The minutes tick by. The time for me to head to the village is approaching. I sit resting outside of my house in a brand new form of meditation. Something I just came up with.

I was not looking to lose myself. I was centering myself with more intent than ever before. Mentally preparing for what was to come. And while I knew some of what lay ahead, most of it could not be predicted. After I awoke at sunrise, I didn’t strain myself, just seated here and prepared.

I have not eaten in about 40 hours. By now my body is burning only my small reserves of fat. Never before I have purposefully gone so long without eating, and for some types of exercise, this was not the ideal metabolic state to be in. But for mental and endurance-based tasks, this was the perfect state for me. I was lighter on my feet, all my neuroreceptors were in prime condition.

I had nothing weighing me down on either stomach or gut. The one slight change would be the slight increase in oxygen consumption from burning fat instead of sugar. But as much as most people would say my next endeavor was a physical one, I differ.

The physical part was indeed important, but the mental aspect was even more so. And I was sharper than ever. This feeling was familiar by now given the stat increases and new things I was learning. But this was taking it to a whole other level.

I spread a little of my mana to the roots growing underground. With so many experiments, anywhere within about 300 meters of my house, you could find the growing roots. Pando’s seed, its progenitor easily connects to the roots growing all around.

He is gaining more and more awareness. In some ways, he may even surpass the original tree in a couple of months. Though that probably had to do with my cycling of Aether affecting it, and I guessed that benefit would be extended to the main grove when I was back.

With these very roots and a calm mind, anything within this 600-meter circle is within my awareness.

Half an hour goes by when I notice something strange. Pressure on top of the furthest roots. Not the cyclic pressure of a single person going through, and the very light pressure a couple of rabbits coming to visit the new nest within my inner world. Several people making their tracks straight to my house silently.

Calmly, though my heart rate does elevate in preparation, I open my eyes. The connection is still there, and I head into the house as if nothing had happened.

By now, I can sense another five trios surrounding me. I connect with the village and as they pick up, I start speaking.

“Attack on my house, 27 assailants moving stealthily, 250 meters from my house. No, 30, no, 33, well… increasing numbers.”

“I will call…”

“No, it would probably be better if you guys focus on your own problems. I have a few defenses and plenty of tricks up my sleeve. Any help would take nearly an hour to get here.”

“Ok, I will inform the commander of everything, and pass on your recommendations.”

“Please do, I will keep sending reports.”

I take a small copper plate from my inventory and test it, by sending a revised report on the numbers as I leave the house again. With a leather strap, I tie it to my arm, under the sleeve of my jacket, now feeling mighty exposed as I speak.

“For now, 45 assailants, and holding steady.”

“45 assailants, confirmed.” I hear from another operator.

I leave the house, and see the main group leave the forest even as all the others stay hidden. I could probably get away, but even with them sending so many people, there is a strange calm within me. Perhaps when more people got to level 50 it would be a concern, but they would be limited in class rarity and an average of 20 base stat points. I on the other hand was a monster in that department, along with having defenses and hundreds of thousands of mana to draw upon.

I give a quick glance at my stats, while not taking my eyes from the two archers just behind the main group walking at a slow, but purposeful pace.

Name: Nash

Level:10

Titles:3

Class: [Expand]

213635/0 EXP

Strength

31

Soul

35

Constitution

26

Agility

29

Dexterity

30

Endurance

40

Perception

34

Intelligence

36

Willpower

49

Health

469/469

314

/day

Mana

606/606

58,24

/hour

Stamina

311/311

4,68

/min

My stat average is what, 35? I may not be specialized, but I could do a little bit of everything. And I doubted they had more than one or two skills over level 30. Worse came to worse, I could always just hid out in the house, maybe even hide underground, or escape. Counting the mana enhancement, I doubted they had anyone much faster than me.

I calmly wait, a few meters from my door fully prepared to act at a moment's notice. When they are some twenty paces from me, I almost attack, though hold myself as the leader speaks.

“So, this is the famous Nash.”

“Yes, what do you want?”

With no smarmy or condescending tone, he replies in a serious business-like tone.

“Ohh, for you to come to work with us.”

This gives me pause, and to figure out what is his deal, I reply:

“What’s in it for me?”

“There are quite a few people interested in your demise, but if you were to be working for Lord Max, their desire would be a moot point.”

“And how would that work? I could just sign in and betray you later.” Going for the obvious question.

“Well, we got system-enforced contracts.” Hearing that, my eyes go wide at the implications. Before I ask anything else he continues: “We can’t enforce anything too drastic, but for someone in your unique position, we can make sure that you can’t do much harm.”

He is purposefully vague, so I have no idea of the specifics, like how they got this from the system or the limitations, but that is besides matter.

“What would this entail for me?” He gives a smile, guessing I just stalling for time, but he genuinely wants to convince me and it shows in his tone and demeanor.

“Basically, you engrave and do magical research exclusively for Lord Max’s. We know most of the work wasn’t done by you. But the seed of the ideas always seems to track back to you. With your help, this entire endeavor would be that much smoother.”

I think on his words for a moment. From what I find out, only a few of our closest allies could more than basic engravings such as the flashlight I made on the first few days. You would think that they could just copy our runic schematics. But an understanding of the function of each rune, which only careful experimentation could provide, seems to be required. I just had no idea why we seemed to be much less affected by this phenomenon.

Regardless of the reason, I kept my face as expressionless as possible. But the leader, standing there appeared to see through me. But I keep going over things in my head. He interrupts my musings, by speaking:

“If you are not really considering my proposal, we should end this talk.”

“If you are trying to convince me, tell me the perks of the job.”

“Besides getting to live, well… you would be working for the guy who will eventually dominate the entire instance. If you prove yourself, which with your capabilities is only a question of willingness, you would probably be amongst the five most important people around. You can be Merlin, to King Arthur’s legend. If you don’t want such an active role, that is fine as well. Why are you fighting for that village anymore? You are not even living there anymore. You don’t have any skin in the game.”

“My hesitation has much more to do with your willingness to attack before we made any threatening action to you. Even you succeed, which I doubt, with such an expansionist mindset your little empire would turn on itself as soon as you eliminated all other enemies. Hate and fear are powerful motivators, but in the end, they destroy any who rely on them.”

“Dang it. Well, if you don’t…”

Before he finished his phrase everyone starts to charge me, as the two archers draw and shoot their knocked arrows.

I form a shield around me with the mana hid inside my inner world. I also start to draw from the battery as fast as I can, which is also about 30 mana per second if I want to maintain full control. A couple of points go to my body, as I shoot off to the side. I manage to dodge one of the arrows, and the other bounces of my mana shield draining it slightly. It only got a grazing shot, and I’m thankful for it.

I still don’t withdraw my staff, waiting for an opportune time to surprise someone. As my mana shield gets stronger by the second, I move around a little at dizzying speed and connect to the root formation under me more deeply. A little mana goes to the roots so they grow even more, but I still keep them hidden for now.

I deal with the people around me initially using two main strategies. Keep moving and in the middle of the mess so the archer doesn’t have a chance to hit me. As the close combat people, which are all but the two archers get into the full swing, I deal with them similar to the wolves. Except, this time I care little for the injuries of my opponents. Most of them, are either stronger, faster, or more dexterous than me, but none had any significant skill empowering them, or nearly ars many attributes on other areas.

It doesn't matter if someone has a thousand strength points if they don’t hit you. What also helps me, is that they are not going for the kill. Apparently, they have been ordered to detain, not kill me. I use this distinction to full effect. When an opening shows up, I take my staff out of the inner world, and with a full swing, I hit the arm of the biggest guy. He was a little slow, but his broad sword was too dangerous.

With one arm down, he goes to the back, as he can no longer effectively wield his weapon. Others get closer trying to get used to the new dynamic. I’m no longer unarmed, but with a metal staff. The mana coursing through my body from mana infusion keeps me fast enough that can’t pin me down, and after having taken their measure, I go on the offensive.

More and more Aether spins around me at ever-increasing rates. I learn more about fighting in a minute now, than in a year before this. My focus is all-encompassing, and each of my moves seems almost choreographed.

My staff whistle as it moves through the air. Bones are broken each time it contacts someone. As a few try to conjure fireballs before me, I also form water ones to defend, though I spend much less mana and let my mana shield deal with the steam and remnants of the fireballs.

Not a single second is wasted and in twenty seconds, all before me, are the two archers. I look around, and now without a single person standing between us, they have a clear shot but don’t take it.

I stand ready as each of them retreats. Only two of them have injuries on their legs, so they manage to retreat fairly easily. When mele fighters are at the edge of the forest, the archers stop covering their retreat and run back as fast as they can.

I have no idea how I managed to do this, but for a moment there is a lull in the battle. I can’t hear them from so far away, but I can sense after a moment, two people starting to make the round and they all gather before making a retreat.

It may not be perfect, but this result is better than I could have hoped for. So many things in my favor stacked and they are actually retreating.

------------------------------------------

“I still think we should have pushed,” I speak to my superior. “He made it very clear he is an enemy in our conversation. He wouldn’t have been able to deal with 35 of us at the same time even we excluded everyone injured.”

He takes a breath and cradles his right arm, now unable to wield his +3 broad sword, before answering me.

“You weren’t paying attention. Which is fair as you had to focus on fighting him, But I could observe him and I’m certain he was not giving his all. He had at least one or two more tricks up his sleeve. He also didn’t move far away from his house, which I suspect had magical defenses. We could probably win with the right tactics, but we are supposed to support the main attack with minimal casualties.”

“But now he will be reinforcing them.”

“So what, you know full well what Lord Max has prepared for the attack. And in a larger conflict, he probably won’t be able to fully leverage his powers. He didn’t have overwhelming stats in anything, just a little more across the board, and whatever mana berserk state or something that increased his speed.”

He goes silent, and we make our track back to the main force leaving the two guys with injured legs and someone else to accompany and protect them. Let’s just hope the Lord sees things the same way and doesn’t take his frustration out on us.