Chapter 33

After having finished two laps without seeing Ava or Hert, Leon ventured outside the normal gate and approached the Tutorial Forest. The trees he’d first felled when he’d tried to increase his strength had almost grown completely again. Leon approached the yellow and green trees and sat on a round stone while looking through the new skills tab.

The four of the five new skills stood in bold letters, and he selected each in turn, skipping over the Double Wield since he’d read that one.

Cross-strike

Cross-strike allows you to unleash a powerful attack with two weapons. Deals: Base strength x 1.5-2.

Command to activate: Cross-strike Cost: 3 MP

Leon opened up his status page. Since he had 12 MP, he could use the skill four times, just to practice it, but he didn’t just yet. If he used everything at once, he wouldn’t be able to try out the others until he’d slept. So, he shut down the page and opened up the next skill.

Berserk

Berserk is a passive or active skill that fills you with fury and allows you to disregard your fatigue and mental statuses, and gain a varied amount of strength for a maximum of two minutes. The cost is that you will disregard your safety while doing so, and have a narrowed focus on your enemy, gaining tunnel vision.

Command to activate: Activate Berserk

Cost if the skill kicks in as a passive: No cost

Cost if you activate the skill verbally or mentally: 7 MP

Leon looked at it. It was unusual to have a skill that could be triggered both passively and with intent, at least from what he’d experienced in the games he’d played in the real world. Considering that the skill was basically a double-edged sword, it was surprising how expensive it was to activate, and he wondered what he needed to prompt it in a passive way. Maybe that had already happened, because when he fought, he had little to no other thoughts and didn’t notice the boxes that came up until he got out of the fights. If that was the case, it would only be beneficial, since he’d also get strength combined with the narrowed focus. The only problem would be if it was difficult to prompt when he needed it, since it was so expensive.

Call of the Wild

You can call on monsters close to your area that are of a lower level than you.

Command to activate: Call of the Wild (bring out random monsters in your area) or your best impression of a sound belonging to the kind of creature you wish to call. Example: A howl. Cost: 1 MP

Leon stared at the description. A howl, really? That wasn’t much better than what he’d done previously when calling for the wolves, but he supposed it was slightly less embarrassing. Besides, he could just think about the name, which would save face, if necessary. That aside, it would probably be one of his most frequently used skills, especially if he and his team decided to power-level. It would be the fastest way for them to reach their goal of getting out of the tower.

He sighed as he thought about the floors they had left to climb. He’d taken more than a month to prepare for the first floor, because he didn’t know what he’d face. Now, two months in, he’d just cleared it. He had two years in total to find the potion that could heal his mother, and he’d wasted two months. With twenty-two months left to go, he had to complete at least two floors per month, and three in some.

His head spun. It was too short. At least if the information he’d gotten from the scarred man was true, and the tower held fifty floors and each was harder than the previous one. Leon slapped himself, bringing him back to the forest. Focus. He needed focus. And now, he didn’t have to worry about leveling up too fast, because they’d already cleared the first floor. It would be okay. They had gotten the most challenging first floor that had ever come up, and they’d beat it. They’d do the same again. They had to.

Leon opened up the last skill, just to get his mind off those thoughts.

Loyalty (U)

Loyalty is a unique skill within the Leader Skill Tree that can only be unlocked through performing a special action. Further development of the skill is required to unlock boons and more information. Keep honing your skills as a leader and work well as a companion to your friends, and it will be well worth it.

Rank: F

Current loyalty status: 8

Loyalty status requirement to increase rank: 25

Command to activate: N/A Cost: N/A

Well, that was one weird skill. The name in of itself explained parts of it, but not enough. Not that it mattered much. It wasn’t a skill he’d focus on. Loyalty was great, but what he needed was strength and stamina enough to beat whatever he faced in the tower. That came above all else, and he’d strive for it, with or without a party.

Leon went through all skills in his head. There were only two that he could make use of right now, without getting into a fight, and that was Cross-strike and Berserk. He looked an extra time at Berserk. How would that one affect him if he didn’t have an enemy to actually fight against? Would he just chop trees at an alarming rate, or would something else happen?

Call of the w—he stopped the thought and changed it; the calling of monsters skill would come in handy, soon enough. But first, he might pick up Ava and Hert. Leon sighed. That would take time. That was the problem with individual schedules. He might as well try it out, since he was so close to the gates that he could make a run for it if he needed. Besides, the wolves that would come would be of a lower level than himself.

It only took him a second to decide. Leon closed down the skill window, lifted his hand to his mouth, and cleared his throat. He tried howling, and warmth crept up his neck and face as his voice sounded through the woods. He activated his insight-skill while he opened up his inventory to take out his weapons. If his sense was correct, he’d meet three wolves soon. He grabbed his short sword, and as he reached for the dagger, Trouble jumped out of her own volition. The rabbit grew as it exited the cramped space, and landed beside Leon, shaking her head.

“What are you doing?” Leon asked, staring at her and then the surrounding woods. “The wolves will be here soon! Get in again.”

She jumped a few steps from him and looked away. Leon rushed after her, taking off his backpack. It was halfway down his arms as the first two wolves appeared, both level 5. Leon expected Trouble to run, but instead she stretched out her body, ready to leap toward them. There was no time to convince her, so Leon stepped forward, shoving the backpack up on his shoulders again. As the wolves launched, he kicked out, hitting one in the shoulder.

“Cross-strike!” He hit the second one with both blades, and though it didn’t die, it yelped and fell.

He turned toward the second one as it launched again and swung his sword and dagger. They hit it in the side of the head, and made flung it aside, but it still kept on its feet. As Leon prepared to run at the one he’d struck before, Trouble ran past him, and slammed her front paws onto the wolf’s chest. She opened her mouth wide and bit down on its skull, and the crack that came after sent a chill through Leon’s body. She shook the wolf’s limp figure to the side.

Leon barely had time to block the fangs of the wolf that came at him, since the scene had taken all his attention. He crossed the weapons just in time to catch its jaw and elbowed its head. It landed on the ground and haunched down to leap again. The giant rabbit jumped, and stomped down her hind legs on the wolf, then landed a few feet away. Taking the chance, Leon pierced the weapons through its chest and finished it. Three more wolves came running out of the woods, one level 6, and two level 4. He’d hoped to try out the berserk skill, but he didn’t want to risk hitting Trouble. He took a stance and swung his weapons at the first one, and stepped aside to hit the next. The third one ran directly at the rabbit, who jumped and kicked out, sending the wolf backwards and dealing 21 damage.

With Trouble’s unexpected fierceness, they made quick work of the monsters, and when all five had fallen, they disappeared into multicolored pixels that flew into a pile.

Leon approached it after rubbing Trouble’s cheek. Of all the things he’d expected of a rabbit, it being a willing and quite competent fighter wasn’t on the list. As he bent to pick up the coin, fangs, and claws, Trouble pushed her head into him, almost making him fall over. He chuckled and turned to pet her some more, then pocketed the items.

He considered using the call once more, but a look at the time convinced him to go to Hert, to see what he wanted to do. The five wolves had only raised his level percentage by one, meaning it would take a lot of work to get them all to level ten, since they shared the experience from monsters. It would go a lot quicker if they worked together.

“Come,” Leon said with a smile, and lifted the flap of the backpack. Trouble turned her head away. “I don’t like the way people look at you in the city when you’re outside the pack.”

She ignored him.

“Look, Trouble. I think you’re beautiful, but others might get scared or will try to harm you. Please? I’ll let you out once we’re outside the city again.”

Trouble turned to look at him, then tilted her head. A moment later, she contracted her hind legs and took a leap toward Leon’s backpack. As the paw touched it, she shrank and disappeared.

“Thank you,” Leon said and hauled the pack up on his shoulders.

Leon thought as he walked toward the arch to the Slums. One percent for five wolves. If he killed one more and it rose another percent, it would mean one wolf per percent gained while in the party. For his part alone, he’d need to kill 78 more. It was a steep increase, but so was his level. And since he didn’t know how much experience points he got from each and what it was worth, he couldn’t count it out. Not for sure. The five-hundred experience he’d gotten through completing the quest, venturing into the first floor, might have been enough to propel him and the others further into level nine, but how much? And with the increase of his level, he should beat the wolves more easily, since they were almost half his level.

He stopped and wanted to smack his head. He hadn’t distributed his points. Of course it didn’t go easier when he lacked the 20 spare ones. But how much of a difference would it make?

“Can I help you?”

Leon looked up and to the side. A guard by the inner arch approached him.

“You’ve been standing there for some time.”

Leon dismissed the continuous request boxes from the Scabs. “Sorry, just got lost in thought for a moment.”

The guard nodded and went back to his position while Leon went on his way to the star-shaped square. The merchants who’d prepared their stalls while he ran were now open for business, and Leon sold his loot at the crafts merchant before he continued to Hert’s shop.

Leon opened the door and stepped inside. The multiple-sized hooks hanging on the walls and laying on the tables and the counter had all disappeared into boxes amassed in the middle of the floor.

Hert came out from the room behind a forge and a large anvil, wiping his forehead and bald scalp with a napkin. He wore a leather apron. “Leon! I wondered when you’d come by.”

Leon looked at the walls. “I see you’re packing up.”

Hert lifted a box up on the counter with a thud, and soot whirled up. “Yeah. Not much else to do now that I have a new goal.” He brushed his hands on his apron. “So, got any ideas of what to do?”

“That’s what I came to discuss. It might be good to meet up, all three of us, to make a plan of how we want to do this. I’ll try not to just follow my own head and guidance from now on.”

“Oh, someone’s learned a lesson?” Hert asked as he took a wooden stool and stepped up on it to release the hooks hanging from the beam above.

“Trying to. Maybe there’s something someone else should work on as well?” Leon said, leaning back.

“Nah, I’m perfect.” Hert let out a laugh. “In all seriousness, it feels good that someone else knows what I did. In one way, I got myself killed just as much as you got yourself killed. I had high and mighty thoughts and ambitions while you had extremely selfish ones. Ironically, both our selfish decisions were ultimately to help someone else.” He ripped out a bolt with a flat-headed tool. “Though yours was both more stupid and more noble at the same time. I didn’t go out willingly.”

“And your cowardice?” Leon pointed out.

Hert threw a hook into the box below him. “Look, berate me all you want.” He danced with his fingers in the air. “Ooh, look at the tank who’s scared of being a tank.” He stopped and shook his head. “You can only get through a certain amount of misery and pain before it gets to you.”

“Like being ripped apart by wolves.”

Hert shrugged. “Something like that. But the pain being dragged out and with no end but death in sight. And you saw my end.”

Leon started pulling on a forgotten hook beside him but stopped when it prompted a purchase window. “Well, you pulled through in the end. You helped, even though you broke down afterward. You think you’ll freeze up like that again?”

“Who knows? At least I know I can trust what you say, and that goes a long way in a cruel world.”

Leon smirked. “What makes you say that?”

“You wouldn’t keep the rabbit, even after you’ve had it so long. You said you’d do some things in the level, and you stuck to them, but that you initially chose to free the rabbit rather than keep it told me you were genuine. That’s rare. Another thing you probably promised is having Ava in the party. I wish you hadn’t. She’s a piece of work.”

Leon jumped up to sit on the table. “Aren’t we all, in one way or another?”

Hert pointed at Leon with a meat hook. “Sure, but she’s the whale of it. You think she’s changed? She had over eleven years to change, but didn’t. Nah, it will require something major for someone like that to go down a new path.” He threw the hook into the box and jumped down. “I’m not sure you noticed, but the guide said she’d gotten help in the first level. When? How? She’s not going to tell us, unless it benefits her. Just you wait and see. You’ll come to regret having met her, and by extension, that will affect me, too.”

“Unless she’s actually changed. Maybe a year in the Slums was enough?”

“I doubt it, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

Leon sat quiet, just watching Hert pull apart his business. Maybe he was right, maybe he wasn’t. Like he said, they’d have to wait and see.

“So,” Leon said after a while, “eight outside the inn tomorrow? I slew a few wolves today, but barely made progress, so I think we need to be bolder, now that we’ve risen in levels.”

Hert wiped his hands on his apron. “Sure. You’ve got something in mind?”

Leon jumped down from where he sat and brushed off his pants. “Either to stay out all day, every day, or go to the E-ranked forest.” An idea popped into Leon’s mind. “Or, if you still wish to make that special thing, we could have a go at clearing the tree-dungeon again. It should be easier now.”

Hert’s eyes brightened for a second, but then he shook his head. “I don’t know. I still need to look for a new weapon and a shield. But they’re so damn expensive. My hooks will bring in a decent income from scrap metal, but…”

Leon quickly told him about the place he’d bought his new gear and then ventured outside, with Hert’s promise to meet up tomorrow. He walked toward the inn. It was early afternoon, so he might take a nap and venture out into the woods to slay some more wolves while he had the time.

He opened the door to the inn and walked up the stairs. As he was about to step onto the first floor, a message popped up.

‘Only guests of the inn can pass this point, unless given expressed permission by the innkeeper.’

Leon frowned and continued to the reception, where he dinged a bell.

Margaret came smiling from the kitchen, but it faded when she spotted Leon.

“Hey, how come I don’t have a room?” Leon said.

She smirked. “Only paying guests have rooms, and you didn’t pay for more than one night.”

“Then I’d like to do that now.”

Margaret swiped a finger down a list with only a few names. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you, sweetie.”

Leon pushed his hands to the desk to look at the paper with names and room numbers, but she shielded it with her meaty arm.

“That’s invading the right to privacy, dear.” She shook her head and gave a short sigh. “That’s no good. We can’t have that. I suppose you ought to learn being considerate to others feelings. How would you feel if someone tried to find you, and they could just ask your inn? That’s no good at all.”

“This is about Ava, isn’t it?” Leon asked.

“Ava? Oh, you didn’t see her outside?” Margaret rounded the desk and shoved Leon toward the front door. “Go see if she’s there.”

Leon frowned and opened the door. He walked down the stairs to the side of the building, expecting to see her leaning against the wall. She wasn’t. He turned around and pressed down the handle to the inn.

BANNED

You have been banned from this inn for one month.

Due to the reputable status of this inn and your recent ban from a store, this is not negotiable.

Please try to be nicer to the people you do business with.