Chapter 5: Snake Catcher

  Now that he wasn't dying of sleep deprivation he could be keenly aware of his surroundings as he took a nice morning walk into the forest. He collected a wad of dirt and forced it into his pocket in case of any danger, though the thicket behind him made it so he didn't really have to worry about things sneaking up on him. Yet again, Millie chose a perfect spot. He was by this point incredibly suspicious of her, and any assumptions he made in his head, whether an insider, or spy or cheater really didn't matter. He simply did not care too much since she was on his side, for now.

  Back on the island he lived pretty simply, got bread every morning, strolling across the slums to sell some of his fathers old stuff, he lived off that for a long while. He also had this nice woman who happened to be from the middle economy class. She took a liking to him before his name was drawn and kept giving him sweet berries. That was life, to do nothing and be rewarded.

  A lot of people complained back on the island, but he found that the people in the slums had a much better time than the working class, you could slosh around like a vicious animal and survive on scraps and not have to lift a finger. While working class fellows were slaving away in smithing stations and sweating all over themselves.

  He saw a snake that passed by, heading in a strange direction like it was being called. Naturally Fay brought a knife down on the snake, splitting its head into two.

  [Slain Green Snake (LVL 1)]

  +2 XP.

  There was a big discrepancy between lvl 1’s when it came to irritability, whereas those fish in the lake were level one as well, the rabbit was also on the same level supposedly.

  Same with level twos, that catfish which was meager and fleshy was basically nothing compared to that mole that he fought, so it was safe to say the jumps from levels were big, maybe multiplicative. Level two could be as twice as strong as the strongest level one, level threes could be as twice as strong as that mole. So as long as he didn’t come across a level three he was semi-confident he could come out alive.

  The reason he was so jumbled about all this was because he didn’t want to deal with that other squad again, and that meant becoming strong enough to keep them at bay so he could relax a bit more.

  He checked his xp.

  Xp: 50/100

  Halfway. Fay waded into the darker parts of the forest and kept trying to apply his single skill in different ways in his head, he wanted to somehow stop the momentum of someone’s heart, but without the butcher skill that would be basically impossible. He wanted to maybe lock a part of a creature, an arm or leg, instead of its whole body, but the same issue with visualisation came up, in the heat of battle a single mistake could rip him apart.

  He heard the sniffling of another boar, these things were small, the same size as pigs, but being able to see one without the context of a battle was jarring, they were certainly capable of killing him, with their tough dark brown fur and their tusks that curl up to a point, if his leg got caught up in that he would be toast.

  Fay also realised he didn’t really tell anyone that he was going on a stroll, so a fight would’ve been stupid.

  He stabbed the boar in the hind legs from behind, breaching the tough skin.

  [Activated Stop Momentum]

  [Activated Stop Momentum]

  He locked the knife for a single second, effectively locking the boar in place unless it found the right angle. Fay took this momentary confusion and slammed the hammer three times into the boar's weak skull, ending it cleanly.

  [Slain Boar (LVL 2)]

  +12 XP

  He wondered if he should bring it back for food but decided against it, he needed to kill four more of these guys to get whatever boost a level may bring.

  [Stop Momentum LVL UP]

  -10% -> -15% mana consumption

  +1 Intelligence

  He sighed a breath of relief, an extra 5% boost didn't seem like much but for him it was a gift of the highest order, especially when he was used to taking big swings at his MP bar, an extra one intelligence was useful too, to increase his maximum MP. He decided to check his status after a while to get a good idea on where he stands.

  [Status]

  [Fay]

  HP: (59/60)

  MP: (16/110)

  [Race: Human (lvl 1)]

  [Profession: (NONE)]

  [Class: (NONE)]

  Stats:

  Vitality: 6

  Endurance: 3

  Strength: 3

  Defense: 1

  Agility: 5

  Wisdom: 10 (+1)

  Intelligence: 9 (+2)

  Perception: 10

  Input points: 0

  Skills:

  Stop Momentum (COMMON: LVL 3): Be able to stop momentum on any object by touching it. +2 intelligence. -15% mana consumption

  Items:

  [Bracelet of Sea Urchin (UNCOMMON)]

  Made from the insides of sea urchin, this bracelet has the power of wisdom.

  +2 intelligence.

  +1 wisdom.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  He wasn't expecting much, but his intelligence had jumped from 8 to 11 and wisdom from 10 to 11, it was clear progress. His health going down two points was keeping him on his toes though, but if nothing could hit him, then he should be fine. He wandered further into the forest.

  —

  Millie worked at the table, chopping up a piece of wood to make firm hilts for the mole claw weapons. She made a concoction that worked as glue to stick the blade into a slit she made with a dull knife, so it should work, albeit clumsily.

  “Where’d Fay wander off to?” Bark was working as well on repairing Fay’s old armor with the rabbit pelt. He had never sewn before, but all the tools were there in the cabin, an uncommon sewing kit that should hopefully last a long while.

  Millie was starting to stress, a sweat beading up on her nose and dripping down onto her hands, she knew, she knew by day three a lot of the people here will be dead.

  [Crafted Mole Dagger (UNCOMMON)]

  +1 agility

  +1 strength

  +2 XP

  It was nothing to her, but probably a lot for everyone else. She gave it to Lily who had been silently watching since, “Millie?” Lily asked.

  “Yes?”

  The girl stared at her for a long while, similar eyes to Fay with how high her perception happened to be. “Nothing.” She played with the dagger and accidentally cut herself on the tip of her finger, sucking it after.

  Bark finished stitching up Fay’s torn armor and was pleased to find he gained a profession. “Guys! An extra 2 defence!” He looked over the moon at this. Professions were similar to skills as in if you kept using them, or working with them, then you could level up and gain basic stat boosts, though professions did come with the chance of giving skills every fifth time it levels up, so it wasn't entirely worthless.

  But with Bark’s butcher skill, chef was almost certainly the path for him, so he was pretty much screwed and would die soon, she thought.

  Nevertheless she made another dagger, giving it to Bark this time, as he would certainly need it. Fay would need one too, but she didn’t know where he went.

  She made another dagger for Jason, but he was content with his axe, which was stupid, that axe didn't give any stat increases.

  “Please?” Millie asked, “We need you all to be level two soon, okay?”

  “Right…” Jason groaned but took the dagger finally, putting it in his pocket for safe keeping. He was determined to make this out alive and make the ones who sent him here pay, so sitting around doing nothing felt tedious, but he knew they needed to get their bearings before going on another hunt. He decided to walk outside to get some fresh air, expecting to see Fay somewhere in the distance.

  "Hm!" Lily popped up behind him and walked to the grassy opening, "that woman you are with is a bad one." She said, shaking her head, "I'm going to kill more bugs, do you want to join me? They give you one XP each, I've got about 70 just from them."

  —

  Fay lunged at another rabbit, he had claw and bite marks on his hand that were bleeding quite a lot, he grabbed the rabbit's ear with a brief touch, almost a stroke of the soft fur.

  [Activated Stop Momentum]

  While the rabbit floated mid air again, not able to control its body whatsoever in the free fall, Fay twisted his foot to the side, arched his arms back and swung the hammer like a club right into the face of the creature, destroying it.

  [Slain Blood Rabbit (LVL 1)]

  +5 XP

  [Slain Blood Rabbit (LVL 1)]

  +5 XP

  [Slain Blood Rabbit (LVL 1)]

  +5 XP

  This fight was certainly taxing but worth it, he could do that rabbit freezing move with some ease, as it only took ten mana to activate it once, since they were light and swift. Fay assumed he would do much better with a faster foe than a larger one, a huge bird would be easier to fight instead of a bear.

  He was also out of breath, not used to this much physical exercise. While the fishing yesterday could be intermittent with breaks and huffs for air, fighting three of those rabbits took a lot out of him to the point where his vision was blurry.

  He saw another snake heading in a distinct direction, so he followed, hoping to get the extra XP from it. But his feet lagged behind him and he kept almost stumbling over, so the snake kept going at his distance. Further and further into the forest he followed it, less wanting to kill it now and just know where it was headed. By the thicket of the forest, a ways away from the cabin was a cave that dug down at a steep angle. The snake drifted down, along with another that happened to catch up. Whatever was down there was calling these creatures.

  But that was good for him because it was an easy way to collect XP.

  [Slain Green Snake (LVL 1)]

  +2 XP.

  [Slain Green Snake (LVL 1)]

  +2 XP.

  [Slain Green Snake (LVL 1)]

  +2 XP.

  [Slain Green Snake (LVL 1)]

  +2 XP.

  Every time a snake appeared he stabbed it right in the head, they didn't even try to dodge, too deluded by whatever was calling them. “This is the life…” not only could he sit down and pick out snakes, he could also rest his MP and go back to fighting rabbits if need be. His hands were bloody but none of them took out a distinct chunk like last time, especially with how he could freeze their chomping momentum as their teeth pierced his skin.

  [Slain Green Snake (LVL 1)]

  +2 XP.

  [Slain Green Snake (LVL 1)]

  +2 XP.

  Boring.

  [Slain Green Snake (LVL 1)]

  +2 XP.

  [Slain Green Snake (LVL 1)]

  +2 XP.

  Boring.

  [Slain Green Snake (LVL 1)]

  +2 XP.

  Boring.

  [Slain Green Snake (LVL 1)]

  +2 XP.

  [Slain Green Snake (LVL 1)]

  +2 XP.

  Boring.

  He was at about 98 XP now, so a single boar or rabbit fight would do the trick. It didn't look like any more snakes were coming so it was about time to leave. Fay did wonder what was down that cave, but considering the hissing and other unexplainable noises, it was certain death. So he walked away so as to not anger the summoner too much. He did clean up after himself and collect all the snakes into a bundle, maybe Millie could turn them into poison, or would just want to smash them up into a paste.

  [Profession unlocked. Snake Catcher (UNCOMMON)]

  You are a master of wrangling and snatching snakes, fulfilling your potential.

  +2 intelligence.

  +2 perception.

  +1 vitality.

  +2 strength against snakes.

  Do you accept?

  “Kay…” he shrugged, the two intelligence was nice but it wasn't exactly what he needed, he needed wisdom alongside it, but his vitality was probably the lowest among his group. The moment he accepted he felt a distinct difference in the way he could see, the perception making further trees look less blurry and closer things, such as his hands, look slower moving. Not by much, but noticeably.

  He began to head back to the cabin, hoping to find a rabbit or two to finally level up, though he thought he scared off the local wildlife so the track back was rather nice. The sun was finally reaching midday so it was almost afternoon and he could have a rest without judgement.

  He heard a squeal. “Rat! Rat!” The voice was Lily.

  “Bark!” Jason shouted as Fay could take a gander at the creature they were fighting, a tiger sized rat. That just barely missed Lily by a hair with its sharp teeth, it slashed at her again and it missed since she activated her skill, ducking under the creature's small but taloned hands. It was skittering along the ground with a speed that didn't seem possible.

  Bark ran forward and tried to hit the rat with the club, receiving a slap from its meaty tail right in the chest, knocking him backwards and into the tree right beside Fay, he landed with a rough thud and chips from the tree fell atop his head. He didn’t seem knocked out like Fay assumed, a high defense stat probably.

  “Hey Bark.” Fay walked forward, taking the club from his hands.

  “Oh… okay… sorry” He shut his eyes and relinquished the club to Fay.

  Jason was struggling holding off the beast, the rat seemed completely disinterested in him and wanted to chew Lily into pieces as she was making the most noise. Fay ran forward and tried to flank the creature as Jason was holding it back with his axe, he almost reached arms length before the rat twisted its tail and tried to swipe Fay.

  Instinctively Fay tried to stop the force of the tail, as it was moving much like a whip and his perception gave him time to act.

  [Failed Stop Momentum]

  Fay was lashed right into the steps of the cabin, knocking his two front teeth into the wood, chipping one. “Shit…” he was maybe concussed and wanted so badly to fall asleep, he got a glance at Millie, who just walked up to him and handed him a dagger with a mole nail on it. He grabbed onto it and tried to stand, but couldn't, he just couldn't.

  Jason screamed out in pain, probably having a bite taken out of him. Millie softly placed her hand onto Fay’s head. “You’re almost there.”

  [You have been blessed by [unknown] for one minute]

  +5 vitality.

  +5 defence.

  She’s a fucking prophet. He jolted up, rejuvenated in an entirely fake way, more like doped up on chemicals, he wasn't any healthier, just felt that way. He ran forward towards the rat, Jason had done a good job at keeping its back to Fay.

  Fay dashed forward to arms length from the body of the beast again, watching the rat do the same whip move. Fay twisted so his chest was facing the rat's tail and held out the knife in front of him with both hands, making sure the edge of the knife was at the same level as the rat's tail.

  [Activated Stop Momentum]

  [Activated Stop Momentum]

  He was lucky he rejuvenated some mana while killing snakes. The knife stood still while the tail whipped directly into the serrated edge. The limb sliced clean off and landed beside Fay as a seizing mess, curling up in its fleshy way.

  The rat squealed out, allowing Jason to get a good hit in right between the eyes of the rat, ending the fight decisively. Jason seemed happy and held up his hands in celebration “Yes!” He was missing a few fingers on his left hand and was bleeding profusely, he hadn't seemed to notice.

  [Slain Dung Rat (LVL 2)]

  +12 XP.

  [Fay LVL UP]

  +3 Input points.

  That was all? Fay thought as he slanted his back onto the ground, feeling heavier and heavier as the blessing left his body. Jason finally realised the predicament he was in with his hand and had Millie take a look at it, all was well.