Chapter 13

‘Party Member Hert has unlocked a skill!

Cowardice: Increases your block capabilities by 10% (changed from agility because of Tank Class) for 30 seconds but lowers your strength 80% and has a 50% chance to trigger ’fear.’

Command to Activate: Activate Cowardice.

Cost: 1 MP.’

Leon scooped up the imp ear and coin, took Ava’s arm and pushed her past him. “Go!”

She dropped the branch and ran. Leon jumped over it and rushed after her, listening to the pattering footsteps closing in from behind. He pulled the straps of his backpack closer and increased his speed.

They caught up with Hert as he entered the globe-like room. He panted hard.

“Nice…” Ava huffed, “skill.”

Hert didn’t answer. He glanced back at them with wild eyes and continued up the corridor leading to the surface.

“Keep running,” Leon shouted. “They’re faster!”

There had to be a way to stop them. What if they could follow them through the forest? A series of images played through his mind. The ground. Of course. If only they could make it there in time.

Sweat ran down Leon’s back as they ran up the slope. Hert had slowed a little, and Ava and Leon almost pushed into him. They rounded one of the last bends and something sharp bit into Leon’s leg, sending splinters of hurt through his thigh. He screamed out and slashed blindly behind him, hitting nothing.

“Leave him!” Hert shouted.

Only one pair of footsteps rushed upward as Leon’s back hit the ground, and he kicked out. Several ruby eyes stared at him through the darkness as the light slowly disappeared, and the one closest held a dagger of hardened wood. Leon slashed out with the iron dagger while Ava grabbed his shirt, trying to haul him up. The creature tried to jump back, but the force of the creatures behind didn’t let it. A sharp glow emanated from the body, and it slumped over with a hissing sound.

“Leon! Get up!”

Leon scrambled backwards, and with Ava’s help, he stumbled onto his feet. The imps held a wary distance from the dagger, but it changed in an instant. They stood in complete darkness. Leon huffed and stared with wide eyes into the passageway. Nothing was there. With no sort of other light source, the creatures’ eyes and levels disappeared; left were the sounds, attackers measuring each other, waiting for a chance.

Leon’s heart thumped hard in his chest, and he struck out blindly as he and Ava backed up the slope. Pattering of foot steps. Swing. The sound stopped, sometimes with a thud, sometimes just stillness. Over and over. Leon and Ava continued for several minutes, barely keeping them at a distance. But why didn’t they—

Scraping of stone from above.

“Ava, run!” Leon slashed out a couple of times, earning a hiss from the closest imp. He stabbed toward the ceiling, leaving his front open.

“There!” she shouted. “Leon, quick, there’s light!”

Something ripped against his chest, and he screamed out. Something wet slashed down his shirt. He swung his dagger in a wide circle, turned around, and dashed toward Ava’s voice. His only chance.

He rounded a bend. The soft blue light blinded him for a moment, but he spun around. The imps closed in on the path and the ceiling, their claws scraping against the caked earth.

“It’s not far!” Ava shouted. She tugged on Leon’s arm.

“Get back!” He ripped himself free and smashed the blade into the mana crystals. They shattered with a high-pitched sound and thousands of shards flew a miniscule distance before landing softly in the dirt. Their light still pulsated, and the imps stopped to look at them, then at him.

Leon stared dumbfounded at the pieces for a split second, then he turned on his heel and ran.

The pattering of feet closed in, but they were too close. Leon pushed Ava ahead, where the faint light from under the tree reached down the stairs. Ava stumbled on the first step, and even though Leon’s arms almost felt like they were falling off, he turned around and took a wide-legged stance, holding the dagger in front of him.

The imps charged right at him, ignoring his dagger slashes and the wounds he caused. A claw bit into his leg and warmth spread down the skin. He hacked at the hand. It let loose with a hissing sound and Leon scrambled up the steps. His vision swam.

Have to get up there, he repeated in his mind, visualizing the outside of the tree. Had to get there. He kicked out at the two imps behind him, and the one holding his calf flew into the other one and tumbled down the stairs, taking a group with them. Leon clawed toward the light, and with a last effort, he entered the circle outside the tree. He crawled forward.

Ava rushed back from the edge of the forest and grabbed his collar, forcing him into a bush. Hert sat there, on his knees, staring blankly forward and the torch laid unlit on the ground.

The imps poured out of the tree, scouting for them.

“Hert,” Leon huffed. “Torch… grass.”

Ava kicked Hert’s side when he didn’t respond. “Light the grass! Set it on fire!”

That got him into action. In slow motion, he ambled forward and lit the torch. The imps gathered outside the tree froze in place and gave him nasty smiles. One of them pointed a clawed finger, and a group of over ten imps started toward him, with more leaving the tree-cave by the second.

Leon swallowed and got up to his knee. His vision blurred in red, but he concentrated on Hert. He had to help if he could. Leon slumped forward instead of moving, and as the imps charged toward the lone tank, he bent down to the circle of rotten grass, and lit it.

A heat wave slung Hert back into a bush and made Leon gasp, and Ava fall on her side beside him.

“No, no, no!” she wailed, pressing her hands over Leon’s leg.

The imps shrieked as the flames engulfed them, and while some turned into smoldering corpses, most made it back inside. The flames, though only taking fuel from the grass, seemed to lick the lower branches of the tree, but didn’t scorch it. The fire stayed in a perfect, wide circle.

“No… please, stop,” Ava wailed.

Leon pulled his focus back from the scene. Ava pushed on his chest, trying to close the gash. Blood gushed out of all his wounds, and that was when he noticed the notification windows.

‘You are bleeding’

‘Warning, you have 20 HP’

‘You are exhausted’

‘Warning, you have 5 HP. Penalty: Vision blurred.’

‘Warning, you have 1 HP. Penalty: Vision blurred with red hue.

First time information: When you reach 1 HP, your vision flashes red to alert you to do something about it. If your HP reaches 0, you will die without respawning.’

‘You are being healed and will regain 25 missing HP’

‘Heal interrupted. You have gained 10 HP.’

“Leon, take the health potion!” Ava said, shaking his arm. She was pale as a ghost. “You’re still bleeding.”

“Won’t get back with that,” he said and took a deep breath. It made him cough. There had to be something. He couldn’t die here.

A new window popped up.

‘Your party has reached level 2. Please open the window “Party” and click the tab “Boons” to see your updated boons.’

Hert stumbled into the bushes and sank down on his knees, his head downcast, shield covering his bald head, and his torch unlit. His shoulders shook. He looked at Ava over the rim of the shield. “He’s going to be alright, right?”

Ava pressed a knuckle into her mouth and bit down.

“I…” Leon frowned. His eyes flicked toward the party notification. No rewards mentioned. Then he stared at the window. There it was. He’d come out of this alive. He wet his lips. “System, load saved level up.”

‘Loading rewards from reaching level three.’

A few seconds later, the box was replaced by two others.

‘Status Recovery initiating.’

Maggots covered his body, and Ava scooted back, a hand over her open mouth.

Leon gave her a slight smile and turned his attention back to the boxes. The second one had a smaller box inside it, in which was a grey gift package with a question mark inside. He stretched forward and took it out. It grew slightly and transformed into a dark grey ring box with a bronze bow. He opened it. Inside were new, doll sized pants. Leon took them out, and they grew.

‘Pants (brown)

Class: F

Special: Wearable’

Leon put it in his inventory while he looked over his clothes. It was a good thing he got them, because both his pants and shirt, though the latter was in a better condition, were quickly turning into tatters.

When he looked up, both Hert and Ava looked at him with a mix of trepidation and anticipation.

“So… you’re fine, then?” Hert asked, avoiding Leon’s eyes.

Leon nodded. “Think so. Thanks for your heal, Ava. And thanks for lighting the fire, Hert.”

Ava mumbled something with red cheeks.

“Don’t worry about it,” Hert muttered. He swallowed so hard his Adam’s apple took a deep-dive. “After what I did in there…”

Leon gave him a tight-lipped smile. “Should we take it as a consequence of your skill? 50% chance to trigger ‘fear’ is quite high, after all.”

Hert breathed out and gave a deep nod. “Yes… yes, that’s what it was.”

“Sure it was,” Ava said. She didn’t look at either of them.

Leon wondered if she thought of the same thing as him, that Hert had wanted her to leave him, too. “Glad the plan to stop them worked out, even if nothing else did.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Hert said and pushed aside the bush. “It’s not the stone, but it’s something for our troubles.”

Among the embers around the tree, which had been left untouched, laid an ancle-high pile of loot.

“Think the system counted the burned imps as a group since the rest fled or something. I’ll take one thing, you two take the rest. It’s the least I can do.”

Leon raised his eyebrows, then frowned. “Thanks.”

Hert put the shield and torch into his inventory and scratched his bald head. “Knowing what’s in there, I’m not sure I’ll want to come back.” He sighed and shook his head, casting a glance at the opening. “But the stone…”

Leon put the dagger into his inventory, stood, and patted Hert’s shoulder. “You know, these imps might be a challenge now, but maybe there’s a way to reach it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if we lure the imps out, a few at a time, we would empty the nest sooner or later.”

Hert sighed. “They’ll respawn.”

“You want to go in there again?” Ava asked with a shrill voice. “I can’t believe you!”

“I’m talking hypothetically,” Leon said. “And if that doesn’t work, then we could always try to level up. The imps might be hard for us to beat right now, but we’re all low levels. So are they.”

Hert made his way through the bush and held up a hand. “On your own, then. If we’re going to try something like that, both of us will need to surpass the level that forces us to go through the first level of the tower. I’m not that desperate that I’d seek death just to get the stone. I’ll keep it a dream.” He kneeled by the pile, and Leon followed.

“So what’s your goal, then?”

Hert rose and put his hands to his sides, looking up in the tree crown. “Who knows. Live my life as a blacksmith.”

There had to be more than that to keep moving forward. Everyone wanted something, whether they knew it or not.

“There’s a lot of stuff in there,” Ava said, peering at the pile from behind Leon. She almost stumbled over and caught Leon’s arm for support. “What are you going to choose, Hert?”

Hert bent down and took out one of the two wooden daggers. He turned it around in his hand. “This. Maybe there’s something I can learn.” He pointed with it toward the pile and then put it in his satchel with red-tipped ears. “Rest is yours.”

Leon nodded at the pile and pushed Ava gently toward it, hoping he wouldn’t have to carry her all the way back to the city. Even though the healing spell had been interrupted, it seemed it had taken as much out of her as last time.

Ava stared down at the pile, which contained another wooden dagger, four imp ears, what looked like three imp claws, six red orbs, and two golden lumps. She bit her lip and looked from the pile to Leon. “I shouldn’t really take anything.”

“What?” Leon snorted. “Why?”

She twiddled her thumbs and looked at the ground, swaying slightly. “I didn’t heal you. Not really.”

Leon grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to look at him. “You saved my life. You can take whatever you want. How much you want.”

“Then…” she blew out air through pursed lips and eyed the pile. “Can I have the health potion?” Her face reddened, and she cast Leon a quick glance before facing the ground again.

“Uh… sure.” Leon opened up the inventory and took it out, prompting a window asking if he wanted to propose a trade or gift it. He chose the latter, and Ava accepted it. The bottle popped out of existence.

“Thanks,” Ava said, looking into the small leather purse by her waist.

”What else?” Leon asked.

“Nothing. I don’t want anything else. This was our deal.”

“Not even the coins?”

“No. It’s not that easy to get rid of the Scab title, and I can’t have too many coins on me. It’s safer, and more fair that you take it all.” Ava smiled. “Besides, I gained a level, so now I won’t get as exhausted after healing you.” She pointed to something on her screen, and her ghostly hue took on a pinker tone, and she stopped swaying. A pitch black box appeared in her hands, without a ribbon. Instead of opening it, she frowned and put it in her pouch.

Leon decided not to delve further into that. If she didn’t want it, she had her reasons. Leon looked after Hert, that had started walking away. He scooped up the remaining items.

‘You have gained 205 coins.’

‘You have picked up the following items:

4 Imp Ears

Rank: F

Crafting ingredient. Stacks up to 99.

3 Imp Claws

Rank: F+

Crafting ingredient. Stacks up to 99.

6 Imp Eyes

Rank: F

Crafting ingredient. Stacks up to 99.’

‘You have run out of storage space. Would you like to equip or discard Imp Dagger? [Equip] [Discard]’

Leon equipped it, earning him a +2 in strength. He opened up his inventory, which was completely full, and got an idea. Before he closed the window, he looked at the baby rabbit. He wondered how much awareness it had. At least the Imp eyes didn’t look like actual eyes. He’d have to check on it once they got back to Pura.

“Hey, Hert! Wait up!” Leon shouted. He started jogging toward the man between the bushes, but slowed when he noticed Ava didn’t keep up.

Hert stopped and waited for them, clinging to his satchel.

“Sorry,” Ava said. “I’m not as weak as before the level, but I’m still a bit tired. Do you think we can come back to the inn in time for my dishwashing duties?”

“We will.”

They made their way out of the forest, all sunken deep into their own thoughts. Leon stopped just outside the arch leading into the city, and both Hert and Ava paused to look at him.

“Ava, mind coming with me to slay wolves? My health is full, but I could use your hands. If you’re not too tired.”

“I’ll be off then,” Hert said, holding a hand up in goodbye.

Ava shifted her eyes between the two, gnawing on her lip. “I’m not sure what I could do for you.”

“Two extra inventory slots.” Leon winked at her.

She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “You said we would be back in time for my work.”

“It’s well over three hours until then. Might be useful for us both. Or did you have something else you wanted to do?”

Ava shut her eyelids and purses her lips. “Well…”

“Alright, then. Let’s go.”

An hour later, the sun had begun its journey beyond the treetops, leaving the small place between a few round bushes in shadow. Leon bent down and pocketed the coin, and while Ava crept out from a nearby bush, he took up a wolf’s fang, which prompted the message to choose to discard it, or offer to a team member.

Ava held out her hand, and Leon dropped it on top of the other two. The other hand held a slimy wolf’s eye, which would probably bring a better amount of coins because of its lower drop rate. Leon wiped off the wooden dagger on his pants. He had started off with switching it with the iron one, but decided fairly quickly that it might be better to save the durability on that one if he’d happen upon an imp or something stronger.

Ava tapped her foot. “Well, that was a close one. You’re at about half HP now, right?”

Leon nodded. “At least I’m not bleeding.”

“Should we call it quits? There’s another day tomorrow.” She swallowed. “If you’d want that.”

Leon rolled his shoulders and tilted his head toward the road, doing some calculations in his head. “Sure, let’s go back.”

As Ava took the lead, Leon smirked to himself. He didn’t expect it to go down easy once they reached the plaza, but it was for her own good.

They entered through the archway, and Ava quickened her steps. Leon wondered why until he saw the Scabs approach with outstretched hands. Then, she took off at a run. Startled, Leon followed, turn after turn. He caught up with her outside the general store.

“Stop!” he panted. “Ava, what’s—”

“Later,” she huffed.

Leon looked at the Scabs around, closing in. A few even ambled from the side streets, like a milder form of the Beggar’s Curse had kicked in. He increased his speed and held out a dagger to those who ventured too close. They sank back a couple of feet, wearing faces full of scowls and sometimes outrage, but they didn’t contest him.

Ava skidded to a stop just before the guards. Luckily, they were the same ones as they met the previous day, and they walked through the arch together without hassle.

Ava stepped to the side, out of sight from those behind.

“S-Sorry,” she panted.

Leon looked behind his shoulder, where the Scabs meandered back to their previous positions. “What was that about? Did you gift them with a coin?”

Ava swallowed to wet her throat and looked into her clenched fists. “No. It’s because I’m a Scab, too. A Scab possessing a few valuable things should share with other Scabs. Something like that. I forgot that was true of items, too.” She gave him a weak smile. “I won’t let them have your things.”

“Oh…” Leon cleared his throat. “Thanks, then.”

He let Ava go before him, and he stared at the red mop of hair jumping up and down in front of him. Scab. Did the title have anything good to it at all, besides the ’Mob Mentality’ where she could fight? It didn’t seem like a title she could switch from. He frowned. Did that also mean she only got 2 SP per level up? Must be, since she didn't have the NooB title.

Maybe leveling with her wasn’t such a great idea. But fighting while they still had their group would allow him to gather more money without risking to go into the tower too soon. Would he be able to wait until Ava could cast off her Scab title before earning more? Could she even get rid of it without being in a group? It surely looked like if you once became a Scab, it was hard to escape it.

“Here,” Ava said, pulling him from his thoughts.

”Huh?”

She stretched out her hands. “Go on.”

They’d reached the plaza and stood in front of the crafting merchant.

Leon smiled and patted her shoulder. “That, and the health potion, were both for you.”

She shook her head and pushed them toward him. “I can’t.”

“But you sold things before, didn’t you?”

“Sure. But if I go over the threshold and into the Slums, the same thing will happen, over and over. They won’t stop, and the excess money will be put into repair of different things there. Wasted.”

Leon frowned. “That can’t be right.”

Ava shrugged. “It’s the system.”

“Then, how can you ever get rid of the title?”

Another shrug. “Hey, sell these, okay? I’d love to have some time alone before I work.”

With hesitant hands, Leon took the fangs, sold them, and then the wolf’s eye. The eye gave him four times as much as a fang. He thought back and shook his head. It didn’t matter now. He also sold the other crafting items he got from the imps. When all was done, he goggled his account balance. There were a total of 363 coins. Well enough to purchase the monthly package from Margaret, and then some. He just wished he could have done more.

“Well, see you later,” Ava called.

Leon waved as she trotted into The Drowned Goblin. He looked at his bloody and tattered clothes. Time to do something about that.

Half an hour later, he placed the paper package on his bed and went to wash himself off. When he came back, the setting sun shone through the window, highlighting the bed, and he opened the window to let in the brisk evening air, letting it dry him off. Leon then turned to the bed and pulled on the string of the bundle and took out his new shirt. It was nothing special, almost a copy of the one he got from the tutorial, and luckily, that had reflected on the price.

After paying Margaret the 250 coins for the month for a room and meals, there hadn’t much left. With his purchase, he had three coins left in his virtual pocket. Leon pulled on the shirt and pants, then he pushed the package to the side and stretched out in bed. A month he’d spend to find skills, to hone them, and to prepare for going into the tower. Ready or not, that’s where he had to end up.

Leon sat up and drew the backpack in between his knees. Instead of opening the inventory, he flipped open the leather flap, loosened the knot, and stretched out his hand, carefully groping around in the darkness. He stopped when he felt the warm fur ball and placed his fingers carefully to support the small creature as he lifted it up in his hand. It had grown a little, and the hind legs hung from his palm. He cautiously lifted the baby rabbit out of its confinement, and stopped short, staring. It had grown into a dark grey color, and had a green zigzagging streak reaching from its lower jaw, over the breast, then it turned to reach over the stomach, ending at its lower back. Its eyes were a deep purple.

“I-Info, rabbit.”

‘Grey baby rabbit

Special: Rescued by Leon from a cruel fate

Special: As a consequence of breathing the air of Kavanask for more than a few hours, the baby rabbit is now corrupted. This state is irreversible.’