Glenn awoke with a start. He knew his time was short. If those were dragons and in two out of three nearby caves the real question was where is the other parent? He couldn't shake the feeling that he was forgetting something. He had to set it aside for now though. He began hurriedly putting everything back into his inventory quickly and quietly he repacked the camping box but kept the potion boxes out so he wouldn’t have to dig back through it to get to them. Putting them back in his inventory without the boxes. They showed as individual potions. Calling one up at a time he saw that it worked as he expected, letting him call the bottle straight to his hand. He then called up the dagger, bow and lighter fluid.
“Plan ‘C’ it is.” He said while he grabbed his stick and broke it into smaller branches. Taking one piece he grabbed some dried moss he had found around the cave. He noticed as he did that the stone was gouged with massive rents by what he assumed were dragon claws. He hadn’t noticed it before because the three foot furrows were outside what he had expected from his previous life. Making him think that it was just an odd cave feature not the marks of a three story lizard.
He wrapped the moss around the stick. Taking some cloth from the left sleeve of his now equipped course cloth tunic. and tied it to it. After filling the lighter he doused the cloth in lighter fluid at the cave entrance and lit it up.
The grass was green near the cave but much drier in the forest he gave the torch a good throw it went thirty feet into the forest before striking a tree and falling into a pile of leaves left over from last fall. The leaves took some time but eventually the fire caught. Once it did though, the underbrush began to burn fiercely. The shrieks of anger from the forest were immediate as hundreds of birds took to the skies darkening the ground almost as much as the smoke.
Waiting for the smoke to get thick and black Glenn dropped into a stealthy position his new instincts kicking in. While hugging the cliff face that opened into his cave he began sneaking away.
“I know this is dangerous” He thought to himself while tying a bit more cloth, wetted in the cave, around his nose and mouth to help keep the smoke out. “But if I stay here I am pretty sure I am dead. I know the direction to go to a city. It isn’t too far, a few days hike at most. From his dream it seemed like the beasts were weaker near the town. Also it looked like the adventurers patrol to kill monsters from time to time. I may get lucky.” And then the first message came in.
“Level 1 forest roc slain” 25 EXP granted.
“Level 2 forest roc slain” 50 EXP granted.
“Level 1 forest roc slain” 25 EXP granted.
“Level 29 forest roc slain” 1000 EXP granted.
“Level 1 forest roc slain” 25 EXP granted.
“Level 1 forest roc slain” 25 EXP granted.
By the time all was said and done Glenn had got the kill credit for over thirty Forest Rocs. Granting a total of 10275 EXP and bringing him to level 8. The levels came fast and hard he barely noticed the level he had gained last night but this time the impact was swift and severe.
Glenn fell to his knees gasping as his eyes itched and his skin writhed, his body felt like it was on fire. The worst though was the head splitting headache. It passed mercifully quickly leaving him sweating in the fetal position. Slowly he got back to his feet. First he noticed that a full quarter of his HP bar was missing. He thought of his stats and realized he had gained a lot.
Stats
Strength 14
Agility 19
Perception 24
Intelligence 19
Endurance 19
Vitality 14
Free points 8
Was the pain because his max HP had increased? Looking at the bar it was missing more then a quarter. Not having numeric values for HP, MP and SP or health points, mana points and stamina points respectively made it hard to tell. “I never thought I would be happy for an experience penalty. If that was full experience I probably would be out again for the third time.
"I don’t even know how long I have been here it seems like only a few hours. It could have been days though depending on how long I was out each time.”
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Seeing the free points and knowing that Stealth was his only tool he put five points into agility. He felt like his muscles were becoming leaner, more tone. His movements felt more precise and just quicker. Not faster exactly, but snappier. The last points he put into intelligence hoping it would increase his mana. The headache came back duller but still debilitating. This time though he noticed his MP drop by an appropriate amount, around 10%
“If this happens every time I may just stay dumb if I can help it.” Glenn thought bitterly. “I have to keep going before the smoke thins too much to cover me.” With that he began sneaking away again this time the movement was much quicker, his steps more sure. Soon he had put a good distance between him and the cave. His [Map] showed that he was nearing the outer edge of the forest. Still using [Stealth] he picked up the pace. occasionally Glenn would feel a drain on his mana. Like his mind became a bit more dull. WHen that happened Gleen would find something to hide behind.
"Well at least that gives me a warning when I am being observed." Glenn said under his breath. Like that he continued through the forest.
When he thought he should only be a mile or so from where the plains meet the forest he heard a loud feminine scream. Without thinking he ran towards the sound leaving [Stealth]. After just a minuet he arrived in a clearing. A camp site in the middle with a tent caught his attention. Behind the tent was a short, thin person in a set of leather and plate armor. The helmet covering most of the persons features except a few locks of auburn hair poking out of the bottom. Across the tent between Glenn and the other person, was a snake at least fifteen foot long and with a rattlesnake rattle larger than a maraca. Glenn conjured his bow and drew an arrow to the string the short bow, much easier to pull then it was yesterday. He loosed the arrow and watched as it flew right over the head of the other person. This grabbed their attention nicely almost like he had planned it. Glenn and the snake locked eyes as he drew another arrow. The other person took cover behind a tree. The snake turned to face him. He loosed the next arrow this time he had a bit better feel and only missed by one foot as the snake slithered straight at him. Walking backward while nocking another arrow, the snake cut the distance between them in half. He loosed the arrow. The snake slithering was hard to hit but his arrow struck the rattle knocking it clean off. The snake reared back in pain, blood seeping from where the rattle met body. Another arrow nocked and drawn. The snake was almost on him now as he loosed the arrow. The snake lunging to strike him, venom dripping off of its foot long fangs, swallowed the arrow, It exited the back of its throat cleanly severing the spine. The snake fell limp.
Level 10 Rattleconda slain 200 EXP granted.
The other person seeing the snake fall came out from behind the tree. “Are you alright.” She asked loudly, the voice clearly the same as the previous scream he had heard. They both began walking toward each other. She removed her helmet letting her waist length hair fall freely. She then tucked it behind her long pointed ears. “Thank you for coming to help. I hate snakes.” She said. Reaching out a hand in what could only be a universal greeting. Glenn took her hand. “I’m Glenn.” He stated. “I heard the scream and didn’t really think just came.”
“Alica.” She said in reply. “I am a new adventurer I was out here to get my first kill. The monsters here are normally weak you don’t often see a Rattleconda this close to the edge of the forest. The forest fire most have drove it out.” She said indicating the smoke in the distance.
“I am just glad to see another person. I have been lost in the woods for a few days now. I was running from the fire myself. Do you think you could help lead me back to town?” Glenn lied slightly.
“Well I was going to stay here until I gained a level or two.” Alica said “With the fire though we probably should go back to the guildhall and report in. “Are you an [Archer] ?” Something about the way she said archer made it clear it was a class. Like the words carried extra meaning and when Glenn thought of it he was aware of the basics of the class.
“No I am a [Scout].” He replied. Then realized that either he was a bad archer going off that first arrow or a bad scout judging by the fact that he was so lost it became his subclass. Either way was not flattering. The thought made him chuckled. Understand the joke Alica laughed too. Glenn noticed that when he said [Scout] it felt the same as when Alica had said [Archer]. What a weird world.
“A lost [Scout] and a helpless [Knight] we make quite the pair.” Alica commiserated. “I think I have had enough excitement too. Would you give me a hand packing up my camp?”
“I would be happy too.” Glenn said as they walked over to start taking down the tent. “How far are we from town?” Glenn asked more to double check the distances on the Map than anything else.
“About a day or so walking for us. Assuming you aren’t over level 25 that is.” She said with a look when she saw him shake his head slightly she looked back at her work.
“Level eight.” Glenn replied “Why would level 25 effect the amount of time?”
“Oh level eight.” Alica said a slightly confused look on her face. “Well level 25 is the first ability selection and most people get a movement ability then. Shouldn’t you know that?” Alica asked gently.
“Oh it must have just slipped my mind.” Glenn replied slightly defensively. “I just have a lot going on today.”
“I see that.” She said laughing “You are kind of a mess I wasn’t going to comment but here.” She handed him a mirror she pulled out of a nearby bag and for the first time he got a look at himself. He hadn’t seen his reflection since arriving. His face was covered in blood caked with dirt. Bare specks of dirty tan skin barely visible. His hair was shorter then he normally wore it and brown. His hair was blonde before he had arrived here. The strangest part though was that this was not his face. This face had sharp features and green eyes. Prior he was a bit more rounded with blue eyes and a much less pronounced nose. Scraping some of the grime off of himself with his last good sleeve. His face was complete different. He had assumed before the other changes to his body were a part of the leveling system and tried not to think about it but now it was clear he was an entirely different person. Glenn dropped the mirror.
