling in your head, would it?¡± Jack ¡°Perfect then. I think we should leave the doors opened, hide or take anything that could be useful and as much food as we can carry and hide there. It isn''t easily seen and we could still watch the house. We can only hope that they take a look and then leave.¡± Luke. ¡°I don''t like it we would be at their mercy if they discover us¡± Sarah ¡°I know but if there are too many of them we wouldn''t stand a chance anyway and if there aren''t then we can still attacked once we confirmed their numbers.¡± Luke. Sarah didn''t agree with the idea but admitted that there was no better way and Jack thought it was the best chance they had. It took three journeys back and forth to store enough food for the next couple of days. They took some of the beddings to make their stay a little more comfortable. They also used some branches to increase the difficulty of being spotted. Half an hour later they were ready and hiding in a tense silence. The treehouse was big enough for the three of them to lie down but that was it. Luckily the boards in which it was made didn''t creak. It would have been disastrous to remain perfectly hid and be given away by the boards creaking. ¡°If my guess is right, they should be arriving in the next fifteen minutes. Make sure to say something if you see them coming. I would take the side that looks toward the house.¡± Luke While waiting, Luke decided to spend the five unassigned points in his intelligence, after all his two most useful skills scaled with it. Now he had reached 30 points in that attribute. When using the bolt he could deal 35 points of damage and heal up to the same number. He didn''t know if that was high or low but considering his combat, he felt like it would prove effective. Luke¡¯s assumption proved to be close to the truth when twenty five minutes later a dozen goblins with the same type of the knives that the ones Luke fought appeared to the front of the house. They were led by another goblin a hand taller and with some primitive helmet. The information that they were slower than expected gave Luke the hope that if they had to flee, they could outrun them. The goblins separated in groups of three under the commands of the bigger specimen. One group went inside and two went around in a pincer movement. The last group with the leader stayed where they were. Giving a guarded look to the greenhouse. The military precision worried Luke. It meant that they wouldn''t be as easy as he had expected, at least not with someone giving orders. That was the other thing: the goblin with the helmet looked smarter than the rest. Not much but enough to understand a basic level of strategy and tactics. Five minutes later the troops reunited and reported to the leader. They repeated the procedure with the greenhouse with little result. Luke found it odd that they didn''t take any vegetables but guessed that they weren''t part of the healthy goblin diet. The leaderseemed to come to the conclusion that there was nothing of value but he left one group in case the humans returned. They left shortly after that. Luke wasn''t sure why he came to this conclusion. It wasn''t body language nor any type of language (even if they spoke english, they were too far away too heard them). He felt like the forest was whispering the answers. ¡°Now what?¡± said Jack in a low voice. ¡°I think we can take care of the three of them, but we need to wait before acting to make sure they don''t double back.¡± Luke They waited half an hour and then Luke with his staff and Jack with one of the spears descended from the treehouse. They used the trees to get a little closer than thirty meters so Luke could make maximum advantage of his skill. ¡®Here goes nothing¡¯ Luke indicated to Jack to start running the moment the first shot goes off. Then he took a deep breath and aimed for the head of the goblin on the left. They were in a tight group, less than 2 meters from each other. If they synchronized this well, Luke could take the first one by surprise and Jack could catch the second unprepared and then together dispose of the third. They were lucky: Luke shot the first one right through the neck, almost severing its head and killing it instantly. The next two shot weren''t as lucky but they still staggered the other two long enough for Jack to approach and use his new spear to strike the one on the right in the heart. The last one, recovered and tried to avenge his companion by stabbing Jack, but found instead Luke batting its head hard. Luke then shot the magic bolt skill again, putting a third eye in its head. ¡°Hey, Luke there is a blue window saying that I leveled up¡± Jack ¡°Congratulation! Let''s call Sarah down and start to plan for when this three don''t go back and they start to suspect something went wrong or a replacement comes.¡± They couldn''t hope to have a warning the next time the goblins show up. Besides how many times would they lose soldiers before they realize that they''re being set up? And it was with that sombre thought that they went back to the house. Hopefully, they would have a few hours of relative peace. Chapter 5 Luke and the couple went back inside to see if the goblins had made any damage to the house. To their surprise, there wasn''t anything broken and most things were where they left them. This signified that either they could control their destructive tendencies or they were so scared of their leader that they didn¡ät dare act without orders. On the bright side, the food was still in the oven and didn''t look like it was tempered with. ¡°Let me reheat this quickly and we can have a bite while we discuss.¡± Sarah And they did. The debate centered about what to do next: Sarah insisted on going to town saying that there was strength in numbers but was immediately turned down by both men. Luke repeated his previous argument that it was too dangerous and Jack added that more people wasn¡ät always good news. On his side, Jack suggested reinforcing the second floor, so that Luke could snipe them while they are getting close and then they can fight the goblins on the stairs which should give them an even bigger advantage. Luke wasn''t entirely happy with the idea but acknowledged that that was the best plan for now. Luke believed the first issue they had to solve was having an early warning system. Secondly, they needed to install traps to dissuade the goblins from attacking and, if possible, from even getting close. In this regard, Jack proved especially helpful: he provided a few simple ideas of traps they could make with what they had that could do some damage or at least make them lost their mind to anger disrupting their military order (on a sidenote, the traps looked suspiciously like pranks with a few elements changed. The clue to the traps origin was provided when Jack put a bucket full of rocks instead of water at the top of a door. While not being able to kill, it would infuriate and confuse the goblins). After a fast lunch, Luke left Sarah and Jack to the trap preparations (or prank squad as Jack insisted on being called) while he considered the problem of the warning system. He didn¡ät know how to go about it but he thought that it was time to investigate one of his first rewards: the runic language. So he went to the skill window and touched the skill hoping for more information.
Runic Language
It was the first language derived from the gods'' own. It has intrinsical magic power that allows an experienced user to chant to enhance his spell or form glyphs and wards with its words. However, due to its closeness to the first language and its intrinsical power, just speaking it consumes mana. Cost: one word=1 MP.
¡®That¡äs fascinating¡¯ Luke was excited about this ability now. It seemed able to allow the speaker to enhance magical skills and enchant objects or places. And while the first thing could help his Magic Bolt get stronger, it wasn''t actually that important to increase its power. After all, Luke wanted to utilize that move as a way to stagger more than outright kill the enemies. He had been lucky until now with his shots placement but he didn¡ät know if that would remain true in the future. Besides, if he desired to make the bolt hit harder, he could increase his intelligence or augment the number of bolts he could passively control and problem solved. No, Luke was more interested in the enchanting part, mainly because he had heard that ward were some kind of carvings made to protect a place or alarm its habitants of danger, and that sounded suspiciously close to the early alarm system they were looking for. Now the centre of the matter will be to develop a warding or enchanting skill, by only knowing the language. It didn''t sound terrible hard but never judge a book by it''s cover thought Luke. He decided to start with something simple made of paper and then move up into wood when he could consistently produce the result he was aiming for, so he decided to experiment in his workshop. It turned out to be quite the difficult task: the runic language has thousands and thousands of symbols, some worked as simple letters, some represented words and others represented concepts that could go from ¡°Today is a sunny day¡± to others where hundreds of pages would be necessary to fully explain them. And as Luke soon discovered, the challenge wasn''t to create the corresponding skill (enchant or ward or anything similar) but to find the correct symbol to use. And even though he knew every symbol (he was given the mastered skill after all) and had decreased difficulty as a consequence, it still took him a dozen minute to find a basic enough symbol that could at the same time have some uses. It was a combination of two word category symbols: ¡®sound¡¯ and ¡®change¡¯. Luke visualized both hieroglyph and fused them with the idea that if there is a change in the surface where they are, it should create some sound and then wrote them in a piece of paper. When he was finished he watched them expectantly but nothing happened. Then he slowly, carefully, folded a corner of the paper. Abruptly a sound at the volume of a cell phone ringing was heard coming from the paper. Luke was full of joy. With this they didn''t have to worry about being caught with the pants down. He felt a little tired and checking his status he realized that he had used 20 MP to create such a simple work, he could only imagine what would be required to make something more complex. He also tested if the amount of noise changed with how much he tempered with the paper, but sadly it maintained the same volume. The only issue that arose was how to make it stop. Fun fact: unfolding the corner didn''t make it end because the act of folding left a mark (a very faint one, but a mark indeed). Annoyed with the sound, he burnt the paper until the symbols disappeared and was rewarded with silence. Sweet silence.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. DING
Skill Created!
Enchant Beginner lvl 1
Allows to give magical power to objects to enhance their performance or give them a new ability. Cooldown: none Cost: variable.
Due to the high level of Runic Language the skill will evolve faster than normal
Now, Luke was really overjoyed. All that noise was really worthy, especially because of that last notification. It meant that he could make a fort by himself with enough time. Although he didn¡¯t know if he had enough, he did assume to have a few hours before the goblins were back. The first thing he did was to search through his mind for a symbol with a meaning close to reinforce and inscribed in some wood he had. Another 10 MP were gone and the wood had a new marking. Then he lit up a small fire in the forge and threw the carved wood alongside another piece equal to it except for the enchantment. After ten or so minutes the normal wood had completely ceased to exist and the marked one remained in good state. THAT was good news. Luke checked and his mana has recovered to full so he decided to put the same enchantment in the house (yes he needed to put down the warning ward but it was his house, he couldn¡¯t put anything, besides their lives, before guaranteeing its continued existence. Besides it was also a priority just not the top one). He inscribed the ¡®reinforce¡¯ symbol six times in each wall: two on the outside and two in each floor inside (he wanted them to be eight with the corresponding two in the upper floor outside, but it required much more time, and he prefered to use it in the alarm, he couldn¡¯t argue in favor of marginally improving the house defences against installing a different and new type of defence). After being done he felt tired and kind of empty inside. He had spent more than 80% in that enchantment but the result were reassuring. He asked Jack to try to break through a wall and laughed out loud after seeing the face of Jack when the hammer he used (it was a big one closer to a mace, not one of those for nails) bounced off the wall and almost smack him in the face. And that wasn¡¯t all. DING
Skill Created!
Warding Beginner lvl 1
Allows to give magical protections and defenses to a place like a building or enhance its currents capabilities. Cooldown: none Cost: variable
Due to having Runic Language the skill will evolve faster than normal
So, content with his work he rested to confirm the speed of Mana Recovery and thought about some alarm wards. Chapter 6 Here goes another! I reread the chapter looking for mistakes but I might have missed something. Like always any suggestion or criticism put it in the comments (I read them and answer sometimes)
Luke noted, after some calculation, that his Mana recovered around 1% per minute or in his case 3 MP per minute. Although he didn''t know if that was fast or slow he was happy that he could restore most of his Mana in an hour if he emptied out. On the other side, he should test if the same proportion apply to health recovery but he wasn''t going to hurt himself to figure out some obscure number. With that out of the way, Luke went outside to set up the ward. His idea was to make a circle around the house with ropes, cords and anything similar with four posts stabbed into the ground and aligned with the cardinal points to give it form and help maintain it. Then, he put the words for ¡®sound'' and ¡®cross¡¯ on top of the posts. He hoped that it would create some noise when something crossed the line. He prayed that if it worked, the magic wouldn''t active for things really small like insects, or he would have to reconsider the symbols to use. Turns out all fortune ends: the project was mostly successful but his fears came true. After setting up the circle and inscribing the symbols in the wood, he activated the ward with the corresponding mental image (it demanded extra MP to link several enchantments together to form the ward) and it worked out¡­ a little too well. To test it, Luke crossed the boundary and was rewarded with a loud noise that could be heard from the house easily. Better yet when he went out of the circle he didn''t heard the noise but a yell from Jack confirmed that it happened. Apparently the sound was entirely directed towards the house. While interesting it wasn''t important at the moment. The problems started when he researched what would trigger the noise. The result: everything bigger than a finger. He went inside the circle and threw first his staff, then a rock and then some grass. The only fortune was that anything smaller than a clump of grass didn''t make it react (he saw some ants going back and forth without activating the ward). Before finishing his research, he realized that if he wanted the inscribed wood to stay outside and under the weather, he should cast the reinforce enchantment. And so he did, on the side of the post that looked toward the house. Curiously it required more Mana to put a second enchantment on the same object (his Mana went down 12 points instead of the previous 10). Luke was happy but he knew this was just an alarm it didn''t mean that they would survive the confrontation. So he started to ponder what else could a ward provide. And he wasn''t thinking only about the goblins but a more ample measure that could cope with other future hostiles. A dozen minutes later (and his Mana conveniently recovered) he came up with a magic ability frequently used in books and stories: a glamour. The concept was simple enough, you make something look like something else. They come as mental suggestions (they make you believe that something is another thing) or they temper with the enemies senses, principally with sight. Luke faced this new challenge with the knowledge already acquired. He decided to establish a similar setup. He made a circle, put down the four post and considered what symbols to use. The circle this time was a lot bigger, it included the greenhouse and felt some fifteen meters short of the treeline. With that in mind he added four more stakes and reflected about the hieroglyphics he would employ. He didn''t want to overextend and leave some flaw in the design, so he inclined towards something simple: ¡®leave¡¯ and ¡®confusion''. But then he didn''t know how would he be able to exit the circle and return if the ward proved to be effective. So he exchanged the symbols to ¡®mine'' ( the symbol is a concept that fuses possession with the speaker and it''s allies), ¡®confusion'' and ¡®area''. The confusion and the area part should daze anyone inside and close to the circle and the mine should key the formation to me and allow me to designate people that would remain unaffected. After applying the symbols in every piece of wood, breathed deeply and concentrated on what he desired the ward to do. All of this required a stop when only one post remained to be carved (curious fact: the formula for enchanting follows 10x2^x where x is the number of symbols. It may get more complex if the symbols used are the more profound concepts. So seven stakes was 280 MP, almost everything he had), 30 minutes or so. Uncertain if it worked but sure that it did something, Luke went back toward the house. Besides it was getting close to the third hour and he was afraid the goblins might return soon.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. He entered the house and there was chaos: Jack and Sarah where shouting at each other from a distance of three meters and by the bruises on Jack head, he had met resistance from some of his traps. Luke was excited. It worked! He didn''t know if it would affect every creature but he suspected that everything with lower Intelligence than him would gain some degree of confusion. The connotation was fast to come: they were safe, at least for the moment. Now he needed to test how to incorporate the couple to this particular defense. After several tries, twenty minutes and a load of YouTube worthy bloopers, he discovered that the solution involved touching the person and simple recognise it as an ally with his will. They also tested if someone else could do it (Luke first added Sarah and then Sarah tried to do the same with Jack) but unfortunately they couldn''t. Now you may be asking yourselves why didn''t he put the glamour inside the alarm? The answer is simple, this way they would know if something was able to go through the glamour and be warned. If it was the other way around, they would be warned by whatever came close. Besides the first circle, are it impossible to put the greenhouse inside the second spell without having to expand the former and that would take too long (not setting it up per se, but Luke doing it and recovering his Mana). When both have calmed, they explained to Luke that the moment he activated the second formation, they lost track of where they were and no matter what they did they couldn''t find any reference of their location. It was like a fog have covered everything or like they could see but not recognize their surroundings. Suddenly they heard faint noises of something getting closer. The went upstairs and uncovered a window to get a full look of the clearing. There were three goblins (the new shift?) approaching the outer circle. Abruptly, they started shouting to nowhere and after five minutes they were turned around and left the area of effect. It took them four more attempts to give up and leave. ¡°Well that a good news if I ever seen one. I expect that after a while they would return with more friends but I imagine that if their tribesmen aren''t a lot smarter they won''t be able to break through the glamour. So I propose we take a rest and figure out in which direction you want to develop so when they come back we can attack them from the safety of the spell.¡± Luke only hoped that attacking wouldn''t break the glamour. Interlude 1 The first day after The Beginning proved to be a long one. Especially so for the more isolated communities, after all, for any settlement with more than ten thousand inhabitants, the trial lasted two to three hours and then there were either no goblins or no humans (don''t be mistaken, goblins are cowards, if you present strong resistance at key moments they quickly abandon their conqueror dreams and flee looking for greener grasses). No, hard to reach places and low population regions were more tired (if they survived) by the time the goblin menace was dealt with. It ranged anywhere from four hours to eight, in rare cases ten the duration of their ordeal. So it wasn''t strange that when the exhausted population of these areas found out that goblins were only the first wave, they, almost unanimously and without contact between them, decided to make a run for any city near, leaving large swathes of countryside empty. This in turn provoked the unrestrained growth of the creatures that came. It also had the unfortunate consequence of saturating the few big settlements still standing, making them the dreamland of the dark side of society (which had a much higher survival rate than normal citizen, just behind politicians and government officers). The few that refused to leave their houses and hometowns had to adapt the fastest to a myriad of creatures and mutated animals. It was hard and some gave up in favor of trying their luck in the city, but the remaining few turned out to be ahead of the leveling curve due to the constant fighting.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. It''s important to note that there existed a radical difference between the new danger and the first one: while animal shaped creature are usually stronger and had better instincts, they''re by no measure evil, they simply follow the predator against prey relationship with every other being. A dire wolf won''t consider if you have children while he eats you, he would only feel his hunger. This signify that while the dire wolf would attack the lone wanderer, he wouldn''t get near a big city except when famished. So government saw the solution to its population problem deciding to allow and reward hunting this creature to teach them to not get close. This went well until it backfired. It was discovered, several weeks later and too late to remedy, that when those weak goblins that had ran away and didn''t suffer a culling from the others, stronger creatures, were given a chance to regrow their numbers. Then they returned threatening the bastions of humanity with human (goblin?) waves tactics, very tough to overcome. From that point on, no more indiscriminate hunting was allowed nor reward given. After all, it was much better for a dire wolf to eat a goblin couple and maybe humans from time to time than to have to kick from the walls the hundreds of descendants that couple could spawn in a few months. From an animal rights fighter with no more rights in its title. Chapter 7 Expect a battle in the next chap
¡°Jack, please tell me what I''m looking at¡± Luke said with an incredulous face. ¡°Yes sir! A foot tall, huge frontal teeth and smooth white fur. Cuteness level over 9000 if Sarah behaviour is any hint. I would say that we got ourselves a rabbit.¡± Jack Actually, there were over a dozen of the little furballs between the treeline and the outer ward. They have appeared out of thin air quite literally, in other words spawned. They looked like classic lvl 1 mobs and practice targets. Well, at least for men, Sarah wanted (and probably most females in the world) to adopt them. Half an hour have passed since the goblins fruitless attempt to breach their defenses. They had been ¡®researching'' how many TV channels were still airing. Surprisingly, most news broadcast were down, together with half entertainment transmissions. Porn as ever proved stronger than the end of the world and continued without interruptions. At some point, Sarah got nervous and peered from a hole in a window coverture and discovered these adorable creatures. Her reaction was screaming and ordering Jack to catch one for her to keep. It took them fifteen minutes to convince her that it wasn''t an option. Luke could only imagine what her response would be when they had to kill. Not only for the levels but also for the meat and the leather. They had limited supplies that would probably last them a week or more if they rationalized and the greenhouse would make sure they aren''t hungry, but meat is a necessary part of most humans diet. So they were obligated to find alternative sources of food. Besides they couldn''t predict the future, they couldn''t know what could happen. It would be terrible if they lived on vegetables and suddenly hail falls and destroy the greenhouse (this region hadn''t had hail or snow in more than twenty years but the changes in the world could have unexpected consequences). Luke thought this was a great opportunity, he could test if the glamour persisted after attacking or if it dropped and if he was lucky get a level up. ¡°Stay here, I will go try my luck, don''t leave the wards area for any reason.¡± Luke Then he grabbed his staff and went outside. The rabbits were prancing around peacefully, eating grass. That got Luke thinking that if herbivores appeared, then predators shouldn''t be far off. Goblins could be consider like one but by the quest he received from Bob it didn''t look like goblins formed part of the forest ecosystem and balance. If this world respected games logic then soon there should be wolves stalking in the area. Luke put that thought in the back of his mind while he finally arrived to the glamour. The white terrors were from five to fifteen meters away. He took a couple steps back just to be safe and targeted the nearest one. He pointed his finger (it wasn''t necessary but he found the gesture helpful when aiming) and shot one bolt. He wanted to test how much damage it dealt at the same he researched the limits of the misdirection. The bolt didn''t kill the creature but left it badly hurt. It looked around rapidly to find from where the attack came but its eyes seemed to pass through my position without recognition. It may be that its Intelligence was simply too low however Luke was content with the result. He called the couple and together they massacred the rabbits that hadn''t scattered after the second shot and death of the first monster. Yes, they were monster. Further experiment showed that most of them charged at whatever appeared hoping their number would trample the enemy. This served as a way to bring the ones further away from the ward at striking distance from the spears. After thirty, they stopped, grabbed all the corpses, skinned them and stored the meat for later use. It was great that the house used solar and eolic electricity. If that weren''t the case they would be in danger of a blackout at any moment.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Luke leveled up and so did his Mana Bolt. He hesitated in assigning some points in Vitality but in the end he decided the priority was to deal and heal as much damage as possible. Interestingly, Mana Bolt got an extra meter of range when it leveled. The goblins hadn''t come back even though the sun was setting. Luke suspected they got problem of their own: it was possible that the bigger creatures would consider the grey skinned monster as prey and attacked them. In this circumstances, no news was good news. Luke was comfortably lying on the grass just outside the house when he got curious about trees. If every living being was changing and adapting, then what about trees? He considered this especially important since he was trying to fortify a house in the woods. Quickly, he stood up and went toward the treeline. This was one of Luke¡¯s strong and weak points: he was really curious and as the saying goes, ¡®curiosity killed the cat¡¯. He reached a tree but he didn''t know how to study if there were any modification to a plant normal structure. Nonetheless it occurred to him that maybe he could use his Mana Control to sense the inside of the tree. The result were extraordinary, trees didn''t need to adapt. Their vascular system was prepared to transport his Mana from the leaves to the roots and back. However he found strange that there was no Mana already circulating. Luke decided to inject some of his Mana and open a way for ambient Mana to get inside the tree (until now he was controlling his Mana, now he is talking about putting it inside and let go of his control. He wanted to see if the tree could assimilate the energy). The consequences were far reaching. The tree started growing noticeably taller, it''s branches more numerous and the leaves greener. At the same time Luke felt some kind of suction coming from the tree that absorbed the environmental Mana nearby. After five minutes it stopped. DING
Congratulations!
You have started the Awakening of the Forest. You evolved the first tree by giving it some of your Mana and from now on this tree will do the same to his companions through touching roots and branches. While the trees haven''t developed a conscience yet, they are grateful.
Reward: Lowered aggression from creature in balance with the forest. From every thousand trees awakened by trees you evolved, you receive +1% MP recovery and +1 Intelligence (up to 10xlvl for both) While you are in a radius of 5 meters of trees you personally awakened, you receive reduced damage and deal extra damage. Depending of how long the tree had been awakened, it might take part in the fight.
Skill Created!
Awakening Beginner lvl 1
Use your Mana as a conduit and foundation of the evolution of statics lifeforms. Cooldown: 1 hour. Cost: depends of the size and age of the lifeforms.
New Quest!
Awaken the forest
You helped the forest protect itself by giving it a new life. However, it might not be fast enough. Completely awaken the forest in a radius of 5 kilometers and eliminate any danger that could upset the balance. (trees can only awaken one of their own per hour) Reward: Unknown
¡®Well, fuck¡¯ Luke thought. The benefits were obvious but he estimated that the goblin camp should be inside this radius. So to comply with the quest he would have to complete the previous one and he didn''t know if he could. Chapter 8 This is a somewhat longer chapter and also my first attempt at a true fight. I know the descriptions, moves a tactics are overall simple, but I think that too complicated plots tend to backfire. So for this my first story i decided to increased the complexity slowly Next chapter will have the consequence of the battle. Any suggestion or criticism in the commenta would be appreciated. PS: I realized after posting the previous chapter that there should be millions of trees in the area the quest talks about so if he gets a 1 int from every thousand tree, he would get 1000 int just from that. I want my mc to be strong but that may be a little much... so capped it at ten points per level (he still will get op but not as much).
Luke wasn¡¯t a math genius but he knew that he would have to wait several hours to get the full benefits of this connection. He also thought that it would take a day or so for every tree in the area to be awakened. He checked his status and noted that Mana Bolt had leveled once more when he wasn¡¯t looking. It wasn''t strange that he didn¡¯t notice, he only checked his skills once in awhile and if it happened at the same time that he advanced a level, he would have dismissed the notification without paying attention. He wanted to awaken as many trees around this clearing as possible so that obscure ¡®trees fight for you¡¯ could be taken advantage of. Besides, he didn¡¯t know how many trees there were in the designated area however the faster the forest awakened the better. Suddenly, Luke was pulled out of his reverie by a rotten smell coming from deeper into the forest. He remembered that his current position wasn¡¯t safe and considered going back¡­ he didn¡¯t. He followed the smell more than a hundred meters into the woods. There he found the vestiges of some kind of battle between goblins and a pack of huge black wolves. They were as high as Luke chest with dark fur in their body and head and grey in the extremities. It was like a black mantle was over their shoulders. There were two wolves bodies together with seven of the child sized menace. Further investigations provided two more goblins corpses in the direction of their base. All goblins bodies were half eaten. Luke weighted all the clues. He came to the conclusion that the goblins did try to return to his little paradise, but came across the wolves. They fought, and the goblin leader ordered a retreat. By the tracks he saw the wolves seemed to lose interest after getting their meal. The only thing that didn¡¯t fit was this last one. Even if they had enough food, the wolves instinct should have told them the risk goblins represented to the pack. Luke felt a cold shiver run down his spine and turned toward the way he had come. Three pairs of huge lanterns watched him threateningly. From behind, the muscled bodies of three wolves came out. They were bigger than the ones he had found previously, especially the grey one in the center that should reach his shoulders. Luke was terrified. He couldn¡¯t go back and he was ill prepared for such a fight. He supposed he could kill one, maybe two of the ¡®small¡¯ ones but the third (the alpha?) would be his end. Luke¡¯s brain cogs were working at full speed while he walked slowly backwards until a low growl stopped him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw three more creatures roughly the same size as the dead ones. ¡®Shit¡¯ Luke brilliantly thought. Now there were no doubts that he would be ripped apart before he did anything. Luke put his back against a tree in such a way that he could observed all the animals with minimum eyes and head movement. He noticed that one of the ¡®elites¡¯ next to the Alpha was looking back at something. The alpha barked an order and that elite retreated at the same time the rest of the pack closed in on Luke. He decided that if he was going to die he would die fighting. Luke¡¯s adrenaline filled mind came with different scenarios. First he attacked the three minor wolves and tried to break through to run away. Hard to accomplish and it was improbable that he could outrun a wolf either in a sprint or a marathon. He could also attack the elite one coming (the alpha and other elite remained back) closer and take off to the unprotected sides. He suspected this was more dangerous than fighting three normal wolves. Third he could simply try to run. Yeah, like that would end well. Luke inclined for fourth. He had already considered this problem when he was surrounded and chose a tree with low branches to get another escape route. However, he wouldn¡¯t have the time to climb if the wolves shortened the distance more, so he preempted them and shot his three Mana Bolts: one to the elite right in the muzzle (it didn¡¯t go through so Luke figured it was more like a love tap) and two to the other wolves. Then turned around and climbed for his life. He didn¡¯t stop until he got to the highest branch that would support his weight. The third wolf tried to stop him but he was blocked by its startled companions. To luke relief, the bolts did noticeable damage to non-elite wolves but it didn¡¯t look life threatening.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Luke had more options now. He could slowly snipe the creatures but taking into account their agility, he didn¡¯t considered it seriously. He would only tired himself. Beside he was worried Jack and Sarah would come out of the circle looking for him. The clearing was far enough to not be found if the pack doesn¡¯t travel that way (and the glamour should repel them if they do) but if the couple started trampling through the forest, the wolves will sense them immediately. Luke stared at the Alpha who didn¡¯t seem perturbed by the recents happenings. It looked almost happy? At this point, he noticed what was behind the alpha and the elite: pups. Three black and one grey tiny creatures were play-fighting with each other under the caring gaze of the elite. ¡®That¡¯s why they didn¡¯t pursuit the goblins! They didn¡¯t attack the goblins, the goblins attacked them. Then, this should be their territory that I intruded.¡¯ Luke decided he wouldn¡¯t kill the wolves. Even if he could, they were an excellent defense against goblins raids (he was still worried about the goblins leaders being able to cross the glamour unimpeded). Also, he suspected the pack was part of the forest equilibrium and he was supposed to protect the balance not destroy it. He looked around but didn¡¯t find any branch from other trees he could transfer to at his height nor below. Out of nowhere an arrow embedded itself in the trunk of the tree, a hair from Luke¡¯s nose. He turned around and saw war. Well, it was only two dozens goblins raiders with their leader advancing toward the wolves. There were also five archers behind with one looking evilly at Luke. With this numbers, the goblins would be able to defeat the pack. He would have none of it. He shot a Mana Bolt to the goblin that attacked him scratching its shoulder then ducked to avoid incoming arrows. After that he finished the archer with another projectile to the head. After the rabbits training lesson he had gotten a lot better at aiming, even without gestures. The battle between goblins and wolves had already began now and the evolved animals were being pushed back rapidly. Luke had to hurry. He waited until the line went beyond his tree (apparently only that archer had noticed Luke) reloading his ammo and dropped silently behind the archers (he didn¡¯t jump, he climbed down. He isn¡¯t a ninja). A shot, a cast and two more shots directly in the head from point-blank guaranteed the long range division death (this was a technique he discovered while rabbit hunting: when he had his three passives bolts, he fired the first one then casted the spell so that the cooldown started counting, and shot the other two passive bolts. If he timed it right he would have Magic Bolt out of cooldown and ready to be casted). A whimper announced the death of a normal wolf. The goblins paid costly this death with three of their tribesman ends but it was worth it. The archers death helped but they had already done the necessary damage: most of the pack had an arrow stuck somewhere except for the Alpha and the pups. The wolves were getting tired fast by the hit and run tactics of the goblins (one attacked at a wolf, retreated and when the wolf retaliated two goblins stabbed it from the flanks). The only thing in favor of the wolves was that their fur was able to resist several strikes before allowing more severe damage. Their teeth and claws also proved useful: if a goblin received a full blow he was out of combat. Luke observed the skirmish and opted for taking care of the leaders. They hadn¡¯t taken part yet but their commands was the biggest danger in this circumstances. Fortunately, Luke had annihilated the archers so fast that they hadn¡¯t noticed yet. Although the lack of arrows may reveal his doings. One of the leaders was just behind the frontline while the second was at the back controlling the whole combat. It seemed like the latter was some sort of captain while the former was the vice captain. Luke approached the captain and when he was five meters away he shot his magic, followed by brutally using his staff to introduce the goblin''s head to the ground. The troops bloodlust impeded the vice captain and the rest of the raiders to realize they were being ambushed from the back. There were still twenty goblins and the new captain (one died while Luke assassinated the boss) yet they weren¡¯t ready for the rage that fueled Luke. he started swing his staff in short and concise movements that deal the maximum damage in the shortest amount of time. He took care in always attacking the goblin the furthest back, and do it fast so that others don¡¯t notice. It didn¡¯t always work (one time after killing a goblin two turned around in confusion. He made short work of them but it was close) though the Alpha seemed to understand that Luke has turned out to be an ally. The leader of the pack went on a rampage to attract the goblins attention. This raised the morale of the rest of the group that pounced with increased vigour. Ten minutes later, only the bigger goblin remained and another wolf had been lost. Several members of the pack looked to had lethal wounds. Luke was stained in his chest and arms with buckets of goblin blood. The goblin hatred filled gaze went first to the alpha and then stopped on Luke. It moved its mouth saying something incomprehensible. This action broke the standstill and the alpha went for it¡¯s throat and Luke fired a shot at it¡¯s back sending it toward the alpha bloodied teeth. Death was fast and unforgiving With that the fight ended. Looked stared at the strongest wolf in the pack in the eyes and some type of connection was established. Both understood that they weren¡¯t a danger to each other. Luke walked slowly closer and put his hand on the creature head. He casted minor healing, restoring the Alpha to full health (goblin¡¯s weapons were unable to hurt it in the short run). It¡¯s eyes opened wide, quickly moving its head toward the rest of the pack like suggesting he did the same to everyone. Luke smirked and complied. It took five minutes to go from wounded wolf to wounded wolf avoiding the pack any new loss. Then, he nodded to the Alpha and went back home. He was starving! Chapter 9 Lots of tables in this chapter.
While going back, It occurred to Luke that he should have taken the dead wolves bodies. Their skin would make excellent leather at the same time that they provided more meat than a dozen rabbits. Besides wolves aren¡¯t cannibalistic so they shouldn¡¯t mind... ¡®Well, mI would probably lose any favourable opinion I have if I asked¡¯ thought Luke. Suddenly, he heard noises coming from behind. They were very soft and intermittent. It looked looked something that wanted to go unnoticed and stopped after advancing a few meters. Hearing carefully, he sensed another fainter noise following the first. Luke turned around and saw a small pup being stalked by one of the elites. The young wolf had dark fur. It took a couple of steps forward, stopped, looked back at the other wolf, sniffed the ground and air and advanced a few more steps. The pup repeated this process several times until it saw Luke watching its actions closely. Then it barked excited (it was more like a yip than a bark) and ran all the way up to Luke¡¯s feet. The wolf rubbed its head against his ankle, playfully biting his pants and leg. The mother (because there was no doubt that the elite was the pup mother) watched tenderly the pup¡¯s shenanigans. DING
A young wolf had seen your courage and skill in battle and has decided to adventure with you. His Alpha had a debt of blood with you for actions in defense of the pack. As such, he allowed the young wolf to leave the pack to travel and train with you.
Beware Further interactions with the pack and the young wolf may influence the young wolf will to travel and loyalty to you.
Luke was surprised by the notification. Realizing some of its possible consequences, he was seriously tempted to refuse. However, by the behaviour shown by the pup, he believed his opinion didn¡¯t matter. After all, the blue pop-up didn¡¯t mention a subservient type of relationship, but a bond between equals. Luke crouched down extending his hand towards the pup as a sign of acceptance. The black eyes of the wolf stared at Luke¡¯s soul through his brown eyes and Luke stared at the wolf¡¯s in return. After a few seconds that seemed like ages, the bond was established.
You have entered a bonded relationship with a young wolf. Both of you grow stronger through the bond and will continue to do so while the connection remains. Both parts receive 10% of the other stats (minimum 1 point per stat) and the ability to understand the other needs.
You receive: +1 Strength, +2 Agility, +2 Dexterity, +1 Vitality, +1 Intelligence, +1 Wisdom and +2 Luck.
¡®Wow, that was totally unexpected¡¯ thought joyfully Luke. He appeared a lot happier with taking the wolf now. The mother watched the ¡®ritual¡¯ and when it ended it howled into the moon, the first star that had just come out and the night sky. The howl was repeated from the rest of the pack from where they were. It sounded depressed and content at the same time. Then, the elite wolf growled at Luke in warning and left. That warning sounded suspiciously like a mother hen protecting its chicks. Hell hath no fury like a mother worried about her child! Luke picked the small animal resuming his way home. He was having trouble with how to name the pup. He couldn¡¯t continue calling it ¡®pup¡¯ or ¡®wolf¡¯. He wanted something simple but not foolish. He didn¡¯t know how smart the young wolf will grow to be (especially taking into account it would receive 10% of his intelligence). It would be problematic if he decided to call him something like blackie and that came back to bite him later. No, he needed a good heroic name. ¡®That¡¯s it!¡¯ thought Luke He grabbed the pup with both hands and put their eyes at the same height. Their noses were almost touching. ¡°From now on, you will be known as¡­ Steve!¡± Steve seemed excited about the name and barked at luke several times as if he was agreeing. Or, he might just have been happy with the attention.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The rest of the journey home was in a brighter mood for Luke.He couldn¡¯t deny that he already liked Steve. Before crossing the glamour, he make sure to recognize the pup as an ally so he wasn¡¯t affected by the ward. Then, he put him back on the ground which the young wolf took as permission to go inspect his new home. He did at least three laps around both the house and the greenhouse, sniffed every inch of ground and lastly scratched the door looking at Luke to open the door. Luke could feel his bonded emotions. He was excited about everything new and had a curiosity that could rival Luke¡¯s own. However it seemed a little apprehensive of being too far away from Luke. Luke opened the door and found Jack and Sarah about to have dinner. It looked like they have delayed eating waiting for him. ¡°Luke, where have you been? I was so worried!¡± said Sarah as she rushed to his side and tried to kill him by hugging. ¡°I was looking at a tree and felt this rotten smell¡­¡± Luke told most of the story but left a few details like the awakening of the forest as well as the full extent of the fight. He heavily minimized the skirmish and his encounter with the wolves. Sarah didn''t seem to believe him, she even narrowed her eyes while he expressed the edited version, however Luke was saved of further inquiries by the cuteness most infants of the animal species radiates. It affected females intensely and seemed to block any attempt from Sarah of asking more. She took one look at Steve and was immediately defeated by the pup. It distracted her for the whole dinner and even a little after that. The wolf was content with the attention. He also enjoyed the rabbit meat he was given. After dinner, they continue talking for awhile. Sarah had convinced, without much effort, Jack to go to town the next day. The liked the isolated lifestyle as long as it was safe, but they no longer considered so. Besides Luke predicted this would happen as he knew both of them had family in the settlement. He told them that he wouldn''t accompany them but he would enchant everything he could to give them more chances of successfully arriving and protecting themselves. After that the mood was pretty bleak so everyone retired to their rooms. Luke tried to make a comfortable resting place for Steve. Despite his efforts the pup refused to stay anywhere but with Luke in his bed. He decided that it was a concession he could make. Finally able to rest, he decided to read all notification that were put on hold during and after the battle. He skipped fast over the normal ones (he leveled up twice, Magic Bolt twice too and Minor Healing and surprisingly Mana Control once) However there were several more interesting notifications:
Hidden Quest Completed!
Protect the wolf pack A new wolf pack was created near you and is facing the life threatening danger the goblins signifies. Help them survive this ordeal so that they can grow strong in the future.
Rewards: For solving the quest through your cunning +3 Wisdom +2 Intelligence The disposition of this wolf pack is now favorable towards you. One of the youth of the pack decided to follow you on your travels. Increased in Nature Affinity.
Hidden Quest Completed!
Provide resources to the wolves It isn''t enough to protect them, they also need great quantities of food to develop their full potential. Gather food for the wolf pack.
Rewards: For transforming a calamity into an opportunity, even though goblin meat is really chewy, +3 Intelligence +2 Wisdom The wolf pack sees you as an ally Increased Nature Affinity.
New Achievement Unlocked!
Curiosity killed the cat but not you.
Your curiosity got yourself in troubles but your brain was able to overcome them. +5 Intelligence
New Achievement Unlocked!
At the wrong place at the right time.
Your sense of opportunity is outstanding, only surpassed by your luck. You got yourself in a tight spot and the universe provided the solution. You were smart enough to grab it. +5 Luck +2 Intelligence
New achievement Unlocked!
The Ancient Guardian of the Forest has noticed your actions and approved of the strength you gave the forest and its inhabitants while not obligated to do so. +3 Intelligence +3 Wisdom Increased Nature Affinity.
The growth of his Intelligence and Nature Affinity made the risk of the fight worth it. He now had 50 Intelligence and 70% Nature Affinity (the affinity had reached fifty at some point, each quest gave five percent and the achievement the missing ten). Luke decided to make the enchantments for the couple early in the morning. With a warm spot on his chest, Luke went to sleep peacefully. Chapter 10 Enjoy! In other news, with this chap the story will get to the 5000 views! I would probably make a longer chapter soon to celebrate!
Luke slept comfortably all night waking up early next morning. The habit of getting out of bed with the first rays of the sun was hard to break for Luke. He went down, had a quick breakfast and started enchanting things for the couple. He didn''t have to think much about it, he did all the thinking last night. He used one word level symbol per object. Most of them were simple things like ¡®defense'' for clothing and ¡®agility¡¯ for the spears (he considered putting ¡®strength'' but it doesn''t matter how much damage you do if you don''t hit). The only interesting enchant was one he inscribed on two necklace, one for each, with ¡®camouflage¡¯ the idea was to make them harder to find for animals and humans too. Luke didn''t want to make potent enchantments for anyone but himself. It wasn''t a trust issue, he trusted the couple unconditionally, however he didn''t know what might happen to them. It would be annoying if something he made to come bite him later. Steve woke up with Luke. He decided, after satisfying his rather extensive hunger, to make several rounds of the perimeter. Then he went back to Luke making puppies eyes: he wanted adventure! Luke was going to comply but first he saw off the couple. He made the closest two hundred meters with them, it was an opportunity to scout the nearby area in a different direction. They didn''t find anything out of order so the couple continued by themselves. Once back, the loneliness hit Luke. He had never been completely alone, not even living in a house in the woods. However now he was truly alone. A soft whimper and something rubbing against his leg, announced Steve partially successful attempts to console him. ¡°I know blackie I''m not alone I have you¡± he said while he crouched and caressed the wolf fur. By now it was midmorning, curiously marked by an unexpected sound. DING
New Achievement Unlocked!
Mind over body
Your growth is so unbalanced that the gods fear for your life. For reaching over 100 Intelligence while the rest of your attributes are below 30, you get 10% of your Intelligence as a bonus in each of the others stats.
Luke was overjoyed. The notification marked that more than fifty thousand trees or more have been awakened. Even though he knew he would receive a big boost for the forest awakening, he hadn''t checked his status since he woke up so it came as a surprise. Also, this solved one of Luke¡¯s issues: he hadn''t know what to do with the ten points he got when he leveled up the previous day, he wanted to put everything in Intelligence to scale his skills, but only an idiot became a glass cannon in real life. There were too many uncertainties to do it. However, he could do it now. If you added this achievement to the bonus he got and will get from Steve (Luke guessed that a wolf growth pointed towards physical abilities more than magical and intellectual abilities), he wouldn''t be so fragile. Sure he won''t be a tank, but he would have the resilience to survive.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. There was another benefit, Steve got noticeably smarter. He could see a glimmer of intelligence (and mischief) in the pup¡¯s gaze. Now, Luke had no excuses not to exterminate the goblins in spite of their unknown numbers. He had improved his endurance and the damage his Mana Bolt dealt was through the roof. Besides, no matter how tight the fight was, if he didn''t die immediately, his Minor Heal could put his body back to top condition easily. He made a mental plan of what he would need. He decided to enchant anything necessary for the expedition with the strongest and most useful symbols he could think. Then, he realized he should scout the area around the house for any possible danger. It would be important, if he had to run away from the goblins, to know which area to avoid or where he could prepare an ambush (before the System was implemented he knew the land like the back of his hand, but he didn''t know what changes could have happened or creatures invaded since). Lastly, he couldn''t go to battle blindly, he had to confirm the goblins population and how they were organized. Luke had come with two possible plans against the goblins depending this information, or cut the head fast or target the body slowly. That meant either he killed the leaders before being surrounded and then utilized the chaos in his favor or he killed every goblin unnoticed before the fight with the boss. Both ideas had pros and cons, but he needed more information to decide. He spent the remainder of the morning with the enchantments. He made some leather armor with the rabbits skin and inscribed every piece with defense and another attribute, mostly Strength and Agility with Dexterity in the bracers and Vitality in the chest armor. It wasn''t much per piece (up to 5 attribute points depending the size of the protection, he checked with his status) but put together was relevant. He also made a collar for Steve and a necklace for himself with an advanced version of what he gave the couple. He used the symbol for ¡®camouflage¡¯ and added ¡®illusion¡¯ and ¡®nature¡¯. He wanted to enhance the camouflage to the point that if you looked at the wearer in the middle of a clearing, the observer will think it is a tree or a large rock. It worked quite well, in part because of his high Nature Affinity (according with how high it was, Luke was considered almost part of nature) and in part because of how absurd his Intelligence has become (remember that enchantment¡¯s power was derived of the Intelligence of the creator, restricted by the durability of the material). For his staff, he went with Strength and durability. After all it would be a nightmare to be about to win when his weapon breaks leaving him defenseless in a melee. He didn''t want Steve to go with him as Luke was worried for the wolf safety, but he didn''t have a choice. The notification did say that Steve wanted to adventure and if he wanted his companion to survive in the future, they should have similar power level, or at least defensive capabilities. Luke and Steve went scouting after putting a dent in their rabbit meat reserve. The numbers seen in the clearing, showed that the source of the supply was far from exhausted. They traveled in a spiraling path with 30 meters or so of distance between each circle. He did this until the outer circumference was five hundred meters away from the house clearing. Luke didn''t found anything worrying, though he discovered a few tracks too big to be wolves (even the ones from this forest) that looked appeared to be an enlarged version of that from a bear. Having that out of the way, Luke and his loyal sidekick went in search of the goblin base. The increased traveling marks were enough to show the way more accurately than Luke¡¯s previous guesses. They traveled until the first goblins patrols were found. Fortunately, the goblins were unable to see through the hiding enchantments or they would have had a fight at hands. After a little break to calm Luke¡¯s nerves, they started the final information gathering before the raid. Chapter 11 I wanted Luke to have some hard times, it had been too easy until now.
Luke and Steve took their time while scouting the goblins base. Even though he wanted to attack before the sun set, he couldn''t be careless, any information he got could save his life during the raid (the other way was also true, any information he didn''t get could cost him his life). They waited patiently near a patrol route (taking the same path so many times leaves a track) and followed a group of sentries for two full laps. This groups were made of three goblins, two with short swords and one carrying a bow. Then they stopped and calculated how much time passed between a group moves on and a new one arrives. This allowed Luke to confirm that he could assassinate the outer perimeter without being noticed for a short time. There were three dozens goblins going around. The fact that they used a single route to patrol meant the leaders were intelligent enough to plant some defenses but were nowhere near utilizing those protections to the fullest (a well-versed commander would make them go through a few different routes at random times to catch enemies by surprise). There was another ulterior motive to making the laps, he discovered that every tree in the area had already been awakened and he could connect to them (getting the full benefits) at half the Mana and cooldown cost. Thus he did, planting several defensive positions along the way. Luke looked up to the sky guessing he still had four or five hours before lights out. He decided to kill as many goblins as possible before reaching the center of the encampment for three reasons: first, every goblin killed was a goblin he didn''t have to fight if he screwed with the sneaking. Second, he needed to see how to fight with Steve, even though they could understand intuitively what the other wanted, they needed a few practice runs to coordinate better and the best way was to train against the weak mobs before the truly difficult combats. Third, he hoped to get a few more levels. It wasn''t that the attribute points he obtained each time would prove significant, the importance resided in upping the cap of the awakening of the forest reward. That would mean 10 extra Intelligence for each level (and one to the rest of the attributes). Besides he wasn''t completely comfortable with fighting to the death even now. He understood that he had to, but had troubles afterwards the same. With the decision taken, they waited until the first group passed by their position and attacked. Luke took care of the archer, with his Intelligence he could one-shot normal goblins, so he could have killed the whole group, however he wanted to watch Steve''s capabilities. The pup surprised Luke by his ruthlessness: he ran towards one of the goblins, made a two stages jump (he jumped once and then used the goblin body to jump again) and tore it''s throat out with one vicious bite. By the time the last creature realized what happened it was too late. It took a gulp of air to shout the alarm but Luke¡¯s skill didn''t allow him to. Taking stock of the situation, he was content with the result. Steve proved to be an able fighter, at least when it came to sneak attacks. Also, he seemed to grow a little with the kill. Luke wasn''t sure if there was some magic that alerted the goblin chief when one of them died, so they moved fast through the patrol''s track in the opposite direction to get to the next group as fast as possible. Interestingly, the camouflage enchantments appeared to be an out of combat type of thing. It stopped working after the first strike, renewing a few seconds after there were no more enemies on sight.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. The next two groups proceeded in a similar manner, and now Luke was sure Steve was getting bigger, but on the forth there was a surprise: one of the taller goblins and a goblin carrying a gnarled staff with a skull at the top had joined the other three goblins. ¡®As I thought, they know when a tribesman dies. That should be a shaman, I have to take care of him first¡¯ Luke thought. He had been careful in hiding the bodies so no goblin could have noticed if there was no magic involved. He retreated a dozen meters to think, now worried by the possibility of an ambush coming from their backs. When no lurching enemies were revealed, he released a sigh of relief. He wasn''t sure if he could take the shaman or the enhanced goblin with one shot like with the normal ones, but he was confident that with three shot he could take care of at least one of them and with a little luck the archer too. Luke quickly adopted a usual game strategy: Magic, long range, melee was the killing order. He communicated mentally with Steve (they didn''t actually talk, it was like Luke relayed images of what he wanted the young wolf to do) telling him to lay in wait until he striked. Then, Steve would sneak attack the archer if it was alive or the common soldiers if not. Luke distanced himself from his companion so that when the human showed itself the wolf would be behind the group. When everything was ready he shot his skill with the improved pattern he discovered with the rabbits (shot, cast, shot, shot and cast) aiming the first two shots to the shaman, one to the archer, another to the shaman and the last one to the improved goblin. The small window he gave the shaman was a controlled risk to discover if two shots were enough to kill it (the skill went off to fast for Luke to be sure which shot ended a creature life, especially so with low health ones like the goblins). Then he had no time to think as the leader was at striking distance from him. Luke had considered putting himself further away (he was confident he could target accurately even in the full range of the ability) but he didn''t want to be too far away from Steve in the situation he needed to save his friend. Besides, the patrol route didn''t have long, straight segments where he could maximize the damage of the Magic Bolt. It was more of a meandering path. The small amount of time between each shot didn''t allow the shaman to answer magic with magic which was a relief to Luke. He wasn''t stupid enough to think that a single day as a magic slinger made him a veteran, so he didn''t want to give the probably more experienced magic user a chance. The melee with the abnormal goblin proved to be hard and demanding. This particular goblin had a longer sword that it definitely knew how to weld to get the upper hand on Luke. The goblin wasn''t as skillful as the human, and it even had a shorter reach, but it had more experience giving it the advantage. The fight had such an accelerated rhythm that Luke didn''t have time to cast his magic even though there was no casting time. After all he wasn''t yet fluent enough to cast while fighting a pitched battle that he was losing. Any instant he took to concentrate and cast could spell his death. He didn''t know if he could have turned the death match around if it wasn''t for Steve. The wolf killed the first goblin without being noticed which allowed him to get to the last soldier goblin before it could ran too far away and call the reinforcements. It seemed the goblins have planned for one of them to go back to base while the rest entertained the invaders. Then he moved stealthily toward the goblin captain waiting for an opportunity. The pup was entirely focused on the fight and when the goblin moved to push its advantage, preparing for a lethal blow in the next combo, the wolf striked. He made a smart decision: he didn''t go for the kill, instead he bit the goblin right calf. This gave Luke a respite long enough to stabilize his posture and launch a Magic Bolt directly into its left eye with the expected result. ¡°Well done Steve, I don''t know what I would have done without you¡± Luke said when he finally calmed. He then, made a vow to give extra rabbit meat to his companion when they went back. Steve understood the thought and barked excitedly at Luke. However, they didn''t stay long, worried that the battle noise would alert the goblins of their location. Chapter 12 Luke knew that they couldn¡¯t go on with the same method. If the goblins discovered the killing of the first three groups, they should have discovered the fourth squad. That meant that from now on it will get harder and harder to suppress every individual in a group. Most probably there will be more goblins per group or higher leveled ones. Luke checked the quest information, which revealed that he didn¡¯t actually had to kill every goblin, just protect the forest from them. The unlucky part was that he wasn¡¯t sure what area the quest referred with the forest. The lands arounds the Thorn¡¯s propriety were heavily wooded and could be considered part of the same forest. After pondering some more, he decided to rout this group and then see if the quest was completed. If it was, nice. If not, he will decided at that moment. The only remaining issue was how to annihilate this tribe. Evidently the progressive way he have been doing was not working. The thing is that he couldn¡¯t come up with another way in which he and Steve could kill every goblin without being overwhelmed by numbers. Later, he realized a way although dangerous. He considered if it was worth the risk, but he couldn¡¯t come to a clear conclusion. However he believed that he didn¡¯t have another choice: if he didn¡¯t take care of the goblins today, they would be a lot better prepared the next time. The plan was simple: attack a group causing a ruckus and slip off before reinforcements arrive. Luke believed that the ability to sense tribesmen death shouldn''t be too common or he wouldn¡¯t have had time to retreat after each kill. It should be a special ability of the boss or one of its close subordinates. So if he could to eliminate the porter of such a skill, he will be able to take his time with the rest of the goblins. Remembering the fighting prowess of goblins leaders, he decided to put himself in a hard to reach place to have more time to fire Magic Bolt. Steve was pretty silent. They have agreed (after much discussion, or what passes as one when you can¡¯t speak) that the young wolf wouldn¡¯t be part of the fight. The reasons were simple, they needed at least one goblin to escape to tell the tale and no tactical mind would deliver information about his full strength in a silver platter. So they had to keep something to themselves. They couldn¡¯t hide Luke nor his primary way of fighting (he had no chance against a squad of goblin soldiers without Magic Bolt) so the only way was to hide Steve. Before the goblins arrived, Luke made sure to connect with the tree he climbed. It wasn''t probable that this tree would help, but the notification said that the amount of conscience depended on how long ago the being was awakened not when the user connected to them. So Luke could only hope for the best. Soon, a new challenger showed up. It was formed by two normal soldiers, one archer, one shaman and two captains. The extra enhanced goblin suggested that they were getting more troops involved. This was good and bad for the invading duo. Good because there should be less soldiers near the boss. The bad was obvious, more goblins chasing them meant more chances of being discovered and more danger. Luke was ready, when the group was some ten meters away he fired the five shots he could with a similar configuration than the last encounter: two to the shaman (the trial he did before proved that it was enough), one to the archer and the last two to the same improved goblin. Then he went around the trunk of the tree to wait the cooldown of magic bolt renewing the camouflage enchantment when the goblins lost sight of him for a few seconds. Ten seconds later, with two shots prepared, he went back around and found the leaders searching for him (at least the healthy one was, the other looked pretty pale, barely able to move), just below his branch. The other two goblins had run off toward the center of their base. He signaled to Steve that he could now take part (the leaders shouldn''t survive and the normals had already left). Then he killed the uninjured captain by firing the two Magic Bolts, finishing by jumping down the tree and landing on its head. The one on death''s door was easily disposed by blackie with his now normal method: sneak attacking directly towards the enemy throat with bloody but effective results.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. After the win they took off in a prearranged direction. They didn''t go forward to enter the settlement, they first went a hundred meters or so to the side. The objective was avoiding as many patrols as possible. Unfortunately it didn''t work out. Just after the first step toward the goblin¡¯s encampment, they collided with three goblins. Two taller goblins and shaman widened their eyes when the camouflage wore off due to the physical contact. Luke was only able to fired once, a wild shot that barely grazed the shaman but seemed to do more damage than the wound would suggest. This time, Steve wasn''t able to wait for the perfect occasion, he had to deliver a fast first strike. If they had any saving grace was that their reaction speed was considerably faster that the grey skinned monster. Steve couldn''t make the perfect strike, but he did attack the correct spot: he tore into the calf of one of the leaders before running into some nearby bushes to sneak around. The goblins took a moment longer than the duo but weren''t slow. Both captains tried to advance in Luke¡¯s direction and attack, however only one could reach before Luke could retreat. The other had been severely crippled by the wolf bite. That goblin couldn''t stand up and was resting the injured leg on its knee. The shaman appeared to put itself together and started chanting while making hand gestures. Luke was having a hard time in the melee again. Nonetheless this time he was noticeably less flustered. He had studied what he could have done on the previous battle realizing his mistake. He was no warrior, his ¡®build'' was almost exclusively oriented toward mage. He did have high stats all across the board but his primary attribute was Intelligence not Strength. So this time he adopted a more defensive approach, trying to keep some distance with his staff while looked for an opportunity to cast Magic Bolt. He also checked periodically what was the shaman doing. The fact that the spell took so long to cast was worrying Luke. He¡¯s effort paid off as the enhanced goblin put too much strength into a sword strike allowing Luke to destabilize the goblin and fire his skill once through the enemy right eye. Enjoying the victory, he forgot about the wounded goblin, who tackle Luke to the ground. He found it strange (the goblin wasn''t holding anything that could be used as a weapon). It seemed that it only wanted to keep him in place. Suddenly, he realized that the shaman was slowing its movements like he was finishing casting. Finally Luke understood: the captain was sacrificing its life to give the magic user the chance to kill Luke. He tried to cast Magic Bolt but the goblin on top of him didn''t let him concentrate long enough for that. Again, Luke was saved by his companion, Steve hadn''t run too far. He saw that his human was coping fairly well with the healthy goblin and decided to sneak to the shaman. He knew that he wouldn''t be allowed to stealthily attack the enemy mage again, so he waited until the goblin¡¯s full attention was on the spell and Luke. Then, he bit viciously into its thigh, disrupting it''s concentrating and creating a backlash that paralyzed the creature for several seconds. Afterwards, Steve calmly took its life. With the shaman not being a issue anymore, Luke recovered his wit, freed himself from the goblin clutches and killed it with his staff. Looking around he didn''t spot any clue of more goblin and moved in the direction of the goblin¡¯s base (not before rubbing Steve head for a job well done). Chapter 13 I spent some time today making a spreadsheet with Luke status that I will hopefully post tomorrow. Also, Luke acquiring his class is approaching (it will happen after the fight with the goblins ends) and I am looking for suggestions for the name. It will be close to nature mage and druid but won''t be neither. I am considering a few naming options but am not satisfied by them. So any idea you have put it in the comments.
Luke and Steve advanced slowly in the settlement¡¯s direction. They were careful to not get caught like in the most recent encounter. Their carefulness was rewarded when they avoided several goblins, more than two groups, going toward the recent battle site. The path was hard to travel through due to the closeness of the trees and the abundant vegetation. They seemed to be imprisoned in a sphere of green. As a consequence, every sound could signify an enemy giving Luke the sensation of constant danger. Suddenly, the greenery stopped and a gray and desolate landscape can be seen. There was a large valley that wasn''t there before. The cliffs surrounding it are more than thirty meters high. There was only one way in and out made by ladders of wood and rope. The three climbing spots are five meters from each other. This transformed the place into an easily defended fortress. The depression formed a perfect circle. Luke tilted his head and thought ¡®It looks like a crater. Something really huge or at an insane speed should have fallen to make one this size.¡¯ He was confident in his knowledge of the area this close to his home. There definitely wasn''t a valley here before. The most probable explanation was that something landed there making it in the process. The radius was near a kilometer and marked the end of the forest. Luke could see that the only trees present were on his side. After the valley, there was no more forest, just some hills and mountains near the horizon. This meant that the changes had been bigger that what Luke thought. The hills and mountains weren''t the problem: they had been there before The Beginning, no the issue was the lack of trees. This was originally a heavily wooded area. However, looking at the wooden buildings in the valley, he could guess where some of the trees went. There still should be another cause, but for now it eluded Luke (it was impossible for the goblins to cut down so many trees in such a short time lapse). The hamlet was not in the center of the valley. It was at the midpoint between the center and the cliff with the ladders. It had no more than thirty huts that were barely better than a tent, and an improved version in the center which was taller and bigger. This building also appeared to be better made. The small ones could house four or five goblins he estimated while the other could be used by more than a dozen. This suggested that there were more than a hundred and fifty goblins. Luke however, thought that it was unlikely that the center hut was utilized to full capacity. After all, the chief probably lived there and it wouldn''t allow any common goblin to live in its house. There should be a group of goblin elite serving as guards to the chief and maybe the tribe shamans. Taking into account the goblins he already killed (5 with Bob, 3 with Jack, 31 with the pack and 21 with Steve), and the ones patrolling, the hamlet should be deserted. Luke realized that trying to thin their ranks brought an unexpected benefit: most goblins were ordered to search for him and as a consequence left their base mostly vacated. If he had sneaked to his current location without fighting, it would have been impossible to invade. Nonetheless, the situation wasn''t peachy. The commander was smart enough to leave a dozen goblins (two shamans, four archers and six soldiers) to protect the sole access to their territory. Luckily they couldn''t notice Luke nor Steve.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. He looked around but didn''t found any way to go down the cliff without exposing themselves. They did have the camouflage, but he didn''t want to put too much trust in something he didn''t know the real power. Besides, it would be hard for Steve to climb down if Luke didn''t help him. He had thought of only one option: jumping down. His stats had grown exponentially thanks to the awakening skill and the mind over body achievement. He didn''t know if he could pull it off and not get hurt, however if he survived, he could heal himself immediately. Abruptly, he heard noises coming from behind. He turned around and saw a group of goblins walking in his direction. ¡®Shit, they found the bodies of the last fight¡¯ thought Luke. Paying more attention, he observer that there were a dozen goblins advancing in a moon shaped formation. They seemed to have discovered that Luke and Steve couldn''t be found by sight. Realizing that he was out of options, he put Steve under his arm, ran toward the cliff and jumped. He wouldn''t have done it if the land below was clustered with objects or had an irregular terrain. Although he couldn''t be completely sure, it seemed that the ground was made by several layers of loose dirt, no rocks could be seen. So even though it was dangerous, the danger came solely from the height, not from other factors. The height was after all the issue Luke thought his attributes could solve. Thus the decision to jump wasn''t totally insane. As was to be expected from such an awesome guy, he landed perfectly, making three rolls and prepared to fight whatever those hateful goblins could throw at him. He even had the time to put Steve on the ground after the first roll, allowing the wolf to also be ready to fight when Luke ended his acrobatics. Or not. He did jump and land on his feet, but when he tried to lessen the impact, he overcompensated for Steve weight and landed hard on his face. Steve didn''t suffer any damage as he was cushioned by Luke¡¯s arm. The young man, on the other hand, spent the next couple of minutes dazed and with his nose out of place. When he recovered he wanted to scream from the pain. He gritted his teeth so he didn''t. It wasn''t a good idea to make so much noise inside the enemy base. Despite the first hut being more than a hundred meters away, they were behind the enemy lines. It took awhile for Luke to calm enough to heal himself. The fall didn''t do too much damage but being stunned for so much time was equally dangerous. Before Luke could move towards the hamlet he saw a new notification.
You have entered a restricted zone. The restriction has been empowered by an unique magic that affect any creature not from the goblin race or evolved from it. As a consequence, your abilities had been lowered and will continue that way until you leave the area or remove the cause of the Magic.
Effects: -10% to all attributes -10 HP and MP every minute If you remain too long, you may suffer a random negative status effect (such as stunned, poisoned, dazed, bleeding, burned, asleep, rooted)
¡®That explains how those weak goblins could injure the Ancient Guardian of the Forest (Bob).¡¯ thought Luke. The only thing that worried him was the negative status effect. He recovered Mana faster than 10 per minute (1% + 0.6% from the awakening bonus or 60% of 1%, with his Mana pool of 1210 equals 19 when rounded). He could also keep healing himself and Steve with the extra recovered Mana. After all, he didn''t need to heal himself every minute. He could heal the damage done by the zone in a dozen minutes with a single Minor Heal (yes, his Intelligence is slightly overpowered). Taking into account the zone debuff, he could still do so, but not as easy as without it. However, it signified that extended battles didn''t bode well for the duo. With that in mind, Luke decided to make haste toward the hamlet. Luke Thorn Status (not a chapter) I spent some time putting together the status. You will notice that a few of the skill are higher level and I never said they leveled up. When I was doing the status I came to the conclusion that those skill should have leveled up by now and that it was a mistake on my part to not have it done. I read through the chapters to see if I forgot anything and I don''t think I did, but if you see a mistake tell me in the comments.
Name Luke Thorn Race Human Class None
Level 6 Health 310/310 Mana 1210/1210
Stamina 360/360 Strength 35 Agility 37
Dexterity 39 Vitality 31 Intelligence 121
Wisdom 43 Luck 36 Unassigned points 0
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Skills
Mana Control Beginner lvl 4
Staff Mastery Intermediate lvl 4
Blacksmithing Intermediate lvl 1
Leather Working Intermediate lvl 1
Carpentry Intermediate lvl 1
Tracking Beginner lvl 7
Runic Language Mastered
Magic Bolt Beginner lvl 5
Minor Heal Beginner lvl 2
Enchanting Beginner lvl 4
Warding Beginner lvl 2
Awakening Beginner lvl 2
Affinities
Nature 70%
Chapter 14 The landscape was exactly like what it could be seen from above, bleak and desolate. No plant or small animal lived there. The soil seemed to have been brown originally, but it slowly lost it colour in favour of a sick grey that made you think that nothing could survive in this land. As a consequence, there was no cover while getting closer to the settlement. The lack of tracks suggested that there was no regular patrol. The only sign that this wasn¡¯t a desert was a small river that was on the other side from Luke¡¯s position. The closer he and Steve got, the more he realized how primitive the huts were. It couldn¡¯t be considered carpentry or woodworking of any skill. The goblins used the branches of several trees to make a cone shaped roof while the walls were nonexistent: the trunk of three or four young trees were staked in the ground to serve as support. They covered those column with animal skins and considered the job well done. The one on the center wasn''t any better. The only difference was that the trunks used there came from fully grown trees. It utilized maybe a dozen of them. As a result, its height was greatly increased. Luke didn¡ät know if this hut was made bigger to represent the authority of the one who lives there or its height was due to the size of the resident. He hoped it was the former. After all, in games bigger meant stronger. Luke and Steve advanced as fast as they could while being vigilant of their surrounding. There were five bonfire lit, one in front of the central building and the other four on the perimeter of the hamlet. They were on the side looking in the direction of the ladders. Each one had one goblin near. Luke supposed that they should be making sure the fire didn''t die. The only exception was the central fire that had another goblin tending it. Luke decided to change his approach: using Mana Bolt was too loud. Besides he didn''t want to utilize his Mana if possible. He was confident in his recovery but believed it was better to not risk it. Considering that the six goblins by the fires didn''t have direct line of sight between each other (the fires were each close to a hut that blocked view to the rest). So he got near one, took its short sword and impaled its heart in one fluent move. He refused the idea of smashing its head with his staff for the noise it would make. As he remained hidden from the rest of the tribesmen, the camouflage didn''t break. He repeated the actions three more times killing every perimeter goblin. He was nervous about being discovered by the goblins defending the ladders or the ones that obligated him to jump. However the lack of cries of alarm calmed his worries. For the last group, Steve went for one of the goblins and Luke for the other. They were especially careful this time to avoid alarming the ones inside the hut. He could only hope that the ability to sense the death of the members of its tribe didn''t tell it where they died. The invading duo stopped to hear near the entrance of the hut before entering when they didn''t sense any movement inside. Just to be ready, Luke cast Minor Heal to Steve and himself. The insides were sparingly decorated (if you can call no furniture and a handful of animal skins serving as rugs decorations) with a pungent smell that resembled sweat and blood. Bones and rests of poorly cooked food can be seen in several places. The weird thing, however, was that there wasn''t any goblin in the building. Luke analysed every corner of the room without finding any clue of where might the goblin chief and his retinue have gone. He decided to leave the place from the backdoor in search of any track (he hadn''t noticed any vestige of recent traveling in the front door. With how loose the dirt is here and the wind that is constantly blowing, that means that no one used that entrance in the last hour or so). Exiting by the back, proved to be the right decision when Luke almost immediately discovered prints which suggested a group of five goblin departing from there toward the hamlet perimeter on the opposite side of the bonfires (that means looking toward the center of the valley).Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Luke followed the marks while Steve matched his step, periodically sniffing the air. It appeared he hated the region¡¯s odour. Truthfully, Luke felt it too. It was like there existed a permanent gas cloud around you. In the short run, you may not notice, but after awhile it turns suffocating. Luckily, Luke high stats protected him somewhat and Steve should have natural mechanism to deal with it. Anyway, there went our valiant hero and his loyal companion in search of the evil that corrupted the region! Which is a poetic way of saying that they moved stealthily through a dozen empty houses that represented no danger to them. This changed when they left the hamlet. They could see in the center of the depression (some four hundred meters away) another construction. It didn''t appear to be a residence by the fact that it didn''t have a roof. It consisted of a platform elevated between three and four meters from the ground, accessible by a staircase with a dozen steps. In the middle of it, there was something that looked like a cross between a table and a coffin with a pedestal. The pedestal was holding a sphere of light that should be causing the area debuff. He arrived at this conclusion when he saw how similar was the colour of the light with the desolate grey of the ground. Or maybe because he could see figures moving there (maybe five). At this point, he realized that the ground was slanted downward slightly in the direction of the altar. Then, Luke connected the dots. ¡°Wait a minute. A sudden crater appears, the goblins settle in it, they discover an unique magic that helps protect them, Bob probably came here and had to run away and now the highest ranking goblins go to this sphere when they are being threatened by an unknown being¡­ it must be a football ball! This should be the origin of the Magic! But how could the goblin produce enough energy to keep it running? The consumption must be monstrous¡­ the trees! They fed the energy from the trees around here and on the hills region. Now that there are no more trees on that side, they are advancing toward my side!¡¯ Luke realized he had a new priority: he couldn''t let the goblins have that relic. It was more important to take it than to eliminate the last of them. Regardless, taking care of the sphere would mean taking care of the goblins. With that thought in mind, Luke and Steve moved closer to the altar, the strongest goblins and unpredictable danger. Chapter 15 I wasn''t going to post tonight but after seeing so many comments (yes six comments are a lot) I decided to post. I know the story is lacking (and I know it from a good source (wink)) several of the small details that makes it more enjoyable, but I only notice most of them after some of you point it out. So keep the comments coming! Ps: this arc is ending soon and the ideas for the next one are slowly coming together. Keyword being slowly.
At first, Luke and Steve advanced slowly toward the platform but after awhile they noticed that the goblins seemed mesmerized by the glowing sphere. The closer he got the more he started to feel dizzy. He felt like the ground was practicing bungee jumping around him. The difference, however, was that the cord never stayed taut. He knew it was a consequence of the relic but he was completely unable to do anything about it. He tripped over some rocks and bit his tongue. The pain allowed him to calm long enough to cast Minor Heal on himself. It didn''t work though it cleared his mind a little more. He could now look around to take stock of the situation. Steve was on the ground next to him, unmoving. He must have been stunned by the magic. Fortunately the goblins hadn''t noticed them. At this point he didn''t know if he should curse or thank the sphere. He casted the healing spell again and concluded that it wasn''t as effective as the first time. The status effect might be getting stronger. He decided to do something now before he becomes confused again. He pulled all the Mana he could from his repository and made it investigate every inch of his body. He found a couple of strands of grey Mana entering his brain. There were already a dozen of them inside. Luke¡¯s high Intelligence attribute wasn''t necessary to come to the conclusion that those strands were causing the ailment. He first blocked new energy from getting in. Then he tried to expel them but they were too slippery. He was using his Mana to catch them but every time his Mana got close, the grey energy seemed to be repelled like a magnet. ¡®This isn''t working. I''m losing Mana fast, if I don''t solve it soon it will have me¡¯ thought Luke. That wasn''t all. He was also worried about Steve. Luke attributes were extremely high for his level, that, meant he could tolerate the negatives effect a lot longer than his companion. He didn''t know how much longer Steve could hold on (he could see his chest rising and falling, but each time seemed to need considerable more effort). Suddenly, he came back to the magnet analogy. ¡®What if I make the strands leave by themselves?¡¯ Luke was really hopeful for this idea. He gathered his Mana and instead of trying to catch the malevolent energy, he concentrated it in the center of his brain region. He made sure his whole body, and especially his neck, was also covered in Mana so that the strands couldn''t move into the rest of his body. Then he expanded the energy until it saturated every part of his brain. It worked like magic. The strands couldn''t leave faster. Before moving on, he made sure to live a thin layer of his Mana covering his whole body to block any energy from getting inside again.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. He opened his eyes and didn''t feel sick anymore. He checked the goblins briefly, but they appeared to not have moved in all this time. If he didn''t knew better he would think they were statues. Luke rushed to Steve position and used his Mana to view his body condition. It was worse than Luke¡¯s have been: hundreds of strands were distributed in his body. The concentration was denser around the brain and heart, but the rest of his body had a great number of them too. He followed the previous recipe although slightly modified. As the strands weren''t in a single place, he decided to expel them one place at a time instead of everything at once. Luke went first for the head. After all the brain is kind of an important body part. He focused his rapidly depleting Mana into a corner of Steve head and slowly moved the frontier forward. It took some time but the strands left his head. Then he went for the neck and the chest. At this point, he stopped to rest his mind. His Mana wasn''t vanishing as fast now, but it looked like utilizing so much energy in such a short period was taxing for the brain. This suggested that Intelligence was only related to the amount of Mana, not to its control. ¡®That should be Wisdom job¡¯ thought Luke in a moment of clarity. He then continued his labor. He wasn''t as worried about Steve now. His real concern was the goblins snapping out of it and catching him unaware or distracted. Focusing back on his dear friend, he finished the job with the extremities. He copied the Mana shield he put on himself on Steve. He quickly skimmed through the notifications he got. Two were new skills: Dispel and Mana Shield. Their ability was self-explanatory. He also got a level up in Mana Control. After finishing, he put his sight on the five¡­ no six goblins. Luke had been too distracted to notice that he could see more details about the group at this distance. There were six goblins. There were three that looked like glorified bodyguards. They were taller than what Luke called captains, maybe chest height, and a lot bulkier. They had two short swords, one at each side of their hip, and a small crude wood shield on their back. They were also wearing leather armour, though it didn''t appear to be well made. It was a tremendous improvement compared to the almost naked normal goblins. He guessed that it should be strong enough to weaken or even block a couple of sword strikes. They had stopped watching the sphere. Now they were staring all around like looking for something. Luke suspected his and Steve presence had been felt recently. They probably felt the repercussion of the great amount of Mana he used but couldn''t find him due to the camouflage. The fourth goblin was roughly the same height than the bodyguards. However he was wearing a primitive robe. He wasn''t certain of the material, but it should be a softer leather like rabbit. The staff he was sporting had the traditional skull enhanced by two small gems as eyes. It gave a despairing feeling, similar to watching your team lose in the last second by a lucky shot. The prize for ugliest creature ever was won by the huge monster in the center of the group. It was a head taller than an average human and it didn''t wear any armour like it wasn''t necessary. It had a young tree on its back that Luke assumed was its cub. The size of its muscle could make a man envious and a woman covetous (if they ignored its nature). It was however the face that immediately grabbed anyone attention. It had so many scars that it left no doubt how goblins choose their leaders. It certainly wasn''t by vote. The last goblin seemed ancient. Its short stature and white beard strengthened that idea. It also had a staff which was strangely unadorned. Compared to what Luke had seen until now, it looked pretty basic. More like a walking stick than a dangerous tool of dark magic. And if it wasn''t by the dark strands he could feel from it he would believe that illusion. Luke realized that the giant goblin wasn''t the chief of the hamlet, the old shaman was. It was obviously trying to control the magical object to do something. And by the focused gaze it got, it should be about to accomplish its objective. With Steve recovered and his Mana on its way to full, he wasn''t going to let it succeed. Chapter 16 Yesterday I forgot to thanks you all as the story finally got 10000 views! And a moment ago it also got to 100 followers so thanks! Sorry couldn''t help myself with the end. Every author should do it at least once just fot the fun of it.
The weather had adapted to the tense circumstances Luke was living through. The early afternoon sun and blue sky had changed to become blackish grey and depressing. The clouds that adorned the celestial vault were heavy with rain and fluffy. Most people would describe them as menacing, but if you had to choose where to use that word between a menacing relic of death or a glorified shower, you would probably incline for the sphere. The faltering daylight brought other factors to play. First of all, the shadows were excellent for playing hide and seek, however what was true for Luke, was true for his enemies too. Visibility has dropped so much that if it wasn¡¯t for the light of the sphere, Luke and Steve might not be able to find the platform. That meant that they could be surrounded by goblins and they wouldn¡¯t realize until attacked. Luke was certain that he wouldn¡¯t be able to rush head on and hope for the best. It was at this moments that he regretted not bringing the shotgun he left on the house. His father, as any ex-military man would, liked to collect and store weapons. However, most of them were kept in the city house so that he could have them in hand when he was going to go on a trip. It was a serviceable old thing that would get the job done but not anything else. He hadn¡¯t grabbed it for a few reason. Main one being he disliked guns. Don¡¯t get it wrong, he was considered proficient enough to carry and not be a danger to society, but he never acquired the taste for it. Luke was an admitted pacifist. He wouldn¡¯t avoid fighting if it was necessary though it wouldn¡¯t be his first answer. If you add that he was a middle ages, middle earth nerd, and as a consequence he prefered more primitive weapons (primitive as of previous ages not as stone age) like his staff or a sword. Coming back to the present, he came to the conclusion that he would need to come with some plan to win. He remembered the strategy books he had read. He also recalled the few pearls of wisdom his father, Daniel Thorn, had imparted to him in some of their heated debates about historical battles. ¡°Son, there all kinds of strategies and maneuvers out there, more than any human could learn in a lifetime. Moreover, some people have more compatibility for some types of strategies than others, so it isn¡¯t worthwhile to learn everything. It¡¯s better to have a couple (maybe a dozen or so) functional plans and modify them for each situation. After years of service, I came to the conclusion that overly complicated plans tend to fail in at least one of their components and throw everything into disarray. So my advice to you is keep it simple and unimaginative. Not so much that you can be easily predicted, mind you, but consider a good battle arrangement those that have few key action and the rest is left vague on purpose to allow changes on the fly. After all, as old generals used to say, no plan resist first contact with the enemy¡±. Luke decided to analyze his situation as if this was an hypothetical exercise in his father''s studio. ¡®Always the first need is information¡¯ thought Luke. With that directive, he made a lap around the platform, close enough to see, but not so close that his presence may be discovered. He found out that the only access was the stair in front. He should be able to jump into the altar, but Steve certainly couldn¡¯t. When he got closer, he got a better look at the sphere. The material it was made of seemed to be some kind of glass, a highly mana conductive kind of glass. Inside, he could peak tens of thousands of the grey strands. However it''s now diminutive core was blue with green specks. This implied that the original use of the relic wasn¡¯t what the goblins were utilizing it for. They seemed bent on corrupting the magic of the sphere. He could see that every second that passed more and more strands entered the relic, coming from the white bearded shaman. Besides, when he stared into the remaining blue, it gave Luke a feeling of calmness and closeness with nature. Probably, the reason Bob was defeated was the same as to why he came: the sphere. It felt like a nature related object to Luke. An idea started to form in his mind. He distanced himself a dozen steps from the platform and focused on his sword. It took a few minutes to inscribe the correct enchantment and he wouldn¡¯t be sure it worked until it was too late, it was a one-time use spell so he had to make it matter. He told Steve to attack from the stair side after he got his part done and made sure to maintain the shield around his companion. He even made it especially thick (maybe two or three times as it was before). He did the same to his shield and got a notification that Mana Shield leveled up. It seemed that consciously improving a spell would allow it to progress faster.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Then, he took a deep breath and got ready. He hooked the sword in his belt so he could use both hands to grab the border of the platform when he jumped. He knew he would have to attack fast. He suspected the shaman would discover him the moment he stepped on the altar. After all, his camouflage was good at obstructing physical senses, but it left a telling energy signature. I was something he hadn¡¯t noticed before and would have to improve latter, if he was still alive. The plan in itself didn¡¯t carry much risk to Luke if it worked properly, but there were several things that could go wrong, or that Luke couldn¡¯t predict the consequences. With no more excuses to delay the execution, he began. The first part was the easy one, he jumped (a lot higher that he expected, he would have to test his athletic prowess at some later date) high enough that his head peeked over the rim of the structure. He rapidly used his hand to push his body the rest of the way. It looked like an added bonus of his high attributes was an improved body control (he really needed to test what each stat enhanced). After the push, he didn¡¯t allow his body to stand up, he instead rolled forward. The platform had less than ten meter of radius, with the old goblin almost at the exact center, the other shaman and the big one a few steps back. The bodyguards were with their back to the sphere, vigilant against hidden enemies. So after his roll, eight meters or so separated Luke from the sphere and the primary shaman. He took of at maximum speed, cutting the distance in an instant. Not fast enough, however, to avoid the attention of the shaman that immediately stopped the energy injection. It gathered grey mana in its hand to sling a spell at Luke. The hateful light in this goblin eyes seemed to express coherently his emotion toward the invading human that was ruining its moment of glory. It had taken almost two full days and a dozen shaman working nonstop to get to this point and it wouldn¡¯t allow anything to interrupt. Hell, he would already had finished if he hadn''t felt something killing his kind and sent his apprentices to solve the issue. Only his son remained, but he wanted all the glory. So the last step of the corruption would be made only by him. The shaman was faster than Luke casting spell. A lot faster that he had anticipated, but Luke was also lighter on his feet that the old creature expected. This mutual quickness meant that the goblin fired his spell just before Luke could finish closing the distance and stab him with the sword. Despite this, Luke speed made the goblin be unable to hit where it had aimed. So instead of blowing his head with an enhanced version of his bolt that had more in common with a cannonball, the skill made a glancing blow against his shoulder. Luke might still had lost his arm (or at least use of it) if his shield hadn¡¯t taken the brunt of the damage. After the impact, he wasn¡¯t able to maintain it any longer. Nonetheless, Luke wasn¡¯t thrown off track and arrived next to the sphere at the next moment. He did two things, actually three, in quick succession. First he stabbed the goblin with the sword. The shaman had a shield, but the sword got through it like it was paper. Then he kicked the sphere as hard as he could. The objective was to send it as far away as possible. He didn¡¯t care if it exploded and hurt him. He was resolute in his decision that the goblins shouldn¡¯t be in possession of such an object and if being seriously hurt was what it would take to delay the total corruption it was worthy. His decision was also based on the fact that the pedestal had several runes on it. With Luke knowledge, he could understand that this particular enchantment had the double use of keeping the sphere from healing itself and helping the shaman to corrupt it faster. It also drained some of its energy to make the area debuff spell. This information meant that every moment the relic wasn¡¯t on the pedestal signify time lost for the goblins. Fortunately, the sphere didn¡¯t shatter or blow up from his kick. He had kicked it because he didn¡¯t want to be in direct contact with an almost entirely corrupted relic of unknown powers.Seeing as he completed his objective, he did the smartest thing: he ran away. He communicated mentally with Steve to tell him to distance himself from the platform fast. Luke rushed out of the altar without even thinking about the damage he could do to himself by falling from such height. He ran for a dozen more meters until the low visibility blocked everything from view. Then, he turned around to see and dropped to the ground. I was just in time to see the fireworks. A powerful light came from the top of the platform (He couldn¡¯t see what was actually happening due to the angle, the altar was more than three meters high) that augured the future. After the light came the noise and the force wave produced from such an explosion. Luke thought that if that didn¡¯t take care of the goblins, nothing would. You see, he had carved the sword with a vicious combination: ¡®absorb¡¯, ¡®mana¡¯ and ¡®explode¡¯. The enchantment should gather every mana near it when activated and utilized it to fuel the explosion. The more mana the bigger the boom. And he had stabbed the sword into the strongest magic creature in the region, exceptuating Bob. The shield of the shaman wouldn¡¯t work simply because the mana destined to keep it up, was depleted by the sword faster than it could replenish. Luke stood up to go see the results of his mischief when a roar made the ground shake, erasing the smirk on his face. Chapter 17 Luke climbed the platform to see the damage his trap had done. He could have gone around to find the cause of the roar, but he suspected it would be better to have the high ground in the imminent battle. The destruction was extensive: the pedestal had resisted some of the explosion due to its magic, but he could feel that any enchantment it had, had been thoroughly consumed. That could be a scratch compared to the rest of the altar. A circular mark of scorched ground could be seen, beginning in the place where Luke last saw the shaman. Its corpse had mostly evaporated (he could see part of its staff still held by an arthritic hand in the third step going down) together with his apprentice. The unfortunate shaman wannabe was now burnt beyond recognition with its body thrown below the platform. The force must have pushed it that way. A little more looking around revealed the origin of the furious cry: the giant goblin was still alive and kicking. He (yes, the little cloth he had, was burned showing to the world his pride as a male) had a wound that hadn''t stopped burning in the majority of his upper body. However, the thing that gave Luke pause was his eyes. They were crazed with a noticeable red tint. It wasn''t figurative speech, the goblin¡¯s eyes had turned a deep crimson that chilled the soul. Luke was sure that short of beheading, nothing would stop his revenge. Luckily, the forest loving human could confirm that the huge creature was the only one that was alive. Three smoking bodies could be seen a few meters beyond the platform. Slowly at first, but stronger each passing second, rain started to fall. The gods seemed to be up there looking at the battle and saying ¡®fight to your heart''s content, because when it ends nothing will remain¡¯. The already dim light transformed into an ocean of darkness. There was only a small island of light around the goblin warrior and Luke. It was weird as there shouldn''t be enough light to see further that your arms could reach, but he could easily stare at the raging monster. And raging it was. He was swinging his club as if he was in a deathmatch against the rain. Luke analysed his opponent movements and came to the conclusion that if the goblin was a rpg character, it would have all his points in Strength and Vitality. Fortunately, it had been hurt by the fire of the explosion (it was a pure Mana explosion, but Luke thought that the enchantment must have transformed the Mana into fire to better accomplish its purpose). He guessed that the issues were going to be two, how much damage could the goblin resist and how long could Luke and Steve avoid the club''s strikes. He had no doubt that a single hit could kill him and the same applied to his companion. He realized that the only real chance they had was to use hit and run tactics combined with the superiority in numbers (2 to 1 counts as superiority) to confuse the giant, impeding the goblin to lock on his target. Luke ascertained Steve¡¯s location. The wolf had acted on his friend message and distanced from the platform moments before the sword blew up, so he wasn''t hurt. At the moment, he was on the other side of the giant from Luke¡¯s position. It was the perfect formation to execute his plan. One in front and one from the back. He decided to start the battle himself. After all, Steve specialized in sneak attacks (Luke to some degree to but not that much. Luke idea of a perfect battle was keeping the distance and firing Mana Bolts until the enemy died. Steve waited until he could perform a critical hit with high chances of killing the opponent). There exist a well known fact in combat that anyone could point out no matter how inexperienced they are: to win you have to actually hurt your enemy. The damage can be done by you or by external factors, but it has to be dealt. Why the obvious explanation? Simple, when Luke fired his five shots of Mana Bolt he understood he miscalculated. Although the shots were concentrated in an area the size of a palm near the goblin¡¯s heart (or at least where human have their chest, no idea if goblin anatomy go by similar rules), they left little more than a mark in the seriously scorched skin. If that was disappointing, imagine when his staff striked the goblin¡¯s head without being able to even tilt it (Luke went running forward after using his skill to do maximum damage before it could react). Luke face fell. He tried to retreat quickly, but before he could the giant eyes focused on him. The warrior swung his weapon with the intention of separating the head from the body.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Luke high attributes (and the fast reflexes they provided) saved him. He ducked the home run wannabe while backstepping. All of this happened a few steps away from the first step of the stairs. Luke tried to climb them, but a second smash forced him to change direction to not be killed. Suddenly, Steve made his move. He actually struck twice. First he used his claws to hamstring the creature. Then, he jumped trying to clamp his teeth around the neck. The results? Nothing. Well, he did hurt the leg to some level, but it would at most make it limp for a few minutes. The neck was the same, the teeth drew blood, but just barely. Steve was fast on the uptake and didn''t prolong the bite when he realized he couldn''t hurt the warrior. He released his hold scurrying rapidly away and onto the embrace of the darkness. Enough time had passed that Luke had been able to retreat safely. Circumstances put him next to the bodyguards dead bodies. He saw their swords sheathed and considered if he could wound the creature with them, but discarded the idea immediately. His bolt did more damage and couldn¡¯t do more than scratch it so this swords would be useless. However, that got him thinking. Steve bite left more profound injuries than his bolt even though his skill should be considerably stronger. The only explanation he could create was that his bolt didn''t have enough penetrating power. So he decided to try to modify it to solve this shortcoming. He didn''t have a choice: the giant goblin had too good a defense for the present Luke. Also, he had the protection of the low visibility and his camouflage enchantment. It must be said that there was another option that was to continuously attack the monster with grazing strikes until it exhausted itself. However, the explosion had made a lot of noise, so the normal goblins might be coming back at any moment. Even if the loud noise didn''t grab their attention, the rain would compel them to return to their houses. There it would be evident that the principal figures of the community are missing and one possible location was the altar. In conclusion, there was time, but not that much. Luke decided to cast Mana Bolt the same way he did when he created it: step by step. He gathered the Mana and gave it form. It seemed to naturally prefer a spherical shape. He tried to forcefully change it form to something similar to a crossbow bolt. He failed. The Mana resisted any change of its current situation. Luke pondered for a bit and altered his approach. Instead of commanding the energy to change, he asked and the world stood still. Suddenly, he understood the meaning of Mana Control. It wasn''t a skill designed to make the source of magic obey the user orders. It was a communication skill. It allowed a magician to get in contact with the building element of the universe and arrive to a consensus. Armed with this knowledge, he pleaded for the Mana help in improving his skill and it complied. The ball elongated while spinning. It formed an inch wide line with a pointy end. It felt as of the skill has been enhanced to its core. While this was going on, Luke felt like some vast conscience beyond his understanding had opened its eyes and was looking at him, soul deep. The sensation lasted what seemed like years but was less than a second. Two notifications popped up that restored Luke confidence in himself. DING
Mana Control has leveled up to Intermediate lvl 2.
The number of orbs you can maintain has been upped to five
Mana Bolt has leveled up to Intermediate lvl 1
Damage: 10 + 1.2 x Intelligence Range: 40 meters. Cooldown: 4 seconds
Due to the modification you made to the original skill, you get: +10% penetration
Luke was overjoyed. He didn''t, however, rush to the fight. He stored the maximum amount of orbs he could before putting himself in position. He told Steve to come stand next to him. He decided that if this seven shots didn''t kill the giant goblin, they would run away to fight another time. Killing the creature wasn''t worth their lives. He was sure that they could outrun the wounded monster. He put himself the furthest away he could and still see the goblin through the rain (10 meters or so). This time he didn''t breathe deeply to prepare himself for the fight, he released a long sigh. He didn''t enjoy battling and killing. Even though it gave him an adrenaline rush that made him feel powerful, he longed for the peace of his home. Luke focused his eyes on the creature and launched his skill seven times aiming for the same spot he had previously. If anything it was anticlimactic: the first bolt wounded the creature deeply, and every shot that followed went through without stopping or losing strength. The creature was dead by the third, but Luke was too absorbed in the execution to notice until he fired everything he had. Thus, the fight ended. Chapter 18 After taking care of the last high ranking goblin, Luke dropped to the ground. He was exhausted. Each fight since he left his house until now hadn''t been tiring by themselves, but the sum of all of them was. Even though he was confident now that he could go through the previous circumstances a lot easier now, he realized that goblins were only the beginning. If he had this much trouble with the first organized enemy he encountered, what would happen in the future when hostiles become exponentially stronger? A sudden rumble from the clouds, distracted him from his pondering. He looked above and saw flashes of light, followed by sound that announced that this was officially a thunderstorm now. Luke loved to watch the power of nature. Staring at this storm, after the world changed, reminded him that even if he powered up, a single lighting could erase his existence. Luke stood up looking toward the altar. He realized that he couldn''t leave that thing standing. Although the two strongest shamans were gone and most of the Magic of the pedestal had been destroyed by the explosion, he didn''t know if others magic users could take advantage of it to make something more dangerous. He looked around but didn''t found anything he could use. The structure was built entirely of wood, but there was no fire that could endure the heavy rain. Then, he realized that there was a simple way to solve the situation. He took the three bodyguards swords and dismantled them. He kept only the blade. He inscribed a two symbols enchantment on them but didn''t activate it yet. Luke ran to the pedestal, Steve trailing him happily. It seemed that the end of the fight had elevated the wolf mood. Luke guessed that some of his personality was rubbing on his companion. Steve energetically pranced behind Luke. It looked like the fight hadn''t sapped any of his strength. Luke told the wolf to remain below and not go up the stairs for safety reasons. Then, he continued advancing until he was next to the pedestal. He stabbed the three iron swords (he noticed after holding them that they weren''t made of steel. They were too heavy and not durable enough to be steel) up to the middle of the weapons. He switched the enchantment on and retreated as fast as he could. He had estimated that the spell shouldn''t take effect immediately after he activated it but better safe than sorry. Fortunately, his assumption weren''t entirely wrong: he had enough time to leave the platform and get 10 meters further away before the first lightning struck. Why? Easy, because he had transformed the swords into lightning rods. He put the hieroglyphs for ¡®attract¡¯ and another for ¡®electricity''. Added the fact that they were made of metal, and you get a flashy way of destroying an evil altar (yes, that word was used on purpose). Luke knew he should leave asap but there was something about seeing thing burn that was captivating. So he couldn''t resist the impulse of watching as three successive rays hit the blades and lighted the wood where they had been stabbed. It took no time for the fire to spread. Five minutes later (and two more heaven''s punishment), only ashes remained of what once was the goblin¡¯s greatest weapon. In hindsight, he should have left after the first lightning. The storm appeared to have lost its power after discharging so much energy and started to slowly disperse. This brought light back to the world making darkness recede. Under the improved illumination, Luke looked all around and his face paled. From the hamlet, an uninterrupted mass of bodies was coming in his direction. He wanted to run, however he realized that with so many archers and shamans there was no way he could escape. He backed without rushing, trying to not catch the horde attention.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The massive group stopped twenty meters short of the stairs and a group of officers came forward. The group was formed by a dozen shamans and two times that of captains. Luke was curious why they hadn''t discovered him when he remembered his camouflage. He guessed that if he didn''t cause a ruckus or engaged in combat he should be able to leave. Suddenly, the goblins seemed to reach a decision and shouted order to the common goblins. Groups similar to the first patrol he found separated from the mass and starting going in every direction. The leaders had realized that the enemy that killed their bosses couldn''t be too far. The scouts amounted to more than half of the whole tribe (he doubted there existed a goblin from this hamlet that wasn''t currently present). They ran off in an organized manner, thought with the objective of not leaving a stone unturned. If there was something to find, it would be found. From a hundred meters away excited cries could be heard. Luke didn''t know what could elicit such a reaction, though he decided that anything positive for the goblins was negative for himself. Then, the scouts got closer and Luke realized what they were carrying. It was the relic! This was a nightmare, he destroyed the altar to avoid it being utilized again but he forgot to dispose of the root of the problem, the sphere. The magical ball looked slightly different from before. The number of strands had reduced to half what it was. As a consequence, the blue light had become brighter. The oppressive feeling that permeated the relic before seemed to have disappeared. Luke decided there and then that he had to take care of the relic. He couldn''t let it be. Besides that was the easier option (the other being eliminating every goblin present). He took off toward the scouts to intercept them the furthest away from the horde that he could. He was considerably quicker than any goblin so he got in the way of the group well before the halfway mark. There were three goblins with the one in the center transporting the sphere. He launched three Mana Bolt, disintegrating their heads. Faster than the bodies could drop he grabbed the relic and ran off. The effects were instant. The horde started running in his direction with the stronger ones getting in front of the mass. Still, Luke and Steve were faster (Steve wasn''t as fast as Luke but he could outrun goblins without a hitch). After a minute the distance had expanded to a hundred meters. At this moment Luke discovered a problem he should have predicted: they had run in a random direction, so there was no way to climb the cliff that surrounded the valley. Even if there was, he wasn''t sure they could go up before the archers and shamans got at striking distance. Luke pondered but didn''t figure any way out. Then he looked down at the sphere. It felt warm to the touch. Luke noticed that it also released a pleased feeling. It looked like it desired to be held by him. He decided that the only opportunity he had was unraveling how to use the relic in his favor. At least this time, when he was safe he could choose what to do with it. Steve wasn''t in danger as the Luke was the one who attacked, revealing his presence. So, the human sped up to his limit to gain more time for his desperate attempt. By the time he arrived at the bottom of the cliff there were a hundred and fifty meters between the human and the goblin vanguard. He estimated that he didn''t have time for half hearted or safe trials. Thus, he pulled the entirety of his Mana repository. First, he dispelled any strand that hadn''t been disposed of. Then, he focused his Mana into a thin line connecting it to the blue and green core he could see. The energy was accepted slowly in the beginning, but it added velocity the longer it went. It took ten seconds for his Mana pool to be completely absorbed by the relic. Luke was having a sense of emptiness inside that he adjudicated to having spent every ounce of his Mana. The sphere on the other hand, had a content brilliance several times stronger that when he started. Luke didn''t think he could remain conscious for long, so he sent a mental image to the sphere with two messages: protect me and Steve, take care of the goblins. Just before he closed his eyes and lost consciousness, he saw a new light surround the relic and then explosively expand to cover the whole valley. Chapter 19 I was going to wait until the view count reached 20,000 but I''m too anxious. There should be one or two chapters left of this arc. I don''t know if someone notice, but on Chapter 18 I added +10% penetration to Mana Bolt when I realized that it only did 30 or so more damage than before and that shouldn''t have produced the result I described (yesterday i forgot to mention it...).
Luke opened his eyes to find himself in a forest. It wasn¡¯t his forest, it gave the idea of being The Forest. From his position, he could see large trees dozens of meters wide and so tall that looking up, he could barely see the first branches. He could recognize several types of plants and trees, but all of them seemed to have experimented an extraordinary growth. Shade and light combined in a perfect balance to make it pleasant to the eye. Chirping birds were replaced by the lonely sound of the wind rustling leaves. It took Luke a while to remember everything that happened until he passed out. Immediately, he was worried about Steve. Not that the smart wolf couldn¡¯t take care of himself, it was only that Luke felt the obligation of guaranteeing his safety. He was certain that he was nowhere close to his trees or the valley where the battle with the goblins took place. He realized that there was not much he could do, so he decided to pick a direction and start walking. With any luck, he would find the way out or someone that could help. Luke moved through the forest at a steady pace. Luke had trouble establishing how long he had been walking for. The sun (if the light was coming from a sun) didn¡¯t move or it moved so slowly that after what Luke thought were hours it had barely changed position. The trees being huge, also confused his mind. He knew perfectly well how to travel through a forest without getting lost, but all the tricks and tools he had weren¡¯t working. If you asked him how to go back to the place where he started, he wasn¡¯t sure he could answer correctly. There were two things that ended the monotony out of nowhere. First, the oaks. The wide variety of species was replaced by row after row of chaotically organized oaks. They respected the plants consensus and grew to mountainesque proportions, but seemed to conform a world for themselves. Luke felt like an intruder in foreign lands when he noticed that he was completely surrounded by these trees. The second distraction was the sound of tinkling bells. It was soft at first but it gained strength the longer he traveled until he could feel the sound coming from next to his ears. Suddenly, the oaks gave way to a clearing roughly the same size as the one where his house was. There were tall grasses that could reach to his hip everywhere except in the center. There, the grass was bended and tied in such a way that it resembled a comfortable rug. On this nature woven mat there were the two most beautiful women Luke had ever seen. Both of them were gorgeous for they appearances, however they were more so due to the sensation they radiated. It was like the forest started from them and for them. He understood in a subconscious level that they weren¡¯t a forest protector or caretaker, they were the Forest itself. Luke stared at them long enough to be considered rude, but he couldn¡¯t stop himself. He had loved the woods since his father bought their land and they started to live there and now he was seen it made women. Both were a little shorter than him from what he could deduce in spite of them being seated. But there was where the similarities ended. The one on the left had long, lustrous black hair that she wore loose. Her face showed an obvious indian heritage that make her look exotic. Her slender figure was well proportioned though there weren¡¯t abundant curves, just the right amount. She had anklets with bells which probably were those he heard previously. The other woman was the opposite. Her hair was blonde, but it barely went beyond her shoulders. Her face resembled the ideal occidental proportion of beauty and her body complimented it to perfection. If the former was considered shapely, the latter was outright generously attributed. There were no noticeable imperfection in either of their figures. They had been talking in soft tones until Luke arrived. Now they were looking at him amused. He could swear that a sly smirk crossed the face of the curvy one, to be quickly replaced by a calm expression. Luke being the socially genius he was had not trouble striking a conversation with two beautiful women in the middle of the forest. ¡°Hmm, hello?¡± They looked at him stunned for a moment and then broke into loud laughter. Although the sound was pleasant, Luke couldn¡¯t help but believe that they were mocking his lack of social skills. He scratched his head and decided that he should leave. It didn¡¯t matter how beautiful they were, nothing gave them the right to have fun at his expenses. Luke couldn¡¯t stand people that thought that they are better than everybody else just because they have a better body or a faster mind.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Said the more voluptuous of the two. said the one wearing anklets (Ari?). When they talked, Luke was already turning around to leave so he was caught completely unprepared for their melodious voices. He couldn¡¯t express how they sounded, but he was sure it was the voice of the forest: both came as if it was branches swaying and leaves rustling. It was gentling and encompassing. ¡°Well, If it makes you feel better I wasn¡¯t blabbering because you didn¡¯t gave me long enough before you started laughing. I could get started at any point in time if you want. Though that can be left for latter, more concerning is the question of where I am and who you are.¡± Luke blabbed. It wasn¡¯t that he suddenly found his silver tongue, it was simply that he desired to go back to see if Steve was fine. It also may be his desire to appear calm even in their presence to impress them. Luke was after all male. They laughed again. Harder. It seemed Luke was completely unable to deceive them with his lofty attitude. Well, he didn¡¯t lose anything by trying¡­ When they could compose themselves again they scrutinized him for long seconds before they shared a look. They seemed to have agreed to something. said the blonde woman. Ari, now Aranyani, said. said Druantia with a smirk. Luke was astonished when he realized he never told them his name. From that moment onwards, he decided to be completely honest because he was certain they would be able to tell if he wasn¡¯t. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Actually, I was in a valley fighting goblins when¡­¡± Luke narrated his tale of might and magic (?) to the best of his capabilities. They seemed surprised when he told them about the White Stag and almost spluttered when he described the spheric relic. When he explained his last attempt at surviving, they made ¡®That¡¯s it¡¯ expressions that eased some of the nerves Luke had. He would never know if the Goddesses will tell him the whole truth, but he now was certain that there was an explanation. Aranyani said. Druantia commented. ¡°Hmm, Sorry but, how do I go back?¡± Luke said slightly stuttering. He was getting annoyed that each time he said something they laughed for the next few minutes. In their defence this time it was more of a giggle than a throaty laughter. Druantia said while slowly licking her crimson lips. Luke just stared. Rudely. Again. She turned toward Luke Aranyani told Luke. ¡°Then, why am I here?¡± he said confused. It was Druantia who answered this time. ¡°Then, about going back?¡± Luke was getting more comfortable with the conversion. Mind you, he supposed he won¡¯t get comfortable ever, but it was enough to dialogue without too many awkward moments. Druantia replied. Luke released a long sigh. He wasn¡¯t so eager to leave now that he knew it was only temporally. He wanted to stay a little longer, but he didn¡¯t have an option. ¡°Well, thanks for the help. I suppose this will be our last time speaking, so have a nice life/eternity/whatever¡± He said crestfallen. Druantia Aranyani The last thing he heard before disappearing from the glade was their laughter. Chapter 20 This ends the goblins arc. The class is still up to debate, but the skill isn¡ät. Tomorrow chapter will be prologue/interlude short. Ps: I tried to put everything in the status but mistakes might have been made. Too many numbers
Luke felt a tongue licking his right cheek. He opened his eyes wide, jumping to a standing position. He scanned the area for the evil creature but found only Steve. Or what once was Steve. In its place, there was a chest high black monster grinning maniacally at him. It took a few seconds to connect the dots. In his defence, he did just wake up. ¡°No way! Steve, is that you?¡± Luke said almost shouting. Yes ¡°You can talk too? Awesome!¡± Luke had felt the answer in his mind. He guessed that this was an improvement of their previous mental communication. This was probably a consequence of a massive level up after the battle with the horde. Speaking of which, Luke observed the nearby area and didn¡¯t find a single body. ¡°What happened with the goblins?¡± Luke After the big light they vanished. I couldn¡¯t find their smell and I started growing while you were sleeping. The sphere! Luke was worried until he realized he still had it safely in his hand. He wasn¡¯t certain why he didn¡¯t notice it from the beginning. ¡®It might have something to do with what the Goddesses told me. Yes, the relic feels like a part of me now that it became attuned to me.¡¯ Luke thought. He decided to go home before checking all notifications. He couldn¡¯t know if the area was completely safe even now. Besides, they left several hours ago and have been fighting non-stop. They needed a rest. He took three steps forward when he discovered that something had changed in the valley. It didn¡¯t look bleak anymore. It hadn¡¯t sprouted any trees in the time he was unconscious, but tiny blades of grass could be seen. This filled Luke¡¯s heart with joy. He was saddened by the destruction the goblins had caused to the area, so he felt relieved now that he knew the damage would become undone with enough time. The journey back was uneventful. The only issue came when he realized he couldn¡¯t carry Steve up the ladder Not because of his strength, his stats might allow it, but due to the wolf¡¯s size. It was easily solved when Steve climbed the wall. It was terrifying. Understandable, when you see such a creature running straight toward the cliff as if he wanted to crack his skull. Then you look as he jump once, twice and thrice and Tadah! his staring at you from the top of a thirty meters cliff. Mind-blowing. Before going inside he checked both that both wards were working properly and scouted the region surrounded the clearing in search of strange tracks. It always paid to be cautious. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t found anything out of place. The few animal footprints he saw, were from the pack. It appeared it had grown in size. Considering the alliance he had with them, that was reassuring. He entered the house and repeated his actions. Fighting so much had taken a toll on his nerves, he couldn¡¯t calm himself if he hadn¡¯t accounted for every variable. Or at least the most probable ones. So, after going through every room without uncovering an evil plot or a satanic ritual, he relaxed in front of the TV. He placed the relic next to his leg. He had some kind of physical need to be close to the Mana Seed. Steve followed, although a little awkward on the stairs, and now rested his head in Luke¡¯s lap. He scratched the wolf behind the ears absentmindedly. They both found the position more comfortable than expected. He made a cursory check to see which channels were still airing. To his surprise, most news anchors were back, what¡¯s more most seemed to be live. Seems that after a day or two of pandemonium and mayhem, the various government were able to stabilize the situation. Most programs were going on and on about the need of the populace to concentrate in big settlements. ¡®Right, like with so many destitute people in one place the rule of might won¡¯t be imposed.¡¯ Luke snorted while he had this thoughts. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t trust any organization or governmental structure. It was just that he didn¡¯t believe they were prepared for this kind of scenario. ¡®Well, it isn¡¯t like I have to go, so good luck to them but I¡¯m staying¡¯ Luke After acquiring a basic understanding of the outside world, he decided to read the notifications. First, the easy ones: his level increased to 10 while his Dispel reached Intermediate, probably due to the sphere. Then, the fun began. He had two quest notifications and several others that appeared import.
Quest Completed!
Protecting the forest from the goblins
You had eradicated a serious menace to the well-being of the forest. The Ancient Guardian is content with your results and rewards you so. Rewards: +3 to all stats Increased affinity with Nature Bonus rewards due to increased difficulty: +2 to all stats Increased affinity with Nature
Quest Completed!
Awaken the forest
You not only helped the forest awaken, you even protected it and its inhabitants from the terror the goblins are for the ecosystem. Rewards: The forest in the designated area has been completely awakened. It will continue to grow as long as it isn¡¯t destroyed. The forest has been bonded to you. You get +10% to all attributes while you are inside. Creatures of the forest won¡¯t attack you unless provoked. +5 Intelligence +5 Wisdom Increased affinity with Nature
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Hidden Quest Completed!
Thwart the goblins evil plans
The goblins discovered a powerful relic that they would use to expand their territory and grow in power. You stopped their plans in the nick of time while you annihilated them. Rewards: Skill: Stealth +5 Wisdom +5 Agility
You have reached level 10 and in doing so you are now able to choose a class. Choose wisely as the decision is permanent.
A long list appeared in front of Luke with most of the usual rpg classes like Warrior, Archer, Hunter, Assassin, Swordmaster, Mage, Druid and more. He wasn¡¯t thrilled by them though the benefits in skills and attributes he saw some of them give were impressive. He decided to look through all notifications before deciding a class or where to spend the unassigned stats points. He had 20 and they would be useful if he needed to enhance a characteristic to better become his class. However, his decision immediately paid off.
Due to special circumstances you are allowed to change your race to Ngen, subrace Mawida. Choose wisely as the transformation is permanent.
Beware Some races and subraces have extreme environmental needs or are severely restricted in some way.
Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t see the modifications he would suffer if he changed to that race. Luke was torn by the selection. He wanted to remain human, because it was the comfort choice. He wouldn¡¯t gain anything, but he wouldn¡¯t lose either. Changing was a jump to the void. It could go well, but probably won¡¯t. Luke had a sudden moment of enlightenment while looking at Steve. ¡®I should pick the one that I would regret the least. I feel in my bones that if I let this go, eventually I would become average.¡¯ Luke thinking wasn¡¯t wrong. He was ahead of the curve now, but he couldn¡¯t know if it will remain that way in the future. If he wanted to stay ahead (and safe) he had to grab every opportunity that presented itself. Luke knew that he shouldn¡¯t take unnecessary risk for little gain, but he had too little information to make an educated guess. So he believed that his intelligence and wisdom weren''t part of this decision. He would have to trust his gut feeling and it was telling him to jump. So he jumped.
You have changed your race to Ngen
Modifications: +1 Agility per level +3 Intelligence per level +1 Wisdom per level -10 Strength -5 Vitality Nature Affinity grows faster +10% to all stats while fighting in your territory -10% to all stats while fighting outside your territory
Ngen are spirits that materialized in the material world. They conserve the ability to dematerialize their body. Ngen means owner, so they always set a deep connection with the area they reside in.
Racial Skills:
Change Form: Wisdom determine how fast you can alternate. Spirit Form: You become immune to physical damage but receive double damage from magical attacks. You can only perform magical attacks. Things that cannot touch you, cannot be touched by you. Material Form: You became able to interact with your surroundings. You never will be completely materialized. You receive reduced physical damage (10%).
Expand Conscience: You can scout any place recognized as yours with your mind. If you are not the owner, you can scout your surroundings up to your Intelligence attribute.
You have changed your Subrace to Mawida:
Ngen-Mawida are spirits of the forest. They do not only own the forest, but also are its caretaker.
Reduced aggression from the forest inhabitants. +10% to all Stats while fighting in your forest. -10% to all stats while fighting outside your forest.
Due to your new Race and Subrace a new class has become available.
Evergreen Walker
You travel from tree to tree and from forest from forest while attuning yourself with nature. Although not physically strong, the Evergreen Walker more than balance its out with it sneakiness and cunning.
Modification: -10 Strength +1 Agility per level +2 Intelligence per level +1 Wisdom per level.
Class Skill:
Treewalk: you can teleport to any tree you are connected up to five times your Intelligence. Your Agility determines how fast you can do consecutives jumps. Wisdom determines the Mana spent for each jump.
¡®Awesome!¡¯ He couldn¡¯t say yes faster! Luke immediately realized how great the change was. Yes, he traded some of his Strength and Vitality, but Mind over Body would eventually recover those points. The added Intelligence would guarantee that. And those abilities. They would be irreplaceable while fighting and escaping. He didn¡¯t know if he would be the strongest person in the world, but he WOULD be the hardest to chase and kill. The expand conscience practically made him a natural scout or spy. In addition, if the battle happened in the forest there was no way he could lose easily. Suddenly, he felt some pain as the System changed his body down to every cell. When it ended he didn''t feel different so he searched for a mirror to look at himself. The changes in his appearance were noticeable but not in a bad way: his hair and eyes turned a pleasant dark green. The rest was mostly the same though if you watched closely his figure blurred from time to time. DING
Change completed!
New Quest!
Defend your Lands!
Your hold on this forest have been recognized by the gods. Other beings may challenge you for that. This quest will remain active until you die or lose ownership of the land. A challenge has no defined rules, it can be a one-on-one duel or an enemy force invasion. Rewards will be given with every successfully defense proportionally to the danger faced.
¡®I¡¯m so fucked!¡¯ Luke thought Interlude 2 I know, short chapter, but it let you peak at Luke future problems. Yesterday i forgot to mention that the story finally got to more than a thousand views per chapter on average. So thanks to all of you, Readers!
The goblins were an issue even after several days and weeks had passed from The Beginning. The problem wasn¡¯t their numbers as it was believed once, but the rate of spawning they had. Every city or settlement had to contend with at least thirty of the grey creatures everyday. Cities that controlled large areas may have to dispose of hundreds or thousands instead. It was a double-edged sword: at the same time it gave the opportunity to train and level up an increasing amount of people, but if you failed too many times, your base may be destroyed. It was also discovered that the greater the amount of goblins, the greater the possibilities of a stronger one showing up. There aren¡¯t exact statics, though. After the first appearance of this monster, the more organized structures and governments were confident in guns to solve their troubles. It didn¡¯t work. When goblins amassed and enough shamans popped up, their magic could completely restrain humanity¡¯s technology. And humans had no defense mechanism or strategy for the unconventional attacks that could be done with the help of Mana. It took some time to rethink schemes and calibrate tactics. In the end, mankind survived. However, the cost was high. The first day only, it is estimated that half of the world human population died. The successive days, a few more percents were lost. By the end of the week, less than a third remained.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Although animal type creatures appeared only a few hours after the goblins, they were mostly weak mobs (either because they were weak from the beginning or because they hadn¡¯t developed their strength) that couldn¡¯t compete with goblins. It took a week as a minimum for a balance to be reached. Goblins avoided the areas of stronger beasts, and those beasts struck only once in awhile to cull the horde before it could turn on them. If the goblins were survived by those that deserved it (either by skill or luck), then the animals were a chance to grow stronger and feed the masses. Everyday several, increasingly stronger creature would be spotted showing how fast the curve was escalating. This planted the idea on all humans that they had to get as strong as fast as possible. The situation changed when ten days had passed. Other races started to show up. They appeared near their natural environment: Dwarves, near mountains; Elves, depending their subraces (these hadn¡¯t been documented, but we are aware of Forest Elves, Mountain Elves, High Elves and Dark Elves. The last two didn¡¯t follow a rule to where they spawned. It is believed that High Elves appeared in places with high concentration of Mana and Dark Elves the opposite). Other races were orcs that didn¡¯t have restrictions and a few giants that mostly occupied the areas near the poles. The balance was again disrupted. Anonymous Historian in the book The Beginning of a true cosmopolitan world. Chapter 21 I had half of this chapter ready yesterday, but didn''t want to hurry. Slightly longer chapter.
Luke watched as the group of goblins entered his forest. There were close to forty of the disgusting creatures. He wasn¡¯t worried, but he should be careful. A knife to the brain will kill no matter how high your attributes. He checked to make sure he had the five passives shots and that his Mana Shield was activated. Then, he Treewalked to a tree twenty meters away with uninterrupted view of the creatures advances. Steve wasn¡¯t with him, he was gone. To the other side of the forest, patrolling. After all the forest was big and he couldn¡¯t protect it by himself. He had acquired the help of the pack that was happy with the extra food when they killed or repelled invading enemies. Luke confirmed the position of the two shamans. They were the most dangerous of the squadron. He locked on their position and shot each once to their death. Striking meant that his stealth was broken (at least for a few seconds even if he wasn¡¯t spotted) and the goblins quickly noticed his presence. It took the poor witless creatures a few seconds to link the death of their magic users and Luke, but when they did, they charged him. He fired the rest of his Mana Bolts and casted the spell once to grisly results. He had discovered that an added bonus of the Penetration the skill had, was that it could go through more than one enemy before dissolving. When the goblins foolishly charged in a narrow formation (not because of training, but due to how close each tree is from each other), he could end more than a third of their numbers before they got close. The archers tried to turn him into a pincushion, but his shield did its job and blocked every projectile. In the time since he created it for the first time, he had used the ability almost constantly to increase his proficiency in it with positive results. Besides his ridiculously high Intelligence enhanced it beyond what any magic shield had rights to be. However, there were still twenty goblins that made it. If it was a fair fight, he would be overwhelmed eventually, dying under their relentless attacks. He performed his favourite skill, and then he was a dozen meters deeper into the forest. The goblins tried to advance, but were rooted to their place by well roots. And some branches. The trees around were more than content to immobilize the creatures while Luke took care of them. It had been a week since Luke changed race and class and he hadn¡¯t stopped training for a moment. He soon discovered that being part spirit meant that he needed less than half the sleeping time of an average human, added to his stats he could go without rest for days. Besides defending the forest, he has proposed himself as a goal to connect personally to every tree. Although he despaired when he did the math (if the 5km radius had a million trees more or less, it would take Luke 57 years to connect with each with the connecting rate previously mentioned), he started the task because there was no reason to delay. The second day, he realized he was going at this the wrong way and stopped to meditate in how to be more efficient. He pondered for three days before he finally was confident in finishing in the short run. This happened when Awakening reached Advanced lvl 1. Advanced was the stage next to intermediate. Luke didn''t know how many more stages there were but he guessed there were at least one more related to ¡®mastering¡¯ the skill like with his Runic Language. Anyway, when Awakening became Intermediate he could link to a tree every four minutes or so. He was overjoyed. Then he did some calculations, and it wasn¡¯t enough. It would take a year at that rhythm. This time he advanced the skill in a single day. He had just made the ¡®treaty¡¯ with the pack, so they took care of everything. Now, connecting to the whole forest would take him ten days with eight remaining. He divided the forest in ten sectors and did one of them every day. The first sector he did was the area around the clearing of his house, the other sectors resembled eight pizza pieces. This calculation would remain appropriate if the forest doesn''t start growing faster. For the last week, it increased its radius a dozen of meters. That meant a few thousand trees per day (it was mind blowing to see tiny plants popping out from the earth to become a more than ten year old tree by the end of the same day. He was delayed of his pondering by constant skirmishes against different creatures. The usual pattern was once everyday, he was raided by goblins. Then, a new animal creature appeared to populate the forest. Some were friendly some not. The friendly included bears, snakes, tree sprites and sylphs. It seems that the mana in this forest is highly concentrated (maybe due to been awakened or maybe due of Luke being part spirit himself, or both) attracting the more spiritual beings easily. The first two weren¡¯t able to communicate but they understood that Luke was the landlord. They didn¡¯t attack him and even helped him in dealing with goblins if they believed their part of the forest to be invaded. The latter two had intelligence similar to a child. A mischievous, adorable and clingy child. They were the first to come, distributing themselves evenly through the forest. They mostly stayed hidden due to their shy nature, but they seemed to have taken a liking to Luke. Everytime he went through a part of the forest inhabited by one of them, they would do small pranks (like putting rock and twigs to make him slip) or stand on his shoulders. He didn¡¯t really care, they got a little on his nerves, but were an excellent alarm system. They took it as their job to warn him if anything was close to the forest. Mostly, tree sprite worked as sentinels in their trees and sylphs would relay the message. They appeared to have a symbiotic relationship. Luke at first thought there were only a few hundreds of them, until he saw a family reunion. It was shocking to watch so many of them. He estimated that there were above tens of thousands. Anyway, they were nice company most of the time.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The problem were the spiders. A group of them with a Queen settled close to the forest (apparently giant spiders aren¡¯t considered forest inhabitants) and desired to expand their territory in that direction. It took him two days to eliminate every eight-legged terror and their gigantic Queen. The trouble was finding and killing them before they could sneak attack him or escape. He solved it by blocking every exit of their nest except one and then lighting it up. It was like they were purposely lining up so that he could train Mana Bolt. The goblins didn¡¯t represent any danger now, but it was worrisome that the amount spawning everyday was growing. They were excellent cannon fodder to level up though. He gained three more levels with all the fighting. Luke had carefully considered his future distribution after he changed, but he decided that he should continue with the same plan: everything to Intelligence. He had to make the most of his ¡®Mind over body¡¯ achievement. He suspected that his attributes were monstrously high in comparison to humans. On a side note, he discovered he had been mistaken in how stats worked. Ten wasn¡¯t the human average, it was the bonus the system gave to all humans. The base strength wasn¡¯t considered in that. Then, every extra stat point increases that attribute in a 1%. For example, Luke wisdom recently got to one hundred, so he is now two times wiser (base Wisdom or 100% + 100% from stat points) than an average human. Anyway, he collected the goblin''s weapon and started his way back. He won¡¯t use them, but the metal could be melted to use it later. A sylph came flying, sitting on his right shoulder. They were hard to distinguish as individual. The only difference he noticed between two of them was the colour of their eyes and of their hair. Besides that, they were less than twenty centimeter tall (he suspected they could change their body size, but hadn¡¯t confirmed it yet) with long hair and pale skin. They could turn invisible at will or transform into wind, he wasn¡¯t sure. They had an androgynous look that made it impossible to know if they were male or female. While returning, he didn¡¯t forget to go connecting to each tree. Even though he had divided the forest and decided which sector to do each day, that was used as a guide. He wasn¡¯t going to stick so faithfully to the plan. He entered his house clearing and made a lap around it. He was confirming than nothing happened to his last ward. Luke tied the branches of the trees at the border of the clearing forming a circle. Actually, there were three circles: he tied branches at three different heights, enhancing the strength of the ward and making it harder to disrupt. Then, he went tree by tree to put the enchantment. It took him some creative thinking to find a way to mark the trees without doing it any damage. He ended just asking nicely. He transmitted a picture of the runes he wanted to each tree and they complied by altering their bark somewhere to form the design. This brought the added bonus that the symbols were in different places on every tree, making them harder to find. He put the hieroglyph for ¡®connect¡¯ and ¡®defense¡¯ to every tree but the third symbol wasn¡¯t homogenous. He inscribed ¡®drain¡¯ in some, ¡®repel¡¯ in others and ¡®hide¡¯ in the rest. The first, absorbed the Health and Mana of hostiles giving it to the trees. He hadn¡¯t been able to test the consequences, but he guessed that the more enemies invaded, the stronger his sentinels (he liked to call these trees like this, after all, they were the first to awaken) would be. ¡®Repel¡¯ worked like in the Pokemon game: it made animals and monster go away. It wasn''t perfect as it didn''t work in anything as smart as a child (sylphs and tree sprites could bypass it with no difficulties) though it gave him some peace against anything that based its decisions on instincts. The last one was used to block anyone trying to find him or his house through magic. For him, it would work while he was inside the clearing,, so he could still be tracked (or scryed as some novels call magical tracking) when he left, but it did give some measure of protection. The runes common to all the trees created a magical shield that could block attacks from the outside but not the other way around (defense). ¡®Connect¡¯ did the obvious, it linked every tree between themselves to empower the ward (it was like a circle of mages casting a single spell: the result was more powerful that the sum of the parts) and also to luck, allowing him to see a 3D picture of the clearing from every side. This worked to let him look inside the glade and toward the outside. The ward transformed the clearing into a something similar to an audience room of a king: you have to announce yourself to enter or suffer the consequences. The other thing that changed was the grass. The well mowed lawn has turned into an overgrown area. The tallest grasses reached to Luke¡¯s hip. This was caused by himself. No, he didn¡¯t forget to mow the grass, this was on purpose. After the pondering about the forest ended, he thought whether other plants besides trees could be awakened. The answer was a resounding yes. He awakened a single blade of grass in the morning and that same day the field around the house had changed into it¡¯s actual situation. The good news was that due to his high level in Awakening and that grass was a simpler life form than a tree, he became automatically connected without having to go one by one. Luke entered the house, checking every room like he always did, when he heard some noises from his father¡¯s room. He softened his steps as he made haste for the dormitory. He grabbed his staff with his left hand after being certain that he had the five passive shots ready. He opened the door suddenly, prepared to empty his ammo. What he discovered though, changed his mind. There, passed out, was a gorgeous, slightly green skinned woman. Chapter 22 Got delayed by reading savage divinity... Not much happening in this chapter but a few clues are seeded that will sprout in the next couple of chapters (this comment was completely unnecessary, just needed an excuse to do a plants pun). The italics are for when they change language (it''s pretty obvious but I wanted to point it out so it doesn''t difficult the reading for anyone)
¡®shit, shit, shit, the ward!¡¯ Luke thought while he watched the beautiful woman pale rapidly. The ward drained faster the longer anything stayed inside. Luckily for her, she hadn''t been here long (the ward didn''t have the ability to knock out, so she must have been unconscious before appearing. So the noises he heard were from her crashing down indicating that that was the exact moment she arrived). Luke wasn''t proud of it, but he hesitated. He didn''t have anything against women or other races though he would like to confirm she wasn''t hostile before saving her. Quite pitiful would be for him to die by her hands just after saving her. Suddenly, a comfortable and somewhat familiar feeling invaded him. Druantia. The message surprised him, not because she asked for the girl, but due to the fact that he didn''t know the goddesses (or at least Druantia) could do that. With no more excuses, he proceeded to gave her a temporary pass. It was something he had discovered after some tests: he could allow a being to not be affected by the wards with restrictions. Those could be based on time or actions. Like not being affected for an hour or while they remained friendly. He wasn''t sure how the last one was possible but he suspected the actual condition was ¡®as long as Luke consider your actions friendly. Seeing her still unconscious form, he applied Minor Heal three times before her eyes trembled open. They were an attractive grey, almost like silver. It was easy to find your reflection in them. If she was gorgeous with her eyes closed, she was enslaving when they opened. Luke couldn''t help himself, gawking intensely at her. It took several minutes and shaking his head more times than minutes to compose himself. It helped that after the first few seconds she broke eye contact and blushed furiously. That didn''t help until he realized she was more nervous than him. ¡°Hello, I''m Luke.¡± Luke said stuttering slightly. She sat in the bed while she looked at him. She tilted her head as if finding something curious or unexpected. She tried to speak two times before coughing and trying for a third time. ¡°Sorry, I don''t understand. What kind of language is that? Where am I? Who are you? How did I get here? I was checking on little woo when everything went black. Why do I feel the goddess energy in the room?...¡± the girl continued with her tirade without breathing. Hearing to her speaking made Luke want to facepalm. He had assumed she would speak English but that didn''t work out well. Luckily, she was he was able to comprehend her. He understood how when he noticed she was talking in the Runic Language. That was interesting and worrying. Throwing such a rant demanded an amount of Mana not low. He could repeat the feat without issue due to his deep Mana pool and his high recovery rate, but most human even if they knew the language, they wouldn''t be able to speak from lack of Mana. The other point that grabbed his attention was that she could immediately feel the presence of Druantia which made him suspect they were connected in some way. She didn''t appear to be ready to stop, so he decided to put an end to the monologue. ¡°Slow down. I''m Luke. I spoke before in the language of this lands without realizing you wouldn''t understand. You''re in my house and forest. The goddess asked me to heal you. Now calm down. And please tell me how I should call you, except if you prefer me referring to you as you constantly.¡± he wasn''t used to speaking the language, but the skill proved to be extremely useful at this point. It was like talking in his native tongue. Fluent and without issues.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. She looked at him suspiciously for seventeen seconds (Luke counted them because it distracted him of her curvaceous figure) finally reaching a decision. ¡°If the goddesses trust you, then who am I to distrust? I am Dahani, daughter of the forest, priestess of nature and of the nature elves race. I have been protecting wooded territories for years since I assumed my role and its consequence. Now can you explain what happened to me?¡± Dahani said. She had stood up from the bed while she spoke. Luke found the titles intriguing and the sight distracting. It took all his willpower not to ogle her. ¡°I don''t know what caused your sudden change of location. My world was one without any form of magic until recently. It is unknown to me why you appeared here unconscious although I imagine Druantia had something to do. As you arrived, you triggered my defences making it impossible to remain your strength. If the goddess hadn''t guarantee that you aren''t a danger to myself, I would had healed you and thrown out of this glade before you woke up. You look hungry, come I will prepare something.¡± Luke didn''t bother to wait for an answer. Dahani would comply, after all she couldn''t remain in this room forever. While his attitude may appear rude, he was hungry after traipsing in the forest and fighting goblins. Besides since he changed race he preferred to spend as much time as possible outside (actually he did the same even before changing, but now this tendency was accentuated). Luke went down the stairs and grabbed some fruits from the kitchen. He had discovered that an added bonus from awakening the trees was that they produced a significantly higher amount of fruits (and tastier at that). If not, he would have exhausted his reserves in the next few days. Now, he had more than he could healthily eat in a week dropping daily. Luke had made the habit of eating outside. It was the only way of sharing meals with Steve now that he was too large to be comfortable inside the house. Dahani followed close behind without speaking before leaving the house. He felt her start to vocalize a question when she spotted the imposing treeline. In this last week, they had grown to be above fifty meters and didn''t show signs of stopping soon (he hadn''t measured it accurately, but he estimated their growth at two or three meters each day). Luke turned around to pass her some food to find her with her mouth wide open, staring at the forest. ¡°What''s this? And awakened forest? How is that possible? Incredible, the amount of Mana gathered in this place is denser than in my own region. Who did this happen? You are really lucky to find such a place. It usually takes thousand of years for a forest to awaken it''s first tree and hundreds more to awaken the rest.¡± Dahani exclaimed surprised. Then she gazed at him as if she was reassessing her evaluation of him. Luke didn''t know how truthfully he should answer but Druantia had vouched for her so there should be no problem in telling the truth. ¡°It was a fluke. I was in this house, planning some wards when I got curious and tried to establish a connection with one of the trees with my Mana. Suddenly, the tree grew exponentially and I got a notification that the forest was starting it''s awakening. That''s how my forest awakened.¡± Luke said while scratching his neck like a children confessing his wrongdoings to his mother. This was probably a reaction to the intense glint on her eyes. There was something oppressing about her that made him feel as if he had wronged her somehow and had to justify his actions to her. ¡°You''re telling me you awakened a forest and claimed it? Preposterous! I had guarded and lived under the same trees for decades without getting such results. However I can feel your connection to the plants all around. Even to the little grass. How long had this place been awakened for?¡± After her outburst, she deflated rapidly. It seems that she found the circumstances hard to believe, but the evidence proved it to her beyond doubt. Luke relaxed the vigilance he still kept. For the reactions he has seen up to now, he could guess she really loved forests. Besides, he could feel and see the desire of the grass to be closer to her. It moved and bent unnaturally in her direction. A person so loved couldn''t be evil. ¡°A week. Take this, it''s not much but I don''t know what you can eat or what effect this world food could have on you so better start simple right?¡± Luke said while he passed Dahani an apple. It looked redder and more delicious than it had a right to be. With a distant look on her eyes, Dahani bit into the apple while Luke pondered this new developments. Chapter 23 I''m having some issues while writing this arc. an idea did appear and I''m going to follow it. the quality may drop so please tell me if you think so. I may have to rewrite some of the chapters at some points if I dislike the result. The length of the chapter will be on the shorter end until I gain some momentum in this arc
Luke spent five minutes eating and then stood up. He couldn''t stay long in the clearing, he needed to patrol and continue connecting with the trees. Luckily, Steve hadn''t found anything out of place. They had discovered that the range of their telepathy was close to ten kilometers. That meant that as long as they stayed inside the forest they could message each other. ¡°I need to patrol the forest. I could show you around while doing that. Do you want to come?¡± Luke said. He wouldn''t feel good throwing her out due to her special circumstances, but he didn''t trust her, even if Druantia vouched for her. So he didn''t feel comfortable leaving her alone in the center of his land. She seemed to get Luke¡¯s worries and quickly accepted to follow. He tried to change the route he used every time he checked, but he usually began from the place where he found the fight between wolves and goblins (not the place where he fought, the small glade where he discovered their corpses). There was a practical reason for this: the pack had the habit of leaving some food for him and Steve there. So if he didn''t start from there, the food (normally rabbits) would rot while he patrolled. He arrived at the place less than a minute later. He was just in time to meet the Alpha as they left the meat. He nodded to the big silver wolf. Curiously, it hadn''t grown as big as Steve. It may have something to do to the enemies each one fought though Luke could only guess. ¡°Do you know how to dismantle a rabbit? I can''t leave that rotting there.¡± Luke said while he grabbed the dead rabbits and went back toward the house. ¡°I never seen a creature like that before, but I''m used to skinning and cooking my own food. I did leave alone in the forests¡± Dahani looked annoyed at him. Probably because his question suggested that she couldn''t do anything by herself. Luke retrieved two knives from the kitchen, passing one to her. It took a few minutes to be done. Dahani work was as good as his. He stored the meat. Her face of surprise at seeing the fridge was priceless. However convincing her that it wasn''t magic was completely impossible. Even after Luke¡¯s extensive explanations, she didn''t believe him. Anyway, they went from the house in a straight line toward the border of his forest. It wasn''t actually a perfect straight line: they went more like zigzagging. Five to ten meters to one side in a forty-five degree angle, and then the same to the other. This way he could scout a larger area while traveling roughly the same distance. This time, he wanted to check in the direction of the valley were the goblins used to be. He made sure everyday that nothing chose that place as its residence. It would be a pain to kill anything in such a defensive position. Luke regularly looked toward the nature elfess. He found it strange that she spawned alone. Up to now, most creature appeared in small groups. Even solitary ones like snakes came in pairs. This was obviously to give the species a chance to populate the area. He could think of two options, either she was the last one of her species or nature elves weren''t born but made.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°So what does it means to be a nature elf? I can''t say that I know anything about your race.¡± he wasn''t used to questioning people, so his approach to information gathering could be considered crude at best. ¡°That isn''t strange at all. Even most elves don''t know of our existence. It''s logical. We are exiled as soon as we are born or transformed. If we aren''t killed. Most of the tribes, what you call Subraces, kill us on sight. It has something to do with the fact that we stand against the interest of the biggest tribes. A nature elf is an elf that is closer to his or her environment than to his kind. High elves search for Mana concentration, dark elves for lack of Mana concentration and forest elves live in wooded areas. The three of them think that they are the superior one, and the rest should submit. They also consider all other creatures beneath them. This creates a perpetual conflict with nature elves that are constantly seeking balance between all beings. They hunted us for centuries until few were left. Those few are too powerful for the tribes to attack while they stay in their territories. So now there are elfin tribes flourishing everywhere while those close to nature go slowly extinct. The only reasons that we aren''t going to truly disappear is that the tribes hate each other more than what they scorn us. So they could never reach an agreement in how to dispose of nature elves ¡± Dahani had a sad expression on her face. It was evident that this theme brought bad memories to her. ¡°I''m sorry to hear such desperate circumstances¡­ what are the differences between each tribe? I don''t think I want any elf in my forest. Well maybe yours but that remains to be seen.¡± Luke asked. He was concerned that the arrival of Dahani would mark the beginning of intelligent races appearing. ¡°High elves are taller and paler than the rest. They have high magical proficiency. They tend to settle in town or cities. Physical professions are seen in contempt by them. Dark elves have darker skin with eyes completely black. I recommend you avoid looking into them, they consider that a challenge to their honour. They are the antithesis of the previous tribe: they specialize in close combat and assassins. A common saying is that you don''t discover a dark elf until you are already dead. Finally, forest elves have the pointiest ears with swarthy complexion. They live in small, family groups lead by a patriarch. They are mostly nomads, meeting only a few times per year to trade goods and intel. They are fearsome in their woodcraft, specially so when they carry the longbows they are famous for. Fighting any of them in their preferred form of combat is a simple way of committing suicide.¡± Dahani ranted almost without breathing. He could feel her hatred for her ¡®cousins'' in every sentence. This explanation, however left one doubt in the front of his mind. ¡°Then how do nature elves fight? You said that each tribe is the best in their style, that doesn''t leave much to choose.¡± Luke said. Dahani stared at him incredulously for a second and then laughed. ¡°You really know nothing of us, don''t you? We are considered jacks of all trades, another motive why we are hated. We aren''t as strong as a dark elf, as good at magic as a high elf or as fast and accurate as a forest elf, but we come in close second. That''s our strength. With some training we can perdure for a long time against each one in their favored locations and not lose ground. If we weren''t a peace and isolation loving bunch, we would have fought back. Instead, we secluded ourselves in forests, deserts or another hard to reach place.¡± Dahani explained calmly. It was evident that it wasn''t her choice. Suddenly, Luke stopped walking. Dahani gazed at him in askance when she realized what he was looking at. There, in the same spot as the altar, a small town had cropped up. Chapter 24 Luke was enraged. He fought tooth and nails for days to create a barely defensible position and these guy just show up with everything built for them (it was made by them in their world probably, but why did they spawn with their town instead of alone?). He theorized that they should have been transported very recently as there were more than half still passed out. It seems that anything smarter than a goblin were unconscious when they appeared. ¡°Stay here, I will see if they can be trusted.¡± it wasn''t that Luke would selflessly sacrifice himself, he was confident in running away if he was attacked. After all, he was close enough to Treewalk back to the forest if circumstances demanded it. He sent a mental message to Steve to tell him his current discoveries, bit he was firm in that the wolf should continue patrolling. It was a possibility that there was other beings popping out somewhere else. He watched the whole valley for any other clue of inhabitants. He noticed than grasses had conquered most of it after the mana seed was removed. Not finding anything else worthy of attention, he jumped down the cliff (now a lot easier to do thanks to his increased Agility). Luke decided to not hide himself while getting near the hamlet. He wished to gain some allies, or at least not gain enemies. So approaching while in stealth may give the impression that he wasn''t friendly. Yes, he lost the benefit of surprise but he won a chance of dialoguing. That was as much as he was willing to concede in the spirit of peace. He walked at a constant rhythm towards the buildings. He was spotted three hundreds meters short of the settlement. Shortly after, two dozens of them left the town, marching in his direction. Luke was impressed by the of their formation. It looked like a well rehearsed choreography. They stopped a hundred meters outside their base and waited for him to get closer. He could now tell that each of them carried two swords, a shield, a short spear and maybe a dozen daggers that seemed suitable to be thrown accurately. That added with their dark skin, eyes and pointy ears suggested that they were Dark elves. He suspected that the low concentration of Mana of the valley, a byproduct of removing the seed, made this an ideal location for them. ¡°Halt! Who are you and what are your intentions with our noble tribe? Answer quickly or be gone. We aren''t afraid of using our thirsty blades to enforce our position.¡± if the words of their leader (an elf with a better armor and some markings on his shoulders), the aggressive body language of the whole troop certainly conveyed the message. ¡°Hello there! I''m Luke. I was traveling through the forest when I came across your settlement. I must admit that I''m surprised as I pass this area everyday and there were no buildings yesterday. So, I introduced myself, I believe now it''s your turn¡± Luke went for endearing, hoping that they weren''t the pricks their attitude denoted. When their leader narrowed his eyes making a face of disgust, he lost all hope however. ¡°You are not worthy of my name, but I will tell you that you are going to be killed by the first legion of the Nuagu people. Soldiers Ready! Attack!¡± the words spouted by their captain spurred the rest into action. There were ten meters of distance which disappeared rapidly against the dark elves advance. Luke considered striking back, but there was no reason to: he couldn''t win with the current circumstances and revealing his fighting style would allow them to prepare for the next time. He concentrated on one of the trees above the cliff and teleported to it.Stolen novel; please report. Luke didn''t know what was more entertainment, the fury of the Nuagu demonstrated by their shouts or Dahani surprise when he suddenly appeared. The surprise didn''t last long, being replaced by wonder. ¡°You''re a walker! They''re a myth in my world. How did you become one? What did you do? Ah right. Who owns that settlement?¡± Luke was getting used to her rapid fire questions. His interactions with her showed that her mind wasn''t as mature as her body. ¡°You were right, dark elves aren''t nice. Too arrogant for my taste. Walker¡­ I''m not sure, after completing the quest the option to become one became available. There are no legends about anything of this on this world so I just thought it was a slightly special job and nothing more.¡± Luke told her while he retreated. He didn''t know how sharp was their sight so he didn''t want to take risk. After a dozen meters, he climbed a tree. He didn''t want to be seen but he did desire to know if they would invade his forest. Here, with the help of the trees, he could annihilate a group like the one that confronted him quietly. Sadly, he could make out between the branches how the small troop went back to the town. Although they were arrogant, they did understand what they job was (defend their tribesmen, not chase after intruders). ¡°There isn''t much written or passed orally about the Walkers. In the few records that remain, they are depicted as travelers or protectors. They aren''t strong per se, but they are really hard to deal with. What most agree in, is that they are impartial, they don''t take sides. They only point out that you''re going toward a cliff and will fall down if you don''t change. They don''t make the changes by themselves. Wait dark elves? Damn, I thought I could have some peace here.¡± Dahani talked about Walkers as if she was narrating the accomplishments of her heroes. However when she realized the other bit of Luke¡¯s words, her face fell immediately. It appeared that the nature elves persecution was more severe that she had wanted to show. Luke put a hand on her shoulder and looked her on the eyes. He still didn''t trust her, but he felt sad for her situation. ¡°You can stay in the house until you found somewhere to go. Or at least until I deal with this elves. Also, what is Nuagu?¡± Luke had made his decision so now he wanted to distract her of her thoughts. ¡°Nuagu is how the dark elves call themselves. It means sons of the night sky in their ancestral language. The word is the reason why they feel they should dominate all other creatures. In their system of beliefs, the most important entity is the sky. So if they are the sky own children, they should be above everything except the sky itself. In short, they are religious fanatics¡­ I appreciate your offer and will accept for the time being.¡± She told him with a thankful look on her face. Luke called a few sylphs and tree sprites and told them to keep an eye on the new neighbors. Dahani stared astonished at this creatures, but the amazement quickly vanished. It seemed that nothing that came from Luke could surprise her anymore. With the sentinels in place, Luke continued his patrol in a circular route parallel to the forest perimeter. Chapter 25 We got to 40k views! I''m surprised by the popularity (yeah it isn''t much, but it is a lot more than i expected) Do you like the cover? I found it with google search so if anyone has the copyright and doesn''t want it there, tell me and I will remove it. No fighting for now. Maybe tomorrow.
The rest of the patrol didn¡¯t reveal any other danger to the forest. During it, Luke received a message from Steve that he would stay near the valley tonight just in case. Luke wasn¡¯t worried about his companion, Steve was almost as good as him in stealth and considerable better at spotting hiding enemies. Must have something to do with enhanced senses. From the conversations they had, Steve could had improved night vision and a more sensitive nose. If you add his animal instinct, then you get an unpassable sentinel. Besides, the sylphs and tree sprites complemented his capabilities with a sharp magical sense. There was no way to hide a spell near them. Luke returned to his house accompanied by Dahani and noted that the road that led to town had practically disappeared. He didn¡¯t know why, but he guessed that the explosive growth of the trees made that available space necessary to accommodate their new dimensions. There was no way that that little road was enough, but it should have accounted for a part of the needed space. The rest was seen in the closeness between each tree. When before there were five meters distance between each tree more or less, now there were few places with more than three meters of distance. Another interesting thing he discovered a few days back was that not every tree awakened. There existed a border that complied exactly with the one given by the notifications (5 km radius) that marked the last awakened tree. The forest for then onwards was normal (the creatures inside might not be normal, but the trees were). That border was pushed a few meters per day, increasing the number of trees at the same time. So, Luke¡¯s forest was surrounded by forest on every side, except where the valley was. Anyway, Luke went through with his usual afternoon routine: he checked the wards, worked on the skins he got and visited the spot where he planted the Mana Seed. He hadn¡¯t know what to do with it, until he realized that the dangerous relic he had risked his live in snatching from the goblins was, well, a seed. So he choose a spot some twenty meters from the front door, made a hole in the ground and put it there. While he was covering it, he got a notification saying he had successfully planted the Mana seed, however, for the plant to mature, Mana was needed besides the regular needs of a common seed. So two times everyday he emptied his mana pool into the same spots with little results to the day. This time, though, was different. A little plant with two leaves (incredulously similar to a cartoon first sprout) was there. Luke shouted overjoyed to the surprise of Dahani who couldn¡¯t understand what he was doing. In her defense, watching as a grown man lies in the ground to stare at a little plant was surprising if not outright delirious. Luke didn¡¯t mind. Looking closely, he could spot blue lines like veins on each green leave. He stayed in that position for several seconds, then he sighed and got up. The success was invigorating, but there was still a long way before that little plant became something useful. He transferred all his Mana in three parts. He adopted this method due to his fear of being attacked while he had no mana. It went like this: he passed a third of his mana, recovered for ten minutes ( that was equivalent to 11% recovered) and repeated two more times to finish the transfer. This meant that after the last transfusion, he had a fourth of his Mana pool available. It took him a couple minutes past the hour mark to go back to full. So, all in all, it did make him vulnerable but not as much as being completely empty. Dahani watched attentively while he did everything, and even though she didn¡¯t ask, her curiosity could be plainly seen. Luke had other worries, so he decided to ignore the unasked question. ¡°Do dark elves use any kind of magic?¡± He asked suddenly. The question found her distracted delaying her answer. She pondered a bit more before saying thoughtfully.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°They don¡¯t. They are magically inert. They don¡¯t have an ounce of Mana inside their bodies. Along the way, they discovered non-magicals method to defend against magic, but they don¡¯t have any of their own¡± Dahani. ¡°Then, how do they speak? I was told that the runic language was derived from the language of the gods, so even using it required to consume some Mana. Either they do have some, or they found a way of utilizing Mana without having it.¡± Luke said. The thought had suddenly appeared while he played with his now Mana Small Plant (Mana Small Sprout? whatever). He hadn¡¯t been able to find a solution which resulted in the question. ¡°I have never thought about that, but you¡¯re right. The elder that trained told me that he had the chance to check for Mana in a tiny Nuaga community and didn¡¯t discover even a speck of it in them. They shouldn¡¯t have been able to hide their Mana pool from him if they existed, so they should have some technique to manipulate the energy.¡± She commented thoughtfully. Then she closed her eyes and sat where she was. It seemed this revelations needed to be meditated on. Luke wasn¡¯t any better, the only difference is that he selected a more comfortable place to sit. Between the Mana Seed and the front door, there was a spot of trampled grass that Luke had been using for having his meals with Steve. There he could watch the forest and the seed while he ate. It wasn¡ät much more comfortable, but the grass was softer that the bare earth. He sat closing his eyes to ponder on the discovery. If Mana didn¡¯t come from inside, there was only one place it could come from: the environment. He controlled some of his Mana forming tendrils and tried to grab or communicate with the exterior Mana to no success. ¡®Wait, they don¡¯t have Mana, so how could they grab it with the energy they have inside? They are working with no in-between. So, how do they consume that Mana¡¯ Luke remembered the information he had about the Mana Control skill. ¡®That skill works as a translator of sorts to allow me to ask the Mana to move in certain ways. So, why have I been talking just to the Mana inside me? If the skill truly works that way then there shouldn¡¯t be any difference between inside and outside, it is all Mana. Then¡­¡¯ Luke changed his approach. Instead of considering the ambient Mana, a different kind of energy that he had been using, he imagined it as if there were no limits between his pool and the world. It was like floodgates opened. Wave after wave of power painfully coursed through him and left as fast as they came. It didn¡¯t go for long, but it left Luke sobbing in the grund. He made enough noise to break through Dahani meditation. She worriedly approached him wanting to know if he was fine. When no answer was forthcoming, she dropped to her knees and put a hand on his shoulder. She was trying to check his body for injuries. However, the moment her Mana tried to enter his body, it was instantly consumed, leaving her with no option but to wait. Ten minutes of suffering later, the pain receded. Luke opened his eyes to find two silver mirrors staring back. Dahani blushed and retreated a few steps quickly. The action was so girlish that if Luke wasn¡¯t distracted by the notifications he would have laughed. DING
Mana Control has leveled up to Advanced lvl 1
Due to revealing one of Mana secrets you get: +10 Wisdom As long as there is Mana around you, your Mana repository won¡¯t be used to fuel your spells.
Luke examined his inner self, discovering that the pain was a consequence of the new shape of his Mana pool. If before, it was a closed recipient, now the Mana was surrounded by a sieve that allowed it to go in and out without problems. ¡°Are you well?¡± Dahani asked, still worried about him. ¡°Yes, just discovered a new trick¡­¡± Luke. Chapter 26 Dahani insisted that Luke should rest after what happened with his meditation. She was worried that she would lose the only ally, or the closest thing to one, she had in this new world. There was also a small part of herself that desired to spend more time with this mysterious being that have so many impossible things occurring around him. It could be considered as a mix of amazement, envy and attraction, but mainly amazement. Luke composed himself by breathing slowly. A phantom of the pain remained untouched. It was a weird sensation to feel pain somewhere you can¡¯t touch, very similar to having an itch in the back without being able to scratch it. He pondered about this new development reaching the conclusion that the bonus obtained looked awesome, but he didn¡¯t know the possible negative consequence it could have. As such, his opinion would stay neutral until he could come to a more informed conclusion. Nonetheless, a benefit was that he could channel the ambient Mana now and quicken the growth of the Mana Seed. And he was decided to do just that. He felt that the increase in control of the Mana flow would allow him to transfer energy while resting (it may stop if he went into deep sleep, otherwise, it would keep functioning). ¡°Do you want to eat something? I¡¯m starving! Oh right, what do you usually eat? Is there anything you don¡¯t like eating?¡± Luke curiously asked Dahani. He had given her some fruits for lunch because he wanted to eat on the move, but now he craved for meat and he didn¡¯t know if that might upset her. She hadn¡¯t shown any repulsion when they skinned and stored the rabbits provided by the pack which made him believe she was fine with an omnivorous diet, but it was easier to just ask to make sure. ¡°Nature elves have to provide each meal for themselves, is one of our most basic rules. It could be through hunting, gathering or any other mean available. As this is your territory, the custom is for me to accept whatever you decide on.¡± She answered, dissolving his doubts. ¡°Then, we are eating rabbit. I don¡¯t know how long you will stay, but if you want to go hunt or collect fruits, you don¡¯t need to ask for permission. Be warned that you can only hunt as much as you can eat before the food rots. The same to fruits and herbs. I don¡¯t want you to make a dent in either the animal or the plant life of the forest. Ah, also, don¡¯t hunt the wolves, they¡¯re allies.¡± Luke didn¡¯t have an issue with Dahani roaming the forest. After all, with the amount of tree sprites and sylphs that inhabited the woods, he could easily keep an eye on her. He actually preferred for her to provide for herself. Luke did prefer his solitude. ¡°I¡¯m most grateful for your offer and I will accept it.¡± There was more than a glint of gratefulness in her eyes. It seemed that depending on someone else for food was not high on her wishlist. Dinner was an austere meal, not due to lack of food, but because of Luke¡¯s natural tendency to squeeze every bit of resources he had. He blamed his father and the pseudo military upbringing imposed for this quality. It was quite useful considering the situation, but made Luke a well known miser in his circle of friends. The meal consisted of well cooked rabbit steak accompanied by a salad and fruit for dessert. It was a simple, quickly made and eaten dinner. In spite of this, it was more than enough to satiate their hunger. Conversation didn¡¯t sprout easily between them (both were more of the silent type than the outspoken kind), but after awhile, they struck one about the forest, what they liked, tips for living in them and more. They got so entranced by the topic that the conversation lasted longer than the food.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. However, it couldn¡¯t go on forever. During a pause, Luke excused himself to do the dishes and everything he used to cook. When he went back outside, he found that Dahani was deeply asleep. It was no wonder as she had had a hell of a day. He retrieved a blanket for her and then went toward the Mana Plant (situation like this were the ones that made him really want an ability like identify so he didn¡¯t need to name things himself), sat down in a comfortable positions and began transfusing Mana. He went with the pace he was used to, around fifty Mana per second. He could go a lot faster, but it was an unnecessary risk. He entered a calm state of mind. He had discovered in the week after his change that his physical needs had decreased considerably. He still ate roughly the same because he guessed that the enhancement the stats provided have to come from somewhere (the attributes modify the body in a fundamental level, it was not possible for it to be completely free. He assumed that it consumed some of his energy reserve, Mana or Stamina or something else, and so made sure to have three meals a day. He didn''t want to find out if there could be negative effects), but rest was something he could control more freely. He loved to sleep so he didn¡¯t alter his sleep time significantly. The difference was that he needed to rest deeply two hours less than before. He could also sleep the full time lightly and have the same result. This time, he was going to sleep lightly while he maintained the transference to the plant. Everyday for the last week, he had given an average of five thousand Mana to the relic. In this single night, he was going to pass more than twenty thousand Mana(8 hours = 480 minutes = 28800 seconds x 50 Mana/second = 1440000 Mana). He was hopeful of the results. Even if they were as good as he hoped, the speed of growth should increase exponentially. He would conserve his Mana during the day, it wasn''t worthy seeing as everynight he could transfer several more times more than what he used to give the Mana Seed. Luke enjoyed the night rest without anything cropping out to attack him or to grab his attention. That changed with the first rays of the sun. Brother, they are leaving Steve messaged him. Luke was still drowsy, so he didn¡¯t understand the report at first. Who? Luke The ones in the valley. They are going towards the mountains. Steve ¡®The dark elves! They left? Why?¡¯ Luke was thinking about this and several others questions. The news had woken him up entirely, though his mental tirade didn¡¯t go on for long. Just a second after opening his eyes, he also opened his mouth agape. There, in front of him, was a young tree more than ten meters high. ¡°Well, at least something went favourably¡± Luke said with an incredulous voice. Chapter 27 Luke was astonished by the growth of the Mana Seed in a single night. He didn¡¯t know how tall it could go, but he was determined to find out. At this moment, he set as a goal to mature this magical tree as much as he could (though he really hoped that there were no giant at the top like with beanstalk). After the surprise passed, he inspected the plant from every angle without noticing anything missing or added. It was a normal tree in every way. No matter how much he wanted to stay and either transfer more Mana or study this small miracle in more depth, the sudden departure of the Dark Elves was more pressing. ¡°The Dark Elves left the place where we saw them yesterday. It may be a trap, but I have to investigate.¡± He told Dahani. She had woke up due to all the noise he made while studying the tree. ¡°How come they left? That¡¯s weird... Hey, there wasn¡¯t a tree there yesterday, what did you do?¡± Although Dahani preferred to sleep under the stars, she has seen how comfortable the house could be. So she had found curious that Luke didn¡¯t use the facilities. Now, her curiosity was picked again by the appearance of a tree out of nowhere. Looking closely, she noted that the tree was absorbing and radiating great amounts of Mana every second. This discovery alarmed her as only a few ancient trees could do something like that. ¡°Ehh, I just meditated about life and this tree appeared overnight. Come, I want to check the valley¡± Luke¡¯s ridiculous excuse didn¡¯t fool her, but there was nothing she could do if he didn¡¯t want to explain. Besides, she also wished to know why they left. Luke didn¡¯t run toward the valley, but he didn¡¯t take his time either. The time it took him to travel the five kilometers to the location would put a marathonist to shame. It was an unfair comparison though, because he had quite high stats and Agility was one of his top three attribute. The forest was mostly quiet at this hour, but some creatures could be seen from time to time. It was the part of the day where nightcrawlers had already hidden themselves and daylight lovers were just waking up. They arrived at the end of the forest and met with Steve. If he didn¡¯t know better, Luke would suspect that his wolfin companion was the spawn of a mythical creature like Fenrir. Steve¡¯s fur was now darker than black. It was so much so, that any shadow could help him to vanish instantly (Luke didn¡¯t know if it was a consequence of natural camouflage or a skill). The eyes were now bright with a green flame, probably due to Luke¡¯s race change while they maintained their bond. His body was bigger than the alpha, but with a more slender figure. There was not an ounce of extra muscle or fat in his body (seeing how slender Steve had become, Luke had a bad premonition, so she checked to be sure of his genre. He felt quite stupid for not having done that before. Fortunately, the modification on the wolf shape wasn¡¯t because it was female, but to better hunt). The last of them just left the valley. There has not been any other irregular thing besides the elves departure. Who is the female brother? Steve. She is Dahani, a friendly guest until proved otherwise. She is a nature elf. The other elves tribes are hostile with her people, so she had no love for the dark ones. Do you have their scent?¡± Luke send. Steve¡¯s oratory skills had been improving quickly each passing day, probably a consequence of Luke¡¯s high Intelligence. They could now have normal conversations without the wolf having to stop to search the word he wanted to use.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. No, they never came close to this side of the valley and even if I go to their settlement, the scent would be too faint to be trusted. But they seem to be prioritizing speed over stealth so I believe I am able to track them anyway. Steve answered brimming with confidence. Good, Do you want to follow them? You would have to leave the forest for a few days and be alone. You know I can¡¯t leave the forest unprotected. Luke told his companion. He had mixed feeling about his friend following the Nuaga. On one side, he felt a strong need to know why they left and where they were going, but on the other side, he didn¡¯t want to expose Steve to danger. Especially so, if he wouldn¡¯t be able to come to his help. Steve nodded and left at a run. He had to reduce the distance between them before the tracks were erased by the passage of time. Luke saw him go, worried about the safety of his friend. He trusted Steve¡¯s abilities, but this was a world with unknown dangers. Abandoning the forest at this point equaled to having Damocles¡¯ sword above our head. ¡°Do you have any idea why would they go away so suddenly? I don¡¯t believe my appearance yesterday could have scared them away.¡± Luke asked Dahani. ¡°No, but I can guess it has something to do with how dense the Mana is around here. Last time, I felt the lack of Mana down there, but today I feel the forest is starting to remedy that circumstances. If that¡¯s the case, it¡¯s logical for them to leave. After all, Dark Elves are known to become sick if the Mana density increase a little from average. The less Mana there is in their environment, the more they thrive.¡± She told Luke. And she was right. He hadn¡¯t paid attention to that detail because he had became used to it, but it seemed that the damage done to the valley by the goblin magic through the Mana Seed had been healing slowly. He had seen the telltale signs like when grass started to grow, but now it was evident that Mana was returning to this place and in great quantities. ¡°Then, an awakened forest is one of the worst places to live for them? Good to know. Let¡¯s go, I want to see the things the left behind.¡± Luke told Dahani. The objects they didn¡¯t take would say a lot about the situation. For example, if there is food on the table they probably left in a hurry or if they took everything, it was a planned departure. They easily descended the cliff and went toward the buildings in the center. There was nothing out of place, however. It looked like it was a calm and well-planned exodus. As they didn¡¯t found anything noteworthy, they went back to the forest (Luke treewalked to the treeline, and then threw some vines to facilitate Dahani ascense). Luke was still distracted by Steve¡¯s departure so he didn¡¯t notice the sylph at first. It wasn¡¯t until Dahani arrived next to him that he reacted to the spirit presence. There had been Goblins spotted close to the border. ¡°Fancy taking care of some gre runts? Luke asked the nature elfess with a smirk. ¡°Sure, I was feeling my muscles becoming weaker by the lack of exercise. I think that is just what I need¡± Dahani said, obviously realizing that his true objective was to stop thinking of his friend. Chapter 28 Luke and Dahani quickly arrived at the place where the Goblins were seen. Tracks showed that they walked on the border for a hundred meters or so and then went into the non-awakened forest. The worrisome thing was that the number of Goblins had doubled from the day before if the tracks could be trusted. Such an increase was dangerous for Luke as the only thing he truly feared was their numbers. He could easily dispose of small (50 or less) to medium groups (up to 100 goblins), if he is lucky maybe some big groups (more than100) could fall to him too if circumstances aligned themselves perfectly. However, in most cases, even with the help of the forest, more than fifty goblins at once would prove troublesome. Especially so if more shamans started spawning. At this point, Luke remembered one of the skills he got and hadn¡¯t been able to use much: Expand Conscience. The ability sounded awesome at first sight, and it actually was, though it came with a steep Mana Cost. There was a base cost of fifty Mana per second, and one extra for every five meters he increased the radius. The skill depended on his Intelligence stat to dictate how far you can reach. So, Luke could use a maximum radius of 307m, but that came with the cost of 110 Mana/second. With that information, the skill became unusable except to scout in certain situations (The base cost was too high to maintain the skill with a small radius, and he couldn¡¯t last thirty seconds with maximum range) and for a short time. Despite this, the skill was an excellent tool for gathering information at a greatly reduced risk. The skill provided a mental image of everything inside the area. It wasn¡¯t like watching what was there, it was more like knowing exactly everything in the area. It wasn¡¯t perfect, it could feel thing up to a certain size before they started to blur. If an ant was close, he would feel something alive and moving around that position, but he wouldn¡¯t be able to establish what it was. Nonetheless, with the new form of his Mana pool, he could sustain the skill as long as there was Mana around. When he came to this conclusion, he activated the skill. No matter how many times he used this ability he always felt the same sensations: like you were blind your whole life and you were seeing for the first time. It was refreshing. The other downside was that it took two to three seconds to become used to the expanded senses. It was predictable, as your mind has to adapt to receiving and processing several times more information that it is used to. As he was expecting this issue, he crouched putting a hand on the ground while he was adjusting. For Dahani, on the other hand, this came as a surprise. Everything was fine and suddenly Luke was almost sitting on the ground grabbing his head like he was in pain or disoriented. ¡°Are you alright? What happened?¡± Dahani asked. Fortunately, the unpleasantness didn¡¯t last long. Gazing at the recovered Luke, she released a sigh. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I just activated an ability of mine and it takes some time to adapt. The good news is that the goblins are gone, the bad news is that they didn¡¯t have a natural death¡± Luke. ¡°Ahh, that¡¯s good. How do you know? What killed them?¡± Dahani. ¡°I just told you, my skill. It lets me check the area around me. The skill isn¡¯t that accurate so I don¡¯t know the exact means of death, but they had their weapons on their hands when they died as such, I think they died fighting.¡± Luke.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. They crossed the border and soon found the ¡®battlefield¡¯. The first thing they felt was the smell of so much blood. Then, their sight confirmed what their nose had told them: a medium sized group of goblins with eighty members more or less had died on this spot. Luke examined some of the bodies and discovered wounds similar to arrow wounds. Most corpses had two or three with at least one on the heart. This showed that the killing was done by a small group of highly skilled archers. What¡¯s more, It was done in the time it took Luke and Dahani to travel from the valley to here, maybe five minutes. They even had enough time to recover every arrow, even the broken ones. It suggested that the one that did this didn¡¯t want to be found or recognized. The archers left almost no sign of their passing. In fact, Luke could barely found from where they shot by using the angle of the arrows wounds and the bodies disposition. This was harder than it should have because most bodies were moved to take the arrows. After awhile, he gave up in revealing where they came from and in what direction their left. Dahani had a little better result: she found some marks that suggested they came from deeper into the unawakened forest, but the hints were vague enough to make it impossible to narrow the direction. This track may even be planted to lead to an ambush. They spent a few more minutes checking every spot again, but they ended empty handed for all the effort. Luke guessed that the woodcraft of this creatures was very high level. If you added the arrows, then the logical explanation was¡­ ¡°Forest Elves.¡± Dahani said confidently. ¡°There are few beings with better woodcraft than me, and the archery skill is a dead giveaway. I thought it possible for the other tribes to appear after the dark elves, but I didn¡¯t expect them so soon. Besides, the made their presence known just as the Nuaga left? Very suspicious.¡± ¡°Now that you mention it, it¡¯s quite the coincidence, isn¡¯t it? Do you think the forest tribe had any contact with the ones in the valley? I mean, if they did, they went through a lot of trouble to not be detected. Steve stayed there the whole night and didn¡¯t see anything and his senses are pretty sharp.¡± Luke commented. ¡°Steve? Ahh, the wolf! I found it strange how close the two of you were. Are you bonded? That would explain a few things like your alliance with a pack¡­ Anyway, the forest elves are the best at hiding in any kind of wooded area, as such, they are pretty skillful in hiding from its resident. If they contacted the dark elves, no animal, no matter how developed its senses are, would be able to detect them. But no, I don¡¯t think they had any kind of contact. The tribes hate each other to the core, the first reaction they would have will be to attack and maybe negotiate later. And the wolf would certainly had seen the fight or the troop movement if the Nuaga were the aggressors¡± Dahani said. ¡°Yes, we bonded more than a week ago. He was a little pup at the time. There is nothing else to do here, let''s go back.¡± Luke. While they were returning to his house clearing, Luke maintained the Expand Conscience spell. He decided to test if he could actually have the skill active at all time. This was to say that he wished to know if there might be any secondary effect of sustaining an ability for such a long period of time. After all, he already knew that he had the Mana to fuel the spell. If it was so, its level would probably skyrocket. For the time being, though, Luke didn¡¯t notice anything out of place. Once in the glade, they discovered that the tree had grown a full meter taller and had a greater amount of leaves. It already looked like a tree with more than a hundred years. They sat under its shadow and had an early lunch while Dahani exponed about some of the races of her world. Then, they discussed different strategies for dealing with both tribes of elves and what could they do to improve the overall defenses of the Awakened forest. Chapter 29 Thanks for helping Heart of the Forest reach 70k views! I''m overwhelmed by the unexpected amount of people that enjoy this story. I have ideas for both outcomes of the poll, but as I''m not sure about which road to take, I decided to let you decide. Tomorrow chapter may be delayed to give more time to answer the poll. (if you answer chocolate, I would decide what happens). If you have a ''but'', explain what you mean in the comments
Luke understood from his conversation with Dahani that the forest was vulnerable to an attack from multiple directions at the same time. This wasn¡¯t an issue with goblins, as they were too coward to travel individually. They had too much of a pack mentality, so they wouldn¡¯t separate if they had a choice. However, elves were as smart as any human or perhaps even smarter. It was perfectly plausible for them to strike in one spot and send another unit to attack from somewhere else. Actually, they hadn¡¯t started an hostile relationship with the forest elves, but if the dark elves were any clue, there wouldn¡¯t be any chance of peaceful negotiations. Another problem of a different kind was that there was no way for Luke to connect personally to the whole forest while preparing and defending the forest from the newest menace. Both activities, the defence and the linking, would take most of his time making it so that he had to select one. Luke felt like something incredible would happen once he finished with the trees, however there was no point in connecting to the forest and then die or be exiled by other beings. Luke rested his back and head on the trunk of the tree. He had some ideas for a more widespread and automatized defense, but it would require extensive testing. Besides, he wasn¡¯t just thinking about defending against elves, he had to consider that more dangerous things will appear later on. After all, just eleven days had transcurred since The Beginning. It wasn¡¯t hard to realize that most creatures at this point were low level. So he couldn¡¯t be so narrow minded as to make elves the ultimate enemy. They were dangerous, yes, though more for their intelligence that for their individual strength according to his deduction derived from Dahani description of their abilities. He also had to ponder that he might have to leave the forest at some point, or he might get hurt and be unable of participating in protecting the forest. In conclusion, he needed to make the forest defend itself. ¡°Do Awakened Trees ever get a conscience or something similar?¡± Luke surprised Dahani with his question. They had been silent for several minutes and the question was completely unexpected. She recalled the little she knew about the Awakened Forest and what her teacher had told her. ¡°Yes, but it usually takes thousand of years of a Mana rich environment to get that type of result. Some factors may accelerate the process, but it would still take more than a hundred years. My teacher said that it is related to the lifespan and speed of growth of each tree on the forest.¡± Luke became excited by the affirmative response. Nonetheless, his hope was quickly dashed by the rest of the information provided. There was no way he could wait that long (he wasn¡¯t considering his lifespan, just his chances of surviving in such a vulnerable place for so long). ¡°Ohh. I will test new spells and wards the rest of the day, so I will stay here probably. Could you patrol the forest for a few hours?¡± Luke wasn¡¯t comfortable asking someone else to do his job, but there was no way he could patrol and develop new safeguards at the same time. He now realized how fortunate it was that Dahani arrived when she did, otherwise he would have been overwhelmed by the lack of information and the amount of things he had to do.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Druantia said while giggling. The revelation that there was at least one goddess monitoring his thought and actions was unnerving. As there was nothing he could do about it, he put it at the back of his mind. Then he realized another conclusion he could take from that message: He needed to replace the ward that obstructed scrying for a stronger one. He didn¡¯t mind Druantia or Aranyani watching what he did, but there might come a time when a creature allied with a god would attack him. At that time, blocking that god¡¯s sight might be a life or death matter. Druantia told him. ¡®Well, one thing less, a thousand to go.¡¯ ¡°I was going to explore the forest anyway, so I could do that to, no problem. Is there anything I have to be careful of? Like spiders?¡± Dahani said. A shiver went down her spine when she mentioned those creatures. It was clear that they didn¡¯t bring good memories back. She didn¡¯t seem to notice Luke¡¯s distraction while he heard the goddess message. ¡°No, every creature here is a resident of the forest. You should be careful of the usual risk, I mean, a snake or a bear might attack you, but nothing malicious resides here. I annihilated those critters as fast as I could. I couldn¡¯t stand their sight. Besides, It felt like they would consume the forest until nothing remained if left to their own devices.¡± Luke said. She noticeably relaxed after hearing there were no spiders around. ¡°They would. Most spiders are antagonist existence to any area they reside in. They had been known to devastate any landscape they arrive at. I¡¯m happy to hear you took care of a colony of them. They can be quite hard to deal with¡± Dahani reconsidered her estimate of Luke¡¯s strength. Not just anyone could survive a battle with giant spiders. After a few more back and forth, Dahani left to travel the forest while Luke went back to pondering how to improve the forests mechanism of defense and his chances of remaining alive. There were two things he wished to solve first: how could he alone take care of larger groups of enemies and how could the forest delay, annoy or even kill intruders. He had some ideas for both of those thing, but only trial and error would tell if they were useful. While he was pondering (actually since they sat under the tree shade), he continued to transfer to the Mana Seed. The reason was simple: he wanted to know how big it could grow and what would happen. He was confident that when it matured, it would bring benefits to him and maybe the forest too. Its growth had been showing less and less external signs after it passed the fifteen meters mark, it didn¡¯t became taller as fast as before, but for Luke who could see what was happening inside the tree, the modifications were no less mind blowing. It looked like the Mana was accumulating in every cell of its ¡®body¡¯ (Do trees have bodies?). When it reached saturation, it circulated the energy through his trunk, branches and leaves, reinforcing them. Then, the tree emanated it back to environment. It continued this cycle of absorbing, storing, circulating and releasing without stopping. The tree was enhancing its body through Mana. Luke could see that if it wasn¡¯t for the Mana he transfused to this plant, it would at most do a cycle a day (maybe a little more considering the high Mana density in the area). Each successive cycle required more Mana for each step. It wasn¡¯t much, less than 10% but when added up it was a terrific amount of energy. Luke was certain that if he hadn¡¯t modified his Mana pool, it would have taken him years to reach this point. He decided to spend the next few hours in trying to finish maturing the tree. He was worried about being attacked, but maturing the tree might help with this trouble. He also doubled the amount of Mana he transferred per second. He wanted to increase it even more until he noticed that 100 Mana/Second was the maximum rate it could cope with. Luke focused his mind in the task at hand and prepared for a few hours of doing nothing. Chapter 30 The poll went clearly in favor of chocolate with yes a close second. I will take until tomorrow to decide howit will go.
Luke noticed that channeling Mana to the tree while maintaining the Expand Conscience skill slightly strained him. It was nowhere near his limit, but he estimated that he could increase the rate of consumption to 300 Mana/Second at least. He should test the limit in the near future as it was an important piece of information to have and it could be dangerous to find his upper limit in a fight. Luke soon discovered that doing nothing could get boring pretty fast. So he decided to explore what he could do with Mana. He theorized that he should be able to get some degree of control over the elements through this energy. After all, there should exist spells that utilize fire, wind, water and earth as the base. He suspected that he was the strange one, using neutral spells with no affinities all the time. He had read enough novels to know that there were different ¡®basic elements¡¯ depending on culture, religion or an author''s imagination. He decided to go with one of the best known configurations: fire, water, wind and earth. He just wanted to expand the skills available to him in a short time, so he discarded the elements that he believed were going to take too much time like time and space. He also desired to learn light and darkness, or even lightning, but thought it better to understand the original four first. Fire, water, wind and earth¡­ he didn¡¯t want to start with fire as any mistake could harm him or the forest around. Water was easier, but there wasn¡¯t a big body of water nearby to study so it wouldn¡¯t be that simple (yes, he was made mostly of water and there was water in gas state in the air, but he wanted something easier to began with). Air wasn¡¯t hard to notice though it appeared too changeable to understand. That left only earth. Earth had the added advantage of being an element which almost always specialized in defense and crowd control, just what Luke needed most. He started by closing his eyes and breathing deeply as if he was meditating (he didn¡¯t believe the crap about meditation making you closer to yourself, but he accepted that it was an useful way of relaxing the mind and improve focus). Then he plunged some of his Mana as tendrils into the soil beneath him. He discover anything that he could use. There was no ley line or Earth Mana or anything like that. He tried other popular approaches without success. At this point, he realized that if there wasn¡¯t something special in the ground, maybe he shouldn¡¯t search for a different type of Mana, but how to utilize the energy he already had to make the element do what he wanted. This new idea was proved right immediately when he grabbed a pebble from the ground with one of the Mana tendrils. The rock resisted at first until some connection was established and he could move it without need of the tendril. He played moving it from one side to the other in the air to get more comfortable at manipulating this new ability. After a while, he wondered what would happen if he could set a similar kind of link with the ground. He formed the tendrils again, inserting them into the earth. He almost collapsed with the connection made. He felt the whole planet for an instant, every rock, boulder and mountain passed through his mind. The amount of images and information was staggering, he could barely remain conscious. Suddenly, the instant had passed and he was back in his body, shivering. DINGUnauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
You began walking the path of the Earth. You established a tiny link with the world you reside in and the mysteries of the Earth Element are now closer to you. This path requires more than a full life to mastering, so you might not see the end, but just walking it makes you stronger.
Rewards: Earth Affinity: 5% Earth Manipulation Beginner lvl 1
It took some time for Luke to become calm enough to analyze his gains. The sensation of being something so immense and powerful was exhilarating and addictive. He had to fight with the unconscious need of losing himself on the Earth. He knew that if he did he would become insane if he was lucky, or his spirit may be severed from his body leaving an empty shell behind. The skill was what he wanted, but he would need to train extensively before it was truly useful. It didn¡¯t have any part that scaled with his Intelligence which was disappointing, though it allowed him to control the ground in a ten meter radius. He suspected that leveling the ability would increase this range. He did numerous testings until he got proficient in three pseudo skills (it was still Earth Manipulation, but used in a single way repeatedly until it could be considered a skill on its own): earth spike, earth wall and quagmire. The former two are self explaining, the first one creates up to three spikes from the ground. They take a second to form and are sharp enough to impale any creature that didn¡¯t focus on defense. The second one was even more obvious, it formed a two meters tall and three meters wide wall of stone. Luke guessed that the durability of the wall may vary depending of the composition of the soil from where it sprout, but he couldn¡¯t test it at the moment. The last one wasn¡¯t actually a quagmire, he called it that way because it was close enough. This skill dug and filled a circular hole half a meter deep and with a radius of one meter. The objective was to trap a being in the earth at least for a while. Although it was enough for small and physically weak creatures, It probably wouldn¡¯t work with big or strong ones. After his experience with earth, he became afraid of trying out the other elements, but he rationalized that he needed the flexibility they would bring. He put his limit on fire, However. He couldn¡¯t know what would happen when he connected to fire, but he was certain he won¡¯t desire to know for awhile. Of the two remaining, he felt closer to wind for no real reason. It probably had something to do with the fact that he imagined the air as being free of any shackle and limitation. Besides, who could honestly say that he didn¡¯t dream of flying? The connection wasn¡¯t established as fast or easily as he thought it would. It was quite hard to catch the wind. Finally, he realized that Air wasn¡¯t about grabbing or controlling, but about flowing with it. The sensation was also different: if with the earth he felt immense and powerful, in the wind he felt ethereal and scattered. Nonetheless, the consequences of losing himself in these feeling was the same: death or insanity. DING
You began walking the path of the Air. You established a tiny link with the atmosphere of the world you reside in and the mysteries of the Air Element are now closer to you. This path requires more than a full life to mastering, so you might not see the end, but just walking it makes you stronger.
Rewards: Air Affinity: 5% Air Manipulation Beginner lvl 1
The new skill was pretty similar to the previous one: it gave control over the wind in a ten meter radius. He wanted to create a few pseudo skills with this element too, but he suddenly sensed that the Mana Tree had stopped accepting his Mana. It looked like it had finished maturing. Chapter 31 Tried to add some tension in this chapter. The scene was a lot more spectacular in my mind...
Luke inspected the end result in detail. The tree had become several times denser which suggested that it was much more resistant than before. Another difference was that the normal tissues that transported water and minerals were replaced entirely by a different type of tissue were Mana flowed. It was clear that this plant only needed Mana to live. The amount of energy constantly circulating from the roots to the leaves and the other way around was shocking. It was at least ten times Luke¡¯s Mana pool. There was also the fact that the bark was denser than the rest of the tree. However, when he put his hand on it, it was actually as smooth as marble. The last easily noticed difference was that its leaves were blue. It gave quite the exotic feeling. The thing that grabbed his attention the most was the roots. The tree was almost twenty meters high, but he was certain that the roots passed the hundred meters mark without a doubt. What¡¯s more, they didn¡¯t only go deep down, but also spread in a way in which they touched the roots of the trees at the border of the clearing. Luke didn¡¯t know if it was relevant or not, though the distribution seemed to indicate that the Mana Tree could communicate or control other trees. He realized at this moment that despite spending a lot of effort and time nurturing this plant, he had never connected to it. He hadn¡¯t needed to awaken it as it already used Mana, but the idea of establishing a link hadn¡¯t crossed his mind. The process was deeply ingrained in his mind at this point as he had already done it hundreds of times. Nonetheless, the results this time were what he expected. The connection with the tree went as usual, but then, new links started to be set up further and further away. It took a few seconds for Luke to realize what was happening: he was connecting to the whole forest at the same time. When the ¡®wave¡¯ passed trees he had already linked to, it skipped them for the next one. Like this, in a few minutes he had finished what he thought it would take him more than two weeks. There was also the added bonus that he was sure he had done every tree without exception. He didn¡¯t feel stronger, just aware. It was like an improved version of Expand Conscience. A greatly improved one. He was now aware of every being inside the borders of his territory: the animals, the plants, Dahani and even a few forest elves scouting the area near the border. Further test showed him that every plant had the beginnings of a conscience, from the blade of grass to the towering tree. The grass was barely able to know that it existed while the trees could know what was going around them and had a small conception of time passing. He realized that he could ask these to move as he wished and they would comply, after all he was to them, their heart. DING
Congratulations!
You have matured the Mana Seed into a Mana Tree. It usually takes thousands of years to do what you did in days. The Mana Tree is an overlord of plant life and as you are connected to it, so are you now.
Rewards: Increased Nature Affinity Control over Plants with low intelligence (Plant Manipulation Beginner lvl1) Ability to communicate with plants (Plant Manipulation Beginner lvl1)
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Congratulations!
Through the Mana Tree you had established a connection with the awakened forest in your territory. The link is deep enough that the forest consider you a fundamental part of itself.
Rewards: Increased Nature Affinity Title: Heart of the Forest
New Title!
Heart of the Forest Without you the forest can¡¯t live. You care and protect the forest as if you were taking care of your own body and from now on it is.
Rewards: Plant Manipulation Intermediate lvl 1 Your power increases and reduces together with the power of the forest. You receive bonus stats the bigger the forest and the more varied the beings that resides. Maintains the previous bonus and adds that from every thousand tree in the forest you receive +1 Vitality and +1% Health Recovery capped at ten per level.
Congratulations!
You have reached 100% Nature Affinity. As such, beings with any percentage of Nature Affinity won¡¯t attack you unless you attack them. You gain bonus stealth and experience while in a natural environment. All skills related improves faster and are easier to gain insight into. Plant Manipulation evolves to Advanced lvl 1
The benefits were only secondary compared to the calm that invaded Luke. He felt like a sailor returning home after years of traveling. There was a sense of oneness with the forest that wasn¡¯t there when he linked to the trees before. At that point, the tree and Luke were two beings connected, now they were one and the same. His pondering was cut short as he realized that a group of forest elves scout were closing in Dahani position. There were three of them and only one Dahani. Besides, they also had the element of surprise. He Treewalked two times to get to the area. It was around a hundred meters away from where they found the goblins corpses before. She was crouched examining some tracks ignorant of the danger approaching. The hostile elves (yes, there was no doubt that they weren¡¯t friendly as they were aiming their bows to kill) were advancing slowly from three different directions forming a triangle with the nature elfess in the center. They seemed to have a ¡®kill first talk later¡¯ kind of approach to negotiations. Luke had to admit that if it wasn¡¯t for his new abilities, he wouldn¡¯t be able to detect them at all. Even at this point their stealth remained flawless. Fortunately, Luke¡¯s Treewalking next to her and his earth wall happened a fraction of a second before the arrows arrived. The attack revealed their presence to her and she rapidly reacted by casting a spell. It was a cloud of yellow gas with unknown effects to Luke. The gas expanded in every direction fast enough to catch the three enemies without giving a chance to them to defend themselves. The gas was poisonous, but not deadly as he quickly noticed they were still breathing in spite of being knocked out. ¡°So, what made you think that coming alone to a zone which probably had enemies was a good idea? I mean, I know you can defend yourself as it was just demonstrated, but it might have been better to wait so we could come together.¡± Luke¡¯s words were rather harsh due to how worry he had been for her safety. Dahani blushed furiously at his comment and pointed to the ground. ¡°There were tracks all over the place! What was I supposed to do? Ignore them? Besides, the mark were hours old so I thought they had already left¡± Dahani answered a little angry herself. She wasn¡¯t a kid to have her every action questioned. ¡°I see. Well, it doesn''t matter anymore as we now have a way into their camp¡± Luke said looking toward the unconscious forest elves noticing for the first time that one of them was a woman. Chapter 32 ¡°What was that gas that you used to defeat them? It seemed quite effective¡± Luke asked Dahani. They were standing over the three captives a little more than a hundred meters away from the border near the site of the goblin massacre. They chose this spot because it was far enough from the border to make it impossible to sneak on them. Also due to their suspicion on the elves having a settlement nearby. They had tied their captives using some rope he retrieved from his house. As a second precautionary measure, they buried their bows with his quagmire spell and broke every arrow. At first, they considered taking them from their own use, but neither Luke nor Dahani were proficient in the bow. Besides, these weapon may have some enchantment to allow only one user to wield it. The forest elves were slightly shorter than Dahani with a lanky build that made them seem starved. By the healthy look of their faces, Luke could be certain that they weren¡¯t actually. They seemed to have adapted in a particular way to the forest. He had discovered while tying them up that their bodies were as light as they looked. He guessed that the lightness helped increase their speed, make less noise and leave few marks while traveling. Despite this, the muscles on their arms and backs were easy to notice, a consequence of training with the bow, probably. Their skin colour was lighter than the Nuaga, resembling tree bark pretty well. ¡°It¡¯s a kind of fast acting soporific. It isn¡¯t that strong, it causes the victim to be asleep for only a few minutes, but it is enough to escape or restrain the enemies. The downside is that it doesn¡¯t recognize friend or foe and that I can control it in a small area around me.¡± She said. True enough, just after she finished speaking, the three elves started waking up. It wasn¡¯t long before the tried to breakthrough the ropes. Seeing the futility of their attempt, they calmed down and stared daggers at their captors. The sound of grinding teeth could be heard clearly through the air. ¡°Who are you? Why did you enter my forest? Luke asked with barely contained fury. It was more bravado than rage actually. He was annoyed that everything thought they could come and do whatever they wanted without repercussions. He understood that there was some racial hate between nature and forest elves, but was it truly necessary to kill on sight? A he had always been kind of a pacifist, he couldn¡¯t approve of such a violent approach. Besides, it was a tactical mistake too: Dahani could have been a lot more useful to them captured alive. After all, they had arrived at a totally unknown land a short time ago (less than a day probably), it would be logical to interact with other sentients to discover as much information as they could about the region. They averted their eyes and gnashed their teeth even stronger than before if that was possible. It was clear they didn¡¯t want to reveal anything. Luke sighed. Torture, physical and mental, were things he knew how to perform. Hell, he didn¡¯t want to know how to use it. Maybe some mind games were in order. He clapped his hands as theatrical as he could and branches from the nearby trees moved to grab the captives suspending them in the air. ¡°Look, I had nothing against you or your tribe, I just want to be left alone. I don¡¯t support torture so I only have two options: either I kill you or I free you. I believe that both options will invite revenge from your tribe and while I¡¯m confident I could win against your whole group, I find unnecessary fighting bothersome. So, let¡¯s go with a third option, I release one of you that goes back, talks with your leaders and brings either some ransom or someone willing to negotiate. Please note that if I discover any sign of fool play, I WILL kill the two remaining hostages together with anyone that sets a foot inside this forest.¡± Luke wished for a peace treaty, but he suspected this elves were to arrogant to realize that even if they could kill him, the price wouldn¡¯t be worth it. He considered not killing these three now as a sign of goodwill. However, the elves would probably think it as a sign of weakness. He could only sigh again.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Luke made the branches carry one of the males elves towards the border. Once there, he untied the ropes (why cut them if he could untied them and use them again?) and told him to be fast. If he wasn¡¯t back in two hour, Luke would kill the hostages. The elf shot a look of deep hate and then disappeared into the greenery. Luke stayed there until he couldn¡¯t sense him with Expand Conscience and then returned to where the other elves waited with Dahani. While walking back, he realized that he was acting like a cartoon villain and laughed out loud. When he arrived, he discovered the elves weren¡¯t mutes, or at least the male wasn¡¯t. It was shouting all kind of obscenities and death sentences to Dahani without much success. The female forest elf just stared with a pondering gaze. It was evident that the leader (or at least the thinker) of this scouting group was her. ¡°Congratulations! You gave him the ability to speak! Tell me, what¡¯s the secret?¡± Luke said with a smirk on his face. If the sarcasm wasn¡¯t noticed in the tone or the words, the smirk would reveal it perfectly. This only enraged the male more, increasing the volume of his shouts and the vulgarity of his insults. ¡°I had nothing to do with it, when you left with the other one he started to shout about how doomed we are when his tribe come back for our heads. It just a stupid soldier bluff nothing else¡± Dahani responded unfazed. She wasn¡¯t affected at all by the comment directed at her. She was quite confident in her abilities, and even if she wasn¡¯t, she was certain that there existed few things that could overpower Luke in his forest. ¡°I see. I already release the other. I really hope they come willing to negotiate. It would be¡­ unfortunate if a battle happened.¡± Luke¡¯s words made a shiver go down the spine of the forest elfess. She realized that they weren¡¯t afraid, and it wasn¡¯t due to ignorance. The nature elfess should know how dangerous they could be and despite that they didn¡¯t show an ounce of fear. Either they were fools or confident in their chances. This didn¡¯t bode well for her tribe if they came with weapon unsheathed. ¡°They will attack.¡± The elfess said. ¡°Oh? This one speaks too? How lucky for us that she decided to honor us with her voice! So, why do you think your tribesmen will attack?¡± Luke asked. He had thought that an attack was the most possible outcome, but the certainty of the woman surprised him. ¡°I am Natlat, Princess of the Boron. My father won¡¯t even consider to negotiate if my life was at stake. He would strike swiftly and at full force. If you release me, maybe we could reach an agreement.¡± Natlat said quickly. She was sure of what her family will do, but she feared for their lives. Even if they could win, would it be as easy as they thought. The forest elves are confident that nothing inside a forest could pose a problem for them, but they might be about to be proven wrong. ¡°And what¡¯s there for me? I mean, even if I can¡¯t take care of everyone, I won¡¯t be killed easily while in my territory. And if I¡¯m not dead, there always is another day to fight.¡± Luke said without hesitation. At this point the forest elfess discovered that there was nothing they could offer that would stop the battle for happening. They had lost everything except what they carried when they appeared in this world. ¡°Wait, I could talk to them. Maybe we could ally ourselves. I¡¯m sure that there must be something we could offer¡­¡± She said hurriedly. ¡°Too late, they¡¯re already here¡± Luke interrupted. Chapter 33 Luke quickly noticed that more than thirty forest elves had entered his land and were spreading around to surround them. Their numbers suggested that this was the whole force of the tribe as they were close to the number of dark elves he had seen in the valley. He also noticed that the guy he had released earlier was next to the elf that seemed the more skilled in woodcraft. It wasn¡¯t a certainty actually, it was just that his movement were smoother and more controlled than the ones of the rest of the group. Five elves including these two were coming directly toward them while the other set up the ¡®ambush¡¯. It seemed that they thought that his skill with plants was simply Plant Manipulation as they didn¡¯t take any measures to prevent being attacked by plants as they were outside the range of the ability (yes, he has the Plant Manipulation skill, but inside his forest he didn¡¯t need it. He WAS the forest, extending a branch to catch or trip an enemy was the same as flexing his arm). ¡°It looks like papa is here, princess. I really hope that negotiations go well as he brought everyone able to wield a bow. Anything you want to add before the talks began?¡± Luke never stopped smirking. If this meeting took place outside the border, he would be defenseless. Here, he was in control. Just to be on the safe side, when the five members party showed itself, he send a silent order to the trees around to capture every archer. He was confident, but there was always the possibility that they had a way to deal with him without taking damage. Fortunately, it didn¡¯t appear like they had such a thing as every elf was easily trapped by tree branches. A branch to suspend them in the air, another to stuff their mouth so they can¡¯t give a warning and two more to deal with arms and legs. The strike was so unexpected that they didn¡¯t have time to mutter anything before being taken. Natlat opened her mouth to say something, but closed it almost immediately when she saw her father. There was nothing she could say at this point that could help. She tried to signal his father to not take this sentient lightly, but she was ignored. It was clear her father didn¡¯t want to reveal he cared for her. It would weaken their stand. She was really worried about the current circumstances. Even though his father didn¡¯t tend to be as arrogant and prideful as most elves, preferring to keep an open mind about other races capabilities as experience had proven only races with some advantage survived, the situation since they came to this world hadn¡¯t gone well. Constant danger and worry made him much rasher when pondering a plan of action. That was why she was here: they couldn¡¯t remain in the area where they spawned and this forest seemed the perfect place to establish their new settlement. Everything was going well until they noticed tracks of what appeared to be a single man patrol. They scouted the area and found that a single creature inhabited the forest. After reporting, they decided to try to ambush him. It would be better to take him alive so that they could get more information about the area. They used the goblins to lure him out, but he either didn¡¯t found the tracks or didn¡¯t take the bait. The next course of action was to a fast raid. Several groups got ready as backup, but only hers went into the forest. They didn¡¯t know his abilities, so they had to be careful. Suddenly, they discovered one of those hateful nature freaks and adopted the logical decision to kill her. Then, they lost consciousness and awoke to being a hostage. It was humiliating for her, a proud daughter of the Boron. And now, her tribe might pay the price for her carelessness. The entourage was moving with a dignified and imposing attitude. There was no doubt that everything had to go as they wanted when they wanted it to or there would be blood. Luke wasn¡¯t impressed. He noticed Dahani was somewhat tense while looking at them. He even saw her flinch when they appeared. She probably thought they were surrounded and had no chance to escape if things went south. Luke got closer to her and whispered in her ear ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I already took care of the rest of them. They won¡¯t be able to beat me here. By the way, what other spells can you use? You never told me and that yellow cloud thingy was quite flashy¡± Dahani smiled, visibly relaxing with the bad humour. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I mostly use poison related skills. I¡¯m not proficient enough to use the more deadly ones, but paralyzing,blinding, bleeding and sleeping come easy to me. I usually imprint them in my weapons, however I lost all of them when I was transported to this world. I can still utilize them as clouds or with contact. Nonetheless, they aren¡¯t as effective.¡± She explained quickly. She was able to do so because the forest elves took their sweet time in walking the thirty meters or so separating the two groups. ¡°Could you teach me after we deal with this little issue?¡± He asked. ¡°Only if you tell me how you moved the branches so comfortably. I had seen the Plant Manipulation skill in action before, but it wasn¡¯t as strong or as easy as it was for you¡± Dahani ¡°Deal!¡± Luke Apart from the king and the ex hostage, there were two more elves and one elfess. Staring at her closely, he guessed she was Natlat¡¯s mother probably. Their faces had several similarities, and even though it was hard to know their age due to the fact that everybody looked young and in their prime, there were no resemblance between her and the king which suggested she wasn¡¯t of the same family. With this information, she could only belong to the mother side of the captive family. And if she was in such an important meeting, she probably had some authority in the tribe, hence the mother and not a sister or an aunt, guessed Luke. The males were heavily armed with two short swords and dozen of throwing knives. Their appearance screamed elite warrior. He was certain that they were the ¡®royal guard¡¯. When there were less than five meters of distance between the groups, Luke spoke. ¡°That¡¯s close enough I believe. You ready to negotiate?¡± He went straight to the point. There was no need for pleasantries, at least for now. They stopped with the ruler in the center, then the two bodyguards and in the end the woman and the released hostage. The king narrowed his eyes at Luke¡¯s casual attitude. If it wasn¡¯t for her daughter trussed over there, he might have attacked already. ¡°There is no need for negotiations, you will release the prisoner or confront our full might¡± The king said. He seemed to want to spit when he said ¡®negotiations¡¯. At the same time, he was trying to kill Luke with his gaze. It wasn¡¯t being too effective. ¡°I see, you and what army are going to make me oblige?¡± Luke couldn¡¯t resist the clich¨¦ phrase. Besides, it was a good way to taunt the opposite party and accelerate what was going to happen during the talks (It was clear that at some point the king would try to threaten Luke and Dahani with his troops. This answer only made it occur faster). ¡°This army!¡± Natlat¡¯s father said while the guard on the right did a signal that resembled the bird''s¡¯ song. After some time passed and nothing happened, they repeated the signal. Luke was having a hard time holding the laughter when he saw their opponent faces twisting. Even Dahani couldn¡¯t help but smirk. ¡°Oh, you mean this intruders?¡± He said asking the trees to bring the recently captured elves. The group face visibly paled seeing all their forces in the enemy¡¯s hands. The queen (?) even gasped loudly. ¡°Have you ever been told that you suck at negotiations? It might be time to retire if that is the best diplomacy you can bring to the table¡± Luke said. Now the real negotiations could begin. Chapter 34 The five free forest elves retreated a step at such a sight. They were visibly appalled by the power of their opponent. They had hoped to quickly overwhelm him and conquer this area. Now, there was little hope of that. The king seemed to deflate, losing every bit of imposingness in his aura. A worried look crossed the woman face, she clearly feared for his daughter''s life, as they had too weak of a position to demand anything at this point. The guy that had been freed by Luke started shivering just staring at his captured companion. He had been traumatized by how powerless he felt while restrained with the same trick. This spectacle freezed him with the memories (he hadn¡¯t spent that long captured but most elves lead lofty and arrogant lives. If their belief in their strength takes a hit, it is quite hard for them to recover). The bodyguards were pretty pissed though it wasn¡¯t pretty how their faces twisted due to the contained fury. They showed their training in the fact that they didn¡¯t actually attack even though it was obvious they wanted to. Luke took the time to observe them closely again. He noticed a few details that he hadn¡¯t before like that their armors had holes and were chipped and torn in some places. Mostly in the arms and legs. It was evident that they have been fighting something smaller than them without much success. Luke guessed the unsuccessful part simply because they were archers. If the enemy got close enough to deal damage, then they were failing. ¡°I think they didn¡¯t come to expand their territory, they came to get a new area under their control. Look at how damaged their leather armor is. They had been fighting until recently with no chance to repair it. They probably got kicked out of their home. We should help them.¡± Dahani whispered to Luke, interrupting his inspections. She couldn¡¯t help herself, trying to provide assistance to anyone she found in need. She may regret it in the future, but it was a commendable trait to have anyway. He agreed with her words, but there was no reason to make it easy to them, was there? Luke sighed. If they truly were running away from something, he would feel obligated to help them. It wasn¡¯t because he had an exceedingly caritative soul, but because he may need their forces if this new enemy invaded his forest. He wouldn¡¯t trust them, however he could relent if they vowed to comport themselves. Besides, it might be nice to have ¡®neighbours¡¯ in who he could delegate some of the patrols. He would have more time to experiment with his powers that way. ¡°So, What are you running from? I don¡¯t consider myself a cold blooded killer, so I would prefer to avoid needless bloodshed.¡± He said to the forest elves. The king came back to life with the spark of hope Luke¡¯s words created. He instantly came to the conclusion that, at least for now, the best path to survival lied with this sentient (human? He seemed a little off for that). The whole group of captives stopped struggling against their bonds, sensing the change in the situation. They might live after all. ¡°Ants. Wee came to this world three days ago, several miles from here. The first few hours we established a camp, scouted the area and killed any big predator that could become a danger. Everything seemed to be going well. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I would prefer to not have come, but we were coping with the situation. The next day the troubles started. In the morning we found tracks of giant ants, and that same afternoon they attacked our encampment. There were mostly ant workers with a few soldiers mixed in. We dealt with them without much difficulty, but we knew what their presence meant. There was a queen setting a colony nearby. If we wanted to keep the land we needed to take care of them fast, before they grew stronger. We sent more than half of our troops to strike their nest a few hour after the battle. The first objective was the queen, then the eggs and lastly the rest of the colony. They failed. The ants were much more numerous that what we have guessed and even smart. They set a trap by posting few guards at the entrance, hiding most of the soldiers inside, in well hidden passages. Our archers quickly took care of the entrance guards, becoming overconfident by their low numbers. Once deeply in the tunnels, the insects sprang the trap, encircling the our warriors and killing almost all of them. Only one of them could flee to report. He died shortly after from his wounds. I decided that we couldn¡¯t fight them and we have been running since then. They had become enraged by the attack, so they have been following us, doing raid after raid to claim our lives. Fortunately, we are fast enough to avoid the ants for most of the day, but they always catch up while we rest. It¡¯s taking a heavy toll on us. So, will you help us?¡± The king knew that the best strategy was to be forthcoming with the information. There was no point in crying over spilled milk, but if they wanted to improve the relationship somewhat, this was the best course of action. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Luke¡¯s face turned uglier the more he heard. These jerks hadn¡¯t just invaded his forest, they even brought another enemy too! ¡°You idiot! Know they are going to invade here! Do you think that a being crafty enough to to sprang a trap on you won¡¯t notice the value of such a high Mana density area?! Now I not only do have to deal with you, but with a stronger enemy too! Is this your idea of trying to come to an agreement with me?...¡± Luke¡¯s ranting was stopped by Dahani putting a hand on his shoulder. ¡°The ants would have come eventually. If they are only miles away, they would have showed up by next week even if the forest elves didn¡¯t lead them. At that time, you wouldn¡¯t be powerful enough to deal with their forces. This can be considered a blessing in disguise.¡± Her voice was resembling more and more the voice of his conscience. She was right, however. Luke sighed deeply. He seemed to be doing that a lot later. ¡°Fine! You can live in the area around this forest. And you have to patrol the border everyday. Nonetheless, you can only set foot inside this forest if you bring important news or I call you. Ah, you also have to help in the defense of the region, with the ants being the first thing we are going to fight. Take it or leave it.¡± He wasn¡¯t going to compromise more than that. He could have asked for more, but to what end? Hey clearly didn¡¯t have anything that could interest him. The things that he asked of them were things they would probably do without his directives. Well, maybe not the part of not entering the forest, but the rest of the things yes. ¡°We agree.¡± The king had no will to argue against those condition. After all, they were quite fair over all. ¡°And remember, I CAN take care of all of you by myself and will do so if you attack me again. I only forgive once.¡± His word were accompanied by a fancy show of force: multiple roots sprouted from the ground, stopping centimeters away from the group of five necks. The spear shaped end sent a loud message, ¡®don¡¯t mess with me¡¯. Afterwards, the branches retreated, freeing every captive. They quickly grouped up and left toward the border. The display of power still fresh in their mind. ¡°So, you were going to explain me about branching¡­¡± Dahan said while looking at the disappearing figure of the forest elves. Chapter 35 ¡°So, what do you know about ants?¡± They had returned to sitting in the shade of the Mana Tree. They were less tense after taking care of the forest elves, especially because there was no need to fight. The alliance wasn¡¯t something to trust unconditionally, but it was enough for now. On the way back Luke had explained how he became the forest at a very interested Dahani. She didn¡¯t believe him at first, but she agreed that his control over plants went beyond what the Plant Manipulation skill could usually do. She also showed him the basics of her skill, Poison Manipulation, but told him he should wait until he knew more about herb lore and poisons and antidotes in general. That would help avoid some dangerous situations. She told him that the secret behind the skill wasn¡¯t only knowledge or power, but preparations. The better you prepared to a failure and its consequence the longer you would live to try again. It wasn¡¯t as important in the earlier levels as the substances weren¡¯t very lethal or if they were, they were easily treated. He decided to check if there was anything about the subject in his father''s library before attempting anything. ¡°Giants ants go from the size of a small dog (Workers) to the size of a wolf (soldiers) to the dimensions of a bear (queen) and anything in between. One of the most important abilities of the queen is that she can consciously decide the size of her minions according to the environment. She usually goes with the standard size until they found something that requires especial attention. At this point, she may make the worker and soldiers bigger or smaller depending on what she considers best. She is also always protected by a guard of elite soldiers ants that number at least six and sometimes up to twenty. These ants are stronger and faster that ordinary ants. Nonetheless, their most fearsome qualities are the ability to think for themselves and the fact that they are extremely loyal. It is a common occurrence for groups trying to deal with them to reach the queen chambers and be unable to kill her before she escapes due to the elites sacrificing themselves. Their exoskeleton could be almost be considered heavy armour, but much lighter. That¡¯s one of the reasons why they are hunted: it is a great material to make high defense light armour. It can become stronger depending on the minerals on the ground. It is a well known fact that colonies in places with iron rich ground have stronger defenses than other colonies. The last important fact is that they don¡¯t depend on their sight as much as other creatures. All of them had some affinity with earth that allow them to sense their enemies and prey through ground vibrations. Don¡¯t be mistaken, they can see, but their sight is just a bit better than that of a mole. They aren¡¯t that aggressive if you compare them with other giants insects that establish colonies like bees or spiders, but they are fiercely territorial. A growing colony would search for any potential dangers for several miles outside their land and use ant waves tactics until the menace is exterminated. The workers and soldiers have no intelligence, however higher ranking ones are quite cunning, especially the queen. Well, you already know that by what the forest elves told you. The only other thing is that they have a mental link between them. It hasn¡¯t be found how far it extends, but most people that fought and/or researched them agree that only the queen has a range above a hundred meters. That means that if you attack their homes, the queen will know immediately. Make it quite hard to mount a sneak attack if you have to avoid being found and attacking them until you take care of the boss in their home turf. If you add that they make labyrinth like compounds that may have miles and miles of tunnels, they become an enemy you can¡¯t leave alone, but extremely hard to attack. The problem is that they also have an explosive growth, the longer you delay taking care of them, the more and stronger they will be. There had been some cases were sentient discovering a colony would decide to leave the area instead of fighting them¡± Dahani said seriously. Luke now realized how severe the situation was. If everything she told him was true, he would have to strike in the next day as the latest. He couldn¡¯t allow them to get a firm hold on the area. Fortunately, he would have the chance to improve his understanding of them and test what worked best on them later if they still were following the elves. ¡°Shit. That will make things difficult. I hope a few of them are tracking those elves. It would be best to gain some experience in battling them before I have to move against their base. Is there anything in particular they are weak against? Like an affinity or maybe to poison?¡± LukeIf you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°As they are of the earth affinity, they have enhanced resistance against anything coming from this element. Poison is an element derived from earth, so it isn¡¯t very effective. Fire works as well as with any other being, but if they gather in groups their small earth magic allows them to defend against it to some degree. Air doesn¡¯t have the strength to go through their chitin armour except when highly concentrated. Even if you are an expert air controller, the toll that such a spell would require make it so you would only be able to fire a few shots. Water have a problem similar to air with the added difficulty that it becomes too taxing in their tunnels due to the low presence of the element. Light and dark may be useful, but I know too little about them to tell you how or why. Normally, a group of strong melee fighter takes turns as vanguards to deal with them, accompanied by a support mage to heal them and improve the speed of their stamina regeneration. This takes advantage of their lacking individual combat abilities and allows to always have a well rested fighter in case of necessity. It doesn¡¯t work always, but is the most used strategy that I know of.¡± Dahani recounting of the ants abilities and prowess was depressing. It meant that an Ants colony was one of the worst match up against him. He could burst them easily one on one, however a big group of them may outlast his Mana and Stamina to kill him when he got tired. ¡°What about Plant Manipulation? You didn¡¯t mention it, and it is my favored ability. Have there been any case of an agreement been established between them and a sentient?¡± Luke wasn¡¯t considering setting an alliance with the creatures (they could bide their time and betray him when they were too strong for him to contend. Kind of like the forest elves with the difference that the elves didn¡¯t have the numbers to overpower him yet, and wouldn¡¯t have for some time. Especially so if he didn¡¯t stop becoming stronger), he was only curious if the possibility existed. ¡°Yes, but they didn¡¯t work out. Most of the times because the people nearby became afraid of the ants and decided to ignore the agreement and attack. It never ended well. Even if they could annihilate the colony, the cost was crippling to the community, clan or whatever that paid it. After a few failures it became the norm to attack them while weak and if it didn¡¯t work just leave the area. It¡¯s sad, whole cities were abandoned for this reason, sending hundred or thousand of people into a life of poverty¡­¡± Dahani seemed quite sensitive to this issue. ¡°Plant Manipulation is quite rare and most beings that get the skill can¡¯t get past the first and stages making the spell useful, but limited in its functions. It relies on nature affinity so it may be able to suppress the ants, but there is no way to be sure without testing. It would also be important to see how hard it would be for the user to go through their defenses. I believe that the root and branch spears you were using would be enough while they are in a forest, but I don¡¯t know if you could use the ability constantly in the tunnels. It would be considerably more taxing on your Mana. Besides, for Plant Manipulation to work there has to be, well¡­ plants. I believe no plant life could survive in the darkness of their caves. Maybe fungus, but not plants.¡± ¡°It¡¯s worth testing at least. Maybe if I take seeds with me I would be able to. I would have to see how fast and how much I can make a tree or vines grow in a few seconds¡­¡± Luke was already thinking about ways to use his ability to the maximum. He also remembered that he should set a safeguard in case the forest elves went back on their word. He believed them too proud for that, but if they saw him as an inferior being (and they probably did) they wouldn¡¯t hesitate to break their vows. So, he had to be ready. However, Ants first, elves later. Suddenly, he felt a dozen critters entering his forest. He stood up signaling Dahani to do the same. ¡°They are here¡± Luke Chapter 36 ¡°The ants? That was faster that what I expected. It seems that the forest were in too much of a hurry to escape or their forestry skills aren¡¯t as effective in these insects.¡± Dahani quickly realized what was Luke talking about. ¡°Yes, there are almost thirty of them. They hadn¡¯t advanced far past the border, just enough for me to sense them. It looks like they are trying to find the elves tracks without success. Whatever, you coming?¡± He found the ants actions strange. Why were they having trouble finding the trail now, when they didn¡¯t before? Besides, it appeared like they didn¡¯t wish to go deeper into the awakened forest. Weird. ¡°Sure, why not? Truth is that I always wanted to study them in depth, but never could.¡± She answered. Her abilities in poison wouldn¡¯t be useful, but her knowledge would. ¡°Follow me¡± He started to run in the direction he sensed them. His increase in attributes, speed and stamina in this case, meant that he could keep a pretty fast pace, allowing him to arrive to the scene quickly. It would have been faster to treewalk to the area, but he hadn¡¯t tested if he could take someone else with him when he teleported. Once they arrived a hundred meters away, they climbed a tree and advanced by jumping from branch to branch. They didn¡¯t know how good were the ants at climbing (though if they resembled the normal version they should be very good), but for now every last one of them was on the ground. Luke guessed that this method of approaching may give them a better chance of sneaking up close to them. With direct sight, they saw that there weren¡¯t reinforcements on the other side of the frontier. These insects had an appearance quite similar to their tiny cousins. There might be different types of giant ants colonies, but this one were of the black kind of ants. Their feelers moved up and down and to the sides like a caffeine addict (or chocolate addict). They seemed to ignore their companions while at the same time being perfectly in sync. This was probably due to their mental link. They didn¡¯t seem to notice Dahani and Luke¡¯s presence, too preoccupied in sniffing(?) the ground. Something interesting happened when he got close: he discovered that the forest didn¡¯t reject them as it had done with the spiders. The forest accepted them as one of its own. This little fact made Luke decide not to attack and try to convince them to leave. The problem was that he didn¡¯t know how to communicate with them. From Dahani information, he needed a higher ranked ants than the soldiers and workers he was seeing. He assumed that there was a chance that this group had an intelligent ant, but he hadn¡¯t found it yet (to make things clear, Luke could sense every ant, but not differentiate between the different types with his sense. He had direct line of sight, but they were too many for him to be able to watch each one. So at any moment he could barely see half of them due to the trees blocking his sight). Suddenly, a bright white ant grabbed his attention. It also moved differently compared to the rest. It wasn¡¯t paying attention to the ground, it was checking on their surrounding like a general expecting an ambush. It was impossible for this particular ant to shout ¡®leader¡¯ louder and clearer. Luke told Dahani what he saw and asked her to remain up there as backup. He had more ways of defending and fleeing. It was also true that her magic wasn¡¯t very effective on this enemy, so it was a better tactical decision for her to keep hiding. Luke waited until the white ant was closer to his tree and dropped to the ground. To his surprise, they didn¡¯t go ballistic and attacked him immediately. Only the white ant got closer to him with a relaxed attitude. He suspected that this might be a consequence of his high nature affinity. It did say when he got it that creatures of the forest wouldn¡¯t attack him if he didn¡¯t. There were less than five meters separating the two. He was worried in how they could communicate with each other, but he shouldn¡¯t have.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Greetings from the earth Forest dweller. I am an envoy from her majesty chasing those that would fight us for our tunnels. We apologize if we invaded your territory, but it wasn¡¯t our intention. We will leave as soon as we found their trail. Its words came slowly. It was clear it hadn¡¯t talked this way very often. However, the words were clear and the slight stuttering didn¡¯t impede understanding the meaning. It also showed that cohabitation was possible. Luke thought that it may be a chance to establish a more trustworthy alliance that the one he previously created. Hello there. This aggressors that you speak of, are they forest elves? A group of them told me of their confrontation with your colony and their hurried escape. If that¡¯s the case, I urge you to leave. They had come to an agreement with me and decided to set up in this area. As such, you no longer have a reason to confront them. The white ant stopped moving its antenna and tilted its head as if it was listening to something. If it was actually conversing with the queen, their reach was amazing. He had estimated that their base was some fifty miles away. It was a very long distance for mental communication. There was also the possibility that there were several ants working as relay stations repeating the message to cover a bigger area. In both cases, it showed that you couldn¡¯t kill or be noticed by a single ant if you wanted to sneak your way into the queen chambers. Yes, it is them. My queen asks about your intentions. We have no problem with stopping the chase under the understanding that if they come again there would be no possibility given to dialogue. But, will you attack us? You are as much of a danger to us as they are. No, as long as you leave and don¡¯t intrude in this forest, I have no reason to go to battle. Be warned that this forest is constantly growing. If in the future it nears your tunnels we will have to decide in differents regulations. Even if they live here, the elves are their own community so I don¡¯t assume any responsibility for their actions, but I do promise that if anything comes to strike you unprovoked you can always call for my help. I¡¯m a guardian of the forest and you are recognized as residents, so I feel it is part of my duty. No words of departure were uttered (thought?). The white ant simply turned around and left, being followed by the rest of the group in three well ordained lines. While most people would think that this was too easy, the truth is that most animals, or insects in this case, fight only for food and territory. Intelligent ones may add revenge to the list, but far behind the other two. It was instinct. The ants already had a territory and Luke wouldn¡¯t be enough as meal for the whole colony, so there was no reason to fight. Besides, they could probably feel that he was no pushover, in that case it was even more logical to reach an agreement. Dahani dropped to the ground next to Luke while staring at the departing ants. ¡°I gather there won¡¯t be a fight¡± Dahani ¡°Nope, they are quite civil and agreed on not biting us to death if we leave them alone.¡± Luke ¡°So? What will we do?¡± Dahani ¡°Leave them alone and make sure your woody cousins do so too.¡± Luke ¡°They aren¡¯t my cousins!¡± Dahani shouted With that said, they argued their way back to the house. Chapter 37 By the time they got back, the sun was starting to set. Dahani had explained the more important points about working with poison magic. The key was going slowly. You couldn''t go for the harder substances until you had completely mastered the previous one, you would be risking your life for a low chance of success. Not worth it. There were several types going from the lethal ones to the paralytic ones. They also could be classified by the method of administration like by touch or through the air, and by how long it takes them to affect the subject. Like most magics, it was a path that would take a lifetime to perfect. At the same time, Luke told her about the technological marvels present in this world. She had already seen a few things inside the house, but he wanted to prepare her for the things she will see in the future. Even if she stayed in the forest, it might come a time when she would have to confront this new type of magic. After all, the better the technology, the more it resembled magic. This topic made him realize that he should set some defenses against modern warfare strategies and weapons. He had only been thinking about the new kind of dangers he was defending from while completely forgetting his own world menaces. He had barely any idea of what was going on outside, so it may pay off to be cautious. The problem was that an helicopter throwing bombs, a missile or simply a flamethrower could deal tremendous damage to the forest before he could even perceive the attack. There should be a way with a ward but he would have to think about the exact wording. Maybe if he got the fire affinity he could develop a better protection. Luke sighed. There seemed to be no pause to the things he had to ponder about. Every time he set a new defensive mechanism (be it wards or patrols or whatever), a new potential trouble arose in his mind. It was quite taxing. He wanted to establish something that would cover most threats, or maybe a safeguard with the ability to evolve¡­ However, until he did, he would have to conform with dealing with troubles as they popped up. They had a dinner composed mainly of rabbit stew with some vegetables. It was more filling than tasty, but it would do for now. He knew how to cook, though he was seriously considering researching how to improve. If he had to survive with his cooking for the rest of his life, he would certainly need to get better. After the meal, Dahani told him that she wanted to sleep between the trees today. He remembered the treehouse and showed it to her, asking if that was enough or if she wanted the complete experience. She was satisfied with it and Luke helped move some bedding there. He suspected she wanted to train in her magic without worrying about hurting him. He asked her what she knew about affinities before going to sleep. He wanted to acquire as many of them as possible and then he would train them into something useful. After all, getting the affinity required meditation by his experience until now. On the other hand, developing pseudo spells was more of a trial and error process.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°There isn¡¯t much now about affinities. Most people are born with one or two of them and only bother to improve those ones. There have been cases of someone consciously connecting with a new one, but it is rare. It is considered too much work for little result. The issue with acquired affinities was that they grew a lot slower than the inherent ones. So, most people don¡¯t consider it worth their time.¡± Despite her pessimistic answer, he didn¡¯t change his mind. He suspected that the changes his body suffered after the system started will extend his life expectancy quite significantly. Hard to now in the near future, but he really hope it was so. He wasn¡¯t interested in being immortal (too many novels explained how lonely and depressing immortality could be), but being young a longer period of time was very tempting. ¡°To gain an affinity is usually a painful experience because our body must get used to accepting a kind of energy it wasn¡¯t originally prepared to. It was dangerous too, due to the bonding process. The person attempting it will try to connect to the element and he would feel the whole extent of the physical representation of said element. No matter which one, it would endanger his or her sanity. For example, Water element doesn¡¯t create ay pain, but the peacefulness that the person feel, might make him lost himself in the feeling. If he does, he would be mentally dead. So most people don¡¯t even try if there are no pressing causes¡± Understanding Dahani¡¯s words, he started to sweat buckets. He hadn¡¯t realized how dangerous acquiring an affinity was. He discovered how lucky he had been in the past. He decided then and there not to try again. Yes, he really desired to get each one, but he didn¡¯t want to risk it for now. He sat in his usual spot (below the Mana tree branches with his back against its trunk) and pondered what to do next. He would continue to patrol once or twice everyday, but with the help of the forest elves, there were less chances of something getting closer. At least dangers at the goblins level would stop being an issue. He had more time to investigate his power and to create more wards. He put his next goal as establishing a forest wide ward that could cope with fire. A forest fire was one of the biggest danger he could face. He thought about making a circle with the trees at the border with some kind of heat absorption ward, but that wouldn¡¯t work due to two reasons: the fire could be fast enough to break the circle by affecting the runes in one of the trees (it would depend in how fast it could absorb, he believed that his enchanting and warding abilities weren¡¯t high enough to make a spell that could neutralize a flamethrower for example. Or if they poured fuel into the tree before setting it on fire, it would be the same) and there was also the possibility than the ward would provoke sub zero temperatures while inside the forest. It would be uncomfortable to say the least. The first problem meant he would have to enhance the strength of the ward while the second could be solved by adding conditions to it. He suspected that even if he went through all of this, the first issue wouldn¡¯t be completely taken care of. He decided to leave this ward for the next day. Too many things had happened this day to spend the night without sleeping. He grabbed a blanket from the house (nights were a little chilly even in summer) and laid down next to the tree. He channeled Mana to it and went to sleep. Curiously, nights have been quiet all this time and this wasn¡¯t the exception. Chapter 38 The next day started normally enough: Luke stretched, did some practice with his staff and ate a light breakfast. He checked where Dahani was, discovering she had woke up before he did and left the treehouse. She hadn¡¯t left the awakened forest, so he guessed she was either hunting or patrolling. Maybe both. He quickly decided the things he had to do this day. He wanted to train the Air Manipulation skill as he hadn¡¯t had the time the previous day with the whole forest elves and ants business. He also wanted to check on the former. He didn¡¯t trust them enough to leave them alone for more than a few hours. Maybe half a day if they were behaving themselves. The last thing on his to do list was improving the wards so that they cover the whole forest and not only his house¡¯s clearing. The wards wouldn¡¯t be the same if they applied to the entire forest, they would go more along the lines of blocking scrying or farsight and debuffing or affecting with various ailments and status effects the intruders. The key problem was how to make the forest differentiate between potential enemies and allies. Luke decided to work in his Air Manipulation in the morning and after lunch and a patrol begin with the new wards. He postponed indefinitely any attempt at getting new affinities. He could try them after he got used to the ones he already had. After all, he still needed to train his Plant Manipulation. For now, as long as he remained in these woods, he would be in control of the plant life, but he desired to acquire the same level of control when he was outside. He came to the conclusion that he should follow what he did with Earth Manipulation: practise three pseudo spells until they are imprinted in his mind and he could use them without thinking, as if there was some kind of muscle memory. He wanted to create a defensive spell, an offensive one and finally a crowd control ability. Just like with Earth. Two things came to his mind when he thought about skills related to Air, a shield and a wind blade. Basic and effective. The shield would give him a new type of defense different of what an earth wall would provide (earth wall may be stronger, but it also was static. If he was on the move, earth wall was a one time use spell. On the other side, a shield made from air would be weaker, though it would move with him. It would also help with gaseous poisons and maybe other types of subtle attacks. While earth wall was an ¡®I block anything that comes this way¡¯ kind of ability, an air shield was more of a ¡®redirect and parry¡¯ spell). The wind blade had similar advantages over its earthen counterpart. It had less penetrative power, but depending the enemy could be more effective. It was more flexible too because it was more accurate than earth lance. Although the earth lance would do ridiculous amount of damage if it caught the opponent, an agility based rival would be able to dodge. On the contrary, wind blade would have more chances to land as it was faster and harder to notice, but the damage dealt won¡¯t be as severe. This also went a long way into showing Luke that there weren¡¯t stronger skills, just more adequate for the situation (that isn¡¯t entirely true, there are abilities that are intrinsically stronger than others, but between similarly ranked skills, it depended on the circumstances. For example, no Manipulation ability was better than another, but if you are fighting in an island in the middle of the ocean while it is raining, yes, Water Manipulation would be stronger than Fire Manipulation). He started by visualizing the air shield. He considered defense more important than offense at this point. He had enough vitality to endure some beating, but there was no such thing as ¡®enough defense¡¯ (or enough offense, or enough anything in this changed world. Usually the better any aspect of fighting was, the longer you would remain alive). Besides, his single target damage was extremely overpowered due to Mana Bolt scaling with his Intelligence and Plant Manipulation covered his previous lack of crowd control abilities. It could be used for attack and defense, however Plant Manipulation excelled in restraining and annoying enemies. So, he imagined air being pushed from him in every direction forming a wind curtain. He felt this was the way to go until he realized a tiny issue with this method. ¡®Fuck, if I push away the air around me, What will I breath?¡¯ Shortly after this thought, he started feeling the lack of oxygen. Quickly, he cancelled the skill and took several gulps of air afterwards. He was certain that he would pass out before killing himself, but he was in no hurry to prove his theory right. The result of his first test stumped Luke. He wanted this ability for several reason, one of them being to defend against attacks like poisonous gas or fungus spores, but the only way he could think to make it work would be to leave some sort of passage to breathe, but this would allow any substance to pass. He could also try to expel any gas except oxygen, but even if he could do it, he didn¡¯t know if such a high concentration of it could be detrimental to his health. He pondered the subject a little more and decided to leave the development of the air shield on hold until he got a higher Air Affinity. He was convinced that the pseudo spell should be possible, but he couldn¡¯t come with any idea to overcome the present difficulties. Moving on, he concentrated in how to make the wind blade ability work. He already had some experience in pushing air thanks to his previous attempt, so he found it quite easy to form a blade and send them in the direction he wanted. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t that easy. His control wasn¡¯t good enough to give the ¡®blade¡¯ much of an edge, so it was closer to being hit by the flat side of a sword than by the edged side. It took him half an hour and more than a dozen essays for it to acquire a barely acceptable cutting edge. It wouldn¡¯t work against medium and heavy armored enemies (like the ants), though it could be useful to sever limbs if he applied enough force to it. It was basically the equivalent to a poorly made sabre. It was in the not so fine line between blunt damage and cutting damage. ¡®Wonderful¡¯ thought Luke sarcastically. He had little to no idea what an air based crowd control could be. He considered continuing with his previous attempts and going full blunt strike. It could be adapted as a knock up or back ability. Nonetheless, he believed it too crude. After failing with the first and having very little success with the spells he wanted to develop with this affinity as a base, he desired to be successful in the last one. While he was thinking, he still trained the basic ability of moving air. Even if he wanted something more complicated than simple pushing and shoving, he recognized the utility this simple ability could have in a pinch. He practised not to generate a powerful strike, but to create just enough force to destabilize the opponent with a well placed shot. Like kicking the foot in the air of someone taking a step: no damage would be done normally, but the person would probably fall or at least take a few seconds to correct his stance. As idiotic as useful. It was the kind of trick most enemies don¡¯t expect. Especially so in close combat. You could strike with your weapon while at the same time using this underhanded method to guarantee a solid hit. This wasn¡¯t exactly high in Luke¡¯s list of abilities to train, but after a few tries it became mechanical enough to be able to ponder about other things at the same time. He was seriously considering to stop playing with air and change to Plant Manipulation when an idea occurred to him. He quickly tried to form ropes with wind currents. He wasn¡¯t pushing or pulling air, just redirecting it. It was more effective than spending most of his concentration in giving it a defined form. He also realized that some of his earlier failure came from a mistake in his approach. He had been thinking like he was dealing with the static earth affinity while he was actually working with the constantly on the move air. Restrain free, moody wind. The ropes weren¡¯t perfect but were solid enough to grab anything. Their ability to restrain remained to be seen, but it should be enough to make an advancing foe trip. It wasn¡¯t the best, but he would take it. Besides, he guessed that improving his control would enhance and diversify what he could do with these windy ropes (wind shackles?). He spent the next hour developing his familiarity with this pseudo spell until he could perform it as well as the earth skills. It was still crude, but it was an improvement from just pulling and pushing enemies. Now that he had more knowledge about what air was about, he was restless to remedy his previous failures.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. However, destiny wasn¡¯t going to allow him to, at least for the time being. He had just ended his last performance when he felt a forest elfess entering his forest. He was curious about why, but not overly concerned. He had been expecting some kind of move from them, just that he didn¡¯t know enough about their mindset to know what they would try to pull off. As long as it wasn¡¯t detrimental to his health or the well being of the forest, he probably wouldn¡¯t bother with them. The elfess was moving quickly toward the center of the forest, probably looking for him. Luke took a second to make sure that nothing strange was happening in the forest and checked what Dahani was doing. She was going in the direction of the valley, probably to see if anything else had sprouted there or if the Dark Elves returned. Then, he left the clearing in her direction as a precaution. He didn¡¯t want to show the defenses around the house for now. It may prove useful to keep them in the dark about it. The distance wasn¡¯t that big and the forest elfess moved fast in this terrain so Luke could see her not long after he sensed her. Surprisingly, it was Natlat. A very different Natlat. He smirked, he had expected several plots, but not this one. In his previous meeting with her, he hadn¡¯t paid close attention to her looks. Beyond the fact that she was a beauty, he hadn¡¯t noticed anything else. A logical result, as her leather armor hided or reduced most of her charming physical attributes. The short dress (tunic?) that barely reached mid thigh and the skin tight green pants had the opposite effect. They enhanced and showcased her hourglass figure that complimented nicely with her symmetrical face. If with her armor on she was the equivalent to a neighborhood diva, with this outfit she was at the top model level and even above. The dress was also green with brown lines that formed an elegant design and a deep cleavage. A silver belt held the pants in place and pulled the dress tight leaving little to the imagination. This time her mid-back length hair was arranged in a peculiar way that left her neck as well as her face completely uncovered. She wasn¡¯t wearing any earrings, though she was sporting a pendant with a blue jewel. Despite the pendant being a work of art, it purpose was to clearly to lead a man gaze to her abundant chest. A simple and effective way to distract and captivate at the same time. Natlat appeared uncomfortable, probably due to the fact that her father was either selling her to cement an alliance or putting er at risk to gather information. Most likely both. ¡°Why are you here? I remember telling your people not to enter the forest.¡± Luke said without pulling his punches. He was certain that Natlat didn¡¯t come of her own free will, but she was a spy. It would be silly of him to give her an easy time. However, he wasn¡¯t a jerk (or at least he tried not to be) so he wasn¡¯t going to make her life impossible after the first few lines. It was more of a test to see what she was willing to do and tolerate. Yes, his personality was a little twisted, but he didn¡¯t really care. Besides, it wasn¡¯t like they were friends. He had no obligation to be nice to her, even if he pitied her circumstances. ¡°My father send me to report that a group of a hundred and twenty three goblins were taken care of this morning. Compared to the amount seen yesterday, they had appeared in much bigger numbers. He suspect than in a few days, too many of them will spawn to be taken caren by the Boron alone.¡± She flinched a little when he heard his cold words, but she calmed herself down while giving her message. The slight blush that had been on her face since she saw Luke returned when she finished speaking. There were no doubt that the report was the easy part of her mission. She breathed deeply and continued. ¡°My father believes that our people should have a representative, an ambassador if you want, near you to shorten the distance between allies. It could also prove useful if any of the parties wish to send a message. I was elected as our representative if you would have me, and also carry means to communicate with the tribe from here. What do you say?¡± She started slowly, gaining momentum the longer she went. By the way she intoned the words ambassador and representative, it seemed as if she was saying exile or banishment. Luke guessed that this responsibility given to her was no honour in her people eyes. He scratched his growing beard. Before The Beginning he used to shave every day, but afterwards he stopped. He had always wanted to grow one, and now no one would care if he did. He was quite sure that hairstyle wouldn¡¯t be high on people''s minds. He pondered about his option. There weren¡¯t many, basically two: either he accepted or he didn¡¯t. In the first case, he would add a spy and a beautiful woman. In the other case, he wouldn¡¯t lose anything, though his relationship with the Forest Elves would certainly worsen. He also suspected that Natlat might or might not be allowed back to her tribe. Just a hunch derived by their arrogance and the attitude toward woman ancient society used to have. He believed those concept applied simply because the king was ¡®selling¡¯ her daughter for a few tidbits of information and some improvement in their connection. ¡°Your father¡¯s idea? Tell me, what would happen to you if I said no?¡± He was curious about it and the faster way to satiate this curiosity was asking. ¡°Nothing, because I wouldn¡¯t go back. I have read some of our records. Women are always considered as inferior. The only thing worse for a Boron than being a women is being a women and failing in a given task. If you say no, I would ran away. No idea in which direction but as far away as I can. Besides, it would be a chance to my father to ask for a compensation. Wars had been declared for less.¡± There wasn¡¯t an ounce of helpless damsel in her body. Her voice was pure steel as she told the undisguised truth. If Luke didn¡¯t know what to do before, now he realized that no matter what he did, she would move on and survive. He liked that. He realized that elven society was peculiar indeed. Every male he had met was an arrogant prick that didn¡¯t know how to behave or be humble. On the opposite, the two women he had a chance to interact with, proved to have more neurons that their counterparts. He guessed that it may be a developed trait due to being treated as an object and in constant danger. Curious indeed. He tilted his head and stared deeply into her eyes to make sure she wasn¡¯t faking it. Despite her facade, her knees were trembling. She must have made her choice, but it still scared her. It was impressive that she had enough control that the only telling sign was that. Other people may have collapsed due to the tension and the magnitude of the decision. ¡°Hmmm, I will accept you. But you do realize that even if I do, you are practically dead in his eyes? I mean, if he considered you irreplaceable, he wouldn¡¯t have sent you, would he?¡± As soon as the words were out, she relaxed. When she heard the last part, she seemed to deflate. He understood that yes, she knew that, but what could she do? She had been banished and her own family hadn¡¯t deigned to tell her the truth. ¡°Yes, I know. Thanks.¡± she mumbled the last word so lowly that no one could have heard it. ¡°No problem. After all you are cute and I figured that there was no reason to make your life harder if you are no longer part of the tribe.¡± Luke said while smirking. She blushed furiously to the point that her neck started turning red. She opened her mouth to say something, but her words were interrupted by a rustling in the nearby bushes. Luke had felt Dahani arriving to the valley and taking off at a run. He guessed that she should have discovered something, probably some Nuaga stragglers. He was wrong. ¡°Luke! There are elves on the valley! I think they are High Elves...¡± She shouted before reaching his position. When she did, she was surprised to find Natlat. She stared suspiciously at her. ¡°What¡¯s she doing here?¡± Dahani asked Luke. He sighed, a cat fight might be interesting though now wasn¡¯t the time. ¡°Her father kind of kicked her out. So something occupies that valley? Again? I should have filled it when I could¡± He said while sighing. He was starting to really hate that spot. Not a Chapter I''m sorry for suddenly vanishing without previous notice, but too much work and exams season consumed most of the time and mental strenght I had. That added to the fact that I was having trouble with the exact wording od the chapter (I know what I want to haappen though the finer details escape me) meant that a little writing holidat was in order. I''m happy to announce that it isfinally over. However, I decided to take the rest of the year off. Don''t be mistaken, even if I will not be publishing new chapters, I will be writing them. So expect a humongously large chapter or several shorter ones for the first week of January!Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.