Chương 14: Bring Your Friend

Oliver's eyes snapped up. He stared at the two skill gems.

"Evan, you know I can't. My father—""It's easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission," Evan said with a conspirative grin.

"Just do it. Yeah, your dad might be angry for a while, but you're going to have the skill you want forever." His words must've hit their target, because Oliver's expression changed from worried to determined.

"Give me the sword, one." Evan put the Gem of the Sword in Oliver's palm before he could have second thoughts. He kept the Gem of the Shield for himself. He was fine with that choice. Shield sounded useful. In fact, after being bitten, scratched, and poked at least two dozen times in the last two days, a shield power sounded incredibly attractive, so he activated it right away.

[Starlight Shield- Tied to your Endurance attribute Summon a shield of Starlight, offering moderate protection against physical attacks and excellent protection against magical attacks. Shield diameter: 10 inches Mana Cost: 12 Cooldown: 20 seconds Increase your Endurance attribute to improve this ability.]"10 inches?" Evan read out loud, feeling a tad disappointed.

"Huh?" Oliver looked at him questioningly.

"Sorry, I got distracted by activating my skill."

"I got a shield skill, but my shield is only the size of a dinner plate. What did you get? Can I see?"

"Sure." Evan navigated to the party screen to take a look at Oliver's new skill. [Gravel Burst - Tied to your Strength attribute On impact, this sword strike detonates a cone of razor-sharp gravel shrapnel. Mana Cost: 17 Cooldown: 40 seconds Increase your Strength attribute to improve this ability.]"That sounds pretty useful," Evan said. Oliver scratched the back of his head.

"Pretty useful for a fighter."

"Then maybe that's what you should be."

"It's not that simple…" Evan shrugged the uncomfortable topic away. Oliver needed to find his own strength to reject his father's plans for him and walk his own path. All he could do was encourage him. To escape the awkward tension, Evan climbed back up onto the corpse of the Scrapmaw queen and pulled his sword out of her skull. It was covered in a mix of green blood and gray goo. Evan scrunched his nose at the foul smell, but he had nothing to wipe it clean with.

After clumsily rubbing it against the leg of his pants a few times—the clothes he'd arrived in this world with were beyond saving anyway—he put it back into the sheath. Together, they left the breeding chamber and made their way back through the tunnel. The Scrapmaws that were still alive were very agitated, running around in circles and squeaking loudly. Evan assumed their state was caused by the loss of the queen. None of them attacked them, not even the larger ones.

After they rounded a corner, the burrow exit came into sight, bright daylight shining in. With a sigh of relief, Evan put the light orb back into his inventory. With another important kill under his belt and a new achievement in his ledger, Evan felt pretty good about the progress he was making in this world. Oliver was in a good mood too.

"I can't believe we already reached rank 2. I can't wait to see Crispin's face when he returns for the summer break. He told me I would never…" Oliver's chatter died down when they emerged from the burrow and found themselves eye to eye with a very displeased-looking woman. The woman standing in front of them, arms crossed, was in her late thirties to early forties. She had a mane of fiery red, curly hair, barely contained in a braid.

With a frown, the woman looked at Evan, then at Oliver, and then back to Evan and cocked her head.

"Who are you two, what have you been doing in that burrow, and what the hell are you—" She pointed directly at Evan.

"—doing with my mother's sword?" Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Uh… Agatha… your mother? She gave it to me. So we could kill the Scrapmaw queen." Evan felt bad about taking the sword now. If he'd known Agatha had children who could've inherited the sword, he would've refused the gift. It was far too valuable to give to a stranger. The woman seemed more concerned about the monster than she was about a stranger stealing her family heirloom, though. She raised her eyebrows.

"You? You two skinny teen boys killed the Scrapmaw queen?"

"I'm twenty-seven," Evan protested.

"And I'm twenty-two. Also, I'm not skinny," Oliver said.

"Who are you, anyway? It's the first time I've heard of Agatha having any children."

"Maybe because our family matters don't concern you. Your face looks familiar, boy. You're one of the Detreyo kids, aren't you? Miles?" Evan could feel Oliver stiffen next to him.

"No, I'm Oliver." The woman waved dismissively.

"Ah, right, yeah. Miles is more handsome than you." Oliver drew a sharp breath, and Evan decided it was time to step in.

"My name is Evan," he said, forcing a friendly smile on his face and holding out his hand.

"And you?"

"Alexandra Tyodadi. Excuse me if I don't shake your hand. You're covered in Scrapmaw blood and you smell terrible." Evan looked down at himself and nodded understandingly.

"It's not just Scrapmaw blood. We also killed a Mud Golem yesterday. That's the brown stuff. And I think the gray spots are bits of Scrapmaw brain matter?"

"Wait a second. A golem?"

"A Mud Golem," Oliver said, tone a mix of defiance and pride. Alexandra Tyodadi didn't look overly impressed with their monster-slaying achievements, though. She rubbed a hand over her face and sighed.

"Are you telling me I came back to this pisswater village in the middle of nowhere for nothing?"

"Did you come to kill the monsters?" Only now Evan noticed the staff on her back. Was that some kind of wizard's staff? Like Gandalf's?

"I did. My mother called for me. Apparently, old Niall has finally retired, and she said the mana blight had already taken hold here, so I came to clear the area." Oliver crossed his arms.

"We already did that, so you can go back from wherever you came from. Oh, and Evan is keeping that sword. I don't care if you really are Agatha's daughter. She gave it to him, not you."

"I don't want it anyway. Swords are not my style."

"What is your style?" Evan asked, unable to contain his curiosity. Alexandra was only the second other mana user he'd encountered, and he was eager for information. Oliver had been a great companion so far, but he was almost as inexperienced as Evan was, while this lady looked like she'd seen some things. Alexandra regarded him with growing interest.

"What's your name? You don't look like you're from around here."

"I'm not," Evan admitted.

"I'm new. To here and pretty much everything. Your mother can tell you more."

"And you really killed the Mud Golem and the Scrapmaw queen? All by yourselves?"

"We looked less cool than I had imagined, but yeah, we killed both." Oliver shot him a glance.

"Talk about yourself. I think I looked pretty good." Alexandra rubbed the bridge of her nose and let out a long breath." You two are lucky you're still alive. Taking on a rank 3 queen at rank 2 is a pretty big risk, you know." Oliver lifted his chin.

"How do you know we're rank 2? Maybe we're stronger than you are." She snorted a laugh.

"That's very funny, boy. Trust me, I'm powerful enough for a clear read on your rank." Evan was intrigued.

"You can tell we're rank 2 just by standing in front of us?" He had an inkling what Alexandra was talking about. He sensed something about her too. He could tell she was a lot stronger than him, of that he was certain, but nothing beyond that. Could she tell for certain? Evan's HUD showed him the rank of monsters. Maybe Alexandra's HUD showed her the same for other humans.

"Yes, I can tell," she said.

"Your magical senses develop as you advance. Seeing other mana users rank unlocks at rank 7 and I'm at rank 11." Oliver's pout disappeared, making room for an expression of awe.

"Rank 11?" he asked a little too loudly.

"Are you serious?" Alexandra smirked.

"Look, what you two did with the Mud Golem and the queen is impressive, but don't let it get to your head. I can't believe my mother let you attempt it. But she always had the swim-or-drown approach when it came to developing prospects. You need to train and rank up before you take on another monster of that size." Evan nodded eagerly. Being called a prospect felt pretty nice, but he could tell Oliver was deflating, and he understood why.

From all he'd heard about the man, there was about a zero percent chance Oliver's father would let his son train to rank up and hunt more monsters.

"Hey, Oliver, I think we should head to the village now. I need fresh clothes, and you need to face your father sooner rather than later."

"We'll go together," Alexandra said.

"I have a few errands to run in Silvercreek myself." It was another hour of walking before they reached Oliver's home village, Silvercreek. Evan used the time to take an in-depth look at his menus, making sure he didn't miss any other notifications. His gaze lingered on his inventory and the loot he'd already managed to collect. The most valuable was the Gem of the Veil, according to Oliver.

"Alexandra," Evan said to get the woman's attention. He and Oliver had walked ahead, but now he let himself fall back so he could talk to his new acquaintance.

"Call me Alex, kid."

"Alex, okay. Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"I have this skill gem. Gem of the Veil. Oliver said it has some value, but he's not sure if anyone in the village wants to buy it. Are you interested?" She raised her eyebrows.

"A veil gem? Where did you get that?"

"I found it in the celestial ruins. Together with a bunch of other skill gems. I used two for myself and gave Oliver two as well. The veil gem is the only one I have left, but I have no use for it right now, so I thought I could sell it. I could really use some starting cash."

"All my skill slots are filled, and it'll take years until I advance to rank 12, so I have no use for it either. Besides, a veil skill isn't really my style."

"What is your style?" Evan asked.

"If you don't mind my asking." He had no idea if there were any social taboos about asking other mana users about their skills. Oliver had shared his freely, but he and Oliver had just fought a life-and-death battle against the Mud Golem together. Maybe Alex would consider his questions more intrusive than Oliver had. To his relief, she seemed to take no offense at his curiosity.

"My affinity is Storm. My skills are mostly fast attack focused."

"Storm. That sounds really cool."

"It's a rare affinity, although rather popular in the Rainwilds region." Rainwilds region? Was that where they were? Evan made a mental note, but didn't ask, not wanting to come across as an idiot.

"So I guess I'll just keep holding on to that veil gem?" he asked instead.

"I'm sure you could easily sell it in Stormhaven." Stormhaven. Oliver had told him he might find more information about traveling between worlds there.

"Sounds like that will be my next destination," Evan said. Alex gave him a smile.

"I'm leaving for Stormhaven in about three days. If you want a travel companion, I can take you with me."

"I absolutely want a travel companion!" Evan said, breaking out into an ear-to-ear grin. Having a rank 11 mana user with him would make the daunting journey safer and easier. And he might learn more about magic and magical skills from her. She really seemed to know her stuff.

"Then it's a deal. Show up at my mother's house three days from now. Don't be late. And…" She glanced at Oliver, who was still walking ten steps ahead of them, face grim, body language stiff. He'd grown more and more quiet the closer they came to his family farm.

"Bring your friend," Alex said.

"He needs to get out of this village and out into the real world." Evan frowned.

"I bet he would love to, but I don't think his father will allow it." Alex tilted her head.

"Didn't you two just tell me you're grown men, not boys? His father can throw a hissy fit, but he has no way to hold him back. The only thing that's holding Oliver Detreyo back is Oliver Detreyo."