Chương 14

The victory did its job amazingly well. The group immediately felt more cohesive and the panic was replaced by a feeling of confidence, at least for this moment. Even the moon chose to make its appearance, its light finally improving visibility. Good enough, for now. Lucas had picked up on the shift even earlier than me, highlighting the way everyone worked well together.

He praised the mages, the archers, and the warriors who rushed at the goblins, making them focus on the feeling of winning rather than the uncertainty still surrounding us. Sara was in the midst of another group, doing much the same as Lucas. My observation was interrupted as a large hand clamped on my shoulder; Omar's grinning face coming into view.

"Well done! That shot was amazing!" my words made his grin much wider.

"It was wasn't it! You were right, how did you know the goblins would come from there?" he was still grinning, but his eyes were inquisitive.

"Just a hunch" I replied. He didn't seem satisfied with that response, so I explained a bit more about my thought process. He finally seemed satisfied and clapped me on the back again, "Glad to have you here, man" he spoke as he turned around to join the excited crowd. As I was looking at his disappearing back, I felt someone's gaze on me. Turning, my eyes locked with Sara, who gave a short nod, which I returned. She then went back to mingling, while I turned to look at the bodies of the goblins.

Someone needs to clean that up. There were body parts strewn about the blood-soaked ground. A light smell had already started drifting in, and I was sure that it would only get much worse from here. Suddenly, a System Screen showed up, and with the way the noise immediately died down, I wasn't the only one who got a message. Ding! You have levelled up! You have levelled up! Class stats distributed. An ethereal feeling enveloped my body, as my muscles tightened and loosened simultaneously somehow.

My body felt leaner, and more under my control. I looked down to see some of my belly fat had vanished. I opened my Status to see the changes, and noticed a new line below my stats.

Name: Alex Grant Race: Human Age: 24 Level: 2 Exp: 17/30 Grade: F Class: Assassin Health: 50/50 Stamina: 8/20 Mana: 115/115 Regenerations: Health: 4/min Stamina: 2/min Mana: 7/min Attributes: Strength: 3 Agility: 7 Dexterity: 4 Endurance: 2 Vitality: 4 Intelligence: 8 Wisdom: 7 Perception: 7 Free Stat points: 4 Skills: Stealth, Critical Sense, Quick Step. Wealth: 10 Gold, 7 Bronze Two stat points per level, separate from the Class stats? Is that due to my race… or perhaps my grade…?

And I got bronze coins now, probably from the goblins. I didn't have to think much on where to put the stats, as my endurance and vitality were painfully low. I rounded them both up to 5, as another other-worldly shift happened within me. My blood rushed through my body as I could hear my heart beating stronger and faster. My still labored breathing eased up immediately, and I felt more space for air to move within my lungs. The feeling went away after a second, with me wanting more.

I admired the changes to my stats before closing the status. I opened my Inventory next to see if I got any loot, but sadly, there was nothing new inside. Either I got unlucky, or these goblins didn't have much apart from the bronze coins. I closed the inventory and thought back to the earlier fight. I suddenly had a harrowing thought. The system had waited till everything had ended before it notified everyone of the levels they had gained, meaning it was still as observant as ever.

It knew the exact time when the notifications won't distract someone from a fight. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. However, I also realized that it didn't notify me when I killed the goblin. Don't systems like these usually give out kill notifications? Or was that just in the novels I read? Now that I think about it a bit more, there were no damage indicators either, and neither has the system given out any quests so far.

In fact, no one here has any idea on what this tutorial is actually about. This uncertainty about the system was bothering me more than I liked. I was distractedly looking at the crowd while thinking, when my eyes met Lucas's. Knowing what he wanted from his gaze, I signaled towards the longhouse and at his nod, we both started moving in that direction. Our exit from the group largely went unnoticed, as almost everyone was distracted by their own statuses.

I reached the longhouse a step behind Lucas, and followed him wordlessly above the darkened stairs and towards a room on the second floor. We should really do something to assign rooms. As the door closed behind me, Lucas turned towards me and immediately gave me one of his bone-crushing hugs.

"Thank you, I know it was you earlier" he said. I was a little surprised at the sudden hug and him thanking me, but returned the hug wordlessly. He broke the hug and backed away, his signature grin back in its rightful place.

"We have a lot to talk about, don't we?" I asked, sarcastically, as he laughed and agreed. We spoke about everything on our minds as we settled into the room. Our conversation was briefly disturbed as a pang of hunger hit me. I bit the sour bullet and spent 5 bronze coins on a ration from the System Store. It was the blandest, driest, and hardest bread I had ever had the displeasure of eating, but I had no choice.

We both tried our best at eating the ration; the bread tasting just a slight bit better during our laughs.

I woke up due to the sun light hitting me right in my eyes. I shielded my eyes and shifted, my body sore and my back aching. Damn, I forgot to close the curtains last night. And did I drink too much and pass out on the floor? I opened my eyes and blinked, confused, at the small wooden room and Lucas sleeping across from me. It took a few seconds for my mind to catch up as it replayed the events of yesterday.

I sat up with a groan, remembering how we both passed out from exhaustion shortly after finally finishing that damn bread. My stomach grumbled again, demanding real food, while my brain demanded the sweet caffeine hit that it needed from coffee. Today is going to suck. I laid there thinking about everything we spoke about last night. Perhaps the most chilling realization was when Lucas casually mentioned something I had wondered about earlier – how had so many people conveniently reached the safe area?

He had mentioned that a number of people stated getting a 'safe' feeling when looking at a certain direction, and had decided to follow that feeling. I had thought my thinking when moving through the forest had been logical, but now, not so much. The system can casually influence our thoughts, and we could do nothing about it. This really is frustrating. I have always absolutely hated the feeling of helplessness or not being in complete control of my actions. And here, everything has been out of my control so far.

Another thing that I had noticed was the 'incompleteness' of the System Store. Opening it up, I saw the categories listed: Weapons, Armour, Skill Books, Spells, Materials, and Miscellaneous. Every category apart from Miscellaneous just stated 'Currently unavailable' when opening it. Even in Miscellaneous, there were less than twenty available items all together. Lucas had confirmed that it was the same for everyone. I saw the dreaded sight of the tasteless bread and immediately closed the store. Not today.

I got up, my body aching with every movement, sore all over at having to sleep on such a hard floor. I saw Lucas, lightly snoring away, oblivious to the world, and felt the urge to kick him, hard. Instead, I slowly opened the door and stepped out, closing it behind me. The hallway was silent, save for the faint sound of birds chirping in the background. I went down the stairs and exited the longhouse, shielding my eyes as the bright sun shone without restraint.

Blinking away to get my eyes adjusted, I could already feel the start of a headache coming. I looked around and saw a few people milling about, some washing away a piece of bread with water, while others scowled at their surroundings. No food, no caffeine, bad night's sleep… I really don't envy Lucas and Sara. Figuring that they would handle it better, I had an idea as I looked towards a direction that Lucas had mentioned last night. There, the group who had been sent to scout had seen a couple of rabbits.

If I can catch a rabbit… My stomach grumbled loudly in agreement as I made my way towards the direction where hopefully my next meal awaits. My caffeine deprived mind alerted me slightly at something I had missed, and I paused to look around the square again. I didn't know what my subconsciousness had noticed, and frankly, I did not care right now. Sometimes, a man has got to put his stomach first. I continued towards the trees, anticipating the taste of real meat.

I slowed down as I crossed the trees and took my dagger out of my inventory, eyes peeled and ears straining to catch any sounds that may reach them. I stepped slowly, consciously trying not to make any sound as I walked. I continued this way for a few minutes, the forest getting thicker and the sunlight reaching the forest floor in small pillars now.

As I was thinking to maybe start circling back, memories of the snake and the goblin party from when I ventured too far from the square still fresh in my mind, I heard a rustling ahead. I stopped dead in my tracks as I listened, and heard definite movement ahead. I activated stealth and felt the shift take place within me, then continued making my way forward slowly.

My drooling mouth and rumbling stomach were hoping for a rabbit, but when I finally laid my eyes on what was making the noise, I realized this was nothing close to a rabbit. This might be better, much better! With their noses trying to find something in the bushes, three massive boars came into view. My mind went to roasted tenderloins, bacon, and hamburgers, as I activated critical sense. The skill activation made me pause and reassess.

Earlier, when I had used it on the goblins, a light glow had surrounded their eyes, neck, ears, and groin. Now, the only glow I could see were the eyes. Moreover, now that I was actually thinking with my head instead of my stomach, I could see that the boars looked and felt dangerous. I felt the same thing I did when I faced that massive snake earlier, just with a much lesser intensity. And with three of them here, I didn't fancy my chances.

The boars were at least four feet tall and their skin looked thick, more like armour rather than skin. Moreover, their faces had two nine-inch tusks that looked like they would shred their way through me with ease. I looked down at my dagger, and immediately decided that it would be much safer to come here with Lucas, Omar, and maybe a few others. I turned and started heading back towards the settlement. No use risking myself for some pork.

The lure of food was enough to gather a sizeable group, as everyone followed me, trying to remain as silent as possible. I looked back and saw Lucas, Omar, Sara, Ben, Madelline, and Marcus, all following me, their eyes glinting with anticipation and hunger. Chuckling at the hilarity of the moment, I asked the group to stop when we neared the place I saw the boars. I went ahead a bit to scout, but when I reached the place where I saw them, it was empty.

Looking around, I tried to see where they must have moved to, but I had no experience in anything remotely resembling tracking creatures through a forest. Nevertheless, I went toward a direction where I could see some definite signs of disturbed dirt, and luckily, I heard some rustling up ahead. Activating stealth again, I crept forward and confirmed that it was the same group of three boars, their noses buried in different bushes now.

I turned and excitedly made my way back to the group, mentally noting the way I had taken. I can almost taste it!