Level ups, stat distribution, and a surprise

[You have leveled up!]

It took Travis about 6 hours of hunting monsters with Leaf to raise his level to 10. During that time, he slowly got accustomed to seeing a nearby black bear charging recklessly into combat, often followed by two small crows. Travis had to admit, Berry was a strong summon, even if Leaf insisted its level was still low.

He mostly hunted rabid foxes and aggressive deer, occasionally also stumbling across a small ent or two (which usually managed to ambush him easily), the overall level of his hunts not ascending past level 10. In a way, he felt thankful for Leaf’s presence. While she and her summons took care of stronger monsters, he was allowed to level up with ones on par with himself. In all honesty, he didn’t feel bad being with them. Even if…

“Berry! Dooooooon’t!” Leaf shouted, running after her bear which started relentlessly chasing down a wounded wolf. “You’re going to get too far away again!” she breathed heavily, trying to chase him down, but gave up after a few dozen meters.

…there were some quirks about them that he had to put up with. Berry – the bear – was calm and composed when the situation was so, but the moment a fight erupted, he was first to charge and last to retreat. Even though he heeded Leaf's orders, sometimes it appeared as though he had a mind of his own and decided to not listen fully.

There were also two crows, named Bill and Jay, who mostly served as an extension of Leaf’s eyes. Using one of her skills as a Necromancer, she was able to connect her senses with either of the birds (or maybe both, Travis wasn’t sure) to see and hear far beyond where she was. This was extremely usable, especially considering that Bill and Jay were crows, so even as undead, they looked pretty much the same as alive ones. Though… that made a question arise in Travis’ head.

“Say,” he asked, coming closer to Leaf as they continued their journey through the forest toward Icla. “From stories I always heard, necromancers use corpses and create zombies, shamblers, skeleton warriors… I can’t help but notice that none of yours are actually any of that.”

“Well, all necromancers indeed start at raising simple corpses, but… honestly, have you ever encountered a dead person in the middle of decomposure?”

“Not that I can recall,” he shrugged. “Why?”

“The stench. Do you have the slightest idea how much a corpse stinks? Forget just encountering one, I had to spend a month with my first summon, who happened to be a zombie by the way!” she put on a slight pout as she crossed her arms under her breasts for a moment. “The smell is simply unbearable. I have no clue how old Necromancers could withstand it. I tried raising just some skeletons, but they're not as durable. The moment I learned there was a way to remove that stench and keep the fighting power, I dropped everything to learn it. And frankly, it was worth every last second."

“I see.”

“And there’s also an extra few benefits when compared to normal undead. To make shadows, you don’t have to dig up a corpse. Shadows can travel very quickly when needed. And there’s also the matter of disposal of remnants.”

“Remnants?”

“Imagine a hundred zombies getting obliterated in the middle of nowhere. Who will take care of the burial? Because if nobody, then the entire surroundings will be inhabitable for a few months. No no, shadows don’t do that. When they die, they are simply recalled back to the Necromancer who summoned them. They lose some strength, but you don’t have to waste your time trying to find a new competent corpse. And the biggest advantage is, that shadows are 'high-tier' undead, so can they can grow stronger.”

“I always thought that all undead were the same.”

“A common misconception,” she shook her head, pulling a string on her bow and shooting far ahead into the side of a wolf Berry was fighting. “They are actually very diverse when you get into it. Some Necromancers summon just zombies, there are ones like me who use shadows, there are those who use powerful units like banshees, or those who use wraiths.”

“Wraiths?” Travis tilted his head a little. One thing was for certain: Leaf was quite talkative once he nudged a subject of her interest. Not that he minded, in all honesty; the least he could do now was strengthen the bond of their work.

“They’re extremely difficult to summon because they require a very fresh corpse and a skilled Necromancer. On top of that, they are very, very volatile, not durable, and challenging to contain. Because of that, those who use wraiths can only control one or two at most. But it pays off. Wraiths are almost entirely immune to physical damage, and even most magical damage doesn’t do much to them. The only reliable way to kill one is light magic.”

“Huh. I never thought there would be so much complexity to necromancers.”

Leaf chuckled.

“My class, much like yours, is simply forbidden. People are not allowed to have a class like us, because we are received as a threat. And because of that, we don’t really get to learn much about those classes.”

Travis nodded; Leaf was right, no matter how he looked at it. The societal norms, formed over hundreds of years, have proclaimed some classes to be going against the good of everyone because they had abilities that could threaten a lot of people. Psions were actively sought since ancient times, and Hexers were thought to be almost extinct by this point. Some random occurrences happened here and there that people spontaneously became one, but there weren’t many, and most people were too afraid of authorities to hold onto their class.

Then, he heard Leaf ask, “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“What can you tell me about being a Psion? I don’t really know much about your folks. Most of you hide too well.”

“…well…” he started, uncertain what to say. “I’d rather not speak of this yet. But one day, who knows.” ‘First I’ll have to experience being a Psion for real. It’s only my third day.’ Travis shook his head a little at the thought.

“I see…” ‘He won’t speak about his class unless I can prove he can really trust me…’ she thought with a momentary grim expression, but then, an idea sparkled in her mind. “Say, any ideas for dinner today?”

“…not really,” he shrugged. “I wanted to eat some of the stuff I had packed, then resupply in Icla.”

“Then I’ll make dinner!” Leaf proclaimed. “You’ll see, I make delicious roasted meat!”

“… right?” he nodded, but couldn’t help but wonder. ‘Why is she so overjoyed to make dinner? Could it be that she sees it as a way to gain my trust?’ he thought for a moment before he shrugged. “I mean, if you insist, sure.”

“Okay!” Leaf smiled widely. “How about we camp here then?”

He nodded in approval. The place Leaf was speaking of was in the middle of the forest, with just enough space for the two of them to sit down on tree roots and have a small campfire between them if they wished to. In all honesty, it didn’t matter if it was here or not, as there were many similar spots all around. This one was simply the closest.

“Seems good to me. Want some help with hunting?”

“No, no. You sit down and wait. We'll take care of everything,” she smiled at him, and Travis couldn’t help but feel a bit of warmth emanate from her expression. It was like she really cared about him.

“Alright then,” he nodded. ‘I will have a moment to myself, I guess.’

“Okay!” she got her bag off her back and checked the state of her bow and quiver. As she ensured that she was prepared, she turned toward the forest. “Berry! We’re going on a hunt! Today’s meal is a rabbit!” she shouted with little restraints. Truly, in the middle of the forest, she wasn’t afraid of letting her summons roam free. Perhaps it was why Travis came across Berry before, and why Leaf found him so quickly.

Oh well, no point pondering. Seeing her going into the forest, he summoned his status.

[[Name: Travis Salliv
Class: Apostle of Tricks & Manipulation
Level: 10
HP: 200/200
MP: 34/34
WP: 17/238]

[Strength: 31
Agility: 36
Intelligence: 17
Endurance: 20
Wisdom: 15
Sense: 25
AP: 31]

[Possessed abilities: Suggestion lvl.1, Hypnosis lvl.1]

31 points. A result of leveling 5 times and completing a single Daily Quest. It was quite a few points for current Travis, whose total was a measly 144, but he didn’t fret.

‘RALS, increase Endurance by 10 points, Intelligence by 18, and Wisdom by remaining amount.’

[Strength: 31
Agility: 36
Intelligence: 35
Endurance: 30
Wisdom: 18
Sense: 25]

He sighed a little, feeling his improved Endurance take effect. Now, with doubled Intelligence, his total MP increased to a maximum of 70. This would certainly give him a buffer of MP for when he would need it, and it also boosted WP to a whole 320 points at maximum. Which brought him to his lowest stat.

‘No matter how I look at it, Wisdom is an important building block. Suggestion relies mostly on MP, but Hypnosis uses solely WP and quite a bit of it. There’s no doubt that stronger skills will require tons of WP. In the short term, I still need to prioritize other stats for pure survival, but there will come a time that I will have to raise Wisdom to a pedestal to allow my psionic skills to shine.’ he nodded lightly at his thoughts and dismissed the status screen. Looking around, he failed to notice either Leaf or her summons. How far have they gone in the short time that he was simply assigning his points? Maybe it was better not to ponder on that. Instead, using the time he was given, he opened his quests.

Having finished another daily quest, a pointer was added to the corresponding tab, but he wasn’t interested in that. Instead, he brought up information about the quest from Storm Rogue. Indeed, as he expected, the time has dwindled to 30 days already. He dismissed the screen.

Leaning on the tree, Travis stared into the sky for a few long minutes. With Leaf still nowhere around, he decided to look at his skill tree. Upon inspecting the marvelous sight again, he couldn’t help but wonder: which way should he go? The multiple available skills all invited him to take them, some more usable than others.

First, he glanced at 2 skills that he could only compare to the 'Tricks' part of his class.

[Sleight of Hand lvl.1

Dazzle your opponent with a held item, causing short-term confusion. Duration: up to 6 seconds.

Cost: 60 MP]

[Amplification lvl.1

Increase the damage/effect of your next skill by 1.5 times.

Increase the cost of your next skill by 2 times.

Cost: 350 MP, 35 WP]

Both of those tricks had their usability. If he wanted to steal something without another person really knowing what was going on, <A sleight of hand> would be perfect. On the other hand, <Amplification> didn’t have any duration limit, or at least didn’t seem to have any. This would mean it could potentially work as his trump card he could use before an important event so that his MP had some time to recover.

Then, his eyes glanced at another 2 skills.

[Mana detection lvl.1

Detect all mana flow around you. However, you won’t know its exact strength, direction, or master. The range is 10 meters.

Cost: 5 MP/s]

[Mind detection lvl.1

Detect all minds around you in a radius of 10 meters. However, you won’t know where exactly the minds are, only the distance.

Cost: 15 WP/ 100 seconds]

Both detection types did largely the same thing, but their usability differed by the situation. If he wanted to sneak past someone, <Mind detection> would allow him to know more or less where that person is relative to him, but during a fight with a magical opponent, ‘Mana detection’ would have **** usability. Even without knowing the specifics of mana transfer around him, if he could sense just the change happening, he could counteract his enemy's attack just a tad bit sooner, which could potentially decide the fate of a fight. But that didn’t mean he was set on picking it anytime soon. Once he got a skill point to spare, they would be candidates, but not just yet.

And then, there was the final skill he had available for now.

[Possessor of Knowledge

A persistent passive. Grants you a very good memory and improved reading speed.]

He sighed when he reminded himself of the skill. It didn't seem that good at all. While sure, good memory could come in handy, he wasn’t convinced that it was really worth spending an entire skill point on it. Then again, after this skill, there were multiple other options. Maybe it would unlock some good skills later on? He wasn’t sure. For now, he would keep this skill in the back of his mind.

Which now reminded him. He was already level 10, yet... he did not receive a single skill point? Surely, he should've gotten at least one, no? He mentally sent RALS a question about it and received a quick answer.

[To balance your growth, skill points gained from levels have been reduced. You will obtain one skill point every 25 levels. To compensate, the System will award you with skill points for completing certain quests. The fairness is kept on the expected level, and the System may include additional skill points in Daily Quests if you fall behind.]

Travis looked up from the panel before he dismissed it and sighed. It was bittersweet news for him. Considering that RALS was a system only given to him, it meant he had to wait much longer before getting a new skill. However, knowing that skills were fickle in acquisition, being guaranteed one every 25 levels was a tradeoff he could put up with. He had to put some trust in the System. At the end of the day, if Redion wanted him to win, he wouldn’t decrease his ability to grow. No, this was done, again, to promote Travis to complete quests. The system of rewards and punishments would be unbalanced if he could keep on getting skill points just for levels. Perhaps it was better this way...

…

…this made Travis think about his talk with Redion a bit. ‘A system of rewards and punishments that can send me to my doom… didn’t he say that the Penalty Zone wasn’t designed for me being level 1?’

But then, what level was he supposed to be able to get through it? When Travis thought about it, the rewards given for PZ were more or less the same as for DQ. Then…

‘If I can complete Daily Quest in one go without straining myself, will I be able to survive in the Penalty Zone on my own…?’ he wondered for a moment. This made sense. On one hand, PZ was supposed to penalize him for skipping workouts, but on the other, it wasn’t supposed to kill him. Or rather, it shouldn’t be supposed to kill him. Rewards and punishments only made sense if he would live through them. It wasn’t like Redion could just pick another Apostle… right?

‘No point pondering.’ he dismissed the thought. ‘Overthinking is not something I’m good at anyway.’ he looked ahead and noticed how Leaf had appeared in the distance, Berry calmly walking behind her. Bill and Jay already flew forward and were sitting on a branch near the Apostle, watching his every move diligently.

-1 hour later-

The time was approaching early night. The sun was already past the horizon as the two of them leaned on their respective trees. 15 kilometers wasn’t a great distance to have covered, but looking back at how the day had transpired, Travis was thankful for even this much.

After Leaf had prepared a small fire and prepared a roasted rabbit with some spices (which she took out of her bag), she handed him a part of it while she took another. Slowly digging into it, Travis was… honestly surprised. He had cooked meat similarly a few times already, but it always tasted somewhat bland, like it was missing something. As it turned out, the thing it missed was some good spicing, which Leaf graciously provided in bountiful amounts. The herbs she sprinkled made the meat truly explode with its flavor in his mouth, the meat seemingly melting on his tongue as he tasted the chewy yet soft texture. It was difficult to express just how good it was, and all it took was some dried-up herbs just to accomplish such a thing.

“Have you ever thought about becoming a cook?” he asked, and seeing the surprise on her face, he continued his thought. “This is really good.”

“Thank you!” she smiled widely at his remark. “There are a lot of uses for many herbs. Did you know that hemastalis, normally very bitter and hard, becomes soft and sweet after cooking?”

“What’s a hemastalis?” he tilted his head a little.

“It’s a type of flower of a parasitic nature. It’s mostly used for potions of dark attribute, but it actually does make for a decent snack.”

“I see,” he nodded.

“…”

“…”

“…can I ask you something?” Leaf looked at him, uncertainty in her eyes.

“...depends on the question,” he looked back at her, before turning his head to the small fire between them.

“…where are you going? On a larger scale, I mean.”

He remained silent at her question. ‘Should I tell her?’

“I-I… I know I’m asking a lot of you, and I can’t expect you to answer me, but…” she quieted down slowly, turning to her side slightly.

“To northern parts of Forna,” he gave a vague answer.

“North? To get there, you’ll be going for at least two weeks more, no?” Leaf glanced back at him, a questioning stare marking her sapphire eyes.

“Maybe,” he shrugged.

“…can I ask why are you going there?” she asked, and Travis immediately noticed that she did not dare look him in the eye.

“…no,” he replied with a soft, but stern tone.

“…”

“…”

“…can I tag along? Beyond Icla?”

He looked at her, and as if on cue, she raised her gaze toward him as well. As their eyes met, Travis could swear he saw… a bit of hope, in the back of her sapphire eyes. Was he seeing things? Was it a reflection of fire?

“Why?” he asked, a tiny frown entering his face. ‘That was kind of my intention in the first place. Nice that it’s her proposing it.’

“I… I just want to.”

“Didn’t you have business in Midriff? That’s west, not north.”

“T-That can wait!” she replied hurriedly.

“…”

“I… I know this will sound odd because we only know each other for a day, especially with how it all started, but… I feel we should work together. For a longer term, that is.”

“…pardon?” Travis made a stupefied expression for a moment.

“We both have classes that are hunted down by society. I’m saying that we can help each other. You’re a Psion, surely you have some magic to persuade any guards, right? And I have a lot of experience in surviving on my own. Together, we’ll be much stronger than alone, no?”

A moment of silence was beset upon them. Leaf's expectant gaze met Travis's slightly pondering face. She could only wonder what kind of thoughts ran within his mind.

'It's not a deal I have anything to lose on by accepting.' he conceded. 'If she wanted me dead, I doubt she'd have stuck around me nearly as much as she did. Moreover... this brings the Penalty Zone to mind. It wasn’t designed for me being level 1… Aria, being level 22, also struggled. If Leaf's level is high enough…’

“Can I ask what’s your level?”

“71,” she replied without hesitation.

‘4 times Aria’s…' he almost smirked to himself at the realization. 'And I’m pretty sure her being a Necromancer comes with some extra perks, too… it’s tempting… but there is also one more thing I need to know. RALS, are Apostles allowed to form teams in the Competition?’

[Yes.]

It was a short and straightforward answer, much unlike what the System used to give him before. Then again, it was a simple question. He sighed. ‘Just getting her into the Penalty Zone would be a good way for me to level up, and if I can get her to join me in Apostle’s Competition… but to do that, I will need to redo <Hypnosis> and strengthen what I did last time. I can’t be sure she’ll follow me into either yet. For now, she just wants to amend her wrongdoings, I'm sure.’

“I see…” he nodded lightly. “If we were to work together, I would have a request to make of you in the future. Would you be alright with that?”

“A request?” she squinted her eyes a little and then brought her eyes down to her chest.

“N-Not that kind of request,” he shook his head but could swear he noticed how Leaf’s eyes almost seemed to emanate… disappointment? “It’s more of a request to help me hunt. In a dangerous environment. Would you be alright with that?”

“…yes. Yes,” She said and then confirmed her words. “If it’s that much, of course, I’ll accept.”

He closed his eyes for a long moment. He needed not to make a mistake. One wrong move, a single misplaced step, an ill-considered thought, could end his journey. And, having survived both Penalty Zone and what happened earlier today, he was now very well aware of that. “I'll accept on one condition.”

“Of course! Anything!”

-10 minutes later-

“…are you sure this is absolutely necessary? I think it’s complex enough,” she said, holding her hands together as Travis tied them up.

“Which only means it’s not enough. And yes, after what happened today, I’m not taking chances with you,” he replied.

After tying her hands, he tied her ankles as well, and then placed her bag together with his and leaned on them. Looking at Leaf over the burning-out flames, he could only see the sadness in her eyes. Feeling some weight appear on his chest, he said, “You don’t have to give me this look. It’s not permanent. Once I can trust you enough, I’ll let you sleep free.”

“No… it’s not that…”

“…?”

“I just… I can’t believe that I wanted to hurt you. I know you won’t believe me, Travis, but I’m as sorry as a person can be. If this will help you feel safe around me, I’m fine with it,” she formed a wry smile.

“…I guess that already scores you a point or two.” He reminded himself of how she wanted to gain his trust. “So that puts you on three, even four since your meal was delicious. Let’s say at ten I’ll be willing to release your ties,” he formed a tiny smile, trying to reassure Leaf. Then, he gazed toward the sky.

‘By the time she gets to ten, I’ll be prepared to hypnotize her again. Then I can guarantee she won’t try to hurt me anymore. I can make her loyal-- huh?' he felt a bit surprised at his last thought. It felt... too natural to think like that. Why was he so accustomed to the idea of altering people’s minds? And since when did the prospect of doing such a thing give him this uplifting sensation in his stomach? Much like… arousal, but also… a sense of power?

Maybe he was just overthinking. Surely, he was simply tired. Looking back at Leaf, he could see that his statement made her regain a little bit of her joyfulness, as she gave him a playful smile, and... shook her chest a little.

No, wait, why would she…?

Travis followed her gaze aimed at his pants and realized he had an obvious erection. While not as eye-catching as Leaf’s huge breasts, there was no doubt that she noticed it. ‘Damnation.’ he thought. ‘Such a tease.’ a snort escaped his nose as he turned on his side, facing away from the woman.

Leaf's voice sounded, “Are you really going to sleep like that?” she asked, her tone hearably tinted with a sultry tone.

“Yes, now shut up.”

“Oh, come on~. If we’re going to work together, we might as well enjoy ourselves~…”

‘Don’t humor her, don’t humor her, don’t humor her…’

“Oh, dear, whatever will be of me now?” Leaf asked in a somewhat loud tone. “I’m all alone in this dark forest, tied up like a sacrifice~ I sure hope nobody comes around and sees me like thiiis~,” she made a tiny moan at the end of her sentence. Was she playing with Travis? Or was she actually enjoying it?

‘Don’t don’t don’t don’t.’ he kept on berating himself in his thoughts, but… Leaf’s words weren’t making his resistance any easier.

“Oh no~ Whatever happened to my tunic?” Leaf’s voice was starting to sound like she was in heat. “My beautiful, massive tits! Out for the world to see! I sure hope nobody will come around and use me as they please~!”

‘This is unbearable.’ he thought as he turned around and got up. Standing about 3 meters away from her, he could only confirm that she had her shirt lifted up to her shoulders, and a red flush on her face. She was clearly enjoying teasing him like this and getting hotter by the minute herself.

---

[[Name: Travis Salliv
Class: Apostle of Tricks & Manipulation
Level: 10
HP: 300/300
MP: 70/70
WP: 18/320]

[Strength: 31
Agility: 36
Intelligence: 35
Endurance: 30
Wisdom: 18
Sense: 25

AP: 0]

[Possessed abilities: Suggestion lvl.1, Hypnosis lvl.1]

[Current status: No anomalies]]