Chapter 6:

“Urgh, progress has been slow…” Paul was mumbling to himself. It was the 14th day after he had arrived in this world. He had reached level 4 after 10 days, but made only small progress since then.

“25% with 201 XP, that means I need around 800 XP to reach level 5” Paul was calculating. So far, the XP required for each level up was twice of what he needed for the last one. He was not limited to defeating enemies. Paul also got small amounts of experience when Marcus taught him about hunting or while he was getting tanning practice, helping Ray with carpentry or laying traps. The last few days were just repetitions of things he had already done several times before though, and the amount of XP he had gained from non-combat tasks was miniscule. He did not gain any stat points either. “At this rate, it will take me all year just to catch up to the stronger farmers.”

He did not want to complain about his current situation, but he felt like he was stuck in the tutorial or starting region of some old-school rpg game, killing rats all day and with no loot in sight. The people in the settlement were nice to him, especially Marcus, who had taught him a lot. Helping Ray with repairs on several occasions had won him a lot of thanks of the other families in the village and the amount of game Marcus was able to catch must have gone up considerably compared to before. This was mostly due to Paul’s minimap, because he was able to locate animals quickly. Marcus was already used to the fact that every time Paul said there was something nearby, it was true. Spending his days as a simple villager was not what Paul had in mind though.

“Normally, I should have conveniently stumbled over a hidden beginner dungeon, found some magic artifact, unlocked a hidden class and met my arch-enemy by now. I wonder if I did anything wrong…” Paul hung his head.

In the evening he approached Marcus. “I would like to learn some archery from you” there were not many people in the village who could teach him about things. Apart from farming and cooking he could not expect to learn anything worthwhile from the other villagers. Paul had planned to learn archery anyway after he had gained some skill points from level 5, but he felt like it would help to start now. He did feel slightly bad because Marcus had already taught him various things, in fact nearly everything he learned so far was due to Marcus.

“Hmm, I already thought about it myself of course. The problem is that there is no fletcher around here, and my skills in producing arrows and bows are sub-par at best. I only have my own bow and a handful of good arrows” Marcus seemed a bit reluctant to teach Paul a skill that he would probably not be able to put to good use any time soon.

“I see… Would you mind teaching me anyway? Even if the equipment I have to use is bad, your skills with the bow are impressive, and I think being able to hunt small game from a distance will really help in increasing my hunting efficiency. And learning from someone who has already mastered my skill seems like too good an opportunity to pass.”

Marcus’ face brightened while Paul was praising him. While hunting the wolf, his rate of fire and accuracy was impressive, even an amateur like Paul could feel that his skill was more than average.

“If you put it like that, I guess I cannot refuse. Let us go see Ray, he should be able to help us out a bit.”

They went to see Ray. Paul would need a bow and some arrows for training. He could not carelessly use Marcus’ equipment, especially the arrows Marcus was using seemed hard to acquire.

He helped the two with the wood for the bow and carving some arrows. A few days later Marcus held a rather crude looking short-bow in his hand and gave it to Paul.

“This thing is nowhere near as good as the bow I am using, but I guess there is no helping it. The arrows Ray made are slightly bent as well, but no need to tell him that, I am sure he is aware. Considering that fletchery is new for him as well, they turned out OK. I never had to learn it myself, so whatever I produce would be even worse.”

Paul inspected the bow and arrows:

[Crude short-bow

Damage 2

Durability 10/10

Bow

The work of someone not accustomed to the craft. Cannot shoot arrows with much force, which affects range and accuracy.]

[Bent arrow

Crudely made arrow. The tip is made of stone and the shaft is slightly bent. Will probably not fly straight and is likely to shatter if it hits a hard surface.]

The gear was really bad, but considering the time spent making it and the limited skills and resources, it was OK for practice purposes.

Marcus had set up something like a scarecrow made of straw and wood a few dozen meters next to the fields outside the village.

He only had three of the crude arrows and shot them at the target from a distance of about 15 meters while Paul was watching him. He had already seen him use his bow on several occasions, but Paul wanted to learn as good as possible. He was not sure if he could actually acquire a skill just by training, but at least experience points could be gained by absorbing knowledge.

All of the arrows hit the target and Paul went to retrieve them before picking up the bow himself. Marcus corrected his stance and gave him tips on how to aim. When Paul was shooting, he missed with all three arrows. Luckily, they didn’t travel very far and he could find them in the flat terrain and short grass rather easily. After a few more shots under Marcus’ supervision, he was able to hit the target and continued training by himself.

As expected, practicing a new skill gained him a few experience points, around 40 by the end of the day. He added archery training to his daily routine and was able to reach level 5 by the end of day 18.

Paul did not learn the weapon proficiency for bows by himself, so he spent a skill point on it, as well as [Carpentry]. Advancing an acquired skill seemed to yield better results in terms of experience progression.

He spent his days processing skins and hunting with Marcus, both actively and with trapping, helping out Ray with woodworks around the village and practicing his skills with the bow.

Advancing to level 6 took him another 14 days, and he gained a point in both strength and agility along the way. He was even able to hunt a couple of bunnies with the bow by now, although he lost two arrows that he mistakenly shot against trees which broke them. He had started making arrows himself to advance his carpentry skill, so it was no big loss.

He did not unlock the [Fletchery] skill, but he was not sure if he should learn it anyway even if he got it. Paul had spent 5 stat points on intelligence and distributed the 5 points from level 6 among strength and agility, but saved the skill points for later. He was satisfied with the skills he had so far for later use. He did not know when he would gain another level and did not want to waste time practicing a skill he had not learned anymore.

On day 40 Marcus approached him. “Thanks to your help we have stored up quite a bit of furs and leather, so we should make preparations to get them to the town soon. I want to buy tools for the farmers before the harvesting season starts in a few months, so sooner is better than later.”

The next village was a couple hours away by foot, so transporting the furs there would take some effort. Paul apparently knew someone there who would pick them and the products up there and transport them to the town of Prozor by cart.

After preparing some rations in the form of smoked meat and bread, they went on their way to the neighboring village. Two of the farmers helped them carrying the furs and leathers. The journey was uneventful, and by lunchtime they arrived. The village was a lot bigger then Marcus’ settlement, although it could not be considered large by any means. There was a crude looking wooden stockade built around the center of the village, around 1.5 meters high. Roughly two dozen wooden buildings could be seen inside the palisades.

There were some healthy looking fields and a few barns around the village, overall it looked rather idyllic.

The group was greeted by a guard looking to be in his late 20s at the entrance. He was holding a wooden spear with a metal tip and wearing a sturdy but worn looking leather armor. Paul focused on him, reading his info.

[Benjamin

Human

Level 12]

“Hey Marcus, good to see you. It has been a while” he said.

“Hi Benny, nice to see you as well. I guess it is good that I was not called over for a while, normally you only call for me if there is some monster subjugation to be done.”

“Hehe, well… that might be true. Luckily it has been rather quiet lately. But you know you are always welcome here. Old man Vic has asked me if I had seen you lately, I guess you should pay him a visit.”

“I had planned to do so anyway, have to catch up on the latest news and Victor always seems to know what is going on around the area. I was going to spend the night here before heading over to Prozor, leu’s meets again later.”

“Sure thing, I’m on guard duty until the evening. I will be looking for you afterwards.”

They went into the village. Marcus was rather popular and had some brief conversations with several of the inhabitants. After arriving at the largest building near the village center Marcus told everyone to drop the furs near the entrance.

“Rest assured, no one will steal our things around here” Marcus spoke to Paul, the other two did not seem to mind anyway. The farmers excused themselves to visit some acquaintances before heading back to the settlement, while Marcus headed inside the house, signaling Paul to follow him.

Inside they were greeted by a man in his late 40s, who had light gray and balding hair and a bushy beard.

“Marcus, good to see you. I was already worried after not hearing from you for a long time.”

“Hello Vic, well, no news is good news I think. We are doing rather fine for ourselves. Let me introduce you to our newest resident, Paul. He has joined us around a month ago and seems to be quite talented as a hunter, although he is still inexperienced. I have high hopes for him.”

Paul did not know about the local customs, but as Victor extended his hand, Paul took it while slightly bowing, which seemed to be enough to satisfy protocol. Paul checked the old man’s status window.

[Victor the Elder

Human

Level 10]

“Nice to meet you, and it is good to see that Marcus has found someone to assist him. I remember you complaining quite a bit that no one was willing to help you after the incident last year” he said that last thing addressing Marcus. Vic must have meant the incident of one of the villagers getting killed by a bear.

“Yes, but let’s not talk about this anymore. It was a rather sad episode.” It was obviously a painful memory for Marcus.

They sat down at a table while drinking some tea Victor prepared. The elder and Marcus exchanged some trivial information, there had been a marriage, some illnesses and the lord was said to have had an affair with one of the townswomen.

“There have been goblin hunting parties spotted near the edge of the forest. So far there have not been any major incidents, but some people are getting worried. The goblins have never crossed the river so far, but we know how troublesome they are for the people further north.

I have heard that the soldiers in the Prozor have been tasked to keep an eye out for unusual activity and there has been talk of a subjugation expedition before the winter” Victor had a worried look on his face. “I fear that many young men from out village will join them if the time comes. They don’t know how fearsome goblins can be.”

“Are they really so dangerous?” the goblins Paul knew from video games were mostly beginner monsters and not really that much of a threat.

“Well, it is true that they are rather weak physically. But they always show up in large numbers, some practise simple magic and because of their constant fighting, they know how to handle themselves in a fight. Most men here have never seen battle and have only fought weak forest beasts at best” Victor explained.

There was also talk of a bandit group occasionally robbing merchants, but the attacks were rare and seemingly random and they never approached the villages, so not much was known about them.

After spending some time chatting with the elder, a man entered the house. He was around Marcus’ age and sporting some neat looking leather armor and had a dagger tugged into his belt.

[Jonas

Human

Level 11]

“Marcus! I heard you came to the village and came looking for you right away. Hello elder!” he greeted Marcus before addressing Vic, whose house he had entered.

The elder nodded and signaled him to join them at the table. Apparently Jonas was one of Marcus’ old military buddies before they had both settled down as civilians and only occasionally joined up for monster subjugation, usually followed by heavy drinking.

All three left the elder’s house and carried the leathers and furs to Jonas’ barn. A small wagon was parked there, already loaded with some local products. They loaded Marcus’ and Paul’s belongings on the wagon as well.

The two old friends went to Jonas’ house, where a bottle of mead was opened and quickly emptied over talk of the good old times. A while later the guard Benny showed up as well, who obviously belonged to the party before, too. It turned into a proper drinking bout and Paul was caught up as well. He was never a heavy drinker, and his “fresh” body seemed to be lacking the poison resistance or mental fortitude or whatever determined the alcohol resistance in this world.

In the end Paul threw up all of the alcohol and then some in front of Jonas’ house and was carried into the backroom by the laughing drinking buddies.

The last thing he remembered before falling asleep was the shouting of some agitated woman, who was obviously Benny’s spouse, who then dragged her husband out of the house.