I awoke slowly at first, groggily pushing my way through unconsciousness. Once I remembered why I’d passed out in the first place, I woke up much faster.

“Woah, slow down there Lucas. Don’t sit up like that, you took a nasty hit to the head.” Brook stopped me from sitting up with a hand on my shoulder pushing me back down.

“Good, you’re still alive. I really didn’t want to try digging a grave without a shovel.”

“Don’t be silly. Obviously I would want to be cremated, otherwise the beasties would just dig my corpse up and eat it.”

“Right, of course you’d choose to go out smoking and hot.” The only response to my ill-advised attempt at humor was a light punch to the arm. Brook was currently sitting next to me inside the nest, looking more or less uninjured. Considering how hard that thing had hit me that was a small miracle. As was rapidly becoming tradition, I figured now was probably a good time to check the notifications.

[Due to your assistance in distracting {Woods Harpy} by staring deeply into its eyes while someone else killed it, you have been awarded +0.1% Charisma and +/-?.?% Luck]

That one had to be the harpy Brook took out with her throwing knife. At least the notifications were useful for identifying the foes we fought, so long as we won that was. I decided to ignore the snark and just be thankful that I’d gained anything for the encounter at all, however minute. My Charisma could definitely do with being leveled a bit.

[x2 Woods Harpy slain. Opponents’ skill and power level outnumbered your own, but against all odds you’ve managed to prevail. Due to method of victory, .3 Agi and .2 Str have been awarded.]

Fair enough I guess, I didn’t use magic to slay the harpies so I couldn’t expect Intelligence gains. It was pretty short sighted, considering I wanted to become a wizard. I really would need to make a better effort to cast at least one spell per battle in the future. Still, if I had done that I would not have had enough to handle the boss. If that was the case should I not save my mana for emergencies? The plight of an underpowered mage was starting to give me a headache, so I decided to think on it later and moved on.

[Woods Harpy Broodmother {Hybrid} slain! Opponent was immensely more powerful than you, and you battled almost one on one. Once again, you pushed yourself past your limit to defeat something that should have killed you. This strategy will keep working forever, until it doesn’t and you die. For now, enjoy the rewards for a battle well fought I suppose. +1.2 Int, +1.0 End, +.7 Str, +.7 Agi, +.4 Per]

[Congratulations! You have completed an F ranked instance with a party of 2. Due to small party size and relative levels, rewards have been granted accordingly. +.1 to all visible stats. Instanced cabin will function as a Rest Area for 12 hours. All healing effects x4 within premise.]

Well, that explains how Brook was already looking recovered and I no longer felt like a cabin had run me over. This was how the world was able to keep functioning and have people dungeon dive and what not. If everybody was put out of commission after each battle, nobody would ever complete instances and the world would just be covered in dungeons. These still weren’t the notifications I was looking for so I pulled up the last one.

[Spell Manipulation. Progress made toward unlocking x3 unknown spells.]

That was it? Whatever I had done managed to slay the boss creature of an instance, and I don’t even get to learn how to cast it again in the future? What a load of- never mind. I should be thankful and stay positive.

There were two ways of looking at this. In one of them I had been cheated out of 3 spells by the skill and cosmic laws. On the other, learning spells was supposed to be near impossible without tutoring or spell books. For all I knew I was fortunate to have learned [Entangling Roots] after only manipulating [Growth] once. Beggars couldn’t be choosers and I fully intended to keep begging the universe for magic. I hadn’t looked at my interface in a while so I willed it to my sight for a review.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Name:

Lucas Cob

Level

1

Class:

N/A

Profession:

N/A

Status

Healthy

Stamina

110/110

Mana

12/12

Aether Saturation

.03%

Str

11

Per

11

End

12

Cha

8

Int

12

Agi

11

Skills: Farming (Expand), Reading(Common), Writing(Common, Spell Manipulation, Spear(Basic), Acrobatics(Basic)

Spells: Growth(Minor), Entangling Roots(Weak)

Since I couldn’t see the fractions attached to each stat I couldn’t be sure, but I was pretty sure I was getting close to increasing my Strength and Perception. I also gathered that I was healed, meaning or injury or illness, from my ‘Healthy’ status. Now that I’d checked all the notifications and verified I wasn’t about to lose a limb, I felt comfortable getting up to investigate what these rewards were. Brook had been silent while I was reading, probably because she knew I was checking my own interface as she’d likely done after waking up. I tossed off the blanket I was covered with and made to stand, before scrambling to grab the blanket again.

“Why am I naked?” The question came out at a much higher pitch than I wanted it to as I franticly tried to cover myself up.

The mirth evident on her face told me this was exactly why she’d been quiet, just waiting for me to notice.

“You aren’t naked, your underwear are still on after all. I needed to strip you to get to your wounds and apply your herbs and bandages, assuming you wanted to make use of the Rest Area’s healing buff. Besides, I didn’t think you would mind after coming onto me like that.” She trailed off and broke eye contact, looking down to the ground between her feet.

“I guess you’re right about the healing stuff, but what is that second part supposed to mean?” It took me a second to collect my thoughts before replying. She was obviously still messing with me, but I couldn’t find the angle to this joke.

“Well, Luke, when I woke up you were passed out on my chest and drooling. I really didn’t think you were the type to try and take advantage of a girl while she was sleeping, but I’ve been wrong before I guess.” There it is. With a single look I was able to figure out that even she wasn’t taking herself seriously. Her breaking eye contact and looking way was an attempt to disguise her smirk, and it wasn’t a very good one. This line of conversation had gone on long enough.

“So what is this about a reward?” I watched a couple emotions flicker across her face, first disappointment that I wasn’t playing along and then excitement.

“Oh! The box we found, it split in half. And we can open them now! Or at least I think we can, I couldn’t open either of them without you being there too. I guess it’s a function to try and make loot balancing more fair? Either way let's go!” Brook grabbed my arm and dragged me out from under the blanket, against my protests. I felt my blood boil a bit and I definitely reddened a shade or two, but I was also excited to see what we’d gotten so I allowed myself to be dragged.

The box was back in the center of the nest even though I didn’t think that was where I’d left it, and according to Brook she couldn’t move it. Them, she couldn’t move them. The box hadn’t split in half like she said, but there were two of them now, sitting across from each other. Duplication was not the only thing that had changed either, as they now looked more like a classic treasure chest depiction. The chests were a little more ornate and had locks on the face, both with keys in the lock.

Brook had tried to unlock both while I was recovering, but it was to no avail. In order to open the rewards, both keys had to be turned at the same time. Usually there was a singular chest to be opened that contained all the rewards, but because we’d earned ‘bonus rewards’ for having a small party it reconfigured itself to award each of us.

Our first attempt to open the chests was a bust, the keys did not budge at all, so we swapped sides and were able to open the chests at last. In my chest were two items, but they were two items that were worth more than most things I’d owned. First was a small sheathed knife. I pulled it out and discovered it was a serrated steel dagger with a single edge. It wouldn’t be the best for combat but I could definitely use it for woodworking and snares. It would make a nice addition to my skinning knife, which I had been using for almost every function so far. On top of that, it was made of what looked to be steel rather than salvaged metal, which meant it would be worth money even if I didn’t keep it.

The other item was the real prize. I re-sheathed the knife and placed it back into the chest before pulling out a long shape. It was sheathed sword, about 4 feet long from hilt to tip, and even came with its own belt. I’d always wanted a proper sword but spears were more practical and more durable when made of the salvaged metal my village had access to. Here however, I was holding a beautiful bronze blade the likes of which I’d never seen.

I had no formal training in swords but had seen a couple guards practice them before. I decided to try and mimic the motions I remembered but ended up just swinging it around at the air instead. It was a lot of fun and I’d probably have kept messing around for some time if it were not for a giggle capturing my attention.

Brook had turned around and was looking at me with her mouth covered, trying not to laugh. How rude! Then I looked down and realized what was so funny. I was just a skinny teenager swinging his sword around while practically naked. I set the blade down and ran over to my bag to pull out a spare set of clothes.

After dressing myself, I walked back over and strapped my knew knife to the inside of my calf, opposite the skinning knife. I also put the belt on and strapped the sword to it. Turning around I saw Brook bending over the chest still and caught her just as she was standing up. She turned and gave me a knowing look with one eyebrow raised. I obviously responded by blushing and breaking eye contact, because what else would a grown man do, before looking back after my face had cooled sufficiently.

“Well, since you showed me yours I guess I can show you mine,” she really never stopped with all the innuendo, did she? Brook was wearing a new sleeveless leather top with a sort of sash, running from her right shoulder to her left hip, which held two new throwing knives and slots for several more. She even had a new dagger that was sheathed on her lower back.

“So what do you think, does it make me look fat?”

“Definitely bulkier but I wouldn’t say fat. It’s nice, looks slimming.” We made a little bit of small talk, and after eating some of our rations and verifying we were both healthy, we decided to set off in the direction we believed to be west. It was time to put this forest behind us.