Blam
I leave a dent in the ground as I'm struck down by Mark's fist. So much for that idea. I thought I could grab his leg so Josh or Sakura could get a hit in but he crumpled me before I could reach him. We're beginning to be able to catch onto his movements but he's just too fast, our bodies can't keep up. That said, we're getting really good at defending ourselves; blocking or avoiding strikes and using our limbs to protect our vitals. The amount of damage that you take from an attack is also dependent on where you get hit, the vitals leading to substantially more lost health points. Trial and error, just like Jezabel said. Miguel is also using less healing magic recently, which is good for all of us.
Mark runs at me and I swing my spear to force him back
'Cut Skill aquired.'
I hear the system voice in my head.
"Oh!" I say as I jerk back in surprise.
Mark tilts his head at me.
"Sorry, I just acquired the Cut Skill. Thanks again for spending so much time training with us, by the way."
He nods and takes an aggressive stance. I only say that because he always charges us after he does it. We continue training for a few hours until Mark is satisfied, or he just gets bored, I can't really tell.
"How are your skills coming along?" I ask the kids once we're alone.
"Hmm, I still only have the Aim Skill and it's only at level one." Sakura says with her arms crossed and her head tilted to the side. I can tell she's frustrated by her lack of progress.
"Slash is level four." Josh says.
"Level four? How the hell?" Each level is exponentially harder to get than the previous one so I can only imagine how much work Josh has put in during his free time. I leave with the kids, and after they're out of sight, I turn into an alley and drop down into the sewers. The familiar Vivafingus is dotted all along the tube. I'm far from the Noble district so I begin trudging that way. In order to try and keep a low profile, I decide to enter the sewer at random spots so it doesn't look like I'm heading for any individual location.
I put my clothes in my bag and hang it from a piece of protruding ceramic. I arrive at the entrance to the dungeon only a few minutes later. Two more goblins have arrived. I quickly dispatch them and clumsily remove their magic stones. Jezabel mentioned selling them so I decided to remove them from now on. I look around for the remains of the previously killed goblins but they're nowhere to be found, not even a single bone. I get a chill down my spine. There's still a lot about dungeons that I don't know.
A glint catches my eye as I turn the light orb back to the entrance. I check the far side of the dungeon and find a rusted ring. I throw it in my pocket and make my way out to the same spot I came in. Next, I need to deal with the stench. I wipe myself down with a cloth and pull out a bottle filled with a deodorizer. This is usually used to remove your scent while hunting in the woods but it will work just as well for this. Last, I put all my clothes back on and climb out.
We arrive home to find both Nick's parents waiting for him at the kitchen table.
"Nick, we need to talk to you." Carroll says. He steps into the kitchen and lightly sits at the table. "We appreciate all the money you've been making but we think it's about time you start keeping it for yourself. We've payed off a few debts and have enough to last until spring.
"Mmm." Vincent grunts in agreement while repairing the cover on one of the books.
"Okay!" Nick beams. Carroll smiles gently back and wraps him in an embrace.
"Make sure to take care of yourself, I don't want anything to happen to you. We're very proud of you and we love you very much."
"I love you too." Nicks wiggles happily in the arms of his mother.
The day ends pleasantly with Nick reading while I do my share of meditation. I can't get over the odd texture of the seal. I move my mind back and forth, across the fixture and try to grasp the shape. It's different than I remember, I think. It's hard to say for sure without being able to see it.
I check our status again before going to bed.
Niccolo Drake lv 15
Patron: God of knowledge
Job: Commoner lv 1
Possible jobs: Spearman
Skills: Heat Resistance lv 1, Thrust lv 1
Titles:
Unassigned points: 80
Health: 109/109 (+45)
Stamina: 160/160 (+31)
Vitality: 64 (+45)
Strength: 66 (+24)
Agility: 32 (+6)
Endurance: 90 (+31)
Resilience: 73 (+56)
Perception: 38 (+35)
Mana Capacity: 0
Mana Bandwidth: 0
Processing power: 9 (+9)
In one month we've made considerable progress on our stats. My strength has still risen considerably due to the metal rings even though we haven't been lifting weights. I'm sure the increased resilience will come in handy but I'm most excited about the increased Perception stat. With Nick meditating during the day and me at night, we've been able to greatly outstretch Sakura and Josh in this particular area. My senses have grown to the point that I'm easily overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of the people on the streets. I take in multiple conversations while I walk and it gets to the point that I can't even hear myself think. Hopefully my processing power starts going up faster so I can deal with all the information more easily.
Today is a patrol day and I'm looking forward to spending time with the fairies. The leaves are beginning to change color and a chill breeze pierces through the cracks in our armor. We enter the woods as usual but I don't see the familiar glow of the fairies fluttering about.
"Hello?" I call into the darkness.
"Hello? Who are you calling for?" A girl and a man in plate armor walk out from behind some trees. The girl is not wearing any armor but looks vaguely familiar.
"We're on patrol from the guild. Are you new members?"
"Who were you just calling to?" She presses.
"I need to report any suspicious activity to the guild that may incite the Mankas." I reply, dodging her question.
"You weren't talking to us though."
"Who else would I have been talking to?"
BOOM
She frowns and opens her mouth to respond when an explosion suddenly blares over head.
Immediately, the Arboritum Ants begin poring out from their catacoumbs within the trees.
"Run!" I shout.
The armored man roughly picks the girl up on his shoulder and flies out of the forest; we're not far behind. A few ants manage to bite at our ankles but we swat them off before they can eat too deeply into our health points and begin causing physical damage.
We break out of the treeline to find the handful of adventurers in the area all running back to town; we follow suit. As we're running, a thick green mist fills in across the ground like a rising tide. It burns when it touches our skin. With no other option, we keep moving even as our health quickly depletes.
I look around and see two groups of men standing on poorly made platforms who seem to be the source of the mist. Their armor reminds me of those I saw by the carriage on one of my first days in this world, the ones Nick mentioned were different from the knights he'd seen in town.
As we approach the town, the mist fades and I can see the burns bubbling up our feet.
"Hurry, my dad has potions to help with burns!" Sakura says and drags Josh along with her. I stop and look out over the plains in front of the forest. Piles of dead ants are building as their companions march a top their corpses. I burn the image into my mind before running after the pink-haired girl.
Jacques is quick to gather the necessary potions and lathers our legs with the cooling liquid. I just lay back, staring up at the ceiling. Jezabel surely knows about this already, or the other adventurers will have told her about it soon enough. The question is what should we do. The invasion has begun early. I thought we had until next spring but the Duke's troops are already here.
The three of us rest in Sakura's family's potion shop, called the Jacques's potions, for an hour until we heal up some, and then head back to the guild. I need to figure out what is going on.
A crowd has formed around the front door. A displeased murmur pervades the air. Four heavily armored soldiers stand guard, two on either side of the entrance. I squeeze through the crowd to get a closer look; for once my small stature works out to my benefit in a way that doesn't involve crawling through sewage.
"Let us in! You have no right to block the door!" Tucker shouts from the front of the crowd.
Woosh
A halberd blade appears at his throat.
"One more step, mutt, and it's your head." The tallest guard growls.
"Hey, lower your weapon! If you hurt him I'll have the guild sanction the Duke's territories." A human guild employee emerges from the throng of people and swats down the weapon.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to back up. The Duke is conversing with the Guild Master and will be out shortly." The tall guard says in an even tone.
"I don't care what he's doing this is an affront to the sovereignty of the guild!"
"Sir, please."
"I-"
Bang
The door swings open violently and an important looking man in shining armor walks out while flanked by several guards. The crowd goes silent. The men at the door fill in behind him as he leaves without saying a word. Everyone holds their breath until the troop turns a corner.
"Fuck those guys." One person says.
"Yeah, I wish they would have tried something." Says another. I've found it's important for the male ego to say dumb shit like this.
The mob angrily bustles into the guild and I move back out of the way. Josh and Sakura walk up when they see me.
"What the hecky was that about?" Sakura scowls cutely. "Don't smile at me like that."
"Sorry," I chuckle and step inside. The crowd who entered before us has drifted off to the side, avoiding their usual positions around the bar. I look forward and see the reason. Jezabel is standing in the middle of the hall, fuming. She seems to only have frustrating conversations with Nobles. I can only imagine the entitlement they must feel in a world with superhuman abilities and magic.
I walk over to the Guild Master and stand off to her side while she seethes. Her eyes are wide as if to drill a hole through the wall and shoot down the man already half way across town.
"Out. Side." She says through clenched teeth. I walk in her footsteps and motion at the kids with my head to follow. When we step through the door to the courtyard, Jezabel turns to the pile of equipment and begins strapping weights to herself as opposed to standing boredly by the track as she orders us around. We silently follow suit as to not have her rage pointed our direction.
While we may have on a little over one hundred pounds, Jezabel appears to be sinking into the dirt from all the weight attached to her. She even pulls out some devices I've never seen before and puts them on her ankles. Her feet sink down several inches at first but suddenly stop as if the weight disappeared.
'Wow, Anchoring! I've never seen it before.'
I shake my head to signal to Nick that I have no idea what he's talking about.
'Anchoring is a skill that allows you to utilize incredible bursts of power and speed without worrying about the surface below you. It increases the coefficient of friction in the material to temporarily solidify it. I've heard you can even run on water and air if you get the level of the skill high enough.'
It sounds like an incredibly practical skill. I was always bothered by shows where the characters are exerting many tons of force on the ground while fighting and the earth below them is treated as an immutable surface. With this skill, it sounds like that's exactly how it will be.
Jezabel doesn't give us any direction but we still work ourselves to the bone in case she's just waiting for an excuse to take her emotions out on us. I don't know what her stats are but watching her train is like comparing myself to a superhero; she moves with seemingly little effort while doing things I could only dream of. This world is so much wider than I could imagine.