Ch 100. Arc 2: On the Road

Kaguro

The grass was overgrown on the side of the roads, but not nearly as tall as what I had seen near the edge of the true wilderness, even here well outside of Tromwell, the mana was not nearly as thick, meaning the frontier cities really were doing their job of taming the unlivable wilderness. The kingdom's strategy for finding enough land and food for its people had been one of leapfrogging cities outward, continually pushing the bounds of habitable regions and slowly acclimating the land to a lower mana density, terraforming the world into an  environment more suitable for human life and less fit for monsters.

Peering out from the window alongside Tammy, and Belle, who had their faces nearly pressed against the glass as the carriage continued rolling down the winding dirt road. This was the furthest any of them had been from home and all of their hearts were filled with a strange sense of adventure for having crossed into the unknown. And now that they were a few hours out, the tall grass had finally receded enough to allow sight across the vast and rolling lush plains. 

Every now and then our carriage would stop, a wayward muck rat, or earth golem finding their way across our caravan's path, the soldiers we had hired alongside Bael's own guards making quick work of the poor monsters before we continued on. 

Seeing that we were in for a long journey, I took out several dozen slime and elemental cores, arranging them in a pile on the seat next to me. Intent on contacting the system for questions, trying something that had once ended in failure, I activated them simultaneously and watched as five instantly withered away to dust before stabilizing. Every few seconds another stone losing its luster before turning to dust, indicating to me I probably had no more than two minutes to get my questions in.

"Hello System." I communicated mentally. 

"Oh?! Keaton, what a pleasant surprise!" The grandfatherly voice echoed back in my mind. 

"I'm on a time-limit here, so I need to be quick." 

Listing out the incongruities with the system that I had encountered. The main source that had troubled me was the lack of any kind of defensive class, pretty much every weapon I had used so far had given me a separate class, and yet I always used a shield, so why didn't I have anything to show for it? 

The system pondered, as if it had to think deeply about my question, irritating me as if I watched the stones in my pile deplete over time, one disappearing after the other. 

"Hard to say, to be honest..."

"Aren't you the one granting me the skills, how could you possibly not know?!" Furrowing my brow unhappily. I was about to snap, this was at least five gold I had just eaten up to speak with him. After hiring the soldiers, money was starting to look a bit tight. Not to mention that I still needed to fix my armor and possibly supply the men for all their future gear. It wasn't as if I couldn't earn more, but seeing my stack of coins dwindle down in my inventory made me slightly more conscious about spending money for no gain. 

"Calm down, it's not like I don't have any ideas, it's just a little more complicated than what you're thinking."

"Explain." I prompted.

"The System is intelligent, it interprets your will automatically--"

"Aren't you the System, why do you speak like you're not the one doing it?"

"That's--" System paused, chewing his words. Pausing as if he were trying to find a way to explain. Each second causing me heartache as I watched the pile shrink before my eyes, already half-way gone. 

"Nevermind, just continue where you were."

"Ahem... that's, alright. Classes are rewarded based on your intention. There are other minimum requirements specific to each class, think of it as pre-requisite knowledge or physical characteristics, but ultimately its up to the System to award classes based on what it thinks you are trying to accomplish. If you steal from a shop you become a thief, but take that same item with the intent to eventually give it back or take it by accident, no thief class is awarded. Just having a shield doesn't do anything, it's hard to say what classes exist and which ones don't, but if you don't have any intention when you do something you may never get a class at all."

I looked out the window vacantly, trying to digest what he had just told me.

"Make it simple for me, how do I get defensive abilities."

"Start thinking defensively, and it should reward you appropriately. Classes are collective information, pulled from across billions of users. If it's something that anyone has done before, it should exist." 

"Think defensively..." I muttered, trying to envision just exactly what that would entail. 

"I've enjoyed our conversations. Thank you, Keaton." The system said before winking out of existence as the last stone burned its energy, leaving nothing put a pile of dust.

Once the system had gone quiet, I was left alone to my thoughts; staring wistfully out the window. The terrain changing, the tall grass disappearing over time, replaced by a shorter and greener variety, wildflowers taking over now the sunlight was allowed to reach closer to the ground. Time passing by as Tammy, Belle and I watched the landscape peacefully from our carriage compartment, the sun taking its place high in the sky, indicating it was already past noon. 

Tammy fidgeted with her dress uncomfortably, looking like she had something to say, eventually gathering the courage to ask me.

"Keaton... I need to pick some flowers... can we stop here?" Looking somewhat embarrassed to have to say it. 

It took me a second to realize what she meant, smiling politely before sliding a wood panel behind me to peer out to the front of the carriage, looking at the driver. 

"Stop the cart. We're taking a break." I told him, having to raise my voice a little to prevent my voice being lost in the rumbling of the carriage's wheels and the trotting of horses. The cab driver nodding his head in acknowledgment before giving a shout to the hired soldiers who were riding alongside us.

Further shouts echoing down the caravan chain, and our carriage slowing before coming to a halt. Unlatching the door, and stepping out, stretching my legs as I watched Tammy look for a secluded area away from the caravan. We had no women guards, so ultimately I decided to follow her out, even if it was embarrassing for her. Turning my back and busying myself by actually picking flowers in the meantime, coming back with a small bouquet.

Keaton's Stat Window