Chapter 27

♪ They Call Him Sandy Claws ♪

As we trekked a path less followed, my second-life experience on Driscoll compounded differences with each step. Rather than having been thrown, for all I know, what could have been a mile, we started out walking. The timeframe is different this life. Rather than waiting in the clearing a couple of days, we’re leaving before I could even sleep once. On top of that, no launch from Mr. [Orichalcum Golum] means we need to add the time it takes to walk to where we previously landed. I started to subconsciously mumble aloud, “If we guestimate about a mile, that’s only about an extra 30 minutes of walking. The problem is, I’m not sure how long I was asleep when the rejuv powder put me back together. On the plus side, I didn’t have to use any of the powder on myself due to the fall, and my [Ninja Tabi] didn’t get eaten. I’ll just need to head towards the road where I met the elves and start walking in the direction they came from.”

Masada heard it all and replied, “Kuru!” which pressed a feeling of ‘Let’s do it!’ in my direction.

It appeared to be early morning, or at least it felt as much with the first sun starting to peek over the horizon. That chill accompanying the morning dew further inking an invitation to that which follows. What comes to be more easily seen as a result of the swiftly rising sun is a sparsely populated forest. Thin trees bespeckled the moss, not unlike the [Guavo Sap]s and [Leather Leaf Tree]s in my previous life. Analyze labeled them,

[name: Carian Tree. Growing above the [Abascan Forest], these trees maintain strong bark with a gelatinous center beneath.]

Masada started to twirl in my hands deftly, every other spin ending with a slice adding to our collection of lumber stored in the ring. I began to sing again, the realization that we now have two types of wood stored forcing an old song by the band Three Dog Night into mind, “♪One, is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do. Two, can be as bad as one. It’s the loneliest number since the number one♪. We need to get one more type of tree Masada! The poor lonely trees…”

Masada’s expression seemed to say, “Is Master a few cards short of a full deck?”

Okay, maybe I’m losing it after getting so sick of just walking, but where did he learn that idiom?! … *Sigh* Regardless of the reason, I continued to walk along, whistling the same tune, and gathering whatever tree happened to be in reach of our path. We’ve been choogling along for a few hours, in the same direction as our previous life, yet no [Guavo Sap]s have chanced upon us yet.

We strolled through the non-[Guavo Forest] forest until I couldn’t contain myself. Checking the [Map], I can see that, in spite of having traveled for several hours now, we haven’t even reached the spot where I’d been thrown by the [Orichalcum Golum] in my last life. With Masada hoisted over my right shoulder, I scratch the back of my head while saying, “I guess we need to get a move on. No more gathering.”

To which Masada answered apathetically, “Kururu.”

The Carian Forest gradually became denser the further inward we ran until we weren’t able to easily run anymore. Thanks to my rough breathing after knocking out some good cardio exercise for the day, I couldn’t let out the sigh that so wanted to escape. I guess now’s as good a time as ever to level up [Meditate].

Sitting against a tree after activating the skill quickly slowed my breathing until I was back in control. Relative silence echoed in the surroundings, shunning away any noise that dared disturb its peace until nature could no longer be contained. The rustling of leaves became louder and louder, much like something was approaching at a slow pace. Once [Meditate] was toggled off, my focus returned as I heard Masada try to get my attention.

Masada: “Ku, ku, kururu…!”

Tru: “Don’t you worry. I hear it too, buddy.”

The faint rustling came from the other side of the bushes in front of us. Is it a monster? I slowly part the bush to witness a small humanoid monster trying to wade through the shrubbery, facing to our right. “Woah,” I whisper inaudibly. Its skin was a kind of puke green. Its mouth was so wide that the corners practically touched its pointed ears, and I could see its scraggly, sharp teeth. While its limbs were quite short, its claws were long and sharp, giving it a jack-the-ripper type appearance. A loincloth barely covered its lower half. I know what this is without even using [Analyze]. A Goblin.

Goblin: “Googeh!”

[name: Moss Goblin Forager. A goblin born in a [Moss Nest]. Searches for anything edible to bring back to its tribe.]

[Moss Nest [~Select~].]

Doesn’t sound too bad. Maybe it’s sentient? Without giving it much more thought, not really sure what to expect, I poke my head through the bush and say, “Ahem*, howdy there.”

The gnarly-looking creature turned to look at me somethin’ quick before raising a billhook above its head in a twisted position, throwing itself off balance. Impressively, it completely ignored the fact that it was in the process of falling over when it took a swipe at me, getting the rusty tip of the billhook stuck in the moss.

It fidgeted around, shaking mostly its head while trying to remove the grimy blade from the ground. Since the Gob wasn’t pulling much with its body, doing some kind of weird head dance, I figured I’d ask another question, “So, I take it you don’t understand me?” It replied with incomprehensible grunts and whining noises kinda like a pig and a walrus.

It was growing visibly tired of trying to pry its billhook from the moss by wagging its head all around. The little green goblin let go of it to scratch its bald, wrinkled head while looking back and forth from me to the billhook and back to me. A decision seemed to be reached when it growled and pounced at me with an open maw, dirty claws leading its charge.

Goblin: “Graagugh!”

I internally sighed and activated Masada’s [Blaze Step] a full pace behind my current position, grilling the [Moss Goblin Forager] along with the surrounding vegetation in a conflagration.

‘bling’

‘You have defeated [Moss Goblin Forager Tr 1].’

”Um, that was easier than I expected. Huh? Huh?! Shoot!” I severed each tree that caught on fire, storing them promptly to prevent the fire from spreading out of control. “Phew. That was kind of stupid. Meh, what’s done is done. I wonder if I can eat that thing? … Don’t knock it till ya try it!” Thanks to the high temperatures produced by [Blaze Step], the little Gob was well done. Well, mostly. The scrawny thigh with small strands of muscle, although stringy, was at least partially edible. A small amount of blood spilled onto my robes, signifying that I shouldn’t take a bite of the legs, having not yet been fully cooked. “Ew… Meh, that went much better than my first battle against the [Guavgrog Bear]. No level-ups though.” As I bit into the well-done portion of my Goblin snack’s shoulder, I said with a full mouth, “I’ll just store most of this meat and cook it through later. It’d be nice if I could run into some deer or something." once I'd swallowed the not so savory Goblin meat, I remembered, "Oh yeah, that billhook’s still laying somewhere.”

After brushing off some of the ashes that had fallen on the strangely curved blade, I stored it along with the goblin. Masada noticed more rustling coming from a little further away and gave me a heads up, “Kuru!”

Tru: “Yeah, yeah. I hear em’.” It’s easy to tell there are multiple with the much louder sounds of leaves being stirred ahead. “5? No, 10? No, no. There’s a lot more than that.” More Goblins had appeared, and as a heard this time. As far as I could tell, there were at least 20 of them. This is the worst. It’d hardly matter now, that I can use Masada or even that billhook, those numbers were not manageable. There’s nothing we could do unless I wanted to get at the very least a few injuries by some rusty, and probably scummy blades. I considered waiting around for them to pass on by but decided it was too risky and would take too long. I’ll just go around them.

Backtracking down the trail we’d made to get here, we started cutting a different path towards the Elbereth family’s estate with the help of the [Map], avoiding the oblivious Goblin tribe. Or is it called a troop? Eh, I can’t remember.

We Maintained a constant clearing speed until we made our way into the now thinning portion of trees, picking up the pace with each step through the opening forest. Gradually, I grew more and more tired of collecting trees, electing to walk at a brisk pace once the novelty of potentially unlocking a lumberjack title wore off.

Boredom crept in before a distant noise started echoing from behind me. The boredom was washed away by anxiety once I realized that the sound was that troop of goblins, trekking their way along the path I had carved out myself. As if things couldn’t get any worse, one of the Goblins started running ahead of the rest. Its nose began to wave in the air as it got closer and closer. Uh-oh. What? Was it my smell? When I looked down at my robe to smell myself, I could see a smudge of fresh blood, certainly from the other Goblin, on the drapes hanging from my shoulders. Shoot! The blood from my clothes is luring them. I cursed internally as I frantically made a hasty retreat. What should I do? Just off him and make a run for it? The goblin scout had practically caught up to me now. And I was practically out of options. It was likely that only an instant passed, but I deliberated in my mind long enough to resolve to stay put. As soon as the goblin, who was lured in by the scent, came close to the bush I’d crouched behind, I lifted Masada from the floor, sweeping the little monster’s head clean off. Geysers of blood spouted from its freshly severed neck once the head rolled off the shoulder. Blood spattered the grass around it, painting the already sunset-dappled scene an even deeper shade of burgundy. The body collapsed, appearing to follow after the head which made a deep thump on the moss, just before the entire goblin corpse disappeared into my ring. At least I don’t have to worry about hiding a body… but this blood will definitely draw the others in. Perhaps I could whittle away at their numbers like this? Nah, as if. That would never work. I know that much. After all, once the goblin blood started to spread throughout the area, the whole group would be pouncing at the scent.

While I don’t like to just kill things before I know their intent, I’m not so good-natured that I’d risk being pounced on again by the same type of monster. ‘Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.’ Or so they say. And on that note, I made a B-line in the opposite direction of the goblin troop. Practically all of my energy is exerted in creating a gap between us, and once they are completely out of sight, I remove the goblin torso, throwing it to the ground like a puppet that had its strings cut. First, I spread the still spilling blood from the body on as much of the moss as possible, causing the smell to waft in the surrounding air. Then, I ran. Out of nowhere, a memory from this one time that I had to chase a shoplifter from my part-timer days as a college student came to mind. Of course, I had no time to think about such things as I ran full steam through a dissipating forest. Before I knew it, the trees had started to change shape and color.

[name: Guavo Sap]

The notice was like music to my… eyes? Anyway, without a second thought, I checked the ground for some rotten [Guavo Fruit], which I found in abundance. Smearing them all over my body, especially over the goblin blood, brought a short-lived feeling of relief. I knew I couldn’t just take it easy now with the scent covered, they were still walking in this direction. While I’m able to fool their noses, I couldn’t trick their eyes if they were to spot me. Changing my direction was the smart thing to do here, pivoting to the west rather than continuing towards the south.

I prayed that I wouldn’t encounter any new monsters on my way to the Elbereth family estate as I began to run again. Those Goblins are as resilient as a pack of cockroaches. I won’t be able to take it easy any time soon. After running for God only knows how long, I took another break to [Meditate]. Once my Energy was restored enough to catch my breath, I began to saunter towards the southwest. A little further on, after a few [Guavo Sap]s and [Guavo Fruit]s were stored, the forest suddenly ended, and wide-open, rolling moss hills spread before me. Keeping vigilant of whatever could appear behind me, I walked onto the hill sloping downward at my feet.

From what I could tell, looking at the position of the now three suns, it was about noon. “I need some water.”

Masada: “Juru.”

It’d been 6 or 7 hours since we began our hike on the [Abascan Upper Shelf]. So far, all we’ve done is murder a couple of goblins, pick up a bunch of trees, and find a dirty billhook. It’s been exhausting, but I can’t just stay here and whine. I only have one water skin to last until I reach a town. Just one drink of water for now. “Eeeehhhh,” the water was refreshing enough to give me the willpower to reassess my surroundings. The view was great, blue sky dotted by small clouds, rolling soft green hills as far as the eye could see. There’s nowhere to hide close by, but if I go down the hill, at least I won’t be visible from the forest.

At the start of this journey I was able to overcome the fear of the unknown, but that fear had been reinstated after my mind was healed upon revival. With that fear out of the way again, I can move onward in confidence that I can handle at least goblin-sized monsters. What, you don't think I was scared when that thing leaped at me? You're out of your mind!

*Ahem, regardless of my newfound arrogance, I did notice that with the wide-open nature of the moss plains, enemies would be easier to spot, but they could also easily see me, and there was nothing I could do about it. I just so happened to be looking down while thinking Well, well. Isn’t this great? When I came across something new. Two parallel lines with some footsteps in between entered my vision. “Huh? Are these tracks from a carriage? Yes! I must be getting close to the spot.” The matted-down moss lines stretched out from the trees, splitting into two which seemed to outline the forest. Or avoid it. “You know what this means, Masada??”

Masada: “Ku. Kururu?”

Tru: “It means we found a path leading to one of the surrounding elven towns!” I noticed that the carriage tracks didn’t show up as anything on the [Map] but had obviously been well used by someone who frequents the forest. “We just need to follow this towards the Elbereth estate near Shalanor. Let’s get some shut-eye before we continue. I haven’t checked my stats and I’ve been pushing too long without any sleep. Good thing I have [Transmutate], otherwise I wouldn't even consider falling asleep willfully in the middle of this monster-infested land.”

At the base of the hill, I withdrew some trees from my ring. They were each taken out so that they fell between two hills, creating a roof I could lay under. After that, I took out some [Orichalcum] and reshaped it using [Transmutate] into small walls connecting the ground to both sides of the roof not already touching the moss. “This’ll be good enough to sleep for a few hours. What do you think, Masada?”

Masada: “Ku. Kuru ku kururu.” I heard, ‘No. This can easily get crushed by something.’

Tru: “Gee thanks for your stellar evaluation of my napping tent.” My eyes rolled to the heavens in sarcasm before I stored all the trees and replaced them with a reshaped [Orichalcum] roof. “That better?”

Masada: “Kuru.” He bewilderingly nodded his closed eye. How does that even… whatever.

Tru: “*Sigh* Good. Now, I should get in the habit of checking my Status every time I sleep.”

'bling'

[Name: Truck Coon]

[Title: [Party Leader]]

[~Status~]

[Health: 583/583]

[Mana: 3481/3481]

[Energy: 3924/4680]

[~General Stats~]

[Strength: 54 +45]

[Agility: 379 +472]

[Stamina: 104 +2]

[Intellect: 54 +38]

[Spirit: 84 +549]

[Unspent General Stat Points: 0]

[Class 1 Beast-Master, Synergist Tr 2 lvl 21]

[Class Type: [~Summoner~]]

[Weight Up(major) lvl 1: Your [~Eidolon~] becomes heavier, increasing weight by 1000%. Does not stack with skills similar to this effect.]

[Duration: 2 minutes]

[Cooldown timer: 2 minutes 30 seconds.]

[Mana Cost: 150]

[Weight Down(major) lvl 1: Target becomes lighter, decreasing weight by 90%. Does not stack with skills similar to this effect.]

[Duration: 2 minutes]

[Cooldown timer: 5 minutes]

[Number of Targets: 2]

[Mana Cost: 1000]

[Transmutate lvl 3: Manipulate [Mineral]s touched by you, and within 1ft of the touched [Mineral], into the desired form.]

[Cooldown Timer: 3 seconds.]

[Mana Cost: 100]

[Mineral: ~Select~]

[Passive - Conjugate lvl 21: 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, energy then HP (1hp to 0.25mp/ep/hp) in that order. Uses the summoner's mana and/or energy for its own abilities (1 to 0.25mp/ep). All Exp gains attained by either the summoner or the [~Eidolon~] are also given to the other.]

[Passive - Keen Edge lvl 1: Living blades held by you are coated with your mana, persisting a razor-sharp edge.]

[~General Skills~]

[Driscoll Linguistics Level 3]

[Meditate level 3: While in an intentional state of contemplation, gradually regenerate mana and energy up to 100%]

[Passive – Harken level 1: Worshiping Yahweh to a beat will force any [Fallen Angel] to be banished to [Tartarus].]

[Number of Uses: 5

[Fallen Angel: ~Select~]

[Tartarus: ~Select~]

[~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: 57]

[~Equipped~] : Contents

[name: Torn Suit]

[description: Otherworldly apparel]

[name: Amulet of the Deer]

[description: A necklace doubling the agility of the wearer]

[~Stat Bonus~]

[Current Agility Bonus: +379]

[name: Nimble Tabi]

[description: Cloth shoes worn by agile, acrobatic assassins. Increases agility by a set amount and gives the skill [Assassin's Path].]

[~Item Skill~]

[name: Assassin's Path]

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

[~General Stat Bonus~]

[Static Agility bonus: +100]

[name: Robe of The Scholar]

[description: Scholarly robes worn by prestigious intellectuals]

[name: Wool Tefillin]

[description: Ceremonial headdress worn by Abascan priests for sacrificial atonement]

[Ring of Space] : Contents

[name: Masada Schafer]

[name: Wooden Chair]

[name: Brightgem]

[name: Leather Water Skin]

[name: Abascus Rope]

[name: Rejuvenation Powder]

[name: Orichalcum Chest]

[name: Epic of Helmdrig]

[name: Bracelet of Hearth]

[name: Biography of Gabriel and Bartholomew Morrow]

[name: Mana Potion Ingredients]

[name: Abascan College's Rite of Passage]

X50 [name: Trught Berry]

X12 [name: Orichalcum Chunk]

x20 [name: Brightsteel Chunk]

x20 [name: Garnet Chunk]

x30 [name: guavo tree]

x87 [name: Guavo Fruit]

x30 [name: Carian Tree]

x30 [name: Abascan Tree]

[name: Billhook]

[name: Moss Goblin Forager]

[name: Loincloth]

[name: Goblin Meat]

From the perspective of Lucerne:

Contribution to the guild should be great given the emergency request status. Likewise, the reward is quite a hefty sum when compared to other quests. It’s rare to find a quest where rank isn’t a condition to participate. I suppose it isn’t a bad thing to have fame if it allows me to fight stronger monsters later on. The annoying possibility that stems from joining the Orc subjugation quest is likely to be increased solicitation, with so many people learning about my abilities. Especially if the Lord of the area learns about it. I guess it’s too late for that after what happened with Goblin Cleavers. “*Sigh*” The merits clearly outweigh the demerits. And who knows how many atrocities are being committed at the Orc settlement even while I deliberate?

With a nod, I strode over to see Emma, the human receptionist with the ponytail who was in charge when I first registered and to whom I submitted all my completed requests.

Emma: “Good morning, Lucerne. Do you have a request?” Emma has such a pretty smile whenever I talk to her.

I nodded and smiled back, “Mhmm.”

Emma: “So, the request is…?”

Lucerne: “I’d like to apply for the Orc settlement emergency request mentioned just a moment ago.

Emma seemed to pause for a moment while looking at me with wide eyes before the words set in, while I continued to smile. “So, Lucerne, I’ll say this for now, but although Orcs are D rank alone, they are C rank when in a group. As expected of a G rank adventurer, I cannot recommend you for…”

Lucerne: “The only condition mentioned for the request was that I just need the ability to defeat an Orc, right?”

Emma: “That… Well, yes that’s right.”

Lucerne: “Then there shouldn’t be any problems. Although it’s not significantly better, I have the ability to kill a [Minotaur Bull Tr9] in the Thrundal Mountains.”

Emma: “Minotaur Bull?!”

She just shouted that out… Great. Why does she have to go and attract everyone’s attention, huh? Emma shut her mouth and covered it with her hands immediately. At least, regardless of her airheadedness, she respects my privacy.

In a whispered voice, she continued, “Why were you in such a dangerous place?! Do you mean to say that you went there before you went to any guilds?”

Ugh, this is troublesome. “No. Argh, uh, well, because it’s a long story, I’ll tell you about it if I get the opportunity later. But about the matter of the Emergency request…”

Emma: “Well, although you wouldn’t have any issues with an Orc if you can defeat an upper-class Minotaur, because you are a low rank and have no class Tr level, you’ll be in a tight spot if you make any mistakes since they will stand out. There will also be people who pick a fight with you like the Goblin Cleavers from the other day.

A smile floated to my face when her words graced my ears, “At that time, I’ll have another match with a bet. Please, stop the fools if possible. Hehe. Ignorance isn’t a sin but being content living in it can bring unimaginable suffering. Better this than the loss of their lives or freedom.”

Emma shook her head at my overt excitement while reaching for the quil, “You're not wrong I suppose. Regardless of what happens, It is a strict rule that the guild stays out of conflicts between adventurers.” And with that, my name was written on the document containing the other participating adventurers. “You’ve been accepted to the Orc subjugation request. Please meet in the Strategy Room on the second floor after lunch. A detailed strategy will be made based on the adventurers who attend the strategy meeting.”

I nodded to her words and, on a whim, flourished my cloak as I turned to leave the guild hall. Time to grab me some mutton!