Chapter: Helping from Afar

When Erik and Rugrat woke up the next day they found that as they moved through the forest many of the creatures quietened as they got close.

They increased their pace, half jogging through the forest trying to make sure that they didn't bust up their ankles. Rugrat had put his stats towards his strength and agility so he was able to quickly outdistance Erik, he slowed down so that they were always close to one another.

There was no hiding the shock in each others’ eyes at the speeds they were travelling at or the way that they had gained superhuman abilities.

If this is just level three, what would level ten or level twenty be like?

It wasn't until afternoon of the second day since fighting the snakes that they paused their movements as they reached a cave, there were several wolves moving around the cave in groups.

Erik and Rugrat looked at one another, they had experienced the advantages of gaining experience through killing but they weren't reckless, these wolves weren't small by any means and they gave off a faint pressure that made Erik not want to underestimate them.

They skirted around the cave and headed down wind, as they did it took them closer to the rough dirt road that led to Chonglu.

They followed close to the road for a bit, looking for a way to cut back into the forest as they'd entered a hilly region.

Rugrat held up his hand, halting Erik.

Erik took a knee and scanned the area behind them as Rugrat scanned the area off to their front left.

He moved back to Erik and tapped on his armored shoulder.

"I think I hear sounds of fighting, like metal on metal," Rugrat whispered.

Erik couldn't hear it, but he nodded, trusting Rugrat.

"You take lead and we'll check it out?" Erik said.

Rugrat nodded, they dropped their packs, Rugrat took out his modified M40A6, it was identical tot his service weapon as a marine scout sniper.

He slung it on his back, the two of them moved forwards, Erik just slightly behind Rugrat as they stayed low.

Rugrat stopped and pointed to the road, next to it there was a person looking in the direction they had come, they were wearing rough pelts, with dirt on their face and a crude rusted sword in their hand.

To Erik it looked like a look out if he'd ever seen one.

They kept moving, a notification appeared in Erik's vision, but he dismissed it.

They moved onwards toward where the noises were coming from.

Erik and Rugrat got to a small rise where there was a break in the tree-line giving them a view over the fight.

There were three carriages under attack, the first two carriages had been abandoned, the simple large creatures that looked like oxes were pawing the ground, anxious with the spilt blood. There were some fifteen fighters on the side of the traders and thirty on the side of the raiders that were attacking them from either side.

Archers were in elevated positions raining arrows down, melee types fought one another on both sides, there were six people on the ground, two of the traders had already been killed by these archers another two had been killed by the raider melee types and then the final two had fallen to the blades of the trader’s melee fighters.

If nothing changed then the traders wouldn't survive.

"Give me the women and goods I might even let you live!" A large man holding a large blade laughed as the raiders attacked with greater ferocity, wanting to prove themselves to their leader.

The traders all had ugly looks on their faces, they usually travelled with their families and their women, while they were fighting along side their fellow traders and husbands all knew the grim reality if they were to fall into these raider's hands.

Rugrat and Erik glanced at one another, Rugrat nodded and cleared a place on the ground quickly, pulling his rifle from his shoulder and pulling out it's bipod.

Erik turned, bracing himself against the small, hill they were on. He sighted on the scout that was looking from the battle to down the road.

Erik found that his aim was drifting less, that his breathing was easier than normal.

He controlled his breathing before slowly pulling back on the trigger. He fired a quick double ta. His first and second round hit, the look out, dropping him to the ground.

Erik's '!' marker was blinking but he ignored it, looking back on the fight around the carriages, none of them heard anything from the silenced rifle.

Erik moved next to Rugrat, using a fallen log to steady himself.

"Good to go?" Rugrat asked.

Erik got himself ready and checked his aim.

"Good," Erik said.

"Archers, then the leader," Rugrat said.

"Understood," Erik said, they were some two hundred meters away and elevated compared to their targets.

Rugrat fired first, the dirt around him moved slightly as his silenced rifle moved slightly.

Rugrat worked the bolt action as Erik fired, his round taking down another archer.

The remaining two archers on their side were starting to realize something wrong as Rugrat's second round found it's target. Erik hit the second archer but didn't kill them right away.

They let out a scared and painful howl before being cut off suddenly with Erik's second round.

The leader and the raiders started to look around to see that their four archers supporting them from behind on one side were dead already.

Rugrat fired again, Erik could only praise his abilities, with his rifle, Rugrat was a terrifying individual.

Erik picked out raiders that were outside of the fight and started firing, not caring about hitting them in the head and killing them silently.

They went down in pained cries, their armor unable to stop Erik's rounds.

Erik check his aim as his targets were sprawled on the ground, screaming out in shock and sudden pain.

the leader was still on his feet even with three rounds in him.

Rugrat put a fourth in the man's skull, dropping him.

The raiders had gone from twenty-eight fighters to seventeen in just a few seconds and they had no idea where their attackers were.

Also, their leader that had organized them all and was their strongest fighter had his head explode and was lying on the ground dead.

They started to run in all directions.

The traders held where they were, getting in attacks on the raiders backs, killing two more and wounding three before they were able to escape.

Erik and Rugrat took down targets of opportunity, adding another three to their count before there were no more raiders that they could hit easily.

Erik checked the position that he had been firing from, quickly policing his brass and stuffing it into his cargo pockets.

Rugrat did the same with his expended cartridges.

They only had a limited amount of them and they didn't want to put any to waste.

Seeing that all their gear was tucked away they headed away from the road, not wanting to meet the traders or the raiders that they had been fighting.

They were heading off as a man’s voice sounded out.

"Thank you for your aid!" the man yelled into the forest.

Erik and Rugrat didn't slow their steps as they grabbed their rucksacks and then headed off deeper into the forest.

It wasn't some time before they stopped and took stock of their gear.

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You have learned the skill: Stealth

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You know when to pick your fights and when to sneak about to get an advantage over your enemy.

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Skill: Stealth

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Level: 5 (Novice)

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No bonuses at this time. You must prove your skills first.

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Skill: Marksman

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Level: 18 (Novice)

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No bonuses at this time. You must prove your skills first.

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Stealth Attack, hitting a target while undetected in stealth your attack is X2 stronger.

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You have reached Level 6

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When you sleep next, you will be able to increase your attributes by: 15 points.

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7,700/23,000 EXP till you reach level 7

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"Made it to a level twenty three Novice Marksman," Rugrat said, pulling out his M40 and checking it

Erik checked his magazines and moved them around.

Well we also know a few things. One, that the people here are human, that they are using creatures other than horses, they carry out trade, they wear simple fabrics that we might find in history on Earth.

These guys were all fighting with their strength not magic so maybe they haven't put in any points to their mana, or they just have a few of their mana gates open like us. Also, health is definitely not based on hit points." Erik said as he worked.

"Hit Points?" In some games the people you're fighting have a certain number of hit points, you have to wear these down before you beat the creature. I didn't see anything like hit points. Everyone died as they would back on Earth."

"Though that boss raider," Rugrat argued. "When the first round struck it punched a hole in him but it didn't exit. It was like his skin was as strong as body armor.

I put the second shot into him and it was the same. His first wound was starting to recover when I took his head off."

Rugrat said, staring into nothing as he recalled what he had seen.

Erik turned thoughtful.

"Hopefully we'll find out more when we head to that town outside of Chonglu," Erik said.

Rugrat nodded, putting his M-40 away in it's gun bag.

“You forgot the biggest thing,” Rugrat said.

“What’s that?” Erik asked.

“We could understand them,” Rugrat said.

Erik sat there, stunned, between Rugrat and him, they knew five different languages. He hadn’t even thought of it. They were on another planet, but the boos raider and the man that had thanked them, both had been speaking English.

Erik and Rugrat went to sleep and did their watches. Rugrat was the first to go to sleep with Erik going after him.

He quickly organized his attribute points increasing his stats.

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Character Sheet

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Name: Erik West

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Level: 6

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Race: Human

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Titles: From the Grave

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Strength: (Base 7) +4

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110

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Agility: (Base 6) +6

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60

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Stamina: (Base 10) +0

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150

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Mana: (Base 2) +0

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20

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Mana Regeneration (Base 1) +10

2.95/s

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Stamina Regeneration: (Base 7) +10

4.15/s

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Erik had continued down his previous path, putting stamina and mana regeneration ahead of all else.

Five went into mana and stamina regeneration each, then with three going to agility and two to strength.

As Erik slept the mana in the surrounding area was stirred up.

Rugrat went on alert as he readied his rifle.

The wind was stirred up as faint blue gas was stirred up into a lazy tornado before being drawn in to Erik's body.

Rugrat looked at Erik, he could see a faint blue outline in his body, it was like his circulatory system but more rigid it started at Erik's wrists, extending up this arm to his back from there they connected, stretching up to the top of Erik's skull and then down through his back, tracing down his legs to his ankles.

After just a few minutes the wind settled down, the night returning to it's normal quiet as Erik continued to sleep, ignorant to what had happened.

When he woke up for watch, Rugrat told him what had happened.

Erik also found that there was another screen waiting for him.

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You have reached the Vapor stage

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+1 to Mana Pool

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Quest: Mana Gathering Cultivation

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The path of a mana gathering cultivator is not easy, to stand at the top, one must forge their own path forward.

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Requirements:

Reach Mana Mist level

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Rewards:

+2 to mana pool

+10,000 EXP

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Erik used simple organic scan and looked over his body to see what changes had gone on.

A series of channels ran through his body, linking his mana gates together and running through his entire body. These small channels were filled with a faint blue vapor that contained a powerful presence. He knew that this was mana he didn't know what the significance of it was or why it had changed.

They ate a boring breakfast of rations, but they were excited, today they'd be checking out the town on the way to Chonglu City to gain information, the next day they would be in range of the actual Chonglu City.

They trekked through the forest, they'd slowly plodded along before but Erik and Rugrat were now jogging through, confident in their new abilities and reaction times.

They would have been scared to twist their ankles in the past, now they weren't worried in the slightest.

Even if they did, they could both heal the injuries.

They reached a hilly area that allowed them to look over the town.

It was simply built with only two or three stone building; the majority were wood, or mud made inside their mud walls.

Around the small town were rough farmlands it might look simply but based on the dangerous animals in the area the little town had needed to fight for it's current position.

Rugrat used his M40 rifle scope while Erik used spotting binoculars.

There were guards on the walls, they were wearing rough metal chest plate, the rest of their clothes were heavily padded to blunt any blows that landed on them.

There were people coming in from the surrounding areas, traders had set up a few stalls inside the town, selling select goods and foodstuffs.

Erik and Rugrat had been hoping that the town would be a bit bigger. The bigger it was the easier it was to get lost in. They didn't want to stick out, just gather information and understand what the ten realms was about and complete their quest.

After watching over the city, seeing how they did things

"Let’s move on," Erik said, they cleared up their gear and moved on towards Chonglu. It was nearing mid-afternoon when they got into sight of Chonglu. Once again, they set up camp and started observing the city.

Its walls were made from rock, standing ten feet tall, their guards didn't have the lazy air that the town's guards had.

They were alert and focused as they patrolled the walls, or they collected tolls at the gates.

There was a lot more traffic at the city as well.

The town served as the lifeblood to the surrounding farmers, but the city was the true gate to higher positions and places/

In the middle of the city there was an obsidian pillar standing one hundred meters tall, much taller than anything around it.

There were different colored bands ringing it, the top being pure white, with the top band being white, the next one Gold, two silvers, three copper and Erik saw two bands that were black.

Checking their maps against what they were seeing, that obsidian pillar was the location of their quest, the Ten Realms Totem.

There were clear districts in the city and the noise of people going about their business could be heard far and wide.

The city hosted a population of some ten thousand people, wood and stone buildings dominated most of the city. There was a trading and warehouse district, a residential district, a crafters sector and houses for the nobles and ruling family of the city.

Erik scanned over it all with his binoculars.

"Looks like there is a fee at the gate," Erik said.

"We're going to need something to cover ourselves up, our clothing and gear looks totally different from theirs," Rugrat said.

"You got your woobie?" Erik asked

"Never leave home without it," Rugrat said.

"We drop our rucks here, take our personal weapons with us, wear woobies, then we go to a store, get a cloak to hide what we're wearing," Erik said.

"Okay, and I think I have a way for us to get into the city," Rugrat said, focusing through his scope.

"huh?"

"Looks like some people that don't have actual coins use a barter system. We'll trade that Monster Core in for some change, so we at least have some local currency," Rugrat said.

"What do you think that they'll trade with us?" Erik asked.

"You got some Jerky and nuts? A bag of that should be good," Rugrat said.

"I'll get it together, you keep an eye out," Erik said, shifting to back where their packs were.

"On it," Rugrat said, not looking away as he continued to scan the city.

His eyes could pick up a lot more than Erik's and he had training that made him much better than Erik was at scoping out a city.

Erik got together a few small bags of meat and nuts.

He looked over at Rugrat lying on the hill and the city beyond. Just a few weeks ago he had been moping around in a hospital when Rugrat came around to kick his ass and pull him out of his funk.

Since then Erik had turned his situation around, it had gone past in a whirlwind, he pressed his lips together as he took in a big breath, if not for Rugrat, he didn't want to think on what kind of situation he might be in.

He held up his hand, letting mana seep out from his channels and appear as a mist in his hand.

"Magic huh? Let’s see what other secrets your hiding ten realms," A smile crept onto his face a dense look in his eyes as they focused on that totem.

***

The next day they were wearing their poncho liners, hiding their gear underneath, they had hidden the rest of their gear and had left their helmets with it all, so they wouldn't stick out, or at least stick out less.

They headed down towards the main road leading to the city.

They walked up it towards the city, their hands on their weapons under the poncho liners.

People looked at them, assessing if they were a threat or not, not many people moved close to them.

Erik and Rugrat listened out to their conversations, it looked like everyone spoke English, they didn't question it as they reached the line moving through the gates.

There were people of all kinds of backgrounds, those that were mercenaries for trading groups, traders, farmers with goods to sell, or young people that were looking for a better life in the city.