Name:

Jarek

Level:

13

HP:

23/23

Physical Defense:

14 (+4)

Strength:

17 (+2)

Mental Power:

11

Dexterity:

10

Agility:

10 (+4)

Perception:

12

Mana Pool:

31 (+1)

Mana Regeneration:

15 (+1)

Available Points:

0

Coins:

66,440

Class:

Mana Modulator (D-rank)

Profession:

None

Titles:

Skills and Spells:

Identify (F-rank)

Mana Modulation (D-rank Core)

Death’s Defier (A-rank)

Affinities:

Internal Mana (D-rank Low)

Equipment:

Mana-infused Knife (F-rank): +1 Mana Pool, +1 Mana regen.

Orc Helmet (F-rank): +2 Physical Defense

Orc Breastplate (F-rank): +2 Physical Defense

Orc Boots (F-rank): +2 Agility

Orlan Blade (E-rank): +2 Strength, +2 Agility

Interdimensional Pouch (E-rank):

Samantha said, once I finished allocating my free point.

This time, following Samantha’s recommendation, I had put the point towards Physical Defense. As the time between each level-up increased, I needed to be more and more cautious of taking any damage at all. And Physical Defense wasn’t just a damage limiter—it also affected the rate of health regeneration.

Overall, I couldn’t help but feel some pride at how my Status Window was shaping up. Especially when I looked at the number of coins that I had gained so far.

“Are you sure?” I asked, as I stabbed my sword into the chest of an approaching roc. “The leveling speed here is good.”

Samantha said. and you’ll gain Perception at a faster rate.>

I shrugged, sheathed my sword, put mana into Strength, and then leapt as high as I could.

I wedged my hands and feet into the hexagonal patterns in the bark, and started climbing the Yanir tree.

A few monsters tried to attack me as I was climbing but most of them held back as they realized that I was leaving the area.

As I climbed up, I called down to Ethan, “The blood is thicker up here!”

Besides his crazed mantras, Ethan still hadn’t spoken to me. But we’d fought for at least an hour next to each other, and we had both benefited from not attacking each other. He wouldn't be my first pick of a teammate, but he was effective when it came to killing the rocs and bats.

I didn’t wait for Ethan—he would come up if he wanted to. Meanwhile, I had to climb to the next level of this massive tree before getting skewered by a roc or something.

“Good, you’re here,” River said, glancing down at my head. I quickly climbed up to her level.

Kris and Darrel were standing close together on one branch. Darrel’s back was pressed against the trunk of the Yanir tree, holding on to the unconscious body of a griffin.

“Cover me. I need to recover my mana,” River said. She was standing on her own branch a few feet away from the tree’s trunk, but she gestured to me to take her spot, as she retreated back towards the Yanir tree.

“Alright,” I said. I had been hoping for a bit more teamwork, but whatever.

The griffins were not nearly as numerous as the bats or the rocs. However, I could tell at a glance that they were even more dangerous.

It wasn’t just that their average level was 35. They had sharper, more dexterous claws. The combination of lion’s paws for their rear legs and eagle legs for their front legs meant they could run and leap as well as fly. Their wings allowed for agile twists and turns in the air, and their lion’s fur provided a thick, matted defense.

Four of them charged at me at once, when I took River’s place, and the battle began.

I rushed forward, directly into the griffin ahead of me. The other three griffins banked in the air, adjusting their dive towards me. The griffin directly ahead of me tried to avoid my blade, but I followed its trajectory. I stabbed its neck, killing my first griffin.

+200 coins

No wonder Samantha wanted me to fight the griffins. The payout was more than twice as much…

I was already turning, dodging the best I could to escape the beak of one of the other attacking griffins. I took a light gash to my arm from one monster's claws, as I raised my dagger and slashed the throat of a fourth griffin.

Everything was moving so fast I had no idea what I was doing, or which griffins I was even attacking, as I followed Samantha’s combat shadow.

+200 coins

“Fall back! I need to meditate!” River called, in a slightly annoyed tone.

I realized, then, that I was about ten feet away from River and the trunk of the tree.

I retreated back to the trunk, and River crouched on her branch and closed her eyes.

Protecting River meant my options of dodging were much more limited, which meant I ended up taking more damage than I wanted.

But I managed to hold the branch for a few minutes, and then River joined the battle again, claiming her own branch.

Any griffin that approached her would be incinerated—either by a fireball, or by her own flaming hands.

Meanwhile, Kris and Darrel held their own branch. Kris and I would pass Darrel an unconscious griffin whenever we could, and Darrel would drain the griffin’s health and replenish ours.

We hit our rhythm, and I let myself sink once again into my killing fugue. Each move became reflexive, and I lost track of the number of griffins that died at my hands.

When the sky first started to lighten, the flocks of griffins finally started dwindling.

At some point over the course of the night, Ethan had joined us in our battle against the griffins. Darrel hadn’t been too happy, grumbling about his incessant need for healing.

It wasn’t until the first shaft of light struck the Yanir tree that I noticed that some of the flowers were starting to close up.

I followed Samantha’s combat shadow reflexively, running down the length of one of the branches, slicing and gathering each of the Yanir tree’s flowers that was still open. Once my left hand was full of flowers, I would stuff them into my pouch. It seemed like Samantha had given up on keeping the pouch a secret.

As I ran, I could see a violent, angry red pus and stench appear from where I plucked each flower.

“Jarek, stop!” River shouted, as I collected as many flowers as I could before they closed.

Samantha said, guiding me towards the next branch of flowers to pluck.

I continued running in an orderly pattern—never passing over the same area twice, because my gut told me the vivid red pus coming from the tree was deadly.

I heard an angry roar above me. Glancing up, I could finally make out the creature that had claimed the highest branches of the Yanir tree—a wyvern.

The wyvern was basically a dragon. Wings, claws, scales, and a mouth that was open, about to breath something directly at me.

The wyvern roared again, releasing a sickly green gas from its mouth like a pressurized jet of air that billowed towards me.

I immediately jumped down off the branch I was standing on.

I didn’t try to land on the level below me.

Instead, at Samantha’s suggestion, I put all my floating Mana Regeneration points towards my Physical Defense, and I readied myself to land on the ground level of the rainforest.

I avoided the branches on the level that held the rocs, but the level that held the panthers and snakes was essentially a floor in itself. I tore through the floor as I fell, grabbing slightly at the branches so I could slow my descent.

When I hit the ground, my knees immediately caved, and I turned the fall into a roll.

I struggled to my feet, but before I could run, the world around me shimmered, and I found myself in a completely different setting.

I was in an open-air theater, surrounded by other people—humans.

I didn’t recognize anyone around me.

Everyone around me had their weapons drawn, confused, as they glanced around them. I could see some familiar goblin and orc armor on many of the people around me. Swords, wands, staffs, axes, bows, knives—every single person here was armed and dangerous.

“What the fuck was that?!” I shouted, amid the clamor of voices around me. “Are you trying to get me killed?”

The man who had appeared next to me raised his hands placatingly, stepping backwards with a tense expression on his face.

Samantha said.

But what about everybody else? They could all be dead right now! River, Darrel, Kr—

Samantha said, sounding surprised.

What the fuck is wrong with you? You could at least come up with a better lie, I thought back, clenching the sword in my hand in anger.

Samantha said, as if that was it.

Stop making dangerous plays, I thought—commanded—towards Samantha. If you ever want to earn back the slightest bit of my trust, then I swear you’ll need to listen to me now. I’m still Jarek. I don’t want to kill innocent people for my own personal gain. I don’t care about the coins, I don’t care about the levels, I just want to find my family again.

There was a long pause after that.

Samantha responded, slowly, with a tinge of regret in her voice.

Quoting Ethan did not help your case.