Chương 28: Crimes Against Frogkind

New Elite Monster Discovered! 500 exp gained.

"No, really?!" He yelled, dismissing the notification as he took in the hulkish monster emerging from the sand before him. When the sand had shifted enough to finally reveal the small mountain of flesh attached to the weird plants surrounding the small oasis, he'd realized they were actually teeth. Of course, he'd realized it far too late to stop Shia from getting swallowed. Ah crap. I've seen Dune, I've seen Star Wars, how on Earth are we going to fight a giant… sand…

he paused, watching the monster fully unearth itself. … Frog? Rather than the gigantic sand worm he'd been expecting, he found himself staring at a frog the size of a small bus. The frog had tough looking reddish-yellow skin, allowing it to blend in perfectly with the surrounding sand. Its two large, bulging eyes seemed unbothered by the sand sticking to them, and its legs looked powerful enough to send him flying into the next fragment if the monster decided to try kicking him.

Letting out an earth rumbling croak, the monster slowly turned to look at Vin and Alka.

"Damn, that's one hell of a toad," Alka said, seeming unconcerned as she eyed up the monstrous creature.

"You uh, don't think we should help her?" Vin asked, watching the toad stare blankly back at them. Before Alka could respond, the toad's massive hind legs exploded with force, sending sand flying everywhere as the monster leapt nearly straight up into the sky. To his horror, Vin realized there was now what had to be nearly two tons of toad flesh hovering directly overhead, and the toad's intentions were made clear as it quickly came plummeting down at them.

"Jesus!" Vin cried, sprinting out from under the falling toad and barely keeping his footing as the monster smashed into the desert like a meteorite right where he'd been standing, sending more sand blasting everywhere.

"Alka, now would be an excellent time to get stabby!"

"Stop panicking," the ghost said, rolling her eyes as Vin realized she was floating right beside him.

"If I get stab-happy there's a good chance I end up dicing up our new friend as well by accident. She had her fancy new staff with her right? I wouldn't be too worried." Before Vin could argue, a sickening noise reached his ears that he could only compare to someone punching a hole through a wet chicken breast with their bare fist.

Glancing at the toad, he was shocked to see a ten-foot-long tree branch thicker than his own head sticking out of the side of the monster; the branch seeming to have punched through the thick flesh with little effort. The toad paused in its attempt at crushing them, blinking at the sudden hole in its side.

It let out one last weak, sand rattling croak before five more branches punched through it from the inside out going every which way, eventually tearing the toad apart and revealing a soaking wet elf clutching a magic staff. Not seeing any wounds on Shia, Vin stared in shock at the staff. The once small tree that made up Shia's new staff was somehow supporting all the gigantic branches sprouting out of it, each one currently covered in bits and pieces of bloody toad flesh.

As he watched, Shia must have done something because the large branches quickly withered away and withdrew, dropping the monster remains onto the sand as they pulled themselves back into the staff and left her with a diminutive tree for a staff once more. Wiping a layer of blood and mucus off her face, Shia stepped over the toad's bloody carcass and walked over to them, her expression unreadable.

"Waterskin. Now." Vin hurried to hand over the waterskin, and Shia stomped over to the empty tents, pulling one closed behind her. It took about fifteen minutes, but eventually, she walked back out, her body and clothes about as clean as they could be with only water at their disposal. Tossing the waterskin back to him, she shuddered, shooting a quick glance at the remnants of the monstrous toad.

"I would like to leave the desert now, if that's alright with you."

The three of them made haste through the rest of the desert, keeping clear of the few other oases they stumbled upon. Vin didn't know how many were giant toads and how many were real, and he had absolutely no interest in figuring that out. Thankfully they didn't end up encountering any other makeshift camps as they traveled, so it was only late afternoon by the time they reached the edge of the fragment.

Without a literal forest of trees blocking their way, they were able to see the strange appearance of the next fragment once they got close to the magical border. Vin offered up a silent prayer of thanks to the System when the next fragment was revealed to be a normal, grassy looking plain. The sight of green and the distinct lack of sand was all the encouragement Shia and he needed, and they quickly rushed their way out of the desert. New fragment discovered! 500 exp gained. First ring of fragments discovered!

5, 000 exp gained. Level up! Explorer lvl 14. +3 Attribute points to spend. +1 Skill point to spend.

"Oh nice, big exp boost for finally discovering all the fragments surrounding our starting one," Vin said, grinning at his new interface. He really needed to go on a spending spree. He was now up to six unallocated attribute points, not to mention three unspent skill points.

"I wonder if I'm setting some sort of record for leveling at this point."

"Highly doubt it," Shia said, taking in a deep breath of the refreshing, cool air that smelled faintly of flowers.

"In times of war, it's not unusual for talented fighters to go from level 1 all the way to their first prestige in the span of a few days. Of course, combat classes have it easy. All they need to do is kill enemies and they gain experience."

"Oh yeah, not like killing enemies is challenging after all," Alka said, rolling her eyes.

"Not that it's not hard, it's just potentially limitless experience," Shia shrugged.

"Take my class for example. As a Druid, I do actually get experience from combat, but only if I utilize nature magic, and mana isn't infinite. Other than that, I need to spend time communing with nature or practicing with my magic to level. On top of developing my skills of course."

"That's interesting. I have to discover new stuff," Vin shared.

"Did you get experience from skewering the monster toad then?"

"Enough to push me to the next level and then some for killing it solo," Shia grinned, before shuddering at the still fresh memory.

"Not that I would want to go through the experience a second time."

"Still, that's one amazing staff your master left you. What spell did you use to kill the toad anyway?"" Rapid Growth," Shia said, smiling down at her staff and gently stroking the miniature leaves adorning the tree.

"Like most Druid magic, few of my spells are actually designed for combat, but nearly all have the flexibility to be used in such situations as needed. You'd do well to pick up a damaging spell or two when you get the chance." If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"I guess," Vin said, letting the topic drop as the three of them began heading into the new fragment. Shia was right of course. With how many troubling situations Vin kept finding himself stumbling into, and how heavily he was dedicating his attribute points into magic, the intelligent thing to do would definitely be picking up some combat spells. He just didn't like the idea of using magic as a weapon. Even the thought of it felt as though he was dirtying the wondrous nature of the element.

Vin thought on the subject as they walked, wondering what type of combat magic he would even want while enjoying the far more refreshing temperature now that they'd escaped the desert. Though this new fragment quickly proved to be a bit more lively than the last, even requiring Shia and Alka to dispatch a few packs of the purple fox-like beasts with quills running down their spines that Vin recognized from his own fragment.

Though based on the sheer number they ran into, he could only imagine this was the fragment they originated from. The foxes weren't all that dangerous on their own, but they always seemed to attack in small packs of a half-dozen or more. And if that wasn't bad enough, Vin discovered to his horror that the foxes' main fighting strategy was to get close to their opponents and jab them with their many quills. Which then began glowing. And exploded.

Thankfully they realized this early on when Shia knocked one of the monsters into its friend and the two of them took each other out, incidentally covering the elf with blood and monster bits for the second time in one day. After that, they adjusted their strategy to ensure only Alka got within melee range of the angry foxes.

Whenever a new pack appeared, Shia utilized a spell that caused blades of grass to twist together and punch up from underneath the small monsters, piercing them through the stomach and keeping them pinned until they bled out while Alka simply borrowed her old sword and diced the rest of the monsters up like it was nothing. Vin merely watched the bloodshed unfold before him each time a new pack attacked as he tried to figure out what his fighting style might be in the future.

He hated the thought of using magic to kill, but he also couldn't see himself swinging around a sword or even shooting something from afar with a bow. He'd never been a violent person, but that wasn't to say he wouldn't protect himself if push came to shove. He'd been on the receiving end of someone's fists more than once back on Earth when lazy cops threw him in the drunk tank when he was arrested for trespassing. He never threw the first punch, but he wouldn't hesitate to defend himself if the need arose.

The problem was, there was a big difference between pushing an aggressive drunkard hard enough they fell to the ground and killing something.

"Lots of little pests in this fragment," Alka pointed out as they finished off another pack of the monsters. The frequent attacks had slowed them down pretty significantly, and they'd barely traveled a mile into the new fragment over the last hour.

"Honestly, I think I prefer when we get attacked by one large one, like the Trunkback. Much more fun that way."

"No thanks," Shia said, wiping the sweat from her brow. After so many quick fights in a row, she had to be running low on mana by now.

"I'm in no rush to fight another Trunkback anytime soon. It was already a miracle so many of us got away unscathed from the one we fought the other day."

"Why don't we take a break," Vin offered, feeling a bit bad that he hadn't really done anything to help with the monsters besides throwing in the occasional Entangle.

"It'll give you a chance to recover your mana, and me a chance to spend some of my new points."

"I won't say no to that," Shia nodded, plopping herself down against a nearby tree and closing her eyes.

"Cool. Alka, do you mind keeping watch?"

"Can do," she said, grabbing the sword and 'walking' away. Vin had noticed that despite the fact she was still technically floating, ever since regaining the ability to speak with people and interact with her sword Alka had been choosing to pretend to walk rather than float more and more frequently. Shrugging, he sat down beside Shia, pulling up his interface with a thought. Vinnie Stone Explorer: Lvl 14 Titles: Human Vessel (Minor) Exp.

94, 720/105, 000 Strength: 13(5) Dexterity: 14(3) Endurance: 33(2) Vigor: 15(2) Focus: 20(1) Magic: 21 Attribute Points: 6 Skill Points: 3 Passive Points: 0 Capstone: Runic Recalibration Passives: Mental Map, Polyglot, Distance Runner Skills: Tracking lvl 5, Spellcraft lvl 17, Meditation lvl 11 Spells: Sense Stone, Sense Life, Sense Magic, Renewal, Replenish, Entangle, Concealment"Hmmm," he wondered out loud, reading over his attributes.

His endurance was doing more than fine with the Explorer class bonus giving it a free point every level, and he still didn't care too much about strength and dexterity. Yet as much as he wanted to keep dropping everything into magic and focus, he was hesitant to continue letting his vigor remain so low in comparison. Especially after witnessing the strength packed into some of the monsters they'd encountered so far.

It pained him a bit, but he quickly placed five points into vigor before he could change his mind, gasping at the sudden sensation spreading throughout his body. It was the first time he'd manually increased his vigor, and the change was startling. It was like he'd lived his entire life with a mild cold, and raising his vigor by 33% caused his ears to pop and his chest to clear up. Sucking in a deep breath, he laughed, enjoying the odd sense of strength and vitality he felt buzzing within his body.

Alright, vigor is way better than I expected. Grinning, he placed his final point into magic before pulling up the possible skills for purchase. It didn't feel right walking around with so many available skill points when they could be earning him experience in his travels. Seeing as he had three free points, he even pulled up the general skill list containing skills that cost two a piece, frowning at the sheer size of available skills.

"Hey Shia," he asked, earning an irritated groan from the weary elf. It sounded like she was trying to nap.

"Sorry, quick question. Are there any skills that are good for everyone to take?"

"That's a broad question," she sighed, not bothering to open her eyes.

"Depends on what you want to do. I know a lot of people take Dismantle or Skinning because they're good for harvesting monster parts and animal hides. Then you have First Aid, Stealth, Climbing, Whittling, Taming…" She rattled off skill after skill.

"The list goes on and on really."

"Those do sound useful," Vin admitted.

"Bah, take a combat skill!" Alka called from a few dozen feet away, clearly having been listening in to their conversation.

"Even if you don't want something like one of the countless weapon expertise skills, there are plenty of useful ones. Off the top of my head there's Evasion, Blocking, even Feinting! Oh, you could snag Charging! Good for running into and away from combat!"

"I think I'll pass on the combat skills," Vin said, earning a look of disappointment from Alka. He thought back to the original handful of skills on his class list that had piqued his interest.

"What about Dungeoneering? Either of you ever tackle a dungeon?" The two women gave him a strange look, before glancing at one another and shaking their heads.

"It's not a skill I've ever heard of…" Shia shrugged.

"And there certainly wasn't any sort of prison like that in the Sacred Forest."

"Can't say I've ever heard of people regularly exploring dungeons on my world either," Alka added.

"I mean, there were plenty of rumors of nobles having dungeons that weren't exactly legal, but I can't imagine that's what your skill is for." Huh. How strange. Vin stared at the skill, wondering what exactly it could be for. A sample size of two wasn't exactly massive, but it was interesting neither Shia or Alka had ever heard of the skill. After a few minutes of deliberating, he decided to go with his gut, purchasing the skill and preparing himself for the System's weird Matrix style information download.

To his surprise, after waiting a few seconds in anticipation… Nothing happened. Opening his eyes, he checked his interface to make sure he'd bought the skill. Sure enough, his interface now had Dungeoneering lvl 1 listed on it, but he hadn't learned anything new. Well that's odd. Shrugging, he decided to ignore the skill for now, figuring it would come into play sooner or later. With two skill points still to his name, he flicked through the general skill list again.

He didn't know if he'd ever have two skill points at the same time again, so if he ever wanted to take a serious look at the general skills, now would be the time. Unfortunately, there were just so many, and while he could certainly see uses for most of them, none of them really jumped out to him. I mean, I see the appeal of things like Calligraphy and Dancing, but they aren't exactly useful. Then you've got more interesting ones like Forgery, Disguising, and hell, even Puppetry, but again, not useful to me.

Sighing, Vin dismissed the general skills and turned back to his class list. He was tempted to pick up the First Aid skill Shia mentioned, but now that he had access to healing magic, it seemed like a waste. In the end, he snagged another one of the skills he'd had his eye on from the beginning, giving himself Resistance lvl 1, before deciding to keep his last point in reserve for now.

"Alright, points spent and ready for action!" He said, getting to his feet and giving the glaring elf a big grin.

"Ready to keep trekking?"

"I'm going to convince a swarm of ants to live in your bedroll while you're sleeping," Shia muttered, pushing herself up and walking past him.

"That's the spirit!" He laughed, retrieving the sword from Alka and trailing behind the irritated elf.

"Wait, you can't actually do that though, right?

"... Shia?"