Chapter 14

♪ I Am On My Way, I Can Go The Distance ♪

After taking a few steps out of the elaborately decorative gate, I pull up the map to check the update.

‘bling’

[~Map~]

Locale 1: Kulkne

Locale 2: Shalanor

Locale 3: Alyrion

Locale 4: Valleyport

Locale 5: Jurooth

Locale 6: Thrundal Mountains

Locale 7: Leviathan’s Domain

Hmm. So, the [Abascan Upper Shelf] connects with an ocean and a mountain chain. At least everything is organized in a list by distance. All these cities must be elven, according to what Sanev said about their meetings. Well, except Valleyport. It just doesn’t seem similar to the other city names, no matter how you look at it. Probably more like a neutral city between elven and human territories… Won’t know till I get there, so whatever.

I close the map and gaze up at the last setting sun. The serine view gave me a calming sensation, so I crossed my arms and closed my eyes as I took advantage of the moment to think.

I have the leftover materials from the wolves and [Guavgrog Bear], [Red Moon Berry]s, and the [Guavo Fruit] for food. That should last me a few days. Thank God things don’t go bad in the [Ring of Space]. It’d be nice to have some bread and potions, but I can’t just go spending these ridiculous coins on a loaf of bread. Something tells me there won’t be many places that can easily exchange these for the correct change, so I’ll need to choose where I invest them wisely. Imagine walking into a coffee shop and saying ‘Hi. I’d like to buy a coffee. Here’s a trillion dollars.’ And who’s to say they even have things like bread or coffee?

On the topic of shops, I’ll need to return and have Kimrul make me some gear with the Orichalcum boulders when I’m at a higher level. It’ll def require some absurd Tr level before I can use it.

Ugh, I can’t help but feel like I’m forgetting something though… Shoot! That’s right! I completely forgot to sell the horses. Well, forgot and wanted to get out of the den of smog at first… Dang it Tru. I could have totally had the cash to get some prepared food and supplies. But if I go back to the forge now, the gates will close, and I’ll be stuck here another night. I don’t want to get too comfortable before becoming a certified Monster Hunter. Hmm, it’d be nice to check up on Malady though. No, no, no. I’d just remind her of that traumatizing night. No doubt about it. I just need to leave before I get caught up in any more drama… or worse, political garbage.

Clapping my hands together to snap myself out of it, I tell Masada, “Alright bud, it’s time to check the status before we head out.”

'bling'

[Name: Truck Coon]

[~Status~]

[Health: 297/297]

[Mana: 3196/3196]

[Energy: 990/990]

[~General Stats~]

[Strength: 27 +45]

[Agility: 87 +93]

[Stamina: 52 +2]

[Intellect: 27 +8]

[Spirit: 42 +539]

[Class 1 Beast-Master, Synergist lvl 6]

[Class Type: [~Summoner~]]

[~Class Skills~]

[Weight Up(minor) lvl 2: Your eidolon becomes heavier, increasing weight by 16%. Does not stack with skills similar to this effect.]

[Duration: 1 minute]

[Cooldown timer: 4 minutes.]

[Mana Cost: 30]

[Weight Down(Minor) lvl 1: Target becomes lighter, decreasing weight by 8%. Does not stack with skills similar to this effect.]

[Duration: 1 minute]

[Cooldown timer: 5 minutes]

[Mana Cost: 20]

[Passive - Amalgamate lvl 3: The eidolon is an extension of the summoner and created by their mana. All damage to the Eidolon is subtracted from the Summoner's mana (1hp to 0.75mp/ep/hp), energy then HP in that order. Uses the summoner's mana and/or energy for its own abilities (1 to 0.75mp/ep). All exp gains attained by either the summoner or the Eidolon are also given to the other.]

[Passive - Hone lvl 2: Living blades held by you are coated with mana, increasing sharpness.]

[~General Skills~]

[Driscoll Linguistics Lvl 3]

[Meditate lvl 1: While in an intentional state of contemplation, gradually regenerate mana and energy up to 100%]

[~Item Skills~]

N/A [name: Assassin's Path.]

[description: Footsteps from crouching, walking, or running are silenced for 1 minute]

Requires Tr1 or higher [name: Slick Path.]

[description: Activate to slide on any surface. Deactivate to step normally.]

[~Unique Skills~]

[Analyze Level 2: People, places on the map and things unknown to you display basic information to you alone.]

[Eternal Love Level 2: Every time you give of yourself, you permanently gain stats equivalent to the required stats to perform the task. When your life is given for another, all [General Stats] will be doubled, you will re-spawn from the first moment you gained this skill, and the soul of the person you died for can be saved upon your return.

!WARNING! Consequent to dying, your soul experiences the [Wrath of God].]

[~Unique Stats~]

[Charisma: 0]

“Cool. The added strength is gonna be a big help and I’m still pretty stoked to have so much more mana. It would seem that I’m making progress. Shall we?” I gesture towards the path while turning my eyes to Masada, who's perched over my shoulder.

“Kurururu~♪,” he replied in the affirmative. Stepping onto the trail, my [Robe of the Scholar] flourishes behind me as it appears over my, what [Analyze] now dubs, [Lesser Drake Full Set], along with the [Wool Tefillin].

On our way out of town, an open area glistened in the distance under the rising moonlight. Looking closer, one would see a stone aqueduct leading back into the forest heading west. A small shelter was built over it with benches nearby as well as a bucket tied to the bench.

This must be for travelers, I think to myself, pulling out the [Leather Water Skin]. Filling the skin with water, I cork it for the journey. There should be close to two liters. Now I won’t have to rely on berries for fluids. I then place the skin back into the [Ring of Space] and step onto the road.

We pass a directional sign with an arrow aiming south labeled “Valleyport” as we strode along. Not even a few minutes go by before we hear the happy chime noises signaling the closure of the Kulkne gates.

It’s interesting how there were no gate checks. Maybe there’re no passports in Driscoll. While walking away, I think about such a trivial thing as the [Red Eryn Tree] walls become more and more covered by the surrounding [Leather Leaf Tree]s.

Even with my massive mana pool, I still don’t want to travel using [Shadow Step]. Though it may get me to my destination faster, and more easily avoid danger, I decided that it's not good practice to enter the unknown without my full mental capacity.

As the highway goes up a gentle slope, the scenic beauty can be witnessed. To the right is a great river that bent towards the southwest. Down the hill, our path divides into three, creating a fork in the road. One path runs along the river, the center road leads directly south, while the trail to the left seemed to fade into the eastern forest. A field stretched out beyond the hill where I could easily see there were no travelers on the road. Probably because I’m trekking the wilderness at night, I think to myself.

Pulling up the [Map], I can see that the central path is the one leading to Valleyport, although I’m not sure how a typical foreign traveler would know that. A lack of signs, as well as the end of the moss brick sunken lane, indicated that I had long left behind any maintained territory. Without the [Map], it isn’t difficult to imagine myself getting lost if I strayed too far from the highway.

Using Masada’s [Shadow Step] skill as my own was convenient when there was a vast, open field of vision, every once in a while. Even half a mile of distance can be taken lightly with the skill. A downside of not using [Shadow Step], is that in an open field, I can be easily spotted by any predators of the night. I can envision myself in a troublesome situation if I get careless, and so choose to risk the mental fatigue when crossing open plains.

Traversing the fields is certainly less nerve-wracking than slowly advancing through the darkened forest, however, I can see a thicket to the west of my disheveled trail. There should be some kind of beasts or monsters in there. I make my way over to the edge of the thick shrubbery when Masada’s eye snaps onto a threat.

In a hushed vibration, Masada says, “Kururu,” confirming my suspicion of his look. If it happens to be a dangerous monster, I can always just repeat flash away with [Shadow Step], as unpleasant as that sounds. The distance I can jump is certainly shorter in the forest than in the grassland, so I decide not to go too deep if my prey tries to lure me in. My robe also stands out with its gaudy presentation. Camouflage is something I am not embodying at the moment, but oh well.

Once the forest gave way to a small trickle of a stream, I could see what Masada had been previously eyeing. This might be a bit much to handle in a fair fight, I think to myself as a hunched-over monster with red fur knelt for a drink. It had a muscular build, somewhat like an upright gorilla with a bull's head. Aggressively pointed horns curved forward coming from the upper sides of its head. I think I can see blood stains on those otherwise ivory horns, but I could be wrong. The legs of an abnormally powerful goat were knelt, the lower half of its leg pointing forward in a position placing it on its knees. If it were standing, I could easily imagine the monster being well over 7 feet tall. In other words, a minotaur was getting a drink from the stream. If this was like the games I played, the minotaur would have had a great ax nearby, but this one had nothing.

It appeared as though it had been in a relaxed mood when I wound up Masada, my resolve stout, understanding the purpose as I’ll have to fight monsters like this as a monster hunter. Don’t start acting cowardly now.

Just in case it happens to be a sentient creature, I check [Analyze]

[name: Minotaur Kid]

[description: A young, highly aggressive monster thinking only of killing or breeding its target. May appear in herds.]

That sounds about as despicable a monster as there could be. But first, I need to make sure it’s alone. Using [Analyze], I continue to scan the area from the cover of bushes. No other potential enemies entered the scope of [Analyze], so I committed to ridding the world of such a monster.

[Weight Up(minor)] was activated on Masada as well as [Imbibe(minor)] in preparation for my surprise attack. Winding up for a slash, I unleashed Masada’s [Hone]d edge at the monstrosity’s neck. The neck was exceptionally muscular; however, it stood no chance against the force launching Masada forward.

A wet *slish* sound came from the newly severed flesh preceding a small crunch where the spine had been severed. Blood spouted from the now headless torso like a fountain when the head rolled off and the body collapsed, spilling more blood into the stream. “Kinda gross,” I say aloud. “Kuruuu,” being Masada’s reply, indicating his agreement. “Nevertheless, the guild will need proof of subjugation for the minotaur. I’m not sure what they would consider to be the proof, so I’ll just bring the whole thing… It’s too bad I didn’t get any levels from that. It was just a kid, I guess. Didn’t even have a Tr level; not that I’m any better.”

After performing some basic stretches that I learned in high school and pulling out a [Guavo Fruit], we continued on the gradually fading path. “Aaah. This [Guavo Fruit] is as good as ever.”

The beaten path gradually became wider and wider the further south we went until we saw our first living humans in Driscoll. A small group of adventurers drug their heels onto the road from out of the forest and began walking in the same direction as us. “We must be getting close to Valleyport,” I mention to Masada while petting his fur.

With adventurers, it’s the same old story of a group of people getting together to form a party and complete quests they’re hired to do. Adventurers often work together with Monster Hunters on emergency or subjugation requests. The main difference being that Monster Hunters only hunt known prey while adventurers are hired to explore or do other odd jobs. I suppose the biggest difference to the one posting the request is the cost of Monster Hunters being much more than an adventurer as a specialized profession.

I observed the group, and from what I could tell, their mission hadn’t gone smoothly like our recent hunt. They had a man who looked like your typical warrior with a sword and shield, as well as much more protective-looking armor than the others in his party. His shield looked sturdy with fur protruding from behind it around the circular edge. A scruffy beard and beginning to wrinkle face gave him the appearance of a scrappy man in his forties.

Their party also had a mage and an archer. The wizardy-looking young woman had the stereotypical pointed hat, slightly drooped over, with a wide brim. Her robe matched the hat in color with a deep blue adorned by red trim. Majestically glowing, not unlike Masada’s green crystal, was a large red crystal atop a dark, wooden staff. The young woman underneath was plain looking, at least from where I come from. Her brown, frizzy hair, slightly round face, and average build left much to be desired when compared to Malady…

Their last member was also a woman, who was wearing leather armor. It doesn’t look as protective as the gear their warrior had on but much more so than the robes of their little mage. An intricately carved bow hung over her shoulder. Is that an elf? She has blonde hair and similar features to the elves, although it is a bit too dark out to be certain.

[name: Advance Warrior]

[name: Pure Elementalist]

[name: Pure Ranger]

Pure? That's either some kind of holy class or they only have one class... But that should make me a Pure Beastmaster, Synergist. Eh, whatever I'll find out at some point. Suddenly, the archer in their group whispered to the other two and they became defensive as the warrior glared over at me. Could they tell I was looking at them? That archer didn’t even look over here. This thought goes through my mind when I decide to walk a bit further away on the other side of the large highway. Masada may be making them a bit on edge. I mean, he definitely looks threatening.

Such a state of tension continued for another fifteen minutes before human structures across from a clearing came into view. The trip was mostly uneventful, except for the minotaur. One sun began to creep up over the horizon, indicating that we’d traveled throughout the night. As the light became brighter, I could feel myself grow drowsy, almost like the sun was a reminder that I haven’t slept yet.

Both naturally and unexpectedly, there was a small group of soldiers armed with swords and spears guarding the small entrance of a wall that was also manned by several archers. Is that one of those casks of hot oil that defenders would dump on invaders back in the middle-ages?

Since I didn’t want to mess with them, I approached the soldiers in silence with a faint smile on my face. Anyone that seems a bit too happy to see you prob just wants to sell you something, I remembered my dad saying when I was a teenager and decided to look a bit less on guard but not excited to see them. A line formed with another duo in front of the party that had been walking beside me, followed by me and Masada. The first group had some kind of wooden badge that they showed the guards and were let in right away.

The party that had been walking with us all held out their wrists, which had a glowing rectangle on them that looked like a screen on their skin. Each one pressed a spot on the, for lack of a better term, wrist-screen, and a window, similar to my menu, actually popped up like a hologram. I couldn’t make out what was written on it thanks to a bunch of jumbled-up letters. Is that protected by some kind of magic encryption? An audible sound like an old TV turning off came from their wrists as the screen was retracted. Promptly, the guards thanked them for their service with a bow and ushered them into the same small door the previous two had gone through.

“Next,” one guard said. Analyze dubbed him,

[name: Night Guard Captain. The one in command of guards and soldiers protecting cities during the night.]

I like how he is actually performing guard duties. Most leaders of soldiers stay back in their offices while they let the grunts do the work. I strode up to be inspected and sheathed Masada into the ground when the guard also said, “State your name and business in Valleyport.”

Me: “Ah. My name is Truck Coon, and this is my living Greatswordstaff, Masada. We’re here to join the Monster Hunter guild.”