048. Crucible - 25

048. Crucible - 25

The rest of the day had passed without anything of note ... however it was fascinating just how easily I started referring to another half a day filled with killing dangerous monsters hungry for human blood, all the while experimenting with a magical effect that created some kind of magical command effect as something not noteworthy. Extraordinary became ordinary in quick order.

Ultimately, that was life.

The assistance of Jertann started to be provided after his promotion and played a significant role in the ease I was experiencing. I had no idea what ability Jertann received, but it was clearly significant, as he could actually take down large beasts while coordinating with the others even without my assistance.

Much to the surprise of the rest of the camp.

I had stayed close for the first few attempts, ready to intervene if things went wrong, but his performance had been satisfactory. He had the ability to take down the beasts in just a few blows, showing that his mysterious ability had increased his combat capabilities significantly.

Which was good, as it allowed me to feel confident to leave the camp when evening arrived.

[Experience: 681,930]

I had managed to gather far more experience than I had been expecting. Most of it still came from my own abilities though I occasionally used Charisma to attract monsters after drifting away from the line, soft enough to avoid notice but a considerable minority came from the others.

Thanks to the lines of connection that Charisma allowed to create.

The line hadn't expanded to a particularly impressive distance, barely covering five people at the same time before the focus of maintaining it turned prohibitive, but I hoped that assigning more points on Charisma would expand the range more.

When the night finally fell, I left the camp. Once again, I used the excuse of resting before changing into a set of spare clothes and leaving the camp this time, I was feeling much more confident, especially with the possession of the magic sword.

That tiger was still frightening, but the presence of the water highway allowed me to feel safer. And hopefully, several hundred archers those that were yet to return from the battle kept the beast sufficiently away.Visit no(v)eLb(i)n.com for the best novel reading experience

As I walked away under disguise which was made even easier by the number of new additions to the camp, especially in the unaffiliated section I couldn't help but wonder at the changes the camp was going through just in a day.

Just earlier the same day, the gangs were extorting the new joiners, but as the evening arrived, they were looking at our section with a mixture of anger and longing, most exhausted after a long day.

A few of them were even bargaining to abandon the gangs and join back the group.

I ignored the mess as I walked away. The whole point of Strengthening Jertann was to keep me away from the mess, and if things went bad, there was always Zolast to help them.

Admittedly, I had to ignore my instincts to do so. Trying to micromanage that mess was tempting, especially in terms of the short-term benefits that it could grant, but I decided against it. The more I acted, the more visible I would become, and that didn't fit with my objectives.

I didn't need people poking around my suspicious presence. The presence of an old, gruff veteran was suspicious enough.

Luckily, Jertann was young and strong, and the more I interacted with him, the more I realized Zolast was mysterious enough. Together, they should be able to create a reasonable story about their strength that kept me only in a supporting role once the young noble returned or, quoting Zolast if he returned.

I took the same path. Follow the riverbank upstream, and kill the beasts on my path. The only exception I made was the speed, unlike the previous attempt where I took a pace that was slower than an ordinary walk, I was running.

With nobles gone and the other camps already away, most of my concerns were gone. And, since tonight the clouds weren't too thick, I would have caught any flying device before they discovered me. The closest was just a glint, and I doubted that they would bother to come down. Even if they did, the river was there as a convenient escape vehicle.

With the magical blade, I was confident in taking down anything smaller than that tiger ... and this time, I was paying much more attention to the other side of the river to avoid such a last-minute disaster. However, I didn't expect to meet with another beast just as strong.

[Level up!]

[Stat Points +10]

"Almost eight hundred thousand experience, and just five levels," I murmured in fascination as I checked the notifications, but that didn't last for long. Something else took my attention.

The ground under my feet started to crack as the Earth rumbled. For a moment, I expected a beast to jump out and attack me. I split my attention between the river and the crack, trying to decide what to do.

That almost cost me everything.

I caught a glint at the cracks, one that sent my skin tingling. I rolled back as fast as I could manage, and halfway in, I felt a sense of hate. It was a subtle, fleeting sensation. I wouldn't have even registered it without Resilience allowing me to pinpoint such intrusions.

Yet, no beast was responsible for it. Just a plume of fire, bursting out of the ground like a miniature volcano.

"Okay, maybe the fear of the beasts isn't the only reason they are strict against leveling," I murmured as I hurriedly threw myself to the river, more afraid of patrols such a show might drag than the creatures in the river.

As I started fighting against the sea monsters once more, I found myself revisiting my assumptions. Leveling was more complicated and dangerous than I had first assumed. This was frustrating, as it meant not only I had to be much more careful, but also I had to change a lot of plans and add Zolast to the mixture more directly.

The only good thing in this mess, I wasn't dealing with that river monster, which allowed me to focus on more immediate needs without distraction.

"Now, how to assign my gains," I thought as I started dealing with the monsters that did their best to surround me but dying easily.

[+10 Vitality]

[+10 Charisma]

[+5 Resilience]

[+5 Agility]

[+5 Perception]

[+5 Strength]

[+2 Memory]

[-42 Stat Points]

In the end, I decided to spread my stats relatively equally, with the only exception of Memory. It was useful, but unless I started to deal with a shocking amount of information, I was willing to keep that lower than the other stats. Naturally, I kept some of the stats free for an emergency, either to assign to physical stats under threat or enhance Charisma; as needed.

Vitality and Charisma, I assigned more than the others. Charisma, because I needed that to increase the speed of my experience gain, Vitality because I needed more Health to make sure I could use Charisma for longer periods not to mention, survivability was useful in a world filled with monsters.

For the rest of the swim, I forced myself to develop a rudimentary control of my Charisma, which was important because I had changed my mind about sticking around at the edge to kill some more monsters.

No, I needed to return to the camp to talk with Zolast.