“Ok everyone! Let’s set up camp! I want a perimeter cleared of trees and the tents set up in five! To all the non-combatants, now it’s your time to shine! Guard rotations from now to morning, and if you have to take a piss, go in pairs, never alone!”
I had the feeling Tom loved shouting at people. Maybe it reminded him of the good old days or something, but at least it was effective. After a collective sigh of relief at the word camp, a groan followed as people realized they’d have to work before resting.
Today had been illuminating, and very profitable.
Many increased their levels. Most crafters were firmly past their first class evolution, while the fighters were around level twenty-five, trying to accrue more achievements, or beyond that after selecting their next class. But no one had reached level fifty yet. All those above the second threshold reported a significant increase in leveling difficulty. Part of it was due to the monsters not being very high level, but on the other hand, we knew it would only get harder from here.
And that wasn’t even the worst of it.
Vix warned me that after level fifty, both class and skills would take a lifetime to level.
If we weren’t in the tutorial, most people could forget about ever reaching level twenty-five. For many outside this place, that represented years of effort and risking their lives over and over again. Suffice it to say, not all would survive. Even if your chance of winning were ninety-nine percent in every encounter, after enough battles, eventually your luck would run out.
That was reality.
And we weren’t exempt from it.
We handled the monsters well enough, but many times the formation was breached, or too many attacked at once, or some other unexpected problem arose and Melissa or I had to intervene to keep our group from getting decimated.
It would not be easy to keep everyone alive in the tutorial going forward.
Because if this was the situation after the First King died, then later stages would become impossible for the crafters unless they heavily invested in defenses of some kind.
What if we started encountering bands of high-level monsters?
We would have to figure something out.
Still, one positive was that we got attacked by the Gremlin Lord today, the baron of this bunch, and Melissa got the kill, earning a few achievements in addition to the ones she already had. Now she said she needed to think about her options for her next class, but she would only move forward after a round of stat-strengthening fruits and drugs.
I didn’t think most of them could reach my level. I had too many achievements they lacked.
But they could definitely aspire to gain some of the Paragon series achievements.
That would be great for their development.
Though Rhea was on track to potentially reach my level.
And I had a feeling Quinn and Marcus were close too.
Quinn nearly scared me to death today with his stunt. I was only capable of sensing him because of my stats, I was sure of it. I would need to work on my Arcane Sense skill more in the future. I couldn’t have someone like him stabbing me in the back. I should buy some contingencies from the shop too. Items that would protect me in case I made a mistake.
That would be for the future.
Now, though, I had another problem to deal with.
My curse.
Since yesterday, it had become harder and harder to resist. Leaving those three men behind and turning Alya down had made the void in my chest grow worse. Despite my improved stats, I wouldn’t be able to endure indefinitely.
And someone noticed my mood had worsened throughout the day.
I tried to hide it, but I needed a solution soon.
Because I really couldn’t help those men even if I wanted to.
And Alya...
Well, that was another problem entirely.
“Are you ok?” Mary asked from beside me.
She was resting her back against a tree, looking at me in puzzlement.
“You seem troubled by something, but today didn’t go badly, did it? I was honestly expecting more resistance.”
I turned to face her properly, being careful not to look directly into her eyes. Instead, I focused on her hands.
She was twirling a ring on the ring finger of her left hand.
Huh?
She was married?
How had I never noticed?
Though I remembered her talking in the hospital about relationships there not being great because everyone slept around.
“This problem with my aura is getting annoying,” I said. “I’ve basically spent two days fighting with myself to get it back under control. But you’re right, today went well. Aside from a couple of mishaps, we made great time, and if we push, I think we could reach the next safe zone by tomorrow night.”
She sighed.
“Well, that’s a relief. I’m starting to hate this place. Not that I liked it before, but after... you know... after that, I really just want to go back to my routine. Home, hospital, doing my job, then relaxing when I can. I feel like we’re constantly at war and there’s no end in sight.”
I thought about it.
She wasn’t wrong.
And not only was there no end in sight, this was just the beginning. There were more phases in the tutorial, and after that...
We’d have to fight for Earth.
“I’m with you on hating it here,” I said. “I don’t think I can stand another forest. But tomorrow we should at least get a change in scenery. Mary... I wanted to ask you this before, but there was always something in the way. How are you doing? Really, I mean. After everything that happened.”
She didn’t answer for nearly a minute.
I noticed her twiddling with her ring had stopped. She stood nearly frozen in place. If it weren’t for her breathing, I’d have thought she was a statue.
“I’m getting better,” she replied finally, her voice soft. “I have constant nightmares, and the fact that you still have that mask on you somehow doesn’t help, but I’m starting to get over it. Little by little. Keeping busy helps, and luckily, here there’s always something to do.”
She chuckled half-heartedly.
“The mask is safely stored away, don’t worry about that. I still need to understand its effects, or how to purge the spirit inside it. But if it’s any consolation, the one that attacked you is dead. What’s inside now is an amalgamation of that one and the giant tree. It doesn’t feel sentient anymore, more like an animal. Still... I’m glad you’re getting better. That wasn’t what we thought would happen there. I should have been more careful.”
She nodded.
“We all should have been. We were distracted by the possibility of shiny treasure, me included. The name of the shrine, plus the fact it required a healer to find and open... I thought there was something special there. Something that could help me save everyone. Well... there was something good there, actually, but it came with a price. Anyway, I better go heal everyone’s sore feet. This march was intense, stats or no stats. Thanks for the chat, Elias. And don’t worry too much about me. I’ll be back in tip-top shape in a jiffy.”
“I’d drink to that if we still had some,” I said with a smile.
“Oh, we do! Ask Markus. The man has a nice stash, and it’s not the only one.”
She laughed as she walked away.
I could use a drink to decompress a little, after all.
Instead, I turned around, looking at the camp quickly forming around me.
I would have to sleep by myself again tonight. This stupid aura was preventing me from spending some quality time with Rhea.
Though the talking was nice too.
I was getting to know her more as we traveled. She was too kind, really. Hard not to get along with.
Even Alya, despite her feelings, couldn’t bring herself to hate her. They had ended up closer than before, something I’d never seen in my life.
In any case, I wouldn’t be able to touch anyone before fixing my aura.
So I’d work on that.
Today hadn’t been as difficult as yesterday, and I felt I could get some good practice in. Maybe reduce the range of my leaking aura even further.
Though the more I compressed it, the harder it became to keep contained.
It got me thinking.
What kind of absurd control did someone like Vix need to avoid blasting everyone around him with his presence?
I was pretty sure I’d die just standing near the blue alien if he unleashed his full power.
I wanted that.
I wanted that strength.
And I was getting it.
But now, more than power, I needed control over what I already had.
So it was better to get started.
But before I could take out the Vermillion Key, Rhea called out to me.
“Why so serious? Come with us, dinner’s in ten!”
Well, a warm meal cooked by someone with a Cook class was not something I’d turn down.
Even if it was just simple stew.
I’d train once I was done here.
“Coming!”