We ate our breakfast, and while walking in the cold morning streets I took some distance because Helen & Marcy are having their girl talk and I have zero desire to be sucked into that world. Marcy steals a glance every now and then, but it is just her way of teasing me. My buddy Emory and I are sharing a piece of cheese right now. Bros b4 ... Oh. I just remembered. Helen can sense everything these guys can sense. Better not give them a rope to hang me.

Otherwise, the hike to the guild was uneventful. We arrived minutes before request rush. I told the girls to take everything related to plant gathering and easy looking monsters, while I take note of the repeatable quests. I wish I had a way of contacting Shraaizar or the monkeys to ask them to prep stuff beforehand.

Our main hunting target seems to be G-rank wolves and an F-rank "frostworm". This is a worm the size of an adult's forearm, covered in white plates that burrows in loose dirt and snow. A pack of them can wreck a field in two nights. And they have an acidic spit. Short range, but that spray will still hurt. There are lots of medicinal herb requests because people have to stock for winter. It is colder here than in Milfield. It reminds me, I have to send Shraaizar back to the syrup meadow, or she will hibernate.

We take enough quests to raise a rank if we do enough repeatable. Helen is holding my arm, and Marcy playfully grabbed my other arm. I have to look straightforward. Marcy's outfit enhances her attack power too much.

We leave the guild between the envious eyes of the guys, and the hateful eyes of the receptionists. It seems my story has spread between them. Also, the girls kinda betrayed the GM expectations, because their maneuver yesterday just robbed her of the guild's fee on the nominated request. I'm sure that Kareena lass is up to no good, but unless she harms one of the girls, I'm cool with whatever shit she tosses my way. I also have to find Tancred and make him join me. The gender ratio is dropping too fast.

The dirt street outside the guild is littered with equipment, armor and weapon shops. This town seems to be about half as bigger than Milfield, and it connects to five other towns. There are way more merchants and a broader variety of goods. Some urchin came to pickpocket us, but I drove him away with my [Intimidating Presence]. We bought enough supplies for two weeks. And the whole baggage is mine to carry. I'm super strong, it's fine but I really pity Cloude when Marcy dragged him all the way to the edge of the Syrup Meadow.

I guess I was lucky to have drawn [Emperor's Might] after all. I could raise it, but I am saving every resource to adapt going forward. I don't know what I will need, but my time is very short. I am sitting on 47 unspent skill points, and will probably get a handful more levels of villager before my first job change. Maybe even one more racial level. What makes me wonder, what is the girl's levels?

"Hey, girls, what level are you at?"

Helen: "9";

Marcy: "13"

"Isn't it too low?"

"Hey! We are on our third job, Mr. Villager. Don't give us that 'I'll protect you' look. It is gross."

From what I grasped, the job progression for 99% of the people in this world is: Villager -> Apprentice CLASS -> CLASS -> Advanced X-something. People are heavily encouraged to specialize. It is not bad, but I think they could get some side jobs to cover their weaknesses. It seems that down the road, you can get a ton of levels in low tier jobs with the Exp you'd be making. My villager job, for example, went from 1 to 25 while I got only 3 racial levels in the meanwhile. Since my Exp is added to both without splitting, it is something to think about. Even at 1 SP per level, it was worth 5 racial levels.

When I come to myself, we are already outside the gates. The weather is dry, so it hasn't rained for quite some time, and I think if it cools a bit more we might have snow. We ask the guards where are good frostworm spots, but we already have our destination set. This is more of a smoke curtain because I know people will try to gather intel on us.

We gather herbs while going deeper into the woods until lunch time. Helen had the rats spread out and search for herbs around us using her unique magic. She told me her side of the story yesterday, and I was slackjawed. In the distress of saving me from the poison, she awoke a unique magic skill, that has an awesome synergy with the one she always had from birth. She is really at home among plants. I bet she can make flowers grow in the spots she sets foot on if she wants to.

We eat bread with cheese and smoked sausage. Helen brewed some tea using a wild herb, it had a pleasant scent but was bitter.

"Beowulf, show us your special skills. The crate one!" Marcy requests.

"I am very curious to see it! Can you please show it to us?" It is impossible for me to say no to Helen.

I am saving my resources, especially the pemadra points, but I will allow myself this much.

"Ok. I'll get a fancy one out. [Loot Crate Maniac {Prince Skill}]!" 6,000 points used.

A purple magic circle of arcane symbols floats in front of me, descending slowly until the ground. Just before it reaches the ground, its middle becomes pure white, and from it emerges a silver chest about a foot long and six inches tall with gilded inscriptions.

I open the chest and inside there are five skill crystals. Three of them are of an obviously higher quality than the other three. I pick up the crystals, and the chest soon breaks down into shining particles that drift in the wind and vanish.

One of the two crystals with lower quality has small snowflakes moving inside of it. It looks like a snowglobe. It grants [Frost Magic ©]. The other has a glaive etched on its surface. When moved, it makes a melodic swishing sound. Its skill is [Singing Spear Style ©]. The other three shimmer when catching the sunlight. One is in the shape of a kite shield, [Shield Master (B)]. The second is smooth and round, it feels like it can slip out of your grasp at any time: [Full Defense (B)]. The last one shakes slightly and gives an urge to run. It is an [Instant Dash (B)] skill.

I show the crystals to the girls, they gladly pick them and play a little.

"These gems look valuable. Is it some kind of treasure?" As expected of a merchant' daughter, Helen is thinking of the profits.

"No. These crystals are not for sale, they vanish just like the chest they came in after a few days." I tried using skill crystals as currency before, but they vanish in about two weeks after summoned. "They grant me skills when I eat them."

"That seems convenient." Marcy points out. If this shitty skill weren't eating my soul away, I'd be forced to agree.

I explain to them what skill each crystal grants, and promptly eat them.

Skill Frost Magic (D) level 1 awakened.

Spell {Snowball Throw} learned. Skill Full Defense (B) level 1 awakened. Skill Instant Dash (B) level 1 awakened. Skill Singing Spear Style [C] level 1 awakened.

Technique {Whistling Double} learned. Skill Shield Master (B) level 1 awakened.

"Hey, try out that spell you learned. I've never seen ice magic before." Helen is very curious.

I focus my mind on the spell. Some cold air gathers around my hand and my abysmal villager MP drains fully. Some small ice particles and snowflakes form and gather in the middle, growing into a floating snowball. It grows to the size of a ping-pong ball. I point at a tree and chant "[Snowball Throw]!" The snowball is propelled from my hand, travels two feet and plops on the ground, just like some children's ice cream scoop that refuses to remain on top of the cone.

"How pathetic." I feel the world swaying. "What is going on? I'm dizzy."

"This is MP exhaustion. You went out of mana. Looks like you had no mana left to accelerate the snowball."

Marcy approaches the snowball and pokes it with a stick. "Also looks like useless as an attack spell."

"Maybe if you get a bigger MP pool you will be able to get a better result than this.."

I sit down and spend some ten minutes catching my breath.

Marcy hurriedly approaches us and whispers. "Stay on your toes, guys. There is... something... closing on us."

I trigger [Presence Detection]. Broad range. "Six presences... of people." I steel my resolve and put my mind in combat mode. First get up, then pick up my spear.

"Three on each side. It is a pincer attack." Marcy reaches the same conclusion as me.

"Stay close to me, you two. I'll cover for you. Marcy, try to hit their arms if they are ranged combatants or mages, or their legs if they are close quarters. Helen, use barrier magic and heal yourself and Marcy if you need it."

"And you?"

"I'll take one side out on my own."