Reinhard, Fraenis and two other dryads were walking southwards from the Garden. Fraenis and one other wield a short bow while the last dryad uses what looks to be a thin club covered with thorns. Reinhard doesn’t have any weapon. When he asked them to lend him anything, the other two declined, saying that they don’t want the possessor of the branch to participate in combat at all as it would endanger him. Instead, they opted to protect him with all their capabilities. Although Reinhard isn’t in the position to complain, he still didn’t like being treated like a child who needs protecting.

The four of them are following the flow of the creek, walking beside it about two to three meters away from the bank.

“So, uh, are those “clothes” made or are they natural?”

Reinhard whispered to Fraenis.

“Clothes?”

“…”

“Oh! This is actually part of our skin. We don’t have them when we are born though, they slowly grow as we get older, just like hair… or, you know, any plant’s leaf.”

“I see, so that’s why the elder’s leaves are more… well, bushy.”

“Bushy?”

Fraenis asks while tilting her head towards Reinhard.

“Well, a lot—“

“Shhh!”

All of a sudden, one of the dryad companions urged them to keep quiet and lay low. It appears that she has spotted a group of monsters further ahead.

The one with the club automatically assumed the front, while Fraenis and the other bow-wielding dryad immediately began flanking Reinhard to protect him.

“If I just have a weapon, I can fight too… probably.”

“They’re coming…”

The club-wielding dryad whispers.

As if on cue, three large snakes appeared from the shrubs ahead of them. It was similar to the one that Reinhard saw yesterday, although significantly smaller. It’s still as big and tall as an average person though.

Fraenis and the other bow dryad immediately began shooting the ones to the left and right of the club dryad respectively, but the scales of the snakes are too hard for the shortbow with relatively weak power to penetrate, so after realizing that the arrows are not really doing much, they stopped shooting as to not waste them. The club dryad on the other hand raised his club in front of him as a guarding stance while slowly retreating towards the three behind.

In response to the arrows, the snake on the side left size started advancing towards Fraenis.

“Can you two shoot while moving?”

Reinhard asks the two shooters in front of him.

“Yes, why?”

“We shouldn’t be held in place, it only makes us easier to attack. Let’s slowly move to the right, keeping our distance while facing them.”

The left snake halted its advance as soon as it sees them moving to the right. The snake on the right side however saw it as an opportunity as they’re moving closer to it. It tried to advance but a rain of concentrated arrows prevented it from going any further. The group is now slowly trying to circle the three snakes by going in a counter clock-wise movement.

Every time a snake would try to attack, the arrows would concentrate on them, and even if they managed to get close enough, the dryad with the club would strike them. At this point, all the snakes could do is stage a coordinated attack on each of the dryads individually.

The snakes did just that, they all simultaneously attacked from left, center and right. However, this is just what Reinhard was expecting them to do.

“Now! This is our chance to break the stalemate!”

Before the snakes decided to attack all at the same time, the field was in a stalemate, Reinhard’s group cannot attack due to two of them being ranged, and they can’t just keep shooting either as arrows are limited. On the other hand, the snakes couldn’t just advance haphazardly as every time they do, concentrated arrow fire would reach them.

All three snakes then began their advance on their respective targets. However, when Reinhard gave the signal, all four of them immediately began rushing towards the right snake as it was currently the closest. This forced the snakes to move in a straight line, perpendicular to Reinhard’s group as opposed to being parallel to them. Fraenis and the other bow dryad shot at it while covering for the club dryad as he advances towards the right snake. The concentrated fire has effectively pinned the snake down on a defensive position, similar to their reaction earlier, protecting their eyes and mouth. This made it easier for the club wielder to hit it.

He raised his spiked club while running towards it, and with a great big leap forwards, he smashed his club onto the snake’s head, cracking it in one blow and squirting crimson-red fluid around it. The two other snakes continued their attack however, despite seeing one of them get killed in one shot.

The middle snake, who was now the closest to them, tried to go in for a bite, but the club wielder narrowly dodges its fangs laced with venom by diving sideways at the right moment. This was now the perfect opportunity for the two bow dryads to pin it down with arrows as the club dryad was out of the firing line.

Fraenis and the other speedily released arrows to it, made possible by the shortbow’s design. The snake, like the previous one, automatically assumed defensive position against the projectiles, and was ultimately punished for it by the club wielder.

This all happened before the left snake, who was the furthest, could even come to the battlefield, so as soon as it realized that it was the only one left, it immediately began a hasty retreat.

The battle was over.

*Ping!*

[SYSTEM]

Acquired: [Commanding 1] Passive Skill.

“That was amazing! How did you know the snakes would do that?”

Fraenis asks Reinhard in disbelief.

“Er, well, it was the only action they can take. That, or retreat. Since they can’t attack individually, they will decide to attack simultaneously from all sides, and that makes them open for defeat in detail.”

“Defeat in detail?”

“Uh, it’s a military tactic where you divide the enemy’s forces while concentrating your own to one of those divided forces, and then defeating those said divided forces one-by-one with relative ease as you outnumber and out-power them.”

“I’m glad all those years of playing real-time strategy games has finally paid off! Thank you, Total Warfare series!”

“I don’t really get it but… Good job!”

“Thanks, but you did well too. It wasn’t just me that won the battle.”

*Ping!*

[SYSTEM]

[Charismatic 1] Leveled up to [Charismatic 2]

After the fight, the club wielding dryad took the two snakes and carried them both in each of his shoulders back to Garden, dragging their long tails along the ground. There, they began to slaughter the carcass of the snakes for its meat and other useful parts. Naturally, one of the orbs was given to Reinhard.

[SYSTEM]

Obtained: [Venom Orb] – Common

“Venom orb, huh? I wonder what the description says…”

[SYSTEM]

[Venom Orb]

A monster orb from a creature that utilizes venom.

“Ah, well, that’s obvious enough.”

“So now I just need wood…”

Reinhard went to the woodworker from before and asked him where he could get ‘common-grade wood’, to which the woodworker replied by just giving him 20 of it for free, just for being the ‘chosen one’. The woodworker also told him that he can easily get it by chopping trees with brown bark.

*Ping!*

[SYSTEM]

Obtained: [Earthwood x20] – Common

“This feels like cheating, doesn’t it?”

“Well, anyway, at least I know where to get them now.”

He sat on one of the available chairs in the woodworker’s shop and immediately started creating the staff. He placed 5 Earthwood and the Venom Orb on the table together and opened up his interface.

[SYSTEM]

[Common Wooden Staff]

-[Earthwood – Common x5]

-[Venom Orb – Common x1]

-[100 MP]

[CRAFT]

“Now, let’s see…”

As soon as he began the crafting, the Earthwoods and the Venom orb placed unto the table started to glow brightly. It was so bright that it had attracted the attention of everyone that was currently passing by. The woodworker, the owner of the shop, was no different. He had dropped whatever he was working on and just stared at Reinhard and the glowing table in front of him.

A couple of seconds passed and the glow started to diminish. At this point, a large group of people has already crowded towards the shop, hoping to take a look at what the possessor of the branch is up to.

And then the light completely fades, and what remained was a staff, about a meter and a half long, with a purple-green orb attached to the top part of it. The orb itself was wrapped by entangled wood, as if visually showing that the wood is ‘grasping’ the orb.

*Ping!*

[SYSTEM]

[Wood Crafting 1] Leveled up to [Wood Crafting 2]

[Arcane Crafting 1] Leveled up to [Arcane Crafting 2]

Reinhard quickly looked at his stat window to see his mana.

[SYSTEM]

HP: 100/100

MP: 500/600

“Okay, good. It looks like it only uses mana, not consumes it. That would’ve sucked if I lose a portion of my maximum mana every time I create something.”

-“What… Is that a staff!?”

Someone from the on looking crowd shouts in disbelief.

-“YOU CAN CREATE STAVES?!?”

Suddenly, the entire crowd was once again in an uproar. This feels all too familiar for him.

“Uh, well, yeah, I guess I can… He, he~”

Reinhard, unaware of the sheer gravity of this, replied half-heartedly.

He looked at the staff that he had just created and examined it.

[SYSTEM]

[Common Earthwood Staff of Venom]

Sprays a torrent of venom in a line or in a cone. Line attacks travel further and more accurately, but only hits a single target while cone attacks travel shorter but hits multiple enemies. Applies the [Venom] debuff.

Unique effects:

[Earthwood]: Deals additional elemental damage to creatures of water element.

“Venom?”

[SYSTEM]

[Venom] debuff continuously damages the target while also lowering and draining their stamina.

“As expected, it’s like a burn or poison. Hmm, I wonder what the poison debuff does.”

[SYSTEM]

[Poison] debuff halves the target’s maximum HP and STA and decreases the rate of all types of regeneration. Needs to be ingested to take effect. If the target's lowered maximum hp falls beyond a certain threshold, the target will begin taking continous damage.

“Oh, it’s not what I expected, but that makes sense. People would often interchange venom and poison most of the time.”

“…”

“And what of burn?”

[SYSTEM]

[Burn] debuff continuously damages the target based on how much maximum HP they have.

“I see…”

“Well, time to check it out.”

As he looked up, he had almost forgotten about the massive crowd that had been looking at him all this time.

“Er, well, is there something wrong?”

He asked the crowd.

-“MAKE ME A STAFF PLEASE!”

-“NO, ME FIRST! I’LL PAY YOU DOUBLE!”

All of a sudden, the people began getting into a commotion, attracting even more people and further fueling the crowd.

“WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE!?”

A commanding shout coming from the back of the crowd immediately silenced them. It was a familiar voice, for it is the voice of the elder.

The elder began to slowly approach to the front. As soon as he sees Reinhard holding a staff, he immediately understood the situation.

“I see.”

He sighed.

He turned around to face the crowd, puffing up his chest as much as his old body can take.

“Now, listen here, everyone. Making a staff isn’t just as easy as crafting a bow or a club. Did you really think that something like it could just be created so easily that you can just casually buy them? Why don’t we ask Reinhard himself how abysmally hard it is to create one?”

He then looked at Reinhard with the eyes that’s almost saying ‘just go along with it’ or somewhere within those lines.

Reinhard, taking the hint from the elder, went along with it.

“That’s right. It was… uhm, incredibly hard and… uh, life threatening!”

*GASPS*

The entire crowd gasps heavily.

“So, yeah. Uh, sorry, everyone.”

*Ping!*

[SYSTEM]

Acquired: [Deception 1] Passive Skill.

"Don't make me feel guilty about it!"

-“It’s alright!”

-“Sorry for pressuring you!”

-"That's too bad, but still, you can create staves huh..."

Then the crowd started to disperse, leaving only the elder and the woodworker with Reinhard.

The elder jolts his head, giving the signal that Reinhard should follow him.

"..."

“Thank you for that, elder.”

Reinhard said after he placed the staff in his inventory and catches up to the elder.

“Don’t worry about it. It appears that I may have to teach you what the common sense is around here…”