Chapter 444 Lacking Common Sense
Karl woke up with the dawn the next day, not because he set an alarm or had anything urgent to do, but just out of habit.
That was when the Giants usually started to scout for attacks, so that was when he needed to be ready, and he didn't want to lose that routine when he might be finished this quest in a few days and back home to the rest of the team.
He briefly wondered what they were up to, and if they had gotten to stop in at the Lithium Mines, where he was certain that they would be the stars of the town.
Even the less famous and military Elites were like idols to the small-town youth, especially the ones not yet old enough to have gone through the serum injection.
As he sat down for a morning tea, as they didn't have any coffee in the dispensers set up along one wall for the hotel guests, Karl noticed that he was still the centre of attention.
He looked up at a man who was trying to subtly observe him, enough to let the man know that he was caught, and that Karl was willing to talk to him. With that, the Elf switched seats to join him at the table.
"You're going east into monster territory for a quest, right? Now, I know it's a quest, and it's giving you directions, but that's still a terrible idea. There isn't anything in that direction that is weaker than you are. Even if you tag team them with your Lightning Cerro, it's not going to be an easy fight. I am a woodcutter by trade, and even I don't go east of town, much less across the border."
Karl nodded. "I agree that it might be a terrible idea, but I am a Beast Master. Monsters are part of the deal."
The woodcutter chuckled. "Well, do you at least have a portal scroll with you for an emergency escape?"
Karl didn't even know that was a thing, so he shook his head.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. I don't know where you came from, but your common sense certainly didn't grow up here. I will get you the supplies that you're going to need. How much room do you have in your inventory?" "Two slots." The man looked confused. "You only have room for two more items?"
Now it was Karl's turn to be confused. "Perhaps there is something off with my inventory arrangement? Each slot is a metre cubed, roughly. I can just load them with stuff until they're full." Karl explained.
The woodcutter gestured out the window at someone, and the dragon came inside, looking suspiciously at Karl, as if he was going to try to match make her and Thor first thing in the morning.
"Can you tell me about his System? There is something wrong with it. All his inventory space has merged into two slots the size of Guild Bank vault cubes." The man explained.
"Do Rangers not get sword skills?" Karl asked.
"Superb ones, actually. But their attitude is that if they have to draw their sword, things have already gone wrong."
Karl chuckled. "I am the opposite. I start with the blade if things are going right. If I have to use my bow, it's normally because I was caught too early by something that can fight back."
While they joked, the woodcutter gathered the items that Karl would need, and came back with two large bags, nearly the size of the inventory spaces, along with an itemized receipt.
"Now, this might be overkill, so I can return some of it if you'd like. Here is the list, and the total is seventeen gold pieces, four silver, eight copper."
Karl focused on his Status screen and had it withdraw eighteen gold pieces. He could get used to that ability.
"There you go. Keep the rest for your assistance."
There was food, as predicted, but not in the way Karl expected. The bag contained a magical lunch box that could be activated to create a meal once a day.
Most of the rest was filled with various potions, tinctures, lotions and scent blockers that will help him through the wilderness without drawing too much attention to himself, along with an enchanted water bottle, and a few enchanted repair kits for weapons and armour.
Karl had never seen anything like them before, but they weren't all that expensive, and he definitely wanted to bring them home with him.
"I know that this might sound odd, but do you have a skill book library available?" Karl asked.
The Mayor shook his head. "We can get skill books, but they need to be custom-made and sent to us. It takes a week or two."
"Yeah, I suspected that might be the answer. But it was worth a shot. Perhaps the next time I'm in a real city, I will have time to visit the library. I wanted to get a proper shaman healing spell for my partner, to go with her healing totems and splash heal." Karl explained.
If they didn't have a full-time healer, that role was on [Regeneration], [Eternal Lightning] and Remi. Having a proper healing spell would have been nice.
But come to think of it, if he had more points, he could get [Trollish Regeneration], the upgraded version of Bestial Regeneration.