Chapter 38: The Expedition

Chapter 38: The Expedition

Leif didn’t know what to do. Should he do his advancement trial right now? He was currently at the skill threshold and Marcus and Sieg could be gone for a few hours to a few days.

To advance beyond this point you must overcome an advancement trial!

Warning! Advancement trials difficulty is based on your total number of skills. For every skill above a total of 10 difficulty will dramatically increase!Ne/w novel chapters are published at novelhall.com

Current skills: 10!

Warning! Failing an advancement trial may result in the loss of class levels!

Advancement trial may only be attempted while at level 25!

Any experience gained while at level 25 will be banked until trial is completed!

Warning! You are vulnerable while undergoing the advancement trial!

Good luck! Begin advancement trial? Y/N

On one hand he wanted to do it right now. But on the other hand he didn't know how long it would take. On the other, other hand he was alone and it was a good use of time. On the other, other, other hand if he was attacked while undergoing the trial he would only have a few hundred hogs to defend him.

Hundreds of hogs wasn’t an awful defensive strategy...

While he was trying to make up his mind Leif did what he often found himself doing while nervous. Look through his status.

===

Name: Leif Vin

Race: Amber Blight Spriggan

Age: 11

Attributes:

Free: 2

Might: 37

Alacrity: 44

Intelligence: 27

Willpower: 25

Spirit: 33

Charisma: 34 (+50%)

Total Level: 25

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“I’m sorry?” He asked. Not expecting that response.

“Dinner is on the pot, it's the twins night for serving duty. Did they burn the campsite down again?”

“No... Um.” He floundered internally. It would be a lot easier if she just looked up. “I’m not from the camp. Are you with the expedition...?”

“Hmm? By the heavens!” She exclaimed having finished a particularly dirty burgundy undershirt. “It's... It's... Come a little closer, this old woman can’t see very well.”

Leif shuffled uncomfortably in place, then did as she asked.

“Tall, well built. A nice ivory exterior. You know boy, with how our dear coordinator was going on about you I’d imagined you having horns and fire.”

“Ah.” He stopped. “You know of me?”

“Leaf was it? Or Leif, that's a fairly common name in the northern kingdoms is it not?”

“What?”

“With an ‘A’ or an ‘I’?”

“Oh, with an I.”

“I see, we will head off once I’m done here, I wasn’t joking about it nearly being dinner time.”

“You... you want me to come along. Wouldn’t that be a problem?”

“It won’t be a problem if you help this old woman with the rest of the laundry.”

Leif looked over his shoulder to check if he was being pranked. Dozens of pairs of eyes watched him with great interest, but it was the usual animal suspects. He shrugged and joined the old woman. Leif supposed he had more than enough hands to help out.

===

The spriggan carried the basket full of wet, but thoroughly cleaned clothes. The old woman happily chatted away about the time she was told the story by her friend about the time someone had told her that a cat had been rescued from a tree.

Leif didn’t even know the older woman’s name, but as he listened to her ramble on about one topic or another Leif felt he knew far too much already. The spriggan, followed by the animal horde quietly plodded along as she launched into a story about parsnip prices.

What am I doing? He thought to himself.

The old woman was surprisingly spry for her age. She walked and talked without missing a step, and the incline they were climbing was quite steep.

When the tents of the expedition camp finally came into view she was regaling him with a tale of how she correctly timed the imperial markets. But Leif quickly found himself distracted. He also had no idea what she was talking about.

Three dozen people milled around a small clearing. They were all different shapes and sizes, but they wore the same style of clothing as Marcus and Sieg, a well fitted uniform of grey and blue.

The humans gathered around a central fire, bowls in hand. Several loudly chatted about one topic or another.

The spriggan froze, unsure what to do. “Come boy, those clothes won’t carry themselves.” The old lady beckoned. Leif briefly panicked, reflexively opening his system window before calming himself.

Am I really doing this? Should I be doing this? A hundred worries raced through Leif’s mind. But he couldn’t return to what he was by standing still.

He stepped towards the camp.