The next morning Luna woke up and struggled to find her bearings, until she remembered where she was. Evelyn had woken up even earlier than Luna and was making breakfast outside, just like the morning last night. She waved Luna over to her and told her to sit down.

In a whisper she asked Luna. “Do you have some magic? I felt mana coming from you when you slept. Keep your voice low.”

Luna was surprised, nobody had yet commented on her sleeping Skill. “I have a Skill that lets me sleep better. Maybe you felt that.” She confessed in a whisper.

Evelyn nodded. “That makes sense, yes. I also have a Skill like that, very useful for an Alchemist let me tell you. Don’t mention to other people that you can use your Mana. I won’t ask about your Classes, but some people get irritated when they find out you have something they do not.”

“Is that why you joined this expedition? People did not like you?” Luna asked her.

Evelyn grimaced. “We all have our reasons for leaving.”

Luna chuckled sheepishly. “Sorry. I don’t want to pry, you sounded like you were used to people envying you for your Class and you were so open about your Alchemy.”

Evelyn had deftly filleted a fish while they were talking and was now dicing it, before putting it on a hot stone. This day's breakfast appeared to be a fish stew, with the same ingredients as yesterday's dish, except for fish instead of boar.

“It is no secret that I am an Alchemist. Which is a reason why many people here won’t eat the food I prepare. They don’t understand a single thing about what I do, but they just assume I can make poison and rather not risk it. It is also the reason why your Captain Parrot invited me on this expedition. I can create all kinds of things if I can get the ingredients for it. And with the mana density here I imagine I can do a lot more things than before.”

At the mention of mana density Luna lost control over her face for a second and grimaced, which Evelyn of course picked up on. “Ah, I see the Mana density is not a surprise to you. Care to tell me how you know?”

Luna had neatly maneuvered herself in this position without realizing it. If she wanted the woman to trust her, she would have to trust her in turn. Since she knew about the Mana density, but nobody else had commented on it, she assumed she had kept it to herself.

Luna looked at Evelyn and decided to take the leap if she confirmed that assumption. “If you felt the Mana change, did you tell anyone?”

Evelyn shook her head. “Why would I? They have no idea what Mana does and I am not going to make myself a target around here the way you did the last two days.” Evelyn proceeded her cooking unperturbed through all of this, while Luna realized she had her hands on her legs, clutching the fabrics so hard her hands had turned white.

Luna realized something. “So if I told you that the animals around here are much higher in level, the plants much more abundant, the trees taller and that I even spotted several Monsters in just the last two days, that would not surprise you, would it?”

Evelyn smiled. “Not at all.”

Luna deflated a little. “And here I thought I was the only one who realized how precarious our situation really is. We are on foreign land, with no idea what or who might be lurking behind the next hill and when I told the council some would not believe me.”

Fiona joined them just as Luna was finishing her whispered sentence. She sat down next to them and asked. “She knows about the Mana?”

Evelyn lightly slapped her on the head and whispered “Quietly if you please. Luna was just about to tell me how she knew about that. And yes, Fiona knows as well, she has been my apprentice for years and earned herself a Skill to sense Mana, just like I did.”

“Alright. I felt the change when we crossed the wall on the ocean, but I could not tell what it was. I found out when I checked the Class Tablet I received a notification that I had entered a Mana rich zone. Let me check something really quick.” Luna stood up and strode over towards the beach until she could see the bay. No ships were still anchored in the bay and she could only just make out a sail in the distance. Satisfied that the last chance for the news to cross the sea had left, she returned to the tent and retrieved the Class Tablet from her backpack.

Back at the fire she sat back down and simply handed the still wrapped up Class Tablet to Evelyn. “See for yourself. The last ship has left, the news has no way of traveling back with them.”

Curiosity was clearly written on Evelyn’s face now. She unwrapped the bundle and held the Class Tablet in her hands. For a few seconds nothing happened, then Evelyn looked at Luna with big eyes, then handed the Class Tablet to Fiona. “This is unheard of. In all my life not a single book I read mentioned anything like it.”

A few seconds later they heard the surprised gasp from Fiona. “What is this? Ten times the experience?”

Luna shushed both women. “Exactly. This is why I had the Class Tablet hidden away until the last ship left. Imagine what will happen once the news makes it to one of the kings or spreads over the kingdoms.”

Fiona was staring at Luna with incomprehension. “What will happen?”

“Fiona, what would you do if you were a young farmer of the age of 20 who found out that if he traveled somewhere, he would earn ten times the experience for doing the same things he does at home?” Evelyn asked her.

“I would travel there.” Fiona replied instantly and then realization spread over her face. “And so would everybody else. Nobody would want to stay.”

Luna nodded. “Exactly. And all three kings would want the land for themselves, despite us not even knowing how big it is. The greed would cloud their judgement and everyone would rush here to grab what they can.”

Evelyn was massaging her temples at this point. “Parrot did really well giving you the class stone. I figure he was the one who wanted to delay the news spreading?”

Luna confirmed it with a nod and added. “It was my suggestion. We are aware that the news will spread no matter what. And it will not matter how dangerous we claim the place is, people will just assume we want it to ourselves.”

Fiona was starting to look concerned at this point. “Grandma, does that mean we left and now everyone will follow us?”

Evelyn released a mighty sigh. “It seems so. Luna, this might become important in the future. If anyone asks about me or Fiona, you do not know anything about us. Nothing, do you understand? Before more people arrive we need to vanish and find a place for ourselves where we can live. Nobody can find us. I promise I will tell you why later. Do you plan to leave the village once the stockade is done?”

Now it was Luna’s turn to get concerned. “Why? Yes I am going to leave. But why the secrecy?”

“When you leave, promise me to take us with you. We cannot be here when more people arrive and the sooner we leave the place the better for us.” Evelyn begged her while Fiona was sitting wide eyed next to them, still clutching the Class Tablet.

“Ok ok, I can take you with me. But it will be hard to travel, the forests are thick with underbrush and there are things growing everywhere around here.” Luna conceded.

This time Fiona pitched it. “Don’t worry. We can take it, I promise.”

They kept talking about where they could travel to until they heard more people waking up in surrounding tents. After that they drifted to topics relevant to the camp and their plans for the day. At that point Luna realized that the first thing she would have to do was inform William about the experience bonus and leave it to him to inform the council. Since the forest clearing had gone so smoothly, she saw no reason to do more than walk the forest perimeter once and then she would find out if there were Hunter or Trapper with the group and take them towards the area near the cliffs with rabbits and get some hunting done.

Fiona had handed Luna the Class Tablet back and she had wrapped it back into the clothes before stuffing it into her backpack. After breakfast she decided that it was prudent to check her status one last time before turning over the Class Tablet. She sat down in the tent and unwrapped it again.

Greetings Emiluna

Your gains since your last visit at a Class Tablet.

Mana Rich Zone: Multiplier x10

General Experience [Experience gained by performing Class actions]

Pathfinder: 1319 XP

Stalker: 567 XP

Additional Experience [Noteworthy Achievements]

Pathfinder Exploration Bonus: 2000 XP

You have reached Level 10 in both your first and second class. Distribute your 2 free stat points now.

Luna was a little flustered. She had not expected to reach level 10 in both classes right now and simply dumped the points in Vitality and Dexterity. She relied on her Dexterity a lot and Vitality had been lagging behind a bit and she remembered promising herself to put some free points into it.

Luna knew what would come next, but the list of possible Skills to pick always overwhelmed her.

You have reached Level 10 in two classes. Please select a new Skill for each.

Sylvan Pathfinder

[Glide]

When falling from great height you may spend mana to slow your fall.

It does not decrease your weight and will not allow you to fly.

[Mana Vision]

Allows you to see Mana when in use by a person or monster. Does not show ambient mana. This is a passive Skill.

[Commit to Memory]

Capture and memorize a single moment. You will never forget it, unless you choose to.

[Scenic Overview]

When you perch on a high location you may use this skill to locate points of interest in the surrounding area.

[Sky Eye]

Imbue an arrow with mana and shoot it into the sky. It will release the Sky Eye at its highest point. You can see through the Sky Eye until the spell dissipates.

[Safe Haven]

Creates a Zone around your camp that hostile eyes will not notice. Nearby enemies or predators walk around your camp without noticing.

[Set Destination]

Using a map you can set a destination. While traveling towards that destination you consume less Stamina and Mana on traveling and movement Skills and you always know where you are in relation to it.

Sylvan Stalker

[Penetrating Shot]

Imbue your next shot with Mana and increase it’s penetration.

[Stunning Shot]

Imbue your next shot with mana and blunt its impact, increases the chance of stunning or knocking out a target.

[Leaping Shot]

Perform a backwards Double Jump with increased height. Fires the next shot while at the highest point of the jump.

[Vine Shot]

Imbue your next shot with mana. On hit magical vines will sprout from the impact site and entangle the target.

[Long Shot]

Imbue your next shot with mana. It has increased range and a much flatter trajectory.

[Crippling Shot]

Imbue your next shot with mana. When hitting the target there is an increased chance to decrease the target movements, depending on which area of the body is hit.

[Mark]

You may place a Mark on anyone you can see for 24 hours. You will sense the direction the Mark is in, as well as their general health when close by.

Physical Trait Improvements (Both Classes)

[Deeper Roots]

You recover more quickly during sleep.

[Aura of Nourishment]

Share the effect of Young Roots with previously selected people around you.

[Improved Vision]

Your eyes are sharper and you can view things farther away.

[Magic Eyes]

Magical effects of any kind can no longer impair your vision.

The third category of Skills was a surprise. She had not expected it, but in hindsight there had been clues everywhere about how she would be able to modify the Physical Traits later. It made sense for her to get the option via Skills.

Some Skills had disappeared from the selection and Luna could only guess why. She knew that picking some Skills could exclude others, like Waterwalk being most likely excluded because she had picked Windwalk, but for the others? All the Skills working with melee weapons were gone, was that a result of her using the bow most of the time? She had no clue.

The majority of Skills were out of the question and her Stalker options were basically reduced to selecting a new Shot Skill. Luna decided on the Vine Shot, as it seemed to give her the best possible utility. If her normal arrows could not hurt a target, then having a single arrow deal some damage would not be enough. But with the possible entangling effect, she could slow down targets that might try to escape, or use it to escape herself.

The Pathfinder Skill was easy. Safe Haven offered her exactly what she needed to explore the continent. She had wanted to just stay away from the human camp since day one, but the risk of sleeping alone outside had been too high.

Her physical traits could wait. At least until she ruled out that she could not modify them in another way. Because if that was the case, wasting a Skill selection on it would be stupid.

Name: Emilia Lunare Sylvanlake

Level: 20

Race: Sylvan

Age: 16

Class 1: Sylvan Pathfinder - Level 10

Experience: 1148/20000

Class 2: Sylvan Stalker - Level 10

Experience: 170/20000

Class 3: N/A (Requires a total level of 45)

Health: 250/250

Stamina: 269/269

Mana: 172/173

Regeneration - Per Minute

2.00% Stamina

0.61% Mana

1.1% Life

Stats - Body

Strength: 16

Vitality: 14

Dexterity: 19

Stats - Mind

Wisdom: 12

Intelligence: 8

Charisma: 7

Available Points

Stats: 0

Skills: 0

Skills - Personal

[Athleticism] - Level 18 (Level Up)

[Languages] - Level 7

[Dodge] - Level 5 (Level Up)

Skills - Race

[Dryad's Body]

[Natural Insight]

[Ancestral Memories]

[Nature’s Bounty]

[Young Roots] - Physical Trait

[Dryad Eyes] - Physical Trait

Skills - Crafting

[Cooking] - Level 4

[Sewing] - Level 2

[Field Dressing] - Level 6

Skills - Combat

[Bows] - Level 16

[Crossbows] - Level 3

[Thrown Weapons] - Level 4 (Level Up)

[Small Weapons] - Level 8 (Level Up)

[Small Shields] - Level 7

Skills - Utility

[Tracking] - Level 8 (Level Up)

[Stealth] - Level 7 (Level Up)

[Survival] - Level 5

[Field Craft] - Level 6 (Level Up)

[First Aid] - Level 4

[Lock Picking] - Level 5

[Traps Disarmament] - Level 4

Skill - Magic

[Purify Water] - Level N/A

[Spark] - Level N/A

[Conceal Presence] - Level 7 (Level Up)

[Seal Wound] - Level 2

Skills - Class

[First]

[At home in the wilds]

[Silent Observer]

[Stalker's Precision]

[Sneak Attack]

[Windwalk]

[Silent Shot]

[Double Jump]

[Safe Haven]

[Vine Shot]

Luna left her status behind and felt excitement. She had just reached level 20 and it had only been 9 month since she turned 16 and selected her classes. Through all the twists and turns her life had taken in that time she really could not complain about slow leveling.

She stuffed the Class Tablet back into her small backpack and gathered her equipment. Leaving the tent she waved goodbye to Evelyn and Fiona, who had gone back to braiding vines for the village stockade. William and the council were once again standing around near the forest area. With a deep sigh Luna resigned herself to telling them all at once and approached them.

Just like the day before she was spotted and Christoph approached her aggressively. “Where is the Class Tablet?” he demanded. “We were promised a Class Tablet for the settlement. Hand it over!”

Luna ignored him and fished the Class Tablet from her backpack, now wrapped in a piece of stained cloth, and handed it over to William. “I will give it to you, and only you. Take care of it and stay vigilant for people trying to break into your things while you are gone.” At the last bit he raised an eyebrow. “Someone.” Luna looked pointedly at Christoph, “decided that they wanted to have the Class Tablet and tried finding it in my tent. Too bad they did not manage to break open my travel trunk.”

“Baseless accusations.” Christoph interrupted her and Luna started laughing.

“Funny you should say that. I had not even accused anyone here, but if you feel the need to defend yourself, please go ahead. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to explain something to the reasonable people around here who let me finish. Will you shut up or do I need to talk to the others without you?”

His loyal companion Alfred was talking to Christoph in a hushed tone, at which he calmed down, so Luna resumed. “Once you check your status you will find out why we did not hand it over until the last ship had set sail. We are in an area with high mana density and all the Experience you gain is multiplied by ten.”

Luna was unable to finish as everyone wanted to check their status right now to verify what she had said. Luna rolled her eyes and told them to hurry up. Roughly two minutes later all had the chance to do so. William looked at her questioningly. “Why did you wait until the ships had left?”

“Because we do not want the kings to find out and come storming over to claim the land in their name? Do you want to get swept away by a wave of settlers? Surely not.” Luna explained only to be once again interrupted by the most irritating human Luna had ever met.

“That was not your decision to make! I have a right to tell my king!” Christoph exclaimed.

All four other men were deep in thought about the possible consequences. This time Alfred replied. “Shut it Christoph. I knew we should never have taken you with us. We left to get rid of the stupid kings and here you stand talking about informing him. You are an idiot. Be happy you are here and work on your classes, use the chance and stop complaining all day long.”

Luna had to work really hard to not laugh out loud. That put down had come from the person she had least expected. “Now that you know that, I can also tell you that high mana density means more monsters and possibly dungeons somewhere. Maybe you will believe me now that defense is the most important thing to work on. William, how many Hunter or Trapper do you have?”

Luna’s revelation was still sinking in and William took a second to pick up on her question. “I think there should be three, let me check.” He pulled a little booklet from a pocket and flipped through the pages. “Here it is. Hunter: Two. Trapper: One. Oswald, Almira, Franziska. They should be somewhere with the work teams, why?”

“I am going to borrow them for the day and show them a location where they can hunt for rabbits without getting too close to what I think is the territory of the Monster Jaguar that is stalking the hills. There should also be some fruit trees in that area. We need fresh supplies, I am sick of pickled vegetables.” Luna explained and then left towards the work teams.

For once Luna was certain the council would not waste time, but finally get to work and arrange a proper order for things to get built. After asking around for a while Luna was able to find both Hunters and the Trapper.

[Oswald]

Level 43, Human

[Almira]

Level 36, Human

[Franziska]

Level 22, Human

After gathering all three she introduced everyone and explained their mission for the day. All three were excited to do something other than chopping down trees, but the excitement quickly evaporated when Luna explained the very real threat of Monsters in the area. They still went to grab their equipment and met Luna north of the camp near the Cliffs.

Both Hunters, Oswald and Almira, were carrying bows, but the Trapper Franziska only had her tools for setting up traps and a simple hatchet. Luna guessed that they all had Crafting Classes as their first Class, which was quickly confirmed. Luna suggested they only leave the camp in a group and Franziska, the youngest of the three by far, was very happy when everyone readily agreed. Without anyone coming along with her, she had no way to fight anything on range and setting up traps required her to pay attention to what she was doing instead of the surroundings.

Luna was glad the three got along and had quickly agreed to work as a group. She led the way up along the cliff over the grassland and pointed out several locations with rabbit warrens, occasional trees carrying fruit and after a while they stopped at the foot of the hills. Luna explained to them in clear words that on this hill was where she had spotted the monsters and they were all happy to leave and get to the hunting and gathering part of their little excursion.

It only took them until noon to hunt and gather enough to return to the camp. They were each carrying four or five rabbits and Oswald had managed to shoot down two big goose like birds when they had tried to fly away from them, which he was pretty proud of. Their packs were stuffed to the brim with fresh apples, pears and even some wild onions and roots the trapper had dug up. They had a short discussion about how to distribute things, but all agreed that right now they would share with everyone.

Luna went to look for Evelyn to drop off her haul. As expected she and Fiona had not moved much since Luna left, still busy braiding vines into ropes and they both seemed glad for the interruption when Luna dropped the rabbits, vegetables and fruits off.

“I take it you told the council about mana density and Experience?” Evelyn asked her.

Luna confirmed it and explained her reasoning. “There was no point holding it back. Christoph was already getting really pushy over the Class Tablet, I think it was him who went through my things yesterday. At least they now take the threat of monsters seriously. I don’t think they have really processed what the consequences of this will be once the news makes it back.”

Evelyn shook her head sadly. “I think some of them never will. Some might even think it’s a great chance to curry favor with their previous kings or influential nobles, merchants, families. Take your pick. There are dozens of reasons why they might want to tell someone and if you tell ‘just one important person’ that person will turn around and do the same.”

Fiona added. “But with you and Parrot delaying it, that means instead of just one time traveling there, organizing another expedition and coming back, which would be around 3 to 5 month if they’re lucky? It will now take twice as long. Which gives us and everyone here a chance to prepare for the worst.”

Luna nodded. “That was the idea.” She lowered her voice. “Now, if you really want to travel with me, we need a quiet place to talk and prepare this properly. Tonight, when we have dinner we will eat down at the beach where nobody can sneak up on us and listen in.”