The first thing that I needed to do was to run with all of my might. As soon as I left the city, I took the road to the east, sprinting with all of the power in my legs. Thanks to the meal that Ennolf prepared, I didn’t have to worry about running out of energy with basic exercise, but exerting myself like this was another matter.
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Stamina has increased! |
Right… that is what I had been aiming for before. In my initial training, I had two goals. The first was to increase my base stats through arduous training, hopefully managing to keep up with the players’ rate of growth. Stats were able to increase in the same way as skills were, though the process was considerably harder. You didn’t just have to do something, you had to push yourself to the limits of your abilities.
The other aspect that I had been aiming for before was to get skills that I could evolve into powerful abilities. If I did these two things together, I thought that I would be able to protect myself from players.
After talking with Ennolf and Nuoda, and helping them to understand things, I simultaneously came to an understanding myself. Training my basic stats by mindlessly swinging my sword in the open wouldn’t get me anything more than a sore arm. However, when it came to skills…
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New Skill Acquired! Sprint (Martial – 3☆): Slightly increases Agility. Mana Burden: 0/sec. Level: 1(0%) |
The moment I acquired the skill, a small smile appeared on my face, and I immediately activated it. I could feel the increase to my speed, though it wasn’t all that much. At most, I could compare to a player that had gone through a couple of level ups.
Still, I pushed myself to run faster, seeing myself passing by the players roaming the meadows outside the city. The monsters in the immediate area had been cleared, but they were still waiting around. Others, I could see up ahead traveling along the road, but they were taking a more sedate pace.
I ran past them all, causing them to stumble back in shock. The sight of a half-orc like myself sprinting down the dirt road was no doubt a surprise to many people, but I couldn’t allow myself to slow down.
What I didn’t tell Nuoda and Ennolf was that toggle skills aren’t channeled in the normal way. Instead, they are channeled by performing an action that matches the skill. The normal effects of channeling toggles like this are increased skill experience and increased skill effect. A remarkable example was Diane. Even though she had a trait that made her more noticeable, her presence all but disappeared the moment that she used the Sneak skill. This wasn’t because of the skill, but how she moved while using it. That was her method of subconsciously channeling the skill.
Similarly, I could channel the Sprint skill by… well, sprinting. After less than three minutes, I received a notification that the skill had leveled up again, though my legs were also starting to give out. Not wanting to deal with an injury, I slowed myself to a halt, though I kept the skill active, and even activated the Sneak skill once I was no longer running.
This was my advantage, being able to maintain multiple skills for as long as I wanted. Even if I wasn’t ‘channeling’ them and they just sat in the background, they would passively gain experience as long as they were active.
Once I had come to a stop, I reached a hand up to wipe the sweat from my brow, my breath coming in deep, ragged bursts. Because of how fast I was moving, there were hardly any players within line of sight of me. Of course… that wasn’t to say that there weren’t any, and those that were around were fighting the nearby monsters.
I let myself catch my breath, allowing my passive regeneration restore my stamina. Although I hadn’t allowed it to get to the point of becoming an ‘exhaustion’ injury, I could feel that it was getting close. About… two minutes to fully recover… so it would probably be five if I were to push it until I collapsed.
I waited until I was no longer sweating, and my breathing was normal. Once my legs felt like they had recovered, I started sprinting again. I immediately felt the Sneak skill dropping, because I had made too much noise and sudden movement, but that was fine. I could gain experience for that skill later.
Once again, I ran until my Sprint skill leveled up, though this time I wasn’t able to avoid injury. I had pushed myself until I received not only ‘Exhaustion’, but also ‘Torn Tendons’. My legs felt like they were on fire, and I had to pull myself to the side of the road to rest. This time, I couldn’t see any more players around me.
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Stamina has increased! |
I chuckled, realizing that this method was actually leveling up my stamina faster than my sword practice had. Though, it hadn’t increased my agility for some reason. I was certain that I had been pushing my speed… was it because I was using a skill to do it?
Between gaining stat points through running normally, or skill experience by having Sprint activated, I would rather get the skill experience. Besides, I might have misjudged the reason. Perhaps there was just a higher threshold, and I hadn’t pushed myself that far yet.
While I was thinking about that, I opened my character sheet, both to check my stats and the timers on my injuries. Five stars for stamina now? I smiled to myself, before letting out a sigh. It’ll take another six minutes before I fully recover…
Thankfully, I was still on the road, so there weren’t many monsters within line of sight. Although I could make out a few stone sprites nearby, they were only basic earth elementals. Unless you antagonized them, they had no instinct to attack others. These types of creatures were those we called ‘beasts’, rather than ‘monsters’. Monsters were creatures who innately wanted to hunt and kill anyone that they came across, while beasts were just there.
If there are stone sprites here, this should be a safe region. I nodded to myself, laying back on the grass and closing my eyes. While controlling my breathing, I turned my Sneak skill back on and started counting down the time to let my body recover.
My eyes snapped open to the sound of crackling fire in the distance, looking up to see that the sky had turned dark. I sat up abruptly, cursing myself for falling asleep on the side of the road. Why did nobody wake– I cut off that thought as I remembered that I had reactivated my Sneak skill to gain experience with it. I opened my character page once again, checking to see if I had gained any progress…
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Sneak (Utility – 5☆): Allows the user to avoid the gazes of others. Mana Burden: 0/sec. Level: 8(13%) |
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Sprint (Martial – 4☆): Slightly increases Agility. Mana Burden: 0/sec. Level: 4(72%) |
I gained eight levels in sneak while sleeping? I asked myself in shock, my eyes going wide. Did sleeping count as a way of channeling the Sneak skill, since I was spending a lot of time still and quiet? As for my Sprint skill, I had only managed to gain a single level with it, but that was fine. Progress was progress, right?
Unfortunately, the fact that I had fallen asleep on the road meant that I wouldn’t be allowed back in the city for the night. It would be one thing if I was a player, or even an active chosen, but NPCs and fallen had to abide by the normal rules.
If that’s the case, I need to take care of some things. I thought to myself, looking around. What woke me up was the crackling of fire. Personally, I was unfamiliar with the monsters in this territory. Several types of creatures only came out at night, and those were the ones that often created trouble for travelers.
It didn’t take me long to spot the source of the fire, seeing a small group of three goblins wearing rags. My eyes twitched wider when I looked at these creatures. Goblins weren’t just monsters, but they were a type of ‘demon’. Demons were races that sided with monsters in exchange for greater power, like goblins or ogres. Goblins were, admittedly, the weakest demon race, and often used as cannon fodder or scouts.
Goblins also led to a lot of discrimination, because some people said that they looked like a half-blood born from an orc and a halfling. I mean, really? Look how scrawny they are. How could you think that had any relation to an orc?
I let out a huff of determination as I stood, drawing my bastard sword. These goblins were probably not related to the main demon army, and were likely just part of a local tribe. Still, they would let me gain some much-needed combat experience.
As I approached, the three goblins didn’t seem to notice me, even when their torches should have clearly illuminated my figure approaching from the side. I could only credit this to the upgrades in my skill. A small smile spread across my face as I watched them walk by, chittering to each other. Unsurprisingly, I couldn’t understand the demon tongue.
I took a deep breath, lifting my arm up before slashing down to split open the skull of the first goblin. No matter how clueless they were, the brief cry and the sickening crunch alerted the other two, who immediately turned to pull out chipped daggers.
With my stealth broken, I stared down at the duo, my body illuminated by their torches. The one on the left jumped forward first, plunging his dagger at my thigh. Calmly, I stepped to the side, having been expecting an attack like that, while keeping my eye on the one to the right.
Just as his partner failed his first attack, he lunged as well. He jumped up, aiming to pierce my chest. Okay, that was a surprise. I wasn’t expecting it to jump like that. My eyes widened, and I stumbled back, hastily bringing my sword up to defend.
No matter how I looked at it, I had the advantage in strength over a pair of unaffiliated goblins, right? The goblin landed against the flat of my sword, clinging to it with one hand while its leg landed on my arm, using it for purchase to swing at me again. I hissed as the dagger cut into my forehead, and then felt a jolt of pain from the back of my leg as the other came in for its second attack.
My gaze went red, and I roared. I brought my arm down, smashing the goblin leaning against it into the floor while cutting open its chest. Then, I turned to face the other, who jumped back in fright. My sword still bloodied, I turned and threw the now-dead goblin at his ally, before running the two through together on the blade.
After a moment, when I felt myself calming down, I brought a hand up to touch my forehead, wincing slightly. My bandana had been cut apart just now, and blood was gushing down my face. However, I was relieved that it wasn’t immediately lethal. At the very least, I’d survive long enough for my regeneration to kick in and heal me. The same could be said for the injury on my leg, though it would be best not to move it for a while.
As I sat down, I collected the loot from the three goblins, and clicked my tongue when all I got was eight copper coins. I shook my head in resignation, though was pleasantly surprised when a new window appeared.
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New Skill Acquired! Sneak Attack (Martial – 5☆): Increases critical damage when attacking from stealth. Mana Burden: 0. Level: 1(0%) |
Sneak attack, huh? I thought to myself, before thinking of Diane. She did say that she would pay me if I received any new stealth related skills. Though, with how good she was at sneaking already, it’d be a surprise if she didn’t have it. Still, there was no harm in trying, so I opened my friend window to send her a message, seeing that she was online.
Almost immediately, I got back a response. There was only a single word and an image attached. Trade? The image attached was a book with a faint glow, the words ‘Fire Bolt’ written on it.
I couldn’t help but curse my luck. If I had been able to cast magic, that would be a great deal. I was sorely lacking the ability to fight at range right now. Though… How did you get that? I wrote back in a response.
Mutated Fire Wolf. Her answer was as brief as ever, though it made my eyes go wide. Mutated monsters could indeed have skills like that, even if they were only mutated from basic wolves. However, they’d be the equivalent of local bosses. How did she kill that thing without getting Sneak Attack? Or… did she challenge something too high level, so it saw through her stealth?
Although I couldn’t cast the spell myself, I still agreed to the trade. At the very least, I could give it to Nuoda to help her with her magic training. I’m not in town right now. I’ll be at the east gate in the morning.
After I sent that message, what I didn’t expect was her response. On my way. On her way? Where? Was she planning to run out of the city and charge down the road to complete the trade? Though… knowing her, probably.
