Chapter 21

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Lykan awoke to find that most of his hard work had paid off. Not only had all his Attributes been increased by one, but his base Power score had risen from a five to a six. Lykan tried to understand why such an event happened, only to chalk it up to his use of the world law of shepherding and how he successfully led his flock to the promised land. Even now, with the true compact broken, he could feel his flock resting in front of him. Somewhere in the night, he had fallen asleep.

He wanted to wake up, but before he could, he needed to accept the changes that had been performed to his body while he slept.

Name Lykan Vita Race Human Human Wanderer Age 16 Attribute Base Plus Modifier Total Strength (6+6) 12 Awareness (7+6) 13 Mobility (9+6) 15 Intelligence (7+12) 19 Power (6+12) 18 Skill Base Plus Modifier Rating Universal Linguist (Maximum) Spear Mastery (Maximum) Sword Mastery Beginner + (Heroic) Adept Quick Step Beginner Universal Literacy (Maximum) Regeneration (Maximum) Meditation Novice Focus Beginner + (Silver) Adept Magic Ability Base Plus Modifier Rating Energy Absorption (Maximum) Energy Sensing (Maximum) Energy Control Expert + (Heroic) Sage Energy Alter Expert

That was a lot of changes to go through, especially for such a short period of time. His body and mind were feeling the full weight and force of his actions. It was sort of shocking to see that the feat of slaying a dragon didn’t have a direct effect on all his Skills and Magical Abilities as it had when he was the lone participant in the slaying of the Fire Dragon. He did find it odd that his Sword Mastery Skill had increased, though he guessed there was some part to his swinging the sword to help redirect the attack. The Energy Control made sense as that was the Magical Ability that Lykan had used to redirect the energy back toward the dragon. Finally, Focus was the Skill that Lykan had used to keep his body and mind moving in the same direction, even when exhaustion had nearly overtaken him while climbing up the hill. In a word, he had been lucky.

Dismissing the notifications, he opened his eyes to see a field that was being lit by the sun that was now just rising from the opposite side of the building. A long black shadow hung over him, and the flock of horses that had all rested within a few dozen paces of him. To his left, he heard slight snoring. He turned to see that Telka, the woman who had provided some much-needed distraction on his journey, sat passed out. She, too, had a blanket draped over her shoulders as well.

He looked around and saw some rations had been left for him. There was a water skin and his pack with a few dried rolls inside. He ate and drank greedily, his muscles almost eating the entire meal despite not feeling immediately hungry. Only after the first bite did his body finally relent and tell Lykan just how tired and thirsty he had truly been after his long journey.

Lykan spent a few minutes resting and enjoying the moment, hoping to imprint this moment into his mind forever. The rising sun, the crisp taste of morning air. The smell of plants fresh to harvest on the wind and what could only be thought of as peaceful scenery before him. In a word, this was perfect, or at least as close to a perfect moment as he could have hoped for. He made a mental note that he would always try to set aside a moment each day when he truly enjoyed the world around him. Ultimately he knew such thoughts were naive at best, as he had many memories from his childhood and even from his time with the High Wood Elves, but none were as crisp as this moment right here would ever be.

Slowly Lykan began thinking about how only with new memories worth remembering would he be able to compare times. For as great as this moment was, would he remember the moments of pain and strife that led him to enjoy this moment so thoroughly? Or would the details of this memory be lost, with only the amazing view of the sun rising on a field of gold?

Once his mind was fully awakened, Lykan got up folded the blanket that had been laid over him. Then he proceeded to take it inside. As he entered the farmhouse, he saw people sprawled out wherever they could find a spot. Seeing the state everyone was in, Lykan considered himself lucky to have found such a comfortable space to relax in. Seeing a table under which Kalana was sleeping, Lykan quietly placed the folded blanket down before retreating from the house.

With that, Lykan turned to survey the world. He was still getting used to his new Class and all the intricacies that showed around him. He looked to find that there was a bronze cord leading him to a large tree that stood in front of the house. Lykan looked at the tree for a moment, trying to figure out what he could need with a tree. He looked at the tree for a few minutes, only to see that the tree was only bronze from a spot about three feet off the ground up. Looking at the tree, it was clear that the stump was to be left alone.

Still, with the sight of the stump, it took Lykan’s still waking mind time to process what was expected of him. He walked around the tree to see that the shading of the bronze portion of the tree rose and fell on the eastern side. Lykan turned to see the rising sun off in the distance, almost blinding his eyes. His only refuge from the glaring light was a black silhouette that managed to block out a portion of the sun.

The airship was still there, resting at the far edge of the property. Lykan used his hand to block the glare from the sun while he tried to make out some finer details of the ship. As he looked, he saw a myriad of colors appear connecting him to the ship. The colors ranged from bronze to silver to gold. The sheer depth of colors confused Lykan for a bit as to why one spot could embody all three potential futures. Lykan figured most of the reactions would likely be based on how he interacted with the ship and its crew.

Looking at the ship, Lykan could see no true way of interacting with the ship or its inhabitants without waving his arms wildly and looking like a loon. Realizing there was likely more than he could comprehend at the moment, Lykan went back to focusing on the tree. By now, it was clear that he was to cut down the tree. The only problem he had with that was, why?

Lykan stared at the tree, committing to the course of cutting down the tree. Only once he did that did he see a silver line leading from the tree to the side of the house that had been damaged due to the bandit attack. Now that he saw the complete path the whole chain of events made sense.

With the speed of thought, his sword was in his hands. He looked at the sword in his hands, wondering if it had been on his back the whole night, and he pulled it on reflex? He stared at the sword in confusion for a second, wondering just how the sword had seemed to appear in his hands. Finally, after a few seconds of contemplation, Lykan realized he was likely still too tired and needed a chore, like cutting down a tree for lumber, to help wake him up. With that train of thought, he moved to the tree and began chopping at the bronze outline.

Normally only a fool would use their weapon meant for war, for a mundane task like cutting wood. An even bigger fool would use a weapon like a sword rather than a tool like an ax for such a task. But Lykan was no fool, nor was his weapon any typical weapon. His weapon was an Elven Spirit Blade, forged by constant infusions of energy and repeated use. The repeated use only made the final blade stronger. Each strike that would peel or pull away parts of the blade would be reformed with denser materials underneath. The more an Elven Spirit Blade was used, the more it not only bonded with the wielder, but the more it was made into its ideal form.

Chop. Chop. Thwack.

Each strike of the blade cut deep. Lykan’s powerful muscles and precision making the task easy and relaxing. There was something calming about a true task that required him to push his body. He cut on the Eastside, making a large V-shaped wedge to cause tension and allow the tree to fall East, away from the house and toward the near side of the hill. With the wedge in place, Lykan moved to the western side and began copping a smaller V-shaped wedge into that side. Then slowly but surely, he began chopping more and more of the base of the tree away.

He was so focused on his task that he failed to notice that others had gathered around.

Davison was one of the first out of the house and was nearly going to bash Lykan when he was stopped by a calming hand on his arm. He looked down to see that in his haste to get out of bed and find out what all the noise was about, he must have awoken his wife as well. He looked down to see her, and with the shake of her head, the tension in Davison’s shoulders lifted. He trusted her, and well, if she trusted this man, then he would listen to her. The anger he had been feeling a moment ago slowly left as he watched the man make quick, powerful strikes. By now, even if he wanted to stop the boy, the tree would fall. It was just better to chop down the tree now.

Shuffle. Shuffle.

Davison and Enora turned to see that they weren’t the only ones who had been awoken by the noise. As slowly, more and more of the recently rescued women all began to awaken and stare at their rescuer working under the morning sun. Somewhere in his work, Lykan had taken off his shirt so he wouldn’t stain or otherwise ruin the unique set of clothing. With his shirt off, it was clear that Lykan had lean, toned muscles that rippled and glistened under the sweat and rays of the morning sun. Seeing all the women staring at Lykan, who seemed to be oblivious to all the attention, Davison just laughed to himself, wondering if he would take any of these women to be his partner. Only after he had this thought did he notice that Enora, too, was staring at the young man.

“Ahem!” Davison cut in.

Realizing she had been caught, Enora looked flustered for a second before saying. “Well, I guess I should get breakfast ready.”

She made one last quick glance at Lykan before turning into the house, where she began working on breakfast. She looked at Davison and realized that he had caught her staring once again and looked even more flustered. Seeing the reaction Davison just chuckled at the shade of red her cheeks were turning. Seeing that Davison wasn’t mad, Enora felt somewhat better, though she made a point to not get caught staring at their savior once more.

“JAVISON!” Enora called out as she entered the kitchen.

“Wha. What?” Javison called out, scrambling down the stairs as instinct told him. He got to the bottom and barely managed to weave around a few of the women who were staring outside through windows or openings in the wall.

“Go to the storehouse and see if we have any eggs or supplies for breakfast. Get enough for twelve,” Enora demanded. She made this request as she knew the bandits had completely missed their crawl space for winter foods. While quite a few crops were gathered, most were able to be hidden from view thanks to the way their farmhouse was designed.

“Yes, Mama,” Javison said sleepily as he rushed out of the house.

Jema, always curious, tried to follow Javison out the back door.

“Just where do you think you are going?” Enora asked, though her question was more of a statement than anything. Hearing the words, Jema stopped, wondering how Enora saw her sneaking about without ever turning to face her.

“There’s plenty more to do. You can start by cleaning up. Get some more of those that are just watching the young savior work. Put them to work too. Plenty to do here, like cleaning up their sleeping areas, for starters. Then cleaning up some of the debris. If everyone does a little bit, this place will be clean, and before you know it, we will all be able to eat in peace,” Enora said loudly so that everyone in the house could hear.

With that, all of the air was let out of the house as everyone who had been enjoying the morning began to work.

Creak! Crack! Thud!

There was a loud cracking sound as the tree soon fell to the ground. Once it was on the ground, Lykan began the process of cutting off each branch. This was good practice for him as he managed to get all the branches, even the larger ones, to fall off with a single strike. Once the branches were off, he placed them all in a pile. Then he began carving out six-foot sections of the tree.

By the time breakfast was called, Lykan had already carved up all but a few sections of the tree. Telka had taken the time to act as his assistant, helping to hold the tree before it rolled or to drag heavy limbs away to a pile so Lykan could work faster. Lykan smiled his thanks, though he was too focused to truly give more than the occasional nod.

With the tree down, the sections that Lykan was to cut became clear. At first, the entire tree was bronze. Then slowly, over time, only sections were bronze. Then once the bronze pieces were cut away, the finer cutting edges turned to silver.

Stopping for a moment, Lykan ate his morning meal in the way he tried to eat every meal. Thanking the world for its bounty and for his place in the world. While he was no longer under the direct supervision of the Great Forest Spirit, he made sure to thank the Great Forest Spirit as well.

Looking at the tree, an idea came to him as he quickly put his cup and half-eaten plate down.

Seeing that he was so close, he wondered if the Great Forest Spirit would help his cause. He knelt down to pray and offered the spare parts to the Great Forest Spirit, though nothing happened. It was clear that he was now outside the Realm of the Great Forest Spirit. Taking a deep breath, he was about to give up in frustration when he tried offering the spare parts to the world.

Thwom.

A gentle melodic thrum was heard. Then the bits of wood flakes that had splintered off were absorbed by the world. Even the extra parts of the wood that could be used later, but not for the project at hand, were absorbed. In the end, Lykan was left with a number of specially designed planks that were set to a clear pattern.

“World Magic?” a few voices called out, discussing what they had just witnessed. While no one other than Telka had gone out to help Lykan, all watched him. Especially as he still walked around without his shirt on, as sweat continued to pour down his muscular frame.

A sigh of relief filled Lykan as he did not know how he would have managed to get that fine of detail with a sword. With the pieces splayed out, he looked to the wall and started trying to imagine how the pieces would all fit. It was clear from a glance that more of the wall would have to be torn away if they were going to rebuild it correctly. Looking at the wood and at Davison, Lykan gave a look that said he was going to have to tell some relatively bad news.

Davison seeing the number of planks, then at the relatively small section of the broken wall, almost immediately understood what the young man was going to say next.

“I’ll help,” is what Davison said.

With that, the weight that had been building up in Lykan was released.

Meanwhile, the people who had stationed themselves at the far end of the property all gasped in amazement as they saw the signs of world magic being performed. They had thought they saw something similar the night before when the boy had marched a wagon across uneven terrain at a pace that their airship even had a hard time matching. Then the disappearance of the tree in golden light just now proved it. The boy had managed to perform a task the world itself found acceptable and assisted with the completion of the task.

The best part, at least as far as the ship’s Captain Regan Cloud was concerned, was that they had recorded the event on their focused lenses. They managed to get something of what happened last night, but with the setting sun, the flash of golden light around the man and the horses could have been easily explained away.

This time, however, the results were irrefutable. With the second recording complete, the ship turned around and sped off toward the capital of Sidhertha, where they would relay the contents of what they saw. Including the suspicion that one of the groups had taken down the Psychic Dragon matriarch. That too had been captured, though they only recorded the people who managed to deliver the final blows to the monster that was downed. No one was quite positive of who delivered the initial fatal blow to the beast.

Regardless of such, people needed to be recruited for the Kingdom. Their blessings from the Gods alone in recognition of such a feat would make them ideal candidates for recruitment. For the Kingdom would always have a need for talented individuals.