After returning the horses and selling the three-dozen arrows they’d collected, Orrin and Daniel headed back to the Guild.

Daniel tossed a silver coin to the doorman and they entered the dining hall.

Together, they stood in line to get dinner. Slabs of a dark red meat, a leafy vegetable cooked to a crispy exterior, and more honeyed bread. Orrin took two pieces.

“Should we try and find a quest for those Sproits?” Daniel looked at the quest board longingly. He really wanted to start taking on quests.

“I’m pretty sure we would have needed to cut off their ears or something.” Orrin shrugged as he dipped a ladle into a tub of gravy for his meat. “How else would they know how many we took out?”

Daniel sighed and piled his plate with three slices of the bone-in meat slices.

Dinner was good. People around sat in clusters of five or less and people rarely even looked at them. The atmosphere was loud and they ate quickly. They took a quick bath and returned to their room for the night.

Orrin pulled up his status.

Orrin

Utility Warder

Level 4 (200/400)

AP: 0

HP: 90

MP: 130

Strength: 9

Constitution: 9

Dexterity: 9

Will: 13

Intelligence: 11

Abilities:

[Mind Bastion]

[Dimension Hole]

[Identify]

[Blood Mana]

[Meditate]

[Side Steps] (82/100)

Spells:

[Increase Dexterity] (5,000/5,000)

[Increase Strength] (5,000/5,000)

[Increase Will] (1,000/1,000)

[Increase Intelligence] (1,000/1,000)

[Camouflage] (6,320/10,000)

[Heal Small Wounds] (5,000/5,000)

[Lightstrike]

[Ward]

[Inverse]

[Calm Mind]

Orrin pulled up the Store, with his growing list of potential future purchases:

Spells:

[Teleport]- teleport to any known point within 10 miles. 50 MP per person (0/5,000) 5AP

Abilities

[Map]: See the world around you (4AP)

[Mana Pool]: increase MP by 100 MP (one time purchase) (10AP)

Skills:

[Merge] combine spells/abilities for new effects. Caution: may lose original Spell/Ability (20AP)

A blinking icon caught his attention.

Unlocked: New Wards

After finding [Ward] with its (Class Unique) mark, Orrin had tried every search he could think of for additional unique spells or abilities. He’d found nothing.

Did buying [Ward] unlock these? Orrin’s eyes widened as he read.

“Daniel, you’ve got to see this,” Orrin shook Daniel awake and threw a blue box at him.

Wards- (Class Unique)

[Camouflage Ward]- create a ward around yourself and your party within 50 feet that mimics [Camouflage] 50 MP. -5AP

[Mind Ward]- create a ward around yourself and your party within 50 feet that mimics [Calm Mind] 20 MP. -2AP

[Light Ward]- create a ward around yourself and your party within 50 feet that protects against Light magic for MP maximum. 20 MP. -1AP

[Heal Ward]- create a ward around a target that negates all healing for MP Maximum. 10 MP. -1AP

[Utility Ward]- maximum possible Level 1 Strength, Dexterity, Will, and Intelligence Increase to yourself and your party within 50 feet. 100 MP. -5AP

“Holy...” Daniel trailed off as he read. “These are all linked with your-“

“With my spells,” Orrin finished. “Every time I buy a spell, I think I get a new [Ward].”

“Do you think [Utility Ward] casts just one time or all five stacked?”

“I’m guessing stacked, which should be plus five for each stat at level one,” Orrin ran his hand through his hair. “Once I unlock all four at level two, I’m guessing it’ll be up to plus twenty.”

“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask,” Daniel started. “You told me that level two was only a plus two but I’ve been getting plus twenty for strength and dexterity.”

“I noticed that too,” Orrin explained. “It’s the increase to my Will.”

Daniel’s eyes glazed over. “You’re going to explain more math to me, aren’t you.”

“I don’t have level two will or intelligence increase yet, so I can only increase my Will to eighteen and my Intelligence to sixteen,” Orrin started. “I told you the math already but in short, that plus two strength increase gets multiplied by one point eight. So at three point six for each strength increase- and I’m assuming it’s just rounding up to four, so lets call it four- I’m increasing strength and dexterity by twenty.”

“That’s going to get more insane when you get level two will huh,” Daniel asked.

Orrin smiled evilly. “You’ll probably be able to pick up that sword you like so much, but probably not swing it yet. A plus ten to will gives me a two point three modifier, so I can buff your strength up twenty-five points.”

They sat in silence thinking.

“You know,” Daniel started. “Almost none of your spells show up in my Store list.”

Orrin shrugged.

“It’s just weird, don’t you think?” Daniel continued. “I’m supposed to be a hero and I don’t have anything that will turn my entire party invisible.”

“Not invisible. At least not yet,” Orrin smiled. “I’m hoping that’s what I unlock though at the next level. And of course you have something that turns your entire party invisible. I’m in your party.”

It was Daniel’s turn to shrug. “So if will is increasing all of your spells so much, are you going to focus your level ten stat points on will?”

They had finally finished reading through the books they’d gotten. Only the Leveler’s Guide had mentioned Stat Points, and even that was only a few sentences.

Every ten levels, an adventurer gains a number SP or stat points, to allocate at their whim. While magic users usually focus on their Will or Intelligence and warriors focus on Strength or Dexterity, Constitution is a also a worthwhile choice.

Completely unhelpful, Orrin had thought when he read it. But no other book even talked about SP.

“I think so,” Orrin drew out his words. “I haven’t nailed down the Intelligence math yet, but I know it decreased my MP costs. Either way, I am leaning towards Will.”

“Good. I’m putting mine into Strength,” Daniel squeezed his hand shut. “I want my sword.”

Orrin shook his head, “How many levels did you get today anyways? I know you took out a few Sproits on your own.”

Daniel puffed up. “I’m at level five. That Goblin took me right over the line.”

Orrin smiled and congratulated him, but felt a bit down that Daniel had overtaken him in just one outing.

“Should we try a quest tomorrow?” Daniel turned on his bed to face Orrin fully.

“I think so,” Orrin cast [Camouflage] on himself. Might as well keep trying for the next level.

“I hate it when you do that.” Daniel turned on his back and stared at the ceiling. “You get all fuzzy and it hurts my eyes to look at you.”

“Don’t you have anything you can passively level?”

“Not like you,” Daniel muttered. “You realize it’s going to take me months to level up my few mana-using skills. Whenever I get too low, I feel like I’m getting a migraine.”

“I know,” Orrin said, slapping his forearm and breaking the spell. “I wish I could help, but I still haven’t even figured out why I passed out that one time.”

He recast [Camouflage] again.

“Maybe because you didn’t sleep?” Daniel suggested.

“I think it has to be more than that.” Orrin slapped himself again and recast. “I do sometimes feel groggy after a bunch of spell casting but I haven’t fainted again.”

“Maybe you’re just getting better at controlling the side effects?”

Silence drifted between them.

“Tomorrow we get some quests, maybe some extermination quests around the outside of Dey,” Orrin decided.

Daniel was already snoring.

The next morning, after a quick breakfast, they stood in front of the quest board.

The board was really just the back wall. Although some sort of order was attempted, others were ripping quests sheets off, looking at them, and tacking them back on haphazardly.

The left side was supposed to be for extermination quests, with lower level quests near the bottom and higher level ones reaching up to nine feet from the floor. About a quarter of the way down, the quests started changing to collection quests. Find this herb or bring me the skin of this beast.

From the halfway point to the end, the quests were more random. Find my lost son. Guard my caravan. Daniel chuckled and pointed at one that sought “companionship for aged widow.”

Orrin was squatting near the floor and trying to link extermination and collection quests. “I think these look okay. This one is from a farmer who needs help with the large rats attacking his crops." He held one sheet and then waved a second. “This one is from an apothecary looking for bags of large rat teeth.”

“I’m not hunting R.O.U.S.s for silver,” Daniel said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Damn it, Daniel. What else would you like to do? We aren’t high enough level to try most of these.”

“Here.” Daniel jabbed a finger at a page at chest height. “Some old cave needs clearing out, pays 10g.”

Orrin squinted at the cramped writing of the advert. “It doesn’t say what’s infesting the cave. And its marked four stars.”

Daniel shrugged. “It’s on the way to your rats. We could check it out at least.”

Daniel brought the three quest sheets to the front receptionist. A different man that last time took the sheets and scribbled their names down in a book before tossing the quests on a big pile of papers.

“What happens if we decide we can’t finish a quest?” Daniel asked.

The man sighed and pushed his long hair back. “Newbies. The quests you just handed me will be back on the wall in twenty minutes. If you come back with a letter from the quest giver saying you did it, we’ll pull the quest and you get paid. If you give up and don’t tell me or another to mark it out, nothing happens. You do it too much and maybe you get reported but you’d have to be an asshole yanking down multiple quests a day to get that. You die, someone else will finish the quest. Taking on a four star with just the two of you?”

Daniel nodded.

He went back to scribbling notes in his ledger. “Hope you have a bigger party than just you two.”

The farmer, Dane, was located about four miles outside of the northernmost eastern gate. The cave was in some foothills about two miles north of that. The quest sheet had mentioned bringing ears of the beasts.

With Orrin’s buffs, they made the four mile hike in only an hour. I love magic. Orrin looked back at all the forced outdoor running from high school with dread but with his increased dexterity, they both jogged faster than he could have ever ran before.

Dane was a mid-40’s man with a wide-brimmed hat. His farm grew cabbage and was easy enough to find. Dane himself was trying to get a yoke back over a mule in the middle of a field.

“Are you Dane?” Daniel yelled over the fence.

“You two here for the rats?” the man waved them over and tossed the curved harness on the ground.

They climbed over the wood logs and tried to not step on any of the green heads growing.

“I’m Daniel and this is Orrin.” Daniel held out his hand. Dane shook it and then gestured to the yoke.

Daniel smiled and picked it up. Although he had no idea what he was doing, Dane held the mule and directed his motions. Soon enough, the mule was strapped in.

“Thanks boys.” Dane slapped the mule’s backside and it started off, dragging some contraption behind it. “She’s a good one, but hates working days.”

“What is that thing?” Daniel pointed at the spade like device with a basket over it.

“Well, I got to get the ground tilled, but don’t like wasting my time going back over to fertilize and seed. So I set it all up in one.” Dane looked proud at his ‘invention.’

“That works?” Orrin asked.

“With a few skills I’ve picked up, it does,” Dane smirked. “Alright, this way. She knows the lines and can do the rest herself.”

“The mule?”

Dane smiled and nodded, walking off towards the farmhouse in the distance. When Orrin looked back, the mule was plowing straight lines down a well beaten path. Magic fuckery, he decided.

“So, they’ve been coming out at night mostly to get the stores but I caught one in a trap. Usually, I get a group of five come out. Just you two? That’s fine I guess, just be careful,” Dane did not stop talking as they walked.

“So the last group just let one loose and followed it back to their nest. That was about a year ago but they always come back. Nothing you can really do about it I guess, but well, you know that being adventurers. Ahhhh, there it is.”

Around the side of the house, was a giant mousetrap. A sheet of hammered together two by fours with a spring and a bent piece of metal. Stakes had been driven into the ground to hold it tight but they looked as if they could give way at any moment.

Half-crushed under the thick pipe was a Labrador sized rat, thrashing.

“It’s been here a day or so, it’ll be hungry. Good luck,” Dane turned and left without further directions.

“What the hell, that’s huge,” Daniel muttered as he drew his sword. The rat started shrieking and digging its feet into the wood. Long scratches marred the entire ‘trap.’

Orrin tried [Identify]

[Rat, dire] HP 12/40 status: restrained/starved

Damn, he’d been hoping for more information from [Identify]. I need to start using it more on enemies, too.

Orrin pulled out the bestiaries and found the relevant section.

Dire Rats are vermin grown large. A bite should be treated quickly with healing magic or disinfectant as their saliva is a mild poison. They travel in large groups with a single brood mother hidden nearby. Quick opportunistic attackers, Dire Rats are fearful and will run when attacked themselves. One Star (*) See Brood Mother (**)

Orrin flipped back to read the Brood Mother section, which was mostly the same but with a detailed drawing.

“Daniel, these things build trap doors in the ground to hide the Brood Mother in,” Orrin recited. “It’ll look just like the grass around it but a small piece of wood or other latch should be visible. See?”

Daniel was looking at the rat. “Should we just kill it? I don’t really want to go running after it.”

“Concentrate.” Orrin snapped his fingers. Daniel glared at him. “We need to be prepared.”

“Fine.” Daniel looked at the book and nodded. “Let’s find the entire brood.”

He grabbed a piece of wood and leveraged it on the metal trap.

“Get ready to run.” Daniel smiled and pulled.