Chapter 61 Project "Settlement -> Village" (1)

"Pagan, grab a few of the leaflings and help me load them up on the elevator over there," Lucius ordered, pointing at the leaflings that were unconscious.

p "You guys should head up as well, Pagan and I will be leaving camp for a bit so it won't be safe to wander around," he said to the few that were currently surrounding him.

"What about her?" one of the leaflings asked, gesturing towards the insectoid that was currently scurrying a few meters away, in search of what Lucius assumed was food.

"

~That was quite easy,~ he thought to himself as he got up to the tree camp in just three hops.

He quickly picked up the remaining few on the ground before Pagan could even load them on the elevator, and dropped them in the tree base.

"Am I faster than before?" he wondered, checking his player stats.

[Lucius Elwood ]

[Level 4: 0/400]

[Leaf Being [Guardian] lvl.15- [155/1500]]

[Agility: 462 ]

[Strength: 750][Capped]

[Stamina: 712>716]

"Apart from the increase in level, It's all still the same. So why do I feel like everything has increased?"

He had thought that his stats determined his physical capabilities, but it seemed that they acted as more of a multiplier to his size. Everything felt way too light, too fragile. It felt as if he could completely splatter a leafling with just a simple tug.

~Interesting,~ he thought before ordering Pagan to grab the sleds.

"Isn't there a way of doing this with magic?" Pagan asked as he reluctantly grabbed the sleds from the supplies area.

"All of them," Lucius said once Pagan only returned with two.

"All of them?" Pagan replied in an exasperated tone, before collecting the rest. His stats were so low, that even carrying all ten of the sleds looked like quite the workout for him, which was what Lucius had hoped for.

In actuality, Pagan wouldn't even be that much of a help to him on the trip, as he didn't plan on using the sleds to carry the rocks back anyway.

But he wanted Pagan to gain some stamina and strength during the trip, as he would be the camp's only line of defense when he was out on his dark forest quest. So after loading a few vines on the sleds, they set off.

*

"Come on, pick up the pace," Lucius shouted out as he jumped from tree to tree, hopping around Pagan in circles as they carried on their journey.

"Are you sure there isn't a way to do this with magic, Lighted One? Surely I can make use of your gifts?" Pagan asked in between breaths. They had only been marching for 10 minutes, and already he looked like he was about to pass out.

"That would be beside the point, now keep marching," Lucius replied.

They eventually reached their first destination an hour later. Though it should've been at most a 25-minute trip had Lucius gone alone, due to all the breaks they had to take for Pagan's sake the journey was made inconveniently long.

"Come on, it isn't that bad," Lucius laughed as Pagan fell to the ground gasping. "We still have another spot to hit, so rest up," he continued, opening Pagan's stats.

[Pagan Elwood ]

[Level 3: 50/300]

[Leaf Being [Photosynthesis Variation] lvl.3- [100/300]]

[Agility: 9 > 11]

[Strength: 8 > 41]

[Stamina: 3 > 29]

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~A reasonable increase,~ he thought in satisfaction.

"Okay," he whispered, before tying the vines he had brought around a medium-sized rock and loading it on his back, fastening the vine firmly around himself like a backpack.

"It's not that heavy," he whispered as he hopped up and down to get a feel of the weight.

"Hmm, you can handle yourself, right? I think I can return to the camp and come back," Lucius said, to which Pagan replied with a wave of his hand, still too tired to do anything.

"Be back in flash."

Going and coming back took him 45 minutes, way faster than he had estimated. He hadn't gained a single point in either strength, agility or stamina. Though it was to be expected as the rock didn't feel like it weighed all that much, at best he had a bit of back pain, but that was only because of the rock's rough surface.

"Pagan?" Lucius called out, finding that Pagan wasn't where he had left him.

"Over here," Pagan replied, hiding behind a shrub, his crux floating around his head like a sort of pet.

"You're using your crux again, huh?" he asked, watching as Pagan shifted it from side to side as he approached him.

N0 v el Next. CoM

"I was trying to see if there was a way to carry the sleds with magic. But I can't seem to do it," Pagan replied in a defeated tone.

"Well, like I said, even if you could," Lucius replied, before ordering Pagan to carry the sleds once again.

"But Lighted One, you don't even need them." Pagan protested.

"They're carrying the rope," Lucius replied with a grin, before ambling ahead. "Come on, let's move on to the next spot,"

It took them 30 minutes to get to the next location. Lucius loaded up a rock like he had the last time and returned to the camp, this time with Pagan in tow.

*

"Okay, all done," Lucius said in satisfaction, looking at the two rocks he had brought back. One of them was a rock for grinding, while the other was the hard-crystal rock that he would use to make tool heads.

"Rest up while I make the tools. You'll help me build once I'm done," Lucius said to Pagan, however, Pagan was already fast asleep, completely exhausted from the journey.

"Can we watch?" a few leaflings called out from the tree camp. Lucius quickly brought the leaflings to the ground, and those that were interested watched as he tried to break the crystal rock.

He loaded it up on his back once more and hopped up the tree, which proved to be sort of tricky due to the extra weight. But after a few hops to get a feel for the added weight, he got to one of the higher branches of their tree.